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Burglary detail. A safe cracker has been burglarizing businesses, and Joe Friday is called on to put a stop to it.
On the day watch, Joe listens to the details of a recent robbery. Joe shares a smoke with the suspect as he walks him to the in derogation room. Joe, and his partner, Bill Lockwood, poke holes in their man’s story. Why was he hanging around the drugstore with a crowbar? Though he has a record of narcotics arrests, he’s no burglar, and was in jail during some of the robberies.
In voiceover, Joe tells how such dead end leads need to be pursued, though they take time away from finding the criminals. More leads take the cops to an ex-convict who now runs a chicken ranch. Chandler seems to be on the road to reforming, and has an alibi for the crimes. More possible suspects are checked out from the known ex-convicts in the area. A machinist tells about a customer with a special request. Ralph McKinnley doesn’t have a police record, but Joe tells how the man and his strange request may play into the crime spree.
On the trail of McKinnley, the cops finally corner him, and take the busy man downtown. The uncooperative man is a tough nut to crack. Can the cops make a connection with any of their leads? It takes forensics from the crime lab, and plenty of pressure, but a payoff comes from a police stakeout on his apartment.
