Original subtitles

This is the city— Los Angeles, California.

Like everyplace else, money is what makes it go,

and there are a lot of ways of getting it.

You can earn it.

You can speculate for it.

You can win it... sometimes.

You can borrow it... or even buy it.

If you’re desperate enough, you can steal it.

When you do, I go to work. I carry a badge.

It was Monday, March 18. It was cloudy in Los Angeles.

We were working the day watch out of Robbery Division.

The boss is Captain Howe. My partner's Bill Gannon.

My name's Friday.

In the space of two weeks, an armed bandit had held up and robbed...

10 branches of one of the city's largest candy store chains.

We knew his M. O. We had a good description.

So far, we had failed to identify him.

The story you are about to see is true.

The names have been changed to protect the innocent.

Monday, March 18, 9:00 a.m.

The candy store bandit had entered the 10th store...

shortly before 8:00 p.m. the previous night.

The clerk, Mrs. Jean Hardy, described him as a tall, gaunt man,

armed with a blue-steel automatic.

I've given notice, Sergeant. The only reason I came

in today was to tell them to get somebody else.

- Yes, ma'am. - I didn't feel I could quit without giving them some notice.

They don't want me to leave. They've even offered a raise,

but I told Mr. Claxton— He's the manager—

I said, "Mr. Claxton, there isn't enough money in this world...

for me to go through that again"— Getting shot at, I mean.

We're pretty sure he's the same man who held up the other Rachelle stores.

But this is the first time he's used a gun. Tell us what happened.

Well, I was about here when he came in, checking the trays.

He saw me, but he walked straight over there to the cash register.

I had an empty tray in my hand. I took it with me when

I moved over to wait on him. I asked him what he wanted.

He brought his hand up like this.

- That's when I saw the gun. - Yes, ma'am. Would you go on, please.

I remember thinking very calmly, very clearly,

"This is a holdup. It's happening to me."

- We understand. - Well, then he said to give him all the money.

As I opened the register, with my left hand,

I made a half turn to the right to set the tray down.

- That must've been what did it. - What's that?

Making two movements at the same time. It must have startled him.

I can't think of any other reason why he should shoot at me. Can you?

- No, ma'am. - Well, he's not getting a second chance.

I've given notice. There's not enough money in this world.

Well, it's not likely he'll ever come back

to this particular store again, Mrs. Hardy.

- You haven't arrested him, have you? - No, not yet.

Well, then I don't know how you can say he won't come back.

Well, we can't guarantee it, ma'am, but we

know he's never repeated on a store so far.

Is that right? Never?

Oh, well, maybe that does make a difference.

Here. Have one of these. Go ahead. Or do you prefer light chocolate?

No, thanks. None for me. All the same to me. Thanks.

You know, there's something wrong with that holdup man. How's that, ma'am?

I was talking about him with Mr. Claxton this morning,

and he said the head office had made the same comment.

- What's that? - Ten candy stores, counting this one.

Yes. Stolen all that money.

And never helped himself to one piece of candy.

9:35 a.m. We went back

to the office. The captain wanted to see us.

Corner Pocket's been asking me questions. I've got a few for you.

- Yes, sir. - These candy store heists— Why is he still operating?

- We just haven't been able to make him yet. - Ten hits.

- That oughta be enough to give you a fix. - We've checked him out three ways.

Yeah?

We got a description. Everybody's agreed on it.

- We pulled every mug shot that even came close. He just wasn't there. - Mm-hmm.

Then we tried working through his M.O.— kind of store,

the hours he works, always a blue-steel automatic.

He's only fired it on this last job.

Ballistics recovered the slug—.38 caliber.

What else did you come up with?

Looks like he's new. We've got nothing on him at all.

- Got prints, haven't you? - Yeah, but nothing readable.

Ten candy stores have been knocked over in almost as many days.

Unless it's the Invisible Man, you must know something about him.

Well, we know he's not a big operator. The most he's ever gotten was $50.

- Once it was only 10. - But he's had steady work.

Well, the way we see it, he had the shorts one day,

and he walked into that first store, probably because it was handy.

- It worked for him once, so he hasn't changed his M.O. - Anything else?

The stores he's hit, all 10 of them, are in the downtown area.

You could walk to any one of them in an hour. Ten minutes on a bus.

- He's never hit the same one twice. - How many stores does he have left in the downtown area?

- Five. - How long a stakeout, do you figure?

Well, he's never gone longer than two nights running without making a hit.

If there were two men in each of those five stores,

we oughta pick him up before the end of the week.

- Before the end of the week? - Yes, sir.

If anybody asks me, that's what I'll tell them.

Arrangements were made to draw 10 men from Metro Division.

They were told they would be on extra duty...

from 6:30 p.m. until 9:00, 10:00 or 1 1:00,

depending on the closing hour of the candy store they were assigned to.

4:30 p.m. The officers reported to the Robbery squad room for briefing.

All right, gentlemen. If I could have your attention, please.

Here's a description of the suspect: male Caucasian,

between 6' and 6'3" tall,

weight about 150 pounds, thin and gaunt.

Nearly all the witnesses have used those words to describe him.

- Thin and gaunt. - Is he geed up?

- A couple of the women clerks said they smelled alcohol on his breath. - How about the kind of clothes?

A few times, a heavy, dark sweater.

Most of the time he wears a cheap, gray suit

that looks to be a size too big for him.

His M.O. is always the same. He's never hit anything but Rachelle candy stores.

Never before 7:00 p.m. Usually near closing.

And only if there are no customers in the stores.

The suspect carries a blue-steel .38 automatic.

- Do we check out shotguns? - No. These stores are too small.

- Too close to the sidewalk. - Is he trigger-happy?

He was last night.

A team was assigned to each of the five downtown candy stores...

that had not yet been robbed.

They would take up their positions at 6:30 p.m.

Bill and I would be in Unit 1K-80 on rolling stakeout.

5:48 p.m. Have to take off in about 20 minutes. Oughta have a sandwich.

Be a while fore we can eat. What are you gonna have?

- Oh, just coffee. - You oughta have something solid, Joe.

- Well, coffee'll get it. - It's your stomach.

- Where do you want to go? Upstairs? - It's all taken care of.

- What do you mean? - The food oughta be here any minute.

- Well, then why did you ask me what I was gonna have? - I wanted to see if I guessed right.

- Who's bringing it? One of the boys? - Not with those legs.

Thanks, Miller. Do I have any change coming?

Three cents. That's all right. Keep it for your trouble.

Thanks a million, Bill. How are you, Joe?

Fine, Dorothy. Nice of you to pick that up for us.

It's no trouble. I'm on the night watch. You got a rumble going?

Yeah, five-way stakeout. We gotta leave in a few minutes.

You'd better get to that then, hadn't you?

I'm just having coffee.

It's in there. Bill, didn't you tell me to pick up two of those mile-high sandwiches?

That's right.

Why didn't you tell me Joe didn't want one? No use to waste it.

Oh, I didn't know that when I called you. Joe was out of the office.

You know I never eat those things. Pickles, onions and all that stuff.

I forgot.

All units in the vicinity.

A 211 in progress at 633 West Olive.

1A-12, handle the call. Code 3.

That's a Rachelle Candies, Joe.

6:20 p.m. Contrary to his M. O.,

the candy store bandit had held up a store earlier than he ever had so far.

The robbery had occurred a good 25 minutes...

before any of the teams on stakeout had taken up their positions...

in the Rachelle candy stores.

Goldman? In the alley, Sergeant.

When we pulled up, the man ran out of the candy store, down this alley.

Got off three rounds at us before we returned the fire.

- Nickel-plated revolver. - Not the gun we've been looking for.

That's not the man we've been looking for.

Tuesday, March 19, 10:00 a.m. We met with Captain Howe.

That dead man in the alley last night— Still think he's the wrong man?

- We know he is, Skipper. - We've identified him.

- Name's Max Schifftler. - Just in from Kansas City.

He hadn't been in town an hour before he tried that robbery.

- It was just a coincidence. - It made all the papers.

Good chance the guy you're looking for will get hinky.

Could blow the stakeouts. I think we oughta stay at it a few more nights anyway.

- Your man has to know you're waiting for him. - Yes, sir.

- Then what's the point? - What else have we got?

Tuesday, March 19, 7:00 p.m.

The stakeouts continued. Bill and I cruised the area,

ready to respond immediately to a call from any of the five candy stores.

9:00 p.m. Two of the stores closed for the night.

The officers on stakeout had nothing to report.

10:00 p.m. The other three Rachelle candy stores closed without incident.

One thing we were sure of: Since he had begun his series of robberies,

the gaunt bandit had never gone more than two nights without making a hit.

Tomorrow night would be the second night.

Wednesday, March 20.

We made a request to continue the candy store stakeouts one more night.

Do we go another night? Yeah. We're gonna be shorthanded.

Oh? Edwards and Logan have been pulled out.

No other teams available? Yeah, one.

Yeah? You and me.

8:00 p.m. Bill and I staked

out the Rachelle candy store on Wilshire.

Any of the other four teams would contact us if anything happened at their locations.

We waited. You know what they tell these clerks?

I mean in any candy store. No. What's that?

First day on the job, help yourself. Everything's free. Eat all you want.

You know what happens. No. What's that?

You get so sick of candy, you never want any more.

Is that so? You bet.

How long have we been here?

Hour and 10 minutes.

Boy, just the smell of it kind of fills you up, don't it?

This is Friday. Yeah.

Where? Where?

Yeah. Right away.

Anything? Yeah, he hit right between us.

What do you mean? He hit the same store for the second time.

8:20 p.m. Despite our efforts,

the candy store bandit had held up 1 1 stores in a row.

He had avoided the stakeouts by repeating on one

store he had robbed only three nights earlier.

The clerk was the same one as before— Mrs. Jean Hardy.

A black-and-white unit had almost caught him on the job.

Female customer saw the man had a gun, backed

out, made the call from next door. Yeah.

We were just two blocks over. Got here in less than a minute. Yeah.

Suspect was on the street by then, saw us coming, fired twice.

I got one shot off, he grabbed the side of his face and stumbled around the corner.

Left a few drops of blood on the street.

Those blood spots— Let's follow 'em.

The spots pointed east, toward skid row.

8:45 p.m. The trail of spots ended at a cheap hotel on lower East Fifth Street.

Police officers. Yes, sir?

We're looking for a tall man— 6', maybe 6'3".

Thin, around 150 pounds. Yes, sir.

His face is bleeding. He came in 10 minutes ago. Where is he?

Claude Thibodeau. Room 12. Does he live alone?

Yes, sir. Stay off that phone.

He ain't got no phone in his room.

Police officers! Get your hands up on that wall! Move!

All right, turn around. Get your hands behind your head.

I don't see why you're so tough about it.

I'm not making no trouble for nobody.

Now, that's the first time you've been right in two weeks.

A search of the hotel room failed to turn up the suspect's gun.

We took him downtown.

9:15 p.m. Claude Thibodeau was advised of his constitutional rights.

He did not want an attorney. We made arrangements for a show-up.

The candy store clerk, Mrs. Hardy, was asked to make the identification.

9:45 p.m. Mrs. Hardy was picked up in a black-and-white unit...

and brought downtown for the show-up.

We made out a 12.2 1 form in the event she made an identification.

You know, Sergeant, I stayed on that job entirely on your people's say-so.

You gave me your assurance that man would never come back again.

We're sorry, ma'am. He'd never held up the same store twice.

You found out different, didn't you? Yes, ma'am.

- This is almost as bad as the holdup. - How do you mean?

Being in a police station is just like being

in a hospital, as far as I'm concerned.

It makes me terribly nervous.

Well, it shouldn't take very long, Mrs. Hardy.

Will he be able to see me?

No, ma'am. There's a copper screen between the suspects and the witnesses.

You can see them clearly, but they can't see you.

- You're sure? - Yes, ma'am.

Who is that man sitting down there?

That's Sergeant Al Vietti of our division.

What do I have to do?

A number of different men, all similar in appearance...

to the man who held you up will walk out on that platform.

- Where will he be? - Right in front of that height board, along with seven other men.

- I'm supposed to pick him out? - That's the idea.

- Just take your time and be sure. - I don't want to pick out the wrong man.

We don't want you to either, Mrs. Hardy. You just take your time.

- Al, send in the first line. - Send in the first line.

Now, Mrs. Hardy, we're going to adjust the lights...

to approximate the brightness of Rachelle's candy store.

You tell us when it looks right to you. Bring 'em up, Al.

Bring up the lights.

There. That seems about right. Hold it there, Al.

Hold it. All right. Take a quarter turn to your left.

Your left, number four! Your left!

Another quarter turn to the left.

Quarter turn to the left.

Number four, your left!

All right. Face the front.

Do you see the man who held you up, Mrs. Hardy?

Would it be the second man from the right?

You tell us, Mrs. Hardy.

Well, I've seen that man before. I know that.

Where else could it have been?

- Second man from the right, you said? - Yes, I believe so.

From your left, that's number seven.

- Yes, but I'm not just sure. - Would you like to hear the man's voice?

- Well, you do have other witnesses, don't you? - Yes, we do.

The clerks in all the other Rachelle stores saw him too.

Yes, ma'am. But you saw him twice.

Well, I simply can't say for sure.

And I told you I wouldn't want to send an innocent man to jail.

Are you sure the man who held you up is not on that platform?

- No. - Well, then.

I'm just not sure he is either.

Friday?

- You do any good here? - Hardy woman's just not sure, Skipper.

- Maybe she's got a good reason. - What do you mean?

Blue-steel automatic, 6'2", weight around 150

pounds, thin and gaunt. They're bringing him in.

- What about him? - Man who looks like that just held up a Rachelle's candy store 10 minutes ago.

10:45 p.m. The latest suspect's name was George Watson.

He fitted the description of the candy store bandit in every respect.

We advised him of his rights, and he agreed to talk to us without a lawyer.

Watson's answers were confused and contradictory.

1 1:15. We decided to bring the two suspects together.

Hello, George.

They got you too, huh? Sure looks like it, don't it?

What do you got to say, Claude?

- It's up to George. - All the same to me.

Well, where do you want to start? Christmastime?

That's when I first run into George. We was having a free turkey dinner...

over at a rescue mission, you know?

- Yeah.

- We got to talking, and that makes a fellow pretty dry.

- So after a while, we went looking for a drink. - Go on.

Only trouble, I was broke, and George, he didn't have no money neither.

Can't remember whether we ever got a drink that day or not.

Do you, George? No.

Maybe we just talked. Turned out we had a lot in common, me and George.

- Yeah. - Of course, we still needed drinking money.

One day, George happened to say he knew where there was a gun.

Found it in back of a bar one day when I was gathering empties.

All right. Let's get to the robberies.

I did it the first time, then I told George.

Then he went out and he held up a store.

After that, whoever needed money would just take the gun and go find a Rachelle's.

- You both held up those candy stores? - Me and Claude. We took turns.

- And you used the same gun? - Same one. We only had one.

Well, what about that, Thibodeau? How did George get hold of the gun?

You used it tonight. We had a special place to keep it.

We'd take it out, do the job and put it right back.

That way, we didn't have to talk about it.

Where'd you keep it?

Buried under the alley in back of the hotel.

- Me and Claude took an oath. - What kind of an oath?

That we'd never shoot off the gun to kill nobody.

Just like them two police tonight. I wasn't even aiming at 'em.

Well, that's it. I guess we've told you everything.

- No, not quite. - Huh?

Why did you two keep pulling those holdups?

- You must've figured we'd have those stores staked out? - How could we figure that?

These robberies have had a lot of publicity.

- We didn't know that. - Never heard nothin' about it.

- It was in all the papers. - That don't mean anything to either of us.

- How's that? - One of the things me and George have in common.

- Yeah, what's that? - We never learned how to read.

1 1:3 1 p.m.

Bill and I took the suspects downstairs to the Central Jail, Felony Section,

to be booked for 2 1 1 P. C., Robbery.

While Bill waited to sign the booking slips, I started in on the paperwork.

Kinda tired. You?

Yeah, a little. Why don't you go on home? I'll finish up.

- Good. Sure you don't mind? - Why, no. Go ahead.

I promised Eileen I'd help my oldest boy with his homework.

- Is that so? What's he studying? - Advanced calculus.

- Since when do you know anything about calculus? - I don't, but he doesn't know that.

I work from his math book, Joe. He asks me questions. I answer him.

That's all. Why don't you take off?

Well, I hate to leave you alone, Joe.

Why? I can find my way out. Go on home.

- That's just it. - What's it?

I keep thinking of you going home to that apartment of yours, all alone.

What brought this on? Eileen and I were talking about you just this morning.

Single man like you. You never think of settling down, do you?

- I'm settled. - No, you're not, Joe.

Living alone like you do. You never go out, have any fun. Well...

I mean with a real nice girl, somebody you got a lot in common with.

You know, you're beginning to sound like a "lonely hearts" column—a bad one.

Now, you take tonight. I'd like to see you go out,

have a nice late dinner at some quiet, out-of-the-way place.

Maybe a couple of drinks. You know, relax, take it easy.

- Yeah, I might do that. - Not alone, Joe.

With a real nice girl. That's your trouble.

- What is? - You're shy.

You see a girl; you're afraid to ask her.

Sure, I know a couple of girls.

Yeah, but none you got anything in common with.

Well, how would you know?

You think about that, Joe. I'll see you in the morning.

- I sure am tired. - Yeah. Rest up.

♪♪

Joe?

- Sorry about your car, Joe. - Huh?

Well, Bill called about 15 minutes ago. He said

he had to catch the tail end of a lodge meeting.

Wanted to know if I'd run you home. It's right on my way.

Yeah?

- What's the matter with your car? - Didn't Bill tell you?

- No. Just said you were having trouble with it. - That's it.

- What? - I'm having trouble with it.

The story you have just seen is true.

The names were changed to protect the innocent.

On July 10 and 15, trials were held...

in Department 182, Superior Court...

of the State of California,

in and for the County of Los Angeles.

In a moment, the results of those trials.

Both suspects were found guilty on 1 1 counts of robbery in the first degree.

Robbery in the first degree is punishable...

by imprisonment for not less than five years.