09x05 - The Exchange

[bunniefuu]

[theme music]

[male narrator] "The FBI."

A Quinn Martin production.

Starring Efrem Zimbalist Jr.

Also starring Philip Abbott..

...and Shelly Novack.

With guest stars Scott Marlowe..

...Barbara Colby..

...Jesse Vint..

...Ron Randell

and Antoinette Bower as Ada Benson.

Tonight's episode The Exchange.

Well, uh, Phil, I have a note here for you.

They're sending new two guards for the early pickup.

- Who authorized it? - County inspector.

Why wasn't I informed?

Call came when you were on your rounds.

In here.

[bell rings]

How long do I have to hold?

I don't care who he's talking to.

My name's Jamieson, head of security.

Alright, tell him to call me the moment he hangs up.

[buzzer buzzes]

Identification?

Ah, how are you?

It's over there on Benson's desk.

Sign.

Sign here, please.

Put it down. I said put it down! Hang up!

Murph, don't!

Alright, put your hands on your heads.

Nobody moves, nobody fowls. Got it?

Phil!

[alarm blaring]

[indistinct announcement]

[audience cheering]

Oh!

Come on!

We gotta get rid of these sacks.

Get rid of 'em?

Come on.

Come on, pull that up.

Go on, drop it.

Get rid of this stuff.

[thud]

[muffled speech]

Close it, Ray.

Let's get that truck. Go on.

Hey, what the heck is going on?

Murph!

[male narrator] On the afternoon of June 4

two armed men held up Bayshore Park

escaping with $261,000.

Seriously wounded was Phil Jamieson

chief security officer at the track.

Because a second car that was stolen for use

in the getaway was discovered abandoned

across a state line

the FBI was brought into the case.

Inspector Lewis Erskine was immediately

placed in charge of the investigation.

Yes?

Oh.

We operated and removed the b*llet.

It's 50-50.

Can I have a word with him?

That's about all.

Mr. Jamieson?

It's Inspector Erskine, FBI.

[labored breathing]

Ed..

Ask Ed Benson.

What should I ask him?

[labored breathing]

I hope whatever he said will help.

It's all you're gonna get for a while.

Thank you.

Did you see him?

Could go either way.

Answers only a few seconds.

Mentioned an Ed Benson.

Benson? I think he's an employee at the park.

Here you go. Ed Benson, head cashier.

Let's find him.

[male #1 on TV] He slugged me and then they took the truck.

[male #2 on TV] They tied the two of you up and put you in the storage room.

Well, I want to thank all of you very, very much.

It must have been a pretty harrowing experience.

Local police have described this daring holdup

and getaway as a thoroughly professional job

ex*cuted with almost military precisions.

'Track officials have now estimated their loss'

'in excess of $250,000.'

[cheering]

[laughs]

Beautiful!

I replayed the whole thing on TV.

A quarter of a million dollars.

Just don't spend any of it.

What do you mean? You pulled it off.

You got the money, you got away.

Murph, what's the matter?

- We blew it. - Blew it? How?

- Ray? - Ask your boyfriend.

I'm asking you. What happened?

Billy the Kid here gunned down a security man

that's what happened.

'Quarter of a million down the drain.'

Look, get off my back, captain, it was your idea to dump it.

Dump it? Dump it? Where?

It's still at the track. Hidden.

You left it there and ran?

- That's right. - You lost your nerve?

What did you say?

I just said..

You say that again and you're dead. Is that clear?

- Murph? - Hey!

I asked you a question, lady.

Alright, captain sir.

Look, we're in a tough spot, Marti.

We had to pull out because we were afraid

of getting penned down. Ray had to make a decision.

I said alright.

So what happens now, captain?

Somebody's gotta go back for the money.

- No. - What do you mean no?

I mean you're not gonna do it.

'Every time there's a dirty job to be done'

'you're the one who's gotta do it.'

Why? Why?

Why? That's all he's good for. That's why.

That's all he was ever good for.

They didn't get that, that silver plate on his head

quick enough back in Vietnam. His brains are still scrambled.

[Marti] 'Don't say that.'

He should have stuck to demolishing derbies

and destroying cars.

He got a natural talent for destruction.

I'm warning you, captain, you better lay off.

Alright.

There's a way to get the money.

How?

Our board is gonna do it for us.

[doorbell rings]

- 'Yes.' - Mr. Benson?

- Edward Benson? - Yes, what is it?

FBI. I'm Inspector Erskine.

This is Special Agent Daniels.

I've already talked to the police today.

They have my whole statement.

But we'd like to talk to you.

Oh. Alright. Come in.

Sit down.

Gentleman, I, I don't think I can add anything

to what I've already said.

Could anything have slipped your mind in all the confusion?

Well, it's possible. Whole thing was like a nightmare.

Do you have any word on Phil's, um..

...Jamieson's condition?

He's in a coma.

Oh, my God.

But he managed to say a few words first.

He said to ask you.

- About what? - I don't know.

I thought perhaps you could help us.

I wish I could.

Right now, my mind's a blank.

[telephone rings]

Don't you wanna answer it?

Oh.

Hello.

Benson, we've, uh, got a little problem here

and you're gonna help solve it for us

before you get your wife back.

Oh. Oh, uh, Mrs. Johnson.

I'm sorry, I didn't recognize your voice.

Look, my wife's not at home.

'She's spending a few days with her brother.'

Look, I, I-I can't talk now.

I've got two FBI men here with me.

I'll call you later.

The FBI is there.

Don't worry. He won't talk.

Friend of my wife's.

You have to cut off or she'll talk your ear off.

Well, where were we?

- Mr. Jamieson. - Oh, yes.

Uh, something Jamieson wanted to ask me about.

Has anything occurred to you?

Well, the only thing I can think of is

that call from the armored car dispatcher.

It wasn't really him, but I didn't know that at the time

about the change in guards.

Uh, Phil wasn't in the office when the call came through.

He was terribly upset.

Quite properly so as it turned out.

So all I did was take the message.

'Do you suppose that's what it was?'

I don't know.

Uh, is there something else?

No, I think not.

Alright. Hope it's been helpful.

- Goodnight. - Goodnight.

The way the job went off

there almost had to be an inside man.

Benson just doesn't seem right for it somehow.

Or does he?

I want continuous surveillance on him.



We'll wait here till they arrive.

[telephone rings]

Hello.

Somebody wants to say hello to you, Benson.

Go ahead, talk. Come on!

Ed.

Ed, darling.

I'm so frightened.

I don't understand what's happening here.

- Please come and get me. - Alright.

- Ed! Ed! - That's enough.

- 'Okay, okay.' - 'Aah!'

What are you doing to her?

Don't hurt her, please. Don't hurt her.

I-I'll do anything you say.

Just...don't hurt my wife.

I won't hurt her if you do

exactly as I tell you, understand?

- 'Oh, Ed.' - Yes.

If you are to see her again, you'll remember that.

Hold it! Just stand right there.

Don't move.

Hey, it's you, Mr. Benson.

Uh, it's okay, Steve.

- Working pretty late tonight. - Yes. Yeah.

Yeah, we'll all be working overtime

until we get this mess straightened out.

Yes, I, I know what you mean.

Hey, that was quite a hit. Any leads to the holdup g*ng?

No. No, I, I don't think so.

At least, uh, not yet.

Come on, I'll walk you up to your office.

That won't be necessary.

Oh, no problem. Part of the service.

I said that won't be necessary.

Uh, thanks anyway, Steve.

[knocks]

Hold it right there, Mr. Benson.

Uh, oh.

Oh.

They made me do it.

They're holding my wife for a week.

They phoned..

...and said..

...they'd k*ll her.

I had to do it, I..

I had.. I..

I had to do it.

I realize Mrs. Benson's life is in jeopardy.

But isn't there a less dangerous way?

I just can't think, I told them to..

Just a moment, Arthur.

- I-I'm so worried about her. - She'll be alright.

She's been a hostage for over a week.

I'm afraid time is running out.

But the man who pulled the robbery saw Mr. Benson

when they took the money.

Oh, Arthur, Benson can't make the delivery.

He's in a state of total collapse.

Well, alright, Lewis.

I'll go to the motel and wait for the call.

Here you are, sir.

Has there been a call for me? Benson.

- No, sir. - Thank you.



[telephone rings]

- Hello. - Benson?

- Yes, it's me. - Have you got the money?

W-why else would I be here?

N-now let me talk to my wife.

You talked to her last night.

Yes, and the last thing I heard her say was, was

let me alone.

I want to know she's alright.

Look, I'm calling the shots here

so don't come on strong with me.

But how do I know what you've done to her?

Maybe she's dead. Maybe..

'Maybe I want to call the police or the FBI.'

- How are we doing on the trace? - 'We're working on it.'

Now you listen to me.

You've had things all your way.

But don't forget, I'm holding cards now too.

I've got the money and I'm not letting go of it

until I know that Ada's alive and well.

Look, I can't talk to you when you're like this.

You cool off and I'll call you later.

- What's the matter? - I don't know.

Somebody's put a stick down his back.

Now he's making demands. He wants to to talk to her.

All he wants is to talk to his wife. Let him.

Did it ever occur to you, big mama

'that he's already been to the cops'

'and he might be trying to keep me on the phone'

'so they could run a trace?'

Well, what are you gonna do?

Give up on a quarter of a million dollars?

[Murph] 'Needs working up.'

Hey, you can do the job better? It's all yours.

Too short, Lew. Another couple of minutes, we'd had a trace.

He'll call again. Maybe next time.

What's the matter? Don't you like my cooking?

What do you think he's gonna do?

I think he's gonna crack.

Captain?

He's on the edge.

One more shove and he's gonna crack up.

Ah, come on.

If you'd seen that guy in Nam..

He's got more guts than the crazy tigers.

This isn't Vietnam, Murph.

Maybe he left it there.

Maybe he needs a uniform to keep his back straight.

You don't know him.

Well, I know men like that.

And I know when they aren't men any longer.

- He's lost his-- - Murph, come here.

She talks to her husband for ten seconds.

If she goes over, we cut her off.

- Then what? - Then we go for the money.

I've got it all worked out, so there won't be any trap.

And who goes out to get it?

I do.

[telephone rings]

Hello. Hello?

Just a minute.

Now you tell him you're safe

and you tell him you haven't been mistreated

and to do everything he's told if he wants to see you again.

- You understand? - I want say to something--

Just that and nothing more.

- Hello, Benson? - Yes.

All I want to do is to remind him

to use his eye drops because he has weak eyes.

He has glaucoma.

He tends to forget to use his eye drops.

- Can't I just say that? - The answer is no.

Benson, I'm going to put your wife on again.

No tricks and no more stalling.

Just remember this. You stand to lose your wife.

Ed, it's me. It's Ada.

'Is that you?'

Listen, Ed, m-my dear, I'm

I'm alright. I'm quite alright.

They, they haven't hurt me at all.

Ed?

'Ed, darling, are you there?'

- Yes. - What? I-I can't hear you.

Do as I told you.

Ed, my dear, please

'do exactly as they say to you, please.'

And, and don't forget to use your eye drop--

We told you not to say anymore.

Why would you be so rough?

Alright, Benson, are you satisfied?

Yes, yes.

Pl-please don't hurt her.

I'll do anything you say.

[telephone rings]

- Hello. - 'Benson?'

Well, of course, I'm here. Where are you?

I have new instructions for you.

Turn left as you leave where you are.

Drive 11 miles west on Highway 16. You got it?

Yes, yes.

Highway 16, uh, 11 miles.

Okay, you'll come to a service station

on the right-hand side of the road.

Be there at 10:45.

- Well, I'm not sure I-- - Be there!

Erskine to all units on the special.

'They're gonna run me from place to place'

while they check for surveillance.

I'm on my way to a service station, 11 miles west

'from the last contact point on Highway 16.'

'Do you read?'



'As soon the rendezvous is established'

'we're forming out a ring.'

'We're in position to move in quickly.'

- 'You read me, inspector?' - Right.

Let's make sure all units stay well back

even after the car is spotted.

And don't move in unless it's absolutely necessary.

A picnic area?

Yes, I understand.

I'll be there as soon as I can.

Don't bother, Benson.

- Is that the money? - Yes.

Just drop it on the ground.

- Where's Ada? - One thing at a time.

Where's my wife?

First, I wanna check those sacks.

The money is all there. I haven't even opened them.

Alright, open them now. I wanna see for myself.

Come on.

I..

Ah..

Uh..

Looks okay.

Alright, Benson, freeze.

What's wrong?

I don't know. I don't know, something.

Look here, you, you got the money.

What-what more do you want?

You know something, mister?

I did a [indistinct] once

and then he turned and he fired three slugs into my leg

and then I had to take it off.

[g*n c*ck] I'm sorry, mister.

Yes, but-but I did everything you want.

I-I brought the money and I..

[g*nsh*t]

[motorbike revving]

[g*nsh*t]

What is that for?

- We're getting out. - Ray ain't back yet.

He isn't coming, lover.

That's crazy. He'll come. Why shouldn't he come?

I don't whether he's got the money and run out on us.

No, not a chance, he'd never do that.

Or maybe he walked into a trap.

A trap?

Police could be sweating him right now.

Look at you and you were calling him yellow.

You know what I think, I think you're the one

that's lookin' for an excuse to bug out.

Marti, I don't wanna give up on getting the money now.

- I can't give it up. - Grow up, lover.

Your great big hero isn't coming back.

There isn't gonna be any money.

[sighs]

Are you coming or staying?

I'm not doin' anything

until I find out for sure what's happenin'.

Well, then why don't you find out?

And how do I do that?

Call the motel. I bet that's all you have to do.

- Why the motel? - Talk to Benson.

He'll tell you the score he has to.

We've still got his wife.

Mr. Benson doesn't answer.

No, I don't know when he's expected.

Yeah, yeah, I know my rights.

Name, rank, and serial number, that's all you get.

You came to pick up the money. How are you gonna explain that?

I'm not.

Curtis, where's Mrs. Benson?

Where's who?

Doesn't an innocent woman's life mean anything to you?

I've seen a lot of innocent people die in my time.

Loses impact after a while.

Is that a fact?

Still not there?

Oh, we better go.

Hey, for a quarter of a million dollars

we can wait five more minutes.

Now we're not getting another shot at that kind of money.

[scoffs] I guess you'll have to go back to smashing up cars.

Hey, Marti, you wanna split, split.

With $250,000, I'll buy a dozen of you.

This time pretty.

[phone buzzes]

Sedgewick Motel.

No, I'm sorry. Mr. Benson still hasn't, uh..

Oh, oh, just a minute. Here he is now.

'Mr. Benson, phone.'

'You can take it over there.'

- Hello. - Where were you, Benson?

- What happened? - What happened? Nobody met me.

What kind of game are you playing?

What sort of people are you?

He showed but Ray didn't.

You still got the money?

Of course, I've still got it.

What about my wife?

What about my wife?

Just hang on a minute.

There's a Mexican restaurant on Barnsdale Road.

It opens at 11 o'clock in the morning.

'You be there when it opens tomorrow.'

and wait for my call.

Ray never showed. Can you believe that?

He wins a silver star and he chickens.

Erskine to Daniels, can you read me?

[Chris] '10-4.'

We're getting another chance, Chris

so let's make the most of it.

Move up fast when I give the signal.

Yes, sir.

Lewis, someone confronts you with Mrs. Benson

you gotta expect a reaction might give you away.

I know.

This looks like it.

No volunteer.

[Chris over radio] 'All units, turn, please?'

We're probably being watched from the hillside.

[engine revving]

Chris, check all units.

'I've been here 40 minutes.'

'Something may have gone wrong.'

[alarm ringing]

Hold everything.

Chris, there's a message here.

"Bring the money and follow this pass for 2 miles.

You'll be met and watched."

If you follow those instructions

we're gonna be out of contact.

Well, you'll just have to do your best.

There's no way we can cover you.

Mrs. Benson doesn't have anyone covering her.

- 'I realize that, but--' - That's the way it is, Chris.

Not getting a thing. He's already out of range.

What do you wanna do?

Move up.

[Murph] That's as far as you have to go, Mr. Benson.

Put the money down and start on back.

What about my wife?

You make the payment, take the delivery when it comes.

That's all very well, but once you've got the money

wha-what's to stop you from k*lling her?

There's nothing to stop me from k*lling you right now.

Now put down the money and beat it!

So you can sh**t me in the back?

Back or front, it makes no difference.

Go on! Move!

[helicopter approaching]

What's that noise? Don't move, Benson.

It's a chopper.

You bought the cops.

That's ridiculous.

I'll tell you one thing.

If the police are here

that will bring them in a hurry.

Okay, okay, pick up the bag, Benson.

We're getting out of here. Go on, move!

Pick it up!

Anybody tries to stop us and you're dead.

Remember what I said, I got nothing to lose.

- Which way? - Straight ahead.

Hey, that's the car.

- Nothing. - Yeah.

He's out of range or he's..

All units, all units, report positions.

- Where's that chopper? - I can't hear it now.

Proves nothing. Maybe landed close by.

Get in, you're driving.

Get cute and you bought it.

You're going to k*ll me, aren't you?

What would you do?

I won't talk. I promise I won't identify you.

Yeah.

You could use a drink.

[gasps]

You know something? You're not so pretty anymore.

What did you bring him for?

A chopper flew over.

I couldn't tell if it was the cops.

It was safer to bring him. Here.

Come on, get out.

Get in the house.

Ada, my dear.

What have they done to you?

This is monstrous.

Oh, thank God, you're alright.

It's all over now, my dear. I'm going to take you home.

Take a look at that, baby. How about that?

We did it. We've brought it in.

So what do you have to say, babe?

Beautiful, Murph. Who is this guy?

Who? What? Benson?

How do you know?

You got a big love affair going, huh?

She didn't seem very happy to see you.

Well, for heaven's sake, can't you see she's terrified?

Here. You got some identification, Mr. Benson?

Identifi.. Of course, I have.

Are these yours?

'Are you nearsighted, Mr. Benson?'

Can you see me from here?

Plain window glass.

You've been had, lover.

- What? - He's a phony, a ringer.

What are you, a cop?

FBI.

Well, you lousy creep.

All units, move in. All units.

This is a microphone

and this place is surrounded by agents.

- Marti. - He's bluffing.

I'll get the car out.

Do what you have to do.

No witnesses, Murph.

Do it!

I knew there was something wrong up there in those mountains.

I should've let you have it then.

Yeah, it might have been your only chance.

Don't kid me, mister, if there were cops around here

they'd be here by now.

Well, that's not what I meant.

- What? - Your girlfriend.

With a quarter of a million dollars..

...what does she need you for?

- She needs me, man! - Does she?

She's got the car, she's got the money

and she's gonna drive right on out.

[engine starts]

Wait! Come back! Marti!

Alright.

- Get out of the car. - Come on.

Is Mrs. Benson alright?

Are you sure you're alright, Ed?

I'm fine, dear. Everything's fine now.

- You sure? - See you tomorrow.

- Goodnight, Mrs. Benson. - 'Goodnight.'

Do you think I'll have to face charges?

Well, that's up to the US attorney.

Yeah.

And something to worry about when the time comes.

Ray Curtis, Desmond Murphy, and Marti Nolan

were convicted on state charges of kidnapping

armed robbery and conspiracy

and they were convicted in federal court

for interstate car theft

and assaulting federal officers.

Security guard Phil Jamieson

fully recovered from his wounds.

[theme music]