- 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.