The Big Family

Originally Aired: December 28, 1950

Dragnet #81, "The Big Family," Joe Friday and Ben Romero investigate the mysterious disappearance of John Keith Jarrett, a wealthy and prominent Los Angeles businessman. When Jarrett's abandoned car is discovered at the end of Pier 6 with a suicide note in his coat pocket, the case initially appears straightforward. However, crucial evidence complicates the picture: Jarrett's gun is found carefully hidden under the dashboard with two empty shells, and despite the suicide note, there's no body in the harbor. Friends and business associates insist Jarrett had no reason to take his own life.

The investigation deepens when Friday and Romero interview Mrs. Jarrett, a pale, middle-aged woman who's been drinking heavily. Her chilling assessment of the family reveals a household held together in name only—a successful man too consumed by business to connect with his wife and two grown children. Mrs. Jarrett seems strangely detached from her husband's disappearance, explaining that Jack never cared much about having a real family. As the detectives prepare to interview the Jarrett children, they face a puzzling question: did this broken family finally reach a breaking point?

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