 The Equitable Life Assurance Society present this is your FBI This is your FBI the official broadcast from the files of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Presented transcribed as a public service by the Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States and the Equitable Society's representative in your community Again and again regular listeners to this Equitable Society Program right in and say nice things about our commercial messages They say that our equitable commercials are packed with helpful and useful information presented in a sincere and reasonable way You'll find tonight's middle commercial a perfect example of this it deals with college education Chose why it's such a good investment for your children then outlines a simple painless way to pay for those four years in college If you have ambitions for your children You'll welcome this information from the Equitable Society coming in about 14 minutes tonight's FBI file the black market hijacking Five years ago. There was great joy throughout this nation for peace at long last had returned Americans who had given up their youth were getting ready to start the long voyage home The long trek back to civilian life back to a way of life. They had fought to protect Painters in every city were busy writing the words welcome home on smokestacks storage tanks and every other available space From coast to coast the face of America was being lifted for here was a nation getting ready to enjoy an era of peace And now only five short years later. There are young men in this nation receiving letters which start Welcome you have been chosen and go on from there letters from their draft boards Factories which had just about gotten themselves switched from war work to civilian production are undergoing Reconversion once more and the morning paper is again alive with words America had almost forgotten Words like general perching tank bazooka gun and P80 shooting star There are other words too making their reappearance unpleasant words that bring back unpleasant thoughts rationing price controls hoarding a Man who spent the last five years asleep could wake and follow any conversation Could pick it up where he had dozed off as yet There are no black markets, but there are gray ones because a few selfish people have caused temporary shortage by purchasing beyond their possible needs For that reason the Federal Bureau of Investigation has chosen for dramatization this evening a case which took place in World War two Maybe you will remember it the night's file opens late one night in 1943 Two men ride a small boat across the river one at the wheel the other appearing through the thick fog See anything Leo Not yet We ought to be getting close Let's move no Not the way that far just like it Hey Fred next time. Let's hijack a truck You think we'd score this good the truck No, but it'd be easier work What's tough about this job, I don't like this foggy air Murder on my sinus Leo a barge load of coffee you'll cure anything Wait a minute Turn toward me a little seed I think so. Yeah. Yeah. See those lights Uh-huh, better get up that front line. Okay. That's a bunch. All right Hey Fred. Yeah What do we do with a barge load of coffee? What do you think we do with it? We sell it? I know that But it's a lot to get rid of They old people are shorter coffee. It'll be a sense to get rid of Just think kid helping people out when they ain't got something will be helping the war Following morning at the FBI field office in a nearby city special agent Jim Taylor approaches the desk of agent Elliot Warren Welcome back to the office alien. Oh, thanks Jim chased that young man all the way across the continent didn't just about Well, I think you can settle down for a while We've been put on one that has a local angle theft of government property a barged load of coffee belonging to the army was hijacked last night down The river at Auburn shouldn't be too much trouble locating a stolen barge Well the barge wasn't taken a hijack has knocked out the watchman and ferried the bags of coffee Sure in a launch you interview the watchman yet. No the Auburn police have said he'd been assaulted by two men He couldn't describe them though the fog was too thick. You must have come aboard in a boat I couldn't describe that either but the police covered the shore this morning They found a spot where a launch had been run in a number of times and there were two sets of tire tracks on the beach Made by trucks. Did they lead any place from the beach? No. Hey, you were ready to start working on this Well, I've got just about one more hour's work on this report. Okay. I'll run down to Auburn interview that watchman Leo Leo Okay, okay. Where you been? I'll talk her to the hat check girl Figured as long as the floor show was still on her. It's just ending Sally no, we're here. Yeah Hello, Sally. Hi Sally. Don't get up makes me feel like a lady. There you go Business, okay. I got no complaints. How about our business, huh? Did you dig a customer? You know a customer for the coffee. Now, let's not mention the product. I got a prospect a real live one. Who is he? Well, now Fred, let's get the commission angle straightened out first. I already told you you get 10% off the top Honey price is a jump since then. There's a war on you know All right, how much now a full chair one third Why don't you take it all? That wouldn't be fair Suppose we say no my customer goes back in the deep free What's the matter with you? Don't you make enough in this joint to keep you happy honey boy? I've learned to lay it away while I'm hot Now, what do you say? Okay, you get a third well Who's the guy his name is Kent. I don't know any French named Kent. This man is a legitimate citizen What does he want with our plan? Well, you see he likes to wave the flag during the daytime But at night he's in business for himself All right, how much we go you can settle out with him. He's over there at the corner table a Guy in the blue suit. Mm-hmm grab your drinks and come on over He smoked filled joints really fractured my sign is red. Hi, Mr. Kent. Oh, hello there These are the boys. I was telling you about Fred Sanford Leo Dixon meet. Mr. Kent. How do you do? Will you sit down? Yeah Now you three work it out. I gotta make some character with the umchees. See y'all later. Yeah, sure Well, I see you have drinks Yeah, I Suppose we might as well get right down to business. Okay, Miss Sally has told me about the Property you have for sale. I'd like to make an offer for it How much I'll give you 25 cents a pound It's worth more than that not to me That's a flat offer and I'd like to add that I can't consider closing the deal until I've examined the merchandise Well, you can see it anytime you want where I get a stash in a warehouse of course, but Broadway Fellow name Woody runs the place. Just go there All right, I'll go there tomorrow. Okay, and let's meet back here tomorrow night We got a break on that stolen coffee from the watchman now from the Auburn police They found the launch that was used by the thieves There's a broken bag on deck and the stenciling on the bag matched with a coffee that was hijacked. Did you examine the launch, Jim? Yeah, and I think I came up with a lead. What's that? There was an old jacket in the cabin. It was obviously worn by one of the hijackers when he carried the coffee I went through the pockets. I found a book of matches from a local restaurant Ticket stub from a downtown movie and a rain check from our ballpark. That should make the thieves come from around here I'd say so You can't add that much coffee in your living room probably probably using a local warehouse So let's get out the list and start checking them That's all right, Ken show you yeah, he's in my office come on back You get over to see the coffee Okay I don't know Go ahead boy. Hi. Thank you. Hi, Mr. Kent. Good evening gentlemen. Good on fellas. Thank you. Okay Well, Mr. Kent Did you get to see the stuff? Yes, I went over this afternoon. How'd it look to you? Fine All right, let's start talking to again. I might as well tell you for openers We're not interested in that 25 cents a pound To tell you the truth gentlemen, I'm not either Now you're talking I have a Newspaper clipping here someplace Here we are I Think we should discuss it before we make any further mention of money. What is this story in this evening's paper? Has to do with coffee belonging to the US army that was stolen night before last Now by a strange coincidence gentlemen, that's what you're trying to sell to me So so I can't help putting two and two together look mr. Kent You didn't think the boys just grew that coffee. Did you I certainly didn't think it was stolen That puts an entirely different light on the deal. You mean you're backing out? No I'm reducing my offer To five cents a pound. Mr. Kent. You're not a businessman. You're a comedian. Look, let's break this up. We got no deal Just a minute. I'd like to call your attention to something first The coffee is stolen. I know that it's stolen and I know where to being kept And I regret to say that if you don't accept my offer I'll have to notify the police it would be my duty as a citizen Now what's your answer? I'll give you an answer. What for guys get us over a barrel. All right, so let me fix that Nothing we can do. Let's take his off. Are you kidding? No When do you want to pay mr. Kent come to my office tomorrow morning? I'll give you the cash Okay, sorry to have had to use this sort of Very well Where'd why didn't you let me cool him because I wouldn't have done any good. You didn't do any good this way either Don't be so sure Come on. We get some work to do Special agent Warren speaking Jim Taylor elegant Oh, where are you now at the City Hall Department of Buildings? What's doing down there? One of the warehouses I checked this morning was a place called Woody's on Broadway Had one very unusual feature Inside dimensions are only half the size of the outside. Oh, I checked the building plans and they Confirm my suspicions. Well, did you see anything that looked like a breakaway wall? Oh, not a trace, but there's an alley running through from Broadway to the market Oh one side of the warehouse is on the alley, and I think that's where the fake wall might be Oh, Elliot secure a search warrant and meet me there soon as you can Flash see if there's anything here, right That's it hold it Over there on this bag stacked in the corner down your flash along here with you. That's it hold it I'm stenciling on one of the bags Product of Brazil age 38. This is the coffee Elliot that stencil was on the bag that we found on the both garden Get my knife. I'll make sure if it's the coffee. We're looking for it should be all here Jen There's plenty of it. Yeah Look Coffee yelling. It's gravel. What just plain gravel all it don't reach your cupboard Are you trying to steal my coffee? Are you sure it belongs to you? Of course it does. Well, then you're the one we're looking for What do you mean? We're special agents of the FBI. You better come along with us We will return in just a minute to tonight's exciting case from the official files of the FBI Now a special message from the equitable life assurance society to fathers and mothers of young children We're going to ask you to look ahead 10 or 15 years to the day when that youngster of yours says Just think dad one week more and I'll be a college freshman. Oh boy I can't wait your boy or girl will have three good reasons for looking forward to college first because college men and women Earn more money dad our high school principal said that college grads earned $72,000 more during their working years and the men who went right to work after high school Isn't that something second college men land the bigger job? He said if you take 16 men who are being paid $10,000 a year or more 15 of them 15 out of 16 have college degrees third college men get more out of life They know what's what in art music and good books their background of culture makes them sought after by important people So father and mother don't leave your family's education to luck make it sure with an equitable education fund an equitable Education fund. What's that? It's the painless way to pay for your children's college education in this equitable society plan You start when your children are young then each year You pay a sum of money that doesn't hurt an amount that scarcely makes it dense in your budget When your youngsters ready for college the money's all ready for him That's batting the cost of education over 10 or 15 years instead of taking a beating in for right now Suppose the father dies or becomes totally disabled then no more payments are necessary The fun becomes fully established when the youngster is ready for college He gets the same education as if his dad had lived so don't delay a day longer Let your equitable society representative show you how little it costs to start an equitable education fund Or right care of this station to the equitable society. That's e qi ta ble the equitable life assurance society of the United States And now back to the FBI file the black market hijacking The man in tonight's case from the files of the Federal Bureau of Investigation whom we have called mr. Kent Was not alone in his greed during the days and years of the last war There were many like him far too many Nor did they crop up for the first time during the 1940s They have been with us in every period of national scarcity Whether it was coffee and butter or whiskey and gin or make no mistake the black market operator in wartime Is his greater criminal as any hoodlum or racketeer was during prohibition? But because we have always had them with us does not mean we must have them in our midst again during this period History doesn't have to repeat itself that faithfully However, it should be remembered that neither your FBI nor any other law enforcement agency is going to keep America free of these men Or that is beyond their power Only one group can see to it that no black market exists in this nation during the days to come That group is composed of you the decent people of the country We in America are blessed with the greatest production machinery in the world a machine Which supplied the Allied armies in a global war and also maintained the civilian economy Having shown the physical powers that won the last war Let's this time supply the moral might to put the operators of every black market where they belong out of business It can be done The night's file continues in a room at the local FBI field office where special agent Warren is questioning Mr. Kent and you don't think it's at all strange that in addition to your coffee We recovered loot from other robberies in the same warehouse. I told you how I happened to use that particular location to store my coffee You picked it out of the classified directories Then may I leave now not quite Mr. Kent parts of your story don't exactly jibe with the facts for example Oh, for example, you said you went to the bank yesterday and got $2,500 which you used to pay for the coffee That's right. Your bank statement shows no withdrawal of that amount on any day Banks make mistakes, you know, you also said you met this man who owned the coffee yesterday at Jones chop house I suppose there is no such place. Oh, I found it. All right, but I learned they were closed all day yesterday because of a death in the Jones family. Well, maybe I met him somewhere else I'm not guilty simply because I don't remember the name of arrestment You also told us you had no idea that the coffee was stolen. That's true I found this clipping in the glove compartment of your car Tells about the theft of coffee belonging to the United States Army What made you so interested in that particular story? I... I never saw anything in any paper about that You... You're making that up about my car No, I'm not. We don't plant evidence, Mr. Kent. We find it Now you're an intelligent man, but you told us about a withdrawal from your bank and it wasn't true You said you met the owner of the coffee at Jones chop house and that wasn't true You said you had no idea the coffee was stolen and we find a clipping about the theft in your car Mr. Kent, do you really think any jury's going to believe that? How about telling us the truth? Very well A woman I know owns the 800 Club Sally Kimball? That's right. You know her, Ellie We've had complaints about servicemen being robbed in her place. Never been able to prove anything, though Go on, please, Mr. Kent She put me in contact with the men who stole the coffee. There were two of them After I examined it, I paid him Then they must have substituted the gravel you found Names of those men, please I don't remember Would you recognize them if you saw their pictures? I should Elliot, I suppose you take Mr. Kent to police headquarters and let him go through their gallery Okay, Jim. Where are you going? Over and have a talk with Sally Kimball Just a minute Hi, Sally Good morning Did you collect from Kent? Yeah Then why didn't you bring my check over to the club? Because they came right back here and went to bed Big action last night? Oh, that's what you call empty and coffee and putting in gravel Took all night With a dozen guys helping Well, you got the load now The truck Leo's not looking for no stash Yeah, he cut me Thanks We hit the road tonight, didn't know Maybe I can locate a customer up there No, thanks I'm done with them, John, legit How about a fence? Fine, when are you ready? Well, have Leo contact me when he gets the truck put away You beat the club? Yeah, I got auditioned I'll be there all afternoon Oh, Miss Kimball Hold it, Doc, I'm trying to watch this act I'd like to talk to you if I may I'm a special agent of the FBI Here are my credentials Oh What do you want? Some information For instance The names of those two men you introduced are William Kent To who? William Kent They sold him from stolen coffees And they switched the coffee to gravel Well, if you find him, send him to me I can use a good magic app Hey, Sally Go away, Leo Well, I just wanted to tell you I don't need any We're using Ford's garage Yeah, hear me? I said blow Okay Now, um, now, what were we talking about? A man named William Kent Says he knows you Here's this picture You recognize him? Yeah, yeah, I know him He got loaded in here one night last week And wouldn't pay his tab And we threw him out What did he do? Try to get even by telling you I sold some coffee No, not exactly All right, honey Let's see your next routine Miss Kimball, I wonder if you'd mind Coming up to our office Well, I'm auditioning acts For a new show How about later on? I'll be busy all day Any objection? No, I guess not Thanks Now prove you're a G-man Find an exit I gotta go back to work That trip wasn't necessary, Elliott What happened? I talked to the Kimball woman She denies everything Naturally Unfortunately, we don't have any evidence To make an arrest Kent picked out some pictures down at the gallery No You make positive identification? Yeah The names of the men are Fred Sanford And Leo Dixon This is Sanford's picture And this one is Leo Dixon I just saw him Where? At the 800 Club He came in while I was interviewing Sally Kimball Hey Come on, Elliott We've still got a chance to locate that coffee Yeah Sally's on her phone What does she want? She wouldn't tell me Close the door, Leo Okay Hello, Sally Fred, I can't meet you Why not? Uh-huh Any trouble? No, I brushed him Look, I got a customer for this stuff Who? Joe Green 350 North Main, Centerville He's waiting for you 350 North I mean, I got it Just be sure you wire my commission Yeah, I will Look, we better get started, Sally See you when we hit town again Okay Bye Come on, Leo We taking off right now? Yeah There they are, Elliott Hold it, both of you No, you don't Let go Let go of me I'll get up Let's have a look at those trucks Fred Sanford Leo Dixon, Sally Kimball And William Kent Were tried, convicted And sentenced to serve eight-year terms In a federal penitentiary For theft of government property Special Agent Taylor Remembered Leo Dixon Telling Sally Kimball About using Floyd's garage When inspection of the telephone directory Revealed no such listing Agents Taylor and Warren Obtained a roster of owners Of every garage in the city Each owner whose first name was Floyd Was checked against their files Upon investigating Floyd Perry They discovered he had A lengthy criminal record For that reason They drove immediately to his garage With the results you have just witnessed But as you probably well remember The arrests in this case Of a comparative handful of criminals Did not wipe out the black market In 1943 Nothing wiped them out Because too many people In this nation were steady customers Of those places where For a little extra A rationed item Was produced from under the counter It is now too late To rectify those mistakes But with the nation Currently engaged in a battle Which may yet become A full-scale defense Of our way of life Let us make sure of one thing As a people We must resolve not to make The same mistake again Let's show the world What we in this country already know The average American, given the facts Will prove that among his possessions He numbers the qualities Of integrity and self-sacrifice Now one last word To fathers and mothers Of all the things You can do for your children There's no greater proof Of your love for them Than an equitable education fund They'll be grateful for it As long as they live Your boy or girl May only say a few words like Thanks, Mom. Thank you, Dad. But you know from the look in his eye And the ring in his voice That he'll never forget your foresight In starting an equitable education fund Right now make that wise resolution To see your equitable representative soon Next week we will dramatize Another case from the files Of the Federal Bureau of Investigation An unusual and colorful Recount of crime in the far west Its subject, armed robbery Its title, The Musical Stick Up The 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 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 Others in the cast were Harley Bear, Anthony Barrett Isabelle Jewel, Tom Tully And Carlton Young This is your FBI is 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 this same time When the Equitable Life Assurance Society Will bring you another thrilling transcribe story From the files of the Federal Bureau of Investigation The musical stick up on This is your FBI Stay tuned for the Adventures of the Thin Man Fun and excitement for the whole family When the Thin Man comes your way