 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 transcribed as a public service by the Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States and the Equitable Society's representative in your community Do you ever feel that planning for the future is a hard, uphill task because you don't make a lot of money? Do you wonder how you'll ever own your own home or send your children through college or provide for a pleasant life of retirement? Then here's good news Lots of families with average incomes solve these problems if they know the answers and the man who really does know the answers is your friendly, helpful Equitable Society agent representing one of the greatest institutions in the world In about 14 minutes I'd like to tell you more about Equitable Society men and how they can help you enjoy the many advantages of membership in the Equitable Society Tonight, the subject of our FBI file Extortion, its title The Bridal Shake Down Why intelligent people become criminals will probably always be a mystery After all, even average intelligence is all that's required to teach a person that crime does not pay In the past 25 years tremendous strides have been made in learning what makes us humans click but there are still many unknown factors so it is difficult to explain why a person with a good IQ an individual with many qualities and abilities which should enable him to earn an honest living would rather risk prison than settle down and go to work We must never for a minute underestimate the brain power of many criminals who match their wits against the forces of law and order The sad truth is that they are often very intelligent and industrious Tonight's FBI file is a case in point Tonight's file opens in a gymnasium and health club located in the business district of a large eastern city In a small room in this establishment a muscular rubber is giving a young man a massage Too heavy, Mr. Spencer? Oh, you're good, Herb Up around the back of my neck a little Sure Big night last night, Mr. Spencer Murders I'll take it easier on the head Common complaint today Everybody's got hangovers Were you all out together? Stay the truth I don't know where I was That's a new thing with me now I had so many drinks and grew up blank Hey, that's bad I know That's all behind me, Herb I'm on the wagon as of today Oh, do you know, Hum? When are you getting married, Mr. Spencer? Two weeks That's well I kind of like it myself Well, you will live Okay, thanks You just relax there while Mr. Spencer Right If you should fall asleep, when would you like me to call you? Come on Hey, get easy Okay, Herb Who's that? Hello, Mr. Spencer Who are you? My name is Ken, Joe Ken What do you want? I'd like to talk to you What about? It's a personal matter Mind if I sit down? I'm trying to get a little sleep What's all this about? My friend Lucy's Who's Lucy? You're kidding? I asked you a question I suppose you don't remember last night No, I don't Last night, you and Lucy got married What? You heard me Is this a rib of some kind? You think so? Take a look at this Marriage license Is that your signature? You and Lucy spent your honeymoon there I don't know anyone named Lucy You just met her last night It was a real quick romance Look, I'm already engaged I'm getting married in two weeks Lucy, you're already married I don't believe you Okay, suppose you check up on this marriage license Take it, it's a photo stack copy Lucy has the original You can also check the register of the central hotel Then you'll hear from me later No, thanks, mother I can't tell you what a pleasure it is For us to be having breakfast together You mean novelty, don't you? Well, yes Anyway, I am grateful Mother Did you hear me come home night before last? Night before last? Why, Wayne, you didn't come home at all I thought you just needed the club Of course, that's right Why do you ask? Nothing important Oh goodness, I almost forgot This special delivery letter came for you early this morning Here you are, dear Thank you, mother I didn't know if it were important enough to awaken you Something wrong? Excuse me, mother, I'll see you later Several hours later in the local FBI field office Wayne Spencer's mother is being greeted by special agent Jim Taylor Won't you sit down, Mrs. Spencer? Thank you, Mr. Taylor Now, what can I do for you? Well, this is a matter concerning my son Yes He doesn't know I've come here to see you, but I just had to Now, what is it, Mrs. Spencer? Wayne received a special delivery letter this morning And when he read it, I could see that it upset him very much I tried to question him about it But he left the breakfast table and walked out Now go on, please Well, in his excitement, he left the letter behind And I did something I've never done before in my life I read that letter And? It was sent anonymously It demanded that he pay $50,000 to straighten out some matter It also said that if he didn't pay His impending marriage would be ruined And he would suffer bodily harm I see Or did you bring that letter with you, Mrs. Spencer? Oh, yes, yes, I have it right here Here you are Thank you Does anyone else handle this other than you and your son? Oh, no Fine, I want to have it analyzed, fingerprints Mr. Taylor, as I told you My son doesn't know I've come here Mrs. Spencer, you did the right thing in coming This is an extortion letter Now, whether the basis for the threat is real or imagined The sender has broken the law and it's our job to find him I'd like to go and talk to your son at once Joe Huh? Were you sleeping? Yeah, yeah, I guess Maybe I was I don't know how you do it What do you mean? Sleep at a time like this What are you talking about? Waiting for that guy Spencer to call I swear to you, all afternoon I've been so nervous I've broken two fingernails Lucy, I spent two months laying this thing out Nothing can go wrong He'll really think he married me License is legitimate, ain't it? Yeah, but you married me with that license, not him I've worked ten hours a day practicing his signature He'll think he signed it, same thing with a hotel register You honestly think he drew a blank that night? Baby, that Mickey I fed him took care of that Well, I still can't believe he'll call He's got to call it Look at the spot he's in What does girl you mean? That's right Did you give him our number in the letter? No, stupid, I called that health club Left a message for him to call here Oh, say I just thought of something What now? Well, with us being already married And then getting married again the other night Does that make us bigamous? No, just me Why? Because you've got two heads Oh, that's cute Gee, do you think... Shut up Hello? Hello, put him on Right Hello, Mr. Spencer Are you health club? Yeah, that's right I received your letter this morning Well? I'd like to see you Well, come around here What's your address? It's Lake Apartments, 82 Maple What time? 6 o'clock Very well See you later, Mr. Spencer Well, honey What I tell you Go ahead, Mr. Taylor After you, please Very well Let me take your hat Surely There you are Is that you, ma'am? Yes, Wayne That's your son? Yes Come this way, please Thanks I'm here in the living room, mother Wayne, I've brought home company Really? Darling, I want you to meet Mr. Taylor This is my son, Wayne How do you do, Mr. Spencer? Wayne, Mr. Taylor is a special agent of the FBI Oh? I... I asked him to come here because... Well, I... Wayne, I read the letter you received this morning I had to I saw how it upset you Oh, mother You don't have to make a supreme court case of it There's nothing too terrible about reading a letter Is Spencer of any idea who sent it to? Yes, I have Really? Well, Frank Blakely, you know that boy I play squash with But... Why should he... Oh, mother, the whole thing was a practical joke What? How do you know? Well, Frank's a practical joker I suspected him immediately I confronted him with the letter today And he confessed all Oh, thank you So I'm afraid, Mr. Taylor You're on a wild goose chase Oh, my goodness, that's so... I do apologize, Mr. Taylor Oh, that isn't necessary I'm delighted that it turned out the way it has There are a lot of discussion cases Haven't this happy an ending? Do you handle many of them, do you? Well, enough of them to have worked up a pretty strong loathing For the people who send threatening letters How many do you catch? I don't want to sound immodest But we bet pretty close to a thousand Wow Mr. Spencer, I guess I'd better be running along Joe, that must be him Yeah, it could be Who is it? Wayne Spencer Oh, okay Hi, Mr. Spencer Hello Come on in Very well Wayne Oh, Wayne, baby That's Lucy, your wife Oh Honey, don't you remember me? No Well, that certainly isn't very... Without Lucy, Mr. Spencer Came here to talk business Let's give him a chance Okay Well, first, did you check On the marriage license in the hotel? Yes And? Well, it could be my signature When I've been drinking Mr. Spencer, I've told you Look, we're wasting time Now, I'll concede that I've probably got drunk And married this girl And you've apparently set a price For her calling the marriage off Let's get right onto that It's a pleasure to do business with you How much? You got my letter, 50,000 That's out of the question What's your idea of a payoff? I have it right here with me $2,000 $2,000? Why, you cheater Now, quiet Look, Mr. Spencer $2,000 don't even get you inside the ground Well, that's all I can raise Don't give me that I'm telling you the truth Look, your mother's got scratch Your girlfriend's loaded That has nothing to do with me Well, best I can do for you is Knock 10% off for cash The best you can do Yeah, that's right Why do you figure so strongly in this? An old friend of the family Then I'd advise you to take this $2,000 Don't you do it, Joe Don't worry, sweetheart I won't Very well You leave only one course of action What's that? I'm going to the FBI Huh? On what ground? That was an extortion letter I received today They'd be very happy to prosecute you for sending it Is that a fact? Yes Now, will you take the $2,000? No Then I'm going to turn you in You're not going anyplace Joe, I'm glad you hid him What a piker We will return in just a moment To tonight's exciting case From the official files of your FBI If you worry about the future If you have financial problems Then I'd like to have you listen To the experience of Mr. Earl Young The way he solves his problems May be very helpful to you Will you tell us, Mr. Young Why you decided to become a member Of the Equitable Life Assurance Society Of the United States? Well, Mr. Keating I don't make big money And I've got a little boy And a little girl to raise Now, I know my social security Won't be enough to keep them well fed And well housed And well clothed If something may happen to me But I didn't know how much They would need each week Or how to provide it for them If I did know Then you talked about a chart That would help figure it out Well, that's our famous Equitable fact-finding chart For fathers and mothers It's free to everyone Your equitable representative Will be glad to give you one Then what happened, Mr. Young? Well, I called our equitable man And he brought over the chart When I knew the facts It was as easy as ABC to face them My equitable man Showed me how to plan To keep my family in comfort Until my youngest child Finished high school That's the Equitable Family Security Plan That's right And believe me That was a lucky day When I phoned my equitable man And a swell guy too Friendly, helpful And he knows the answers That's a perfect description Of a typical equitable representative He's helpful, friendly And he knows the answers He's a specialist Ready and able To help you solve your problems At all times And without obligation He'll help you to take The uncertainty out of the future And bring you peace of mind So right now Consult your local telephone directory For the name of your local Equitable representative Or write to the Equitable Society Care of this station That's E-Q-U-I-T-A-B-L-E The Equitable Life Assurance Society Of the United States And I'm back to tonight's FBI file The Bridal Shakedown Fear is the extortionist stock in trade The dictionary defines fear As the painful emotion Caused by a sense of impending danger Or evil The key word here is impending The extortioner often manages to Create a sense of danger Where none actually exists Take Wayne for instance There was really no need for him To have gone to Joe's apartment There he made his biggest mistake And impending danger Became real danger Or as Special Agent Taylor said The extortion letter itself Constituted the real crime If ever you should be threatened Really illegally Your FBI urges you to recognize this point To refuse to be bullied To call upon your law enforcement officials And to remember also An extortioner rarely stops After his first successful attempt Tonight's file continues in Special Agent Taylor's apartment It is after midnight He is just preparing for bed as Hello Hello, sir Oh yes, Mrs. Spencer I'm terribly sorry to disturb you That's quite all right I called your office And they gave me your home number What's on your mind? I'm calling about Wayne Yes? I'm here right after you did this afternoon He was presumably going to Drop off at the health club for me He had a dinner date with Mildred His fiancee After that he was taking Both of us to the concert But he hasn't kept any of these appointments And you haven't heard from him? No, Wayne had gone to see him This afternoon right after he left the house He asked for $2,000 He said he needed it desperately I see Well, did he get the money? Yes Mrs. Spencer, I'll come right over to your house Yes Come right in the living room, Mr. Taylor Thank you Oh, I am grateful to you for coming over That's my job, Mrs. Spencer Not to cater to a nervous woman's fears Well, I'm sorry to say It looks like your fears are justified About the extortion note? Yes, your son's getting that $2,000 From your lawyer Certainly makes it appear you wanted it for a payoff Oh, but he told us this afternoon That the note was a practical joke That was just to alleviate our suspicion, I imagine Where could he be now? That's the important thing We have no idea where he's gone Tell me, did he mention anything to your lawyer As to where he might be going? No, he just said he was going to his club The health club Have you called him? Oh, yes What did they tell you? He called earlier this afternoon What for? To see if he'd gotten any messages And had he? Oh, I didn't ask Well, that could be very important, Mrs. Spencer Why? He could have been contacting the club Because he expected a message there Oh Will you let me have their number, please? I'll phone them at once Joe, he's coming too Yeah Should I get him some ice or something? What for? That lump on his head Leave him alone You may grow a few more before we're done On my head It hurts, huh? Yeah Yeah, it feels as if it's you Yeah, that's right I'm still here Uh-huh Let me get it up Should you, Joe? Yeah, you can sit in that chair Look, mister, don't try anything Because something who's been at it Since you left this gun I see it Think you're ready to talk business again now? There's nothing to discuss Yes, there is We had a board of directors meeting We decided to cut the price To 2,000? No, no, 25,000 Not interested We decided something else in that meeting Really? Yeah, strategy How to make you pay the 25,000 That's not possible Oh, not even if we call the newspapers And gave them the story on your marriage to Lucy I wouldn't listen to a cheap hoodlum like you Well, you're forgetting, I got proof It doesn't take too much time I've got an even better way That's to call your girlfriend, Milton I'm not listening to any of these shakedowns You know something, Joe I bet he don't think you'd have nerve enough to call her Well, you think I should show him? Yeah Give me that address book Sure Here That's my address book Yeah, part of can you pass that Lucy, the numbers Quincy, 7 2932 2932 Yeah, get her on the phone Okay Wait Huh? Never mind Call her, baby Hello There's never anybody on that switchboard Hello, this is Mrs. Kent Lucy Mrs. Kent Do you still think you should make that call? Hang up, stupid But, Joe, I just Shut up and start back Leaving town for On your two Gs But before we go I'm gonna make sure that you keep quiet This is the apartment right here, Mr. Taylor You got a key? Yes, sir But like I told you The Kent's left here five minutes ago They had bags with them Like they were going away Oh, I'd still like to see the apartment, please Sure thing This should do it here Kent, say where they were going No, sir You know if they took a cab? Well, they didn't say There aren't many this hour of the morning Go ahead, sir Thanks This furniture belongs to the house They rented the place this way I see What's that? I don't know Sounds like it's coming from behind this door over here That's a closet There's someone in there He's locked in I've got a key that should fit that Good This guy in here Could be the one you're looking for Could be Mr. Spencer There Hey, bound and gagged Yeah, untie the gag We'll get the ropes Sure thing Is he the missing guy? Yep There you go, mister Thank you I'll have your legs untied in a minute, Spencer Thanks, Mr. Taylor Whoa, where are they Kent? They're gone Where, too? I was hoping you'd have the answer to that one No, that doesn't Here, I'll give you a hint Ah, thanks Well, Spencer, your practical joke Didn't turn out so well, did it? I'm sorry Whatever your problem was You were a fool to attempt to handle it yourself I know that now Tommy, did you pay these people any money? They forcibly took 2,000 from me Get away money, huh? Yeah, I imagine so I guess I can kiss a goodbye I don't imagine they'll be easy to find I guess something that might help What is it? Let me get to the phone, please Joe Joe, what are you doing? Puttin' a bag to the trunk apartment What for? So we'll have them, stupid Yeah, but if the car won't start You'll only have to take them out again The car will start as soon as we get that wire connected Well, when will that be? Lucy, you heard the man yourself He said he was going up to the front of the garage To get a new wire Let me be right back But he hasn't come back No Look, Joe My complain is we've kept the car in this garage For over 2 years We certainly deserve better service than this Oh, shut up Joe What is it? It's Mr. Spencer Hello there, Joe Huh? How did you get here? Uh, Mr. Taylor I'll let you explain that I found a bill from this garage in your apartment, Joe Huh? I called here just before you arrived The attendant was kind enough to stall you Until we could get here Who are you? I'm a special agent of the FBI Joe Kent and his wife Lucy Were both tried and convicted for extortion They were sentenced to long terms In a federal penitentiary And so the careers of two more Shakedown artists were ended by your FBI But ended only after the potential victim Had placed himself in great jeopardy By attempting to deal with the criminals himself You wouldn't ask a plumber to pull a tooth for you Nor would you ask a dentist to fix a leaky pipe Yet you will, you do Ask yourself to perform a job Of dealing with criminals When there is at your disposal Every type of law enforcement agency you need Remember this And do your part in curbing the crime wave When you receive any kind of threat Notify your local police Or your state law enforcement officers Or your FBI Crime is their business Believe it or not, nearly everybody No matter how much money he makes Believes he would be happier if he made more money So the answer is not how much you make But what you do with what you have That means careful planning Now if you are not an expert Why not consult a man who can help you plan Consult your neighbor, your local Equitable society representative Security is his business, your security He'll be glad to discuss your problems Without any obligation to you Simply consult your local telephone directory For the name of your local representative Of the Equitable Life Assurance Society Of the United States Next week we will dramatize another case From the files of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Its subject, armed robbery Its title, the 16 millimeter stick up The incidents used in tonight's Equitable Life Assurance 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 places or persons Living or dead is accidental Tonight the music was composed And conducted by Frederick Steiner Your narrator was William Woodson Special Agent Taylor was played by Stacey Harris Others in the cast were James Dobson Stan Farrar and Morrison Vicki Roth and Paul Richards This is your FBI is a Jerry Divine production This is Larry Keating speaking For the Equitable Life Assurance Society Of the United States and the Equitable Society's representative in your community And inviting you to tune in again Next week at the same time When the Equitable Life Assurance Society Will bring you another thrilling transcribe story From the files of the Federal Bureau of Investigation The 16 millimeter stick up on This is your FBI