The Big Signet

Originally Aired: July 31, 1952

Dragnet #162, "The Big Signet," Sergeant Joe Friday and Officer Frank Smith investigate a vicious robbery at a South Hill cafe where 68-year-old owner William Reiner was brutally pistol-whipped during a holdup. Two armed bandits made off with over $800 in cash and a valuable $1,500 diamond signet ring. When responding radio car officers surprised the criminals, they managed to shoot one of them—identified as career criminal Benny Ashford—but his accomplice escaped into the night. Ashford refuses to cooperate from his hospital bed, leaving the detectives to piece together the identity of the second suspect.

Friday and Smith visit the Reiner home to interview the victims, hoping to gather crucial details that might have been overlooked during the initial investigation. Mrs. Reiner, shaken by the violence against her elderly husband and now determined to sell their restaurant, works to recall details about the suspects. She believes the two men may have been customers in the bar earlier that evening, and she remembers the face of the man who attacked her husband with frightening clarity. The detectives methodically gather her description of the escaped assailant as they build their case.