S01/E13: THE JOCKEY

At the Pink Cloud Skyroom supper club, a pianist on stage near the center of the room, under a roof ceiling glass window (known as a skylight), plays for patrons seated throughout the establishment. The club is on the top floor (6th floor) of what appears to be an apartment building or possibly office building. On the roof, where the club’s singer Carolyn Stephenson typically takes her breaks between numbers, two silhouetted figures can be seen (by us viewers only) in a struggle above the skylight. Suddenly, Caroline Stephenson comes crashing through the glass and falls dead on the club’s floor to the side of the piano stage. (Interestingly, a woman had screamed just before Caroline Stephenson goes through the glass. Did the woman look up and see the struggle and knew someone was about to come crashing through the glass? It is also interesting to note that the skylight was possibly 10 feet above the floor, at most. Should someone from the roof fall through, it is unlikely to cause immediate death—unless her neck broke on impact. Possibly some severe injuries and broken bones, but not death right away.) 

Gunn arrives in his two-door 1958 DeSoto Adventurer at the stable ranch home of wealthy and celebrated champion horse racing jockey Billy Arnet. At the stable he meets with Jason Willows, who introduces himself as Arnet’s friend since childhood. He is also seen as a caretaker for the horses. Willows tells Gunn that Arnet is distraught over the death of his girlfriend Caroline Stephenson and doesn’t believe it was an accident, which is how police have ruled it. Arnet believes she was murdered. Jason Willows hands Gunn an envelope with $1,500 from Billy Arnet who wants Gunn to investigate the death. ($1,500 in 1958 is equivalent to about $13,380.47 in the year 2020, the time of this writing). Willows, however, tells Gunn he will find it was in fact an accident. Gunn tells Willows he’d like to talk to Billy Arnet and Willows takes him to the house.

At the house a very creepy-eyed man introduces himself as Billy Arnet’s agent Ned Parks (he said “Park” and he’s referred to that way by others in this episode, but the character is listed in credits as “Parks”). He tells Jason Willows to go into the den to see Billy and he’ll talk to Gunn. Ned Parks tells Gunn there’s no need for him to see Billy Arnet or investigate the death and to just keep the money. Gunn insists on earning his fee. Parks' behavior appears to raise suspicion. Parks continues to speak of Caroline Stephenson as a gold digger who was only interested in Billy Arnet’s money; Billy Arnet had opened the den door and heard what Parks said, making him angry. He calls Gunn into the den.

Billy Arnet is a man very short in stature (typical of horse racing jockeys). He tells Gunn that he and Caroline Stephenson would meet up on the roof of the Pink Cloud Skyroom many times and she knew “every foot of it.” That there is no way she would have slipped and fallen through the restaurant’s ceiling skylight as the police have concluded. 

At Lt. Jacoby’s police station office, Gunn finds Jacoby asleep on the couch. (Does Jacoby ever go home?) Jacoby is in a very grumpy mood. Jacoby tells Gunn that the file on Caroline Stephenson’s case is being closed as an accident. Jacoby explains that witnesses confirm Caroline Stephenson went up to the roof alone and no one was seen coming down and it’s a “six story drop from the roof to the cement [sidewalks] below.” Also, if a rope was used the killer would have lowered to the ground where a man was walking his dog.” 

Gunn inspects the roof above the Pink Cloud Skyroom supper club. He looks over to the roof of the next building and seems to realize that it would be a very long jump for anyone to accomplish. Lt. Jacoby arrives, saying he was following Gunn. (Why would he do that?) Gunn leads Jacoby back down into the supper club saying he wants to show him something. Gunn says the body of Caroline Stephenson landed away from the piano stage under the skylight. He says if someone had fallen through the skylight, that person would have landed straight down onto the piano, “Not 9 feet away.” That means Caroline Stephenson was pushed. As Jacoby and Gunn leave the club, the rear figure of a man wearing a hat is seen rising by the stairs leading to the roof. He was listening in on Gunn’s theory of the incident and had apparently also been following Gunn. 

At the public library, Gunn is seated at a table going through old newspaper archives. There is an elderly lady who appears to be doing the same at a table nearby. A librarian is pushing a cart with additional old newspapers through the room. A clock on the wall shows the time to be 8:54. (It is unknown if it is morning or night, but it doesn’t seem likely for a library to be open that late with a well-dressed much older woman seated there). Gunn comes across a newspaper article about Jason Willows and Billy Arnet. Below a photograph of them it reads: “ARNET and WILLOWS have been close friends for years — Jason Willows is a former member of the Flying Willows, famous acrobats and aerialists.” (At this point one may conclude that Gunn just figured out who made the jump from one roof to another after killing Carolyn Stephenson). The librarian picks up the newspapers from Gunn and places them on his cart. He rolls the cart away. The man who has been following Gunn around town, who we now see is Jason Willows, reaches out from an aisle between shelves of books and picks up the newspaper Gunn was looking at. Jason Willows now knows Gunn is on to him. Gunn looks up at the clock and it is 8:55. (Only one minute has passed after all that?!) Gunn then walks over to a phone booth and calls Jacoby to discuss his findings before leaving the library. (It is nighttime outside and street lamps are on!)

Gunn walks back to his car parked beside a building surrounded by scaffolding as if under construction. Jason Willows is watching. Suddenly, a pickaxe falls onto a crate, missing Gunn by inches. From above, Willows then tries tipping over a wheelbarrow of concrete bricks that fall, but Gunn ducks away in time. Willows then leaps from the upper scaffold, flying over a fence onto the ground level. He enters what appears to be a huge warehouse and makes his way to upper levels. Gunn continues the chase. Willows leaps to another walkway high up in the warehouse, but Gunn eventually catches up to him. He pulls out his gun. Willows says he didn’t murder Caroline Stephenson; that is was an accident. But Gunn isn’t buying it. Willows is on the walkway and kicks the gun out of Gunn’s hand. He proceeds to go higher up in the warehouse. Gunn gives chase again, but Willows is up too high. Willows then goes into a rant that Caroline Stephenson was on the take and had admitted that on the roof of the club. Willows goes on to say that she slapped him. Willows says he shoved her and she tripped. He grabs onto a rope and reminisces about the time he was an acrobat with the Flying Willows. In his head he hears carnival music and the cheers of those in attendance while performing. He tells Gunn how they were the best. Willows then plans to use the rope to swing himself  back to the ground to escape from Gunn, but he didn’t realize that the rope wasn’t firmly attached and falls to his death. He’d die, it would seem, in similar fashion to Caroline Stephenson.

Back at the stable ranch house, Gunn tells Billy Arnet that Jason Willows probably didn’t want anyone else moving in to the house. (That sounds like a lame motive. A better theory is that Caroline was taking advantage of his best friend.) Billy, who is further distraught at losing his friend, says he wishes he’d never hired Gunn. (And let his friend get away with murder?)

QUOTES

In the ranch house living room where Ned Parks tells Peter Gunn not to bother investigating the death of Caroline Stephenson…
Parks: “I know, Jason gave you some money.”
Gunn: “Jason gave me some money…from Billy.”
Parks: “Well, you can keep it for your trouble.”
Gunn: “I haven’t been troubled yet.”

At Lt. Jacoby’s office where he tells of a man walking his dog who would have been a witness had someone come down from the roof with a rope…
Jacoby: “You want the gentleman’s name?”
Gunn: “If I know you, you’ve got the dog’s name, too.”
Jacoby: “Prince.”

NOTES

In what is a rarity for the series, no women other than the one who fell to her death in the opening appear in this episode in a prominent role; and only the back of her head and upper body is seen lying on the floor. It could have been a mannequin for all we know. 

This isn’t the first episode (and won’t be the last) where Peter Gunn was followed by someone all around town—in other episodes all around other countries!—and the clever, sharp-eyed detective had no idea he was being followed. 

Only five actors are listed in ending credits.
Craig Stevens...Peter Gunn
Herschel Bernardi...Lieutenant Jacoby
Robert Gist...Jason Willows
Frankie Darro...Billy Arnet
Robin Morse...Ned Parks

When Peter Gunn is on the roof of the building where Carolyn Stephenson fell through a skylight, there is a moment he looks down to the street below. In what is possibly stock footage, there is a clear view of the Owl Rexall Drugs store located on the corner of Hollywood Blvd and Vine Street in Los Angeles, California. See snapshot from episode and vintage photograph of store below.

DECEASED: Jason Willows shoves Carolyn Stephenson from roof through restaurant ceiling glass (skylight) and she falls to her death. Jason Willows, while being chased by Peter Gunn, falls to his death from upper level of a warehouse while trying to escape.  

Gunn Kills: 0 – Series Total: 6

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