Original subtitles

Officer, would you mind telling me why I was stopped?

The way he was killed, it looks like an execution.

Well, it's a very small town. You're in my jurisdiction.

I also have the right to arrest you, Sheriff.

I do have a sort of a part -time private life. Are you for real, Dee Dee?

We're going to take a ride.

What is this, some kind of a joke?

Bingo. You know what would top that off?

It works for me.

Your lunch guest has arrived, Mr. Smith.

Your waiter will be right with you. Thank you.

All right, Charlie, let's get this over with as soon as we can.

I've got a two o 'clock appointment.

It's all there. You don't have to count it.

Mr. Smith.

That's real sharp.

I got to hand it to you, Charlie.

You won today. You got your money.

But if you ever try tapping into me again, or if I ever happen to see you

I'm going to turn you into the loser you've always been.

You won't see me again, Mr. Bellamy.

I've got all I want and all I need.

Good. I'll see you in a minute.

Nothing for me.

I'm starving.

I'll have a prime rib.

Tossed bean salad, no dressing.

And a pot of coffee. Bring that to me now.

Oui, monsieur.

Et pour vous, sir, perhaps I could interest you in the specialité de la

Nothing, thank you.

What are you going to do, Charlie?

Are you going to use that back exit over there for a getaway as soon as I let

you take the money?

You were always in control, Mr. Bellamy.

Always had the answers.

Tell me, how does it feel to have someone else dictating the turns?

Goodbye, Johnny.

This is the police.

Pull over to the side of the road.

Get out of the car.

Officer, would you mind telling me why I was stopped?

You know where to chop that off?

We miss you.

A hot slice of apple pie.

It's a rented car.

Two -pack suitcases in the trunk, one airline ticket to San Diego under the

of Charles Smith, and one full pack of matches in the ashtray. That's it.

Well, the Charles is right.

California driver's license says this guy's name's Charles Latimer. Losing

Alto, California, 43 years of age and single.

Can rule out robbery.

This guy had over 900 bucks in his wallet.

You got him, boys.

So what do you think?

I don't know, it's weird.

The way he was killed, it looks like an execution, like gangland style.

The rest of it's...

Sounds like some guy cheating on his wife.

Pack of matches. Could have been left by the last renter.

LaRouche. Pierre!

Hey, who are you?

Pierre,

these people are police officers.

And they want to know about the two gentlemen that sat at table 11 during

This is one of them.

Yeah, table 11, right?

And the name is really Chuck. I'm between acting chops.

Yeah, those two on table 11.

Only one ordered lunch, the older guy.

And the other one took his briefcase and left before he even got back with the

food. Did he pay with a credit card?

M .O. Cash all the way.

Undercover?

Why? You two need a new wardroom?

Yeah.

Send him in.

Why undercover?

Because Latimer lived in Capo Alto all his life. Now, he has no criminal

Not even traffic.

He left there suddenly about ten days ago, registered here under a false name.

And today gets blown away like some New York gang chief and left with a wallet

full of money.

Didn't answer my question. Why undercover?

Yeah.

I'll see him in five minutes.

Intelligence says that the law there is real inbred, very uptight. Thinks we'll

do a lot better if we go in and not flash our badges.

Excuse me, sir. Billings is here. Shall I send him up to IA? No, I want to see

him.

How much?

Well, about $100 a day in the rental of a new Jag.

Jag?

Not a Chevy?

Can't make do with a Ford Chrysler?

No, sir. See, we checked it out. There's no place in town that can handle a Jag.

He's going to break down just outside of town, and the part he needs is going to

take at least a week to get.

What are you going to drive, a Mercedes?

No. As soon as we determine what my cover will be, I'll go in on the bus.

What, got a knife down here?

Kind of like a picture postcard.

Yeah, we like it.

Now I'm gonna have to send for a new water pump.

Could take up to a week to get you another one.

Hope you don't mind watching this stuff while you work on the car. Sure, no

bother. I'll keep it locked up in the office for you.

I see you do some diving.

Too bad.

We got everything, Campo Alto, except deep water.

Yeah, I'm an oceanographer on my way to Corpus Christi. You need a place to

stay? Yeah.

Try the Royal Arms Motel.

I'll give you a call there when I know where we stand.

Royal lines.

Tank.

McCall. Yeah, it's me.

Remember last January when we busted that sleazeball Malinas?

You had to do some singing at a nightclub, right? Were you any good?

I'm standing in the aisles. Why?

Well, the band at the Campo Alto Country Club needs a singer. The one they've

got is pregnant. Do you think you can handle it?

They'll be offering me a long -term contract.

Don't get carried away.

A week will do. I'm staying here at the Royal Arms Motel.

How's things going? Anything to report?

Yeah, I do, McCall. The view here is great.

Nothing ever good in the news, is there, Mr. Latimer?

All it does is get you depressed.

Oh, excuse me.

Here you go. Thanks.

Excuse me.

Mr. Latimer?

Yeah?

You wouldn't happen to be from Kansas City, would you?

No. My boy wasn't married.

Had a fiancée, though. Real nice girl.

Good education, good breeding.

Just a librarian here.

She took my boy's death pretty hard.

How about you, Mr. Stoner? You a married man?

I'm thinking about it.

Staying at the Royal Arms Motel.

Okay.

Just have the books back by Friday, Mr. Stoner.

Oh, well, you wouldn't happen to know a real good place to eat in town, would

you? Well, the nicest place is the country club. You don't have to be a

to dine, and the food is great.

What I really need is someone to share dinner with, but my luck, you're

married and have ten kids, right?

No, I'm not married.

You got any kids?

Certainly not.

Well, are you engaged?

No. Not anymore.

Haven't we done this before?

Yes, and once was enough.

This is embarrassing.

Don't you have your own bathroom?

I don't even have my own room until 5 o 'clock.

Can I have me a towel, please?

And I don't mean a washcloth.

I just decided it wouldn't be a good idea if I called you or was even seen

you, so I just picked a lock and let myself in.

So say hello, Hunter.

Hello, Hunter.

When did you get in?

This morning.

It was really hot.

Took a cab on over to the country club.

Met the band leader.

Are you ready for this?

His name is Izzy O'Day.

Anyway, I tried out.

Who was that, Ed?

Well, they liked me.

I gotta be over there tonight for rehearsals in just a couple hours.

I needed a bath.

The bus was large, but intimate.

Did they ask you how you found out about the job?

Oh, I just told them Woody Zoller put me on. Woody owes me. He's ready if they

call. By the way, thanks for the cover.

You never know, maybe they'll let me do one of my own songs.

One of your own songs?

Yeah. I mean, when I'm not putting my body and soul on the line for Metro PD,

do have a sort of a part -time private life, you know.

You write your own songs?

Yeah, I also bake cakes.

Well, you got any other secrets you're keeping from me, McCall?

Uh -huh.

You know what makes them secrets?

I don't tell them to anyone.

Sloppy.

Yeah, let me use your towel, will you?

Nice place, isn't it?

Well, it should be. Board of Directors reads like a page out of Millionaire's

Quarterly.

The men at that table could probably help balance the national debt.

Thank you. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen.

And now something a bit unexpected, a delightful surprise I'd like to

you to.

It's her first time in Campo Alto, so let's give a nice warm welcome to Miss

Dee Bennett.

Thank you.

Oh, you said you weren't engaged anymore.

What happened? Want to talk about it? I'm a good listener.

Oh, I'm sure you are, but... My fiancé was

killed.

Murdered. Oh, Amy, I'm sorry.

He was shot in Los Angeles.

With the kind of gun that gangsters use.

But he was an accountant with Bellamy Enterprises here, and he never did

anything illegal in his whole life.

Well, does the police know who did it?

Did anything unusual happen before he was killed?

He asked me to marry him.

He said he wanted to quit his job and go down to Mexico and just fish and lie in

the sun.

Will the police know about that?

Oh, yeah. I told Jeff Johnson.

I'd like to speak to that young lady as soon as you get a chance.

Who is it?

Hunter, it's me.

Beginning to think this is going to be an all -nighter?

Can I help it if the biggest man in town thinks I'm wonderful?

You mean the heavyweight with the white sidewalls?

Raymond Bellamy.

President of Bellamy Enterprises.

Did you notice something real interesting about him?

Yeah. Bellamy fits the description in a way to give us like a silk glove.

Also, Latimer worked for Bellamy.

Bingo.

Think we ought to bring that waiter down here to ID the man? Why don't we just

get some photographs? Something would be cheaper.

And who gets to take the pictures?

Well, he did invite me over to his horse ranch tomorrow.

Yeah.

Beauty, huh?

Yeah, it's the best money can buy.

I can spot a winner every time.

It's a beauty.

And I can also spot a kind of problem.

What kind of problem's that?

Now, you know the girl that Latimer's engaged to?

Amy? Yeah.

Everybody's talking about how hard she's taken his death.

Well, last night she sashayed into the club on the arm of this tall guy I've

never seen before.

Now, if she's nursing a broken heart, a man landers.

I want you to find out who this guy is and how he got together with her.

I'll take care of that, Mr. Bellamy.

How's it

going?

Fine.

Sheriff Carl Johnson, you're Rick Stoner.

How you doing?

Want some toast?

No, thanks.

I understand you're waiting on a park for your car.

It's pretty tough being stranded in a strange town waiting for your car to be

fixed. Me, I'd go crazy.

Boy, you've got a real nice town here, Sheriff. Makes it easier.

Mind if I ask you a personal question, Mr. Stoner?

Well, you can ask.

There was a murder outside of my jurisdiction that concerns this town.

Long -time resident was killed, Charlie Latimer.

He was engaged to a young lady named Amy Lorton.

She was pretty shook up about what happened.

And I get a report that she comes waltzing into the country club last

a man that nobody seems to know.

I wonder if you could tell me about that.

I'd like to, but I don't see it as being any of your business.

Well, maybe I can help you there.

You see, it is my business because I'm making it my business.

Now, this citizen was murdered in Los Angeles.

You from Los Angeles? San Diego.

Well, I don't know how it works in San Diego, but here in Campo Alto, when I

someone a question, I don't expect to be told it's not in my business.

You get my meaning? Look, Sheriff, I didn't have anything to do one day, so I

was walking down the street and I went into the library to check out a couple

books.

I saw Amy, so I started talking to her. I asked her to dinner. She said she'd

go. That's it.

Sheriff, we'll have your car fixed for you real soon, Mr. Stoner.

Boy, these are beauties.

I love horses.

I love to ride them. I love to take pictures of them.

I'd like to paint them, too.

Yeah, I'll bet you do.

There's a phone call for you, Mr. Bellamy.

I'll just be a second.

Bye.

Bellamy here.

I talked to him, Mr. Bellamy.

His name's Rick Stoner.

Claims he's an oceanographer.

He's waiting for his car to be fixed. There's something about this guy I just

don't like.

If you're worried, Kyle, so am I.

Handle it.

How did you

get in here?

Through the back door.

But why?

Sit down, Amy.

I'm Sergeant Hunter.

Nellie Homicide. I'm here in town to investigate the murder of your fiancée.

don't understand anything here.

Look, Amy, I hate to tell you this, but I think Charlie was involved in some

sort of extortion or blackmail. He was killed the day he was paid off.

You're wrong.

The Charles I knew wouldn't even cheat on his income tax.

Can you explain how he planned to move to Mexico?

Charles lived very simply, and he had investments.

That's what we were going to live on.

Tell me about Raymond Bellamy.

Mr. Bellamy and Charles have been together ever since Mr. Bellamy started

first business.

It was Bellamy Insurance Company then.

Well, judging from the size of his building, he must have sold an awful lot

insurance. He went into other things, ranching, mining.

He's popular and respected, and his record is probably every bit as clean as

Charles's. It is. I checked it out. But you know something? You don't die the

way Charles did without being a direct threat to somebody.

There's got to be another explanation.

Maybe Charles was mistaken for somebody else.

You don't believe that, do you, Amy?

Who is it?

Sheriff Johnson.

I'd like to talk to you, Amy.

Uh, just one minute.

Would you like to sit down?

No, I just have a minute.

Amy, even though it happened in Los Angeles, I'm doing everything I can to

Charlie's murder.

Mr. Bellamy feels the same as I do.

He's posting a reward for information leading to the apprehension of the

or killers.

I know you're doing everything you can, Sheriff.

This, uh... This fellow you've been seeing with is Rick Stoner.

Now, he could be involved.

I picked up a set of fingerprints off his car.

He's from Chicago and he has a rap sheet ten yards long.

I think he's after something from you.

I don't know what it could be.

We talked about his job, my job, things we like to do.

You mean to tell me he didn't ask you anything about Charlie?

You wouldn't be holding anything back from me, would you, Amy? No, I'm not.

I don't know what anyone with a criminal record would possibly want with me.

Well, maybe for all we know, Sonner could have killed Charlie.

So why don't I want you to leave anything out?

I'm not leaving anything out, Sheriff.

I told you all there is.

Now, if he calls or comes by or anything, you get in touch with me.

Let's do it.

Where were you?

Behind that very tiny door.

And thanks for having some faith in me in there. I appreciate that.

Well, give me a good reason to have some faith in you. Who are you?

This telephone number is a direct line into the L .A. homicide.

Now, call and ask when Hunter is assigned to this division.

Have them describe me to you.

All right.

If you are a police officer, what do you want from me?

Hey, what's good to eat? I am starved. Mm -hmm.

Is something wrong?

You see that tall guy sitting over there with that pretty blonde?

Yeah.

I understand you're both staying at the same hotel.

Yeah, news to me.

Well, you are.

Now, what's the connection between you two?

Ray, I've never seen that guy before in my life.

Now, listen, you both came into town at the same time, and you both registered

at the same motel.

Ray, how many motels are there in this town?

Yeah, you're right.

Yeah, there's only one good motel, and you're staying in it.

Yeah.

I just wanted to see if you were going to blink.

Sheriff Johnson's probably going to call me tonight.

He's going to want to know what we talked about. What should I tell him?

Tell him you had a good time. Tell him I did not try to get any information out

of you at all.

And that I invited you back to my motel room for the evening.

And what did I say?

What would Sheriff Johnson expect you to say?

He'd expect me to say no.

And you said no.

I hope he believes me.

I wonder what he's doing right now.

What do you got?

Nothing. Just these pamphlets.

Garbage.

Take a look at that singer's room.

This is Dr. Freddy. I said your part came in.

I know how anxious you are to be on your way, Mrs. Stoner.

So I asked Freddy to do me a little favor and to work late.

I said your car would be ready by 8 a .m. sharp.

I do hope you've enjoyed your stay and a little time, Mrs. Stoner.

How are you, Sheriff? Freddie tells me you didn't show to pick up your car.

Here it is noon, and you're still in our little town.

Well, like I said, I like it in this little town.

I met a girl I like, too. She likes me.

So I thought I'd stay around a little bit. Besides, I don't have to be in

Christi until about the 28th or 29th of the month.

But you can tell Freddie I'll come by this afternoon to pick my car up.

There's no law saying you can't stay in this town, Mr. Stoner.

But if I were you, I'd watch out for this son.

If you get too much of it, go.

Yes, sir, Mr. Stoner.

Big mistake.

Come into our little town.

I ask you a polite, simple question. You tell me it's none of my business.

Well, I don't like anybody telling me my business. And I especially don't like

you.

Don't even think about coming back here and pressing charges on me.

What happened here tonight is going to be our little secret.

My pals here, they don't even live in Campo Alto.

And you'll have a hell of a time finding them. Give me the key.

Your bags are in the trunk.

And this road leads straight to Corpus Christi.

The beautiful land of Texas.

Adios.

Sheriff.

Uh... You know, the one thing I don't understand is... How in the

heck do you...

Okay, cowboys, back up.

Move! Now take those guns and throw them right over on that dirt.

That's real good.

It's really on the house.

Now all you idiots get on the ground.

Move!

You look good down there.

Don't you guys have anything better to do than to lay around out here?

Yeah.

But you're not. It's going to be found.

Sergeant Hunter, elementary homicide.

I'm investigating the murder of Charles Latimer. I'm officially letting you know

I'm in town, Sheriff.

And I fully expect the cooperation and courtesy afforded to the fellow police

officer in the state of California.

What, is this some kind of a joke?

Murder's no joke, Sheriff.

You're not Los Angeles now. You're in my jurisdiction.

I also have the right to arrest you, Sheriff, or anybody that I find meddling

my investigation. I also have the right to investigate anybody I feel is

involved in this homicide, including you.

And Mr. Bellamy. What do you mean, question Mr.

Bellamy? You heard me, pal.

So why don't you get on the horn, call Mr. Bellamy, and tell him we're on our

way out.

Sheriff Johnson here tells me that you want to talk to me about Charles

Latimer's death.

Yes, I do.

Charles Latimer met a man in a Los Angeles restaurant called La Rouge. The

waiter and the hostess of that restaurant identified he was that man.

Yes, I was there.

Charlie called me and wanted to know if I'd meet him in Los Angeles.

Well, I was flying up there anyway, and I told him I would.

After all, you know, the man worked for me for 20 years.

So I hear. What did you talk about?

Well, he told me that he was leaving the country.

I wished him well.

We had a pleasant lunch, that was it.

He read along.

You see, he left before you ordered.

Hey, wait a minute. You don't have to put up with this, Mr. Bellamy.

Sergeant Hunter here asked a question. I think he deserves an answer.

You see, Jolly was complaining again.

I passed him over on a big promotion.

We'd had it out before.

I didn't think it was necessary to go through it again. I told him so.

He got angry, got up and left.

Fifteen minutes later, he was dead? If you're insinuating that I had something

to do with his death, you're going to need more than the fact that Charlie and

met in a restaurant before he was killed.

I have, Mr. Bellamy.

I have.

Oh, uh, both of you entered that restaurant with briefcases. Did he leave

his?

Yes.

Why?

Oh, I'm just curious.

It's a funny thing. I have an idea. I'm going to find that briefcase right here

in Campo Alto.

What do you think?

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

Oh, you don't?

Well, I'll tell you what. As soon as I find out what was in that briefcase,

you'll be the first one to know.

I'll talk to you later.

Yes? Mr. Bellamy, this is Amy Lorden.

I have something I want to discuss with you.

Well, I'm sure if you call my office, my secretary would be happy to make an

appointment for you, Miss Lorden. I don't think you want me to call your

secretary.

We'll be discussing something about the insurance business that I'm sure you'll

want to keep very private.

Where would you like to meet?

Someplace very public.

Say, uh, the park in the center of town.

in 20 minutes.

You want to tell me why I'm here?

Let me tell you the story of the most important man in Campo Alto.

He comes to our town about 20 years ago, makes lots of friends, and opens his

own insurance company.

He gets the account to ensure public works in the county, things like bridges

and aqueducts.

Whatever happens to a bridge or an aqueduct.

So he doesn't send the policies into the home office.

He pockets the premiums himself.

I see Charlie did talk to you.

I didn't think he would.

Not only did we talk, Charles gave me copies of the policies.

So you want the money that Charlie was supposed to get.

I'm not as timid as Charles.

I want more.

Oh, and it would be stupid to try to kill me.

Sergeant Hunter already knows that it was blackmail that got Charles killed.

He's pretty sure it was you.

But, unless he knows why,

he really can't do much about it, can he?

How much did Charlie tell you that I agreed to pay him?

Doesn't matter.

Well, he said one million.

But I want two million.

I've given an envelope to a certain person living out of state whom I trust.

And if anything happens to me, that envelope goes straight to the district

attorneys in Los Angeles.

I don't like anyone waving a murder warrant tag over my head.

She decides to burn us, we're dead.

We gotta find out who she gave that stuff to.

I think I know who.

Now, she has left town for the past six months. I've checked.

She's not about to send that stuff through the mail. Mail gets lost. No.

It had to be someone right here in town.

How about Charlie's old man?

You got it, Mr. Bellamy. He's crazy about her. He'd do anything she asked.

All right. Make it look like a break -in in robbery.

There's a phone call for you, Mr. Bellamy. Okay.

Why don't you come on down, huh? Yeah.

Thanks.

Yeah. Mr. Bellamy, we have another problem.

Another problem? What's that?

Well, the night clerk at the Royal Arms saw Hunter coming out of the wing with a

new singer's stamp.

Made you kind of wonder, Hunter's room being in the other wing.

They've got two dozen bedrooms in that wing.

Listen, Kyle, we got enough problems.

Don't go inventing any.

Whatever you say, Mr. Bellamy.

I'll get the ball rolling to get Hunter off our back.

You want my opinion? She's his backup.

She shouldn't be running while loose.

Yeah?

Maybe you're right. Maybe you're right.

Okay, I'll look into it.

Amy?

Haven't you heard?

Heard what?

Oh, God, I'm so sorry. They just found Mr. Latimer, Charlie's father, dead.

Dead? His house was ransacked, and Sheriff Johnson thinks that he walked in

someone burglarizing his house.

When did it happen?

About 40 minutes ago.

You wonder if anyone's safe anymore.

Hey, Gaines, why don't you take those horses over to the hot water?

Yes, sir.

This it?

Could be.

Want a drink?

Yeah.

Hey, what is this?

Is this for real? Are you for real, Dee Dee? What does that mean? Look, I don't

think this is very funny.

I didn't intend it to be.

Now, what was that hunter doing in your room last night?

Who's Hunter?

He's that fellow that I asked you about at the club.

Sergeant Hunter, as if you didn't know. I don't know. The guy was not in my room

last night or any other night, besides who says he was anyway.

The night clerk said he saw him coming out of the wing of your motel.

Come on, Ray, that puts him in my room?

Well, maybe you are what you claim to be.

Then again, maybe you're not. And I haven't decided which.

You know, you might be a cop. Do I look like a cop?

Never saw a female cop that did.

Then you and Hunter arrived in town at the same time and registered at the same

motel. And all of a sudden, I got myself a slew of problems that I never had

before. Yeah, well, I'm not one of them.

Well, maybe I'm making a mistake about you, honey. And then again, maybe I'm

not. But if I am, I'm going to have to live with it.

Now we're going to take a ride.

We're going in that truck, so come on.

Hello? Rick, it's Amy.

I think I found copies of what Charlie was using to blackmail Mr. Bellamy with.

It's all here.

Everything. Well, Amy, why don't you meet me over here at the motel? I think

it's safer if we meet someplace out of town so we're not seen together.

There's a turnoff about three miles south out of town on Old San Rosa Road.

I'm on my way.

If you make one false move, try to sit in the hunter.

I'll blow you away.

You understand?

You understand?

What the hell are you doing, lady?

I'll take that, Bellamy.

You all right?

Yeah.

Get on the ground. Move it.

Love it, Sheriff.

I'm going to make you a deal, Sheriff. I might keep you out of the California

gas chamber.

Bellamy is the one we want for the murder of Charles Latimer.

Now, we know you pulled the trigger on him.

But maybe the district attorney will drop the special circumstances charges

a little cooperation.

Give me an answer or I'll offer the deal to Bellamy.

I'll think about the deal.

Did Mr. Bellamy tell you anything about me?

Well, like what?

Like I tried to blackmail him.

You did, huh?

Yeah, I told him I found copies of the insurance policies that he didn't send

into the home office.

Well, Amy, I don't think Mr. Bellamy is going to be taking a witness stand, and

somehow I don't think that the insurance policies under your name was going to

come up.

But I did try to blackmail him.

But, Amy, nobody's going to have to call on you. Look, Sheriff Johnson decided

to turn state's evidence.

There is not an attorney anywhere that could keep Bellamy from being convicted

of Charles' murder. And, Amy, you do have the right to remain silent.

And I suggest you do.

Thanks.

But I want you to know, I never would have done it if he hadn't killed

I know that.