 The Equitable Life Assurance Society presents this is your FBI. This is your FBI, an 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 is representative in your community. Mrs. America, if your husband isn't with you by the radio tonight, please get him. Tell him that 14 minutes from now, the Equitable Society, the sponsor of this program, has some important news for homeowners, as well as for people who are thinking of buying or building a home. Tell him that he's going to hear about a money-saving plan that will give him and you special protection. It's known as America's Finest Plan for Home Ownership. Tonight's FBI file, the Sinister Lighthouse. As we speak to you tonight, an unprecedented tidal wave of crime is sweeping our country from coast to coast. Through village and hamlet and town and city, destroying lives and property, and smashing savagely at the very pilings on which rests the whole structure of American society. It is the biggest crime wave in the history of our country. As to its magnitude, we need, say, no more than this. That major crimes alone, one of which we report tonight, are being committed at the rate of almost 5,000 every 24 hours. That morning, when her wounded veteran husband was discharged from the Long Island Hospital wearing his first set of civvies in nearly four years, Anne Roswell was waiting outside for him in their small convertible. A few hours later, they were driving slowly over a rough dirt trail. Anne. Yes? Can I open my eyes now? Dick, don't you dare. But I'm supposed to see where I'm driving. I'm handling that and besides, we're almost there. Where? Never mind. I smelled salt water, don't I? Do you? We're in Maryland, right? Are we? Sure. And Maryland and salt water means we're somewhere along the shore of Chesapeake Bay. Dick, keep your eyes shut. Okay. I'll keep guessing. Let's see. You run it as a cottage? No. A tent? No. A foxhole? Oh, really? All right, we're here. But don't look yet. There. Darling. You remember that letter you wrote me from some island about where you'd like to spend our second honeymoon? Yeah. You said that you'd like to find an old abandoned lighthouse and... Well, look. Baby, you did it. I found it about a month ago and finally dug up the people who own it. Oh gee, this is wonderful. They never come here, so they said we could use it. Oh, baby. There's not much furniture. Who cares? Come on. Let's go look inside. Quick. All right. Oh, be careful, darling. Never mind my leg. Come on. Give me your hand, baby. Okay. That's the front door right there. Well, what are we waiting for? Let's take over. How old is this place, do you know? Very, very old. Maybe we'll even find some very treasure around. I'm sure we will. Here we are. Wait a minute. What's the matter? We've got to do this according to regulations. I'm carrying you through the doorway. Oh, but, Dick, darling, you can't. I'm carrying you, baby. Come on. Oh, darling. This is the way we do it. Careful. Okay. Now a big kiss before I put you down. Dick, look. Look over there on the couch. Wait a minute. You stand right here. He, uh... He looks like he's dead. No, he's not dead. But he's sure knocked out. What happened to him? The hypo-needle on this table probably had something to do with it. What's he blindfolded for? I don't know, but... Looks like we've stumbled into something, baby. What do we do, Dick? We're gonna get the police as fast as we can. Come on, let's... Stay away, uh, close to you. Who are you? Answer me. If there's any questions to be answered, the boss will take care of that when he gets here. In the meantime... That's for crashing the party without an invite. Now sit down. Earlier that day, in the Baltimore field office of the FBI, Agent and George Grant received an urgent telephone call, after which he quickly summoned special agent Coleman to his desk. Got something hot off the wire, Mr. Grant? Yes. Do you know who John Berkeley is? You mean the plastics manufacturer here? That's the one. He just telephoned. His son, young Howard Berkeley, has been kidnapped. Well, when was this? Sometime after six o'clock last night. Young Berkeley had gone up to the family cottage on the bay yesterday by himself to work on his boat. At six o'clock, he telephoned his home to say he was staying at the cottage all night. And that was the last they heard from him. How did they know he was kidnapped? The father just got an anonymous telephone call a while ago to that effect. The caller, a man, said Berkeley would receive his instructions later. And in the meantime? Here's the location of the cottage Berkeley gave me. You should be able to find it all right. You better take a run up there right now and see if you can pick up any leads. Okay. I'll arrange to have approaches covered right away so we'll get the ransom note without having to contact Berkeley in the open to get it. Right. Get back here as soon as you can. Things may start moving fast. Yes, Dick? Give me your hand. I want to stand up a minute. But that man said... My leg's getting stiff. Oh, here. Wait a minute. What are you doing? Just stretching. Sit down. He's just got out of an army hospital. He was wounded. So what? He has to exercise his leg. Not on my time, so sit down. If you didn't have that gun, look, look, I've got it. Okay. How... How long are you keeping us here? I told you. That's up to the boss. That's him coming now. Does that mean we can go? Well, you can ask him that question. You must have saw your car. Ox. Yeah? Whose car is that? Well, we had some unexpected company, but everything's under control. Who are they? They claim they got permission to use the lighthouse for a second honeymoon. Well, how romantic. Who are you? I'm Dick Roswell, and this is my wife. Where do you come from? We live in the New York suburb, Scarsdale. Oh, the Westchester said, huh? What do we do with them? Mr. Roswell? Yes? I think you ought to know what's going on here. I already have an idea. Did you tell them, Ox? Of course not. Well, that character on the couch there is what you'd call in Westchester a house guest. He's staying here until we collect a chunk of dough from his old man. Kidnapping. Lady, you're being very crude. This is strictly a business deal. Look, what are you telling them all this stuff for? Because they're going to help us, Ox. Huh? An account of this is a business deal. Mrs. Roswell is going to write a business letter for us. What's the idea? A dame's handwriting will set up a good false lead. Oh. Oh, yeah, I get it. And besides, her fingerprints won't mean anything, huh? That's right, Ox. Mrs. Roswell, you'll find a box of paper and a pencil on the table there. You mean you... you want me to write that? It's okay, baby. Here. Here's the paper. Did I ask you to butt in? I'm just handing her a sheet of paper, that's all. Here, Anne. Ready, lady? Yes, sir. Then take this note. To Mr. John R. Berkeley, 2705 Linwood Drive, Baltimore. Here's the Berkeley's morning mail, Mr. Grant. Just came. Good. And if I'm not mistaken, here's the letter we've been waiting for. Have it carefully, Goldman. We don't want to spoil any fingerprints. Right. Here you are. All right. I cleared the post office at 2 a.m. this morning. Yes. Well, let's have a look. What does it say? Berkeley is supposed to leave $20,000 in fives, tens, and 20s in a sack in the boat up at the college. When? By midnight tonight. Say, what's that say about the Baltimore Herald? Berkeley is to run a notice in the afternoon's Herald saying instructions are being complied with. The usual threat, of course, to the victim. Yes. Well, there's not much time to get that notice in the paper. It'll be in there. And the money will be in the boat tonight, too. I'm calling Berkeley now to arrange it. Now, while I'm doing that, get a messenger and shoot him over to the bureau with that note. To check it for fingerprints? Yes, and the handwriting, too. Which is a woman's, or I miss my guess. Looks like it. Well, we ought to hear from the bureau in two or three hours. Maybe we'll get the lead that will drown those water rats. Say, boys. What is it, ox? You need any help? No, I'm just about finished. What's he doing? He's tying Berkeley up. We deliver him tonight. Can he whistle any other song? He happens to like that song. He also happens to like the singer who uses it. It also happens to be driving us crazy. Well, everything's in real good shape. Uh, boss. Well? What time is it? Why? Well, it'll take us nearly an hour to row across to that boat house. That's right. How much time we got? Enough. You've, uh, haven't said what we're going to do with him and her. That's right. Well? Ox, give me the hypo needle. Berkeley don't need no more, boys. I just stuck them a few minutes ago, remember? Ox. Yeah? The needle. Okay. There you are. And here's the stuff. Mrs. Roswell? Yes, sir? Raise your right sleeve. Wait a minute. Well? We're not going to give her any hypo. Raise your sleeve, Mrs. Roswell. No. No, don't. You heard what I said. Raise your sleeve. No. No, no. Get away from her. Get away from me. You'd hold it. Thanks, Ox. Now Lurt float Berkeley in the boat with you and while I put Mrs. Roswell to sleep. Now, before the FBI file on the sinister Lighthouse resumes, as it will in just a moment, here's that important message for homeowners and home buyers. This week at the Equitable Life Assurance Society, I met a self-sacrificing father. Because of an expensive operation that saved his little daughter's life, this father found that he was unable to meet the monthly payments on his home. But he'd forgotten that the Equitable Society's Assured Home Ownership Plan provides a cash fund for just such financial emergencies. Well, you should have seen the relief on his face when he learned that he could keep his home and that the cash fund in his Assured Home Ownership Plan would take care of his monthly payments for a full year. This cash fund is just one of five major advantages of the Assured Home Ownership Plan. The other four are, one, the mortgage is canceled, paid off in full if owner dies. And besides, every dollar previously paid on principle is returned in full to the widow along with the canceled mortgage. Two, the special cash fund increases as the mortgage shrinks. It can be used to shorten the term of the mortgage, pay off a 20-year mortgage, for example, in as little as 14 years saving six years' interest. Three, mortgage interest not at 6%, not at 5% but at only 4%. Four, liberal allowance to cover title search, lawyer's fees and other closing costs. No broker's commission or bonus charges. Frankly, there is no other plan like this anywhere. The Equitable Society calls it America's Finest Plan for Home Ownership. It protects you against the two major hazards of home mortgages, death and hard times. So if you're planning to buy or build a house, or if you now own a home, get complete information on the Assured Home Ownership Plan from your Equitable Society representative. That's the Equitable Society, 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 sinister lighthouse. In crimes of abduction, such as reported tonight from the files of your FBI, kidnappers have all the advantages at first. But not for long does this unfavorable balance remain intact. For time and events in the course of executing their prepared plot are constantly at work against them. And quite often, it is some unexpected event which leads to their undoing. Certainly in this case, the appearance of the war veteran and his bride at the lighthouse hideout was an unexpected event. It is now about 11 o'clock. On the floor of the lighthouse lie the unconscious forms of the war veteran and his bride. A few yards away, the kidnappers are putting out from shore in a rowboat. At their feet, the drug body of their victim. And in the Baltimore office of the FBI, a few miles away. Well, an hour from now, Mr. Grant, the kidnappers will have collected that $20,000, and here we are just sitting. I know. This is the toughest part of a kidnapping case, Coleman. I'd give anything if we could be at that boathouse when they get there. So would I, but we can't gamble with the victim's life. Well, we should be hearing from Washington. I know they've had the ransom note for several hours now. There must have been some fingerprints on it. Maybe none that got a record of it. Washington. I hope so. Grant speaking. Right. It's Washington all right. I got my fingers crossed. Hello? Yes. Uh-huh. Woman's handwriting, huh? We figured that much. Any record of it? I see. What about fingerprints? What? But that doesn't make sense. Uh-huh. All right, I got the name. Lives where? Okay, we'll go to work on it right now. Thanks. What doesn't make sense? The note was written by a woman. There are five good fingerprints of a man on it. Well, that's not so hard to take. But this part is. The duplicates of those prints were found in the non-criminal file. They are the prints of a discharged veteran with a clean record. And what's more, he was just released yesterday morning from a Long Island Army hospital. Hey, wait a minute. That's what I say, but fingerprints don't lie. He and his wife live with his family in Skarsdale, New York. Let's get the New York office on the phone and fast. Say, boss. Well? I think we got away with them 20 Gs too easy. Just keep on rowing, ox, and be thankful for this fuck. Glad we got that kid off our hands now. I think you've got a point there, ox. Yeah, I was beginning to get... Hey. Wait a minute. Look, that kid won't be able to tell nobody nothing about us because he never got a look at us. That's right. But the other two got a real good look at us. So? Maybe we ought to go back to that lighthouse and knock them off for keeps. Look, so far we've done this job clean, and that's the way it stays. But they can identify us. We need our names, where we're from, and our fingerprints, none of which they have. Yeah, but it... Keep on rowing to where we hid the car. We're getting back to New York fast. Take it easy, fella. You'll be all right. Who are you? We're special agents of the FBI. FBI? That's right. My wife. Where is she? She's right here. She's coming around all right now, Mr. Grant. Just a couple of minutes for her mind to clear. If I ever get my hands on those... Just tell us what you know about them quickly. Sure, but... But how did you get here? I mean... Fortunately, your fingerprints were on the ransom note. Good, and it worked. What do you mean? I did that on purpose. I knew my prints would be on record on account of being in the Army, and maybe you could trace us here that way. That's just what happened. Ann and I came here for our second honeymoon. We know all that. We've talked to your folks. And you stumbled into a kidnapping. Yeah. And they forced your wife to write the note. That's right. They've collected the ransom by now. Now it's up to us to catch them. With your help. What do you want to know? How many were there? Two. Can you give us a good description? Let me see. Did they have any distinguishing characteristics or marks or habits that might help us? The only habit I remember was the boss kept whistling the same tune over and over and over. What tune? I never heard it before. Any particular reason for him whistling it? The other one lets something slip about some girl that sings it all the time. Who was she? You didn't say. Did you get any idea where they're from? They seem to know New York pretty well. See if you can remember how the tune went. Well, I'm not much good at that. What's that? Ann. Ann, darling. Dick. Everything's all right, baby. Maybe she can remember how that tune went. Yeah. Ann, listen, baby. Dick, I'm so sick. You're going to be okay, darling. Listen, you've got to help these men. They're from the FBI. What? That tune he was whistling all the time. The tune? Yeah, the one that kidnapper whistled. How did it go? I don't remember. Sure you do. You never forget a tune. Come on, snap out of it, baby. You remember that song that might help the FBI catch them? What do you want to see me about? Since you're a prominent nightclub operator here in New York, Mr. Cardone, you might be just the man who can help us. What do you mean? We want you to identify a tune for us. We don't believe it's published. Probably special material. Mrs. Roswell. Would you sing for him? If this is some trick to get this girl an audition... We identified ourselves, Cardone. We're after a couple of kidnappers. Sing the tune, Mrs. Roswell. Okay, okay. I know it's not an audition gig now. What's the tune? That's Kay Wentworth's theme song. Nightclub singer. I've booked her here several times. Where is she now? Round town. Why? Who's a boyfriend? She's married. To whom? Trumpet player. That bad? Look, Mr. Grant. Just because our man whistles a tune all the time doesn't necessarily mean he knows Kay Wentworth. That's true. He might be, well, just an ardent admirer of hers. Anywhere now, Mr. Cardone? No. You know what I'm thinking, Mr. Grant? I believe I do. Mr. Cardone. Yeah? I'm sure you book your talent for the club for an advance. But this is an emergency. And if you cooperate with the FBI, you may be helping us. Gentlemen, as the peace to resistance of our Sunday night celebrity show here at the Key Club, we present that scintillating singer of sophisticated songs, Mr. Cardone. There she is, boss. Oh, she's gorgeous, huh? And you keep quiet now, Oxy. You'll eat this bottle. Hey, boss. Shut up. Hey, boss. I told you to keep quiet. But look who's coming this way. I don't care who it is. It's them kids from the lighthouse. What? And they got two other guys with them. Let's get out of here. Just a minute, you. What's the idea? I believe you already know, Mr. Mrs. Roswell here. And we're special agents of the FBI. Look, I don't know what to do. We went to a lot of trouble to arrange Ms. Wentworth's appearance here, especially for you, Mr. You ought to hear the finish of her number. You'll have a lot of time to whistle it. Berkeley kidnappers were tried and convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment in a federal penitentiary. Yes, the tremendous upsurge of crime in post-war America finds the kidnapper at work again. Undaunted by the fact that his predecessors back in the 20s and early 30s were without exception brought to justice. But your FBI warns him here and now that once again, with the cooperation of you, the American citizen, he and all his breed will be wiped out. Next week another thrilling case from the files of your FBI will tell you about it in just a moment. Certain features of the Equitable Society's assured home ownership plan are easily remembered, such as the low interest of only 4% and the fact that if the owner dies, the widow owns the home free and clear. But there are other facts about this plan that you should know. And that's why we suggest you see the nearest Equitable Society representative without delay. He has all the information at his fingertips and plenty of literature for reference and study. Call him tomorrow. Look up the number of the Equitable Life Assurance Society in your phone book. E-Q-U-I-T-A-B-L-E 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. Flowers for the Cops. The incident 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 Jerry Divine production. And now this is Carl Frank speaking for the Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States and the Equitable Society's representative in your community and inviting you to tune in again next week at the same time when the Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States will bring you another colorful story from the files of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Flowers for the Cops. And this is your FBI. This is ABC, the American Broadcasting Company.