The Streets of San Francisco (1972) s02e22 Episode Script
Rampage
Hey, what are you doing? What's this? What's going on here? Hold it.
Hey, come on.
What was that all about? Merle.
Yeah? Yeah, I'm looking for a flashlight.
Somebody open the john doors.
Let's get a little light in here.
Come on.
Oh, wow.
Hey, Merle, throw that flash over here.
What did you find? Who is it? I don't know, but he sure is dead.
What happened, Murphy, fight? No, they found a new way of making love.
- How you doing, Mike? - Okay.
- Body's back here.
- Who was he? No ID.
Doesn't anybody know him? On this beat? Are you kidding? Nobody knows nothing around here, right, Mike? They're all deaf and all blind, huh? See this washroom? What is it, 3-by-5, tops? Six guys all say they were in there at the same time.
Hey, Roy, give me the shiv.
We found this over there in the corner.
Looks like it did the job.
Get this to the lab.
Dick, give me a report as soon as you can, will you? Let's have them all in for questioning.
You got it, Mike.
All right, Harold, let's try it again.
The man that was killed.
Did he come in the bar alone? I don't know.
How many times have you been arrested, Harold? A couple, I guess.
I say five.
And then when this bottle went flying, the lights went out.
And you didn't see anything after that? Nothing, man.
Like I told you, I went right underneath the table.
Violence gives me indigestion.
You know that, Merle? Merle, you're just beautiful.
A man's knifed, the bar's a total write-off and you're telling me it's just another fight.
Look, like I said, I got flat right off.
I didn't have a chance to-- You didn't see anything, right? Right.
Okay, what about the dead man? Now, was he a regular? Steve.
Come here.
Merle, just hang tight, all right? Aren't you through? - Do you know Perez from Narcotics? - Sure.
How you doing, Frank? - Fairly well.
- His name was Ellis.
He was working with us.
- Was he an informer? - Yes.
We picked him up for holding.
I could see he wasn't a bad kid and so we worked something out, you know.
Did you know he was at the Parkside tonight? He told me today that he thought he could score there.
And that he would check it out.
He did, huh? Bring him in here.
You don't mind if I hang in? Why? He an old friend of yours? Yeah, for the last couple of years.
He's one of the reasons why the whole neighborhood went down.
- Come in.
Sit down.
- Yes? I guess trouble's nothing new to you, huh, Merle? I run a clean place.
He never proved otherwise.
Well, I'll tell you what we're gonna prove now.
The illegal sale of drugs at the Parkside.
Big trouble, Merle.
Now, wait a minute.
Perez, you tell him you got nothing on me.
What did they want? Protection money? Somebody trying to muscle you? I told you, I don't know anything.
When did you find out that Ellis was feeding information to the narcotics squad? Ellis? Who's Ellis? Lights out.
A lot of noise.
Good time to take a guy out, Merle.
Now, hold on a minute here.
Well, now, you better come across with something.
Otherwise, I'm gonna have to say you're it.
Perez.
This is murder, Merle.
Not my department, you know Okay, but first off, I wanna say, and this is the truth, so help me God, I did not kill the man.
- Who did? - I don't know.
Those boys, they busted through the door.
Now, I threw a bottle, but they flattened me out.
And the first thing I knew about anybody being dead was after they left.
Who were those old boys? Well, the one I recognized was a cat named Joplin.
- Joplin? - That's right, Joe Joplin.
How many were there? Three.
That makes four altogether? - That's right.
- Now, wait a minute.
How do you know Joe Joplin? I seen him around.
I thought they wore masks.
Hey, look, I'm telling you it was him, I'm sure.
- Yeah? - That's right.
What does he look like? Come on.
Now, they all look alike to me.
Oh, I see, now, is that your way of telling me that he's black, Merle? Oh, come on, who else does a thing like that, right? I mean, no reason.
No reason, huh? Well, I don't buy it, Merle.
A guy you just seen around walks in with a bunch of other guys and tears your place apart, and you say no reason? That's the way it happened! Now, listen, Merle, something's going down here, right? And you being a bigot isn't enough to bail you out! Steve, hold it.
Now, wait a minute.
Listen, I think Frank has a couple of questions he wants to ask him.
- Take him with you.
- Sure.
Let's go.
What got you so hot? We were just following a lead.
It's not Joe Joplin.
You know him? I think so, yeah.
Somebody you booked before? No.
Somebody I went to school with at Berkeley.
Last I heard, he was in that neighborhood, but it doesn't jive.
I mean, Joe's a hard nose, but he's not a killer and he's not into hard drugs.
How long ago was that? It's gotta be two-- No, maybe it's gotta be three years.
Well, then maybe it's time you gave him another visit, right? Like, maybe first thing tomorrow morning? Okay.
Hey, Joe.
Hey, Steve.
I don't believe it.
You don't? See you later.
Hey, come on in here.
What are you doing, man? Good to see you.
- Long time.
- How you been? - All right, all right.
- Come on up and meet the wife.
- You got married? - Yeah.
Hey, remember Foreshaw? Foreshaw, was he that dude who was always looking for a rich widow, 20 years older? - Right.
I still see him once in a while.
- You do, huh? He's got some scam going down in San Jose.
Virgin Oil stops the hair loss or some crazy stuff like that.
That looks beautiful.
- Give me the baby.
- Thank you.
Come on.
Well, if you like milk instead of cream, we're in business.
Why, is somebody on a diet? Well, you know, this year it's cholesterol, next year, who knows? Maybe it's corpuscles.
Old Joe "Don't Tread on Me" Joplin.
I mean, isn't this a picture, man? All you need is a dog.
Perfect suburban Americana, I tell you.
Look who's talking about going straight, Keller the Cop.
When did all this happen, man? Well, a few years ago.
So, what prompted this class reunion after all this time? Joe's name came up, it seemed a good time to see what's happening.
Joe's name, how? Where? There was some trouble up on Kings Road.
A bar called the Parkside-- - Wait a minute, is that near here? - Two blocks.
Right, right.
Anyway, we got a call on it and Well, you know, a witness said maybe you could help us out.
Who told you that? You don't think too much of the idea.
No, no.
Hey, man, I think it's a great idea.
I'll tell you anything you wanna know.
Hey, dig it, Steve.
- What? - Remember this? I mean, "Hey, Steve, like, pull my coat to what's going down, baby.
" Remember? Wait a minute, that guy in Oakland.
That gas station Bennie, no, Bernie.
Bad Bernie, right.
Bad Bernie.
I remember, yeah.
So, what about the Parkside? Well, I thought you would give me a line on it.
That's all.
I pass it.
Were you around there last night? Nope.
Would you mind telling me where you were last night? Hey, you're getting pretty good at this cop thing, aren't you? I've been practicing, Joe, I've been practicing.
Can I tell him? I was in my friend's bedroom last night.
There goes my virtue.
Oh, no, that's long gone, baby.
Long gone.
So do you buy it? Mike, he doesn't know the guy from the bar.
He's never even been in the place.
He was home with his wife.
- What's not to buy? - So he's in construction now, eh? Carpenter, he's always been good with his hands.
What about teaching? He give up on that? Wait a minute, did I ever tell you he'd been a teacher? No, you didn't.
I did a little checking on my own.
Did you know he had a file? One to ten in Mississippi on an assault charge.
Sure, I know it.
I was there.
We went down on one of those Freedom Rides together.
Oh, he was with you on that? Remember that friend of mine that got worked over by the deputies? - Yeah.
- That was Joe.
See, the drill was you go limp and double up, right? So I take 14 stitches and Joe takes a swing.
That was his assault charge and that's why he's not teaching today.
The question on the application.
"Have you ever been arrested?" He could take it to the commission.
But the whole thing sort of knocked the wind out of Joe about being involved.
Funny.
Just the opposite happened to you.
You get thumped and you started to think about becoming a cop.
Helping the breed.
- What are you talking about? - No, it's true.
- No, I never said that.
- You didn't have to.
I saw it on your face the first time I met you.
You know, that's the only reason I took you on.
I had to see if there could be anybody as good as I am.
- Mike.
- Yeah, what do you want? Joe's clean.
Okay.
Let's go and talk to Perez, see what he's got on the other guys.
Here we are.
All of these photos were taken in the neighborhood.
Really had our hands full there lately.
Dopers, hookers, pornos, you name it.
Must've made a hundred busts there in the last couple of months, but it's all uphill.
I remember him.
What's his name? Floyd Stahlbecker.
The other one is a bent kid called Turban.
Any convictions on Stahlbecker? He's been clean every time we pop him.
I mean, he is dealing.
There is no two ways about that.
But he's, like, slick, you know.
It's like a revolving door, in and out every couple of months.
He's supposed to be in pretty tight with the heavies.
I thought they didn't let users get close.
You figure them.
My guess is that they get some kind of a kick on account of he'll do anything they tell him.
I mean, anything.
He is weird, twisted.
You know any of these? Oh, yes, Richie Toledo.
He is the bottom of the barrel.
Works the schools and neighborhoods.
I should get rid of that picture.
What about the other guy? I don't know him.
A guy that got in the picture.
Maybe he's asking their price.
Maybe he's giving the time.
Maybe he was giving us the time this morning.
You know him? I used to.
298BZE.
Now, there's a neighbor next door, the guy from the little car, the guy that's walking in now.
Counting Joe, that makes four, right? Right.
Great way to spend a weekend.
Spying on an old friend.
I told you, you didn't have to pull this duty.
I know, I know.
You told me something else once too.
About letting old times get in the way of what's happening at the moment.
That's right.
I gotta tell you, though, I never felt this old before.
There's Perez.
Let's go downtown and check out the guys who own those cars.
Listen, would you mind if I stayed on Joe? I thought it was getting to you.
Yeah, but one way or the other, I'd like to be the first to know.
Okay.
But when he goes, don't get too close.
Remember, he knows you as well as you know him.
Which may be hardly at all.
So, okay, the cops get your name and they ask a few questions.
Take it easy, they got nothing on you.
Charlie's right, Joe.
They didn't do anything.
Of course, I'm right.
Besides, what are they excited about? One dead junkie? What did they ever do about my kid? On his way to school, he gets turned into a drug addict.
Right.
What about our wives? My wife has been hassled twice.
There ain't gonna be no more.
Yeah, every day with the pushers, the muggers, the pimps, you name it.
How come the cops haven't done anything about that? I don't know why, man.
I mean, I wish I did know why.
Look, we did something, I mean, we tried.
And that's it.
No more.
Oh, no, no, not me.
I'm gonna finish what we started.
I'm gonna throw those creeps out of here.
Charlie, a man is dead.
Don't talk to me! What about it? What do you say? I'm still in it.
For my kids, Joe.
I mean, I'd never forgive myself if thought I didn't do everything I could to clean things up around here.
The way I see it, it's us or them, Joe.
I finally get cleared for a bulk purchase and my distributor thinks he's still selling nickel bags.
Hey, I'm telling you, I know Ellis.
They turned him.
That buy he wanted was a setup.
So you killed him.
That was smart, Floyd.
Real smart.
Hey, nobody knows what happened.
I can tell you what your dealers will think happened.
They're gonna hear about those crazies with the clubs coming down on Merle's place like that.
They're gonna hear about somebody getting killed.
And they're not gonna want any part of you.
Now, come on.
Relax, huh? Relax? How? Look, I brought you in because you said you could handle a big distribution.
Now, what happens when the shipment comes in Tuesday and you can't find any dealers? - Come on, who says I can't find any? - You won't.
Not with those crazies around.
Who's gonna take a chance? Look, didn't I say I'll handle it? I'll handle it.
All I know is if it was Marioni's territory or Sheldon Meltzer's, they don't think like shoe clerks.
And they wouldn't stand for interference from some crazy people.
Hey, Warburton, come on.
Look, these wackos, a bunch of freaks, right? Merle can finger this guy who's in charge.
I'll just pay him a little visit and straighten it out.
Is that what you want? It's not what I want, Floyd.
It's your decision.
Whatever you think is necessary to move the goods.
You know, it's almost 20 minutes.
Maybe I should go back in.
Not yet, no.
All right, boys, back to the benches.
The varsity's here.
Frank's going.
I stay.
- Stone says you too.
- He say why? Yeah, he's got some names to go with those faces you saw at Joplin's.
Wants to know if they ring any bells.
Chop, chop.
You know, it's incredible, I mean, really incredible.
My father never made as much in a whole week as we just spent in a half hour in there.
And he had six mouths to feed.
That's why I wanted you to come so you could see for yourself.
Yeah, well, the next time, you can spare me the misery.
Okay, except that how many bananas can one kid eat? Don't worry, they won't waste any.
Well, at these prices, they better not.
Yes, sir, anything you say, sir.
Oh, come on, baby.
Don't hand me that.
You know the situation.
I make what I make and that's all we can spend.
If I'm holding you back and you think you can do better, then go.
Because I'm not gonna be the bad guy, okay? - Watch her.
- Where are you going? I have to buy something at the drugstore and I wanna pick up my dress from the cleaners.
But I'll bring you all the receipts.
All right, I'll take this stuff home and I'll meet you back at the cleaners'.
Come on.
All those bananas, you little monkey.
Which one you want? Excuse me, are you Mrs.
Joplin? Yes, I am.
Why? Oh, your husband, he's not feeling too well, and he's in back and-- What do you mean? What happened? - Where is he? - Hey, wait, take it easy, it's all right.
Where is he? Oh, he's in back of this store, over there.
Yeah, come on.
I don't know, he just looked kind of sick, you know.
He asked me to call you, but-- Back there.
Oh, we'll just use your back door, okay? Thanks.
He's somewhere in the back, lady, of the car.
Where's my daughter? Daughter? I don't know, lady.
This man got sick, asked me to call.
I don't know nothing-- - Joe? - He's back here.
Here, come here.
Oh, in there.
Yeah, that's it.
He'll be all right.
What do you think, Steve? Joplin ever mention any of those guys? No.
Frank, any of those names familiar to you? Not off the top.
You run them pass R&I? Not a record between them.
That looks more like a Wednesday night bowling team or something.
Maybe Merle's stringing us out.
Could've gotten Joe's name anywhere.
Yeah, maybe.
And maybe that guy just pulled a number out of a hat when he mentioned four guys, huh? And maybe that picture of Joplin next to the pusher was just a fluke.
We may not know what game they're playing yet, but I'll bet you that those boys are in the lineup.
Please let me go.
Let you go? Sure.
We'll let you go, mama.
This time.
But you listen to me.
You tell your husband to stop sticking his nose in.
Another deal like that one at the Parkside? Maybe you don't go home, then.
Go.
Let's go.
Hold it, hold it.
Freeze.
Now, don't you move.
Hey, what are you doing, Murphy? Throwing another party? Well, I didn't expect you to get an invitation this time, Mike.
Everybody got out alive.
Well, sounded like the same bunch you had last time.
I still wanna talk to him.
Yeah, well, this one's not much of a talker.
Won't even give me his name.
Well, maybe we can do that.
What do you say, Steve? Isn't this the guy with the pickup and the camper? That's right, Charlie Casella.
I can't, Joe, I can't.
Of course you can.
You were standing next to one of them.
Now, how tall was he? Oh, Joe, please, let's leave.
We don't need this house.
Where are we gonna go, huh? It's gonna be the same anyplace we go.
Oh, there must be somewhere.
That's what we said when we got this place.
It was gonna be better here.
Well, it's not.
Oh, it looks nice, trees on the streets.
Trees and junkies.
But when she's 15 years old and walking around here, Corby, we found out that moving isn't the answer.
Well, neither is what you're doing.
Come here, you listen to me.
- How tall was he? - Joe.
- Was he as tall as I am? - No.
- What was he wearing? - I don't know.
A jacket.
- What color? - Well, it was dark.
Blue.
What was his hair like? Long, short, dark, light--? I think it was dark, but he had a scarf tied on his head.
Who pay you, Charlie? Nobody.
In other words, you just bust up places for the fun of it.
Is that the idea? No.
Okay, let's get back to the Parkside.
Now, was the whole idea just to get Ellis? Ellis? Well, how did you find out he was feeding us information, Charlie? - We didn't know anything about that.
- You were there.
But we didn't touch him.
- "We didn't touch him"? - Honest.
"We didn't touch him.
" Who was we, Charlie? I don't know.
Nobody.
Nobody knifed him? I don't know anything about that.
One more time, Charlie, how many of you are there? I don't know.
Now, how do you like that for loyalty, huh? Did you look under his tongue? I bet he's got a cyanide pill under there just in case we start pulling his fingernails out.
Do you think that Joe Joplin would do the same for you if he was seated in that chair that you're sitting in right now? Or your other buddies, Ted, and? What's that other guy's--? Leo? What do you look so surprised for? We know that you all went to Joe Joplin's house this morning.
We know all about that vigilante thing.
Come on, Charlie, you'd better give us credit for something.
Now, which one of you put that knife in Ellis? No, no, you got it all wrong.
We were just trying to clean up the neighborhood.
See, we did it for our families.
My kid.
My son.
They got him hooked.
Fifteen years old.
And they did that to him.
Charlie.
Charlie, why don't you give a full statement to Frank? Would you like some of my coffee? Hey, where did that come from? - Well, I just took a shot.
- Well, that was some shot.
Well, it wouldn't be the first time a couple of guys thought they could do a better job than we can.
Yeah, they try it out on some of their friends over a couple bottles of beer, get themselves all riled up, and before you know it, you got yourself a bunch of vigilantes on a rampage.
Yeah, it's just hard for me to figure a guy like Joe getting that far out of line, though.
- Oh, it is, huh? - Yeah.
Well, listen.
I can remember when I was a kid, my old man 86ed the neighborhood drunk off the block.
He did.
He had just had it with drunks hanging around his wife and kids.
It was a stupid thing to do, but he did it.
Now, this is my old man I'm talking about.
Yeah, now it's hard drugs.
That's right, drugs.
Yeah, I can understand why Joplin's doing what he's doing.
But we've gotta make him understand that his way isn't the answer.
Who's with him now? Harris? No, nobody, Frank pulled the team after we booked Casella.
After? What about before? Well, Harris said Joe went out once, that was to pick up his wife.
And he was home when they ripped up that nudie place.
Well, come on, we better find out whether he's home now.
What's he doing? Playing outraged citizen again? Tearing another joint apart? He's trying to protect me.
He's risking his life for me because nobody else gives a damn.
All we want is a place to live where we don't have to be afraid.
Corby, listen.
Corby, we care.
But if you want us to help Joe, we have got to understand what's going on.
All right.
Before we bought this house, we had an apartment in the Haight.
We were robbed twice there.
The first time, the police said it was probably a drug addict.
They said, "Oh, this happens all the time.
" And that was that.
The second time, Joe was out of town on a job.
I came home while the man was still there.
He raped me.
We moved here to get away from all those memories and all those people.
How do you think Joe feels when he finds this neighborhood changing? When he sees people doing rotten things? Joe is a man.
He had to do something.
Did he kill somebody last night? No.
He never killed anybody, but he might get himself killed now.
What do you mean? He's out looking for a man who threatened me.
- Because of what Joe's been doing? - Yes.
- Where is he now? - I don't know.
Somewhere on the Boulevard.
Joe, Joe, Joe.
All right, hold it, hold it.
Let me go.
So, what has this solved? So, what do you know, man? It's just a place where you work, it's where I live.
What you talking about? It happens to be where we live.
When you forget that, that's when the whole thing goes right down the drain.
Well, better look again, brother, because there ain't much left in the bowl right now.
And don't tell me you can't see it from where you sit.
I mean, they're right back out on the street as soon as you book them.
And where do they end up? On my doorstep.
No, that's not good enough, man.
I mean, your way isn't working, Steve.
So why don't we try working together? Oh, come off of it, man.
You mean, call city hall? That's right, you call me, you call Mike, you call any of us.
What do you think we're doing down here anyway? Not enough, man, not enough.
Now, look, Joe, just look.
We make mistakes, all right? We aren't everyplace we ought to be, but we are trying.
Well, I got news for you, Steve.
So am I.
What do you mean? That you're entitled to special privileges? The victim's right to revenge? We know about your wife, what happened to her.
Oh, no, you didn't make her go through that whole thing again.
Nobody made her go through anything unless it was you.
You took the law in your own hands, you made your family a target.
That's right, Joe, you have no one to blame but yourself.
Now, look, you don't have to tell us anything if you don't want to.
But if you do, I promise you it doesn't leave this room.
Corby was afraid for you so she told us.
So what? What are we gonna do? Despise you? Laugh at you? Oh, I don't know.
Maybe we're holding our own, maybe not.
God knows things aren't changing that much.
But what's the alternative? I mean, are you really ready to turn everybody loose to do it your way? Give them a club, tell them to work on anybody they decide isn't right? I mean, you were gonna be a teacher, right? Bet you still teach your daughter.
Is that what you want her to learn? No, man.
Let's take a look.
Is he one of the men that threatened you? Yes, he is.
That's it, it's all over.
Can I see Joe now, please? Right now.
Why don't you wait here? Look, senor, you kidnapped the woman in there, and she just identified you now.
Kidnap? No, man, we just took her for a ride in the car, that's all.
Who did? You and who else? I don't know.
Hey, Turban, man, it's me, huh? Floyd.
Me and Floyd.
But I swear to you, man, we didn't even touch her.
- Floyd Stahlbecker? - Yeah, that's right.
What was the idea? I need a doctor.
You help us, we help you, you know that.
Something about her old man.
You know, getting him to lay off and stuff.
What was going down? A buy? - Yup.
- Stahlbecker and who else? Come on, now, whose money? I don't know.
It's okay, man.
When is it coming off, Turban? Soon.
At the pier.
What pier? - I don't know.
- Come on, man.
Forty-one.
Pier 41.
Who found out that our boy was at the Parkside? Was it you? Oh, no, man, no.
That was Floyd, not me.
I guess that's why he knifed him.
Yeah.
Book him.
We better cover that pier.
I'll get right on it.
Where is doctor? Hey, man, you got my word, you know? Three coming ashore, one has got a package.
Got him.
Frank.
Yeah, I got him.
There's Stahlbecker.
Okay, Frank, it's on.
Richard? Let's see what you got.
If they split up, we take Stahlbecker.
Right.
How was your voyage in, huh? Oh, you don't speak English, huh? How about it, Frank? No, not yet, Mike.
Okay.
Bon voyage, buddy.
Okay, Mike, he's all yours.
No, no, not yet.
Let them clear first.
Okay, now.
- He's turning right.
- I got him.
Right here.
So, what do you think? We'll let him get on the cars first, then we'll follow him.
I'll take the box.
Warburton.
- Watch it.
- Come here, come here, come here.
Watch it! All right, hold it.
Hold it.
- Dump the gun.
- Stay back.
- Dump the gun.
- All right.
Get back, down, down, dump it.
Watch out.
All right, man, just cool it.
Just cool it out right there.
- You're going in, man.
- No way, baby, no way.
Now, man.
Just hang-- All right, Floyd.
Just cool it, Floyd, just cool it, man.
Just cool it, Floyd, just cool it.
Need any help? Let's go.
Let's go.
There's Mommy.
Say hi.
Hey.
Yeah? Hey, it's big bad Joe.
Hey, what's happening? Hey, neighborhood's looking better.
It's not bad, it's coming along.
So when's the trial? A week from Monday.
Good, I'll be there.
Steve, how's your arm? Fine, coming along too.
Thanks, Corby.
So you really think it's looking pretty good, huh? Yeah, as far as I can see.
What about down to the corner? Can you see that far? Yeah.
Cat sitting around on the bus stop? Except that's his office, he's in business.
Well, what kind of business is he in? He's a salesman.
Pills.
Any color, any kick.
And what are you thinking of doing about it, Joe? Well, I'm just glad you came along, lieutenant.
Saved me a dime.
Police inspectors.
You mind standing up for a second, please?
Hey, come on.
What was that all about? Merle.
Yeah? Yeah, I'm looking for a flashlight.
Somebody open the john doors.
Let's get a little light in here.
Come on.
Oh, wow.
Hey, Merle, throw that flash over here.
What did you find? Who is it? I don't know, but he sure is dead.
What happened, Murphy, fight? No, they found a new way of making love.
- How you doing, Mike? - Okay.
- Body's back here.
- Who was he? No ID.
Doesn't anybody know him? On this beat? Are you kidding? Nobody knows nothing around here, right, Mike? They're all deaf and all blind, huh? See this washroom? What is it, 3-by-5, tops? Six guys all say they were in there at the same time.
Hey, Roy, give me the shiv.
We found this over there in the corner.
Looks like it did the job.
Get this to the lab.
Dick, give me a report as soon as you can, will you? Let's have them all in for questioning.
You got it, Mike.
All right, Harold, let's try it again.
The man that was killed.
Did he come in the bar alone? I don't know.
How many times have you been arrested, Harold? A couple, I guess.
I say five.
And then when this bottle went flying, the lights went out.
And you didn't see anything after that? Nothing, man.
Like I told you, I went right underneath the table.
Violence gives me indigestion.
You know that, Merle? Merle, you're just beautiful.
A man's knifed, the bar's a total write-off and you're telling me it's just another fight.
Look, like I said, I got flat right off.
I didn't have a chance to-- You didn't see anything, right? Right.
Okay, what about the dead man? Now, was he a regular? Steve.
Come here.
Merle, just hang tight, all right? Aren't you through? - Do you know Perez from Narcotics? - Sure.
How you doing, Frank? - Fairly well.
- His name was Ellis.
He was working with us.
- Was he an informer? - Yes.
We picked him up for holding.
I could see he wasn't a bad kid and so we worked something out, you know.
Did you know he was at the Parkside tonight? He told me today that he thought he could score there.
And that he would check it out.
He did, huh? Bring him in here.
You don't mind if I hang in? Why? He an old friend of yours? Yeah, for the last couple of years.
He's one of the reasons why the whole neighborhood went down.
- Come in.
Sit down.
- Yes? I guess trouble's nothing new to you, huh, Merle? I run a clean place.
He never proved otherwise.
Well, I'll tell you what we're gonna prove now.
The illegal sale of drugs at the Parkside.
Big trouble, Merle.
Now, wait a minute.
Perez, you tell him you got nothing on me.
What did they want? Protection money? Somebody trying to muscle you? I told you, I don't know anything.
When did you find out that Ellis was feeding information to the narcotics squad? Ellis? Who's Ellis? Lights out.
A lot of noise.
Good time to take a guy out, Merle.
Now, hold on a minute here.
Well, now, you better come across with something.
Otherwise, I'm gonna have to say you're it.
Perez.
This is murder, Merle.
Not my department, you know Okay, but first off, I wanna say, and this is the truth, so help me God, I did not kill the man.
- Who did? - I don't know.
Those boys, they busted through the door.
Now, I threw a bottle, but they flattened me out.
And the first thing I knew about anybody being dead was after they left.
Who were those old boys? Well, the one I recognized was a cat named Joplin.
- Joplin? - That's right, Joe Joplin.
How many were there? Three.
That makes four altogether? - That's right.
- Now, wait a minute.
How do you know Joe Joplin? I seen him around.
I thought they wore masks.
Hey, look, I'm telling you it was him, I'm sure.
- Yeah? - That's right.
What does he look like? Come on.
Now, they all look alike to me.
Oh, I see, now, is that your way of telling me that he's black, Merle? Oh, come on, who else does a thing like that, right? I mean, no reason.
No reason, huh? Well, I don't buy it, Merle.
A guy you just seen around walks in with a bunch of other guys and tears your place apart, and you say no reason? That's the way it happened! Now, listen, Merle, something's going down here, right? And you being a bigot isn't enough to bail you out! Steve, hold it.
Now, wait a minute.
Listen, I think Frank has a couple of questions he wants to ask him.
- Take him with you.
- Sure.
Let's go.
What got you so hot? We were just following a lead.
It's not Joe Joplin.
You know him? I think so, yeah.
Somebody you booked before? No.
Somebody I went to school with at Berkeley.
Last I heard, he was in that neighborhood, but it doesn't jive.
I mean, Joe's a hard nose, but he's not a killer and he's not into hard drugs.
How long ago was that? It's gotta be two-- No, maybe it's gotta be three years.
Well, then maybe it's time you gave him another visit, right? Like, maybe first thing tomorrow morning? Okay.
Hey, Joe.
Hey, Steve.
I don't believe it.
You don't? See you later.
Hey, come on in here.
What are you doing, man? Good to see you.
- Long time.
- How you been? - All right, all right.
- Come on up and meet the wife.
- You got married? - Yeah.
Hey, remember Foreshaw? Foreshaw, was he that dude who was always looking for a rich widow, 20 years older? - Right.
I still see him once in a while.
- You do, huh? He's got some scam going down in San Jose.
Virgin Oil stops the hair loss or some crazy stuff like that.
That looks beautiful.
- Give me the baby.
- Thank you.
Come on.
Well, if you like milk instead of cream, we're in business.
Why, is somebody on a diet? Well, you know, this year it's cholesterol, next year, who knows? Maybe it's corpuscles.
Old Joe "Don't Tread on Me" Joplin.
I mean, isn't this a picture, man? All you need is a dog.
Perfect suburban Americana, I tell you.
Look who's talking about going straight, Keller the Cop.
When did all this happen, man? Well, a few years ago.
So, what prompted this class reunion after all this time? Joe's name came up, it seemed a good time to see what's happening.
Joe's name, how? Where? There was some trouble up on Kings Road.
A bar called the Parkside-- - Wait a minute, is that near here? - Two blocks.
Right, right.
Anyway, we got a call on it and Well, you know, a witness said maybe you could help us out.
Who told you that? You don't think too much of the idea.
No, no.
Hey, man, I think it's a great idea.
I'll tell you anything you wanna know.
Hey, dig it, Steve.
- What? - Remember this? I mean, "Hey, Steve, like, pull my coat to what's going down, baby.
" Remember? Wait a minute, that guy in Oakland.
That gas station Bennie, no, Bernie.
Bad Bernie, right.
Bad Bernie.
I remember, yeah.
So, what about the Parkside? Well, I thought you would give me a line on it.
That's all.
I pass it.
Were you around there last night? Nope.
Would you mind telling me where you were last night? Hey, you're getting pretty good at this cop thing, aren't you? I've been practicing, Joe, I've been practicing.
Can I tell him? I was in my friend's bedroom last night.
There goes my virtue.
Oh, no, that's long gone, baby.
Long gone.
So do you buy it? Mike, he doesn't know the guy from the bar.
He's never even been in the place.
He was home with his wife.
- What's not to buy? - So he's in construction now, eh? Carpenter, he's always been good with his hands.
What about teaching? He give up on that? Wait a minute, did I ever tell you he'd been a teacher? No, you didn't.
I did a little checking on my own.
Did you know he had a file? One to ten in Mississippi on an assault charge.
Sure, I know it.
I was there.
We went down on one of those Freedom Rides together.
Oh, he was with you on that? Remember that friend of mine that got worked over by the deputies? - Yeah.
- That was Joe.
See, the drill was you go limp and double up, right? So I take 14 stitches and Joe takes a swing.
That was his assault charge and that's why he's not teaching today.
The question on the application.
"Have you ever been arrested?" He could take it to the commission.
But the whole thing sort of knocked the wind out of Joe about being involved.
Funny.
Just the opposite happened to you.
You get thumped and you started to think about becoming a cop.
Helping the breed.
- What are you talking about? - No, it's true.
- No, I never said that.
- You didn't have to.
I saw it on your face the first time I met you.
You know, that's the only reason I took you on.
I had to see if there could be anybody as good as I am.
- Mike.
- Yeah, what do you want? Joe's clean.
Okay.
Let's go and talk to Perez, see what he's got on the other guys.
Here we are.
All of these photos were taken in the neighborhood.
Really had our hands full there lately.
Dopers, hookers, pornos, you name it.
Must've made a hundred busts there in the last couple of months, but it's all uphill.
I remember him.
What's his name? Floyd Stahlbecker.
The other one is a bent kid called Turban.
Any convictions on Stahlbecker? He's been clean every time we pop him.
I mean, he is dealing.
There is no two ways about that.
But he's, like, slick, you know.
It's like a revolving door, in and out every couple of months.
He's supposed to be in pretty tight with the heavies.
I thought they didn't let users get close.
You figure them.
My guess is that they get some kind of a kick on account of he'll do anything they tell him.
I mean, anything.
He is weird, twisted.
You know any of these? Oh, yes, Richie Toledo.
He is the bottom of the barrel.
Works the schools and neighborhoods.
I should get rid of that picture.
What about the other guy? I don't know him.
A guy that got in the picture.
Maybe he's asking their price.
Maybe he's giving the time.
Maybe he was giving us the time this morning.
You know him? I used to.
298BZE.
Now, there's a neighbor next door, the guy from the little car, the guy that's walking in now.
Counting Joe, that makes four, right? Right.
Great way to spend a weekend.
Spying on an old friend.
I told you, you didn't have to pull this duty.
I know, I know.
You told me something else once too.
About letting old times get in the way of what's happening at the moment.
That's right.
I gotta tell you, though, I never felt this old before.
There's Perez.
Let's go downtown and check out the guys who own those cars.
Listen, would you mind if I stayed on Joe? I thought it was getting to you.
Yeah, but one way or the other, I'd like to be the first to know.
Okay.
But when he goes, don't get too close.
Remember, he knows you as well as you know him.
Which may be hardly at all.
So, okay, the cops get your name and they ask a few questions.
Take it easy, they got nothing on you.
Charlie's right, Joe.
They didn't do anything.
Of course, I'm right.
Besides, what are they excited about? One dead junkie? What did they ever do about my kid? On his way to school, he gets turned into a drug addict.
Right.
What about our wives? My wife has been hassled twice.
There ain't gonna be no more.
Yeah, every day with the pushers, the muggers, the pimps, you name it.
How come the cops haven't done anything about that? I don't know why, man.
I mean, I wish I did know why.
Look, we did something, I mean, we tried.
And that's it.
No more.
Oh, no, no, not me.
I'm gonna finish what we started.
I'm gonna throw those creeps out of here.
Charlie, a man is dead.
Don't talk to me! What about it? What do you say? I'm still in it.
For my kids, Joe.
I mean, I'd never forgive myself if thought I didn't do everything I could to clean things up around here.
The way I see it, it's us or them, Joe.
I finally get cleared for a bulk purchase and my distributor thinks he's still selling nickel bags.
Hey, I'm telling you, I know Ellis.
They turned him.
That buy he wanted was a setup.
So you killed him.
That was smart, Floyd.
Real smart.
Hey, nobody knows what happened.
I can tell you what your dealers will think happened.
They're gonna hear about those crazies with the clubs coming down on Merle's place like that.
They're gonna hear about somebody getting killed.
And they're not gonna want any part of you.
Now, come on.
Relax, huh? Relax? How? Look, I brought you in because you said you could handle a big distribution.
Now, what happens when the shipment comes in Tuesday and you can't find any dealers? - Come on, who says I can't find any? - You won't.
Not with those crazies around.
Who's gonna take a chance? Look, didn't I say I'll handle it? I'll handle it.
All I know is if it was Marioni's territory or Sheldon Meltzer's, they don't think like shoe clerks.
And they wouldn't stand for interference from some crazy people.
Hey, Warburton, come on.
Look, these wackos, a bunch of freaks, right? Merle can finger this guy who's in charge.
I'll just pay him a little visit and straighten it out.
Is that what you want? It's not what I want, Floyd.
It's your decision.
Whatever you think is necessary to move the goods.
You know, it's almost 20 minutes.
Maybe I should go back in.
Not yet, no.
All right, boys, back to the benches.
The varsity's here.
Frank's going.
I stay.
- Stone says you too.
- He say why? Yeah, he's got some names to go with those faces you saw at Joplin's.
Wants to know if they ring any bells.
Chop, chop.
You know, it's incredible, I mean, really incredible.
My father never made as much in a whole week as we just spent in a half hour in there.
And he had six mouths to feed.
That's why I wanted you to come so you could see for yourself.
Yeah, well, the next time, you can spare me the misery.
Okay, except that how many bananas can one kid eat? Don't worry, they won't waste any.
Well, at these prices, they better not.
Yes, sir, anything you say, sir.
Oh, come on, baby.
Don't hand me that.
You know the situation.
I make what I make and that's all we can spend.
If I'm holding you back and you think you can do better, then go.
Because I'm not gonna be the bad guy, okay? - Watch her.
- Where are you going? I have to buy something at the drugstore and I wanna pick up my dress from the cleaners.
But I'll bring you all the receipts.
All right, I'll take this stuff home and I'll meet you back at the cleaners'.
Come on.
All those bananas, you little monkey.
Which one you want? Excuse me, are you Mrs.
Joplin? Yes, I am.
Why? Oh, your husband, he's not feeling too well, and he's in back and-- What do you mean? What happened? - Where is he? - Hey, wait, take it easy, it's all right.
Where is he? Oh, he's in back of this store, over there.
Yeah, come on.
I don't know, he just looked kind of sick, you know.
He asked me to call you, but-- Back there.
Oh, we'll just use your back door, okay? Thanks.
He's somewhere in the back, lady, of the car.
Where's my daughter? Daughter? I don't know, lady.
This man got sick, asked me to call.
I don't know nothing-- - Joe? - He's back here.
Here, come here.
Oh, in there.
Yeah, that's it.
He'll be all right.
What do you think, Steve? Joplin ever mention any of those guys? No.
Frank, any of those names familiar to you? Not off the top.
You run them pass R&I? Not a record between them.
That looks more like a Wednesday night bowling team or something.
Maybe Merle's stringing us out.
Could've gotten Joe's name anywhere.
Yeah, maybe.
And maybe that guy just pulled a number out of a hat when he mentioned four guys, huh? And maybe that picture of Joplin next to the pusher was just a fluke.
We may not know what game they're playing yet, but I'll bet you that those boys are in the lineup.
Please let me go.
Let you go? Sure.
We'll let you go, mama.
This time.
But you listen to me.
You tell your husband to stop sticking his nose in.
Another deal like that one at the Parkside? Maybe you don't go home, then.
Go.
Let's go.
Hold it, hold it.
Freeze.
Now, don't you move.
Hey, what are you doing, Murphy? Throwing another party? Well, I didn't expect you to get an invitation this time, Mike.
Everybody got out alive.
Well, sounded like the same bunch you had last time.
I still wanna talk to him.
Yeah, well, this one's not much of a talker.
Won't even give me his name.
Well, maybe we can do that.
What do you say, Steve? Isn't this the guy with the pickup and the camper? That's right, Charlie Casella.
I can't, Joe, I can't.
Of course you can.
You were standing next to one of them.
Now, how tall was he? Oh, Joe, please, let's leave.
We don't need this house.
Where are we gonna go, huh? It's gonna be the same anyplace we go.
Oh, there must be somewhere.
That's what we said when we got this place.
It was gonna be better here.
Well, it's not.
Oh, it looks nice, trees on the streets.
Trees and junkies.
But when she's 15 years old and walking around here, Corby, we found out that moving isn't the answer.
Well, neither is what you're doing.
Come here, you listen to me.
- How tall was he? - Joe.
- Was he as tall as I am? - No.
- What was he wearing? - I don't know.
A jacket.
- What color? - Well, it was dark.
Blue.
What was his hair like? Long, short, dark, light--? I think it was dark, but he had a scarf tied on his head.
Who pay you, Charlie? Nobody.
In other words, you just bust up places for the fun of it.
Is that the idea? No.
Okay, let's get back to the Parkside.
Now, was the whole idea just to get Ellis? Ellis? Well, how did you find out he was feeding us information, Charlie? - We didn't know anything about that.
- You were there.
But we didn't touch him.
- "We didn't touch him"? - Honest.
"We didn't touch him.
" Who was we, Charlie? I don't know.
Nobody.
Nobody knifed him? I don't know anything about that.
One more time, Charlie, how many of you are there? I don't know.
Now, how do you like that for loyalty, huh? Did you look under his tongue? I bet he's got a cyanide pill under there just in case we start pulling his fingernails out.
Do you think that Joe Joplin would do the same for you if he was seated in that chair that you're sitting in right now? Or your other buddies, Ted, and? What's that other guy's--? Leo? What do you look so surprised for? We know that you all went to Joe Joplin's house this morning.
We know all about that vigilante thing.
Come on, Charlie, you'd better give us credit for something.
Now, which one of you put that knife in Ellis? No, no, you got it all wrong.
We were just trying to clean up the neighborhood.
See, we did it for our families.
My kid.
My son.
They got him hooked.
Fifteen years old.
And they did that to him.
Charlie.
Charlie, why don't you give a full statement to Frank? Would you like some of my coffee? Hey, where did that come from? - Well, I just took a shot.
- Well, that was some shot.
Well, it wouldn't be the first time a couple of guys thought they could do a better job than we can.
Yeah, they try it out on some of their friends over a couple bottles of beer, get themselves all riled up, and before you know it, you got yourself a bunch of vigilantes on a rampage.
Yeah, it's just hard for me to figure a guy like Joe getting that far out of line, though.
- Oh, it is, huh? - Yeah.
Well, listen.
I can remember when I was a kid, my old man 86ed the neighborhood drunk off the block.
He did.
He had just had it with drunks hanging around his wife and kids.
It was a stupid thing to do, but he did it.
Now, this is my old man I'm talking about.
Yeah, now it's hard drugs.
That's right, drugs.
Yeah, I can understand why Joplin's doing what he's doing.
But we've gotta make him understand that his way isn't the answer.
Who's with him now? Harris? No, nobody, Frank pulled the team after we booked Casella.
After? What about before? Well, Harris said Joe went out once, that was to pick up his wife.
And he was home when they ripped up that nudie place.
Well, come on, we better find out whether he's home now.
What's he doing? Playing outraged citizen again? Tearing another joint apart? He's trying to protect me.
He's risking his life for me because nobody else gives a damn.
All we want is a place to live where we don't have to be afraid.
Corby, listen.
Corby, we care.
But if you want us to help Joe, we have got to understand what's going on.
All right.
Before we bought this house, we had an apartment in the Haight.
We were robbed twice there.
The first time, the police said it was probably a drug addict.
They said, "Oh, this happens all the time.
" And that was that.
The second time, Joe was out of town on a job.
I came home while the man was still there.
He raped me.
We moved here to get away from all those memories and all those people.
How do you think Joe feels when he finds this neighborhood changing? When he sees people doing rotten things? Joe is a man.
He had to do something.
Did he kill somebody last night? No.
He never killed anybody, but he might get himself killed now.
What do you mean? He's out looking for a man who threatened me.
- Because of what Joe's been doing? - Yes.
- Where is he now? - I don't know.
Somewhere on the Boulevard.
Joe, Joe, Joe.
All right, hold it, hold it.
Let me go.
So, what has this solved? So, what do you know, man? It's just a place where you work, it's where I live.
What you talking about? It happens to be where we live.
When you forget that, that's when the whole thing goes right down the drain.
Well, better look again, brother, because there ain't much left in the bowl right now.
And don't tell me you can't see it from where you sit.
I mean, they're right back out on the street as soon as you book them.
And where do they end up? On my doorstep.
No, that's not good enough, man.
I mean, your way isn't working, Steve.
So why don't we try working together? Oh, come off of it, man.
You mean, call city hall? That's right, you call me, you call Mike, you call any of us.
What do you think we're doing down here anyway? Not enough, man, not enough.
Now, look, Joe, just look.
We make mistakes, all right? We aren't everyplace we ought to be, but we are trying.
Well, I got news for you, Steve.
So am I.
What do you mean? That you're entitled to special privileges? The victim's right to revenge? We know about your wife, what happened to her.
Oh, no, you didn't make her go through that whole thing again.
Nobody made her go through anything unless it was you.
You took the law in your own hands, you made your family a target.
That's right, Joe, you have no one to blame but yourself.
Now, look, you don't have to tell us anything if you don't want to.
But if you do, I promise you it doesn't leave this room.
Corby was afraid for you so she told us.
So what? What are we gonna do? Despise you? Laugh at you? Oh, I don't know.
Maybe we're holding our own, maybe not.
God knows things aren't changing that much.
But what's the alternative? I mean, are you really ready to turn everybody loose to do it your way? Give them a club, tell them to work on anybody they decide isn't right? I mean, you were gonna be a teacher, right? Bet you still teach your daughter.
Is that what you want her to learn? No, man.
Let's take a look.
Is he one of the men that threatened you? Yes, he is.
That's it, it's all over.
Can I see Joe now, please? Right now.
Why don't you wait here? Look, senor, you kidnapped the woman in there, and she just identified you now.
Kidnap? No, man, we just took her for a ride in the car, that's all.
Who did? You and who else? I don't know.
Hey, Turban, man, it's me, huh? Floyd.
Me and Floyd.
But I swear to you, man, we didn't even touch her.
- Floyd Stahlbecker? - Yeah, that's right.
What was the idea? I need a doctor.
You help us, we help you, you know that.
Something about her old man.
You know, getting him to lay off and stuff.
What was going down? A buy? - Yup.
- Stahlbecker and who else? Come on, now, whose money? I don't know.
It's okay, man.
When is it coming off, Turban? Soon.
At the pier.
What pier? - I don't know.
- Come on, man.
Forty-one.
Pier 41.
Who found out that our boy was at the Parkside? Was it you? Oh, no, man, no.
That was Floyd, not me.
I guess that's why he knifed him.
Yeah.
Book him.
We better cover that pier.
I'll get right on it.
Where is doctor? Hey, man, you got my word, you know? Three coming ashore, one has got a package.
Got him.
Frank.
Yeah, I got him.
There's Stahlbecker.
Okay, Frank, it's on.
Richard? Let's see what you got.
If they split up, we take Stahlbecker.
Right.
How was your voyage in, huh? Oh, you don't speak English, huh? How about it, Frank? No, not yet, Mike.
Okay.
Bon voyage, buddy.
Okay, Mike, he's all yours.
No, no, not yet.
Let them clear first.
Okay, now.
- He's turning right.
- I got him.
Right here.
So, what do you think? We'll let him get on the cars first, then we'll follow him.
I'll take the box.
Warburton.
- Watch it.
- Come here, come here, come here.
Watch it! All right, hold it.
Hold it.
- Dump the gun.
- Stay back.
- Dump the gun.
- All right.
Get back, down, down, dump it.
Watch out.
All right, man, just cool it.
Just cool it out right there.
- You're going in, man.
- No way, baby, no way.
Now, man.
Just hang-- All right, Floyd.
Just cool it, Floyd, just cool it, man.
Just cool it, Floyd, just cool it.
Need any help? Let's go.
Let's go.
There's Mommy.
Say hi.
Hey.
Yeah? Hey, it's big bad Joe.
Hey, what's happening? Hey, neighborhood's looking better.
It's not bad, it's coming along.
So when's the trial? A week from Monday.
Good, I'll be there.
Steve, how's your arm? Fine, coming along too.
Thanks, Corby.
So you really think it's looking pretty good, huh? Yeah, as far as I can see.
What about down to the corner? Can you see that far? Yeah.
Cat sitting around on the bus stop? Except that's his office, he's in business.
Well, what kind of business is he in? He's a salesman.
Pills.
Any color, any kick.
And what are you thinking of doing about it, Joe? Well, I'm just glad you came along, lieutenant.
Saved me a dime.
Police inspectors.
You mind standing up for a second, please?