Original subtitles

Inspector, that cross must be found. It dates back to the Crusades.

It has survived wars, vandals, revolutions.

It just can't wind up in the hands of two petty crooks who right now are

probably dickering with some greedy collector.

Jules Delano wouldn't, wouldn't it? They'll wreck him getting him out.

They're not stuck in there for real.

A metallurgist?

Take him out in an hour. Who?

A metallurgist.

Get one of those with precious metal, like gold.

1063 degrees centigrade, 1945 degrees Fahrenheit.

Melt it down.

Yeah, about just like that.

He shot me.

Where's Hudson?

He took him.

Took them both.

Try not to move.

We'll have a doctor here in a few minutes.

Arnold Bryce, FBI.

Why, you lousy old brat!

The FBI.

A Quinn Martin production.

Starring Ephraim Zimbalist, Jr.

Also starring Philip Abbott.

and Shelley Novak, with guest stars Leslie Nielsen, Lou

Antonio, Susan Benton, Stephen Young.

Tonight's episode, Fool's Gold.

Closing time, please.

Five o 'clock, folks.

Closing time, please.

That's the last of them. Lock her up.

If you're going to be a while, Mr. Anderson, we won't turn the alarm on

yet. That's all right, Stark. I'm through with the exhibit room.

Down here.

I got the license plate number.

Mine got away.

They're caught.

They've taken the cross.

On July 7, minutes after closing of the Stanton Art Museum in St. Louis, two men

executed the theft of a 13th century gold cross.

valued by art authorities at $250 ,000.

Early questioning by St. Louis police the same night established the identity

one of the men as Arnold Bryce, already sought by the FBI in connection with a

series of bank robberies in Kansas and Missouri.

The FBI was notified and began an immediate investigation.

I pleaded with them not to lend the cross, foolhardy wrist with a priceless

church antique. We're making every effort for it. Well, it doesn't seem to

enough. Mr. Anderson, Father Conforti, this is Inspector Erskine and Special

Agent Daniels. How do you do?

Nice to meet you. How do you do? Excuse me, Father.

Have the agents finished in here, Paige?

Yes, sir. They lifted a number of latent prints.

Well, I doubt the fingerprints will be helpful.

I think both men were wearing gloves.

You were the one who identified Bryce?

Yes, sir, from those pictures.

I also showed these to Miss Sanders, Mr. Anderson's assistant.

No doubt about it.

He's been in the museum three...

Four times just this last week.

And the guy I shot, I never saw before.

St. Louis police put out an APB with a description and license number.

It was a stolen car, Lou. I reported it to the NCIC.

I believe the police said this door is normally kept locked, Mr. Anderson.

Yes. There's no sign that lock was forced or tampered with, Lou.

Where's keys to this room?

Uh... Ted Stark here, myself, and Miss Saunders, my assistant.

You both have him with you?

Yes.

What if I borrow yours?

Oh, no.

I wonder if I could speak to your assistant.

If you wish.

Inspector, that cross must be found. It dates back to the Crusades.

It has survived wars, vandals, revolutions.

It just can't wind up in the hands of two petty crooks who right now are

probably dickering with some greedy collector.

I understand, Father.

I keep it locked in my desk at all times, Inspector.

Thank you.

I'm sorry I can't give more help.

Now, if you'll excuse me... You were in the museum all last week, weren't you?

Yes. Why?

You don't recognize any of these men?

I already told you, Mr.

Blanchard, that I'd never seen any of these men before.

We're looking for one of them in connection with a series of crimes.

Mr. Stark told us he was in the museum a number of times last week.

Well, as I said, I've never seen any of those men.

It's possible Ted made a mistake.

Yes, of course.

Well, if something should occur to you that might be helpful, we'd appreciate a

call. Certainly.

Yeah. It's me.

Look, Barbara, honey, I told you no more phone calls. I'm trying to keep this

phone clear.

I have to talk to you.

The FBI just showed me your picture.

Did you tell them anything?

No.

All right, I'll tell you what. I'll meet you during your lunch break.

Chris, I want the Saunders put under surveillance.

What do you got?

A feeling.

Yeah, I guess.

Eddie.

Long time.

What are you doing outside?

Is that any way to greet an old buddy? How are you?

You ain't a buddy.

And you ain't welcome. Is that laid out for you?

Andy, get started with that back pen, will you?

Sure, right away, Eddie.

I, uh, need a little medical help.

That's too bad. You should have tried hospitalization. How far behind you are

they? Too far, man. They'll never catch you, old fox. I left them a rabbit.

You ain't holding up here, you know.

Oh, sure.

No, I understand. It's just I need a little patch -up, that's all.

Come on.

I gotta hand it to you. It's a great cover.

What kind of action you got here?

Hot cars, dope, what?

Chickens. Just chickens.

You come here.

And bring the whiskey.

Eddie, I thought you said you didn't have any action going on around here.

I wouldn't want you to have to wash a glass on my account.

Were you in an accident?

Honey, he's been shot.

You mean to tell me Eddie didn't tell you about his old cellmate, Nick

Now, look.

Take the bottle and spit.

I'm doing no more time in a bucket for you or anybody else.

I know it.

Man, I used to watch you when they threw that lock.

You'd sit there and grab that bunk till your knuckles turned white.

I'm gonna need some bandages, some antiseptic, and some tape.

Well, I don't have anything for that.

I mean, I'd have to go into town. No.

Molly, I'd really appreciate that.

And hey, listen, would you mind going out to my car and getting that thing

that's wrapped in the blank in the backseat and bringing it in, huh?

Look, Nick, I don't want her getting involved.

Do it.

Have a look.

Yeah, Eddie, have a look.

Honey, when you go into town, I don't want you to breathe a word of this to

anybody.

Because if you do,

you won't need bandages.

You'll need a nice long pine box for your old man here.

Now get going.

Go on.

Unit 70, Unit 1.

Go ahead, Earl.

Subject is at the fountain. Bryce is moving toward her.

We'll be right over.

Hey.

Come on. People will think I'm a masher. I'm liable to get arrested.

Maybe you should be.

You've been using me, Arnold.

Using me.

What about the big, bad gamblers you told me about, Arnold? The ones that

going to blow your head off? Barbara. You want to tell me about them again? If

did not come up with that money, I would have had... Oh, stop it, Arnold. There

weren't any gamblers and there weren't any gambling debts. You're just a

criminal. Two -bit criminal.

I wanted to tell you about it.

Why didn't you?

Come on. You wouldn't have understood.

You didn't mean anything to me at first.

And then something happened.

I fell in love with you.

It's funny, isn't it? I set a trap for you and I fall into it myself.

Barbara, I wanted to tell you the truth. I was afraid.

Why, you lousy old brat!

All right, throw down the gun.

Okay.

I don't know what she said to you, but whatever it was, she was lying.

Maybe you'll tell us the truth.

I'm sorry, Fiery.

It might just keep on bleeding.

Well, then maybe I'll need a full -time nurse.

Molly, are you available?

All right.

You've been patched up. Now get out.

Rudy, when I was in town, I picked up a paper.

Look, $250 ,000 is a picture of him.

What about the other guy? What happened to him?

Well, he ran in the wrong direction.

That would leave an opening for you, Eddie. Not interested.

Well, you had better get interested because...

I need a ride.

So flag our bus.

Eddie, I'll cut you in.

Yeah. You'll cut us in. You'll cut us down.

I get to where you're going and you leave us face down in some ditch.

You've got an evil mind.

Who are you calling?

The supermarket.

I am going to order a whole truckload of lettuce.

Got that little item we talked about.

No, no, no. It's just a scratch. Don't worry.

You got the 100 G's?

Yeah.

That's no problem.

I just hired myself a chauffeur.

Call you when I get there.

Cheers.

Okay, let's go. No.

Goodbye and good luck.

Eddie, we can't. Stay out of this.

What, are you crazy or something?

You got a chance of making thousands of dollars just by giving him a ride.

And you're not mad enough.

You put that down. All right, you two.

Now,

let's just make like one big happy family.

Okay? Come on, move.

Don't you ever threaten me like that again.

I'm sorry, honey. I just didn't want to get you in trouble. All right, make up

in the car. Come on, let's move.

You drive.

You, get in the back.

He's had it.

You want to join him?

No, Inspector, I don't know anything about any museum.

I certainly don't know anything about any stolen cross.

Now, I don't know any Mrs.

Saunders. Then why were you talking to her?

I was just doing a little bird hunting.

Well, you know, you see a girl, you go up to her, you start to talk to her.

There's no crime in doing a little bird hunting, is there?

It becomes a crime when you do it in downtown St. Louis with a gun in your

Bishop and then Chris. I'll see what Miss Saunders has to say. Yes, sir.

You know what should be happening right now, Inspector?

I should be listening to a minister reciting a wedding ceremony.

What do I hear?

A federal officer telling me I have the right to remain silent.

You don't have to ask me any questions, Inspector.

I'll tell you.

I was used.

Uh -huh.

I should have known.

I have two dates in two years, and along comes someone like Arnold who pretends

he just can't leave me alone.

Yeah, of course. The key?

Of course I gave him the key.

I would have given him anything.

Right now, I'd like the name of the man who was with Bryce.

Uh, Parson?

Nick Parson.

I only met him once.

Excuse me.

Paige, check the name Nick Parson. Could be an alias.

You can't identify him. See if he has any friends or relatives around here.

Nick Parson?

That's right. We're looking for a parson with a cross.

I don't know something, Nick. You're stupid.

Stupid is always in front of the gun, Eddie, old man.

What do you mean, stupid?

A hundred grand.

You're giving that stuff away. I was in the business, I ought to know.

Jewels alone are worth more than that.

You'll wreck them getting them out.

I mean, they're stuck in there for real.

A metallurgist?

You can take them out in an hour.

Who? A metallurgist.

Get one of those with precious metal, like gold.

1063 degrees centigrade, 1945 degrees Fahrenheit.

Melt it down.

Yeah, about just like that.

Well, doesn't matter.

Day after tomorrow, I'll be on some beach in Rio de Janeiro kicking sand.

You, you'll be kicking?

Yeah.

We'll be kicking some sheets in a morgue.

Well, that depends on you, Mayor.

I mean, I got no reason to kill you.

You got no reason to make me.

Take another drink.

Hey,

turn on some music.

records show it's a chicken ranch outside Mattoon here.

No reports of trouble on Hudson since he settled here, though.

Oh, there's Hudson's place.

Help me.

He shot me.

Where's Hudson?

He took him.

Took them both.

Try not to move.

We'll have a doctor here in a few minutes.

I'm going to call the police.

No!

Hey.

We've got a fortune in our hands.

What we got is a one -way ticket for me back to prison. Now give that to me.

Prison?

What do you think you've had me in for the past six years?

Stuck away out there. It's the only thing that I could do. Do you think I

it? Well, do something about it.

I'm going to leave you.

Keep saying you love me.

Yeah.

I love you.

You prove it.

You drive.

Hey, what's going on?

Get out.

Come on, Eddie. Out!

Come on, I wasn't going to hurt you.

What? Oh, now, come on.

Give me a break. Come on, Eddie.

We just left him. He told us Parson forced the Hudson's into the car at

gunpoint. The law enforcement agencies and hospitals throughout the state of

Illinois are being alerted, Lewis.

He probably had a fence lined up in advance.

From the way he's heading, it looks like Chicago.

Well, I'll have the Chicago office alert informants about the possible sale and

get back to you.

Get rid of that.

Wrap it in a newspaper and throw it in a garbage can.

Who are you calling?

Someone with a hundred thousand.

And a quick market for hot gold croppers.

Hello.

Who is that?

Otto Sherman. Sherman Imports. What can I do for you?

Mr. Sherman, I'm calling for Nick Parrish.

I'm afraid you got the wrong number.

No, I got the right number. and I just want to make sure you got the right

number. It's 100 ,000.

Let me talk to Parrish.

Parrish is out of business.

I've taken over his inventory.

Well, uh, I don't know.

I'm not sure if I'm any longer interested.

All right, suit yourself.

I've had a close look at this merchandise. You're not buying it,

it. All right, now hold it.

Wait a minute.

How do I know you're on the level?

If I wasn't on the level, I'd give the thing back to the church. Now, are you

interested or not?

Yes, yes.

I'm interested.

Uh, get over here soon.

I'll wait around.

I know big bills.

Small and lots of them.

Okay.

103 Sumner.

103, got it?

Yeah, I got it.

I thought I told you to get rid of that.

One of our informants here in Chicago told us that a woman named Emily Tyson

suspected of dealing with Parson some years ago.

She had the reputation of being a good fence.

Is she still in business?

No, she was released from prison two years ago after serving a sentence for

receiving stolen property.

She's married now and runs a boutique shop here in Chicago under her married

name. You know her address?

That and her new name.

Emily Roundtree.

Anthony Roundtree.

Inspector Erskine, FBI.

This is Special Agent Daniels. Is there a place we can talk?

I don't have to go to back rooms to talk to people anymore, Inspector.

Um... How about right here?

Have you been in touch with Nick Parson lately?

He called two or three weeks ago. Wanted to know if I'd be interested in

handling a sizable transaction for him. A museum piece?

An antique cross?

Yes. What'd you tell him? The truth.

The only things I handle anymore have a price tag for the general public.

I admit that what they pay for some of this stuff is a crime, but you can't

arrest me for that.

Did he try to talk you into buying it?

The last man that tried to talk me into anything was two years ago.

I married him.

Beautiful man.

He made an honest businesswoman out of me.

Did Parrish say who he might see about getting rid of the cross?

As an honest businesswoman, you should remember that.

He asked about Otto Sherman, who has an import business over on Sumner. I told

him, as far as I know, Sherman was out of jail and in town, and that's all.

Do you know if he contacted Sherman?

What I don't know lets me sleep like this.

Right, right on time.

Where's the money?

Right here.

You almost didn't get here in time to give you the payoff.

Almost didn't have strength enough to steal a car.

Now, where do you want it, Eddie?

Just tell me.

That's right.

Just pull that gun out nice and easy and toss it over here.

Come on!

Now, why don't you two just leave what you brought and then be on your way?

That's the best advice you're ever going to get.

I should kill you both right now.

Come on, sweetheart.

Give me the cross.

Give me the keys.

No, Nick, now, are you crazy? You running around with a slug in your arm

gun in your hand in my car? No way. Give me your keys.

You're making a mistake, Dick.

FBI, pardon.

Turn around hands on the fence

Step back

Eddie.

Eddie.

What, what?

Did you find any metal... Metallurgists. Yeah.

That whole page of them.

No one.

Eddie. What?

All of a sudden, you're getting cheaper. How come?

I didn't mean what I said about leaving you.

Yeah, baby.

I know all about it.

I mean, if you want to pack out and... What are you putting me on?

No. If you'd rather call all these people. Well, how do I go about

the judge about poor old Andy who's lying out there dead in the dirt?

What do I say? I'm busy, aren't I?

You know, I was stealing cars.

Attempted murder.

Defense installed on property.

I'm sorry, Your Honor, I couldn't give Andy a prompt. Decent burial.

Now, look, honey, out there in the parking lot is a hot car.

It's got a quarter of a million dollars in the trunk.

Now, it ain't like riding a bus.

You don't just pull a cord and get off whenever you like.

Do you think you can buy us some money to do it?

Give me some dimes.

One of these guys is going to put me back in the wholesale jewelry business.

That old man's crazy. I never went to any farm. I never shot anybody.

We'll know about that in a few minutes. Your gun is being examined in the

laboratory.

Oh, beautiful.

Beautiful.

First they take my gun away from me, then they try to kill me with it. Then

got the gall to go to my contact.

Then when they get away, they leave me with my own gun again.

Man, I lay that story on a DA, he's gonna think I got it from a comic book.

Don't worry, Parrish. If your story's true, we'll help substantiate it for

Did they leave in the station wagon?

Yeah.

But they probably shucked it on some side street by now. I mean, Eddie's

enough for that.

Is he smart enough to know who's handling stuff like this?

I don't know.

If he'd had his own private contact, though...

Then he wouldn't know how to go to mine.

And he calls me stupid.

If fencing that cross is so stupid, how come he tries it himself?

Did he have another idea?

Yeah.

Melt it down, he says.

Jewels are worth a fortune, he says.

Did he say how he expected to get that done?

Well, I was a little bombed at the time, but I think he said a metal...

Metalurgist? Yeah, that's it.

He knew the exact temperatures and everything.

To melt down the gold, I mean. Just rattled them right off.

Jules used to be at his business, you know.

Yes.

I'll start checking out metal there just right away.

Particularly the ones that work with precious metals.

No.

I won't do it.

It's sacrilege.

Well, as you can see, Sampson, there are two schools of thought about that.

So this is why you asked me to stay late.

This is your big industrial problem my supper's getting cold for. Well, mister,

I won't help you. Well, that means both you and your supper are going to get

cold together, Sampson.

You cannot make me commit sacraments.

You want to be a martyr, Sampson?

Do you?

If all you want are the jewels, I can take them out. You don't have to melt

whole... We don't have any time.

Now melt it.

God forgive me.

We've checked with most of the metallurgists already, Inspector, but so

nothing.

We're going to contact everyone if it takes all night.

Well, well, almost pure.

They asked her to call me if she hadn't heard from me.

They are not here.

Then she'd call the police.

We've had robberies.

That's right.

Watch what you say.

Watch what you say.

Hello?

Samson Metallurgy. This is the FBI calling.

I'm sorry, Louise, but I'm going to be here for a while. I've got a rushed job.

Can you talk?

No, dear, I'm busy.

Inspector.

I'm sorry, but I've just got to finish this job, Louise.

This is Inspector Erskine.

I'm going to ask you a couple of questions.

Just answer yes or no.

Sure. Okay.

Come on.

Is there a couple there with an antique gold cross?

Yes, dear, that's right.

Are they armed?

Yes. Uh -huh.

All right, we're on our way.

When you hang up... Act normally. Don't put yourself in danger. Don't worry,

dear.

Bye -bye.

Let's go.

Go.

Come on, move it.

It has to be the right temperature.

You're an expert. You ought to know. All right, all right.

What you're doing is sinful.

This cross symbolizes centuries of religious faith.

Why don't you just shut up?

It's ready. Get it in the oven.

Hurry up and get it in the oven.

What's that?

What was what?

Your guilty conscience, probably.

Is there anyone else here? If there were, you wouldn't be getting away with

this, that's for sure.

Better go and see Eddie.

FBI Hudson.

All right

It's mine

I'm afraid not

I'm afraid not come on with me

Eddie, all I wanted was for us to have some kind of chance.

I was going to put a dime in that phone until I let you put that gun in my hand.

I stalled and delayed every way I could think of, Inspector.

It would have been tragic to destroy this beautiful piece of religious

Well, I'd say history and a certain priest owe you a debt of gratitude, Mr.

Sampson. And so do we.

Nick Parrish, Arnold Bryce, and Barbara Saunders were convicted in federal court

of interstate transportation of stolen property violations.

Parrish was also convicted of interstate car theft, and Illinois authorities

charged him with the attempted murder of Andrew Fisher.

Edward Hudson was convicted of assaulting federal officers.

He and his wife were also prosecuted on charges brought by the state of

Illinois.