All language subtitles for Rockford Files s05e16 The Deuce.eng

You're not dropping
the case, are you?

Well, I don't have
much choice.

I still cannot accept
the fact that that maniac escapes conviction

all because of some
has-been gumshoe.

He does seem
like a flake.

Do you have any idea
who's behind it?

No, but whoever it is,
is trying to cover their tracks with a backhoe.

I can get your PI ticket
pulled in 60 seconds flat!

ROCKFORD
This is Jim Rockford.

At the tone, leave your name
and message.

I'll get back to you.

Mr. Rockford,
Arthur's Hi-Fi. Your stereo is ready.

But since your warranty
expired in the two months it was in our shop,

you'll have to pay
the $60 on the repair.

Connors, he didn't even
play for the Padres.

Connors was an Angel!

Don't you remember?
The old Padre's

first baseman
was Luke Easter.

I should never
bet with you, George.

Hey, Pete!

Give me one
for the road, will you?

Yeah.

All right, another
dollar says you can't tell me

who was center fielder

for the LA Angels,
late '40s.

Gotcha!
Dom Dallesandro!

Uh-uh, close,
he played left field.

The old center fielder,
Cecil Garriott.

Remember, they used
to call him the Rabbit?

Easy money, Johnson,
that's you, huh?

Oh, jeez, the Angels
were so good in them days.

Shuster at short,
Terwilliger at second.

Remember the Twig, huh?

All right,
good night, Johnson.

See you tomorrow.
So long, George.

Drive carefully.

It's six blocks.
I can do that blind!

That's how
he usually does it, too.

Bird Dog to Home Plate.

Yeah, Bird Dog.

The Deuce is on the way,
right on schedule and looking real good.

All right, honey.
You're on.

Now we move on
to the Angels,

bottom half of inning
number four in a scoreless game in Anaheim.

Big first baseman,
Tony Montoya.

Montoya now swinging
a healthy back,

completely recovered
from knee surgery last winter.

Steve Butler's
on the mound for the Royals.

Windup pitch for Montoya.

A slider high and inside.

Been a pitcher's duel
so far.

Butler has struck out four,
hasn't walked anybody,

has allowed
but two base runners.

Here's the next pitch
on the way...

Here's the next
windup by Butler.

Fastball
grounded at third...

Oop, Bridges bobbles,
throws... Too late!

Montoya's safe on first...

Jack Finney's on deck.

Nobody out.
The go ahead run now at first base.

Beautiful starry night
here at the Big A.

No score, fourth inning.

A check of the runner
at first by Butler, the pitch...

Ladies and
gentlemen of the jury,

a man with a serious
drinking problem sits before you now.

A man with four
previous 502 arrests,

a man with two
previous 502 convictions,

a man who was driving
without insurance,

on a suspended license,

with a.19 blood
alcohol count.

The evidence
against George Bassett is not only conclusive,

it is downright
overwhelming.

Maybe if he had gone
to jail the last time,

Betsy Pruitt
would be alive today.

If we are ever
going to put a stop

to this wanton
slaughter on our highways,

then the first step
is in your capable hands.

There is only one
rational verdict, and that is guilty,

not of involuntary
manslaughter,

not even of manslaughter,
but guilty as charged,

of murder
in the second degree.

Murder in
the second degree?

There's something
wrong somewhere.

Look, I have a nose
for this kind of thing.

It's my business!

Mr. Rockford,
how many times do we have to go through this?

There is no
reasonable doubt.

Please sit down.
We'll take another vote.

No doubt?
I mean, no doubt?

Look. Look.
The natural way to get out of a car

would put me in
a position with my back to the door,

facing the
oncoming traffic.

So what?

She was hit from behind.

So she saw his headlights
at the last minute,

turned just before
he hit her.

Reflex action
I think they call it.

Well, that
is a possibility.

It's a good one, too.

Okay, that's settled.

I think we can
safely say that we're

going for
our final ballot.

Another thing.

Another thing...
Look...

If she was getting
out of the car to deal with a flat tire,

why did she leave
the keys in the ignition?

Huh? She'd need them
to get to the jack.

Well, I doubt
that she intended to change it herself.

She was probably
gonna knock on a door

and use somebody's phone
and call the Auto Club.

Then she would take
her Auto Club card.

But she didn't,
she left it in her purse,

which was on
the front seat, remember?

Hey! Now I don't care
if she was standing in the middle of the road nude,

juggling little blue
and white balls.

Come on, the cretin
ran over her.

Now there's no
dispute about that.

He ran over her
all right.

Then you got no choice
but to vote guilty.

Come on!
You've already taken up more time

than that man's worth.

Oh, is that right?

Yeah, that's right!

Well, I...

I have a reasonable doubt.

And I'm not
changing my mind.

Tough! I'm sorry.

Your Honor, I move
that a mistrial be declared

and that all charges
against the defendant be dismissed.

A dismissal would be
a grievous injustice

to the deceased,
Your Honor.

I'm inclined
to agree with you, Mr. Wheeler.

The motion for
dismissal is denied.

A new trial date
will be set and hopefully, at that time,

a jury can be impaneled

that will not find itself
hopelessly deadlocked

by the irresponsible
and unyielding decision of one of its members.

A decision, I might add,
that I consider an affront

to these chambers.

To mock justice
and decency

with the willful
disregard for the...

Your Honor.

You're out of order,
Mr. Rockford.

Your Honor,
in your instructions to the jury,

you included the phrase,
"Beyond a reasonable doubt."

There are facts
in this case...

One more word
out of you, Mr. Rockford,

and you are in contempt.

I would like to commend
the rest of the jury

for their time
and their diligence

in the deliberation
of this case.

Court is adjourned.

He's not gonna
like this, Al.

He sure isn't.

I don't think that
bozo put a bug up anybody's nose,

but we'd better keep
our eye on this situation.

All right.

In a churchyard
near the canyon

Where the myrtle
doth entwine

There grow roses
and other posies

Fertilized by Clementine

I used to hug her

Now she's dead,
I draw the line

Listen, boy scouts

Heed the warning
to this tragic tale of mine

Artificial respiration

Could have saved
my Clementine

Who's there?

Supercitizen.
I'm back from the battle-scarred corridors

of civic obligation.

Oh, hi, sonny.
I almost didn't hear you come in.

Yeah, well,
I would have knocked,

but without a door,
it seemed rather pointless.

Oh, yeah,
I'm taking them off and planing them down.

That front door
come off real easy and this door did,

but this one here,
I'm working on, is a real killer.

Dad, do you mind
if I ask you something?

Huh?

Why?

Oh, you're getting
that tone in your voice.

Don't you remember
last rainy season

when the only way you could
get these doors open was to kick 'em open

and how mad it made you?

Yeah, the only trouble
with that is

when you performed
the same surgery over at your place,

the doors never
did hang right.

They were binding
till the guy from A-1

came over and
replaced the hinges.

Well, that ain't
gonna happen this time.

And besides,
it seems to me

that anytime a person
does something nice for another person,

without being asked,

then that other person
ought to show some small signs of gratitude

and not walk around
with a nose out of joint

first shot
out of the box.

Dad, I'm sorry.

I'm really sorry.
It's just partly

this jury duty
the last couple of weeks.

I've had
no cash flow,

I had to leave
the Collins case hanging fire...

You don't have to
worry about that thing.

The batteries
leaked and gummed the whole thing up.

How many times
do I have to tell you if you're going away,

take the batteries
out of the flashlights and radios?

Oh, swell!
That's just swell!

Well, it don't matter
anyways.

Mr. Collins called
a couple of days ago.

It was bad news, sonny.
He said he couldn't wait no longer.

He had to go
with another detective agency.

Well, Dad, if you
had to fix something, why didn't you fix that?

Well, now,
it seems to me

that you're just
a little too teed off about your jury duties.

And frankly,
it ain't too pleasant to see neither.

It is your duty to accept
your responsibilities as a citizen,

and it is
your privilege to sit on a jury.

It's your
God-given right!

Dad, I take it seriously.

I just wish
I could say the same about my 11 peers.

And since I'm getting
this civics lecture,

why don't we talk about
the last three elections

in which you didn't vote?

Well, the...
The... The first one I had the grip. Yes, sir!

And the second one,
that was the presidential election and...

Don't you remember
how it was raining

and my tires is bald?
You remember everything.

And then
the third election...

Well, you wouldn't
want me to tell L.J. that

I couldn't come
to his birthday party, would you?

Hello?

I'm going back to work.

Oh, Mrs. Bassett,
Mr. Bassett, come in.

Just have a seat
on the couch, if you like.

Mr. Rockford,
we're sorry to barge in on you like this,

but we wanted
to tell you

how grateful we are
for what you did.

You saved him from jail.

I think I just
postponed it a while.

Not if you'll help us.
You're a private investigator.

You know something,
don't you?

You saw something
that could clear George once and for all?

I just couldn't go
along with second degree murder, that's all.

They should have tried you
for manslaughter.

See, I told you, Fran.
Let's go, huh?

Why wouldn't you
go along with it?

The rest of
the jury did.

Well, Mrs. Bassett...

You're the only hope
George has.

Oh, come on,
Franny, huh?

Well, it's the truth,
and you might as well face up to it.

Mr. Rockford's our
only real hope now.

Can you tell us now

why you held
out for not guilty?

Oh, mainly because
you swore that Betsy Pruitt's back

was turned to you.
They couldn't shake you from that.

Yeah, like I said,
it all happened so fast,

and yet it was kind of
in slow motion.

She just sort of floated
in front of my car and her back was turned.

Well, nine times
out of ten, people will turn to face danger.

It's a reflex action,
self-protective.

Are you saying this
was a set-up?

You went into the same bar
every night, The Ramp Bar.

You'd roll in
there about 5:00,

you would chew the fat
till 8:00 or so,

by which time
you were drunk,

and then you
would drive on home.

I mean, it's a schedule
you could set your watch by.

So maybe you
could have been set-up.

And maybe we can find
someone with a motive to kill Betsy Pruitt.

Hello.
Can I help you?

Yeah, well, the
manager sent me up.

I was thinking about
renting and

she said this unit
was gonna become available

as soon as some
estate is settled.

But, hey,
if you're interested, you were here first.

Oh, no,
I was just leaving.

Oh, yeah?

I don't know,
maybe you know

how the apartment
situation is in this town.

What with the price
of houses going up and everything.

Do you have any idea

what a two-bedroom
and a den goes for over on the West side?

Have you any idea
how completely full of it you are?

What?

You're Rockford.

Look, I managed to get
to LA the last day of George Bassett's trial,

and they pointed you
out to me after you hung the jury.

How could you?

Well, look, Miss...

Bonnie Pruitt
is my name.

And how dare you
come around here

after letting that
creep get away with killing my sister?

Yeah, well, actually,
he hasn't gotten away with anything yet.

You better leave,
or I'm calling the cops.

Well, now, the fact is,
miss, there's a couple of things

about your sister's death
that just don't add up.

Now.

Look,

I think you ought
to take it easy.

I'm sorry we had
to meet like this.

I bet if you tried,

you'd have
a very attractive smile.

That's probably
one of the most

original lines
anyone's ever used on me.

Well, it's true.

And there's something
else that's true,

is that there is
something strange about your sister's death.

I came over here
looking for some kind of lead.

Would you happen
to know anyone

who would want to do
this to your sister?

No.

But then I haven't seen
Betsy in over five years.

We weren't very close.

Mom and Dad couldn't stand
the thought of going through her things,

so I flew out here
to take care of it for them.

And I am running
a little late, as usual.

Oh, yeah,
where are you going?

Back to Tulsa.
Tulsa, huh?

Did you sell
Betsy's car?

No, the attorneys
must have handled it.

That receipt copy
was in her mail.

Oh.

Oh, my plane
leaves in two hours. I'd better call a cab.

Oh, no, I'll drive you.
The cabs are very expensive in LA.

That is if you
can even get one.

Now, I would like to
go over and take a look at Betsy's car.

Kabalkov is over
in Inglewood, isn't that what it says?

Okay. Thanks.

Maybe I should take
a look at it, too,

and see if we
got a fair price.

Jim.

Jim.

I've got
a plane to catch.

Just a minute.

There's something here
I don't understand.

I found this pebble
lodged between

the valve
and the tire stem... And see this door?

This door latch
is jammed in an open position.

Well, couldn't
that have happened during the accident?

Well, yeah,
it could have,

but you see this
armrest here?

It's got kind of a...
Well, it looks like a burn,

where somebody
had looped a rope

through it
under pressure.

I really don't understand
what you're getting at.

Yeah, I'll show you.

Now, let's just
assume that I'm not barking at the moon

and somebody really
wanted to make it look like

your sister was
killed by a drunk driver,

how would
I go about it, huh?

First, I would
park the car

and I would get out,
help myself to a flat tire,

then I'd jam
the door latch open.

I'd put Betsy
behind the wheel.

She's either unconscious
or just been...

Here, you get in.
You be Betsy.

I've been trying not
to be Betsy all my life.

Now, I'm gonna
need some rope...

Yeah, here.

Now I'd get in this side.

Now, close the door.

Oh, oh, yeah, all right,
we'll just have to

pretend that
it is closed. Here.

Now loop this
through the armrest

and then give
it back to me.

That's right.
Now, if that door were closed,

you'd be pinned right
up against it, right?

Yes. Jim,
what about my plane?

Now, all right,
it's only gonna be a minute.

Now, you see,
timing is crucial.

I'd be working on a...

On a radio cue,

or I'd have that mirror
in exactly that position.

Hey, I'm getting
into this thing.

Yeah, well, is detective
work always like this?

No, as a matter
of fact,

it usually
is not anywhere near like this.

Usually, I'm just
sitting outside of somebody's house.

But every once in a while,
you get one of these

physical layout things.

You know, you kind of
recharge your battery. But anyway, anyway,

here comes George, right?
And just at the right time,

one of my cohorts
will pull his car

out from the curb,
making George swerve,

and that is my cue

to let go of
the end of the rope.

The door will fly open
with the weight of your body against it

as I shove you out.

Oh!
I'm sorry. I'm sorry.

Yeah, you know
a powerful man,

especially
if he used both feet instead of his hand,

could push you
three feet high and four feet out.

George couldn't
have missed.

Okay, let's go.

Listen, I have an idea.

Why don't you postpone
your trip back to Tulsa?

Why?

Well, you're Betsy's sister.
You knew her well.

A lot of useful information
might occur to you along the way.

No, I really couldn't.

But, I'll sure call you

if I do think
of anything else.

Bye for now.

He walked in on me.
I had to run a game on him.

What does he know?

Well, he doesn't
know who or why,

but he's sure
got how nailed.

Oh, terrific!

Was the apartment dirty?

Was it!

Betsy kept a diary
on the whole thing.

I'm just glad I got it
packed before he showed.

We gotta do something
about him, and fast.

What's his next move?

Well, he's going to
talk to Betsy's employers tomorrow morning.

Then he's going our way.

I'm afraid
that you're talking to the wrong Horvath.

Betsy was my
brother's secretary.

Let me just see
if he's available.

Arthur,

I wonder if you could
come in here for a moment, please?

Thanks a lot.
I really appreciate it.

The info on
the policy app only said Horvath and Horvath.

Yes, Martin.

Arthur, this is
Gary Osheroff,

he's with
Fidelity Mutual.

It seems that poor
Betsy had a policy which no one was aware of,

and he's got to ask
a few questions before they can pay off.

It's just routine.
Background stuff.

It won't take more
than five minutes.

All right.

Come this way,
please?

Thank you very much.

Would you have a seat
here, Mr. Osheroff?

I'm afraid
you're going to have to excuse

the condition of
this room. I have not had a chance

to office-break
my new secretary.

And it's chaos
around here.

Oh, that's perfectly
all right.

A messy office is
the mark of a busy man.

My office
looks just like it.

You know, Betsy's death
came as quite a shock to me.

I mean,
that was a waste.

I still cannot
accept the fact that

that maniac
escaped conviction,

all because of
some has-been gumshoe on the jury

trying to act like
Sherlock Holmes

and toot
his own tin horn.

Yeah, well, he
does seem like a flake.

Yeah, but, you know,
in the course of my investigation,

I've uncovered
a few things that

strongly suggest her
death wasn't what it appeared to be.

Really?
What are you getting at?

I think she might
have been murdered.

You bet your life
she was, by a drunk driver!

And as soon
as he's convicted, I'll tell you something,

we are, on behalf
of the family, suing Bassett,

The Ramp Bar,
and that bartender.

Ah, you're going
to be very busy.

Yeah, but I don't think
that Bassett is completely responsible,

and if it wasn't
an accidental death,

my company's position
is going to be

somewhat modified,
payment-wise.

You know, Mr. Osheroff,
I was very familiar with Betsy's financial affairs,

and I don't seem to recall
any policy issued by Fidelity Casual.

Well, it was a recent one.
That's the reason for our suspicions.

You know,
at first we suspected the beneficiary,

Betsy's sister,
she lives out of state.

That sounds like Rockford!

Betsy doesn't
have a sister.

I think we better
pull this guy's drapes.

Medium height,
kind of reddish hair?

She has a very
attractive smile. She's very attractive.

Lives in Tulsa,
name's Bonnie.

I'm afraid you have
your wires crossed, Betsy was from Michigan.

Excuse me just a minute.

Yes, Martin, what is it?

Rockford?

Oh, yeah, look,
I can explain this.

I don't know what
your game is, Mr. Rockford,

but I'm gonna
report you to the D.A. Now you get out of here!

Yeah, well that
seems like very sound legal advice.

Yeah.

All right, you better
put that thing down and get out of my car.

My name is Ed Chandler,
and I'm connected in this city,

all the way up
to the Mayor's office.

Well, you're about
to be connected to

some weights
that are going off Point Mugu.

Hey, you guys got
the wrong man!

I'm a cop!
Really, I'm a deputy chief.

You're a fourth-rate PI.

Well, let me take
a shot in the dark.

Bonnie Pruitt
told you that, right?

Don't know
any Bonnies. Get in.

Yeah, that's probably
not her real name anyway.

Any woman who wouldn't
stick around

to help clear her own
sister's death...

Divorce or no divorce,
I really have to

learn to listen
to those little voices I hear.

That's between
you and them.

Personally, I don't
even know what you're talking about.

Yeah, well, either
she was in this car,

or you both wear
the same perfume, Mary.

Shut up!

One false move
out of you and I'll blow your head off.

Well, I'll tell you guys,

I guess I better
level with you.

You know,
I wouldn't even be in this whole thing

if it wasn't
for this guy Bassett.

Hey, really,
really, I did some checking on this lush.

You're not going
to believe it, this guy is worth over

a million
and a half bucks!

Yeah, he's like
one of these guys you read about in the paper.

You know, he lives in
a little hole-in-the-wall like a squirrel.

He's got all this money
and nobody knows it.

Well, you're not gonna
believe what I found out.

I guess I could share
this with somebody if really had to,

but you gotta
promise me one thing.

Look out!

Hey, you all right, man?
Check this ride out!

Hey, you got
a driver's license?

Now, wait...
Wait a minute!

Just... Hey, hey.
It's a little accident.

It was a big accident.

I didn't even have a chance
to get their license number.

I would have gone
to the cops, but I didn't have a whole lot of proof,

so as soon as
I picked up my car, I called you.

I figured
you'd want to know.

Do you have any idea
who's behind it?

No, but whoever it is,
is trying to cover their tracks with a backhoe.

If they don't reopen
their investigation soon,

there's not gonna
be any evidence left.

I seriously doubt
if it'll be reopened, Mr. Rockford,

and the new trial's
been set for next Wednesday.

Can't you get
a continuance?

I'll try.

But George Bassett
was voted example of the month,

and the D. A.'s office
is going for the throat.

I even feel
a little sorry for poor Norman.

Poor Norman?

The prosecutor.

It was supposed
to be a lock,

and he's really been
on the carpet for blowing it.

I'm lucky you
were on the jury.

Well, I'm not.

I mean, I've been
on a thousand complex cases,

but this one
has just too many slamming doors

and mean people!

I heard you were
in the building.

I also heard
from Arthur Horvath that you were

"on the case,"
whatever that means.

Seems self-explanatory.

How dare you hang
a jury on me,

then turn around
and work the case?

Now, wait
just a minute, Norman.

He has an
interesting theory,

and I think you
should listen to it.

Rockford, I may not
be able to get you for jury tampering,

I may not be able
to get you for obstructing justice,

but I can get
your PI ticket pulled in 60 seconds flat!

Which is how long
you have to get out of the building

and off the case!
Is that clear?

There, you see?

Another slamming door.

Hey!

Mr. Rockford! Wait up!

You're not dropping
the case, are you?

Well, I don't have
much choice.

Either I lose my life
or I lose my license.

I'm sorry, Karen.
It just isn't worth it.

What isn't worth it?
George Bassett?

Oh, come on now,
don't put that on me.

I'm sorry. But you
do think he's innocent, don't you?

He's an unwitting
accomplice.

Which makes him
innocent.

Look, I'm
a public defender,

and my caseload
includes a lot of people

that the system is
really ripping off.

And I was bugged that
I even got assigned

such a deserving loser
as George Bassett.

I mean, I really
believed he was guilty.

You put up
a good defense.

No.

He got due process
and that's all.

Look, what
I'm trying to say is,

I'd like to help you
on this. We could work together.

You could lose your job.

If I can lose my job
for trying to prove my client's innocence,

then it isn't
worth much.

You could lose your life.

With you around?

I gotta tell you, Karen,
I am nowhere on this thing.

Will you stick with it?

You sure
this is the place?

Yeah. 29, Cove Road.

Okay.

How's it handle?

Oh, no guts.
Lousy front end.

The mechanic
really worked it over.

Perfect!

Now, let's go get
good old George Bassett

and put this thing
on ice once and for all.

I knew Mr. Rockford would
come through. Franny!

This lady works
for Mr. Rockford.

He's cracked the case.
He wants to see me at The Ramp right away!

Mr. Rockford didn't
have a secretary.

I'm not his secretary,
Mrs. Bassett.

I'm one of his operatives.
He sent me out to pick up your husband

so he can verify
his theory of time

relative to
the distance ratio.

And I am running
a little late.

What're we waiting for?

But you remember
what the judge said

when he granted bail.

Are you really
sure you ought to be going to a bar?

Franny, there's
nothing to worry about.

I've been on the wagon
a whole nine days now!

Come on.

Hey, watch it!
Get me out of here!

Jim, what is...
Don't ask.

I'll tell you one
thing, though,

if my dad wasn't
such a lousy handyman,

I'd have an
air-conditioned head.

Who is that?
Oh, it's one of the guys

that jumped me in
the underground garage.

Let's see if we
can get him inside. Help me.

Come on, Mary.
Here we go.

I sure never thought
I'd be sitting in this place drinking coffee.

What do you think
has happened to Mr. Rockford?

Oh, he had to
pick up Mr. Noble first,

Mr. Rockford's
chief operative,

and then they were going
to the D. A.'s office

to try and
convince Wheeler

to come here
for the demonstration.

I sure owe that man a lot.

Mr. Rockford?

Is there a Bonnie in here?

Yes! Excuse me.

Here you go.

Hello.

Yeah, we've been
here ten minutes.

Look, I can't handle
him alone, now get over here!

He won't drink the coffee.
He wants another bourbon.

Okay.

Make it fast.

Double bourbon, please.

Oh, go a little
easy on it, honey. This isn't our first stop.

That was Mr. Rockford.

And?

He did it, Mr. Bassett.

He convinced the D.A.
to open a new investigation.

You mean I'm out of it?
I'm out of this mess?

You're on your way.
Phew.

Oh, the D.A. said
you'd have to do a couple of weeks in detox.

Well, that's great
'cause I'm not drinking anyway.

Well, I am!

I know what
Mr. Rockford went through to pull this off.

Yeah.

Believe me,
it's a real triumph.

He and Mr. Noble
will be over in a few minutes,

and they'll explain
all the details.

But, as far
as I'm concerned,

the celebration starts
right now.

Oh, I'm sorry.

I didn't think.

Oh, no, that's all right.
It really doesn't bother me. Honest.

Are you sure?

Yeah. I'm sure.

Let me out!
Let me out!

Who killed Betsy Pruitt?

Let me out!
I can't breathe!

Who killed Betsy Pruitt?

You know, Gene Krupa
was always a big idol of mine when I was a kid.

I'm pretty sure
that I remember some of those great licks.

I think Cherokee
went something like this.

Cut it out! Cut it out!

I swear I'll kill you!

And then there was
Stompin' At The Savoy, remember that?

I'm getting sick!
I'm gonna throw up!

Then who killed her?

Al Corbett.

All right.

Here we go.

Now, what was Betsy,
the lookout at The Off Ramp Bar, huh?

Do you want to wear
that thing again...

No, no, no, no!
...until your memory comes back?

No, I was the lookout.

She drove the other car
that forced him to swerve.

She also did
the research to find the perfect drunk for it.

But it was Corbett
who planned it all. For Horvath.

Horvath, huh?
What did he have against his secretary?

No, no.

Not him.

We're working for
the older brother, Martin.

He keeps Corbett's
PI firm on retainer.

We do all kinds
of things for him, odd jobs...

All right, all right,
but what did Martin

have against
Arthur's secretary? And make it fast, huh?

I'm getting the urge
to play Big Noise from Winnetka.

She was having
an affair with Arthur.

Well, anyway,
the affair went sour

and she started
blackmailing him.

That's when Martin
called Corbett in

and they decided
to kill her.

Now that's it!
Honest! That's all!

Why was she
blackmailing Arthur?

I don't know!
I swear I don't know!

Corbett probably does.

Where's Corbett?

He's with George Bassett
by now.

They're gonna
take him to The Ramp Bar, get him drunk and kill him.

I gotta get over there.

Oh, look,
I hate to say this,

but that wasn't the most
admissible confession I've ever witnessed.

Confession?
What confession?

I haven't confessed
to anything!

You know how
to handle a gun?

Point and shoot,
right?

That's right.
If he gets salty,

you get on the phone,
call the police.

They'll be here
to pick this turkey up in five minutes.

Are you sure this
doesn't bother you, Mr. Bassett?

Oh, yeah, I'm sure.

Well, I'll have one
little pull with you.

I mean, what would
that hurt, right?

Right.

No!

I'm sorry,
it's just I... I've...

I got a real
problem with this and I gotta face it.

I'm not gonna
face it right here, so I better leave.

Oh... Mr. Noble,
what happened?

Where's Mr...
We got some real big trouble.

What do you mean trouble?
Where's Mr. Rockford?

We were jumped!
They know Rockford's

the only one who
can testify against them.

What've they done to him?
Said they were gonna take

him up to Decker's Point,
get rid of him.

Who did?
We better call the cops!

I did! They said
they'll roll a unit,

but I don't know how
long it'll take 'em.

There's a 40-car pileup
on the Foothill Freeway.

And they probably won't
be able to spring a unit for at least an hour.

Well, we gotta
do something!

What?

Well, I'll tell
you the truth, pal.

I got a wife
and a couple of kids, you know?

Oh, sure.

I'll go myself.

No, you stay put,
I'll go.

How many were there
and what are they driving?

Three or four
in a big, green car.

That's all I need to know.

You should have
stopped him.

He's in no condition
to be driving.

But you heard him.

He's driving up
to Decker's Point.

You should have
stopped him.

Has George Bassett
been in here today?

Who?

He was sitting over there
with a couple of people. Just left.

Do you know
where they went?

Well, he was on
some kind of a toot,

driving up to
Decker's Point.

Do you have
a phone I can use?

Yeah, sure.

Um...

Come on, come on!

Hey, Dennis, this is Jim.

There's gonna be a killing
up at Decker's Point.

Now I want you to
call the nearest station

and get somebody up there
as soon as you can, and I mean soon!

I'll try to stall
them as long as I can.

Yeah, right.

Thanks, pal.

There he is.

We'll nail him
when he hits the crest.

There's a bottle
in the glove compartment.

He'll just be another
drunk in a canyon.

Okay, let's
drop-kick this deuce into the next canyon.

It didn't go over!
I know.

One more push
ought to do it.

Let's go!

Easy, George.
I'll help you.

Arthur Horvath
got so mad when he heard

Martin had his
girlfriend killed,

he hasn't stopped
talking since.

Well, why was
she blackmailing Martin?

Martin handled
the legal work

for a ring of
professional thieves.

When Betsy Pruitt
found out about it,

Martin called in
Corbett for a little preventive homicide.

Nice guys.

Oh, Mr. Rockford,
before we go,

about your fee...

Oh, hey, hey,
don't worry.

You'll pay me,
I'll see to that,

but after you get
your life a little more reorganized.

Well, you saved my bacon,
mister, and I'm grateful.

Yeah, I know, George.

No, I mean it. I'm never
gonna touch another drop as long as I live.

One day
at a time, huh?

Well, that's what they
say at the meetings. One day at a time.

You're a saint.

Thank you for
all you've done.

George is very grateful.

Fran's right.

Well, we'll say goodbye,
and thanks for coming over.

Thank you.
Good night, George.

My dad
fixed the door.

Thanks again.

One day
at a time, George.

Nice people, really.

Yeah, they are.

You know something,

I deal with
juries all the time,

and a lot of jurors
are really vacant in the courtroom.

Well, they're thinking
about something else.

To find someone like you

who really takes
jury duty seriously,

it's a pretty rare thing.

Well, you know,
it's a couple of weeks out of your life.

It's no big deal.

When you think about it,

you know people's lives
are being decided down in that courtroom.

If I could tell you
the number of people

who try to
weasel out of it...

Boy, you know, I think
that really stinks.

Hey, you know,
I'm hungry.

I could go for dinner,
a couple of cocktails. How about you?

Well, thank you.

I think that
would be very nice.

All right, all right.

Hey, do you
like football?

I got a couple of
tickets to the UCLA game on Saturday.

Ah, my alma mater.

Actually, I hate football...
Oh.

...but it might be
very nice also.

Oh, sonny!
You're on.

Sonny!
Oh, yeah, Dad.

Open the door.

Hey. Yeah, hey, come...
Oh, give me it. Give me that.

Come on in.

Oh, Dad, this is
Karen Hathaway.

This is my dad,
Joseph Rockford. Hi.

Karen was
the public defender on George Bassett's case.

Oh, is that so?
They were nice folks.

I'm glad it turned
out okay for them.

Hey, what's with
the toolbox?

Well, I was down at
the Do-Right Builder's supply

and I seen they
was having a sale

on these here
smoke detectors.

Did you get
the new hinges?

Oh, no, they didn't
have the right size.

You know, I was talking
to a salesman down there,

and he was telling me
how people are always

getting trapped
by the flames.

Burned in their bed
or overcome by smoke.

So I got four of them.

These two are for you
and I got two for me.

Dad, I really
don't want any of these smoke detectors.

I mean, really,
the place is too small.

I'm gonna cook
bacon over there,

they're both gonna go off.

Did Jim here
ever tell you

how he almost
didn't sit on that jury?

No.

Oh, he was
screaming like a banshee.

He was telling about
all the important work he couldn't give up,

and, of course,
there was that fishing trip, too.

Dad, now there's something
I want to tell you.

Are you listening to me?
Can I get your attention?

I do not want any
holes in the ceiling. Do you hear me?

But Jim here,
he tried to get a note from his doctor

saying it would be
bad for his back sitting in a jury box.

An old war injury.

Yeah, well,
I do have a bad back from Korea.

I mean, there's nothing
strange about that.

Oh, how terribly
awful for you.

'Course,
when he did find out

that he was gonna
have to sit in the jury anyway,

you should have been here
to hear the yelling.

He was stomping around
and kicking the bureau and...

Yeah, Karen,
you want to go?

The restaurant
up the highway is gonna be jammed.

Oh, do you really
think we should?

I mean, I'd hate
to think of your suffering in a booth

with your back
in that condition.

It don't bother him,
really.

It don't bother him
at all.

He got it falling
out of the back end of a truck in school.

That's how he got it.

'Course, what really
turned Jim around

was when I
explained to him

how his very own
ancestors fought

and struggled for others
to have the right to vote.

Why, do you know
that Josiah Rockford,

that's Jim's
great uncle,

he was even wounded in
the Spanish-American War

fighting for
the rights of others

to vote and sit
on juries and so forth like that?

Now, of course,
if you can't vote because...

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