Petrocelli
The Outsiders
(First aired: 1975)
The owner of a drugstore, Andrew Sloan, had been murdered, and a few people are hunting a man down the street. (If you take a closer look at this opening scene you'll spot a well-known face.)
The sun of a farmer, Ron Fields (played by Mitch Vogel) had been arrested for murder. His mother goes to Anthony Petrocelli (Barry Newman) to ask for help because she knows her son had never done it - that he's not guilty. They just stopped in Reno because her sick husband needed some medicine very badly. That's why she asked Ron to get to the drugstore to get some. Tony decided to help them not thinking about a possible payment.
The district attorney believes that only Ron Fields can be the murder of Andrew Sloan - telling Tony his version of that evening: the owner of the petrol station across the street watched a man that tried to get into the closed drugstore and called the police. So Petrocelli starts his own investigations with the help of Pete (played by Albert Salmi) - his friend and assistant. He talks with Sloan's widow and learned that it seems that Sloan didn't have any enemies. Everybody describes him as a very kind man. He also learned something more interesting from the owner of that petrol station: the owners of the properties in that street got offers to sell them because a company wants to build their new apartment blocks. All wanted to sell - except one: Andrew Sloan. Could that be the reason why Sloan had been killed?
Then Petrocelli wants to talk with Mr Mitchell owner of another store in that street but he only meets his son David (Mark Hamill). Again he heard only good things about Mr. Sloan. David tells him that he doesn't know anything about what happened that evening and tells Tony where to find his father. At the barber's he meets David's father. He and the barbershop's owner calling Sloan a fool - that he should have sold, too. And they're happy that he's dead because now they can take that offer to sell.
By know Pete had checked all the prescriptions and found something interesting. A man called, Harry Elden received his medication twice a week - only that he died six months ago. So why did Sloan use his name? Tony asks Pete to check if there's someone who was or is addicted to drugs. We know Pete doing his job well.
So in the court he asks David's father if he had heard about the "Seltinger Hospital" in Flagstaff, Arizona - a drug detoxification center. His answer was yes. And he answers the next question whether his son was a patient there with a yes, too - and that David had returned seven months ago. That was all Petrocelli wants to know - now he wants to talk with David. David explained that he's clean now that he no longer needs drugs. But then Tony asks him to show him his arms but he refuses to do it. So Tony is able now to tell what really happened in that night: David still needs drugs; can't live without them. He broke in to the drugstore knowing exactly where Mr Sloan had the drugs, in a special locker at the back of the store. That night Mr Sloan caught David but didn't call the police. He wanted to help David and got the drugs for him. But then he realized that he can't really help him that it would be the best if David would go back to the hospital. He refused to give him drugs again. That night David needed the drugs badly and broke in again. With a scissors, he tried to open the locker when Mr. Sloan came in. When he pushed David against the wall, he was mortally wounded by the scissors. It was never David's intention to kill him. He hid against a shelf when Ron came in and found the dead body. He was afraid, backed off, and run. Shortly after him, David left the drugstore. If the owner of the petrol station had waited a bit longer he would have seen David, too coming out of the drugstore.
David repeated that it was not his intention to kill Sloan. So Ron got his freedom back.