 Box 13, with the Star of Paramount Pictures, Alan Ladd as Dan Holliday. Box 13, care of the star times. I've read your advertisement asking for adventure. I think this will be it. I'm asking you to solve an impossible situation, but one that must be solved. Next Wednesday, drive out on Route 36 at exactly noon. You'll come to a five-mile speedometer check. Maintain a speed of 72 miles an hour over the distance. You will be passed by a 1938 car going 100 miles per hour. The car will sound its horn. When you hear it, pull over to the side and stop. When you hear it, pull over to the side and stop. The letter had no signature, but it sounded intriguing. And it became even more so as time went on. That is, what little time there was. And now, back to Box 13 and Dan Holliday's newest adventure, speed to burn. A mile an hour. Mr. Holliday, that's dangerous. Yes, it is, Susie. That's what makes this letter so interesting. I'd like to see a 1938 model do 100. Why? Isn't it possible? Possible, yes, but not probable. Why not? Susie, in the course of time, things wear out. Even a car has to give up sometime. Oh. The letter isn't signed. And that's another thing that tells me to take this on. An unsigned letter, a 1938 car doing a 100 turn, an impossible situation that has to be solved. Now I ask you, Susie, wouldn't that make anyone pick up his ears? At exactly noon that Wednesday, I turned into Highway 36. A long level stretch of concrete that rippled out in front of my car just asking to be burned up. I looked at my speedometer. The needle hung at 60. Up ahead I saw the first sign on the road shoulder. The sign read, start speedometer check here. I stepped on the accelerator and watched the needle pass 60 and moved to 65. 68, then 70. Just as the nose of my car pushed over the start of the check run. In my rear view mirror, the road in the back was clear. No cars, no traffic at all. I hit 72 miles per hour and stayed there. The road slipped by underneath, the scenery on the side was a flashing blur of color. Then I looked in my rear view mirror again. Suddenly there it was. A car that ate up the distance between us as though we were attached by some invisible elastic that pulled us together. And then before I knew it, it was past me. I pulled up and stopped. Ahead the car that passed me slowed down and it also stopped. Then turned around and came back toward me. Hello there! That's right. And you're the only jet plane pilot I know with no license. Thank you for coming. Not at all. I enjoyed every second of it. Hey, what do you feed that car of yours? May I get in your car? Oh, please do. Thank you. I've taken a big chance in doing this, mister. Down holiday. My name is Nancy. Nancy Peters. That is a 1938 model you're driving. And from the looks of it, it's only a six-cylinder job. Yes, but I haven't much time. I'll have to talk fast. All right, go ahead. I want you to help my brother. Is he the impossible situation you mentioned in your letter? Yes. He has a prison record. And I always mixed up in something you can't get away from. Will you help? Oh, no. Just a minute, Miss Peters. Your car may do 100 without batting a carburetor, but I work a little slower. Before I do any helping, I'd like to know the three Ws. Who, what, and where? Oh, I told you. It's my brother. That answers the who part. Now, how about what and where? Stolen cars. That's the what. One like yours? That has something to do with it. Mm-hmm. Go ahead. Tom's mixed up in a stolen car syndicate. Syndicate? It's a business now, huh? Bigger than anyone realizes. Oh, why doesn't he get on? He can't. It's watch night and day. Sometimes I am too. He didn't know what he was getting into till it was too late. All right, I'll buy that for now. But it'll take more explanation. Look, let's go somewhere else and talk. I just wanted to know if you'd be interested. Well, that car of yours intrigues me. Where do you want to go? Follow me. If you promise not to do any stunt flying, I'll be right in back of you. More coffee, Miss Peters? No, thanks. Are you interested, Mr. Holiday? Yes. All right. The syndicate looks like a legitimate business, but it's not. It's tied up with stolen car rackets in every city in the country. In which case it's an item for the police or better for the FBI. I suggest you go to them. I can't do that. My brother would be sent back to prison. Well, then let him quit. One man tried it. He was killed. How do you know? Tom told me. Mr. Holiday, I don't know who's at the head of the syndicate. I don't know anything about it, but you can find out and help Tom. And how do I do this? Will you do it? Well, I don't know, Miss Peters. Tell me, how did your brother get into this racket? He's a mechanic. He started to work at the Acme filling station, and it wasn't long before he was offered a job as a mechanic in a big garage in town. Before he knew it, he was in the racket and afraid to go to the police. Did he try? Once. Then he saw he was followed. He didn't try again. Not after the other man was killed. What can I do? Get a job at the Acme filling station. It was from there that Tom went to the syndicate. Now, look, Miss Peters, your brother's a mechanic. I'm not. I know just about enough to repair minor injuries. That's all. That's enough. They need men. The syndicate's getting bigger. And you want me to increase their organization by one. Namely, Dan Holiday. I'll pay you $1,000 if you do. Oh, no, I don't want any money. This Acme filling station, where is it? 12902, Braddock Road. All right, I'll see what I can do, but no promises. Meanwhile, how do I get in touch with you? Here. Here's my name, address, and telephone number. OK, Miss Peters. But like I said, no promises. I'd just like to nose around first and see what trouble I can get into. I left Nancy Peters and drove back to the city, got into some old clothes, and took a bus out to Braddock Road. The Acme filling station did business on a three-way corner. From what I could see, it was a good business. I watched for a while until I spotted a man I thought was the boss. I waited until business cooled off of him and walked over to him. Hello. New something for you? I don't know. Depends on how badly you need help here. Help? You looking for a job? Yeah, yes I am. I saw you standing on the opposite corner looking over here. Thought maybe you was planning to hold up. No thanks. That's getting money the hard way. But I saw you hopping around here and figured you could do some help. Yeah, I know. Know anything about cars? Oh, a little. Enough to do minor repairs? Sure. Let me see your hands. Hold them out. Just hold them out. You've done much hard work in your life, haven't you? Well, not recently, no. Well, don't think I can use you, bud. But I need a job. Try someplace else. OK, OK. I was just asking. What's the matter? Got a phone here. I want to make a call. Hmm? Inside, why? I just want to make a call, that's all. OK, inside, I told you. It was a hunch and I played it. The car that drove up was a police car and I pretended to be afraid of it. I waited inside until the car drove out. Then the boss came in. Make your call, OK? Yeah, yeah, sure. Mm-hmm. Gonna make that call all of a sudden, didn't you? I just thought of it. Oh, sure. I'll see you later. Wait a minute. Sit down. What for? Maybe we can talk. Wait a second. What's the idea of closing the door? We can talk better. Why'd you do a fade when you saw that police car? I didn't see a police car. Quit kidding, bud. You saw it coming and pulled that phony call routine. You hot? Look, all I did was ask you for a job. Thanks for your time and so long. Take it easy. Take it easy. Sit down again. What's your name? Make it holiday, down holiday. Sounds phony enough. Want a job? A minute ago you were tight about that. Now you're loosening up. Why? I like to help people. Uh-huh. Got a kind face. You want a job or not? Don't know what. Handling the pumps, working on the grease rack, lubrication, wash rack, maybe doing some repair work now and then. How about it? I'd like a full-time job. That's what you want, isn't it? Yeah, that's exactly what I want. Pick up some coveralls and the lockers out back. You start as of now. So I went to work. And I learned about cars. I rented a room near the station at night-fed books on automotive repairs. And I waited. Waited for the next move, which came one morning just after I'd reported for work. Holiday! Hey, Dan. Yeah? Come inside a minute, will you? Right away. Pull the door shut. What's the trouble? No trouble at all. You know, you're getting to be a pretty good mechanic. Well, I learned fast. There's not quite enough work around here for a good mechanic. I thought maybe you'd like to make more dough. Do I get a raise? Not for me. But I can send you to somebody who needs mechanics, needs them bad. Thanks. Who's the guy and where is he? He goes to 714 South Elm to the Southern Auto Works. And here, give him this car. Oh, you're the guy Marty sent along, huh? That's right. They gave me this car together. Yeah. Okay. My name is Mike. Follow me. Sure. Kind of busy in here, aren't you? We keep going. This way. I can see why Marty says you need mechanics. Yeah, he can always use a good one. People crack up their cars and do a million things. Yeah. Go in this door. Good luck, fella. Have a chair, Halladane. Well, thank you. So you're a mechanic. Well, that's what Marty says. And you live at 678 Bender Avenue and you do a lot of reading at night. I know a lot about you, Dan. More than you think I do. Like what? Like the fact that you're a little shy of cups. I'm not afraid of them. I didn't say that. I said shy. Say like a guy who's just put in a little time would be. I don't be afraid, Dan. There's nothing to be afraid of. Look, I took the job at Marty's place because I needed it. But I don't have to be needled by you or anybody else. Maybe I did a stretch. And again, maybe I didn't. It's got nothing to do with a job so long as this one. Stay right where you are. That's your idea. No idea, Dan. I'm just in need of good mechanics, Marty. Tells me you're pretty good. Not top notch, but good enough. Okay, you want a job here? Don't want. Automotive repairs. What else? That's what I is. What else? I'm why you're suspicious. Look, you can take the job or not as you like. Pay a 75 a week and a percentage basis for anything over that and time and work. I look like a chump if I turn that down. That's right. So I guess you're in, huh? Like you say, Mr. Swanson. I'm in. And now back to Speed to Burn, another Box 13 adventure with Alan Ladd as Dan Holiday. Like I said, I was in, but in what? It looked like a legitimate business. The big garage did a roaring trade, and it seemed on the level. Mike, the man who took me to Swanson's office, stuck close to me so I had no chance to snoop around. And one day I was called into Swanson's office. Well, Dan, everything all right? As far as I know, everything's fine. Why? Got any objections to working at night? No, not at all. As long as it pays, time and a half. It's better than that. It's double. Special job? Yeah, you might call it that. How good are you at keeping your mouth closed? Well, not the talkative type. I suppose you know you've had a tail on you ever since you've worked here. No, I didn't know. What's your idea of that? Well, you're an ex-con. I thought that was gone by the boards, forgotten. It is, it is. But it's a funny thing. I've had a checkmate on you, and I can't find a record of any Dan Holiday serving time any place. Got anything to say? Nothing, except maybe you looked under the wrong name. Yeah, yeah, that's what I figured. Anyway, you've been watched and so far you're clean. Look, Mr. Swanson, you got me in here to talk about overtime work. Then you switched to my record. What's your pitch? Come around tonight at 10 o'clock, the back way. Just suppose I say no. Mike's a big guy. Maybe he could persuade you. Oh, I see. In other words, now that I'm in, I'm really in. In what, Dan? Maybe you can answer that better than I can. Maybe I can. Be here tonight at 10, the back entrance. Mike will see that you get here. Until then, so long then. Well, it was a tight spot. I couldn't tell whether Swanson knew anything or not. I hadn't made a move to contact Nancy Peters or her brother, Tom. But that night I was to be at the garage at 10 o'clock. At 9.30, Mike came to get me and 20 minutes later took me down an elevator, down into the cellar below the big garage. Now what I saw made me blink my eyes. Brother, this was a racket on a big scale. Put your eyes back in your head, Dan. You ain't seen a half of it yet. And what is this? The part of the garage nobody sees but them as their business here. Take a good look. Must be 50 cars in here. And all hot. Stolen? They ain't present. To give them an hour in here, their owners wouldn't know from a bicycle. Come on, we'll see Swanson. I'm in. Okay, Dan, come on in. Mike, see the things are running all right. Sure. See you later, Dan. Well, how do you like it, Dan? I don't know what I'm supposed to like, but it's big. And you're in it. What if I don't want to be? Well, when you're a chump, big pay, no social security or withholding tax. And no questions. Look, I don't want to serve any more time. You won't. We take care of our boys. Now look, I need another mechanic badly. There are enough hot cars floating in here in the next two weeks to make yourself a pile of dough. Yeah, but Mr. Swanson... Holliday, you haven't got a choice. Either take the job or you'll never work again. Any place, any time. I guess you're calling the terms, Mr. Swanson. Take it easy. You'll be safe. Until there's a leak. There's no leaks here. We're big enough to have our own police force to watch the men who work for us, understand? Yeah, I think I do. Okay, Mr. Swanson, you've got yourself another boy. And from then on, I was much closer than all the golden Fort Knox. It was over a week later that I finally made contact with Tom Peters. Mike took me to him because Tom was to break me in on a new job. Mike wants you to work on the jalapes, huh? Yeah, that's right. Okay, I'm Tom Peters. I know you're Dan Holliday. Yeah, what do I do? Well, we've got 10 hot cars rolling in tonight. They've got to be pulled apart for shipping out tomorrow. That's a little fast, isn't it? That's nothing. One night we put out 18. Come here. See this paint? Yeah. Special stuff, huh? That's right. Washes off with caustic soda. Plain water won't touch it, only caustic soda. We spray a coat of this stuff on the car. And then what? What about the license plates? You kidding? Look here. Over 500 license plates from different states. With a new paint job, different plates, even different tires, you wouldn't be able to recognize your own car if you sat in it. I see. Pretty tight organization, isn't it? Brother, you don't know how tight. Make a bad move in your material for a hearse. Well, here to work on the manufacturer's numbers. Serial numbers of the motors, huh? Uh-uh. Manufacturer's numbers. Never in the same place, twice. Sometimes it's in the carburetor, sometimes in the block. Any one of it does in different places. I see. You tear down the engine, get rid of the number, and there's no chance left for positive identification of the car. Right. Okay, start tearing this baby down. It's got to roll out on the street by midnight. Let's go to work. And I worked. And all the while I did, I knew I was being watched. And I think I was even followed when I went home. The three nights we kept at it, there wasn't a chance to break loose. Then on the fourth night, Tom Peters came over to me. Take loose from that job, Dan. We got a special to do. Special? Okay, what is it? Look here. Are you kidding? This gotta be a hot car. No, it's not. What's it look like? Like a broken down model of ten years ago. What's a crate like this? Wait a minute. Now, take a look under that hood. Look at that power plant. The engine's from a British tank. There's enough power under that hood to make this baby climb right up the side of a building. I don't get it. Why put that motor in this old job? Look underneath, the springs. Springs upside down? Sure, for a low center of gravity. And the body of the crate's lined with armor plate. And it's got bulletproof glass throughout. What are these things inside? Oh, extra gas tanks. This is a getaway car, a special built. You park this in front of a bank and no car can take a second look at it. But no other car made can get near it for speed or power. Now that's real, real neat. Well, it looks like the boys think of everything, don't they? They don't miss. You know, I'll bet anyone could take a 1938 car and pop it up with one of these motors. Sure, why not? You don't make no difference. I'll drive one. Sure, why? One her brother put together for before he got into this racket. Girl? 1938? What'd you say that for? Take it easy, Tom. What are you driving at? Nancy, your sister. What about her? She got me in here to get you out. Oh, look, she's crazy. You're crazy. This is a tight box. You want to get out? Nice job, Mike. It's pretty sweet. Yeah. Well, get it in shape. Some of the boys wanted for a heist job tonight. You've got an hour to work it over. Heist job? Yeah. They're knocking over a bank. Okay, help me, Tom, and I'll help you when we get out of this. Listen, don't you think I'd have made a break before now? They got me going in common. And I'll do it. They're watching you every minute. That's the chance I have to take. You're drinking coffee, don't you? Sure. With cream and sugar. You happy now? Tom, that makes me very happy. Later that night, when I was through working, I left the garage. I tried to phone Nancy Peters three times, but she was out. The last time, I left a message for her to meet me in the lobby of a movie. I went there hoping I'd shaken my shadow off my trail. Fortunately, she got my message. And I told her to call the FBI to give them the address of the garage, 714 South Elm, and to make it fast because it was no time to lose. Then I walked out of the lobby and into the street. I looked back. Nancy Peters was going toward a phone booth in the theater lobby. I was about to walk to my room when... Enjoy the picture holiday? Mike. Yeah, Mike. Funny about you. You bought a ticket, walked in, talked with that dame, came right out again. I remember I'd seen the movie before. Who was the dame? What are you talking about? The dame. Who was she? What did you say to her? Look, Mike, that's my personal business. Then it's mine too. She went to a phone booth inside. Can I help it if some girl wants to use a phone? I figure you can. Now come on. We're going to Swanson. All right, Dan. Who was the girl? What'd you say? I never saw her before in my life. Just a chance acquaintance, huh? You could call it that. You're lying. All right, you know everything. Not quite, but I...wait a minute. Suppose it is. I got an idea. Sit still while I look through the phone book. Funny I never thought of this before. Let's see. Holiday Dan. All right, you're in the phone book. There's only one Dan holiday. That makes me unique among the holidays. What does it make you? Not a sucker holiday. Sit still, make a move, and I'll make a nice round hole in your head with this. Now we'll see. Mr. Dan holiday, please. Oh, is he out of town, do you know? Who's calling, please? An old friend, Mr. Swanson. Oh, well, Mr. Swanson, Mr. Holiday. Is that so? Well, thank you. Thank you very much. You've been gone two weeks, Holiday. It just about ties in with the time you've been here. Okay, Swanson, so I'm in the phone book and you found out I'm not at my apartment. What does that prove? That's what I'm going to find out. And if I... All right, move the hot cars out back. Notify all branches we're shipping a load tonight. Tell the drivers to take the ones that aren't ready and run them in the river. Holiday, you're going with me. Get going. That dirty thing do the job? Yeah, come on. Get away, car and ship. Holiday, you're going to see why we're never caught. What's wrong, Mr. Swanson? We have a stooly with us, Peters. That's right, Peters, a stooly. Clear out there's a raid coming. Mike, warm up the car. Sure. Nothing to worry about. In holiday, get in. Let's go, Mike, up the ramp. Right. Play with him, Mike. That holiday, see how good we really are. You hurt me. And I'm almost catch up to us. And holiday don't duck when you hear shooting. They can't touch us in this. Besides, I want to save you for myself. They might as well be using pea shooters. Oh, show them what we can do, Mike. Get away. I'm almost standing still. Okay, Mike, head for the state line. What's the matter? You said this car was in shape. You're trying to get me drunk. Run on a curb. We'll make a run for it. Pull in, Mike, pull in. Mike, help me. Why don't you, Mr. Holiday? Oh, sure, Susie. Just some minor cuts and bruises. What happened? Well, Mr. Swanson took his eyes off me for a second. That was enough. I grabbed his gun. Cheapers. But what happened to the car? Susie, put enough sugar in the gas tank of any car and it'll give up and die real soon. You see, it clogs the feed line. I took the sugar from Tom's lunch barrel. Now, that was real smart. But how did you know you were going to be in the car? Well, I didn't. I planned to wreck the bank job. But as they say in books, sometimes things work out differently and for the best. What about Tom Peters? He's all right. He was roped in. Fear made him stay. Hey, Susie, how about some coffee? Oh, sure. Right here. Cream? Thanks. Sugar? Lots of it, Susie. Lots of it. I just love sugar. Listen in again next week when, through the courtesy of Paramount Pictures, Alan Lads stars as Dan Holiday in Box 13. Box 13 is directed by Richard Sanville with this week's story written by Albert Wagner from an original story by Bernard Fine. Original music is composed and conducted by Rudy Schrager and the part of Susie is played by Sylvia Picker. Byrne Carstensen is in charge of production. This is a Mayfair production from Hollywood. Watch for Alan Lads in his latest Paramount Picture.