Original subtitles

Hello, I'm calling from the trip. I'd like to... How much money was involved?

Was it over a thousand dollars?

Was it over ten thousand dollars?

The balloon is down here.

It's about 4 ,000 foot level. That's very rugged.

Looks like the nearest civilization is about 25 miles.

Okay, it's confirmed.

Everyone on board is safe. Did they say where they're evacuating them to?

Riverside. Our stringer there can get interviews. You know how it happened.

The blimp hit some high -tension wires.

Blimp what wall?

They said blimp. It's half -draped over the wires in the mountainside. We could

use some art. Good idea.

Mike! Uh, this access road was washed out in a flood last week. You think

still be out?

Oh, yeah. I've seen that country up close lately. It's rough.

We can rent a helicopter. It's faster anyway.

What's up?

Mike, we have a down blimp in the San Bernardino Mountains. I want you to

to Cloverfield Airport. We'll have a helicopter waiting to fly you out there.

Now, you should at least get aerials, but they'll probably be able to set you

down. Why don't I just drive?

No, no, no, you can't. The road to a washout's too slow anyway.

I don't know.

What do you mean you don't know?

Well, I'm just not too keen on helicopters, that's all.

I mean, you're talking about mountains here.

I mean, something made that blimp go down, right?

I'm giving you an assignment, Mike.

You asked me to get your pictures. I can get your pictures.

How, by taking a train?

Hey, I've done a lot of work up there. It'd probably be easier for someone

familiar with the area.

Are you free?

Yeah. You don't mind?

No.

Get going.

What do you want me to do?

I really don't have anything right now.

Oh, oh.

Yeah, here.

Some eighth graders made a mural for the airport.

Why don't you get me some shots of the artwork?

Right.

Surprise.

I guess Mike isn't going to be our kind of guy.

Too bad. He's telling it. It really is too bad.

Lou, I got a kind of intriguing phone call from that teacher I interviewed for

that science fair story. She wants me to meet her this afternoon.

What about?

Well, she wouldn't say.

That's what's intriguing. She was very upfront with me before.

She said it could also be helpful if I could bring someone who was black.

Take Sharon with you?

This is all too vague to go to the authorities, but I just can't carry it

with me anymore.

Tell us about it.

You know, I'm sorry, but when I said to bring along a black reporter, I didn't

think it was going to be a woman. I assumed you were... Oh, dummy.

It's okay, Maggie. Just share it with us. We'll figure out what to do.

Now, this could all just be fantasy, too.

What?

Well, there's a maintenance man at our school, Frederick, who also does odd

jobs. Like he installed a smoke detector for me once.

Anyway, he came to me with a story about doing some electrical wiring on a house

in Encino.

They needed more current to set up photo floods for filming.

What kind of filming?

Frederick thinks it's dirty movies.

They had a short or something and he had to go back and he saw some of it.

Yeah? Yeah, well, Frederick saw a child he thinks might be from our school.

He thinks she might be participating in the film.

And when I heard it, it just upset me. She could be in my class.

I teach fourth grade.

I see. Do you think we could talk to Frederick?

Well, he's very nervous. He's afraid he might lose his job if people find out

that he worked on this house.

I could try to set up a meeting.

He's black, see, and that's why I thought... Sure, I understand.

Tell Frederick we will keep his identity absolutely confidential.

And tell him he can trust us.

And now?

In a minute.

Me too. I'll walk with you.

In fact, if you didn't want to go home right away, maybe we could go out for a

drink someplace.

Lance. Not McKenna's. I hate McKenna's. Everybody's always looking at you.

Lance.

I'm seeing somebody.

Tonight?

No, he's out of town tonight.

Oh, well then... Okay.

Okay.

You know, I'm up to five miles.

Doggy. For the, uh, space shuttle.

You're jogging to the space shuttle?

No. Remember when NASA said that future astronauts would not all be the engineer

test pilot types?

At some point, they're going to take a long reporter.

Oh, well, that's just speculation.

It's way in the future.

Which is why my age is an advantage.

See, when they look around at all the journalists in the country who want to

that one guy, out of all the hunters that want to go, who do you think they

to pick?

The guy who, A, has got the background.

That's me. I had four years of physics at Berkeley.

And B, the guy who's in shape.

Good luck.

I can be very patient and very determined, Billy.

But a lot of people.

Billy! You'll see.

Donovan's going into the mountains tomorrow.

You're on the desk. Oh, what's in the mountains?

The guys in the cigarette ads.

Actually, they're not like that at all. It's a group called the Mountain Search

and Rescue Team.

Oh, yeah, when somebody gets lost in the mountains, they go look for them. While

I was heading our environmental unit when we were doing the story on the

Dam, I bumped into these guys in a little airport cafe.

I thought it'd make an interesting story for somebody to go through the training

with them.

So he assigned it to himself.

Well, sure, it'll be fun.

Well, be careful.

Oh, just hang out with him. I don't go where it gets hairy.

I'll see you in two days.

He's coming in solo. His tail prop is whacking off branches.

This guy's Navy, right?

What was he in, choppers? I think he was a lawnmower.

You guys don't get to choose your own pilots. We get what the sheriff gives

So the pilot's on salary. I mean, this is his job.

Right. We're the only ones that are dumb enough to come up here and leave a

nice, clean office.

Train 20 hours a week and I get paid for it. What are your jobs? I should know

that. I'm a cop.

Matt's an engineer.

I'm a dentist.

We got guys in construction.

It doesn't really matter. Just as long as it's a job that your boss

you might have to leave on short notice.

Well, we left Gilbert and Iverson on the ridge.

Are they planning on spending the night?

They may not be planning.

Hey, Art.

Hi, Phil. Where did we get this hot dog for a pilot? We were just talking about

that. This guy would try stuff, which is good, but you know who he reminds me

of?

Fassbinder. Oh, I hope not.

One of our guys is rappelling out of a chopper, which means you're sliding down

the rope backwards and looking back up at the bird.

With a 30 -pound pack.

Just as our man is ready to touch ground, this pilot, Fassbinder, he sees

on a ridge, so he pops up 10 feet to take a look.

Thinks maybe it's a signal from this victim we're looking for.

Meanwhile, our guy runs out of room.

You mean he goes right off the end, back first, with a pack, no way to write it.

About a ten -foot drop.

What happened to him?

He messed up his back pretty good.

Gets along pretty well now.

I saw him about a month ago.

He just had a cane.

When you're out on a rescue, you have to take chances sometimes.

But this pilot today just doesn't realize that this is just an exercise.

Well, is that going to be it for today, or what? No, we're going to go out

again. In fact, we've got a couple more hours before sunset.

Hey, Art, you gonna go with us?

Yeah, I wouldn't miss it.

Hi, Kat.

All right, so you don't put my name in the story.

When the principal comes to you and says, who told you all that?

Tell him we can't say.

How do I know?

That's what confidentiality means. That's why we have a rule to never

source so that right now, today, you can trust us.

See, the thing is, I couldn't wire the house the way they wanted and do it to

code.

Frederick, the building inspectors aren't going to know who you are, not

But the building inspectors know, but what about the police?

We don't tell them either.

Try that.

Okay, I'll take you to the house.

You.

I'm not taking a pack of reporters around with me.

Just you.

Okay.

You want me to sing?

We can pick you up by jeep on that road over there. I've got everything else

with you guys. I don't think I have to do that to get a story.

It's up to you.

You've been checked out.

You were in training. This would be our first job. Yeah.

Don't do it. I'll let you fill in for him.

It's up to you.

We'll continue in a moment here on A &E.

Wow, it was beautiful up there. Just terrific.

Fantastic. Did you see my hand signal from the chop?

Most of them.

I'm sorry.

I was just hanging out out there. I had a look around.

Spectacular. We waited for you, Art. We weren't sure if you were coming down or

not. I decided to take the stairs instead of the elevator.

We might have found you enjoyed it.

No, thanks.

I'm writing a story about you guys. I'm not becoming one. Yeah, right. You don't

have to go crazy to write about it at St.

Asylum. You do have to be crazy to hang around us, though.

We are.

Just you, Mel.

You did what you had to do. That's cool.

I know.

I'll see you guys next week. All right. Take it easy. See you.

About 15, 20 minutes. It's kind of tricky to find, but it's not that far.

Great.

It gets confusing sometimes in these hills.

is over there, the white one.

Oh, okay.

Can you wait for me?

You going in there now?

Well, yeah, that's what I'm here for.

Well, I can't wait for you.

Then how am I supposed to get back?

I don't know, catch a cab.

Do you see a lot of cabs around here?

Lady, you didn't plan this very well, did you?

Are you coming with me or not?

No.

What you got there? Panda?

A koala bear.

How come you're not in school?

I missed the bus and my mother didn't feel like taking me.

I won't get in trouble.

My name is Sharon McNeil. What's yours?

Connie Lauder.

Connie, are you sorry in this school?

No.

No?

Sometimes.

I miss school when I'm sick.

And I miss school when we have filming.

Filming?

My mother's boyfriend is a movie director.

Ronnie?

Oh, did Joaquin send you?

No, I'm Sharon McNeil from the Tribune.

Yeah? Can I talk to you for a few minutes?

What about?

About the filming.

Connie, come here.

See, I'm doing a story on children in certain movies, and I need some

background.

I don't know anything about that.

Mrs. Lauder, I know you do.

I'm sorry.

I'm going to be writing this story anyway, Mrs. Lauder.

Don't you want to tell your side?

No.

See, I'll give you complete confidentiality. Do you know what that

means if you let me talk to you, I won't use your name, and no matter who asks,

I won't say who you are.

I'll tell anyone. Not a soul, not even the people I work with.

Could you come inside?

I have to give Connie her lunch.

Sure. Oh, no, you should probably talk to David, my boyfriend, about this. He's

the director.

No, I want to talk to you.

How do you know Joaquin?

I don't.

How often do you film here?

See, this is our house.

Pay the rent on time.

Do whatever we want here.

It's a law.

You can do anything inside your own house.

Do you act in these films?

Me?

Not anymore.

Not since I put on this weight.

David said Connie's good.

She could be in commercials.

How long has Connie been acting in the films?

About a year.

David says she has the talent for it.

Which mainly means being innocent.

Because that's what the people want.

They like this kind of thing.

That's why they want kids.

Because they're innocent.

Doing the same stuff adults do.

Like what?

Everything, you know.

Uh, Mrs. Otter, don't you think that Connie's rather young?

She doesn't know what she's doing.

She doesn't know what sex is.

She thinks it's just playing.

Connie, you like to be in these movies?

No. Connie, she likes to be contrary.

As her mother, you don't object to this?

We're poor, see?

I worked until I met David.

He was a kid.

I hardly ever went out.

She pays good money.

She's old enough now to earn her keep.

How old is she?

Eight. Nine.

Right. Last month was her birthday.

She's nine.

Lou Grant will continue in a moment here on A &E.

Good afternoon.

Good afternoon. Did you snorkel into downtown, or are you just getting ready

the next flood?

Scuba diving most nearly duplicates the conditions of space.

See, all the astronauts in training do a lot of diving.

When do you have time for diving?

After I jog.

Ah. Well, just try to save the trip time for a few earthbound stories. Okay,

Lance?

Sure.

So, anyway.

These guys who spend their weekends scrambling up mountains and hanging out

helicopters are engineers, accountants, construction workers during the week.

They get paid?

They're all volunteers.

That's a good story. And they let you go on these training sessions with them?

Most of it.

Last time they were rappelling out of helicopters on ropes.

I gave it a big pass.

Good move.

You bet.

I mean, I could have done it, I guess.

What, climb out of a helicopter on a rope? Well, you're hooked onto the rope

with a metal ring, so you're not going to fall off of it.

But you're right. I got all of that daredevil stuff out of my system in the

when I was eight.

You mean when your dad was in the Navy?

Well, he never made the distinction, so neither did we.

I was up every morning at five o 'clock to make my bed so you could bounce a

dime off of it and then maybe face one of Pop's survival drills.

You ever try and spit shine sneakers?

What's a survival drill?

Getting dressed in your thickest, clumsiest clothes and getting tossed off

pier. and then making a float out of your pants and worrying about

Not sharks?

Oh, no.

Pop was worried about a barracuda snapping off the source of future

So I was, too, at the age of eight.

My Pop was quite a character.

Garbage Scout Donovan, they called him.

First ship he ever commanded was a barge. It sank.

He tried to go down with the ship. They had to pull him off.

Look, you had a busy childhood.

Oh, yeah.

And it's good to grow out of.

I, uh, I started flying lessons, you know, and I thought to be when I'm

out, we could go up sometime.

Oh, I don't know, Lance.

Those little planes made me kind of nervous.

All right, so I'll call you when I'm checked out on the 745th.

story tonight, I'm not going to be able to believe it tomorrow.

Okay.

What'd you get?

An interview with a little girl who acts in porno movies.

And an interview with her mother.

The mother talked?

Yeah, well, I had to convince her about confidentiality.

You gave confidentiality?

Small price to pay for what we got.

I think this is the best writing Sharon has done since she came here.

Terrific. She lets the mother hang herself with her own words.

Zola seems to have so little awareness of what she's doing.

That's what's so depraved.

That, and this part about an ordinary little girl who plays with dolls, and

it's seen in a film with a grown man.

Oh, Rossi, Sharon, come on in.

Nice job.

Thanks.

Rossi, you're doing the side by the psychologist?

And please reaction.

Uh...

These names, Esther T. and Sarah T., they're fictitious. Right. Yeah, well,

have to say that right up at the top.

Okay. This is local?

The Valley.

Incredible. Low.

Pitch it at the budget. We'll go with it, page one.

I just wanted to talk to you before this thing gets out of hand.

One thing.

You can't duck assignments from your city editor the way you did the other

I wasn't ducking assignments. I was merely objecting to the way you wanted

go about it. Look, you have to understand something.

Journalists live by a kind of creed.

You do anything to get the story.

I don't buy it.

Look, I didn't sign up for the French Foreign Legion here.

You can't take the attitude, I'll get the story if it suits me. But I don't

to take the attitude, I'm going to get the story if it kills me either.

But he was asking you to get killed.

Look, I don't like helicopters, all right?

I'm a good photographer.

Why can't you just use me to take pictures instead of putting me to these

of courage?

And keep a list of the things that every reporter or photographer objects to?

Only send you out on the inoffensive assignments?

You match people to assignments anyway.

This conversation is not going very well.

I was trying to give you some advice. You're giving me an argument.

This is not negotiable. We expect our staff to go after the story.

With certain notable exceptions.

With no exceptions.

Not unless the assistant city editor wants to amuse himself by going at an

assignment up to the point that you have to climb out of a helicopter.

It wasn't a case of getting a story. I had enough story without having to do

that. My point exactly.

Your example doesn't work, Mike. I don't think this whole thing is going to

work. You can get 50 examples.

Hang in there, pal.

I think you're on the right track.

Morning, Mrs. Fincher. Good morning.

I came down to talk about Miss McNeil's child pornography piece.

What did you think?

I thought it was infuriating.

Nauseating.

A terrific writer.

Oh, good.

This is one of those rare times when we really touch a nerve.

I've already heard from the mayor, the board of supervisors, and the police.

I'd like to congratulate the author. Is she in?

Sharon.

What is it, Liv?

I called Sharon.

We are working together a lot.

Hello, Mrs. Pinchot.

Good morning.

I want to compliment every one of you who has contributed to the child

pornography piece.

It was a chilling expose.

Thank you.

Joe was helping me all the way.

Whatever I could do, you know.

Now, all the reactions I have received are unanimous. That child must be saved.

Taken out of that environment.

Poor kid.

It's not too late already.

Well, immediate action can be of some help. The police have asked me to reveal

the name and location of that family.

I can't give them names or locations.

I can't give them anything.

I promise confidentiality.

That's what I was afraid of.

Lou Grant will continue in a moment.

Here on A &E.

Hello. Why don't you close that door?

Well, we got a terrific story out of it.

Excellent.

Yeah?

Well, that's our job, isn't it? To print good stories?

We give confidentiality all the time. I don't know what's bothering you so much

about this.

I'll tell you what's bothering me, Rossi.

A nine -year -old girl who poses in porno movies and a mother who lets her.

Encourages her. Well, if you were bothered by that, and other people are,

just means we did something right.

It's the way we did it, Mr. Rossi.

Face it, Rossi.

Would you have done that?

I give confidentiality. I gave it to our source. The guy led us to the girl. And

that was enough.

You'd worked your way into this story. We didn't have to throw a blanket around

it. I've got to say something here.

I was the one who was there.

And I felt that it was the only way to get anything.

She was closing the door on me.

We all know the feeling, especially when you're less experienced. You're so

concerned you're going to lose the story, you give away more than you have

did have to.

I had to take a chance.

Can you honestly say you wouldn't have got almost the same stuff anyway?

How do you ever know that?

Back to Sharon.

This woman talked.

Maybe she wanted to get back at her boyfriend. I don't know. But people do

they want to do, and this woman wanted to talk.

Yes. She wanted to talk, and I had to find a way to let her.

I made a deal.

We understand, Miss McNeil.

But it was a poor deal to make.

But you made it, and as long as you stick to it, we will have to live with

Okay, this is roughly the same situation as the Mount Wilson rescue.

We're pretending that a woman was last seen heading into a trail here.

Now, we have to search the terrain west and south of this ridge.

Which is high brush mostly, right? Same stuff we dealt with last week.

Okay, the chopper will drop you off on this ridge.

We'll be in two teams.

One team will work its way down this creek, the other down this creek.

Join up at the access road where the four -wheel drive will pick you up. Any

questions? What's for dinner?

Depends on how you do, Mel.

You jumping this time, Art?

I'm watching you jump. Okay.

I'll be back in a second. Better check in with my office.

You got it.

You're in the San Bernardino Mountains.

Say, you're pretty close to Debo Dam, right?

Well, I'm not as close as it looks on a map.

I could be there in about 45 minutes. Why?

Don't you hurt?

What? They were supposed to open the floodgates today, but protesters have

themselves in the wash area. They'll drown if the water's released.

That's a story for us.

Well, I was going to send Sweeney.

It'll take him too long. I'm already here.

You've got another story to do. Is there a time limit on this?

The governor said 4 o 'clock today.

I've just got to stick with these guys for a couple more hours, then I can head

over to the dam by late morning.

I could send Sweeney as a backup.

I've got it. No sweat.

I've had three dozen phone calls on this child pornography story. Me too.

I figure what's upsetting people is that up till now they always thought of

kiddie porn in the abstract.

You know what I mean?

But now we've gone and made it real. I mean, now they have an image of a

particular nine -year -old girl.

Good reason to be upset.

Maybe we could get Sharon to do a follow -up. A piece on the public reaction.

Well, she's in there with Lieutenant McPhee right now. Right. I'll let him

my office.

It's before the time starts asking the interviews.

You got a point.

What can you tell me?

Everything that I can say is in the story.

Well, there are always some details that you don't have room for.

There may be something that I can use and what you'd be allowed to share.

Well, I really can't think of anything.

Well, the story indicated that the house was in the hills on the valley side.

Yes. Perhaps you could be more specific about the area.

I don't think I can.

What about the school the girl attends?

We know that a teacher contacted Joe Rossi initially.

Is there a connection?

Does the girl attend the same school?

I couldn't tell you that, Lieutenant.

Naturally, we assume a connection, but if there is none, you could save us a

of wasted effort.

By not answering, are you letting me know that there is a connection?

By not answering, I'm not answering.

Did you see any of the films to verify that what these people were telling you

was the truth?

Yes, I did. A portion of one.

Where? At the house. They had some reels there, so I was able to hold some of

the film up to the light and take a look at it.

And the little girl not only posed in the nude in these films, she performed

sexual acts with adults.

That's all in the story, Lieutenant.

Well, in the story, you mentioned that the woman was on public assistance.

There was a government check on the kitchen table.

Did you get a good look at the check?

Yes, I did.

Do you know if it was a welfare check or unemployment or disability?

Yes, I do.

Which?

Miss McNeil, did you promise not to reveal what part of the government is

supporting this woman?

You know, the mayor is interested in this case.

The chief of police.

Suddenly, this one little girl has become the most important investigation

the city.

Lieutenant... They're leaning on me. I'm going to lean on you.

I can't break confidentiality, Lieutenant. You know what that means.

It means that you're honoring a pact with someone who's completely

With a woman who pushed her child into pornography.

Look, next time, it might be a drug addict.

It might be a counterfeiter. But who's going to believe me if I say I only

betrayed a confidence once?

There is a nine -year -old kid's life at stake here. Where do I draw the line,

Lieutenant? At ten?

At fourteen? At eighteen?

You cannot have sort of a principle.

To me, one human life weighs more than all the principles you can come up with.

You're sacrificing the life of a child to protect your reputation.

Okay, just stop it.

That's enough.

Sure. Just tell me who this woman is.

Give me a clue.

Nobody will ever know where I got the information.

Don't say the name, but give me a hint, please.

For God's sake, for that little girl.

No, I can't.

No.

I can tell by the way everyone's looking at me that I'm a company creep.

Everybody understands.

Every real journalist.

The ones who don't aren't worth worrying about.

Joe, you think I blew it by giving confidentiality.

We can't second guess each other on something like that. I know you've got a

great story.

But you can't be sure that I did the right thing either.

It's got to be a personal call.

Joe.

Two years ago, I was working up in Seattle, and I remember reading about

going to jail to protect your source.

Yeah. Well, did everybody come down on you this hard to get you to reveal who

was?

That was different.

Uh -huh.

It was different because everyone trusted your judgment.

No, because my source wasn't the villain of the piece.

The guy we were after was a pill doctor, some physician who was dispensing pills

to teenagers.

So your story busted, pill doctor, and you became a hero.

Not exactly. The cops needed my source to make their case.

I held out. Then my source, the kid who had broken into the doctor's office to

steal his files, the kid turned himself in.

So everything worked out.

Except that all the time I was being a hero in jail, this doctor was still

handing out drugs.

Must have put about 50 ,000 pills on the street in that time.

I still get nightmares about it. I know.

The only reason I don't have nightmares is because I'm not sleeping.

Everybody else just read what I wrote. But, Joe, I met that little girl.

I'm worried sick about her.

I thought that the way I could deal with that as a journalist was to write about

it. Well, of course.

Then why do I still feel so torn apart?

I mean, you don't doubt that you did the right thing, do you?

I wonder about it.

But I had to protect that kid.

By breaking into the doctor's office, he thought he was doing the right thing.

And he did help me get my story.

I guess it wasn't the same thing. You weren't protecting the pill doctor

the way I'm protecting these pornographers, right?

It is different.

Oh, boy. At least I thought I could count on some support from you.

You can count on me. Of course you can count on me.

This is, uh... This is real hard.

Oh, great.

Sharon, I'm trying to be as supportive as I can.

Yeah, well, thanks anyway.

to the deep old dam to cover his story.

Fine, but first you're going to the emergency room. That ankle is busted.

I've seen a lot of these and your ankle is busted. Come on in.

Lou Grant will continue in a moment here on A &E.

Hi, Lou. It's Art.

Time is tight.

Let me give you a rewrite. Lou, wait. Hold up.

What? I can't dictate.

Why not? Donovan, we got a...

Oh,

no. What happened?

What happened?

Why are you asking me?

Well, because I haven't been to the dam yet. And what do you have for us?

Uh, nothing much yet, but I'll be heading up there real soon.

Heading up there?

The whole thing turned into a Donnybrook.

Demonstrators apparently sabotaged the floodgates. There were arrests.

I don't have the total picture of it yet. I've been waiting for you to call

Where the hell are you? I'm in Griffiths. It's about 30 miles from the

What's in Griffiths?

It's no big thing.

Oh, what happened?

I broke my ankle. But I'll be fine.

I'll send Sweeney up. Maybe we can make the late morning.

No, there's really no need to do that. I can get over there in time to make the

late morning.

I could probably slink in. It's just hard to slink with these.

Good morning.

Gee, I didn't realize you were that messed up. You didn't have to come in

Yeah, I did.

How'd you do that?

Well, the usual way.

Falling out of a helicopter.

Thought you passed on it.

I thought I'd try it.

Just to try it?

I can't believe what I'm hearing.

We blew a major story because you had to see what it was like to jump out of a

helicopter?

It was more than just to see what it was like. No, it was to prove you could do

it.

We talked on the phone.

You said you could handle it. I counted on that. Then you pull something like

this. Lou, I didn't plan this. I was right.

You really didn't have to come in today.

I don't believe it. Why?

I started getting these earaches after diving, so I went to see the doctor.

Turns out I got some kind of inner ear problem. He tells me I can't die.

Oh, for how long?

Forever.

Let's see if there's more.

Because of this lousy little ear condition, I'll never be able to go into

Ever.

I've washed out of the program.

You were never in the program.

It was a lock.

I'm out.

Why is life so hard?

Look, we still have to work together on this story.

Aren't we still working together?

Are we?

I mean, do you still want to?

Rossi's schoolteacher friend read your story over very carefully, talked to

other teachers, and together they figured out who the little girl probably

They've been in touch with Lieutenant McPhee, who's making his move now.

Here's the address.

Right. Let's go.

know if we're on the right track here.

It'll help when we make our move.

When are you making your move?

Come to the back.

Hello?

Mrs. Lauder, this is Lieutenant McPhee, Police Department. Would you open the

door, please?

We have a warrant to search these premises.

Check the rooms.

We're too late.

They've gone off to another location.

Maybe another state. They'll be able to keep on doing what they're doing.

Now what chance does that little girl have?

Want to join us?

Us?

Me and my foot.

Don't you want to know if it was neat dropping out of a chopper?

Was it neat?

It was pretty neat.

And so scary.

What did you think you were doing?

I don't know.

Tommy, give me a scotch.

You, of all people, you're the last guy I'd expect to take such chances, such

stupid chances.

Maybe that's why I did it. Because that's what everybody thinks of me.

To prove something?

Maybe.

Really?

You felt you had to prove something to me.

To the other people on the paper?

No. To myself.

Oh, Jesus.

I know. I should be past all of that.

Well, I thought I was.

I thought I'd gotten old garbage scout Daddy Donovan out of my system a long

time ago.

But I guess I'm not past it after all.

No one is.

When I was a kid, about ten years old, a bunch of us were playing on a garage

roof.

And some of the kids were jumping across from one side of the roof to another

about three feet across.

And scrambling up the other peak.

Well, all the kids were leaping right across like gazelles.

But I was a chubby kid.

So I passed.

I refused to jump.

Lou, you're going back 40 years.

But I still remember it in absolutely vivid detail.

I wonder if I should have gone for it.

I probably could have made it.

I'd wear my good sneakers.

Lou.

Right.

On the other hand, I don't want to spend the rest of my life playing it safe.

I'm 38 years old. This may be my last chance to try some things.

That's why I asked to get out from behind the desk more.

Right. If you hadn't, you wouldn't have had this enriching experience of making

a fool of yourself.

I really do think a person has to try the untested now and then.

To reach beyond your usual limits, it gets your juices going. It makes you

alive.

Yeah, yeah.

A person has to take risks.

Sure.

Just not the dumb risks.

Sharon, I know you've been taking a lot of static.

because of what you did.

I just want you to know I admire you for it. You stuck by your guns.

That took a lot of guts.

Yeah, well, thanks.

Sharon. Hi, Billy. Look, no matter what you hear, everybody knows you were

taking it down for all of us. Well, thanks. No, thank you.

Sharon?

Sharon?

Sharon? Just don't tell me what a swell job I did, okay? If another person comes

up to me and tells me I fought the good fight, I'm going to scream.

What can I say? Nothing.

There really is nothing to say.

I have that little child on my conscience now.

Okay. Just let me ask you this. Knowing how things turned out, would you have

acted any differently?

I wouldn't have revealed my source had I pledged confidentiality, no.

But maybe next time I can be shrewder.

Maybe I'll be able to find a way to get the story without playing that card.

It's all part of learning.

Yeah.

And that little girl's gonna pay for my education.

Wait a minute.

Wait a minute. Come here.

Now, this story was a lot more than just learning.

You wrote a superb piece. It moved people.

Maybe we'll get more attention for this or better laws.

I know an assemblyman who's fighting to put a new bill through right now. This

will help him.

Yeah.

You accomplished a lot.

I still feel awful.

I know.

Why can't things ever be simple?

It's a funny business.

Want to have dinner and talk about it?

Oh, Joe.

Are you kidding?

I feel now when you ask me to dinner?

A simple dinner.

I'd like that very much.

He's been called one of the greatest comic talents television has ever known.

Make Him Laugh Week continues with the extraordinary life of Sid Caesar on

Biography tonight.

Now, how long can a crafty con man keep the cops guessing? Larry Hagman stars in

Police Story.

Next on A &E.