Original subtitles

This is the city.

Los Angeles, California.

It's a magnet that seems to attract the young.

Outdoor restaurants along Sunset Boulevard all cater to

would-be movie stars of the future at one time or another.

Los Angeles is also the center of the pop music world.

Thousands of youngsters come out here with guitars in hand

to try and crack the shell of success.

It's also a city in which to bury one's identity.

Teenage runaways from all over the country end up here on the Sunset Strip.

A life free from parents, schools, responsibility.

The hippie life. A world of psychedelic posters and faddish outfits.

To the hippies, the rest of the world is square.

They are young people looking to change the future.

Like others, sometimes, they get a little

over anxious and when they do, I go to work.

I carry a badge.

The story you are about to see is true.

The names have been changed to protect the innocent.

It was Monday, May 4th.

We were working the day watch out of Juvenile Division.

The boss is Captain Morris.

My partner is Bill Gannon.

My name is Friday.

We checked in for work at 8 a.m.

By 8:05, Bill looked ready to check out.

Hard night?

No, easy night. It's going to be a hard day, though.

- I didn't know you drank. - Well, I'm not an alcoholic, Joe.

I had two martinis before dinner. That's all.

I guess I'm not as young as I used to be.

- You and Eileen go out last night, did you? - Over to her sister's.

Charlie, my brother-in-law, added a den to his house,

so of course, we had to go run and look at it.

- Nice den? - You've seen one, you've seen them all.

- Sure wasn't worth the price. - It cost him a lot to build, huh?

I'm not talking about what it cost him.

I'm taking about what it cost me.

Juvenile. Friday.

Where?

What's that address on Cooley?

Yes ma'am, that's right.

No don't touch a thing.

Yes ma'am. We'll be right out.

- Over on East Cooley in a trashcan. - Yeah?

A four-day-old baby girl.

9:40 a.m.

We arrived at the alley behind 3360 East Cooley.

- You're the police? - Yes ma'am.

There's the baby right there.

Rudy here found it. I called you right away.

- Isn't this just dreadful? - Yes ma'am.

We knew we shouldn't move it until you've arrived.

Imagine that? It's a little girl.

Can't be over four or five days old.

Better get an ambulance out here and fast.

Who in the world would do such dreadful thing?

It's absolutely inhuman!

- You found the baby, did you? - Yes sir.

I was cleaning up the backyard here and I heard the crying.

I thought at first it was a cat, you know?

I don't believe what I see.

No baby belongs in a barrel with trash.

It's a sin against Dios to throw a baby away like old leaves.

What kind of mother could do this terrible thing?

Ambulance is on the way.

Do you have any idea who left the baby here?

I do not. This is a high-grade neighborhood.

Yes ma'am, I understand that, but did you see anybody in the area? Any strangers?

No. Someone must have driven through our alley and put her in that trashcan.

What kind of a monster would do such a dreadful thing?

Would you be able to find them, whoever did this?

- We're going to try. - I hope the scum are to suffer for this.

They must be suffering much already to do such a thing.

10:15 am.

We followed the ambulance to the Los Angeles County Hospital.

All the time I've been on the job, I thought

I've seen it all. A baby in a trashcan.

Doctor, what's the condition of the child?

It looks bad, gentlemen, real bad. The

infant's no more than three or four days old.

Now fortunately, last night was relatively warm.

A little four-day-old girl just isn't built to spend all night in the garbage can.

Is she going to live?

I'd say maybe, Bill, but that'll be too encouraging. I better get back to her.

- We'd like that blanket, Doc. - I'd send it right out to you.

Thank you. We can drop the blanket off at

SID on our way back to that apartment house.

You know, when you think of all the people who'd give everything

they've got to have a baby like that and some poor excuse

for a human being throws it away in a trashcan.

Thank you very much.

Gray.

Whoever heard of a gray baby blanket?

It's supposed to be pink for a little girl.

Whoever heard of a pink shroud?

After emergency treatment, the child would be placed in the

Intensive Care Section of the hospital.

10:45 a.m.

We dropped the baby's blanket off

at Scientific Investigation Division.

Then, we drove back to 3360 East Cooley

to talk with the manager, Sylvia Crystal.

- How's that baby? - We won't know for awhile, Mrs. Crystal.

- We'd like to ask you a few questions. - Oh, certainly.

Have you any idea at all who might have abandoned that baby?

Like I told you before, no idea in the world.

I just can't imagine anyone doing such a thing.

-How about one of your tenants? Could any of them...

Oh, no. No, Officer, not my tenants.

I'll bet anything, it happened the way I told you before,

somebody driving through that alley.

That's a possibility, Ms. Crystal, but as a rule,

people don't go too far from home when they abandon a child.

You mean things like this happen frequently?

Yes ma'am, more frequently than we'd like.

When they make up their minds to do a thing like this,

they generally pick the closest and nearest place.

Now, since the baby was left in your service area,

your apartment house is the natural place to begin, isn't it?

I see your point.

Well of course, you're welcome to speak to all my tenants,

but most of them are at work now.

And frankly, Sergeant Friday,

most of them are a little too old to be new parents.

How about your younger tenants?

The only younger people we have in the building are the Conways in 2-C.

They have a child.

And then, we have a couple of girls sharing 2-A, Patty Lazar and Christine White.

Now, Patty is a secretary and Christine is a nurse.

They only moved in last month.

Both are nice, quiet girls.

And then there's Donna Halpern in 1-E.

She moved in last week.

I believe she's a librarian.

Her fiancé is in Vietnam, she showed me his picture.

All right, thank you very much, Ms. Crystal.

Tell me, do you always manage to find the parents in these cases?

Usually.

- And when you do, were they sorry for what they've done? - Sometimes.

Sometimes, they're only sorry that we found them.

2-C, the Conways.

- Mrs. Conway? - Yes?

We're police officers. We'd like to ask you a few questions.

- What's wrong? - A baby was found abandoned in the alley down back.

We're just checking to see if you have any idea who might have left it.

- How old was it? - Three or four days.

Gee, that's awful.

Do you know any young women in the neighborhood who were expecting?

Gee, no.

Is the baby dead?

- Not quite. - That's terrible.

I know some of the young mothers in the neighborhood.

I see them in the park. You know, when I take

Howard, my six-year old out for a stroll?

I can't help you.

Molly Blaine's pregnant, but she only found out last week.

It'll be her fourth.

I see.

- Who are you guys? - They're policemen, Howard.

- No, they ain't. - Aren't. Yes they are.

And if you don't behave, they'll arrest you and put you in jail.

Oh no, they won't.

They ain't policemen, neither.

Well, thank you very much, Ms. Conway.

- Sorry I couldn't help. - I'm the policeman around here.

And if they don't behave themselves,

I'm going to stick them in the slammer and throw the key.

Well, sorry to trouble you, Mrs. Conway.

Not at all.

Bye, Howard.

Go melt, Shorty!

Shorty huh? I like to shorty him where he sits down.

2-A. Patty Lazar and Christine White.

- There's nobody home. - Next one' downstairs.

Boy, that Howard is really something, isn't he?

No, forget it. It was only water.

With a kid like that, how can you be sure?

Donna Helpern, 1-E.

- Yes? - Are you Donna Halpern?

- Yes I am. - We're police officers.

We'd like to ask you a few questions.

Excuse me, I'm just getting over a cold, about what?

An abandoned baby.

It was found in the alley behind your building this morning.

We were wondering if you might have

some idea who the parents are.

No. I haven't any idea.

We understand you only moved in last week. Are you from the area?

Yes. I was living with my parents.

They live over on Eden view, just a few blocks away,

but now that I'm working, I decided to get a place of my own.

This is just temporary. My fiancé, Tony, is in Vietnam.

When he gets back, we'll be getting married and buying a home.

Then you don't have any idea who that baby belongs to?

No, I don't. Sorry.

Well, thank you very much, Ms. Halpern.

The baby, was it a boy or a girl?

- It's a little girl. - How old would you say it was?

Three, four days.

That's a shame. Is it all right?

She was still alive an hour and a half ago.

Well, I sure hope you find who you're looking for.

- We will. - What will happen to the child?

I mean if she lives?

She'll be made a ward of the court and placed in a foster

home with parents who will let her sleep in a crib, not a trashcan.

Well, that's the important thing, isn't it?

- Ma'am? - That things turn out well for the baby.

I mean, even if God forbid the baby dies, it's better this way, isn't it?

- This way? - In a hospital, I mean.

It would be terrible to die in a trashcan.

- I can think of something worse. - Yes?

Being four days old and only having those two alternatives.

1:35 p.m.

We canvassed the neighborhood for any information on the abandoned baby.

No one seemed to have any idea who the parents of the child might be.

One of the residents suggested we might try the Colonial Soda Shop.

It was a gathering place for the young people who lived in the neighborhood,

including students from the local high school.

3:15 p.m.

We drove over to the Colonial Soda Shop.

We asked several of the young people,

but they could tell us nothing about the abandoned baby.

- Well, what do you think? - I don't know.

Maybe that Crystal woman was right.

Maybe someone did drive through the alley and dropped the baby.

- Sir? - Yes ma'am?

- I didn't want to say anything in front of the kids. - We understand.

It's seems so catty. You'll think I'm terrible.

Maybe I shouldn't say anything.

- What's your name? - Lisa Bogart.

If you have any information at all on that abandoned baby, we want you to tell us.

You won't tell her now, will you?

- What's her name? - Sissy Tucker.

I'm probably wrong,

but Sissy's been out of school for over a week.

- Sissy Tucker. - Well, she's...

Well, she dates a lot.

Goes out with a lot of the guys.

Some of the fellas say things about her. You know what I mean.

You think I'm terrible, don't you?

I mean, to be informing on her.

No, miss, you did the right thing.

Now, do you know where this Tucker girl lives?

Come on now, you've told us this much. Tell us where she lives.

I feel like a rat!

You won't if we find the mother of that abandoned baby now, will you?

No. I guess not.

- She lives at 2714 Lightner Avenue. - All right.

Thank you very much, Miss Bogart.

One more thing. Maybe you can understand

why I feel so bad about this.

What's that?

She's my best friend.

3:45 p.m.

Bill and I drove over to 2714 Lightner Avenue

to talk to the girl by the name of Sissy Tucker.

- Yes? - We're police officers. We'd like to ask you a few questions.

Oh. Is it about that ticket I got last week?

- No ma'am. - Does a girl with the name of Sissy Tucker live here?

Yes. I'm her mother.

We understand she's been absent from school recently.

- Is that a crime? - No ma'am. We were just wondering why.

What do you mean you were just wondering why?

A child misses a week of school

and they send the police out to check on her?

Is that really all you have to do with your time?

You should go out and catch criminals.

Sissy is no criminal.

We're not truant officers, Mrs. Tucker.

A young baby was abandoned in this neighborhood last night

and we thought maybe your daughter might help us locate who the child belongs to.

You decided my Sissy is an unwed mother?

I have a good mind to sue you.

Now, we didn't say that, Mrs. Tucker.

Well, you heard what I said.

The right you have got to come around here

and cast aspersions on my daughter.

We're not casting any aspersions.

We'd like to locate the parents of that baby.

You find some little brat and right off you decide

my Sissy is its mother.

If that's not casting aspersions,

I'd like to know what it is.

We understand your daughter has been absent

from school for over a week.

We have a four-day-old infant on our hands

who might be dead by now.

We want to know who, we want to know why.

If you're feelings have been hurt, we're sorry.

If your daughter's reputation has been stained, we apologize.

But that doesn't change the fact that we have to check it out.

Now, if somebody tells us your daughter might know something

that would be helpful to us, we have to run it down.

That's why we're here, Mrs. Tucker.

Well, she's been in bed with the Hong Kong flu.

She is at the Good Mercy Hospital.

You can call over there and you can check on that.

And that's the truth.

What else did they say about Sissy?

We understand she sees quite a few boys.

That's true. She likes the boys and boys like her.

She's a little wild, but she's not a bad girl.

Her father and I are divorced

and that hasn't been easy for her.

She's not a bad girl, though. And one other thing.

What's that Mrs. Tucker?

Sissy would never get pregnant.

You're sure of that, are you?

I ought to know. She's been on the pill for two years.

4:15 p.m.

We drove back to the PAB and went upstairs to the crime lab

to check with Don Hale on the blanket the abandoned baby was wrapped in.

Don, did you turn out anything on that blanket?

No, not a whole lot.

Nothing unusual about it, just a common gray blanket.

You can buy them almost anywhere.

- It's old and it's warm. - And that's it, huh?

Um, no not quite.

Metal tag here. No number on it.

The face has worn off, as you can see.

The blanket's been dry cleaned or it's laundered?

I wish I could tell you which or where.

We knew it wasn't much, but it was worth a try.

We checked all the laundries and cleaning establishments in

the immediate area where the baby had been abandoned.

We struck out.

The last place on the list was Paterson's Dry Cleaning Emporium,

3754 Vanessa Lane,

three blocks from where the abandoned baby had been found.

4:40 p.m.

It was a long shot at best.

- Mr. Patterson? - Yes, sir?

- Police officers. - Yes sir, what can I do for you?

- Do you use this kind of metal tag? - Yes we do.

What's the trouble? Oh, I can see the trouble. There's no face on it.

There's no number on it either, is there?

No sir. Do you recognize the blanket?

It's gray.

And it could use a good cleaning.

- Have you ever seen it before? - No way I could tell you that.

Some things a fella remembers who belongs to what,

like certain kind of drapes with flowers on them,

like a special kind of Afghan maybe,

like a college blanket with a name on it, like a miniskirt.

Those things, a man might remember, but this blanket I don't remember.

- I see. - Is it important?

That's a dumb question. If it weren't important, you wouldn't be here.

That' right sir.

It looks just like a hundred other blankets

that come through here every week.

What's it all about? Can you tell me?

Ah, dumb question. Of course you can't tell me.

- It's a police matter, right? - Yes sir.

Well, I'd tell you how I feel about you policemen.

You're a hardworking bunch. Day and night, night and day.

And whatever it is you're looking for with this blanket,

I wish you all the luck to find it.

Well, thank you very much sir.

For what? For nothing.

You got a tough case on your hands?

A dumb question. Of course you got a tough case, right?

Right.

4:45 p.m.

We'd reached a dead end.

The one lead we had faded when the cleaner couldn't come up

with an identification on the blanket.

We figured the only thing left to do was

to double back over the course.

We drove over to the Colonial Soda Shop

to give it another try.

Police officers. We'd like to ask you a few questions.

Sure.

We're looking for a girl who had a baby in the last few days.

Now, do you know of such a girl and where we might locate her?

- What do you want her for? - Routine investigation.

- Did she do something wrong? - We'd like to talk to her. Do you know a girl like that?

- I might. - You might or you do?

- I don't know exactly. - What does that mean?

It means what it says. I don't know exactly.

Is there some place where we could talk privately?

- A room in the back. - Let's use it.

- What's your name? - Paul Sutherland.

- How old are you? - Eighteen.

All right now, Paul, you were doing a lot of talking out there,

but you weren't saying anything.

Well, what do you think the rest of that

bunch out there is going to think of me now?

You bringing me back in here and all.

They're not going to think anything if this is as far as we take you now, are they?

- Well, you got a point there. - Now you make a couple with us, son.

If you know anything about the girl that we're asking about, suppose you tell us.

- It's important. - Well, I don't want to get anybody into trouble.

Look, Paul, we got a little four-day-old baby who was abandoned.

We want to find out who she belongs to and if you can help us, we'd appreciate it.

Now, do you know a girl who had a baby recently?

Well, say I do. What then?

You give us her name, her address,

then you go back and finish your ice cream.

Well you know what you're doing? You're making me fink.

You haven't got the right to do that.

It's not right what you're trying to make me do here.

You go Indian wrestle your conscience on your own time, Paul.

Right now, we need a name and we need it quick.

You know it. Now you spell it for us.

All right, son. You write your own ticket.

We can talk here or down at juvenile.

Okay.

I can't tell you much, just what I know.

I had a buddy. He's in the army now.

Before he shipped off, he told me he'd made this girl pregnant.

And he told me he was glad he was going over to Vietnam

because he didn't want to be around when the baby came.

And that was six or seven months ago when he went over.

- You know the girl's name? - I never met her.

Tony was a year ahead of me at high school.

She was in his class.

All he ever called her was Fat Donna.

Thanks, Paul. You've given us a lot of help.

- That may be, but I want to tell you this. - What's that?

I'll never forgive you for making me fink on a friend.

Now what do you think of that?

Oh, we'll survive.

5:35 p.m.

We returned to Donna Halpern's apartment.

- Oh, hello. - May we come in?

Certainly.

Sit down if you like.

I don't know why you came back. I told everything I knew before.

Are you sure about that Ms. Halpern?

I am.

We're going to advise you of your constitutional rights.

You have the right to remain silent.

If you give up the right to remain silent,

anything you say can or will be used

against you in the court of law.

You have the right to speak with an attorney

and to have the attorney present during questioning.

If you so desire and cannot afford one,

an attorney would be appointed for you without charge before questioning.

Do you understand that?

Yes. But I don't understand why you read all that stuff to me.

Did you give birth to a baby girl four days ago?

What?

Did you deposit that little girl on a trashcan last night?

What are you saying?

I'm saying that a kid named Tony had bragged a friend several

months ago that he'd gotten a girl named Donna pregnant.

He went to Vietnam. She had his baby.

She doesn't have it anymore.

Now, how would you add that up?

He told me that he wanted to marry me.

That's what he said.

We were engaged.

He said he liked me.

Even when I got pregnant, Tony said he was happy about it.

He said we'd get married as soon as he got back.

He even wrote me letters from Vietnam saying how much he loved me and missed me.

I was happy having his baby.

That way, he'd have a family waiting for him when he got home.

Then last week, I got a letter from him.

It's all over, he said.

He was getting married to an Oriental girl,

getting married to somebody else.

Two days after his letter arrived, I had his child in the bathroom.

I delivered it myself.

I kept it there for three days.

I thought I'll learn to love it, but every time I looked at it,

it reminded me of Tony, that he was married to somebody else.

The baby looked exactly like him.

I couldn't stand it.

She had his eyes, his nose.

Nobody knew I was pregnant.

I'm so heavy that it didn't show

and the baby was so quiet.

It never cried.

Even the neighbors next door didn't know about her.

Last night, I took her out and put her in the trashcan.

You wanted to kill her?

No.

I just didn't care.

I just couldn't stand to look at her anymore. That's all.

I just couldn't help hating her.

I burned all of Tony's letters and I threw his baby in the trash.

That way, I was free of him.

As far as I was concerned, there was nothing else I could do.

You can see that, can't you?

No, lady. We can't see it. You're under arrest.

What will happen to me?

Well, that's up to the court.

You don't think very much of me, do you?

Let me put it this way.

You'll never make mother of the year, lady.

5:48 p.m.

On our way downtown to book the suspect, Donna Halpern,

we stopped off at the county hospital

to check on her baby's condition.

Joe. Bill.

How's the baby?

Either I'm a great doctor, which I am not,

or there's a God. The child's going to live.

You're right twice, Doc.

She's weak, but she'll make it. You're the mother, are you?

Like to see your baby?

I already did once.

Does she have a name?

Call her whatever you like. She's all yours.

- You really have a low opinion of me, don't you? - Does it matter?

You don't think I'm worth much do you, isn't that your opinion?

My opinion and twelve cents will buy you a cup of coffee.

- Tell me what you think. - I don't think, lady.

No I want to know. What's your opinion?

You probably think I should go to the gas chamber, don't you?

The little brat is still alive and kicking.

So what's the big crime? Come on.

You're a big strong policeman. You tell me, what's the crime?

Let's you and me level with each other, lady.

You want to soft answer to a hard question.

Now you fight that up with yourself,

but I'll give you this much.

You got yourself pregnant, strung along by the guy, and then he dropped you.

Now maybe you should have known better,

but a lot of women older than you have wound up in the same bind.

That's exactly right. It was all Tony's fault.

Maybe. Until four days ago.

Then you became responsible for a human life,

but you had a choice.

That's more than your baby had.

Nobody asked her who she wanted for parents.

Now maybe that boyfriend of yours is a two-timing punk,

but that baby needed you far more than you needed him.

And how did you answer her need?

You used your choice.

You took a human being, your own little girl,

and you threw her out like a bag of garbage.

What's going to happen to me?

That's up to the court and your conscience.

Or did you throw that away too while you were at it?

The suspect was found guilty

of violating Section 273(a)(1)PC, child endangering,

which is punishable by imprisonment in the county jail for not more than one year

or the state prison for not more than ten years.