Dragnet: The Big Jules (EP5069)

0:03 THE END.

0:28 Welcome to The Great Detectives of Old Time Radio from Boise, Idaho. This is your host, Adam Graham. In a moment, we're going to bring you this week's episode of Dragnet. But first, I want to encourage you, if you're enjoying the podcast, please follow us using your favorite podcast software. Today's program is brought to you in part by the financial support of our listeners. You can support the show on a one-time basis by... mailing a donation to Adam Graham, P.O.

1:01 Box 15913. That's P.O. Box 15913, Boise, Idaho 83715. And you can become one of our ongoing Patreon supporters at patreon.greatdetectives.net. But now, we're going to get to today's episode. A warning in terms of sound quality, particularly with Dragnet. I feel like most of the Dragnet episodes, we've gotten a lot better versions, higher sound quality. This one really does feel like the sort of quality I was dealing with 19 years ago when we started the old-time Dragnet program.

1:46 but still very listenable. Here, from June 19th, 1952, it's The Big Jewels.

1:53 The story you are about to hear is true. The names have been changed.

1:57 To protect the innocent. Dear Detective Sergeant, you're assigned a narcotics detail. As any supply of high-grade narcotics is finding its way into your.

2:15 City, For two months, you've been trying to run down the source. The first real break finally comes. Your job? Check it out.

2:30 The documented drama of an actual crime. For the next 30 minutes, in cooperation with the Los Angeles Police Department, you will travel step by step on the side of the law through an actual case transcribed from official police files. From beginning to end, from crime to punishment, Dragnet is the story of your police.

2:48 Force in action.

2:53 It was Thursday, October 8th.

2:54 It was hot in Los Angeles.

2:56 We were working the day watch out of narcotics detail. My partner's Frank Smith.

2:59 The boss is Captain Kearney.

3:01 My name's Friday.

3:03 It was 4.05 p.m. when I got to 318 West.

3:05 1st Street, the first floor. Narcotics detail.

3:08 Joe?

3:09 Hi, Frank.

3:09 You all threw up in court, eh? Yeah, I just went to the jury. I don't think they'll be out long.

3:13 Well, I hope they hook him this time. He's overdue.

3:15 I don't see how they can miss. You can't tell, though. You never know what a jury's gonna do. What do you got here? following car brought him in about a half hour ago.

3:23 Pretty high. What's he shooting? H.

3:25 Had a big pop. Can't talk to him.

3:27 Anything on him?

3:28 Two caps.

3:29 Had him taped inside the collar of his shirt.

3:31 Crime lab analyzed it. Same stuff we've been chasing. European.

3:34 High grade.

3:34 He come up with anything? Nothing. He talks a lot, but he didn't say anything. Why don't you.

3:39 Take him on?

3:40 I'll give it a try.

3:42 Mr.

3:42 Jennings? This is my partner, Sergeant Friday. Well, how do you do, sir? Sure happy to know you, Sergeant.

3:47 Have a chair. Yeah, thank you.

3:51 A cigarette?

3:52 Yeah, I don't mind if I do. I'll give you a light.

3:59 Thank you. By the way, Sergeant, if you have any influence around here at all, I'd sure appreciate it if you'd tell this young fellow here to relax. He worries too much. Keeps telling me there's something wrong.

4:09 Isn't there, Mr.

4:10 Jennings? No, of course not. It's not that I don't enjoy the boys' company, but I've got an appointment.

4:14 A very important one, 11 o'clock this morning. Is that so?

4:17 Yes, very important. I have to be there at 11 sharp.

4:20 You're a little late, aren't you? It's past four in the afternoon.

4:22 No, it couldn't be. The clock on the wall right behind you. Hmm?

4:25 Well, what do you know about that? Time sure flies. Well, now wait for me. I'd better get a move on. Sure glad to have met you, Sergeant. Glad to meet you too, young man.

4:35 Just a minute, Mr.

4:36 Jennings. It's not that simple. You'd better sit down. But I told you I have an appointment very important. It'll have to wait. Sit down. All right.

4:44 How about it, Jenny? When did you have your last fix? What do you mean, when did I have a fix? You know what we mean. Your arm looks like a punch board.

4:51 Oh, the scars.

4:51 Yes, of course. I take vitamin shots. What's your doctor's name?

4:55 Dr. Young. Eldon Young.

4:56 Down on South Hoover. You know his phone number, do you? No, I don't.

4:59 It wouldn't do any good to call him anyway.

5:01 No, why? Well, he's not there. He's dead. You sure of that? Well, I ought to be. I went to his funeral. When did he die?

5:06 Oh, I don't know.

5:07 Two or three months ago. Sure was a nice fellow. Fine doctor. That's his sample, Joe. Been rattling off like that ever since they brought him in.

5:13 Oh, not the usual run. I'm sure that CD's looking busy. Look, Sergeant, I don't think I quite understand this. What's this all about? Mr. Jennings, you're hooked and you're hooked bad. When did you have your last fix?

5:22 Well, to be honest with you, I don't quite remember. I'd like to make it clear, though, I'm not a bum. I'm not addicted to this stuff. You're not?

5:28 Really, it's the truth.

5:29 I can take it or leave it alone. I take an occasional shot. That's about the size of it.

5:33 Where do you get the stuff, Jenny? I told you, my doctor. No legitimate doctor gave you the stuff they found on you. They don't dispense heroin. Now, how about it?

5:39 How about what, Sergeant? Are you going to tell us the truth? Jenny? Well, frankly, Sergeant, no, I don't think I will. I'm not an informer. That's to you, mister. We're going to find out sooner or later. I'm sorry, you're not going to find out from me. Now, look, let's not get into an argument, shall we? I don't have anything against you. Matter of fact, I like you.

5:54 I'd like to get along with you.

5:56 We're not going to argue, Jenny.

5:57 It would be useless to tell you that we're trying to help you. Are you married? Do you have a family?

6:01 Yes, sir.

6:01 Where do you live? Sorry, I can't tell you.

6:03 I'm not dragging them into this.

6:04 That's why I don't carry any identification.

6:06 All right, Jenny. You want to get your hat? Let's go. Go?

6:09 Where? Main jail. We're booking you in. Why? What for?

6:12 Possession of narcotics.

6:13 But I told you I'm not an addict. You can't keep me in jail. I only use it occasionally.

6:16 Yeah, sure. Is there anything wrong with that?

6:18 Can't pay any harm on that, can you?

6:19 4.38 p.m. The felony car officers who picked up the suspect Jennings took him to the main jail where they booked him for violation of the H & S Code, Section 11,500. He'd been checked through R & I, but he had no previous criminal record. Knowing that he was bound to become ill, he was ordered into isolation and the jailer instructed to notify the doctor in attendance if Jennings needed attention.

6:49 5.15 p.m.

6:49 We went over to the crime lab and checked with Jay Allen, who'd analyzed the two capsules found taped to the inside of Jennings' shirt collar. He told us it was the same grade of high-test heroin which had been found in the possession of other addicts during the past two months. We knew it was of European origin. We knew it was finding its way into the city.

7:07 We knew it was being made available to addicts. We picked up half a dozen.

7:11 Pushers in the last few weeks with heroin of identical quality in their possession. But the basic source of supply still remained unknown. We were convinced that none of the pushers knew who or what the ultimate source was. The following morning, after Frank and I signed in, we went over to the main jail, signed off to suspect Jennings for interrogation, and he was brought to the interview room.

7:30 His face was white and he was trembling. It was only a matter of time before he got worse, when the withdrawal.

7:35 Pain set in. Morning, Jennings. I gotta get out of here. Nobody told me it'd be like this when I got started on this stuff. I can't stand any more of this.

7:42 That?

7:42 I'm gonna die. I wish I could die. Why can't they give me something? I will talk to the doctor. It's the best we can offer. He'll do what he can for you. Can you get him now? I'd like to ask you a few questions first.

7:50 Don't hurry, will you?

7:51 I'm sick, awful sick. Where'd he get your stuff, Jennings?

7:53 What's the man's name? I don't know.

7:55 It's the truth.

7:55 I don't.

7:56 How do you get your junk? Follow me, Eddie. Bartender. I give him the money. He brings the stuff back. How much do you pay for it?

8:01 Six.

8:01 Six dollars a cap. I don't know what he pays. I pay him six dollars. Do you use it?

8:05 Says he doesn't. I don't know.

8:06 I think he is.

8:07 How about that, doctor?

8:08 I can't take this. Where do we contact Eddie? Far in South Main, near 4th. One with a big airplane on the sign. What's his last name, you know? Eddie what?

8:15 I don't know.

8:16 I don't know. What's he look like? Tall. Got blonde hair. Wears a big signet ring. Eddie, that's all I know. Good guy. He was trying to help me. Any idea where he gets the junk? I don't know. Except one night I was with him.

8:26 Yeah? Go about to a little junk in Manchester, Bear Garden. He went in alone.

8:29 When we got back downtown, he had the stuff.

8:32 I don't know. Do you know if he got it from a man who worked there, or do you think it could have been one.

8:35 Of the customers? I didn't see him.

8:36 I didn't go in. I don't know.

8:37 Do you know anybody else who's in with this, Eddie? Anybody with a dollar? He'd do anything for money. Hey, did he ever tell you where this junk's coming from, who's bringing it in? No, I asked him once. He got a little sore. I said, what do you care as long as he gets yours? I don't know.

8:47 No, no.

8:48 If I could just rest. If I could just let go. Can't you do anything for me? Why don't they tell you it's going to be like this? I'd like to have you help us.

8:56 Now, as long as there are men like Eddie running loose, there's going to be men like you that he's going to feed on.

9:00 How about it? Is there anything else you can tell us? That's all I know. I got the stuff from Eddie. Talk to him. No more questions. One more, Jennings, about your family. I don't want to talk about it. Your wife called. She found out you were in jail. No.

9:11 She's coming down to see you.

9:11 She can't. I don't want to see her. Tell her not to come. We can't stop her. Caused her enough trouble. Twenty years of it.

9:17 First the booze, now this.

9:19 How long have you been on it, Jennings? A year, a year and a half.

9:22 Been downhill all the way.

9:23 Three kids. I don't know what's going to happen. We'll lose our house, lost my business already, all our friends. You don't know what it's like.

9:31 We've got an idea.

9:31 No, you haven't. You've got no conception. It's been hell. Nobody's gone through what I have, lost what I have. Suffering, year and a half of it.

9:39 Really suffered. Nobody knew either.

9:41 Nobody suffered the way I did. Nobody.

9:42 I can think of one.

9:43 What?

9:44 How about your wife?

9:49 Jennings was returned to his cell. We contacted the jail doctor and briefed him on.

9:53 The suspect's condition. That afternoon, Frank and I drove to the bar on South Main Street near 4th where we located the bartender, Eddie.

10:00 Whom Jennings had told us about.

10:01 It was fairly apparent that he was under the influence of narcotics. We arrested him, took him back to the office, and began questioning him. A check with R & I showed that his true name was Eddie Hartsook and that he'd had several prior arrests for possession of narcotics and one arrest on the ABC Act. Unlike Jennings, he broke almost immediately. He wouldn't confess to being a pusher, but he did admit that he was an addict and that he was supplied by a Jules Zimmerlin, the owner of a German beer garden out on Manchester Avenue. He told us he'd met Zimmerlin through a mutual friend who was now doing time in Folsom for robbery. He identified the friend as Pete Heimer. We checked with records and thought

10:35 it was true.

10:36 Hartsook was booked in as a bag addict.

10:39 Then we contacted Captain Larry O'Brien up at Folsom Penitentiary who filled us in on Pete Heimer's background. After that, we checked R & I on the owner of the beer garden, Jules Zimmerlin. We found he was registered as an ex-con from Minnesota where he'd done time for burglary and grand theft. After a meeting with Captain Kearney, it was agreed that our first move was to get next to Zimmerman. I was deposed as a recent parolee from Folsom, a friend of Pete Heimler's. That night I attempted to make my first contact with Zimmerman at the beer garden out on Manchester Avenue. Waiter?

11:08 Yes, sir.

11:08 Can I help you? Yeah, draft beer. Bring me a bag of peanuts, too. All right, sir.

11:12 Just a minute. Is the boss around, sir?

11:14 You, the boss.

11:15 He's around. I'd like to see him. He was around a minute ago. Yeah, there he is. I'll tell him.

11:21 Right.

11:25 Yes, sir, you want to see me? You're Jules Zimmerman? That's right. Jack Bronson. I'm a friend of Pete Heimer's. He told me to look you up.

11:31 I thought Pete was in Fulton. Yeah, he is.

11:33 I was in there with him.

11:34 He sold me.

11:35 I drew parole about a month ago. Oh, I see. Mind if I sit down? No, go ahead.

11:40 I'll be making out. Doing all right? Well, it's kind of rough. He's fighting time, doing it the hard way. He's not young anymore.

11:45 You know. Yeah, it's too bad.

11:47 Nice fellow, Pete. Never did use his head, though.

11:49 Here you are, sir. Draft beer?

11:51 Peanuts?

11:51 Uh, Mr.

11:52 Zimmerman?

11:52 No, nothing. Here, sir.

11:54 Where are you from originally, boss, in L.A.? No, Detroit. What do you figure I'm doing now? Going back there?

11:58 No.

11:58 I don't know what I'm going to do. I'm still looking around. I'm going to go back to my Iraq attack station. You're still? Yeah, I got my M.O.

12:04 Tag from here to Seattle. What's that? Space. That's all I ever work. That's what I think.

12:08 Do you mind if I... No, help yourself.

12:09 Oh, thanks.

12:10 Yeah, you've had tough luck. How much time you do?

12:15 Two tens, seven inches.

12:16 Yeah. Working now?

12:17 Yeah, lumberyard. What's that?

12:18 I said a lumberyard.

12:20 Must be easy.

12:20 Your hands don't show any work.

12:22 No, of course not. I don't go into that rough stuff. I'm a clerk over there.

12:24 It's an easy track.

12:25 Not much dough, though. What are your plans? Got anything of mine? Oh, I don't know.

12:29 Money.

12:29 Pete told me if I ever got disgusted, we'll look you up. No, I don't know.

12:32 There's not much doing around here right now.

12:34 I really tried to make it when I came out this time.

12:36 I played straight down the street.

12:37 No, thanks. You go ahead. Okay. Tried to play it straight, stay on the street. It can't be done. I can't punch a clock. It drives me crazy. I wish I had something for you. Don't know this thing.

12:46 It's rough, Bronson.

12:48 I got an idea how you feel. I guess you ought to know.

12:50 Pete told me.

12:51 Said you fell twice back in Minneapolis.

12:53 Wasn't it? Pete talks too much. Not only to the right people.

12:57 Nice setup you.

12:58 Got here, Jules.

12:58 You must sell a lot of beer, huh? I get by.

13:01 Orchestra? Big layout?

13:03 Where's the cabin? Oh, we got pretty good business going.

13:06 Let's continue, Jules. I need a job. I got to turn a buck.

13:08 I wish I had something for you.

13:09 Now, look, I didn't spend all that time in a joint with Pete for nothing. I know the setup. Pete says you're a right guy. He'll do business with you. What do you mean? Just that.

13:15 I got contacts up by Fresno. Red Mountain. Good contacts. A lot of money up there. Pete says you handle quality stuff.

13:21 European. Except they're pushing up around Fresno with nothing.

13:23 Real lousy.

13:24 If we play it straight, we can both score. We'll score good. I don't think I'll follow you, Bronson.

13:28 I think you do. If we get the right stuff up there at the right time, we can clean up.

13:32 I know we can.

13:32 Let's go. I got a buddy who had a bummer ride to get up there four months ago. Now he's driving a Cadillac. Great business up there. It's fast and it's clean.

13:40 Hey, you want another beer?

13:41 I can't afford a stall on this, Jewel. There's a lot of sucker money around, and I don't want a piece of it. Well, maybe we can talk, Bronson. I don't know. It might work out something. I'd like to get to know you.

13:50 What's the pitch?

13:50 I said I was a friend of Pete's tonight. Check with him, or don't you trust him? I haven't heard from Pete lately. I'd like to. Can't be too careful, you know. He pays to check things out, so I.

13:59 Go ahead and check. I just haven't got the time to throw away, that's all.

14:01 I'm too crazy about these peanuts. I'll tell you. I might send a wife up to visit Pete this Sunday. She doesn't know him, but she can ask him about you. I hope you don't mind.

14:11 No, I don't mind. I just want to get going.

14:13 If you haven't got any junk to push, put me next to somebody who has, huh?

14:17 There's dough to be made, enough for both of us.

14:19 I want to make it. We can't go wrong on the deal. You're smart enough to see that, aren't you? Talk fast, Watson. Look, you're not doing me any favor. I'm doing you one. If you're not ready to move on the deal, just say so.

14:28 If you are, okay. Look, we're in a big rush. Take your time. Let's talk about it. We already have. How about it? How about what? You've got this set up. Now, when do I get an answer? When I get one from Pete.

14:36 11.30 p.m. I traded small talk with a narcotic suspect, Jules Zimmerlin, until closing time. Then I left the beer garden, took a streetcar back to the room I'd rented in a small third-rate hotel down on South Broadway. The following morning, I got in touch with the office, and they, in turn, contacted Captain Larry O'Brien at Folsom Penitentiary and acquainted him with the facts of the case. He was told that Mrs.

15:02 Zimmerlin would arrive at the prison to visit Pete Heimer the following Sunday, and that she had never seen Heimer before in person. O'Brien made immediate arrangements to have one of the officers at the prison pose as Pete Heimer and visit with Mrs. Zimmerman. Heimer himself would know nothing about it. I spent the next few nights at the beer garden trading more small talk with the suspect, Jules Zimmerman.

15:21 The conversation included fishing, the liquor business, gambling.

15:24 Sports, everything but narcotic.

15:26 I couldn't tell how I was making out with him, whether he was sold on me or not. I waited in my hotel room the following Sunday afternoon until Frank Smith called me from the office. He told me Captain O'Brien at Folsom had just contacted them. He said Mrs. Zimmerlin had visited the prison, that she'd talked with the guard posing as Pete Heimer, and that apparently everything had gone off well. 9.30 the following Monday night, I went back to the beer garden and met with Jules Zimmerlin. Yeah, not a bad crowd for a Monday night. Usually a lot slower than this.

15:54 I'll let you worry about that, Jules. We've been through enough small talk.

15:56 Now, how about it? What's the answer? Gotta be in a hurry, don't you?

15:59 Relax.

15:59 It'll work out.

16:00 Not without a push, it won't. Now, how about it? You said you'd have an answer tonight. I got one.

16:03 All right.

16:03 It's no. What? The idea's all right. I just don't like the way you figured it.

16:07 That's all. Yeah. I don't take the risk of getting the stuff up to Fresno.

16:10 If you buy, you buy here. After that, I don't care. How you get up north is your world.

16:14 Well, if that's the way you feel, I'm not going to fight you on it.

16:16 Your wife checked with Pete. Yes, sir. Pete gave the go-ahead.

16:19 You're everything you say you are. I understand you did a couple of big favors for Pete up there. Well, they can make the same from anybody you mind. Pete told the wife to spit a beef for him.

16:26 Could have talked.

16:27 He kept your mouth shut. Only one more thing I want to know.

16:30 You've asked enough, haven't you? You ever chippy around with the junk?

16:32 Do I look like it? I wouldn't touch it for a million dollars. I know the things I'm weak on. H is in one of them. Good.

16:37 I don't want anyone around to shoot yourself. Seen it happen a hundred times.

16:40 Cops fill them in and you're gone.

16:42 They all talk when they get sick. I'll stop it.

16:46 Come on, back me up. All right. Say, you got these friends who want to buy.

16:50 How much money can they raise?

16:51 Well, it depends.

16:52 How much stuff can you come up with? I mean good stuff.

16:54 Everything I have is good.

16:55 Here, go ahead. All right.

16:59 How about it?

16:59 How much do they want? I told you, it depends.

17:00 How much can you deliver?

17:01 That's up to the big man. I don't know how much he's got left. I figure stores are pretty low. I thought you were the big man. I'm a guest. I handle the stuff for him. That's all. I get my cut. Well, he must be big. Who is he? None of your business. You don't make the deals with him. You make them through me.

17:14 All right with me. You say you figure he's pretty low on the supply, huh?

17:17 When's he going to have enough to deal?

17:19 I'm in a big buy.

17:19 Maybe this Saturday.

17:20 I don't know.

17:21 When will you know?

17:22 Saturday when I see it.

17:23 How much cash can your friends raise?

17:24 I don't know. 10,000, maybe more, depends.

17:27 You have the money by then?

17:28 Maybe.

17:28 I have to have a couple of days.

17:29 Contact my friends. Probably they'll want more. How'd the stuff come in?

17:32 Why? What do you think? Why?

17:34 I want the right slant. Where's it coming from? I'm not going to get loaded down with Mexican stuff.

17:37 We can help it.

17:38 Don't worry. European comes in by ship. Well, it doesn't gel for me. How do they get it by customs?

17:42 They don't.

17:43 I do.

17:43 By the way, you do anything Saturday?

17:45 Why?

17:46 I take a little run in my fishing boat. One of the boys is sick.

17:48 I need another deckhand. What kind of sailor are you? I can make out.

17:50 All right.

17:51 Come along. We'll do a little fishing.

17:52 You might learn something. Yeah.

17:54 Smuggling's not as tough as it looks.

18:13 Tuesday, October 13th, 9 a.m. I called the office and briefed them on the results of my conversation with the suspect, Jules Zimmerlin, the night before at the beer garden. Captain Kearney put my partner, Frank Smith, on the phone and we set up a meeting for that afternoon.

18:26 2.30 p.m.

18:28 I left my hotel room and took a streetcar downtown to Pershing Square. Excavating work for the new underground garage at the square was still going on. A temporary wooden fence circled the construction area. I went to the southeast corner of the square where a courtesy stand.

18:41 Had been put up for the sidewalk superintendent. I stood around with a dozen other people watching the excavation. I waited. 2.45 p.m. Joe, how's it going, I-5?

18:52 Not bad.

18:55 Hey, they're moving this thing right along, I say. In fact, they got that hole just about done. I think you're going to have to go deeper than that. It's kind of hard to judge from up here. It looks deeper than it really is. Well, I had some pretty good luck last night. That's what I hear.

19:07 How's it shape up? He told me the stuff's been coming in by ship. Zimmerman did. I think maybe he's telling the truth.

19:11 How do you think they're working?

19:13 I don't know.

19:13 He wouldn't say. I might have a chance to find out this Saturday. It's a bitch.

19:17 Zimmerman's got a boat.

19:18 He offered to take me out this Saturday.

19:20 He mentioned they're expecting the shipment of the junk the same day.

19:22 Uh-huh.

19:23 Could be he's got some connection on one of the ships coming in from overseas.

19:26 He takes his boat out.

19:27 Meets the ship, and somehow they transfer the junk without attracting attention. Any chance you can get the name of the connection, if there is one, I mean? I'm going to try. Supposed to be a big man in the setup, too.

19:36 I haven't got his name.

19:37 Yet, either. Somebody over Zimmerman?

19:39 Yeah. You handle the details for Saturday, will you? I'll keep you brief. Okay. Check on all the ships that are.

19:43 Due into Wilmington Friday and Saturday, will you? I'll find out where Jules keeps his boat, Morton. You can make arrangements to have the dock area covered and.

19:40 Right.

19:40 Right.

20:04 I'm a little worried, Joe. Things seem to be rolling out too fast.

20:07 How do you mean?

20:07 It's possible Zimmerman might be wise. Maybe he's just stringing you along. He's not going to be able to follow you out from the bay without tipping the whole thing.

20:14 Yeah, I know.

20:14 You're going to be strictly on your own on that boat. If Zimmerman's wise, he and the gang will.

20:18 Be in a perfect spot.

20:20 Maybe we could set it up to have a boat standing by if you need help, maybe half a mile away or something. It might scare them off, ruin the whole deal, Frank. Yeah, it's trouble, Joe. If they're wise and they get you out on their boat, they got you cold. They won't give us any chances.

20:32 Well, then we're even. I'm not giving any on there. For the rest of the week, I spent the days in my hotel room and my nights at the beer garden setting up the buy with Zimmerman. Thursday night in Zimmerlin's office, we agreed on the final details for the buy. In the process, I succeeded in finding out the plan for the meet. At 2.30 Saturday morning, Zimmerlin, two of his gang members, and myself would board his boat at a private dock in the San Pedro area and proceed five miles out from shore. How the actual transfer of the narcotics was supposed to be made, I still couldn't find out. But I did learn that Zimmerman's main contact on the deal was a Marcus Torricelli.

21:11 He was supposed to be a steward aboard an inbound freighter.

21:14 The next day, I relayed the information to the office and gave him a final briefing on the plans for the meet as Zimmerman outlined them to me. Saturday, 2.30 a.m. Zimbalan and I, along with the two members of the gang, boarded his boat at the private dock and proceeded out to sea. It was a fairly new boat, well-appointed, a 38-foot motor cruiser. The two men kept busy above deck.

21:33 Zimbalan and I played cards, talked, and drank beer down in the cabin. 5 a.m.

21:39 Two fair queens up. You do better?

21:41 You dealt it. Three trays.

21:43 Had enough? Forty bucks worth of money. Want another beer? No, I got a headache.

21:48 What time you got? Hmm, later than I thought.

21:50 It's one after five.

21:52 Let's go topside, kid.

21:56 About time we started looking around anyway. Come on, I'd better get.

21:59 Up there and check our course.

22:00 All right.

22:01 Sure like the horse you got, June.

22:03 Just set you back plenty, huh?

22:04 Wouldn't believe it. I got an insurance for $ 20, 000 and it cost me $ 500.

22:08 You paid $ 500 for this?

22:09 Yeah, a society woman owned it. Her husband left it to her.

22:11 She got hooked.

22:12 Oh.

22:12 One of my best customers.

22:13 Spent everything she had on the junk. I got this for $ 500 worth of age.

22:17 High grade. What's she do for stuff now?

22:19 She doesn't need it.

22:20 She's dead.

22:20 It's really a nice boat.

22:22 Never enjoyed anything more in my life. Just a minute.

22:27 What's the matter? Yeah, I must be it.

22:29 Huh? What are you talking about?

22:31 The freighter.

22:31 A couple of points off the garbage.

22:33 Oh, yeah.

22:33 Huh?

22:34 George?

22:35 Hey, George.

22:35 Yeah, Jewel. Okay, I see it. Got a signal now? No, hold on. Let's make sure.

22:39 You have any glasses there with you?

22:42 Yeah.

22:43 Here.

22:44 Thanks.

22:45 Have a look here. What's this?

22:48 Just a minute. Yeah, Panamanian flag.

22:51 That's it. Very no.

22:53 All right, George, let's start.

22:55 Swing around.

22:55 Okay, Jules. Give the rudder hard right. Three complete turns.

23:01 Keep a stern of her. Right. Can you set up, Jules?

23:04 What happens now? Another pair of glasses there.

23:06 Watch for yourself.

23:08 All right.

23:09 Delivery comes from the ship, huh? Big boy on board? That's right. On board here. You really had me fooled. Let's keep it that way.

23:17 To tell you the truth, I thought.

23:18 You had it figured. No, I didn't know.

23:20 Where was it?

23:21 You've got a good front, Jules. Keep it that way and you'll be hard to make.

23:24 I'm on the home stretch.

23:25 You're not going to make me. Two more trips and I'm getting out.

23:27 Then I really go fishing.

23:28 There he is, Jules.

23:29 Back on the stern.

23:30 Got something?

23:31 All right. Keep an eye out.

23:33 Hey, train your glasses on the stern of that freighter. Yeah? What about it?

23:38 Just a minute. Now, you see it? Now?

23:41 Oh, there's a man coming out, huh? It's like he's dumping some garbage over there.

23:45 That's right. Don't watch the man.

23:46 Watch the garbage. It doesn't go through the cut.

23:49 Pretty smart.

23:50 That's your contact, huh?

23:51 Yeah, Marcus.

23:52 Good boy.

23:52 He hasn't failed yet. All right, George.

23:55 Move in.

23:56 Get the net.

23:56 Ready for the pickup?

23:58 All right, George. Tell you what, I just can't get over it. It's sure smart. How do you keep the junk dry?

24:02 No problem. Just dump the package over along with the garbage.

24:05 Waterproof wrapping.

24:07 Hey, keep your eye on it, that's all.

24:08 Yeah, I got to spy on it. All right, George, hand down the net.

24:13 Here you go. Yeah.

24:14 All right, coming along, Stein.

24:19 Hold it steady.

24:21 All right, got it.

24:22 All right, let's go. George, let's go.

24:25 Okay.

24:28 All right, Bronson, down below. Okay.

24:32 Sure make it look easy.

24:34 All it takes is a little savvy. Now let's have a look here. Ping-pong balls. What's the pitch there?

24:43 You ever hear one sinking?

24:44 Oh, yeah, sure.

24:46 Three, four.

24:48 Yeah, all here.

24:50 Good delivery.

24:54 I got Bronson your share. Ten grand worth. How about the money?

24:59 How about a look?

25:00 Suit yourself. All right. Okay.

25:06 Fine. Want to bet the money?

25:08 I don't know.

25:09 I'll give you a thousand now.

25:10 What do you mean a thousand? There's ten grand here.

25:13 That's what you wanted.

25:13 Take it easy, will you? I know what I was getting into out here. Could have been a heist. I couldn't bring all the dough along.

25:18 I want the money. I told you, I'll give.

25:19 You a thousand now.

25:20 You'll get the rest when we get in.

25:21 There's something wrong here. I don't like this.

25:23 I'll call George. We'll head out again. Relax, will you, Jewel? There's nothing wrong.

25:26 Don't try to con me.

25:27 I'm not taking a chance.

25:28 There's something wrong.

25:28 All right, hold it right there.

25:29 I'm calling George. Call him loud first time. You won't get a second one. Nice gun.

25:34 Fuzz.

25:36 You go back and sit down.

25:38 No, right where you are.

25:39 Hands on the table. Look, Bonson, we got time to talk this out. I got a big investment here. I got a lot to lose. All you have to lose is a pinch. You keep your hands on the table, will you? I'll make it right by you. You won't be sorry. I'm a wealthy man. How much you want?

25:50 Keep your voice down. Believe me, I'll make it right to you.

25:52 You said you liked the boat, didn't you?

25:53 You can have it, huh?

25:54 Everything with it, okay?

25:55 No deal, Jules. It doesn't smell any better than your delivery. What?

25:58 Garbage. The story you have just heard was true.

26:08 The names were changed to protect the innocent.

26:19 Jules Zimmerlin, his contact Marcus Corricelli, and the other two members of the narcotics gang were filed on in the district attorney's office for violation of the state health and safety code section 11,500, one count. They were found guilty and received sentences as prescribed by law. The violation carries a penalty of imprisonment in the state penitentiary for not less than.

26:39 Five nor more than ten years.

26:42 Ladies and gentlemen, defense of our country against aggression abroad and inflation at home depends on our ability to fill both our military and civilian requirements. All Americans must work together. Remember, the better we produce, the stronger we grow.

27:06 You have just heard Dragnet, a series of authentic cases from official files. Technical advice comes from the Office of Chief of Police, WHP.

27:15 Welcome back. I feel like Jules made some really poor decisions here. Probably taking Friday out on the boat and also not checking about the money before they left. are key mistakes, and even more than that, letting him know that his wife had never met Pete. That's the type of information that Friday would want to work out of him and try to figure out, how am I going to figure this out? without being suspicious. But no worries, Jules just gave that one away for free. And it's a reminder that when you are in crime, you cannot afford to be giving the police things for free by making dumb mistakes. Now maybe part of it is the episode does suggest that Jules was not someone who planned to stay in this long term. And so maybe it

28:22 wasn't as immersed in the culture and its cautions within the drug world. Certainly when compared to the relative caution of criminals we met in episodes like The Big Meat and The Big Red. Now there were a couple of terms in there that were a bit unfamiliar. One was... felony car, which isn't a phrase that we hear as often as some other police lingo, which you can kind of figure out even if they don't explicitly say what it is just by the context that it's used. But a felony car was a two-officer car that was... there to respond to robberies in progress or other serious crimes where there was a felony being committed or some other sort of dangerous call. Now, the term sidewalk superintendent is

29:27 one that I had actually only heard on an Ozzie and Harriet radio show. And it's essentially someone who is watching construction take place as a spectator it's not something I have seen happening really today and we've got a lot of construction going on around town and I've never seen like a flock of spectators or anything but The big thing is, it was kind of striking to hear Friday use the term, because to me, that seemed like a bit of a slang term. But he mentioned a courtesy stand, and apparently this was such a thing during the era... that you actually had stands to watch construction and process. Now, this was popularized by the sidewalk superintendent's club at Rockefeller Plaza, although some scholarship suggests that the

30:36 idea originated in Des Moines, and was picked up by the Rockefellers and popularized. But at any rate, this was very popular and made a good cover for Friday and Smith to meet. And given the construction noises, there was probably very little risk of them being overheard, particularly, you know, since they began with the typical sidewalk superintendent thing. Opening lines.

31:08 All right, listener comments and feedback now. And we have a comment from a random Spotify user regarding the big whiff. I already Googled, so I know I'm wrong, but I thought Arnold sounded like Tony Dow. Well, sometimes that's the only way to check, and I do appreciate you checking on that. Tony Dow, of course, the actor who played Wally on Leave it to Beaver. He essentially missed the golden age of radio and never appeared in Dragnet, although he did appear in an episode of Emergency. All right, well, now it's time to thank our Patreon supporter of the day.

31:51 And I want to thank Murph, Patreon supporter since February 2021, currently supporting the podcast at the Shamus level of $ 4 or more per month. Thanks so much for your support, Murph. And that will do it for today. If you're enjoying the podcast, please follow us using your favorite podcast software, and be sure to rate and review the podcast wherever you download it from. We will be back next Thursday with another episode of Dragnet, but join us back here tomorrow for Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar, where.

32:30 The dangerous mission you sent me on is a fait accompli.

32:33 But I only talked to you on the phone about an hour ago.

32:35 I've wasted no time. You have the $ 300 for me?

32:41 $ 150.

32:41 You have the information? Oui.

32:43 The Cellini Medallion.

32:44 Well?

32:44 Well, it's on the way to your own country.

32:46 On the way?

32:47 How?

32:48 Heading away in the case of wine aboard the ship. The Clemper Hall.

32:52 Out of Le Havre.

32:53 The Clemper Hall, huh? Destination?

32:55 San Francisco.

32:56 And when's it due to arrive here?

32:57 Late tomorrow night, the cargo is many cases of wine. It's bottles of wine. The medallion is hidden away in one of them.

33:05 You're sure of all this, de Marsac?

33:06 But of course, one of me.

33:08 Because if I fly all the way to San Francisco and find out you're giving me a wrong steer... Oh, no, no.

33:13 How can you, my oldest, my dearest.

33:15 Yeah, sure. Now, this means that someone over there is going to have to pick it up.

33:19 Oui, at the warehouse at the pier. A monsieur Frank Gerstel.

33:24 Gerstel?

33:25 You know?

33:26 If he's the one I'm thinking of... A fence who used to operate New York, but they can never pin anything on him?

33:30 It must be the same.

33:32 But in the shipload of wine, how will he know which case has the Cellini medallion in it?

33:37 By this mark, mon ami.

33:40 Yeah? So. A tiny circle, yeah? Ah, where the Maltese cross in it.

33:45 Oui, like so.

33:46 Okay, de Marsac. You'd better pack up and catch a plane back to the States.

33:50 Mon ami.

33:51 Huh?

33:52 Oh, yeah, sure. Here you are. Fifty, a hundred... 150.

33:57 Oh, oui, monsieur. Oh, such a dangerous....

34:03 Okay, okay. 170, 90, 200.

34:05 Oh, merci. Merci beaucoup. Bon voyage. Oh, success.

34:09 Wait a minute.

34:10 Huh?

34:11 You dug up an awful lot of information in a very short time, de Marsac. Even about that mark on the case of wine. Oh, but of course, monsieur. You see, I put it there myself. You what?

34:23 Oui.

34:24 When I helped my friends to smuggle the medallion aboard the ship.

34:27 I hope you'll be with us then. In the meantime, send your comments to box13 at greatdetectives.net. Follow us on Twitter at Radio Detectives and check us out on Instagram, instagram.com slash greatdetectives. From Boise, Idaho, this is your host, Adam Graham, signing off.