WEBVTT 00:00.000 --> 00:03.000 Dragnet. 00:03.000 --> 00:10.000 Ladies and gentlemen, the story you're about to hear is true. 00:10.000 --> 00:13.000 The names have been changed to protect the innocent. 00:13.000 --> 00:24.000 You're a detective sergeant. You're assigned a bunko detail. 00:24.000 --> 00:28.000 For the past year, a confidence man has been cheating women in your city. 00:28.000 --> 00:36.000 You finally get a lead on him. Your job? Get him. 00:36.000 --> 00:39.000 It was Wednesday, February 12th. It was cold in Los Angeles. 00:39.000 --> 00:42.000 We were working the day watch out a bunko detail. My partner is Frank Smith. 00:42.000 --> 00:44.000 The boss is Captain Steve. My name is Friday. 00:44.000 --> 00:50.000 We were at the Armstrong Thomas Department Store cafeteria and it was 314 p.m. when I got back to the table. 00:50.000 --> 00:52.000 Here, Joe. Let me give you a hand. 00:52.000 --> 00:54.000 Thanks. Here you are, Mr. Terrance. 00:54.000 --> 00:56.000 Thank you. 00:56.000 --> 00:58.000 I wonder if you tell us what this is all about now, ma'am. 00:58.000 --> 01:03.000 Surely. Sorry you had to wait, but I thought it might be better if we talked up here. 01:03.000 --> 01:04.000 Yes, ma'am. 01:04.000 --> 01:06.000 Would you pass the sugar, please? 01:06.000 --> 01:10.000 Oh, yes, ma'am. Here you are. 01:10.000 --> 01:15.000 Well, it's not a pretty thing. I don't know how I could have been so foolish. 01:15.000 --> 01:20.000 But I guess when you get to be my age and you haven't got anything on the... any attention makes you forget. 01:20.000 --> 01:23.000 Yes, ma'am. How'd you first meet this man, then? 01:23.000 --> 01:28.000 I saw him first at a musical. I met him very briefly that night. 01:28.000 --> 01:32.000 He called me the next day, said that he wanted to see me again. 01:32.000 --> 01:36.000 Well, I told him that I didn't think it would be proper, but he insisted. 01:36.000 --> 01:39.000 So that night we had dinner together. 01:39.000 --> 01:42.000 He seemed so nice. I still can't believe it. 01:42.000 --> 01:44.000 Yes, ma'am. 01:44.000 --> 01:48.000 Such a wonderful time. I didn't think anybody could be so happy. 01:48.000 --> 01:51.000 We ate at a wonderful little place down at the beach. 01:51.000 --> 01:55.000 Then we went for a long drive and listened to the music on the radio. 01:55.000 --> 01:59.000 Just beautiful. The way the ocean looked, all moonlight and all. 01:59.000 --> 02:01.000 When did you see him again, ma'am? 02:01.000 --> 02:06.000 Not until he left. He'd call a couple of times a day. 02:06.000 --> 02:12.000 Got a little embarrassing. The girl's story here got to kidding me about it, but I didn't care. 02:12.000 --> 02:19.000 Then he told me he wanted to marry me. I couldn't believe it. So wonderful. 02:19.000 --> 02:20.000 Yes, ma'am. 02:20.000 --> 02:25.000 Then one day he told me that he was going to have to take a business trip up north. 02:25.000 --> 02:27.000 When was that, do you remember that? 02:27.000 --> 02:31.000 I guess it was about three weeks ago, something like that. 02:31.000 --> 02:33.000 Go ahead, please. 02:33.000 --> 02:37.000 Well, he left. I went down to the station and saw him off. 02:37.000 --> 02:42.000 He kissed me and said that when he got back we'd be married. 02:42.000 --> 02:47.000 We were going over to Las Vegas on our honeymoon. Wonderful plan. Wonderful. 02:47.000 --> 02:51.000 Then I heard something. He got Sam P. Sisto. 02:51.000 --> 02:55.000 He called me from the hotel and said that he'd lost his wallet on the train. 02:55.000 --> 03:00.000 He told me he'd lost everything. All his money, his identification, everything. 03:00.000 --> 03:02.000 Mm-hmm. 03:02.000 --> 03:08.000 That's when he asked me for the hundred dollars. I didn't think that anything was wrong, so I sent it to him. 03:08.000 --> 03:09.000 Where'd you send it, ma'am? 03:09.000 --> 03:12.000 To his hotel. 03:12.000 --> 03:14.000 Did you hear from him at all after that, ma'am? 03:14.000 --> 03:25.000 Not a word. At first I thought that maybe he was just kind of funny that he wouldn't say something about getting the money I sent, but not a word. 03:25.000 --> 03:26.000 Then I got worried. 03:26.000 --> 03:28.000 Yes, ma'am, I understand. 03:28.000 --> 03:32.000 Finally I called the hotel and they told me that he'd checked out. 03:32.000 --> 03:39.000 I figured that maybe he was back in town and wanted to surprise me, so I called his apartment. 03:39.000 --> 03:46.000 The landlady told me that he had left a couple of weeks before, that he didn't leave any forwarding address. 03:46.000 --> 03:48.000 Yes, ma'am. 03:48.000 --> 03:57.000 I didn't know what to think. I didn't want to believe that he'd just used me, but there didn't seem to be anything else to think. 03:57.000 --> 03:58.000 Yes, ma'am. 03:58.000 --> 04:07.000 Then, of course, it was only a hundred dollars. It seemed that if he'd wanted to rob me, he could have asked for more. 04:07.000 --> 04:11.000 I still don't believe it, even when I know it's true. 04:11.000 --> 04:13.000 Yes, ma'am. I wonder if you could give us a description of the man. 04:13.000 --> 04:18.000 Yes, I can do that. But he was tall. 04:18.000 --> 04:19.000 About how tall, ma'am? 04:19.000 --> 04:27.000 Over six feet, maybe six feet two. He had blond hair, kind of wavy. 04:27.000 --> 04:29.000 About how much would you say he weighed, Miss Terry? 04:29.000 --> 04:33.000 I'd just be guessing, but I'd say about 190 or so. 04:33.000 --> 04:37.000 I see. I wonder if you'd be kind enough to come down to the city hall and look at some pictures for us. 04:37.000 --> 04:39.000 You think you might have one of these? 04:39.000 --> 04:45.000 It's possible, ma'am. Maybe it'd make you feel a little better to know that you're not the only woman that this bedroom has taken. There have been quite a few. 04:45.000 --> 04:54.000 I guess I knew that. Even if I didn't want to believe it, I guess I knew it was just a confidence game. 04:54.000 --> 04:58.000 Such a cruel thing, though, to use a person's loneliness to rob them. 04:58.000 --> 05:02.000 Yes, ma'am, it is. 05:02.000 --> 05:07.000 When you get along years and you haven't got anything to hold on to, 05:07.000 --> 05:11.000 a little attention and affection makes you forget everything else. 05:11.000 --> 05:13.000 Nothing else seems to matter. 05:13.000 --> 05:21.000 Yes, ma'am. I guess that's the way they figure it. 05:21.000 --> 05:28.000 Frank and I had been looking for Jonathan Bentham for the past year. During that time, he'd taken approximately $37,000 from women in the Los Angeles area. 05:28.000 --> 05:32.000 His method of operation was to answer the ads in the personal columns of the daily papers. 05:32.000 --> 05:39.000 He'd give the woman a whirlwind courtship, then under the pretext of having to clean up some business before married, he'd leave town. 05:39.000 --> 05:43.000 He'd call the next day and give them the story about losing his wallet and identification. 05:43.000 --> 05:49.000 He'd ask them for $100. This in itself was to throw off the suspicions of the victims. 05:49.000 --> 05:55.000 In the event that they suspected that they were being taken in a racket, $100 was small enough so that their fears were quieted. 05:55.000 --> 06:02.000 Bentham would answer about 20 to 30 of these ads at a time, and the request for money would hit all of the suspects at once. 06:02.000 --> 06:09.000 We'd had several complaints lately, and there was no way of knowing how many women were being taken and were too embarrassed to report it to the authorities. 06:09.000 --> 06:14.000 4.30 p.m. We drove Miss Terrence back to the city hall and had her check the mug books. 06:14.000 --> 06:21.000 She was unable to give us an identification, however. Another month passed. During that time, we received 14 more complaints. 06:21.000 --> 06:25.000 In all instances, the description of the suspect matched that of Jonathan Bentham. 06:25.000 --> 06:32.000 All available sources of information were checked. Bulletin had been gotten out carrying his description and the name he used. No result. 06:32.000 --> 06:38.000 On Wednesday, March 25th, we got a call that a man answering Bentham's description had placed an ad in the personal columns of one of the daily papers. 06:38.000 --> 06:46.000 He'd used the name of Thomas Conant. The clerk at the ad counter gave us his address, and at 5.30 p.m., Frank and I went out to talk to him. 06:46.000 --> 06:47.000 Yeah? 06:47.000 --> 06:48.000 You Thomas Conant? 06:48.000 --> 06:49.000 Yeah, that's right. What can I do for you? 06:49.000 --> 06:51.000 Please talk to me. Would you like to talk to me? 06:51.000 --> 06:53.000 Sure, come on in. I was glad to talk to the law. 06:53.000 --> 06:54.000 This is my partner, Frank Smith. 06:54.000 --> 06:55.000 How do you do, Mr. Smith? 06:55.000 --> 06:56.000 How do you do? 06:56.000 --> 06:58.000 If you boys will come on in, I'll shut the door. 06:58.000 --> 06:59.000 Thank you. 06:59.000 --> 07:02.000 And now, what's this all about? 07:02.000 --> 07:04.000 Oh, sir, did you put this ad in the paper? 07:04.000 --> 07:15.000 Now, let me see. Texas cow man desires to meet the young lady object of companionship. Spelled everything right to dead. 07:15.000 --> 07:17.000 Yes, sir, that's mine. I wrote it all myself. 07:17.000 --> 07:18.000 How long have you been in Los Angeles? 07:18.000 --> 07:24.000 Well, now let's see. Got in on the bus last Tuesday. That'd make a week in a day. 07:24.000 --> 07:26.000 Uh-huh. What brings you out here? 07:26.000 --> 07:34.000 Well, I guess you could say it's kind of a business trip. Got a little tired of the same faces back home, so I thought I'd just see what the rest of the country looked like. 07:34.000 --> 07:41.000 What little a's are there? I'm from Texas, you know. Amarillo. Yeah. What's all this about, anyway? Some law I broke? 07:41.000 --> 07:42.000 No, it's about that ad. 07:42.000 --> 07:44.000 Oh, you found out, huh? 07:44.000 --> 07:45.000 Beg pardon? 07:45.000 --> 07:49.000 Oh, you found out about me saying I was a cattleman. That's it, ain't it? 07:49.000 --> 07:50.000 What do you mean? 07:50.000 --> 07:59.000 Well, now, I didn't mean to harm. I do have a couple milk cows on the place. A Holstein and a Guernsey. They're real nice, too. 07:59.000 --> 08:07.000 It's just that I was so darn lonesome, I kind of thought this might be a way to meet some nice gal. I didn't mean to harm. You can see that, can't you? 08:07.000 --> 08:10.000 Yes, sir, I guess so. What if you'd mind taking a ride with us, sir? 08:10.000 --> 08:14.000 Well, I should say, not always happy to go along with the law. Where do you figure to go to? 08:14.000 --> 08:16.000 I'd like you to meet somebody. 08:16.000 --> 08:20.000 Well, now that's right. Nice of you. Got some gal you'd like me to meet, huh? 08:20.000 --> 08:21.000 Well, it's not exactly that, sir. 08:21.000 --> 08:27.000 Well, it don't matter none. I got nothing to do anyhow. Just sitting here wondering if I'd get any reply for the ad. 08:27.000 --> 08:29.000 All right, sir. If you wouldn't mind, let's go. 08:29.000 --> 08:31.000 Not at all. I'll get my hat. 08:35.000 --> 08:42.000 Five forty p.m. We drove Thomas Conan downtown and had a car go out and pick up Miss Terrence. While we talked to Conan in the interrogation room, 08:42.000 --> 08:47.000 she walked by the open door and looked in at the suspect. She told us that he was not the man who victimized her. 08:47.000 --> 08:51.000 She was returned to her home and after Conan had been checked through R.I. he was released. 08:51.000 --> 08:58.000 The next morning, Frank and I ran down a tip from an informant, but it led us nowhere. Ten eighteen a.m. We checked back into the office. 08:58.000 --> 09:00.000 You get the latest bulletin from San Francisco, Joe? 09:00.000 --> 09:05.000 Yeah, I looked it over this morning. They checked out the hotel Benton was staying at. He checked out of there. They haven't seen him since. 09:05.000 --> 09:07.000 Well, that means he's probably back here in town, huh? 09:07.000 --> 09:12.000 Well, if he is, we should start hearing about him again pretty soon. I'll get it. 09:12.000 --> 09:13.000 Bunko Friday. 09:13.000 --> 09:14.000 Who? 09:14.000 --> 09:17.000 Oh, yes, ma'am. Yes, Miss Terrence, I remember. 09:17.000 --> 09:20.000 Yes, ma'am. Where was that? 09:20.000 --> 09:22.000 Would you give me that again? 09:22.000 --> 09:28.000 Yes, ma'am. Four eight Vine. Uh-huh. Yes, that's right, ma'am. We'll get in touch with you. 09:28.000 --> 09:30.000 Right. Thank you very much. Bye. 09:30.000 --> 09:31.000 Grace Terrence? 09:31.000 --> 09:32.000 Yeah, she just saw Benton. 09:32.000 --> 09:33.000 Where? 09:33.000 --> 09:40.000 Went into an apartment out on Vine Street. 09:40.000 --> 09:49.000 Ten forty one a.m. Frank and I got to the apartment house on Vine Street. We talked to the landlord and he told us that a man answering the suspect's description was registered in apartment 4B. 09:49.000 --> 09:56.000 He was registered under the name Jonathan Benson. He told us that this Benson had just moved in and paid his first month's rent in advance. 09:56.000 --> 10:02.000 He said that he was just going to be in town for a short time and that in the event that he moved out before his month was up, he expected no refund. 10:02.000 --> 10:05.000 Frank and I went up to the fourth floor and knocked on the door. 10:05.000 --> 10:06.000 Yeah? 10:06.000 --> 10:08.000 You're Jonathan Benson? Who are you? 10:08.000 --> 10:09.000 Police officers want to talk to you. 10:09.000 --> 10:10.000 What about? 10:10.000 --> 10:12.000 Might be better if we talked inside. 10:12.000 --> 10:13.000 Maybe I don't want you in my... 10:13.000 --> 10:15.000 All right, I must be you. Get your hat. We want to talk to you downtown. 10:15.000 --> 10:16.000 What for? 10:16.000 --> 10:17.000 Come on, get your hat. 10:17.000 --> 10:22.000 Just a minute. I think maybe there's been some kind of mistake here. Just tell me exactly what it is you're looking for. I'm sure we can work... 10:22.000 --> 10:24.000 Come on, Mr. Quits stalling. Get your hat, will you? 10:24.000 --> 10:28.000 Come on in. I'll get my hat. 10:28.000 --> 10:30.000 I'll get it for you. In this closet? 10:30.000 --> 10:31.000 Yeah, the gray one. 10:31.000 --> 10:32.000 You sure you got the right man? 10:32.000 --> 10:33.000 Looks that way. 10:33.000 --> 10:35.000 Mm-hmm. No way to work this out. 10:35.000 --> 10:36.000 What do you mean by that? 10:36.000 --> 10:40.000 Well, I don't even know why you want me to go with you. Seems you could fill me in on that. 10:40.000 --> 10:42.000 Got some people we'd like to have you meet. 10:42.000 --> 10:43.000 Who? 10:43.000 --> 10:44.000 You'll see when we get there. 10:44.000 --> 10:45.000 Here's your hat. Come on, let's go. 10:45.000 --> 10:49.000 You guys sure think you're the Gestapo, coming in here dragging a private citizen out of his house. 10:49.000 --> 10:51.000 If you haven't done anything wrong, you got nothing to worry about then, have you? 10:51.000 --> 10:56.000 That's not the point. I don't like it. Coming in here and taking me downtown so a lot of stupid old broads can look at me. 10:56.000 --> 10:58.000 Who said we wanted women to look at you? 10:58.000 --> 10:59.000 You did. 10:59.000 --> 11:01.000 We wanted you to meet some people. 11:01.000 --> 11:02.000 Must have misunderstood, huh? 11:02.000 --> 11:03.000 Yeah, I guess you did. 11:03.000 --> 11:05.000 Um, no way we can work this out, huh? 11:05.000 --> 11:07.000 There's no way. Now, come on. 11:07.000 --> 11:10.000 Oh, just a minute. I want to be sure I got my key. I don't want to be locked out. 11:10.000 --> 11:11.000 Don't worry about it. 11:11.000 --> 11:12.000 What do you mean? 11:12.000 --> 11:13.000 You might not be coming back. 11:16.000 --> 11:21.000 Frank and I took Jonathan Benson downtown. We ran him through R&I, but we got no identification. 11:21.000 --> 11:24.000 His fingerprints were rolled and checked, but they didn't make him. 11:24.000 --> 11:28.000 Miss Terrence was called and asked to come down to the city hall to try to identify the suspect. 11:28.000 --> 11:30.000 2.30 p.m. We took him to the interrogation room. 11:38.000 --> 11:39.000 You ever use the name Benton? 11:39.000 --> 11:40.000 No. 11:40.000 --> 11:41.000 You sure? 11:39.000 --> 11:40.000 Yeah. 11:40.000 --> 11:41.000 You ever use any other alias? 11:41.000 --> 11:42.000 Why should I? 11:42.000 --> 11:43.000 You tell us. 11:43.000 --> 11:46.000 Now, look, why don't you come off it? Tell me what this is all about. 11:46.000 --> 11:47.000 You told us you just got in the town, is that right? 11:47.000 --> 11:48.000 Yeah, I've been here about a week. 11:48.000 --> 11:49.000 Where'd you come from? 11:49.000 --> 11:50.000 Up north. 11:50.000 --> 11:51.000 Where up north? 11:51.000 --> 11:52.000 San Francisco. 11:52.000 --> 11:53.000 You live up there, do you? 11:53.000 --> 11:54.000 Most of the time, yeah. 11:54.000 --> 11:55.000 Most of the time? What's that mean? 11:55.000 --> 11:59.000 Just that, most of the time I live in San Francisco. That hard for you guys to understand? 11:59.000 --> 12:00.000 What kind of work you in? 12:00.000 --> 12:01.000 I'm a salesman. 12:01.000 --> 12:02.000 Yeah, and what do you sell? 12:02.000 --> 12:03.000 Whatever people want to buy. 12:03.000 --> 12:04.000 What are you selling now? 12:04.000 --> 12:07.000 Nothing right now. That's why I'm here. I'm looking for a deal. 12:07.000 --> 12:09.000 You know a woman named Terrence, Grace Terrence? 12:09.000 --> 12:11.000 No, I don't think so. My wife. 12:11.000 --> 12:12.000 We'd like to know. 12:12.000 --> 12:17.000 Hey, maybe I'm wrong about all of this, but it seems to me that when they taught me civics in school, 12:17.000 --> 12:20.000 they said that I had to be booked, that you had to let me go. They changed that law? 12:20.000 --> 12:21.000 No, that law's still good. 12:21.000 --> 12:24.000 Then let's stop horsing around. I got a lot of things I want to do. 12:24.000 --> 12:25.000 Put me in on this and then let me out of here. 12:25.000 --> 12:28.000 All right. There's been a confidence man working in the L.A. area that's been taking money from women. 12:28.000 --> 12:32.000 Gives them a big pitch about wanting to marry them, and then he hits them up for a hundred bucks and leaves them. 12:32.000 --> 12:33.000 Sounds like a good rack. 12:33.000 --> 12:35.000 He's taking a lot of money from people who haven't got it to spare. 12:35.000 --> 12:37.000 Offhand, I'd say that's a tough life. 12:37.000 --> 12:38.000 Offhand, we'd say you're wrong. 12:38.000 --> 12:41.000 The way you look at it. Where do I fit into this little fantasy? 12:41.000 --> 12:43.000 You look good for the guy who's been pulling the deal. 12:43.000 --> 12:45.000 I'm going to flip in description matches. 12:45.000 --> 12:46.000 So I look like another guy. 12:46.000 --> 12:48.000 Everything else about you checks out. 12:48.000 --> 12:50.000 So you figure you've made me for the judge, huh? 12:50.000 --> 12:51.000 That's what we figure. 12:51.000 --> 12:54.000 Which way is the gas chamber? Now come off it, fellas. 12:54.000 --> 12:56.000 You guys know you're trying to hang a bad rap on me. 12:56.000 --> 12:57.000 You know it and so do I. 12:57.000 --> 12:58.000 Now let's call the whole thing off. 12:58.000 --> 13:01.000 I can get out of here and you can get to the pinnacle. 13:01.000 --> 13:02.000 I'll get it. 13:15.000 --> 13:16.000 Hello, John. 13:16.000 --> 13:17.000 What? 13:17.000 --> 13:19.000 Why'd you do it, Jonathan? 13:19.000 --> 13:20.000 Why? 13:20.000 --> 13:23.000 If you wanted the money, you could have asked for it. 13:23.000 --> 13:25.000 I'd have given it to you. 13:25.000 --> 13:27.000 You didn't have to lie about what you felt. 13:27.000 --> 13:29.000 Place is full of them loonies. 13:29.000 --> 13:31.000 Is this the mayor, Miss Terrence? 13:31.000 --> 13:32.000 Yes, Sergeant, that's him. 13:32.000 --> 13:34.000 All right, how about it, Benson? 13:34.000 --> 13:35.000 I don't know what she's talking about. 13:35.000 --> 13:37.000 What's this bit where that's him? 13:37.000 --> 13:38.000 Loonies jumping with her. 13:38.000 --> 13:39.000 All right, now Benson, I've had enough of that. 13:39.000 --> 13:41.000 Now come off it. You've just been identified. 13:41.000 --> 13:43.000 We've got a lot more of them that we can have here. 13:43.000 --> 13:44.000 I think they'll identify you too. 13:44.000 --> 13:46.000 Why, John? Why? 13:46.000 --> 13:47.000 Oh, get her out of here. 13:47.000 --> 13:50.000 One thing I can't stand is a woman balling. 13:50.000 --> 13:52.000 Something comes along, I can't figure out right away they got a ball. 13:52.000 --> 13:55.000 Anything comes along, they got to cry. I'm sick of it. 13:56.000 --> 13:59.000 All right, ma'am, maybe it'd be better if you waited in our office. 13:59.000 --> 14:01.000 Yes, Sergeant. 14:01.000 --> 14:03.000 I still don't know why he did it. 14:03.000 --> 14:05.000 Why he took this way to get the money. 14:05.000 --> 14:07.000 I took this way because it was the easy way. 14:07.000 --> 14:09.000 You broads are all alike. Every last one of you. 14:09.000 --> 14:11.000 Let me get a few things straight first. 14:11.000 --> 14:13.000 You say I took $100 from you. Is that right? 14:13.000 --> 14:14.000 Yes. 14:14.000 --> 14:15.000 All right. 14:15.000 --> 14:17.000 I want you to think about this and think real careful. 14:17.000 --> 14:19.000 Didn't I say that I wanted to borrow the money? 14:19.000 --> 14:20.000 Isn't that what I said? Borrow? 14:20.000 --> 14:22.000 Yes, that's what you said. 14:22.000 --> 14:24.000 Did I say that I'd pay the money back in any certain time? 14:24.000 --> 14:25.000 I don't know. 14:25.000 --> 14:27.000 Well, you think real good. You'll remember that I didn't. 14:27.000 --> 14:29.000 I just said that I'd pay you back. That's all. I didn't say when. 14:29.000 --> 14:32.000 I guess, I don't, I don't care. 14:32.000 --> 14:33.000 There you are. 14:33.000 --> 14:35.000 Is it any crime to borrow money from a friend? 14:35.000 --> 14:37.000 I borrowed the money from her. I'll pay it back. 14:37.000 --> 14:40.000 You said you wanted to marry me. You said you loved me. 14:40.000 --> 14:42.000 Oh, come off it, Sarah. You've got no beef. 14:42.000 --> 14:44.000 You've got the soft light and the romantic music. You've got it all. 14:44.000 --> 14:47.000 Look at you. Take a good look. 14:47.000 --> 14:49.000 Who'd want to marry you? 14:49.000 --> 14:51.000 Here, just a minute. 14:51.000 --> 14:52.000 Here. 14:52.000 --> 14:54.000 Here's a hundred bucks I borrowed. I want to pay you back. 14:54.000 --> 14:56.000 I got a hundred dollars worth of laughs from you. 14:56.000 --> 14:58.000 That much easy. Here's your dough. 14:58.000 --> 15:00.000 Now go home and have a good cry. 15:00.000 --> 15:02.000 I wouldn't marry you if you were the last woman on earth. 15:02.000 --> 15:03.000 That's enough of that, Benson. 15:03.000 --> 15:06.000 You're not just kidding this old harpy with romantic ideas. 15:06.000 --> 15:07.000 What a laugh. 15:07.000 --> 15:10.000 She thinks anybody want to marry her and she's a loony too. 15:10.000 --> 15:13.000 I didn't think anybody could be this mean. 15:13.000 --> 15:16.000 I didn't think anyone could be this cruel. 15:16.000 --> 15:18.000 I don't believe it. 15:18.000 --> 15:20.000 You've got no choice. You know it all along. 15:20.000 --> 15:22.000 Thanks for the laughs. 15:22.000 --> 15:24.000 Come on, Miss Terrence. 15:28.000 --> 15:30.000 Imagine that, that old bag really thinking I'd marry you. 15:30.000 --> 15:31.000 Yeah. 15:31.000 --> 15:32.000 Real laugh. 15:32.000 --> 15:35.000 Well, anyway, she got her dough back. I said I'd pay her back. I did. 15:35.000 --> 15:38.000 You check with the rest of them. I'll tell you the same thing. 15:38.000 --> 15:40.000 I borrowed the money, that's all. 15:40.000 --> 15:41.000 I can't help it if they thought something else. 15:41.000 --> 15:43.000 I can't help it, Captain. 15:43.000 --> 15:45.000 Come on, let's get this over with. I want to get out of here. 15:45.000 --> 15:46.000 Yeah. 15:46.000 --> 15:48.000 You look upset, Cap. 15:48.000 --> 15:49.000 Don't be. It won't prove anything. 15:49.000 --> 15:51.000 I got something for you, Benson. 15:51.000 --> 15:52.000 Is that right? 15:52.000 --> 15:54.000 Yeah. Some place, some time you're going to make a mistake. 15:54.000 --> 15:55.000 Is that right? 15:55.000 --> 15:57.000 Yeah, and when you do, we're going to lean on you and we're going to lean hard. 16:04.000 --> 16:07.000 We had 12 of the victims of the confidence man look at Benson. 16:07.000 --> 16:12.000 All of them gave a positive identification that verified his story that he'd borrowed the money from them. 16:12.000 --> 16:17.000 4.25 p.m., Frank and I got in touch with the district attorney's office and talked with them. 16:17.000 --> 16:19.000 What Benson had said was true. 16:19.000 --> 16:23.000 In borrowing the money or in saying he was borrowing it, he'd committed no violation of the law. 16:23.000 --> 16:25.000 We had to release him from custody. 16:25.000 --> 16:29.000 A month passed. During that time, we'd heard nothing more from the suspect. 16:29.000 --> 16:32.000 He'd stopped working the Dodge in the Los Angeles area. 16:32.000 --> 16:35.000 We contacted the San Francisco authorities and informed them of what had happened. 16:35.000 --> 16:37.000 They said that they'd be on the lookout for Benson. 16:37.000 --> 16:42.000 During the next two weeks, Frank and I worked on a ring of bunko artists that were working in the obituary columns. 16:42.000 --> 16:46.000 On June 16th, we got a call from Burgery Division that they'd gotten a report of a theft. 16:46.000 --> 16:49.000 In talking to the victim, they'd gotten the name Jack Bentley. 16:49.000 --> 16:52.000 They checked the files on him and found that it could be Jonathan Benson. 16:52.000 --> 16:55.000 The victim and Miss Betty Lindsay came to our office to talk to us. 16:55.000 --> 16:58.000 I don't know why they thought that I should see you. It's just a plain fact. 16:58.000 --> 17:01.000 The officers in Burgery said that they thought we might be interested in the thief, Miss Lindsay. 17:01.000 --> 17:03.000 I wonder if you'd tell us about him. 17:03.000 --> 17:07.000 Lousy crumb. This guy's a real schnook. Schnook of the first water. 17:07.000 --> 17:09.000 Yes, ma'am. What's his name, please? 17:09.000 --> 17:12.000 He called himself Bentley, Jack Bentley. What a bum. 17:12.000 --> 17:13.000 What do you look like, Miss Lindsay? 17:13.000 --> 17:18.000 Tall and blond. Kind of nice looking guy if he went for the type. No, no, good bum. 17:18.000 --> 17:21.000 Why don't you take a look at some of the pictures we've got here and see if he's in need? 17:21.000 --> 17:24.000 Sure. I'd like to see you again. Where are the pictures? 17:24.000 --> 17:26.000 Frank, can we get them for you? 17:26.000 --> 17:27.000 Yeah. 17:27.000 --> 17:29.000 Where'd you meet this Bentley? Do you remember? 17:29.000 --> 17:33.000 Well, I'm sort of the hostess at a place downtown about fifth. 17:33.000 --> 17:38.000 Anyway, about two or three weeks ago this schnook comes in, orders a couple drinks and leaves. 17:38.000 --> 17:43.000 Next night he's back again. Oh, he was a cagey one. Didn't work too fast. 17:43.000 --> 17:46.000 Took about a week to make the pitch, then he asked me out for dinner. 17:46.000 --> 17:49.000 Well, he always seemed kind of nice, so I told him I'd go. 17:49.000 --> 17:51.000 Here are the pictures, ma'am. 17:51.000 --> 17:54.000 If you just take a look through them and see if there's one of Bentley in there. 17:54.000 --> 17:57.000 Sure. Let's see. No. 17:57.000 --> 17:59.000 No. No. 17:59.000 --> 18:01.000 Hey, this one's kind of cute. What's he wanted for? 18:01.000 --> 18:03.000 Well, he works the casualty racket. 18:03.000 --> 18:04.000 What's that? 18:04.000 --> 18:07.000 Gets the names of people that have died, tells their families that they ordered some stuff. 18:07.000 --> 18:08.000 What kind of stuff? 18:08.000 --> 18:12.000 Old pen and pencil sets, watches, cheap things. Charges a lot of money for them. 18:12.000 --> 18:16.000 Most of the people figure that it's one of the last things their loved ones wanted, so they pay the prices. 18:16.000 --> 18:17.000 The stuff's worthless. 18:17.000 --> 18:21.000 Hmm. Lousy racket. But they're nice looking guys, too. So honest. 18:21.000 --> 18:22.000 Well, that's why it works. 18:22.000 --> 18:24.000 Yeah, I suppose so. 18:24.000 --> 18:28.000 Let me see. No, this is not him. 18:28.000 --> 18:29.000 Hey, wait a minute. 18:29.000 --> 18:30.000 Yeah. 18:30.000 --> 18:32.000 That's him. Ooh, what a nudnik. 18:32.000 --> 18:33.000 Ma'am. 18:33.000 --> 18:36.000 A nudnik, a real bum. But that's him, I'm sure of it. 18:36.000 --> 18:37.000 Benson. Yeah. 18:37.000 --> 18:38.000 You mean you know this guy? 18:38.000 --> 18:41.000 Yes, ma'am. What if you tell us exactly what happened? 18:41.000 --> 18:44.000 Sure, like I was telling you, this guy, Benson? 18:44.000 --> 18:46.000 Yes, ma'am. That's right. Jonathan Benson. 18:46.000 --> 18:50.000 Yeah. Well, anyway, he asked me out for dinner. I told him I'd go. 18:50.000 --> 18:53.000 He looked like he was pretty well fixed up. I figured he wouldn't do no harm. 18:53.000 --> 18:58.000 Well, see, I don't get out till 12.30, and there ain't many places, nice places open after that. 18:58.000 --> 19:01.000 But I said, yeah, so he told me to pick me up. 19:01.000 --> 19:03.000 He got the call about 10 o'clock. 19:03.000 --> 19:05.000 Said that he'd gotten through with whatever it was he was doing, 19:05.000 --> 19:09.000 that he came by to see if he could use my apartment to freshen up a bit. 19:09.000 --> 19:13.000 Freshen up a bit. Boy, what a way to heist the place. 19:13.000 --> 19:14.000 Oh, what a bum. 19:14.000 --> 19:15.000 Go ahead, ma'am. 19:15.000 --> 19:17.000 Well, I gave him the key of the place. 19:17.000 --> 19:21.000 He said that he'd stop at a drug store and pick up a razor and shave and wash his face, 19:21.000 --> 19:23.000 and he'd be back to pick me up. 19:23.000 --> 19:25.000 That's the last I ever saw of him. 19:25.000 --> 19:27.000 Walked out with a fur coat I had. 19:27.000 --> 19:30.000 Saved for three years for that coat. Cost me 900 bucks. 19:30.000 --> 19:33.000 And he took a ring worth about 150. Diamonds. 19:33.000 --> 19:35.000 Belonged to my mother. 19:35.000 --> 19:37.000 Sure hope you get him. Nail him good. 19:37.000 --> 19:38.000 Yes, ma'am. 19:38.000 --> 19:40.000 Oh, what a noob, Nick. 19:44.000 --> 19:46.000 We continued to question Betty Lindsay. 19:46.000 --> 19:48.000 She gave us the name of one of Benson's friends. 19:48.000 --> 19:51.000 She checked on him and he gave us the name of the girl who knew the suspect. 19:51.000 --> 19:54.000 We talked to her and she was able to give us Benson's address. 19:54.000 --> 19:57.000 It was a rooming house on Franklin Avenue in the Hollywood area. 19:57.000 --> 19:58.000 Six forty-seven p.m. 19:58.000 --> 20:00.000 Frank and I went up to his room. 20:00.000 --> 20:02.000 Yeah, come on in. 20:03.000 --> 20:05.000 Should have kept my mouth shut. What do you guys want? 20:05.000 --> 20:07.000 We want to talk you downtown, Benson. 20:07.000 --> 20:09.000 We aren't going to get on that merry-go-round again, are we? 20:09.000 --> 20:12.000 I'm getting tired of this whole deal. What are you guys trying to tell me this time? 20:12.000 --> 20:14.000 We didn't have to do it, Benson. You took care of that yourself. 20:14.000 --> 20:15.000 That's right. 20:15.000 --> 20:16.000 You made a mistake. 20:16.000 --> 20:19.000 What is it this time? You figure I took some candy away from a blind man? 20:19.000 --> 20:21.000 All right, come on, Benson. Let's go. 20:21.000 --> 20:23.000 You're going to arrest me this time or am I going as a favor? 20:23.000 --> 20:24.000 This time it's on us. 20:24.000 --> 20:26.000 You mean we're playing for keeps now? 20:26.000 --> 20:27.000 Yeah. 20:27.000 --> 20:28.000 What's the charge? 20:28.000 --> 20:29.000 Grand theft. 20:29.000 --> 20:30.000 You kidding? 20:29.000 --> 20:30.000 No. 20:30.000 --> 20:32.000 I really believe you're serious. 20:32.000 --> 20:33.000 That's right. You called it. 20:33.000 --> 20:35.000 This is going to be interesting. 20:35.000 --> 20:39.000 If you can't prove this, I'm going to own City Hall and the first thing I'm going to do is fire you two. 20:39.000 --> 20:40.000 You know that, don't you? 20:40.000 --> 20:41.000 We'll take that chance. 20:41.000 --> 20:43.000 All right, but don't say I didn't warn you. 20:43.000 --> 20:47.000 You know, Sunday I'm going to write a book, call it some of my best friends are cops. 20:47.000 --> 20:48.000 Yeah, you do that. 20:48.000 --> 20:49.000 I will. 20:48.000 --> 20:49.000 You'll have the time. 20:49.000 --> 20:57.000 We took the suspect downtown. We talked to him for over an hour, but he'd admit nothing. 20:57.000 --> 21:01.000 Without being able to produce the stolen articles, the case would be difficult to prosecute. 21:01.000 --> 21:03.000 We had Benson take everything out of his pockets. 21:03.000 --> 21:07.000 Among his personal effects, we found a key to a locker in the subway terminal. 21:07.000 --> 21:10.000 Two men from Bunko Division took the key and went down to the terminal. 21:10.000 --> 21:14.000 They recovered a locked suitcase and brought it back to the squad room where we were questioning Benson. 21:14.000 --> 21:16.000 How about it, Benson? That's yours? 21:16.000 --> 21:17.000 Never saw it before in my life. 21:17.000 --> 21:19.000 It's locked. You got a key to this, Benson? 21:19.000 --> 21:21.000 I told you it wasn't mine. What more can I say? 21:21.000 --> 21:22.000 See those keys there, I'll tell you. 21:22.000 --> 21:24.000 Yeah. Here. 21:24.000 --> 21:25.000 All right. 21:25.000 --> 21:29.000 I don't know if this is all going to prove. I told you the suitcase isn't mine. 21:29.000 --> 21:32.000 Yeah, that figures. That's how come the keys fit, huh? 21:32.000 --> 21:33.000 Cheap suitcase. A lot of the keys double. 21:33.000 --> 21:34.000 Is that right? 21:34.000 --> 21:38.000 Sure. Lots of times I lost a key for one suitcase, used a key from another one to open it. 21:38.000 --> 21:40.000 Ever find one of these in the case? 21:40.000 --> 21:42.000 I never saw that fur coat in my life. 21:42.000 --> 21:45.000 Haven't got the slightest idea how it got there. I want to talk to a lawyer. 21:45.000 --> 21:47.000 You're getting kind of jumpy, aren't you, Benson? 21:47.000 --> 21:48.000 Sure. I don't mind admitting it. 21:48.000 --> 21:52.000 I told you I got no idea where that coat came from, but I know you guys aren't going to believe it. 21:52.000 --> 21:55.000 You're out to get me. You said so. You're going to try everything you can do with it. 21:55.000 --> 21:57.000 You want to tell us about it now? 21:57.000 --> 21:59.000 There ain't nothing to tell. I don't know nothing about it. 21:59.000 --> 22:00.000 You don't ever give up, do you? 22:00.000 --> 22:03.000 I don't know what you're talking about. I want to see a lawyer. 22:03.000 --> 22:05.000 All right. We'll fix it so you can put that call in. 22:05.000 --> 22:09.000 We got the owner of this coat on the way down here. She's going to identify him. That's all we need. 22:09.000 --> 22:11.000 Now you just sit there and keep your mouth shut, will you? 22:11.000 --> 22:13.000 I'll get it. 22:13.000 --> 22:17.000 Fokko Smith. What's that? 22:17.000 --> 22:21.000 Oh, yeah, sure. Sure I remember. 22:21.000 --> 22:24.000 What? You did, huh? 22:24.000 --> 22:27.000 Well, that's swell. Glad to hear it. 22:27.000 --> 22:31.000 I wouldn't know. I'm not much of an authority, I guess. 22:31.000 --> 22:35.000 Her name's what? 22:35.000 --> 22:37.000 Yeah. 22:37.000 --> 22:39.000 That's a nice name. 22:39.000 --> 22:42.000 Well, I'll be glad to tell him. I'm sure he'll be pleased. 22:42.000 --> 22:46.000 Thanks very much for calling. When are you leaving? 22:46.000 --> 22:48.000 I think. 22:48.000 --> 22:50.000 Okay. Thanks a lot. Bye. 22:50.000 --> 22:52.000 Anything? 22:52.000 --> 22:55.000 Yeah, that kid from Texas, you know, that Thomas Conant? 22:55.000 --> 22:57.000 Oh, yeah. You mean the cattleman? 22:57.000 --> 22:58.000 Yeah. Got an answer to his ad. 22:58.000 --> 22:59.000 Is that right? 22:59.000 --> 23:02.000 Yeah. Somebody called him up and said he made a real good deal for himself, 23:02.000 --> 23:04.000 and he's shipping her back to Texas. 23:04.000 --> 23:05.000 You mean he found a girl? 23:05.000 --> 23:07.000 No. Bought himself another Holstein. 23:07.000 --> 23:19.000 The story you've just heard was true. The names were changed to protect the innocent. 23:19.000 --> 23:24.000 On October 17th, trial was held in Department 87, Superior Court of the State of California, 23:24.000 --> 23:34.000 in and for the County of Los Angeles. 23:34.000 --> 23:38.000 Jonathan Arthur Benson, alias Jack Bentley, was tried and convicted of grand theft. 23:38.000 --> 23:41.000 He received sentence as prescribed by law. 23:41.000 --> 23:44.000 Grand theft is punishable by imprisonment in the state penitentiary 23:44.000 --> 23:47.000 for not less than one, nor more than ten years. 23:47.000 --> 23:52.000 You have just heard Dragnet, the authentic story of your police force in action, 23:52.000 --> 23:58.000 and starring Jack Webb, a presentation of the United States Armed Forces Radio Service. 24:22.000 --> 24:24.000 Huh? 24:24.000 --> 24:26.000 Huh? 24:26.000 --> 24:27.000 Huh? 24:27.000 --> 24:29.000 Huh? 24:29.000 --> 24:31.000 Huh? 24:31.000 --> 24:33.000 Huh? 24:33.000 --> 24:34.000 Huh? 24:34.000 --> 24:36.000 Huh? 24:36.000 --> 24:38.000 Huh? 24:38.000 --> 24:40.000 Huh? 24:40.000 --> 24:42.000 Huh? 24:42.000 --> 24:44.000 Huh?