 Ladies and gentlemen the entire production staff and technicians on dragnet wish to thank the American weekly and the television editors of the various Newspapers which distribute the American weekly for voting dragnet the best mystery drama on television for 1951 1952 our deepest thanks for this fine recognition About to hear is true The names have been changed to protect the innocent Fatima cigarettes best of all king-sized cigarettes brings you dragnet on both radio and television Your detective sergeant you're assigned a juvenile detail an eight-month-old baby is stolen from its mother It's the third case of child stealing reported in less than three weeks There's no lead on the suspect your job Get him compare Fatima with any other king-sized cigarette. Yes compare Fatima with any other king-sized cigarette one Fatima's length filters the smoke 85 millimeters for your protection to Fatima's length cools the smoke for your protection three Fatima's length gives you those extra puffs 21% longer than standard cigarette size Fatima gives you more for your money and in king-sized Fatima You get an extra mild and soothing smoke plus the added protection of Fatima quality By Fatima in the bright sunny yellow pack best of all king-sized cigarettes Dragnet the documented drama of an actual crime for the next 30 minutes in cooperation with the Los Angeles police department You will travel step-by-step on the side of the law through an actual case transcribed from official police files From beginning to end from crime to punishment dragnet is the story of your police force in action It was Wednesday June 18th was warm in Los Angeles We were working the day watch out a juvenile division my partner's Frank Smith the boss is Captain Stein My name's Friday. It was 6 30 p.m. When we got back to 13 35 Georgia Street second floor the squadron Hi, Kevin, how's it going any sign of the baby? No, not yet. We're doing everything we can we haven't got a lead to our name Lousy thing. How's it stack up anything like the last two cases? Yeah quite a bit same neighborhood same general MO We check with just about everybody in the vicinity. No one saw the baby taken having about 10 o'clock this morning 10 15 This mrs. Donaldson drove down to the neighborhood shopping center to do her marketing She had the baby in a bass on that in the back seat of her car baby boy eight months old Mm-hmm. She pulled into the parking lot right behind the market left the baby asleep in the car She went into do her shopping when she came out the baby was gone How long was she in the market and she told us about 20 minutes We talked to a half a dozen people who drove their cars in and out of the parking lot about that time They couldn't help me and see anyone loitering around how about delivery trucks usually unload supplies at the back door Don't they already checked on that we talked to the driver of a bread truck He was making a delivery about that time. He couldn't help us either the mother mrs. Donaldson She's the only one who came up with anything at all. It's not much, but it's better nothing Yeah, but when she parked her car and got out to go in the market She noticed a woman sitting in the car park next to hers when she came back and found her baby was gone She noticed that this woman's car was gone, too. Mrs. Donaldson described the woman for you. Yeah, she was middle-aged She had gray hair that's all she remembered. How about the car the woman was in was a green sedan That's the only thing mrs. Donaldson could tell us she's not even sure of that There's no one else around the market that remembered the car well if there is we haven't found them We covered the whole neighborhood skipper talked to everybody we could got us know where smoke out and thanks you Joe. Yeah, thank you. I Got a light Okay, captain No kickback yet on the broadcast The old points you got out on the baby no nothing up to now It's a carbon copy of the last two job no suspect no motive mrs. Donaldson can't think of any reason at all for it No, I'm not a one her husband's a teamster. They don't have much money She couldn't think of any friend or relative who might possibly want to take their baby baby normal and good health. Yeah, perfect Scott me this makes it about one a week just about Martin baby was taken on the fifth the and whose baby was taken on the 12th both of them recovered in 24 hours nothing wrong with either of sure doesn't make sense Must be a psycho case of some kind. I think we can go along on that This one happened near eighth and Dineheart that right? Yeah, I'll say neighborhood is the other two about a 12 square block area There how about that lead your head on the old man out there? Do you exhaust that? Yeah, the old Gardner Hmm, we double-checked him this afternoon. He wasn't anywhere near the market when the Donaldson baby was taken How about the other two people you had your eye on either of them anywhere near the scene at the time neither one of them Skipper both clear. How's it stand now? Well, we're doing everything possible Dean Bergman went over the Donaldson car for prints the bass on that too There's no word from him yet special detail from Metro Division still going over the neighborhood nothing from them either No sign of any physical evidence. I mean besides any possible prints No, nothing captain a usual number of tips from people in the neighborhood checked on all of them They went nowhere. Well, we just about run the gambit on this thing. You have anything in mind Well, Joe and I were kicking around an idea on the way back in figure it might be worth a try I mean providing we get the Donaldson case cleared. Yeah, Joe Well for one thing we figure the neighborhood out there works in our favor all three of the babies were taken in the same 12 square block area. It's the strongest part of the MO that we got to work on Now if we get good enough coverage in that area out there, it might lead somewhere. What kind of coverage? Well, maybe a system of decoys something to draw the suspect out at the right time the right place makes sense What have you got in mind? Well, Frank and I were figuring if we could round up half a dozen police women or so let them work different points around the Neighborhood and make it obvious that they're house wise. Yeah, have each one of them with a baby carriage Spot them at the shopping centers out there in that area They leave the carriages outside the stores go through the motions of doing their shopping and cover each one of them What do you do for bait? I think we can fake it skipper put a life-sized doll in each of the carriages Keep it pretty well covered for a chance. It'll get us in there both. We work it right about half a dozen police women That's what you figure out for you that ought to do it Givinal division captain Stein Yeah, that's right. Mm-hmm How's that? I see Mrs. Bolger Yes, ma'am. I understand How's that? Yes, ma'am if you like All right. Thank you. Goodbye We're one. Yeah, either one of you contact him. This is Marion Bolger the last month or so You know, it's not familiar to me. How about you Frank? Don't recall the name. Why don't you that was her on the phone? She wants to be investigated says she wants to prove to us that she's not involved in any of these child stealing cases How do you spell that name Marion Bolger B. O. L. G. E. R. Ewing Street address No, I never heard of her. What's the pitch got me? She kept saying she's got to have her name cleared She's innocent kept insisting. She didn't steal the Donaldson, baby. Well, we didn't say she did. We don't even know the woman You're going to check her out We ran the name Marion Bolger through our and I but there was no previous criminal record on her 725 p.m. Frank Smith and I left the office and drove out to the Ewing Street address to interview the Bolger woman Before we called her home. We checked with some of the neighbors Most of them had a favorable opinion of her they described her as a pleasant woman slightly eccentric The only complaint was that the bolger woman was very fond of children And that she kept most of the youngsters on the block well supplied with cake and candy Despite repeated objections from the youngsters parents other than that they seemed to like her 8 0 5 p.m. Frank and I called on mrs. Bolger and she ushered us into a neatly furnished living room She was an older woman possibly in her early 60s dark brown hair streaked with gray It's the honest truth sergeant anybody who really knows me and tell you I wouldn't do a thing like that I love children. I want all of them to be happy. I wouldn't steal it But just a minute mrs. Bolger, please something we'd like to get straight. I don't care how it looks I don't care what they say. I didn't do it. I didn't steal those other two babies I didn't steal the donelson baby either. How'd you know the donelson baby was missing, ma'am? Just happened this morning the evening paper the whole story's in there So first I knew about it to help me when I got me even in paper. Please sergeant You got to believe me. All right now try to take it easy, ma'am What gives you the idea that we're accusing you of taking those babies? You haven't chat not in so many words. You're thinking about it though. I know that you've been told How do you mean told what you know what I mean? All those stories going around about me Just because I like children because I enjoy them. I understand them Just because of that they try to make me out of witch or something trying to say I took those poor little babies Just a minute, ma'am. Who said you took the babies down at the store this afternoon? I heard them that grocery clerk and that silly mrs. Murdoch They laughed about it tried to make out there's only a fool and well, I knew better They weren't fooling they meant it Accusing me of such a terrible thing. I just don't know when I've been so upset Well, now what grounds would they have for saying anything like that, ma'am? I mean even if they were fooling only because I love children That's all People in the neighborhood are the same way. They don't like me. They go around saying things about me Just because I understand their children better than they do Just because I know how to treat children. No, I think you got it wrong, mrs. Bolger The only complaint your neighbors have is that you treat children too well a little too much candy, huh? Nothing wrong with giving a child candy good homemade fudge. I make it myself Besides, how would you know about that? We talked to your neighbors, ma'am. They had a lot of nice things to say about you Yes, I just bet they did Nasty dirty stories. They've been passing them all over the neighborhood about me. No, ma'am. You've got it wrong Just let me show you Come in here this way the dining room. Yes, ma'am Look at that Look at that. Yes, ma'am. It's very nice. You see how I decorated the table Paper streamers all over the room It is supposed to be a party for the children in the neighborhood I worked a whole week getting it ready. I made the cakes myself decorate them too I made everything in my own kitchen Candy sandwiches took me a whole week And they didn't even come They didn't come ma'am the neighborhood children. It was supposed to be for them Special summer party. I wanted to give them today They didn't even come Their parents wouldn't let them Not one of them It's a crime Terrible crime All this good food Well, now maybe there was a mistake, ma'am. There wasn't any mistake I invited the children 14 of them Mothers wouldn't let them come I had everything ready Little favors reach one of them Now look Ice creams all melted. Hot cocoa boiled away to nothing Even the paper streamers are coming down Such a mean thing to do Keeping children from a party Such a mean thing Well, we don't like to bother you, Mrs. Bolger Just like to ask you a few routine questions and we'll let you along Anything you want to know sergeant Can you account for your time this morning, ma'am, between 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. Yes, of course I can I was right here in the house getting things ready for the party My friend, Aggie Benson, was with me. She's a scooch on my mind. She was helping me get things ready Well, then you didn't leave the house at any time this morning No, sir. I didn't you can ask Aggie. She'll tell you You have a car, Mrs. Bolger Oh my no, I wouldn't want to do with it. I've had one. I never learned to drive What do you want to know? Just routine, ma'am Well, I guess we better be going frank All right, sir Then you don't believe those stories, do you? I mean just because I like children I'd steal those babies You don't believe that, do you? No, ma'am. We haven't any reason to believe it I knew you'd understand. I wouldn't do a thing like that. I just love children Sergeant never had any of my own. I lived here by myself. No husband, lonely Terrible thing being lonely Yes, ma'am, yes There's only one answer for it Children, big family. It's an old saying. It's very true When you get to be 63 you want something else to wake up to beside the morning paper 8 40 p.m. Before we headed back for the office Frank and I made a thorough check on Mrs. Bolger Her background and her alibi. We found nothing to link her in any way with the child's dealings 9 15 p.m. We got back to the city hall and went directly to latent fingerprints where we met with Dean Bergman. He'd found several sets of prints on the Donaldson's car and on the bassinet from Which their baby had been stolen. Most of them were those of the parents, Mr. and Mrs. Donaldson Bergman was unable to identify the two foreign prints found inside the car We contacted the officers in charge of the special detail checking the neighborhood With the latest child stealing it occurred. They'd failed to uncover a lead 7 48 a.m. The following morning Friday morning captain good piece of news the Donaldson baby they just found him where Highland Park area they found him in a cardboard box apparently he's all right a little exposure Doctors are checking him over now at Georgia street. How about the suspect any sign of him? Not a trace It was little or no different than the first two cases Some 21 hours after he'd been abducted from the car in the parking lot at the rear of the market near 8th and Dinehart the Donaldson baby had been recovered apparently unharmed The cardboard box in which the baby had been found was gone over for fingerprints Routine investigation at the scene and in the neighborhood where the child had been found Failed to turn up a lead on the abductor Frank and I checked with Dr. George Hall who'd Examine the child after that we talked with Mr. and Mrs. Donaldson The details of the case coincided almost point for point with the first two abductions The baby had been taken then recovered in a 24 hour period Outside a slight exposure the child was unharmed also like the two cases preceding it Something which the child was wearing at the time of his abduction was missing In the first case it was a small pink sweater in the second a pair of shoes the baby was wearing In the case of the Donaldson baby it was a sterling silver ID bracelet with the initials JD engraved on it during the next five days Frank and I ran down every lead we could get Our hands on they went nowhere our system of police women decoys was put in effect It failed to get a rise on the sixth day thursday june 26th 5 30 p.m We got word of another child stealing this time in the echo park area We drove out to talk to the mother of mrs. Chester Osburn. Yeah, that's right Did the same thing I do every morning gave the baby her bath dressed her put her out in the backyard in her buggy She usually plays a while then she takes her nap and about what time did you discover your baby was missing? I don't know exactly about two o'clock. I guess maybe a couple of minutes after Went out to see how she was looked in the buggy and she was gone Well, it's almost six o'clock now mrs. Osburn. How is it that you waited so long before you notified us? Just kept hoping it was a mistake. That's all I went from house to house all over the neighborhood Went as far as three blocks away. I asked everybody nobody saw my baby. You don't know what it means to me Telephone mrs. Osburn Would you answer it, please? Whoever it is take the number. I'll call him back. Yes, ma'am be glad to Hello. Yeah. Yes, sir. Oh, yeah, harry. We're here now. This is friday How's that? When I see where That's all, uh-huh. Okay harry. Thanks. Yeah, tell him. We'll be right in right away. Okay. Bye Well, that was our office mrs. Osburn. You can stop worrying now. What it's about your little girl. She's all right What do you mean? I just found her three blocks from here Again with the lone exception of the time element the osburn baby's abduction resembled closely the three previous cases The crime occurred in the same general area the same general method of operation was employed and again outside of slight exposure The child was recovered unharmed There was also an article of clothing missing a pink knitted bonnet And as in the previous three cases the suspect had abandoned the baby without detection Routine investigation of the crime laboratory crew and juvenile officers working the case failed to turn up a lead During the week that followed additional personnel for both decoys and stakeouts were assigned to the area without results friday july 4th 10 a.m Shall you busy? What he got frank? Yeah, my name milder leslie just called in and this child stealing thing looks like it might be something Yeah, what's the pitch? Well, this leslie girls employed as a maid for a mr. Mrs. Roth r o t h This is stockbroker. She's worked for me yours. So she says yeah A leslie girls and upstairs maid for the Roth's she's been following this baby stealing case in the papers right along She thinks maybe mrs. Roth can tell us something about her. Yeah, how's that? Well, the leslie girl was cleaning mrs. Roth's bedroom yesterday She came across a few things stored back in one of the closets baby things pink sweater pink bonnet and a pair of baby shoes Uh-huh. She says they've all been used. They're not new Well, a lot of mothers save baby clothes things like that. No, the roth woman wouldn't have a reason to yeah, she's never had any children You are listening to dragnet authentic stories of your police force in action The only way you can prove to yourself that fatima is the best of all king-sized cigarettes Is to compare them with the brand you've been smoking? Yes, compare fatima with any other king-sized cigarette one Fatima's length filters the smoke 85 millimeters for your protection two Fatima's length cools the smoke for your protection three Fatima's length gives you those extra puffs 21 percent longer than standard cigarette size your money back plus postage if you're not convinced Fatima is better than your present king-sized cigarette Just return the pack and the unsmoked fatimas by august 1st 1952 Fatima box 37 new york one more and more of your friends are switching to king-sized fatimas every day Compare them yourself tomorrow Buy fatima in the bright sunny yellow pack and enjoy the added protection of fatima quality friday july 4th 11 a.m Frank smith and i left the office and drove out to interview mildred lesley at her apartment She told us substantially the same thing. She told frank on the phone The lesley girl had been employed as a maid by mr. And mrs. Roth for almost a year She went on to tell us that for the last few months or so mrs. Roth Who was a fairly prominent club woman had been acting peculiarly and that mr. Roth was worried about her According to the lesley girl. He'd consulted the doctor several times about his wife As for the articles of baby clothing they'd been found stored back on a shelf in mrs. Roth's bedroom closet The lesley girl told us that she happened to find them while cleaning and dusting mrs. Roth's bedroom Each of the articles she claimed she saw seemed to tie in directly with the child's steelings a pink sweater a pink bonnet A pair of baby shoes identical items of clothing had been taken from each of the previous abduction victims After we left mildred lesley frank and i got to a phone called a record bureau and had them make a run For us on mrs. Roth. She had no previous criminal record 120 p.m. We called mr. Roth at his place of business, but the office was closed because of the fourth of july holiday We got in the car and drove out to the roth home an old two-story mansion just above silver lake reservoir Mrs. Roth wasn't at home. We interviewed her husband in the living room What seems to be the trouble sergeant? Why would you want to see my wife a few questions? We'd like to ask her mr. Roth. Can you tell us where she is now if she took a drive with some friends of hers I think they were going down to the beach club. Why but we're investigating a juvenile case mr. Roth We think maybe your wife can give us some information on it. Well, I'm sorry. She isn't home It's too bad you didn't call this morning. She didn't leave until after 11 She'll be home later tonight if you care to call back You're sure it's not something I can help you with. Well, yes, sir Maybe you can like to ask you a few questions about your wife's activities the last month or so Well, how do you mean some of the social work she does with the club? Not quite mr. Roth You said you were from the juvenile division. Is it something regarding her work with the underprivileged kids? Her club does quite a bit of that, you know right? I don't know too much about it though. No, sir. It's not that I don't think I understand. What is it about? Mr. Roth, we want you to understand that this is merely a routine investigation We don't want to offend you in any way, but we have some information that we've got to check out What do you mean? What kind of information? Well, there's been a series of child stealing cases the last month or so We're the investigating officers on it. Maybe you read about them in the papers Yes, I have but what would my wife have to do with that? You think she has some information for you She didn't say anything about it to me. Yes, sir. I think she can help us quite a bit I don't know exactly when she'll be home. I don't have any place to contact her I do know the club's taking a group of children to the Coliseum tonight the big 4th of july fireworks display, you know Yes, I see. I'm gonna meet my wife there tonight. Maybe I could give her a message for you tell her to contact you All right, fine. Mr. Roth There is something that you can do for us right now though. Yes Would you take us up to your wife's room? I'd like to have a look at it Take you to a room? I don't understand. What for? Like we told you before, sir It's a routine investigation I think if you take us to your wife's room I think we can clear the whole thing up now probably won't be necessary to bother you tonight Well, I certainly don't understand but come along if you like the Doris's room is right at the head of the stairs. Thank you Certainly has me baffled But would there be about Doris's room? It has to be investigated. We don't know that there is anything, sir Just appreciate your cooperation and at all. We haven't anything to hide. Here we are This is her room Now what is it you're looking for? That's the bedroom closet, is it? Yes, that's right. I'd like to look at it if we could Certainly go right ahead. All right The shelf up there Joe, can you reach it on? Yeah, I think so What is it? What are you looking for? Here you go Frank. Yeah Pink bonnet pink sweater. That's it. Here's the baby shoes The id bracelet Yeah initials jd. Uh-huh not much doubt. Yeah Baby clothes bracelet Never seen them around here. How'd you know they were here? Well, we weren't sure that they were But I'd never seen them before. What are they doing in Doris's room? Why would she have to talk to her about this? Yes, sir so do we After finding the evidence in his wife's bedroom closet, we continued to interview mr. Roth We briefed him on the details of the case and explained about the articles of baby clothing It was very cooperative, but he found it hard to believe that his wife was responsible for the abduction of the babies He told us that early in their marriage his wife did have a child which died shortly after birth Complications left her unable to have any more children when she found out about this it resulted in mrs. Roth having a nervous breakdown But apparently she recovered completely Roth went on to tell us that his wife was very fond of children That she devoted a great deal of time to social work caring for underprivileged children He also told us that during the past month with the recurrence of her nervous condition She'd been under a doctor's care Shortly after eight o'clock that night along with mr. Roth We drove to the coliseum where crowds of people were gathering for the annual july 4th fireworks display Roth pointed out his wife. We went over and he introduced us These officers would like to talk to us honey. Let's step over here. Well, I can't leave the children alone. Can't we talk later? No, honey, it's pretty important. I think you better talk to them now. Well, all right If you say so you'll have to stay and watch the children though. They'll be all right We can keep an eye on them from over there. No, I can't leave them alone. You'll have to stay All right, ma'am. I want to be a step over here, please. Yes This ought to be all right right here. Beautiful night tonight, isn't it? Children just love these things I think they're just about ready to start the show. Yes, ma'am We'd like to drive you and your husband downtown to juvenile division. We'd like to talk to you What do you mean? I can't leave now. I have these children with me What did you want to see me about? What's the trouble? I think you know why we're here, mrs. Roth I don't. Why do you want to talk to me? Well, we can start here, ma'am We were at your home this afternoon. Your husband showed us your bedroom, the closet We found the things up on the top shelf. What? The baby clothes, the bracelet How's it? It doesn't mean anything. I'm afraid you're wrong. It means a good deal, ma'am. You know that Yes, all right Well, do you want to tell us about it, mrs. Roth? mrs. Roth Where do I start? There's no beginning Just started. I couldn't help myself. What can I say? You just tell us what happened start any place My baby died and they said I couldn't have any more. I guess it started then I told my husband told the doctor too. They didn't understand Nobody understands. It's all I wanted. My children, my own children How about the martin baby, mrs. Roth? The first one you took. How'd that happen? How'd that happen? I saw him in the baby carriage Outside the market there. Such a cute baby Pull the covers back, looked at him I didn't think I was going to steal him After I looked at him, I just wanted to hold him Hold him close so I picked him up You understand, don't you? Yes, ma'am. He was such a sweet baby. He could have been mine I kept on holding him and then I started to put him down back in his carriage I couldn't I couldn't What do you mean, ma'am? I couldn't put the baby down. It's just like mine It was mine. I can't explain it I took the blanket from the buggy. I put it around him. I walked away. Nobody knew It was my baby. Yes, ma'am. Would you go on? Oh my head Terrible headache It's so hard to tell you. I couldn't even tell my husband I lied I take the baby and stop overnight at a motel and tell my husband lies. I couldn't let him know Well, you knew you were doing wrong, didn't you? Yes, I knew it Not when I was taking the baby though. Not when I picked him up. Not when I held him in my arms held him close It didn't seem wrong. Most natural thing in the world. I just pretended I'd picked the baby up and I'd hold it close. It was my baby All of a sudden it was my baby Later on I had to face had to stop pretending the baby wasn't mine had to give it back Why didn't you abandon the children ma'am without notifying anyone? I knew they'd be found. I made sure of that. I always put them someplace where they had to be found Terrible headache You don't know what it's been like I couldn't tell anyone. No one Yes, ma'am. You about ready to go now? All right Like it only explained it to you. I mean having a baby then losing You don't know what it's like No one will ever know what it's like No one You took four babies, ma'am. Yes. How about their mothers? You have just heard was true The names were changed to protect the innocent on october 10th trial was held in superior court department 88 city and county of los angeles state of california In a moment the results of that trial Now here is our star jack web. Thank you, george fenerman friends I believe all of us are willing to take practical advice That's why I like to make it plain that I want you to compare fatima with the king-sized cigarettes. You've been smoking I know that's the tried practical way thousands have convinced themselves fatima is the best of all king-sized cigarettes You'll find fatima gives you more for your money an extra mild soothing smoke plus the added protection of fatima quality Tomorrow get fatima in the bright sunny yellow pack best of all king-sized cigarettes Doris evelyn roth was tried and convicted of child stealing under section 278 penal code four counts She was placed on five years probation one of the terms of probation required that she would be under strict supervision of a competent psychiatrist You have just heard dragnet a series of authentic cases from official files Technical advice comes from the office of chief of police w.h. Parker los angeles police department Technical advisors captain jack donahoe sergeant marie win sergeant france bracer heard tonight were her bellis big parent virginia greg Script by jim mosey music by walters schuman. Hell give me speaking Made with the same people who make popular chester field cigarettes has brought you dragnet transcribed to los angeles Each thursday night. It's counterspy on nbc