Something's happened to pop.
[Jessica] Tonight on Murder She Wrote.
The killer did not come from outside.
Who else in the house that night, could have been a hit-man?
I didn't know if they had a contract out on me.
-I didn't do it! -You killed!
Stop it!
I told you, the big guy's freakin' out.
For the first time since I left him, we made love.
Unless you wanna get involved in a murder,
-get out of the country. -I was a patsy.
I don't want anyone leaving town until this thing is cleared up.
I know, who killed Johnny Shannon.
[Cheerful orchestral music]
[slow piano music]
Hey, Mickey, get in here.
Yeah, dad.
I thought you were gonna finish my arrangements.
I did.
You call those finished?
I gave you what you wanted.
What I wanted was something bouncy
to kick off the tennis tournament show.
Okay.
Yeah, what you gave me was crap.
This is bouncy to you?
[slow piano playing]
Well, that's the wrong tempo. Just pick it up.
Oh, go on. Tell me about music.
Thirty years in the business. Suddenly, I'm a dummy.
I didn't say that.
Oh, come on, kid.
What is it, Mick? The job too tough for you?
I never should've hired family.
So get somebody else. I didn't ask for the job.
Look who's got his Irish up.
Okay? You don't like the job?
-Tell me what to do with it. -Dad.
Go ahead, kid. Get it out of your system.
I told off my old man more than once.
You know, it's possible you're wrong this time.
Me? Wrong?
Yeah.
Once, you could be wrong.
That's it?
That's all you got to say?
Boy, you sure didn't get anything from your old man,
did you?
And that includes talent, style, and guts.
Your sister got all the moxie in this family.
The only thing you're good at is copping a plea.
Dad, just listen to it in the right tempo.
[upbeat piano music] Hey, Buster.
Buster, get in here.
Yeah, Johnny?
-Listen-- -Hold...
Hey, I like that.
It's got a nice bounce.
Very good, Mickey.
Thank you, Bus.
What do you know?
You got a tin ear.
Listen, tell Lou to get the car.
And hustle your buns.
I got a lunch date at the tennis club.
[lisping] Yes, Sir.
Yes, sirree, Sir.
Hustle the buns. Hustle the buns.
Yes, Sir.
Work on it.
[Johnny] It's this cellar in Brooklyn.
I'm the opening act for this dance team.
See Betty and Max Gomez and their sophisticated feet.
[laughter]
You're kidding?
But the real start of the show... is the stripper.
She works with a duck! [both in fits of laughter]
With a duck!
She's married to this eh, hood, see, now he owns the joint.
And he's got a personality like a-- like an anchovy!
So, listen, one night I'm in his office, see...
[phone rings]
Get that, will you?
Hello?
Dial-a-curse. Bleep, bleep.
Oh. Sorry.
Just kidding.
Hold the phone.
It's Mr. Valentine.
Speaking of hoods.
Hey, I got nothing to say to Milo.
Well, what shall I tell him?
Tell him to drop dead.
I can't say that.
Well, ad lib something.
Hello? I'm terribly sorry.
Johnny just stepped out.
"Stepped"?
[laughing]
-"Just..." -Are you crazy?
Are you crazy?
Valentine's guy heard you laughing.
-So what? -"So what"?
You got to be more careful.
Valentine's a very serious guy.
It's okay, Buster.
I don't have to kiss the godfather's pinky ring anymore.
I'm protected.
-Yeah? -[Johnny] Yeah.
Yeah, I got a special kind of insurance.
What is that supposed to mean?
Never mind. Just fix me a drink, will you?
How's about a little cyanide on the rocks?
I mean, if you're gonna commit suicide,
do it right.
[PA announcement] Attention.
The advanced tennis class is now meeting on court two.
Thank you.
Will there be anything else?
No, we'll wait for Mr. Shannon.
Very good.
Mr. Shannon is rarely
more than a few minutes late.
Excuse me.
Don't you love the way people fawn over Johnny
even when he isn't here?
Peg, I can hardly believe that I'm here.
I'm so glad you could make it.
Well, your invitation caught me at the perfect moment.
I just sent off some corrected galley proofs
to my publisher, and I was dying to get away.
Oh, it'll be such fun
peeling away the years.
Remember--remember grilling cheese sandwiches
on a plate at the dormitory?
Oh, anything to avoid that dreadful dining hall.
You know, to this day, I can't look at a Brussels sprout.
I'm not very keen on grilled cheese sandwiches, either.
[man shouting] The ball was out!
You need glasses, grandpa!
Hey, I could see it very well. It was in.
What, are you stupid or what?
It was out! O-u-t! Out!
Yeah.
Hey, pops, I'm getting too good for you.
You can't beat me.
Who is that?
Well, believe it or not, a professional tennis player,
Vic Larosa.
He's entered in the tournament.
The handsome gentleman with all the class
is the club pro, Chico Miller.
Do I detect a note of interest?
Forget it, Jess.
I'm not ready for romance.
But it's been years
since your divorce from Johnny.
I survived the divorce.
I'm not sure I survived the marriage.
Hey.
[PA] Court seven is now available.
Hey. Hey, there.
Hey, baby. How you doing?
[Johnny] Good to see you.
He's only a few minutes late to the club,
but it takes him a half hour to work the room.
How are you?
Hey.
Ah, Jess.
How you doing, doll?
Fine, Johnny.
Hey, did you know I was offered the lead
in the film version of one of your books?
-Really? -[Johnny] Yeah.
I turned it down. It wasn't right for me.
Too eh, fluffy.
Still the diplomat.
Hi, babe.
Hello, Johnny.
-How are you? -Never better.
You're looking great, kid.
I have to work at it a little harder.
I see Buster and Lou are still along for the ride.
Well, you're full of surprises,
Peg of my heart.
Leasing a house in the Palms?
It knocked my socks off.
Well, I felt like seeing Terry and Mickey.
It's been a while since they came to see me.
Yeah, well, you know how it is.
Mick's been busy doing my arrangements.
I got a TV special coming up
to kick off my tennis tournament.
What happened to Mickey's jazz quartet?
Ah, it fell through.
I gave him a steady job.
And what keeps Terry busy?
Ask her.
Is that little Terry?
-Oh. -Mom.
Oh, I've missed you.
I kept meaning to call.
It'll be good to have you around for a while.
Oh, Terry, you know Jessica Fletcher.
-Hello, Terry. -Hi.
Oh, I got one of your books last Christmas.
I'm gonna read it as soon as I get a chance.
Oh, I'm pleased to hear that.
Sit down.
Join us for lunch.
I can't.
I'm meeting a friend.
-What friend? -I got to go.
See you later.
-Bye. -Bye.
Hey, not that tennis bum.
[PA] Mr. Anders, please come to court ten.
What do you do to get a drink around here?
Hey, sugar.
How you doing?
Johnny, she's old enough to choose her own friends.
You told me that before once, remember?
You were wrong then too.
Terry.
I told you to stay away from this guy.
-Now, look... -[Johnny] No, you look, scuzzball.
I've been onto you since you hit town.
You found out Terry was my kid.
You zeroed in on her like you struck gold.
Ah, come on.
Touch my daughter again,
the only gold you'll be picking up
will be out of your teeth.
Big star. Am I supposed to be scared?
-You're nothing to me, old man! -Hey!
Come here.
[Vic] Let me go.
Sergeant Barnes, police.
What's the trouble here?
Private business.
This punk was trying to show me how tough he is.
You came looking for trouble!
Vic's right, daddy. You started it.
Come on. I'm taking you home.
Lou, Buster.
Call me, Vic.
Try and stop me.
Sergeant, I don't want this creep
hanging around my daughter.
You keep him away from her.
I don't work for you, Mr. Shannon,
so don't give me orders.
You must be new.
Ask around.
Somebody will set you straight.
I have to tell you.
When Terry was 17,
she eloped with a boy Johnny didn't like.
He sent some men to find them.
They roughed up the boy,
and they gave him Johnny's wedding present:
a one-way airline ticket out of the country.
Then Johnny had the marriage annulled,
and Terry never forgave him.
Then why does she live in his house?
To get back at him.
You just saw a small sample.
Oh, Jess, I should have dragged her out of there years ago.
Oh, Peg, I am so sorry.
It's gotten worse.
I'm afraid for both of them.
[dog barking]
[whistling]
[knocking]
The milkman cometh.
What'd you do? Fall asleep?
I brought you your milk.
Johnny, come on. Stop kidding around.
[Buster] Johnny, come on, will you? Open the door.
[pounding] Johnny!
Come on, Johnny, this ain't funny.
I spilled the milk all over myself.
Come on, will you?
Johnny?
Johnny!
[Buster] Johnny!
Lou!
Lou, come quick!
[knocking]
-[Buster] Lou! -What is it?
Something's happened to Pop.
[Buster] Johnny, can you hear me?
Please, Johnny, open the door!
Something's wrong.
[Lou] Johnny. Johnny!
Oh, no.
It's Johnny.
Somebody killed Johnny.
Oh. Oh!
-Peg, aren't you driving a little fast? -Sorry.
I know how you feel.
Do you?
Well, at least you had a happy marriage with Frank.
I'm not even a widow.
I'm not sure what I am.
I'm sorry, Jess.
Thanks for coming with me, I couldn't face going to that house alone.
And I wanted to be with my children.
How are they taking it?
Well, Mickey's upset, of course.
But he sounded strong. I don't know about Terry.
She's on the edge of being unstable.
It's hard to say how she'll be affected by Johnny's death.
[PA] Mr. Olsen's beginners' class is now beginning on court three.
Vic.
Hey, baby.
You're in trouble.
I know my brother
and he's gonna tell the police that you were in the house last night.
You gotta get out of here.
-Why? I didn't do anything. -Who's gonna believe that?
Hey, I gotta play in the tournament.
They'll call it off. Look, unless you want to get involved in a murder,
you gotta leave town. Get out of the country if you can.
Take this and... don't try to reach me.
Hey, sweet stuff, what about us?
[scoffs] Don't be stupid.
My father is dead. I don't have to play let's pretend anymore.
Truth is, I don't even like you.
-Hey, I know what you like. -You don't know anything.
Hello, Mrs. Shannon.
Mickey.
Mom, I'm glad you're here.
It's crazy.
Are you all right?
Yeah.
As all right as I can be.
I was there when they found him.
"They"?
Lou and Buster.
You're Mrs. Fletcher.
I didn't mean to interrupt.
It just popped out. A force of habit, I suppose.
Oh, it's okay.
We can use a good detective.
But I'm not a detective.
Mrs. Fletcher, I read the papers.
Well, my occasional exploits are grossly exaggerated.
Believe me.
That's not what I heard.
-Lieutenant Barnes. -Sergeant.
In Desert Palms, we don't have a homicide division.
-How do you do? -How do you do?
I was on duty when the call came, so it's my case.
There you are, Mrs. Fletcher.
The sergeant needs help.
-Oh, now, really... -[Peg] Oh, yes, Jess, please.
Anything you can do.
I'm sure the sergeant would welcome some help.
Why not?
You've covered the subject fairly well in your books,
even if you're not always accurate.
Well, they are well researched, I assure you,
but I have absolutely no intention of...
Why do you think my books are inaccurate?
I'll tell you all about it
on our way to the scene of the crime.
Would you excuse us, please?
They're a little shaky on police procedure.
Oh?
[Barnes] And you always make your killers
more interesting than your cops.
You see, most killers are very dull people.
Where's your sister?
I wish I knew.
Terry just took off after she was questioned by the sergeant.
Buster told me about the scene yesterday at the club.
It was deliberate.
If you could have seen the hostility
she showed toward your dad.
Mom, look. Don't say it.
Don't even think it.
It's in here.
Johnny's bodyguard had to smash open the door.
Oh, yes.
-Spring lock. -Mm-hmm.
Killer must have pulled it shut on his way out.
That's right.
Johnny Shannon's den.
Gold records, platinum albums, showbiz memorabilia.
Or have you been here before?
No, no. This is my first visit.
Mine too.
Shannon and I moved in different circles.
So, did you know him well?
Once upon a time.
This is definitely his room.
He was sitting in his favorite chair.
The killer came in behind him
and shot him in the back of the head.
He never knew what hit him.
Well, if he was watching television,
he might not have heard his killer come in.
Well, when they found the body, the set was off.
Course, he could've been asleep.
Well, why would he take a nap
in a chair opposite a blank TV screen
if there was a perfectly good couch in the room?
That's one of the puzzles.
Here's another.
Nobody heard a shot.
Oh, these walls are thick.
When you walk past in the corridor,
you can hear if the piano's being played.
I tried it.
So how come no one heard a gun going off?
Well, I've never actually seen one myself,
but mystery writers are addicted to the use of silencers.
A better name would be "mufflers."
See, you can't completely silence a gun.
There's always some noise.
Well, if the sound wasn't a gunshot,
it might have been lost in other household sounds
like stereo, radio, television.
All right. I'll buy that.
Now, explain to me how somebody
could get through the security system.
There are guards on duty 24 hours at the front gate.
They only admit visitors whose names
are called down from the house
and double-checked when the visitors arrive.
Well, what about the service entrance?
Back of the house, beyond the pool.
Like the rest of the grounds, it's protected
by a very sophisticated alarm setup with TV cameras.
And that's how the gardener and the pool man got in?
They ring a buzzer
that alerts the front gate guard and turns on a TV camera.
He looks at a monitor
and has a talk-back for identity verification.
Nobody pushed the buzzer last night,
and nobody could've gotten through the service gate
or over the wall without all hell busting loose.
I see.
There would seem to be only one possible explanation:
the killer did not come from outside.
Ah, we reached the same conclusion.
Johnny Shannon was murdered
by somebody who was already inside the house.
Mm-hmm.
[tires squealing]
Mickey?
What did you tell them?
Mom.
I didn't know you were gonna be here.
Or what? You would've come home sooner?
Where the hell did you go?
I don't have to account to you, Mick.
Hi, mom.
Are you all right?
[sighs] Sure.
So did you rush out to see that tennis bum?
What'd you do? Celebrate?
-Mickey! -Well, come on.
Dad couldn't stand the sight of that guy.
But that didn't stop Terry.
I suppose you couldn't wait to tell her about last night.
[Peg] Last night?
What about last night?
Mickey.
What do you know about last night?
What we both know, mother.
Johnny Shannon wasn't loved by his loved ones.
And the motive?
How about the old reliable?
Rich man dies. Somebody inherits.
That makes it one of the kids.
Or anyone else who might be mentioned in the will.
Mickey and Terry weren't the only ones
at the house last night.
The servants were off,
so you're talking the bodyguard and the comedy relief.
And you're right. They could be in the will too.
I wonder if the motive is as simple as robbery.
It crossed my mind.
Excuse me.
Especially when Terry told me about this.
Oh, a hidden wall safe.
But if that's what he was looking for,
he wouldn't have shot Johnny
when he came into the room.
First he would've made him show him the safe
and open it for him.
Unless the killer already knew the combination.
Who does know it?
Terry, for one. I had her open it for me.
It contains stocks, bonds, cash, some personal papers.
But members of the household who'd had a glimpse inside
confirmed that nothing was missing.
Mm-hmm.
If someone who knew the combination
wanted to rob that safe,
they didn't have to kill Johnny.
They only had to wait until he went out of the room.
There goes that theory.
Unless...
unless the killer took something else of value
out of this room.
Look at that shadow there on the wall
where a frame used to be.
Uh, nah, that wasn't anything.
Just an old picture of Johnny and his kids.
Sergeant. Sergeant, you better come quick.
Lou Ross has gone bananas.
He thinks Mickey killed his dad.
He's gonna tear him apart.
-Where? -By the pool.
Hey, cut it out!
No, I didn't! I swear!
Lou, I--
-I didn't do it! -You killed him!
-[Lou] You lied to me. -[Mickey] I didn't do it!
Stop it!
I didn't do it!
You killed him!
You lied!
[coughing]
Mickey, don't gulp.
Mick, try to breathe in slowly.
That's it.
Breathe in. That's it.
And breathe out.
That's much better.
You okay, Mick?
[Mickey] Yeah, I think so.
You're lucky.
He could've crushed your windpipe.
Sergeant, you got to bust him.
He killed his dad.
He killed Johnny. I knew it.
I told you. The big guy's freaking out.
Mr. Ross, the murder was last night.
Why did you wait until now to make your accusation?
This morning when the sergeant told me
I was the last one to see Johnny alive,
[Lou] I knew there was something about it,
and I finally remembered what.
I saw him go into the den just before Johnny was shot.
That proves it. That proves he killed Johnny.
What's the story, Mickey?
Well, Lou's got it all wrong.
[Barnes] Somebody's got it wrong.
You told me you were working in your room.
I was.
Did you go down to the den?
Yes, I wanted to show dad
some changes I made on the arrangements.
He didn't like 'em, and you had a fight.
No.
He didn't even see them.
He said he didn't want to see anything
until they were all finished.
You know, Lou, if you just hung around, you would've seen
I came right back out again and went upstairs.
How long did you stay in the den?
[Mickey] Not more than a minute.
Do you own a gun?
-No. -[Buster] Are you kidding?
He hates guns.
When other kids were playing cops and robbers,
he was playing agents and accountants.
You know, dad and I didn't always get along,
and there were times I hated him,
maybe even wanted to kill him.
But I couldn't hurt him.
I always...
I always thought about other times,
you know, when...
well, when things were different.
Mrs. Fletcher, you remember when I was a kid.
Yes.
[Mickey] When we all lived together, the four of us,
before we came out to the desert, huh, Buster?
Well, you tell him, Mrs. Fletcher.
[Mickey] You may find it hard to believe,
but we used to be one hell of a family, huh?
Mick didn't kill our dad.
There was someone else in the house last night.
Who?
Vic Larosa.
The tennis player your dad mixed it up with at the club?
-Yeah. -How'd he get in?
No, Terry.
-You don't have to-- -I let him in.
He was waiting at the rear service gate at midnight.
What about the alarm?
I used the master switch in daddy's bedroom
to turn the power off long enough
for Vic to enter the grounds and make it to the house.
Oh, but surely
the security guard at the front gate
would notice if the system was turned off.
[Terry] Not if he wasn't checking the panels.
There's a tiny red light that indicates when the power is off.
The night-man reads a lot and doesn't check the panels very often.
Wouldn't he have noticed that the TV monitors were off?
They're always off 'til the alarm is tripped.
You seem to know a lot about the security system.
It isn't the first time I let a man into the house.
Terry, do you know what you're saying?
Yes, mother.
I let someone into the house, and Daddy was murdered.
Did anyone else see Larosa in the house?
Mickey saw him in my room.
Is that true?
Yes. I saw him.
Why the hell didn't you say so?
I'll have him picked up at the club for questioning.
Where's your phone?
Right over there on the table. You can't miss it.
[Terry] He isn't there.
I sent him away.
Terry, why?
I didn't want him to get into trouble
because of me, and I didn't think he did it.
Where'd he go?
I don't know.
I'm sorry.
I was stupid.
This is Barnes.
Get out an APB on Vic Larosa.
Yeah, the tennis player.
I got a description. Take it down.
I'm sorry I came at you that way.
I must've lost my mind.
It's okay, Lou.
[Jessica] Mr. Ross, forgive my curiosity.
You said you saw Mickey go to the den,
but he didn't see you anywhere around
when he came out a minute later.
May I ask where you went?
My room.
You were supposed to be in the hall.
Johnny didn't want me hanging around.
He told me to get lost.
Uh-oh, he was expecting a broad.
A lady.
Johnny always said that when he was anticipating
a visitor of the female persuasion.
Was he expecting someone last night?
He couldn't have been.
He always gave me a name to call down to the guard
at the front gate
when one of his ladies was coming to visit him.
Well, suppose it was someone the guard knew on sight?
No way.
Not one of Johnny's ladies, even a repeat.
Johnny's rule.
Guard wouldn't have let her in
if I didn't call down her name.
There are exceptions to every rule.
How did you know?
Well, no one at the house knew you were coming today,
but the guard opened the gate and waved you in,
so I assume both the day and the night man
are longtime employees
who still feel loyal to the former lady of the house.
[Peg] I waited until after you'd gone to bed.
I wanted to talk to Johnny about Terry,
but I found him in a mellow and reminiscent mood.
He was affectionate, persuasive.
For the first time since I left him, we made love.
I see.
I always said Johnny had a way with women.
That was one of the things that broke up our marriage.
He used women, casually.
And seemed genuinely surprised that I cared.
Once, he even took a girl away from Buster Bailey.
-Oh, Buster must have resented that. -Oh, it broke his heart.
Until he made a joke out of it.
You didn't tell Sergeant Barnes about last night.
I couldn't.
[PA ]Miss Baxter, please come to the office.
Anyway, Johnny was very much alive when I last saw him.
I didn't kill him.
It wasn't either of my children.
It was that tennis player.
Do you have any idea what that opens up?
That Terry was an accessory to murder.
Oh, Jess, you've got to help her.
Please.
Well, did Johnny have any enemies?
I can't...
Last night, Johnny was bragging
about putting one over on Milo Valentine.
That name sounds vaguely familiar.
Oh, Jess, you do live a sheltered life in Cabot Cove.
He's an entrepreneur of certain illegal activities.
Of course. He's a gangster.
They don't call them that anymore.
Well, why would Johnny know somebody like that?
Milo started Johnny in show business.
Well, that hardly sounds like an enemy.
It sounds more like a good friend.
Well, something happened to change that.
Last night, Johnny said that that if he felt like it,
he could nail Valentine to the wall.
He didn't explain any further.
You're right.
That doesn't sound the least bit friendly.
The only reason I mention the possibility
is that I seem to remember reading
that it's part of the mob's execution ritual
to shoot their victims in the back of the head.
So you think Johnny Shannon was knocked off
by a professional hit man?
Well, I admit it's a little far-fetched.
Maybe not.
When I was in the windy city
before I came to this glorified sandbox,
I remember hearing rumors
about Johnny having a mob connection.
But why would they want to have him iced?
Supposing he had a falling-out with Milo Valentine?
That wouldn't be a falling-out.
That'd be a plunge into Lake Michigan
with concrete booties on.
The trouble is, it doesn't mesh
with the other notion that Larosa killed him.
Are you kidding? It's perfect.
But Larosa is a professional tennis player.
You want him to wear a t-shirt that says "killer"?
That's his cover. Tennis.
Lets him move around, be a loner.
That's why he weaseled his way in through the girl.
He had it all planned.
Besides, who else in the house that night
could've been a hit man?
Come on. Come on.
Hello.
Hello, this is Buster Bailey.
I want to speak to Mr. Valentine.
Of course it's important.
You think I'm calling him to give him basketball results?
Will you stop kidding?
I have an urgent, important matter
to talk over with Mr. Valentine.
[gasps]
What was that?
There's somebody on this line.
Who is it?
Who is it? Answer me!
Who's on the phone?
Thank you.
Well, thank you for a lovely ride.
Oh, and keep the change.
Hello. Remember me?
I'm Peggy Shannon's friend.
Oh, sure.
You have a minute for a question or two?
She's in here.
Thank you, Lou.
Oh, the door's already been fixed.
[knocking]
[Jessica] Terry?
Come in. It's open.
-Hi, Mrs. Fletcher. -Hello, Terry.
Do you always watch with the sound turned off?
I only wanted to look at him again.
That Vegas showgirl nearly became my stepmother.
But so did a lot of others.
Well, I don't want to intrude.
Oh. Oh, it's okay.
That guy on screen is some stranger.
My daddy is the man in this picture
with Mickey and me.
Oh, I forgot.
I took it up to my room.
You took it?
Well, that clears up that mystery.
You must have taken it
after you opened the safe for the police.
No.
Way before that.
When we found daddy...
well, it was his favorite picture,
and, um...
well, I needed something to hold on to.
I don't suppose you feel like talking.
Sure.
Why not?
What did you want to talk about?
How you and Vic Larosa happened to meet.
Well, he was the loudest, most obnoxious tennis player
in the tennis club bar.
I knew daddy would hate him,
so I picked him up.
You're certain he didn't initiate it?
Oh, I'm positive.
He was so wrapped up in himself,
I practically had to throw myself at him
before he even noticed me.
And you invited him to the house?
Twice.
The first time was in the afternoon.
I wanted Daddy to get a good look at him.
He loathed him on sight.
And then you asked him back at night to spite your father.
I'm not especially proud of it,
but that's the way it was.
I even told him Daddy was in the den.
Why?
Well, he was so smug doing his macho number.
I wanted to unnerve him.
And I did.
Mrs. Fletcher, there's no way that wimp could've killed daddy.
He was too scared even to leave the bedroom.
Hardly the type a powerful mob leader would hire
to execute a man like your father.
What?
Was daddy killed by the mob?
Please tell me. I've got to know.
Why? What's the matter?
Well, I overheard part of a telephone conversation.
Buster was trying to reach Milo Valentine.
-Buster? -Yes.
He said it was an urgent personal matter,
and he was terribly upset
when he realized someone else was on the line.
But I understood that Mr. Bailey
was very close to your father.
Yeah, sometimes daddy treated him like dirt.
Maybe he was tired of it.
Terry, that tape you were watching.
Did it come out of this group here?
Yes, those are the tapes of Daddy's TV shows.
And these?
[Terry] Pool tapes.
Pool?
Daddy liked to be perfect at everything he did,
and when he decided to improve his pool game,
he had a TV camera put in above the table.
He taped his games and watched them
to correct his mistakes.
Ah, yes.
There's the camera.
It's hard to see in that dark corner.
Miss Shannon, where can I find your brother?
Well, he's with my mother
making arrangements for Daddy's funeral.
Mrs. Fletcher.
What are you doing here?
Taking care of business.
What do you want with Mickey?
[Barnes] I have your statement,
and I'm gonna need his pretty quick.
Vic Larosa's Van was spotted at a gas station
on the old highway about ten miles north
of the Mexican border.
Highway patrol's sending a unit out to pick him up.
Yeah,
this old back road used to be the quickest route to Baja.
Me and the missus, would drive down on a Sunday for the bullfights.
Ellie used to love to drink that Mexican beer
and root for the bulls! Ole!
Hurry up, will ya!
[tires screeching]
[officer] You have the right to remain silent.
Give us this right and anything that you say can and will be used against you,
in a court of law.
I didn't kill him!
It was her, Terry Shannon killed her father.
Okay, Larosa, the stenographer's gonna
take down everything we say.
You can still get a lawyer if you want.
What for?
[scoffs]
[Barnes] Michael Shannon, do you recognize the suspect?
He's Vic Larosa.
[Barnes] When did you see him last?
The night my dad was murdered.
-Where? -[Mickey] In our house.
My sister's bedroom.
Mr. Larosa, is that a true statement?
So what?
I wasn't the only one in the house.
When you were apprehended, you told the arresting officer
that Terry Shannon killed her father.
-I can't-- -What?
That's a lie. She didn't do it.
He's trying to implicate Terry to save himself.
Vic, you know that's not true.
Yeah? Then why'd you pay me to leave?
You set me up. Everyone knows you hated him. I was a patsy.
Are you gonna take his word for this?
All I'm taking is a statement.
Then I'll determine if I have a murderer
or a murderer and an accomplice.
Mr. Larosa, I strongly advise you to reconsider
not having an attorney present.
Yeah. I want a lawyer.
Let him make a call from the pay phone in the corridor.
If he doesn't have any change, lend him some.
Don't you find it strange, sergeant?
What?
That a professional killer
would have no better escape route
than to drive to the border on a back road
in an unreliable van?
Maybe he's new at it.
Maybe he's not a pro.
Maybe he's telling the truth about the girl.
Am I under arrest?
No, but stick around. Don't take any sudden trips.
That goes for you and everyone who was
in the house the night of the murder.
I don't want anyone leaving town until this thing is cleared up.
If you're through making reckless charges
against my sister, I'd like to take her home.
If I may, I'd like to join you.
There's a matter I'd like to pursue back at the house.
Uh, you gonna let me in on this?
When I'm sure I'm right.
I'd hate to look foolish in front of the police.
Good-bye, sergeant.
That reminds me of a story.
It's late at night.
Guy's all alone in his hotel room,
and the phone rings.
And a very sexy female voice says, "dim the lights,
put on some very romantic music, and pucker up.
I'm coming right over, Sam."
And the guy says, "my name isn't Sam."
She says, "I'm sorry. It's the wrong number."
And he says, "does that mean you're not coming over?"
[laughing]
Well, now you can see why I'm out of the comedy business.
Mrs. Fletcher.
That couldn't have been you on the line.
You weren't here.
Terry told me about your call.
Figures. Mick was out.
And Lou would've ripped my head off.
Where did you get Milo Valentine's number?
Well, Johnny had me call it a couple times,
and I got a great memory for numbers and gags.
Maybe you'd like to hear a funny number.
Why did you make that phone call?
'Cause I was scared.
When I saw the way Johnny was shot,
I knew Valentine paid for it.
What were you gonna say to him?
To say Johnny didn't tell me anything about Valentine.
See, I didn't know if they had a contract out on me.
I was just copping out, that's all.
Please, tell that to the kid.
I don't want her thinking what she's thinking.
It's kind of a funny premise, though, isn't it?
The cowardly lion as a hit man?
Why would Valentine want Johnny dead?
I understood that he got him started.
Yeah, he laid out the money for the band, the music,
the wardrobe, the publicity.
And for that, he got to call the shots on Johnny for life.
And when Johnny made it big, he resented it
and started making his own moves.
Last election,
Johnny refused to appear at a big political rally.
It was for one of Valentine's payroll politicians.
And what did Valentine do about that?
Well, he flew out in his private jet to talk to Johnny.
The kids were in L.A.
Is that all? They just talked?
Well, they were in the den. The door was closed.
You don't think I would stoop to listening in at keyholes?
Okay, okay.
So I happened to drop a cigar
and my ear chanced to rub the door
as I went to pick the cigar up.
But all I heard was the clicking of billiard balls,
so I figured Johnny hustled him into a game of pool.
Under the lights, a camera.
Johnny taped the godfather?
Evidently, the killer was given two assignments.
One, to execute Johnny Shannon,
the other, to find and remove the tape.
Johnny must have hinted at its existence
during one of his telephone conversations
with Mr. Valentine.
Yeah.
Yeah, yeah, Johnny was always cracking wise
with inside jokes that I never got.
Valentine got them.
You don't happen to know
if there's a plane leaving today for outer Mongolia?
Oh, don't you worry.
If there'd been a contract out for you,
the killer would've taken care of it that night
with no trouble at all.
Please, say no more.
I get the picture.
Mr. Bailey, say that again.
It'll be the first time in my life
I've ever done an encore. I get the picture.
That's it.
That's what?
I know who killed Johnny Shannon.
Hello, operator?
Get me the police.
This had better be good.
Vic Larosa was on the verge of cracking when you called.
Forget Vic Larosa. I think I've solved the case.
First of all, I can make a pretty good assumption
of how the killer got into the house.
I'm all ears.
Well, he knew that Vic Larosa was seeing Terry,
so he kept a very close eye on him.
He figured he'd get lucky sooner or later,
and that night, he finally did.
When Vic went to the service gate
and Terry turned off the alarm for him,
the killer followed him in.
Now, the killer knew where to find the den
because Milo Valentine had been in the house
and told him the layout.
He found Johnny in his chair watching television, probably,
or maybe a tape,
but not the tape that the killer wanted.
He probably reasoned that Johnny wouldn't help him to find it,
so he executed him on the spot.
Then he sprang the lock and shut the door.
He then went to the video-cassettes
on the shelves.
He played enough of the first tape
to see that it wasn't the one he was after.
Then he put it back and tried another,
and so on, and so on until he got down to here.
I experimented, and all the tapes
before this gap have been played for a few seconds.
The ones after start at the beginning.
Now, when the killer finally found
the tape he was looking for and played it,
he saw Johnny in a friendly game of pool with Milo Valentine,
who didn't know about the sound camera.
Most likely, Johnny led him into making
incriminating remarks about a crooked
political campaign in Valentine's home state.
The killer turned off the VCR and the TV
and took the tape with him.
He left the den, pulled the door shut to lock it.
Well, then, how did he get off the grounds?
While Lou was breaking into the den,
Terry turned off the alarm to let Vic out.
Now, the killer could've gone out right behind him.
Well, as you say, that's mostly assumption,
but it makes sense.
There's only one thing wrong with it.
We can prove that Vic Larosa was in the house that night.
We can't prove that anyone else came in.
Mm-mm. You're wrong, sergeant.
We can prove it.
In fact, the killer gave us proof.
See, the morning after the murder,
you told me it was your first visit to this house.
Later, when I suggested
something was missing from the wall,
you said it was nothing but an old picture
of Johnny and his kids.
It's all it was.
What are you trying to prove?
Terry told me that she took the picture
from the wall
when they found Johnny dead
before the police were called.
You couldn't possibly have known what had been on that wall
unless you had been in the room earlier when Johnny was killed.
You are good.
Well, it explains why you left Chicago
to take a job in a small, desert town
with a police force.
It was good cover.
Congratulations, Mrs. Fletcher.
You win the grand prize:
a trip to oblivion.
So that's a silencer.
Always wondered what one looked like.
Well, I'm surprised you held onto the murder weapon,
unless, of course, you were planning to plant it
in Vic Larosa's van.
I'm sorry if I spoiled your plans.
[Barnes] I never kill unless I'm well paid for it.
It hurts me to make an exception in your case.
Well, let me relieve your pain.
Hello, out there!
I didn't lock the door.
I wouldn't make any sudden move if I were you, sergeant.
Mr. Ross took Johnny's death very hard.
[Barnes] You really do take the prize.
Thank you.
This means a great deal to me.
As a trophy of your victory?
No.
As the only real evidence I have
that you killed Johnny Shannon.
Ballistics will prove
that the bullet came from your gun.
That's police procedure.