Original subtitles

Tonight on Hunter.

He's dead.

Whoever's responsible for killing the horse is also responsible for the

death. And I want you two to do something about it. You're coming out of

with four million bucks.

No one else can say that. I didn't wiggle my ass till even that Irish mule

couldn't help but notice. At least he noticed.

Stupid people do stupid things.

I think you're connected to his death.

I'll kill you!

I'll kill you!

Holy hell, it's Zephyr Blue!

Try to calm him down.

Jenny!

That's upper blue. He's going crazy.

No, no, no. You better get down here right away.

Get him out of there before he hurts himself.

Whoa, whoa, whoa.

Whoa, whoa.

Zephyr Blue kicked him.

Call an ambulance. Get my bag.

Now.

What set him off?

I don't know. He was tearing the place apart when I came in.

Chris has been kicked. I'm going to get an ambulance. Get a truck.

God's getting a truck.

Be quicker than waiting for an ambulance.

Is it bad?

Oh, no.

He's just having a wee nap, you idiot. He was kicked in the head. We're taking

him to the hospital.

Ted, what's wrong with him?

He's dead.

What? Just like that? How?

I'm going to need a hand with Chris.

Okay. Three, one, two, three. Easy.

Okay, I got his head.

is the rest of my work.

How come you always finish your reports before I do?

I use smaller words.

You know, I think I need an energy burst. Will you get me something from

machine? Something with chocolate?

Hey, you seen this?

This morning's sports page right there in the headline?

Zephyr Blue. Can you believe someone would kill a horse like that?

Well, Captain, it doesn't say kill.

That's because they haven't read the autopsy report.

The vet found a tranquilizer dark in Zephyr Blue's flank. Someone killed that

horse, and I want you two to do something about it. But that's a

That's not a homicide.

Wrong.

When the horse died, he sort of went crazy.

A couple of the employees out there at the Hidden Valley Ranch tried to calm

down. One of them, a groom named Chris Marley, got kicked in the head. He died

this morning of his injuries.

It's manslaughter. At least.

Whoever's responsible for killing the horse is also responsible for the

death.

You know, I'm not a heavy better. I go to the track four or five times a year,

but that horse was a real beauty.

Anyway, it's your case.

Hidden Valley Ranch. That's way out in the hills, isn't it?

Okay, Dale, grab your bridge if it hit the trail.

So you and your husband own Zephyr Blue as well as these facilities, is that

correct? Yes.

And you just recently mated Zephyr Blue? Nearly three weeks ago to a mare named

Reef Rider.

Now who had access to the horse this morning?

Who lives on this compound?

My husband Jerry and I, we live here.

And whenever we stud a horse, we lease our bungalows to all the parties

involved.

It keeps them from having to get a hotel room in town.

So Michael Mullenby, the mayor's owner, he's on the grounds.

And so are Wade and Bonnie Arlington, the prospective owners of Reef Riders 4.

If the breeding was successful, it's too early to tell. We'll know in the next

couple of days.

Yeah, who else?

Ted White, our vet, and our grooms, Jenny, Garth, and Chris

Marley.

We're heartbroken.

Chris was only 20.

All the grooms were trying to steady the horse. Chris had just gotten away.

Jerry waited with him at the hospital all night until it was over.

We all thought it was an accident.

And now you're here.

Losing Zephyr Blue must have set you back financially, huh?

It's not often you claim a horse for $1 ,200 and it turns out to be a champion.

But we don't care about the money.

We love Zephyr Blue like a child.

How much was he insured for?

Two million dollars.

But only for a racing injury or natural death.

We won't collect a dime.

Hello. I'm Jerry Kessler. Mr. Kessler, Sergeant Hunter. If you don't mind, I've

got some things to take care of. Certainly.

Thanks very much.

Who'd ever thought?

My vet says it was PCP, enough to kill an elephant.

Keep PCP here on the grounds, do you?

Yeah.

But just the vet has access to it.

So I guess anybody could have taken it out of his wagon. It's not like we keep

things under lock and key around here. Who'd want to kill your horse, Mr.

Gaslatt?

I just don't know.

Your wife was telling me that Mr.

Mullenby, is it, owns the mare? That's right.

Where could I find him?

He's down at our track.

This way? Yeah, straight down. To the left?

I'll be talking to you later, Mr. Kessler. Thanks.

First, the dart is filled with the medication of choice. This is an empty

Then it's simply slipped into the tranq gun like that, and then it's just a

matter of aiming and firing.

Does anyone else at Hidden Valley Ranch have a tranq gun? I have no idea.

I do know that the dart that was used was lethal. It had 500 milligrams or so

PCP, and it had to collapse the horse's nervous system like a house of cards.

How long would it take that horse to react after it was shot with the dart?

Oh, that would be almost instantly.

And it was fired at very close range. The dart was very deep into the muscle.

You know, I've put down dozens of great horses with a broken leg or that kind of

thing. It's always a great loss, but at least it's humane.

This was just plain murder.

I'd like to take the gun back to the lab to determine if it was the one that was

used to shoot Dr.

Bloom.

Sergeant, you certainly don't suspect me of anything.

Well, Doctor, you don't know of anyone that would have reason to kill that

horse, do you?

No.

Neither do I.

Until I do, I have to cover all possible odds.

Thank you.

Why does my company pay off to the tune of two million bucks?

Zephyr Blue did not die a natural death. End of report.

So why is the policy restricted?

Sergeant, does the word fraud sound familiar?

Look, thoroughbreds aren't cheap.

You might as well put $50 bills in their feed buckets.

When they don't win, people have this habit of trying to collect on them.

my horse ran into a tractor.

Yeah, well, Zephyr Blue was a winner.

You asked. Look, I don't know who offed an egg. I do know Jerry Kessler won't

get a shekel from us.

You want to move?

Mr. Mullenby.

Yes, what is it?

I'm Sergeant Hunter.

The Kesslers told me that you own Reef Rider, the horse that Zephyr Blue was

mated to about three weeks ago.

That's right.

He's a three -time winner of the Cork Stakes and once came second in the Irish

Derby.

I understand that you were there the morning they found Zephyr Blue. What

brought you to the stables?

Well, my bungalow isn't that far from the barn.

I heard the ruckus, sir.

It woke me up just about dawn.

Naturally, I was concerned, so I went over to the barn to have a look.

And what did you see?

Well, it was Kistler's regular vet, Ted White. He was on his way, and, uh...

Well, by the time we got there, Marley was lying on the floor unconscious, and

the other grooms were trying to calm the poor animal down.

Now, who the hell would want to kill that horse?

Have you talked to Wade Arlington?

No. Mr. Arlington is on my list, though.

Well, I happen to know that... Wade and Bonnie Arlington are nearly bankrupt.

You see, Wade squandered all the money his father left him, buying every

worthless thoroughbred he could find.

Sure, the man has no eye for horse flesh. What does that have to do with

anything?

Well, if my horse, Reef Rider, drops a foal sired by Zephyr Blue, Arlington

it. Now, with Zephyr Blue dead, the value of that foal becomes two or three

times more than Arlington paid for it. How much do you think?

Over $4 million.

Enough to get Arlington out of the hole, hmm?

Well, wouldn't Arlington be taking a risk killing Zephyr Blue before he found

out that Reef Rider took?

That's what horse racing's all about, Sergeant.

Risk. And Arlington's not afraid of making a bet like that.

Sure, the man has hawked everything.

Has loans out everywhere.

He's desperate.

You look into it.

You'll see I'm telling the truth.

I'll do that.

Thanks.

Well, it's kind of funny you should accuse Mullenby because he's accused

I wouldn't trust that man any further than I could throw him.

I wouldn't take anything Michael Mullenby has to say about us very

He's just trying to get even. Yeah, for what?

We bought the coat that Zephyr Blue hopefully fired with Mullenby's horse,

Rider. Our bid was substantially higher than the others, not that it matters

much to Mr. Mullenby.

He has a personal axe to ground with us.

Yeah, why is that?

My father owned a Kentucky breed farm, partnered with Mullenby.

When my father died, Mullenby claimed he was the sole owner. We sued him.

We won nearly $5 million, not that Bonnie and I needed the money.

He has considered us mortal enemies ever since.

You see, we have no reason to want Zephyr Blue dead.

We don't even know if Refrider took.

You will know that in a couple days, all right?

Possibly tomorrow.

If she isn't pregnant, then Zephyr Blue's line ends here.

And you won't have to give Mullenby any money.

And if the horse is pregnant, then you'll have a fall worth, what, three or

times what you paid for it? Did Mullenby tell you that? Yeah. Don't you see what

he's doing?

No, I don't.

He's trying to frame me for the death of Zephyr Blue. He's trying to ruin my

name. Oh, that's a little extreme, don't you think? You keep your eye on him.

You'll find extremity to be well within Mr. Mullenby's means.

They're going to know, Mullenby. Ain't going to happen, Jerry boy. Ain't going

to happen.

You're useless.

I'll kill you, Mullenby.

I'd never seen Zephyr Blue act like that before. It was like he was going crazy.

Some people are blaming him for Chris getting kicked in the head, but Zephyr

Blue was never mean.

How long have you been Zephyr Blue's groom?

Since he was born.

This was right before the Kesslers claimed him.

They saw his potential, and I just stayed on as his groom.

Do you know if the Kesslers had any enemies?

Any people that might have...

Wanted to hurt Zephyr Blue to get back at them.

Nobody I can think of.

You really loved that horse, didn't you?

When he died, I died too.

Good day to you, Mrs. Arlington.

Mr. Mullenby?

Please.

Call me Michael.

Why?

Listen, I've seen you strutting around this place.

What's a fine woman like you doing with a ponce like Wade Arlington?

Won't you?

No, can't be.

Not unless you, uh...

miscalculated during your courtship.

That glue factory he calls a stable.

What a joke.

You're boring me, Mullenby.

Well, maybe it's time for you to acknowledge the fact that you made a

Maybe it's time for you to try and correct it.

At least for a couple of nights.

And maybe it's time for you to talk to my husband.

I don't care how big your operation is.

I don't care how many times you fly over here on the Concorde. You don't belong

in this business.

You're a lowlife bastard and nothing's ever going to change that.

Come off it, laddie.

You're talking low.

There's nothing lower in my book than a man who kills a horse for his own

profit. That's a lie and you know it.

I only know that you're coming out of this with four million bucks.

No one else can say that.

You killed that horse to ruin my reputation.

Well, that's one hell of a reach.

Hard to ruin that which doesn't exist in the first place.

Don't press your luck.

There's nothing I'd rather do than whip you again at your own game.

Sonny, you couldn't whip anyone.

Everyone knows it's your wife who holds the whip in your family.

That's right.

That's where that tail belongs, boyo.

Right between your legs.

Your Honor, I'm going to take you to the baddest restaurant in the city.

And this weekend, two nights on Catalina Island.

One step at a time, sporty.

The sweetest... Honey is loathsome in its own deliciousness.

Which means?

Romeo and Juliet.

The best is meant to last.

Don't go away, Mom.

Romeo and Juliet, huh?

Romeo and Juliet.

Romeo and Juliet.

As I recall, a lot of people die in Romeo and Juliet.

What is it, McCall? I have got a hostage going you wouldn't believe.

What's that, the lottery?

Leona, she can't keep her hands off of me.

Yeah, well, it must be your personal magnetism, hmm?

What up?

I want you to tell me everything that you know about the death of a

whose name was Zephyr Blue.

There wasn't any insurance money involved. We're having a hard time

a motive.

I will do some research and development among people in the know. Now, when do

you need this for?

When do I need it? I needed it yesterday.

Look, you know how it is. If it's going to infringe on any of your time with

Leona... I love you, McCall, but nothing come between me and Leona. Not even my

favorite people, okay?

Must be your magnetism.

How you doing, Jenny?

Hi. Just fine.

Well, that's a beauty.

Yeah. What kind of horse was that?

Thoroughbred.

Yeah? How old is he?

Nine.

How can you tell that?

By his teeth.

Let me see your teeth.

Do they have little rings around them?

Where can I find the Arlington?

Down there. Look for the Rolls Royce.

Right down here? Mm -hmm.

Bye.

Is this how you get your kicks?

Prying into other people's lives?

I don't see how our financial status is any of your business. It's all a public

record, Mr. Arlington. It's a temporary setback. It's nothing major. Listen.

How much do you think Zephyr Blue's foals appreciated since his death? Damn

I couldn't kill a horse for money. That goes against everything my family stood

for. I love horses. Yeah, I know you do, but give me a ballpark figure. How

much?

Three, maybe four million dollars.

Three, four million dollars. And yes, that would wipe away most of my debts,

I swear to you, I did not kill Kessler's horse. I told you that before.

Wade!

The vet just ran a test on Reef Rider. It's positive. She's in full!

We own Zephyr Blue's coat.

Uh, do you mind if we, uh... No, not at all. Congratulations.

Our ballistics report backs you up.

The dart that killed Zephyr Blue did not come from your gun.

Seems to me I, uh, told you that before.

It seems to me I told you that we had to cover all possible angles, so... Now,

about the PCP that was used to kill the horse, were you missing any?

I checked. I couldn't tell. 500 milligrams isn't enough for me to know.

I mean, it's not enough to miss.

So they might have got it from me or they might have got it from somebody

It's the most common animal tranquilizer around.

Hey! Get away from my horse!

Who gave you permission to hunt for my horse?

I work here, Mr. Mullenby. I don't need permission.

You do when it's reef rider.

Now, you stay away from her.

What's your problem?

Hey, leave him alone. Get away from him.

Get up, you little coward.

That's enough.

He had it coming.

Are you all right? Yeah, I'm all right.

Takes somebody a lot tougher than him to hurt me. Shut up, you little runt.

Can I talk to you for a minute? Yeah, you. Come on.

You're a regular barroom brawler, aren't you?

So, what's it to you?

You know, you're not looking too good in all this, Mullenby. People don't seem

to like you.

He was handling my horse. No one touches her without my permission. Yeah.

You ever use a tranquilizer gun?

Sure. Once or twice.

Recently. I told you before, Sergeant.

If you're looking for someone with good reason to kill Zephyr Blue, look into

Wade Arlington. Yeah, Wade Arlington. I know all about it. Forget about him. I

suspect you, Mullenby. You know why?

Because you're stupid.

And stupid people do stupid things.

To the successful fruit of two great lines.

I'd like to toast the memory of Chris Marley, this fine young man who will be

greatly missed, and to the memory of Zephyr Blue, the fact that his spirit

live on in the form of a foal. I think Chris Marley would be pleased with that.

You're here.

Where's Mullenby?

Making some kind of annoying statement with his absence?

I called his bungalow and gave him the news.

You'd think he'd want to celebrate his mayor being in full.

I told him we were getting together. He said he'd be here. Well, I was sure he

was there when we went by, honey. He's going to be upset with all of us if he

thinks we forgot him. Who cares? True.

I'll go get him.

Heart arrhythmia followed by respiratory collapse followed by total cardiac

arrest. In other words, his heart and lungs gave out.

Toxicological exam showed that he died the same way the horse did.

Tranquilizer gun?

Apparently. They found a dart stuck in his ribs.

Well, the Arlington's, the Kessler's, Dr.

White, Garth, Ginny, two kitchen helpers, they were all there. Any one of

could have done it, but why would they want to kill Mullendy?

I think the key is why would they want to kill the horse in the first place?

You know, we don't seem to be getting any closer on this case. The field's

wide open. Yeah, well, the field may be wide open, but I got some ideas. Excuse

me.

You gonna drink very much more of that, darling?

I most certainly am.

Just as much...

Such as I can hold.

Or were you simply being pointlessly rhetorical?

No. No, I was just trying to calculate how long it's going to take before

completely stewed to the eyeballs.

Isn't that what you boys at the VMI used to call getting fried to the gills?

Very cute.

You were such a cute boy, Wade.

Damn it, Bonnie.

We don't need you getting filthy drunk. We both need to keep our wits about us.

You have wits?

I hadn't noticed.

Oh, yeah, it was you who threw that punch at Michael Mulanby in front of

cop, I believe.

Yeah, well, I didn't wiggle my ass all over this farm till even that thick

mule couldn't help but notice.

At least he noticed.

I don't save my old calendars or I'd be able to tell you the last time you

noticed. You know, there's really not that much left to catch my eye.

You pitiful thing.

You had to try and be a man at the wrong time.

Now we're this close to a murder charge.

Aren't we, darling?

Mullenby didn't give a damn about the horses.

He was just in it for the bucks.

He was the biggest jerk I ever met.

Well, you've had dealings with him before, huh? Yeah.

Yeah, he bought a mare here a couple of years ago.

What's the relationship between Mullenby and Kessler?

Never could figure that out.

They're complete opposites.

Kessler's a hell of a guy.

And Mullenby is a jerk, right?

You said it.

It must have been kind of embarrassing to have him slapping around the barn

yesterday, huh?

Enough to kill him?

Oh, come on.

I didn't have anything to do with that. Somebody did.

All right.

All I know is the night before Mullenby was killed, Kessler and him had an

argument in the stalls.

I don't know what it was about, but Mullenby blew up and decked Kessler. And

while he was down, he kicked the hell out of him.

Kessler rolled around trying to get out, but Mullenby flipped out. He just kept

kicking him.

What did Kessler do?

I don't know what you mean.

Well, he must have done something. What did he say?

He threatened to kill Mullenby.

Don't you look at the map lately, boy?

This is not Reno.

Put the money down, get against the back wall.

Sergeant, this is really not the time. Yeah, yeah, I hear it every day. Come

come on.

Yeah,

either do I. This is Fat Ernie. He's South Central L .A.'s resident expert on

horse flesh, and he just got you doing sex in a county jail on a bookmaking

beef.

Ernie, you ought to be more careful.

Yeah, well, maybe you could ask your vice friends to cut me a little slack

time. Depends on what you got.

There was a ton of west side action riding on whether Zephyr Blue and Reef

would produce a fool.

What, are you kidding?

Everybody knows that Zephyr Blue has a low sperm count.

Last time they tried to study him, it didn't take him. So the odds were

about 80 to 20 against the fold.

Check it out.

Then I get a phone call from the guy who wants to lay 100 ,000 on a reef rider

making a baby.

That's a high roll from somebody I never heard of.

Against the odds?

So I get a little curious.

Turns out the man's name is Nance.

And the man works at the biotesting labs.

Guess what he does for a living. I wouldn't have the slightest idea. Both

you, back up against this wall.

We

test all

species of animal sperm for fertility.

Just last week, we examined the sperm of a Bengal tiger for Zeus.

Did you ever test a thoroughbred called Zephyr Blue?

Oh, of course. That's Mr. Kessler's stallion.

Here we are.

The examination was to determine whether he was capable of being a fire.

I have a copy of our certification.

Zephyr Blue was fertile.

Do you have a backup sample here?

No, we're a testing lab, not a sperm bank.

Did you do the test yourself?

No, it was Mr. Nance.

Mr. Nance.

Well, I'd like to discuss a testing procedure with him, if I may. Of course.

Eric, this detective will...

Hold it!

Where are you going, Eric?

Did you verify the test result?

I don't understand.

standard procedure to have another lab technician verify the analysis.

I told you, Zephyr Blue was fertile. Now I've got nothing else to say. Really?

Well, I got a bookie named Ernie who says you do.

That doesn't mean anything.

I think you doctored the test results and Jerry Kessler paid you to do it.

I don't know what you're talking about.

Recognize that man?

Kessler's partner.

He was murdered.

Now I think you're connected to his death.

Not a chance.

Look, the man said no one would ever find out.

Do you have any idea how much a lab technician makes? About as much as the

Who paid you, Jerry Kessler?

Jerry Kessler.

Continue, Mr. Kessler.

Well, it was Mullenby's idea.

After he approached me about mating Zephyr Blue with Reef Rider, I tested

and he tested infertile. I told Mullenby, but Mullenby said that we

pick up a quick million each.

Now, this place isn't the moneymaker that it looks like. I needed that stud.

So after Mullenby explained his scheme, I went along with it.

And you both planned to kill the horse afterwards, right?

We couldn't chance anyone finding out that he was infertile. So Mullenby jumps

the gun, kills Zephyr Blue before he could find out if Reef Rider was

That's why you were fighting with him in the stables, right? He hated Arlington.

Mullenby killed Zephyr Blue while Arlington was still on the grounds,

for news of the foal.

He wanted to ruin the man's reputation.

We'd been artificially inseminating Reef Rider every chance we could get.

Mullenby knew that the odds were in our favor for a foal and we'd collect our

money from Arlington. And he jumped at the chance to make the breeding

think that Arlington killed Zephyr Blue, even though nobody could prove it.

You knew you couldn't trust Mullenby. That's why you killed him, huh?

I didn't do it.

Now, you can charge me with fraud and greed or even plain stupidity, but...

I didn't kill Michael Mullenby.

The DA has just filed first -degree murder charges against Jerry Kessler.

What? You don't look too happy about that.

No, I'm not. Look, see, Kessler and Mullenby were partners all the way down

line, right?

Right. They conspired to defraud Arlington with Zephyr Blue and then kill

horse so nobody would find out about it.

Yeah, so Kessler killed Mullenby so that no one would find out about their

scheme. Right. But see, I don't agree with that.

Kessler admits to fraud, but he doesn't admit to killing Mullenby. Now, I

believe... There's a couple of people out here at that horse ranch that had

perfect motive to kill Mullenby.

The stories just don't jive.

I don't think Kessler killed Mullenby.

Well, who do you think did?

I don't know.

We'd better find out.

Garth!

Hey, Sergeant.

Listen, I'd like to ask you a couple of questions about the morning that Zephyr

Blue died.

Shoot.

Shoot. See that around here and you're liable to find a trank dart sticking out

of your butt. Yeah, now you told Sergeant McCall that when you responded

noise in Zephyr Blue's stall, you went by Jenny's apartment, but she wasn't

there. Yeah, that's right. Now, Jenny's apartment is right across from Zephyr

Blue's. Yeah.

Well, how is it that you and Chris got to the stall before Jenny?

Well, things happen so fast, I never really thought about it.

she got there a couple of minutes later where do you think she was i don't know

Hi, Jenny.

Hi.

Could I have a word with you, please?

Yeah, yeah, sure. Come on in. Yeah, thanks.

Boy, you got yourself a regular museum here, don't you? Yeah, I guess you could

say that.

Kind of convenient being right across from Zephyr Blue's stall, isn't it? I

guess you can keep close tabs on it then, huh? Yeah.

Yeah, I could hear almost everything over there. I could even hear his

heartbeat.

You know, in tracing back everybody's story the night that the horse was

there are a couple of things that bother me.

You see, Garth told me that when he responded to the noise in Zephyr Blue's

stall, he and the stable boys were the first to arrive on the scene.

When he went to use the phone to call the veterinarian, he knocked on your

and you weren't here.

Yeah, I couldn't sleep that morning, so I went for a walk.

Well, you couldn't sleep because you heard Zephyr Blue kicking around in the

stall. So you went to the window, you looked out, and you saw Michael Mullenby

go in Zephyr Blue's stall and shoot him with the dart gun.

No, that's not true.

And then you followed Mullenby.

No, I went to go get help. And you saw him hide the gun.

And after he hid the gun, you came back to help the others with the horse.

After the horse died, you went back and you got the gun.

And you waited till the next day.

And before Michael Mullenby could join the others at the party, you shot him

just like he shot Zephyr Blue.

But that horse meant everything to me.

That horse was all I had.

Why didn't you go to the authorities?

Because what would they have done? They don't care what happens to a horse.

Nobody cares.

Kester's looking at conspiracy to defraud, and Jenny's looking at second

murder.

Wow. How about Jenny, huh?

Such a sweet -looking face on such an intense girl. I mean, she was so

in reality with people, all she could do is put all her energy into that horse.

It's kind of strange.

Well, her attorney's going to plead her temporarily insane, and if I were a

betting man, I would say that she gets off scot -free.

If you look at that, you go to court and your work just piles up.

You know, if you were a betting man, how'd you like to wage your dinner at my

favorite restaurant that I finish my work before you finish yours?

Well, look how small your stack is compared to mine.

You use smaller words.

Tom Jones?

Won't work.