04x05 - The Mouse That d*ed

[bunniefuu]

I don't think Geoffrey Paradine
is the type of student

who would disappear from school
in the middle of a semester.

If you ask me,
he's off brooding and studying.

I'm hitting his physics class
with a big exam tomorrow.

His sister's very worried.

Well, maybe his sister
is just overprotective.

I don't think there's any family--
just the two of them.

Professor Crowson's office.

Yes. Yes, he's here.

Your answering service.

Mannix.

Yes, I'll take the call, Operator.
Put it through.

Oh, hello, Mr. Mannix.
I'm so glad I caught you.

This is Holly Paradine.

What is it, Holly?
Nothing, nothing at all.

I found him. Geoff's all right.

That's why I wanted to reach you.

I didn't want you to waste
any more time looking for him.

He just called and apologized.

He was with a girl.

There was never anything to worry about.

I want to thank you, Mr. Mannix.

That's all right, Holly.
I've got another case waiting.

I can catch a plane in the morning.

Did he buy it?

Yes.

He's leaving town
on another case in the morning.

Wow.

You had no right to hire a detective
in the first place.

Geoff, I got into town and you vanished.
I didn't know what to think.

Okay. I'm here.

Now go back to New York.

Geoff, you're in trouble.
I'll contact you later.

You're in trouble.
Please don't ask me to leave.

Holly, for the first time in my life,
it's a chance to really be on top.

Now please, do as I ask you.

When will I talk to you?

I'll call you in the morning.

Now come on.

Geoff, you're in...

Holly, if I don't stay loose, I'm dead.

And if Mannix had stayed on the case,
he'd be dead, too.

♪♪

Flight to St. Louis.

You're booked under the name
of Montgomery.

First name?
Frank.

You'll be staying
at the Shore View Motel.

There's a pay phone about
a hundred yards up the road.

We'll phone you there
every other night at :.

I see you've thought of everything.

We've had detectives on this before.

Whoever's been stealing
our industrial designs

has always been tipped off.

Does anybody know me
at your St. Louis plant?

No one.
Let's keep it that way.

Good.
TWA flight number for St. Louis

is now ready for boarding at Gate .

Well, uh,
guess that's Mr. Montgomery's flight.

Gentlemen.

Good luck, Mr. Mannix.

Flight for St. Louis
is now boarding at Gate .

Passengers, please check in.

What do you think?

I'm betting a $ million company
we have the right man.

Mr. Joe Mannix, please pick up
a white courtesy telephone.

Will Mr. Joe Mannix please come
to the white courtesy telephone?

Flight to San Francisco,
Portland, and Seattle,

now boarding at Gate .

Attention, please.

Flight to San Francisco, Portland,
and Seattle, now boarding at Gate .

This is Joe Mannix.
Do you have a call for me?

She said it was urgent...

I lied to you last night.
Geoff isn't all right.

He made me get rid of you.
He told me you'd both be k*lled if I didn't.

Did he say why?

No, all he told me was that if I got you
to stop looking for him, he'd be all right.

He promised to phone this morning.

He didn't.

He hasn't been at the University,

and I checked the gas station
where he said he worked part time.

Mr. Mannix,
they've never even heard of him.

I just know something terrible
has happened to him.

All right, Holly, we'll start again.

At the University.

Peggy, see that she gets to her hotel.

What about St. Louis?

That'll wait a couple of days.
It's not a matter of life and death.

I'm afraid the grades are going
to have to stay as they are.

Coffee?

Not today.

I've been expecting you.

Geoffrey Paradine didn't show up
for his exam this morning.

Professor, yesterday you said Geoffrey
Paradine was bright, ambitious, a loner.

Today I think he's more
than we bargained for.

Huh. You think he's in trouble?

I think he's in something way over his head.

That was a big one.

What?

The earthquake.

Didn't you feel it?

No, not a thing.

Let me get you some water.

Here.

Yeah, thanks.

I wonder what hit me.

Oh, probably some bug.

Half of my classes are out
with one virus or another.

Yeah.

Professor, uh...
Geoffrey Paradine's life may be in danger.

I don't know where he is or what he's up to.

All I can do is go back
over everything I covered...

every-- everyone I talked to.

Might be something that didn't seem
important the first time around.

Well, there's one thing.

I-- I don't know what it means.

Well, why don't you tell me
and let me decide?

Paradine cheats.

Other students cheat.

But Paradine doesn't have to cheat.

Why does he do it?

I don't think it ever enters his mind
it's wrong.

So what you're really telling me is that,
uh, he's capable of anything.

Only one person can answer that.

Hmm.

Are you sure you're all right?

Oh yeah, yeah, fine.

Look what you done!

I, uh, I didn't do this, lady.

I was supposed to meet
Geoff Paradine here.

I'm a friend of his. I was here yesterday.

I didn't see you.

Look what you've done!

Easy Joe, easy.

Welcome back, Joe.

Where am I?

You're in the hospital.

I'm Dr. Yoshiro.

Why?

What happened?

You went down a flight of stairs
the hard way.

Oh, yeah.

Paradine's place.

A bunch of weirdoes...

a wild trip they were on.

You were hallucinating, Mr. Mannix.

What?

That's right, Joe.

The occupants of that building
are two elderly sisters,

an airline pilot who's never there,

a couple of movie extras,

and Geoffrey Paradine.

Ah.

What is it, Doc?

Some new kind of virus?

You don't have a virus, Mr. Mannix.

Okay, so a bug by any other name.

Joe, Dr. Yoshiro is the best.

Best what?

Toxicologist.

Poison?

Sometime in the last hours.

How?

Any number of ways.

In a hamburger,

a drink,

your toothpaste.

On a stick of gum.

In a crowd, a needle so fine you don't
even feel it prick your skin.

What-- What kind of poison?

It's something we've never run across.

Then you don't know how bad it is.

We know you're dying.

Doctor.

There never is an easy way to say it.

Okay.

So much for the good news.

What are you doing about it?

We're injecting a mouse with your blood.

He could save your life.

If we're lucky,
he'll duplicate your reactions.

Because his body is smaller, more fragile,
the symptoms should occur faster.

We'll be forewarned
while we're searching for the antidote.

If he goes, how long do I have?

Not long.

Sun's out.

And those people running around
down there crabbing at each other.

What can I expect, Doc, until it happens?

Hard to predict.

General fatigue.

Weakness.

Increasing hallucinations.

Will I know?

It's a nerve drug. We know that.

It's attacking the muscles.

And near the end, I'd say there'd be
total disorientation and multiple vision.

Doctor, isn't there anyone in this town
that knows this poison?

I mean now?

The person who gave it to him.

Joe.

This have something to do with Paradine?

It's a pretty good guess.

Paradine told his sister
that he and I could both get k*lled

if I didn't stop looking for him.

I found these in Paradine's wastebasket.

What are they?

Haven't the slightest idea.

Why don't you try and find out, Art?

I'll be in touch with you later.

You can't leave here.

Why not?

You shouldn't be on the streets
in your condition.

I shouldn't be dying, either.

I could find a reason to hold you, Joe.

Don't try it, Art.

If I can keep myself alive by finding out
who poisoned me, I'm sure going to try it.

Besides, you want to save
that mouse, don't you?

Miss Fair, put this on his wrist.

It's our emergency number.

Thank you, Doctor.

Sometime within the last hours.

Any number of ways.

In a hamburger...

a drink...

on a stick of gum.

In a crowd,

a needle so fine, you don't even
feel it prick your skin.

Joe?

What is it, Peggy?

I found him.

Where?

Puritan Laundry Service.

He drives a delivery truck.

Grace just called
from the Department of Labor.

Puritan Laundry Service
was on Paradine's withholding card.

Puritan Laundry.

I'll drive.

Joe?

I'm fine.

I wonder how the mouse is doing.

We got a lot of college students
working part time for us.

You understand?

I wouldn't give you a dime for any of them.

Between their long hair and their dress...

Aw, forget about it.

Look now, Geoff Paradine wears a tie
and goes to a barber.

As I said, part-time workers come and go.

They get paid, don't they?

Hazel, do you know a driver named Paradine?

Yeah, he just left on vacation.

Where to?

Europe.

Where in Europe?

Europe's Europe.

Well look, uh, give me a list
of his work stops, huh?

Absolutely not.

Now look, this is important.

Listen, Mannix, our men enter banks.

Sensitive industries.

They exchange their bundles and leave.

I won't risk all that for a part-time driver.

Just give me a list!

You need a court order to produce that.

There's no time.

Help! Help!

Hey, some guy just went through pressing
and knocked over a rack of clean uniforms.

Just answer the question, Mr. Baker.

Exactly what happened when Mr. Mannix
left your place a little while ago.

Did he hit you or didn't he, Mr. Baker?

Hit me? He better never try it.

Nobody hits Joey Baker.

Well, if he didn't hit you,
did he thr*aten you?

He better never try that, neither.

I see.

Well, this is just routine.

Private investigators are licensed.

We make a check every now and then.

Thanks for your trouble.

You were a little pushy, that's all.

Whether I hit him or not,

he wouldn't give me a simple thing
like Paradine's work route. Why?

Because he was hiding something,
that's why.

Joe, put yourself in Dr. Yoshiro's hands
instead of running around.

Art.

There's a very sick mouse
depending on me.

This is Malcolm.

I want a court order to inspect the books
of the Puritan Laundry Service.

When did you find that out?

Put out an APB.

Paradine bought a plane ticket
to leave the country last night,

but he never used it.

Then he's still here.

Joe.

Let us do it.

Where was he going, Art?

Yugoslavia.

What are you doing?

Just leave it alone. Leave it alone!

Joe, maybe Doctor Yoshiro was right.

Maybe you should go back to the hospital.

And do what? Do what?

Lie around and wait while
somebody else tries to save my life?

Art Malcolm has the entire department
working on it.

Forget it!

Forget it.

If I get a lead, I got to be able to move.

I gotta move.

But you don't even know
if those letters mean anything.

That's right. That's right.

That's right, they could mean anything.
They can mean--

They can mean a city, town, a place.

A code. They could mean
a sled named Rosebud.

I know one thing.

I just gotta keep looking, keep looking.

I was only trying to help, Joe.

Then help!

I'm sorry.

Peggy, I'm sorry.

They don't understand.

It's my life.

There's nobody going to fight for it
any harder than me.

Nobody.

Geoffrey Paradine got me into this.

He's the only one who can get me out.
I've just got to find him.

All I need is a lead.

Just one little lead.

It's Geoff Paradine. He's dead.

That mouse isn't going to like this one bit.

There's one b*llet hole in his left arm.

What k*lled him?

Unless we find something else
in the autopsy,

probably the multiple skull fractures.

He was worked over by experts.

Whoever he was running from
must have wanted something from him.

I figure he expected a payoff, and found out
they were going to k*ll him instead.

He probably caught the b*llet
as he was getting away.

I wonder what Paradine had
that anybody wanted that much.

Anything else?

Just this. I found it on his left arm.

I thought it was a mole.

But one edge was curled.

A mole called microfilm.

Where in the world did you find it?

On Geoffrey Paradine's arm.

He never studied anything like that
at the university.

What do you see up there, Professor?

Stress quotients.

Heat factors.

Rocket trajectory data.

I thought so.

Your student's a spy, Joe.
I'll have to notify the FBI

Geoffrey Paradine in espionage?

You said he was capable of anything,
didn't you?

He did that this morning in my office.

It's all right. It's just the virus again.

Don't you think you ought to be in bed?

Thanks for coming, Professor.

Not at all, but you really should
take care of that bug.

What about the court order?

We've got the Puritan Laundry books.

Our people have been
going over them all night.

So far, the only thing they've turned up
is Paradine's truck route.

Oh, and another driver who said
Paradine gave him $

to switch vacations with him
so Paradine could leave this week.

Monday was the last day he worked.

What else?
He had stops a day.

That's stops a week.

That's places to check,

and we don't even know
what we're looking for.

Looking for a double k*ller.

Paradine's and mine.

And we'll find him.

But it takes time.

That's my problem, Art-- time.

I've got to find out what those letters mean.

My code people are still working on it.

Tell it to the mouse.

Mr. Mannix, I want to talk to you.

Peggy, check the answering service.

Joe, I want to--
Just do it, Peggy.

Yes, Holly?

I just thought of something.

I don't know if it's important, but it might
help you find the people who k*lled Geoff.

What is it?

Well, the first day I got into town,
Geoff took me for a drive.

We went straight from the airport.

He wouldn't even let me
check into a hotel first.

He said he had to show me something.

It was a factory.

He pulled up and pointed through the fence

and said that the biggest thing in his life
was breaking for him inside that factory

and he just had to tell someone.

Where is it?

Outside the city somewhere.

Think you could find it?

It's along this road, I think.

Did he tell you anything about the place?

No, not much.

What kind of a factory was it?

I think he said they made fishnets.

Mannix.

Joe, I'm with Dr. Yoshiro.

He's isolated the poison.

It's a dissipating type.

Once it's done its work,
it just disappears from the system.

What would the autopsy say?

Well, the doctor thinks it would look
like simple heart failure.

A delayed-action poison.

That means I was
supposed to die in St. Louis.

That's why they didn't sh**t me
or run me off a dock.

They didn't want to have my death
tied in with Paradine's.

Joe, we want you to come in now.

No chance.

Mr. Mannix.

Come in now.

The antidote is just around the corner.

My father used to say that about prosperity.

Geoff was telling the truth.

They were trying to k*ll you too.

They knew if Geoff turned up dead,
I'd never stop digging.

We've got to find that factory.

How much farther?

That looks familiar.

Yeah, that's the little cafe
where we stopped to have a drink.

I'm sure now, absolutely sure.

Speed up.

Slow down.

Pull over. Stop.

Get down quick!

Aah!

Mr. Mannix. Mr. Mannix.

You're sick.
That's why you wanted me to drive.

I'm all right.

It's just a new medication.

Sometimes it plays tricks.

I'm taking you back.

No, no. No, no. I've got to see that factory.

This is the place.

Are you sure?

Yes. I wondered at the time

what such a big factory was doing
making fishnets.

That's the same company
that hired me to go to St. Louis for them.

Drive in.

What does fishnet mean to you?

Mannix, you aren't supposed
to be seen here.

And you look terrible.

What's wrong?

Look, one man is dead.
Another one's dying.

What happens now depends on your help.

You're serious.

Yeah.

Well, do I have a choice?

You can tell me or tell Washington.

If you wait to tell Washington,
you could end up accessory to m*rder.

What do you want to know?

Everything.

Well, Fishnet is a sensing device
for m*ssile defense.

We produce a small silicone segment here
and ship it on for assembly.

Where?
No idea.

The m*llitary picked up our first
prototype unit early Monday morning.

Monday-- Monday--

One more question.
Why did you hire me?

I explained all that.

No, no, no. I mean-- I mean me.

Why not-- Why not Mike Hammer,
Sherlock Holmes, or someone?

Your name came up at a board meeting.

Who suggested it?

I don't remember.
Well, find out!

Miss Jacobs, get the minutes
of our last board meeting

and find out who suggested
Mr. Mannix' name to us.

Yes, sir, Mr. Hammond.

What's the matter with you?

Too many candied apples.

Can I get you something?

No, no, thanks.

Malcolm.
Art?

Joe, I'm glad you called. I--

Art, I think we're rounding third base.

You know where I am?
Joe.

I'm with the people
that hired me to go to St. Louis.

An executive from Hammond Enterprises
recommended me for the job.

Joe--
Get the coincidence?

Joe, listen a minute.

Look, uh, I'm just waiting for a name.
I'll have it for you in a second.

Joe, for cryin' out loud--

Mr. Hammond?
Yes.

It was Thomas Ferguson
who suggested Mr. Mannix.

Art, it was Thomas Ferguson.

Mr. Hammond, get him in here.

He left this morning for a few days.

Where does he live?

Oakstone Drive.

Art, it's Oakstone Drive.

Now, look he may be leaving town.
Pick him up.

Joe, give me a chance
to tell you something.

Please.

This is the guy, Art.

I know it.

Just find him.

Shut up for a minute!

What is it, Art?

It's about the mouse.

Oh.

Oh.

What is it?

A friend of mine just d*ed.

I'm sorry, Mr. Mannix.

So am |.

We had something going together.

Europa National Airlines flight ...

Yes, |, uh, telephoned for a reservation--
Thomas Ferguson.

Yes, sir.

Final call for Europa Airlines flight .

Will all passengers please report to--

Will you excuse me a moment, sir?
...at Gate .

Southeastern Airlines flight ,
now arriving at Gate .

Southeastern Airways flight ,
now arriving at Gate .

Ferguson.

How do you spell the name, sir?

Well, uh, F-E-R--

They spelled it F-U-R.

You admitted that you
recommended Mannix for the job!

I already told you that!
Why?

Because we needed a good detective!

Because you needed Mannix out of town!

Our problem was out of town!

Who ordered you to set him up?
Nobody ordered--

Who ordered you to k*ll him?

Who told you to k*ll him, Ferguson?

Dead end.

Look, uh, Mannix, what's all this about?

Geoff Paradine d*ed yesterday.

Who?

He was a student that was involved
with stealing the Fishnet project.

He, uh, he told me to stop looking
for him or we'd both die.

He was right.

They got Paradine...
and they've just about got me.

I don't know what you're talking about.

They gave me poison.

The doctors can't find an antidote.

The man who wants me dead may have it.

I'm incapable of k*lling anyone.

You're capable of dying, aren't you?

Your job was to get me out of town
where your friends could k*ll me--

Where the police couldn't tie my death in
with Paradine's disappearance.

You blew your assignment, Ferguson.

Don't let that shake you.

You were a marked man
the minute they gave it to you.

You're marked for death, Ferguson.

Let him go.

Ferguson.

Paradine... me...

and then you.

I gave an occasional progress report
on our part of the m*ssile system.

But only by telephone.

That's all there was to it
until the other day

when I was told
to get Joe Mannix out of town.

I had a ready-made reason. Our--

Our trouble in St. Louis was legitimate.

I'm not going to take the blame
for this alone.

I-- I-- I didn't know
there would be a death involved.

I didn't know there'd be a m*rder.

Who told you to hire me?

Where did the call come from?

The university.

Mr. Mannix,
you really don't look well at all.

Are you sure there isn't something else
I can get you besides coffee?

No, no, this is fine.

What did you want to see me about?

Well, we think we know who k*lled Paradine.

The police are holding Thomas Ferguson.

He's an executive for one of the companies
that manufacture Fishnet.

Fishnet?

Yeah. Paradine's microfilm.

You remember, don't you?

That's the top-priority m*ssile project.

Yes, of course. It's a product
from the university laboratory.

But [ still insist that Paradine was not
qualified to work on anything so advanced.

Oh, he had one great qualification.

He drove a laundry truck.

Made a pickup at the university lab
on Monday.

Hello. Crowson.

Oh, uh...

Yes, I'm aware of that complication.

All right. Shortly.

Go on, Mr. Mannix.
You said laundry.

There's certainly nothing
very top secret about that.

It is when it's wrapped
around the microfilm camera

you dropped down the towel chute.

That's how you got the film past all that
m*llitary security, isn't it, Professor?

You think I was involved?

With Paradine?

And Fishnet.

That's the project you were
working on, isn't it, Professor?

I mean, when you weren't dispensing...

instant coffee and slow poison.

Mr. Mannix, you're not serious.

You tried to k*ll me.

That's serious.

That virus really hit you very hard,
didn't it?

First time I came here
looking for Geoffrey Paradine,

you insisted I have a cup of your
"world's worst coffee," as you put it.

Well, uh, I think
you'd better have a seat, Professor,

because you're about to become very ill.

You see, the lab isolated
that poison you gave me,

and I just put some in your coffee.

Now, if we're going to both live,
you'd better get that antidote.

If I knew about a mysterious
lifesaving antidote, and I do not,

going for it now would be
an admission of guilt, Mr. Mannix.

You're bluffing, Professor.
You're bluffing.

You'd better get that antidote.

You haven't got long to live.

I've got at least another day.

It's you who haven't much longer to live.

And while your last few precious
moments are ticking away,

you're just standing there
listening to them tick, tick, tick,

tick, tick, tick, tick, tick.

You won't be needing that, Doctor.

Hi.

Hi.

Next time, stick to my coffee, huh?

I'd rather be dead.

We still should have pulled Crowson in.

What if your bluff hadn't worked?

You only had a couple of minutes left.

But I'm here.

Either way, Art,
it would have been too late.

You were lucky, Mr. Mannix.

Yeah.

Mmm.

Joe, what is it?

I just remembered about the mouse.