 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 now, tonight's story, the case of the silent killer. And now, here is our star, David Bryan as Paul Garrett, Mr. District Attorney. A district attorney knows that time and distance are the implacable enemies of law enforcement, because they can mean the difference between preventing a crime or being forced to solve one. This case started with a phone call in the middle of the night from a lonely, rural area on the outskirts of the county. Operator. Operator. Operator. Operator. Operator. Operator. Operator. Number please. Number. Operator. Get me the sheriff's office quickly. Oh, is that you? Mary Lou Jones. This is Janina. Mary Lou, stop talking and get me the sheriff's office. You've got to send somebody to my house right away. Well, I have to take the number on all police calls. What's going on there? It's J247 Ring 3. Will you hurry? Somebody's trying to break into the house. I'm all alone. What is nobody in the town? Call number. It's time to get a call through to the deputy sheriff when she was shot. He couldn't have gotten here in time to stop it, even if she had reached him. I'm going to shut twice, huh? Yeah. Phone operator heard the shots right after Mrs. Janine screamed and dropped the phone. The phone's off the hook there, rural party line. Any special reason for the two squads you have posted down the road? No, just cut off curious visitors. Phone operator's a young girl, a little bit of a character. He's been waking people up on the lines to tell them what happened. Any idea how the killer got in? Yeah. Side door, I'll show you. Oh, wait. I want to hang this phone up now in case the office wants to recent here. If I chance of anybody getting through while that girl is calling, I'll only call if she's placing on her own. You said the dead woman is Mrs. Janine? Uh, yeah. Where's her husband? Now, she told the phone operator he was in Pittsburgh on business. I've got Pittsburgh police checking all the hotels. They'll be notified if they find him. Oh, here's the door. It was wide open. That's how we got in to open the front door. The lock doesn't seem to be broken. It must have been picked. I don't suppose you know if anything's been stolen. I doubt it. Everything's neat. It always happened in Ramstack. It's a matter of fact that Mrs. Janine's purse on the sideboard. There you see. About $40 in cash, I don't touch it. That wasn't the motive then. Well, other thing it could be. What? Hey, Higdon, do you think of any other reason for breaking into a house in the middle of the night and murdering a woman in cold blood? No, I guess not, chief. Now, let's take a look around outside. You got your flashlight? Yeah. Flash around. Right. Boy. Cold? Oh, wait. Fill the beam that way again. What are we looking for? The ground. I'd like to see which way they go. Yeah, there's a couple of marks here. Yeah. Seems to lead back that way, behind the house. You think the killer was on foot? I don't know. Let's go back away. Keep going, all right? Yes, and a set of prints leading toward the house. He came this way and went back this way. Is there a road back here any place? I've been out here once before, about five years ago. Yeah, a suspected arson case. Farmhouse turned down about a mile back this way. Family name Mullum. Oh, yes, I remember. You decided the fire was accidental. Yeah, yeah, that's right. There was a date road leading to the farm cut into the main highway further down. Oh, man, may have been headed for that dirt road. What? He must have had a car. He didn't drive up to the house in it. He must have some place away from the scene. Back on the date road? That's what we're going to find out. Never mind the footprints. Head right for the road. Wind is dying. He's getting light soon. Here's what you want, Chief. Yes, the car was parked here all right. Yeah, footprints again, too. Coming and going from where the car was standing. Now, that's where the car turned around to go back to the main road. Yeah, isn't that something, though? What is it? Cigarette butt. Oh, he didn't smoke much of it. No, didn't he burn down to the brand mark? Well, that's one thing we know about him. That kind of cigarette he smokes. That's about all we do, no, Chief. We won't be able to follow these tire marks past the main road. And tread impressions won't do us any good either. Just sanded tread and no distinguishing marks. Tires are fairly new. Well, what now? Back of the house. Hey, whose car is that at the side of the house? It's not a squad car. Not the medical examiner's either. The boys had orders not to let anybody through except on official business. It's between the house and the garage. Could it be Danine's house? Danine's house? Wow. Even if the Pittsburgh police had located him right away, he couldn't have made it this soon. Oh, unless he drove back during the night. Let's go around front. Man's sitting there on the porch, Chief. That is heading his arms. I must see the husband, all right. Mr. Danine? Yes. My name is Garrett. I'm the district attorney. This is Mr. Harrington. I don't care who you are. Uh, look, Mr. Danine, we can't tell you how sorry we are. Then don't please. What good does it do to be sorry? Let me handle it, Harrington. Mr. Danine, it would help us a lot to know one thing. Did you or your wife have any enemies? Enemies? Could there be anybody with enough hatred in their heart to do this? And even if I knew, do you think I'd tell you? I'd take care of it myself. That's not the right way to talk, Mr. Danine. Don't tell me how to talk. You didn't drive home from Pittsburgh ten minutes ago. You didn't find your wife the way I found my... Maybe you'd better rest for a while, Mr. Danine. We'll talk to you later. I want to go around to the side door and use the phone. See if that telephone operator from the local exchange is on her way out here yet. Yeah, long enough since I sent for her. We should. What's the matter? What are you looking at, Danine's car for? The design of the tire tread. Same as we saw on the back road. Yeah, but like you said, they're standard on lots of cars. I know. And let's look it over anyhow. Look at this. From the frame of the car door. Yeah, service station lubrication record. Local station. Yes, dated three days ago. 18,106 miles. Now look at the mileage on this pedometer. 18,217 miles. Hey, just a little more than a hundred miles. He couldn't have driven to Pittsburgh in fact since that record was pasted on. I'm going to get a few answers from him. There comes a squad car. A girl in with the driver. There must be the phone operator. Looks like Danine went to the house chief. And as long as we know where he is, we'll get back to him in a minute. Are you Mr. Garrett? Yes. That policeman drove me out to take you on the steamy. I'm Mary Lou Jones. I heard the whole thing on the telephone. I'm the operator on the local exchange. Exactly what did you hear, Miss Jones? Well, I heard the whole thing which was dreadful. I heard her crying and then she said, who are you? What do you want? And then a shot. That was all. You're sure you heard her say, who are you? Yes. That's what she said. I heard the whole thing and it's just terrible. Then I finally found a deputy number and I called him and he said he'd come out right away but that I should call the district attorney's office too and I did. Well, thank you, Miss Jones. The police won't drive you back to town. Don't you know anything else? I mean, hmm, no idea about who might have done it or anything. Well, whose idea? Well, people around here. I mean, well, some of them think it might have been Ted Mullin. Ah, the Mullin place that burned down here. Well, why do people think that? Well, Mr. Canine works at the bank, you know. No, I didn't know. Sure. He's president of the bank. When the Mullins had that fire a long time ago, Ted Mullin said it never would have happened if Mr. Canine had okayed a loan he wanted to put in a water pipe instead of just using a well. Ted hated Mr. Canine. Right up until the time he moved away two years ago. I see. Better get through to the radio division, Harrington. Put out an information wanted bulletin on Mullin. You don't want to talk to Canine again, then? I guess not. Not any more. A woman had been murdered in her isolated home. The commission of the crime had been overheard by a frantic telephone operator trying to reach the police for the victim. Our only suspect was a former neighbor thought to be harboring a five-year grudge against the dead woman's husband. We put out an all-points bulletin for the suspect. Meanwhile, as a matter of routine, I checked the alibi of the dead woman's husband. Here's a report from the Fifth Brake Police, Mr. Garrett. It just came in. Oh, thanks, Miss Mullin. Mr. Canine was there all right, registered at the Penn Plaza Hotel the day before yesterday. When did he check out? Just after midnight last night. Hmm. Telephone operator said the murder took place about 1.30 a.m. You couldn't have gotten back in time to do it. No, not if it was really Canine. A hotel clerk's description checked out a hundred percent. Well, that's it then. But... What? Tele-type them again. I want one more bit of information. Yes, sir. Ask if the Penn Plaza Hotel has its own garage or parking lot. I want to know if Canine had his car with him. Yes, sir. Oh, hey, uh, T.V.A. is the only way you were hiding. You get any word on that pickup at Ted Mullin yet? No, except that he's moved out of the state. That's all we have so far. I've been to all the insurance companies. Walter Canine carried a few small policies on his wife. Nothing exceptional. Canine's been doing some speculating in the stock market, though. You check broker's houses? Yeah. He's been buying unlisted stocks against their advice. And how have his investments turned out? From what I gather, he's been losing his shit. Strange conduct for the president of a bank. Even a small bank. Uh, there's something else. What? He became president of the bank in a hurry. Six years ago when he married Mrs. Canine. What was he before that? A bookkeeper. That is a big jump. How does it happen? The simplest answer in the world is wife had money. An inheritance from a father. He left her about a quarter of a million. He was in the steel business. Steel business? That's to explain his trip to Pittsburgh. Canine might have been checking on his wife's holdings. I wonder who he saw while he was there. Well, who'd have charge of Mrs. Canine's affairs? You know, father's attorney. I can find out by checking his will. The attorney's name should be listed. Tell Mrs. Miller to cancel that teletype. I'll get my information directly. Call the motor pool and tell them I want a car and drive it and take me out to the airport. I'll see you tomorrow morning. Hey, where you going? Pittsburgh. Yes, Walter was here to see me, Mr. Garrett. I handled his wife's affairs, just as I handled everything for his father before her. And you saw him here in Pittsburgh last night? Yes, he had dinner at my home. You seem to be disturbed about something, Mr. Medford. Well, I don't know if I'm... Disturbed is the right word, Mr. Garrett, but I wondered about Walter's visit. It seemed unnecessary. Would you mind explaining then? I don't quite know how I can explain it. But he just seemed to be preoccupied with the fact that he intended to drive all night in order to get home. As a matter of fact, he came such a bore on the subject that Mrs. Medford, my wife, said she had a headache and asked me to excuse. Did Dean drive off to your home? No. We met here at the office and went out in my car to the taxi back to the hotel. But, well, there was one other thing I suppose I should tell you, one of the circumstances. Yeah? After my wife left us, he did it almost as a joke, Walter asked if his wife had changed her will lately. I don't like to say anything that I'm uncertain of, but I had a feeling that he was trying to draw me out, but I didn't have any information. Has the will been changed? No, it has not. Walter DeNeen gets everything. You don't like DeNeen, do you? He's an avaricious man, Mr. Garrett. There's no special talent. Well, I don't quite agree with your appraisal, Mr. Medford. I think Walter DeNeen has a very special talent. He just missed his calling. I don't follow you, sir. DeNeen is an excellent actor. Thank you very much for your help. So, I'll see you out. Good morning, Miss Miller. Good morning, Harrington. No, he got home late last night, but I'm expecting him in a minute. Report on Ted Mullin, but he's not our baby. Is that an alibi? Yeah, read it. Los Angles Police. Mullin is out there. Camarillo State Hospital is the insane. He's under lock and key for more than a year. Oh, he's bad. The poor man, I mean. Mr. Garrett will be... Good morning. Good morning, Chief. We've come to a dead end on that Ted Mullin thing. Chief, he... Never mind. It's not Mullin I'm after now. I'm interested in Walter DeNeen. He wasn't in Pittsburgh? No, he was there all right, but his car wasn't with him. How did he travel then? The same way I did, by plane. I found an airline stewardess to remember the man in his description. Oh, great. I checked stock brokers, you take the airline stewardess. She checked her flight list. The man she thinks was DeNeen traveled under the name of Art Folger. I want you to run that name through the record bureau, Miss Miller. Art Folger, yes, sir. Why do you want to run a mate on a phony name? Because I think it may not be a phony name, Harrington. I think it may be the name of the killer. Oh, how come? DeNeen inherits a fortune through his wife's death. I have every reason to believe his trip to Pittsburgh was to establish an alibi. You've seen it at the hotel, done with his wife's attorney. A perfect alibi for him. Yeah. But the actual killer needed an alibi, too, just in case. And he's got one of his name is Art Folger. An airplane from Pittsburgh when Mrs. DeNeen was killed. The airline record says so. Pretty neat. But, uh, what about DeNeen's car? The killer used it. Chief, why wouldn't he rent a car? I'll ask you. Figure it out. Yeah. If we checked rental places, he couldn't be on an airplane and driving a rented car at the same time. Have you seen DeNeen since I left? Uh, yes. He hasn't left the funeral home for a second. He's playing the bereaved husband to the hilt. That's what I was hoping he'd do. That's all I want from you, Miss Miller. You can get down to the record room. I'll wait for your report on Folger. Yes, sir. You, uh, you want me to pick up DeNeen, chief? Not yet. Not until we can tie him to the killer he hired. We need indisputable physical evidence of association between DeNeen and the killer. Well, that's something we can't get. Yes, we can. From DeNeen's car. If the killer used it, his fingerprints may be in a someplace. Call a lab crew. Take them out to the funeral home. Have them. I'll take it. DA's office, Harrington. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Yeah. Yeah. Well, don't let him see you, that's all. Jeff Wallace, chief. He's been keeping DeNeen under surveillance. Mm-hmm. DeNeen pulled a faint to the funeral parlor. He let them talk him into going home for a rest. Jeff followed him. Did he go home? Yes, by way of the bank. The bank? Uh-huh. Jeff says he stopped about five minutes, went into the safe deposit section. I wonder what he's up to. Same thing the county cashier is up to every week before you go to see him. What? Getting the payroll ready. Killers get paid too. Come on. We're going to go over the car just the same, light at his house? We certainly are. He's liable to see us. That's a chance we'll have to take. Once he pays off, our killer will head for parts unknown. Hey, perfect timing. Not quite. That's enough time. Oh, Mr. Garrett. That's the thing I caught you. Here's the record on Folger. Well, and there really is a lot Folger. Yeah. What have you got? One conviction assault with deadly weapon, one charge of manslaughter, no indictment, one charge of murder, no indictment. Sounds like a pro killer, all right? There'll be an indictment this time. Give me the file. We'll see you later. Going down, please. Get the door handles too, fellas. Get as many sets of those prints as possible. Oh, chief, I was just going to come in the house after you. Morgan just pulled a set of our Folger's prints from the dashboard of the car. We've got it. We've got trouble too. I've been through the entire house. Danine isn't in there. Well, he must have gone out the back at Jeff Woodard's spot of them leaving. He's got to be on foot. Where would he be going? The only place back there is that burned-out ruin where Mullen used to live. The back road. He's walking back there to make the pay off. And we can grab Folger too, if we can get there in time. You say that road runs into the State Highway? Yeah, it goes in about two miles down, then cuts around that way. Let's go then. Maybe we can drive for four miles before he can walk for one. Guard beans. Don't worry. Thought you were going to walk out here to meet me. I did. I thought I heard a car along the road while I was coming through the trees. I didn't hear anything here. There's nothing on the road. You can only see 50 feet to where it turns. You got the money? Here, 700. I gave you three when we made the deal. Now get lost and forget that you ever saw me. You forget you saw me too. All right, all right. Get going. Who is that, Danine? I don't know. Who is it? Where are you? Don't, Folger. They might shoot at me. What do you think will happen if I shoot? Just lie there, Folger. You'll never get to it in time. Don't make me kid you, Mrs. You got me out here to tell me some information about who killed my wife. Never mind that, Danine. We know who was responsible. How did you find out? Who told you? A service station attendant, an attorney, and an airline stewardess. Just a bunch of average citizens, Danine. That's what society is. That's what the law is. Walter Danine and Art Folger were tried and convicted on a charge of murder in the first degree. Their pleas for executive clemency were denied by the governor. They were executed in the manner prescribed by law. Now this is David Brine inviting you to join us when we present our next case based on the facts of crime from the file of Mr. District Attorney. You have been listening to Mr. District Attorney, which has come to you through the worldwide facilities of the United States Armed Forces Radio and Television Service.