 Johnny dollar a Johnny. This is Len Walker. It's shorty mutual insurance out there in the wild in Golden West Yep, they'll hold down a desk out here in San Francisco. How are you Len? What goes these days goes off is more like it Johnny Oh, what's that supposed to mean three neat tidy little explosions that have cost us well over a million dollars a piece Wow What kind of explosions Len rocket fuel type of stuff. Oh, yeah, where? The Baskham development company it's hidden away along the coast a few miles south Baskham So if you want to grab your space suit and pop on out here. Well, who knows? Maybe they'll oblige by sending you a loft on their next blow-up. You make it sound very attractive, Len I'll tell you this Johnny if you can find out the why of this and put a stop to it We'll pay you enough to let you fly high and wide and handsome for a long time to come Now you do make it sound attractive Well, then okay, I'll start practicing on the first plane I can get PS radio network brings you Mandel Kramer in the exciting adventures of the man with the action-pact expense account America's fabulous freelance insurance investigator yours truly Johnny dollar Spence account submitted by special investigator Johnny dollar to surety mutual insurance company san francisco office Following is an account of expenses incurred during my investigation of The top secret matter That's got item one a hundred and ninety nine twenty seven covers a taxi out to bradley field The hop to new york and from there a one stop flight on out to the west coast At new york international I thought I was the last one aboard before takeoff But just as the big jets started taxing out to the runway a well-dressed gentleman with a well-stuffed briefcase Plunked into the seat beside me Well, looks as though I just made it by the skin of your teeth and you better fasten your seat belt because Hey, hey, hey, George Why it's johnny johnny dollar in person. Well, this is an unexpected pleasure Well, how's the prosperous businessman just fine and you couldn't be better You on your way out to the coast too. No just going as far as chicago to our main planning office Oh, it's been a long time. Johnny. It sure has tell me you still a vice president of that big chemical outfit. I certainly am. Oh, that's good You're just the man. I want to talk to I want to ask some questions. Oh, why? Hasn't your company got a hand like all the others in the liquid rocket fuel racket? Certainly has or I should say had Hmm. All right now. We're in the process of trying to turn down a contract. No kidding. How come? Well Well, I I shouldn't have mentioned it. Oh top secrets. No, not quite not exactly Top secret As a matter of fact, it'll hit all the papers in just a few days now So if you want to find out what it's all about But now wait, yeah, didn't you used to have a top security clearance? I still have from osi CIA CIC you want to see my credentials or not? Okay, anything to get you off this big mysterious. So kick Here Here And here okay, okay Now what's the big secret that's about to hit the headline a new solid rocket fuel Well, I thought a lot of companies were working on that had even developed some of it They are and they have but johnny We now have a radically different one that was developed in our place through sheer luck. How do you mean? Well, if a young east german fellow or scientist, I don't even remember his name Anyhow, he has an up-degrees in chemistry from european universities a choker horse. Yeah Came to us for just a run of the mill job and one of our labs But a few months ago entirely on his own He came up with this solid fuel formula hand it over to the company lock stock and barrel Big boys checked it now. Thanks to him Well, johnny, it looks like we're gonna be light years ahead of the hammer and sickle competition. That's good Man, that's about all I can tell you about it Whatever you say Now, why'd you tell me i'm just the man you wanted to see? Because maybe you can tell me something about a company out in the coast that is also in this field Oh johnny out there There must be hundreds of them ranging from the big important ones like air search and rocket dine to Little one and two men operations. Now, which is it the bascom development company is somewhere near san francisco Bascom, huh? Yeah What do you know about it? Well, nothing. You sure? No, johnny. I'm afraid I've never even heard of them. Oh, you're a lot of help. I'm sorry All right, what'll we talk about now politics religion women sex or something sensible like fishing Let's travel there wasn't time to talk about much of anything before george got off the plane in chicago By the time I had an afternoon snack and prepared to settle down for a nap We circled and landed at san francisco international item two four seventy for a cab into len walker's office That's across from the chariton palace and my pals at kcbs Now where do you plan to stay while you're here johnny at the huntington up on the hill fine So grab yourself some dinner get a good night's sleep and you can take off first thing in the morning Take off again. Mm-hmm I'll have a rental car sent around to you there at the huntington Len aren't you going to tell me first what this is all about? Bascom development company Yes, you said that much on the phone And I look here on this map You go down here on 101 Then cut over to root one Then down the coast to here A few miles south of big sir. Wait a minute If memory serves me right That highway is chiseled out of the side of a lot of cliffs that rise up out of the blue pacific right So what can be there but a lot of rocks and trees and the ocean? A little well hidden side road that goes down through the trees to a leveled off spot on the very edge of the ocean That's where you'll find the bascom development company Only for security reasons. It's been made to look like a cluster of summer homes You say they've been having explosions Free johnny And as a result of them three deaths That's where we've had to pay off through the nose. Why? Well the men they were chemists or engineers he had working for him All had insurance that bascom paid for a cool million apiece And he was the beneficiary half to him half to the families of those men Oh this common practice where people of great importance to a company are concerned. Yeah Tell me uh Just how much do you know about the explosions? I think you'll do better by getting that from baskin himself I told him you're on your way. Oh Yes Okay, lind Whatever you say Was on expense account. Why not live it up? After a good night's sleep at the huntington I took off After passing through san jose and selenus I cut over through monterey and carmel and hit california's wonderful one Highway number one It took me through beautiful wooded hills and forests and then along the edge of the sea It's a narrow tortuous road with nothing but high cliffs on the left and a sheer drop off on the right Sometimes for several hundred feet to the ocean below and it is a beautiful beautiful drive At point sur that's sur means how The cliffs are almost perpendicular so the highway goes a bit inland for a stretch And then I found the sharply slanting little side road that len had indicated on the map I had to make my way down it in low low gear and there at the ocean's edge was the group of Well, len was right. They did look like harmless summer cottages But there was an armed guard at the entrance gate I showed him my clearances. He made a phone call then directed me to the second building down the road However, as I started to pass the first one A small wide clabbered sort of building it looked like I heard a sharp strange crackling sound like timbers breaking I looked up The side of the building seemed to bulge out momentarily and then Nonetheless my rental car rolled completely over with me inside shook me up a little bit otherwise I was okay From a building down the line several intelligent but very angry looking men came running over hauled me out as roughly as possible Then shoved me unceremoniously into the next door private office of mr. Horace elder worthy baskin Bascom a slight gray haired man of about 60 sat quietly behind his desk Holding a gun on me in a way that indicated he could and wouldn't hesitate to use it if it became necessary Until I produced my credentials and told him why I was there Then he dismissed the others shoved the gun back into the drawer of his desk And said I'm sorry mr. Dollar Rovers a bit on edge these days And no doubt doctors harvey and welcome and young franklin Thought that you had caused the explosion there in unit one Doctors mr. baskin of science chemistry best I've been able to find oh I'll tell you this about them. They not only have brains but muscles. They're all experts in the field of explosives Are they the best I wonder after what just happened You were very fortunate mr. Dollar Had that explosion occurred just a fraction of a second earlier I wouldn't be sitting here would I your body and the remains of your car would have toppled over the edge of that Narrow spot beside unit one and ended up on the rocks some 200 feet below no question of it. I don't doubt it But now aren't you concerned about what's happened to that unit one? From this window it looks like a shambles Yes, like a few others that have gone before it. Do you want to take a look and see if you can figure why it blew up? I know I do I'm afraid it would take far more scientifically knowledgeable minds than ours to determine the cause of this latest misfortune And as you can see dr. Welcome and some of his aides are looking it over very carefully Well, I still want to look of course and I sincerely hope you can accomplish something Thank heaven this time there was no one hurt We've lost three mr. Dollar three of our finest chemists during the past three months So I understand and each of them i'm convinced just 20 was on the threshold of a solution to this tremendously important project of ours Just what is this project mr. baskin? creation of an uncommonly efficient semi-liquid rocket repellent That will I am convinced semi-liquid. Yes. Yes an almost unbelievably powerful gelatinous substance With all the energy of the complicated liquid fuels and the stability of a solid If I can develop it mr. Dollar It will be the greatest triumph in the history of space rocketry and I will have made it I alone will hold the secret of it. Yeah, you're not a scientist Well in the purely academic sense no But without my aims and my ideas without my money to provide the means for their experimentation These men I employ could accomplish nothing and that means that What's the matter mr. Dollar? You are all right aren't you? Oh, yes, sure But as long as this last explosion just happened I'd like to get out there and see if we or maybe your dr. Welcome can pin down the cause of it Oh, yes. Yes, of course Believe me if anyone can determine it welcome again But welcome couldn't Nor could I In spite of mr. Bascom's health in combing through the ruins and we really combed A lot of theories got aired but none that led to any definite conclusions Then early that evening in his quarters I talked at some length of dr. Welcome about not only this but the three previous explosions No, no, I don't think so mr. Dollar It's it's simply that some of the materials the components used are so unstable so highly volatile and shocks susceptible that And yet every possible precaution is taken not only in handling but in the storage of them So unless someone were setting them off deliberately as you suggest might be possible an awful lot of people Don't want to see our national rocketry program succeed. Don't you forget that dr Yes, but but someone here in this closely knit organization. No, I can't believe it another thing mr. Dollar Yeah, williams thornberry and brunner Are those the three who were killed? Yes Now certainly you don't suggest they deliberately caused the explosions that caused their own deaths That's hardly likely I guess not a bit likely and mr. Dollar each of them was entirely alone in the laboratory when the accident occurred You sure of that dr. Welcome. Oh, absolutely Tell me was there anybody in unit one this afternoon when it went off Or anywhere near it. No, you were the only one near it and you sure of that absolutely certain Tell me something else dr. If I can yes How close are you fellows to this? this rocket fuel well, mr. Dollar, I believe that Williams and thornberry and brunner were Very close to it each in his turn Mr. Baskham and a couple of the other chaps and I felt they had found it But now of course, we'll never know So all the rest of us can do is keep on trying You don't sound very confident Well, sometimes it's very discouraging And with the cutbacks in salary we've been obliged to take But it's a challenge and challenges or what make a profession like ours worthwhile They and the opportunity to serve this country Who sparked this whole idea in the beginning? I understand it was a young german chap that mr. Baskham found somewhere abroad. What? Yes What was his name? Um Keller haltz hans keller haltz Keller haltz. I see All right, dr. Welcome Mr. Baskham You found anything anything to indicate what no it uh, it doesn't look as though we have mr. Baskham Not a thing. Oh, what's more? I've suddenly remembered that I'm supposed to be back in san francisco tonight So, uh, I'll have to run if uh, that is my car is still usable. I understand it isn't but if you wait a moment I'll bring mine around. Oh, I appreciate that but your investigation. Oh, don't you worry. I'll be back Well, I certainly hope so There after parking out on the far edge of the highway. I ran up item four $21 even in telephone calls And what I learned from them Figuratively blew this whole case wide open My first phone call was to george langley the man I'd met and talked to on the plane At his home in chicago Thanks for his information. The second call was to the young german chemist who developed the solid rocket fuel that they were about to announce You guessed it. His name was hans keller haltz What keller haltz said to me about his reasons for having left the Baskham project to work at one of america's Big established reputable chemical firms told me more than I'd even hope for And then to top it all Well, let's face it. It was mighty lucky for me that I hadn't taken the drive up to san francisco Because when I stepped out of the phone booth there at the little gas station You know I sure hope you don't need any more of my small change, mr No, that was the last call I had to make and thanks for the use of the phone Uh, don't belong to me belongs to the phone company. Well, thanks anyway Uh say now, uh, maybe you want to drive your car over to this side of the road and fill her up Maybe might not be a bad idea The why you parked along that edge over there so close to that drop off. I'll never know Hey, look you see One of the tires must have went and you see well, she's rolling on over down the cliff one of the tires Oh, no What did you say did you hear that little explosion see the way that car sagged over? Well, yeah, I guess I did must have had a time mechanism Who if that happened the way it was supposed to while I was tearing up this crooked highway on the way to san francisco Nobody would ever have known Uh, listen, yeah, is that your car over there beside the station? Sure. Look here, uh Here here's a hundred bucks for the use of it just for tonight. Okay. Are you kidding? Sure. It's okay. Okay, then give me the keys Luckily the same guard was on duty and he let me through the gate the basket set up without question and more important without announcing me In the darkness then I slipped the lock on the door of baskin's office went inside Pulled down the shades put on a light and looked around And I finally found it A small switch under the syllable window facing out to where unit one had been And if those wires on it had led underground to some kind of a detonator there in unit one this afternoon Mr. Dollar Better come in mr. Baskin And it will just sit down there at your desk anywhere if you like Did you break your way in here? You uh, want to tell me why mr. Baskin? Why what? Great. I don't understand I want to know your reasons for the explosions Well, you're implying that I was responsible for the mr. Dollar entirely And you honestly think that you can prove a wild assertion like that? Yes, I honestly think I could Otherwise instead of sitting here talking with you, don't you think I'd be out and around investigating further? Yes, I suppose you would let's look at some facts Like the explosion this afternoon that nearly killed me because you knew I was coming here The switch I found under the windowsill Well, and your help in combing through the ruins Help? Or careful misdirection so I wouldn't find the detonator you'd rigged up nor a trace of the wiring from that switch Of course Those cutbacks and salaries You needed money didn't you mr. Baskin like all that insurance you collected? Yes, very true And something you said this afternoon I and I alone will hold the secret of this fuel So when you thought that Williams and thornberry and Brenner had it to keep it for yourself you killed them Is that about it mr. Baskin? Just about I guess An old because of a young chemist I brought over here Hans Kellihoff's is I was supposed to be over there in germany on vacation Actually was only in to establish contact with him and hope that I could Capitalize on his knowledge of missile fuels Took a lot of time a lot of money Most of it spent in bribes to east german authorities Finally got him over here. I see him. He was so glad to be free for the first time in his life So grateful for an opportunity to work in this country That he was willing to agree to anything Which means what mr. Baskin? I was to have complete complete control of anything he might create and develop here And what happened? Did he find out you were in this thing only for personal gain? Yes So he came in here one morning and told me that he was leaving That he would keep his word however and relinquish claim to whatever he had developed here My demand he put that in writing So I let him go Like an idiot, why do you say that? Well, I thought he'd completed the fuel that I could go ahead and produce it and sell it and make millions Millions mr. Dollar and without having to share with him, but I was wrong He hadn't finished I hired other men the best that I could find from all over in the hope that they could carry on where he'd left off But all it did was cost me money money money And the only way I could think of to get enough to keep going was By collecting that insurance By committing murder. Yes, I know The first one was very difficult for me But the second when I met another five hundred thousand dollars to carry on with and the third Because all the time I kept hoping hoping to get that rocket fuel I suppose I should have known I never would that my misdeeds would catch up with Yes, you should have known Are you ready to leave mr. Bascom here in this open drawer beside my hand is a 38 revolver loaded What are you thinking of bascom? For you or for me Making a difference Would it really solve anything? I mean the length to which some people will go to promote their own selfish interests at the sacrifice of others Don't they know that somehow sometime there has to be a showdown Expense account total including repair charges on the rental car on the trip back to hartford 993 70 yours truly johnny dollar Or to tell you about next week's story next week a tale of the problems at least one of the problems That go with the owning of a gold mine Join us. Won't you yours truly johnny dollar Johnny dollar is written by jack johnstone produced and directed by bruno zirato jr Music supervision by effo huber johnny dollar is played by mandel kramer Also featured in our cast where melville ruegg is bascom court benson is dr. Welcome Frank campanella is george langley and william mason as the gas station attendant Be sure to join us next week same time same station for another exciting story of yours truly johnny dollar art hannah speaking