Original subtitles

Tonight, on "hunter".

Whoever killed Harris took the masks.

-I didn't kill her.

-Four ashani ceremonial masks were stolen from my people.

-They're absolutely magnificent, she said.

$200,000 a pop.

Your people are being ripped off,

and you're the one that's doing it.

-Do you think there's a possibility that he's involved?

-It wouldn't surprise me.

-Were you aware that...

- She was having an affair with my husband?

-I like this tie.

-I told her to have nothing to do with those masks.

-Are you ready for this, Gina?

Four ashani ceremonial masks over 200 years old.

I mean, these things were being used back

when George Washington was fighting the British.

Would I kid you, dear?

They're sitting right in front of me.

Absolutely magnificent.

Ah, you should see the provenance.

Talk about a pedigree.

Ha.

That's right.

That's right, i'm getting $200,000 a pop.

And my Japanese dealers are already buying three,

so I suggest you pull out that checkbook, my dear.

For you?

$199,999.

I'll save you a buck.

Ok, great.

Bye, sweetheart.

-So, what do we got?

-Well, the victim was a Janet Harris,

the owner of the gallery.

She was killed by a blow to the back of the head with this, uh,

ceremonial club.

Uh, hey... hey Zach, do you have that?

Yeah, right here.

-Thank you.

-Uh-huh.

-Hm.

It's an interesting choice of weapons.

-A weapon of opportunity, Charlie.

This place specializes in Indian art.

Come here.

Apparently the killer jimmied the back door open,

came in, snuck up on his victim, and clubbed

her in the back of the head.

We found her slumped right here on the floor

in front of the photocopier machine.

-Seems like a lousy time for a burglary.

Middle of the morning, people obviously working.

If it was a burglary.

Anything missing?

-Well this isn't the kind of place

that's got a cash register sitting around.

Doesn't look like anything's been ripped off the walls,

so... we do have an inventory coming.

Soon as it's done, we'll be able to determine

if anything is gone.

I just can't believe it.

I talked to Janet this morning.

-Yeah, I know.

We looked at the phone records from the gallery

and saw that a call was placed to this number at 10:14.

-Oh, who... who killed her?

-Well that's what we're trying to find out.

-I'd like to help you, if I can.

-Yes, you can, if you can answer some questions.

-Of course.

-Thank you.

-Won't you sit down?

-Thank you.

So how well did you know Janet Harris?

-We were friends.

We'd become friends over the past few years.

I... I... I bought most of the pieces I have here from Janet.

I... I'm her most... I was her most reliable client.

-What did you talk about today?

-Well, some masks that she had at the shop.

Four very rare ashani masks.

These masks have never been on the market before.

Very hot items.

-That's funny.

I don't recall seeing them at the gallery.

-Well, she said she had them there.

-I didn't see them on the inventory either.

-She told me she was looking right at them as we talked.

They're absolutely magnificent, she said.

$200,000 a pop.

And she had complete provenance for each of them as well.

She didn't typically handle items that expensive, but...

-What's a provenance?

-With most art, you get a title and bill of sale.

Ha ha.

When you buy cultural artifacts, the dealer

has to provide provenance.

That's a document that attests to the object's authenticity

and tells where it came from.

I won't buy anything without provenance now,

and no legitimate dealer will sell it without providing it.

-Was Janet Harris considered a legitimate dealer?

-Oh absolutely.

She was as clean as they come.

Of course, she was having some financial difficulties.

You see, there's an enormous black market

in native American artifacts, especially

overseas in the orient.

These people will pay a high price for authentic pieces.

-Are you saying that you think she

was involved in black market smuggling?

-Oh, I doubt it.

-Anything else?

-Oh.

Yes.

She was having an affair with one of her married artists.

Robert whitecloud.

-He's a member of the ashani tribe.

-Oh yeah, the ashanis.

Their reservation's up in the mountains there.

Uh, is he involved, do you think?

-Well, I don't know.

There's plenty of motive.

Along with whatever state their relationship was in,

those masks were worth a total of $800,000.

-Wow.

That's a lot of money for a couple of Indian curios.

-Art, captain.

Art.

-Whatever.

Did you get any pictures?

-No, and there weren't any in the files either.

I called pacific who wrote the store insurance.

They've got appraisals and photos of all the stock

except for the masks.

-Huh.

Strange.

Well why do you think that's so?

-I don't know.

Maybe bookkeeping.

There's usually a week or two lag

between acquisitions and filings.

-Ok.

What else you got?

-Well, unfortunately not too much.

We didn't find any prints on the murder weapon.

Nobody saw anybody at the store.

I did find a couple of names of, uh,

artifacts brokers in her rolodex.

So there was a James holloway out in mountain center,

a Leonard oakley in palm Springs,

and a Bobby Peters over in Phoenix.

Harris didn't have any employees,

but she had an awful lot of bills.

-Big debts?

-Yeah.

She had a third mortgage out on her house.

We're running the rest of it down now.

But she also had not made a sale over $10,000 in weeks.

-Maybe these masks were meant to bail her out, then.

Did she have them on consignment, or what?

-Haven't found that out yet.

-Get an address on whitecloud?

-He lives out on the reservation,

but he's also got an artist loft here downtown.

Now hunter's going to go over there just as soon as he's

finished running the background down on these masks.

-Ok.

Good.

-Professor weller?

-Yes?

-Sergeant hunter, la homicide.

I'd like to ask you a couple questions.

-Well, uh, you'll find nothing but skeletons in my closet.

So how can I help you, sergeant?

-Your signature was found on several provenance documents

given to a miss Gina whey by a Janet Harris.

-Yes, I, uh, work with miss Harris quite often.

I provide documentation free of charge.

It's tragic to see sacred Indian lands dug up and destroyed,

so when I authenticate a piece, I

make damn sure it doesn't come from protected lands.

It's not much, but it's my way of helping the, uh,

honest dealers.

Please, have a seat, sergeant.

-Fine.

Thanks.

-So?

-Uh, professor weller, I don't how to tell you this,

but, uh, Janet Harris was murdered this morning.

-That's... that's unbelievable.

You know, I... I just spoke to her a few days ago.

How did it happen?

-Well, we think it was robbery.

You see, there was four ashani masks missing.

-Ashani?

I told her to have nothing to do with those masks.

See, she sent me a letter and, uh,

and these photographs a few days ago.

She said she had a line on the masks.

I took one look, and I told her that they were stolen.

You see, the ashani keep them in a secret underground kiva.

They dig them up for a special ceremony every 10 years.

Last month, when the ashani elders went to the kiva,

they discovered the masks were gone.

-Oh?

How'd you know that?

-Oh, it was all over the archaeological community.

Well the ashani were devastated.

See, it would be as if somebody broke into the Vatican

and stole the pope's chalice.

I told her to report it to the federal agent assigned

to the area... a, uh, a Ken Myers.

-Mhm.

Well obviously, she never made a phone call.

-Had I known that, I would have made the call myself.

Too bad about her death.

And it's too bad she felt she had to sell out

the very people whose work she supported.

-Yes it is, isn't it?

-Ok.

Thanks.

Who's there?

-Sergeant hunter, la homicide.

I'd like to have a couple of words with a Robert whitecloud.

-Well, I guess that makes Robert whitecloud

our number one suspect.

Why else take off?

-Whitecloud's affair with Janet Harris was no secret.

I mean, she was the reason his paintings were getting shown.

Now I interviewed some other artists in the building,

and they gave me a list of his hangouts.

I'll go run them down.

-That's good.

He may be looking for friends to give him a hand.

You know, it occurs to me that whitecloud and Janet Harris may

be in bed in more ways than one.

-What do you mean?

-Well, the masks were ashani.

That's whitecloud's tribe.

Maybe he helped to steal them.

-Well, I think it's a possibility,

but it's... it's kind of hard to believe that a native American

would steal from his own people, especially sacred objects.

-Wait a minute. $200,000 a pop?

That's plenty a good reason to start with.

And maybe the deal he cut with her wasn't good enough.

Maybe he wanted the whole thing for himself.

Don't rule it out.

-Excuse me.

I was told a Mary whitecloud worked here.

-I am Mary.

-I'm sergeant McCall, homicide.

-Is it Robert?

Is he all right?

-Well, as far as we know, uh, he's fine.

Uh, could we sit down and talk for a little while?

-Yes, of course.

What's wrong?

What's happened?

-Uh, Janet Harris has been killed.

Did you know her?

-I knew who she was.

-Were you aware that...

- She was having an affair with my husband?

Yes.

-Where were you yesterday morning?

-Here at the center.

You can check with the women I work with.

I've only been to los Angeles a few trips

in my life, even when Robert started

living there most of the time.

-And when was that?

-Three years ago.

-You say that he called you last week.

How often did you see him?

-Twice a month he comes home.

Tells me it's for good.

I do what I can to make him happy,

and he tries his best to be happy.

Couple of days later, and he's gone.

Back to the city.

-What do you know about these masks?

-I know they've been stolen from my people.

They were used in an ancient ceremony.

They're very sacred.

Some of our younger people don't care about these things.

There is so much drugs and alcohol.

So many are lost between two worlds.

It is sometimes very difficult to keep alive

the way of the pipe... To walk the truth,

to accept the old way.

Some people don't understand.

Some people don't care.

-Your husband, did he care?

You mean, did he take the masks?

He knew where they were hidden.

But did he take them?

I don't know.

Did he care?

He did once.

Hello.

-Hi.

Ken Myers?

-Yeah.

Sergeant McCall?

-Yes.

Thanks for coming out to meet me.

-It's no problem.

The office said you phoned, wanted to meet somebody

from the forest service out here.

Well, this is my turf.

It's all my turf.

-What do you mean?

-There are nine of us federal agents

assigned to cover the entire southwest.

Now me personally, I just cover southern

California, a little chunk of Arizona.

-Woo.

That's a large beat.

-No kidding.

It's a battle just keeping up with the looters...

Losing battle.

-You've heard about Janet Harris?

-Yeah, it doesn't surprise me.

There's a lot of money to be made

in the illegal trafficking of Indian artifacts.

Violence is just part of the equation.

Burglary in the gallery, though, it's not really common.

Most of the crime takes place out here.

-Do you have a typical profile on these looters?

-Well, we're not talking about your vacationing family

finding their arrowhead by the campfire.

Here.

Look at that.

It's the four corners area.

It's a disgrace.

They'll tear up the ground looking for pottery

and ceremonial objects, even bones of the dead.

These guys use trucks, bulldozers,

helicopters, even armed guards.

Now we catch the usual hard case creeps

with copies of the treasure hunter's

digest in their back pocket.

But we also bust our share of well-to-do people

who ought to know better.

But hey, I guess when you're talking 15 grand for a five

pound rock scraper or a quarter of a million for a death mask,

it's just too much money for these people to resist.

Personally, I think they ought to be shot.

Look, I'm sorry.

It's just frustrating, you know?

We not only have to prove that an artifact came from federally

protected land, we've got to prove the looter knew

it was on federally protected land.

It's the only legal situation I know

of where ignorance of the law is an excuse.

-Does the name Jim holloway mean anything to you?

-Yeah.

He's an artifacts broker about 30

minutes from here in mountain center.

But I think you already knew that.

-Yeah.

We found his name in Janet Harris' office on some papers.

Do you think there's a possibility that he's

involved with these stolen artifacts?

He is the closest broker to the crime scene, you know.

-This guy is responsible for most of the looting in southern

California, but the laws are so damn

gutless he can just get away with anything.

-Even murder?

-You up from the city?

Palm Springs?

Or maybe heaven?

-Try the police department.

I'll try anything once, kiddo.

What do you need?

-I need some information about the masks that

were stolen from the ashani people.

-Oh, well, you're a little bit too late.

The FBI was in here last month.

And I'll tell you the same thing I told them.

I don't know nothing about no mask.

I ain't never seen one, don't rightly

think I ever even heard of one.

If you ask me, I think the ashani faked

the whole thing for a sympathy vote.

You know, trying to coerce them Beverly Hills whiners

into donating to their poor, downtrodden tribe.

-Ha ha, you got a big heart, don't you?

-That ain't all, sweetheart.

-When's the last time you heard from Janet Harris?

-I... I don't know no Janet Harris.

-Really?

That's interesting, considering the fact

we found your name back at her gallery in la.

-So?

-After she was murdered.

-That's life in the big city.

That's why I moved out here.

Folks are a lot friendlier.

-Hm.

Yeah, I'll bet.

Whoever killed Harris took the masks.

-Huh.

-We've got a search warrant to look through your shop.

Do you really think I'd be that stupid?

Search away.

Seriously though, kiddo, I didn't take them masks,

and I sure didn't kill anybody.

But you know what?

-I'm sure you're gonna tell me.

-You ought to quit worrying about them Indians.

Start respecting my tradition.

Cause I'm the last of the outlaws.

-Yeah, well maybe out here you are.

But not where I come from.

Here you go.

Don't want you feeling neglected.

Poor baby.

Hi.

Can I help you?

-I'm looking for Robert whitecloud.

-He's not here right now.

Can I take a message?

-I'm Mary whitecloud.

I am his wife.

-Oh my god.

Hi!

I'm Kathleen.

I live next door... With my boyfriend.

We're both friends with Robert.

When Robert got chased out of here by the cops,

I got worried about Max, his cat.

He's around here somewhere.

You haven't been here before, have you?

-No, I haven't.

-He's really great, isn't he?

-It's different from what I used to see.

But I like it.

Can you tell me where I can find him?

-I can tell you the same thing I told the police.

I know a couple of places he hangs out at sometimes,

but I couldn't tell you where he is right now.

You know, Robert talks about you all the time.

If that means anything.

-Thank you.

It does.

-Hunter, homicide.

Sergeant McCall: Hey hunter.

-Hey. What's up?

-Well, no sign of the masks or whitecloud.

-Well that's because the guy was in town all day.

He made a tour of three different bars

in the entire day.

I just missed him twice.

-Great.

So what's next?

-Well, according to the bartender, all I gotta do

is follow the odor of Tequila.

Anything more specific?

-Yeah.

I'm waiting around here to go to a opening of an art gallery

in about an hour.

-Ok, great.

Well, I'm on my way in, so I guess

I'll see you in the morning.

Oh, and hunter?

-Yeah?

Sergeant McCall: Tonight,

when you go to this opening...

-Uh-huh?

-Wear something black.

-Ok.

-Energy?

Ha!

His work has such energy?

What is that?

Could there possibly be a more fatuous word

to describe this than that?

Energy.

A charcoal briquette has energy.

A snickers bar has energy.

This art piece doesn't have energy.

-Hi, Shannon!

-Energy?

Ha!

-Excuse me?

You wouldn't happen to know where I can find Robert

whitecloud in all this, would you?

-He was just he... good line.

-No, no, no that's not a line.

I'm really looking for him.

Where can I find him?

-Hm.

Try the sculpture room.

-And where's that?

-Up there.

-Up there?

Thank you very much.

Enjoy.

-Hey.

I like this tie.

-Hm.

Good.

And I, um... and I like your jewelry, very much.

-A drunken Indian.

What a cliche.

Janet Harris and I were having an affair.

It just happened.

But I didn't kill her.

Why would I kill her?

-I don't know.

Why did you run from me when I went to your apartment?

-"It's the government.

Open up!"

My people have been getting that knock for 300 years.

And look what happened to us.

-Your people?

Whitecloud, your people are being ripped off,

and you're the one that's doing it.

How else would Janet Harris know where to get the masks?

Now look, if you want to clear your name,

you'd better start cooperating with me right now.

Now start with the masks.

-Janet told me that the gallery was in trouble.

She needed a big deal to save it.

She knew everything there was to know about the masks,

except where we hid them.

I owed her my career... What there is of it.

So I tried to convince myself that they were just carved

pieces of wood used in some jive religious ceremony

that nobody cares about anymore.

And it worked.

I convinced myself, just long enough to tell her

where they were.

-And who was she working with?

-I don't know.

I asked.

She wouldn't tell me.

Said it was for my own protection.

Four weeks later, she had the masks.

That's all I know.

I didn't kill Janet Harris.

-That's not my problem.

My problem is I've got $250,000 coming, plus change, my friend.

Now, that's turned into your problem.

Oh, she was going to ruin your reputation.

Just how much you think your reputation

is going to be worth, friend, if I

get you sent up on a murder charge?

You... you listen to me, you little yellow belly.

All I did was Rob a grave.

I've beaten that rap a dozen times, and I'll do it again.

But you, my friend, ha ha, you got a one-way ticket

to the gas chamber if I don't get

my money first thing in the morning!

-What are you doing here?

-The police told me you were missing yesterday,

so I decided to try to find you.

-I'm sorry.

I'm really glad to see you.

-They let you go?

-There wasn't enough evidence to charge me.

Mary, I'm sorry about what happened with her,

and I'm sorry about getting you dragged into this.

-Nobody dragged me into anything.

You're my husband.

Shall we go?

-I need a little time to sort out everything.

Why don't you go back home?

What?

-I just noticed you still call it home.

-Yeah.

I noticed that, too.

-Hey Jim, you all right?

-Yeah.

I'm fine.

-Sergeant McCall, you've, uh, got a visitor.

-Hello?

Hi.

-Oh, good morning.

-Huh.

What brings the federales down to my neck of the woods?

-Oh, some interesting news, I think.

-Well good.

Well, uh, sit back down.

Tell me what's going on.

-Jim holloway got what was coming to him last night.

He got gunned down in front of his shop

after an argument inside.

-Really?

Last of the outlaws.

-He gave you that routine too, huh?

-Yeah.

Any suspects?

-Three pedestrians saw a male take off with holloway shooting

at him, but apparently it happened so fast

they couldn't get a good description.

-It's interesting.

Whitecloud was released yesterday morning.

-That'd give him plenty of time to drive

out to mountain center.

-Yeah, it would have.

-Look, I just thought you'd want to know.

-Yeah, I do appreciate you coming down, letting us know.

Thank you for your time, and your energy.

-Any time, sarge.

-We'll be in touch.

-Hey.

How you doing?

-I was just going to call you.

-Yeah I was going to call you, too.

Guess what?

-What?

-I just spoke with Harris' loan officer at her bank, right?

He told me they were getting ready to foreclose

on her gallery.

Yeah.

But she called him and told him that she was going

to have a check for him that week for $800,000.

-No kidding.

-Yeah.

-So maybe she stiffed some partners to save her gallery.

-Precisely.

And maybe one of those partners decided to take the masks.

Who was that guy that just left here?

-Well that was Ken Myers.

That's what I wanted to call you about.

Remember the forest service agent I told you about?

-Oh, yeah. Yeah.

-Well he came down here to tell us that Jim holloway was shot

to death last night at mountain center.

-Maybe it was the same killer.

-Well if so, then that means that Harris

and holloway were partners.

-You know what's been bothering me this whole time?

It's the photocopy machine at Harris' art gallery.

-Copy machine at the art gallery?

Why?

There was nothing in it.

-Perhaps she was at the copying machine

using it when she was killed.

-We're in luck.

Ordinarily, the electrostatic dry ink image

on the photoreceptor belt is erased immediately

after copying to get ready for the next image.

But, the victim jammed the machine on her way down.

Now, the killer made sure he got all the copies, plus the page

that was stuck inside, but we still

have the image on the photoreceptor belt.

Professor weller's signature.

He faked the provenance documents, killed Harris

because she held him up for his cut!

Had to knock off holloway to shut him up.

-Whitecloud could be next.

-Well, but Janet never told him who was involved.

-It doesn't make any difference. Weller didn't know that.

Thanks very much. Come on.

-No problem.

It's a good copy.

-Professor weller?

-Mr. Whitecloud.

You made it.

-Ha.

A person could get lost in here and nobody

would ever miss them.

-Ha ha.

Well, I'm very happy to finally meet you.

-Yeah.

Janet told me about you.

-I'm sure she did.

-So what's this is about?

Uh, you said on the phone it was important?

-Well, like you said, Janet told you about me.

We can't let it go any further than that, can we?

-What are you talking about?

She said she'd worked with you.

That's all.

-I don't think so.

Come on.

-Hold it right there, professor!

-Freeze!

Police!

-Oh!

-It's in the blood.

-You moved!

-My nose itches!

-Sorry, but I'm not finished with your nose yet.

Uh, but you can scratch your chin.

I'm done with your chin.

-Hey.

Come on in.

-How are you, Robert?

-Ok.

-Terrific.

Hey.

-Guess we ought to take a break.

-How are you, Mary?

-Hi!

Great.

How are you?

-I'm good.

This looks wonderful.

-Thanks for rescuing me.

-No problem.

I just wanted to come by to let you both know that we

found those masks at weller's house.

After his trial, they'll definitely

go back to your people.

-That's fantastic.

-It sure is.

-I have to say, it's also very nice to see you both together.

-It's hard to believe it took a situation as

extreme as this one to get me to wake up.

My strength, my creativity is from the earth...

From my people.

It's time I got back in touch with those things.

-He's coming home.