"♪ (theme music playing) ♪" "Mannix s6e23 A Problem Of Innocence" "Lar." "Larry, thanks for coming." "Don't be ridiculous." "I mean, there's no need for thanks." "Let me take that." "No, that's not heavy." "I rather expected Anne to be here." "I asked her not to come." "I... not exactly the sort of image a father likes to project, coming out of a prison gate." "We're going to have dinner together." "I don't know why you wanted to rent a car." "You know I'd be glad to drive you wherever you wanted to go." "I know it, Larry." "It's just..." "I think I'd like to be by myself for a while, get a breath of air, see what happened in the world, you know?" "Yeah." "Be careful, Bill." "That's a hotter car than you were used to." "And there are more highway patrolmen on the road than there were on the road ten years ago." "They don't worry me." "I have a good lawyer." "Not as good as he should have been." "Ah, you did your best, Larry." "Okay." "(doorbell ringing)" "Who is it?" "Joe Mannix." "Come in." "Thank you for coming so quickly." "Well, you sounded upset this evening." "Someone broke in to my apartment." "Did you call the police?" "They left just a few minutes ago." "Well, I don't really see how I can help you any more than they could, Miss Avery." "Things like this happen about every 30 seconds in Los Angeles." "Not like this." "Lieutenant Malcolm said he couldn't spare any men to help guard the place, and if I were too frightened" "I should think about hiring a private detective." "He mentioned you." "I am frightened, Mr. Mannix." "I'm scared to death." "I think I must have interrupted whoever it was before he was finished." "My bedroom hasn't been touched." "Before he was finished?" "You think he was after something specific?" "Yes." "A million dollars." "That seems like an awful lot of loose change to keep in an apartment." "My father was William Avery." "He was killed yesterday in an automobile accident." "You may have read about it." "He was released from prison yesterday morning after serving ten years." "For stealing a million dollar payroll." "Which someone now thinks you have." "I don't have it, of course." "And neither did my father, not ever." "You believe he was innocent?" "Oh, I know he was." "He told me, and I believed him." "Were you very close?" "Not until recently." "He and my mother were divorced when I was just a child, a long, long time before he went to prison." "I lived with her until she died a few years ago." "I sent him Christmas cards, and every once in a while a letter." "Sometimes he answered." "And then a few months ago when he knew he was going to get out, he wrote me and asked me to come and visit him." "I did quite a few times." "We got to know each other very quickly, and made up for a lot of years." "We talked about my life, my friends." "I know he was innocent." "Obviously someone thinks otherwise." "Miss Avery, exactly what would you like me to do?" "Find out who it is." "Tell him I don't have the money." "Tell him I have no idea what happened to it, and neither did my father." "Well, I'll do what I can." "Tell me, how much do you remember about your father's trial, names of witnesses, things like that?" "Not a thing." "My father's lawyer could help you, though.." "Lawrence Corwin." "His offices are in Beverly Hills." "I'll talk to him." "I don't think you'd better stay here for the next day or two." "I'll find some friendlier surroundings." "Now, why don't you pack a few things in a bag and I'll be back after you about 5:00?" "Fine." "Ah, Mr. Mannix, won't you come in?" "Mr. Corwin." "Jennifer, get me the Avery transcript, please." "Yes, sir." "You sure Anne's all right?" "She's fine, Mr. Corwin." "Good." "Won't you sit down?" "Thank you." "And you're convinced it wasn't just an ordinary burglary?" "Ordinary burglars don't slice up the furniture." "This one had to be after something in particular, something he figured was pretty well hidden." "Here it is, Mr. Corwin." "Thank you, Jennifer." "Give it to Mr. Mannix, please." "Thank you." "I hope you can find something in it that I couldn't." "Avery's testimony starts on page 71." "DA:" "Now, would you mind telling the jury once again exactly what time it was that you claim you were hit on the head and rendered unconscious or partially unconscious?" "Objection, Your Honor." "The defendant has answered that question three times." "That's badgering the witness." "Sustained." "Even I remember the time, Mr. Burns.. 3:30 in the afternoon." "Thank you, Your Honor." "It was a point I wanted to make perfectly clear." "You have." "Please continue." "Well, I had counted the money." "And I put it, along with the adding machine tapes, into the safe, which I closed, but I didn't lock." "It was normal procedure every payroll day." "The armored truck and the payroll guards always came at exactly 3:40, so there was no point in locking up the safe." "At least I never did, not in five years." "Well, there's not much more to tell, Your Honor." "I heard a noise, and I turned around, and there were two men in the office." "They had masks and guns." "And they made me turn around, and one of them hit me over the head." "I was just barely conscious when I saw them going out the Third Street entrance." "Then I passed out." "Next thing I know, two payroll guards are helping me up." "My head hurt quite a bit, but I..." "I called the police right away." "Then I called my wife." "Anne didn't tell me her father had married again." "A few years before all this happened." "Where is she now?" "I'm not sure." "She divorced him while he was in prison." "Well, it was his idea." "He knew he'd have to serve at least ten years." "And she wasn't the kind of woman who could stand living alone." "Apparently the jury didn't believe Avery's story." "Sergeant Simmons took care of that." "Page 150." "DA:" "And you maintain, Sergeant Simmons, that on that particular day it was impossible for anyone to leave the building using the Third Street door?" "Absolutely impossible, sir." "Why?" "It was double bolted from the outside." "Are you sure of that, Sergeant?" "Yes, sir." "There'd been an attempted payroll robbery in the general area the week before." "So at the police department's suggestion, some of the large companies switched their security routines." "Even the Morrison factory, where the defendant is employed?" "Yes, sir." "The payroll guards entered through a door at the other end of the plant." "When they arrived at the payroll office, the money was gone." "And the Third Street door was still double bolted from the outside?" "Yes, sir." "He's lying!" "They never would have changed the routine without letting me know." "Is there any other way the money could have been taken out of the plant?" "Not on a payday, according to their security police." "The payroll could have been hidden someplace else on the premises if it was an inside job." "That's exactly what the prosecution said it was-- an inside job." "That Avery hid the money earlier in the day, then faked a head injury and waited for the payroll guards to come in." "And Avery wasn't arrested right away." "Oh, he was a trusted employee." "He was sent home to rest for a few days." "The prosecution convinced the jury that the payroll went home with him, probably in the trunk of his car." "This Sergeant Simmons." "Do you think he could have been lying?" "I don't know." "Perhaps." "He didn't have a very good record." "Could have have been in on the burglary himself?" "I thought it was possible, but I certainly couldn't prove it." "And the money never turned up." "Everyone was sure Avery had taken it." "He would have been paroled after a few months if he'd told the authorities where it was." "But he couldn't, naturally." "He didn't know." "Hmm." "Sergeant Carl Simmons, discharged September of '66." "Seems he developed a taste for liquor." "Wound up shooting a guy in a bar brawl." "Claimed the man was resisting arrest." "Well, maybe he was." "Anyway, Sergeant Simmons is no longer with the department." "Where is he?" "I understand he went back to Georgia, where he came from." "Last I heard, he was still there." "That Avery girl's apartment was sure a mess, wasn't it?" "Yeah, and I'll bet you didn't come up with any fingerprints." "That's right, we didn't." "Meaning whoever did it was a pro." "If you happen to run across a loose million dollars lying around, you'll be sure and let me know, won't you, Joe?" "First thing, Art." "Say, you never did thank me for sending you such a pretty client." "(phone ringing)" "Answer it." "Hello?" "Yes, this is Miss Avery." "Who is this?" "Who is this?" "CALLER: ...anything happen..." "I'm sorry, I can't understand you." "CALLER:" "I said I knew your father." "He told me a couple of things he wanted me to pass along to you if anything happened to him." "What things?" "Well, not over the phone, Miss Avery." "Now, can you meet me this evening at 10:00?" "Where?" "Where?" "Lobby of the Walton Hotel on Wilshire." "How will I know you?" "I'll find you." "(line goes dead)" "Am I going to keep this appointment?" "No." "No, and your telephone friend won't be there either." "He just wants to get you out of here so that he can come back and finish the job he started." "Oh, it's a lovely place." "Are you sure it's all right?" "Positive." "It belongs to a director friend of mine who's doing a picture over in Australia." "Oh, I'm just going to soak up the sun and look at the view." "Ah, step right in." "Thank you." "Well, that ought to hold you for a while." "Thank you." "Oh, by the way, my director friend is quite a bachelor." "There may be a few phone calls, so be careful, huh?" "Okay." "If the phone rings three times and stops, and then rings again, answer it." "Otherwise, no." "Now, don't make any calls, except to me, if you have to." "Maybe I will even if I don't have to." "I'll drink to that." "The glass is right over your head." "(sounds outside door)" "Freeze!" "Put your hands on the door." "Legs apart." "Now turn around and take off your mask." "(tires screeching)" "Malcolm." "Okay, Benjy, shoot." "It's the lab." "Yeah?" "Oh." "All right." "Thanks just the same." "Yeah, bye." "Well, you were right about your man." "He's a pro." "You mean no prints." "Well, I didn't exactly say that." "We found one perfect set of prints." "Yours." "Ah." "Well, how else do you open a door?" "Joe, you should have known better than to try and set up a stakeout by yourself." "Oh, sure." "And how many of your men would you have let me use on a hunch?" "Are you all right?" "I'm fine." "In fact, we're all in good shape, I think." ""Attention LAPD Central Detective." "Attention Investigating Officer Malcolm." "Regarding your request of subject, we find positive record on file." "Carl Alexander Simmons, CII915514." "Rap sheet on request."" "I guess our ex police sergeant didn't stay in Georgia." "And he wasn't there last night, that's for sure." "We'll find him." "Police officers, Simmons." "Open up!" "Hit it." "Ah, Mr. Mannix, I'm glad to find you in." "I'd like to talk to you." "Please, come in." "Now, what can I do for you, Mr. Corwin?" "I've been trying to phone Anne most of the day, but she doesn't answer." "I'm very worried about her." "She's not at her apartment, but she's safe." "Oh." "Good." "I wonder if you'd give her a message." "Of course." "I've arranged for memorial services for her father at Westchester Chapel, Wednesday at 2:00." "She knows where it is." "She'll be there." "Thank you." "Have the police found out who broke into her apartment?" "Carl Simmons." "Sergeant Simmons?" "But why?" "He didn't say." "He was dead when we got to him." "I don't suppose he died of natural causes." "Somebody shot him." "Mr. Mannix?" "I'm beginning to wonder if Bill Avery's death was accidental." "Well, that thought has crossed my mind too, Mr. Corwin." "I can't believe it." "I simply can't believe it." "It makes sense, Anne." "The million dollars must still be around someplace." "At least someone thinks it is." "You mean someone else besides Carl Simmons?" "At least one.. the man who killed him." "And he may have been responsible for your father's death." "My father's death was an accident." "He lost control of the car, Anne." "That wouldn't have happened unless he was traveling too fast." "A man just out of prison isn't inclined to do that unless he had a reason." "You mean if someone were chasing him?" "Or following him." "Following him to where he's supposed to have hidden the money?" "Yes." "But he didn't take it." "And he's dead now." "And so is another man for no reason at all." "For money that doesn't even exist." "Anne, people aren't usually killed for something that doesn't exist." "Maybe I'm wrong." "Maybe my father did take the money." "I really didn't think he'd lie to me." "Now I don't know." "(phone ringing)" "(phone stops after three rings)" "(phone rings again)" "Yeah, Peggy?" "Joe, Avery's ex wife Muriel never sold their house." "She's still living there with her second husband." "The name's Enright." "Come on, Muriel." "Get the door." "Muriel!" "Mrs. Enright?" "Who's asking?" "I'm a private investigator." "I'd like to talk to you about William Avery." "What about him?" "I'm working for his daughter, Anne." "Before my time." "I never met her." "She's in danger." "Who from?" "Someone who thinks she knows about the money" "Avery was convicted of stealing." "I need some kind of identification." "Okay, come on in." "Thank you." "Stand still, buddy." "Put the hands where I can see them." "Okay, turn around." "In case you didn't notice, the safety's off this thing." "I noticed." "Good." "Now, I want to hear all about Avery and his daughter." "And the money." "And what you're doing around here." "You mind not pointing that thing at me?" "It has a tendency to tighten up my throat, and make conversation a bit difficult." "Put it away, George." "Just be quiet, will you?" "Don't tell me to be quiet in my own house." "Put the gun away." "All right, Mannix, talk." "Right after Avery died, somebody broke into his daughter's apartment, tore it apart." "She thinks somebody was after the payroll money her father was supposed to have stolen." "So?" "She may have been right." "He came back last night while I was there, but he got away." "Double crossing..." "Shut up, Muriel." "Just who double crossed you, Mrs. Enright?" "Never mind who." "Simmons." "Carl Simmons." "If you don't shut up, so help me, Muriel, I'll..." "Oh, go ahead." "Use it on me." "You've been wanting to for years." "You and Carl Simmons had some kind of a deal, didn't you?" "Well, I can tell you this." "He didn't find one red cent of that money." "Then it's still around." "And you're looking for it, too." "My job is to protect my client, and to prove that her father was innocent." "Sure he was." "That's why Simmons tore her place apart." "And he won't do that again." "Somebody killed him." "How'd it happen?" "A gun." "Any idea who that somebody might be?" "No idea at all." "Well, if you get any notions, I'd appreciate a call." "Thanks for the hospitality." "I told you not to have anything to do with Carl Simmons." "He was an ex cop." "He's supposed to be able to follow anybody." "Maybe that's what happened." "Maybe he followed Avery too close." "Well, the important question is, who killed him?" "Well, quit looking at me." "I didn't do it." "Why should I?" "He didn't have the money." "Well, whoever it was might not be finished killing." "George, I'm scared." "Don't worry." "That private detective was able to find us without any trouble." "So?" "So somebody else could, and do the same thing to us that they did to Carl Simmons." "Eight years I've been here." "That's almost as much time as Avery spent in the pen." "The money is somewhere." "I'm sticking around until it turns up and we get our share." "The money." "That's the only reason you married me, isn't it?" "There's no point in us getting into another fight." "You were sure he took that money." "Maybe I made a mistake." "No way." "You knew." "Maybe I lied." "Maybe I told you that just so you'd marry me." "Because you're so handsome, such a gentleman." "Uh-huh." "Yes, Art." "I'll tell him the minute he comes in." "First thing." "Right." "Bye-bye." "The minute who comes in?" "Oh, I thought you needed a minute to think." "About what?" "That was Art Malcolm." "He wants to see you right away about the people you visited last night." "The Enrights?" "What about them?" "Mrs. Enright's dead, and the husband's missing." "Even you've got to admit that things are beginning to look a little weird, Joe." "An ex-cop from the Avery case gets away from you and turns up dead." "Last night you visit Avery's ex wife." "Today she turns up dead, and her husband missing." "And the only clue we get is a business card in the name of a certain Joe Mannix." "I'm just following a trail, Art." "And leaving a lot of corpses in your wake." "You think the girl hired me as a bird dog to turn up everybody who might know about the payroll?" "Who stands to gain the most?" "She knew her father took the money." "She must have." "Come on, Art." "I know you need an answer, but she's not it." "Malcolm." "Yeah?" "Yeah." "All right, thanks." "The slug that killed the Enright woman came from the same gun that killed Carl Simmons." ".45?" "No, a .32." "What makes you think it was a .45?" "Enright's got a .45." "I was looking down the barrel last night." "Did you find it at the house?" "Where's your client right now?" "Safe." "Hmm, I'll bet she is." "Where was she last night, say about 1:00?" "What are you getting at?" "And the night before that, when Carl Simmons was killed?" "Come on, Art." "She's a gentle, frightened girl, believe me." "It has been my experience that a gentle, frightened girl can undergo an amazing change when a million tax free dollars are involved." "I don't blame you, Joe." "It can happen to anybody." "She's pretty, she's got great legs, and probably a .32 automatic." "Art, you don't know her." "Don't you think it's time I did?" "(knocking on door)" "Anne?" "(knocking on door)" "Anne?" "You still as sure as you were, Joe?" "Where's the telephone?" "This is Lieutenant Malcolm." "I want to put out an APB." "The name is Anne Avery." "Nothing." "At least Art Malcolm didn't give the story to the press yet." "Won't be able to keep it a secret too long." "She's a murder suspect." "Who else suspects her besides the police?" "Well, that's enough, isn't it?" "What about you, Joe?" "No chance." "She's not capable of killing." "I'd like to quote a part time philosopher who more than once has said to me, "In this business, the first thing to learn is that anybody is capable of anything."" "Well, that's why I'm only a part time philosopher." "You usually aren't this sure about people, Joe." "Yeah, I know." "She's a pretty girl, and got a great pair of legs." "But she didn't kill anybody." "I'd better find her before somebody else gets to her, if they haven't already." "Mr. Mannix, Anne didn't show up for the memorial services." "What happened?" "Oh, I'm sorry, Mr. Corwin." "I should have called you." "She's missing." "Missing?" "The police are looking for her." "What on earth for?" "Murder." "That's ridiculous." "I agree." "Murder." "But who?" "An ex policeman, Carl Simmons." "Last night, Mrs. Enright, formerly Mrs. William Avery." "Is there anything I can do?" "I'll call you as soon as I find out anything at all." "Thank you." "Good night." "It's getting pretty late, Peggy." "What about Toby?" "Toby is 12 years old now, and cooks just as well as I do." "I'll stay if you need me, Joe." "No, I can worry just as well by myself." "Maybe better." "Good night." "Good night." "(knocking at door)" "Mr. Mannix?" "That's right." "I've got to talk to you." "I need help." "My daughter has been kidnapped." "Did you call the police?" "I can't call the police." "I'm William Avery." "Well, you look as if you could use a drink, Mr. Avery." "Oh, no thanks." "What makes you think Anne has been kidnapped?" "That second column, Mr. Mannix, under Missing Persons." ""Father, must see you, urgent." "Phone you at Joe's." "Annie Girl."" "You're sure this is Anne, and she's going to phone you here?" "Somebody's going to phone, and I know you're the Joe she's referring to." "What makes you think that?" "Because when she visited me in prison she told me about all of her friends." "She never mentioned anybody named Joe." "How did you find about about me?" "The day after I got out of prison" "I got to her apartment house just as you were leaving with her." "You came back alone." "And you checked the registration on my car." "Right." "Nobody else ever called her Annie Girl either." "That was my special name for her when she was a little girl." "We talked about that, too." "Let's suppose this is her ad." "There's nothing in it that indicates she's been kidnapped." "Yes, there is, there is." "You see, she couldn't possibly know I was alive." "Who could?" "Well, nobody could know." "Somebody's guessing, that's all." "Somebody who knew me from before." "And whoever it is has got Annie Girl, I know it." "Sit down, Mr. Avery." "To begin with, you've got some explaining to do." "Well, I spent ten years in prison." "The day I got out, it looked to me like somebody in a car was following me." "When I was sure of it, I got a couple of turns ahead of him." "I slowed down and jumped out of the car." "When it went over the cliff there was nobody in it." "Did you get a look at the man in the other car?" "Not a very good one, but enough to know that I had never seen him before." "So far you've told me what you did." "Now tell me why." "Well, I realized that somebody, maybe several people, were expecting me to lead them to the payroll money." "So I decided I wouldn't disappoint them." "I drove fast and ended up dead." "I figured that would be the end of it." "And now you think somebody's figured you're not dead." "Yes." "Same person who killed Carl Simmons?" "I guess so." "All right." "If I get a phone call asking for William Avery," "I'll tell him that all I know is what I read in the papers, and the papers say Avery's dead." "No, no, no, no." "You can't do that." "Why not?" "If they've got Anne, there's no reason why they shouldn't let her go if they really believe you're dead." "They'd still think I told her where the money was." "You didn't tell her?" "No." "But you know." "Yeah, I know." "I took it, and I hid it." "And I spent ten years in jail for it." "But I can't let anything happen to Annie." "You're willing to make a trade?" "A million dollars for Anne?" "Yeah." "You know, if somebody was smart enough to figure you'd come here, they'd be waiting outside to follow you when you leave." "Now, there have been some people killed for that money since you left prison." "I read about Sergeant Simmons." "Who else?" "Your ex wife." "Who did it, her husband?" "What's his name, Enright?" "It's possible, he's missing." "But he's not the number one suspect." "Your daughter is." "(phone rings)" "Mannix." "We found another one, Joe." "Enright." "In one of the canals down in the Venice section." "And the .45 was in his pocket." "Is that what did it?" "No, a .32, same as the others." "Have you got anything at all, Joe?" "Not yet." "You sound hopeful." "Well, if anything turns up, I'll get in touch with you, Art." "I'm counting on that." "Mr. Mannix, I know you have to work sometimes very closely with the police, but I..." "Mr. Avery, I'm not planning to do anything that will put Anne in danger." "(phone rings)" "Mannix." "Yes, he is." "Hello?" "Avery?" "Yeah, who's this?" "Want to make a deal for your daughter?" "Is she all right?" "Let me talk to her." "She's all right." "The money first, then you see her." "Listen..." "No, you listen." "Where is it?" "Never going to find it without me." "Okay." "Leave Mannix there." "I'll be behind you, and no tricks." "Get moving." "(line goes dead)" "You heard." "I have to go alone." "Could be more than one of them out there." "Do you have a car?" "Yeah." "All right, now, drive slowly." "Take a roundabout route." "Make a wrong turn or two." "Remember, the city has changed in the last ten years." "That'll give me a chance to get there before you." "Now, where?" "My old house, where I used to live with Muriel." "You could be followed, too." "It's a chance we'll have to take." "(car starting)" "Avery." "Back up to the door." "Far enough." "Where's the money?" "First I see my daughter." "The money first." "Basement." "How do I know you won't just kill me and take the money, and then kill my daughter?" "You're just going to have to trust me." "Don't move." "Well, well, well." "Fred Eby." "Who are you working for?" "Nobody.." "I'm on my own." "You couldn't last a night on your own." "Where's the girl?" "The money first." "Downstairs." "Better get it." "Move." "You've got to give him the money, Mr. Mannix." "Otherwise..." "Don't worry." "I'll make the exchange, because he's going to tell me how and where to make it." "Right, Freddie?" "Anne!" "Far enough, Bill." "I know you don't want any harm to come to Anne, gentlemen." "My friend will take your gun, Mr. Mannix." "Are you all right, Annie Girl?" "Why shouldn't she be, Bill?" "After all, she came to me for help." "So that's where you put the money." "And Muriel and her moronic husband sat on it for ten years and didn't know it." "Mannix, finish what he started." "You know, the police are looking for you, Anne." "You're a murder suspect." "What?" "That's right." "Carl Simmons, the ex policeman." "Then Muriel Avery Enright." "And tonight they found George Enright dead." "All shot with your .32." "Mannix, keep working." "All right put it on the table." "(mouthing silently)" "Put it on the table." "Open it." "Hold it, Corwin!" "Art, he'll need an ambulance, and there's the money." "So this is what it was all about." "He killed all those people for that." "And you thought he was your friend." "They didn't." "Father, you're shot!" "I did it." "I killed them." "No!" "I'm sorry." "All my life money was all I cared about." "I stole, I murdered for it." "And then I found it didn't mean anything compared to you," "Annie Girl."