From Hollywood.
It's time now for Edmund O'Brien as Johnny Dollen.
A plane crash, Johnny, did you hear?
Yes, I just turned off my radio. Oh it's horrible. Who is this?
Oh, I'm sorry, it's Sam Harris, Columbia.
Oh. Sure, does your company carry the policies on that airline?
Yes, but I'm not thinking of that.
That crash was planned.
They're definite about it now.
Yes, an explosion, some kind of a bomb. There were thirteen people killed in the plane. They don't know how many in the houses have crashed into We've got to place responsibility. The company wants to do whatever it can. We've got to find whoever is responsible.
Sure, mister Harris, you want me to go out, Yes, we do.
The airline representative is a man named Reed. Go out and do everything you.
Can O'Brien in a transcribed Adventure of the Man with the action packed expenser car America's Fabulous Freelance Insurance Investigator.
Yours Truly, Johnny Dallar. Expense account submitted by Special Investigator Johnny Dallar to Home Office, Columbia or Risk Insurance Company. The following is an accounting of expenditures during my investigation of the Fairway matter. The Spenser account Item one two fifty cab fair of the scene of the plane crash, which,
as unoch covered quite a bit of territory. The Fairway Airlines plane had taken off at eight twenty PM, had reached an altitude of no more than a thousand feet, and then had crashed, setting a fire two houses a short distance from the Springfield Hartford Airport. I got there a little after nine thirty. One house had been partially saved, but the other had been completely demolished. The family of
four living in it had been killed. The parents of one child in the first house weren't expected to live, and beyond twisted pieces of a plane were scattered at a field. Fragman is still smoking and turned white by the phone from chemical extinguisher.
Serene. Mister Carl Reen over here?
What is he?
Please and wait.
In your car. Will let you know as soon as we're care. Yes, who you are from? My name is Doma, the insurance company said insurance company. Good lord, this is hardly the time to worry about money. I'm a private investigator that hired me to help him any way I can and pick the plane I'm sorry, I misundissitude.
I guess I.
Oh, you will have to excuse me. This is good.
Who there are some things I have to do.
Come along, mister g Gee. I just know about the explosion, and she thinks since the chance where her daughter wasn't on the plane she was, she was stewardous. You haven't told her. I let her hope for a couple of more hours. Why shouldn't I I've had to tell too many people. It's it's just horrible. I think, even worse than if it had been an accident, and you know it was premeditated. When you know someone planned it, What kind of person would would you have to beat it
to plan something like this. It's under believed, mister aid, but we have proof it was an explosion in the extreme after section that destroyed all the control cables to the tailor's head. I don't suppose the Civil Aeronautics man, as we know it was on his way as sending one of their best s W. Newton, Captain Lenhard of
the State nieces here though. Oh, I'd like to speak to him, and you have any idea where he is the last time I saw him he was doubled by that amph it's left, but to see the group of men over by the hangar. Yeah, they collected the bodies. There mayde as many identifications as possible. I know it's planned, mister Reid, but don't you go at pieces, Hi, That wouldn't help him. I'll be all right, help I'll see
you let out. I remembered Captain Jim Lenhard, my case we shared last year, and I found him in the group of silent man. The silence and the expressions told better than words how they felt about the row of sheet draped bodies on the ground. I was readmaking up. I thought he was going to pieces a little while ago. He's still in pretty bad shape. You he's not alone. But for us anyway, Dollar, it could have been worse,
plane could have been filled. Yeah, it crossed my mind, and you and I are thinking together, Captain, that our approach will be to find out, if we can, which victim was the planned victim. Oh, with what we have now, I don't see any other way to start, do you. The possibilities as I see them, a murder with a motive, suicide disguised, or a homicidal maniac that must cover I have men covering airport for a two mile circle around it. Their orders are to question everybody at this spot, search
every car. It's about all we can do tonight. Now, I'll see you in the morning. Then if it's all right, view it sure is. Glad to heavy on the case. I'll Mitchell in my office at nine. Good. Oh, there's another ambulance, and get the rest of these poor devils into the morgue. Try to find out who they are. The next morning, the official findings were released. The explosive had been nitro glycerin that had been detonated by some electrical means, which it was assumed was connected to a
timing device that had not yet been found. Captain Lenhardt's men had questioned the number of suspicious characters near the airport without result, but he himself had received an anonymous tip on a possible suspect, a Wilbo Wheeler, who was a member of the ground crew that had serviced the plane just before its takeoff. Wheeler was shown to the Captain's aves about forty minutes after I'd gone. Man, why'd you.
Pick me to come up here? Why didn't you get Straker or Mills? They're over me.
It's just routine wheeling, routine, but you must.
Have a reason. I got a right to know if you got a reason have at.
Night, why do you think we started with you?
Well, I'm asking you.
And I said, Wieler. Can't you say you don't know the stewardess who died in that crash? Surely good you? I know, I know. I understand that she meant something to him. Were you in love with her? Yes, we understand that you made quite a pest of yourself phoning her at home, waiting for her at the airport, and then a week or so ago you learned she was going to marry the co pilot who was killed. What's his name, Bill Strand? Wasn't it Willna? Yeah, you're saying
that you think I caused that crash. You wanted to know why you were here. I told you it was just routine wheeling, and it would have been if you'd acted differently. But it sounded as though you were trying to hide some facts from us. I won't anymore. Don't.
I don't have any reason to?
And why did you?
I don't know. I've been going crazy since I heard about it. Last night. I was still at the field night, I got sick and.
I had to go home. Yeah, we heard about that. I got home and I turned on my radio and I heard what caused the crash, that explosion. I knew that a lot of things I've said, a lot of things I'd done were gonna make trouble for me.
Even getting sick and coming home was bad.
What were some of the other things? I said some pretty bad things to Shirley when I heard she was gonna marry Strand. Then I had a fight with him. I had to fight with him over the same thing. Well, I guess for me, it was really over that. He ordered me around one day and I didn't like it, and that's how it started.
He beat me up pretty bad and said he'd have my job.
And I told him that I'd see the day as playing with him in it would be plastered to get some hill.
I know it sounds like na, but it didn't mean anything. It was just talk.
There's plenty of that. Ah, you heard enough, noll And, I think so that's all went winter, I can go. Yeah, nobody would be stupid enough to compromise himself the way you did and pull a job like.
This, and sure made a lot of mistakes.
I know that. Yeah, just be around where we can find you if we wanna talk to you anymore.
But I can't go back to the airport, Sir, I was gonna call him and quit if.
Sorright, w you just be where we can find you, That's all I will. I'm sorry. A lot of people are Wheeler. Oh no, well, goodbye Winner, thanks for coming down. Yes, sir, what do you think?
Uh?
The only reason I say I for get him is because he's the first one we'd questioned, and things don't work out that way. Yeah, Collins. Uh. The man just leaving my office names Wheeler, Wilbur Wheeler. How two of the boys get on him and stay all arranged? Were leading tonight? Yeah, I think I'd like to know it's in his background. I'd like to get a psychiatrist's reaction, wouldn't you we learned about him. No, let's get on this list of passengers and see what we can get
from their survivors. We spent the rest of the day in the efforts of six more of Captain Lenhart's men preparing files on the ten dead passengers. One file contained nothing but a name Rupert Stone, gotten from the ticket office records is that of a man who had paid cash for space to Augusta, Maine. The heart for address he had given was non existent, and the phone number rang a bakery where no one had ever heard of a Rupert Stone. That one we dropped until the accurate
identification of the bodies was complete. Lenhard and I started out to follow up a couple of the others that evening. This is a rock and work check. Missus Graham, Yes, this is mister Dollar. I'm Captain Lenhart of the State Police. We'd like to talk to you about the death of your husband.
No, I've talked too much.
It only keeps in my mind the things I saw in that field. The women's crying. We know, Missus Graham, but it's our job to fix the responsibility. We only want to ask you a few questions. You ought to help find whoever caused all those desks if you could, wouldn't you?
How can I have?
Man? May we come in all right, but only a little while I haven't slept. Uh? Thank you? Well?
No, Skipper be.
Quiet, he knows poor old dog. Very soon he will die and then I'll be alone. M Please sit down. M thank you. Miss grant. Yeah, yeah, thank you. Uh uh missus grahamy your husband be yes, uh well he he bought space to Boston.
They yes, his brother.
Is very bad m he was a religious man. Quite often he would go to visit his brother's grave. I see, Uh, I I think that's all we needed. Wasn't a dollar to to recheck his planting? Yeah? Uh yes, I I think that was only I. I think we'd better go. Weren't sorry to bothered you, missus Graham? And uh, thank you very much for seeing alright, Yes, thanks very much. Oh, don't bother to get up. You don't have to come to the door with us. Good night, good night night.
Quiet skip her, he won't come back.
I couldn't cut it. Think that dog did it? Sorry, don't apologize to me. How the did something happened to be since I was a rookie, forget it. But grilling a poor old woman to find out if her husband's cancer might have driven him to suicide and I couldn't go through it a whole rotten mess. Ah, he gets getting it so well? Why don't we have a couple of drinks on the way downtown to get it for the night? Man or trying to That suits me, you know,
while's on Front Street. That's fine anything, So let's go. Then I'll hold him from there and have columns check me off duty.
Yeah, oh you praised to leave.
No, he had a phone. I'll catch you.
Dollar sixty shirt, thanks, keep it, thank you.
Oh here come, I'll wreck up dollar. I guess I'll have to waste mine because it seems I'm not off duty. What happened. I'll go back to that stewardess again. The explosive has been checked to her equipment. The lab men say some twisted battle lay found used to be our first aid box. I think it was in there. And brings Wilbo Wheeler back again too, and he's been picked up right now. I don't think I need this drink to get through a session with him.
We will return you to the second act of yours, truly, Johnny Dollar. In Just a Moment, Lee Tracy plays his rollicking screen role of Hildy Johnson newspaperman in Hecton MacArthur's perennial comedy The Front Page tomorrow night on CBS Broadway Playhouse. It's an all fun cast headed by Lee Tracy as Chicago's Hecton MacArthur farce about crime reporters comes to life once again on Broadway Playhouse tomorrow night, over most of
these same CBS stations. Now, with our star Edmond O'Brien, we return you to the second act of yours, truly, Johnny Dollar.
Not necessarily were not necessarily?
Well, I heard you do.
Did you locate Carl Reibeller? Yeah, he was at home. Well, a guy's been under doctor's camp that I think I got what we need. I YouTube been getting along. We'll have just got here. We were covering the point of whether or not I have a rife of have him brought down here?
Maybe I'm wrong?
You are? Didn't you want to come wilden? I guess I don't like the idea of being poured into a police car twice in one day, with everybody in the block gawking at me. A lot of people have been loaded into police cars today, wheer they were glad to come in and do anything they could to help clear this thing up.
I want to help too. I didn't mean it that way.
Glad to hear that. How long have you worked for the Fairway Airline?
About a year and a half, I.
Guess what'd you do before that?
What do you mean? You still think I had something to do with that crash? That's what you mean it.
We'd like to find out who did, wouldn't you? But you think I did it and I didn't. I told you I didn't, even you said I didn't. And it sounds like you've got nothing to worry about, So calm down and answer our question.
I want to know why you're asking questions like that. Why did you bring me.
Back here because some new evidence has turned up? That's why?
What does that have to do with me?
It has to do with Shirley Goodie. I don't know what you mean. I don't know what you're talking about. I told you everything there was about her and me. Did you know that she carried a first aid kid about the plane last night?
First aid kid? I don't know what you mean.
You don't after working there a year and a half, What did you do on the plane?
Brought food on, checked the water and a few.
Other things things that the stewardess would be involved, and she'd be there with you, wouldn't she. Yeah, but I don't know what you're driving and I don't know what you mean in the back part of the plane. Yes, Shirley was there and you were there last night. Yeah, but where did she put a first aid kid wheeler?
Why do you ask me that?
I don't remember. I didn't notice they had a place they kept it, but I didn't know it. I don't know I was in it. If I know what you meant, I don't know why you're asking me these I talked to mister Reid, so I know about these things. Fairways non scheduled, and so they have their own particular routines. One of them is that this first DAI kid is the stewardess's responsibility. Each one is a kit. They take it off the plane when they leave, and they bring it aboard when they report for work.
I don't know what you're talking about.
The explosive wheeler, the nitroglycerin that was hidden in that first aid kit, I didn't put it there, that's what you mean.
But I didn't know it. I didn't know anything.
About it enough explosive to tear off the whole tailor side.
I didn't know.
I didn't thirteen people in that plane wheel are four people in One of the houses had crashed into probably two more, and the other I I didn't do it. Wilbert Wheeler was turned over to the police psychiatrist because we couldn't get any father with him, and a lie detected test was arranged for the following morning. The web that was tightening around him was only circumstantial, and the question was did he know that he could keep on saying he hadn't done it and that we couldn't do
anything without physical proof, or was he innocent. Our last move that night was to go to whel room. We were looking for a wire that could be checked to that used with the explosive. We couldn't find that or anything else that could be a definite help, but a couple of things we didn't find seemed strange. Hey, he said he came home and turned on his radio, But there isn't a radio here. Maybe we've got him on a real line, then, h newspapers land hard? Can you
find any I hadn't noticed? Oh, are any? Unless he's got him out of site someway? Why would he do that? Hum, I'm in the waste papers to ask you. You'd think a man as closely connected to this as he was would wanna find out what the papers were saying, wouldn't you guilty or innocent? Yeah, uh, I don't know. Dollar, I'm bushed. Let's drop it for the night, hunt really, uh, we'll try him again tomorrow. I'll drop you at home
and see about a mile in the morning. The next morning, Lenhard and I talked to the psychiatrist spend a couple of hours with Wheeler. In technical terms, what he said was that Wheeler was definitely suffering from a severe guilt complex. But whether that meant he had actually committed the crime or had only wished secretly that harm would come to his goodhue wasn't clear yet. In terms of evidence, that meant nothing. The lack of a radio or newspapers in
his room. The doctor tossed off his meaning merely that Wheeler was hiding from actuality. His captain put it, if that doctor thinks he helped my metal condition, he's wrong. That afternoon, there were two developments. The first one was the report that the results of Wilbert Wheeler's light detector test were negative, but his reactions put the mark of guilt all over him. The second came from the Fairway
office of Carl Reid. He'd been unable to locate another of his stewardesses, and when finally he'd sent someone to our apartment, she'd been found shot to death. We met mister Reid at the scene of the second crime. I I simply had to get back in the job today. Right, Two of our flights were delayed yesterday because it might going to pieces. I don't know if I make it easy. You trying to phone this girl and tell her to reproach to one of your flights, and when you send
somebody out here, she was found dead. Right. Yes, I hadn't tried to contact Alice before because I knew that she and Missus Goodview had been close friends, and I knew she must have felt almost responsible for her death. Why, mister Red, Why sh she was scheduled for the flight the other night? I thought you knew that. No, we didn't. I wish we had. But I told you that that night that at the same of the crash, I was talking to her mother and Missus Goodhughes. Yes, I remember that.
You you said she thought there was a chance that her daughter wasn't on the plane. I told you the other girl was scheduled. No, mister read No, you made it sound like Missus Goodhu thought her daughter was on a different flight. You didn't say anything out another steward's good lawd it's all right, it's all right, mister Reid. The human mind doesn't then follow us, but it can correct its mistakes. I'll go on and tell us now that that's all. With everything else, I suppose it didn't
seem important. I know our procedure is less exact than the larger companies. The girls often traded flights. Why did you find out about this trade? Not until missus Goodhewe told me that her daughter had gone to work that night. You didn't discuss it with her? Buy any chance? Oh? I I didn't discuss it that night. And I think we'd better go see missus Goodiere dollar. I think so. Sergeant Collins over there will be in charge here, mister Reid. He may want to ask you a few more questions.
All right, Collins, I'm leaving. I'll say you at headquarter.
MM.
You know what this probably means. The case against Wheeler is shot second Stewardess. That's a pattern. Everything we've tried to do is more than nothing. Circumstance gelebt and sometimes does that. But we were close. We settled on a stewardess anyway as the intended victim. But it doesn't help to think that maybe all those people died because of a mistake. The wrong steward has died in the crash and the kill. I had to go back to take care of the right one. Of course, of course, I'll
tell you anything I can. Well, we've just learned that your daughter wasn't scheduled to be on that plane. This is good to you. No, she wasn't. Do you know why she happened to be. We understand that she and Alice Turner exchange flights quite often. But do you know how it happened the other night? Well, no, Shirley was here at home and the phone right now. What time was that? Please?
Oh, I hardly remember. We'd had an early dinner.
The plane jock off at eight twenty five. How long before then? Well, inn hour at least. No, it was less than that, because Shirley left in such a hurry. What did she say. Well, she said that one of the girls was sick and she was going to take her place on a flight just up to Maine and back, she said.
She said she'd be.
Home soon after midnight. I've never liked rush decisions, and I've always worried when Shirley left in a hurry like that. She did it quite often.
Yes, they all did. Six of them live here in Hartford.
I never liked it. Did she trade more often with Alice Turner than the others? Do you know? Well?
I don't think so.
No. It was an agreement, almost a code.
If one of them couldn't work, one of the others would fill in well.
And it's possible that Alice Turner called some of the others before she called your daughter. Yes, it it is possible, and I wish that I naturally the hope that Captain Lenhart and I had was that we'd find another of the stewardess as Alice Turner had talked to and learned the reasons she had wanted to get out of the fatal flight. We didn't. She hadn't called any of the others, and we were left with nothing, nothing but the prospect
of starving the whole investigation over from the beginning. The enormity of the crime had been in all of our minds from the first night. We'd never thought it might have a positive quality, but it did. The horror of it led to the solving of it. Late that afternoon, Lenhart and I had found no place from which to start over. I went back to my apartment building, and in the car just outside my door is your nick dollar. Huh. Yeah, can I help you?
I want to talk to you.
I think we better side.
Huh.
I'm pretty busy, I know, yeah, I know, y'all.
I want to talk about the plane explosion.
Huh. All right, come on in.
Look, I can't stand anymore. I read about Alice Turner this afternoon, and I can't stand at this all.
What do you know about it?
Just that all those people killed killed for nothing, and I partly the plane too. I'm ready to give.
Myself up as you come to me. Then why didn't you go to the police. Well, you can talk to somebody like you.
The police is always putting the cap the state.
Okay, he'll get you anyway, but you'll know what I really said. Go ahead. His name is Church at the church. Who is out the church?
He's the chief pusher for a bigger narcotic Suffitt than you ever thought they was.
We've got a few cranks in this case already.
I know, crank, no crank. Alice Turner was carrying the stuff for him. She wanted to get out in church one letter, so she's got smart. She set up a meeting with a federal man the other night. That's why she was killed.
All the rest doesn't make sense. If she'd made this day. Don't you think the Federals would have been in on this.
Alice didn't tell him who she was or what she did all this. I'm the one that told her church was hollower.
I told her the trumper not to go.
That's my part of it.
I told the church was on with that he'd stop her some way, some way.
I told her to drop no matter what. I don't like it. Why would she put Shirley good here on the spot? Well, Alice didn't know what would happen. I didn't know who couldn't know he'd Why did he do anything like that? Why did he? If what you say is true, he could have stopped us another way. That's my doing too.
I kept her out of sight and the other night I told her to do anything, to stay where she was and not to go to the field.
She believed me. Then I called Shirley.
Goode and told her she was sick, and that's why she didn't go.
You know how the explosive was that wrecked the plane. I read today the first aid kid, that's where al was carried to the stuff, and it was that kid. How did the good heal girl get it?
Because she was cold at the last minute, and Alice had the things in the loft of the field.
And now, look, mister Dollar.
I wouldn't be here. I wasn't the truth.
It's a peddling rap for me. But I've been reading these stories about the people that got killed and the families that I left. I couldn't take it, couldn't take it.
I knew the truth.
And then when Alice was killed there was no reason for that town what I knew. Are you ready to go to the policeman? You heard what I got to say. I'm giving myself up your witness to that. You know where there's other churches. Yeah, yeah, he and I we live together, and he'll come with us if I have to.
Sure, Sure, I'll take.
It to him. Say's it, Maria, this is where I left him. You go in and Callum's here, all right? Just call him naturally now A right, all right, are you here? I'm here, You atturney, go away? I got expense a count item too, miscellaneous twenty three dollars and forty five cents expensive count total twenty five dollars and ninety five cents. Remarks, but the cost of the other people the total hardly seems important, does it. I think it would be easier if forget the twenty five dollars
than the rest of the matter. So let's do it. It's truly Johnny Dollar.
Yours Truly Johnny Dollars stars Edmond O'Brien in the title role and has written by Gil Dowd with music by Eddie Dunstutter. Edmond O'Brien can soon be seen in the Paramount Pictures production Warpath. Featured in tonight's cast were Peter Leeds, Ray Hartman, Martha Wentworth, Bill Bouchet, Victor Perron, and Virginia Gregg. Yours Truly Johnny Dollars transcribed in Hollywood by him do pay. This is Dan probably inviting you to join us next week at the same time when Edmund O'Brien returns as
Yours truly Johnny Dalla. Every time you buy a United States Defense bond, you help in our defense effort, and you help build your personal security. Yes, defense bonds are good for you and good for your country. Remember defense is your job. By United States defense bonds, many people find their way to the police lineup. The innocent, the vagrant, the thief.
The surprising number of action packed police cases begin.
When interested parties survey the lineup. And that's where our thrilling lineup story begins. Tomorrow night over most of these same CBS stations, listen for these authentic dramas about real police bids on CBS.
This is CBS where you'll
Never lose when you follow the news on the Columbia Broadcasting System