Original subtitles

Oh, shut up your cackling.

Girl, it's way past your bedtime.

Look, I'm not your keeper. I'm a guest here.

working too hard.

Why don't you go up to my place in the country and relax?

Relax. Science side?

Science side?

Herman, get an ambulance over to Commissioner Randall's place right away.

been shot.

Not the commissioner, that detective.

Ironside. The Ironside.

And now, for a report on national news, we take you directly, but first, from

Sonoma County, a police report that San Francisco's chief of detectives, Robert

Ironside, was shot by an unknown assailant last night.

The attack occurred on a chicken farm in Glen Ellen, owned by police

commissioner Dennis Randall, where Ironside, at 46, the city's youngest

detectives, was spending his first vacation.

in a quarter of a century on the force.

Doctors at St. Mary's Hospital in Sonoma describe his condition as critical.

And now, to New York. Bob Ironside was a cop's cop.

I know you don't understand that, and neither will your readers.

But you might as well put it in.

People expect it.

Going to work tonight, Ed?

Why not?

Well, I can cover for you.

I thought maybe, you know, with Ironside.

You know what he used to tell me?

The only excuse for a policeman taking a day off is death.

His own.

If it wasn't for Ironside, I'd still be a shoplifter.

He made me understand I had a talent.

He was a policeman.

But he had an eye for the finer things in life.

You knew him, didn't you?

Yes. Is it true that he got you to join the force?

You're a Whitfield, aren't you?

I mean one of the Whitfields. Yes.

Yes, I am a Whitfield.

I am also a graduate of Briarcliff and Swarthmore.

And I'm on the force because I was a witness at a jewel robbery three years

And Chief Ironside said that I had excellent powers of observation.

For abroad, he said.

Then he told you to go to the police academy.

He did not. He told me not to.

He said that police work would break my heart.

Excuse me.

Tina found this. The only sound footage of Ironside ever made. Put it on, honey.

Sure. Has it ever been used?

Couldn't be. Political reasons.

You'll see.

We can make the network with a quickie special if he goes today. Shot in the

night on a lonely Glen Ellen chicken farm brought an end to a career in

detection that spanned three decades.

Baseball meant Joe DiMaggio when he arrived on the force.

It meant Willie Mays when... Here we go. He's speaking at the Police Academy

graduation in 1959.

And now a few words from Chief of Detectives Robert Ironside.

I told you some lies, boys.

But don't get mad at him.

He figures if he told you the truth, you'd all quit.

Now, I know you won't because you're all out of your flaming minds anyway or you

wouldn't be here.

Truth is, you're not going to earn the respect of any flaming community.

Most of the citizens won't notice you any more than they would a streetlight.

Only when you're not there, they'll holler the way they would if the

went out. Most of them figure you're on the take.

And the rest of them will try to put you there.

One or two of you will go on the tape.

And the rest of you will be hated for it.

Right, Commissioner?

He's not going to tell you either.

So, you'll do the best you can.

And you'll get no thanks for it. And one day you'll stop a bullet.

And they'll decide you weren't a brute or a crook or incompetent.

Just a cop.

A man trying to do an impossible job.

And down at the station house, the squad will take up a collection for your

widow, if you've been silly enough to get married.

That'll be that.

Well, welcome aboard, boys.

Is that a great lead for an obit?

Someday you'll stop a bullet.

Did he ever get married?

To the force.

I mean to a woman. Yeah, I have too. But she died. Wouldn't have worked out

anyway. Can't be married to two wives.

Well, go ahead, polish it up.

You doing the Ironside wrap -up? Yeah. Forget it. He spooled us again.

Now they say he's gonna live.

Who?

I'm Sister Agatha, Mr.

Ironside.

You are in St.

Mary's. In Sonoma.

Who blessed it, not where?

Now, you've got to rest.

And I already told you who I am.

Are you him?

There's no one else here.

Oh, him. The slob who did it.

Who shot me, then? Oh, you hush now.

They don't know who shot you.

What day is it?

Thursday night.

I was shot.

Tuesday night.

These two will know.

Damn it. What are we paying them for?

Take off your flaming hat, Ed. You're in the flaming house.

We are a little testy this morning.

I'll take that. Thank you. I've got it.

Let's take his coat and hat. The great bush goes over here.

Thank you.

If you like, I'll take that. I have to keep that. I'm on duty.

Sergeant Brown, Sergeant Agatha.

You two ought to get along well together.

You're both duty happy Well, what are you waiting for the doctor ordered me to

stay the doctor ordered me not to turn over

my case.

Expect to make an arrest within 24 hours.

Meaning they haven't got a flaming notion.

Meaning they haven't got a flaming... exactly that.

I gotta get a phone.

Sister!

I checked with your doctor.

A drink before dinner is all right.

Where's the whiskey? Oh, you think of something.

I, uh... have thought of something.

I need a phone.

Not a chance.

Give me the commissioner's office.

Maxine, is the boss in?

Me, Ironside. Who'd you think?

No, only the good die young.

He's where?

Conference with who?

Yes, you do that.

Pacific Union Club?

I want Commissioner Dennis Randall.

He isn't.

All right.

Give me the steam room, please.

Ernie, this is me. At table three, there's a fellow lying on his back under

sheet, sleeping and sweating.

Stick a phone under his nose, will you?

Commissioner? I am an irate taxpayer, and I demand to know what is being done

the investigation of the dastardly attack on a splendid American, Chief

Ironside.

I'm feeling fine, Dennis.

Now, answer my question.

I thought so.

Oh, Keeley's all right for a young fellow.

No, no, I don't want you to put anybody else on it.

I'll take it over myself.

Myself. M -Y -S... Hold on.

The commissioner wants to know how quick I can get back to take over my case.

Well?

I want to talk to you about that. Later.

This is probably costing me a nickel a minute. How long?

Well, you should be able to leave here in about two weeks.

I'll see you a week from Sunday.

Rosie's place.

Goodbye, Commissioner.

Well, spit it out.

Let me guess.

My health insurance has run out and you need this room for a very rich man with

the gout.

I thought a conversation was supposed to be first on one side and then on the

other. It's your turn.

Mr. Ironside, I've been studying your x -rays.

And so has the orthopedist, and so has the chief surgeon.

You can go home in a week, if you like. But what?

I'm not going to last long, is that it?

How long? A month?

This afternoon?

You're not going to die, Mr. Ironside.

Not ever?

You hear that, sister?

Not from your wound, that is.

But the bullet...

Shatter the nerve junction in your spine.

What does that mean?

Well, neurologically speaking, it means... Not neurologically speaking,

speaking.

It means that there's no reason that you can't live a full and productive life.

It means that when you leave here, you can do anything you like.

Anything except walk.

Don't you two have anything else to do?

All right, you told me.

I've had guys confess to murder quicker.

What do you do when you have real bad news?

Bring in a flaming fiddler to play hearts and flowers?

What is all this?

Chief Ironside, the doctors, nurses, and the staff of this hospital want you to

know how honored we are to have had you as a patient.

And your courage and unfailing good humor have been an inspiration

to us all.

And we would like you to accept a token of the high regard that we feel for you.

Oh.

Presented by the staff of St. Mary's Hospital to the world's greatest

Something tough, guys.

I hope you people don't shell out your good money for door prizes every time

people upstairs blow a case.

And thank you.

Yeah.

What happens if you wave?

If you ever decide to get out of your business, you'd make a great cop.

Too fast for you, Chief?

That'd be the day.

You should have gone back to the farm for a couple of days. Why?

You need the rest.

Why? You must be tired.

What have I done to be tired?

All right, stop the car.

Stop the flaming car.

I can't stop here. Yes, you can.

Emergency stops permitted.

Stop the car, Sergeant.

We've been friends for a long time.

I'd hate to think there was anything you wanted to say to me and haven't because

you thought I might take offense.

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

All the way down here, you've been telling me how tired I should be, how I

to rest.

It's the truth.

As far as it goes, but there's more to it. That's the part I want to hear.

You've got to take it easy, Chief.

You mustn't exert yourself, Chief, because you're a cripple, Chief. You say

that, Eve.

Why? Because I'm asking you to.

You're...

a

cripple, Chief.

Okay, Ed, your turn.

Then say, that goes for me, too.

Goes for me, too.

All right, now you've said it.

And neither of you ever has to say it again.

Well, what are we waiting for?

Don't you know it's against the law to stop on the freeway?

The 49ers trailing by four points. Time for maybe two more plays.

Customers away from the booze.

That was a pretty scare you gave us, Bob.

We were about breaking out with that black martini pitcher.

If I've survived 20 years of drinking your booze, I'm not about to get stopped

by any bullet.

Do you have any ideas who plugged your chief? Yeah, somebody with a grudge

against me. Well, that narrows it down to about a million.

How are you going to handle the case?

No comment on that as of this moment.

Glad to see you, Bob.

Mind if I don't stand up?

Well, I'd be going back to work sir. Is he going to investigate the attempt on

his life? Is this an official meeting?

How soon before we get the details on one quiet quiet you wing -stained hyenas

They'll always cooperate.

You just gotta know how to handle it. This is an unofficial meeting a private

unofficial We may have a statement later usual Ricky But how are you feeling

Bob?

You shouldn't ask that I might tell you

Frustrated.

Bored.

Already? Why, you just got out of the hospital. I was bored when I went in

from that vacation you made me take.

Dennis, I need a job.

Well, maybe I can help you, Bob.

There is an opening.

As assistant security chief at the Port Authority.

Now, Dennis... I've only had two bosses in my whole life.

United States Navy and the city of San Francisco. I'm not about to try for

three, and the Navy isn't going to take me back.

Well, neither will the city. Now, don't misunderstand me. I won't. It's not up

to me.

I'd be glad to have you in the department any time, in or out of a

But there are rules.

We'll never get a waiver for that. And the day you start working, that'll be

end of your pension.

I guess you're right.

Of course, I could work for nothing.

Well, of course, you wouldn't want to do that. Why not? If I don't get paid, we

don't need a waiver. I could keep my pension.

I could start with my own case.

As a private citizen?

As a consultant.

There's no precedent.

The mayor says he wants the help of qualified volunteers. Well, you know I

qualify. And I am volunteering.

Well, I guess... Well, why not? We could try.

Okay, boys.

Gentlemen, I believe the commissioner has a statement.

When you use it, try to spell his name right.

Former Chief of Detectives Robert Ironside has returned to the department.

Oh, very great.

Chief Ironside will work out of my office on special assignment.

His first assignment...

will be to assist in the investigation into the attack on himself. And that's

all. Let's go.

Thank you.

I'll need a small staff.

Sergeant Brown, policewoman Whitfield.

Oh, sure.

There's an empty storeroom on the third floor down at headquarters. I'd like

that for my office.

I can pick up whatever furniture and other stuff I need if you list okay.

Commissioner, just one, please.

You sure you don't want my watch and ring?

No.

We've already got to watch her.

That.

We'll have to go.

Nonsense.

No home should be without one.

Gives me height, mobility, and comfort.

Besides, it has great historical significance.

You know what event took place in this barber's chair?

No.

And I don't think I want to.

I'll get it.

Smiling Dan Cruikshank suddenly died in this chair.

Old Ferry Building, 1939.

Chili.

You'll die of scurvy.

Chili happens to contain every food element needed to support life.

According to whom?

Anyhow, I like chili.

Right.

News from the outside world?

You remember that list we made up?

People who might hate you?

Yeah. Might have satisfied customers.

What about it? A fella named Tom Carey?

If he swore an open court, he'd kill me.

I told him he'd have to wait his turn. Only, he doesn't get out. Only, he

out ten days before you were shot. What would his mother think?

You figure that makes him a suspect?

You put him in jail.

He broke out.

Ten days later... The trouble with you people is when you go to the movies, you

watch the screen.

You see criminals hiding in abandoned warehouses.

There hasn't been an abandoned warehouse in this country since before World War

II. Now, in the movies, escaped prisoners commit crimes. Whereas in real

they're model citizens.

They act that way. Oh, they may steal a car or grab a hostage as part of their

escape.

Once they're out, they observe speed limits, drink in moderation or not at

cross at the green and pay all taxes when due because anything else makes

conspicuous and they do not want to be noticed.

Now, query.

Would Tom Carrey, having gone to a lot of trouble to get loose, risk his

just for the satisfaction of taking a pop at me?

Next case.

you doing with this antique?

This vehicle is the property of Chief Ironside by authority of Commissioner

Randall.

This is your life, Robert Ironside.

Good. Charlie Akron.

Extortion murder. He's dead now, I'm afraid.

Benny Byrne. They called him Boom Boom. He was a bomb man. He wouldn't have used

a rifle.

Baby Peggy Marvel.

Fired only one rifle shot in her whole life, but that was a beauty.

Caught her husband in his doxy with one bullet. Into the sunlight at 200 yards

with a strong crosswind.

Ah, where are they now?

You doing any good?

I got the same answer Ballistic's got, Chief.

The shots came from just about here and among the stand of sycamores. Pretty

good shot.

We'll have to get a list of all criminals who've used rifles.

I don't think there is one. Then we'll make one.

Chief. Well, welcome, Commissioner.

How about that patrol wagon?

Yeah, how about that? Isn't she a beauty? You know, we usually put those

up for a surplus sale.

Oh, it's all right. I told everybody who authorized me to take it. You did what?

Well, you said I should pick up whatever it was I needed.

What numbskull forgot to turn off the chili?

I'll get it.

There is an ordinance against cooking in these rooms.

Commissioner, I'm going to forget you ever mentioned that.

Yeah? Chief, you remember a kid named Mark Sanger?

Yeah, I remember. What about him? I ran into him downstairs.

They were booking him for some kind of ruckus at Golden Gate Park.

I remembered he was one of your dissatisfied customers, so I asked him

was the night you got shot. Guess what? He won't tell you.

That's right.

He also told you to go to... That's right.

Send him up. We'll be right there.

Not we, him.

I said send him. But, Chief... Send him!

Remember me?

Sure. You sent me up.

Twice. Wrong.

You sent yourself up twice. I recommended you for youthful offender

Twice. Oh, thank you, boss.

Sir.

Sit down, Mark.

I did it because I don't think you're stupid. Only ignorant and angry.

My, my.

You gonna give me a cigarette and tell me about Jackie Robertson and Ralph

Bunche and Booker T. Washington, huh? Look, I done been this route before,

Charlie. You know my name, and it's not Charlie, man, buddy boy, nor baby.

Check.

Check.

You take drugs, Mark?

That's for suckers. One point for me. You're not stupid.

Did you finish school?

That for suckers, too?

It's not for me, babe.

It's not for me. What is for you, Mark?

Nothing. Why?

Tell me.

Nothing's for you because you're black?

You make me sick.

Well, I am sorry.

Sir, there you are standing on your own feet in front of a man who can't and

you're sorry for yourself because you're black?

Well, paint me black and let me walk out of here.

You have never been black. If you were, you'd be hollering, make me white and

stick me in an iron lock.

You didn't shoot me, did you, Mar? I don't have to answer that. No, you

But you hate me enough to, don't you?

I hate your guts.

Enough to kill me? Ten times over.

Just never had the chance, that it?

Well, there's your chance.

What chance?

In a building full of cops. You mean you'd only kill me if you could get away

with it?

Well, I don't call that hate.

Well, you mean I am supposed to think that that gun is loaded, huh?

But you told me I wasn't stupid.

Now, that's going to cost you $8 .35.

$4 for the glass, $4 for the glazer, and $0 .35 for my bullet. It's all right,

Ed.

$8 .35, Mark.

Where am I going to get that kind of money? That's your problem. I want you

be back here in the morning with it.

All right, Ed, take him downstairs and let him loose.

Loose?

You'll be back with that money.

If you don't say anything, I'm going to figure I got your word.

You said that, not me.

Beautiful.

Nice. It's the greatest. Full power VA, high cam, supercharger, engine's been

squared, fuel injection.

Want to know where I got it? Definitely not.

Can't get the money. Then how come you showed up? Well, if I didn't, you would

have sent somebody.

All right, I showed because you didn't send anybody.

Big deal.

I could arrest you, but I'd still be out my $8 .35.

Do you want to work it out? I'm not much on fixing windows.

Not that.

What then?

Work it out doing what? Oh, a little bit of everything.

Including driving this.

Also, taking care of me. Getting me up out of bed in the morning into the

Reverse at night. Well, now.

You looking for a boy?

No.

Just legs.

You've got them and I need them. It's that simple.

Well, I'm not.

Simple.

Look.

I'm offering you a job.

You'd live where I live, eat what I eat, go where I go.

And I go a lot of interesting places.

You thinking?

Now, while you're thinking, start pushing.

What's the catch?

Catch is I got to pay you out of my own pocket, and I haven't got much.

Get maybe $20 a week walking around money.

What do you make now? I don't exactly have regular wages.

You also have to go to school a couple of nights. You got no right to tell me I

got to go back to school.

No, Mark.

But I got the right to say I don't want ignorant people around me.

Think it over. You've done that.

Sanger's coming forward. Check him out on the controls.

Okay.

Couldn't you hear me?

Sure.

Eve, you and Ed come down here and bring the physical evidence with you.

We're going on a little field trip.

Along the way, we're going to drop in on baby Peggy.

You after me again, copper?

No, Peggy, this is just a social call.

I'll show you social.

Has your hand lost its skill? I'll show you skill.

You want to take her downtown?

No, let her go. She's already told me what I want to know. I told you nothing.

Actions speak louder than words. If you'd already put me in a wheelchair for

life. Would you still be interested in scratching my eyes out?

Yes.

Mark?

Aren't you forgetting something, Peggy?

What did you see? Nothing. You mean you're not going to tell me? You mean I

what I wanted to see and that it was nothing.

Is that clear?

No.

Pictures, statements, reports, all adding up to nothing. And the physical

evidence.

You've been through this, I take it. They got it all. The bullets, of course,

they got them.

One from me, the rest from the walls.

Six bullets, .30 caliber.

Fired from a Springfield .30 -06.

Not too clean.

Ballistics report negative.

And this? This stuff from around those sycamores. They got one of those big

vacuum cleaners and picked up everything movable. Apparently that sycamore grove

is a popular spot with the younger set. Candy wrappers.

Cigarette packs.

Cigarettes. Used matches.

Dime. Nail file.

Query. What is missing?

I don't know.

Some miscellaneous nuts.

Some miscellaneous nuts?

I'll take that one myself.

I don't believe it. You wrote some miscellaneous nuts?

What's the matter with it? Nothing at all. Except that in police work, there's

no such thing as some. Numbers are important.

And miscellaneous means a lot of different things, and these are all the

And nuts is too general and happens to be incorrect.

Otherwise, a splendid piece of labeling.

One. Two, three, four, five, six.

Not some miscellaneous, just six. Now, six what?

Not nuts, what?

Ed, what is that?

That's right. Miss Whitfield has had the benefit of an expensive classical

education, perhaps. It's an acorn. An acorn, exactly.

Six acorns.

Now, what do we know about acorns?

Come, come.

Has no one ever told you mighty oaks from little acorns grow?

The acorn is the fruit of the oak.

But do you see any oaks in among those sycamores?

The nearest oak is a hundred yards from those sycamores. Now, query.

How came those acorns among those sycamores?

Mark, I need a phone.

I want the phone number of the nearest office of the Boy Scouts of America.

And don't go away.

I also want the number of the local field agent for the Department of

Agriculture.

Now, I'll wait.

Okay, go ahead, boys.

We just have a little more of this area to check, Chief, and then we move over

to the north. Maybe a little closer to where the shots were fired?

No. You see, the elves bring objects from around their nest.

This little fellow brought acorns, so he lives near oak trees, not sycamores.

I'm surprised you didn't know that. You should talk to my associates.

They never even heard of pack rats.

I wish I never had heard of them. Why aren't you looking? Because I'm afraid I

might find one.

Well, he's not your true rat, you know. He's more like your hamster or your

squirrel.

I'm not too crazy about anything with tiny eyes, sharp teeth, and a bushy

Keep looking.

Well, there's nothing to worry about. The noise and the lights will have

him off. Keep looking.

Keep looking.

You all right?

Not in front of the scouts, please.

Should I wheel him into a tree? Right.

I found it.

Is it the little fellow?

He's gone. Oh, careful.

As any of these fine young Americans could have told you, the pack rat is a

collector. He picks up shiny objects and places them in his nest, for he's a

lover of beauty. But he is an honest beast, and he replaces every object he

collects with one of his own.

Bottle cap.

Gin foil.

A quarter.

A marble.

Brass button.

Last chance.

Our little friend put six acorns near the spot where the shots were fired.

Replacing six what?

Six acorns, six shots.

What is missing?

Six cartridge cases.

But did you think my assailant searched the area with a flashlight and removed

them? No. Did you suppose that he fired .30 caliber bullets from a muzzle

-loading musket or a slingshot?

W .D.

meaning? War Department.

Splendid.

Did you ever think of going into police work?

Please convey my thanks to your troops.

It was our pleasure.

If any of your lads ever get to San Francisco, they're to have a complete

of the police department. Just tell them to ask for Police Commissioner Dennis

Randall. I will, Chief.

All right, boys, let's move out.

What else do the initials W .D. tell us besides the fact that these cartridges

were once the property of our armed forces?

Well, perhaps a refreshing night's sleep will restore our brains to a more

satisfactory level of efficiency.

I restate the question.

We know that ammunition marked W .D. was once the property of our armed forces.

But what else do we know? We know when.

In 1945, war having become impossible, the War Department became the Department

of Defense.

Ammunition acquired by the government after that date would bear the letters

DOD.

Gave me a bit of a turn, realizing I'd been done in by a bullet made a quarter

of a century back.

Then I got to wondering, there must have been a lot of .30 caliber ammunition

left over when the killing stopped back in 45.

Now, query.

What did the government do with it? Do you expect us to answer that? I would be

pleasantly surprised.

You're too kind.

They sold it at or below the cost to institutions offering

ROTC training, meaning land -grant colleges, military schools, and high

But almost all high schools use 22s. So, a college or military school

looks like the best bet.

Best bet for what? Best bet for where my rifleman got his ammo. You see, so far

we've been looking for someone with a reason to shoot at me and with the

capability to make the shots accurate.

And now we add a new qualification.

Association with an ROTC college or a military school.

Mark, it's amazing what an uneducated class of criminals we're getting these

days.

Of all the evildoers I've removed from society, Not more than half a dozen, it

would seem, attended either a college offering ROTC or a military school. And

those six, three are long deceased and two are still in

captivity. And the sixth?

I thought you'd never ask.

Professor, if you please.

Familiar? Add your excuse. You were a Marine at the time. And I wasn't even on

the force at the time, but I remember reading something about it in the paper.

The poet.

The one there was so much fuss about.

That's right.

Anthony Emmons.

An April O 'Sara High School, Twin Peaks. IQ over 200.

And therefore, off the scale on our tests.

First poems published in National Quarterly at age 13.

Expelled from Metropolitan Military Academy at age 17 for shooting cigarette

of fellow student's mouth with a rifle at 200 yards.

When they kicked him out, he didn't go home and he stole, of all things, a

from the school.

Camped out in various public parks in the Bay Area, amusing himself by firing

bullseyes into lamplights from long distances.

He was eventually caught after he put a shot into the window of the 517 to San

Mateo. I won't tell you the range. You wouldn't believe it anyway.

What happened to him? I remember.

So do I. He was given juvenile offender treatment after several experts

testified that he was a brilliant but misdirected boy.

And after he testified.

I wasn't trying to hit anybody.

You can always tell what I aimed at by what I hit. A .A. Emmons, people versus

Emmons. So they sent him to the Rehabilitation Center for Juvenile

from which he was discharged as cured five days before...

Next slide.

Left, a bullet taken from a Southern Pacific smoking car some three years

Right. A bullet taken from the spine of Robert Ironside, chief of detectives.

I'll observe.

This same rifle, they didn't take it away from him? He didn't have it when he

was arrested. He said he put it in the bay.

Well, he put it somewhere.

Mark Singer, class of 64.

Food any better?

I am being reasonable.

You people thought you'd removed all his antisocial impulses.

But you overlooked his wish to put a bullet into my spine.

Probably he didn't mention it. I can understand that. We're as sorry about

as you are. Not quite.

The trouble with me is I've listened to so many irate citizens, I couldn't pass

up the chance to be one.

What was he like?

Quiet. Good student.

Paid all the rules, none of which mean anything.

Dr. Schley.

Well, to begin with, the papers were right.

He was brilliant.

Genius is a hard word to define, but however you define it, he was it.

Apart from that?

Confused, bitter, angry.

Against whom?

A world with too much food and too many people starving. People that killed

other people and threw beer cans on the highway. His parents?

You're quite perceptive. She's pretty, too, but she's on duty.

What about his parents?

They've got money.

Lots of it.

And the notion that if you spend enough, you can buy a normal boy. When he

turned out to be a boy who liked poetry and coffee houses, they didn't know what

to make of it. And to answer Miss Whitfield's question, yes, Tony hated

parents. But I thought he had gotten over that.

But then I also thought he was ready to go out.

Obviously, I was wrong about a lot of things. Now, don't start feeling guilty.

You did the best you could. If you waited till you knew they were cured...

He'd never let any of them out.

Did he have any close friends up here?

Staff, teachers, students?

He was a loner. That was one of the things that was wrong with him. He felt

because it was hard for him to make friends. I tried to make him understand

lots of people have... There was a girl.

There was nothing really between them, but...

I thought they were getting to be pretty good friends.

She got out about six months ago. Yes, Ellen Wells.

Could I have her address?

Certainly.

The boy was pretty close to you, wasn't he?

I was his doctor.

And yes, I liked him, and I thought he liked me. If you happen to hear from

let me know.

Thank you.

It's to his best interest and ours to pick him up fast, while the only

charge against him is attempted murder.

Why should we hear from him? We're only his parents.

We neglected him, you know. We only sent him to the best schools we could find.

Gave him everything he ever wanted or needed. But we neglected him, or so they

say. I mean, isn't that always the case? When a kid goes wrong, it's the

parents' fault.

Right? Did you know if he had any friends, people he might have gotten in

with? No, no. No friends. Not for my Tony. He was a real loner.

In high school, nobody.

Military school, an arts teacher, an industrial arts teacher. He said she had

taste. You remember Gloria?

Gloria, do you remember?

I remember.

Do you remember her name?

No, he never mentioned it. I guess they'd know at the military school.

Man, you blow a good horn.

Aid and resist discipline, eh?

Simply ignored it.

He did what he liked.

If he didn't like it, he could confine him to quarters.

He holds a school record for confinement to quarters.

He didn't care.

He could write his poems in his room as well as anywhere else.

That his only interest, poetry?

Well, that and, uh, and riflery.

He was very good with rifles. You know that.

I know.

And industrial arts.

You mean shop work?

Metal shop.

Actually, it was a teacher he was interested in.

A woman teacher named Honor Thompson.

She taught welding and soldering, things like that, in public school.

And then she would come up here one day a week.

Actually, she was a very unusual woman.

She was an artist.

She made things she called constructions.

That one, for instance.

Well, that's beautiful.

I don't much care for abstraction.

But she was a real artist.

You know, that might be the link.

An abstract artist and a poet lost in a military school.

What about an adolescent boy and a woman teacher?

Doubt it. She was an attractive woman, but she was ten years older than he was.

And then there's the matter of opportunity.

A military school campus isn't exactly lover's lane.

Where can I find her?

I wish I knew. She stopped teaching here about two years ago. I checked the

Board of Education, but they'd lost touch with her, too.

You think she might know where he is? Well, somebody does. And I don't.

Yet.

Lovely, isn't it?

Yes. Do you know the artist?

They're signed.

Honor T.

I mean the full name and address.

Well, I'm afraid... Don't be. Just give me the flaming name and address.

Here ought headquarters suit yourself.

Why can't I talk to that Wells girl?

Want to know Tony at Juvenile Hall.

Ellen Wells.

I can't talk to her because you can't find her. Parole officer said she

That flaming parole officer should have started looking for her the first day

she failed to report.

Parole people advise a general alarm for both of them, Ellen and Tony Emmons.

Now, there's a brilliant idea.

Missing boy with rifle.

Mentally disturbed sniper at large.

To panic the city and panic the boy.

Any other great ideas?

Well, don't just sit there.

I keep remembering you're a cripple, just like you told me to. Funny, you're

one who forgets it.

So I'll remind you, you're a cripple, Chief.

You can't do it all yourself anymore. You have to lean on me and Eve and Mark.

So you feel sore and frustrated.

But that's the way it is. Well, take it out on whoever it was that shot you.

Anyway, you weren't all that perfect when you had legs.

Are you all right, Chief? You look beat.

Of course I'm all right.

Can't a man indulge in a little serene contemplation?

Where were you this afternoon?

Don't you know the only excuse for absence from duty is... Yes, I know.

I was doing some art galleries.

On the city's time?

I found a delightful sculptress.

Honor Thompson, remember?

What about her? She has her own studio now.

A place called The Forge in Sausalito.

And then you say, congratulations, good work, Officer Whitfield.

Consider it said.

You know, I don't have to be a policeman.

I could be in Santa Barbara right now, swimming with a Stanford man, one of

several. Ever wish you were? All the time, Chief.

Now that's a lie.

Isn't it? Is it?

Good night, Allison.

Eve, advice from someone who's been there. The price you pay for your badge

higher every year.

Mark. Mark.

Yeah.

Sleep. Sleep that knits the raveled sleeve of care.

You know where that's from?

I take a vocational course.

You know what it means?

It means you want to go to bed.

Well, you missed your chance again, Mark.

You could have dropped me on my head the day before payday.

Of course I remember Tony. He was my friend.

I didn't have many friends.

Neither did Tony.

And yes, I knew that he had gotten out of juvenile hall.

But he hasn't been here. I haven't seen him.

How did you know he was out?

He wrote to me.

Oh, about a month ago.

About two months ago.

I thought he'd come to see me.

But he didn't. Well, if he does... I'm sorry that he hurt you. I'm sorry for

of the bad things he's done. But I am not going to help you to put him in a

cage.

My mistake.

I'll see you at the funeral.

Wait. What did you say?

It won't be your fault. You won't even be involved.

Involved in what?

I thought you were his friend.

I am his...

Friends.

I am his friend.

And that means that I will not help you to put him in a cage.

Does it mean you're going to leave him out there? A boy with a rifle who's

to kill lately and may again?

Or may not.

Are you ready to take that chance?

Help me. Maybe I can bring him in.

Maybe he will go into a cage, but he won't die.

Is it up to you? It's my case. But if I can't handle it, the department will

take over.

They'll get out a general alarm.

Wanted. Tony Emin. Description such and such.

And a picture.

That doesn't say kill him. At the bottom in black tight. This boy is armed and

believed desperate.

Approach with caution.

Suppose a policeman spots him. Calls to him somewhere in the street.

Does he come quietly?

All right, the policeman says stop. Does he stop?

No. No, I agree with you. He keeps going. The policeman has a wife and

and a responsibility to the public.

He fires a warning shot. Tony keeps moving.

Maybe he's got his rifle. Maybe he's only heading for it. Maybe the policeman

only thinks so. Then it happens.

No.

They mustn't. But they will.

One boy, badly confused, frightened, against 1 ,500 armed policemen. Maybe

police will die along the way, maybe a few civilians.

But in the end, it has to happen.

All right.

If I hear from... No, you've got to help us find him. If you want him to live,

you've got to.

and gentlemen, introducing tonight Miss Margaret Morris and

her concerto for cymbals.

One, two, three, four, five, six,

seven.

but it doesn't pretend to be anything except

Nope.

Not Tony.

Let's face it, I'm no swinger.

Yeah, just a long film of the Statue of Liberty.

With nothing moving. Oh, but just wait.

Best part's coming.

In the end, a bird flies by.

Yes? Chief Ironside? Yes.

It's about him, Tony Emmons. Do you know where he is? Not right now.

Where he's been living?

Where? I can't tell you that. You may have to.

Mark?

All right, Mark.

If either of you touches me, I won't ever tell you anything. And you can't

me. You can only put me in jail.

I want you to tell me something.

What's going to happen to him if he gives himself up?

Well, that's not up to me.

He'll be shut up someplace, won't he? Yes.

For a long time? Maybe.

Maybe forever?

Maybe. But if he doesn't come in, he'll be killed.

I know.

Maybe I have no right to tell you this.

Maybe I have to.

I'm meeting him in half an hour. Where?

He might talk to you.

If you went alone.

No reason for him to be afraid.

Where? After all, you are in a wheelchair.

You will go alone.

Because if anybody's with you, he won't be there.

I'll be alone.

Where? The Web Brady Clinic reception room. Thank you, Ellen.

I didn't give you my name. Thank you anyway.

Who is she? Ellen Wells.

to get us arrested.

Why not?

Here. You sure?

She said alone, Mark.

Mark, get me out of here.

Mark.

What is it?

You, uh, out of ice again?

No.

Now, sit down.

I just wanted you to know you've done a good job.

You mean you had to wake me up to tell me that?

And you're talking like it was over.

As if it's over.

Also, I hear you're working hard at school.

And it is over.

As of first thing tomorrow morning.

Why? He got away.

30 feet from me.

Any rookie fresh out of the academy could have grabbed him.

Didn't need brains, didn't need experience. All it needed was legs.

blew it.

He went to a clinic for help.

That's what he should have done. I scared him away.

Now he's out there confused with a rifle where he can lay his hands on it.

Because of you. Because I didn't know when to quit.

Now, ain't it awful?

Yeah, it is awful.

Well, beautiful, man.

Don't you call... Only schools are drag, man. What I mean, a real drag, baby.

Nobody's telling you to quit. And nobody has to.

Now, maybe I was gonna quit anyways.

I don't know.

Only... Only way I figured.

As long as you kept going, baby, I had to. No.

Quit. I'm about ready to go home. You quit, I quit, and we both go home.

What makes you think I'm quitting?

You said.

I said, I said, I must have been drunk.

And I am out of ice.

Here, get me some ice and go back to bed.

What, are you going to stay up and talk all night?

Can I help?

Relax man

What's

your blood type chief you're gonna tell my insurance company

Well? Anna Thompson just called. She was a little hysterical.

Tony called her. He saw you last night, and he has an idea she's helping you

find him. He, uh... He threaten her? Not exactly.

He wants to meet her tonight, if she's alone.

I, uh, gotta talk to her first.

She won't do that. He may be watching.

And if he sees her with you again, well, he may go over the edge, she thinks.

He's probably right.

I want to see her around noon. But you just said... He doesn't have to know I'm

seeing her. If he's watching... There are ways.

I didn't say it would be easy.

You know, if there was a meter on this chair, I'd be a rich man.

Mark, in our busy workaday lives, we can all benefit from a few moments outdoors

in serene contemplation. Now, what does that mean?

I know it means shut up and keep pushing.

You figure Tony might be out here?

Is that what we're doing, looking for him? That right, officer?

Officer? Don't look back.

In your own well -chosen phrase, shut up and keep pushing.

I won't tell you that... I haven't asked you.

You'd have people there waiting.

You bet we would.

Tony would sense them. That's why I want you to meet him alone.

when the two of you arrive.

He won't be there.

I'll get there later.

Well, how will he know when to come?

You will give me a signal.

Signal?

With Tony sitting right next to me?

How? By doing nothing.

But he won't even let me use the telephone.

I said by doing nothing.

You'll call me every half hour until you're at the forge with Tony.

Sure, shut up and keep pushing.

Can you do me a favor?

Sure. Sure, I'll tell her you're not here.

No, tell her I am here.

That's funny.

You know, most guys prefer if I just... Okay, okay.

Now, he's here, lady. Goodbye.

You, uh, bring my drink here, please.

Sure.

Thank you.

Say, you can do me another favor.

Sure, what do you want? We're alone.

Take off that silly hat.

Yeah? Yeah, he's still there, man.

He's there.

I don't think he's ever gone home.

Is Mrs.

Ironside?

Thank you very much.

Say, would you mind telling me what's going on? I take it you're not married.

Oh, not at the moment.

Do we let him go in there alone?

He said that... Never mind what he said.

A man in a wheelchair could get... No.

He's not a man in a wheelchair.

He's Ironside in a wheelchair.

If we go in to rescue him, then he is a man in a wheelchair.

Let's talk it over.

It happened so fast.

Yes? When he came in the door, he was shivering.

And I asked him if I couldn't make him some tea.

And he said yes.

And I went in. I went in to fix it for him.

And when I was putting the water on... You heard the shot. He started to write

note, to whom it may concern.

Oh, Tony.

Oh, poor Tony.

Poor Tony never got a chance to finish his note. To whom it may concern, that's

all he wrote. Wonder what interrupted him.

Well, maybe he thought I was coming back.

You'd gone to make tea.

Yes, I'd gone to make tea.

seen an unfinished suicide note before.

When a man kills himself, he controls the time of his death.

Was Tony left -handed?

What? Well, a pistol's an ambidextrous weapon.

Rifle's no good for lefties. The bolt's on the wrong side.

What's the difference if he was right -handed or left -handed?

Tony was shot in the left temple.

It's pretty hard to do right -handed.

On the other hand...

The left temple is just where you'd hit somebody if you were across the table

from him.

He looked up from his writing, and you shot.

I always figured Tony fired those shots at me.

Trouble with believing what isn't so is you keep asking yourself questions you

can't answer.

Question, did Tony leave the rifle with you when he... He went to Juvenile Hall.

He was going to kill you when he got out.

But they changed him up there, didn't they?

They murdered him. Killed his personality.

And when he came out, he didn't want to kill anybody. All he wanted to do was to

settle down, get a job, and forget it. So you did it for him. He was somebody

when you put him in there.

Unusual. A free soul.

When he came out, there was nothing.

Nobody.

And?

He had a girl.

That didn't matter.

Didn't it?

I think it mattered more than anything else. Tony was 17 when he went up, and

you were 30.

When he came out, he was 20, and you were 33.

And he discovered there were better things in life for a man of 20 than an

woman.

You are disgusting.

I thought she was rather pretty.

And very young.

What are you people doing here? We're off duty.

We happen to be in the neighborhood.

And thought we'd drop out.

Congratulations, Chief.

For what?

For finding out who shot you.

If I found out on Friday, if I found out on Wednesday, that boy in there would

still be alive.

get out of here.