WEBVTT 00:00.000 --> 00:06.200 Pet Milk Show, usually heard at this time, has moved to a new time period on Sunday nights. 00:06.200 --> 00:11.200 Be sure to hear Larry Douglas and Kay Armand on the new Pet Milk Show, tomorrow night on 00:11.200 --> 00:12.200 NBC. 00:12.200 --> 00:19.240 And now, here's another in NBC's great parade of new shows. 00:19.240 --> 00:29.060 Gentlemen, the story you are about to hear is true. 00:29.060 --> 00:32.880 Only the names have been changed to protect the innocent. 00:32.880 --> 00:45.360 NBC brings you Dragnet. 00:45.360 --> 00:47.280 You're a detective sergeant. 00:47.280 --> 00:50.120 You're assigned to homicide detail. 00:50.120 --> 00:53.520 A man's wife has suddenly dropped from sight. 00:53.520 --> 00:58.040 On the surface, it appears only as a routine missing persons case. 00:58.040 --> 01:00.120 People start to investigate. 01:00.120 --> 01:02.520 Suspicion grows. 01:02.520 --> 01:05.520 There is evidence of possible foul play. 01:05.520 --> 01:10.240 Your job, find the woman or find her murderer. 01:10.240 --> 01:16.840 Dragnet, the documented drama of an actual crime, investigated and solved by the men 01:16.840 --> 01:21.880 who unrelentingly stand watch on the security of your home, your family, and your life. 01:21.880 --> 01:26.760 For the next 30 minutes, in cooperation with the Los Angeles Police Department, you will 01:26.760 --> 01:31.040 travel step by step on the side of the law through an actual case transcribed from official 01:31.040 --> 01:32.720 police files. 01:32.720 --> 01:39.060 From beginning to end, from crime to punishment, Dragnet is the story of your police force 01:39.060 --> 01:41.240 in action. 01:41.240 --> 01:47.040 It was Wednesday, September 15th. 01:47.040 --> 01:48.440 Was warm in Los Angeles. 01:48.440 --> 01:51.200 We were working the day watch out of homicide. 01:51.200 --> 01:53.120 My partner's Ben Romero. 01:53.120 --> 01:55.280 The boss is Ed Backstrand, chief of detectives. 01:55.280 --> 01:56.280 My name's Friday. 01:56.280 --> 02:00.280 I was on the way back from lunch and it was 1256 when I got to room 42. 02:00.280 --> 02:01.280 Homicide. 02:01.280 --> 02:02.280 Hi, Joe. 02:02.280 --> 02:03.280 I'm waiting for you. 02:03.280 --> 02:04.280 Hi, Ben. 02:04.280 --> 02:05.280 Al. 02:05.280 --> 02:06.280 I hear you got something for us. 02:06.280 --> 02:07.760 Here's a report right here. 02:07.760 --> 02:11.080 Gardner by the name of Eric Kelby called in the day before yesterday. 02:11.080 --> 02:14.320 Said his wife disappeared from their home out in the valley Sunday night. 02:14.320 --> 02:15.880 Says he thinks she left him. 02:15.880 --> 02:17.320 That happens every day, Bargetti. 02:17.320 --> 02:19.320 Well, not this way it doesn't. 02:19.320 --> 02:21.560 Waltz and I went out yesterday to interview the guy. 02:21.560 --> 02:23.040 The story doesn't add. 02:23.040 --> 02:24.040 Why not? 02:24.040 --> 02:25.320 None of her clothes are missing. 02:25.320 --> 02:26.320 None of her luggage. 02:26.320 --> 02:28.480 She even left her pocketbook behind full of money. 02:28.480 --> 02:33.520 Found out from the neighbors a missing woman is a 17-year-old boy by her former marriage. 02:33.520 --> 02:34.520 So what? 02:34.520 --> 02:35.520 An only child. 02:35.520 --> 02:36.520 Mother dotes on the kid. 02:36.520 --> 02:38.440 You shouldn't even say goodbye to him. 02:38.440 --> 02:41.040 How did this Eric Kelby impress you? 02:41.040 --> 02:42.680 Pretty grouchy with Waltz and me. 02:42.680 --> 02:43.680 No cooperation. 02:43.680 --> 02:45.640 Wants to find his wife, doesn't he? 02:45.640 --> 02:47.440 I don't know if he does or not. 02:47.440 --> 02:49.720 There's no help, I'll tell you that. 02:49.720 --> 02:52.320 Can I see that report a minute now? 02:52.320 --> 02:53.960 Here you are. 02:53.960 --> 02:57.000 Magnus Trumbull Kelby, age 39. 02:57.000 --> 02:58.240 Kelby's her second husband. 02:58.240 --> 03:01.080 First one died a little after the boy was born. 03:01.080 --> 03:05.720 Disappeared Sunday night from her home, 546 Belasco Road between 7 and 8 o'clock. 03:05.720 --> 03:06.720 When did Kelby call him? 03:06.720 --> 03:07.720 Monday afternoon. 03:07.720 --> 03:10.800 Said he thought his wife might be spending the night with her sister. 03:10.800 --> 03:13.480 When he found out she wasn't, called us. 03:13.480 --> 03:16.120 Did you meet the boy while you were out there, Bargetti? 03:16.120 --> 03:18.120 Yeah, that's another thing. 03:18.120 --> 03:21.560 Kid came riding in on a bike while we were talking to one of the neighbors. 03:21.560 --> 03:25.320 We tried to talk to him, but the old man came out hustling inside the house. 03:25.320 --> 03:26.640 Then he starts eating us out. 03:26.640 --> 03:27.640 What'd you see? 03:27.640 --> 03:32.280 Told us it was our job to find his wife, not to go prying into her stepson's affairs. 03:32.280 --> 03:33.840 That's a new slant. 03:33.840 --> 03:36.480 How about her friends and relatives around here, Al? 03:36.480 --> 03:38.480 Any besides her sister? 03:38.480 --> 03:40.320 Walsh located a couple of her aunts. 03:40.320 --> 03:42.600 Don't think he's checked them yet, though. 03:42.600 --> 03:45.480 I'll tell you boys, this is one I'll bet on. 03:45.480 --> 03:46.480 Maybe. 03:46.480 --> 03:48.560 You got the names of Mrs. Kelby's relatives? 03:48.560 --> 03:49.560 Oh, yeah. 03:49.560 --> 03:51.560 Right over here. 03:51.560 --> 03:54.000 Sure wish we had a chance to talk to that boy. 03:54.000 --> 03:55.000 Yeah? 03:55.000 --> 03:56.200 How's it feel to you, Ben? 03:56.200 --> 03:58.320 Hmm, I don't know. 03:58.320 --> 04:01.120 Notice anything else funny about the guy, Al? 04:01.120 --> 04:03.440 Uh, I don't know. 04:03.440 --> 04:04.640 Here's those names, Joe. 04:04.640 --> 04:05.560 Thanks. 04:05.560 --> 04:07.200 Kelby was upset all right. 04:07.200 --> 04:12.840 For some reason, he didn't strike me as reacting the way a normal guy reacts when his wife disappears. 04:12.840 --> 04:14.960 All right, Al. How would you react? 04:14.960 --> 04:16.520 Bargetti's worrying again. 04:16.520 --> 04:19.000 Oh, now listen, boys, it's no fooling matter. 04:19.000 --> 04:20.760 This is one I'll bet on. 04:20.760 --> 04:21.760 It's a homicide. 04:21.760 --> 04:22.760 All right. 04:22.760 --> 04:24.760 How about a copy of this report? 04:24.760 --> 04:27.520 Yeah, uh, where do I get the phone? 04:27.520 --> 04:29.640 Missing persons Bargetti. 04:29.640 --> 04:30.640 Who's that? 04:30.640 --> 04:33.640 Oh, uh, yes. 04:33.640 --> 04:34.640 Yes. 04:34.640 --> 04:35.640 About why? 04:35.640 --> 04:36.640 Oh, sure. 04:36.640 --> 04:37.640 All right, son. 04:37.640 --> 04:38.640 Four o'clock. 04:38.640 --> 04:39.640 Yeah. 04:39.640 --> 04:40.640 Goodbye. 04:40.640 --> 04:41.640 That was Kelby's stepson. 04:41.640 --> 04:42.640 What do you want? 04:42.640 --> 04:43.640 Things to do. 04:43.640 --> 04:44.640 I'm going to go. 04:44.640 --> 04:45.640 I'm going to go. 04:45.640 --> 04:46.640 I'm going to go. 04:46.640 --> 04:47.640 I'm going to go. 04:47.640 --> 04:49.040 What do you want? 04:49.040 --> 04:55.200 Think something's happened to his mother. 04:55.200 --> 04:58.960 In police work, missing persons detail is not a department separate in itself. 04:58.960 --> 05:03.040 It is organized as a part of the Homicide Bureau. 05:03.040 --> 05:06.820 According to Bargetti, who took the call, the boy said he suspected his stepfather and 05:06.820 --> 05:10.640 he didn't want him to know of any meeting between him and police officers. 05:10.640 --> 05:14.560 He would meet the officers that afternoon at 4 p.m. in a restaurant on the corner of 05:14.560 --> 05:16.840 Hollywood Boulevard and Fairfax Avenue. 05:16.840 --> 05:22.200 At 315, Ben and I left the office and drove out to the meeting place, the Dairyland Fountain 05:22.200 --> 05:23.960 and Coffee Shop. 05:23.960 --> 05:26.600 We arrived there at 345. 05:26.600 --> 05:31.680 At eight minutes to five, the Kelby boy still had not arrived. 05:31.680 --> 05:32.680 Youngster's not very prone. 05:32.680 --> 05:35.680 Well, let's wait a little while longer. 05:35.680 --> 05:36.680 Yeah. 05:36.680 --> 05:37.680 Smoke? 05:37.680 --> 05:38.680 Yeah, thanks. 05:38.680 --> 05:40.680 Want some more coffee? 05:40.680 --> 05:41.680 No, thanks. 05:41.680 --> 05:45.360 I guess the boy isn't going to show. 05:45.360 --> 05:48.200 I think something's happened. 05:48.200 --> 05:53.440 Fifteen minutes after we left the coffee shop, we drove up in front of the gate of the Kelby 05:53.440 --> 05:55.600 Nursery on Belasco Road. 05:55.600 --> 05:59.480 The house itself was set well back on the property, which covered about four acres. 05:59.480 --> 06:03.220 The entire nursery was surrounded by a six-foot steel wire fence and it looked like almost 06:03.220 --> 06:07.080 every available foot of ground inside was planted with some kind of a flower or shrub. 06:07.080 --> 06:08.080 Kelby met us at the gate. 06:08.080 --> 06:09.080 Yes? 06:09.080 --> 06:10.080 What do you men want? 06:10.080 --> 06:11.080 Police officers. 06:11.080 --> 06:12.080 Are you Mr. Kelby? 06:12.080 --> 06:13.080 Yes. 06:13.080 --> 06:14.080 What do you want? 06:14.080 --> 06:15.080 We'd like to talk for a minute. 06:15.080 --> 06:16.080 We'd like to ask you a few questions. 06:16.080 --> 06:17.080 I'm busy now. 06:17.080 --> 06:18.080 Can't you come back tomorrow? 06:18.080 --> 06:19.080 It's pretty important, Mr. Kelby. 06:19.080 --> 06:20.080 I think we'd better talk right now. 06:20.080 --> 06:21.080 All right, if you have to. 06:21.080 --> 06:22.080 Red, giant, down. 06:22.080 --> 06:23.080 You too, honey. 06:23.080 --> 06:24.080 Quiet. 06:24.080 --> 06:25.080 All right. 06:25.080 --> 06:26.080 Now, what do you want? 06:26.080 --> 06:27.080 Mind if we come inside? 06:27.080 --> 06:30.080 These watchdogs of mine are pretty vicious. 06:30.080 --> 06:31.080 We can talk here at the gate. 06:31.080 --> 06:32.080 All right, Mr. Kelby. 06:32.080 --> 06:33.080 This is Sergeant Romero. 06:33.080 --> 06:34.080 My name's Friday. 06:34.080 --> 06:37.080 We've been assigned to look into your wife's disappearance. 06:37.080 --> 06:38.080 Did you find anything yet? 06:38.080 --> 06:39.080 Nothing definite. 06:39.080 --> 06:40.080 Maybe you can help us. 06:40.080 --> 06:41.080 Would you tell us what you've found? 06:41.080 --> 06:42.080 Nothing. 06:42.080 --> 06:45.080 What do you mean, what happened? 06:45.080 --> 06:50.080 Well, when did you last see her? 06:50.080 --> 06:52.080 When did you first notice she was gone? 06:52.080 --> 06:57.080 We finished up Sunday night dinner about seven o'clock, and I laid down for a nap. 06:57.080 --> 06:59.080 Agnes went out on the front porch for some air. 06:59.080 --> 07:02.080 I woke up a little before eight and went outside to look for her. 07:02.080 --> 07:03.080 She was gone. 07:03.080 --> 07:04.080 Nobody saw her leave, Mr. Kelby? 07:04.080 --> 07:05.080 Not that I know of. 07:05.080 --> 07:07.080 Maybe some of our nosy neighbors. 07:07.080 --> 07:08.080 I don't know. 07:08.080 --> 07:09.080 How about your stepson? 07:09.080 --> 07:10.080 Wasn't he around Sunday night? 07:10.080 --> 07:11.080 Bruce? 07:11.080 --> 07:14.080 No, went out to a show with some other kids. 07:14.080 --> 07:15.080 When did he get back from the show? 07:15.080 --> 07:17.080 About ten, I think. 07:17.080 --> 07:18.080 Why? 07:18.080 --> 07:19.080 Where's your stepson now? 07:19.080 --> 07:21.080 Who are you looking for, my wife or my stepson? 07:21.080 --> 07:22.080 Both, Mr. Kelby. 07:22.080 --> 07:23.080 Where's your stepson? 07:23.080 --> 07:24.080 Gone. 07:24.080 --> 07:27.080 I took him over to my sister's in Alhambra. 07:27.080 --> 07:31.080 Then feeling bad since his mother disappeared, figured the change would do him good. 07:31.080 --> 07:33.080 Why did you take him over to your sister's, Kelby? 07:33.080 --> 07:34.080 This afternoon. 07:34.080 --> 07:36.080 What's that got to do with it? 07:36.080 --> 07:37.080 We'd like to talk to Bruce. 07:37.080 --> 07:39.080 No, no, I can't allow it. 07:39.080 --> 07:40.080 The boy's too upset. 07:40.080 --> 07:41.080 I can't allow it. 07:41.080 --> 07:43.080 I'm afraid you're going to have to allow it. 07:43.080 --> 07:45.080 Listen, mister, you can get off this property right now. 07:45.080 --> 07:46.080 No cops giving me sass. 07:46.080 --> 07:47.080 Nobody's giving you sass, Kelby. 07:47.080 --> 07:49.080 We want to talk to your stepson, that's all. 07:49.080 --> 07:51.080 He might give us a clue as to the whereabouts of your wife. 07:51.080 --> 07:53.080 And I say you can't see the boy. 07:53.080 --> 07:56.080 What's more, you cops couldn't find thorns in a rose patch. 07:56.080 --> 07:58.080 I'll get somebody else to look for Agnes. 07:58.080 --> 08:00.080 It's my business anyway, nobody else's. 08:00.080 --> 08:02.080 It's our business too if anything's happened to her. 08:02.080 --> 08:03.080 What are you talking about? 08:03.080 --> 08:05.080 You better get your coat, Mr. Kelby. 08:05.080 --> 08:07.080 We're taking in for questioning. 08:07.080 --> 08:09.080 You come through that gate and I'm going to let these dogs go accidentally. 08:09.080 --> 08:11.080 I'd hate to shoot the dogs. 08:11.080 --> 08:13.080 Now go on the house and get your coat. 08:16.080 --> 08:20.080 Eric Kelby turned and made his way up the path and into the house. 08:20.080 --> 08:22.080 Five minutes later he came out. 08:22.080 --> 08:24.080 Without a word to either of us, he came down the path, 08:24.080 --> 08:27.080 closed the gate behind him and got into our car. 08:27.080 --> 08:30.080 On the way back to headquarters, he chatted pleasantly about the weather, 08:30.080 --> 08:33.080 the nursery business and his dogs. 08:33.080 --> 08:34.080 When we pulled up in front of the city hall, 08:34.080 --> 08:37.080 we met the reason for his sudden change in temperament. 08:37.080 --> 08:39.080 His lawyer was waiting for us at the door. 08:39.080 --> 08:42.080 We took Kelby to one of the interrogation rooms. 08:42.080 --> 08:44.080 His lawyer tagged along. 08:44.080 --> 08:48.080 We tried to question him, but the lawyer objected to two out of every three questions we asked. 08:48.080 --> 08:50.080 It was hopeless and we knew it. 08:50.080 --> 08:51.080 So did the lawyer. 08:51.080 --> 08:54.080 We released Kelby, but we did get the name and address of his sister 08:54.080 --> 08:56.080 where the stepson Bruce was staying. 08:56.080 --> 08:59.080 After they left, Ben and I got back in the car 08:59.080 --> 09:01.080 and drove out to Alhambra to check on the boy. 09:02.080 --> 09:04.080 Forget he had this in peg right, Joe. 09:04.080 --> 09:05.080 He's a real sleeper. 09:05.080 --> 09:09.080 Yeah, I'd like to know how the stepson missed that date with us this afternoon. 09:09.080 --> 09:12.080 Well, if the kid called us from the house, his stepfather could have overheard him. 09:12.080 --> 09:13.080 It's possible. 09:13.080 --> 09:16.080 Sister's house ought to be along this block, shouldn't it? 09:16.080 --> 09:20.080 Yeah, let's see, 1408, 1406. 09:20.080 --> 09:23.080 That is, Joe, a great cottage, 1402. 09:23.080 --> 09:24.080 Right. 09:27.080 --> 09:29.080 It's a nice looking little place, isn't it? 09:29.080 --> 09:30.080 Well kept. 09:30.080 --> 09:31.080 Yeah, it's a nice neighborhood. 09:31.080 --> 09:35.080 I wonder how the lot prices run out here. 09:39.080 --> 09:40.080 Somebody's coming. 09:43.080 --> 09:44.080 Yes, what is it? 09:44.080 --> 09:46.080 Police officers, ma'am. Are you Miss Kelby? 09:46.080 --> 09:48.080 Bertha Kelby, yes, that's my name. 09:48.080 --> 09:49.080 Why? 09:49.080 --> 09:51.080 We talked to your brother earlier today, Miss Kelby. 09:51.080 --> 09:54.080 He said that you brought his stepson Bruce here to stay for a while. 09:54.080 --> 09:55.080 We'd like to see him. 09:55.080 --> 09:56.080 Bruce? 09:56.080 --> 09:59.080 Yes, he was here till about one hour and a half ago. 09:59.080 --> 10:01.080 I went to the store and when I came back he was gone. 10:01.080 --> 10:03.080 Have you any idea where he might be, Miss Kelby? 10:03.080 --> 10:06.080 Well, I telephoned my brother Eric's place just before you came to the door. 10:06.080 --> 10:07.080 He's not there. 10:07.080 --> 10:09.080 I don't know where he might be. 10:09.080 --> 10:12.080 I'm worried about him. He seems so upset. 10:12.080 --> 10:14.080 It's business about his mother's disappearance, you know. 10:14.080 --> 10:16.080 Would you mind if we came in and looked around, Miss Kelby? 10:16.080 --> 10:18.080 Well, no, not at all. 10:20.080 --> 10:23.080 We went in and looked the house over from one end to the other. 10:23.080 --> 10:25.080 There wasn't a trace of the boy. 10:25.080 --> 10:28.080 We drove back to Kelby's nursery and satisfied ourselves the boy wasn't there. 10:28.080 --> 10:33.080 Then we came back to Al Hamburn and we kept an eye on Miss Bertha Kelby's home until midnight. 10:33.080 --> 10:35.080 No one came or went. 10:35.080 --> 10:38.080 At five minutes past midnight the lights went off in the living room 10:38.080 --> 10:40.080 and a few minutes later in the back of the house. 10:40.080 --> 10:44.080 The next morning when Ben and I checked in for work as usual at eight o'clock, 10:44.080 --> 10:47.080 we met with Captain of Homicide, Frank Kearney. 10:47.080 --> 10:51.080 What makes you two so positive there has been any foul play in this Kelby thing? 10:51.080 --> 10:53.080 Well, it's just it, Cap. We're not positive. 10:53.080 --> 10:55.080 It's the whole setup. It smells bad. 10:55.080 --> 10:56.080 For instance? 10:56.080 --> 11:00.080 That lawyer. If a man's innocent, he doesn't need a lawyer to sit with him in the interrogation room 11:00.080 --> 11:02.080 and tell him not to answer questions. 11:02.080 --> 11:04.080 Number two, that kid's telephone call. 11:04.080 --> 11:06.080 Maybe he doesn't get along with his stepfather. 11:06.080 --> 11:09.080 It happens, you know. Maybe he's trying to get back at him for something or other. 11:09.080 --> 11:11.080 Maybe. Then why is Kelby hiding him out? 11:11.080 --> 11:13.080 You're sure he's hiding him out? 11:13.080 --> 11:15.080 No other way to take it, Cap. 11:16.080 --> 11:18.080 The Kelby woman walked away from her home Sunday night. 11:18.080 --> 11:22.080 Nobody saw her. She took nothing with her. No clothes, no luggage, no money. 11:22.080 --> 11:24.080 You checked with the family doctor? 11:24.080 --> 11:27.080 Yesterday. He told us Mrs. Kelby was in perfect health. 11:27.080 --> 11:30.080 We double-checked the wanderer's file and the repeater's file and missing persons. 11:30.080 --> 11:32.080 Couldn't find her name in either one. 11:32.080 --> 11:33.080 How about her relatives in town? 11:33.080 --> 11:37.080 Haven't had a chance to talk to them yet, Cap. We'll check them this morning. 11:37.080 --> 11:40.080 Well, one thing's certain, the woman couldn't have gone very far. 11:40.080 --> 11:43.080 We checked the sheriff's office, the jails, the hospitals. 11:43.080 --> 11:46.080 Sent out a teletype and an APB. Every cop in the city has her description. 11:46.080 --> 11:49.080 She's been gone almost four days, but nobody's seen her. 11:49.080 --> 11:50.080 How does that add up to you? 11:50.080 --> 11:53.080 It doesn't. You better move on it. 11:53.080 --> 11:55.080 Check every one of Mrs. Kelby's friends and relatives. 11:55.080 --> 11:56.080 Right, Frank. 11:56.080 --> 11:57.080 Then try the neighbors. 11:57.080 --> 12:01.080 As long as I've been a cop, neighbors have been able to tell everything about anyone. 12:07.080 --> 12:09.080 All that day, Ben and I made the rounds. 12:09.080 --> 12:13.080 First stop was the Western National Bank where Mrs. Kelby maintained her account. 12:13.080 --> 12:18.080 Her saving statement showed a total balance of $31,564.17. 12:18.080 --> 12:23.080 Her separate checking account had a balance of $842.71. 12:23.080 --> 12:28.080 At the Farmers Mutual, we found the record of an insurance policy issued to Agnes Trumbull Kelby. 12:28.080 --> 12:32.080 It was a 20-pay life policy covering the insured and the amount of $30,000. 12:32.080 --> 12:36.080 The beneficiary was listed as the insured son, Bruce Trumbull Kelby, 12:36.080 --> 12:38.080 if living upon the receipt of such due proof. 12:38.080 --> 12:41.080 If not, the insured's husband, Eric J. Kelby. 12:41.080 --> 12:45.080 By the time we finished checking her financial status, the odds were piling up fast. 12:45.080 --> 12:49.080 From only casual reports, we knew that Eric Kelby was a frugal man. 12:49.080 --> 12:53.080 If he was greedy as well, if he wanted or needed money badly enough to kill, 12:53.080 --> 12:58.080 then he had all the motives necessary to murder his wife, maybe his stepson, too. 12:58.080 --> 13:01.080 Ben and I started to make the rounds of Mrs. Kelby's friends and relatives. 13:01.080 --> 13:04.080 Our first stop was at the apartment of Agnes Kelby's sister, 13:04.080 --> 13:07.080 a talkative maiden lady in her early 60s. 13:07.080 --> 13:09.080 Agnes just isn't that kind. 13:09.080 --> 13:11.080 Oh, I'm worried sick about this. I really am. 13:11.080 --> 13:16.080 And Bruce, the poor lad, he must be heart sick. And Eric, what does Eric say about all this? 13:16.080 --> 13:18.080 He says he thinks his wife left him. 13:18.080 --> 13:21.080 Left him? Why, that's ridiculous. How strange. 13:21.080 --> 13:25.080 Can you think of any good reason why your sister would leave Mr. Kelby? 13:25.080 --> 13:29.080 I? Why, no. They had tiffs, of course, small ones. 13:29.080 --> 13:31.080 But of course there was that argument about Bruce. 13:31.080 --> 13:34.080 The two of them always seemed to be arguing about Bruce. 13:34.080 --> 13:35.080 How do you mean, ma'am? 13:35.080 --> 13:37.080 Oh, well, raising the boy and all, you know. 13:37.080 --> 13:43.080 Last time I talked to them, they were tipping about whether or not Bruce should be paid for working in the nursery for Eric. 13:43.080 --> 13:46.080 And the strangest thing, Eric seemed to be so upset about it all. 13:46.080 --> 13:47.080 Imagine. 13:47.080 --> 13:52.080 All on account of paying the boy a few dollars for good, honest work in that silly nursery. 13:52.080 --> 13:56.080 Well, you know, I'm the outspoken kind, and I just told Eric. 13:56.080 --> 14:00.080 Eric, I said, don't be an old meanie. Pay the boy. 14:00.080 --> 14:04.080 That was the extent of the information which Mrs. Kelby's sister had to offer. 14:04.080 --> 14:08.080 Next, we called on an aunt, Mrs. James D. Trumbull, 83 years old. 14:08.080 --> 14:11.080 She could hardly understand our questions, let alone answer them. 14:11.080 --> 14:14.080 She hadn't seen her niece, Agnes, in a year. 14:14.080 --> 14:18.080 After that, we paid a visit to one of Mrs. Kelby's friends, a Mrs. Lillian Humboldt. 14:18.080 --> 14:23.080 Well, I'm sorry, Sergeant, but I can't think of any good reason why she would leave him. 14:23.080 --> 14:27.080 Unless that silly business about Bruce got out of hand. 14:27.080 --> 14:30.080 You know, maybe Eric is just a little jealous of the boy. 14:30.080 --> 14:34.080 Next, we called on Daisy McLeod, who worked as a day maid for Mrs. Kelby. 14:34.080 --> 14:39.080 Officer, what Mr. and Mrs. Kelby thought, what they said, what they did, it's none of my business. 14:39.080 --> 14:42.080 I come in the morning, I do my work, I do it well. 14:42.080 --> 14:45.080 I'm not the nosy type, and I don't pry. 14:45.080 --> 14:51.080 I take half an hour for lunch, and when I'm through, I take my pay, and I don't expect tips, and I take the bus home. 14:51.080 --> 14:56.080 I'm not the peeking through the keyhole kind, sneaking around corners listening. 14:56.080 --> 15:00.080 But what I couldn't tell you about that man. 15:00.080 --> 15:02.080 Exactly what do you mean, Miss McLeod? 15:02.080 --> 15:04.080 Oh, he's a hard man, you know. 15:04.080 --> 15:09.080 They're always arguing about the boy, Bruce this, Bruce that. 15:09.080 --> 15:13.080 He's a nice boy, I think. He's never done anything to me. 15:13.080 --> 15:17.080 Oh, but the arguments came on her all the time. 15:17.080 --> 15:21.080 Should the boy be paid for working, shouldn't he? 15:21.080 --> 15:24.080 Why? Why not all the time? 15:24.080 --> 15:30.080 When Ben and I finished with a list of Mrs. Kelby's friends, relatives, and employees, we started out on the neighbors. 15:30.080 --> 15:34.080 None of them saw Mrs. Kelby after 6 p.m. the night she disappeared. 15:34.080 --> 15:39.080 Two of the neighbors said they saw the porch light burning after 7 p.m., but both said the porch was empty. 15:39.080 --> 15:42.080 Mrs. Kelby was not sitting in her chair at the usual time after dinner. 15:42.080 --> 15:44.080 According to them, that was one of her habits. 15:44.080 --> 15:47.080 It was ten minutes to six by the time Ben and I got back to the office. 15:47.080 --> 15:50.080 The light was still burning in Captain Kearney's office. 15:50.080 --> 15:54.080 Old age, Joe. A lot of money. Yeah. 15:54.080 --> 15:58.080 I wonder what the captain's hanging around for. Let's find out. 16:00.080 --> 16:02.080 Get anything? Pretty good luck, Cap. 16:02.080 --> 16:06.080 Good. I've got some more for you. Just walked in five minutes ago. 16:06.080 --> 16:10.080 What do you mean, Frank? Who walked in? Bruce Kelby. He's waiting in the next room. 16:10.080 --> 16:14.080 We went in the next room and met Bruce Kelby. 16:14.080 --> 16:18.080 He was small for a 17-year-old, dark-haired, and a little on the sickly side. 16:18.080 --> 16:21.080 He told us that he couldn't keep the date he made with us on the phone 16:21.080 --> 16:24.080 because his stepfather apparently did overhear the conversation 16:24.080 --> 16:27.080 and drove him directly to his sister's home in Alhambra. 16:27.080 --> 16:31.080 We asked him why he was so sure that his stepfather was responsible for his mother's sudden disappearance. 16:31.080 --> 16:35.080 For one thing, all three of us usually go to the early show on Sunday night. 16:35.080 --> 16:37.080 Eric, Martin, and I. 16:37.080 --> 16:42.080 But last Sunday, Eric said he wasn't feeling good and he wanted Mom to stay home and take care of him. 16:42.080 --> 16:45.080 Then he told me to go on ahead to the show, so I did. 16:45.080 --> 16:49.080 What time did you get home, son? About 9.30, quarter to 10. 16:49.080 --> 16:51.080 What was your stepfather doing when you got home? 16:51.080 --> 16:53.080 Sitting in the living room reading the paper. 16:53.080 --> 16:55.080 Did you notice anything unusual about the way he acted? 16:55.080 --> 16:58.080 He was nervous and jumpy, more than usual, I think. 16:58.080 --> 17:00.080 Anything else? Yes, sir. 17:00.080 --> 17:03.080 When I came in through the front yard, I noticed the dead man. 17:03.080 --> 17:08.080 They'd been out somewhere in the nursery plots, and they won't go out unless Eric's with them. 17:08.080 --> 17:10.080 He doesn't want them to trample the seedlings. 17:10.080 --> 17:13.080 What would your stepfather be doing out in the nursery at night? 17:13.080 --> 17:15.080 Does he usually do some work at night? 17:15.080 --> 17:18.080 No, sir. None of the plots are even lighted. Only the greenhouses. 17:18.080 --> 17:22.080 And the paths in the greenhouses are usually graveled, aren't they? No mud around. 17:22.080 --> 17:26.080 It's my job to see that the greenhouse paths are kept graveled. 17:26.080 --> 17:29.080 I know they're not muddy, but I'm sure they're not. 17:29.080 --> 17:34.080 I fixed them the day before, Saturday. 17:34.080 --> 17:36.080 What do you think it means, son? 17:36.080 --> 17:40.080 I don't know. I don't want to think about it. 17:40.080 --> 17:43.080 I just know he's done something. He's done something to her. 17:43.080 --> 17:47.080 Did your stepfather give you any reason for keeping you away from the police officers the other day? 17:47.080 --> 17:53.080 No, sir. He said people were getting nosy, and he said it might be better for me over at Aunt Bertha's. 17:53.080 --> 17:54.080 She's his sister. 17:54.080 --> 17:57.080 Do you think your Aunt Bertha might know where your mother is? 17:57.080 --> 18:00.080 No, we hardly ever see her. We don't know her well at all. 18:00.080 --> 18:05.080 We've heard your mother and your stepfather argued about whether you should be paid for your work in the nursery. 18:05.080 --> 18:08.080 When I started to work for him, he promised he'd pay me. 18:08.080 --> 18:11.080 I was saving up to buy a 31 Model A. 18:11.080 --> 18:14.080 And then after a couple of months, when he didn't pay me, I asked him. 18:14.080 --> 18:17.080 He told me I ought to be glad to work for him for nothing. 18:17.080 --> 18:19.080 And your mother argued with him over that? 18:19.080 --> 18:22.080 Sure. It was her money that bought the nursery, anyway. 18:22.080 --> 18:24.080 How'd you get away from your aunt's place like that? 18:24.080 --> 18:27.080 Bertha had some shopping to do, and she left me alone. 18:27.080 --> 18:29.080 She locked the door to my room. 18:29.080 --> 18:34.080 Even the screen over the window in my room was nailed down, but I kicked it out and got away. 18:34.080 --> 18:37.080 I stayed at a friend's house last night. 18:37.080 --> 18:39.080 Thought about where you were going to stay tonight? 18:39.080 --> 18:42.080 I don't know. But I'm not going home. 18:42.080 --> 18:46.080 And I'm not going back to Bertha's place, either. I'll get a room. 18:46.080 --> 18:49.080 How'd you like to stay at my house a few days? 18:49.080 --> 18:51.080 Sure nice of you. 18:51.080 --> 18:54.080 Maybe I'd better not. Mom might not like it. 18:54.080 --> 18:56.080 Oh, I'll take care of that. 18:56.080 --> 18:58.080 Now let's hop out and get some dinner. 18:58.080 --> 19:00.080 Sure darn nice of you, sir. 19:00.080 --> 19:02.080 All right, son. Come with me. 19:07.080 --> 19:09.080 What do you think, Joe? 19:09.080 --> 19:11.080 He could be lying. Yeah. 19:16.080 --> 19:18.080 Now what, Cap? 19:18.080 --> 19:21.080 Should we bring Kelby in again? No, not yet. 19:21.080 --> 19:24.080 He's found out by now from his sister that the boy's gone. 19:24.080 --> 19:27.080 He probably figures the police station is the first place he'd come. 19:27.080 --> 19:29.080 Wouldn't do much good pulling him in now, Ben. 19:29.080 --> 19:30.080 We couldn't even question him. 19:30.080 --> 19:32.080 10 to 1, his lawyer would be waiting for us when we got back. 19:32.080 --> 19:36.080 That's the problem. How do we get to this Kelby without his lawyer finding out? 19:36.080 --> 19:40.080 Well, what about the early morning, Cap? Say tomorrow, about 5 or 6 a.m. 19:40.080 --> 19:42.080 Think he'd be looking for us then? 19:42.080 --> 19:44.080 Yeah, that might do it. 19:44.080 --> 19:46.080 We can just get by the door and get some food. 19:46.080 --> 19:49.080 That might do it. We can just get by that pack of hounds he owns 19:49.080 --> 19:52.080 without waking the whole neighborhood. Might work. 19:52.080 --> 19:54.080 If we could just question him alone, 19:54.080 --> 19:57.080 I've got an idea it wouldn't take much to make him cop out. 19:57.080 --> 19:59.080 All right, give it a try. 19:59.080 --> 20:03.080 Get out there in the early morning and bring him in for questioning as quietly as possible. 20:03.080 --> 20:06.080 I'll be in at 6 a.m. If you want me before then call me at home. 20:06.080 --> 20:08.080 All right, Frank. 20:08.080 --> 20:11.080 Kelby's got a smart lawyer. It's going to be plenty hard to convict him 20:11.080 --> 20:14.080 without a body and corroborating evidence. 20:14.080 --> 20:16.080 He's got four acres out there, Cap. 20:16.080 --> 20:18.080 You can hide a lot of bodies in four acres. 20:18.080 --> 20:22.080 Well, that's what I mean. This case isn't ending. It's just beginning. 20:22.080 --> 20:30.080 The next morning, Ben and I met at the office about a few minutes past 4 a.m. 20:30.080 --> 20:32.080 We had a cup of coffee and a donut at an all-night restaurant, 20:32.080 --> 20:35.080 and then we started for the Kelby place out on Belasco Road. 20:35.080 --> 20:40.080 We took four pounds of fresh horse meat with us to keep the dogs quiet if they raised a fuss. 20:40.080 --> 20:42.080 It was 28 minutes past 4 when Ben pulled the car to a stop 20:42.080 --> 20:45.080 a few hundred feet from the gate to the Kelby nursery. 20:50.080 --> 20:54.080 We got out of the car and made our way down the road to the gate. 20:54.080 --> 21:00.080 I reached in and tried the latch. It was padlocked. The dogs started in. 21:00.080 --> 21:02.080 Okay, Ben, looks like we'll have to jump the fence. 21:02.080 --> 21:04.080 Toss some of that horse meat over to him. 21:04.080 --> 21:06.080 Yeah, yeah, here. 21:06.080 --> 21:08.080 That's it. Come on, let's climb. 21:08.080 --> 21:11.080 Keep an eye on those hounds. Looks like they could chew your leg off. 21:11.080 --> 21:13.080 Yeah. 21:13.080 --> 21:15.080 Here comes a third one, Ben. Toss some more meat. 21:15.080 --> 21:18.080 Yeah, there you are, boy. Go get it. Go get it, boy. 21:18.080 --> 21:20.080 Look, Ben, light's going on in the house. 21:20.080 --> 21:22.080 Come on, let's make it fast. 21:22.080 --> 21:25.080 Who is it? Who's there? 21:25.080 --> 21:26.080 I'll set the dogs on you. 21:26.080 --> 21:27.080 Police officers, Mr. Kelby. 21:27.080 --> 21:30.080 What? What are you doing out here this time of night? 21:30.080 --> 21:32.080 You're under arrest, Kelby. Get your coat. 21:32.080 --> 21:33.080 You cops are asking for a peck of trouble. 21:33.080 --> 21:34.080 Get your coat. 21:34.080 --> 21:36.080 Where's my stepson? What have you done with him? 21:36.080 --> 21:37.080 What have you done with your wife? 21:37.080 --> 21:39.080 You're going to pay for this. I'll have your jobs. 21:39.080 --> 21:42.080 That's not the first time we heard that, Kelby. Let's go. 21:53.080 --> 21:55.080 The light's burning in the captain's office. 21:55.080 --> 21:57.080 Yeah. All right, Kelby, in here. 21:57.080 --> 21:59.080 You'll pay for this, mark my word. 21:59.080 --> 22:01.080 Ben, take him in the office here and stay with him. 22:01.080 --> 22:02.080 I'll see if Frank's in yet. 22:02.080 --> 22:13.080 Roger. Come on, Kelby, inside. 22:13.080 --> 22:15.080 Friday, did you bring in Kelby? 22:15.080 --> 22:17.080 He's down in the interrogation room. Ben's with him. 22:17.080 --> 22:18.080 Somebody saw you. 22:18.080 --> 22:19.080 Don't think so. 22:19.080 --> 22:23.080 They must have. Kelby's lawyer's sitting in the next room. 22:23.080 --> 22:28.080 Kelby again refused to answer any questions without the advice of his attorney. 22:28.080 --> 22:29.080 We released him. 22:29.080 --> 22:32.080 That day, Captain Kearney sent out two men to keep an eye on the nursery 22:32.080 --> 22:34.080 and report on all of Kelby's movements. 22:34.080 --> 22:36.080 Shortly after seven o'clock that night, just after nightfall, 22:36.080 --> 22:40.080 we tried once again to bring in Kelby for questioning without his lawyer's knowledge. 22:40.080 --> 22:41.080 It didn't work. 22:41.080 --> 22:44.080 A little after we booked him, his lawyer obtained a writ of habeas corpus. 22:44.080 --> 22:46.080 We had to release him again. 22:46.080 --> 22:49.080 The two men assigned to stake out the Kelby place reported to the police. 22:49.080 --> 22:53.080 We had to release him again. The two men assigned to stake out the Kelby place reported definitely 22:53.080 --> 22:56.080 that somebody was tipping the lawyer whenever unknown visitors showed up at the nursery 22:56.080 --> 23:00.080 and drove off with Kelby. There was nothing we could do about it. 23:00.080 --> 23:02.080 The next morning, Kearney came up with a lead. 23:02.080 --> 23:04.080 I had a long talk with the boy last night. 23:04.080 --> 23:07.080 Accidentally, I think he's given us a pretty good lead. 23:07.080 --> 23:08.080 Yeah? 23:08.080 --> 23:10.080 There's only one way we'll ever get a conviction. 23:10.080 --> 23:13.080 That's by finding the body and evidence to tie Kelby in. 23:13.080 --> 23:15.080 Yeah, that'll do it. Where do we start looking? 23:15.080 --> 23:19.080 In a new rose bed next to one of the greenhouses in Kelby's nursery. 23:19.080 --> 23:20.080 Hmm? 23:20.080 --> 23:22.080 The kid came up with it last night. 23:22.080 --> 23:23.080 How come? 23:23.080 --> 23:26.080 First, Kelby's crazy about saving a dollar and making one. 23:26.080 --> 23:27.080 Yeah. 23:27.080 --> 23:31.080 In the nursery trade, especially where you have a limited area to work in, like Kelby, 23:31.080 --> 23:33.080 you cultivate every foot of ground. 23:33.080 --> 23:35.080 Every bit of soil you've got is planted with something. 23:35.080 --> 23:36.080 Mm-hmm. 23:36.080 --> 23:38.080 Kelby's not the type to waste anything. 23:38.080 --> 23:42.080 Especially, he's not the kind that would let ground life follow when he could plant something 23:42.080 --> 23:44.080 that might bring in a few dollars next season. 23:44.080 --> 23:48.080 Bruce tells me his stepfather has every inch of those four acres planted. 23:48.080 --> 23:49.080 Every inch. 23:49.080 --> 23:53.080 Except a six by nine foot plot of ground in that rose garden. 23:53.080 --> 23:55.080 Oh, that sounds like a long shot to me, Frank. 23:55.080 --> 23:59.080 The boy said he prepared that piece of ground for planting late Saturday afternoon. 23:59.080 --> 24:02.080 His stepfather wanted it ready for Sunday morning. 24:02.080 --> 24:04.080 The plot of ground's still vacant. 24:04.080 --> 24:07.080 I'd have planted it yesterday, Cap. When's the last time you checked? 24:07.080 --> 24:09.080 Before I came to work this morning. 24:09.080 --> 24:11.080 I called the men on stake out next to the nursery. 24:11.080 --> 24:13.080 They told me the plot's still empty. 24:13.080 --> 24:16.080 Mm-hmm. It's worth a chance, Frank. When do we look it over? 24:16.080 --> 24:17.080 Tonight. 24:17.080 --> 24:21.080 I don't want Kelby or his lawyer to know a thing until we find that body. 24:21.080 --> 24:22.080 Well, how are we gonna work it? 24:22.080 --> 24:24.080 We'll order up a crew from the crime lab. 24:24.080 --> 24:27.080 They can take probings through that plot and all around it. 24:27.080 --> 24:31.080 They can tell us without any guesswork how deep that ground's been worked over lately. 24:31.080 --> 24:32.080 When do you want to start? 24:32.080 --> 24:35.080 Be here in the office at 8.30 tonight. 24:35.080 --> 24:44.080 If my hunches are any good, we'll find a body. 24:44.080 --> 24:48.080 It was ten minutes past nine that night when we got to the Kelby place. 24:48.080 --> 24:53.080 Lieutenant Lee Jones and his assistants, Kearney, Ben, and two other men from homicide. 24:53.080 --> 24:57.080 The men on stake out told us that Kelby had left about 20 minutes before in a dark blue coop. 24:57.080 --> 25:01.080 Ben brought along the usual supply of horse meat for the dogs so we didn't have any trouble there. 25:01.080 --> 25:10.080 We found the empty plot of ground on the rosebed next to the greenhouse exactly as Bruce described it to Kearney. 25:10.080 --> 25:13.080 The ground's been worked over all right, boys. At least four to five feet down. 25:13.080 --> 25:17.080 All right, Lee, let's start digging. Romero, take care of the dogs. 25:17.080 --> 25:19.080 Watson, grab one of these shovels. 25:19.080 --> 25:20.080 Right, Captain. 25:20.080 --> 25:22.080 Hey, Kelby said these dogs were vicious, didn't he? 25:22.080 --> 25:23.080 Yeah, why? 25:23.080 --> 25:27.080 Look at these hounds. They're no more vicious than a lively colo. 25:27.080 --> 25:29.080 Higgins, get that light over here, will you? 25:29.080 --> 25:30.080 Thanks. 25:30.080 --> 25:31.080 What is it, Lee? 25:31.080 --> 25:35.080 Let me see. Teeth. A set of false teeth. 25:35.080 --> 25:36.080 Been in the ground long? 25:36.080 --> 25:38.080 Don't think so. Judging from the shape they're in. 25:38.080 --> 25:40.080 How far down would you say you are, Lee? 25:40.080 --> 25:42.080 A couple of feet. The ground's real soft. 25:42.080 --> 25:44.080 Lee, come here a minute. 25:45.080 --> 25:46.080 What is it? 25:46.080 --> 25:49.080 The body. Here's the shoulder. 25:49.080 --> 25:53.080 All right, you men over here with Watson, get the dirt off the face. 25:53.080 --> 25:56.080 Romero, you got a picture of the Kelby woman? 25:56.080 --> 25:59.080 Yeah, Captain. Let's see. I'll get it. 25:59.080 --> 26:02.080 Thanks. Get the light down here. 26:04.080 --> 26:07.080 Aren't you paid off, Frank? That's her. 26:12.080 --> 26:17.080 Ben and I went back to the car and notified communications to broadcast a want for murder on Eric Kelby. 26:17.080 --> 26:23.080 His description, together with the description of the car and license number of the car he was driving, was rebroadcast every 15 minutes. 26:23.080 --> 26:27.080 Then we went back to check the house. We found the front door unlocked. 26:27.080 --> 26:32.080 We went inside and looked around. In one bedroom we found clothes scattered over the bed and the floor. 26:32.080 --> 26:35.080 There was only one old suit remaining in the closet. 26:35.080 --> 26:38.080 On the table next to the bed we found an airline's timetable. 26:38.080 --> 26:47.080 We got to the phone and notified communications to alert all police details at railroad stations, bus terminals, and airlines, and then to send out an APB on the teletype. 26:47.080 --> 26:49.080 After that we checked with the airlines. 26:49.080 --> 26:53.080 One of them told us that a man answering Kelby's description had booked passage for Mexico City. 26:53.080 --> 26:59.080 The plane was scheduled to take off at 10.40 that night from Burbank Airport. Ben's watch said four minutes past ten. 26:59.080 --> 27:04.080 We called the detail at the airport and alerted them. Then we drove over to check in person. 27:04.080 --> 27:12.080 It was 10.35 p.m. when Ben and I took up our positions just inside gate three where passengers were boarding flight 72 for Mexico City. 27:12.080 --> 27:16.080 He's cutting it close, Joe. Got about four minutes more to make that plane. 27:16.080 --> 27:20.080 We waited. The crowd got thicker as departure time came closer. 27:20.080 --> 27:26.080 At 10.39, Eric Kelby came through the main entrance across the terminal through gate three into a pair of handcuffs. 27:26.080 --> 27:28.080 I don't understand. What does this mean? 27:28.080 --> 27:30.080 We found your wife's body, Kelby. 27:30.080 --> 27:32.080 What? I don't know what you're talking about. 27:32.080 --> 27:37.080 In the rose patch next to the greenhouse. Your lawyer can't help this time. 27:37.080 --> 27:41.080 Mexico City would have been a nice trip. Expensive. 27:41.080 --> 27:43.080 I'll plead insanity. I didn't know what I was doing. 27:43.080 --> 27:48.080 Be a nice vacation next year, Joe, Mexico City. I'm going to talk to my wife about it. 27:48.080 --> 27:52.080 I didn't mean it. She slapped me. We were arguing about the boy. I didn't mean it. 27:52.080 --> 27:57.080 I don't know if you did or not, Kelby, but you killed her. Come on. You missed your plane. 28:08.080 --> 28:15.080 The story you had just heard is true. Only the names were changed to protect the innocent. 28:15.080 --> 28:19.080 Eric Kelby was tried and convicted of murder in the first degree. 28:19.080 --> 28:24.080 He is now awaiting execution in the lethal gas chamber at the State Penitentiary. 28:29.080 --> 28:35.080 You have just heard the 14th in a new series of authentic cases transcribed from official files. 28:35.080 --> 28:42.080 Technical advice for Dragnet comes from the office of W.A. Wharton, acting chief of police, Los Angeles Police Department. 28:42.080 --> 28:49.080 Tonight's program is dedicated to William J. Weston, Jr. of the Washington, D.C. Police Department, 28:49.080 --> 28:57.080 who on the evening of March 4, 1945, gave his life so that yours might be more secure. 28:57.080 --> 29:07.080 Dragnet came to you from Los Angeles. 29:07.080 --> 29:13.080 If you enjoyed tonight's production of Dragnet, you'll want to listen to Richard Diamond, private detective, 29:13.080 --> 29:19.080 as played by the screen's romantic tough guy, Dick Powell. 29:19.080 --> 29:27.080 The Pet Milk Show, usually heard at this time, has moved to a new time period on Sunday nights. 29:27.080 --> 29:35.080 Be sure to hear Larry Douglas and Kay Arman on the new Pet Milk Show tomorrow night on NBC. 29:35.080 --> 29:49.080 This is NBC, the national broadcasting company.