 Mr. District Attorney, starring David Bryan. Mr. District Attorney, champion of the people, defender of truth, guardian of our fundamental rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. And it shall be my duty as district attorney not only to prosecute to the limit of the law all persons accused of crimes perpetrated within this county, but to defend with equal vigor the rights and privileges of all its citizens. In a moment we'll bring you another case from the files of Mr. District Attorney. The first a word from our sponsor, Mr. District Attorney. District Attorney for this county, it's my job to prevent crimes as well as solve. But sometimes you can't prevent them. Sometimes you can only pick up the trail after the violence has begun. In this case it began 18 hours before the first police report reached my office. All right, stop the car. Stop the car, I said. Ellie, put that gun away. Ellie. Shut up, Grandpa. Come on, pull up right here. Ellie, don't be stupid. Take the gag out of his mouth. Give the man a chance. You can't. Why? Will he give us a chance? Look at him. Look at his eyes bug out. He thought he knew all about us. Well, here's something he didn't know. Ellie, you can't kill a man in cool blood. No. Watch it. Say, Grandpa, see how easy it is? I knew you were a cheap little no good punk, Ellis, but I didn't think that you were a murderer. Come on, come on, let's dump him out of here. Here, I got his wallet. One thing I hate, Ellis, is a killer. I hate killers. Now look, Grandpa, you're in this up to your lower plate. Come on, give me a hand. Grab his ankle. Come on, come on, where? Swing his feet out. I'll dump him right here. Please, high weeds. You think the law won't find him here? Sure, they'll find him. But let them try to find us. Come on, shove. Pleasant dreams, Mr. Hicks. Okay, shove over, Grandpa. I'll drive back. Hate killers, Ellie. I hate killers. There's two. They're easy to hate when at your job to study their hand they work and track them down. Harrington and I picked up the tracks on this case in the county morgue. Twenty-two years' service in this place still gives me the willies. You too, Chief? Sure does. This one, Harrington? Uh, next one. Now, let's take a look. Mmm. Yeah. Three shots at close range. Like maybe he was looking right down the muzzle of the gun. Somebody else's gun. Is he a John, though? Yeah, he was. A fill of honor ago. His wife identified him. His name is Hicks, Alfred Hicks. He's an insurance investigator. Uh, he was, I mean. Oh, what company? Grove, I think. Yeah, that's what Lieutenant Padway said. Grove Casualty Company. I asked Miss Miller to call him and find out what claim Hicks was working on. I'm good. Where was the body found? In a vacant lot behind a motel way out on South Street. No identification on him at all. His wife called the cops when he didn't come home last night. Padway and Homicide brought it down here for a look and, uh, that's what she saw. Go on over to Homicide and find out what Lieutenant Padway's learned from Mrs. Hicks. I'll call the office and see if Miss Miller's learned anything from the insurance company. Okay, Chief. We'll see you later. Do you mind if I use this phone? Thanks. Do we have a report on that? We don't. It was his last call, all right. Look, if Harrington calls in before I get back to the office, send him over to the Sleep Easy Motel. Yes, sir. Tell him to get a description of the Thompson's and any leads on where they might be. I'll see you in about 20 minutes. Look, Karma, will you forget it? I know what I'm doing. The loving young husband hangs up on his wife. Why don't you mind your own business, huh? Irma is my business. She's my granddaughter. And my wife. And if I had my say about her marrying you... You didn't have any say. You were doing time, remember? Yeah, I was doing time, all right. But I'd done my time. And anyway, I was up on a good, honest, forgery rap, not murder. Shut up! Bad enough, Irma's married to a car thief. How'd she like it if she knowed you with a killer, too? Shut up, I said. Easy, sonny, easy. I ain't afraid of that gun of yours. I already messed up my life. I ain't got much left to lose except... Yeah, maybe, Irma. Listen, Grandpa, a truck left the plant 20 minutes ago for Woodside. We got about an hour and a half to meet. Let's get going. Not me, sonny. What do you mean, not you? I told you before, Ellie, that gun don't scare me. I got nothing left to lose. Except, Karma. Yeah, except. You know, Ellie, I really believe you do it to her, too. I really believe it. You coming with me or not? Yeah. Yeah, I'm coming. You want this last batch of things slipped? Yeah. And run them off yourself. We got enough time. The truck should be here. You'll make the decision, sonny, that you'll deal all of it. You print the slips, you make the phony license plates, you plan to hijack them, you do the killing. Okay, this is the spot. The auto carrier's just coming over that hill. Think you can drive this truck, Grandpa? I drove it last time, didn't I? Yeah. But I paid a lot of loot for this wagon, and it's helped me get a lot more. I'm sentimental about it. I didn't think you could be sentimental about anything. Here comes our sucker. Yeah. All these things always happen after the sun goes down, it seems. It's a rare axle. Take a look here. That's all right to me. Maybe just a... Hey! Grandpa, you drive this one. I'll drive his. What are you going to do with that driver, Ellie? Don't worry. I'll take care of him. Get going. Sure. I'm talking up his report, Donald. Give me your office. Good. Thompson's, if that's what their name is. I gave it to Miss Miller. The guy is young, early 20s. Curly hair, nervous. Smokes a lot. Girl at the same age, about. That's one of them new-style haircuts all over head, you know? Reddish hair. Kind of pretty from what the motel guy said. But you know how motel guys are. Well, there you go. But one thing he said, though. He said there was an old guy with the Thompson's. Seemed to be a relative. Like a slim father to something. Excuse me. Yes? Yes. Oh, yes. Would you bring them in, Miss Miller? All of them? Yes, please. All of them. Why, the paper's cheap. You're cleaning up bird cages or something? You and I are going to check the one-air. One-air? Another auto carrier was hijacked last night. Oh, kid. That makes two. Yeah, that's two. From the same assembly plant. Four brand-new cars on it. Two hijackings. Two murders. Two murders. The driver of the auto carrier. He was found on the highway last night. Harrington, you and I are going to check the ads for slightly used automobiles. Just the way that insurance investigated it. Only he ended up in the morgue. Here are the papers, Mr. Bear. Oh, thank you. Well, Harrington, I wonder where we'll end up. Two auto carriers had been hijacked. Eight brand-new cars had been stolen. And two men had been murdered in cold blood. For three days, Harrington and I and other members of my staff tracked down every lead, including the ads for slightly used cars. No luck. Three days. Four days. Five days. Somewhere in this teeming city, our killer was still free. Free to kill again. Ellie, I wish you'd stop that pacing. Ellie, please. Your wife's talking to you, Sonny. I heard her. Ellie, will you stop? Stop what? Stop living. Why don't you tell me? Now, there's an interesting idea. You shut up. I've taken enough from you. Ellie! Ellie, what's wrong with you? Oh, you know I'm a... This is a big job. We still got two cars left over from the last job. And so far, all week, we only got one call about our ad. We made school teacher. Didn't even have her driver's license yet. Oh, I knew you shouldn't have pulled this job. I didn't even know about the first one till after it was done. There's lots you don't know, honey. Shut up, Grandpa. Ellie, you promised me there wouldn't be any more. I only helped on this one because you promised me you'd stop. Really? No. No, I won't forget it. You won't let me. I won't let you. No. You're so tense and nervous. What do you expect? Hot cars stashed away all over town and us are holed up in this free bag motel waiting for warheads to pay off. Maybe we should have stayed at the sleep easy. Lots of action there. It's more than that, Ellie. The way you talk, the way you look. You look so cold and hard like... We're like a... A real... A real what? Go on, say it. Like a real crook, she means. Or even a killer. I told you I could just beat my soul. I stopped it. I'd taken all from this old man I was gonna give. Ellie, put down that gun. Ellie! That gun, where'd you get it? Yours isn't a loss of this whole deal. I haven't passed it up. Do the party run in the air for the slightly used cars? Oh. Oh, yeah. You're on the party. I am. Oh, uh, that's your missus in there? Uh, yeah, yeah. The car's out here. Now, my name's Harris. Joe Harris. Mr, uh... Johnson. That's Mrs. Johnson. How do you do? I am Mrs. Johnson. And this gentleman? Uh, Mr. McCabe, my wife's grandfather. Howdy. How are you, Mr. McCabe? McCabe, eh? Oh, Mr. McCabe isn't feeling so good. Uh, my wife has to take care of him. Oh, that's a fact. Well, I have a little foot bubble myself, right? Yeah, well, the, uh, the car's right over here. Not bad. Not bad at all. Practically brand new. Hasn't even been all broken in yet. Just a few hundred miles on it. See? Yep. That's what this phenomenon says, all right? That is a really good shape, too, ain't it? I told you, not even broken in yet. Uh, why are you selling it, Mr. Johnson? Hmm? Oh, you know, I, uh, I'm a bit off more than I can chew. I need the cash. Sometimes a guy gets in over his head. Yeah, sometimes they do. Uh, you might have, I look under the hood and go talk. It was clean, all right. Real clean. Almost like it wasn't even used. I told you. If it was any newer, you'd have to pay new car prices. That's what I've seen today. How much? 2,000 flat. 1,800? I'm interested. 2,000. Stick a ride in it and you'll see why. All right, I'll tell you what. I'll go home and get the misses. Then we'll let HUD drive it. If she likes it, I'll go get the two grand. Okay? Uh, well, you know, our car like this won't last long, and that ad brings in a lot of cars. Okay, I'll give you the project, a hold up for an hour or so. 25, all right? Well, uh, no longer than an hour. All the cash I got on me. Uh, mind giving me a receipt? Hmm? Oh, no, not at all. Uh, here, this envelope is good enough. It's only for an hour. Okay. There you are. Now, you won't be more than an hour, will you? Oh, don't worry. I don't want to lose a deal like this. I'll get the wife and see you before an hour, maybe. This your car? Yeah. Well, she'll be glad to get rid of this clunk. See ya. Miss Miller? Chief there? Yeah. Take this motor number down, Chief, before I forget it. Okay. Three, five, six, P, seven, three, three, eight. You got it? Got it. How about a raise in pay at matches? Three, five, six. Thompson's name is Johnson now, young fellow in his early 20s, curly hair. He's a pretty wife with a reddish hair, and an old geezer supposed to be a grandfather. Where are they, aren't they? The State Side Motel on Highway 99 near Academy Street. I gave him 25 bucks in mark bills to hold the car for an hour. All right, we'll be done. I'll get Lieutenant Padway and some men. You keep your eye on the place and see if they don't check out all of a sudden. That's the State Side Motel on Highway 99 near Academy Street, right? Right, Chief. They're in cabin number three, and tell Padway not to use the sirens. Okay. Good luck. Did you hear all that, Miss Miller? Yes, sir. I'll call Homicide. Tell Padway I'll meet him in front of the building. Yes, sir. Hey. Where's the old man? He said he was hungry. I told you to watch him. I told you. For Pete's sake, Ellie. Grandpa just wants to get us some sandwiches. When? When? Why are you talking to that man? Let go of my arm. Why did you let him go? I told you not to let him go. I told you to watch him. Ellie, no. I think you're going crazy. I think you're going right out of your head. Why should you be so scared of Grandpa? What does he ever do for you to be scared of? Why should you be so scared of everybody and everything? Why, Ellie? Why should you be so scared? Both of you. You and that old man. You're going to have to turn me in so you can take this. That's why he'll let the old guy go so he can call the cops. Get away from the door, I said. Killer, aren't you? That grandpa said you were a real killer. I mean, I didn't believe it. But it's believed it could be that rotten thing. Crazy. Really, huh? Yeah, yeah. Harris, you said about an hour. Well, I figured it this way. And the way home, I said to myself, why don't I buy the car and surprise the little woman? That'll keep her happy and me happy and... What are you staring at? That police car out there. Police car? Oh, that's probably just two of them. What'd you expect, dancing girl? See, I brought some friends. We've got more men, more guns, and more patients than you have. Give up, Kelly, please. Please give up. Well, we're just waiting to see. No, you sell it. Give up. Please. Don't talk. Let him say something. Okay, come on. Tell those boys Scouts are still alive. It's all right, Chief. I'm right here and so is his wife. But you better do like he says, Chief, because he's armed and he stays... All right, all right. That's enough. That's a good boy. Now, come on, Killer. Your wife will open the door and you'll walk through it. Cowards, you've got copper. They know you're in here, but they shoot anyway. Sure. How do you think they wanted to hear me talk? They could tell where I was so they could shoot where I wasn't. Just enough to get you off guard. You all right, Harrington? Yeah. Yeah, I'm okay, Chief. Here's our gun-happy friend. What? What are you going to do with him? Well, at the court, decide that. Your wife? Yes. I imagine you're involved in all this, too. Yes. Yes, I am. I hope you'll be willing to tell us about it. She don't have to tell you a thing. She's my wife. She can't testify against me. No, but I sure can, Ellie. I can tell plenty. That's the plan, Father Chief. I can tell you, gentlemen, all you want to know about this cheap, two-bit murder and little punk... He's in this, too. He's ended up to his dirty old neck. I told you a hundred times, Sonny. I got nothing left to lose. I'd like to do one decent service to the world while I still got the chance. Grandpa, no. No. Sorry, Irma, honey. But putting Ellis away is it. I hate killers. This is David Bryan. I hope you enjoy this case from the files of Mr. District Attorney. I'll be back in just a moment after this message from our sponsor. Mr. District Attorney, David Bryan, with a word about the program you have just heard. Perhaps you read about it in your newspapers. The young man we call Ellis was tried and convicted of first-degree murder, three counts. His wife, Irma, and her grandfather Harold McCabe are now serving sentences for grand theft. Now, this is David Bryan inviting you to join us when we present our next case based on the facts of crime from the files of Mr. District Attorney. Mr. District Attorney was originated by Phillips H. Lord.