Lock Up

- Season 1

(1959)

Robert Arnold, an ex-con who's "gone straight," is at the scene of a drug store hold-up by a former cell-mate that leaves one cop dead. To clear Arnold's name, Maris goes in search of the killer, George Gault, and the blonde babe with him known only as Margie.

Harry Connors goes on trial for the fatal beating of a wealthy businessman, and despite the fact that four eyewitnesses say they saw him do it, he is found innocent and set free. Although the public is outraged at this seeming miscarriage of justice, Herb Maris begins to have strong doubts about the man's guilt and begins to investigate the case himself.

Maris is called into the case of Tom Sheppard six weeks after the young man was convicted of murdering an ex-girlfriend. An old lady across the street says she saw him chase the woman out of a bar and whack her in the head with a rock. As he investigates, Herb finds that medical officials were not asked relevant questions during the trial, the dead girl had a prior medical condition that no one bothered to inquire about, and the busybody witness made assumptions about what she'd seen.

Lt. Weston isn't convinced that Ed Reed, being convicted of killing a woman he's been seen with, is actually guilty. The despondent Reed tells Maris that he's innocent of murder, but admits he tried to burn down his own house--not to destroy evidence, but because he needs the insurance money.

A man breaks out of prison, so he can get Maris to clear his name of murder.

The son of an ex-convict is arrested for the extremely elaborate robbery of the place he works that netted $112,000. The father, just out of prison, tells Maris that he had nothing to do with the theft, but that the perpetrator used a scheme he'd concocted some 20 years earlier.

The warden asks Maris to investigate the case of Ron Davis, a man on death row whom he thinks may be innocent. Fellow inmates testified that Davis stabbed a prison thug to death. Maris wants to know why they would have lied and who they might be protecting.

Maris resigns in disgust as council for a company taken over by sleazy businessman Rex Marsden. To break a contract he doesn't like, Marsden sets up a contractor to be arrested on assault charges. Now a free agent, Maris works to clear the contractor and make sure the contract is fulfilled.

A criminal storms into Maris' office and demands at gunpoint that he get a writ of habeas corpus to have his brother released from police custody. He holds Maris, his assistant Hal and Hal's wife hostage. Maris hopes Lt. Weston realizes something is amiss and comes to their rescue.

Jazz musician Dave Parnell is charged with the murder of his girlfriend, a popular guitarist. Dave believes he did it since he was found passed out by her body with a bloody knife in his hand, but he doesn't actually remember. He was loopy with sleeping pills prescribed for his insomnia. Maris looks into who would benefit from the girlfriend being dead.

A shipment of steel tubing fails on the job and the precision machinist who worked on the project is fired. He's also charged with murdering his supervisor afterward in a fit of anger. Believing Kazner's incapable of such shoddy workmanship, Maris begins asking questions. He uncovers an "inside job" with several managers buying cheap-grade steel, billing the company as if it were top notch, and pocketing the difference.

Ex-con Frank Harbach comes to Herb Maris when a couple of old prison mates pay him a visit. The thugs force him to hold the $30,000 they stole in a robbery, or they'll implicate him in their crime and do harm to his wife. When the pair comes to collect their cash, they discover it missing; Frank's wife had turned it over to her father, a cop. The desperate duo take Frank and Herb hostage. Alarmed by Maris' failure to show up at his office, Lt. Weston jumps into action to save his friend.

Teenager Steven Lloyd, unable to repay loan sharks, gives them the keys to his father's car. When one of the crooks commits a hit-and-run while at the wheel, Steven's father is charged with the crime. Maris takes on the case since the accused is one of his old college professors, and finds the sharks are doing a bumper business claiming cars as payment.

Tom Nelson is eloping with his girl, Alice, when they have an accident in the car he rented. Police find drugs on the vehicle and Tom is charged. Despite a youth record, Maris believes the young man has cleaned up his act and is innocent. The counselor focuses on the car rental company and the shady characters who own and operate it.

Jimmy Stockton is a prizefighter who's wife promised to leave him if he lost in the ring again. When his wife is killed the police arrest him for murder. Maris is a reluctant defense attorney but surprises are in store. The coroner also has interesting information vital to the case.

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Businessman Martin Reeves knows his teenage son Paul is somehow involved in an attempted robbery and shooting. With a big merger pending, Martin is more concerned with his own reputation. He makes up a phony alibi for Paul and begins bribing witnesses to tell his version of what happened.

Hot-tempered soldier Blake Newman is accused of killing his best friend, a fellow soldier, who'd kept him waiting at the train station because of a girl. Maris' old commander asks him to help the boy, so he works to track down the girl the dead man had met at a party that night. She worked as a hostess for a modeling agency.

Businessman Martin Reeves knows his teenage son Paul is somehow involved in an attempted robbery and shooting. With a big merger pending, Martin is more concerned with his reputation. He makes up a phony alibi for Paul and begins bribing witnesses to tell his version of what happened.

Lt. Weston helped turn a former gang member into a cop and now needs Maris' help to clear the officer of a murder charge. Neither believe Fred Crotty is a killer, so someone must have borrowed his pistol one night--someone who knew his daily routine--since it was the weapon used in the killing.

News commentator Fred Prescott is murdered and his assistant, Jim Keller, is arrested for the crime. The two had been feuding because Prescott had canceled Keller's investigative story on the "accidental death" of a building inspector at a construction site.

Maris represents the safe expert who's charged with killing a gem dealer and making off with jewels from his vault. To catch the real thief, Herb goes undercover and pretends to be a importer/exporter who wants to buy some "hot" rocks.

The jazz musician charged with murdering his band's manager was supposedly having an affair with the manager's wife. The shooting may have been over love, but Maris thinks someone else was the killer. The murder weapon leads him and Lt. Weston to the guilty party.

City councilman Eric Schilling is charged with murdering the man trying to blackmail him into giving up his office. It all stems from Schilling's questioning of a shady contractor, Fred Gallen, who is bidding on a major city project. Maris finds Gallen's backers are a couple of big league hoods.

A theatrical producer is murdered in his apartment and robbed of $2000. An elderly Shakespearean actor who was coming to ask for a part and a loan is arrested at the scene. Maris, a fan of the old actor, believes he's innocent. The producer had practically disowned his daughter, actress Aggie Thorne, when she married a broke ex-tennis star. Herb doesn't trust the guy either after catching him in a couple of lies.

The apparent suicide of Maris' friend David Farrell, a successful company controller, seems completely out of character. Farrell was about to audit the company's books in preparation for a lucrative merger. Lt. Weston finds that company owner, Gavin Bledsoe, has a history of being around when money goes missing and people fall down elevator shafts.

Mark Clayton is charged with murdering his shrewish wife after one of their frequent arguments. On the surface, Eleanor Clayton appeared to be a "plain Jane" type. Maris discovers she was secretly a high-stakes gambler who'd run up a debt of $9,000 at a local gaming house and was feeling pressure to pay.

Texas oil millionaire Curly Simmons asks Maris to clear his partner, Tex. At a party they threw, Tex had become jealous when another man was getting too close to his gal. The woman is found dead, but Tex claims he's not the killer. Maris questions the other party-goers for information.

Finding a long-missing locket of hers in an antique store prompts Paula Anderson to ask Maris to re-investigate the death of her husband. A year earlier Fran Gibson, the nurse he'd hired to look after his blind, paralyzed sister, had been convicted and put on death row. Fran had been having an affair with Mr. Anderson and still says she's innocent.

Weston believes an undercover cop "went bad" and fired three shots into bookie Tack Stanley, but wants to investigate. He finds the crook was not loved, especially by his wife and mistress. The only one who professes his affection does it far too loudly.

A beauty queen is charged with killing Elston Carter, the bullying millionaire father of her boyfriend who refused to let them marry. She claims the murderer was a fat man she'd never seen who barged in, hit the man on the head, and left. Maris believes the woman's story, but Lt. Weston thinks it's and open and shut case.

A former trial witness is murdered in Weston's hunting cabin and the local sheriff charges the lieutenant with the crime. Maris figures the lieutenant is being framed by someone nursing a huge grudge. Upon learning that their lead suspect had recently died, they consider enemies Weston may have made on the force.

Craig Mitchell is charged with the murder of his younger mistress. His wife tells Maris he's innocent even though her husband's gun fired the deadly bullets. The counselor's investigation leads him to a low-level criminal named Spook Chambers who has a key to the Mitchells' house

A convict on his deathbed claims he can clear fellow prisoner Jimmy Broderick of murder. Maris arrives too late to learn the information that would clear his client of the conviction. With Lt. Weston, Herb re-investigates the case, convinced that the woman who positively identified Jimmy was mistaken.

University researcher Nina Whitehead drops dead after being injected with the new "wonder tranquilizer" she's been working on. The syringe was filled with curare and research student Brian Clark is charged with her murder. Maris discovers Whitehead was not well-liked, giving many who worked with her a motive.

Casey urges Herb to help a young man who's charged with murdering his future father-in-law. Most people say the dead man was a wonderful guy, but those who knew him privately paint him as an obnoxious wife-beating jerk.

Maris investigates the case of Joey Nelson who's sentenced to death for killing his former employer. Joey admits to arguing with the boss after slugging his insulting cousin. Herb talks with the key witness of the trial, the dead man's wife, and finds she's hardly grieving for the man she calls a fat slob.

A carnival knife-thrower is charged with the stabbing death of Spectro, the fortune teller. The hot-tempered Harlow believed that the swami was having an affair with his wife, but denies killing him. After Maris and Lt. Weston question the other carnival performers, they devise a scheme using Spectro's crystal ball to draw the killer out.

John Van Der Berg is charged with robbing his own jewelry company and killing the night watchman in the process. Maris is hesitant to become involved because of of his dislike of John's rude mooch of a brother, Tony. Soon, the guilty party soon seems obvious to Maris and Lt. Weston; it's just matter of setting the person up for a confession.