All language subtitles for The Rockford Files S05e12 Local Man Eaten By Newspaper_prob3

Welcome to
The National Investigator,

a new concept
in journalism.

I was directed
to that paper.

I remember when I read it,
I thought to myself,

"What's the
message here?"

"Reliable sources report
Mr. Rockford having been charged

"with murder in the
first degree." Murder!

I want you to
pick Rockford up.

Bring him here?

It's a scandal
sheet, Jim.

Do you really think they're in the
business of blowing people away?

Duck, Coop, duck!

This is Jim Rockford,

At the tone, leave your name
and message.

I'll get back to you.

Sonny, this message
ain't for you, it's for me.

just want to
remind myself

to pick up the big ladder
at the paint mart.

Hey, Henley.
Witbeck wants to see you.

Oh, thanks.

Come in.

Killer bees?

Who've you been
writing for, Henley?

The Department
of Agriculture?

The Pittsburgh
Press-Telegram,

Killer bees are stale.

They've been done by everybody,
up to and including Irwin Allen.

Well, I realize the subject isn't
new, but the statistics are.

Who cares how many cows get stung
to death in South America, huh?

Do you? I don't care.
Nobody cares.

We're not just publishing news
here, you know.

We're competing against movies,
television, magazines, other newspapers.

See, people buy this paper because
we print stories that will grab them.

Killer bees
don't grab.

You got it.

Now, on the other hand,

would you be interested
in a 14-year-old girl

who was attacked by a Kodiak
bear and lived to tell about it?

Interested personally
or professionally?

Doesn't matter. Now that's a story
with a high must-read factor.

That'll grab 60% of your reading public
and 90% of the read-tos. Write it.

Well,
do you think you could just start me off

with the name of the girl?

Oh, yeah. I got all the research
material you'll need here.

It's right here somewhere.

Man, I wish people would
leave my desk alone.

We've got 3 Meta shot
of the kid, too.

Oh, here, here.
Here it is.

Now, look,
she's kind of small for 14,

so you might have to cheat a
little bit on the age, you know.

This girl fought off
a Kodiak bear?

That's the story.
It's the same old story, you know.

David and Goliath.
Except it's a girl.

And a bear.

Yeah.

Yeah. That bear doesn't really
work, though.

Tell Simpson to
check the files,

see if we've got a better Kodiak.
It's a nice effect,

standing up there on its
hind legs and all that.

But where's the reality? I mean,
there was nobody there to get that picture.

The readers will spot
that for a phony.

We need a dead bear.

Well, anyway,
just go ahead with this for now.

Just do a paste-up job
on the composite

so Simpson'll know
what you got in mind.

He'll take it from there.
That's it.

Oh, hi, Ken.

You gotta be
out of your mind!

$500 for an item
I'm supposed to run blind?

I wouldn't give you
half a buck.

So who cares if it's true
if we print the story

and nobody knows
who we're talking about?

Look, we name names
or forget it.

Yeah, sure, they're going to
know where we got the story.

Hey, George, you want to make
friends or you want to make money?

Yeah.

All right, George,
you think about it.

Okay. Give me a call.

Hey, you really pay for news items?
I didn't know that.

Sure. If it's juicy enough,
big names, why not?

I got a couple of
regular tipsters,

and guys like this one
who just called,

looking to pick up
a couple of bucks.

What you got there?

Oh, oh, it's
my new assignment.

"Child Battles
Killer Kodiak."

Sounds like
a welterweight bout.

Oh, I don't know.
Some 14-year-old girl

threw a couple of rocks
at a nine-foot bear

and then she hid until the
bear got bored and left.

Of course, that's not the
way we're going to tell it.

Uh-huh. Welcome to
The National Investigator,

a new concept
in journalism.

Boy, I don't know.

I just don't think I can make
it on Witbeck's handouts.

I've got to start coming up with
some leads on my own, you know?

How about

"Outbreak of warts
linked to UFO sightings"?

You got any contacts?

Oh, sure, sure.

But they're all back
in Pittsburgh.

I don't know.
I've been thinking...

You know, I've got
to figure a new angle.

Maybe I've come up
with something.

You know,

all the people
who are really front page,

the BPs, the movie stars,
the television personalities...

What do they have
in common, huh?

Good PR.
Sometimes talent.

Money.

And when you have money,
you have a business manager.

You can tell an awful
lot about what's going on

in somebody's life just by
looking at their check stubs.

Yeah, sure,
but how are you gonna get your look?

Oh, there are ways.

A little
second-story work.

Not strictly legal,
but very effective.

And doctors. You know,
they all have doctors.

Can you imagine printing the
results of Cher's last physical?

I mean, your circulation would go
up four to five million overnight.

Yeah, forget the medical.
We've already got somebody working on that.

Oh, yeah? Who's that?

Don't answer that, Jerry.

That's none of
Mr. Rockford's business.

Rockford?

You had a drink with
Kenny here last night.

Somebody recognized you.

They were asking Kenny
what he was doing

hanging around with
a private investigator.

Well, you can
imagine his surprise.

You can imagine mine.

That's why you were asking
all those questions.

I thought it was
because he was new.

Get the proofreader, Jerry.

Oh, now, look,
Mr. Witbeck,

there's a perfectly simple
explanation for all this.

I can't wait to hear it.

Yeah, well, you said yourself
just a few minutes ago,

it's a very
competitive business.

I was hired
by a rival paper.

You know, of course,
I can't mention any names. I...

It was
the Midnight Sun,

You know, they just wanted
to know what stories

you had in the works so they can
get a bead on you, that's all.

What do you think, huh?
You think he's telling the truth?

Now...

You want to keep
this ape off of me?

What's the matter?
You afraid you might hurt him?

Look, if a 14-year-old girl
can trash a Kodiak bear, I...

Kick him out of here.

Hey, hey, now wait!
I know my way out, pal.

Sal? How you doing
on that film?

In a couple of
minutes, Johnny.

You're making too
much out of it, Johnny.

It's just
a small part.

And the picture cost
eight million bucks.

Anyway, it's not
a small part.

It's what
they call a cameo.

Two lines and I'm dead.

These people don't want to sit around
all afternoon to watch me get killed.

I wouldn't miss it.

Sure, they're crazy
to see you, baby.

Vince, check that.
It must be caught on something.

You want to come over
and have a drink, honey?

No.

It's starting to
look funny, Natalie,

you sitting here
by yourself.

You're not
talking to Monica.

I talked to her.
I told her I have a headache.

You got a headache?

No.

Okay, it's threaded
and ready to go, Johnny.

All right, everybody,
find a place to park.

Leo, close the curtain.

Okay, Sal,
you can start now.

Vince, hit the lights.

Watch it now. Watch it.
Here she comes.

Johnny,
it looks real good.

Are those your feet?

Yeah.

They look real good.

Hey, you
look good, Monica.

Great footage, Johnny.

Watch what
she does here.

This is where
she gets popped.

Someone out there?

Who is it?

Who's there?

Okay, Sal, hold it.

Rewind,
let's see it again.

What a face.
I could look at that all day.

Am I right, huh?

Anybody need refills,
now's the time.

We got to go over and say
something, honey.

Congratulations
or something?

The words would
stick in my mouth.

Really great.

One of the best things
I've ever seen.

Look at him.

He's supposed to be running the
business, not movies.

You said yourself that

the street people are trying to cut
in on the numbers action in San Diego.

It isn't right, Augie.

No matter what Johnny's going
through, doesn't make it right.

Natalie, he's not
going through anything.

You're the only
man I know

who don't believe what he
sees with his own two eyes.

I keep telling you, honey,
that newspaper is garbage.

They print nothing
but lies.

Lies, huh?

You see Johnny
suing anybody?

Johnny could sue.
He don't want to.

There we go.

Vincent doesn't think
they're lies.

You see the way
he's been watching Johnny?

And Sal. He's been
watching him, too.

Okay, it's all set.
Get the lights.

You know what Tony Freshette
would do in this situation?

Come on, Natalie.

You said you wasn't gonna
bring him up no more.

I just mentioned
his name as an example.

If I'd have married Tony,
believe me, Augie,

I wouldn't be having
this conversation.

He'd have made
his move.

You want some wine
or something?

Tony didn't get where he
is by just standing around.

ls someone out there?

I prayed to Saint Lucy
for guidance.

You know how
I always get answers.

And it came to me.

What that paper said
is true.

And it came to me.

You make your move now,
or somebody else makes it.

I'm working for the man.

What you're asking
I just can't do.

I'm thinking
of you, Augie.

He's thinking
of himself.

Go on,
you stick with Johnny.

You do what he says.

We'll see
where that leads.

Hello?

Mr. Rockford,
it's Dr, Hagens.

Sorry I couldn't get
back to you sooner,

I've been at
the hospital all day,.

You find anything
at the paper?

Yeah, well, it was more a
case of mutual discovery.

They found out who I was,
and they kicked me out.

But I did get
a pretty clear indication

that they're the ones responsible
for burglarizing your office.

So I think we ought to take
what we got and go to the cops.

No,

Doctor.

Look, you pay me to
investigate and advise, huh?

That's my advice.

Look, don't want to
discuss this over the phone,

Can you meet me at my office
in, say, half an hour?

Mr. Rockford, the police
department is out of the question.

How many times
do I have to say it?

Doctor, they're working on some
medical angle down at The Investigator,

Now I think there's
a very good chance

they're the ones who
broke into your office.

The police could get a search warrant.
No police.

Doctor...

I'm not going to be
persuaded, Mr. Rockford,

so let's just
drop the subject.

Now, the cleaning people ought to
be finished with the office by now.

And that new storage system
that I had installed,

it's supposed to be tamper-proof.
I want you to check it.

My patient files
are confidential.

They're going to
stay confidential.

Somebody left
the light on.

The third time this week.

Oh, wait, Doctor.
Doctor, don't go in there. Wait!

Okay, both of you.
In there.

Come on.

Come on, Doctor.
Do as he says. Come on.

Keep in touch with
them down at county.

Let me know if he
regains consciousness.

Yes, sir. Hi, Jim.

Hi, Billings.

Hagens' still out?

Yeah. They've got him on
these life support machines.

What do you think, Dennis?
You think he's going to make it?

What am I,
Carnac the Magnificent?

What kind of a dumb move was that?
Why'd he go for the gun?

Oh, I don't know, Dennis.

I think it had a lot
to do with outrage.

That's the second
break-in there, right?

Yeah. The first one was
about two weeks ago.

That's when
he hired me.

Instead of reporting it
to the police.

Yeah. Well, he wanted to handle the
thing as quietly as possible, Dennis.

Listen, you want to get
over to that paper

and start asking
some questions?

You think there's
a connection there?

Yeah, well,
I told you, Dennis.

Somebody from the paper
tried to buy some information

from a lab technician
at Hagens'.

She turned him down flat.

Three days later that
office was broken into.

No drugs missing?

No, nothing missing.
Except the records had been gone through.

He's the doctor
to the stars, Dennis.

Those records are worth
a lot of money

to 3 mg “ks
The Investigate R.

Well, you know what
kind of a paper it is.

I wouldn't buy it
to wrap fish in.

Well, take it from me,
they deal in gossip, in innuendo...

I said I wouldn't buy it.
I've seen it.

You know, when you're waiting at
the check-out line at the market.

You pick it up
to pass the...

Oh, excuse me.

Of course you wouldn't know
what I'm talking about.

You, with your nose always buried
in the Scientific American,

Come on.

Come on?

Come on, on an official
police investigation?

Well, you're an eyewitness
to a crime.

If the assailants are part
of a goon squad at the paper,

you can
point them out.

Well, what about that
final cautionary note?

Aren't you at least going to
tell me to keep my mouth shut?

It wouldn't
do any good.

Tell Mr. Witbeck
that we're here.

Well, there's one good thing
about not printing real news.

You don't have to wait around
for late-breaking stories.

Look, don't start antagonizing
people around here.

Just let me
ease into this.

What we have is
pretty circumstantial.

Klaatu barada nikto.

Mr. Witbeck, I'm Lieutenant
Becker, police department.

Thank you very much
for waiting for us.

We got here
as quickly as possible.

I don't believe it.

He had the gall
to file charges?

I'm the one who
should have filed charges.

No charges
have been filed, sir.

Then what's he doing here?

I merely wanted to ask you
a few questions.

About what?

Kicking his butt out
the front door?

No, sir.
About Dr. Richard Hagens.

Hagens?

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Beverly Hills, yeah.

Liz, Warren,
Bette. Yeah.

Good bedside manner. Good extra man.
Yeah, I know him.

Mr. Rockford thought that
you might be able to help us

in our investigation of a
break-in in Dr. Hagens' office.

Why did Mr. Rockford
think that?

One of your employees approached
one of Dr. Hagens' employees

and tried to buy
a little information.

One of my employees?
Listen, we use names around here.

Yeah. Another one of
your employees said

you were working on some
special medical angle

you plan to use
in future publications.

Which medical angle?

The miracle sex diet?

How alcohol can cure
heart disease?

Listen, every issue of The
Investigator has a medical feature.

We consider it
a public service.

Now, what's this
all about?

Mr. Rockford has suggested that
you, or rather, that is,

this paper might have had
something to do with the break-in.

Yeah? Well, Mr. Rockford
has also suggested

that he once had something to do
with the Pittsburgh Press-Telegram,

A reporter,
wasn't it?

Only the name
was Henley.

You want to
see his résumé?

Mr. Witbeck, this is
a little bit more serious

than a case of
misrepresentation.

During the course of the
break-in, Dr. Hagens was shot.

He's not expected to live.

Where is he?
County General.

Emergency ward
or a private room?

Oh, come on,
get off it, Witbeck, huh?

Just take the press ticket
out of your hatband.

This isn't potential
Pulitzer, it's bad news.

I saw the two guys
at Hagens' office tonight.

I can identify them.
So...

You want to give us a complete
list of your employees?

Their names
and addresses.

You can skip
Cinderella here.

Rockford speak
for the department?

No! I speak
for the department.

I'd like to have a complete
list of your employees.

Names and addresses.

You'll have it
first thing in the morning.

Thank you, sir.

Mr. Rockford?

Hello, Ken?

Listen, I want to know everything
there is to know about Rockford,

and I want it first thing
in the morning.

Right.

Natalie,
come inside, honey.

Come on.

You're gonna get
a sinus attack.

You were seen.

Don't worry
about it, okay?

Don't worry?

My husband in jail,
my brother in jail.

We're not in jail.

Yet.

You're not in jail yet.

It's just a question
of time, Augie.

Jail and worse.

You know,
I didn't want to go with Leo.

You know that.
I mean...

He's your brother
and you love him,

but he's got nerves
like a cat.

I mean, we're driving along
and there's an amber light,

and he panics.

He starts screaming,
"Brake, brake!"

It's his way, Augie.

There's this guy.

I mean, I could have
took him. He's nothing.

Leo shoots him.
He's probably dead.

The doctor?
He's hurt bad?

I think so.

All right.

Maybe he'll die.

If that's God's will,
maybe he'll go to his rest.

There'll be
no problem there.

No problem?

Now what about
this other man?

He's okay.
Who is he?

Big guy, dark curly hair.
I don't know who he is.

He knows
who you are, Augie.

No, he doesn't.
What do you think, I gave him my card?

He knows your face, Augie.
He knows Leo's face.

Are you thinking about Leo?
Or are you thinking about me?

I'm sorry, Natalie.

You know
I didn't mean that.

I really didn't mean it.

I love Leo
like a brother.

What am I gonna do?

The doctor's
a dead man, right?

Then we don't
think about him.

We think about
this other person.

This man that was
with the doctor.

We find out who he is.

This is very important, Augie.

But what
difference does it make?

Suppose Johnny
finds out?

Johnny will only find out
if you don't stop this man.

Now what if he picks you
out of a mug book?

What if
he runs into you?

Sees you on the street?

He'll point you out.

He'll say that you were
in the doctor's office.

What'“ do you do the“?

I don't know.

Do it now.

I stopped by the
store and picked up some milk

and some eggs and a couple of
bananas, and picked up this.

I knew about you working
for that newspaper,

and the story
you was writing.

Remember,
you told me about that.

And, of course, I know you got
fired a couple of days ago,

but that story was so
good, on the killer bees.

I figure that would
stick in anybody's mind.

So, I thought it might
appear in this new edition.

Yeah, well,
let me see it, Rocky.

Page 3.

It's a good picture, huh?

Yeah, they took it from
my employee ID card.

Did you read this?

Well, I sort of
skimmed over it.

What does it say?

It's the kind of thing a fella
ought to read for yourself.

"James Rockford,
sometime private investigator,

"sometime felon,

"was unmasked this week in
The Investigator newsroom.

"He had been posing
as a reporter

"formerly with the
Pittsburgh Press-Telegram,

"and had illegally obtained
documents to support the claim."

"Illegally obtained
documents." A résumé.

You read this?
You know what they're saying, Rocky?

"Mr. Rockford served five
years at San Quentin,

"a maximum-security prison.

"This paper,
at press time,

"has been unable to confirm the
nature of his criminal offense.

"However, reliable
sources report

"Mr. Rockford having been charged
with murder in the first degree."

Murder!

Now how can they say
something like that?

Well, they can't!
That's libel.

Did they think I'm going
to take this sitting down?

Well, you ain't gonna
start a fight now, are you?

You bet I am. Only I'm going
to throw my punches in court.

I'm going to sue them
right out of the business.

Boy, I'm going
to bury them!

Oh, Jim.

Why are we waiting
on the old man?

Natalie said
we do Rockford.

She didn't say we gotta
sit around all day.

Hey.

We do him
when I say, Leo.

What are you
waiting for?

You had
a clean shot at him.

Not yet.

Augie!

Not yet!
Follow him.

Hey, Coop.
Oh, yeah.

Yeah, I was just
coming after you.

You saw the paper, huh?

Oh, yeah, yeah.
I saw it.

I never read the thing,
but I picked it up

while I was waiting
in the check-out line

at the market
this morning.

What are you doing talking
to a rag like that?

And if you wanted to talk to
them, why bring me into it?

"Known to associate with
disbarred attorney John Cooper."

Now that's already cost
me a case I was working on

for Batterfield
and Sussman.

Yeah, I'm sorry, Coop.

I can understand them
going after my pelt,

but to go after
my friends, that's...

Yeah.

Well, I'll say one thing, they really
laid you wide open, didn't they?

Guess that's what you're
here to talk about.

Yeah.

Well, let's go
have a cold beer.

We don't get him now,
we're liable to lose him.

Oh, I left my keys
in the car.

Okay! Now!

Duck, Coop, duck!

Which one of you guys are
ready for the next one?

Oh, come on,
Dennis, huh?

Would you give us a break?
Mug books are a waste of time.

They're what we got.

Oh, bull,
they're what we've got!

Dennis, we've got
The National Investigator,

I mean, they're pulling
the strings on this thing.

You can count on it.

It's a scandal
sheet, Jim.

Do you really think they're in the
business of blowing people away?

Do you? Do you?

Well, I wasn't in the
opening plays in this game.

Well, I told you exactly
what happened, Coop.

Go on, answer him.

No, I don't think so.

If the two men you surprised in
Hagens' office were from the paper,

I think they'd have
taken the B and E.

What they're looking at now
is a possible murder rap.

Just for a story?

Well, it was a situation
where one of them panicked.

Maybe.

But what happened outside
my office this morning,

that wasn't panic,
that was an ambush.

Well, maybe they weren't
trying to kill me.

Maybe they were just
trying to scare me off.

I mean,
it makes sense.

I saw them.
I can identify them.

Not if you won't
check the mug books.

All right.

There were two
break-ins, right?

Let's just say The Investigator
pulled the first one.

They got some kind of information,
and it ended up in print.

And someone read the item
and, for some reason,

wanted to check it
for accuracy.

That's the second break-in.
That's it.

That's theory.

Oh, no, Dennis.
That's more than just theory.

That's it.

No wonder we didn't
get anyplace

checking out the employees
at The Investigator,

The two guys we're looking for
don't even work for the paper.

Nice going, Coop.

You want us to
go along with you?

Where am I going?

To The Investigator,
and talk to Witbeck.

All we need to know is

which one of Hagens' patients
has been in the paper

during the past two weeks?
And in what context?

And I think that'll put you within
cuffing distance of those two gonzos.

Witbeck's going to
cooperate, of course.

He's going to
admit to a B and E,

for which
I can then bust him.

All right,
so he won't cooperate.

Lean on him a little.

Or I could beat him up.

Maybe then I could
get my own write-up.

What I will do is get a
list of Hagens' patients,

check it against every
issue of The Investigator

for the past two weeks.

If there's a connection,
I'll find it.

It's no good you sitting here
all day like this, Natalie.

It's just no good.

Hey, why don't
you go on home?

Have Maria fix you
some hot cocoa.

When it's over.

I'll eat
when it's over.

Natalie.

I gotta go to Johnny's.

Of course.

Why "of course"?

How am I supposed to walk
away when you're like this?

How am I supposed
to go to Johnny's

when you're sitting here,
making yourself sick?

You're my life, Augie.

I shouldn't
be worried about my life?

Look, I could
talk to Johnny.

I could tell him you're
not feeling too well.

I mean,
he knows that already.

Sweetheart, maybe we could go
back to Bayonne for a while.

Bayonne?

This is where your chance is,
not Bayonne.

Natalie, this is not
one of your dreams!

I mean,
look at the situation.

I let go with a
sawed-off shotgun today

and I missed.

Anybody could miss.

Part of it is working with your
brother Leo. He gets me crazy.

I know.
Leo's a little high-strung.

But he's loyal
and you can trust him.

Now who else you gonna trust
in a situation like this?

Yeah, about
this situation.

When I think that we could
have missed it, Augie,

I was directed
to that paper.

I remember, when I read it,
I thought to myself,

"What's the message here?

"The message for me
and Augie."

I didn't come to any conclusions.
I waited

and I prayed
and I knew.

Vincent's ready to make his
move, you know that?

The other night, at dinner?
It was obvious to a blind person.

You make your move first.

That's the only way to
stop a man like Vincent.

Now, I'll be honest with you,
this is not a man I like.

But he's got ambition.

Yeah, I got ambition.

So do it.

Now I prayed,
I got our answer.

Do it.

...55, 56,

57, 58, 58, 59, 60.

Do I make my point?

Come on, Johnny,
you gotta prove something to us?

Nobody reads a sheet
like this.

They make
that stuff up.

Yeah, they make it up.
They'll print anything.

Somebody ought
to stop them.

Yeah.

I could almost laugh,
you know?

I get 100% check-up.
I never been better in my life.

This comes out.
I'm dying. The big Ce.

Where do they
come up with this?

I don't know.
Who knows?

Maybe some people
got some ideas

when you was
seeing that doctor...

What, Hagens?

Skin cancer?
That big?

Everybody in California's
got skin cancer.

It's the sun. You go to the
doctor and he takes care of it.

They? They get out the shovels
and the black armbands.

And I gotta start checking my
flank to see who's taking over.

Hey, nobody would try
anything like that, Johnny.

You think?

Word gets out that I'm weak,
there'll be a move to take over.

Only I'm not weak.
I'm ready.

We're ready,
too, Johnny.

Yeah. Creeps.

There's this other thing.

There's this story about
a spy in the newsroom,

some guy named Rockford.

This interests me.

Johnny, did I tell you
about Natalie?

She wasn't feeling
too good last night.

She had
a really rough night.

You said.

What? She's talking
to the saints again?

You want to put
a cork on it, Vincent?

You're just showing your
ignorance, you know that?

This guy Rockford,
he's working for The Investigator

and he's working for Hagen.
That's my doctor.

What does it all mean, huh?

Maybe him
and I ought to talk.

About Natalie, Johnny.

You said
she's not feeling good.

Yeah. I ought to go home.
Me and Leo ought to go home.

All right. Go.

Tell Natalie my regards
to Saint Jerome.

I want you to
pick Rockford up.

Bring him here?
No.

Bring him to Mama's.

That whole family
is out to lunch.

They didn't miss anyone.
They got you, Angel.

"Evelyn 'Angel' Martin,
accused of misappropriation of funds

"intended for use by the Stonehill
Orphanage and Foundling Home."

Now that was a rumor.
An unsubstantiated rumor.

I think we should all sue.

You already told me you lost one
account because of this article.

So, I sue.

And the people
who didn't read it

hear the charges and
I lose more accounts.

They hear the charges,
they see you vindicated.

We've got a good case.

Couldn't be better.

It's a textbook example
of libel per Se,

libel on
the face of it.

Don't have to show
special damages,

don't have to show we were shunned
or avoided or hurt financially.

All we got to do is show up
with that newspaper in court.

Great.

Of course, now,
libel is an iffy proposition.

There've been people who sued for
half a million dollars and won,

and been awarded $1.

That kind of leaves you holding
the bag on attorney's fees.

Well, if this is
a textbook case,

how did we end up
in deficit spending?

Well, the paper could offer to
publish a retraction and apology.

It's a show of contrition.
It counts with the court.

Or The Investigator
could try and prove

that our reputations
were so bad,

they couldn't possibly have
been hurt by their defamation.

And I have a gut feeling

that's the route
they'd take.

So they cover their smear
with another smear.

That's how
they get away with it.

That's how.

Well, I don't think they
ought to get away with it.

I don't know how, but I sure would
like to tie a can to their tail.

Well, you can count
on me for the string.

Hey, Sal, here they come.
Let's go.

I don't want to be
rude, fellas,

but two's company,
four's the Rockettes.

That's our car
over here.

It's lovely.

Look, why don't
you just get in?

No trouble, huh?

We're going to have a little
conversation, that's all.

We'll go
for a little ride.

Just like those great
old Cagney movies.

Yeah. Who is this
conversation going to be with?

I don't want to
spoil the surprise.

Coop, Coop.

Okay. Everybody likes a
surprise now and then. Shall we?

What's with him?
I asked for Rockford.

They was
together, Johnny.

Wait in the car.

I got a few questions,
that's all.

Then my friends will take you
back to where they got you,

no harm done.

And my apologies
for the inconvenience.

You, I don't know.
You wait there.

You, inside.

Dive, Jim!

Coop, let's get out of here.
Come on.

It's just for
a couple of days, honey.

Just to be on the safe side.
You know?

I hate leaving you like this,
but just in case anybody comes by,

you can say
I'm away on business.

So it don't look like I'm hiding
out, which I am.

Leo's getting us
a room somewhere.

Oh, gots.

I gotta stay in
the same room as Leo.

Well, it's just
for a couple of days.

Till it's understood
exactly what happened.

It's done, Augie?

Yeah, Natalie.

It's done. You remember, I told you.
It's done.

Then it's yours.
All of it's yours.

All of
Southern California.

They've got to
give it to you, Augie.

The family'll see that.

Well, I got to talk
to the council.

They're getting together and I've got
to call them in a couple of hours.

Yes. You talk
to the council.

Now,
you tell them that this had to be done

because of
Johnny's condition.

They weren't here to see
how bad it was getting.

Of course, Vince
and the others,

they could say
he didn't look so bad.

All these pills
he was taking all the time?

Well, Johnny said
they was vitamins.

Pills.

Pain pills.

He was filling himself up with
drugs, talking too much.

Talking about business.

I saw him.
He was a very sick man.

All the time getting worse.

Now, you tell
the council that.

They'll see
you had no choice.

It's okay, honey.

Just answer.
And if it's Leo, I'll take it.

Hello?
Natalie?

Okay, listen.

Tell Augie I'm at the
Oakwood Lodge on...

Natalie?

Yeah, yeah, I'm on.
I got it.

Oakwood Lodge where?

On Drexel.

Augie?

Hey, we got bad trouble.

What, you heard something?
Yeah.

I went by the apartment
to pick up some stuff,

I see
there's this phone call

from this guy
1 know, Frank.

He used to go out
with my cousin Grace.

don't call him then,
I want to get out of there.

So I call him back now.

Leo, will you get to it?

Well, he has this
sandwich thing downtown.

He takes
sandwiches around?

Leo!

One of the places
he sells,

it's The National
Investigator.

So he's dealing
cheese on rye

and he sees they're working
on this story about Johnny.

Well, everybody's seen
the story on Johnny.

No, it's a new story,
it ain't out yet.

They're working on it.

About how Johnny's dead.
But he wasn't dying,.

About how they got a bum
tip on the cancer thing.

They're gonna say
he was all right.

What are we
gonna do, Augie?

Let me think,
let me think.

Wait for me at the motel.

What number?
201.

Okay, just wait for me.

They're gonna kill us.

What?

The council's
gonna kill us.

Augie,
when you tell them that...

What?
When I tell them what?

That Johnny was dying and we
did everybody a big favor?

The Investigator is coming outwith a
story that Johnny wasn't even sick.

He was a very sick man.

He wasn't sick!

And I don't want to hear any
more about what Saint Lucy said.

Because there's nobody talking to
you upstairs but yourself, Natalie.

Now, you wanted
Johnny sick

so there'd be a good reason for
killing him and taking over.

He wasn't sick!

Is the paper out yet?

They're still writing it.

Then there's time
for you to stop it.

I'm not listening,
Natalie.

That's what happens
when you're a dead person.

You just stop listening.

National Investigator,
This is McPherson.

Yeah, McPherson.
Herb, from the newsroom.

Is Mr. Witbeck there yet?

Mr. Witbeck's coming in?

Yeah, I'm supposed to
meet him in his office,.

Look, there's a guy
named Jim Henley

that's bringing in a guy that
went down the Amazon in a bathtub,

or something like that.

But anyway,
don't say anything to Mr. Witbeck.

But tell Henley
that I had a flat

but I'm on my way and to try
and cover for me. You got that?

Yeah, right.

Okay.
Let's try it.

In a bathtub?

Is Mr. Witbeck in yet?

No. You Henley?

Yeah. Mr. Culpepper,

now, we'll want to get all the
color we can on this thing,

any encounters
with unfriendly natives.

Oh, I want a really good
shot of that bathtub.

It sank.
No.

Oh, Mr. Henley?
Herb called.

He had a flat, he wants you to
cover for him with Mr. Witbeck.

Okay, thank you.

It sank?

I don't know, Augie.

Quiet.

I don't know.
Even if we get in,

even if we found the lousy
story, so what?

They'll just
write it again.

We're just buying time,
that's all.

I mean, I can't think,
knowing that story's up there.

Once we get the story,
we'll figure something out.

Okay? Come on, Leo, come on.

Print Shop. Lamberti.
He's Smith.

Print Shop's closed.

So, how come I got a phone call
telling me to come down here?

I mean, you wanna look and see if
my name is on the list, or what?

Johnny Bongard?

One-armed paperhanger.

No kidding.
There's a picture.

There's nothing
in these drawers.

Maybe we should have waited for Becker
to run Johnny's known associates.

Oh, come on, Coop,
that could take weeks.

You know all of Johnny's
people are gonna go underground

till the heat's off.

Yeah. And suppose we
do find Johnny's file.

You think it's really
gonna pay off?

It might tell us
who killed him.

You know, The Investigator's got all
kinds of stuff on people like Johnny.

They got tips, rumors,
even a few facts.

Yeah, they got a lot of stuff
that they can't use.

If they knew who was trying to
move in on Johnny's action...

We give the name
to Becker, right?

But do we tell him
how we got it?

Sure. We got it
from a reliable source.

Yeah, maybe he could get those
two gorillas before they get us.

Coop.

Leo, don't shoot.

We got to take them quiet.
We got to get the story on Johnny.

Please, don't shoot.

Hold it! Hold it!

Do you smell smoke?

Coop, there's a fire!
Let's get out of here.

It's locked.

Let's try the window!

Oh, come on,
out of the way.

Come on.

Hey, Coop.

Catch.

Come on, spread 'em!

Officer,
I'm a private investigator.

The man on the far end
is my associate.

My identification is in my
right-hand inside pocket.

Okay.
Thank you.

Coop.

Natalie.

Mr. Cooper,
is this your correct home address?

Look, Officer,
that's my wife. Please.

I won't...
I won't cause any trouble.

Hey, Don.

Okay.

Natalie.
You did this, Natalie.

Why?

I had to, Augie.

They destroyed Johnny,
I destroyed them.

It was their lies did it,
you know that.

It was their lies
cost Johnny his life.

It's all over, Natalie. Do you understand
what I'm saying? It's all over.

So, can we please
stop lying?

It was their lies.

No. You wanted the power.

You.

I believed what I read.

And this terrible thing
happened.

I explained this to Johnny.

I think he understood.

You explained
what to Johnny?

When?
Tonight.

After you left.
He came to the room.

He didn't say anything,

but he looked at me.

Oh, my God, Augie,
the way he looked at me.

Johnny's dead, Natalie.

He won't come back again,
will he, Augie?

He won't come back
and look at me that way?

Well, what do you think?

Oh, we'll read
about it.

But not in
The National Investigator,

I don't know, Jim.
I just don't know.

You ever try
to kill a cockroach?