 From Hollywood. It's time now for Johnny dollar. Hi Johnny. This is Steve Kilmer in providential life in casualty Steve. It's been a couple of years Yeah, I know Listen Johnny, how'd you like to attend the wedding? Well, why not as long as it is mine? Yeah, I know what you mean Oh, you're a bachelor too, huh? We're four kids and a couple of grandchildren. Whoops Johnny Do you by any chance remember Martha Mayfield Marryman the old gal down in New York who owns consolidated tire and rubber company Well sure one of my old sweethearts don't you remember back in 57 when I cleared up that false report of her death Well, of course he did but Steve she must be 73 or four years old Well, don't tell me she's getting married again. No, it's her son Edgar. Oh, but she Well, now that's kind of funny. Now. What do I okay Steve? I'll run on down there in the exciting adventures of the man with the action-packed Expense account America's fabulous freelance insurance investigator yours truly Johnny dollar And now act one of yours truly Johnny dollar Expense account submitted by special investigator Johnny dollar to the providential life and casualty insurance company home office Hartford, Connecticut Following is an account of expenses incurred during my investigation of the Shankar diamond matter Expense account item one seven eighty trained in New York at a cab to the Brownstone house on Sutton Place Martha may feel married man who looks more like somebody's cute little grandmother than a clever stock market operator But who thinks and sounds like well judge for yourself. Can you dig that Johnny? That's proud of mine is finally taking the leap this sucker. Well after all Martin say how about you Johnny? How about what about me? You know marriage well Let's change the subject turn me down Well, then I'll just have to wait a couple years and try again Or has that Betty Louie's been making time with you behind my back Oh, you know Betty no, but I heard the broadcast of that case where she kept you from getting knocked off by that gangster that to Curly water. Yeah, Martha. She saved my life and then didn't have sense enough to get her hooks in you Johnny the dames nowadays are really slipping Just don't you forget though that I've got a lead on all of them because I've already proposed to you Martha You are a doll sure I am and if I was a couple of years younger Johnny I'd run you ragged. What do you mean if you were a couple of years younger? Have you forgotten our night on the town after I hand letter the case for you? Hey, we've really had a ball didn't we boy. It took me nearly a week to recover Well, we'll just have to do it again after these weddings over with Speaking of which how'd you like a little snort? Like well, don't you think maybe better of course you would Larkin Larkin you called madam buying things snooping around outside the door a trying to find out what Johnny dollars doing here Of course you were now bring us a couple of drinks scotch on the rocks. Okay, Johnny. Sure. I mean Well hop to it Larkin. Oh and crack the wall safe and bring me the ring The ring very good madam. No good old Larkin He's leaving me, you know, and I'm really going to miss him. Hey, what am I Martha? Larkin has the combination to your wall safe. No, I'm not. What would he ever do with a junk? I keep stashed away in it. Oh, what kind of junk Some odds and ends and necklaces and brooches and rings mostly a couple of bracelets and what's the ring a Shankar diamond Isn't that the one I've read about? Probably the one supposed to be the opposite of the Hope diamond that's supposed to have good luck charm about it No, no, no Why that thing's worth close to a million isn't it was the insurance company says and you plan to wear it when your son Edgar gets married. Well, it's silly superstition. I suppose but Maybe it'll bring him and Mary Lou and good luck in their marriage. Mary Lou and Mary Lou and Melanie Beauford XM Culpepper sounds like something out of gone with the wind the most gorgeous bailing Greensboro, North Carolina, sir Oh, is that what the wedding's gonna be and at the old family plantation right outside of town You're going to escort me to the wedding and the bang up reception afterward Understand those southern folks really know how to throw a winging. Hey, tell me Martha Do you expect somebody to make a try for that diamond? I always do some of the top jewel thieves in the country have tried to snatch that rock Now who else knows that you've called me in not a soul good. Let's keep it that way. I'm with you Okay, then I'll run on back to Hartford and get some clothes to fit the occasion Johnny with you and tails and me and a set of threads that balance. Yeah, I got socked me a couple of G's for We're gonna knock them dead. Yeah, then I'll come back here. We'll pick up the diamond and get down to Greensboro together No, we'll take one of my company planes just the two of us Johnny with maybe a case of champagne on board How about that? My say we will have us a ball Fighting now and if I have that much get up and go when I'm her age when I hope she'll live forever Yeah, the trip to Greensboro sounded like it would really be a ball Just before I left her Larkin brought in the Shankard diamond all 34 carats of it flawless perfect beautiful and It suddenly occurred to me that somebody who wanted that stone wanted that really bad Might not hesitate to kill for it Act two of yours truly Johnny dollar in a moment and now for another episode in the life of sergeant Donald Bellwin My husband. Oh, that was delicious. Well, I'm glad to hear that dear more coffee. Oh, yeah Now tell me all about your safety class. Did the boys enjoy your speech? Oh, yeah, sure did. Thanks to you I did quite well my lieutenant complimented me after yeah, but that's the same lieutenant threw me a curve, too How dear well after I gave my talk he asked the men if there were any questions Well, I did it the one of the guys stood up and said Said that look Sarge you claim there were over 95,000 deaths and over a nine and a half million people injured and accidents in the US last year Looks to me like all those safety campaigns and slogans are doing no good at all How did you answer I didn't think I couldn't think of an answer I got out of it by saying I'd have more facts and figures at the next meeting Let's see now. Oh Yeah, here it is Now first sergeant Bellwether you start off by telling the boys that since 1913 the accidental death rate has been reduced 35% Or in other words if there hadn't been campaigns and safety measures put into effect to reduce accidents Almost a million more people would have been killed in the last 46 years It certainly is I'm reading it right out of the National Safety Council record book. Oh and another thing Accidents in the farming areas are much higher than in the city. But you know why why? Because in rural areas there are fewer policemen enforcing safety laws and less traffic signs and signals to guide the motorists You know many more cars travel the city streets and yet the per capita rate of accident is much higher in the rural areas Of course, the reason is obvious in the city more safety measures are instituted and obeyed Reba you are wonderful. That's a good logical answer. I don't know what I'd do with that That's my Donald. That's my doll And now act two of yours truly Johnny dollar and the Shankar diamond matter Expense account Adam to 1650 the trip to Hartford for my formal clothes and back to New York and the home of Martha Mayfield Merriman By the time I arrived she was packed for the trip to Greensboro, North Carolina in the wedding of her son Edgar her chauffeur drove us to the airport and then much to my surprise took over as pilot of the huge private two-engine plane That was waiting for us within a few minutes We were airborne and on our way and in my pocket was the ring the Shankar down What are you looking so glum about Johnny? You Martha. Oh, what are you talking about? I'm the one who ought to have the sour pulls. I propose to you You turn me down Martha. I don't think you really leveled with me. Do you think I wouldn't marry you? You're good-looking. No, no, no, I mean about this dime Now Johnny, I don't do you well if it been some real serious attempts to steal it before I would have been warned by the insurance company Well, so they forgot to tell you is it or do you have reason to think that somebody's gonna try to get it now While you're away from your usual police protection Yeah, I thought so Okay, Martha Did you get a look at my chauffeur Johnny the laddie who's steering this crate? Well, I can hardly help it If you mean to say Yes, Johnny, I think the only reason Eric ever took a job with me was to get his hands on that diamond Eric Who Eric Melvin Chatterley? Yes, he's a distant cousin of Larkin my butler and Larkin's leaving you shortly to spend his last days in his beloved, England Did Larkin recommend it to you? No, actually he didn't even know much about it. I can spite of their being Well, how long has Larkin been with you? Oh, yeah, and this Eric five or six months What the why do you suspect him? Well, not to reason in checking up on him after I hired him I found out that his old man Byron Chatterley is still serving time in English prison for He was a Jewel thief Soon sure I remember reading about him. He was a real expert painstaking a patient Spent over three years working on a plan to get hold of the crown jewel that he didn't plan long enough And that's when they nabbed him Some of the head shrinkers are right if crime is in Eric's blood Well, what was your second reason about a week ago? I found Eric alone in the study and I think he was casing the wall safe But you're not sure he had a dust cloth and he started flicking it around muttering something about giving Larkin a hand Which is highly unlikely didn't accuse. No Just made it known that I was going to take the diamond with me to the wedding and I sent for you But if he knows who I am what my business I don't see how he can Wait Johnny, is there any way he could have been hearing us up there in the pilots compartment? No, I don't see Yes, Eric. Thank you Eric. We'll be ready Well Johnny Martha the only time you will have this diamond is at the wedding and the reception After all that's the only chance as old biddies will have to show up our furs and jewelry Okay in the reception the rest of the time it'll be right here with me But nobody's to know that Why they could be wrong of course about Eric I mean the fact remained that within a few hours everybody in Greensboro knew about her being there with a Shankar diamond The cul-peppers made us comfortable in the old mansion. The sweet they gave to Martha was big enough to house a family of 12 During the next 24 hours the place was all I'd call it a kind of dignified madhouse What with all the preparations for the wedding? There were house guests by the dozens some were obviously very wealthy But some had just as obviously seen better days And I couldn't help wondering if a couple of them might have designs on that million dollar diamond I stayed as close to Martha as possible and at the same time kept a constant watch on Eric The police who'd been hired for the occasion appointed him as a special guard Dying fools. They didn't know it, but they were playing right into his hands If that is Martha's suspicions were right Then late the following afternoon the wedding went off without a hitch The blushing bride was beautiful and the bridegroom looked appropriately happy After the ceremony the ladies all retired to protect themselves in their most fetching gowns and furs and jewels And finally about 8 p.m. The big reception got underway There must have been a couple of hundred people in that ballroom and the champagne had bourbon flowed like water Yeah, and I danced with some of the prettiest most gorgeous girls I've ever seen right out of Charles of the Ritz Then it must have been well after midnight I caught a glimpse of a shadowy face outside one of the big French windows as they looked again it disappeared I was sure that it was Eric. I excused myself from Martha with whom I'd been talking and well That was a mistake as I reached the window all the lights suddenly went out and behind me. I heard a scream It was Martha By the time I fought my way back through the crowd to where I'd left her the lights came up again Yeah, there she lay unconscious on the floor the shank card diamond stripped from her finger Three of yours truly Johnny dollar in a moment. Do you know who said? Absolute freedom of the press to discuss public questions is a foundation stone of American liberty Those words were said by former president Herbert Hoover Mr. Hoover was well aware of the important role that freedom of the press had played in the creation and growth of the United States of America He realized that without freedom of the press no democratic form of government could exist One of the first steps in the path toward totalitarianism is the creation of a controlled press The free press hampers the work of a potential dictator When the press is free The people of a country are free When the press is not free The people of a country are in danger of slavery Remember the words of Herbert Hoover They are part of your American heritage Freedom of the press is a foundation stone of American liberty And now act three of yours truly Johnny dollar Within a few minutes of the time the lights had gone out and Martha had been robbed We had her upstairs in a suite a doctor in attendance Fortunately, she'd only fainted from shock and the pain of having the shank card diamond forcibly stripped from her finger I acted fast. I had the special police hall Eric Chatterley in the Greensboro Then after organizing a methodical search of the old mansion I checked around outside the window where I'd seen Eric's face And they are sure enough was a main fuse box where the lights have been turned off I checked back with Martha to be sure she was okay Then borrowed a car and drove into Greensboro to police headquarters What do you mean chief my boys went over every stitch on them, but they found absolutely no sign of that diamond You're talking about his quarters. They're at the plantation. Now, you know as well as I do say I had no chance to hide anything except on his person. Hey, no sir unless you can prove me wrong We got no reason to hold them wait. Where's the nearest hospital hospital? Yes, and chief. I give you odds I can find that diamond on Eric Chatterley The x-ray of Chatterley's midsection took a few minutes development of the film a few minutes more careful examination of it only a few seconds Great day. Mr. Dollar. You were right sir. Yeah, was I look for yourself? He must have taken it out of the ring But the important thing the diamond is sitting right there in the middle of his stomach the outline of that stone is just as clear And that's just the trouble chief Trouble sir. Well, that's the stone that Eric tore off her finger. All right, so go ahead hold on to him But if that's it sir a chief That's not the Shankar diamond All right governor all right you caught me with already goods on me, so I'll take the rat for it And it won't be the first time But you got to admit it was pretty clever of me clever When you couldn't tell the difference between the real thing and a carefully made imitation imitation That's right the stone that you swallowed. No It tell me she had the real thing when he got me the job with her who Eric At least when he wrote me I should come over from England and apply for the Who Eric? I'll set enough. Yeah, I think you have it that combination of that wall safe, of course not as I told you the only sure mother well, of course I am When you say paced in imitation Johnny, are you kidding? When's the last time you wore the Shankar diamond at the big charity ball last spring If it was the Shankar not this imitation you're talking about I haven't had a clean to check by a jeweler since Oh, why should I then it probably wasn't the Shankar and you're sure you didn't know about this imitation Do you think I'd go around flashing a phony now look here Johnny? I love you dearly, but don't you cool me with a line like that. Don't rile me boy Okay, honey. Okay, keep your head on just get ready for a quick trip back to New York as soon as I can find us another fly boy During the flight back to New York Martha asked a lot of questions But I sidestep all of them promised her a real dramatic ending to the case and I kind of quietly pray for one myself When we reached the old brownstone house on Sutton place We told Larkin the butler about the robbery then at my insistence went upstairs to his quarters on the fourth floor Here you are sir Freight I don't understand you sure got me bugged to Johnny Larkin I see you're already packing for your trip back to dear only yes During my four years of service with madam. I find I've accumulated quite a I Beg your pardon, sir. I'm going through every one of these bags of yours now Johnny Even tear them apart to look for false bottoms hidden compartment, sir I'll do the same thing to your clothes your shoes if necessary until I find the Shankar diamond mr. Dollar madam Now Johnny, what's the gag sometimes blood will tell doesn't what that head shrink has said to you well Yes, but I've you were thinking only of Eric of his relationship with a notorious Byron Chatterley The man who quietly patiently spent years working on a plan to get hold of a precious stone You forgot all about Larkin being now just a minute You trusted Larkin to the point of leavening him have the combination of the safe where you kept the Shankar So we had an imitation made a beauty out of a thing. They call stress Yeah, it's a highly-ledged glass that only an expert can tell from a real diamond when it's cut correctly That's what you've been wearing the last few times just can't believe it But Larkin realized that sooner or later the fake would be spotted So he evolved another scheme to have the fake one stolen by his distant cousin Eric same blood remember If Eric got away with it, okay, and Larkin was clean He could split with him later when Eric got wise to the phony if Eric was caught as he was Larkin skirts would still be clean Right Larkin quite sir, and you won't need to destroy my luggage I'll fetch you the diamond. Yeah, you may as well But I must say if you hadn't discovered the one Eric stole was paced I'd never have got on to you may ask how you did it sir sure The x-ray of your beloved cousin's belly Well, I realized that that's how you located the stone. It also told me it wasn't the real one Well, and so help me Johnny. I don't dig you. We'd never have seen the real one. What? Genuine diamonds are completely transparent to x-rays So the diamond safe and sound and Larkin and his dearly beloved cousin are in the clink Martha was a bit upset over what Larkin had done, but she'll get over it Yeah, I sure hope I get over this headache that brawl. She threw for me by way of celebration was a dilly Expensive out total including incidentals in the trip back to Hartford. Call it 50 bucks yours truly Johnny dolly Johnny dollar starring Bob Bailey Originates in Hollywood and is written produced and directed by Jack Johnstone Heard in our cast were Lillian by a Jack Edwards Barney Phillips forest Louis and Eric Snowden Be sure to join us next week same time and station for another exciting story of yours truly Johnny dollar This is Dan cover Lee speaking Johnny dollar has come to you through the worldwide Facilities of the United States Armed Forces radio and television service