Dragnet – The Big Gap. 550208.

The story you are about to hear is true, only the names have been changed to protect the innocent.

Joe Friday is on the Bunko detail, and on the job to investigate an incident that went down at a pawn shop. The shop owner gives Friday a license plate number to go on. There’s not a lot of mystery, just plodding police routine. Joe Friday, and partner, Frank Smith interview the characters, and the story develops. It’s not always glamourous work, but Friday gets to the man who tried to pawn the fake ring in the first place.

He tells his story, Friday listens, and there seems to be a little more to it beneath the surface.

Being a bunko man, a con man, the guy delivers a long story about how he’s just the victim, and other people are involved, and he didn’t do anything wrong, and so forth. Friday patiently listens to the story, and gets leads to the other connections mentioned in the man’s story. The action takes a fast pace when Joe closes in on the rest of the suspects. They are tough nuts to crack, but the interrogations are designed to wear them down.

They get away today, but they’re not smart, and it’s not long before they get picked up on a later charge.