Cannon (1971) s01e15 Episode Script

Slip on the jacket.
Listen, uh, what's supposed to happen? Zip it up, zip it up.
Okay, fine.
You look great.
Put the wallet in your back pocket.
No, listen, I don't want your wallet.
Just do it.
You said you were gonna give me a ride to San Diego, man.
I thought you were straight.
The ID bracelet.
Wh-What are you, some kind of a weirdo, dressing me up like this? And the ring.
What's your name? Lloyd.
Lloyd, nothing to be afraid of.
Nobody's gonna hurt you.
Could I get a little service here? Yes, sir, what would you like? Let me have a hamburger and a cup of Forget it.
Code three, code three.
Units eight and 12.
We are in pursuit of a suspect believed to be Doyle Hoffner, Repeat, Doyle Hoffner.
Get him.
Get Hoffner.
I can't reach him in there.
He's got himself.
No, get him.
Easy, Jerry.
Take it easy.
Hoffner's dead.
ANNOUNCER: Starring William Conrad.
With guest stars Martin Sheen, Dan Travanti, Collin Wilcox Horne.
ANNOUNCER: Jerry, do you know the old saying, "Why is it that everything I like "is either illegal, immoral Or fattening?" Yeah, well, let me show you something.
I picked up this little work of art on the way home, and I was going to dunk it in a beautiful bubbling pot of Swiss fondue, and then I thought about it and I turned chicken.
Look, I hope I'm not barging in on you.
I mean, you don't have anything going? Yeah, I got something going.
A lousy omelet.
Heh.
How've you been, Jer? Fine, just fine.
I got a low-calorie present for you.
Yeah? There you go.
What? Well, you got me hooked on tying flies when you brought me that kit in the hospital.
Did you do these? Yeah.
Jer, thank you.
They're beautiful.
Don't thank me.
Just make sure the fish are clean before you give them to me.
Look at that ginger quill.
Why, sure, that's a work of art in itself.
Ah, Jer, thank you very much.
How about a drink, huh? Yeah, sure.
Good, good.
Hey, thank you.
My pleasure.
Ha! Eh, neat, huh? Right.
Good.
Seems to me I remember something about that.
Been a long time, huh? Thank you.
Cheers.
Cheers.
You, uh You check the FAA.
about that, uh, thing I suggested? The training for air traffic controller? Nope.
What about the motor vehicle license examiner? Nope.
Well, what have you been doing with your time, kid? Reading magazines.
Now, come on, Jer, you've been off the force for eight months now.
What are you gonna do, lean back on your pension for the rest of your life? That's not like you.
I'm only referring to one magazine specifically, Frank.
Take a look.
What? The man I circled.
Who is it? Doyle Hoffner.
Oh, boy.
No, Frank, he's alive.
Somebody else burned up in that car, not Hoffner.
I'm telling you he's alive! You have been telling the whole detective division that for the last eight months and not one of them has agreed with you.
Frank, I saw Hoffner with my own eyes running away from the fire.
You were in pain, you were in shock.
Now, as a trained police officer, would you take the word of a witness who was on the verge of passing out? All right, fine.
Let's say I was delirious, I only imagined what I saw.
What about this? Now, you check Hoffner's police mug shot against that photograph and tell me it's not the same man.
When was this magazine layout shot? Last month.
He's alive, Frank, can't you see it? He's alive! Can't you see it's the same man? No, I can't see it because the photo isn't clear enough for a positive ID, Jerry.
All right, Frank, look at it this way.
Here's Hoffner heisting a payroll, knocking off a guard and escaping with $110.
000 in cash.
Now, you gonna tell me he's dumb enough to go up to a place and order a cheeseburger with two police motorcycles parked out front? "Was.
" Was dumb enough.
The man is presumed to be dead.
Frank, the whole thing was a setup.
Hoffner planted his identification on somebody else whose body was burned beyond recognition, and my partner and I were played for suckers.
What does your partner say? Well, like everybody else, he doesn't want to get involved.
He's afraid he might end up like me on the crank list.
Maybe that's where you belong.
Yeah, but what if I don't? What if I'm right, Frank, and Hoffner's out there laughing? You and I are no longer on the force, but I'm still cop enough to want to see him get nailed and, damn it, Frank, so are you! Did you show this magazine lead to Lieutenant Gifford? Of course.
And when he asked me one question I couldn't answer, he said, "Forget it.
" What was the question? With $110.
000 in unmarked bills, why is Hoffner sweating in the desert when he could be living it up on the Riviera or some such place? Look, to that question, I have an answer.
Any payroll has a lot of new bills that have consecutive numbers, and every teller in the country's gonna have a list of them, right? Now, Hoffner's gotta know they're gonna be hot, so he wouldn't take a chance of spending a dollar of it.
What does he do? He lays back low for a long time until everything cools down.
That's the kind of a guy he was, a planner, very deliberate.
How do you know that? Well, I, uh, checked the file.
Once over lightly, you understand.
There's a reward for the money, you know.
At any rate, I figured I couldn't make a living investing time in something that's that much of a long shot.
Frank, can you afford to invest a little more time to check out this lead? All right, Jer, all right.
Under one condition: That if this lead doesn't pan out, you get off this Hoffner kick.
You put him out of your mind, and you pull up your socks and you get your life rolling again, all right? All right, I promise I'll try.
But some things aren't so easy to put out of your mind.
Yeah.
Yeah, I know.
You sure you haven't seen him? Thank you.
I'm looking for a guy, uh, right there.
See, I'm doing a-a-a follow-up feature for the, uh, next issue of the magazine and, uh Well, wait a minute, here's a better picture of him.
It's a blow-up of this, huh? Uh, do you know him? I never seen him before.
Hey, uh, come on, man, don't put me on.
Th-That's you there with him, isn't it? Well, isn't it? Isn't that you? Look.
Do you have the heat or something? Heat? Me? Freak off! Look, all I'm asking is where I can find him.
Well, I don't know where you can find him, man, but I do know where you can find a whole mess of trouble.
Thanks a whole heap.
Any luck? Well, whoever he is, they're protecting him.
That figures.
I know these people, Frank.
Some of them are Sunday bikers who work regular jobs during the week, and some of them are bums who don't work at all.
Yeah.
But they all belong in the same cycle clan and they all protect their own.
That was no accident, Frank.
Something's going on here.
Yeah, but like the officer said to the complainant, "Where's your proof?" Look, why don't you work up this way? I'll work this side, okay? Eh, tres tacos, por favor.
Tres, señor? Uh, dos tacos, por favor.
Ah, thank you, thank you.
Gracias.
Hey, what's happening here? Say again? Why, I asked you what's happening? Ecology.
Just trying to keep the place clean.
Oh.
Oh, that's terrific.
Hey, you got a reason for picking the can up that way? Germs.
Well, now, what do you mean, "germs"? He doesn't want to go to the hospital.
Do you? Jerry! I'll stop him.
Not like that you don't.
What did you do that for? I could have stopped him! You could have committed murder.
He's an escaping felon! Look, Jerry, you're not a police officer anymore.
You have no legal right to carry that gun.
Escaping felon.
You don't even know it was Hoffner.
You don't know it was Hoffner.
I do.
I know something else too.
He got away.
Give it to me.
Say, any of you people see what happened here before those four men rode off? Well, nothing really happened.
What do you call nothing? One of them almost ran us down.
Oh, it was just a stunt.
He really wasn't gonna touch you.
What about the guy with the chain? I suppose he wasn't gonna use it? Well, he didn't, did he? No, he didn't.
Hey, they're all right.
You know, they just like to act tough.
They don't mean any harm.
They got names? Robbie is one.
That's what they called him.
What about the guy in the fancy helmet? The one who didn't gang up with the others, who rode off by himself? Uh, that must be Lucky.
Lucky what? Who knows? Anybody know where they live, any of them? Some of them live out in the desert.
You know, desert people.
Great, now we gotta scour the whole southwest desert.
Hey, one of them works.
Robbie.
And he has a perfectly respectable job.
Well, do you know where? Sure I know where.
It's Wick's Garage.
"Closed Sundays till 2 p.
m.
" What time is it now? It's 11.
That's three hours to go.
Hoffner could be clean out of the state in three hours.
Yeah, if he is, then he is Hoffner.
But if he's just harmless old Lucky, he's not going much of anywhere.
Well, I can get hold of Wick faster than that.
Uh, operator, uh, yeah, good morning.
Do you have a listing for a party by the name of Wick? No, no, not Wick's Garage.
Uh, I want to talk to the owner.
Mm-hm, yeah, Wick.
Uh, operator, uh, never mind, um, I'll call later.
Hey! Hey! What are you doing, Jerry? Get down from there.
Gimme a hand, Frank, I can see a ledger in there and account books.
I said get down.
All I want from in there is some kind of a payroll record with Robbie's full name and address.
What if somebody sees you and calls the local cop? Look, I'm just trying to get us going without losing any more time.
Tell you how much time you're going to lose: Two years for breaking and entering.
Nah, nobody's gonna see me.
Is there some problem here? What? Uh, no, uh, no problem.
You'll have to do better, son, standing on that box, prying at the window.
I seen you.
I live across the street.
Also, I own this place.
Nobody's gonna see you, huh? Look, uh, Mr.
Wick, I think maybe we'd better start at the bottom line, huh? You see, we're looking for a motorcycle rider by the name of Lucky.
Did you get my things together? Yeah.
Here.
You want some money? Whatever you can spare.
Pay you just as soon as I get back.
Sure.
You say that like you think I'm not coming back.
Are you? Hey.
Phylis, I said I'm coming back.
Now, why do you think I'm not? Why a lot of things? Why my whole life? Why do all the good things happen to other people and not to me? Phyl, I am coming back.
Yeah? Then why are you going away? All right, why? All right, that's fair enough.
Why a lot of things? Why was I? Why was I a dumb kid years ago that robbed a gas station and got a record? Oh, no, come on.
Lucky, they're not still after you about that.
No is right.
Now they want me for things I never did.
They came to the bike rally this morning asking around like I'm public enemy number one.
I'm telling you, I'm just a jump ahead of them.
Oh, Lucky, I'm sorry.
I mean it, I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
Look, just give me five minutes I can get my things together, okay? No.
Look, I can close up the cafe.
I don't care about the cafe.
Please, I want to be with you.
I can help you.
No.
No, no.
The way you can really help me, Phyl, is to stay right here.
This must be the one you mean.
A friend of my mechanic's came in for some plugs and points yesterday, got paid in a check made out to him.
That's his endorsement on the back.
L.
K.
Ferris.
What is the Cold Springs Cafe? Oh, a little old place down the road to Devil's Playground.
And the signature, Phylis Langley? She's the woman who runs the place.
And for what it's worth Yeah? they say he has the inside track with her.
And that's it, that's all I'm asking you to do, Phyl.
There isn't anybody else alive I'd trust to do it for me.
You will, won't you? Sure, of course I will.
I'll call you soon as I can.
Okay.
Do you have to go right now? I mean, maybe they won't even come here.
Well, um, I gotta pick up some stuff at my place before I take off, as long as I got the time.
Hello, Cold Springs Cafe.
Who is this? Just a minute.
It's him.
He's coming out here.
Well, I was wrong.
I got no time.
Hello? Excuse me if I don't stop and talk with you gentlemen.
I gotta clean this place up.
It's a mess.
Excuse me.
Mm, seems very clean to me, Miss Langley.
As a matter of fact, I don't see a speck of dust around anywhere.
Especially on the doorknobs.
But just think, I could have saved you all the trouble.
What? Well, I forgot to tell you that I didn't bring my little giant fingerprint kit with me.
You can just stop that what you're hinting at.
Lucky is Lucky Ferris.
He's not some person named Hoffner.
How long have you known him personally? Eight years.
Couldn't be more like eight months, could it, miss? I said eight years, didn't I? So I know he couldn't have been in prison like that person that you're looking for.
Then how come he ran away from us? Who said he ran away from you? He split.
He felt like splitting and he split.
Is that a crime too? Then how come he won't talk to us? Who said he wouldn't talk to you? I don't suppose you're gonna tell us where we can find him, are you? Yeah, if you wanna know, I'll tell you exactly where you can find him.
Thirty-four miles straight back, entrance to an abandoned mine shaft.
And this is the only way in or out.
That's what the lady said.
You believe her? Well, there are two possibilities.
It's true that Lucky is Lucky and that's where he's living.
It's a phony and, uh, he's really Hoffner and he wants us to go thisaway while he goes thataway.
At any rate, I wanna go to Wick's Garage now.
Why there? I wanna rent a jeep and check out that location Phylis gave us.
I want you to stay at the garage, huh? Uh, in case I'm on a wild goose chase.
Why, you can maybe pick up a better lead from that motorcycle gang.
But that's not the only reason, is it, Frank? No, as a matter of fact, it isn't.
I don't wanna have to worry about whether you've forgotten what every policeman should know: how to control himself.
You understand? Yeah, I understand.
But you still don't believe we're after a killer, do you? Jerry! Don't go in there! You all right? Yeah, I'm fine.
Well? Do you believe me now? Aren't you surprised? No.
No, huh? That means you expect people to live through dynamite blasts, right? You know, uh, Lucky wasn't there, incidentally, though you really didn't expect him to be, did you? No.
He told you to send me out there, didn't he? I think it's awful to hound a man to death for something he did a long time ago.
Did he tell you that you were sending me out there to set off a booby trap and blow myself to pieces? Oh, come on, Lucky wouldn't do a thing like that.
I think he made you an accomplice to attempted murder.
Why don't you tell the sheriff that, huh? Call the sheriff and tell him that.
I dare you.
No, you're not gonna call him, are you? Because you're lying.
You know something? You're a funny girl, Phylis.
Why do you care for that guy that much? No reason? Reasons don't make that much difference to me anymore.
And you think Lucky is a good thing for you? I hope.
That's better than nothing, isn't it? Oh, I don't know.
I do know that Lucky was less than an hour ahead of me, and it's Sunday, and he didn't have time to get that dynamite and set up a booby trap especially for me.
No, that was set up a long time ago.
Well, why did he set it up, hm? I'll tell you why.
Because he had something inside that mine that he wanted to protect.
Now, what would he have inside there that is worth that kind of protection? A hundred and ten thousand dollars of payroll money, that you still don't believe he stole.
I don't know why you're telling me all this.
Except maybe it's your job.
In that case, I really feel sorry for you.
Look, I could go to the police, but I've got several reasons not to.
You're the main one.
Now, you don't deserve the kind of treatment you'd get if I decided to make a case out of this.
Look, Phylis, will you please not say anything about this to anybody? You understand? Okay.
Hey, you look tired.
Are you hungry? What? Are you hungry? Hungry? No lunch, no dinner.
Yeah, "hungry" could be the understatement of the year.
Well, I, uh I could fix you a hamburger.
No.
Meat's not too fresh.
Roast beef, I got some cold roast beef.
How about that? Is the roast beef rare? No, it's well-done.
Oh.
Uh, never mind, I I saw a place down the highway.
Mr.
Cannon, I'll tell you something.
You're a funny man.
Hello, Phylis? How's everything? Well, I don't know.
He was just here.
He came and you sent him out just like I said.
Wait a minute, what do you mean "just"? Lucky, he was wild.
He told me this story about this big dynamite booby trap that blew up.
Lucky, do you have money in there? Shut up.
You just shut your mouth, you hear me? Just shut up.
Don't feel too bad, Hoffner.
You probably lost control because you're tired from all that digging for loot that wasn't there anymore, right? You tell me, man.
I'm not about to tell you thing one, man, except move.
Over there.
That's it.
Is that what you were looking for? Nice of you to show up.
It happens one more time this week and you're out on your tail.
And I don't care if you are a veteran.
And you'd better call that dame in Cold Springs.
She's been phoning every ten minutes.
You tell her I'm running a business here, not an answering service.
Yeah, this is Robbie.
Well, now, just tell me.
He was what? What do you mean something's wrong? What's wrong? All right, all right, now just cool it, cool it.
I'll get the guys and I'll be out there right away.
Hi.
Closed Mondays.
I'm Jerry Warton.
We met before.
Yeah? What do you want? I'm looking for my friend, Cannon.
Find him yourself.
He's big enough.
Now, you listen to me, young lady.
You can get into trouble harboring a fugitive.
If your friend Lucky hasn't committed a serious crime within the last three years, the statute of limitations would protect him.
He'd be home free.
And you're a walking book.
How come you know so much? I used to be a cop.
I'm not anymore.
Yeah? Well, I used to care what happened to me, and I don't anymore.
Hey Frank! Whoa! Frank! You got him! All right, Jerry, all right! Take it easy.
What are you doing here? I been trying to find you.
She tipped off his friends.
Well, things are looking up.
Come on, come on.
Here's the money.
Take it in the store and call the sheriff.
Let him take over.
Go on.
Go on, Jerry.
Come on.
No way, man.
Listen hard.
Open it.
It's locked.
Hey, no! No, don't, don't! Are you crazy? He's a killer! Whitey! Lucky's in here! Help us! Jerry, go lock the back door.
You still have my service revolver? Forget your service revolver.
All right, you gotta trust me now.
I trust you to go lock the back door.
Are you in or out? Coming in.
Well, well, the fattest gun in the west.
Go ahead, pick them off.
They're just plain citizens like anybody else.
You gun them down.
Look, nobody's gonna get gunned down if they have any sense at all.
We want Lucky! You send him out or we're coming in after him! Well, you really scared the pants off them.
They're juvenile delinquents.
They're just throwing rocks.
They're not gonna go any further.
Not for you, Hoffner.
You wanna know how far they'll go for me, buster? All the way.
All right, let's find out, huh? You pick one for me to talk to.
Hey, Gene, he wants to talk.
Come up a ways.
Okay, what? I'm Frank Cannon, private investigator.
The man you call Lucky is Doyle Hoffner.
He's wanted for murder, among other things.
Oh, that's what you say.
Just understand this: I'm not letting him out of my custody.
You could change your mind.
No chance.
He's already killed two people.
Well, what are you gonna do, kill all three of us? Don't talk like a jerk.
All you've done's break a little glass, that's all, that's nothing.
Now, why don't you quit while you're ahead? I'm going back in there and I'm bringing Hoffner out, and if anybody tries to stop me, you're gonna be in for big trouble.
Under the oil cans! Knock the rack over! Hey, how about this.
How about this! You know something, Hoffner? You're a regular magician, aren't you? You take three relatively harmless guys and turn them into criminals, huh? Now, the kid who's in possession of the automatic weapon is in for a federal rap.
Now, if you've got any feeling for them at all, you'll tell him to drop it and go home.
How about if you drop me and you go home? They were just shooting in the air, Frank.
Let me call their bluff.
How? I'll take Hoffner outside in your car and just take off.
You would if you had the keys.
I put them someplace.
Attababy, Phyl, and don't you give them back.
You flush them first.
Lady! Lady, please help us.
Gimme the keys.
No, I don't have the keys on me.
All right, at least help yourself, will you? He's made three criminals already.
You'll be the fourth.
It's not him, it's you.
All he did was rob a gas station a long time ago.
Lady, listen to me, will you? He shot one man, he burned another man to death and he put me in the hospital for three months and gave me this.
Now I see.
Now I see what's driving you so hard.
You hate him, you really hate Lucky, don't you? Yes, yes, I do.
You hate him so much you don't care if you get the wrong person! It's not the wrong person.
You want proof? I'll show you.
I don't need any proof! You know what's in here? Money! One hundred and ten thousand dollars' worth.
Think he was planning to share it with those guys out there or with you? He's using them just like he's used you! Thank you.
Sorry.
Whitey! Whitey, no! Please put that thing away.
Put it away before there's any more trouble.
Oh, no, there's not gonna be much trouble, Phyl.
Only gonna scare them so they'll let Lucky go.
Just don't Just don't even try, okay? Well, how come? Because he's Look, he's He He's not Lucky.
He He's who they say he is.
They showed me the money.
What money? The The The payroll money.
Just a whole suitcase full of it.
Well, now, that do make things different, don't it? That is different.
No, no! Cannon, last chance, you hear? Now, you send Lucky out with that bag of money right now.
Well, I guess we'd better try it your way.
Take him out the back to the car.
What about you? I got something I wanna try.
Here, in case things go wrong, you may need this.
Now, get going.
No more chances, Hoffner.
No more crippled cops.
No more accidents.
You won't get away with it.
Yes, I will.
You attacked me.
With a rope around my hands? I'll take care of that afterwards.
Come on.
The bikes! Get the bikes, Gene! Hurry up, get the bikes! Well, they're taking the bikers over to San Bernardino to book them.
Uh, they got your statements all right, huh? Yeah, and what about Lucky? I mean, Hoffner? LAPD's reopening the case.
They'll nail him, all right.
And what about me? Did you do anything wrong? I ever do anything right? Who knows? Maybe I will someday.
Thank you.
Frank? Frank.
Don't you ever miss all this? Yeah, sometimes.
This is what I gotta put out of my mind, like Hoffner.
I'll try to keep my promise.
Let me tell you something.
I have complete and utter confidence in you, kid.
Since when? Since I saw you with Hoffner in the back room.
You didn't know I was watching, did you? No.
Hey, Jer, now, being a policeman's nice, but there are a lot of other worthwhile things in the world.
So stop looking back over your shoulder, huh? Let go.