Original subtitles

Thank you.

Hold it.

Hold it. There she is. That's the one I told you about before.

Ain't she pretty?

She got a little friend for you too, babe.

We never took on two girls before.

What's wrong? Don't you feel man enough to handle them?

Heads that go first, tails you.

There ain't no tails on a two -headed coin, Fiker.

Oh, really?

Tell me about it.

All right, I want you to bring it around the block and get this show on the

road, right?

Here, turn the plate taxi to Juneau Hall. In you go, sugar.

Took a call from you down at the precinct from this professor friend of

Belinda? Yeah.

She said, um, just tell him that I think it's going to happen.

Oh, it sounds exciting.

It's not what you think. She's talking about a teaching job. Aw.

I thought you already taught a couple of college courses.

They're expanding the department. Asked me how I'd feel about a full -time

position.

Morgan couldn't be serious about this. I don't know whether it's the lady or the

job he's most serious about.

What if I blow it? You won't, if you remember the rules.

Don't take any dabs about them inspecting the merchandise first.

Get the money up front.

Hello, ladies.

My friend and I were wondering if maybe you'd like to, you know, perhaps get in

the back of the van and have a nice evening with us, just the four of us.

do you say?

No, thank you.

Two more rules.

Make sure the guy's not a creep, and never go with more than one guy at a

You know, we're known for being generous, and we're sweet and charming,

we're great guys. Look at my friend. He's beautiful.

Look, isn't he gorgeous? Smile. Smile. Come on.

Look at him. He's beautiful. You know how broke I am.

I could really use a bread.

All right, look. She who hesitates is lost.

Come on.

I remember him. He's okay.

Come on.

Okay. It's okay? All right. I'm still from the back of the van, all right?

Come on, come on, come on, come on.

Nancy. Okay, so what kind of party you want?

I don't know. Let's talk about it.

I can't imagine Corrigan or anyone wanting to toss their badge in for a

blackboard and eraser.

Give yourself time, Junior.

You'd be surprised what looks tempting after a few more years on the street.

Yeah?

See the gun, lady? See the barrel?

Must take a nice, good look.

No, baby.

Abner finds it very pretty.

I do.

I really do. I bet your mom really likes you. You're such a cute little baby

with those cute blue eyes.

No. No.

No.

See the rope?

Take a nice look. See it, Dane?

in pursuit of Brown's 74th van heading west on Cotillion at 21st.

It strangled her.

Betsy.

I'm going to need your help to catch that scum who killed your friend.

She wasn't my friend.

She was just someone I knew.

Well, we'll have to notify our parents.

I wouldn't care.

Dad, she wouldn't have been here.

Why don't you just let me go home?

Officer Romano's gone to call your mom.

When she gets here, you'll be released.

What about your friend's mother?

I'm going to have to call her, too.

Name's Lori Spencer.

She came down a couple days ago from Washington State.

That's all I know.

I shouldn't have let her get in that van with those creeps.

She didn't know the angles yet.

And you do.

I can take care of myself.

I wouldn't have gotten into that van with those creeps. Did you know?

No.

Laurie said she did, but...

Oh, my God.

Mrs. Campbell.

We'd like Betsy to come back tomorrow morning and talk to us and tell her

had a special task for us. We want her to make an official statement, go

the mug books, and work with a composite artist.

What on earth for?

She was the witness to a murder.

The fourth in a string of killings.

The Boulevard Strangler?

Oh, my God. When your father finds out...

I'll try, but it's so hard. You try harder.

The killers know that she can recognize them.

I

don't

know how much longer we can put up with this kind of behavior.

Your father is going to be furious when he finds out. And I'll tell you one

thing, young lady. I am not going to take...

Morning, Mrs. Reynolds.

Oh, hi, Betsy. Did my mother's rent check come in the mail yet? Yes, it did.

And she sent me the sweetest note telling me how much she appreciates me

out for you.

Ah, well, it's easy being on my own when I know you're around, just in case I

need somebody.

Sweetheart, you're no trouble, whatever.

Now run along.

Study hard in school, yeah? Thanks, Mrs. Reynolds.

Background profiles in each of those kids are all the same. Runaways, most of

them from bad homes.

I'll never get used to hearing that story. Kids being abused and sexually

assaulted. No wonder they run away. Those girls are four of one. The million

kids who do the same thing every year. And we're damn near useless when it

to doing something about it. There's something about this. Okay.

Could you clue me in?

What are you talking about?

Our key witness, Betsy Campbell.

She's a no -show.

Did you call the number her mother put on the juvenile release form?

I hadn't checked the address.

Either she made them up or we need better maps.

They're both phony.

I still have the number Betsy gave me to call her mother last night.

Look, I'm buried.

Could you guys check it out? We're on it.

Look, look, I'm sorry I won't be able to meet with the dean today. But there's

been a break in the case we're working on.

This lady professor?

Yes.

I'll try to get over at the end of the watch.

Okay, sweetheart.

Thanks for calling.

Bye -bye.

I think they want me.

Well, here's the police work. You're going to throw it all away?

Stace, I'm just one slightly used cop out on the street.

I think you're one good cop.

It makes a difference.

Hooker, in a classroom, I can teach an army of cops to go out there and make a

difference. That's not the point. What is it you want?

To stand at a chalkboard or jockey a squad car?

Hooker, Betsy's phone number doesn't come back to her residence.

Shady lady lingerie?

I can't wait to check it out.

Take it easy.

Look, my man, if I can go to all the trouble of getting you some new

think you can live through getting them on.

How long are we going to live after the cops find us?

Now they got a girl who knows exactly what we look like.

Joseph, when are you going to have faith in me, huh?

Haven't I always kept you out of trouble?

Come on, look at me. Haven't I kept you out of trouble?

Even that first time when I looked the other way for you?

You don't remember that, do you? Well, it was different. There was a little

grifting in the bus station.

You know, you said nobody would ever find out. You said it'd be just for

Hasn't it been like I said?

I'll tell you what you do.

You sit there, and you let me take care of the girl who saw us, all right?

There's got to be a mix -up, Booker.

Betsy and her family couldn't possibly live here. Well, if they do, they must

get some interesting company.

Excuse me, we're looking for Mrs.

Edie Campbell.

You must have the wrong address.

This is no time to play games, Mrs. Campbell.

Where's Betsy? You didn't bring her to the precinct this morning.

I couldn't. I had to open the shop.

Betsy's home telephone number keeps coming back to this shop.

Oh, I can explain that. I have called forwarding, and I gave out the shop

number, but at night it rings home.

Is that where she is now, at home?

I'm not sure.

Well, what does it take to make you sure?

A coffin with your kid in it?

Look, don't you think that a 15 -year -old girl's mother should know where she

is? Look, I'm not Betsy's mother.

What?

I'm an actress.

Betsy hired me to play like I'm her mother sometimes. You can't expect me to

keep tabs on her, too, you know?

You've got to be kidding.

No, I'm not.

Look, I'm Edie Wright.

The last time I worked was about a year ago, and it was a dog food commercial.

My unemployment insurance ran out, and... Hey, come on, it's a job, you

Well, if you're not Betsy's mother, where's her real mother?

Her family?

How should I know?

A kid wandered in here one day looking for a job, and she ended up hiring me to

play her mother.

But this Strangler thing... She really saw the killers.

And she could be in deep trouble.

Where does she live?

Guys, if I knew, I'd tell you.

The kid only calls me when she's got a bit number for me to do.

Last night it was for you.

Time before that, though, I did a bit at her high school PTA meeting.

What PTA? What high school?

Lincoln High School. You should have seen me.

Look, Edie.

Betsy shows up.

Call me.

No matter how much she pays you.

Are you Mr. Fiker, the depot supervisor?

That's right. What can I do for you? The guard said you could approve posting

these M .O. bullets.

Let's take a look here.

Who are you looking for?

This girl ID'd two men with the strangled M .O. The description's at the

of the page.

And she's what? She's missing?

Yeah.

Well,

you know, of course I haven't seen these guys around here, but if you'd like,

I'd be more than happy to post them around the terminal.

We could use all the help we can get.

Absolutely. I appreciate it. Good day, sir. Thank you.

I can understand where Corrigan's coming from.

About teaching.

Well, there are worse things in the world than passing the torch.

If that's what you're gonna have to do. Yeah.

I have one teacher I guess I'll never forget.

An old -timer, you know.

Yeah? Who? You.

Oh, she's a teacher's dream.

Straight -A student.

My husband and I have had her over to dinner.

You know, she has the makings of a champion freestyler. And I'm hoping she

attend our summer swimming camp.

With her parents' permission, of course.

Then you've met her parents.

Only her mother.

Seemed like a nice lady.

Is Betsy in some kind of trouble?

She's in danger, Mrs. McKenzie.

The office said that we could find her here in this class.

That's right.

She was just here.

The bell doesn't ring yet for 20 minutes. There was no reason for Betsy

leave. Yes, there was.

Now what?

Thank the office to get her home address, I hope. Thank you very much.

No, I haven't seen the child since this morning. And nobody, but nobody gets in

this building without a spike of me knowing about it.

Isn't he something?

You'd be surprised how quiet it's gone down in this neighborhood since I got

that dog.

He's a regular four -legged neighborhood watch, huh? How about that?

That's great.

Mrs. Reynolds, do you think it's strange that a girl Betsy's age would live here

all alone?

Yes, her mother and I talked about that.

You met her mother?

On the phone.

She said this would teach Betsy to take care of herself.

Of course, she paid me a little extra each month to keep an eye on her.

Hooker. Swimming trophies.

Two different names.

Betsy Campbell, Betsy Morgan.

You think Betsy Morgan from Fresno, California and Betsy Campbell from

High just might be? One and the same.

Come on.

Mr. Reynolds?

Yes.

Please get in touch with me if Betsy comes back.

All righty.

Thank you, Matt.

Hey, Spike.

Keep up the good work.

Good dog.

Call O 'Brien.

Have him throw some men around this area. And Edie's shop.

Then have Stacy check with Fresno PD. See if they have a runaway report on a

Betsy Morgan.

I don't get it, Hooker. Why would a girl go to all the trouble to set up a make

-believe mother, being a model student, if she's going to be a streetwalker?

Good question.

Let's hope we find her.

Ain't time to get an answer.

Burn it, Joseph.

Why?

Did the girl tell them about it? About us?

Some. Not enough.

Luckily for us, our little bird's just like all the rest.

She can't stand cages.

Cops don't have her. She got away from them.

Where is she?

Doesn't matter.

Because when she leaves, she's going to leave exactly the same way she came in.

On the bus.

When we spot her.

What are you doing in here? There's a cop out there. Tell me something new.

I took Sissy out and she'll keep him occupied.

Eddie, I need help.

I gotta leave town.

Can you lend me some money? Baby, you can't just run away like that. I can't

stay here.

My whole life's blown.

School, work, everything.

I gotta cut out.

And leave those cops stranded with those psycho stranglers?

Betsy, I covered for you with that cop hooker about your past and all. But I am

really worried now because he said you could be hurt.

They'll send me home.

I can't let those cops destroy the rest of my life.

Now, are you going to help me?

Or aren't you?

Now we've been checking everyone that contacted Stacy and the other police

at the station. And five blocks in every direction.

But it looks similar.

I called Fresno. There's no record of a runaway named Betsy Morgan.

I'm tracing her family through the school's funding metal.

Been any sign of her on the street?

We've hit every halfway house and teen prostitute counseling center in the

How's the psychiatric workup of the killers coming?

The FBI is pitching in.

But there's a dozen ways to look at it. They seem to be leaning towards a

Bianchi Buono type profile.

It fits half the mass murderers in history.

A breed of cane.

What?

Scum who've crossed over from stealing property and stealing lives without

giving it a second thought.

Hooker, you're not making my day any easier, you know. Hey, Pete, we'll keep

heat on. I don't want to find that girl in the ditch somewhere any more than you

do. Right.

Hooker, those are teaching contracts Jim's reading.

Can't you talk to him? He can't afford to lose them.

We or you, Stace?

How about all of us?

This lady professor is really lobbying you to take the offer, isn't she?

You gonna sign those contracts?

Pays good.

I won't be sidestepping bullets, and Linda feels I'd head the department

somewhere down the line.

But there are a lot of other factors to consider.

Not the least of which is my partner over here.

Lying too, Hooker.

It's that woman who plays Betsy's mother.

Sergeant, Betsy came by here asking for money so she could leave the city, and I

decided to call you instead.

Where can I find her?

Waiting for me to bring the money to the bus station.

Sergeant, don't tell on me, okay?

Not a word, Edie.

Let's go.

You should think it's about time we got reacquainted, all right?

Okay, there it's set.

Stay here.

Your partner.

Who is he?

You may be dying.

Don't take this to the grave with you.

Who is your partner?

FBI sent us a tentative make on our John Doe.

Name's Joe Rask, alias Joey Rascal, Joseph Rackets. He's a small -time

out of Chicago.

Been in and out of prison for heisting baggage from the air, train, and bus

depots. Spent time in a state mental hospital, too.

What about the car they were in?

Flew together junkyard farts, had inactive plates, stolen tags.

SID's running a make on him now. We still don't know where he lived or what

did in our city, except for killing teenage girls.

I just pulled the plug on the command post effort.

Sixty cops.

Doing a six -block, building -to -building search.

What happened to our strangler?

Disappeared like a ghost in a snowstorm.

Damn.

Fresno report came in on Betsy.

Betsy Morgan grew up in Fresno. She's considered a problem student in school.

A father who molested her and a mother who was too weak to need to stop her.

Betsy's been through hell, Hooker. How can we send her back to these people?

The detectives got the composites of the printers.

I hear you did a bang of job on them.

And for my trouble, I get a free meal ticket in Chivvy Hall, huh?

Is that what Betsy Morgan wants?

I'm not going back.

And if you send me, I'm not going to stay.

What are you going to do, hit the streets again?

End up an over -the -hill 20 -year -old with $100 a day habit?

And a pimp who kicks you out in the cold when you don't make your quarter?

You can stop the scare tactics, Sergeant.

I survived 12 years with a lech I had to call my daddy.

Nothing can be worse.

Dad can be worse.

We all end up in the dirt sooner or later anyway.

Hey, stop it.

You don't believe that any more than we do.

If you did, you wouldn't have friends like Edie.

Mrs. Randles and your coach, Mrs. McKenzie.

And those two.

We care for you, too.

So don't tell me you want to throw your life out the window.

Help me.

Please help me.

I don't want to go back to them.

They couldn't do for life.

Could be half a dozen hostess floating around this city.

And then again, there could be only one.

Up against the wall.

Hey, man, I ain't done nothing wrong. Then why'd you make us break a sweat?

I didn't want to be paying no fine because homeboy at the Beans and Bacon

turned me in again.

For break dancing? Yeah, that's right.

Man, Wyndham City Father's gonna stop outlawing creativity.

Maybe when they can eat their beans and bacons without their stomach eating time

to your feet.

That's nice.

Where'd you get it?

You like it?

Some kind of class, huh?

You steal it?

Buy it?

Gift from an admirer? What you coming down on me with? This vest was seen on a

murder suspect.

You want to tell it downtown? Let's go.

Hey, look, man, I ain't no thief.

Hey, you can have it.

Thanks.

Just looking to have to know where it came from.

I saw this guy put it in the incinerator behind the shop.

The fire wasn't lit, so while it was gone, I snatched it out.

And I did like what I saw, you know?

Did he look anything like this?

Yeah, that's the deal. No question about it. The shot, where is it?

That way.

Over there.

Move down there a couple of blocks.

Give the bacon lover the break.

The judge and child welfare people talked it over.

You're not going back to Fresno.

Hey, can you stick me with a couple of old folks who need a slave to do

housework?

Not great yet, I hope.

You'd take me?

Yeah. Until we find some nice people who'll care about you as much as we do.

Come with me, I gotta go change.

Mr. Fiker, isn't it, from the bus station?

That's right.

What can I do for you?

You know that little girl you were looking for?

Yeah. Well, I thought I'd come by and let you know that one of my people said

they spotted her near the station.

We already picked her up. She's safe and sound.

Looks like it came down for nothing then, huh?

I don't call being a concerned citizen nothing.

Thank you.

You're welcome.

That's quite a trick.

If we could just make problems disappear like that.

Sometimes you can.

Morgan!

Hooker called in.

Said he thinks he's found that red vest we've been looking for.

Hey, could you go over and pick up the strangler composites at the print shop?

Sure. And deliver them out to that address.

Hooker's going to be serving a search warrant.

Okay, I'm on my way, Lieutenant.

Well, here you go.

Ah, so you're finally going to get that Meshuggah, huh?

Do you know this man?

Yeah, yeah. He comes in here to see the little gun that runs this place.

You notice anything special about him? Ever hear him talking about where he

lives? No, no.

But maybe you think that this motorbiker's red vest is special enough.

it's the magic with his hands.

He wore this vest?

Yeah.

The magic with his hands.

Do you ever come around here looking like this, wearing a blue blazer maybe?

Yeah, yeah, in the daytime, always like that.

Jim? His name is Fiker. He works in customer service at the bus depot.

That's sleight of hand.

He came by the precinct to report someone seeing Betsy at the bus station.

Maybe he was looking for her instead. He was there about the same time Stacey

was taking Betsy to her place.

Let's roll.

Call this man.

That's Landline Stacey.

Warner.

Back to someplace like I'm used to.

France. Freddie.

Is that what you've had up till now?

I figured I was lucky to have that.

You don't have to depend on luck. You can make your own.

If you keep going to school and stay off the boulevard.

I'm sorry, I won't lecture you.

Yes. Hi there.

You and I have some unfinished business.

Want to stand?

30, we get no answer at Officer Sheridan's phone number.

Keep trying, dispatcher. Approximate ETA is three minutes.

Roger, 30.

Is that tight enough?

I hope so.

Now, baby, you caused me a lot of problems.

Remember this?

Later for you.

after Betsy outside.

Go on, take care of her.

The roof.

Got to be around here somewhere.

Make it roll.

Grab on.

You all right?

Yeah.

It's okay, Betsy.

I'll never hurt you again.

Contracts are floating away.

Want me to fish them out?

Let him sink.

Well, like a dream come true, giving Betsy a foster home.

My husband and I intend to make it permanent as soon as the court allows.

I got something for you.

How could I ever repay you for this?

You already have.

Now maybe you can win another one of those.

Say, at the next national meet.

Huh?