All language subtitles for S1E6 Hitchhiker

Whenever the laws of
any state are broken,

the duly authorized organization
swings into action.

It may be called the state police,
state troopers

militia, the rangers,
or the highway patrol.

These are the stories of
the men whose training, skill,

and courage have enforced
and preserved our state laws.

An important function of
the highway patrol

is to maintain the safety of the road

to prevent accidents causing
injury or death.

But not all the fatalities on
the highway are accidents,

though they may appear to be.

During harvest time, the
patrol encountered an accident

that started with the driver
looking for a hitchhiker.

Thanks. I'm just
going to Collinsville.

Nothing wrong here.

No! No!

It was instantaneous.

Cause of death was an occipital fracture

occurring when the deceased...
How do you spell it, Doc?

O-double C-I-P-I-T-A-L.
It means the back of the head.

Occurring when the deceased was...

The back of the head?

Maybe I'm filling
out the wrong form.

Doc, the guy went through
the windshield. Forward.

Have you time to
check the daily report?

I'll be with you in a minute.

You got something hot?

Looks like a murder. Only we're
supposed to think it was an accident.

Let's have it.

Car in a tree. Victim's head went
straight forward into the windshield.

But he died from a blow
on the back of the head.

We reconstructed the accident
and it would have been impossible

for the victim to have received
such a blow in the crash.

What else?

We figured he was clubbed with
something heavy and blunt.

Maybe a tire iron.

Then propped behind the wheel
of the car, which was crashed.

About four and a half
miles north of Collinsville.

What's his name?

We don't know.

No driver's license?

Yes, he had one.

John Curtis.

It's been erased and rewritten. It's a
pretty good job, too. Not quite professional.

Let's find out who this guy is. Send his
fingerprints to Washington for a make.

Ask the lab boys if they can bring this
back with the original name and number.

Anything else on the body?

Just this. An ID card from
an insurance company.

Urban casualty and life assurance. In
case of injury, notify William Ferguson.

RFD box 43, Gardner's Grove.

Patrolman Garvey thinks the
victim might have been a fruit tramp.

Yeah, the highways are crawling
with him this time of the year.

Why would anyone want to plant a
phony identity on a poor fruit picker?

Maybe someone wanted
to lose his own identity.

Commit suicide and
live to tell about it.

I think the guy that did this homicide
is not going to do much telling.

Could have murdered him for the
usual reasons. Revenge, jealousy.

One of those with a
motive is why I take the

trouble to plant a
false identity. It's crazy.

Ever run across a killer
who was normal?

This could be the motive.

Insurance?

Yeah.

The killer might have
pulled this trick before too.

I see what you mean.

I'll tell you what
I want you to do.

Get me a report on all
vehicular fatalities that occurred

in the past 12 months that
have any similarity to this one.

I'll get the file
on it right away.

I'm going to take a run down to Gardner's
Grove. RFD 43, keep me posted will you.

No. Don't know anybody
named John Curtis.

How about William Ferguson?

Afraid I can't help you.

It's funny he'd
give this address.

Well, look here.

Guess about the biggest unofficial
post office in the whole state.

How come?

Most folks come here
have no permanent homes.

What are they, migrants?

Yep, fruit pickers.

They've got to have
some place to get the mail.

It's good for your
business too, huh?

Sure. Brings them in here.

Good for them, good for me.

Don't suppose I can remember
everybody comes in here for mail.

Do me a favor, will you?

Take a look and see if there's
anything there for Ferguson.

Nope, nothing here.

I'll tell you what.

If he comes in have him call
this number, tell him I got news for him.

If it is news for him.

Hold on, here he is.

Matthew's here.

Got a line on the car
using the Curtis Killing.

All right, let's have it.

Take this down.

DMV ownership, license number
2Y7022, sold 16th of this month.

By A&B Used Car Company at
1-0213 Union Avenue, Hartsdale.

That's about 30 miles from here.

What was the buyer's name?

John Curtis.

That figures. Thanks.

Let's go to Hartsdale.

The A&B Used Car Company
in Hartsdale was checked out.

The owner remembered the sale
of the 1938 dark blue convertible,

but was not able to
describe the buyer.

3153.

3153, by.

3153, what's the 1020 of 2150?

2150, by.

2150, two fatality reports similar to the
case you're on in almost every particular.

Yeah, I was afraid of that.

Well, 1019 in about 30 minutes.

Have the reports ready on
my desk when I get there.

Tell them to keep
digging, will you?

10-42150.

We better find this
character and fast.

Another one.

Well, that makes number five.

You think it's the
insurance angle?

We'll find out. I'm expecting Mr. Banning
from the State Underwriters' Association.

By the way, the lab tests
on the victim's clothing

showed positive evidence
of citric acid stains.

Now it's confirmed that he was
a fruit picker just like the others.

How are the boys making out in
the lab with the driver's license?

It's a slow process, restoring erasures,
but they expect to have something soon.

Good.

Is Mr. Matthews in?

It's Mr. Banning, Mr. Matthews.

Send him right in.

It's Banning.

I'll stay on this.

OK

Hello, Mr. Banning.
Sit down, won't you?

Looks like he hid it right
in the button, Mr. Matthews.

They all had insurance,
all four of them.

There's been a fifth one turned
up since last time I spoke to you.

They were all migratory workers, and though
they were insured by different firms,

they seemed to have one
very important thing in common.

Well, I do know what it is.

All four beneficiaries had
the same mailing address.

Right. Same address,
different names.

But I'll bet my bottom
dollar that all four of

those beneficiaries are
one in the same party.

And you'd win your bet.
What kind of policies were they?

Life accident.

Extra indemnity for death by
accident on three of the four.

All are what we
call open policies.

No medical required, no
personal appearance necessary.

Oh, I see. Just fill out the questionnaire
and send it in with a premium.

That's about it.

Let me see if I've
got this straight now.

Be easy for a guy to take
out a policy in a phony name.

Then arrange identification
papers in that name.

We'll say like a
driver's license.

And his next move is to find a
victim, a hitchhiker, or a migratory worker.

One that would answer the
description on the questionnaire.

Then he kills him in what he
hopes to look like an accident.

Plants a fake ID card
on him, then sits back and

waits for the insurance
company to send the check.

Is that about it?

It would seem so. Of course, getting
away with it is something else again.

Strange that he always picks
migratory workers for his victims.

Well, a migratory
worker has no roots.

If he disappears, nobody
would care very much.

It's different with a guy who
works in a store or an office.

This just came off the
wire from Washington.

He was clean, the prints are army.

The dead man's
name was Ralph Perry.

Last known residence
was 305 South Scanlon.

An address he gave when he applied
for veterans benefits a few months ago.

Well, that's a lead.

They make the payoff
in the Curtis policy yet?

The check to William
Ferguson is in the mail.

Good.

Anything else the
companies can do to help you?

Yeah, I'd like photo stats
and the last four checks.

I'll see that you get them.

I'm going to pay a visit
to South Scanlon Street.

Put a stake out at
that RFD number.

Yes?

Highway patrol.

What do you want?

Did you at one time have
a Ralph Perry living here?

Ralph? He ain't in
any trouble, is he?

When is the last
time you saw Perry?

Well, he moved out about two,
no, it was about three months ago.

Went back on the road when
they started the crop picking again.

You haven't seen him since?

Well, he came visiting once a
couple of weeks ago on a Sunday.

To see you?

I think he really
came to see Carl.

Who's Carl?

His cousin, Carl Seward.

Seward lives here?

In the back room, but
he's out right now, working.

Where does he work?

At the packing house.

Ye ain't after Carl
for anything, are ya?

I know he's been
awful worried lately.

What's he worried about?

I guess maybe it was the fight
that upset his nervous system.

The fight?

Yeah, him and Ralph.

First, they was
hollering to beat the cars,

and then they were knocking
each other all over the place.

On a Sunday too.

What was it all about?

It was about some
insurance money.

Carl Seward was the first
important lead to turn up.

As the landlady had said, he was at work
at the packing house in an outlying suburb.

You got a guy working
here named Carl Seward?

Please, let me go, let me go.

Take it easy, take it easy.

Please, let me go.

Oh, I'll never do it again.

Do what?

I mean about the apples.

What apples?

The ones I sold and
kept the money for.

I don't know what got into me.

I'm no crook.

How much money did you get?

Buck 85.

You gonna take me in?

I'll get back to that.

I wanna ask you some
questions about Ralph Parry.

Ralph?

That's right.

I understand you had
a big fight with him.

Oh, we're always fighting.

You know how it
is with kinfolks.

You fought about
insurance money.

What was that all about?

Oh, Ralph, he wanted
to borrow some money.

Said he knew where he could
get a good deal on a motorcycle.

He's crazy about motorcycles.

Me, I wouldn't give
him nothing for one.

Go on, go on.

Well, I didn't have
any money to lend him.

So, he got sore.

That was all.

What about the insurance money?

Oh, well, I got a
little life insurance.

Not very much.

I guess I'm not worth very much.

But, well, Ralph, he wanted me to
cash it in and lend him the money.

I told him nothing doing
because I figure when a guy goes,

he should leave something behind,
even if it's just a little insurance money.

Ralph kept insisting.

Yeah.

Man, did he get mad.

I couldn't see out of
this eye for a week.

But maybe next time,
I'll get a good shot at him.

There's not going
to be a next time, kid.

Well, we've had a big day.

Chase a killer and wind up catching
a guy who's been stealing apples.

It's Matthews.

The lab raised the original
name on the driver's license.

Okay, go on, go on.

Henry Willis, the
Gardner's Grove address.

Don't tell me.
RFD 43, I bet.

That's it.

Okay, we'll take
a run out there.

Call me if anything breaks.

Climb in.

Oh, hello there.

How are you?

I'm afraid that fellow
Ferguson ain't shown up yet.

Letter here for him, though.

Let me see it, will you?

Yeah.

I think it's from an
insurance company.

Yeah, it sure is.

Put it back in the pigeonhole.

Mm-hmm.

Come here, will ya?

I want to
show you something.

See that guy there
with the crop duster.

Mm-hmm.

That's patrolman Peterson.

Somebody comes for
that letter and you get in trouble,

Send for him fast.

Always was one to
cooperate with the law.

Tell me, you know a fellow
by the name of Henry Willis?

Hank Willis?

I sure do, mister.

Sooner or later, they always
come around asking for Hank.

What does that mean?

He's a bad apple.

Bad clean through.

Why, a couple of years
ago, he almost killed a fellow.

Straw boss over
at Kingsley's Orange Grove.

How come?

They got to arguing, and Hank
had this claw hammer in his hand, and

well, you can guess the rest.

Did he hurt him bad?

He sent him to the hospital
with a busted shoulder.

Might have killed him only the
man side stepped just in time.

Did the man file a complaint?

Yep.

Judge gave him
about a year's time.

Might have gotten off easier, except
this was a second time up for Hank.

What do you do this time?

Maybe too much, maybe
nothing, I don't know.

You got any idea what part of
the state Willis is working in now?

Sure.

He's right here.

Back behind this store
building's an alfalfa field.

You go across at a quarter of an
hour or so until you come to the Grove.

You'll find him there.

Thanks.

Be careful, though.

Hank Willis is a
rough, tough boy.

You're Hank Willis?

What am I suspected
of this time?

Is it a million-dollar stick up,

or is some desperate character,

been pinching nickels
off the newsstand?

If you're clean, Willis, you
got nothing to worry about.

Look, I know I'm clean, but for an
ex-con to try to convince the law,

that's another
matter all together.

Tell me, you got
a driver's license?

I had one, I lost it.

Did you report it lost?

No, I've been too busy.

Have you got a car?

No, I never had a car.

It looks like I'm never gonna
have one now, the rate I'm going,

unless I just happen to
win one in a raffle sometime.

Why bother with the
driver's license then?

Well, it was all
part of the course.

Besides, I want to know
if I was good enough

to pass the test, like
the school said I'd be.

Driving school?

Yeah.

I never knew how to
handle a car before.

I never had a chance to learn.

So last winter, I was in Capital City,
and I had a few extra bucks in my kick.

So you went to driving school.

They use good equipment
into those schools, don't they?

All the latest stuff.

Well, sure.

They were all brand new,
with all the latest gizmos.

Look,

you wouldn't know where
you might have lost your license,

or who might have
found it, would you?

No, it must have just
slipped out of my wallet.

You think somebody might
have stolen it from you?

And leave all the money.

Hey look, why is my driver's
license suddenly such a hot subject?

Alright forget it, forget
it, it's not important.

What was the name of the
driving school you went to?

The Anderson School of Driving.

Ah, thanks.

You better stick around
for a few days, Willis.

We'll probably want
to talk to you again.

Oh sure, I'll stick around.

So if you can't find
anybody else to take this fall,

there's always good old reliable
ex-con Willis you can grab.

Like I said before, if you're clean,
you got nothing to worry about.

But if you're not, you've
bought yourself a lot of trouble.

We'll call headquarters. Tell them to
call the Anderson School of Driving.

I want to check on the
equipment they use,

especially the car that
Willis used for lessons.

I'll be inside.

All right.

2150 to headquarters.

All right, Mrs. McLean. Goodbye.

Find Hank Willis all right?

I found him.

Pretty tough character, eh?

I've met tougher.

It's a nice car
you got out there. Is it yours?

She will be when
she's paid for.

Suppose Hank Willis the
fellow you're looking for?

I'll know soon enough.

There you are, Chief.

Here's the information
on Willis you wanted.

Hope it's what
you're looking for.

Well, things are
starting to make sense.

Time to wrap it up?

No, no. This tells us
exactly the man we want,

but it's not evidence.
Won't hold up in court.

So, we're still with it?

Yeah, I'm afraid so, unless the
pressure gets too much for our boy

and he makes a break for it or
tries to pick up an insurance check.

Either way, we've got him
exactly where we want him.

Think he might?

I don't know.

It's hard enough to predict
what a normal person will do.

You know something?

I think they spotted Peterson.

That's why they haven't
picked up the check.

I'm going to pull
him off that stakeout.

Anything I can do to help,
Mr. Matthews, be very happy to.

Thanks.

Anybody comes for that check,
let us know right away, will you?

I don't get it.

The only thing that info
I gave you says is, uh

that Willis learned to drive in a
car equipped with an automatic shift.

That's right.

And the car used in the killings
were old ones, all hand shifts.

Well, that means
Willis isn't the killer.

That's right.

But in the store just
now, you said that...

I said what I wanted
Hutkins to hear, that's all.

We know positively that Hutkins is the
only man connected with the five murders.

And all that in the store
just now was an act, huh?

That's right.

Hutkins is our man,
and I think he is.

He's going to make his move.

He's going to try and make
us think Willis is the killer.

Come on, let's move Peterson.

Hey, you're ... you're closing up
a little early, ain't you?

Just going to town to
pick up some merchandise.

2669 to 2150.

2150.

2669.

Man answering description
of Henry Willis

seen getting into Hutkins car
and driving off with Hutkins.

2150 to 2669.
What is your 1020?

2669.

Northbound on highway 42, a
half mile north of Hutkins store.

All right, stay with him.

We'll catch up to you.

And let's go.
There's a man's life at stake.

2150, go ahead.

2150, send all units north of Gardner's
Grove Township south on US 42.

Units south of Hutkins store
to proceed north,

intercept a green special sedan 1955,
license number 2Z33201.

Two men in it.
Use caution.

Repeat. Use caution.
One of them is a killer.

2150 to 2669.

We're approximately
three minutes behind you.

Don't lose him.

2669, 10-4.

He was trying to kill me
to keep me from telling

that it was him who came after
that insurance company letter.

What's your story?

Well,

I go into the store after workin'

same as I do every night to
buy some cigarettes.

He says he's got a drive
into town after some goods.

Do I want to go along?

Maybe taking a
movie or something.

So I say, okay, we get in the
car and we're driving along.

After a while, he says he
thinks the front wheel is wobbling.

So we pull off the road and
stop and I get out to take a look.

The next thing I know, he's
taking after me with a tire iron.

So I fight back.

Now you guys showed up.

It was him trying to kill
me to keep me from telling.

You're lying, Hutkins.

You must be crazy.

No, you're crazy.

Crazy enough to kill five
men for their insurance.

You're going to make it
six because you thought

with him dead the
investigation 'n end.

Look here, I don't have
to take that from you.

You were going to kill Willis
exactly like you killed the others.

Plant the letter on him
and go back to your store

and make it look like a
robbery had been committed.

Later you were going to call me and
say somebody broke in and stole the letter.

That ain't so.

Nobody can prove I
did any of the killings.

Nobody, see, nobody.

We've got enough proof.

And this, too.

When we check your
handwriting against the

endorsements on the
other checks, we sent you.

All right, take him away.

?

Next week's case handled by the
highway patrol is a very exciting one.

We hope you'll be with us.

Until then, remember, the
careless driver isn't driving his car.

He's aiming it.

This is Broderick Crawford
saying, see you next week.