Original subtitles

Thank you.

The victim's name is Edna Bell, in case you didn't know.

Two years, nothing.

And this.

If it's him, sure looks like Excalibur.

Everything's exactly like the others. Purple cord, even markings on her

forehead.

Not everything

Something's been

added The quarter

All the evidence in the murder of this airline steward is, Captain, isn't it

safe to say that Excalibur is active again?

Until our investigation's complete, nothing's conclusive, Billy.

Edna Bell was strangled with a silk stocking, a purple bathrobe cord knotted

around her neck, and she was found floating in a bathtub. I know. Two years

Margaret Squire was found on the lake at Central Park, strangled with a

stocking, a purple cord knotted around her neck. And the teacher from Brooklyn

Heights before that, the secretary from the U .N. Each one raped, each one

strangled, branded with the trademark of Excalibur. The sword of King Arthur.

And each one found in water.

For those of you who are less familiar with this case than others, I'm not

to waste time going over the tons of paperwork, autopsy report, forensic

etc., dead ends that we've accumulated during the course of this investigation.

You do that on your own time.

And I just don't want you to familiarize yourself with this case. I want you to

commit it to memory, because this time we're going to nail this creep.

For reasons we can only guess at, Excalibur has signed off for two years,

now out of the blue, he's decided to make a comeback.

With a very interesting touch for us to consider.

A quarter put into the stocking with which he garroted his victims.

Well, does that ring anybody's chime?

Crocker? It's a Vietnamese torture gimmick. See, it's the tourniquet

The quarter means a more gradual death.

Interesting. Very interesting. Father, you check up on veterans' hospitals,

outpatients, anyone with mental disturbances, violent behavior patterns.

You know this creeps make up.

Oh, and concentrate on Vietnam returnees.

That house where the bell was staying you speak to the owners yet having the

name where you stay with it you star is you give him a hand Until can't stay on

top of that. Oh, that's the all the way Watch everything ask questions if she's

been sexually assaulted look for blood underneath the fingernails have it typed

Look for the presence of foreign saliva have that type to one thing we know from

these past murders Whatever else Excalibur may or may not be he's

typo positive.

Oh Yes

We struck out with that last time.

Run it down. You may get lucky.

Seven girls.

What are you waiting for?

Let's get the show on the road.

Yes, Mrs. Squires, this is Lieutenant Kojak answering your call.

It was on the radio.

Another victim.

Two years.

And you haven't caught the man that killed my daughter.

Yes, I know, Mrs. Squires.

What do you intend to do about it?

Well, we intend to keep working on it.

Strangled in Central Park.

Floating in a lake.

I don't sleep nights.

Well, if it helps any, Mrs. Squires, I don't sleep nights either.

And south, Detective Fowler.

How long ago was this?

You mean he's still there now?

Kojak. Lieutenant.

Yeah, Jack.

Yeah, we've been two hours with the owners. They were away.

But they raise horses on Long Island, you know, they live there.

Oh, they didn't rent Edna Bella room. They gave it to her because they needed

house sitter.

Oh, we got a lot on her background. You want us to come in? No, you let Stavros

stay there.

Check out her drinking pattern, what bar she frequented.

I want you on something else.

What's that? Yeah, we just got a call from a massage parlor.

Said a customer was threatening one of the girls.

Check it out. Who knows?

This hairpin could be Excalibur. Where is it?

Uh, 8th near 44th.

Oh, not the one that was firebombed. This one's called the Hollywood Massage

Parlor.

Who is it? Police department.

We got a report a customer threatened one of your girls. That's right. That's

right, I called.

Eloise!

Hi.

Detective Ciccoloni.

Tell me about this man that threatened you.

Oh, he didn't threaten me. Eric just overreacted. Oh, he threatened?

I heard that was a bona fide death threat.

Well, you could say he technically threatened me, but actually he's a very

gentle man.

A vegetarian.

You're too trusting, Eloise. She's too trusting. A vegetarian, okay, but so's a

gorilla. Oh, if you'd seen the way he looked at her. You've known him before.

Oh, he used to be my guru. And then I got into Tibetan Buddhism so that I

wouldn't see him. But he keeps coming around for a massage.

Actually, it's just an excuse to see me.

What's his name and address?

See, like he was this intense spiritualist. But then he fell in love

physically. And it was like my fault that he lost his spiritual integrity.

So... Since he couldn't have me physically, he needed to kill me because

due to me that he lost his spiritual integrity.

But killing me would be a violation of his religious principles.

So it's really got him in a bind, you know?

Thanks, miss.

Thanks. Been all through the millinery district.

All those stores with the sequins and the bindings and the rickrack and all

stuff. That hasn't been made for years.

So that's where you left it? Dead end.

Dead end my foot.

Now, you get back out on the street and you run it down. You understand?

He's using it as some kind of a symbol. Who knows?

Maybe his mother wore a purple robe when he was a kid.

But anyway, you check the classified ads.

Check these remnant stores. They got a lot of them on Broadway. Yes, sir.

Hey, look.

I know you haven't slept for a couple of nights, okay? But you stick with it.

We got to get this jelly bean off the streets before he empties them.

I didn't know what girl I was.

Hey, let's go to Boston. When I went to Columbia and I got into Buddhism, then I

flipped. Why don't we go to Boston?

What are we going to Boston for?

Let's go up there and get something to eat.

What do you say, Fern, Ruby?

I'll go if Eloise wants to. We can be back by midnight, Eloise.

I still keep up my chanting. I mean, it really gets me through hard times, you

know?

Wow,

are you into Buddhism, too?

I'm the reincarnation of the goddess Sheba.

Yeah? You could have fooled me.

Wow. Hey, listen, everybody.

Let's all say it, okay?

What's your question?

I'd like to talk to the answer man. This is the answer man. Oh, I'm trying to

settle an argument with my wife.

Yeah, go on.

Are

you

thinking or can I talk?

I'm thinking and you can talk.

Water.

Why does he always return his victim to water?

Maybe Ward is his mother.

He's purified the girls by death.

He's making an offer to his mother.

It's very interesting.

That's what we need, more common denominators.

His victims are always single.

How does he know they're single?

Who has jurisdiction?

Jersey cops or New York cops?

Would you mind repeating that? If a body is found on the Jersey side of the

Hudson, who has jurisdiction? charge of it. New York cops or Jersey cops?

I don't know that, sir. If you'll hold, I'll call research.

I'll tell you.

New York.

This guy's got to be kidding.

Tell those dumb New York dicks to get over to Hoboken. There's some garbage

floating under a pier.

Hey, Lieutenant.

Aye.

Hey, look, Matt, can you get the Hoboken police to shut off the pier?

Shut off what, right?

We'll have a daylight search in the morning. See if there are any watchmen

duty. Drunks.

Anybody who might have seen anything.

Looks like we've got another one.

It's Excalibur.

Is there a quarter in it?

Yeah, there's a quarter.

Hey, I know that sweatshirt. Only the last time I saw it, somebody else was

wearing it.

I can't call Eloise off a massage.

A massage is like music, you know. You get it going, you got to keep it going.

You keep it going while I talk to her, okay?

Eloise!

Hi. Hi.

Where did you get the sweatshirt you were wearing?

7th Avenue, Rosebuck's Novelties.

I had it made up special.

You mean it was one of a kind?

As far as I know, it was.

You know, I couldn't find that Hindu.

You sure you gave me the right address?

I gave you the wrong address.

He's a good man. I didn't want to cause a heavy scene.

Have you seen this, uh, good man?

Since he threatened to kill you?

That's not his body boutique.

It's a singles bar.

Were you there all evening?

Well, I have these two roommates.

One's a model and one's a dancer. And these fellas asked us if we wanted to go

to Boston.

Two of a kind.

Did you ever see this girl?

She looks dead.

Yes, she is dead.

She was strangled.

How about this one?

Or chops your report on the Jane Doe we picked out of the Hudson.

Any luck with the Veterans Hospital?

So far, we come up empty.

All right, you might check out these state mental instances. Might be

there. Lieutenant on line four, it's Ciccolone. He says it's important.

Hello. I've located girl's roommate.

Says she was with the victim last night at a bar called the Body Boutique.

ID on the deceased?

Ruby Stanfield, the model.

All right, you bring in the roommate right away, here.

Honey, you take the cracker.

Oh, you ever see this girl?

From that picture, I'd have to say no.

You ever see her?

No.

You come in here often?

Oh, yeah.

Yeah, I'm the profit margin, right?

Thank you.

My pleasure. Right. Anytime.

Do you ever see this girl?

Yeah. She came in here a lot.

Tell me anything about her.

Her name's Ruby, and she's a model.

You know her last name?

Why don't you ask that guy at the bar? She's his girlfriend.

Hey, thank you.

You're welcome.

Stop forensics, Gavin. Stop on the Hoboken Pier. Enjoy.

Can? Can!

Yeah.

Take a look at this.

With the name on it, Madison Avenue address.

Run it down.

See if there's a list of people that this has been given to.

It's an expensive job. The list can't be that long.

Okay.

Where the hell is Chickaloney?

A tugboat captain called from Hoboken.

He said late last night this big bushy -haired guy drove up to the end of the

pier.

What? Go ahead.

This big bushy -haired guy drove to the end of the pier.

He waited.

Then he backed up and he drove off.

They didn't see anything drop in the New Jersey plates.

Oh. You have a brown suit?

What? You better lay low for a while.

Oh, come on, Lieutenant.

Check out the State Department.

Military intelligence.

Find out if they have any homicides with a similar M .O., including that bit

with a quarter, in and around Saigon during the past three or four years.

Okay.

Uh,

Margaret Squire's mother called again.

Lieutenant, the guy in the body boutique, supposedly her boyfriend, says

never seen her before.

And the bartender says the same thing.

But the waiter says she comes in all the time.

You haven't pushed her with him?

No. I don't think I should at this time, but I would like to nose around a

little bit. All right, good boy.

Let's check out the boyfriend, the barkeep as well.

Gather up names and we'll sweat the computer. And Bobby, gather up photos of

Excalibur's other victims.

Let's find out if they all squandered their youth at the Buddy Boutique.

Eloise Brimshaw, Lieutenant.

Eloise, this is Lieutenant Kote. Hello, Eloise. Won't you sit down?

The story is these three girls rented a studio loft from a sculptor, Ted Strong.

He's a big fellow with bushy hair.

They rented it on the condition that he could use it daytimes, you know, for his

work. Yesterday afternoon, they were at the body boutique with this Ted Strong.

There were two other guys. It was Moss Deerfield, an ad man, and Roy

Fine, a lawyer. Is that right?

Right. Yeah, well...

Deerfield and Fine took two of the girls up to Boston.

Wanted you to do it for dinner, you know.

But, Ruby, she didn't want to go.

I mean, she had this thing to do in the morning with Moss Deerfield. I mean, she

had to take pictures, you know.

And she was tired.

And Freddy, Freddy, her boyfriend, he kept arguing with her to go.

But she didn't want to go. She was tired, and so they had a big argument.

Was it serious?

Well, they were always arguing.

They were still there when we left.

Eloise. Have you any idea where the killing might have taken place?

The studio.

The studio. What makes you say that?

Well, she was wearing my sweatshirt and my blue jean, and she wouldn't go out

after she came home. So what you're saying is that after being attacked and

killed, the assailant dressed her in your clothes to take the victim down to

river? Take it easy, kid.

All right, Eloise.

When you're feeling better, I want you to tell everything you know to the

sergeant, okay?

Ruby's boyfriend, that sculptor, he's up there now in the loft. All right,

thanks. You check the neighborhood and see if there are any pizza parlors open

late at night. Emmy said Ruby had a pizza before she was killed.

I'm Lieutenant Kojak.

This is Detective Ciccolotti.

Come on.

Thank you.

Hey, Fern.

Cut the music, huh?

You must be Fern. I've talked to your roommate.

Hello.

Police Department.

Hi.

Very nice.

Thank you.

He was

Eloise's guru.

That mirror turned him on.

What time did you get back from Boston?

One in the morning.

And Ruby wasn't here when you got back? No.

So you probably figured that Ruby was over at Ted's?

That after you left for Boston, they kissed and made up?

Is that right, Fern?

You know, we haven't had dinner. Is there a pizza parlor around here?

Yeah.

Around the corner.

Oh. You go there often?

Yeah. Quite often.

Did you go there last night?

No.

Somebody was there.

Where did they?

Mama Servidor's Pizza Palace.

Mama Servidor's Pizza Palace.

Tell me, Fern, is this how you found the place when you came back from Boston?

No, it was all messed up.

Ruby's clothes scattered around.

And Ted?

Why did you lie at the body boutique when you said you didn't know Ruby?

I don't love cops.

Oh.

Well, that seems a little unfair.

What about the bartender? He lied, too.

Has he got the same hang -up about cops?

Nobody wants to get hung up on a court case. It's that simple.

So don't look for anything sinister, huh?

Hey.

Hey, listen, pal, I don't have to look for anything sinister. A young girl is

dead.

Isn't that sinister enough for you?

Fern, you said that Ruby's clothes were scattered all over the room. Where are

they now?

In her room.

All right.

Sugar, I take her inside.

Bring the clothes in.

It's all right, dear.

All right, Ted.

What time did you go to bed?

Ruby and I had an argument in Body Boutique.

We sat there drinking, about six feet apart, for four hours, then I brought

home. Oh, did you come in?

No, I didn't.

Do you frequent any other singles bars around town?

Nope. Only body boutique.

Okay.

Hey, I'm going to take your word for it.

But I'm going to still want you and Fern to come down to headquarters.

Come down to the squad room and give us a hand.

Because whoever killed her was somebody she trusted very much.

No, that's all right.

I'll get her.

Hit the door.

Lieutenant, five pizza places in a four block area. Find out who was on late

last night.

Right. Can I use your phone, Fred? Yeah, sure.

Get those scientific geniuses over here.

Forensic? Forensic, right. Now let's do a number of those tags and pins.

Outline the total area they cover.

And then run off a dozen copies of Excalibur's victims.

And then cover every single bar within the area of those tags and pins.

I love art. Very good, I love it.

This is good.

Very good. Powerful.

Kind of loves you and kills you at the same time.

Scotch and water, please. No ice.

You got a customer named Mark Deerfield?

You'd better believe it.

Is he here now?

He's been here since, uh, since, uh, lunch.

Can you point Mr. Deerfield out?

You get that killer.

Yesterday she was here.

Alive.

Beautiful girl.

Faith belongs to a thousand ships.

Mr. Deerfield, you give pens away for promotion, don't you?

Only a few.

Just that two dozen made up for my closest, dearest friends and business

associates. Would you want one?

Could you give me a list of the people you gave those pens to?

I gave one to Consul Roy Fine here, didn't I, Consul?

I gave the manager one.

I gave the chef one.

I gave you one, didn't I, Gus?

Old friend and business associate?

Yeah.

Could I see it?

Certainly, sir.

Hey, I understand you've scheduled a line -up?

That's right.

Yeah, the lady that runs that pizza parlor feels confident she can make a

positive ID.

The vet Ted Strong brought in and the Hindu. It's worth a shot, right?

Right. Anything new on that stewardess, Edna Bell? Oh, yeah, we got lucky.

Savros caught a squeal. You know, a guy saw a picture in a paper and he phoned

in. You know, there's a saloon near the Fulton Fish Market, and she went in

there tonight. She got iced late with a man.

Description? He's 30s, balding, big, no pleasant.

She'd been in there before.

He hasn't.

Well, that bartender's boy, right? What's his name, Gus?

Not the man the tugboat skipper spotted on the Hoboken docks. He's nothing but

hair. All the same, I want to know what time Gus knocked off work last night,

okay? Find out if he was a veteran.

Any work with Saigon yet?

I don't know. The things take time.

Yeah, well, tell that to Excalibur, huh? Maybe he'll eat off.

Hey, Lieutenant, I've got a Mr. Helperweight outside. He says that he

positive identification.

He's had a remnant store down on Lower Broadway for about 50 years.

All right, wheel him in.

Mr. Huffaway, this is Lieutenant Kojak. Would you mind telling him what you told

me? Sir, a big bushy -haired man came in for some purple bathrobe court.

He was tense, sweating.

Your associate said something about a lineup.

I'm sure I can identify him. Oh, thank you very much. Bring him into the squad

room.

Your time.

Pick ladies here.

How many long hands do you have?

Three. That's not enough.

You check out those singles bars? I have.

Logan, Snake Eyes, the trip, the whole bit. And you know, your hunch was right.

There's a pattern. We scored with everyone. They were all able to identify

least one of the victims.

You get a picture of Ted Strong and go over the course again.

Let's see. Let's try this out.

I need you in a lineup.

Excuse me.

to keep you waiting, girls.

Tell me, did Ted have a car?

Yes. Would you know the license plate?

No. Their jersey plate.

Jersey plate.

Thanks. Here, put this on. Get in the lineup.

Excuse me.

Come on, don't be shy.

You know Ted was in the service?

Four years. He was with the Green Beret.

Know your blood type?

Yeah.

Type O. Type O.

That's a nice color.

Oh, yeah.

So what does that prove?

Just routine.

Mrs. Servidor, un momento.

Lieutenant Kojak, Mrs. Servidor.

She's the lady who makes those nice pizzas?

I remember, sir. He was a bushy -haired man. He was big.

And when he came in, he was so nervous that he made me nervous.

And then he walked out with a pizza.

About what time?

Midnight. Midnight. Yeah.

Better than to take off his turban.

If you don't recognize anybody, just say, I don't know.

And don't rush.

And if you're not sure, say, I'm not sure.

I'm sure.

Which one?

The one with the tweed jacket and the black tie.

Are you sure?

Well, I'm almost sure.

All right, thank you, Miss Salvador.

Oh.

Look right through here.

You don't have to say anything. If you're not sure, just say so.

I'm sure.

And none of them.

The fellow who came in for the cord was like the one in their tweed jacket, only

he was soft and weak and had angry eyes.

Angry eyes.

I thank you, Mr. Elboway.

You're welcome.

Thank you, Mr. Hathaway. Right that way.

Bye.

Where does that lead us? Nowhere.

Absolutely nowhere. No way, no how.

Theo, now I realize that brain of yours works in strange and mysterious ways.

It's wonders to perform.

But could you tell me?

Could you kindly explain to me why you haven't booked that sculptor? Just

because you didn't get a positive identification, that doesn't prove

You've got motive, opportunity, blood type, military background, jersey,

What more do you need? A sworn statement from his victims?

Vibes? You know about vibes?

Well, the vibes are wrong. The sculptor couldn't have done it.

All right.

I give up.

Tell me why.

His art.

You know, any man that can put so much violence and sex into a piece of stone,

he doesn't have to violate flesh.

He gets his kicks with his hammer and chisel.

Mission is going to violate you with a hammer and chisel if we don't tie a can

on this.

The report from Saigon you've been sweating out? Hot off the telly. Two

slayings, both dancehall hostesses.

Identical in every respect to Excalibur's M .O.

August 1972.

March 1973.

Ted Strong was in South Vietnam during the same time period.

Anything on Gus yet?

No military record.

Did he establish his blood type?

Not yet.

Find out. Check his union. See if he needs a health certificate at Ten Bar.

I want you to book Strong. Bobby, check the State Department. See if he was

issued a passport.

What for?

Well, we didn't just ship fighting troops to South Asia. A few civilians

the trip as well. Go ahead.

Lieutenant, I'm talking to you. Captain, I'm listening.

Oh, and contact the Motor Vehicle Bureau in Trenton. See if they issued any

license on Gutt. Lieutenant Gutt is almost bald.

Oh.

So am I.

What do you say, Max? If you want to book him, fine.

Let's book him by all means.

Why don't you take me over to his studio sometime? I'd like to look at his work.

Lieutenant! Girl walking along, abandoned brownstone. Out jumps a big

-headed guy, grabs her, yells, excalibur speaking, pulls her into the house.

Who's talking?

Woman across the street.

All right, battle off the block. Send two squad cars.

Tell them to sit on the situation.

Take no action until we get there.

Go ahead. What's the address?

Señora, si. Okay, Crocker, get a shotgun. Let's move.

Please. Please

open

up.

Don't move.

Not one more inch.

I'll kill her.

I will.

You know I'm Excalibur.

And you know I'll do it.

Stay inside.

I'm taking her out of here.

Well, you'd better not, Excalibur.

There's a lot of cops out there who don't know who you really are.

I'd bump into any fuzz out there and she'd call me.

Congratulations. It's all over the news already, and the mayor's office called

to personally commend us.

I'll be in Kojak's office.

Hey!

Hey!

I'm afraid to ask.

Oh, you didn't see him, Mac. He looked like yesterday's newspaper put in a

garbage can and thrown away.

The only way a guy like that can get into a singles bar is with a cannon.

Now, wait a minute.

Are you saying it wasn't Excalibur?

We've had two nights of full moon, right?

Every creep in town is turned on.

Yeah.

No, Captain McNeil.

Well, you can feed it to me and I'll pass it on.

Right.

Yeah, thanks, Secretary.

Medical examiner.

The guy you blew away?

Type O.

Okay, answer me this, Frank.

If he was Excalibur, where's the purple cord? Where's the quarter?

It bothers me that Gus the bartender lost his pen.

I wonder how much it bothers Gus.

Good night.

Hey.

Well, let's go to Boston.

I gotta go home. I'm exhausted.

Hey, let's go to Boston.

Louie's parents are here, and we packed the rest of her things.

What do you want to go to Boston for? To eat, so I don't get depressed.

It's nearly midnight.

Look, we'll eat breakfast.

Look, there's a lot of fish in Boston, right? They got great fish. Boston

right?

Look, it's worth the trip just to go to Boston to eat scrot for breakfast. Okay,

okay. What do you say?

Eloise, Fern?

Listen, I really don't want to go. I just can't go.

Fern, you go if you want to.

Oh, I don't know.

Come on, Fern, let's go.

It'll do us all a lot of good.

That'll... Hey!

Did you hear the news?

They got Excalibur.

Hey, listen.

Would one of you chauvinists like to take me home?

I mean, the city is safe again, right?

Yes, sir.

Go ahead.

Don't know where Barton, right?

New Jersey Motor Vehicle Bureau report, 1969 Dodge sedan, license number UVL888,

registered to Gus Sutherland, 8459 Jefferson Street, Hope Oak.

Oh, and this just came in from the State Department.

Passport KO37981 issued June 1969 to Gus Sutherland. Immigration and

naturalization services records indicate as being in Saigon, South Vietnam,

where he was a civilian employee of the Central Army PX between August 15, 1972

and March 30.

1973. Sometimes I think you do it all with mirrors.

Have you ever found out what time he quits work?

At 12 o 'clock he works his split shift.

You want to pull him in now?

No, I need to clinch it first.

The body of evidence is very impressive, but so is the case against Fred Strong.

And then, of course, there's that phony Excalibur.

A good defense attorney can get a lot of mileage out of that.

He's been at this body boutique two months.

He's been back from Vietnam over two years.

Why don't you see what he's been up to?

What, this hour?

Make it easy on yourself. You got a list of these single spas that we've been

canvassing? Get on the phone.

Very nice.

Please, no applause.

Good night, sweet bird.

Hey, Blake, the angels sing thee to thy rest.

You sure you don't want to come with us?

No, but give my regards to Barton.

Cracker, shag it over to the body boutique. Put a tail on this Gus the

bartender, will you? But stay behind.

Not too close.

I don't want him spooked.

Any progress?

I only checked two places so far. Gus worked them both.

Periods of employment correspond with the dates on two of the killings.

Lieutenant, Crocker. We missed him by two minutes.

He knocked off early. Said he wasn't feeling well. Hey, you come on back.

Al Kojak.

Give me an emergency alarm. All precincts, all boroughs.

Beige 1967 Dodge, New Jersey license, UVL 888.

Now, I don't want to pick up just his location.

You get it fixed and contact me immediately, and we'll take it from

It's all over the news.

What? That we've ended Excalibur's career. The city's breathing easy now

that knowledge.

Hmm.

But I wonder what's going on in that kinky brain of his.

Does he like it?

Some ringer stealing Excalibur's thunder?

Or does he decide he'd better do something right away to set the record

straight?

Yes, this is Lieutenant Kojak.

When was this?

That was Mr.

Salvadori, the pizza lady. He just got another visit from Excalibur. He may be

headed for the Lord.

It's me, Gus.

I brought something for you.

Open that case, Eloise.

He killed Robbie.

Come on, Eloise.

He killed the others, too.

I had to.

My mother told me to.

And whispers to me.

There's so much evil in the world.

You,

you asked for this.

You begged for it.

Don't pretend you didn't.

They all did.

Defiling love.

Corrupting it.

Flaunting themselves.

Flaunting themselves! Do you hear me?

Shut up!

Shut up!

Yes, Mr. Squires.

Well, you can rest easy tonight.