 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, the first a word from our sponsor. And now here is our star, David Bryan, as Paul Garrett, Mr. District Attorney. One of the most important factors in fighting lawlessness is the person who has witnessed a crime or knows something about it. Usually these people are cooperative and helpful, but sometimes as in the case you are about to hear, the witness tries to turn his knowledge into profit, becoming a criminal himself. Okay, let's get him. Hold it, friend. We're going in with you. I'm sorry, but it's only 8.30. The bank doesn't open for business until 10. I just stepped out for some breakfast. Well, you know why you stepped out. We know you're the manager that joined. Now fix this door so it's unlocked and don't argue. You mean it's a hold up? Fix the door. If I find it locked when we leave, I'll blow your guts out. I'll fix it. I'll fix it. There. Okay. Let's go in. Straight back to the vault. Call your people out from behind the counter. Act natural. Yes, sir. Will you please come out here, everybody? Everybody, please? You had it right, Willie. You already got the vault open for us. You still want a tidy hand? Certainly. That's what you got the wire for. All right, folks, against the wall. This is a hold up. Get your hands up. The thing's too, Willie. Everybody, everybody. Let the manager do the tying. You get in that vault and get the money. Right there, Willie. Mr. You, finish him up. Wait a second. Don't nobody move. What's the matter? You got a guard in this place. Where is he? I don't know. In my office, maybe? He should have stayed there. All right, Mr. Freeze. And don't get any ideas about going for that gun. No, John. John, John. Shot him. You'll get the same thing if I hear one more bleed out of you. What's with the load? I'll argue, people. Squeeze back against the wall and stay there. We're going out of here and I don't want to hear a move. See a move or smell a move. Get out of here, Willie. I'm loaded. Hey, right where you are, everybody. And don't try to follow us. Nobody. Open the door for me, Willie. Yeah. Let's go. Mr. Rue, folks, please, please. Hi, Sarge. Where's the... Oh, oh, I see it. Yeah, lying in front of the vault, chief. Yes. The officer tells me that you're the district attorney. I'm Harrington. This is the district attorney, Mr. Garrett. How do you do? I'm J.T. Barnes, manager of the bank. I went out for some breakfast this morning and they practically kidnapped me. First after you started work? Oh, yes, yes. I'm the first one here in my hour to start long before the bank opens for business. And you first saw these men outside. Yes, that's right. And they must have known all about the way a bank is run. They had everything down just right. You, uh... You think it was an inside job? Oh, no, no, no, no, no. I never saw either one of them before in my life. But one of them must have worked in the bank at some time. Oh, they spent a lot of time casing this place. Are they waiting at the door, Mr. Barnes? That's right. They made me let them in. What can I do? They both had guns and one of them told me he'd blow my guts out if I made the wrong move. What could I do? Very little, Mr. Barnes. We understand that. I only hope how Mr. Telford understands it. Mr. Telford is vice president in charge of this district. I hope he understands. I wouldn't worry about it, Mr. Barnes. It's not your job to fight gunman. No. Not when I have a wife and family to think about. Two children, Mr. Garrett. One, ten, the other, seven. Man has to think about things like that. He certainly does. I see the vault is still open. Yes. Wouldn't be much good to close it now. They've got just about everything in the way of cash. How much did they get away with, Mr. Barnes? More than $40,000. Imagine that. $40,000. And I can tell you everything they did. Everything. Poor Brady. Started to draw on them. They just pumped bullets into him. Poor who? That's Brady, our guard, onto that sheet. He's dead. Oh, let's take a look now. Yeah. Jim Brady. You knew him? Yes, for many years. Yeah, both of us. How many were there? Two of them. Uh, what did they look like? Nice-looking, well-vest. When they first came up to me, I thought they were bank examiners. Young? Between 25 and 30, I'd say. Both had hats on. One of them called the other one Willie. Willie was the one that killed Brady. Nice friendly personality. Hand me that piece of wire at your feet, will you, Harrington? They use that to tie up their hands. Bailing wire, much faster than rope. Yes, and not many people use bailing wire in the city. Get on this right away, Harrington. Check the hardware stores. See if one of them has sold any bailing wire in the past few days. Okay, Chief. Is there a phone I can use, Mr. Barnes? Yes, of course, right over here. Thank you. District Attorney's Office. I'm at the First National Bank, Miss Miller. I'd like you to do a quick check on something for me. Find out if there's anything on a bank robber who uses Willie for a first name. Yes, sir. I'll get on that right away. Any characteristics? He's about 28, flashy dresser, and there's something else. He's a killer. You got that? I've got it, Mr. Garrett. I'll see you at the office. I'll be there in about a half hour. You got the key. Yeah, I got it. You made it better than 42,000 bucks. Of course, that was a fast count in the car, but it's pretty close. You sloth head. What? I spent three weeks warning you about pulling boners, and what do you do? Pull the biggest of all. What are you talking about? I told you not to use my name, didn't I? Who used your name? You did. Willie this, Willie that. I don't knock your teeth down your throat. So I called you Willie. How did that hurt anything? There's millions of guys named Willie. But they ain't robbing banks. They ain't gonna have the cops looking for them. All right, all right. So goofed a little. They were all too scared to pay attention. Put that bag under the bed and let's get out of here. What are you looking around at? You seen the place before? You know Willie, I ain't sure if the dough is gonna be so safe here after all. What do you want to do with it? Carry it around in your hip pocket? This is what we rented the place for, ain't it? Yeah, but suppose somebody comes in and starts poking around. Who's gonna poke around a garage apartment? It's all by itself, ain't it? And it'll be locked up. How about kids? You know how kids are. Look, we figured this all out, didn't we? We have to have a place to keep the dough, don't we? What are the odds in somebody poking in here? What are the odds? Well, maybe we should split the dough and each take a share in leaf town. Like I said, you're a sloth head and you keep proving it. All we have to do to get cops in our back is to leave town or start spending a dough. We stay in town. We keep working on our jobs. We leave the dough here. We're mechanics. They don't figure mechanics for bank robbers. So we stay being mechanics, understand? All right, so I understand. You don't have to get so hot about it. You're like a dame always talking, always changing your mind. Knock it off. I'm warning you. Okay, okay. Okay, so let's get out of here. Come on, what are you dragging your feet for? I'm coming. Patterson? Yeah? Before we leave here, I want you to know something. What? We're going to stay together. I know that. Just make sure you know it good. I'll go trying to sneak back here to pick up the dough. Now why would I want to do a thing like that? Just don't, that's all. Try it and I'll kill you. Let's go. Any calls, Miss Miller? Oh, no calls, Mr. Garrett. I made that check up you asked for. The only Willie I got to make on is a Willie Sloan, and he's an Alcatraz. Well, so we draw a blank. That makes it tougher. District Attorney's Office. Hello, Miss Miller, the Chief there? Yes, he is, Harrington. Hold on. Hello, Harrington. I've been to 16 hardware stores, Chief. Where are you now? At the 17th. I'm waiting for a clerk to come back. The manager says the clerk sold some failing wire yesterday. He says he thinks the clerk knows the guy he sold it to. Sounds like a possible lead. Call me back as soon as you find out anything. Yeah, that might be pretty quick. My fellow just came in and went behind the counter. Must be the clerk. I'll let you know, Chief. Yes, sir. Can I help you? Oh, how are you? I think maybe you can. Are you Zimmer? Yes, I am. I'm with the District Attorney's Office. I understand you sold some failing wire yesterday. Failing wire? Yeah, that's right. Your boss said he thought maybe you knew the man you sold it to. You're from the DA's office? What's the matter? Somebody pulled something? Do you remember who bought the failing wire? Hey, a bank robbery this morning. Hey, you was failing wire to tie up the people. You heard about it on the radio. Who bought the failing wire, fellow? What do you know about that? Did you sell the wire? Yeah, yeah, I sold it. Did you know the guy you sold it to? Did I know him? Well, who makes you think that? Look, I'm asking the questions. Did you know the man or not? Well, no. No, I don't think I did. You don't think you did? Well, how do I know? People come in at all at the time. Lots of people wouldn't want to accuse anybody of something. Well, I'm not asking you to accuse anybody of anything. I just want to know if you knew this man you sold the wire to. Sorry, Mr. But I couldn't say definitely that I didn't know him. All right. Have you seen him around here at all? You know, at other times? No. Can't say I have seen him around. Well, do you remember what he looked like? Look, I told you. A lot of people come in here to buy things I can't remember all their faces. Okay, I might come back and talk to you later. District Attorney's office. Hello, Miss Miller. Is he there? Just a moment here, Anken. It's for you, Mr. Garrett. Thanks. Hello, Anken. What did you find out? I got nothing, Chief. I got a funny host this fellow was holding out on me. The clerk? Yeah. He sold bailing wire. He admits that. But he hate about the hold up and I think he's covering up. He said he didn't know who it was he sold it to. But he acted funny and, well, I think he was lying. Where are you now? Drugstore, crossing the hardware company. Corner of 10th and Trent. I'll meet you in front of the place as soon as I can get there. Well, it looks like we missed. What happened? It's gone. Must have ducked out while I was talking on the phone. That's too bad. Well, what do you think we ought to do? Well, hang around. This is our only lead and somehow we've got to break the case with it. This is David Bryan. Before we continue with Mr. District Attorney in the case of the bank killer, here is an important message I'd like you to hear. And now back to David Bryan starring as Paul Garrett. Mr. District Attorney. A bank had been robbed. A woman slugged. A bank guard murdered. Indications were that the gunmen were first timers and these are often the hardest to catch. We had one important clue. The bailing wire used to tie up the bank workers. But the hardware clerk who sold it to the killer turned out to be an uncooperative witness. We had a hunch he wanted to play along with the crooks. As you'll see, we were right. What can I do for you? And look at the pettices. No peddlers here, but another peddler and a friend of his. What do you want to call him? Paterson! What? Come here! Friend is, eh? What do you want to talk to him about? What are you, his keeper? This is personal. Don't get tough with me, Chumma. It'll get you nothing but wealth. What do you want, Willie? Oh, hello, Zimmer. This guy says he's a friend of yours. Yeah, yeah, I know him. Says he's got something personal to talk about. Anything I should know? What do you want, Zimmer? I want to talk to you. Private. Come on, spell it. I said it's personal. It's okay. Will he give us a couple of minutes, eh? Okay. A couple of minutes. Come here, kid. What's on your mind? A fellow come into the store today. Said he was from the district attorney's office. Yeah. Wanted to know about that bail-in wire I sold you. What do you want to know about it? Wanted to know who I sold it to. Did you tell him? No, I didn't tell him. I brushed him off. Good boy. What's he good for? What's this about the DA's office? I thought you was going to let us talk private. Mind your word. Good for nothing. Never mind my word. What's it all about? It's okay. You don't have to worry. All I hear is okay, okay. What's okay? This cop comes into the hardware store. They ask about the bail-in wire. And Zimmer, he brushes them off. So it's okay. How come this guy knows about the bail-in wire? I bought it from him. You mean you bought that wire from a guy that knew you? Listen, the kid's all right. He brushed off the cop, didn't he? Boy, you? What do you have to do that for? You slop head. I ought to kick your face in. Well, I guess I'll be gone. Wait a minute, you. Look at all me. And they're going to push me around like that. What do you come here for? Let him go, Willie. He's a pal. He's a creep. Look at all me. I brushed off the cop, didn't I? So you brushed off the cop and you come sucking around here telling us about it. You figure you're going to shake us down for a cut of the dough. I'll show you. I'll cut you off. I'll choke you. I'll choke you. I'll choke you. I'll sneak in and fight you. Look at all Willie. The boss is looking his way. Look at you and your pals. You shouldn't have done that to me. You shouldn't have done it. Take it easy, kid. Take it easy. You're going to be all right. Oh, Willie loses his temper once in a while. That's all. This time he's not going to get away with it. I'm just going to ask you guys for a couple of hundred bucks. Now it's five thousand. You hear that? What do you hear? You hear what you're done? Shut up. He had it pegged for five grand from the start. Now you ought to... You try that again and I'll let you have it with this tire, Ion. All right, kid. So we do business, but down the iron. I put it down when I walk out of here. How much dirt do you think you have to have? I said five thousand, I want five thousand. I want it this afternoon. We're supposed to be working here. We don't knock off until four o'clock. I'll meet you somewhere. Don't get any ideas about getting rid of me. My wife's going to be somewhere close by. Anything goes wrong and she yells for the cops. You've got everything figured, ain't you? That's right. I've got everything figured. All right. What is it, 430? Then 34 Maxwell Street. It's in the back, up over the garage. I'll be there. You think anybody followed you here? I know they didn't. How about where you work? Ain't they going to wonder why you're ducked out? That's my worry. I'll take care of it. I'll see you later. And now you patterson... He's a boss, Willie. I've got to get back to work. That's the guy, Chief. Gordon, let's go in and talk to him. Zimmer. Yeah? Oh, it's you. This is the district attorney, Mr. Garrett. All right. Just like to ask you a few questions, Zimmer. I already told you it's all everything I know. I understand you sold some bailing wire the other day. That's right. Your boss seems to think you know the man you sold it to. Sorry, but the boss is mistaken. You don't remember the man at all. I already said I don't remember the man. You've got a defiant attitude about this, Zimmer. Why? Who's defiant? Just tired answering a lot of questions. I don't think you can say we've asked you a lot of questions. You keep asking the same questions over and over. I told your cop here the same thing I'm telling you. I don't know the guy who bought the bailing wire. You have a lot of people coming in here all the time. Half of them I don't even look at. When do you usually take your lunch hours, Zimmer? What difference does that make? You mind answering the question? All right. I go at 12.30. How long do you usually take? Half an hour. It's almost two o'clock. You took a pretty long one today, didn't you? I had a couple of things I wanted to do. You mind telling us what they were? Yes, I mind. I haven't done anything wrong. I don't see why I have to keep answering your questions. I guess I got my rights, haven't I? You've got your rights, Zimmer. I just hope you have the good sense to keep them. Come on, Harrington. What do you think, Chief? He's too fussy. I'm sure your hunch is right. You stay here in front, Harrington. I'm going around to the alley. I don't want that fellow to get away from us again. It might take quite a while, but we're going to stay with him until something breaks. Is Zimmer coming? No sign of him yet. And what are you doing back up here? Eh, I sure hate to see him get that five grand. I still think we ought to take all the dough and blow town. We ain't blowing town, and we ain't giving up any part of the money. What do you mean? Made a couple of phone calls this afternoon. I found out that Zimmer ain't married. He was bluffing when he said he'd have somebody with him when he came up here. So what are you going to do? So, when he once gets here, he ain't going to leave. You're going to kill him? He's got it coming, Paterson. Yeah. Yeah, there ain't no honesty in a guy at all. But what do we do with his body? Leave it here. We'll move somewhere else. But I want to be sure he ain't followed by cops. So you get down there and watch. Okay, Willie. Watch it, Harrington. He's slowing down. Yeah. He's going to take that next corner. At least a block behind him. Right. Hang on for the turn. He's slowing down again, Harrington. Watch it. Yeah. Yeah, he's pulling up. We better stop right here. Yeah, this is it all right. He's getting up. Watch where he goes. Looks like that red house. He's going around the back. All right, Harrington. Let's take it easy. Oh, you found it all right. Yeah, I found it. Come on in. Good place for a hideout. Is this where you're giving the money? You really want to be in on this thing, don't you? Hey, what's the idea of the knife? Beauty, ain't it? Six-inch blade. Don't move. No, no, wait a second. What was this cop you talked to? There were two of them. What all do they say about us? I told you they just wanted to know who you are and what you look like. And you told them. No. Why should I tell them when you're going to give me a cut of the money? You told them. No, no. Get that thing away from me. Oh, I know they didn't follow you here. Look, I had my car parked three blocks from the store. I went out the back, ducked up the alley, got a course to parking lot, went to the market. I know they didn't follow me. Good. Because now I'm going to do something I've been wanting to do for the last three hours. Get away from me. Get away. You didn't really think we were going to sit still for the shakedown, did you? Wait, wait, please wait. I'm going to cut you, friend. I'm going to cut you, but good. No! Let go of me. Let go of me. Get him in here. The punch. How about out there in the street? Anybody around? Don't worry. It wasn't followed. Just a couple of guys selling paint jobs for houses. Try to sell me one. Me. Oh, what's wrong with that? Willie, you're a card. A real card. He's getting up. Grab his arms. I got him. Listen, you got to let me out of here. I won't say anything. I promise. I'll say you won't say anything. I want to get his throat patterned. Oh, no! Don't move. Any of you. Pops! Clutch the gun, Harington. You too. Get your face to the wall. Wait a minute, Zimmer. Where do you think you're going? Home. I've got things to do. You're under arrest. What for? I didn't do anything. You did and it's plenty. There's the money, chief. And guess where they had it? Under the bed. Just tell me one thing. Are you the two guys who were supposed to be selling paint around here? That's right. Why? It just proves to me why I lost out on this deal. A real slophead for a partner. That's not why you lost out, Mr. But you wouldn't believe the real reason. Your kind never does. Let's go. 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's the star of Mr. District Attorney, David Bryan, with a word about the program you have just heard. I'm sure you read about this one in your newspapers. The two men we called Willie and Patterson were convicted of bank robbery, assault with intended kill, and with murder in the first degree. Both will spend the rest of their lives in prison. The hardware store clerk we called Zimmer was tried and sentenced on charges of being an accessory after the fact and attempted extortion. 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.