 Mr. District Attorney, starring David Bryan. Mr. District Attorney, champion of the people, defender of truth, guardian of our fundamental rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. And it shall be my duty as district attorney, not only to prosecute to the limit of the law, all persons accused of crimes perpetrated within this county, but to defend with equal vigor the rights and privileges of all its citizens. This is David Bryan. In a moment, we'll bring you another case from the files of Mr. District Attorney. But first, a word from our sponsor. And now, here is our star, David Bryan as Paul Garrett, Mr. District Attorney. As district attorney of this county, I've had to fight gambling in many forms. The one thing I've learned is that whether it's a back alley crap game or a high stake roulette party, the end result is trouble and sometimes tragedy. Of the kind that happened a few days ago in a very expensive penthouse, where a few ladies had gathered to try their luck on the spinning wheel. Number seven roulette. Oh, seven again, my dear. A winner for Madame Colle. Oh, it's my lucky day. Every day we play is your lucky day. Press your bets, madame. Pick your lucky number, the lucky ones, the lady will win and the lady will lose. That's me. Here, take it all. And number 13, why? The number is 36. Oh, goodness, yes, I've lost. And that is all for today, madame. Next week we'll play a game. All for today. 4,000 bucks. Julie, I want a good deal. You're welcome to... No, thanks. 4,000 is just a drop in the bucket. Very deep bucket. It's too bad. Well, girls, that's all for today. Thanks for the party, darling. Don't forget, girls, next week it's at my place again. You know the address, Francesca. May we, Madame Colle? I will be there, of course. Of course. Well, goodbye, Julie. Are you sure I can't help? I don't need any help. Yes, well, goodbye. Well, where is the case for our wheel? Ah, yes, yes, here. Right here. Never mind putting it away, Francesca. Still have a player. Hey, both of you... One long black for everything I've lost. I'm sorry. You're not. But you might be. You make that sound like a threat. I figure. It is. My account's empty. We have solved that problem before, Madame Colle, the piece of jewelry. There is no more jewelry. I'm not giving you a thing. But I do want my jewelry and money back. Perhaps you think the game was all in fun, eh? Hardly. I think it's crooked. That's unpleasant, oh. It gets more unpleasant. Either I get paid back or you get turned over to the police. I understand they don't like men who run illegal gambling games. You forget, Madame. I was invited to bank these roulette parties by you and the other ladies. I don't think you really want the police. Stop kidding yourself, Francesca. I'm the wife of the city's most respected banker. The police wouldn't do any more than slap my wrist. Your husband? I expected that. Sorry to disappoint you, but it won't work. Necessary. I'll face Stanley with what I've done. That brings me to an unfortunate conclusion. It sure does. You and your husband were planning a trip in a few weeks. By any chance, do you have a large trunk here? Trunk? Well, yes, in the bedroom. But you'll hardly need a trunk to bring back my jewelry. Oh, I have no intention of returning your jewelry. The trunk is for you? Me? I don't know if you'd talk about it. It's very simple. I must do greedy to give back your money and jewelry. I'm quite sure I can never trust you to remain silent, even if I did. You're trying to frighten me. No, no, no. Get away from me. Don't you touch me. I'm really quite sorry about this, Madame Quaid. I don't like violence. You're crazy. Stay away or I'll scream. Madame Quaid, there is no one here to hear you. You sent away the servants for the afternoon, remember? No, please. Please, you can have the money. I don't want anything back. I won't tell him. I will make sure of that. I'm sorry, Madame Quaid. I'm really sorry. District Attorney's Office. Just one moment, please. Mr. Garrett at Stanley Quaid about his wife again. I'll take it. Yes, Mr. Quaid. Yes, we're doing all we can to locate her. No, there's been nothing new so far. Yes, yes, we'll let you know the moment we have anything. That's right. Goodbye. If I ever get married, I hope my husband loves me that much. Mrs. Quaid's been missing 24 hours, and I bet he's called us a hundred times. I don't think he's got a reason to worry. You think she may have been kidnapped? I wish I did. I wish I could think she's run off with another man. I wish I could think anything but what I'm thinking. The missing trunk? Yes. I can only see one reason why a large and empty trunk should disappear at the same time she did. Chief, some news from the bank. What is it, Ivan? Mrs. Quaid cleaned out her accounts. It's her galler jewelry from the safety board. When? Peace meal over the last few weeks. Her husband runs the bank. Didn't he know about this? No. The manager said she specifically requested him not to tell her husband. Oh, we're here. Here's a list of the withdrawals. Look like she made one about every week. That sounds like it might be blackmail. I don't think so. The size of the withdrawals varies too much to be payments. Or was the jewelry insured? Franklin Mutual. Miss Miller, give them a call. Get a description of the pieces. Yes, sir. Send the descriptions to Lieutenant Jorgensen. Ask him to put out a detail to cover the pawn shops. Jewelers, fences, the works. If any of that jewelry shows up, I want to know. Yes, sir. Will you be out? I'm going over and have a talk with Paula Collier. She's supposed to be Mrs. Quaid's best friend. Having seen this wicked world as district attorney, I'd say chances are she'll know more than the husband. Oh, I can't understand it. Where did she go and why? Why? Here, now. You drink your tea, my sherry. Try not to worry. Madame Quaid is all right. But what if she's not? Julie lost so much money, she may have... Well, she may have done something right. What did she lose? Twenty, thirty thousand maybe? Her husband pays twice that for her wardrobe. I know, I know only. I didn't realize when I organized these roulette parties for you that... Perhaps you regret this. Perhaps you want me to go away. Don't say that, Guy. I'm glad I could help you. Well, I just couldn't stand for you to leave me. Oh, that is more like my Paula. Come here, darling. Oh, friendship. Friendship, you do love me. Of course, my sherry, of course. Were you expecting anyone? I know. Well, I'd better answer it. Send him away, and come back. I will. Miss Collier? Yes, but I'm a little busy. My name is Paul Garrett. The district attorney? Yes. I'd like to talk to you for a moment. Oh, well, as I said, I'm a little busy. It's about Mrs. Quaid. Julie? Oh, we'll come in. Thank you. This is Monsieur Fanciette, our district attorney, Mr. Garrett. Delighted, Miss. How do you do? Monsieur Fanciette is a business acquaintance. Of course. But if we could have a moment in private. Certainly. Miss Collier, there's an item that may help us explain Mrs. Quaid's disappearance. Over the past few weeks, she's been drawing her money out of the bank and taking her jewelry from her safety deposit vault. You... You think that has anything to do with Julie being missing? No, it's possible. Apparently, you have reason to think otherwise. Oh, no, no, no, it did. Well, that is, I hadn't any idea. Miss Collier, we need to know the facts if we're going to locate Mrs. Quaid. So, if you know the reason for... Well, I'm sorry. I'm afraid I can't help you. I see. Well, maybe you... Excuse me. Hello? Who? Oh! Oh, yes, just a moment. It's your office, Mr. Garrett. Thank you. Yes, Miss Miller? I'm sorry to bother you, Mr. Garrett, but something's come up. Is it all right to talk? Yes. Go ahead, Miss Miller. Lieutenant Padway called. He got a report on a man seeing early this morning on the Jefferson Street Bridge. He pushed a large object over into the river. It could have been a trunk. Oh, no. Is Padway going to drag for it? He's arranging it now. Mr. Garrett, did you hear? It sounded like... I heard you, Miss Miller. No, I meant... I know what you meant. Tell Padway I'll be happy to join him for lunch. Understand? Yes, sir. I'll tell him. Goodbye. Well? Is, um, something wrong, Mr. Garrett? Oh, no, no. Just a date I don't want to keep. Well, thank you for your cooperation. Oh, never mind. I'll let myself out. Goodbye. Goodbye. Look at Lieutenant Padway. I think he's getting discouraged, Chief. An hour dragging, and all we've found is four tires, a garbage can, and 200 pounds of just plain junk. Mm-hmm. What did you find out about Mrs. Clay's social life? There's nothing to find out. No running around, no men. The way she seems to do is get together with the girls once a week for some kind of a party. Some kind? What kind? I don't know. Secret girl-type party. You know, afternoon affairs. The servants are sent away for the day. She and a lot of other high society women take turns playing hostess, you know. Oh, yes. It's funny, though, sending the servants away. Well, you think it might be important I can check on her? You do that, honey. There we go again. Looks like they've hooked on to something heavy. And two to one, it's more junk. I wish you were right. I'm getting that sick feeling in my stomach. Sure heavy. I'll get it nearly up. Let's take a look. There it is. I can see it. Chief! Yeah, and it's a trunk. Looks like a big piece of scrap iron tied to the handle the way it down. The only question now is, what's inside? We'll soon know. I'm afraid we do already. Chief, is it? It's Mrs. Quaid. Harrington, from here on in, this is a murder case. This is David Bryan. Before we continue with Mr. District Attorney in the case of the Lady Gamblers, here is an important message from my sponsor. And now back to David Bryan, starring as Paul Garrett, Mr. District Attorney. Some ladies had decided that they were above the law. They invited gambling into their homes, and along with it, murder. Only my office was starting with less knowledge. All we knew was that the wife of a wealthy banker had been locked in a trunk and dropped into the river. Somewhere in the city was the man with the answers. All the answers. Because he was the killer. No, a man can't even shave in peace. Just a moment. Please, please. One moment. Paula. Oh, friendship, it's terrible, terrible. What's terrible? How I was shaving. Haven't I told you not to come here? I just read it. It's all over the paper. Oh, Julie. What? Let me see. Banker's wife found in trunk. Man was seen pushing trunk of bridge. But witness was too far away to finish police with description of any value. What are we going to do? What are we going to do, Ben? Should the police will find out about the roulette parties? No, no, no, not necessarily, my dear. But they very possibly might discover that I was at a house. You, Ben, should you... You were the last one to leave. No, no, no, no. You and I left together. But I... Should you... You didn't... Of course not, my dear. Paula, surely you don't think that I would have done such a thing? You were the only man there. But not the only man in her life. However, if you think so little of me, go to the police. Oh, no, no, no. Well, tell them. Tell them you think that Panchetti's a murderer. Please don't. You know I love you. Only I'm a gambler. Therefore I am also... Please don't. I'm... I'm sorry I said what I did. It's just that I'm so upset. Please, darling, help me. Tell me what to do. Of course, of course, darling. We're both upset. We must try to control ourselves. Yes, yes. And for my sake, Sherry, we left Madam Quetz together. But... Please. It's only a small lie, my love. And it could save me a great deal of trouble. More than that, perhaps, a innocent man have been convicted. Darling, you wouldn't want a marriage to be stopped by my going to jail, or worse. Marriage? But of course. Only perhaps I should not ask you to lie to the police, just to... Oh, darling, of course you should. My fault was in... even hesitating. I'll tell them you left with me. I'll swear to it. Oh, my Sherry. Oh, thank you, thank you. Thank you for your love and your trust. Now you had better go, eh? Yes, I know, but when will I... I will call you tomorrow. Goodbye, my beloved. Goodbye. What a pageant. Yeah. But someday, Fanchette, you must find yourself a pageant that is not old and molten, eh? Well, he's not in this group, Miss Miller. Well, it's the last one. Good. I'm nearly blind from looking at records. Send them back to Arnay. Yes, sir. Maybe we were wrong about him lifting the phone to Eve's drop on our call. No, we weren't wrong. What a beautiful, lovely, delicious sight. A chair. What did you find out, Heine? Not much, except that in my next life, I'm going to be an executive and he'll call us as somewhere besides on my feet. Now, none of the women would talk about the parties. None of their neighbors could see anything through the windows, much to their regret. Seeing a group of women at each party? Yeah, reads like a local who's who, with one exception. A man. A man? Yep, me too. Was he? I don't know. The description was always the same, though. Tall, dark, and always so handsome. Friendship. You know him? I think so. Go on. Well, I don't know if it means much, but he was a face to arrive and the last to leave. And he carried a large case with him, about two foot square by a foot deep. Sounds like a salesman. Last to leave. It makes him worth a further check with Washington. Well, we don't need his prance or a picture. Both. Harrington, find out where Franchette lives. Use the old street photographer stunt. Get his picture and hand him a card. All right. I'm on my way. Oh, Miss Miller, you better type out a report on this and send it to Lieutenant Padway. Yes, sir. Pictures? Pictures? Have your picture taken for a quarter. Two bits for a perfect candid action shot of yourself and your girl. Uh-oh. Here we come. Pose for the birdies. Got it. Here you are, sir. Beautiful snapshot to give to your wife. What? Oh, I don't want to. I'll just take the card, sir. Here you are. Now you send it in with a quarter and you'll get... I don't want my... Did you say you already took my picture? I didn't say so, but I sure did take the picture, sir. A wonderful, natural shot of you. Give me the film. Huh? I said give me the film. You've got rocks in your head, Dad. Oh, you insolent. Hey, but I'll say one thing. You've got more nerve than I gave you credit for. Have a good nap. Nice work, Harrington. Wiring this photograph for the FBI should bring quick results. I hope you didn't scare him off. Yeah, I don't think so, Chief. He'll just figure me as a blankly blank street mug. Good. If he's not suspicious yet, he may go to another of those parties. I think we find the answer to them. We'll be pretty close to the answer to Mrs. Quaid's murder. Yeah. Funny. Fun. Yes, sir. Why a photo machine? We stick a picture on it, and a minute later, some guy in Washington takes the same picture of his machine. Even when you know how it works, it seems like sort of black magic. District Attorney's Office. Well, yes, Harrington. Just a minute. He's right here for you, Mr. Garrett. Thanks. Yes, Harrington. Hey there, Chief. Franchard just left his place with his case. I tailed him to Ms. Collier's house. He's there with her now and no sign of servants. Good work. Any sign of the other women? No, not yet. Well, let me know if they start showing up. Oh, hold on, Harrington. Yes, wait. Mr. Garrett, it's communication. If that's the FBI report on Franchet, take it down, Miss Miller. Yes, sir. Is that a Washington reply on a man called Franchet? Okay, give it to me. Hang on, Harrington. Miss Miller is getting the word on Franchet. I'm hanging, Chief. Uh-huh. Hope we can do the same for Franchet. Uh, huh? I got it. Send the cold hop up as soon as you can. Take a look. Wow. Harrington, we hit a jackpot. Huh? Franchet has wanted in a dozen countries. Gambler, confidence man, suspicion of murder. Real name, Arthur Jones. Jones. 10-to-1, he was born in Brooklyn. Hackensack, you stay put unless he tries to leave and then take him. Padway and I'll be there in 10 minutes. Go ahead. I'll have Padway waiting for you to pick him up. Tell him three minutes. Where are they? They should have started arriving an hour ago. Franchet, he... Well, it wouldn't be too bad if... if they didn't show up, I mean... Don't show up? Why wouldn't they show up? Tell me, Paula, why wouldn't they show up, eh? Well, I... You told them not to, eh? Yes. Forgive me, Franchet. I just couldn't go on with this after poor Julius. You stupid old witch! Franchet! I could have picked up $20,000 to do it maybe more, but you had to tell... Well, you won a great deal from them already. But what if I have? I wanted today's take so I could leave town with the police. So you could leave town. So we could leave. No. No, you meant just yourself. Not Paula, look... You never had any intentions of marrying me. Oh, of course I do. Perhaps I didn't mean to leave alone, but of course I'll send for you, my cherie. Cherie, you're a liar. You're a liar! Oh, Paula... You just wanted me to cover up for you long enough so you could get away safely. All right, all right. You miserable crone. Do you really think I could fall in love with you? I'd rather kill you like I did your friend. No, no, no, no, no. Oh, yes, yes, yes, yes. You weren't so simple and ridiculous. You've known it all along. Goodbye, my love. I leave you the wheel as a souvenir. Penchett! What are you... Gun! You're not leaving Penchett. Paula, no! Why not? I'm just simple and ridiculous enough to believe you deserve this. Paula, look! Paula, look! Hold it, Miss Carter. Take him, Harrington. Get away from me! I'm going to shoot! You'll have to shoot me first. That way, keep Penchett behind me. Harrington. I'll get you. You'd better put that gun down, Miss Carlisle. No. I don't care what you do to me, but I'm going to kill that pretty face. I said put it down. You stay back. I don't want to hurt you. Get back! Don't shoot! Nice shooting, Harrington. Oh, thanks, but... don't do things like that, Chief. My nerves can't stand it. I don't think mine could stand much of it either. Well, we've solved the parties. Take a look at the wheel. The ladies seem to like roulette. And Chetty... he killed Julie. Oh! My arm is... it's broken. I'm sorry about that, Miss Carlisle, but you really should be grateful to Harrington. If he hadn't stopped you from pulling that trigger, your neck would have been broken by the state. This is David Bryan. I hope you enjoy this case from the files of Mr. District Attorney. I'll be back in just a moment after this message from our sponsor. Now, here's the star of Mr. District Attorney, David Bryan, with a word about the program you have just heard. Perhaps you read about it in your newspapers. The man we call Arthur Jones, alias, Franchette, was tried and convicted of first-degree murder. Miss Carlisle was indicted as an accessory before and after the fact of illegal gambling, but collapsed before trial and is now confined to the state mental hospital. Now, this is David Bryan inviting you to join us when we present our next case based on the facts of crime from the file of Mr. District Attorney. Mr. District Attorney was originated by Phillips H. Lord.