Mannix (TV Series)

The Crimson Halo (1972)

Mike Connors: Joe Mannix

Quotes 

• Joe Mannix : Dr. Aspinall? My name is Mannix.

  Dr. Graham Aspinall : That supposed to mean something to me?

  Joe Mannix : I'm a private investigator. Your attorney retained me... Noah Otway.

  Dr. Graham Aspinall : How did you recognize me?

  Joe Mannix : Well, I can always tell a surgeon. He's the one with the clean fingernails.

  Dr. Graham Aspinall : What does Otway want?

  Joe Mannix : He wanted me to make some inquiries about the shooting last night.

  Dr. Graham Aspinall : Otway is a toothless old woman with an obscene lust for melodrama.

  Joe Mannix : He thinks highly of you, too.

  Dr. Graham Aspinall : Or was it really my wife's idea to hire you? Oh, never mind. I'm content to suffer the pangs of uncertainty.

  Joe Mannix : You're convinced that shot fired at you last night had nothing to do with you personally?

  Dr. Graham Aspinall : I surprise some unfortunate addict who was looking for drugs. I don't believe anyone hates or loves me enough to take a shot at me. That's a disgraceful admission, isn't it?

  Joe Mannix : Mind if I talk to some of your associates?

  Dr. Graham Aspinall : Certainly, I'd mind.

  Joe Mannix : What are you afraid I'll find out?

  Dr. Graham Aspinall : That I'm an arrogant, cantankerous, self-important, greedy, glory-hustling megalomaniac. That I browbeat my subordinates, debauch my female assistants, claim sole credit for anyone's discoveries, and that I would commit any act, from high treason to indecent exposure, to knock off a Nobel Prize.

  Joe Mannix : And once I found that out, what do I do with it?

  Dr. Graham Aspinall : Whatever it is you fellas do. Put on false mustaches, tap phones, dog footsteps, interrogate people in the dead of night, make passes at beautiful female suspects, look down your noses at the police.

  Joe Mannix : I'll bet I know your favorite author.

  Dr. Graham Aspinall : Don't bet on anything concerning me. Good day, Mr. Mannix.

• Noah Otway : [sitting down at stable having lunch with Joe]  Did you read about last night's shooting?

  Joe Mannix : Which one?

  Noah Otway : You know, I date back to a time when a lethal weapon fired at a human being was still news, and the not daily trivia of urban life. No, I meant the shot fired at my client, Dr. Graham Aspinall.

  Joe Mannix : I read about it.

  Noah Otway : I suppose if all the knowledgeable people in the world were to compile a list of men least likely to be shot at, Dr. Aspinall would be in the top ten. You have to take my word for that, because I'm sure you know nothing at all about his work.

  Joe Mannix : It's a new surgical technique, isn't it, for inoperable tumors?

  Noah Otway : Yeah. Well, you surprise me. Yes, it's for tumors previously considered inoperable, which brings new hope to countless thousands of people, not to mention the lives that he's already saved with his own hands. Now, who in heaven's name, would want to destroy a man like that?

  Joe Mannix : The police seem to think it was a prowler, an addict, looking for narcotics in a doctor's home.

  Noah Otway : It's a very common occurrence, apparently.

  Joe Mannix : But you don't believe it?

  Noah Otway : No. I do believe it. So does Dr. Aspinall.

  Joe Mannix : Then why call me?

  Noah Otway : Mrs. Aspinall... she's European, and she's accustomed to the American way of life. So your job will be to restore her peace of mind, unless, of course, she's right.

  Joe Mannix : Does, uh, Mrs. Aspinall suspect anyone?

  Noah Otway : Well, if she does, she hasn't confided in me.

  Joe Mannix : Would she have confided in her husband?

  Noah Otway : I seriously doubt it.

  Joe Mannix : Then, uh, who would you suggest I talk to?

  Noah Otway : Well, now, aren't you the man who refuses to be told how to do his job? Good day, Mr. Mannix. Did my secretary arrange for your expense account?

  Joe Mannix : Yes.

  Noah Otway : Good. Take care of the check.

  [walks up from his seat and leaves] 

• Joe Mannix : Why would she want to kill him?

  Gerda Aspinall : I didn't say she would, but she had a boyfriend. An intern... Dana... something or other.

  Joe Mannix : Where do I find him?

  Gerda Aspinall : In whatever special purgatory is reserved for jealous lovers.

• Dr. Graham Aspinall : Oh, you flatter yourself.

  Joe Mannix : That's better than no flattery at all.