Cannon (1971) s01e08 Episode Script

Loomis.
Hello, cop.
How's your little girl? Who is this? - This is Conley.
Hey, you ought to remember me, Dad.
I mean, we're family, aren't we? We used to be.
I don't want anything to do with you or anything like you.
How is Carole? -You stay away from her, Conley! I mean it! Let's see if you really mean it.
I wanna talk to you right now.
I'm at the Mar Vista Courts in Venice, Apartment 17-A.
Listen, you punk, I'm not wasting my time driv No, you listen.
If you care anything about your daughter, you get over here quick.
He was all shook up.
You did real good, Conley.
Real good.
How about a drink? Oh, no, I don't care for any, but you go right ahead, Bruce.
I need the police.
It's open.
Come on in.
Hey! Hey, what are you doing? What? Flynn, come on.
Flynn, no.
No, Flynn, no! Please, don't Officers, officers, it's downstairs in 17-A.
I heard all this noise, the shouting and And fighting and then I heard the shots.
Uh, there were three of them, I think.
Here.
Yeah, right in there.
I saw this man go into the apartment.
Well, there he is right there.
The fighting was terrible.
Screaming, yelling, fighting, loud noises.
I heard These walls are like paper.
I You could hear everything.
Then I heard the shots and I called the police and I waited upstairs, there, until I saw you drive up and Like he said, three shots.
Okay, mister, on your feet.
ANNOUNCER: Starring William Conrad.
With guest stars: James Wainwright, Brooke Bundy, Barnard Hughes, John McLiam, Martin E.
Brooks.
ANNOUNCER: Frank Cannon.
Hello, Sean.
Thanks for coming, Frank.
You know, I don't think the department's gonna be very happy about this, you calling in somebody from the outside.
Hartman's already chewing nails.
Oh, is he on it? Good man.
Bit on the square side.
He'll play it straight.
Why did you bring me in? I don't mean to beg off, but you've got a lot of friends around here.
I guess I'm scared, Frank.
I'm in a box, and I'm not sure I can get out.
Yeah, I read the report: gun, bullets, fingerprints, witness.
And motive.
Your daughter? Well, Conley was married to her.
It lasted only a year.
She left him a couple of months ago.
You know where she is now? No, I I don't know.
She lives somewhere here in town.
We don't see much of each other.
Frank, Conley was a hustler.
Carole knew this when she married him.
A cop's daughter, and she marries some cheap bum who'd cut my throat for a chocolate bar.
The year she was with him, she did all sorts of things.
She was even arrested once, helping that cheap With one of his con jobs.
Well, I'll concede you had a motive.
I'm not sorry he's dead, Frank.
Sorry to interrupt, Mr.
Cannon, but he's due in the DA's office in ten minutes.
I'm gonna want to continue this.
I'll see you later, huh? Yeah, I'll be here.
Did I pass you in here? You know, Hartman, I was on the force for a long time, and it may come as a great shock to you, but I did make one or two friends along the way.
I'll put up with you for one reason, you're a friend of Sean's.
He was one of the finest men I ever served under.
I wouldn't use the past tense just yet.
Now, I understand that you're bugged because you've got a stranger wandering around in your territory.
I used to feel the same way.
But I thought maybe on this, since we want the same thing So? So how come when I ask to see the file on Conley, I'm told that Sergeant Hartman has a lock on it? Because Sergeant Hartman does have a lock.
Thank you.
What kind of a hustler was he? He's a con man, specialized in rich women, mostly around Chicago.
He only had one bust out here.
You know he was married to Sean's daughter? Where is she? Who knows? We've got an APB out.
As a suspect? I don't think so.
Well, what do you think? We've got a witness, this Spicer.
He's nailed Loomis.
You know, Carole was involved in a pretty ugly scene back in Chicago.
Now, Sean hated Conley so bad I've seen him start to shake when he heard the name.
I think Conley pushed him too far.
So Loomis shot him, put three bullets in him, huh? Ah, come on, Hartman, an old harness bull like that would take him apart with one hand.
Well, maybe he went off his rocker, who knows? Look, I'll level with you, I I hope he gets off.
But I'm not gonna put on blinders, not even for Loomis.
What about the one bust out here? What did Conley fall on? Bunco.
He worked a Pasadena widow for about 3 grand, she wasn't too cooperative, and the DA's office dropped charges.
Well, undoubtedly he didn't work it alone.
He probably had a roper.
He did, some old phony who tried to pass himself off as a diamond merchant.
We never got an ID.
Diamonds, huh? Okay.
Thanks, Hartman.
Cannon.
I've gotta tell you that it doesn't set too well with some of us around here that Loomis has called in a private operator.
Oh, I wouldn't hold that against Sean if I were you.
He's just known me longer, that's all.
Anything you find out I will.
I will.
Mr.
Enders' office.
Mr.
Enders, please.
He's busy right now.
Just tell him it's Jack Spicer.
He'll talk to me.
Mr.
Enders? This isn't a good habit to get into, Spicer, calling me at the office.
Oh.
I-I'm sorry.
I wanted to tell you the good news.
I just left police headquarters.
I signed all the depositions and the papers and everything, and they swallowed it.
You're right, that is good news.
But it'll turn bad very quickly if you let your enthusiasm run away with you again.
Okay, I'll I'll be careful, Mr.
Enders.
You do that, we'll be happy with you.
Goodbye, Jack.
Don't call again.
Goodbye, mist Who is it? It's Frank Cannon, Soapy.
This isn't official, is it? You know I haven't been on the force in years.
I had a devil of a time finding you, Soapy.
Ah, yeah, this racket gets rougher all the time.
You still using the diamond pitch for openers? Who hollered? Did you ever work with a smalltime pretty boy by the name of Bruce Conley? Yeah, a long time ago.
And smalltimer is sure right.
No style, no class.
No morals, either.
Conley was in very classy surroundings the last time I saw him.
There, you see, that lousy punk.
Goes to show you there's no justice.
Of course, he was dead.
There's justice.
When was the last time you saw him? Well, I guess I'll just have to assume that you don't think it's me that did it.
'Cause I saw my mother butcher a chicken once when I was 8, and I fainted dead away.
Vegetable tonic.
Perks up the liver.
Cheers.
I was conning you.
I've seen him two or three times since he came out here from Chicago.
I was down to that fancy beach house twice.
We were trying to put something together for a little, uh, spending money.
We? Okay, me.
But the trouble was, he was doing too good, so he brushed me.
He ever let you in on what he was up to? I told you, I was only there twice.
To tell the truth, I've got my own scam going.
Yeah, an old broad who owns a chain of dancing schools.
Would you believe that she wants to dance all the time? That crazy rock stuff.
And I'm getting rheumatism, Frank.
I've had about enough of this, Soapy.
Why are you lying to me? Aw, come on, now, you know I wouldn't lie to you.
We're good friends.
You busted me twice.
How would you like to try for three? Now, there's a murder rap involved in this, and I want answers and I want 'em straight, right now.
Look, I don't know much, really.
Some guy brought him out here from Chicago, that's all I know.
Some lawyer.
Promised him a lot of money.
Money for what? Oh, how should I know? For what?! Well, some kind of blackmail, I think.
Cop was putting a lot of pressure on this lawyer.
Do you know his name? No, I don't.
Soapy I swear to you, on my mother's Bible.
Oh, Soapy, why do I have to be a sucker for your phony charm? Will you just do me one favor, please? Stick to the fox trot, kid.
You're not cops.
Well, listen, boys, whatever it is, I cooperated with that last fellow that was here, and I'll cooperate with you the same way.
That's the kind of guy I am.
What did he want? The lawyer sent you? He wanted to know about Conley, but I didn't tell him anything.
I got a reputation for keeping my mouth shut.
You ask anybody.
I didn't tell him anything! I swear to you on my mother's Bible! Time for your bath, Soapy.
Listen, you guys, I wouldn't cross you up! Honest, I wouldn't! Honest You looking for somebody? Huh? Oh, hi.
You with the police? Am I with the police? That's like asking if Willie Mays plays for the Dodgers.
No.
No, I just wanted to come by and see where it happened.
The killing, you know.
Now, I'd known Bruce Conley for a long time back in Chicago, maybe seven or eight years ago.
Could you tell me how it happened? Well, yeah, I guess I could fill you in on it.
I'd sure appreciate it.
Fix you a drink? Aw, no, thank you.
That's, uh, a little too early for me.
A little early for me too, but I'm sitting around, nothing to do, I I thought I'd fix myself an early one.
Jack Spicer.
Jack, it's a pleasure.
I'm Bert Finlay.
Aw, you know, it really turned me around when I heard about how Bruce got killed that way.
Happened here, huh? Yeah, policeman went right in, started to argue, shot him down in cold blood.
Ah! Ah, it's terrible, it's just horrible, isn't it? Well, I guess that's the world today.
Hey, don't I? Do you know that your face looks familiar to me? Haven't we met somewhere? No.
No, I don't think so.
You sure? You're a friend of Conley's, that's where it is.
When Bruce and I were working together in Chicago, that's where we met.
Oh, no, I've never been to Chicago.
You haven't? Huh.
Where you from? I'm from a little town called Meredith, up by the Nevada border.
Meredith.
Do you know that I have been to Meredith? That's a lovely little town.
It's mining country, right? Right.
Heh.
I suppose you're in the mining business? Tool and die company.
Lindemann Tool & Die Company.
Ah.
I was an accountant with 'em.
Oh, an accountant, huh? Well, uh Say, you've, uh, really got yourself a very fancy digs for a former accountant.
What'd you do, tap the till? Oh, come on, I didn't mean anything by that.
You see, I read about you in the paper, Mr.
Spicer.
You're the fella who heard everything, right? The witness? That's right.
Yeah.
There's just one thing that bothers me.
With the The surf making as much noise as it does, and I understand at the time of the killing it was a very high tide, uh it would've been louder, right? So? So I just don't quite understand how you could have heard everything you were supposed to hear with the surf making as much noise as it does.
You sayin' I didn't hear it? I made it all up? No, I'm saying that somebody made it up, Spicer.
Who was it, the lawyer? Now, wait a minute, you said you were a friend of Conley's.
A friend of Conley's? I said I was a friend of Conley's? Oh, I must've lost my head, Mr.
Spicer.
No.
No, I'm a friend of Sean Loomis.
The lawyer? Sure, I know him.
I know him a lot better than I know my own daughter.
Well, if I were a betting man, which I am, I'd lay odds that he's behind this frame you're in.
You ever hear of Lewis Enders? Lew Enders? Yeah, Beverly Hills attorney.
Rich.
Socialite.
Finger in a dozen pies.
And in a hundred rackets.
I've been trying to make a case against him for the past two years.
I thought I was getting close.
Maybe he did too, that's motive enough for a dozen frames.
Frank, it became sort of an obsession with me, night and day.
If I wasn't the kind of guy who couldn't leave his work alone, I might still have a daughter.
Now, Sean, come on.
Don't do a job on yourself.
You got grief enough with Enders.
You stay away from him, Frank.
He's not your responsibility.
The only way I could do that is to leave you here to rot.
No way, Sean.
No way.
Cannon, I wanna talk to you.
Okay, Hartman, talk to me.
What are you leaning on Spicer for? Don't you know that's intimidating a material witness? What, a pleasant conversation? Since when is that intimidation? Well, if you so much as breathe on him again, I'll go to the DA.
You need a license to operate, remember? I remember, I remember.
You'd better.
And what's this business about you holding out on me? Holding out what? Well, when I told you that Conley had a partner in the con game, I figure you picked up on the m.
o.
of Soapy Van Patten.
Maybe.
Did you find him? Ah, come on, what does it matter? I don't suppose it matters to him, he's dead.
We found him drowned in his bathtub, with his clothes on.
I think we ought to ask for overtime.
Sure, you tell Enders about it.
Sure.
Office cleaning gets more difficult every day.
Who are you? Frank Cannon.
And before you make a mistake, call Enders, huh? Tell him I'm a friend of Sean Loomis.
The other side.
Seal wasn't broken.
You didn't look carefully enough.
You're lucky.
Breaking and entering.
I could have you arrested.
You're not gonna do anything to bring in the police.
That's one of the prices you pay for being in the rackets.
Maybe we ought to shoot you.
When the boys came back to the office, they discovered a prowler.
So go ahead, shoot me.
You try and pull something like that again Next time, don't bother to call me, just kill him! Convinced? I'm convinced that you can be had.
Get him out of here.
What do you want us to do with him? You'll think of something.
Ah, there's 60 percent of a case here.
Well, 60 percent is not enough to put Enders away.
What you're looking at, Mr.
Cannon, represents almost two years' work.
Sean is very thorough.
Do I detect a note of warmth and affection, sergeant? He's a good cop.
Yeah.
And I can see where Enders might be a little nervous about him.
Nervous enough to send for the one man in the whole world who might give Sean Loomis a motive for killing.
Maybe.
But why would Conley come? Money.
He thought he was gonna blackmail Loomis.
Ah.
Carole? -Yes.
-I thought it was.
You probably don't remember me.
Frank Cannon.
Of course.
How are you, Mr.
Cannon? Fine.
I I'm so glad you came.
Your father's gonna be Oh, uh, Sergeant Hartman, uh, Sean's daughter.
How do you do? Hi there.
Have Sean Loomis brought up to the visiting area.
Your father's gonna be very happy to see you.
Randall.
We've been worried about you.
Miss Loomis? Thank you.
How is he? Well, not too good.
Uh, look, when you see him, uh, don't expect him to All right, I know.
Thank you.
Okay.
Hello, Daddy.
Carole.
I I was in Phoenix visiting some friends.
I guess I I was trying to run away from myself, and I I heard about you on the radio.
You should have stayed where you were.
Daddy, I haven't seen Bruce in some time.
You know that.
Did you do it? If you think I could do something like that, you don't know me very well, do you? That's the sad part of it.
I guess I've never known you very well.
But if you had killed Bruce, I'd understand.
I mean, I know the way you felt about him.
I didn't shoot him, Carole.
It's bad enough to have everybody else accusing me of this, but when your own daughter Daddy.
Daddy, I wanna help.
Please, let me help.
There isn't much you can do now, is there? Hartman wants to talk to Carole.
He's waiting.
I'm sorry, Sean.
We've said it all.
Sergeant Hartman went pretty easy on me.
I think he believed me.
I wonder why.
Well, he respects your father, and maybe he thought you were telling the truth.
Hm.
I made up my mind.
I'm gonna go back to Phoenix.
That's a good idea.
I think you should.
Your father will get over it.
Besides, you've got a life of your own to live, right? You know, when I first talked to your father, he told me that, uh, he was scared.
I think what he's most scared about is the fact that he thinks he's lost you.
He was so cold.
He was like a stranger.
I mean, I know that I've I've caused him a lot of grief since Mom died.
I'm partially responsible for this mess that he's in.
If I hadn't gotten involved with Bruce Sergeant Hartman doesn't think it's gonna go too well for Daddy.
Hartman could be wrong.
You know, it's too bad you're going back to Phoenix, 'cause if you weren't, I'd ask you to help me with something.
I couldn't go back to Phoenix.
I'll bet you knew that all along.
What can I do to help? Hello? Mr.
Spicer? This is Sergeant Mallory at police headquarters.
I'm calling for Sergeant Hartman.
Oh, sure.
He wants you to come down to the County Administration Building, rear entrance.
He'll be waiting.
Sure, sure, I'll be there.
Thank you, Mr.
Spicer.
You know, you could lose your license for this.
Let's live dangerously, huh? Spicer.
I got something I want to show you.
Look, I talked to Sergeant Hartman about you.
You got no right to call me down here like this.
You holler, and I'll break your arm.
I know a lot about you, Spicer.
Yeah? Like what? I checked that town you came from.
The company you worked for belongs to Lew Enders.
So? So Lew's unhappy about the fact that you juggled the books and started your own profit-sharing plan.
As a matter of fact, it's my opinion that he's letting you live in return for a favor.
You can't treat me like some kind of criminal.
Oh, really? All right, Joe, we'll see him now.
Oh.
You may have seen this man go into Conley's.
Now, put a carnation on his lapel and a hairpiece on him.
Oh, good Lord.
Yeah, they called him Soapy.
He was a very nice old man as con men go.
He never hurt anybody in his whole life, and somebody held him underwater in a bathtub.
Let me go.
I'm gonna be sick.
His only mistake was knowing Bruce Conley.
You know, they don't take chances, Spicer.
The police already have your deposition against Loomis.
If you took a bath the hard way, my client would still be on the hook, and Enders would be that much safer.
I've gotta think.
Give me time.
Here's a number, and you don't have that much time.
They don't need you anymore.
Thanks, Joe.
I owe you one.
Excuse me.
Cannon.
I wanna talk.
All right, Spicer.
Now, first of all, was anybody on you when you met me at the morgue? What do you mean? Well, I mean, was anybody tailing you? I don't think you realize what you're up against.
I'm trying to save your life.
Oh, I don't think so.
Well, they may be watching you anyway.
Now, I'll tell you what I want you to do No, you won't.
I'll tell you.
Don't give me any more orders.
I'm protecting myself from now on.
Spicer, listen to me.
I'm at the Santa Monica pier.
You wanna talk to me, you come here.
Now, don't be foolish.
That's not the Is everything all right? No, he panicked, and he picked a lousy place to meet.
If he is being tailed, I'm gonna be target practice for somebody.
Will you go? Yes, of course I'll go.
I'll tell you what I want you to do.
I want you to go finish your lunch.
And don't forget they serve a magnificent blueberry pie here.
Spicer! He's still alive, but, uh Did he say anything? No, and he's not going to.
Two men in a car, one with a shotgun.
That should say something to you.
Like what? You think Loomis hired those professionals? Well, what I think doesn't count for a lot in a courtroom.
Sorry, sergeant.
We tried.
All right, doctor.
Thank you.
Look, it's not over, dear It is, admit it! Enders is too big for all of us.
Nobody's that big.
Tell that to my father.
I've got a way to go on this if you're listening.
I'm listening.
All right, put a lid on here, keep the guards on duty just as if he were still alive.
And maybe if Enders thinks that we've still got a witness, he'll make a try for him.
Still making the rules as you go.
Well, this one isn't in the books.
Okay, I'll give it Good.
You check the coroner's office.
I've gotta know if he's alive and if he lived long enough to give a statement.
As soon as you can! He's at Bay Area Emergency.
They got police on guard.
They ordered new medication.
I don't buy it.
I hit him.
He's not talking to anybody.
Suppose you're wrong.
We'll phone you.
If he's alive, you'd better do more than that.
Here? Emergency's over there.
You ready? Yeah.
Oh, what happened? Well, it's just a cut, it was dumb.
I was working in my garage, thought I ought to have it looked at.
Come with me.
We'll see you get taken care of.
Uh, what's with the police? Something happen? Oh, they've been here for hours.
Man was shot.
They think he'll pull through, though.
Yeah, that's one of the guys who tried to work me over.
I'm not sure he was in the car when Spicer got hit, though.
Well, they'll be back.
You got a lot of confidence, Cannon.
Enders doesn't leave loose ends.
I know that.
I I know that.
What's the matter, Jim? Oh, there's gonna be a lot of static if things go wrong here.
The head of Homicide had me in.
I defied him for 20 minutes to keep these guys on duty.
He finally caved in, but not until he chewed me out for another ten.
Everybody's gonna say that That I did it because Loomis was a friend, because we worked together.
Special treatment.
Well, so I wind up with my rear in a sling.
My judgment is getting real lousy, you know that? I could have sworn I wasn't gonna like you.
Come in.
We don't need no stretcher.
Cannon.
Get in.
One sound out of you and she's dead.
Keys.
Keys! How many were there? Listen to me! How many were there?! Two.
Where are the lights? Come on! Show me! Where?! Turn 'em on! Well, I guess that takes care of it.
Yeah.
Looks like you're not gonna get it in the sling after all, Hartman.
Heh.
Good night, Cannon.
It's over.
You lose.
We took one of your boys alive.
He's spilling his guts right now.
Are the police here? I don't need them.
Who's paying you to take chances like this? Nobody.
I could hardly wait to get here.
If I can get out of the building, I can get out of the country.
I'll pay you anything you want.
You have one of two alternatives.
Either you use the gun in that drawer, or you call it off.
No.
There won't be any trouble.
Hm.
That's too bad.
Lousy piece of tin.
Never thought I'd be carrying it again.
You know, Sean, if you'd pay less attention to that lousy piece of tin and, uh, more attention to your family What's the matter, baby? You ashamed your father's been a jailbird? Daddy Daddy.
Carole Hartman.
Yeah? You got any kids? Heh.
Yeah, three.
Been a long day, hasn't it? Why don't you file your report and go home? You know, I think you got a point, fat man.
Yeah.