Ladies and gentlemen, the story you are about to hear is true.
The names have been changed to protect the innocent.
You're a detective sergeant.
You're assigned a burglary detail.
A woman posing as a housemaid has been stealing cash and other valuables from homes in your
city.
Your job, stop her.
Cragnet, the documented drama of an actual crime.
For the next 30 minutes, in cooperation with the Los Angeles Police Department, you will
travel step by step on the side of the law through an actual case transcribed from official
police files.
From beginning to end, from crime to punishment, Cragnet is the story of your police force
in action.
It was Tuesday, October 11th.
It was cloudy in Los Angeles.
We were working the day watch out a burglary detail.
My partner is Frank Smith.
The boss is Captain Bernard.
My name is Frank.
We're on our way back from lunch and it was 1 17 p.m. when we got to room 45.
Burglary.
Hey, Smith.
Huh?
Your wife called while you're out.
I want you to call her back.
Oh, thanks.
That's funny.
It's not like Fay to call in the middle of the day.
Well, the kids were all right when I left this morning.
I wonder what she wants.
Why don't you call her and find out?
You're not married, Joe.
You don't understand.
Sometimes a guy wants a minute to think things over.
Sort of prepare himself if he's done something he shouldn't.
Well, have you?
Have I what?
Done something you shouldn't?
Of course not.
Then be my guest.
Okay, thanks.
Well, I'm going to go.
I'll see you later.
Bye.
Hi, honey.
Yeah.
Well, we're out to lunch.
Why?
Is something wrong?
Oh.
What happened?
Nothing.
Where's she now?
Oh, she's gone.
Does she know who?
She reported?
Why not?
Oh yeah.
Well, why don't you tell her?
I guess we could.
Yeah.
Sure.
What's the afternoon again?
Yeah, Joseph.
It'll be about 7.30 I guess.
Alright honey, thanks for telling me if anything comes up I'll call you.
Yeah, bye.
Nice old lady like that.
I don't think you ever met her, Joan. Her name is Mrs. Vesper.
No, it doesn't sound familiar.
She used to live next door to us when I was a kid.
Known me since...
...since I can remember.
She's alone now.
Faith calls her up every once in a while to see if she's alright.
She called her this morning.
Mrs. Vesper says she had some money stolen, some jewelry.
It happened yesterday.
Didn't she report it?
I don't think so. Wants me to talk to her.
Alright, let's go.
Well?
Joan, you gotta promise me something.
You gotta give me your word right here.
I don't want you to kid me afterwards about the way she treats me.
Mrs. Vesper?
Yeah. I told you she's known me all my life.
Well, sometimes she acts like I'm still a little boy.
You know how it is.
So you won't rip me, huh?
About anything, anything at all?
What do you get me?
Well, she doesn't think I ought to be on the force for one thing.
I might as well tell you about it.
If I don't, she will.
She always claims I should have taken up something else.
Like what?
Oh, you know the crazy ideas people get, especially about kids.
Well, Mrs. Vesper thinks I...
Well, see, when I was
a lot younger, really young, about ten or twelve,
I used to sort of memorize
things, little pieces and poems.
Memorize what?
Memorize things, poems and little pieces, and I'd go next door
and recite them for her.
You say she's known you all her life?
Yeah, practically.
Well, it'll be true if we don't get out there.
Well, she got a real kick out of them poems.
I wasn't much good, but she was prejudiced
because she liked me, you know.
Want to go?
Yeah, but I just want to explain this.
She thinks I should have kept at it.
Made it my career.
Reciting poems?
No, not exactly reciting, Joe.
I didn't just recite them.
You wrote them, too?
Yeah.
Frank and I left the office
and drove out to the home of Mrs. Sarah Vesper.
She lived in a small bungalow on Las Palmas Street
in the Miracle Mile district.
It was 2.07 p.m. when we got there.
Why, for goodness sake,
Frank Smith, where on earth
did you come from?
Afternoon, Mrs. Vesper.
Mrs. Vesper? What's gotten into you,
Frank? You've never called me that before
in your whole life.
Oh, I meant Aunt Sarah.
Well, now that's more like it.
What brings you here?
Aunt Sarah, this is my partner, Sergeant Friday.
Oh, pleased to meet you.
You work for Frank, do you, young man?
Aunt Sarah, we work together.
Oh, you don't say.
Well, I expect that keeps you from
getting lonesome, don't it?
Yes, ma'am.
My goodness, now don't just stand there.
Come on inside, both of you.
Thank you very much.
Well, sir, this isn't the dondest coincidence.
Ma'am?
Oh, sit right down.
After you, boss.
Thanks.
Believe it or not, I was talking to your wife
only this morning.
Then the next thing I know, here you are.
Yes, ma'am, Faye told me.
Oh, my stars.
What's the matter, Aunt Sarah?
Oh, I just remembered, that's why you're here,
ain't it, on account of what I said to Faye?
Yes, ma'am.
I should never have mentioned it to her.
I don't know what's the matter with me.
I don't know what happened or something.
I just keep forgetting that you're a policeman.
Oh.
Well, you oughtn't to have been one in the first place.
Now, if you'd just taken my advice...
Aunt Sarah.
Oh, now don't misunderstand me, please.
I'm not criticizing the police.
We certainly couldn't get along without them,
and I'd be the first to say so, but
some people have a talent for one thing,
and some people are talented
in a different direction.
Isn't that right, Mr. Friday?
Yes, ma'am.
You take Frank here. He had a real talent
for making up verses, even when he was
just a little tight.
I bet you didn't know that, did you?
Well, I heard a little something about it.
A real talent, that's what it was.
Mm-hmm.
Why, I remember some of his poems
to my dying day,
the rind and everything.
Is that right?
Aunt Sarah, would you tell us about...
That one about the rainbow.
Yes. Did he ever do it for you, Mr. Friday?
No, no, I don't think he did.
Oh, it gave you such a beautiful picture.
Just like an artist had painted it,
only with words.
You know what I mean?
Well, I'm not sure I do.
Go ahead, Frank, say it for Mr. Friday.
Oh, please, Aunt Sarah.
Now I know he'd like to hear it,
wouldn't you, Mr. Friday?
I sure would.
All right, Frank, the one about the rainbow.
I don't remember it, Aunt Sarah.
Oh, now you're just being modest.
Yes, yes, you are, Frank.
Joe.
Oh, really, I don't, Aunt Sarah.
I don't remember, not a word, honest.
Seems funny you'd forget a thing like that.
I mean, when you made it up yourself.
Well, it's been a long time.
Hasn't been any longer for you than it has for me,
and I can still remember it.
Just as clear as the first time I heard it.
What?
Rainbow, rainbow, up so high.
That's how it begun, Mr. Friday.
Love to hear it, Frank.
Rainbow, rainbow, up so high.
Blue and red and yellow and brown.
Like an arch across the sky.
Won't you ever tumble down?
Where did it go from there, Frank?
The next verse, what was it?
I'm sorry, Aunt Sarah, but we haven't got much time.
Oh, well, anyway, that gives you an idea, Frank's talent.
Yes, ma'am, it sure does.
Oh, come on.
Aunt Sarah, would you just tell us about the things that were stolen from you?
Mrs. Vesper.
Oh, well, I suppose I should have gotten in touch with the police.
Yes, ma'am, you should have.
Well, I didn't see where that would help matters none.
Just like closing the barn door after the horse had been stolen and besides,
I didn't want to hurt Barbara's feelings.
Barbara?
My niece.
Oh, I see.
You remember Barbara, Frank?
Oh, sure, you played out in the backyard with her the whole summer she was visiting me.
Kind of a scrawny girl.
Of course, she's filled out now.
You just wouldn't recognize her.
Has two children of her own.
Nice home out in Westwood.
Yes, ma'am.
What's your niece got to do with all this, Mrs. Vesper?
Oh, she's the one who sent her.
Ma'am.
The Kenan woman.
Well, did you know your niece was sending this woman over?
No, no, I guess it was supposed to be kind of a surprise.
Oh.
Anyway, she just come up to the door yesterday morning, oh, long about 9.30,
and now said she was ready to go to work.
I see.
First, I didn't know what she was getting at.
Then she explained about Barbara hiring her to give me a hand.
Of course, I don't need nobody, a little place like this, no trouble at all.
Yes, ma'am.
But it didn't want to hurt Barbara's feelings, so I told her to come on in.
Figured maybe she could help out some of the heavy work, you know,
turning the mattresses and moving furniture.
Sure.
What was the woman's name, Aunt Sarah?
Margaret.
That's what she told me, Margaret.
Do you know her last name?
No, no, don't think she even mentioned it.
All right, what happened next?
Well, we did the cleaning, not that she was much of a housekeeper,
practically had to go over the whole place after she left.
About how long did she stay, do you remember?
Half day, that's what she said Barbara hired her for.
Must have been about, oh, 10 after 1 when she went.
Didn't even give me a full four hours.
Insisted on my fixing her some lunch, too.
I tell you, that woman sure had her share of gall,
eating my sandwiches at the same time she was robbing me.
Wonder she didn't ask for a car fare.
Well, just what was it she stole?
My cash money, cleaned out every pocketbook in the dresser,
found the bills I had hid under the dresser scarf, too.
Yes, ma'am.
How soon did you find out that these things were gone?
A little while after she left when I went to straighten up the mess she'd made.
You still haven't talked to your niece about all this?
I told you I didn't want to get her all upset.
I suppose she will think it's funny I haven't called to thank her.
I wonder if you'd mind calling her now.
You mean right now?
Yes, ma'am.
And do I have to?
Well, we'd like to get this cleaning woman's name and address.
You don't have to say why you're calling Aunt Sarah.
She's bound to know something's wrong.
Barbara's no fool.
Well, if you won't talk to her, we will.
We can find out where she lives.
Guess I was wrong about you, Frank Smith.
Ma'am?
Guess you're turning into a policeman after all.
Like looking a gift tossed in the teeth, that's what it is.
Barbara's going to think you don't appreciate all she's done for me.
You wait there. I'll be right back.
Yes, ma'am.
All right, go ahead and say it.
Hmm?
Go on, get it over with.
Write me about the poem.
I saw you smirking.
I'd rather you did that than just sit there with that silly smirk on your face.
I suppose you never made up any poems when you were a kid, huh?
Well, I might have.
I'll bet.
Blue and red and brown, like an arch up in the sky.
When will you tumble down? Is that it?
Oh, Joe.
Of course, I wasn't a real talented poet.
Yeah.
What are you staring at, then?
Oh, nothing, nothing, you know.
Well, then stop it, will you?
No, I was just noticing you need a haircut, don't you?
Well, I'm going to get one this week.
You're not letting it grow long, then.
Why would I let...
Joe, so help me if we ever get out of here.
Hmm. Just slipped out. I won't say another word, I promise.
Or look, either, huh?
I don't want to even look.
Well, now that isn't the strangest thing.
Did you get a hold of your niece, Miss Vesper?
Oh, yes. Yes, I talked to her, but I don't understand it.
Simply don't understand it.
What's that?
A cleaning woman.
What about her?
Barbara didn't have anything to do with it.
Oh?
She's never even heard of her.
Frank and I continued to talk to the victim.
Mrs. Vesper told us that the suspect was WFA, about 40 years old,
5'3 or 4', weighing approximately 140 pounds.
Said she was wearing a house dress and a white gray coat.
She also gave us a detailed description of the jewelry that had been stolen.
Frank telephoned Mrs. Vesper's niece, and she said she was not acquainted
with anyone who answered the suspect's description.
5.17 p.m.
The crime lab reported they had found no physical evidence
at the Vesper residence.
Three days later, October 14th, we received a theft report from a woman
living near Wilshire and Western.
The suspect had gained entrance by saying that a neighbor had sent her to clean.
The description tallied with what we already had.
During the next two weeks, nine more thefts were reported.
In each case, the suspect had used the same M.O.
and the description indicated that the crimes had all been the work
of the same woman.
Eight of the thefts took place within a few blocks of Wilshire Boulevard
in the area between Vermont and Fairfax.
In one instance, the suspect had been seen departing on the Wilshire bus.
Police officers staked out buses and bus stops.
Lists of the stolen property were sent to all pawn shops in the city.
Two women were brought in for questioning that the victims were unable
to give positive identification.
Employment agencies for domestic workers were contacted.
Newspaper want ads were checked.
No leads developed.
Saturday, October 29th, 2.17 p.m.
I got it.
Burgory Friday.
Who?
Oh, yeah. Yeah, Corky.
What's that?
Yeah, thanks.
If you can?
Okay.
Corky Levitt.
Yeah?
Woman's in his pawn shop trying to unload a diamond clip.
Corky says it's on our list.
We left the office and drove down to Corky Levitt's pawn shop on South Main.
Over the phone, Corky had said he would stall the woman as long as he could.
It was 2.28 p.m. when we got to his place.
The woman was still there.
You make up your mind, Buster, give me some dough on the thing and hand it back.
I'll take it someplace else.
Let's have a look at it, Corky.
Sure.
Hey, what is this?
Police officers.
Huh?
Fine, let's go.
Take your hands off me or I'll cut.
I said let's go.
Thanks, Corky.
Sure, you bet.
Yeah, thanks a lot.
I suppose you let me in on it.
What's the beef?
We're talking over at the office, huh?
About what?
This clip.
You mean it's hard?
Is that what you're getting at?
Why don't you tell us?
Well, wouldn't you know it.
Lucky Rita.
Sure walked into it this time.
Didn't I?
Looks like it.
Newcoms got your minds all made up.
You think I stole that thing, don't you?
Somebody did.
2.42 p.m.
We contacted Control One and notified them we were bringing in a female suspect.
They took down our mileage and location and made a note of the time.
Eight minutes later we pulled into the city hall and we again checked with Control One.
While the suspect was being searched by a policewoman, we talked to one of the victims.
The victim positively identified the diamond clip as belonging to her.
3.41 p.m.
We interrogated the suspect in the squad room.
All right, sit down over there.
You want a cigarette?
Yeah.
All right, now suppose you tell us about it.
Come on, Rita, let's get it over with.
What's there to tell?
You guys know all the answers.
We know some of them.
Your name's Rita Baines.
You've fallen three times, forgery, grand theft, burglary.
You made two trips to the hatchet being one to Corona.
Say, I've got my record, big deal.
Let's talk about this diamond clip, huh?
Okay.
Pretty, ain't it?
Where'd you get it, Rita?
Didn't I steal it?
Isn't that why you brought me up here?
It's a difference.
You wouldn't believe me no matter what I told you.
Why don't you try the truth?
Okay.
It was a gift.
Yeah.
Lady gave it to me.
Who was she?
I don't know.
I've never saw her before in my life.
I was riding the bus yesterday afternoon.
She was sitting next to me.
Mm-hmm.
Had that pin on.
Asked me if I liked it.
You bet.
I said, sure.
She took it off.
Said I could have it.
Just handed it right over, just like that.
Yeah.
What'd she look like, Rita?
I don't know.
Forty, maybe 45.
A little on the heavy side.
And you've never seen her before?
First time.
Mm-hmm.
You know, when I was a little girl, my folks always told me not to take things from strange.
Sure they did.
Yeah.
Guess they were right.
All right, Rita.
What do you do for a living?
Weight table.
Where?
Borrowed from Pico.
You work days or nights?
Nights mostly.
Don't open till four o'clock.
Every morning's free then, huh?
Law against it?
Ever do any housework?
Straighten up my room once in a while.
Ever do housework for somebody else?
What do you mean?
Like a cleaning woman.
I ain't that hard up for a job, even with a record.
All right.
Let's talk about this pin some more.
You didn't believe me, did you?
Pretty hard to swallow, isn't it?
Yeah.
Lady at Balance who says worth over $100.
Palmbroker didn't think so.
People don't go around giving away $100.
They don't give away money.
Palmbroker didn't think so.
People don't go around giving away $100 clips now, do they?
Where'd you get it?
Same on the bus asked me if I liked it.
I said yes, she gave it to me.
Yeah.
You guys don't mind if I stick to that story, do you?
Seeing is out the truth.
Which bus were you riding?
Wilshire.
Where'd your friend get off?
She wasn't my friend.
Where'd she get off?
I don't know.
I got off first.
You know, if it was somebody else telling you this, you might go along with it.
Yeah, sure we would.
But not me.
Not Rita Bane.
You cops give us the money.
You give us the money.
You give us the money, you give us the money, you give us the money.
Sure we would.
But not me.
Not Rita Bane.
You cops give a gal a record from then on, she might as well be dead.
Sure.
Anytime there's trouble, pick her up.
She probably did it.
If she tells you different, she's probably lying.
You know, you got one thing wrong, Rita.
I ought to know.
It's happened to me often enough.
I'm the gal with the record.
Yeah, but we didn't give it to you.
Frank and I continued to question the suspect, but she refused to change her story.
842 p.m.
A special show-up was held for several of the burglary victims.
None of them identified Rita Baines.
9.06 PM.
She was released from custody and we went back to the office.
Well, if she didn't take that clip, she knows who did.
Maybe.
That's the reason, Joe.
Nobody's going to go to all the trouble stealing this stuff and then give it away.
Burgery Friday.
Yes, ma'am.
What's that?
I see.
Yes, we would.
What's your address?
All right, thank you very much.
Just a few minutes.
Goodbye.
Well, here we go again.
Another burglary?
Another piece of free jewelry.
Frank and I drove out to an address on South Ridgely Drive.
9.32 PM.
We talked to Mrs. Lucy Heflin.
She showed us a pearl choker that had been given to her by a woman she met at a bus stop
earlier in the evening.
I didn't want to take it.
I told her so, but she wouldn't listen.
That's fast.
And then afterwards when I got home and thought about it, well, I started wondering if maybe
there was some reason why she was so anxious to get rid of those pearls.
So I called you.
Just where was it you saw this woman, Mrs. Heflin?
Corner of Wilshire and Barstow.
That's where I was waiting for my bus.
I take the Wilshire Express home.
She was on a long call.
I see.
And when it pulled up, she got out.
I guess she must have turned her ankle or something.
Anyway, she dropped her pocketbook.
Well, I helped her pick up her things.
That's when she gave me this choker.
I see.
Said she didn't have any use for it herself and for me to keep it.
Tried to give it back, but she wouldn't wait.
I tried to follow her, but just then my bus came along and I knew there wouldn't be another
one for maybe an hour.
Yes, ma'am.
They don't run very regular after eight o'clock.
Yes.
Anyway, I figured I could always return the choker if that seemed like the best thing.
How were you going to do that, Mrs. Heflin?
Do you know the woman?
Oh, no, no, but I watched her from the bus.
We had to wait for the light to change.
Yeah.
So I was going to a building, an apartment house.
Oh.
I suppose that's where she lives.
Mrs. Heflin told us that the woman had entered an apartment house on Barstow Street, two
doors from the Wilshire corner.
We asked her to describe the suspect and her description tallied with what we already had.
Ten fifteen p.m.
We drove over to the Barstow Avenue address and talked to the manager of the apartment.
He told us that a woman answering the suspect's description lived on the second floor, apartment
seven.
He said that her name was Edna Landy.
Frank and I went upstairs to talk to her.
Well, this must be it.
Somebody's coming.
Here.
Miss Landy?
Yes, sir?
Police officers.
Oh.
I'd like you to come downtown with us, Miss Landy.
All right, I'll get my coat.
Never mind, I'll get it for you.
It's in the closet over there.
OK.
I'll look around while I'm at it, Joe.
Yeah.
You won't find anything.
Yes, sir.
I gave the last of it away just this evening.
Lady, I met at the bus stop.
I gave the last piece to her.
I see.
She was very kind to me.
Helped me when I dropped my purse.
I'm glad I had something nice for her.
Girl choker, that's what it was.
Yeah.
It was clean, Joe.
Nice.
I said you wouldn't find anything.
Why'd you do it, Miss Landy?
Why'd you steal those things?
Oh, I wasn't stealing.
Oh, you weren't, huh?
Of course not.
I'm just teaching them a lesson.
Yeah.
They needed it.
They needed it bad.
You never trust anybody.
You always say you're stealing from them.
Who are you talking about, Miss Landy?
People that hired me to work for them.
Do their cleaning.
These people didn't hire you?
They're all the same.
Folks out here are back east, all the same.
Where's back east?
Chicago.
Chicago, Illinois.
Mm-hmm.
Doesn't matter how much you do, how hard you try.
Ma'am?
Sooner or later, something's missing.
They say you took it.
Mm-hmm.
I've worked for them 10 years.
Doesn't matter.
At least a little thing gets lost.
They say you're a thief.
I see.
I made up my mind to show them.
As long as they're going to blame me anyway, might as well do something to deserve it.
Mm-hmm.
Good lesson.
That's what they need.
All right.
Let's go.
I'm an honest woman.
I've always been honest.
Sure.
I never took that money from Mrs. Dresser.
She was wrong to say I did.
Never took my money.
She was wrong to say I did.
Never took nothing that didn't belong to me.
Until you came out here.
That's different.
Even then, I wasn't taken for myself.
I gave all the jewelry away.
It wasn't for me.
It was more than jewelry, Miss Landy.
A lot of money missing, too.
Well, I didn't keep it.
Oh?
I sent it off, every penny.
Sent it to charity, different charities all over.
I wouldn't keep something that wasn't mine.
I see.
Maybe next time, they'll be a little more careful who they say is a thief.
Yes, ma'am.
It isn't right to accuse somebody when she hasn't done it just because you're the cleaning
woman.
That doesn't mean you're not honest.
Mm-hmm.
Now, I showed them.
I showed them if I really wanted to be a crook how easy it was.
Mm-hmm.
They mustn't think I was doing anything wrong.
No.
Just trying to make them understand.
That's all.
Cleaning woman's like everybody else.
She's got feelings, too, and pride like everybody else.
Mm-hmm.
Maybe now they'll see where they made their mistake.
Yeah.
Now they better.
I won't stand for being called a liar and a thief, not anymore.
Folks better treat me a whole lot different from here on in.
Well, that's right, Miss Landy.
What?
They will.
The story you've just heard is true.
The names were changed to protect the innocent.
On December 14th, a hearing was held in Department 96, Superior Court of the State of California
in and for the County of Los Angeles.
In a moment, the results of that hearing...
Edna Foster Landy was examined by three psychiatrists appointed by the court
and was found to be mentally incompetent.
She was committed to a state medical hospital for an indefinite period of treatment.
You have just heard Dragnet, a series of authentic cases from official files.
Technical advice comes from the Office of Chief of Police, W.H. Parker, Los Angeles Police Department.
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