Mannix (1967–1975): Season 2, Episode 22 - Last Rites for Miss Emma - full transcript

Acme Protective.

Go right in, Mr. Parks.

Right.

Air freight.

Better hurry. We close at 5:00.

(indistinct conversation,
phone ringing)

(overlapping chatter)

That time again.

Yeah. Never fails.

I wanted to get home early.

Now it'll be bumper to bumper,



a late dinner, and
Helen sore about it.

Floyd, did you get the perfume?

Oh, I've been busy
all day, Mr. Coombs.

I'll get it now.

I got a new one for your
beauty queen... Whirlwind.

She'll be eating
out of your hand.

Hello. Lester Parks.

Oranges... three, seven, two.

Apples... eight.

The night setting
will be delayed

not more than 15 minutes.

Yeah. See you in the morning.

Whirlwind, eh?

She was a gentle
breeze when I married her.



Aren't they all?

I didn't get to the
morphine, Mr. Coombs.

I'll unpack it first
thing in the morning.

That fellow with the
ketch in the slip next to me

is moving her down to Balboa.

Why don't you see
if you can get it?

Then I can help you
work on your... Reach!

You, down.

Over against the shelves.

You now, turn around.

(grunts)

(gunshot)

(theme music playing)

♪ ♪

(jet engines roaring)

WOMAN (over P.A.):
Southeastern Air, please...

Mannix!

WOMAN (over P.A.):
Now arriving into Gate 14.

Well, I see you're
all in one piece.

Except for a
loose tooth. A fist?

No, an uncracked crab
at Fisherman's Wharf.

I don't know why
I worry about you.

Because I pay you
almost every week. (laughs)

Section B-3.

Always hire a pro.

Anytime.

WOMAN (over P.A.): Flight 19 for
Phoenix departing on schedule at Gate 4.

Flight 19 for Phoenix, Arizona,

departing on schedule at Gate 4.

(phone ringing)

Mr. Maple's residence.

One moment, please.

Yes?

Mr. Tellis is on the phone, sir.

Thank you, Mrs. Johnson.

Yeah, Sam?

The corpse is at the airport.

How sad.

We'll hold the funeral
the day after tomorrow.

I'll phone Atlanta.

You know, Peggy, I really like

catching jewel thieves
up in San Francisco.

What?

Well, all the women
are charming,

beautiful and well-dressed.

That's because a
man notices up there

when a gal gets a new suit.

Hey, that is a
new suit, isn't it?

Nice. Nice.

Too little and too late.

Before Jimmy Bloom
fixes his next antenna,

he ought to get
some parking lessons.

(car phone buzzes)

KT 4-2114.

Dominion Insurance.

Yeah, Mannix here.

When?

Right away.

Robbery.

45 cartons of Miss Emma

stolen from the So-Cal
Pharmaceutical Company.

Morphine?

Mm.

(car engine starting)

Try the other side.

The alarm system's
turned off during the day.

At 5:00,

the narcotics
clerk turns a switch

which activates the system.

Then he locks up and
brings the key to my office.

But that didn't happen today.

Today, three hoods

in a white panel truck
stole 45 cartons of morphine.

COOMBS: Today was service day.

On a service day,
I come out here,

and the first thing
I do is to phone in,

and say the system won't
be turned on until 5:15.

It just takes me ten
minutes to check it.

(sniffs)

Is that perfume?

Whirlwind. It's one
of our new ones.

Floyd Brown threw a
bottle at one of the robbers,

and it broke on the cartons.

I found these on the floor.

FLOYD: My glasses.

How do you fit into this thing?

Our firm's been hired
to recover the morphine.

A private detective agency.

You're a private detective?

Secretary to one.

Joe Mannix.

Oh.

We're everywhere
these days, aren't we?

(laughs)

We're working on it.

How do you feel?

Oh, fine, fine.

I lost a little blood, but I
can go home tomorrow.

I mean, how does
it feel to be a hero?

A hero?

Who says I'm a hero?

You threw the
perfume, didn't you?

Oh.

I promise never to do it again.

Would you hand me that, please?

The doctor says I should,
uh, drink a lot of juices,

and look at pretty things.

May I use your phone?

KL 5-6175, please.

What do you have against heroes?

They're always in trouble,

they're so foolhardy,
they... Hello, Toby?

No, I'll be a little while yet.

No, so, bounce into bed,

and I'll see you later.

My son, age six.

He always tries to con
the sitter into an extra hour.

Well, where's your husband?

I'm a widow.

Oh.

The war?

He was a policeman.

A hero.

Yes.

I see.

Uh, that's a pretty suit.

Oh, thank you.

It's new.

Well, not as new as it was.

You have some
paint on your elbow.

Oh, look at that.

Well, it'll come off.

If you don't like men
who take chances,

why do you work
for a guy like Mannix?

Because I'm a kind of a nut.

Happy healing.

Hey, uh, thanks for
bringing the glasses,

and, uh, my regards
to Toby, age six.

Would you hold still
for a few questions?

My life's an open book.

These service days...
do they happen regularly?

About once a month.

I just pick a day and call Acme.

When you pick these days,
anybody else know about it?

The manager at Acme, Parks.

(phone ringing,
typewriter keys clacking)

What about him?

He never knows.

How about this
fellow, Floyd Brown,

the one that got shot? No.

When did the Acme man know

that he was going to
come here yesterday?

It was late in the day.

He was just ready to go home.

What time did you call Acme?

Shortly after lunch.

About, uh, four hours
before the robbery.

You sure you didn't
call anybody else?

Are you suggesting
I tipped them off?

Somebody did.

(phone ringing)

Yes?

Mannix.

Joe, I know how I
got the blue paint.

Blue paint?

On my jacket.

It came from the panel truck

parked next to your
car at the airport.

Peggy, why don't you just

send me the cleaning
bill, huh? I'm busy.

And I'm serious.

I think the morphine's
in that truck.

I got a whole theory about it.

And my theory is, Peggy,

that secretaries
should concentrate on

the telephone
and the typewriter.

Now good-bye.

What are you doing here so late?

Concentrating on the
typewriter and the telephone.

Did the insurance company call?

Your calls are where they
usually are... on the desk.

All right, Peggy.

The morphine is in a blue
truck at the Burbank Airport.

You want to tell me about it?

Well, it's not
impossible, you know.

There was some
paint on my sleeve.

Uh, just go slow with me, Peggy,

'cause I'm hungry and tired.

This afternoon, I
got a phone call

from Floyd.

Floyd?

Out of gratitude because
I took him his glasses,

he insisted upon
taking me to dinner.

So I called the
babysitter, and she said,

"Cool it," unless
I got my TV fixed.

So I called the TV repairman,

and he's got the flu.

Anyway, that reminded
me of the TV repair truck

next to the car out at
the airport yesterday.

Well, now so far, I've lost you.

Well, if you don't want
to hear it, just say so.

No, no, Peggy, it's just that...

well, I'm all hung up on
whether you're eating in or out.

In, but he doesn't know it yet.

Anyway, don't you see?

The truck was blue.

The same shade of paint
that was on my jacket.

And it had to have
been wet paint,

otherwise it wouldn't
have rubbed off.

And the police can't
find a white truck.

And what does that prove?

Why would anyone park a
freshly painted truck at the airport?

It doesn't make
sense. And besides,

there's no such firm as
Jimmy Bloom TV Repair.

So I figured it must have
been the morphine truck.

Peggy, the robbery
took place at 5:00.

We got to my car at the airport

a few minutes after 6:00.

Paint a car and
drive it from So. Cal

to the airport in one hour?

It's impossible.

Yeah, I guess it is.

On the other hand,

they could have loaded
it on a bigger truck

and painted it on the way.

Yes, of course they could've!

No, no. Who's going
to leave a million dollars'

worth of morphine sitting
in a public parking lot?

Can you think of any
better place to park it?

(door opens) Well, uh...

Yes?

Oh, Floyd.

Come on in.

Mr. Mannix, this is Mr. Brown.

How do you do?

Mr. Mannix, how are you?

How's the investigation going?

Oh, fine, fine,

now that everybody's
working on it,

including our
mutual friend here.

You didn't believe
a word I said.

Come on, Peggy.

You got a little
paint on your sleeve.

How do you know it
came from the truck?

Maybe it didn't.

Maybe your car
door touched the truck

and my elbow
touched your car door.

In that case, I'd
have paint on my...

car door.

If it is the morphine truck,

you may have
dinner at the airport.

(handle rattles)

Operator, this is KG 6-2114.

I'd like the police department.

(tires screeching)

(brakes screeching)

(Floyd laughs)

Baseball, football, track...

What team didn't you make?

Uh, Ping Pong.

PEGGY: Asleep at the wheel.

He'll get a ticket for that.

Hmm, bed's the ticket.

Here, let me help you.

Another O.J. Simpson.

I see him more like
a Senator Brooke.

Well, in either
case, I'll vote for him.

You'd think he'd phone.

Who?

Mannix, about the truck.

Who do you have a
date with, Mannix or me?

You.

(phone rings)

Hello.

Oh, we were just
talking about you.

Did you find the truck?

Yeah, yeah, but they

moved it out right
from under my nose.

Now look, I've got
the license number.

Could you call that
pal of yours at the DMV

and find out the
name of the owner?

But he's on the day shift.

I've got some other
numbers down at the office.

They're under DMV

in the file cab...
Oh, I've got the keys.

All right, as fast as I can.

He found the truck,
but he lost it again.

And I've got to run
down to the office and...

Oh, Toby! I forgot about Toby.

Floyd, do you mind?

Babysitting?

No, I don't mind;
as a matter of fact,

I used to be very
good at it. Go ahead.

Thank you. And Floyd, I'm sorry.

Hey... don't drive too fast.

I wish that friend of yours

in DMV would hurry up.

Take it easy, Joe.

He's doing the best he can.

Yeah, well, if we don't
round this stuff up right away,

they'll have it cut, repackaged

and the pushers will have
it out all over the country.

Well, the fellas
who did the robbery,

will they help push it, too?

No, I doubt it.

A deal this big has got
to be on several levels.

The hoods who stole it,

the people who planned it,

whoever financed
it and the dealer

who's going to buy
it. (phone ringing)

Hello? Oh, hi, Charlie.

Thanks, Charlie.

Go back to your sauna bath.

PEGGY: It's a truck
rental in the Valley.

(flashlight clicks off)

(vehicle approaching)

(silenced smashing)

HATTON: It's curious,
the styles of drug addiction.

Now, for the Asiatic
Indian, it's cannabis,

hashish for the Egyptian,

and of course,
opium for the Chinese.

Now, even in our own country,

northern cities... heroin;

cocaine replacing
it in the West.

For our, uh, most
gracious South,

we prefer morphine.

Yeah, that's why I thought

of an old Georgia
boy like you, Doctor.

(phone ringing)

Yes?

I'll be right out.

My chauffeur had
an accident last night.

MANNIX: Mr. Maple.

Yes. How do you do, sir?

I'm from the Dominion
Insurance Company.

One of our policyholders

bumped into your car last
night on Borman Street,

and broke your taillight.

He feels responsible.

Tell him to forget
it. Oh, no, no, no.

He'd like to make it good.

Now if you'd just
sign this form,

we'd be only too
glad to repair it.

All right.

Mrs. Johnson, will you
show the gentleman out?

Thank you, Mr. Maple.

Say, that perfume,
that's just wonderful.

I've been trying to place it.

It's a new one, sir.

It's called Whirlwind.

But it's 45 cartons, Doctor.

You add an equal
amount of milk sugar,

you'll double your money.

$400,000.

Half a million.

Let's split the difference.

I'll give you $10,000 a carton.

Sold.

After we've tested the rest.

We'll have the funeral tonight.

(sighs)

The Bureau of Narcotics
returned your call.

Yeah, I was just there.

What did you find
out about Maple?

Well, he belongs
to two golf clubs,

gives a lot of money to charity.

Solid citizen. What
did you find out?

I think he's a solid
crook, but I can't prove it.

I can sure smell it.

How?

Mr. Maple's
housekeeper was wearing

that new So-Cal
perfume, Whirlwind.

(door opening)

I had pizza.

I went on the pony ride.

And you didn't fall off?

Almost, but Floyd caught me.

Now I'm going to Pickle Pete's.

And you're invited if
you want to come along.

Another time.

Thanks, Floyd.

Oh, that, uh... uh,
trucking company.

Did you find out the owner

from the Hall of Records?

A man named Sam Tellis.

Here's his address.

Baldwin Hills.

(grunting)

(crickets chirping)

When did you come out here?

My father left Arkansas
and went to Detroit

to work in a factory, and
when he didn't come back,

my mother and
I took off for L.A.

What did you do
when you got out here?

Uh, Mama got a job.

No, I mean, what did you do?

Oh.

Well, I went on to high
school, and then to UCLA.

I also, uh, shined
shoes and waited tables

and tended bar, and
swept out a butcher shop.

Boy, I did a lot of
things... I was lucky.

I wasn't an O.J. Simpson
or a Senator Brooke,

but I managed to work.

(chuckling)

You know...

I never talk like
this unless I'm...

full of pickles.

No. Peggy...

Floyd.

You don't know me,
and I don't know you.

We don't know each other.

We know enough.

(doorbell buzzing)

(sighs)

Hi.

Come on in.

Floyd.

Mannix.

I'm, uh, sorry to bust
in this way, Peggy.

Did you see Tellis?

Yes and no.

What does that mean?

Well, I'll, uh,
give you the notes

for the insurance report,
and then you'll know.

Now?!

Well, it is important.

Yes, well, I was just leaving.

I'll all you in the
morning, huh?

(door closes)

Serious?

I know it's fast,
but I like him.

I like him a lot.

So does Toby.

Ready?

Memo: Dominion
Insurance Company.

Subject: So-Cal robbery.

Investigation to date confirms

suspicion that this
was an inside job.

While Coombs stated
that only he, Parks

and the Acme manager
knew in advance

that the alarm system
would be serviced

on the day of the
robbery, it is now clear

that there was a fourth party
who also had the knowledge

in time to notify the
robbers of said service.

It was Coomb" practice

to send this fourth party

after perfume to give

to Parks' wife,
Helen, every time.

Every time, Peggy.

But Floyd went for the perfume.

That's right.

Well, you're saying
he's the inside man.

He knew every service day
at least four hours in advance.

Coombs didn't realize
he'd set a pattern,

but Floyd finally caught on.

But he got shot.

A flesh wound's a
small price to pay

for what he'd get out of this.

Is that all you've...
you've got to go on,

that he went for some perfume?

I wish it was, Peggy.

So, what else?

I went to the airport to
check on the morphine.

The truck had been moved.

I then went to Tellis's place.

Uh, the morphine
was moved again.

What's that got
to do with Floyd?

Well, he was in my office
both times when I started out.

You know that.

And you think he warned
someone that you were coming?

What else?

I was with him every minute.

Every minute?

How long does it take
to make a phone call?

(sighs)

It's just supposition.

It's just circumstantial.

What about the other employees?

What about Coombs and Parks?

They just don't figure.

Of course not.

They're white, aren't they?

Oh, how could Floyd

possibly have anything
to do with a dope ring?

I don't know that yet, Peggy.

But you'd send in this report

and ruin his entire
reputation for life?

Oh, well, you write it yourself

because I don't believe it.

I don't believe one word of it.

I'm sorry, Peggy.

I'm really sorry,
but I think it's true.

And I'm gonna have
to try and prove it.

What's the matter, Mommy?

(key turning in door lock)

What are you doing here?

I'm looking for Miss
Emma... and you?

Well, I... I-I do for Mr. Brown.

I darn his socks and
sew on his buttons.

I'm a friend of his mother's.

All right.

I'm his mother.

You're no insurance man.

I'm a private
investigator, Mrs. Johnson.

What are you investigating?

What has Floyd done?

I think he was the inside man

at the So-Cal robbery.

No.

I think he got a bright idea.

I think he asked
you to introduce him

to your boss, and your
boss bankrolled him.

It wasn't like that at all.

I just got Floyd a job there
when he was in college.

He tended bar for
Mr. Maple's parties.

It may have started out
that way, Mrs. Johnson,

but it got out of hand.

Mr. Maple deals in narcotics,

and I think your
son is with him.

Now, why don't you tell
me before the police come?

I didn't know it then.

Only later.

I read about the
robbery, and then, uh,

I put two and two together.

And then I couldn't
get Floyd on the phone.

Oh, he's worked so hard.

Please... find him.

Stop him.

Where is he, Mrs. Johnson?

I don't know.

Where's Mr. Maple?

I don't know.

You do want me to
help your son, don't you?

Mr. Maple's at a Rosary.

The Conrad
Mortuary in Inglewood.

Yeah, Peggy?

Um, it's about Floyd.

I'm with his mother.

Oh?

Now, if he calls, stall him.

If he comes back,
don't let him in.

I'm old enough to take
care of myself, thank you.

(doorbell buzzing)

(insistent buzzing)

Hey.

I went home, but
I couldn't sleep.

Neither could I.

Did you finish the report?

No.

We had an argument.

About what?

I don't want to talk about it.

Would you like some
coffee? No, no, come on.

Tell me. I want to know.

I said I don't want
to talk about it.

But you're all shaky.

Now come on,
get it off your chest.

All right.

Mannix thinks you're the
inside man in the So-Cal robbery.

Well, uh, how could
he possibly think that?

Well, he has a theory
about you getting the perfume

and now hanging
around me to spy on him.

Spy on him?

You were there when he went
out to look for the morphine.

And he thinks you phoned
and warned somebody.

You mean when he came
back from Mr. Maple's house?

Yes, and the first time
when he went to the airport.

Floyd, his theory
is all wrong, isn't it?

What's your theory?

I want to believe you.

Whatever you say.

Then I say, let's get married.

Right away. Tonight. Tonight?

We can go to Vegas or Yuma.

Oh, but Floyd, we can't.

I mean, there's
Toby and my friends,

and your friends
and your mother.

My mother moved
back to Arkansas.

Oh.

No, Floyd, it's, it's too fast.

Peggy...

don't keep me waiting.

I... I... I need a
moment to think.

I'll make some coffee.

Floyd...

a moment before,

you said "when Mannix came
back from Mr. Maple's house".

So?

How did you know that Mannix
had been to Maple's house?

Oh... well, uh, I
heard you talking.

But you couldn't have.

We discussed that at the office,

and you weren't there...
You were with Toby.

Well, then we must have
talked about it at Pickle Pete's.

We talked about
everything else but.

Floyd, Mannix is
with your mother now.

You are the inside
man, aren't you?

Peggy... In fact, this
whole big whirlwind

romance has been
one big, fat put-on.

That's not true.

You were using me to spy on him.

Why don't you admit
it? Sweetheart...

Oh, stop that!

Stop lying!

All right, all right, all right!

I did it!

Okay?

Why, Floyd?

Why?!

(sighs)

You had a good job.

You had it made.

"Made".

Promises.

Promotions.

Color no object.

A solid future.

I had it made.

So what did I do, huh?

I worked my fingers to the bone!

I worked my head off!

For what?

Oh, there are
promotions all right, sure,

but not for me.

Three Whiteys passed me
by like I was tied to a rock.

Maybe they were
smarter than you.

No.

So-Cal only took
me on as a token,

a company Uncle
Tom with a desk up front

where the visitors could see me.

What kind of a career is that?

Four years out of college

and I'm still an errand boy.

Well, I figured out
an errand for myself,

and I ran it.

You'll never get away with it.

Why not?

Mannix can't prove
anything against me.

Unless you back him up.

I have to back him up.

But, baby, it's us against them.

It's not a question
of black or white.

It's a question
of right or wrong.

Look, I'm getting a $100,000.

We can leave the country.

We can start a whole new future.

On what?

Pushing dope?

Do you know what you're doing?

Kids use dope.

Kids not much older than Toby.

What kind of a man are you?

I'm a black man, baby.

It's no good, Floyd.

It's no excuse.

But it's just this
one time, Peggy.

No, Floyd.

No.

It could have been a good life.

(phone rings)

(ringing continues)

You gotta understand.

Nobody's gonna stop me
from getting that money.

Nobody!

TOBY: Mommy?

Mommy?

Where's Mommy?

Oh, uh, she was tired, Toby.

She went to bed.

Now you go to sleep, too, okay?

I wouldn't hurt
him... You know that.

(tires squealing)

All done.

Finally.

You'll get caught
one day, Maple.

You're too greedy.

Just give me the money.

We'll have to hurry

if this is going to be
on that Atlanta flight.

Floyd Brown wants to see you.

Who's Floyd Brown?

Inside man.

Show him in.

Oh, uh,

take a look outside in
case he's being followed.

MAPLE: What are you doing here?

I came to collect my money.

You'll get your money.

I want it now.

Whose idea was this anyway?

Why do you want it, boy?

I just want it, that's all.

A hundred thousand
of that is mine.

What was the arrangement?

An account in a Swiss
bank when things cool off.

That's sensible.

I'm getting out of
the country now.

You're going back to
So-Cal and be a big hero.

Why do you think we
shot you so carefully?

Look, I want my money!

Why, the boy's in a panic.

I got to catch a plane!

Well, you sound as though
the police was after you.

Or Mannix.

That's right.

And we've only got a
few hours... All of us.

So I'm taking my money.

And I'm taking it now!

He ain't going nowhere.

(distant siren wailing)

(siren grows louder)

(siren approaching)

(siren grows louder)

(brakes screeching)

(grunting)

Hey, Al, take care of that.

It's got your pension in it.

Floyd Brown's dead.

(theme music playing)