Original subtitles

What's the matter, kid, you okay?

What's the matter, cowboy, you all right?

- Is he all right? - I don't know.

Look, he's been crying.

He must live around here somewhere

yeah, around here somewhere could be anywhere.

Tell us where you live, son.

I ike he don't even hear us

how about it, young fella?

Can you tell us what's the matter?

You hurt somewhere?

Tell me where you're hurt.

Something's wrong with him for sure.

We're only a couple of miles from town.

Might be better if we take him in with us, huh?

Come on, son, you wanna ride in the big truck?

What'd you got for 19, we just pulled in.

19, let me look.

We brought a lost kid in with us, he's sick or something.

What am I supposed to do with him?

Better call the police and tell them

we found a kid wandering the highway.

Okay, here's your bill of lading.

Dock seven, two drops, and then to frisco.

What's wrong with him? 1 don't know.

We can't get anything out of him.

When am I supposed to make frisco?

By midnight. Well, I better bail.

See you later, cowboy. Just stay there, kid.

Yeah, it went out two days ago.

I saw them load it myself.

Okay, I'll put a tracer on

but don't say I, hey, amigo, watch your step.

Huh, yeah, hey, kid!

Look, the only other place it could be is Denver.

Come right over here, Sonny.

All right, here we go.

Well, hi there!

What did he do, escape the death house?

He stole city hall.

Here's the kid we radioed in about, sergeant.

Hi, young fella.

What's his name? Can't get a peep out of him.

I think he's scared

here feel his hand.

What's your name, Sonny?

Sure you don't want it?

First time an ice cream cone didn't work

- deaf mute? - No, he can hear.

When there's a noise in back of him he jumps a little,

but he doesn't talk

won't even try. You're melting.

I ooks like I'm stuck with it

you all right, son, are vou frightened or something?

Doc turnesa, please.

Doctor turnesa? - Hi, petey!

Sergeant Shaw, I got a little boy in here.

- All right, fella. - Around six

to seven years old. I think you ought to

take a look at him, I'll send him over.

Oh, Paul, do you know this kid?

Well, I thought he looked familiar.

Hey, petey, hey, petey! District car brought him in.

Lost child. - Well, that's

Tony atlas' kid, hey, boy, where's your mother?

What's the matter, boy, hm?

Where's your mother? Cute little guy.

Just sits there and won't say a word.

Tony atlas, do I know him?

Yeah, I used to work with him in homicide.

He's down in central now

petey, petey, where's your mother?

I better get Tony. How'd it go, Tony?

The jury's got it now.

He'll be lucky if he gets less than 10

if he doesn't get 20, the jury should be sent up.

- Hey, Tony! - Hey, Paul! How are you?

- Hey, you're looking great. - What brings you downtown?

Oh, I just thought I'd drop down and see you.

What's up? - Seen Linda lately?

A week ago when I picked up petey.

Have you talked to her since?

What are you a marriage counselor?

No, nothing like that.

It's petey, he was down at the station.

Well, what's he doing down there?

He was picked up, lost, one of our men brought him in.

- What happened? - We don't know what happened.

He's not hurt, he's just sort of in a daze.

- Where is he now? - Down at Georgia street.

The doc's looking, - you told me

he wasn't hurt. There were no injuries

but he's, - how long ago

was he picked up? About two hours ago.

- Two hours? - What about Linda?

Tony, I've already called Linda, there's no answer.

- She hasn't called in? - Nobody's called in.

- Take me to petey. - Right.

Hi, petey, they tell me you got yourself lost.

Petey, it's me, your dad.

Everything's gonna be all right, son.

He doesn't even know me, what's wrong?

Well, we can't be certain.

That's why I asked Dr. Hodges to have a look at him.

Sergeant atlas, Dr. Hodges,

staff psychiatrist, general hospital.

Your boy is suffering from shock of some kind.

He can hear but he can't connect.

Something happened, probably something he saw

was too big a burden for his mind to carry.

Petey, where's your mother?

Petey, where were you when you left her?

Where was he found? Twelfth and central

he was standing on the corner.

Some guy noticed there was something wrong with him

and he called us. Did you check the guy?

Yeah, he don't know anything.

Just passing by, checked out.

Where could she be?

Tony, has she been working lately?

Uh, she's been doing a little

secretarial work since we separated.

Just odd jobs. Then maybe she left the kid,

she wouldn't let that kid out of her sight for 10 minutes.

This is Tony atlas, send a car over to my place.

3350 Westwood terrace, apartment five.

I think there's something wrong there.

Break in if you have to.

I'm at Georgia street, get right back to me.

Petey, you got to do something for me.

Just a little thing.

Where did you go today, you and mommy.

Tell me where you went, petey.

Come on, you can tell me if you try.

Come on, petey, tell me where you went

and what you did. - Sergeant,

Shouldn't he come out of it for me?

There are no rules, I had hoped he might.

Look, don't be offended by anything I ask you.

You know the boy, you can help me know him better.

Sure, anything you say.

Has he been healthy mentally?

Good as any, better than most, I guess.

- Any serious illnesses? - Kid's stuff, mumps, measles.

- Sensitive nature? - Sensitive?

I guess you can call him that, no sissy though.

You said you and your wife were separated, sergeant?

- Yes. - What caused the separation?

Little things, I really don't know.

Was there much arguing, you know shouting,

in front of the boy? Well, nothing big.

I guess when there was, he was in on some of it.

Look, doc, I know what you're driving at

but it wasn't that kind of a split-up.

They were silly things, I don't even know now.

How long have you been separated?

- About eight weeks. - That's a long time

in his life. - I'm with him

every chance I get, my days off, weekends,

I guess that isn't living with him though, is it?

Yeah, I'll take it.

Mm-hmm, nine o'clock, hold it.

They checked the apartment.

Empty and no sign of trouble.

Landlady said Linda left with petey

at nine this morning on a job.

Doesn't know where. - Tell them

to send out a description, age 27,

height 5'3, brown hair, blue eyes.

That's it, I don't know what she was wearing.

Linda atlas, age 27, height 5'3, brown hair, blue eyes.

Check everything. Petey, where's petey?

- Who's petey? - My little boy.

What little boy, there was no kid around here.

Where was he, where was he?

There wasn't any little boy.

If there was, I would have seen him.

Joey, maybe she's lying and maybe she isn't lying.

Either way we got to get rid of her.

Nobody's gonna hurt her, we've done enough.

Oh, what do you have to do?

Paint this guy a mural? Yeah, yeah, you could do it.

You're the kind who could do it

you bet I could do it, I could do

just about anything to save my skin.

We've all got to save our skins, Joey.

Don't you try anything, Gil.

'Cause that'll make you just like Jess,

you'll get what he gets.

Just touch her, either one of youl!

Will you talk to him?

Will you talk to him before I go nuts?

Listen to me, boy, the cops got my picture downtown.

We let her go, five minutes later

she'll pick me out of the mug book.

And I'm not going to that gas chamber alone.

Not alone, if I got to go because

your buddy over there has got rocks in his head,

you're gonna go with me.

So you better talk to him.

Joey, we got to be smart about this, Joey.

What kind of smart, Gil?

Jess's kind of smart?

Nobody's gonna hurt her no matter what.

Joey, we weren't gonna hurt anybody, you and me.

It was just an old man and he was living alone.

Unarmed robbery, now who's gonna figure

that he's gonna hire a secretary?

Only, he did, Joey, and now we're in trouble.

We've never gotten into trouble before.

Well, you're in trouble now.

There ain't none bigger.

Listen, Joey, we got to get rid of her.

You couldn't do that, Gil.

Think of what it would be like

you know what you'd have to do?

You have to put your hands around her neck and choke her.

Or maybe, or maybe pick up something and hit her.

I couldn't do that, you couldn't do it either, Gil.

What's the difference, man and woman.

Just do like you did to the old man, that's all.

Well, you know what you did, don't you?

You beat his brains out, that's what you did.

I didn't wanna do that.

Oh, brother, why did I ever

get mixed up with you two punks?

For more than $6,000 apiece, that's why.

Now the only reason we took you in in the first place

is because you said you could open up the safe.

Well, I got it open, didn't I?

Sure, with a sledgehammer, afterwards.

Didn't need you for that. Oh, I wish

I didn't have any of it, I wish I was out of here.

If you were smart, you'd all be out of here.

All three of you, you got the money you came for.

Why don't you take it and go?

Here, lady, you wanna call the cops now

or wait till we go? Joey, buddy, listen to me,

we've been pals for a long time now, haven't we?

Now, never once have I steered you wrong.

Ain't that right, now come on. No.

Okay, you got to listen to me now.

Now I don't like this any more than you do.

You know that, now if I change

it's not because, you couldn't change.

Everything's changed, Joey, take my word for it.

Gil, you're smart, you could figure a way out.

There ain't any other way.

Okay, then we stay here.

Till somebody figures out something, we stay right here.

Yeah, I'm gonna go upstairs, take a look around.

I'll think of something, lady, believe me.

Now the sodium pentothal will take effect

in just a few seconds, the boy will be

in a state of what we call twilight sleep.

- He'll talk? - In a few moments

he'll open his eyes. Will he recognize me?

It will be better if he didn't so don't say anything.

But he'll talk, he may tell us everything.

He may tell us only part of it,

he may tell us nothing, pillow.

Do you have any special pet name

that you and his mother use?

No, we just call him petey.

- Hello, petey. - Hello.

Say, I bet you had a big time this morning

when you got up, didn't you?

Try hard to remember.

Now your mommy had some work to do

and you went along with her.

Where'd you go then, petey?

Got in the car, I always liked that.

- And you rode? - And we rode.

Good, it was a fine day for a ride, where'd you go, petey?

We went to a house, a big house.

A big house, where was it, petey?

There was a man there, he was talking to mommy.

Good, now can you tell me where it was, petey?

The man said I could go out and play, and I did.

- Good, you played, and then? - And then I heard mommy

and I ran. Yes, petey, you ran?

And I looked in the window.

That's all he can give us now, he'll sleep for a while.

When he comes out of it, he may talk.

There's not much chance though.

Nothing upstairs, lady's purse.

Please, could I have a glass of water?

Oh, sure, Joey boy, get your girlfriend

a glass of water now, maybe she'll give you

a little kiss if you treat her real nice.

You're rotten, you know that, just rotten.

Excuse me all to pieces.

Go on, just keep it up, sure, I'll get you water.

Don't try anything.

No, don't!

This guy goes crazy, he could kill the both of us.

You saw what happened to the old man.

You know, if anybody ever told me

I hit a lady like I done to you,

I would have told him he was nuts.

I'm not the kind to do that

and so, maybe the lady fell down stairs.

Gil, tell him to shut up.

I've had all I'm taking from him.

You can't blame him, Joey.

Now look at the mess we're in

then let him figure something out.

Take my car, the keys are in my purse.

In an hour you could be 60 miles away from here.

In an hour we could be in the can

when you blow the whistle on us.

We could tie her up real tight.

- No, no, forget that. - We could be

over the border by dark. Look at her.

Will you look at her?

Can't you see what she's trying to do?

Oh, you're just dying to get us in that car, aren't you?

Somebody report you missing and the first thing

they're gonna start looking for is that car.

I thought that was the old man's car.

You get it under cover.

Meanwhile think about how many other things there are

that we don't know about her

He's coming for the house, Joey, watch her.

Do you think the guy saw?

You don't have to answer the door!

- What about them? - Don't worry.

I'll take care of them.

All right, now one sound out of you and it'll be the last.

Now, Joey, you understand that, don't you?

One sound out of her and we're cooked.

So, you know what you got to do.

- Yeah? - Canfield home?

Why, what do you want?

Got some bad news for him.

10 cents due on this, it's gonna break his heart.

Oh, that's okay, I'll take it.

- You working here? - Yeah.

I'm just helping out around the place for a couple of days.

I'd like to break it to him myself.

Well, he's resting right now.

I don't think he wants to be bothered

well, that's too bad, I'd like to see his face fall

- a dime, huh? - Yup, 10 cents.

- Okay. - You'll probably

have to wrestle him for it.

How many times are we gonna be that lucky?

How many times, Joey, it's up to you.

We don't know much, my little boy petey's in shock.

Something scared him, something he saw.

Whatever it was, it was big.

And Linda, his mother's missing.

- How long? - Half a day.

Maybe longer, somebody's holding her.

They can't hold her forever.

What does the doctor say about the boy?

He says not to count on him, not right now anyway.

Petey was picked up at twelfth and central.

Stuart, I want you to shake that neighborhood.

Take it apart, somebody might remember him.

A little guy like that wandering alone.

- What about pictures? - Check the print shop.

They should be ready.

Both the boy and his mother.

- Right. - How about

starting with what the boy saw.

If it was big enough to throw him into shock,

it should have been reported.

I think Linda stumbled into something,

inside, under a roof, out of sight.

Or in a car, did she drive a car?

There's a tracer on the car

nothing's turned up. Since we separated,

Linda's worked as a public stenographer.

Ran an open ad in classifieds.

She went out in a job, there's no way of telling where.

Could be a psycho, boy's mother involved,

they work that way sometimes, answering an ad.

We've got to figure it.

I've got a long list of the kind that operate that way.

I'll round them up. Some things

we ought to know, Tony, what about personal habits?

Was she a drinker for instance?

She'd take a drink, that's about all.

- What about boyfriends? - None as far as I know.

Was she depressed, moody?

Things are a little mixed up now

but she's not the type to go off the deep end.

Well, could she have gone shopping with him?

Those supermarkets are murder.

Maybe a department store.

If petey was missing this long, she'd call.

If she could have. How did they get separated?

If the boy saw something how did he get away?

Why would they let him? It happened.

Cap, let's hold off on radio and TV for a while.

Whoever's holding Linda,

let's not frighten them into anything.

Where do you want in on this?

At the apartment, she might have kept a record

of some of the places she worked.

Paul and I will go and take a quick look.

Uh, here are the prints of the boy.

Want to check them, all right? Fine.

Good I'll get 'em out.

Funny, I've, uh, I've never seen the place empty before.

Paul check the desk over there, will you?

- Hello? - Louise?

Tony atlas, I'm trying to locate Linda.

She's not at home and I wondered if,

well, she's at Disneyland, Tony, she and petey.

I talked to her this morning.

Well, was she going anywhere else, did she say?

No, oh, yes, some job she had to go on first.

She was taking petey with her.

Where was the job, did she tell you that?

No, she didn't, Tony.

And they probably won't be back till late.

You know how it is at Disneyland.

Yeah, well, thanks, Louise.

She had a job first and then

she was gonna take petey to Disneyland.

Doesn't figure, he was picked up at twelfth and central.

They never made Disneyland.

If I told her, I told her a 100 times,

"give me a call, tell me where you're working."

Nothing much in the desk.

Just a grocery list, letter from brockton, Massachusetts,

- that's from her mother. - Couple of bills.

Start with the a's, I'm gonna

check the bedroom. - Yep.

- Joey? - Yeah?

What's gonna happen to you after you leave here?

I never thought much about that.

What do you think about, Joey?

Yourself, ever, listen, Joey,

I know Gil's your friend

and I know he's always stuck by you.

But that was in little things.

This is a big thing, Joey, this is murder.

It may cost Gil his life if he's caught.

And he'd even kill you to save his own life.

Gil, lady, you're sure all wrong about him.

Look, Joey, if you let me go while they're still outside,

and you run while there's time,

they may never find you for killing Mr. canfield.

There's a chance you may never be caught.

But if anything happens to me,

vou will be caught, all three of you.

There's, there'll be no place you can run.

No place in the world you can hide.

They'll hunt you and, and they'll never quit

until they find you. What makes you think

you're so special? - Maybe she's

a very important person.

A big movie star or something, huh?

I'm not the one that's special.

My husband is a police officer.

Oh, lady, a cop's wife?

When did you dream that one up?

- It's true. - Sure,

and we're the three musketeers

Joey, hey, it's all fixed, we decided you're right.

There's no use hurting her, we'd only get more trouble.

Yeah, that's right, look, we'll do it your way.

When, when we leave, we'll,

we'll take her with us, that's all.

Isn't that right, Gil? That's the scoop, buddy.

- Okay, that's more like it. - All right.

Now, this is the way it goes.

We'll stay here for a couple of hours till it gets dark.

We'll eat, we'll rest, then I'll get out of here

and I'll get my stepfather's car.

How's that sound to you, huh?

- Where we take her? - We'll cross the border.

Something like that. No, Joey, don't believe it.

- How about it, buddy? - Sure, Gil.

He'll get a gun, without a gun, they're afraid of you.

With a gun they, will you shut up?

Gun's a good idea, Joey, we might need one.

Yeah, we might need one.

Okay, now my stepfather's got an army.45.

He hits the bottle as soon as he gets home.

He's out cold by 10 o'clock, I'll get the gun.

Then it's all settled, huh, so, let's relax.

These pictures of the kid, they're not working.

Six of us covered everything down the line.

There's another group covering the whole neighborhood.

Nothing so far. - Well, he could

have been dropped here by a car.

- That angle we can check. - Or a bus.

Have you checked the buses? No.

Police, we're looking for a little boy who looks like this

wearing twin holsters, one gun missing, see him?

Nope, a little boy like that alone I'd have remembered.

We don't know whether he's alone or not

we think he might have been on a bus sometime this morning.

Well, he wasn't on this one, sorry.

Say, you might check the depot.

There's about guys 20 pushing bus on this run.

Thanks he hasn't seen him.

Have cap check all the drivers in this run.

Calling car 126.

- 126, Stuart. - 126, central produce market,

11th and Alameda, check with the officers there.

They've got some information on the boy.

- Right, thanks. - You drive.

This man works here, sergeant.

He says he saw the boy this morning.

Yes, the boy in the picture.

- What time, do you remember? - Before lunchtime.

11:30 perhaps, I was pushing my truck,

I almost ran him over

- where was that? - Right here.

I see him come from the dispatchers

window. - Thanks.

Police. - What can I do for you?

- You saw this boy today? - Not me.

Well, he was here this morning.

11, 11:30, maybe earlier.

Well, I didn't get on till four.

Jim Warren's the guy you'd wanna see.

Well, where can I reach him?

You got a home number on him?

Sure, I'll call him for you.

What's it all about? You'll read about

it in the papers.

Bessie, Jim there, uh, just a minute.

There's a guy here who wants to talk to him.

It's his wife, he ain't got home yet.

Mrs. Warren, no, sergeant atlas, police.

No, no, no, no trouble.

He has some information we need.

When do you expect him?

Well, where do you live, Mrs. Warren?

We'll be right over

1329 sweeney street, thank you.

Thanks.

Corned beef, forgot to turn it off.

It's his favorite, he knew we were having it too.

It's not like him to be late on a corned beef night.

Does he usually come home right after work, Mrs. Warren?

Well, on his feet all day like he is,

he likes to get home, of course, it is Saturday.

- Payday? - He likes

to stop off for a beer or two.

He isn't a drinking man.

- Any particular place? - Well, there's one place,

al's right spot over on Jefferson somewhere.

You wouldn't happen to know the phone number?

Well, it just so happens

he got a little late last night, too.

I'll call him. - I says to him,

"listen, I don't care if you do own the place.

"If you're gonna act up to it, do it in some other joint.

"We got to keep this place respectable.”

So what happens?

He fires me, he'll be all right tomorrow.

Al's right spot. Is Jim Warren there?

Just a minute, Jim Warren here?

He ain't here, lady, I haven't seen him all day.

Well, baby, we're in the clear.

He wasn't there, they haven't seen him.

Sorry to have bothered you, Mrs. Warren.

We'll keep in touch, good night.

I just don't understand it.

There isn't anything in the world

Jim likes better than corned beef

oh, no, no, no, no, you lay off that stuff.

Well, maybe the dame would like a drink.

Might make her a little friendlier.

Jess, when we're out of here,

you do just as you please but not now.

Hey, Joey, ask your girlfriend if she'd like a drink.

- Grow up, Jess. - Just a minute, mister.

I'm grown up to your size any day of the week.

We better answer it, you.

- How can 1? - Joey, you untie her,

would you, come on.

Now, lady, whoever that is,

you get rid of 'em real quick, you understand?

Joey, just like the last time.

And, lady, please be smart. Hello.

Is this the canfield residence?

- Yes, it is. - Well, who is this?

I'm a stenographer, I'm working for Mr. canfield.

Oh, may I speak to him, please?

He's, he's not in right now.

Well, do you know when he will be?

He didn't say, could I take a message?

Just have him call his niece, please.

Who are you talking to, hon?

It's uncle Ben's night for dinner.

I just called to remind him.

- Oh, honey, again? - It's only once a month

and it won't be forever. I know.

It just seems that way.

What's gonna happen if Mr. Canfield doesn't call back?

Maybe she'll come over here.

Maybe she'll think something's wrong and call the police.

If that happens, you better not be here.

You can leave right now, tie me up and leave.

Oh, lady, you're always in there thinking, aren't you?

Well, forget it, our plans are all made

and nobody is going to change them.

Nobody but possibly that woman there on the phone.

Anybody who might drop in, or the police.

Oh, you're always in there thinking, too, aren't you?

Look, sarge, I done a lot of things

but I never got mixed up with nothing with no dame.

Especially if she's married to a cop.

I'm not that crazy, sergeant.

Crazy but not that crazy.

- Anything? - No, nothing here.

- How's petey? - Doc's says

he'll be all right, not in time.

That's all I was doing.

On my way to my girl's house for dinner

and you picked me up.

Is that why you had this on you?

So, maybe they was gonna ask me to carve.

Funny, we're racking up the odd balls

and getting' nowhere. 10, 11 hours she's missing,

not a rumble. We'll find her, Tony.

Everybody tells him, "we'll find her."

But nobody tells him how.

One guy on a bat and we're nowhere.

We're using everything we have, Tony.

I only wish we had more.

We have, percentage.

You told me that a long time ago, cap,

"figure the percentages,

"work the short odds, forget the long ones."

You should have tattooed it on my chest.

Where do you figure the short odds are?

Look, we've got a crime.

90% of all the crimes are the work of repeaters,

you told me that too.

That makes it a nine to one shot

we've got a card on the guy who did this.

- So? - What kind of a crime?

What kind of a criminal, say it was a thief,

and a robbery Linda stumbled into.

Makes sense, something not reported.

Let's figure it, petey was seen at a produce market

let's say he was brought here maybe by some truckers.

From out here, let's say.

Mainly citrus groves, ranches, big spreads,

that puts money in it, keeps it out of sight.

How are we gonna search an area like that?

It'd take us a week. We're not.

Look, over here, people with money,

over here, people who'd like some.

Now, suppose someone over here

had a sizeable amount of cash,

or something valuable tucked away.

Someone working around here gets wind of it.

It's a rumor, the rumor drifts back here.

And it spreads and is picked up

by somebody with a record.

A character in that neighborhood.

A guy who knew his ground.

A stranger would've taken something obvious.

A bank or a supermarket.

We'll pull cards on every ex-con,

and every parolee in that whole area.

You picked the neighborhood with plenty of talent.

Give me a rundown on this one.

George French, safe-man, out of prison

for eight months, been idle for six.

No job, no income, he's been due to start rutting around

for quite a while. We're looking

for George French. - You police?

We'd just like to talk to him.

You're a little late, San Francisco police

picked him up yesterday. You his wife?

We've been married just a week.

Sorry to bother you.

What else have I got to do?

Tony, you don't talk, you're gonna explode.

Now I know what people mean when they say,

"when you want a cop, they're never around."

I feel like the cop that isn't there.

You never told me about it,

what happened between you and Linda.

I never told anybody, I guess I didn't want anybody

to know what a lunk-head I was

- I won't spread it around. - It all started

with a little thing, sitting around the apartment one night,

just talking, she said she'd like

to do a little stenographic work, earn some extra money.

She even answered an ad that day, made herself 10 bucks.

I said, kind of kidding,

"we don't need 10 bucks, we got 10 bucks."

Only, she wasn't kidding.

She figured she could save the money,

and eventually, we could get a house, a backyard for petey.

Me, big man, put my foot down.

No wife of mine was gonna work to get us a house.

"I'll get the house,” I told her.

Big detective sergeant makes a lot of money.

All she wanted to do was help and I wouldn't let her.

She tried to reason with me and I wouldn't listen.

Wrapped myself up in a lot of phony pride and walked out.

- There's a way back, Tony. - Back where?

Whoever has her, has had her a long time, 10 to 12 hours.

Time's running out, Paul.

Every cop within a hundred miles

has been called in on this, we'll find her, Tony.

Oh, dear god, where's petey?

You, uh, looking for somethin', honey?

- No. - Maybe

she's looking for the little boy who wasn't there.

Yeah.

It'd sure taken him a long time to find a cop.

I'll take these out in the kitchen

no, you won't, you'll leave 'em right here.

And you'll sit down right over there.

Hey, it's time for me to shove off.

If I need to I'll call you.

Hey, how will we know it's you?

Oh, never mind explaining it to him again, will ya?

I'll ring once and I'll hang up,

then I'll call right back.

How long do you figure it'll take you?

A couple of hours.

I better make sure of the phone number.

Hey, brainwave, now, don't go stupid on us

like Joey here, will you?

All we need is for you to get picked up with this on you.

Okay, I'll remember it.

And make sure you come back.

Because if you get any wise ideas and take a powder,

and the cops don't get you, I will.

Gil don't run out on pals.

Who asked you, when I wanna talk to you,

I'll let you know. - You don't

talk to me like that! Joey, leave him!

All right, Joey! - You come

one step closer to me, you crazy idiot, and I'll brain you.

So help me, I'll scramble you worse than you are now!

Joey, Joey, listen to me, Joey, Joey!

I don't like to hurt anybody,

but he's like a rat or something.

Thanks, I won't forget that.

- Don't you forget it! - Joey,

now I'm trusting you to watch the girl till I get back.

No more rough stuff, huh? Sure, Gil.

As long as he leaves me alone, I'll leave him alone.

That's a deal, let me get out of here.

And I'll get rid of this, nobody's gonna need it.

I still think this is a crazy notion, Myra.

We're just asking for trouble.

Well, maybe you're right, but I just had a feeling.

Remember, not a sound.

There's a light on inside, I know he's in there.

Yeah, he's probably in there counting his money.

Look, honey, if he was in trouble,

you would've heard from him.

Like I said, he probably went to a movie.

But you can't be sure of that.

I'll prove it to you, let's check the garage, come on.

- They're gonna see Gil. - Don't worry about Gil.

He'll make out. I'm not worried about Gil.

I'm worried about me.

Now you keep your eye on her,

I'm gonna take a look out back.

You know, it'd be nice

if we could go to a movie ourselves.

If we ever get dinner that is.

Uncle Ben's car is here!

And who's car is that?

Something is wrong, we'd better call the police.

Now, don't get carried away.

First, let's take a look.

Linda atlas, well,

the old boy must be entertaining.

Oh, don't be silly!

He's too old and besides that, he's too sensible.

There ain't no age when a man stops being a fool, honey.

I still think we ought to call the police.

What do you want to do, bust in there

and spoil the old man's good time?

That's a sure way of getting written out of his will

oh, come on. Maybe you're right.

We'd better not get nosy, I'll call him in the morning.

That's right, now, let's go have dinner, huh?

How about that, the secret life of uncle Ben canfield.

Honey, you just never know.

Hey, it's Gil, open up, hey!

Listen, there is nothing to worry about.

They've gone and they're not gonna be back.

I'll see you later.

They've gone, oh when are people

gonna stop ringing that doorbell!

You shouldn't be doing that!

I'm old enough, you wanna see my driver's license?

We're looking for Marty faine.

I understand he hangs out here.

He hangs somewhere else now.

I haven't seen him for months.

- Know where? - No,

but I'm glad it's not here.

Okay, you thought I was looking for you, why?

Nothing, I ain't done nothing since I got out.

Where were you today?

Well, I work till five, I got a job

in the kitchen at the meridian hotel and then I come here.

I spend every night here, don't I?

Yeah, he spends every night here.

That's all he spends. - See?

Okay.

You know, it's Saturday night?

Well, this guy is brilliant!

He even knows what day it is.

Just thinkin' what I'd be doing if I was out.

I'll tell you what I'd be doin'.

I'd have me a real dame

now, not just any ordinary broad, see.

No, sir, I'd have me a real dame.

What's that for? It's Saturday night.

May as well have some music. Oh, sure.

Little music never hurt anybody.

You're going to drink that whole bottle?

The stuff's good for it.

Makes me feel real friendly.

You know, Joey, I'm just like you now.

I don't want to hurt any dames.

Especially this one.

What do you do on Saturday night?

Go dancing sometimes.

- Like tonight? - You lay off, Jess!

Now, take it easy Joey.

There's no harm in a little dance

- you lay off! - It's okay, Joey.

Sure, now you watch this, Joey.

You may learn something.

What was that?

I thought I heard something outside.

I don't hear anything.

Well, I think I heard it too, Joey.

It's probably only a dog, you better go take a look.

- You better go. - It's all right, Joey.

You don't have to worry.

- I'll look out front. - I'm all right, Joey.

Be sure you look around real good now.

We don't want any trouble.

We don't want any trouble at all.

What's the matter, baby? Nothing's the matter.

Don't you ever buy your girls a drink?

Oh, you want to drink?

You said we're gonna be friendly, didn't we?

Sure, sure, real friendly, come on.

Sure, a little drink will make things even better.

Uh, I'm not much of a bourbon drinker,

is there anything else? Will scotch do it?

- Yes, scotch is fine. - Listen,

a girl with Jess gets anything she wants.

Who's stupid now, Jess, who?

It just may turn out to be her.

- Yeah? - Police.

You're name polikoff? Hey look,

if it's about that little fight

in the bar last night, nobody was hurt.

And it ain't as if I walked up to this girl

and talked to her, I mean, my wife,

all right, all right.

I'm not interested in what you did last night.

Where were you this morning? Oh, I work regular now.

Hercules Van and storage, you can check it.

Okay, sorry to bother you.

Hey look, if they get to mention

about that little fight last night,

I mean, it wasn't, - forget it.

- Anything? - Dirty conscience.

Our top suspects are all gone now, bottom of the barrel.

Jess reber, a juvenile. What's his record?

Car clouts, petty theft, kids' stuff mostly.

Kids grow up.

Police, Jess reber still live here?

Jess lives here all right, but he's not here now.

Almost 3 o'clock, does he make a habit of this?

He should've been here at seven,

we were supposed to have a date.

What's he done? - Maybe nothing.

We wanna know where he was this morning.

He took off kind of early.

- Does he work? - Are you kidding?

Not if he can help it. How does

he pay his rent around here? Sometimes he gets behind,

like now, then I cover for him.

Said he'd have it today though, for sure,

doesn't even show. How about his friends,

anyone in particular? Hangs around mostly

with the younger kid, Gil Ramsey, why?

- Got an address on Ramsey? - Sure, phone too.

He called him all the time

you shouldn't

have tried to run away, why'd you do it?

I told you, you wouldn't get hurt.

It's not me that matters now Joey.

There was a little boy here, I didn't lie about that.

My little boy, petey.

And I, I don't know where he is Joey.

Or what's happened to him, and he needs me.

Joey, don't you understand, my baby needs me!

It's been over 12 hours now, if he was all right

he, he would've come back with some help or something.

Something must have happened to him.

Joey, please let me go and find him!

Gil, Gil will be back soon, we'll see.

It'll be too late then, Joey!

Look, you don't have to worry.

And you don't have to be afraid of Jess.

Joey, we made a fool of Jess.

That's one thing he can't stand.

He's got to kill us now, both of us, you and me.

He'll find a way, he'll, get a gun or something.

- Where would he find a gun? - Yeah, where?

In the closet behind a shoe box, maybe?

Oh, take a look at that, will you?

A real Cannon, you know, a thing like that

could blow a hole in you the size of your hat.

Makes a difference, a gun.

We got a whole new deal around here now.

Now, you tell him who's boss.

But slow, real slow so that stupid over here can,

- Joey, sit down! - Well,

The lady just saved your life, you sit down, too.

Well, while I'm thinking you better start praying,

both of you, 'cause if Gil ain't back before it's daylight,

her first Joey, so you can watch.

I've never seen so many dirty halls.

- Who is it? - Police.

- What do you want? - We're looking

for Gilbert Ramsey, are you his mother?

Gil hasn't done anything wrong, why do you want him?

Just routine questioning, won't take long.

Well, he's not home, he hasn't come home yet.

Kind of late for him to be out, isn't it?

Any idea where he might be?

Maybe a late movie or something.

I don't know, I don't know where he is.

You know a friend of his named Jess reber?

I don't know any of his friends.

He never brings anybody here.

Sorry to bother you, Mrs. Ramsey.

We might check back later.

Goodnight. - Goodnight.

I'm gonna get the car keys.

What's wrong Gil, what did they want you for?

Just routine questioning mama, now you heard them.

I never know what you're doing these days!

Wait a minute, Paul, there's something bothering me.

- What's the matter? - Gil's mother,

those eyes, it'd take an hour to cry eyes that red.

And she's scared, not just ordinary scared,

the way people are when we drop in.

- Think she might be lying? - I'm sure of it.

Sleeps like a horse, looks like one too.

How come you picked two lemons, him and my old man?

Gil, I don't want you to go.

Mama, I've got to go, I've got to go away for a while.

Yeah, but I'll write you. Tell me now.

Tell me what you did. I can't mama, not now.

I've just got to get away, goodbye mama.

I've got to go.

Don't go at all Gil, stay here tonight.

And tomorrow we'll go to the police you and me together.

- Open up, police! - Whatever it is,

we can, - I'll take it.

You call in. - He's just a boy.

He couldn't have done anything bad.

Then why'd he run?

Come on out Ramsey, don't be a fool.

We just want to talk to you.

Next time it won't be the wall give yourself up!

We gotta stop him, aim for his legs.

Cover me.

I was aiming low and he fell.

Dumb crazy kid, how do they get that way?

That's the coroner's job, it might cost you your badge.

- This kid's loaded. - Must be four, or 5.000.

Maybe more. - Linda's.

This kid had the answer and I killed him

a smart cop killed him.

- Gil's dead, you killed him. - Did we?

Who hid him from the police?

Who helped him get a gun?

I didn't know he had a gun.

He stole the gun, he stole it out of my drawer.

Nice handy place to keep it.

Where was he tonight, do you know?

How should I know?

I work hard all day long, come home, generally, he's gone.

I don't know where he goes. Or care, maybe.

$6,000, where'd he get it? I don't know.

I'll tell you. Your son was a thief, he stole it.

We wanna know where he stole it, did he tell you?

- No. - When he came home

what'd he have to say? Nothing, I,

look, you son, he had a change purse on him.

It belongs to a woman missing since early this morning.

She may be dead, we don't know.

But we've got to find her.

We think she's where ever Gil got the $6,000.

If you know where he got it, tell us.

I don't know, he didn't say anything.

He's been out most of the night,

he comes in with $6,000 and doesn't have anything to say?

Lie to me, lie to me some more.

Why should I lie to you, he's dead now!

Why did you have to kill him, he tried to kill a cop.

What about him, you gonna pin a medal on him?

How do you feel, are you proud of yourself?

You killed my boy! There's another

boy in this, and it's his mother that's missing.

He saw what happened, what your boy did to her.

He's in a hospital, out of his mind.

Scared so bad he can't even remember his own name.

What about him?

I don't want any more suffering.

I'd help you if I could, there's no reason not to.

- Yeah? - Gil doesn't

need to be protected anymore. Tony, the dispatcher.

Warren, his wife called downtown,

he just got in. - Let's go.

Call back here, I'll be waiting.

All right, Warren, that's four cups, start remembering.

He'd better start remembering where he's been all night.

You can have him when we're through.

How about it? I remember the kid.

I was on the phone or something, maybe,

when they brought him in. They who?

A couple of truckers, they said, "look after him."

How can I, I got a million things,

all right, all right, the truckers, who were they?

Let me see, headed for frisco, bay produce.

Do you remember their names?

No, but, they're with apex trucking.

Dispatcher in frisco would know.

Apex trucking. All right, start talking.

The kid, yeah, we picked him up.

He looked like he was hurt, is he all right, how is he?

Where did you pick him up?

Do you remember exactly? - Well,

I can hit it pretty close, we were behind schedule

a little bit and gunning it.

He was right out there on the highway.

I'd say, two miles beyond the garvey turn-off.

It'd be right about here they picked him up.

Here on the highway, wandering,

couldn't have come from too far.

There isn't anything in sight, no house, nothing.

- Find anything? - Yeah,

there's a side-road down about a quarter of a mile.

There's an orange grove and a house.

Seems to be the only one around.

- I'll try it. - We'll lag behind.

If it's the house we're looking for,

we don't wanna scare them

or anything. - Okay.

- Where is that guy? - He's not coming back.

He's smart, he's gone, miles away from here.

Yeah, he's smart all right!

Leaves me holding the sack with stupid here!

All right, it's time.

If you know any prayers, you better start saying 'em now.

You too, sweetheart, you go with stupid here.

Only, you go first. You leave her alone!

Sure, you watch how I leave her alone, Joey.

You watch how you scare me.

Dead.

Big crazy stupid's dead.

Now, can you see anything you remember, petey?

Petey, try and remember.

Something you saw, anything, anything at all.

Come on, petey. - One thing,

just one thing he could relate to.

Stop the car. - Back up.

Petey's.

Linda's in there, we've got to get her out.

We don't know what's in there, who or how many.

I'd better get mcquade.

Stinkin' lousy mess, tie up with a couple of punks

and what happens, this happens!

A cinch, nothin' to it, a breeze!

Sure, and where does it leave me?

You think I wanted any part in this?

No, right from the beginning

I told 'em we ought to think it over!

But not him, not Gil!

And where is he, where's that car?

You know what he did, he took off!

He must be a thousand miles from here by now!

Took off and made a sucker out of me!

Left me here with you.

The place is quiet, shades are drawn.

Could be a watch. We'll cover you, Tony.

If the shade moves, we'll put a hole in it.

- No, Jess, don't! - Oh, no.

No, nobody's gonna make a pigeon out of me!

Not me! - Jess, you can't do it!

- Bigelow? - Yeah?

You and Stuart take a couple of the boys

and cover the back. - Right.

That front door is partly glass, we could kick it in.

Cover him, boys.

Gil, cops, shut up!

One sound out of you, just one, will be your last.

There's an old man lying in the hall, dead.

Nothing else downstairs. It's clean out back.

Watch it, stay down there or she gets it!

Drop your guns, I said drop 'em!

Drop 'em.

Jess, they don't want to hurt you.

Jess, it's time to give up.

One more move, just one more move and I'll kill her!

Listen to me kid.

There are 30 cops around this house.

You pull that trigger and they'll start blasting.

And even your own mother wouldn't recognize you.

Remember, we don't want to hurt you.

One word from me and nobody'll lay a finger on you.

Nobody'll touch you, think it over.

Give yourself every break.

The only chance you've got is to put that gun down.

You asked for it, cop!

Please, don't hurt me.

You promised.

- Take him. - Come on.

Oh, Tony, Tony, petey was here.

He saw everything and I don't know what happened to him.

And I don't know where he is, he's outside

waiting for you. Oh, thank god!

He's had a bad scare, but he'll be all right.

Hi, petey, petey, petey?

- Mommy, mommy! - Baby!

Oh, petey, it's all right, sweetheart.

I'm all right, don't cry, darling.

My baby, it's all right.

It's okay.