 Ladies and gentlemen, the story you're about to hear is true. The names have been changed to protect the innocent. Dragmen. You're a detective sergeant. You're assigned a homicide detail. A howling dog causes a man to check his neighbor's house. He finds the brutally beaten body of an elderly woman. She's been killed by person or persons unknown. Your job? Investigate. It was Tuesday, June 10th. It was warm in Los Angeles. We'll be working tonight to watch out a homicide detail. My partner's Frank Smith. The boss is Captain Warman. My name's Friday. I was on my way back in from the alley, and it was 726 p.m. when I got to 9782 Green Oak Drive. Front door. Do you find anything? No. No sign of anybody out back. Do you call the crime lab? Yeah, I talked to Lee. He's on the way. That's good. Call Hollywood Division too. They're going to send out some more men to help us. That's an outside chance, Mike. Come up with something. Yeah. Whoever did it, it sure must have been wild, y'all. I don't think I ever saw killing as brutal as this one. It's pretty rough. Must have hit her a couple of dozen times. Look at there. See? Where's T'Watch's broken? Looks like she might have raised her arm to try and stop some of the blows. Yeah. Crystal's smashed up pretty bad. It's hard to read. Looks like 304, doesn't it? Uh-huh. I don't know if that's any time. From what the neighbor says, that'd have to be the afternoon. Yeah. Do you find anything that looks like a murder weapon? Nothing out in the open. Thought it'd be better if the crime lab checked the place first. How about the other rooms? They're as bad as it went out front. Yeah, stuff's all scattered around her. Her heart cooled out, content's thrown all over. Wherever it was, she wanted to stink it with robbery. Well, let's check the neighbor. Yeah, he's across the street. But he wanted to go home and take something to help quiet him down. Must have been quite a shock to the old guy. Yeah. You want to tell Brian and Phillips where we'll be? Yeah. Phillips is out in the back. I saw him when I came in. I'll talk to Brian. All right. Ask him to let us know when Lee gets here, will he? Yeah. All right. Yeah, over here. Want to carry the lights on? I was just sitting there out of the drink. Trying to calm it down a little. Yeah, I see. Switches there on the wall, sort of behind the whatnot. They have to kind of feel around. Yeah, sir. I found it. Turned out the lights, you know, up my head. Oh, me, oh my, I've got an awful headache. You don't have to have a couple of aspirin on it, do you? No, sir. I'm sorry. I don't. Oh, well, I guess you don't mind much. I guess this will do just as good. What if you tell me just what happened here? Well, I'm glad to, but I want to help all I can. Sure, I'd like to see you get the guy who did this apple. Well, why do you think it was a man? Well, you said guy. What makes you think it was a man? Well, I didn't mean it like, you know, not special, but come right down to it. Almost got to be a man. Can't imagine a woman doing a thing like that. At least no woman I have on you. Got to be a man. Come on in. Everybody come in. Might as well have a convention. All the people come in. My partner, Mr. Broody. Oh, another policeman, huh? Yes, sir. All that Joe, they're going to call us on the crime lab crew gets here. How are you, Mr. Broody? People all over the place. I never saw a car come so fast when the sirens come in. It seemed like they were attached to mushrooms. They just sprung up out of the ground. Oh, yeah, I'm fine. Fine, isn't it? Wonder if you'd mind leaving that alone until we ask you a few questions. Oh, you mean before I have another drink? Yes, sir, if you would. Well, of course. Glad to buy. I'll wait, I mean. You don't have to worry about me, though, when I'm the whole world broody. I'll hold my liquor just in back. The whole world's a regular tanker. Don't ever show on the whole world. Well, if you just tell us about finding a body. Well, I was out in the front watering the lawn. Always do it at the same time, you see. The hot sun burns it up. You don't water, you know. You've got to do that. Yes, sir. Well, that's what I was doing. Wasn't alone. Yes, sir. Do you want to go on? You sure you're supposed to want a little snort? No, no thanks. No thanks. Well, all of a sudden, I hear an e-roll making all the fuss. Who's that? That's a silly name, isn't it? Who is it? It's a little bitty old peep. She called it Nero. Always seem to me that if you're going to call it dog, Nero should be a big dog. Yes, Nero's the dog. What happened then? Well, sir, first off, I didn't pay much attention to it. Just kept right on the lawn. An old Nero kept it up. Kept right on the elephant. I think there must be something wrong. Yes, sir, there must be. There's all that going on. So I turned off the water and wandered it over. You know, checked up. Yes, sir. Mr. Broody, by what time was this? I know it was funny, death were not coming out making Nero shut up. Oh, it was about six o'clock. Yeah, about six o'clock. Did she anyone around the house when you went over? No, the soul of Nero says there's nobody. So I went around back to the patio, you know. Mm-hmm. There wasn't anybody there either. And I knocked at the door. My little old Nero is still raised in old bed. He ain't stopped the breeze hardly. Yes, sir. Well, sir, when I knocked on the door, things swung right open. Wasn't locked, you know, so I called after. I called a couple of times. I didn't get an answer. I couldn't see nothing. So the door opens only kind of a little of a service port. I didn't see a thing. Yes, sir. Then I went in, walked right into the kitchen. There she was lying on the floor. Stuck, scattered all over in little Nero, sitting right beside her, just going crazy. You called the police right away, didn't you? Well, I ran out of the house all over to my place and called the operator, dialed over and told him to send the police right away. Yeah, right away, I called him. Had you seen Ms. Lawrence at all today? Yeah, I saw her this noon time. She was out to get the mail. We said, uh, hello. You know, just a cheerful, like, like, uh... What time did you say hello? I picked up the mail, went right back into the house, just like she didn't have no idea what was going to happen. Oh, about 1.30, mail comes there. Did you see anyone around her house this afternoon? Nobody, no. Oh, well, of course, now, I was out in the back most of the afternoon, you see, you see. Out there working in the flowers, so I can't right out say that there wasn't anybody over. I see. Do you know where we can get in touch with Mr. Lawrence? He works in a garage down on Pico Island. Ain't that the name of the place around someplace? I used to take my car down to him before him, and Mrs. Lawrence got a divorce. How long have they been divorced? About three years, I guess. Well, I'm not really sure about that. How'd they get along, you know, any trouble between them? I guess there's some who'd say that he was right. I made a practice not to get involved in those things. Religion, politics, marriage troubles. I don't, I don't get meddled up in them. Oh, they, yeah, they fought all the time. Yeah. Has Mr. Lawrence been at his wife's house lately? Not that I've seen. I guess they, who, see each other, but I understand what that will say to the lawyers. He used to try to tell me about it, but I just wouldn't listen. I don't believe in it. Religion, politics, marriage stuff and all those things, et cetera, et cetera. Yes, I see. Alimony. They was always fighting about alimony, always. Do you know what the disagreements were about besides alimony? I'll tell you, mister. You better talk to Mr. Lawrence about that. He's the one that sent you right on. I go telling you, and I'm liable to say something wrong, you see, and I wouldn't be right, I wouldn't be. You better talk to him. You talk to him. All right, sir, if you'll just give us the address, please. Sure, sure, I'll take a look at my checkbooks and see if I can find it. You talk to him. He don't give you all the scoop, and maybe I can help you out a little. All right, Mr. Brutic, thank you. Now, the moral questions you've got to ask me right now? Well, if you don't feel well, sir, we can talk to you later. I don't feel good, just that I'd like another little snort, you know, kind of pick me up a little, but it's all together. Oh, I think, oh, just a little. Well, there may be some more things we'll want to check with you later tonight. A little snort ain't going to do no harm, one thing. Everybody says it's older out than whole, isn't it? Everybody says that, you can ask them, everybody. How did they go by? Somebody don't say that. Well, if you'll get Mr. Lawrence's address for us, please. Right away, right in the way. I wonder how you guys take all this. All them years of battling, screaming, and each other. Now they're over. You ain't going to have no more trouble because of her. No, that's not quite right, sir. Huh? He's not going to have a lot more. Erl Brutic looked through his desk and he found a canceled check bearing the address of the garage where the victim's husband was employed. While he was looking for the check stub, Frank and I interrogated him further on the relations between Ethel Lawrence and her husband. He refused to tell us any more than he had, explaining that if the answers we got from the husband weren't adequate, we could come back and see him. 6.48 p.m. We returned to the victim's house and we talked with Lieutenant Lee Jones. He told us that the crew from the crime lab had been unable to find the murder weapon, but that they had been able to lift several good fingerprints from the kitchen. They went on to say that these had been checked and they were not the same. Little other physical evidence was found in the house. However, an impression of a shoe had been found in the software that decided a house and the plaster cast had been made of it. We asked Lieutenant Jones to take the fingerprints of the neighborhood, found the body and checked in with the impressions left in the victim's house. 9.46 p.m. The coroner arrived and removed the body and attached the paper seal to the front door. Frank and I went back to the office and checked the name of the victim and her husband through the record bureau. We found that Bernard Lawrence had been arrested years previously on a wife beating charge, but that he'd been released when his wife refused to prosecute. We checked the name Earl Broody. He had no record. 10.54 p.m., we drove over to the garage where the victim's husband was employed. The place was closed, but there was a card on the door giving an emergency address. Frank and I drove out to the house, a low-rambling land-style building. The garage owner, Arnold Norton, met us at the door. Yeah? Mr. Norton? That's right. What can I do for you? Yeah, I guess it's okay. I don't know what it's about, but I guess it's okay. What do you want? Might be better if we talked inside. Do you mind if I see your identification? No, sir. Here's my ID card. This is my partner, Frank Smith. My name's Friday. Uh-huh. Yeah, come in. Thank you. Thank you. Just a minute. I'll come off the CV. We don't like to bother you, Mr. Norton. It shouldn't take us too long. Doesn't matter. It's just a fight movie. Uh-huh. What is it you want to know? You have an employee named Bernard Lawrence working for you? Yeah. Barney's been with me for about seven years. Why? You have a home address for him? I suppose so. Look, can you tell him what this is all about? It's a routine investigation. We'd like to talk to him. I'll write out the address for you. You ever hear about Lawrence and his wife having any quarrels or disagreements? I'm not quite sure how I should answer that. What do you mean? I don't know why you're asking the question. It's a little rough to ask me to comment on the way Barney gets along with his wife. I don't want to lay anything on him. Yeah, I told you he's been with me for seven years. The best carburetor man I've got. You must have heard him discussing his home wife at one time or another, haven't you? I went through the same thing before, you know. I got myself right in the middle before. I don't want it to happen again. I don't understand. When they got the divorce, all the time lawyers come around asking questions, trying to get me to take sides. I'm not going to do it. If Barney's trying to bring the thing up again, he should be the one to tell me not have you fellas come around and do it. I'm not going to get in the middle again. I've known both of them for a long time. I think a lot of them. Ethel and Barney and me have been pretty close in the years. But I've had it. All the questions about how much Barney makes, what was working hours, who do you see? Do you run around with any girls? No. I'm not going to answer any more questions. Well, this isn't a civil matter, Mr. Norton. This has nothing to do with the divorce? No, sir. I'm not going to be called as a witness? We can't say to that, sir. Uh-huh. Well, you fellas are going about this routine thing, makes me think that it's a lot more important than just a traffic ticket or anything like that. Well, it is. Did you see Lawrence today? You mean at the garage? Yes, sir. Yeah, he can't work at eight, just like he always does. He was there all day? Eight to five. That's what he works. Does he have occasion to leave the garage at all during the day? I don't understand what you mean. Well, does he have to leave to go pick up parts and all like that? Yeah, once in a while he does. We got a fellow who does that kind of thing, but when he's out on the call and Barney eats something fast, he maybe runs down the street and gets it. Did he leave the garage this afternoon? Yeah, he had to go down and pick up some rebuilds. You know what time he left? Hard to pin it down to an exact time. I don't much keep tabs on Barney. He comes and goes as he pleases. It's important that we get an idea of when he was gone. Well, I can check with the other boys in the shop. I should be able to find out when he left. I know he got back about 4.30, though. You're pretty sure about the time? Yeah, he came back and did a job on a rush one that we had, and then he took off with five. How was he acting when he came back? What do you mean? Did he seem upset about anything? No, not particularly. He seemed pretty happy, though. He kept talking about what a beautiful day it was and how good he felt. Mm-hmm. You know, coming right down to it, Barney was happier than he's been in some time. Just seemed like all his troubles were gone. Well, we know how you feel about this, Mr. Norton, but it's pretty important. Did you ever hear Mr. Lawrence threaten his wife? I'm going to have to take your word for it. It's being pretty important, Mr. Friday. I've got no way of knowing, but if you guys get me in the middle of anything, I'm going to be pretty sore about it. Don't worry about that. Well, then I'll answer your question. Barney and Ethel didn't get along very well. I guess you knew that. Divorce and all Ethel accused me of Barney running around. They had some pretty big arguments. Barney was pretty mad at the judgment. He got the alimony. After 150 a month, it made him pretty sore. Plus, the judge said to pay it or go to jail. Ethel would just as soon see him in jail. Barney used to talk to me about it. We'd stop down the street and have a beer, and we'd close up the shop. Barney would say there was only two ways he could get out of the alimony payments. One was if Ethel got married again, and Barney always said she was so mean that no sane man would have her. What about the other way? That was for her to die. I guess that was about the only threat he ever made so I could hear it. What's that? That he wouldn't mind helping her out. 47 p.m. We drove over to the address we'd gotten for Bernard Lawrence. It was a modern apartment building in the Wilshire district. We rang the bell to his apartment, but we got no answer. Frank and I talked to the manager of the building and he let us into the suspect's apartment. In a preliminary search of the place, we found nothing to tie the man in with his wife's death. However, from the clothes and the other personal effects in the place, we were reasonably sure that he'd returned to the apartment. The manager told us that Lawrence had come home after work, changed his clothes, and left saying that he'd return later. We put in a call to the office and we told them where we were and we made arrangements to be relieved the next morning in the event the suspect hadn't returned. Frank and I settled down in our car, which was parked across the street from the apartment to wait for Lawrence. At 1.30, Frank went down to the corner and called Fay to tell her he'd be a little late. He brought back a cart and a hot coffee and some sandwiches. The stakeout continued. 2.30. Still no sign of the suspect. 3.30. 4.30. At 5.30 a.m., the landlord came to the porch of the apartment house and yelled at us, indicating he wanted to tell us something. Frank went over to see him while I waited in the car. A couple of minutes later, Frank came running back. Joe? Joe? Yeah. The manager just got a call from Lawrence. What about? Lawrence wanted to have his stuff packed and sent down to the depot. Yeah. Said he's leaving town. 5.42 a.m., we called the business office and had arrangements made to check the reservation list on trains going east. We also set up stakeouts on the depots and on the airline terminals in the event the suspect changed his mind about taking the train. Two officers came out and relieved us at the apartment. The manager of the apartment was instructed to notify the officers on stakeout in the event he heard from Lawrence. 6.12 a.m., Frank and I drove back downtown. We went to the business office and got out a local and an APV on the suspect. We checked out of the office to go home and change our clothes. And at 8.46 a.m., we met back in the squad room. You made it fast, huh, Joe? Yeah. Cut the coffee there if you want some. No, thanks. I got something to eat on the way in. No. Any word? No, not yet. Lawrence still hasn't showed up at the apartment. There's nothing from the depots to take out. No, man. I'd sure like to get some sleep. Well, I'm with you there. Yeah, I'll tell you sure, sir. What about last night? Yeah. Had an all-plan that we were going to a movie tonight. Always plans it on my day off. Yeah. You know, we have dinner and go down to the neighborhood. Kinda nice. She looks forward to it. What's that got to do with last night? Well, this is my day off, right? Yeah. That's what says on the schedule. And I'm working, right? Yeah. Well, I worked all last night, too. Huh? Yeah. Gonna be no movie tonight. I don't follow you. Well, I'm gonna sleep. As I get home, gonna climb right into the shower, dry off, into bed. Gonna sleep the clock around. Yeah. That's why. Mm-hmm. We gotta talk to Skipper this morning. Is he in yet? Yeah, he's down. Chief Brown's on it. Mm-hmm. You fill him in? Yeah, a little bit. He goes along with us. Mm-hmm. Well, let's check R and I. I want to look at that a recipe for it on Lawrence. Better find out if he made that call he was supposed to have made when he was going for work. Yeah. Well, look, he's still in town. Well, that doesn't do us a lot of good unless we know where. No, we can go out and talk to the fellow that found the body. He might be able to come up with something. Better put a stake out on the garage where Lawrence worked, too. He might show up there. Right. I'll get Norton on the phone. Tell him let us know if he hears anything. Yeah. You know, the whole thing looks pretty clean. All we gotta do is put Lawrence at his wife's house this afternoon. We got it made. You know, there's only one in trouble. Yeah. We gotta find him After putting in the call to the garage where the suspect was employed and arranging for a stake out on the place, Frank and I checked the arrest record that had been made out four years previously and obtained a list of his friends and relatives. We contacted each one of them, but they could give us no information on Lawrence. That morning we met with Captain Warman and we went over the evidence with him. The fingerprints found at the scene of the murder had been eliminated when they were compared with those of the neighbor, Earl Broody. Other physical evidence netted us nothing. The murder weapon still had not been found. The only piece of evidence that we had to attempt to identify the killer was the plaster cast of the footprint found to the side of the house. However, Lee Jones said that it would be of little use other than to identify the size of the shoe. It was a size 10 with a leather sole and a leather heel. There were no distinguishing marks on the impression. Two days went by and we still hadn't found Lawrence. We talked to them any work with, but none of them could supply us with any information as to as possible whereabouts. We checked the bars he was known to frequent without result. Apparently the suspect had disappeared without a trace. On Saturday, June 14, three days after the murder, Frank and I got back to the office after lunch. You want to check the book? Yeah. Where can I find Joe Friday? I'm him. I'm Barney Lawrence. Well, we've been looking for you. I want you to get off my back. Leave me alone. You mind telling us where you've been for the past three days? It's none of your business. The only reason I'm here now is I want to tell you to stop going around asking a lot of questions, causing me embarrassment. What do you mean by that? You know what I mean. I don't mind telling you. I'm pretty sure about the things you said behind my back. You probably didn't think I'd find out about them. But I did, and I'm telling you to stop. You ought to take it easy, Lawrence. You keep your nose out of this, Cop. I'm talking to him. I got a few things for you, too, before I leave. Yeah? I don't think you're going to leave. What's that supposed to mean? Just what it sounded like. You're under arrest. For what? Special murder. You figured I killed Ethel? You look good for it. And you better get a pair of glasses. Cop. I'm walking out of here, and if you're smart, you won't try to stop me. I wouldn't try it, Lawrence. Lawrence? Now, hold it. If you haven't done anything wrong, you've got nothing to worry about. Now, come on back here. What's that? I've always wanted to hit a cop. Come on, Lawrence. On your feet. Keep your hands off me, Cop. Just keep your hands off me. All right. Now, sit down. Right here. Sit down. We're investigating a murder. Someone beat your wife to death. We're trying to find out who did it. Well, it wasn't me. You've got a funny way of showing it. The suspect was booked in at the main jail on suspicion of murder. Lawrence put in a call to his lawyer, and arrangements were made to have him released on bond. Frank and I attempted to interrogate him before he was booked, but he refused to answer any questions we put to him. The following morning, we met with he and his lawyer. Again, we ran into the same stubborn silence. At 11.30 a.m., we met with Captain Norman and Chief of Detective Stad Brown. We laid out the evidence we had. From all appearances, we had the guilty man in custody, but it might be difficult to prove in a court of law. The one thing we'd been unable to establish was Lawrence's presence in the house at the time of the murder. It was decided that without being able to prove this, we would have little chance of getting a complaint from the District Attorney's Office. Frank and I started requesting the neighbors. None of them could tell us any more than they already had. We requested the man who'd found the body, Earl Broody. He came up with the additional information that there had been a crew of carpenters working on a house the day of the killing. The building was located next door to him, directly across the street from the place where the murder had been committed. We questioned the carpenters. None of them could tell us anything. However, there was one man who had been working on the construction that we were unable to reach. We were unable to find him. On Wednesday, June 18th, we got to his house at 7.30 a.m. just before he left for work. He asked us to talk to him in the kitchen of his home. I just haven't breakfast. Fix you guys something to eat? No, thanks, Mr. Hewitt. We don't want to take up much of your time here. Oh, don't worry about that. What's this about anyway? We understand that you were working on a job on Green Oak Drive on the 10th of June, is that right? Let me think. Yeah, yeah, 9,700 block. Yeah, I was there. Why? You worked there all day, didn't you? That's right. Left place around 5.30. You say this about that woman that was murdered? Yes, sir. You got the fella, did it? Well, we think we know who he is. You guys like a cup of coffee? Yeah. Fine, we'll join you. Yeah, thanks. Did you use sugar? No, no thanks. No thanks, sir. I'll see how you can drink coffee without it. I always use two spoons myself. That's good. Well, say if you know who did the killing, how come he isn't in jail? We need a little more evidence before we can take him to court. That's why I'm talking to me, huh? That's right. A couple of things you might be able to straighten us out on. Why me? Well, we've talked to the other men in the crew. It seems like you're the only one left. Comes right back to me, huh? That's right. Yeah. What's the matter, Hewitt? Gotta sit down. What's the matter, you're sick? Poison. Poison and the sugar. I've been expecting it. Right, get in there a minute. Yeah. What kind of poison, Hewitt? What kind? There's nothing you can do now. I know this is wrong taken poison. I killed the old lady. I killed her. Ambulance on the way, Joe. Don't hurry. We're dead. The suspect, Merle Patrick Hewitt, died of self-administered poison, and his death was listed as a suicide. The victim's husband, Bernard Jerome Lawrence, was released from custody. DRAGNET is a presentation of the United States Armed Forces Radio Service.