Original subtitles

Luke Stokes collapsed in his dressing room right after the fight.

He's dead.

What was the punch that did it, Ray?

It was my right overhand lead.

It was lethal. He had no defense...

he's what boxing needs now more than ever.

A good, clean-cut, all-American boy.

I don't care what you found or didn't find, Dr. Quincy.

He was drugged.

I'm not gonna let go. And if I find out that this fight was fixed,

I'm gonna hang on till everyone connected with that pays.

Quincy!

You scream, sweetheart, I'm gonna hit him again.

Don't holler.

As expected by the experts,

the young Ray Ringo noted for crowding and pressing,

and overhand right hand lead is unable to penetrate.

The great boxer punches with jabs and dances, and avoids punishment,

Yes, there is young Stokes in the red trunks.

Great left hand jab, stabbing, and the crowd seems to like this fight.

The young boy's trying to penetrate the defense,

Just able to land a few body punches,

but there's that great left jab and it's scored by Stokes,

Midway through round three of a fight,

that can mean a shot at the championship for the winner.

And up till now, it's still six to one in favor of Stokes,

giving a boxing lesson to the young heavyweight Ray Ringo.

Dancing away from Ringo's overhand right...

Ooh, is that Stokes a natural or is he a natural, huh?

He's killing them. He's tying Ringo up in knots.

Are we watching the same fight? Stokes' gonna lose.

Are you blind or something? He's way ahead.

He's ahead, but not way ahead like he was in the first two rounds. Look at him.

He's puffing, he's getting tired.

He's not tired. He's pacing himself.

He's gonna finish like a tornado. Right, honey?

Right. Would you pass me the salt, please?

Here you go. Who do you think is gonna win the fight?

I call it for the Marquis de Sade. He wins anytime

two men brutalize each other for the entertainment of a mass audience.

Ah. We'll have to talk about this.

All right Danny, instead of the $5 bet, dinner, double or nothing.

Okay, either way I can't lose.

That's right, you're gonna have to eat your own food.

That's it. Talk to him, Ben. Talk to him. Teach him everything you know.

What a wonderful man you are.

Who's Ben?

Ben, he is the best fight trainer in the business.

Oh. Are you gonna eat your potato chips?

There we go.

Hit him, Luke.

Come on.

Leaning on the rope, sighing.

Hanging over the second rope, he is out.

The referee says it's a" over.

The doctors are...

No reason for a ham-and-egger like that to beat him.

Okay, Stokes is good. He's just got him on the wrong night.

Oh, I'm beginning to know the feeling.

Oh, I'm sorry, girlie.

It's been a pleasure, Ms. Adams.

Goodnight, Danny. Goodnight. See you, Doc.

Where's, uh, my tip?

I'm a sore loser.

Oh, he gets me every time.

I didn't know you felt that way about prize fights.

I can't believe you're the same gentle, caring man

I've been seeing for the past three weeks.

Of course I am. Why?

So, how can you get that carried away by a boxing match?

Because I'm a klutz.

And all klutzes need heroes.

Can't you understand that?

If you wanted understanding, you should've dated Dr. Joyce Brothers.

Well, she's married.

Besides I like having you in my corner.

Quincy.

I don't believe it.

What do you want?

What's the matter with your telephone?

I took it off the hook. Why?

I don't wanna be bothered.

Quincy, the sports arena's been trying to call you.

They finally got me at my place.

What's the matter?

Luke Stokes collapsed in his dressing room right after the fight.

He's dead.

Hey, Doc! Doc, what did you hear about Stokes?

That's the coroner. That's the coroner.

What's with Stokes, huh?

Hey Quince, I was hoping they'd send you.

Ben. I wish I was seeing you under different conditions.

He was my boy.

I was holding him.

What happened?

He was all right when he walked down here,

but, as soon as he stepped through the door,

he grabbed his head and just keeled over.

Are you the paramedic? Yeah.

Did you check him for nuchal rigidity?

Yes, we did.

Who else was with you, Ben?

Me.

Oh, excuse me, uh.

This is Dr. Quincy. Matt Dorsey, Luke's manager.

How do you do.

We tried pumping his heart, reviving him, but,

he wouldn't respond.

He died in front of us, we couldn't do a thing.

I'm sorry.

You're the coroner? Yeah.

You do whatever you have to do.

It's damp in here, he should be covered.

We'll take care of him.

So, why didn't you stop the fight?

Move! Move!

Let me through!

What happened? What happened?

Please, stop! Art! Art! Please!

Let her by, it's Stokes' wife.

Please, let me through. Let me through!

Ohhh!

Matt, what are we gonna do?

What are we gonna do.

I don't know.

What are we...

Mrs. Stokes, I wanted...

May I?

They killed him.

No, no, no. Don't say that.

Please.

Please, I'd like to be alone with my husband.

Well...

The doctor still has some work to do.

Please, Doctor. May I be alone with my husband?

I won't touch anything.

Of course.

Oh, Luke.

Oh, Luke.

Hey! What happened to him, Dorsey?

Come on, come on. Why did he run out of gas in the fourth round?

Matt, do you think if I'd stepped in a little sooner...

Now, now, you can't blame yourself, Art. You called a good fight.

I didn't even know the kid was hurt.

Nobody knew. Nobody.

Help me with the mike, will you, Sam?

Brain weighs 1400 grams.

Coning of cerebellum and herniazation of cerebellar tonsils.

Interventricular septum is ruptured and filled with blood.

There's repeated contusions in temporal lobe, bilaterally,

and contusions of right frontal lobe.

Well, that's it, Sam.

Massive brain damage.

Sam, save some specimens for a tax screen.

Put the rest in formalin.

Ah, Quince, it's 2:40 in the morning.

80, set 'em up, Joe. There's still a couple of answers I wanna know.

Quincy.

Ben. It's okay, Jim.

Thank you.

What are you doing here?

Well, I couldn't sleep.

I thought I'd stop by and see how you did on the autopsy.

You finished? No, not yet.

It was brain damage? Yeah.

God, I loved that kid. Maybe I jinxed him.

Oh, come on, Ben. You know better than that.

There is something you can do for me.

Name it.

Look, make it as fast as you can.

See, a thing like this could hurt Luke's family

if it keeps being played up in the papers and on TV.

Everybody talking about it.

That's why the quicker you get through, the better for everybody.

Especially Luke's wife.

I'll try.

Okay, I said my piece. I better go.

If you can wait a minute, I'll give you a lift.

No, no, I... I'd rather walk.

I need the time.

Ben.

Keep in touch, will you? It's been too long.

Yeah, for me, too.

Hey, maybe we can go to the races. You still betting the ponies?

No, no, I stopped that bad habit a long time ago.

See you, Quince. You better.

Wow! You're a terrific runner. What's your name?

Todd. What?

Todd. Oh. I'm Dr. Quincy.

Hi, Dr. Quincy.

He's terrific.

Oh, Dr. Quincy, I've been waiting for you.

Please come in.

Is it all right if I go into your house?

Yeah.

Honey, why don't you go in the back yard and play for a while, okay.

Terrific kid. How old is he?

Please be comfortable, Doctor.

Oh, thank you.

May I offer you a drink?

No, thanks, it's too early for me.

You wanted to see me?

Yes.

Dr. Quincy, I wanted to know if you'd finished the autopsy report yet?

Almost.

I'm gonna close this matter as quickly as possible.

The cause of death was brain damage.

The manner, accidental.

You mustn't do that, Doctor.

I thought that's what you wanted.

Ben said it would be the best thing for everybody concerned.

Ben McDade? Yeah.

Well, I'll tell you about Ben McDade. He's a liar!

Oh, please, Mrs. Stokes. It wasn't an accident.

There's only one way Ringo could have hit Luke the way he did,

and that is that Luke had to have been drugged.

But we found no toxic substance.

I don't care what you found or didn't find, Dr. Quincy.

He was drugged. And I'll even tell you who did it.

Ben McDade!

Ben?

Did you know that he worked for Luke as his trainer for less than three weeks?

So?

Before that, did you know that he worked in Ray Ringo's camp,

almost a year before switching over?

What does that mean?

Dr. Quincy, don't you see?

Why would he change sides so late in the game?

Unless it was to sabotage Luke any way he could.

Oh, Mrs. Stokes,

you're accusing one of the most decent, honorable men I've ever known.

Besides being the best fight trainer in the business.

Look, unless you can give me a specific fact

which indicates that your husband's death was not accidental,

I'm afraid I don't have any choice.

Wait. Just wait.

If Luke's death was accidental as you say,

then, why did this come by special delivery this afternoon?

$42,000 in cash.

And no note.

Now, wouldn't you say somebody out there has a pretty bad conscience?

No, you finish that later. You come in and explain this to me.

I want to know why you're stalling on the Stokes' autopsy report?

I'm not stalling. I have a lot more tests to run.

But I wanna know why, for heaven's sakes?

Do you realize there are 20 million sports fans across this country,

and they're all sure they know how he died?

Well, 20 million sports fans will have to stand alone because I'm not sure.

I have a lot more tests to run.

Until the results are in, I'm not signing any report.

That is the least I could do for his widow.

Well, I want to know what other tests could possibly be needed?

Well, a supplemental tox screen for drugs

as a possible contributive cause of death.

Why?

Forty two thousand reasons.

That money again? Yes, sir.

That's such along shot.

All right, run your tests.

But, by the end of this business day, 5:00 pm.

I want that report on my desk, signed by you. Is that clear?

5:00 p.m.!

Loud and clear. May I go, sir?

Please.

You know,

you are one of the most exasperating men that I've ever dealt with.

It's nice to know at least I'm being noticed.

5:00 p.m.!

What've you got for me, Sam?

Oh, Quincy, you're barking at me again.

Oh, I'm sorry. What did the tax screen show?

Negative. No toxic agents in his blood.

You can sign Stokes' autopsy with a clear conscience.

Oh, that's terrific.

Look, I want you to do a little favor for me, and don't holler.

Holler, me? I wanna wrap this thing up.

Give me another tox screen for hypnotics and aromatics.

Run the opiates on blood and bile.

Oh, Quincy, no!

Sam, don't just do it for me,

do this one for the Gipper.

Okay. Good boy.

Hey, where're you going now?

You don't have time to talk. You've got a 5:00 deadline.

Yeah.

Who the heck's the Gipper?

Where is Ben? He is down there.

Hey, Quince. You're early.

Yep. How's it going?

All right.

Mr. Dorsey.

Hi. We're cleaning out Luke's locker.

I figured his wife should have these things.

Well, that's it. See you, Ben. Dr. Quincy.

You know, I've been working here, what, 20 years.

Suddenly, I hate this place.

It's gonna take him a long time to get over what happened.

Well, I guess he's entitled.

Come on, the network's gonna run the tape for us at 3:00.

Yeah.

Okay, okay, guys. Come on, give the kid a break, will you?

Why are you all doing down here, Ray?

To work out. Well, how do you feel?

How do you think? I mean,

how would anybody feel after they killed another man?

But all fighters put themselves on the line

every time they step into the ring.

And if it was Stokes standing here instead of me,

I think he'd know, I wouldn't be holding a grudge.

What was the punch that did it, Ray?

What did it? It was my right overhand lead.

It was lethal. He had no defense for it.

He just kept taking it and taking it.

Okay, guys, that's it.

Let him go.

We're just taking a couple of minutes.

Ray's all upset. He needs to work out his sorrows, not talk about it.

Come on, kid. That's it, fellas. Thank you.

Who're the three ugly step-sisters?

Their names are Ringo's contract owners.

Syndicate?

You said it, I didn't.

Hey! Hey, Ben! How's it going, Ben?

No hard feelings, huh? No.

It's the breaks, you know. Just like my boy said.

Hey, I recognize you.

You're the, uh, you're the, uh, coroner from last night.

That's me.

Hey, you're one silent man.

When are you gonna issue a statement on the accident?

In time.

Well, listen, as a favor to me and Ringo, would you make it soon?

My boy, you know, he's awful sensitive.

Yeah, I noticed that.

You know what I'm talking about, Doc.

It's bad for his image.

And he's what boxing needs now more than ever.

A good, clean-cut, all-American boy.

Catch my meaning?

Caught your meaning.

Let's get some air, Quince.

Next time around, I want you to tell me

exactly when Stokes started making mistakes.

How he lost that lead that he'd built up in the early rounds.

Was it Ringo's style, his punching power?

No, Luke was 10 times the fighter Ringo will ever be.

So, what happened? What went wrong?

I don't know. From the next round on, he wasn't himself.

He just slowed down, forgetting things we'd worked on for days.

Excuse me, I'm looking for Quincy. Oh.

Danny, in here.

Did you find somebody for me?

Of course, did I ever let you down, Doc?

Where is he? He's outside, waiting.

You know Ben McDade, don't you?

Oh, yeah. Ben McDade. It's a pleasure to meet you.

Very nice to see you.

Keep watching, will you, Ben?

Yeah.

Shep.

Yeah. Hey, Danny.

I love that. I'm fascinated by electricity.

Do you know how many bets I could take in an hour with a machine like that?

A lot. Shep Nolan, Dr. Quincy.

Hello, Doc. Glad to see you.

Nice of you to come.

Yeah, thank you. Always glad to oblige a friend and a good customer.

I lost so much money betting with him one year,

I wrote him off as a dependent.

Oh, you're a regular Nick the Greek. Hmm.

How'd you do on the Stokes fight the other night?

Stokes fight? You had to bring that up, huh?

In 9, I blew a bundle.

How about all the other bookies in town?

From what I hear, they took a worse bath than me.

Tell me something, am I crazy?

Stokes was a six to one favor, right? Right.

Well, couldn't somebody, if they knew something,

make a bundle betting on Ringo?

What do you think, we're dumb, Doc?

You think we don't know our business?

Matty Solomon blew a bundle, Philly Rocco lost ten g's.

Philly Rocco. Hey.

Hey, wait a minute. Wait a minute. Hey!

Hey, maybe you're right, Doc. Maybe you're right.

They didn't start betting on Ringo until the day of the fight.

Oh, man, if somebody ripped me off,

there's gonna be heads rolling from here to Vegas.

Nobody. Nobody does that to me, you understand?

If they got to Stokes, I know who did it.

Who?

Ben McDade, his trainer.

I'm carrying in markers on this guy for three g's,

for maybe three or four months now.

And my friends have been holding him up too.

For what?

Ponies, pal. Ponies. He's been betting on horses for so long,

he eats hay for breakfast.

Thanks, Shep.

Pretty awful, isn't it, Ben?

Wait.

Anything wrong, Quince?

You tell me. Only this time, I want you to level with me.

I always do, but go right ahead.

Listen, why don't you take five? Go, get yourself some coffee.

Ben,

why did you tell me, you stopped playing the horses years ago?

When the truth is, you owe a lot to every bookie in town.

Okay, so I lied.

But, you know how it is, Quince.

I just didn't want anybody to know.

How much do you owe 'em?

Uh, I guess 15,000 or so.

And they're pressuring you, huh?

You kidding? You've seen those blood-suckers operate.

Is that why you jumped Ringo's camp and went over to Stokes'?

Look, I didn't like the people who were taking over Ringo.

That's why I quit.

And you became Stokes' trainer?

Yeah, Luke was my kind of a fighter.

So dedicated, he... He tired me out.

Ben.

Did you bet the Stokes-Ringo fight?

Every cent I could scrape up. That's how sure I was.

On Stokes, to win?

Of course, Stokes.

Why. Why would I bet against my own boy?

Come on, Ben. Now, we're not children.

We know they fix fights.

How often do you come across a six to one underdog?

Shut up, Quincy. Shut up!

You, me, friends, the old neighborhood.

We go back along way.

Right now, everything's on the line.

If you don't trust me when I say that Luke Stokes would never throw a fight.

Never. He had too much pride.

Oh. I'm not saying he did it all on his own, Ben.

Then.

What are you saying?

Now, if there was somebody close to him,

somebody who needed the money very badly,

somebody who was working on his mind, not his body,

said to him, "Listen Luke, take a dive, it's a small fight.

"Take a friend out of a $15,000 hole,

"and it could be a big pay day in it for you, say, $42,000."

You think he did it for me?

That maybe I talked him into throwing the fight for me?

Tell me I'm wrong, Ben. Please.

Quincy, I'm gonna pretend

that I never heard you say one word of this talk.

Or we're both losers.

Go on, Ben. You go on pretending.

But I'm gonna face reality. I'm not gonna let go.

And if I find out that this fight was fixed,

I'm gonna hang on till everyone connected with that pays

through the nose!

You finished?

For now.

Hi, remember me?

I'm the girl who changed her flight schedule for the month

so I could stay close to earthy, earthbound Doc Quincy.

I'm sorry, honey. I'm just lost in space.

Well, give me a reading, maybe I can bring you down safely.

You always cheer me up.

Why don't you stop, Quincy?

Stop what? The investigation on the Stokes' death.

You're losing sleep, and you're losing your perspective.

So, why not sign the report?

I can think of a great way to celebrate.

I can't. It's incomplete.

Only in your head.

At least, forget about it for tonight.

What's so special about tonight?

This, and this.

And this.

You know something, you drive a hard bargain.

Let's get out of here.

And, finally.

Hey, what about the tab?

Forge my name.

Okay, I'll forge your name on all of 'em.

Oh honey, you're right, it's such a beautiful night.

I'm not gonna worry about autopsies.

Tomorrow, the results of the tests will be in,

I'll sign the certificate, and that will be that.

Don't I know you?

Not officially, Doc.

Why don't we keep it that way?

We can get to the car this way, honey.

No, we can't.

Don't you hurt her.

You're pretty fast, Doc.

Too bad you're not as fast on the job,

like working on Stokes' death certificate.

I'm working on that.

Yeah. Well, the more you delay, the worse it looks for Ray Ringo.

And a lot of people don't like that.

I'll remember that.

Well, thanks, Doc.

And just to help you remember.

Quincy!

If you scream, sweetheart, I'm gonna hit him again.

Honey.

What?

Don't holler.

Does it still hurt?

Oh, only when I breathe.

Oh! There. How does it feel now?

Oh honey, Florence Nightingale couldn't do any better.

Oh, baby. Come on.

Will you lift me? Oh, boy.

There we go. Oh, boy.

Where do you think you're going?

I gotta go see Sam.

Now, you have to go see Sam?

Pathologists keep crazy hours.

Oh, Quincy, you said you were giving up on the Stokes case.

And I was honey, I truly was.

Every time I wanna give it up, somebody gives me a zetz.

I've gotta jump back on the wagon.

Somebody gives you a zetz, huh? Yeah.

Okay, go solve your problem.

I'll think of you on my run to San Francisco.

How about on your run back?

Well, I'll need somebody to take off the bandages.

Mmm.

Can't reach you. It hurts.

Oh, baby.

Oh, thank you. Mmm. Be careful, Quincy.

I will.

Oh, boy. Oh!

One giant step for pain.

Maybe he just got hit too hard.

Yeah, but what about the earlier rounds?

Look over there. Oh, boy.

Here, look how alive he was, dancing on his toes and everything.

Here bright and alert.

Quince. Yeah.

Here's the last of the blow up's.

Oh, thank you, Ed.

Sam, I want you to look at this.

Here, tell me. What do those eyes tell you?

Maybe he absorbed too much punishment.

Well, he hadn't at that point.

Besides, he was known for his stamina.

You know, he once went ten rounds with a broken jaw, and he...

Okay, Ringo destroyed him with overhand rights.

What is he grabbing here?

His stomach. Maybe it was cramps.

Maybe, but can you prove it?

Oh, I can't prove it.

Find anything new on those tests?

Nothing, nothing to speak of.

What do you mean nothing to speak of?

Speak, brother. Speak!

Well, when I checked back over my reports, I noticed something,

but it didn't seem related to what we're looking for.

Like what?

Well, from the time of his death,

there was a very protracted and gradual hardening

of all the muscular tissue through his body,

particularly around his heart.

Are you saying the rigor mortis was delayed in setting in?

Yeah, it took over four hours.

Four hours. Why didn't you tell me this before?

You haven't been around much lately.

Besides, it could have been caused by the brain damage.

It could have been, but I'll bet it wasn't.

He was an active athlete, Sam.

If anything, rigor should have begun immediately.

Tomorrow we're going to the lab,

and we're gonna test everything we found in Stokes' dressing room.

The towel, the water bottles, everything.

You mean, all the stuff used by Ben McDade?

Yeah.

Oh, boy, do I hope I'm wrong!

You ever hear that song, Life Is Just A Bowl Of Cherries?

Mmm-hmm.

Well, it ain't.

Well, Sam, I've got nothing. What have you got?

Absolutely zero.

There's not the slightest trace of opiates

in the residue from this water bottle.

And there wasn't anything in the towels either.

Well, you should sound happy,

you just restored my faith in human nature.

That means Ben McDade is clear?

That's what I mean.

That's Astin.

How do you know?

He's got his own sound, pure hysteria.

You answer it. I'm gone.

Hello? Oh, Dr. Astin.

You want to know where Quincy is?

Uh, yes sir. He was here but he left.

No sir, he didn't say when he'd be back.

That's it, Miguel. take one more on the heavy bag.

And hard.

We got nothing to say.

I know.

So, why are you here?

Thought you'd like to see a man pull his foot out of his mouth.

You used to do that when we were kids.

The only difference is my mouth is bigger now.

I gotta level with you.

I tested all the equipment you used in Luke's corner that night.

And?

It was all clean.

Did you really expect to find anything?

To tell you the truth, I wasn't sure.

I was just doing my job.

I'll buy that.

Hey, clear the room. Miguel, go hit the shower.

So, where does it stand now?

Well, there's only one possibility left.

Luke was beaten by a better fighter, Ray Ringo.

That's the dumbest idea yet.

Why is it dumb?

Ringo's two years younger, he's six pounds heavier,

he's got the best knockout record in his division.

So, why isn't it possible for him to beat Luke, fair and square?

Because on his worst night, Luke could handle any punch of Ringo's.

Except his right overhand.

Mmm-hmm. Come here. I wanna show you something.

Stop.

Hey, Francisco, come, pack up.

Hey, Ringo. How's it moving baby?

As if you care.

I always did.

When? After you picked the wrong boy?

You always were a loser, McDade.

I guess so.

You see me work out?

Yeah. You're throwing some heavy stuff baby. Except.

Except what?

Telegraphing again.

Telegraphing what?

You know, I ain't too good with words.

Let me show you.

Ringo, don't mess around with this guy.

Ah, don't be dumb. Come on, old man.

It's the right overhand lead.

Still leave yourself open.

How?

Come at me. I'll show you.

Well, try and hit me.

Try and get me.

Like I've always said,

you should work for Western Union.

I'm too tired from my workout. What's your point?

No point.

I just wanted to show Dr. Quincy how to defend against your overhand right.

You should have showed that to Stokes. He needed it.

I did show him.

I also showed him how to defend against your biggest weakness.

I don't have a weakness.

Put your gloves up, and I'll show you.

You always were a sucker for that combination.

You got anymore stupid notions?

Not a one, Ben. Not a one.

There's not a good fighter alive who'd throw a stupid punch like that?

You didn't even work up a sweat.

Twenty years younger, you'd be the champ again.

Yeah. I'd be the champ, all right.

What the hell are you talking about? It's just all crazy...

Hey, Quincy, come here. Come here, I wanna talk to you.

This ain't collection day, Nolan.

How would you know, sport?

Anyway, I'm not here to talk to you.

Doc, I called your office.

They told me I might find you here.

You got something for me?

Yeah, as a matter of fact I have.

You know that hunch that you had on the Stokes-Ringo fight?

Yeah. Well, you hit the nail right on the head.

The fix was in from coast-to-coast.

Stokes was in the tank.

You're lying. Tell the truth, you...

Come on. Come on, let's hear him out.

Come on.

Look, a couple of big money guys set it up.

They waited until the day of the fight

before they started laying heavy bets on Ringo.

You're sure of this?

Horse's mouth, Doc. This particular horse swears

that he saw one of Stokes' own people

lay seven big ones on Ringo about two hours before the fight.

Who'd do a thing like that?

How does the name Matt Dorsey grab you?

Ah, it couldn't be Matt. It couldn't.

He loved Luke. Why would he do it?

The question is, how did he do it?

Oh, what's the use, Quincy?

If there was something to see, we would've caught it by now.

Quincy, there's nothing left.

That's it! Freeze it right there! Ben, I saw it!

What are you talking about?

Reverse the tape. Keep it going until I tell you to stop.

Come here.

If you weren't looking, you'd never find it.

Okay!

Roll it forward, slowly.

Freeze!

Ben, that's it!

What?

Who gave Stokes his mouthpiece before every round?

Well, me. I'd rinse it off and shove it in his mouth at the bell.

But in this round somebody's handing it to you.

Yeah, but everything got too hectic

from the second round on. And I didn't have...

No, no, no. Ben! Tell me whose hand is shoving it in now?

It's Matt.

Nothing on the mouth piece so far.

Anything on the tax screen?

Negative for all routine poisons.

Yeah. It's back to the drawing board.

Quincy, look at the time.

Like I thought, the shank of the evening.

Anything? Nothing.

Okay. We're gonna try extracting it in alcohol.

And if that doesn't work...

We'll go home? No, we'll extract in acetone.

And after that in water. If that doesn't work, soy sauce, if we have to.

Well, talk to me, will you, Sam?

You wouldn't like what I have to say.

Then we're gonna keep testing till we find it.

That could take the rest of the year.

And we don't even know what we're looking for.

We're looking for scientific truth here.

I don't care how long it takes or how many tests we have to go through.

We've gone through almost everything already, Quince.

Chloral hydrates, heavy metals, barbiturates, cyanide...

You name it, we've tested for it.

I'll name it. You know what we haven't tested for?

Elements that are normal to the body.

Why test for them if they're normal?

Sam, you're forgetting your basic physiology.

Everyone needs iron, but an excessive amount of iron can kill you.

They're normal only in naturally small amounts.

But an excessive amount of those normal elements can become very dangerous.

Oh, couldn't it wait till the morning?

We've done over a 100 tests already.

Oh, I'm very disappointed in you, Sam.

Dr. Ehrlich did 606 before he found his "magic bullet."

But, Dr. Ehrlich didn't do them all in one night.

He wasn't drinking my coffee. I'll make you some more.

That's what we should test. Your coffee!

Quincy!

Sam?

You found something?

An excessive amount of calcium and magnesium salts like you predicted.

That mouthpiece must have been saturated

in calcium citrate magnesium sulfate solution between every round.

That would cause stomach cramps, weakness...

Plus loss of reflex and incoordination.

Sam, he couldn't defend himself by the final round.

He was totally helpless.

Happy birthday to you

Happy birthday to you

Happy birthday, dear Toddie

Happy birthday to you

Dr. Quincy.

Mrs. Stokes, the guys at the gym told me

I could find Matt Dorsey here.

Oh, sure, come in.

Now close your eyes, Toddie.

Make a wish and blow!

Matt, Toddie, look who's here, Dr. Quincy.

Nice to see you again.

Is it?

Honey, you remember Dr. Quincy, don't you?

Yeah, he's a doctor.

Happy birthday. Listen, I'm sorry, I didn't bring you a present.

You want a piece of my cake?

No, thank you.

It's all chocolate.

Chocolate? Wow, that's my favorite kind.

I'll take a rain check.

That's quite an act you've been putting on.

You convinced me you really love that woman and that kid in there.

I do.

I love them. They're my family now. I'd do anything for them.

You know, Doc, I'm gonna tell you something.

There's no trouble that you can get me into

that could be as bad as what I've been feeling inside

since this thing happened.

Then, why did you do it?

It certainly wasn't for the money.

You bet seven grand, at six to one, that's $42,000.

The exact amount you sent to Laura Stokes.

So, if it wasn't for the money, why did you set him up?

I didn't set him up. Don't say that. I didn't set him up.

I tried to save his life, don't you understand?

They said they would kill him if he didn't blow it.

Who said they'd kill him?

You've been around a long time. The mob. The Syndicate.

They knew that their guy was gonna lose.

So, they came around, they said, "Your man is gonna lose, or else."

Did you tell Luke this?

No, I didn't tell him.

How could you tell a man like Luke to spit on his dream?

He knew nothing from cheating, from holding back.

All his life, he gave it his best shot.

For him, there was no other way. So what could I do?

I went to Ringo's people, I begged them, I pleaded with them.

I said, "Look, he's got too much honor, too much pride."

They didn't know what I was talking about.

They said, "If he walks out of that ring a winner, he won't live one hour."

So, you never told Luke that the fix was in.

I knew that he would never agree.

At the same time, I didn't want him dead.

So, I thought of using this calcium sulfate.

I thought if I slowed him down, weakened him a little bit...

Look, I've been around gyms long enough to know how this stuff works.

I thought if I slowed his reflexes, weakened his strength,

then, Ringo could win on points.

And they promised me, they promised me.

They said, they'd go easy on him.

But, when he got in the ring, he fought to win.

He certainly wanted to prove that he was good enough for a chance at the title.

So, he went for broke.

And he broke.

And he broke a man who never got a chance.

Why don't you go to the police with this story and name names?

Why don't you tell them who put the pressure on?

Why don't you tell them who set Luke up for the kill?

All right. All right. I'll go with you.

Will I have time to say goodbye? Yes.

Matt, I don't understand why you're leaving.

Just trust me, Laura. I have to go.

Promise me one thing, no matter what you hear,

you're gonna hear a lot, but,

remember that I loved Luke as if he was my own son.

Favorite son.

I'm sorry I crashed the party.

That was a funny story.

He really was funny.

You can't believe that people in that business can be that funny.

No. They were amazing.

Oh, golly me.

Cute, Quincy.

Dating you is like being in The Godfather,

Oh, we're not gonna go through this again, are we?

I still can't tie my shoe laces from the last time.

Yeah, we warned you what would happen

if you kept stalling the autopsy report.

Now, we've been subpoenaed.

And if we're in trouble, you're in deep trouble.

Oh, listen,

if this is going to be a habit,

I think there's something I ought to tell you.

What?

Well, we didn't have dinner alone, you see.

We had dinner with some guests,

and when they find out that we got hurt on this night,

they're gonna be very angry.

Hey, you don't say.

Don't believe me?

Okay, I wanna introduce you...

Yeah. Coming, Quince.

Hey Louis, it's been a nice night.

It was good.

Come back again sometime.

Yeah, yeah.

And if you wanna come back tomorrow night,

I'll introduce you to Muhammad Ali,

Ken Norton, and Jerry Quarry.

How do you like those potatoes?