Two hands grab he ladder rung - the top bar of a roof ladder on a fire escape - as a fugitive is being chased across a flat San Francisco city rooftop.Crawford was asking him to return to his job, to catch the killer who was working on a "lunar cycle" - with a little more than 3 weeks until the next potential murder during a full moon.A haunting, melancholy trumpet solo provides the musical backdrop for the title sequence.Set in 1937, the first scene opens in the upscale office of a Los Angeles private detective-hero, an overdressed character named J." Paulie made a wish before blowing out the candles ("I wish I wasn""t in this nightmare"), with assistance from Rocky, Jr.