Original subtitles

One-Adam-12, One-Adam-12,

a 211 in progress.

One-Adam-12, handle code 3.

♪♪

One-Adam-12, One-Adam-12,

back up 1L20

near the corner of Reese and Ellmore.

Possible 459 there now. Code 2.

One-Adam-12, Roger.

Funny thing about sergeants.

If you don't watch them constantly,

they seem to get into trouble.

You know it.

Hey, thanks for backing me up.

The way it turned out, I didn't need any help.

You know, it was a pretty good bust

if I do say so myself.

It's like I've been telling you guys.

You keep your eyes open,

and you look for things just a little out of place.

And then follow your instincts.

What was he doing, Mac?

Running down the street, a TV under his arm

with half the neighborhood after him yelling "Thief"?

No, I spotted a broken window

at one of the front apartments as I was driving by.

I came back to take a look.

I found this guy with a pillowcase.

When he saw me, he threw a vase at me and took off.

Sounds exciting.

Okay.

We've got an apartment with a broken window.

Now one of you better stay here and secure it

until the manager shows up.

The other can help me transport this guy.

Yeah, well, I'll stick around here.

Now, Malloy, would you step in the car

and keep our boy company?

He was breaking into apartment 1C.

You better seal it off.

The owner isn't home, but I wouldn't want him coming back

and smudging any prints till we dust the place.

We'll need the prints for evidence.

Oh, Mac, nice bust.

Well, you know it and I know it,

but Malloy will never admit it.

Big, tough cops.

You guys never get put on the hot seat, do you?

You ought to try it sometime.

Then maybe you wouldn't kick people around the way you do.

It's like I said,

it's too bad you guys never get put on the hot seat.

That isn't the way they tell it, Pete.

That's the way it happened, Stan.

She came out from between two cars

and was in front of us before Mac could hit the brakes.

The only problem is there are three witnesses over there

who all saw the same thing.

They say the woman was in the crosswalk

when Mac ran her down.

All three of them say

in their opinion he was speeding.

Listen, Pete. I don't like this any better than you do.

Yeah, I know you don't.

Are you going to get Lamson's statement?

Yeah, he's next.

I'll be over in a minute.

Uh, why don't you ask your buddy?

You know, wise up.

He says he'll tell it any way we want.

How considerate.

All we have to do is tell the court

we violated his Constitutional rights

when we arrested him.

What have you got to lose?

It'll help me. It'll help you.

It's perfect all around.

Why don't you just tell what you saw?

Well, there's no percentage in that, pal.

She dove out from between two cars.

Now, how is that going to happen?

But if you guys don't fall in line

and tell it to the court,

you know, that you violated my rights or something,

then I'm going to have to tell it

like those other witnesses over there.

This little old lady came tottering across the street

in the crosswalk, and the sergeant hit her.

In fact, it looked to me

like he might have sped up a little bit, you know.

Of course, I wouldn't know too much about that.

I was sitting in the back seat,

but it sure sounded to me

like he tromped on it just a little before he hit her.

You're really something.

Yeah, well, I don't dig the idea of getting thrown back in the joint, either.

So you and the sergeant can take your choice.

No deal.

How about you? Last chance.

No.

You guys are really a couple of Boy Scouts, aren't you?

Okay, Mr. Lamson, I'd like to get a statement from you about the accident.

Say, I'm kind of glad you asked that

because in my opinion, this is disgraceful.

You know, the old lady getting hit in the crosswalk.

Now, how is a guy going to have any respect for the police

with things like that happening, huh?

I want to call my lawyer.

All right, you'll get the chance.

Hey, do you want me to give him your name, Sarge?

You know, he's pretty good.

He got me out of two or three jams.

According to this,

the woman's name is Norma Hosteller.

She's still unconscious.

The hospital went through her purse,

and they found some identification.

No address, no license.

Nothing with a name.

Wish I had been with you.

Well, that would've put you just where Pete is now,

under suspicion of changing his story to protect his sergeant.

You know, if they ever found out

what a cold-hearted character you really are,

they'd know I'd never protect you.

Yeah, I guess you're right.

You know, I've been trying to figure out

why all those witnesses would've said she was in the crosswalk.

They have nothing to gain.

Why say something that wasn't true?

Maybe it was their angle of vision.

You know, I thought of that,

but they were all looking at it

from different spots on the sidewalk.

Now, this guy Lamon.

He was standing over by the shoeshine stand.

Mrs. Rossetter was by the mailbox.

And the other guy, the salesman...

Forester.

Yeah, he was near the corner.

They're all independent witnesses.

They have no axe to grind.

It's going to be a tough rap to beat.

Well, from now on it's in the hands of the investigators.

I think that you guys better go back to work.

Too bad Lamson won't change the story and tell the truth.

Not much chance of that. He's having too good a laugh.

Hey, Pete, all you can ever do is play the game straight.

From then on it's just a matter of the kind of breaks you get.

Yeah.

Hey, what about suicide?

I'm sure the investigators will check out

the possibility of suicide.

How about 7? Are you hungry as usual?

Okay.

One-Adam-12 requesting code 7 at Hess and Norton.

One-Adam-12, continue patrol

and go to the station. Code 2.

One-Adam-12, Roger.

The investigators are already on it.

The quicker this gets cleared up, the better.

- Officer Malloy? - Yes, sir.

I'm Sergeant McCall. I think you know Sergeant Powers.

We're from Internal Affairs. Sit down.

Normally, this kind of a situation

would be handled by traffic investigation,

but according to several of the statements

made by witnesses to the accident,

Sergeant MacDonald was speeding

and careless in the handling of his police vehicle.

Because of the charges of misconduct,

Internal Affairs is conducting a separate investigation.

One of the statements even alleges

he ran the woman down intentionally.

Of course, we'll consider the source of all the statements

before we reach a conclusion.

However, there's one thing that puzzles us.

What's that?

How your account can be so much in conflict

with the statements of the witnesses.

I told what I saw.

You and Sergeant MacDonald are pretty good friends.

Isn't that true?

Yes.

You two go back a long ways.

- Probably had some good times. - That's right.

Seems the least you could do is help your friend out.

- Would you? - Well, that's not the issue.

I couldn't agree with you more, Sergeant,

so why don't you get on to something more relevant?

All right. Are you saying that you're right

and these other people are wrong?

I'm a trained observer, and they're not.

All right, we'll forget that.

Have you ever met any of these witnesses before?

- No. - Is it your opinion

that they're lying to get you into trouble?

I have no idea why they said what they did.

If you falsify your statement,

you could be fired off the force.

Beyond that, if this goes to trial

and you testify in court and it's proved that you're lying,

then you could be criminally prosecuted.

You know that, don't you?

Of course I know that.

Unless you feel I'm incredibly stupid or naive,

I would think you'd weigh that along with my report.

I have more to lose than your independent witnesses.

Well, do you have a feeling that there might be a conspiracy

between these people aimed at you and Sergeant MacDonald?

It's possible, I suppose.

But a little remote, don't you think?

Yes.

And then there's Lamson.

Now, he couldn't possibly be in on a conspiracy of that nature

because it was you that brought him to the scene of the accident.

He couldn't possible have planned to be in that car.

As a matter of fact, that's the last place he would've wanted to be,

yet his story coincides with the stories of the other witnesses.

He's lying. He offered to tell what he really saw

if Mac or I would admit to violating his Constitutional rights.

That's right here in a separate statement,

but Mr. Lamson denies that allegation.

Well, now that doesn't really surprise either one of us, does it, Sergeant?

In fact, Mr. Lamson state that you and Sergeant MacDonald solicited his help,

that you approached him and asked him to change his statement

in return for certain favors.

He says he refused.

Look, I know you think Mac is good for this,

and I know you think I'm covering for him.

But the way we told it is exactly the way it happened.

Okay, Malloy, let's take it from the top.

Now, you were in the backseat of MacDonald's car

transporting Mr. Lamson, a suspect and a burglar.

You want to take it from there?

How'd it go?

Rough.

Yeah. Me, too.

You know, Pete,

it's beginning to feel

like I'm really going to get on with this.

Don't give up yet.

Oh, I'm not giving up.

It's just that I'm running out

of plausible alternatives.

Here's another dead end.

What's that?

Well, I ran a check on Mrs. Hosteller.

I don't know what I was hoping to find,

but all I came up with was a big nothing.

Yeah.

She's so clean, she squeaks.

Yeah. Not even a traffic ticket.

It's kind of strange, isn't it, Pete?

You go along, doing things by the book,

trying to be the best kind of a cop you can.

Something like this pops up.

All of a sudden, you're dog meat.

Well, how else would you have him play it?

Yeah. I, uh,

I guess I'm beginning to sound a little sour.

I didn't mean that.

It's just that this thing is so screwy.

I keep thinking that once we hold it up to the light,

it'll just lose its shape and disappear.

But, uh...

just the... the opposite seems to be happening.

Something's going to turn up, Mac.

You got to believe in the system.

If I get stuck with this,

you're going to take some heavy heat.

Yeah. Well, I can put up with it.

Yeah. I guess you can.

But, Pete,

I don't mind telling you,

for the first time, I'm really scared.

Buzz me through.

I, uh, guess you're here

to make a deal for your buddy, huh?

Well, maybe I can help him out,

if you'll help me.

If I was on fire, Mr. Lamson,

I wouldn't let you throw water.

Yeah, I'll bet.

But you know what they say about witnesses, you know...

No two see the same thing.

- Yeah. - Except in this case.

That's a tough break, you know.

Mm-hmm. You know a woman named Mrs. Quillen?

Yeah, I know Mrs. Quillen.

She's the manager of my apartment building.

So what?

She just called.

Evidently, she saw some people

taking some things out of your apartment.

What?

What are you standing out here for?

Go out and arrest them.

You calling the cops?

No, but that's my stuff! That's my own stuff!

Nobody's got no right to bust into my apartment

and boost my stuff.

Now get out and arrest those bum creeps!

I just wanted to make sure

that you didn't give anybody permission

to take anything out of your apartment.

Nobody's got no permission! Now get going, will you?

Mrs. Quillen said they took the stuff into their apartment.

It's on the south side, ground floor.

Apartment 1E.

Open up!

All right, hold it!

Where'd you come from?

Turn around and put your hands on top of your head.

Pete, out back!

Hey, what are you guys doing robbing my apartment?

Why not, man? Most of that stuff's hot.

You being in jail, we didn't figure

you'd pop up and catch us.

Yeah, but I got friends in here.

Ain't that right, Reed?

What's going on?

I've been relieved of duty.

I'm clearing out for a while.

You can't do that.

He hasn't had his Board of Rights hearing yet.

Mrs. Hosteller died, Pete.

MacDonald's Board of Rights hearing

will be continued,

pending criminal proceedings for manslaughter.

The DA just filed in the complaint.

Arraignment's set for next Monday.

Hey, don't let it eat at you.

You've been down for the last two days.

Something keeps bothering me.

I can't figure out what it is.

Put us code 6 at the site of the accident, will you?

Pete, IAD wouldn't want you hanging around there.

Yeah, I know. I just want to take another look at it.

There has to be some reason

all those people saw something

that just didn't happen.

This is One-Adam-12.

Show us code 6 at Allen and 3rd.

One-Adam-12, Roger.

A shoeshine attendant.

What?

Right after the accident happened,

there was an old guy standing in the shoeshine stand.

He must have seen the accident.

We never got his statement.

He couldn't have missed it,

not if he was turned this way.

Let's go see if we can find out who he was.

Could I help you, officers?

Can you tell us who operates

the shoeshine stand out front?

Yeah. Billy Fuller.

He isn't there, though.

When did you see him last?

It was a couple of days ago.

This is the first time since I've been on the job

that he's missed a day.

You said a couple of days ago.

Could you be specific?

It was, uh, Wednesday, I think.

Yeah, that was it.

It was the same day

because I remember that was the day

that the poor lady was hit by the police car.

I mean...

Well, it was an accident, huh?

Does this have anything to do with the accident?

Yes, ma'am.

Are you sure Mr. Fuller was here

the morning of the accident?

Positive.

That was the last time I saw him.

That's kind of strange, isn't it?

I suppose you ran Billy Fuller.

We couldn't resist the temptation.

He's got a package, mostly for bookmaking.

One petty theft conviction.

He spent time in County on three separate occasions,

but we don't have a current address on him.

Okay, here's one for you.

When Mrs. Hosteller died,

we didn't have enough I.D. to guarantee her identity,

so we printed her and sent it to Sacramento.

I got a readout about an hour ago.

Mrs. Norma Hosteller was really Florence Madison.

- And she's got a record. - Right.

For bunco. She was a jumper.

Apparently, she had a trick back,

so she went through life

falling down stairs and in front of cars.

Then she'd hit the insurance company

for heavy liability suits.

Doesn't that clear Mac?

Well, it helps,

but it doesn't get him off the hook.

Just because this woman had this kind of a history

doesn't mean on this occasion

it wasn't as the witnesses said.

Now, we have to assume

that Mrs. Madison didn't intend to check out

when she was hit by Mac,

so it could have been an accident.

And then we have those three independent witnesses

and Lamson, who claims she was in the crosswalk.

What are you going to do next?

I figure our best bet is to stake out this guy Fuller,

see if he is involved.

If I turn his pad, maybe you guys will come over

and take a look at him,

just to make sure he's the one you saw

in the shoeshine stand.

Don't worry. We'll be available.

I, uh, kind of figured you would.

Hey, how about 7?

Yeah, if you want to.

Okay.

One-Adam-12 requesting code 7 at Norris and 5th.

One-Adam-12, continue patrol

and meet 1Y50 on tact 2.

One-Adam-12, Roger.

One-Adam-12 to Y50, go.

This is Sergeant Powers.

I think I've got this Fuller guy located.

It's a little house on Northside,

number 2575.

Maybe you could swing by here and take a look.

I'm parked down the street.

You got a deal, Sarge.

It's the house with the picket fence.

Where's McCall?

He's covering the other end of the street.

From here on, we just wait.

Somebody's just pulled up in front.

Looks like one of the witnesses

showed up after all. You see him, men?

Yeah. Let him go inside.

I've got Reed and Malloy with me.

We'll sit tight for a while and see what develops.

Roger.

You got good timing, Malloy.

Just lucky.

Looks like you're going to be in on this after all.

Shots fired inside.

Hold down the front. We're on our way.

McCall!

- Drop it! - Come on!

Okay, okay! Don't shoot, don't shoot!

Get out of there! Get your hands on top of your head!

Yeah, sure. Anything you say.

Get 'em up!

Hands on top of your head. Let's go.

This bum's trying to kill me.

But... Wait.

Look, if I didn't have the gun in the desk there,

I'd have been cold meat by now.

Take him outside and give him his rights.

Come on.

Look, I don't want to talk to no lawyer,

but I ain't about to take no rap for attempted murder.

That guy was trying to kill me.

According to him, you were doing a little blackmailing.

Well, you see,

they hadn't counted on me being in the shoeshine stand

and seeing the accident.

See, I was opening up the place,

and I seen the old lady jump in front of that police car.

That's when Lamon spotted me,

and he says he'll make it worth my while

if I dummied up,

so I... I played along, that's all.

And when Mrs. Hosteller died,

you decided to squeeze him a little tighter, huh?

Well, I didn't set up the con. They did!

And when it soured up,

I figured it was worth a couple of extra bucks.

I didn't figure on that bum trying to rub me out.

So the whole thing was part of a con game.

Mrs. Hosteller...

Or Mrs. Madison, if you prefer...

Arranged to have the witnesses on the corner,

but she didn't count on Billy Fuller

being at his stand.

He opened the shutter

just in time to see the accident.

They tried to pay him off to keep him quiet.

Detectives picked up the other witnesses last night.

If Malloy hadn't remembered

somebody was in that shoeshine stand,

you might be out of work right now, Mac.

I don't know. If they fired me,

who'd clean up after Reed and Malloy?

I would have still had a job.

Yeah. Making license plates.

Look, I'm still the sergeant around here.

Have you finished your report?

Yeah. Here.

Well, look, this is really nice.

We could sit around here and talk indefinitely,

but as I recall, you guys are on the day watch.

That means you've got about two hours left to work.

Aren't you going to give us a chance

to get something to eat first?

Get a move on. Get back to work,

and let's see you earn your pay for a change.

Kind of inconsiderate, isn't he?

Mm-hmm. Right back in form.

Hey. One more thing.

Thanks.

Closed-Captioned By J.R. Media Services, Inc. Burbank, CA