The Rockford Files (1974) s02e04 Episode Script
Gearjammers (2)
Whoever did this hijacking is planning a big operation.
Like, maybe even knocking over Fort Knox.
Now you're gonna get this old man, Joseph Rockford, and you're gonna get him before the sun comes up tomorrow.
'Cause if you don't, I'm putting the word out on you.
I'll get him.
Rocky, duck! Sonny, what did they blow up your car for? Somebody's trying to kill you.
Will you get that through your head? This is Jim Rockford.
At the tone, leave your name and message.
I'll get back to you.
Hey, Jimmy.
It's Angel.
Don't pay no attention to my other message.
You're out of it.
You're clean.
No trouble at all.
Just ignore the first message.
This is James Garner.
The following scenes are from part one of Gearjammers, a two-part episode of The Rockford Files.
What are you doing in here? You're supposed to be outside keeping watch.
I'm sorry, Mr.
Hammel.
A guy got past me.
Got inside here.
What? Listen, we're almost finished.
Let's clear out of here.
Find him.
Find out who he is.
Yes, sir.
Hey, you find him.
Yes, sir.
You find Lo Salvo? Yeah.
He was busy though.
I'll catch up with him on his break.
What did he look like? He's an old man.
Had on dungarees.
Hold it.
Let me out here.
Now, listen.
You find him.
Find out what he saw.
Don't let anybody see you.
But you get him, you hear me? We might have to hit him.
Yes, sir, Mr.
Hammel.
Kind of hoping that maybe you'd be interested in buying yourself a pair of tickets for the OOTA Ball.
We are having a humding OOTA Ball.
Well, I'm a son of a gun.
Who beat me to it? Tommy Larson.
He's been in here selling them all over the place.
I just got these from him about 10 minutes ago.
Oh, I should have barged in on you when I first seen you.
Huh? Yeah, I seen you about a hour ago over there in Warehouse 10.
You and some big, expensive-looking guy.
And you was passing him some papers and you fellas was jawing and Well, I should have just barged in on you right then.
Maybe I'd have beat Tommy to the business there.
Yeah.
Your name Rockford? Who wants to know? What can I do for you? We're looking for your old man.
What'd he do? Miss a payment on his truck? Look, I got about $30 won'th of steak in here.
If I don't get it in the freezer, it's gonna rot.
Do you gentlemen mind if I Wait.
Those were extra large double Grade A.
you hadrt have done that.
Your father isn't at his house.
Where is he? Well, offhand, I don't know where he is, but if you guys want to come inside, I'll see if I can find him for you.
Now where is your father? Hey, we got company.
Hold it! You, out! Your left front tire's a little low, so if I were you, I'd I'd have it checked.
Mr.
Hammel.
Better have a good reason for coming here, Lo Salvo.
I want out.
What are you talking about? I'm not gonna go through with it.
Boy, you're a real bleeding heart, Lo Salvo.
Just because some old geezer's gonna get himself roughed up a little bit.
Yes, sir.
But I don't think you're just talking about roughing him up, 'cause if you do that, you're gonna tip him, and you ain't that stupid.
Now the way I got it figured is, you gonna put him away for good, and I can't stand still for that.
Yeah.
Goodbye, John.
That's good for me.
Guy's name was Lo Salvo, huh? Yeah.
Jim! Oh, Jim! Jim! Oh, I've killed him! I killed my own son.
Jimmy! Jim! Oh, thank God! Can you hear me, Jimmy? Can you hear me? What happened? Hi, Jim.
What's new? Hey, Charlie, what, are the flashers running in packs now? Flashers, he says.
Hijacked, and left them stripped to slow them up.
Six of them in two hours.
I never saw anything like it.
All from the same line.
So P&W gets hijacked, and Johnny Lo Salvo, who works for P&W, gets knocked off the same day.
Now all we need is a connection between Rocky and Johnny Lo Salvo.
Very good.
You know, you'd make a pretty good detective.
Had dinner? Now that you mention it, no.
You want to do the lobster? At 3:00 in the morning? Everything's closed.
Oh, don't worry.
I know a place.
Yeah? What kind of place? You'll like it.
It's a nice place.
They got lobster? Well, sure.
What kind of lobster? Lobster lobster.
Rocky.
Lobster bisque.
Canned? Fresh canned.
No way.
Oh, come on now.
Lobster's lobster.
Quit trying to welsh.
Okay.
Get in.
Well, we don't have to.
It's right around the corner.
We can walk.
Hey, Rocky.
Rocky, are you okay? Huh? Maybe I should have let him book me.
You got a cut up there.
Huh? Oh, leave it be.
Let me see it.
Sonny, what did they blow up your car for? Somebody's trying to kill you.
Will you get that through your head? Why? Thanks.
Let's get a doctor to look at that, okay? Come on.
We got a doctor in here.
Oh, I'm okay.
It's only a scratch.
Rocky, they got a doctor.
We're gonna let him look you over.
Look, I don't need nobody to put no Band-Aid on no scratch.
Rocky! Oh, I'll take care of it.
All right, thank you.
Now go on! Okay.
So, what happened? What happened is somebody put enough dynamite in my car to blow it right over your lousy flagpole.
All right, calm down, Jim.
It's not like you haven't been in these tough jams before, so just take it easy.
I know, but Rocky's never been the target before.
Come on, I'll get you some coffee.
I don't know, Dennis.
Somebody's trying to kill him, and they're not fooling around about it.
Well, we'll go through the car, get a check on the dynamite, we'll run the whole mess through the lab.
You heard him out there.
He didn't want to see the doctor.
He thinks this whole thing is just some big mistake that's gonna go away.
We'll turn something.
What? What are you gonna do? What are you gonna run through your lab? The whole thing's on fire out there.
Your parking lot looks like a Boy Scout cookout.
We'll find something.
We'll get a composite on the dynamite.
We'll Damn it, there's no sugar! Calm down, Dennis.
Come on, calm down.
Isn't that the way it goes, huh? We'll find something.
Somebody must have seen who wired your car.
Rocky's my friend, too.
We will find something.
I can hear what you guys are saying.
The whole building can hear what you're saying.
Now, look, as long as I'm the fellow they're trying to kill, will you let me do most of the heavy worrying, please? Look, Rocky, we got to stash you someplace.
You stash me, you ain't got no leads.
We're not exactly looking for bait, Rocky.
And if we were, we wouldn't use a civilian.
Okay.
Well, do I have to walk home or you gonna give me a car to ride home in? Look, Rocky, somebody's trying to kill you.
Will you understand that? And you're acting like a pair of kids.
Now, let's be adult.
Hey, you're not gonna let him go home alone, are you? Are you kidding me? He's going home with me.
Now, Rocky, just hold up a minute.
Jim, I will find something.
We got a good lab.
Yeah.
I know, Dennis.
Look, I'm sorry I yelled at you.
Just the thought of somebody hurting Rocky sends me right up the wall, man.
Yeah.
Well, just take him home and sit on him.
All right.
Thanks.
Hey, Dad? Well, it's about time.
How long have you been up? Oh, I never went to sleep.
I should have gone to my own house.
Yeah, you'd have probably shared your bed with a plastic bomb.
Hey, you had breakfast? No.
I've been busy.
I have been doing some detective work.
That's a very disreputable occupation.
Yeah, well, that's what I've been telling you.
You want to hear about this? If I have to.
I have here a list that I've made of everything Dennis said was hijacked.
Mmm-hmm.
How do you like your eggs? Over or up? Scrambled.
Now first on the list is 400 cases of dynamite.
Now, wouldn't you say that anyone who ripped off that much dynamite was intending to do some mighty big blasting? Not unless they planned on selling them.
There werert any fuses or caps.
Well, they could get them anyplace.
Oh, yeah.
Yeah.
Go on.
Well, now, next we've got a truck loaded for Memphis.
Now, it's mostly work gloves.
Which means our hijackers are blue-collar types.
No, sir.
You get a load of this.
Six jackhammers in the load.
That's interesting.
Of course, there were no hoses, compressors or bits.
No.
Of course they can get those anyplace.
Right? Right.
Right.
Yeah.
Now we got a truck loaded for Cleveland.
Now, this one is loaded mostly with ladies' underwear, wooden salad bowls from Taiwan, aluminum ladders, loads of paint, some of that there chemical was on it, and Dad, let's just make a long story short, all right? A dozen Geeger counters.
That's Geiger, Dad.
A dozen Geiger counters.
Half a truckload of rifles with ammunition.
I'm telling you, sonny, there's too much here for it to be a coincidence.
Whoever did this hijacking is planning a big operation.
Like, maybe even knocking over Fort Knox.
What about the grapefruit? I don't want any.
The grapefruit that they hijacked? What are they gonna do? Throw those at the police? Well, that's the exception that proves the rule.
You know, I I've never quite understood what that means.
Well, that means that even if they got a guy on the inside tipping them off, you can't all be perfect, right? Dad, I think you got something there.
You do? Mmm-hmm.
Of course, it's not gonna do us any good.
Because we're not gonna know where they're hitting till after they've done it.
Yeah.
Meanwhile, you are a sitting duck.
Yeah.
Sergeant Becker, please.
Oh, do you know what time he'll be back? Who is this? Oh, Charlie.
Charlie, this is Jim Rockford.
Would you tell Dennis to call me when he gets back? Yeah, Charlie, did those trucks ever turn up? Yeah.
Okay.
Okay, thanks.
No sign of them.
You know, that's funny.
Those cargoes are usually pre-sold.
They unload them and ditch them within three or four hours.
That proves I'm right! You want more coffee? No.
That proves I'm right.
They're gonna keep the stuff for themselves.
Yeah.
Just think about this.
All six drivers were released within 20 minutes of the time the last truck was hit.
Yeah.
These hijackers are no dummies.
They know the trucking business.
They know the alarm's gonna go out the minute those drivers are released.
Mmm-hmm.
Which means those trucks are stashed less than 20 minutes away from the inland terminal.
Right! Wrong.
In an area that small, they're too easy to find.
No, they're gonna have to get them out of there, especially if they plan to use that equipment for another job.
I guess that's right.
Now, how do you get six semis out of the area without being spotted? Where can I find Mr.
Koenig? I'm looking for John Koenig.
You're looking at him.
Hey, John.
Jim Rockford, road boss for Pacific & Western.
What happened to Matt? Matt? Assistant road boss, I should've said.
I'm giving Matt a hand on some special security matters that just came up and I figured Hey, do you mind? This is just a little confidential, John.
Oh.
But See, I got a problem.
I need your help.
Oh, you can count on me.
Thanks.
I appreciate it.
What's your problem? Seals.
Seals? Our seals have been tampered with.
Pilferage? Oh, worse, John.
Much worse.
Now, my informant tells me that some of the vans have been cleaned out.
That's impossible! You got any waybill numbers? Oh, well, my My informant wasrt quite that specific.
But we do know that they were supposed to roll either last night or early this morning.
Uh-huh.
Last shipment of yours went out of here three days ago.
Two vans for Tallahassee.
Nothing since? Nothing.
Anything scheduled for today or tomorrow? Nothing at all.
My informant is usually very, very, very reliable.
Oh, gee, I'm sorry, Mr.
Rockford.
I really am.
Oh, hey, John, I want to thank you for your help.
I'll tell Matt hello for you, huh? Yeah.
Thanks.
Oh, Mr.
Rockford! What do you want us to do about that partial shipment we got on hold for you? When are you gonna complete it? Partial shipment? Yeah, the one that came in last night.
Six vans.
No destination? No.
Nothing.
Just hold until the rest of the shipment is ready.
That's what the waybill says.
That's pretty unusual.
Yeah.
It sure is.
Of course, you fellas are real good customers.
I mean, we'd do anything to make you happy.
Well, there they are.
That's 2732, Are these the ones you're looking for? And you think they're empty? Oh, they got to be.
Got to be.
They sure found a good hiding place.
What? The They're sealed.
That's funny.
Oh, they better be.
Koenig? Huh? I'm gonna break that seal and you're gonna be a witness.
Oh, no, wait a minute, Mr.
Rockford.
I'm not authorized Just hold on.
Mr.
Rockford, I really don't think that's a very good idea.
They're still loaded.
You're kidding! Uh-huh.
Yeah.
We don't know that it's abandoned.
They might try to come back and get at it.
Look, just stay out of sight, seal it up, and we'll have a stakeout on it in a half an hour.
What? Okay, I owe you one.
Mazurski! Hey, Jimmy! Jimmy, come here! There's a green Chevy parked outside there.
Do you think it's one of them head-crushers? Yeah, those are head-crushers, all right, but they belong to Becker.
Oh, no kidding.
Old Becker sent them? Yeah.
Well, you know, I didn't used to think much of him.
I always figured he was sort of a bad influence on you.
But now I'm getting real fond of him.
Come on, Rocky.
How can a cop be a bad influence? Wait a minute.
I take that back.
Are you going back to that stakeout again? Mmm-hmm.
I want you to stay here.
I don't want you to open that door for anyone.
Now, wait a minute.
I want to get out of here, too.
I'd like to get to my own house.
Oh, you want to leave? You want to go home? Okay, you want to leave? Go ahead.
Well, I'm leaving.
No, you're not.
Since when do you tell your own father what to do? It's supposed to be the other way around.
You're not leaving, Dad.
You're gonna stay right here so somebody can keep an eye on you.
Yeah, it's different when you're worried about me.
But it don't matter a tinker's damn when I'm worried about you, huh? That don't count.
Come on, Dad.
Come on.
This is different.
Look, Jimmy, how many times have I told you, "Sonny, please get off the case.
You're gonna get killed.
" How many times you looked at me like I'm some old nut that can't even put his shoes on the right feet? Now, come on.
When did I ever treat you that way? Besides, that's different.
You don't want me to go home 'cause you're scared I'll get hurt.
How is that different? I'm waiting! That's different because I'm supposed to know how to handle these situations.
It's my business.
Well, I ain't never seen you handle no situations too good.
Most of the time I see you, you're in more traction than Evel Knievel.
Now, I'm not gonna argue with you, Dad.
You're not going home.
How are you gonna stop me, huh? Please? Oh, Jimmy.
Please.
Oh, well, all right.
Thanks, Rocky.
Hey, come on, I'm sorry.
No, you ain't.
Yeah, well, what do you want, huh? I want you to understand.
Okay, Rocky.
Okay.
I guess maybe I do.
Coffee, Sergeant? Yeah, I'll have some.
How do you like it? Cream and sugar.
We're out of cream.
So what are you asking for? Well, sugar we got.
Just give it to me.
We're out of coffee.
How's Rocky? Well, he's confined to quarters.
Sitting there with a shotgun across his lap and orders to shoot on sight.
Hey, Dennis, thank you for the police cover.
It's been a couple of days.
Captain Highland's beginning to ask questions.
So I'm gonna have to pull my men.
That means you're gonna have to look after Rocky yourself.
Sergeant.
Better check this out.
And remember, you're working for the freight yard.
Don't spook him till you know who it is.
Yes, sir.
This is Becker.
I want Wants and Warrants on a silver and blue Rolls-Royce.
License 375 Ida, Mary, Ida.
On your silver and blue Rolls-Royce, license 375 Ida, May, Ida.
No Wants, no Warrants.
Vehicle registered to the P&W Trucking Company, 22376 West Arroyo, Los Angeles.
Roger.
Now, that's the president of Pacific & Western.
Now he says he wants to cooperate with the police as much as possible, on account of he says it's in his interest to.
Now, he said his customers are complaining and he's gotta get that shipment to them.
So what he wants to know is can he have his vans back? Tell him he can have them.
And call off McCann and Shapiro.
Yes, sir.
Well, they spotted us.
I guess we've blown it.
You know something, Dennis? Those guys were pretty smart, but then they were pretty dumb, too.
What do you mean? That's a hell of a good place to hide those vans, but a tough place to get them out of without getting nailed.
Rocky? Hey, Rocky! Rocky! Detective Becker, please.
Hurry.
Hey, Rocky.
You okay, Rocky? Them two fellas was trying to kill me.
That's what I've been trying to tell you.
I know, but I never Look, my knees are shaking.
Let's wait a minute, huh? Mine are a little weak, too.
Sonny, you know, I'm sitting in that trailer with that scatter gun across my knees.
Them two fellas come in and I had them right dead in my sights.
I could have made a Mexican omelet out of them.
I couldn't do it.
I couldn't shoot.
Well, if you'd been able to, I'd been surprised.
Oh, boy! Come on.
You want to give it a try? Yeah.
Listen, what do you think I pay you people for, anyway? If I want this kind of dumb action, I can get some junkie to do the job for $20.
It got out of hand.
The old man got loose.
He kicked Ronnie and ran.
There were a couple of kids up there I'm not interested in that, John.
Now look, I just patched him.
I got to get him back to my office.
I'm worried about gangrene.
Listen, you guys already have gangrene.
It's growing out of your ears.
Look, we tried our best.
Now, get him out of here, will you? All right, John.
You gonna do this thing right or you gonna screw it up like before? I'm gonna do it right.
Okay.
Okay, who's your backup man gonna be? I hear Freddie Gates is in town.
Gates is a junkie.
I hear he's clean.
Look, I'll get someone that's not using.
I won't screw it up this time.
That's a promise.
Okay, John.
Okay.
Now, you're gonna get this old man, Joseph Rockford, and you're gonna get him before the sun comes up tomorrow.
'Cause if you don't, I'm putting the word out on you.
You won't be able to get a job running numbers in La Porte, Indiana.
I'll get him.
You can bet on it.
Oh, I'm not betting on it, John.
You are.
What do you mean you can't do anything? I mean, there's nothing I can do.
Protect and serve.
That's the motto, huh? That's your sales pitch? All right, I'm calling you on it.
Protect him.
You think I don't want to? Well, you got enough men to protect the lousy trucking company.
This is my father! Those gorillas tried to kill him.
Them shots just barely missed me.
For a while there, I thought We're not trying to protect the trucking company.
We're trying to run down a bunch of hijackers.
We're trying to run down whoever stuck Johnny Lo Salvo.
There's a lot at stake here, Jim.
Yeah.
His life.
There's nothing I can do.
Take your beef to Captain Highland.
I'll back you up.
Highland? Okay, he doesn't like you, but he's a reasonable man.
Yeah, in a pig's eye.
Jim, I don't want to see anything happen to Rocky, but when you ask for 24-hour protection.
I don't have any men.
If you were to tell me, Baby Face Nelsors at Pizza Dan, there's nothing I can do.
I don't have anybody to send.
Okay, Rocky.
Come on.
Wait a minute.
Yeah? I could book him as a material witness.
What do you mean book me? Hey, Dennis, that's a great idea.
What do you mean book me? Well, it's very simple, Rocky.
They don't have enough men to give you outside protection, so they put you in a nice, safe jail cell and nobody can get to you there.
You're darn right nobody would get to me, 'cause I ain't gonna be there.
What've you got against jail? You're not gonna be in there very long.
Food ain't too bad.
And Dennis can get you a couple of extra pillows.
Look, I ain't going to jail, so you quit pushing.
I'm a grown man.
I can take care of myself.
Yeah, I noticed.
I ain't going to jail.
You know what you are, Rocky? You're ungrateful.
Now you stay in here and don't you move.
Hey, Willie.
Any luck? Would I have any luck? They wouldn't knock off a dime.
It doesn't make any difference anyway.
Comprehensive doesn't cover civil disorders.
Civil disorder? If planting a bomb in a car isn't civil disorder, I don't know what is.
Civil disorders covers riots, mob actions, and any reasonable and necessary action taken by civil authorities, including, but not limited to, local, county and state police, the CIA, the FBI, and the National Guard, to control same.
That's article 32, section 12, paragraph 37.
02-A of the State Insurance Code.
We're talking about a couple of hoods trying to knock off my old man.
It was all very orderly.
Hoods? Hoods? Hmm, organized crime.
All I know is somebody put a bomb in my car.
Gang war.
That's what it was.
A gang war.
Now if you're not aware, there's an exclusive in your policy against acts of war.
You're about to make me angry, Willie.
I'm gonna give you a break.
Because you're an old friend and I really like you, I'm gonna get them to buy it as collision.
With the windshield and the doors blown out from the inside? I'll handle it.
Don't worry about it.
I'll swing it for you.
I appreciate it.
Don't mention it.
Only on collision I've got a $100 deductible.
Hey, what can I tell you? You want your cake and eat it, too? What cake? It's comprehensive.
$1,500 and no deductible.
No way.
I'll sue you.
I'll cancel your policy.
I'll cancel your butt.
$1,400 and that's final.
$1,500.
You know, when you're dealing with money, that's when a mars true colors really show.
Yeah.
How about that? Can't go home.
Can't drive my own pickup.
Stop grouching, will you? I'm buying you lunch, aren't I? Gilly's Diner? Well, when I pay, I pick the place.
Where are we going? Gilly's Diner.
Hey, Rocky, tell me about Johnny Lo Salvo.
I already told you.
I told everybody.
Tell me again.
Lo Salvo worked for P&W shipping, you see, and he does the dockside work there, like assigns their loading docks for their trucks and takes care of the water bills.
What? Bills of lading.
He expedited customs.
He done a little bit of everything.
Well, that stuff that was hijacked, would that have come through the docks? Well, some of it, maybe.
It's hard to say.
You see, when When they bring the cargo in off the ships and they stack it in the inland terminals, they just leave it there till the stack builds up a big enough load, all going to the same place, and then they ship it out.
Would Lo Salvo know when that was? Oh, no.
I don't think so.
I just don't see how Lo Salvo could be connected with the hijackings.
Well, I don't either.
I never did understand.
Why didn't you say so? Because Dennis said he was, and everybody else said he was, and you said he was.
You guys are supposed to be the experts but it never made sense to me.
Rocky, is there anything going on down at the docks, like a big shipment coming through or something going in and out or something valuable, like a gold shipment? Oh, nothing that I know of.
But there's those old furs from Russia.
It wouldn't be that.
What kind of furs? Oh, they call them those Sables.
Oh, yeah? They can be pretty valuable.
You can blow $40,000 on a sable coat like nothing.
You're kidding.
$40,000 for an overcoat? Yeah.
How many were there? I don't know.
Approximately? Well, it could have been three or four cargo holds.
Whole shipload? That could be won'th millions.
Rocky, duck! All right, Rocky.
That guy found the telephone pole.
You okay? Am I okay? Are you kidding? I won't be able to go out in traffic for a year.
Look, I think I changed my mind.
I'd like to stay in the cooler.
Let's go call Dennis.
All right.
Let's go down to the docks first.
We can call him from there.
What did I ever do to those guys? Can you tell me? What did I ever do to them? Sorry, sir, dock's closed, unless you have official business.
Oh, you bet I've got official business.
Wait a minute! It's all right.
I know them.
Hey, Dennis.
Hey, come here.
I want to show you something.
Do you know what just happened to us? They tried to hit Rocky again.
And where do you want me to put my truck? Put it over there, Rocky.
I heard about it over the police radio.
You two guys okay? Uh, temporarily, yeah.
Well, I'm sorry, Jim.
Hey, don't blow all the good lines now, Dennis.
You ought to hold off on that one until you get the little card that says "in lieu of flowers.
" Jim.
ROCKY: Hey, Dennis.
Rocky, I was just telling Dennis, listen, I've been thinking over that idea of yours about jail on the way over here, and it don't sound too bad to me.
It might be kind of restful.
Well, I never thought I'd be happy to turn the key on you.
If you don't mind waiting around, you're safe here.
Yeah.
How'd you hear about the fur shipment? How did you? Well, I told him.
Something going down? Routine.
On a multi-million dollar shipment P&W notifies us.
We've had a detail scheduled here for a couple of weeks.
Oh.
What did you expect? Well, to tell you the truth, I'm not sure.
What are you doing here? Everything that's happened is tied in right here.
I thought maybe I'd just nose around, wander back and forth over the territory to see if I could pick up something I missed before.
Long as Rocky's got to hang around.
Do you mind? I guess not.
Just stay out of the way.
Hey, Rocky.
You spent an awful lot of time hard selling trucking to me, you never mentioned all that paperwork.
Yeah.
You can get used to it.
That there is a bill of lading.
You got to have the original of that to pick up your cargo.
Who controls the original till it's turned over to the driver? Well, there's lots of originals.
They all get one.
The shipper, the broker, the consignee, the insurance.
They all get one.
There's, oh, a dozen in all.
Rocky, if you got 12 of anything, one is the original, the rest are copies.
No.
They're all originals.
Except the copies.
Now, there's lots of copies.
For the files, information.
You know, stuff like that.
Well, don't look at me.
I didn't make up the system.
Hey, there! Hi, Rocky.
How's it going there? Oh, same as usual.
You know, too much work and not enough men.
P&W's what fouled us.
They moved their pickup ahead four hours.
Oh, I'll see you.
Nice seeing you again.
Hey, Rocky, why don't those tractors have their own trailers? Well, they don't need their own trailers with containerized cargo.
The port lends them a chassis, they put their container on it, hook up, and away they go.
And now their pickup has been moved up by four hours.
Hey, Rocky, those guys werert hijacking guns and dynamite.
They're stealing tractors.
Who's stealing tractors? I don't know, but I'll give you odds that those are the tractors that were hijacked and never recovered.
Now, they're about to get away with stealing millions in furs.
Hey, Becker! Becker! Stop that truck! Becker! Becker! Becker! Stop! Got the brains of a chicken.
Hey, sonny! Where'd you get that truck? The same place that guy got his.
I stole it.
You mean that other truck was stolen? Uh-huh.
That's Rocky! You ain't gonna out-drag me, bobtail.
No way! Hey, look out, Rocky! Hey, Rocky? Come on, you old gearjammer, you nailed him.
You guys could've gotten killed, you know that? Me? In a rig? I been pushing one all my life.
I know what I'm doing.
Yeah, I guess you do.
I'm sorry.
Nobody's allowed off the dock without a statement.
Well, that's all right.
I'm the president of P&W.
I have to check with my insurance company.
I'm sorry, sir.
Hey, I seen that guy before.
I seen him with Johnny Lo Salvo in the office of the Orient Lines.
Are you sure? Well, sure I'm sure.
I was late and Violet had already left Who? Violet.
That's a girlfriend of mine.
Well, anyway, everybody was gone, so I started to leave, and I looked in one of the offices, and there's this guy and Johnny Lo Salvo was giving him some papers.
Bills of lading? That's what they were.
But this is absurd.
I told you I'm the president of Pacific & Western.
Out of the car, Mr.
Hammel.
I want to see my lawyer and I want to hear my rights.
You'll get them.
Now that's a respectable scam.
Respectable? How can you call a crook respectable? I'm not talking about the man, Rocky, I'm talking about the operation.
See, when a truck is hijacked, everybody assumes it's for the load.
I mean, it's logical.
And they try to make sense out of the grapefruit, the dynamite and the work gloves, and of course, it doesn't make any sense.
But, nobody says, "Hey, maybe the load's got nothing to do with it.
"Maybe they're stealing tractors for a really big heist.
" Now that's what I call a respectable scam.
You know, when I think of all the years I walked you to Sunday school, I start getting the feeling that maybe I was wasting a lot of shoe leather.
That afternoon at the Orient Lines, Johnny Lo Salvo saw you, didn't he? Yeah, how did you know? Well, that's why they were trying to kill you.
You could connect Hammel with the stolen bill of ladings.
Oh, I don't believe that.
Old Johnny would never do nothing to put me in harm's way.
He was a friend.
Yeah, maybe a better friend than you know.
Thanks for the help, Rocky.
Oh, it wasrt nothing.
Say, do you know, I think I'm beginning to develop sort of a flair for this kind of work? I really do.
Not that it's so difficult.
I solved this case for him.
Do you know what he's gonna do for me? He's gonna split the fee on this case with me 50-50.
Well, I think you deserve a little something.
I think 30-70 is a little more adequate.
Less expenses? You got a deal.
And no welshing privileges.
Good luck, boys.
Yeah.
See you, Dennis.
Say, sonny, what do you figure that the net on our fee is gonna be? Well, since I didn't have a client, I won't get a fee, and expenses run about $200.
So I figure you probably owe me $100.
If you don't have the cash on you, it's okay.
I'll accept a check.
Like, maybe even knocking over Fort Knox.
Now you're gonna get this old man, Joseph Rockford, and you're gonna get him before the sun comes up tomorrow.
'Cause if you don't, I'm putting the word out on you.
I'll get him.
Rocky, duck! Sonny, what did they blow up your car for? Somebody's trying to kill you.
Will you get that through your head? This is Jim Rockford.
At the tone, leave your name and message.
I'll get back to you.
Hey, Jimmy.
It's Angel.
Don't pay no attention to my other message.
You're out of it.
You're clean.
No trouble at all.
Just ignore the first message.
This is James Garner.
The following scenes are from part one of Gearjammers, a two-part episode of The Rockford Files.
What are you doing in here? You're supposed to be outside keeping watch.
I'm sorry, Mr.
Hammel.
A guy got past me.
Got inside here.
What? Listen, we're almost finished.
Let's clear out of here.
Find him.
Find out who he is.
Yes, sir.
Hey, you find him.
Yes, sir.
You find Lo Salvo? Yeah.
He was busy though.
I'll catch up with him on his break.
What did he look like? He's an old man.
Had on dungarees.
Hold it.
Let me out here.
Now, listen.
You find him.
Find out what he saw.
Don't let anybody see you.
But you get him, you hear me? We might have to hit him.
Yes, sir, Mr.
Hammel.
Kind of hoping that maybe you'd be interested in buying yourself a pair of tickets for the OOTA Ball.
We are having a humding OOTA Ball.
Well, I'm a son of a gun.
Who beat me to it? Tommy Larson.
He's been in here selling them all over the place.
I just got these from him about 10 minutes ago.
Oh, I should have barged in on you when I first seen you.
Huh? Yeah, I seen you about a hour ago over there in Warehouse 10.
You and some big, expensive-looking guy.
And you was passing him some papers and you fellas was jawing and Well, I should have just barged in on you right then.
Maybe I'd have beat Tommy to the business there.
Yeah.
Your name Rockford? Who wants to know? What can I do for you? We're looking for your old man.
What'd he do? Miss a payment on his truck? Look, I got about $30 won'th of steak in here.
If I don't get it in the freezer, it's gonna rot.
Do you gentlemen mind if I Wait.
Those were extra large double Grade A.
you hadrt have done that.
Your father isn't at his house.
Where is he? Well, offhand, I don't know where he is, but if you guys want to come inside, I'll see if I can find him for you.
Now where is your father? Hey, we got company.
Hold it! You, out! Your left front tire's a little low, so if I were you, I'd I'd have it checked.
Mr.
Hammel.
Better have a good reason for coming here, Lo Salvo.
I want out.
What are you talking about? I'm not gonna go through with it.
Boy, you're a real bleeding heart, Lo Salvo.
Just because some old geezer's gonna get himself roughed up a little bit.
Yes, sir.
But I don't think you're just talking about roughing him up, 'cause if you do that, you're gonna tip him, and you ain't that stupid.
Now the way I got it figured is, you gonna put him away for good, and I can't stand still for that.
Yeah.
Goodbye, John.
That's good for me.
Guy's name was Lo Salvo, huh? Yeah.
Jim! Oh, Jim! Jim! Oh, I've killed him! I killed my own son.
Jimmy! Jim! Oh, thank God! Can you hear me, Jimmy? Can you hear me? What happened? Hi, Jim.
What's new? Hey, Charlie, what, are the flashers running in packs now? Flashers, he says.
Hijacked, and left them stripped to slow them up.
Six of them in two hours.
I never saw anything like it.
All from the same line.
So P&W gets hijacked, and Johnny Lo Salvo, who works for P&W, gets knocked off the same day.
Now all we need is a connection between Rocky and Johnny Lo Salvo.
Very good.
You know, you'd make a pretty good detective.
Had dinner? Now that you mention it, no.
You want to do the lobster? At 3:00 in the morning? Everything's closed.
Oh, don't worry.
I know a place.
Yeah? What kind of place? You'll like it.
It's a nice place.
They got lobster? Well, sure.
What kind of lobster? Lobster lobster.
Rocky.
Lobster bisque.
Canned? Fresh canned.
No way.
Oh, come on now.
Lobster's lobster.
Quit trying to welsh.
Okay.
Get in.
Well, we don't have to.
It's right around the corner.
We can walk.
Hey, Rocky.
Rocky, are you okay? Huh? Maybe I should have let him book me.
You got a cut up there.
Huh? Oh, leave it be.
Let me see it.
Sonny, what did they blow up your car for? Somebody's trying to kill you.
Will you get that through your head? Why? Thanks.
Let's get a doctor to look at that, okay? Come on.
We got a doctor in here.
Oh, I'm okay.
It's only a scratch.
Rocky, they got a doctor.
We're gonna let him look you over.
Look, I don't need nobody to put no Band-Aid on no scratch.
Rocky! Oh, I'll take care of it.
All right, thank you.
Now go on! Okay.
So, what happened? What happened is somebody put enough dynamite in my car to blow it right over your lousy flagpole.
All right, calm down, Jim.
It's not like you haven't been in these tough jams before, so just take it easy.
I know, but Rocky's never been the target before.
Come on, I'll get you some coffee.
I don't know, Dennis.
Somebody's trying to kill him, and they're not fooling around about it.
Well, we'll go through the car, get a check on the dynamite, we'll run the whole mess through the lab.
You heard him out there.
He didn't want to see the doctor.
He thinks this whole thing is just some big mistake that's gonna go away.
We'll turn something.
What? What are you gonna do? What are you gonna run through your lab? The whole thing's on fire out there.
Your parking lot looks like a Boy Scout cookout.
We'll find something.
We'll get a composite on the dynamite.
We'll Damn it, there's no sugar! Calm down, Dennis.
Come on, calm down.
Isn't that the way it goes, huh? We'll find something.
Somebody must have seen who wired your car.
Rocky's my friend, too.
We will find something.
I can hear what you guys are saying.
The whole building can hear what you're saying.
Now, look, as long as I'm the fellow they're trying to kill, will you let me do most of the heavy worrying, please? Look, Rocky, we got to stash you someplace.
You stash me, you ain't got no leads.
We're not exactly looking for bait, Rocky.
And if we were, we wouldn't use a civilian.
Okay.
Well, do I have to walk home or you gonna give me a car to ride home in? Look, Rocky, somebody's trying to kill you.
Will you understand that? And you're acting like a pair of kids.
Now, let's be adult.
Hey, you're not gonna let him go home alone, are you? Are you kidding me? He's going home with me.
Now, Rocky, just hold up a minute.
Jim, I will find something.
We got a good lab.
Yeah.
I know, Dennis.
Look, I'm sorry I yelled at you.
Just the thought of somebody hurting Rocky sends me right up the wall, man.
Yeah.
Well, just take him home and sit on him.
All right.
Thanks.
Hey, Dad? Well, it's about time.
How long have you been up? Oh, I never went to sleep.
I should have gone to my own house.
Yeah, you'd have probably shared your bed with a plastic bomb.
Hey, you had breakfast? No.
I've been busy.
I have been doing some detective work.
That's a very disreputable occupation.
Yeah, well, that's what I've been telling you.
You want to hear about this? If I have to.
I have here a list that I've made of everything Dennis said was hijacked.
Mmm-hmm.
How do you like your eggs? Over or up? Scrambled.
Now first on the list is 400 cases of dynamite.
Now, wouldn't you say that anyone who ripped off that much dynamite was intending to do some mighty big blasting? Not unless they planned on selling them.
There werert any fuses or caps.
Well, they could get them anyplace.
Oh, yeah.
Yeah.
Go on.
Well, now, next we've got a truck loaded for Memphis.
Now, it's mostly work gloves.
Which means our hijackers are blue-collar types.
No, sir.
You get a load of this.
Six jackhammers in the load.
That's interesting.
Of course, there were no hoses, compressors or bits.
No.
Of course they can get those anyplace.
Right? Right.
Right.
Yeah.
Now we got a truck loaded for Cleveland.
Now, this one is loaded mostly with ladies' underwear, wooden salad bowls from Taiwan, aluminum ladders, loads of paint, some of that there chemical was on it, and Dad, let's just make a long story short, all right? A dozen Geeger counters.
That's Geiger, Dad.
A dozen Geiger counters.
Half a truckload of rifles with ammunition.
I'm telling you, sonny, there's too much here for it to be a coincidence.
Whoever did this hijacking is planning a big operation.
Like, maybe even knocking over Fort Knox.
What about the grapefruit? I don't want any.
The grapefruit that they hijacked? What are they gonna do? Throw those at the police? Well, that's the exception that proves the rule.
You know, I I've never quite understood what that means.
Well, that means that even if they got a guy on the inside tipping them off, you can't all be perfect, right? Dad, I think you got something there.
You do? Mmm-hmm.
Of course, it's not gonna do us any good.
Because we're not gonna know where they're hitting till after they've done it.
Yeah.
Meanwhile, you are a sitting duck.
Yeah.
Sergeant Becker, please.
Oh, do you know what time he'll be back? Who is this? Oh, Charlie.
Charlie, this is Jim Rockford.
Would you tell Dennis to call me when he gets back? Yeah, Charlie, did those trucks ever turn up? Yeah.
Okay.
Okay, thanks.
No sign of them.
You know, that's funny.
Those cargoes are usually pre-sold.
They unload them and ditch them within three or four hours.
That proves I'm right! You want more coffee? No.
That proves I'm right.
They're gonna keep the stuff for themselves.
Yeah.
Just think about this.
All six drivers were released within 20 minutes of the time the last truck was hit.
Yeah.
These hijackers are no dummies.
They know the trucking business.
They know the alarm's gonna go out the minute those drivers are released.
Mmm-hmm.
Which means those trucks are stashed less than 20 minutes away from the inland terminal.
Right! Wrong.
In an area that small, they're too easy to find.
No, they're gonna have to get them out of there, especially if they plan to use that equipment for another job.
I guess that's right.
Now, how do you get six semis out of the area without being spotted? Where can I find Mr.
Koenig? I'm looking for John Koenig.
You're looking at him.
Hey, John.
Jim Rockford, road boss for Pacific & Western.
What happened to Matt? Matt? Assistant road boss, I should've said.
I'm giving Matt a hand on some special security matters that just came up and I figured Hey, do you mind? This is just a little confidential, John.
Oh.
But See, I got a problem.
I need your help.
Oh, you can count on me.
Thanks.
I appreciate it.
What's your problem? Seals.
Seals? Our seals have been tampered with.
Pilferage? Oh, worse, John.
Much worse.
Now, my informant tells me that some of the vans have been cleaned out.
That's impossible! You got any waybill numbers? Oh, well, my My informant wasrt quite that specific.
But we do know that they were supposed to roll either last night or early this morning.
Uh-huh.
Last shipment of yours went out of here three days ago.
Two vans for Tallahassee.
Nothing since? Nothing.
Anything scheduled for today or tomorrow? Nothing at all.
My informant is usually very, very, very reliable.
Oh, gee, I'm sorry, Mr.
Rockford.
I really am.
Oh, hey, John, I want to thank you for your help.
I'll tell Matt hello for you, huh? Yeah.
Thanks.
Oh, Mr.
Rockford! What do you want us to do about that partial shipment we got on hold for you? When are you gonna complete it? Partial shipment? Yeah, the one that came in last night.
Six vans.
No destination? No.
Nothing.
Just hold until the rest of the shipment is ready.
That's what the waybill says.
That's pretty unusual.
Yeah.
It sure is.
Of course, you fellas are real good customers.
I mean, we'd do anything to make you happy.
Well, there they are.
That's 2732, Are these the ones you're looking for? And you think they're empty? Oh, they got to be.
Got to be.
They sure found a good hiding place.
What? The They're sealed.
That's funny.
Oh, they better be.
Koenig? Huh? I'm gonna break that seal and you're gonna be a witness.
Oh, no, wait a minute, Mr.
Rockford.
I'm not authorized Just hold on.
Mr.
Rockford, I really don't think that's a very good idea.
They're still loaded.
You're kidding! Uh-huh.
Yeah.
We don't know that it's abandoned.
They might try to come back and get at it.
Look, just stay out of sight, seal it up, and we'll have a stakeout on it in a half an hour.
What? Okay, I owe you one.
Mazurski! Hey, Jimmy! Jimmy, come here! There's a green Chevy parked outside there.
Do you think it's one of them head-crushers? Yeah, those are head-crushers, all right, but they belong to Becker.
Oh, no kidding.
Old Becker sent them? Yeah.
Well, you know, I didn't used to think much of him.
I always figured he was sort of a bad influence on you.
But now I'm getting real fond of him.
Come on, Rocky.
How can a cop be a bad influence? Wait a minute.
I take that back.
Are you going back to that stakeout again? Mmm-hmm.
I want you to stay here.
I don't want you to open that door for anyone.
Now, wait a minute.
I want to get out of here, too.
I'd like to get to my own house.
Oh, you want to leave? You want to go home? Okay, you want to leave? Go ahead.
Well, I'm leaving.
No, you're not.
Since when do you tell your own father what to do? It's supposed to be the other way around.
You're not leaving, Dad.
You're gonna stay right here so somebody can keep an eye on you.
Yeah, it's different when you're worried about me.
But it don't matter a tinker's damn when I'm worried about you, huh? That don't count.
Come on, Dad.
Come on.
This is different.
Look, Jimmy, how many times have I told you, "Sonny, please get off the case.
You're gonna get killed.
" How many times you looked at me like I'm some old nut that can't even put his shoes on the right feet? Now, come on.
When did I ever treat you that way? Besides, that's different.
You don't want me to go home 'cause you're scared I'll get hurt.
How is that different? I'm waiting! That's different because I'm supposed to know how to handle these situations.
It's my business.
Well, I ain't never seen you handle no situations too good.
Most of the time I see you, you're in more traction than Evel Knievel.
Now, I'm not gonna argue with you, Dad.
You're not going home.
How are you gonna stop me, huh? Please? Oh, Jimmy.
Please.
Oh, well, all right.
Thanks, Rocky.
Hey, come on, I'm sorry.
No, you ain't.
Yeah, well, what do you want, huh? I want you to understand.
Okay, Rocky.
Okay.
I guess maybe I do.
Coffee, Sergeant? Yeah, I'll have some.
How do you like it? Cream and sugar.
We're out of cream.
So what are you asking for? Well, sugar we got.
Just give it to me.
We're out of coffee.
How's Rocky? Well, he's confined to quarters.
Sitting there with a shotgun across his lap and orders to shoot on sight.
Hey, Dennis, thank you for the police cover.
It's been a couple of days.
Captain Highland's beginning to ask questions.
So I'm gonna have to pull my men.
That means you're gonna have to look after Rocky yourself.
Sergeant.
Better check this out.
And remember, you're working for the freight yard.
Don't spook him till you know who it is.
Yes, sir.
This is Becker.
I want Wants and Warrants on a silver and blue Rolls-Royce.
License 375 Ida, Mary, Ida.
On your silver and blue Rolls-Royce, license 375 Ida, May, Ida.
No Wants, no Warrants.
Vehicle registered to the P&W Trucking Company, 22376 West Arroyo, Los Angeles.
Roger.
Now, that's the president of Pacific & Western.
Now he says he wants to cooperate with the police as much as possible, on account of he says it's in his interest to.
Now, he said his customers are complaining and he's gotta get that shipment to them.
So what he wants to know is can he have his vans back? Tell him he can have them.
And call off McCann and Shapiro.
Yes, sir.
Well, they spotted us.
I guess we've blown it.
You know something, Dennis? Those guys were pretty smart, but then they were pretty dumb, too.
What do you mean? That's a hell of a good place to hide those vans, but a tough place to get them out of without getting nailed.
Rocky? Hey, Rocky! Rocky! Detective Becker, please.
Hurry.
Hey, Rocky.
You okay, Rocky? Them two fellas was trying to kill me.
That's what I've been trying to tell you.
I know, but I never Look, my knees are shaking.
Let's wait a minute, huh? Mine are a little weak, too.
Sonny, you know, I'm sitting in that trailer with that scatter gun across my knees.
Them two fellas come in and I had them right dead in my sights.
I could have made a Mexican omelet out of them.
I couldn't do it.
I couldn't shoot.
Well, if you'd been able to, I'd been surprised.
Oh, boy! Come on.
You want to give it a try? Yeah.
Listen, what do you think I pay you people for, anyway? If I want this kind of dumb action, I can get some junkie to do the job for $20.
It got out of hand.
The old man got loose.
He kicked Ronnie and ran.
There were a couple of kids up there I'm not interested in that, John.
Now look, I just patched him.
I got to get him back to my office.
I'm worried about gangrene.
Listen, you guys already have gangrene.
It's growing out of your ears.
Look, we tried our best.
Now, get him out of here, will you? All right, John.
You gonna do this thing right or you gonna screw it up like before? I'm gonna do it right.
Okay.
Okay, who's your backup man gonna be? I hear Freddie Gates is in town.
Gates is a junkie.
I hear he's clean.
Look, I'll get someone that's not using.
I won't screw it up this time.
That's a promise.
Okay, John.
Okay.
Now, you're gonna get this old man, Joseph Rockford, and you're gonna get him before the sun comes up tomorrow.
'Cause if you don't, I'm putting the word out on you.
You won't be able to get a job running numbers in La Porte, Indiana.
I'll get him.
You can bet on it.
Oh, I'm not betting on it, John.
You are.
What do you mean you can't do anything? I mean, there's nothing I can do.
Protect and serve.
That's the motto, huh? That's your sales pitch? All right, I'm calling you on it.
Protect him.
You think I don't want to? Well, you got enough men to protect the lousy trucking company.
This is my father! Those gorillas tried to kill him.
Them shots just barely missed me.
For a while there, I thought We're not trying to protect the trucking company.
We're trying to run down a bunch of hijackers.
We're trying to run down whoever stuck Johnny Lo Salvo.
There's a lot at stake here, Jim.
Yeah.
His life.
There's nothing I can do.
Take your beef to Captain Highland.
I'll back you up.
Highland? Okay, he doesn't like you, but he's a reasonable man.
Yeah, in a pig's eye.
Jim, I don't want to see anything happen to Rocky, but when you ask for 24-hour protection.
I don't have any men.
If you were to tell me, Baby Face Nelsors at Pizza Dan, there's nothing I can do.
I don't have anybody to send.
Okay, Rocky.
Come on.
Wait a minute.
Yeah? I could book him as a material witness.
What do you mean book me? Hey, Dennis, that's a great idea.
What do you mean book me? Well, it's very simple, Rocky.
They don't have enough men to give you outside protection, so they put you in a nice, safe jail cell and nobody can get to you there.
You're darn right nobody would get to me, 'cause I ain't gonna be there.
What've you got against jail? You're not gonna be in there very long.
Food ain't too bad.
And Dennis can get you a couple of extra pillows.
Look, I ain't going to jail, so you quit pushing.
I'm a grown man.
I can take care of myself.
Yeah, I noticed.
I ain't going to jail.
You know what you are, Rocky? You're ungrateful.
Now you stay in here and don't you move.
Hey, Willie.
Any luck? Would I have any luck? They wouldn't knock off a dime.
It doesn't make any difference anyway.
Comprehensive doesn't cover civil disorders.
Civil disorder? If planting a bomb in a car isn't civil disorder, I don't know what is.
Civil disorders covers riots, mob actions, and any reasonable and necessary action taken by civil authorities, including, but not limited to, local, county and state police, the CIA, the FBI, and the National Guard, to control same.
That's article 32, section 12, paragraph 37.
02-A of the State Insurance Code.
We're talking about a couple of hoods trying to knock off my old man.
It was all very orderly.
Hoods? Hoods? Hmm, organized crime.
All I know is somebody put a bomb in my car.
Gang war.
That's what it was.
A gang war.
Now if you're not aware, there's an exclusive in your policy against acts of war.
You're about to make me angry, Willie.
I'm gonna give you a break.
Because you're an old friend and I really like you, I'm gonna get them to buy it as collision.
With the windshield and the doors blown out from the inside? I'll handle it.
Don't worry about it.
I'll swing it for you.
I appreciate it.
Don't mention it.
Only on collision I've got a $100 deductible.
Hey, what can I tell you? You want your cake and eat it, too? What cake? It's comprehensive.
$1,500 and no deductible.
No way.
I'll sue you.
I'll cancel your policy.
I'll cancel your butt.
$1,400 and that's final.
$1,500.
You know, when you're dealing with money, that's when a mars true colors really show.
Yeah.
How about that? Can't go home.
Can't drive my own pickup.
Stop grouching, will you? I'm buying you lunch, aren't I? Gilly's Diner? Well, when I pay, I pick the place.
Where are we going? Gilly's Diner.
Hey, Rocky, tell me about Johnny Lo Salvo.
I already told you.
I told everybody.
Tell me again.
Lo Salvo worked for P&W shipping, you see, and he does the dockside work there, like assigns their loading docks for their trucks and takes care of the water bills.
What? Bills of lading.
He expedited customs.
He done a little bit of everything.
Well, that stuff that was hijacked, would that have come through the docks? Well, some of it, maybe.
It's hard to say.
You see, when When they bring the cargo in off the ships and they stack it in the inland terminals, they just leave it there till the stack builds up a big enough load, all going to the same place, and then they ship it out.
Would Lo Salvo know when that was? Oh, no.
I don't think so.
I just don't see how Lo Salvo could be connected with the hijackings.
Well, I don't either.
I never did understand.
Why didn't you say so? Because Dennis said he was, and everybody else said he was, and you said he was.
You guys are supposed to be the experts but it never made sense to me.
Rocky, is there anything going on down at the docks, like a big shipment coming through or something going in and out or something valuable, like a gold shipment? Oh, nothing that I know of.
But there's those old furs from Russia.
It wouldn't be that.
What kind of furs? Oh, they call them those Sables.
Oh, yeah? They can be pretty valuable.
You can blow $40,000 on a sable coat like nothing.
You're kidding.
$40,000 for an overcoat? Yeah.
How many were there? I don't know.
Approximately? Well, it could have been three or four cargo holds.
Whole shipload? That could be won'th millions.
Rocky, duck! All right, Rocky.
That guy found the telephone pole.
You okay? Am I okay? Are you kidding? I won't be able to go out in traffic for a year.
Look, I think I changed my mind.
I'd like to stay in the cooler.
Let's go call Dennis.
All right.
Let's go down to the docks first.
We can call him from there.
What did I ever do to those guys? Can you tell me? What did I ever do to them? Sorry, sir, dock's closed, unless you have official business.
Oh, you bet I've got official business.
Wait a minute! It's all right.
I know them.
Hey, Dennis.
Hey, come here.
I want to show you something.
Do you know what just happened to us? They tried to hit Rocky again.
And where do you want me to put my truck? Put it over there, Rocky.
I heard about it over the police radio.
You two guys okay? Uh, temporarily, yeah.
Well, I'm sorry, Jim.
Hey, don't blow all the good lines now, Dennis.
You ought to hold off on that one until you get the little card that says "in lieu of flowers.
" Jim.
ROCKY: Hey, Dennis.
Rocky, I was just telling Dennis, listen, I've been thinking over that idea of yours about jail on the way over here, and it don't sound too bad to me.
It might be kind of restful.
Well, I never thought I'd be happy to turn the key on you.
If you don't mind waiting around, you're safe here.
Yeah.
How'd you hear about the fur shipment? How did you? Well, I told him.
Something going down? Routine.
On a multi-million dollar shipment P&W notifies us.
We've had a detail scheduled here for a couple of weeks.
Oh.
What did you expect? Well, to tell you the truth, I'm not sure.
What are you doing here? Everything that's happened is tied in right here.
I thought maybe I'd just nose around, wander back and forth over the territory to see if I could pick up something I missed before.
Long as Rocky's got to hang around.
Do you mind? I guess not.
Just stay out of the way.
Hey, Rocky.
You spent an awful lot of time hard selling trucking to me, you never mentioned all that paperwork.
Yeah.
You can get used to it.
That there is a bill of lading.
You got to have the original of that to pick up your cargo.
Who controls the original till it's turned over to the driver? Well, there's lots of originals.
They all get one.
The shipper, the broker, the consignee, the insurance.
They all get one.
There's, oh, a dozen in all.
Rocky, if you got 12 of anything, one is the original, the rest are copies.
No.
They're all originals.
Except the copies.
Now, there's lots of copies.
For the files, information.
You know, stuff like that.
Well, don't look at me.
I didn't make up the system.
Hey, there! Hi, Rocky.
How's it going there? Oh, same as usual.
You know, too much work and not enough men.
P&W's what fouled us.
They moved their pickup ahead four hours.
Oh, I'll see you.
Nice seeing you again.
Hey, Rocky, why don't those tractors have their own trailers? Well, they don't need their own trailers with containerized cargo.
The port lends them a chassis, they put their container on it, hook up, and away they go.
And now their pickup has been moved up by four hours.
Hey, Rocky, those guys werert hijacking guns and dynamite.
They're stealing tractors.
Who's stealing tractors? I don't know, but I'll give you odds that those are the tractors that were hijacked and never recovered.
Now, they're about to get away with stealing millions in furs.
Hey, Becker! Becker! Stop that truck! Becker! Becker! Becker! Stop! Got the brains of a chicken.
Hey, sonny! Where'd you get that truck? The same place that guy got his.
I stole it.
You mean that other truck was stolen? Uh-huh.
That's Rocky! You ain't gonna out-drag me, bobtail.
No way! Hey, look out, Rocky! Hey, Rocky? Come on, you old gearjammer, you nailed him.
You guys could've gotten killed, you know that? Me? In a rig? I been pushing one all my life.
I know what I'm doing.
Yeah, I guess you do.
I'm sorry.
Nobody's allowed off the dock without a statement.
Well, that's all right.
I'm the president of P&W.
I have to check with my insurance company.
I'm sorry, sir.
Hey, I seen that guy before.
I seen him with Johnny Lo Salvo in the office of the Orient Lines.
Are you sure? Well, sure I'm sure.
I was late and Violet had already left Who? Violet.
That's a girlfriend of mine.
Well, anyway, everybody was gone, so I started to leave, and I looked in one of the offices, and there's this guy and Johnny Lo Salvo was giving him some papers.
Bills of lading? That's what they were.
But this is absurd.
I told you I'm the president of Pacific & Western.
Out of the car, Mr.
Hammel.
I want to see my lawyer and I want to hear my rights.
You'll get them.
Now that's a respectable scam.
Respectable? How can you call a crook respectable? I'm not talking about the man, Rocky, I'm talking about the operation.
See, when a truck is hijacked, everybody assumes it's for the load.
I mean, it's logical.
And they try to make sense out of the grapefruit, the dynamite and the work gloves, and of course, it doesn't make any sense.
But, nobody says, "Hey, maybe the load's got nothing to do with it.
"Maybe they're stealing tractors for a really big heist.
" Now that's what I call a respectable scam.
You know, when I think of all the years I walked you to Sunday school, I start getting the feeling that maybe I was wasting a lot of shoe leather.
That afternoon at the Orient Lines, Johnny Lo Salvo saw you, didn't he? Yeah, how did you know? Well, that's why they were trying to kill you.
You could connect Hammel with the stolen bill of ladings.
Oh, I don't believe that.
Old Johnny would never do nothing to put me in harm's way.
He was a friend.
Yeah, maybe a better friend than you know.
Thanks for the help, Rocky.
Oh, it wasrt nothing.
Say, do you know, I think I'm beginning to develop sort of a flair for this kind of work? I really do.
Not that it's so difficult.
I solved this case for him.
Do you know what he's gonna do for me? He's gonna split the fee on this case with me 50-50.
Well, I think you deserve a little something.
I think 30-70 is a little more adequate.
Less expenses? You got a deal.
And no welshing privileges.
Good luck, boys.
Yeah.
See you, Dennis.
Say, sonny, what do you figure that the net on our fee is gonna be? Well, since I didn't have a client, I won't get a fee, and expenses run about $200.
So I figure you probably owe me $100.
If you don't have the cash on you, it's okay.
I'll accept a check.