 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. Fathers and Mothers of America, attention please. Upon the training you give your children today depends the future of America. Our system of free enterprise, personal liberty and democracy cannot exist without educated and enlightened citizens. In about 14 minutes our sponsor, the Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States will have some helpful suggestions for parents. If you wish to equip your children to take advantage of all the opportunities the future offers don't miss this important message. Tonight's FBI file, the diamond-studded double cross. It is a grave indictment indeed that the silent accessory to practically every crime is the criminal's own mother, father or guardian. The parent who was always too busy to watch how his or her son or daughter grew up or who just didn't care what kind of companions they kept, where they went and what they did when they got there. Or the parent who was too indulgent, who always gave in, who let the boy or girl have their own way so freely that soon for them the wrong way became the right way, the only way. Joe Bristol's mother had been that kind when he was growing up down along New York's waterfront and she still was. That's why tonight's case is in the files of your FBI. Hot, humid air hung like smoke over the East River. Wrapping a damp shroud about the old barge tied up to the sagging dock. A lantern burned in the galley but the woman was sitting outside on the deck. She was alone. In front of her through the haze, swarms of lights burned in the forest of tall buildings. Behind her an occasional tug or freighter groaned and passing. She paid no attention to either. She just sat. Presently she heard footsteps, familiar footsteps. Hiya, Mom! Quiet, son. What's the matter? You know how Mr. Braddock feels about you coming here. Oh, where is he? He's in the cabin taking a nap. It's laudable to hear him. Look, anytime you got enough of him, sweetheart, just holler. Don't you talk that way, Joey. He's very good to me, except about you. He's just jealous because he ain't my old man. It's not that at all. What else does he want? Soon as Pop died, he got you and the barge too. Joey, Mr. Braddock is a good man. Now please run along. Maybe I can meet you somewhere tomorrow, huh? But, Mom, I gotta see you tonight. Oh, Heavens, you're not in trouble again. No, not the kind you're thinking, sweetheart. I just want a little dough for a couple of days. I got a deal cooking, but till it comes off, I need 20. What kind of deal, Joey? Nothing for you to worry about, Mom, honest. Look, I never know what you're doing anymore. I don't even know where you're living or how you... Oh, listen, he woke up. You gotta go, Joey. What about the dough, Mom? I gotta have it. Well, come back in the morning. He'll go to the barge office about eight. Okay. See you in the morning, sweetheart. Have a good nap, John. That was your son just here, wasn't it? Yeah. Want money too, I suppose? I didn't give him any. Mary, I told you he had to stay away from here. Now, I gotta write to see my own boy, John. I'm sorry, Mary. I just wish he was different. It's the only thing that ever makes trouble between you and me. Oh, wait. John. What? Look, that man down on the dock. He's coming aboard. Yeah. Can I help you, Mr? I said, can I help you? What's matter, Mr? Is something wrong with you? I don't know. I feel so... John, he's fainted. Yeah, open the door, Mary. I'll lift him in on the bunk. Maybe you better get the police. No, no, no. He don't need the police now. He needs tendon, too. Just open the door. A little earlier that evening, Special Agent Allen of the New York office of the FBI returned from a trip down to police headquarters and entered the office of assistant to the agent-in-charge, Rutland, to report. Is it a case for us, Allen? Looks as though it might be. What's the story? J.B. Medford, representative of a large Chicago wholesale jewelry house, left Chicago by train yesterday with sample case of jewelry due New York this morning. He hasn't turned up. Hasn't turned up where? He was to check in at the company's New York branch office at 10 a.m. But he didn't. What do they think? Well, they don't suspect Medford. He's been with the firm 20 years. And I take it they suspect foul play. Yeah, the jewelry he carried was worth about $20,000. Here's a complete list and description of it. Looks like a case of robbery. What train was he booked on out of Chicago? The Manhattan, and they know he boarded it. The Chicago office confirmed that. But they don't know whether he arrived in New York on it. No, they haven't determined that yet. Then that's the first thing for us to find out. Oh, I have the number of the car and the space he occupied out of Chicago. Then you better start checking on it right away. Call me as soon as you get anything. He's gone, huh? Uh-huh. Time to do okay. Just give me the dough, Mom, and I'll take... Hey, what's this? Who's the guy sleeping on the bunk? Huh? Oh, him. He's sick. Yeah? Yeah. He wandered under the barge last night, right after you left and then fainted away. Well, who is he? We don't know. Say, what is this? Mr. Braddock asked him, but he just looked kind of funny and said he didn't know, and then he fainted. Yeah, we put him on the bunk, got his clothes off him, and he's been sleeping like that ever since. Mr. Braddock thinks he's got whatever it is they call it. You know, when people forget who they are and what happened and... Joey, what are you doing? Looking for his clothes. Oh, they're hanging in the next room. What do you want with him? Look, you're taking care of that guy. You got to know who he is. Oh. Where are they? Hanging on the peg there. Pretty good set of threads. It could be a big shot or something. What? What have you got? His wallet. Maybe there's a card or something in here that'll tell... Hey, look at this hunk of lettuce. Where? 75 clams. Never mind about the 20, Mom. I'll take it from here. Joey, you should. Yes, Ed, yourself. He don't remember nothing, so he won't miss it. Well, okay, but don't take any more than 20. Here's his identification card. Oh, what's it say? JB Medford, Chicago salesman. Hey. What's the matter? Salesman for a wholesale jewelry company. Well... Maybe that's what happened to him. These guys always carry stuff around with him. Maybe somebody clunked him over the head and took his load of eyes. Yeah. Wait a minute. Now what did you find? His keys. Here, hold on to them, Mom. Oh, and what's that? A baggage check. He checked something at Grand Central. See you later, Mom. Where are you going? What do you think? I'm gonna find out what he checked. Rutland speaking. What have you got? Well, I finally located the port on the train. Did he know anything? Medford arrived in New York yesterday morning, all right. But he had a little accident before the train got in. What do you mean? They stopped at Harmon to switch over to electric, and the porter saw Medford start out of his drawing room. Just then the train gave a sudden start, and Medford fell back, striking his head pretty hard against the metal door. Yes. The porter helped him up and asked him if he was all right. I see. You know, if the blow on the head was hard enough, it might... It's highly possible. In which case, most anything could have happened to both Medford and the jewelry. Yes. Well, then, what's the next move? We'll start checking hospitals first to see if anybody's been picked up. And if not, then we'll have to try another... You mean to tell me you stood right here and let that boy of yours go through that stranger's clothes? Joey said if we was taken care of him, we had a right to know who he was. Well, all I'm saying is if he picks up what's checked at the depot, he better bring it right here to the proper owner, or else he'll help me output the police on him. Why don't you pipe down, Braddock? Huh? They can hear you bellowing all over the waterfront. All right, now you brought his bag, now drop it and go. What's in it, Joey? I haven't opened it yet. You got no right to, either. Mom, give me the guy's keys, will you? Oh, sure. I said you got no right to open that bag. Now look here, you leave it alone. Mom, look. Diamond. Yeah, there's enough ice there to make a thought. Close up that bag. What? I said close up that bag. I'm taking charge of it, and you're leaving this barge. Oh, wait a minute. I'm turning it over to the police. Look, are you crazy? The guy in there don't know nothing about nothing. We got a sack full of stuff we can fence off for a great big bundle. And yours and Mom's gotta be enough to take you out of the barge business and set you up for good. He's right, John. Mary, you know what you're saying. Sure she does. She makes sense. You give that to me. Take your hands off. Joey, you hadn't ought to have done that. He cracked his head against the stove. He'll come out of it okay. I don't think so. Why? Because he's not breathing, son. That's why. We will return in just a moment to tonight's FBI file. Now, three questions and answers on education. First question, what is the safest investment you can make for your children? An investment they can never lose regardless of inflation or deflation. One that will pay them daily dividends as long as they live. Well, in all the world there's only one investment like that. It's education. Exceptional individuals do rise to the top without higher education. But the proportion of college families earning over $5,000 a year is eight times as great as the national average. Think it over, fathers and mothers. Doesn't it make you resolve that your children are going to get a college education no matter what happens? While your children are still young, start an equitable educational fund for them. Second question, what is an equitable educational fund? It is a plan that includes these important features. The equitable educational fund makes sure that money for education is ready when your child is ready. If you die, the educational fund becomes fully established. If you are totally or permanently disabled, the educational fund continues to build up without any further payments. Educational costs are spread out over many years instead of being concentrated in a few. Last question, how much will it cost to send your son or daughter to college? That question is answered in a memorandum recently prepared for equitable society representatives. It tells the cost of tuition, board and lodging in 192 leading American colleges. In addition, it summarizes the long-range opportunities open to educated men and women in 29 industries and professions such as architecture, dentistry, engineering, chemistry, life insurance, social service, information that every parent should have. Your nearest equitable society representative has a copy and will be glad to show it to any sincerely interested parent. Call him tomorrow. You'll find him in the phone book under 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 diamond-studded double cross. The parent who always gives in to the will of his or her boy or girl, who makes too many allowances for and thereby condones their wrongdoings. That parent not only destroys the distinction between right and wrong in the mind of the child, but all too often seals off his or her own conscience from a sense of wrong. Little wonder, then, that the mother of young Joe Bristol after long years of hardening herself to his wrongdoing. Little wonder, then, that she was to be found automatically approving his deeds. Joe and his mother stood looking at the lifeless form of John Braddock lying on the floor of the barge galley that slowly the woman turns toward her son. I tell you, Joey, he's dead. Look, all I did was hit him. Can I help it if he fell back and cracked his head against the stove? No, the police will blame you for it just the same. There's not going to be any police. But Joey, how are we going to keep it from them? We're not going to be here when they come. What are we going to do? Wait a minute. Huh? That guy in the other room. He might have come too and heard something. I'm getting a come out of it. We've got to get out of here fast. You mean just go off? The cops won't know I was ever here. But they'll know I live on the barge. They won't know you was here when it happened. They might even think that... Yeah. That's it. What? Nobody knows that guy in Medford is here, do they? No. Then nobody's going to know when he got here. What do you mean, son? With his wallet. Oh, I took it out of his coat pocket where you left it to show to Mr. Braddock. Here it is. Okay. Joey, where are you putting it in Mr. Braddock's pocket? I'm not putting it all the way in. I'm leaving a part of it sticking out. Oh. Now, with something heavy, something like... Yeah, this'll do. The crowbar is just the thing. Huh? I'm going to smear a little blood off his head on the crowbar to make it look real, don't I? I don't get it. Just keep your fingers crossed that Medford don't come to yet. But Joey... Joey, what did you do? The crowbar is lying on the floor by Medford, right where he dropped it after slugging Braddock with it for stealing his wallet and jewels. Get it, Mom? No. Medford passed out from the nut on the head Braddock gave him first. Now, all we got to do is scoop up the sack of jewels, leave the empty sample case here and scram. But Joey... Look, Mom, Medford's coming too. We've got to get out of here. Mr. Medford, what time was it when you regained consciousness? I don't know exactly, Mr. Rutland, but as soon as I saw where I was and all this, I went to call the police and I guess they called you at the FBI right away. That couldn't have been more than an hour ago then. I don't know the meaning of any of this, sir. I swear it. What's the last thing you remember happening? The train had stopped at Harmon. I started from my drawing room to the diner to get a cup of coffee. Yes? The train gave a sudden lurch. I felt backwards striking my head against the metal door. You remember the blow? Yes. And I recall the porter helping me up. I told him I was all right, but I thought I'd better go back to my drawing room and sit down because I felt a bit dizzy. Then what? Believe me, sir, that's all I remember until I came to here a while ago. Then I... Yes? I found this crowbar with blood on it beside the bunk I was on. The rest you see for yourself. Oh, find anything, Alan? His wife's things are still here. Wife? The dead man is John Braddock. The police said his wife lived on the barge with him. Mr. Rutland? Yes? Could I have... I mean, do you think it's possible that I did this? It is possible, yes, sir. Good lord. It's possible, but too many things indicate, sir, that you didn't do it. This, for one. Huh? Braddock is lying here by the stove. Here's some blood on the stove door. Yes, but there's crowbar. If Braddock had taken the jewelry, it would be somewhere here in the cabin, and it's not. He had a stepson, Joe Bristol, with a police record. Now, Joe could have done it and rigged up this clumsy piece of business with a wallet and a crowbar to throw a suspicion your way. But how in the world did I get here in the first place? There's a lot we don't know yet, Mr. Medford. But we do know that the jewelry's gone. Braddock's wife is gone. And her son, that's Braddock's stepson, is a thief. That's enough for us to start on. Alan? Yes? Get back to the office and put out an alert on that list of jewelry. Right. I'll get the police to take over here, have a doctor look after Mr. Medford, and then I'll join you at the office. Good morning, Alan. Good morning. How's it going on young Bristol? I've combed the waterfront, and every other known hangout of his for two days now. No lead. His mother seems to have vanished, too. If the job was Bristol's work, then he and his mother must be together. Well, the whole country is alerted on them. And the jewelry, too. Oh, excuse me. Rutland speaking. Hello, Rutland. This is Durant, Pittsburgh office. Oh, hello, Durant. What's up? The police here have just turned up some of that Medford jewelry. Good. They found six pieces in a pawn shop here this morning. Well, fine. Alan and I will be in Pittsburgh on the next plane. Joey. Mom, haven't you got any brains at all? Oh, what's the matter? What are you doing sitting here in the lobby? Oh, I'm sorry, son. I told you to stay in the room. Well, I got nervous waiting for you. That's a big help. Half of Pittsburgh could spot you here. How'd you make out? I got rid of another bunch of the stuff. That only leaves 10 pieces I still got on me, and four more you got. Yeah, they're up in the room. Well, now here's what you do. You go back to the room and stay there till you're here for me. Well, where are you going, Joey? I got to make a phone call. Now go on up to your room and stay there till you're here for me. You understand? Yes, Joe. What is it? How much money have we got so far? We're doing all right. Now get up to the room quick. Okay. Look, I'm only saying this once, pal, so listen. You want the dame that's got the rest of the hot Medford jewelry. She's in room 917. What did the room clerk say, Alan? He had the maid go up with some towels. Mrs. Braddock is still there all right. Good. If that was her son who called the police here, it's about as dirty a double cross as I've ever heard. Well, it couldn't have been anyone else. I think I know where he's headed for right now. Where? I checked with the hotel operator. The son called a Chicago number from his room this morning. Chicago? Yes, and I checked the Chicago number. It's a pawn shop. Ah, another fence. Mm-hmm. Which means he's got some more jewelry to get rid of. But he's on his way to Chicago. Here we are in Pittsburgh, and Mrs. Braddock is upstairs. You mean how do we put them all together? All right. I've got an idea on that that may work. Wait here. I'm going upstairs to pay an unofficial call on Mrs. Braddock. Anybody here? Joey. Well, I'm a mom. Oh, Joey, I was so afraid something would go wrong, and I'd miss you. How did you get here to Chicago? I flew here by plane last night, and I was at the pawn shop here first thing this morning. How did you know I'd be here? A friend of yours told me about it, Joey. He was the nicest man. He helped me with my... Wait a minute. Do you remember mine? Yes. Not long after you left Pittsburgh, you came to the room where I was. Yeah? Yeah, and he told me where you were going and why, and said the police were on your trail, and I better get to you quick before they did, and he even helped me get on the plane. That's enough, Mom. I'm getting out of here. Now, Joey, wait. What are you doing? I'm getting out of here. There you are, Bristol. Huh? Joey, this is the one. The nice man. I'm the special agent of the FBI, Bristol. FBI? Don't bother to make a break for it out the door. My partner out there will be waiting for you. Okay, wise guy. I guess you think you're pretty smart putting one over on my dumb old lady, but... You're a dumb one, Bristol. Everything you did was dumb. The phony murder plan on Medford, you're called a Chicago, and dumbest of all, a double crossing of your own mother. Tried for the theft of the jewelry and transporting it across the state line, Joe Bristol was sentenced to a term in a federal penitentiary. Execution of sentence was waived, however, in order that Bristol might be tried on the more serious charge of murder in connection with the death of his stepfather. For which crime, he is now serving a long term in state prison. Bristol's mother received a lighter term for complicity in the jewel theft. Tonight's case was an extraordinary conclusion to a story of years of parental neglect. The prime factor in the development of most of our criminals. In this case, a parent eventually became an actual accessory to her son's crime. But of practically every major crime, it may truthfully be said that the criminal's own mother or father was at least a silent accessory. For respectful law, for the rights and property and lives of others, the responsibility for teaching these things to the children of America belongs to the mothers and fathers of America. In just a moment, we'll tell you about next week's exciting case from the files of your FBI. Again, let me remind you to check with your equitable society representative about the safest and wisest investment a parent can make for his children's future, an equitable educational fund. Without obligation, he will also show you the equitable society's memorandum on the costs of higher education and some of the opportunities it opens. You'll find your equitable society representative in the phone book under the Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States. Next week, we will bring you another colorful story from the files of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Night of Terror. 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 Frank Ferries and your narrator was Dean Carlton. This is your FBI is a gerrydivine production. This is Milton Cross 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 at the same time when the Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States will bring you another thrilling story from the files of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Night of Terror. On this is your FBI. This is ABC, the American Broadcasting Company.