"(THEME MUSIC PLAYING)" "Mannix s8e12 A Choice Of Victims" "GUARD:" "Good evening, Mr. Harris." "Where's the charity show rehearsing?" "On Stage 16, sir." "Freddy?" "Yes, sir." "(DRAMATIC MELODY)" "DIRECTOR:" "Five, six, seven and eight." "And one, two, three and four and five, six, and seven and eight." "And one, two..." "make it nice and smooth." "All together, come on." "One, two." "Oh, yeah, oh, yeah." "Six, seven and eight." "One, two, and three and four, and five, six and seven and eight." "And one, two." "Make it nice and sharp, now, huh?" "Seven, eight." "One, two, three and four." "Ah, yeah." "And one, two, three, four, five, six, seven." "Nice head release." "One, two, three, four, five, six, and seven, and eight." "One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, and eight." "And one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, and eight." "And finish, two, three, four, five, six, seven." "And one, two, three, four, five, six, seven." "Altogether, one, two, three, four, five, and six, and seven." "(MUSIC ENDS) DIRECTOR:" "Well, okay." "Come on, let's get together." "LAURA:" "Hi, darling, you missed my specialty." "I know." "I'm sorry." "How's it going?" "Oh, it's a little rough around the edges, but it's going to be marvelous." "Roland will put it together." "Where are your car keys?" "What?" "Well, I'm leaving you the Rolls, and Freddy." "What for?" "Well, I don't want you driving home alone." "Uh, it's parked on the Western Street." "Where are you going?" "Oh, I have a business appointment." "Business." "Of course." "It's important, Laura." "I know, Victor." "It's always important." "I don't know, Mr. Mannix." "I don't know why anyone would want me dead, but I do know it was my car, so it must've been me they wanted to kill." "MANNIX:" "How did your husband happen to take your car?" "I was rehearsing, and he came by the studio." "Rehearsing?" "I was doing a charity show." "I belong to "The Helpmates."" "We do a benefit every year for crippled children." "Tom Andros is producing it this year." "Anyway, Victor came by about 10:00, and he said, "I'll take your car." "Freddy'll drive you home."" "Freddy?" "The chauffeur." "Victor didn't want me driving home alone." "Could anyone else have known he was, uh, gonna switch cars?" "Freddy, of course, but beyond that, I couldn't say." "Do you have any idea where your husband was going?" "It was, uh... business... in the Valley, I think." "Wasn't that sort of unusual?" "I mean, it was after 10:00 p.m." "10:00 was early for Victor." "I'd like to talk to your chauffeur, if you don't mind." "Hello, Doris." "Would you ask Freddy to come in, please." "He's probably in the garage." "Thank you." "How long has he worked for you?" "Seven or eight years." "For Victor, that is." "We've been married about three years." "Would you happen to know if your husband had any enemies?" "Mr. Mannix, having enemies goes with being wealthy and self-made." "Anyone who'd want to kill him?" "Not that I know of, but it's possible." "Victor was very, very competitive." "You might even say ruthless, in business matters." "(KNOCKING)" "Something I can do for you, Mrs. Harris?" "This is Mr. Mannix, Freddy." "He's a private investigator." "Mr. Mannix." "MANNIX:" "Do you mind answering a few questions?" "No, sir." "Do you have any idea where Mr. Harris might have been going last night?" "He didn't say, sir." "Well, that's not exactly what I asked." "I wanted to know if you had any idea where he might have been going?" "I'm just a chauffeur, sir." "Mrs. Harris tells me he was going to keep a business appointment." "Yes, I heard him." "And she also told me that he might have been going to the Valley." "Did he go there regularly?" "Yes." "Fairly often." "Did you ever drive him there?" "Yes, sir." "MANNIX:" "Exactly where in the Valley?" "Tell him, Freddy." "Mrs. Harris," "I worked for your husband for eight years." "During that time I've..." "LAURA:" "I know where you went." "I've known for months." "It doesn't matter now." "Tell Mr. Mannix where you went." "If you say so, Mrs. Harris." "2331 Morning Way." "Who lives there?" "A girl." "Janet Malone." "(DOORBELL RINGS)" "Miss Malone?" "Yes." "My name is Mannix." "I'm a private detective." "May I come in?" "Well, is it something important?" "You were expecting Victor Harris last night, isn't that right?" "Oh, I get it." "Dear Laura hired you to get something on Victor and me, didn't she?" "Well, you tell Mrs. Harris that I don't care how many private cops she hires." "Because I'm going to marry Victor, and nothing she does can stop me." "I take it you haven't seen the morning paper?" "No, I just woke up." "Why?" "I think we'd better talk inside, Miss Malone." "Mr. Mannix, whatever it is," "I'd appreciate it if you'd make it brief." "I'm afraid I have some bad news." "Is there any other kind?" "How bad?" "Pretty bad." "Is it Victor?" "Yes." "He's been hurt?" "He's dead." "How?" "Well, he was in his wife's car." "There was an explosion..." "She killed him." "Who?" "Laura, who else?" "Why would she want her husband dead?" "Because he wanted a divorce." "And she wouldn't give him one?" "And lose all that pretty money?" "Miss Malone, you told me you just woke up." "Yes." "And you haven't talked to anyone?" "No." "How do you take your coffee?" "Black." "Why?" "Do you usually take it in two different cups?" "Quite an act." "Okay." "Lay off." "She's in the clear." "Who are you?" "Tom Andros." "Well, I'll leave you two to your coffee." "Thank you, Miss Malone." "All right, all right." "Take it easy." "I'll be back in a second." "Mr. Mannix." "Look, about Janet, it wasn't an act." "I came here to tell her what happened, but you rang the bell before I could." "Andros?" "You're the producer of that charity show" "Mrs. Harris is in." "Yeah, that's right." "That must be quite a cozy little group." "A lot of togetherness, camaraderie." "We're all friends." "Was Mr. Harris your friend?" "Victor?" "I admired him enormously." "And how about Janet Malone?" "Do you admire her enormously, too?" "I knew she'd be very broken up when she heard about it." "So broken up you hid in her bedroom." "People have a way of... getting the wrong idea about things." "Look, I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't mention to anyone that you saw me here." "Why is that?" "Because I have a friend and I'd prefer it if this friend didn't know anything about my being here." "It's, uh, it's a personal matter." "So is murder, Mr. Andros." "(GUNSHOT)" "PEGGY:" "Hi, Joe." "CHIP:" "Hi, Joe." "Oh, you haven't got a chance." "Peggy, give Chip eight dollars." "For what?" "To pay the cabbie." "Oh, Joe, not again." "The insurance agency is already screaming." "Let them scream." "They're in a risk business." "Now, any messages?" "On your desk." "IVES:" "Mm-hmm." "Right..." "Right." "Mm-hmm." "(WHISPERS):" "Can I get you anything?" "Shotgun, windshield, and no other damage." "Right, well, I understand that he did report it promptly, which is kind of unusual for Mannix, isn't it?" "Right." "A little car trouble, Dan." "You didn't see either one of them?" "Ah, too busy hitting the deck." "How about this Tom Andros?" "You think it could have been him they were after?" "In show business?" "Ha, who knows?" "I understand Laura Harris recently became a client of yours." "That's right." "Well, now, do you buy the notion that maybe this bomb could have been meant for her?" "Kind of looks that way, Dan." "But, uh, it's pretty tough to come up with a motive." "You kind of like her, don't you, Joe?" "I mean, the lady's really, really got class." "Hey, what kind of a question is that?" "Well, the boys down at the lab pulled off a set of prints from that wrecked car and I found it very interesting." "So?" "I had the prints checked through Central Computer." "They belong to a girl named Gloria Martinson." "You're right." "Very interesting." "Oh, now, come on, Joe, don't tell me that that name doesn't ring a bell." "(SIGHS) Okay, Dan, just what are you getting at?" "Well... well, it seems that" "Gloria Martinson was arrested and booked by the Las Vegas police April 1969." "Top-of-the-line call girl." "(CHUCKLES):" "Fascinating." "I'll give her a call." "Still no bell, huh?" "Okay, Dan, who is Gloria Martinson?" "Your client, Joe..." "Laura Harris." "Joe, why would Victor Harris, with all of his money, marry a... a woman like that?" "Is the lieutenant positive, Joe?" "Well, the prints match, Chip." "Well, what if Harris didn't know?" "Maybe she was straight when he met her?" "I mean, after all, five years, that's a long time out of the game." "And anyway, Joe, whatever she did in Las Vegas, how would that have anything to do with her husband's murder?" "Or would it?" "Well, we're not sure it was Harris they were after." "(SNAPS FINGERS) Hey, try this one on for size." "Maybe she did get Harris to switch cars." "The rest could be fancy footwork." "No, no, no, Harris suggested the switch himself." "The chauffeur confirmed it." "Still, the estate's now all hers, isn't it?" "That's right." "And Harris must've left a bundle." "You know, Joe, Chip could be right." "She could have just hired you to, you know, for a cover, to make everything look kosher." "Yeah, that thought crossed my mind." "Chip, I'm gonna have to borrow your car." "Oh, Joe, the last time..." "Word of honor..." "55 miles an hour." "PEGGY:" "Where are you going?" "Well, who in town knows everyone in show business and everything about them?" "And now for tonight's thought." "What was the real reason behind the split of those two ex-writers, now producers of a hit series, One From Down under?" "Could it have been their temperamental star who now thinks he's above it all?" "This is Rona Barrett in Hollywood." "Ah, Rona, it's good to see you." "You're looking great." "How's my favorite private eye?" "(LAUGHS) Here, Harry." "Good night, Miss Barrett." "Thank you." "Hey, on the phone you said you wanted to know about the Helpmates?" "Mm." "Well, that takes in every wife of every big shot in the industry." "Uh, kind of makes them feel, uh, useful." "But you're not here as a show biz fan, are you, Joe?" "This about Victor Harris's death?" "That's right." "What sort of a man was he?" "Louse." "Qualify that: brilliant louse." "Charming when he wanted to be." "Amoral with a capital "A."" "But then, uh, who isn't in this dog pound?" "Come on, I'll buy you a drink." "Rona, what can you tell me about Harris and a girl named, uh..." "Janet Malone?" "Town's full of them." "Full of what?" "Victor Harris's Janet Malone." "Ah." "Was Victor Harris gonna divorce his wife?" "Who says?" "One particular Janet Malone." "Hey, she was either kidding herself or kidding you." "Evidently, Laura Harris knew about the Malone girl." "Look, there are some wives who are able to, um, shut their eyes if they're, uh, anxious to hold on to a man." "Is there any chance that the Malone girl was right?" "About victor marrying her?" "Mm-hmm." "Forget it." "I told you he had Janet Malones stashed all over the town." "That's how Victor operated." "He didn't like to turn up in, uh, let's say, Burbank and be caught short without company." "Why Laura married him, I'll never know." "Do you know anything about her background?" "I know everything about, uh, everyone in the industry, Joe." "(CHUCKLES)" "Still Irish rocks?" "Hey, you don't forget a thing, do you?" "It's the bottle on the left..." "and I'll have the same." "Joe..." "I like Laura Harris." "Don't hurt her, huh?" "Mm." "Was their marriage working?" "Like a charm." "Oops." "Said that a little too fast, Rona." "Sorry." "Um, okay." "About five or six months ago they had a rocky period." "Victor left the country..." "Paris, I think." "And?" "Nothing." "Apparently, they, uh, got together and straightened things out." "Tell me about, uh..." "Tom Andros." "Hm." "A shark." "He did the charity show last year, too, didn't he?" "Yes, but not for sweet charity's sake." "He wound up that little number with, uh, Ginny Freeman, and, uh, you know who she is." "Samuel Freeman's widow." "American Steel?" "That's right, darling." "And mad about Tom Andros." "MANNIX:" "Hm." "Why?" "Because, um, she's that age." "Poor soul, doesn't know she can't win." "Look, if she backs one of Tom's films and it's a flop, she's gonna lose a small fortune." "If it's a hit, you know he's gonna be long gone to, uh, younger and greener pastures." "Great business." "Right." "Does Andros play around?" "Why?" "Well, I walked in on a coffee klatch he was sharing with the Malone girl." "I was wondering if, uh, Victor Harris knew or cared." "Hey, Victor cared." "Nobody touched his property." "Organic or, uh, inorganic." "Well, I guess that about takes care of what I needed to know." "Thanks, Rona." "I'll call." "Mmm... with some nice, nasty dirt if possible, darling." "I can always wash it off." "(CHUCKLES)" "(PIANO PLAYING JAZZY SONG) Director: ..." "Two, three, four." "One, two, three, four." "Two, two, three, four." "Three, two, three, four." "Four... now, go to your point." "Uh, one, two, three, four." "Five, six... move back." "One, two, three, four, five, six." "Now, give me some shoulders." "One, two, three, four, five." "Take your time." "Kick." "Uh, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, turn." "And bow." "(MUSIC ENDS)" "Okay, girls, take a five break, will you?" "It's looking better and better, Roland." "You think so?" "I don't know, it needs a lot of work." "Keep smiling." "Laura." "You leaving?" "Yeah, I've got something to do for an hour, Tommy." "I'll be back." "Why don't you take the day off." "You really ought to get some rest." "No, I want to work." "Look, uh... if there's anything you need, you know, like a..." "a shoulder or something," "I'm right here." "All you have to do is ask." "Thanks, Tommy." "(LAUGHS SOFTLY) Ginny, you really ought to get heels that make a noise when you walk." "Really?" "What was all that about?" "Nothing." "I was telling Laura to take it easy." "Oh, how nice of you." "Ginny, you've got 60 women in this charity outfit." "Now, I, uh, talk to all of them at one time or another." "That's right." "That's right, darling." "Just be sure that that's all you do is talk... and not to one at a time." "Am I stupid?" "Hm?" "Give me the first 16 bars now, will you?" "(PIANO PLAYING JAZZY SONG)" "♪ ♪" "♪ ♪" "(PHONE RINGS)" "Mr. Mannix's office." "Oh, hi." "Peggy, find out who lives at 1145 Morrell Drive." "Got it." "Peggy, I'll call you back later." "(ENGINE STARTS)" "(ENGINE STARTS)" "(HORN HONKING)" "I'd like to talk to you for a minute." "Whatever you're selling, I'm not buying." "Laura Harris... you buy that?" "Who are you?" "The name is Mannix." "I'm a private investigator." "So?" "What's to investigate here?" "I need a couple of answers about you and your lady friend." "(LAUGHS) Okay." "So you found out that she pays the rent." "That illegal?" "Oh, no, no, that's not illegal." "But killing Mr. Harris and making it look like an accident, that's illegal." "As a matter of fact, uh, the DA calls it, I believe, murder." "You can't pin a rap like that on me." "I don't know what she did or didn't do to her husband, but don't you try to pin any part of it on me." "It got pinned on you the minute she came out here to see you." "You just try to make that stick." "What'd she want to talk to you about?" "Ask the lady." "But remember one thing... she came here to see me;" "I didn't go to her." "And right now you're standing on my property." "Ah, so I am." "Unless Mrs. Harris stops paying the rent." "(ENGINE STARTING)" "(TIRES SCREECHING)" "(ENGINES REVVING)" "(TIRES SCREECHING)" "♪ ♪" "(GUNSHOTS)" "(GUNSHOTS)" "(TIRES SCREECHING)" "♪ ♪" "IVES:" "You were lucky, Joe." "MANNIX:" "If I wasn't, how long could I last in this profession?" "Like I say, you're lucky." "Yeah." "How's this?" "The eyes and the nose are all right, but give him a little squarer jaw." "All right, one square jaw coming right up." "Yeah, yeah, that's it." "All right, so maybe this is one of the punks that tried to kill you." "But why?" "I don't know." "Whatever I'm doing is making somebody very nervous." "Hey, Joe." "Chip." "What happened?" "We expected you hours ago." "I had a little car trouble." "What?" "What'd you get on that Morrell Drive address?" "The name's Hal Carter." "What sort of trouble?" "It went off the road." "About Hal Carter..." "Las Vegas connections." "Syndicate?" "Seems so." "How far off the road?" "Huh?" "My car." "Oh, uh, well, the last I saw, it was at the bottom of a ravine, burning." "Peggy." "Burning?" "Any idea who Hal Carter works for?" "No, but he's muscle bait and he entertains a lot around the pool and bedroom." "How is he mixed up with Laura Harris?" "He told me to talk to her." "Apparently the lady has all the answers." "She called, Joe." "When?" "About an hour ago." "Said she'd wait for you." "I'd better get over there and have a man-to-man talk with Mrs. Harris before I'm too dead to talk." "Oh, and, Peggy, I'll need your car for about an hour." "No way." "Peggy." "Oh, and I made a call on Chip's car phone." "See that he gets a dime, huh?" "(DOORBELL RINGS)" "(DOORBELL RINGS)" "(KNOCKING ON GLASS)" "Get an ambulance over to 1701 North Roxford Drive." "Barbiturates..." "OD'd." "She's still alive." "Well, we've done a lavage and we have her on positive pressure." "Dr. James is with her now." "How are her chances?" "Well, everything possible is being done." "A few minutes later and she would have been a goner, though." "She had enough pentobarbital in her to kill a dozen people." "She's, uh, she's lucky you showed up." "May I see Laura Harris, please?" "I am a friend." "My name is Ginny Freeman." "I'm sorry, she's in intensive care." "No visitors." "Excuse me, Mrs. Freeman?" "Yes." "My name is Mannix." "Laura Harris is a client of mine." "A client?" "Yes, I'm a private detective." "Are you really?" "Well, will she be all right?" "I hope so." "It's awful, isn't it?" "Pills." "I had no idea she was so shaken up by Victor's death." "How did you know, Mrs. Freeman?" "What?" "That Mrs. Harris had taken an overdose of pills." "Oh, you really are a detective, aren't you?" "Well, as a matter of fact, Tommy Andros told me." "He's our producer, and Laura didn't show up for rehearsal, so he called the house, and the housekeeper told him that the ambulance had just left." "Mr. Mannix, I'm really not very comfortable in hospitals." "Um, isn't there a coffee shop or something?" "Yes, I believe there's one on the ground floor." "Well, shall we?" "Mrs. Freeman, do you happen to know a girl named Janet Malone?" "Well, now, that's not very likely, is it?" "I think what you're asking, Mr. Mannix, is if, um, I know that Tommy has been seeing Janet Malone." "Is that it?" "That's about it." "Yes, I do know." "I also know that Tommy has been making... or has made..." "a pass at Laura Harris." "Oh, isn't that nice?" "I surprised you." "Mr. Mannix, it's been a very long time since I broke into girlish laughter." "I do not fool myself." "I have a very attractive bank account... attractive and sweet... and I know what kind of flies that attracts." "An ambitious, attractive man like Tommy Andros... well, I keep him on a very long leash, but the collar around his neck..." "that has my name on it." "Ah, here comes Rover now." "Ginny." "Darling." "I've been all over the hospital looking for you." "Is Laura all right?" "I think she will be." "Pills." "I can't even swallow vitamins." "Oh, Tommy." "Now, listen, I think we should be going." "I mean, you have all those people waiting for you at the rehearsal." "Don't you think we ought to talk to the doctor?" "Well, Mr. Mannix will let us know when Laura is out of danger." "Won't you?" "Mm-hmm." "We really should be going, huh?" "The show must go on, you know." "Why?" "Because it's a very old tradition." "Uh, Tommy, darling, would you get my car and just bring it around the front?" "I'll be right along." "All right." "Mr. Mannix, I told you I don't fool myself." "Everything is very expensive, and at my age I don't mind paying." "Good-bye." "Mrs. Freeman." "Yes, Mr. Mannix." "You should shop around a bit more." "You may do better for your money." "Do you think so?" "Bye-bye." "Well, if her pulse and respiration stay the same, the situation should stabilize." "Well, that's the way I had it." "Doctor, excuse me, how is Laura Harris doing?" "Well, it was pretty close, but she's gonna pull through, there's no doubt about that." "This is Dr. James..." "her personal physician." "Mr. Mannix... the gentleman who found her." "Oh, I imagine you've already been told that you got there in the nick of time." "Doctor, you prescribed sleeping pills for Mrs. Harris two days ago, just before her husband's death." "Is that right?" "Yes, I did, as a matter of fact." "Why?" "Mr. Mannix, I'm sure you must be aware of the confidential nature of..." "The doctor-patient relationship, yes, but Mrs. Harris hired me to protect her, and I can't do that unless I know how serious she is." "Hired you?" "Yes, I'm a private detective." "Look, Mr. Mannix, what I tell a patient..." "Doctor, I can't protect her unless I know just how ill she is." "Ill?" "She did try to kill herself." "Mr. Mannix, I'm not a psychiatrist." "I'm an obstetrician and Mrs. Harris is two months pregnant." "If she survives this, the baby should, too." "A baby, huh?" "Well, that certainly clears up a lot of things." "Does it?" "Well, sure." "This Mrs. Harris and this Hal Carter murdered her husband and then she hired you to cover up." "Just like that?" "Look, her record doesn't indicate she's Mrs. Clean, Joe." "Too pat, Chip." "Well, what do you do if you've been out of the country five or six months and you come back and you find your wife two months pregnant, huh?" "What do you do?" "There are a few more options besides killing him." "Not with a guy like Victor Harris." "Suppose it isn't Hal Carter's baby?" "You mean there's another candidate?" "Yeah, Tommy Andros the producer." "What makes you think that?" "Ginny Freeman says Andros made a play for Laura Harris." "Well, if it isn't Hal Carter's baby, why did she sneak out to his house to see him?" "I think Chip is right, Joe." "There's got to be a connection with Carter." "Why should Laura Harris go to Carter's house at all?" "I mean, she's got all her husband's money." "All she and Carter would have to do is to play it cool." "Instead she takes a bottle of pills." "Doesn't fit, there's something wrong." "I can feel it in here like an ulcer." "(PHONE RINGS)" "Mannix." "Yeah, Dan." "I'm on my way." "Well, Ives thinks he's got a possible identification on one of the guys who ran my car off the road..." "Your car." "Joe, give me five minutes with the guy." "Chip, I want you to keep an eye on Mrs. Harris's room at the hospital." "She could still be in danger." "Oh." "There was something familiar about this face, Joe." "Charlie here came up with it." "He was on riot duty in 1964, the last big steel strike." "Here's an old employment application." "Ed Plummer." "CHARLIE:" "Ten years ago, he ran the goon squad at American Steel." "You mean, he worked for Mr. Freeman," "Ginny Freeman's dear departed?" "Well, if you call bashing in heads and burning down homes work, yeah." "Any record on Plummer since?" "Nothing." "He retired, whatever that means." "Dan, uh, let me take a look at what's left of Harris's personal effects, huh?" "Sure." "Charlie." "Something tie in, Joe?" "Well, it's, uh..." "it's just a hunch." "It's hard to get hunches admitted as evidence." "Yeah, well, just take another look at this suicide note Mrs. Harris left." "I've been thinking about it, uh, just to keep my ulcer quiet." "So what about it?" "Well, it's just a few lines, typewritten, then signed by hand." "Lieutenant." "Thanks, Charlie." "So?" "Well, the typewriter was all the way across the room." "Now, if that's all you were going to say in a suicide note, why not just write out the whole thing?" "And also, take a look at how far down on the page her signature comes." "So, you think maybe this is a phony, and that she didn't try to kill herself at all?" "Yeah." "I think that somehow somebody got Laura Harris to sign a blank piece of paper, and then filled it in afterwards." "(PHONE RINGS)" "Ives." "Oh, yeah, Peggy." "Okay." "Yeah, Peg?" "Joe, Ginny Freeman called." "She says it's very important." "She wants to talk to you." "She's at the studio in the rehearsal stage." "Oh, yeah, thanks." "Yeah, take a look at that, Dan." "A gasoline slip." "So what?" "Signed by Victor Harris." "So?" "MANNIX:" "Take a look at the date." "Mrs. Freeman." "Oh, Mr. Mannix, hello." "I'm so glad that you could come." "My secretary said it was important." "Oh, yes, it is." "I do hope it hasn't inconvenienced you to come here, but you-you see, we're starting rehearsal a little later, and this is rather a private matter." "I understand." "I, uh... think I know why Laura Harris tried to kill herself." "Why?" "Oh." "Well, you see, she was pregnant." "And then when Victor found out about it, he just couldn't stand it." "I mean, the child not being his." "And so, he must have threatened to, uh, walk out on her." "So Mrs. Harris killed him?" "Well, that is a motive, Mr. Mannix." "I mean, especially, if Victor said that he was going to leave her." "Mrs. Freeman," "Laura Harris did not kill her husband." "Are you sure?" "Pretty sure." "Well, then, who did?" "You know, loyalty's a wonderful thing, Mrs. Freeman." "Let's take Ed Plummer." "All those dirty jobs he did for your husband when he used to work for him." "Like blowing up houses to scare the boys on the picket line." "Uh... you do remember Ed Plummer, don't you, Mrs. Freeman?" "What does any of that have to do with Victor Harris?" "Well, blowing up a car is just a piece of cake for ol' friendly Ed." "And Ed Plummer did it because you told him to." "And you told him to do it because you thought Laura Harris would be driving that car." "And when I started to get too close to home, you told Plummer to try and take care of me, too." "You're good, Mannix." "Yeah, you're really very, very good." "Well, friendly Ed Plummer." "I was sort of expecting you." "But it's too bad that where you're going there won't be anyone to listen." "I'm going some place?" "Oh, yeah, a place where they won't find you for a long, long time." "Oh." "Good-bye, Mr. Mannix." "Mrs. Freeman." "Let's go." "Drop it!" "(GUNSHOT)" "(BULLETS RICOCHETING)" "(GLASS BREAKING)" "(BULLET RICOCHETING)" "We get these contracts out, we'll be in good shape." "Really?" "Can I help you?" "Lieutenant Dan Ives." "Where's Joe Mannix?" "MANNIX:" "You're just a few seconds late, Dan." "Surprised, Mrs. Freeman?" "Ed Plummer is up in the, uh, prop warehouse, dead." "You were right then, huh?" "Yeah, it wasn't Victor Harris who was supposed to die in that car." "It was Laura Harris." "Thanks to Mrs. Freeman here." "No, that's not true." "Why would I possibly want to hurt Laura?" "Because of him." "You thought I was having an affair with Laura?" "Oh, yes." "Yes." "Yeah, she thought Laura was carrying your child." "It's not true." "Yeah, I know that." "But Mrs. Freeman didn't." "It was Victor Harris's child." "No, that's not possible." "Victor Harris was in Europe for six months." "He couldn't possibly have been the father of that child." "Victor Harris was in town on August 20, just two months ago." "(PAPER UNFOLDING)" "You see he, uh, bought some gas and signed for it." "No." "(LAUGHS) Oh." "No!" "Oh, no!" "Ginny." "It's hard to believe." "She tricked you into signing that piece of paper, didn't she?" "She said it was for the show, an insurance waiver or something." "She said she'd fill it in later when she got all the signatures." "And after she was gone," "Ed Plummer came in and forced you to take the pills." "He had a gun." "Mrs. Harris, why did your husband come back into town that weekend in August so secretly?" "We were having trouble." "Victor flew back to try to keep our marriage together." "For a while, I thought it might even work when I found out about the baby." "What about, uh..." "Hal Carter?" "You know about him?" "Mm." "And a girl from Las Vegas called Gloria Martinson." "He was blackmailing you, wasn't he?" "Yes." "Why did you go back to see him after your husband was dead?" "He couldn't have hurt you any more." "I was afraid... someday he might hurt my child." "I don't think you have to worry about that anymore." "I checked." "He's gone." "My guess is you'll never see him again." "He probably likes his freedom too much to exchange it for a cell." "I had hoped that part of my life was forgotten." "What part is that, Mrs. Harris?" "Joe, I got here as soon as I could." "What's the matter?" "Oh, uh, well, it's nothing really important, uh, Peggy." "I just wanted to talk to you about something." "What?" "Uh, why don't I, uh, tell you about it on the way back... in the cab?" "Cab?" "!" "What happened to my car?" "That's what I wanted to talk to you about."