 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 representative in your community, H.O. In a few minutes, two Equitable Society policy holders will tell you how A.H.O. saved them from a mortgage foreclosure. A.H.O. means assured home ownership. It's the name of a home-saving plan offered by the Equitable Life Assurance Society. It combines a low-cost first mortgage with life insurance protection. So listen carefully to the Equitable Society's middle commercial. You'll get full information on this ideal plan for homeowners offered by the Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States. Tonight's FBI file, The Hungry Wrestler. One of the first axioms a child learns in school is that honesty is the best policy. It is unfortunate that as those children grow older, they become more cynical and begin to doubt the inherent truth behind the maxim. The proof of that is contained in the figures gathered by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Figures which showed that the people of the nation were swindled out of millions upon millions of dollars last year by confidence men of every description. It is a saying among those confidence men that you cannot swindle an honest man. That has been found to be true because every swindle is predicated on one thing. One buildup which is that the ultimate victim is led to believe that he is getting something for nothing. Your FBI therefore offers one piece of advice. Advice which can well be used as a yardstick if you are approached and asked to make an investment on which you will receive a tremendous return without any labor on your part. Examine it carefully and through your examination remember one important thing. In return for nothing, you'll get nothing. The night's file opens in a shabby second floor gymnasium located in a large eastern city. A man stands beside the ropes of a practice ring while a wrestler works hard trying to get into condition. Oh, that's so good Carl. Do what the way I told you, boy, from the diaphragm, the diaphragm. Oh, ladies. Look, you've got to sound like you're hurt like you're dying. Oh, don't just lay there scream. Grab your leg or your head and pretend it's coming off. What goes with this? You mean how do I have to find myself in this temple of torture? Yeah. That large unbeengly boy there happens to be my property. Him? Yeah. You are beholding the horrible Huzar. Well, he looks horrible. I'll give you that. How did you come up with him? That last tent show I was with Brandon to an embarrassing situation. He came and there was nothing in the damper. I was off at my choice. It doesn't crack cupidals or him. He didn't have much choice. And made the wrong one. What a behemoth. He wakes up hungry. He's hungry all day and he goes to bed hungry. But why don't he eat? Oh, dear boy, that's in spite of eating. But what's that he's doing now? Practicing. Wouldn't it be better if he practiced with somebody? Oh, he might get hurt. It's a bitter experience that the horrible Huzar is only as red when holding an ape in pork. Why don't you just walk out and leave the bloom? Well, look at that face and tell me if you could walk out on him. Those eyes like a frightened St. Bernard. Look, forget him. What I've got an investment in him. How much he has stuck? Everything I possess. Then maybe I'd come along at just the right time. Well, what do you mean? I come here because I've got a proposition for you. Fernando? Yeah. Do you remember Al Adams? Oh, vaguely. That's what? We've got a touch. We've got nine grand a piece from him on a lost job. Well, you, uh, interested? Well, that depends on the proposition. Well, it can give it to you better than me. Why don't you come along with me and see him? Right now? Yeah. Well, that was excellent, my boy. Excellent. Look, I have to make a business call. I'll be back recently. Keep practicing, boy. Try to make all your streams like that last one. Well, that would be kind of hard for us. Why? Well, that time I bit myself. Meanwhile, at the local FBI field office, Special Agent Jim Taylor is in the teletype room when Agent Tony Webster enters. Oh, hello, Tony. Did you get my note? Yeah. What's up? A new swindling case. Aw. Come on, let's walk back to my desk. I'll give you the dope on it. All right. What kind of a swindle, Jim? Oil. Oh, well. Odd waste. Well, how come this office is in on it? Well, the Oklahoma City Office apprehended a man who confessed to being part of the trio that put over this swindle. Oh. When he was questioned by our agents, he gave them the names of the other two men and said that they were headed this way. Who are they? One of them is named Al Adams, and the other is a Ralph Hudson. Any description? Yes, complete. And they've both got previous records. I assume you've already sent out an alarm on them. Ah, just a few minutes ago. Well, what's the story on this swindle, Jim? Oh, I haven't got the details yet. I was waiting for another teletype on that. The Oklahoma City Office said they'd send one on as soon as they finished the questioning, huh? Look, instead of waiting around here for some word, Tony, let's go out and see if we can find them ourselves. Get the professor a chair. Okay, Al. Have a drink, Professor. I never imbibe before discussing any financial matters. That's a good idea. Here you are, Professor. A nice, comfortable one. There you go. Ralph told me you had a proposition that might prove mutually advantageous. That's right. How much did you tell him about the deal, Ralph? Not a thing. Well, then let me give it to him quick. Professor, you pose as a professor. Pose? I'm sorry. You go to a small town upstate and visit the local library. Roger, could you please follow me? You ask the librarian if he has any very old books about the beginnings of the town. Usually they've been stored down in the cellar with a lot of other jobs. Yes. You go down there and plant a book. What kind of a book? I'll give it to you before you leave. It'll be a book about the early history of the town. You leave the book in the library and then go out and buy a certain piece of property a little way out of town. I'm afraid you've overestimated my resources. Oh, I'll put up the money. Oh, no, it's plenty, it's plenty. Now, after you've bought the property, Ralph goes around and spreads the rumor that you found a book in the library that told you where there was oil. Do you see, Professor, the book says there's oil on your property. Oh, very clever. And just to make sure of the score, I come to town and say I'm from the Federal Bureau of Geology. I've heard about the oil and I want to check. I check and I say it's there. Then you sell and we leave town. How's it sound, Professor? Yes. Yes, it's a wonderfully controlled idea. Would you like to join me? Well, I am not sure today. Can at the present time? Why not? I can't travel. Why? You met the reason earlier. The horrible bizarre. What's that? A wrestler. My wrestler. And if left unattended, I'm quite certain he would starve today. Look, I'll advance you some dough enough for him to eat on while you're gone. Where will he live? Professor, from what I've seen of that bum, you can bought him in a kennel. Now, what do you say? Well, if he's properly fed and sheltered, I'll accept the deal. The Mr. Adams of the Federal Bureau of Geology? Oh, oh. Oh, even better than you hoped. My telephone hasn't stopped ringing all day. Sounds like Ralph did a good job planning the rumor. Yes, indeed, yes. What did your customers want? Oh, some of them said they wanted to buy the house. Some of them said they wanted to buy the land. But... I swear they're disheartening, Al. What? The dishonesty of the average citizen. Just proves the old theory. Legitimate people can't be trusted. Yeah. Well, when does this enterprise reach a monetary basis? How many suckers would you say? Oh, I guess about 50. Tomorrow? They take deposits from everybody and then they leave town. Pretty smooth. Oh, the telephone gave some more details of the man they arrested. Which part did he play in this window? He was the phony professor. It appears that his confederates double-crossed him. How? Well, his arrest came about from a supposedly anonymous phone call. It was traced to the hotel Woodbury. In Oklahoma City. That's right. Well, after our office arrested the so-called professor, two agents checked at the hotel and learned that Al Adams and Ralph Hudson had been staying there. I guess they wanted a larger share of the profits, huh? Sounds like it. Well, what do you think we ought to do now, Jim? Well, my guess is that if the two of them came this far, they're probably here to work. That's logical. Now, in the previous job, they set up this window in a little town outside of Oklahoma City. They'll probably follow the same pattern here. And I think the thing to do is send the alarm out to every small town in this area. So let's do that now, Tony. And maybe by morning, we'll get some results. Can you ask me to come in? All right, come ahead. How did you know where to find me? Well, I went to where you still live. They didn't know where I went? Oh, yes, they did. Oh. Oh, you sent a package there for yourself, remember? Yes. Well, you put this address on a package. Good heavens. I double-crossed myself. Aren't you glad to see me? No. I'm glad to see you. Stop looking at me through those shaggy eyes. I miss you. No, that's very touching. Is that why you came here? No. I was hungry. Well, I can't do anything for you. I'm in the middle of a very important business transaction. But I ain't had all day. I can't help it. You'll have to go back home, Carl. Well, I can't until I tell you. Tell me what? What I come here for. I already know you're hungry. Well, I've got something else to tell you. It's more important even if I'm being hungry. More important? Well, yes, I want to hear. Sit down, old faithful woman. Tell me your tale. Now, did you tell a professor we were coming out to see him? Yeah. How much has he collected so far? Eleven thousand dollars. It's a very happy number. Yeah. Yep. He worked out okay. Good enough to keep me awake. No, no, no, not that good. It's still better cutting it two ways. Why don't we blow a whistle on him? As soon as we collect the money. I don't like that part. Collecting? No karma, cops. It makes you feel kind of crummy. Huh? Would you like to give him half of your cut? No. Then we'd turn him in. He ate at the house up ahead there? Yeah. Better let me do all the talking. What for? Then we'll be sure to get that eleven thousand. Come on. I'm staying here. Oh, stop sulking. You can talk too. Come on. We should have brought a van. What for? To carry the money. Oh, that's the least of our problems. What is this? Huh? This door is locked. Maybe a sucker showed up. Maybe he's not showing the property. Wait a minute. Why? There's a note stuck on the door. It's addressed to us. For what to say? Wait till I open it for you. Well, dear Alan Ralph, I've been shooing a pencil seeking a suitable proverb. I've tested and discarded such tried and true proverbs as read upon the waters. Don't bite the hand that feeds you. Instead, I've coined one of my own, namely, never undersell a horrible hasar. What's he talking about? I don't know. This faithful illiterate weak from hunger. Bird dogged his way here to tell me a story he'd picked up about your previous partner who, due to your deceit, found himself languishing as a rather permanent guest of the law. I checked and found this tale to be true. Fearing that history might repeat itself, I hastened to dissolve our partnership. What? Inasmuch as I was the only partner present at the time of the dissolvement, a horrible hasar voting as your proxy deeded me the eleven thousand dollars. Farewell. We will return in just a moment to tonight's file which shows how your FBI protects American citizens and American homes. Now, a word about another type of home protection. A typical case from the files of the equitable life-assurance society. Let's hear what Mr. and Mrs. Harry Freeman have to say about us in their own words. At one point, my employer went out of business and I started to pound the payments looking for a new job. Things were a little slow then in my line and it took me almost three months to get located. In the end, we didn't know where the money to meet our mortgage payments was coming from. I was worried sick. Then suddenly I remembered that my mortgage was different. It was an assured home ownership plan and I'd forgotten all about my cash fund that had been building up for years. That cash fund was more than enough to meet the payments. That cash fund is one of many security features in the Equitable Society's assured home ownership plan in which a low-cost first mortgage is integrated with life insurance protection. Thanks to this insurance element, a growing cash fund is created which can be used as Mr. Freeman just explained whenever sickness or unemployment threaten home ownership. And don't forget, that cash fund can also be used to pay off the mortgage way ahead of schedule. By using this fund, many 20-year mortgages have been paid off in about 15 years. Furthermore, under the assured home ownership plan, if the owner dies, the Equitable Society not only cancels the mortgage but also returns to the widow every dollar her husband had paid to reduce the principal. Finally, during its life, the mortgage draws interest at only 4% and there's a liberal allowance to cover title search, lawyer fees and other closing costs. So for many reasons, a man may consider himself lucky if his health, age, income and the location of his home enable him to qualify for an equitable, assured home ownership plan. For full information, see your Equitable Society representative or write 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, The Hungry Wrestler. Tonight's case when the files of your FBI is illustrative of three important facts about crime with which you, the decent citizen, should be familiar. The first and most important is that crime is not confined to big cities. In the long list of places where the million-and-a-half major crimes of the last 12 months took place, it is safe to say that no city, no town, no village, no crossroads hamlet is absent. The second important fact about crime for you to know is that, as you have seen, there is no particular criminal type. There would be no way of pointing to any one of the people in tonight's case and saying, here is a criminal. The only thing that makes any person a criminal is the fact that he commits a crime and his appearance is not a contributing factor in that. No case from the FBI files better shows the third fact that there is no such thing as loyalty among thieves. That axiom which has come down to us through the years has only one thing wrong with it. It simply isn't true. Remember those three things and your FBI will feel well repaid for having helped to bring you this program tonight because knowing them will help you fight in the war that must be won. The war against crime. The night's file continues at the FBI field office. Hey, Tony, what are you doing here? I heard you had a touch of flu and had gone home. Well, I do feel kind of rocky, Jim, but I wanted to check with you before I left. Anything come in on that alarm? Yeah, I got a call a little while ago from the chief of police at Old Medford. He cost this one, was it worth? No, not quite, but they've been there. And worth the reckon. Yeah, they left shortly before he got our alarm last night. Chief up there investigated at every possible angle, but he couldn't find any trace of them. Did he have any idea of who they used as a third man this time? Well, all he could find out so far is that the man posed as a professor. The chief's interviewing people who saw him now so he can get us a good description. Hmm, wonder if Adams and Hudson double-crossed this professor too. Well, from what the chief at Old Medford could learn, the professor double-crossed them. He said that a customer came to the Swindler's house last night and found Adams and Hudson yelling about being clipped by the professor. He also heard Adams say he won't get away with it. Didn't the customer suspect anything when he heard that? Well, not immediately. He called the police this morning, however, and that's how this window was discovered. Well, what should we do now, Jim? Well, you're going to take care of that flu and go home and go to bed. I'll follow through with the chief of police up at Old Medford. Anything else you like, boy? Since your active simple devotion, anything I have with yours? Well, I maybe have a order of chicken. Good for you. With some baked potatoes. Any particular numbers? No, maybe four. Well, that'd be a good start. Anything else, my boy? Yeah. Well, name it, name it. I like to rascal somebody. Right now? No way, I mean like in a way. You mean you want to resume your career, isn't it? Yes. Well, that should be very easy, my boy. In fact, it coincides with something I already have in mind. What are you talking about? I have been mulling over what to do with the $11,000. And I have decided to return to my first love, a carnival. Yes. You can buy one. Yeah, piece of one. And I can wrestle in a thing. Did you come in? We'll get a tent and you can take on all comers. You mean wrestle people from the audience? Exactly. And what's more, we'll give prizes. Yes, that's exactly what we'll do. We'll offer enticing gifts to any person that you are able to defeat. Any word? No. None of the gyms have seen the professor for a month. How about that wrestler, if his? He ain't been around either. I'm tired of hiding out from the cops for a job. I didn't get a quarter out of it. Look, it was your idea to get the professor into this, so you find it. Who's there? Mr. Jenkins. Who? The guy who owns the motel. Come in. Good afternoon. I just got a message on the phone for either of you gentlemen. Well, what's the message? Wait, now, I wrote it down on a piece of paper. Here it is. He said to tell you his name was Barney. That's the guy from the gym. What did he say? He said to tell you he got a letter from the Hazar. Any more to the message? Yes. He said to tell you that the letter was from Thomasville. Where's Thomasville? Do you know Mr. Jenkins? Oh, about 60 miles north of here. Mr. Jenkins, how soon can you have our bill ready? In five minutes. Good. Well, start packing. We're getting out of here. Welcome back to the harvest, Tony. Well, thanks, Jim. I checked with the doctor. He said you'd be in a day. How do you feel? A million percent better. Ah, good, good. Sorry, I had to leave you all alone on that swindle case. You can still work on it. It's not closed yet. Oh, fine. Do you mind bringing me up to date on it, Jim? No, not at all. The chief up at Old Medford got a good description of the professor for us. Did that help? Yeah, as soon as we got it, we went through the local police files and came up with the right man. Who was it? His name is William Drexel, but that's as far as we've gone. That name is familiar, Jim. He's been arrested quite a few times. No address on the local police report? Yes, but it turned out to be a furnished room, and Drexel had checked out, at least a friend of his had checked out for him 10 days ago. What am I, Jim? Was the furnished room on 28th Street? Yeah, that's right. I thought I remembered that name. I questioned that Drexel in the case I handled last year. He'd just come back from touring with a tent show, and he told me he'd been with him all his life, and his ambition was to buy one someday. Maybe he's taken this money and satisfied that ambition. Yeah, but there must be a couple of hundred tent shows, Jim. Yeah, yeah, I know, but I just thought of something. Hand me that phone. I'll step back into my tent, right through here. Okay, you lead the way, Professor. Be careful here, gentlemen. There may be holes in the ground where we've stopped tent falls. Just keep going, Professor, and worry about yourself. Yeah, here we are, gentlemen. Step into my tent and discuss it. Ask to you, Professor. Yes, you're right. Mr. Adams, exactly what was it you care to discuss? Perhaps another business venture? No, not a new one. The one we just finished. Oh, I'm sorry, that's past. And it has no good to reminisce. The future is all that's important. Professor, you know what we came for. If you want complimentary tickets, I'm afraid they're all gone. We want that money. Oh, I'm sorry, Mr. Adams. It's been invested. Now, should I do what we said? Wait, wait. Before you contemplate violence, I should have to warn you that I looked into your scheme quite carefully and found that you violated a federal law when you posed as a government official. I could notify the authorities. I'll save you the trouble. Young man, I thank you to mind your own business. Oh, this is my business, Professor. I'm a special agent of the FBI. What? You're all under arrest. A long-distance phone call to that publication brought him the information that William Drexel had purchased a half-interest in the sunflower carnival. He was also able to get the root of the carnival, and a quick plane trip brought about not only the apprehension of the professor, but also, as you have seen, of the other two criminals. And so two special agents of your FBI, combining their knowledge, were able to close another file. Besides knowledge, which is always the most important thing in their arsenal, these special agents also were helped by the close cooperation they received from a local police department by observing citizens who were able to furnish an accurate description. And lastly, by their perseverance in continuing to work day after day, even when their efforts appear to be producing nothing. All of those things put together are what led to the desired result in tonight's case, to the defeat of the criminal. In just a moment, we will tell you about next week's exciting case from the files of your FBI. Now one last word to homeowners about the kind of mortgage you get in the equitable society's assured home ownership plan. First, it's a mortgage that's practically foreclosure proof. Right. If the owner dies, the mortgage is automatically canceled. During his life, the cash fund protects against emergencies, such as illness and unemployment. Second, it's a mortgage that draws interest at only 4%. So what are you waiting for? See your Equitable Society representative soon for full information about the assured home ownership plan designed for you by the Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States. Next week, we will dramatize another case from the files of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. A story of big city crime and corruption. It's subject to homicide, it's subject to homicide, it's titled The Runaway Corks. 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 Howitz. Others in the cast were Tom Brown, Ted D'Corsia, Bill Hallop, Bill Johnstone, Joe Vitale and Rowan Winters. 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 story from the files of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The runaway court on this is your FBI. This is ABC, the American Broadcasting Company.