Original subtitles

The Streets of San Francisco, a Quinn Martin production, starring Carl Malden.

Also starring Richard Hatch.

With guest stars Marlon Mason,

Alan Fudge, John Carr.

Special guest star, Trish Stewart.

Tonight's episode, Who Killed Helen Brent?

Oh, Doug, I forgot to tell Helen something before we left. Is she still

do you mean, is she still up? What do you think?

Uh, this is Betty Rollins. May I speak to Helen for a moment?

What, checking up, huh?

Huh?

Well, listen, the next time you and Ed are invited to a party over here, do me

favor. Don't come!

Please don't drink anymore. It's late.

It's early.

Leave it alone.

Doug, please, the neighbors.

I said leave that alone.

And there's blood all over everything. It's just horrible.

The man is crazy when he's drunk.

He's killed her. I just know he has.

Miss Rollins, you called the police? Yes, and I should have done it last

Where's the husband? He's inside.

Dan, talk to her.

The man is brutal when he's drunk. We all knew that, but I had no idea he'd go

this far.

Your name?

Betty Rollins.

Who the hell are you now?

Lieutenant Lightstone.

Yeah.

What is the big deal? I must have had a little argument with my wife, and she

took off.

You guys have no right.

You're listening to a hysterical woman. You had an argument?

I don't know. I don't remember.

Did this happen during the argument?

That... I don't know. I spilled something, maybe.

And he kept getting a busy signal? Yes, and then when I got here this morning,

the phone was off the hook. It was just lying there.

Your wife just left. Wouldn't she have taken her purse?

Don't ask me.

Ask her when she comes back.

She always comes back.

Well, until she does, you're the only one I can talk to.

There appears to be bloodstains here and in the bathroom.

Was your wife hurt during the argument?

I don't know. What argument?

Well, now, is that your car parked outside?

Yeah. Why?

Your wife is missing.

She didn't take her purse or your car. Maybe she called someone to pick her up.

I don't know.

Do you mind if I borrow this? It's her address book.

I don't care.

Thank you.

Did you go anywhere last night?

No.

I stayed right here. I had a few. I went in, went to sleep, and that's all.

And I still don't know what the big deal is all about.

Well, your wife is missing under a set of circumstances you can't explain.

Now, that may not be a big deal as far as you're concerned, but

I'm going to have to ask you to stay with this policeman until the lab men

out the rest of the house.

Maybe they can explain things you can't.

So what did you notice when you pushed the rope up?

It's terrible, ladies. Excuse me.

What happened to the lady?

She left me for a hairdresser.

Couldn't fight it.

Anything? Yeah, she said Mrs. French has an appointment with a dentist this

morning. We'll have to find the name.

Well, I've got her address book here. Maybe it's in here.

I had a party last night.

I got the names, five couples.

Mr. French managed to insult most of them by midnight, and they all left.

Yeah, he's got problems.

He passed out, and he...

Couldn't tell me anything about bloodstains in the living room or the

And then he had a hard time explaining, well, what looked like a burnt blouse in

the fireplace.

He's got another problem. Take a look at this.

Could be bloodstains there in the front seat.

Take a look at this.

That looks very fresh to me.

It sure does, doesn't it?

But he said he didn't go anywhere last night.

We don't have anything to hold him on, but that doesn't mean we can't impound

his car.

Let's find out how recent this dent is.

I want this car brought in.

Very recent, Lieutenant.

Last few hours.

You're sure?

No oxidation at all on the first straight metal.

Did you get a sample of that stain on the front seat? Yeah.

Fingerprint section also lifted some latent prints from inside.

Well, can you get a make on that blue paint that's here?

We'll do what we can. Don't forget the tires, will you? The mud, the dirt.

Next on the list, Lieutenant.

Good. Here's something you might find interesting.

We found this credit card receipt on the front seat.

It's a car wash.

Made out yesterday.

That means that these were left here since then.

Lipstick on both of them.

Maybe your lady in question was driving the car herself. Oh, no way.

Why not?

I checked out Helen French's purse.

There were no cigarettes, matches, or lighter.

I say she's a non -smoker. Well, she's also non -existent since midnight last

night. Nobody from the party has heard from her. Cab companies don't show a

at that address.

She's not a patient in any hospital.

What about her dental appointment? She didn't keep it.

I talked to her dentist, and he said she didn't even call to cancel her

appointment, which is, quote, very unlike Mrs. French.

Did you check out her accident reports?

Four hit and run so far from last night. None of them seem to match up with

French's car.

All right, until anything more turns up, we'll just have to keep looking for the

lady.

Huh?

That's right.

Every name in that book, one by one by one.

So you know Mr. and Mrs. French?

Sure. But I haven't seen Helen or Doug for a couple of years.

Ever since my mouth healed up.

Forgot to duck, huh?

And who needs a guy like that?

Mrs. French still has you and your wife in her address book. Have you heard from

her? No.

I think she was embarrassed to call after what happened.

Did you and Mr. French used to work together?

Sure. Doug and I used to pedal for the same company.

Then Doug switched to this new outfit.

Shot up in the company.

Fat expense account, lots of booze.

Booze is one thing he couldn't handle.

Believe me, it cost me two teeth.

I don't know how Helen takes it. She must think the only two colors in the

are black and blue.

You beat her?

You know that for sure?

Nobody runs into doors that often.

My wife used to see her after she'd spent a week in that private hospital.

Still wearing shades to cover up the black eyes.

Face like a lump.

Do you know what private hospital she went to? Kind of a convalescent place.

Payson.

No, Pearson.

Helen used to go there to cover for Doug.

but I had managed to keep my name out of police records, Lieutenant.

Don't tell me some gentleman has filed a complaint.

No, your name isn't in the police records. It's right here in Helen

address book.

Soames.

Angela Soames.

Excuse me.

Hello?

Well, of course I remember you.

Aren't you sweet to say so?

Uh... Give me half an hour to become desirable.

All right.

Oh, I know.

I'll be there.

I really shouldn't talk that way in front of a cop, should I?

It's been 12 years since I've worked with Weiss.

Oh, Lieutenant, I'm an interior decorator.

A gentleman calls, and I go over and decorate his otherwise bleak world for a

while.

Well, interior decorating isn't in my department.

I'm looking for Helen French.

Oh, God.

Don't tell me he's beaten her up again.

We don't know what's happened to her.

By any chance, she hadn't called you since last night, did she? No.

Poor Helen.

Poor lost Helen.

I hope you never find her.

She was a prisoner.

That's the kind it happens to, you know. What happens?

I've known Helen since high school.

Did you know her husband?

Thank heavens, no.

Our friendship was separate from that side of her life.

Helen married the first man.

Who stole her innocence.

Doug French.

Big shot. Going places.

Not long, the little girl becomes a doormat.

Then she becomes a punching bag.

She told you all that?

I often wished his girlfriend could see him beating up on his wife.

He beat his wife?

And you say he has a girlfriend?

Oh, hell, I knew about it.

Uh, Susan somebody or other.

Maybe that explains the cigarette butts in the ashtray, huh?

Yeah, maybe.

The lab says that the blood found on the carpet in the bathroom and on that

scrap of woman's blouse from the fireplace all matched the blood in the

type O.

And according to the Pearson Convalescent Hospital, where Helen

an occasional patient, her blood type is O.

And they haven't heard from her this time?

Nope. Tried to get some particulars, but they're closed -mouthed.

They said there are regular doctors in St. Louis attending a seminar.

So she didn't go back to her regular hospital?

None of her friends have heard from her.

I don't like it.

Pick them up.

On what charge, assault?

We can't make that stick.

Come on, Mike. Don't you think we're dealing with something more than a messy

house and a missing persons report?

Sure.

But what have we got?

Nothing.

Unless we can prove that he lied about never leaving the house last night.

Okay, so we have to prove he had opportunity to dispose of the body,

Mm -hmm.

Exactly. Now you're cooking.

Homicide stone.

Yeah, that fits.

Is the witness still there?

Okay, we're on our way.

Early morning hit and run. Just reported. Sounds good. Did you say

That's what I said. Come on, let's go.

I'm just coming off work. Night shift. I'm a waiter in this restaurant right

here. And I come out from my car and I see this big bozo weaving all over the

street. Almost hits me.

Did you see the car?

Yellow sedan and wham, he smacks right into me.

Parked. Just sitting here.

What time did it happen?

About 2 .30 in the morning. I remember I had just cleaned up, walked out and...

I figured I'd better check it today, you know, for my insurance.

The car's been sitting here since the accident.

Did you see the driver of the vehicle?

This close he was, almost hit me.

Oh, yeah, a big guy, reddish hair, navy blue jacket.

Douglas French was arrested on suspicion of murder today following the

unexplained disappearance of his wife, Helen.

While police will not reveal what evidence they have gathered to support

charge, they are reportedly seeking a mystery woman in connection with the

Elvis, so now you're a mystery woman.

You worried about this?

Damned right I am.

Your

Honor,

the people strongly recommend that a higher bail be set in this particular

instance. The evidence clearly indicates that the defendant attempted to mislead

the investigating officers about where he was on the night in question.

Your Honor, if the investigating officers have been misled, it is only by

own zeal to string together flimsy bits of purely circumstantial evidence. All

right, all right, gentlemen.

Let's don't try the defendant nor the San Francisco Police Department today.

Mr. Filer, your motion for continuance is denied.

The defendant is bound over for a preliminary hearing before the Superior

on the 25th.

I could get something for you. $25 ,000.

Court's adjourned.

Thank you, Your Honor.

What's the matter?

The DA made it stick, didn't he?

Yeah, sure.

But a tough jury could make it come unstuck.

Our job isn't done yet.

This company's making bail for him. Good, I'm glad.

Maybe he'll get nervous, stumble around, and show us where he hid the body.

Like bodies, I found a warm one.

Our mystery lady is no mystery anymore.

The lab came up with a lady who left her prints in French's car.

Now, you bring good news. Where do we go?

That's the kicker named Susan Ross, and she lives just two blocks from where

French slammed into that other car.

Don't give me an answer now. I want you to mull it over. If you think I'm

guilty, take a walk. I'm gonna find somebody else. It's just a problem, you

know? I don't know what to think. You haven't told me anything. I told you, I

don't know anything. I passed out. I can't remember.

Doug, no jury in the world is going to buy that.

Now, listen to me. I've got to be honest with you.

I tried to make a great show in there of sweeping circumstantial evidence away

like it was so much dirt.

Well, it isn't. It's damned incriminating. And there are plenty of

life right now on a whole lot less.

Do you understand that?

So I've got to have the truth.

I mean, if it's bad, we'll...

plea bargain. We'll go for a reduced charge.

You want the truth?

Yes,

I want the truth.

So do I. Set up a polygraph test for me.

A polygraph? A lie detector test. Set it up.

Look, I tell you, I haven't seen Doug French in two, three months.

I don't believe you, Miss Ross.

I believe you saw Mr. French the same day.

Maybe even the same night his wife disappeared.

I want to talk to a lawyer.

We already told you, you're entitled to one. If you come downtown with us, I

promise you there'll be a lawyer present.

No, wait.

You know, Mr. French had his car washed the same day.

And afterwards, we found cigarette butts with lipstick on them in his ashtray.

Same kind.

Mrs. French doesn't smoke.

We also found your fingerprints on the dashboard and on the car handle.

All right.

All right, so he was here.

Now, why didn't you say so from the start?

Because I don't want to get involved.

But you are involved.

Now, what time was he here?

He called around one, I guess.

One in the morning?

Yes, he'd been drinking.

I could tell I didn't.

I told him I'd be outside.

I don't want him up here when he's been drinking.

Where'd you go with him?

We didn't go anywhere. We just sat in his car and talked.

Maybe an hour. What'd you talk about?

I don't remember.

Just talk, that's all.

Did he say anything about his wife, about what happened that night?

No. I don't know anything about his wife. Are there any bloodstains in the

Bloodstains?

No. You're doing it again.

What? Mine.

We know there were bloodstains in the car.

If you saw any such evidence, if Mr. French told you anything about what

happened to his wife, you could be an accessory to murder.

Are you accusing me?

No, nobody is accusing you. But you are making it very difficult for us to

believe you.

Is your name Douglas French?

Yes.

Are you employed by the Overdyne Corporation?

Yes.

Did you kill your wife?

No.

I don't get it.

He is intentionally sticking his neck out. Why?

Maybe they're trying to dazzle us with footwork, Mike.

French is a professional salesman, and a lawyer's good. He'll take the right

case to a jury.

Maybe they think French can beat the Polly.

Anyway, they've got nothing to lose. We're going all the way.

Helen, French's doctor's back in town. You want to make an appointment?

As soon as we can get a reading on his blood pressure in there.

Well, he isn't lying.

If he was a pathological liar, would it show?

No, because if he was a pathological liar, it wouldn't show up on the graph.

He says he can't remember.

What do you say? If this guy is a blackout alcoholic, it's possible that

really doesn't remember.

I had a case once where an alcoholic flew coast to coast, stopped in four

states, got home, sobered up.

He didn't even remember leaving the last bar he was in.

Mike, I don't want to let this guy off on a reduced plea.

I want to prove that French formed the intent in advance.

before he got himself drunk enough to really do it.

Well, I guess it's time we saw a doctor.

Say, how many times has Mrs. French been a patient here, doctor?

I'd have to consult the admitting records to be certain.

Oh, perhaps five or six times in the past three years.

Were her injuries serious?

Well, whenever there are severe bruises and lacerations about the face and ears,

possibility of concussions.

I'd say they could be serious.

Did she ever tell you that her husband had beaten her?

No, Lieutenant. I couldn't testify to that under oath.

She implied that, but that's all.

Tell me, did you ever try to offer her any advice?

Naturally, I recommended marriage counseling.

I understand her husband refused.

Did she have any outside interests?

Not really.

Over a while, she was with a little theater group, Stage West, I think.

She seemed interested.

I don't know how it worked out.

You get a lot of cases like this?

Too many.

Seminar I just attended, they claim that wife beating is the single most

unreported crime in the country.

And sometimes we hear about it too late, after they're dead.

French?

I'm asking you a question.

Is that where you buried your wife?

God help me.

I don't know.

Looks like our stakeout on him is not going to pay off.

Maybe he really doesn't know or can't remember. How do you read him?

How do I read him? I don't read him.

No dice, Lieutenant.

We've covered every square foot.

Okay, Tanner. Pack it in.

What about it, Lieutenant?

He can go.

Thank you very much.

I really thought we had him.

Well, he's had one nightmare. Maybe he'll have another one.

I still want a tail on him around the clock.

Mike, what if he's telling the truth?

What, that he didn't kill her?

Maybe she killed herself.

I mean, a lady like that, beaten, afraid to go home, afraid to complain, maybe

she just crawled off somewhere. Maybe.

But either way, if he killed her or she killed herself, we still have to find

the body.

Okay, so where do we look? There must be a million places.

I don't know. Where do we look? Who knows where to look?

Maybe we ought to go to that little theater group the doctor was talking

How's that going to help? They wouldn't know where he buried it.

Well, somebody there might know something about her habits.

Might give us a clue.

There's supposed to be three glasses there. Now, I want three there tonight,

okay?

Excuse me.

As we were saying, the people who come here are frustrated.

They're fearful.

Unfulfilled. They're beautiful.

What about Helen French?

She was a cocoon.

Wrapped. Rigid. Rigid. I'm beginning to understand why. Oh, yes.

An occasional bruise would appear. Accidents, she claimed.

Her husband never came around.

Did she like it here?

Ah, I began to unwrap the threads that were restraining her.

There are no directors in New York anymore, you know. They're all

choreographers.

Well, I cast her in a small but vital part. An inspiration.

She played a bouncy broad on the make for another woman's husband.

What a metamorphosis. She emerged, spread her wings.

Lovely to see.

Was she good?

We'll never know.

She just disappeared before the dress rehearsal.

Never gave any reason?

Well, in retrospect, she may have had bruises that makeup wouldn't cover. Did

she make any friends while she was here?

I mean, were there any, uh...

Relationships with other members. Someone she could have gone off with.

an astute observer of the human scene, Lieutenant.

They come here to play out their fantasies.

All their fantasies.

Even Helen.

At first, she was afraid of men.

Until I put her on that stage.

She was really quite good.

Doug, I'm scared.

What are you talking about?

What's the matter with you?

Well, didn't the police tell you?

They don't tell me anything.

You tell me.

Well, they know.

About us.

Doug, they came to talk to me.

Lieutenant Stone and some younger guy.

About what?

They know that we were together that night.

What?

Don't you remember?

You came over late, and we sat in your car, remember?

You told them that?

Well, I couldn't deny it. They already had my fingerprints from out of your

What else did you tell them?

Well, I didn't tell them about the rest. Honest, Doug.

But I'm afraid.

I mean, if they make me get up on that stand, I can't lie.

I'll go to prison. What are you saying?

Don't you remember?

Remember what?

You had blood all over you, and you were saying wild things. Wild things? About

killing a woman.

Don't you see?

Don't make me tell it.

I know they will.

Look, I don't want to hurt you.

Maybe I better get out of town. For you.

Where would you go?

Far away.

Maybe out of the country.

Look, I'm going to need some money. You've got to help me.

I've got some you can have, I guess.

Well, not just some.

I'm going to need a lot to get away where they can't find me.

How much?

Ten thousand dollars at least.

I don't have that kind of cash.

Mom! How much can you get?

Five, five. Maybe five.

I've got a joint savings account. Doug, I want to get away tonight.

Can you get it?

Yes.

It's not for me, Doug.

It's for you.

You bring the money by my apartment, and I'll be packed and ready to leave.

Okay?

All right.

All right. Let's go.

Hi, Johnny?

Yeah, it's me.

Oh, yeah.

He bought it.

Oh, come on, Lieutenant, be honest.

You found me irresistible, right?

Well, I would hate to deny that under oath.

But actually, I'm still interested in Helen French.

Can't win them all.

Did you find her?

No, we're still looking.

You're a real doll, you know.

I could shatter your reserve off -duty.

Well, I'm not going to argue that point with you.

But could I ask you a personal question?

I mean, about Mrs. French.

Shoot.

Sometimes when a wife finds out that her husband is playing around... She goes

out and does a little freelance romancing herself, right?

Not Helen Tennant.

Not that I didn't try.

I told her that I could get her lots of company with men who would treat her

tenderly.

But she wasn't interested.

Married to a monster like that could turn you off men altogether.

Funny.

Really is funny how some women can handle all kinds of men, and then there

some who find it difficult to handle just one.

Well, let me tell you something even funnier, Lieutenant.

This is right down your alley.

Nice society out there.

It's hell -bent on persecuting the likes of me.

But they don't even care that the Hellens are getting beaten.

Killed.

Poor little fool.

Fool?

No.

for a lost victim.

Homicide Stone.

I lost him, Mike.

Well, did you lose him or did he lose you?

Well, he looked too smashed to even know I was following him. Well, come on,

let's have it. He met a woman fitting the Ross girl's description at

Wharf earlier.

Then he made a visit to a savings and loan bank.

And when he came out, he was carrying a big wad of dough.

Where'd you lose him? He spent a while in a bar.

Now, I picked him up when he came out, and then I lost him in traffic. But it

looks like he may be headed towards the girl's neighborhood.

All right, see if you can pick him up again. We're on our way.

We'll worry about that when we get to Mexico.

At least then I'll be rid of this creep and then we can be together.

That was silly. I didn't sleep with him.

I just scared the hell out of him.

I'll bring the money. Don't worry about it.

We can stop shaking long enough to sign for it.

I know.

You lied to me, little tramp!

You get away from me!

I'll kill you.

You're crazy! You're crazy!

I've already told you. You yelled out he killed her. Now he's trying to kill me.

Well, he did kill her, didn't he? You tell us.

He says that you tried to extort money from him.

He's lying.

He had $5 ,000 in his pocket when he came to your apartment. He said he got

for you.

Well, I only asked for his help to get away for a while so that I wouldn't get

involved in all this.

What was he paying you for?

To help him dispose of his wife's body?

No. The real reason he didn't go up to your apartment that night was that he

didn't want to leave the body alone in the car, right? No.

I didn't see anything.

Now, why didn't you let him go to your apartment?

Because my boyfriend was up there.

Oh, now we know.

A boyfriend, huh?

Look, I have been trying to get rid of Doug for a long time.

It's not easy.

And suddenly it became easier, didn't it?

He told you that he had killed his wife, and you thought, well, now here's my

chance to blackmail him and go off with number two. No, no, that is not how it

happened. Why don't you sit here for a while and think it over?

Let's book her.

Suspicion of extortion.

Tanner said they met around noon.

Let's find out what time Mr. French withdrew that money from the bank and

he stopped at the bar. Let's check it all out. Good idea.

Sekulovich, book her.

Yes, Lieutenant.

The withdrawal receipt was signed by Douglas M. French.

$5 ,000.

Did Mr. French leave a balance after taking that much out?

$112 .68.

She darn near cleaned him out, didn't she?

You know, we're going to need a positive identification of this signature.

Could you verify it?

I think so. We have the information and signature cards they filled out when

they opened the account.

looks genuine?

Wouldn't you say, Lieutenant?

Yeah, it certainly does.

The account was opened three years ago.

Hello. I think we have a mutual friend.

The telephone company?

All I had was a number.

You're, uh, Angela, right?

Right.

That's the trouble with the world.

We're all just numbers.

But you had a nice voice.

You match your voice.

Not many people do.

Thank you.

Would you like a drink?

Scotch. Very light.

Yours, too.

Very light.

I don't want you to dull your senses.

I don't drink.

Still, uh... Do the telephone company?

But, unfortunately,

business ethics require that I collect for the retirement fund before I show

my birthmark.

Well, if there's one thing I admire, it's ethics.

Second only to birthmarks.

Tell me a story.

Something wrong?

No, no, nothing.

I know what's bothering you. You're suffocating. No, no, it's not that.

Look,

I'm sorry.

What's the matter?

You don't like me?

No, no, no, I do like you.

It's just that, uh... Well, I guess I'm a little kinky about certain things.

Surprise me.

Not kinky -kinky.

It's, uh... Look, you're beautiful. You're really beautiful.

But I've got this thing about, uh... You know, all that makeup and stuff on your

face. What?

I told you, Kiki.

That's the whole deal?

Would you mind taking it off?

Just you watch.

Mother Nature's about to astound you.

Look, I hope you don't mind.

You hush.

Some gals wouldn't do this. You know suppose not

Now what's the matter?

Hey, Mike, wait up.

Say, are you still going to prosecute French for assault?

Ah, you know, it's the same old story, Mike. Bad evidence, bad witnesses.

No justice.

Due process of law.

By the way, something in a bank file put you on to her. What was it?

Well, when you open a new savings account in this state, you've got to

give your mother's maiden name.

Oh? So she gave her mother's maiden name.

Soames, Angela Soames.

Must have been a pretty comfortable name for her.

Especially when she wanted to escape from herself.

Well, at least she's alive.

Alive? I don't know about that.

I talked to her doctor.

He said that she's going to be institutionalized for a long time.

A long time.

That's life.

See ya.

I cannot even remember breakfast. How about getting some food?

Yes, I'd like that. What do you feel like? Oh, I don't know. Why don't you

of something? Maybe something kinky. Not kinky kinky, but kinky.

I'll give you kinky.