Original subtitles

I could go out and get a job.

You could, too.

Oh, I'm too old to start all over again.

I mean, I gotta have a little pride.

You want me to be proud of you?

No, but you will be. No!

You're only thinking about yourself. You always have to be a big shot.

You don't care anything about Mom and me, do you? You just think about being

a... Listen!

See you later, fellas.

See you around.

It's a time lock.

Gentlemen, let's listen.

It can't be. Your watch must be off.

My watch? I set it by the phone.

The FBI.

A Quinn Martin production.

Starring Ephraim Zimbalist Jr.

Also starring Philip Abbott.

William Reynolds.

With guest stars Ed Nelson.

Michael Strong, Patricia Smith, Robert Euro.

Tonight's episode, The Engineer.

I got you covered.

Don't make any wrong moves.

Just stay where you are.

You've just been robbed. Hit the alarm button. I'll try to keep him in sight.

Would you follow?

Shut up and drive.

If you don't have to do that, I can lose him.

Either him or us.

God bless.

On the morning of May 24th, two armed men robbed the Portland National Bank of

Oregon and escaped with $38 ,000.

FBI Inspector Lewis Erskine, who had been investigating a series of bank

robberies in the Pacific Northwest, took charge of the investigation when it

appeared that Vernon Spear, a 10 Most Wanted fugitive, was involved in the

robbery.

Inspector. Graham.

Tom.

Inspector, some of that stolen money was in new currency.

Packages of $50 bills still in sequence.

Those are the serial numbers.

All right, enter these in the NCIC right away.

Make sure they're distributed to all local banks. Yes, sir.

That's the demand note.

Keep smiling.

That's Spear's trademark, all right.

I thought Spear was last known to be operating in the Salt Lake City area. He

was. We just arrested his former partner there.

If this is Spear, he hasn't wasted any time finding himself a new one.

I'm going to get that note back to the Bureau right away, Graham.

And any latents in the pickup truck. Yes, sir.

Any word about the second getaway car?

No, the police lost it when they headed back at the heavy downtown traffic.

Oh, there's Sam Whitman, the man who chased the subjects.

Retired police officer.

Mr. Whitman.

Inspector Erskine. Special Agent Colby. Mr. Colby. Mr. Whitman.

We appreciate what you did, Mr. Whitman.

Well, it's kind of hard to shake an old habit, I guess, Inspector.

Did you get a good look at him?

No, not very good.

Now, the fellow that was holding the gun on the teller, I'd say that he was

about 35, about 6 '1", 165, 170 pounds.

That description would fit Spear.

Now, the other fellow was closer to my age.

Oh, not that old. Maybe about 45.

180, 6 feet.

Inspector, he didn't seem to fit in somehow.

I'd figure him for an amateur.

How could you tell?

Well, it's nothing I could put my finger on exactly. It was just a feeling.

Chalk it up to 25 years on the force.

Walter?

You've only been gone two days. Well, he's longer. Much longer.

What's new, huh?

More of the same, Bill.

Where's Brian?

Upstairs.

How'd you do?

Hey, Portland's a pretty lively town. A lot of activity.

I'm not worried about Portland.

Honey, I went to every aerospace plant they have up there.

I don't mind telling you. They're more than a little impressed with my

credentials. A job?

Well, you know what the market is now in electrical engineers.

But just wait until some real nice opening turns up, you know? I mean,

a department or something.

What do we do in the meantime, Walter? It's been over a year.

Well, you have a little faith in me, honey, huh?

Is that too much to ask?

Hey, Dad.

Oh, hi, buddy.

How's everything going, huh? Pretty good.

Miles phoned while you were gone.

Miles? What about this time?

Another golden opportunity?

Is a bag boy at the supermarket or something?

I'm just telling you he called. I don't know why.

Did you finish your term paper?

Yeah, when I drag.

Brian has something to tell you.

Okay, let me get a drink first.

This is good.

This is good.

Okay, what is it? What's up?

Well, I got a real good job in the hardware supply in the shipping

A job? What about school?

Well, I thought I'd quit for a while.

Only be temporary.

This thing is temporary, son. I mean, you drop out, you drop out.

Okay, well, maybe I'll go to night school.

Brian, my answer's no. You want to get a job? All right, later. First, you get

yourself an education.

What good is an education?

What good did it do you?

Look, I'm sorry.

I didn't mean that like it sounded.

It's okay.

Only if I hadn't gotten an education, I wouldn't have been able to buy this

house.

I mean, what is it? All of a sudden, everybody's against me because I had a

year. We had a lot of good years, too. Don't forget that.

No one's given up on you, Dad.

Okay.

As long as I'm alive, I'm going to take care of my family.

And you're going to finish high school and college, too.

Don't count the old man out yet.

I got a lot of plans, big plans.

Make you richer than you ever dreamed of.

Will you see Miles?

First thing in the morning, honey, I promise you. I'll see Miles.

Okay.

Inspector, we just got a report that the second getaway car has been found in a

parking lot in Salem.

Agents are processing it now.

Any cars reported stolen there?

No, sir, not that we know of.

We're covering the neighborhood with mugshots of spirit.

Carter.

Yes, sir, he is.

Inspector, Mr. Ward.

Put it on the speaker, would you?

Yes, sir.

Arthur, Graham, Carter, and Tom are with me.

The documents section has matched the handwriting on the demand note with

by Vernon Spear we have on file.

And the identification division has matched latents found in the getaway car

with Spear's fingerprint record.

Good.

Anything on his new partner?

There were no latents besides Spear's. Have you developed anything?

The second getaway car was found in Salem.

Right. Inspector?

Arthur, hold on a minute. I think Graham has something.

Mr. Ward, a bartender in Salem has just identified Spear's picture.

Is that of a man who was in his bar last night?

And there was also a woman with him.

All right, check it out, Lewis.

Graham, call Salem, tell him we're on our way.

You don't like it?

I didn't say I don't like it.

You always look great, whatever you wear. So why buy anything new? Is that

Honey, you know our situation as well as I do. I didn't pay cash for it.

I charged it.

Well, what's the point of having credit if we never use it?

Morning.

Hi. Walter. Hi. You're just in time.

How do you think I look?

Sensational.

See?

Oh, well, I guess I'd better get going.

Don't I rate a kiss? You get me dirty.

See you later.

Bye, Walter.

She'll break me.

You just have to put your foot down.

How was Portland?

Well, the same old runaround.

Well, I called you because the boss said the night man here is quitting.

I told him about you.

Are you kidding? Can you picture me doing that?

The next department head with 130 men under him. What, pumping gas, cleaning

windshields? Well, I'm doing it. I was your assistant.

Yeah.

That's it. I just don't get it, that's all.

I had to do something.

I told you there's a better way.

Now, don't start that again, Walt.

Look, all it takes is a little courage.

I think you and I could pull it off.

I'm just not the right type, Walt.

I get the cold shakes filling out my income tax, even when I know I haven't

anything wrong.

Fill it up.

Never mind the hood. Just get the windshield.

Watch it. What are you trying to do? Ruin the paint job?

Just run some water on it.

That'll be $2 .95.

Keep the change.

Miles, you know, I got a lot of respect for you.

Louise doesn't know what a great guy she's got.

Walt, my lunch breaks at noon.

Pick me up. We'll talk.

Miss Simmons?

Yeah. We were the FBI.

My name's Erskine. This is Mr. Colby.

Miss Simmons, have you ever seen this man before?

Oh, yeah. He was the guy with the redhead.

They were in that end booth back there.

You waited on him last night?

Yeah. It was the first time I ever saw him.

What about the woman?

Do you know who she is?

Oh, I may have seen her around town, maybe. Oh, but never in here.

You say she had red hair.

What else?

I'd say she was pushing 35.

Oh, it's kind of hard to tell in this light, you know?

Did they leave together?

No.

No, about 11 o 'clock, she got a phone call and cut out.

Now, he stuck around for some more drinks.

And then he left.

30 minutes later.

Did she act as if she was expecting the call?

Sort of.

When she came in, she and him asked for that booth near the payphone.

Then she called somebody to give him the number, I think.

Then a woman called, and she asked for the redhead in the blue dress.

Did she mention a name?

Maybe.

Oh, I guess she did, only it's clean slip, my mind. Please try to remember.

Um, her name was Elliot.

Oh, now, how could I forget that name?

I once had a boyfriend named Elliot.

Yeah, I remember it now. It was Ms. Marge Elliot.

That's the wildest thing I ever heard.

Angela's jewelry.

You must be out of your mind.

My guess is they got close to a million dollars there in gold and platinum

bullion stored in the vault.

At least a million, if that makes you any happier.

I know.

I designed the security system. When you were with Tacoma Electronics, right?

Before you came to work for me.

It was in your personnel record.

So, uh, that's what brought this on.

Do you have any idea how many security systems they have in that building?

You name it, they've got it.

Point number one, you know where all of them are.

And point number two, they depend mostly on electrical power.

And you could knock out the power, I suppose.

Right. How?

Well, that's my department.

I'll take care of the electrical engineering, and you take care of the

electronics.

Okay.

So the power's out.

Now, how do you open the vault?

It runs on electricity.

You mean to tell me a brilliant electronic engineer like yourself can't

something out?

I thought so.

But I couldn't do it without all the blueprints and specifications.

And they're all back at Tacoma Electronics, along with the manual code.

Then all we have to do is get on the plane, see?

I know you flipped.

How do we manage that?

There's only one way.

We steal.

No sign of spirits, Richard.

Could he be inside?

No, we spoke to the landlady.

She's the one who phoned Mrs. Elliott at the bar last night because Mrs.

Elliott's little boy is sick.

And she's been up in the apartment a number of times today.

There have been no male visitors. She's positive of that.

Is she there now?

Yes, sir.

Maintain surveillance. We'll talk to her.

Mrs. Elligott?

Yes? We're with the FBI.

I'm Inspector Erskine and this is Mr. Colby.

Oh.

May we come in?

Oh, yes.

If you don't talk too loud.

My little boy's not feeling well and he just this minute fell asleep.

What's this all about?

Do you know this man?

Why, should I?

You were in a bar with him last night.

That doesn't mean you know a person.

Yeah.

His name's Vernon Spear.

We've been acquainted less than six months.

Do you know where he is?

No.

We dated for a couple of weeks, and that was it.

Till yesterday.

He called me yesterday, and he asked me to come meet him.

Did he mention his plans?

That's funny you should ask that.

He wanted me to marry him.

Can you imagine?

I mean, I hardly know the guy.

He said he made up his mind the first time we met.

I

wouldn't

say so.

Well, let's face it.

I was tempted.

I'm divorced, you know. But something made me turn him down. I don't know why.

Did the spirit tell you where he was headed?

Reno. He said he had some business there and we could get married there.

Do you know where he's staying in Reno?

No.

Nobody leaves me an address.

It's the story of my life.

Well, thanks, Mrs. Elliott.

I hope Bobby's better soon.

Thank you.

See, that's the main building. Over there.

All right, let's go.

As soon

as

he turns the corner, we can make a run for it.

It'll take him at least 15 minutes to complete his round.

I'm telling you, if we get caught... Come on, will you quit worrying?

Okay.

We always keep the watchman's door unlocked.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

This is drafting.

That's audio systems.

The file room should be the next door down.

What are you doing?

It used to be right here.

We had to make room for the new records. I wonder where they keep the old ones.

Must be here somewhere.

64. No, no, no, no. It was 67.

65.

66.

67. That's it.

See you then.

That's it.

do that?

Come on, it was either him or us. Come on, let's get out of here.

Control to Unit 4.

4, go ahead.

Portland National Bank, turned up at the Reno First National Bank.

Do they know where they came from?

They were among receipts of a small casino and motel called the Golden Calf.

They were deposited at the bank earlier today.

Location? On Marsh Avenue, west of Arlington.

Right. We'll be there in a few minutes.

Straight from the city engineer's office.

Shows every electrical outlet in the area.

Did you hear anything about the watchman?

Will you stop worrying about it? There was nothing in the paper.

Either here or in Tacoma.

That doesn't mean the police aren't investigating.

The police probably put it down to juvenile mischief.

Besides, if they suspected anything, then...

It'll take a month to go through those fonts.

Well, how you doing?

I think I figured out something.

Now, there's the vault.

There's the corridor.

There's the time clock.

Hi, what's going on?

Hey, what are you doing here?

Why aren't you in school?

I was practicing today. I forgot my sneakers.

How many times have I told you I didn't want you poking around down here in the

workshop? I wasn't poking around. I just heard voices, so I came down.

Miles and I are trying to do something. Why don't you get what you came for and

go on and clear out, eh?

Okay.

You said there'd be absolute privacy.

I didn't know anybody was home.

Genius. Yeah.

This is going to be as simple as one, two, three.

Then he hasn't registered here.

No, sir.

I only remember him because he gave the crap tables a big play a couple nights

ago. He also got into a slight argument with the stick man.

Oh, what kind of an argument?

Nothing much. He had some new bills and a couple of them stuck together.

The stick man didn't notice it at first.

Did he seem to know anybody around here?

Well, he seemed friendly with Bernie Ellis, one of our guests.

Mr. Ellis is in 110.

Thanks. We'll see if he's in.

Oh, he's in all right. Room service tells me he had an all -night poker game

his suite, and they're still going strong.

See you later, fellas.

See you around.

FBI.

Better get an ambulance.

What did you... Louise.

She's going to leave me, Walter.

What happened?

Tonight I... I saw her packing her bags.

She said she was going to visit her sister.

I know, I know.

I know I'm never going to see her again.

I got into this whole thing on account of her. Now, there's just no point in

going on. All right, all right.

Just take it easy, huh?

Hey, come on.

I don't know, maybe... Maybe you're right on this thing, you know?

But I'll tell you one thing.

If you want to keep Louise, your only chance is to help me pull this thing

You know that, don't you?

Don't you see, Miles?

It all boils down to one thing.

Money. That's what it's all about.

Either you have it or you're nothing.

And no one cares how you get it, just as long as you've got it. What if we're

caught? Not a chance.

The way we've got this thing laid out, look, you're almost there.

A couple of hours, you'll be set for life.

All right, you want the filling station the rest of your life?

Come on.

Okay.

Okay.

Now all we got to do is steal a truck and be at the power depot by four.

Hey, what are you doing up?

I couldn't sleep.

Well, I...

You got school tomorrow. You better hit the sack, eh?

I heard.

Heard? Heard what?

Don't do it, Dad.

Oh, what you heard. No, it's not what you're thinking.

Can't do it.

Come on.

Come on, sit up.

You see, Miles and I... We're working on this new project.

The only thing is it has to have a little hush -hush. Dad, I'm not a kid

anymore. Don't try to snow me.

All right, son.

It's just, a man can't just lie down and die.

Look, you think I'm doing this for myself?

I mean, just for me?

Aren't you?

You're not doing it for us.

Mom and I don't need a lot of money to get along on.

You could sell a house.

I could go out and get a job.

You could, too.

I'm too old to start all over again.

I mean, I've got to have a little pride.

And you want me to be proud of you?

Well, I'm not.

Not anymore.

No, but you will be. No!

You're only thinking about yourself. You always have to be a big shot.

You don't care anything about Mom and me, do you? You just think about being

a... Listen!

Brian, son, I'm sorry.

So am I, Dad.

And you can call a lawyer if you wish.

Yeah, I know.

Who was your partner in the Portland bank robbery on May 24th? You really

I pulled that job, Inspector?

Yes, I do.

Okay.

Who was he?

I met him in a bar in Portland.

He had quite a few.

He was some kind of engineer.

He talked about this big job he had in some aerospace program.

But he hadn't worked in over a year, so he was plenty hungry.

He seemed smart enough. I needed a guy, so I took a chance.

What was his name?

You want me to hand you a laugh?

He tried to palm off some phony tag on me like Smith or Jones.

How did you know it was phony?

Because his car was parked outside with the registration.

His real name was Walter Swenson.

Did you notice an address?

It was, uh, some suburb in Seattle.

Hey, feed me those numbers again.

Low metal bands.

Number 87, 66, 87, 84.

You got here pretty quick. I was just about to call you.

Yeah, we've been having trouble with this section all night.

What's that?

Oh, this is our auxiliary power.

Run our tools with.

You guys are pretty smart.

You bring your own electricity.

Yeah, I heard that one before.

Hey, where are your power boxes?

I'll get a man to show you.

Inspector, witnesses have definitely identified the picture of Walter

spirit accomplice in the Portland bank robbery.

The U .S. attorney has authorized a warrant for Swenson's arrest.

10 -4.

That thing won't budge without electricity.

Is that so?

Yeah, it doesn't look like we're going to make the 8 o 'clock opening.

The power room's over here.

You guys need anything, just whistle up.

Hey, what's the idea?

It's Keith. Keith.

Keith.

Inside. Don't forget it, Pete.

Hey, are you sure the vault time lock doesn't work on electricity?

No, no, no, no. It works on a spring.

Otherwise, every time there's a temporary power failure, It would

whole business schedule.

What's the matter?

What's the matter?

17 minutes of power. The power's been off 17 minutes. Come on, come on.

He's never left the house before without telling me.

I don't understand it.

Brian?

These men are from the FBI. Do you have any idea where your father might have

gone?

How should I know?

Can you tell us when he left, Brian?

I don't know. I was sleeping.

Mr. Swenson.

Could he have left during the night?

I don't know. He never came to bed.

You see, Walt has a workshop in the basement, and sometimes when he works

he just stretches out on the couch so as not to disturb me.

That's what I thought happened, but this morning he's gone.

Was he in his workshop last night, Brian?

No. Hardly ever uses it anymore.

That's not so. He's been working there with Miles.

Brian, you're hiding something. What is it?

If you know anything, please tell them.

Don't you understand? In your father's present state, there's no telling what

might do.

These men may be able to stop him.

I don't know what they were going to do.

They?

Who, dear?

He left with Miles Currier.

They were supposed to be working on a new project. It was supposed to be a

secret.

What was it, Brian?

It may not mean anything, but... I saw a name on an envelope.

An envelope in the workshop.

What name?

Angela Jewel.

How much time?

About 40 seconds.

Okay, manual.

Here.

Eight right.

Eight right.

Six left, one turned.

Yeah.

Seven left, two turns.

Four seconds to

Your watch must be off.

My watch? I set it by the phone.

You left the cell 7.

Let's return to the 0.

Yeah, fill up the toolbox first.

The building supervisor here.

FBI. Where's the vault?

Lower level. Why?

Anybody there?

Just Mac, one of our guards, and two men from the power company.

Show us, please.

Joe, go with him.

We'll be right back. We need some new equipment.

FBI.

Oh, yeah. I just knew it happened.

Is it that?

Your wife and son have asked to see you.

I don't want to see them yet.

If you see my son, tell him I'm sorry. Of course.

Vernon Spear and Walter Swenson were tried and convicted in federal court of

bank robbery and assaulting federal officers.

Swenson and Miles Currier were also found guilty in state court of armed

and assault with a deadly weapon.