"♪ (THEME MUSIC PLAYING) ♪" "Mannix s8e19 Quartet For A Blunt Instrument" "♪ ♪" "MANNIX:" "I'm going as far as L.A., if that'll help." "You offering me a ride?" "It's better than looking at 300 miles of nowhere." "Hop in." "Waiting long?" "I guess I don't present a very reassuring picture." "(CHUCKLES) Well, around here any man without wheels could be a threat to public order." "It wasn't my feet they were looking at." "How far are you going?" "San Diego." "Wife and kids there." "I thought I'd make enough money on my job in Santa Rosa to send for 'em, but..." "What happened to the job?" "It died." "Maybe you'd better let me out." "You in some kind of trouble?" "No worse trouble than I was born with." "MANNIX:" "It's too late to bail out now." "If you're not on the run, just stay cool." "(GARBLED RADIO TRANSMISSION)" "License, please." "Joe Mannix, private detective from L.A." "Mm-hmm." "Are you two traveling together?" "Must be." "We're riding in the same car." "What's your name?" "Riggs." "Perry Riggs." "All right, Riggs, come on out nice and easy." "Keep your hands where we can see them." "Am I under arrest?" "That's about it." "What's the charge?" "Murder." "Thanks for the ride." "Yeah." "Where'd you run into him, Mr. Mannix?" "Oh, I picked him up a few miles back." "You ought to be more careful who you pick up." "You may not have made it to L.A." "Hey, what's the case against him?" "He killed Walter Kurtz." "That's a charge, that's not a case." "All right, Mr. Mannix, let's keep it moving." "Say, you mind if I talk to him?" "All right, but make it short." "Hey, looks like you might need some help." "Yeah, about $100,000 in bail money." "Would you settle for a private cop?" "Right now I'd settle for just about anything." "What makes them think you did it?" "Being in the right place at the wrong time." "I used to work for the man who was killed..." "Walter Kurtz." "When I found him with his head busted open," "I figured it was time for me to move on." "Even though you weren't guilty?" "Except for his wife and his partners," "I was the only one with a key to the lab." "You figured that was enough reason to run?" "That and my juvenile record..." "assault with a deadly weapon." "Who would believe me?" "Would you?" "Seems everybody lies to private detectives." "Gets so you only listen to the vibrations." "How do mine sound?" "About 50-50." "Okay, Mr. Mannix, that's it." "In a minute..." "I'm not through talking to my client." "PATROLMAN:" "Sorry, you'll have to talk to him later." "(ENGINE STARTS)" "What's in it for you, Mannix, even if you prove it wasn't Perry Riggs?" "For a guy in your trade, what do you get?" "(INHALES)" "Couple of more days of clean air." "That we got." "Here you go." "That's the body." "Head crushed in with some heavy tool, like the one we found in Perry Riggs' bundle." "It's not conclusive, but nowadays juries don't need a platoon of eyewitnesses." "What motive?" "We're working on that." "Now, maybe I can give you a hand." "Robbery maybe?" "Now, did you find anything on Riggs that belonged to the murdered man... a watch, wallet?" "No, but sometimes a killer panics, leaves empty-handed." "You know that." "Sure, Riggs panicked and hitchhiked down the main highway in broad daylight with the murder weapon tucked under his arm." "Come on, Sheriff, let's talk about the real world." "Okay... shoot." "For openers, can you think of anyone who stood to benefit by Walter Kurtz's death?" "Well, for the insurance money," "I suppose his wife and maybe his three partners." "How much insurance did he have?" "Million and a half, I understand." "Not a bad benefit." "Not bad at all." "Except, at the time of his death," "Mrs. Kurtz and the three partners were somewhere else and accounted for." "No, wasn't anybody else in the house except Perry Riggs." "They could have hired a stand-in." "(CHUCKLES) The next thing you're gonna be telling me is that the obvious suspect is always innocent, which is why we need private detectives." "Hmm." "These partners of Mr. Kurtz..." "partners in what?" "A new patent for cars to run on methanol." "Alcohol derived from coal." "Pretty good ace in the hole for the next time somebody cuts off the oil." "Supposed to be a whole lot cheaper than gasoline, too." "Sounds like he had something." "So they figured... which is why I suppose they tried to raise every penny they could get their hands on to back the invention." "Now, if Kurtz had lived, he'd have made them all millionaires 20 times over." "Now, you still think one of them had a motive to kill him?" "Perry." "(DOOR CLOSES)" "You're a hard man to convince, Mannix." "You still don't believe I'm a loser?" "So far your vibrations are holding up." "Well, what is it going to take to prove to them that I didn't do it?" "A voice from heaven?" "Well, I'd settle for a lead that won't make the local law laugh out loud." "You think Mr. Kurtz's wife or one of his partners is going to come to you with a signed confession, huh?" "I'd settle for that, too." "Their word against a guy who was in reform school at age 16?" "And black?" "You believe in Santa Claus, too?" "(MANNIX CHUCKLES)" "Well, uh... why don't we start with Mrs. Kurtz?" "Strictly bad news." "Bad enough to kill her husband?" "Maybe bad enough for him to wish he was dead." "In what way?" "Well, you see, Mr. Kurtz... he had these high standards for everything." "Maybe he finally figured that she wasn't... she couldn't measure up." "I'd hardly call that a motive for Mrs. Kurtz to kill him, would you?" "I'd hardly call myself an expert on murder." "Hmm." "I'm kind of new at this." "All I know is, cops got to pin it on somebody to make it come out even." "That's simple arithmetic." "That's the best you can do for me, huh?" "Mannix, did you come here to try to help me, or you just trying to make yourself feel good?" "Little of both, I guess." "WOMAN (OVER SPEAKER):" "Yes." "Uh, Mrs. Kurtz." "(OVER SPEAKER):" "Who is it?" "My name is Mannix." "I'm a private investigator." "I wonder if I could talk to you." "About what?" "Your husband's death." "(OVER SPEAKER):" "Do you work for the insurance company?" "No, uh, Perry Riggs." "(GATE CLICKS AND BUZZES)" "(ENGINE STARTS)" "♪ ♪" "(DOORBELL RINGS)" "WOMAN:" "Come in, Mr., uh..." "MANNIX:" "Mannix." "Thank you." "(DOOR CLOSES)" "Perry Riggs." "Is business really that bad, Mr. Mannix?" "I mean, what do you actually know about this client you're representing?" "Well, I know he deserves an even break." "Which, without you, he wouldn't get." "He's in jail." "He needs somebody." "Ah." "Uh, would you care for a drink?" "Not right now, thank you." "Isn't it amazing how quickly alcohol evaporates in a dry climate?" "My husband Walter would have found that unforgivable." "He was interested in alcohol as a possible source of power, you know." "(LAUGHS)" "Isn't that ironic?" "In my family it was always regarded as a source of weakness." "Did you know that your client has a record?" "As a teenager, yes." "He told me himself." "Well, I don't suppose that proves anything, does it?" "E-Except a slight tendency toward violence." "I take it you consider him the prime suspect, too." "Only the obvious one." "What about the less obvious ones?" "You mean... like my husband's partners and myself, all of whom are on the verge of making a fortune?" "Come on, let me show you." "This is it, Mr. Mannix." "This is Walter's world." "This is what he lived and breathed for." "When I first met Walter, he'd just come to California from the dark side of the earth." "Forced labor camp for eight years in Europe." "For doing what?" "Oh, thinking for himself, refusing to do military research." "You know, they never told him." "So we never knew." "My brother, Case, that's Case Murcott, he's something of a mathematical whiz, and he recognized Walter for the genius he was right away." "If we were prepared to gamble, not peanuts, but big money, requiring partners and sacrifices and huge unsecured loans..." "Which no bank would give." "Well, Mr. Mannix, in our tolerant society, banks aren't the only source of high-risk capital." "No, it all would have worked, too, if only Walter hadn't..." "What, Mrs. Kurtz?" "Died." "But he was killed, and for what?" "And you have absolutely no idea of a motive?" "No." "These partners you were talking about..." "Well, there's my brother, Case." "I told you about him." "And who else?" "Well, uh," "Mr. Mannix, now who among us would have been insane enough to kill the goose about to lay the golden egg?" "I'd still like to talk to them." "That's Tony Stockwood." "He's the lawyer for the whole thing." "He drew up the partnership papers, patents, everything." "Where do I find him?" "Well, he has the penthouse suite at the lodge." "And the other woman?" "That's Holly Warlock." "She... found Walter's body in the lab." "She runs a club up at the end of Tigertail Road." "Holly's Barn, it's called." "A night club?" "Well, it's not exactly a night club, and its' not exactly a gambling club, and it's not a massage parlor." "It's a little of... it's a club." "Oh!" "It's a little late for gardening, isn't it?" "Who are you?" "Case Murcott." "Mrs. Kurtz's brother?" "That's right." "What about you?" "The name is Mannix;" "I'm a private investigator." "Working for who?" "Perry Riggs." "Aw, come on now, you kidding?" "No." "Oh, yeah, yeah, I get it, I get it." "You and sis setting up the black man to be tossed to the wolves." "That would be Wanda's style." "I always suspected she had somebody lurking in the background, but, uh..." "But what?" "Well, Walter's dead, isn't he?" "How'd he get that way?" "You think I'm stupid?" "No." "There's an impression going around that Walter Kurtz was hit on the head with a blunt instrument like the one you were trying out on me." "Uh, let's go to my place." "I think we could both use a drink." "Me?" "Kill Walter?" "You've got to be kidding, Mannix." "It would be like killing myself." "You know how deep I am in hock?" "With people who'd gladly break both your legs if you were just one day late with paying the interest?" "What made you think your sister and I had plotted something?" "I tell you I'm suspicious of everyone." "Besides, she's always hated me." "Why?" "Because I was the family's golden boy." "Case Murcott, whiz kid, and she was nothing until she married Walter." "What about your, um, other two partners?" "(CHUCKLES)" "They're in even deeper than I am." "Of course, Holly's always had a knack for landing on her feet." "But Tony Stockwood," "I wouldn't want to be in his alligator shoes for all the paper on Wall Street." "Well, I plan on seeing him next." "A word of advice." "Don't come on too strong with Tony." "I mean, me," "I'm just a good-natured old slob, but Tony now, he's got some very touchy friends, if you know what I mean?" "Hmm, touchy, huh?" "About what?" "Getting their hands on a couple of million that they advanced us in return for a chunk of the action." "Take care that they don't, uh, get the sudden wild notion to blame you, Mannix." "(WHIMPERING):" "D-don't let go." "I swear, I-I'll get you the money." "Just give me time." "Sorry, your time's run out." "How long do you think the Juice Man's gonna wait?" "He's getting older all the time, you know." "I'll get the money, I swear, don't let go." "HOOD:" "Too late, Tony." "You're going out the hard way." "Bring him back!" "That's all for now, baby." "Come on, come on back aboard." "Come on." "Are you Tony Stockwood?" "Inside." "All right, one at a time." "Inside." "Who are you?" "All right, get on the phone, call the police." "Huh?" "What for?" ""What for"?" "They were about to find out if you could fly." "Oh, no, um, no, they were just trying to scare me." "You know, um," "(SIGHS) Hang me out to dry." "Yeah, it's good for the circulation." "You're not going to call the police?" "It would just get a whole lot of people sore at me." "Oh, and right now, they're just crazy about you." "I owe them half a million dollars." "How do you expect them to feel?" "Who are you, anyway?" "A detective, private." "The name is Mannix." "What are you doing up here, detective?" "Same as you, earning my social security." "You really want me to let them go?" "Of course I do." "You think I'm crazy?" "Out." "One thing, Tony, what do we tell the Juice Man?" "He'll get his money." "Oh, you promise?" "On your life?" "As long as you've stuck your nose in here, detective, until we get paid, your life's on the line along with his." "(DOOR CLOSES)" "Okay, it's all over." "Well, what are you waiting for, the thanks-a-million number?" "Beat it." "I've got a client in jail, Perry Riggs." "I'd like him out." "Things are tough all over." "You and your partners made a pretty good case against him." "He made his own case." "The fortune we put into Walter's work." "We mortgaged our blood to raise that money." "What do we do now?" "Wait for the insurance money to get you out of hock." "Insurance?" "That's a sour joke." "Walter's dead, and I'm about ready to ask him to move over." "You really think Perry Riggs killed him?" "It couldn't have been anyone else." "And you'd better pray he confesses fast, 'cause those juice-collectors are going to be crawling all over you." "Money's a pretty serious thing to them." "And don't think they won't know where to find you." "I'll keep looking under my bed." "♪ ♪" "Out of professional curiosity, how did you find out where I was staying?" "You'd be surprised how many people in this town go out of their way to keep us happy." "What do you figure I can contribute to your happiness?" "We'd like to make sure Mr. Stockwood collects his share of the insurance money." "Are you going to try to pin a murder rap on one of the partners?" "Are you afraid the Juice Man won't get his money?" "Not afraid, detective, just concerned." "Well, now, I have a client to protect." "The insurance company can take care of itself." "I sure hope you mean that, detective." "It can be a lonely feeling having people like us sore at you." "Mind if I have my gun back?" "(HAMMER CLICKS)" "Aw, I must have lost the clip." "Detective," "I'll remember that." "(PHONE RINGS)" "Hello?" "WOMAN:" "Mr. Mannix?" "This is Holly Warlock." "Does the name mean anything to you?" "It means something." "What can I do for you?" "Well, I'm afraid you can't do anything." "Oh, I mean, you could, but I don't think it would be healthy." "For you, I mean." "Well, why don't I try, anyway?" "How good a sailor are you?" "Well, I know how to duck a boom." "(CHUCKLES) No boom." "I'm all electric." "Meet me at the lake, 11:00 sharp." "MANNIX:" "You, uh, do know what I wanted to talk to you about?" "HOLLY:" "Of course." "Walter Kurtz's unexpected departure to a better land." "MANNIX:" "Who would stand to benefit by his death?" "Absolutely no one." "Except, possibly his lovely wife." "Oh, but I think even Wanda would have preferred to get her hands on all those millions, first." "Preferred it to what?" "To having her freedom." "Or whatever passes for freedom in that cash register brain of hers." "Oh, I think she gladly would have waited just a few more weeks until the engine was demonstrated, the royalty agreements signed." "Was it really that certain?" "HOLLY:" "Detroit was doing handstands to be first in line." "No, not even Wanda would have been wacky enough to kill him just yet." "I understand you found the body." "Mm." "Yes, and on the floor in his lab, looking very untidy." "Was there anyone else around at the time?" "I told the police." "Just as I came in," "I heard a man's footsteps running out the back door." "Uh, how do you know it was a man?" "Well, it sounded like a heavy foot with-with rubberized soles." "The kind mechanics wear." "And, uh, Perry Riggs is a mechanic." "That's right." "Oh, you must have a very good ear." "20-20." "May I call you Joe?" "Joe, the lab was guarded like Fort Knox." "Now, except for the four of us," "Perry Riggs was the only one with a key." "Why fight the obvious?" "Well, that's what private detectives are for." "(HOLLY SIGHS)" "Don't you think I'm bearing up bravely?" "Well, what do you have to be brave about?" "My club mortgage." "My life's savings down the drain." "Possibly my last chance to get out of the business and turn respectable." "Perhaps even get married." "Well, I've heard rumors that, uh, some women manage to get married even if they're not rich." "Is that a wise old saying, or a red-hot suggestion?" "(CHUCKLES)" "I think we'd better turn back before we get into deep water." "I'm used to being in over my head." "(HOLLY LAUGHS SOFTLY)" "Shoes?" "Yeah." "What kind of shoes were you wearing on the day of the murder?" "These." "I only got one pair." "Hmm." "Holly Warlock says she heard footsteps running from the lab." "Rubber-soled shoes." "She thinks it was you." "(RIGGS SIGHS)" "All right." "I was there in the lab." "And what were you doing?" "I wanted to try out this new cutting tool" "I'd modified for the lathe." "You must be a pretty good mechanic." "I am." "At least, Walter Kurtz thought so." "Anyway, I saw him lying there, with his head all bashed in, and I figured, with my record..." "Yeah, a man running from the scene of a murder is apt to lose points with the police." "Maybe I figured it was so obvious, even the local law could solve it." "But once they had me, that meant they could close the books." "I mean, why should they look any further?" "What was so obvious?" "Mrs. Kurtz and her boyfriend." "Who's he?" "I couldn't tell you." "But a couple of nights before the murder," "I heard her talking to him on the phone in the lab." "Now, she didn't know I was there." "And I tried to ease out, not to embarrass her." "She saw me and hung up fast." "Hmm." "And what were they talking about?" "Could you tell?" "No, I couldn't tell." "It was just..." "just-just sweet talk." "I couldn't hear the words, but I could tell from the tone of her voice." "Like a honeybee ready to light on a flower." "Mm-hmm." "(TWO GUNSHOTS)" "(CAR ENGINE STARTS)" "(TIRES SQUEALING)" "(CRICKETS CHIRPING)" "♪ ♪" "♪ ♪" "Now you'd better put that down." "It may go off." "Why did you kill him?" "I didn't kill him." "I was about to call the police." "Don't think I won't use this if I have to." "Give me the sheriffs office." "Did you see anyone running out of here?" "No." "Oh, uh, Sheriff Fielding, please." "Tell him it's urgent." "Joe Mannix." "I'll hang on." "Poor Case... he wanted so badly to be an important man, a VIP." "I guess he just overreached himself." "Sheriff, I'm at the Kurtz house." "Case Murcott is dead." "Yeah, murdered." "Oh, and Sheriff, try to get here soon, will you?" "So Mrs. Kurtz can stop waving a gun in my face." "Yeah." "You think it was your brother who ransacked this place, or a prowler?" "You're the only prowler I know about, Mr. Mannix." "WOMAN (OVER RADIO):" "12-80-79 clear." "(GARBLED RADIO TRANSMISSION)" "(GARBLED RADIO TRANSMISSION)" "You just walked in here, and there he was?" "What do you think, I brought him with me?" "Well, all I got is your word." "Right now, that might be worth two cents on the dollar." "Well, now, does this look like a professional piece of work to you?" "Oh, it's sloppy, but then that might have been your way of trying to cover your tracks." "What was I doing here?" "Well, you're a private detective, right?" "That means you'll work for anybody, right?" "Wrong." "Mrs. Kurtz figured you might have been hired to find whatever notes her husband left about his invention." "By whom?" "Some sheik who's worried about his oil well?" "By any number of people." "You going to book me?" "No." "See, I checked you out." "Your buddies at the LAPD don't think you'd ever break the law on purpose." "Not if there was an easier way to cut corners." "Yeah, it pays to have friends." "You're liable to need all the help you can get." "I'd like to see you down at the station tomorrow morning bright and early to make out a full report." "Right after I've seen my client." "Another man dead, and you still don't know who killed Walter Kurtz." "Yeah, I'm still one murder behind." "But I do know more today than I knew yesterday." "Yeah, what's that?" "That you couldn't have possibly killed Case Murcott." "I won't fight you on that." "You know, it seems kind of strange that Walter Kurtz didn't leave any notes about the invention." "There must have been hundreds of experiments and formulas involved." "What possible reason could he have had to destroy them?" "No reason." "His whole life was tied up in that process." "He'd no more destroy those notes than cut off an arm." "You think they were stolen?" "No." "No, with him dead, they'd be useless to anybody else." "How do you know that?" "My lawyer told we." "Oh." "Now... what would a public defender know about organic chemistry?" "No public defender." "I got a man out of Harvard Law, a friend of Mr. Kurtz." "Who would that be?" "Tony Stockwood." "Tony Stockwood." "He's going to defend me for nothing." "Says he feels sorry for me." "Well, that's very generous of him." "When did he come to see you?" "This morning early." "What sort of questions did he ask?" "Nothing." "Nothing special." "Except he wondered if I could tell him anything about Mrs., uh, Kurtz's boyfriend." "Boyfriend, huh?" "Now, uh, how would he know about the boyfriend?" "No idea." "Yeah." "Guard?" "I thought you were going to find out who he is." "I'm still trying." "Joe, you want to come along?" "If we promise not to make you walk the plank?" "As long as you don't mind if Mr. Stockwood and I discuss our client along the way." "Our client?" "Perry Riggs." "You're defending him?" "Mm-hmm." "As of this morning." "You know, a man's entitled to the best counsel he can get." "Don't you agree?" "What are you advising him to do, Tony... plead "no contest?"" "Certainly not." "Well, what is your defense going to be?" "I'll decide that when all the facts are in." "Oh, I thought they were." "Well, there are still a few missing pieces." "Like, uh, Mrs. Kurtz's boyfriend." "Boyfriend?" "Wanda was playing around?" "That's the impression I get." "Well, maybe he can lend us a million and a half." "Well, now, that's a lot of money." "You really need that much?" "Well, just until the insurance pays off." "That's what Tony and I are trying to raise." "As life insurance for ourselves." "Holly, Holly, don't tell me you're in the debt to the Juice Man, too?" "(QUIET LAUGHING)" "Yeah, well, you'd think" "I'd know better, wouldn't you?" "Now, maybe if you put me in touch with him," "I could work something out." "You really do like the feeling of thin ice under your feet, don't you?" "But it's also a great way to catch cold... permanently." "Uh, like, uh, Case Murcott?" "Case was an idiot." "The kind of man whose only useful role in life seems to be to get himself murdered." "What do you suppose he was looking for in Kurtz's lab?" "Well, the notes, obviously." "The plans, research, formulas." "Is that obvious, or...?" "He could have been looking for something else." "Like what?" "What does it matter now?" "For all we know, those notes might be the solution to everything." "That's ridiculous." "Maybe, but until we do have a solution, and it's all wrapped up, there won't be an insurance payoff, which could make the Juice Man very unhappy." "TONY:" "I get it now." "I see your game." "You're either trying to score points with the insurance company, or shake us down, 'cause you know we're desperate." "Keep talking." "Who are you really working for, Mannix?" "A client who can't afford a bus ticket to San Diego, or the insurance company, who've promised you a fat payoff?" "I'll let you know right after I see the full autopsy report." "Uh, bon voyage." "♪ ♪" "(TURNS OFF FAUCET)" "(DOOR OPENS)" "Hello, Detective." "What now?" "Let's go." "Where to?" "Juice Man wants to see you." "Why?" "He thinks you really don't understand how much of a nuisance you're making of yourself." "(CHUCKLES)" "Well, you're late, as usual." "What?" "Up to a half hour ago I wanted to see him, too, but, uh, now I've lost interest." "He's interested enough for both of you." "Move." "Found another clip." "♪ ♪" "(STARTS ENGINE)" "(TIRES SQUEAL)" "Why, Sheriff?" "I mean, why would the Juice Man be sweating bullets to get me off this case?" "I mean, what difference does it make to the Juice Man who killed Walter Kurtz as long as he gets his money from the insurance settlement?" "Unless..." "Unless what?" "Unless there is no settlement." "Oh, what are you talking about, Mannix?" "Well, the insurance company doesn't have to pay off on certain deaths." "Yeah, death caused by an act of war, or flying in an unlicensed aircraft... so what?" "You left out suicide." "Now, you're not trying to tell me that Kurtz clubbed himself to death, are you?" "Maybe he was dead before he was clubbed." "Well, it was worth a lot to somebody to make it look like murder." "To make sure the insurance company paid off." "It's the only way it adds up." "There's no such thing as "the only way" in this business." "Maybe not, Sheriff, but if I were sitting in your chair," "I'd order an autopsy report with all the trimmings... just in case." "I don't know how to tell you this, Mr. Mannix, but, well..." "What's the problem?" "My lawyer says I got to do what he tells me." "Uh-ho, and what did Mr. Stockwood tell you?" "Not to talk to anybody." "Especially me?" "I don't know, could be." "What's he afraid I'll find out, why Walter Kurtz killed himself?" "You mean he was a suicide?" "Yeah, and the minute I prove it, you're off the hook... unless your lawyer doesn't really want you off." "Then why would he go through the motions of helping me?" "Maybe he wants to know just how much you knew about the mysterious boyfriend." "Okay, what do you want to know?" "Why did Walter Kurtz commit suicide?" "(EXHALES) No way." "He was always too easy-going, too trusting, almost like a kid." "Maybe that's it... a man like that, if he felt betrayed..." "Hey, hey, you know, it wouldn't have been the first time." "He told me when he was in Europe, a group of people that he trusted turned him in to the secret police." "But still, after he got here, he went on trusting people." "Like his wife." "He loved that woman." "He told me once, life without her wouldn't be worth waking up in the morning." "Maybe that's why he killed himself, because he couldn't face one more betrayal." "Could that be it?" "Nah." "A man kill himself over a woman?" "A real man gets his revenge first." "And Walter Kurtz was one real man." "But he did get revenge." "He destroyed his notes, then killed himself." "That meant no invention, no millions in royalties, and no insurance payoff." "Meaning bad news for the interested parties." "And meaning somebody had to make it look like murder." "Yeah." "Guard?" "Where you going?" "To, uh... throw out some bait." "What are you trying to catch?" "Some hungry fish." "Uh, what do you want?" "Oh, I was just wondering if they had you out there hanging by your ankles again." "I'm laughing." "Well, then I guess you'll really break up when I tell you why I'm here." "Is that right?" "I found a letter;" "it's up for sale." "What kind of letter?" "Written by Walter Kurtz just before he died." "Hey, you suppose that's what somebody was looking for when they tore up his lab..." "not the research notes, but a letter announcing plans for his immediate future... suicide?" "You're out of your head." "Now, go on, get out of here." "The price is $10,000..." "until tomorrow morning." "And then what?" "Well, then I'll probably take it to the insurance company." "(CHUCKLES):" "I'm sure they won't... be exactly heartbroken to keep a million and change in the old till." "Where's the letter?" "You think about it." "And but think fast, huh?" "Hang on a minute." "Supposing I can find someone who's interested... where could they talk to you?" "Well, uh... why don't we make it downstairs in the billiard room, tonight at 11:00?" "$10,000... nothing larger than fifties, hm?" "♪ ♪" "(STRIKES CUE BALL)" "(CLOCK CHIMING)" "(EXHALES SHARPLY)" "(BRIEF KNOCKING, DOOR OPENS)" "(RELIEVED SIGH) You're the one I didn't expect." "I didn't expect to be here myself." "I was sent." "By the Juice Man?" "The Juice Man's a flabby senior citizen with diabetes, arthritis and bundles of dirty cash in need of laundering." "So you obliged him by using your club as a drop." "For once, I tried to be smart." "Too smart." "Tony and Case came to me for working capital, and I bought in." "Making the Juice Man your senior partner." "With your life as collateral." "It was a gamble." "But, then, what isn't?" "It would have paid off handsomely if Wanda hadn't started going ape over some guy." "And Walter Kurtz couldn't stand one more betrayal," "Especially from his wife." "(STRIKES CUE BALL)" "You figured out the rest." "That the deadliest revenge Kurtz could think of was to pull the plug on himself." "Question:" "what was Case Murcott doing in the lab when he was killed?" "Looking for a suicide note?" "With which he could blackmail Wanda for her share of the insurance money." "MANNIX:" "Mm." "So Wanda and the boyfriend got rid of him." "Nice family." "She had reason to be desperate." "I'm desperate." "The possible existence of a suicide note put all our heads on the block." "Mm." "Joe... if you could see your way clear to tearing up the note... it would mean everything to me." "Who sent you to ask me that?" "Look behind you." "Well, the loving couple, I presume." "Where's the letter, Mr. Mannix?" "Oh, I'm sorry about that." "I'll have the letter, if you don't mind." "There's one little problem, Mrs. Kurtz." "What?" "There isn't any letter." "But Tony told me what you were asking for it." "I'm ready to pay." "The way you and Stockwood here paid your brother when you found him searching the lab?" "Case got what he deserved." "He was trying to destroy Wanda." "Mm." "And, uh... your husband, did he get what he deserved?" "You know perfectly well I didn't kill him." "No, no, he saved you that little job." "But he did get the last laugh, didn't he?" "You're finished, both of you." "'Cause your brother was killed." "(CHUCKLES) But you're the only one who knows that." "Exactly." "Well, what are you waiting for?" "What about her?" "Holly?" "Oh, she'll keep silent." "She needs the money." "Well, go on!" "Joe, look out!" "Hold it!" "Well, what kept you, Sheriff?" "The full autopsy report came in just as I was leaving." "You were right, Mannix..." "Kurtz was dead before he got hit." "Fistful of barbiturates." "Yeah." "Then these two doctored him to look like a murder victim so they could collect the insurance money and keep themselves alive." "That's what it looks like." "And if, uh, Case Murcott, their partner, hadn't gotten underfoot, there wouldn't have been a murder at all, and everyone would have lived happily ever after." "Except, of course, for Perry Riggs." "All right, get them out of here." "What about Miss Warlock over here?" "She in on it?" "Uh, no, no." "She was just under the gun." "Thanks, Joe." "Well, what do I say when the Juice Man comes around for his money?" "I don't think he will." "Money involved in a murder case, and, uh, the risk of his being named as an accessory..." "I think he'll be more than happy to write it off as a capital loss." "Want to buy half share in a boat?" "Mm." "(CHUCKLES) I don't think I could afford the interest." "No interest required... except in me." "Well, think about it;" "I'll be here." "So long, Holly." "About that ride you offered me the other day, is it still open?" "Well, uh..." "I'll risk it if you will." "Get in!"