Originally Aired: February 7, 1934
Calling All Cars #11, "The Smashed Windshield," takes listeners into one of Los Angeles' most outrageous crimes: the kidnapping of Mary Steele, wife of Walter Fisher Steele, dean of the music school at the University of Southern California. On a quiet Sunday evening, while her husband plays the organ at church, Mrs. Steele receives an urgent phone call claiming her husband has been injured in a traffic accident. When a car arrives to take her to the hospital, she discovers too late that it's all a cruel hoax. The supposed orderly and nurse are actually kidnappers who whisk her away into the night, demanding $10,000 ransom.
When son Franklin Steele rushes to the emergency hospital only to find his father perfectly safe at church, the terrible truth emerges. Returning home, Walter and Franklin discover Mary missing and a threatening ransom note shoved under their door, warning them that others who involved the police "always paid off in flowers afterwards." Despite the dire warnings, the Steeles immediately contact the authorities, bringing Detective Chief Joe Taylor and Detective Al Pittman into a case that will test every resource of the Los Angeles Police Department.