Mannix (TV Series)
A Problem of Innocence (1973)
Mike Connors: Joe Mannix
Quotes
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Anne Avery : Thank you for coming so quickly.
Joe Mannix : Well, you sounded upset this evening.
Anne Avery : Someone broke into my apartment.
Joe Mannix : Did you call the police?
Anne Avery : They left just a few minutes ago.
Joe Mannix : Well, I, uh, don't really see how I can help you any more than they could, Miss Avery. Things like this happen every 30 seconds in Los Angeles.
Anne Avery : Not like this.
[shows Joe that her apartment has been ransacked]
Anne Avery : Lieutenant Malcolm said he couldn't spare any men to help guard the place, and if I were too frightened, I should think about hiring a private detective. He mentioned you. I am frightened, Mr. Mannix. I'm scared to death. I think I must have interrupted whoever it was before he finished. My bedroom hasn't been touched.
Joe Mannix : Before he was finished? You think he was after something specific?
Anne Avery : Yes. A million dollars.
Joe Mannix : That seems like an awful lot of loose change to keep in an apartment.
Anne Avery : My father was William Avery. He was killed yesterday in an automobile accident. You may have read about it.
Joe Mannix : He was, uh, released from prison yesterday morning after serving ten years.
Anne Avery : For stealing a million dollar payroll.
Joe Mannix : Which, uh, someone now thinks you have.
Anne Avery : I don't have it, of course. And neither did my father, not ever.
Joe Mannix : You believe he was innocent?
Anne Avery : Oh, I know he was. He told me, and I believed him.
Joe Mannix : Were you very close?
Anne Avery : Not until recently. He and my mother were divorced when I was just a child, a long, long, time before he went to prison. I lived with her until she died a few years ago. I sent him Christmas cards, and every once in a while, a letter. Sometimes he answered. And then a few months ago when he knew he was going to get out, he wrote me and asked me to come and visit him. I did quite a few times. We got to know each other very quickly, and made up for a lot of years. We talked about my life, my friends. I know he was innocent.
Joe Mannix : Obviously, someone thinks otherwise. Miss Avery, exactly what would you like me to do?
Anne Avery : Find out who it is. Tell him I don't have the money. Tell him I have no idea what happened to it, and neither did my father.
Joe Mannix : We'll... I'll do what I can. Tell me, how much do you remember about your father's trial, names of witnesses, things like that?
Anne Avery : Not a thing. My father's lawyer could help you, though- Lawerence Corwin. His offices are in Beverly Hills.
Joe Mannix : I'll talk to him. I don't think you better stay here for the next day or two. Uh, I'll find some friendlier surroundings. Now, why don't you pack a few things in a bag and I'll be back after you about 5:00?
Anne Avery : Fine.
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Joe Mannix : What makes you think Anne has been kidnapped?
William Avery : [shows Joe a copy of a recently dated newspaper] That second column, Mr. Mannix, under Missing Persons.
Joe Mannix : [reads the newspaper] "Father, must see you, urgent. Phone you at Joe's. Annie Girl." You're sure this is Anne, and she's going to phone you here?
William Avery : Somebody's going to phone, and I know you're the Joe she's referring to.
Joe Mannix : What makes you think that?
William Avery : Because when she visited me in prison, she told me about all her friends. She never mentioned anybody named Joe.
Joe Mannix : How did you find out about me?
William Avery : The day after I got out of prison, I got to her apartment house just as you were leaving with her. You came back alone.
Joe Mannix : [thinks for a moment] And you checked the registration on my car.
William Avery : Right. Nobody else ever called her Annie Girl either. That was my special name for her when she was a little girl. We talked about that, too.
Joe Mannix : Let's suppose this is her ad. There's nothing in it that indicates she's been kidnapped.
William Avery : Yes, there is, there is. You see, she couldn't possibly know I was alive.
Joe Mannix : Who could?
William Avery : Well, nobody could know. Somebody's guessing, that's all. Somebody who knew me from before. And whoever it is has got Annie Girl, I know it.
Joe Mannix : Sit down, Mr. Avery.
[Avery takes a seat]
Joe Mannix : To begin with, you've got some explaining to do.
William Avery : Well, I spent ten years in prison. The day I got out, it looked to me like somebody in a car was following me. When I was sure it, I got a couple of turns ahead of him. I slowed down and jumped out of the car. When it went over the cliff, there was nobody in it.
Joe Mannix : Did you get a look at the man in the other car?
William Avery : Not a very good one, but enough to know that I had never seen him before.
Joe Mannix : So far, you've told me what you did. Now tell me why.
William Avery : Well, I realized that somebody, maybe several people, were expecting men to lead them to the payroll money. So I decided I wouldn't disappoint them. I drove fast and ended up dead. I figured that would be the end of it.
Joe Mannix : And now you think somebody's figured you're not dead.
William Avery : Yes!
Joe Mannix : Same person who killed Carl Simmons?
William Avery : [hesitates before answering] I guess so.
Joe Mannix : All right. If I get a phone call asking for William Avery, I'll tell him that all I know is what I read in the papers, and the papers say Avery is dead.
William Avery : No, no, no, no. You can't do that.
Joe Mannix : Why not? If they got Anne, there's no reason why they shouldn't let her go if they really believe you're dead.
William Avery : They'd still think I told her where the money was.
Joe Mannix : You didn't tell her?
William Avery : No.
Joe Mannix : But you know.
William Avery : Yeah, I know. I took it, and I hid it. And I spent ten years in jail for it. But I can't let anything happen to Annie.
Joe Mannix : You're willing to make a trade? A million dollars for Anne?
William Avery : Yeah.
