"This is a branch office of the biggest business in the world, the United States post office." "The citizens of this country own it, work in it, and use it." "All day." "Everyday." "All year." "Use it for business, for pleasure." "Sometimes, for an all important message to that busy man at the north pole." "We're proud of our post office because we have confidence in its efficiency." "Because we know our letters and parcels and money orders will be delivered promptly and with safety." "It's a big confidence." "Every year the post office is entrusted with $45 billion pieces of mail and enough money to pay off the personal debts of everyone in the world." "Your mailman, you know." "He calls at your home or office a dozen times a week." "But behind him is a great army of men and women, equally dedicated to fulfilling Uncle Sam's guarantee of delivery." "Whether it involves sending junior's old sweater to summer camp or shipping a million dollars in currency to San Francisco." "But behind this army is a special corps of trained men, seldom seen, almost never publicized." "The nation's oldest police force, the postal inspectors, always on guard." "This is an account of one of these postal inspectors on a routine assignment." "The story begins in the rain of a murky summer night in Gary, Indiana." "Isn't it stupid of me?" "I thought if I came out in the wind I could fix it." "Chopind all right?" "Uh, a little too much to drink." "We're giving him some air." "Oh." "I'm sorry about the umbrella." "They're good to have, uh, well when it's raining." "Good night sister." "Goodnight." "Well, what else could I do?" "I don't know." "Good evening sister, are you lost?" "No, there's a man back there in the alley." " His friend says he's had too much to drink." " Yeah?" "I was wondering..." "I'll look into it sister." "Thank you." "Goodnight." "Harry Gruber's stuff." "We'll need a receipt." "That is what is known as methodical police work." "Must be fun having the experts down from Chicago." "Oh Mr. Ahearn's all right, as a boss, at least." "It's that inspector he brought along." "Where do you meet Mr. Al Goddard?" "Is he as tough as ever?" "We just got his order for lunch, a small boy with mustard." "All right Al, you're beginning to make the point clear." "A trained operator like Gruber couldn't be strangled." "I'm sure of it." "He was either drunk or asleep." "He didn't drink so he was asleep." "Here in Laporte?" "He's not even registered is to the hotel." "I just don't believe it." "Well, what do you believe?" "That he was killed somewhere else and brought here." "That could be any place." "He was on a floating assignment all over Indiana last week." "Sure it's a rat race now." "All because some cup spent the night chasing a hot rod." "How did he know there was a dead man in the alley?" "Why don't you give the police a break?" "Sorry to have kept you waiting." "Here's your stuff." "The last will and testament of Harry Gruber." "Was this Gruber a friend of yours Mr. Goddard?" "I know him but I didn't like him." "What about the nun?" "We're doing the best we can, Mr. Ahearn." "Well how good is that?" "We've checked on every nun in Laporte for the past 48 hours." "Not one of them was anywhere near that alley last night." "Did you bother to check the railroads?" "No nun purchased a ticket, boarded a train, or got off one all day Tuesday." "Buses and planes likewise." "Bound to be around someplace." "How many nuns are there anyway?" "I don't know Mr. Goddard." "I never counted it." "Let's go." "I've got to fly back to Washington." "I'll drop you by the airport." "Stay with it Al." "Don't worry." "I'm going to start looking for that nun." "Somebody's got to find her." "Boy I'll bet that guy doesn't even like his own mother." "I'm not sure he had one." "You've been chasing hoodlums for so long, you don't know how to treat ordinary people." "Warm up will you?" "Sure, I'll fall in love for you." "I don't think you could because you don't know what a love affair is." "It's what goes on between a man and a 45 pistol that won't change." "Let me tell you about you Al." "That badge an a few law books have turned you into a nut." "You don't like anybody." "You don't believe anybody." "You don't trust anybody." "You think everybody has a pitch." "Everybody has." "You and I and a guy back there." "We're all working for ourselves." "A better job, a little more dough, a round of applause." "One way or another, everybody you meet is a pitch artist." "Keep me posted." "And remember one thing Al." "The biggest thing on your aside isn't a pair of brass knuckles." "It's time and men and patience." "Thanks." "Now do you mind if I find out who killed Harry Gruber?" "No." "No, I'm sure you will Al because you're a good cop." "That's about all you are." "Yup, this is where it happened." "The nun went west on 34th street." "First block up." "Are you from out of town?" "No." "I'm a stranger here." "Let's go west on 34th." "Dead end as far west as you go." "Well this doesn't send me any message." "Let's go." "What's that over there?" "The river?" "Railroad yard." "Some kind of a switching point." "Mind if I take a look." "I wouldn't want you to get lost, Mr." "Good evening." "Uh huh." "How long do the trains stop here?" "Just long enough to switch over, five minutes." "Any of them stop any longer for any reason?" "No." "Why?" "Oh." "You talking about that train last night?" "What about it?" "Passenger train at Fort Wayne." "Got hung up here for about 20 minutes, not my fault." "During that 20 minutes did you see a nun get off the train?" "You got me." "I was too busy." "But she should've gotten off, walked into town, and gotten back here before it left." "Well, I guess so." "Well, suppose that happened and she got back on the train." "From here on could there any other station she'd get off." "No." "That train doesn't stop until it gets to Fort Wayne." "What's this?" "Fast freight to Fort Wayne." "Thanks." "Hey!" "You see a nun get off the special yesterday?" "No." "How about you Charlie?" "Well they usually travel in pairs." "Did you see a pair then?" "Yeah, they got on a bus." " What bus?" " Uh..." "Belle isle." "Like the one that's loading over there." "Thanks." "Sister Augustine." "I work for the post office." "Well, that's very nice." "My name is Goddard." "I'm here investigating a murder." "Oh, I'm sure we wouldn't know anything about such a thing." "On Tuesday night you saw a man dumped in an alley of Laporte, Indiana." "I got off the train to get sister Paula some medicine." "She wasn't feeling so well." "Neither was the guy in the alley." "He was a dead government agent by the name of Harry Gruber." "Did he have a family?" "What's the difference sister?" "He's just as dead either way." "Not quite Mr. Goddard." "Well the point is, the night his luck ran out you had a grand stand seat." "I don't understand." "Could you identify any of the people in the alley with him?" "One at least." "He was very helpful." "Would you mind coming downtown and checking the state police files?" "I don't think so Mr. Goddard." "I have classes in a few minutes." "I have children to teach." "Sister, it's your job to go down there." "Isn't there someone else you could get?" "Even if there were you should know better." "Letting someone else do your job is a design of the devil." "All right, I'll see mother Joseph." "You're right about letting someone else do your job." "It's not original sister, merely a quote." "Well, whoever said it, it was very true." "It's from the writings of Martin Luther." "Oh." "From his earlier writings I imagine." "I'll be there Mr. Goddard." "My, there's an ugly one." "Most of them are sister." "I suppose so." "But you wonder how when you see them as small boys." "You wonder how they can ever do anything bad." "But they usually do." "Here you are sister." "All right Joe." "I had a laugh a while ago." "She was looking at a picture of that hammer murderer and said," " maybe he didn't get the proper training." " Well maybe he didn't." "In a pig's eye, he was a carpenter." "Mr. Goddard." "I think that's the man I saw in the alley." "You're not quite sure?" "Almost." "If I could see him in person." "George Soderquist." "The helpful one." "How's he read?" "Hmm, nice pedigree." "Armed robbery 1938, armed robbery 1939, armed robbery 1941." "1940 must have been a slow year." "Invasion of national service act, 1942 convicted, released April 1947." "Arrested drunk driving 1948." "Last known to be in Gary, Indiana." "That turns into a big town." "I'll, uh, I'll notify your boss." "While you're on the phone call homicide at Gary." "Tell them to put a tail on Soderquist." "Anything else?" "Yeah, brief them on the case until I get there." "Oh, and tell them I'm arranging to have sister Augustine report to Gary as an identifying witness." "Oh, I don't know Mr. Goddard." "I'm afraid the church authorities would frown on such a thing." "Not if the matter's murder sister." "I'll have Washington contact the chancellery." "Very well." "But I don't think that I'm going to be much help." "You identify him and I'll see that he gets the chair." "Thank you." "Good evening, I'm mother Ambrose." "My name's Goddard." "I have a letter from the bishop." "Sit down sister." "Is this Soderquist a friend of yours sister?" "No." "I picked him out of the mug book." "Mug book?" "It's a phrase she picked up." "Will you be here long sister?" "Until we can proffer charges against Soderquist for murder." "Are you sure he's the murderer?" "That's the way I'd vote." "He'll get a trail and everything the law allows." "But not one drop of charity." "I'll have them set us up a place for you sister." "You don't think very much of me, do you sister?" "I think much of everything Mr. Goddard." "But I feel sorry for you." "I don't think you have a heart." "Call it muscle." "That's the way it is with a cop." "I don't believe it." "When a cop dies, they don't list it as heart failure." "It's Charlie horse of the chest." "Thank you." " You Goddard?" " Yeah." "I'm Dave Goodman, local homicide." "Oh, how do you do?" "Sister Augustine." "I'm glad I caught you." "We got your boy Soderquist staked out at a downtown pool room." "It's fine." "We can't move until sister Augustine identifies him." "Would you like to come down and have a look?" "How about it?" "All right then." "Oh, mother Ambrose?" "May we borrow sister Augustine for a while?" "Where will you be?" "If the bishop or someone should call." "Say I'll be back shortly." "I mean specifically, what shall I tell them?" "Just tell them I'm down at the pool." "Sister." "Oh, I'm sorry." "That's the man." "The man with the coat on." "He's the one that spoke to me in the alley." "George Soderquist." "What about the other one?" "No, I've never seen him before." "It's a hoodlum hang out." "He may have a record." "Let's find out." " Have you got a tail on Soderquist?" " Sure." "Is that all?" "For now." "I'll have to take you back to St. Michael's." "Oh, no please." "You're going to be busy with those men." "We can get a cab, it's no trouble at all." " But I don't think we should..." " Oh, yes." "Taxi, taxi." "Sister." "Goodnight sister." "Goodnight, and thank you." "Hello Earl." "I think we're in trouble." "That nun's here in Gary." "Two minutes ago and it's no accident." "Naples yes, Gary no." "She's here for a reason Earl." "Get a hold of Soderquist and keep him undercover." "In the meantime, I'm gonna cut this town open and find her." "I'm gonna find her Earl before she finds me." "You know this town pretty well." "Why would a couple of gunsters knock off Harry Gruber?" "Say robbery." "For dough?" "If you're a government cop, you have to marry money to buy a stick of gum." "And why did they strangle him?" "Usually if you're a hood and you knock somebody over you beat it out town yourself." "You don't send a corpse." "But they did." "Why?" "Could be because they wanted to stay here." "Be interesting to have Soderquist tell us." "Yes." "Yeah Sharkey?" "Where?" "All right, all right." "Shake down the district and send some men over to his apartment." "I want him in here." "You don't have to tell me." "Soderquist jumped the tail." "Any other time it's a cinch." "This time we draw a near-sighted cop." "Now we gotta head him on." " How tight can you seal this town?" " Pretty tight." "O.K., lock it up." "Notify the state police and check all the highways." "Without Soderquist we haven't got a lead." "We'll have him hear in an hour." "If you want me I'll be at the post office... if it hasn't been stolen." "I've been postmaster here 10 years." "And all that time I've never known Gruber to do anything but hit town and make a routine check." "This time he suddenly became interested in these three truck drivers." "He sat here and brooded over those files all afternoon." "You know, I think it has something to do with a transfer of money between the two stations." "What two stations?" "Here in town we have two railroad stations." "On true shipments we have to transfer stuff from one station to another by a mail truck." "Big shipments?" "The one from Cleveland's a Lulu." "One of these three men always handle the run between the two stations." "That's the last question Gruber asked me." "He left here and six hours later he was dead in Laporte." "I'll bet he called on this guy first, Paul Ferrar." "Uh, one of the three drivers?" "Says here he was offered a better job but turned it down." "Now why would our friend Ferrar turn down a $500 a year raise to drive a truck." "I think he said he liked to be outside." "For $500 worth?" "Ha!" "You know, I'd like to take a look at this Ferrar." "Well, uh, he's on duty now." "Uh, I can get him up." "No, don't do that." "I just want a quick glimpse." "The next one." "Well, well." "Our first break." "That is the boy who walked out of the pool room with George Soderquist." "That puts Paul Ferrar in the act." "I better get Ahearn back in town." "In the meantime, give me a list of all your money transfers." "Well there's nothing missing." "So Gruber wasn't killed because he found some guy stealing money." "Look, a cheat kills his wife for one of two reasons." "Either she's caught him cheating or she hasn't given him the chance." "Same with the money." "Well say it's true and Gruber found out about a deal between Ferrar and Soderquist." "George Soderquist and somebody else." "That's the big one." "Who is that somebody else?" " Are you hurt?" " No, I was late for practice sister." "Are you all right sister?" "Yes I'm all right." "Look, if they want a radio in the room it's $0.25 a day for everybody." "Yeah, yeah." "Did you get Soderquist?" "Upstairs." "Cronin picked up his stuff." " What about the nun?" " She got lucky." "Well I'm glad she did." "You're piling up too many mistakes Joe." " Killing Gruber was a mistake." " It happened." "Anybody ever tell you about murder?" "It's against the law." "You didn't cry too hard at the time." "It was a mistake anyway." "Now this thing about the nun, forget about it." "We may never hear from her again." "Soderquist will." "There's a police call out for him." "You sure she can identify him?" "How about you?" "I don't think so." "But he can identify me." "It's too much of a chance." "I've got to get him out of here." "And then we'll worry about that nun, in case she did see me." "You'll forget about the nun Joe." "I'm still running things." "Remember that." "If they ever get me in the backroom of that police station I'll have it on the tip of my tongue." " Ah, good afternoon Ms. Nagel." " Good afternoon, Mr. Bedford." "We'll have that corner room for you in a day or two." "Thank you." "Nice woman." "Hello fellas." "Sit down." " How about a cup of coffee?" " No thanks George." " I fixed the room up pretty good, huh?" " George." "You want a cookie?" "George, you've got to get out of here." "You've been identified by the nun." "You don't know for sure." "We can't afford to take a chance." "You better go to St. Louis for a while." "St. Louis." "I don't even know anybody in St. Louis." "You're not going to run for office." "You're going to protect yourself and us." "Don't Joe." "I don't know about going to St. Louis." "Give him the picture George." "It's my son." "Did you ever see a picture of him Earl?" "Yup." "You know it was terrible how his mother took him away." "She just up and left one night and I, I didn't see him since." "But I still had a picture." "And the baby shoes the way they fix them up with bronze for a... keepsake." "Let's talk about it some other time huh, George?" "Yeah." "You know what's funny about kids Earl?" "They change all the time." "Yeah, I know." "Let's start packing." "I'm not going Earl." "I told you I don't want to go." "You know what's coming up." "It may not even work out." "If it does, you'll be taken care of." " How do I know?" " Because I promise you." "No Earl." "That's the most m-money I ever heard of." "If I'm dealt out, I'm dealt out and I don't have a prayer." "You won't pack this stuff, I will." "Stay away from that suitcase." "I'm n-not going, wh-whatever you fellas say." "Joe." "Wh-what'd I ever do to you?" "Well, what else could we do?" "As one hero to another, what else?" "It fell this afternoon while sister was passing under it." "It fell without any warning at all." " Without any warning at all." " I see." "While we're waiting for Soderquist, you may be able to help out on the other end." "You could take a look at the files here." "That's a waste of time." "Sister, I want you to go back to Fort Wayne." "Why the switch?" "A matter of common sense." "Sister, while you're here in Gary, we're responsible for anything that happens to you." "Like this accident here." "Oh, I don't think you need worry about a bad accident happening to me." "You see, I have a guardian angel." "You have a what?" "Guardian angel." "It's a new idea to Mr. Goddard." "Look Maury, I have nothing against angels." "But it doesn't help our position." "Sister, I want you to go back to Fort Wayne before you get hurt." "You once told me not to let anybody else do my job." "It's my duty to stay." "And I'm going to stay." "All right, you stay." "Oh, that's the dinner bell, I'm afraid you must excuse us gentlemen." "Don't worry Mr. Goddard." "I'll be all right." "What would happen if we put the screws to Ferrar." "You'd blow the whole thing." "Now don't try anything fancy because you're worried about that nun." "I'm not worried about the nun," "I just want to find some quick way to shake up Ferrar." "Forget the quick ways, you stick to straight police work." "By the way, what's the nuns pitch?" "Hey what's bothering you playful?" "Money." "We can't talk here Paul?" "Well why should we?" "And drop the Paul will you?" "You don't even know me." "Paul Ferrar, P.O. Serial number 20754." "Are you a cop?" "Postal inspector, Al Goddard." "Oh." "Come on, sit down." "Yeah, sure, sure." "Play dominoes?" "No." "Now what's on your mind Mr. Goddard?" "You got some questions or something?" "How would like to go to prison for the murder of Harry Gruber?" "You must be crazy Mr. Goddard and they turned you loose too soon." "I don't know any Harry Gruber." "And I don't know anything about a murder." "I believe you." "But I can rig it so a jury won't." "You couldn't do that." "Don't be foolish." "I can break every alibi that you've got." "I can prove that you know George Soderquist, that you were in the alley with him the night that Gruber was killed." "I don't know what you're talking about." "It's all very simple." "Step by step I'm going to railroad you into prison for the murder of Harry Gruber." "But why?" "Why go out and just pick a guy out of thin air?" "What's the point?" "The point is I'll forget it..." "if I get the right price." "The right price is $25,000." "What is this Goddard?" "A shakedown?" "It's my welfare work." "I wouldn't want to see you go to prison." "Look Goddard, you don't just... order up $25,000 like you would have a ham sandwich." "Where would I get it?" "Go to your friends." "And you can tell them I know why you turned down that $500 raise." "Ah, that doesn't mean a thing." "And you can also tell them I know why you drive that mail truck." "Because if you don't, all the plans for the two station robbery goes sky high." "You know something?" "I don't believe any of this." "About Soderquist, about the robbery, and this, this shakedown." "I don't even believe you're a cop." "I'm at the park hotel." "You talk to your friends and that money up." "If you don't, I'm going to box in the Gruber thing and I'm going to spoil your little robbery." "Goddard." "Goddard, why are you doing this?" "$25,000." "I want that money by midnight or I catch a late train for Washington." "Even my friends knock." "It was open." "You're a quiet man with a latch." "Goddard, there's no such thing as $25,000." "O.K." "You mean you'd frame me." "Sure I would." "All right, look." "I know some of them Soderquist knows and I've talked to them." "But they haven't got that kind of money." "And I'm not in whatever they're doing." "Sure, sure." "I'll go along with you in any way I can." "Is that the reason you're here." "No, they... they want to met you." "They say they'll try to work something out if you would sit down with them." "Yeah." "I think they're scared." "Yeah, they're scared to death." "Well, how about it?" "Look, I don't want to talk to any third parties." "They'll be no tape recordings and no tricks." "I'm going to talk to you and just you." "And right now, as far as I'm concerned, this talk is finished." "Look, give me a break will you?" "I haven't anything to do with this." "I don't believe anything you've said except that... there isn't that kind of money." "O.K. I'll buy my racing stables some other time." "This job I'm going to concentrate on being a hero." "Oh now wait, listen will you?" "It's not my fault." "Forget the deadline." "You muffed it." "But I'm the one that's going to go to prison." "What am I going to do?" "That's your problem." "I've never been to prison." "Come on, beat it." "Thank you sir." "Hi." "Sit down." "What's this all about?" "One of those quick plans." "I'm counting on somebody beating my brains out in the next 10 minutes." "Good luck." "Who?" "Whoever killed Harry Gruber, they've got plenty of reason to want me now." "These things never work." "This has to." "I've put out enough to scare them." "Remember what happened to Eddie McIntyre?" "I'd rather not." "Now get out and give me a chance to make some friends." "Hit the railroad station." " 11:50 to Washington." " You're a little early mister." "Yeah." "Hi." "Let me guess." "You're the consolation prize." "Hotel stenographer drafted to the emergency." "What happened to you?" "You look like you fell under a truck." "I got pushed." "Run along now." "I usually take a walk this time of night." "Here." "You're better than the last guy I sat up for." "He was a machinery salesman." "For a hotel stenographer you're pretty busy." "It's an awful grind." "The typing's killing me." "See you later." "Not silly enough to think you might get away with this." "We can try." "Like Gruber." "We don't know Gruber." "It won't help to put me in concrete." "There's too much interest left around." "You look like a pretty smart guy." "What are you hanging around with a gun up like that for?" "Anybody ever weigh your head?" "I'm talking to him." "I got two years of working organization tied into this robbery." "I'm all set to go and I'm not going to give up now." "What else can you do?" "Well, that's it." "If you're bluffing about this Gruber or whoever he is, that means nothing." "But you could stop us on the other thing." "Ferrar tells me you want $25,000." "That was hours ago." "How do we know you're not a plant." "You don't." "There's a law against robbing the mails." "But there's nothing says you can't talk about it." "We're kidding naturally." "Sure." "Now if we were doing this thing seriously, this one guy you'd never meet." "The guy who gets you if anything goes wrong." "If you were doing what seriously?" "You like money don't you." "No bad blood between us?" "We haven't got the $25,000." "But there's close to a million in this thing of ours." "We could cut you in for a sixth." "Why don't you wake up." "You can't beat the mails, they got a system." "So have we." "We found the weak link." "With your help we could make it fool proof." "No thanks." "You're in a bad spot, not us." "Sure we'd have to fold." "But you're wrong about the concrete." "Wouldn't have to be now." "In a few months if you get a broken back, you got arthritis." "Think it over." "We're signing no deal tonight anyway." "But we will sign a deal." "Good morning." "How was the food?" "It was as good as a the company." "Did you sleep last night or think?" "I slept." " Well, today you'll think." " Hi." "Hi." "Don't mind her, she has no control." "I'm getting up." "Oh come on, stay." "Go swallow a germ." "We're going by to play some handball, uh, you better come along." "I'm due back at work." "You can skip a day." "It'd look funny." "I don't care how it looks." "Get this straight Goddard." "Until you prove out, one of us is going to be with you night and day." "Don't start glowing, I've got the breakfast shift." "I don't get it Goddard." "You go along one way for years and then suddenly you pull a complete switch." "Why?" "Sooner or later every rooster wants to lay an egg." "Eh, beyond that." "Have you any special reason why you want $25,000?" "Maybe it's because a few horse broke their promises." "Betting more than you can afford?" "Is there any other way to bet?" "Where do you book?" "Here and there." "I travel around a lot." "Yeah but, say, in Chicago, where do you book?" "A guy named Max Weiler." "Max Weiler?" "Yeah, on and off." "An old friend of mine." "Is that so?" "Max isn't there anymore." "They closed him up." "Here he went to Mexico to cure a bad case of lungs." "Yeah, I know." "He's back, tending bar for his brother here in Gary." "I haven't seen Max in quite a spell." "I have to give him a ring one of these days." "Sure, why not?" "Yeah, just to say hello." "Tell him I saw you." "You're neat enough, let's play." "Ray, you start." "I'll be with you in a minute." "You know I don't eat any breakfast so naturally around noon time, I get a little hungry." "You ready?" "Yeah." "Hello let me talk to Maxie Weiler." "Oh, hello Maxie." "How you been?" "This Earl Boettiger." "Say when you were making book, did you a customer called Al Goddard?" "Goddard?" "What kind of a looking guy?" "Light hair, light complexion." "Pretty young guy, works for the post office." "Use to bet with you pretty often." "Not with me." "Thanks Max." " What happened?" " He had an accident." "Better get some ice." "I'll get it." "Police business, call this number." "There's a man been hurt out there." "We need some ice." "Put it in a towel." "Hurry up will you?" "Yes sir." "What's the delay?" "Waiting for the ice." " I have to crush it." " Well we'll take it that way." "You look worried Al, about Regas?" "Yeah I..." "I hate to see him in such pain." "Sit down." "Sit down, you're tired." "This is Max again." "What's with the Goddard boy, is he hot?" "Half hour ago you said you didn't know him." " Why the switch?" " There was a cop in here." "When there's a cop around I don't know my own mother." "I'm a loser Earl, gotta be careful." "What made you think he might be hot?" "He's the type." "Last summer he owed me $1800, got it up in a week." "The word was, uh, he picked it up under the counter." "Yeah, of course I'm sure." "I've got the books to prove it." "Yeah, all right Earl." "That was all right Max." "Now let's have a beer." "That was Maxie Wilder." "He says you're a thief." "Bless his little heart." "You're going to take this Maxie's word." "If somebody gave him a Bible to swear on he'd steal it." "He says you're an old hand at shakedowns." "Even if he's right, the moral's clear." "I want my $25,000." "I've told you before." "We haven't got that kind of money or anything like it." "If you want a share of the robbery it's all right." "If you don't, go down the hall, pack your lingerie and get out." "If I walk out of here, your robbery goes out of the window." "And you go right on managing your grubby hotel." "And for the next 10 years you'll still be changing sheets and putting drunks to bed, so don't get so tough." "Are you in or out?" "I'm in." "You run your end any way you want." "But I take full charge of the post office." "What's wrong with Ferrar?" "Somebody'll pick him up the same way I did." "If I'm going to risk my neck, I'll do it my way." "One other thing, we gotta make it look good downtown." "I gotta be free to move around and do my job as usual." "All right." "We'll give you the assignment." "You're sure we're giving him enough?" "How do you mean?" "We're giving him his own way and a full share." "Why don't we all give him a right arm just for old time's sake?" "I'm worried about you Joe." "Somewhere in your bloodstream you've got a crazy bug, and it's swimming upstream night and day." "Get a cure or you'll kill us all." "All right Earl." "We'll let it stand this way." "One bad move outta you and I'll put you on your back for good." "Amuse yourself." "Help him with the print." "Give me the rundown Earl." "Hello Maury." "Well, we were right." "They're on the gun and it's a million dollar reserve stick up." " How'd you find out about it?" " Purely accidental." "One thing led to another and I agreed to help them." "Why you blundering..." "Oh now, don't worry, I'm not going through with any robbery." "Look, get a rundown on these names," "Earl Boettiger," "Joe Regas." "How long before the robbery?" "Maybe 10 days." "Enough time to shop for Gruber and get out with the whole skin." "Now if we could only tie Soderquist in." "Call you back." " Hi." " Hi." "What are you doing out?" "Can't you call from the hotel?" " Can't you?" " I'm just shopping." "They've got some new records in." " You like bop?" " Bop?" "Is that where everybody plays a different tune at the same time?" "You just haven't heard enough of it." "Have you heard Joe Lilly's only mine?" "Come up to my place and hear it." "As a favor to Joe." "What he can do with a horn." "He belts it, melts it, and rides it all over the ceiling." "Can he play it?" "Listen, listen to this part." "Hmm, not very sentimental, is he?" "Where'd you meet Earl?" "Where'd he come from?" "Did you come up here to ask questions or listen?" "Get this." "He's flat at fifth." "Look, I wouldn't know a flat at fifth if they gave one away with every purchase." "This last part here, voom, voom, voom." "Gets you right in the breadbasket." "What do you think?" "Gets you right in the breadbasket." "You oughta hear some of the slow stuff." "He's got a take off called slow bus to Memphis." "It's around here someplace." "You look in that pile over there." "I'll look here." "Here it is." " Did you find it?" " Yeah." "So that's your slow bus to Memphis." "Can I give you a lift?" "You already have." "Hello Mr. Goddard." "Won't you sit down?" "How do these kids stack up with your bunch?" "They're lovely children but..." "I wouldn't want you to tell mother Ambrose this." "The boys are very badly trained in baseball." "Well maybe the franciscans haven't got the hang of it yet." "They haven't." "We've sent three boys to the major leagues." "They've only sent one." "He's with the St. Louis Browns." " Tea?" " No thank you sister." "I have a photograph of Soderquist and his friends." "I think one of the men was him that night in the alley." "Here." "How about the one on the left, Regas?" "I know it's a disappointment Mr. Goddard but... you wouldn't want me to guess, would you?" "No, not when it involves murder." "Is there anything else?" "Yes there is." "You were told to stay in the house because you were in danger." "I come here and find you out there with a bunch of kids." "You won't frighten me away from the children." "Here, I brought you this." "Oh no, Mr. Goddard," " please put it back." " Come on, take it, it'll protect you." " How does a thing like that work?" " It's very simple." "To inject the cartridge you pull it back like this." "Sometimes they jam, there." "Now you're in business." "I don't want it." "But you might need it." "Don't tell me you can say a prayer." "Prayer is not going to keep you from being killed." "People don't pray to keep from dying." "They pray to keep from being disappointed, when they do." "Take it as a personal favor." "I didn't know policeman could afford personal feelings." "There's nothing personal about it, it's, it's merely routine." "Do you know Mr. Goddard, with a little practice," " you could be a nice man?" " Oh," "I'll take two weeks off sometime and try it." "Mr. Goddard, I'll show you the back way through the alley." "You're learning fast sister." "We both are, Mr. Goddard." "Please take care of yourself." "I think the government expects a lot from young men." "It's my job, I have to take the risk." "Well the should get some of the politicians to do it." "When I'm in trouble sister, I'll quote you." "You be careful." "I will." "Remember." "I have that guardian angel." "I'll get one too." "Only mine doesn't jam." " Hi." " Hi." "Boy is it a scorcher." "Well that's Gary Weather, good one day, bad the next." "It's not a question of good or bad." "You people just don't have weather." "What about the robbery?" "One more and they hit on the perfect flaw." "Reserved shipment from Cleveland to Logansport." "Well I'm just a youngster, what makes that a flaw?" "There's no through train from Cleveland to Logansport." "Then they have to transfer the dough from one train to another, right here in Gary." "But it's protected all the way by armored trucks and machine guns." "All except that seven minutes here in Gary." "When it travels from one station to another in a single mail truck." "Protected by one man and a 45 pistol." "It's a great scheme Maury." "So you had to tackle the whole thing by yourself." "This time, I did." "Every time!" "Look, I told you in the cab." "We've got to get a move and quit playing footsie." "Because you got softhearted about a nun?" "I don't care about her." "She's our star witness, we've got to protect her." "All right, you've got a badge, why don't you arrest me for perjury?" "How can I?" "It's the first time I've ever liked you." "It's going to be a short romance if you don't find" "Soderquist." "What about the rest of name's?" "Regas, Gunner and Corning, local boys, all clean." "Edgar, well..." "Yeah, I know, a respectable hotel owner." "Soderquist served out until last year, 1948 drunk driving." "He beat the charge, proved he was diabetic." "All model citizens." "I don't get it." "Outside of Soderquist, none of them ever committed a crime before, then, all of a sudden, a brutal murder." "It doesn't make sense." "Why not?" "You have to build up to a murder." "One good try and you're there." "You'll have to dig from your end." "We've got to find Soderquist." "Let me see that report again." "This guys' a diabetic." "Why wasn't it on the report at Fort Wayne?" "They thought he was drunk." "Well he wasn't." "It says right here approaching shock." "Diabetes." "If you're a diabetic you've got to have your shot of insulin regularly." "That's right." "If he's hiding out and can't get the stuff he's going to go back into shock." "Better get a search underway immediately." "Get ever drug stores and supply house in this town." "Sooner or later that guys' got to show up for his insulin." "And remember, if you don't get Soderquist, I'm in the soup." "There goes 40 bucks." "Worse than your horses." "Why should you worry about $40." "I don't anymore." "I got word on the shipment." "The job goes tomorrow." "Why move it up?" "We're starved for time." "It goes tomorrow." " Where are the cold drinks?" " It's down at the end." " Get a couple will you?" " Yes." " Want a hot dog?" " No thanks." "Give me a couple of hot dogs." "They're going to try and pull it off tomorrow." "What about that insulin?" "No luck." "Only two new sales in the past three days." "We checked through both of them down to the jab in the arm." "Neither arm was Soderquist." "That means he got out of town." "I'll put my job on the line, he couldn't have." "He's dead then." "At least they won't use an alley again." "I've got two squads, steel plants city dumps, the canal." "Well Ahearn, I'll see him sometime tonight at the post office." "I got less than a day to bail out of this thing." "It's the canal this side of middle Avenue" "Drive right through the steelworks." "Yeah, what happens if it is Soderquists body?" "Hard to say." "We won't know which to jump." "Use my car, here are the keys." "Well thanks." "It's Soderquist all right." "That's slams it shut right in our face." "Fat chance of finding any witnesses to this one." "I talked to Washington while we were waiting for you." "Let me guess, they want us to go in with the robbery." "We've got nothing this way that would last five minutes in court." "I know." "But the moment those boys land their hands on that money, it's a major crime, 5 to 25 years." "Get them on a charge like that and one of them would break on Gruber." "Can you think of any other way Al?" "No, but I'm working on it." "Hey there!" "It's Ferrar." " You sure?" " Yeah." "Nick, Joe, Charlie, the fence." "Cover this fence, make sure he can't get out of the plant." "Yes lieutenant." "There's no way I know he can get past the fence." "We'll wait him out." "You've better get back to Boettiger." "We'll call you if anything changes." "O.K., I'll see you tomorrow." "Desk." "Mr. Goddard hasn't returned yet." "I have your messages." "I'll tell him as soon as he comes in." "Just a minute, Mr. Goddard, telephone." "They've called several times." "Well, thank you." "Hello, Goddard talking." "We've put you in a hole Al, Ferrar got away." "With what he knows, he's bound to go to Boettiger and if he gets there you're in real trouble." "So pull out and run, don't walk." "Don't worry, momma didn't raise any heroes." "I'll get my stuff, meet you in 10 minutes." "Thanks." "We've been waiting for you." "There's some last minute details." "The car's outside." "I'll meet you here." "I have to go upstairs for a minute." "It can wait." "You can change some other time." "Move." "What's this all about?" "We're going out to shack." "What's the matter with you?" "You've got a face a foot long." "You look as if you just lost your best friend." "I'm my best friend." "That's what I said." "Remember the road in, it's important." "The Cleveland train passes this spot tomorrow." "That'll be the time we leave here for the holdup point." "It's exactly 21 minutes running time into the station." "Got it?" "Homey isn't it?" "If your mother happened to be a spider." "You got more guns there than the post office." "Yeah." "Well I'm out of conveniences." "I told you." "We've got everything worked out." " Nobody followed us?" " No." "Now this is the last time we go through this." "So remember." "Cronin steals the bakery truck." "Regas and Gunner get two cars out of the all day parking lot." "Nobody misses them?" "We know the lot." "They can't find your car when it is there." "Gunner brings his car here, we make the switch." "That's the car we use for the holdup." "The stations are here and here." "Normally it's a seven minute run, four minutes in, the mail truck hits here, point A." " Now..." " All right, then the robbery." "We know that part of the plan." "Now then, after the holdup, we go west, on this street, to point B." "He'll take it." "Hello." "What is it Dodie?" "I don't want him out here." "Okay." "Ferrar called Dodie." " What happened?" " Ohio." " Is he coming out?" " Yeah." "Tell him to stay away from us." "All of us." "Well, we can't stop him now, he's on his way." " He won't be seen." " How do you know?" "Oh, don't get so edgy." "Can't matter that much." "Matters $1 million worth." "Forget it." "I can take care of Ferrar." "Let's get back to point B." "After we pass it were in no man's land." "These three cross streets must be blocked off." "One stray car and any one of them trips us up." "Joe will put in the roadblocks that will seal off the streets." "You know your job Al." "Confirm pouch and train number." "Don't worry about me." "I'll take care of my end." "Joe after you put in the roadblocks, you return to the rendezvous, point C." "We meet you there, transfer to that car, and then return here to the shack." "You can forget about those three streets." "The roadblocks will be in." "They better be." "Go wrong, we're just working out way into prison." "Don't lead me by the hand." "I'll seal off the streets and I'll be waiting at point C." "You'll have plenty of time for your end Joe." "Don't waste it." "If anybody slips, it won't be me." "And I want to emphasize this again." "This whole thing depends on not being recognized." "A million dollars is no good if you're running the rest of your life." " Earl, Earl." " Now why did you come out here?" "You... you told me it was tomorrow, I..." "I wanted to make sure." "Then we ought to rent you a memory." "You were told eight hours ago." "Earl, can I speak my piece now?" "You're on." "After this thing happens the town's going to be flooded with federal men." "We're all going to be in a spot." "So the first guy that talks or tries to identify anyone is going to get a headache you can't cure." "Understand, Ferrar?" "Yeah, yeah sure." "Anything else, Earl?" "No, you've said it." "I'll go back with Ferrar." "Come on, let's go." "Hey." "What about that gun?" "I'll need it tomorrow." "Can't afford to use my service gun." "You behave yourself on that stand you might get away with 10 years." "Oh thanks. 10 year in jail is sure going to help my love life." "It's more romantic than being dead." "Come on, pick it up." "I don't trust him Earl." "He's full of trouble." "And we'll never get around him because our luck went bad." "It went bad that night in that alley." "Will you put it out of your mind?" "Will you stop thinking about that nun?" "You wanna know why I think about it?" "Because I'm hot and you're not." "In 5 years, maybe 10, when the rest of you have scattered, somebody's going to walk up and tap me on the shoulder." "That's why I think about it." "Look at it this way, you're clear." "She never saw you in the alley." "Yeah, Earl." "I believe it." "Sometimes for two or three minutes at a stretch." "Come in." "Hi." " Hi." " Come on in." " I'm pouring." "Want one?" " No thanks." "Earl back yet?" "Not yet." "What did Ferrar want when he called you?" "He had to talk to Earl." " Nothing else?" " No." "He sounded nervous." "What did he lose, an airmail stamp?" "You know..." "I'd give a hundred dollars to find out what goes on behind that makeup." "It ain't your money, chump." "You afraid of me Al?" "Doesn't Earl ever get jealous?" "He understands." "You can put strings on good women or bad women." "But you can't do anything about lazy ones." " You can beat 'em." " I stay about the same." "You can't make them do the right thing... or the wrong thing." "They're lazy." "They do the easy thing." "Just don't break out into a rash Joe." "Saved by the bell." "That is the story of my life." "Once more, step by step." "They steal two cars from an all day parking lot." "One of them is the holdup car." "It goes straight for the shack." "They transfer into it and head for the holdup, point A." "Regas takes the other stolen car, comes down here, puts in the roadblocks along the escape route, and goes to point C where he waits for the holdup car." "Now after the stick up they head west past these blocked out streets and go to point C, the rendezvous." "Then they transfer into Regas' car in case the first one has been recognized and head back to the shack." "But they never get that far." "We move in the moment they hit point C." "All clear?" " You're in the mail wagon?" " Yeah." "Well, play it cozy when that bakery truck swings in behind you." "How's your skull?" "Thick enough." "Good." "I may have to work on it." "The police will give us a hand but remember, this is post office." "You're the heavy duty section." "Look, if possible, don't do any shooting." "We want those boys in court." "If there is any trouble, be careful." "Remember, Al's in that holdup car." "Uh, write that down will you fellas?" "That's all." "Check-in here at four." "Don't leave the building." "An agent will pick you up for the train." "And there's nothing else I can do?" "With Soderquist gone, I'm afraid you're out of it." "I haven't been much help have I?" "They're after Al Goddard." "But Mr. Soderquist?" "We... broke 50/50 on that." "But he didn't do it." "No." "But he held the other guy's coat, and that's against the rules too." "I know." "Sorry it's goodbye sister." "Goodbye." "I'll remember you in my prayers." "Well if I haven't anything else I've got a good lawyer." "God bless you." "Thank you sister." "You better get going." " It's around five." " Two minutes till." "I said it was around five." "Anything from you Al?" "No, just remember don't get gun happy." "You'll rob Fort Knox and live." "But steal a dime and kill a post office man and they'll spend a million and a lifetime looking for you." "You better hike, Cronin." "There's one other think, but I'll tell you later in the car." "We're changing point C." "What do you mean you're changing point C?" "Sounds simple, we're changing it." "I just found out this morning." "You find out what?" "There's a detour from the smugger into the hills, so we're changing point C." "Is there any reason why we shouldn't?" "No, I guess not." "Okay, you better get your coat on." "Now let's shove off." "Keep your eye on the time." "Regas, you put in the roadblocks and go to the new point C." "It's the old factory this side of Turtle Road, and be there." "69200." "Hello Maury, Al." "They've changed point C." "We can't grab them there." "I don't know." "Watch all the roads a half mile from the holdup point." "Be sure you cover that shack." "Yeah, they've got to back there." "Right." "I'd say you pulled a boner." "I'd say so." "It might help if I hadn't been with been with Earl so long." "Al?" "Coming out?" " Anything wrong?" " Should there be?" "See you downstairs." "That puts you on my side." "Suppose I'd told them." "They'd have to do away with you." "That would make me an accessory to murder." "And you don't love anybody that much." "Not 25 years worth." "I'm a loser either way." "Suppose they get away with all that dough." "I'll be wearing those mink coats in shacks and hamburger joints living on the run until they get me." "Well at least you've read the book anyway." "What are you going to do?" "When you walk out I'm gonna pack my bag and leave." "I'm gonna forget your names and faces and what's going to happen to all of you in the next hour." "They can still get you for withholding information." "Not if I tell a government agent." "So I'm telling you." "They're gonna hold up a mail truck." "I have to pack so goodbye." "You won't get a gold star but... thanks." "Don't bother." "Earl was good to me." "I hope he kills you." "It's all right." " Enough gas?" " Full tank." "How about Regas?" "By now he's on his way to block the streets." "It's 41 right on time." "That sweet old engineer." "Let's go." "Sister," "I'm from the police department." "We'd like to talk to you." "Very well, I'll just tell the matron, she's over there." "There isn't time." "My partner's getting to her." "I'll take care of you." "You went through a red light." "It's too late to worry about that now." "There it comes." "Hey!" "Where do you think you're going?" "Did he see our faces?" "Any of us?" "No, we're clean all the way." "Make a little speed." "That corner, Regas was to start blocking off those streets, what happened?" " Late." " He couldn't be." "Hey, you big bozo!" "Why don't you watch what you're doing?" "Back it up, back it up." "That blows it." "They all got a good look at us." " They weren't close enough." " You don't know kids." "They can pick us out of a lineup like that." "Forget it, head back to the shack." "We got to make a run for it." "We can't go back to the shack." " We gotta go back there." " We're not going." "Get it through your head, we've been seen." "We're on the run, from now on." "They've had half an hour to get here, something's gone wrong." "They've got to come back here to the shack." " We know that." " Not if something's gone wrong." "I tell you for some reason they're not coming back here." "Then Goddard drew the short straw." "We'll have to play it by ear." "Leave two squads here." "We'll take pot luck on finding that new point C." "Sharkey, get on the phone." "Tell them to start west of the holdup point." "Put a police cord around the whole factory area." " Start closing in." " Okay." "Regas is here." "Stow the money in the back of the car." "I found her, I don't care about the road blocks." "An old friend, Al." "What do you mean?" "An old friend of Joe's." "She's been to the police, she told me." " What else she tell you?" " Nothing yet." " We ought to break you in pieces." " Stop arguing." "We haven't any time." "We've been seen." "We've got to run." "Are we ready?" "Almost." "Well, how about it?" "I don't know." "What do you mean you don't know?" "Now she knows about the robbery." "She's seen us, all of us." "Killing her isn't going to go do any good." "Besides, who's got the stomach for it." "Joe has." "Sure, a gun happy guy would kill the whole world if he had enough bullets." " Two would do." " She can't do us any harm Earl." "She doesn't know our names or anything about us." "If we're caught she can identify us." "If we're caught, we're through anyway." "Look, you're here on a free ride." "Don't come to the party and give away drinks." "Earl, maybe you don't believe in hell but this is a bad time to bet against it." "We'll take your word sister." "You've never seen us, you can't identify us." "We'll take your word." "Thank you but I couldn't give you my word about a thing like that." "What difference does it make?" "A great deal." "I couldn't let my silence be used as a weapon against the law." "Sister you're not hired to defend the law." "I'm sorry, I couldn't give you my word." " All right Joe." " Come on lady." "Look, leave her alone." "Lie down, rover." "You need a new mouth." "Stop them Earl." "With a million dollars to split, just pray for a tie." "You're all through, you dash." "You getting heavy Joe." "Mr. Goddard!" "Better get a move on." " Gonna be in trouble." " You're already in trouble, Mr. Goddard." "You picked a talking partner." "How far has this thing gone?" "It's a fix all the way." "They got this area staked out for three Miles around." "I'll listen, have you got a suggestion?" "Yeah, leave her here and I'll see that you get through the police port." "No thanks." "One large shot and you'll bring up enough guns down here to start a war." "I can get you through." "For what?" "To grab 20 minutes of air and die on a back road?" "Maybe." "But right now that sounds like a lot." "Does it, that?" "Sister, either you're lucky or living right." "You drive, gunner." "Come on, let's get out of here, we've got a million bucks in the car." "We got nothing." "You heard what he said, it's a fix all the way." "The dough's phony." "Come on!" "Cover us." "Surround the building." "Put out that flare!" "Tell those men to be careful, Goddard's in there." "Yeah." "I'm betting it's empty." "Didn't the post office ever teach you how to..." "For the record Al, is the dough phony too?" "No, it was real." "So you die rich Earl." "Sorry, things went a little wrong after the robbery." "Somewhat." "Are you all right Mr. Goddard?" "I'll make it, I guess." "Dave, you better hurry and put the sister on the train." "I think she wants to get back to her children." "You know, one of these days the Yankees may need a new second baseman." "Goodbye Mr. Goddard." "God bless you." "Thank you sister." "For once, you're right Maury." "There goes somebody who doesn't have a pitch." "Al, if you stay with it and work real hard, one of these days you're going to qualify for the human race." "I may join the bet."