The Streets of San Francisco (1972–1977): Season 1, Episode 19 - Deadline - full transcript
A veteran newspaper columnist and longtime friend of Stone's accidentally kills his young, two-timing mistress and then attempts to pin the rap on the young stage actor she was seeing.
( funky jazz theme playing )
ANNOUNCER: The
Streets of San Francisco,
a Quinn Martin production.
Starring Karl Malden.
Also starring Michael Douglas
With guest stars
Barry Sullivan...
Geoffrey Deuel...
Greg Mullavey.
Tonight's episode: "Deadline."
( peaceful theme playing )
( mysterious theme playing )
I thought you were out of town.
I lied.
Why?
The reason's pretty
obvious, isn't it, Maggie?
Who is he?
You've been drinking.
I had good reason. Who is he?
I was going to
tell you about him.
Tell me.
Not when you're like this.
I'm always like this about you.
Tell me.
Please, not now.
Now.
Where has all the gentle gone?
Chris!
You set the ground
rules, Chris, remember?
No ring, no long runs.
( screams )
Maggie!
Maggie.
Baby. Baby.
Maggie, I didn't mean to
do that. I swear, Maggie.
( dramatic theme playing )
Maggie.
Maggie!
Baby.
( suspenseful theme playing )
MAN: The body is that of
an adult Caucasian female
weighing approximately
120 pounds,
measuring...
65-and-one-half inches.
The hair is blonde.
The eyes are blue.
The ears, nose and mouth
are essentially unremarkable
except for a small, unrepaired
cavity in the left incisor.
There has to be another
way for the day to begin.
CORONER: There is
edema of the occipital region
and a depressed fracture
measuring approximately
5 cm at greatest diameter.
It is my opinion that
the wound of the skull
produced such
extensive brain damage
as to preclude
the possibility of
the deceased
surviving the injury.
Time lapse since death,
conceding the
cooling rate of the body
to be approximately
one degree per hour
and, uh, taking into account
surrounding
temperature and moisture,
12 hours.
She was dead before
she hit the water.
But how long in the bay?
Well, the tidal currents flow
about six hours
in one direction,
and about, uh, the same
in the opposite direction.
What time you say she was found?
Just before 6 this morning.
Right about here.
Yes. There. Mm-hm.
Well, currents were
running seaward then.
If the body hadn't been
recovered when it was,
she'd have gone
right through the gate.
If she was dumped from a boat,
where would it
have been, captain?
Can you make a guess?
Well, I can do better than that.
Now, here's a chart prepared
by the hydrographic offices
of the U.S. government.
It graphs the surface
conditions of the waters here.
Now, found when she
was, in these latitudes,
she had to be drifting
seaward on the outgoing tide.
Now, the span of time
measured by the speed of
the water and the wind currents
would indicate that she
had to be right about there.
STONE: That's land.
CAPTAIN: That's right.
Belvedere.
KELLER: I'll get right on it.
Wild, huh, isn't it?
It's beautiful. Yeah.
Man, comes night, you
know what you can do?
You can freak out on the stars.
It's really glorious.
Not the moon though.
They're polluting
the moon, you know?
Yesterday you weren't
looking at anything, huh?
No, just leather. I mean,
that's my life's work.
I neglect that I'm
a hungry child.
Yeah.
You ever seen her?
That's a lot of girl.
Yeah.
No, I never saw her
not until just this minute.
Why? Who is she?
Maggie Ames.
Oh.
Uh, what is it, a missing
person or something?
Dead. She's dead.
Ohhh.
Oh, wow.
That's a lost child, you know?
Hey, I'm... I'm sorry I can't
help you out unless, uh...
Unless you could use
some custom-made shoes
or something like
that. ( chuckles)
You guys use a
lot of shoe leather.
No, I don't think so.
Thank you anyway.
It couldn't hurt.
I'll do it cheap.
Yeah. Maybe another time.
( sighs )
MAN: Maggie was
an exciting, vibrant girl.
Cliché or no,
she lit up the place
where she was.
Maggie did a column for us.
Profiles in depth
on the illustrious,
the anonymous.
What was the last
thing she wrote?
A piece on, uh, ACT,
the theater group.
She picked her own assignments,
did what interested her.
Well, what would interest
her about a theater group?
Creativity.
Creativity interested her.
She spent more
time on that column
than she had on all the others.
Do you know why?
No.
No, I don't.
Maggie placed a high
value on her privacy.
Not many people dared
to intrude upon that.
How did she live, Mr. Martin?
I mean, habits,
friends, lifestyle?
Did she live alone,
with someone?
Oh, alone, I assume,
I never asked her, and
we never discussed it.
I didn't know her friends.
I certainly have no idea why
anyone would wanna kill her.
Tomorrow's news is screaming
for attention, Mr. Stone.
Today's is a whisper from
the dead and the buried.
Mr. Martin, thank
you for your time.
Well, isn't there somebody
there I can talk to about it?
I just wanna find out
when the rehearsal starts.
All right, I'll wait.
Yeah, I'm still here.
Uh-huh.
What is it?
Four o'clock. And
what's the name again?
William Ball.
Thank you very much.
No. No messages.
Belvedere. What?
It happened in Belvedere.
How do you come by that?
They found her in
the bay, didn't they?
She had a beach
house over there.
And what else do you know?
Wait. You're supposed to
be the homicide heavyweight.
You give me the facts,
remember? I just put them on paper.
How well did you know her, ace?
She put out a column,
I put out a column.
That's all?
Mm, give or take an
occasional lunch offer
from an old man
she was too busy for.
How about this, uh, beach house?
Oh, it's at the
foot of the hills.
Right on the water.
She told you about it?
No. A gal at the
office owned it.
Rented it to Maggie when
she moved to Arizona.
412 Bay View. Say, thanks, ace.
Nothing in life is free, Mike.
Oh, I thought we
touched that base before,
remember, no exclusives.
Just a promise? Yeah.
Get him.
That almost sounds more personal
than just a lunch date
or two not taken up on.
I take it personally every time a
Maggie Ames gets chopped down.
Mike, how much good
is there left in this world?
And how many people are there
trying to help what
little there is left?
You pull Maggie's
columns, any one of them.
See how she looked
at life, at people.
Everything she
wrote had a smile.
Blue skies and white caps.
Summer storms and rainbows.
Snowflakes and holly.
The man who killed
her scrubbed all that.
In one stupid, mindless,
self-centered moment,
he took something rare and...
left it like that.
Well, it's still just
an investigation, ace.
Nothing says murder.
Twenty-eight years on the
desk says murder to me, Mike.
And if you can't
prove it, I will.
( dramatic theme playing )
( cool theme playing )
Do you got something?
Yeah, it looks like an...
errand list or something.
"Market, laundry,
drugstore, gas station."
Sounds pretty flimsy.
What did you come up with?
Look, the next time the
Marin County Sheriff tells us
we won't find anything,
I'm gonna believe that man.
This house has got the
worst vibes, you know?
It's so cold.
So impersonal.
Maybe she lit it up.
Like her editor said,
she lit up the room
wherever she was.
( phone ringing )
Hello?
What've you got?
Chris.
You got nothing, right?
Your press pass
buy you insult rights?
It buys more than
your badge, it seems.
Like?
Like two kids in a skiff
yesterday evening off Belvedere.
You telling me somebody
saw what happened?
Same as.
They saw a speedboat
heading into the beach
with a boy and a girl.
A blond girl.
A few minutes later,
they saw the same boat
blasting back across
the bay without the girl.
Did you get a
description of the guy?
Mike, two 16, 17-year-old
red-blooded American boys.
They could describe the girl.
They could describe the boat.
The girl was Maggie.
The boat was a 20,
22-foot custom inboard.
White with blue lightning bolts
down each side of the bow.
Thanks, ace.
Mike, we get that
boat, we get the killer.
I'm checking marinas now.
We?
Okay, okay. I'll do it myself.
You go back to
shaking doorknobs.
Chris.
Crazy, ink-fingered fireball.
What's happened?
Well, he may have
broken the case wide open.
Well, what are we looking for?
Lightning bolts.
Lightning bolts?
Yes, of course. I know it well.
Thoroughbred.
Privilege to berth her.
Well, I'm glad to hear it.
This is the eighth yacht
harbor we've been to today.
Who owns it?
Young fellow named
Roland Claridge.
Do you know if he
took it out yesterday?
I must enlighten you.
Members here use their
vessels at their own whim and will.
Well, do you happen to know
whether he had
the whim yesterday?
No, sir, I do not.
That is an intrusion
we cannot condone.
But this must be the
boat you described to me.
The only one of it's kind
on the bay to my knowledge.
Little thoroughbred.
Well...
we may have to keep this
thoroughbred in the barn
for a while.
I beg your pardon?
Impound. Police impound.
Impound? Yes, sir.
Well, the other chap
never mentioned that.
Other chap? Yes.
Before you asking
the same questions.
Newspaper fellow.
Chris Bane.
I was about to
tell you his name.
Chris Bane.
He writes a newspaper
column, "Deadline."
"Deadline."
Maybe we're gonna have
to start reading that column.
Yes, lieutenant. We've
been expecting you.
He said that you'd
be along shortly.
KELLER: He?
Uh, that wouldn't
by any chance be
a gentleman named Chris Bane?
Scarcely a gentleman.
His interrogation of my
son was indefensible.
I had him shown out.
Score one for our side.
I beg your pardon?
Nothing, Mrs. Claridge.
I take it then you
know why we're here.
I should have sold
that boat years ago.
Cost a fortune.
Roland uses it semi-annually.
Oh, this is my son, Roland.
Lieutenant Stone.
I'm Inspector Keller.
How do you do?
Uh, did you, by any chance,
use the boat
yesterday, Mr. Claridge?
No, he was not using
his boat yesterday.
Where were you
between 4:30 and 5:00?
He was here at home with me.
Can anyone else attest to that,
like Roland here, for instance?
How about it, Roland?
I was at home yesterday.
Your boat was out.
Yeah, but I wasn't operating it.
Well, do you know who was?
Do I have to answer that?
Certainly not.
You don't have to
answer anything.
Just that I'd rather not
involve anybody else
until I understand exactly
what this is all about.
Well, I'm sure that Chris
Bane must have told you.
He said murder.
Who is this somebody else
that you're worried about?
I can't believe he'd
do a thing like that.
Well, then he won't be afraid to
answer a few questions, will he?
His name is Peter.
Peter Anthony.
He was using it yesterday?
All day.
Where can we find him?
No. I have no
idea where he lives.
But, Roland, how...?
How do you know
anybody...? Anybody like that?
We study together.
You go to school?
My son studies theater
at the ACT workshop.
( dramatic theme playing )
( gunshot )
( whispers ): Devil.
She was as false as water.
Devil.
She was a liar
gone to burning hell.
Devil.
Very good, very good.
John.
Allow the tension to
build just a little bit longer
before you pull the trigger.
And we'll take a
10-minute break,
and then we'll start
from the top of the scene.
He's, uh... He's really
good, your Othello.
Oh, you recognized it.
Sure, sure. I liked it.
What part does
Peter Anthony play?
Cassio.
When does he come on?
I don't rehearse with
him again till tomorrow.
Tomorrow?
( sighs )
Do you happen to know
where we can find him today?
Afraid not.
Well, what about your office?
Would they have his
phone number or address?
Not for Peter.
Why is that?
Well, personal reasons.
His parents objected
pretty strongly
to his becoming an actor.
It's a pity too because
he's very gifted
and he could use their support.
Well, what time is the
rehearsal tomorrow?
I'm working with
Desdemona till 11:00
and I'll begin with Peter then.
Great. Thank you very much.
Say, there's one more
thing. Please, Mr. Ball.
There's a young woman reporter
working on a column
about your theater.
Maggie Ames.
Oh, I, uh, heard
about her death.
Is that what you're
investigating?
Uh, yes. Yes. We were wondering
if she focused her interviews
on anyone in particular.
Well... Peter Anthony?
Peter?
Oh, if you're assuming
that Peter had anything to do
with that young woman's
death, that's pretty poor casting.
Peter is very sensitive,
but, uh, he's also
very self-controlled.
He's well focused, clear-headed.
I guess you could say the
same thing about Othello,
couldn't you, Mr. Ball?
Checking the box score?
Yeah, if Chris knows
anything about this Anthony kid,
that'll make it a
shutout, won't it?
Yeah.
Old ink-fingers
three, the fuzz zip.
It's kind of tough to
get a jump on this guy.
Yeah, he always was that way.
Well, how long you
really known him?
Oh, we go back a long way.
Way back.
Yeah, my first day in
homicide, my first case.
Me and old McIntyre, we...
Remember Mc...? No,
that was before your time.
Well, uh, we got
out there like a shot.
And there was this
reject from a college paper
walking all over the clues.
So, what did you do?
Same thing I've had to
do a hundred times since.
Tell him to keep out of the way.
But no matter where
you turn around, why,
you'd always trip over him.
One-man traffic jam, huh?
Yeah.
He turned out to be a
good reporter, though.
Many times, he'd
come up with leads that,
well, the whole
department couldn't find.
Sounds like he'd be a great cop.
Except for one
thing. What's that?
Small item about
drinking on duty.
Does he have a problem?
No.
He just drinks as
hard as he works.
Yeah.
Listen, is there anything in
his column about the case?
No, he's taken on
legalized gambling today.
That's funny. What?
Well, he's just so involved.
You'd think he'd have
something about the case.
Well, he may have
written it before.
It may be one of a series,
and it's gotta continue.
Come on. Let's get
back to the office.
I wanna find out what they
know about Peter Anthony.
( mysterious theme playing )
MAN: That you, Dad?
Hm? Hey, Greg. How are you, son?
How long you been here?
I got here a little while ago.
Uh, making coffee.
You want some?
I think I could use
a... Yeah, yeah.
Yeah, coffee. That's
a great idea. Fine.
Now, you've been working
on that Maggie Ames' story.
Yeah.
How is your work going?
Oh, nothing's changed.
I don't think it's
about to, either, Dad.
Hey, you hang in there, Greg.
Aerospace is important.
Lasers, galaxies, black holes.
But we've talked about
all that before, haven't we?
Yeah, we've been through it.
Hey, man, that
coffee smells good.
Thank you, Greg.
You know, I haven't
seen you for days
and I treat you like wallpaper.
How are you? How have you been?
What've you been
doing with yourself?
You need a buck? You
need some fatherly advice?
From an absentee father?
Something like that.
I tried to see you at the
paper, but you'd gone.
Okay, Greg, shoot.
What's on your mind?
It's all right. You look beat.
We'll make it some other time.
No, Greg.
Greg, don't go.
You gotta get some sleep, Dad.
I need...
What, Dad?
What we all need, I guess, Greg.
Someone you can cut
your heart open to. Our...
tired old hearts.
Oh, come on. You've
got the heart of a lion.
( chuckles )
Yeah, that's me.
Old, lion-hearted.
King of the jungle.
King of the jungle with
a pride of lionesses to...
No. No, not a pride. Just one.
Sleek, lithe, young,
with a glow about her
that set men's hearts aglow.
I don't follow you, Dad.
Are you seeing
somebody special now?
No.
Not anymore.
Not ever again.
Why not?
She's dead.
Dead?
Killed.
Who was she, Dad?
Mm.
That girl you asked
about a few minutes ago.
Maggie Ames.
( suspenseful theme playing )
I... I didn't know.
Well, Greg, not too
many people did.
I made her keep it that way.
I didn't want her
to be laughed at.
I didn't want people
saying what they could
if they knew she was seeing a
man old enough to be her father.
It didn't matter how
many times she told me
that the only thing that
mattered was my love. I...
Oh, I pretended to believe
her, but I knew better.
I knew the day would come
when she'd be able to
see what anyone could see.
That day finally came.
She was killed.
Yeah.
Yeah, she was killed.
And I'm gonna find the man
who took her away from me.
The man who made love to
her. The man who made her die.
I'm gonna find him.
( dramatic theme playing )
( mysterious theme playing )
KELLER: I see, right.
So then, if he actually hadn't
been paid for performance,
he wouldn't have to join
your guild, is that right?
Right. Okay, well,
thank you very much.
Have a good evening. Bye.
What did you get
from the actors guild?
Nothing. Just
that he's a student
and doesn't have to join
the guild unless he gets paid.
But I can't find anything
like a diary or daily calendar.
Same in her bedroom.
Well, maybe she left
her life at the office.
If she had one.
Judging by this, I don't know.
Wanna pack it in?
Yeah.
And you can read
this... on your own time.
Beautiful handwriting. Yeah.
Good looks.
Good taste.
I don't know.
And everything she
wrote had a smile.
( suspenseful theme playing )
"Identity.
Revelation. P.A."
( reading )
Day.
Anthony.
P.A. Peter Anthony.
( ringing )
Telegraph.
Yeah. Sure, Mr. Bane.
I'll get it right away. Hold on.
I've got it right here in
front of me, Mr. Bane.
Maggie Ames' last column. ACT.
Uh, read what it says
about Peter Anthony.
"Among the supporting cast were
Peter Anthony and Marilyn Lee.
Both promising newcomers."
Then there's some other names.
That's it? That's all it
says about Peter Anthony?
Yes, sir. Are you sure
you haven't skipped something?
No, sir.
"Among the supporting cast
were Peter Anthony
and Marilyn Lee.
Both promising newcomers."
See the picture?
The face?
I, uh... I finally put it
all together, Mr. Bane.
And it spelled, uh,
"Deadline."
Who are you?
Me?
Oh, I'm just a dude
with a telescope.
On a dock.
By the beach.
In Belvedere.
You talk to the police?
Me? No, no, no, no.
I just wanted to wait and rap
with you, Mr. Bane, that's all.
( chuckles )
Your lead.
Yeah, you're a
writer, right, Mr. Bane?
Who was it wrote, uh...
"Silence is Golden"?
Huh?
Anyhow, that's
not what I'm selling.
I tell you what I am selling.
I'm selling a very
special, unique,
heavy brand of silence.
And this brand of silence
just happens to come, as
you might have guessed,
in, uh... golden.
Still your lead.
Right.
How much golden?
Let's see, um...
Say, five long ones a week?
How's that? No.
Hey, man, come on. Hold on, man.
All I have to do
is pick up... Three.
Three hundred. Yeah?
I can only give
you two right now,
you'll have the other
100 by noon tomorrow.
Payment date hereafter
will be on Saturday.
Saturday is great. That's great.
No meetings. The money will
be deposited in a post office box.
Tens, 20's, okay?
Okay. Sure, that's great.
All right, let's get on with
it. Let's get it over with.
( ominous theme playing )
You know, I got a boy
just about your age.
Fine boy. He's bright.
He listens. He reads. He thinks.
But he has to break
his behind to make it.
Not at all like you, Roger.
Not poised. Not cool.
You've got it all together.
Right.
At such an early age.
Well, here we are.
Okay, let's get it. Come on.
Roger! What?
Hey, man, what
is it with this thing?
What is this, huh? Hey, what...?
( dramatic theme playing )
What's this, Maggie Ames'
print were on Claridge's boat?
Yeah, and somebody else's.
Who, Anthony?
If that's his name.
Wait a minute. What do you mean?
There's no record
of a Peter Anthony
working anywhere in this city.
No criminal record. No
school record. No nothing.
You did your homework
last night, didn't you?
An alias, huh?
What else?
A guy studying to be an actor.
Stage name, right?
Better check the theater again.
I did.
He joined the group as
Peter Anthony. Period.
That's right. Ball said he was
having trouble with his parents
about being an actor.
And now, he's in bigger trouble.
Mike.
I found him.
I told you to read
Maggie's columns.
His name's Peter Anthony
was written all over them.
Hold it. Take it easy, ace.
What are you talking about?
The killer. His name
is Peter Anthony.
Here. Here's a work draft
of the last column she wrote.
Read the part I have underlined.
I haven't got my
glasses. Read it.
It's, uh...
"Among them, Peter
Anthony, a very talented,
"very sensitive, very
attractive young man.
"There is a gentleness in him
"and the strong
undercurrents of virility.
A rare combination."
That's quite a review.
Now, here's the column
that was actually printed.
Come on. Read it.
"Among the supporting cast
"were Peter Anthony
and Marilyn Lee.
Both promising
newcomers." Period.
That's all? Yeah.
That's all.
A passing reference to a guy
she couldn't say enough
about in the original work draft.
Doesn't that ice it for you?
Ace, how many
times have you told me
that newspapers have
editors who cut your heart out?
Nobody touched
Maggie's column but her.
It was written in her contract.
This figures only one way.
She was in love with
this fellow, Peter Anthony.
She was trying to hide it.
Wait a minute. How do you
get from a review to love?
Her calendar. You
saw it, didn't you?
No. How did you?
I went to her apartment.
How'd you get in?
The manager. It
turns out he was a fan.
He reads my column
before he reads
the funnies every morning.
Why, I thought you
would have seen
the entries in her calendar.
Dinner with Peter Anthony.
Supper. Breakfast.
And the last item.
March 8th. A day with P.A.
March 8th. That was the
day she was murdered.
I told you I'd find
him for you, Mike.
Now you bring him in.
We've been looking for him, ace.
You knew?
Uh-huh. Just a suspect.
Got his name from the
guy who owned the boat.
A suspect?
If you can't make this stick,
you're in the wrong
line of work. Both of you.
Oh, come on. Come on,
ace. We'll move in on him.
LESSING: Mike.
Thought you ought to know.
Radio unit just called in.
They found a man in an
alley, dead of a bullet wound.
Give it to Haseejian, will you?
I think you'll want
this one, Mike.
They said he had a
medallion in his hand.
Had a name engraved on the back.
Peter Anthony.
( tense theme playing )
KELLER: St. Genesius.
Actor's patron saint.
He must've torn
it off the assailant.
How long has he been dead?
Six or seven hours.
I know him, Mike.
He's the guy in Belvedere
with the telescope.
KELLER: And Act
IV is a coffee house.
Hangout for actors.
ACT is a block away.
Hey, Peter.
A couple of dudes out
here to see you with badges.
They asked for me?
If you've got a stash,
man, you'd better flush it.
( suspenseful theme playing )
All right, come on. Let's go.
For what? Suspicion of murder.
No, I didn't kill her.
We're talking about a man
shot to death in an alley.
He had a medal in
his hand. It was yours.
Then there was the boat you used
the same day Maggie
Ames was killed.
We'll talk about that
too. Downtown. Come on.
Hey, look, you don't know
what you're talking about.
I didn't do it. I
didn't kill anyone.
Why did you run then, huh?
( dramatic theme playing )
I don't have to say anything.
Tell you anything.
Do I, Dad?
( dramatic theme playing )
( pensive theme playing )
Pretty heavy.
Break your back
to convict someone,
it turns out to be your own son.
So that's the way you
met. That's where you two...
That's where we met. Period.
She watched a rehearsal.
Then she came backstage...
I don't wanna
hear any more of it.
Well, you're going to hear.
You're going to
hear the way it was,
not the way you think it was.
I didn't know, Dad.
I didn't know until you told me.
And it tore me up.
She knew, didn't she?
Not at first.
But she found out.
Did she tell you?
Did she tell you?
Was she the kind of person
to hurt anyone that way?
You were living a
lie. A rotten, stinking...
She lived in hell.
A hell like neither
one of us knew
because she
wouldn't let us know.
She tried to spare us that.
Nah.
Listen to me.
What happened with
us... just happened.
There didn't seem to be any way
either one of us
could control it.
Then she told me it had to stop.
There was another man.
Someone she loved very deeply.
In a different way.
Someone she didn't want to hurt.
You think that's what I
wanna hear from you?
You think that's gonna make
me forgive either one of you?
I don't know about forgiving,
but you taught me about truth.
You've dedicated your
whole life to it, haven't you?
You can face it now.
The truth is,
she didn't know who
I was until I told her.
Until I bragged about my father
being pretty big
in her field himself.
Told her he was Chris Bane.
And that's...
That's when she got
the place on the beach.
So she could be alone to think.
Do you realize what she
had to be thinking, Dad?
That had to be like...
Like broken glass inside her.
There's another truth, Dad.
I took Maggie to the
island that day, on the boat.
But I... I didn't kill her.
I know that, Greg.
Mike.
Yeah.
Mike, I...
Mike, I've got news for you.
There's no way you
can hold that boy.
You heard the evidence, ace.
What evidence?
Circumstantial, fragmentary...
That's not what you were saying.
You ever made a mistake, Mike?
Yeah, sure. A lot of them.
And for what it's worth,
I hope we've all
made one about Greg.
But it doesn't look
that way right now.
It will, when I finish.
I don't care how many
lawyers I have to hire.
How many IOU's
I have to call in.
How many doors I have
to knock down to collect.
I put him in here.
I'll get him out.
You gonna book him now?
Why?
Just thinking.
Booking slips like a tattoo.
Stays with you no
matter how things turn out.
You think things are
gonna turn out different too?
Well, according to
Chris Bane, they are.
And up until now,
he's been a regular
walking oracle, hasn't he?
You don't make that sound
like a compliment, buddy boy.
I don't know,
Mike. I don't know.
All right.
He turns us on to the
beach house, right?
Right.
And the boat. And
Maggie Ames' column.
And her calendar. So?
Well... I don't
know, if it was you
that was telling
me those things,
maybe I'd believe
they were facts.
But him, Chris Bane?
I don't know, Mike.
Now, wait a minute, buddy boy.
Do you know what you're saying?
All I'm saying is,
we never found the two
kids he says saw the boat,
and I looked all over that area.
Well, it's not the first time
he's had a head start
on this department.
Mike, it's like you
said, this is not his beat.
And he's not doing
it for his paper.
And you can't tell
me you buy his story
about a couple lunches
Maggie Ames turned down
without pursuing it further.
Unless he was a good friend.
Mike, tell me I'm
wrong, I'll shut up.
Now, you listen to me.
If you ever back off because
of something personal,
I'll stuff your head
in your pocket.
No, things have
been bothering me too.
The guy in the alley?
Mm-hm.
He tells you he never
met Maggie Ames...
and yet he ends
up stiff with a medal
that she bought for the kid.
Well, I figure what
he didn't tell me,
he told somebody else.
Blackmail.
Yeah.
But who is that somebody else?
It isn't the kid who
carries a spear in Othello.
What could he cough up?
Unless...
You're right.
Unless that somebody
else he met...
That somebody else that
he saw through a telescope.
Was Chris.
Yeah.
( sighs )
Well, that's one lousy
thing to say about a guy
that you've known
for half your life.
Michael, you're just
reading the cards
the way they fall, that's all.
You're right. All right.
Let's...
check two more cards, shall we?
When Chris Bane
called us in Belvedere.
I guess we better find out
how he got that number.
See if it's listed. It's not.
You checked that out too.
Private line installed to
Maggie Ames ten days ago.
I don't see how he
could've gotten it.
No, sir, I didn't let
Mr. Bane into this apartment.
I mean, why would I?
H-he has his own key.
I know. It's right
this way, sir.
Uh, d-did I do
something wrong? No.
I mean, nobody told me what
to do about anybody who...
I know, just let us in, please.
( ominous theme playing )
You got it made, old pro?
Everything but the why.
( chuckles )
I haven't got that myself.
I can tell you I loved her.
I can tell you I found out she
was seeing somebody else.
I can tell you I was
half out of my head.
Drank too many martinis,
and when I saw her
step off that boat, I...
But all that doesn't make
motive, does it, Mike?
Not to a man who
considers himself rational.
I didn't know it was
Greg, and she...
She didn't know it was my
son. It was all a terrible...
Let's go downtown, ace.
Do you got enough
to let the boy go?
I suppose, Mike,
you know, I also...
killed that little hustler...
with this gun.
What are you
gonna buy with that?
Time.
My son goes free.
I buy enough time to get lost.
There's only one
way you can do it.
Squeeze the trigger.
Twice.
( dramatic theme playing )
Just a few hours, Mike.
Sorry, ace.
Like I've always told you.
No exclusives.
( dramatic theme playing )
Hey, Greg was good, huh?
He was great. Really great.
Play really works
too, doesn't it?
I guess.
You guess? What do
you mean, you guess?
Sixteenth century play
that comes to life like that?
With such contemporary values?
A theme that still holds up?
Holds up? I'll tell
you what holds up.
Abie's Irish Rose.
Abie's Irish Rose?
How can you even
compare those two plays?
They're both plays,
aren't they? Yeah.
They both have
actors, don't they?
You're putting
me on. No, I'm not.
You are putting me on.
Whisper... of the
dead and buried.
What?
Oh, nothing, nothing. Come on.
I'll buy you a chilidog, huh?
A chilidog? That's
right. A chilidog.
Everybody goes for a
snack after the theater.
Tradition.
( funky jazz theme playing )
ANNOUNCER: The
Streets of San Francisco,
a Quinn Martin production.
Starring Karl Malden.
Also starring Michael Douglas
With guest stars
Barry Sullivan...
Geoffrey Deuel...
Greg Mullavey.
Tonight's episode: "Deadline."
( peaceful theme playing )
( mysterious theme playing )
I thought you were out of town.
I lied.
Why?
The reason's pretty
obvious, isn't it, Maggie?
Who is he?
You've been drinking.
I had good reason. Who is he?
I was going to
tell you about him.
Tell me.
Not when you're like this.
I'm always like this about you.
Tell me.
Please, not now.
Now.
Where has all the gentle gone?
Chris!
You set the ground
rules, Chris, remember?
No ring, no long runs.
( screams )
Maggie!
Maggie.
Baby. Baby.
Maggie, I didn't mean to
do that. I swear, Maggie.
( dramatic theme playing )
Maggie.
Maggie!
Baby.
( suspenseful theme playing )
MAN: The body is that of
an adult Caucasian female
weighing approximately
120 pounds,
measuring...
65-and-one-half inches.
The hair is blonde.
The eyes are blue.
The ears, nose and mouth
are essentially unremarkable
except for a small, unrepaired
cavity in the left incisor.
There has to be another
way for the day to begin.
CORONER: There is
edema of the occipital region
and a depressed fracture
measuring approximately
5 cm at greatest diameter.
It is my opinion that
the wound of the skull
produced such
extensive brain damage
as to preclude
the possibility of
the deceased
surviving the injury.
Time lapse since death,
conceding the
cooling rate of the body
to be approximately
one degree per hour
and, uh, taking into account
surrounding
temperature and moisture,
12 hours.
She was dead before
she hit the water.
But how long in the bay?
Well, the tidal currents flow
about six hours
in one direction,
and about, uh, the same
in the opposite direction.
What time you say she was found?
Just before 6 this morning.
Right about here.
Yes. There. Mm-hm.
Well, currents were
running seaward then.
If the body hadn't been
recovered when it was,
she'd have gone
right through the gate.
If she was dumped from a boat,
where would it
have been, captain?
Can you make a guess?
Well, I can do better than that.
Now, here's a chart prepared
by the hydrographic offices
of the U.S. government.
It graphs the surface
conditions of the waters here.
Now, found when she
was, in these latitudes,
she had to be drifting
seaward on the outgoing tide.
Now, the span of time
measured by the speed of
the water and the wind currents
would indicate that she
had to be right about there.
STONE: That's land.
CAPTAIN: That's right.
Belvedere.
KELLER: I'll get right on it.
Wild, huh, isn't it?
It's beautiful. Yeah.
Man, comes night, you
know what you can do?
You can freak out on the stars.
It's really glorious.
Not the moon though.
They're polluting
the moon, you know?
Yesterday you weren't
looking at anything, huh?
No, just leather. I mean,
that's my life's work.
I neglect that I'm
a hungry child.
Yeah.
You ever seen her?
That's a lot of girl.
Yeah.
No, I never saw her
not until just this minute.
Why? Who is she?
Maggie Ames.
Oh.
Uh, what is it, a missing
person or something?
Dead. She's dead.
Ohhh.
Oh, wow.
That's a lost child, you know?
Hey, I'm... I'm sorry I can't
help you out unless, uh...
Unless you could use
some custom-made shoes
or something like
that. ( chuckles)
You guys use a
lot of shoe leather.
No, I don't think so.
Thank you anyway.
It couldn't hurt.
I'll do it cheap.
Yeah. Maybe another time.
( sighs )
MAN: Maggie was
an exciting, vibrant girl.
Cliché or no,
she lit up the place
where she was.
Maggie did a column for us.
Profiles in depth
on the illustrious,
the anonymous.
What was the last
thing she wrote?
A piece on, uh, ACT,
the theater group.
She picked her own assignments,
did what interested her.
Well, what would interest
her about a theater group?
Creativity.
Creativity interested her.
She spent more
time on that column
than she had on all the others.
Do you know why?
No.
No, I don't.
Maggie placed a high
value on her privacy.
Not many people dared
to intrude upon that.
How did she live, Mr. Martin?
I mean, habits,
friends, lifestyle?
Did she live alone,
with someone?
Oh, alone, I assume,
I never asked her, and
we never discussed it.
I didn't know her friends.
I certainly have no idea why
anyone would wanna kill her.
Tomorrow's news is screaming
for attention, Mr. Stone.
Today's is a whisper from
the dead and the buried.
Mr. Martin, thank
you for your time.
Well, isn't there somebody
there I can talk to about it?
I just wanna find out
when the rehearsal starts.
All right, I'll wait.
Yeah, I'm still here.
Uh-huh.
What is it?
Four o'clock. And
what's the name again?
William Ball.
Thank you very much.
No. No messages.
Belvedere. What?
It happened in Belvedere.
How do you come by that?
They found her in
the bay, didn't they?
She had a beach
house over there.
And what else do you know?
Wait. You're supposed to
be the homicide heavyweight.
You give me the facts,
remember? I just put them on paper.
How well did you know her, ace?
She put out a column,
I put out a column.
That's all?
Mm, give or take an
occasional lunch offer
from an old man
she was too busy for.
How about this, uh, beach house?
Oh, it's at the
foot of the hills.
Right on the water.
She told you about it?
No. A gal at the
office owned it.
Rented it to Maggie when
she moved to Arizona.
412 Bay View. Say, thanks, ace.
Nothing in life is free, Mike.
Oh, I thought we
touched that base before,
remember, no exclusives.
Just a promise? Yeah.
Get him.
That almost sounds more personal
than just a lunch date
or two not taken up on.
I take it personally every time a
Maggie Ames gets chopped down.
Mike, how much good
is there left in this world?
And how many people are there
trying to help what
little there is left?
You pull Maggie's
columns, any one of them.
See how she looked
at life, at people.
Everything she
wrote had a smile.
Blue skies and white caps.
Summer storms and rainbows.
Snowflakes and holly.
The man who killed
her scrubbed all that.
In one stupid, mindless,
self-centered moment,
he took something rare and...
left it like that.
Well, it's still just
an investigation, ace.
Nothing says murder.
Twenty-eight years on the
desk says murder to me, Mike.
And if you can't
prove it, I will.
( dramatic theme playing )
( cool theme playing )
Do you got something?
Yeah, it looks like an...
errand list or something.
"Market, laundry,
drugstore, gas station."
Sounds pretty flimsy.
What did you come up with?
Look, the next time the
Marin County Sheriff tells us
we won't find anything,
I'm gonna believe that man.
This house has got the
worst vibes, you know?
It's so cold.
So impersonal.
Maybe she lit it up.
Like her editor said,
she lit up the room
wherever she was.
( phone ringing )
Hello?
What've you got?
Chris.
You got nothing, right?
Your press pass
buy you insult rights?
It buys more than
your badge, it seems.
Like?
Like two kids in a skiff
yesterday evening off Belvedere.
You telling me somebody
saw what happened?
Same as.
They saw a speedboat
heading into the beach
with a boy and a girl.
A blond girl.
A few minutes later,
they saw the same boat
blasting back across
the bay without the girl.
Did you get a
description of the guy?
Mike, two 16, 17-year-old
red-blooded American boys.
They could describe the girl.
They could describe the boat.
The girl was Maggie.
The boat was a 20,
22-foot custom inboard.
White with blue lightning bolts
down each side of the bow.
Thanks, ace.
Mike, we get that
boat, we get the killer.
I'm checking marinas now.
We?
Okay, okay. I'll do it myself.
You go back to
shaking doorknobs.
Chris.
Crazy, ink-fingered fireball.
What's happened?
Well, he may have
broken the case wide open.
Well, what are we looking for?
Lightning bolts.
Lightning bolts?
Yes, of course. I know it well.
Thoroughbred.
Privilege to berth her.
Well, I'm glad to hear it.
This is the eighth yacht
harbor we've been to today.
Who owns it?
Young fellow named
Roland Claridge.
Do you know if he
took it out yesterday?
I must enlighten you.
Members here use their
vessels at their own whim and will.
Well, do you happen to know
whether he had
the whim yesterday?
No, sir, I do not.
That is an intrusion
we cannot condone.
But this must be the
boat you described to me.
The only one of it's kind
on the bay to my knowledge.
Little thoroughbred.
Well...
we may have to keep this
thoroughbred in the barn
for a while.
I beg your pardon?
Impound. Police impound.
Impound? Yes, sir.
Well, the other chap
never mentioned that.
Other chap? Yes.
Before you asking
the same questions.
Newspaper fellow.
Chris Bane.
I was about to
tell you his name.
Chris Bane.
He writes a newspaper
column, "Deadline."
"Deadline."
Maybe we're gonna have
to start reading that column.
Yes, lieutenant. We've
been expecting you.
He said that you'd
be along shortly.
KELLER: He?
Uh, that wouldn't
by any chance be
a gentleman named Chris Bane?
Scarcely a gentleman.
His interrogation of my
son was indefensible.
I had him shown out.
Score one for our side.
I beg your pardon?
Nothing, Mrs. Claridge.
I take it then you
know why we're here.
I should have sold
that boat years ago.
Cost a fortune.
Roland uses it semi-annually.
Oh, this is my son, Roland.
Lieutenant Stone.
I'm Inspector Keller.
How do you do?
Uh, did you, by any chance,
use the boat
yesterday, Mr. Claridge?
No, he was not using
his boat yesterday.
Where were you
between 4:30 and 5:00?
He was here at home with me.
Can anyone else attest to that,
like Roland here, for instance?
How about it, Roland?
I was at home yesterday.
Your boat was out.
Yeah, but I wasn't operating it.
Well, do you know who was?
Do I have to answer that?
Certainly not.
You don't have to
answer anything.
Just that I'd rather not
involve anybody else
until I understand exactly
what this is all about.
Well, I'm sure that Chris
Bane must have told you.
He said murder.
Who is this somebody else
that you're worried about?
I can't believe he'd
do a thing like that.
Well, then he won't be afraid to
answer a few questions, will he?
His name is Peter.
Peter Anthony.
He was using it yesterday?
All day.
Where can we find him?
No. I have no
idea where he lives.
But, Roland, how...?
How do you know
anybody...? Anybody like that?
We study together.
You go to school?
My son studies theater
at the ACT workshop.
( dramatic theme playing )
( gunshot )
( whispers ): Devil.
She was as false as water.
Devil.
She was a liar
gone to burning hell.
Devil.
Very good, very good.
John.
Allow the tension to
build just a little bit longer
before you pull the trigger.
And we'll take a
10-minute break,
and then we'll start
from the top of the scene.
He's, uh... He's really
good, your Othello.
Oh, you recognized it.
Sure, sure. I liked it.
What part does
Peter Anthony play?
Cassio.
When does he come on?
I don't rehearse with
him again till tomorrow.
Tomorrow?
( sighs )
Do you happen to know
where we can find him today?
Afraid not.
Well, what about your office?
Would they have his
phone number or address?
Not for Peter.
Why is that?
Well, personal reasons.
His parents objected
pretty strongly
to his becoming an actor.
It's a pity too because
he's very gifted
and he could use their support.
Well, what time is the
rehearsal tomorrow?
I'm working with
Desdemona till 11:00
and I'll begin with Peter then.
Great. Thank you very much.
Say, there's one more
thing. Please, Mr. Ball.
There's a young woman reporter
working on a column
about your theater.
Maggie Ames.
Oh, I, uh, heard
about her death.
Is that what you're
investigating?
Uh, yes. Yes. We were wondering
if she focused her interviews
on anyone in particular.
Well... Peter Anthony?
Peter?
Oh, if you're assuming
that Peter had anything to do
with that young woman's
death, that's pretty poor casting.
Peter is very sensitive,
but, uh, he's also
very self-controlled.
He's well focused, clear-headed.
I guess you could say the
same thing about Othello,
couldn't you, Mr. Ball?
Checking the box score?
Yeah, if Chris knows
anything about this Anthony kid,
that'll make it a
shutout, won't it?
Yeah.
Old ink-fingers
three, the fuzz zip.
It's kind of tough to
get a jump on this guy.
Yeah, he always was that way.
Well, how long you
really known him?
Oh, we go back a long way.
Way back.
Yeah, my first day in
homicide, my first case.
Me and old McIntyre, we...
Remember Mc...? No,
that was before your time.
Well, uh, we got
out there like a shot.
And there was this
reject from a college paper
walking all over the clues.
So, what did you do?
Same thing I've had to
do a hundred times since.
Tell him to keep out of the way.
But no matter where
you turn around, why,
you'd always trip over him.
One-man traffic jam, huh?
Yeah.
He turned out to be a
good reporter, though.
Many times, he'd
come up with leads that,
well, the whole
department couldn't find.
Sounds like he'd be a great cop.
Except for one
thing. What's that?
Small item about
drinking on duty.
Does he have a problem?
No.
He just drinks as
hard as he works.
Yeah.
Listen, is there anything in
his column about the case?
No, he's taken on
legalized gambling today.
That's funny. What?
Well, he's just so involved.
You'd think he'd have
something about the case.
Well, he may have
written it before.
It may be one of a series,
and it's gotta continue.
Come on. Let's get
back to the office.
I wanna find out what they
know about Peter Anthony.
( mysterious theme playing )
MAN: That you, Dad?
Hm? Hey, Greg. How are you, son?
How long you been here?
I got here a little while ago.
Uh, making coffee.
You want some?
I think I could use
a... Yeah, yeah.
Yeah, coffee. That's
a great idea. Fine.
Now, you've been working
on that Maggie Ames' story.
Yeah.
How is your work going?
Oh, nothing's changed.
I don't think it's
about to, either, Dad.
Hey, you hang in there, Greg.
Aerospace is important.
Lasers, galaxies, black holes.
But we've talked about
all that before, haven't we?
Yeah, we've been through it.
Hey, man, that
coffee smells good.
Thank you, Greg.
You know, I haven't
seen you for days
and I treat you like wallpaper.
How are you? How have you been?
What've you been
doing with yourself?
You need a buck? You
need some fatherly advice?
From an absentee father?
Something like that.
I tried to see you at the
paper, but you'd gone.
Okay, Greg, shoot.
What's on your mind?
It's all right. You look beat.
We'll make it some other time.
No, Greg.
Greg, don't go.
You gotta get some sleep, Dad.
I need...
What, Dad?
What we all need, I guess, Greg.
Someone you can cut
your heart open to. Our...
tired old hearts.
Oh, come on. You've
got the heart of a lion.
( chuckles )
Yeah, that's me.
Old, lion-hearted.
King of the jungle.
King of the jungle with
a pride of lionesses to...
No. No, not a pride. Just one.
Sleek, lithe, young,
with a glow about her
that set men's hearts aglow.
I don't follow you, Dad.
Are you seeing
somebody special now?
No.
Not anymore.
Not ever again.
Why not?
She's dead.
Dead?
Killed.
Who was she, Dad?
Mm.
That girl you asked
about a few minutes ago.
Maggie Ames.
( suspenseful theme playing )
I... I didn't know.
Well, Greg, not too
many people did.
I made her keep it that way.
I didn't want her
to be laughed at.
I didn't want people
saying what they could
if they knew she was seeing a
man old enough to be her father.
It didn't matter how
many times she told me
that the only thing that
mattered was my love. I...
Oh, I pretended to believe
her, but I knew better.
I knew the day would come
when she'd be able to
see what anyone could see.
That day finally came.
She was killed.
Yeah.
Yeah, she was killed.
And I'm gonna find the man
who took her away from me.
The man who made love to
her. The man who made her die.
I'm gonna find him.
( dramatic theme playing )
( mysterious theme playing )
KELLER: I see, right.
So then, if he actually hadn't
been paid for performance,
he wouldn't have to join
your guild, is that right?
Right. Okay, well,
thank you very much.
Have a good evening. Bye.
What did you get
from the actors guild?
Nothing. Just
that he's a student
and doesn't have to join
the guild unless he gets paid.
But I can't find anything
like a diary or daily calendar.
Same in her bedroom.
Well, maybe she left
her life at the office.
If she had one.
Judging by this, I don't know.
Wanna pack it in?
Yeah.
And you can read
this... on your own time.
Beautiful handwriting. Yeah.
Good looks.
Good taste.
I don't know.
And everything she
wrote had a smile.
( suspenseful theme playing )
"Identity.
Revelation. P.A."
( reading )
Day.
Anthony.
P.A. Peter Anthony.
( ringing )
Telegraph.
Yeah. Sure, Mr. Bane.
I'll get it right away. Hold on.
I've got it right here in
front of me, Mr. Bane.
Maggie Ames' last column. ACT.
Uh, read what it says
about Peter Anthony.
"Among the supporting cast were
Peter Anthony and Marilyn Lee.
Both promising newcomers."
Then there's some other names.
That's it? That's all it
says about Peter Anthony?
Yes, sir. Are you sure
you haven't skipped something?
No, sir.
"Among the supporting cast
were Peter Anthony
and Marilyn Lee.
Both promising newcomers."
See the picture?
The face?
I, uh... I finally put it
all together, Mr. Bane.
And it spelled, uh,
"Deadline."
Who are you?
Me?
Oh, I'm just a dude
with a telescope.
On a dock.
By the beach.
In Belvedere.
You talk to the police?
Me? No, no, no, no.
I just wanted to wait and rap
with you, Mr. Bane, that's all.
( chuckles )
Your lead.
Yeah, you're a
writer, right, Mr. Bane?
Who was it wrote, uh...
"Silence is Golden"?
Huh?
Anyhow, that's
not what I'm selling.
I tell you what I am selling.
I'm selling a very
special, unique,
heavy brand of silence.
And this brand of silence
just happens to come, as
you might have guessed,
in, uh... golden.
Still your lead.
Right.
How much golden?
Let's see, um...
Say, five long ones a week?
How's that? No.
Hey, man, come on. Hold on, man.
All I have to do
is pick up... Three.
Three hundred. Yeah?
I can only give
you two right now,
you'll have the other
100 by noon tomorrow.
Payment date hereafter
will be on Saturday.
Saturday is great. That's great.
No meetings. The money will
be deposited in a post office box.
Tens, 20's, okay?
Okay. Sure, that's great.
All right, let's get on with
it. Let's get it over with.
( ominous theme playing )
You know, I got a boy
just about your age.
Fine boy. He's bright.
He listens. He reads. He thinks.
But he has to break
his behind to make it.
Not at all like you, Roger.
Not poised. Not cool.
You've got it all together.
Right.
At such an early age.
Well, here we are.
Okay, let's get it. Come on.
Roger! What?
Hey, man, what
is it with this thing?
What is this, huh? Hey, what...?
( dramatic theme playing )
What's this, Maggie Ames'
print were on Claridge's boat?
Yeah, and somebody else's.
Who, Anthony?
If that's his name.
Wait a minute. What do you mean?
There's no record
of a Peter Anthony
working anywhere in this city.
No criminal record. No
school record. No nothing.
You did your homework
last night, didn't you?
An alias, huh?
What else?
A guy studying to be an actor.
Stage name, right?
Better check the theater again.
I did.
He joined the group as
Peter Anthony. Period.
That's right. Ball said he was
having trouble with his parents
about being an actor.
And now, he's in bigger trouble.
Mike.
I found him.
I told you to read
Maggie's columns.
His name's Peter Anthony
was written all over them.
Hold it. Take it easy, ace.
What are you talking about?
The killer. His name
is Peter Anthony.
Here. Here's a work draft
of the last column she wrote.
Read the part I have underlined.
I haven't got my
glasses. Read it.
It's, uh...
"Among them, Peter
Anthony, a very talented,
"very sensitive, very
attractive young man.
"There is a gentleness in him
"and the strong
undercurrents of virility.
A rare combination."
That's quite a review.
Now, here's the column
that was actually printed.
Come on. Read it.
"Among the supporting cast
"were Peter Anthony
and Marilyn Lee.
Both promising
newcomers." Period.
That's all? Yeah.
That's all.
A passing reference to a guy
she couldn't say enough
about in the original work draft.
Doesn't that ice it for you?
Ace, how many
times have you told me
that newspapers have
editors who cut your heart out?
Nobody touched
Maggie's column but her.
It was written in her contract.
This figures only one way.
She was in love with
this fellow, Peter Anthony.
She was trying to hide it.
Wait a minute. How do you
get from a review to love?
Her calendar. You
saw it, didn't you?
No. How did you?
I went to her apartment.
How'd you get in?
The manager. It
turns out he was a fan.
He reads my column
before he reads
the funnies every morning.
Why, I thought you
would have seen
the entries in her calendar.
Dinner with Peter Anthony.
Supper. Breakfast.
And the last item.
March 8th. A day with P.A.
March 8th. That was the
day she was murdered.
I told you I'd find
him for you, Mike.
Now you bring him in.
We've been looking for him, ace.
You knew?
Uh-huh. Just a suspect.
Got his name from the
guy who owned the boat.
A suspect?
If you can't make this stick,
you're in the wrong
line of work. Both of you.
Oh, come on. Come on,
ace. We'll move in on him.
LESSING: Mike.
Thought you ought to know.
Radio unit just called in.
They found a man in an
alley, dead of a bullet wound.
Give it to Haseejian, will you?
I think you'll want
this one, Mike.
They said he had a
medallion in his hand.
Had a name engraved on the back.
Peter Anthony.
( tense theme playing )
KELLER: St. Genesius.
Actor's patron saint.
He must've torn
it off the assailant.
How long has he been dead?
Six or seven hours.
I know him, Mike.
He's the guy in Belvedere
with the telescope.
KELLER: And Act
IV is a coffee house.
Hangout for actors.
ACT is a block away.
Hey, Peter.
A couple of dudes out
here to see you with badges.
They asked for me?
If you've got a stash,
man, you'd better flush it.
( suspenseful theme playing )
All right, come on. Let's go.
For what? Suspicion of murder.
No, I didn't kill her.
We're talking about a man
shot to death in an alley.
He had a medal in
his hand. It was yours.
Then there was the boat you used
the same day Maggie
Ames was killed.
We'll talk about that
too. Downtown. Come on.
Hey, look, you don't know
what you're talking about.
I didn't do it. I
didn't kill anyone.
Why did you run then, huh?
( dramatic theme playing )
I don't have to say anything.
Tell you anything.
Do I, Dad?
( dramatic theme playing )
( pensive theme playing )
Pretty heavy.
Break your back
to convict someone,
it turns out to be your own son.
So that's the way you
met. That's where you two...
That's where we met. Period.
She watched a rehearsal.
Then she came backstage...
I don't wanna
hear any more of it.
Well, you're going to hear.
You're going to
hear the way it was,
not the way you think it was.
I didn't know, Dad.
I didn't know until you told me.
And it tore me up.
She knew, didn't she?
Not at first.
But she found out.
Did she tell you?
Did she tell you?
Was she the kind of person
to hurt anyone that way?
You were living a
lie. A rotten, stinking...
She lived in hell.
A hell like neither
one of us knew
because she
wouldn't let us know.
She tried to spare us that.
Nah.
Listen to me.
What happened with
us... just happened.
There didn't seem to be any way
either one of us
could control it.
Then she told me it had to stop.
There was another man.
Someone she loved very deeply.
In a different way.
Someone she didn't want to hurt.
You think that's what I
wanna hear from you?
You think that's gonna make
me forgive either one of you?
I don't know about forgiving,
but you taught me about truth.
You've dedicated your
whole life to it, haven't you?
You can face it now.
The truth is,
she didn't know who
I was until I told her.
Until I bragged about my father
being pretty big
in her field himself.
Told her he was Chris Bane.
And that's...
That's when she got
the place on the beach.
So she could be alone to think.
Do you realize what she
had to be thinking, Dad?
That had to be like...
Like broken glass inside her.
There's another truth, Dad.
I took Maggie to the
island that day, on the boat.
But I... I didn't kill her.
I know that, Greg.
Mike.
Yeah.
Mike, I...
Mike, I've got news for you.
There's no way you
can hold that boy.
You heard the evidence, ace.
What evidence?
Circumstantial, fragmentary...
That's not what you were saying.
You ever made a mistake, Mike?
Yeah, sure. A lot of them.
And for what it's worth,
I hope we've all
made one about Greg.
But it doesn't look
that way right now.
It will, when I finish.
I don't care how many
lawyers I have to hire.
How many IOU's
I have to call in.
How many doors I have
to knock down to collect.
I put him in here.
I'll get him out.
You gonna book him now?
Why?
Just thinking.
Booking slips like a tattoo.
Stays with you no
matter how things turn out.
You think things are
gonna turn out different too?
Well, according to
Chris Bane, they are.
And up until now,
he's been a regular
walking oracle, hasn't he?
You don't make that sound
like a compliment, buddy boy.
I don't know,
Mike. I don't know.
All right.
He turns us on to the
beach house, right?
Right.
And the boat. And
Maggie Ames' column.
And her calendar. So?
Well... I don't
know, if it was you
that was telling
me those things,
maybe I'd believe
they were facts.
But him, Chris Bane?
I don't know, Mike.
Now, wait a minute, buddy boy.
Do you know what you're saying?
All I'm saying is,
we never found the two
kids he says saw the boat,
and I looked all over that area.
Well, it's not the first time
he's had a head start
on this department.
Mike, it's like you
said, this is not his beat.
And he's not doing
it for his paper.
And you can't tell
me you buy his story
about a couple lunches
Maggie Ames turned down
without pursuing it further.
Unless he was a good friend.
Mike, tell me I'm
wrong, I'll shut up.
Now, you listen to me.
If you ever back off because
of something personal,
I'll stuff your head
in your pocket.
No, things have
been bothering me too.
The guy in the alley?
Mm-hm.
He tells you he never
met Maggie Ames...
and yet he ends
up stiff with a medal
that she bought for the kid.
Well, I figure what
he didn't tell me,
he told somebody else.
Blackmail.
Yeah.
But who is that somebody else?
It isn't the kid who
carries a spear in Othello.
What could he cough up?
Unless...
You're right.
Unless that somebody
else he met...
That somebody else that
he saw through a telescope.
Was Chris.
Yeah.
( sighs )
Well, that's one lousy
thing to say about a guy
that you've known
for half your life.
Michael, you're just
reading the cards
the way they fall, that's all.
You're right. All right.
Let's...
check two more cards, shall we?
When Chris Bane
called us in Belvedere.
I guess we better find out
how he got that number.
See if it's listed. It's not.
You checked that out too.
Private line installed to
Maggie Ames ten days ago.
I don't see how he
could've gotten it.
No, sir, I didn't let
Mr. Bane into this apartment.
I mean, why would I?
H-he has his own key.
I know. It's right
this way, sir.
Uh, d-did I do
something wrong? No.
I mean, nobody told me what
to do about anybody who...
I know, just let us in, please.
( ominous theme playing )
You got it made, old pro?
Everything but the why.
( chuckles )
I haven't got that myself.
I can tell you I loved her.
I can tell you I found out she
was seeing somebody else.
I can tell you I was
half out of my head.
Drank too many martinis,
and when I saw her
step off that boat, I...
But all that doesn't make
motive, does it, Mike?
Not to a man who
considers himself rational.
I didn't know it was
Greg, and she...
She didn't know it was my
son. It was all a terrible...
Let's go downtown, ace.
Do you got enough
to let the boy go?
I suppose, Mike,
you know, I also...
killed that little hustler...
with this gun.
What are you
gonna buy with that?
Time.
My son goes free.
I buy enough time to get lost.
There's only one
way you can do it.
Squeeze the trigger.
Twice.
( dramatic theme playing )
Just a few hours, Mike.
Sorry, ace.
Like I've always told you.
No exclusives.
( dramatic theme playing )
Hey, Greg was good, huh?
He was great. Really great.
Play really works
too, doesn't it?
I guess.
You guess? What do
you mean, you guess?
Sixteenth century play
that comes to life like that?
With such contemporary values?
A theme that still holds up?
Holds up? I'll tell
you what holds up.
Abie's Irish Rose.
Abie's Irish Rose?
How can you even
compare those two plays?
They're both plays,
aren't they? Yeah.
They both have
actors, don't they?
You're putting
me on. No, I'm not.
You are putting me on.
Whisper... of the
dead and buried.
What?
Oh, nothing, nothing. Come on.
I'll buy you a chilidog, huh?
A chilidog? That's
right. A chilidog.
Everybody goes for a
snack after the theater.
Tradition.
( funky jazz theme playing )