All language subtitles for ironside_s04e01_a_killing_will_occur

What the commissioner sometimes fails to
recognize is that his job involves more

than appointing committee and listening
to their interminable report.

We're due there in 15 minutes.

I know when we're due there.

Pour me a cup of that, will you please?

What's the report on today?

Ah, the usual.

Increase in crime.

Decrease in the budget. What else?

Well, how's the new recruitment program
coming along?

That's on the agenda, too.

There's a faction that's been arguing
for an across -the -board pay hike as an

inducement. You know what I know?

What did you manage to do to it this
time?

It's going to be one of those days, huh?

Some of the city council will be there,
a few newspaper men, the commissioner

will give his pep talk, the reporters
will report, the councilman will

What about you?

What about me? I'm supposed to nod and
look sober and agree and perhaps smile

occasionally.

Chief Ironside's office.

Who's calling?

Ironside.

Yes, speaking.

Of course I'm certain.

No, I can't prove it. You'll just have
to take my... What do you want to tell

me?

Yes, I'm listening.

Yes, I'm listening closely.

Just a minute before you... What did he
want?

He wanted to tell me that unless I do
something about it, those were his

that he's going to commit a murder.

Could it be a crank call?

Could be.

The trouble is you never know for sure
until the morning paper comes out.

Unless I do something.

Do what?

You did. You sent the office by the
phone with the tape recorder.

You didn't say he'd call again.

He could be in some window right now
with a rifle waiting.

I keep thinking of someone walking along
somewhere.

Rifle pointed at his back or her back.

Someone's finger on the trigger.

Don't you know the later I get to one of
these gatherings, the longer the

commissioner's remarks take?

It's known as Randall's Law. Now step on
it. Yes, sir.

And on the basis of the report which
you've just heard, ladies and gentlemen,

must be obvious there is a direct
relationship between the amount provided

in the budget for the prevention of
crime activities and the degree of

effectiveness.

Excuse me.

I must tell you, I asked you to hold all
calls until... It's for you.

Eve?

Yes, this is Chief Ironside.

No, I'm quite sure you're serious.

I have no reason to doubt it.

Stephen. In fact, I'm glad you called me
again.

I'd like to talk to you about... Listen
to me.

I'd like to ask you why you want to do
this.

I won't tell you that.

Not now.

All I want to tell you now is that
you've got to believe me when I say that

going to do it.

I've said I do.

The next time I call, I'll tell you how
it's going to happen.

When will that be?

I was waiting for you to tell me who
that... Keep it going a little longer.

We're trying to... I see.

What's it all about, Chief?

Just a routine police matter.

Chief, it didn't sound like a routine
police matter.

Perhaps you'd like to tell me what a
routine police matter does sound like,

Like something a lot less serious than
that just sounded.

All police matters are serious, even the
routine ones. Ladies and gentlemen, I'm

afraid you'll have to excuse us. Mark,
Paul, just go on with your crime

prevention meeting, Tess.

Either he knew I was going to be at that
meeting because he read it somewhere or

he heard it somewhere or he saw me go
into that office.

That means he had to have been here in
the corridor.

Well, the call came about ten minutes
after we got here.

He wouldn't have gone up to the jail
section.

What we need to find is a public
telephone about ten minutes away from

When would you say we usually wait for
this elevator?

A couple of minutes. I figure he waited
a couple of minutes.

We were on the fifth floor.

The elevator invariably stops at every
floor on the way down.

Business is slow.

Well, he could have taken us to this.

Would you have walked down four flights?

Not unless I was in a hurry.

But the waiting and the usual stops, it
could have taken him...

Five minutes to reach the lobby.

On a good day.

Now, I've been in and out of this
building for years.

One thing you never notice is a public
telephone.

Well, there's one.

Signed to a dollar, that telephone
book's open to the municipal listings,

including the Hall of Justice.

Which one of us was betting the dime?

You were?

Oh, it to me.

Hundreds of smeared prints.

That's a conservative estimate.

Well, might as well ring up the lab from
here and get the monitor. Use my dime.

The phone doesn't work.

the counter straightening. One of my
three S's.

Sorting, straightening, and selling.

Y 'all gonna buy something?

No, that phone ate his last dive.

You have a phone, Hank? Sure do.

Anyone ask to use it today?

No.

This is Ironside.

I'd like to have the pay phone in the
east lobby dusted.

I noticed someone at that phone 15 or 20
minutes ago looking up a number.

Yeah, as a matter of fact, I did.

I was going to tell him he'd lose his
dime. You know, the phone gets kind of

temperamental and it slips out. But I
got real busy, and by the time I got

through, he'd gone.

Can you describe him?

Yeah,

medium height, I'd say.

Dark, short hair, brown suit.

Businessman type, you know.

What makes you say that?

He had a briefcase.

What about his features?

Features? I didn't see them.

to me the whole time.

I see.

Well... Thanks, petite.

What?

Why do you want to commit this murder?

There's no other way to get justice.

Justice for whom? I'm not answering any
more questions.

I'm just telling you what's going to
happen. Right now, I'm telling you how

going to happen.

How? By accident.

I mean, it'll look like an accident.

What kind of accident?

Nothing. Would you print up an out -of
-order sign hanging on that phone?

Sure will.

Mark, I think he means it.

We're going to stop him. We have to find
out three things.

Who he is, who he's planning to murder,
and why he's calling me.

Well, there's a fourth thing to figure
out. Where do we begin?

The classic case, Chief.

The police records are full of them, the
textbooks are full of them, the

logbooks are full of them.

The obsession to kill together with the
fear of killing.

And the compulsion to be stopped.

He wants you to catch him before he does
it, but if you don't catch him, he'll

do it.

The only difference between this guy and
Jack the Ripper is that the telephone

was invented in between. Jack had it
sent letters, this guy phoned you.

But the message is the same.

Catch me before I kill someone.

I'm not so sure.

Why? Because Jack the Ripper was a long
time ago, and right here today, there

could be a guy with a telescopic sight
in some building across the street.

Aimed at me?

It happened once before.

I see.

Chief, why doesn't he just try it? Why
the call?

Because the best way to get the chief
out someplace where it's nice and quiet

and safe and lonely is to say to him
first, I'm going to kill somebody.

Then this is where I'm going to kill
him. Then this is when I'm going to kill

him. Now, who do you think is going to
be at the where and when?

Two people.

The chief and the guy was out to kill
him.

That's an interesting theory, Mark, but
it's still a theory.

Well, like you say, you never know till
you read tomorrow's paper.

Ironside.

Yes? Dennis.

Sprung a leak and the switchboard is
burning up.

So far, we've got about 150 people who
say they are the intended victim and

want police protection.

Situation is bad, Bob, and it could get
worse, much worse.

These people who think they're the
victims, Dennis, do we have their names

their phone numbers? We have been
running the police department for a long

now. You're beginning to get quite good
at it. Thank you so much. Not at all.

Dennis, how about suspects?

The ones these people think are planning
to murder them.

Oh, we've got quite an assortment there,
too.

Names, even some addresses.

Disgruntled ex -employees, outraged
husbands, casual acquaintances.

some old grudge.

Calls are still coming in. I was lucky
to get an outside line to call you.

All right, Dennis, I'll get back to you.

But... Later, Dennis.

We have to get a recording of this man's
voice.

First, there's a bare possibility we
might get an identification from one of

these self -proclaimed victims. And
second, I don't know which possibility

the bare.

But if he has a record, there might be a
voice print of him somewhere which

would identify him. So far, you're the
only one who's talked to him long enough

to be able to recognize his voice.

He always seems to know just where you
are.

And Chief, he tends to call when Ed and
I aren't with you.

Well... Let's make it as easy for him as
possible this time.

Giving them every chance to spot it. So
far, he's been doing all right without

our help.

All right, Mark.

You can pull up anywhere along here.

Well, folks, that concludes our tour of
the city.

Knob Hill, the Presidio, Uptown,
Downtown, Crosstown, Chinatown.

Remember, somebody's reported a
burglary.

You're looking for witnesses.

Make it look legitimate.

How much time do you need?

Oh, give it half an hour.

Chief, I'll be all right, Ed.

Mark, I appreciate your concern, but I'm
not this man's intended victim.

How do you know that?

By what you said.

If it were going to happen again...

It would happen that way again.

Right now, it's a busy afternoon on a
crowded San Francisco street. So get

going.

Inside. Do you recognize my voice?

Yes, I do recognize your voice.

I wanted to wait until you were alone.

And you know that I am.

And I know that you are.

It's always interesting that you always
seem to know that.

Where I am, who's with me.

from it yet?

No.

All right, Todd.

That's it.

Any words from the last?

Dead end, Chief.

No clear fingerprints on that payphone.

And the tape doesn't match any voice
print they've got on file.

What about the people who called in?

And they're still calling.

More victims all the time. So far, only
35 have heard the tape.

And? Zero, Chief.

All right. Stay on top of it, Ed. And
thank you. All right.

Nothing yet.

So far, he's called me here, in the van,
in the commissioner's office,

and at Hank's candy stand.

All these numbers are easy to find.

But I'm not easy to find.

Either he's following me and ducking
into phone booths, or else he's got a

somewhat more efficient operation going
on.

And up to now, I'd give him pretty high
marks for efficiency.

Well, he's got half of San Francisco
climbing the walls.

And all of us missing the obvious
explanation.

A car phone?

If that's the case, Eve, he has to place
his calls for the mobile operator.

He has to ask for the number he wants,
and he has to give the number he's

calling from. I'll get right on it.

All right, Mark.

Run that tape again, please.

Yes, I do recognize your voice.

I wanted to wait until you were alone.

And you know that I am. I see, operator.

Well, then would you please check this
one, 6560311?

Where I am?

Who's with me?

That doesn't matter.

You're trying to get me to say something
that'll give me away.

But I won't do that.

Now, 8573621.

Well, thank you very much, operator.

Yes.

I wanted to wait until you were alone.

Another dead end, Chief. None of these
numbers went through the mobile

It's always interesting that you always
seem to know that.

That voice.

Tell me about it.

Tell you what?

Well, where would you say he came from?
Texas?

New York? Alabama?

Is there anything regional in his voice?

Not to me.

He? Nothing that I can hear.

Well, anything racial, then, or
national?

Well, he's not black.

How do you know?

He don't sound black.

Does he sound white? He doesn't sound
like anything.

Almost as if his voice was made up by a
machine.

You come across a voice like that.

A voice that's neutral. No accent. A
computerized voice.

And now the news.

A radio announcer.

Or a disc jockey.

Or people who answer the telephone on
talk shows.

Or people who are going to school to
study to be radio announcers.

All right, Eve, put a list together, and
tomorrow you and Ed can split it up. I

want all the radio and TV stations
covered. All the schools.

Somebody has to recognize that voice
sooner or later.

Well, I could give him a hand.

Nope. First thing in the morning, we're
going for another drive.

Away this time.

You are going to show me where the park
meets the bay.

The park meets the bay an awful lot
around here, Chief. It's like they were

going steady.

Park meets the bay.

If it's not a clue, it's a cryptogram.

Unless... Just north of the Marine
Hospital.

Park Boulevard meets West Bay Avenue.

All right, Mark, turn around.

The park has just met the bay.

Quiet, remote, empty. It's a good place
for a killing.

Captain Hook.

There's no phone booth in miles.

Take a look around. Check that stand.

There's got to be a car or a boat or a
helicopter.

Ironside. Do you know who this is?

Yes, I know who you are.

And I seem to have found the right
place, haven't I?

You what?

Well, where then?

Wait!

Was it him?

Yes. Then he was calling from the moon.
What now?

He's going to commit this murder the day
after tomorrow. No later than midnight.

Well, then it's simple. All we have to
do is to stake out this place.

He's decided to change the place.

To where?

He didn't say.

So, the people at the radio stations,
television studios, and broadcasting

schools have heard the tape. We've got,
let's see, 11 possibles so far.

Is he still checking out her list?

Yeah. She's come up with a few maybes.

Ed, the day after tomorrow is going to
get here very fast.

I've still got six or eight more places.

What?

A killer and a victim.

Could be anyone, anywhere, anytime.

And I don't know where I fit in or how
he's calling me.

Maybe he's got a phone in his pocket.

I was just making a joke.

Out of the mouths of babes and jokers.

What did I say?

Get me a phone book.

Essentially, it operates like a car
telephone.

Of course, it's more compact and
completely portable.

Now, calls made from this phone don't go
through the regular mobile telephone

operator. That's correct.

They didn't until recently, but this is
our latest model. And its tone quality

and echo inhibitor far surpass anything
that's ever been available before.

And you simply dial it. After a
channel's been automatically selected

you get a green light.

There, you see? Ready to dial.

If the mobile operator has no record of
the call... The phone is coded.

And the calls are automatically recorded
at the telephone billing office.

Just as they would when you use an
ordinary house phone or business phone.

Maynard.

Yes, Mr. Maynard.

I see.

WP56715.

Yes, thank you.

Gentlemen, all of the calls you received
were made from one of our instruments.

Do you know...

By whom they were made.

Yes.

As a matter of fact, this particular
instrument is currently being

by one of our salesmen, a young man
named Eddie Street.

I want an APB on a male Caucasian
between 21 and 25.

Medium build, about 5 '10", using the
name Eddie Street.

Dark hair, no distinguishing features,
pleasant voice.

Probably carrying an attaché case
weighing about three pounds.

And this is urgent.

He packed up and left about two days
ago.

Did he settle his bill?

Oh, yeah. He did that all right.

Well, I suppose we'll have to get the
lab up here.

Mid -city grill.

We're looking for a man named Eddie
Street.

Most of the people I serve don't give me
names. Don't even give me tips.

Between 21 and 25.

Around 5 '10", brown hair, pleasant
voice.

You're describing three quarters of
California, mister.

You never heard the name?

Like I said.

Is there anyone here who might know him?

Bert? Yeah?

Policeman.

Bert Emmerich. He's the owner.

For some guy named... Thank you. I'll
take it from here.

Mr. Emmerich, Robert Ironside.

A package of sugar like this one was
found in the room of a man named Eddie

Street. We're looking for that man, and
we wondered if you could help us.

It's important.

People take those things out with them
all the time.

I guess it pays to advertise.

We thought perhaps you might know him by
name.

I'm afraid not.

What does he look like?

Three quarters of California.

I'd say early 20s, 5 '10", dark hair,
medium build, pleasant voice.

Probably carries an attaché case.

We don't do the business that any does,
but he sounds like half my customer.

Who else works here, Mr. Emmerich? Just
my wife. She's back there cooking.

Oh, I'm pretty good with an omelet, too,
even with only one wing, but mostly I'm

by the cash register.

I see.

Well, thank you anyway.

Mark?

How many dead ends now, Chief?

Well, let's see what we've got.

Someone called Eddie Street, led us to
Captain Hook, from there to Vern

Emmerich.

Who's only got one arm.

Why?

Mark. What?

Look at that sign.

Well, that's funny.

We've been saying Eddie Street, and here
we are at Eddie Street.

But it still doesn't make any sense. The
guy's got the same name as the street.

So what?

The guy took the same name as the
street.

Nearest intersection to Emmerich's Cafe.

He wanted to point a finger at Emmerich.

Ironside.

Yes, what is it, Eve? I just finished
the list, and there's only one name I

account for.

The school doesn't have a home address
on him, and he dropped out of class

three or four days ago.

His name is Barrow.

What did you say?

Charles Barrow.

Stay there, Eve. We're heading in.

You got something? If I'm right, we've
passed our last dead end.

We're on our way home.

On the night of March 24th, 1955, Police
Sergeant Charles Burroughs shot and

killed a burglary suspect.

He shot him because he believed the
suspect was about to draw a gun and

him.

There was a public outcry when it was
later learned that the suspect was

unarmed. and there was a hearing before
a review board.

Sergeant Boro testified under oath that
he had repeatedly ordered the suspect to

put his hands up and had only fired his
gun when he believed the suspect was

about to draw and fire at him.

He also claimed that there was a witness
to the incident who would be able to

corroborate his statement.

That witness, despite repeated pleas by
the news media to present himself and

give evidence, failed to materialize.

And the review board, by a vote of five
to one, discounted his existence and

dismissed Sergeant Burrow from the
force.

Whose was the dissenting vote?

I believed him.

That was 15 years ago.

I haven't spoken to or heard of Chuck
Burrow since that time.

Now he's leading you on a wild goose
chase that's not so wild.

To Vern Emmerich.

Did Sergeant Burrow describe the
witness?

As well as he could.

On a dark night, while he was holding a
gun on someone else.

About 5 '10", 155 pounds.

Seemingly dark brown hair.

And one arm?

Nope.

But he described him otherwise.

He was a well -trained police officer,
very observant.

You'd think that the first thing he'd
notice... Who said that Emmerich was

with one arm?

That's what we have to find out.

When Vern Emmerich lost that arm, and
where Chuck Borle is now.

Hello, Mrs. Borle.

I remember you.

You're Robert Einstein.

I met you once when Chuck was still
alive.

Oh, didn't you know?

I'm sorry.

Very sorry.

Mrs. Burrow, this is Mark Sanger.

Hello. Would you like to come in?

Five years ago.

Just ten years after he was kicked off
the force.

He spent the first half of those ten
years trying to find that man.

He spent the second half trying to
forget what had happened.

He thought that drinking would help him
to forget.

Maybe it did.

It also killed him.

That's Charles Jr. when he was ten.

How old is he now?

He left home when he was 18. I haven't
heard from him since. That was four

ago.

Well, how old is he?

22, about.

If he isn't dead.

Are you the victim, Mr. Emmerich?

Tell me why you think it might be me.

All right, I think I can reasonably
assume that on the night of March 24th,

1955, you were a witness to a shooting
in the marina, that you saw a police

officer shoot and kill another man.

You can assume whatever you want, but
don't call it reasonable. I was nowhere

near the marina that night.

You're sure of that?

Why shouldn't I be?

Why should you be?

You know, I'd have to think a couple of
minutes at least before I could say with

any accuracy.

Where I was on a particular night, at a
particular time 15 years ago. I was with

a young lady in her apartment in a 500
block on Woolsey. She was a waitress in

the hash house I was working in. We got
married in 1957.

She's back there right now cooking.

Want me to bring her out here and have
her swear I was with her that night?

Oh, I'm sure her testimony would
corroborate yours.

Mr. Emmerich, do you want police
protection?

What for?

If you are that witness, I believe
someone will try to murder you.

I just said I wasn't. I know.

So I don't need police protection, do I?

If I said I want the police protection,
then you'd know that I was a witness.

What do you think I am, stupid or
something?

How'd you lose your arm, Mr. Emmerich?

In a service in my country.

When was that? Korea, 1951.

Oh, incidentally, do this witness of
yours have only one arm?

No, the witness did not have one arm. If
he'd had one arm, Chuck would have

noticed it and said so.

John, Chief.

So far, no word about Borrow's son.

All right, I want you to get right over
to the Mid -City Grill.

Stay cut.

If Emmerich's our man, he's going to be
feeling the pressure.

He'll either blow and give himself away
or... Or Borrow's son will nail him.

See him.

Just what are you up to?

These are the watch files for every
precinct in San Francisco for the night

March 24th, 1955.

Eve, take a look. Mark, you too.

Check them over, every entry.

I want to know what was going on that
night all over town.

I want to know why a man would risk
being murdered tonight rather than admit

what he was doing on a night 15 years
ago.

Chief, what time was the shooting?

3 .45 a .m. Why?

Listen.

At 3 .35 a .m., an automobile struck and
killed a pedestrian, then ran into a

utility pole and was wrecked. The driver
fled the scene of the accident.

The car had been reported stolen earlier
in the day. The driver of the car was

not apprehended.

Where did that happen?

400 block of Clark Street.

Shooting involving Borrow took place on
the 1300 block of Clark Street.

It's only nine blocks away. A man
running from an accident or walking fast

take about ten minutes to reach the
point where Chuck Borough was

that burglary suspect.

And he wouldn't want to stop?

Oh, he wouldn't want to come forward
later and admit to being there, either.

Excuse me, what about the one -armed?

If it was dark and he was moving fast,
Chuck wouldn't have noticed. One of

fancy prosthetic hooks.

Then it makes the man.

Why else would he be able to say with
certainty where he was on that

night? Because he had to have an alibi.

And now Burrow's kid is going to kill
him. Maybe, unless we can stop him or

persuade Emmerich to admit to the truth
so we can take him into protective

custody.

Ironside. Chief. Yes, Ed.

Emmerich took off. I've tailed him to
the chase house.

There's an airport bus due here in ten
minutes.

We'll be right there. Don't lose him.

If he gets on that bus, get on it with
him.

Eve, if anything comes in on Burrow, get
in touch right away.

Thank you. Mark.

Why is it taking so long?

We forgot to order everybody else off
the streets.

Can I ask a question?

If you can do it without slowing down.

Why is the kid going through all this
trouble? If he wants to kill Emmerich,

doesn't he just kill him?

Where do you fit in?

I've got a couple of answers to that,
Mark.

But I could be wrong.

I guess it won't matter if we get there
too late.

All right, find out at the airport about
who got here yet.

All right.

Well? It's come and gone. It stops at
the base motel on the peninsula and

nothing until the airport.

Headquarters, this is Ironside.

I want it headed off anywhere along that
route. Huh?

That's right. Stop.

Is that absolutely clear?

Gotcha. Good.

Sound of it, Mark?

Not yet.

You'll never make it to the airport.

Chief. What is it? Did this guy say it
was going to look like an accident?

What he said?

Well, what's going to look like an
accident with a bus full of people going

miles an hour except a real accident?

Just get this heap up to 70 and let me
do the thinking.

Oh, I'm not thinking.

I'm just worrying about Ed.

Time's running out.

There's a man trying to kill me.

Huh?

I want police protection.

Why, Mr. Emery? He wants to kill me.

I have a feeling Mr. Burrow doesn't want
to kill anybody.

He wants to kill me. He's got a gun in
his heart.

Why does he want to kill you? You know
why.

Yes, I think I do.

He'll get your police protection.

You're under arrest.

Wait a minute.

Where am I under arrest? He wants to
kill me. What are you asking me for?

He wants to kill me.

Do you have a gun? He wants to kill me.
It's a pipe.

Yes, you thought I wouldn't make it.

Oh, I was getting a little worried.

I was only seven when it happened.

But I remembered all the time my father
spent trying to find this witness.

And how he went on the bottle when he
couldn't and how it killed him.

And I had all the facts my father had.

I'd heard them blown over him often
enough.

Thank you.

So I just...

Took up where he left off.

And finally, I thought I had him.

You knew Chief Ironside voted against
the rest of the review board.

Why didn't you come to him with your
evidence?

Well, Emmerich kept quiet before.

I didn't know why, but I figured he'd
keep quiet again.

And I couldn't prove anything.

You'd have come to me and said, I think
Emmerich's the man who saw my father

kill that burglary suspect.

And I'd have said, fine, we'll reopen
the case.

We would have reopened it. And there
would have been Emmerich with his

alibi, and there the case would have
ended.

Well, you see, that's why I left town.

I got so frustrated that I had to get
away for a while.

I couldn't get it out of my mind,
though.

And I began to think of ways to get you,
to get Emmerich, to admit he was the

one.

And this was the way I thought of.

Nudging me?

Leading me.

Pointing me in the right direction.

And incidentally, setting San Francisco
in its ear.

Yeah, well, I regret that.

Tomorrow, Chuck, we'll have a chat with
the commissioner and find out just how

much trouble you are in.

What's the bottom line? Emmerich's
signing the confession now.

The car theft?

And hit and run. And manslaughter.

He was the one, all right.

I've often had occasion.

To wish it were 15 years ago.

But never more than I do now.

Chuck?

Yes, sir?

Call your mother.