Personal notice, danger is my stock and trade. If the job is too tough for you to handle, you've got a job for me, George Valentine. Write full details. Standard Oil Company of California invites you to let George do it. In just a moment, we'll begin tonight's adventure of George Valentine. Sometimes you drive in the country, sometimes in town. Shift to the gas with all eight for top all-around performance wherever you drive. Yes, Chevron Supreme Gasoline gives you all eight high performance qualities in correct balance. Mileage, acceleration, power, anti-knock, vapor lock prevention, starting, warm-up, and area blending. So for top all-around performance, fill up with Chevron Supreme Gasoline at standard stations and independent Chevron gas stations, where they say, and mean, we take better care of your car. And now, tonight's story, a school of sharks, another adventure of George Valentine. Hi, Dad. Have dinner for you now. Dad? Huh, it's funny. Well, at least he was here. If he went out to play Pee-Nuckle again tonight, I'll... Oh, dearest Mary, a man can be foolish and a man can be weak. You know I've been both in my time. But a man can only be a coward up to a certain point. Mary, darling, I'm trapped, trapped by many things, maybe mostly by myself. Maybe you can never find it in your heart to forgive me. But remember, I love you. Don't go into the bedroom, darling. But call the police. Dad? Dad? Dad? Oh, no! Yes, the funeral was yesterday, Mr. Valentine. And the boys who worked with Dad on the newspaper sent him a nice wreath. The case is very much close. Yeah. Well, after I got your letter, Miss Haggerty, I checked with the police. There's no question about your father's death being a suicide. No. No question at all. Well, there doesn't seem to be very much Mr. Valentine can do, does it, dear? Lone sharks. Did you ever hear of lone sharks, Mr. Valentine? Yeah, I heard your father was in a little financial problem. But why did he have to borrow so much money? Money wasn't too much of a problem with us. No. Father's worked on a clarion for years in the composing room. He made a nice salary. And when I got out of high school, I went to work there, too. I'm now secretary to the managing editor. Mr. Wells? You know him? Just slightly. But don't you see, we had friends. We had people he could turn to. Well, he might have owed us some he couldn't raise. Well, he liked to gamble. That was his one weakness. But he never gambled for large amounts, and he played cards mostly with his friends. Gambling? Well, that could be one darn good reason why he had to borrow money. And from people who are easy about lending it and tough about getting it back, that might have started the ball rolling downhill for him. I don't know any specific facts, Mr. Valentine, but I have an idea Dad wasn't the only one on the paper who was mixed up with loan sharks. Oh, what do you mean? Well, there are hundreds of people working for the clarion. I heard Oscar strike. He's the foreman of the composing room. I talked to Mr. Wells about that. But of course there wasn't very much they knew. People just don't talk about things like that. So there wasn't very much they could do. Which is pretty much my position too, Mary. It's a job for the police to try to get evidence on these tough boys, break up that racket. But that's what I'm driving at. In a way, my father was killed by them. Mary, please. I know Dad pulled the trigger. But who made him do it? Maybe there's no murder in the strict legal sense. There is a murderer who must be punished. Mr. Valentine, I know the police will try and break up the loan shark racket. But I want you to help. I want you to find my father's murderer. I'll do what I can, Mary. Got a little cubby hole over there where we can talk better. I'll find Mr. Strike. Sure turned out a lot of papers. When we print the big Sunday edition, that's when this place really hums. I can imagine. How about the boys here, Mr. Strike? Oh, they're human. Some of them get into a mess and then they grab at anything. Borrow money from anybody to get out of it. Well, they get good pay. Any reason this loan shark business should be more of a problem here than any place else? Maybe. Why? I keep my eyes open. I sort of have an idea somebody makes things easier for the boys to get into trouble. In what way? Easier to get involved in gambling in the back room of some saloon around here. You lose a good chunk of dough, mister, and you can't take it out of your paycheck. Your wife expects that to keep the family going. So you grab it a chance to borrow some. No matter what interest you have to pay. No matter. You figure maybe you can win next time, and then maybe you don't. And in any case, there's a gorilla boy to make sure you don't fall behind in your payments. Do you think something like that happened to Mr. Haggerty? Joe was a friend of mine. A good man to work with. You find out who got him on the road to where he killed himself, and you'll have lots of friends down here. You know who some of the boys are who got themselves in trouble with these loans? Oh, I could make a few guesses, but that wouldn't do anybody any good. They'd be too scared to talk. Everybody's always too scared to talk. In fact, I just assume you forgot that I shut my mouth off, Mr. Valentine. Jake Pagano and Stan Ringler. They're the sharks the boys in the racket squad suspect. Then why aren't they behind bars, Lieutenant? Because I said suspect, Valentine. There should be some proof by now. Not for those two. Oh, plenty of small fish have been caught. But Pagano and Ringler can't be tied in with them. Too many people are afraid to talk. I know. You wouldn't be so cynical, my friend, if you saw the artistic job of may and those thugs are capable of. So we just let things go on their merry way. That's great. The police are checking every lead they get. That'll be a lot of comfort to Mary Haggerty, I'm sure. And they will welcome any aspired sensational ideas anybody will come up with. And furthermore, they could use the money. Okay, okay. Round's over. I'm sorry, Lieutenant John. Yeah. Valentine, guys like Pagano and Ringler make any honest cops see red. So we have them tailed and we look in their bank accounts and when we catch one of their strong-armed boys, we try to persuade them to put the finger on their bosses. No dice on any kind. Yeah, no. Johnson, do you personally have any ideas on the subject? I had one, but I doubt if it would work. What kind of an idea? Well, we have enough on both of them to be able to pick them up and keep them in jail for a while, away from each other. Then we could tell either one of them that the other finally cracked up and confessed. Yeah, so to protect himself, our boy would sing. Sometimes that does work. Not with those two. They'd spot the whole deal for a phony and we'd get exactly no place. Now, wait a minute. Unless the stunt were pulled not by the police, but by somebody they'd never suspect. Huh? What are you talking about, George? I've got an idea about what to do with your idea, Johnson. Come on. Mr. Wells, the clarion's got to help. But, Mr. Valentine, you don't realize what you're asking us to do. Dad always called it his paper, with pride in his voice. He'd do anything for it. The clarion owes him this. Do you think such a stunt would even work, Lieutenant Johnson? It might. It's cockeyed enough. It isn't cockeyed at all. It makes perfect sense. Now, look, just a couple of special issues of the clarion with a front page story about something that never happened. Well... Fine, good. I knew you'd do it. Now, I don't know how long it's been since you personally wrote a story, Mr. Wells, but you're going to write one now. Get your boss a typewriter and plenty of paper, Mary. Yes, sir. You have a lot of work to do, Johnson, and very little time. You bet your sweet life. And you, Brooksie. I need the shabbiest looking suit you can find. Yep, everybody get to work, except me. I'll be very busy keeping my fingers crossed. Well, here it is. Complete with headlines. Cord, cord. Ringley confesses part in Lone Shark Wacket. Implicates Pagano is real boss. Oh, wait till Pagano sees it. He won't have a reason in a million to suspect that this isn't anything but absolute truth. He'll think it's splashed all over every paper in town. And do some fancy singing of his own against Ringley, I know. Well, I'm still worried about the clarion's part in all this. Is Oscar Strike down in the composing room waiting for this? Yes. We'll run it in a couple of hours. It's part of the afternoon edition. Strike knows about a hot story coming through, and he used to handle it himself. And we've run off a couple of copies. I'll personally give him the order to stop the presses and destroy the type. I've located a couple of pictures of Pagano and Ringley. I'll take them. I just hope everything works out, Valentine. He's a nice guy, Wells. Dad always used to say he was tough, but a square shooter. Mr. Valentine, you would have liked Dad. He wasn't really weak or cowardly. Oh, there. You want to bet Johnson has rounded up Pagano and Ringley already? Mr. Wells, office. Miss Hagerty. Will you speak a little louder? Straighten your ears, little sister. What I got to say is important to you. Who are you? Stop playing around with the cops and guys like Valentine. They'll be picking you up in an alley. If you're lucky, you'll just have your legs and arms busted. Are you sure you have the right party? What's the matter, Mary? Don't stall for time, sister. That's all the message I got. Better remember every word of it. Hello? Hello, wait! He hung up. Who was it? Nobody. Oh, somebody from our friends, the Easy Lenders? No, no, no. Now look, kid, this is no time to play coy. They told you what they'd do if you kept hollering copper, didn't they? And we know they're not kidding. Okay, I vote we forget all the fancy plays. What? Why, those characters will trip up some other time and the police will nail them then, but you'll be out of it. Mr. Valentine, please. Please listen to me. I want to go right ahead with what you've planned. I'm afraid, but I want you to go on. But, Mary, listen to me. I'll never stop looking for Dad's murder. This way I'll have someone to help me. The other way I'll be all alone. Am I all alone, Mr. Valentine? Let's get going, Mary. We're going to be very busy. We'll return to tonight's adventure of George Valentine in just a moment. You know the old saying, a friend in need is a friend indeed. Well, one of the best friends you can have is a set of tough, rugged Atlas tires on your car. For Atlas tires are really dependable. 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Stop in tomorrow and get the facts about safe, sure Atlas tires at any independent Chevron gas station or standard station where they say, and meme, we take better care of your car. Music If your name is George Valentine, you get a bright idea how to trap the two leading suspects in a vicious lone racket. You carefully make all the preparations, but then you find yourself squarely on the spot. Mary Haggerty has just been warned that if she doesn't drop you like a hot potato, she will be found dead. But she insists that you go right ahead as planned. You sure you have the girl under protection, Johnson? Yeah, Valentine, I told you I have. She doesn't know it, but Davison and Malloy are down at the clarion and they won't even let her out of their sight. Good, good. You sure are a thing of beauty, my friend. Oh, thank you. What the well-dressed man won't be found dead in. Well, if I'm going to be thrown into Pagano's cell as a common drunk, I should look as though I've slept in at least a couple of gutters. Everything work out okay so far? Like a charm. We picked up Pagano and Ringler separately, booked them separately, and put them in different cells. Oh, what a horrible fate for the Bobsy Twins. We also made sure that Pagano took a good look at Ringler being marched out of his cell later. With a couple of photographers snapping his picture? With all the trimmings. Pagano's eyes nearly bugged out. He tried to find out from the guard what was going on, but of course nobody told our friend anything. Well, I shall now try to satisfy Mr. Pagano's curiosity. Huh. It's quite a story Wells wrote about Ringler's confession. Yeah. Too bad it never happened. The first copy off the press. And it'll be the smallest circulation any newspaper in the world ever had. Yeah, yeah. Okay. I'll just tuck it carelessly in my pocket like this. And any time you get one of our politest guards, he can show me to Mr. Pagano's cell. Good luck Valentine. I hope it works. Okay. Thanks Janssen. With any luck he'll be bellowing for you like an outraged bull. Guard! Come in here guard! If he bellows like that it won't be bad either. And don't make too much noise in there. Happy boy. Oh, thanks for hospitality officer. Every officer in our penal institute is a... jail is a perfect gentleman. And every guest in our penal... jail is a perfect gentleman. In fact the whole world is a perfect gentleman. Oh, what a beautiful morning. Oh, what a beautiful... Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, I'm so sorry. I didn't realize I wasn't alone sir. I do hope I have not disturbed you. Just shut up Mack and everybody will be happy. Happy? You're happy too, huh? Oh, that's nice. That's real nice. It's like I was a little old woman. I've been taking teeny weeny droppers to celebrate my being the happiest man in the world. I'm happy when you're happy. Now, don't pass out quietly Mackle. I'll do the passing for you. Yeah, but I was just a bit... Oh, yes sir. I'm here yesterday. I'll just fix the card so I don't dirty it with my shoes and I'll be as quiet as old mouse. Wait a minute. Give me that. No, that's my paper. Hey... Shut up. Let me see something here. Well, what do you know? I just bought that paper and I haven't read it. I really think... So that's what happened. Sure, that's exactly what happened. Nobody's talking to you, Lunkhead. I'm talking about a friend of mine. A friend of mine who got out of here because he's smart. A very smart boy. Smarter than me? Smarter than you? No, pal. Not smarter than me. Oh, Garth! Garth! I'm here with you. I want to talk to you. Oh, that's it, baby. Tell him you want out so you can talk to the district. Garth! All right, all right. What's on your mind, Paganel? Nothing. Just throw this screwball out of my cell, will you? I want to take a nap. Oh, that worked out fine. Just fine, Valentine. Yeah, great. Not a peep out of Paganel. He apparently doesn't want to talk to anybody. Doesn't want to deny what Ringler is supposed to have said. Johnson, something's funny about all this. Why, he couldn't suspect the newspaper story. And I know as sure as I'm alive that he and Ringler are mixed up in that smelly wreck. Hey, Johnson, wait. Huh? Did Paganel speak to anyone at all before I was thrown in there? Did he have any visitors? No, no, he didn't. He had a phone call from his lawyer. His lawyer? How do you know? Well, that's what the man said. Of course. Sure, of course. That's it. That's what? Come on, he was tipped off. Mr. Wells. Hey, Mary, where are you? Mr. Wells. All right. We called a doctor, Mr. Valentine. He should be here any minute. George, they found Mr. Wells down on the back stairway. He was slugged from behind. Who found him and when? I did. About ten minutes ago. Anybody know how long it was laying there? I, I was going to the composing room. To the composing room? Yes. To make sure that the type of the phony front page was destroyed? That's right. Mr. Valentine, that means the newspaper's on the street by now. Oh, no. I'm afraid it's oh yes. I only hope we're not too late. Mr. Strike, Mr. Strike. There he is, George, out on the loading platform. I see a couple of trucks pulling away now. Mr. Strike, wait. Stop those trucks. What's that, Mr. Valentine? The paper, the paper. Let me see the paper that's going out. Oh, sure, sure. Oh, here's a broken bundle of white. Bring the confessor. All these papers, all the same. Sure, they're all the same. What's this, some sort of joke? How many trucks left already? Oh, half a dozen. Hitted for where? All over town. Well, don't let another paper get out of here no matter what you have to do. Yeah, but... It's an order from the police. The police? Say, look, what is this? Mr. Wells told me he'd be downstairs about something, but he never showed up. Never mind. George, those are the trucks, the ones that already left. How can we stop them? We've got to stop them before a single copy of the paper gets into a customer's hands. I'll get the police cars after them. Tell them to stop at nothing to get every copy off the streets. Good work, Sergeant. Okay, boys, turn the truck around and get back. But don't be like me. You drive 25 miles an hour and no more. Don't! Don't cut open that bundle of clarions. What's the matter with you, old lady? You crazy? Yeah, crazy as a loon, but you sell those papers over my dead body. Pretty good hunting, eh, Oscar? You can say that again, young fella. Does that account for all the trucks that went out to this side of town? Yeah, all of them. What? Aren't we going back to the clarion? No, I remembered something. I'm not a newspaper man, but doesn't the truck that delivers the papers to the railroad station leave as soon as it's ready? Sure, that's right. Well, the station's down this way. We'd better keep going as fast as we can. Okay, sir. I'll get the papers. Okay, sir. I'll get the papers. Oh, brother, that's great. Now we're in the midst of traffic. We'll never catch that truck, never. Ride a couple of hundred feet and stop. Oh, this is fine. It's Sandy Krauss on that truck. A good man. Can you still see it? Yeah, way up ahead there, but it might as well be miles away. When Sandy gets the truck to the station, they'll have papers selling over the counters in a matter of seconds. Oh, sure. And the clarion will really be in a mess. Yeah, one of the Gano and Ringler's boys must have knocked Mr. Wells out to keep him from stopping the phony paper, huh? Sure. It'll be worth a lot to the loan sharks to get the clarion way behind the eight ball. And, brother, they're so near to it with that truck just out of our reach. Yeah. Of course, there's one chance I could still take. What's that? Up there, where the other street joins this one. I could turn off, go back half a mile, then pick up Dempster Street to the station. Oh, you'd never make it in time. I think I could, just in time, just by a matter of minutes. No. Oh, wouldn't it really be something if the racket boys missed out so near and yet so far? Hold on, Oscar. Here's where we turn off. No. I said no. What? Oh, nice heavy wrench. Is that the one you slugged Mr. Wells with, Oscar? I'll bet the police could prove that it is. Keep driving, Valentine, and straight ahead. Sorry, I can't. I had an idea you were in on this, Oscar, when you conveniently forgot about this truck still being out. But I had to have some proof. Those papers are going to be sold. You're not going to spoil it. What are you going to do, Oscar? If you drive anywhere near that truck, I'll kill you. Be smart and don't stop. All right. All right. Don't wave that thing. That's for it, Oscar. Give me that wrench. What's the matter? The dashboard hurt your face? Sorry, I'm such a bad driver, Oscar, but I've got to catch that truck. Okay, Oscar. Tell the nice lieutenant you're ready to dictate a confession. That's right. I'll tell everything, but you've got to get the court to give me a break. I'll turn state's evidence. Now, that's real decent of you. And you'll protect me from Pagano and Ringler, won't you? Yeah, yeah. They'll be kind of busy protecting themselves. Come on, come on. Get started. Yeah, sure. I got involved the same way most of them. They put the last batch of those clarions into the furnace a few minutes ago. Beautiful sight, beautiful. Not a single copy got out on the street. And Mr. Wells is downstairs personally destroying the type. George, I understand about Oscar Strike being a sort of inside man here for Pagano or Ringler or whichever one. Well, Major, he had to be. He was on the hook just like Mary's father. Only he wasn't quite so honest. Well, was he the one who tipped off Pagano so he wouldn't do any talking? Sure, why not? With the papers out on the street, Ringler would have a perfect case of libel against the clarion. He didn't really confess, of course, so he'd claim his reputation was damaged beyond repair. And the crazy part is he could have collected almost at any amount he wanted. That's right. I guess poor Strike figured in return he'd be let off the hook. His own debts would be canceled. But what did he say? What did he tell the police? Pagano? The lone racket was his. But Ringler? Hey, there's a funny thing about singing. When one person starts, everybody joins the chorus. Now, Pagano was so sore, he's telling everything he knows about Ringler's racket. But if you hadn't done what you did, the racket would still be going right on, destroying more and more lives, like my father's. But it is over here, all of it. No. No, it's not. Come on, I got a surprise for Mary Ann. What? Something to show you where you're wrong. Many car manufacturers now recommend a heavy-duty motor oil to give modern engines maximum protection under all driving conditions. New RPM motor oil exceeds the requirements of all manufacturers for this type of oil. Whichever weight you use, 10, 20, 30, or 40, remember that new RPM doubles engine life. The time between major overhauls due to lubrication. Be sure you get new RPM motor oil for your car at independent Chevron gas stations or standard stations where they say, and mean, we take better care of your car. There go the trucks again. Nobody has to stop them now. Stop them now. Pridding shop foreman exposes loan shark racket. Here it is. And isn't it beautiful? Yeah. There's something else on the front page. A little box at the bottom there. Is it editorial? Uh-huh. As long as there are vicious, greedy men, there will be rackets of all sorts. And these rackets will thrive and grow fat as long as they have for their ally, the fear of its victims. Mary Haggerty is a soft-spoken young girl as anxious to stay away from violence as you and I. But she knew that sometimes fear can be a crime as bad as any racket. And Mary Haggerty conquered fear. The news columns carry the story of what she accomplished. Here is an example to men of goodwill. A sure weapon against men of evil. Signed G.B. There isn't anyone on our editorial staff with those initials? No, but there was. For one day only. And he meant every word of what he wrote. Music Tonight's adventure of George Valentine has been brought to you by Standard Oil Company of California. On behalf of independent Chevron gas stations and standard stations throughout the West. Robert Daly is starred as George with Virginia Gregg as Brooksy. Let George Do It was written by David Victor and Jackson Gillis and directed by Kenneth Webb. Ken Christie was heard as Lieutenant Johnson, Virginia Eyler as Mary, Griff Barnett as Strike, Joe Vitale as Pagano, Stephen Chase as Wells, and James Nusser as the Guard. The music is composed and presented by Eddie Dunstetter. Your announcer, John Heston. Music Listen again next week, same time, same station, to Let George Do It. Music Let George Do It is heard overseas through the worldwide facilities of the Armed Forces Radio Service. This is the Mutual Don Lee Broadcasting System. Music
