The Lone Wolf - S01E04: The Carnival Story
Transcript
00:00 (dramatic music)
00:02 I traveled several hundred miles
00:12 to spend a holiday week with two old friends of mine,
00:15 Javo and Javette.
00:16 They do a clown act with a small traveling tent show,
00:20 and the show always headquarters
00:21 on the grounds of a large amusement park.
00:24 This time it was no different.
00:26 Then I saw Javo.
00:28 He'd been doing the same thing a year ago
00:29 when I left him.
00:30 It was good to see him again.
00:32 And from his greeting, I knew he felt the same way.
00:36 I thought about Javo,
00:37 and how carefully he watched over little Javette.
00:40 I thought about how Javette had lost his speech,
00:43 and how these two wonderful people had to talk in silence.
00:46 We talked of many things,
00:48 and I told him I could stay for a week.
00:50 I asked about Javette.
00:52 Javo played it big.
00:54 He pretended he was angry with him.
00:56 He complained about Javette's special talent
00:58 for picking up things that didn't belong to him,
01:00 but he never stopped smiling.
01:01 He showed me where Javette was,
01:05 and I watched the quiet one enjoying himself.
01:07 Then I saw something else, and said,
01:18 up to his old tricks.
01:19 - Worse than ever.
01:21 The show understands, though.
01:23 Each night I make the rounds,
01:24 we turn into trinkets,
01:26 and the next day he picks up more.
01:27 (speaking in foreign language)
01:31 - Yes, I'm staying.
01:40 - Not so bad today.
01:54 I recognize these things.
01:56 An artifice comb, a small one for the fat woman.
02:00 The recessed Saint Christopher,
02:03 she and her father on the pension duty.
02:05 These cards from the privileged tent.
02:10 - What about the key?
02:12 - An old one that the boss keeps for Javette to steal.
02:15 Yes, I recognize everything.
02:17 Everything but this.
02:21 - What is it?
02:25 - Frank Gibson, investigator.
02:28 Federal insurance company.
02:29 I didn't want to alarm you, though,
02:31 but I felt that Frank Gibson could mean trouble.
02:34 - The man he bumped did not like it.
02:37 - He'll like it even less when he finds out what he's lost.
02:39 (dramatic music)
02:45 (dramatic music)
02:47 I changed my clothes and headed for Frank Gibson's tent.
03:02 I wanted to return his identification card,
03:04 and there was another reason.
03:06 I was curious as to why an insurance investigator
03:09 was working for this small carnival as a prop man.
03:11 (dramatic music)
03:14 - You waiting for me?
03:17 - Yeah.
03:18 - Who are you?
03:19 - Michael Lanyard.
03:20 - That's a familiar name.
03:23 - I'm not surprised.
03:25 - What does that mean?
03:26 - You must hear a lot of names in your business.
03:29 - Where'd you get this?
03:33 - What difference does it make?
03:35 You got it back.
03:36 - Not so fast.
03:37 Maybe it's a little bit more important than that.
03:39 - I'm not a cop, I'm a clerk.
03:41 I came here to return it, not to get into an argument.
03:45 - Wait a minute.
03:46 What's a guy like you doing
03:50 hanging around a 10 cent carnival?
03:51 - That question works both ways.
03:53 I'm staying with a couple of old friends,
03:55 Jarvo and Jarvet.
03:57 I won't ask why you're here.
03:59 - Jarvo, the pickpocket.
04:03 I got a good mind to call the police.
04:04 - He's not a pickpocket, and he didn't mean any harm.
04:09 - Why don't you get smart and hide that card someplace?
04:11 If Jarvo could talk, he'd apologize.
04:14 I'm doing it for him.
04:15 - Lanyard.
04:18 - Yeah?
04:19 - I'm sorry, I guess I sounded like a kid.
04:22 When I realized my identification card was gone, I got sick.
04:25 I've been traveling with this show for over a month now.
04:28 If my identity were known, it would undo everything.
04:30 - Forget it.
04:32 Jarvo can't talk.
04:33 You're on your own.
04:34 - Maybe.
04:35 I'll have to think about it.
04:37 If I come up with the right answer,
04:38 perhaps I'll give you a call.
04:39 - Not me.
04:40 I'm on vacation.
04:41 - You got anything against money?
04:44 - Money?
04:46 No, nothing.
04:47 Unless it interferes with my plans.
04:50 See you around, Gibson.
04:52 - That's for sure.
04:53 (gentle music)
04:57 - The next day, I headed down the midway,
05:01 and I heard someone who sounded friendly.
05:03 - Good morning.
05:07 - Good morning.
05:08 - You weren't passing by, were you?
05:11 - I was.
05:12 But I can see now it would have been a mistake.
05:14 - Like to play?
05:15 - Might be interesting.
05:18 - Three balls for 25 cents.
05:20 Knock any one of those piles of milk bottles off the stand
05:23 and win yourself a ruby doll.
05:25 - That's hard to do.
05:28 - Sometimes, unless you have a harp on your fast one.
05:31 - Hawk can throw a curve.
05:33 - Anyway at all, use your best shot.
05:37 (ball clatters)
05:40 - Maybe I'm a cynic, but to me, Ruby seemed too friendly.
05:47 So I played it like a guy
05:48 who couldn't get himself arrested.
05:50 - No, thanks.
05:51 If I throw any more, my arm will go up with the ball.
05:54 (ball clatters)
05:56 - Morning, Frank.
05:57 - Hi, Ruby.
05:57 - Give the gentleman a prize.
05:59 - A man who can't hit three bottles of that range
06:04 doesn't deserve a doll.
06:06 - Maybe you weren't using that curve you talked about.
06:09 - Maybe you were.
06:10 Goodbye.
06:12 - I'll go with you.
06:13 - Bye, Ruby.
06:14 - Bye, Frank.
06:16 Goodbye, Michael Lanier.
06:17 - Ruby must do all right.
06:22 - Ruby?
06:22 She does better than all right.
06:24 Anyway, better than when she and her husband
06:25 used to do the Iron Jaw act on the Forbes show.
06:28 - Are you a connoisseur, man?
06:29 Or an insurance investigator?
06:30 - That's what I wanted to talk to you about.
06:33 Got to step into my office.
06:34 - Sure.
06:34 (footsteps clatter)
06:37 - First of all, I want to thank you
06:44 for the way you handled that card of mine.
06:46 Could have been embarrassing.
06:48 - You were gonna tell me what you're doing here.
06:50 - I wasn't sure till you arrived.
06:52 - I'm on vacation.
06:55 Chavo and Jawbett are old friends of mine.
06:58 I visit them every year.
06:59 - Let's stop clowning, Laniard.
07:01 I should have waited for the contact,
07:02 but you made me, so I can't.
07:04 So let's talk a deal.
07:05 - All right.
07:06 Let's talk a deal.
07:07 - 25%, no questions.
07:10 - That would amount to how much?
07:11 - 25 grand.
07:13 - You're talking about $100,000?
07:15 - I'm talking about the score made
07:18 in the Buffalo armored car holdup about eight months ago.
07:20 - You mean that money's here?
07:22 - Well, like I said, I wasn't sure till you arrived.
07:24 - What were you doing until I arrived?
07:27 - Waiting for a break.
07:28 - You sure it's here?
07:31 - That's the way we got it figured.
07:34 My company's already paid off the full amount
07:35 of the insured armored car people.
07:37 They'd be very happy to get back 75 grand.
07:40 - Huh.
07:41 - What do you say?
07:41 - I'll think about it.
07:46 - Do that.
07:47 Let me know what you decide.
07:49 The offer's only good overnight.
07:50 (dramatic music)
07:57 (people chattering)
08:26 - I considered what Gibson had told me,
08:28 an armored car robbery, $100,000.
08:32 I had to think it out.
08:33 For me, it didn't quite make sense.
08:36 Why would anyone heist $100,000
08:38 and hide it in a small carnival?
08:40 And if they were here, where could they keep that much money?
08:43 I had the feeling that maybe Frank Gibson
08:46 hadn't told me the truth, and that interested me,
08:48 because I don't like being thought a fool or being lied to.
08:51 (dramatic music)
08:54 - Jarvo had told me that Jarvet spent many hours each day
09:00 with Teresa and her father.
09:02 They were teaching him about Punch and Judy.
09:06 I decided to introduce myself to them.
09:07 - Hello there.
09:10 I'm Michael Lanyard.
09:12 - Hello, Mr. Lanyard.
09:13 Jarvo told me about you,
09:15 and Jarvet, in his way, talks about nothing else.
09:17 - Oh.
09:19 - You must be the Teresa of the St. Christopher Medal, huh?
09:21 - Yes, and this is my father.
09:23 - Mr. Lanyard.
09:25 - How are you?
09:26 I enjoy your show.
09:27 - Most everyone does, Mr. Lanyard.
09:30 There seems to be a fundamental satisfaction
09:33 in watching Punch do what most of us
09:35 would like to do at a time or another,
09:37 fly into a violent rage
09:39 and beat everybody over the head with a club.
09:41 (Jarvet laughs)
09:42 - Don't get Papa started.
09:44 He'll go into the psychological significance
09:45 of Punch and Judy, and you'll be here all day.
09:48 - That's all right, I have nothing to do.
09:50 - But Papa has.
09:51 He must sleep.
09:52 Doctor's orders.
09:54 Rest between each performance.
09:55 Excuse us.
09:56 - Of course.
09:57 This also is a time when I envy Punch.
10:01 He is take no toll of him.
10:03 Perhaps later, Mr. Lanyard.
10:04 - Goodbye.
10:06 (somber music)
10:11 (footsteps thudding)
10:14 - They were nice people,
10:20 but I hadn't been able to forget Frank Gibson.
10:22 Then I saw Frank and Ruby.
10:25 I started guessing again,
10:26 but there's no law that prevents a man
10:28 from kissing his girl.
10:29 Only I couldn't help wondering if she was his girl
10:32 or was she his partner.
10:33 (dramatic music)
10:36 - And now, ladies and gentlemen,
10:40 Jarvo and Jarvette!
10:42 (audience applauding)
10:46 - My original plan was to spend a week with two friends,
10:55 and nothing was gonna get in my way.
10:57 I'd made up my mind to tell Frank Gibson
10:59 I was no longer interested in his proposition,
11:02 nor was I interested in whatever game
11:03 he and Ruby were playing.
11:05 And I was going to add that I thought he was a big phony.
11:10 (Jarvo giggling)
11:12 I began to watch Jarvo and Jarvette do their act again,
11:15 but something was wrong.
11:16 There were no laughs.
11:17 Jarvette had substituted the bottle of milk
11:19 with a wooden one from Ruby's stand.
11:22 The act had died, and Jarvo seemed unhappy,
11:25 but it would be forgotten
11:26 because tonight was Jarvette's birthday,
11:28 and Jarvo had prepared a surprise party for him.
11:30 He had been so careful, I doubt he knew I had found out.
11:33 - Jarvette, please!
11:35 It is the nipple and the nursing that bring the laugh.
11:38 You cannot nurse on a wooden bottle.
11:41 Go, take it back to Ruby and put it where it belongs.
11:44 Go, go, we will see you in the tent later.
11:46 He is a problem, that one.
11:50 Come, I have a surprise for you.
11:52 - The cake had three candles.
11:56 Jarvo told me they were for love, devotion, and friendship.
12:00 He told me that Jarvette was like a little boy,
12:04 but he'd never forgotten that night in France
12:06 when the Gestapo, in their anger,
12:07 had torn the tongue from Jarvette's head.
12:09 And he realized it was late, that Jarvette hadn't returned.
12:15 I told him not to worry, that I'd go and look for him.
12:18 It was three hours later.
12:20 I hadn't been able to find Jarvette.
12:22 Jarvo had asked the other carnival people
12:24 to look for Jarvette.
12:25 He kept telling me he blamed himself
12:27 because he'd hurt Jarvette's feelings.
12:28 I told him he was wrong,
12:30 that Jarvette had probably gone into town,
12:32 that he'd return in a little while.
12:34 And then Frank Gibson came in,
12:36 and before he opened his mouth,
12:37 I knew something was terribly wrong.
12:39 - You better come with me.
12:40 You too, Lanyon.
12:41 - Gibson took us to the main tent, and then we saw him.
12:54 Jarvette was dead.
12:55 As I looked, I started to burn.
12:58 I wanted to do anything that could change what had happened,
13:01 but that was impossible.
13:02 I told Gibson to call the sheriff.
13:07 (dramatic music)
13:10 - The coroner's verdict was accidental death,
13:18 but I had a hunch that it was murder.
13:20 - What did they decide?
13:23 - An accident.
13:24 Jarvis, the little fellow,
13:25 was always climbing around up there.
13:28 Must have got twisted up in a rope and lost his footing.
13:30 - Too bad.
13:31 - Yeah.
13:33 Well, he was on his way over to see you
13:34 after the performance.
13:35 - Did he make it?
13:36 - Brought one of the bottles back.
13:38 I saw him come in, got busy with a customer,
13:40 and when I had a chance to look again, Jarvette was gone.
13:43 - I guess I was the next one to see him, Lanyon.
13:46 - Hello, Ruby.
13:49 - Hello, Frank.
13:50 How's your head?
13:51 - Be all right.
13:52 - What happened to you?
13:53 - I was scouting around the lot last night.
13:54 I thought I saw someone headed over toward the ring.
13:57 I took out after him, but I lost him and I got clumped.
14:00 - You want to feel the lump?
14:01 - Easy.
14:02 Not like a light.
14:04 - I was on my way to the ring, too.
14:06 I found Jarvette and went to get you and Jarville.
14:07 - Who did you think you saw?
14:08 - I don't know for sure.
14:09 - A big, little man, a woman?
14:11 - It was a man, I think.
14:12 At least it wore pants.
14:13 There was something funny about the guy, something unusual.
14:19 He was bent over and...
14:21 - Like he might have been carrying
14:21 something heavy on his back?
14:23 - Yeah.
14:25 Like he might have been carrying something heavy
14:26 on his back.
14:27 By the way, that deal I offered you is off.
14:30 That sock on the head ended it.
14:34 - You might be wrong, Mr. Gibson.
14:35 The sock on the head might have started it.
14:39 Thanks for telling me.
14:42 - I started by making a telephone call
14:45 to the company that employed Frank Gibson.
14:48 What I learned surprised me.
14:50 I owed Gibson an apology.
14:51 He was on the level.
14:53 He'd worked for them for over 10 years.
14:55 He was one of their top men.
14:57 I said thanks and made a second call to a friend of mine,
15:00 an actor's agent.
15:02 I described Ruby and told him
15:03 she once did an iron jaw act with her husband.
15:06 I told him to level with me.
15:07 He did.
15:09 And when he finished, I knew enough about Ruby
15:10 to know it was time to have a serious conversation
15:12 with her about two things.
15:14 $100,000 and maybe murder.
15:18 - Mr. Landon.
15:24 Look at Punch.
15:28 - That's the dummy milk bottle.
15:32 - Charlotte was gonna take this back to Ruby.
15:34 She said he did.
15:35 - It was under Punch's costume
15:36 when I opened up this morning.
15:38 Money.
15:45 - Do me a favor, call the sheriff.
15:49 And don't mention this to anybody on the lot.
15:51 Now I had all my answers.
16:02 Ruby had very cleverly concealed the money
16:04 in hollow milk bottles.
16:05 By accident, Charlotte must have discovered it.
16:08 And to protect herself, she'd murdered him.
16:10 From the looks of her stand, Ruby had left in a hurry.
16:14 Every bottle was empty.
16:15 And then I found the satchel loaded with money.
16:18 That meant she hadn't got away.
16:19 - Put it down.
16:20 Now back away from it.
16:27 (dramatic music)
16:30 - You found the other bottle.
16:34 - After I talked to Buffalo.
16:36 Two people pulled that armored car stick up.
16:40 One of them could have been a woman.
16:42 You, her, and your husband.
16:44 - My former husband.
16:46 He was killed cleaning a gun two weeks later.
16:48 - Convenient.
16:50 - Yeah.
16:51 He left me with $100,000 in hot money
16:53 that I had to hide till it cooled off.
16:56 - You hid it.
16:57 Let's make it short and sweet, Lanyard.
16:58 50/50.
16:59 We'll leave here together,
17:01 drive into town, catch a plane for nowhere,
17:03 and watch the world go by.
17:05 - Well, that's the best offer I've had.
17:07 There's only one thing wrong with it.
17:09 - What's that?
17:10 - Jarvet.
17:11 You killed him.
17:13 It was you Gibson saw carrying something to the main ring.
17:16 It was you who hit Gibson over the head.
17:18 - What are you talking about, Lanyard?
17:20 - Talking about Jarvet.
17:22 Ruby killed him.
17:23 - He's crazy, Frank.
17:24 Look what he did to the joint.
17:27 - I wondered why Gibson didn't grab her gun.
17:29 I guess he was too surprised to think straight.
17:32 - You trying to tell me she carried him up on a platform
17:36 and dropped him with a rope around his neck?
17:37 - Sure.
17:39 High places don't bother Ruby.
17:41 Remember?
17:42 Ritter and Romaine?
17:44 The iron jaw act you told me about?
17:46 She could carry you up there, or me.
17:48 - It's an idea.
17:49 - Why should she kill Jarvet?
17:52 - Because he stumbled onto the $100,000 you're looking for.
17:56 - While you two dream up the rest of it,
17:57 I'll be on my way.
17:59 - Why are you leaving, Ruby?
18:00 - Business.
18:01 I'll get in touch with you, Frank.
18:02 But if you want that $100,000,
18:04 stay here and put the pressure on Lanyard.
18:06 - If you want that $100,000,
18:08 tell her to look in the case she's carrying.
18:09 - There's nothing in here that isn't personal to me.
18:12 - Of course.
18:14 There's something awfully personal about that much money.
18:17 What do you say, Ruby?
18:18 - If you touch this case, it's all off between us.
18:20 If you can't trust me now--
18:21 - Ruby, it's just a--
18:22 (gunshot)
18:23 (dramatic music)
18:25 (dramatic music)
18:28 - Go get her, Lanyard.
18:31 She's got your 25 grand.
18:32 (dramatic music)
18:35 (dramatic music)
18:38 - I knew Ruby couldn't get away.
19:05 I've seen some rotten dames in my life
19:07 and she belonged at the head of the class.
19:09 She hadn't hesitated a second when she shot Gibson.
19:12 I got angry again.
19:14 I thought about how cool she must have been
19:16 when she murdered Jarvet
19:17 and she headed for the roller coaster.
19:19 (dramatic music)
19:34 I took off.
19:35 I knew she'd walked into her own trap.
19:37 (dramatic music)
19:39 (dramatic music)
19:42 the road.
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21:40 (woman screaming)
21:49 (dramatic music)
21:52 I heard the shot and saw her fall.
21:59 (dramatic music)
22:00 When I looked down at her broken body,
22:02 I didn't feel sorry.
22:03 I figured Gibson had just saved the state a lot of money
22:06 and that Jarvet's death in a small way had been paid off.
22:09 (dramatic music)
22:10 - The war will continue in New York.
22:12 You will be here day after tomorrow.
22:14 Until then, I do not know.
22:17 - I've seen the act many times, Jarvo.
22:21 I think I know the routine.
22:22 - Michael, will you do it?
22:25 - I'd like to, if you'll let me.
22:27 - Michel, mon ami.
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23:36 [Music]