 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. From time to time, in their 30s and early 40s, most men and women ask themselves, what will I be doing when I'm 65 years old? What are my chances of being 100% self-supporting when it's time to stop work? Well, that's largely up to you and the decision you make right now. One such opportunity for an important decision will be offered to you in our middle commercial. It tells about the Equitable Society's independent 60s plan. This plan means exactly what it says. Financial independence for you in your 60s. Do you like that idea? Then please listen carefully to this important message from the Equitable Society coming in about 14 minutes. Tonight, the subject of our FBI file, Burglary. It's titled, The Connoisseurs of Crime. Tonight's case from the files of the Federal Bureau of Investigation deals with criminal youth. As you listen to this story, you may well ask yourself why such an alarming proportion of those arrested today are boys and girls in their late teens and early 20s. One reason may be that under modern conditions, the adolescent period, always a difficult one, is more of a problem today than it has ever been. During this period, a youngster is in a continual struggle between two opposing impulses. One is the desire to remain a child, the other is to become a full-fledged adult. This inner conflict is what makes adolescence so difficult for adults to handle. What the adolescent needs above all else and so often misses in this unstable modern world is genuine affection, real understanding and intelligent guidance from his parents. When this is lacking, the results may be disastrous, as tonight's case from the FBI files so clearly demonstrates. Tonight's FBI file opens in a pleasant New England town. On a bluff overlooking a quiet river is a large attractive home. It is early evening and at a desk in the living room sits a well-dressed middle-aged woman busily writing in a large book when a young man enters. Bye, Mom. See you later. Oh, oh, Van, dear. Did you finish dinner? Yeah, just now. Sorry I couldn't eat with you. No, it's all right. Unless these minutes are ready for the club meeting tomorrow, I... It wasn't that this afternoon. Oh, no. Today was ladies' aid. Oh. You have enough money? Yeah. Oh, well, you see the surprise I've got for you. Oh. I picked out your birthday present today. It's that convertible you liked. Thanks. Oh, that's Lee and Buzzy. So long, Mom. Where are you going, dear? I don't know. Maybe rob somebody's house. Well, have a good time. Okay, okay. Hi, Van. Hi, Beth. Hi. There's room in front. This is your tag. Uh-huh. Everything's on the back seat. Oh, good. What an idea this was. I told you. Van. Yeah? Let's wait until next week. Next week? Why? I don't know. I'd like to, that's all. Look, Lee, I've been studying now for three months. If I don't know enough by tonight, I never will. It's not that. You're backing out? Well, are you? No. All right, then. Let's get it over with. If we wait another week, we'll never steal those vases. The following day at an FBI field office in a nearby state, Special Agent Jim Taylor meets Agent Mike Elliott in the teletype room. Morning, Mike. Oh, hi, Jim. I thought you were on vacation. I thought I would, but I've got to testify in that extortion case. Uh, too bad. This wire's got to get off the Washington right away. What's up? Report to the National Stolen Property File. Four Ming vases were stolen last night from a private home in Adwater, Connecticut. Please want us to list them. Pretty specialized loot. Pretty valuable, too. They're worth about $18,000. I thought all Ming vases were in museums. Yeah, I did, too, until I called an antique dealer. He says there are thousands of them. Look, then, why are they so valuable? Well, apparently, the price has decided to the shape and coloring of the vases. I don't know how you tell, but the experts do. Oh, leave it to Adwater to have discriminating second story, man. Cutting the police up there, it seems the theft was committed by three young men. Oh. And there were three sets of Marcus and Prince in the garden. What would they want with Ming vases? Well, police might know pretty soon if they can trace a black sedan with ski holders on the roof. A witness reported seeing it pull out of the driveway right after the burglary. Stony Point Hill is right outside of Adwater, you know. Yeah, that's why they think a job might have been done by a local talent. Oh, here's my message now, Jim. Wait until it's in and I'll walk back upstairs with you. Let me see him. We just decided to sell one vase at a time. Sell him? What for? Money. Oh, put him away and let's go play tennis. Lee, if you don't sell what you take, it's not really stealing. It's just borrowing. Well, suppose we get 10,000 for him. Then what? I don't care if you burn the money once we get it. The big thing is we started this and we've got to finish it. I still don't see why. What's wrong with you? Nothing. Lee, we're selling them and that's final. Go ahead. We elected you. To what? Be our salesman. The Jefferson Pope Galleries in New York are the biggest dealers in Ming, Porcelain. Take the blue one first. Oh, no, not me. Why not, Lee? Well, if you must know, last night wasn't as much of a kick as I thought it would be. And now that it's over, I'd like to forget about it. Well, I wouldn't. And Buzzy wouldn't. That's two out of three in majority rules. But look, fellas, I don't know anything about Ming vases. Would you have to know painting to sell a Mona Lisa? These are in the same class. The minute they unwrap it, they'll quote a price. Just nod your head and collect. You're old enough to vote. You ought to be able to nod your head. Okay, let's have it. Make the 11 o'clock train and you'll be back here tonight with the money. Mike, we're in on that vase burglary. How come, Jim? One of the stolen vases showed up here at the Jefferson Pope Galleries. Where'd they get it? Young man bought it in a little while ago. They got suspicious and asked him to leave it on consignment. After he left, the clerk called Washington and learned about it being listed in the stolen property file. Well, all we gotta do is arrest that young man and close the case. No, it's not quite that easy. The gallery doesn't know his name. If they were suspicious, why didn't they ask for it? Well, they did, but he wouldn't give any. From what the clerk told me, he was very nervous, seemed happy to get the vase off his hands. Any description on him? He's about 21 or two years old. No odd facial or clothing characteristics. Oh, swell. There's only about five or six million people like that. We did get one break, though. This anonymous young man told the clerk he'd be back later today. That was to give them a chance to have the vase appraised. Well, let's get over there and wait. Well, there's no need to, Mike. Place is under surveillance. The minute he shows up, we'll be notified. Then I'm going out. Oh, didn't even know you were home. Well, I haven't been long. I just dropped by to change. Oh. Do you have any plans for tonight? Nothing special. Well, I'm going to the country club, so if you do go out, will you please... Oh, well, you know... Yeah, don't worry. I won't show up. Oh, Van, dear, you know it's not that I don't like being with you, but will you understand that a widow with a 22-year-old son can't very well be called a girl? I said I wouldn't show up. Thank you, dear. I'll see you later. Oh, I left some money on my dressing table. I don't need any. Is Van here? Oh, yes, buzzy in the den. Thanks. Oh, you're just in time for a drink. Van, we've got to do something. Hmm? About what? I just heard from Lee. How'd he get back this fast? He didn't. He called me from Grand Central. The man at the gallery asked him to leave the vase till he could get it appraised. So what? Plenty of buyers on the list, buzzy. We'll sell it someplace else. But Lee left it. Well, then he can go get it back. He's afraid to. That's why he called. He thinks they might be trapping him. Oh, great. Well, that was the best vase we got. I'm not losing it because he's chickening out. We can't make him go back. He doesn't have to. I'll call and tell him to mail it to me. Well, let it go, Van. We've got three more. What train's Lee getting? The 850. Buzzy, meet that train and bring him here. We better talk to him before anybody else does. Mike, we got bad news. On what, Jim? That vase case. The surveillance didn't pay off. Giving up this quick? It's not a matter of our giving up. Apparently the burglars have decided against reclaiming the vase at the gallery. They just had a call on it. Huh? Yeah, the clerk was pretty sure it wasn't the same young man who came to the store and unfortunately for us, he started questioning the caller too, obviously. You get any information at all? None from the young man, but when the call came in, the operator said it was Atwater Connecticut calling. Well, that sounds like the idea about it being local talent was right. How about going up there? Yeah, I think that's our only move. I've got a new haven schedule in one of these drawers. Fine. One thing I definitely want to check on when we get up to Atwater. The man these were stolen from has a collection of about 50 vases. These four were the only mings and the only really valuable pieces. How much difference was there between the mings and the others? Very little, and that's my point. Whoever did the picking was an expert, and there can't be too many in a town that size. I wouldn't think so. Women's clubs could have had a lecture, though, from a local expert. The museum would be another good spot to check. Yeah. Oh, here we are. Here we are. Atwater. Atwater. Yeah, yes, there's a train out of Grand Central in 20 minutes. Sure, let's get it. He's going to get us, and the whole deal is up the ventilator. Buzzy, didn't you meet Lee? I missed him at the station. He went home. The minute he got in, he told his folks a story. About us too? The whole thing. I guess your mother's not home yet, huh? Why do you keep asking about her? She's at the club. She was. These folks called mine, and the four of them got hold of your mother. They just had a council of war here, and brother. Were they steamin'? What did Lee shoot off his face for? Never mind. Him, let's think about us. What'll we do? I don't know. There's nothing much we can do. Then, then where are you? I'll talk to you later. Man, I was just at the baker's home. Yeah, I know. The wheelers were there, and they told the most terrible story. Oh, that's too bad. Of course, I didn't believe a word of it, but the wheeler boy was there too, and he verified it. Something about you and Buzzy and Lee stealing four Ming vases. It's true. It can't be. It is. Don't say that. You want me to lie? Oh, Van, to find out now I've spent my life raising a thief, a common ordinary thief. Why? Why did you do it? For the kicks. Didn't you stop to think what would happen? Everybody will be saying my son's a thief. I wasn't thinking about you. Of course not. You don't care if you ruin everything I've worked for. Mom, I wish I could say I was sorry for you. Van Marshall, you go to your room and you stay there till I say you can come out. I can't. I'm leaving. What? I'm leaving and I'm taking the vases with me. We will return in just a minute to tonight's exciting case from the official file of your FBI. But now, listen. Those are check writing machines at the Home Office of the Equitable Life Assurance Society. Every month, right on the dot, those checks go out to members who have paid up their Equitable Independence 60s plans. They're checks that mean financial independence for life after you're 65 years old. And here's Mr. Douglas McElvane, who started one of those plans back in the 1920s. You finished your payments last year, didn't you, Mr. McElvane? That's right, Mr. Keating. I worked hard for almost 50 years, so I think I'm entitled to take things easy now. In other words, Mr. McElvane, you're now cashing in on the three freedoms that go with an independent 60s plan. First, freedom from money worries and job worries, financial independence. Mr. Keating, if I live to be 100, I'll never have to worry about money with those equitable checks coming in every month. Second, with an equitable independent 60s plan, you're free to live anywhere you choose. I moved out to California with my wife, and I'll bet there isn't a better climate anywhere in America. Third, freedom to do the things you've always wanted to do. Well, for the first time in my life, I'm really getting enough fishing. I've had so much practice, I can put that fly right down on a dime. And it's all because I talked to an equitable man years ago, and he proved to my satisfaction that you don't have to be a rich man to afford an independent 60s plan. That's a fact. You don't have to earn big money to begin an equitable independent 60s plan. Ask your equitable representative to explain why you probably have a big head start towards independent 60s because of your social security and the life insurance you already own. Often, only a small amount of additional insurance is all that's required. A few dollars a week did it for me. Friends, why not profit by Mr. McElvane's experience? Phone your equitable society representative without delay, 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 Insurance Society of the United States. And now back to the FBI file, The Connoisseurs of Crime. Each person who needs psychiatric aid poses an individual problem to the doctor. No blanket treatment can be administered to young men like Van Marshall. However, what a psychiatrist might find in this case may be of interest to parents. Van Marshall conceived of and was the ringleader in this crime because it was an unconscious way of striking back at his mother. Striking back at her for trying to buy his affection with material things, instead of giving him the genuine affection and companionship that all adolescents crave. No one who commits a crime expects to be caught, but he realizes there is a chance he will be. And Van Marshall knew that if he were apprehended for theft, it would disgrace his mother in front of her friends with whom she spent more time than she did with him. Tonight's case from the files of your FBI proves once again that the responsibility for crime in youth can all too frequently be traced to fathers and mothers who fail to do their jobs. Tonight's FBI file continues later that night as Van Marshall cautiously approaches Eddie Baker's house. Your mother get home? Uh-huh. We had it out. Brother, was it rugged over here too? I brought the vases. Come on, we're running away. We? You and me? We can't. Why not? We've still got about $10,000 worth of vases. That'll take care of us a long time. But Van, we can't sell them without gallery. You said yourself they were suspicious. We don't have to go there. I know some place else will be interested. Where? In New York. What? Don't be another Lee. There's a decision to be made. Make it. Are you going with me or not? Okay, let's go. Give him I'm sorry I'm late. Okay, Mike, I just got her myself. Well, I hope you dug up more dope than I did. You finished covering the women's clubs? All but three. So far, the only Ming expert on record is the man whose home was robbed. Well, I've interviewed him. He didn't know any others. How about the museum? I talked to everybody there who'd have any contact with local art collections and experts. No luck. This is no luck, Connecticut. Want me to help you cover the other clubs? Sure, sure. Come on. Not much left if this doesn't pan out. You're exaggerating, Mike. This doesn't pan out. We've got exactly zero. You wouldn't think anybody in a town this size could keep quiet about being an expert. No, unless they just learned about... Hey, wait a minute, Mike. What? Do you mind covering the clubs yourself? Where are you going? I just thought of another place that might have the answer. I'll check and meet you at headquarters. Can I do something for you? Well, I understand you're in charge of all reference books. That's right. Would you care to see some? No, ma'am. I'm a special agent of the FBI. Oh. Here are my credentials. Oh, yes. There was a burglary here in that part of the night before last where four Ming vases were taken. Yes, I saw that in the paper. Well, do you have any books on that subject? Oh, yes. Quite a few. What record is made when someone uses a reference book? People sign for them. In case we discover later, the book's been damaged. Oh, I see. Here's today's sheet, for example. Well, I wonder if I might examine the records for the last month. Oh, of course. Thank you. It seems to me there was one person who used to come in and ask for books on, um... Oh, yes, on Oriental Pottery. No. Would you remember who that was? A fan. Fan somebody. Let me take a quick look. I know I can find it in a minute. Mrs. Marshall? Yes? My name is Taylor. I'm a special agent of the FBI. Oh. How do you do? I'd like to speak with your son, Van. I'm awfully sorry, but he left this morning. Oh, for where? To some place to go fishing. He went with a friend of his. Oh? Um, what did you want to see him about? Forming vases were stolen here in that water the night before last. Yes, so I understand, but why should you talk to Van about that? We have good reason to believe that he was involved. Oh, that's ridiculous. Where was he the night before last? Right here with me all day and all night. Mrs. Marshall, I realize it's perfectly normal for a mother to try and shield her son. But I'm not... But before we go any further, I'd like to give you what facts we know thus far. All right. There were three sets of Marcus and Prince found outside the house that was looted. I found the same exact print on the edge of your driveway. Well, that doesn't prove it was Van. No, the next circumstances that a black sedan with ski holders on the roof was seen leaving the burglarized house just a few minutes after the theft. Your gardener tells me that one of your son's friends has such a car. Mr. Taylor, I don't see that anything you've said is reason to suspect Van. Well, the most damaging evidence we have came from the records at the public library. What's that? Your son's the only person in town who's been studying reference books on Oriental pottery, on Ming vases in particular. Well, that doesn't mean he's guilty. No, but if he is, Mrs. Marshall, you're not doing him any favor by refusing to cooperate. Now, we've gotten this far without any family help. Whether you wait or not, we'll find him, so you do whatever you like. You want me to help you against my own son? No, ma'am, help him. I'm not promising anything. But if my report shows family cooperation, the court might take it into consideration along with his being a first offender and the other circumstances. Well, ma'am, that part is up to you. All right. All right, he did it. He and two of his friends, but it was their idea, and they forced Van into it. Can you tell me where he is? I don't know. He ran away with one of his friends. Oh, Mr. Taylor, why? Why did he do this to me? What are the names of the friends he was with the other night? Buzzy Baker and Lee Wheeler. The Baker boys the one he ran away with. I said, do you know this young Wheeler's address? Yes, they live on the next block, 385. 385. Mr. Taylor, you will help Van, won't you? Well, I'll do my best, Mrs. Marshall. First thing we've got to do is find him. Lee Wheeler? That's right. I'm a special agent of the FBI here at my credentials. Oh, come in. Thanks. I know where you're here. Before you say anything, let me tell you this. You don't have to answer my questions, but if you do, your answers can be used against you. I don't care. I've just come from Van Marshall's home. His mother said you and somebody named Buzzy Baker stole those Ming bases. That's right. You admit without any reservations you were one of the burglars? Yes, sir. Will you sign a statement of confession? All right. There's one other thing. Where does Baker live? Around the corner. Will you come with me, please? I want to go there. I'll finish questioning you and the car on the way to headquarters. Taylor speaking. Jim. Yeah? I'm still at one of the clubs. The secretary's due back any minute. Oh, never mind, Mike. We're one-third home. Huh? Yeah, I have a boy here with me now named Lee Wheeler, who just signed a confession. He says he stole the bases with Van Marshall and Buzzy Baker, two friends of his. Where are they? Well, they're allegedly on a fishing trip. Traveling in Buzzy Baker's car, I've already put on alarm on it. How about the bases? Well, I haven't located them yet. Wheeler told me Van Marshall had them, but not at his house. Maybe they took them along to hold their bait. Oh, seems kind of... Mike, hold it, will you? Yeah, will you? I don't think Van and Buzzy went fishing. Wait a minute. I thought you said you didn't know where they were. Oh, I don't, but Buzzy hates fishing. I... Well, Van said it wasn't really... really stealing unless you sold what you took. Thanks, will you? Mike? Yes? Meet me at the library, will you? I want to double-check something in one of those books. Buzzy, that's the place. Where? Here in the corner. Pull over, there's a space. I'll get out that way, Van. Here, I'm carrying one of these. You think Mr. Cole Fax will buy them? A good chance he will. If he's got as many as you say, why would he want three more? Well, if he doesn't, we'll go to the next name on the list. All right. You've got no choice. Jefferson Polk Gallery's suspicious. Maybe the police call the others. I could have called private collectors, too. No, too many of them. I hope he's here. He spends all his time studying his collection. I read about him in one of those books. Good afternoon. Could we see Mr. Cole Fax? Come in. I've got a few pieces I think you'll be interested in. If you'll tell him we're here, we'll... You must be Van Marshall, then. That'd make you Buzzy Baker. How did you know? I'm a special agent of the FBI. I'll take those vases, please. Who told you we were coming here? No one. I assumed you'd be too smart to try selling the vases at another gallery, and, well, Van, I read the same books you did, and saw the same list. Van Marshall, Buzzy Baker, and Lee Wheeler were convicted of interstate transportation of stolen property. Each was sentenced to prison for a year and a day. The case you have just heard points up one of the most serious problems confronting the United States today. According to the most recent uniform crime report issued by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the predominant age among all people arrested in the United States during the first six months of last year was 21. The four surveys before that also show the greatest number of people arrested were age 21. Thus, for the past five years, the Army of Criminals attacking the decent people of the nation has been led by a battalion of youth. The job of seeing to it that next year's crime report tells a different story belongs to the parents of the country, to every father and mother in America. One final question on the cost of the Equitable Society's independent 60s plan. How about Social Security? In drawing up your plan, your equitable man takes your future under Social Security into consideration. That's why only a comparatively small amount of additional life insurance may be all it's required to complete your personal independent 60s plan. Get the exact figure from your Equitable Society representative, or send a postcard care of this station to the Equitable Life Assurance Society. Next week we will dramatize another case from the files of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It's subject, armed robbery. It's title, The Post Time 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 places or 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 Eleanor Audley, Dick Brenner, Isabelle Joule, Wally Mayer, Charles Smith, and Gil Stratton Jr. This is your FBI, and the Jerry Divine Production was directed by Sid Goodwin. 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. The Post Time Stick Up on This Is Your FBI. Stay tuned for a life in your hands starring Lee Bowman when it comes your way next over most of these same stations. America is sold on ABC, the American Broadcasting Company.