Mannix (TV Series)

To Quote a Dead Man (1973)

Mike Connors: Joe Mannix

Photos 

Quotes 

• Burt Sands : Carlton West was one of my oldest and dearest friends, Mr. Mannix.

  Joe Mannix : For an old, dear friend, he cost you quite a bit.

  Burt Sands : If he'd only come to me and explained, I would've been happy to help him out of any of his financial difficulties.

  Joe Mannix : Stolen securities are not financial difficulties, Mr. Sands. They're a felony. Grand theft.

  Burt Sands : Well, I wouldn't know anything about that. Carlton managed a modest portfolio for me, that's all.

  Joe Mannix : I don't know how to tell you this, Mr. Sands, but I have information that indicates West didn't kill himself. He was murdered.

  Burt Sands : You must be joking.

  Joe Mannix : No, I'm not.

  Burt Sands : But that's incredible. The suicide note, the autopsy report, the police said there was no question.

  Joe Mannix : Mrs. West had the very same reaction when I told her.

  Burt Sands : You've talked to her?

  Joe Mannix : Yes, about a half hour ago. She was very upset. You see, the police can now place Carlton West far from the so-called suicide scene, about the time it was supposed to have happened.

  Burt Sands : But who would kill him?

  Joe Mannix : Somebody with a lot more than a modest portfolio at stake.

  Burt Sands : Mr. Mannix, if you find anything to prove what you've just been telling me, I'd be more than happy to pay you double your usual fee. I think I owe that much to Carlton and to Ellen.

  Joe Mannix : Thank you, Mr. Sands, but I have a client. However, if I do turn up anything new, I'll be glad to keep you informed.

  [shakes hands with Sands] 

  Burt Sands : Well, I'll be grateful, Mr. Mannix, most grateful.

• Joe Mannix : Deadly serious, you say?

  Boston : Oh, yes, yes. I might as well start from scratch. I haven't any. Scratch, that is. I suppose the fee is one of the first things that crosses your mind when you take a case.

  Joe Mannix : No, it's not the first, but, it's right up there.

  [Peggy hands Boston his coffee] 

  Boston : Oh, thank you.

  Peggy Fair : Joe?

  Joe Mannix : No thanks.

  Boston : [after drinking his coffee]  Oh, there's something extravagant about coffee that's only gone through the grounds once.

  [Peggy leaves] 

  Boston : Let me put it to you this way, Mr. Mannix. I would like to panhandle your services for a spell. Flat out, that's it.

  Joe Mannix : Widows and orphans only. Except under special circumstances.

  Boston : Widows and orphans will be with us always, Mr. Mannix, but I am the last of a dying breed. I'm offering you an opportunity to preserve a touch of Americana. I am a hobo. One of the last, you may be sure.

  [Joe frowns] 

  Boston : Ah, I see I have touched a chord of longing that exists on all red-blooded men. Steel wheels on the steel rails, free and moving from Ft. Lauderdale to Seattle.

  Joe Mannix : Well, I don't know about that.

  Boston : But what it gets down to is this, Mr. Mannix: I'm offering you a rare opportunity. If this proposition became public knowledge, there are people who would consider it your duty.

  Joe Mannix : Uh, you say that you're the last of a dying breed, and that somebody is trying to rush things.

  Boston : Someone is trying to kill me, that's a plain fact.

  Joe Mannix : Oh. Anyone with a reason?

  Boston : I haven't laid a straw in anyone's way in 40 years.

  Joe Mannix : Just how are they trying to kill you?

  Boston : Gunshots. I was walking on 7th Street on my way to Marcel's.

  Joe Mannix : The restaurant?

  Boston : Yes, it was almost time for the nightly backdoor buffet. Marcel, as you know, is very generous with his unclaimed entrees. I was about a block away and I heard this noise. I thought a first, of course, that it was the backfire of some passing automobile, but then I noticed the pungent odor of gun smoke.

  [shows Joe a bullet hole in his coat] 

  Boston : You see, backfires don't cause bullet holes, Mr. Mannix.

  Joe Mannix : Are you sure they were shooting at you?

  Boston : Well, as there was no one else within a block of me at the time, I jumped to that conclusion, yes.

  Joe Mannix : Uh... a shot in the dark. That's, uh, really not very much to go on.

  Boston : Would it help to know that this is not the first time that foul play has been attempted?

  Joe Mannix : You mean somebody tried to kill you before?

  Boston : Not me. Gully Anderson, Old Steam Whistle, as he was known, rest his soul.

  Joe Mannix : He was killed?

  Boston : Cheap whiskey and a rainy night in St. Louis. Pneumonia. That would've been three weeks ago Tuesday.

  Joe Mannix : What has that got to do with your being shot at?

  Boston : Well, Gully was shot at in the same neighborhood just before bad weather and bad habits done in him. That's a dangerous world for hobos, Mr. Mannix. I'd like you to find out why.

  Joe Mannix : Oh. I'll tell you what, Boston.

  Boston : Stanton Elliot Collier for your files. You will start a file?

  Joe Mannix : Well, I will canvas the area for you and check with the police, but I'm afraid that about the best I can do.

  Boston : Well, that's all I can ask: your best.

  Joe Mannix : Well, I suggest you get back to where you're staying... I'll give you a lift.

  Boston : All right. But first, I have an engagement for brunch at the Hollywood Bowl.