Original subtitles

Bye.

Oh,

forgive me for bringing you out to the yard this time of night.

You, uh, said you had a problem.

No, Mannix.

You have the problem.

you

Thank you.

There he is.

Take it easy.

I'm not going to hurt you.

What was I shooting for?

For me.

What are you doing here?

I'm the night watchman.

You got a gun?

Security patrol comes around. I'm just supposed to call if I see anything out

the way.

Where's your telephone?

In the mill foreman's office across the yard.

You've been hurt.

I... I want you to call the police for me.

I don't know what your trouble is, but leave me out of it.

Must have called the cops.

Let's get out of here.

Are you all right?

Never better.

What happened?

My client Bradshaw wanted me dead.

Check on him, Peggy.

I already did.

The company never heard of a Bradshaw.

Probably both phony names.

Why, Joe?

Well, you walked me into a trap.

Why?

That's something else.

I've had dissatisfied customers before, but... I've never had one that wanted to

kill me before I took the case.

know whether I turned on that tape recorder when Bradshaw called me.

But if it's on tape... You didn't turn the tape on.

Great.

You've had enough for one day.

You're exhausted.

All right, now you better talk. And it better be good.

The whole story.

I was hired to get you.

Who paid you?

I don't know.

A guy called me.

I met him in the warehouse district.

What did he look like?

He's on one side of the wall. I was on the other. You took a contract like that

sight unseen on faith.

He threw $2 ,500 over the wall.

Another $2 ,500 when I finished.

Well, we had a meeting when you finished.

He told me the obituary appears.

He'd send me the rest of it.

Look, Maddox, for $5 ,000, I don't ask no questions.

What's all the commotion?

Why, Mr.

Maddox, you shouldn't be out of bed.

You have no idea why, Joe.

Either time?

In my business arts, you figure a certain percentage of the people are not

to like you, but twice in a row. Now, that's ridiculous.

The guy you caught said he had a contract for 5 ,000.

The other two had the same deal.

Means there's an awful lot of money being spread around.

Yeah, and there's only one man I can think of who hated me enough for that.

Frank Bauer.

Bauer? He's dead.

Yeah.

So where does that leave us?

You know, when Bauer hit that Vegas club for $220 ,000, he hid that money

somewhere.

He must have figured if he got caught, the money would be waiting for him when

he got out.

But then when that cashier he shot died, it was murder. When I found him, he got

life.

Frank Bauer was the meanest man I ever saw.

He swore in court he'd get Joe and the judge and the prosecutor.

Last week, he broke out of the Nevada State Pen.

And he was killed. So at least you don't have him to worry about.

But that $220 ,000 is still missing.

Now, maybe somebody thinks I know where it is and is trying to keep me from it.

Watch out for that somebody, Joe.

for Bauer.

There's no mention of a brother here.

And he wasn't at the trial either.

They didn't get on too well.

Then why would his brother suddenly set out to revenge Frank's death and spend a

fortune doing it?

I don't know.

But I'm such a lovable guy, I figure someone has got to have a reason to want

kill me.

Hey, Phil, Joe.

Yeah, thanks.

Hey, listen to this, Peggy.

Elko, Nevada. Neil Evers, 63, retired judge at the Nevada Circuit Court, died

a fire that destroyed his home outside of Elko Monday morning. The fire was

believed to have been started by a short circuit in an electrical heater.

Services will be private.

Don't tell me.

He was the judge on the Bauer case.

Yes, he was.

Well, it's not a short circuit, Joe. An accident.

I mean, maybe it's just a coincidence.

Yeah. It was just a coincidence that three guys have tried to kill me within

past 24 hours.

Now, look, Peggy, I want you to try and get a rundown on Frank Bauer's brother.

Fine?

Stay down.

Cancel all my appointments.

Then call the prison administrator at the Nevada State Penitentiary, Larry

Hammond, and book me on a flight.

But that's what they want you to do. They're trying to draw you into a trap.

Well, make the reservations under any name you want. Up there, you're going to

be a sitting duck, Joe.

What kind of a duck was I a few minutes ago? Call Larry Hammond.

Yes,

Joe, I knew Judge Evers.

He was a good man.

Well, at the trial, Frank Bauer kept screaming he was going to get rid of all

us. Me, Evers, the prosecutor?

Bauer wasn't one of our more stable types.

What does all this have to do with you? Who's your client?

Me. There have been three different attempts on my life within the past 24

hours.

And apparently by three different people.

Now Judge Evers is dead.

Well, you're not trying to tie that to the threats Bauer made.

Well, it's a possibility, isn't it?

Joe. Bauer was dead the week before Judge Evers died.

Are you sure Bauer is dead?

I can understand how three different attempts on your life would make you

Maybe somebody didn't nail down the coffin.

There's an inquest. You want to see the file on Frank Bauer?

He made a pretty clever break at that. Came within a hair of getting away with

it. Then these guys have nothing to do but sit and figure a way out.

Frank Bauer had a brother.

Do you make any visits?

No. Two visits by his attorney, that's it.

Bauer wasn't the friendly type, in or out.

What are you working on, a brother's revenge?

Maybe. That sounds better than what it looked like at first. I thought you had

vengeful ghost in mind.

There's the results of the inquest, the usual workup.

He got out in a meat truck.

I'd just finished breakfast when I first got the word.

One of the guards spotted something suspicious under the truck. He hit the

siren.

They were after it in a matter of minutes.

We did a head count, found out who was missing, and put out an APB for Bauer.

They caught the meat truck less than three miles from the prison.

But Bauer got away.

They found blood where he'd braced himself, hanging by his hands and feet

undercarriage.

The only stop the truck made was a boulevard stop at the highway junction.

They found where the getaway car had turned.

They caught up with it in the mountains 18 miles south of here.

Bauer gave them quite a run.

Again, he almost got away.

But we train our boys pretty well.

There was some talk that since it was syndicate money, he stole the syndicate

engineer at the break, provided him with a sabotaged car.

Sounds like an interesting lead.

Seemed like it to me, too. But the investigation turned up negative.

Did you trace the car?

Probably stole it.

Now, you're sure it was Frank Bauer? No doubt about that?

The prison dentist got back a piece of bridge work that he put in himself less

than six months ago.

There's no doubt, Joe, he's dead.

And I don't believe in ghosts.

Well, now, if the syndicate didn't furnish Frank Bauer with a car, where'd

get it? Stole it. Oh, come on, how?

A car just happened to be at a deserted crossroad where Frank Bauer happened to

fall out from underneath a meat truck he used in a breakout?

Life is full of coincidences, Joe.

Just like three guys trying to kill you.

And managing to kill Judge Evers.

You're assuming that he was killed.

That's not what it says in the paper. They're investigating for arson.

Of course they are.

In a case of fire, they always investigate for arson. That's routine.

Oh, look, Joe.

I've known you for a long time, right?

I've never seen you get rattled under pressure.

I've gotten used to the idea of living.

Who is the lawyer who visited him?

Robert Turner.

That's the same lawyer he had at the trial.

Right. When did he last visit him?

March 19th. See, July, August, June, that'd be seven months ago.

It's not very likely he would have set it up then.

Well, thanks again Larry and there are probably not many people who ever said

that to you

What's

the matter I'm not sure

What is it

This car was washed when I rented it. I've been driving over a dusty rose for

about an hour. I didn't ask anybody to check my oil and water.

It looks like somebody did.

Just another coincidence, Larry?

Or are you beginning to believe in ghosts?

I'm Joe Mannix. I called Mr. Corey.

Yes, sir.

He's expecting us.

Been a long time. Sure has.

Oh, how's the arm? That's better.

Good. Oh, come on in. Sit down. Thanks.

Well, now what's this about my being in danger?

Well, now, I told you what happened to me and what happened to Judge Evers.

And you remember what Frank Bauer swore he was going to do.

Mannix, if I didn't know your reputation, I'd give you a quick, polite

-off.

Larry Hammond phoned me from the prison.

I was at the inquest. There's no doubt Bauer is dead.

All right, what about Frank Bauer's brother?

Revenge, maybe?

Ellsworth Bauer?

Well, he was under surveillance for over a year.

And so was Frank Bauer's girl, Dorothy Harker.

We thought they might know where the money was, might try to pass some of it,

but no evidence turned up to link them with the crime.

Bauer worked alone.

I imagine he took the money right to the grave with him.

And whatever happened to Dorothy Harker?

Oh, Dorothy, I see her often.

Sure, well, I live at the Monarch Hotel.

She's got a little boutique on the same street.

Late. Gotta get to court.

Oh, uh, could I take a look at your Bauer file?

Oh, sure, sure, sure.

Betty, will you bring the folder in on the Frank Bauer trial, would you?

Thanks. Uh, Tom.

Huh?

Watch your step, huh?

Oh, uh, Mannix, uh, he wants to check that file.

Now, help him in any way you can. I'm glad to.

Any way I can.

Oh, uh, thank you. Would you do me one more favor? Would you call a DMV and,

check on a car registered to Ellsworth Bauer?

Of course.

Mannix's office.

Oh, Peggy, it's me.

I'm so glad you're alive enough to call.

Look, I want you to run a check on Ellsworth Bauer.

Yeah, Frank Bauer's brother.

He used to work as a relief dealer in a place called the Lucky Dollar in Las

Vegas. You're still hunting ghosts?

Yeah. And they're hunting back.

Good afternoon. May I help you?

I hope so.

Something personal for a gift? A negligee? Bed jacket?

I've got some lovely Italian lace handkerchiefs.

Well, now, this isn't much more than a handkerchief, but it's quite a nice

How much?

Eighty -five dollars.

Would you say this is about your size?

I'm afraid not.

We always display the smaller sizes.

Trick of the trade.

It looks more appealing.

I'm rather a big girl.

Well, I would say that's a pretty fair description.

Haven't I met you someplace?

Have you ever been to Los Angeles?

No, but I remember you, Mr. Mannix.

Oh, yeah.

Dorothy Harper.

Harker. Dorothy Harker.

You were a friend of Frank Powers.

The trial was a long time ago.

I hated you then, but it was a long time ago.

Well, I must say that's a very professional attitude.

Did you keep in touch with Bauer when he was in jail?

Never. Visitors depressed him.

What must have really depressed him was knowing that he was in for life and all

that money was out there waiting, and still waiting.

You're after that.

Well, now, I've never met anyone who couldn't use a few extra hundred

Look, Mr. Mannix, I've had private detectives hounding me, asking me

getting me fired from jobs.

Finally, they gave up.

Don't you think I'd have gotten the money if I knew where it was the minute

Frank was killed?

Now, wait a minute. Sometimes people know things without realizing it.

I'm a private detective. It's my job to put two and two together and see if it

adds up to a couple hundred thousand.

You think you can find the money?

I'm gonna try.

And you expect me to help you?

Well, uh, maybe we could help each other.

How about dinner?

Tonight?

Well, how about that?

I must say, that looks more interesting than it did in your boutique.

Of course, that could be the model.

There's some scotch there. Ice, soda, water. I'll only be a second.

How do you take yours?

There you are.

To the end of the rainbow.

As long as it's lined with gold.

Look, now, I'm not too familiar with this town. What's good for dinner?

A meal.

It's a few miles out, but the food is worth traveling for.

Great.

You're a lot different.

I mean, from what I expected.

Hmm? I mean, I only thought of you as a cop.

Well, why don't you think of me as a partner?

You said partner, not buddy.

Dinner?

If you insist.

What is all that noise? Where are you?

Well, I'm having dinner with my partner.

Well, I do now.

Any luck on Ellsworth?

No. He hasn't worked Vegas since Bauer's arrest.

which isn't surprising.

Three months ago, he was up in San Francisco working as a numbers runner.

I guess that would qualify as a syndicate connection.

Certainly not a very plush job.

I checked Central Falls.

There's no make on him anywhere, so apparently he's kept himself out of

I'm still looking, but he's pulled the whole in after him.

Maybe we've got ourselves another ghost.

Yeah, they're all around us, Peggy. Now look, you find Ellsworth Bauer. I need

him.

A problem?

No, no.

Some widow wants me to check out her second husband before she marries him.

A girl can't be too careful.

Yeah.

You going to set her mind at rest?

Well, I think this is a much more interesting proposition.

So do I.

Joe, I love the music and the dinner and the wine, but how do we go about

finding the money?

We talk.

Talk? Oh, and enjoy ourselves.

You see, everybody at some point makes a slip.

And if you can remember anything that Frank Bauer said, no matter how

unimportant it seemed at the time, you may be able to figure out where he hid

the money.

Now, did he ever talk to you about his plans for the robbery?

Frank had each word appraised by two different people before he'd say it.

Well, the prison records list him as a borderline psychotic.

Talking wasn't a strong point. We're going to have to find another approach.

Have you always been a private cop?

No.

No, I've done a lot of things.

Are you sure that this is the way we can find the money, Frank, kid?

Absolutely.

They say getting there is half the fun.

They are.

What about Ellsworth Bower?

Do you think maybe Frank told his brother about the money? Oh, Frank

give Ellsworth the time of day if he had just stolen Ellie's watch.

Well, that tells us what kind of a guy Frank was.

What kind of a guy is Ellsworth?

Not enough ambition to make an honest living and not enough brains to be a

crook. What kind of honest work did he try?

He was a relief dealer in a couple of cheap clubs.

All the money he'd get, he'd spend on a crummy cabin at Tahoe.

Not even on the water.

He wants to retire there.

You know, uh... The way I heard it... He used to be

Eldsworth's girl.

That was before Frank.

One family girl, huh?

Not any longer.

You know, maybe we ought to try and find Ellsworth anyway.

He might know something we can put together.

Do you have any idea where he is?

Do you think maybe he's up at that Lake Donald place?

He's on the coast.

Oh, where?

I don't know exactly. I saw him a couple of days ago, and he was just about to

take off.

He's being very vague, but Ellie always plays it like that, like he's got

something so big he can't discuss it.

Where'd you see him?

Here. He was staying at the Monarch.

When did he leave?

A couple of days ago, Monday, maybe Tuesday.

He said he'd call when he got settled.

Did he seem to have money?

Same as always.

Talk big and look broke.

And you just can't tell about people.

Take you, for instance.

You have a square, honest reputation.

What made you change?

Steer. People just keep trying to knock me off.

You know, I'd like to get enough money to get out of this business once and for

all.

Shall I fix you some breakfast?

Oh, no, no.

I'm gonna have to be going.

Well, I don't have to open the shop until nine.

And, uh, it's been a long time since dinner.

Don't go.

Dear buddy.

Well, maybe, uh... Maybe we'd better stay partners until we

have enough.

Money to be real buddies, huh?

Thank you.

Manix. You're still in town.

You always keep these hours.

Ellsworth Borough was staying at this hotel.

When? A couple of days ago, Dorothy Harker saw him.

Check it out, will you? See if you can get a lead on him.

I'm on my way over to you now.

Tom Corey fell off the balcony.

Corey? It's loaded as he was, it's no wonder.

I just talked to him a few minutes ago. He was perfectly sober.

Smells like he swallowed the whole still.

Who are you?

Joe Mannix.

Mannix? He was calling for someone named Mannix.

Hold it, fellas.

There was approximately eight ounces of alcohol in the stomach.

That's a lot of whiskey.

Now, look, 15 minutes before Corey died, he was sober.

It's not easy to tell with a heavy drinker. Yeah. Well, he wasn't drunk,

Did you come to ask my medical opinion, Mr. Mannix?

Or to tell me?

Tom was my friend, too.

I warned him a dozen times to cut down.

He had no hobbies, no sports.

Booze was his sole method of unwinding.

Maybe. But I can't believe that in 15 minutes he got drunk enough to fall off

that balcony.

But he could have been forced to down that whiskey and then pushed.

Yes, I'd say Tom Corey's death was a little too much of a coincidence.

You told me that Frank Bauer never had any visitors while he was in jail,

including his brother.

Did he ever write to his brother?

There were three letters.

The last one was sent the 10th of this month.

The 10th?

That's four days before the prison break.

Any record of the content?

No, but obviously there was nothing suspicious enough for the censors to

up.

I suppose the syndicate used Frank's brother to set up the break and then

sabotage the car.

There was never any evidence that Ellsworth worked for the syndicate.

Yeah.

Well, then, maybe Ellsworth decided to go into business for himself. Maybe he

wanted his brother dead so he could collect the money.

They may not have got on, but Bauer was Ellsworth's own brother, Joe.

I can't enable.

Joe, where were you? I've been trying everywhere to get you.

Yeah, well, so is everybody else. I got a call from Ellsworth this morning. I'm

going to meet him.

He's got the money? I think he knows where it is. At least I think he's got

idea. He's going to share it with you?

Well, as you pointed out, it was Ellsworth before Frank.

Well, now that's the kind of loyalty they write poems about.

Why do you need me?

I know Ellsworth.

If he did get his hands on the money, he wouldn't know what to do with it.

You would.

Where is he?

At Tahoe.

We're still partners, aren't we?

Until we become buddies.

We've been watching the mirror the last hour. What are you looking for?

Ghosts.

Wait. Ellie may be a little edgy with strangers.

Well, Frank, you look remarkably well for a dead man.

Get us a gun.

Time to be the last of the three.

I told you I'd get you.

I promised all of you.

You were lucky with the others, Frank.

But those three bums you sent to kill me, they're really taking your money

false pretenses.

You don't seem to miss that bridge work you left in Ellsworth, no? But then, I

suppose you've had that replaced since.

Oh, this clown is funny.

Was your brother funny when he found out he had supplied the car he was going to

die in?

Careful, big mouth.

What are you going to do, Frank? Kill me twice?

Just for a point of interest. How did it feel?

It's the first time I've ever talked to a man who killed his own brother.

Felt like anybody else.

He came because he wanted the dough.

He was hungry, just like any other bum.

Just where is the dough?

Now, that's beautiful.

Brother Ellsworth must have warmed himself in front of that fireplace

times, never realizing that there was a fortune just beyond his reach.

I laughed about it a couple of times.

You know why you're a success, Frank?

You really know what you want.

You know what's important.

The world is full of talented failures who never knew what was important.

And most people get a whiff of money and it destroys their judgment.

They want that money so bad, they beg to trust you. They know better, but the

sight of all that money just overwhelms them.

But not you, Frank.

You know better than to trust anybody.

You don't need anybody.

You know when to use people and when to get rid of them.

You've got better sense than to let them live once they've served your purpose.

Where will I get it?

You're much too clever to shoot me and let me die here.

In the car, right?

The car I rented, it has an accident, and I end up in the lake. Yeah, I hear

Lake Tahoe has almost bottomless places.

Yeah, I get it the same way your brother did.

Only instead of fire, it's a flood.

It's just too bad no one will really know how clever you were.

Because there'll be no one left alive, right?

Where are you going, Frank?

Europe, Mexico?

The whole world is open to you now.

And I will go to the bottom of Lake Tahoe with my lovely partner who brought

to you.

Who has therefore outlived her usefulness.

Kill him.

Don't do it, Dorothy.

Shoot him.

You shoot me and he'll have you on the hook forever.

It won't work, Mannix.

She wants the money more than she wants you alive.

Shoot him.

Dorothy.

You kill me.

There'll never be a way out for you.

I'm sorry about having unloaded my gun. I just thought it'd be a lot less messy

all the way around.

Three murders, he thought he had changed everything.

He couldn't change himself.

What about me?

Well, you did help, in your own fashion.

I guess I could tell the police that you knew the gun was unloaded.

So we're still partners.

Well, I didn't say that.

You don't have to tell them about the money.

It's all there.

Portable.

I'm afraid I'm going to have to tell them.

What a shame.

I could have been great, buddy.

Well, maybe we can be pen pals.