by Hal Erickson
synopsis
Friday (Jack Webb) and Smith (Ben Alexander) answer the call when elderly Martha Dunbetter (Sarah Padden) reports that a burglar has broken into her apartment. On the basis of the woman's description, the two detectives haul in career criminal Ralph Portland (John Beradino). But though they manage to book Portland on a separate crime, it soon develops that he did not invade Miss Dunbetter's home--and in fact, according to the woman's long-suffering sister (Sally Corner), there is a strong likelihood that the "burglary" never took place. This episode is based on the Dragnet radio broadcast of May 13, 1955.
