 Johnny dollar Johnny. This is John boom hour down here in Sarasota, Florida. John. How are you? Oh, great, great Yeah, now what's the matter? Well the last time I called you I mentioned that pal of your thorough foreman Yeah, told you he was out in California And he left me holding down the local office of tri-state life and casualty for him Oh, yeah So what's he going and done? Move John out there to sunny Smoggy Southern California bag and bag Yeah, I heard from him Like as you will say, I'm still running the tri-state office here in Sarasota That's bad It'd be fine if it didn't take so much of my time away from my real estate business But what I called you about Johnny Troubled on Oh, not exactly Well, what's this? Old Bill Trasker the fishing guy? That's the one Earl and I went fishing with him several times on my golf Oh, so that's how he knows about you Well, what's he doing? I've done I can't imagine anybody having an in parole bill and trying to knock him off No, it's not the amount of insurance How much, then? It's been down And if there's nothing suspicious about the circumstances Nothing at all It'll be debt from natural cost Well, John, I'm afraid I don't see any reason But during his period Johnny Dollar, to the tri-state life and casualty insurance company office in Sarasota, Florida Following his account of expenses incurred during my investigation, the recompense matters Expense account item 17970, taxi and a plane from Hartford to New York Then another one to Florida At the International Airport in Tampa, Don Bumhar was waiting for us We piled into his air-conditioned car and headed south on the Tamiami Trail down towards Sarasota That's right, Johnny Old Bill Trasker Dying of some kidney disease And according to Dr. Crutcher, nothing short of a miracle would save him Ah, yes, you bet He seemed like a money-nice old man, a real gentleman Well, educated, well-spoken Hey, you'd expect to find him running a big business Instead of a broken-down outboard rig to take out the fishing party So I understand But frankly, Johnny, I'd never even seen Old Bill until the doctor called me Said he was dying and that he wanted to see you Then I looked up his policy Ah, 2,500 years, sir Yes, to be spent in giving him a modest but decent burial And to pay any bills he might leave outstanding Uh-huh Apparently then, Bill won't be leaving much of this thing And you'll understand why when you see the little kind of shack he lived in But now over the phone you said something about a murder Well, Johnny, it was so difficult trying to understand what he was trying to say Even when he seemed completely conscious He was very vague Except perhaps when he was asking for you When he told us he had to see you before he goes Well, now, Don, why never said the actual word murder, Johnny But he, uh... Well, listen, there was a name A name he kept trying to tell us It sounded like Jerry or Gerald something Last name we couldn't get at all Well, have you checked over his relatives? When we asked him about relatives, he just turned his face away And shook his head But now, if he was talking about a murder Johnny, it's just... It's just that... Well, Doc and I agreed that from what he said And, well, he's knowing you and your work And wanting to see you And you know how, yes, that confession Ah, you're not making much sense Look, Doc will be waiting for us And if Bill is conscious enough to make sense when he talks to you Well, let's just wait and see what you can get out of him Whatever you say, then Almost a shack, all right On a small stubby piece of land near the end of one of the bayous As we stopped in front of a walk, I mean the long pass To the palm meadows that led up to it Doc Crutcher came out to meet us Honey, I'm glad to see you How are you, Doc? Well, I just gave him a final injection in a cross of seven Well, come on, here He's failing, Doc As the last resort, I've used a new, very radical sort of treatment One of the so-called but not fully tried miracle drugs Ben, I'm just afraid he came to meet too late But, Doc, there is a chance Oh, there's always a chance, Johnny But in this case, a very slim one You just relax I mean... Right here in the flesh I mean... Right, right Hey, look, if you expect to take me out fishing, you've got to get well, man No, Johnny, it's too... too great Oh, come on now, that's no way to talk, old Tommy I'm gonna... Die now Yeah, who said so? Who would you... ...to tell? Tell Tell who, Bill? Tell Please Tell Tell what to the police? No No, what? No Murder There was a murder? Or you mean there was no murder? No, tell Please I did I did it Gerald Gerald? Yes, I'm Gerald Gerald who, Bill? Yeah Gerald von Yes He was murdered Johnny Tell He was... Doctor Selfie, please The end, Doc Well, no As a matter of fact, his heartbeat is... Well, it's stronger God Much stronger Doc Yes, Doc Get to a phone and get an ambulance while I make him ready You mean that maybe you can pull him through after all? Yeah Now come on, Johnny, give me a hand with him Sure, Doc Save him, huh? Yes, of course Yeah, so that we can investigate his confectionary is Huh? Sure And then to see that he's executed for murder? Oh, John, for the law of mind Yes, call that ambulance Scientific achievement usually are made through the combined efforts of many men Such as the story of the Atlantic Cable One of the outstanding milestones of the 19th century But today the name of one man remains the reminders of that venture The organizer and director, Cyrus W. C A retired paper merchant who risks his fortune, sanity and integrity In an awesome adventure that lasted 12 long years Field first was approached in regard to his short underwater cable to Newfoundland in 1854 After a huge investment of both money and energy, the cable was completed the following summit Field then went to England to tackle the much larger problem of laying the Atlantic Cable Many futile attempts were made Cable was broken Slices were made Cable was lost Tempers flew and ship captains resigned and discussed Still, Field wouldn't give up Finally on August 8th, 1858 It appeared that the project had been successfully completed Cyrus field went ashore and walked 15 miles to the nearest telegraph station There he wired his wife, the Associated Press and President Eucannon He informed the president that Queen Victoria would telegraph her congratulations over the new cable But before the Queen's message was completed, the line went dead The March Hill project was again a failure Faulty installation was blamed In 1865, the largest steamboat afloat, the Great Eastern, made another attempt Just 660 miles from Newfoundland, the cable part Inadequate with a hoisting tackle prevented its recovery Field broke down on the web like a child And yet, the very next year, he sailed with the Great Eastern for one more try This time, every failure had been studied Every provision made On July 27th, 1866, Cyrus Field landed at Hart's Contents After personally cabling the unbelievable news He immediately boarded the Great Eastern, retrieved the broken cable of the year before Sliced it and laid the second Atlantic cable Cyrus W. Field, another American whose driving energy insisted that Somehow there must be a way Let's find it And now act two of yours truly, Johnny Dollars We carefully laid the whole bill in the backseat of Don Boomer's car And drove him to the hospital ourselves And then we could only wait to see if the drug that Dr. Crutcher had given him Would really do its work And yet, if it did, despite some modern miracle the old man should recover Well, Don had set it there at the shag And he set it again that evening as we sat in the comfortable den of his home Trying to console ourselves with a couple of scotch included Oh, it's wrong, Johnny There's something very wrong about it I mean pulling him away from death's door Only so that he can be electrocuted for that murder he confessed to What did he really do? What else could he have meant? So you've got to investigate, Johnny Even Don Crutcher has to report that confession to the police Well, maybe And so do I, we've no way out of it, none of us Oh, pardon Yes, the name of his victim, the man he murdered Did he? Is that what he tried to tell us? Or what else could he possibly meant? And don't forget, he thinks that he's dying I know A deathbed confession, Johnny, happens all the time Oh, but look, is he the kind of man who could have killed somebody? Sir, he didn't strike me that way But how do you know? It may have happened years ago And it may never have happened at all And I hope that somehow, somehow you're right But can you prove it? Well, Johnny Uh, pour me another drink, would you? Sure, or you won't But you haven't answered my question I'm going to try, Don I'm going to try Midnight, Dr. Crutcher has fallen to say that we should keep our fingers crossed And maybe pray a bit Because now what this old Bill Trasker might have, a fifty-fifty chance to live Then, unexpectedly, a call from Lieutenant Barney Phillips of the police department Do you know anything about this, this both formally? Lieutenant, uh How well do you know, old Bill? I'll talk to you later, Lieutenant Is there any such man or anybody else? Ah, no, Mr. Don I'll be in touch Murder someone, Johnny Did I say that, Don? You didn't need to Don, I want no part of this thing Donny, I know, I know this is no ordinary sort of investigation But as a company, we have to go through with it Why? If you can prove that Bill didn't do it Which I doubt Well, it's the least we can do for a client Or, uh, or something Yeah And if you end up proving he did Well, it's a job of public service by the company Or something Or something Let someone else handle it, I want to put it Why did old Bill ask for you? Well Well, I think it's because of Well, in spite of what he said In spite of what it sounded like Hey, let me use your car with you At this time of night? No, not here You're the key All right, good What have you got in mind? Well, maybe keeping an innocent man out of the chair Now, Johnny, do you listen? Obviously the key to this whole medallion Finding out about Bill's supposed victim, Gerald Stormley We was where he was or where he had been And then if Bill had ever been there I drove over to the shack again and went through Bill's clothes Hoping that some of them might be old enough To show where he'd been before he moved to Sarasota Every one of them bore a New York label Item 2, 520 for a tankle again Item 3 after I reached the airport in Tampa Item 4, 16 for a long telegram To Ripley Steener, a pal of mine on the New York side Item 4, 7,170 And shortly after going, I was in New York Rip was waiting for me at the airport You're going to save yourself the time of money And phone me, Johnny Now, just what do you mean by that, Rip? Well, I could have told you all there is To tell about Gerald St. Stormley in one cent Ah, I handled the story on him To the paper myself Ah, well, what about the paint? What? Seven years ago, that crooked promoter disappeared And when the police finally caught up with when And where and how he disappeared It left him with only one possible conclusion Stormley was murdered No, Johnny, stop trying to act like a Pollyanna And get on back to Sarasota And nail that old guy for murder Fourteenth amendment to our Constitution Is one of his most important sections It bestows United States citizenship Upon every person, regardless of race Who is born within our borders Or who is naturalized And this amendment further provides That the privileges and immunities of citizenship Cannot be taken away by a state Nor may a citizen be denied The equal protection of the law It is this amendment which makes us all Equal citizens with equal rights To the end that this country of yours And mine shall be our country under God Now, act three of yours truly, Johnny Duller And the recompensed master There at Attlewild Airport, Regina told me More about Gerald P. Farley Not that Farley didn't deserve to have Somebody knock him off And just what does that mean? When he got through with all his phony Real estate promotions He left more innocent people broke And hungry than you can shake it Well, Johnny, that man made millions In his crooked real estate deals And who suffered? Lelty people who could afford to lose A few thousand here and there? Oh, no, no, sir. I was poor people who sell for his fish And then suffered for it. But the law, the authority They never got on to them being too smart Every deal he made was perfectly legal At the time. Tell you this, Johnny. A lot of the real estate laws got rewritten As a result of him. I mean, in spite of the way it finally turned out To switch your ruining. Uh-huh, why? That gave me material for that feature I hoped was going to win me a poor surprise Just, what are you talking about? Back during 53, after the coroner's jury Said it was murder, they went through his papers And bank accounts, they found he left enough Doe and instructions for it to pay back Every cent he'd taken from the poor suckers You aren't kidding. This is a bit, Johnny. I told you it was a twist. And Johnny, that's what makes his killer All the more wrong. So get on back there to Sarasota And nail him down. You're ripping it. It's a problem. Oh, wait a minute. Handle this right and maybe your next feature Will get you a poor surprise. Huh? Poor people. Who've been taken by storming. Well, all Bill Trasker has never been In that category. In spite of his menial job These last seven years is a fishing guide. Item 5, 10 cents for a call To Lieutenant Randy's finger 18 briefing. Then I had Riz Nina drive me into season. Johnny, a complete set of fingerprints On the late Mr. Gerald P. Thorne. Right, good. So why I could break my neck Getting him in such a hurry for ya. I put that so-called mind to yours To work finding out who murdered him Seven, seven and a half years ago. Yeah, well that coroner's jury Could have been all wet, you know. Huh? Why don't you keep Riz here entertained Until I can follow my feature story For Donald Sarasota. Johnny, if. That is. Yeah? If what? Now if this absolutely crazy hot Your mind pays off. Item 6, another 7,170 for a plane Back to Florida. On the airport in Tampa, I drove on down to Sarasota Straight to the hospital. It is a miracle, Johnny. If old Bill continues to improve The way he has me the last 12 hours He'll live until Until they put him in that chair As much as I hate to say that. Bill was much better. And almost was a miracle. He let me take a step of his fingerprints And then he broke down and told me his story. Then at police headquarters When one of the lab men Compared the prints of the set I brought down from New York Well, Janet Barney Phillips nearly slipped. But I can't believe this According to these prints, Old Bill is jailed peace normally. That's right. But I don't understand. But why now, sir? Well, his dirty real estate promotions Were perfectly legal at the time. But he was ruining more innocent people Causing more heartbreak and stuff. But he hadn't thought about that And he's lost the money. All he cared about was getting more and more of it Regardless of how he was hurting her. Until one day this Kidding thing hit him and it scared him. Suddenly he realized that one day He'd die as one of the most Hated men in the world. But simply getting back the money Would never erase the stigma That he'd have to live with. So he arranged his own disappearance And he made it look like murder. So he could quietly get away And start leading the kind of life He should have been leading And start doing some good for people. Exactly the way he's been doing here in Sarasota. Sort of recompense for the rotten things He's done before. Yeah, that's right. And without having folks point him out As the cook he'd been. That's right. And don't forget the people he'd hurt up north Were all paid off. But Dala, when he thought he was dying He'd told you murder. Nah, he said no. No murder. Dark and darn that's understood. He said to tell the police That he did it. That's all. And now we know what he did. Dala, I hate to say this But he's still in trouble. Oldville Tractor? Gerald P. Sarnley. Not anymore of it. What's it? Sarnley is dead. Legally dead. Well, I... I know it's the only... I guess you're right, Mr. Johnny. Well, you say you're right. Yeah. After sticking around a few days To make sure that Oldville's recovery Would be complete. Well, I changed my mind About getting you a cleaner material For a future. Let him wonder about it. Expensive outtotal including his trip Back to Hartford 200 and... Ah, no, Don, forget it. Just forget it. You're truly Johnny Dala. Produced and directed by Jack Johnstone. Made in our cast were Russell Thorsten, Mark Robbins, Barley Bear, Barney Phillips, Dick Crenna, and Herb Bygren. Be sure to join us next week. Same time and station for another exciting story Of yours truly Johnny Dala. Johnny Dala has come to you Through the worldwide facilities Of the United States Armed Forces Radio And Television Service.