The Big String

Originally Aired: January 18, 1953

Dragnet #187, "The Big String," Friday and Smith are called to the home of Henry Wagley, a university political science professor who has discovered his wife Myra missing and a ransom note on the coffee table. The note demands ten thousand dollars in unmarked bills to be dropped at a specific location on Beer Canyon Drive. Wagley is frantic with worry and uncertain how he'll raise the money, insisting his wife would never stage such a thing. As Friday and Smith investigate, they learn that Myra was last heard from when her husband called her around lunchtime, and everything seemed normal. With no obvious enemies or suspicious characters lurking around the neighborhood, the detectives move quickly to photograph the note and check for fingerprints. The department stakes out the drop location as Wagley prepares to make the ransom delivery the following night, with Friday hidden in the back seat and Smith following in an undercover unit, both officers maintaining radio contact as they head into the dark canyon.