 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 a word from our sponsor. David Bryan as Paul Garrett, Mr. District Attorney. Usually a District Attorney can quickly spot the work of an amateur in crime, but it's not always easy for him to solve the crime itself. One of the most puzzling and vicious crimes we ever worked on had it start in a city bowling alley about 10.30 one night. A flashy red-headed girl in the cashier's cage is talking to a boy lounging at the window. Oh, look, Nick, why don't you take me out? You kidding? Don't you want to? Well, sure I want to, Angie, but I got no money. No job now, Ladino's fired me. There's ways to get money. Oh, I better go. Here comes Ladino. What of it? I told you not to hang around here, Nelson. He ain't hurting nobody, Joe. I'll call him, keep away from you, baby. Now you get out and stay out, see? Okay, okay. You come into the office, Angie. It's your quick time anyway. Hey, Sammy, take the cage. Wait for me, Nick. I'll be back by the parking lot. Shut the door. Sit down. Well, what is it? You know what it is. You're my girl. Listen, I told you... No bum like Nick Nelson is gonna hang around you. What if I want him to hang around? Oh, you two-timer little... Stop it! You're not selling me back! You're my girl and you're gonna stay my girl, you see? It's my temper. You know how it is. It gets away from me. You forget about this, huh? I didn't mean to hurt you. You know, I'm crazy about you. What's kind of this? It's Joe's if that makes any difference. He's up over the sunbars. Drive over to the Parkway Theater. What's the idea? Don't ask questions. We'll show that loss of a Joe Ladino. We'll get money, plenty of it. Hey, now, wait a minute, Angie. Can't I want to be a pinboy all your life? You'd look nice all dressed up, Nick. But that theater... I know the Parkway. A girlfriend of mine used to usher there. Manager's name's Red LaSalle. He's made a couple of plays for me. Right now he'll be in his office cashing up. Creepers. We can't get away with that, Angie. Chicken, huh? No. No, I ain't, but... We ain't got no gun. Look there in my bag. With that kerchief around it. Where'd you get that? Out of Joe's desk. His car and his gun. Cops will trace him right to him. Oh, pull in here, Nick. Just past the theater. Leave the engine running? Shut it off. Anybody going by might think it was funny. Engine going and nobody in the car. Better let me have the gun, Angie. Don't touch it with your bare hands. I'll keep it. What if anybody's willing? That's their hard luck. It's me, Freddie. Angie Deviney. Can I come in? Yeah, just a minute. Don't make any noise. Hey, listen. Hey, is this a joke? Yeah, on you. Shut that door, Nick. You red-headed tramp. I'll... Oh! Shouldn't have done that, Angie. Didn't Joe Ladino did it. Grab that satchel, Nick. Let's get out of here. Oh, Harington, the manager. Yep. Name is Fred Losal. He was cashing up in here at the time. Who found him? The assistant manager. His name is Tomlin. He was inside the house. Thought he had a couple of shots. Came out in time to hear a car start up. Did he see you, did it? No, no. Thinks he saw the getaway car, though. Ran out front just as a big sedan pulled away. About a 49-model black. He's not sure it was the getaway car. No. But it got away so fast, he thinks it probably was. How much did they get, Harington? Oh, Tomlin thinks about a thousand. Maybe 1,200. Settle aside, usually mark some bills in every cash up. Just in case. He was held up once before. Oh, that might help. You got the mark? Yeah. Here, on this slip of paper. What about this assistant manager, this Tomlin? Well, looks okay, Chief, but I'll check through on him. Well, I hope you had a good sleep last night, Harington. We may not get any tonight. Let's go. Mr. Caterney's office? Yes. Oh, you did? Where? Uh-huh. What time did they find it? About half an hour ago? That would be about 2 a.m., yes. Yes. Mr. Garrett may want to call you back on this, Sergeant. He isn't in right now. Thank you. Anything on the Theater MO, boys, Miss Miller? Detective Bureau picked up Slips Madigan for questioning. They said he had a sound alibi. Do they pick up anybody else? No, they said no other logical suspect was in the area. Well, that's no help. But this may be the report from patrol station 19. Mmm, St. Burbank. Laxadan, 1950, 2 a.m., Montgomery Street. Unlocked, apparently in good condition. And this time element isn't long enough to make it an abandoned car, Miss Miller. But the neighborhood, Montgomery Street? I don't recall that street. Where is it? That ends on the city dump. Oh, that's different. The car was on the dump. Police following through on the license tag? Yes, sir. Where have you been, Harrington? Oh, hello, Chief, down at Ballistics. You got anything? Yep. LaSalle was shot with a .22. They've got the two slugs down there. Pretty small caliber. For an experienced hood to use? Yeah. Well, he might have been an amateur. Well, that's possible. Find out if any .22s have been reported stolen, Harrington. I did. Nothing reported. They'll call us if anything comes in. Well, we've got to find that gun. And the money satchel. Yeah, just like that. Do you want to talk to Sergeant Malloy? We'll swing around there on our way out. Let's have a look at that sedan, Harrington. This is a dump. Not exactly a garden of roses, Chief. You've seen anything in that sedan? No, not yet. There's a car up ahead. It's an old car. Well, there's a stand just beyond it. District Attorney. Got the flashlight, Harrington? Yeah. Anything on that steering post? Nope. Well, let's have that light. Take a look at the floor. Sometimes a thing will drop down. What's that little bows? Lift up the floor, Matt Harrington. What do you got? Cottage. .22 caliber. Beginning to add up, huh? Not necessarily, but it's a possible. Enough so to have this car towed in. Nothing in back, huh? Didn't see anything when I flashed the light there. What's the big smoke, Chief? Have time to look at that sedan. Check the registration, and we may want to talk to the owner. We didn't come to bowl. We're looking for a Joe Ladino. Well, I'm him. What's the pitch? Can we go somewhere and talk privately? Oh, sure. In my office. What do you want to talk to me about? I'm the District Attorney, and this is my assistant. Oh. Well, sure, right this way. Thank you. Yeah, thanks. Well, about an hour ago, noon, you reported to the police that your car had been stolen. Yeah, that's right. What about it? Well, when did you find out it was stolen? What is all about? Answer him, Ladino. When did you find out? Well, last night. Around, oh, midnight, I guess. Why didn't you report it sooner? Well, sometimes a friend of mine used the car. I thought, you know, one of them might have borrowed it. One of them? Yeah, yeah, I let a couple of the boys are working here. Use it once in a while. You know, for a favor. Sometimes my cashier, Angie Devine, she borrows it. I didn't want to report it in, have one of them picked up. They've been embarrassed. What did you do after you found the car was gone? I walked around, waited for him to bring it back. The air felt good, you know. Now, how long did you wait? Oh, I don't know. Maybe an hour. Now, come on. What's wrong, huh? I told you all I know. What's wrong? Plenty, Ladino. There was a holdup and murder at the Parkway Theater late last night. Huh? And your car was used for the getaway. This is David Bryan. Before we continue with Mr. District Attorney in the case of murder by amateurs, here is an important message from our sponsor. Mr. District Attorney. Fred Lassalle, manager of the Parkway Theater, was robbed and murdered. The car registered to Joe Ladino, bowling alley proprietor, was found by the police at the city dump. In the car we found a .22 caliber cartridge. The caliber bullet that killed Lassalle. We questioned Ladino. While his answers were straightforward enough, he couldn't furnish an alibi for the time of the murder. The next day at my office. Find anything on Ladino, Miss Miller? Nothing on the criminal file, just a lot of traffic violations. A lot? About a dozen, I call that a lot. Well, mostly for over-parking, a couple for speeding. No wonder, when everybody uses a guy's car. Did you check with gun records? Yes, sir, a .22 revolver was registered to Ladino two years ago. He bought it at Handshaws. Are we getting somewhere? Has Ladino a permit? Yes. Anything else, Miss Miller? Lieutenant O'Brien phoned in. What did he want? The police found that money, Satchel. Great, where? Out on the dump, O'Brien said he thought it was carried a short distance from the car and then thrown. Has Tomlin at the theater identified it? Yes, a positive identification. That just about wraps up that cause the murder car, Chief. It looks that way. And call the lab, Miss Miller. Have them go over everything, steering wheel, seat cushions, floor mats, the works. Yes, sir. Now, if we can find the gun, we'll find it, Harrington. Let's get over to Ladino's. But how dumb can a guy get, Chief, to do the job in his own car? Well, I'm not saying he did. If he used his own car, he probably used his own gun. Well, that might follow. And if he used his own gun, he'd either hide it in his room or in his office. Or throw it away. Yeah. It'll probably show up in somebody's trash barrel on the other side of town. But we'll see. He's got a boyfriend, too. She ought to have plenty of them. You ought to come in here. You know how Joe feels. I had to show you the suit. Oh, something you want, mister? Is Mr. Ladino here? No, he's out to lunch. If you want to leave a message, I'll... I'll assume we'll be back. He's been gone over half an hour. Pretty soon. We'll wait in his office. You tell me your business with him, I'll go get him. I know where he eats. We'll wait. Want the door closed, Chief? Partly, Harrington. That's good. See where that other door leads to, Harrington. Yeah. Maybe an outside entrance into this office. Harrington. Find something, Chief? Think of looking this desk drawer. A gun, huh? I ought to do it. We're not sure. It's the one we want. It was an outside entrance. You guys again, huh? Hey, you got no right to look at my desk? I have a search warrant, Ladino. Listen, I had about enough of this. Make it easy for yourself. Sit down. Sit down, I said. If you're clean, Ladino, you've got nothing to worry about. You're talking about it. You'll learn. You got a spare handkerchief, Harrington? Yeah. No point in getting my fingerprints on this revolver, too. Two empties. When was this gun last out of the drawer, Ladino? I don't remember. What difference, huh? I got a permit for that gun. I'll show it to you. We know you've got the permit. Now take it easy. When was it last out of the drawer? I don't know. Last month, sometime. What about these two empties, Ladino? Well, could be I left them in. I don't remember. You'd better come along with us. Nothing. If you think I pulled all that theater hold up, you're crazy because I... I'll take along this revolver, too. For ballistics in the lab. Come on, Ladino. Anything new, Miss Miller? The left face powder and lipstick on the seat cushion. A couple of red hairs. Well, that doesn't prove anything. Where are you, Mr. Garrett? Over at headquarters. Detention. Call me here if anything breaks. Yes, sir. You get that report, Harrington, from ballistics? Yeah, right here, Chief. Lab report's not quite ready. About what I thought it would be. And reasonable. See, I gotta get back to work. I've been here already a couple hours. You'll be here longer than that, pal. That twenty-two of yours killed a sal. Why? How could it kill anybody? It's been right there in the drawer. They test-fired the revolver down in the basement. They compared the slugs with those taken out of a sal's body. They all came from the same revolver. Yeah, malice, you can't pin that onto me. I don't know anything about it. I tell you, I never killed nobody. Well, tell me this. Would anybody be trying to hang this on you? Why? I'm talking to you, Latino. No. No, I've done nothing to nobody. Why would they try to hang it onto me? How many people have access to your desk? Oh, I don't know. A couple, maybe half a dozen. Anyway, what do they want with the gun? Who are they? Well, the guys in the bowling alley that take over when I'm out. My cashier, Angie Devine, a couple others. We'll be back, Latino. Oh, look, I've got to get back to work. He's about ready to confess, Chief. Yeah, not unless he's lying. What? I can't buy it, Hinton. But why not? Everything checks. Well, I might go along with it if Latino was hard up for money, but he isn't. He's doing all right with that bowling alley. Good bank account, excellent credit rating. Lap report for you, Mr. Garrett. Oh, thanks. I want to get a drink of water, Harrington. Then we'll go back in and question him some more. What's the bear report, Chief? Places of face powder on the revolver, same as the powder on the car seat cushions. Looks like a new angle. Harrington. Those two kids in the bowling alley, the redhead and the boy with the new suit. What about him? Find out where he bought it. That cost good money. Go to the best stores in the area. And, Harrington. Hey, yeah? Find out what they used for money. Where's the car, Nick? I didn't get it yet. Why not? Well, they had to do a break job on it. The guy said I could pick it up tomorrow. How do you like that? I was counting on it to move my things to the new apartment this afternoon. So all right, we'll get a taxi. Okay. I want to eat first, Angie. No, it's only four o'clock. I'm hungry, I'm hungry. I couldn't eat much lunch. All right. Come on. Yeah. Hey, wait a minute. What's the matter? Let's cross the street. I don't want to pass that cop. Oh, he won't bother us? Maybe not. Maybe not. I'm crossing over. Look, Nick. I don't feel right about cops. You told me Ladino was going to get tagged for that job, and now I read they let him go. I don't know what's going on. Oh, shut up. You're going to spend the rest of your life dodging cops? They'll never catch up with us. Look, Will, grab a taxi. Go move your things now. I ain't as hungry as I thought I was. Come on. Is that the apartment house, Chief? Yes. The big one on the corner. We'll wait here a while. Plenty dark here, away from that streetlight. Might be this car coming. Yeah, it is, Chief. It's the one the salesman pointed out this morning. That's a good idea, you had. Checking the used car lots. The first thing they always want is a car. Come on. It was easy to get her change of address, too. Once I got her old address from Ladino. Well, there she is. I'm just coming out. Take your side of the car, Harrington. I'll take the other. See, it's a real dreamboat. Don't stop that motor. Take the ignition key. What's the idea? Give me back that key. You guys got a nerve. It's a nice car, Nick. Nice suit, too. Not bad for a pin boy who was fired. I... So what's that to you? Say, you're the guys who came in to see Joe Ladino. That's right. Who are you? District Attorney, Angie. The what? Creepers. What were you two doing out around Montgomery Street the other night? We weren't out there. What night? The night LaSalle was murdered. Look, you got the wrong party, mister. Give us that key and stop being funny. You won't find it funny, Angie. Not when the jury finds out how you and Nick killed LaSalle. That's a lie. Unfortunately for you, it's not. You should never try to spend marked money, Angie. Or try to print a murder on to somebody else. Joe Ladino, for example. It shows up quicker when you do. I told you it wouldn't work, Angie. Shut up. I knew it wouldn't. No, you chicken. You guys ain't taking me. Watch it, Chief. She's got a gun in that bag. Now, go over to her, Angie. I'll kill you. I'll have to hurt you. Come on. Nick killed him. He had the gun. I didn't. You did have the gun. Don't believe her, mister. It was her. I didn't know where it was going. It doesn't make any difference now, Nick. It's bad news for both of you. Brian again. I hope you've enjoyed this case from the file of Mr. District Attorney. I'll be back in just a moment after this message from our sponsor. District Attorney, David Brian, with a word about the program you have just heard. You may remember the case. Nick Nelson turned state witness and was sentenced to 25 years in prison. Angie Davini was convicted of murder in the first degree and is now serving a life sentence. The case was another in the long list of crimes by juvenile delinquents. A serious problem that can only be solved by the complete cooperation of parents and all agencies of law enforcement. And now this is David Brian 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.