How did Frank Bullitt in the movie Bullitt know to check the motel where the dead woman was found?

Answer 1

I thought it was either or both of two tips he picked up from informants. One was his friend whom he met at Enrico's. Or, it was Robert Duval's character, the cab driver, who drove Ross from the airport and about the City who described Ross' calls made from a payphone. "How did you know it was long distance?" asked Frank. "He put in a lot of change," replied the Cabbie.
For years that scene simply bliew past me. Oh, duh, was that important, too? Apparently, Ross phoned the victim at the Motel.
This morning I even wondered about the what if? It was simply a lead that Frank had to follow up on and had to ask his boss for an ok before driving over there, since following the chase, he was in hot water as well as had no car. Had they not followed up on the lead, it still made no sense for man years to me.
So many elements of that film made no sense for years: why was Ross on the run?
Why the chase? Who were the hitmen? Who were the Rennicks?
But I was only 10 when it was produced and released; although grew up in the SF Bay Area, so it was thrilling to see a masterpiece filmed in our backyard.
Fun how Bullitt's GF [forget the actress' name, damn] oh Bisset, great scene with her in the beginning of the film, visiting her office and watching her at work on the project for a new fountain, the concrete stone one at Embarcadero center, new then, built later but long defunct.
He reports to the Dept. of the victim, as a strangulation. Nowadays, wouldn't our CSI oriented and spinoffs tv crime worlds leave such crime scene analysis to Medical examiners or other special agents from the coroner's office? Rather than let McQueen phone it in?
However, I should warn readers with my Bullitt caveat, how it took me many years even to begin to understand the plot and/or tone and message of this film. Masterpiece though it is, I never got it, in '68 or for many years of watching it on TV or elsewhere. Nevertheless one always dug it: the car chase, the shootout at the airport and the procedures and protocols used, very no nonsense, straightforward unglamourus police work, yet without feeling like Joe Friday, wax-work prepackaged Jack Webb melodramas. So awful, stiff and even preachy, corny, etc. McQueen's Bullitt is real white knuckle, terrifying suspenseful stuff. It is filled with puzzling events which don't seem to jibe nor make any sense, yet everything hangs on every detail because meanwhile the bodies pile up. And the City was so dirty, crooked and dangerous despite its obvious exterior beauty. Even the detectives are left scratching their heads but sweating with each minute because the killers are at large and they are clueless. Chalmers is indeed smarmy and disgusting. Vaughan's portrayal is the quintesential public servant.
That hitman's's cold, calculated attempt to infiltrate, track down Ross at the hospital and finish the job with an ice pick is really creepy and chilling. And he almost pulled it off, yet I realized after the advent of DVD's and home video, that perhaps 30 years passed before I finally got it: what the plot means, who is who, what happens in Bullitt and why. I used to wonder if anyone was to blame beside me? Was it poor direction, bad plot, bad editing, or pacing? Who knew who Director Peter Yates was in 68? By now I no longer care or worry about criticizing the flick as it has held up so well and never fails to entertain me. Very few flicks have held up well after even 10 or more years, even McQuen's. I never get tired of watching it and finally am grateful that at last it makes sense. About time I figured it all out. Thanks for your attention.
SF Pierce Captain Cook HI
[originally Palo Alto, CA]