 The Equitable Life Assurance Society presents This Is Your FBI. This Is Your FBI. The official broadcast from the files of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Presented as a public service by the Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States and the Equitable Society's representative in your community. Since the Equitable Life Assurance Society was founded 90 years ago, this country has changed in many ways. But in one respect, it is still the same. In those early days, people always spoke of America as the land of opportunity. Well, it still is the land of opportunity just as much as ever. In just a few minutes into tonight's middle commercial, the Equitable Society will have a special message for listeners who agree with this philosophy. We will describe a special life insurance plan for men and women on the way up offered by the Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States. Tonight's FBI file, Murder on the Midway. The traveling carnival, once an institution, is fast disappearing from the American scene. Their gradual disappearance is a great pity. If only because it means that many a small town child will grow up without ever having seen the fearless daredevil who did his dive from the high platform into a shallow tank of water. Nor shall he ever see the fabulous fat lady, the bearded lady, or the pretty young girl who was advertised as being able to shoot better than Annie Oakley. The majority of those shows, which still manage to tour the country and bring joy to children of all ages, are composed of old timers who are the last blink America has with the show business of yesterday. As such, they are deserving of our complete respect, for they have brought laughter and excitement wherever they went. Unfortunately for them, that respect is often withheld because a few, a very few of the groups of traveling performers still among us, are not more than transient groups of rogues, drunks, and common thieves. Tonight's case is the story of what went on at one of the latter type shows, both out front and backstage. Tonight's file opens at a traveling carnival which has just arrived in a small New England town. It is mid-afternoon and Eddie Scott, a pitchman with the show, is walking down the midway. Eddie, my boy. Oh, hello, Jason. May I have the pleasure of a few words with you? Yeah, sure. Eddie, I want to tell you about a magnificent plan I have. Look, Eddie, I like you, son. I like you. And I'm going to show my friendship in a concrete fashion. Yeah, that's fine, Jason. Don't go, my boy, don't go. I'm going to move you to the head of the midway. I'll build you a stand that'll be the envy of every other performer with a JC Crawford Sunplug on them. You'll send thousands of watches a day. Yeah, yeah, I know, Jason. But in the meantime, I gotta go set up the stand I got now. Wait, wait, Eddie, wait. I don't want to impose, son, but I promised Lilybell I'd bring her some horoscopes. Go buy her a tent, will you, and give her those rather ungainly crates, huh? Well, look. Thank you, my boy. Yeah, but look, look. Special matinee. Hey, some horoscopes for Lilybell. Is she inside? Yeah, yeah, go ahead, Drew, yeah. And, ladies and gentlemen, we have brought this great attraction and tremendous... These horoscopes, we didn't even know his own name. You know something, we still don't lose that con. Hey, you got me to carry these things all the way over here. Hey, Lilybell, what's this? What? There's jewelry in a trunk. Leave it alone. Looks like the McCoy. Well, it ain't. It's costume junk for the act. I never saw a costume stuff like this. Well, Eddie, put that stuff down and get out. Special agent Taylor is just leaving the office of the agent in charge when he sees agent Clinton Forrest in the hall. Hello, Clint. Oh, hi, Jim. You saved me a trip. I'm just going by to your desk. Yeah, why? Well, as of a couple of minutes ago, we were assigned to the same case. What is it? A jewel theft took place sometime last night or early this morning aboard a train that left Boston at midnight. The Indian had limited. Any description on the thief? No, no one saw him. Not even the person who was robbed? No, the victim was an old lady traveling alone. When the porter tried to wake her this morning, she didn't respond. A doctor who wore the next compartment was called. He said the old lady had been chloroformed. Well, when she was brought around, she said that she forgot to lock her compartment door, and that's the last thing she remembers. Any value on what was stolen? $23,000. Oh, we have got one lead. What's that, Jim? Well, the local police at a town called Harrisonville boarded the train as soon as the robbery was discovered. They found a small clump of dirt in the compartment. From its size and shape, it apparently had stuck to the arch of a man's shoe. A lab just reported that they've analyzed it, and it contains bits of sawdust, confetti, and popcorn. Sounds like a circus. Well, I checked with the railroad. And for part of the night, they were hauling four cars belonging to the J.C. Crawford sunflower carnival. I see. Oh, where is that carnival now? It's at Union City for a five-day stand. A local police there has started preliminary investigation. Well, Jim, the chief at Union City is a graduate of the FBI Academy. Yeah, I know that. Uh, Clayton, how about you getting a list of the stolen jewelry from the police up at Harrisonville? Then you can send out a stolen property flyer. OK. Where are you going? Well, the SAC is sending me to Union City to investigate that carnival. Walter. I, uh, I got to talk to you. Look, we got trouble. Huh? Yeah, there was a cop around talking to old man Crawford about the jewelry. Oh, come. Oh, I don't know. How'd he know somebody from the carnival took it? Honey, you're the mind reader. Oh, very funny. What do we do now? Just keep the stuff in your trunk and make sure nobody sees it. It's too late. Huh? Somebody has seen it. Who? Eddie Scott. Well, how did he see it? I brought in a crate of horoscopes. Told him to throw them next to my trunk. The next thing I know, he's got the stuff in his dukes. Oh, fine. Yeah. Asked me if it was real. I told him no and kicked him out. Hmm. Very good. He'll hear about the cop and get smart. Should we bury the stuff? No, no. We just can't leave it in the trunk. Walter. Walter, where are you? It's JC. Yeah, yeah. I'm back here, JC. Hey, you got a crowd, my boy. You're neglecting this field. I'll be right out, sir. What do we do? Oh, try to think of something. I'll see you later. My name is Tigger. I'm a special agent of the FBI. The FBI? That's right, sir. Here are my credentials. That's a good picture of you. Mr. Crawford, could we go someplace where we can talk? Well, surely, surely. Let's go have a drink. I'd rather go where it's a little quieter if you don't mind it. Well, uh, oh, uh, oh, they stand here. It's Marford. That's right. Yes, sir. Go ahead, sir. Mr. Crawford, Chief Thompson of the local police told me that he's already spoken to you about the jewel theft on the train last night. Yeah. That is quick, sir. Have you any idea how many people you have traveling with this carnival? Oh, indeed, sir. The answer is 55. 55 great performers in my show. I'd like to, uh, question all of them as soon as possible. Hmm. Yeah. Can't be done. Oh, why not, Mr. Crawford? No, busy, busy, busy. They're entertaining the grand citizens of this community. Well, what time does the show close? 11 o'clock. Then you'll arrange for me to question them after that. Well, uh, certainly, certainly. Be happy to. Thanks. Uh, let's see. What time is it now? It's a few minutes past nine. Well, uh, we've got two hours till the show closes. Uh, I'll tell you what we ought to do. What's that, sir? It's you and me go out and have a few friendly libations. Oh, thanks, Mr. Crawford. Yeah, but you see. You don't mind. I'd like to take a look around the lot. Hmm. Oh, well, uh, we're all right. Here, here, take some passes. Thanks. And, uh, if you have any of my services before 11, you may find me at the end of the Midway. Can't miss the place. It has a large sign outside featuring the most beautiful words in the English language. We serve whiskey. It's the position of the stars. Your question cannot be answered. That's all for this show, folks. What happened? Why did you cut the show? Eddie Scott was out front. He sent me a note. It said, do I get cut in or do I tell what's in your trunk? Oh. Well, we got to do something quick. The FBI's looking for the jewelry now. How do you know? Old man Crawford told me there was a G-man around to see him. Where? About an hour ago. He's going to put the vacuum on all of us after the last show. He'll dip into everybody's trunk? Well, he could. Lilybell. Eddie, what do I do? Talk to him. Talk to him. I'll step back here. OK. Come on in. Hi, Lilybell. Hi. Look up your act that way. What do you want? Like I told you in the note. I'd like to be cut in. How much? Well, I want to be fair about it. Yeah. What would you think of, I'll say, 50%? You want half? That's right. You expect to just walk in and cut yourself down the middle? Uh-huh. That ain't what you're getting. It ain't? No. Your cut's already been figured. What is it? This. Huh? Honey, that's the best fortune you've told in weeks. A special message to a very special kind of person, to the man or woman who can truthfully say to himself, I'm on the way up. Can you speak those words and really mean them? 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In other words, your life insurance keeps in step with your income. Third advantage, the Equitable Plan is flexible at all times. It can expand or contract as you see fit and offers you many desirable options which your Equitable Society representative will be glad to explain to you. So why not get in touch with him immediately? Phone him as soon as possible and ask for full details on the Equitable Plan for people on the way up or send a postcard care of this station to the Equitable Society. That's E-Q-U-I-T-A-B-L-E. The Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States. And now back to the FBI file, Murder on the Midway. If you are like the ordinary person, you pick up your newspaper, notice a story about some local holdup or jewel theft and you skip over it because you regard it as too insignificant to take up your time. It is in your eyes just another petty theft. But it is not petty, even though the amount stolen in any one robbery may be so small as to be negligible. Crime today is big business and nothing illustrates that better than statistics gathered from a recent survey made by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. In one recent six-month period, the value of property stolen in the United States amounted to well over $57 million. In order to garner that loot, 336,000 crimes were committed. Those are sobering facts. But even more noteworthy is the accompanying fact that in many of those crimes, the thief was aided in no small measure by the victim. Carelessness, such as the failure of the robbery victim in tonight's case to lock a compartment door when she went to sleep. Carelessness like that is an ally of the criminal, an ally without which his operations would be considerably lessened. Your FBI hopes that you will try to avoid such carelessness. By doing that, you will be hurting the chances for success of our common enemy, the criminal. Tonight's file continues later that night at the FBI field office. Hello? Hello, Clint. Jim Teller. Oh, hi, Jim. I think we may have something on our jewel theft. Good. When was he last seen? Earlier tonight. Find anything? Yes, the small jewel box that was stolen from the old lady on the train was in his trunk. Anything in the box? Ah, it was empty. What's this employee's name, Jim? Edward Scott. Yeah. Will you ask the bureau to have some flyers printed up? Right. Uh, when do you think you'll be back? Eddie's body is gone. Look, put those darts down and talk to me. I wonder... Lily Bell, I took him. What? I took him. You see, I heard the FBI guy talking at Crawford. He thinks Eddie did the job. Because he didn't show up? Well, that was one thing. Then he found the jewel box I stuck in Eddie's trunk. Ah. What'd you do with Eddie? Dumped him. He's safe. Pretty good, huh? Walter, let's quit this show, huh? Not yet. Not till things cool off. Hey, look! What? I got a bullseye. Left handed. Morning, Jim. Anything in yet on the Eddie Scott alarm? Not a thing. No. I teletype Scott's name and description to Washington. We ought to have something from them later in the day. Scott had no regular home, Clint. According to everything I could find out at the carnival, he used to get his mail care of Billboard magazine, and they'd forward it onto him. We've notified them to call the New York office as soon as they hear from Scott with his new address. Oh, pardon me, Clint. Sure. Special Agent Taylor speaking. Hello, Mr. Taylor. This is Chief Jones at Union City. Yes, Chief. I've got some news on Eddie Scott. He's just been found dead. He what? He was brought in a little while ago. Chief, we'll be down there as soon as we can. John said we could use his office. Oh, fine. Oh, you find anything out of the fairgrounds? No, not a thing. I spoke to Crawford, but it's such a hangover. He wasn't very coherent. Oh, I learned how Scott was found. Where did they find him? On a house boat at the lake, a couple of miles up the road. Some kids were playing on the deck of the boat. They accidentally started a fire. Instead of running away, they called the fire department and firemen found the body propped up in a closet. Was the murder committed on the boat? Well, it looks like Scott's murderer took his body up there to hide it. How was he killed, Jim? He was struck on the back of the head with a dull-edged weapon. Oh, possibly a hammer. Are those Scott's effects on the table, Jim? Yeah. Have you examined them? Yes, I've just been through them. Find anything useful? Well, this might be something. This bag? Yes, there's some indented writing on the top sheet here. What does it say? I have. Hold it. Hold it that the writing I'm not ready for you. Ah, got it. Um, ES, March 22nd. Yeah? Do I get cut in or do I tell what's in your trunk? Well, that ES probably stands ready, Scott. Yes, I'm sure it does. But what about the March 22nd and the rest of it? I've been trying to figure that part out, Clint. Scott had... Hey, wait a minute. I think this might be a lead. I remember the other night while I was at the carnival. There was a fortune teller. This works. Jim, if you're right, and she's the one Eddie Scott wrote that other note to, she's got to show some reaction when she gets the same note after he's dead. Now, what made you think of her? I saw her work when I was here last night. You see that wicker basket up there on the stage? That's where she throws the slips of paper with her questions on them after she gives her answers. This is it, Clint. She's leaving, Jim. She's got a little tent right out in the back of this one, Clint. Go get her. I'm going to grab that wicker basket up on the stage. I'm in through. Let us through, please. See you later, Clint. Excuse me, please. Excuse me. Coming through. Thank you. Those tent. Sure, it's right back there. Oh, thanks. I'm a special agent of the FBI. Here are my credentials. What do you want here? I'd like to ask you some questions. Go ahead. Just how well do you know Eddie Scott? I just knew him to say hello to. What do you mean, knew him? Has anything happened to him? I don't know. I don't know anything about him. I hardly knew him. I think maybe we better do the rest of this questioning down at police headquarters. Oh, no, you don't. Huh? Keep your hands over your head. See if you've just got a gun on him, Lily Bell. Okay. No. No, no, he hasn't. Keep your hands in the air anyway. Let's get out of here. What about this guy? Get the stuff out of the trunk. I'll take care of him. Okay. Drop that gun. Huh? I said, drop it. Oh, no. Get up. Come on, get up. And leave that gun right where it is. Did you find the note that Eddie Scott wrote yesterday, Jim? Yes, it was in the wicker basket up on the stage. All right, Clint. Let's throw the cuffs on both of them and get out of here. The National Stolen Property Act. Walter Marshall and Lily Bell Adams were turned over to local authorities and convicted for the murder of Edward Scott. Walter Marshall was executed and Lily Bell Adams received life imprisonment. Tonight's case from the files of your FBI was not solved because of any sudden inspiration or any lucky hunch. Few cases are solved that way. The arrest of the criminals portrayed in this file was brought about the same way almost every other arrest comes to pass. As a result of calm, deliberate, painstaking investigation, plus, and this is a very big plus, the close and valuable cooperation of local police. Your FBI is proud of the fact that more than 97% of all persons arrested by special agents in the past year were later convicted after a fair trial in the court of law. That is a superlative record, and your FBI wishes to take this opportunity to acknowledge publicly that it would have been impossible to obtain such a margin of convictions if it had not been for the invaluable aid rendered to special agents in every part of the nation. Only through this kind of teamwork between law enforcement agencies can any real progress be made in the war against crime. Just a moment, we will tell you about next week's exciting case from the files of your FBI. All timers in the life insurance profession have a saying that may interest you. They say... You can judge a man by the life insurance he buys. In other words, veteran insurance men have noticed that their customers who make small-scale insurance plans seldom get very far. On the other hand, the type of man who thinks big who invests in a forward-looking program like the Equitable Society's plan for men and women on the way up is the man who usually does get to the top. So why not line yourself up with the successful men of tomorrow? Ask your Equitable Society representative to give you full facts and figures on the Equitable Society's plan for men and women on the way up. Or write care of this station the Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States. A week we will dramatize another case from the files of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, a story that reveals a ghoulish attempt to evade the law, its subject, bank theft, its title, the Traveling Corpse. Incidents used in tonight's Equitable Life Assurance Society's broadcast are adapted from the files of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. However, all names used are fictitious, and any similarity they love to the names of persons living or dead could enter. Tonight the music was composed and conducted by Frederick Steiner. The author was Jerry D. Lewis. Your narrator was William Woodson, and special agent Taylor was played by Stacey Harris. This is your FBI as a Jerry Divine production. This is Larry Keating speaking for the Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States, and the Equitable Society's representative in your community, and inviting you to tune in again next week at the same time when the Equitable Life Assurance Society will bring you another thrilling story from the files of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The Traveling Corpse on This Is Your FBI. This is ABC, the American Broadcasting Company.