 The Equitable Life Assurance Society presents this is your FBI Is your FBI the official broadcast from the files of the Federal Bureau of Investigation? presented as a public service by the Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States and the Equitable Society is representative in your community representatives of the Equitable Life Assurance Society will be busy answering their telephones Same as to Wakefield. I heard about that fact-finding chart for fathers and mothers that the Equitable Society is offering on this is your FBI Sounds like a great idea. Could you bring me one? That's what's been happening every week since we started offering this fact-finding chart for fathers and mothers Listen carefully in about 14 minutes and you learn more about this famous chart Created for you by the Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States Tonight's FBI file the Skid Row shakedown The face of America is freckled with cities of such beauty that they make you hold your breath when you first see them New York on a spring night when the wind comes crawling through Central Park San Francisco when the gentle fog wraps Knub Hill in a white blanket as a gift for the sightseer to take home New Orleans when canal street lights up with the gaiety they call the Mardi Gras Those are just a few of the things that make a trip through our big cities so memorable But there are other places in our urban centers Other places not so attractive Places like the Bowery in New York Main Street in Los Angeles West Madison Street in Chicago Each has a different name, but they are all alike They are the streets to which men go when hope dies And when it makes very little difference to them whether they die too Tonight's file is about such a street And about some of the people who breathe its foul air Tonight's file opens in the lobby of a cheap flop house located in the slum district of a large eastern city A young man stands behind the desk as the front door opens And the visitor enters Good morning. Mr. Guilford about please. Yeah, well, I wonder where I might see you please Ma'am. Oh, are you Mr. Guilford son? Yeah. Well, well What is it? Oh, good morning, Miss Guilford. Good morning. Oh, hi, Mr. Fergus. This young man was just telling me that he's your son Why I had no idea that you had any offspring. Well, he's been away just got back Unbelievable unbelievable that someone as youthful as yourself should be the mother of a strapping boy this size Cut the con, Mr. Fergus. What do you want? Well, I uh, I understand that one of your guests passed into the great beyond last night That's right. Man called George Pettis. Have any of my confrars been here yet? No, you're the first. Splendid splendid. What room did Mr. Pettis occupy? 31. Uh, will I uh, require a key? No, the door's open. Oh, thank you, my dear. Excuse me A scavenger Well, there are a lot of them down here They get the word when any of these bums die and they come round go over whatever stuff they left Oh, four. Maybe the bum had some moo in a bank. Maybe he's an heir We might even have left some stuff that the bum's family'd want Yeah, sort that mail way Okay What's in the world? They score pretty good What happened, son? I get cut in Once Fergus got 300 bucks from a guy in Chicago. The bum who died was the guy's father What did you care? 10% Very much. Oh, it is when you don't have to work for it. Hey, Mr. Gilbert It appears that this was rather fruitless was it. Uh-huh. Yeah, there may be a few trinkets of sentimental value and Mr. Pettis's effects But it may be a difficult pursuit finding anyone to whom they possess such value Well, do what you can. Oh, I shall I shall. Good day, Mr. Gilford. How long? Oh, and uh, goodbye to you, Mr. Gilford It was a real pleasure to have made you a queen Weird little guy any Yeah, well, I think I'll take a walk. That's right. Hey, how do you do? I'm John Fergus Hello, I uh, ask you to meet me here at the zoo because I thought we We'd be able to talk freely in front of the animals. You said on the phone that you had something important to speak to me about That's right, Miss Calloway. I have what is it? Uh, let's sit down on this bench here very well Uh, there we are I, uh, have my wares in this briefcase. You're aware. Yes. Yes All right, let me see Oh Do you recognize the handwriting on this envelope, Mrs. Calloway? Ah, spend it spend it Where did you get that letter? George Pettis the man to whom you indiscreetly wrote so many letters died last night in a waterfront pop house Oh He left nothing of value except your correspondence. Uh, you see this return address on the envelope. That's how I was able to find you Who are you? How'd you get them? I am a friend of the weary and the dispossessed I am likewise a messenger who links the past for the present I frequent the cheap hotels here in town and when I discover a deceased derelict I try to let someone who cares know that he has gone to his reward They have great pride these ragged hulks And because of that pride they frequently destroy any evidence that might help to lead me to their loved ones And you called me just so that you could give me this letter that I wrote 15 years ago This and the other nine letters that the late mr. Pettis left among his effects Oh, that's wonderfully kind of you. Thank you. Mrs. Calaway Do you have the other letters with you? Yes May I have them, please? I uh, I'm not quite ready to turn them over just yet Why I've made you a gift of the one you hold in your hand However, the other nine are the wares I have to sell But there are only letters from me to george. They there wouldn't be of any value to anyone else Not even to your husband Mrs. Calaway, I I admit that I'd rather not be forced to do business with your husband But uh, if you refused to buy the letters, I'd uh, have no alternative How much do you want for them? I um, I can't quite put a price on them yet. Why not? Oh, there are factors to be weighed When will you know how much you want? Maybe today maybe tomorrow Uh, I'll drop you a line as soon as I've determined what the current market price is on Calaway originals Well at the local fbi field office special agent jim taylor is just being greeted by a visitor Police sergeant blaine Gem it looks like we get to work together again. Well, that's fine with me dick I was just in to see your agent in charge and he asked me to check with you. Oh, what's the story? Uh, did you read about our mr. Clinton Lowell committing suicide yesterday? No, I just saw the headlines He was being victimized. Oh, how do you know that? In going over the files at his office We found a series of notes from an extortioner that threatened him with physical violence unless he paid which gives the fbi It's jurisdiction right and we didn't discover what the extortioner knew about Lowell But he referred to some letters that Lowell had written letters that he wanted to sell back to Lowell Yes Apparently the extortioner found them among the effects of someone who died Someone whose first name was justin I don't suppose there was any signature on any of the extortion notes No, I when I found them I Put them all in a cellophane envelope Yeah, thanks, dick Or maybe your laboratory might be able to analyze the type and see if they can give us any help Well, I'll be glad to send them through for you. Thanks Any, uh, any dates on these notes dick? Oh, yes, uh, that first one is dated about six months ago. Oh, yeah Well, then I think we can assume that this just and something or other died right around that time, huh? That's logical Well, if you died here in the city the local board of health would have some kind of a report on him Yeah, they would well, I'll check that angle for you Okay, in the meantime, why don't you go back and see if you can find anything else in the files at clinton Lowell's office Let's meet back here tomorrow afternoon What is it son? You heard that guy furgus. Yeah came by this morning gave me 10 bucks What? Had us a guy who died in room 31. He had an old pocket watch Furgus found some relatives and sold it to them for a hundred bucks He clipped you What do you mean? Remember I walked out of here right after him yesterday morning. Yeah I followed him We went to the zoo Meet some dame Well Remember the briefcase he had uh-huh He opened it up took out a letter And the dame got a look at the letter it threw her for a loop He talked for a couple of minutes and then they both left I tried to follow the dame, but she got in the cab and I lost her What are you trying to prove? Said he wasn't trying to sell no pocket watch Where's furgus hang out? Oh, he's got an office in the miller building room 629 You know his phone number? Uh-huh Call him They're just gonna meet me here tonight How much good it'll do us, but I did find something What, Jim? In checking the death records for the week previous to the date on that first extortion note I found no man named Justin Gentry died in a flop house or on the west side Oh, did you go over there? Yeah Dick, do you know anything about any of those scavengers who get a man's effects after he dies in one of those places? Yes Well, one of them got Gentry's effects Apparently he found some letters which incriminated Clinton Lowell Oh Well, I didn't find anything else in Lowell's private files No Well, this clerk down at the flop house I went to said he couldn't tell me which of the scavengers had gotten Gentry's effects Was he on duty at the time? No Our clerk named Thompson at the desk that day and he won't be back at the flop house until tomorrow morning And they didn't know where to reach him, huh? No, but I'm going to stop by there in my way to the office tomorrow morning and see if this Thompson can remember who got his effects If he does, Dick, we're in business Good evening Hi Hey, hey, I'm sorry I couldn't get here any sooner Well, that's all right, Mr. Fergus Here's another of your guests across the great divide No, my son wanted to see you Your son? Mm-hmm Well, about what? Well, he'll tell you himself. Come in the office Oh, very well It's right through here You first, Mr. Gilbert You first Okay Here's Mr. Fergus Okay Your charming mother just told me that you had something to discuss with me, young man That's right Well, what is it? Mom, he gave you 10 bucks for the stuff he got out of that Paris guy's room, didn't he? Yeah You got short-ended No, see here, Mr. Gilbert, I resent your inference Mr. Fergus, I followed you when you left here yesterday You made a phone call and then you went to the zoo and met a dame You showed her a letter that you got out of Mr. Pettis' room Oh, that's great Mr. Pettis had several letters in his room when he passed away I thought they might be a value, but they weren't Then why did you keep them in a safe with your office? What? I went to your office this afternoon Couldn't find nothing in your desk, so I opened your safe Mrs. Gilbert, this is outrageous I don't go along with you Mr. Fergus, them letters ain't worth nothing You won't mind me keeping them, will you? I got them right here Let me have them They're no good to you The only person to whom they have any value is the woman who wrote them What's your name? If you knew that, you'd be as smart as I am And quite obviously you're not Well, it looks like you guys are stuck Fergus, you know who wrote the letters, but you ain't got them Arthur's got them, but he don't know who wrote them Let me have them, Mr. Pettis I want them So you shouldn't have hit him so hard Why? Get up Hit his head against the leg of that table Come on, get up, I said You ain't breathing Huh? Oh, I think he's dead We'll return in just a moment to tonight's exciting case From the files of your FBI But now listen While the clock ticks away the next 60 seconds We're going to ask you to give one minute of your time To considering something that may make a world of difference In the future happiness and security of your children That's worth a lot more than one minute of my time, Mr. Keating Then you'll certainly be interested in the equitable society's Famous fact-fighting chart for fathers and mothers Certainly sounds interesting What's it all about? Frank, it's a chart that every father who really loves his family should have A chart which shows him how to figure out just what income his family would need If he should die unexpectedly The minimum amount of money his wife and children would require To maintain a comfortable standard of living Do you know how much that would be for your family? No, I guess I don't really have even a foggy idea Well, in five minutes flat this equitable fact-finding chart For fathers and mothers will give you the answer Now here, see how simple and uncomplicated it is You're guided every step of the way by easy to understand pictures In no time at all, you know just what income your family will need To keep going and to keep together during the critical years Until your youngest child finishes high school That's certainly like to have one of those charts, Mr. Keating How much do they cost? Oh, not one cent, Frank, they're free Phone your equitable society representative And ask him to bring you a fact-finding chart for fathers and mothers Or send a postcard, care of this ABC station To the Equitable Life Assurance Society Your request will be forwarded to the nearest equitable representative Yes, if you truly love your children You will not let another day tick away on the clock Without sending for the fact-finding chart for fathers and mothers Prepared for you by the Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States And now back to the FBI file The Skid Row Shake Down The loss of John Fergus from the community is not, as you can imagine, a devastating one Nor would the loss of any extortioner constitute one to be mourned They are the parasites of our civilization and not worthy even of our contempt However, the death of John Fergus does serve to prove the truth of an axiom Which has been repeated time and again In an attempt to bring it home forcibly to you listeners On this series of official broadcasts from the files of the Federal Bureau of Investigation That axiom is that crime begets crime Neither you nor anyone else can engage in the commission of a single illegal act And then decide to stop That first misstep is often the beginning of a criminal career The reason your FBI repeats that fact is that it knows That crime has often been portrayed as a glamorous occupation And that many first offenders took that wrong step because they were tempted by that false glamour It is an odd fact that from the moment of a criminal's first illegal act His best chance for survival rests with the strongest possible law enforcement agency Or as in tonight's case If he succeeds in committing one crime without being apprehended He will continue to commit others until finally he commits the number one crime Murder tonight's file continues at the local FBI field office Dick, I think I found another piece of the puzzle I stopped by that flop house this morning where Justin Gentry died Uh-huh I spoke to the clerk who was on duty when one of those ghoulish characters came in for Gentry's effects Did he remember which one it was? Yes, it was a man named John Fergus Did the clerk have any idea where Fergus could be located? Oh, he said he knew that he had an office, but he didn't know where I checked with a phone company. They have no telephone listed under that name How often does Fergus come around? Oh, every couple of days Oh, I've had an alarm sent out on him Is that it? Oh, pardon me, sir Special Agent Taylor speaking Lieutenant Frappig's down at headquarters, Jim Well, hello, Lieutenant. It's been a long time Yes, it has Say, I got word you're looking for a man named John Fergus Oh, that's right. What do you know about him? He's just been found murdered Duck up where Fergus lived Good boy. How did you do it? Remember the gas spill he had in his pocket? Uh-huh One made out in the name of Jackson Oh That was for his apartment St. Kennell Street You went there? Yeah Find anything? Yeah John was full of carbon copies He let his road to the sunkers he was clever This is the one we're looking for Name is Mrs. Calloway Let's see it Dear Mrs. Calloway With reference to the antiques belonging to the dear departed George Pettis My current market quotation is 9,000 dollars You see? Why that little crook Then he was going to brush me off with a sawbuck Well, I'm going to make me some food I'll figure out what we want to do with the nine grand We're going to get from that Mrs. Calloway Nick, I went to John Fergus' office It had been rifle cleaned out There was nothing there I wish we could come up with where he lived Oh, I already have How's Jim? Well, I went to the morgue and looked at his effects They consisted of some movie stubs Some matches from a restaurant on the west side and a key Uh-huh It was a new key So I decided to go up to the neighborhood with the movie house And the restaurant warden See if any locksmith could recognize it That didn't work Oh, and a hunch I tried the doors of a brand new apartment house About a block from the movie And that did work? Yeah, I had paid off The key opened the front door of one of the apartments It was listed under the name of Leo Jackson Once I got inside with the cooperation of the building superintendent I knew I was in the right place How? The apartment had been rifled too You know, we may be able to find out who it is If we get lucky at both the office and Fergus's apartment This morning's mail had been opened and read I then is trying now to get prints off a mail Ah According to the files I found up in the apartment Fergus has been in the extortion business for quite some little time Did you find anything on Clinton Lowell? Ah, Fergus was the one who was shaking him down I also found out the name of his latest victim Well, who's that? A woman named Callaway I found a sheet of carbon paper and held it up to a mirror He had written to Mrs. Callaway with an obvious reference To some letters that belonged to a George Pettis Did you find those letters? No, no, Dick, I didn't Well, I think I'd better check and see if I can find anything On whether it's George Pettis died and who he is All right, Dick While you're doing that, I'll go up and see Mrs. Callaway Hello? No, Mrs. Callaway Who is this? My name is Arthur Arthur who? If you don't tell me your name, I'm going to hang up I see He said to bring them as soon as you had the money ready Morning, Mrs. Callaway No, I'll have to have more time Mr. Fergus said an all-star Well, I have to go to the bank first Be here in an hour Just a moment Mrs. Callaway That's right Are you Arthur? No, ma'am I'm a special agent of the FBI Here are my credentials I see Do you mind if I ask you some questions, Mrs. Callaway? I know Please come in Thank you Mrs. Callaway, in going over the effects of a man named John Fergus We found evidence that he might be extorting money from you I don't know anyone named John Fergus Who is he? He's a man who was found dead down on the waterfront Murdered In checking on another case, we learned that Fergus was an extortioner And that he had written you a recent note I've never received a note from him Are you quite positive? Yes What had to do with some letters that you had written He had come into possession of them If those letters exist, Mrs. Callaway And if you haven't yet paid on them, it's perfectly possible That someone else has come into possession of them now And will try to extort you Oh, I'm sorry I can't be of more help than this But I don't know anything about it Let's leave it this way If anyone gets in touch with me, I'll get in touch with you Thank you, Mrs. Callaway Come in Yes Where's some money? Where's Mr. Fergus? He's busy That's why I sent me You're lying What do you mean? A man from the FBI was just here He told me that Mr. Fergus was murdered That sort of changes things, doesn't it? No Oh, I think the police would be interested in knowing that you now have those letters Who would tell them? I would They wouldn't save your neck For the cops get the letters I'll have them printed all over town John, would you want that? No Don't waste your money And that police on the table That bag, you mean? Yes Is there 9,000 here? Yes, now let me have my letters Sure Here Now get out Get out, I said Yes, ma'am Hello, Guilford Who are you? I'm a special agent of the FBI Now turn around and step back inside Although charged in federal court for extortion Arthur Guilford and his mother were turned over to local authorities for prosecution of the more serious charge of murder Arthur Guilford was found guilty and sentenced to be executed His mother was convicted as an accessory and sentenced to a 20-year term in prison The reason Special Agent Taylor returned to see Mrs. Calloway is that a check at the neighborhood bank revealed not only that she had her account there but that she had withdrawn $9,000 in cash that morning The exact amount mentioned in the extortion letter John Fergus had written Special Agent Taylor learned from the identification section that the fingerprints on the mail which had been opened in John Fergus' office the morning after Fergus' death belong to Arthur Guilford When an examination of the carpet in the office of Mrs. Guilford revealed a fresh blood stain and several hairs which the laboratory identified as having come from the head of John Fergus both Mrs. Guilford and her son confessed and thus because of the swift cooperation of the local police department and the untiring investigation of a Special Agent your FBI was able to close another file and to close it successfully In just a moment we will tell you about next week's case from the files of your FBI but now listen With every tick of the clock time as they say is marching on so don't put off that important decision you made a few minutes ago Be sure to get the equitable fact-finding chart for fathers and mothers It's the first step towards making certain that your wife and children will continue to live in comfort and security even if you should be taken from them phone your equitable society representative soon or send the postcard to the equitable society care of this ABC station Your request will be forwarded to the nearest representative of the equitable life assurance society of the United States Next week we will dramatize another case from the files of the Federal Bureau of Investigation a dramatic account of the bureau's effort to clear an innocent man It's subject armed robbery It's title the slapstick holdup 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 Stein The author was Jerry D. Lewis Your narrator was William Woodson and special agent Taylor was played by Stacey Harris This is your FBI as 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 this same time when the Equitable Life Assurance Society will bring you another thrilling story from the files of the Federal Bureau of Investigation The slapstick holdup on this is your FBI This is ABC the American Broadcasting Company