The Rockford Files (1974) s01e21 Episode Script

1
It was no accident.
Somebody killed him.
Who'd want to kill Dave?
That's what
I'm going to find out.
Then you need
professional help.
Can she afford me?
I'm your father!
I'll give you a rate.
Don't you want to know the truth?
I know the truth.
It was an accident.
I saw Wilson meet a couple of guys
and they gave him an envelope.
It smelled like a payoff.
That P.I., Rockford, has been asking
around about Banning and Wilson.
What do you think we ought to do?
Take him off.
This is Jim Rockford,
At the tone leave your name
and message.
I'll get back to you.
This is Shirley from the bank.
The answers are:
No, no, and yes.
No, we won't loan you money.
No, we won't accept any co-signers
and yes,
your account's overdrawn,.
I get off at 4:30.
"I am the
resurrection and the life.
"He that believeth on me though
he die yet shall he live.
"And whosoever liveth
and believeth on me
"shall never die."
Receive, oh Lord, the soul
of thy faithful servant
David Phillip Banning
and grant him eternal rest.
Amen.
The two of us,
we've had over 100 years.
Dave had 30.
As old as I am,
I keep expecting life to be fair.
I'm always surprised
when it isn't.
I wanted him
to have a headstone.
They don't allow them,
you know that? No.
A brass plaque,
flush to the ground
so it don't get in the way
of the lawnmower.
They keep the place real neat.
I think graves ought to be a little
untidy, the way lives are.
Mrs. Banning? Excuse me.
On behalf
of the department
We share your loss.
Thank you, Lieutenant.
If there's anything you need,
anything we can do to be of help
I'm just fine.
Thank you, Lieutenant.
I wanted you to meet him.
Who is he?
Sergeant Wilson,
Dave's partner.
You're coming back
to the house, aren't you?
Sure, Kate,
if you want me to. Sure.
You have got to accept this, Kate, because
you're making it harder on both of us.
You look tired.
I want you to go home
and get some rest.
I brought a bag.
It's in the car.
I thought, maybe you could
use some company tonight.
We're both going to have to
learn to live without Dave.
Might as well start now.
I'm going
to get that bag, anyway.
I don't know how many
will be dropping by.
If it isn't enough,
I can fix some more.
Rocky
I'm getting old,
and I've lost my only child.
But there's nothing wrong
with my mind.
It was no accident.
Now, Kate
I used to tell him he took better care
of that car than he took of himself.
And that's a fact.
Just had a tune-up,
just got it out of the shop.
There was nothing wrong
with those brakes.
Dave was a rookie,
but he's still a cop.
You know if the department
thought there was anything wrong,
they'd be all over it.
They didn't know him
like I did.
It's more than just the car.
For two weeks
before it happened
something was
eating away at him.
He was worried
and he was scared.
Dave didn't scare easy.
Somebody killed him.
But why, Kate?
Who'd want to kill Dave?
That's what
I'm going find out.
And I'm not going
to rest till I do.
Kate, is your mind dead set
on digging into this?
It is.
Then you need
professional help.
I don't have enough money
to buy me any answers.
No, I was thinking
more like
someone who'd take care of
things for you out of friendship.
You know, like on the house.
Who?
Jimmy.
Your Jimmy?
But you told me
he was driving your truck.
There's slack times in truck driving,
just like all other business.
Jimmy, he's got himself
sort of a sideline
for when he's not
pushing his rig.
What's that?
Well, he
He's sort of a
He's a private investigator.
It's only a sideline.
He'd help me? For no money?
He's my son.
All I got to do is ask him.
Jimmy?
Come on in.
What are you doing here?
I'm trying to defrost
my frost-free refrigerator.
Darn thing went out on you again?
American ingenuity.
I don't know how they do it
but the minute
the warranty runs out
whatever it is,
it starts falling apart.
I'll just give you a hand.
No, not with
your best suit on.
I don't want to get stuck
with the cleaning bill.
I think I'm just going to give up
on this thing and buy me a new one.
Are you working, Jimmy?
No, but I think I can swing the
down payment on a refrigerator.
You've been over at Kate
Banning's all this time?
Yeah, I didn't want to leave
her alone at a time like this.
You never did get a chance to
know Kate very well, did you?
Yeah, I've met her once.
Seemed like a nice lady.
Salt of the earth, she is.
You know, her husband Jack and me,
we used to long-haul before you was born.
Yeah?
It's too bad you and Dave
never was closer.
I met him once, too.
You know, Kate thinks that what
happened to her son wasn't no accident.
She thinks that it was phonied-up
to look like an accident
but Dave
was killed deliberate.
What do you think?
I don't know
anything about it.
There's Dave Banning, a cop,
and you, a private investigator
sort of gives you two
something in common, don't it?
Well, not really.
You know, I never did think
much of this P.I. business.
Is that a fact?
Then, this morning
I started seeing things in a different
light, a whole different light.
Now you take Dave Banning,
he's practically family.
I told you,
I only met him once.
Now, if you was
to look into this situation
it'd give you a chance to do
something for somebody close to you
for old times' sake.
Are you asking me
to work for you?
I'm trying to get you to work
for Kate Banning.
Can she afford me?
She don't have no money.
You're paying me?
I'm your father!
I'll give you a rate.
Don't you never
think of nothing but money?
Now, Rocky,
I'm in business just like you were.
Did you ever do
any long-hauling for nothing?
That's different.
No, it isn't.
All right.
All right, I'll pay you.
$200 a day and expenses.
I was only trying
to make a point.
You made it. I'll pay you.
No, you won't. I'm not going
to take your money.
Yes, you are,
because I just hired you.
It's 3:00, and as of now,
you are working for me.
And, for once in your life,
you're going to do what I tell you to.
You recognize them?
The old man,
he was at Banning's funeral.
How about the other one?
No.
We got a new entry, huh?
No more for me. Thanks, Kate.
Sorry everything is so untidy.
You wouldn't think Dave could get
so much into a bachelor's apartment.
Can I help you
with some of this stuff?
No, I can handle it.
Funny, Jack and Rocky
both wanted the same thing
to have their sons
follow in their footsteps.
Dave never was interested in trucking.
But you took to it right off.
Not right off.
Dave liked discipline, order.
Maybe, that was it.
Two hitches in the Marines, the Military
Police, then he joined the force.
30 is a little old to be a
rookie, but that's what he wanted.
What made you choose this
investigating business as a sideline?
You know how it is.
You can't depend on the crops coming in.
I like to keep busy.
I don't feel right, taking your
time and not being able to pay.
Don't give it a thought, Kate.
Don't you give that a thought.
Not a thought.
He's glad to do it.
All right, so maybe
I did exaggerate a little.
About me pushing a rig?
All right, I lied.
Look at it my way, will you?
I tell folks that
my son's in trucking
and right away they know
what I'm talking about.
But, I tell them my kid's
in the private eye business
they just don't understand.
Do you?
No.
Okay, goodbye, Rocky.
I'm going in with you.
I work alone.
Not when I'm paying
for your time.
If you're going to follow me
around with a stopwatch
we can forget the whole thing.
I'm not too hot on it, anyway.
$200 a day, and I got
to take a bus home?
If you don't have the money,
I'll advance it to you.
Just put it on
the expense account.
I got it. Don't you put nothing
on that expense account
I don't see first.
Cop?
Maybe.
Got something to write on?
Yeah.
OKG 853.
We've been swamped all day.
It's like the Golden Age of crime.
I know you're busy, Dennis.
4:30. This is lunch.
I got a half a cheese sandwich
right about here.
I can't wash it down
with the coffee
'cause the coffee
you don't believe.
And you come around with
a dumb question like that.
What's dumb about it?
All I want to know is
Is there any chance,
any at all
that Dave Banning's death
wasn't accidental?
Jim, the Police Department
operates without fear or favor.
Theoretically.
That's right. Theoretically.
As to "fear," half the time
we work in a cold sweat.
As to "favor," every stiff
gets the same consideration
except a dead cop.
If there was anything wrong,
anything
every man on the force
would be working double-duty.
Yeah, that's what I thought.
And if they weren't
Come here.
See that guy over there?
Yeah.
That's Andy Wilson,
Banning's partner.
If the accident smelled funny to
him, do you think he'd drop it?
I guess not.
You guess right.
Who hired you?
Banning's mother?
No, my father.
Rocky? Yeah,
he's an old friend of the family.
Rocky hired you?
What kind of deal?
No deal. He's paying,
just like any other client.
Rocky?
Will you stop saying Rocky?
I got to be there
when you try to collect.
I wouldn't miss it
for the world.
You got to promise me that you'll
let me know, so I can be there.
Are you trying to say
Rocky's cheap?
Yeah.
That's exactly what
I'm trying to say.
You were engaged
to Dave Banning.
Don't you want
to know the truth?
I know the truth.
It was an accident.
Now, it was tragic
and it was terrible
but it was just that,
an accident.
Kate seems to think
I know what Kate thinks.
And I know why.
I loved him
I still love him
but he's dead.
I've accepted that.
Kate hasn't.
When you bury somebody,
you have to let go.
You have to turn around
and walk away and say
"Okay. This is the way my life
is going to be."
Look, what I'm doing
may make it a little easier
for Kate, if I can
go to hex and honest“; say
then“ checked 3“ the bases
and that it was
an accident
Yeah, maybe.
All right,
what can I do to help?
Kate says that Dave was upset, very
upset, for two weeks before the accident.
Yes, he was.
He was jumpy, he was short-tempered,
he just wasn't himself.
I never told him this,
but I went to see the police psychologist.
He said it wasn't unusual.
Dave was new on patrol.
Lots of young officers undergo
temporary personality changes
before they get
used to police work.
Yeah, but Dave
was a Military NLP.
The adjustment
shouldn't be that difficult.
When did you last see him?
A couple of days
before the accident.
He came to dinner
before going on duty.
We quarreled.
About what?
It was my fault.
You see, we never had any
secrets from each other.
Then he got this phone call.
For the first time,
he took it in the other room.
I listened at the door.
Do you know who it was
on the phone?
No, but Dave was very upset
and he seemed frightened.
He told whoever it was that he'd
meet them at the usual place
at the Greek Theatre.
It's closed for the season.
I'm just telling you what I heard.
It was section Ce and D
the right aisle.
About time.
You ate my steak.
It was in the freezer you defrosted.
It was going to spoil.
Not before dinner.
It didn't have no sign on it.
Next time I'll have them
all monogrammed.
We got the same initial.
What are you doing?
I'm earning my $200 a day.
That there's a cartridge. You shouldn't
be monkeying around with that.
I'm being careful.
Now what are you going do?
The police in Los Angeles,
they use what they call alight load.
A .22 bullet that will travel
about a mile
and go through
an inch of wood.
A .38 caliber has more
stopping power than that.
If a cop fires, he doesn't want that
bullet traveling for two miles
and taking off somebody
that he wasn't aiming at.
And this is alight load.
Cops are the only ones
that use them.
Where'd you find it?
A little out-of-the-way place.
Laura told me about it.
Dave Banning had
a meeting there.
Something he didn't
want to talk about
something that
made him nervous.
So he was nervous, so he dropped
a cartridge. What does that mean?
I don't know. But why would he pick
a place like that to meet someone
unless he didn't
want to be seen?
Undercover work, maybe.
He was a rookie,
on routine patrol.
Are you trying to tell me
Dave Banning was crooked?
No.
'Cause if that's what you're
trying to tell me
that ain't what
I'm paying you to hear.
Rocky, I'm just thinking out loud
and you're jumping to conclusions.
Investigating isn't
like driving a truck
where you know that Lancaster is
10 miles straight down the road.
I don't know
what's down the road.
He wasn't crooked.
Okay, I hope you're right.
What's that for?
"What's that for?"
"What are you doing?"
You know, some people
hire me, Rocky
and then just sit back
and wait for the final report.
Some people ain't your pa.
Now what's that for?
I'm going to stake out the meeting
place and see if anybody shows.
No stakeout.
I sent you to camp when you were a
kid, that's enough.
I could be paying you straight
time till the year 2000
and then no one would show up.
It's the only lead we've got.
I'll stake it out myself.
Dave Banning is dead.
I found alive cartridge up there.
We don't know
what is going down.
You think I'm going to let you
walk into a thing like that?
I can handle myself.
I'll stake it out. That's final.
You only got
one problem, Rocky.
What?
You don't know where it is.
Angel, you sure you want to eat here?
It's the best chili in town!
I can get a table here any time I want to.
They know me.
My cousin's getting married.
You're going to use yours?
Yeah.
What do you want?
Give me a cup of coffee.
No. Scotch
I don't want anything.
Let me have a bottle of beer,
bowl of chili, lot of onions
and something to eat it with.
They know you here.
Don't give him no tip.
Angel, I called you
because I need a little help.
How little?
$50 worth.
What do I got to do?
All you have to do is hit the
street and ask a few questions.
We will split the beat
between us.
What beat?
Their beat.
Sergeant Wilson and a rookie
cop named Dave Banning.
Banning's dead, but Wilson's still around.
I think he's dirty.
I saw Wilson meet a couple of guys
and they gave him an envelope.
I don't know what was in the envelope,
but it smelled like a payoff.
What's the matter, Angel?
I'm on parole.
What's that got to do
with anything?
I don't even talk
to clean cops.
You know what'd happen to me if they
find me sticking my nose in that stuff?
How are they going
to find out about it?
The people you're going to be talking
to, they don't talk to cops.
It's an easy gig, Angel.
Now how about it?
No chance.
Yeah? Morrie? Ross.
That P.I., Rockford, has been asking
around about Banning and Wilson.
I thought you ought to know.
Is he the one you saw coming
out of the Banning house
with the old man?
That's right.
What's he asking?
He's asking stuff like: "Was Banning
on the pad?" "What's Wilson into?"
What do you think
we ought to do?
Take him off.
I won't be no witness.
You won't have to. All we have
is hearsay evidence.
You know, those two
were into everything.
I mean, Wilson must have half
a dozen scams going right now.
Some of them ain't too bad.
Well, they ain't.
You know what I'd do
if I were you, Jimmy?
Forget it.
Burning cops, even dirty ones,
isn't what you'd call a paying proposition.
Hang a left at the light.
You've never seen my place,
have you, Jimmy?
I got it fixed up real nice.
What are you doing? This ain't the way.
I think we picked up a tail.
Why do you live up here?
I don't.
Hey, what's going on
up there?
That's all right, fella,
forget it. You all right?
"Easy gig?"
I was wrong.
I wonder what that did
to my undercarriage?
You want to know
what it did to mine?
Where are you going?
Thought you were going to help me.
I came this close
to getting my neck broke.
You're not hurt.
Two guys, I don't know who they
are, they're trying to kill me.
You want me to wait till they come back?
They're not coming back.
Neither am I.
You want onions
in this thing?
Do you want onions?
You can't make out
who that is.
I told you who it is.
It's Sergeant Wilson.
Doing what?
Taking a payoff. At least,
that's the way it adds up.
I asked around, and the word
is that Sergeant Wilson
has been on the take
for along time.
That don't mean
Dave Banning was.
According to my information,
it does.
Now look, Rocky,
you're the one who put me on to this.
Now all I've got is a photograph and
a lot of second-hand street talk.
If I go to the cops,
I'm saying that Dave Banning was crooked.
I don't think that's what
you want for Kate.
I want the truth. So does she.
Are you sure?
The only way I'm going
any further with this thing
is after we tell her
what I've found.
Now you can either do that,
or you can bury it right here.
It's your decision.
Mine? Why?
You're the boss.
You want onions?
We'll talk to Kate.
No onions.
Sergeant Wilson.
Not a very good likeness.
But good enough to recognize.
What happens next?
You take that and your
suspicions to the police?
Not necessarily.
If Sergeant Wilson is on the pad,
Internal Affairs will catch up with him
sooner or later.
You don't get very high marks
for good citizenship.
No, but I make up for it
in survival technique.
Now if I start yelling "dirty cop,"
I'm going to open a big can of worms.
Trying to save yourself
some trouble?
I'm a realist.
You're a nice boy,
and you don't want to see me hurt.
You think Dave was dirty.
He didn't say that, Kate.
He didn't have to.
If I didn't know Dave
the way I do
did
I'd think the same thing.
You take what you got
to the police.
I don't think you're thinking
this thing through.
Dave and Wilson were partners.
You tar one of them, you tar the other.
You think I'm worried about
Dave's memory?
How folks are going to talk about
him, how they'll remember him?
You think I care about that?
He's dead, Rocky.
I loved him, and I'm going to go on
loving him no matter what he did.
You say he's dirty.
Well, maybe he was.
But if he was, wouldn't that give
someone a good reason for killing him?
To cover up. Wouldn't it?
Yes, it would.
Then you find who killed him.
Dave's memory
will take care of itself.
Dennis, I don't want to talk to Lt.
Diel. I want to talk to you.
We live
in a structured society.
There's a right way of doing
things and a wrong way.
Mine's the wrong way?
Every time.
I can't handle
what you've got.
Diel is Wilson's superior
and you talk to him.
I don't like Diel.
He's not too crazy
about you either.
Come in.
Don't bother to sit down.
We don't have all that much to talk about.
Becker told me
why you're here.
Did he tell you that I think
Wilson's on the take?
He did.
And without proof, that's
defamation of character.
How about with proof?
Okay.
What's it supposed to be?
Just what it looks like.
Sergeant Wilson
taking a payoff.
And which one is Wilson?
That one. The one in uniform.
I see.
Do you have
any other evidence?
Yeah, I got a .38 cartridge, light load. I
don't have it with me but I got it at home.
How do you know
it's alight load?
I took it apart
and weighed the powder.
Then if you've tampered
with the cartridge
it doesn't qualify
as evidence, does it?
Any more than your attempt
at photography.
Look, Lieutenant
I can handle hostile
a whole lot better
than I can handle
condescending.
All right, let's try hostile.
You're a two-bit P.I.
who likes to take
two-bit shots
at this department
and I've had it with you.
You don't like my evidence,
I'll take it to the Commissioner.
You'll take it nowhere.
I witnessed that payoff.
I know the place, I've been there before.
Dave Banning used it.
I don't believe you.
You're saying that Banning
is crooked, too?
I don't know.
But I think he was murdered.
We investigated his accident thoroughly.
It was just that. An accident.
You're not only casting doubt
on the reputation of a man
who has been with this
department for over 20 years
you're also defaming a man who
is not alive to defend himself.
I will not allow that.
Lieutenant, you haven't
got anything to say about it.
Yes, I have.
If I find out you go anywhere
near the Commissioner
if I find out you go
anywhere near Wilson
if I find out you're messing
around with this in any way
and I'm putting this out at roll call, I'll
take steps to see that you're stopped
whatever it takes.
Stopped cold.
What'd they say?
What are they going to do?
Not a thing.
Did you show them the picture?
Yeah.
Well?
I don't like being leaned on,
Rocky.
Mr. Rockford? Yeah.
James Rockford?
That's me.
What can I do for you?
May we talk with you?
Sure.
Lieutenant Diel and I
already had our little talk.
Yes, sir.
Officer Curson and I were deeply
distressed when we heard about it.
You heard about it
pretty fast.
You didn't like
what I had to say, either?
No, sir, we didn't.
Defaming a brother officer
is not something
the department takes
very lightly.
You're a P.I. in this town.
Is that right, sir?
That's right.
You want to stay a P.I.?
I had kind of
planned on it, yeah.
Then you really should try to have a
better relationship with the department.
Meaning I should forget about
Banning and Wilson?
Yes, sir, that's what we mean.
If I don't?
Officer Drexel and I personally
will see that your ticket is jerked.
We'll get you on something.
It's not that hard.
Is that all?
That's all, sir.
Drive carefully
on your way home.
What'd they want?
They want me to forget about
Wilson and Banning.
You aren't going to forget it,
though, are you?
You're damn right I'm not
going to forget about it.
Move over.
Who are you guys?
What do you want?
I want you to move over.
I was just thinking about taking a
trip to Arrowhead for the weekend.
You should've left sooner.
Why not now?
Now it's too late.
You mind if I ask why?
Yeah, we mind.
Keep an eye out
for Wilson.
Get him out of here.
Sure, Morrie.
Morrie, you the guy
in charge here?
Are you going
to just keep quiet,
or you want some help?
He's coming.
Morrie.
Sergeant.
You got some hash for me?
Yeah.
Ross!
Yeah, we got
a four pound brick.
You're not going to count it?
Should I?
We've always been
straight with each other.
Yeah, but I thought
What?
Nothing. It's not important.
It's important.
We're in business together. No secrets.
That's the way it is,
isn't it, Wilson?
Yeah, sure.
Can I have the stuff?
You're right. He was wired.
Get him out of here.
Lieutenant,
Wilson's stopped sending.
When'd you lose him?
A few minutes ago.
Let's move in.
Let's go, guys.
What do we do, Morrie?
We'll get out of here.
Check the streets.
I'll check the back.
What about these guys?
I waste them?
They're the hostages.
You should have
kept out of this.
Is that what you said
to Dave Banning?
I didn't know anything about
that until after it happened.
Sure. I said I didn't know
any thing about that
until after it happened!
Shut up, Wilson.
I got no reason to lie.
It's one thing
being on the arm
getting your partner smoked,
that's something else.
Cops. The place is
crawling with them.
We're going out back.
Get them out here.
Come on, get up.
Move it.
Move!
They're getting out the back.
Move, damn it, move!
All right, Wilson, I've got him.
Hold it right there.
Let's get out of here.
Open the door. Get out.
Come on, on the hood.
Come on out.
Move them out.
Seventeen
and twenty-three is
Where's the car rental?
That's a business expense.
That belongs on there.
No, that's my obligation.
I wouldn't have had to rent a car
if mine hadn't been in the shop.
It isn't your obligation.
Your car got run off the road
by them two thugs
and that's why you had
to put it in the garage.
Rocky, I ought to know what
belongs on the expense account.
Look
whatever it takes to fix your
car, plus the rental
I want them both put on there.
Well, I won't do it!
You're being pigheaded, you know that?
A deal is a deal.
That's right.
I shouldn't even
be talking to you.
You waltzed me around
pretty good downtown.
You were making them
very nervous, Jimbo.
Internal Affairs threw a
blanket over the whole thing.
Dave was the one who found out that
Wilson was transporting narcotics
in the black-and-white.
He reported it to the LA.
Dave was working undercover.
Undercover.
Morrie and his two gorillas
found out about it
they arranged the accident.
So, the LA. pressured Wilson
into working for them.
That's it.
Not quite.
We still got to square up.
You never told me
one word about money, Rocky.
I pay my own debts.
Give me the bill.
Kate, this has got nothing
to do with you.
It certainly has.
I'll take the bill.
Don't you do it.
Jimmy, you give me that bill.
If you let your father pay one
cent I'll never speak to you again.
If you let her pay one cent,
I'll never speak to you again.
Why don't you split the bill?
Of course. Now,
why didn't I think of that?
What do you say, Rocky?
Right down the middle.
Keep peace in the family.
If it's okay with Jimmy,
it's okay with me.
Then it's settled. You sure you
won't be joining us for dinner?
No, you go ahead
and you have a nice time.
You know, I didn't think you were
going to get two cents out of Rocky.
That's what you get for hanging
around with that criminal element.
I'll just be a minute.
I forgot my purse.
It'll be a little while.
I'm a little short on cash.
You understand?
Perfectly all right, Kate.
Don't worry about it, please.
Thank you, Jimmy.
Bye-bye.
Well, I never wanted to take any
of her money in the first place.
Kate, I'll be right back.
I left the keys to the truck
in the trailer.
Jim
I must have spent
a little more
on that fishing trip
than I figured.
Could you put my half of the
bill in Accounts Receivable?