(woman on radio) 6-A-11. Ambulance just reached. Code 2.
I need a dime.
Fill her up, you might have some change coming.
Give me a dime, or I'm gonna crack you open like a piggy bank.
You're angry.
Why would I be angry?
You hired me to do a job, and I nearly got killed in the process.
Oh, no.
Now, if you think that's going to stop me, you've got a short memory.
[Telephone ringing]
(Rockford on answering machine) This is Jim Rockford.
At the tone, leave your name and message, I'll get back to you.
[Beeps]
This is Louis, down at the fish market. You gonna pick up these halibut or what?
[Siren wailing]
[People chattering on walkie-talkie]
[Helicopter hovering]
[Ann sobbing]
(Ann) No!
No.
Jim, you don't mean that.
The last time we worked together, I not only didn't make any money...
I had to refinance my car.
But I need you. My client needs you.
She's a pauper. She doesn't have a cent.
That gives us something in common.
All she's got is this little piece of property in Arizona.
That puts her one up on me.
It would take her months to sell it.
And even then, I don't know what she'd get for it.
But because she owns land, she can't use a public defender.
That's why I donated my services.
I knew that once I explained it to you that you'd want to donate yours, too.
Don't you even care if she's innocent?
Beth, I spent five years in prison.
While I was there, I never met anybody who wasn't innocent.
(Beth) Jim.
No!
Do we have to talk out here?
We don't have to talk at all. Beth, I don't take charity cases.
They're not part of my survival kit.
I take them.
You can afford to.
You picked the right grandfather.
Please, Jim. For me?
I guess I've never been able to quite pull that off, have I?
All right, I won't ask for any commitments. Just meet Ann Calhoun.
Listen to her side of the story.
No.
Ann.
Hi.
This is the man I told you about.
Jim Rockford.
The best private investigator money can buy.
(Ann) Mr. Rockford. Oh, thank God.
Beth said she'd talk to you, but I didn't allow myself...
There doesn't seem to be anything, anybody.
He's going to help you, Ann.
Now, wait a minute, Beth. No commitments, remember?
I said I'd listen. I didn't say anything about helping.
[Ann crying]
Boy, you want to see a workload? Now, that's a workload.
And you got some nerve to come sniffing around here about something...
which is off my desk, which is closed.
Becker, sometimes you sound just like a cop.
I am a cop.
That must be it.
And how many times I gotta tell you about coming around this office?
Now, the Calhoun case is closed.
You wanna waste your time on it, fine.
Don't waste mine.
How can you close this case on what you got?
On what we got? Witnesses.
Half the people in the motel...
heard Ann and Kevin Calhoun having it out, tearing up the joint.
Motive: He told her to go back to Arizona, he was staying in LA.
There ain't no better motive than that. Woman scorned.
I think that's what they call it.
Not lately.
And opportunity.
After the fight, Calhoun slams into the bedroom...
and it's quiet for 15 minutes.
Fifteen minutes later, Ann Calhoun leaves the motel...
and then the fire breaks out.
And you figure she spent that 15 minutes killing her husband.
He was smothered and that's official.
Direct to you from the coroner. He was dead before the fire.
No blisters. No smoke inhalation.
It was supposed to look like an accident.
She planted a cigarette in his right hand. It was burned.
The fire spreads across his torso and burns the other hand.
Then you don't have a positive identification.
His wife identified him.
There wasn't a mark on his face.
And she admitted that the two of them didn't know a soul in town.
Who else had a motive?
Somebody at that big party they went to in Bel Air?
He crashed that party. We checked it out.
Nobody knew him.
Nobody admitted they knew him.
Becker, you're just gonna have to get this case back from the DA.
I mean, it won't hold.
You take opportunity. You're wide open on that one.
Calhoun was in his bed, asleep.
Anybody could've walked in on him.
Well, hold it. Hold it a minute.
You know, it just hits me what this is all about.
It's that flaky attorney, the one who collects lost causes...
like they were rare coins.
Beth Davenport.
That's the one.
She's trying to con you into working for nothing again, right?
And you figure, we reopen the case, you're off the hook, right?
That's what I had in mind, I can see it's not going to work.
Damn right.
Hot sauce, please.
With your stomach?
Yeah.
We may have a deal.
I knew it.
I knew the minute you met Ann Calhoun you'd know she's not capable of murder.
That isn't why I'm doing...
She's a sweet, gentle woman.
Look, Beth.
The case the police have against her is laughable.
There's not one shred of hard evidence.
She's had the opportunity, and they say she had the motive.
I said we may have a deal.
You pay my expenses.
I'm donating my services.
I'm not going to make a dime.
You pay my expenses, and if I prove that Ann Calhoun is innocent...
you pay my expenses plus $200 a day.
And no arguments, no bargains, no nothing. That's it.
All right?
All right. We have a deal.
Good.
I want you to find out everything Ann knows about her husband.
Where he was born, where he went to school, where he worked. Everything.
I'll come by your place and pick it up later. All right?
[Horn blowing]
[Grade crossing bell ringing]
[Car honking]
[Tires screeching]
[Tire skidding]
[Wheel clanking]
[Rockford honking]
[Honking]
[Truck honking]
[Tires skidding]
[Truck banging]
[Tires screeching]
It's an emergency. I need a dime.
Mister, I don't even give directions.
Somebody just tried to kill me, I need a dime.
Fill her up, you might have some change coming.
Give me a dime, or I'm gonna crack you open like a piggy bank.
All right, you got it.
Here.
You owe me 90 cents. Just put it in the tank.
[Car driving by]
Hello, highway patrol?
My name is Jim Rockford and I'm at...
6224699.
You know where... Nine.
You know where...
What's the name of this place?
Farber's Garage.
You know where Farber's Garage is?
Somebody in a truck just tried to kill me.
[Police radio chattering]
[Typewriter clacking]
(Rockford) Did you find anything?
Like I told you, Mr. Rockford, we found "it."
You can't arrest a tractor.
You also can't arrest somebody who ain't there.
The rig was stolen from the Junction Cafe about...
three hours ago, then it was dumped two miles north of the highway.
Did you dust it for prints?
No, we didn't.
Me and none of the boys is licensed to drive nothing that big.
There's this guy, Bert, he helps us out from time to time.
He brought it back to the station.
Nobody thought to tell Bert not to wipe any fingerprints off the steering wheel?
Do you know how many cars we got?
How many men? How many miles we gotta cover?
Okay, there was a slip-up. You got the Department's apology.
Maybe somebody tried to kill you. Maybe not.
But I'll tell you how this thing's probably gonna turn out.
Probably turn out some kid out to have hisself a little fun.
People move here for their health?
(Rocky) Hold it right where you are. Now don't make a move.
Put your hands up.
Up!
Rocky.
Jim. What are you doing here?
I live here. What are you doing here?
I'm just keeping an eye on the joint. You know it's always getting...
all tore up every time you ain't around.
Why don't you put that thing away?
Among other things, you don't have a permit for it.
I don't need one. It's yours.
I don't have a permit for it, either. So, give it here.
Two people try to kill me in one day...
and one of them turns out to be my own father.
Somebody tried to kill you? Are you all right?
Yeah, fine.
Somebody tries to kill you, you're not fine.
What happened?
Let's just try to forget it, Rocky.
I know.
You think I can't swallow it straight. You think I'll worry, don't you?
Well, won't you?
I'm not the kind of fella that says he knows all the answers. I never was.
But for a man who doesn't like to get stomped on...
you are in the wrong line of work.
Not now, Rocky.
You never gave trucking a chance.
You know, I still got connections. I can help get your A-1 myself.
It's good pay, steady work.
And it is safe.
Not when you're on the wrong end of the truck.
I just got my tail chased...
halfway across the state of Arizona by the front end of a semi.
Tried to run me off a mountain.
A tractor, was it? What kind?
A Kenworth? A Mack? What was it? Peterbilt?
What difference does it make?
What?
I tried to show you the differences before you could walk.
Was it a cab-over?
Yeah, it was flat nosed, high. It was a cab-over.
Nice paint job, blue and white. But what are we talking about tractors for?
That point is, it tried to kill me.
No.
What do you mean no?
Suppose we're talking about something small, like 14-6.
All right. Now, you got 14,600 pounds...
barreling down the highway at you at 70 or 80, and they can do it.
They got the gears.
No sir, if they wanted to kill you, you'd be dead.
Maybe he wasn't a union driver.
Maybe.
But I don't think he wanted to kill you.
I think they wanted to just scare you to death.
Toothpaste?
Toothpaste.
That's a legitimate out-of-town, overnight expense.
I didn't charge you for my new jammies.
You're angry.
Why would I be angry?
You hired me to do a job, and I nearly got killed in the process.
The highway patrol are looking for some fun-loving kid.
My father wants an autographed picture of the truck...
and you're so torn up, you're arguing over a tube of toothpaste.
[Tires skidding]
[Honking]
Watch out!
You all right?
All right?
Good.
Anybody hurt over there?
No, we're all right.
(man) What's wrong with you?
Sorry it happened.
Okay, guys, let's get back to work.
What happened?
No brake fluid.
Somebody loosened the fitting on the master cylinder.
You mean it was deliberate?
Yeah, and that's twice.
Then somebody did try to kill you in Arizona.
That doesn't make sense.
Nobody knows you're working for Ann Calhoun.
And nobody knew you were going to Arizona, except me.
And whoever killed Kevin Calhoun.
Evidently, they're not too happy with what I dug up on them.
(Rockford) He wasn't born in Arizona at all.
He never worked for the Central Valley Press.
There's no record of a driver's license,
no social security number, no nothing.
Kevin Calhoun never existed.
There's no record of him prior to your marriage in Flagstaff two years ago.
That's impossible. I knew him. We were married for two years.
Ann, the person he was, is the reason he was killed.
How did you meet him?
It was an accident. Chance.
He was in Flagstaff. He'd been traveling.
"Listening to the country" is what he called it.
He was a poet.
Did I mention that?
No.
He was.
Kind, sensitive.
We were very happy.
On the day your husband was murdered, he threatened to leave you.
He'd had too much to drink. He didn't mean it.
But you argued, he slammed the door, went into the bedroom.
What happened during that 15 minutes before you left the motel?
Jim.
Nothing. Nothing happened.
I was angry, hurt.
So I went out for a walk. Why doesn't anyone believe me?
All right.
About that party you went to, in Bel Air?
Was it in character for him to crash a thing like that?
He didn't crash, he was invited.
You told the police you didn't know anybody in town.
(Ann) We didn't.
At least I didn't. Kevin must have known someone, because he was invited.
You sound pretty sure about that.
Why?
The way he behaved.
He wasn't hiding from anyone. He was there. Very openly.
He even called me from the party to ask me to join him.
Did you have any trouble getting in?
No.
Didn't you ask him how he got there, who invited him?
No.
I saw he'd had too much to drink.
We left almost immediately.
You weren't even curious?
On the way home in the car, you didn't ask him?
On the way home? No.
I didn't. We started to argue the minute we got in the cab.
Because he said that he didn't want to go back to Arizona again. Ever.
(Rockford) Ever seen them before?
(Ann) Yes, at the party. Who are they?
That's Elizabeth Gorman and Clyde Russell.
Those were your hosts. You weren't introduced?
No.
There must have been over 200 people there.
Did you ever see your husband talking to them?
He didn't. Not while I was there. Why?
You say you were invited.
They say you crashed.
I hired you to investigate, not to prosecute.
What were you doing in there? You were acting as though Ann killed Kevin.
As far as I know, she did.
Jim.
Beth.
There are only two people who are above suspicion.
That's you and me.
If you lose sight of that, you're not the attorney I think you are.
What are you poking around in there for? The car is fixed.
I just want to make sure it didn't get unfixed.
Well, at least you came up with something.
Although I've never heard of Elizabeth Gorman and Clyde Russell.
From the size of this, you'd think they were the royal family.
Who are they?
I couldn't find out too much on them.
They're new in town. Lots of money.
There's some kind of connection with The Dark and Bloody Ground.
The movie? They do have money.
That's the biggest thing since Birth of a Nation.
Gorman.
Gorman. Somebody named Gorman wrote the book.
Where are we going?
To the police station.
Why?
I've gotta tell them what I found out about Kevin Calhoun.
We're sitting on evidence, Beth.
Oh, no.
Now, if you think that's going to stop me, you've got a short memory.
[Car honking]
Wait!
Don't tell me, tell them.
[Car continues honking]
Just give me one good reason why we should go to the police.
I've already given it to you. Evidence in a capital crime.
I'm counsel for the defense. You're acting as my agent.
There's no question of withholding evidence.
You're on firm and legal ground.
How firm?
Information that you uncover as an investigator...
because you're in my employ, is privileged information.
You are not required by law to divulge said information to the police.
There's nothing about it in the penal code, but it's common knowledge and practice.
It's an unwritten law.
There are no unwritten laws, Beth.
Trust me.
Kevin Calhoun assumed a false identity.
We don't have any reason.
That's what I want you to find out...
when you confront Elizabeth Gorman and Clyde Russell.
What do you want me to confront them with?
How do I know? Whatever works.
You're making $200 a day.
Plus expenses.
All that stops the minute you walk into Becker's office.
Are you implying that I could be bought?
Yes.
What are you doing now?
I'm gonna go find a telephone.
And I'm going to call an attorney. I need some legal advice.
I'm an attorney.
Yeah.
You know, I walked right by you.
I beg your pardon?
Right by.
Did you get the time on Currypoise?
I had a shot at her in a claiming race two years ago, but I let her go.
Could've had her for $5,000. Yeah.
She looks awfully good.
I'm afraid you have the advantage on us, Mr...
Jim. I thought we settled all that "Mr. Rockford" business at your party.
I've been meaning to call you and say thanks again and I'm sorry.
For what?
About your guest.
What was his name? Mr. Kevin Calhoun.
I read about it in the paper.
I read about it, too.
Sad business. Sad.
Not all that sad, Mr. Rockford. We didn't even know the man.
You didn't?
You mean he crashed the party? It doesn't seem possible.
It shouldn't have happened.
Elliot is very good at opening the right doors...
and closing them on the wrong people.
You've met my fiancé, haven't you, Mr. Rockford?
Elliot Malcolm. Yes.
No.
Elliot, he was at the party.
Mr. Rockford was not at the party.
I guess I just have one of those faces.
You're face was not at the party.
And your name wasn't on the guest list. I made it out myself.
You crashed the party, too.
I'm afraid so.
(Elliot) Not a chance.
There were over 200 people there, Elliot.
I said not a chance. I had a guard on every gate.
I had a guard on every door. Nobody got into that party I didn't want there.
You make it sound impossible.
It was impossible.
I'm not going to argue with you, you're the expert on doors.
Nobody crashed the party. Not me...
not Kevin Calhoun.
I didn't say that.
Yes, you did.
What was that all about?
Probably a lawyer checking out the party.
Somebody was just indicted for that murder.
You just told him that Kevin Calhoun was invited to the party.
And our statements to the police say that he crashed.
It's one of the things he does. Elliot puts parties together.
Makes introductions. Elliot went to all the right schools.
Knows the right people, and knows how to make them pay off.
Evidently, he's going to marry Elizabeth Gorman.
New money.
What does that mean?
Old money would never marry Elliot.
Tell me something, Beth.
Does it embarrass you to be seen in public with me?
Of course not.
Why would you ask a thing like that?
I don't even have new money.
[Knocking on door]
Rocky?
No, it's Beth.
I found out who killed Kevin Calhoun.
Who?
Clyde Russell.
Why?
That's the most fascinating part about this whole thing. I start...
Why aren't you dressed?
I am dressed. For bed.
Put your clothes on.
I started looking into Clyde Russell's background.
And I found out he's into copyrights.
Now, that's a very specialized field.
So I asked a friend of mine, an expert, to help me, and he...
For $200, you could put your clothes on.
Anyway, there's the most peculiar thing
about the copyright law in this country.
I mean, it's insane. It sounds as if the whole thing were written by a madman.
Listen.
Wouldn't you think that when a company buys a book, that they own it?
Especially if the contract says so.
Yeah.
Well, they do. Except...
It would be a lot easier if I could look at you when I'm talking to you.
Not for me.
Except what?
Except for this kinky law.
A company can buy a book for $1 million.
But, when the copyright renewal time comes up...
if the author has died, they don't own it.
It's not theirs anymore. Can you believe that?
No. Are you sure?
Positive.
17 U.S.C. 24. It's all there.
What's all that?
Title 17, United States Code, Section 24.
You mean to say somebody can spend $1 million for a book...
and just because the author happens to die...
before the renewal time, they don't own it?
That's it.
The rights go to his widow, our friend Elizabeth Gorman.
And that's exactly what happened with The Dark and Bloody Ground.
They were half way through the picture when her husband died.
That's when Clyde Russell moved in.
Elizabeth didn't know she suddenly owned the rights to the book.
So, Clyde made a deal with her...
and then he hit the motion picture company for 25%.
The biggest thing since Birth of a Nation, yeah.
Which makes Clyde Russell an opportunist, not a murderer.
Jim, Clyde Russell...
[phone ringing]
Would you excuse me a minute?
Hello?
Mr. Rockford?
It's Clyde Russell.
Now, tell me, you are a private investigator, aren't you?
That's right.
Well, I've been thinking over what happened at the track today...
and I think we gotta talk about Kevin Calhoun.
I bought the old Blackford place at...
3972, Ambazac Road in Bel Air. Do you know the house?
Yeah, I think I know where it is.
Just let yourself in the back way. The gate will be open...
and come straight to the pool house.
The pool house.
If you're finished, I'd like to finish.
Clyde Russell resigned from the Bar.
Don't you get it?
Nobody resigns from the Bar unless they got something pretty shady to hide.
Clyde Russell is a high-class ambulance chaser.
Only he chases copyrights.
Kevin Calhoun was a writer.
No, Kevin Calhoun was a poet.
He grossed a fat $15, $20 a year for his work.
Well, there's something there.
And don't ask me what, 'cause I don't know.
Why don't we just go up to Russell's place and ask him?
After what happened at the track today?
You couldn't get in the back gate.
$10 says I can.
You're on.
(Beth) Shall I call an ambulance?
He won't need an ambulance.
I'll be all right.
Let's see if we can find a phone in the house. Come on.
Go call the police.
[Tires screeching]
[Car honking]
[Police radio chattering]
What happened? Do you know how long I've been waiting?
I got hung up at the hospital.
You're hurt.
No, I'm fine. Elliot Malcolm got messed up pretty good, though.
Elliot killed Clyde?
Yeah, and he tried to kill us.
Me, twice.
I don't believe it. He's not the type.
Because he went to the right schools? He's the type.
He's just not very good at it.
Has he confessed?
He won't even give the cops his unlisted phone number.
But if I figured it out, they're going to be right behind me.
Come on, I want to get to Elizabeth Gorman's before they do.
[Knocking on door]
Elliot, I have been...
When it's bad news, I knock first.
Look, Mr. Rockford, if you persist on coming in here...
I'm gonna have to call the police.
You won't have to.
They should be along any minute.
Elliot Malcolm's in the prison ward at the Santa Monica Hospital.
Is he...
He'll be fine in time for the trial.
What trial?
He's been charged with the murder of Clyde Russell.
I don't believe you.
You don't have to, you can check it out with the cops.
Clyde had nothing to do with Kevin Calhoun's murder.
He didn't even know about it.
But he figured it out.
So he had to go. Elliot was just protecting you.
Or should I say, he was protecting his investment?
He's talking now, Elizabeth.
And he's going to keep right on talking. He's got nothing more to lose.
Don't you want to know what he's talking about?
Might help you with your answers when the police get here.
Well, I certainly don't need any help with any answers.
Not even when they start asking you about your husband?
Mr. Rockford, would you mind leaving?
I mean, I don't believe a word you've said.
I don't believe that Clyde is dead.
And I don't believe that Elliot is in any prison hospital.
I don't know what you're gaining by lying to me like this, but...
I'm warning you. Just leave me alone.
You are alone.
This came off during the accident.
"To Elliot, with all my love.
Elizabeth."
According to this, your husband was killed in a boating accident...
off the coast of Mexico. Only his body was never recovered.
Kevin Calhoun was Steven Gorman.
When he heard about the movie, he showed up here...
to get his slice of the money.
And you killed him to protect your interest.
[Siren wailing]
I thought he was dead.
For three years I had to live with that.
Believe me, that hurt.
And then one day, the day of the party, he shows up...
with a new name, and a new wife.
No explanations.
And no apologies.
He was there to collect the money.
No thought to me, and what I'd been through.
No more thought than when he faked the boating accident...
because he didn't have the courage to ask me for a divorce.
What he put me through.
Boy, you'll never know the hell he put me through.
That's why I killed him.
[Police siren wailing]
[Crying]
Have you heard from Ann Calhoun?
She phoned me from Flagstaff this morning.
It'll take a while, but she'll be all right.
Ten cents a mile? I thought it was seven.
It is, if you're a nostalgia buff.
That toothpaste is still on here.
That's right.
All right, I'll pay it.
Thanks, sport.
But that spark plug lead and this brake job...
parts and labor, I'm afraid that will have to come off.
What are you talking about? Those represent attempts on my life...
and yours, in the line of duty.
Attempts that were only possible because of your negligence.
You should have locked your car.
The hood? There's no lock on the hood.
Then I suggest you have one installed.
This sort of thing must crop up all the time in the line of work you do.
Just give it back to me.
Forget the expenses. I don't want to talk about it anymore. Give us two tacos, please.
Just pay me for my services and we're even.
Don't be ridiculous, Jim. I'm going to pay for your services.
And your expenses. Just as soon as Ann Calhoun pays me.
That wasn't our deal.
Of course it was.
Don't tell me you misunderstood me.
Naturally payment will take some time.
Ann doesn't have much except for that piece of property.
And who knows how long it'll take to sell it how much she'll get for it? Okay, Beth.
How about a compromise?
I'll forget about Ann Calhoun. Just wipe it off the books.
You retain me on the Elizabeth Gorman case.
You owe me that much. I'm the one that recommended you.
And she can afford me.
She can afford you.
But she doesn't need you. I have a brilliant defense planned.
She'll be out in six months.
But, you know, I am working on another case.
We could certainly use your help on that.
Of course, the man is virtually penniless.
But you'll love him, Jim. He's 70 years old, but alert.
Jim?