Night of the Casual Killer - Recap

Three men ride down a packed dirt path. One man precedes the other two; he is dressed in more formal clothes. The men pass under some trees and around a curve. Atop a nearby bluff a rifleman watches their progress. The three riders stop when they suddenly realize they are surrounded by riflemen. At least a half dozen men look down on them from the bluffs and crags above. One man asks what the riders want. The leader rider identifies himself as Thomas Hendrix from the attorney general’s office and tells the man he has come to find John Maxwell Avery.

Another man appears and identifies himself as Avery. Hendrix repeats his mission and identifies the men with him as Marshall Kirby of Pima County and a deputy. Hendrix further adds that he is to return Avery to Washington on orders of the President. Avery nods slightly and one of the riflemen takes aim and shoots Hendix!. Avery cautions the marshal against trying anything foolish, and tells him he may take the body back with him as his answer to Washington. All the men vanish from the hilltops.

The train carrying Jim and Artie slows and stops. A cavalry officer and Marshal Kirby approach. A servant approaches and opens the gate. Kirby asks if this man is James West and he says no, West is inside the car. The officer and marshal enter to the strains of violin music. Artemus is playing classical music. A voice calls from another room, asking someone named Tennyson for coffee. Then James West enters and Tennyson – the servant – informs him that his coffee is nearly ready and that there are men here to see him. The cavalry officer introduces himself as Captain Davis and the marshal as Kirby.

These two say that some mention of help was made. Jim confirms that he has come to find Avery and return him to Washington. Captain Davis tells Jim that Avery is a butcher. He has a lair up among some “double cursed” rocks in a deserted and worked out mining camp. Jim questions why the military hasn’t rooted him out and Captain Davis bitterly recalls that they tried and now have twenty-two fresh graves for the attempt. He and Kirby conclude by offering two things to anyone foolish enough to hunt down Avery: their condolences and a decent burial!

After the men leave Artemus suggests the pair ask for another assignment – something simple like cutting their throats! Jim replies that if they can’t recover Avery the President may cut their throats for them. It seems Avery was a close confidant of the President and there are people who think the President facilitated the scoundrel’s hasty departure from Washington. The President must produce Avery alive to avert a scandal.

Jim considers Artie’s violin and suggests a cover story. They will enter Avery’s lands as an innocent show wagon, traveling west and getting lost. Artie refuses to even consider that gambit...

The two men drive a wagon marked “Conroy Whitney & Co. Songs. Comedy. Magic. Dramatic Readings by Artemus Gordon International Dramatic Star.” Despite earlier misgivings Artie is enthusiastic about treading the boards again. No song and dance man, his contributions will be readings from the Bard. As Artie discusses these ambitions the wagon drives along the same path taken earlier by the ill-fated Thomas Hendrix. A sentry watches from bluff above. Soon enough men surround the wagon and Jim brings it to a halt.

One man rides up to them and asks their business. Jim tells him they’re en route to an engagement in Pima. The man laughs and tells them Pima is twenty miles the other direction. Artie makes a scornful comment implying this isn’t the first time the pair has gone the wrong way. They volunteer to leave but the man tells them they’ve come too far and they’ll have to continue. He sends someone ahead to tell Avery they have visitors.

The wagon pulls into a small town that has definitely seen better days. Doors and signs hang askew and windows are broken or missing entirely. John Avery appears and orders their escort, whom he identifies as Mason, to search the performers and their wagon top to bottom. Then he asks who’s in charge and Jim tells him he is, identifying himself as Conrad Whitney. Avery suggests that Whitney perform for his men, who could use a little diversion.

Later Jim and Artie are setting up their stage. Jim wonders that no guard has been set on them; Artie suggests there’s no need because Avery has the entire area surrounded. There’s no way out. Jim believes that Avery has a concealed emergency escape route. He plans to find it and invite Avery to join them.

Avery approaches and Jim asks if the performers are prisoners. Avery suggests that prisoners is melodramatic and further that he prefers the term guests. He learns “Conrad Whitney” knows him. Not personally, but from his days as a performer in Washington, where the name Avery was very well know indeed. Avery asks if he wonders why he’s here and Jim suggests it’s a turn of the cards. When Avery moves away Artie savagely warns Jim he’s hamming it up too much.

Avery returns to his chief henchman Mason and tells him to round up the boys and find out how tough “Whitney” is. Later Jim strolls along the dirt street and encounters a knot of men. First they snatch his hat from his head and play keep away with it. They toss it in the street and trip Jim when he tries to retrieve it. Mason takes offense for no reason and punches Jim in the gut, hard. Artie comes over and sotto voce suggests Jim should have to take any more. But another man punches Jim twice more, laying him out both times. Avery appears and breaks up the bullying, suggesting that his men can be a little rough. Artie shoots back that they’re nothing but rowdies, voice dripping with feigned outrage, before he escorts a limping and bent over Jim back to the wagon.

Mason concludes Jim cannot be a Federal man or he’d know how to take better care of himself. Avery suggests that he could still be a bounty hunter. He plans to find out by giving the man a chance to capture him and collect the prize.

Avery returns again to the performers’ wagon and apologizes for his men. To make amends he proposes to take Jim hunting. They leave in half an hour.

Away from the encampment Avery speaks frankly to Jim, suggesting he must know Avery is a wanted man. Jim admits that he has seen the posters. Avery remembers they offered $10,000 for him. Jim tells him the figure has gone up and he’s worth $15,000 now. He tosses Jim a rifle and notes that Jim catches it very professionally, something Jim attributes to instinct. Then he tells Jim that here is his opportunity to collect the reward. Jim tells him he’s not interested in the money, but he knows Avery isn’t a stupid man, and wonders how far he could get with blanks. Avery takes back the rifle and shoots the tip from a distant tree limb. Evidently the shells in the rifle weren’t blanks at all.

Later the performers prepare for their show when a guard arrives and tells Jim that Avery wants to see him. Jim tells him they’re preparing for their performance but the man insists. Escorted by the guard, Jim enters the decrepit Gong Lo Hand Laundry building. The windows are gone and the door barely hangs from its hinges. The small room inside is filled with debris and trash blown in. The guard leads Jim to another door in the far wall. He knocks and a young woman opens the door. Inside is an extravagant parlor!

The woman introduces herself as Laurie Morgan and asks if the show wagon really belongs to Jim. He nods yes and she says she feels like she knows him in the sense that performers form a kind of extended family. She used to sing in San Francisco and wonders if she might sing with Jim sometime. He says that could easily happen.

Avery enters and tells Jim he thought a brandy before the performance would be welcome. Jim says it is. Avery wonders if the elegance surprises him; Jim says he wouldn’t have expected less but admits he was confused by the dilapidated storefront. Avery tells him that’s the idea. Should the town come under attack most likely no one would bother a dilapidated storefront. And in case they did he has taken other precautions. Avery also marvels that he never crossed paths with “Whitney” in Washington. Jim replies that they likely moved in different circles. Avery then asks if Jim knows why Avery had to leave Washington. Staying in character Jim somewhat guardedly allows that he had heard rumors. Avery smiles tightly and tells him that’s a good choice of words. Jim asks Avery if he’ll be at the performance and Avery says he will and asks Jim not to start until he gets there. Then he has Laurie Morgan escort Jim back to his wagon.

Moments after Jim leaves, a man emerges from hiding. It’s Marshal Kirby and he does what he’s here to do: identifies “Conrad Whitney” as James West, here to abscond with Avery. He tells Avery that West must be stopped and Avery says he will be.

Jim walks and talks with Laurie Morgan. He tells her Avery is a very strange man. She reluctantly allows this is true. He is suave and urban and she is clearly terrified of him. But she doesn’t trust “Conrad Whitney” either. Jim tells her he wants to help her and reminds her of the “performer family.” He tells her that he might be able to remove her in his wagon and she wants to know why he’d stick his neck out for her. She also tells him Avery doesn’t fool so easily and that gives Jim an opening to ask about the secret escape route he’s sure exists. Laurie tells him he’s going to get them both killed! Jim kisses her and when the clinch ends she says breathlessly that “that didn’t feel like no family!”

The performance is underway. Jim conjures a rabbit from a hat and a flaming pan from beneath a scarf; the flames vanish and are replaced by flowers! He holds up an egg and says the hand is quicker than the eye; Morgan stands and fires, shattering the egg and heckling Jim. Avery stands and faces his men down with a stern scowl, then tells Jim there will be no more interruptions. He sits back down and tells Laurie sotto voce to invite Jim to dinner. Jim continues with his show by exploding a firecracker without touching it and then bows out as Artie takes the stage in period costume to recite from Shakespeare.

Laurie enters backstage where Jim prepares for his next act. She tells him that a man came to visit Avery and that although she couldn’t hear what they said she’s sure the conversation was about Jim. She thinks he’s in some kind of trouble. She also tells him this is the last time she’s helping him and that men like him confuse her.

She leaves and an enthusiastic Artemus Gordon joins Jim backstage. He’s happy to tread the boards again but Jim must pull the plug on his enthusiasm: he’s sure that what Laurie saw means Avery knows who they really are. He tells Artie it’s a good thing Avery likes playing games or they would already be dead. Artie says Avery likes this game because he holds all the cards. Jim replies that they only thing the agents can do is play games themselves!

At dinner Jim and Avery banter back and forth, discussing games and acting. Avery opines that the theatrical profession is really a game but Jim counters that he does not consider it such, although the true actor must sometimes cast aside the cloak of reality to lose himself in the role. Jim finally aggress that it may be a combination of game and serious art. Conversation maneuvers around to Shakespeare’s famous quote about how the world is a stage and people merely players on it. Avery finishes the quote and Jim acts surprised that he knows Shakespeare. He disagrees mildly, suggesting instead that he knows people and life. He suggests this room could be a stage and the people in it merely players. Jim counters that they couldn’t know that until the curtain went up and Avery suggests somewhat ominiously that perhaps the curtain is already up and they could be waiting for it to come down. Laurie Morgan realizes that some kind of subtle subtext is going back and forth her but cannot decode it and so sits confused.

Outside Artie is reeling across the street and singing “Jeannie with the Light Brown Hair.” The guard demands he approach and wonders what he’s doing near the laundry. Artie mushily tells him he’s been celebrating success and the guard replies that he’s clearly been hitting the jug. Artie asks if the guard say the performance and the man admits he did not so Artie begins an impromptu performance with elaborate gestures and over the top acting. The guard tries to stop him but the performance becomes wilder. Finally Artie reels around and kayos the guard with an uppercut! The man sags to the ground.

Inside dinner has drawn to a conclusion. Avery tells Laurie that he knows cigar smoke disturbs her. She seems about to demur when Avery makes it clear he wants her gone. She leaves and Avery offers Jim a brandy. Then he comments about being back in Washington. He suggests that would please his guest, wouldn’t it... Mr. West! As he identifies Jim by name he turns from the sideboard with a revolver in hand. Jim identifies himself as James West with a small nod. Avery tells him he’s a clever and brave man and that he appreciates that. But when Jim suggests Avery will find it a shame to kill him Avery says no, he expects to find it a pleasure!

Avery goes to the door and calls for the guard. When the shadowed figure appears he calls him into the room. He turns and tells Jim that at least he’ll be buried with full military honors! Then the guard enters. It’s Artemus and he puts his rifle in Avery’s back! Jim tells Avery that it’s another turn of the card; Avery replies that there is still a whole deck to be played. Avery sits down, acting for all the world like he’s holding the winning hand! And maybe he is. The agents still have to get him out of the town. Artie retrieves Laurie from another room.

Avery seems unconcerned. Jim asks Laurie where the escape passage is; Avery mocks that attempt by telling Jim that if there was such a secret escape, he surely wouldn’t share it with Laurie! Jim tells her this is her one chance to escape and that persuades her. He’s still afraid to speak in front of Avery but with nods and shrugs she guides West to a loose piece of wainscoting. When he twists it the top of a piece of furniture rises revealing a ladder down into the abandoned mine.

Jim ties Avery’s hands. Avery comments that it’s quite damp down there and asks for his hat. Artie descends and reconnoiters the tunnel briefly. Jim hands Avery a hat but Avery asks specifically for his black hat. Jim has Laurie get a wrap and the four people descend to the secret tunnel, closing the hatch behind them.

The four walk down various tunnels for some time before noise is heard behind them. Avery’s men have discovered the problem and followed them! Jim pulls a pocket watch from his coat and pulls the stem loose, revealing a fuse that he lights from Artie’s torch. He pitches the sputtering thing back the way they came. Seconds later an explosion collapses that part of the tunnel, cutting off Avery’s men. Avery still seems unconcerned and says simply “Lead on Macduff”

At the exit it is somehow daylight again. Avery’s men evidently know where the passage emerges because they have surrounded it. They approach on horseback briefly and Jim accounts for one man before Mason has them tether the horses behind their position and approach on foot. It’s sound tactics because Jim and his party lack horses. Avery tells his men to be patient and reveals that by selected his black hat, he signaled his men that he was in trouble. That and a $20,000 reward for whoever rescues him ensures Jim won’t escape with him. This is his winning hand! And since Jim blew up the escape tunnel he can’t backtrack.

Avery thinks he has the upper hand and asks if Jim wants to negotiate some sort of deal. Frustrated, Artie imitates him! Jim gags Avery and then tells Artie it’s time for the greatest performance of his career. From behind a mine car that partially blocks the entrance Artie imitates Avery and tells the men to hold their fire and that Jim is giving up. Artie returns to the mine and flips up the fancy shoulder pieces of his costume to reveal a half dozen sticks of dynamite!

Jim and Artie dump Avery in the car. His men can see clearly enough to realize they’ve been duped and the shooting starts again, but everyone is now in the car and hurtling through the men. Between Jim’s rifle and pistol work and his lobbed explosives the agents kill or incapacitate all the men attempting Avery’s rescue. The mine car finally crashes with one man left! He shoots down from a high platform. Jim draws a bead, fires and the man pitches over the side.

Back in the train Tennyson tells Jim the steam is up and they can leave. Jim offers Avery the choice of riding in comfort, if he’s willing not to attempt escape, or the rolling cell in the front of the train. Avery selects the rolling cell. Jim tells him he’ll have company; they’ve rounded up Marshal Kirby as well.

Laurie is unused to the elegance. Jim offers to take her to Chicago but she’s not sure what she would do there. Artie is quick to tell her that his name still opens doors there. She tells Jim that gentlemen like him still confuse her and decides to head the other way, finishing by suggesting that simple girls like her should never leave home. It will be a long trip to Chicago for Jim; Artie draws the bow across his violin and places a downbeat consolation prize passage! The train leaves for Chicago and from there the next case...

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