Somebody has been sending him money in the mail.
$44,000 in two days.
Well, why don't I just keep the whole thing?
That wouldn't be healthy.
The man who gets caught with the marked bills
is the man who goes to the slammer.
Think Mastroianni, you know, that Mexican movie star, you know.
Only leave it a little full.
You miss one day of paying me my money,
it's like baseball, baby. You out.
Murder? Wait a minute.
I don't want him to leave until he gives us the money.
(GRUNTING)
(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)
TOBY.. This is Toby.
I forgot what I was calling for.
Your recording is so boring.
Spike it with some humor, some personality, something!
Last one.
''Rockford, Joseph.''
Let's go.
It's got to be here.
He left yesterday.
There's no way he could have taken it.
Maybe he didn't go. Maybe something came up.
He went.
They all went.
There were no
cancellations.
It'll be here.
It'll come tomorrow. It's the mail. That's all.
Well, you know, the taxes they make you pay,
you'd think the post office would work.
What if it doesn't show tomorrow? What then?
It's gonna be hard to explain.
You know the people we'll have to explain it to
aren't gonna want to listen to an explanation.
What'll we do? Frank, I don't know.
We're just gonna check and see
if maybe this guy didn't have his mail forwarded.
I don't know. Look, Frank,
if you don't calm down,
I'm gonna give you something else to worry about.
Angel, what are you doing here?
I got your message. It sounded important.
Well, let me get Ramone, here, squared away. Steven.
My name is Steven Watson.
Okay, Steven.
Why don't you give it the old college try?
College try? Barber College.
I knock myself out.
You left a message on the answerphone.
You said it was life or death.
I just didn't figure that that meant getting a haircut.
Well, that's true, Jimmy.
Now, you remember a couple of days ago,
I tried to borrow 100 bucks from you?
I still don't have it.
Yeah. Well, I forgot about Rocky,
and I thought, well, now that maybe
he's going to Hawaii and all...
He already left.
Took him to the airport last night.
Got his mail in the car.
Mail...
Hey, Steve, man, what's happening?
I'm sorry.
Don't cut so much off there. Leave it full.
Right.
Jimmy, what do you think about maybe getting me the key to Rocky's place?
Angel, I'm not gonna give you the key to Rocky's place,
let you go in there, rip all his stuff off and then go hawk it.
I'm gonna get it back to him before he comes back from Hawaii.
I'm just squeezed a little tight...
Steve, what are you doing, man?
That's like cutting into my scalp.
STEVEN: This razor's a little tricky.
Yeah, well, just think Mastroianni,
you know, that Mexican movie star, you know.
Only leave it a little full.
Leave it full.
Angel, if that's all you wanted me for, I'll see you, okay?
Wait a second, Jimmy.
Jimmy, Jimmy, listen.
The problem is, I'm in to Electric Larry
for a mess of $50s, you know.
And the vig, the interest, is destroying me.
Word on the street is Electric Larry,
he may commence to break my bones to get even.
All I've got is the $100 that Rocky left for me to pay his bills.
That's it.
You're a hard man to find, Angel.
Well, I've been looking for you. Isn't that right, Jimmy?
Jimmy, you got that $100?
SMICK: You owe us $150.
I think I'm gonna have to move you around a little bit.
Break your arm just to let you know we're serious.
Hey, take it easy, pal.
I think we can handle this calmly.
You part of this?
If you are, come up with the dough.
If not, keep out and shut up, okay?
Okay, okay. Hey, here.
Here, Angel, here's $100.
You owe us $150, Angel.
$50 more today.
$25 a day vigorish till you come up with the nut.
Thanks for the hit, Jimmy. I'll get it back to you.
Look, now that you've seen
the kind of guys I'm dealing with,
how about giving me the key to Rocky's?
Nothing doing.
See you, Angel.
You call that a haircut?
Jimmy, you're opening other people's mail. It's against the law.
I'm looking for bills.
Now that I don't have Rocky's $100,
I'm gonna have to cover all his bills out of my own pocket.
Holy, look at that.
Jimmy, there's thousands of dollars here.
Slip says there's $1 1,000 in here.
Where would Rocky get $1 1,000?
Maybe it's phony.
All right, where would he get $1 1,000 counterfeit?
I don't know. Where would he get it real?
Listen, now that he's got so much money,
maybe he'd lend me some of it.
Angel, I can't loan you Rocky's money without talking to him first.
I understand that.
Listen, I got a couple of ideas how to scrounge it up myself.
So I'll check with you later, Jimmy.
Yeah, okay.
WOMAN.. Palm Shores Hotel. Good afternoon.
Yes, I'd like to speak to Joseph Rockford, please.
He should have checked in this morning.
Just a moment, please.
Mr. Rockford's room does not answer.
Oh, I'd... I'd like to leave a message.
Just tell him to call his son.
Collect.
Thank you.
Angel!
(PHONE RINGING)
TELLER: Next, please.
Yes, sir. $10s and $20s.
$200? Yeah.
Six $10s, seven $20s? Yeah.
You'll have to excuse me for a moment. I seem to be low on $10s.
While you're waiting, you might want to fill that out.
The bank is having a lottery.
Lota... what?
A lottery.
We're giving away a color television, 19 inch.
What do I have to buy?
Nothing. You just write down your name, current address.
Drawing is next month.
Name and address? Mmm-hmm.
I'll be right back.
Here you are, sir. $200.
You might want to count that.
Mr. Martin.
Is this a scam?
Scam?
A con. I get a feeling that in a week
I'm going to get something from the bank says
I gotta put a couple yards in that squirrel cage. Not at all, sir.
It's merely part of the bank's promotional campaign.
All right.
You're a very cautious man.
Thank you.
Well?
We're okay.
He had his mail forwarded to his son.
How do we get it from him?
Any way we can.
Damn.
BECKER: Well?
STEINER: Yes, it's him.
Put him away.
Can you tell me about him now?
No.
Wait a minute, wait a minute. What do you mean, ''No''?
That guy is on a slab because he came out a high window.
We don't know how. We don't know why.
We'd like to know and you can help us with that.
Sergeant, we'd like to help you but we've got our orders.
We'll send you a name and a disposition for the body.
Is it gonna be his name or some name that you make up at the office?
Either way, it's the one you'll use.
I'd like the stuff you found on the body.
Give me the stuff on the John Doe.
Wallet, three sets of ID.
Money. $26 in the wallet.
Keys. A stamp pad but no stamp in it.
Did the team that caught the squeal find the stamp?
If the team that caught the squeal found the stamp,
then the stamp would be there.
We'll get back to you, Sergeant.
Yeah, great.
Anytime I can do you guys a favor, don't...
Oh, boy, these Feds are something else.
Hi, Beth.
Hi.
You said Rocky's in trouble. I thought he was in Hawaii.
Well, he is in Hawaii.
But let me tell you something.
Ever since he's been gone,
somebody has been sending him money in the mail.
$44,000 dollars in two days.
No notes, no return address
and all the money in $100 bills.
Doesn't sound like it's part of his pension plan, does it?
I gotta tell you, Beth, I am scared.
I mean, I've called his hotel six times in two days.
He's never there. He never answers the call.
I just don't know whether he doesn't get the calls
or whether he can't get them.
What's he mixed up in?
Well, he's not mixed up in anything.
It's a mistake.
Then what am I doing here?
Beth, you know Rocky. He likes people.
He believes in them.
Somebody could just walk up to him on the street
and say, ''Do me a favor.''
The next time I see him is on Visitor's Day.
You better show me everything you got.
ROCKFORD: This is it.
Well, either it's as good as they make in Washington, or it's real.
Maybe they're marked, Jim.
Well, I had that very idea myself.
Is that ultraviolet?
You got it.
Uh-oh.
What?
Upper left-hand corner and upper right.
You know, they mark bills so they can identify them specifically.
A ransom, maybe. The FBI will do it on a payoff.
Kidnapping?
Well, I don't know. Maybe.
But the man who gets caught with the marked bills
is the man who goes to the slammer.
Rocky?
Angel.
(GRUNTING)
Oh, well, hello!
Hey, all right, all right.
Hey, they could enter us in a tag team match.
Jim, I... He... Yeah. I know, sweetheart. Okay.
Well, well.
Okay, you two dudes better start talking.
I'm gonna have the cops come pick you up for B and E and assault.
Yeah, anything you say, mister. Just put that thing away, huh?
Well, I'm listening. Where's Angel?
He ain't here.
Okay, Angel's in the cooler.
The cops busted him about 15 minutes ago.
You expect me to buy that?
Look, mister, we were across the street.
We saw the whole thing go down.
We came up to see if we could raise some of the vig.
Yeah, he's been holding out on us.
Okay, come on, out. Come on.
Come on.
Out, go on, out, out.
Oh, those are a couple of real swifties, huh? Let's get out of here.
I hope Angel won't say anything
that's gonna get Rocky into trouble.
Hey, Angel has been in stir.
He knows better than to talk without his lawyer present.
And you're his lawyer.
Angel knows better. He'll keep his mouth shut.
See, you wanna be talking to Jim Rockford and his father, Joseph.
Let me spell that for you. That's Rockford.
R-O-C-K-F-O-R-D.
The guy's got a record, too, you know, but the State,
they pardoned him. But you know the State,
they just practically give them pardons away.
This guy and his dad, they're dirty.
You talk about marked bills and mob money.
You want to find these guys right away.
I wouldn't waste any time.
Now, Rocky, that's the father,
he's at the Palm Shores Hotel.
That's in Hawaii.
A lot of mob guys hang out there.
I'd grab him and I wouldn't let him go.
I'd grab him right away if I was you.
You better be straight with us, Martin.
Straight? Straight? I'm so straight, my back's hurting.
You better be.
We've got a shopping list of charges to hang on somebody.
You're pretty handy right now.
Who me? Charges?
Five to ten for fraud.
Five to ten for conspiracy to avoid taxes.
Five to ten, obstructing justice.
Twenty to life, accessory to murder.
Murder? Wait a minute.
Wait a second. I wouldn't murder no one,
not for a couple of Cs.
Look, you want to talk to the Rockford gang.
That's R-O-C-K-F-O-R-D.
Carmody, third floor lockup.
I've seen guys spill their guts, but...
(SIGHS)
MAN ON INTERCOM.. Call Banneman in Honolulu.
Tell him Joseph Rockford, Palm Shores Hotel.
I want him here today and I don't care how he does it.
James Rockford?
That's right.
My partner and I represent a local business concern.
Due to an unfortunate mix-up at the office,
some very important papers
were inadvertently sent to your father, Joseph Rockford.
I believe they were then forwarded to you.
Papers? What kind of papers?
Oh, I think you know, Mr. Rockford.
We're willing to pay a finder's fee
for the return of those papers.
A finder's fee? What's your name?
Jones. Oh, and is this Mr. Smith?
No, he's Jones, too. My brother.
Oh, Jones brothers. Hey, that's very creative.
Look, I think I can speed this whole thing up a little.
I don't think I understand.
Well, let's not go at it sideways, Mr. Jones.
I opened the envelopes.
We'll pay a recovery fee, 10o/o.
Well, why don't I just keep the whole thing?
That wouldn't be healthy.
Hey, don't come on like that.
You don't have the style and you don't have the weight.
May we come in?
Mr. Rockford,
don't be difficult to deal with.
We are prepared to pay you, you know?
Even when we don't have to.
10o/o of $44,000 is $4,400.
First, I talk to my father.
You bring him here, then we can deal.
Your father? He's in Hawaii, isn't he?
(RINGING)
I'm asking you.
Well, that's where he's supposed to be, isn't he?
Yeah, well, supposed to doesn't count around here.
Hello.
BETH.. Jim, bad news.
They got Angel in a Federal cell and I can't get to him.
It's fraud, tax evasion
and they're even talking about a piece of a murder charge.
Murder? Angel?
Where did they get that?
I don't know, but it gets worse.
They've got a warrant out for Rocky with the same charges.
They got him yet?
I don't know, but don't lose track of that money.
We're gonna need something to deal with.
And, Jim, they're gonna want to talk to you, too.
Yeah, all right, I'll get back to you.
Well, all bets are off.
I don't know where you gentlemen got hold of this money,
but the dirt's starting to rub off on people.
I got a friend in a cell and there's a warrant out on my father,
so I can't afford to deal with you.
Mr. Rockford, you're making a mistake.
Our penalties will be far more severe than the law's.
That stuff again, huh?
Tony, step in here a minute, would you?
I don't want him to leave until he gives us the money.
Hey, you're not gonna need Baby Huey.
Look, I'm not dumb enough to keep that money in the house here.
So could we arrange a meeting?
No, we will not arrange a meeting.
Tony will go with you to collect it,
and then he'll bring you to us.
Brother Jones?
(SIGHS)
Okay, let's go.
Well, I've got to get the key.
It's a safe deposit box.
Key is under the sink?
Behind the box of detergent.
Would you have thought of it?
Well, neither would anyone else.
Hey, what else have you got in there?
(SCREAMING)
Rocky, Rocky.
Why?
That's perfect. Just the way I like them.
Hi, Dennis.
Hey, I was trying to call you. How'd you know I was here?
Oh, the guys down at the station told me you dove off your water diet.
Didn't you make some promises to Peggy, huh?
Forget the promises.
The Feds brought Rocky in about an hour ago.
I don't know what he's involved in, but it's something heavy.
Heavy? Rocky?
He's not involved in anything, Dennis.
He just got caught in the middle. How did you find out?
I was down there, a case I'm working.
A guy fell out the window downtown.
He was connected with the Feds, but I don't know how.
What'd they tell you?
Nothing, except it's too important for a dumb city cop to mess in.
What's it all about, Jim?
I wish I knew, Dennis.
Hey, you... You know a guy named Electric Larry?
Yeah, I know him. The Shylock.
I'd like to know him better, like down in a holding cell. Why?
I just need his money to stall for some time.
Where would I find him?
Hey, if you're strapped, I could come up with...
Oh, no, no, no, Dennis. It's not like that.
I'm glad to hear that,
because I've been trying to bust Larry for years.
Where would I find him?
You know a bar called The Loop on Imperial Highway?
Well, he's got an office upstairs.
Thanks, Dennis.
Hey, do you mind?
(MUSIC PLAYING)
You guys are carrying a grudge, right?
Come on. Come on, I can tell.
You got business here. Okay.
But when it's finished,
I got a piece of you.
Smick,
the club soda dispenser in the bar is busted.
It was fixed last week.
Ah, fixed last week, huh?
You go down there and tell that
to the customer standing there
drinking scotch and air.
Yeah.
Rockford, right? Yeah, right.
Sit down.
I'm a private investigator... Hey, hey, hey.
You've been checked and double checked. Just sit down.
20 K, huh?
In hundreds.
Yeah, well, the hundreds are important because...
Hey, hey, hey, hey,
hundreds, dimes, nickels, who cares?
Now I'm gonna tell you what's important
so you know what's gonna happen.
Now, you need 20 grand, right?
I get three for two.
This time next week, you owe me 30 grand.
The nut and the vig.
Little rough for you?
Okay, say you don't want to do it that way.
This time, next week, you owe me 10 grand.
Long as I get the vig, you keep the nut in your pocket, right?
Right. I know I'm right.
I just said I was right.
We ain't never done business before.
So you don't get no terms.
Everyday you owe me $1 400.
The last day, $1600.
You understand?
Yeah, I understand.
No, you don't understand.
Because if you miss one day of paying me my money,
somebody's going to come by and ask you nice and polite.
Second day, they gonna start to yell.
And the third day,
it's like baseball, baby. You out.
Now you understand?
Yeah.
What are you doing?
I'm counting it.
You trying to call me dishonest?
Get out. Get out.
Hey, it's okay. Get out.
Hey, great. It's very nice... Just go.
Nice doing business with you.
Follow this cat.
20 K the hard way. I want to know who gets it.
All right.
Oh, Jim.
Jim, listen, will you please tell these guys,
I don't even know what they're talking about.
Tell them where it came from, so I can just go on home.
I wish I could, Rocky, but I don't even know myself.
Hey, why didn't you return my calls?
Well, I...
I...
Well, you see, on the airplane going over,
I met this real nice gal, Lena McCarthy,
from right over in Tarzana.
Well, her and me got to talking and all,
and then when we landed, we was having so much fun
I just never did go back to the hotel room much.
Let's get to the point of this meeting.
I thought Miss Davenport made it clear to you to bring the money.
Well, I did. It's downstairs.
But prior to anyone getting their money,
I want to know what this is all about.
Miss Davenport, you're an attorney.
An officer of the court.
Now, where downstairs is the money?
I don't know. Mr. Rockford didn't tell me.
Then where did he park his car?
I don't know. We came separately.
Hold it.
Look. All I want to know is what's going on here.
Now, why did Rocky get the money?
We don't know the answer to that.
Well, why don't you just tell me what you do know, huh?
MAN ON INTERCOM.. Hey, Steiner, Wolf, let's get on with it.
The money was skimmed.
It was carried by a courier, a man that we planted.
It came from Vegas.
From a casino.
Now keep your part of the agreement.
Come on, now. That doesn't even start to explain it.
The courier was supposed...
Hey, Steiner, Wolf, huh?
Look, Jennifer's in a school recital tonight.
I want to get out of here at a decent hour for once.
You don't have kids. You don't know...
The courier was supposed to mark the money
when he got it to the man who was to receive it.
Who was that?
Courier went out the window before he could tell us.
He was also supposed to leave the marking stamp in the office of the receiver.
Physical evidence. Six months of work down the drain.
Okay, I'm going to assume that this is mob front money
that was used for financing legitimate businesses.
You can assume.
How long are you gonna keep my father?
Well, we have to try to ascertain his part in the case.
He doesn't have one.
Probably not.
WOLF: There's only $20,000 here.
There's supposed to be better than 200.
Can't help it. That's all I got.
No workings. Nothing shows. You tamper with this?
Hey, you hear I'm getting money in the mail.
You call my lawyer,
you tell her to bring me and the money in.
If it's not the right money, that's your problem.
Don't pull my chain.
Beth, is there any statute against receiving money in the mail?
Not yet.
Good, good. I'm gonna take my money, I'm gonna take my father,
and we're gonna get out of here. No, you're not, Rockford.
The money stays here until we've had a chance to put it through the lab
and see if maybe you processed the dye out of it.
If it's clean, you can have it back in about a week.
For Dad there, we've got 48 hours to hold him without booking him.
That's just what we're going to do.
Gonna do what?
Because if somebody contacts you,
you'll call us before you even breathe.
Sonny... No, no.
You are an arrogant, buttoned-down creep.
BETH: Jim. No.
Look, I am gonna bust your little case for you
and then I'm gonna shove it down your throat.
And that goes for you, too. Don't worry, Rocky.
He was in there for about half an hour.
LARRY.. Who did he see?
I couldn't follow him in there.
And he left the dough?
He doesn't have no case with him right now.
Man, with all my tax grief,
this turkey has to go and leave
20 grand of my money with the Feds.
Okay, take him, Smick.
He just left.
Boy, you ain't got no sense, do you?
Go and get him and bring him home to me.
Yeah.
(PHONE RINGING)
WOMAN.. Carson and Carroll. Good morning.
I'd like to speak to Mr. Carson, please.
I'm sorry, but Mr. Carson won't be in until noon.
May I take a message?
Is Mr. Carroll in?
Mr. Carroll is out of town this week.
Well, I'd like to know the name of the company
that sponsored last week's prize trip to Hawaii.
Oh, I'm sorry, sir.
But this company's policy is not to give out that kind of information.
Okay, thank you.
(PHONE RINGING)
Carson and Carroll's, right?
Okay, I could start with Carson's.
Which one is it, right or left?
I beg your pardon?
The rugs, the offices.
Which one is Carson's?
Oh, here. Here's the order.
Just point it out.
I've got four more places to go today.
The way the office schedules things,
they'll probably be all over town.
I don't understand. What is this about?
The rugs. A shampoo.
They told me to just do the offices,
but this thing out here looks like it could use it, too.
They said start with Carson's office
'cause Carroll will be out of town. We can get him anytime.
Wait. I can't let you go in there. I have no record of this.
You don't?
No.
Carson and Carroll? 6410 Spenser Street, right?
Well, you better just call the office and check it out.
No skin off my nose.
They pay me whether I'm drinking coffee or shampooing rugs.
JENNY.. Good morning, Miss Johnson speaking.
Yes, this is Miss Grayson at Carson and Carroll.
I think there's been some mix-up.
One of your men is here. He says he has an order to clean the rugs.
Oh, just a minute.
Let me look it up in the books.
Oh, yes, here it is.
We got a call from a Mr. Carroll.
He specifically instructed that our man start with Mr. Carson's office
and finish before noon.
Well, I don't understand why no one told me.
Well, I'm sorry.
If you don't want it done today,
we'll still have to charge you for the time.
No, no. If Mr. Carroll ordered it,
it must be all right.
Could I speak to the workman, please?
Yeah?
How'd I do?
ROCKFORD.. Fine.
Jim, you did mention something about dinner Saturday night, didn't you?
Absolutely.
All right.
They never tell me anything, either.
There we are.
This is a great little machine, you know.
It's got double vacuum on it, circular motion.
The whole thing.
Really good.
(MACHINE HUMMING)
Makes too much noise.
Bother everybody in the office.
I'll only be a half hour. You better close the door.
Well, I just don't know when I'm gonna get back to this thing.
They got a big rush job over at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel.
I mean, we'll have to do this other office, but...
Hey, you know how short we are? Last week they sent...
You don't want to hear about it.
Look, I'll call you at 3:00, 3:30,
set up another appointment, okay?
Yeah, but...
Hey! Hey, what...
It's time for a little business conference.
Hey, look, tell your boss he doesn't have anything to worry about.
I got a lot of things to take care of.
Can't it wait till later?
Sure, but by that time, Jud's foot might have slipped on the accelerator.
You'll be talking to Larry
and your legs will still be back here wondering where you went.
LARRY: Petey, Petey, Petey.
Stick, stick, stick. Float, baby, float.
Looking good. Come on, stick him now.
Move to the left.
All right, looking good.
Stick, stick, stick. Looking real mean like a mean machine.
Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey.
Look, it's doing its job, Solly, baby.
Thanks, Mr. Coglin.
Come on. Keep it moving, keep it moving.
Now, you took 20 grand of my money to the Federal Building
and left it there?
I have certain expenses that don't concern you, Larry.
You got a Federal man on the pad, is that what you're saying?
Man, you've got to have a gnat's brain to borrow grease money from me.
Now, you go to your uncle,
you go to the bank,
you go to the Small Business Administration.
You go anywhere but to a shark,
rates being what they are.
Now, you keep shucking with me,
you're going to end up on a scholarship to the Braille Institute.
There's no percentage in lying to you.
You're getting a little paranoid.
Hey, you watch your mouth.
It's just an expression.
The IRS is all over me. Don't think I don't know it.
You know what I think?
I think you're setting me up for some kind of thing
where the floor's gonna fall out.
Lighten up. It's not that way.
Yeah.
You're gonna go a few rounds with Petey Estevez,
the man that Teofilo Stevenson loses sleep over.
Oh, hey, I'm not much of a boxer, Larry.
I wouldn't want to bore you with a dull bout.
Bore me? Man, we ain't gonna be bored.
By the time Petey Estevez gets through with you,
you're gonna tell us all kind of interesting things.
Hey, what happened? Did he slip?
Probably low blood sugar.
I keep telling him to keep up his left. He won't listen to me.
I'll tell you what's wrong.
You ain't feeding my boy right.
He...
He ain't got enough sugar in his blood.
Smick, Jud, get some gloves on this turkey.
You're gonna go a few rounds with...
With my new discovery here, Honey Boy.
Honey Boy?
Get up.
(GRUNTING)
Hey, hey, you ready to talk to Electric Larry, baby?
I've already talked to you.
Why don't you have a little faith in me?
Show him the faith.
Get up, you bum.
Get up and tell me what you're gonna do with my money.
(COUGHING)
Hey!
(HORN HONKING)
WOMAN.. Jackson Building.
Just a moment, please.
(PHONE BUZZING)
Yeah, Bev.
Mr. Blake, there's a man here
who insists on speaking to the Jones brothers.
I've explained several times that there's no one here by that name,
but he's adamant.
BLAKE.. Send him in.
How did you find us?
Well, you kept sending money to my father's house,
'cause you knew he was gone.
You don't know my father,
so you had to be tied to the contest.
You're a better detective than I suspected.
I'll think about that for the company.
Now, what do you want from us in return for the money?
We can't go higher than 10o/o.
Fine, fine. $4,400.
I'll write you a check.
No checks. Cash.
I don't know how long your checks are gonna be good.
No offense, but you guys haven't been too smart up to now.
And I do not want the money from those envelopes.
Do you have the money with you?
No.
So we give you $4,400 and you go out
and we never see you again.
There's a mail chute out in the hall. Just mail it to me.
If I don't show up with the money,
you just send someone out to pick up my mail.
Appropriate.
Okay.
Bev, would you come in here a moment, please?
That's the right address.
Put it in the mail chute.
We'll be expecting you, Mr. Rockford.
There's one other thing, gentlemen.
I'm afraid that I can't return the money
until I find out how this whole thing came out.
That's not your problem. We made a deal, Rockford. We've paid you.
I can't help it if you paid me
before all the terms of the deal were laid out.
Why don't you go take a business course?
Now, I'm not gonna move on this thing till I'm absolutely sure
that nothing bad is gonna boomerang on me or mine.
Sorry.
How much do you already know?
Well, I know that the money was skimmed from Vegas and it was marked.
We found the courier tampering with the bills in this office.
We assumed he was marking them.
You threw him out a window for that?
No, there was an argument.
He fought and then he slipped.
We didn't want it to happen, but it did.
Now, you got a dead man outside your window,
you got 200 grand of marked money
lying on your table here.
Panic time.
Why didn't you just mail it to yourself?
Mr. Rockford, it wasn't a situation we'd dealt with before.
It seemed expedient.
I had the names and the addresses
of the contest winners on my desk.
The police would never think of looking there.
It should have worked.
What about our money?
At 6:00, when the building is all cleared out,
you leave the door to your lobby unlocked.
I'll call you about 7:00.
Rockford, if you don't show, if you try to be clever,
the sanctions won't be economic.
We'll kill you.
Frank, call Tony.
I want him here at 6:00 and I want him armed.
ROCKFORD.. Dennis, you just have to trust me.
I've heard it before, Jimbo.
''Trust me, Dennis.'' And then I wind up holding the short end
of something I don't like.
You want Larry, don't you?
All right, I can give him to you, but I need help.
Yeah, I want Larry, but I don' want to die for it
and I don't want to get busted out of grade, either.
It's not gonna happen that way.
Now, 6:55. You got the address,
and don't worry about Steiner and Wolf. They'll come.
Just tell them they're gonna get their dirty money men.
(RINGING)
Hello.
Hello, Larry. This is Rockford.
See, I told you all you had to do was have a little faith.
I want to give you your money back.
Where? Over the telephone?
I'm certainly not gonna do it at the gym.
You be at the Jackson Building on Wilshire at 6:50.
If you're late, I'm gone.
What office?
I'll leave a note for you in the lobby.
All right, man, 6:50. We'll be there.
(PHONE RINGING)
ROCKFORD.. Dearborn, Rockford.
Where are you?
In the lobby.
Come on up.
No, thanks. I don't like the accidents that happen in your office.
You go out and watch the right-hand elevator.
The money will be in it.
Hi. Hey, hey, look, you're early.
What was that that just took a trip upstairs?
Man, you are some kind of weird dude.
First, you take my money to Federal Hall,
then you're sending briefcases on elevator rides.
Hey, you lay your game plan out for me right now
else I'm gonna drop you down an air conditioning duct.
I'm buying counterfeit bills.
$200,000 for $20,000.
My 20 grand? Yeah.
Who you think you're dealing with, a sharecropper?
You took my 20 grand to the Feds.
How do you think a one-man operation like me
lays his hands on that much counterfeit?
The $200,000 is part of a package
the Treasury Department seized last year.
My contact man was on the team.
He's in an empty office upstairs right now.
He's gonna send the money down in the case in the elevator.
Sure.
And you were gonna pay old Larry with funny money, huh?
No... Come on, hit the button. Let's go upstairs.
I want a look-see.
If there's $200,000 in there, I want the whole thing.
Then you going off the roof.
STEINER: Where is he?
BECKER: He said he'd be here, he'll be here.
WOLF: Oh, yeah? He said 6:55 and it's 7:00. He's late.
BECKER: Well, let's go on up.
(WHISPERING) Check things out.
Look out!
LARRY: Just take it easy, baby. Just rest real easy.
Come on, move it.
Smick, keep your eye on him.
Rockford? Rockford.
(LAUGHING)
Come on, chum.
Come to Electric Larry, baby. I'm gonna put you to sleep. Come on.
Don't even breathe, punk.
That's it.
Hey, Sarge, what do I book this one on?
CCW, possession of illegal handgun,
attempted 287
and maybe for being so ugly, even.
Don't forget assault.
STEINER: It's the money, all right,
but you blew the case, Rockford.
We can confiscate it, but what have we got them on?
Murder, maybe.
You're missing the marking stamp, right?
All the money was marked right in this office.
Now, if I was a hotshot Federal agent,
I think I'd use some of my clout
to get myself a search warrant. That's what I'd do.
Call Fredrickson. Tell him to get his tamed judge.
Yeah, first tell Fredrickson to send my dad home.
That's first.
I'm gonna interject something here.
I appreciate the fact you're cutting my hair for free
because I'm so broke,
but we're not getting that layered look
that we were talking about.
You know, maybe we should wash it
with some of that organic shampoo. You know what I mean?
Then cut it while it's wet and then give it a blow-dry.
What?
Well, that's... That's how they do it in Beverly Hills.
Well, this is how we did it in the Seabees.
And we all looked like men.
Hot dogs again?
Just try to think of them as tube steaks, huh?
Hey, Dad, I'm sorry. I mean, I'm tapped out.
I know, sonny. It's just that...
Well, by all rights, I ought to be in Hawaii right now
drinking them mai tais and eating that mahi-mahi.
You know, it's the only contest I ever won in my whole life.
You know, I still can't figure out
how them Federal fellows found out I was in Honolulu.
Yeah, that is hard to figure, isn't it?
But it's good to know that your government's doing a heck of a job.
Yeah, and we can all be thankful for informants, too.
Yeah, well, I don't go along with that.
I mean, when they had me down at that Federal Building,
I stonewalled it all the way.
Oh, yeah?
Hey, I'd have really liked to have seen that.
No. No, you wouldn't. It was a terrible time.
But I hung tough, Jimmy, I hung tough.
Can we do something? A little sculpting around the ear here.
Transcript of your statement, Mr. Rockford.
If you want to read it over, make any changes, you can do so.
You'll have to come to our office and initial.
Yeah, right. Right.
I...
I'd ask you to stay for dinner, but then,
nobody wants you around.
Real sorry you have that attitude.
Let's go, Mike. We don't owe them anything.
Except you, Mr. Martin.
I would like to thank you personally for the information you gave us.
It's true that Joseph Rockford, here, wasn't our man,
but the step was helpful.
I mostly stonewalled it.
They probably got me
on one of their trick questions, you know.
But I didn't have no lawyer to advise me.
I was one man, alone.
Yes, you was alone.