James Coburn, Brian Keith, and Michael Ansara—You have to be of a certain age (I mean old like myself) to appreciate those names. All fine actors who bring their A-game to this episode. James Coburn plays a hit man, Dennis Garrity, with ice water in his veins, if the price is right. At 5K a hit here, the price is good. Brian Keith plays it "type" and against "type" at the same time. Keith frequently played a sweet good natured guy in spite of his build. You see that image on display when he first comes on screen. He is bowling with a friend who a little short and needs Keith (Jim Martinson) to spot him 20 bucks. Not a problem. He then gets a call in the alley from gentleman gangster Rafael Torres (Michael Ansara). Torres says he's a friend of Frank Nitti (Al Capone's enforcer before he replaced Al), and he has a contract. Fine. Now Martinson returns and asks the guy for the 20. As he doesn't have it, we see Martinson real nature as he picks up the guy slamming him into the alley and into the pins.
Torres has made a considerable fortune running what is referred to as Jamaica Ginger. But he has a clean reputation. Even Ness can't find anything on him initially. Torres seems clean by running a stable and building up a solid reputation as a horseman. But a rival mobster, Jerry LaCava, is moving in; LaCava wants half the business. Torres contracts Martinson and Garrity to take out the competition.
This should be a simple job but the writers take advantage. They have some great actors here not to be wasted. Martinson takes a room in a house run by an old gabby arthritic lady and her plain-Jane spinster school teacher niece. Martinson takes an interest in the niece and it looks like a potential romance. He even suggests a possible engagement. But business is business Martinson takes out LaCava and a bodyguard in a diner; Garrity takes out the other two bodyguards who were waiting outside the diner. Everything "looks jake." But the waitress recalls the one shooter had a scar on his hand and had a bowling bag.
Ness and boys track down Martinson because he used his own name when he won a local bowling tournament. When Ness questions Martinson he claims he was with his girlfriend. Ness goes to talk with her but she's not in her room. Martinson calls Garrity and tells him to find his girl and convince her to alibi him. But she refuses; we are to assume Garrity did away with her and burned her body.
Martinson comes to see Garrity, he says he told the girl to lay low until the problem with the law blows over. Martinson seems to go along with the explanation; but now Garrity needs a favor. He just got a new contract for 20K and needs a partner. They have to off Torres. Martinson is cautious. Torres is big, he's connected to the New York syndicate. Garrity claims the hit came on orders from New York. Martinson is in.
Ness find what he believes is the body of Martinson's girl. He accuses Martinson of killing her. He says she's with her mother in Wichita. But when Ness shows Martinson an emerald ring that didn't burn, he is in shock. He loved her, he says, they were going to get married. It dawns on him what happened. He calls Torres to warn him about the hit.
In the interim, Ness has taken some soil samples in for analysis. In a bit of scientific hocus pocus that Abby Sciuto (NCIS) would have taken Cafe Pow for, the local police labs identify to the foot where the soil came from: Torres horse ranch.
Martinson and Garrity arrive at the ranch to take out Torres. Also, to pick up their fee for taking out LaCava. Garrity gets shoved into a horse stall with a skittish horse, and Martinson riles the horse and it stomps Garrity to death. Ness arrives as Torres, Martinson, and a body guard are barn. Ness and the boys start shooting with machine guns and Torres, Martinson, and the bodyguard die in a hail of bullets cueing the voice over by Walter Winchell.
Sorry, but a bad conclusion. Ness has nothing on Torres. He has no search warrant and no reason to be there. Obviously 1920's policing was a lot easier than it is in 2017.
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