 The Equitable Life Assurance Society presents, This Is Your FBI. This Is Your FBI. The official broadcast from the files of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Presented as a public service by the Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States, and the Equitable Society's representative in your community. Our representative of our sponsor, the Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States, Mr. Keating, I'm crowding 50. Last Saturday, I scored a touchdown for my college. The player who actually carried the ball was the son of my oldest friend, who died two years ago. That boy wouldn't be in college today if I hadn't sold his dad an equitable education fund. You wonder I get a kick out of being a representative of the Equitable Life Assurance Society? In approximately 14 minutes, I'll be back to give the whole story of an equitable education fund. An important contribution to American education made by the Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States. Tonight's FBI file the unhappy firebugs. Because the middle of the 20th century is now almost close enough to touch, it might be well to make this a time of reckoning. A time to sit and count something besides our many and generous blessings. What for instance is the crime picture as we plunge into the second half of the 1900s? A study has just been completed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which might give us some idea. The study covered all crime records since the birth of your FBI. And to judge from those files, the answer is one to sober even the most optimistic among us. Virtually every crime, be it arson or murder or anything in between, is being committed more often now than it was 5, 15 or 20 years ago. This past 12 month period, for example, saw the police blotters of our nation record more than a million and a half major crimes. An amount which becomes even more staggering, which becomes almost unbelievable when you break it down and learn that major crimes are committed in this country today at a rate of better than 3 a minute. Every minute, of every hour, of every day. These are shocking statistics. And very frankly, the FBI reports them to you for that exact reason. To shock you into cooperation with your local law enforcement agencies. If all Americans cooperate, then the forces of law and order will ultimately defeat the American criminals. Then there is hope that in time, you will be able to enjoy a fifth freedom. Freedom from crime. The night trial opens in the small living room of a railroad flat located in a cheap tenement house. It is early evening and a young man in a faded bathrobe has just entered the room. Marge, Marge, I finally got it. Huh? Here, shuffle his deck. But, Red, I want to finish the funnies. Oh, come on, come on, shuffle. Yeah, that's it. Now just shuffle them up good. Mix them all up. That's right. Now, put the whole deck on the table. Uh-huh. Fine. Good. Now, cut them any fits. Okay. Now, look at the top card. Got it? Make sure you remember it now. Uh-huh. Now put it back in the pack and shuffle the whole deck again. Okay. Get them mixed up good. Well, now I haven't touched the cards at all, have I? No. Count down three cards. One, two, three. Next card is yours. Turn it over. All right. Pretty good, huh? That's the wrong card. Huh? I can't read. But, Red, it is. But the book says that the... Is that you, Mom? Yes. Oh, Mrs. Davis. What's with the bathrobe? I was just resting. Resting? From what? Oh, no, Mom. Go get dressed. What for? I found a job for you. You mean work? Yeah, remember? Well, now I don't know, Mrs. Davis. I got two or three things lined up myself and... Yeah, yeah. He really has, Mom. I've been hearing that same routine for the last six months. Meantime, the bike's on me for your food and rent. Now, go get dressed. Well, what is this job? You know, the warehouse is just in Bedford. Uh-huh. I just made a deal with the man who's tied in with it. Oh, now, look. I couldn't work in the warehouse. You don't have to work there. All you gotta do is go out there tonight and burn it down. Later that evening, Special Agent Jim Taylor is behind the fire lines as a blaze is being fought in the large warehouse. Keep that crowd back, Bill. Get him back over there. Sorry, Taylor. That's okay, Chief. I never knew crowds were such a problem. They are more trouble than the fires in most cases. Oh, have you been able to get that pane of glass for me yet? It must be out by now. Wait a minute. Okay. Keep those crowds back, man. Close engine. This way. Yeah, that's it. I've been trying to get through to you for the last 10 minutes. That's an obstacle course. Yeah, I know. Well, that's your message when I call the office. What's up? Well, this fire started about an hour ago. When the inspectors got here, they called our office. Why? They're sure that it's arson. Well, could what have burned out a government warehouse? That's what we've got to find out. Anything missing from inside? No. No, this fire wasn't started to cover up the theft. They had an inventory check up only this afternoon. Any suspects? None yet. I've asked a manager holding back a crowd to try and find somebody who was around here when it started. Here's that pane of glass, Taylor. Oh, thanks, dude. What's that for, Jim? When I was in Washington two weeks ago, I saw that electron microscope that our lab put in. Oh, they can scrape some smoke off this glass, take a picture of it, and tell what was burning. Maybe even what started the blaze. Let me know as soon as you hear anything, will you, Taylor? Sure thing, Chief. I'm going back inside now. Well, thanks for everything. Jim, you want me to stick around as if I can look at any witnesses? Yeah, will you do that, Walt? I'll get this pane of glass on its way to Washington. He's here, Mom. Here you are. Hello, Mrs. Davis. What kept you? Where were you? In a magic store. Where? The magic store. Yeah, the fellow there just got in some new tricks, so I thought that I... Mom, do you're real? It was okay. Well, I went to the place, I started the fire, and it burned. Must have. When I left, the whole sky was light. There were lots of fire engines. Did you have any trouble? No. Did anyone see you? Nope. Oh, uh, Mrs. Davis. What? When do I get paid? Well, would you mind bringing my share over real early? What for? I want to buy some new tricks. We'll have a report on that pane of glass, Walt. Oh, really? How do we get it back so soon? The SAC was flying down to Washington. They took it with him. Well, that's quick action. Yeah. Come on, let's go back to my desk, huh? Okay. All right, Walt. Thanks. Well, what's in the report? It was magnesium oxide. Well, that means fireworks, isn't it? That's right. And there was nothing in that warehouse for the magnesium vase. Oh, great. Sit down, Walt. Okay. You know that magnesium oxide? I might just tie something in with that that I got last night. Oh, from whom? The kid who was watching the fire. He lives in the neighborhood. Where'd he get him? Well, he and a pal of his talked to a man who was hanging around the warehouse about six o'clock last night. He was carrying some boxes. They might have contained fireworks. No. Could this kid describe the man? All he remembered was that he had red hair. You're questioning the youngsters, pal? Not yet. I'm going out looking for him this afternoon. You might have some evidence for us. What do you mean? Well, the kid said the man threw the boxes away before he went into the warehouse. And? The second kid picked him up. I'm hoping he still hasn't. Oh. I think I'll call ident, Walt, and get pictures of an all-known red-headed arsonist. You can show them to the kids. Okay. We might turn up a man we're looking for. That trick I want to show you. Oh, gee, Red, I'm reading. Oh, you've got to see this one. It's the best trick I ever did. Here. Take these. What are they? Mystery rings. They're inside each other, see? What am I supposed to do with them? See if I can take them apart. What for? That's the trick, Marge. Oh. Okay. Now, try. Okay. I can't do it. Oh, wait a minute. How can I read? Oh, wait a minute. You've got to watch me first. Here. Let me have the rings. Here. Now, watch. You say the magic words. Abadab. Abadab. They're still together. They're still together. Funny. They're still together. Funny. I worked in the store. Come on. Yes, Mom. Where is he? Who? Your husband. Here I am, Mrs. David. Oh, you stupid idiot. You blundering imbecile. Huh? Don't you ever listen when anyone talks to you? What's the matter, Mom? I get him a job. The first job he's had in months. All he has to do is go to the warehouse. Get the file. But that's what I did. Sure. What's wrong, Mom? What's wrong? He burned down the wrong joint. We will return to tonight's exciting FBI file in just a moment. Now, let's turn to another type of thrill. One you'll probably be enjoying tomorrow afternoon when you listen to some exciting college football game. No. No, he kept the ball himself all the time. He's fooled everybody. Now he's speaking fast. Let's feel like a store jack, Robert. He's going for it. After college days are over, what happens to these football heroes and their fellow classmates? Take the matter of earning power. Do college men earn more or just about the same as the average non-college men? College men earn much more. Actually, a college graduate is 15 times more likely to make a salary of $10,000 a year or better than a non-college man. In other words, the odds in favor of a college education are 15 to 1. Consider that figure and you will understand why the management of the Equitable Life Assurance Society takes pride in its famous Equitable Education Fund. An Equitable Education Fund is a plan for far-sighted parents who want the satisfaction of knowing that their children will receive the higher education that means so much. First and foremost, an Equitable Education Fund is sure. Right. This fund combines plan regular saving with life insurance. So if the father dies or becomes permanently disabled, this plan makes certain that his children will still be able to get the education he was ambitious for them to have. Second advantage, an Equitable Education Fund is easy. That's because this plan spreads the cost of education over 10 or 15 years. Only a comparatively small monthly amount is required and it eventually builds up into a sum ample to see a boy or girl through college. Remember, fathers and mothers, in the increasingly competitive years that lie ahead, the biggest prizes will go to college-trained men and women. Put your children in line for a more successful future by starting an Equitable Education Fund now. Get in touch with your Equitable Society representative soon, or send a postcard care of this station to the Equitable Life Insurance Society of the United States. And now back to the FBI file, the unhappy firebugs. In tonight's program, it was mentioned that the police of this nation are using science more and more every day in fighting the war against crime. No better example of that use could be found than the one illustrated in tonight's case from the files of your FBI, a case in which the electronic microscope is used as a means of establishing the crime of arson. That microscope, which is powerful enough to magnify a specimen up to 20,000 times, is probably the most expensive single piece of equipment in the laboratory of the Federal Bureau of Investigation for its total cost amounted to more than $15,000. When you consider that less than 20 years ago, there was no such thing as an FBI laboratory. When you consider that at its inception, it had as equipment one ordinary microscope. You begin to get some idea of the growth of the lab. At the present time, it has been estimated that the equipment in the lab, which is the finest of its kind in the world, costs more than a million dollars, and the FBI would be the last to deny that that seems like a lot of money to be spent in so short a time for what might seem to the outsider to be theoretical aids. But ask any special agent how often he uses the lab to help himself a case. Ask the thousands upon thousands of local police chiefs who send evidence in purely local cases to the FBI lab to be analyzed what they would do without that lab, and you realize the tremendous value of the fight science is making against crime in your behalf. Tonight's file continues in the shabby living room of Marge and Red Wheeler. Have you got any tricks you'd like to show me? No, Marge. I'd like to see the one with the rings again, Red. No. Oh gee, honey, don't feel so bad. It wasn't your fault. You just went to the wrong place. You said yourself that the fire was the best you ever saw. Marge, that don't help. I'm still a failure. Oh, you are not. Maybe I'll go look for a job. A regular job? Yeah. I won't let you do it. We can't just keep living off your mother, especially now when she ain't gonna give us no more money. Red. What? I got an idea. Mom's not mad at you because you didn't light a good fire. She just saw it because the fire you set was at the wrong place. Yeah, that's right. So why don't you go burn the right place? Huh? Then you'll be in solid with Mom again. Hey, that might work. Sure it will. Do you have the right address? Uh-huh, Fitz and Bedford. Then why don't you go over there? You mean right now? Yes. Okay, I will. Oh, wait. Huh? Dear Red, just for luck, use my lighter. Hi, Jim. Oh, hello, Walt. Did you find that other kid? Yeah, and he still had the boxes. Hey, that's a break. Here they are. You see, there's a sticker on them right here. Uh-huh. They were bought at Newton's Sporting Good Shop, 411 Main Street. Yeah, did you check with them? I went down there. They were closed. Yeah. Well, when they opened again, you can also find out if a redhead bought any more fireworks there this afternoon. Why? There was another warehouse fire at 5th and Bedford. That government warehouse was at 15th and Bedford. That's right. Yeah. This might be something more than a coincidence still. According to the fire chief, a brilliant flame was seen when this fire broke out. That could mean that magnesium was used again. Did he get you another pane of glass? Yeah, it's already on its way to Washington. Oh, uh, Walt, that second kid that you talked to, did he recognize any of the pictures? No, but I did get a character note on our redheaded suspect. No, what's that? He had a deck of cards with him. He tried to show the kids some card tricks, none of which he seemed able to do. I could make him anything from a card shop to an exhibitionist. Well, I guess all we can do now, Walt, is wait for that sporting good shop to open up in the morning. Still sleeping? If you mean red, he's out. Picking up some new tricks, I suppose. You know I got a great suggestion for that young man. Why doesn't he try to make himself disappear? Oh, Mom, you're always picking on him. He made one little mistake. One little mistake? Well, let me find a man who wants to pay to have his place burned down. A man who hired you on the place? That's right. Then why did he want it burned? Well, I'll try to explain it to you. He buys a lot of stuff on consignment, puts it in the warehouse. Then just before the fire, he has it moved out. Everybody thinks the stuff burned. Understand? Sort of. Well, then he goes bankrupt. He sells the stuff to a fence and keeps that money, too. Oh, well, gee, we did the right thing, then. What do you mean? That's why red went out. What are you talking about? Well, you were mad at red because he burned the wrong place. Now you're going to be proud of him. Well, you get to the point. Well, he's out burning the right place this time. What? He's burning the warehouse at fifth and bedroom. No, Mom, honest. Oh! What's the matter? Oh, that rotten hedge. Red? Yes, Red. He's really fixed it now. Because he got set in the fire? Yes. But why? When Red burned the wrong joint, the warehouse guy figured the deal was off. He moved all the stuff back in again. Now he's really bankrupt. Got quick action from the lab again, Walden. Close the report back on that second pane of glass. Yeah, and it shows the same thing. Magnesium oxide, so it must be the same fire button. And we know who he is, him. He was identified? Yep. A man named Charles Wheeler, alias Red Wheeler. How did you come up with that? Well, I went to the sporting goods shop when it opened this morning, showed one of the clerks of fireworks boxes. He said they were bought this week. The store just started to carry that brand. You were showing the pictures? That's right. He made positive identification. Great. You find out where this squealer lives? Yes, I checked on that. He and his wife had moved away six months ago. Naturally no forwarding address. At least we know now who we're looking for. And we know he was in town as recently as yesterday. Well, an alarm should turn him up, Jim. Well, there may be another way of finding him. How's that? I checked on the owner of that second warehouse that was burned. It's in the name of a dummy corporation. I'm trying not to get the names on the incorporation papers. In case they had a convenient fire, Jim. That's right. If they did, and if Wheeler was hired to do the job, getting the owner's name could clear up this whole mess. What's that? Some new kind of game, Jim? No. Well, these were sent up here by Fire Chief Russell. Oh. What are they? They're trick rings. They were found in the warehouse that burned yesterday. Oh. They hold them this way. They come apart. Okay. Oh. Now, see how come the fire didn't blacken their chrome? Well, they were found underneath a packing case. I guess the flames never got to them. Mr. Taylor? No. Report my dent. Oh, thanks very much. Now, this helps a little. What is it? My dent. This helps a little. What is it? Identics and prints off these rings, and I brought them in. The prints belong to Red Wheeler. That definitely places him inside the building before the fire. Yeah. Well, we just have to find him. Yeah, that's true. Walk, we'd better have copies of his picture made. We'll send him to the place in the 19th and 20th precincts. Well, why just there, Jim? Well, Wheeler's last known address was in the 19th, right? Uh-huh. And the place where he bought the fireworks is in the 20th. Yeah? Well, in the way I figured Wheeler must still live someplace close by. If he didn't, he wouldn't go all the way back to his old neighborhood just to buy some Roman candles. That's logical. Well, Jim, we ought to be able to have the pictures made. Wait a minute. Well, I just thought of something. What? Didn't one of the kids you talked to say Wheeler was trying some trick with playing cards? Yeah, that's right. Let's check one thing before we give the police those pictures. Come on. Oh, I just got a... How long in the take-of-the-path? Huh? You've got to get out of here. What for? That warehouse guy is gunning for us. We've got to get out of town. Where's Knucklehead? Mom, if you mean real... I do. Where is he? In the bedroom. Resting, I suppose. Who's that? My mother. Oh. Come out here. Well, I'm kind of busy, Mrs. Davis. Come here! Yes, Mrs. Davis. That warehouse man is actress. We've got to leave town and right now. Start packing. Why should we run away from him? Because he has a gun and he wants to use it to make little round holes in your large, empty head. I'll go pack it. Goodness, Mom. Why would anyone want to kill wet? Oh, honey. Well, it certainly was nice of you to warn him. I don't mean it to be nice. The guy's looking for me, too. And I need someone strong enough to carry the bag. The warehouse man? No, that's the cab driver. Huh? I brought you some extra bags. He's bringing them up. Let him in. Okay. Hello, Miss. Are you the taxi driver? Now we're special agents of the FBI. FBI? We're looking for a red wheeler. Oh, well, he's not here. He left town this morning. Hey, Marge. Marge, I got it. I finally got it, Marge. Here, honey. Take a car. Here, honey. Take a car. This is the last trick he'll do for about 10 more years. Healer, his wife, his mother-in-law, and the owner of the second warehouse that was burned were all tried and convicted in federal court on charges of attempted fraudulent bankruptcy. Each received a 10-year sentence. The idea which Special Agent Taylor got was to check one particular type of store in the neighborhood where a red wheeler had purchased the fireworks. That type of shop is sometimes called a trick store or a magic shop. There were several in the 19th and 40th precincts. But a visit to the third one on their list brought the two agents the address they wanted, the address where red wheeler and his wife were living. After the arrest of the trio, an arrest you have just witnessed, further investigation devolved the name of the man who had hired wheeler's mother-in-law. And so, through the latest in science as exemplified by the electronic microscope, your FBI was able to close another file successfully. Besides the use of scientific aids, the two special agents showed the utmost patience in their investigation, showed the ability to continue when it was easy to become discouraged, showed they could think clearly through their line of reasoning. All of these are part of every special agents' training, training which enabled your FBI to close another file successfully with the arrest and conviction of all the criminals. In just a moment, we will tell you about next week's exciting case from the files of your FBI. But first, an equitable society representative on the subject of an equitable education fund, fathers and mothers. The cost of a college education for your boy or girl can easily amount to more than $5,000. Why try to pay that whole amount in four years? Spread it over 16 or 17 years with an equitable education fund. The man whose words you have just heard speaks for nearly 8,000 equitable society representatives from coast to coast, ready to give you friendly health and counsel. If you do not know the equitable man in your community, send a postcard care of this station to the Equitable Life Insurance Society of the United States. Next week, we will dramatize another case from the files of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, a case exposing the operations of a big-time jewel thief, its subject, armed robbery, its title, the musical frame-up. The incidents used in tonight's Equitable Life Insurance Society's broadcast are adapted from the files of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. However, all names used are fictitious, and any similarity thereof to the names of persons living or dead is accidental. Tonight, the music was composed and conducted by Frederick Steiner. The author was Jerry D. Lewis. Your narrator was William Woodson, and special agent Taylor was played by Stacey Harris. Others in the cast were Tony Hughes, Charles Maxwell, Jeanette Nolan, Malapowers, and Gil Stratton Jr. This is your FBI is a very divine production. This is Larry Keating speaking for the Equitable Life Insurance Society of the United States and the Equitable Society's representative in your community, and inviting you to tune in again next week at this same time when the Equitable Life Insurance Society will bring you another thrilling story from the files of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The musical frame-up on this is your FBI. This is ABC, the American Broadcasting Company.