"I'll take two." "Sixty." "Up to you, Loren." "You're too strong for me tonight, Victor." "Freeman?" "I'll call." "Aces full." "Beats me." "You win." "You lose." "It evens out." "I'll buy half of that." "You win, Farnsworth, who else?" "Here you are." "Thank you, Walter." "Better luck next time." "I don't think there'll be a next time." "Drinks at the club?" "Anything to kill the taste." "Where's Jim?" "He didn't show up." "Well, I don't blame him." "How deep in hock can you get?" "Helen's on the phone." "She said Jim was here." "Jim!" "Jim, what happened?" "Mr. Mannix, Mr. Wickersham wants to see you." "Oh, Mr. Mannix, Mr. Wickersham wants to see you." "He's in the computer room." "On my way." "He wants to see me in the computer room." "How are you this morning, Mannix?" "Okay." "Have a nice breakfast?" "Yeah." "And I brushed my teeth and I washed my socks." "Now you can drop the other shoe." "It's all here." "Follow the man, locate the girl, and get the usual affidavits." "Thanks, anyway." "Mannix." "I don't touch divorce." "Okay." "I promised the client I'd talk to you." "So you talked." "It's Gloria Newman." "She's in your office." "The name is Farnsworth now." "Yeah, I was at the wedding." "Apparently, she wants you at the divorce, too." "Sorry." "You really going to say no to her?" "How does she look?" "Want to hear a corny line?" "You haven't changed either." "Three years is a long time without a call." "Well, you got married." "I figured you'd be busy." "I must have picked up that phone 100 times." "Joe, will you help me?" "Why me?" "There are other detective agencies." "There are other detectives in this agency." "Because I can trust you." "Because you are the best." "And because it's going to take the best to beat Victor." "You seemed happy going down the aisle." "Well, whatever it was, it died a long time ago." "Will you help me, Joe?" "Hire a lawyer." "Divorces come easy these days." "Not so easy." "Loneliness is a very potent drug." "It can make you do things." "I made mistakes." "No excuses." "I made them." "But Victor will smear me over every newspaper in town." "I want a quiet divorce." "The only chance I have is to get something on him, so that we can make a trade." "Oh, I know it sounds dirty." "That seems to be the only language he understands." "How dirty?" "Another woman." "Maybe, if you, uh, follow him, you can find out who she is." "I'll be in touch." "Joe, do you remember that little toy carousel you gave me?" "I still have it." "I should have held on to you, too, for dear life." "I won't make that mistake again." "When this is all over, I'm going to get you back." "Mr. Farnsworth?" "Oh, no." "I don't care about appointments." "If this headache doesn't get any better," "I won't be in tomorrow either." "Maybe even longer." "How did you get in?" "Did you ever try knocking?" "Victor Farnsworth is dead." "I think I'll lie down." "You'd better hear the rest." "Maybe I'd better not." "I'd like a print check on this." "That's yours." "That's right, Lou." "She set me up." "With those big eyes and that soft voice, she set me up." "Now, how did you get into this one?" "I was slugged, and then dragged into their house." "And something tells me he was shot with my gun." "We'll call my lawyers, go down to the D.A.'s Office." "No." "You know what you're doing?" "Not yet." "No." "The killer knows what he's doing." "I was no sudden brainstorm." "I was someone's handpicked patsy." "Everywhere you look, I fit." "Tight." "Victor refuses to give Gloria a divorce, so she comes to me with tears in her eyes and says, "Help me, Joe." So I say, "Sure,"" "even though I don't handle divorce cases, and everybody knows that, but I take this one." "Why?" "Because I'm an old love." "She's very pretty and appealing, and she's worth millions." "Now, you know the D.A. will make Murder One out of that without leaving his office." "So don't ask me to stand still!" "Now, Joe, wait a minute." "What if they catch up to you?" "Supposing some rookie cop gets nervous..." "I'm not going to sit this out in a jail cell!" "You'll be backed up by Intertect all the way." "I'll be working for you." "I want me working for me, Lou." "All right." "What do you want me to do?" "Get me a rundown on the Farnsworth circle-- friends, neighbors, Victor's card-playing buddies." "Everything." "All right." "Go to a movie." "Stay all day or something." "Get me Parker in the computer room." "Oh, Joe, give me three hours, and then get in touch with me through the office." "I don't care where Parker went!" "Get him to the phone!" "Oh, and Joe..." "Joe!" "Hello." "You tell Parker I will be in that office in as long as it takes me to get there, and I want him with me or I'll turn on his delicate machines myself!" "Wait a minute." "Calm down." "Just tell Parker I will be in that office in 15 minutes." "Why?" "Because my headache went away!" "That's why!" "You know what I think of you, Gloria." "That's why I'm here." "The only reason." "Thank you for coming." "Oh, Gloria." "Hello, Clara." "Hi, Loren." "Want to hear a terrible thing?" "I had visions of doing it myself." "Loren, honey, that's tasteless." "No, really, Clara." "I think everybody had that thought from time to time." "Why don't you take him somewhere and buy him a martini?" "Gloria." "I just couldn't believe the news." "It was such a shock." "It's incredible, absolutely incredible." "Victor was such a fine man." "John, please forgive me." "I must lie down." "Of course." "I understand." "Mrs. Farnsworth, the District Attorney is on his way." "The police giving you a bad time?" "Questions." "I'll speak to the District Attorney." "You don't have to say anything." "Thank you." "Oh, Joe, I knew it was you when I saw the carousel." "It only cost a couple of bucks." "You gave it to me that last night, remember?" "Yeah, it seemed appropriate." "Going around in circles, getting no place..." "like us." "Who is it?" "Mrs. Farnsworth?" "Yes?" "The District Attorney is here." "I'll be down in a moment." "You can't believe I'd give you away?" "Why not?" "You hired me." "You knew exactly when I'd be here." "I don't know how you dragged my body into the house." "You must have had help." "Oh, I'm sorry." "Oh, Joe, I wanted him out of my life, but not that way." "You shouldn't have come." "You mean now... or this morning?" "What do I have to do to make you believe me?" "All right... someone killed Victor, not you, not me." "Who?" "Take a wild guess." "No one." "Everyone." "I don't know." "What about Victor's girlfriend I was supposed to find?" "Oh, Joe, it doesn't matter now." "It matters to me!" "Well, I think it's Susan Graham." "She's a model." "Susan Graham." "How will I get in touch with you?" "Don't." "Well, I can go through Victor's papers." "Maybe something will turn up." "Then call Lou Wickersham." "The name Farnsworth has been "high society"" "for a hundred years." "Victor Farnsworth's wedding three years ago to the lovely Gloria Newman was the social event of the season." "The police say the suspect, Joe Mannix, knew Mrs. Farnsworth before her marriage." "Their names were romantically linked by a newspaper columnist and at one time..." "Yes?" "Photographer." "My agent didn't say anything about a photographer." "He forgot." "Who are you?" "Joe Mannix." "Oh." "Excuse me." "I have to make a phone call." "Well, what do you want?" "Answers." "You're breaking my arm!" "It'd get a lot worse." "I don't know anything." "Victor was paying your rent." "Victor was a good friend, that's all." "Just cool it." "Her coat's still here." "She'll probably be back any minute." "Call the airline." "Get rid of them." "No tricks, or I'll use this." "When is the next flight to Caracas?" "What are you standing there for?" "Pack her things!" "Susan, where the devil have you been?" "Tied up." "You're going on a trip." "Get some things together." "I just had a vacation." "No, it has to be today." "I said forget it." "You're the only one who can possibly connect me to Victor." "Then you go." "Who do you think you're talking to?" "!" "He told me to get rid of you." "Larsen." "He's gone." "Who was it?" "Joe Mannix." "He wanted to know about Victor." "Good." "Put it in the name of "Graham."" "Plane leaves in 45 minutes." "Get your coat." "Look, you and Victor used my place as an office once a week." "I'm not involved." "You were involved when you took your first dollar from us." "Okay." "I'll say Victor came here alone." "That's nothing new to the world." "Is that what you'll tell the police?" "Sure." "You won't have to if you're not here." "If she doesn't cooperate, you know how to handle it." "We'll go through every inch of this place while you take her to the airport." "Come back for us." "Oh, I, uh, I left some pills." "My name was on the box." "In the kitchen." "Be good and, uh, it'll be worth your while." "Drop dead!" "You look around, see what you can find." "I'll get my pills." "Keep calm." "Here are your pills." "That's right, Mulloy." "You're an intelligent man." "Explain how I've got nothing to lose by killing you." "Move." "Let him go." "He's a wanted man." "The police won't believe anything he says." "As long as Susan's gone, we're all right." "Hello." "This is Julius." "Any messages?" "I said don't phone here!" "Meet me at Fourth and DeGrasse in 15 minutes." "We can't take the chance, Julius." "Just cruise around." "I'll signal you." "Get me Jacobsen at police headquarters." "Jake, Lou Wickersham." "Don't ask me how I am." "That rookie on my back is as inconspicuous as a boil." "Look, I know, I know, it's routine." "But I don't have Mannix in my trunk, so call him off." "Jake, do you want me to call the Commissioner?" "Not two hours ago, you said you'd be careful." "We got the report on your gun." "My prints?" "Only yours." "If they'd had more time" "I'm sure they'd have left us there holding hands." "We turned up some interesting stuff." "Go ahead." "I'm a captive audience." "Well, Victor was broke." "Whatever he made in those card games, he blew at the track." "Well, at least she'll get the house." "Gloria?" "She gets nothing." "The whole front-- house, cars, everything-- belonged to Victor's partner." "He had one, you know." "J.P. Mulloy." "Do you really need me on this case?" "Like I told you a long time ago, turn in those million dollar machines." "Pay me the difference." "A million dollars won't get you out of this." "Those machines might." "Okay, Lou." "Those machines also revealed that several members of Victor's set met with accidents." "John Mason, Will Barnes-- all men who sat in on Victor's game at one time or another." "Most recently Jim Burton." "Yeah." "Burton was a little slow in paying Victor what he lost." "When he got out of the hospital, he threatened to kill Victor." "What else?" "That's it." "What do you expect for a fast check?" "For ten cents, I can get the same information out of a newspaper without all those lights and buttons." "Hey, where are we heading?" "A girl named Clara Warner called." "She's a friend of Gloria's." "She wants to talk to you." "All right." "Call me at this number." "It's a phone booth at Fourth and Borden." "I still say this is all wrong." "All that electricity the machines used, they at least come up with a guess?" "General areas." "How general?" "As I said, it was only a brief scanning." "How brief?" "One suspect." "Okay, Lou, who?" "You." "Waiter, what time is it please?" "4:10." "Ten minutes since you asked me at 4:00." "Guess I've been stood up." "Nice kid." "Anybody who stood her up needs a psychiatric checkup." "Clara?" "Are you Joe Mannix?" "That's right." "I've been waiting in there over an hour." "It's safer out here." "Look, I've got something to tell you." "Go ahead." "I want you to understand one thing." "Victor deserved what happened." "I never thought I'd say that about anyone." "You know who killed him?" "Well, that's the trouble." "I mean, I'm not sure." "And I don't want to hurt anyone." "Give me your keys." "Call a cab." "Go home." "Don't let anyone in but me." "Carl's Maintenance." "I want a mess cleaned up." "Susan Graham tried to get on that plane." "I tipped Jacobsen and they picked her up for questioning." "She doesn't know anything." "Where are you?" "At Clara Warner's." "What did she say?" "Probably said she was too young to die." "Someone didn't believe her." "Any idea who did it?" "Yeah, the field is narrowing." "I have something that may help you to handicap it." "Go ahead." "Victor's lawyers prepared divorce papers months ago." "Gloria tore them up." "She lied to us, Joe." "Pick up Gloria and meet me at the Hunt Street Station." "Tell her Mulloy was Victor's partner." "Tell everybody." "Joe, are you all right?" "I think I'm catching your headache." "Who are you?" "Loren Marshall, friend of Clara's." "Who are you?" "Why'd you come back, Loren?" "What are you talking about?" "Clara called me to pick her up." "Let's take a ride." "Wait a minute, Clara's expecting me." "I said drive." "Who are you?" "Joe Mannix." "I'm not going anywhere with you." "I think you are." "That's right, now steady as she goes." "What were you doing there?" "Why were you at Clara's?" "Clara knows who killed Victor." "The police are wrong." "I had no reason to kill Victor." "Don't tell me, tell the police." "Turn up ahead." "Don't fight me." "Turn!" "There's a dirt road up ahead." "Pull in there and stop." "I'll take over." "Mr. Wickersham, is anything wrong?" "Your butler said you've been gone most of the afternoon." "Well, the phone kept ringing all day long." "I just had to get out of the house." "Have you heard any news?" "Let's go." "Have you spoken to him?" "What did Clara want?" "Please get in." "He is all right, isn't he?" "Where are we going?" "To the Hunt Street Station." "Why?" "Someone had a reason for killing Victor." "You can help me find it." "To know Victor was to have a reason." "Yeah, all those losers." "Were you one?" "No, actually, I did quite well." "Like Gloria?" "She's worth a fortune now." "Victor Farnsworth was a paper man." "What does that mean?" "J.P. Mulloy-- the elite president of your country club?" "Oh, he's a smart one." "He kept his ivory-handled cane out of Victor's house." "He was the man behind the whole gambling operation." "Please let me out." "You don't need me." "I need all the help I can get." "But Clara sounded terrible." "Clara is dead." "Someone didn't want her talking to me." "You killed her!" "Joe Mannix is down here in the car!" "He's here!" "In the car!" "He's here!" "Joe Mannix is down here in the car!" "And now, the 6:00 News." "The Police Department reports that Joe Mannix, suspected of murdering Victor Farnsworth, has been surrounded in the Mansfield Canyon area, about a half an hour ago." "No!" "Motorists are requested to avoid this section of the city until further notice." "Can't you do something?" "Why stay in this place?" "You heard." "He's, he's miles away." "It'll be dark soon." "Mannix said he'd be here." "This is where we wait." "Joe." "Yeah, I'm okay, Lou." "Joe, your face." "Who else knew you hired me?" "Only Clara." "I told you-- it was her idea." "You and Clara, huh?" "Yes." "Clara tell anybody else?" "I don't know." "Maybe she did." "Believe her?" "Joe, Clara will tell you." "I'll call her." "Clara is dead." "Oh, no!" "Let's go." "Mannix here." "Put me through to Howard." "Yeah." "What's the latest report on Mulloy?" "Where is he?" "Thanks." "Where is Mulloy?" "Don't you have enough trouble?" "Look, I'm trying to help him." "Why don't you help him by getting lost?" "He may be in trouble." "Well, don't you worry about it." "Mr. Mulloy?" "I'll be with you in a moment." "What do you want?" "The truth." "I didn't kill Victor." "You were his partner." "Victor was... what he was long before we met." "I simply invested." "Like in the stock market?" "After a fashion." "Look, Mulloy, I've been slugged, shot at." "I went over a cliff in a car, and the police keep getting closer all the time." "Somehow I'm getting awfully tired of the spot I'm in." "You understand what I'm trying to say?" "I don't know what you want from me, Mr. Mannix, but I can't help you!" "Then we'll wait." "We'll just stand here and wait for your killer." "Why should anyone want to kill me?" "Why would anyone want to kill Farnsworth?" "Well, no one liked him-- not even his wife." "Maybe it was Gloria, but if it wasn't, then I think it was somebody who's up to his ears in gambling debts, someone who killed Victor to avoid the kind of beating" "Jim Burton got from Victor's collection agency." "Does that scare you, Mulloy?" "No one has any idea that I was involved with Victor." "Wrong." "They do now." "I got a big mouth." "Lou Wickersham has made a couple of phone calls." "Whoever killed Victor knows by now he got the job only half done." "You're staking me out!" "That's right, Mulloy." "You're all I've got left." "I tried the normal channels." "A couple of million dollars of shiny hardware at Intertect went to work on the case." "They came up with a bad guess." "They think I did it, and the police have no reason to believe otherwise." "Mr. Mulloy?" "Yes?" "!" "Joe Mannix got by me." "He's around here somewhere." "He's not here!" "Search the upstairs." "IOU's in the safe?" "Yes." "Yeah." "John Freeman, $10,000." "Caldwell, $8,000." "What are you doing?" "Verifying a murder." "Marsh... $56,000?" "Loren Marshall told me he was ahead." "It might have come true one day." "Mannix, throw your gun over here." "Left hand." "All right, my IOU's please." "What then?" "Both of you." "I don't have any choice." "I never meant anyone to be hurt." "It was Vic..." "My notes, please." "They won't do you much good without the ledger." "What ledger?" "Like all big business," "Mulloy and Farnsworth kept books." "Where is it?" "Right here in the safe." "Get over there." "Get away from there." "Go on." "Mannix, get over here and open this up." "I don't know the combination." "He does." "Then let him go." "Suppose I don't." "I'll kill you and he'll open the safe fast enough." "The computers at Intertect... you gonna kill those, too?" "What computer?" "The ones the police are reading now." "How do you think I got to you, Marshall?" "But you said..." "Fantastic thing, those computers." "They make a private detective's job a gas." "They take the bits and pieces that rattle around, chew 'em up and sort 'em out." "Things like Gloria telling Clara about her problems with Victor." "Clara telling you." "Then you had Clara talk Gloria into hiring me 'cause I carry a gun." "Just bits and pieces, as you say, nothing more." "The safe." "Now!" "The computer bet on four suspects" "You, me, Mulloy and Gloria." "She's with an Intertect Agent." "You kill us, you eliminate everyone but yourself." "You see, Mr. Mannix," "I'm rather like the little boy at the dike." "As new holes open up," "I shall have to plug them as best I can." "Not me." "Not me, please!" "We'll work out something!" "Hold it right there." "Just remember how it was last time." "Put 'em down real easy." "All right, over there." "Joe!" " Loren Marshall?" " Yeah." "You know, Lou, the more I think about those computers, maybe you could get a refund." "What's my alternative?" "More Joe Mannix's?" "I want to apologize, Mr. Mannix, and to thank you for saving my life." "Those are legitimate debts!" "Don't burn your hands." "Vice Squad." "This is Wickersham with Intertect." "I got a gambling case for you, a J.P. Mulloy and friends." "We're at the Farnsworth house." "Oh, by the way, tell Homicide it's worth a trip." "No, not Mannix." "He's clean, so call off your boys." "Joe, you don't still think that I had anything to do with Victor's death, do you?" "No." "Not any more." "I warned you what would happen when I was free." "You could have been free a long time ago." "All right, I lied about that." "I had to." "Victor would have cut me off without a dime." "All those years with him..." "I was entitled to something." "I earned it." "You're probably right." "I'm sorry you were cheated." "Joe?" "You can't just walk away." "They say, the second time is always easier."