Log 125: Safe Job (Season 3, Episode 26)

Episode 78

1-Adam-12 receives a dispatch to "see the man" at 209 Bethel Street for a 459 report. The black and white races to the address after Reed answers, "1-Adam-12, roger".

209 Bethel Street is the address of the Davis Record Shop. On this day the record shop has a hit that's not on the top-ten list. The shop's safe has been hit and hit hard. During the hours the store was closed, between six last night and nine this morning, someone cleaned out all $490 that were in the safe. 

Malloy asks the detective who's dusting for prints how the safe was cracked. 

"Drag job?" he says motioning to the safe door.

Sgt. Prescott confirms that that is exactly how the burglar opened the safe. The store owner, Mr. Davis is confused, he's never heard this terminology before. Pete and the detective are very familiar with this technique and describe it in detail to Davis.

"You notch a square of metal and punch screw holes in each corner, slide the cutout behind the dial, tighten the screws," explains Malloy. 

Prescott then shows him where the marks of the screw holes are visible on the door.

"Tighten the screws, it exerts about a fifteen to one pressure, the combination knob gives,"says Malloy finishing the primer on safe drag jobs.

He then remembers that this was the M.O. of Johnnie Delaney, a safecracker he busted about six years ago. The detectives also thought of Delaney and they checked him out, but found he was away on vacation. Since there have been five burglaries that used the drag job in the past month, they've been checking out everyone who used that MO. Detectives have looked at Sam Taylor, Three Fingers Lagana, and Jim Angott and have come up as empty as Davis' safe.

[I can't find the latest Ricky Nelson record!]

Reed, who's been checking out the rest of the store while Malloy's been with Prescott and Davis, calls his partner over to the other side of the shop. After looking over all of the store's doors, windows, and locks, he reports that all of them were untouched. 

Trying to determine how the burglar would have gotten into the store, Malloy asks Davis if anyone else has a key to the store. Davis shoots down that suggestion, he's the only one with a key to the store. Malloy next brings up the possibility that maybe somebody got into the store before closing and hid there until after Davis left. He just can't figure out where they would have been able to hide. Davis doubts this theory, too. He checked the store himself before he locked up. Malloy's final thought is that maybe somebody has a key Davis doesn't know about. The mystery of how someone got in the store has the veteran officer beat.

Before they leave, Prescott reminds Malloy and Reed that Delaney lives in there patrol area. He tells them to keep their eyes open for him.

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I now interrupt this Adam-12 episode to bring you a special message.

I own one of the original scripts for this episode. I bought it on Ebay for an outrageous price, but hey sometimes you just have to "Treat Yo' self". I also bought it because the actor who used it had written some notes on it. The actor was Robert Easton and he played the role of "The Prophet".

But, wait, there's no "Prophet" in this episode and there's Robert Easton in the credits. What gives? Well, that's another reason I found this script so interesting. There's a whole scene in it that was cut from the final aired version of the show. And that scene, had the finished episode followed the script, was supposed to be immediately after the "teaser" in the record shop. 

So, what happens in this deleted scene? Well, Reed and Malloy run into The Prophet as he is preaching doom and destruction from atop a packing case on a sidewalk. As he tells of a planet in deepest space that is on a collision course with earth pedestrians are forced to step off the curb and walk around this doomsday crier in "flowing white robes" with "his long hair...clutched at the back of his head with a scarlet ribbon".  It's the fourth doomsday preacher Malloy and Reed have come across this week. Malloy jokes with Reed, "Not gettin' worried, are you?" when Reed comments on how many they've seen in the past seven days.

Malloy and Reed tell the crowd watching The Prophet to move along. He accuses them of shutting down free speech and asks, "And since when does the law deny a prophet his podium?" 

I just thought this random shot of Malloy fit the scene as described.

"When it's a packing case that's obstructing pedestrian traffic," answers Malloy. "Now, why don't you just pick up your podium and carry it on down to the park?"

I thought this picture of Reed worked, too.

"You can talk 'til doomsday down there," adds Reed.

The prophet then challenges Malloy and Reed to a duel! 

The challenge elicits "raised eyebrows from Malloy and Reed. This is a new one--from a real squirrel" according to the stage directions.

Malloy then tells The Prophet, "Issuing a challenge to a duel is a violation of section 227, Penal Code of the State of California." After hearing this The Prophet "scurries away down the sidewalk".  When he's gone Reed asks Malloy if he was "on the level--about 227 P.C.". Malloy tells him to look it up, the law's been on the books since 1872.

See? Malloy was telling the truth.

In the script, their next call is the 415 fight at the Diplomat Hotel. Then they go to the Hot Shot bar, then they go to Antonio Minetti's apartment. After that they finally get to Johnnie Delaney's house for the first time.  I found these variations from the script to the finished episode fascinating. 

Now back to our regularly scheduled program.
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Later during their patrol, Malloy realizes that they are only three blocks away from Johnnie Delaney's house. He decides to drive by and see if Delaney is back from vacation. 

When they reach Delaney's front porch they find it littered with newspapers and milk bottles. To the untrained eye, it looks like the homeowner is on vacation. But Reed, who is a trained observer, spots something curious about the newspapers as he picks them up off the porch. He notices they all have the same date, Wednesday the 17th.

This scene takes place at night. I edited this screen cap
so you could see the "action" more clearly.
You're welcome.

Now Malloy knows something is up, he goes to the door and rings the bell. When no one comes to answer it, he yells, "Open up, Johnnie". On command Johnnie opens the door and ushers the two officers into his darkened home. 

Once they're inside Johnnie draws the blinds and curtains before turning on a lamp. Now that he can see him clearly, Johnnie tells Malloy that he is looking "grand, just grand". He then takes the papers from Reed and introduces himself to Malloy's "new" partner. 
"I guess you're good-looking partner's told you about me," says Delaney.

[Good-looking partner? Malloy's my only partner.]

[Har-de-har-har, junior.]

After the introductions Malloy asks Delaney what's going all with the papers that have the same date. Delaney tells him that he was afraid of a newspaper strike so he started hoarding. He quickly admits this was a joke he made up because he doesn't think Pete will believe the real reason.

"Try me," responds Malloy.

Before Delaney explains the real reason why all the papers on the front porch have the same date, he has to check on something in the bedroom. He opens the door off the living room, peeks inside, then closes it. When Delaney rejoins Malloy and Reed he mentions that "kids can sleep through an earthquake". Malloy's curiosity is piqued when he hears "kids", he asks Delaney if he's a family man now. 

Johnnie tells them he's been taking care of his niece and nephew after their mother, his younger sister, was killed in a car accident six months ago. He shows Malloy and Reed framed pictures of the boy and girl. Little Danny looks like an altar boy, but he's a "little battler". The girl, Denise, is...a girl.

OK, that's great and all, but that doesn't explain the newspapers all having the same date or the bottles of curdling milk on the front porch. After being asked again by Malloy, Johnnie finally explains what is going on. 

Johnnie was laid off from his job a few months ago. Now that it's vacation time the kids wanted to go somewhere, but he didn't know how to tell them that he's "got a bad case of the shorts". So, he told the kids they were going on a "pretend vacation". First, they spread the word to all the neighbors that they were going to Lake Arrowhead. Next he got supplies, enough milk and newspapers to put a new one on the porch each day of their vacation. All the papers have the same date because he bought them all on the same day. 

Johnnie and the kids spend their vacation in the house. Every night they spread a sheet on the floor in front of the TV and have a picnic. They also do other fun things like race boats in the bathtub. (Sounds to me like Johnnie Delaney has invented the "staycation".)

Malloy inquires if Johnnie has been doing anything else "besides being cruise director for this vacation wonderland". Reed brings up the recent safe jobs that were committed with an M.O. similar to Johnnie's. Johnnie points out that he was not the only safecracker to use the drag method. 

Johnnie then wistfully describes his expertise at the drag job. He tells Reed how he could open a safe the way an artist paints a masterpiece. But, that's all behind him now. He's been retired from the life ever since he was busted by Malloy. Reed's never heard the story of how his partner busted Johnnie and Johnnie is happy to tell him all about it. 

Yes, Johnnie is telling the story,
but wouldn't you rather look at Reed?

When Johnnie would work on a safe he would bring his lunch with him.Then like any skilled workman, he would break for lunch and a smoke after working a few hours. On his last job he got sloppy and left his lunchpail behind, his lunchpail with his name and address in it. At his trial, the judge told Johnnie that leaving the pail behind "betrayed his unconscious need for punishment". Malloy's not so sure about that assessment.

"I'll leave that stuff to the guys with
all the diplomas on the walls."

Well, now that they know all about Johnnie Delaney, it's time to get going. Johnnie stops Pete and Jim on their way out the door to point out an odd fact. He tells them that there aren't many of the C-type safes around anymore, those are the best kind for the drag job. But, Johnnie spotted one about a year ago at a French dress shop. He struggles with the pronunciation calling the shop "Francoozee's Boo-tee-Q-ee". Jim, who is the expert in all things feminine, knows exactly how to say "Francois' Boutique".

As Pete and Jim head out, Johnnie asks them to put the papers back on the porch. He wants to keep up the vacation charade for the neighbors. They agree to help him out.

When I saw 1-Adam-12 driving past "Edy's Character Candies" I wondered if this Edy's had anything to do with Edy's Ice Cream. Turns out it the man who started the candy shop was one of the co-founders of Edy's Grand Ice Cream. Here's a link to more information about the history of the ice cream brand.

Pete and Jim drive past Edy's Character Candies on their way to a 415, fight, call at the Diplomat Hotel. At the Diplomat, they head to room 204 to see the man. When he answers the door, the man is looking rather beat-up. Jim asks if he can tell them what was going in his room. 

But, this guy claims he has no complaints, he didn't call the cops. Pete points out that it sure sounded like something worthy of complaint was going on a few minutes ago.

"The guy in the next unit did, he said it sounded like a Pier 6 brawl."

The man won't admit to anything. Pete and Jim persist, knowing that something isn't quite right here. They also bring up the details he gave the manager when he checked in. He's registered as "Mr. John Smith and wife", but there's no Mrs. Smith they can see, and he looks like he's been in a fight. Mr. Smith explains away the injuries to his face by saying he walked into a closet door. He claims his wife got bored and went shopping. He knows his stories sound "likely", but that's all the officers will get out of him.

He insists there's nothing wrong, but Reed still thinks it would be a good idea for him to check his wallet. While he looks through his wallet, Malloy tells him that the manager thought his "wife" looked an awful lot like a girl named Lisa Bonelli. This fails to get a response out of the man. 

Since this guy doesn't seem to have any problems, Reed and Malloy start to leave. When they're almost in the hallway the man realizes he does have a problem and calls them back into the hotel room. "They took something from me. Something I need, something I want back," he tells the officers. 

Malloy tells him to start at the beginning.

First the guy starts out by telling them his real name, it's Albert Cook. Albert met a girl named Lisa, who speaks with a heavy Italian accent, at a bar down the street called the Hot Shot. After she said "hello" to Albert he invited her back to his hotel room. She seemed nervous, but he now thinks that was just part of the act. 

When they got back to the room, Albert took his wallet out of his pocket and went into the bathroom. When he came out Lisa had the blinds drawn and the room was black. Then a man came out of the shadows and punched Albert. 

After it was all over he felt like a fool, like a country boy who had been robbed of the egg money in the big city. He was going to keep the whole incident to himself until he realized that Lisa and her cohort took more than money from him. They took his St. Christopher medal. An ordinary St. Christopher medal, to anyone else. But, to Albert Cook, it was a life saver. This medal stopped a bullet with his name on it during the Battle of Khe Sanh in Vietnam. He's desperate to have it back.

Malloy and Reed will do everything they can to get it back for him, but they will need some help from Albert. Malloy tells him that if he wants the necklace back, he will have to do more than ask for it. He will have to sign a crime report. Albert agrees to put his embarrassment aside and do what needs to be done to get the medal back. 

After Pete and Jim take Albert's report, they decide to check out the Hot Spot bar. Maybe Lisa Bonelli is still hanging around.

Luckily, she is still there. They find a worried looking Lisa sitting by herself in a booth. When Malloy brings up Albert and his missing money she begins sobbing. "He made me do it," she cries. 

In between sobs and in broken English, Lisa tells Pete and Jim the woeful tale of how she ended up in Albert's room. Her husband was a fisherman in Palermo, Silicy. After he drowned, leaving Lisa to care for their baby on her own, his distant cousin, Antonio Minetti, sent money to bring Lisa and the baby to the United States. Antonio promised to marry Lisa once she was on American soil.

Once she got here, Lisa found out that Antonio had other plans for her. He took the baby and told Lisa that she could only see her on Sundays. If she did not work for him in the streets, helping him rob men like Albert, she would never see the baby again. 

Poor Lisa, if only she could have found her look-alike cousin to help her.
Maybe Lisa and the baby could have stayed
 in the camper she bought to replace the one that blew up.

Malloy realizes that this is much more than a 211. 
"I think we've got a lot more than robbery here," he whispers to his partner.

Lisa shows them the St. Christopher medal, Antonio let her keep it. Christopher was the saint she prayed to when she was a little girl, now she prays that he can help her and her baby. She also asks the signori poliziotti for their help.

"We'll do our best, ma'am."
(Fun fact: if you type signori poliziotti into 
Google Translate, the translation from Italian is "cops lords".)

We next see Reed, Malloy, and a very nervous-looking Lisa waiting for detectives outside of Minetti's apartment building. When Prescott and Long arrive, Malloy gives them a briefing on the situation. It's decided that Sgt. Prescott will go up to apartment 2C with Malloy and Reed. His partner, Sgt. Long, will stay with Lisa and keep an eye on the lobby.

When the officers knock on door 2C, there is no answer. But, there is a lot of noise coming from inside the apartment. Fearing that Minetti may be trying to flee, Malloy kicks in the door.

Malloy, Reed, and Prescott burst into the room and catch Minetti as he is running towards a door. Reed grabs him and orders Minetti to put his hands against the wall and spread his feet wide. While Prescott reads Minetti his rights Malloy wanders into one of the bedrooms. He finds what they came looking for.

[I guess this means I'm gonna have to pick you up.]

Malloy walks back into the living room with the bambina as Minetti is telling Reed and Prescott how Lisa won't be able to testify against him.

Don't you just love it when Malloy holds a baby? I know I do.

Prescott reminds him that it's a wife who can't testify against her husband, the law says nothing about distant cousins testifying against each other. Minetti should have married Lisa as he had promised. But, Minetti doesn't care, he doesn't think they'll have much of a case since it will only be her word against his. Reed adds that the owner of the St. Christoper medal will also testify against him. This shuts Minetti up, now he knows he's had it.

Reed, Prescott, Minetti, Malloy and the baby all leave the apartment building together. An overjoyed Lisa leaps from the backseat of 1-Adam-12 and collects the bundle from Malloy's arms. St. Christopher has answered her prayers.

Hours later, when darkness has fallen, Reed tries to pass the time by describing what he did last night. He tells Malloy how he went to Ascot Speedway to watch the midget car races. "They're really something else," he excitedly exclaims to his partner. When Malloy doesn't react, Reed knows that he hasn't heard a word he's said.

Malloy admits it, he was thinking about Johnnie Delaney and what he said about the safe at Francois' Boutique. He wonders if Johnnie was trying to tell them something. Reed suggests they wonder no more and go take a look at the boutique.

So, they drive over there. Once they're at the boutique they watch the window for a few seconds. They know something isn't right when they notice a light shining from inside the shop.

Hey, look, it's mannequin with dark hair! 
You may remember her other role on Adam-12 as Mrs. Juniper.

(Actually, I don't think it's the same mannequin. 
Maybe they're distant cousins.)

Reed commends his partner on his intuition.

"Looks like your crystal ball's working good," he tells Malloy.

Reed picks up the radio microphone and lets the RTO know that they are code 6, he also requests backup, and aks that the Far West Alarm service be notified. While they wait for another unit to arrive, Reed goes to check out the back of the store and Malloy stays out front.

They find that both the front and back doors are locked. But that doesn't mean that there isn't anything going on inside. Reed sees another beam of light from inside as he is looking through a back window.

When backup and the man from the alarm company (his name is Clancy according to the script) arrive, Malloy tells them the plan he has formulated. He and Reed will enter through the back, Clancy will unlock the door, and backup will cover the outside.

Once they're inside Reed and Malloy find nobody but mannequins in the shop.

That gold evening coat with the fur-trimmed sleeves reminds
 me of Lady Bird Johnson's 1965 inaugural ball gown.

Judge for yourself.

There are no signs of life in the boutique, but Malloy does find evidence that somebody had been there at some point after closing. 

They continue looking under the table and behind the dressing screen, but find nothing. Finally, Malloy comes up with a more surreptitious method of flushing out the thieves who are obviously somewhere inside the store.

He motions to Reed to join him by the door. He then casually announces that they must have been seeing things. Reed plays along and adds, "Yeah, we better get back on patrol". He then exits the shop and turns out the light, leaving Malloy behind in the dark boutique.

He doesn't have to wait long to see that his idea worked. A few seconds after Reed leaves a small boy and small girl emerge from their hiding spots and run to the store safe.

Malloy follows them and surprises the pair by turning on the light in the office. The startled girl turns and exclaims, "Oh! Now you've spoiled everything."

"I've spoiled everything?" asks a confused Pete.

The children then explain the rules of their game as Uncle Johnnie taught them. They hide in a store until everybody leaves. Then, when it's dark outside, they start playing their game of "drag the safe". They play the game because the stuff in the safe belongs to Uncle Johnnie. He could ask for it during the day, but this way is more fun.They've been cautioned that nobody can see them playing their game. If anyone sees them, especially the police, the game is over. 

1. Those pictures that Johnnie had of the kids
were really outdated.
These kids are much older than they were in
 those photos. Are these even the same kids from those pictures?

2. I love little Danny, the badass, in his vinyl motorcycle jacket.

Once Malloy full understands how the game works, Reed comes in with Johnnie and completes the Delaney family reunion. Delaney ran into Reed on his way to the boutique to pick up the kids (and whatever they got out of the safe). Denise disappointedly tells her uncle that the fun is over.

"Little girl's right, Johnnie, the game's over."

Later that night, at the station, Malloy takes Johnnie out of his holding cell. The two-time loser asks the officer where his niece and nephew are. Malloy let's him know that they are being well taken care of.

"They'll be at MacLaren Hall for awhile,
until the courts find a good home for them."

Johnnie then thanks Malloy for not telling the kids that their little game was actually criminal activity. He explains to Pete that he only did it get a college fund going for the kids. Pete knows Johnnie's heart was in the right place. But he also knows, in the long run, what happened tonight may be better for the kids' futures.

"Well, they'll have a better chance this way, Johnnie."

Malloy wonders if Johnnie didn't have it planned out this way. He asks if he wanted the kids to get caught, after all he taught them an MO that was like a set of fingerprints and told them the name of the place the kids were going to hit. He did everything except send up Roman candles so they could be spotted more easily by police. 

Johnnie thinks Malloy sounds like that judge who said he wanted to get busted. He asks if Malloy believes that he would blow the whistle on his own flesh and blood. Malloy doesn't believe this and tells him so.

"Not on them, Johnnie, on yourself."

The End

This is it, the end of Season 3. As I see it, this season ends with a whimper when compared to the cult and shoplifting shenanigans bang of the Season 2 ender. Where as that episode, "Log 173: Shoplift", had all sorts of craziness and frizzy hair for me to love, there are exactly two things I like about this episode. 

That's it two things. 

OK, so what are those two things? The first is Mary Angela's performance as Lisa Bonelli. I truly thought she was an Italian actress until I discovered that she also played Martha Sorenson in "Log 175: The Con Artists". She really gave it her all here, crying real, ugly tears in the bar scene. I could feel her anxiety and worry over her baby in the scene outside of Minetti's apartment building. I, too, was overjoyed when Lisa was reunited with her baby. If Ms. Angela hadn't delivered the goods, Lisa Bonnelli would have just been another annoying female Adam-12 character. Too bad we only get to see her in one other episode during the run of the series.

The other thing I liked? I liked it when Malloy held the baby. I love it when the big, strong officer has to show his tender side. And it's always entertaining to see Malloy outside of his comfort zone, which is exactly where infants put him.

While I liked two things about this episode, there was one aspect about it that really bugged me: Johnnie Delaney. He may look like a lovable old scamp who is only trying his best, but I can not excuse the fact that he preyed upon the innocence of his niece and nephew and coerced them into committing felonies. He taught two children that stealing from other people was a fun game! I know Johnnie was down on his luck and only trying his best. But it doesn't seem like he tried too hard to find other methods of raising cash for their education before he taught the kids his old habits. Which brings up another point that bothered me. Considering his old habits, how did Johnnie, a convicted felon, even get custody of these kids in the first place? Thank goodness they were caught by Malloy and Reed instead of an angry and armed store owner. I only wish Joe Friday would have been there to really give it to Johnnie. 

Since I liked so little about this episode, I give "Log 125: Safe Job" a rating of:

Before I go, I just want to say "Thanks" to all my readers who have stuck with me while I was gone. We're all moved into our new house now and hopefully I won't have to take any more extended breaks from the blog for a long time. I'll see you next time with the start of Season 4, "Log   "Extortortion"! 

KMA-367