Original Airdate: September 13, 1974
Written by: Roy Huggins (story), Stephen J. Cannell (script)
Directed by: Lou Antonio
Jim is tailing Travis Buckman (Roger Davis) on the freeway when Buckman pulls over, gets out of his truck, and walks toward the ocean. Picking up a fishing rod for cover, Jim follows him but loses him. He asks a sunbather (Julie Sommars) if she’s seen a man in a cowboy hat go by. She teases him mercilessly before replying that she was too engrossed in her book to notice anyone passing by. He leaves the beach in frustration, but the sunbather catches up to him in her convertible and invites him back to her place for a drink. The drink turns out to be spiked, and when a now pantsless Jim comes to Travis Buckman has a gun on him. Jim confesses to Buckman and the sunbather that he’s a private investigator working on the murder of the Kirkoffs, a wealthy couple who were murdered, and then makes his escape.
He then consults with his client, Larry Kirkoff (James Woods). Kirkoff has hired Jim to clear him of his parents’ murder, of which the police and most of the public believe him to be guilty, although there isn’t enough evidence to convict. Jim doesn’t like the younger Kirkoff and isn’t exactly convinced of his innocence, while Kirkoff doesn’t care about Rockford’s opinion either way. But before leaving the sunbather’s beach house Jim did snap a picture of her, and when he develops it in Kirkoff’s darkroom Kirkoff recognizes her as someone his father knew from the tennis club. Jim gets a guest pass under false pretenses and tracks the woman—name Tawnia Baker—down. Tawnia admits to Jim that she and Charles Kirkoff were having an affair. She and Buckman—Mrs. Kirkoff’s lover—were working together to find incriminating evidence against Larry Kirkoff, and each one believes in the other’s innocence.
Jim makes a date with Tawnia to get more information, and when he’s home he gets an anonymous phone call offering another tip. The woman calling him doesn’t give her name but does tell him to meet her at a given address, also for that night. The meeting turns out to be a setup, and a group of men abduct him to a warehouse while beating him up. A hoarse-voiced man (Philip Kenneally) warns him to stop looking into the Kirkoff murder. According to this man, Larry Kirkoff is guilty, but Jim’s nosing around could unearth other business that he’d rather not have publicized.
With some reluctant help from Det. Becker, Jim finds out this man is Muzzie Vinette, who entered the rackets after a brief prizefighting career. Vinette is now working as a “labor organizer” for the BRW, a powerful union. Through a mixture of trickery and being willing to take another punch, Jim gets a face-to-face meeting with the union’s leader, Al Dancer (Abe Vigoda). He tells Dancer his conclusion that Vinette had gone freelance, killing Mrs. Kirkoff on behalf of her husband, and gives Dancer a chance to distance himself and the union from the crime.
After helping to catch Vinette, Jim has another meeting with his client. Larry Kirkoff had promised Jim a $20 thousand bonus if Jim found out who killed Kirkoff’s parents. Jim’s conclusion is that while Larry’s father took out a contract on his wife, Larry himself was indeed his father’s killer. Larry won’t pay $20,000 for that, but does agree to half the fee (with a typically worthless “check is in the mail” caveat.) While spending friendly time with Tawnia Baker later on, Jim’s eye is caught by a newspaper headline. Larry Kirkoff has confessed to the murder of his father, now that the father’s part in his mother’s murder potentially makes him look more sympathetic. Knowing now that he won’t see any of the money owed him, Jim looks for a cheap place he and Tawnia can get a hotdog.
This is the first regular episode, and the first to feature Noah Beery Jr. as Rocky, who had been played by Robert Donley in the pilot.
Tropes present in this episode:
- Be as Unhelpful as Possible: Subverted. While Tawnia Baker initially seems to be putting off Jim’s questions just as a troll, she turns out to be a conspirator (albeit not in murder).
- Beware of Vicious Dog: Larry Kirkoff keeps a Rottweiler with sharp teeth and a vicious demeanor, which tends to cut Jim’s haggling short.
- Clear My Name: Larry Kirkoff’s reason for hiring Rockford, although he actually is guilty of one of the murders.
- A Deadly Affair: Downplayed. Tawnia is tempted to blame herself for Mr. Kirkoff having his wife killed, but as Jim points out, his motive was more in the dirt that was bound to come out in a divorce proceeding.
- Distract and Disarm: While Travis Buckman has a gun on him, Jim distracts him by throwing his cigarette at his face and then punching him out. He tries the same trick later in the episode with an (unarmed) union worker escorting him out, and while it doesn’t work this time it does get him a meet with Al Dancer.
- Egomaniac Hunter: Larry’s redecoration of the mansion involves bringing in a lot of his hunting trophies, and his darkroom is filled with pictures of him posing with dead prey.
- Gold Digger:
- Tawnia Baker is pretty open about pursuing men for their money, although she says she was also in love with the elder Kirkoff.
- Buckman is a gender inverted example. The horses Mrs. Kirkoff bought him to train don’t come cheap.
- Inheritance Murder: Everyone assumes this is why Larry Kirkoff murdered his parents. Largely true, but half the work was already done for him.
- No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Muzzy Vinette’s men give this to Jim, pinning his arms back so he can’t fight back.
- The Tooth Hurts: After getting beaten down by Vinette’s thugs, Jim picks up one of his own teeth from the warehouse floor.
