Cannon (1971) s01e17 Episode Script

No.
No chance.
I told him you weren't going to be sensible, Mike.
Sensible.
What does that say? Tampa Wines.
Mike Tampa, head man.
I know.
Pearson knows.
Then why doesn't he act like it? Why doesn't he stick to adding up numbers and stop trying to be my mother? I know it's your winery and I should stick to adding up numbers, but, Mike, uh, I just, uh, added the quarterly statement.
Well, let's have it.
It's bad.
Well, darn it.
I make the best cabernet sauvignon in the country, and it's selling at a top price.
But you don't sell enough of it.
Your payroll is top-heavy.
The taxes are up.
Taxes are always up.
Mike, the bank is screaming.
I, uh I talked to the loan committee and And they said no? Well, uh Mike, I'm sorry.
Ah, Arthur, I'm sorry.
I'm a loudmouth.
All right, I'll talk to them.
I'll promise them a case of great wine.
She all right now, Leo? I guess so, Mr.
Tampa.
She's not missing any more.
That's good enough.
Um Take the jeep back for me, will you, Leo? Okey-doke.
Relax, Arthur.
I'll be diplomatic, and Meg will be sexy.
We'll work 'em over together.
How'd it go? Take a look.
Mike, please.
Brakes are out.
Slow her down.
ANNOUNCER: Starring William Conrad.
With guest stars: Theodore Bikel, Katherine Justice, and special guest star, Christopher Connelly.
ANNOUNCER: Good morning.
Uh, I'm looking for Miss Warren.
I'm Miss Warren.
Oh, well, I'm Frank Cannon.
Oh, I wasn't sure you'd come up, I mean on short notice.
Well, it sounded serious.
From the looks of you, I guess it was.
Do you mind if we talk in there? Of course not.
I have some cases I wanna check.
Would you tell me about the accident? I don't think it was one.
Oh? Why not? Five weeks ago in the bottling plant an entire rack of bottles fell over onto Mike Mr.
Tampa.
He could have been cut up badly.
Two weeks ago, fusel oil got into the wine Mike was tasting.
That's pretty deadly stuff.
If the first sip hadn't been bitter Yesterday, the brakes on his car failed heading down Lomitas Grade.
The car was completely wrecked.
Does Mr.
Tampa believe somebody's trying to kill him? Who, Mike? No.
He thinks the world loves him, just like he loves the world.
Mr.
Cannon, someone is trying to kill him.
I want you to find out who.
Did, uh, he ask you to call me? Uh, has he agreed to this investigation? Uh, not exactly.
I don't think he'd like the idea of a private detective looking over his life.
Mm.
Now, let's see if I got this straight now.
So far I bought a plane ticket to get up here, rented a car.
I've talked to a pretty girl.
All I need now is a client.
I'm just his secretary, and I know I have a nerve, hiring you without permission, I know.
But I'm scared for Mike.
Don't tell me it's old-fashioned.
I make my wine the good way, the right way.
For connoisseurs, yes, but not as far as the bank's concerned.
I don't give a rap.
Cut down on your labor force.
Go into bulk processing.
How about burning down the winery? It took two generations to grow these vineyards, learn to make fine wine.
Y-you want me to turn my place into a? A? A factory? No chance.
Oh.
Well I figured that.
Okay, let me work on it.
Maybe I can do some juggling.
Hey, Johnny.
Hey, when I heard about it in San Francisco, I nearly had a heart attack.
You maniac, what are you trying to do to me? Is that any way to talk to your father? How are you? All right.
It's nothing.
I'm tough.
Well, thank God.
You're a lot of trouble, you know that? Hi, Arthur.
Hello, Johnny.
Look, do me a favor, will you? And do him a favor too.
Work him over with a bung starter until he sees some reason.
Out, out, out, out, out.
All right, what's the crisis? Nothing.
Arthur's having kittens.
How'd it go in San Francisco? Fantastic.
What's nothing? Is it serious? Your grandfather sweated blood getting this land, piece by piece, planting the vines, grafting on the finest European grapes.
And you inherited it, and you built it, and you make the best cabernet sauvignon in the United States.
Maybe in the world, even if the French are never gonna admit it.
For a while, there, it didn't seem to matter so much when you were gone.
Now you're back and we gotta keep it, and we gotta work it so it goes from me to you.
Three generations.
That means something.
Yeah, it means a lot.
Hey, tell me how you conned them at the Wine Festival.
Well Well, it's not too bad, I guess.
Yeah.
Could've been worse.
You from the insurance? I understand the brakes went out.
Yeah, that's what Mr.
Tampa said.
Uh, Proctor checked Yeah? Yeah, uh, but they were fine, though.
Well, I mean, the master cylinder and the lines, full of fluid.
In fact, everything checked out A-okay.
Hm.
I guess it didn't happen then, huh? Unless, uh, you've got any ideas.
Hm? No.
Heh-heh! Hey, come on, you guys.
Give, huh? Okay, uh, well, Mr.
Tampa'd been tasting wine all morning yesterday for the Wine Festival.
I mean, uh, he sampled a lot, and, uh, he drove out of here like somebody set a torch to his tail.
Ah.
Oh, forget it, I got a big mouth.
No, no.
Thanks.
Who the devil are you to ask me something like that? I'm a private investigator.
Who sent for you? I did, Mike.
Because of those three accidents that might have killed you, if they were accidents.
The brakes on my car went out.
That isn't what your mechanic said.
There was some question about your condition.
Don't be delicate.
You wanna find out if I was drunk? I wasn't.
When you taste wine, you taste it.
You swirl it around in your mouth then you spit it out.
You don't drink it.
Yes, I'm aware of that.
So if you weren't drunk, then somebody was trying to kill you.
Mike, please.
I don't believe it, and I'd like one good reason for paying him to mess into my life.
Cabernet sauvignon.
What? Look, Mr.
Tampa, in 1961 you produced a cabernet that is probably the best red wine that's ever been made in this country.
I still have a half a case of it.
Now, if you go and get yourself killed, there may never be another Tampa vintage like that again.
What kind of a private eye are you? Moderately civilized.
All right, you're hired.
But let me tell you something, you're wrong.
The '59 was better.
Forgive me, sir, but you're wrong.
It was too fruity.
The '61 was a much better wine.
It was a magnificent wine, a great wine.
Well, maybe.
You really think somebody's trying to kill me? Why? You tell me.
I've got no enemies, I've got no fortune.
All I have is a vineyard and a lot of debts.
Yes, I noticed the picture of your vineyard on the wall.
How many acres do you own? Two thousand.
That seems to be quite a fortune.
Some time back there was a land developer wanted it, just the land.
He wasn't even interested in the vines.
How much? -Thousand dollars an acre.
Well, on two thousand acres that could be $2 million, right? Okay, but I'm not selling.
At one time I might have thought of selling, but then my son Johnny came back.
From where? Ah, that's history.
It's over and done with.
Nothing's ever over and done with, Mr.
Tampa.
Where was he? I Meg, do you mind? Of course.
I'll wait outside.
Johnny, uh Johnny's 26 now.
When he, uh When he was 7, his mother and I, we busted up.
Not her fault.
It was both of us.
Anyway, she left me, and she took Johnny with her.
Didn't see him again until two years ago.
Now there's another Tampa to take over the land.
From my father to me, from me to Johnny.
He inherits everything, and he's the only one.
So no motive.
So far.
Okay, dig around, see what you can find.
Thank you.
You know, you've got taste.
'61 was a great year.
Even if you don't find anything, we'll have some great wines together.
Johnny Tampa? Yes, sir.
Frank Cannon.
Oh, yeah, Mr.
Cannon, Meg told me about you.
What's this about somebody's trying to kill my father? It's a possibility.
But why? Mike's one of the nice people in the world.
Do you call your father Mike because you were separated from him for so long? Yeah, I guess so, I, uh I came back here two years ago.
I didn't know what was gonna happen, I just wanted to see my father, you know? I was a little uptight about it.
When I I, you know, walked in there, I stuck out my hand to shake hands, and he grabbed me and kissed me.
He took me in.
From that time on, I was his son.
Look, Mr.
Cannon, I happen to love the man, and I'm worried about him, so if there's anything I can do, just tell me.
Well, uh, maybe you can tell me something about those three accidents that he had.
No, come to think of it, I guess you can't, because as I understand it, you were in San Francisco those three times, weren't you? Yeah.
Well, uh, I'm just trying to fill in the blanks on things.
Eh, where's your mother now? She's dead.
Two years ago.
That's why I came back here.
She was a little bitter about Mike, my father, but that was their problem, their marriage, their trouble.
Look, Mr.
Cannon, I have to get back to San Francisco.
Is there? Is there anything else I can tell you? No, no, not right now, thank you.
Have a nice trip.
Thanks.
Hey, what gives? All right.
Accidents.
Three times you've tried to kill Mike, and all three times you've missed.
Each time I've been up here, all right? Well, last time Meg was with him.
So? So it stops right now.
Look All right, knock it off.
Look, it's not as though Mike Tampa really was your father.
It was your con in the first place to play the lost prodigal son.
We just joined in.
Well, now we're all playing.
You've got yourself an alibi.
Mike Tampa gets killed accidentally.
You inherit.
We all get rich.
Or we blow the whistle on you, and you get framed for his murder.
Take your choice.
Here.
Ah, chicken.
Mmm.
Here you go.
Hm.
And one for me.
Sacramento wants another Well, Sacramento's slow in paying.
Send him a refusal wrapped in a past-due bill.
Oh, Johnny, it's one of Mike's old friends.
All right, then, uh, send him five cases with, uh With an apology.
Which reminds me Hm.
You owe me apology.
Why? For the scare you gave me when I heard about the accident.
Oh, I'm touched.
Come on, Meg, I really mean it.
Well, I'm fine.
I-I'm tough.
Now you sound just like Mike.
Well, I've been with him nearly four years.
It's like marriage, you grow more and more like each other.
Yeah, four years out here in the boonies.
It's a good life, all right, but not for everybody.
I'm thinking about making a move.
Maybe down to San Francisco.
You'd leave? Come on, Meg.
Pop runs the winery.
You run Pop.
I'm not essential around here.
I think I'll just take a trip.
Oh, Johnny, you're not talking about a trip.
You mean you're leaving.
W Why? Meg, I've got my reasons.
What reasons? Mike needs you.
Mike will make it without me.
Oh, Johnny, that's crazy.
He loves you.
And I love him, and I love this land.
It's just that I'm getting kind of itchy, you know? I wanna go somewhere else, do something else for a while.
But now, with the? The accidents, the investigation going on? Come on, that's Cannon's department.
He'll take care of that.
And accidents Well, they do happen, you know.
Even three in a row.
But I'll bet they don't happen any more.
Yeah, what do you bet, Mike's life? Come on, Meg, I didn't mean that.
Oh, Johnny, I'm asking you to stay.
That was stupid.
Oh, was it? I mean that Oh, I know what you mean.
Bon voyage.
Hey, Meg No, Mr.
Cannon, I don't know much about Johnny Tampa before he came out here.
Well, he was gone for 17 years.
Surely Mike Tampa checked him out pretty thoroughly.
Well, I figure Mike was just so pleased to have his son back, he didn't wanna ask too many questions.
Besides, I understand Arthur Pearson checked him out pretty good.
Pearson? Yeah, he's the accountant for Tampa Wine.
Now, Arthur is the kind of man you call "Arthur", not "Art.
" And I'll bet he went through every one of those 17 missing years in great detail.
Good, I'll ask him.
In the meantime, you check out Proctor and Lund.
You know, both of those mechanics have been with Tampa for a long time.
Well, somebody gimmicked the brakes on Mike Tampa's car.
You're pushing this thing pretty hard, Cannon.
You could be wrong.
Maybe I am, but it's better than having Mike dead.
Right? I hired a private detective in San Francisco.
Yeah, who? Oh, he's a perfectly legitimate man.
He came well-recommended, and I think he did a thorough job.
Of course, he He didn't like the amount of detail I wanted, but when he was finished, I was able to assure Mike that Johnny is his son.
Considerable pleasure, I might add.
Yes.
Now, it would seem to me that a, uh, perfectly legitimate private detective would have a name and an address.
Oh, yes, uh, Oren Burk, as of several years ago.
You gonna contact him? Uh, yes, I am, as a matter of fact.
That was, uh, Hanley? Uh-huh.
You know, I admit I'm conservative about money, but I I fully approve of our hiring you.
Well, thank you.
I'm quite fond of Mike Tampa.
So if there's anything at all that I can do for you, Mr.
Cannon, please Thank you, sir.
Please let me know.
I will, indeed.
Thank you.
Goodbye.
It's license number Z for zebra, You're a very lucky man, Mr.
Cannon.
See your own physician as soon as possible and have him check for a possible concussion.
Well, don't worry about that, doc.
I'm noted for my hard head.
Thank you.
And remember, no exercise, no strenuous activity for at least two weeks.
Uh, I plan on being careful.
Thank you, sir.
Good, thanks.
I'll see you, doc.
There you are, Cannon.
That's all DMV has.
Oh.
Yeah, we just got that in this morning.
I had to send it right out to the body shop.
Oh, I charged the guy 80 bucks to cover the damage.
What was the guy's name? Oh, I got that right here.
Name of Hanley.
Hm, that's funny.
What? Oh, we're supposed to get a license number, and it isn't here, not even an address.
Hanley.
Wait a minute, wait a minute.
Hanley? Yeah.
Hanley Avenue.
Yeah? Hello, I'm looking for Oren Burk.
Oh, he's not here.
Good night, now.
It's important.
Told you Burk's not here.
I'm not receiving at this moment.
Get your tail out of here.
I, uh I think I can wait.
You're trespassing, you know that.
Well, you're at liberty to call the police.
Now, all I wanna do is see Oren Burk's files.
With your permission, of course.
Thank you, dear.
Who are you? A friend.
Yeah, but whose friend? That's a very difficult question.
Come in.
Mm.
Just the man I wanted to see.
Cannon, the gourmet eye.
Come here.
I've got something for you to try.
Unless, of course, you're prejudiced about wine before lunch.
Depends on the wine.
Drink up.
Rich.
Try it.
Ah.
It's magnificent wine.
Yours? Mm-mm.
My father's for his own table.
Your father must have been a great man.
He was.
But I've done better.
This was put down 26 years ago.
You wait until my '59 gets that much age.
Pop put down three cases of this when Johnny was born.
Pop died two years ago, but this This wine is something I'll have, something Johnny will have, and we'll do this for years and generations.
You pour a lot into a person when he's all you've got.
I should have had a dozen kids, but I have something for you, Mike.
Yeah? Found out who's trying to kill me? I found out something about Johnny.
What? You paid Oren Burk for a report on Johnny.
What he gave you was a lot of garbage.
This is the real report about a man by the name of Ralph Stacey.
Who? Ralph Stacey.
That's Johnny's real name.
He's a phony, Mike.
He conned you into accepting him as your long-lost son.
It was a fraud from the moment he walked in here.
Huh.
Arthur kept pushing on this Burk's investigation.
Huh.
Probably the first time in history that Arthur Pearson got cheated.
Ah.
But I didn't get cheated.
No, I knew he wasn't Johnny.
What? Arthur, he goes by facts.
I go by my feelings.
ngs.
Arthur, he goes by facts.
He was the right age, looked like what my boy should have looked like, knew a lot.
Family details, pieces of memory.
Ralph Stacey and Johnny Tampa knew each other for a couple of years when they bummed around the country, until, uh, Johnny died.
Three years ago.
Pneumonia.
Dead.
I knew it, I guess.
Knew it all along.
I may be sentimental, but I'm not stupid.
If Johnny had wanted to come home, he would've been here years ago, just to look at me, to take a punch at me, anything.
I told you my marriage busted up.
Well, more like blew up.
None of your civilized divorces.
We cut each other up pretty good.
She walked away from me hating me.
Johnny must have been fed a lot of that hate.
I I guess he died hating me.
It doesn't bear thinking about.
So this boy shows up, says he's Johnny Tampa.
So he's a liar.
And I'm the man who pushed away his own son.
I figure we're neither of us perfect.
He wanted money.
You wanted a son.
Not a bad deal.
You seem to have feelings, Cannon.
I should have thought a man in your business couldn't afford that.
Well, it does get me into trouble now and then.
Yeah, but you don't have to go feeling sorry for me, because, you see, I worked it out a long time ago.
It's all right, because he likes me, this Ralph, whatever his name is.
Two years of cheating worked into something real, 'cause we like each other.
Aw, hell, we love each other.
Mike Uh, look, I know it's stupid.
Somebody wants me dead, and here is the perfect candidate, my phony son.
But it's not him.
He wouldn't harm me.
He He's hooked on me, Johnny Tampa.
Mike, he's got to be involved.
No! I want you to stay away from him.
Do you hear me? I'm not accusing him of murder, Mike, but I'm not gonna stop the investigation.
Somebody's trying to murder me now.
I'm gonna find out who.
Mr.
Cannon.
Can I help you? Yes, I wanna see Johnny Tampa.
Ah, do you? Well, he left.
Left? Yes, left.
Suddenly, without any sort of explanation.
He just marched out of here.
He left a lot of business hanging unfinished in midair, and now I have to go down to San Francisco and straighten out everything he was supposed to do.
Honestly.
Did you see him before he left? Oh, yes, yes, I saw him.
He needed money, a not unusual condition.
How much? He asked for all the cash I had on hand, over $3.
000.
And you gave it to him? The boss' son? Okay, she's cut.
Careful.
Don't worry.
Sure Johnny's prints are on there? I'm sure.
It's Johnny's hacksaw.
Guaranteed to do the job.
Also guaranteed to get him indicted for murder one.
If we need it.
Yep.
What difference does it make? Johnny's gone.
What does it matter how? I'm curious.
He didn't drive his car.
There's no plane, no bus till tomorrow.
You did say that when he came back into town he rode in on a freight train, huh? What rhyme or reason does it make that he'd leave the same way with $3.
000 in his pocket? I didn't say it was reasonable, just possible.
I'll look for him over here.
You check down that way, huh? That is, if you're interested.
Johnny.
He was right, Cannon, that we'd find you here.
Well, it seems to make sense, I'd go the way I came.
I brought nothing in, I'm taking nothing out.
It makes no sense at all.
Johnny, why? Listen, Meg, when you talk to Mike, not now, but later on, tell him that I was trying to do the best thing for him.
Oh, Mr.
Cannon.
You found me.
Congratulations.
Johnny.
It's all right.
It's all right.
Hello, Stacey.
Uh The facts of life, I guess.
I'm not Johnny Tampa.
My real name's Ralph Stacey.
Th The accidents? No, Meg.
Whatever I planned on when I first got here, well, it all changed.
I wouldn't do anything to hurt Mike.
-Then who would? A man named Oren Burk, a private detective.
He found out about me, worked out a little plan.
Kill Mike, I inherit everything, and then we split it.
And you went along with that? Maybe, in the beginning when Burk first nailed me, I would have done anything.
But not later, not once I knew Mike.
I told him he'd have to stop, he'd have to give it up.
He didn't listen very good, did he? That's why I'm stopping him now, you understand? That's why you're leaving.
That's right.
With me gone, Burk can't gain anything by killing Mike.
Well, if I were Oren Burk, I'd kill Mike first, then I'd lean on you.
You'd have to play ball that way or answer an awful lot of tough questions for the police.
He can't lean on me if he can't find me.
Oh, he can find you all right, he's a professional.
He can pull you back like you were on a leash.
You wanna know how to help Mike? Turn yourself in.
Make a formal accusation against Burk.
I'm not going to jail.
It's not your choice any longer, is it? Let him go.
Thanks.
I'm sorry.
That means you love him.
That excuses everything, I guess.
Look, Mike shouldn't be left alone.
I'm gonna go get him.
You take a cab into town, tell Chief Jacoby we're on our way, all right? Mike.
What is it? What happened? Oh, nothing yet.
All right, Mike, come on, let's go.
Come on.
Come on.
Wait a minute.
The car's gone.
Come on.
Where is everybody? Come on, Mike.
Mr.
Cannon.
I'm glad to see you.
There's There's something wrong.
It just wouldn't work, Mr.
Pearson, riding the rails with $3.
000 in your pocket.
Somebody had to be a liar.
Cannon.
Throw it down, Cannon.
Throw it down fast.
W? Arthur, what's going on? Mr.
Tampa, meet the real Mr.
Pearson, the man who's been trying to kill you.
But what are you gonna do about me? There's always room for one more, Cannon, as big as you are.
Let's go.
Okay, hold it.
Here we are, gentlemen.
Leaking gas line, accidental ignition and a very tragic explosion.
Arthur, why? Because you're a stubborn man, Mike.
You turned down over $2 million from those land developers.
I'm going to take over and sell out.
That is, uh, with the help of, uh, Johnny here.
Your son and heir, supposed to be.
Anyone ever tell any of you he's not what he's supposed to be? Johnny.
I'm not Johnny.
There we go.
Now, Johnny.
Seems we have a leaking gas line here.
Mike went looking for it.
That's very dangerous, do you understand? Now, in all probability, the break was caused by one of the many slight earthquakes that we experience in this area so frequently.
Mike Unless you give us any trouble.
In that case, it'll turn out the break was caused by a hacksaw, and police will be directed to the hacksaw with your fingerprints on it.
I'm not gonna give you any trouble.
I just came down to get my inheritance.
Well, then, just for insurance, you can set the gas off.
Mike! Come on.
Outside.
Well, he told me that he was going to San Francisco.
He's almost gonna make it.
What do you mean almost? San Quentin isn't very far away.
Look, there's one thing I want you to understand.
I'm not bringing any charges against Johnny.
I think you'd better face it, Mike.
It was a conspiracy.
The DA's gonna have to bring charges.
How bad? Nothing like Pearson and the others are gonna get.
With your testimony, maybe a year, two at the most.
You'd think waiting 17 years would've been enough.
Hey, lawyers, bail, whatever.
I'll take care of them.
Take care of yourself, Mike.
Meg, make sure he takes care of himself.
Mr.
Cannon.
Johnny.
Well, goodbye.
Mike.
Hey, wait a minute.
Got something for you.
Call it a bonus.
Tampa Cabernet Last bottle left in all the world.
It's yours.
Liquid gold.
But, uh, you save it.
What for? For the day when Johnny comes back.
Bye.