 The Equitable Life Assurance Society presents This Is Your FBI. This Is Your FBI. The official broadcast from the files of the Federal Bureau of Investigations. Transcribed and presented as a public service by the Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States and the Equitable Society's representative in your community. We are acutely aware that our Equitable Society radio messages are listened to in millions of homes. To the Equitable Life Assurance Society, that means a serious responsibility. Therefore, our Equitable commercials are keyed to your home and family problems. Tonight's message is on education. Are there young children in your home? Then be sure to listen to the special message on the Equitable Education Fund coming in just 14 minutes. Tonight's FBI file, The Benevolent Court. If you think about crime or criminals very much, you're likely to think that most crimes are committed out of hunger, out of passion, or a desperate need for revenge. But if those are your thoughts, then you are laboring under a popular delusion. The simple truth that it is proven by the records of your FBI is that more than half of all persons arrested have records of prior arrests. And that a large number of crimes are committed by those who have devoted their lives to this field. Therein lies the great tragedy behind the current crime wave. But the number of people who enter this field every day is increasing. There is a serious question in many minds as to whether or not any nation can long sand the steady drain of its manpower. As a people, we have faced our problems honestly and squarely. We have succeeded in solving most of those problems by combined national efforts. The time has come to turn that national effort into fighting the nation's criminals. The night's FBI file opens in a modest apartment located in the downtown section of a large Midwestern city. In the bedroom of this flat, a haggard-looking elderly man is lying on a cot. A young couple sits beside him. Wilbur. Yes, Uncle Ben? I want you to know how pleased I am that you and Trudy could come. Oh, gee, we're glad to be here. Of course we are. As soon as we heard you were sick, Uncle Ben, we rushed right over. You're good kids, both of you. How long have you been in bed like this? Almost a week. Well, have you had a doctor? No. Gosh, don't you think you should get one? No. Why not? I just don't believe in them. Yes, but... Trudy, whenever Uncle Ben makes up his mind, don't try to change it. Oh, I'm sorry. Oh, can I get you something, Uncle Ben? No. Stay where you are. Let me tell you why I said for you. Okay. I get a very strong feeling that I'm not going to get over this one. Oh, Uncle Ben. Quiet. So I want to do something for you kids. I want to leave you something, sort of a combination inheritance and wedding present. Gee, it's right there in that box. Get it, Trudy. Yes, sir. You can open it now. Look in here, it's full of jewel. Yeah. Oh, Uncle Ben, they're wonderful. They should be. They're the reason why I'm on my deathbed. What do you mean? I had to stand for two hours in the pouring rain, waiting for the people that own them things to go to bed. Oh. Did you steal them here? No, in Detroit. Now, here's what I want you to do with them. There's a card there on the dresser, a man named Richie. He's a fence. Take them to him. All right. Say I sent you. Okay. He'll give you enough for you to have a real good honeymoon. Uncle Ben, we couldn't do that. Why not? It'd leave you with nothing. I'm going to die anyway. All I ask is that you save enough out of it to give me a decent burial. Gee, you're the best uncle I've ever had. In the same city at a local FBI field office, special agent Jim Taylor is seated at his desk as a fellow agent approaches. Oh, Jim. Yes, Andy. How about coming down for some lunch? I can't right now. Andy, I'm waiting for a report from the local police. Oh, what are? Suspect. It's wanted by the Detroit office. What's the story, Jim? They had a jewel robbery out there about three weeks ago. Local residents were broken into a very professional job. Yeah? Over $30,000 worth of gems were stolen. The car was seen pulling away from the house the night of the robbery in a witness spot at the license plate. They were from our state. Did he get the number too? Fortunately, yes. I did a check up and found that the car was one that was stolen from him. Detroit office combed the car for prints and finally found one by the driver's mirror. We worked up, sent on to the laboratory and identified the belonging to an old-time thief named Ben Cooper. Cooper? I mean, sounds very familiar. Yeah, sure. Did I check with the local police? They knew him very well. In fact, to the best of their knowledge, he makes his hit quote again. Oh, excuse me. Any time. Special Agent Taylor. Hmm? Oh, yes, Sergeant. Yes. Wait. Let me write that down, will you? 342 North River Street. Got it. Y'all. Y'all, thanks a lot, Sergeant. Goodbye. There's an address on Cooper. The police say he was still living there two months ago. Well, that's a break. I'll get a warrant. I'm sure the police will be glad to go over with me and pick Cooper up. Sit down. Sit down. Both of you. Thanks, Mr. Ritchie. Sit here, Trudy. Thank you very much. Now, man, you say Ben Cooper told you to come here to see me? Yes, sir. I haven't seen old Ben in a long time. How is he? He's not, Mr. Ritchie. Huh? He's dead. Oh, it's too bad. Yep. He died the day before yesterday. Oh, what happened? Well, it was sorted and the line of duty caught a cold while he was doing his job. I see. Poor old Ben. We gave him a very nice funeral, Mr. Ritchie. The best that money could buy. Good for you. And that's one of the reasons we've come here. We have to pay for it. Oh, well, look, Ben was really just an acquaintance of mine. Oh, we're not here for donations. No, Uncle Ben sent us to you on business. What do you mean? Show him, Trudy. Oh, sure. Here you are. Wow. Those are from his last job. Quite a haul. Uncle Ben said you could get rid of them for us. Oh, what do you think they're worth, Mr. Ritchie? That's hard to say. Well, could you give us an idea, maybe? This is all kind of new to us. You mean you're legit? Oh, no. I've stolen some stuff, but never anything big. Wilbur's started just starting, Mr. Ritchie. Yeah. He's stolen cars, clothes, things like that. But he's a comer. His Uncle Ben told me that. I see. So what do you think we can get for him? Well, I'll have to make an estimate. That'll take time. How long? I'm not sure. Could you kind of hurry, Mr. Ritchie? Wilbur and I want to go on our honeymoon. Yeah. Well, come back tomorrow. Well, Jim, did you pick up your suspect? No, Andy. We didn't. Oh, what happened? I don't know. You had an easy one there. What a benefit, except for one factor. Cooper is dead. Well, when did this happen? Oh, he died two days ago. And of natural causes, too. Did you get this from an authentic source? Oh, yes. It's true enough. I talked to the undertaker over here. Oh, what about the jewels? No, trace of them. Oh, fine. Searchers living quarters? Yes. I spent all afternoon in his apartment. No, trace of them at all. Did he live with anyone? No, lived all alone. How about a safe deposit? I'm checking on that angle now. He'd be already cleared them with a fence. Yeah, that's a possibility. However, there was no trace of any cash around the place. I'm checking to see if he had any bank accounts, too. Didn't you really run into a stolen wall? I did pick up one piece of information, which might be a leak. What's that? I told you I talked to the undertaker who buried him. Yeah. He said a young couple had arranged for the burial. One of them, the young man, said that he was Cooper's nephew. They paid for everything? No. No, they just gave him a small deposit. They said they'd pay the remainder in a few days. Did he have an address on this couple? Just the uncle's residence. They may just forget about it. Well, I felt that way too, Andy, but the undertaker said that they seemed like very nice kids. He was certain that they would pay him. Let's hope he's right. Yes, I told him if he did hear from them to let me know at once. Is that you, Wilbur? Oh, yes, sir. I'm out here in the kitchen. Come on out here. I want to show you something. Okay. Wilbur, look at what I'm doing. I'm making my first cake. It's going to be sort of like our wedding cake. I went to the store and bought a little bride and a little groom. I'm going to put them on top of it. Wilbur, aren't you interested? Oh, sure, honey, Brian, but... But what? Well, it's just been to see Mr. Ritchie. Yes? He gave us back the jewels. Huh? What for? Well, he said he didn't want to handle them. Why not? Well, he said they were too hot for him. Oh. Oh, gee, this is awful, Trudy. Now we won't have any money for our honeymoon if Uncle Ben's funeral is... Wilbur, don't be discouraged. We'll still get the money for those things. Oh, how? Well, we'll go to Cleveland. There's a thin sale we can see. Oh, very nice, man. He's an old friend of my father. Did your father ever do business with him? All the time. You know yourself. He was the best jewel thief in the business outside of your Uncle Ben. Yeah? Now, just give me those jewels. Okay. Here. You can start packing right now. Let's go to the re... Wait a minute. What's the matter? This bridge. Oh, what about it? Those aren't the same stones that were in it when we took it there. Huh? Let me look at some of this other stuff. Trudy, Trudy, what do you mean they're not the same stones? These are imitation. Fakes. Oh, how can you tell? Wilbur, I used to look at diamonds when I sat on my father's knees. I had one of those glasses that fit in your rod before I had dolls. But they look just the same. They are the same setting, but the real jewels were removed. Well, the only one who could have done that is Mr. Richie. I know. So that's why he gave them back to us. It must be. Wilbur, we're going back there to see him right now. Just a minute. Hello, Mr. Richie. Oh, what do you want? We want to talk to you, Mr. Richie. Well, look, I'm busy right now. This is very important. Go ahead, Wilbur. Now, just a minute. Sorry, Mr. Richie. What's the meaning of this? Tell him, Wilbur. Oh, we came here because... Well, because you... We came back here because the stones were taken out of our jewels. What are you talking about? I know jewels, Mr. Richie. The ones Wilbur brought back were fakes. Well, they were fakes in the first place. That's why I wouldn't handle them. Oh, but you said before, they were too hot. Oh, I thought you were nice kids. I didn't want to hurt your feelings. I don't believe you. Now, look... You give us back the real stones. We want to take them to Cleveland. You know, someone there will treat us fairly. All right, I've heard enough of this. Get out of here. Wilbur, don't you let him talk to us that way. Get out, I said. Wilbur, make him give us back those jewels. Oh, Mr. Richie, you heard what she said. Now, if you don't give them back, I'll... You'll what? He'll use for. Oh, dear Wilbur. Yes. Why you little punk. That's right. Wilbur, you get right up and hit him back. Very well, really. Let's look for those jewels ourselves. We will return in just a moment to tonight's case from the files of your FBI. Now that grand old song brings back memories of bright college years. Years when you were forming friendships that were to last you all your whole life through. You're right, Mr. Keating. They were mighty good years. Profitable years too, Bob. You may not know it, but the more a man learns, the more he earns. The fact is that the average college graduate earns $72,000 more during his working years than the average American. Of course, exceptional individuals do rise to the top without higher education. But the fact still holds good. College is the best investment loving fathers and mothers can make for their children. I wish I could be sure that my two boys would go. Don't just wish, Bob. Make sure they go. Make sure with an equitable education fund. What is an equitable education fund? It's a surefire plan offered by the Equitable Life Assurance Society and it includes these important features. One, you start when your children are young and spread their educational costs over 10 or 15 years instead of taking a licking in four. Two, when your boy or girl is ready for education, the money is ready and waiting for him. Right there in the Equitable Education Fund. Three, this equitable plan works whether you live or die. If you are totally or permanently disabled, the fund continues to build up without any further payment. If you die, the education fund becomes fully established immediately. Boy, that's just what I need. How do I start an equitable education fund for my kids? The man to see is your Equitable Society representative. Give your children their chance to earn that extra $72,000 by getting in touch with your Equitable Representative soon or send a postcard care of this station to the Equitable Society. That's E-Q-U-I-T-A-B-L-E. The Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States. And now back to the FBI file, The Benevolent Corpse. Tonight's case and the files of your FBI deals exclusively with professional criminals. With those who make their precarious livelihood, illegally. There's a reason for presenting this file to you because there has been built up in the public mind a false picture of the typical criminal. There is no such thing. Now tonight, for instance, you meet four separate and distinct types. One, the old man whose age lends him a false gentility. Two, the young novice whose youth lends him a false note of innocence. Three, the young bride whose background gives her a knowledge of crime beyond her years. And four, the fence whose hardness and cunning make him difficult to detect. There are many other types of criminals whose age brackets likewise cover the young, the middle aged, and the old. Whose appearances are equally varied. So take this bit of advice from your FBI. Do not assume that you can spot a criminal by the way he looks, because no one can. Honesty is not in the face, it's in the heart. The night file continues several hours later at the apartment of young Trudy and Wilbur Sheridan. Wilbur? Oh, yes, honey boy. What are you doing? Just writing a letter to the undertaker. Oh. I explained to him that we were going to be out of town and you'd have to wait a few more days for his money. That's very nice. Well, I didn't want him to think we'd try to cheat him. You're so sweet. You know, Trudy, I was just wondering. What about? Mr. Ritchie, we don't know if he's alive or dead. Wilbur, whichever he is, it's his own fault. He's a very dishonest man. Yes, that's true. Oh, by the way, did you look over the stuff we took from him? Yes. His stuff too? Yes, some of it's almost as good as ours. Oh, hey, that's swell. Wilbur, I think we'd better start packing. Oh, for Cleveland? Uh-huh. Are you sure we can stay at your aunt's apartment there? Of course, she'd love to have us. She told me that any time I wanted to use it, to just get the key from the superintendent. Oh, she won't be there. Oh, no, she's in jail. Oh. Wait until you see her apartment. It has a wonderful kitchen. And you know something? What? I'll finally get a chance to make you that cage. Andy. Andy, over here. No, I just got here. Got that warm for me? Yeah. I have it right here. Oh, so, uh, let's go inside, huh? All right. This where that young couple lives? Uh-huh. Go ahead, Andy. Thanks. See, problem's right down the hall here. How'd you finally locate them, Jim? Well, that undertaker received a letter from the young man. His name is Wilbur Sheridan. Sheridan? Mm-hmm. He explained he was going out of town, said he'd forward the money later. He put this return address on the outside of the envelope. I see. Oh, here we are. Do we ring the bell? No, no, they're not at home. Superintendent saw them leave with luggage last night. He gave me a key. That does it. Okay, after you, Andy. All right. Did Sheridan see anything in the letter about where he was going? Hell, Cleveland. Oh, did he give any address there? No. Oh, I thought we might find something around here that'd give us a lead. This looks pretty barren, Jim. I'd say they're going for good. Would appear that way. I'll take a look around in the bedroom. Wait a minute. All right. What do you got? This card was on the table there. George Ritchie exporter. Is that name sounds familiar, Jim? Yeah, it should. There's a George Ritchie who's an old-time fence. I ran across him several years ago on the lowest case. Oh, yes, I remember him. It's got to be the same one, Andy. That's the same address here on the card. Sounds as if he might know something about those jewels. No. Andy, look, why don't you go back to the office? Contact Cleveland. I'll give you a description of the young couple and have all hotels and rooming houses checked. Right. I'm going to pay a call on George Ritchie. Trudy. I'm in the kitchen, Wilbur. Oh. Close your eyes before you come in. Oh, what for? Oh, Wilbur, please. OK. That's it. Now you can open them. Gee, they're cake. Isn't it beautiful? Oh, yeah. See the little bride and groom on top? She wears well. You want a piece? Oh, be ashamed. It's poor. Don't be silly. I'll cut you one right now. OK, thanks. Oh, I saw the fence. What did he say? He said the stuff should be worth at least $10,000. Oh, that's wonderful. Wasn't he a nice man? Yeah. When did you collect? Oh, he said I should come back this afternoon. Then we won't have to stay here at my aunt's at all. Nope. As soon as we get the money, we can go right off on our honeymoon. Sure. Oh, dear. What's the matter? I dropped a piece of the cake. Jim, I didn't know you'd come back. Oh, I just came in, Andy. I was just going to look for you. Oh, what happened? Well, I went over to George Ritchie's place. Yeah? He wasn't there. I learned from the elevator operator that he'd gone out of town. Everybody disappears on this case. It seemed that way. Any idea where he'd gone? No, but we may have. How's that? I got a warrant. Searched Ritchie's apartment. I found some pencil notations on the telephone pad. Oh, what were they? Well, one said $10.55. The other said $3.30. Well, they sound like a train or plane times. I believe they're train times. I talked to the switchboard operator in the building. She said that Ritchie had put in a called the railroad depot just before he left. Oh. So I'm having railroad schedules checked now to see if they have a train leaving and arriving at a destination at that time. We could get somewhere soon. Good, good. Oh, Andy, I found something in Ritchie's apartment that definitely links him with the jewel robbery, but I must say I'm a little puzzled by it. What do you mean? Oh, wait a minute. Take a look at these rooms. Well... Now, those are the same settings that Cooper has stolen in Detroit. But all the original stones have been removed. These stones, you see there, are just worthless hunks of glass. What do you make of it, Jim? Well... Nothing yet. Oh, by the way, anything turn up from Cleveland on that young couple? No, no, not yet. Still checking rooming houses and hotels. Well, Jim... Yeah, Bob? Here's the information you wanted from the railroad. Oh, swell. They have a train that leaves here at 1055 for Cleveland. Does it arrive there at 3.30? Yes. Fine, thanks a lot, Bob. All right. Andy, what time are you? One o'clock. I think we can catch up with Mr. Ritchie. Tooty Honeybunch, I got it. Huh? I got the money, look. Oh, Wilbur. How much is there? Ten thousand five hundred dollars. Oh, I can't believe it. Oh, wait now. Let me spread it out on the table and you can see the whole thing. Oh, golly. Look, let's not hang around here one minute. Let's get started on our honeymoon. That's sure. Did you pack anything? Nobody won't take a minute. I hardly finished unpacking. All right. Who can that be? Oh, probably some friend of my aunt. Whoever it is, I'll get rid of him. Okay. Just a minute. Hello, young lady. Oh. Oh. Surprised to see me? Yes. Who is it, Tooty? It's Mr. Ritchie. What? Stand aside and let me in. Oh, wait. Sorry. What did you get here? How did you know where we were? I remembered you saying you had a fence in Cleveland. I know most of the fences here, so I just inquired around until I found the right one. That was very unfair. Really? Wilbur, you tell Mr. Ritchie... Now, wait a minute. We're not going through that again. This time I have a gun. You see? Oh. Oh, what do you want? The money you got from that jewelry. I see you very conveniently laid it out for me. Keep away from that money. Oh, no. Mr. Ritchie, that's for our honeymoon. Very touching, but I'm taking it with me. Oh, Wilbur, this is awful. These bundles may bulge my pockets a little, but I don't think the inconvenience will be too great. Wilbur, what can we do? I don't know. There's nothing you can do. I have the money and now I'm leaving. No, don't. Wilbur, call the police. I think you'd have a tough job explaining things to them. You just stay put. Goodbye, suckers. Just a minute, Ritchie. Ah, there you are. Oh, thank heaven. Who are you? Special agent of the FBI. What? Let me out of here. Oh, no. We spent too much time locating you. You were picked up at the train, Ritchie, and trailed while you visited all those fences. I arrived here in time to see you visit the right one. Now come along, all of you. George Ritchie was given a 10-year sentence. Wilbur Sheridan, a 5-year sentence, and Trudy Sheridan was given a 3-year sentence in federal prison for violation of the National Stolen Property Act. And thus, your FBI ended a few more criminal careers, and ended them because of a factor in law enforcement that few criminals consider. They commit a crime in one city, sell their loot in another city, and then flee to a third city. There, they assume that they are safe. That distance lends them security. But your FBI is more than just a collection of trained specialists in crime investigation. Your FBI is also a network of field officers, each one available to every other officer, which makes the flight of the criminal valueless, because you can find no dark corner of the nation without an arm of that network, without a representative of your FBI. In just a moment, we will tell you about next week's exciting case from the files of your FBI. Mr. Keating, that equitable education fund you were telling us about sounds swell, but I'm just wondering whether I can afford one for my boy. Don't let that worry you, Bob. If you can't afford a fund that will pay the full cost of your boy's education, why not start one that will pay part of the expense? In any event, the man to see is your equitable society representative. Get in touch with him soon, or send a postcard care of this station to 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 innocent witness. 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 persons living or dead is accidental. Tonight's program was transcribed and the music was composed and conducted by Frederick Steiner. Your narrator was Dean Carlton, and special agent Taylor was played by Stacey Harris. This is your FBI is a very divine production. This is Larry Keating speaking for the Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States and the Equitable Society's representative in your community. And inviting you to tune in again next week at the same time when the Equitable Life Assurance Society will bring you another thrilling story from the files of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The innocent witness on this is your FBI. This is ABC, the American Broadcasting Company.