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There had been one man crime waves before! But the law swiftly obtained a full description of the wanted criminal. This time it was different. There was a baffling twist - the hood never looked the same twice! The law enforcement officials were desparate in an effort to learn the crook's true identity.
It was March 14, 1952, Yonkers Raceway, an unhappy gambler, Barry Stevens, a television actor, was losing his shirt. He played the soaps and lately played tough-guy roles on a TV series. Although famous, he passed unnoticed in the large crowd at the track. He was walking away, gloomy, dejected.
"I- I can't believe it! I really went in over my head this time." Stevens brooded, as he walked to the parking lot.
He was a tall, handsome man in his thirties. A perfect face and voice for an accomplished actor.
"That blasted tipster - he said 'Prince Boy' was a sure thing in the third race. Now I owe a pile to that bookie - and I'd better get it up. These guys play rough." His thoughts agonized him.
But, by eight o'clock, Barry Stevens had put aside his worries and concentrated on his role of the heavy this week. He played the part to the hilt. The crew and cast applauded him. Afterwards, in his dressing room:
"Hey Barry," said a fellow actor, "Aren't you going to take off the makeup now?"
"Sure," he answered, "Sure, you go right ahead - I'm - er - I'm a bit tired."
When the others had left, the hapless actor's troubles settled in on him like a weighty pall...
"I've got to raise some money! But how, how?" He thought, holding his head...then... "Mmm..." he was staring at himself in the dressing room mirror. Holding his prop gun and sporting a fancy mustache, "I could walk into some place wearing this disguise, hold it up and nobody'd ever recognize me! I wouldn't even have to wear a mask!"
The actor, still wearing his makeup slipped out through the side entrance and worked his way to a local gas station where...
"Reach, you guys, and keep 'em up!" The two attendants did what they were ordered, while Stevens emptied the cash register. The two men got a real good look at the thief - twenty minutes later the cops came to get the description.
"The burglar had brown hair, a reddish brown mustache, and he wore a light blue shirt, under a tweed jacket."
Barry was back at the studio, busily destroying the evidence.
"This is perfect - perfect," he laughed.
"The cops'll spend forever looking for the crook that pulled the job tonight! This is perfect!"
In three weeks, Barry Stevens had paid off his bookie, but the germ of easy money and the thrill of real-life action had now taken root and on an April 3rd telecast of his Thrill Theatre show, he went on his crime spree...
This time a half hour after the show, at a roadside restaurant...
"Don't say a word lady, just hand the cash over!"
"Don't shoot mister, here, take it all!" said the terrified cashier. Moments later, Stevens ditched his outfit and went home.
"Yes officer," said the woman he had just robbed, "He was about five feet, ten inches tall, rather dark, beetle-browed, and wore a blue shirt, black bow tie, fedora and double-breasted suit jacket."
At 11:30 the next morning, Lieutenant of Detectives, Mark Carmichael, and police Captain Roy Benson met in the Captain's office...
"Usually, Captain, a sudden outbreak of Lone Wolf burglaries and hold-ups signifies the work of one man," said Carmichael.
"There's only one thing wrong with that theory Mark," the Captain rose from his desk and went over to a board hung on his wall with illustrations of each of the men described in the crimes committed.
"These are police artist's drawings made from the descriptions of eyewitnesses to the various crimes. But they're all different! The only common denominator is that in each case the criminal wore a blue shirt!"
Barry Stevens' disguises were working like a charm and in the weeks that followed, he struck again and again. He was smart enough not to use the same makeup and character impersonation he just played. He mixed it up, carefully changing each personality so they couldn't connect him to any of the crimes!
On May 19th, Detective Carmichael sought relief from the perplexing case with a quiet evening at home. He and his wife and children were watching Thrill Theatre...
"You were once on television too, weren't you daddy?" asked one of the kids.
"Sure, but not as an actor - I was a guest on a panel show."
Moments later as the TV crime play reached his climax...
"Oooh! He's a bad man, isn't he daddy?"
"Don't be afraid, honey! He's only an actor - Barry Stevens, and he's only a bad man on television!"
"He looks ugly, doesn't he dear?" commented Mark's wife.
"All hoods look ugly, my dear."
As the show ended... "I have to say, Barry Stevens wasn't half as mean tonight as he was on the studio's show two saturday's ago," said Mrs. Carmichael.
"It beats me how you remember all those TV programs."
The phone rings.
"Oh, no - if that's headquarters..." said his wife.
"Don't say it, sweetheart," as Mark answered the phone.
"Hello..."
"It's Sims, Lieutenant. Another hold up tonight - the eleventh Lone Wolf holdup in two months - on Columbus Avenue."
"Any description of the hood, Sims?"
"Yes, Lieutenant - a pretty good one! He had black hair, wore a blue shirt and dark, pin-stripped suit."
Carmichael repeated the description - "Black hair, a dark suit and a BLUE SHIRT, did you say? Mmm..."
He mulled over the blue shirt - then said to Sims, "I've got it! Contact studio WMCA at once. I want to see the head of the casting department. And tell Captain Benson I'll meet him at headquarters in half an hour!"
Later, at precinct headquarters...
"This case is going to your head Mark," exclaimed Captain Benson, "You mean, just because that hood tonight had black hair and wore a blue shirt, you think...?"
"I'm sure of it Captain, but we've got to catch him red-handed! Now listen..." Mark began to unfold his plan.
The case neared its end when, on the evening of May 29th, Barry Stevens completed one of his usual tough-guy roles on stage...Nice black banded fedora, pencil mustache, checkered jacket and dark bow tie. The actor moved cross-town to East 57th Street and slipped into the cellar of a nightclub where...
"Don't make a false move, Mister, and you won't get hurt!" Stevens demanded as he pointed the gun at the owner in his man's private office.
Just then... "Don't make a false move either Mr. Stevens, and YOU won't get hurt!" Lt. Mark Carmichael had the drop on him.
"HUH?" said the stunned actor, "You followed me here? You knew! But how? I had a fool-proof gimmick!"
"Yes you did," replied Carmichael, as the officers disarmed and handcuffed Stevens, "Wearing a different get-up for every job, the identical ones you wore on your TV shows! Except for one thing Barry - that blue shirt you wore on every caper you pulled."
He paused a moment to let that fact sink into barry's thoughts. The Lt. continued, "You see, I played a guest shot on TV myself once and I suddenly remembered what the director told me - to wear a blue shirt, because white causes dark shadows on the screen! And when I checked with the casting department of your studio and found out that your TV appearances coincided with the dates of the hold-ups, I was sure it was you!"
"Okay, okay, you've got me," Barry muttered as he was lead away, "Let's get it over with."
Barry Stevens was found guilty and was sentenced to a twelve year stretch up the river!
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THE END
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