Original subtitles

Is anything wrong?

No, not a thing, baby. You know, this whole thing is gonna break wide open, I

can feel it.

I think the answer's still back at that club, The Cradle.

You want time and money to go undercover as a singer?

Please, Wilcox!

Want to take the air out of that?

Hey, turn the sound up.

I want to hear that.

The car is registered to Rockstar Zach Sherman.

Sherman, who was divorced last year after a stormy marriage to rock vocalist

Gina B., has been missing for over two weeks and is expected to be the victim

foul play.

I'm speaking with Detective Sergeant Dede McCall from Metro Homicide

Sergeant, what can you tell us about the reports that Gina B. filed battery

charges against Zach Sherman last year?

Well, they were filed and withdrawn after the divorce.

Has the possibility of suicide been ruled out?

No, but it hasn't been seriously committed either. We just found the car,

the body.

Well, is there any evidence to indicate that this could be something other than

an accident?

I'm not really at liberty to discuss that right now.

Excuse me.

From the South Bay area, this is Inez Pedroza for the All News Channel.

Hi, Hunter.

I have absolutely no screen presence.

I guess that's why they decided to interview me.

You should enroll in one of those classes.

Those acting classes that teach you how to get in touch with your most inner

feelings.

You have such wit.

Good night.

All right.

Well, I don't guess we can get any better than that, huh?

Hey, Larry, thank you, baby.

Yeah. They found the car.

The car.

That's all.

Move outside. I want to talk to you for a minute.

Is anything wrong?

No. Not a thing, baby. Oh, very good.

Me and the guys are going over to the cradle for a couple drinks.

You want to come with us? I'm popping.

No, I'm too tired, baby.

Okay, can I wake you up later? Well, you can try.

I'll do better than that. I'm counting on it.

Oh, Sam, thanks for everything, and thanks for bringing me back.

Hey, no problem, baby.

You have a good time. All right. And you sounded real good tonight, baby.

Thanks. Okay, bye -bye.

You know, this whole thing is going to break wide open. I can feel it.

All right. Now, what's going down with that broad?

Will you stop worrying?

I'm meeting her tonight, right here.

Let's do it in a minute. But close it out. And I don't care what it takes.

Do you get my meaning?

It's done, Sam.

I told you not to worry.

It's not funny anymore, Hunter.

It's Charlene.

Charlene? I haven't talked to you in years. How have you been?

I've got to talk to you, Dee Dee.

It's about the case you're working on.

Zach Sherman?

What about it?

Not on the phone.

Where are you?

I'll meet you at the cradle. Yeah, I know where that club is.

When do you want to meet?

Let's say about an hour and a half, 1 .30.

But don't go inside.

Stay in the car.

I'll find you.

Charlene, look, can't you tell me a

little...

Dad?

You in here?

Dad?

You alone?

Yeah. Good.

Did you bring it with you?

No.

I'm calling off the deal.

What the hell are you talking about?

I mean, just forget it.

I don't want any money.

Tell Miss B not to worry.

I'm cutting out.

Until you give me the merchandise, you know.

I haven't got it.

It was a scam.

It doesn't work that way.

You've got a buyer here.

I haven't got it.

I never had it.

Okay.

Okay.

Who does have it?

Yeah? Wendy?

Dee Dee?

Yeah. I don't believe it. I haven't seen you in ten years.

I know, ten long years.

So I heard you joined the police force or something.

Is that why you're here?

Yeah, may I come in?

So, is this an official visit?

It is in a way, yeah.

I'm afraid Charlene is missing.

Yeah?

You mean someone cares where she is?

She's probably hiding. Why?

Is there a warrant out for her arrest?

Wendy, I think that Charlene might be in some trouble here.

Look, she called me last night. She sounded very upset. She sounded scared.

She asked me to meet her. I waited for her, and she never showed up.

Well, I'm sorry if I can't get worked up about it.

I washed my hands of her years ago. I'm real sorry to hear that.

Do you have an address or a phone number on her?

Yeah, yeah. She wrote me a letter about three months ago. I have it around here

somewhere.

I never answered it.

You know, Wendy, no matter what may have happened between you and Charlene, she

is still your sister.

Oh, yeah. She reminded me of that every time she hit me up for another loan.

Look, I... Um, I need an appointment in an hour, and I'm not waiting for it, all

right?

This is where she lived three months ago.

Thanks.

Looks like somebody broke it open.

Hey, hey, hey, hey. Come on now. It's against the law.

I'm impounding it as evidence.

Whoa.

Nobody saw him.

Well, I don't want to leave this mail back out there in that busted mail box.

Leave it with the manager.

I think I ought to leave it inside, make sure she gets it.

So what are you going to do now, pick the lock?

I won't enter. I'll just open the door and drop the mail in.

Had a big breakfast. My timing's off. Give me a break.

Now we know she's in trouble.

Miss Charlene?

Yeah.

I might need this.

Oh, no.

Oh, jeez.

Don't move.

Please.

You're cops.

Oh, man, thank God.

You happy about that?

If you were looking down the barrel of a cannon, who would you like to find out

was on the other side?

Okay, move over here. Spread out.

Hey, man, I'm clean. I ain't carrying. I ain't holding.

Yeah?

Well, you're holding a lockpick, for starters.

Lockpick? It's a nail file.

Well, that's for you, then.

Why'd you break in?

Charlene's a friend of mine. I ain't seen her in four or five days. I thought

maybe something happened to her.

Got some ID?

Yeah.

Scott Raymond David?

You can call me Scooter. Everybody calls me Scooter. Where do you know Charlene

from? I'm a musician. She's a singer. We got mutual friends in common.

Zach Sherman be one of them?

No, but I know who he is.

You guys figure out what happened to him yet?

You date Charlene, do you?

Sometimes. She's a free soul.

So am I.

So what happened to your scooter? A drug addict get caught short?

No, Charlene ain't into dope or anything like that.

I could check around, ask some questions, see what I could shake loose.

Yeah. You do that.

You could find me here or at the cradle.

It's a rock club.

Well, it was real nice meeting you.

Can I have my nail file back, please?

Thank you.

What planet do you think it is?

I don't know.

L -56, request any wants or warrants on a late model BMW California license

plate Lawrence Peter Charles 098.

Roger, L -56.

Well, he spotted us. That tells us something.

I just got a little bit too close.

Your friend, Scooter the Spaceman, stiffed us on his number.

Doesn't surprise me.

What have we got here, Sergeant?

Charlene's mail. I thought you were going to leave with the apartment.

I forgot.

You didn't forget? This is a federal wrap. I don't want to have anything to

with this. It's evident.

There's nothing there except for chunk mail and ads. There is one thing,

however.

Phone bill.

Eight toll calls to the same number.

Want to check it out?

Yeah.

I don't want any, okay?

Jed Wilcox?

We're with the police.

We'd like to talk with you about Charlene Lindquist.

What about her?

Well, she called you a couple of times last week. What about her?

Drugs. You saying she's a drug user?

She uses drugs.

She's a speed freak. She'll joy pop, free bass, speed ball, you name it. I

her I haven't got any connections.

I'm out of the drug scene.

You're talking about the same person here? This girl's a singer.

Once, maybe.

Now she's your all -purpose junkie.

What do you do for a living?

I'm in the music business.

You didn't know Scooter Davis? Yeah, why?

Where can we find him? I don't know.

Have you tried the cradle?

Do you mind if we go inside and talk?

Damn right I mind.

I got a lady in there.

Probably someone we should talk to.

Not unless you've got a search warrant.

Well, I think we've got time to get one of those. Why don't you wait here with

him? Excuse me.

Okay.

Okay, huh?

Come on in, officers.

Who was that?

Don't you think a time you're too hard -nosed has read me my rights?

There'll be time enough for that.

Charlene Lindquist.

She's beautiful.

Think she's in here?

I hope not.

Let's take a look right here.

Nope.

That's not it.

Let's check next door.

You want time and money to go undercover as a singer?

That's right.

Look, Captain, I've done it before, and I can pull it off.

I had a band when I was in school. I've always kept up with music. I can do it.

But this cradle place, that's a little over your head, isn't it? They give

unknowns a shot on weeknights. Now, I know that if I can last a night or two,

that I can get the information we need.

How dangerous is it?

Well, I don't sing all that bad.

You were just on TV the other night.

Talking about Zach Sherman.

A lot of people saw you in the phone. I know that, but it was only for a couple

of minutes and it was on the late night news. Captain, this is no more dangerous

than covering a homicide suspect.

You've also got two people both missing with close connections to this cradle

joint. And Zach Sherman?

Isn't he connected to it somehow? Yes, that's right, but that's exactly why I

think I ought to spend a little time at the club.

Hunter know about this?

Yeah. He doesn't think I ought to do it.

It's because one of the missing persons is a musician whose name is Scooter

Davis, and he got a real good look at me, and he knows I'm a cop. But the odds

of a missing person showing up at that club on the same night I'm there are

slim.

And besides, the other missing person is a girl whose name is Charlene

Lindquist.

We practically grew up together. Captain, I really want to do this.

How much is it going to cost?

Very little.

I have friends that are professional musicians.

They owe me a favor or two. I'll put together a couple of songs. We give it

this guy named Sookie at the Cradle, and if he likes it, we're in.

Okay. Do it.

Thanks.

I can't say I'm unhappy we didn't find her. Me either.

Hey, where's the little fox?

She's in your field.

Oh, excuse me.

I haven't seen you before.

I've been traveling around a lot. Just came down from Seattle.

So you can go anytime, huh?

Yeah.

Okay. Be here like early.

8 .30, 9, like that there, huh?

Great.

56.

Hunter, do you want to be patched through to Carlos?

He says it's important.

Yeah, patch him through.

Hunter, a DB just came in, and I'm afraid he's your friend. But you want to

check it out for yourself, right? You know me oh too well, Carlos. I'm on my

way. Thank you so much.

Gina B., this is Sam Pruitt. You were really, really good. You got no fear,

that's half the battle. Sit down. Stay a while. Thanks a lot. Yeah, that was

beautiful. That's wonderful. Thanks a lot.

Miss Figg, I love you. I think you're great.

Well, thank you. Thank you very much.

I like your work, too. Listen, you going to get up and do the numbers?

That's my thing.

And the cradle keeps on rocking with... Jack Duff! Let's hear it!

me for a second, baby. Why don't you ask him to come over?

Yeah, okay.

Okay.

Listen, I'm going to go, uh, join my band in the bar up here. Oh, why don't

stay? I want you to meet this guy, Chad Wilcox. I think he'd like you.

Uh, how about if I come back again later, huh? I'll take a rent check.

Oh, all right. Good night, honey.

Take care.

So what happened to the young lady?

Oh, she wanted to be with her friends.

Chad, you found business a pleasure?

For you, it's always a pleasure.

What's her name?

Mocton.

Listen, I think I blew my cords out on that last set. I don't think I can do

another one. All right, listen. You guys are having a drink at the bar.

You go up, you have a shot of booze, you'll be as good as new. Hey, you did

fine.

He burned me. Let's go.

So tell me where did Carlo say he found Charlene?

They found her in a...

Run down Motel with a syringe laying next to her.

Hey, I don't buy that Charlene called Wilcox for drugs. I just don't buy that.

Well, I don't either.

She was also beaten up pretty badly. Might have been an overdose. Who knows?

don't think so. I believe she was murdered. And now tonight, well, we find

that Wilcox is tied in with Zach Sherman.

Well, let's go tell her sister.

I don't want Wendy finding out about it on TV.

I know there's somebody in there. I heard them.

Miss Lindquist? Pull in!

I'll check Wendy.

You have any idea at all what they were looking for?

No.

No, I asked them what they thought I had that was so important, and they just

started to tear the place apart.

It's got something to do with Charlene, doesn't it?

Answer me, Dee Dee. It's Charlene, isn't it?

Charlene's dead.

Big, tall cop with a woman partner?

All right, get lost. Call your travel agent and take a trip. I don't want to

you for at least a month.

Sir, we came up empty, Mr. Pruitt. Yeah, forget it. Work on your tan.

I'm going to Canada.

Yeah, whatever. Just don't send me no postcards.

Really scared.

First, Ted telling us all these crazy stories about undercover cops, and now

this, whatever this is about.

Look, take it easy, baby. Everything is under control.

But the police know about Scooter, too. They asked Jed Wilcox about him. We will

find Scooter, baby.

Now, you put this in my hands, let me take care of it, all right? I should

never called on you for help. I should just turn myself in. Now, forget that.

There was a time when you could have done that.

But that time is gone.

Yeah.

And Jed.

Thanks.

He's found Scooter.

Hey,

Jed, what are you doing here?

What's the matter with you?

You're nervous.

You snuck up on me. I didn't hear you coming. I'm just sitting here waiting

somebody. Well, yeah. The guy you're waiting for called me. Why?

Because I paid him to find you and to call me.

Because you and me, we've got some business to transact.

Hey, man, I don't have nothing that you want.

But you do.

You got the videotape.

Tape? The tape.

The one Charlene tried to sell me? I don't know anything about any tape, man.

You got it from Zach's apartment, and you gave it to Charlene. But Charlene

rid of it.

That means you got it.

Now, where is it?

I don't know. I swear.

You are going to give it to me straight, little man.

Or I am going to blow you away right here.

I was never going to use it.

I wouldn't try to blackmail Miss B.

Neither would Charlene.

We were very high the night I let her look at the tape. And we talked big for

while. Too big.

Charlene, she threw that tape away.

Well, my boss is not going to buy it, Scooter.

He says I've got to clean things up right now.

Now let's go get it.

Move. Please, Wilcox, please!

Now we've got to find out who hired Wilcox and why.

Yeah, I think the answer's still back at that club, the Cradle.

Cradle, huh?

Yeah.

You don't think Wilcox told them your cop did?

They won't be surprised when I flash my badge.

Or whatever you might flash.

Yes, whatever I might flash. You have the dirtiest mind of anyone I've ever

It's true. It's true.

You're giving them too much space.

You forgetting their cops?

Any closer and they'll spot us, man.

You are not welcome here. Out.

I want you out.

Look, you lied to me, and you made a damn fool out of me, and I want you out

here. As soon as we're finished, we'll leave.

State your business.

We'd like to talk to you. Not you.

I am not talking to you.

State your business.

Jed Wilcox? He came in last night and met with a guy. Who was that?

His name's Sam Pruitt.

And he's financing Miss B's comeback album. Why?

Ring a bell?

Yeah. Before he got into the music business, he was in the drug business.

Anything else?

Yeah, you know Scooter Davis.

And so?

Well, Jed Wilcox murdered him yesterday.

He also murdered Charlene Lindquist.

Why?

Why would anyone do that?

That's what we're trying to find out.

It doesn't make any sense.

I mean, they were just two sweet losers, you know?

What can I do? How can I help?

Wilcox was looking for something. He thought that maybe Scooter or Charlene

it. Like what?

Well, we don't know.

Could it be something small?

Like a paperback book?

It could be anything. Why do you ask?

Because when Scooter had no place to live, which was most of the time, he

had his mail forwarded to me.

I've been getting stuff for the past couple of days, mostly just junk mail.

But there's one package the size of a paperback book.

Can we see it?

Yeah, sure.

Hey, Mac, the package for Scooter.

Thank you.

It's made out to you, Suki. Mind if we open it?

Yeah, go for it.

Got a VCR?

No, sorry.

I've got one in my house.

Let's go look at this.

Thank you.

Yeah.

He's got the cassette.

They've got it, and we're on him.

I just want to see.

I think we're watching an X -rated movie.

Recognize the stars?

Yeah. Zach Sherman and Miss B.

Well, I can't watch that. This is too strange for me.

I'll watch. Make some popcorn.

Oh, you are so sick.

Evidence. Got to watch it. I'll give you a blow -by -blow description.

Zach was your main man, right?

Stop!

Stop!

Stop!

Hello?

This is Gina B. Let me speak to Sam.

Sam Pruitt.

What's that?

What?

Sally must have got Hunter.

Let's get her.

I got a better idea, lady cop.

You throw out your gun.

No deal.

Freeze, police.

Don't shoot.

Put the gun on the floor.

Very easy. Put your hands behind your head.

ambulance and some backup.

You have the right to remain silent.

My lawyer's name is Jake Ritchie. He's in the phone book. I'm sure he is.

Yeah.

I don't like this.

I don't like this one bit.

We've got to find Zach Sherman's body.

Why, Charlie?

Look, Pruitt is guilty of murder when we know that. The district attorney is not

the least bit worried about his case. He said that they're tight.

Well, what about her?

Mr.

Miss B.

No body, no case. She is going to escape free.

Now, why do I get the feeling you two don't care if she gets on?

Captain, this woman was abused for ten years by Zach Sherman.

If she did kill him, the tape makes it clear that she did it in self -defense.

So she walks?

Charlie, look.

Where are we going to find a jury that's going to convict her of murder without

a corpus delecti?

And you two have no idea where Zach Sherman's body is, eh?

We'll look for him on the way home.