The Big Chick

Originally Aired: June 29, 1954

Dragnet #254, "The Big Chick," opens with a grim discovery: the body of a man found floating in MacArthur Park Lake. When Sergeant Joe Friday and Officer Frank Smith are called in by Homicide Detective Jack McCready, they learn the victim is Walter Gilmer, a career criminal with a lengthy arrest record. The coroner's report reveals Gilmer died of narcotics poisoning, possibly from the inferior grade of heroin that has been flooding Los Angeles from Mexico. With no solid leads on the drug operation, Gilmer's death provides Friday and Smith with a potential breakthrough.

Working alongside McCready and Detective Danny Galindo, Friday and Smith track down Gilmer's known associates. Their investigation leads them to David Flack, a heroin user who was the last person seen with Gilmer alive. Under interrogation, Flack admits he was with Gilmer when he died after taking a fix from a mysterious new connection. Facing a potential murder charge, Flack reveals that Gilmer had found a new heroin source but refused to share the details, insisting it was the best deal he'd ever made. Now Friday and Smith must determine whether this new connection is linked to the deadly drug ring terrorizing the city.