Mannix (1967) s01e23 Episode Script
To Kill a Writer
1
♪♪
Hiya, doll.
You're so late. I was afraid you weren't coming.
Dean
What?
I miss you when you're not around.
I'm sorry. I got hung up.
We'll barbecue at my dad's place tonight.
With me there? He'll like that.
I told you, Dean.
He's gone fishing up at Crystal.
He won't be back till next week.
But you're sure it's all right
for me to come sneaking in there while he's out?
Please, Dean.
Look, if you'd rather, we can all go up to my apartment.
I just thought it'd be more fun.
Oh, some fun. Big pad, stereo,
Dad won't be back till next week.
Want to take a look at next week
right now, doll?
Maybe he forgot his fishing tackle.
Sure.
Please, don't go away. I'll be right back.
Hi, baby.
Hi, Dad.
Got a kiss for your old man?
I thought you said you weren't
I did.
Believe it or not, rain washed out the bridge.
I couldn't get to Crystal.
Julie, does my coming back here spoil your plans?
No, not really.
Well, knowing you, that means yes.
What was it, a party here, hmm?
Mm-hmm.
I'll tell you what.
I'll bunk at your place and the joint's yours.
Dwight West, father and resident angel.
And last week, you thought I was only a saint.
Oh, no, I knew you were really an angel.
I just didn't want you to get stuck up.
I'll shower and clear out.
Oh, I'm not going to ask
if that beach bum friend of yours will be here.
I'd rather not know.
Daddy, you'd like Dean if you really knew him.
I know him.
I'm willing to like him, if you don't.
Baby, I don't want you to get hung up on a nothing guy.
Stick to your old man till the right guy shows.
Would you ever admit there's a right guy?
What's this?
"To whom it may concern."
Well, open it.
You're a whom.
"This is supposed to be the coward's way out,
"but it's the only way left to me.
"To those that I love
"and who love me,
"miss me a little, but not too much.
I'm not worth much, really."
Daddy, what does this mean?
This is a suicide note!
Who wrote it?
I did.
♪♪
Mannix, would you come into my office, please?
I have an interesting one for you.
Dwight West, the novelist, just wrote a suicide note.
So? He doesn't want to kill himself.
♪♪
Dean, I'm sorry.
The party, it's off.
Pop put the ice on it, huh?
Didn't want his little girl
running around with a beach bum.
Reading that suicide note was like reading my own obituary.
I don't mind telling you I was shook up.
Why, if you wrote it?
It was meant to be fiction.
A character in a story I'm writing commits suicide.
Somebody pulled that page out of the manuscript,
probably burnt the rest of the story and left the page
to indicate I was going to kill myself.
Who, uh, who knew about the manuscript,
might have had access to it?
Anybody, everybody.
When I'm working on a story, it's no state secret.
I talk about it.
My daughter, Julie.
Mr. Mannix from Intertect.
Hello, Julie.
Hi, Mr. Mannix.
Thanks for coming.
Whoever left that note
must have had a funny sense of humor.
I suppose it could be a practical
joke in appalling taste, I might say.
Tell me, West, you know of anyone
who'd want to kill you and make it look like suicide?
That's what's so goofy about it,
and fascinating, too.
I don't have any enemies.
Get down!
Stay down!
What are you doing here?
What's your name?
I said, what's?
Did you see anybody?
Who do you know that's about eight feet tall,
almost as broad, with a scar on his face?
What?
Well, maybe six and a half feet tall.
It doesn't ring a bell.
Was he, uh, shooting at me?
I don't think so.
Didn't look like the type for gun play.
I'd say spine-crushing would be more in his line.
Oh. No name? Nothing?
You had a gun. Why didn't you stop him?
He wasn't doing anything.
Daddy, I'm scared.
Oh, no, darling.
You know, I'm getting hooked on this puzzle.
Say somebody's out to kill me.
I should be able to figure out who it is.
I've written a dozen mystery novels,
worked out the plots logically
Look, West, you got a place you could hide out for a while?
Any hotel, but why?
If somebody's after me, I might find a clue around here,
at least hit on some idea of who's trying
to get me.
Daddy, please don't take any chances.
Let Mr. Mannix find the answers.
Yeah. I get paid for it.
Besides, real killers don't manipulate as easily
as your make-believe characters.
I'll want to reach you later,
so, uh, you better check in at the Majestic Hotel.
Tell Charley Johnson I sent you.
All right.
I'll register as Phillip Martin.
What'll you be doing?
Waiting for a killer.
Hello, Willie.
Hey, Mannix, you!
I ain't carrying.
Why'd you jump me?
What were you reaching for?
I got a heartburn that don't know when to stop.
That's illegal?
Breaking and entering is.
Who breaks? Who enters?
Oh, not you, Willie.
You got sent up for walking in your sleep.
A long time I ain't seen my friend Dwight West.
It's time, I figure. I come to visit.
So out of habit, you just come in through the window.
Come on, Willie, you can do better than that.
Ask Dwight. Ask him.
Ask him am I a friend.
Do I sneak in so I shouldn't
knock on the door when he's busy.
How do you know Dwight West?
Something happen to him? Where is he?
Come on, Willie, you're not one
of his old college classmates.
He was hanging around night court;
"getting color," he called it.
I just happened to be there.
An innocent visitor?
A bum rap.
So they threw the book at me, but I didn't deserve it.
Dwight'll tell you.
You tell me, Willie.
We got to talking, and when I got out
of the cooler, I looked him up.
Since then, we got like a working arrangement
between friends.
I give him stories, you know,
things like they happened that didn't get in the paper,
and he slips me a buck or two.
Dwight also gave me a good recommend to the parole officer.
That ain't chopped liver.
Staying at the Cass Hotel, huh, Willie?
Mm-hmm.
Well, Dwight ain't here.
There's no reason for me to hang around.
Sit down, Willie.
Mannix, don't lean on me.
I don't know nothing. Let me go.
Mr. Quinn, can I talk to you alone?
Of course, Willie.
Anytime
during office hours, 9:00 to 5:00.
Unbreakable rule.
I, uh, will buy you a drink, though.
No, thanks.
You left in a hurry, Willie.
I got a right.
Who's your large friend?
My lawyer.
Try again.
Orlando Quinn, and you can go ask him
if he didn't handle my case last time I was sent up.
Well, now, that's not much of a recommendation, Willie.
Mannix, you give me a hard time,
and I'll get Mr. Quinn to sue you for something.
He's big on suits.
Run along, Willie.
I know where to find you if I need you.
Mr. Quinn?
I'm Joe Mannix, friend of Willie's.
You keep bad company.
He's your client.
True.
Won't you sit down?
One can't win them all.
Tell me, Quinn, uh, do you eat here often?
Why?
Well, uh, Willie knew exactly where to find you and, uh,
you do seem to get special service.
Do you mind?
Hmm.
Thank you.
Point A, questions and answers supplied by deduction.
Point B, a city detective
couldn't afford to dress as well as you do.
Point C, I'm private.
Intertect.
A reputable company.
You really a friend of Willie's?
Well, I know him.
Says he's a friend of a friend, somebody who lives here
at the beach.
Dwight West.
Another client?
I handle only criminal cases.
A need exists.
As Anatole France once said,
"The law, in its majestic equality,
"forbids the rich as well as the poor
to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets."
"To sleep under bridges, to beg
in the streets, and to steal bread."
Now, about Dwight West
A good writer.
Not as good as Anatole France, but
And he soon may be as dead.
Go on.
Somebody is trying to kill him.
Improbable, so doubtless true.
He's not a client?
Friend?
Let's say an acquaintance.
We amuse each other.
I provide research, you might say.
You and Willie.
Tell me, uh, any other mutual
friends who share an interesting
crime with West?
Well, there may be others,
but only one comes to mind, Nikki Jason.
Who's he?
He?
Just a minute.
I'm Mannix from Intertect.
Nikki Jason.
Quinn sent you up?
Well, he mentioned your friendship with Dwight West.
You're a detective.
Hmm
Do you always talk about your clients?
Not usually.
I don't talk about my friends.
I'm working for West.
If he tells me so.
Mind if I use your phone?
Be my guest.
Would a, uh, word from him be sufficient,
or would you prefer a notarized statement?
Um, room clerk, please.
Charley, Mannix here.
A friend of mine check in?
Yeah, that's right. I'd like to talk to him.
When'd he check out?
Yeah, thanks.
I know.
You were sure he was there, you just happened to miss him.
Meanwhile, he'll be in touch and tell me everything's okay.
So why don't I take it for granted?
Sure, baby.
Do me a favor, will you?
If you hear from him, have him call my office.
Wait a minute.
Is West in trouble?
You seem worried.
Just runs in my family.
I've got an uncle in the hospital,
worried about a heart attack
every day of his life until he was 97.
He finally had one.
Broke his leg last week.
Tripped, walking down the aisle of a burlesque house.
Any hints you could give us
as to where he might have gone would be helpful.
Mr. Wickersham, my father is stubborn and wonderful
and unpredictable.
I just don't know.
But I'm scared.
Hey, relax, baby.
You're hurting before you're hit.
Yes?
Thank you.
I'm afraid we, uh, may have located Mr. West.
Where?
Well, say it, man. I can guess where he is.
In the morgue.
Come on, doll, be a big girl.
I I can't.
It's not your father, Julie.
What?
It's Willie Lang.
How was the identification made, Newman?
Routine preliminary on the basis
of pocket contents and clothing.
West's coat.
Stolen?
Willie'll never tell.
Guess I'll have to ask West
if I ever find him.
How about that?
Nice reception?
Are you having fun?
You can laugh all the way to Willie Lang's funeral.
Poor Willie.
How did it happen?
He came by to see you last night.
His next known stop was the morgue,
the price of admission was a broken back.
It was supposed to look like an accident.
Now who'd murder Willie?
Does Julie know you're here? No.
Well, my last bit of advice
before I retire from the case
call her.
Why?
Because she worries.
You could have been dead.
She didn't know you were coming back
to play with a tape recorder and a stuffed gorilla.
Good-bye.
Now, Mannix, wait!
Now, you know that, uh
remote-control gadget that changes TV channels
when you press a button?
Yeah.
Well, I've rewired the channel-change gadget
in back of the set.
The remote's outside, in a tree, pointed towards the set.
Now, if anybody walks in front of it, the channel changes.
Well, it worked, didn't it?
Did you, uh, give Willie Lang some of your clothes?
Yeah.
They looked real good on him.
Mannix here. Get me Wickersham.
Hey, Lou, West is here at home.
Yeah, and, uh, you'd better send
over somebody to play nursemaid.
Swanson would be fine, yeah.
Oh, and, uh, tell him not
to pay any attention to a gorilla.
Never mind. I'll check with you later.
You know, I met some of your friends
the late Willie Lang, a lawyer named Quinn
They've got no connection with the attempt on my life.
My writing is based on factual material.
I got research from Quinn and Lang.
I also spoke to a young lady,
a very interesting young lady.
Nikki Jason.
Hmm, I guess you could call her research, too.
Now believe me, she's got no possible connection
with the murder.
Stay out of sight.
Did you see anyone on this path a minute ago?
I don't know, did I?
Did you see anyone?
Maybe I wasn't looking.
Look, Devlin Cool it.
I didn't see anybody.
There's no way you could have missed anyone on this path.
If you say so.
That means there was nobody on the path.
Right, Dad?
The label says "Danger poison gas."
Yeah, well I didn't figure he'd be pumping perfume
through your air conditioning.
I didn't touch it.
Fingerprints might turn up.
They will.
Mine.
I didn't have time to use gloves.
Run this through the lab. When you get a report,
try and find out who sold it and who bought it, huh?
Quantitative or qualitative analysis?
Just find out who put it out, Hayden.
All right.
We'll check it out, but that's a long shot.
Nobody'd leave that obvious a trail.
It'll give the computers something to do,
keep them off the streets.
Did you turn up anything on Quinn?
I have an appointment with him in an hour and a half.
I'm assembling some ammunition.
Want to come along? I'll meet you.
Willie Lang's killing is the
closest thing I've got to a lead.
I want to find out what the police have.
The police came up empty.
They questioned the man he shared a room with,
but he said he hadn't seen
Willie since early in the evening.
I'll just skip the police.
And check the roommate, right?
Well, wouldn't you like to know his name?
His name is Starkey. Room 307.
Thanks.
Hello.
Yeah, this is Pete.
Yeah, a guy just went up to see Starkey.
About 35, tall.
Whatever you're sellin' I don't want.
You bucking for one less leg?
I might be the law.
Show me papers.
I might be I'm not.
It takes less energy to talk.
I used up all my talk with the cops!
I got nothing to say.
Reconsider.
You want to know about Willie.
This buys all I know.
He was a nice fella.
Now good-bye.
Try harder!
More green stuff.
More talk.
Now what are you holding back on me?
All right, all right.
A guy don't try, he don't get.
I ain't living like a king.
Willie ain't living!
What route was he going? Who did he cross?
He wouldn't hurt a fly.
How'd he make his buck?
You ain't gonna believe this.
He was straight.
He'd run errands, hustle pool,
maybe take a bet for a bookie.
Nothing. He went honest.
You don't collect a bullet for being honest.
Willie was all Boy Scout.
The night he caught it, he told me he was going out
to take a friend off the hook.
Put a name to that friend.
You defended Willie Lang.
What was the charge?
Well, let's just hold that in abeyance for a moment.
I'd like to make a stipulation.
Now, you're an intelligent man, Mr. Wickersham.
You're an excellent detective, you have a law degree.
You would undoubtedly
have made an outstanding attorney
if you had chosen to practice.
Now, to save time,
would you concede that I'm not an absolute dolt?
So stipulated.
Then how do you expect me
to believe that you haven't at
least done elementary homework?
Yes.
Have him wait.
Your associate.
Now, public records
in the courthouse would tell you
where poor Willie went astray.
He was found guilty of breaking and entering
Nikki Jason's apartment.
Now, last night, you said she was your client.
Well, actually we met when she was a prosecution witness.
She was so impressed with my cross-examination,
she later came to me.
What and when?
Privileged.
She wasn't booked. She has no record.
Willie's been murdered.
We'd like to prevent Dwight West from joining the list.
Now, I'm fairly sure you've bent ethics in the past
in a less worthy cause.
Get out!
You've been appointed neither
judge nor keeper of my ethics.
You're right. I'm sorry. I was out of line.
Your apology is not accepted.
Cheap words quickly said and at no cost!
Good day, sir!
I got what for.
No luck, huh?
This is not my day.
The deceased: Starkey, William, age 38.
Six-foot two.
Hayden 250
Hayden, his statistics aren't vital anymore.
Police record in Kansas City:
armed assault.
Burglary. Suspicion of murder.
New York Yeah, I'm with you.
Quinn represented Nikki Jason
when she was pulled in on suspicion of bunco.
Anything else on her?
Right. Thanks, Pat.
I'll do as much for you sometime.
She's clean on the bunco.
The only other police contact was several years ago
when a girl she roomed with was murdered.
The case made quite a splash, but was never solved.
You probably remember
the papers called it the "Scarlet Venus Murder."
I followed that case.
Terrible. Poor girl, so pretty.
That was about, uh
six years ago.
Willie Lang burgled Nikki Jason's apartment.
When was that?
Six years ago last September.
Are you calling West?
Right.
The line's busy.
Want to bet West's new book is based on the Scarlet Venus?
Got anything else, Hayden?
Montoya claimed that the girl was going to marry him.
He was released for lack of evidence.
Where is Montoya now?
Montoya?
You still living in the mountains?
Yeah, wherever you say.
Sure, two hours is fine.
I left a note for Mannix.
You're not supposed to go out, Mr. West.
I'll be back.
Let me check with the office.
Now there's no answer.
I thought you assigned Swanson to stay with West.
I did. He is or was.
Well, maybe you should have assigned
someone to stay with Swanson!
♪♪
♪♪
♪♪
♪♪
♪♪
See for yourself. Empty.
She packed everything and was gone by noon.
You're welcome to look around.
Thank you.
Excuse me.
This is Nikki Jason speaking.
If you leave a message, it will be recorded.
Please speak into the phone after you hear the double tone.
Thank you.
Nikki, I've got to talk to you. This is Dean Devlin.
Call me.
Swanson
Ooh Are you all right?
I really caught one.
Where's West?
He could be the one that clobbered me.
Maybe your old man's gone ape.
He ducked out.
I followed. Pow! That's it.
Gee, I never figured your pop to be such a swinger.
Shut up, Dean!
Did you see who hit you?
No.
Hello.
Yes, Mannix?
Yeah, I'm at West's. He's gone.
Swanson got slugged.
Lou, can you get me a fix
on the daughter's boyfriend, Dean Devlin?
Yeah, he's right here.
Hold on.
You left a message for Nikki Jason.
Why was it so important for you to see her?
Just wanted to see if she read any good books lately.
Who's Nikki Jason?
It's a friend of your father's. I met her
through him. Why did you call her?
I got my reasons.
That answer your question?
Dean is being very cute, Joe.
Oh. West left a note for Mannix, over there.
Now, hold on, there's a message here.
"Mannix,
"I think I know who's gunning for me.
"There are just a couple of loose ends,
"and they'll be tied together
"by the time I meet Montoya this afternoon
at the observatory. Dwight West."
Why are you following me?
I'm looking for Dwight West.
You came to my cabin.
You're one of them.
One of whom?
She was good.
And you killed her, you and the rest.
Who else, Montoya?
Hey!
Nobody's allowed up there!
Did you find Montoya?
Yeah, and lost him.
He's gone berserk.
Did West meet him?
I don't know.
Montoya could kill him,
or anybody else connected with this case.
I've got men covering some of the people,
but we'll try to find West.
Yeah, and I'll try and find Montoya,
and as long as he's running loose,
you'd better warn the others.
Right. Good luck, Joe.
Yeah. If I find him, I'll need it.
I've contacted the agent
tailing Dean Devlin, Mr. Wickersham.
Wickersham. Where's Devlin?
You're supposed to be good enough to stick with him.
Find him. If you need any help, you can have it.
Keep in touch.
Who's the man assigned to Orlando Quinn?
Greaves, sir.
I can't contact him.
Try harder!
It's not li
Greaves, sir.
What about Quinn?
Not in his office and not expected.
I tried his home, but he's never there during the day.
They'll leave us alone.
I promise.
Montoya!
I only want to talk to you!
Liar!
I don't know anything about your girl!
You killed her.
All of you!
I'll get you
the way I got Willie.
The way I'll get
all of you.
Mr. Mannix.
Join me.
I'm waiting for Dwight West.
Why?
Must one have a reason to wait for one's friends?
What's yours?
Trying to keep him alive.
You know, a man named Montoya killed Willie Lang yesterday.
Six years after he accidentally
found out something
while burgling an apartment.
Mannix here. Get me Wickersham.
Well, when you find him, tell him Montoya is dead.
But he did talk. He said
Look, I'll call you in two hours.
Your gun, Mr. Mannix.
On the table.
Carefully.
Good boy.
Now
What did Montoya talk about,
Mr. Mannix?
You, Mr. Quinn.
I'm not sure I believe you.
If you don't believe me, why the gun?
What did he say?
"'Twas brillig and the slithy toves
did"
Behave yourself.
Montoya didn't know you killed the Scarlet Venus.
That's hardly news, Mr. Mannix.
He would have throttled anyone he even thought
would hurt that girl.
I think you should sit
where I can more comfortably watch you
while we continue our discussion.
I told Montoya that you killed her.
You have a taste for fantasy.
Fact, Mr. Quinn.
Somebody wanted to get rid of Willie Lang
and West.
Montoya was the loaded gun.
You pulled the trigger.
You could change jobs with West.
Your talent for fiction at least equals his.
West and I both hit on the answer.
He was writing a book about the Scarlet Venus.
He had to solve the crime
before he could finish the book.
You knew you'd be marked the minute he finished that book.
If any part of that were true,
I'd find it necessary to eliminate you,
as well as West.
You'd better take a look at the telephone.
Remember what I said on the phone?
"I'll call you in two hours." That's code.
The switchboard operator hooks up a tape,
records and then the call is traced.
Everything we've said is on tape.
Shut up.
Oh, you could kill me,
but you'd never get away with it.
You're a smart lawyer, Quinn.
Your best bet is to try and beat the Scarlet Venus case.
Now, why don't you put away that gun?
You haven't got a chance, Quinn.
The police are moving in on this house.
Don't you think you'd be better off
pleading you killed the girl while temporarily insane?
Insane?
She said she loved me.
I'm not a lovable man.
I'm not the handsomest man.
But I believed her.
Don't move!
I won't stand trial.
I won't be laughed at.
Not by you, not by anyone.
And certainly not by the girl you killed.
I'm afraid you're too late, Quinn.
I shouldn't have believed you.
Code
Recording
Nonsense.
I thought I I was a clever man.
Once I thought
I was a lovable
man
Two fatal mistakes.
I'll call in.
Your father's in no more danger.
Joe?
Get me Lieutenant Jacobsen, Homicide.
West is on his way.
He called, asked us to meet him here.
Meet him?
Mannix, I solved the case.
I was going to be killed
because I inadvertently pointed to the murderer
in the plot of my new book about Scarlet Venus.
I just got the last bit of information I needed from
Nikki here. Yeah.
Now I know who the killer is.
It's that beach bum,
Dean Devlin.
You may be right.
Why don't you check it out with Quinn?
Daddy.
Oh, Daddy.
I don't know
what I'm doing here.
Do you?
Going to meet your uncle at the hospital?
I'd like to meet him.
♪♪
Hiya, doll.
You're so late. I was afraid you weren't coming.
Dean
What?
I miss you when you're not around.
I'm sorry. I got hung up.
We'll barbecue at my dad's place tonight.
With me there? He'll like that.
I told you, Dean.
He's gone fishing up at Crystal.
He won't be back till next week.
But you're sure it's all right
for me to come sneaking in there while he's out?
Please, Dean.
Look, if you'd rather, we can all go up to my apartment.
I just thought it'd be more fun.
Oh, some fun. Big pad, stereo,
Dad won't be back till next week.
Want to take a look at next week
right now, doll?
Maybe he forgot his fishing tackle.
Sure.
Please, don't go away. I'll be right back.
Hi, baby.
Hi, Dad.
Got a kiss for your old man?
I thought you said you weren't
I did.
Believe it or not, rain washed out the bridge.
I couldn't get to Crystal.
Julie, does my coming back here spoil your plans?
No, not really.
Well, knowing you, that means yes.
What was it, a party here, hmm?
Mm-hmm.
I'll tell you what.
I'll bunk at your place and the joint's yours.
Dwight West, father and resident angel.
And last week, you thought I was only a saint.
Oh, no, I knew you were really an angel.
I just didn't want you to get stuck up.
I'll shower and clear out.
Oh, I'm not going to ask
if that beach bum friend of yours will be here.
I'd rather not know.
Daddy, you'd like Dean if you really knew him.
I know him.
I'm willing to like him, if you don't.
Baby, I don't want you to get hung up on a nothing guy.
Stick to your old man till the right guy shows.
Would you ever admit there's a right guy?
What's this?
"To whom it may concern."
Well, open it.
You're a whom.
"This is supposed to be the coward's way out,
"but it's the only way left to me.
"To those that I love
"and who love me,
"miss me a little, but not too much.
I'm not worth much, really."
Daddy, what does this mean?
This is a suicide note!
Who wrote it?
I did.
♪♪
Mannix, would you come into my office, please?
I have an interesting one for you.
Dwight West, the novelist, just wrote a suicide note.
So? He doesn't want to kill himself.
♪♪
Dean, I'm sorry.
The party, it's off.
Pop put the ice on it, huh?
Didn't want his little girl
running around with a beach bum.
Reading that suicide note was like reading my own obituary.
I don't mind telling you I was shook up.
Why, if you wrote it?
It was meant to be fiction.
A character in a story I'm writing commits suicide.
Somebody pulled that page out of the manuscript,
probably burnt the rest of the story and left the page
to indicate I was going to kill myself.
Who, uh, who knew about the manuscript,
might have had access to it?
Anybody, everybody.
When I'm working on a story, it's no state secret.
I talk about it.
My daughter, Julie.
Mr. Mannix from Intertect.
Hello, Julie.
Hi, Mr. Mannix.
Thanks for coming.
Whoever left that note
must have had a funny sense of humor.
I suppose it could be a practical
joke in appalling taste, I might say.
Tell me, West, you know of anyone
who'd want to kill you and make it look like suicide?
That's what's so goofy about it,
and fascinating, too.
I don't have any enemies.
Get down!
Stay down!
What are you doing here?
What's your name?
I said, what's?
Did you see anybody?
Who do you know that's about eight feet tall,
almost as broad, with a scar on his face?
What?
Well, maybe six and a half feet tall.
It doesn't ring a bell.
Was he, uh, shooting at me?
I don't think so.
Didn't look like the type for gun play.
I'd say spine-crushing would be more in his line.
Oh. No name? Nothing?
You had a gun. Why didn't you stop him?
He wasn't doing anything.
Daddy, I'm scared.
Oh, no, darling.
You know, I'm getting hooked on this puzzle.
Say somebody's out to kill me.
I should be able to figure out who it is.
I've written a dozen mystery novels,
worked out the plots logically
Look, West, you got a place you could hide out for a while?
Any hotel, but why?
If somebody's after me, I might find a clue around here,
at least hit on some idea of who's trying
to get me.
Daddy, please don't take any chances.
Let Mr. Mannix find the answers.
Yeah. I get paid for it.
Besides, real killers don't manipulate as easily
as your make-believe characters.
I'll want to reach you later,
so, uh, you better check in at the Majestic Hotel.
Tell Charley Johnson I sent you.
All right.
I'll register as Phillip Martin.
What'll you be doing?
Waiting for a killer.
Hello, Willie.
Hey, Mannix, you!
I ain't carrying.
Why'd you jump me?
What were you reaching for?
I got a heartburn that don't know when to stop.
That's illegal?
Breaking and entering is.
Who breaks? Who enters?
Oh, not you, Willie.
You got sent up for walking in your sleep.
A long time I ain't seen my friend Dwight West.
It's time, I figure. I come to visit.
So out of habit, you just come in through the window.
Come on, Willie, you can do better than that.
Ask Dwight. Ask him.
Ask him am I a friend.
Do I sneak in so I shouldn't
knock on the door when he's busy.
How do you know Dwight West?
Something happen to him? Where is he?
Come on, Willie, you're not one
of his old college classmates.
He was hanging around night court;
"getting color," he called it.
I just happened to be there.
An innocent visitor?
A bum rap.
So they threw the book at me, but I didn't deserve it.
Dwight'll tell you.
You tell me, Willie.
We got to talking, and when I got out
of the cooler, I looked him up.
Since then, we got like a working arrangement
between friends.
I give him stories, you know,
things like they happened that didn't get in the paper,
and he slips me a buck or two.
Dwight also gave me a good recommend to the parole officer.
That ain't chopped liver.
Staying at the Cass Hotel, huh, Willie?
Mm-hmm.
Well, Dwight ain't here.
There's no reason for me to hang around.
Sit down, Willie.
Mannix, don't lean on me.
I don't know nothing. Let me go.
Mr. Quinn, can I talk to you alone?
Of course, Willie.
Anytime
during office hours, 9:00 to 5:00.
Unbreakable rule.
I, uh, will buy you a drink, though.
No, thanks.
You left in a hurry, Willie.
I got a right.
Who's your large friend?
My lawyer.
Try again.
Orlando Quinn, and you can go ask him
if he didn't handle my case last time I was sent up.
Well, now, that's not much of a recommendation, Willie.
Mannix, you give me a hard time,
and I'll get Mr. Quinn to sue you for something.
He's big on suits.
Run along, Willie.
I know where to find you if I need you.
Mr. Quinn?
I'm Joe Mannix, friend of Willie's.
You keep bad company.
He's your client.
True.
Won't you sit down?
One can't win them all.
Tell me, Quinn, uh, do you eat here often?
Why?
Well, uh, Willie knew exactly where to find you and, uh,
you do seem to get special service.
Do you mind?
Hmm.
Thank you.
Point A, questions and answers supplied by deduction.
Point B, a city detective
couldn't afford to dress as well as you do.
Point C, I'm private.
Intertect.
A reputable company.
You really a friend of Willie's?
Well, I know him.
Says he's a friend of a friend, somebody who lives here
at the beach.
Dwight West.
Another client?
I handle only criminal cases.
A need exists.
As Anatole France once said,
"The law, in its majestic equality,
"forbids the rich as well as the poor
to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets."
"To sleep under bridges, to beg
in the streets, and to steal bread."
Now, about Dwight West
A good writer.
Not as good as Anatole France, but
And he soon may be as dead.
Go on.
Somebody is trying to kill him.
Improbable, so doubtless true.
He's not a client?
Friend?
Let's say an acquaintance.
We amuse each other.
I provide research, you might say.
You and Willie.
Tell me, uh, any other mutual
friends who share an interesting
crime with West?
Well, there may be others,
but only one comes to mind, Nikki Jason.
Who's he?
He?
Just a minute.
I'm Mannix from Intertect.
Nikki Jason.
Quinn sent you up?
Well, he mentioned your friendship with Dwight West.
You're a detective.
Hmm
Do you always talk about your clients?
Not usually.
I don't talk about my friends.
I'm working for West.
If he tells me so.
Mind if I use your phone?
Be my guest.
Would a, uh, word from him be sufficient,
or would you prefer a notarized statement?
Um, room clerk, please.
Charley, Mannix here.
A friend of mine check in?
Yeah, that's right. I'd like to talk to him.
When'd he check out?
Yeah, thanks.
I know.
You were sure he was there, you just happened to miss him.
Meanwhile, he'll be in touch and tell me everything's okay.
So why don't I take it for granted?
Sure, baby.
Do me a favor, will you?
If you hear from him, have him call my office.
Wait a minute.
Is West in trouble?
You seem worried.
Just runs in my family.
I've got an uncle in the hospital,
worried about a heart attack
every day of his life until he was 97.
He finally had one.
Broke his leg last week.
Tripped, walking down the aisle of a burlesque house.
Any hints you could give us
as to where he might have gone would be helpful.
Mr. Wickersham, my father is stubborn and wonderful
and unpredictable.
I just don't know.
But I'm scared.
Hey, relax, baby.
You're hurting before you're hit.
Yes?
Thank you.
I'm afraid we, uh, may have located Mr. West.
Where?
Well, say it, man. I can guess where he is.
In the morgue.
Come on, doll, be a big girl.
I I can't.
It's not your father, Julie.
What?
It's Willie Lang.
How was the identification made, Newman?
Routine preliminary on the basis
of pocket contents and clothing.
West's coat.
Stolen?
Willie'll never tell.
Guess I'll have to ask West
if I ever find him.
How about that?
Nice reception?
Are you having fun?
You can laugh all the way to Willie Lang's funeral.
Poor Willie.
How did it happen?
He came by to see you last night.
His next known stop was the morgue,
the price of admission was a broken back.
It was supposed to look like an accident.
Now who'd murder Willie?
Does Julie know you're here? No.
Well, my last bit of advice
before I retire from the case
call her.
Why?
Because she worries.
You could have been dead.
She didn't know you were coming back
to play with a tape recorder and a stuffed gorilla.
Good-bye.
Now, Mannix, wait!
Now, you know that, uh
remote-control gadget that changes TV channels
when you press a button?
Yeah.
Well, I've rewired the channel-change gadget
in back of the set.
The remote's outside, in a tree, pointed towards the set.
Now, if anybody walks in front of it, the channel changes.
Well, it worked, didn't it?
Did you, uh, give Willie Lang some of your clothes?
Yeah.
They looked real good on him.
Mannix here. Get me Wickersham.
Hey, Lou, West is here at home.
Yeah, and, uh, you'd better send
over somebody to play nursemaid.
Swanson would be fine, yeah.
Oh, and, uh, tell him not
to pay any attention to a gorilla.
Never mind. I'll check with you later.
You know, I met some of your friends
the late Willie Lang, a lawyer named Quinn
They've got no connection with the attempt on my life.
My writing is based on factual material.
I got research from Quinn and Lang.
I also spoke to a young lady,
a very interesting young lady.
Nikki Jason.
Hmm, I guess you could call her research, too.
Now believe me, she's got no possible connection
with the murder.
Stay out of sight.
Did you see anyone on this path a minute ago?
I don't know, did I?
Did you see anyone?
Maybe I wasn't looking.
Look, Devlin Cool it.
I didn't see anybody.
There's no way you could have missed anyone on this path.
If you say so.
That means there was nobody on the path.
Right, Dad?
The label says "Danger poison gas."
Yeah, well I didn't figure he'd be pumping perfume
through your air conditioning.
I didn't touch it.
Fingerprints might turn up.
They will.
Mine.
I didn't have time to use gloves.
Run this through the lab. When you get a report,
try and find out who sold it and who bought it, huh?
Quantitative or qualitative analysis?
Just find out who put it out, Hayden.
All right.
We'll check it out, but that's a long shot.
Nobody'd leave that obvious a trail.
It'll give the computers something to do,
keep them off the streets.
Did you turn up anything on Quinn?
I have an appointment with him in an hour and a half.
I'm assembling some ammunition.
Want to come along? I'll meet you.
Willie Lang's killing is the
closest thing I've got to a lead.
I want to find out what the police have.
The police came up empty.
They questioned the man he shared a room with,
but he said he hadn't seen
Willie since early in the evening.
I'll just skip the police.
And check the roommate, right?
Well, wouldn't you like to know his name?
His name is Starkey. Room 307.
Thanks.
Hello.
Yeah, this is Pete.
Yeah, a guy just went up to see Starkey.
About 35, tall.
Whatever you're sellin' I don't want.
You bucking for one less leg?
I might be the law.
Show me papers.
I might be I'm not.
It takes less energy to talk.
I used up all my talk with the cops!
I got nothing to say.
Reconsider.
You want to know about Willie.
This buys all I know.
He was a nice fella.
Now good-bye.
Try harder!
More green stuff.
More talk.
Now what are you holding back on me?
All right, all right.
A guy don't try, he don't get.
I ain't living like a king.
Willie ain't living!
What route was he going? Who did he cross?
He wouldn't hurt a fly.
How'd he make his buck?
You ain't gonna believe this.
He was straight.
He'd run errands, hustle pool,
maybe take a bet for a bookie.
Nothing. He went honest.
You don't collect a bullet for being honest.
Willie was all Boy Scout.
The night he caught it, he told me he was going out
to take a friend off the hook.
Put a name to that friend.
You defended Willie Lang.
What was the charge?
Well, let's just hold that in abeyance for a moment.
I'd like to make a stipulation.
Now, you're an intelligent man, Mr. Wickersham.
You're an excellent detective, you have a law degree.
You would undoubtedly
have made an outstanding attorney
if you had chosen to practice.
Now, to save time,
would you concede that I'm not an absolute dolt?
So stipulated.
Then how do you expect me
to believe that you haven't at
least done elementary homework?
Yes.
Have him wait.
Your associate.
Now, public records
in the courthouse would tell you
where poor Willie went astray.
He was found guilty of breaking and entering
Nikki Jason's apartment.
Now, last night, you said she was your client.
Well, actually we met when she was a prosecution witness.
She was so impressed with my cross-examination,
she later came to me.
What and when?
Privileged.
She wasn't booked. She has no record.
Willie's been murdered.
We'd like to prevent Dwight West from joining the list.
Now, I'm fairly sure you've bent ethics in the past
in a less worthy cause.
Get out!
You've been appointed neither
judge nor keeper of my ethics.
You're right. I'm sorry. I was out of line.
Your apology is not accepted.
Cheap words quickly said and at no cost!
Good day, sir!
I got what for.
No luck, huh?
This is not my day.
The deceased: Starkey, William, age 38.
Six-foot two.
Hayden 250
Hayden, his statistics aren't vital anymore.
Police record in Kansas City:
armed assault.
Burglary. Suspicion of murder.
New York Yeah, I'm with you.
Quinn represented Nikki Jason
when she was pulled in on suspicion of bunco.
Anything else on her?
Right. Thanks, Pat.
I'll do as much for you sometime.
She's clean on the bunco.
The only other police contact was several years ago
when a girl she roomed with was murdered.
The case made quite a splash, but was never solved.
You probably remember
the papers called it the "Scarlet Venus Murder."
I followed that case.
Terrible. Poor girl, so pretty.
That was about, uh
six years ago.
Willie Lang burgled Nikki Jason's apartment.
When was that?
Six years ago last September.
Are you calling West?
Right.
The line's busy.
Want to bet West's new book is based on the Scarlet Venus?
Got anything else, Hayden?
Montoya claimed that the girl was going to marry him.
He was released for lack of evidence.
Where is Montoya now?
Montoya?
You still living in the mountains?
Yeah, wherever you say.
Sure, two hours is fine.
I left a note for Mannix.
You're not supposed to go out, Mr. West.
I'll be back.
Let me check with the office.
Now there's no answer.
I thought you assigned Swanson to stay with West.
I did. He is or was.
Well, maybe you should have assigned
someone to stay with Swanson!
♪♪
♪♪
♪♪
♪♪
♪♪
See for yourself. Empty.
She packed everything and was gone by noon.
You're welcome to look around.
Thank you.
Excuse me.
This is Nikki Jason speaking.
If you leave a message, it will be recorded.
Please speak into the phone after you hear the double tone.
Thank you.
Nikki, I've got to talk to you. This is Dean Devlin.
Call me.
Swanson
Ooh Are you all right?
I really caught one.
Where's West?
He could be the one that clobbered me.
Maybe your old man's gone ape.
He ducked out.
I followed. Pow! That's it.
Gee, I never figured your pop to be such a swinger.
Shut up, Dean!
Did you see who hit you?
No.
Hello.
Yes, Mannix?
Yeah, I'm at West's. He's gone.
Swanson got slugged.
Lou, can you get me a fix
on the daughter's boyfriend, Dean Devlin?
Yeah, he's right here.
Hold on.
You left a message for Nikki Jason.
Why was it so important for you to see her?
Just wanted to see if she read any good books lately.
Who's Nikki Jason?
It's a friend of your father's. I met her
through him. Why did you call her?
I got my reasons.
That answer your question?
Dean is being very cute, Joe.
Oh. West left a note for Mannix, over there.
Now, hold on, there's a message here.
"Mannix,
"I think I know who's gunning for me.
"There are just a couple of loose ends,
"and they'll be tied together
"by the time I meet Montoya this afternoon
at the observatory. Dwight West."
Why are you following me?
I'm looking for Dwight West.
You came to my cabin.
You're one of them.
One of whom?
She was good.
And you killed her, you and the rest.
Who else, Montoya?
Hey!
Nobody's allowed up there!
Did you find Montoya?
Yeah, and lost him.
He's gone berserk.
Did West meet him?
I don't know.
Montoya could kill him,
or anybody else connected with this case.
I've got men covering some of the people,
but we'll try to find West.
Yeah, and I'll try and find Montoya,
and as long as he's running loose,
you'd better warn the others.
Right. Good luck, Joe.
Yeah. If I find him, I'll need it.
I've contacted the agent
tailing Dean Devlin, Mr. Wickersham.
Wickersham. Where's Devlin?
You're supposed to be good enough to stick with him.
Find him. If you need any help, you can have it.
Keep in touch.
Who's the man assigned to Orlando Quinn?
Greaves, sir.
I can't contact him.
Try harder!
It's not li
Greaves, sir.
What about Quinn?
Not in his office and not expected.
I tried his home, but he's never there during the day.
They'll leave us alone.
I promise.
Montoya!
I only want to talk to you!
Liar!
I don't know anything about your girl!
You killed her.
All of you!
I'll get you
the way I got Willie.
The way I'll get
all of you.
Mr. Mannix.
Join me.
I'm waiting for Dwight West.
Why?
Must one have a reason to wait for one's friends?
What's yours?
Trying to keep him alive.
You know, a man named Montoya killed Willie Lang yesterday.
Six years after he accidentally
found out something
while burgling an apartment.
Mannix here. Get me Wickersham.
Well, when you find him, tell him Montoya is dead.
But he did talk. He said
Look, I'll call you in two hours.
Your gun, Mr. Mannix.
On the table.
Carefully.
Good boy.
Now
What did Montoya talk about,
Mr. Mannix?
You, Mr. Quinn.
I'm not sure I believe you.
If you don't believe me, why the gun?
What did he say?
"'Twas brillig and the slithy toves
did"
Behave yourself.
Montoya didn't know you killed the Scarlet Venus.
That's hardly news, Mr. Mannix.
He would have throttled anyone he even thought
would hurt that girl.
I think you should sit
where I can more comfortably watch you
while we continue our discussion.
I told Montoya that you killed her.
You have a taste for fantasy.
Fact, Mr. Quinn.
Somebody wanted to get rid of Willie Lang
and West.
Montoya was the loaded gun.
You pulled the trigger.
You could change jobs with West.
Your talent for fiction at least equals his.
West and I both hit on the answer.
He was writing a book about the Scarlet Venus.
He had to solve the crime
before he could finish the book.
You knew you'd be marked the minute he finished that book.
If any part of that were true,
I'd find it necessary to eliminate you,
as well as West.
You'd better take a look at the telephone.
Remember what I said on the phone?
"I'll call you in two hours." That's code.
The switchboard operator hooks up a tape,
records and then the call is traced.
Everything we've said is on tape.
Shut up.
Oh, you could kill me,
but you'd never get away with it.
You're a smart lawyer, Quinn.
Your best bet is to try and beat the Scarlet Venus case.
Now, why don't you put away that gun?
You haven't got a chance, Quinn.
The police are moving in on this house.
Don't you think you'd be better off
pleading you killed the girl while temporarily insane?
Insane?
She said she loved me.
I'm not a lovable man.
I'm not the handsomest man.
But I believed her.
Don't move!
I won't stand trial.
I won't be laughed at.
Not by you, not by anyone.
And certainly not by the girl you killed.
I'm afraid you're too late, Quinn.
I shouldn't have believed you.
Code
Recording
Nonsense.
I thought I I was a clever man.
Once I thought
I was a lovable
man
Two fatal mistakes.
I'll call in.
Your father's in no more danger.
Joe?
Get me Lieutenant Jacobsen, Homicide.
West is on his way.
He called, asked us to meet him here.
Meet him?
Mannix, I solved the case.
I was going to be killed
because I inadvertently pointed to the murderer
in the plot of my new book about Scarlet Venus.
I just got the last bit of information I needed from
Nikki here. Yeah.
Now I know who the killer is.
It's that beach bum,
Dean Devlin.
You may be right.
Why don't you check it out with Quinn?
Daddy.
Oh, Daddy.
I don't know
what I'm doing here.
Do you?
Going to meet your uncle at the hospital?
I'd like to meet him.