First Aired - February 16, 1967
Sergeant Joe Friday and Officer Bill Gannon are working in the robbery division. Friday and Gannon are working on stopping a string of robberies at cocktail lounges. The only information they have to go on is that the thieves are 4 men wearing full face red masks and that they drive an old red Cadillac. A tip from a waitress helps them locate a juvenile who is the key to finding out the full identify of the masked men.
Just the Tropes, ma'am:
- Age-Gap Romance: Larry and Edna Hubbert. Larry is 17 while Edna is 29. Everyone, including Edna, know that it seems strange.
- Big Eater: Gannon's corned beef and swiss sandwich. Friday does a Double Take when Gannon mentions it contains horseradish, peanut butter and hot mustard.
- Brainless Beauty: The woman Jones is with when Friday and Gannon nail him. He even says she's "all body and no brain".
- Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": Angie, the waitress, only knows customers by their orders and the type of car they are driving. Completely justified as she says there are dozens of people she waits on everyday and rarely talks with anyone outside of their orders. She says she waits on cars, not people.
- Falsely Reformed Villain: Jones was working a steady job, had been following the rules of his parole, and seemed to have turned his life around. But he fell back on his old habits, quit the job, and started committing robberies again.
- Luxury Prison Suite: Al Tucker, Don Jones' parole officer, says that if Don fully cooperates, he can at least try to get him prison work that might interest him.
- Morton's Fork: Edna feels this is what will happen to Larry - either he cooperates and gets a lighter sentence as a juvenile, or he holds out and risks being tried as an adult and sent to prison. Either way, she says, the state will take him away from her.
- No Honor Among Thieves: Once he's arrested, Larry eventually cooperates and points them to Donald Jones. Once Jones is arrested, he names the other two men involved in exchange for more favorable treatment in prison.
- Old Maid: Brought up by Edna. She felt that nobody her own age would love her.
- Only Bad Guys Call Their Lawyers: Once Gannon finds the red mask on Larry, Edna says that they are going to need a lawyer. Once Mr. Auerbach, their public defender, talks with Larry then finding out what evidence the police have from Friday, he advises Larry to fully cooperate with Friday to catch the gang as he believes this will help give Larry a lighter sentence.
- Parenting the Husband: Edna treats Larry as if she is his mother, even though they married. Even saying Larry is just a kid.
