Original subtitles

Barnaby Jones.

Starring Buddy Ebsen.

Also starring Lee Merriweather. With guest stars Andrew Pryne,

Catherine Justice, Vincent Van Patten.

Tonight's episode, Day of the Viper.

He's getting set for the kill.

He can smell the desert. That's his home.

And he'd kill us to get there.

Take the loot, Kevin.

No.

I said take it.

Let him into the cage.

Go on, boy.

Not bad.

Now, tomorrow you'll go out to the mine and bring one back all by yourself.

We'll have ourselves quite a collection by the time we're finished.

Why? You know I hate those things. Why do you make me keep them around?

So you'll learn to face what you're afraid of.

No matter what it is.

When I'm gone, you're going to have to make your way alone.

I just want you to grow up.

To be a man.

Anyone would want that for his son.

I'm not your son.

You sure don't let me forget that sometimes.

But like it or not, I'm responsible.

You don't really care about me.

I'm just something you think you can make into whatever you like.

I wish I never came here.

You're going to regret those words one day, Kevin.

No, I'm not.

Sorry I'm late. I was held up in court. Anything urgent come up? Liza Mills is

here. I told her she could wait in five.

She seemed pretty upset.

Here's the coffee I promised you, Liza.

Thanks, Betty.

Since I've been standing there, exactly 113 cars have gone by that window, and

that's just east to west.

I'm sorry. I didn't mean to keep you waiting that long. Oh, you didn't. What

mean is...

60 miles from here in the desert, we don't see that much traffic in a whole

month.

I'm sure you want those highlights this time.

Please.

Well, all right.

You know, I haven't seen you since you were the brightest student in a

class at Pacific Western College.

At least you were the only one who seemed to understand my lecture.

Well, I'm afraid I haven't made much use of all that complicated education.

I hear you went back to the ranch.

I felt I should help Papa try to make a go of things.

We never hit it rich, but we managed to get along.

Till Papa died.

Yes, Betty told me.

I'm sorry, Eliza.

I had to be in L .A. to take care of some legal business with the estate.

I remembered your office was nearby, so I came up to say hello and hear a few

kind words.

I'm glad you did.

Is that all?

Uh, no.

I haven't been able to sleep very well lately.

Thoughts come and they keep me awake.

What kind of thoughts?

About what a careful man Papa always was.

Accidents happen, Liza.

I know.

It was an accident.

That's what they all said at the inquest.

But I couldn't help wondering...

Since my stepbrother Kevin almost got bitten last month, Papa made sure that

each had our own snake bite kit. He kept his in the den bathroom.

It was missing on the day he was killed.

Did you mention that at the inquest?

Yes. They said it wasn't evidence of anything.

He could have mislaid it.

That's true. I mean, Papa could have lost it anywhere on the ranch.

But I can't get rid of these thoughts.

I need help, Barnaby. Someone to show me for sure that it was an accident.

So I can sleep again.

I found him in here when I came home at seven.

Nate was still in the room.

According to the coroner, Papa died somewhere between five and six.

I wonder how come he didn't call out for help.

There wasn't anyone who'd hear.

Kevin was the only one at home.

He'd gone to his room.

He didn't even know what had happened until after I came home.

Well, you could have gone out looking for him or used a telephone.

Papa had a cardiac condition.

The coroner said that the shock of the snake bite might have brought on a heart

attack.

Papa might have died before he could call for help.

Liza, did your father have strong words with anyone?

on or off the ranch recently?

My papa was a strong man, Barnaby.

He had strong ideas about the way people ought to live, especially those close

to him, like Kevin.

And Kevin, well, sometimes he'd get his back up and explode if he felt papa was

pushing him too hard.

Did it ever get violent?

What you're asking is, could Kevin have ever harmed papa?

The answer is no.

With all the arguing, Kevin worshipped papa.

Papa took him in when he was an orphan all Kevin ever wanted was for Papa to

look on him as his own son

Hey

there, I'm glad you're back

Jim Howard, Miss Barnaby Jones.

Oh, howdy.

Well, I'm sorry I couldn't be here to meet you, Mr. Jones. Liza's told me a

about you.

Listen, I saw Mr. Meadows at the land office, and he's going to try to find a

buyer for the property.

Oh, you're planning on selling the ranch?

Well, Liza is. I just take orders.

Well, we're married anyway.

Then I get to be the boss, at least on national holidays.

In the meantime, I could eat ten horses.

Oh, well, um...

Would you settle for some very large hamburgers? You talked me into it. Would

you stay for lunch, Mr. Jones?

But I'm afraid I can't today, thanks. I want to see the sheriff before I go

home. In that case, I get his hamburger.

If you're that hungry, I better get started.

I'll let you know when they're ready.

Okay.

What do you want to see the sheriff about, Mr. Jones?

I just want to check out a few facts.

Eliza wants to make sure that your father's death was an accident.

I know that it's difficult for Liza to face the fact that her father's dead,

he is.

I think that the best thing for her is to get back to a normal life.

Well, her father was killed in his own home by a rattlesnake, which isn't

exactly a normal event.

Mm -hmm.

Well, playing private eye isn't going to bring Mr. Mills back either.

Mr. Howard, I play at a lot of things.

Horseshoe pitching with a neighbor's grandchildren.

Ah, game of poker now and then?

I even take a crack at the crossword puzzle in the Sunday paper.

But I never play with murder.

Murder?

Well, that's the first time that word's come up.

And maybe it'll be the last time.

But you don't think so.

I want to tell you about a fact I learned when I was eight years old

the hills with my daddy.

A rattlesnake will usually give out a very loud warning just before it strikes

because it doesn't want to tangle with people any more than we want to tangle

with it.

I'm telling you, but those things make me a little nervous.

Very good.

I don't think I'd have the nerve to get within two miles of one of those.

Sure.

He would have been real proud of me.

Your father?

He wasn't my real father.

My father died a long time ago.

Yes, I know what it feels like to lose someone you love.

Even though you didn't see eye to eye all the time.

You know, I used to collect snakes when I was about your age.

Nothing as deadly as these, though.

Yeah, my stepdad used to save them for some labs so they could take the venom.

Who are you?

Really?

Finally gone?

Try to protect him.

I'm out here to find out about Mr.

Mills' death.

You think my stepdad was murdered?

Now, why did you ask me that question?

That's what detectives do, isn't it?

Well, this particular detective is happier when he's getting people out of

trouble, not getting them in.

I guess I'm in trouble.

Why? Because I'm the one who gets blamed when things go wrong.

I'm incorrigible.

Incorrigible? Who told you that?

It was in my report at the foster home before I came here.

If my stepdad was murdered, people are going to say I did it.

Incorrigible is an awful big word that I think some people use when they don't

know how to deal with a young man of spirit.

It doesn't matter what you think.

It doesn't matter what anybody thinks.

That's right, Kevin.

It's what you know inside that counts.

There's a picture of the bar glass.

Right, sir.

We found it on the victim's carpet. Now, the lab reports that there was no

whiskey in the glass, only water.

Well, I think it's time to make a highway run.

Oh, yeah. Right, Sheriff.

It's like you and my deputy are hitting it off right well.

Maybe you and me ought to get introduced.

Barnaby Jones, private investigator.

Liza Mills hired me to look into her father's debt.

You figure us country folks can't conduct an investigation.

No, I'm a country boy just like you, Sheriff.

I've been watching and you've been handling this pretty smart.

The way you let people figure that the investigation was closed and then

bringing out these clues one at a time.

Clues? Yeah, like this lab report.

Andrew Mills had his regular whiskey at 5 o 'clock every day.

If there was only water in the glass, that means that the rattler could have

struck between the time he put in the ice and the time he reached in the

for the whiskey.

So you think the snake might have been hiding in the liquor cabinet?

Could be. That would explain why Andrew didn't get any warning before the snake

struck.

Now, just how do you explain how a snake gets inside a closed liquor cabinet?

I don't know, unless somebody put him there.

Why did anybody want to kill Andrew Mills?

Didn't have anything worth stealing.

They had the ranch, a few head of cattle, some horses.

He had 3 ,500 acres of sand, scrub, and rattlesnakes.

Well, that's hardly worth insulting a man for, let alone killing him.

What about that mine your deputy mentioned?

Silver.

That's played out 50 years ago.

Andrew Mills was planning to put up some kind of industrial development on the

site. Well, wouldn't that have increased the value of the land?

Maybe.

But murder, that's a pretty big step to take when you're not even sure it's

going to pay off.

And in the end, there's only two people who'd cash in on it.

Andrew Mill's children.

You say one of them did it?

Not necessarily.

Andrew Mill's death was probably the end of any possibility of industrial

development around the mine, which might have been exactly what somebody wanted.

Why?

I don't know why.

Any more than I know how a rattlesnake got into a liquor cabinet by himself, or

how a man can't open the door of his own den, or how an anti -venom kid gets up

and walks away.

That's a whole lot of no -way answers.

Yeah. We sure got ourselves a whole lot of questions.

Kevin? Liza told me you were headed down to the mine.

She's worried.

I could take care of myself.

Well, that's what I told her, but you know your sister's no one to argue with.

I'm going in the mine.

Ah, Kevin.

You know the rattlesnake's in there. You almost got bitten yourself a while

back.

I know.

That's why I've got to go in there.

I've been afraid to go back in there.

My dad said I'd have to face down my fears or I'd never have any peace.

You know, comes a time in a man's life when he stops trying to prove that his

life is worth something, he goes out and he lives his life.

That man who was here, Mr. Jones, he was here to find out if my stepdad was

murdered.

Kevin, in the world we live in, nobody cares about truth or lies or innocence

guilt.

When something bad happens, they look for somebody to blame.

Usually somebody who can't answer back or can't fight back by themselves.

What do you mean?

This Mr. Jones doesn't owe us anything.

He's out to find himself a killer and he might decide that you're as good a

candidate as anybody.

I didn't kill my father.

I know you didn't. Just like I know how careful you were about those snakes.

I know that you made sure every one of them were back in their cages and that

you shut the cage doors just like you were supposed to.

I know you didn't forget and leave one of them out by mistake.

we were friends.

Mr. Jones, I think I killed my stepfather.

Huh? There was a rattler missing the day my father was killed.

I can't be sure if I closed the cage or not.

When did that thought come to you?

Today.

Well, it was at the mine and Mr. Howard came by.

I don't know how it came up, but...

He knows I didn't leave the cage door open.

He just wanted to reassure you, is that it?

Yeah, I guess so.

But it made me feel worse.

Because I couldn't be sure I closed the cage.

My dad and I had a fight.

I wished he was dead.

And he was dead.

Kevin, I think you closed that cage.

And even if you didn't, It's not likely that snake could have found its way into

your father's den.

I wish Mr. Howard could have told me that.

Kevin, Mr. Howard is a smart man.

But maybe he doesn't know everything.

Yeah, for a fellow who was almost a meal for a bunch of rattlesnakes, I'm fine.

I saw you headed for the mine and I came up to warn you. Don't you know about

those snakes?

Yeah, I knew they were in there. What I didn't understand was how come a couple

of them showed up behind me just as I was leaving.

Well, Mr. Jones, the only thing I know about rattlesnakes is they got the right

of way.

Lucky thing I found that kerosene lantern.

Wonder how it got in a mine that nobody uses anymore.

Kevin comes up here quite a lot.

Yeah, I noticed you spent a little time here, too.

Just surveying the property.

Liza's eager to get it sold.

Yes, I wanted to talk to you about that. I stopped by the real estate office

today, and it seems that the price that you're asking is about three times more

than the amount that anybody ever paid for land in this area before.

Almost looks as if you're trying not to sell.

Why would I want to do a thing like that?

I don't know.

Just like I don't know what a nest of rattlesnakes is doing in that mine when

they weren't there a month ago.

Who told you that?

Liza. I stopped by to ask directions to the mine. She said Kevin had been

exploring it for years.

Never saw any snakes till this last month when it was almost bitten.

Well, like I said, I don't know a thing about rattlers.

You do know they can kill a man.

We'd all be smart to know that, wouldn't we, Mr. Jones?

I'd hate to see what happened to Mr. Mills happen again.

I'll keep that in mind, Mr. Howard.

I wonder if you could issue me a card so that I could take this out for a day or

so. Sure.

Rattlesnakes of the American Desert.

I hope you don't intend this for late night reading, Mr. Jones.

How did you know my name?

My brother is president of Desert Wells Land Company. And when I saw you coming

out, I asked him.

Lucas, who is that handsome man you were talking to? And he said that's Mr.

Barnaby Jones, the famous investigator.

Well, that's very flattering of you, Miss... Deborah Meadows.

Meadows. If it's the local kind you're interested in, I could probably tell you

as much as that book can.

Well, maybe you could.

Uh, the desert rattler.

Do they usually make their nests in caves or mines?

Oh, you'd be more likely to find them out in the open where they can hunt

natural game for food.

Well, supposing that somebody put a bunch of rattlers in a cave and wanted

keep them there. Is that possible?

You can do that if you brought food to them.

Well, thank you very much, Mrs. Meadows. You've been a great help.

I don't think I'll be taking this book after...

This was only taken out once in the last year.

That's right. It was last month.

Who took it out? I mean, do you have records?

I'm just curious.

I don't have to do that. I remember checking it out to that nice young man

was going to marry Liza Mills.

Jim Howard.

I was told you were coming into town to buy some tools, figuring on doing some

digging. Putting up some new fencing. Anything wrong?

Oh, nothing all that serious.

I just want to tell you that it's a pleasure to meet somebody these days who

modest about his attainments.

Well, if you're talking about me, I'm not sure I deserve the compliment.

Oh, I think you do.

You told me you didn't know anything about snakes.

I'll bet you picked up a barn full of facts from this.

You know, you're quite a detective, Mr. Jones.

Well, I wouldn't say that. I just go poking around. People kind of throw

my way. Oh, no, no.

I'd say that you were very, very good.

You know, if I was a man with a guilty conscience, I'd be awfully worried if I

had you coming after me.

Well, you don't seem to be worried.

I'm not.

You see, I took out that book, but not for myself.

What'd you take it out for?

For Kevin.

He was becoming interested in the subject, and I thought he'd like the

Well, he was very kind of you.

I thought so myself at the time, but now I'm not too sure.

Lieutenant Hager just called. He checked with the records and identification

division. There is no criminal record for anyone named Jim Howard.

I kind of expected that.

Betty, let's check on these prints.

He grabbed the book with both hands, so it should be a perfect set.

Do you think he has a record under another name?

I think Mr. Howard is a very smart man who isn't worried at all that I'm not

buying his act.

And that's what worries me.

Maybe he doesn't have anything to be worried about.

Maybe. Maybe he's figured out a way to cover up his tracks.

Which means somebody else is in danger.

Matador's gone.

I had to put him away.

You had to do what?

Well, he was getting old and sick.

He wasn't working out anymore. I had to get rid of him.

He was my horse. My dad gave him to me.

Yeah, well, that's all over now, Kevin.

For whatever time you're going to be here, you're going to have to do things

way. What do you mean, for whatever time I'm going to be here?

You know, your stepdad was very worried about you, Kevin.

He talked to me about sending you away to some kind of school.

School? You mean an institution?

A place where you could get some help.

You think there's something wrong with me?

I'm just telling you what your dad said.

You're a liar.

My dad wasn't going to send me any place.

He wouldn't have let me kill Madeline either.

If I was a man, I'd...

Jim, what happened?

Oh, it's nothing, honey. Kevin was a little upset, that's all.

Did Kevin break these dishes?

Well, it was my fault.

He's been very disturbed since your father died. I tried to...

Get him to let his feelings out a little.

A little left him alone.

Sometimes I think Kevin's going to be all right, and then he blows up like

And now with Dad gone, I'm just afraid he's going to get worse.

Oh, honey, honey, come on.

Listen.

Listen, we've got to stand by him now.

We can't turn him back on us.

I can't help worrying about all of us.

Well, don't you worry, honey.

I'm here now.

The report on the Prince came back from R &I Division.

Sure.

Mr. Howard does have a record after all.

Two years in federal prison under the name of Jim Howard Haig. Your intuition

was right.

Yeah, but that's like having a $10 ,000 car with a broken wheel.

It looks beautiful, but it won't get you down the driveway.

Mr. Haig did time for mail fraud and still doesn't prove murder.

Maybe there wasn't any murder, Barnaby.

Maybe Mr.

Haig tried a life of crime, fell flat on his face for his trouble, picked

himself up after two years, decided it would be better to lead a simple but

honest life married to a rancher's daughter.

I'm a suspicious old man with a deep distrust of human nature.

Oh, of course you're not, but you still haven't found a motive for murder.

You may be right, Betty, except for one thing.

According to Lieutenant Hager, James Howard Hay was released from prison

and a half months ago.

Two days later, he shows up in Desert Wells.

What are you saying, Barnaby?

I'm saying that's a long way to go in a short time unless he's got a reason. And

he may have found that reason while he was in jail.

Betty, call my friend Gil Carter at San Quentin, his assistant to the warden.

Ask him to run a check.

on the activities of James Howard Haig while he was in prison, especially who

his friends were and what they were sent up for.

Barnaby, I called your office. Betty said that you were coming out. What's

matter, Liza?

It's Kevin.

I think that he had something to do with Dad's death.

Liza, do you know what you're saying?

Yes.

What happened?

You remember asking what happened to Dad's snakebite kit?

Why he didn't have it with him when he was bitten?

Yeah.

I found this this morning.

It was in Kevin's room.

Kevin? What are we doing?

Where are you going?

Getting out of here.

Well, if you're going to do some traveling, you're going to need money.

And you're going to need friends wherever you go.

I don't need friends.

Everybody needs a friend, Kevin.

We said we were going to be friends, you and I.

We can't go back on that.

Why do you want to be my friend?

Everybody thinks I killed Mr.

Mills.

Not everybody.

You think I'd be afraid to do it?

Murder doesn't take courage, Kevin.

It takes a certain kind of cowardice, and you're not a coward.

What will I do?

Let's go out there.

The two of us.

Show folks we're not running away.

You called him here. No, he didn't.

I did, Kevin.

For your sake.

You better come on down to the office with me now, son.

You're a warrant sheriff.

I'm not arresting anyone, Mr. Jones.

Kevin and I are old friends.

We're just going to have a nice friendly little chat.

You know, you don't have to go, Kevin.

Thanks, Mr. Jones.

I guess it's best if I do what the sheriff wants.

away from San Quentin, Mr. Haig.

I'd expect a good detective like you to find that out.

How long do you suppose it would have taken Liza to find it out?

Why don't we ask her?

Uh, Liza, Mr. Jones has become interested in my background.

Now, would you please tell him what I told you about me?

I know about Jim's prison record, Barnaby, if that's what you mean.

Why didn't you tell me that before?

Jim deserved a new chance.

Well, so you're off the hook and Kevin is on.

I'm sorry about Kevin, Mr. Jones.

Now, he needs understanding and we're going to see that he gets it.

He's very noble of you.

Of course, some people might say that nobility is the last refuge of liars.

Are you calling me a liar?

I'll let you know when this is over.

It's over now, Mr. Jones.

Liza won't be needing you anymore.

Well, Kevin does.

And as long as I've got a client, I think I'll hang around.

When can I talk to Kevin?

Oh, as soon as the sheriff gets through talking to him.

Your move.

Sheriff's Department, Bailey here.

For you.

Yeah.

Barnaby, I just got a call from your friend at San Quentin, Mr. Carter.

It seems that Jim Howard Haig's cellmate for 18 months was a man named Louis

Whitaker. Does that mean anything?

It could mean everything.

Thanks.

Where can I get a surveyor's map of this area?

Over at the land company office.

I'll be back in ten minutes. Tell the sheriff I want to talk to him.

Hey, Barnaby, don't you want to finish the game? I just jumped your king.

So you finally found it, Mr. Howard.

Was it worth it?

How did you get in here?

Same way you did.

When I found out who your cellmate was, I knew what those rattlesnakes you put

down here were guarding.

I figured there was another way to get into the mine.

You went to a lot of trouble, Mr. Howard. Too bad it won't buy you

a prison cell for the rest of your life.

There's no law against looking for stolen money.

Then you don't mind turning it over.

Don't touch it.

I didn't mean to kill Mills.

Until he got in your way.

You knew that Lou Whitaker buried the loot down in this mine somewhere, but

didn't know the exact spot.

Then when you found out that Mills was planning to develop this site, you knew

that meant sealing the mine and probably covering over the money forever, so you

had to stop him.

Buck, there's over $300 ,000 in here.

Why don't we split it? We could both live good for the rest of our lives.

I already... to live good, Mr. Howard, and I don't need to be rich to do it.

It has to do with other things.

You had a chance at those things and you threw them away.

A woman who loved you, a boy that you could have befriended, an old man that

gave you a chance at a new life.

You had it all.

You threw it away for nothing.

It's my turn now.

I'm sorry, Mr. Jones, but in the game we're playing, nice guys really do

last.

That's what you were doing, wasn't it? Playing a game.

What else is there?

A

bit.

You've got to get some help.

Don't let me die.

What's the matter, Mr. Howard?

The game getting a little too rough for you?

Just in time, Sheriff.

Money's over there in that box.

What happened to him?

One of his namesakes got to him.

You can arrest him for the murder of Andrew Mill.

Take a minute.

That's the job you got.

I'm just a country boy like you, Sheriff, trying to get through the day.

Hi, Barnaby.

Hi.

I was driving down the highway, looked at my watch, noticed it was lunchtime,

and thought I might come in here and reclaim that hamburger I turned down

You know you're always welcome.

Did you see Jim?

Yes, he's recovered. He made a full confession.

I was a fool, wasn't I?

No, you're human.

No sin to fall in love with someone, no matter who it is.

Kevin, friend of yours to see you.

I'm glad you came by, Mr. Jones.

I don't want to interrupt your work.

Oh, no.

I'm just finishing up on those fence posts.

We're going to be right on time to finish the whole thing by winter.

We're going to do good if the weather keeps up and if we can get a loan for

new equipment.

I think you're going to do just fine.

Mr. Jones?

Yes, Kevin.

How do you thank somebody who saved your whole life?

You already have.

How about those hands?

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