 Johnny dollar What can I do for you? I beg your pardon? It was quite all right, and it's granted granted And now that's all you have to say No, wait a minute. Who are you? What floor? I'm busy. I'm a busy man Alvin Peabody card right who you what are you calling about mr. God right calling me Who are you Johnny dollar? Listen, what a fortunate coincidence You're just the man. I want to talk to coincidence of course that you happen to call me this way Well, I'm afraid it was the other way around What's on your mind mr. God right Johnny threaten oops again And since my life is insured by the continental insurance and trust company That makes it an insurance matter. Yeah, well now look Anybody but you look into such matters So Johnny I want you to come over here to Lakewood and see me right away Yeah, well mr. Cut right you're sure this isn't just some some Well, you know a couple of times in the past that is that these emergency calls are yours Well, I'm not you fail to come here and protect me against this This threat and only two things can happen First I can be murdered and Second I'll cancel all the rest of the insurance I have with that company after you've been murdered So you get yourself on over here right away, mr. Cut hello Well, here we go again And yet I wonder Brings you Bob Bailey in the exciting adventures of the man with the action-pact expense account America's fabulous freelance insurance investigator yours truly Johnny dollar That's a count submitted by special investigator Johnny dollar to the continental insurance and trust company home office Hartford, Connecticut Following is an account of expenses incurred during my investigation of the deadly chain matter Thanks to Alvin Peabody Cartwright I've been involved now and then in some real wild cases real crazy on the other hand He's an erratic old eccentric, but extremely wealthy as a result He's not only been the target of a lot of rackets, but has come very close to being murdered more than once So item one on the expense account of dollar for a taxi to the officer bill Ferguson that continental insurance and trusts No Johnny hasn't said a word to me. We tell you what kind of threat he's received No bill as usually told me nothing. Well, it doesn't matter But with the millions worth of insurance we've written for Cartwright and I mean millions and to be sure we don't lose his account or some other company Well, we can afford a pamphlet a bit which is to say we can well afford to pay your expense account Even if all he wants to do is say hello to you. Okay, then bill I'll run over to his home in Lakewood and see him of course if he really is being threatened Don't worry. I'll let you know about it expense account item two five seventy mileage on my car to Lakewood But my money, it's one of the prettiest little towns in all of New England home of a lot of wealthy retired people The card right place where the old man lives alone sits on top of a low hill at one side of the lake with two or three acres surrounding the final house Hi, I'm a scared right John me dolly. Oh well This is an unexpected pleasure Unexpected come in boy. Come in. Come in. Thanks Well, sir, how are you this fine? July afternoon afternoon? It's almost evening Can't you see that? Well, how are you anyway? Oh, I'm terrible down. Oh, I'm just terrible That rainy weather the past couple of days. I've hardly been able to talk Well, there's nothing wrong with today a lot of nice warm sunshine today all today. I've been feeling fine Whatever made you think otherwise And tell me whatever brought you here to Lakewood a phone call mr. God, right? Oh, yeah From you. You said you want to see me right away. I said I was oh Yeah, of course I did and you know why why sir because I refuse to do anything foolish That's why and yet if I don't Johnny I'll get myself killed just like Hector Kenworthy an alfis J. Perry if you don't what mr. God right carry on the chain lesser. I've received now wait a minute. That's a fact Look here I read you see what it says Continue this chain It says and you will not only receive a lot of money when your name reaches the top of the list But in exactly a dozen dozen hours A dozen hours is exactly six days. I figured that one out. Yeah, I'll go on reading. Yes now here In exactly a dozen dozen hours. You will have unexpected great good luck But if you break the chain and it doesn't listen ours die a disaster will overtake Oh, now look look surely you don't believe that kind of junk It's very same lesson was received by the two friends of mine I mentioned Paramount in Chicago and Kenworthy out in Los Angeles They broke the chain in exactly six days. They were both dead colonists. Oh, no, sir This is a vicious murderous racket. Well, I'm sure of it. Why do you say that mr. Because of the way they died Johnny. Oh Maybe it better tell me about it Died exactly six days after he broke the chain of these letters just the way the letter said he would coincidence I tell you mr. Can't write or at most result of some superstitious fear that the letter instilled in him. No, sir Well, that's what these chain letters do They hold out that phony hollow promise of giving you something for nothing and they scare you into doing it Work on your superstition Johnny and if you think superstition is dead in this enlightened age, you're wrong Why some of these chain letters even include a religious sounding prayer for good luck And you know the only people who profit by the letters they did ask to send money The people who start them or maybe one or two others out of the millions who sent them along millions of suckers But Johnny that isn't as anybody, you know anybody who's ever carried on the chain. How much did they get out of it? Nothing. Well now this one is only for an exclusive group of wealthy retired people Oh sure, but take my word for it. It's worthless But don't you see even if it's one of those that doesn't require sending any money You can be sure the crook who got it going either has some ulterior purpose or he's just a plain crackpot Anybody who gets scared into going on with it ought to have his head exam Johnny will you listen to me and if they want you to send money I'm I'm sorry. Mr. Carter. I go ahead Just how did your friend in Los Angeles die after the dozen times a dozen hours at past? Yes, well now the same as my other friend Alpheus Parryman in Chicago. Yeah, well They were both of them run over by a hit-and-run driver at exactly the time the chain letters said Disaster would overtake me You know they're against the law, don't you chain letters for any purpose? Of course they are and they should be But you just listen to this and this is why I'm worried. Yeah A dozen dozen hours after he received this letter and carried on the chain Admiral parley baron came into a great fortune. Oh sure. Yeah Now and this one adjutant general frederick milky or was suddenly and miraculously cured of cancer Same old junk. No. No. No. Listen now. Listen By the dozen dozen hours after hector kinworthy of los angeles broke the chain That's my friend johnny that head. Yes, and after a j parryman of chicago broke the chain They were both dead You see that right here And if you break the chain beware the same thing can happen to you It will happen to you You see johnny I think maybe you're right This is the same kind of scare stuff, but it goes a little bit too far and it isn't the hundred dollars I'm supposed to say hundred dollars. Yes a hundred dollars in cash to the name at the top of the list Exclusive list of honest wealthy retired people. Exactly And you know who else has received one here in lakewood. Oh Mrs. Templeman the rich widow who lives over at tiny woods and Wilford w. Winterbottom the retired oral millionaire this name at the top the one who gets the hundred bucks Mr. Daniel stringer. Yes, he's the address care of post office box 101 new york zone 84 new york I don't know what part of new york that postal zone is but believe me. I'm gonna find out. Are you out? We didn't mean that we were not gonna leave me. I'm not just gonna sit here But don't you see the dozen times a dozen hours are are over for me And you're superstitious too Enough to be scared by the threat in this chain letter Enough to maybe hurt yourself by doing some fool thing or other because you are scared well no job No, of course. All right, then I'm gonna get you a bodyguard from the local police. Where's your phone? They're on the stand in the corner, but now johnny. Yeah, if the police come around But wouldn't that warn anybody who might be coming here to harm me? Mr. Cartwright, yes, there are times when we I think you're Well, I think a lot of things about you. Oh sure. I know yes wild and crazy eccentric old man To be very blood about it. Yes, you and Maybe I am A little bit, but when the chips are down, you're no fool. Oh, and I wouldn't be too sure about that I've never really given much thought to this chain letter thing before sure. I've tossed some of them into the wastebasket But maybe I should have investigated them even the little ones because they all work on the same principle They all contain a threat and they all capitalize on fear Look, look at that. It says Exclusive list of honest wealthy retired people Why a list like that can be bought from 100 sources from companies that cater to the mail order business. Yes, of course Oh, maybe I'm all wrong But suppose somebody bought a list of wealthy people all over the country. Suppose he went to los angeles. Well, we can where they live All right. Yeah, suppose he rented a post office box Then he sent out a couple of hundred of these letters Maybe a thousand a lot of rich people live out there The letters were all the same with his name at the top of the list Then half a dozen fictitious ones fictitious Yeah, any names on that list that you recognize? See here No, all right So maybe only a hundred people were scared into sending the money carrying on the chain After all, like you said, it isn't a hundred dollars. You're right, johnny At a hundred people at a hundred dollars a billion ten thousand bucks Even half of that would make it worse sending out those letters by the time the six days are up He's collected enough so he skips town and people like ken were the impairment You think he killed him to to carry out the warning. Well, frankly, I doubt it Just the same. I think I'll call the lakewood police and have somebody sent out here to look after you Even though even though Maybe I was wrong. Mr. Cartwright Your phone wire has been cut The phone the telephone isn't working. Ask me, mr. Cartwright. Somebody's cut the wires Then the threat in that lesson it means that somebody's come here to carry it out Only one way to make sure you stay inside here while I go out and take a look around Maybe that's what they want you to do go out there in the dark, huh johnny I'm going with you now you're staying right here. I'll be back in a minute But there may be some danger or it may be that your phone is just out of order. We'll see There was enough moonlight for me to see where the line off the telephone pole led to a connector box at the back end of the house There wasn't enough light for me to notice a trailing vine as I edge my way along So what happened I tripped and fell flat on my face Before I could get back up on my feet. So you come out to see what was wrong You were mr. Cartwright Or not reading your mail real good I finally came to I found myself on a big leather sofa in one corner of mr. Cartwright's library My head felt like it had been the target for a bolt of lightning and the lightning hadn't missed A familiar face slowly came into focus Well a little sip of this brandy And you feel much better Mr. Cartwright I was afraid there might be somebody out there So I sneaked on out after you And I took along an old cricket bat And when I saw what he was doing to you, I let him have it Oh, yes, it was all I had Oh, I slayed him. Well, who is he? Where is he? I had an overtime dragging him into the house, but I did it johnny Yes, indeed. I did it and I locked him up in the broom closet too. I locked him up tight Good. I told you you're okay when the chips are down. Oh, it's just that I caught him off guard Oh, sure sure, but now if I can get up on my feet That's the boy. Yeah, I think I'd like to talk to him Our visitor turned out to be a pug ugly gorilla hardly the brains behind a chain-letter racket Except for admitting he'd been hired by somebody in new york to come up here and give mr. Cartwright a beating they make it look like a burglary job. He refused to talk So we locked him up again and I laid my splitting head on a pillow for some much needed rest By the time I awoke in the morning feeling somewhat better mr. Cartwright I fixed me a mess of bacon and eggs for breakfast here Johnny I just walked down to corner gas station and called the telephone company And you know something they came out here and had that line all connected up again in less than an hour Yes, it just like that So maybe I'll buy a couple thousand more shares of stock in the telephone company, huh? Just to show them how I appreciate it. Yeah, what about our little pal? I mean the one who's slugging last night, you know, sir johnny I decided that after the way he behaved last night He doesn't deserve any breakfast. No, no, I mean where is he still locked up in the room closet Do you think I ought to call the police to come and get him? No, not yet Maybe I can beat some information out of him if we need it. Well, of course we need it Don't let's wait and see first. I'd like to make a phone call Call was to my old friend lieutenant randy singer new york police department 18th precinct Post office box 101. Yes Postal zone 84 and if he comes around to pick up his mail you nab him on what charges johnny broad Sending threading letters through the mail or anything you can think of yeah, okay I'll dig up something but I can't hold him for long unless you come down here and prefer something definite against him And johnny yeah, you still haven't told me what this is all about And if I didn't know you just you grab hold of that box holder if he shows and I hope he does It will just you be sure and get on down here Mr. Coddright and I piled into my car We drove over to call on first the wealthy widow templeman and then the retired millionaire mr. Wittebottom Why yes, mr. Dollar I was just about to mail in the hundred dollars to the name at the top of the list and later I'd mail out the other letters to some of my friends don't do it But if I don't something terrible might happen to me the chain letter said so if you do it'll be a violation of federal law That's right. And you could end up in prison for it prison. Well, mr. Steffelman Mr. Dollar. Yes, sir. Yes, better do as he says mr. Wittebottom But I didn't realize I didn't know do now, sir Then back to mr. Coddright's home on the hill just in time to answer the telephone Johnny dollar Johnny, I've got him and what a fine. Yeah ready Daniel Stringer alias Danny McKay alias willy daniels and half a dozen other things I watched him unload the post office box myself johnny then I tail him to a cheap rooming house Go on when I nabbed him he was opening Must have been 50 60 letters. He's got chain letters and johnny. Yeah, you know what he was taken out of him I can guess randy thousands enough money to hold him on suspicion of almost anything and johnny still here He also had a bunch of new letters He'd written all addressed to folks in a wealthy section down near german town pa then hang on to him randy I'll be down to make formal charges against them. Okay Um, maybe I'll pick up a chief inspector from the post office department to do it Okay, johnny Yeah Maybe some of those chain letters the little ones are harmless But again, maybe they're nuts And they're all against the law But there's only one thing to do avoid them like to play or better still if you get one They get right down to your local postmaster He'll know how to go about helping to stamp out this racket and believe me. That's all it is a racket Expense account total including mileage of my car on the trip to new york and back 2735 Yours truly Johnny dollar To tell you about next week's story next week mystery suspense and yeah murder take me to columbus, ohio Join us won't you yours truly? Johnny dollar starring bob bailey originates in hollywood and is written produced and directed by jack johnstone heard in our cast for virginia greg Howard mcnear paul duvall Frank ursel and her biker Be sure to join us next week same time and station for another exciting story of yours truly johnny dollar This is jim matthew speaking