Dragnet – Big Fire. ep144, 520313

Homicide Detail. A complaint about an apartment owner who threatens his tenants if they move in gets the attention of Joe Friday.

Joined by partner, Ed Jacobs,, Joe Friday interviews a housewife in the auto court. Pete Cameron has a good job at the airplane factory, but with housing shortages, they’re doing the best they can. Mrs Cameron tells about being turned away from an apartment at gun point.

The cops visit the apartment owner to warn him of his responsibility as a gun owner, and see why the Cameron’s lease can’t be honored. Daniels faces jail time, and the cops continue checking with neighbors to get more sides of the story. Is Daniels known to be violent, or have a bad temper? The main problem in the freshly cleaned apartment building seems to be all the rags, painters gear, and the odor of chemical fumes. Joe Friday stakes the apartments out, and shares the mundane procedure taken thus far.

Daniels admits his other apartment building that burned also had kerosene, and other debris laying in around. Can Joe and Ed prevent another arson? Oliver Randal is picked up, and questioned about his employer, Daniels, and being instructed to start fires. The dim witted employee leads the cops to Daniels, and he confesses why he burned down the new construction sites.