Original subtitles

Joe Mannix?

That's right. Mr. Mannix, I'd like to talk to you about business.

Well, uh, if you'll give me your name and phone number, I'll call you back in

the morning.

I'm on my way out to see a client.

That's what I wanted to talk to you about, Mr. Mannix.

It's a lousy night for business calls.

Stay in.

Curl up with a good...

Mr.

Mannix. Yeah.

I told you it was a rough night out.

Home's the only safe place for you.

Sleep tight.

Hey, buddy.

Yeah?

Uh, have you got a half a buck for a cup of coffee?

With a little wine in it?

Well, it cuts down on my jogging.

There you are.

Hey.

Join me?

Some other time.

Mr. Maddox?

That's right.

I'm Martin Emery.

You told me on the phone this morning that nobody knew you contacted me.

No one did.

Correction. I was warned off the case with a bullet to back it up.

How could anyone have known?

How about your secretary?

She phoned me for you.

No, no, I trust Miss Phillips implicitly.

Besides, she didn't know why I phoned you.

Maybe it's time I did.

All right.

The woman is my wife.

Sorry, Mr. Emory, I don't handle cases like that. It's not my line.

It's not what you think.

She told me the next morning.

Didn't even know the man's name.

It was just a case of one long, lonely evening and one drink too many.

I never mentioned it to her again.

I pushed it out of my mind until this photo arrived about a month ago.

Laura doesn't know about the photo.

I don't know what it would do to her if she found out.

I paid the man $2 ,500 the first time, and I was glad I thought to have it done

with. How much the second time?

5 ,000, now 10.

Getting steeper.

He's supposed to send me the negative this time.

It's easy enough to make copies of a negative.

Mr. Maddox, there's $10 ,000 inside this thing.

You'd only be throwing good money after bad.

I know how these characters work.

That's exactly why I contacted you.

Track him down, find out who he is.

A man like that must have some kind of a record.

Maybe you can put the fear of God in them.

I sent Laura to Europe until this is over.

I want it finished, Mr. Maddox, as quickly as possible.

How are the payoffs made?

Upper drive of the new Mount Olympic building development.

The envelopes are left underneath the Mount Olympic sign.

When? I was told to watch the personals.

Cool City, that's one of those underground newspapers.

Yeah, I know.

How are the notices identified?

To M .E. from Fantastic Photographer.

Okay, I'll be in touch.

Good.

You can contact me through my personal number at the office. No one answers it

but me, KL56654.

Right. I checked you out.

I know you can be trusted to keep this just between us.

Goes with the job.

Well, I'm glad you decided to take the case.

I really took the case before we met.

You see, Mr. Emery, you don't like your wife's reputation being threatened.

I don't like being shot at.

I'll be back.

Hey.

What happened last night?

Oh, I've told you all I can, Peggy. You didn't tell me anything.

And you tried to pass that off as the work of a woodpecker.

Just a joke.

I know a bullet hole when I see a bullet hole.

And a bullet hole ain't no joke.

I'll just be patient for a little while, huh, Peggy?

Listen, this is a first.

I've been in on every other case. Now, what's so special about this one?

I made a deal with a client, absolutely confidential, just between him and me.

Okay? Okay, but it's not going to stop me from worrying about you.

And in reference to the inventory number on the specified date, I submit...

Excuse me, Miss Phillips. We can finish this another time.

Yes, sir.

Yes? This is Mannix.

I heard from the blackmailer a few minutes ago.

He gets around fast.

Is it true what he said?

That there was no money in the envelope, just scraps of paper?

Yeah, I made a switch.

On whose authority?

Now look, Mr. Emery, you put the case in my hands.

Yes, I did.

And you know what you've done? It stirred him up, I hope. Gave him a

shaking. Well, he's doubled the amount. That's how much you stirred him up. And

if he doesn't have the money by tomorrow, he'll see that copies of the

photograph were circulated.

Well, we have until tomorrow, so sit tight.

How can I sit tight?

You still don't know a thing about him. I do now.

I know that he's not the man in the photograph.

And I've got the license number on the car he was driving.

JFO 247?

Well, let's see.

Here we are.

JFO 247.

That car was rented on the 11th to a David Tremont.

Did he give an address?

Yes.

Crystal Hotel, 213 West Main.

Do you have a David Tremont registered here?

Sure have.

Is he in?

Yes, I'd say he is.

What's his room number?

Who should I say he's calling? Oh, well, don't say.

I'll just go right on up.

Oh, I couldn't do that.

Well, um...

Sort of a surprise.

Oh, that kind of a surprise.

Well, in that case, just go right up to 315, sir.

Thanks.

Plumber, your bathroom's flooding the room downstairs.

Okay, look you can send for the lab crew now, all right

How

much

longer lieutenant That's up to you, Mannix.

We've covered everything.

That's what you say.

Look, it was self -defense.

I walked in, he shot at me, I shot back. That's it.

Except why you came here in the first place.

I told you, business.

That's like saying the stars only come out after dark.

Deegan, I want to get out of here.

And I want the name of your client.

Wouldn't do you any good.

Well, who are you to say that? Look, Deegan, you can think what you want

me. You can knock my profession.

You can give me the treatment. You can cool my heels till they freeze, but it's

still no dice.

Look, let's get one thing straight, Mannix.

Maybe Lieutenant Tobias will let you off easier, but this is my case, not his,

so don't push me.

Okay?

Now, who's your client?

That's still privileged information.

I'm still asking.

Book me.

Now let me go.

All right, Pete.

Where are you going?

Taylor, Lieutenant.

What for? If you're on his tail, he wouldn't go anywhere.

Maddox may be stubborn, but he's not stupid.

He might have settled for this.

And I'd be on my way now to join my wife in Europe.

The odds were against it. Maybe so.

But now it's a lot worse.

I didn't bargain to get involved in any killing. I told you, I've kept your name

out of it.

I, uh, thought I'd seen that woman before.

Brunette. Where?

Driving a car that cut me off.

My mistake.

Mr. Mannix, let's be honest.

What are my chances now?

I knew from the start it was a gamble.

Okay, Mr. Emery, let's both be honest.

You'd like to cash in your chips, right?

I don't know. I don't know what to do.

Your wife, your name, your decision.

I think we better call it quits.

Well, you can send that to me after I finish my end of the case.

Someone still took a shot at me.

I want to know about that brunette in the dark glasses they knew paid me to

a negative back. It's still floating around someplace.

Anybody around I can talk to?

You Fuzz?

No.

I look like Fuzz.

Sorry. I'm a private investigator.

Same as Fuzz.

Not downtown, it isn't.

You sure?

Sure.

Well, then welcome to Cool City.

All the news that's unfit to print.

What's the matter? Something got you uptight?

Oh, well, it's really none of my business.

You mean I'm a little too grown up for this sort of thing, huh?

Well, I... Yeah, look, man, things are tough in the newspaper game, right?

All the news is on TV, right?

So you gotta feed the public all the stuff they can't see on the tube, right,

man? So here I am on Cool City.

You know, I used to be on the old New York Herald. I was there 30 years before

it folded.

You know what I did? Now don't laugh.

I was a church editor.

Now go ahead and laugh.

No laugh.

Look, I'd like to check out this personal notice. There were two others

that.

Yeah, I know.

We get lots of personals.

Nick, our best reading.

Real way out stuff, huh?

Yeah, I remember this one.

And the other two.

Tried to make it real hip, but it came out square.

Like the person who placed it.

Well, takes one to know one.

What did he look like?

Wasn't he, was a she.

Brunette, dark glasses?

Yeah, man.

Well, you got anything on her? Name, address, anything?

Nothing.

We don't ask no questions at nobody around here.

That's what makes cool city cool.

No changing your story, Mannix. No change, Lieutenant.

Okay, let's go over it step by step.

You're a real tiger, Deegan. Don't get funny.

Just trying to start today off with a smile.

Not at my expense.

He fired first, you said.

That's right. Three shots.

Right. Wrong. The lab crew went over the entire room.

No trace of a slug. No bullet hole on your side of the room.

Now look, Lieutenant.

I'm not blind. I'm not deaf.

I saw gun flashes and I heard gunshots.

And how come the only slug we found was in him?

Fired by your detective special.

What'd the report say about his gun?

Fully loaded.

Unfired. Unused.

You knew the dead man as David Tremont?

No, I didn't know him at all. The desk clerk said he was registered under that

name. You ever hear of Dennis Taggart?

No. Well, that was his real name, Taggart.

Two -bit con artist.

Not bright enough for big -time extortion, but smart enough about one

He never packed a gun.

Anything you care to add, Mannix?

No.

Well, nothing more that would help you.

Help yourself.

Like proof to me you were even on a case.

He was.

He told me.

He told you what?

He was working on a case. What case?

I don't know.

You can't claim privilege information.

She doesn't know a thing.

Look, if there's some personal reason you're fighting me, Maddox, let's get it

out in the open, huh?

I'm doing my job, Lieutenant. I'm protecting a client.

your shoes, Maddox. I start worrying about protecting myself.

Joe.

Peggy, I gotta make a phone call, personal.

But what's it all about?

Now I don't know. Would you let me make this phone call?

What number are you calling, please?

KL -566 -54.

I want to see Mr. Emery.

Well, I'm sorry, but Mr. Emery's not in.

Oh, wait.

Well, I'll have to schedule you for an appointment.

May I have your name, please, and your phone number?

The name is Mannix.

And the number?

Now, wait a minute. You're Miss Phillips, aren't you?

Yes. You're Mr. Emery's private secretary?

Yes, of course.

Then what's this big act as if you never heard my name?

I'm sorry, sir, but I never have heard it before.

You called me for Mr. Emery when he hired me.

There must be some mistake.

Yes, sir.

Thank you.

Now I'm going to tell you for the second time.

He's trying to force his way into Mr. Emery's office.

What's going on out here?

I want to talk to you. Tell him it's okay that you know me.

Well, how can I tell him I know you? I never saw you before.

Shall I call the police, Mr. Emery?

I don't think that'll be necessary, Miss Phillips. Just show him out.

I don't believe you'll cause us any more trouble.

Hey, Jim, you check on the other side of the house.

I'm going to check down to the fence.

I'm just going to have to tighten security around here.

Nobody's perfect.

What do you want?

You can cut out the act, Emery.

There's nobody around.

Listen, who are you?

Oh, I can understand why you'd like not to know me now, why you've been dodging

me, pretending I'm not there.

Well, I'm here, Emery, and I'm telling you there are just too many holes in

story, and I've been dropping through them.

I've been obligated to protect you and keep your name out of it up to now.

But if you know anything that can help me, you'd better start talking.

How can I?

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

Maybe Mrs. Emery does.

Are you threatening my wife in some way? No.

No, that's no threat.

I just want to know more about the man in the photo with her. Man with Laura?

Yeah. What man? What photo?

It's your choice, Emery.

You talk to me.

Or I get in touch with Mrs. Emery in Europe and talk to her.

Europe? Yeah.

What gave you that idea?

Martin?

I'll be right with you, Laura.

Not too long, dear.

I'll be just a few more seconds, darling.

My wife in Europe?

Now, whoever told you that?

I've heard some stories in my life, but that is the weirdest.

Yeah.

And he just grins at me and he went up and joined his wife.

At least that frees you of all obligation. Now you can tell Lieutenant

everything. My word against Emery's?

Facts are facts, Joe.

What facts?

There's nothing linking Emery with me. The meetings were secret. The phone

call's private. He paid me in cash.

There's no record of the case at all. No evidence.

Except there was a bullet hole in that front door. Now, if someone took a shot

at you, we've got proof.

We're not going to open up that can of beans yet.

Why not?

Look at the way it would stack up.

Taggart comes here and takes a shot at me, so I go gunning for vengeance. I

into his hotel room and I blast him.

That's just circumstantial.

Yeah, but it's enough to book me on suspicion of murder, at least in

Deegan's book.

Well, there's still that picture negative.

Now, Taggart had to have hidden it someplace.

That won't do me any good.

Joe, I know it's dirty pool, but it ties Emery in.

Peggy, I didn't know until I saw Laura Emery this afternoon.

Know what?

She's not the woman in that photo.

That was a phony, too.

Look, I shouldn't even be talking to you.

Well, if you'll just give me the key to room 315, we wouldn't have to talk.

After what happened the last time you went up there?

I'll only be ten minutes.

Sorry.

Well, there's no law against renting a room for the night, is there?

Well, when you put it that way, that'll be $42.

The sign says $6 a night.

We only rent by the week.

Since when?

Since the new policy went into effect.

Uh, just one thing.

No more surprises, huh?

I'll do my best. Oh, by the way, who's my neighbor?

316 is empty.

The other night, too?

Uh -uh.

She checked out the morning after.

What'd she look like?

Couldn't see much of her face.

Brunette? Right.

Always wore dark glasses.

Same woman. Has to be.

Taggart could have had an accomplice.

Yeah, maybe.

Now, when I broke in here, Taggart was standing at that window.

He opened it, and he was on his way out when I came in.

He then fired three shots at me.

But he didn't fire at all. I mean, there's not a slug or a bullet hole

Now figure that one out.

Yeah.

Look, Peggy, you wait out here. Count to five and then come in, huh?

Okay.

One, two, three, four,

five.

What's that?

An invitation to murder.

What'd you see?

A figure at the window, Joe.

You.

Then?

Then three flashes of light.

Hmm.

From this.

But I had three blanks fired at me.

But Taggart's gun wasn't used at all.

No, he didn't fire the gun.

The way I figure it, he was unconscious. Somebody propped him up in this window.

They were behind him on a fire escape and fired three blanks at me from behind

him and got me to return a real thing.

This fire escape connects these two rooms.

The brunette with the dark glasses, right? Now, look, Peggy, the police only

check the inside of the room for fingerprints.

Call Sid Davis over at sea and I ask him to come down here and dust this fire

escape for prints, huh?

Right.

Oh, Joe, one thing.

Taggart was dead weight, right?

I'd say roughly about 160 pounds worth.

Then how could a woman, alone, put him into an upright position?

You must have had help.

That's a moving violation, Lieutenant.

Just saving you a trip downtown.

You ask Sid Davis and C &I to check out some prints for you. Why?

Routine. Oh, come off it, Mannix, will you?

Sid may be your friend, but he still works for the department first.

Okay, so Sid told you where he dusted up those prints? The window outside of

room 315.

I know where. I want to know how they got there.

Look, I don't even know yet who the prints belong to.

Harry Glidden.

G -L -I -D -D -E -N.

Name ring a bell?

Zero. Our records list him as a grifter, a petty thief, and the one -time

partner of Dennis Taggart, the man you shot.

Anything you want to add?

And if there is, you'll be the first to hear from me.

I'll tell you what.

Let's make an appointment.

You'll be in my office by 2 o 'clock this afternoon.

And Mannix, I guess there's one more thing you ought to know about Harry

Glidden.

Our records list him as dead for just over 10 years.

Excuse me. Yeah.

Are you Vince Allison?

Yeah, look, fella, I'm up to my ears now. I can't take another job for at

a week. I'm sorry.

It's not about a job. It's about Harry Glidden.

Look,

I'm clean.

I haven't touched a hot car in years.

Relax, I'm not a cop. Then beat it.

Don't look for trouble, mister.

I'm looking for information on Harry Glidden.

What for? He's dead.

You're acting like he's back among us.

One thing the world don't need is the second coming of Harry Glidden.

Why is that?

He'd turn in his own father if he knew who it was.

Strictly poison.

What else?

That's all. Nothing else. I've said my piece. Look, as far as I'm concerned,

less said about Harry Glidden, the better.

What'd he do to you?

Left me behind the wheel of a getaway car.

While he got away.

Then shouldn't have surprised me, though, knowing what he was.

Just one thing about Harry Glidden did surprise me.

What's that?

He died of natural causes.

Peggy, did you check the doctor who signed the death certificate?

Dead, too, but not natural.

Hit -and -run victim two weeks after Glidden was buried.

Did you dig up a picture of Glidden? Only in word.

He was camera shy.

What's the word?

Crafty, wily, ruthless.

According to whom?

The men in his life.

What about the women?

I'm working on that.

Oh, one more thing, Joe.

Lieutenant Deegan called.

He said your time was up.

Yeah, okay.

Deegan means business.

Yeah, I know, Peggy. I'll be in touch.

What'll it be? What's she drinking?

Whiskey straight on the rocks. Two of them.

Oh, uh, mind if I make another phone call?

It's local, isn't it? Yeah.

Deegan.

Maddox, you're overdue.

Yeah, look, Lieutenant, I got a little problem.

I need a little more time.

Now, I'm not playing games with you. I give you my word. I'm giving you mine.

It's no.

I'll come in as soon as I'm finished.

You come in now or I'll go and get you.

Sorry, Lieutenant.

Put out an APB on Mannix.

Spender.

Replacement. Oh, I'll drink to that.

If I don't hear it clink, I play better.

What would you like to hear?

Anything you feel like.

You've got style, you know it.

What do you want?

Talk.

Lonely?

Curious.

About Harry Midden, right?

You've been putting me on.

Who told you where to find me?

My job is asking questions. Who told you to expect me?

Look, it's an unofficial organization.

The Hate Harry Glidden Club.

Dead ten years.

They still hate him.

And you?

I liked him.

Sue me. I liked Harry Glidden.

That surprises you, huh?

Well, he must have been different with you.

You know, it's funny. He wasn't even good looking.

His nose was all crooked and his ears stuck out too far.

But there was something about him only women knew.

He made you feel like you were something special.

At least he made me feel that way until...

There was one thing I didn't like about Harry.

That. See?

All his women, that was his idea, put his brand on them.

You know, it was years ago, but I can still remember the night when she walked

in to the spot I was playing.

Harry looks at her and he says to me, now there's a gal with class.

That's no peroxide blonde.

So I said to myself, goodbye, Harry.

You know what he dug about that blonde chick the most?

She wouldn't let him put his brand on her.

Wouldn't get tattooed for him.

So, he left me.

Still, gotta take the good with the bad, right?

One thing I gotta admit, that blonde did have class.

Wonder what she ever saw in Harry.

And so do I.

I didn't want to come empty -handed. The size may be wrong, but I'm sure you

understand my intention.

If you're thinking of calling the police, forget it. They're already

me.

And if you're thinking of setting off the alarm to call your security guard,

can forget that, too. It's been disconnected in here.

Now, you and I are going to have a private talk, Mrs. Emery, before your

gets home.

Who are you? What... The next question is obviously, what do you want, right?

Well, I'll tell you what I don't want.

I don't want to play patsy for anyone.

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

The brunette who was in the hotel room next to Taggart. The brunette who cut me

off when I was tailing Taggart from the money drop.

I'm talking about... you.

And I'm talking about one of your old boyfriends, Harry Glidden.

who suddenly returned from the dead.

In a way, Mr. Mannix, I'm relieved that you know.

Don't get too comfortable.

It's a pretty long trip from Harry Glidden's old hangouts to an estate in

Hills. Or were you just slumming in those days?

Slumming. What about Harry Glidden?

What do you think?

He is alive.

And well.

And living in Holmby Hills.

You're home early.

Oh, I was here before you.

Waiting.

You've been expecting me, Mr. Maddox.

Oh, how the little woman must have inspired you.

From hoodlum to magnet.

I saw the makings.

The rest was easy.

Phony death.

Plastic surgery.

New name.

New life.

There's a drifter in Harry Glidden's grave.

But we don't have to tell you that now, do we?

Only how Taggart got on, do you?

That was a piece of bad luck.

You see, in prison, an inmate would read just about anything.

Taggart happened to come across a rare photo of me in an industrial

Something in the eyes, he said. Something only he would recognize.

It was blackmail, of course, but not the kind we discussed.

And it was you who fired those shots at me in my office to get me involved.

No, I did.

I also made the first call for your appointment.

A family that slays together.

Well, I'd say you two have just about covered everything.

Yes, of course.

It was even reported to the police that you attempted to break into my office

and that you made illegal entry here.

I knew you'd be back.

I even relaxed the guard to make it easier for you.

But you're not getting out, Mannix, and that gun isn't going to help you.

Why don't you have a look out the window?

I alerted them. They're hunting for

Prowler.

How don't you think I would have taken care of that, too?

Good thing you dropped your gun or you'd be dead.

He's been dead ten years, Lieutenant.

You know, I still can't figure how Deegan knew to come to Emery's place.

When I asked him, all he said was, forget it.

So forget it.

I can't.

It's bugging me.

Well, do whatever you want. I've got work.

Hey, hey, what work?

Just work.

Peggy.

I'm going to lunch.

It can wait. I'm hungry.

Peggy.

All right.

I called Deacon. I was worried about you. Peggy, how many... Now, wait a

Just wait a minute.

I mean, I practically saved your life.

Yeah, I guess you did.

Well, look, why don't you take an extra hour for lunch?

Okay.