Original subtitles

Barnaby Jones, a Quinn Mart production.

Starring Buddy Ebsen.

Also starring Lee Merriweather.

With guest stars Linda Day George, Ed Power,

Paul Fix.

Special guest star Lloyd Buckner.

Tonight's episode, Double Vengeance.

I swear.

Sure wouldn't think you were an eastern gal the way you take to the desert,

Brina. Oh, I love it.

Hey, isn't that where the new riding stables are going to be built?

That's right. And the riding trails clear on into the foothills.

And back up there in the mountains where we were, that's where we're going to

build the new hotel annex for winter sports.

It's going to make Silver Springs the vacation resort in all California.

Like they say in the movies, it's all ours as far as the eye can see.

But will we be happy?

Oh, happy is for ordinary people.

For us, it's total bliss.

Now, you didn't think you'd be mistress to an empire when you married me, now,

did you?

Brina?

Why? Tom Mathen was my father.

The one who owned all this land before you and Ray Greenwald swindled him out

it. And killed him.

No, he... He shot himself.

But you drove him to it.

Help.

Help me, Brina.

Help me.

I suppose that's what my dad must have said when you and Greenwald were

him dry.

I couldn't know he'd shoot himself.

Oh, couldn't you?

You took away his land.

Everything he'd worked for.

Everything that made his life worth living.

That's the worst kind of murder.

Oh.

Greenwald. Greenwald's idea.

He's the one that figured out how to get the land.

I just went along.

Well, if it makes you feel any better, Sterling, Ray Greenwald won't get away

with it either.

Miss Douglas?

Yes, Mr. Jones. The insurance company said you'd be by.

Before the accident, did the dune buggy have any brake trouble?

Well, it was the first time I'd ever driven it, and I'm sure I'd have been

if there was.

Well, thank you.

I'll probably be finished with my report by noon, and I'll be on my way back to

L .A. to file it.

Good luck to you, Miss Douglas.

Thank you.

I still don't understand why your guilty conscience should cost $200 ,000.

After all, it was an accident.

Gil, it isn't that, and you know it. I know. You still inherit a bundle.

That's what you married him for, isn't it?

That is exactly the kind of nasty thinking I'm trying to prevent.

Do you want this piece of toast?

Yes.

You are being perverse this morning. What's wrong?

Us?

Picking up the pieces?

The way things were before you dumped me for Sterling, it isn't going to work.

It's not?

You want me, you accept me on my terms.

Just an old -fashioned boy, huh?

You've always loved me.

I've always loved you.

Why not?

Gil, if we got married right away, it might give people the wrong idea about

Sterling's accident.

And I'm going to have enough problems exerting my authority at the hotel

giving Ray Greenwald any more ammunition than I have to.

Okay.

But you watch out for Ray. He's a charming piranha.

Give him a hand, a kiss, he'll chew it off.

Will I see you for dinner?

Fella's got to eat.

John's from California Meridian Insurance.

Oh, yeah, the sheriff said to be back. Look, I was just going to load this on

flatbed and take it to the junkyard. You want to follow me in? We could talk in

there. You pull many of these buggies in?

Every now and then.

Any of the others have brake failure like this one?

No, no, the systems on these buggies are pretty simple. They don't usually go

out. According to the sheriff, the brake cylinder must have been leaking fluid.

Pretty hard to tell with all the rubber caps burned off.

What else could it have been? I mean, the shoes are still good and the

cable didn't break.

Loss of brake fluid's the only other explanation for the accident.

Besides the sheriff, anybody else touch this?

No, nobody.

Mind if I keep this coupling?

Well, the sheriff says it's all mine now.

I mean, that is what I'm in business for.

And, Hyde, when the Bickwell call comes through, transfer it to the Crystal

Room, please.

Yes, thank you.

Mrs. Douglas!

Oh, what a nice surprise. Welcome back.

Thank you, Mr. Farlow.

Raynard!

You look so much better.

Thank you, Ray. I'm bearing up well enough. Good girl.

Is there anything I can do for you?

Yes, as a matter of fact, I thought perhaps we could have a little talk.

I'd like to be filled in on the hotel operations so I can be of some use

here. Well, there's really no need for you to get involved in all this

Well, it's not nonsense.

It was his life.

Look, Ray, I want to be involved.

I intend to take Sterling's place as a full partner and be active in all

operations of this hotel.

Even Sterling let me run things my way, and we've been a huge success.

Oh, I know that, Ray.

It's just that... Well, there were dreams that

he was never able to realize. I just want to make some of them come true.

Well, I suppose we will have to have that little talk, won't we?

Yes, we will.

After lunch, all right?

Certainly.

Looks like I'm going to have two bosses to badger me again, doesn't it, Mr.

Greenwald? You've never had two bosses.

And you never will.

Mr. Jones.

I thought you'd be on your way back to Los Angeles by now.

Well, I thought I would too, but something came up.

Oh.

Um, Gil, this is Barnaby Jones.

Gil Vandiver, our tennis pro. How do you do, Mr. Jones?

Please sit down.

Thank you.

Mrs. Douglas, I know that you gave a full report to the county sheriff, but I

wonder if you wouldn't mind going over it again with me?

Is anything wrong?

Well, I don't know, but when I was checking out your burned -out dune

found this.

What is it? It's a coupling.

It connects the brake fluid line to the wheel cylinder. It was loose.

I suspect that's where the fluid dripped out.

Isn't that what the police decided?

That the loss of the fluid caused the brakes to fail?

Well, sometimes it seeps out slowly and sometimes fast.

Now, at what point did you feel that your brakes were not operating properly?

About the time the accident happened.

When you were up in the ridge?

Well, we were coming down a small hill, headed towards the cliff, and going a

little too fast.

I put my foot on the brake and it went right to the floor.

Why didn't you use the emergency brake?

I don't know.

I saw that we were headed toward the edge of the cliff, and I panicked.

Do you know of anyone who may have wanted to kill your husband or you?

Kill him?

You see, these nicks, they were made by a hard instrument, probably a wrench

striking at the coupling, I would say with the intent of loosening it so it

would unscrew easily.

Nicks, Mr. Jones?

It would seem to me that after going off that cliff, that dune buggy would be

filled with nicks.

Well, not where these occurred, Mr. Vannevar.

You see, this coupling was protected by the shelter of the front wheel.

Now, wait a minute. If what you're saying is true, then you're talking

murder.

Or maybe it was just the work of some sloppy mechanic along the line. At any

rate, I wanted you to know that I'll be around for a while, so goodbye for now.

I'll give that stock another half point on the downside, then get rid of it.

Yeah.

All right, thanks, Tom.

Brokers, they can afford to be bullish when it's your money.

You in the market, Jones?

Only when it's open on Sunday and there's not such a long line at the

stand.

Cautious man.

That's what puzzles me about you, how you can be so...

is to think that somebody deliberately tampered with the Douglas dune buggy. I

don't think I said deliberately. I think it was more like possibly.

Well, in either case, why come to me?

Well, I came to you because you own it.

I... I think dune buggies are an abomination.

The Department of Motor Vehicles has it registered as property of the hotel.

Well, in that sense, yes.

Well, Sterling bought it for Brina's use about...

Three weeks before the accident.

Any record of repairs to the dune buggy before the accident?

Well, some charges for gasoline came across the desk, but none for repairs.

Mr. and Mrs. Douglas, get along all right.

Now, there's a very provocative question.

Well, there's a 20 -year difference in their ages.

Sometimes that creates problems.

So it's either partners killing partners or wives killing husbands, eh?

Is everything a cliché in your business?

Yeah.

You'd be amazed how humdrum it gets seeing innocent people being killed all

time.

Excuse me, I know I'm being facetious.

Sterling and Brina were a very happy couple.

Any enemies, personal or business enemies?

You are a sly one. You're back to partners killing partners, eh?

Not unheard of.

Well, I'm sure you and my creditors will be happy to know that I was with my

stockbroker in Los Angeles that day and the previous night.

Yes?

Excuse me, Mr. Greenwald, but I've just been told the Bickwolds can't have the

crystal room for their anniversary party.

On whose authority?

Mrs. Douglas.

She ordered Mr. Farlow to turn the room over to a community charity function on

the 16th instead.

Where's Farlow now?

Next door.

With Mrs. Douglas. Excuse me.

Ray, you got a minute? I'll later go.

Mr. Farlow, I can understand Mrs. Douglas's ignorance, but not yours.

The Bickwells are among the most influential couples in Palm Springs.

Mr. Greenwald, I tried to explain to... Ray, there is no need to browbeat Mr.

Farlow. I'm well aware of who the Bickwells are.

You are?

Yes, I am.

Well, then it must be me who's losing touch with reality.

Certainly not you for jeopardizing $50 ,000 or $60 ,000 worth of business a

for some charity event on which we make nothing.

I was only trying to carry out Sterling's desire to improve the image

hotel by encouraging that sort of charity event.

I was going to tell you about it. You were going to tell me?

Well, since we're being so arbitrary, let me tell you something.

Silver Springs was, is, and always will be a profit -making organization.

Is that right, Mr. Farlow?

So I think it best to move the Bickwells back to the crystal room, right, Mr.

Farlow? Now who's being arbitrary?

Look, I have a right to my say also, Ray.

Of course you do, Brina.

I'm sure you have many suggestions that'll be very helpful, and any time

think of one, just write it down on an inter -office memo.

And sent it to me.

Mr. Parlow.

The crystal room.

Yes, Mr. Greenwald.

Well, I really must thank you for your idea.

I've enjoyed this little talk.

Mr. Jones.

Looks like you lost the fight with Greenwald before it even started. I told

he was no pushover.

Well, what worries me, Gil, is if I keep losing fights with him, I'm also going

to lose you.

Me?

Yeah.

I created that confrontation over the Bickwell party on purpose. It was sort

a test to see...

How much weight I carry.

Evidently not much.

Would you do my back?

Uh -huh. Thank you.

What has that got to do with me?

Ray, uh, wants to move you out and bring in a new pro.

You've got to be kidding.

No, he thinks it's time we had a younger man.

Oh, he does, huh?

Where are you going?

To see Ray.

What good will that do?

All he'll do is say he didn't say it.

And then one day you'll still be out in the cold.

Do you have any idea what I've done for that hotel?

It would still be the Fleabag Rooming House old Tom Mattson started if it

been for me and the clientele I attracted.

Well, I'm afraid that, um, gratitude is not one of Ray's long suits.

He quite simply wants you out.

Over my dead body.

Well, let's hope we can come up with a better idea than that. Well, you could

help by showing a little more gumption in dealing with him, you know. You are

equal partner.

No, Gil.

Then we'd be forever in each other's throats.

And I can't live like that.

I've got to think of a way to get him out.

Fat chance.

That hotel is his whole life.

You'd never be able to buy him out.

Well, I wasn't thinking of buying him out.

What then?

Ray doesn't have any relatives.

And if something were to happen to him, I don't think it would be too difficult

to acquire his interest in the hotel, do you?

Marina, that's a tiger's tail you're reaching for.

Gil, all I'm asking you to do is think about it.

Just think.

If somehow Ray Greenwald was no longer in our way, then you could have a full

partnership.

And me.

A full partnership.

All yours.

Fred McCallum?

Uh -huh.

I'm Barnaby Jones. This is my secretary. We're here about the Douglas June

buggy. Oh, cool machine.

Shame it got totaled that way. In which stall was it kept?

Right over here.

Man, I've got to tell you, that was some kind of machine. I don't like grease on

a stick. You ought to see the wings. You joke a lot?

Man, I should have been cruel about that.

Let's see if Greenwald finds out that I'm back to stealing hubcaps.

Well, let's just say that this will be between you and us

and Alexander Hamilton.

Ulysses S. Grant keeps secrets a lot better.

Greed will stunt your growth.

Okay.

You see, I'm sort of a dune freak, so every once in a while I snuck the buggy

off for a spin.

When's the last time you drove it?

That night before the accident.

I just went to the dunes and back and didn't hurt it none. Any trouble with

brakes? When I wanted to stop, it stopped.

What about the next morning before the accident? Any trouble with the brakes

then?

Can't tell by me. The buggy was already gone when I came on duty.

This floor been clean since then?

Well, there's no need to.

The buggy was pretty new. I mean, it didn't leak oil or nothing.

Hey, Fred!

No! One more thing.

After you drove it, did you fill the gas tank?

I didn't have time. I want to get back before I get caught.

See you.

Clean as a whistle.

Is there some significance to the floor being clean?

Well, it means that if the brakes had been tampered with, it would have to

happened after the buggy was driven out of the stall or there'd be fluid on the

floor. Well, that narrows it down to whoever drove the buggy from here to the

Douglas' home. I guess Brina Douglas could fill us in on that, huh? Not that

easy. She told the sheriff that when she got out of the house, the buggy was in

the driveway. She assumed her husband drove it over.

Well, if he did, that's going to knock your murder theory into a cocked hat,

isn't it?

What if he committed suicide?

I wanted to take her with him.

Come in.

Thank you.

Did you care for a drink?

No, no thanks.

I'd like to get through this quickly.

I thought over what we talked about on the phone and I've decided that I can

raise the money to buy your share of the hotel.

As long as you're willing to ask a reasonable price.

There seems to be some question about who's going to wind up with the hotel,

Ray.

You out of your mind?

Let's take a drive and we'll talk this over somewhere else.

You've got to be joking.

We can talk about how you were going to replace me.

Now go on.

Gil? He's dead.

She said it wouldn't happen here.

What else could I do?

We've got to get rid of him.

Move. Get a blanket. Open that door.

Go back in the house and clean it up. Go ahead.

I'll take his body to the well and dump it. Go ahead. Go on.

Still worried?

Worked like a child.

We've got it right where we want to go.

From now on, the rest is easy.

Mr. Swenson?

What can I do for you?

I'm Bobby Jones, private investigator.

Oh, yeah, you're the fella that came by yesterday asking about the Silver Spring

service account.

Sorry, I was over in Phoenix on my son's birthday.

That's all right.

Mr. Swenson, I wonder if you could tell me if the Douglas dune buggy was ever

brought in here for brake trouble.

Gave it a little job about a week ago.

Brakes were fine then.

What about the morning of the accident?

Did somebody bring it in for gas?

Uh -huh.

Sterling Douglas.

Came in about 7 .30, just when I was opening up.

I remember because Mr. Douglas was puzzled why it was so low on gas when he

it filled only the night before.

Thank you very much, Mr.

Swenson. You bet.

Well, you still in the dark?

Yeah.

But you know how to tell a mule is a mule even in the dark?

Because even if it doesn't look like one, sound like one, or smell like one,

sure kicks like one.

I guess you know what you're talking about.

I'm talking about Marina Douglas.

Up to now, I've been trying to avoid the obvious.

But after eliminating all the other possibilities, I keep coming back to

Harvey, you don't think she tampered with the brakes, do you? I mean, she was

the buggy.

That she was.

Good afternoon, Mr. Jones.

Oh, hi, ma 'am.

Oh, that's all right.

Oh, thank you, Fred.

This is Betty Jones, my daughter -in -law and secretary.

Rena Douglas.

You have a fantastic place here, Mrs. Douglas.

Why, thank you.

Please sit down. Thank you.

Mr. Jones, I can't tell you how upset I've been since the last time we talked.

Have you found out anything new?

Yes, but nothing I go to the police with. You see, the problem is, I can't

to pinpoint a time that that coupling might have been tampered with.

Well, maybe that's because it never was.

I just can't believe that Sterling had any enemies who would want to murder

That may be, but...

If it had been tampered with, the only time it could have happened would have

been sometime between the time you left the house in the morning and the

accident. Well, that's impossible because there was only Sterling and me.

No one else could have touched the buggy.

So it had to have been earlier.

That's just the nub of the problem.

Everything that I've learned indicates that the brakes were in fine shape until

your husband drove the buggy over from the hotel to pick you up.

No, you have it wrong.

Sterling didn't drive the buggy home that morning.

He didn't?

No.

Ray Greenwald did.

He picked it up at the garage and then drove it on over to the house.

You didn't mention that in the police report.

I didn't think it was important.

Why would Ray Greenwald go to all the trouble to deliver the dune buggy to

house? Well, on the way out to the dunes...

Sterling mentioned that Ray had wanted to take a look at the new site for the

riding trails with us. How come he didn't go along?

I don't know. Some business at the hotel. Anyway, we dropped him off and

our way alone.

Well, that would certainly have given Mr. Greenwald ample time to tamper with

the coupling if he wanted to.

No. No, I simply cannot believe that Ray Greenwald would go to that length to

get control of this hotel.

Well... I'll stay in touch.

Please.

Bye -bye. Bye -bye.

She flat -out lied about Greenwald driving the buggy over to her house.

She seemed pretty confident she could pin it on him and get away with it. I'm

sure Greenwald will have something to say about that.

I'll take a look around for him. I want you to make some calls. Find out all you

can about Brina, where she's from, her background, everything.

Everything. Oh, well.

Got some dimes?

That'll start you off.

Thanks.

Where were you?

I tried calling you all night.

Nerves.

I dumped Ray's body in the well.

Then I drove around for a while to unwind.

I was worried.

You needn't have been. You have everything you want.

You mean we have everything we want?

Never mind.

Forget it.

Gil, if you've got something on your mind, I wish you'd say it.

Except that you don't love me.

I want us to get married.

If that is, darling, you know we're going to get married.

I mean now.

Right now.

That's writing a girl.

Nobody has to know.

We can fly to Vegas, get married, and be back here in a couple of hours.

Gil, what's the hurry?

A wife cannot testify against her husband, Brina.

Now, I know that sounds shabby. I don't mean it that way. But I am naked,

totally exposed.

I don't think that you're... Gil.

Darling, I love you.

Anything that makes you happy makes me happy, too.

Later. In Vegas.

Oh,

Lewis, please. You know that the napkins will wilt if you put them out too soon.

Go check on the flowers.

Oh, excuse me.

If you're looking for the Bickwell anniversary party, it's in the sunset

the next building. I'm looking for Ray Greenwald.

So is everybody in this madhouse.

It's not like him to disappear like this.

Oh, I remember you. You were there when Greenwald and Brina had their spat.

That's right. Looks like the young lady finally got her way.

Yes, well, until Greenwald hears about it. You know, if those two don't kiss

make up, this place is going to go to ruin. I understand it almost went to

nine years ago when Tom Matson built it.

Matson, let me tell you, an amateur in the hotel business is deadly.

Is it true he shot himself? Oh, yes.

And no one knows the story except maybe Jack Catnoll. Jack Catnoll.

He runs a curio shop up on some hill. I don't know, you know, lizards and rocks

and bugs and things. He was Tom Madsen's best friend.

No, no, lilies, not roses, you dumbbell.

Barnaby. Roses are for the Bickwell party.

Lilies for the charity club.

Anything on Brina?

Well, first the good news.

I talked to a man down at the city hall who gave me the particulars from her

marriage license to Sterling Douglas.

It said that her name, maiden name, It was Brena Walker, hometown Culverton,

Jersey.

What about the bad news?

Brena Walker doesn't exist.

Mr. Tadnell?

The last man called me mister, tried to sell me a set of pots and a trip to the

Hawaii Islands for free.

You want to buy a lizard?

Only if it's not moving and it's on the outside of a handbag.

Well, how about a nice cold drink?

That would be a great idea.

Good, good. Makes you feel comfortable. Thank you.

You must be doing pretty well up here since they built that Silver Springs

down there.

Not much.

You know, the kind of clients, they're getting there nowadays.

I'm more interested in Whoopi than in rocks and beads and such like.

No, I liked it much better when it was a little motel just for plain folks.

Like when it was Tom Madsen's motel. You knew Tom, did you?

Well, I knew he lost the property.

Stolen, you mean?

By them hyenas.

You mean Greenwald and Douglas?

That's them.

They turned my old friend's head with big thoughts of building a new resort

hotel.

An El Dorado in the desert.

By the time Tom got around to thinking straight, the Holden Company they set up

in his name was bled and bankrupt.

And Tom had to sell them everything he had for five cents on the dollar.

That's why he killed himself.

Left his poor little girl back there in Culverton without a father.

Culverton?

Culverton, New Jersey?

Louise was her name.

She was a handsome child.

She was sent back there when her mother died to live with her aunt and go to

school. Have you seen the young lady lately?

Never in all these years. I wrote her once. I told her what happened and about

her father leaving her some personal things like, well, books and papers and

pictures.

She never answered.

Is she in the picture?

Well, sure.

Did we see one?

Stay right where you are. I'll get it.

Barnaby, I'm going to check another couple of those numbers.

That's her.

Tom showed it to me just after he went to visit her back east.

My, you should have seen how proud he was.

Thank you, Mr. Tadnoe.

Would you want to buy a lizard?

No, thanks.

How much are the drinks?

Forty cents.

Oh, all right.

I'll have to get some change.

and there's a lovely girl, isn't she?

It's like the pieces are beginning to fit together.

Do you think it's really revenge?

She marries Sterling just to kill him?

I'd get half of a hotel.

It had to be Brina who tampered with the brakes.

Well, how could she, Barnaby? I mean, she didn't have enough time for that.

She did after the buggy went over the cliff.

Ah.

And now she's starting on Greenwall.

But the way she's been acting lately, ordering the help around and

countermanding Greenwald's orders, though she believed that he would never

up again, I would be surprised if she'd have rather killed him, too.

Well, it's an interesting theory, Barnaby, and I hate to poke a hole

Go ahead and poke. I'm a very liberal boss.

I just talked to Greenwald's stockbroker.

Greenwald called him about 45 minutes ago to transfer his stock.

Is the broker sure it was Greenwald?

Positive. Where was he calling from?

He didn't know, just that Greenwald had decided to take a short vacation.

So Greenwald's alive.

What do you know about that?

As it came.

Oh, thank you.

I'll tell you, uh... How much are the lizards?

Five dollars.

I've got one to go.

Thank you.

What are you going to do with a lizard?

I'll let it get away. He can catch it again.

You know, I don't feel any different now than I did before. Not the least little

bit. No, not the least little bit.

I was ecstatic when the judge was performing the ceremony, and I still am.

Then what are we doing here? This is our honeymoon, remember? Ah, don't you

forget that either.

Anyway, we've got to keep it quiet for a while.

Yeah, I guess so.

Yeah, I guess so.

You go on back to your tennis courts. I'll see you later.

Maybe.

Maybe.

Hello. How's the investigation going? Just about finished.

No, I'm afraid we're going to have to stay around and soak up a little more

sunshine. Well, if there's anything I can do to help, just ask.

You might be able to hurry things along. If you could tell me where Mr.

Greenwald went on his vacation.

Vacation?

Yes, I'd like to call him and ask a few questions.

I wouldn't know.

Well, you mean he doesn't even tell his own business partner?

He did call his stockbroker an hour ago and told him.

Ray made a call to his stockbroker this morning?

Yeah, I thought he might have mentioned where he'd gone.

No.

Just have to keep trying.

Have a nice day.

I don't understand.

That broker obviously made a mistake. That's what it's got to be, a mistake,

that's all. A mistake about whether Ray called an hour ago or not? How could he

make his mistake? It's got to be a mistake.

He's buried in the well, right?

Well, I'm going to go check the well.

Trina!

Wait a minute.

Hey, listen.

That broker heard somebody else's voice. Believe me, it wasn't him.

Wait.

If you wanted to shake Brina up, she is sure.

Didn't do such a bad job on Gil either.

Aren't you going to go after her?

Right now, I'm more interested in where Gil's going.

I'll see you.

Thank you.

I'm sorry if you're disappointed, Brent.

Actually, the way we had it planned, you never would have known.

Gil, I don't understand.

I just couldn't trust you. Gil knew his association with me would be more

lasting and beneficial.

Then the two of you were always in this together.

Sterling's death provided the opportunity for Gil to become my

Your partner, but I'm...

That's why you were in such a hurry to get married.

As my husband, all this would be yours if... if anything happened to me.

I'm afraid something is going to happen to you, Brienne. An accident.

I'd rather not have to shoot you.

You took the words right out of my mouth.

and it's too far yet.

Deal out now, you might get a light rap.

Like fraud or maybe assault.

Anything happens to Berena, that's murder this time for real.

Better check your friend.

Mr. Jones, I'm so glad you could get here.

They were going to kill me.

Just like they did Sterling.

They didn't kill your husband.

You did, Brina.

Or would you prefer Louise Madsen?

Operator.

I need an ambulance and a sheriff.

Andreas Canyon.

Well, I think we've bought enough for Christmas past, present, and future.

Well, you know, folks, I'm sure glad for the money you brought me, but still,

I'm sad for the sadness, too.

Poor Louie.

And those animals must pan away instead of help.

That's what happens when you unleash the dog's vengeance.

You never know who's going to get bitten.

I'm going to keep in touch with Louise.

She'll be needing a friend.

Coming to kind of look after her.

You know that Eldorado that Tom Mattson was always looking for and never found?

I think you got it.

Right there.

Bye -bye, Jack.

Goodbye.