Time Table (1956) Timeline Explained – Every Event in Order

Paul Bruckner was a surgeon whose medical license had been revoked due to alcoholism. Desperate for money, he agreed to join Charlie Norman's heist scheme. He posed as Dr. Sloane on the train to gain access to a physician's bag in the baggage car, where he could blow the safe and steal the $500,000 cash payroll.

• paul bruckner
• surgeon
• motivations
• money
• alcoholism
• dr sloane

The escape was meticulously planned according to a strict timetable. After stealing the money, Bruckner and a man posing as a patient disembarked at a remote small town with a hospital. They used a stolen ambulance to flee, then abandoned it in the desert and escaped in a stolen helicopter. The entire operation was choreographed to appear routine while concealing the theft.

• escape plan
• ambulance
• helicopter
• timetable
• heist
• desert

During the escape, Lombard, the man who played the key role as the fictitious patient, accidentally shot himself. This mishap trapped Bruckner and the money with him instead of allowing them to reach Mexico as planned. The self-inflicted wound disrupted the meticulously scheduled timetable and forced the criminals to improvise, throwing off the entire operation.

• lombard
• shooting
• accident
• escape failure
• timetable

Charlie Norman was an insurance claim investigator assigned to investigate the very robbery he had orchestrated. After meeting Bruckner and filing a false accident claim, he became the secret mastermind behind the entire caper. He recruited Bruckner for the heist and planned to disappear with his share of the loot in Mexico once the investigation cooled down.

• charlie norman
• mastermind
• investigator
• insurance
• planner

Joe Armstrong discovered that Wolfe owned the stolen helicopter used in the escape. Charlie realized that Bruckner and Wolfe had double-crossed him, Lombard had been killed to keep the deal intact. To silence Wolfe and prevent him from revealing the betrayal, Charlie killed him and staged the death to look like suicide.

• wolfe
• double-cross
• murder
• helicopter
• betrayal

The stolen money was effectively lost to the criminals. Charlie's wife Ruth discovered the money in his briefcase (after a fishing gear prank) and anonymously returned it to the insurance company. Charlie stashed his share in a briefcase to smuggle into Mexico, but he and Linda were killed in a final shootout before he could escape with it.

• money
• loot
• ending
• return
• insurance company
• ruth

Linda was an accomplice who pretended to be Lombard's wife. She was part of Charlie's plan to escape to Mexico with his share of the loot. After Bruckner was killed at the border during a routine check, Linda escaped and headed to Mexico. Charlie pursued her believing she held the rest of the money, but both were ultimately killed in a final shootout.

• linda
• lombard wife
• escape
• mexico
• shootout

Bruckner attempted to cross the U.S.-Mexico border with Linda and his share of the loot. During a routine customs check, he panicked and was killed by police. This ended his attempt to escape with the money and start fresh in Mexico.

• bruckner
• border
• police
• death
• capture

Ruth was Charlie Norman's wife. She had planned a Mexican vacation with Charlie that he had to postpone to investigate the robbery. Later, she discovered stolen money in Charlie's briefcase after hiding fishing gear there as a practical joke. She anonymously returned the money to the insurance company, effectively neutralizing one of Charlie's escape plans.

• ruth
• charlie wife
• money return
• practical joke
• fishing gear

Joe Armstrong, a veteran railroad policeman, teamed up with investigator Charlie Norman to piece together the evidence. They uncovered that the ambulance was stolen before the robbery, then ditched in the desert, followed by a stolen helicopter escape, revealing the intricate timetable the criminals had followed. As Joe closed in, he discovered accomplices leading to Wolfe and the double-crosses among the criminals.

• investigation
• joe armstrong
• evidence
• railroad police
• timetable