Original subtitles

Jerks like Charlie don't usually commit suicide.

Why are you so suddenly interested in poor, dead Charlie? All of us citizens

L .A.'s dark underbelly remember Charlie Whitewood. May his soul rest in peace.

All you have to do is tell me why, all of a sudden, the case is wide open

I thought Charlie Whitewood... You got five seconds.

Start talking. If you want the answers you came here to get, put the guns down.

Don't move her.

Somebody call an ambulance?

It works for me.

Relax, will you, Hunter?

Even if we do collar the guy, New Orleans has him. They have dibs on him

Well, we may not be able to collar this guy if he read the report on him. He

shoots first and asks questions later.

Well, listen, next time you volunteer for one of these assignments, check with

me, okay? Check with you? Why?

Hey.

Come on out of there.

I got a truck bomb in my hand, Riker. Either you get out of there or I throw

in on you.

Give him five seconds and throw it in.

Any more?

I'd just love to let you reload, but that's against the rules. You know that?

McCall and I are taking you back to New Orleans. Come on.

Where the hell have you been?

You can't leave.

Why not?

I thought Charlie Whitewood.

Look, have you slipped into some sort of a shopping coma or something? Listen to

me for a second. I saw the guy. I saw Whitewood here.

Look, are we talking about the same Charlie Whitewood that died six months

The same guy that we loathed and hated altogether?

Yes, Hunter.

Charlie Whitewood. He's not dead. He's alive and he's in New Orleans. Talk

it on the plane. Come on.

The world is full of look -alikes, McCall. What can I tell you?

Yeah, well, this look -alike ran when he saw me staring at him. Well, maybe he

had to go call his bookie. Maybe he doesn't like girls. You ever think of

You know, Captain Wyler said... Captain Wyler assigned this case to me, and

personally, I think it stinks.

Is he talking this over with Hunter?

Oh, you don't believe her either? Oh, he believes me. Just a little persuasion.

Got 2 ,000 miles of it.

Is that right? You buy this?

Look, I think we should respect your opinion. Lieutenant, here's that file

want. Thank you, Carter.

Okay. Let's see what this little can of worms has to offer us.

Charles E. Whitewood, criminal attorney.

Oh.

Your guy have a mustache?

No.

Charlie Whitewood has a mustache.

Well, he shaved it off and he bleached his hair. The guy you saw was blonde?

He had blonde hair.

Faced a felony charge, obstruction of justice, namely bribing a juror.

Committed suicide the day after he was indicted.

Lieutenant, that body was charred to practically nothing. Now, Charlie

was a crooked criminal attorney, and he was very smart.

Body identified positively from dental charts. His dental history was confirmed

by his estranged wife. Lieutenant, Charlie Whitewood cross -examined me in

dozen criminal cases with his faith shoved right up into mine. I know that

faith. Now, when that guy in New Orleans saw me, he recognized me, just like I

recognized him, because it was Charlie Whitewood without the mustache and with

blonde hair. When he saw me, he ran. He ran because he was Charlie Whitewood.

And you still haven't had the full 2 ,000 -mile treatment yet?

Our caseload isn't big enough. You two guys want to go off chasing corpses,

okay? You got 48 hours.

Well, uh, Lieutenant, now, if that body that was burned wasn't Whitewood's...

And somebody was murdered, and it was a case we never even investigated.

All right, you got 72 hours. And tell the New Orleans Police Department to put

out an APB on this Whitewood guy.

She's already done it.

I'm sorry I got in your way. Go on, get out of here.

I don't know whether to thank you or to take a swing at you.

I said I'd support you. I didn't say I'd leave you.

Well, don't you?

I don't know. You know, it kind of comes and goes.

Wonderful.

off the grill this morning, aren't we?

I've been here since 6 o 'clock.

I figure our 72 hours begins at 8. You want to hear what I got?

Yeah. Okay, there were four adult males missing in the 10 days before

Whitewood's suicide. Now, all those cases have been closed except for one.

That's George Keller, age 50, 6 '2", 180.

He was an alcoholic, and his daughter's still looking for him.

Interesting, huh? Yeah.

How tall was Charlie Whitewood? Charlie Whitewood is 6 '1", 170, 43

going on 44.

Look, I'm going to go grill his dentist.

Why don't you go and warm up your old relationship with Arlene?

Arlene Whitewood?

Well, how many Arlenes are there in your lurid past, Hunter?

Well, just one.

I stopped seeing Arlene when Charlie committed suicide. Wait a minute.

When Charlie what? That was a slip of the tongue.

You know, you must really think I'm in that case, don't you? Listen, you want

to handle this Keller case by myself?

Keller case?

Yes. George Keller. He's the guy that burned to death in Charlie Whitewood's

car. George Keller. The case we're on for the next 72 hours. Yeah, right.

Do that. I'll talk to you after lunch.

Uh, no.

I'll see you at the morgue at five.

This dentist retired to some turkey ranch out in Ohio. I gotta make a trip.

Five o 'clock.

Morgue. Got it.

How you doing, Arlene? You know, I don't know who's more beautiful, you or that

horse. Well, I'll take that as a compliment.

Well, at what?

Is this an accident or are you here on business?

Well, I would like to talk to you.

My relationships with my patients is nobody's business.

That's the law, incidentally.

He defended you in a criminal case, didn't he?

And the jury found me innocent.

You were accused of taking sexual advantage of a female patient while she

under anesthesia, right?

She was a crazy female patient.

And Charlie proved my innocence.

Well, Charlie, you knew him that well, huh? Look, I'm not going to listen to

more of this.

Not until you tell me why you're asking all these questions about a man who

committed suicide more than half a year ago.

Well, for a financially successful and healthy man like Charlie, he sure had a

mouth full of bad teeth, didn't he?

Well, money can buy you great false teeth.

The good ones are free. They come with the genes.

Did you attend Charles Whitewood's funeral?

Charlie Whitewood didn't have a funeral. His ashes were scattered at sea.

Well, thank you. I think that I got everything I came for.

Wait a minute.

You've got to tell me what this is about.

I have a right to know. Doctor, you have the right to remain silent.

And so do I.

I'll see you again. You can count on it.

Look, if you're going to question my records, let me tell you something. You

better think again.

Charlie's wife, his ex -wife, hated me, but she testified in court that he had

three porcelain crowns and two impacted wisdom teeth, and that is exactly what

my records tell me.

Knock it off!

Okay, Rick, I'll make you a deal.

For every question you answer, I'll answer one.

Why are you so suddenly interested in poor, dead Charlie?

Well, maybe Charlie didn't commit suicide. Maybe he was murdered.

What else is new? I remember asking you that at the time, why you thought you

were so sure that he killed himself.

I believe I said at the time that Charlie had committed the crime, he was

a disbarment and six years in prison.

And now you think he was murdered. Why?

Three questions.

It's your turn.

Okay, three questions.

Maybe Charlie's still alive.

Is that a question?

Sort of.

Well, if there was ever a guy who could bring off something like that, Charlie

White wouldn't be the guy.

But no, Rick, Charlie's dead, and he wasn't murdered.

He called me the day he drove his car off the cliff.

He wanted to see me.

But once in my life, I wasn't going to let him talk me into doing what he

wanted.

I said no, and I've been haunted by it ever since.

Okay.

No more questions. Let's have dinner tonight.

I'm a working girl, Rick.

Interior decorator, and I have a client tonight.

How about tomorrow?

I'm free tomorrow night, if you really mean it.

Today. No more talk about Charlie?

No more talk about Charlotte.

We'll talk about that.

Well, that's something I could warm up to in some very interesting way.

I'm not late. You're early.

How'd you do?

Well, I didn't exactly break down and confess, but it sure made him nervous.

What do you mean? Confess to what?

You know what I mean.

I keep forgetting something.

You know, you keep slipping away here, Hunter. I don't need this. I gotta get

support here, you know?

So what do you think? The guy faked the dental charts or what?

I think that he provided a dental chart that matched the burned body, and that

was a body that could not have been Charlie Whitewood's. That's all I'm

Oh, man, don't do that.

Don't ever do that.

Carlos.

Customers, we want some service here. Well, too bad.

I'm off duty. It's 5 .05, and I'm off. Goodbye.

Carlos.

Carlos.

Carlos.

We need help, and we need it now.

valuable time, may I add, can I do for you? Remember Charlie Whitewood. Hunter,

all of us citizens of L .A.'s dark underbelly remember Charlie Whitewood.

his soul rest in peace. Goodbye.

Yeah, well, never mind his soul.

Is there any chance that the body wasn't Charlie Whitewood's?

Well, if memory serves me, as it always does, the skull, the spine, and the

upper arms were more or less intact, which includes the teeth.

And the dental chart left no room for doubt. It was Charlie Whitewood.

Carlos, is there any possible way those charts could have been tampered with,

falsified in any way? It came from his dentist, Dr. Spencer.

Er, Spencer.

I stand corrected.

What are you getting at?

You got some reasons to think it wasn't Charlie Whitewood?

Would you believe me if I said I did?

I'm an artist, Dee Dee. I'll believe anything.

That's a big help.

Would you care to hear my opinion on the case?

I didn't say anything at the time because I just didn't think anybody

listen to me.

But it was my opinion then, and it is now, that the body was too well done.

What do you mean, too well done? I just had a feeling someone had helped with

that burn job.

What do you mean, helped? I don't know. Maybe poured a little barbecue helper or

something all over Charlie before the car blew up. Wait a minute, Carlos.

This could have been a murder and you didn't speak up. What the hell is wrong

with you? Who am I, for God's sake?

I'm not the M .E.

I'm not even the third assistant M .E. Nobody asked me what I think around

Well, does anybody have to ask you what you think on something this important?

What is all this about anyways, huh? What do you got?

Suspicion, Carlos, just suspicion.

Yeah, now you've deepened it.

Here we go.

Oh, hey, listen, while I was waiting for you, George Keller's daughter called.

She left a message, said she'd come by and see us on Thursday.

Why didn't you tell me?

I just did.

Let's go. Get off the street.

Possible victim's license number is 1 -Adam -David -Tiger -849.

L56, come in.

This is L56, over.

Sergeant McCall, your partner's license number was just called in. A possible

207 in progress. Sergeant Hunter's the possible victim.

Car 71 is in pursuit of two vehicles going south on 20 and east of Beach

Boulevard. Over.

L56, we'll respond.

Relax.

You listen to me, you got nothing to worry about.

Nobody wants to put you away.

Don't even want to hurt you. You hear what I'm saying?

Yeah. You got certain information. You give it to me, you walk out of here with

all your teeth and 30, 40 more years to live.

If you don't give me what I want, I have to put you away. Understand?

All you have to do is tell me why.

After Charlie Whitewood's death, all of a sudden the case is wide open again.

That's it?

I tell you that and I walk out of here?

You have my solemn oath on that, my friend.

Every six months I open up cases that haven't been solved. Charlie Whitewood's

case is six months old.

So much for solemn oaths, huh? You take it easy, friend. I

never go back on my word.

You play it straight with me, I play it straight with you.

Now, I think you should think about it and take your time.

I told you the truth.

Keith!

There's cops buzzing all over the place out there.

You know, they're looking for this dude, boss. We better get out of here.

Open the door.

License number, I think he said 1 Lima Queen Ocean 098. Did you get that? Yeah,

yeah, that's what I did.

The car is registered to Nick Bartoni, but he reported it stolen at 8 o 'clock

last night, just minutes after McCall found you.

Yeah, Nick Bartoni, I know that guy.

Wasn't he a big powerhouse in Vegas during the 50s? He lives here now,

he? Yeah, that's the guy.

The car is registered in that name at 25811 Pacific Coast Highway out in

I want to really thank you for coming by to see me. The captain wouldn't have

come by to see me. We're going to get the people who did this. They can't go

around beating on my guys.

There's no way you can identify the fellow who asked you the questions.

No, it was way too dark.

I'd know his voice, though.

You know how long I could hold Nick Bartoni on a voice ID?

About ten minutes.

That long, huh?

Yeah, which is why I'm not even going to try.

I don't want you making any moves on Bartoni without me knowing about it.

He is very rich, and even though he's retired, he's got a lot of politicians

his pocket in this town.

He could hurt the department real bad unless our case against him is airtight.

Should I give you a faint hint as to why I came to visit you?

Yes. Thank you.

I love you, Hunter, but I've got to protect the department.

Now, they're letting you out of here at noon today, and I'm giving you the rest

of the afternoon off. And by that, I mean off.

You even go near Bartoni, I'm going to have you butt in a sling. Are we clear

that? Yeah, I guess I could use the day off.

So could my head. Right, McCall?

I'm holding you responsible, McCall.

What time you got?

I just thought of another reason why you shouldn't be doing this. You're

overselling me.

Bartoni is probably surrounded by heavy muscle. How many guys did you say you

had there last night? You had five of them there.

Now, they're all probably from out of town, so my guess is they won't be

Yeah, you hope.

Look, all I want to do is hear the old man's voice. That's all.

Okay, and then once you hear his voice, you're going to turn around and leave,

right? I'm going to show him my .38 and give him five seconds to explain

himself. Hunter, look, the lieutenant made me responsible for you, so do me a

favor. Will you do it by the book?

Look, I wouldn't be in this mess if it wasn't for you in the first place.

Oh, thank you very much. Thank you.

You know, at least now we know I did see Charlie Whitewood.

What makes you think that?

What do you mean, what makes me think? Are we back to that again?

Bertone wanted to know why the case was being reopened, right?

Now, that doesn't mean Charlie's alive.

As a matter of fact, Bertone probably killed Charlie.

Come to think of it, that makes a lot of sense.

You know, did you think I saw a ghost down there or something? If you told me

that you saw Charlie Whitewood in New Orleans, I'd believe you in a second.

that. I wouldn't have anything... Uh, fell for it again, didn't I?

Every time you go for it. Every time.

Ow! Just be careful, okay?

Sure.

Okay, here's the deal. If I'm not back here by 2 .25, come get me.

You're going to knock on the door, and you're going to be invited in. You're

going to break the door down, right?

What was it my good friend Bobby Burns said?

The best laid plans have might be met.

Hunter, if I didn't have a personal stake in this, I swear I'd put you under

arrest. Yeah, I know.

Get in there. Hang by the phone, will you? Just be cool, all right?

If you don't show up on time, I'm going to come in there with 18 backup units.

Make it 20.

See ya.

How you doing, Mr. Bertoni?

Are you a neighbor?

Want if I turn this off?

Yeah, I do.

Do I know you?

Yeah, we met last night.

Aren't you the guy that owes me 300 bucks for my medical expenses?

Are you a cop? You look like one.

Then what in the hell are you doing asking me questions?

You heard of Miranda?

Yeah, I heard of him.

Wasn't he the guy that got off scot -free after making a full confession?

Why don't you get lost before I call some cops that know the rules?

Yeah, well, I know the rules, and so do you.

Kidnapping, battery, threatening a man's life. You broke those rules last night,

remember? You're going to make me get out of this chair and go call the

sheriff's office.

Let's see, what was it you said last night?

Oh, yeah.

Want another 40 years to live.

Don't tell me why you opened the Whitewood case.

I want to know why you want to know that.

You're offering me another 40 years? I'll take it.

You got a dinner date tonight?

I always have a dinner engagement.

If you want to make it, you'll talk to me.

And if I don't?

I told a very good friend of mine I'd give you five seconds. How does five

seconds sound?

I haven't been afraid of guns since I'm 20 years old.

Mr. Bertone, what I've got is diminished capacity. You know what that is?

Which means I can't be held responsible for what I'm about to do.

You're crazy.

Yeah. I want to know about the Whitewood case.

You've got five seconds.

Okay.

All right, I'll make a deal with you.

I could care less about your digging for Charlie Whitewood.

I was only doing a favor for a friend of mine.

You let me call her.

Tell her I'm being threatened by some nutso cop.

She says it's okay to tell you what you want to know. Great.

Not. You're just going to have to kill me.

Does your phone have an extension?

My extensions have got extensions.

Here's your extension.

Any developments?

Yeah.

Remember that cop I had a little conversation with last night?

He's sitting right here listening to this conversation.

You're putting me on.

Do you want to say something?

Yeah, who is this?

Nick, what the hell's going on there?

Are you at home?

Maggie, this guy is bonkers.

He's threatened to kill me if I don't tell him why I was asking about

You got that, babe?

What shall I call the cops?

Are you nuts?

He'd have the job done before they got here.

Now, should I tell him what he wants to know, or should I tell him to get lost?

Hey, you, are you still on the line?

Yes, I am. Well, I live in the colony.

I'll be there in ten minutes.

Well, you better come alone, lady.

Nick, I'm coming over there, and I'm coming alone, as you know.

I'll leave it up to you to convince this jerk that I won't bring anybody with

me.

So convince me, Nick.

Convince you?

How? She's as nutty as you are.

Don't you recognize her voice?

No. Who is she?

Would you believe Ava Fontaine?

If there's a Dee Dee McCall in here, you're wanted on the telephone.

Yeah. We're going to have to move that preempt time back to 2 .40.

I'll leave another half hour to get the information I need.

Hunter, does somebody have a gun to your head?

No, I'm sitting right here with Nick Bartoni.

We're alone.

Now, Ava Fontaine's on her way over here. She'll be here any second. That

the information.

Ava Fontaine? Is that some kind of a code message?

McCall, do you want the answers to Charlie Whitewood or not?

If you do, stay there till 2 .40. You got that?

Hunter, if anything bad happens to you, I'm never going to forgive you.

Century City, Santa Monica, and Constellation.

All right, come on, boys. In, in, in!

And Maggie, Ava to you and her millions of fans, saved my bacon years ago.

She loaned me $300 ,000.

As you probably know, whatever Ava wants, Ava gets.

That's the way it is.

Want to say something?

You guys are great.

Come on.

Get up.

Get over there.

You two, come on, move it.

Tell him to put those guns away.

Put those guns away.

Listen, Wyatt Earp.

If you want the answers you came here to get, put the guns down.

Okay, come on down, Ms. Fontaine. We'll talk about it.

Well, what do we do now?

Flip a coin?

Why? Find out who goes first.

You can go first.

Why? Because that's the way it works.

Uh -huh, no.

I don't like one -way streets.

I walked one once in Gower Gulch, and a guy named Howard was directing the

traffic.

I haven't walked a one -way street since.

Now here's what I want.

I'll give you the information you want first, okay?

But you swear to me you won't bring any charges against my friend Nick or his

boys.

Okay. Go ahead.

Charlie Whitewood defended a close friend of mine two years ago.

And we became very, very well acquainted.

Charlie fell in love with me.

He got a legal separation from his wife and moved in with me.

Then one day Charlie got into trouble.

Got caught rigging a jury or something.

And I woke up one afternoon and found Charlie gone.

Charlie and about...

$2 million worth of jewels, bearer bonds, securities, cash, gone.

And the next day, he drove off a cliff.

That's it.

The whole sad, strange story.

Now it's your turn.

Well, you haven't heard from him since, huh?

Is that a joke, or do you believe in ghosts?

You mean that's the answer?

Charlie wasn't in that car?

He's alive.

Well, I don't know.

Oh, come on now. We've made a deal here.

And there's one thing I was pretty sure of at the beginning, and I still am.

Jerks like Charlie don't usually commit suicide.

You're right, they don't. At least Charlie didn't. Who the hell are you?

Ava Fontaine, this is my partner, Sergeant Dee Dee McCall.

She's about 15 minutes early.

Yeah, I know. I couldn't wait.

I didn't like the sound of that phone call.

And, Fontaine, I heard what you said, and Charlie wasn't in that car.

I saw him in New Orleans just a couple of days ago.

He is alive.

Sorry, Ava.

I guess I steered you wrong on that one.

I told her I figured Charlie took the jewels and the bonds and tried to fence

him. Then the fence ripped him off and killed him.

I'm going to be putting a $50 ,000 reward on that creep's head, so don't

looking for him.

Well, uh, we're not allowed to accept rewards.

You're pretty cute for a cop.

You ought to try my racket sometime.

Takes even more guts than yours.

Send me the name of your favorite charities.

You find Charlie, you're a pair of philanthropists.

How many backups you bring?

Six. All right, good.

Okay, you guys, get over here.

Take a walk on the beach, huh?

Mr. Bartoni, get out of here.

I remember you, always right on time.

And I remember you, always beautiful and ready. I was just fixing a drink. What

happened to your head? I fell down.

You still take soda water with a twist?

I gave up the twist.

Well, I'm making myself a martini. I might even have two, so why don't you

down and be comfortable?

Nice place, Darlene. Thank you.

Probably doesn't count without the booze, but what'll we drink to?

Us?

Let's see. Let's drink to Charlie.

Hey, come on. That isn't funny. Besides, you said no talk about Charlie. Yeah, I

know I lied.

What's going on here, Rick?

Well, I lied to you about why I wanted to talk about Charlie.

The fact is, Arlene is alive.

I said this isn't funny.

Yeah, my partner saw him in New Orleans.

Are you here to take me out to dinner, or are you here as a cop?

Well, it all depends on you.

How? Well, the body we found in Charlie's car had a lot of dental work.

Crowns, caps, that sort of thing.

Yes, and his dentist verified that.

And you confirmed it? Yes.

Why shouldn't I?

Because it wasn't Charlie.

You're in trouble, Arlene. And you and that dentist friend of yours are

accomplices to murder before and after the fact.

Listen, Rick, and listen good.

I got absolutely nothing from Charlie's death. He thought he was going to live

forever. He didn't even have an insurance policy.

I don't care if he killed himself, if he was murdered, or he didn't die at all.

Arlene, Charlie's problem with the jury tampering situation started two years

before he died, three months before you two separated.

Now, he had just met Ava Fontaine. Now, she was loaded with all kinds of

negotiable goodies like cash, jewelry.

stocks and bonds, things like that.

All Charlie had was his reputation and a license to practice law, which he was

going to lose as soon as he went to prison.

So you see, you and Charlie had this whole thing worked out before you

separated. And that hurts you, doesn't it?

Hurts me? What the hell are you talking about? Hurts me.

You enjoyed our little affair just as much as I did.

Don't move on her.

Just put your hands to the back of your head.

Bring us together.

Hiya, Charlie.

Back up.

Get back.

Turn around.

Get his gun.

Be careful.

Where's your partner, outside?

No, she's home watching television.

Call her.

Tell her Orlean wants to make a statement. You need her here for

What for?

So he can shoot us both?

No, so I can keep you both tied up, if you'll excuse the pun.

Long enough for the two of us to get into Mexico.

You'll spend a cozy evening together.

Housekeeper will find you around 9 a .m. if she's on time.

Then you can try your luck at telling the world that Charlie Whitewood is

alive. Give her the number.

Don't say anything wrong, or I'll pull the plug on you.

And I mean that both ways.

What's her number?

Hello? Yeah, McCall, I hit pay there. Marlene wants to make a confession, so

don't you bring your tape recorder and get over here?

Where are you?

2023 San Ruo, Pacific Palisade.

I'll be right over.

Right.

the back of your head.

Very good, Hunter.

I knew you'd be reasonable.

Hey, Charlie, you've got my gun. Can I put my hand down? Just leave them right

where they are.

That little separation was just the first step in a big scam of yours, huh?

Poor Ava. Shut up.

He moves a finger, shoot him.

the paperwork on Arlene White.

I just talked to George Keller's daughter.

Her father's dental history matches the chart that Arlene in the dentist said

with Charlie.

Well, I guess that does it.

Okay.