Now, who'd want to kill me?
You want the names alphabetically or in order of importance?
He's gonna end up in the flower business, as a soil additive.
Now, you keep monkeying around with those fellows that are in trouble with the law
and some of that trouble's gonna rub off on you.
(POLICE SIREN WAILING)
I guess we're going down, huh?
You make any noise and Skipper, here, parks a bullet in your head.
The cops. There's supposed to be cops. Where are the cops?
Come on, cop.
(TIRES SCREECHING)
(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)
WOMAN.. Jim, thanks for taking little Billy fishing. He had a great time.
It turns out he wasn't even really seasick.
Have you ever had chicken pox?
(SIGHS)
Well, thanks for lunch, David.
My pleasure.
Well, I guess now is as good a time as any, Jim.
What?
I'm remembering last Wednesday
you having a couple of fleabags which was...
How do you say?
Ran out of the money.
(SPEAKING ITALIAN)
How's the book going?
Just like last year's Belmont.
We've been laying off half our action on East Coast.
Except for you and two or three of my old clients,
I don't write the action anymore, I administrate.
I'm upwardly mobile.
You're also related.
That, too.
(CAR APPROACHING)
Hey, David, have you seen Angel Martin around?
I haven't seen him in the last three months.
He died.
When? Tomorrow.
Wednesday, at the latest.
I'll see you, Jim.
Hey, where's Angel?
Oh. He moved out.
He's living at the Sunset Arms Apartment, top floor.
He got a penthouse.
I'm selling his stuff on consignment. I get to keep 20o/o.
How's business?
Those are my first real prospects all day.
They're not buying anything.
They're cops.
Look, if I were you, I would give some serious thought
to the idea that some of this stuff might be stolen.
Hey, did you go look at it? Did you see what I mean?
NORMA: I'm a decorator, I don't go look at sets
in the Hollywood Wax Museum and copy them.
Listen, Manny, have I ever before said no?
I mean, not even that freak from Detroit last year,
the aluminum siding guy.
Yeah, I know Dom set it up, but this guy is a bug.
Come on, Manny.
Look, how about Vicki or Clarise.
Clarise said she was just messing around this week.
Is this Angel Martin's place?
Is it ever.
Okay, Manny, I'm saying it, no!
I wouldn't take this trick if you threw in the whole St. Laurent collection.
I'll send you a bill for my time.
Hey, Angel.
Hey, babe.
Angel, I got to talk to you. Later, later.
Hey. How you doing, babe?
This is sweet pea.
This pad is gonna be a gas.
But it's moving a little too fast.
You're gonna run into a case of the big ''O.''
Like, over extended.
Angel... Oh, yeah. I'd like you to meet somebody.
Brad Charlette, this is...
Jim. Jim Rockford, yeah, yeah.
Hi, puss.
Listen, you got the qualifications for what you do, okay.
But I just don't think I'm gonna need anybody in your capacity.
You got a chauffeur's license? I need a driver, Jim. Look...
Angel, I think you better talk to me.
And it can't wait. It's a matter of life or death. Yours.
Yeah. Dig it, dig it. Listen, I was just leaving. It's okay.
Hey, babe.
You know, I don't think we're gonna need the floor downstairs.
I looked at it, but you've got plenty of room up here, so...
We won't need the elevator.
Hey, wait a minute. Man, I want the elevator.
Look, we're gonna have a meeting with Tony at 5:00.
We'll run it by him.
All right. But you tell him that I want the elevator.
They got one like that at Marineland.
Right... It's got a little aquarium.
I need that elevator. It's got neon lights.
You turn them on and off, and the fish change colors.
When you're going up, I like company in an elevator.
Will you shut up, Angel?
Don't do that, Jim.
What?
Don't talk to me like that.
And I don't go by Angel anymore.
Well, just who are you, the Arch Duke of Guacamole?
Angelo.
Just call me Angelo. Or babe.
Yeah, well, I picked up a rumor I think you ought to know about.
I'm having lunch with these two gentlemen at LaRue.
Would you like to tell me there?
That looks like my old toaster.
It is.
(ANGEL LAUGHS)
Now who'd want to kill me?
Do you want the names alphabetically or in order of importance?
David told you that, huh? That's right.
I don't like him.
Look, Angel.
Angelo.
Or babe. See, Angel, it's not an important name.
Okay, I delivered the message.
If you don't want to take it seriously, that's fine with me.
Wait a minute. Wait, wait, Jim, Jim.
Now, listen to me, listen to me.
David is just jealous, that's all it is to it.
You see, he's running around making his little book
and I'm into millions of dollars.
And that's what happens, when you hit the big time,
people get jealous of you.
It's a lesson I've had to learn it.
It's tough, it's tough.
I'll bet you, even you're a little bit jealous, aren't you?
Monsieur.
What is going on?
I hit it this time, didn't I, Jimmy? Didn't I hit it?
(LAUGHS) Did you see the pad I got, huh?
I'm gonna go through to the floor below,
and I'm gonna put in my elevator.
You remember that movie with Al Capone?
That great big pad he had on the South Side of Chicago,
and Frank Nitti came over there
and he told Big AI that he wanted him out and he's gonna take over.
And Al, he just throws him out. Do you remember that?
Yeah, I think I saw it.
Well, I'm gonna have a pad just like Al had.
Except Al had these kind of oil paintings.
I'm gonna do it a little differently in there.
I'm gonna get me some telephones everywhere.
Suitcase, drawer, bathroom, car.
All I'm gonna have to do is go like that
and there'll be telephones in my fingers.
Telephone, please.
Well, sir, there is no phone jack at this table. I'm sorry.
It's not bad.
They'll get one. They'll get one.
ROCKFORD: Angel, for the last time.
What is going on?
I'm into property, Jim.
But when I say property, I mean with a capital ''P.''
Real estate.
I'm 60o/o owner of the Indian Head River Land Development Company.
How did that happen?
Brad says that I got this, like, natural talent for real estate.
Imagine that. All these years here I've been working the low-angle cons
trying to beat the bobtails,
in the back of my subconscious is like this
giant talent for real estate.
Yeah, well, Angel, if I were you, I would be careful.
You see, I think David knows what he's talking about.
He's moving up in the family and he has good information.
All right.
Okay, Jim, I'll tell you what you do.
I'll make a call, you see?
But my partners are big. David calls them ''sir.''
And you call them ''babe''.
Don't laugh.
I thank you for the tip, but I'm cool.
From now on, everything's coming my way.
Yeah, well, speaking of that,
here comes your toaster again.
Check!
(PHONE RINGING)
Hello.
Jim, thank God I got you. I've been calling all afternoon.
Oh, David, I was just gonna call you.
I can't talk, man. I gotta make this quick.
What I told you this afternoon about Angel was a big mistake.
You got that, Jim? You and me, we talked about horses,
Ferraris and girls.
And we never said anything about Angel or his coming departure.
David, just what's going on?
Plenty.
You get me off this hook I'm on, I'll treat you right.
I gotta go.
(PHONE RINGING)
Hello.
Yeah. I'd like to speak to Angel, please.
He's not here.
This is Jim Rockford. I'd like to leave a message for Angel.
Would you tell him to call me when he comes in? It's important.
I don't take messages, honey.
Hey, Angel's not home.
I guess we're going down, huh?
You make any noise and Skipper, here, parks a bullet in your head.
DANNY: You play golf, Rockford?
ROCKFORD: I play anything you want me to.
No toys, no trouble.
I'm Dominic Marcon, Davy's uncle.
This is Lance, our club pro.
Hey, Lance, I got a good idea.
Why don't you drop out a couple of holes?
Let Mr. Rockford pick up your game for you.
We're on five, Lance is five over.
20 a hole, 20 a point. Is that okay with you?
I couldn't argue with that.
So you and my nephew, David, are buddy-buddy, right?
Well, David writes some of my action.
I'm an old customer, Mr. Marcon.
Hey, Dom, right?
Out here on the gold course there are no formalities.
Everybody's equal.
It's a time when there are no big shots, no buttons.
I mean, Tony or Lance, or anybody,
they take me down at golf, I smile.
I say that's life.
(SPEAKING ITALIAN)
Hey, Jim,
are you familiar with this golf course?
No, I'm not. Okay.
If you get any distance on your driver, you cut across that dog-leg.
You're gonna pick yourself up a shot.
Thanks. Thanks a lot.
Hey, Phil, watch this.
(MAN COUGHS)
Now, that's some kind of stroke.
You see what I'm doing, Jimmy?
I'm giving my nephew, David, a kind of physical examination.
But first, I wanna check him out completely
so that I can make sure exactly where he's at.
It's a routine.
It's like I wanna know what he's up to,
what he talks about.
But most of all, I wanna know, can he be trusted?
Oh, I think so, Dom. I trust him.
Hey, that's good.
'Cause, right now, I'm gonna trust you
to tell me everything he told you at lunch today.
Why don't you ask David?
I already did, and I got it on tape.
Now, I ask you, and I want everything to come out the same.
That way I know if he can be trusted.
You see, when we make these checkups,
we gotta make sure that all the reports tally.
It's good hospital procedure.
Yeah, well, we talked about the horses
and about a guy down in Orlando, Florida that we both know.
My ball.
All right, nice, nice shot.
So what else?
Well, we talked about some girls,
and then we talked about the new car David was gonna buy,
and then we split up.
David told me the other thing you discussed.
The big thing.
I don't know what you're talking about.
You're holding out on me, Jim, and I don't like that.
We're trusting each other.
And when I trust a guy I expect him to tell me the truth.
If he doesn't, he's gonna end up in the flower business, as a soil additive.
You forgot to tell me about that water hazard.
There's all kinds of water hazards in Los Angeles, Jimmy.
There's the ocean, there's the river.
I even heard of a guy who fell in the main tank at Sea World.
Now, if I was you, I'd drop a new ball,
take a penalty.
Oh, I can stand the penalty.
It's the threats I don't like.
There's a lot of things in life we don't like.
And I'm gonna ask you one more time,
I wanna hear about the other thing David discussed with you.
I want the whole story.
There's nothing else.
All right, Jim. I'm gonna let it go this time.
But I promise you, if I find out you're lying
I'm gonna have to settle the score.
And I always keep my promises.
You seem to be chock-full of redeeming qualities.
(LAUGHS)
You're a funny man, Jimmy.
You gonna get in the water and look for your ball?
I think I'll take the penalty.
This is close enough.
I got a three. Tony's got a three. How're you and Jim doing?
I'm a two. Jim's a three.
Hey, don't we finish off the game?
No, we pick up here and go over to the seventh tee.
You owe 40 bucks.
Maybe we'll square it up later.
Depends on whether or not you stay healthy.
Get in.
That's the damndest golf game I ever played.
We never finish out the fifth green or six or seven.
They run next to the freeway. Somebody could get shot.
He...
He's a real breath of stale air, isn't he?
He's a winner, what are you, Mr. Rockford?
I'll let you know.
ROCKY: Hi, Jim.
What's wrong?
I had a bad golf game.
(LAUGHS) Oh, come on, now.
What's wrong? You're not gonna get all stewed up like that
over a silly golf game, are you?
I got a problem, Dad.
Well, tell it to me.
I had lunch with David Marcon today and... Hey.
Now, I told you about that guy. He's a crook.
Now, you keep monkeying around with those fellows that are in trouble with the law
and some of that trouble's gonna rub off on you.
Yeah. Point's becoming very clear to me, like Angel.
Hey, did you hear about old Angel?
He called me up yesterday.
He wants me to go to work for him.
He saw some cabinet work I did on my own place.
He wants me to work for him, make him some fancy frames
for some of them new paintings he's bought.
Hey, look, Dad, I don't want you to go to work over there.
I think somebody's trying to kill him.
Angel? Yeah.
He bought all that land up there at Indianhead River,
he's gonna develop it, that's all.
Yeah, well, you're not gonna go to work for him and that's final.
Now, look here, I don't mind the suggestion,
but I'm fighting the tone.
All right. Please?
(LAUGHS)
I don't like them old paintings much, anyway.
You know, they're all that funny stuff,
the landscapes painted on velvet.
Naked girls on velvet and they change color in the light.
It's the kind of stuff you get in a carnival.
Yeah, I guess art's a mighty personal thing, though anyway.
Well, I appreciate it anyway.
Hey, listen, what are you gonna do?
I don't know. I guess I'll just get hold of David, blow him clean.
At least, then I'll know what's going on.
This one's going down. Take the next one, Chief. Come on.
(TIRES SCREECHING)
DAVID: What does Uncle Dom want with me?
Uncle Dom, how are you?
I don't know, Davy.
Maybe I'm lousy.
You know, Davy, sometimes, when things go wrong,
I got to go down to St. Mark's
and I get down on my knees
and I talk to your father.
There is a bond between us that can't be separated by
six feet of compacted soiI and a marble marker.
You are his son.
I treated you well, didn't I?
Uncle Dom, you don't have to... Is it true or isn't?
Yes, sir.
That's good.
So, maybe it's time you begin to earn
what I already give you for nothing.
Anything you want me to do, sir, I'll do it.
This afternoon I asked you if you blabbed to anybody
about our plans for Angel Martin, you said no.
It's true, I didn't.
Well, somebody did,
because Angel called Brad.
He said he heard a rumor that somebody was gunning for him.
Brad said where did you hear that from.
He said Rockford.
This afternoon you had lunch with Rockford.
I swear, Uncle Dom, I don't discuss company business with outsiders.
You know, Davy,
sometimes when you got a secret, it's fun.
Just to tell somebody, see what kind of a reaction it will get.
I would never...
Two years, I've been setting it up.
Brad finds this guy three months ago, he's a perfect dodo.
Five million dollars to the company,
if we don't louse it up.
So, if somebody was to talk about the hit,
the pigeon was to fly.
That's gonna be a major disaster.
I didn't tell Jim anything.
Angel's a creep. I've done business with him.
He must owe money to 15 or 20 people.
If there's a rumor that somebody's gonna kill him,
maybe it's a shark talking tough or some guy he stiffed.
Probably has nothing to do with this.
Okay.
You're my brother's son,
I'm not gonna challenge you.
But I got to take precautions.
Whatever you want me to do.
Kill Angel Martin.
Kill him?
Yeah.
You see, Davy, I think you told Rockford.
But only you will be able to know whether you did or you didn't.
And only you can judge the risk for us.
So I'll throw this in your hands.
You do it or you're gonna lose everything.
But, Uncle Dom, l...
My father, may he rest in peace,
he killed a man in a dispute over a wheelbarrow full of vegetables.
Your father and me, we kill to protect what he gave us!
Okay.
But in the meantime,
it's important that Angel or Rockford don't go to the police.
'Cause if they do, we're finito.
You understand that? We're finished.
But how do I manage that? Don't worry about that.
I got a plan for that.
Sammy's gonna back you up. He's gonna make sure that everything goes all right.
You got 10 hours.
(WOMAN CHATTERING ON POLICE RADIO)
Where were you? On the 1 4th floor.
Mr. Martin's got lots of art up there
and I'm supposed to keep an eye on it
till his place is redecorated and the alarms are in.
You heard a disturbance?
Yeah, a big beef, you know.
I mean, Mr. Martin yelling, whacking the broad around.
What about the other guy?
I don't know his name. But then the door flew open
and Mr. Martin and the tall, dark-haired guy come running out.
I duck into the janitor's closet, they get in the elevator,
I run downstairs,
I get to the parking area just in time to see them pull away.
I get the license number then I went back up and found the girI's body.
See if they got a make on that car.
Yes, sir.
Is she a working girI?
Yeah. So, it ain't no reason to kill her.
Sarge, here's the guy that the car was registered to.
See if the lieutenant wants to try for a warrant.
Thought those plates were familiar.
(KNOCKING ON DOOR)
Oh, Angel. Hey, where you been? I've been looking for you.
Jimmy, I think you're right, man. I mean, they're all denying it,
but things are beginning to add up.
I mean, why all that life insurance?
I mean, you know, what I mean? What insurance?
My question exactly. But, man, they got me covered like a filly with the flu.
I didn't know about this, you see, and then I get this call from this guy...
Talmadge Mutual, he didn't know it's me, you know.
And he's talking about me like I'm already dead.
Well, I say something to Brad about it, and Brad gives me this snow job.
And get this, Jimmy, nobody wants to ride in my car with me, huh?
What about that, you know what I mean?
I mean, my chauffeur, he spent so much time looking in the rearview mirror,
I think he got his head on backwards.
I was supposed to have dinner at LaRue's with Fast Harry, Little Mo...
Who? Some real estate guys. Business associates.
And suddenly... I'm like Typhoid Mary.
All I know is somebody, somewhere sure stops trading in my stock.
Angel, oh, Angel, slow down, will you?
Slow down? Man, I got the whole mob looking for me with Tommy guns.
I just had to run. I slipped into some rags and I just dove for cover.
Yeah, well, it's a nice choice.
You look something like Prince Philip at Churchill Downs.
What are you, the fashion editor on the parolees' pick at you?
Okay, Angel, look.
I got a few questions of my own.
Now, why don't you give me the facts on this big real estate killing?
Look, Jimmy, it's not that I'm trying to avoid your questions,
I just got this overriding interest in trying to stay alive.
You know what I mean? I think these bozos are trying to flush me down the drain.
What I don't know is why?
(TIRES SCREECHING)
Who is that? I don't know.
What are we gonna do?
Take this and get in there. What are we gonna do?
When I yell, ''Let me get my coat,'' you come out firing.
I'll hit the deck. Jimmy, I don't like guns, you know that.
I mean, I don't mind holding it,
but shooting, that goes against my very core nature.
You don't have to hit anybody. Just create a diversion.
(KNOCKING ON DOOR)
How you doing, Jim? Can I talk to you?
Yeah, come in.
I'm kind of jammed up on account of what I let slip this afternoon.
Yeah, what's that?
Where's Angel? I don't know.
Come on. I know you went to see him.
Now he's running around punching alarms. I gotta find him.
Listen, David...
Oh. Come on, pal. Really.
Ten years I've been on a gravy train, Jim.
Tonight I got a whole new look at things.
My grandfather killed some guy for a wheelbarrow of vegetables
and he parlayed that noble act into a fortune.
How's that for family heritage?
David, what's going on?
Things get complicated, Jim.
I gotta take Angel.
And once it all unravels, you're gonna know why he was hit
and that's gonna cost my people a lot.
So you gotta take the gaff, too.
I'm sorry. I don't like this, but I got no choice.
You're not a killer, David.
We're going to have to see if I am or not.
Let's go.
Let me get my coat. You won't need one.
Let me get my coat.
I said forget it. Let's go!
Oh, David, David.
(GUN FIRING)
(ENGINE STARTING)
(TIRES SCREECHING)
I didn't hear you, Jimmy.
I mean, you gonna give a code word, you gotta shout it out.
Get out of here. Listen, I have trouble with my ears.
The doc said something about a ruptured disc.
That's in your back.
Yeah, well, it's been affecting my hearing.
MAN ON RADIO.. Two x-ray, zebra, pick up on 187 P.C.
Two male Caucasians, a possible location, at 29 Cove Road.
Suspects named Angel Evelyn Martin,
five-eleven, medium build, black and black.
James Rockford. Six-two, black and brown. Medium build.
Suspects wanted in the murder of Delores Townsend.
(SIREN WAILING) Two x-ray, zebra, your call is code two,
any available units respond and backup.
ROCKFORD: How much further is this place?
ANGEL: It's a ways.
Could you fill it up, please.
Full service.
Look, Angel, just where is this big land deal. Huh?
Well, see now, Jimmy, in real estate,
you don't actually have to see the dirt.
The important thing is like cost projections, escrow, interest...
See, interest is the real key to a land deal, you see.
Terms like that, you just wouldn't understand.
What I don't understand, Angel,
is how come you can't give me directions.
Well, I've never seen it before.
Let me have a small jalapeño pizza.
Just a coke, please.
Let me get this straight.
You and Brad Charlette got together
and Brad told you all about this Indianhead Land Development.
And that Tony Christiani and Dominic Marcon developed this deaI
and are counting on the water from the Indianhead River, is that right?
Exactly. You're getting the hang of this real estate deal, Jimmy.
You see, what these two honchos didn't know is
the State of California was planning on damming up the Indianhead river,
diverting the water to Los Angeles.
Well, here they got all their dough
and the deaI ain't got enough water to make lemonade.
And then Brad Charlette just plucks you out
of whatever seedy bar you're currently hanging out in
and offers you a chance to cut yourself in.
Listen, Jimmy, you can talk down the deaI all you want to
but I don't see you living in any penthouse apartment.
Being driven around in a chauffeur-driven limousine.
Having telephones coming out of everywhere you wanna touch.
I got it, I got it.
And then, good old Brad,
he tells you about this little farm down in the natural river bed
which adjoins the property that can supply the development with water.
Is that right? That's right.
$500 option for this whole farm, you see.
And Christiani and Marcon, well, they ain't got no H2O, you know.
So they come to Angelo
and Angelo just shakes them down for about half the deal.
I mean, we signed the papers and I became a partner.
And the cash flow just comes to me immediately.
Cash flow, now that's a term that we real estate people use,
meaning money.
Really?
Have you ever heard of a mark or a pigeon?
That's a term we use in criminal science.
It means a yuck who gets sucked into a con and loses everything.
Except, Jimmy, I didn't have anything.
Now I got everything.
(CHUCKLES)
Well, Angel, when you're right, you're right.
I gotta admit, it is weird. Come on, take it with you.
Yeah, well, it may seem weird to you, friend.
But you're traveling with the land baron of this entire valley.
Oh, really? Yep.
You think this is the valley? You think this is the one, huh?
Jimmy, I told you, I never saw it before.
I was packed in riding in the limo a couple of times
but we just never got past Belle Meadow Park.
My chauffeur, he liked to get down a couple of bets
we'd have a few drinks and the day'd just fly by.
Here, here. No, I got that.
But, Jimmy, I'm telling you, there ain't nothing to worry about.
Just keep the change. I've seen the geologist's report,
I've seen the photographs of the dam.
And that development is dryer than a bottle of old French wine.
They ain't got no water.
Angelo's got the water.
And when you got the wa-wa. You got the deal.
Well, well.
Really a big water shortage, huh?
This can't be it.
I mean, they showed me photographs and land charts.
It's supposed to be a desert.
Yeah, they gave you a chauffeur who liked the ponies.
So you could never come out here and take a look at it.
Yeah, but why, Jimmy? I mean, if they got all the water, why are they gonna cut me in?
That don't make sense.
Yeah, you're right again.
Maybe we ought to take a look at your property. Somebody's farm, right?
Yeah, there's some old duffer named Miller owns it.
He calls it Miller's Farm.
I renamed it.
I can hardly wait.
Yeah, dig this. Rancho Angelo.
Sort of takes your breath away, doesn't it?
It's a dump! What a dump!
I don't know. Once you get the orange groves in
and riding stables, won't look too bad.
Think it's funny?
No, Angel. I don't think it's funny.
As a matter of fact, it scares me to death.
I think it's about time we take this to the cops.
Now, wait a second, Jimmy, I don't want to go to the police.
Now listen, this could be some kind of con, I'd be the patsy.
I'd end up being guilty of a crime I didn't even know I committed.
And how do you know, going to the cops will solve anything, you know?
We can't prove anybody was trying to kill me,
we could file a complaint
with the cops, they'd turn right around to be hanging both of us
for something we didn't even understand.
And you'd be in it right up to your neck along with me.
Well, you see, in a deaI like this, Angel, you gotta evaluate all the risks.
Now, I'd rather see you take your chances on conspiracy or fraud
than see me take any chance at all of getting myself killed.
Big hero, huh?
I didn't sign up on any flaky real estate deal.
You did. Your name's on the dotted line.
What about your friend, David Marcon, huh? Huh?
What about your friend that's trying to give you the pole? What about that?
You want to talk about risk. I'll give you risk.
If we go to the police, and they don't want us to, which they don't.
Well then, what's gonna happen?
'Cause we're talking about the mob.
Oh, I think I can handle that. I'm going to the cops.
Just take care old numero uno, huh?
What do you care about Angelo?
No one cares about Angelo. Up one day, down the next.
Yep, Angelo's gonna end up in some white linen.
Like I said, Angel, when you're right, you're right.
Hold on, hold on. Just a second.
''James Rockford and Angel Martin are sought for
''questioning in the death of Delores Townsend.
''Caretaker Carl Dorado saw the pair exit the scene of the crime
''and drive off in Rockford's tan coupe.
''Police have stated that both Rockford and Martin have criminal records
''and are dangerous.''
Now, who is Delores Townsend?
Jimmy, we're in it now. Son of a gun!
Come on, Angel, who is she?
You know how it is when you get rich and famous?
There's girls hanging around all the time, you know what I mean?
She wanted to be around me. She wanted to touch me.
I tried to beat her off with a stick, Jimmy...
Is she a tall blonde, a red sweater, low-cut,
short skirt. That's Dee. That's Dee.
Let's get out of here.
Who'd wanna kill her?
Well, how should I know. I know I didn't!
And who's Carl Dorado?
Oh, I don't know. How am I supposed to know?
I'm supposed to have answers for everything?
So far, you haven't had the answers to anything!
I don't suppose you're still planning on going to the police, are you?
What should we do?
Just give me a minute to think.
(SIGHS)
What did I do to get into this?
I mean, so I got some giant talent for real estate.
Everybody wants to hang around.
Chicks, hoods, everybody wants to hang out with old Angelo.
Angel, shut up!
You got an idea?
Where're the contracts you signed?
I haven't got them. Brad keeps them in the office.
Did you bother to read them?
You ain't taking this too well.
Really?
I think, under the circumstances, I'm remarkably under control.
(TIRES SQUEALING)
ROCKFORD: Do you think it could be filed under something besides Angel Martin?
Like what?
I don't know. Maybe it's in the ''stupidity'' file.
It's not funny.
Hey.
Maybe it's under Indianhead Development? Yeah.
(BUZZING)
Got it.
Put your hands up!
(GRUNTS)
Come on. We're goners now, Jimmy.
Get in.
Get in the car. Get in!
(TIRES SQUEALING)
It's not good, huh?
Angel, why didn't you let me have a look at this?
''Angel, why didn't you let me have a look at this?''
''Angel, shut up!'' ''Angel, you're the Stupidity file.'' I've about had it!
You've about had it?
Yesterday I picked up a rumor and I tried to warn you.
You two guys wanna shut up and listen to me?
Now...
As near as I can figure it, the idea was to get Angel involved in this
and then direct all of the cash flow towards him.
When he dies, they inherit.
Why?
I don't know. Unless it's some kind of a tax gimmick.
Angel never pays his taxes.
Hey, wait a minute. Taxes, taxes. Those guys were into taxes.
Brad, Tony and Dom. I mean, they're all tax felons.
They insured you, right? Uh-huh.
Okay, Beth, try this.
Suppose they're trying to convert straight income tax,
which is 50o/o, into inheritance tax, which is 25o/o.
Now, Brad puffs up Angel for a couple of months
and then he lays this turkey on him.
BETH: They pick Angel because he doesn't have
any friends or family to ask any questions.
They give him the money. And then they kill him.
His insurance pays the taxes,
which comes to them as inheritors at 25o/o instead of 50o/o.
And Angel, he's got a list of natural enemies,
the suspect list would run about 10 pages.
Brad, Tony and Dom, they're all alibied and clean.
Yeah, well when I die? I die?
How we get out of it, Beth?
We've gotta figure some way to freeze all of Angel's assets.
Who? Freeze what?
There's one way that might work.
How's that? He's not gonna like it.
I'm a tax dodge, that's all.
We commit him. Commit him?
And I become the conservator.
Hey, wait a minute. Hold the phone.
Now, look, Beth, I can't go to the police.
Listen, I gotta figure out a way to get Angel and me out of this mess.
Which means I'm gonna have to make a deal with Dominic Marcon.
In the meantime, whoever's the conservator could be in some danger.
Now we're not talking about the nut house, are we?
Draw up the papers, I'll find a nice place in the Yellow Pages.
Are you out of your mind?
Listen to me, I'm not going to the sanitarium.
I've been in jaiI and every time I go they give me
these psychological tests.
Twice, they told me I've had unstable personality.
I'm talking about these doctors,
go shuffling around and rubbing their hands together,
talking German, and I'm an unstable personality.
I had to burn down the rec room just to get them
to put me back in the normal stir.
You'd rather die?
Right.
And you are the conservator. Is that right, Mr. Rockford?
Yes, that's correct, Doctor.
Look, Doc, I think there's something you ought to understand.
You know, this is just a ploy.
I'm not really crazy. Of course, I know.
I got involved in this real estate deal.
I'm the land baron of the Indianhead River. Really?
Look, would you mind coming with me, Mr. Martin?
Yeah, we thought that Tony and Dom were normal guys,
but they turned out to be in the mob. The mob.
And they were trying to kill me.
Why would they want to do that?
Well, to save the five million dollars in taxes.
You got TVs in the rooms here? Yeah.
Here's your copy. You sure you want me to do this?
Hey, look, Beth, one way or another, this thing's gotta go down.
We can't leave it hanging.
You make your call at 1 :00. That's two hours.
What are you gonna do?
I've got my meeting set up with Dominic Marcon
in half an hour at his house.
Be careful, Jim.
Those are my sentiments exactly.
You're a very troublesome man, Mr. Rockford.
Well, that sentiment goes both ways.
You know, I heard that
last night somebody broke into Brad Charlette's office,
they stole the Indianhead file.
Yeah, I figured out your tax angle. That's pretty clever.
And you're here to make some kind of an offer.
Yeah. You're not gonna like it.
But it's the only way that you're gonna get out of this thing
without losing the whole bundle.
Go ahead.
First, I want you to take Angel and me off the hook.
We're hanging on downtown.
What else?
Then we transfer the ownership of the deaI back to you.
You pay all costs, including your taxes.
And take Angel out of the middle.
Hey, are you kidding?
That's gonna cost me two and a half million dollars.
Plus I have to get one of my own people to take the fall for hitting the hooker.
I told you, you wouldn't like it.
Anything else?
Yeah.
Yeah, I want you to write a letter
stating that we made this agreement,
so in case at some point in the future you decide to eliminate me,
I'll have something to bargain with.
Are you kidding?
You could blackmail me with a letter like that.
I'll agree to a clause in the letter incriminating myself.
Stalemate.
I'll let you know.
Fine. You do that.
You've got untiI 10:00 tomorrow.
See, Dom, I stay healthy
and I pay my debts.
Follow him.
I want Angel and Rockford dead.
I don't care how you do it, but you do it.
And take Davy with you.
Tell him this is his mess.
He blows it, he owns the murder rap.
(WOMAN CHATTERING ON PA S YSTEM)
ANGEL: Hey, it's you. Look at that.
Yeah, let's go.
The race? Come on, let's go.
Where are we going? Just go.
(GUN FIRING)
The cops. There's supposed to be cops. Where are the cops?
(SIRENS WAILING)
There! Come on, cop.
POLICE ON SPEAKER.. Stay where you are! You're surrounded.
Drop your weapons, put your hands up. It's all over.
(GRUNTS)
Jim, let me go. Please. Let me go.
I got a hunch you're gonna take a murder fall, David. No.
I didn't kill the girl, honest. Sammy did.
Hey, don't tell me, tell them.
Hands up against the wall. Against the wall.
How's the book going now, David, huh?
(ANGEL LAUGHS)
ANGEL: Jimmy, tell them it was just a plan.
Tell them that. Tell them it was a plan, Jimmy.
Jimmy, I'd rather go to jaiI! You don't understand!
Jimmy! Jimmy! Jimmy!
ANGEL: Oh, Jimmy, am I glad to see you.
How you doing, Angelo? Not too good.
Did you get the papers for me to get out of here?
Did you see the newspapers this morning?
Do you know what's going on?
Come here, come here.
You wouldn't believe what's happened to me in the past three days.
They give you these little plugs, tell you to stick them in a hole.
I mean, a guy came into my room with a sheet of paper, he spills some ink on it,
slapped it together, he held it up, he said, ''What do you see?''
I said, ''What do you think I see, sucker? It's ink on paper.''
That's what it is, isn't it? I mean, they're getting goofy.
I think they got it in for me.
You're off the hook, Angel.
David pulled the plug and Dom, Tony, Brad, all your partners
are gonna do time for murder and fraud.
Unfortunately, the State has frozen the Indianhead Land Development deal.
Doesn't look like you're gonna come out with anything.
As a matter of fact, you may even have to pay some of the court costs.
But Beth is working on that.
Are you working on getting me out of here?
I talked to Dr. Sager, he said there's some kind of final review board.
It sounds like a formality.
Honey, there's no such thing as formality here.
They believe in all this mumbo-jumbo.
Excuse me. Yeah?
I hope we'll have a few minutes this afternoon, Angelo.
Oh, sure, sure. Give me a while.
I've got a tape recorder today.
Hey, that's great.
That's the only right guy around here.
He's a behavioral scientist, or something like that.
Anyway, he asks me, I tell him what I think about things,
I've been telling him what it's like to kill for money.
I been putting that turkey on.
Hey, Angel. I wouldn't put these guys on.
Well, you gotta do something for laughs.
He's a scientist, he's not a psychiatrist. A world of difference.
A behavioral scientist is a psychiatrist.
It's another name for it, Angel.
No, I don't think you're right, Beth.
I mean, when it comes to guys in white coats,
I got some practical experience.
You know what gets to them is when I refuse to eat.
You know what I mean, I go on a hunger strike. It kills them.
Angel, I think that's a bad idea.
No, a lot of guys around here do it.
Does he?
(LAUGHS)
No, no.
He's being a shadow. He's cool.
He's just being a shadow.
Do you think you can get him out of here?
I'll try, Jim.
Really, I'll try.