Original subtitles

We look at that view. And we've been here all evening with the drapes closed.

Oh, I keep them closed during the day so the sun won't fade the rug. And I just

forgot to open them.

There is something about a penthouse. Yeah, I sure wish I had a friend who

wanted me to babysit her guppies while she was working in New York.

Oh, that reminds me.

The only trouble is, though, I'm getting spoiled.

After this, I'll feel like putting a condemned sign on my house.

When's your friend getting back?

About three weeks.

Anyone want some more coffee?

No, thanks. I think we better be going.

Oh, it's early yet. Yeah, in Bombay. In San Francisco, it's ten minutes after

two o 'clock in the morning.

And unless I read the chief wrong, we're going to have a heavy day tomorrow.

Fran, thank you for dinner. It was great. And thank you for helping me

my new lifestyle.

Temporary, though it may be.

Not at all. What are friends for? Right on. We'll be coming by to help you

celebrate your swimming pool, your tennis court. That's very considerate of

Yeah. Good night, love. Good night. Thanks for coming.

Bye -bye.

Bye. See you tomorrow.

Look, I've had enough.

You're beautiful in that dress, baby.

Blue is your color.

Where are you?

I know everything you're wearing, baby.

Blue dress, pearls, everything.

What do you want?

Well, hello there.

I've been hoping we'd meet. I'm Harry Ashton, partner of 2017, the one right

below you, just in case you ever get lost.

I'm Fran Building.

I know.

And you moved into the penthouse four days ago.

No crystal balls. I asked the manager.

You're not exactly the shy type, are you, Mr. Ashton? Well, I like to stake

territory out early and do away with the competition.

Call me Harry.

Okay, Harry.

You moving in with Karen permanently?

No. She just offered me the use of her place while she's in New York.

My apartment's being painted, and her guppies need feeding. Oh, well, feeding

guppies is a big job.

Of course, you'll need an assistant.

I recommend me very highly.

My experience is practically unlimited.

I'm sure it is.

Then shall we start with dinner tonight and wear your blue dress?

How did you know I had one?

Well, every beautiful girl's got at least one dress that matches her eye.

Tonight?

I'm sorry, I'm busy.

Well, can't win them all.

I'll keep trying.

Oh, by the way, has anyone seen my yellow scarf?

Not I.

I haven't.

Something wrong?

Fran. What?

Oh, no.

No.

Would

you

mind working late tonight?

I'd like to finish these reports.

Sure. Be glad to.

This the complete requisition list?

Through this month.

Summary report.

It includes everything but... Let's call it a night.

I'll check it tomorrow.

I thought you wanted to finish up.

Well, I've changed my mind.

Okay. You, uh, have a dinner date or anything?

No. All right.

Come on, we'll go over to the wharf.

You want a diet or something?

No.

I'm just... having one of my not very hungry spells.

When did they start?

Never noticed you having any before.

All women have them.

Whenever their clothes start feeling tighter.

It's funny.

I'd say you lost weight.

Do you notice everything?

Everything important.

What's so important about me losing a little weight?

Depends on why you lost your appetite.

I guess you'd call it subconscious appetite control.

Look, Chief, you don't have to bother taking me home. I can grab a cab. Of

course I have to bother taking you home.

On top of that, how about giving me a nightcap?

A nightcap?

What's the matter?

My company that boring?

Oh, no.

No, of course not.

Check, please.

have an admirer.

I can't imagine who.

Ed and Mark were right. This is a great place.

Excuse me.

Sure. I'll fix a drink. You want one?

No, thanks.

Just fine.

You're not alone, are you, baby?

There's a man with you.

What makes you think that?

getting these calls for a week, Fran, since the first night you moved in.

you think it's time we talked about them?

When did you find out?

Got a report from headquarters when you made the first voice tape.

Well, I am a policewoman, and I should be able to handle a little thing like an

anonymous phone call.

There's quite a difference between anonymous and threatening, Fran.

But they weren't threatening.

Just cookie.

Well, that's what hung me up.

I couldn't even get a court order to have the phone tapped.

Well, you can get one now.

It doesn't make sense.

It just doesn't.

Now, why would anyone threaten me?

And how did he know where I was? How?

All right.

He woke me up. The first time.

It was about one or two in the morning.

I tried to find out who he was and where he was calling from.

He wouldn't give me a clue.

The next day, he was on the phone again.

He kept calling, all hours.

He knows my name, what I eat, and the clothes I wear.

I suppose you've checked for bugs.

I've checked for everything.

Bugs, transmitters.

There's nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

Did anyone else know you were moving in?

Karen didn't know she was leaving till the last minute. What about Karen?

Do you know whether she got any calls like this?

No. I phoned her in New York.

Do any of the other windows face another building?

Yes, the bedroom.

You seem to have complete privacy.

But he even repeats conversations I've had.

Names records I've been playing.

It's like being haunted.

You could move out.

I could.

All right.

I think you'll be all right tonight.

I'll put this building under complete surveillance.

They'll check tomorrow on the tenants.

Got rundowns on the staff.

Meantime, you get a good night's sleep.

Call me in the morning before you start for headquarters.

And we will get this lot changed.

All right.

I checked with the florist.

There's no record of any flowers being sent to me and no fingerprints except

mine. The rest were smudges.

Tenants are all respectable, average citizens, nothing special, except Harry

Ashton. Mr. Swingman.

He's got a swinging employment record, too.

He sold everything from wigs to special trout lures, dealt poker for a year in

Reno, then in Vegas, came here seven months ago and got a job in a dance

He quit after two months, worked as a bartender for another month.

And he is now unemployed.

And he's always behind in his rent, which is not quite enough to get thrown

In short, a hustler.

What about the staff?

I'll clean one recent employee, maintenance supervisor, named Barnes.

How recent?

Four months. Before that, he was with the Marcan Rubber Company.

Good record.

There's not much to go on. Well, obviously, our caller has constant

the building, or he wouldn't know so much about your movements.

Karen sending us the authorization to tap the phone?

Yes. Air mail special.

Good. Mark, check everybody who's been connected with Bayside Towers.

Everybody? Everybody, even the builder.

Meantime, I'd like to look over those tenants personally.

Hey, Johnny.

You look great.

Really great.

Thank you.

Johnny, I'd like you to meet my uncle, Mr. Ironside. Uncle Bob, this is Johnny

Garland. Nice to meet you, Johnny.

Hello. Looks like a great party.

Sure does.

Who plans these?

We've got a social director.

Just like a resort.

Yeah. Hey, sweet lips. Now, where have you been?

Oh, I had some last -minute dictation.

The price of being a secretary.

Yeah, well, all I see is a sex symbol I'm about to dance with. Come on.

Later, Harry.

I'd like you to meet my Uncle Bob.

He's just come in from Denver, and he's going to be in town for a while. Hello,

my Uncle Bob. It's a sin to waste this music, darling. Come on. She said later.

You old enough to drink beer, kid?

Yeah.

chick in the place.

That is gross.

It's worse than Ashton.

There you go, sweetie.

Better watch him. These days his old lady will split on him, take her money

her. Who is he?

Been living in this apartment house, Johnny.

Since they opened it?

I guess you must know everybody around here.

Little.

Like the creeps.

Not Miss Belding, of course.

Of course.

How long have you been in that wheelchair? A long time?

Been a few years.

What were you doing before?

Most of the same things I do now.

Like what?

Well, I do the same work, have the same friends. What kind of work?

Sitting at a desk?

Yes, there's some desk work involved.

There's also fishing, ball games.

I do a lot of swimming.

And being in a wheelchair is like everything else. It's what you're

You really believe that?

I know it.

Long distance call from your father, Johnny. He's in Detroit.

Thanks, Jake.

Thank you.

I'm glad you dropped in. Sit down.

Got a call from Ed for us.

The girl was murdered last night.

This neighborhood.

Chief, I don't want another policewoman staying with me.

Brian, that girl lived only a few blocks from this place.

That could be a coincidence.

Could be, but I'm not willing to take any chances.

What about the anonymous phone calls she's been getting? Good threat. Do you

think that's a coincidence, too?

Well, if it is the same man, I'm the best lead we have.

Provided you stay alive.

My sentiments exactly.

Look, I know I'm taking a risk, but he's suspicious.

scare him off completely, and we can't afford to lose him.

Anyway, Mark or Ed are right across the street.

They're still at the rec room. You sure?

Yeah, I just left there. I thought the party broke up.

It did.

The Rawlins had smashed.

Him and his old lady were having a beef.

You ought to hear him.

That's too bad.

He's been asking for it.

She caught him on the back of the air. I was trying to make out with that chick.

Man, is she ripping him off.

I guess we'll leave the visiting to another time.

Yes. Thanks, Johnny.

See you later.

Night, Johnny.

Good night.

Night.

Two possibilities.

Someone either has access to the Rollins apartment or access to the Rollins

phone.

Terminal panel might give us a clue.

Well, we'll have a look and meet you back at the apartment.

I'll take care of this.

And if one had been tapped not too long ago, take Joe Fred.

Miss Belding.

Oh, well, hello, Mr. Barnes.

You're not supposed to be in there, Miss Belding. Maintenance staff only. Didn't

you see the sign?

Well, we were looking for the ice machine.

I thought it was in there.

Well, how'd you get in there?

Uh, the door was unlocked.

Unlocked? Yeah. It's not supposed to be.

All the wiring's in there. We don't want anybody fooling around.

Well, I didn't mean you, Miss Belling, but you know we do have to be careful.

Of course.

There's an ice machine in the rec room.

Oh, yes.

I remember now.

Thanks. Thank you. Bye.

Camera's all set up.

Anybody opening that panel gets his picture taken free.

Trouble? No.

As a telephone repairman, I'm probably a genius.

I also checked on Johnny Garber.

His only child, his mother's dead.

His father's concerned, but he's away a lot of the time, traveling on business.

The boy quit school after his spinal column was permanently injured in an

accident.

Since then, he's dropped out of just about everything, I guess, except

photography.

Yes, he mentioned once photography was his hobby, but he'd never let me see any

of his work.

Consensus is he's a pretty mixed -up kid. Has he had any psychiatric help?

visit, never went back.

He's also had eight different tutors since he quit school. They all leave

a few weeks.

Why? They claim they can't get anywhere with him.

He's sullen, won't do his assignments, disappears for hours at a time.

And he gets violently angry when he's crossed.

Why? I didn't mean to scare you.

I didn't expect anyone.

Usually you can hear the elevator.

Well, I walked down.

Hey, very nice.

Did anyone ever tell you you have a one -track mind?

Well, I can't overdo a good thing.

Hey, where are you going?

I'm going back upstairs.

To leave me here to brood about what I'm missing?

You'll survive.

Anything else in the place disturb Fran?

No.

He must have seen me go to the laundry room. I had a feeling I was being

watched. That when you heard the squeaking sound?

Yes.

I heard it once or twice before.

We'll have an alarm put in your apartment as soon as possible.

Our mystery guest is still with us. The FBI can't match his voice print either.

You get anything definite at all?

Yeah. It's a man.

What I can't figure is if it's Fran he's after, why hasn't he made his move?

I don't know, Mark.

If he's a sadist, it might figure. A cat playing with a mouse.

First the calls, then the death note. Everything builds.

Why would he pick Fran?

Maybe he didn't. Maybe he just picked a number out of a phone book.

It's possible.

But why wouldn't he think I was Karen?

The phone's listed in her name.

No, it wasn't a random call with someone who knew the apartment.

Had the number before you moved in.

You know, there aren't too many illustrators around.

Karen must have a lot of clients.

She does.

The last few months, she's been doing some illustrating work for the Kavanaugh

Corporation. They're the ones who send her to New York.

She usually works at home, right?

Then all of her clients must have her phone number.

Of course.

Mark, get me a complete list of her employers, everybody she's worked for

the last five years.

Suppose he's not after Fran.

Then it has to be something connected with the apartment.

I've searched every inch.

Well, we've missed something.

All I know is any other girl would have moved out.

Ed?

Ed, you were absolutely right.

Chief Einstein's office.

Mark, there's a penthouse in the building across from here.

I want you to find out who lives in it.

Call me back as soon as you know.

And get some of our electronics boys over here.

Right.

Sure, I went to the penthouse.

I wanted to see Fred.

I mean, Miss Belding.

Why did you leave?

I thought she was alone, but I heard your voice.

And you wanted to talk to her privately?

Yeah.

Is something wrong with that?

Of course not.

Why did you follow me?

Curiosity, mostly.

Now, maybe you don't want company.

There's not much to do around here.

There is, according to the advertising in the newspaper.

That's if you've got legs.

No friends coming by?

No.

Nobody wants to be with a guy who just sits around.

Then you'll just have to stop sitting around.

Sure I will. I mean, sitting around in your mind.

Your life isn't over, Johnny, as long as you've got a brain.

I'm 17.

I want to do things.

I haven't done anything yet.

I want to go to a dance. Maybe you've forgotten.

That car accident of yours finished all that. That's gone.

From now on, you've got... Look, let's not talk about it, okay?

Okay.

Look, how about showing me some of your photos? Fran says you're into

photography. I don't need good.

Oh, come on. I do a little fooling with a camera myself.

Yeah.

Again. When

did

you get that?

I was by the pool and I saw her.

I take a lot of candidates.

A lot.

It's a hobby.

This a hobby, too?

I found it in the elevator.

I was going to give it to her, but I forgot.

But what's so bad about that?

Or the picture, either.

She's pretty.

And I dig her.

I really dig her. And why you watch her all the time?

I don't watch her. I don't. Then why did you hide near the laundry room last

night? She heard your wheelchair.

No. I wasn't there.

It was Harry. He was with...

Okay, so I was there.

So what?

So what?

You spy on her?

Sneak pictures?

What about phone calls, Johnny?

You ever call her on the phone?

What do you mean, call her on the phone?

I don't know her.

You mean and say things?

Is that what you mean?

You think I'm some kind of a weirdo, don't you?

Everybody does.

My father.

Jake. Well, I don't care.

I don't care about anybody in this whole...

But it belongs to Harold Cavanaugh.

Cavanaugh Corporation.

Isn't that the company Karen Norton's working for?

Right. She's on assignment for the vice president. A guy named Daniel Leary.

Well, I don't understand, Sergeant. Why are you asking me these questions?

We're just tightening our security.

According to the papers, Mr. Cavanaugh is flying in tonight from Hawaii.

Is that correct?

Oh, gee, I wouldn't know that.

As you may know, Mr.

Cavanaugh likes his personal privacy, so he never tells anybody what his plans

are. I see.

What about the penthouse? Does he use it often?

Well, he comes to San Francisco a couple of times a year. He may stay in the

penthouse or he may stay in the suite at the hotel, but even I don't know that

until he calls me.

In other words, all these stories about his being a ghost man, they're all true.

Well, let's just say a man in his position has to be elusive for business

reasons and personal reasons.

His safety is our job. We want to make sure he's adequately protected.

What are you saying? Is something wrong?

I mean, is he in danger or what?

I would hope not.

Well, I'll tell you what I can do. If I'm notified that he's coming to town,

I'll be glad to let you know. But I wouldn't count on it if I were you

as I say, he's seldom where he's supposed to be.

Well... Thank you very much for your cooperation, Mr. Leary.

You're welcome.

Sorry I couldn't help you more.

So long. Mm -hmm.

Everything I could get on a Cavanaugh company.

Did Ed talk to Larry?

Yes. And?

Is Cavanaugh coming in tonight?

Larry didn't know.

Seems Cavanaugh doesn't confide in his associates. Even Larry, the most

important man in this company.

That's hard to believe.

Yes. That report isn't going to tell you the whole story.

Your broker friend doesn't advise buying Cavanaugh stock right now. Why not?

Well, according to the insiders, there's a power struggle going on between

Harold Cavanaugh and his board of directors.

Who's considered the most likely successor?

Daniel Leary.

Anything else?

They found the man that murdered that girl.

No possible tie -in with the calls to me.

All right.

Now, I would like you to move out for a couple of days.

Move out?

Why? Because I'm moving in.

Go to a motel or something. Charge it to the office.

Do I have a choice as a matter of fact?

No, that's what I thought

Chief, I'm in the garage. He's been here.

He's right there.

Fran.

Mark, you get that? Yeah, I'm on my way.

Take over.

Check the pool. I've got the basic.

You okay?

I'm fine.

What did he want?

I don't know. He just tied me up and left.

Did you get a good look at it? No, he was wearing a mask.

How did you find me?

It was too quiet in here. Your admirer forgot to turn on the dryer.

in the penthouse.

it right there.

Put the gun on the floor.

Barnes!

Why didn't you leave? I only wanted you to move out of here. Why didn't you

leave? I'm a policewoman.

Policewoman? And I'm not her Uncle Bob. Now, who hired you, Barnes?

Nobody. You were out to kill Kavanaugh yourself?

Why? You're not going to get anything out of me.

It was Larry, wasn't it?

He wanted Kavanaugh out of the way so he could take over his company. Wasn't

that it? A power play?

I don't know what you're talking about.

Okay, Barnes.

Okay, if you'd rather take the rap alone. If you think protecting him is

to get you anything, I'll make you a bet.

He won't even pretend you're alive.

Take him downtown.

Let's go.

No, wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute here.

Listen, will you give me a break if I talk?

That's not up to me.

I like to hunt.

I've always been good with a gun.

And Mr. Leary, he offered me so much money that I wouldn't have to be some

janitor again.

You understand, don't you? A man can't spend his life cleaning up other

messes.

I guess I got me an even bigger mess now.

I guess you have.

This apartment is the only place he could have gotten a clean shot at

Another minute and he would have been dead.

No.

Kavanaugh's in Sausalito.

Wait a second.

Close the drive.

It's Ed.

He heard the alarm same time we did.

He was safe.

All right, come on. I want to pick up Larry.

One second.

I forgot to feed the guppies again.

You all set?

I feel like Cinderella going back to the air hoop.

You're hunking away.

Hello.

I, um... I came by to say goodbye, Miss Belding, and to apologize to your uncle.

I mean, Chief Ironside, for blowing my lid.

Come in, Johnny.

I didn't know what was happening.

If I had any idea... We didn't have any ideas either.

Not at the time.

I guess I pushed you pretty hard.

I don't blame you for getting sore.

Yeah, but I've been acting like a sorehead for a long time.

I figure if you can be a cop, a young guy like me could be anything.

Oh, I don't mean you're that old.

I mean... I know exactly what you mean, Johnny.

I know exactly and I agree completely.