The Big Late Script

Originally Aired: July 26, 1951 Dragnet #111, "The Big Late Script," Sergeant Joe Friday and his partner Ben Romero are called in when prominent businessman Tony Richmond vanishes from his North Hollywood home under suspicious circumstances. While Richmond and his family are watching television, two unidentified men arrive at the front door. A neighbor, Mrs. Sanford, witnesses Richmond being escorted down his front steps by the two men and driven away in a dark sedan, though it's unclear whether he went willingly. The situation takes a darker turn when Richmond's wife Adele receives a threatening phone call demanding twenty thousand dollars for her husband's safe return. Captain Lorman, Friday, and Romero respond to the Richmond home, but they immediately face a critical obstacle. A frightened and desperate Adele Richmond wants to handle the ransom payment herself without police involvement, fearing the abductors are watching and will harm her husband if they discover the authorities are involved. Friday must convince the terrified woman to trust the police while racing against time to find Tony Richmond before the situation becomes deadly.