The Big Rain

Originally Aired: November 3, 1953

Dragnet #220, "The Big Rain," Sergeants Joe Friday and Frank Smith are working the night watch in homicide when they catch a brutal assault case during a torrential Los Angeles rainstorm. A woman in her early forties is found sprawling across a sidewalk with her head in the gutter, barely saved from drowning by the position of a storm drain. She appears to have a skull fracture and internal injuries, and her expensive clothing is torn. Her purse and one shoe are missing, suggesting robbery or worse.

The man who called in the crime, Cecil August Johnson, becomes their primary focus for questioning. Johnson's story quickly unravels as he gives contradictory statements about his past, including time spent at Camarillo State Hospital. He claims to know the victim as "Grace," saying he met her at a Hollywood bar where she told him about fighting with her husband. As Friday and Smith press him, Johnson admits to being a compulsive liar and reveals a disturbing history. The detectives must determine whether they're dealing with a confused witness or something far more sinister.