Original subtitles

Thank you.

That your name?

Frank Vincent.

Charge? Drunk and moving vehicle.

Hit and run with damage to a park vehicle.

Resisting arrest.

Drunk and us in public.

Aggravated us all with a deadly weapon.

What weapon?

This.

I was in the area when I heard the officer needs assistance call on the

When I got there, he was beating on Briggy's helmet with it.

We asked him to get out of the car and he came out playing.

I wasn't doing nothing. You're making a federal case out of scratching some

jerk's fender.

He was parked wrong anyway.

Why don't you lay off him, you lousy cops?

Try laying off the sauce, Vincent. We'll lay off you. All right, a guy takes a

couple of drinks and you think you can lean on him.

up, take my advice. See you ahead, Candler. You got a problem.

I can beat his hearing if I'm needed.

Yes!

Another quiet night in Baghdad on the bay.

Right, Sergeant?

The city's full of nuts.

I sent you out on a fact -finding mission so that I can make an

report to the commissioner on area crime incidents.

And you come back with the clothes torn off your back.

Thank you, Milady. Don't mention it.

These little domestic touches make a den mother feel very secure.

Now, look, Chief.

I'm sure of the facts you wanted. What I don't understand is what happened to my

coat.

I mean, how do you figure a man like Vincent?

Cop hate it.

It's a religion, Matt.

If all of you don't mind, I'd like to get back to business.

The department has the community relations office to worry about cop

I hope they're worrying.

What's along, partner? See you later.

Griggs was shot in the back twice.

One of the bullets flattened itself against the wall after it passed through

body. The other one was removed by the coroner.

The crime lab identifies it as a 7 .63, probably fired from a Mauser.

The slug's in near perfect condition.

The gun can be tied in if it can be found. Ed, will you stop shaking the

and talking? I'm trying to read.

Both of you better stop or we'd be sliding around here in a pool of blood.

mine.

Well, what do you think? I think Homicide is geared to handle it.

And they will.

Frank Vincent was released on bail a little over an hour after being booked

night. His wife came in with the money.

He has opened his chili parlor this morning as usual.

That doesn't mean he was waiting at Briggs' apartment.

Now, Briggs was a six -year veteran of the force.

I'm sure Vincent wasn't his first arrest.

Every day in a cop's life, he stands to make several enemies who could decide to

get him. But most people have second thoughts about it. Given time, they

even appreciate the fact that the officer did them a favor. You're

baby. No, he's not.

But that doesn't change the organization of the San Francisco Police Department.

We are a special unit.

If you have information to give the officer in charge of the investigation,

it.

You have something else to give?

I can't lay it out for you in words. It's a gut reaction.

Sir, I have to be there when they pick up Vincent.

Ed, anything you have to do, you do.

Take all the time you need.

Up to an hour.

Make mine a chili burger.

What about?

About the killing of a police officer early this morning.

One of the men who arrested you last night.

I don't know anything about it. Talk about that downtown, okay?

No, I'm not going downtown.

Vincent. You want to talk? You talk to me here in front of my friends so they

can see what you do to me. You're not going to get me in some little room and

work me over.

Nobody's going to work you over. Get your hands off of me.

Will somebody get me a doctor? He'll live.

Well, at least let me get advantage, huh? The doc's on his way.

Did you get a doctor for Briggs after you shot him, or was it too late for

I didn't kill him, I told you. He ran.

I was scared.

Sure you were, because you could kill Briggs.

Look, I went right home last night after my wife put up my bail. I stayed there

until I had to open up the shop. Ask my wife.

She'll say whatever you told her to.

Look, Vincent, save yourself a lot of trouble. You killed that cop, didn't

No.

Look, I know it looks bad for me, starting a fight and all that, but...

well, shooting my mouth off is one thing, but killing is something else.

always.

Look, why are you trying to pin this thing on me anyway? Because you did it,

that's why. Because you shot him in the back with a German Mauser. A what? You

heard him.

You want to tell us where you hid the gun?

I ain't never even seen a Mauser.

Why don't you leave me alone?

Vincent.

You ever been arrested?

I mean, before last night.

A couple of parking tickets. I'd rather stop sign once.

Bellamy record, huh?

No. I mean charges, not necessarily conviction.

Look, you said I could have my lawyer. Now, where is he?

All right.

Come on.

Getting anywhere?

No.

All right, you tried.

Now, can I get back to...

operating with a full staff, or do you still feel you have something to

contribute? I'm sorry. I thought we could break him if he had to answer

questions in my presence.

That's one of them. He was beating up Frankie.

Your husband was trying to escape arrest, Mrs. Vincent.

Well, you didn't have to be so rough with him.

Chief, I didn't know you were in on this, too. I'm not. But your number one

is, eh?

May we talk for a moment?

Privately. Eh?

Well, Chief, I think you should know that my client's wife says he was with

all last night, after she got him home from here.

That doesn't surprise me. I can produce at least a dozen character witnesses.

Chief, you've got the wrong man.

So have you, Everett. I'm not on this case.

Well, then perhaps you can advise the officers who are that Mrs. Vincent has

already called her councilman and told him what's been happening to her

Now, naturally, the councilman is very much interested, and he's been talking

with Commissioner Randall. Naturally.

Now, don't you think the wise thing to do would be to let him go?

That's not my department, Everett.

You better talk to Homicide.

Vincent made a threat while stupid with liquor. He was subsequently released on

bail, and that same night, one of the officers present when Vincent made the

threat was brutally and senselessly murdered.

Now, that's the substance of your case.

Well... Well, let's go back a step.

When you told me about the threat, I don't recall that Vincent was definite

about what he'd do.

He simply said that he'd get even. Is that correct?

Yes, but... Yes, period.

Vincent said he'd get even.

Now, that could mean anything.

It could mean, quote, I'll have your badge for this, unquote. That wasn't

he meant.

Yes.

He's here.

Ed?

Thank you.

Sergeant Brown.

I guess that's the ballgame.

Thanks for letting me know.

It's homicide.

They've released Vincent.

No case.

All right, maybe I'm wrong.

But as long as we're quoting people, quote, if a computer could do this job,

they wouldn't need me.

What I'm paid for are my instincts, the nerve endings that go hot and cold when

I'm looking at a killer.

The day comes when I can't smell guilt, retire me, unquote.

Who said that? You did.

It's not bad.

How would all those hot and cold nerve endings feel about a jolt of caffeine,

huh?

Hey, it's a pretty morning, honey. Beautiful.

I feel like I could take a deep breath and fly away. Don't do that.

Bye.

What are you doing here?

Eating chili.

It's very good.

Well, I don't want your business.

Well, it's your shop.

Don't you think you can find an easier way to keep the fuzz out of here?

I mean, why don't you just put up a sign, no cops?

It's simpler than trying to kill every police officer in the city. What are you

talking about?

This.

All right, so what come around here? You gonna get on my back every time

somebody knocks off a cop?

Oh, I thought with you the expression was lousy cop. One word.

Now, this was not a cop, Frank. This was Officer Connell. He and his partner,

Briggs, arrested you the other night for drunk driving. You haven't forgotten

that. All right.

I didn't kill either one of them. I think you did.

Yeah, well, good luck proving it. I was here in this shop till closing time.

Midnight. Then I went to church.

Why? To pray. You didn't go there to lose the officer that was tailing you?

officer?

Where did you go after you left the church? You didn't come out the front

I went out the back. It's the shortest way to the merchant's club. They were

having a late party. You spread yourself around, both going to and coming from

planting that bomb in Connell's car. Nice alibi.

Oh, now, look, you can't say things like that to me.

Frank, you're overacting.

Oh, yeah? Well, let him look.

Let him see what a cop does when they get it in for you, huh?

What do you want out of me? So I got stoned a couple of nights ago. Big deal,

huh? What do you want from me? I want you to stop shouting.

Yeah, well, get out!

Let me tell you what it means to kill a cop.

You haven't got a prayer.

You can buy guns and dynamite in the underground. No record that you own. But

we've got ways of finding out who buys what on that market.

We'll find out.

When we do, we'll wrap it around your neck so tight your eyes will stand out

like two crackers in a bowl of chili. You get...

What's happening there, Chief? What's the story? Are they going to break

Sergeant Brown? What's the verdict? What about this brutality charge? Was it on

the level?

No comment.

We have no comment.

Okay.

Does that answer your question?

Well, we've got a branch coming up. We can still get something from him, I bet

you. All right, let's go back and set up. Come on, folks.

Ladies and gentlemen, coming out of the commissioner's office, Mr. Frank Vinson

and his attorney, Everett Brandt. Mr. Vinson, what happened in there, please?

Gentlemen, ladies, I see there are ladies of the press here, too.

What can I say?

Sergeant Ed Brown suffered a severe blow to his wrist. The disciplinary board of

our police department slapped it.

I think the proper term under the circumstances is whitewash.

For the offense of manhandling an innocent citizen, they awarded him a two

leave of absence.

Of course, the board reprimanded Brown most severely.

Thank you, Mr. Brant. That was Everett Brant, the attorney for Frank Vincent.

We return you now to our studios.

Nothing I can say, is there?

No, I heard all the testimony.

He should have let that creep fall into his own chili. That would be sacrilege.

It's safer. Your mistake was in being there at all.

You understand that?

You do?

I do now, but at the time I thought... You thought?

That word is the worst trap in the language.

What you mean is you didn't think. You reacted to the siren sound of your own

ego.

If I believed you were stupid enough to think yourself into this kind of a mess,

you'd be back pounding a beat.

There's no such creature as a man who doesn't foul up.

But when he does, let's hope he was not thinking.

Chief.

Eve, if this is too rough for you, go out and buy a new hat or whatever

intelligent thing you do to calm your nerves.

Personally, I'm going to get a drink.

Of milk.

Can I come out now?

I get the point. I dig.

I'm sorry for the embarrassment I caused you.

Forget it.

You were quite probably right.

I beg your pardon.

You have it.

Now, what are you doing with these two weeks you're laying off?

I hadn't thought about it. Well, I mean, progress.

At least you can recognize non -thinking.

Allow me to fill in that space for you with a chilling thought.

If you were right about Vincent, you are next on his list.

How did I get to be right all of a sudden? I said if.

However, had you come to me after Connell's death instead of acting

unilaterally, I would have been inclined to go along with your thesis that

Vincent was the killer.

Briggs could have had an enemy unrelated to the Vincent arrest.

What happened to Connell?

Loads the odds the other way. That's what I... That's what you thought, and

were right.

However, that was the last right thought you had.

Now, let's pick up the pieces.

What are we going to do to keep Vincent from killing you?

I know what I want to do.

Let's hear it.

I want to nail him for killing Briggs and Connell. It's a worthy purpose. How?

Force his hand.

Homicide hasn't found the gun he used on Briggs. But if he has it hidden

someplace, I want to give him a good reason to go after it. He could have

another gun or another bomb.

I hope he tries to use them. He's going to need some help.

And I'm with you.

Just one thing, you two. If we're right about this man, we'd better be.

He could come at you at any time.

I just want you to be ready.

You want to play this game?

Okay.

But we don't play for fun, right?

I'm going to get you, and I'm going to love it.

I hate to leave you, Helen, you know that, but somebody has to stay here and

keep this door open.

It's all right, Frank, if you think it's dead.

I've got to find a nice quiet place somewhere I can rest, get my nerves back

shape. I understand.

You'll make believe it's just another business trip. I'll be back in a little

while. The whole mess will be forgotten.

Thank you.

Where will you go from here?

I don't know yet for sure. I'll write.

All right, I know, I know. Any other business trips, I never got to run to

writing, but this time I will, I promise.

Don't, uh... Don't let the help rob us blind, huh?

Thank you.

Surprise. Oh, Frank.

Mark, it's Ed.

It's Ed.

Yes, Ed.

Chief, I followed Vincent to Bayville, Mendocino County.

A family man he ain't. I'll keep in touch.

I'm a make -on, Vincent, from Boston and Baltimore.

He has a record in both cities.

Both are assault on police officers.

Both drew time.

I'm surprised they didn't erect a monument to him.

He even has spoken to his parish priest.

Vincent hasn't taken communion in years.

as a peace -loving, church -going citizen is beginning to fall apart.

Now, Ed, in view of that, I want you to return to San Francisco.

Chief, I've psyched him into making some kind of a move. Now, this is what we've

been trying to accomplish.

If I pull back, he can come home and play Sunday school teacher with us from

on. Look, I'm not going to debate with you, Ed. We never meant for you to be a

large standing target.

Sir, there must be something wrong with the connection. I can't hear a word

you're saying.

Don't you give me that Admiral Nelson stuff.

I was using the spyglass to the blind eye routine before you kicked Pablum.

Ed!

That's right. He's your monster. You've got to love him.

See if you can get me the chief of police at Bayville.

Could this be the beginning of some trick as in... Dirty trick? I consider

act of charity in my own self -interest.

That I would never question.

Roger, it's been a long time.

How are the wife and kids?

I want to ask you about your golf game. I can't stand to hear a grown man cry.

Look, I just had a call from my assistant, Ed Brown.

You met him the last time you were in San Francisco.

He's in Bayville.

Now, do me a favor.

Cool him out.

I mean, put him in a cell if you have to.

Thanks a lot.

Oh, uh, give my love to your bride.

How come when you play dirty, the referee is always looking the other way?

Sometime I'll tell you my secret.

It's your move.

This is the first time you've come to Bayville for the view from my window.

Well, it's the first time I've ever been followed by a private detective all the

way from San Francisco.

He's out there now.

Your wife?

I hope not.

But you have to be pretty dumb not to start worrying about these monthly

business trips I take.

I'm beginning to wonder about them too, Frank.

Just how long can this go on?

Now, what is this? Some kind of pressure?

Honey, that's not like you.

I'm a woman, Frank.

Not a playmate.

Now, when did I ever say you weren't a woman?

Honey, I want out of this bag I'm in as much as you want me out.

Really, Frank?

Really.

Do you know the law of the land? Only one wife at a time.

So, unless you're ready to settle for half of me, you're gonna have to help.

I gotta do something about that detective out there.

Why? Well, if Helen's lawyer starts shooting at me, I got another kind of

ammunition he's using.

What can I do?

I don't know. Maybe I ought to have a talk with him.

What can you possibly have to say to each other?

Nothing or something.

It's almost two.

I'd better get over and check out the closing.

Coming with me?

No, I'm going to stay here.

Is that beautiful? Thank you. Are you coming or going?

Oh, I'm sorry.

It was nice to see you. Bye -bye. Thanks for stopping in.

Hello? Frank, that detective, I think he's following me now. He's out at the

bar. Yeah, I know.

I was watching from the window when he left.

See if you can get him in your office.

I'll be right over.

Bourbon and water?

A girl came in here a few minutes ago.

Blonde, very pretty, but so high.

I don't see her.

This time of night, they can get a little hard to see, Jack.

Something you need, Jack?

No, I just thought perhaps the lady might not be any wilder about drinking

than I am.

To coin a phrase, what are you having?

My usual.

I own the place. I can't afford to drink here.

Do you have a cigarette?

Thanks.

What's your name?

Burton. Ed Burton. What's yours?

Marion Lord.

Haven't seen you around here before.

Well, I have one of those kind of faces I pass in a crowd.

Where are you from?

North. Seattle?

Portland? No.

Well, do I just go on guessing, or do you have dark, deep secrets?

Well, let's just say I'm very mysterious.

What are you doing later?

Counting my money.

Sounds like fun.

Can I help?

Sure. Why not?

That's into my parlor.

I'll, uh, be right with you.

Hi, Marion.

Hi, boys.

No problems?

We're looking for a man who might have stopped in here during the night.

Brown hair, 30 -ish, neatly dressed, weighing in at about 175.

Kind of a good -looking guy, I understand.

No?

Don't think he came in here tonight.

His car's parked out on the back road.

Sorry. But if you find him, send him on over, will you?

Harry, let's close it up for tonight, huh? Why don't you give the boys

they like, and then let's call it quits.

Oh, and I'm expecting Frank.

One of these.

No, thanks. We'll take a rain check.

You know, I think I'm going to like this town. Good. Maybe you'll come back.

Frank?

What are you doing with that gun?

I thought you knew. I'm a collector.

Frank, I don't understand.

There's nothing for you to understand. Just see how fast you can get the help

out of the place. I'll wait for you. Look, I'm not going to do one thing

you... Honey!

Don't be a nervous Nellie and do like I tell you.

Trust me.

I just want to talk to this man.

See you tomorrow.

Frank, open the door.

Is everybody out of the place?

Yes. Now, Frank, please, I said unlock the door.

How are you going home? I can handle this myself.

No, Frank, please, let me in.

Do like I tell you.

Good kid.

Now we get down to the nitty -gritty.

You and me.

Vincent, I've never had a great respect for your intelligence.

But when you killed Briggs and Connell, you showed a certain jungle cunning.

This is pure stupidity.

Well, it's my stupidity. Don't worry about it.

On your feet. Chief Ironside knows where I am and why.

And he knows about Marion.

If anything happens to change the state of my health, the two of you, both of

you, are going to sweat out the gas chamber.

Well, we'll just have to take our chances with that.

Nobody sent for you. It was your idea to bust me.

And you're not even a cop for two weeks.

Boy, you roused me good.

But you think it's all right for a cop to kill a guy who's fighting him?

Even a suspended cop? Only in the fight, the gun went off.

There I was.

And there you are.

It's the gun you used on Briggs, right?

Wrong. You said the Briggs gun was a Mauser. That's an automatic.

You told me you never saw a Mauser.

So I lied. About a lot of things.

Including the reason why you spent so much time in church.

Your church.

Where the priest says you haven't taken communion in years.

And now I know where you hid that gun.

Ooh, you're a smart cop.

The worst kind.

Frank, please!

man. You're rocking the boat.

I need to use your phone. I'll try not to drip all over the rug.

Not what you came for.

Of course, in this light, I could be mistaken.

But that does look like a Mauser.

Could it possibly be the gun that killed Officer Briggs?

And if it is, what are you doing with it? What are you doing here?

A very wet cop called me from Bayville.

He had a hunch about you and that gun and this church.

Seems to have paid off.

Did his hunch include the fact that I'd use it? It did.

Then you won't be surprised.

You should have gotten here sooner.

Mark!

Just once for dear old Ed.

God bless you.

Amen. Thank you. Try this. It's my grandmother's formula for every ill man

beast.

You know, I have to give you credit, Ed.

You had a good hunch when you called the churches the place where Vincent was

hiding the murder gun.

What do you mean, hunch? It was pure logic.

Your kind of logic.

That's why I ran instead of clobbering him. To make him think that he could get

to it first.

Right. All right, then.

Let's call it a combination.

Your logic, my hunch.

Yours? I don't see what you had to do with it. That's right, Chief.

It seems to me you were out of it all the way. All right, tell the truth, Ed.

Did you need me? I mean, really need me?

Or did you handle it yourself?

He handled it.

That's what I mean.

I have a hunch he would.

Wouldn't you know he'd find some way to take the credit?