 This you can really cool a fish story and I was a live bait This is another in the adventures of America's fabulous freelance insurance investigator Johnny dollar At insurance investigation Johnny dollar is only an expert at making out his expense account. He's an absolute genius Expense account submitted by special investigator Johnny dollar to Intercontinental Marine Insurance Company Hartford, Connecticut The following is an accounting of my expenditures during assignment in San Pedro, California Investigating the loss of two pieces of property insured by you or The tuna were running and so was everybody else Or I caught a fishing boat, but you should have seen the one that got away Expense account one one hundred and seventy six dollars and eighty seven cents Airfare from home base in Hartford to off-base in California Expense account item two ten dollars Cab fare Los Angeles Municipal Airport to the Waterfront office to the Pacific Deep Sea canning company in San Pedro There was perfume in the air channel number five Inside the name on the door said Walton. That's who I wanted to see so I walked in Well, who are you? I'm here to follow up the claim you made to win the Continental Marine Insurance Company My name is Johnny dollar. Oh, would you bring the money? I need boats the tuna running. No, mr. Walton I didn't bring any money all I brought is a suspicious nature and an inquisitive mind The devil you mean by that crack I don't get your fish in a stew mr. Walton. This is standard procedure No insurance company is going to shell out four hundred thousand dollars without first taking a long lingering look Yeah, there's not much to look at. Yeah, so I understand according to your claim two of your boats the Here the Frank Walton and the Nancy Walton left port Monday afternoon and headed out in a southerly course When you try to establish radio contact Tuesday morning, you couldn't raise them Pieces of wreckage and the bodies of two men were found Tuesday night indicating that both boats were lost That's the story what made you so sure that both boats went down because of those two men whose bodies were found one cell in the Nancy Walton the other cell in the Frank Walton What more do you people want just enough time to check everything thoroughly? You know, this wouldn't be the first time a shipwreck has been faked to collect insurance See what you mean. Yeah, I guess the faster. I guess you satisfied the faster. I'll collect my money Sorry, I lost my temper dollar. I'll do everything I can Send captain Carpo in Carpo is my fleet captain, darling. He can give you all the details, but I'm telling you there aren't anymore Well one thing for sure mr. Walton We can't blame on the Pacific Ocean according to my report those boats sailed and fine weather. That's right Follow me boss. Yes, George. This is mr. Dollar from the insurance company. He's here to investigate the sinking So I'm happy to meet you too captain What do you want first? I want your theory as to what could have happened. I don't know. I wasn't there Maybe they run into each other as fleet captain. You'll hire the hands for the boats, don't you? Right. Are you the kind of man that would hire the kind of skippers that run into each other in clear weather? There were good skippers Now you listen to me. I've been captain of this fleet of five years First time we ever lose a boat to lose a man. You think we like this idea. No, I don't captain Carpo I don't think you like it any better than insurance company likes the idea of losing $400,000 Well, at least if I find those sunken boats that'll be salvage No, mr. Dollar That would be miracle The meeting busted up without me getting busted up which was Unusual in itself and I hitched myself a ride out to an outfit who knows more about saltwater than a Coney Island taffy maker the US Coast Guard and Clothes find the statement of the commander of the station lieutenant senior grade miles p. Endicates junior We've made thorough patrols using both air and surface craft The bodies of the men recovered show signs that lead us to believe that they were blown clear the law ships by violent explosions All the lieutenant needed to say to make my lies eyes light up was that one word Explosion because in a marine insurance investigators booked the word explosion sets off another word scuttling a widely used wet variety of fraud in other words blowing up your own ship to collect the insurance and Continuing this chain reaction. I follow the best available lead the man in charge of the vessels involved captain George Carpo I found him at 11 that night at a combination restaurant and bar named after the Oriental fishing bird the Cormorant As they looked in through the greasy window an interesting sight treated me Captain Carpo is slipping into a booth already occupied by an olive skin brunette. It was good enough looking But obviously less than a queen Carpo stuck his face in hers, spat a few words at her that I couldn't hear Shook his sledgehammer fist at her and stomped out through her back door I gave the front door some business and trying to look like I belong to the place trolled the bar bought myself a blast and Walked it over to the ladies booth Who sent for you? Do you mind? I haven't got anything to lose if you haven't what do you mean by that if those are your own teeth Maybe you don't want to lose him. Oh Carpo's a jealous turner. He don't believe in Sharon the wealth. Are you Carpo's girl? What time? Who are you? Well if captain Carpo comes back. He'll tell you anyway So the name is dollar Johnny dollar. I'm an insurance investigator Investigating what marine life? Marine death There's two sinkings in the Walton fleet company that sent me here and sure the boats Sounds to me like you got yourself a tough job. Why oh, I don't know who you gonna ask questions They've been reported up with all hands lost. Who knows maybe I'll bump into a talkative sequel Maybe if I'm lucky a talkative girl What have you got that could make a girl talk it is mr Well discounting my natural beauty and charm. I have money not too much money, but money keep coming I know enough not to talk before I give what I want. Well, that makes it a Mexican standoff I know enough not to pay for something. I haven't heard yet Let's start out with an inexpensive question like what's your name? You can have that for free and eat of our gaze. How long you known Carpo? You'll pardon the expression on and off for the last six months. How's he for money? Is he turning to a big spender recently? Sure instead of two drinks a night is now buying me for Carpo will never be a big spender. What is he looking 1423 parade street? How far is that from here? It's here. He lives upstairs That called for a change of scene I didn't know whether Anita Vargaze really had any a cell or not But I didn't want what was left of our to the test to be interrupted by a violent re-arrival of the mighty captain Carpo So expense account of three four dollars picking up our tabs Item four six bits picking up a taxi which dropped us at another bar slightly less oriental But definitely more obnoxious They grabbed ourselves a table with a view a view of the sawdust on the floor and waited for a waiter He didn't come but somebody else did the owner of the lost fishing boats, Mr. Roscoe Walton What are you doing with this character Anita? I met him in college you lost go now beat it Since one of you been getting drunk. Don't tell me. He's your boyfriend, too Uh-huh part-time. Maybe I'd better get lost I'll call you later. Yeah, maybe you better get lost and stay that way. Go ahead. Johnny. You better go Well, uh, happy hangover, mr. Walton You don't look like no college boy to me I was no professor of mathematics either but I could add this much up if those tuna clippers had gone down by explosion Somebody had to buy some explosives Maybe locally that problem I took to the local police who went to work looking up names in the dynamite register and Since those explosives would have been planted while the boats were under the care and supervision of captain Carpo That problem I decided to take to him It was 1 30 in the morning when I got back to the front of the Cormorant's restaurant and bar The grease joint was dark, but a light was burning on the second and top floor I got halfway up the front stairs to ask my leading suspect a few questions about explosions when I heard Carpo was still moving when I got there But not for long the back door was as open as the captain's life was closed I looked on the back flight of stairs. It was out of too dark Well, there wasn't anybody there and I wasn't going down a look. I've been over the body just to make sure Oh First they beat him half to death. I wonder why they didn't finish him that way Absolutely, it would be best if you were to remain where you are at least my pistol seems to recommend it You seem to have done an estimable damage to my good friend captain Carpo The poor fellow seems to be definitely dead In just a moment. We will return to the second act of Johnny dollar But first you might be interested to know that CBS has acquired a couple of blocks of wood You're not interested Well, would you be interested if you knew that those blocks of wood had been carved into certain figures? No, well, then let's try this. Would you be interested if you knew that those carved blocks of wood could talk? Now you're beginning to sit up and take notice Well, we might as well come out and tell you that these talking blocks of wood are named Charlie McCarthy and Mortimer snurd But they and a lively fellow named Edgar Bergen will be making their first appearance over most of these same CBS stations this Sunday evening That you'll be able to hear them every Sunday thereafter Now with our star Charles Russell we return to the second act of yours truly Johnny dollar I was again always the suspect but never the tried with a dead body at my feet and a pistol at my head The man holding it was not a small nor large Thomas Mitchell type his frame was fighting the seams of a sloppy tweed suit And his pouchy face was fighting the alcoholic content of his blood. Well, sir, what do you have to say for yourself? Oh, don't be ridiculous. I came to talk to this man killing him would hardly be the way to kick off a conversation How about you? What are you doing here at 1 30 in the morning? Most amusing most to accuse men each of them judging the other haha with a dead man for a jury All right then as for my testimony My name is cricket. I was on my way to discuss with the good captain car for a matter of possible mutual profit Naturally when I heard the shots from the street I hasten to his assistance I won't ask you how you knew Carpo was getting shot instead of doing the shooting My name is dollar. I'm an insurance investigator from Hartford, Connecticut I was sent out here to look into two sinkings in the captain's fleet. Oh, oh, then you and I shall come and interest my business It's obvious that I should put up this pistol and replace it with a shake of a hand. Haha. How do you do, sir? In my business, you'll never know How do you do this is indeed a most fortunate meeting a pity that it should take place upon the very threshold Poor poor couple his face seems to have enjoyed the worst of an encounter with a monkey's fist However, a monkey's fist. I mean, what's that? Well, a monkey's fist sir is a highly complicated knot woven about a slug of lead to lend weight Ordinary ladies intended for use at the end of a heaving line However, it is sometimes used by semen and the focus in the administering of torturer's beatings Now, what do you make of that? Well, if we can take the order of the centuries for it Torture suggests the violent seeking of information that would indeed seem to be the case From the looks of this room a monkey's fist or any other kind of knot wouldn't be hard to lay your hands on What's that one on the wall there? Oh, that is a miniature of a knotted ship spender Fender this is advice for cushioning the shock between a ship and a war for another vessel in modern sailing This type has largely been replaced by the commercial cork Oh, somebody evidently heard the shots and notified the police Look, Mr. Cricket, I feel like talking but not to the police Splendid ha ha perhaps then you would be kind enough to join me in a nightcap at my quarter. I'll lead me to it Mr. Cricket's quarters turned out to be a float and moored to a dock. It was a PT boat ex-Navy Oh And now what if you do the honors delighted I will invite the London Symphony to play behind our chair Tuckowski the pathetic Wow sweet phonograph records soft lights and hard liquor This is the kind of stuff. I enjoy my time off, which this doesn't happen to be there. We are Now now to business Mr.. Dollar, I assume that the insurance company that sent you out here is not Satisfied with the story of the thinking of the two vessels Frank and Nancy Walton I assume whether the two have been authorized to spend any necessary monies to not only view the evidence first hand But also if that evidence proves a criminal intent to be able to retrieve it from the ocean floor for use in court Are my assumptions correct? They are It can't be as simple as you make it sound the first job seems to me the toughest finding the spot where those clippers went down Haha, hey, I would bet you to say that with my special equipment I could detect the presence of the fillings in Davy Jones teeth. Haha. Yes. It is fantastic, sir And about your price. Is that fantastic too? My proposition is this a flat price of $5,000 and in the event that criminal intent is proved the possession Of the recovered house. I assume this five thousand only payable if you succeed in locating the boats Let us substitute the term Returnable for the word payable. I will need $5,000 in advance and our contract shall speak that in the unlikely Event of failure. You should get your money back less mine necessary expenses Agreed agreed. I'll have your money for you in the morning. Good. I trust I shall have your boat for you in the afternoon I Couldn't tell you about his fantastic sonic sounding device, but Otherwise, mr. Cricket was well equipped by ship to show a telephone. He ordered me a taxi Which I ordered to a corner near Roscoe Waltons Pacific deep-sea canning company Carpo's death made me want to get a good look at Carpo's office Something about the way he died kept baiting up the thought that there was something fishier about this case than just plain old-fashioned insurance fraud The only thing that was out of place in the place was under a rug and a Carpo's desk a wall safe sunk in the floor That proved easier to open a poker hand with free aces Lifted the heavy steel door The first thing I saw was an oblong package brown paper Stuck one hand in to lift it out and I couldn't So I used to on my back as heavy as lead But when I tore off the wrapping I Saw that it was as valuable as gold because that's what it was a gold ingot I didn't even have time to wonder because the subject suddenly changed from led the gold to cold steel in his void in his hand It's a little late to be canning fish isn't it Walton seems to be just right for breaking and entering What are you doing here entering the last phase of this investigation Walton and breaking the back of your little racket, or I should say big What do you mean rocket to me? It looks like your boats have been bringing in more than fish from the Mexican coast This heavy little handful makes it look like they've been hauling in Mexican gold I don't know what you're talking about. I'm not gonna stand here and be accused. That's all right You're not gonna stand there not on those feet Ah Are you kidding? You'll never make a living being a fight referee I'm what is commonly known as the winner Johnny Do you really believe what you said is true? What about smuggling in Mexican gold? Yeah, listen Anita when you find a private citizen with a gold ingot he is not using it for a watch Bob The only thing I learned after that was that two hours in the sack does not constitute a good night's sleep By 10 in the morning one phone call East and one telegram West $5,000 into my hands from a local bank and I after a quick call to the Coast Guard to cover a few final details Placed myself into the hands of mr. Cricket deep-sea guide extraordinary New jolting hours later a bucking bronco with a brine he had us crashing to the swell somewhere off the island of San Clemente Which is somewhere some 60 miles off the coast of Southern, California? My boy enjoying the voyage. Yeah Come now. This isn't what a sailor would call rough weather. I understand. I only hope my breakfast does Oh, this is nothing why I recall one time off the Spanish coast Yes, ma'am Prepare to be a means as the cricket had good reason to chirp about one thing He sure knew his business an hour later the hoax had been located We were riding on a mushroom anchor a diver had been put over the side was tug-a-war cop side by a cable on a wing He hit it right on the nose. They're both down there 30 yards apart Well dollar are you satisfied just about 90% mr. Cricket? Oh and the 10% Look, it's this way mr. Cricket if this case gets any place. I'll probably have to testify in court So far everything I've got a second hand. That isn't worth much in court. I've got to see those boats What what good heavens man you you mean you want to go over this side? I don't particularly want to but it seems to be part of this job Many times before in my career. I thought I had a heavy weight on my shoulders But that diver's helmet set the new record and those lead shoes and that rubberized canvas suit didn't feel exactly Zeus The temperature of the water outside felt much cooler than that forming on my brows This was a steam bath very tight Eight days later in my mind at least My lead wedges drove for a foothold on a slimy bottom and I had arrived shipside If I had no immediate way of determining the sex of a sunken ship I couldn't tell it from a bath to beam whether I was looking at the Frank or the Nancy Walton About then a passing current grabbed me and invited me out to dance along the ocean floor I grabbed out for anything for support. They turned out to be a rope hanging from the clippers gunnel Wanted to pass on across all right. I had a chance to take a closer look at what I was hanging on to The line was secured to a woven rope ship's fender Which mr. Cricket had not so long before told me was fashioned about a buoyant core of cork But this one felt heavy enough to be loaded with County cork As for buoyancy, this is about as buoyant as a lead balloon It was resting on the bottom and heavy to lift The next credit swept over me was mental I Clawed a sharp knife out of the diving suit belt started hacking at the woven rope Then drew a thin layer of canvas And that's as far as I got This ain't the three little fishies. Oh, they're here. All right blast it in all directions. You're talking about Well, I've got news for you pal You evidently didn't knock the hiding place at a carp over for you killed him, but I was lucky Not only have I already found that goal. I have stashed it If you think so Turn off my air I'll think about it. The trip up was slower than the trip down which was luck for me The first thing I heard when I broke through the surface is muffled by the helmet, but unmistakably gunfire The Marines hadn't landed but by George the Coast Guard certainly had and I had a grandstand seat for the whole affair My wishmen was busy ducking bullets and the winch just didn't decide to stop on its own hook So I went riding skyward until I was stopped by the tip of the boom And there I was hanging on his own hook to spend it over the deck looking through my helmet glass at the racing battle below Cricket directly below me was pumping a high-powered rock right and between shots shouting Person to whoever had opened fire on the US government I Looked down 20 feet between my dangling let's wait at the beat and saw a quick and taking care of the lame in his direction But once again, I grabbed my razor red shark night stuck it under the copper rim of my breastplate and ripped to the canvas and Bombs away my way did the rest expensive count item five Cab fare to the San Pedro police headquarters where I made my statement and heard mr. Cricket's a badly damaged mr. Cricket Well, sir during a short stay in Cleveland It was brought to my attention at every city in the country We're suffering an epidemic of small-time gold robberies dentist offices Corn shops and so forth Such a condition to keep my curiosity Yes Well, there's my love for money And I studied the situation more closely To my amazement I learned that the gold was being melted down patient in the ingots And sent off somewhere to the Orient for use in the gold and then smuggling traffic It occurred to me That if I could intercept the gold immediately after it's dispatched under the guidance of Captain Corporal to a larger ship Being made to see by his tuner clippers and I could realize for myself tidy profit Expense account items six $7.50 five pound box of chocolates for miss Anita Varguez address San Pedro Municipal jail It seems that the police sometimes classify a part-time girlfriend as an all-time accomplice Expense account items seven airfare Los Angeles to Hartford $176.87 and Being Friday, what do you think they serve for dinner on the plane? What else tuna fish salad? expense account total $1,264 and 28 cents yours Fruely Johnny dollar Johnny dollar is produced undirected by Gordon T Hughes and stars Charles Russell Script by Paul Dudley and Guild out featured in the cast were Willard Waterman, Junius Matthews, Edmund McDonald Georgia Ellis, Larry Dobbkin and Paul Jubar The special music is written and conducted by Wilbur hats Be sure and be with us at this same time next week when another unusual expense account is handed in by Yours truly Johnny dollar Every fall the ladies like to go out and get some new fall clothes Well CBS has gone out and gotten some new fall shows One of the gays to these new programs is the Red Skelton show which makes its bow over most of these same CBS station this Sunday night There's no one quite like Red Skelton as you'll find out when you tune in tomorrow The Red Skelton show is a part of the CBS great Sunday night last lineup. Don't miss it Now stay tuned for von Monroe who follows immediately over most of these same CBS station Paul Masterson speaking This is CBS the Columbia broadcasting system