The Rockford Files (1974–1980): Season 2, Episode 12 - The Reincarnation of Angie - full transcript

Turn out the lights.

You know, Rockford,
this is the murder
of a federal agent.

So now, you'd better have
a pretty good reason
for asking about him,

or I'm gonna take you down
and have you held for
suspicion of murder.

ANGELA: He's not dead, is he?

Tell me he's not dead.

Look, I'm trying to be nice.

Now, why do we have to
speak to each other
in such violent terms, huh?

Don't get cute.

I'm holding myself in,
but I might lose it.

Then you'd be out
a slug of money,



so you'd best
keep a tight rein
on your mouth.

(PHONE RINGING)

ROCKFORD:
(ON ANSWERING MACHINE)
This is Jim Rockford.

At the tone, leave your name
and message.

I'll get back to you.

(BEEPS)

Hi, Jim, it's Jamie
at the Police Impound.

They picked up
your car again.

Lately, they've
been driving it
more than you have.

(PHONE RINGING)

(CLEARING THROAT)

Who is it?

It's Tom.

Tom?
Can't it wait till morning?



TOM: Angie, get dressed
and go up to the house.

In the den, there's
an English riding print.

Behind it
I've got a wall safe.

A safe?

Now, I'm going to
give you the combination.

And I want you
to open the safe,

and inside
you'll find a package.
Take it to a bank.

Tom, what's going on?

I can't tell you,
but don't go
to the police, promise me?

Okay, I promise.

All right. All right, now,
I'll give you the combination.

(STUTTERING)
Okay, wait,
I don't have a paper.

(CAR APPROACHING)
Well, please hurry.

Okay.

No! No! Don't!

Okay, okay, I've got it.
What is it?

Tom?

Are you still there?

ANNOUNCER: (ON RADIO)
Now, we don't have any lions
or any hippopotamuses

or any trick slogans.

All we have down here, folks,
is good deals
and a sales manager

who used to be
an all-pro end for the Rams.

So bring the kiddies on down
to the Used Car Shopping Mart

and get a signed football
by Big George Sloane.

(PHONE RINGING)
We got little cars
and we got big cars,

we got economy cars
and we got some gas eaters.

But whatever you're
in the market for,
we got it.

So come on down
and drive out in style.

Don't forget, we also have...

(TV CLICKS)

Hello.

I would like to
speak to James Rockford.

Speaking.

My name is Angela Perris.

I'm in trouble
and I need help.

There's a man in
a green, two-door Ford.

I don't know who he is,

but I got this strange
phone call from my brother,

and he sounded
very frightened.

He told me to go to his house
and open up a safe

and take something out of it
and put it in the bank.

I was sound asleep
when he called,

and then he wasn't
on the phone anymore.

Are you anywhere
near Santa Monica?

Yeah.

All right,
there's a bar named
The Colony Inn on Wilshire.

Go inside and sit at the bar.

Put two packs of cigarettes,
one on top of the other,
in front of you,

and I'll be there in, oh,
10, 15 minutes, all right?

Oh, thank God!

Okay, which one is he?

No, no, don't point.
Just tell me.

Uh,

he's in the gray suit.

He's in the corner table.

You could see him
in the mirror,
by the exit sign.

Okay, I got him.
Now, what's going on?

Well, I don't know,
that's the whole problem.

I was at home, sound asleep,
and I got this phone call
from my brother.

And he sounded
really frightened and...

All right,
I got all that.

He wanted you to
go up to his house
and open up a safe?

Yeah, but I didn't
have a piece of paper,

and when I got
back to the phone,

I just heard some
breathing, and I said,
"Are you there, Tom?"

Somebody hung up.

And your brother
is Tom Perris?

Yeah.

What does he do?

Uh, he's the head of
the Institutional Investment
Department at Bundy and Banes.

A stockbroker?

Well, it's actually
a little more than that.

But, yeah, a stock broker.

Okay, Angie.

I'll go back and talk to him.
You stay here.

Gee, what are you
supposed to be?

Well, I'm the messenger
who's been sent back here
to ask you very politely

what you're doing following
that young lady around?

Uh-uh.

No, you're the guy who's
gonna be checking into

County General
in about 20 minutes

with a busted jaw
and a couple of
fractured ribs.

No kidding?

You gonna do that
all by yourself?

Oh, yeah, yeah,
that's right, Groucho.

All by myself.

Yeah, look,
I'm trying to be nice.

Now, why do we have to
speak to each other
in such violent terms, huh?

I'm sorry, I'm sorry,
I guess I should have said,
"1, 2, 3, go," huh?

How would you
like to be booked

for assaulting
a federal officer?

Look, I think I know
how we can fix
this right now.

Why don't I just go up,
pay my bar bill

and fade right out
of the picture, huh?

You wanna say
anything to Miss Perris,
you just go right ahead.

Yeah, why don't you
do that, huh?
I will.

And, hey,
if you ever get a chance,
why don't you drop around?

We'll have a drink.

I'd like to
make it up to you.

No, no, I'm serious,
I'm serious,
that was a sucker punch.

Hey, you'd been ready,
you'd probably
knock me silly.

BARTENDER: Hey,
what's going on here?

Here, here.

(CAR ENGINE STARTING)

He's not coming.

Yeah, well, I took
the rotor out of
a green, two-door Ford sedan

when I went into the place.

It just don't run
too good without them.

If he was a federal officer,
then why did you hit him?

Well, I said he had
a federal officer's ID,

I didn't say
he was a fed.
He wasn't.

How do you know?

I know, because
the picture on his ID

was taken against
a blue field

like on your
driver's license.

Feds have theirs taken
against a yellow field.

What he did was
cut the picture out of
his driver's license

and paste it into
a federal ID

and then encase it
in plastic.

A nice job,
but it was a phony.

How can you be so sure?

Oh, because
that's what I did.

I think we ought
to call the police.

I'm sorry,
but I can't allow that.

Fine, but you still owe me
for my time and trouble.

Okay, how much?

It's $200 a day.

Just because
we didn't decide on
something beforehand,

I mean, it doesn't
mean you could just
up your rates like that.

How much a day
does brother Tom make?

Look, I'm not
paying you $200.

I can't afford it.

I'll give you $25.

You didn't even
work for half an hour.
I think that's very fair.

Forget it.
Where do you want to go?

I don't see
what's wrong with $25.

Where do you want to go?

2375 Brentwood Drive.

Who lives here?

My brother.

Things are tough, huh?

My brother has money,
but I live on my own income.

I work as a bookkeeper
at a restaurant
and I make $220 a week.

I'm $1.26 short.
I'll mail it to you.

I told you to forget it.

No, I won't forget it.

(COINS JINGLING)
Take it!

Well, I thought you'd left.

Yeah, well, so did I.

Look, Angie,
there's a lot of things
to be considered here.

I mean, there's
a strong possibility

that something's
happened to your brother.

Look, nothing has
happened to Tom.

I told you to
stop saying that.

If something had happened
to him, I'd know about...
I'd feel it.

(SIGHING)

All right, all right.

I have
a special sucker rate.

For $23.74, you got me
for at least
another 10 minutes.

Long enough to
get you away from here clean

and take you
back to your car.
So, let's go...

Nothing's gonna
happen to me here.

And I'll get a girlfriend
to pick up the car.

And I wanna
see that safe.

I mean,
I didn't know
Tom had a safe.

I mean, why would he
have a safe?

Yeah, well, don't...
What do you...

You don't even
have the combination.

Couldn't we
crack it or blow it?

Well, it's a beauty.

German-made,
I'd say about six tumblers

set in a soundproof vacuum,
about four inches of
space-age iron alloy.

You know,
if you took this safe

and you took, oh, say,
20 pounds of
plastic explosive

and put it
around the safe,

then go across the street,
push the plunger,

you'd probably
blow this house
right off its foundation,

you wouldn't
bother that safe
one little bit.

(SIGHING)

Well, how do we
get into it?

We don't.

Look, why don't you
just leave?

Because I'm trying
to get you to leave.

You know there's some chance
you're in danger here?

I'm just a little bookkeeper
in a restaurant.

I'm supposed to be
some big risk to somebody?

The bookkeepers
of this world,
Mr. Rockford, count numbers,

but they don't count.

Tom counts.
He counts plenty.

And I'm gonna do
exactly what he told me

if that means chipping away
at that safe over there
with a kitchen knife!

What are you doing now?

I'm looking
for the combination.

The combination to the safe,
he wouldn't hide it in there.

Where do people
hide their door keys?

Look, I really don't see
what this has to do with it.

Well, they hide it
under the doormat

or over the doorframe, right?

I suppose.

Yeah, well,
most people who have safes
write the combination

on a piece of masking tape
and then they tape it

to the underneath
side of a desk drawer.

I'll be damned.

(CLICKS)

(GLASS SHATTERING)

Turn out the lights.

Turn out the lights!
Go on!

(FLOORBOARD CREAKING)

(DOOR LATCH CLICKING)

(ALARM SOUNDING)

257 l-M-D, 257 l-M...

2527. 25...

What are you doing?

I'm writing down
the license number.

252... No, 257...

Why don't you
do it, then?

I can't remember it.

2257...

That could be important,
you know...

I know it!
Would you wait a minute?

(ALARM BLARING)

Look, that alarm system
dials the cops,

and they're gonna
be here any minute.

Hey, good,
I think it's about time
we talked to them.

Look, I am not gonna
talk to the police.

Tom said, "No police,"
and he knows best.

I'm not gonna do it.

Now, hold on a minute.

You're not going any place
with that package.

For all I know,
you're not Tom Perris' sister,

and I just
helped you knock over
a safe in there.

Well, if that's true,
you're really not gonna
wanna stick around

and try to explain
that to the cops, are you?

Well, I'm gonna get
my whole $200 out of this

if I have to take it
to small claims court.

Come on, let's go.

I'll hold onto this.

(ROCKFORD WHISTLING)

There must be almost
$500,000 in here.

She don't look so good.

Here, here,
take a little sip of that,
you'll feel better.

Angie, I wanna know
what's going on.

And I gotta warn you,
I'm just about ready
to turn this whole thing

over to the cops,
so make it good.

He's probably dead.
Tom is probably dead.

They must have taken him
when I was talking
on the phone.

They must have
got him to give them
the combination

and then they must have...

What's she talking about?

Will you just
shut up a minute, Dad?

I don't know
what she's talking about.

I'm trying to find out.

Well, you're not doing
too good a job.

I know that, Dad,
but I'm just getting
warmed up,

so butt out.

Angie, what's the address
where you work?

What?

I wanna know the address.

3887 Wilshire Boulevard.

Okay.

Let's say for now
that I believe
you're Angela Perris

and you work
at Stacy's Grill.

What?

I wanna know why your brother
has squirreled away

almost $500,000
in a wall safe
in his house.

I don't have
the faintest idea.

Look, I know you think
that he probably stole it
or something,

and I swear to you,
I don't know where he got it,

but I know he couldn't
have stolen it.

I think you ought
to call the police.

Okay, Rocky,
let's say we do that, huh?

And let's say
this money isn't hot,

and this is not
Tom Perris' little sister,

where does that leave me?

Well, it leaves you with
a lot of explaining to do.

Right, and without
the faintest idea
of what's going on.

Wait a minute!
Wait a minute.

What about Tom?

I mean,
nobody here cares about Tom!

He could be
in a lot of danger,
you know?

Angie, okay, okay.

I'll make you a deal.

We'll put this money
in the bank,
like Tom said.

Only, we're gonna
put it in your name
and my name.

That way,
it's gonna take both of us
to open that safe deposit box.

Why?

Because, I want a ticket
I can cash

just in case
this is some kind of
crazy frame-up.

With these escrow boxes,
each of you gets a key.

We, of course,
have the master key.

So it would take
all three keys
to open the box.

Thank you.

Well, what now?

Well, I'll take you
to work, and you stay put

while I do
some checking, huh?

Okay, but no police,
you promised.

All right.

(PHONE BUZZES)

Okay, which line?

Yeah, Rockford, what is it?

Hey, Shore, I got
something for you.

Yeah, what do you got,
hotshot? Huh?

You're gonna beef the Bureau?
You gonna file
a citizen's complaint?

What're you gonna do?
Go on, tell me.

You got a federal agent
named Bettingen?

Okay. Where?

How about
Billy's Diner on Fifth?

They make a great omelet.

And bring your wallet.

Who's he?

This is Agent Slater.

I guess I should have said
"Come alone,"

but it always sounds
so melodramatic.

Well, we're living in
the melodrama
capital of the world.

Otherwise, guys like you
wouldn't be able
to make a living.

Shake him down
and cuff him.

If Agent Slater
lays a hand on me,

I'm gonna close up
like a cherrystone,

and you're gonna be
talking to my lawyer.

Why are you gonna make it
so difficult, Rockford?

'Cause I'm willing to
trade a little information,
Danny boy.

I'm not gonna do it
in front of him

and I'm not gonna take
any of your customary lip.

So why don't you sit down
and have an omelet, huh?

Okay, wait over there.

Oh, waitress,
would you give him
an omelet, please?

Forget it.

You wanna
trade information?

Okay. You asked about
Bettingen, right?

Right.

Somebody canceled
his ticket last night.

We found him about 2:00 a.m.
Stuffed in the trash can

behind The Lobster Bin
on Melrose.

He'd been dead
24 hours.

So now, you'd better have
a pretty good reason
for asking about him,

or I'm gonna take you down
and have you held for
suspicion of murder.

Drop dead.
Yeah?

Yeah, you couldn't
pin that charge on me
with a riveter.

I didn't know Bettingen.

I don't have
any motive for killing him.

I'm listening, Rockford.
Make it good.

What do you know about
Agent Bettingen's death?

Well, I met a guy last night,
and he tried to convince me

that he was a fed
named Gary Bettingen.

He showed me an ID,
and it was a real one,

except he had substituted
his driver's license picture.

So, maybe he's the guy
who killed Bettingen.

Maybe. What's he look like?

Well, you see,
I was wondering

just exactly what
Bettingen was working on.

It's classified.

Unclassify it.

You know, Rockford,
this is the murder
of a federal agent.

This is a very
hot little item.

I could hit you with
withholding information
in a murder investigation.

What makes you think
you can sit there
and trade information?

I think I can do it, Danny,
because I am doing it.

Okay, maybe $2 million worth
of forged stock certificates,

Bettingen was
working on that.

With who? Why?

That's it, Rockford,
end of the line.

It's a green,
two-door Ford sedan.

That's the license number.

What's he look like?

Well, you take
Agent Slater over there,

you chop off
a couple of inches,

flatten his nose
and give him gray eyes,
you'd be pretty close.

Oh, and he's also got
a slightly bruised lip.

You hit him?

No, just...

Would you take care
of that for me, Danny?

See you.

OPERATOR: Bundy and Banes.
One moment please.

I believe he is, sir.
If you'll hold on a minute,
I'll connect you. Thank you.

Hi, I'm trying to
find Jim Rockford,
with our central office.

I'm Terry Stovall.

Which one are you with,
Mr. Stovall?

County Tax Assessor,
we're running an audit.

That makes four
independent audits,
all going on at once.

Of course. Would you
call Tom Perris' office

and see if
Mr. Rockford's there?

He's supposed to
be quartered there
for the day.

Mr. Bundy set it up.

Mr. Perris
didn't come in today.

What's going on, anyway?

Did he steal something?

Everybody's
being so secretive,

and all these audits going on.

Hi, Susan?
Susan, this is Jan
at the switchboard.

Do you have
a Mr. Jim Rockford

from the County Tax
Assessor's Office there?

Okay, well,
thanks anyway.

If he shows up,
tell him there's a Mr. Stovall

from his office
looking for him.

Okay.

He's not there.

Well, Rockford had better
get on the ball,

or he's gonna be
balancing figures
for another agency.

Mr. Gorman's onto him already.

Mr. Gorman?

Mr. Gorman. Look,
I'll be in the coffee room
if he shows up.

Oh, hold on a minute, sir.

Oh boy, oh boy,
I am really sorry.

I got hung up
in traffic.

Are you Mr. Rockford
from the County Tax Office?

Right, right.
Listen, why is it

when you're
going down the freeway,

there's an accident
on the other side
of the divider,

everybody in your lane stops
to look at the accident?

What, do they wanna see
blood or something?
Everybody in their right...

Mr. Rockford,
apparently there's somebody

from your office
who's been looking
for you downstairs.

That's just Stovall,
he's supposed to run the tapes

out of the accounting
department anyway.

Oh.

Where could I set up?
In here okay?

I suppose if Mr. Bundy
set it up, it's okay.

Bundy, Bundy...
Oh, yeah,

I think somebody
talked to him. Yeah.

Well, then I guess
it's okay to use
Mr. Perris' office.

Hey, good. Would you get me
some coffee, honey?

Cream and sugar,
not too much,
and not too little.

Okay.

Ah.

Bonito, perfecto.

I beg your pardon?

It's good, it's perfect.
Oh.

Miss...
Susan Miller.

Who's Mr. Perris'
boss around here?

Well, that would be
Mr. Whitlaw.

Tall, skinny,
gray hair, kind of pale?

No, actually,
he's kind of stocky
with slightly balding...

Of course,
of course. The...

Of course,
you know what's going on,
don't you, Miss Miller?

I guess so.
It's sort of hard to believe.

Isn't it?

Just how informed are you?
I suppose I should know before

I take you into
my confidence.

I don't understand.

Well, Miss Miller,
let me clarify, huh?

What we have here
is a very serious situation

involving over $500,000
in bogus securities.

Now, I have been
instructed to maintain

absolute strict
confidentiality in
this matter by Mr. Bundy.

See, it's important that
I know what you know,

so that I don't tell you
anything that might be,

well, how'll we say it,
news to you?

You know, Mr. Bundy
wouldn't want you

spreading it
around the coffee room.

I don't discuss
anything that happens

in this office
with my friends,
Mr. Rockford.

Good girl, good girl.

Well, I suppose
I don't really know
that much.

Except that apparently
Mr. Perris was buying
some forged stock certificates

from somebody and putting them
into a street account
here at the brokerage firm.

Apparently, that had been
going on for some time.

Yes, yes,
for quite some time.

Well, that's
about all I know,

except that
the Federal Government
moved in here

this morning and
started an audit at 6:00.

I did hear a rumor

that they were working
with Mr. Perris
to buy the securities.

See, somebody in accounting
said that they talked to

one of
the Federal accountants,

and that they gave
Mr. Perris $500,000

to buy the forged
certificates with.

Can you believe that?

Oh, you believe it,
Miss Miller.

It's not the last
you've heard of it.

(GASPING)
Then it's true

that he took off with
the Federal Government's money

and that
Bundy and Banes is left

holding $500,000 worth...

Wait, wait, let's not
engage in any speculations
just yet, huh?

(WHISPERING)
Oh. Okay.

Well, I don't understand
why you're here.

Why is
the County Tax Assessor's
Office interested?

Well...

Well, that's because
the annual pre-paid
discount

on all unlisted,

but depreciating,
securities is handled

by the County Tax
Assessor's Office,

on all units up
to 2457 of the new
State Tax Code,

with the exception of the new
State Tax Board's special
auditing amendment,

which doesn't go into effect
till March, anyway. You see?

Will there be
anything else, then,
Mr. Rockford?

Just a little peace
and quiet, thank you.

SUSAN: I'm sorry Mr. Whitlaw,
but he said he was

from the County Tax
Assessor's Office.

But, Mr. Whitlaw,
he said he was...

Thank you, Miss Miller.
Would you excuse us, please?

All right, who are you?

I'm Rockford.

I'm an accountant with
the County Tax
Assessor's Office.

I was just about to
call you, Mr. Whitlaw.

We're gonna need a lot more
information on all of this...

County Tax Assessor
was here yesterday.

He did his audit and left.

Well, he's back,
Mr. Whitlaw, and I'm him.

Miss Miller,
would you have security

come up here
right away, please?

Oh, this is ridiculous.

I'll just call Mr. Bundy.

Mr. Bundy is at home.
Mr. Bundy is retired.

He is? Here.

(GRUNTS)

(WHITLAW EXCLAIMING)

I'm going down
to see Stovall.

I'll be back in
about 20 minutes.

And Mr. Whitlaw
will be tied up.

He doesn't want
to be disturbed.

(PHONE RINGING)

Yes?

Mr. Bundy.

A man named Jim Rockford
just got into
Tom Perris' office.

How did that happen, Whit?

I don't know, sir.
It just did.

What do you
want me to do now?

Don't do anything.
Not for just now.

Check him out,
and I'll get back to you.

I know Agent Shore.
He wouldn't let me
manhandle him like that

unless he was in
a lot of trouble.

If you'd like to do
a little creative speculating,

I'd say his trouble
is that he gave your brother

$500,000 worth
of taxpayers' money

just to help him
trap some guys

who were selling
counterfeit securities.

Then they assigned
Agent Bettingen
to watch your brother.

Somebody put
Bettingen's lights out

and stuffed him
in a trash can

behind The Lobster Bin.

This whole thing
is absurd.

Yeah, you keep saying that,

but from where I'm sitting,
it begins to add up.

Look, Angie,
people are dying.

Now, maybe, just maybe,
your brother's already dead.

So don't go
stubborn on me, will you?

I mean, I'm gonna...

I'm gonna make sure
that nobody's following us,

then I'm gonna
stash you in a safe place.

Look, this is absurd,
really.

Yeah, well, it's
beginning to add up to me.

ANGELA:
You should have seen him,
Mr. Rockford.

I mean,
he was 20, and I was 5.

And we were
all alone in the world.

It was just
my brother and me.

It's been that way
ever since.

That was 20 years ago.

And during all that time,
Tom has taken care of me.

And he's been
my whole life.

What happened
to your parents?

I don't remember them at all.

But Tom has told me
about them.

They were a lot older,

and my mother had me
when she was 45.

We lived on this farm
in Maryland,
and we had horses

and dogs and chickens.

My father got
kicked in the head

by a horse
he was trying to ride.

And he died.

And my mother
loved him so much that

about six months later
she died, too.

I guess of a broken heart
or something.

It's kind of sad,
but it's beautiful, too.

I mean, you don't see people
that attached to one another

that they can't live
without the other one.

You just don't
see that anymore.

Anyway, that's
what Tom says.

Well, he's right.

Angie, have you
given any thought

to what you're gonna do
if Tom is dead?

Tom is not dead.

I told you
to stop saying that.

And he didn't steal
any money, either.

He's my brother,
I ought to know.

I mean, he took care of me
and he raised me
and he cared for me,

and he's everything to me.

But you wouldn't understand
that kind of devotion,
would you?

I mean, you just

couldn't understand that.

Oh, I think I can, Angie.

It's just that we

have a set
of circumstances here
that just can't be ignored.

Now, devotion is one thing,
but blind devotion is another.

It's not blind.

For 20 years, I saw him.

I saw him work to support me,
I saw him give up things
that he wanted

to buy me a new school dress.

Now that's anything
but blind.

Okay.

I'll be back around 7:00.

What're you gonna do?

I'm gonna go see
if I can get a line on
the guy Whitlaw.

I wanna check him out, okay?

Not dead, is he?

Tell me he's not dead.

Angie.

Angie, you're 25 years old.
Now, sometimes it's hard,

but you have to
look trouble in the eye
and deal with it.

Sometime,
you're gonna have to start
living for yourself.

(DOOR CLOSES)

(PHONE RINGING)

WOMAN: Hello, Mr. Rockford.

I'm glad you finally called.

I've been waiting here
in a phone booth
for almost an hour.

Meaning, don't bother to
try to trace the call?

Meaning nothing, Jim.

Just a fact,
not worth mentioning.

All right, you say you want
to discuss Tom Perris.

We have Mr. Perris.

You have $500,000
of our money.

I do?

You sure do, honey.

Yeah, so?

I'm not empowered
to make any decisions, Jim,

but I would like
to set up a meeting
with our principals

and yourself
to discuss the terms
of our agreement.

And I suppose you want me
to meet your principals

in a deserted warehouse

behind the freight yards
around midnight?

Bring the money
and come alone,

something like that?

You are very amusing, Jim.

I pick the time
and the spot.

That sounds just fine.
You call it.

There's a hotel
in Santa Monica

on the corner of
Wilshire and Lincoln.

They have a stairway
up to the roof. Meet me there.

What time?

Oh, 4:00.

Tell your man to come alone.
I'll be there 10 minutes late,

and if he's not there
when I show up,
the deal is off.

(SIREN WAILING)

Okay, where is it?

Let me guess.
You had a tip, right?

That's right, Rockford.

Somebody called you
and said I'd be here

and I'd have $500,000.

That ain't what
you've got, Rockford.

Get his keys.
Open the trunk.

Tom Perris?

Look, I can explain.

No, you can't.
Where's his sister?

No, I can explain.
I really can.

Okay, go ahead.

I'm afraid it may
take me a while.

It's the strangest
thing you ever saw.

These two men came up here,

kicked the door
and took the lady out.

She was screaming
as they took her
down the stairs.

How did they know
she was here?

They probably
were following you,
Rockford.

I was very
careful about that.

Nobody was following me
when I brought her up here.

You're up to your neck
in trouble, Rockford.

Look who's talking.

Your checkbook's a mess.
Don't you ever balance it?

You wanna
get out of there?

You wanna
shut up, Rockford?

You're still
under arrest.

I let you talk me into this,
but that doesn't mean
I won't get sore

and have a change of heart.

You're not gonna
have a change of heart,
Danny boy.

No, you're up to
your peaches in
departmental reprimands.

The way I see it,
they've got you

all crated up and
ready to ship back

to the tax audit
department in Washington.

Is that so?

Yeah, that's so.
Yeah, let me see, now.

You made a deal
with Tom Perris

to acquire some
forged securities,

and then it turns out
that Tom Perris is in

the forged
securities business.

Huh?

Then you gave him
$500,000 worth
of the taxpayers' money.

You wanna shut up, Rockford?

Do you wanna get
out of my desk, Danny?

Now, let me see.
In all your brilliance,

you put Agent Bettingen
on Tom Perris

to watch him,
somebody blew him away,

so you got that
hanging over your head.

No, you're not going to have
a change of heart, Danny.

You've had your card punched
by too many people
on this thing.

(PHONE RINGING)

Yeah.

Well, Jimmy,
things don't seem to be
working out, do they?

Oh, sure they do, honey.

Now, you tried to get cute,
and that's fine.

That's fine, except
the price goes up
with every failure.

We have Angela and one
of the safe deposit box keys.

And we're willing
to trade the girl
for the other key.

There just isn't going to be
any money involved.

Well, sure there is, honey.
There's gonna be
$100,000 involved.

I'm not sure
that can be arranged.

Well, now, look,
I can go to the feds,

tell them about the box,
they can drill it,

and I'll just pick up
a 10% finder's fee.

What about the girl?

You hurt her and
you're just gonna heap
more trouble on yourself.

And besides,
you can't get into that box

without Angela
to sign the card,

so you be sure and
take good care of her.

Okay, but we call the spot.

Okay, just what
do you got in mind?

There's an abandoned
building on Adams

near the freeway,
next to the railroad track.

Come alone.

If you bring heat,
the girl pays the price.

Well, I won't have
the key with me,
but it'll be handy.

So, don't make
that mistake, huh?

Of course, sugar.

Key.

They're gonna
find it there.

Well, of course they will,
that's the whole idea.

Come on.

The area's clean.
We checked the whole lot
and all the cars.

I got four guys
watching it.

Nobody's here who
shouldn't be here.

Is that it?
Yeah.

We can follow you up
to a half mile with this.

All you gotta do is break it
when you want us to come in.

What is this?

Look at that, will you?

Well, that explains
how they found the motel.

They were tracking me
electronically.

I mean, these are
for official use only.

How do hoods get
their hands on this stuff?

It just isn't fair, is it?

Okay, you're set.
Get going.

Get the rest of
our people tuned in.

He's headed for
the abandoned building

on Adams by
the railroad track.

Hiya, Whit,
how's your Dow Jones?

We can deal, Rockford,
but don't get cute.

I'm holding myself in,
but I might lose it.

Oh, well, then you'd be
out a slug of money.

You'd better keep
a tight rein on your mouth.

You got the key?

Come on, Whit,
do I look like I'd carry
the key with me, huh?

You're giving me
awfully low marks
on craftsmanship.

All right, you get out
and get in this car.

I'll take you to somebody
that can set the deal.

You don't think
I'm gonna put $100,000

in the trunk of
this car, do you?

Nothing doing, Whit.

Now, you wanna
get out of that thing
and get in here with me,

I just might consider
taking you someplace

where we could call
your principal and meet,

but I'm not handing myself
over to you on a bet.

(GUN FIRING)

(BRAKES SQUEALING)

All right, relax, relax.
I've changed my mind
and decided to go with you.

WHITMAN: Would you like
to get in the car now, please?

Get ready,
they're coming towards us.

Surprise, surprise.

Won't Mr. Bundy be pleased?

And we can take care
of Mr. Rockford
and Miss Perris.

What do you mean
when you say, "take care of"?

"Take care of" as in "kill".

You see, we don't
need you or Miss Perris
to get into the box.

Just how do you
figure to arrange that?

We had a very
good forgery expert
duplicate your signature

which your wallet
was kind enough
to provide us.

I have sent for
a very reasonable
facsimile of both you

and Miss Perris.

The gentleman who will play
your part at the bank

is also
a dealer in Las Vegas.

He will simply
palm the signature card

and give
the bank the forgery.

It is troublesome
and highly complicated,
but terribly effectual.

It will also insure
that you do not
go berserk in the bank

and try to hit somebody,

which you seem prone to do.

Get them out of here.

(POLICE RADIO CHATTERING)

ROCKFORD: Go! Run! Run!

Go, go, go.

(CRACKLING)

Go.

Hold it! It's Rockford.

Hey, that was nice.
That was nice. If you
hadn't dropped like that,

I don't think we
could have pulled it off.

Dropped?

I just tripped,
it was an accident.

SHORE: You know,
I hated doing that.

You told her?

Yeah, I told her
part of it,

but I just didn't
have the heart
to tell her the rest.

I mean, all that stuff
we got out of CID

and the old warrant
and everything.

What're you talking about?

Oh. Well, we ran the prints
on the body of Tom Perris,

and it turns out
his real name
is Theodore Kane.

He was wanted for murder
in Connecticut.

The beef is
20 years old.

Murder? Who'd he kill?

He killed his father.

Apparently, his father
used to like to

beat up on Perris'
kid sister, Angela.

He came home
from school one day

and saw the old man
beating her,

and he got his
father's shotgun
and killed him.

Then he took his sister,
stole the family car and left.

That was in 1955.

I didn't tell her that.

Losing him's hard enough.

She seems to have
a kind of fixation
about her brother.

I just couldn't tell her.

You know something, Dan?

You have your moments.

It pleases me
that you think so.

ANGELA: His name
wasn't Perris, was it?

ROCKFORD: No.

He told me that once
a long time ago.

He was very depressed
about something

and he let it slip.

And then later
I asked him what it was,

and he just laughed

and said it was a joke.

If he wasn't Tom Perris,
then who am I?

Who the hell is Angie?

Angie is a bright, efficient,
very pretty young girl

with a good head
on her shoulders,

who has a life
that belongs all to her.

If he was stealing,
then he couldn't have been

all the things
that I thought he was.

He loved you,
he took care of you

and he was your brother.

I guess, for now,
that's all I need to know.