Ladies and gentlemen, the story you are about to hear is true.
The names have been changed to protect the innocent.
Dragnet.
You're a detective sergeant.
You're assigned a forgery detail.
A group of check passers is working in your city.
They've hit over 50 places of business.
You have no lead to their true identity.
They're still working.
Your job, stop them.
It was Wednesday, July 11th.
It was warm in Los Angeles.
We were working the day watch out a forgery detail.
My partner is Frank Smith, the boss of Chief Detective Stab Brown.
My name is Friday.
We were on our way out from the office.
It was 1120 a.m. when we got to the corner of York Boulevard and Buchanan Street.
Buchanan Market.
Yeah, that's what I'm looking for.
Like to eat some dorsal?
Eat in the back there by count 11, cold cereal.
Thank you.
Yeah?
Mr. Dawson?
Yeah?
Police officers would like to talk to you.
Oh, about the check, huh?
That's right.
Mind if I go ahead with this display?
I'd like to get it finished.
I got enough trouble with the boss as it is that I don't want to build anymore.
No, sir.
You go right ahead.
Is this fellow cop too?
Yes, sir.
This is Officer Frank Smith.
My name's Frank.
Sure hope you can get the guy that gave me the paper.
Waits stands now I'm gonna have to make it up out of my salary.
I don't make that much.
I haven't told my wife yet.
She's gonna scream like an eagle when she finds out.
We got a real strict budget.
Sure gonna last it up.
You have the check?
Yeah.
I got it right here.
Came back from the bank this morning.
Boss gave it to me.
Here you go.
Thank you.
Same as the others?
Looks like it.
Yeah, here.
Thank you.
How's that look to you?
Sir?
The display.
It look all right?
Oh, yes, sir.
It's fine.
You got this mask finished and it's all gone.
What can you tell us about the man who gave you the check?
What do you want to know?
Well, what kind of identification did he use?
Just about the whole thing.
Driver's license, social security card, gasoline credit card, the works.
There's pencil notation on the back of the check.
This is his license number.
Let me take a look.
Here.
Yeah.
Yeah, that's it.
I figured sure it'd be good.
Nice looking fella.
I'm sure he'd never go in for a paper hanger.
Can you give us a description of him?
Yeah, sure can.
We got a good look at him.
This sure ought to sell his stuff.
What's that, sir?
I say this ought to sell his stuff.
This mask.
We're giving them away when you buy the breakfast food.
Extra quarter and you get one of these head things.
Kids sure go for them.
Uh-huh.
Whole display's built around it.
You see the finished mask goes right there.
Makes it look like the cardboard kid's wearing it.
Uh-huh.
You want to go ahead with the questions while I put it together?
Yes, sir.
Have you ever seen this man before?
No.
Of course he might have been around.
We do a pretty good business.
Could have been in, I wouldn't have remembered.
What'd he say to you?
Just came in and bought some groceries.
Must have been about a dollar and a half's worth.
He asked me to cash a check.
I told him the manager would have to okay it.
Uh-huh.
I told him the manager wasn't here or he'd have to wait.
Well, can't anyone else give the okay?
Not supposed to.
If we do and something goes wrong, we're stuck for it.
I see.
I told him he didn't have time.
Said he was on his lunch hour and he had to get the groceries home.
So I asked him if he had any identification.
He said he did.
It looked all right to me, so I cashed a check.
Uh-huh.
Say, would you hold this mask for me while I get the rubber band around the top?
Yeah, sure.
Now wait till I wind it around a couple of times.
We put these things up high, but the kids still find a way to get them down.
They're not put together good.
They don't last long.
Uh-huh.
Now do it.
Let's see.
I guess this is what goes in next, the eyepiece.
Take the eyepiece and put it inside the mask.
Slip into notches Y and T.
This is 60 years.
Did you look at the man's identification closely?
How do you mean close?
Well, did you take a good look at it?
Good enough to think it was all right to cash a check.
It looked genuine, huh?
If it didn't, I wouldn't have gone for the money.
I see.
Was there anything about the man that would make it easier for us to identify him?
Not that I could see.
He looked ordinary enough.
Nothing special about him.
Nothing that'd stand out.
Hold this a minute, will you, while I put the earpiece inside?
This here?
Yeah.
All right.
Thanks.
I guess that's all there is.
Put it up here on the top.
And that does it.
Here.
How's it look?
It's fine.
Huh, kind of scary.
Sure hope the boss likes it.
Sure been on my back since that check came back.
Seems like everything I do is wrong.
Be glad when this day is over.
Yes, sir.
You want to give us that description now?
Of the man who gave me the check.
That's right.
Sure.
I'm gonna do all I can to help.
You think if you catch him, I'll be able to get the money back?
Well, that's hard to say, sir.
Sure hope so.
89.60.
That's a lot of money.
I hate to lose it.
How much was that?
89.60.
Yes, sir.
I don't even want to think about what my wife's gonna say.
That would be pretty rough.
Yes, sir, we understand.
How old was the man?
About 27, around in there.
About how tall was he?
Five, nine, I guess.
Say, if you do catch him, how do you go about getting the money back?
Well, it's booked as evidence first.
Then I get it back?
Well, that depends on what happens at the trial.
It's not up to us to decide, sir.
You see, the suspect has gotten several other people, too.
If there is anything recovered, they've got a share of it.
Then I probably won't get what's coming to me.
Well, no, sir, but you can be sure of one thing.
What's that?
Suspect will.
1146 A.M.
We got the complete description of the suspect,
and we made arrangements for the victim to come down to the city hall
and go through the mud books.
The information on the driver's license was checked through R&I
and the Department of Motor Vehicles, and we found it to be false.
The first bad check had come to our attention on February 16th,
five months previously.
Between then and the present forgery,
the gang had taken approximately $60,000 from businessmen in the Southland area.
All attempts had been made to stop them.
The checks cashed were all issued for the same amount, $91.10.
The checks were drawn on real companies, but on banks where no account existed.
Examination of the forgeries by the crime lab and by handwriting
showed that the checks themselves were not genuine.
The signatures on each of them vary.
The typewriter used to fill in the payee and the date was different in each instance
as was the check protector used.
MO bulletins carrying pictures of the checks and lists of the companies that they were drawn on
were gotten out to all supermarkets and check cashing agencies in the city.
None of the precautions we took did any good.
The gang continued to operate.
Each of the victims was questioned, but the descriptions of the suspect that they gave us
was different in each instance.
Examination of pictures of known check forgeries using the same method of operation
netted us nothing.
The stats office had made several runs on the information we had,
but they were not able to come up with any new evidence.
George Brereton up at Sacramento was contacted and he furnished us a list of possibles.
These were all checked out and several arrests were made clearing up other forgeries,
but our crime suspects were still free and they were still operating.
Wednesday, 4.15 p.m., Frank and I came back from Captain Welsh's office.
Well, now we know how to skipper fields.
Now, can you blame them?
No, I guess not.
We're doing all we can.
If the people who run the stores won't look at the bulletins, there's nothing we can do.
Remember, breaks are bound to go with us pretty soon.
I get it.
Forgery Friday.
Oh, just a minute, ma'am.
Fergie around?
I don't know. I'll take a look in back.
Hey, Fergie, then? Fergie?
No, he's not here.
He's not here right now. Can I take a message?
Mm-hmm.
Yes, ma'am. No, he's not working today.
Yes, ma'am.
Well, if you give me your number, I'll have him call when he gets in.
All right.
That's 9-8.
Yes, ma'am.
No, no, it's right in the message book.
No, he'll see it. That's right.
Yes, ma'am. Mm-hmm.
No, he'll look at the book when he comes in.
No, the first thing.
You bet. Well, you're more than welcome.
Yes, ma'am. Bye.
Problem?
No, she just didn't believe that Fergie would get the message.
Yeah, I know. Sometimes face has the same thing.
Sergeant Friday?
Yes, that's... Oh, hi, B. Come on in.
I wasn't sure you'd be in.
You're a nice man, don't you, Beatrice Dowling?
Oh, yeah, we've met. Sure, I haven't seen you in a long time.
Sit down, B. Here. Thanks.
There you go.
What can we do for you?
I thought I'd drop in and say hello. It's been a while.
Yeah, it has been. How's it been going?
Pretty good. Got myself a job.
When I got out, things were working good for me.
How long has it been now? A year ago, last January.
Well, is there anything we can do for you?
No. Might be the other way around.
What do you mean?
I never got a chance to tell you, Sergeant,
how much I appreciated what you did for me,
what you said in court.
Well, we just told him the truth.
I know. You would have gone a lot harder with me
if you hadn't been on my side.
It's nice of you to think of it that way, anyway.
It's true. I never got a chance before.
Now, maybe there's a way I can pay you back.
Well, it's not necessary, you know.
I know. I know. I want to.
Well, what do you got?
You know how it is. When you get out of jail,
you meet a lot of people in the business.
They all got a deal for you,
and I'm not going to con you a couple of times.
It's pretty hard, but I'm on the road,
and I'm going to stay there.
That's good to hear.
You get rumbles, you know, things come up.
I got one the other day. More than a rumble.
How about you, right away?
Figured there's a way to pay you back.
Well, what is it?
Met a guy in a bar, a little place near where I work.
Usually after work, I stop in and have a beer
while I wait for the traffic to clear up before I go home.
Another night,
I felt like I went and started talking.
We got to talking about different things.
Nothing big, just things.
You know how you do at a bar.
He asked me what I did for a living,
how things were going, like that.
And he wanted to know if I'd like to pick up a few extra bucks.
Said he wanted me to cash a check for him.
I told him I didn't have the money.
It didn't make any difference how small the check was.
I didn't have the loot.
Then he sprung it.
He didn't want me to cash it myself.
Said he wanted me to take it to the store and get it cashed.
Said he'd give me half what the check was for.
Well, why didn't he do it himself?
I asked him the same thing.
That's when he told me.
As soon as I heard it, I figured it might be something for you.
He said the check was stolen.
Beatrice Dowling had been convicted of forgery
three years before.
She'd been sentenced to the California Institution
for Women at Corona, California.
Frank and I had a small part in the investigation
that resulted in her conviction.
During the trial, we testified that her cooperation
had aided us in apprehending the rest of the gang
and allowing us to clean up the entire operation.
Since she'd been paroled, we'd lost track of her.
But on those occasions when we'd talk to a parole officer,
we found that she was living up to all of the conditions
of her release.
Frank and I took her across the street to a restaurant
and we talked further to her.
That's the sugar, will you second?
Yeah, yeah, I'll be.
You don't use it? No, no thanks.
How about you, Mr. Smith? No thanks, I take a bite too.
How about this guy? What did you tell him?
I said I'd think over the deal and let him know.
Did you get a chance to see the checks?
A couple.
Took him out of a wallet in his coat. I didn't get a good look at him though.
How about the man himself, did you ever see him before?
I don't think so.
You know why he picked you?
I've been trying to figure that one myself.
The only thing I can think of is the bartender there.
He knows I fell once, he might have given the word.
Has he got any record that you know of?
The bartender? I don't think so.
He likes to talk big, but I don't think he's ever done big time.
You set up anything about meeting the man with a check?
Not definite.
I told him I'd think it over.
I don't think he'd do it with the offer still be open.
He said it would, he said to look him up.
At the same bar?
Yeah, but I could get in touch with him there.
Any special time?
I'm gonna name one. I want you to know I wasn't even figuring to go through with it.
Not for a minute.
When he told me the checks were stolen, I thought right away about you.
Thought you might want the information.
I never figured to get mixed up in it.
Well, we'll buy it.
What are you gonna do about it?
Try to find out where the checks came from.
While you were talking to this guy, did he use a name at all?
Well, we were sitting there and another fellow came in and talked to him.
I heard the other guy call him Cecil.
Well, how about this other man? Do you know him?
No.
Never saw him around the bar? No, I never did.
Look, Peter, something I don't understand. If you stop at this bar all the time, how come you haven't seen this Cecil before?
Looks like he's a regular customer at the place.
You don't believe me, do you?
I'm just trying to get a straight.
I told you before, I only go in there about 5.30.
I'm only in the place maybe 15 minutes, then I leave.
There's a lot of time when people are coming in and out that I'm not there.
I see.
Listen.
I'm trying to give you guys something for free.
You don't want it?
Don't worry, you're not going to hurt my feelings.
No, it's not that big. Frank and I have been on the thing for the last four months here.
It's been giving us a lot of trouble.
Yeah.
Well, I think it's worth anything.
We're going to check it out.
Did this Cecil give you any idea where he got the checks?
He said they were stolen payroll checks, all made out and ready for endorsement.
Well, if they're made out, what about identification?
He said he had that.
All I'd need to put the checks through.
Did he show you any of it?
No, just said that he had it already.
All right, B.
I wonder if you can come back to the office and check through the books for us.
See if you can spot this Cecil.
Oh, sure. I'd be glad to help out.
I've got a bill we can leave.
I don't want to bring this up, Sergeant.
Yeah, what's that?
I hope you'll understand. I'm not trying to get out of line.
Well, go ahead, B.
They know me in this bar. This fella Cecil knows me.
What would happen if I went ahead of the deal?
You mean make the connection for us?
Yeah, line him up, find out how the gas is working.
I didn't ask you to do that.
It's not your idea. I figured it might be easier all around.
You and Mr. Smith will be right there.
As soon as I get the information, then it's up to you.
Well, I'll have to check that with the skipper.
We'll find out what he thinks of the idea. It might be pretty dangerous.
I thought of that too. The only one thing bothers me.
What's that?
Somebody's along the line. I'm going to have to tell this joker that I don't go for the deal.
He's going to find out I'm working with you.
When he does, be there.
We returned to the office and made arrangements to meet Beatrice Dowling the next day.
Frank and I got the name and description of the bartender at the place where the Dowling woman said she'd been approached.
We ran it through our eye, but we were not able to find a record for the man.
The next morning we met with Captain Welsh and told him of the idea.
He agreed that it appeared to be the only way we had of stopping the suspect.
We contacted Miss Dowling and made arrangements for her to be kept under constant surveillance.
The same day, Thursday, July 12th at 5.20 pm, she entered the bar.
Frank and I were parked down the street in our car.
How about it? See the doorway?
Well, all we can do now is wait.
Yeah.
Here, you want a cigarette?
I got one.
What's the matter? You got a cigarette?
Yeah, you got one on your hand?
There's some right here, sure. Here.
Thanks.
Oh, I'll sure be glad to get home.
Yeah.
Fay and me had a big argument last night.
Is that right? What's the matter now?
Oh, I came home. I guess about 7.30, about in there.
Right after dinner, I got ready for bed. That's when I saw it.
I should have known right from the start.
You should have known what?
Well, Fay fixed Swedish meatballs for dinner.
Again, huh?
Right then, I should have known.
That's what had happened.
You know, she always figures they'll soften me up, so I won't mind.
What'd you buy this time?
A new bedroom set.
King-sized bed, Joe.
Mattress, springs, couple of those new rubber pillows, you know, those bouncy spoonies.
Yeah, I know.
I took one look at them, and naturally, the roof went off.
You mean she bought the whole thing, huh?
She refurnished the whole room.
Cost a lot of money, didn't it?
That's what I thought. I was pretty sorry about it, too, and we had a few words.
I guess it was pretty bad.
By the time I got calmed down, she was asleep.
Then I saw the bill.
I couldn't believe it.
You wouldn't either, Joe. It wasn't big at all.
Is that right?
Yeah.
I sure slept good.
I think I could make it, Joe.
What's that?
You know how I'm always talking about sleeping for a week?
Well, the way I slept last night, I think I could make it.
You know something that you'd like to try?
How are you going to have to wait to try? Take a look down there.
Huh?
The bar. Beatrice is coming up.
Oh, yeah. A couple of guys with her.
They're acting kind of funny, aren't they?
Yeah.
The way they're shoving her around.
There's only one reason for that. They found out about us.
Frank and I followed the three people down the street.
A half a block from the bar, they got into a black Oldsmobile sedan
and pulled out into the line of traffic.
We kept them under surveillance while we drove to the downtown area.
We called Communications and got a rolling make on the car.
It was registered to a Cecil Maddox, 2482 North Alexandria on Hollywood.
We requested that Maddox be checked through RNI
and we found that he'd been arrested twice before on charges of grand theft.
And he'd served one term at San Quentin and one term at Folsom Penitentiary.
At the corner of Broadway and Clay streets,
the trio pulled into a parking lot and they left the car.
Frank and I parked our unit and followed them to a stationary store.
We were there for a couple of days.
Frank and I parked our unit and followed them to a stationary store.
On the street we could see Maddox talk to a salesman
while the other man walked up to a display of typewriters.
He took a slip of paper from his pocket and apparently tried to machine.
But the time he was finished Maddox had gotten through talking to the clerk
and they used the same piece of paper to try a check protector.
During this operation, Beatrice Dowling stood by and waited for them.
Finally, the three of them left the store
and walked two blocks east to a large market.
There we saw Maddox hand the Dowling woman an envelope.
After that she entered the store
that she entered the store and came back a few minutes later.
Frank and I were about 10 feet from the pair of checkmen
when the woman returned.
Hey, Dave.
How'd it go?
Thank you, Fred.
Here's the money.
OK, let's go to a bar.
We'll make the split.
Half of this is mine, huh?
That's the way we set up.
Let's go.
Come on, Frank.
All right, Maddox, hold it up.
What's this all about?
Police officers, you're under arrest.
For what?
Go ahead, spell out the beef.
How's forgery, Fred?
I don't know.
You won't hang it on me.
Don't book it, mister.
You'll get short odds.
The wrong beef.
I won't talk.
You already have, huh? You paid for it with a bad check.
The two suspects were taken to the city hall.
The second man was identified as Raymond Johnstone.
We checked him through records and identification,
and we found that he had a long felony record.
He'd served sentences in both San Quentin and Folsom.
And from the record, we found that he was in Folsom
at the time Maddox was serving his term.
We talked to Johnstone for an hour,
but he refused to admit any complicity in the forgeries.
9 15 PM, officers Ferguson and Regan
went out to the address we've gotten for Maddox,
and Frank and I talked to the suspect
in the interrogation room.
All right, come on, Maddox, empty your pockets.
What for?
Because we want you to.
Do I get the stuff back?
Put it on the table.
I haven't got anything, nothing you want.
Will you let us figure that out?
Come on, on the table.
There's a wallet, handkerchief, chain,
package of gum, keys, and that's it.
All right, now the coat pockets.
Cigarettes, lighter, some more chains, and parking stuff.
Inside pockets, too?
There's nothing there you'd be interested in.
Inside pockets.
Couple of letters, that's all.
All right, let's take a look.
Your true name's Cecil James Maddox?
Yeah.
Whose stuff belongs to?
I don't know anything about it.
Driver's license, social security card, oil company
credit card, these don't belong to you, do they?
Take a good look, cop.
You see my name on them?
We found them in your pocket.
Cleaner must have left them.
All come off it, Maddox.
We got you nailed and you know it.
You got to show me.
All right, these other envelopes here,
same thing on all of them.
Now where'd you get them?
I told you, I got a sloppy cleaner.
Frank, you want to check to see if Fergie's back?
Yeah, sure.
You got any money in the wallet?
Couple of bucks.
Take it out.
Sure.
I'll give it to you.
Keep it in your hands.
Give me the wallet.
Here.
You find anything interesting in there,
and I'll split it with you.
Sure.
How about these checks?
Where'd you get them?
I forget.
Well, you better start remembering, mister.
I'm trying.
It just isn't working out.
Pretty important that you do.
I think I found them.
Where?
I don't remember.
You turn up with $500 worth of checks,
and you don't know where you got them, huh?
I haven't got the slightest idea.
What about this receipt?
What's it for?
I don't know.
It's in your wallet.
You must have put it there.
Look at the back.
There's a phone number on it.
Maybe that's where I kept it.
No phone number here?
Well, I can't tell you where I got it.
I guess I've been carrying it around for a long time.
They did a couple of months ago.
That's a long time to me.
Look, what are you trying to prove with this innocent pitch?
You know we got you going in.
We're going to make a forgery complaint stick.
Now why are you trying to make it harder?
I don't think you can trip me for the beef.
There's a couple of officers over at your apartment now.
They come up with a press you use to print up
the checks and the identification.
You've had it, mister.
Yes, they find the press.
That's right.
Only one big hole in the fairy tale.
Is that so?
I haven't got a press.
I don't know where I got those checks.
I think I bought them.
You try to take me to court on that kind of evidence,
and you'll make the front page as the dumbest cop of the year.
Joe.
Yeah?
I've got something for you.
You wait here, Maddox.
Only one door, and you're in front of that.
I'm not going anywhere.
Just sit still.
Yeah.
How's it going?
Not too good.
You want a cop, huh?
How'd you do?
I talked to Fergie.
They went over Maddox's apartment.
Yeah.
They didn't find anything.
We went back into the interrogation room,
and we talked to Raymond Johnstone,
but he refused to cooperate with us.
A thorough search was made of their car,
but we failed to turn up anything new.
We contacted the printer, who'd made up the receipt blanks.
He checked his records,
and was able to give us the address of the place that had ordered them.
Officers Ferguson, Regan, Frank, and I drove out to the place.
It was a cheap hotel located on East 7th.
We checked with the desk clerk and showed him the receipt.
He told us that two men answering the descriptions of the suspects
had rented a room two months previously.
He went on to say that there was a third man with a pair,
and that he was in the room at the time.
We asked about luggage,
and the clerk said that the trio had moved in several large trunks.
We got the room number,
and while Ferguson and Regan covered the rear of the building,
Frank and I went up to the room.
Down this way.
All right?
Yeah.
Yeah?
Paul Adley?
Yeah, that's right. What do you want?
I'd like to talk to you.
I'm kind of busy right now. What's it about?
Police officers.
Get out of here.
You got no call to bust in here.
I'm not doing anything wrong.
Why don't you try to keep us out?
I just don't like cops running all over the place.
Where's that door go?
Bedroom, but there ain't nothing in there that concerns you.
I'll take a look.
You stay out of there.
What's this all about anyway?
What are you cops trying to build?
How about it, Frank?
Take a look.
Come on, Adley. Over here.
Press and everything, huh?
I do a little printing for the neighborhood people.
There's nothing that concerns you.
You do work for the Department of Motor Vehicles, too?
What?
These driver's license blanks.
What are they for?
Who tipped you?
What?
Who told you about the plant? Who told you?
Does that make any difference?
You bet it does.
All the difference in the world.
I don't know what they told you,
but I'm not going to take the beef alone.
I'm not going to take it alone.
Is that so?
Yeah.
You go back and tell Cecil and Ray
that they're going with me.
I'm not going to carry this by myself.
You tell them that, will you?
Sure.
Pony deal anyway.
I sit here with the press, all the checks,
anything goes wrong, I'm the one that stands for it.
They're out with the money, one-sided, that's what it is.
They get the kicks, I get the work, one-sided.
No, not this time.
Huh?
You're all going to come out even.
Cecil James Maddox, Raymond Richard Johnstone,
and Paul Milton Hadley were tried and convicted
on 18 counts of forgery.
They received sentence as prescribed by law.
Forgery is punishable by imprisonment in the county jail
for not more than one year, or by imprisonment
for not more than 14 years in the state penitentiary.
You have just heard Dragnet,
the authentic story of your police force in action,
and starring Jack Webb, a presentation of the United States Armed Forces Radio Service.
The United States Armed Forces Radio Service