Original subtitles

The Streets of San Francisco, a Quinn Martin production.

Starring Carl Malden.

Also starring Michael Douglas.

With guest stars Fritz Weber, Andrew Robinson,

Alan Miller,

Special guest star, Charles Choppy.

Tonight's episode, Spooks for Sale.

Thank you.

You're fine.

Take it easy and you won't get hurt. Okay.

Okay. Okay.

That's right.

We better

get out of here.

Let's go.

Who is he?

A watchman. Looks like the place had a burglar.

What did he kill him with?

You jumped to conclusions.

A burglar, a dead watchman, bang, bang, right?

Wrong. All the guy did was tie him up. So how did he die? Heart attack.

The law still says he murdered him. Try again, Bernie.

Now, when you saw that you couldn't revive him, that's when you called Mr.

Dresden?

Thank you.

She told me she thought he was dead. So, of course, I called an ambulance. I

figured, you know, she could be wrong.

But you happen to know if anything was stolen?

Nothing. There's nothing missing.

Whatever they were after, they went away without it, at least so far.

Well, they sure went to a lot of trouble for nothing, didn't they? That's what I

was thinking.

Well, what do you have around here that somebody would want to steal?

Petty cash, 150 bucks.

That's all, eh?

Well, there's this gold pen set on the desk and a silver frame and a picture of

my wife and kids.

Nothing else?

If there was, wouldn't I tell you?

Yeah, I guess so.

They went in through the roof.

Well, how's the security system? Like Fort Knox, whoever went in was very

This was no junkie looking for a score.

Job had planning, execution. It was very professional. That's funny.

What's so funny? There's nothing in there to steal.

Does the name Burt Dressler mean anything to you?

Dressler... Yeah, something, but it was nothing to do with ladies' garments.

Well, check with R &I. See what you come up with.

Would you come in here, please?

I want you to call Grady, that shipment of fabric he sent us last month. Tell

him it didn't come quite up to specs in the contract.

Tell him we're sending it back.

Replace or refund.

Package on Dressler from R &I is quite something.

Colorful. Gaudy, Detroit, Kansas City, 2 to 10 and 11 worth for extortion.

Parole violation, Louisville, consorting with known criminals.

This lady's got mob connections.

What's the date of his last arrest? 69, Detroit, Salem, possession of narcotics,

no conviction.

Came to San Francisco in 71, nothing after that.

What are you thinking?

Once a gangster.

Oh, he's a gangster.

Let's just say he hired a couple of pros to burn his place down. The night

Watchman shows up, they got a witness, no insurance money.

They tie him up and split.

Well, why would he put a match to a business that's in good shape?

According to his financial statement, he's making a fortune in the clothing

business.

Well, it takes us back to burglary, except nothing was taken, according to

Dresser. Well, maybe they didn't go in there to take something out.

to put something in.

Get a hold of Desco and check for a monitoring site.

Be careful, though.

If they had bugs in that office, it could be legal.

I'll check with the Justice Department to see if they're looking for something

on Dressler.

But with the Watchmen dead, the Feds, they may not want to admit it.

They'd have to.

If it's legal, they have to have a court order.

That puts it on record.

Okay.

How do you like that I...

I'd like some fresh air.

Yeah, so would I.

Beautiful work.

Well done.

I don't know about that. I just want those things out of there.

Those little beauties constitute evidence in a felony murder. I have to

them to the police or lose my license. You tell the police anything you have

I just want to know who planted those bugs in my office.

Besides the feds, any number of guys.

I really could have figured that out for myself, Brawner. I don't pay you all

that money to tell me things I already know.

I can think of three guys this good.

Besides yourself, that leaves two.

Name them.

Jimmy Desco.

He's with San Francisco Police.

Got any reason to? No reason.

And Cooper.

Ralph Cooper.

He works freelance.

Lazy?

Just out of curiosity.

What made you think you were Bud?

Because I'm beating the pants off my competition. They want to know how and

and that's a pretty good way to find out, right?

Okay, let's go call a cop.

This is Mobile KG62114 operator.

Will you get me 362 -9296, please?

This is Cooper. Is Mr. Whitlock there?

This is Cooper.

The Johns are back in the scene again.

The Johns are now removing the secondary buttons, but the primary is still in

place and operational.

All right, stand by and get what you can, as long as you can.

Time of departure will be at your own discretion.

They may be terminating the Dressler surveillance.

George, see, the personnel are informed on a need -to -know basis.

Now, what about the book?

What happened to that?

It goes to the client.

It's just names and numbers. It won't mean a thing to him.

Nevertheless, he's the client.

He paid for it, and he gets it.

Look, Dressler's using that dress shop to launder dirty money.

That book's a complete record of every penny he gets, who gives it to him, and

who he pays off.

Now... There's enough evidence in that book for the Justice Department to put

him away forever.

You want to give it to the federal authorities?

That's right.

What are you going to tell them?

That you broke into Dressler's office, which is a felony?

That you tied up the watchman who died of a heart attack, which is first

murder in the commission of a felony?

And to make up for all that, you want to give them evidence which is stolen,

tainted, and unusable in a court of law? I still think we should find some way

to move against Dressler.

In this company, we don't move against anybody. We protect the client.

And if we're going to be effective, we protect the company above everything

else. That's my job. We're team players, Kimbrough. There's no room for personal

grudges. Consul serve is more than Burt Dressler. It's more than me, and it's

more than you.

As far as you're concerned, the Dressler file is closed. You'll be reassigned.

I've got to help Cooper clean out that monitoring station.

She is ridiculous.

It's like looking for a needle in a haystack.

No.

Not really. See, the bugs we took out of there have a very short range.

A listening post has to be around here someplace.

Just look for a parked van, an abandoned building, something with an antenna

where it shouldn't be.

Why would the guy still be there if we took his bugs out?

Well, see, the bugs we took out are probably the cover bugs. Now, the

bug could still be there and still working.

Is that what you're listening for?

No, just the receiver.

The what?

It's got an oscillator, Steve. It acts like a transmitter.

I'm trying to home in on its frequency.

It's probably 10 .5 megahertz.

I don't know, Jimmy. Wheels within wheels, babe. I don't know.

You better believe it.

Wait a minute.

I think I got something.

Let's see it.

Say,

is the Justice Department interested in the book, Justin?

Sure, for a long time.

How active?

Nothing at present.

It's our understanding he's out of the rackets.

Washington told us to keep an eye on him when he showed up in San Francisco. But

he went into business, and we've got to stand down.

These belong to you.

Very nice.

I wish they did, but we can't afford them. Too expensive, eh? As far as I

the best short -range transmitters made.

How short?

Quarter pile.

Now that you know they're not mine, you can start looking for the monitor.

We already are.

You're a pistol, Mike.

You pull out the bugs, you start...

Beating the bushes for the monitor, and then you decide to find out if it's the

Justice Department's operation. No, first I went to see if you had a court

for these, and you don't.

And then I decided to talk to you personally, just in case.

Mike, when I do a thing like that, it's against the law.

Here.

Look out for that one.

He's greedy.

The commune at 11 to 81. Come in, please.

Inspector's 8 -1. Come up with anything, Steve?

Yeah, Mike, we're at 9th and Brannan. I think we're in the area of the listening

post. Okay, it's not legal.

Move in on it.

10 -4.

Okay, Jimmy, let's go.

Hold it!

Police, you hold it right there!

I said you hold it!

Hold it! Hold it!

Jimmy, you okay?

Yeah. We lost him.

It doesn't matter.

Why? I know him.

What? He used to be a friend of mine.

Are these things on the market?

Oh, yeah.

But you'd have to order up the components and have one made up.

I mean, you don't just walk into a store and say, I'll take one of these, wrap

it up.

So far, the only thing we know about this deal is that someone has access to

great deal of money, and they're trying to find out something about Dressler.

About the mob?

No, their methods would be a little more direct.

Besides, Coop wouldn't be working for the mob.

Who's Coop?

Cooper.

Ralph E. Cooper.

He's the guy who was here.

Old friend of mine. I knew him in naval intelligence.

Well, where is he now?

Well, the last I heard, he went to work for an outfit called ConsulServe.

Consultation Services, Inc.

Doing what, I don't know, but Coop's a first -rate wireman.

He was a real stand -up guy, too, until he got caught up in role -playing.

You know, where he's the master spy and they are the arch -villain?

It's like something out of a paperback novel, only I think he kind of believed

it.

Okay, be nice. What is this?

Get up there.

Come on, move.

Hey, what do you want?

Shut your mouth.

Let's go.

Did you call his home? He wasn't there.

The cops are all over the garage.

They've got him.

Where else could he be? What are you so worried about? He can handle himself.

He's an experienced agent. I brought him here. Then you know.

My guess is the police will find him very noncommittal. Mr.

Whitlock, there are two policemen here.

They'd like to see you.

I told them to wait inside.

Thank you, Jane. Let's go see what Cooper didn't tell them.

Gentlemen. I'm Ted Whitlock.

Archie. This is Steve Keller. He and I were the two best -looking rookies in

police department.

Imagine what the other ones looked like.

Archie Kimbrough, Lieutenant. Mike Stone. I heard a lot about you. I hope

all good.

You gentlemen like some coffee?

No, not for me, thank you.

Please, sit down.

Well, what can I do for you?

We have information that a fellow's working for you by the name of Ralph

What can you tell us about him? Cooper, good man. What would you like to know?

Well, what kind of work does he do for you?

Industrial security systems analysis.

Well, we'd like to talk to him if you're around.

He hits a lot of time, doesn't he?

That's right, sir, but he should be back in two or three days. Excuse me.

Yeah? General Templeton on 14.

Boy, I've got to run. Listen, it's so good to see you again.

Andy, I still haven't got those figures. Can you tell the senator to stall

committee action for a couple of days?

But it's 2 .30, your time.

If you're not back on the hill by the time I get... Fine, I'll reach you

Sorry.

You were saying that Mr. Cooper was not here.

I think he's gone fishing. He said something about taking a couple of days.

was that?

Well, he told me last week. I'm not sure what day it was.

Do you know a man by the name of Bert Dressler?

Dressler.

No, I don't think so.

What kind of work are you doing here?

Ah, you know.

No, I don't know.

Sure you know.

Like a guy wants to cut down his insurance, we go in, look the place

do this, do that.

Stuff like that.

Your boss sure seems to know a lot of important people.

I think Whitlock knows every guy in Washington.

How are you, General?

How are you doing, Senator?

What's his background?

Spook.

I mean, I don't really know.

That's what they say.

Whitlock's ex -CIA.

Your next cop is Cooper with some kind of agent.

What's going on here?

Hey, how come you guys are looking into Cooper?

What's up?

Oh, you know.

Next time you talk to him, you ask him to give us a call.

Routine, right?

That's right.

See you later.

and the fettuccine.

What, are you trying to kill me?

I'll take the fillet of soul and tell them no garbage, no butter, nothing.

I took off 15 pounds in two weeks.

That takes character.

I got a lot of character.

I also got a lot of money.

Oh, I've heard.

Buys me a lot of things.

Interesting things.

Pretty things, ugly things.

Why are you telling me all this, Bert?

Because you've got something I want to buy.

Do I?

Your services, Ted.

Your company provides certain services that I need.

You see, somebody has something of mine and I want it back. And I figure maybe

you can help me.

I don't see how.

Your experience.

Your expertise.

I'm prepared to pay very well for complete security, if you understand

mean.

Sorry, Bert.

You want to retain her?

It's not a question of money. It's just that at the moment I don't have a man to

assign to you.

Don't assign anybody.

It's something I think you can handle yourself.

I'm afraid I'm a very busy man.

I guess I'll have to hire somebody else to handle the matter.

If you do, Bert, just make sure it's somebody you're not too fond of.

I don't know that much about consul, sir, Mike. They recruited me a couple

ago, but... What have you heard?

Well, let's say you want to put a deal together for a company or a

corporation or foreign government.

Consul, sir, can grease the wheel, put you next to the right guy, give you an

inside track to the top.

They can give you all the secrets and tell you where all the bodies are

If it was a guy like Archie Kimbrough, I'd know about greasing wheels and

abjujama.

I was talking about consultation.

Kimbrough is probably part of services.

Consultation, Services, Inc.

Just what are the services?

Well, somebody has to get the secrets, and somebody has to find out where the

bodies are buried.

I don't know. The whole place gives me the creeps. You got these high -powered

conferences going on, files everywhere you look.

What are they doing there?

Information.

Classified, confidential, secret.

Begged, borrowed, bought, and stolen.

Who knows for sure? They'll stonewall you if you ask which way the door is.

Why would Kimbrough leave the force to go with that? For the money?

No, no. I thought she was something personal. See?

He was working with one of the intelligence units on some underworld

with a restaurant supply house here, and he was getting close to something.

His partner gets murdered.

So Archie, he got a little nuts.

He got called out on the carpet a few times for illegal search and seizure,

harassment.

He'd do anything to make a case on the mob, including some things a little

illegal.

And I guess he just thought there must be an easier way.

That's when he went and joined Council Serve.

So he becomes a criminal to catch a criminal.

Interesting idea, isn't it?

Yeah, if you like that sort of thing.

What about Cooper?

Anything on him yet?

No word, nothing.

To the best of my knowledge, I never saw that man in my life.

Mrs. Young. Does Mrs.

Young have to be here? She doesn't know anything.

I appreciate your help. Thank you very much. Thank you.

Excuse me, Mr. Young.

I'll be up in a minute.

Why would somebody put a guy you never even saw on your doorstep?

There would have to be a connection.

In other words, you are saying that you do not believe me. Well, gentlemen, that

is your privilege.

I will say it to you again.

And I will swear to it, I did not know that man.

No, there has to be some awful, horrible mistake.

That's all I can tell you.

Consult, sir.

Consultation services.

Now, do they mean anything to you?

Yes, they do. Why?

Did you ever do business with them?

Yes.

I made a bid on a contract for the Navy for women's uniforms.

And I think Consul Sir can help me land it, and I have an arrangement with them.

Now, why? What does that have to do with this?

Is that all they do for you? If that's what they do, it will be enough.

Who do you deal with there?

Ted Whitlock.

What about Ralph Cooper?

I don't know him.

Hmm.

Well, thank you for your cooperation.

I wish I could have been of more help. Excuse me, Mr. Young.

Do you know a man named Bert Dressler?

Well, I know who he is. We've never met.

Are you bidding against him on this project?

I wish I knew.

Well, if you wanted to know, don't you have ways to find out?

I don't understand.

The dead man was Ralph Cooper.

He's an employee of Consul Serve.

Good night, Mr. Young.

Everything fits. Nobody knows anything.

Yeah.

Young doesn't know Cooper, who works for Whitlock, who never heard of Dressler.

And Dressler just happens not to know anybody.

Think somebody's lying.

I think everybody's lying.

You know what?

I'm going to drop you off at Kimbrough's.

I want you to find out how he feels about a brother employee being murdered.

Where are you headed?

Well, I think I'm going to give Mr. Dressler something to think about

possums and bowls.

Oh, Lieutenant, why don't you sit down and have a drink?

I want to talk to you.

Bad image drinking in public, huh?

Come on, just kidding, huh? We'll be right back.

So, what do we talk about, Stone?

Leonard Young.

What is he to you?

Young? To me?

Nothing. What's he supposed to be?

Could he be a competitor?

Sure, he's in the business. There are a lot of guys. So how many gets stiffs put

at their front door?

I got no idea.

Now, why not?

Look, I don't know Young. I don't know... I know you don't know anything.

Well, just listen and learn something.

You lose a man, so they lose a man, right?

That's the old game, isn't it?

Well, not in this town.

You want to play that game, you go somewhere else, or I'm going to lock you

For what?

I told you to listen. Now listen.

I don't know what kind of waltz you and Young are dancing, but I'm going to find

out.

In the meantime, everybody better stay healthy, because if one more man

to look for you.

You want to push.

Push.

But not too hard.

Or what?

Sorry for the interruption.

What do you mean? He was tortured.

He was tortured.

What do you want? His fingers were all chopped up. Oh, no. Now, what did he

know? What did he have?

I don't know.

I don't know.

What is that, the, uh, council -served coat or something, Arch? They give you a

little cyanide pill?

Won't betray any secrets about a lady's ready -to -wear factory?

I don't know what you're talking about. I'm talking about Cooper, employed by

the council -served corporation to put a bug in Dressler's office.

Now, what are you guys into? Kid games or something? Give you a little secret

signal code ring to wear?

Come on, get off my back, Steve.

You know what kind of company you work for, Arch?

A private CIA.

KGB for hire. Hey, businessmen, you can't afford your own intelligence

Hire us.

Certified government -trained employees. Now, is that what you're into? I don't

know who killed me. Who hired your company to get something on Bert

don't know. Leonard Young, wasn't it? That's why Dressler put Cooper on his

doorstep, to scare him off.

Get out of here.

You know what? You said you were making good money.

Well, I hope that's not all you're into it for, because you sure are going to

die poor.

I'm finished.

That's enough for me. I want you to settle up my account and send me the

I'm out. No problem, if that's what you want. But listen, I think this is a

bit... That is what I want.

Ted, I've learned my lesson.

Oh, I don't think it's that bad. I mean, press this. The methods are a little

bit crude, but then I assure you...

Some place in this whole world of ours, the company is handling people that make

Burt Dresser look like a choir boy. He's tough enough for me. Now, look, you can

handle anybody that you want to. All I'm saying is please leave me out of it.

I'll give you protection. Round the clock, all right? I'll put men on it.

don't understand me. I don't want protection.

Ted, all I want now is to call this off.

I want to go back to my family. I want to go back to my business. I'll make the

best living that I can.

And so Bert Dressler has no cash flow problem, so he will have more than his

fair share of the market. I'll survive.

But now we know where the cash flow is coming from.

We can mail Mr.

Dressler to the wall.

I wouldn't take that if you paid me. Not for all the money in the world.

Goodbye, Mr.

Whitlock.

I want to speak to Mr. Bert Dressler at the Dainty Modes Corporation, please.

Good to hear from you, Ted.

I was about to take my business elsewhere.

Do you remember in our last conversation there was mention of certain items that

you wanted to recover?

Yes, I remember very well.

As luck would have it, I think I might just be able to help you out.

All right, let's cut to the bottom line, then.

How much is it going to cost me?

I think I prefer to skip any discussion of specifics on the telephone.

Let me just add, though, that I'm reasonably confident that we can help

So, shall we get together?

Your place or mine?

Where's Lott?

Arch?

I have to talk to you. Fix up something with Jane for this afternoon. I've got a

meeting. Cooper's dead.

I know it.

Please call me.

Been in touch with his wife. She's a strong lady, aren't she? Did you tell

put his fingers in a vice before they popped a cap into him?

I didn't know that.

Now you know.

What do you want to do about it? Same thing you're going to do about it. Leave

it to the police.

Police can't do anything about it.

They don't have the evidence.

We do.

Just what is it we have, Archie?

The book.

No, we don't have that.

Belongs to the client.

This is more important than the client.

Nothing is more important than the client, Archie. Excuse me. I have an

appointment. Just a minute. This is more than just another business deal.

This is a matter of what's right and what's wrong. Andres was a crook and a

killer, and we can nail him for this.

Take your hands off me, Archie.

Are you afraid of him?

I won't let him hurt you.

Stand up.

I want you to go home and pour yourself a drink. Think about where you'd like to

spend some time.

Los Angeles, maybe.

Too bad?

What do you mean?

I mean, I'm asking a home office to have you transferred.

After all, Mr. Dressler is engaging our services.

We're working for him?

You would be if you stayed here.

I can hardly afford to have you going around saying nasty things about a

Cam.

Hi, Archie.

Mr. Whitlock's office.

And I'm afraid he's not.

Yes, he's calling.

What on earth?

Archie, what are you doing?

Get out of this. You put that back.

Put that. Put that back, Archie.

Mobile operator, please.

Thank you, Dan.

There's a bit of a problem.

Chief Kimbrough just broke into my office and stole the merchandise.

Do you think he'd take it to the police?

Unless he wants to implicate himself in a murder.

I'm going to put three or four of my best men on him. I suggest you do the

thing.

If I find him first, aren't you worried I might cancel our contract?

Not really, no.

I took the liberty of microfilming that book, just in case you ever need the

figures again.

It's a future date.

Ron, I'll get out of here.

Hi, Mr. Young.

What do you want?

Nothing. I want to give you something.

No! Take it easy!

Look!

See?

It's Burt Dressler's book.

I don't want that.

Now, will you please... I'm not trying to sell it to you.

I want to give it to you.

Now, here.

Take it.

You didn't hear what I said. I said that I don't want that. What do you mean you

don't want it? You paid for it. There's nothing here to put Burt Dressler away.

Look!

Every time the Detroit action cuts up 10 ,000, Burt Dressler gets one. That was

his buyout when he left the rackets.

It's all in here. Who he pays, how much. I don't care. I don't, I don't. All

right, all right, all right. Give it to the cops.

They'll believe you. You just told them that he left it in your office.

Anything. You figured out what it was and you're doing your duty as a good

citizen. Anything but just take it. I don't want it.

called me. He said he had a note that he wanted to give to me. He said it would

prove that Burt Dresler has been receiving payoffs from organized crime

Detroit area.

I wouldn't mind getting a look at that book. Neither would I. I'd love it.

He didn't by any chance tell you how he happened to get a hold of that package.

He said he found it.

Sure he found it in Dresler's office.

He just happened by chance to drop it in the skyline.

So I said I can't use it. What am I supposed to do?

Walk into court and tell him a character I never met in my life?

Left Exhibit A in a bus locker and mailed me the key?

Come on, pal.

No idea who it could have been.

Oh, but he sounded like the hounds of hell were after him.

That's all I can tell you.

Could be Leonard Young.

If we get him, we owe you one.

I'll take Dressler.

On toast.

If we can figure out a way, you've got him.

I said that I didn't know what he was talking about. I said I didn't know why

had come to see me. All I could assume was that he was demented. Sure.

What did he look like?

He was about my size, but with blonde, frizzy kind of hair with a mustache. And

I guess he was in his early 30s, maybe.

Is there any particular reason why you didn't report this?

Well, as I just said to you, I thought he was a maniac. And the only reason I'm

telling you now is because of the questions you just asked me.

Okay. Thanks.

You know who the maniac is, don't you? Archie Kimbrough.

Manager hasn't seen Archie since this morning.

Let's put on an APB. I'll check out some of his old hangouts.

Fred, you've seen Kimbrough around here before.

for you, Arch.

Oh, yeah?

I'll come.

I understand you know something naughty about Bert Dressler.

Okay.

You get what I have.

And I get immunity.

What's the matter, Arch? You done something wrong?

No. You know, I mean... I know what you mean, yeah.

But look, I don't want Dressler for no Mickey Mouse charge, right?

We want him for murder.

He's looking to take a whack at me, too.

How do you know?

I know.

That means Dresden knows you got the book.

How do we bag him, Steve?

You really want to know?

I'll do anything.

No immunity.

If we get him for murder.

Anything. Okay.

We'll use the book to flush him out.

But you're going to have to be the bait.

Okay. And the book has got to be in Dresser's possession when we bust him.

It's not easy.

You said anything about being easy, aren't you?

Who broke into the factory with you?

Cooper and... Ralph Cooper?

Yeah. Was he the wire man?

Yeah. And a pick man by the name of Mayhew.

Paul Don... Who ordered the break -in? Ted Whitlock.

Consultation services, right? That's right.

Would you type that out, please?

Okay. Okay.

Now it's my turn.

You're going to have your turn.

Right now.

Hey, let me talk to Bert Dressler.

Well, maybe you better tell him that Archie Kimbrough's on the other line.

How'd you like to buy your book back, Dressler?

$25 ,000.

Sure it's worth that much. I'm going to get out of town. I'm going to leave you

alone.

I'll let you know tomorrow where and when, so don't you worry about it.

You're a nuisance, you know that. You got the money?

Hold it.

I'll do that.

Sure, why not?

You got the book?

I guess that the boys knew you were passing this around.

You'd be dead by now, huh?

You want to talk or you want to do business?

I did it!

I'll stay here to sleep.

No, you don't.

You don't lay a hand on me.

Come on, stand up.

Mr. Dressler, you are under arrest.

What do we have here?

Well, it's a notebook.

Take things too seriously. I told you that.

No good guys, no bad guys. Just the business.

I don't know.

Maybe he's right.

He'll get out before I do.

That's not the answer, Arch.

You break into some place, take anything you want, bug it, hell legalities, and

that's nothing.

Let me ask you a question.

When you were a cop, you played it by the rules.

Why did you quit being a cop?

I figured there had to be an easier way.

It'll be fine. We'll let us know.