Original subtitles

Barnaby Jones, a Quinn Martin production, starring Buddy Ebsen.

Also starring Lee Merriweather, with guest stars Claudette Nevins,

Ina Fallon, Roger Perry,

Michael LeClair, Paul Carr.

Tonight's episode, Beware the Dog.

I don't know if we're going to make it out of this one, but we've been out of

food for three days.

The temperature must be 50 below zero.

Oh, the world.

I can almost feel their eyes watching us. They're just waiting for a chance to

get it.

Well, we've only got one chance, boy.

We're going to have to fight our way out.

Colin!

Colin!

Yes, Mom?

You know what to do, because we've got to go. Okay, come on.

Oh, yes. Okay, down buck.

I'll bet you put him up to that, huh?

Mom, can't we take him with us?

I said no.

Why not?

Because your father said so.

Not my father.

Come on now, you stay here and be a good boy, okay?

Oh, you know it's gotta be this way.

He's making it be this way.

Okay, now I'll see you later.

Laura?

Colin?

Mary, you'll be home late. Please feed the dog.

Just about sums it all up.

Come on, you stupid mutt. Aren't you going to eat it?

That is, if you want it.

Did you hear something?

Yeah. I'm Barnaby Jones. Would you be Mrs. Beecher?

Uh, no.

I'm afraid Laura isn't here right now.

Did you have an appointment with her?

Yes, I think I did. My secretary called yesterday. I may be a little early.

Well, if Laura had an appointment with you, I'm sure she'll be here.

Why don't you come on in, Mrs. Jones?

Thank you.

You can wait in here if you like.

Thank you.

I... was a law partner of Mr. Beecher's. I stopped by to pick up some papers he

was working on at the time of his death.

You must be Claudia Elwood.

Yes, how did you know?

I represent California Meridian Insurance.

Mr. Beecher carried a couple of rather large life insurance policies.

One of them named your law firm as a beneficiary.

I have an appointment to meet with your Mr.

Carson later this afternoon.

Then you're an investigator.

Yes, because of the size of the policies.

My company thought I ought to make a few inquiries into Mr. Beecher's accident.

Then you'd probably like to see where it happened.

Yes, I would, but I don't want to take you away from your work.

Oh, believe me, Mr. Jones, if you're really going to investigate this

we're both working for exactly the same thing.

According to their police report, Joe, Mr. Beecher came home, prepared a dish

food for the dog, and then brought it out here.

Yes, I saw the police report.

They listed the attack as accidental.

But you give me the impression that you think it was something more than that.

Well, Mr. Jones, all I can tell you is that that dog was very well trained by

Laura's first husband.

Now, Laura's got a special way with that dog.

And everyone knows Laura's the kind of woman who gets what she goes after. What

are you telling him?

Only the truth, Laura.

That Joe's death has left you a very wealthy woman.

Something you wouldn't have been after the divorce.

Get out of my house.

Oh, with pleasure.

Mr. Jones, good watchdogs don't attack.

Unless they're ordered to.

You're the man hired by the insurance company? Yes, ma 'am. Barnaby Jones. I'm

George Roswell.

Laura's first husband, Ed, and I were in the Air Force together.

Nice to meet you.

I don't know what Claudia was telling you.

Joseph and I did have problems in our marriage, but we were working them out.

There was no talk of divorce.

Well, an old preacher friend of mine used to say a good marriage is kind of

picking huckleberries in the summertime.

Well, a good one seemed to be surrounded by the sharpest thorns.

What can we do for you, Mr. Jones?

There was a double indemnity accidental death clause in Mr. Breacher's life

insurance policy.

That's fairly standard, isn't it?

Yes, but the question here is a technical one.

Just how much and what kind of training did the dog have?

I don't think I follow you.

Well, it all boils down to this.

Was Buck ever given any formal attack training?

If he had been, then the insurance company won't want to pay off on the

indemnity clause, right?

Right.

Colin's father trained Buck to protect us.

I don't think he trained him to be a killer.

But where you draw the line, Mr. Jones, is up to you and your company.

Did the dog have any history of biting people?

No. Never.

Now, if there are no more questions... I had hoped to talk to your son, Mrs.

Beecher.

Colin hasn't been seen since breakfast.

But I suspect you can find him where we found him for the last three days.

At the pound where they're holding Buck.

Colin?

Yeah? My name's Barnaby Jones.

Hi there, fella.

Did you come here looking for me? For you and Buck.

Yeah, I was hired to check into your stepfather's accident.

Oh, no. No, you're not going to kill my dog. I'm not going to let anybody kill

my dog.

Oh, no.

What happens if Buck is in somebody else's hands?

Buck wouldn't hurt anybody, not unless he had a good reason.

You think maybe your stepfather had been mistreating him?

He must have.

Buck's the only friend I got.

Colin.

Your mother's on the phone. She wants to speak to you.

Go ahead, son.

Buck will still be here when you get back.

I don't know how I'm going to tell the boy.

The order came down about an hour ago.

To destroy him?

Noon tomorrow.

I see something, Mr. Jones.

Come on, Buck.

Buck,

stay.

Buck, come.

Stay.

Buck, light on.

Do you think that's something?

You ought to see him with Cullen.

For three years now, Ronnie, he and Buck have won the best obedience trained dog

trophy. Come here, boy.

You know, I realize there's a big difference between obedience training

attack training, but could you take a friendly dog like this and retrain him

into a killer?

Well, normally, I wouldn't think so.

When a dog's as smart as Buck, you could probably teach him anything.

I know Joe is working on a new will. All I want is a chance to find it.

You are a single -minded woman, aren't you? Dan, if you'll just unfeel Joe's

files, I know it's in there someplace.

Oh, Mr. Carson, there's a Mr. Jones waiting for you.

Mr. Jones?

Yes. I'm Dan Carson.

Sorry to have kept you waiting. We got held up in Judge's chambers.

That's perfectly all right.

I understand you've already met Miss Selwood.

Under less than pleasant circumstances, I'm afraid.

Claudia told me it wasn't a very pretty thing.

Well, I was puzzled when we got around to discussing divorce.

Laura denied all knowledge of it, of course.

I'm curious, why do you say of course?

Because, Mr. Jones, for Laura to admit that Joe was planning a divorce, or that

he was in the process of changing his will, cutting both her and the boy out,

would be to admit that she had a very good motive for murdering him.

Claudia. Dan, I plan to prove everything I've just said.

You'll have to excuse her.

She started working here about six years ago as a secretary.

Joe Beecher took her under his wing and encouraged her to go to law school at

night, helped her through a bar exam.

And you don't share her suspicions of Mrs. Beecher?

Let's just say that she took Joe's death pretty hard.

However, you were interested in the partnership papers with Mr. Beecher?

And a copy made.

I think you'll find it in order.

Thank you.

You understand the company's interest.

A million dollars corporate life insurance payoff?

I think I'd want a thorough investigation, too.

What are you doing here?

I, uh... I needed some of Joe's legal papers. I didn't want to disturb you.

You didn't want to disturb me, huh?

You break into my house like a common thief?

I ought to call the police and have them lock you up.

Oh, go right ahead.

Call them.

I'll tell them what I was really looking for.

And maybe when they know, they'll be interested enough to look for

And what's that supposed to mean? You know perfectly well.

The proof that you had a very good reason to murder Joe.

Oh, Claudia, that's a laugh, isn't it?

If anyone had a reason to murder Joe, I'd say it was probably you.

You wouldn't be the first office trollop who's married lover boy with stringing

her along with promises he never intended to keep. You're forgetting one

Laura.

It was your dog that killed Joe.

Your dog and who else but you would know how to set him on someone to kill

Mrs. Wiley?

Yes?

I'm Barnaby Jones.

I was hired to look into Mr. Beecher's death.

Oh. Well, uh, what can I do for you?

According to Mrs. Beecher's statement, she and her son Colin had dinner with

here the night Mr.

Beecher was killed.

That's right. They got here about quarter of six, just about the time my

was coming home from dinner, and they left sometime after ten.

You were good friends with the Beechers.

Oh, yeah, we were neighbors for over seven years until Laura remarried last

and moved away. Our boys practically grew up together.

Mom!

Can I go swimming over at Ritchie's house? Jimmy, this is Mr. Jones. He's

investigating Mr. Beecher's death. Howdy. Hi.

I'll bet you you and Colin and Buck were terrific friends.

Yes, sir.

Do you remember if Buck ever showed any sign of being vicious?

You know, biting and snapping at people?

No, sir. Buck never bit anyone.

It is a puzzle.

A friendly dog suddenly turning mean.

The other day, when Colin was over here for dinner, did he say anything then

about Buck suddenly turning vicious?

No, sir. Colin didn't say anything to anyone that night. He was really mad

something. As soon as his mother left, he took off. He didn't even stay for

dinner. He didn't stay for dinner.

Go have your swim, son, and be home early.

Yeah, thanks. Bye!

Point of contradiction.

You've got to understand, Mr. Jones.

Laura married Joe because she thought it would be a stabilizing force for Colin,

but Colin wouldn't accept him as his stepfather, and because of it, Laura and

Joe had terrible fights.

What time did she leave?

A little after seven.

And Colin? A few minutes later, but Laura didn't have anything to do with

death. You've got to believe that.

Well, it isn't just me that's got to believe it. The police also.

Oh, dear.

There's just one more question I have, Mrs. Wiley.

Whatever happened to Mrs. Beecher's first husband?

Ed?

Oh, he drowned.

It was a real shame, too.

He'd finally gotten that big break he'd waited for all his life. You know, the

big job out of the country. They were going to be moving in a few weeks, but

Colin was real upset because they wouldn't let him take Buck with him, so

took him on a fishing trip, you know, to try and cheer him up.

What happened?

The boat overturned.

They say it was a real miracle that Colin and the dog got out of it alive.

Won't be long now.

We've been expecting you.

I thought you might be.

I just got off the phone with Mary Wiley and Mr. Jones.

I thought I told you once before that I felt my marriage and whatever problems

it may or may not have had were none of yours or anybody else's business.

Ordinarily, I'd agree with you, ma 'am, but right now I'm trying to determine a

fundamental issue in the debts of your husband.

Whether Buck had formal attack training or not.

Well, frankly, Mr. Jones, I do not care.

And since it's so important to you and your company, why don't you just forget

the double indemnity clause?

Well, that's very generous of you, ma 'am, but that's not the issue I'm

concerned with.

The thing that bothers me is whether your husband's death was really

or murder.

Murder?

But they have the dog.

Yes, I know that, Mr. Roswell, but I just can't believe that Buck would...

that suddenly unless he had reason to or somebody triggered him.

But the police report listed Joe's death as an accident.

That same report puts you and your son at the wily place at the time.

What do you want from me, Mr. Jones?

Well, let's start with the truth.

All right.

I was with George that night.

Okay?

Out in the open now.

We didn't start out to hide anything.

After Joe was dead, Claudia Elwood was making her wild charges, we thought it

was best to leave things as they were, letting everybody believe that Laura was

at Mary's.

I don't suppose there's anyone who could verify where you two were at the time

of the attack.

No.

I'm afraid we were quite alone.

We're looking for Colin.

Is he here?

No, what's happened?

I'm afraid he broke into the shelter and took Buck.

Colin and Buck used to roam those hills by the hours. I don't know where else

they could possibly be.

Thank you.

Miss Beecher, the night your husband was killed, have you any idea where Colin

went to after he left the Wiley's?

Well, he said he walked home through the shopping area, stopped to watch a

baseball game in a store window, and... Oh, surely you don't think that...

Mr. Jones, your daughter -in -law is on the phone.

Thank you.

I just had a meeting with my friend at the office building where Joe Beecher

worked. I hope you two had a nice class reunion.

We certainly did. And she says the word is that Joe Beecher and Claudia Elwood

were having a hot and heavy romance, but that Mrs. Beecher was putting on

pressure. With any results?

Husband Joe was beginning to toe the line, much to the displeasure of Miss

Elwood. Good work, Betty.

Now, I want you to check out a George Roswell, R -O -S -W -E -L -L.

He's local.

Check the Air Force for background.

All right. But, Barnaby, wait. There's more.

In checking on Miss Elwood's hometown up in Idaho, I found that her father was a

veterinarian up there. He also had a business on the side.

Don't you know it's past six o 'clock dad?

I'm going to find that will if I have to go through every piece of paper in this

office Well, that's what it's gonna take to get us back to normal. I wish you

godspeed Thanks.

Good night. I'll see you in the morning. All right Well,

mr. Jones come to pay off our insurance claim Well, no, there are still a few

details to be worked out. I came over to see miss Elwood Oh, she's over there in

Joe Beecher's old office.

Thank you.

Yes?

Selwyn?

Oh, Mr. Jones.

Is there something I can do for you?

Well, yes. My daughter -in -law, Betty, had a very interesting reunion with an

old college friend today.

Well, very nice, I'm sure.

So happens that the friend works here in this building and she seemed to know a

great deal about you and the late Mr. Beecher.

We were in love.

Is that what you're leading up to?

According to the friend, the romance seemed to have died down mostly on his

part.

The damn lie.

I love Joe and he loved me.

I knew it and he knew it and Laura knew it.

And that's why she used that dog to kill him.

That's a very strong accusation.

And it's going to be even stronger when I find that new will Joe was working on

and prove that Laura knew he was going to divorce her.

Well, when you find it, I wouldn't mind reading that document myself.

Well, Mr. Jones, in that case, I'll put you at the top of my list.

You'll be the first person I call when I find it.

That's right friendly of you, Miss Elwood.

I guess I'd better go now and let you continue with your work.

Oh, that's a very interesting theory of yours, that somebody used a dog for a

murder weapon.

In order for somebody to kill Mr. Beecher that way, they would have had to

some skills in dog handling and training.

Yes, I suppose they would.

You know, come to think of it, Miss Elwood, with your background, your

kennels and all, that description could even fit you.

What are you still doing here?

Now you show up.

I've just spent the last 20 minutes transcribing my notes from Jordan so

you could read them.

Is there any news on Colin and Buck?

No. Nothing on either one of them.

Police have a helicopter with a searchlight on it combing the hills back

house. That's pretty cold up there at night.

Oh, those are your calls and also some preliminary information on George

Rothwell. It seems that he was indeed a very close family friend. In fact...

Many of their friends were very surprised when Laura decided to marry

last year instead of Roswell. Any guesses on the reason for the switch?

Best I could do was, as with Scarlett O 'Hara, Laura had had her fill of

poverty. Beecher had plenty of money, and George Roswell is a struggling

architect.

Claudia Elwood called.

About 20 minutes ago.

See if you can get her on the phone.

Oh, by the way, a couple of months ago, George Roswell approached Beecher to

help finance a large housing project he had planned.

And despite pressure from Laura, Beecher turned him down.

There doesn't seem to be any answer, Barnaby. I imagine she's gone home. Make

note. Call her first thing in the morning.

And I want to dig a little deeper into the financial situation of George

Roswell.

And while you're at it, do the same thing for Dan Carson.

Beecher's partner?

I'd like to know just how great a need he has for the million dollars in

insurance he's about to collect.

Are you in here?

Thank you for watching.

How did you know?

I take it you've had your chat with the coroner? I just left him.

He finished reexamining Mr. Elwood's body, and he found just what you said he

might.

Scratch marks that might have come from a dog. Now, how did you know?

Over this way, Lieutenant.

My men are getting sloppy.

Not necessarily.

They weren't looking for dog tracks, and I was.

From the size of the truck, I would imagine it was a pretty big dog,

German Shepherd.

Looks like I owe you for this one.

When do I pay the bill? Now or later?

Right now would be very nice, Lieutenant.

If I wouldn't get in the way of your forensic experts, I'd like to take off a

set of prints for myself.

Take what you want.

Just leave a couple of good ones for my team of forensic experts, all right?

I got my equipment.

Lieutenant.

Yeah. Excuse me, Lieutenant.

I just had a talk with the parking attendant who was on duty last night. He

on the ground floor when he heard Miss Elwood.

He says that she kept screaming one word over and over.

Which was?

Well, that's what doesn't make any sense. You see, he said she kept

calling, calling, calling. But who could she be calling?

Calling?

Hi, Jimmy.

I'm not supposed to talk to you.

Well, I guess I can understand how you feel, and believe me, Jimmy, I wouldn't

be here if it weren't important.

Now, you're a friend of Collins.

Do you know where he and Buck are hiding?

I don't know where they are. I already told the police that.

You sure?

Might be someplace where the three of you used to play when he lived next

No, I told you, I don't know where they are.

Well, it's just that I'm so worried about Buck.

No, you're not. You're just like all the rest. You just want to see him put to

sleep.

Well, the sad part of it is they may not have to destroy him anymore.

If they don't get to him soon, it'll be too late anyway. He'll be dead.

What do you mean he'll be dead?

When he was in that animal shelter, they gave him some medicine.

It was the wrong prescription.

If he doesn't get the antidote soon, it'll be too late.

Well, uh, sorry to bother you.

Pork and beans.

Guess it ain't the best breakfast in the world, but it's all we got, boy.

Colin, you gotta give Buck to a vet real soon.

What are you talking about?

That Mr. Jones came by. He said that they gave Buck some medicine while he

at the pound. And if he doesn't get some more, he's gonna die.

Are you sure?

No, he's not sure.

Sorry to trick you, son, but that's the only way I could get you to lead me to

your friends.

Colin!

I just heard you're going on 13 now, son.

Back where I come from, the boy gets that age.

We kind of expect him to act like a man every now and then.

You can't run away from this trouble.

You better stay and face it like a man.

No, I'm not going to let him kill my dog. He didn't kill my stepfather. He

didn't. You know, the funny thing is, I don't think he did either.

But we can't prove anything just by wanting to. We need evidence.

And I think between all of us...

We might be able to prove that we're right.

Well, how?

Jimmy, in the back of my car, there is some testing equipment. Bring it down

here.

How? Yes, sir. I think between the two of us, we can work this out.

Four for four and not a match.

What's this, a little cut?

I guess maybe he got that when I cut him out of his cage.

Doesn't seem to match any of the other prints.

Well, this proves that Buck wasn't the dog in the garage last night.

But they'll still want him for killing my stepfather.

I don't think so, son. I think when we show these prints to the police, they'll

realize that it would be pretty coincidental for two...

identical killer dogs to be roving the city at the same time.

You know what?

I think it's time for you and Buck to go home.

And I think your mother will be glad to see you.

Oh, Colin.

You had me so worried.

I'm sorry, Mom, but I had to do it. I couldn't let him kill Buck.

Oh, no. Colin, I'm afraid the authorities are still going to want him.

Mr. Jones says he can prove that it wasn't Buck.

Are you trying to tell me that Buck didn't kill my husband?

We could make a very strong case for that.

That's ridiculous.

That would mean that there was another dog in the backyard that night.

That's the way it seems to lay out, Mr. Roswell.

But Joe didn't like dogs.

He was afraid of them.

He wouldn't have gone out in the backyard for any other dog but Buck.

be, but he may have gone out there to feed a dog he thought was Buck.

May I use your telephone? I think Lieutenant Biddle ought to know that

Buck are home.

Um, you can use the one in the den if you like.

Thank you.

George? George, you're not going, are you? I can't today.

Look, Colin is back.

There are things that I have to take care of.

But I...

Barnaby, I have been trying for over an hour to reach you.

Sorry, Betty, I was visiting a friend over at Veterans Administration. What do

you have?

Well, the financial information you wanted. George Roswell was in deep

The housing project that he wanted Beecher to fund apparently had been his

hope to avoid bankruptcy.

Had been?

Well, it was announced yesterday. The housing project is going ahead of

schedule. Laura Beecher has agreed to underwrite it.

What about Dan Carson?

Oh, well...

the opposite end of the financial scale altogether.

Besides the law practice, at which he does very well, he's the head of a large

land development company.

You know, the only thing a million -dollar insurance payoff will do for him

maybe give him, oh, a few banking problems.

See if you can get Dan Carson on the phone.

All right.

What were you doing over at the Veterans Administration office?

I was trying to follow through on that picture I saw on the Beecher study.

I wanted to find out what George Roswell and Colin's father did when they were

in the service.

Did you? I had to call Military Personnel Records Bureau.

They were both air police assigned to Sac Bay Security.

Yes, Barnaby Jones for Mr. Carson. Is he in, please?

Part of their jobs were training and handling German shepherds for patrol

Yes, Mr. Carson.

Just one moment.

Carson? Yes, what can I do for you, Mr. Jones?

Well, I was wondering whether we could come over to your office for a little

while. Well, I can't promise to be here. I'm still in a bit of shock.

First Joe and then Claudia.

I have commitments to meet court appearances.

I can certainly understand your problems, Mr. Carson. Actually, we don't

your physical presence.

It's just that before Miss Elwood died, she became convinced that the reason for

Joe Beecher's death was in his file.

Well, if you think it'd do any good, I'll tell my secretary to expect you.

thank you. We should be there within a half hour.

We should be there?

Well, you are the one with the office expertise, aren't you?

And you think whatever I'll be looking for in Beecher's office was probably

misfiled? Either that, or Joe Beecher felt the need to deliberately hide it.

Where will you be?

Dog kennel? Dog kennel that raises and trains German shepherds for security

work. All right, come on, jump.

Get it.

Get it.

Come on. Come on, get it. I used to raise hounds down home. Best hunting

the Ozarks.

Moved to California to be near our grown -up kids and found out nobody here got

time to go hunting.

Seems like all the...

Dudes try to hang on to what they already got.

So we started raising these animals.

Now, even with that pad, if Ray didn't know just how to move, that dog would

tear him to pieces.

Oh, thank you, Billy.

I don't know if you'll find what you're looking for in here, Mr. Jones, but

that's everybody that bought dogs from us in the last six months.

Well, I checked out the other three kennels in this area that...

trained security dog.

If I don't find what I'm looking for here, it may be that I just made a wrong

guess.

Well,

what's the verdict?

You found a name that strikes you fancy?

I think maybe so.

Who are you?

I'm Betty Jones, Barnaby Jones' daughter -in -law. You must be Mr. Carson.

That's right.

I was just on my way to court. I thought I'd stop by and say hello to your

father -in -law.

Is he here?

Well, I'm afraid that I draw all the paperwork in the family. He's out

dog kennels.

Well, just tell him I said hello.

I'll do that, Mr. Carson.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Well, well, well.

You look enough like Buck to be his twin brother.

I think it's time we let people know about you.

Bye. Bye.

Carson, go off your dog. Don't make me shoot him.

You Mr. Jones? Yes. This is Mr. Carson, the man you want.

Your daughter -in -law's the one who called. She said you might need some

out here.

That girl's timing is getting better with each passing day.

Dan Carson's land development investment group was a swindle. Your husband found

out about it, amassed some powerful evidence, and was blackmailing him.

But why did Dan kill Claudia?

Beecher hid the evidence in an envelope and taped it to the bottom of a filing

drawer. Carson looked for it but never found it.

And when Claudia started looking for papers indicating a new will... Which

incidentally never existed.

Carson was afraid that she'd find the blackmail evidence, which would of

point to him as Mr. Beecher's murderer.

After Carson killed Claudia, he looked for the evidence again.

Satisfied that it wasn't in the drawer, he allowed us to look.

A figure of speech, Betty, purely.

Now, I think that we ought to get out of here and let these folks get on with

plans for their housing project.

Thank you.

Mr. Jones, I just wanted to thank you.

I mean, I guess there was even a little wall there when I thought Buck was the

killer.

But you always believed in him.

That's true, Barnaby, from the very beginning.

How did you know that Buck wasn't the killer?

That was the easiest part of the case, Betty. Buck told me.

Didn't your boy?

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