Peter Gunn (1958) s01e25 Episode Script
The Lederer Story
1
© BF-WATCH TV 2021.
I'm sorry, we're closed.
Please.
That's water, but it's quick.
Can I help you?
You know, Mr. Gunn, Pete Gunn, does he come here?
Yes, he does.
Barney!
Lady?
Lady?
Barney?
I think she's dead.
She was in trouble.
Barney gave her a drink of water.
She asked for you and collapsed.
You ever seen her before?
No.
But here's her purse.
Where her face is distorted, she might have been poisoned.
Poisoned?
Why, all she got here was a glass of water.
That was all she got, wasn't it?
That's all she got from me.
Mrs. Lucille Lederer.
That mean anything to you?
No.
Never heard of her.
You better call Lieutenant Jacoby.
Yes, she's been poisoned.
He's going to be curious.
If you don't call him, he's going to be even more curious.
Murders, detectives, it's things like this that
are going to give my joint a bad reputation.
Now what?
The lady asked for me.
I think I'd better find out what she wanted.
What will we tell Lieutenant Jacoby?
Tell him I was in.
Swell.
Excuse me.
Yes, sir, can I help you?
I own the cafe.
Maybe you can.
I need some information.
Sure, if I can.
I'm looking for a Mrs. Lederer.
Do you know her?
Oh, yeah, yeah, sure.
She owns the Destiny down there.
Kind of a strange name.
A strange one.
The boat?
No, Mrs. Lederer.
She lives on the Destiny.
Got it fixed up with all the comforts of home.
Even has a Butler and a maid.
On the boat?
Mm-hmm.
About the only people Mrs. Lederer sees these days.
Particularly since her husband disappeared.
When did that happen?
Oh, about six months ago, I'd say.
David Lederer fell overboard during the night.
It's in all the papers.
I didn't read about it.
Mrs. Lederer took it pretty hard, I guess.
Ever since her husband disappeared,
she's had to vote up for sale.
Last thing in the world you'd think she'd
want to sell, though.
Boat's been her home.
Hey, Skipper, how about some more coffee?
Okay.
Looks like a nice boat.
Yeah, it sure is.
You, uh, interested?
Yeah, I'd like to take a look at it.
You the agent?
Well, uh, kinda.
I keep the listings on it.
But I, uh, I get a split of the commission.
So if I bring in any customers, Captain
Hessler keeps in a beautiful condition.
Come on, Skipper, how about some more coffee?
All right, I'm coming.
Uh, how about the boat?
Oh, yes, yes, it's, uh, down there in
about the sixth, uh, seventh slip.
Thanks.
Come on, Skipper.
Okay, so I'm coming.
What do you want?
I might want to buy a boat, but this one's for sale.
It's not.
It's listed for sale.
The owner has changed her mind.
Now, why should she want to do that?
Why don't you ask her?
You're the captain?
I am.
Who are you?
Peter Gunn.
You should be more careful, Mr. Gunn.
Should I?
Prowling around strange boats?
I, uh, might have an accident?
Hmm.
It's possible.
Like Mr. Lederer?
What do you mean by that?
Nothing special.
I guess anyone could fall off a boat on a dark night.
Hmm.
It was most unfortunate.
I'm sure it was.
Unless he was pushed.
Mr. Lederer fell overboard.
It was an accident, that's all.
Were you aboard when it happened?
Yes.
How did it happen?
There was a full investigation by a coroner's jury.
The transcript's available.
If the boat's not for sale, why don't you
take it off the listings?
I'm planning to.
Do you?
I thought the boat belonged to Mrs. Lederer.
I have the authorization.
And now you you better leave.
If Mrs. Lederer should change her mind, I'll be back.
I wouldn't advise you.
Let me talk to Dutch.
It's a little crowded, isn't it?
Yeah, it is, isn't it?
People around here keep pretty much to their boats.
They mind their own business.
They don't like strangers snooping around, you know.
I didn't know.
Now, isn't that a pity?
You know
What.
Did the coroner have to say?
His letter was poisoned, arsenic.
It comes from a common German killer called Rat Ruff.
Looks like murder.
Do you have a suspect?
Anybody at all.
You might try the captain of her boat.
Why?
He's pretty antisocial.
That's hardly grounds for conviction.
Shake him a little, he might bloom.
He's last year's blossom.
The coroner's jury tried to plant a letter
of disappearance on him.
What was the verdict?
Accidental death.
Man fell out of a boat.
You believe that?
I wasn't there.
Who was?
Mrs. Letterer, Captain Hessler,
Max the Butler, and Rosie the maid.
That's all?
Should have been enough.
But on the cross-examination, they turned
out to be one big happy family.
Hessler is Max's father, and Rosie's the daughter-in-law.
They all have the same story?
Line for line.
Do you think it was an accident?
That's what the coroner called it.
And if you were the coroner?
I'd have to listen to some nosy cop trying
to tell me it was murder.
Papa, if you'll let us explain.
Never mind.
Papa.
No one names her addresses or friends.
She couldn't be far.
Whenever she's gone, we've got to find out.
Papa.
What is it?
It wasn't Max's fault, Papa.
Whose fault was it?
I go to pick up supplies.
I'm not gone an hour and I come back to
find you let her get out.
We worked for weeks and months and just
like that, you let her get out.
We didn't know she'd gone.
Max.
Yes, Papa.
You're a source of great disappointment to me.
Papa, I'm sorry.
Didn't I try hard enough for you?
I'm anxious about you, Maxwell.
Papa, it wasn't anything that could be helped.
How could you let such a thing happen?
We thought Mrs. Lederer was eating the
supper we took to her in her cabin.
Did she?
Part of it.
Enough of it.
The police will be here.
They're going to ask a lot of questions.
We'll be careful what we say.
I think we're tired, Papa.
This hasn't been easy.
I didn't expect it to be.
Max, listen to me.
We're almost at the end of it.
But one false move, one wrong word,
and everything we've done will be gone.
I know, Papa.
I wonder if you do.
You realize the possible consequences of your carelessness?
We might all go to prison.
And then we wouldn't be together anymore.
Don't say that, Papa.
That would be terrible.
Please don't say that.
All right, Max.
It hasn't happened yet.
And it won't.
We must allow ourselves to panic.
We must think and act in a proper and orderly fashion.
Whatever you want us to do.
It's not a matter of wanting.
It's a matter of expediency.
Merely because we were setback,
we mustn't lose faith in our plan.
More than that, we mustn't lose faith in each other.
Oh, we won't do that, Papa.
Good.
Now there are things to be done.
Already people are asking questions.
A man was here on board, a man named Gunn.
He was curious, too curious.
I told you we'd be careful, Papa.
We'd better start right now.
Blake and Dutch are watching the boat.
I'll go up to the clubhouse.
Maybe somebody there talked to her before she drove off.
We have to find out where she went.
Papa.
Hmm?
Oh, thank you.
I don't like it, Rose.
The man who came to the boat, now the police.
Relax.
We've come this far.
You heard your father.
Now let's get the galley cleaned up.
Yes, Rose.
Rose, look.
What?
There was half a sandwich left.
You're imagining things.
Perhaps I am.
I wish this were over.
It will be very soon.
You mustn't let things work on your nerves.
I try not to.
It's going to be all right, Max.
I'll get it, Mother.
Mothers.
Hello, silly.
Where are you?
I'm on the yacht.
Pete, you've sailed.
Don't be ridiculous.
The yacht's reward.
Oh.
Well, did you find out anything?
Yeah.
Mrs. Letter should have eaten her dinners out.
Is Jacoby there?
No.
Well, look.
I called his office.
They said he's on his way over there.
Now, if you see him, you know what to do.
I got it.
I see him.
Hold on.
It's Pete.
So?
I got a sandwich you might be interested in.
What?
Mrs. Letter was poisoned by her two servants.
Hessler masterminded the whole affair.
You sure?
I got the evidence right here in my pocket.
Looks like they kept the murder right in the family.
Probably started as blackmail.
Is the letter his accident?
No.
I don't think it was an accident.
I think Mrs. Lederer probably killed him, tried to pay off
the crew, and when she wouldn't pay any more, arsenic.
You know, when I checked out Mrs. Lederer,
she had no relatives.
In that case, she must have left her will
to her trusted employees.
Clothing, jewelry, yacht.
Mm-hmm.
That's a pretty fair motive.
Listen, I'll meet you in a little while.
Stay where you are.
Where are you?
On the boat.
On the boat.
Pete, get off.
I'd like to.
Look, come on.
Get off the boat, huh?
I'm not alone.
But don't worry.
We're just one big happy family.
Pete.
Pete, get Pete!
Oh, there you are.
I, uh, I want to talk to you.
Who are you?
What do you want?
I understand this boat's for sale.
I just ran into the captain up at the cafe.
He, uh, suggested I have a look around.
Well, he did.
But that's not possible.
I mean, the owner of the boat isn't here, and
without the owner, I can't show you the boat.
Well, I'm not interested in the owner.
I'm interested in the boat.
Gally?
Yes, it is.
But I can't show it to you right now.
Oh, sorry.
Are you the maid?
Yes, sir.
You two go with the boat?
No, sir.
If you could see the boat in the daytime, Mr., uh Gunn.
Peter Gunn.
Now, uh, why don't we just sit down and
make ourselves comfortable?
I'm expecting a friend.
Soon.
Mr. Gunn, please.
My papa, the captain, if he finds you
here, he'll be very, very angry with me.
Yes, Max.
I'm sure you'll be a big disappointment to your papa.
Mr. Gunn.
So we meet again, Mr. Gunn, huh?
Maxel.
Yes, papa.
I hope you have an explanation for this.
He said you told him to come aboard.
He insisted on seeing the boat.
Maxel.
Yes, papa.
You're a fool.
He couldn't help it, papa.
There wasn't anything I could do.
How can you constantly do these thoughtless things?
You know how it hurts me.
Mr. Gunn, I want you to stay away from this boat.
I just wanted to see what it looked like.
Max was good enough to show me around.
And what did you find?
Enough.
You're persistent, Mr. Gunn, aren't you?
At times.
The wrong times, I'm afraid.
Mr. Gunn, we'll go up on deck.
You'll move very carefully, or I'll be obliged to kill you.
Max, Rose.
Yes, papa.
Stay below.
Touch, Blackie.
Keep on walking.
Where'd you find him?
Down below.
And now we need a place where Mr. Gunn can't be found.
By anyone.
Take care of him, boys.
Come on, let's take him up forward.
Hey, let me get his wallet.
We don't want any identification.
You know, I owe him a little something.
Come on.
Papa, are you all right?
It's nothing, Maxwell.
Don't worry.
Well, one of you better start worrying.
Get going.
We mustn't worry, Maxwell.
It's going to be all right.
But, Papa Maxwell, Maxwell, we
mustn't allow ourselves to be alarmed.
We must be very careful how we act and what we say,
because everything may be useless evidence against us.
It won't be easy.
But if a family can't suffer adversity
together, that family isn't worth its salt.
Are you getting all this?
Sort of a togetherness.
Come on, get going.
© BF-WATCH TV 2021.
© BF-WATCH TV 2021.
© BF-WATCH TV 2021.
I'm sorry, we're closed.
Please.
That's water, but it's quick.
Can I help you?
You know, Mr. Gunn, Pete Gunn, does he come here?
Yes, he does.
Barney!
Lady?
Lady?
Barney?
I think she's dead.
She was in trouble.
Barney gave her a drink of water.
She asked for you and collapsed.
You ever seen her before?
No.
But here's her purse.
Where her face is distorted, she might have been poisoned.
Poisoned?
Why, all she got here was a glass of water.
That was all she got, wasn't it?
That's all she got from me.
Mrs. Lucille Lederer.
That mean anything to you?
No.
Never heard of her.
You better call Lieutenant Jacoby.
Yes, she's been poisoned.
He's going to be curious.
If you don't call him, he's going to be even more curious.
Murders, detectives, it's things like this that
are going to give my joint a bad reputation.
Now what?
The lady asked for me.
I think I'd better find out what she wanted.
What will we tell Lieutenant Jacoby?
Tell him I was in.
Swell.
Excuse me.
Yes, sir, can I help you?
I own the cafe.
Maybe you can.
I need some information.
Sure, if I can.
I'm looking for a Mrs. Lederer.
Do you know her?
Oh, yeah, yeah, sure.
She owns the Destiny down there.
Kind of a strange name.
A strange one.
The boat?
No, Mrs. Lederer.
She lives on the Destiny.
Got it fixed up with all the comforts of home.
Even has a Butler and a maid.
On the boat?
Mm-hmm.
About the only people Mrs. Lederer sees these days.
Particularly since her husband disappeared.
When did that happen?
Oh, about six months ago, I'd say.
David Lederer fell overboard during the night.
It's in all the papers.
I didn't read about it.
Mrs. Lederer took it pretty hard, I guess.
Ever since her husband disappeared,
she's had to vote up for sale.
Last thing in the world you'd think she'd
want to sell, though.
Boat's been her home.
Hey, Skipper, how about some more coffee?
Okay.
Looks like a nice boat.
Yeah, it sure is.
You, uh, interested?
Yeah, I'd like to take a look at it.
You the agent?
Well, uh, kinda.
I keep the listings on it.
But I, uh, I get a split of the commission.
So if I bring in any customers, Captain
Hessler keeps in a beautiful condition.
Come on, Skipper, how about some more coffee?
All right, I'm coming.
Uh, how about the boat?
Oh, yes, yes, it's, uh, down there in
about the sixth, uh, seventh slip.
Thanks.
Come on, Skipper.
Okay, so I'm coming.
What do you want?
I might want to buy a boat, but this one's for sale.
It's not.
It's listed for sale.
The owner has changed her mind.
Now, why should she want to do that?
Why don't you ask her?
You're the captain?
I am.
Who are you?
Peter Gunn.
You should be more careful, Mr. Gunn.
Should I?
Prowling around strange boats?
I, uh, might have an accident?
Hmm.
It's possible.
Like Mr. Lederer?
What do you mean by that?
Nothing special.
I guess anyone could fall off a boat on a dark night.
Hmm.
It was most unfortunate.
I'm sure it was.
Unless he was pushed.
Mr. Lederer fell overboard.
It was an accident, that's all.
Were you aboard when it happened?
Yes.
How did it happen?
There was a full investigation by a coroner's jury.
The transcript's available.
If the boat's not for sale, why don't you
take it off the listings?
I'm planning to.
Do you?
I thought the boat belonged to Mrs. Lederer.
I have the authorization.
And now you you better leave.
If Mrs. Lederer should change her mind, I'll be back.
I wouldn't advise you.
Let me talk to Dutch.
It's a little crowded, isn't it?
Yeah, it is, isn't it?
People around here keep pretty much to their boats.
They mind their own business.
They don't like strangers snooping around, you know.
I didn't know.
Now, isn't that a pity?
You know
What.
Did the coroner have to say?
His letter was poisoned, arsenic.
It comes from a common German killer called Rat Ruff.
Looks like murder.
Do you have a suspect?
Anybody at all.
You might try the captain of her boat.
Why?
He's pretty antisocial.
That's hardly grounds for conviction.
Shake him a little, he might bloom.
He's last year's blossom.
The coroner's jury tried to plant a letter
of disappearance on him.
What was the verdict?
Accidental death.
Man fell out of a boat.
You believe that?
I wasn't there.
Who was?
Mrs. Letterer, Captain Hessler,
Max the Butler, and Rosie the maid.
That's all?
Should have been enough.
But on the cross-examination, they turned
out to be one big happy family.
Hessler is Max's father, and Rosie's the daughter-in-law.
They all have the same story?
Line for line.
Do you think it was an accident?
That's what the coroner called it.
And if you were the coroner?
I'd have to listen to some nosy cop trying
to tell me it was murder.
Papa, if you'll let us explain.
Never mind.
Papa.
No one names her addresses or friends.
She couldn't be far.
Whenever she's gone, we've got to find out.
Papa.
What is it?
It wasn't Max's fault, Papa.
Whose fault was it?
I go to pick up supplies.
I'm not gone an hour and I come back to
find you let her get out.
We worked for weeks and months and just
like that, you let her get out.
We didn't know she'd gone.
Max.
Yes, Papa.
You're a source of great disappointment to me.
Papa, I'm sorry.
Didn't I try hard enough for you?
I'm anxious about you, Maxwell.
Papa, it wasn't anything that could be helped.
How could you let such a thing happen?
We thought Mrs. Lederer was eating the
supper we took to her in her cabin.
Did she?
Part of it.
Enough of it.
The police will be here.
They're going to ask a lot of questions.
We'll be careful what we say.
I think we're tired, Papa.
This hasn't been easy.
I didn't expect it to be.
Max, listen to me.
We're almost at the end of it.
But one false move, one wrong word,
and everything we've done will be gone.
I know, Papa.
I wonder if you do.
You realize the possible consequences of your carelessness?
We might all go to prison.
And then we wouldn't be together anymore.
Don't say that, Papa.
That would be terrible.
Please don't say that.
All right, Max.
It hasn't happened yet.
And it won't.
We must allow ourselves to panic.
We must think and act in a proper and orderly fashion.
Whatever you want us to do.
It's not a matter of wanting.
It's a matter of expediency.
Merely because we were setback,
we mustn't lose faith in our plan.
More than that, we mustn't lose faith in each other.
Oh, we won't do that, Papa.
Good.
Now there are things to be done.
Already people are asking questions.
A man was here on board, a man named Gunn.
He was curious, too curious.
I told you we'd be careful, Papa.
We'd better start right now.
Blake and Dutch are watching the boat.
I'll go up to the clubhouse.
Maybe somebody there talked to her before she drove off.
We have to find out where she went.
Papa.
Hmm?
Oh, thank you.
I don't like it, Rose.
The man who came to the boat, now the police.
Relax.
We've come this far.
You heard your father.
Now let's get the galley cleaned up.
Yes, Rose.
Rose, look.
What?
There was half a sandwich left.
You're imagining things.
Perhaps I am.
I wish this were over.
It will be very soon.
You mustn't let things work on your nerves.
I try not to.
It's going to be all right, Max.
I'll get it, Mother.
Mothers.
Hello, silly.
Where are you?
I'm on the yacht.
Pete, you've sailed.
Don't be ridiculous.
The yacht's reward.
Oh.
Well, did you find out anything?
Yeah.
Mrs. Letter should have eaten her dinners out.
Is Jacoby there?
No.
Well, look.
I called his office.
They said he's on his way over there.
Now, if you see him, you know what to do.
I got it.
I see him.
Hold on.
It's Pete.
So?
I got a sandwich you might be interested in.
What?
Mrs. Letter was poisoned by her two servants.
Hessler masterminded the whole affair.
You sure?
I got the evidence right here in my pocket.
Looks like they kept the murder right in the family.
Probably started as blackmail.
Is the letter his accident?
No.
I don't think it was an accident.
I think Mrs. Lederer probably killed him, tried to pay off
the crew, and when she wouldn't pay any more, arsenic.
You know, when I checked out Mrs. Lederer,
she had no relatives.
In that case, she must have left her will
to her trusted employees.
Clothing, jewelry, yacht.
Mm-hmm.
That's a pretty fair motive.
Listen, I'll meet you in a little while.
Stay where you are.
Where are you?
On the boat.
On the boat.
Pete, get off.
I'd like to.
Look, come on.
Get off the boat, huh?
I'm not alone.
But don't worry.
We're just one big happy family.
Pete.
Pete, get Pete!
Oh, there you are.
I, uh, I want to talk to you.
Who are you?
What do you want?
I understand this boat's for sale.
I just ran into the captain up at the cafe.
He, uh, suggested I have a look around.
Well, he did.
But that's not possible.
I mean, the owner of the boat isn't here, and
without the owner, I can't show you the boat.
Well, I'm not interested in the owner.
I'm interested in the boat.
Gally?
Yes, it is.
But I can't show it to you right now.
Oh, sorry.
Are you the maid?
Yes, sir.
You two go with the boat?
No, sir.
If you could see the boat in the daytime, Mr., uh Gunn.
Peter Gunn.
Now, uh, why don't we just sit down and
make ourselves comfortable?
I'm expecting a friend.
Soon.
Mr. Gunn, please.
My papa, the captain, if he finds you
here, he'll be very, very angry with me.
Yes, Max.
I'm sure you'll be a big disappointment to your papa.
Mr. Gunn.
So we meet again, Mr. Gunn, huh?
Maxel.
Yes, papa.
I hope you have an explanation for this.
He said you told him to come aboard.
He insisted on seeing the boat.
Maxel.
Yes, papa.
You're a fool.
He couldn't help it, papa.
There wasn't anything I could do.
How can you constantly do these thoughtless things?
You know how it hurts me.
Mr. Gunn, I want you to stay away from this boat.
I just wanted to see what it looked like.
Max was good enough to show me around.
And what did you find?
Enough.
You're persistent, Mr. Gunn, aren't you?
At times.
The wrong times, I'm afraid.
Mr. Gunn, we'll go up on deck.
You'll move very carefully, or I'll be obliged to kill you.
Max, Rose.
Yes, papa.
Stay below.
Touch, Blackie.
Keep on walking.
Where'd you find him?
Down below.
And now we need a place where Mr. Gunn can't be found.
By anyone.
Take care of him, boys.
Come on, let's take him up forward.
Hey, let me get his wallet.
We don't want any identification.
You know, I owe him a little something.
Come on.
Papa, are you all right?
It's nothing, Maxwell.
Don't worry.
Well, one of you better start worrying.
Get going.
We mustn't worry, Maxwell.
It's going to be all right.
But, Papa Maxwell, Maxwell, we
mustn't allow ourselves to be alarmed.
We must be very careful how we act and what we say,
because everything may be useless evidence against us.
It won't be easy.
But if a family can't suffer adversity
together, that family isn't worth its salt.
Are you getting all this?
Sort of a togetherness.
Come on, get going.
© BF-WATCH TV 2021.
© BF-WATCH TV 2021.