- After a series of auto-related thefts, the shadow of suspicion looms ever longer over Jimmy--a youth with a troubled past. How long can Andy rush to Jimmy's defense before his own faith in the boy is shaken?
- To modernize the courthouse "electronally," Barney has bought a new intercom system. Andy and Opie enter before he finishes installing a speaker in the far right cell (Otis' cell). With Barney too busy hanging the speaker to notice their entry, Andy, unable to resist, sneaks over to the controls on his desk, turns on the intercom, and addresses Barney through it, nearly making the deputy drop the speaker on his end and fall down. Barney demands to know why Andy did that, but Andy innocently claims he was just saying hi.
Barney explains his decision to modernize the courthouse using scientific crime-fighting methods. The intercom works both ways, so besides being able to tell the prisoners things without leaving the desk (like it's lunch time, or they have a visitor, or it's exercise time in the compound), they can eavesdrop when prisoners whisper plots to escape with each other or any other useful information. Andy and Opie immediately see the needlessness of it. Barney's first demonstration fails as Andy can hear everything Barney says in the cell without Andy turning on the intercom. Barney recruits Opie as a volunteer. Unfortunately, it fails to pick up Opie's whispers no matter how many different ways Barney tells him to do it. Finally, Barney picks Opie up and has him whisper directly into the speaker, which finally works but defeats the purpose of the installation. Andy lets Opie out to play, and with Barney going back to work on his intercom system, Andy heads out to Wally's filling station to get the new carburetor put on the squad car.
At the filling station, Andy meets up with Gomer and presents him the carburetor to put on the squad car, which Gomer figures won't improve its looks none. It's to go "in" the car, which Gomer doesn't know how to do. He's minding Wally's filling station while Wally is away for the week, and the station's backed up on repair work until Wally returns. He only knows gas and oil, water and air - water and air are free. With Wally gone, he's allowed the Hanson brothers to use the garage to lock up their car at night - brothers bearing quite a height difference from each other.
As Andy is about to leave, Mr. Carter, who runs a delivery business, marches into the filling station, dragging with him Jimmy, a teenage boy whom Andy asked Mr. Carter to hire. He tells Andy to lock up the boy for stealing his car battery. Jimmy explains that he only took the car battery out to test up a starter motor he had built. He was going to put it back, but it slipped from his hands and broke. Mr. Carter refuses to believe this story. Having no tolerance for thieves, and disliking Jimmy anyway, he wants something done immediately.
Andy sends Jimmy outside and asks Mr. Carter to take $12 for a new battery from Jimmy's pay. He believes in Jimmy and not the biased Mr. Carter, but Mr. Carter has already fired Jimmy and blames not only him but Andy as well, who referred Jimmy to him. Locking the boy up isn't the worst idea for Mr. Carter.
As Andy desires a more peaceable solution, he hears Jimmy talk enthusiastically to Gomer about Andy's new carburetor and other means to enhance the car's power. Andy, knowing Jimmy loves mechanic work, has an all-around idea for everyone's problems: Jimmy works with Gomer to catch up on the filling station's backed-up to-do list, Mr. Carter get's paid for a new battery, and Andy gets his new carburetor without having the bother of filling out complaint papers on Jimmy. Jimmy jumps at the chance, and Gomer - once Andy promises he'll make sure Wally knows it was his idea - agrees. Mr. Carter sourly tells Andy he's just asking for trouble because Jimmy can't be trusted - he has sticky fingers.
The next day, Andy happens to come into the courthouse in time to see Barney sweet-talking his current girlfriend over the phone (Juanita at the Bluebird Diner). Andy doesn't let Barney know he's there, and Barney, at one point during his sweet-talking, imitates a rooster crowing. As soon as he hangs up, Andy can't resist poking fun at Barney and asks if he laid any eggs. Barney is irritated that he didn't hear Andy drive up, and Andy explains that Jimmy has got the engine running so smooth and quiet it's easy for him to do so.
At that moment, Gomer comes hurrying in, distraught because Wally's brand new tool set is missing from the garage. The tools were in the garage when Gomer went home for the night, but when he unlocked this morning they were gone. He says Jimmy left the garage shortly after he did last night. Barney immediately suspects that Jimmy nicked the tools. Andy has to admit it's suspicious, and they head to the filling station to investigate.
The door was not forced; it and all the windows were locked, a further point against Jimmy since he has a key. Andy tells Gomer not to talk with anyone about this and ponders the problem. Barney looks at the lock further and Jed Hanson arrives to drive off with his car for the day.
Andy confronts Jimmy when he comes in to work but doesn't address the issue of the tools at all, just checking his demeanor. Jimmy is quite happy and far from guilty - even stating he admires Wally's new set of tools that he wouldn't might having himself. Andy, with a confused Barney, returns to the courthouse.
It seems like an open-and-shut case to Barney - Jimmy is guilty - but it's too easy for Andy. Andy says they will stake out the filling station, because whoever robbed it, thinking it an easy mark with Wally gone and Gomer in charge, will think they got away with it and may try again while Wally is still out of town. This requires an old-fashion all-night stakeout, which gives Barney an idea.
Barney decides to try one of his new scientific ideas to aid them. After Jimmy leaves, he and Gomer set up a camera hidden in the shelves with a string tied to the shutter and running through a series of hooks that Barney attaches to the front door so, if anyone opens it after the filling station is closed, their picture will be taken. Barney demonstrates this to Gomer by opening the door. The camera clicks, and they are pleased and feel ready.
Late that night on stakeout, Barney patrols faithfully around the building. Gomer unexpectedly shows up, unintentionally scaring Barney. Gomer explains he was just curious how things were going out at the filling station and decided to come along and see for himself. Barney supposes the word got out that he was on stakeout, therefore nothing's going happen with the criminal scared off.
Meanwhile, the trunk of the Hanson brothers' car, yet again parked in the garage, opens and tiny Prothro Hanson gets out. This is the shorter of the two Hanson brothers, therefore able to conceal himself in the trunk of the car. He proceeds to silently sneak through the filling station and steal whatever he can get his hands on. Barney and Gomer, looking around outside for an approaching thief, don't notice the activity inside at all.
The next morning, Gomer presents a list of more missing items to Andy. Barney insists he never left his post, which Gomer substantiates. Andy doesn't doubt Barney's vigilance, but someone got in quiet-like, like with a key, which Barney is sure makes it Jimmy, who has a key. Andy reluctantly goes to bring in Jimmy for questioning.
Since Jimmy only has a key to the front door, Barney is sure they have a picture. Excited, he and Gomer rush the camera to Mrs. Mason's drugstore for development.
Andy and Barney question Jimmy, their prime suspect, in the courthouse. He is upset and earnestly denies any involvement in the missing equipment. Barney tells Jimmy he may as well admit it because they have photographic proof of his guilt that the sheriff doesn't even know about. Gomer arrives, proudly saying that Mrs. Mason rushed it through the chemicals and made an enlargement for them. Barney triumphantly pulls out the picture and slaps it onto the desk for all to see, declaring it an irrefutable, scientifically reliable photo of the criminal as he slaps it on the desk for all to see. To his embarrassment, the photo is of himself taken after he set up the camera. Barney is aghast, and Andy dismisses this as a failed experiment. He turns around to question Jimmy further but the boy is nowhere to be seen. He takes this action as an admission of guilt on the boy's part, thinking he has fled town. After Andy leaves to find Jimmy, Gomer tells Barney that Mrs. Mason can print copies of the picture in different sizes if he wants. Barney, humiliated, angrily tells Gomer to hush up then storms out to join the search for Jimmy.
Night falls and there is still no sign of Jimmy. Barney and Andy return to the courthouse, weary from the long search, only to get a phone call from Gomer, who had passed by the filling station and seen someone moving inside. Andy tells him to stay well clear while he and Barney investigate.
Creeping up on the building and peeking through the window, Andy and Barney see Jimmy hooking up wires to the locked cash register. They've caught him red-handed but wonder if he's fixing to blow open the cash register. They follow him to the side door and see him attach the wires to several car batteries. Thinking Jimmy is stealing batteries, they step forward to arrest him. Jimmy stares back in fear, but a moment later, screams and yells of pain break out from inside the filling station. All three men run inside to investigate, turning on the lights.
Andy, Barney and Jimmy meet the sight of Prothro Hanson, trying to steal from the cash register but electrocuted by the wires. Jimmy quickly disconnects them and Mr. Hanson collapses. Jimmy explains that he was inspired to set up a trap of his own. Andy and Barney realize the truth of the situation when they see Mr. Hanson's small size and the open trunk of the car. Barney takes the recovering Mr. Hanson into custody while Andy congratulates Jimmy heartily on behalf of America's youth and good old-fashion scientific know-how.
The next morning, Barney is sweet-talking Juanita over the phone again, reciting a poem he wrote for her. Andy once again enters unnoticed and listens to the poem, too. The refrain, "From your hair down to your feet, there is nothin' half so sweet," is catchy and Andy picks it up and starts quoting it along with him, causing Barney to slam down the phone and ruffle up his hair, back to front, in irritation.
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