[Jessica] Tonight on Murder, She Wrote.
Vigilantes frighten me, Sergeant.
And vigilantes wearing badges
I find particularly scary.
It’s like I’m gonna be the bait for God sakes.
Well, it does sound like trouble.
I’ll take the real estate business
any day of the week.
A guy with a ski mask
just happened to walk in right in time.
Well, I’ll be over there as quickly as I can.
We’ve been there before, Lofton.
We’re cutting our losses.
You will talk to me.
-Hold it right there. -Freeze.
Well, it could very well be a matter of life and death.
[cheerful orchestral music]
[cell phone ringing]
Well, come on, come on.
Yes.
They are on their way!
Come on, move out, now!
[clamoring]
[shouting]
Oh, freeze.
Hold it right there.
Oh, damn.
What’s this I hear about the third time being the charm?
Yeah, you missed the last one, Marv, this is number four.
So how long we’re gonna keep playing the same game?
-Sarge. -Mm-hmm.
We come out and they slip away, I mean,
this is getting old fast.
All right, all right.
What is this?
-Listen up, Central is closing us down. -Damn!
Oh, what, come on, man, we were getting so close.
They did not say permanently, it’s temporary.
They just need time to review.
It’s gonna look great on our efficiency report, Sarge.
Once, yeah, maybe it’s a coincidence, twice even.
Anymore than that and either we're doing something wrong or--
Or they got our number.
Were they being tipped?
But you’re the one who is setting up the busts.
And you guys are the only ones being told.
[Sarge] All right, now listen,
there are all kinds of people out there
with eyes, ears,
but the thing is, we need a fresh look, even the suits agree.
Now I’ve convinced them that we need some new people.
In a couple of days they're gonna give me a new guy.
In the meantime, you hang loose and take care.
-Good night, Sarge. -Good night.
All right, see you.
You find me someone, Meyers?
That’s Captain Meyers.
And don’t talk as if he’s your private property.
He will answer to me, you got it?
Got it.
All right, his name is Bondy.
John Andrew Bondy.
[Meyers] Young, squeaky clean,
father, grandfather both cops,
a year out of Michigan State with a BS in criminology.
And faceless.
John’s been on special detail for the Mayor’s office.
It’s unlikely any of your people will recognize him.
Well, let’s hope unlikely is good enough.
I’m putting him undercover on Pier 50.
No badge, no weapon.
He’ll be looking for the snitch between my guys
and the bad cops' been screwing up the bust.
I’m not as sure as you are, it’s another cop.
You’ll look after Bondy, Lofton?
Yeah, like he was my baby brother.
[beeping and typing]
Oh.
[phone ringing]
Paula speaking.
Paula, this is Jessica Fletcher.
Hello, Mrs. Fletcher, what can I do for you?
Well, you can stop me from murdering my computer.
Look, I can save, but I can’t seem to print anything.
Well, it does sound like trouble.
I have a Monday deadline.
Is there any chance that you could
come before the weekend?
How does Friday, one o'clock sound to you?
[John on radio] What up, Vinnie?
[Vinnie on radio] John.
-So you wanted to talk? -Yeah, right.
This friend of yours, I want to meet him.
-Just say when, baby. -Now we got to understand.
I want 100 big ones in $50 bills
and you don’t know me anymore.
Oh, Vinnie, check it out, man.
It will be like you never existed.
All he wants is a name.
Friday. I’ll call you Friday.
He said he’d call me Friday.
Now what the hell does that mean?
It means between now and then
he’s gonna talk to the leak.
It means when I introduce you to the rest of the guys
one of them is gonna know everything about you
and he’s gonna make sure you and Vinnie don’t happen.
Look, Sergeant, I’m not stupid.
It’s like I’m gonna be the bait for God sakes.
Exactly.
[Sarge] Look, you just do like I tell you
and you’ll be okay.
Can you handle that?
Let’s do it.
[John] Hey, I just thought of something, Sarge.
[Sarge] What’s that?
[John] Vinnie said he was calling Friday.
-So? -I got a date Friday.
[Sarge] So keep it.
[Sarge] Who knows what will happen between now and then.
Look, don’t worry, kid, you’re doing okay.
Someday you will be a cop.
[John] Gee, Dad, thanks a whole lot.
Oh, I am so grateful to you, Paula.
You know, I was afraid that
it would be Monday before I’d be able to do any work.
Which would mean you’d have to take a whole weekend off.
We certainly can’t have that, now can we?
Don’t remind me.
Thanks.
Well, that ought to do it.
Let me just run the diagnostics.
[phone ringing]
Hello?
Oh, Richie.
Oh, please, have him come right up.
Your young man.
Please. My date.
Really don’t have time for anything serious.
How is school coming along?
Not fast enough.
All right, I’ll just put this cover on
and you can get back to creating.
Oh, thank you.
Tell me, have you had any luck with your quest?
Well, I do have a search going
at several computer bulletin boards,
but so far I’ve drawn nothing but blanks.
It’s like-- well, it’s like a stork
really did bring me because I certainly
can’t seem to find anyone else
who is willing to take responsibility.
It’s got to be very frustrating and disappointing.
Well, my Psych professor says
maybe it’s better this way.
He claims that most people are disappointed
with the parents they grew up with,
where as I can imagine mine any way I want them.
This week I decided my mother
was a research scientist working on a cure for cancer.
I guess that’s a promotion because before that
I always pictured her as a sultry torch singer.
[knocking on door]
Hello, Mrs. Fletcher. I’m John Bondy.
Hello, John, please come inside.
Thank you.
Be with you in a couple of shakes, John.
Take your time.
Hello.
You know, Mrs. Fletcher,
I’ve been losing sleep because of you.
You see, Paula gave me one of your books
and it’s been keeping me up nights.
Well, I don’t know whether to say
I’m sorry or thank you?
You’re welcome.
But look, I hate to rush Paula away,
but there’s this party I’ve been invited to
and I promised to bring the prettiest woman in town.
Well, too bad you have to take me instead.
So I’m on a stakeout with this green kid,
fresh out of the academy, right?
We’re in some bushes, watching this
bozo boost some TV
from the back of a pickup truck, right?
So I say to the kid, "Okay, tiger, go get ’em."
And what does the kid do?
He stands straight up, big as life,
and he starts that speech from Procedures class
about intention to arrest,
the cause thereof and all that garbage.
In the meantime, the perp is gone many bucks.
The captain chews you out, right.
There ain’t no justice for cops.
Amen.
You sure your father-in-law needs to be hearing all this?
No, no, no, all I got to say is,
I'll take the real estate business any day of the week.
So, where’s the new guy?
You know, he should be here any time though.
Hey, son-in-law, how about getting me
some more barbeque sauce, huh?
Sure, Dad.
Thanks.
So we know anything about him, yet?
Just that Lofton picked him up from some special detail.
I don’t know about you guys, but I hate working with rookies.
So does anybody know him?
Uh-uh. Guess that’s why Lofton invited him.
I thought with all the trouble we’re having down in Brooklyn,
what do we want to bring a rookie in on it for?
Find yourself in a situation,
you never know what they are gonna do.
Let someone else break him in.
[Woman] Can I get some molasses? Lots of molasses.
That’s my wife, Jill.
-Hi, Jill. -Hi.
Oh, by the way the Sarge called.
Said he’d be late.
That’s part of his style, isn’t it?
Oh, you’re catching on.
Come on, let’s go outside and grab a beer.
Can I help you with anything?
Oh, no, Paula, you go on outside and meet the guys.
-Sure? Okay. -Yeah.
Right, ladies, let’s get everything outside.
Alice, you want to grab that casserole?
Oh, yeah, right.
Well, yes, come on inside.
Nice to meet you, Paula.
Nice to meet you.
John, looking good, John.
The arsonist over here who is destroying
$200 worth of prime beef,
that’s Jill’s father, Jimmy Haynes.
My son-in-law, the barbeque expert.
See, I bought him--
Paula. John.
[John] How you doing, Jimmy?
How’s it going?
Sonny Greene.
You better keep an eye on your lady there, John.
Sonny’s just broke up with his girlfriend.
You know each other?
Way back when.
Never thought you’d become a cop.
[woman] Jill, is this salad bowl big enough?
[Jimmy] Oh, it’s too big.
Manly men don’t eat bunny food.
Now get the table ready.
In exactly 58 and a half seconds,
these steaks are going to be perfect.
Jim, Jimbo, if it’s not too much trouble,
could be make mine pink on the outside and charbroiled on the inside?
There he goes. There he goes.
[inaudible]
He tried so hard.
Oh, thanks.
That looks good.
Yeah.
Are you and John, you know?
Forget it.
Not that there’s anything wrong with John,
it’s just that, you know, isn’t on my agenda.
Good.
Then I don’t have to do my number
about what a picnic it is being a cop’s wife.
I’m sure.
Hey, Alice.
How do the kids like their new school?
Oh, about as much as I do.
Classes are way too big
and a lot of the kids belong to gangs.
-That’s terrible. -Yeah.
I guess it’s a lot easier in private school.
[phone ringing]
Hello?
Yes, this is Jessica Fletcher.
An accident?
Can you describe her?
[Doctor] She suffered a concussion, fractured right ankle,
multi contusions and abrasions.
On the upside there are no apparent internal injuries.
[Jessica] How long has she been like this?
She was comatose when they brought her in.
That’s not unusual with head trauma.
Well, tell me about the accident.
Well, the Sergeant here would know more about that.
Det. Sgt. Vince Lofton, NYPD.
Then you were the one who called me?
It was a one-vehicle accident.
The car ran into an overpass abutment on the parkway.
The impact tore the passenger door right off its hinges
and threw the girl out of the car
just before it caught on fire.
As I told you, the only thing
we’re able to read from her purse
was your name and number.
Well, her name is Paula Raynor, Sergeant.
What do you know about her?
Well, not very much. She’s a computer consultant.
She’s single. She has no family.
What about the driver?
Haven’t identified him yet.
The flames.
Well, it could have been Paula’s date.
His name was John Bondy.
I really didn’t know him at all,
but he seemed like a very nice young man.
Doctor, she’s squeezing my hand.
Talk to her, Mrs. Fletcher.
Paula, it’s Jessica Fletcher.
Keep going, it’s working.
Paula, wake up.
Please open your eyes.
Look at me.
[Paula] Jessica?
Yes.
John’s dead. It was--It was awful.
John didn’t suffer, Paula.
According to the coroner, death was instantaneous.
The moment the accident happened.
What? What accident?
What are you talking about?
You’re in the hospital, Paula.
You were injured in the crash
when you were thrown from John’s car.
No.
No, I wasn’t in the car.
She--She doesn’t remember.
Tell us about that, Paula.
We had been at a party.
We had to leave early
because John had to meet somebody in a pub.
I don’t know, some kind of business.
He told me to wait in the diner.
Yes, go on, Paula.
But he didn’t come back.
I went out to the parking lot to look for him.
He was sitting in the front seat.
His face and head were covered with blood.
He was-- my God, he was dead.
And then I saw-- the last thing I remember.
What did you see, Paula?
It was red, everywhere.
It was blood.
John’s blood everywhere.
She’s asleep.
Well, wake her up.
What do you mean wake her up?
She’s been through an exhausting, terrifying trauma.
You heard her. She’s confused, very incoherent.
Damn it. I’m conducting an investigation here.
Well, damn it, I’m treating a patient here.
And my here is a hospital.
Excuse me.
Sergeant?
Yeah.
If what Paula says is true
and not just a trick of her memory
than John Bondy was dead before the so-called accident.
Murdered. And his killer attempted to murder Paula.
Now, I realize you must have known that,
otherwise you wouldn’t be here
conducting a murder investigation.
See, I was afraid it was John.
That was his car.
You knew him?
Yeah. He was a cop.
He was my new partner.
Would you have any idea why anyone would murder him?
One or two, yeah.
-Sergeant? -Mm-hmm.
Whoever killed John Bondy must have also believed
there was a reason to kill Paula Raynor.
Now what happens when your perpetrator discovers
that she survived the accident?
I’m already way ahead of you on that.
The precinct is gonna provide round the clock security.
Yeah, well, starting when?
Whenever the guy gets here, okay?
Look, I’m sorry, Sergeant, I just want to help Paula.
You want to help Paula?
You really want to help?
Then stay out of my way.
Let me take care of this myself.
I’m not gonna let this get so far along
that some sleazy defense lawyer
can just march into the DA's office
and make a plea-bargain.
[Sarge] Yeah, just listen to me, listen to me.
The girl is starting to remember.
She remembers seeing John sitting in his car, already dead.
Yeah? When was the last time you dreamed of seeing
a dead cop sitting in his car dead in a pub’s parking lot?
This is what I want you to do.
I want you to call the medical examiner,
tell him to take John’s body out of the drawer,
put it back on the table,
pretend he didn’t die in a car crash
and find out what killed him.
Okay, I’ll get back to you.
Excuse me. Did you want to use the phone?
Oh.
Can you always talk people
into doing what you want them to do?
Well, it helps when he is nobody
and he owes you 200 bucks from a poker game.
I mean this in the friendliest way
but you look like you’re about to crash.
Yeah, well, I don’t want to go home
until I’m absolutely certain that Paula is quite safe.
She really means that much to you?
She has no family.
Well, there’s a police officer
who should be on guard duty in a few minutes.
Why don’t you take that time
and go in the waiting room and rest?
Thank you, Sergeant.
You’re welcome.
Mrs. Fletcher?
Yeah.
Miss Raynor is awake and asking for you.
Oh, thank you, thank you.
Mrs. Fletcher.
Doctor.
Paula.
Oh, Jessica, when I woke up just now
-I had a pang of guilt. -Why was that?
Because you got dragged from your apartment on account of me.
Oh, that’s all right, Paula.
I’m glad to help.
I think I remember something that happened at the party.
About John’s friends?
Well, that’s just it.
They weren’t his friends at all.
He didn’t know any of them expect one.
He didn’t come until later.
Around six-thirty, John seems to get real nervous.
He kept looking at his watch.
And then this guy came in.
Excuse me. I’m sorry.
He was furious with John.
Rookie!
He was obviously drunk
and John told him, go home and sober up.
And the guy pushed Mr. Haynes aside.
He spilled ice cream all over his pants
and he grabs John, he slams him into a wall.
All hell broke loose.
Cut it out.
Then Jill Machio
just screaming about her kitchen
and her dad saying
he’s got to go home and change his pants
before he can show a property.
The man raised his fist like he was gonna smash John’s face in.
Alex tried to grab him. He almost got hit.
And Marv’s yelling something like
"Come on, Sarge, relax and have some coffee."
He called him Sarge?
That’s him.
That’s the man that tried to kill John.
It’s okay, Paula.
Okay, there’s nothing to be afraid over.
Would you get the hell out of here?
Look, Miss Raynor.
There’s no reason to be afraid.
All I want to do is find the guy who did this to you.
It’s very important you try and remember
exactly what happened in the parking lot.
Go. Get away from me. Please go away, please.
[Sarge] Come on, I just want to ask you a few questions.
[Paula] Please go away.
Please, get out, get out please. Leave me alone.
It’s all right. It’s all right, Paula.
I’m sorry. I’m sorry.
It wasn’t the way it looks. She didn’t know the facts.
Well, nothing would please me more
than to hear the facts from you, sergeant.
Yeah, I know, but I have to check out something first.
Well, it seems to me that the first thing
to check out is John Bondy’s car.
If Paula’s memory is accurate,
John Bondy didn’t drive himself
into that abutment, it had to have been rigged.
Yeah.
John’s car should be at the police garage by tomorrow.
-You still want to check out your theory? -Yes, I do.
Then I’ll pick you up at your place, tomorrow at nine-thirty.
Good.
You could see, it’s a real mess.
Is the accelerator linkage intact?
[mechanic] Oh, it’s all there.
What exactly am I supposed to be looking for, Sarge?
[Sarge] I don’t know, you tell me.
The car crashed at a high rate of speed
with nobody driving it.
And since the person who made it crash was not in the car,
there must have been some sort of a device,
possibly something quite simple.
Like a shim.
Something that would make the accelerator
stick at high speed.
What is that?
A paper clip.
Somebody jammed the accelerator
with a bent paper clip.
The perp didn’t have to be a rocket scientist.
Thanks, Al.
Well, now you know as much as I know.
Well, not quite.
You still haven’t explained your behavior
toward John at the party.
Yeah, I guess that will be a little bit confusing for you.
You ever hear of a department within the Police Department
that investigates the illegal activities of other cops?
Well, of course, that’s the internal affairs department.
You mean, you’re--
Yes, I am.
We’re looking for a rotten apple
with the special unit that I’m in charge of.
We’re investigating a hijacking operation, a big one.
I needed someone to go undercover and get this guy.
Someone new to the department
that no one else would recognize.
John.
We’d worked together for a couple of days.
John said I was using him as bait and I was.
He trusted me.
It’s my fault he’s dead, Mrs. Fletcher.
Whoever wasted John, is one cop killer
nobody would get their hands on but me.
This one is mine.
[Meyers] Thank you for seeing me, Mrs. Fletcher.
I thought this might be a little more convenient
than meeting down at headquarters.
Well, I appreciate that, Captain.
Can I offer you a cup of coffee or tea?
Mmm. Thank you.
No.
Uh, look, I’ll be brief.
It’s been brought to my attention
you paid a visit to the police vehicle impound
in connection with a current case.
That’s correct.
And based on your reputation for shall I say,
a certain inquisitiveness,
I don’t suppose that satisfied your curiosity.
No, it didn’t.
Look, Mrs. Fletcher, I ask that you permit
the department to handle this matter in its own way.
In other words, I should mind my own business?
I assure you Miss Raynor’s security is in capable hands.
[telephone ringing]
Excuse me.
Hello?
Mrs. Fletcher, I’ve been trying to reach Sgt. Lofton.
What is it, doctor?
Somebody tried to kill Miss Raynor.
Is she all right?
Yeah, yeah, luckily.
A guy with a ski mask came up the fire stairs,
knocked out the security guard.
I just happened to walk in right in time.
Listen, I’ve been doing my best with her but it’s--
She’s pretty shaken up.
I thought she could use her friend about now.
Well, I’ll be over there as quickly as I can.
Thank you.
Somebody tried to kill Miss Raynor.
I’m going over to the hospital.
Okay. All the more reason for the police
to handle this matter as soon as possible.
Look, Captain, the last thing in the world
I want to do is to get in your way.
On the other hand, are you aware
that one of your own men has said
that he intends to find John Bondy’s killer
and deal with it in his own way?
Well, Sergeant Lofton tends to overdramatize.
Is that what you call it?
I’d say that you have a very loose cannon on your hands.
[Sgt.] So I hear you had a little talk with my boss,
some of which, was about me?
Vigilantes frighten me, Sergeant,
and vigilantes, wearing badges
I find particularly scary.
[Sgt.] Meyers recruited John for me.
I sent him to work
undercover as a warehouseman.
Eventually John made a contact,
his name was Vinnie.
He was a dockworker with an attitude.
John kept me up on what happened.
Oh!
Oh, I’m tired of busting my hump everyday.
Too bad you weren’t born rich, Vinnie.
Oh, those hijackers
are driving off every night with thousands of bucks
worth of merchandise.
Yeah, some fools got all the luck, huh?
You can’t be that stupid.
To buy that luck with hard cash,
they brought themselves a cop.
What, only one?
This cop is special. He’s in the right place.
-What, you know him, Vinnie? -Maybe.
You kidding me, fool? Well, you talking about lucking out, man.
What are you talking about?
You’ve heard of insurance companies, right?
They pay large for this kind of information, man.
-Yeah, right. -Big money.
Like they’re gonna listen to me.
I got a connection, all right?
One of my boys from high school works
for a large insurance company now.
So if I tell him to listen, he’s gonna listen.
I don’t know, no, I don’t know.
If you ain't interested.
I don’t want to go to court or anything.
Look, Vinnie, this is straight up confidential, man.
All you got to do is tell my man the name of the cop
and everything you know about him.
In fact, you don’t even have to tell him.
Tell me and I’ll tell him.
I have to think about it.
[Lofton] It was the only lead we had.
Vinnie called for a meeting in a parking lot
behind a pub on Ocean View.
Oh, my God, the parking lot.
Then you arranged the party at Alex Machio’s?
Sure.
It was the only way to get the entire task force
in one place at one time.
I mean, I thought we had a lock.
I’d show up at the party late playing drunk and mean,
pick a fight with John, he would duck out
and I’d follow the next cop to leave.
What went wrong?
[Lofton] Anyway, I’m keeping an eye out
as John and Paula leave.
-I’m okay. -Did you know him?
[Lofton] And what do you know?
I mean, without missing a beat, Sonny Greene leaves.
So I follow him in my car.
After a few minutes it became apparent
that he wasn’t headed for the pub.
So I took off like a bat out of hell
in the opposite direction, and it was too late.
When I got back to the pub, John’s car was gone,
so were John and Paula.
You can’t blame yourself, Sergeant.
That’s a nice try, Mrs. Fletcher,
but I should have been there for him.
That’s why I got to make it right.
I got to get that SOB who wasted John.
I got to do that.
Sure. Let’s see, what were your words?
You were gonna take care of him like a baby brother.
Okay, all right, I know, I blew it, next.
And next is I’m closing you down, as of now.
Look, Captain, this was one of my guys and I’ll find him.
We’ve been there before, Lofton. We’re cutting our loses.
What do you mean you’re cutting your losses?
What the hell is that? You mean you’re covering up your butt, right?
You’ll receive your reassignment orders
-by tomorrow morning. -No way. No way!
You’re going to the 19, Desk Sergeant,
on the graveyard shift, rather appropriate
under the circumstances, wouldn’t you say?
You’re investigating me, is that it?
Bingo.
Don’t worry, Sergeant,
you’re gonna come out smelling like a rose.
I promise.
Well, Paula. I better get back to the hospital
or they’re gonna have to shut down the place.
You don’t know how much better
it feels to be back in my apartment.
I think I do and I feel a whole lot better
knowing that there’s a large policeman
parked downstairs in the lobby.
Thanks for letting me come home, doctor,
and thanks for checking up on me.
Funny thing, I worked very hard all my life
so everyone would call me doctor
and now I'd just rather be called Ramon.
Thank you, Ramon.
Anyway, bye.
-Bye. -Bye.
Jessica, it’s a response to my computer search.
A woman in St. Louis thinks
she might have known my father.
Paula, that’s wonderful.
[knocking on door]
We just came from John Bondy’s funeral.
We’re here to look in on Miss Raynor.
Of course, please come in.
Well, we’re real glad to see you’re on the mend, Miss Raynor.
I guess you didn’t know John a whole lot better than we did.
[Paula] No, I didn’t.
Anyway, his folks flew in from San Francisco for the service.
We’re throwing them a little wake tonight at my place,
sort of potluck.
That sounds nice.
Unfortunately I'm in no condition to attend.
Yeah, well, listen, Paula, you wouldn’t happen
to have any idea, would you,
what this thing with John was all about?
What do you mean?
There was nothing in the newspaper about him,
but we kind of been hearing things
about maybe his death not being an accident.
Sergeant Lofton isn’t saying zip,
and as I'm sure you can understand
we tend to take kind of a dim view of cop killing.
No, I hadn’t heard anything, no.
Well, if you do,
maybe you could give one of us a jingle.
Yeah.
I’m still at the same number.
We’ll be checking in.
Thank you, Miss Raynor.
Bye.
Oh, God, Jessica.
You realize we may have just been talking
to John’s killer, the man that tried to kill me?
Yes, I know.
Paula, the powerful one, Sonny,
did you know him before?
Yeah.
We used to go out.
I was only 17 and he was a professional boxer.
I guess I was a kind of... dazzled by him.
That is until I found out
that the ring isn’t the only place
he likes to use his fists.
Whose are those?
What?
They’re Alex’s I think.
I also think it’s time for you to have a good rest.
Thank you, Jessica.
Mm-hmm.
Bye now.
I saw the fellows leaving.
A little fishing expedition?
Mm-hmm. I don’t think they caught much.
That’s good.
I’ve already had a full day
beginning with Captain Meyers.
Then I went over to the warehousemen’s union.
You know, there are about 100 guys over there
named Vincent or Vinnie.
Well, how many of them worked with John?
Only three.
I wasn’t able to make a positive identification
when I followed John that day.
So I figured I’d just check them out tomorrow.
Are you looking after yourself, Sergeant?
You don’t have to worry about me.
Yes, I do.
It seems to me you’re the one person
standing between Paula and the killer.
You had any sleep?
Not a lot.
Look, I might have some good news for you later.
Well, I just don’t want to see it on television, okay?
Now there’s a thought.
This is awfully sweet of you, Mrs. Fletcher,
but Alex could have picked these up from you
when he got off duty.
Well, I wanted to talk to you, Mrs. Machio.
To me?
Well, I was curious how a young NYPD detective
could afford a $200 pair of sunglasses.
Oh, wait a minute.
What the hell gives you the right to come in here
asking questions like that?
Well, your husband is a public servant, Mrs. Machio,
and beyond that, I’m a friend of Paula Raynor’s.
No, I don’t understand.
I’m not sure that I do, except that Paula’s life
may be in danger. Possibly from someone
on the police force.
Oh, my God.
Well, I can certainly put your mind
at rest about Alex and all of this.
My dad, Jimmy Haynes, is a very successful man.
He’s in commercial real estate
and well, he indulges us.
Also Alex works for him part-time
running the business.
[Boy] Mom, we’re home.
In the kitchen.
What do they say, timing is everything?
-Hi, hon. -Hi.
Whoa, whoa, guy, where are your manners?
Buddy, this is Mrs. Fletcher.
-Hi, Buddy. -Hi.
We did art today, poster colors.
Are they neat or what?
Oh, beautiful.
[Jimmy] Tell her what we call him.
Our mean machine.
Yeah.
This is my dad, Jimmy Haynes.
-Oh, hello. -How do you do?
Mrs. Fletcher is a friend of Paula’s,
the one who was in the accident.
Oh, right.
Is she okay?
She’s recovering nicely, thank you.
Good. Good.
Do you have enough fixings for the wake?
Yeah, Alex is bringing stuff home.
Good.
It’s very nice to have met you, Mrs. Fletcher,
I’ve got to get back to work.
Oh, I nearly forgot,
they are taking class pictures on Monday,
be sure to dress him up a little.
I already talked to two of the Vinnies
but they are the wrong guys.
The Vinnie I’m looking for is a little guy
with an attitude problem.
I know just who you’re talking about, Sergeant.
Okay.
You sold the black guy out to a cop.
I want to know what cop.
I can’t talk.
You will talk to me, Vinnie.
Well, Dr. Ramon said it was very important
that you should take nourishment.
Well, I’m not sure how
chocolate nut fudge ice cream fits into that category
but who’s asking?
Thank you, Jessica, and I have something for you.
I’ve been trying to jog my memory
about the night it happened.
So I’ve been writing down everything I can recall.
Good. And did much of it come back?
No more than I really bargained for,
but I don’t know how much of it makes sense.
It’s like some of it’s kind of, you know, surreal.
May I?
Of course.
I’m not sure how much it’s gonna help.
[Paula] "The nightmare began in an ordinary parking lot.
I was looking for John.
I saw him sitting in his car.
His blood appeared to be spreading beyond him.
A horrible pool of crimson
extending beyond the open window as if--
as if the whole world was suddenly
awash in John’s blood.
And then I felt this terrible pain."
John’s blood.
What is it, Jessica?
May I use your phone?
Of course.
[telephone ringing]
Yes, Captain Meyers, please.
Oh, no, please put me through to his car,
this is an emergency.
[Meyers] Yes.
Beautiful. She is, is she?
Okay, put her on.
Here. Hello, Mrs. Fletcher.
Yes, I’m afraid you’ve caught me at a bad time.
Oh, relax, Captain, I’m not gonna comprise your security.
I need a favor.
Now what kind of favor?
I need quick access to some information
from the Hall of Records and the Motor Vehicle Bureau.
Well, it could very well be a matter of life and death.
[Vinnie] There is the car, the one over there.
Are you sure that’s the cop’s car?
[Vinnie] Brand new.
Don’t that tell you something?
Yeah.
And this is the exact spot the cop made
the payoff the other night?
I told you I don’t know.
All of these warehouses look alike.
Oh, come on, you’re not gonna make me face the cop.
Yeah, come on, come on.
I swear on my mother’s head I didn’t know
he was gonna kill your friend.
Yeah, right, I understand.
Get over there.
[Man] See you tomorrow, fellows.
Like I was gonna yell to them.
[phone ringing]
Hello?
Hi, honey, how is it going?
About the same as usual.
Buddy’s got some friends over
and they’re driving me crazy, as usual.
Alex, I got to talk to you.
I didn’t mention it last night,
but it’s been worrying me
and Mrs. Fletcher was here yesterday and--
Sarge, what are you doing here?
Vinnie, is this the cop that pays you?
What is this?
This is your trial, little buddy.
Alex?
Jill, listen, I’ll call you back, okay?
I ain’t even sure it’s him.
What are you talking about, you’re not sure it’s him?
It was dark.
Come on!
He’s the guy who told about talking to John
about his insurance company’s reward.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I don’t know.
You described John!
You knew exactly who was gonna show up in that parking lot.
You were there to kill him!
I swear to God I didn’t.
Then you cold cocked Paula Raynor
and you put her in that car and rigged it to crash.
-You. A cop. -No, no.
No, don't, don’t do it, Lofton!
It’s my decision, Captain!
Sergeant, you’ll be killing an innocent man.
But if he didn’t kill John, who did?
There was somebody else.
Someone who knew about the undercover
internal affairs investigations.
Someone who pretended that he was a police officer
in order to frighten Vinnie
into telling him about John Bondy.
Isn’t that right, Mr. Haynes?
That’s the guy.
Jimmy.
Captain, Mrs. Fletcher, how can I help you?
By confessing to the murder of John Bondy
and the attempted murder of Paula Raynor.
Mrs. Fletcher, that is really quite preposterous.
I don’t believe it is.
You left the party at your son-in-law’s
before John and Paula did,
complaining about the ice cream
that had soiled your trousers.
You drove into the pub’s parking lot
and parked right next to John’s car.
You waited and when John came out to meet the person
he thought would be Vinnie’s contact,
it was an ambush and you killed him.
[Jessica] When Paula came out to look for John
she found him in his car with blood on his face, dead.
You knocked her unconscious, planning to kill her too,
but despite all, the single compelling image
stuck in her memory,
something she called "a pool of crimson."
Oh, you got the first part right,
I did leave the party early
but that was because I had to show
a property up in the Bronx.
Oh, I’m quite sure your appointment book
will indicate that that’s true, Mr. Haynes.
But I expect you will tell us
that the party failed to show up,
that you waited for a long time and that nobody saw you.
I also expect that the police
will be unable to trace the party
with whom you supposedly had an appointment.
You might as well save us all some time, Haynes.
How?
Paula remembered, but she didn’t realize
what she remembered.
[Jessica] She confused the pool of crimson
with John’s blood, when in reality
it was something quite different.
I recall where I’d seen the same thing.
Your grandson’s drawing of the mean machine.
The pool of crimson
was in fact a side of your red truck.
Sergeant.
Mr. Haynes, you have the right to remain silent,
you have the right to an attorney.
[Paula] How did you know about the warehouse?
Well, when I found out that Jill’s father
was in commercial real estate, I asked Captain Meyers
to find out if he owns some property
near the area where the hijacking
had taken place
and also I had him find out
whether Mr. Haynes owned a red vehicle.
You know, that warehouse was packed
with hijacked merchandise,
right under Alex’s nose too,
but he had no idea it was all stolen goods.
Who would have thought that about Mr. Haynes?
He seemed like such a nice man.
Oh, Paula, is there something you’re not telling us?
It’s my father. I finally located him.
I’m leaving for Denver tomorrow to meet him.
Oh, he sounds as excited as you are
and I don’t suppose that wild horses
could stop you from going.
Not even loose cannons.
Me? No.