Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar - The Salt City Matter - Ep 1

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/harold-s-old-time-radio-no-1--4206392/support.

Speaker 1: From Hollywood, it's time now for....

Speaker 2: Johnny Dollar. Hello, Johnny.

Speaker 3: Sam Rubin.

Speaker 4: Oh. What's the matter, kid?

Speaker 2: I don't know. It's a feeling I get every time

I hear your voice on the phone, Sam.

Speaker 4: Now, what does that mean?

Speaker 2: Well, the last time you called, I took a job

and had to hock my watch for cable fare in

Hong Kong. That's what it means. So I bought your

new watch, didn't I? What's on your mind? Ed Julian?

So long, Sam. No, no, no, wait a minute, Johnny. Johnny,

this is important. I need help. If you're fooling around

with somebody like Ed Julian, you sure do need help.

Go call a cop.

Speaker 4: They can't help me.

Speaker 2: I'm calling you.

Speaker 4: Johnny, for old time's sake.

Speaker 2: I'll see you after breakfast, Sam.

Speaker 1: Tonight and every weekday night, Bob Bailey and the transcribed

adventures of the man with the action-packed expense account America's

fabulous freelance insurance investigator.

Speaker 2: Yours truly, Johnny Dollar. Expense account submitted by Special Investigator

Johnny Dollar. To Samuel Rubin and Associates Insurance Brokers, Majestic Building, Hartford, Connecticut.

The following is an accounting of expenditures during my investigation

of the Salt City matter. I didn't know it was

going to be that. Salt City, I mean. But I

did know the name Ed Julian. Every policeman in the

country knew that name. My first impulse was to hang

up the phone on Sam, but I didn't. Instead, I

spent 85 cents, that's my first item, on cab fare

to get me to Sam's office.

Speaker 3: Welcome, Johnny.

Speaker 4: Long time no see. Come on in.

Speaker 3: Sit down.

Speaker 4: Have a smoke.

Speaker 2: Sam Rubin looked about the same as I remembered him,

and he acted about the same. He shook my hand,

pushed a cigar at me, held up a $ 160 lighter

and smiled.

Speaker 4: Oh, Johnny, Johnny, I'd like to have you on my

permanent payroll.

Speaker 2: Well, now, that'd be something. Are you making me an

offer or just talking?

Speaker 4: No, I suppose I'm just talking. But you're good to

look at, you know?

Speaker 2: It gives me confidence.

Speaker 4: A little outfit like I got here, I can't afford

high-priced talent like yourself for a steady diet.

Speaker 2: Why don't you sit down, kid? You'll pardon me, Sam,

but I don't feel sorry for you. You're right about

every kind of insurance that's ever been issued.

Speaker 4: Oh, well, yeah, sure, but nothing like those big operations

that you're used to. This is all little bitty companies. Eh,

so I make a living. A man having his own company,

running it by himself.

Speaker 2: Ten of his own companies.

Speaker 4: So it's ten times as much trouble, no? Listen, what

do you know.

Speaker 2: About Ed Julian, Johnny? He had quite a name in

Chicago and Los Angeles, Hoboken.

Speaker 4: I.

Speaker 2: Thought he was in jail these days.

Speaker 3: Who, Ed?

Speaker 1: No.

Speaker 4: Got himself out of jail must have been three, four

years ago.

Speaker 2: Sure went into.

Speaker 4: Enterprises in Florida, California. Very legitimate fellow.

Speaker 2: Oh, I'm sure he is. Let's get to the point, Sam.

Speaker 4: But you're working for me, aren't you?

Speaker 2: I don't know whether I am or not. I haven't

heard what it's all about.

Speaker 3: About?

Speaker 4: It's about Ed Julian, that's what it's about. All right,

I'll lay it right out for you.

Speaker 3: Here.

Speaker 4: Look at this. $ 50, 000. $ 50, 000 I got to pay his

widow if something happens to him.

Speaker 2: You'll pardon me again, Sam, but when you collected that

first premium on him, and I take it you sold

him $ 50, 000 worth of life insurance, you should have thought

of this part of it. What, has something happened to him?

Speaker 4: No, nothing's happened to him. I'm afraid something's gonna happen

to him. I'd have to get this money up.

Speaker 2: I'm just gonna listen to you talk because it doesn't

seem to do much good asking you questions. So go ahead, Sam, talk, talk.

Maybe something will come up.

Speaker 4: All right, but Johnny, don't be shrewd with me, huh? Now,

the policy was issued maybe a month ago. I personally...

I personally, I wouldn't sell a man like Ed Julian

life insurance, any kind of insurance. He's not a calculated risk.

Speaker 2: He's a lousy, long-sighted bet. Man like that.

Speaker 4: The enemies he makes. He's a bad fellow all the

way around. But here it is. It's on paper. I'm

stuck if anything happens to him. Now, Johnny, the man's

living in San Francisco now, and all I want is

you go to him and ask him to cancel the.

Speaker 3: Policy, okay? Okay.

Speaker 2: Sam, how did you ever get the insurance business? No, no, Johnny, please.

Why don't you go to San Francisco? Handle it yourself.

Speaker 4: Johnny, I can't.

Speaker 2: I'll tell you why. Because you know and I know

there's no way for me or you or anybody else

to approach Ed Julian and ask him to cancel out

this policy. What it amounts to is that you want

me to go there and keep an eye on him

until you can break the policy. Isn't that it?

Speaker 4: Not necessarily, Johnny.

Speaker 2: What do you mean, not necessarily?

Speaker 4: All right, all right, so you're right. Listen, I heard

through the grapevine there's a large collection of Ed's old

friends visiting in and around San Francisco just a few

days ago. It makes me very nervous.

Speaker 2: I have already a blood pressure condition. Friends who might

want to shoot him down?

Speaker 4: Yeah, that's the kind of people, yes.

Speaker 3: $ 50, 000.

Speaker 4: Payoff would hit me very hard this week. All right,

next week maybe not so hard, but this week, oh boy,

the market.

Speaker 2: Are you playing with company funds?

Speaker 4: No, no, it's a calculated risk I'm entitled to take

with company funds. They entrust me.

Speaker 2: All right, all right.

Speaker 4: Now, will you please sit down and study this thing

out with me? I'm always asking you to sit down.

Speaker 1: You never do.

Speaker 2: I also never study anything with you. Sam, how much?

Speaker 4: Well, expenses, $ 500 bonus.

Speaker 2: Bye, Sam.

Speaker 4: No, no, wait, wait, wait. Johnny, you're so impatient. I'll

make it $ 1, 000, $ 1, 000 bonus.

Speaker 2: Take care of yourself. See you.

Speaker 4: Listen, Johnny, look, look, Johnny. All you have to do

is keep him alive till I break the policy responsibility.

My lawyers can do that. They told me it'll take

a couple of days.

Speaker 2: I don't have to do anything, Sam. Now, how'd you

get that policy?

Speaker 4: It was in a bundle of stuff that came in

from the coast. Ed Julian took this out under his

real name, Eduardo Sacavetti. Now, who knows it's Ed Julian?

Speaker 2: Skip the gestures and tell me how you do know.

Speaker 4: Well, my broker out in San Francisco. Her name is,

I don't know, Straubet Street or something like that. She

sold it to him. Later on, she found out who

he really was. She sent me a wire. So, a

thousand's okay, huh? No. So, how much?

Speaker 3: $ 2, 500 in expenses.

Speaker 4: You're crucifying me!

Speaker 2: That watch you gave me never kept time.

Speaker 4: All right, all right, all right. $ 2, 500.

Speaker 2: Expense account item two, $ 168. 73. Airfare and incidentals, Hartford to

San Francisco. I arrived at eight in the morning. On

the way in from the airport, the fog began to

roll in from the bay. From my hotel room at

the Fairmont, I looked out in time to see the

provision barge moving out toward Alcatraz before the fog closed

in completely. Somebody said the storm warnings were up all

along the coast, and somebody was right. By 11 o'clock,

a light rain had begun to patter over the fog-bound

Bay City. Item 3, 23 bucks, one trench coat. I

was wearing it when I spent another buck, item 4,

cab fare, this time to get me from San Francisco's

Fairmont Hotel to Ed Julian's address on another part of

San Francisco's Knob Hills. There in the drizzling rain, I

interviewed not Ed Julian, but one of San Francisco's older

but more stable residents. The uniform said he was a

member of the property police.

Speaker 3: Hey, hey, you.

Speaker 4: Just a minute there.

Speaker 2: Just a minute. Nobody lives there.

Speaker 3: And I hope for your sake, boy, you ain't no

Jimmy artist, because I got me a gun under this raincoat.

Speaker 2: I'm no Jimmy artist. I'm just trying to locate a

man named Julian.

Speaker 3: Ed Julian?

Speaker 2: That's right.

Speaker 3: Mr. Sarcovetti lived here.

Speaker 2: Well, according to my records, Mr. Sarcovetti and Mr. Julian

are the same man. Well, he ain't here now.

Speaker 4: Moved out bagging baggage a week, ten days ago. Whatever

name he used. Uh-huh.

Speaker 2: Don't suppose you have any idea where he went, do you?

Speaker 3: Nope.

Speaker 2: You happen to see him move?

Speaker 3: Yep.

Speaker 2: Him and his wife in their clothes. Left all their furniture, huh?

Speaker 3: Didn't have any to leave. This place was furnished for them.

They're the kind of people who never own more than

they can carry. That's the way I figured them. Fast

traveling and short acquaintances. Now, I once knew a fellow

up in King City. You see, King City's about 45

miles north here.

Speaker 2: That's how the Ed Julian matter stood on a rainy

morning in San Francisco. Nothing out of the ordinary for

Ed Julian. Yet, all around me, there seemed to be

some sort of a dark, threatening undertone that I couldn't

quite put my finger on. Whatever it was, it troubled me,

standing out in the rain, talking to that old man...

It still troubled me when I made my way back

down the hill and found, to my surprise, that the

San Francisco classified telephone directory listed Edward Julian Enterprises. Expense

account item 5, 10 cents, one phone call. Hello? Hello.

I'd like to talk to Mr. Julian, please.

Speaker 3: He's not in. Secretary's out.

Speaker 4: Would you like to leave a message?

Speaker 2: Well, this is Johnny Dollar calling. He doesn't know me,

but I... I'll leave the message for him. When do

you expect him back? The rain was just starting up

again as I stood in front of the floor-level office

at Powell and Hooker. On the door it said, Edward

Julian Enterprises Incorporated. And below it, it said, walk in.

I did.

Speaker 3: Hello? Hello, who's that?

Speaker 2: Hello.

Speaker 3: Hello, who are you looking for?

Speaker 2: Ed Julian.

Speaker 3: He isn't around now.

Speaker 2: Maybe I can help you. Well, maybe you can. I'd

like to know something about his enterprises.

Speaker 3: Why?

Speaker 2: Well, I might want to invest some money. Well, what's

funny about that?

Speaker 3: You're the guy that called me a little while ago?

Speaker 2: Yeah, I called. I suppose you're the one I talked to.

Speaker 3: What's your angle?

Speaker 2: I want to find Julian.

Speaker 4: So do I.

Speaker 2: So do a lot of people.

Speaker 3: What's that name?

Speaker 2: Johnny Dollar.

Speaker 3: Well, I'm Ray Gumby, Ed's attorney. Come on in here.

It's warmer.

Speaker 2: I followed Ray Gumby to the back office of the

two-office suite. Watched him as he stood in front of

the gas heater. Medium-sized man, 50 or so, wearing a

tan sport coat, a wool scarf, a turtleneck sweater. Not

exactly the conservative attire usually expected of members of the bar.

But then he looked happy about it.

Speaker 3: Now sit down, Dollar. Have a drink.

Speaker 2: Thanks, Mr. Gumby.

Speaker 3: Well, cheers. Mm-hmm. Now, you ask about Ed's Enterprises. Well,

I tell you right now, they aren't much. He has

an oil field, a piece of a gambling casino, a

piece of a racetrack, and a part of a ship,

and part of a smelter works.

Speaker 2: What does he do a couple of weeks ago?

Speaker 4: He up and unloads it all.

Speaker 3: I've had a little cold with all this weather we've

been having. Why do you want to find him?

Speaker 2: To protect him.

Speaker 3: That's cute. Personally, I wish the bum would get pneumonia.

He left me holding the sack here How's that? I

formed these corporations for him and acted as chairman on

all the boards. Then he sold out from under me.

Didn't even bother to say goodbye or pay me off.

Speaker 2: You want to find him too, then? You betcha.

Speaker 3: I'm suing for proper fees.

Speaker 2: Think it'll do any good, Mr. Gumby?

Speaker 3: No, I don't think so. I mean, as far as

me getting my money goes. But if I can get

him subpoenaed, and he ignores the subpoena, the court will

issue a warrant on contempt charges and throw his carcass

in jail for a while. If he was behind the

bars and I went to visit him, maybe I could

handle him.

Speaker 4: The bar is between us, of course.

Speaker 3: Of course. You want another knock?

Speaker 2: No, thanks. You go ahead. That sounds pretty good.

Speaker 3: It is.

Speaker 2: Getting him in jail.

Speaker 3: Yeah, if I can get him served. It's not going

to be an easy job getting those papers into his hands.

Two of my regular boys have already tried and failed.

I'm a fool ever to accept such a man as

a client.

Speaker 2: Never do such a thing again. Well, if it makes

you feel any better, Mr. Grumby, the man I'm working

for said practically the same words to me in Hartford yesterday.

It doesn't make me feel any better. I wish it did.

Speaker 4: And I wish you luck protecting him.

Speaker 2: Hey, Mr. Grumby. Something just occurred to me.

Speaker 4: What's that?

Speaker 2: Well, now, maybe we could work this out together.

Speaker 3: How?

Speaker 2: You want Julian to be served with a subpoena so

you can have the police pick him up. I want

him to be safe. And there's no safer spot than

the city jail. Hey. Where's that subpoena? Right here.

Speaker 3: And there's a fee in it if you can get

it in his hands. Two hundred, maybe? All right.

Speaker 2: You say two of your men have already tried and

failed to get to him. What happened to them?

Speaker 3: Been to his place on Knob Hill.

Speaker 2: I was there earlier today. He moved out.

Speaker 3: I know. But my men went up there to serve him.

Both of them fell down two flights of stairs. Seems

like a myth.

Speaker 2: Maybe Ed isn't living in such high places these days.

I hope not, for your sake, Dollar.

Speaker 1: Now, here's our star to tell you about tomorrow's intriguing

episode of this week's story.

Speaker 2: Tomorrow? That's when I begin to find a myth. can

be stranger than fiction. Join us, won't you? Yours truly,

Johnny Dollar.

Speaker 1: Yours truly, Johnny Dollar, starring Bob Bailey, is transcribed in Hollywood,

written by John Dawson. It is produced and directed by

Jack Johnstone. Be sure to join us tomorrow night, same

time and station, for the next exciting episode of Yours Truly,

Johnny Dollar.

Speaker 4: Roy Rowan speaking.

Speaker 3: ¶ ¶.

Speaker 2: THE END THE END