04x04 - Figures in a Landscape

[bunniefuu]

Mannix.

Mr. Mannix, I told you I'd call back at .

So you're punctual.

I hope you've cleared up
all the little details in your life.

I gave you three days.

Time's running out.

Live every minute as If it were your last,
Mr. Mannix.

It can happen any time now.

♪♪

Mr. Mannix?
Yes.

Karl Hastings. Come in.

I'm sorry I'm late.

I got trapped on the phone
as I was leaving my office.

Yeah, I know how that is.
Some people are hard to get rid of.

Yeah, well, this one was
a little more stubborn than most.

Uh, won't you sit down?

Uh, would you like a drink?

No, thanks.

What can I do for you, Mr. Hastings?

My wife's missing.
She's been gone for five days.

She just left without an explanation.

Well, uh, Mr. Mannix,

this is, uh, very hard to put into words.

Although I know you need
to know everything about lllena

if you're going to have a prayer
of finding her.

This isn't the first time it's happened.

I mean, she's disappeared before--
two, three days at a time.

But she's always come back to me.
That's all that matters.

This time it's been five days.

Any idea where she goes?

I, uh...

I followed her once

when it began to dawn on me
that she was...

It made me sick, physically sick.

Another man?

Other men.

And the places.

But I've-- I've learned to live with that.

She's my wife.
I don't care what else she is.

But, Mr. Mannix,
all I ask is that you find her.

I'll take her to Europe,

to the best doctors,
a hospital if necessary.

I should have done that a long time ago.

I need your help.

Well, uh, I'll need some descriptive
information, Mr. Hastings.

Anything-- anything I can tell you.

A picture would help.

This is lllena.

Of course that's ten years old.

It probably won't be very helpful.

Well, if you have something more recent.

Well, I could let you have her scrapbook.

It's newspaper pictures,
society stuff, mostly.

Probably wouldn't be more help than that.

It's better than nothing.

Wait a minute. Wait a minute.

A couple of weeks ago, we went up
to the high desert for a few days.

I've got some mining property up there.

I took a camera along-- I got some pictures.

Yeah.

There's still a few sh*ts left on the roll.

Fine.

I'll get them developed tomorrow.

There's a photo lab
right across from my office.

Ohhh, this is a real monster.

Sensational.

You ought to own one, Joe.

Yeah, I ought to own a fifty-foot yacht, too.

I hope this film isn't important evidence
in some case you're working on, Joe.

Why? What've you got?

A roll of nothing.

Whoever sh*t it forgot the first rule
of photography-- remove the lens cap.

Swell.

What do I owe you?

For nothing? Nothing.

Oh, by the way, Barry,
what do one of these rigs go for?

For a friend,
I could knock a few bucks off list.

Say, somewhere around eight hundred.

Thanks, friend.

The business you're in, Joe,
you could write it off.

Duck, Barry!

That's how it was, Art.

I couldn't reach Nolan to knock him down.

I yelled when I saw the gunman,

but I guess he just didn't
have time to react.

You might say I k*lled him
by coming here.

I wouldn't say that, Joe.

Yeah, well, that b*llet was meant for me.

I had all the warning in the world
that it was on the way.

Garland, I told you no one in here.

Sorry, Lieutenant--
but she said it was important.

What's happened?

There's been an accident.
What is it you want, ma'am?

My name is Jill Packard.
I'm a professional photographer.

Barry Nolan is processing some film for me.

It's important that I pick it up today.

J. Packard-- yeah, here we are.

If you'll come down to Headquarters
this afternoon

and sign the proper releases,
you can pick it up.

There won't be any problem.

Has something happened to Barry?

Yes, ma'am.

He's been sh*t.

It was an accident.

The b*llet was meant for me.

He got in the way of it.

Lucky you.

She was just upset, Joe.

Look, Art, I'll be across in my office.

When you've finished here,
would you stop in?

There's something I want to show you.

I'll just be a couple of minutes.

Hello, Peggy.
Bad year for termites, huh?

Not if you're a termite.

Art, that's what I wanted to see you about.

It happened last night.

Any reason why you couldn't
tell me about it last night?

What were you going to do for me
last night-- hold my hand?

Mr. Mannix's office.

Keep him talking.

I'm sorry--
we seem to have a bad connection.

Who's calling, please?

Tell him I'm sorry I missed him.
He'll talk to me.

One moment, sir.

This is Lieutenant Malcolm--
trace the call coming in on KL -.

Hello. This is Mannix.

Just what are you after?

You know what I'm after, Mr. Mannix.

If you're going to k*ll me,
I'd like to know why.

You would? That's very funny.

And I suppose you would also like to hold me
on this line long enough to trace this call.

That's very stupid of you.

Goodbye, Mr. Mannix.

Sorry, Art.

At least you don't have to listen
to any of his old tapes.

You caught the act live.

That voice is something else, isn't it?

Yeah, he's obviously afraid
that you'd recognize his normal voice.

That narrows the field down
to someone you know.

All my friends would like to k*ll me
sooner or later.

How about your enemies?

We've made a list of those,
too, didn't we, Peggy?

The Who's Who of Losers.

Two- and three-time losers.

No one you feel might want
to take a sh*t at you?

Only one-- but he's in prison.
I nailed him on a narcotics rap.

His name?

Ben Taylor.

I don't remember Taylor threatening
your life at the time of the trial, Joe.

Well, he didn't advertise it
over a PA. system,

but he did get word to me through
his attorney he wanted to k*ll we.

What's the difference? He's in Folsom.

He got out a week ago.

I read it in the Intelligence Report
this morning.

He's right here in LA.

Parole?

Good behavior.

Taylor!

Open up, Taylor! This is the police.
We've got a warrant!

You suppose he spotted us and took off?

Possible.

He must've crawled out onto the ledge
when I hollered for him to open up.

Anyway, Joe, he won't be making
any more phone calls.

Hello.

May I come in?

Sure.

Is that look surprise or anger?

Neither.

I was just thinking.

The first time I saw you,
you were about two inches tall

in a photograph accompanying
one of your travel layouts.

Incidentally, you enlarge very well.

Thank you.

How about a drink?

No, thank you.

Care to sit down?

No-- I'm going to do this standing
on my own two little flat feet,

without support of any kind.

Do what?

What's been bugging me all afternoon.

What's that?

I was a witch when I first
met you this morning.

I'm sure you didn't need
my nasty little remark.

I came to apologize.

That wasn't necessary,
but now that you've got the job done,

how about that drink?

You're letting me off too easily.

Well, then, how about dinner?
Punishment enough?

I am hungry.

I like hungry girls.

Joe Mannix speaking.
This is a recording.

I've gone out.

When you hear the tone,
leave your name and number,

and!I call you back.

I saw the young lady, Mr. Mannix.

Very lovely.

Unfortunately, you won't get
to spend much time with her

because you'll be dead.

But why should I tell this
to a tape machine?

You won't be around to hear the playback.

♪♪

♪♪

I don't know how you do it.
What?

Two pieces of strawberry cheesecake,
and you can still dance--

Oh, it's easy.

You know,
I must have been out of my mind.

When?

When I said I liked girls who were hungry.

Question, okay?
Uh-hmm.

What's a beautiful girl like you
doing behind the camera?

Oh, Joe, not you.

That's always the opening question.

I got a strong finish.

I mean, you've taken your camera
to Vietnam, Biafra, the Middle East,

climbed three quarters of the way
up Mount Everest.

You've been a prisoner in Red China.

You're not going to tell me
it's all fun and games.

But it is,

if you're a hungry girl.

You play the game of private eye,

and people sh**t at you
with live a*mo, right?

Hmm.
Question, okay?

Why aren't you an accountant
or a shoe salesman?

Shoe salesmen
get to tickle a lot of pretty toes.

Well, I guess I'm just a hungry boy.

Are you sure you don't want me
to take you home?

It's pretty late. I could get your car
to you tomorrow morning.

I'll be all right, but it was sweet of you
to think of it.

In fact, I find you
a very satisfactory person on balance.

That was for balance.

Thanks for feeding a hungry girl.

Any time.

You won't get to spend much time with her
because you'll be dead,

but why should I tell this
to a tape machine?

You won't be around to hear the playback.

I don't understand, Joe.

Join the club.

But I thought you said the man
who was trying to k*ll you d*ed.

Yeah, well, just call it a case
of mistaken identity.

Art, did you come up with anything?

This.
Dug it out of the wall of your carport.

Weighs in like a ..

A hunting r*fle.

Well, for a hunter, he's a bum sh*t.

Third time he's missed me.

With all the practice he's getting,
he's a cinch to improve.

You know, there's something else
that bugs me, Art.

Why did Ben Taylor
climb out on that window ledge?

He wasn't the guy sh**ting at me.

No, he was on dope.

The autopsy report showed
that he was stoned at the time of death.

Probably thought he was
being busted by the narcs.

He just couldn't face the trip
back to Folsom.

If that's our boy, hold him on the line.

All your incoming calls are being monitored.

Joe Mannix.

Yeah. He's right here. Just a minute.

It's for you.

Malcolm. Yeah.

All right, I'll be in in a few minutes.

Oh-- call Mr. Hastings and have him
come down to the morgue.

I'll meet you there.

Art-- this Mr. Hastings,
is that by any chance Karl Hastings?

Yeah-- why?

Well, uh, what about him?

A floater just surfaced
off the pier in Santa Monica.

Tentatively identified as Mrs. Hastings.

What's that to you, Joe?

Well, that's the job I was working on.
I was trying to find her.

Maybe you'd better come along, Joe.

Yeah.

Yes.

It's lllena.

I just can't believe it.

I'm sorry to have to put you through this,

but we had to have
a positive identification.

How did it happen, Lieutenant?

We won't know
until we get the autopsy report.

It's possible she simply walked
into the water.

No, that's not possible.
She'd never be a su1c1de.

It could have been an accident.
We'll have to wait for the report.

Mannix, I want you
to find the man who k*lled her.

We're not sure
that it was m*rder, Mr. Hastings.

I know how you feel, Mr. Hastings.

Look, I know what I'm doing, Lieutenant.

If there was a homicide,
we'll handle the investigation.

Are you telling me that I can't have
my own investigator on the case?

Of course not.

I'm just telling you to try and stay calm.

At least until we find out what happened.

See you, Joe.

Well, Mannix?

I'll let you know as soon
as the autopsy report's in.

sh**ting at me?

Joe, you've got to be kidding!

I wish I were.

But why?

That's one of the things
that's been gnawing at me--

That and how a man with a high-powered
r*fle could be such a rotten sh*t.

Now one or two misses I could buy,
but three times, no way.

Anyone can own a r*fle.
That doesn't make him a marksman.

If he wasn't sure he could hit his target
from a distance,

he could have moved in closer.

Come on, Joe.
I don't have enemies like that.

Wrong.
How can you be so sure?

Well, if you step over here,
I'll just try and explain.

Now let's just assume
that this space is the carport.

Your car is here.

And the lighter is my car.

We drive up and I pull
into here alongside your car.

The car where the sh*t came from
is right here.

I get out of my car, and I come around
to open the door for you.

All the time I'm coming around here,
I'm a perfect target.

But does our man sh**t? No.

He waits until you get out of the car
and are standing beside me,

right in the line of fire.

As a matter of fact, it was the same thing

when I was crossing the Paseo
from my office to Barry Nolan's shop.

I was a perfect target then, too.

But the k*ller passed on that and waited
for a difficult sh*t through the window.

He even had me in his sights,
standing still,

but he hit a man behind me
that was moving.

Then you think he was trying
to k*ll Barry Nolan all along.

Yeah, I do.

Still, there's no connection.

There's got to be.

All Barry Nolan ever did for me
was to process some film.

Maybe that's the connection.

Did you ever pick up those pictures?

Sure.

Could I see them?

Of course. But why?

They're just a photo essay for a magazine
that I'm doing on ecology.

There's nothing here
that rings a bell for me.

I must say they're good sh*ts.

Thank you.

Let's take a look at the negatives.

What is it?

These notches along the side of the film.

Do they mean anything?

They tell you the speed of the film
you're working with.

Then when you get in the darkroom
and can't see,

your fingertips can feel the notches.

Two notches means double-X,

three notches means triple X
and so on.

Did you use two different kinds of film
when you took these sh*ts?

Oh no.
You're sure?

Positive. When I work outside,
I only use double-X.

With two notches.
With two notches.

This has two, and this has three notches.

Triple-X-- that doesn't make sense.

It does if you didn't expose
that particular negative.

But I did.

It's the sh*t I took in the alley.

This one.

The only possible explanation

is that Barry Nolan made a duplicate
negative from my original sh*t,

enlarged the duplicate,
and kept the original.

Why would he do that?
I can't imagine.

Could this be the reason?

The sunlight reflecting off that window.

From the looks of the shadows,

I'd say the sun was
on the other side of the building.

I think you're right, Joe.

It looks as though it's been air-brushed
and re-photographed.

That's why Barry Nolan made a duplicate--

To hide whatever was happening
in that window.

What could it have been?

It could be worth your life
for us to find out.

No, Joe-- nothing.

And I don't know where else
he could have hidden it.

He wouldn't put it in the trash.

Why not? Mrs. James said Nolan
never let her throw out anything.

Perfect place to hide a negative.

But he'd have to be able to find it.

Yeah, right. He probably put it
in something he could identify,

like a mailing tube or a cigarette carton.

It's not there.

Wait a minute.
We're forgetting something.

What?
Well the trash bin itself.

Where better to hide something
of value than in a trash can?

Well...

Wrong.

What do you know?

Double-X.
It's the alley.

Ecology finds another k*ller, maybe.

Can you give me just the woman?

Why?
Do you think you'll recognize her?

I'm beginning to think I might.

It's lllena Hastings.

Can you give me a blow-up of the man?

Hastings.

He must have caught his wife
once too often.

All right, but why did he sh**t at me?

I would say that Nolan told him
about you taking a picture.

Probably thought that fact
would keep Hastings in line.

But I didn't know what was in the picture.

But you did know what day you took it.

If the original negative turned up--

And you can bet Nolan assured Hastings
it would if anything happened to him--

You could have put Hastings on Death Row.

I'll get a hold of Lieutenant Malcolm.

We won't need the Lieutenant, Mr. Mannix.

Could I have the negative, please--
and the pictures?

Thank you.

Thank you for saving me
the trouble of finding them.

Nolan had a nice place here.

The trouble was he priced himself to death.

Fifty thousand dollars
for a picture of me-- imagine.

Those phone calls to me,

that was just to make Nolan's death
look like an accident.

Almost worked, too.

The police know your wife was m*rder*d.

They're not going to stop looking.

They also know that I insisted
you stay on the case.

They won't look in my direction.

Shall we go, folks?

Mr. Mannix, would you pull up
by that shack over there, please?

Now, if you will get out please,
Miss Packard.

And don't forget the camera.

And now you, Mr. Mannix.

That's just fine.

Are you always this well prepared,
Mr. Hastings?

This time I am.

Although it was originally planned

only Miss Packard and myself
were going to be on this excursion.

The thought of that warms me all over.

I thought it would

But then, when you went to see Mr. Mannix,

I decided it would be easier

to let you stop a b*llet
the police thought was for him,

the way Barry Nolan did.

Just didn't work out that way.

And now, Miss Packard, I think it might be
a good time for you to take some pictures.

Of what?

It doesn't matter.

Whatever you get on film

is going to be published
in more magazines and newspapers

than anything you've ever done.

Caption-- "Last Photographs
Taken By Jill Packard."

On the nose.

And if I don't?

Well, in that case, I think Mr. Mannix
will try to persuade you.

I want you to get a screwdriver
out of the tool case.

Don't point that camera at me,

or the sh*t you hear
will mean Mr. Mannix's death.

I want you to loosen the hose fitting
on the radiator

just enough to let the water trickle out.

Move!

All right, that'll be enough.

Now throw the screwdriver away.

The car won't make it a mile
before we cr*ck the block.

Terrific.

Let's go, Miss Packard.

Throw the screwdriver away, Mr. Mannix.

Well, that does it. Now what?

We walk.

Oh, so that's how it's going to end, huh?

The tragic photographic mission
of Jill Packard.

Car breaks down -- lost in the desert--
desperate attempt to hike out.

Good reading.

Shall we all get out?

All right, keep moving.

How much more of this do we have to take?

All there is.

We'll make it through tonight.

Tomorrow will be a short day for you.

I take it you've been
through this desert before.

Every foot of it with a Geiger Counter.

It was a newspaper photograph
of my doing just that

that Barry Nolan remembered.

All right, folks, let's go.

All right, Mr. Mannix, get back.

I just wanted to see
how much juice you still had left.

That's pretty stupid, Hastings.

What?

You're out of water.

Oh.

Now you're in the same spot we are.

All right, let's go.

Come on.

Would you believe behind this rock
there's a jeep and two canteens of water?

I believe it.

You're beautiful, you know that?

All right, let's go, Mannix.

You're really something else.

Let's go.

That's good.

All right. Easy.

All right, on your feet, Mannix.

I said on your feet!

Or she's gonna die.

Jill-- here-- drink this-- not too much.

Easy. Easy.

That's good.

All right?

Easy. Easy.

All right, Hastings, on your feet.

Get in the passenger side.

Can you drive one of these things?

Yes.

I've driven them across battlefields.

Good.

Then you can drive us across this one.