Rocky's lifelong pal (that we've never heard him mention before) Pete (Dabs Greer) comes to Jim with a problem: his granddaughter Houston (Lane Bradbury) has been kidnapped. Jim investigates Houston's home and finds its been trashed and broken in to. When he goes to report back to Pete, he finds him dead. When Jim returns to Houston's home with Lt. Diehl he finds it in perfect shape with no signs of a break in. The mystery deepens when Houston turns up unharmed. Pete didn't have any money--what did they expect to get out of him?
Not a bad little mystery though things get a bit melancholy as Jim worries that Houston hasn't been able to release her grief and is "playing it tough". You also kind of wish they'd established Rocky's relationship with Pete in an earlier episode. That might have added to the emotional impact of Rocky (and Houston's) loss. But as is, its not a bad show. It has all the classic elements--Jim gets beat up, Jim gets arrested, the lovely Beth Davenport (Gretchen Corbett) gets him out of jail (in a rare scene shot outside in the rain!) and nobody quite knows why things are happening.
Greer never was an old pal of Beery's but he did appear with Garner in both "Cash McCall" and "Nichols". Charlie, one of the thugs is played by "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea" star Del Monroe (he played Kowalski in the show and the movie). The leader of the bad guys is "Soap" star Robert Mandan, who played Chester Tate.
Not a bad little mystery though things get a bit melancholy as Jim worries that Houston hasn't been able to release her grief and is "playing it tough". You also kind of wish they'd established Rocky's relationship with Pete in an earlier episode. That might have added to the emotional impact of Rocky (and Houston's) loss. But as is, its not a bad show. It has all the classic elements--Jim gets beat up, Jim gets arrested, the lovely Beth Davenport (Gretchen Corbett) gets him out of jail (in a rare scene shot outside in the rain!) and nobody quite knows why things are happening.
Greer never was an old pal of Beery's but he did appear with Garner in both "Cash McCall" and "Nichols". Charlie, one of the thugs is played by "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea" star Del Monroe (he played Kowalski in the show and the movie). The leader of the bad guys is "Soap" star Robert Mandan, who played Chester Tate.