"♪ (THEME MUSIC PLAYING) ♪" "Morning, Doyle." "Morning, Mr. Walker." "Morning, Julia." "Oh, hello, Steve." "Uh, Mr. De Marco's on a long distance phone call, but would you like some coffee while you're waiting?" "Fine." "All right." "You take it black, right?" "Please." "You must be on cloud nine about that promotion of yours." "It's not official yet." "Well, do you think he'd ask you here if it weren't all set?" "Well, it is a shame that you can't take your wife." "The Middle East is not the best place for a woman these days." "Cathy understands." "Oh, he's off the phone, Steve, you can go in now." "Good luck." "(BUZZER SOUNDS)" "Mr. Doyle, did my husband get here yet?" "Yes, Mrs. Walker, he just went into Mr. De Marco's... (TWO GUNSHOTS)" "JULIA:" "Mr. De Marco!" "(POUNDING ON DOOR)" "Mr. De Marco!" "What happened?" "I don't know." "Mr. De Marco!" "(BUZZER SOUNDS)" "Come on, open up!" "It's me, Doyle!" "Locked from the inside." "(PEOPLE MURMURING)" "(BUZZER SOUNDS) Mr. De Marco!" "Come on, open up!" "It's me, Doyle!" "Mr. De Marco!" "Doyle, don't pound at the door, kick it in!" "Hold it." "(PEOPLE GASPING)" "Doyle, put the gun on the desk." "Steve." "All right, get over." "Get over here." "Now back out of my way, all of you." "Stay put, everybody." "Doyle to Serrano." "Steve Walker just shot De Marco." "He's headed for the elevator." "♪ ♪" "Mannix s7e18 Walk A Double Line" "♪ ♪" "Oh, I'll be with you in a moment, Mrs. Walker." "Peggy, get this back to Art Malcolm, will you?" "Hopeless?" "Yeah, he's got a complete package... witnesses, ballistics, you name it." "Well, Joe, will you at least talk to her?" "About what?" "Help her over the moment, Joe." "I mean, after all, the man out there on the run is her husband." "Peggy, anything I could tell her would only make her feel worse." "I'm sorry." "I suppose that's final?" "That's final." "Okay." "Let's get on to bigger and better things." "Did you forget that at 12:00 today you have a golf date with Adam Tobias?" "I hadn't forgotten." "I didn't think for a moment you had." "Have a good game." "Thanks." "And have a nice day." "A warm, lovely, carefree day." "Peggy." "Peggy, why do you do that to me?" "I mean, twisting my arm like that?" "I guess there's a little devil inside of me that makes me do it, Joe." "All right, send her in." "Oh, thanks, Joe." "Oh, um, should I call Adam Tobias?" "Absolutely not." "You may come in, Mrs. Walker." "Thank you." "You're welcome." "Oh, uh, Mrs. Walker, please sit down." "Mr. Mannix, I know you didn't want to see me." "I'll only take a minute." "Well, I'm supposed to be in the business of helping people, and when I can't see a way to do that," "I just think it's a waste of time and money." "But you can help." "I don't know how." "You were there." "Your husband had a gun in his hand." "You saw him standing in front of Victor De Marco's body." "You saw him run." "Yes." "Can you think of a reason your husband would want to kill De Marco?" "No." "You're sure?" "Mr. Mannix, my only concern is what's going to happen now." "The police will kill Steve." "He'll force them to." "I know him." "He'd rather die than let himself be locked up." "What do you think I can do, Mrs. Walker?" "Find him before the police do, and make him turn himself in." "Well, do you think he'd listen?" "He has to." "He's been shot, he needs a doctor." "I don't care what Steve has done, Mr. Mannix." "I love him." "And I want him alive." "That's the main thing." "That's the only thing." "All right, Mrs. Walker, I'll see what I can do." "You know that if, uh, you hear from your husband, you'll have to notify the police." "Yes, Lieutenant Malcolm told me." "Did he also tell you that he'll have no trouble getting a court order to put a tap on your phone?" "Yes." "Good." "It helps all around if you stick to the rules." "Thank you, Mr. Mannix." "Thank you for being so helpful, Mrs. Fair." "That's all right, Mrs. Walker." "Shall I call Adam Tobias and tell him there's been a change of plans?" "I'm surprised you haven't already." "Yeah, call him, tell him the same time tomorrow." "If my twisted arm is well enough to hold a club." "I don't know what you said to Cathy Walker, but you made her feel better, Joe." "All I told her is I'd try and talk her husband into giving himself up." "You don't seem very optimistic." "Well, there's something about this whole setup I don't like." "What?" "She's not telling me everything she knows." "Do you have a personal interest in this case, Joe?" "Why?" "Because as soon as Steve Walker is picked up, this case is closed." "We're out and the DA is in, home free." "Aren't you forgetting something, Art?" "Something you skipped over in that report?" "The motive." "No motive." "Doesn't that bother you?" "It did, for a while." "Until I found out that Steve Walker's career was going down the drain." "No way, Art." "He was in line for a promotion." "That was the office scuttlebutt." "But I think that Victor De Marco did what I did:" "checked him out." "And found what?" "The man they knew as Steve Walker was born ten years ago." "He started life as Johnny Wallace." "And wound up in prison?" "Yeah, Florida State." "How'd you know that?" "Something Cathy Walker said... or rather didn't say." "I got the feeling that Steve had a thing about being locked up." "What was he in for?" "Armed robbery." "Couple of punks knocked over a gas station." "He must have been pretty young." "Nineteen." "Art, kids do dumb things." "This kid was packing a gun." "You said that, uh, Steve Walker was born ten years ago." "How come?" "Johnny Wallace went over the wall with two years left to serve." "So your theory is that Victor De Marco found out and was going to blow the whistle." "Right." "And got shot for it." "You said it yourself, Joe, he didn't want to go back behind bars." "(DOORBELL RINGS)" "Mrs. Walker?" "Yes." "Telegram." "Thank you." "♪ ♪" "Mrs. Walker?" "Yes, hi." "When can I have these?" "Tuesday be okay?" "Fine." "Two sweaters." "Thank you." "Thank you." "(PHONE RINGING)" "(PHONE RINGING)" "Cathy?" "I've been out of my mind." "Are you all right?" "Don't worry." "I'm okay." "Now, listen, Cathy... (GROANS)" "Steve?" "Steve, you've got to get to a doctor." "No, not now." "CATHY:" "But Steve..." "Cathy, I told you, it's okay." "I can make it." "But I need cash." "Can you get to the bank?" "CATHY:" "Yes." "We have about 1,200 in the checking, and the savings are..." "Now, le-leave the savings." "That's for you." "Just get me the 1,200." "Where do you want me to bring it?" "There's an alley between Ninth and Coberly in Palos Verdes, near where you used to live." "They're tearing down the whole block." "The third door on the right." "What are you going to do?" "I don't know, but I'm not going back to a cell, that's for sure." "Steve... you..." "Just... come when I signal." "Come alone, just you." "STEVE:" "You understand?" "What will the signal be?" "STEVE:" "I'll phone." "Don't answer it." "One ring." "Then I'll call again." "Two rings." "Got it?" "CATHY:" "Yes." "Cathy... what happened yesterday..." "STEVE:" "I know what it looked like, but you gotta believe me." "I didn't kill De Marco." "What?" "STEVE:" "I didn't kill De Marco." "Then, Steve, stop running." "Give yourself up." "Let the police find out what really happened." "Steve?" "Please... (PHONE CLICKS)" "Steve?" "(DOOR CREAKING)" "Life goes on as usual, right, Mrs. Walker?" "Hello, Mr. Doyle." "I was just passing by, and there you were." "Okay if I talk to you for a moment?" "Well, I'm rather in a hurry." "That's real lucky, us bumping into each other like this." "A pity not to take advantage of it." "It's about your husband." "I don't want to talk about it." "Yeah, now, I don't blame you." "You know, I can't help worrying about that poor guy... you know, running around with a bullet in him." "I thought if I knew where he was holed up, I could help him out." "I don't know where he is." "No, of course you don't." "How could you, come to think of it?" "Now, a guy spends time in prison... he's smart... he knows about phone taps and all that hugger-mugger..." "Mr. Doyle, if you don't mind, I'd like to go." "I have some important things I have to do." "Oh, yeah, sure." "Me, too." "Oh, talking about phones..." "is there one handy around here?" "I gotta call my office." "No, I don't know." "Oh." "There's probably one in the laundry." "I'll try there, I guess." "You're sure you don't know where Steve is?" "I'm quite sure." "Maybe it slipped your mind." "Let me give you a word of advice, Mrs. Walker." "There are two ways of remembering." "The easy way doesn't hurt." "(ENGINE STARTING)" "(DOOR OPENS)" "Cathy Walker's outside." "She says it's important." "Oh." "Show her in." "Miss Walker." "Cathy, sit down." "Thank you." "Now, uh, what's so important?" "Mr. Mannix, I know this is going to be hard to believe, but Steve says he didn't kill Victor De Marco." "You heard from him." "Yes, and I'm so worried about him." "He sounded awful." "Where is he?" "I don't know." "He said he'd call me back." "Mr. Mannix, I believe him." "I really think Steve is innocent." "Cathy... was he innocent when he was Johnny Wallace and escaped from prison?" "Do the police know?" "I'm afraid so." "(SIGHS)" "Then I suppose that finishes it." "He doesn't have a chance, does he?" "They won't believe him." "If Steve didn't kill De Marco, who could have?" "I don't know." "Unless..." "Unless what?" "Well, there's a man who works for De Marco Industries." "Their security officer, Matt Doyle." "He was waiting for me today after I called Steve." "I'm sure he'd been following me." "What did he want?" "He wanted me to take him to Steve." "To help Steve, he said." "But I think he meant just the opposite." "Oh, what makes you think that?" "Well, if Doyle could lead the police to Steve, the case would be closed." "Everyone believes Steve's guilty." "But he isn't, Mr. Mannix." "He wouldn't lie to me." "Not now." "Mm." "Excuse me." "Mr. Doyle." "Yeah?" "I understand you bumped into Cathy Walker outside a laundry." "Yeah." "So what?" "So, I suggest you find yourself another laundry." "(CLEARS THROAT)" "Excuse me." "Oh, I'm sorry." "I must have been in another world." "Well, if everyone there looks like you," "I wonder if I could have the address." "That depends on your name and what you have in mind." "The first part is Mannix and the second part... we could maybe kick around over a cocktail?" "Mr. Grant is waiting for you, Mr. Mannix." "That leaves the second part unaccounted for." "(LAUGHS)" "Well, I'll think about it while you're in there." "Mm." "(JULIA CHUCKLES)" "(LOCK BUZZES)" "Mr. Grant." "Have a seat, Mr. Mannix." "Thank you." "What a chore." "If there's one thing that sends me up the wall, it's moving." "Even if the move is, uh, up?" "Even then." "Frankly, Mr. Mannix, I don't see what a private investigator can possibly hope to accomplish at this point." "I mean, there were a dozen witnesses." "Not exactly, Mr. Grant." "When the shooting took place, the door was closed." "The dozen witnesses were on the other side." "True." "Though, under the circumstances," "I think you're quibbling." "That's more than I can say for your security man." "Matt Doyle, you mean?" "Mm." "He's trying to run down Steve Walker on his own." "You sure of that?" "Ask him." "Amazing the loyalty Victor commanded." "Even dead, he's a figure to reckon with." "Doyle's loyalty seems a bit more persistent than anyone else's." "Why would that be?" "Gratitude, I'd say." "Right or wrong, blind gratitude." "Mike Doyle was an alcoholic." "Victor took him in hand, dried him out, got him back on the straight-and-narrow." "Mind you, it wasn't purely altruistic on Victor's part." "He wound up with another employee who'd gladly march right into Hell for him." "I suppose, deep down, that was the sort of total dedication Victor demanded." "From everyone, Mr. Grant?" "I mean, uh..." "on the executive level, too?" "Some people wear their loyalty on their sleeves." "Others are less blatant about it." "I see." "Mr. Grant, there was a picture in the morning paper of Steve Walker with a gun in his hand and Victor De Marco dead behind his desk." "You mean this one?" "That's the one." "Who took it?" "Our company photographer Dick Harley." "MAN:" "A beauty, isn't it?" "Good chance it'll make the cover of Newsworld." "Right in the act." "The murderer, gun in hand..." "lucky." "And the photographer right on the spot... even luckier." "A good photographer's always where the action is." "You mind if we talk face to face?" "Uh, just a second." "Let me throw these in the hypo." "Okay, come on in." "Mr. Harley." "When you think about it, luck really doesn't have that much to do with it." "It's talent." "And I'm good." "Mm." "Well, even good photographers don't usually end up with jobs in executive suites, do they?" "You got a point." "Okay, so I fell into a sweet deal." "What kind of photographs got you the deal?" "Mr. Mannix, I'm only talking to you because Mr. Grant told me to cooperate." "Oh, just another loyal employee, huh?" "I learned a long time ago, in this world, everybody's loyal to the man who pays the most, and right now that's Paul Grant." "Mm, you seem to develop new loyalties as easily as you develop film." "I was told to talk to you." "I've talked." "I got the feeling you don't always do what you're told." "(JULIA SIGHS)" "Irish coffee?" "Yes." "I'll have the same, please." "Certainly, sir." "I hope you didn't mind that I started without you." "Oh, not at all." "It's just that the office sort of shakes me up these days, you know..." "Well, that's understandable, Miss Miller." "I guess you felt the same loyalty towards Mr. De Marco as the rest of his staff." "Loyalty?" "I didn't know there was any." "And it's, um, Julie." "Mm." "No loyalty?" "My information says that Victor De Marco had an army that would follow him down the barrel of a cannon." "It would be nice to think so, Mr. Mannix." "Joe." "But the truth is everybody hated Mr. De Marco." "Enough to kill him?" "He's dead, isn't he?" "Thank you." "You know something, Joe?" "I can think of a lot more fascinating subjects for a man and woman to talk about over their first drink together." "Yeah, so can I, but I think we owe it to the dead to put them to rest." "(JULIE LAUGHS)" "After that, the drinks will taste a lot better." "In some ways, you're very much like Victor De Marco..." "a bulldog." "You get your teeth into a problem and you don't let go until you get what you're after, right?" "Julie, was there anyone else in Mr. De Marco's office before Steve Walker went in?" "No." "Steve was the first appointment." "If I'd only known what was in his mind." "He acted so normal." "Not like a man about to kill somebody." "Why would he kill?" "Can you think of any reason?" "I'm not the girl to ask." "What girl is?" "If you find Steve Walker, ask him." "Meaning Cathy Walker?" "First guess out." "You're good." "Cathy Walker and Victor De Marco?" "They were friendly?" "That's putting it tactfully." "Well, did she, uh, visit him at the office?" "Well, not the one in the De Marco Building." "He had another one?" "Not exactly." "But he kept a boat at the marina, where he conducted quite a bit of business and... quite a bit of pleasure, they say, but... it could have been perfectly innocent." "Julie... it's very important." "(DOORBELL CHIMES)" "Who is it?" "(DISTANT):" "Joe Mannix." "Just a minute." "Mr. Mannix." "Is there any news?" "No, I'm afraid not, Cathy." "There's something I have to ask you." "I don't like it, but I have to have the answer." "All right." "How well did you know Victor De Marco?" "Hardly at all." "Well enough to visit him on his boat?" "I was on his boat once." "Mr. De Marco phoned me and said it was important." "Naturally, I assumed it had to do with Steve." "What was it about?" "Me." "He'd seen me visit Steve a couple of times at the office and said he wanted to get to know me better." ""Much better," he said." "I just looked at him." "He hinted that Steve might find himself out of a job unless I was "a bit more sophisticated."" "That was the way he put it." "He made a quick pass, put his arms around me..." "And what did you do?" "Nothing." "I didn't bare my nails or scream." "I didn't even pretend to be shocked." "I just stood there." "He got the message." "Mm." "How did he take it?" "No fuss." "He even complimented me." "Said he liked my style." "That's all there was to it." "And Steve found out." "Yes." "How?" "I don't know." "What did you say to Steve?" "I told him exactly what happened." "He thought there was more to it than that." "He wouldn't believe me." "(PHONE RINGS ONCE)" "(RINGING RESUMES)" "Do you have something against answering the telephone?" "It was Steve, wasn't it?" "A prearranged signal." "Yes." "Did it mean call him or go to him?" "He wants me to take him some money." "You know where he is?" "Yes." "We'll go together." "Oh, no, please." "I promised Steve." "This is one promise you'll have to break." "Now, you've gotta trust me, Cathy." "Wait in the car." "I'll just be a second." "Find yourself a laundry with a phone." "Then call a tow truck." "(ENGINE STARTS)" "(CAR DRIVES UP OUTSIDE)" "(TWO CAR DOORS SHUT)" "(FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING)" "Steve?" "STEVE:" "Hold it." "Cathy, I told you to come alone." "He's here to help you." "That's right, Steve." "Who is he?" "Joe Mannix, a private detective." "I hired him." "(SIGHS)" "You shouldn't have done that." "(GASPING)" "Oh, Steve." "Look, you're burning up." "You've got to get to a hospital." "N-No hospitals." "There's a phone in my car, Cathy." "Call an ambulance." "No." "All right, Mannix." "Give me your car keys." "Oh, Steve, don't do this." "You won't make it." "The keys!" "Get 'em." "Have you got the money?" "Go down and start the car." "Steve..." "Do what I tell you." "Now, don't move, Mannix." "And don't try to stop me." "You run now, you're going to get yourself killed, Steve." "I have to run." "I don't have a choice." "What about Cathy?" "She thinks you're innocent." "I am." "I didn't kill him." "I was framed." "But you went in there with a gun." "Just to scare him, so he'd stay away from Cathy." "You think anybody's going to believe that?" "Try me." "You're wasting your time, Mannix." "You're a loser, Steve, even if you get away." "Now just give me couple of straight answers, and maybe I can help you." "Now, when you were in De Marco's outer office was anyone else there?" "No." "Just his secretary." "De Marco got off the phone, and I went in." "I closed the door, then everything went black." "I came to, and they were knocking the door down." "Then all those faces were staring at me." "I looked over and..." "De Marco was dead." "Now, do you see?" "There's only one thing for me to do, and that's keep running." "(MANNIX SPEAKS QUIETLY)" "Cathy, how is he?" "He's still in intensive care, but the doctor says that there's no reason to worry." "Good." "So, he'll get well, and then they'll convict him of a murder he didn't commit." "Not if we can find out who did kill De Marco." "You mean you believe Steve is innocent?" "Unfortunately, there are a couple of things" "I don't understand." "Like what?" "Why was Steve so sure that there was something going on between you and Victor De Marco?" "Someone sent this to him in the mail." "I take it this was the "one quick pass,"" "taken by an on-the-spot photographer." "Who was he?" "Do you have any idea?" "I didn't see anyone else on the boat." "When did Steve get this?" "The morning he went to see Mr. De Marco about his promotion." "PEGGY:" "Some eye-opener." "(MANNIX SIGHS)" "Suddenly he realized why he was being shipped to the Middle East without his wife." "No way he could miss it." "Then, whoever killed De Marco wanted Steve Walker to go bananas and come to De Marco's office to confront him." "It looks that way." "How'd they know he'd be carrying a gun, Joe?" "They didn't." "They were probably ready either way." "If he didn't have a gun, they would have planted one on him." "GRANT:" "What am I supposed to be looking for, Mr. Mannix?" "That shadow along the edge." "Oh, yes." "What caused that?" "A tired focal-plane shutter." "Now take a look at this one." "MANNIX:" "Different day, different location." "GRANT:" "Same shadow." "Same camera." "I'm surprised you got hold of this." "That's an odd reaction, Mr. Grant." "A man who's been killed with his arms around the wife of the supposed killer, and you're only surprised that I have a print of it." "I happen to have seen it before." "You knew about De Marco and Cathy Walker?" "I bought the negative of that print from Dick Harley." "Victor De Marco's orders." "Why?" "I'm not sure." "Make a guess." "Maybe he wanted to try to keep his wife from learning about it." "Mm." "If he ordered you to pay off Harley, and you got the negative in return, who do you suppose sent a duplicate print to Steve Walker?" "Harley, I suppose." "Maybe he decided to play both sides of the street?" "Mr. Mannix, what difference does it make?" "Unless you really believe there's a possibility that Walker didn't do it?" "That possibility grows stronger all the time." "He was caught red-handed." "Maybe somebody painted his hand." "(CLATTERING, CLUNKING)" "(GLASS SHATTERING)" "(TIRES SQUEALING)" "(DIALING)" "Lieutenant Malcolm." "Joe Mannix calling." "(PHONE BUZZES)" "Malcolm." "Art, I'm at Dick Harley's studio." "I think he's mixed up in the killing of De Marco." "He just took a shot at me." "You okay?" "Yeah, I'm fine, but Harley got away." "You better put a..." "Hold it a second." "Art, I was wrong about Harley." "He's here." "Did he see who shot at you?" "Probably, but it won't do any good." "He's dead." "Joe... a deposit of $25,000 on the 11th." "Pretty fair retainer for a shutterbug, wouldn't you say?" "Yeah, and he probably got that for just one photograph:" "his boss and Cathy Walker on the boat." "And then Harley wasn't satisfied." "He sent a copy of the picture to Walker, trying to collect all over again." "Which brings us right back to the start of the whole frame-up." "Frame-up?" "!" "Joe, you're bucking the facts." "The shots, the gun in Walker's hand, and now the motive." "All of which makes Steve Walker guilty, if that's what you believe in the first place." "What other place is there?" "If you think he's innocent, you wind up with a mess of questions." "Like why is the gun in his hand?" "How were the shots fired, if he didn't fire them?" "Joe, what you need is a packet of answers, and somebody to give them to you." "Mrs. De Marco, maybe." "What, the widow?" "According to Peggy, a very merry widow." "Mrs. De Marco." "Don't tell me you're Mr. Mannix." "I'm sorry, I'm a few minutes early." "Oh, it's not that." "I was expecting someone rather more seedy, a pencil mustache and a wide fedora." "Oh, would you like a martini?" "No, thank you." "Well, how about some tiger's milk?" "Flipper loves it after his 50 laps." "No, thank you, nothing at all." "Mrs. De Marco, you said on the phone you wouldn't mind if I asked you a few questions about your late husband." "I'm quite prepared." "As you see, I'm in my widow's weeds." "Mrs. De Marco, would it be tactless of me to ask, in your hour of grief, if you were very fond of your late husband?" "Fond of?" "Mr. Mannix, I despised him." "Did you ever contemplate getting a divorce?" "No, why should I?" "Victor had a whole battery of attorneys, all very capable, of course, very loyal to Victor." "They would have chewed me into bits of plankton." "You know, it's a nice warm feeling to know they're working for me now." "Loyalty goes with community property, did you know that?" "We live and we learn." "Are you planning to run De Marco Industries yourself?" "Mr. Mannix, I have my own concept of women's lib." "I think the men should make the money... and the women feel at liberty to spend it." "Who will run the company?" "Well, Victor had a tremendous amount of faith in Paul Grant." "So do I, for that matter." "Paul has all the strengths of Victor without that one single weakness, the one that killed him." "You mean this one?" "(LAUGHING)" "Or one like it." "I could have filled a trunk with pictures of this order if I'd collected erotica." "Your husband must have thought that this one was rather special." "He paid $25,000 to keep it out of circulation." "Why would he do that?" "Well, I would think to keep you from seeing it." "There was a time, earlier in our marriage, when I'd have given anything for Victor to want to protect me from something like this." "But that was two centuries ago." "Hi, Joe." "Peggy." "How's that for a neat and orderly desk?" "That's just great, but I won't be able to find a thing." "Oh, Peggy, get me Matt Doyle on the phone, huh?" "The security guard at the De Marco Building?" "Yeah, his number... his number was right there on an envelope underneath a road map of Northern California." "I took the liberty of putting it in your telephone index." "Hm." "Mr. Doyle, please." "Mr. Mannix calling." "How is the merry widow?" "Not very merry." "Mr. Doyle, one moment, please." "Mr. Doyle, uh... (ANGRY, INDISTINCT TALKING OVER PHONE)" "Take it easy, Mr. Doyle." "I know all you're trying to do is find the man who killed Victor De Marco." "(INDISTINCT TALKING OVER PHONE)" "Yeah, well, so am I." "(INDISTINCT TALKING OVER PHONE)" "No... no, I don't think it was Steve Walker, and I want a chance to prove it." "(INDISTINCT TALKING OVER PHONE)" "Just give me five minutes of your time, huh?" "(INDISTINCT TALKING OVER PHONE)" "Good." "Uh, good." "I'll be there, Mr. Doyle." "Julie." "Two days in a row;" "people are going to talk." "I'll take my chances." "This time, I knew what to order." "Thanks." "(LAUGHS)" "Julie the dreamer." "Oh, yesterday, when you asked me for a drink," "I had this fantasy that you were attracted to me." "What makes you think I'm not?" "That bulldog look in your eye again." "Sorry." "(LAUGHS)" "All right." "Ask away." "No questions." "Then what?" "Well, it's this theory I have." "It kept me awake all night last night." "What theory?" "You'll have to let me into De Marco's office to test it out." "Joe, I don't know." "It's Paul Grant's office now." "But you do have a key." "Yes, and I have a job which I could very easily lose." "(WRY LAUGH)" "All right." "I promise I won't burglarize the place." "Just want to check something out." "Only take a minute." "(KEYS RATTLING)" "All right, I'll push the buzzer, and you can go in." "(LOCK BUZZING)" "Did you find what you were looking for?" "I think so." "All right." "Can we go now?" "Julie, you didn't hear anything?" "No." "Should I have?" "Gunshots." "Blanks." "I just fired twice in the other room." "That office is completely soundproof." "Mr. De Marco had this thing about private conversations really being private." "Then, uh, on the morning of the shooting, how do you suppose everyone heard those shots?" "I don't know." "When you take dictation, how do you do it?" "I do it on the tape recorder." "This machine?" "Yes." "(SWITCH CLICKS)" "DE MARCO:" "All past memos on the subject will be followed explicitly." "Uh, Joe, I don't get the point of all this." "You will." "DE MARCO:" "There will be additional orders coming from this office relative to... (GUNSHOTS ON RECORDING)" "But I..." "Thought you erased those shots?" "You did, Julie, but I rerecorded them." "You see, I didn't really need a key to get into the office." "I was here earlier." "Now... let's see if I can fill in exactly what happened from the moment" "Steve Walker entered De Marco's office." "(GRUNTS)" "The reception waiting for Steve inside wasn't exactly what he expected." "But you weren't going to tip him off, were you, Julie," "Even though you knew what it was all about." "Whatever plan Steve had in mind to settle his differences" "With Victor De Marco, somebody else in there had a plan of his own that was already underway, and Steve was the man who was going to make it work for him, because Steve was packing a gun," "because Steve had a motive to commit murder." "De Marco was killed by someone you saw go into the office." "In fact, you probably announced him and released the door for him." "And when his job was done and everything was neatly in place, he came out and wandered back to where he came from." "You probably smiled at each other." "All you had to do was press the button on this recorder and the shots rang out loud and clear for everyone to hear." "You must really love the man that killed De Marco, Julie." "I don't know what you're talking about." "Paul Grant... next in line for all of this." "It was a woman, Mrs. De Marco, that gave you away, Julie." "Victor De Marco never would have paid" "$25,000 for that photograph." "He couldn't have cared less." "His wife knew he'd been playing around for years." "So it had to be Grant." "He got Harley to take the photograph and then, with your help, framed Steve Walker and wound up with De Marco Enterprises." "GRANT:" "I thought you were just a pest, Mannix." "But it's gone beyond that now." "Sorry, but I caught you breaking and entering." "You pulled a gun on me, and I had to shoot you." "Hold it right there, Grant!" "Drop your gun." "Drop it!" "But, Doyle, you don't understand." "He's just trying to get Steve Walker off the hook." "You've been lying to me, Grant." "You lied right along." "Look, I'll give you anything you want." "Name it." "Anything!" "I got what I want, the man who killed Vic De Marco." "He was the only person who treated me like a human being and you killed him." "Now I'm going to kill you!" "Doyle!" "Don't do it." "He's not worth it." "You stay out of this, Mannix!" "Sorry I gave you a rough go, Doyle but, uh... sometimes you can't tell the players without a program."