 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. This is David Bryan. In a moment we'll bring you another case from the files of Mr. District Attorney. But first the word from our sponsor. And now here is our star, David Bryan, as Paul Garrett, Mr. District Attorney. The ugliest word known to a District Attorney is blackmail. And even in itself it can also breed other and more violent crimes. It frequently ends in murder. Take the case of Larry Cashman, a used car dealer. It was a Saturday night, late. He was at his lot in the small office, waiting for somebody, not a customer. Hi, Mr. Cashman. Glad to see you waited for me. Never mind the friendly greeting, Striker. What do you want this time? I'm kind of short of folding money, but you might be a pal. Help me out again. You know what this is, don't you, Striker? The Lord called it a shakedown. I gave you a hundred dollars two weeks ago and another hundred a month before that. Does money last forever? I need more. You're not getting more, not from me. Well, it's too bad. I'm sorry you feel like way, Mr. Cashman. I thought you were a nice guy, the kind of a guy I'd like to see raise my baby. As long as I can't raise her myself. You leave the baby out of this. No, you can't expect me to forget about her, Mr. Cashman. After all, she's my own flesh and blood. She belongs to me and my wife legally, by adoption. You keep forgetting one important thing. I never signed no papers letting you adopt her. Your wife said you were dead. She thought I was dead, maybe. But my being here proves I ain't. And if we ever have to take this into court, Mr. Cashman, I'm little Anne's natural father. I got my rights. How much? Oh, I guess a hundred will see me through again. I'll give you five hundred. Well, that's better. Let me finish. I'll give you five hundred if you go to my lawyer and sign a paper waving all rights to the baby. Do you think I'm crazy? Oh, no. No, I like our arrangement fine. From now on, I'll be around every Saturday night to pick up my hundred dollars. I'll take tonight's payment now. All right, Stryker. There's your hundred. And it's the last you're getting. So this is your parting gift to me, huh? Not much considering the size of the roll you peeled it off of. All right, I'll leave you alone. I'll take my payment in full right now. Dig that roll out again and toss it on the desk. I see. Now it's a gun, huh? You see it, and I know how to use it. I'm not going to give you another dime, Stryker. All you're going to get is what you deserve. Put that down. I'm calling the police. You ain't calling anybody. Maybe I'm stronger than you think. You ain't stronger than this. Maybe you should have confided in your wife, Mr. Cashman. But you're the only one who knows about me. And you ain't ever going to tell anyone else. Thanks for the final payment. Hello, Chief. Sorry to get you out of bed. Well, that's what the county pays us for, Hargan. Land crew's already been here, huh? Yeah. How'd you know? I think you've been boys less than dusting powder on the desk, then. No. Well, the prints aren't going to be much good, though, I'm afraid. Too many people coming out of a place like this. Signed papers on the desk. What time was this discovered? About 11.30. Cashman's wife had spoken to him on the phone just after 10. She said he was coming right home. When he didn't, she called back a couple of times and got a busy signal. Finally, she called the operator. The phone's off the hook, see. When the operator told her the line was dead, she called the police. Oh, what's that? What? A little spot on the floor? Yes. Well, that boy said it was some kind of chalk somebody stepped on. They scraped a little of it up and took it in for analysis. Cashman used chalk to mark prices on his cars? Uh-uh. Cardboard cutouts. Well, it was pretty clean, otherwise. One's paper basket empty. This place must have been swept out after the day's business. That chalk was ground in there after the place was cleaned. It looks that way. Cashman usually carry a lot of money on him? No, in the used car business, chief. People selling in a hurry need a fast dollar. You find any money on the body? Only 86 cents in change. Somebody needed a fast dollar, all right. Robbery motive, no doubt about it. You want to go to Cashman's home? Have a talk with his wife? No. Let her wait until morning. She'll be in no condition to talk now. Do you have the car with him? No, I came over to care when I got the call. Newspaper for Targham reporters over there, chief. I've been holding them off. I think I can go in, as long as the lab crew's finished. All right, Pete, you can let them go in now. Okay. No, no, no, brothers. No statements from Mr. Garrett until tomorrow. Check with the office later. Let's get out of here before they mob you. I phoned Miss Miller before I left home. She'll be at the office. Two and what, at 2 a.m.? Finding out all we can about Larry Cashman, my family, known associates, the usual. The more you know about a dead man, the better chance you have to find out who killed him. Here's the Cashman report, Mr. Garrett. Thanks, Miss Miller. How does it look? Mostly vital statistics, I'm afraid. Cashman was 55 years old. Mrs. Cashman and her late 40s, no relatives, except a two-year-old baby. Two-year-old baby? Yeah, oh, see what you mean. The child's adopted. Yeah, I thought they were kind of old to have a baby that young. Was the adoption legal? A couple of years ago, they took in a girl whose husband had been killed in an accident. When the mother got sick and knew she was dying, she agreed to let the Cashman adopt the baby. Got that, will you, Miss Miller? Yes, sir. District Attorney's Office. Oh, yes, Pete. Fine, I'll tell him, thanks. Pete from the lab, they did an analysis on that yellow chalk from the floor of the Shack on Cashman's car lot. Anything special about it? Yes, Pete says it was an ordinary chalk, the type that surveyors use for marking. Oh, that's what he said. That might help us, Chief. Well, not unless we can find out where it ties in. What time is it? Almost 8 a.m. Well, I think we can go see Mrs. Cashman now. I have to get the baby serious already. She'll be waking up soon. Well, that's all right, Mrs. Cashman. We don't like to ask you questions at a time like this, but it's necessary. Oh, about that yellow chalk, Mrs. Cashman. No, Larry never used chalk. I never saw any of it, here or at the lot. And he had no friends or acquaintances in the surveying business. Somebody he might have sold a car to or a truck. No. Aside from the money he carried, can you think of any reason for anybody wanting to harm him? No. There was never anybody who didn't like Larry. What am I going to say to the baby when she asks for him? How can I tell her he won't ever come home to play with her again? Would you answer that for me, please? I don't want to talk to anybody now. Yeah, it might be for us, honey, aren't you? Go ahead. Yeah, this is Harry. Now, go ahead. We were going in a picnic today. Last night I made the sandwiches and everything. We were going to leave right after church. I knew something was wrong when he didn't come home. I knew it. Try not to think about it, Mrs. Cashman. No, what else can I think about? All week long, Larry was teaching Anne how to say picnic. She was just learning to pronounce it. No. You must get a grip on yourself for the baby's sake. Yes. All right. Yes, I know. All right, thanks. Yeah, we'll be in soon. All right. Well, you shouldn't be here alone, Mrs. Cashman, especially when the baby wakes up. I called a nursing service just before you came. They're sending somebody over. Well, that's good. Goodbye, Mrs. Cashman. Goodbye, ma'am. Keep your chin up. I'll try. Why don't you rush back to the office? At Cleaning Man, you wanted to question the guy that cleaned up Cashman's Latin office. Yeah? His name is Dodie Smith. I booked him. I just wanted him for questioning. Why did they book him? He looked like the one chief. Why? Well, he told him he cleaned the office last night at about 8.39 o'clock. Cashman usually closed before then, but Smith admits he was still there. Nothing necessarily wrong with that? No, but the boys found out that Smith was on the town last night, threw a big party and threw a lot of money around. Still had a few hundred on him when he was picked up. Hmm. Before we continue with Mr. District Attorney, in the case of death by adoption, here is an important message from our sponsor. And now back to David Bryan, starring as Paul Garrett, Mr. District Attorney. A used car dealer had been murdered and robbed. The only clue was a piece of surveyor's chalk ground into the floor at the scene of the crime. But other things seemed to point to a cleaning man named Dodie Smith. If Smith was innocent, he didn't look at it as we questioned him in the big jail. I began to forget about the surveyor's chalk. Come on, Smith. Where were you last night? I told you I was at a party at my own house. We know about that. But where were you before the party? Working for Cashman at the used car lot. What time did your party start? At 10 o'clock. Later we left the house and went to a few other places. What places? All dance halls, clubs, places like that. With you picking up all the checks? It was my party, wasn't it? What time did you leave Cashman's lot last night? I worked until nine. A little after maybe. Was Cashman all right when you left the lot? No, he wasn't. Cashman was a good man to work for most times, but last night somebody called him on a phone. He didn't say much to whoever it was, but he slammed the phone down real mad and yelled at me to hurry up and finish with the cleaning. All right, never mind the life story. Where did you get the money? You better spill it, Smith. Cashman was robbed and you had almost $300 on you this morning when you picked up... It was my own money! You never made that kind of money cleaning up around a used car lot. Three days ago you were broke. You borrowed $2 from Cashman's mechanic. You'd better account for that money, Smith. What if I tell you I'm getting trouble? If you don't tell me, you'll go on trial for murder. That can be trouble too. I sold a diamond ring. Where would you get a diamond ring? I found it. No. Cashman had an out-of-state car on a lot, the big black limousine. The one on the front corner of the lot? Up on the platform? He took it in on a trade two days ago. I wax all the cars as they come in, clean out the inside. I found a ring under the back seat. Must have got lost, slipped down there. Who did you sell it to? A guy named Portman at the Jewelers Exchange. He can tell you. I hope so. Open up, Fogarty. I'd better check the Jewelers Exchange. Yeah, but if he's telling the truth, we're still short of murderer. He wouldn't be killing Cashman for money, not while he was riding high with the money from that ring. Hell, that means we've got to start over again. Well, nothing. No, it means we have to start over again from that spot of surveyor's chalk. Here are the teletypes from the State Department of Highways, Mr. Garrett. Thanks. It doesn't look like a very lengthy report. It isn't. They'd better come up with something or I'm... Hello, Harrington. Hi. Portman finally broke down. Anybody to ring for Smith? Yep. You book him? Yep. Receiving stolen property. That's the end of his license. And it should be. Good Jewelers don't buy without asking questions. Well, that's the State Capitol teletype now, Mr. Garrett. You'd better get it. You having any luck here? Well, no. But a working one would be more likely to be carrying a piece of chalk on him. I carry my gun when I'm off duty. That's because the law says you must. You'd better check up on your regulations. You're never off duty. You're telling me. I think an 80-hour week is a vacation. Now, if I... One other state crew out, Department of Water and Power. They checking on them? Well, it's going to take a long time. Why? They keep 100 miles from nowhere. Well, there must be roads. Not until they get the thing laid out and push bulldozers through. Only roads they've been able to use since the rainy season are all back trails. They need trucks with four-wheel drive to get in and out. Oh, Miss Miller. Call the police motor pool. Tell them I want to borrow a car. What kind? Anything they've got with a four-wheel drive. I'd be more comfortable inside a cement mixer. We must be getting closer to the camp. Yeah? When we get there, they've got a permanent border until a nice smooth road comes through here. Oh, there. There's the camp. And they drove the trees to the right. No cars or trucks. Half the tents down. Must be breaking camp. Move further in. Jeep over there. The pack rolls on the back. Must be somebody here yet. Hello. Out there, Chief. Yeah, come on. About for a minute we got here too late. Almost did. We moved in another couple of miles and just hauled some stuff on to the new camp. You the crew foreman? Yep. Jim Tracy's the name. I'm Paul Garrett. This is my assistant, Harrington. Garrett? That's familiar. District Attorney, aren't you? That's right. How long have you fellas been working through here? About eight weeks now. In the city on weekends? Once in a while. I'm on last weekend. Any of them going to town then? Last weekend. Yeah, yeah. Four of them went in. Phillips, Stryker, Martin and Canning. Hey, that's Stryker now. Coming back with a truck to help me haul some of this stuff. Must be a nut to jockey the thing on this kind of road. And do it weekend just to spend a night in town. I know just how you feel. Hey, these fellas want to talk to you, Bill. What about? About being in town last weekend. This is Mr. Garrett, the District Attorney. Bill Stryker, Mr. Garrett. Hello, Stryker. Hi. What do you want to know? Just like you to account for your time. Saturday night, that's all. Well, we just fooled around in town, that's all. Me and three other guys in the crew. You didn't do any shopping? What could we buy that we'd bring back here? Well, maybe one of you might have been saving some money. Maybe enough to make a deal for a used car. We, uh, rode our bus both ways after we got the truck to the main highway. I see. Well, thanks. That's all we wanted to know. But what's it all about? Nothing important. Just routine. Thanks. Come on, Harman. Nothing important. You mean we ride all the way up here just for that? Yeah, I'm afraid so. Hop in. You're not even going to talk to the other three guys that were with that one? I wasn't doing it good. I wasn't riding for nothing. Sorry, I didn't. That's live. We only knew who made that phone call to Cashman Saturday night. Oh, Doty Smith said he was so upset about it. Yeah. When we get back to the city, I want to see Mrs. Cashman again. Oh, when we get back to the city? If we get back to the city. No. No, Mr. Garrett, I didn't know anybody had called my husband Saturday night before I did. I just knew it was upset, that's all. Anything like that ever happened before. He's being upset, I mean, coming home much later than usual. Yes, it did. Two other times. The first time more than a month ago. And then again two weeks ago. Those other times? Can you remember if they were Saturday nights, too? Yes. Yes, they were. But I don't know why. I don't know what was bothering him. Did he ever express any concern that somebody might harm the baby or try to take her away from you? No. Who could take her from us? Both of Anne's parents are dead. Her mother agreed to the adoption before she passed on. Did you ever see or know the child's father? No. He died before Anne was born. He was killed in an accident. Are you sure of that? Anne's mother said so. She wouldn't have lied. It's all here in this paper she signed for us before she died. See, she signed it right here. Dorothy Stryker. Stryker? Why, Chief, that's the name of the... I know. What was Stryker's first name, Mrs. Cashman? Was it Bill or William? No. But she said it was Arthur Stryker. Why? What is it? I think I know who killed your husband now. And I'm beginning to have an idea why. You'll hear from us. Come on, Harrington. You know where we're going. But this time I'm not going to mind that, right? This time I know why we're taking this. This must be the foreman's tent. Yeah. Let's go in. Tracy. Fine. It's me again. Yard. You scared me. What did you come back for? Where is Stryker sleeping? He did something, huh? What makes you think so? I thought he acted nervous after you left. But before I turned in, I saw him take his bedroll out of his tent. He's sleeping in the bed of one of the trucks. That's all we want to know. You'd better be careful. He's got a gun. I saw it once. No, we know about it. You just stay right here until we take him. Don't worry. I'm a surveyor, not a hero. There are the trucks. You can get the cuffs on him before he wakes up. Nothing in this one. There must be any other one in it. Funny, Chief. He's nothing in this one either, only... There he is. Stop, Stryker. He's got to come this way between the rock ledges. Look out, Harrington. You hit him. It's all right. How about Stryker? You hit him. You drove into a ledge. He's pinned pretty badly. Pretty badly. Don't let him die. You better build a litter and get him out of here fast. Right. Better make that two litter, Tracy. I'm all right. It's going to be a long hog ride out, Harrington. Like you said, Chief. Never off duty. This is one vacation you're not going to cut short on me. I promise you I won't, Harrington. I promise you. 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. Now, here is the star of Mr. District Attorney, David Bryan, with a word about the program you have just heard. William Stryker lived long enough to confess his masquerade as the father of his dead brother's child in the murder of Larry Cashman. He was pronounced dead on arrival at the nearest hospital. Harrington underwent surgery for the removal of two bullets. He reported back for duty six weeks later. Now, this is David Bryan inviting you to join us when we present our next case based on the facts of crime from the file of Mr. District Attorney. Mr. District Attorney was originated by Phillips H. Lord.