 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. It still is the land of opportunity just as much as ever. In just a few minutes in 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, the top-rate caravan. We Americans are a nomadic people constantly on the search for a new horizon. We are in perpetual movement and lately have been almost any of our larger cities is a rarity. Perhaps one of the reasons for that is our ever-growing number of facilities for transportation. As it stands now, a person can cross the nation in a handful of hours and scientists foresee planes in the near future which will just propel a passenger from New York to Los Angeles between breakfast and lunch. But there are some, and we will always be with us, for whom such speed is neither necessary nor even desirable. They prefer to travel by automobile. And for them, if they do not wish to drive themselves, there are services which are available to satisfy their wants for leisure and also for economy. You pay a flat sum to one of those services and you ride with other passengers in an ordinary sedan, indistinguishable from every other sedan on the highway. Tonight's file concerns one of those cross-country trips and what happened to the four people in the car as they were making their way casually across the great American desert. Tonight's file opens in the early evening. Darkness has just fallen. The driver, a lean young man, is seated in the front alone as the car speeds along the highway. One of the passengers brings the sign. Driver? Hi, it's Mrs. Joy. How far is our next stop? Oh, about an hour. Another hour? Yes, ma'am. Well, will you close the windows and turn the heater on? I'm cold. Well, the heater's broken. It was all right last night. Well, it's broken now. Well, then close the windows. Yes, Mrs. Troy. Joy? Oh, yeah. Got a match? Oh, wait a minute. I think I've got one. Yeah. Oh, thank you. Are you snooking again? I am. Well, I'll certainly be more careful the next time I travel. So will we. Driver? Yes, Mrs. Troy. What's the name of those mountains and the right? I don't know. They're just mountains. Well, they must have a name. Look, why don't you leave them alone? I'm not talking to you. Driver, when I paid for this trip, I was assured that you would act as a guide and tell me about the natural wonders along the way. You haven't opened your mouth since we left New York. I'm sorry, Mrs. Troy. I don't know a single place we've gone through. Turn around, Joy. We'll do the whole thing over with sound. And to make things worse, this woman has been blowing smoke in my face since we started. Now, wait a minute. All right, all right. Now, let's cut it out. I think you're a problem. Let's see if we can try to get along with each other. We've got another day ahead of it, and we're still going to be in the same car, so let's try to make the best of it. Okay, soldier. I'll try. You think you can try, too, Mrs. Troy? I resolve the right of silence. Hey, it looks like we've got to stop. What for? Somebody up ahead waving a searchlight. What do you think it is, Joy? Probably some kind of inspector wants to see if we got fruit flies in the car or something. Oh. They're always making some kind of inspection. What do you want, Jack? I got a gun here. Just drive where I tell you. I missed it. What? Can't you tell us yet where we're going? Slow down. We're almost there. Okay. Pull off the road when you get past that big rock. See that, Chavin? Yeah. Pull alongside us. Okay, stop. We get out here. I refuse, too. Move, lady. I'm not getting out. This gun says you are. You'd better do as he said, Mrs. Troy. You're a veteran young man. You've had some experience with guns. Why don't you do something? Because he's got the gun. Not me. Come on, soldier. Let her get shot if she wants to. Wait. I'm coming. Give me the keys for Carpal. Okay. Here. How long do you intend to keep us here? Until my friend comes to meet me. And when will that be? Stop asking questions. Get in the cabin. Meanwhile, at a nearby FBI field office, Special Agent Jim Taylor approaches the desk of Agent Dean Johnson. Well, then we go to work. On what, Jim? Two men held at the bank in Rawlins this afternoon. That came in at closing time and took $18,000. Do we know anything about them? Yes, a tourist in Rawlins happened to be taking a snapshot in front of the bank when the bandits walked out with a loot. It's a freight. Yeah, the pigs had been developed and both bandits had been identified. Who are they? One of them is named Pete Fenton. The other is a George Colwell. I've heard of them. Now, both of them are armed and dangerous. What was the pattern after they left the bank? Well, they separated. They took different cars. And we got descriptions of the cars? Yes, and we checked on the license numbers. Both cars were stolen about an hour before the robbery. That figures. Now they've got an alarm on both cars and on Fenton and Colwell. Don't we have a resident agent under Rawlins, Jim? That's right. He's working on the case too. Oh, here you go. Taylor speaking. Yes, sir. Hi, sir. Hi, Nasser. Thank you. Goodbye. Dean, it was the FAC. What? He wants us to leave for Rawlins immediately. It's one break. What? Look. Old hatchet face fell asleep. Good. There you go, soldier. You still got those matches? Sure. Yeah. I'll swap you, huh? A match for the cigarette? Deal. You want one, Mr. Pendleton? Oh, thanks, Joey. You know, things never wake out the way you see. You know, when I first took this job three years ago, I figured, oh, get action. You know, see the world went. So I drive from New York to L.A., L.A. to New York. Back and forth. Back and forth. What happens? Nothing. But do I give up? Nah. I keep thinking every time I make a trip, what I'll do when the bad man has always three or four of them together. What I'll do when they stop me, huh? I'll break them in half with my bare hands. So what happened? Today, we get stopped by one guy. I'm scared of that. Joey, you got any idea where we are? Yeah, I think we might be maybe eight, ten miles from a place called Rollins. Oh, I never know what got this cold in the desert. I'm freezing. If we had some wood, we could start a fire in the fireplace. I wish I had my coat. Hey, that's it. What? The gimmick I need to get out to the car. If I can do that, maybe I can get us out of here. Hey, mister. What? Mister, where's the coat? That's too bad. Can we come out and get our coats out of the car? Just one of them. Okay. Stay right in front of me. We'll go together. Okay. I wonder what he's got in mind. I don't know. He's a cute guy. Yeah, he's okay. Think we'll ever get to LA? Sure. You'll live there, soldier? Hold on. I just heard a lot about the place and I made up my mind when I got out of the hospital. I'd give it a try. How long were you like that? Three years. Three years in the hospital? Yeah. Kind of rough, soldier. I'm just glad it's over. Is LA your home? No. I was just giving it a try on my show. What do you do? Well, I've been watching car hop, waitress, hostess. Sounds like you, my god. Okay. With all those talents I couldn't miss. You know, something, soldier. We'll both do okay. Thanks. I can use a... Get in. Okay. Here's your coat, Miss Penelope. Thanks, Joey. And here's your soldier. Thanks. Now listen. Yeah. Here's the one now. That's the only door. And the windows are all boarden up, but we still got a chance. Oh. You see this key? Mm-hmm. It's a spare. It's a car. I keep it in the code all the time. If I can get out of here and enter the car without MC and me, I could go for help. But you just said that's the only door. Well, that's right. We've got to sit down and figure something. There's got to be another way out of here. We've got to find out what it is. Yes, Jim. Sheriff over in the next county just called. They found the convertible that Pete Fenton used in his getaway. Yeah, I assume that Fenton wasn't in the car. That's right. He apparently abandoned it when he got a flat tire. Where'd they find it? Oh, about 10 miles out of town. Motor was called, which means it had been abandoned some time before. That doesn't tell us very much about where Fenton is, Jim. I know. As a matter of fact, we were better off before. At least we knew then what kind of a car he was in. If we got a map of that section, Jim. Yeah, there's one there on the resident's desk. Well, let's take a look at it and see if there are any side roads near where the car was flown. Oh, I'll take it to Daniel. Special Agent Taylor speaking. Yeah, Harry. Hmm? How is it? Well, I think it's a good idea. Yeah, sure. All right, thanks so long. How is the resident, Jane? The limousine was due at the Rawlins Hotel three hours ago, and it hasn't been heard from. Whose limousine? Oh, it's one of those low-rate cars that run from New York to Los Angeles. Oh. The hotel says that if the car was going to be late, the driver always called in from White Side. That's a town about 35 miles down the road. And they haven't heard from him yet. Not a word. I think we'd better get a description of that limousine and send out a brand new alarm. Look at that. What? Here we are knocking our brains out to figure a way out of here. And that old thing just sleeps away. It almost makes me... Yeah, I got it. I got a way out. How? The fireplace. What? Oh, look how big it is. I climb up the chimney, walk across the roof, and jump down next to the car. I can be gone by the time he hears me. Hey, that's good. Except for one thing. What? You going up the chimney. No, no. You just got out of the hospital. Yes, but you're all right. You're all over the technique. My old man played Santa Claus in the department store in Brooklyn for eight straight years. My old family's great when it comes to chimneys. I still want to go. Well, I'll tell you what I'll do. We'll flip a coin. Heads, I go. Tails, you go. Okay. Here goes. Heads. I go. Come on out. Give me a move. Good luck, Joey. Thanks, Mr. Hamilton. There you are. Good grab, old man. Wait a minute. Yeah. I got it. Well, this is easy. Hey. What? Take a look at this coin, Joey, flipped. It's got two heads on it. What? What? Sounds like he's out of the chimney. Yeah, the steps must be at the edge. Must be ready to jump. Poor guy. On tonight's FBI file in just a moment. Now 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. You know the type of man who has a right to say those words. It's the man who's looking forward to the day when his neighbors will say to him, Congratulations, Ralph. Just heard that you've landed a swell new job with the Winter Jones Company. If you rate yourself as a man on the way up, it may interest you to know that the equitable society has created a special type of life insurance for you personally. It's known as the equitable plan for people on the way up for men and women who believe in themselves and their futures. And it offers these three important advantages. First, immediate protection. The moment you sign the contract, you enjoy the peace of mind that comes from knowing that your wife and children have the protection they need. Second, the equitable plan provides for readjustment in the future. Five years from now, when you're making more money, you can make up your mind whether you want more protection or bigger cash values. Or you may decide to work out a retirement program. 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 offer 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 candidate this station to the Equitable Society. That's E-Q-U-I-T-A-B-L-E. The Equitable Life Insurance Society of the United States. And now back to the FBI file, The Cut Rate Caravan. It is the hope of the Federal Bureau of Investigation that in helping to bring this series of official radio programs to you, it is helping to educate you in the devious ways of the criminal. There is something you can learn from each program. Something you can take away that will enable you to help fight the current and continuing wave of crime which last year saw more than 5,000 major crimes being committed every 24 hours. The lesson to be learned from tonight's case from the files of your FBI is that crime knows no geography. It can strike in the crowded tenement district of a large city or as you have seen, it can strike in the middle of the desert. A companion lesson to be learned is that the criminal, whether he is desperate or not, is no respecter of persons for their rights. Here you have seen four people, none of whom have criminal records. People who might be met in any corner of the country who happen to come along a lonely highway in the desert at what was for the criminal, a fortuitous time and who, because of that circumstance, that nearest chance of fate which placed them on the road at that particular moment, now find their very lives in jeopardy. This happened to them. And unless the Pete Fentons are removed and put away, it can happen to you. Tonight's file continues at the FBI resident agents office in Rollins. It is later that night. Do you think I can come in on that limousine? Not a thing here, Jim, but New York said that there were three passengers in the car. Two women and a man besides the driver. Fentons trigger happy. If he has those people, we'd better find them before too long. Yes. Now let's check and see if we know for sure it's so far. Now look, one of the stolen cars headed east out of Rollins after the robbery. Yeah, that was the car driven by Fenton. Okay, now we know that Fenton was somewhere where it was muddy because of the crust of mud and both the clutch and the brake pedals. The lab could tell us where that mud came from. We might at least know which section to search. Oh, I'll take it. Yeah. Special Agent Taylor speaking. Yes, Chief? You have? I win. Hmm. Oh, good. Oh, you wouldn't know. Yes, yes, we'll be right over. Thanks for calling. Bye. That was a little chief of police team. They just picked up George Caldwell alone. Yeah, and he had to loot with him. He was headed west on the same highway the other car he was. That must be near their rendezvous point, Jim. That's right. Chief asked Caldwell where Fenton was waiting for him, but he wouldn't talk. Mm-hmm. I think we'd better go over and do a little interviewing ourselves. Sergeant, let this car again, will you? Sure. If I'd been awake, this would never have happened. Was idiotic for him to have attempted such a thing. Good. It's all right, Joey. Oh. Oh, Miss Penelton. Don't try to get out. What happened? You got shot. I remember that, but I don't remember nothing else. You rolled off the roof. The guy outside carried you in. I'm sorry. I got all of you into this trouble. I didn't know... Joey. Leave him alone. He's passed out again. Maybe he's better off that way. He's bleeding pretty badly. Young man. Yes, Mrs. Troy. You've wasted enough time with him now. I'm getting hungry, and I'd like you to ask that man outside if he has any intention of feeding us. That's your only... Just a minute, you old voucher. It may not mean anything to you if Joey bleeds to death, but it does to us. You may be. I'll shut up. Shut up. I haven't heard you open your mouth since we left New York except to complain about something somebody else was doing. Now get back in the corner, sit down, and stay out of our way. I think you'd better, Mrs. Troy. Come on. If you're both against me... So, what are you going to do about Joey? I'll talk to our guard. We've got to get our friend to a doctor. Not Jikes. But he's dying. Not when he moves. You've got to help him. Do you hear? Do you? He's true talking. Oh, we've got to get a doctor. A howl? I don't know, but I'm going to get one here. Dean, we don't know much more now than we did before we talked to Caldwell. No, he's a pretty cold customer. We can be pretty sure they did intend to meet somewhere between where the first car was found and where Caldwell was picked up. It's a stretch of about 15 miles, Jim. Yeah, I know. We haven't got time to cover that territory inch by inch. Maybe one of the posseys will find the missing limousine. I hope so, but I hate to wait. There's people in more danger every hour that Caldwell doesn't show up with that money. You wouldn't think four people in the car could just disappear in the middle of the desert. Dean, I think that's it. What? We're in the middle of the desert. There's nothing but sand around here. Oh, that's right. I've got an idea. Let's get to our phone. Soldier? Yeah? He's bleeding again. Pretty badly, too. I'm getting that guy in here. Hey, you're outside. What? Come in here. You hear me? Come in. Come here and take a look. He's dying. So? Oh, you've got to let me get a doctor. You can't just let a man die like this. Listen, you're staying right in here whether this guy croaks or not. Young man. What? If I must stay, I'd like to be moved to some other place. I've put up with these people long enough. You're the one who owns that big black suitcase, aren't you? That's right. I thought so. Why? I just got finished going through it. You've got no right to do that. I found those twelve decks of cards you carry. I used those to play bridge with my friends. That's what I thought. They're Mark. That's a lie. Lady, I know Mark. That's when I see him. You mean she has decks of Mark cards? Yeah, that's right. Were you phoned out? I've got him. That's right. He's got him. No, you don't. No. No. Now, stay where you are already. Are you hurt, soldier? No, no. I'm okay. You wait. You're gonna be for long. Wait! All right, Fenton. You've got that gun. Go on. You heard me. Drive it! Dean, she was carrying anything else. I'll cover you. Right, Jim. Who are you? We're Special Agents, the FBI. Oh, we need a doctor for that man on the floor. Dean, call him a sheriff. Have him rush this man to our hospital. Right. Can we go with him? Certainly. All right, Fenton. You're coming with us. Joey Green, the car driver, recovered from his gunshot wound, so no murder charge was filed against Pete Fenton. Instead, Fenton and his partner, George Caldwell, were each given life imprisonment following conviction in a federal court for bank robberies. In studying the mud to be found on the clutch and brake pedals of the car abandoned by Pete Fenton, Special Agent Taylor noticed what seemed to be small seedlings. Because he saw them, the two Special Agents were able to get to the cabin in which the four tourists were being held. The presence of those seedlings told Special Agent Taylor that the mud had come from a place in the desert that had had just new grass planted. He knew that grass in any desert is not indigenous and must be planted anew every fall because the sun dries the soil each summer and the desert winds blow away the top soil. A call to the local nursery told Special Agent Taylor that the only place within the 10-mile stretch under investigation that had recently been seeded was a cabin a few miles off the main highway. Given the location of that cabin, the two Special Agents still were faced with a grave problem of whether or not they would be able to reach it in time to save the four people being held prisoners. By combining sound reasoning with the special knowledge that desert grass had to be planted every year your FBI was able not only to apprehend the second bank robber but was also able to save the lives of four innocent people. In just a moment, we will tell you about next week's exciting case from the files of your FBI. Did you know that many top executives say, show me a man's life insurance policy then I can make up pretty accurate estimate of his future success? Yes, your insurance tells a lot about you. When you purchase an equitable plan for men and women on the way up you mark yourself as a man who really believes in himself and his ability to get ahead. So why sell yourself short? Get in touch with your equitable society representative. Ask him to give you the whole story on the equitable society's plan for men and women on the way up. More right care of this station to the equitable life insurance society of the United States. Next week we will dramatize another case from the files of the Federal Bureau of Investigation an intriguing story that proves that women in crime are not the weaker sex. It's subject, swindling, it's title, the mother-in-law racket. The incidents used in tonight's equitable life insurance society's broadcast are adapted from the files of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. However all names used are fictitious and any similarity thereof to the names of persons living or dead is accidental. 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 is a Jerry Divine production. This is Larry Keating speaking for the Equitable Life Insurance Society of the United States and the Equitable Society's representative in your community and inviting you to tune in again next week at this same time when the Equitable Life Insurance Society will bring you another thrilling story from the files of the Federal Bureau of Investigation the mother-in-law racket on this is your FBI. This is ABC the American Broadcasting Company.