 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 presented as a public service by the Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States and the Equitable Society's representative in your community By rail by bus by car plane or ship Americans are on the move. It's vacation time 12 million of these Americans are policy holders and beneficiaries who own or will benefit by Equitable Society life insurance policy We like to think that these folks are enjoying extra peace of mind on their holidays Thanks to the extra security they have gained through the Equitable Life Assurance Society To make your own vacation carefree take care to have all the life insurance protection you need See your Equitable Society representatives Tonight's FBI file the big buildup In many ways the world of crime is an accurate reflection of the customs and the conditions of the country For one thing crime flourishes in economic times like the present after a war when money is loose But perhaps the way in which the criminal population has most completely mirrored our civilization Is that this for them too has become an age of specialization? A time when one man does one job well Whatever his field of crime be it arson blackmail or swindling Once he finds a formula that works. He does not deviate That is true of almost every type of criminal But is especially true of one specific type the criminal known as the confidence man Tonight's FBI file opens in a motor court Outskirts of a large midwestern city There in one of the cabins confidence man George Thompson is present as his two partners mr. And mrs. Jack Milford engage in a family fight George trying to stop it speaks. Oh Gloria. Why don't you just relax honey? This isn't getting us any place shut up But I'm trying to not doing any better than he is a fine pair of con men. Oh Gloria lay off We've been here five days now and the only people we've met are bartenders. That's a lot Sure We've been at every meeting at that convention since it started it was your idea to come to the convention not mine But you were with us when we heard that this loyal order a lemur as was loaded with rich guy I know we've been working on them too. We even learned a secret handshake sure and we got badges that say we're loyal sons of the Lemurad What more do you want us to do the convention ends in three days? I want to see some action look we've dropped the wallet five times already and Every time we do the sucker is either too rich or too honest to go. Yeah, don't call me there aren't that many honest people in the whole world Okay, okay, you know it all you take over that's just what I intend to do come on Let's all get dressed and go into town. I'll find a sucker tonight if it kills me Gloria you want to dance we didn't come here to dance I thought we could chase the room better from the floor. I'm looking anybody live comes in. I'll see him. Okay, okay You run it the way you want. Thanks. Only do me one favor. Will you stop nagging all the time? Hey, what are you staring at? Don't run now, but I think I see our man where the next table right behind you It's okay now take a gander Yeah, how do you figure well for one thing I found set the head waiter a pin when he sat down So I'm look at the wine cart in order a bottle of high-class phenol And he's wearing his badge from the lembran. Yeah, better put yours on yeah, okay How do you think we ought to make them just leave that part to me? All right, but don't let this one in a way Good evening brother lembran I can't quite read your name on that badge in this life, but my name is Milford glad to meet you And my name Sheldon it is Mrs. Sheldon So nice to meet any a will of his large me Nice to meet you too. Oh, Gloria. Yeah, come here my way, huh? And this is Mrs. Milford mr. Mrs. Sheldon Yeah, this is Gloria's first convention and mine too. Oh my I stopped counting years ago Yes, whether and I have been coming ever since the children grew up give us something to do Well, we certainly had a lot of fun all week. Oh, so have we say I've got an idea What's that son? Why don't we move our tables together and make it one big happy party? The girl's going to take another picture Now everybody put on their paper Okay now And you haven't been to this many nightclubs mother either Look at Jackie's under the table I didn't pass out I just felt this with my foot. Oh, what is it? Yeah, and look at this. It's loaded with cash. What does it belong to? I don't know Oh, here's a card George Thompson, but it doesn't say where he lives. No Well, I guess the best thing to do is turn it over to headway. Yes. Yeah, I think that'd be the honest I beg your pardon. Did you find that wallet here? Well? Yes, I did. Oh brother believe me. I'm very grateful to you Why is it yours? Yeah, can you identify yourself? Certainly? My name is George Thompson. All right here I've got my signature on my cigarette lighter any signature in the wallet. Yes, I'll write my name here This should be proof How's that? Oh, it's okay. Here's your wallet, Mr. Thompson. Oh, thank you very much and here I'd like to give you a reward Oh, no, I wish you'd take this cash. No, no, thanks. Maybe I'll be that lucky next time. I lose something Well, do you mind if I do something for you? Oh, you mean like buying us a drink? No, no, I'd like to do more than that Look, I hear of a good horse every now and then Tell you what I'm gonna do. Well, what's that? Well, I was going to give you two hundred dollars for returning my wallet But suppose I just bet it for you on a horse tomorrow and give you the profits Oh, that's all right with me except that all four of us should be partners on that bet Okay, Mr. Sheldon. Where are you? I speak for him, Mr. Milford. We think it's fine Well, where can I get in touch with you people? Well, contact Mr. Sheldon. You folks are at the central hotel, aren't you? Yes, that's right Well, that's fine. I think I'll be contacting you there tomorrow evening with your profits Meanwhile in that same city at the local FBI field office Special agent Adam Preston is just entering the office of his fellow agent Jim Taylor Jim, Mr. Weaver said I was going to work with you. What's it all about? Well, Adam We just received a wanted circular from the Chicago office on three swindlers. Chicago thinks they're headed this way Yes, their lead is that trio was headed here by car. In fact, they should already be here in town now What's the racket? Well, they've been pulling the old wallet gag and tying it up to another old horse racing swindler How does that work? Well, the wallet gag is worked when one swindler finds a wallet full of money in front of the victim Swindler's partner then steps up and claims the wallet He offers a reward which the swindler refuses then in gratitude He says he'll make a free bet for the swindler and the victim on a sure thing horse and the horse loses Oh, no, no, the horse wins But instead of paying any money the man with the wallet says he'll bet it back on another horse I see now that horse wins too By now the swindler and the victim Theoretically have a profit of oh say several thousand dollars What happens then then the man with the wallet says he'll give them their profits But before he does they have to prove that they would have been able to pay that much had they lost See and the victim draws his money out of the bank to prove that he could have paid That's it whereupon swindler and his confederate take the victim's money and leave and people fall for that kind of a swindler Yes, indeed. They do What do you think ought to be our first step in this case Jim? Well, let's start a check on every hotel and roaming house in the city Maybe we can catch them before they build up another victim Can I fix you something to drink miss? No, thanks. Oh, why don't you try one of those desperate dreams? No, thank you Jack should be here any minute. I just hope I'm not inconveniencing you hanging around like that. Oh, of course not He said you were seeing that mr. Thompson, didn't he? Yes, he was going to collect our winning How much if we want all together now over four thousand dollars Answer the door father Hello, mr. Shelley. Hello, sir. Come on. I miss y'all in hall there. Hello, honey. Well folks. We won again today Our total is now twelve thousand dollars. That's right But there's one small hit. Oh, what is it saying? Well, mr. Thompson won't give us the twelve thousand unless we show him Twelve thousand of our own money. He says he wants to be sure that we could have paid this much if we had lost And and then he'll give us the money. Oh, yes That sounds fair and square to me. Yes, but where am I going to get twelve thousand to show him? I've only got about six thousand dollars myself. Oh, well, we can help you there son. Oh, I have to oh, we're partners You put up six thousand and we'll put up the other six When does mr. Thompson want to see this money? Well, he said he'd meet us here at the hotel tonight at nine up here in this room Yes, well, you get your money and I'll go get ours and we'll all meet back here I Yeah, I hope you had better luck than I did not much Adam I went to the clerk at every hotel and rooming house on my list, but none of them recognized any of the pictures Same thing happened to me. I did pick up. It might be a small lead though. What's that? I had a hunch they might go to work on some of the people who are in town for the lemrods convention and did they Apparently they did I checked with the convention chairman and he said that several members had told him They'd been approached with the old wallet gag and none of them went for it Unfortunately, no chairman said he'd worn the other delegates the next meeting Then I went over to the city desk at each paper gave them the story with pictures of the three swindlers They're gonna print the pictures. Yes with stories to warning the people about the racket I guess they'll have trouble pulling anything now I'd still like to nail them though before they leave town What do you think we ought to do? Oh, I received a teletype from the Chicago office just before you came in The office windows. Yeah, I said they just learned the trio had lived in a motor court in one of the suburbs of Chicago Do you think they're following the same pattern here? I don't know Adam. Let's try and find out Before we get the shelter room, let's check up on our routine. What is there to check? Have you got our 6,000? Another procedure. Yeah, I flash our money first, right? Time to kill George to get here in 10 minutes Oh, yeah, no sign of mr. Thompson yet. Well, he's not do for another 10 minutes Did you get your money? Yes, sir 6,000 right? Did you bring your money? There's our half folks could we see yours? Oh, surely. Yeah short to the mother very well There you are. What a gun. That's right. Hey, what is this? My dear boy You didn't think we were going to fall for that old racetrack swindle. Did you? Oh, mom's right And it wise you to get yourselves a new racket either that or pick your suckers more carefully Jack do something don't move son. I can use this if I have to Father pick up their money. Yes, mother Yeah, let me have it my dear. No, no keep away. Yeah, please remember this done Gloria. Give him the doll Okay Thank you Oh, what happens now? We're just going to put you both in the closet and leave what but face I Have some advice for you. Well for the sake of our profession Please go into some legitimate work We will return in just a moment to tonight's case from the files of your FBI Tom, how would you like to meet a professional worry lifter professional worry lifter? That's a new one on me Well a professional worry lifter is a man whose business it is to make other people worry's vanish For instance an amateur worry lifter may give you plenty of sympathy and nothing else a Professional worry lifter really does something about it actually worked hard to make your worries disappear Say he must be a popular man He's your equitable society representative and if you're haunted by thoughts of what might happen to your family if you were no Longer there to take care of them. Let me suggest that you see an equitable man right away You'll find he doesn't miss a single trick his plan will include everything even readjustment income readjustment income What's that the equitable society's readjustment income plan provides extra income for the widow during the two toughest years The two years immediately following her husband's death years in which he is adjusting the family way of life to a lowered income You know expenses can't be reduced overnight It takes time and that's why every life insurance program should provide readjustment income for extra help during the two toughest years Sounds like a mighty good idea. Does it cost an awful lot? Why it may not cost you a cent It may require only a simple rearranging of your present life insurance program in any event The man to see is your professional worry-lifter your equitable society representative Look in the phone book for the equitable life insurance society that's EQ UI TA BLE or send a postcard care of this station to the equitable life insurance society of the United States And now back to the FBI file the big buildup I Statistics are available on almost every field of crime You can learn how many murders there were in any period or the number of armed robberies or the value of every stolen automobile But in one field of crime the figures are inaccurate and that field is swindling The figures are inaccurate here because in many cases the victims prefer to take his loss and not admit that he's been duped It is safe to say however that the American public every year is swindled out of millions and millions of dollars That was true last year, and it'll be true this year There's one way and only one way in which you can protect yourself Endowing business with strangers Don't expect to get something for nothing Tonight's FBI file continues in the hotel room of the Sheldon's Gloria and Jack Milford are still locked in the closet. Jack is trying to break down the door Must have built this closet as an air raid show. This is a good time for jokes. Well, I'm tired I've been banging away at that door now for ten minutes. What do you want sympathy? No No, just be a usual charming self if you think it's so easy take a crack at it yourself Not me you've got us in here. I did who picked out the sucker remember well I'll be adamant so stupid you to recognize them. I'll get back. I'm gonna try this again And I can reach out and unlock the door There come on Hey, they're gone naturally. Did you think they'd wait for us? Oh shut up. Where do you think they went? How do I know they didn't tell me? That must be George. I'll get it. Hey Come in come in. What's been going on? We got stuck up stuck up. Who did it? Are two suckers, huh? We asked to see their dough and they asked to see ours first when Gloria flashed at the old lady came out with a Betsy. Oh, that's great. Well, there's only one thing to do. Let's try to find them and get our dough back Okay, well, let's split up. I'll see what I can find out here at the hotel and I'll meet you at the crystal bar in an hour Well, there yes, what's that you working on? some embroidery Pillow pillow with writing on it. Oh, it's a souvenir pillow Giving it to cousin Kathy for a wedding present. Oh Oh What's it say on the pillow the muscle? Honesty is the best policy. Oh, that's very nice What time is this train you and Cleveland father? But an hour now What kind of a convention are we attending? Undertakers that sounds very enjoyable Never contacted undertakers before no matter change will do us good What's the joke? Thinking about those youngsters in their race tracks They were very very Cruising But father they do make it hard for the rest of us the way they work they'd make anyone suspicious Make people honest to no heavens. Don't say that People are getting more honest right along as it is Don't start talking yourself into one of those moods Just remember this if there's someone dishonest around we will find them Where've you been Jim looking at tourist cabins I located the place where our swindling trio was staying Was staying yeah, they checked out several hours ago. I searched the cabin. Oh, did you find anything? Yes, this picture here taken at the 907 Club That's Milford and his wife all right. I also know that old couple that's with them you do who are they? Well, that's what I've been trying to think of I came back here to check their picture against the files I have a strong hunch. They're wanted to they also swindled. I think so, Adam You think they might have all been working together That's pretty hard to tell did you get any lead on where the gang had gone? Well the manager of the other court said that Milford made a phone call from the office You know who we called yes was a central hotel, but he wasn't sure who we talked to at the hotel right at all Well, he didn't remember for sure. He said it might have been shellburn shit Wait, I remember now with that old couple is that's mom and pop Sheldon and they must be the ones at the central hotel That's right. Let's get over there right now Look if Jack doesn't show up here Here he comes now Well, I didn't get much but they got something what's that nobody at the hotel knew where the Sheldon's went But I picked up some information from the bartender here. Well, don't keep it a secret We got taken by two of the slickest con merchants in the business mom and pop Sheldon. Oh, yeah, I've heard of them I give the bell captain at the hotel a double saw and I got to call him later to see if they come back for their bags What do they want with their bags? They got our six G's Hey, isn't the bartender waving to you? Yeah, I'll be right back The Sheldon, huh? Well, honey, you really picked a couple of daisies when you took over. Let's not go into that again You weren't satisfied to let me and Jack run things. What do you want me to do kill myself? All right, so we got out smarted next time. We'll know better. Yeah, there might not be a next time Unless we get our six G's back. I think I got it. I got what I told the bartender there was 50 in it for him If you could find out where the Sheldon's went that did he know no, but they were in here drinking last night on the other bartender Served when did they come to work? We don't have to wait this guy called him at home Oh, and he remembered hearing them say that their next stop was Cleveland. Well, what are we waiting for? Adam Adam over here Jim hmm Sheldon's a skip without paying the hotel. Did you find anything in the room? Not a thing smash closet door Sheldon's a tool to fight my guess is they lock someone in that closet and then left Could it have been the Milford's could have been the elevator boy remembers taking them up there He identified them from the pictures Sounds like everybody was double-crossing everybody else. Oh, why? Well, the desk clerk looked at the pictures and said that Milford was here looking for the Sheldon trying to find out where they went Yes, but I think there's one thing we can be sure of Adam. What's that? We can find the Sheldon's we've got a good chance to grab all of them Yes, but there's not a single lead on where the Sheldon's went when they left here There's only one. What's that? The bell captain told me that during the week old man Sheldon sent him out to buy a book on embalming On embalming? Yeah What would he want that for? From their record the Sheldon's don't get mixed up in any murders I know their record shows that the Hey, wait a minute, I've got a hunch. Let's get to that out-of-town newspaper stand I think we might find out where the Sheldon's have gone Yes, may the butter please? Surely. This is a wonderful idea. Having dinner served in the room Yes, gives us a chance to rest You know, every time I walk into a hotel dining room it's like work Always looking for a prospect Me too It's ought to be a wonderful convention Yes, there are a lot of rich undertakers Here's some more coffee, dear No, thank you I'm going to get a good night's sleep Convention opens at nine tomorrow morning, you know I must be the waiter coming back to the table Are you all finished here? Yes, let him in Hello, Mr. Sheldon That's right. Back up and let us in Who's that? It's us, Mr. Sheldon George, keep that gun on him Right Now don't move either one of you. We've got the gun this time All right, now where's the dough? We haven't got it. We put it in the bank You're lying Wait, look, we've never killed anybody before, but we wouldn't mind starting on you So get it up All right, it's in that wallet Inside pocket of my coat Oh, father One on that chair Get it, Gloria I'd better be all there, too It is So you took us for chunks, huh? You were very clumsy Is it all there, Gloria? Yeah, looks like more than we gave him Oh, that's fine Who's that? That's the man from room service for the table Okay, George, open the door and let him in All right But remember you two Don't get out of line, that gun kills waiters, too Drop the guns Huh? Adam, see if any of the others have guns on them Right Oh, who are you? Special agents at the FBI Goodness Now you're all coming along with us All five swindlers were tried and convicted for violating the National Stolen Property Act and sentenced to long prison terms in a federal penitentiary And thus five criminals engaged in confidence games were removed to a place where they will not be able to swindle anyone for quite a while Now this case from the files of your FBI was closed because a special agent hearing that a confidence man had bought a book on embalming remembered that the confidence man always worked convention A study of out-of-town newspapers showed that there was to be a convention of undertakers in nearby Cleveland Putting those two pieces of information together closed the case and once more protected you, the American people, from a criminal enemy In just a moment, we will tell you about next week's exciting case from the files of your FBI Mr. Keating, I've been thinking about that equitable society readjustment income plan and the more I think the better I like the idea of fixing it so my wife would have extra income during those first two years That's right, son That extra cash every month for two years would give her time to adjust her expenses to a new standard of living Okay, I'm sold Then let me suggest that you get in touch with your equitable society representative without delay Let him show you how little it costs to provide your wife with equitable readjustment income Call your equitable representative 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 ambitious widow 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 the music was composed and conducted by Frederick Steiner The author was Jerry Lewis Your narrator was Dean Carlton and special agent Taylor was played by Stacy Harris This is your FBI is a Jerry 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 ambitious widow on this is your FBI This is ABC the American Broadcasting Company