The Rockford Files (1974) s01e07 Episode Script

1
Mr. Jameson, please.
This is Jim Rockford.
Yes, sir. I'm back.
It's hard to say.
I really don't know.
Something happened
back there
a little weird,
but I'll fill you in.
No, sir. I'd really like to go
take a shower and get changed
and I'll drive up to your
place sometime this evening.
Yes, sir, fine. Thank you.
I don't know what's going on, but,
believe me, I don't want any trouble.
You already got trouble.
The only question is
whether you're going
to wake up tomorrow
breathing air or dirt.
Come on, there's no need
to be melodramatic.
We've been watching you,
Rockford
and we don't like
what you're up to.
So far, I'm not too hot
about it either.
Who are you working for?
Now, wait a minute--
We don't have much time.
Who is your client?
That's a little tough--
Who are you working for?
Let me finish my sentence
this time, all right?
I'd like to tell you,
believe me, I really would
but it's professional ethics, sort
of, not to reveal who your client is.
Are you really
a private detective?
You must be mistaken.
I'm a corporate profile analyst.
What the devil is that?
Well, I rummage around
little companies
dredge up tax loopholes,
that sort of thing.
He says
you're a private detective.
Him?
Yeah, him.
I'll bet
you don't even know
what a corporate profile
analyst does.
Sure I do. Sort of.
It's true.
You are a detective.
I think that's marvelous.
You do?
Sure.
You're the first
private detective I ever met.
Let's just keep it
between ourselves.
A thing like that
gets out in place like this
I start growing bouncers
from both arms.
It's a deal.
I'm Susan Jameson.
Jim Rockford.
If you worked
in one of my companies
and kept me waiting,
the way you did this afternoon
I'd warn you once, and if it had
happened again, I'd fire you.
That's one of the advantages
of my job, Mr. Jameson
I don't have to put up
with remarks like that.
Yeah. It's a pity
we aren't the same age.
I could take you out
behind the woodshed
and we could bash it around
for a while.
I don't go in
for that kind of thing.
Did you see Mark?
Yeah.
And?
I think he spends too much
time under the sun lamp.
I could've told you that
without paying you $200 a day.
He's also had
his nose fixed.
Your daughter was out there.
What do you expect?
She's engaged to the man.
You see, my trouble is, I got this
giant hatred for private detectives.
Now, you've probably heard of it.
It's a cop disease.
You guys sweep in here like
big turtlenecked vultures
you stomp around in my garden
and then you split
leaving me stuck
with a mess.
So here you go, sport.
You want my advice?
You pick up your goodies
and hop 3 “fight
out at town.
But I'm just trying
to get along, Lieutenant.
I'm checking in like
I'm supposed to
if I turn up anything,
I'll give it to you.
I'd just like a little help,
that's all.
I don't want to get along.
I don't want to help you,
I don't want to hear nothing about you.
I only have one interest
in you
and that's in getting you out
of this town.
♪♪
I asked around, pal,
nobody seems to know him.
Yeah, well, keep it.
My phone number is on the back.
You said you was at the Holly Motel?
Yeah.
I'll tell you what you do,
Rockford.
You go back home
and you tell your client
what he's doing is very
dangerous and very stupid.
If he wants to be smart,
he'll stop investigating Mark Chalmers.
You got that?
Sounded like a threat.
It's not a threat.
It's what you call
sound advice, Mr. Rockford.
Good night.
What did Jameson say?
He said that he was on his
way up to his country home
and he was up there then
and he was waiting for you,
but you didn't show and where was you?
Good.
Let him cool his heels
for a while.
I didn't like him much
on the phone either.
He did leave me a number
but as long as you're not
interested anymore
I guess you won't need it.
Oh, Jim.
When will you ever learn?
All these fellas want
is for you
to take their thumping
for them.
Look at this place.
Look at it.
Looks like the back room
at Montgomery Ward's.
You ain't listening to me.
Sure I am, Rocky.
I want to speak
to Warner Jameson, please.
This is Jim Rockford,
At the tone, leave your name and message.
Hi get back to you.
You really want
Shim on the seventh?
Come on, that nag couldn't go a mile
in the back of a pickup truck. Call me.
All right,
clear the entrance.
All right, there. Everybody get moving.
You there. Please.
Just step back
from the entrance. Thank you.
Everybody, would you separate
from the entrance?
That means everybody. You fella,
hey, move over. Move over there.
They say a man's been shot.
Must be some gangster
got hit in the nightclub.
Hey, you,
come on, move it, will you?
No. 10, Northside.
We have our DB.
Male, Caucasian.
No positive ID as yet,
but believe he is owner of the club.
Appears to be a gang killing.
I thought you'd be at the
country house four hours ago.
I got hung up.
I waited for you
as long as I could.
I've got to go back East
for a day on business.
I'm in town now and I'll be here an
hour before I leave for the airport.
I'll expect you.
I'll meet you
at Trattorias Steakhouse.
That's right near the airport.
You'll meet me here.
I still don't want
to be seen with you.
I got news for you.
I don't really care what you want
anymore, I only care what I want.
I'll be at Trattorias Steakhouse.
I'll be there in 20 minutes.
That's telling him, boy.
Couldn't you get a table
in the kitchen?
I told you I don't want
to be seen with you.
Then let's
get to the point.
I want you to fill me in on
what you got in New Jersey
and then I want to terminate
our arrangement.
You're canning me?
Right.
What if I don't want
to be canned?
In that case, my attorneys
will get in touch with you
and explain the legal facts
of life to you.
I'm afraid they're going
to have to stand in line.
I believe I paid you
for some information.
Please recite it to me as
quickly as possible and leave.
There's nothing I'd rather do
than to get off this case.
You'd be surprised
how it's been snowballing.
Every time I look
in my rear-view mirror
there's a new gray Chevy
following me.
You can take me
off the case
but who's going to take
those other guys off me?
What am I supposed to do?
Take an ad in the classified?
I haven't the faintest idea
what you're talking about.
I just don't think you've been
leveling with me, that's all.
Now, I know Chalmers
is at the center of it
and the Federal Government is
interested, but they're not talking.
And then there's Torrance Beck,
this underworld character
he was on the track for a
while, but he broke down.
There's you, and the two guys who
visited me in my hotel in Newark.
They were wearing sweat socks
and rubber-soled shoes.
So I figured they were
probably Newark heat.
But now I think
they might have been Feds.
What is it you want from me?
I just want to know what the
hell's going on, that's all.
I told you,
I haven't the faintest idea.
I think you're
just a little too edgy
about Susan finding out
about all this.
Maybe I should
just talk to her.
I told you the truth.
And I'm not used to taking cheap
shots from people like you.
Cheap shots? That kills me.
My only interest in having
Mark Chalmers investigated
was exactly as I told you.
I happen to love my daughter.
And the thought of having her
marry a man like that
turns my stomach.
I think he's a phony.
I don't know what he was involved
in before. You're probably right.
Whatever it was,
it was something very messy.
Ahem. Now
Mark came to my office
this afternoon.
He's evidently found out
I was investigating him.
And he's worried plenty.
He told me if I call off
the investigation
he'd never see
my daughter again.
He also promised not to tell Susan
that I'd had him investigated.
We shook hands on it.
Why do you want to find out
what I'd learned in Newark?
Insurance.
If it's slimy enough
it's good insurance to make
sure he keeps his word.
You see, Rockford,
that's all I was ever after.
All this other stuff,
I don't know about, nor do I care.
You're through.
I've got everything I wanted.
And it doesn't bother you
that I'm left with
a "Kick Me" sign?
I'm just supposed to be a good
sport about it? Is that it?
You're paid to take
those risks.
Consider yourself terminated.
Send me a bill.
I've got a plane to catch.
Come in. It's open.
Don't you hit me
with no ashtray and I will.
Morning, Sonny.
Hi, Rocky.
I want to thank you for
straightening this place up.
After last night,
I don't think
I could have faced it
the way it was.
Don't give it a thought.
It was a pleasure. No charge.
How does it feel being out of
the gumshoe racket?
Pretty good, I guess.
What's that?
Those are
job opportunities.
I spent the whole morning
scanning that page.
You'd be surprised
how many there are
that don't mean a fellow's got
to get his skull crushed in.
Look, I even circled it,
real good ones for you there.
You did quit, didn't you?
Rocky, sometimes
you make me feel
like a piece of meat
in a desert.
I ain't hovering.
Honest, I'm not, Son. It's just
You can't sit around idle
all the time.
You got to get yourself a nice
office job like, you know
At least till you stop
bleeding internally.
I can't.
Why not?
I'm allergic
to fluorescent lighting.
Fluorescent lighting.
That's very funny.
You'd rather stick
around here
pressed against the wall
with an ashtray
over your head?
I had a piece of steak
in here. What happened to it?
I had it last night.
I was hungry.
I also had eggs in here. Three eggs.
What happened to them?
I had steak and eggs.
While we're at it,
how about that bottle of Scotch?
You never said
I couldn't snack.
No charge? I could have hired professional
house cleaners for a lot less.
Do you know how much
T-bone steak costs?
You bet I do.
I ain't no dummy.
You sure ain't.
Here.
Hi.
Hi. It's Susan, isn't it?
Susan Jameson.
We met at Mark's club.
Yeah, I remember. Come on in.
Susan Jameson, this is my
father, Joseph Rockford.
How do you do?
Pretty good, thank you.
It's nice.
You should have
seen it last night.
Looked like the bottom
of a grocery sack.
What can I do for you,
Ms. Jameson?
You're the only private
detective that I know
so I looked you up
in the phone book.
Jimmy is retiring from
the private eye business.
He's going into
something more stable.
He had a very bad year, you
know, financially and physically.
Rocky, buzz off.
Have you had breakfast?
No.
If you let me change,
we'll go get something to eat, huh?
There's a real nice place
over by the beach.
Just make yourself
at home.
What do you want?
The tacos are good.
No, I can't get into tacos
for breakfast.
I'll have a taco and coffee.
Just coffee, please.
Okay.
And lots of hot sauce, Louis.
All right.
What's your problem?
Well, it's along story.
It's
I don't know where to begin.
You're not going
to start crying, are you?
I can't take that
before breakfast.
I was engaged
to Mark Chalmers.
You probably met him.
He owns Mark's.
I never met him.
I know who he is.
He was my fiancé.
Last night, he called me
and asked me to have dinner.
But he was
I don't know, but he was strange.
He told me that he couldn't marry
me, that he'd changed his mind.
He said he couldn't
see me again.
What do you want me to do?
It's not like
he was dumping me.
I've had that happen before,
and it wasn't like that.
You know, I mean,
he had tears.
Hustle it up,
will you, Louis?
I'm sorry, really.
I'm not the weepy type. It's
I'm still a little
knocked down by this.
Maybe you should have had one of
the tacos with the hot sauce
then if you started crying,
you could blame it on the menu.
Yeah.
You're being very nice.
I know this is a terrible way
to start your morning.
Actually, it's a lot better
than yesterday.
Here's your sauce.
All right.
Put it on my tab,
will you?
Right.
Let's move over there.
Now, where were we?
He just said that
he couldn't marry me.
No explanation. Nothing.
I mean, he was just as upset
as I was.
Anyway, he just took me home
and he left.
What do you want?
You want me to find him or what?
I want you to find out
why he broke the engagement.
I mean, there must be some reason,
and it wasn't another woman.
Do you have any family
in Los Angeles?
Just my father.
What's his name?
Warner Jameson.
You talked to him
about it?
We don't get along.
He didn't like Mark.
As a matter of fact,
he hated him.
But then, he hated
every man I ever dated.
I guess it's a father's
prerogative to hate what you like.
Or what you do for a living.
Can you find out for me?
What's the matter?
Can't you take the case?
Listen, Susan--
It's Sue.
I've got a little problem
of professional ethics
that I got to clear up first.
What are you talking about?
It gets kind of involved.
What kind of ethics does a
private detective have to have?
My own kind.
It has to do with shaving
and looking into mirrors
and a lot of other trite stuff
you've probably heard before.
Let me see if I can work it
out, and I'll give you a call.
How much do you charge?
$200 a day, plus expenses.
It's a lot.
Think so?
I was thinking
about increasing it.
No, I'll pay it.
Let me give you a call.
I just have to clear the decks
with an old client first.
I'll finish this taco
and I'll walk you to your car.
Come on in, Rockford.
Squeeze him, Mort.
Are you coming with us,
Rockford?
You all right, Dad?
Yeah.
What's going on?
You got the wrong guy.
I'm not even in the private
detective business anymore.
Ask anybody. Ask my father.
Shut up.
What's it going to take to
convince you guys I'm clean.
Listen, pal,
you got big trouble.
You're about to go see one of the
most important men in the outfit.
You try this cheap song and dance on
him, you know what happens.
No.
He tells me and Mort
to take you out somewhere
and bury you up to your ears
in cement.
Well, look
it's not definite
I was out of the business
but I'm sure thinking
about it.
Look, I don't want
any trouble, believe me.
Rockford, shut up.
It's along drive.
Don't cluck it up.
Right.
Who's in there?
Shut up.
Be sure and tell him I'm not
on a case at the moment
and I'm thinking
about leaving town.
Shut up.
Who's doing your material?
It's really monotonous.
Who's doing yours?
lam.
It shows.
All right, Rockford.
Get out.
All right, Rockford.
We're not going to need you today.
I want you to start walking.
That way.
I catch you looking back,
I'm going to put a hole through you.
Now, get going.
Maybe someday, when all this is
over, you and I can have a beer
and you can tell me
what all this is about.
Bye.
The Federal Building,
downtown.
$10.45.
Here. Keep the change.
A $10 tip.
What do I got to do for it?
There's a trailer parked
by the beach.
2354, Pacific Coast Highway.
I want you to go inside
and there you'll find
a very crotchety old man
tied up.
Untie him.
You're kidding.
He's my father.
There's a punchline,
right?
Whatever you got on the meter,
you get from him.
You keep the $10 tip.
Add another $5
and you got a deal.
You and my father
are going get along real good.
This is Lt. Barry.
Mr. David Shore is in
conference with the Chief.
Would you please inform
Mr. Shore
that Jim Rockford
is waiting in his office?
The Chief left for
his office a few minutes ago.
Thank you.
Sorry to keep you waiting,
Rockford.
It's not going to work,
Shore.
I'm going to belong gone
before he ever gets here.
I don't know
what you're talking about.
Now, what can I do for you?
I got picked up again.
Kidnapped.
That's the second time
in two days.
Now, don't you come down here to bleed
on me. I was trying to protect you.
I had you under surveillance
and you take off
like a scalded duck and the LA
cops end up busting two of my men.
Those two guys were Feds?
What do you think?
When did you
switch to Chryslers?
When the mob switched to
gray Chevys.
I just came down here
to find out what's going on
if it isn't too much
of an imposition.
You going to testify
at Beck's trial?
Are you going
to level with me?
Sign the complaint
and I'll fill you in.
Fill me in and I'll sign
the complaint. Maybe.
All right. It's going to be in
the papers this afternoon, anyway.
Mark Chalmers is dead.
He was shot last night
in his club, after it closed.
He's dead?
Yeah.
His name isn't Mark Chalmers.
It's Fred Willow.
He used to own a big numbers
operation in Newark
and we sewed him up on a
good felony 10 years ago
when he traded 20 years in the
pokey for some key testimony
that landed five heads of the
largest crime organizations in jail.
We agreed to give him
a new identity
and we promised
to the best of our ability
to protect him from the mob.
Obviously, we failed.
And you think
he was hit by the mob?
It had to be.
We told him not to open the club.
I mean, that was stupid.
He should have gone into
something with a low profile
something like beachcombing.
What if it wasn't the mob
that killed him?
You know, Rockford,
you are beginning to annoy me.
If you want to play G-man,
go to Washington and take the course.
That's funny.
That's the last thing I'd want to do.
Hold up a second.
It's just not going to work.
There's not enough time.
It takes 15 minutes for him to get
over here from the county courthouse
and I've only been here
for 10.
Come on, Rockford,
you know you can testify.
Against some guy
in organized crime?
Come on.
They kill people.
We'll protect you.
What did you say
Chalmers' real name was?
Fred Willow.
He was a nice fellow.
Are you the U.S.
marshal with the subpoena for Rockford?
Yeah. He's still up there,
isn't he?
You bet. Shore's got him locked in a room.
You better hurry.
Thanks a lot.
Hello, Rocky.
I see he got to you,
all right.
He got to me, all right.
Plus a $10 meter fee.
Plus a tip.
You tipped him?
The guy came
all the way over here
on his own hook
and cut me free
and I don't tip him?
I tipped him.
What am I supposed to do?
Write you a thank-you note?
What are you doing?
Hello.
Mr. Jameson,
it's Jim Rockford,
Yes, what is it?
I thought
you should know
Mark Chalmers is dead.
I heard about it on the radio.
Some kind of a gang thing,
I think they said.
It wasn't a gang killing.
You seem sure.
lam.
I was picked up
by the gang after it happened.
They were still interested
to find out
whether I knew where he was
so they couldn't
have done it.
That doesn't make any sense.
Sure, it does, if you stop
and think about it.
Well, who did kill
Mark Chalmers?
I think it was
your daughter that killed him.
Perhaps we'd better
get together and discuss this.
Yeah, I thought so.
I'll be over at your place,
say 20 minutes.
No, not here.
I'll meet you at the
country house in an hour.
All right, fine.
All right.
My daughter didn't kill him.
Yeah, I know. I lied to you.
I talked to Susan
before I came up here.
They were
going to run away together.
I simply couldn't
let that happen.
I got him a great attorney.
He flew in from Texas.
But I don't know
what good it's going to do.
You know, I've tried to hate
him for what he did to Mark
but I can't. He's my father.
You seem to be holding up.
I always hold up.
It's one of my best qualities.
It's just the first two weeks
that were the worst.
Where would you like to go?
Somewhere
where they don't sell tacos.
I know just the place.
You know, I just don't even
want to talk about it anymore.
I can't believe the way
people have been.
I feel like I'm watching
my life on a soap opera.
I mean,
I know they mean well
but I'm just tired
of the handwringing.
Maybe that's why
I like being with you so much.
You don't act as if I'm about
to come unraveled at any moment.
That's because
you're not going to.
Now, who are they?
What?
Don't they know I haven't
been on a case in two weeks?
I've had just about
all of this I can stand.
All right,
what do you want?
Marshal's Office.
You've been subpoenaed
to appear in court
on December 23,
Federal Court Building
to testify in the kidnapping
trial of Torrance Beck.
Agent Shore says
to say hello.
Come on, you guys.
Give me a break, will you?