01x08 - Courage of a Conviction

[bunniefuu]

[theme music]

Wish you hadn’t come, Shirley.

Why didn't you wait back at the apartment like I said?

Waited till you got back, waited for some morph connection.

Man, you flipped out.

You know how long since I've had a fix.

I gotta get straight, Harry, like, now.

Alright, here it is.

Now, it won’t take long. Now, you keep walking.

Come on. I'll catch up.

FBI. You're under arrest, Castle.

Hold it.

Alright, let's go.

[theme music]

[male narrator] "The FBI."

A QM production.

Starring, Efrem Zimbalist Jr.

Also starring Philip Abbott.

Stephen Brooks.

Lynn Loring.

With guest stars, Susan Oliver.

Edward Andrews.

Tonight’s episode, "Courage Of A Conviction."

[indistinct chatter]

Asparagus with hollandaise sauce

uh, baked potato with sour cream.

Uh, don't forget, we want those fillets medium rare.

And bring us a side order of mushroom sauteed in butter.

- Coffee? - 'Yeah, please.'

Three coffees with the meal.

- Did I leave out anything? - Not a thing. I'm dazzled.

Well, some day, my child, you'll learn that

when an Erskine celebrates, he doesn't mess around.

But I've never seen you celebrate like this

over catching a forger before.

We've never caught a forger this slippery before.

- And you were in on it too? - Hmm.

You bet he was. He played a very important part.

- Very? - Very.

Then why don't you recommend him for a raise?

h*-h*, look at the mercenary gleam in that woman's eye.

Did you raise your daughter to be a money grabber, uh, grubber?

Graber's right. She'll grab your paycheck

before you get her over to the doorstep.

No, really. What brought all this on?

I mean, what was so special about this case?

- Should we tell her? - Mm, why not?

Let her see what a couple brilliant dogs

she's out with today.

Well, the special thing about the case was.. the man.

The length of time he operated and got away with it.

You see, he was a master forger.

He'd steal a checkbook if you cancel checks

forge a signature, simply cash a check

and go about his business.

Three hundred thousand dollars

worth of business in three years.

- Three hundred thousand? - And he still wound up broke.

- Couldn't even make bail. - Mr. John Doe.

And we wouldn't have him yet if it weren't for Ray.

Who's Ray? Oh, oh, your secret operative in St. Louis.

Ray would like that.

No, really. Isn't he your lawyer pal?

Uh, person the newspapers would call a usually reliable source.

And Ray hasn't been anything but reliable yet

and I've known him since he was a kid.

He's the one who deserves the medals.

Oh, Lew, quit it.

He gave us a tip that lead to the arrest of a forger.

We put the pieces together and came up with John Doe.

Poor man.

- Who? - Who?

John Doe. Harry Castle.

What, don't you feel sorry for him?

Sorry for him?

Well, I-I saw his picture in the newspaper.

I don't know, he..

He just looks like such a loser.

Those sad eyes.

Yeah, he's thinking about that trial he's gonna have to face.

You know, he's lucky if he gets off with ten years.

If you wanna see a couple of sad eyes

you better come to St. Louis with us tomorrow

and take a look at a hijacker named Haskell

when we walk into court.

How long will you be gone?

Out in the morning, back in the afternoon.

Hey, maybe we'll have a chance to drop in on Ray

take him to lunch.

In the meantime, may I propose a toast to Ray Lang?

There'll be no celebration without him.

[all] Mr. Lang.

Well, hello there, Lew.

How are you, Ray?

- How are you, G-man? - Fine, thank you.

Well, what brings you two back here to St. Louis?

Just finishing up the Haskell case, you remember.

Put on your coat. We'll buy you lunch.

- No strings. - But what's the occasion?

Well, let's say one good turn deserves another.

Will you settle for a T-bone?

Well, you bet your life, I would.

Uh, uh, I'm expecting a long distance call

but, could you wait a few minutes?

- Yeah. - Sure.

Good, good, well, sit down

sit down, sit down.

Here we are. Let's have a little snort.

- Oh, it's too early for me. - Hmm.

Yeah, me too.

[chuckles] You know, I've known this fella

since we were in grammar school together

and the older he gets, the harder he works.

You know, the only time he ever behaved half-human

was while he was married.

Ray’s still gets sore ’cause he used to work so hard

no woman would put up with him.

Wait a minute. Wait, wait, I didn't have a car.

A fatal handicap.

I didn't realize you two had known each other this long.

Ah, sure, forever.

Why if we..

Shirley.

I thought I'd surprise you.

Come right over.

- Business? - Oh, no, no, no.

They're just, uh, just social.

This-this is, uh, Shirley Gregg.

- Uh, Mr. Erskine, Mr. Rhodes. - How do you do?

- How are you? - Hiya.

Ray honey, baby need bread.

Uh..

Lew, I, I-I tell you what?

Why, why don’t you just give me a raincheck on that lunch, huh?

Uh, you call me up the next time you’re in town.

Sure, Ray.

- Ms. Gregg. - Nice meeting you.

You sore at me, honey?

What's the matter with you? Don't you know who that was?

That was the FBI. The man who picked Harry up.

So, who cares? They don’t know me.

That's, uh, that's a lot of woman in there.

Hmm?

Hmm.

Did you see those tracks in her arms?

It's funny, a guy like Ray getting mixed up with a junky.

Even a dish like that.

Did her face look familiar to you?

No, why?

I don't know.

And I’ve seen her before..

...somewhere.

Where?

Not with Ray.

It was outs..

...outside the bank.

The day we arrested Castle.

- Busy? - What's on your mind?

Shirley Gregg.

She was Harry Castle's girl.

Yeah?

Well, that's it.

I got to thinking, so, I called Identification

had her checked out.

Now, she had herself voluntarily admitted to the hospital

the day after he was arrested.

And, now, her address at the time was the same as his

but when she left, she was released to Ray Lang.

So, she switched boyfriends. What’s bothering you?

Yeah, well, I don't know, but why should Lang

take over his girlfriend like that?

I mean, that's quite a coincidence.

The coincidence implies the complete lack

of even a casual connection.

There's a very clear connection here.

Ray met her when he was checking on Castle and went for her.

According to these dates, he kept her out of sight

the whole time we were investigating.

Which would suggest he didn't want us to know

he was involved with her.

- Why? - Yeah, that’s a good question.

I put it to myself several times.

- Yeah? - Mm-hm.

As a matter of fact, I called Ident too.

Oh.

See, my guess would be that, uh

well, Ray felt guilty, uncomfortable

because, the tip that led us to arrest Castle

also gave him a free hand with Castle's girl.

I've known him long enough to understand that he..

...he might feel bad about a thing like that.

David and Bathsheba all over again, huh?

There is one essential difference, Jim.

David set Jeriah up for the k*ll.

Oh.

Didn't they come up with anything else?

No, nothing that had any bearing

as far as I could judge.

Oh, yeah, the lab did make a handwriting comparison

between the work of John Doe and Castle.

- And? - Nothing conclusive.

Does the date May 10, 1963 mean anything to you?

- May tenth? - Uh-huh.

No.

That's the day John Doe using the name John Lester

cashed a forged check for $100 in Louisville, Kentucky.

That's practically pin money.

I don't remember seeing it on the transcription.

We didn't use it. We had so many, we didn't need it.

Well, then?

Well, it says here that in May 1963

Shirley Gregg was working in a club

called the, uh, "Red Velvet Pad"

in Baltimore.

Be interesting to know if she was with Castle at the time

wouldn't it? Let's find out.

[sighs] ASAC, Baltimore.

- Lew, what are you thinking? - I'm trying not to think.

Hello.

Oh.

When will he be back?

Okay, skip it.

Whole office is tied up in a special.

I think I'll drive out there myself tonight.

Take a look around.

[upbeat music]

Alright, you two. Come on in.

We never have any trouble here at all.

You know what I mean? No trouble whatsoever at all.

I run a strictly legit operation here, if you know what I mean.

You, beat it. Get outta here and don’t come back.

Now, this chick got herself

into some kind of situation, you understand?

That is strictly not my worry

because she left here a long time ago.

Well, she was working here in May 1963, right?

That's right.

Alright, come on in here.

Did you ever see this man before?

- What did he do? - I asked you a question.

Okay.

This, uh, character used to be my night cashier.

He never shorted me a nickel.

Harry, Harry Castle.

Uh, him and Shirley had

a big thing going, you know what I mean?

The only trouble he ever gave me was over this chick.

If anybody get out of line with her

he'd come on very strong.

You know, like they took the vows or somethin’.

- Where were they living? - The Oriole Motel.

Alright.

[music stops]

Harry Castle.

Mister and Missus.

The law doesn't require us to ask

for any, uh, marriage certificates.

Do you understand that?

Yes, I understand.

Well, they checked in March 2, 1963

and they were with us through July the 21st.

We're very sorry to lose them.

Never any trouble, never any drinking.

A very steady couple.

Good morning, Lew.

Have a nice, relaxing evening?

Well, I made a rather relaxing discovery.

Oh, let's have it.

Well..

...the day of the Louisville forgery

Harry Castle was working

in the Red Velvet Pad in Baltimore.

He was on the job at seven in the evening on the tenth of May.

The banks close at 3:00.

Couldn't he have made it back by plane?

No way. I checked the schedules.

Lew, Castle's been identified again and again as John Doe.

He had accomplices.

Uh, he usually had somebody do the burglaries

to procure the blank checks for him.

'Then why can't we assume that he, that he sometimes had'

'an accomplice to pass the checks he forged?'

Y-while, he had an alibi

working at some job 500 miles away.

I suppose we could assume a lot of things.

But, you know, ever since this thing came up again yesterday

I've been thinking of something

that Barbara said the other night.

She said Harry Castle looks like a loser.

It irritated me at the time, but you know she's right.

He does look like a loser.

'And a man who'd operated as long and successfully'

as this fellow would never have that look.

Not even when he was caught.

[sighs]

Well, I better tell Arthur I think John Doe is still loose.

- Yeah, well, I'll go with you. - 'No, no, you stay here.'

There's something I have to do alone.

[sighs] Sometimes you try me, Lewis.

Well, it's not a pleasure, Arthur, believe me.

But I just can’t duck the facts.

What facts?

You build an air-tight case against Castle

as the man wanted for three years

and you clinched it with five positive identifications.

Now, you expect me to go to the director

and tell him it's all a mistake based on a hunch?

A hunch? If it were a hunch, I wouldn't be here, Arthur.

I personally established that Harry Castle

was working in Baltimore on the same day

that we had him passing a forged check in Louisville, Kentucky.

- Established on what basis? - An identification.

The owner of a club identified him

as his cashier at the time.

That's not good enough, Lewis.

Not in the face of the original evidence.

'The fact is, you personally caught this man Castle'

'at the counter of the St. Louis Community Bank.'

- Right. - 'Passing a check.'

One he'd forged right under your nose.

He's a forger, he's a criminal and you caught him in the act.

I caught Castle in the act

and he's a forger and he's guilty.

But I no longer believe he's the man I thought I had.

Or the man who deserves to get 15 years as a master forger.

And he will if we don't come up with the right man

before the trail begins.

I have to run this down, Arthur.

I have to.

I swear, anybody would think you were about to send

an innocent man to the chair.

Well, I don't like it. Putting a man in that position.

- I just don’t like it. - Boy Scout.

Alright, Lew, suppose you're right.

Suppose this Castle fellow isn't the big operator

you thought you'd nailed. So what?

Let the lawyers in the courts worry about it.

It’s out of your hands.

I wish I could feel relaxed about it.

As a matter of fact, I’m a little surprised

it doesn't bother you.

Well, why should it?

Look, Lew, what's the beef?

I gave you a lead and you arrested a forger

who'll probably get ten years.

Now who's going to miss him?

[chuckles]

Hey, wait a minute. I don't understand.

Are you trying to say that I steered you wrong?

You turned a forger. No question.

Then what do you want from me?

[sighs] Come on, Lew. What are we fightin’ about?

[laughs] Let's go have a drink, huh?

- Tell me something. - Yeah.

How come a guy like you gets hooked up with a junky?

- That's none of your business. - It might be.

Shirley Gregg was Harry Castle's girl.

Look, Lew--

A lot of pieces started falling

into place after I saw her here

and they make an ugly picture.

Alright, buddy, I have had it with you.

Get out.

Go on, get out.

We've been friends a long time, Ray.

And if I'm wrong, I'll owe you one.

But if I'm right..

Sit down, Castle.

- You remember me? - Who could forget?

I wanna talk to you.

I already heard all you gotta say.

That’s what I want to talk to you about.

Maybe I said too much.

I don't get you.

I'm willing to be convinced I got some of the story wrong.

If you wanna convince me, uh, you're not John Doe, I'm..

...I'm here to listen.

You know a lawyer called Ray Lang?

Never heard the name.

He's Shirley Gregg's new boyfriend.

- Since when? - Since you were arrested.

That figures.

She's gotta have somebody.

How long have you known her?

Two years. I met her in Baltimore.

'She was an entertainer in the joint'

where I was night cashier and I flipped for her.

Man, I woulda done anything for that chick.

And did.

Was, uh..

Was she on narcotics then?

You know it all, don't you?

She spent a month in the hospital after your arrest.

Voluntary admission.

That..

That don't make sense.

At times, I begged her.

Well, y-you asked me a question.

Oh, uh, yeah.

She, uh, she was usin’ when I first met her.

Not much of a habit, but even then she couldn't support it.

Not on her regular earnings.

So, I started forging prescriptions

and boosting and shoplifting, anything.

Anything to keep her from going with some other guy.

Do you have any idea

what it's like to be crazy in love with a junky?

I can guess.

You say you forged prescriptions.

- What about checks? - Once.

And look where it got me.

But you were positively identified by five people.

Would you lay off?

Those five will get me ten in a federal pen

just for one lousy job.

Just because I happen to look like somebody else.

Guard.

Guard?

Sit down, Castle.

Told you I was ready to listen.

I may be able to do you some good.

What have you got to lose?

Alright, it was your first bad check.

That's quite a jump from forging prescriptions.

Where’d you get the idea?

Shirley got it out of a magazine.

What magazine?

I don't know.

I remember it was the night she was straight.

She was not high.

She..

She had just enough junk into her to be sort of normal.

'And when she got like that..'

...she was..

Eh, what’s the use.

If she said jump off the Empire State Building

you'd do it.

That's the way she gets to you.

- You ever see her? - Yeah.

Is she okay?

How'd she look?

Fine.

[sobs]

Anyway, that night she..

...said why don’t you stop taking chances for peanuts

and, and then she, she told me about this job.

She..

’And she said she knew this guy, lived in East St. Louis.’

He's got a small business out there

and he's gonna be away for three or four days.

Seems to be a cinch to, to take the blanks

and some canceled checks to practice the signature.

And you know..

You know why I went along with it?

’Cause it’d give me a bank.

Just...the idea to get even.

’Takin’ this creep she knew.’

Like takin’ him so it hurt.

Then..

That's it. You know the rest.

- You think you were framed? - What else?

Shirley couldn't have come to this by herself

in a 1000 years.

Uh, here it is. 2B.

Try it.

[doorbell buzzes]

- Who’re you looking for? - Shirley Gregg.

- Did she answer? - No.

No.

FBI. Would you take us up, please?

Follow me.

[knock on door]

[male #1] ’Ms. Gregg, you in?’

'Something's wrong. I better check.'

She's in, alright.

Take a look, mister.

[male #2] ’I hate having to leave ya like this’

’but I’ve got an emergency at the hospital.’

'She'll be alright. The shot should do it.'

'It may be a little while before it takes effect'

so, you better get some coffee into her.

And make sure she doesn't go to sleep.

She just might not wake up.

Alright, doctor, we'll take care of it.

- Goodnight. - Goodnight.

- Get the coffee. - Yeah.

And-and a wet towel.

You alright, Shirley? Try to stay awake.

Man, that was a high.

Higher than that you just don't go.

Where's Ray? He was here.

He was? When did he leave?

Why don't you get lost?

Where do you keep the coffee?

What is this, a convention?

Where's the coffee?

I don't know.

Where did you get the stuff, Shirley?

You a narco?

No, no. I just want a few answers.

Drop dead.

I saw Harry Castle.

Wake up, Shirley, you’re nodding!

I saw Harry Castle!

How is he?

He still loves you.

What's the matter with that man?

Only thing in..

...in the whole world to love is junk.

So, you went with Ray and he slipped you an overdose?

'Shirley.'

Oh, you gotta be kidding.

Ray’s so hung up on me it’s pathetic.

Did Ray bring you the stuff, Shirley?

Was he here when you shot up?

'Was he?'

Okay, Shirley, let's take a little walk.

That's a girl. Come on.

There we go.

[Shirley] Hey, who are you anyway?

FBI.

I don't dig.

Well, you know Ray framed Harry Castle.

You were in on it.

Your evidence could ruin him or at least get him disbarred.

Oh, you gotta be higher than I am, mister.

Why should I wanna hurt Ray? With Ray, I got it made.

You had it made.

He can't afford you anymore, Shirley.

You’ll be sh**ting rat poison tomorrow if he has his way.

[sobs]

Shirley, drink this.

- No! - Shirley, drink it.

- No. - Come on.

- No. - Come on.

Okay. See if you can locate Lang.

Yes, sir.

Here, drink it.

Oh, you don't dig, mister. I..

You don't know how it is with Ray and me.

Alright, Shirley.

Suppose you tell me how it is.

- 'Operator.' - Yeah, operator.

I've been trying to get a number.

It's main 18997, but I keep getting a busy signal.

Would you, uh, would you check that for me, please?

See if the phone's out of order.

- ’Main 18997?’ - Yeah, that’s right, Jess.

- 'One moment, please.' - Thank you.

'That line is busy, sir.'

Yeah, well, would you, tell me, would you interrupt it, please?

- It's an emergency. - 'One moment.'

'There's no one on the line, sir.'

'The telephone's apparently off the hook.'

Alright, thank you very much.

Here, wrap this around you.

He's, uh, he's, uh, s-sick, you know that?

I-I’m the same to him as, uh, junk is to me.

- So, uh-- - Here.

That’s a girl.

So, he, he figured out this deal

and, uh, I snowed, snowed Harry.

See, he, Harry was scared, but he, he went along

because Harry would, um, always go along for me.

Here.

Well, Lang's in his office

but the phone's busy all the time.

So, I made an emergency call.

The phone's been taken off the hook.

Narcotic squad will be here in a minute.

Good.

Why did you go to the bank with Harry that morning?

Because I need the price of it fixed.

’So, I knew that Ray would be there and he’d come through’

because he'd, he'd sworn that, uh..

He wouldn't stop me from using.

He would let me get all, all the junk I wanted.

He got me my last fix.

Then Ray was with you when you shot up?

Yeah.

Of course. Who else?

[Shirley] ’And, I, I need it again.’

I gotta get straight.

I want to talk to Ray.

So do I.

Don't you ever knock?

Shirley says hello.

The next time you wanna k*ll a junkie, use an axe.

- What do you want? - An explanation!

What's happened to you, anyway?

You went out of your way to mislead me, why?

'And tonight you gave that girl an overdose'

’and just left her there to die!’

But the Boy Scout came along just in the nick of time

and did his good deed.

You can thank God for that.

Oh, knock it off, Lew!

That girl was a known junkie.

If she was found dead

there wouldn't even be an investigation.

There, there wasn't a basis for a charge and you know it!

That would have been that.

That..

You-you want a drink?

I don’t know you anymore.

[chuckles] Your old pal?

Why, Ray?

You would not understand.

Hey, you know something, Lew?

I don't understand it myself.

Why does a hard-working

middle-aged guy like me fall for a junkie?

You know, I had..

I'd like to have the answer to that, Lew.

I mean it. I really would.

I never went for a woman like this before in my life.

Do you think..

...I wanted to do it?

You know what she did to me?

Ah, no, sure, sure, sure. I had to have her.

I had to have her all to myself, all alone.

She was pulling me under, Lew.

Well, frame the boyfriend, that was a simple step.

Why did you involve me in it?

If I'd have gotten on that stand

I’d have identified the wrong man.

- I would've had to. - You were a natural.

From all I could find out about Castle, he was clean.

Well, just-just petty theft.

Not worth more than a couple of months.

And I couldn't even get him on those prescription forgeries

because it would involve Shirley.

So, I..

So, I dreamed up that check bit.

I had him steal the blanks across the river

so, it would be a federal case.

And then I tipped you off, so, he couldn’t beat the rap.

[laughs]

You-you-you can take that as a compliment, Lew.

Oh, boy, you walked right into that one, didn’t ya?

Yeah..

...because I trusted you.

Don't bleed on me.

I'm bleeding myself. I'm bleeding to death.

Lew?

Where do we go from here?

You go to police headquarters for attempted m*rder.

- Good morning, Arthur. - Good?

- Have you read the papers? - 'Not as yet.'

Well, the director has.

He just called my attention to it.

He's a very angry man, Lewis.

"Rumor has it that long-time FBI informer Ray Lang

"arrested last night in St. Louis

"on a charge of attempted m*rder

"was so hipped on a sexsational young junkie

"that her petty larceny boyfriend

"may get the book thrown at him.

"Courtesy of a Lang hatchet job that got the boyfriend

"mistaken for a master forger

who is still, repeat, still free."

The director wants to see us in his office in five minutes.

What do you propose to do about this, Lewis?

Well, what can I do Arthur?

Find the right man..

...or resign.

Resign?

Why?

Look, it's not your fault Lang gave you a phony tip.

It'll be my fault if Harry Castle

gets 15 years in Atlanta.

Lew.

There-there hasn’t been another job like Doe’s

since Castle was arrested.

Have you ever thought that maybe Doe is..

...is dead or reformed?

I have.

And where would that leave you?

Some law office if I can find one to hire me.

Alright.

- Where do we start? - From scratch.

Some scientist said that the cruelest m*rder man can commit

is the k*lling of a fine theory by a hard fact.

That's just about our position right now.

The facts k*lled our pretty case.

Let's stick with the facts to begin with.

I want the complete Harry Castle/John Doe file.

And get me a large-scale map of the United States.

San Diego National Trust, June tenth.

[sighs] Is there a pattern?

Uh, major cities.

I'm missing a factor. What's the connection?

Random samplings as far as I can see.

Uh, John Doe never did anything random.

There's a pattern. There's a pattern.

Well, you play your hunch and, uh, I'll play mine.

That’s what makes a horserace.

Now, Lew, if you don't mind, I'm beat.

- What did you say? - I said I'm beat.

A horserace. That’s what makes a horserace.

Tracks.

New York, Saratoga Springs, that's it!

- San Diego? - Caliente.

That's right. What about the dates?

Oh, boy.

Louisville Federal Bank in May just before the Derby.

Saratoga, Hialeah. All checks out.

We're looking for a horse player.

Well, where does that get us?

Well, let’s test it.

John Doe has been living off his fat for longer than ever before.

He's overdue.

Alright.

Now, assuming he stays consistent

in his three-year pattern

he can logically be expected to hit any one of several cities

where there's a big race meeting coming on.

Have them get me a list in the morning.

You know, if we had pictures, we could circulate the banks.

- And we’ll get pictures. - Well, how?

Consider this.

Five tellers out of 20 identified Harry Castle

as the man we’re after.

They each picked him out of a stack of pictures of other men

and they were positive!

Now, isn’t it reasonable to assume

that there's some resemblance between Castle and John Doe?

Have them check mugshots in the morning

against the pictures we have of Castle.

Another recommendation for Fingerprinting.

Alright.

Any one of these could be Castle..

...and might be our John Doe

except that all of them have been in and out of jail

for the past five years.

Well, thanks, Joe, it seemed a good idea at the time.

Let me have the Castle pictures.

- You want all of them? - Mm-hm.

[Lewis] ’You fellas do pretty good work down here.’

Now, I want you to make him five to ten years older, Jerry.

But more important, I want you to take away that hangdog look.

This is a successful man.

Yes, sir.

- Can you do it? - No problem, inspector.

Uh, Lew, I just put out a circular letter

to all law enforcement agencies in cities

where there'll be racing meetings coming up.

I told them to notify immediately

at the nearest SAC dealing with any burglaries

having to do with checkbooks or canceled checks.

Good.

- Is this our boy? - I think it could be.

How's that?

Well, that's fine, Jerry. Just fine.

'Thank you.'

Did you, uh, get a list of the racing dates?

Mm-hm.

Have ’em run off enough copies of this to distribute

to the main branches of all banks in the cities involved.

Yes, sir.

'Then we wait?'

Then we wait.

[Lewis] 'No, checks! Were there any checks stolen?'

Look, all we are interested in is..

Alright.

Alright, thanks for calling.

- It isn't working, Lewis. - Arthur, I--

Now, I don’t care why it isn’t working?

I only know that I've gone along with you on this approach

against my better judgment.

I've given you all the time you've asked for

and I can't give you anymore.

'I know what this means to you'

but there are cases piling up and you've got work to do.

So, for the time being, as of tomorrow

we'll consider the John Doe case closed.

I hope you understand.

Of course, Arthur.

[telephone rings]

Erskine.

You bet I do. Thank you.

Jim, Lew.

Burglar in Massachusetts a couple of hours ago.

Checkbook and canceled checks in the Security Bank of Boston.

I’ll meet ya at the airport.

Fifties and hundreds, if you please.

Y-you won’t need them, sir.

What do you mean by that, sir? Who are you?

FBI. You're under arrest.

Well, well, well.

- You finally made it, fellas. - Let's go.

All the time in the world, boys.

Fifteen years, I think.

No complaints.

I’ve made a sight more than you’ll ever make

in all your worthy lives.

But I gave you a good run for your money though, hm?

Unlike that small-time punk Castle.

Could you ever see me being, uh, that stupid?

[laughs]

Nothing like a celebration to make a girl hungry.

You could see the wisdom of a long engagement.

It'll be two years at least

before you can keep her in desserts.

I'll marry him tomorrow and take my chances.

Speaking of desserts, just desserts

our favorite forger got 15 years today.

Uh, no intuitive compassionate feelings for him, I hope.

I mean, he didn't look like he was, uh

rejected as a kid or anything, did he?

No. Nothing. My heart is still out to Harry, uh..

- What's his name? - Castle.

He'll be tried for his one forgery.

Take his six months to a year and..

...the day he gets out, he’ll be

looking for his girlfriend again.

That's love.

What's happened to her, by the way?

She's in jail on a narcotics charge.

Don't keep her out too late. She has work to do.

- Finals. - Unh-unh. All over.

Don't keep her out too late, anyway. You have work to do.

- Yes, sir. - Early.

You like him?

Yeah.

He's not afraid to make waves..

even if he’s the one who gets swamped.

[theme music]