Friday - The Dragnet Podcast

Originally Aired: November 17, 1953

Dragnet #222, "The Big Flight," begins when Sergeants Joe Friday and Frank Smith respond to a brutal robbery at a corner market on Lockwood and Barton Avenues. The victim, Cliff Hall, and his partner Andy were working when three armed men entered the store demanding money. While Hall complied with the gunman's orders to put approximately $8,000 in a paper bag, Andy emerged from the back room and, not immediately seeing the weapons, confronted the thieves. Despite being outnumbered and outgunned, Andy fought back against two of the robbers until the third man struck him alongside the head with his automatic, fracturing his jaw and causing a concussion.

Friday and Smith methodically gather descriptions of the suspects and their getaway car, aided by a witness who observed three men matching the robbers' descriptions park nearby and later flee toward Hollywood Boulevard. The crime lab lifts partial fingerprints from the counter, though they're insufficient for identification without suspects in custody. With supplementary broadcasts issued and both victims providing detailed descriptions, Friday and Smith take Hall and the witness to headquarters to search through mug books, hoping to identify the violent trio.

Originally Aired: November 10, 1953

Dragnet #221, "The Big Kid," Sergeant Joe Friday and Officer Frank Smith are working the juvenile detail when rumors surface of an impending gang war in Los Angeles. They interview seventeen-year-old Angelo "Angie" Markal, a repeat offender arrested for burglary who belongs to the Little Wall Street gang. During questioning, Friday and Smith press Angie for information about tensions brewing between two rival gangs: the Pink Rats and the Orchids. Initially resistant, the moody teenager eventually reveals the conflict started over a girl who moved from Orchid territory into Pink Rat turf, sparking a series of escalating retaliations.

The situation grows more urgent when Angie describes how Orchids attacked a Pink Rat member with a bicycle chain, leaving the victim hospitalized. Most alarming is intelligence about a planned party at a Rat member's house this Saturday night, combined with news that the Orchids recently burglarized rifles and a twelve-gauge shotgun. Friday and Smith face a ticking clock to prevent the violence before Saturday arrives and teenage gang warfare erupts on the streets of Los Angeles.

Originally Aired: November 3, 1953

Dragnet #220, "The Big Rain," Sergeants Joe Friday and Frank Smith are working the night watch in homicide when they catch a brutal assault case during a torrential Los Angeles rainstorm. A woman in her early forties is found sprawling across a sidewalk with her head in the gutter, barely saved from drowning by the position of a storm drain. She appears to have a skull fracture and internal injuries, and her expensive clothing is torn. Her purse and one shoe are missing, suggesting robbery or worse.

The man who called in the crime, Cecil August Johnson, becomes their primary focus for questioning. Johnson's story quickly unravels as he gives contradictory statements about his past, including time spent at Camarillo State Hospital. He claims to know the victim as "Grace," saying he met her at a Hollywood bar where she told him about fighting with her husband. As Friday and Smith press him, Johnson admits to being a compulsive liar and reveals a disturbing history. The detectives must determine whether they're dealing with a confused witness or something far more sinister.

Originally Aired: October 27, 1953

Dragnet #219, "The Big Fraud," Sergeant Joe Friday and Frank Smith find themselves juggling two disturbing complaints that may be connected. The first victim, an irate Keith Jefferson Mather, storms into the Bunco division demanding arrests after being charged five dollars for a shoeshine. When he refused to pay, three men emerged from a car to intimidate him. Before Friday and Smith can fully investigate, a second victim appears: Martin Dietrich from Chicago, who's broke, desperate, and wants to turn himself in. Dietrich reveals he's been conned out of over three thousand dollars by a man claiming to be a narcotics officer.

As the detectives piece together Dietrich's story over breakfast at the Federal Cafe, a troubling pattern emerges. Dietrich met a well-dressed, cultured man named Gabriel Bush at Union Station who claimed to be in the wholesale liquor business. What seemed like a friendly encounter with a fellow Chicagoan quickly turned sinister. Friday and Smith realize they're dealing with an extortion ring where criminals impersonate police officers to shake down wealthy businessmen and unsuspecting visitors to Los Angeles.

Originally Aired: October 20, 1953

Dragnet #218, "The Big Paint," finds Sergeant Joe Friday and his partner Frank Smith facing a sophisticated organized crime operation. An organized gang of thieves has been systematically stripping cars across Los Angeles, stealing radios and wheels with remarkable speed and efficiency. The stolen merchandise hasn't turned up at any of the usual outlets, and police have no leads on the gang's identity. Captain Nelson assigns Friday and Smith to the case after pressure mounts from the Police Commissioner and Chief Brown, with insurance companies demanding action. The thieves operate across multiple jurisdictions, hitting neighborhoods in the valley, Hollywood, Wiltshire, and beyond, even extending into Burbank, Beverly Hills, and Santa Monica.

Before diving into the investigation, Smith shares an embarrassing personal story about falling victim to a street con artist who sold him a supposedly new electric razor that turned out to be worthless. The incident serves as a reminder that even experienced detectives can be fooled. With orders to use as many men as needed and stop the car stripping operation, Friday and Smith begin their investigation into one of the city's most elusive criminal enterprises.

Originally Aired: October 13, 1953

Dragnet #217, "The Big Plea," Sergeant Joe Friday and his partner Frank Smith are tracking down two holdup men operating in Los Angeles. Their investigation leads them to the Universal Hobby Shop in Van Nuys, where they question Stanley McGowan, an ex-convict working as a model ship rigger. McGowan is carefully staying clean while on parole, dutifully carrying his bucket and reporting to his parole officer. He reveals that Jim Boland, a fellow ex-con, had contacted him a couple months earlier looking for help. McGowan let Boland stay at his place briefly, but kicked him out after they argued about Boland's refusal to look for work. The only lead McGowan provides is about a man named Phil who drives a late-model dark Lincoln sedan and who Boland mentioned meeting at a bar on West 7th Street.

Friday and Smith learn that Boland has violated his parole by failing to report for three weeks. The detectives suspect he may be involved in recent market robberies around town, a theory McGowan grimly agrees sounds like Boland's style of work, despite the man's earlier promises to go straight.

Originally Aired: October 6, 1953

Dragnet #216, "The Big Little Mother," Detectives Joe Friday and Frank Smith are called to the Beckworth department store to investigate a forger who has been systematically hitting the establishment for six years. The credit manager, Mr. Donaldson, explains that the suspect operates with a simple but effective method: she charges small items to legitimate accounts on busy Saturdays when sales staff are too rushed to carefully verify customers. What makes this case unusual is the forger's singular focus—she only takes children's clothing, shoes, dresses, and sweaters, rarely anything for herself. The amounts are small, and according to Donaldson, she doesn't seem interested in personal gain.

Friday and Smith interview Mrs. Allen, the sales clerk who waited on the suspect. She describes a petite, simply-dressed woman with sandy blonde hair worn in an old-fashioned bun. Despite being the victim of fraud, Mrs. Allen speaks warmly of the woman, calling her "one of the sweetest people I've ever served" and describing how she carefully selected items like a devoted mother hen. As the investigation continues, both the store manager and sales clerk hint at something deeper driving the forger's crimes—a maternal instinct that makes this case more complex than typical theft.

Originally Aired: September 29, 1953

Dragnet #215, "The Big Try," Friday and Smith's quiet morning at homicide is interrupted when reporter Sid Hughes calls with an urgent case. A man named Jan Patachek has phoned the newspaper saying he's going to kill himself and has barricaded himself in his apartment. Hughes is convinced this isn't a crank call, something in Patachek's voice tells him the threat is real. The man has given them until 11:05 to arrive at his address on North Hardmore, warning them not to try anything. As rain begins to fall over Los Angeles, Friday and Smith race against the clock to reach the apartment.

When they arrive at the Spanish-style apartment building at 11:03, police units are already on scene and a crowd has gathered in the courtyard. The detectives face a delicate situation: they have just minutes to make contact with a desperate man who has given them strict instructions to come alone. With Patachek threatening to take his own life, Friday must use all his skills to talk the man down and discover what has driven him to this breaking point.

Originally Aired: September 22, 1953

In Dragnet #214, "The Big Slip," Sergeant Joe Friday and Officer Frank Smith are working the day watch on the Auto Theft detail when they receive a call from Jesse McGowan, owner of a used car lot on Washington Boulevard. McGowan believes he may have purchased a stolen vehicle and needs the detectives to investigate. Before heading out on the call, Friday finds his partner Smith in rough shape after volunteering to umpire what he thought would be a friendly Little League practice game. What starts as a favor to his neighbor Neil Radcliffe quickly turns into a nightmare when Smith decides to help the losing neighborhood kids by playing first base himself, only to find that these young players are far more skilled than he anticipated.

Friday and Smith arrive at the McGowan car company at 8:15 a.m., where they meet Jesse McGowan among the rows of late model automobiles. McGowan explains that a man came into the lot the previous Saturday night around 9 p.m., insisting on speaking directly to the manager about selling a brand new Mercury. As the detectives settle in to hear the details, they prepare to determine whether McGowan has indeed purchased stolen property and track down the suspicious seller.

Originally Aired: September 15, 1953

Dragnet #213, "The Big Cab," Sergeant Joe Friday and Officer Frank Smith are called to the hospital in the early morning hours of February 18th to interview Raymond Bailey, a 62-year-old grocery store owner who has just regained consciousness after two days in a coma. Bailey was brutally beaten with a sawed-off shotgun during a Monday night robbery at his small neighborhood store on the corner of Whitman and Beacon Street. Suffering from a skull fracture and heavy sedation, Bailey drifts in and out of clarity as he recounts the terrifying events.

The elderly shopkeeper describes how a man came into his store just before closing, filled a shopping cart with over five dollars worth of imported groceries, then pulled a sawed-off shotgun from his shopping bag. After forcing Bailey to empty the cash register, the robber ordered him to lie on the floor. When a regular customer, Mrs. Colton, entered and screamed at the scene, the assailant struck Bailey viciously with the gun barrel before fleeing. Now Friday and Smith must use Bailey's description of the dark-complexioned man with a scar on his nose to track down the violent criminal somewhere in Los Angeles.

Originally Aired: September 8, 1953

Dragnet #212, "The Big Lift," Sergeant Joe Friday and Officer Frank Smith find themselves frustrated by an elusive burglar who has been plaguing Los Angeles for five weeks. Seventeen homes have been stripped of valuables by a thief with a consistent method of operation: punching holes in window screens, jimmying windows, and making off with jewelry between 6:00 and 9:00 p.m. When Friday and Smith stop for a meal at a local diner, the talkative proprietor unknowingly lectures the two detectives about how the burglar is running the cops in circles, even as newspapers mock the police department's inability to catch the phantom thief.

Despite exhaustive efforts by the crime lab, multiple detective teams, rolling stakeouts, and communication with law enforcement agencies across the nation, the investigation has produced virtually nothing. The burglar leaves behind only cotton glove fibers and tool marks, but no fingerprints, no physical description, and no workable leads. As Captain Wisdom assigns additional teams and resources to the case, Friday and Smith face mounting pressure to solve a crime that seems unsolvable.

Originally Aired: September 1, 1953

Dragnet #211, "The Big Bop," Sergeant Joe Friday and Officer Frank Smith investigate a series of holdups that have plagued Los Angeles for three weeks. A lone gunman has been systematically robbing check cashing agencies and small stores at gunpoint, taking only paper currency and leaving no fingerprints. When they arrive at the Harrison Check Cashing Agency on Alvarado and Catalina Street, they encounter the talkative owner Abel Harrison, who has just been robbed of approximately $1,500. Despite his rambling about a sleepless night caused by a noisy neighbor, Harrison provides a detailed description of the suspect: a man around 5'8" to 5'10", 150 pounds, wearing Levi's and a brown leather jacket with a fur collar.

As Friday patiently extracts information from the verbose victim, some curious details emerge. The suspect wore glasses that appeared to be plain glass rather than prescription lenses, and sported a red mustache that seemed oddly out of place with his dark hair and eyebrows. Harrison believes both the glasses and mustache are disguises. The robber carried two wrinkled paper bags for the money and made his victim lie on the floor and count to 100 before leaving, threatening to return if Harrison moved.

Originally Aired: June 28, 1953

Dragnet #210, "The Big Ham,"

Sergeant Joe Friday and Frank Smith are called to investigate what appears to be a suicide in the Westlake Park district. A young woman has been found dead in an apartment rented to a man named Ross Mitchell, who is nowhere to be found. The victim, initially unidentified as Jane Doe Number 17, is soon identified by her father, Robert Andrews Paul, as his daughter Gloria. A suicide note was discovered at the scene, but the circumstances raise questions that Friday and Smith must pursue.

As Friday and Smith interview the grieving Mr. Paul at the coroner's office, troubling inconsistencies emerge. Gloria was a good girl who didn't drink or smoke, someone looking to settle down rather than pursue a career. Her father knew nothing about Ross Mitchell or what his daughter would be doing in that part of town. Gloria had mentioned a mysterious boyfriend she refused to identify, and she had last been seen Saturday afternoon claiming she was going to a show with her friend Peggy Rockwell. The detectives must now track down Peggy and uncover the truth about Gloria's relationship with the elusive Ross Mitchell.

Originally Aired: June 21, 1953

Dragnet #209, "The Big Revolt," Sergeant Joe Friday and Officer Frank Smith of the Missing Persons Detail investigate the disappearance of Henry Borg, a 51-year-old contractor who failed to return home from work. When his worried wife reports him missing after checking with his coworkers, Friday and Smith begin their methodical investigation. They check jails, hospitals, and the morgue with no results. Mrs. Borg comes to the station to file an official report, bringing her Pekingese dog and a photograph of her husband. Friday questions her thoroughly about Henry's habits, finances, and personal life, searching for any clue that might explain his absence.

As the investigation progresses, Mrs. Borg insists that her husband was a creature of habit with no vices, no financial troubles, and a stable home life. She grows increasingly distressed as Friday's questions probe deeper into their marriage and Henry's routine. The case shifts from a routine missing person call to something more ominous when all the usual explanations prove groundless. With each passing day and no sign of Henry Borg, Friday and Smith must determine whether he left voluntarily or if something more sinister has occurred.

Originally Aired: June 14, 1953

Dragnet #208, "The Big Lilly," finds Sergeant Joe Friday and Officer Frank Smith responding to a cryptic phone call about a woman who has been badly beaten. The anonymous caller hangs up before providing crucial details, leaving the detectives with only an address in the Westlake area. When Friday and Smith arrive at 8674 Cambria Street, they find a quiet apartment building where the landlady, Mrs. Ruth Baker, insists nothing is wrong. Upon investigating apartment 104, however, they discover a grim scene: Hazel Rockman lies unconscious on a bed, severely beaten with both eyes blackened. Evidence of a recent party fills the apartment, but Hazel's husband has mysteriously disappeared just minutes before the officers arrived.

As the ambulance rushes Hazel to Georgia Street receiving hospital, Friday and Smith begin piecing together what happened. Mrs. Baker describes Mr. Rockman leaving in a daze-like trance, walking out without a word. With the victim's life hanging in the balance and her husband on the run, the detectives must track down the missing man and uncover what turned a quiet evening into a violent assault.

Originally Aired: June 7, 1953

Dragnet #207, "The Big Will," Sergeant Joe Friday and Officer Frank Smith respond to a shooting call on a rainy Sunday night in Los Angeles. When they arrive at 1981 East Borendo, they find Charles Stahl, a 55-year-old bachelor, lying unconscious on his kitchen floor with a gunshot wound to the chest. Paul West, Stahl's longtime neighbor and friend of forty years, has been trying desperately to stop the bleeding after hearing what he thought was the sound of trash cans but was actually the gunshot. As Friday and Smith work to gather information, the critically wounded Stahl briefly regains consciousness, but his dying words are cryptic and unhelpful—he only pleads not to be shot again.

With the victim dead within minutes of their arrival and no clear suspect, Friday and Smith begin their methodical investigation. The crime lab finds a .32 caliber revolver under the kitchen stove with one spent cartridge, but gun records turn up nothing. With no fingerprints, no footprints, and only tire tracks in the alley behind the house to go on, the detectives face a challenging case with virtually no leads on who murdered Charles Stahl or why.

Originally Aired: May 31, 1953

Dragnet #206, "The Big Gun Part 2," Sergeant Joe Friday and Officer Frank Smith continue their investigation of an organized car theft ring, interrogating suspect Sloan in the interview room at the main jail. After his partner Summers has already broken and confessed, Sloan reluctantly agrees to cooperate, but insists he doesn't know the identity of the mysterious boss running the operation. He explains that the mastermind contacts him only by phone at predetermined times, directing which cars to steal and coordinating the entire scheme. Sloan describes an elaborate system where drug addicts steal cars on order, drive them to Mexico using cold license plates, and receive payment in heroin that flows back through Sloan for distribution.

As Friday and Smith press for details about the operation, Sloan admits he was recruited six months ago when he was down on his luck, chosen because of his prior auto theft conviction back east. He reveals how the sophisticated ring moves stolen vehicles across the border to Tijuana, where they're exchanged for narcotics that fuel both the thieves' addictions and the criminal enterprise. Despite his cooperation, Sloan maintains he's never met or identified the calculating boss who engineered the entire operation.

Originally Aired: May 24, 1953

Dragnet #205, "The Big Gun Part 1," Sergeant Joe Friday and Officer Frank Smith catch a case involving a missing rental truck. After Frank recounts his disastrous fishing trip that ended with him spending his day off catching nothing but sunburn on a pier, the partners head to Coventry U Drive truck service on Pico Boulevard. Manager Stephen Cole reports that a man named George Summers rented a brand new two-ton Ford stake truck on Saturday morning, claiming he needed it for a couple hours to haul furniture. The truck never came back, and Summers hasn't been seen since.

Working with only a sketchy description of the renter—a small, blonde man around 25 or 26—and a questionable twenty-dollar deposit check, Friday and Smith begin their investigation. Cole's employee Red has already been sent to check Summers' address on New Jersey Street but hasn't reported back. As the busy rental lot continues taking calls for trucks, Cole worries about more than just the missing vehicle worth twenty-eight hundred dollars. With only two stake trucks in his fleet, every hour the Ford stays missing means lost business.

Originally Aired: May 17, 1953

Dragnet #204, "The Big False Move," opens with Sergeant Joe Friday arriving at the Robbery division office suffering from debilitating headaches and ringing in his ears. His partner Frank Smith insists the problem is a salt deficiency and plies Friday with salt tablets and bottled Poland water before they can investigate their case. The detectives proceed to interview Thomas Stanford, a suspect who has been arrested for robbing a grocery store at gunpoint. Stanford seems unusually cooperative, readily confessing to the crime and providing details about how he held up the female store owner with a 32 automatic, locked her in a back room, and emptied the cash register.

However, as Friday and Smith work through their routine questioning, small inconsistencies begin to emerge in Stanford's account. He claims to have disposed of the gun in Griffith Park and spent all the stolen money on clothes and nightclubs, but something about his story doesn't quite add up. Friday methodically works through the details of the case, his professional instincts working despite his persistent headaches.

Originally Aired: May 10, 1953

Dragnet #203, "The Big Joke," Friday and Smith receive an unusual early morning call from Johnny Bronson, a bartender they know from 6th Street. Johnny tells them about a mysterious phone call he received the night before, in which an unidentified man offered him $5,000 to kill someone named Wilhelm Ulrich. At first, Johnny thought it was a prank, but when a special delivery letter arrives containing five hundred-dollar bills and detailed instructions about the victim's address on Vine Street in Hollywood, he realizes the threat is serious and immediately contacts the detectives.

Friday and Smith investigate the typewritten letter and discover that Wilhelm Ulrich is an elderly German man who was previously the victim of a poisoning attempt involving tainted wine the previous year. With no clear motive, no suspect, and an unwitting hit man who has turned informant, the detectives must race against time to identify who wants Ulrich dead and why. Johnny has no idea who contacted him or why he was chosen for the job, leaving Friday and Smith to piece together the connection between a seemingly harmless bartender and a plot to murder an old man.

Originally Aired: May 3, 1953

Dragnet #202, "The Big Carney," Sergeant Joe Friday and Officer Frank Smith investigate a brazen theft at the Armstrong Schneider Jewelry Company, one of the coast's most prestigious fine jewelry stores. When an expensive $8,000 necklace vanishes during business hours, Mr. Armstrong, the store manager, has already dismissed clerk Charles Henderson for what he considers carelessness. Henderson provides Friday and Smith with detailed descriptions of the suspects: a sunburned man in his thirties with a pencil-thin mustache who speaks like a TV pitchman, and his small, flashy companion with dark hair and blue eyes. The couple posed as wealthy customers interested in expensive necklaces, examining multiple trays of merchandise before Henderson made the critical mistake of leaving them unattended.

As Friday and Smith piece together the details of the theft, Henderson's description of the suspects and their calculated approach suggests this wasn't a crime of opportunity but rather the work of experienced thieves. The detectives must track down this smooth-talking couple before they can fence the stolen necklace or strike again at another unsuspecting jewelry store during the busy Christmas shopping season.

Originally Aired: April 26, 1953

Dragnet #201, "The Big Scrapbook," finds Sergeant Joe Friday and his partner Frank Smith responding to an urgent call from the San Diego Police Department. Three armed and dangerous holdup men have struck the Carlton Surf Hotel, making off with a staggering $135,000 in jewels and $15,000 in cash after forcing the manager to open the safe and robbing guests in the lobby. The suspects locked their victims in a back storeroom before fleeing, and evidence suggests they're heading straight for Los Angeles.

San Diego detectives Carl Davis, Jerry Walk, and Pappy Hewen arrive at city hall to brief Friday and Smith on their prime suspect: Virgil Russell, a former hotel busboy who was positively identified by multiple victims. Russell's sister unwittingly provided crucial evidence when a stolen diamond and ruby brooch fell from his luggage during a hasty morning visit. The manhunt focuses on Russell's red and black 1953 Nash Continental with a distinctive rear window covered in gas station stickers. As the officers coordinate with border authorities and pawn shop detail, they race against time to catch the dangerous trio before they can disappear into the sprawling city or slip across the Mexican border.

Originally Aired: April 19, 1953

Dragnet #200, "The Big Rip," Sergeant Joe Friday and his partner Frank Smith face one of their toughest cases yet: a sophisticated gang has pulled off 35 safe burglaries in just two months, netting nearly $36,000. The thieves are professionals who leave virtually no clues behind, working with precision and using the same pry bar technique to crack safe after safe. Despite checking informants, following leads, and coordinating with the crime lab, Friday and Smith hit dead end after dead end. The gang operates with such tight security that nobody in the criminal underworld seems to know their identities, and all the usual suspects have been cleared.

The case takes a turn when Don Jackson, a former suspect in an unrelated burglary who was cleared and released, contacts Friday with information about the safe burglaries. Jackson, now working at a downtown clothing store, calls the detective with what might be their first real break in the investigation. Friday and Smith rush to meet him at a nearby coffee shop, hoping his rumble on the gang will finally give them the lead they desperately need to crack this elusive operation.

Originally Aired: April 12, 1953

Dragnet #199, "The Big Compulsion," Sergeant Joe Friday and Officer Frank Smith investigate a dangerous pattern of false emergency calls that have been plaguing both the police and fire departments for three weeks. The phony reports tie up critical resources and endanger officers responding to what they believe are genuine emergencies. When a hungover salesman named James Harris is brought in after making prank calls while drunk, Friday and Smith hope they've found their culprit. However, after questioning Harris and verifying his story, they realize he's just a one-time offender, not the serial caller they're seeking.

The real suspect remains elusive, making an average of six false emergency calls per week with no traceable pattern. The caller cleverly reports incidents at street corners where verification is impossible, then hangs up immediately. Captain Gideon and the detectives theorize that the perpetrator must be watching the scenes to enjoy the chaos he creates. Friday and Smith consider examining newspaper photographs of the emergency scenes, hoping to identify someone who appears repeatedly in the crowds, but the case remains frustratingly open as their suspect continues to endanger lives for his own twisted compulsion.

Originally Aired: April 5, 1953

Dragnet #198, "The Big Chet," finds Sergeant Joe Friday and Officer Frank Smith struggling with a frustrating three-month case involving a pair of holdup men who have hit eleven jewelry stores and supermarkets with flawless precision. Despite having detailed descriptions—one suspect is a tall, redheaded man with a stutter, the other a shorter, dark-haired accomplice—and knowing their method of operation down to the minute, Friday and Smith have hit dead ends at every turn. The thieves' pattern is consistent: they enter stores around 10 a.m., ask to use the phone, then pull weapons, tie up victims, and clean out safes before disappearing without a trace. Captain Bidian is feeling the heat from the insurance companies and the front office as the case drags on.

The investigation takes a promising turn when Rod Nealan, a former robbery suspect whom Friday once arrested, contacts the detectives with a potential lead. Nealan spotted two men in a bar who match the suspects' descriptions perfectly, including the telltale stutter. The men were flashing rolls of cash and drinking with a woman who ordered unusual cocktails. With only first names—Chet and Vince—and the location of the bar to go on, Friday and Smith finally have their first real break in the case.