 From Hollywood, it's time now for Johnny dollars. Oh, I just left you down in Florida. Why are you right where you left me right here in Sarasota? Oh Well, if you're worried about my expense account for that case we cleaned up together. I was just about to mail it to you Why don't you perhaps you hopped aboard your plane back to Hartford? I got a phone call from Bill Hall remember him Well, who runs that men's shop on the Tammy Emmie trail Sure, I bought a sports jacket and a couple of pair of slacks there at West Well, somebody cleaned him out of about $10,000 worth of merchandise last night. Oh, and you didn't shoot it for him Yes, and he had there as a night watch. Oh Okay, I'll grab the first plane I can't in the exciting adventures of a man with the action-fact expense account America's fabulous freelance insurance investigator yours truly Johnny dollars And now act one of yours truly Johnny dollars Accounts submitted by special investigator Johnny dollars to the tri-state life and casualty company Sarasota office Following is the kind of expenses incurred during my investigation of the net of circumstance matter Expense account item one seventy five dollars plane for an incidentals Hartford to Tampa, Florida There I figured on changing planes, but Earl Pullman met me in this car and by 7 p.m. We arrived at Sarasota. We drove straight to webs the place was in a mess Well, I'll say this mr. Pullman you certainly didn't waste any time. Well, I didn't see any reason to bill Johnny You remember Bill Hall. Yeah, sure. How are you, Bill? Good, darling? Not good. Look at the place They've lost a lot of your stock. You haven't finished checking yet. I sent the boys home to get some sleep But as nearly as we can tell whoever did this got away with over 9,000 worth of clothing and accessories And I don't know what they did to old Jimson Jimson Jimson Cooley the night watchman Oh, you said over the phone that you thought he's been murdered. Yes, sir Somehow they must have got old Jimson to open the back door for them Then when he saw what they were up to he tried to fight them off You'll see the marks of a big struggle out back and bits of his clothing were lying around covered with blood But no sign of him Johnny the police figure that they must have killed him and then dumped his body somewhere You keep saying they bill they had so little time that One man couldn't have done it alone very well You see it all happened between the regular rounds of the PD's prowl car last time this sort of thing happened There were three men in on it. Were you've been robbed before about a year ago something like 18,000 worth The police managed to track down two of them. Oh, what about the third? Well, he was never identified or rather. He was identified but never located Anyhow, it was after that that we put old Jimson on his night watch. Hmm. I wonder about that third man Was your store the only place that Jimson watched? Yeah, after all he was a pretty old man I I gave him the job to help him out as much as anything else And I figured it's just being around would keep something like this from happening again I guess that was wrong Jimson used to run a shrimp boat in his spare time He used to work the spot east of humpback bridge a lot south of City Island. That's right I'm gonna think of it I heard a boat working out there last night the point is he couldn't really make a living at it So he was glad to take what little we could give him for this watchman chef and in return somebody's taken his life You prayed so of course, you can't be sure until his body's found. What are you thinking of Johnny? Well, if by any chance this Jimson Cooley isn't dead the police say that according to all the evidence If he's still alive, he's the one person who could tell us something about whoever cleaned up this shop And the police found any actual clues to work on well. No, that's where you're wrong, sir Sergeant Drummond. That's right. Johnny boy. How are you? Hi, it's Duncan. So they dragged you in on this Yeah, I'm Fred so well, you know how it is Drummond when the police can't get anywhere you call in the expert Oh, and I thought you were a friend of mine, Mr. Pullman You said that bill was wrong Sergeant. What's it when he told me your boys haven't found any clues to who did this job and Knocked off Jimson Cooley knocked him off, huh? Well, now what's that mean one of the boys picked up a drunk last night right in this neighborhood Yeah late this morning when he'd sobered up enough we sent him home a little while ago He comes barging back to headquarters seems he suddenly remembered something he saw around here last night come on sergeant Well must have been around 2 or 3 a.m. That's when we figured the robbery occurred and the murder of Jimson Cooley Yeah, please get to the point Drummond Well, he was holding up that building across the street mind his own business and his bottle when all of a sudden he saw a Car come around from in back of this building and head north on the trail Maybe two of me wasn't sure Anyhow the one he noticed was a little pickup truck But in his condition, I suppose he didn't get a license number you need to Johnny because he recognized that truck Oh Yes, sir, and he said it was all loaded down with something with no piece of canvas stretch over the stuff that was stolen from me Maybe you say he recognized that pickup. Who's was it? Yeah, Johnny was that old 1930 model He used a whole shrimp in what who's that's right. That's right. It was that old truck the Jimson Cooley Act two of yours truly Johnny dollar in a moment and now for another episode in the life of sergeant Donald Bellwether Good morning, this bellwether wouldn't my lady prefer to have a breakfast in bed this morning. Oh Thank you, darling Here's the tray with a coffee toast and they aren't I got the orange juice. Oh I'll be right back The national safety code was right the one last night I read something in a national safety council pamphlet Oh, Riba. How can you sit there talking about a pamphlet when I'm dying a slow torture with them? Now what's this about the National Safety Council? Did they predict that would stub my toes this morning? It's just a coincidence Only last night I read the statistics that prove that more home accidents occur in the bedroom of all places Not the bathroom with a kitchen at a home workshop the bedroom When I walk around the bedroom, I'm gonna wear my combat boots instead of these open toad for the rock Well, that might help here But what everyone should be most careful of is taking medicine in the dark. Okay, my living safety in psychopedia I will now fetch your arms. Oh, you're sweet And it's just too bad that you nice men are so prone to accidents in the home And the reason is because you braid men usually tackled a hazardous job around the house Hey, I'll remember those kind words as I slowly limp back to the kitchen one thing in your favor though, Sarge Married men stand a better chance of avoiding fatal accidents in the home You know in one state 75% of the men involved in home mishaps were unmarried Well, I'm sure glad I'm married because the accident odds are better, you know because I like my wife Even when she first wakes up in the morning That's my darling And now act two of yours truly Johnny dollar and the net of circumstance matters Yeah, everything indicated that whoever burglarized webs have an ashery there in Sarasota had murdered the night watchman old Jimson Cooley that is until somebody reported having seen a loaded pickup truck at the time in the robbery pull away from the back of the Store and whose truck was it? Yes, sir. He swears with that old 1930 pickup of Jimson Cooley And he says it went north on the Tammy Amme trail. Yes, sir What have you done about it sergeant alerted every police department from here to the Georgia State line beyond look out for him Didn't you know that truck was missing from wherever Jimson live? Well, we hadn't actually got around to checking on his place yet You thought he was worried and you didn't even bother to check his home Well, we called his wife Johnny and when she said he hadn't come home with all the evidence of a big fight out back this door Oh, fine. You can't blame them Johnny all the blood back there bits of Jimson's folding it with two and a half I don't look look maybe it's just a wild hunch, but Yes, Johnny you suppose doc crutches at home probably live just at the street from my house We got a doctor connected with headquarters. You know Johnny. Well, how do we get out the back way? We're right out here, Johnny What's this hunch you've got huh? Tell you we're all and as it probably turned out to be wrong Yeah, you can see for yourself dollar while we figured him a dead one old Jimson I mean Busted railing blood spattered around and look there where somebody hit the dirt Full of blood there too. You must have lost plenty. No, so we picked up a short length of lead pipe with blood on it This the piece of cloth on the shirt. He was right. Yeah, Johnny is from a shirt. I gave him going off in a fight Well, I guess we must overlook that little piece. Yeah, maybe that isn't all What if I keep it sure go ahead? What would you mean? Well, if you feel like grabbing me around a bit there are a couple of people I'd like to see sure no No, no, wait a minute. We'll see you later Yeah, it was a hunch nothing else, but I learned a long time ago that sometimes it pays to play a hunt for all its worth Particularly when you haven't anything real solid to work on Ignoring your questions. I had him drive me to doc crutches home out on St. Armand's key Fortunately, he was at home even better. We found him in his study pouring over a microscope Sure Johnny be glad to just as soon as I finish making this hemoglobin count. Well, there's no hurry doc I'll drop by and check with you later Jimson Cooley, huh? We will see. Look Johnny, do you mind telling me what this is all about? Not until I'm sure myself, Earl Listen, do you think you can find out where old Jimson's wife lives? Sure. I guess I'm sure. Don't you mean widow Johnny? Maybe Last I heard everything I've heard Well, it doesn't all tie up. Look Johnny if Jimson's still alive. That's what I'm banking on. Come on, Earl The coolie place far out on the edge of town was a shack and nothing more In the darkness. It didn't look much better than the beat-up chicken house at the back of it That's for the chickens. I'll have a more sleep out in the yard until we got there I'm coming I'm coming What oh Mr. Palmer, Mrs. Cooley. This is Mr. Johnny. Don't listen in on Mr. Palmer. They found Jimson's body Yeah, no as a matter of fact, I sure hope they do that's all I got to say because of the don't We put Miss. Canterwell told me today if they don't I might have to wait five six years for I can collect that Ensure that we're bought Well got any news about him or not Johnny You uh, you don't seem to care much whether your husband's alive or not No, why should I ladies bum? It wasn't for me raising these hips We were shrinking and selling them for bait of them yankies to come down to fish around the other window He done pretty good. We had meat on the table now then side chicken Ever since they got in that soft job setting around that store every night Did you know to find the police when he failed to come home this morning? I did not Besides when I've seen that one of them nets was missing you see where he keeps them hung over the lemon that tree out there What I figured is maybe drawn out to do some more shrimpin Or else he's cooking it out and sold it so as you can buy some more of that rotgut. He's been drinking lately I got this boom handed by the door To keep him up as he wouldn't try to come in and beat me beat you sure like he always does when he's been drinking Then when he didn't come home at all and his tenter will stop by and told me he'd been killed Well, you know who I think done it One of that gang that tried to rob wed last year Now why do you think that because Jemson told me one of them was around town. That's why Jemson knew who he was and didn't report it to the police. How should I know? Wonder why not now look if you all didn't come around to pay me my insurance What is it you won't well what I really stopped by for mrs. Cooley was to see if you'd sell me one of your chicken Why sure only the cost of money Maybe 75 cents. All right here. Here's a dollar and we'll call it even Thank you Only I suppose you want it locked to no no thanks suppose you just give me the head Yeah, you can have the rest of it for dinner tomorrow. What and come on. Oh, let's get back to St. I'm sorry Johnny, but I really ought to have some of the materials down at my office for putting that specimen You gave me under the microscope Of course if you could wait until morning, oh sure why not once more I could use a little shut-eye But here Take along a sample of the blood from this to would you you've been out raiding somebody's chicken coop now You may want it for comparison If you know what I mean Yes, I think I do well. I don't Why don't you and I go home and get some sleep Act three of yours truly Johnny dollar in a moment Do you know who said that man is free who is protected from injury? Those words came from Daniel Webster one of the most eloquent orators in American history Webster knew that a man could not be free unless he lived in a country Recognized his right to freedom and created laws to protect that freedom a Slave state may say that its citizens are free But as long as a single citizen can be harmed by the whim of a country's rulers True freedom does not exist A man is free only if his rights to freedom are protected Remember the words of Daniel Webster They are part of your American heritage The free man must be protected from injury And now act three of yours truly Johnny dollars Early the next morning I got a phone call from Sergeant Drummond down at headquarters Jimson Cooley What did he say about that burglary sergeant And probably thought he'd killed him What about the stuff that was stolen must transferred it to his own car when he left Jimson there was Jimson able to identify him Said he claimed to be the man. We never did get to rob that store the first time Yes, I'll be right over I had a real driving on a headquarters I saw Jimson Cooley talk to him but learned nothing from him. I didn't already know He was a disagreeable old coot the sort who would get drunk and beat his wife He still wore his baby torn clothes and yes, he had a couple of cuts and bad bruises But were they enough to account for all the blood we found at the back of the store? I asked her to drive me over to Doc Crutcher's office Well, just finished Johnny and I'm sorry But the blood that was spilled out and back of that store was not chicken blood But now I see what you were driving at Johnny you figured maybe Jimson had done the robbery himself wait Oh, then he'd covered the place with chicken blood to back up that story of a fight with some burglar Oh, I think he was in a fight. All right, but I don't think he lost As I started to say I wanted to check the blood on that piece of his shirt You brought me here in the office where I have a record of Jimson's blood. I got it when I made his insurance examination Or was it his on the shirt it was human blood all right, but not Jimson Cooley's all right Then I guess his story of having been forced to open the store then beat up and knocked out and left out there in his car By the burglar is true wrong girl. Well, what do you mean? Why not? Didn't you say you heard a shrimp boat out on the bay last night? I sure but what's that got his wife said one of those heavy weighted shrimp nuts was missing didn't she? Yes, I remember this Bill Hall said that one man wouldn't have had time to take all that stuff out of his store alone So maybe there were two burglars and I still don't Jimson said there was only one So I think he was helping him and how do you think for a minute that Jimson lost all the blood We saw it in back of that store. You saw him there at headquarters. Well, he didn't exactly look as though he didn't But then Johnny first we wanted to find Jimson's body, but then he turned up alive Now we'd better find the body of this other man whoever he is You're right Johnny, then you'll really have a case sure So well, let's go fishing fishing. Well, you know how it is when I'm really stuck in a case everything all muddled up Well, it's time to relax and kind of let you head clear. Come on. Let's go Sure, Earl thought I was crazy But we unhitched the boat from this private dock and headed up the fire and passed under humpback bridge and into the Outer end of Sarasota Bay up towards City Island where WSPB has its radio I tied on a heavy trolling rig and tossed the line of the boat Johnny you're crazy to use that heavy rig out here. The water is real shallow All it'll do is drag the bottom a little slower Here in the Bay we use live shrimp to get sea trout, you know about a number two hook and no sinker We bottom fish slower. What is it? Okay, whatever you say And so we trolled back and forth over the place where Jimson ran his shrimp Johnny it's no good fishing here with that heavy tackle. This is where he got his shrimp. There ought to be fish or something Maybe I'm after that something. I think you've gone nuts And 15 maybe 20 times I had to reel in the line and take off a clump of seaweed as it got tangled They'll begin to get impatient Really gonna fish while didn't we do it right? Then suddenly the old flugus started to sink. Hold it, Earl. Yeah, what is it? Just hold your horses Under the sun if you try it in through Johnny if this line will hold we may have what I've been looking for Imagine what kind of a fish would be that big here in the Bay? Fine fine all you've done is get snagged up in some old hunk of rotten fish net. Yeah Or a shrimp net if you'll just help me get it aboard sure It's a little more Johnny and I'll be able to reach the part where you've hooked into it Little more Yeah, I got it I'll give me a hand right Yeah, no Put a lot of lead on these net But I never thought they could Look what's in it. Yeah, good law When Kimson was faced with the man's body wrapped in the net he'd sunk out there in the bay He broke down and told us what had really happened even told us where the stolen stuff with him Yeah, the dead man was one of the gang who'd robbed the store a year ago He persuaded Jimson to help him do it again offered him a hundred bucks But then when he had the stuff he tried to run out without paying off sold Jimson had killed him Now the courts will have to take over Incidentally, I understand that webs is installing a foolproof burglar alarm system Expense account total a hundred fifty one fifty yours truly Johnny doll originates in Hollywood and is written produced and directed by Jack Johnstone heard in our cast were Lillian bio Vic Perlin Harry Bartell Barney Phillips Bartlett Robinson and Bill James Be sure to join us next week say in time and station for another exciting story of yours truly Johnny dollar Is Dan Cumberley speaking Johnny dollar has come to you through the worldwide facilities of the United States Armed Forces radio and television service