 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's representative in your community. In a few minutes, the Equitable Life Assurance Society, sponsors of this program, will have an important announcement for home owners and for all families that are thinking of buying or building a home. If your husband or wife is not now listening to this program, get him or her. Both of you should hear the good news about America's finest plan for home ownership. A plan that can save you money and give you greater security in a home of your own. Tonight's FBI file, The Singing Swindler. It is a paradox of human nature that we are most easily deceived in that field which we know best. On strange ground we protect ourselves with the armor of caution. While on familiar ground we expose a vanity of infallibility which as demonstrated by tonight's case from the files of your FBI is the Achilles heel by which we are felled. To the visitor it must seem that every night is carnival night in the famous old French Quarter of New Orleans. For when the sun goes down the spirit of the fiesta comes up and from the cafes and gardens of balconyed houses, music and laughter pour out into a mainstream of galley which courses through the narrow streets until dawn. On this particular night in the small side street cafe a tall big-shouldered man sits alone at a table in the corner sipping his fourth absent frappé and obviously enjoying the club's table singer. He finishes a ballad for a couple of honeymooners. Wonderful, thanks a lot. Here's something for you. Oh, thanks very much. Now I better go over and see what he wants. Yes, sir. Some special song you'd like to hear? Yes, you bet your son. Sit down. Oh, thank you. What would you like? Another drink. Hey, waiter. Give me another one of these things. What do you want? Oh, not a thing, thanks. Oh, what do you mean not a thing? Everybody drinks with Bill Taylor. Now, what do you want? Alright, scotching water. Okay, waiter, you heard the man? Yes. Now, what's your name, partner? Eddie Burnett. Well, put it there, partner. I'm Bill Taylor. I'm from Texas. I kind of thought you might do it. Yes, sir, Eddie. Just made another killing in oil. I'm out tooting it up a little. I never drink when I work. Hey, I haven't given you any too. Alright. Your record's clean with me, Bill. Well, here's 20. How's about another song? How's about Isis, Texas? Great. Only you're going to be here a couple of minutes, aren't you, Bill? Well, where are you going, partner? Wait, here's another 20. Sit down. I'll be right back. I just got to go over and sit with that old lady for a minute. Yeah? Well, that's an old lady like her doing around here alone. Well, she was telling me about it before you came in. Asked me to sing a special number for her. That's so. Yeah. She said she and her husband always came here every year on their anniversary. Well, where's the old man? Well, it seems he died a couple of months ago, but she decided to come anyway. Well, now, what do you know about this? Your drink, sir. Well, wait. You see that old lady sitting over there? Yes, sir. Well, you bring her the best bottle of champagne you've got in the house. Tell her it's an anniversary present. Yes, sir. Well, that's pretty nice of you, Bill. Oh, that's nothing, partner. That's what money's for. You know, it's funny you being in the oil business. What's so funny about the oil business? Oh, I didn't mean it that way. It's just that the old lady was telling me that her husband left her some oil leeches. Yeah? On some land down in the Delta. What do you know? You know how old ladies are sometimes? Tell everybody their personal business. Sure, sure. Say, what did she tell you about the leeches? Well, she told me she didn't much know what to do about them, but she thought while she was here in New Orleans, maybe she could sell them. Sell them? Well, buying them is my business. Wow. Do you want to meet her? Yes, I'd like to very much. Okay. I'll find out what hotel she's staying at. Well, no, I like you. I like you too, Bill. Do me a favor before you go, would you? I sure, partner. You got me doing that now. What's a favor? Sing Eyes of Texas. Okay. Hey, Joe, Eyes of Texas. The Eyes of Texas are upon us. Mrs. Grayson? Yes? I have this note to you. Oh, wait till I put on my spectacles. Dear Mrs. Grayson, this is the gentleman I spoke to you about last night. His name is Bill Taylor. Oh, oh, yeah. Oh, won't you please sit down? Well, thank you, ma'am. Oh, it's very kind of you, Mr. Taylor, to take the time to come and see me. Oh, no trouble at all, Mrs. Grayson. That's my business, oil leeches. Why, how lucky I am to meet a nice honest man like you. Well, now, don't you worry, Mrs. Grayson. Old Bill Taylor is known as the most honest man in the state of Texas. Well, isn't that nice. Your wife must be so happy. Mary Lou, happy as wife in Texas. But let's get down to business, Mrs. Grayson. Oh, all right. But I'm afraid that you have to do all the work. Oh, I don't mind that, big strong man like me. I don't mind telling you. I've been trying to pick up some more leeches down there on the Delta. Well, now, isn't it lucky that we met there? Sure is. For you and for me. Here, here are the papers that I found in Dan's sea. There are five different ones. What do they all mean, Mr. Taylor? They cover different parts of the land, but you just leave everything to me, Mrs. Grayson, I won't cheat you. No, I don't believe you would, Mr. Taylor. Well, thank you, ma'am. Now, let's see. There's some 300 acres and all. Is that a lot? Oh, you bet it is. By George Wright's smack in the middle of the Delta. Well, what do you think it's worth, Mr. Taylor? Well, I'm going to tell you right out. It's worth $10,000 in cash to me. $10,000? Oh, Bill Taylor, most honest man in Texas. That's what it's worth, and that's what you're going to get. That's so grateful to you, Mr. Taylor. Well, nonsense. This is a business proposition. We'll just call up the public stenographer and draw up a transfer, and you'll have your money inside of an hour. My, my... And, uh, it's a deal? Yes, Mr. Taylor, thank you. It's a deal. Not many blocks away from the Bio Hotel where the deal between Mrs. Grayson and Mr. Taylor was consummated. Special Agent Nolan of the New Orleans Field Office of the FBI is just entering the office of Agent and Charge Clark. Had you sent for me, sir? Yes, Nolan. I just received this alert from Washington on a swindler. Oh? Two weeks ago, she put over a job in Miami. A woman? Yes. Last week, it was Atlanta. Well, it sounds like she might be working in the Southern Circuit. Yes, that's Washington's opinion. And New Orleans might be, or might have been, her next job. What's her specialty? Well, she's an elderly woman who pretends to have been widowed recently, wants to dispose of property that her husband loaded. Mm-hmm. In Miami, she sold a fake deed to a citrus farm. In Atlanta, it was a fake deed to 1,000 acres of pine trees. There are New Orleans. It might be anything from oil wells to a sugar plantation. Oh, that's about it. Here's a description. Okay. Miami and Atlanta offices are working on further details of a motorcycle rending. Anything you want me to do? Yes, I want you to start checking on all hotels. How much did he go for, Granny? Oh, you mean Mr. Taylor, Eddie? I wasn't thinking about Clark Gable. Don't be funny, young man. Okay, okay. Hey, but what about that cheap bum, trying to double-cross you and get those leases cheap? Well, it just shows, Eddie, that what I've told you is true. Honesty is always the best policy. Yeah, I know. But you didn't tell me yet. Didn't tell you what, Eddie? How much did you get? Oh, 5,000. Granny, don't play games with me. How much did you get from the sucky? Oh, all right. I got 7,500. Why, Grandma, what big lies you have? By my boss. Can it? I know you got 10 Gs. Oh, yes, yes. What'd you lie to me for? Well, I was going to save it for a rainy day. Okay, but don't save for the Johnstown flood. My gracious, here we've been standing, talking all this while. Eddie, we've got to move along. Okay, I'll be packed in a minute. I'm going to leave the door between our rooms open, just so you don't get any ideas about making the trip by yourself. Why, Eddie, if you're going to talk like that to me, well, I'm just afraid that I'll never be able to swindle anybody else with you again. And you know what they say in baseball? What? They say, never break up a winning team. Agent in charge, Clark speaking. This is Nolan. Oh, Lord, you get a lead? Not yet. I'm still checking hotels. Thought I'd better call in. Yes, I'm glad you did. I just received more details from Miami, Atlanta. Good. What's new? A woman has an assistant. A young man about 35, 6 feet, 180 pounds. He plays the part of a table singer in night clubs and cafes. Oh, he's the bird dog and spotting potential victims, huh? That's right. And if they're working in New Orleans, he might be easier to get a line on than the woman. Well, then suppose I hop over to the quarter and start checking cafes. Right. I'll put another man on the hotels. How are you coming along, Granny? Yeah, I'm almost finished packing, Eddie. Are you all finished? Yeah, all packed and ready to go. No, who can that be? Don't answer, Granny. Don't be silly, Eddie. I've got the answer. You get back to your room and close the door. OK, but I'll keep it unlocked just in case. Oh, hello again, Mr. Taylor. May I come in? There's something I want to talk to you about. Why, of course. There's something we overlooked this morning, Mrs. Greason. Overlooked? Well, what was that? I reckon you're going to knock me over with a feather, ma'am. No, not a big man like you. But what came as such a surprise? You. Me? Well, I'm sure I don't understand what you mean. What overlooked was checking those leases with the records. The records? Yes, the records at the county courthouse where all the leases are placed on file. Well, I told you, Mr. Taylor, that I don't understand much about those things you see my husband. It's too late for that, Mrs. Greason. Too late for... Yes. You see, I called the Crescent City Oil Company right off. Well, what did you do that for? To see if they wanted to buy the leases. And what did they say, Mr. Taylor? They weren't interested. Well, I don't understand that you told me this morning that the land was too valuable. It is valuable. But you see, there was a slight coincidence. Coincidence? Yes. It just so happened that the Crescent City Oil Company already owns those 300 acres. They do? Well, yet that is a coincidence, isn't it? Mrs. Greason, I'm a big man in the state of Texas. I didn't call the police the first thing. Well, because I feel a little embarrassed, you know, telling them I got caught in a swindle like this. Oh, Mr. Taylor, please. But, Mrs. Greason, if I don't get that $10,000 in the next minute, I'm gonna pick up that phone. Stay away from that dog. Eddie! Well, dog my soul. Eddie, be careful with that gun. You're pointing it right at Mr. Taylor. Yes, I am, and it's loaded, too. Don't worry, Mr. Greason. Eddie's not gonna do anything with the gun. I said stay away from that phone in a minute. Well, I certainly was buffled. Don't come any closer, Taylor. Why not? This gun might accidentally go off. Well, what do you want me to do? Stop coming toward me, Taylor. I'll give it! You see, Mrs. Greason, I told you Eddie wasn't gonna do much with that gun. So he did, Mr. Taylor. I'll certainly say that for you. Now, Eddie, we're a pretty even match without guns, so get up. Oh, I've got enough. Oh, no, Eddie, I just start to play this game. Get up! I think you're just about a gun enough now, young man. So I'll call the police and let them... The world and you hit him sooner, Granny. Well, that was the first chance I had, Eddie. Boy, he's really odd. What did you hit him with? That beautiful big vase that was on the piano. Remind me to pay the hotel for it when we check out. Pay for it, are you crazy? Now, Eddie, we must pay for it. You don't want us to get a reputation for not paying our bills, do you? Back to the FBI file in just a moment after an important message to American home buyers and home owners. This week at the Equitable Life Assurance Society, I heard a story of a little girl with tears in her eyes. Because of her, thousands of American home owners live in greater security today. Some years ago, the president of the Equitable Society happened to see this little girl crying as if her heart would break, while the sheriff's men moved her family's furniture out into the yard. On inquiry, he learned that her mother, a young widow, had lost their home through a mortgage foreclosure. Shortly thereafter, the president of the Equitable Society called his associates together and said, we're going to have a plan for home owners to prevent tragedies such as this, a mortgage that will be as near foreclosure proof as possible. And so was started the Equitable Assured Home Ownership Plan, which offers you these five important advantages. One, the mortgage is canceled, paid off in full if owner dies. Immediately, the widow owns her home free and clear. Two, a special cash fund is built up and it's always ready to be used if financial emergencies threaten the home. 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. Five, one low monthly payment covers everything and provides free and clear ownership in the time you select. Exactly 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. If you are 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 for singing Swindler. No one likes to admit publicly that he has been duped. That is human nature. And Swindlers make capital of it every day. But this false expression of self-pride which restrains the victim of a Swindler from going to the police sometimes goes a step farther. It urges the victim to take matters into his own hands. And this can prove to be a most costly procedure. A few minutes ago, agent-in-charge Clark of the New Orleans FBI office received a telephone call from police inspector Rickert. Clark and special agent Nolan have just now stepped off the elevator on the eighth floor of the Bio Hotel and reached room 824. Oh, come in, gentlemen. Thank you. Thank you, Inspector. Mr. Taylor, this is Mr. Clark and this is Mr. Nolan from the FBI. Yeah, I'm glad to see you men here so quick. We got here as soon as we heard from the inspector. Yes, Mr. Taylor. I called him as soon as I found out from the clerk at the desk about the old lady. Well, then the description checked, Inspector. Perfect. And it checked on her accomplice, too. A singer. That's the fella. Goes with the name of Eddie Burnett. Well, what was the racket this time, Mr. Taylor? Yeah, Mrs. Grayson, if that's her name, she sold me some oil leases. They were fakes, naturally. Yes. How much did you pay her? Ten thousand in cash. And then? I found out they were fakes. I came up here to get my money back. Well, I wish you'd called the police sooner, Mr. Taylor. Yeah, every time I touched my head, I wish I had, too. Inspector, where was Mr. Taylor found? He was right on the floor, right over there. I see. They had found him when she came to make up a room. How long ago did they check out? A little more than two hours ago. How did they leave the hotel? I asked the cab starter about that. He said they just walked out. They didn't have any bags? Yes, that's what made the starter remember them. Nobody leaves the bayou with a luggage and carries it themselves. Well, they couldn't have walked far. My guess is they caught a cab at the corner. Yeah, that sounds logical. They did. They could have been at the airport in half an hour. We'll check the airport, Inspector. But I have an idea that if they were smart enough to walk away from the hotel, they haven't left such an obvious trail as that. I guess you're right. Nolan, start a check on all railroads and airlines. All that black will go to work on the bus terminals. Oh, one more thing, Mr. Clark. Yes, Inspector. Here's some handwriting that might be useful. What is it? The table singers. Yes. It's the note of introduction he wrote when I came to meet Mrs. Grayson. Well, thanks very much, Inspector. All right. And thank you, Mr. Taylor, for being so cooperative. Come on, Nolan. We've got work to do. Yeah, what do you want now? Eddie, please speak a little more respectfully. And Eddie, must you sing all the time? What's the matter with my singing? I didn't say there was anything... I sing torch songs like Crosby. Well, let's drop the subject. All I ask is sing when you get paid for it. Okay. I meant to talk to you about that. You don't want me to pay you for singing in this room, do you, Eddie? No, no. That ain't what I mean. I mean, when do I go to work again? Now, you let me take care of the business end. I say we stay under for a little while. But the cops don't know where in Chicago. Well, I certainly hope you're right, my boy. You know, I give you credit when you got it coming. It's pretty cute the way we got here. Thank you, Eddie. Yeah, you feel pretty good today, don't you? Why not? We've pulled three jobs and we've got over 28,000 between us. Two more jobs, we'll have 25 a piece, and, well, then you can sing all day long. Okay, okay, only let's get the next job started. All right, if you're that impatient, go ahead and get yourself a job. You mean? Certainly, I never say anything I don't mean. All right, here I go. What's up, Clark? Memphis office just phoned. On the, uh, Grayson case? That's right. The car of the two of them running here was found abandoned in Memphis. Oh, that was pretty cute. Well, Memphis office took all the descriptions we wired out to the airport. And found the two of them had hopped a plane for Chicago two days ago. Well, that means they're probably still there. That's it. They've never worked that territory before. Look, there's a flight out of here in 20 minutes for Chicago. I'm going to be on it. Okay, I'll call and make your reservation. Good, then call the Chicago office and alert them. And tell them what time I get in. Hello, this is Special Agent Clark. Will you put me through to Mr. Walker, please? Clark. Hello, Walker. How are you? I'm out at the airport. I just got in. I'm sorry, Clark. No lead at any of the hotels, either, huh? What? How do you account for the fact that he hasn't gone to work yet? Very good time for mail table singers. Oh, what do you mean? I hear all the places are putting in girls. Girls, huh? Uh-huh. Oh, wait. I think I've got an idea. Anything I can help on? No, no, thanks. I can handle this alone. I'll be in the office in about an hour. He's booking any mail singers. So I'll take a crack at this. Hey, what's that? Just an ad in the afternoon paper. Huh? What does it say? Well, some café wants a mail singer, but I've got a right for an interview and an audition. Well, you're not worried about taking an audition, are you? Well, the job only pays 50 in tips. My. They don't know how lucky they are getting Crosby that cheap. Worry, I'm sure you will. Why, what are you doing at it? Packing. What for? I did a little thinking while you were downstairs. What do you mean? Look, I don't like being the number two man in the act, Granny. What do you mean, Eddie? I mean I'm pulling out right now and taking all the dough with me. Eddie. Now give me that dough and give it to me quick. Put down that pistol. Where's the money? Stop it, I tell you. Okay, you ask for it. Stop that convent. Stop it. Who are you? What's the idea? Special agents of the FBI. FBI? That's right. You answered our ad and wrote us for an audition, Burnett. Your handwriting tell it with some we got in New Orleans from a Mr. Taylor. After being tried and convicted, Mrs. Grayson and Edward Burnett were sentenced to long terms in the federal penitentiary. Again, we repeat what we have stated before on This Is Your FBI. Swindlers could be put out of business overnight if you, their potential victims, would exercise the simple caution of investigating the stranger with a proposition before doing business with him. Until everyone does exercise that simple caution, your FBI will remain on the job 24 hours a day protecting you, their employers. You, the American people. Next week, another thrilling case from the files of your FBI. Let me tell you about it in just a moment. Now, a quick review of the important advantages offered homeowners and home buyers by the Equitable Society's Assured Home Ownership Plan. Don't forget, the mortgage interest is only 4%. The mortgage is paid off in full if the owner dies. A cash fund is built up to be used in financial emergencies. If you are seriously interested, get in touch with the Equitable Society representative in your community. He has literature that explains the Assured Home Ownership Plan clearly. Call him tomorrow. Call the number of the Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States. Next week, we will bring you another colorful story from the files of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, The Carnival Killing. 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 person's living or dead is accidental. Tonight's broadcast was directed by William M. Sweets. The music was under the direction of Frederick Steiner. The author was Frank Ferries, and your narrator was Dean Calton. This is your FBI is a Jerry Divine production. This is Andre Baruch 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, The Carnival Killing. On this is your FBI. This is ABC, The American Broadcasting Company.