 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 transcribed as a public service by the Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States and the Equitable Society's representative in your community. A shrewd psychologist who has had contacts with numerous leaders of American business once remarked, Success and self-confidence go hand in hand. Men who have a strong conviction that they're going to succeed are the ones that rise to the top in every field. For people of this type, people who have this feeling of certainty about themselves, the Equitable Life Assurance Society has created its famous life insurance plan for men and women on the way up. Do those words describe you? Then you'll be interested in about 14 minutes. When I give full details of the Equitable Plan for men and women on the way up. Tonight, the subject of our FBI file, Racketeering. It's titled, Success Story. No debts to which the criminal will not sink. For example, within the past month, a racket was uncovered where mothers of servicemen in Korea were being asked by a swindler for money to pay for their son's passage home. In another case, a man was arrested on a charge of booking horse bets of ten cents and up, made by high school boys with their lunch money. Despite the depravity of their acts, though, these men are run-of-the-mill criminals. One of the more successful lawbreakers, the wealthy ones, the ones who have worked their way up the social ladder to the point where they live in good neighborhoods, among decent citizens, to the point where everything about them is the same as the decent persons. Everything that is, but the source of their income. Tonight's case from the files of your FBI will tell you the story of one of these criminals and of how he owes his every success to you. Tonight's file opens in the suburbs of the Midwestern city. It is early evening as FBI Special Agent Jim Taylor and Police Detective George Duncan walk up the driveway of a well-kept estate. Been here before, Jim? No. Nice little place for a hoodlum. Well, I guess you can afford this when you're on a steel company. Hotel chain, fleet of cabs, parking lots, few department stores. But only one swimming pool. Oh, where's that? Round him back by the badminton court. I didn't know Joe Boone could even spell badminton. Oh, he doesn't play himself. The neighbors have him and nobody around here can say they've got anything better than Joe Boone. Except manners. I wonder what he'll say when he sees the search warrant. Nobody's ever made him produce his private papers before. Well, he won't be too happy, you little bitch. Hey, those are shots. Came from inside. Come on. Yeah, front door's opening. Yeah. Oh, and come on. Oh, there's someone on the doorway now. Come on. George, it's a boom. Help me. I'm shot. Grab him. Well, let's get him back inside. Leave him. What? Let him die. Look out, Jim. She's got a gun. Don't worry. I took care of him. That's all I wanted. Feeling better now? A little. Enough to answer some questions? Yeah, I guess so. Are you... You said your name was Mrs. Boone. That's right. But Boone isn't married. I'm his cousin's wife. Oh, I see. Jim, the doctor's here. I'll go upstairs with him. All right, George. Now, Mrs. Boone, what can you tell me about the shooting? Just one thing. I'm sorry I didn't kill him. And I gathered her as premeditated. About 25 years worth. That's how long you've known him? Maybe longer. Have you been married to his cousin that long? No. When I first met him, I was married to a guy named Al Jasper. Oh, he's been dead over 20 years. He was a bootlegger in probation days. I see. That time we lived in a flat on the west side. I can even tell you the first time I met Joe Boone. He was in the flat. Al was making a fresh bathtub pool of gin. I was getting ready to go out. When there was a knock on the door, I answered. Yeah? We want to see Al Jasper. Who sent you? Oh, now, lady, just tell us. Is he here? Wait a minute. Al, there's a couple of fresh kids to see you. We're not kids. Well, I don't look like they're selling Bibles. Let him in. Okay. Come on, Charlie. Oh, sure. You want to see me? Yeah, Al. You remember us from the pool room? I'm Joe Boone. This is my cousin Charlie. Hi. Oh, yeah, yeah. Al, I'm going. I'll give you some dough. I gave you 20 yesterday. Well, you saw the Paper Seven favorites one yesterday. I wish you'd bet on one sometime. I'll be playing. Okay, okay. Here's a fin. What's that for, stamps? You want it or don't you? I guess so. I'll see you later. Now, what do you want? We'd like to talk to you about some gin. I got a fresh bathtub full. No, no, no. Well, we don't want to buy any. Me and Charlie want to handle your stuff. Where? Washington High School. Huh? That's where I go. You both in school? Oh, no. No, I quit a couple of years ago. He couldn't stand the kid in about me catching up to him. He's older than you? Uh-huh. Charlie, how come you let him do all the talking? Oh, that's why it's always been. I'm the one who gets the ideas. Hand me those gin labels, will you please? Oh, yes, sir. What makes you think you can hustle my stuff at school? Well, seniors got dances every Friday night, see? The ones that can't steal their old man's flask have got to get their own. And sometimes that's tough. Yeah, how come? Well, half the places that sell it won't let the guys buy it because they're kids. The other half raised a price from $75 to $2 a pint. The guys can't stand that, so they don't drink. Now, if I sell a case for you every Friday night, what's in it for me? Uh, how much do you want? I'll ask you first. You're a little hustler, eh? You want a deal? You're gonna have two bits of bottle. Shake. Well, inside of two years, Joe, Charlie, and Al controlled the gin market in every high school in the city. Nice boys. Things went that way for a couple of years, and then Joe got caught. He was convicted and sent away for two years. When he got out, he wound up at my flat. I didn't even know he'd been... Hiya, Ruth. Joe! Joe, I didn't know I... I got out yesterday. Well, come on in. Thanks. Gee, it's good to see you. Things look different in here. No more bottles around. No more gin in the bathtub. Yeah, I... I heard about Al. Who killed him? I don't know. Did you try to find out? Yeah, but I didn't get any place. Well, now that I'm out with... He's been dead a year now, Joe. I'd rather forget about it. Have you seen your cousin Charlie? Not yet. He should be by here later. You see much of him? Oh, a couple of times a week. Is he trying to make a move? What's that to you? Nothing. Ah, you lost some weight. I'm back hoping. Where? A century burlesque. You need dough? Well, I ain't working because I like it. Well, maybe I can put you back in shape. Oh. How? You remember all those lists of customers that Al had? Sure. Where are they? There's a whole trunk full of his junk in the other room. Well, let's take a look. What do you want them for? They might be worth dough. To me or you? Well, if I can find them and get a line on where Al picked up his Alki... The Alki was my connection. Can you still get it? All I need. Well, good. Charlie can make the stuff and I'll go get all of our old customers. Where do I come in? You got a piece of the action. How much? We cut it down the middle. By 1928, he and Charlie had the west side to themselves. In 29, they took over the east side. In 30, they branched out and handled the city. Everything was going great. That is, till one day, Charlie met Joe. Charlie were branching out. We got the whole town now. Now we got it for whiskey. This is a new touch. It has to do with bookmaking. Joe, I thought we were going to lay off bookmaking. We're taking over the concession angle. Half the hotels in this town have a book operating in them. We already sell them our whiskey. Now let's sell them some protection to keep their bookmakers operating. What's our end? 50% of the play. Made a list here. This is what we'll charge each hotel. Adds up to close to a half a million dollars a year. Now next week, I want you to go out. Joe, you better not count on me for anything next week. Oh, why not? I might as well tell you. Ruth and me, we're getting married. We're doing it next week. Charlie, let me get this straight. Ruth is going to marry you? Yeah. Where is she? At her apartment. I'll see you later. Hi, Joe. Come on in. Charlie just told me. About us? Yeah. You're not marrying him. Who said so? Me. What have you got to do with it? Look, I've worked hard to build a business to where it is, and I'm not going to have you step in and ruin it. What are you talking about? I asked Charlie to do something for me next week, and he says I better not count on him because he's getting married. That's a new answer, ain't it? He's getting married, so everything's got to stop. Look, Joe. I ain't finished. I cut you in for 50% when we started. I gave Charlie 25. You know what that means? Well, I'll tell you, you two will have 75% between you, leaving 25 for me. Let me tell you something, sweetheart. Joe won't quit hustling for anybody else a long time ago. You said all you wanted to? Yeah. For now. Well, let me tell you something. There's only one reason why you're carrying on like this. You wanted me yourself. What? Are you kidding? No. I know you, Joe. You like to leave things around till you're ready for them. Then you reach out and take them. That's what you were planning to do with me. Stop it. Stop it. Well, yeah, you're just doing this to show me. Oh, no. Now, I'm doing it because I love Charlie. You're loving. You love Charlie, huh? Yeah. And no matter what you say or do, I'm marrying him. Hi, Joe. What are you doing here? He came to congratulate me, Charlie, and he just did. We will return shortly to tonight's case from the official files of your FBI. Now for a moment, let's consider an entirely different type of case. The case of Herb Morton, a man who had the kind of stuff that built this great country of ours. Herb was a short order cook with ideas on how to double business during rush hours. His boss wouldn't listen, so Herb saved money and opened a little place of his own. It grew. Herb's ideas turned out to be money makers, didn't they, Herb? Yes, they worked out all right. But back when Herb's ideas were still just plans, he had a talk with his equitable society representative. The equitable agent sized up Herb as a man with a future. So he told him about a special life insurance plan for men of his type. The equitable plan for men and women on the way up. It differs from other life insurance plans in one important respect. It's flexible, can expand or contract. When your income goes up, your insurance can keep pace. In short, this plan is geared to your future success. When more money started coming in, first thing I did was see my equitable representative. He advised me to take advantage of one of the options of my equitable plan to bring my insurance in line with my new income. And remember there is a second big advantage to this plan. Its cost can be kept exceptionally low until your earnings go up. Yet your family gets the life insurance they need. Before I had my own business, that low cost was a big help. We didn't have to tighten our belts to keep up our insurance. Herb expected to get ahead. He did. You expect to get ahead and you will. So why not ask your equitable society representative about this equitable plan for men and women on the way up? Or send a postcard 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 success story. Joe Boone is a typical example of the top men in streamlined 20th century crime. These men use corruption where once they used bullets. Where Al Capone's reveled in their every headline, these 1951 model hoodlums work hard to keep their names in the background. Bullets make news. But no one can hear the rustle of money. No one that is, but the people the money is buying. So for a time one or another of these underworld higher ups may think of himself as beyond the reach of the law. From this is born a delusion of grandeur which carries with it the seeds of his own destruction. Sooner or later he lowers his guard for a moment. Makes the fatal slip which finally provides law enforcement agencies like your FBI. With the evidence they have long been seeking. So don't be deceived by the temporary success of some Joe Boone in your community. In the long run, crime does not pay. It never does. It never will. Tonight's FBI file continues in the living room at the Joe Boone estate. Pardon me, Mr. Taylor. I'm Dr. Haskell. Oh, hello, Doctor. How's Boone? I'm afraid he's too sick to move. What's he going to live? Well, 50-50 proposition. He won't die. He's too lucky. I must say he made me a flattering offer. He said he'd give me a piece of his taxicab company if I'd save him. Well, that sounds like Boone. Your detective friend asked me to tell you that the police stenographer is here, but Boone isn't making any statements. Oh, fine. Thanks. And Doctor, would you mind telling him to let me know if he does? Surely. Thank you. Well, I've got to get back upstairs. Now, Mrs. Boone, what happened after you married Charlie? Oh, well, he and Joe stayed on being partners. When prohibition was over, they moved on to other rackets. Well, for instance? Things like bar supplies. If you owned a saloon anyplace in the city, you had to get peanuts, jukeboxes, cigarette machines from him. Did you ever have any further run-ins with Joe? No. I'd only see him when I'd have to. He should have known better, of course, but he acted like he'd forgotten the whole deal. Till one day last year when Charlie went to jail. Hello, Charlie. How are Ruth and the kids? Joe, we got trouble. Now, what? Guy named Harding over on the east side has given us a bad time. He owns eight saloons, and he canceled us out. Why? Well, that last boost we put on the prices, he's buying supplies out of town now. Well, eight saloons. Let him go. But, Joe, that ain't all. He's bringing in his own jukeboxes and machines, and I hear that he figures he can start pushing them into other places around town where the guys have soared us. Well, that's different. Joe, maybe if you had lunch with him like he did with that guy two years ago. No, I can't, Charlie. Why not? I'm trying to get the other stockholders in the steel company to sign over their proxies to me. I'll have a look if I try to pressure a saloon keeper, and he complains to the papers. Have you talked to this Harding yourself, Ed? A dozen times. I, uh, saw something in the papers this morning about Chalky Lee being picked up for vagrancy. He's out. Are you sure? One of the boys just told me. Mm-hmm. All right, get hold of him. Have him give Mr. Harding the treatment. I know about the Harding case, Mrs. Boone. Chalky Lee drove Harding across a state line before he gave him that fatal beating. That's how we got in on the case. Oh. Oh, Jim. Oh, yeah, George. Any news? No change in his condition. I thought maybe I'd go try to find his private papers. That's a good idea. Mrs. Boone, would you know where they might be? There's a safe behind the picture in his bedroom. The combination is engraved inside the case of his wristwatch. Thank you. George, see if you can find anything about an Acme and Zero novelty company with you. Who were they? Well, that's the firm Chalky Lee said hired him to beat up on Harding. Oh. Company's a dummy corporation, but from what the accountants at our office tell me, they're held by a holding company, and that's also a dummy corporation. There are crisscrosses of voting controls in one firm being held by the preferred stockholders in another, and manipulations we haven't completely analyzed as yet. In fact, I didn't get the whole picture even after I visited Boone and his office. Are you comfortable in that chair, Mr. Taylor? Yes, thanks. Rightfully, I expected you before this. Oh. As I put in for a passport about three months ago, and I know you guys check up on everybody now. I saw Mr. Boone, and it's not why I'm here. Oh. I guess I got the wrong dope then. I came to see you to get some details on the death of a man named Harding. Earl Harding? Harding? Harding? Oh, yes, yes. There was something in the papers about him. He was having trouble with the Acme and Zero novelty corporation. I, uh, I thought maybe you could tell me about that. Well, why me? It's one of your firms. Mine? Well, Mr. Taylor, I'm not sure, but maybe I do own some stock in it. I own a couple of shares and lots of companies, but that doesn't mean that they're my outfits. You own it all? Well, if I did, I'd be running it, wouldn't I? That's right. Tell me, if I give you an okay, do you still need a warrant to go through my files? No. Go ahead. There they are over there. Look through every one of them and tell me if you can find anything about that company. Mr. Boone, you don't have the reputation for being careless. Oh, now look, Mr. Taylor, I know my rights. If you've got something, tell me about it. Otherwise, call my lawyer. Our men have checked the records and made a chart of the holding companies and other dummy firms that own the Acme and Zero novelty corporation stock. Here, take a look at it. Here's Boone and this company. Here's Boone and that company. Boone and that company. And Boone and this one. Yes, I see that. The chalky Lee's roaming house who says that she took a message for Lee. A message that a Mr. Boone called. Well, Boone's a common name. Not that common. I think a jury would consider these two things more than just a coincidence. All right, Taylor, you've got the evidence and it's dead right. Except for one thing. Oh, what's that? The Acme and Zero novelty corporation is owned and operated by my cousin, Charlie Boone. I guess he's the man you want. Well, George, that's why I'm so interested in finding something upstairs that'll tie Joe Boone into the company. I'll give everything a double check, Jim. Fine. And I'll let you know if his condition changes. Thanks, Mrs. Boone. Yeah. I think that just about brings your story up to this evening. Now, would you mind describing what happened here? Sure, I'll tell you. You know what happened to Charlie? He was picked up on the killing charge. Yes, I know. I knew that Joe was the only one who might have him sprung, so I came here to see what I could do. Sit down, Ruth. Sit down. Thanks. Have you seen Charlie? This afternoon. How is he? Okay. If he needs any money for lawyers or anything. Joe, he told me. No. Told you what? About you ordering him to hire Chucky Lee. Well, I'm sorry to hear Charlie's making up stories. He's not a liar. Ruth, in his spot, you try anything. You've got to help him. Oh. Well, tell the cops you ordered Charlie to have the job done. What? It'd save his life, Joe. If he's convicted, he'll go to the chair. Well, that's the chance he took when he went under the thing. He threw boxcars. Nobody can help him. You've finally gotten even, haven't you? What do you mean? For me, Mary and Charlie. I don't understand, Ruth. You're going to tell me you forgot our little conversation the day you found out? Oh, that. I had completely forgotten it. You're lying. You've waited all these years to get even. Well, enjoy it, Joe, because it's not going to last very long. You'll excuse me, Ruth. I have a date for dinner. You're not going to keep it. Oh, now put away that gun. Not till I do this. You stupid. How do you feel, Joe? Get me a doctor. What for? Do you want me to die? If you want a doctor, go on out and find one. Ruth. Go ahead. Go on out. But do me one favor. If you feel like you're going to die before you get to the side, call me. I want to be there. Well, Mr. Taylor, that's when you found it. Mrs. Boone, your husband refuses to give us a statement saying Joe is involved in a hearty murder. Do you think you can get him to talk to us? Will it save his life? Well, that's up to the judge and jury. All we can do is collect the evidence. Oh, Jim. Oh, excuse me, Mrs. Boone. Yeah, George. The doctor says Boone should pull through. And I found those papers you wanted. Here, take a look. Thanks. They tied Joe Boone and the novelty company together. And I guess this just about cleans up the Boone family. It doesn't clean up the Joe Boones all around the country, though. Or the petty hoodlums who want to grow up to be like him. We can't arrest them as fast as they spring up. You know that. Yeah, I know. I wish the public did. You know, I wish for just one minute they could understand that every time they make an illegal bet on a horse or a basketball game or even buy a chance on a punch board, they're supporting the Joe Boones. Or if they did, maybe they'd stop. Well, someday maybe they will. Let's hope it's not too late. Joe and Charlie Boone were both convicted in federal court on a charge of kidnapping and sentenced to life imprisonment. Ruth Boone was convicted in state court of assault with intent to kill and received a five-year sentence. The thing Special Agent Taylor told George Duncan are unfortunately all true. You financed the seeming respectability of the Joe Boones of the nation with your contributions. And also because of your indifference to community problems. No one else but you, the people, can prevent these hoodlums from walking the streets as free men. They are a challenge to you as a decent human being, as a responsible citizen, and as an American who does not want to leave behind a heritage of crime. Now one final reminder about the Equitable Society's plan for men and women on the way up. Remember the Equitable Society created this plan for a very special type of person. For the man who comes home to his wife and calls out, Betty, I got the job. Now we're on Easy Street. Are you that kind of man? Then don't wait another day. Ask your Equitable Society representative to work out your own personal plan for a man on the way up. Or send a postcard care of this station to the Equitable Life Assurance Society. Next week we will dramatize another case of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Its subject? Espionage. Its title? The Saboteurs. 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. He was William Woodson, and Special Agent Taylor was played by Stacey Harris. Others in the cast were Anthony Barrett, Bill Conrad, Joe Gilbert, Ed MacDonald, Henry Morgan, and Vic Rodman. 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 the same time, when the Equitable Life Assurance Society will bring you another thrilling transcribe story from the files of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. These saboteurs on this is your FBI. Stay tuned for the adventures of Ozzie and Harriet. There's fun for the whole family when Ozzie and Harriet come your way next. This program came to you from Hollywood.