Original subtitles

♪ I don't like

♪ to sleep alone

♪ stay with me

♪ oh, no

♪ talk with me

♪ for just a while

♪ there's a bunch I'd love to get to know ♪

♪ reachin' out

♪ touching you

♪ leavin' all my worries Far behind ♪

♪ lovin' you

♪ the way I do

Why do we have To come upstairs here?

Why this place?

Now, I know what I'm doing. Don't worry.

Come on in, honey. We gotta talk price.

Come on!

Oh!

Come on, honey.

Blondes are more fun, honey.

Um, 114, okay, manny?

Aah!

I just thought You ought to see this one.

This guy by the name Of colin fletcher gets mugged,

Same m.O. As the others.

Hooker picks up some guy, Takes him upstairs,

There's a dude waiting behind The door. Zap!

Claudine the dream?

His wallet was here.

He had a half a pint Of whiskey.

It smashed When he went down.

There's whiskey On his breath.

That seal Look broken to you?

How come he's still got His watch and ring?

Well, like I was saying, There are credit cards

In his wallet That they didn't get.

All right, Notify next of kin.

Hey, look, man, I just work in a bar.

I don't do nothin' illegal.

You don't take anything for Steering johns to a good time?

If a girl wants To lay a tip on me,

That's against the law?

Why don't you get off my back?

Hey, cutie-pie, Talk nice to the officer.

You want to hurt His feelings?

All he wants to know Is this girl

With the platinum hair.

Now, what's her name?

Honest, I ain't Never seen her before.

She comes in here, and she picks Up this dude at the jukebox,

And she lays her money down On the bar for my tip.

Her money?

Yeah, And they leave the bar.

Well, how come this claudine The dream character

Winds up in the same room With the stiff?

Hey, manny? You always double-book?

I guess that other girl Just took a key

Without asking for it

And put it back Without telling me.

I gave the same room To claudine.

How did I know there was A body to be cleaned up?

I just want you guys To know

That I think you're a couple Of beautiful human beings.

Of course I'm scared.

Fletcher was going Through the books

Of a company I was operating.

Fletcher gets murdered...

Fletcher had some kind Of accident.

Nobody says it was connected With you in any way,

So forget it, mr. Marshall.

Still, I'm scared.

You made certain guarantees, Mr. Kane.

You'd better stick with them.

I'm watching out For you as best I can.

Now you just do your part.

Well?

He says fletcher's death Was...

Was an accident. Not to worry.

You, you, you, and you,

And all of you in here.

Here's your coffee, Lieutenant.

Yeah, whatever. Frank?

I've just come from The borough commander's office,

And he was boiling.

He says...

Fun city isn't fun anymore. I know, frank.

Why don't you tell him To move to detroit?

To continue, The commander pointed out

That fletcher's death was A homicide off a murphy game,

And that 27 out-of-towners

Have been Victims of murphy games

In the past three weeks,

Only this one puts us On the front page.

I know, frank, I know.

All right, What about fletcher?

Colin duncan fletcher-- 37, married, three kids,

A bookkeeper for investment Securities incorporated

Of cleveland.

On vacation? In town alone?

With the wife and kiddies? What?

Word from cleveland Police department

Is that he was in new york On temporary assignment

To check some books Or accounting procedures

Of an outfit Over on eighth avenue--

Lester lebaron dresses.

The wife is flying In from cleveland

To identify the body.

It's gonna be hard To explain to her.

Explain what? That this is Just a routine murphy game

That went sour on her husband? Is that it?

I think it stinks, And I'll tell you why.

Because this blonde puts Her money up front,

And because the dive never saw Her before, right?

Never saw her, but yet she knew The routine so perfectly

That she was able to take A key off the hook

Without manny Even knowing about it.

Somebody, I'd say, had done Some very thorough research

On this project.

What else bothers you, theo?

Wallet, watch, the ring,

A few credit cards They forgot.

Hey, frank, That's the whole point

Of the murphy game, Isn't it? Greed?

All right, I want a rundown Of fletcher's last day,

Second by second.

At his hotel, At the clothing manufacturer's.

I want to know If he was playing around,

And if he was, with whom.

Also how he found out About that side street bar.

We got a description From claudine

Of the alleged prostitute.

Description?

I can hear it now.

"Blonde and cheap, honey."

Come on, will you, fatso?

And who was the man With her?

"A tall dude In dark clothes."

That's terrific.

That means we gotta pick up Almost everybody

On the west side Of 55th street!

What about the whiskey bottle In fletcher's pocket?

The lab feels That the bottle

Was sealed When it was smashed.

Uh-huh. And the autopsy?

No alcohol in his bloodstream, Not much at all.

So we got a platinum blonde Nobody's ever seen before

With a male accomplice, Working a fake murphy game

On an out-of-towner.

We have a dead man, And that's all we've got.

Rizzo, were they able to lift Any prints off that wallet?

Three partials, lieutenant,

Small enough To be that of a woman's.

Left hand, But they weren't claudine's.

That's no help to us without A full set for comparison.

All right, I thought I asked you to find out

What fletcher was doing Yesterday, every second.

So maybe it was Just a murphy game.

I mean, They get interrupted.

The victim doesn't Have to be drinking,

They don't get The credit cards, huh?

Well, maybe fletcher Was casanova

Disguised as a bookkeeper,

The hooker, A jealous husband in drag.

Why go through The whole charade?

Why not just Knock him off in an alley?

Hey, frank,

Suppose I said I thought he was hit?

Professionally?

A contract on a minor league Out-of-town bookkeeper?

Who says that's all he is?

You know, here we are, looking At a botched-up murphy game,

When I really think What we have here

Is a well-planned, coordinated, Cold-blooded execution.

Come in.

Mrs. Fletcher.

They told me you're the man Investigating colin's...

Please, sit down.

Did they explain The circumstances of his death?

But I don't Believe that colin

Went up to that room With that woman for...Sex.

He wouldn't,

Not with a prostitute.

Give me an alternative.

He called me just a couple Of hours before they say he...

Died.

Mm-hmm.

Called you from where?

That office where he worked.

Well, tell me, How did he seem?

Seem?

You know, same as always?

"How's the kids, How's the weather?"

He said he had An important appointment,

A very important appointment.

I guess he sounded...

Excited.

Mrs. Fletcher?

Are you keeping anything Back from me?

Nothing, lieutenant.

Nothing at all.

What am I gonna do With you guys?

I mean, give me a break.

I had the same conversation With you last week.

It's the same dress, The exact same dress,

And there's a two-inch Difference in the sleeves.

What am I supposed To do with it?

Who can I send that to, huh?

Excuse me. Excuse me.

I'm detective crocker, Manhattan south.

This is Detective saperstein.

Hi, how are you?

And I am rick levine, Hi.

I guess it's About fletcher's death, huh?

Well, we'd like To talk to the manager,

Mr. Adrian marshall?

Adrian marshall.

Well, adrian marshall no longer Has a key to the establishment.

It seems his relationship Has been severed.

What's your relationship

With lester lebaron dresses, Mr. Levine?

Well, I work for investment Securities incorporated.

We manage the business.

Well, that's the same company Fletcher worked for.

Right, except I work From new york,

And he was hired Out of cleveland headquarters.

You know, I didn't meet him Till this week.

All right, If you don't mind,

I'm a little confused About all this.

Who is lester lebaron?

Lester lebaron Is a rich playboy-type kid

Who founded this organization Three years ago

Because he wanted to score With a lot of models.

Then he hires This hippie chick

Who creates a spring line That is dynamite.

I mean, absolute dynamite.

Buyers couldn't believe it. They ordered left and right,

Only lebaron Couldn't fill 'em.

Why not?

I just told you,

He didn't know anything About the business.

I mean, he didn't Have the right cloth,

He didn't have The right cutters.

If I tell you That he couldn't move

5,000 units a week Out of here

When each of the big five Wanted 5,000 units a week,

You know what I'm talking about.

And it was then That our company stepped in.

So that's How investment securities

Got into the act, huh?

They were looking for a place To put their money to work,

So they bought Lester lebaron dresses.

Now, this guy in san diego, Adrian marshall,

He convinces Them he's the genius

That should operate Lester lebaron.

He's slick. Drew himself a top salary,

He had them convinced

That they could just sit up There in cleveland

And have the shekels Just roll in.

Well?

And nothing. The shekels rolled out,

2.8 million last year.

So marshall rips off Investment securities

For close to $3 million.

I wish I knew for sure.

I came in, I went over the books,

I talked to marshall.

I was sure that man was Absolutely ripping them off.

I mean, He charters private planes

For business junkets And for pleasure.

Decides he wants to show The spring line in los angeles,

So what does he do?

He flies 75 buyers out there, Plus his family.

And how long did management Put up with this?

For over two years.

The guy was An incredible talker.

He said he was building An image for the company.

I say he was building An image for himself.

He had a rolls royce, a mercedes With color television,

A maserati coupe.

How about a $95,000 wardrobe For his wife?

Italian.

I told my employers, "Get an injunction,

Get that man out of here."

Oh, any criminal charges?

Well, we went To the u.S. Attorney's office,

Showed them the evidence, And they said last week

That we didn't have enough For a case against him.

So, he's in long island,

Doing no work And getting a lot of pay.

Collecting his pay? Still?

Sure. He threatens A countersuit.

Defamation of character.

So we got a stalemate,

Except he's way ahead.

Three more years At 200,000 per.

And our victim, Mr. Fletcher?

What exactly was he doing For investment securities?

Well, he was doing everything I was doing,

Except with fletcher, It meant a microscope.

That guy kept his pencils sharp Enough to draw blood.

These the things he was Working on before he was killed?

Yeah, I guess so.

I see.

"671/30/6801/2/3..."

What's this?

Beats me. You're the detective,

You figure it out.

Hey, wait a minute, Let me see that.

Last week, fletcher Was going through a ledger,

And all of a sudden, He lets out a long whistle

Like he suddenly found A naked chick

Pressed in between the pages, You know?

Then he writes Down the figures

And puts it back In that lockbox.

Which ledger?

Who knows?

You gotta understand that He was shuffling them around

Like he was dealing stud.

He told me that he knew marshall Was cooking the books,

And he was the boy Who was gonna prove it.

Very, very Self-righteous dude.

His wife said He called from here

A couple of hours Before he was killed.

Said he had an appointment.

He say anything to you The night he was killed?

Who it was with Or anything like that?

No. No, He never talked much.

Just did A lot of arithmetic.

Three-horse parlay?

Irish sweepstakes?

What is this?

Hey, lieutenant, Where are we going?

Long island.

I want to see that 96,000 Banana wardrobe firsthand.

Malcolm kane, please.

Malcolm, This is wilson.

I thought I better Call you right away.

Thought you ought to know.

They were in there With him a long time.

Hello, I'm lieutenant kojak To see mr. Marshall.

This is detective stavros.

- hi, come on in, please. - thank you.

My father will be with you In just a moment, all right?

How do you do?

I'm lieutenant kojak. This is detective stavros.

Detective.

Good afternoon, lieutenant. What can I do for you?

Well, tell me about Colin fletcher, mr. Marshall.

I didn't know fletcher Personally.

We never met face to face.

Ah. Do you mind if I smoke?

Oh! Of course.

Thank you.

Uh, mr. Marshall, you must have Known that fletcher

Was going through Your books,

Looking for Questionable transactions,

You know, Embezzlement, fraud.

It sure is elegant.

There is absolutely no proof Of those alleged crimes,

And the united states attorney's Office apparently agrees.

I suggest you be careful What you say to me.

I'll take anyone into court Who I think deserves it.

Court?

I've already filed suit Against investment securities.

I'm going To get back in control.

I didn't think there was Very much left to control.

In my opinion, the company Has a brilliant future.

Frankly, that's all I have To say for now.

Lieutenant?

You know, I was down In the virgin islands.

It was very nice.

Did you buy this down there?

No, we've never been To the caribbean.

I can't remember where We picked that up.

Hey, stavros, How come you know so much

About the caribbean?

I mean, Why isn't it tahiti?

Well, lieutenant, It's very easy. Look.

You see? There Are no coral reefs,

And the waves break right Down on the beach.

That surely Isn't the pacific.

Should I be impressed, Detective,

Or are you just jumping To conclusions?

What about, say, The andaman islands?

Where's that?

Off the coast of india.

They're quite primitive.

Oh. Well, I doubt if it's India, mr. Marshall.

Why do you say that?

Well, what with people Waterskiing and all that.

Thanks for your time.

Rick!

- car 740. Kay? - 740. Kay.

Respond to Lester lebaron dress company,

38th street and 8th avenue,

Relative to a past assault And possible kidnapping. Kay?

Right.

Excuse me for a minute.

Rick levine was just grabbed Right off the street

In broad daylight.

This is his wife, And she saw them take him.

Did she help?

She can't even remember What they looked like.

Just two big goons Grabbed him off,

Took him off in a car.

Levine snatched Off the streets,

Fletcher snatched Off the mortal coil entirely.

You know, somebody hates These snoops

From city investing,

And if I hadn't been With mr. Marshall

While this was happening,

Who knows What naughty thoughts

I'd be having About him right now.

Yeah, well I think this guy, He has a connection,

This mr. Marshall.

All right, Get some answers, okay?

Try to impress Your superiors, go ahead.

Now you get in touch with City investment in cleveland,

Find out everything You can about levine.

He's bonded, so there's got To be prints.

I want a copy Of mr. Marshall's prints too,

If they've got them.

And all the background They've got on him.

Here. Have the lab

Lift mrs. Marshall's prints From this ashtray

And try to get some sort of Rundown on her background too.

How come?

Well, what you said about The caribbean made sense,

That painting, And the other souvenirs

Probably from that area.

Only she makes A great big deal

About never Having been there.

Ah, probably nothing to it,

But I got news for you, I'm curious.

Hey, frank. Look, I gotta work for a living.

What's your excuse for hanging Around this hole?

Just won 12.50 Downstairs--pinochle.

Figure a $1.85 an hour?

Hey, that's some moonlighting.

What is that arrangement?

That's my pizza warmer.

Here, have a piece.

Got any cream soda?

Stick the napkin under Your chin and shut up.

Okay, what's wrong, theo?

I told you I thought fletcher Was hit, right, professionally?

Because the blonde Who took him upstairs

Did her research on that hotel And bar perfect,

And because He got hit a lot harder

Than any sapper's Gonna hit anybody,

Unless he wants To kill 'em, right?

He was meant to die.

Maybe it wasn't professional.

Maybe it Was just a good job.

We run across A lot of slick amateurs.

Well, what about The two cool sharpies

Who shuffled levine Off the streets

In midday with no commotion.

There's something very Professional going on, frank.

Where is lester lebaron In all of this?

Oh, He's in europe,

Looking for new models.

It's true, It's been confirmed.

Here. Can you make anything Of the this?

It was in a lockbox In fletcher's desk.

Somehow, it was important To him.

It's not a phone number,

It's not A safe combination,

It's not an address.

We could call washington?

It might be A numbered swiss account.

I called four government Agencies myself.

I don't like mysteries, right?

So far, Nobody's called back.

Incidentally, what ever happened To that fbi report

We were supposed to get?

You didn't get that yet?

I didn't get it yet, no.

Let me sleep On my winnings.

I'll follow up tomorrow For you.

Hey, theo.

I love your pizza oven.

Yeah.

Lieutenant kojak?

That's right. Who's this?

Just listen. I got people On the streets,

You got cops on the streets,

So let's economize.

That's how we're gonna save The city, right?

Hey, it's too late, baby.

We're already Down the tubes.

What does it all mean, huh?

It means we got something For each other,

On this kidnap number Today.

I'm in the bar at the corner Of seventh and broadway.

I'm waiting on you.

Who was that?

Uh, I don't know, frank.

However, it must have something To do with the levine caper.

I can't pass it up, can I?

No.

- kojak. - mo pearl.

- hey, never heard of him. - uh-huh.

Now, mo used to be

The biggest shylock In long island.

What'd you do, Give up country living, mo?

Mo pearl is dead. He died in dannemora.

You understand? My name is jim ryan.

I sell fixtures--

Hangers, racks, supplies In the district here.

Yeah, sure. Legitimate businessman, right?

"Buy a thousand gross Of my coat hangers,

Or I'll break your arm," right?

Hey, you think what you want.

I--I can't stop you.

Now, this is causing me Big trouble, this kidnapper.

This guy, uh... This guy levine,

He's snatched east of seventh.

Well, east of seventh Belongs to somebody else.

Now, this somebody else figures I'm intruding on his territory.

Guys are calling me up, Layin' heavy numbers on me.

Can we get to The point?

Hey, you got High blood pressure?

Mo, talk nice To the captain.

- captain? - uh-huh.

Hey, I'm sorry. Who knew?

Go on.

Anyhow, I ask around,

Find this bookie Who saw the snatch.

Stood on the corner Watching,

Couldn't believe it.

You're lucky.

He keeps numbers in his head

Like you guys Remember holidays.

And, uh, I got The license on the limo

That drove off With that guy in it.

Hey, ain't you glad?

Your men have been looking All over for witnesses, right?

So? I done you a favor.

Mo? You want something?

Don't put Too big a price on it.

Okay. You just get The word out it wasn't me.

I never made a move east Of seventh avenue in my life.

You got it.

149-c-c-u. New york state.

Okay, we can call it From here.

That'll motivate The bureau.

One problem, kojak.

Look, you're gonna think I'm playing' games with you.

Now, why would I think that, mo?

Well, I wanted to find out If this car

Belonged to my competition, Understand?

Come on, he could've been Setting me up for, uh...

Make a patsy out of me.

So I had this friend check out The ownership for me.

And?

It's registered to an outfit Called the altamont corporation.

It's a dummy corporation, Belongs to the feds.

The feds?

Yeah, they got a couple Of special strike forces,

Real humpbreakers.

Hey, I gave You something good, huh?

The feds kidnapped Rick levine?

No wonder nobody In washington

Is returning my calls.

Huh?

Our victim's back

And better rested Than any of us.

Who? Levine?

Yeah, apparently he got in At 10:00 last night,

Came in the back way,

So our man on stakeout Didn't pick it up.

And neither he Or his wife called us.

You get His fanny down here.

I want to talk to him.

On advice of counsel, Lieutenant,

Mr. Levine is not talking With any cops

Unless a warrant Is issued against him.

- advice of what counsel? - he wouldn't say.

He referred me To a malcolm kane.

Kane works For some federal agency.

Malcolm kane.

That's what the man said.

All right. That figures.

How have you been, mal?

Fine, thank you.

Kojak, have you ever thought What would happen

If the feds leaned On you real good?

Oh, you terrify me.

I got to talk with one of My witnesses in a murder case--

That's murder, mal.

And what do I find?

I find my man has Been snatched

On a public street In broad daylight

By a couple Of your necktie salesmen,

And when he gets back Home again, what?

He never heard of me.

"Talk to mal," he says. So here I am.

Rick levine is Under federal wraps.

End of explanation.

No questions, No answers, period.

And I do mean, period.

This was supposed to Get me off my murder case, mal?

I mean, This baffling development

I'm supposed To somehow ignore?

Baby, you got me hooked On this case forever.

See ya later, mal.

Yes, commissioner.

No, commissioner.

You can rest assured, Commissioner.

Right.

Guess who that was?

How would I know?

You are some detective.

About fletcher's murder.

We're instructed to limit Our investigation

To routine channels.

And report all names Of suspects and witnesses

To the chief of detectives Before we interrogate them.

In other words, a properly Managed investigation.

Theo, who knows This whole cuchifrito,

The real story?

Maybe levine is cia, And marshall is a russian spy

They've got under observation.

Hey, with his background, Nothing's impossible.

Why?

Marshall's resume

As he supplied it To city investing.

High school, college, First place of employment.

I called a few Of these references.

Everybody gets very, very cagey When I ask for specifics.

One administrator remembered him At the high school here.

One dean remembered Him at college.

Yeah, a, b. Here's his marks.

Not bad, either.

It's just a transcript, theo.

I called the person in charge Of housing at the college.

He never had a room there.

You know why?

Because marshall never Even went to that college.

He's a paper man, theo. Paper.

The wife, and the kids too.

A paper man, huh?

And who phonies a background Better than the feds?

Uh!

Were you really gonna suggest The russians?

Theo, I've done Enough research on my own

To think that We'd better play this game

The way we were told.

Well, you have, frank.

You've given me My instructions.

Which you're going to follow?

Uh. You really want to know The answer to that?

No.

- all right, thanks. - hey, theo!

Remember those numbers You showed me

That fletcher wrote down?

Well, take a look at this.

My hero!

Now, what number Is set up like this?

The one indispensable number You need to pay your taxes,

To have a bank account,

To receive Income from any--

A social security number?

All right.

Now, fletcher runs across

Four social security numbers In sequence,

And somehow, That's very special to him.

Now, you used to mess around

With some girl In welfare, right?

She must have a pipeline Into social security records.

You go make A date with her,

Check these out,

And do not make it An official police request. Go.

We get The prints on marshall?

Yes, sir, they came in This morning with his resume,

But there's No arrest record on him.

Tell fingerprinting I want Them run through interpol,

And don't memo that request To any federal agency.

And have them check

Their caribbean files For starters, okay?

Yes, sir.

I haven't heard a thing.

But if I had, why interpol?

Because they're Not under the thumb

Of some united states agency, Frank.

And because Marshall's house was filled

With souvenirs From the caribbean,

And maybe because interpol Can tell me

If mrs. Marshall's lying When she makes a big deal

Out of saying They've never been down there.

Social security number, That's very good.

Tell me, frank, How'd you come up with that?

I didn't. My niece shannon did.

The eight-year-old?

So? She takes after me.

Uh...

Captain, lieutenant,

Jackpot!

Father, mother, daughter, Son, in sequence.

Now, clue me in, crocker.

How does the marshall family

Get four social security numbers In sequence?

By having them all issued At the same time.

Which ain't possible, Right?

Well, let's just say It takes

About the heaviest clout Imaginable from uncle sam.

Which makes me think, We better slow down.

Hey, frank, Are you kidding?

Slow down?

I got a woman Without a husband, right?

Three kids without a father.

I'm not slowing down For his murderer, frank!

Hey, forget it!

Very serious charges, theo.

They're not charges, evan, Questions.

For instance, Why were no criminal charges

Filed against Adrian marshall?

Because the complaint lodged By investment securities

Gave me nothing on which to base A true bill of indictment.

The line between mismanagement And embezzlement

Is not an easy one to fix.

Now, if it makes You feel any better,

My own feeling was that marshall Probably was guilty

Of misappropriating funds.

But, uh, proof, legal proof, They just didn't give me any.

So...

Your decision not to file Was arrived at

Without pressure from any other Federal agency, right?

Pressure? No.

There were inquiries.

From malcolm kane?

I mean, his people?

From kane, yes.

I was able to tell him Honestly

We just didn't have the evidence For a conviction.

You think He would have pressured

If we were ready to prosecute?

That's outrageous.

That's right, baby.

Now, there's a man, levine. I want to talk to him.

Can you help?

You claim, mr. Levine, You never talked

With malcolm kane

Or any member of A federal investigation agency?

As I understand it, Lieutenant,

I'm not supposed To be here.

I mean, I wasn't kidnapped, right?

There is nothing I can say to help you.

Listen, mr. Levine, you're In the middle of something

That neither one of us Clearly understands.

That's the murder Of colin fletcher,

A man pretty much like you.

I was told Not to say anything.

That's all I know.

Okay. I'll ask some questions.

You don't have to answer.

However, if you look toward That window over there,

Maybe I'll take It to mean yes. Okay?

Let's talk about marshall.

You know him By any other name?

You know anything About his wife, his family life?

Do you know the color Of your eyes, mr. Levine?

Or maybe mama's name? Or your own name, mr. Levine?

I was told in the interest Of national security--

Mr. Levine, national security Begins right up here

With brains you don't let Other people scramble for you!

And murder doesn't happen To be in the best interests

Of this country, Mr. Levine, versteh?

I'm sorry.

Mr. Levine, Why don't you go home.

Thanks a lot.

Lieutenant.

Lieutenant, interpol's Just scored for us

On adrian marshall.

Thanks To a certain detective's

Perceptive observations

About his interest In the caribbean.

If this is good, stavros,

I'll buy you A blowfish lamp, okay?

Don't worry. Go ahead.

Well, it seems that interpol Had some partial fingerprints

On a syndicate employee, A man who spoke spanish,

Ran three mob-controlled casinos In the caribbean for them,

And a man that just vanished, Family and all, three years ago.

They knew him As ariano merceica.

We know him as...

Adrian marshall.

My, my, my, my.

What the hell Have we got here?

You're trying to tell me now That adrian marshall

Is really ariano merceica,

Formerly a casino manager For the mob?

- mm-hmm - him and his whole family,

They lived in cuba,

Moved out after castro To some of the other islands.

Interpol Had their eye on him.

He went to miami Three, four years ago,

Apparently got picked up By the irs.

That's the last The four little merceicas

Were ever seen By that name again.

Yeah, the irs wiped out Half the miami mob

On tax evasion charges About the same time.

With merceica's help, No doubt.

Probably made A deal with him--

New identity, relocation.

He probably went Underground in san diego

And got stiffed With some dull job.

Probably dug up some action For himself in new york,

Ripping off Lester lebaron's dresses.

So fletcher stumbles

On marshall's phony Social security numbers,

Figures marshall Has some sort of pull,

Probably a lot to hide.

Fletcher could've Blackmailed him,

Or maybe he tried to sell the Information to the syndicate?

Fletcher? No, I doubt it.

I think he was A lot straighter than that.

Well, if fletcher Was that straight,

Maybe he leveled With marshall

And demanded an explanation?

What about this appointment

That fletcher Told his wife he had,

The one that Made him very excited?

So? A meeting With a flashy blonde?

That's exciting All by itself.

That lady was more Than just flashy, baby.

She was smart.

She has good timing.

Cased the situation perfectly,

And, frank, guess who fits That description?

A lady who's handled a lot Of ups and downs in her life

Like a very cool, Cool cookie, cookie.

All right, check the prints Found on fletcher's wallet

Against the prints Of mrs. Marshall

We lifted from that ashtray.

Mrs. Marshall?

Thank you.

Hello?

This is kane With a problem.

Interpol came up With your real name--merceica.

They gave it to the nypd.

But you said That couldn't happen.

I said, there's no reason Why it should have happened,

And it wouldn't have, Except for this investigation

Into fletcher's death.

Talked to levine yesterday

And found out he had steered This lieutenant kojak

Onto some numbers That fletcher had written down.

What levine doesn't know is They're social security cards

That we ran through for you.

Anyway, levine said it made him Sort of suspicious.

Fletcher never got In touch with you

About these numbers, Did he?

No, I never met fletcher In my life.

But tell me, kane, How bad is our cover blown?

Tell me straight.

My men check your place From time to time.

There's no sign Of trouble yet.

Your men come out here?

Well, what if They're followed?

Mr. Marshall, You've got other worries.

This kojak has got something To work on now,

And there's not much we Can do to slow him down.

There's leaks In every police department.

I told you when you wouldn't Stay in san diego,

We would cooperate On one more move.

Now the problem is yours.

I'm a man of action, kane.

I was dying out there.

I can't sell campers For the rest of my life.

Kane!

We turn everything We can into cash.

Furs, jewelry, everything!

No. If there's real danger,

We don't want To waste one minute.

I'm sorry.

Sorry?

Don't say that, ariano.

We came from nowhere, You and me, with nothing,

And we had 20 good years South of miami.

And we'll have 20 more Good ones somewhere else.

We tried our best.

Or I should say our worst.

Killing fletcher, It was a mistake.

We'll pick up The children at school.

My jewelry's in the safe With the cash.

That's right.

Mr. And mrs. Ariano merceica.

You'd better include The name adrian marshall

On the warrant too.

As soon as possible.

We'll come by And pick it up. Right.

Frank.

Mrs. Marshall's prints were Found on fletcher's wallet.

We're getting a warrant

And heading out To his house right now.

Don't you think a warrant With marshall's name on it

Could get back to kane, Who might warn marshall?

You could be right.

We'll pick up kane, Tell him we've got to talk.

If we've got him with us,

He can't get too far ahead Of us, can he?

Get kane on the phone For the captain.

There he is now.

Kojak, what's this all about And where are we going?

Get in, mal. It's important.

So?

So, we're arresting Mr. And mrs. Merceica.

Why?

Because you know Their real identity?

Stay away, kojak.

Stay away From fletcher's murderers?

No way, baby. Come on.

Hey, lieutenant! We got the warrant!

Get in the other car.

Right.

You know, we put mrs. Marshall In a platinum wig,

Try her in a line-up,

See if claudine the dream Recognizes her.

Also hunk, other people In that bar.

Why would they want To kill fletcher?

And why go through This whole hooker masquerade?

Well, I don't know For sure, mal,

But if I don't try And find the answers,

You're certainly not going To help, are you?

You think I'm a real Hard-nosed bum, don't you?

Hmm? That I don't Cooperate, right?

How would you like to go around Knowing that one slip you make

Could cost a family Their lives?

If anything happens To marshall and his family

Once you blow their cover,

Then their lives are On your conscience, kojak,

And thank god There's a few less on mine.

Go around the back With stavros.

Marshall? Anybody?

I still can't Get used to this.

Oh, my god.

Theo.

Yeah?

Was it worth it, baby?

It was quick.

I know.

They made me watch.

Mrs. Merceica, can you make Any identifications?

Marshall.

Our name is marshall.

My children, I don't want them coming here.

I'm sorry.

I don't think This is the fault anyone here.

Course it is.

It's his fault, And it's hers.

You pay your money and you take Your chances, right?

Only that wasn't really fair For fletcher, was it?

He wanted money

Like everyone else.

We said we'd have To meet him someplace

Where we wouldn't Be recognized.

Crocker, Help the lady outside.

We sent up four syndicate Hoodlums thanks to him.

Yeah, for how long?

17 months was the longest.

This is Not an easy job, theo.

It's not easy For anybody, mal.

Just gotta keep trying.