Original subtitles

Listen, old fella.

Why don't you retire?

Hmm?

Put your feet up and just watch the rest of it all go by? How about that?

You're not going to do it, are you?

Still got it. Yeah, just as sharp as ever, aren't you?

leave a message at the tone.

Yes, hello?

A change in plans.

What? What change in plans? I need $400 ,000 to park by the old oak tree.

It's 4 .30 this afternoon.

Come alone if you ever want to see your little boy alive. Wait a minute.

Hello?

Hello?

LAPD have anything?

No kidnappings reported within the last week.

Could be the family's too frightened to call the police.

Did you try calling them back?

I tried Star 69. It didn't work.

It's probably a cell phone. Star 69 doesn't work with them. Could just be a

prank call.

No, that voice was electronically disguised. They're too much trouble for

prank.

Well, if we assume it was the wrong number, then the next step is to find

right number.

Even if we make the leap that the victim's number was only one digit off

yours, there's millions of possibilities. We can't check them all.

Well, see, we can't just drop it. There must be something we can do.

Well, I could cross -reference a reverse directory against our demographic

database.

You know, narrow it down to families with small children. Oh.

And it's still going to leave hundreds of thousands of numbers to check before

.30. Maybe the FBI can do something.

I know you haven't got anything yet, but maybe you could, you know, make a

personal request.

Ron Wagner's in Europe.

Oh, no, Dad. You know what you're asking? Look, what if this is not a

What if we wake up in the morning, we read in the paper a little boy's been

killed?

Can't believe I'm doing this.

Thanks.

There haven't been any reported kidnappings of children in Southern

in the last 48 hours.

In fact, nothing in the rest of the country either.

I didn't think there would be.

This is just a social visit.

Hey, Catherine, how are you? Glad to see you haven't died in the line of duty

sort of thing.

I'm here as a favor to someone.

I don't owe you anything.

A little less attitude, maybe.

To what you did?

I don't think so.

You know, you weren't the only person who got hurt.

Well, you should have thought of that before you walked up and introduced

yourself.

Let's check the printout from that database cross -reference.

It's a prank call, Steve.

I want to believe that.

Well, then why don't you just let it go? Save the taxpayers a few bucks.

Because wanting to believe something doesn't make it true.

You taught me that.

Yes, hello?

A change.

What? Kevin Waitley's printer ran out of ink halfway through the list.

You know how many almost millionaires with children there are in L .A.?

What are you doing? I'm stopping this.

No, there's got to be something on there. There's not. The technician said

There's no clock tower, no train whistle, nothing.

Dad, it's almost four o 'clock.

It's over.

Maybe we're coming at this from the wrong direction.

Instead of trying to find out who the kidnapper meant to call, why don't we

to find the ransom drop?

Okay, we're looking for a park near the old oak tree.

Pick a park. We've got hundreds of acres here.

Where's that CD -ROM with the yellow pages on it? It's in the top drawer,

Well, if I'm right, we might just have time to get there.

He could have said tavern and saved us a lot of time. Yeah.

Here's the park.

Looks like it's closed.

Smells like Mrs. Fogarty's lawn in March.

Yeah. Mrs. Fogarty used steer manure. I think the city uses chemicals.

The effect's about the same, though.

Well, the kidnapper must have known that they were going to fertilize today.

No good drop spot.

All the smell will keep people out of here. No kidding.

he is.

I'm going to go talk to him. Oh, no, you're not.

I call in for backup and set up a perimeter around this place. See, we're

running out of time.

What are you going to do? Walk up and say hi? You called the wrong number?

off and try again tomorrow?

Well, what else can I do? He's expecting somebody and alone.

All right.

I don't like it.

Go on. I'll cover you.

Excuse me.

Okay.

Here's your money.

Where's Joey?

I'm not the kidnapper.

What? They called me by mistake. I don't have your son.

Oh, my God.

Oh, my God. Get out of here.

They told me to come alone.

He's not with me.

I don't know.

Wait. I didn't bring him.

I got your money.

Please give me back my son.

He's gone.

So is he.

It's a pretty clear cut. He died of two gunshot wounds to the chest.

I closed it.

These things happen, Dr. Sloan.

Although with a law enforcement professional involved, it probably

have.

The dead man is Ted Edelman, age 35, lives in Brentwood, makes computer

We found $400 ,000 in his suitcase and $8 in his pocket.

Mina's partner created curses from beyond.

The CD -ROM game.

I already sent a team over to Edelman's house, and no surprise, his six -year

-old son disappeared yesterday afternoon.

Well, that gives it FBI jurisdiction.

So you'll be giving your preliminary report to me first, and then to the

I cannot believe any of this is happening.

Why don't you go home, Dr. Sloan? I mean, you've already given us your

statement, and we really don't need you here anymore.

And you, on the other hand...

You won't be going anywhere until I say so.

I take it they know each other?

They met at some seminar down in Florida.

Steve got involved.

Wishes he hadn't.

No kidding.

The FBI makes a lousy love connection. Take it from me.

You got a problem? Let's hear it. Yeah, a man is dead.

I didn't kill him.

Well, your father feels responsible. So should you.

I'm not going anywhere.

Except to visit the widow.

You know, I really wish I didn't need to use you on this. You had no problem

using me in Orlando.

You know, I didn't go to that seminar looking to get involved with anybody.

It just happened.

Yeah, just like this.

Hey, I didn't create this mess.

Orlando was all you.

Mrs. Edelman?

I'm Agent Waverly, FBI.

Lieutenant Steve Sloan, LAPD.

We're very sorry for your loss.

So, now you're going to tell me if we reported this when Joey disappeared, my

husband would still be alive?

Not at all. We're just trying to find out what happened.

I'm sorry.

I don't know what to do anymore.

Why did the kidnapper have to kill Ted? We did everything he wanted.

Mrs. Edelman, she can't sleep.

It's because she knows something's wrong, Irene.

It's your job to keep her calm.

Well, I can't. You're not calm.

I'm not calm, so she isn't. It's just not calm around here.

No, it's not. I'm sorry.

Okay. Oh, my.

Excuse us.

I don't want to be here.

Well, I'd like to be in Bermuda. Too bad for both of us.

He feels responsible. He'd like to do what he can to make it right.

Come on, Catherine.

You know, she's going to learn what he did.

Do you think he can handle that?

You all right?

Well, if you mean Catherine, I'll have to get back to you on that.

Steve, I'm sorry about all this.

Yeah, so am I.

Still no call from the kidnapper? No, not yet.

No idea who killed him or why they did it?

Edelman doesn't seem to have had any enemies. His marriage looks solid and

business is clean.

I still cannot believe I got him killed.

You what?

Dr. Sloan, this is Jason Dalloway, Ted Edelman's partner, and this is Cheryl

Edelman, Ted's wife.

Mrs. Edelman, I'm so sorry.

What do you mean you got him killed?

Who are you?

Hello? What happened last night?

You killed my husband. I gave explicit orders.

One man, one suitcase of money. Look, it's not her fault. It's mine.

I'm the one that came to the park. I brought the police into it. If anybody's

blame, it's me. Just don't hurt the little boy. Who the hell are you?

I'm the one you called by mistake.

I got scanners that'll pick up anything.

I'll call you back in four hours to tell you where.

And come alone.

Forget it. Mrs. Edelman isn't going anywhere.

Oh, don't tell me. Cop or FBI?

Police. You want your money? I'll deliver it.

One man, one suitcase.

Get it right this time or the kid dies.

He killed Ted because of you.

Mrs. Edelman, let me explain. You can't.

Yeah, she's right.

There's a cell phone call, so the best they could do is triangulate an area

between Van Nuys and Ventura Boulevard.

It could be on a 405, it could be on a 134, going in any direction.

I can get the money.

I helped Ted put together the $400 ,000 yesterday.

I'll get the rest of it. We don't need to use real cash, Mr. Dalloway. We'll

just arrest the kidnapper when he picks up the money.

And if you don't?

If they get away with the suitcase and realize they've been tricked, does Joey

die, too? No, Mr. Dalloway, he does not.

Well, your guarantee's not worth a hell of a lot, now is it?

Lieutenant, can I talk to you outside?

I'm not running this operation.

What was I supposed to do, put him on hold? You just broke protocol.

Stay flexible during hostage situations.

Isn't that what they taught us at that seminar?

I am not going to go through this with you about Orlando. Let's just forget

that ever happened. Well, obviously you can't.

Well, I wish that I never let it happen. If you told me you're married, it

wouldn't have.

My marriage was over.

Not until you arranged to have him walk in on us. That was an accident. I didn't

plan that. Oh, really?

Why did you always insist on going back to your room? Never mind.

I'm sorry.

Okay, I just... I never expected to care about you the way that I did.

I'm sorry it didn't turn out the way you planned.

You guys getting this?

Well, you better be. You're only eight feet away.

The real trick's gonna be when you're about a half mile away.

My gosh, a camera that fits another baseball cap.

Uncle Sam really does have neat toys.

Sometimes they even work.

That's a lot of money.

One and a half million.

Sure got it fast.

It helps when you're the boss.

Well, I'm sure Mrs. Edelman appreciates it.

You want to go check on the mobile unit?

Mr. Dalloway. If you're going to apologize for Ted again, don't.

All I care about now is getting Joey back safely.

You have to understand, I've known Ted since we were 13, making up computer

programs using punch cards.

You got good at it.

Yeah, we did.

You know, it must have been difficult for you to decide to sell out to

Triskelion Software.

Triskelion made us a good offer, and it would... How did you know about that?

Uh, newspaper clippings on the refrigerator.

Joey liked seeing his father's name in the paper.

Ted thought we could pressure Triskelion into a better deal if we put out enough

publicity about our stuff.

If I'd have known it was going to attract some lunatic kidnapper, I would

have... You all right?

Yeah, I kind of lost my breath for a second. Probably stress, huh?

Yeah, I think I'll have us feel it. Why not? Sit down a minute.

I'll be glad when this is all over.

We all will.

And test one, two, test, test one, two.

Thank you.

I lost my temper.

You had good reason.

Just... Computer code, I understand.

If I don't, I had to yell at somebody.

I'm the right one to yell at.

I also wanted to tell you that whatever happened in the park with Ted,

I know you were just trying to help find my son.

Most people wouldn't have even bothered.

I appreciate that.

You should have found a better way to... I am so sorry.

I believe that helps.

We never really got used to all this.

All we ever really wanted was to write our silly computer games.

Money just happened.

Made things weird.

You know, I never did get past those translucent demons of yours.

They weren't so translucent in the beta version. They kept turning into doors

and pillars and frogs.

God, I wish we'd never gotten the bugs worked out.

Hello? Tell the delivery boy to go to Olympic and Highland. Stop the car and

find the phone booth.

He's got to be kidding.

I guess he's not.

Wish me luck.

Don't worry. We'll have a mobile unit with him a half block away, wherever he

goes.

Can you see this?

No, not really.

Helping to fight crime, this phone does not take incoming calls.

Interesting. How is he supposed to call you?

He isn't.

If this tells me to run to another phone booth two blocks from here, I'm

quitting. Well, don't quit yet. It looks like it's got a sense of humor.

Steve? Right, right, sorry.

Love these cards.

There's a phone booth at 8th and the Cap.

Be there now.

Oh, there's a lighter in the envelope.

There's a Mission Impossible thing on the card.

What the hell is that? The card has a microchip so you can record a personal

greeting. A lot of card shops have them.

Jim, I want a check of every greeting card store in the L .A. area, okay?

See who's bought one of those things in the last four hours.

Steve, you better get going. We don't know what kind of time frame this guy's

on.

I hope it's a slow one. You know how heavy this thing is?

Oh, and Steve, burn that card, because we don't know if he's watching.

This guy's going to spend all his ransom money on cards.

What is this, a tent?

No, this is the 11th.

Drop the bag in that wire trash bin on the other side of the monument.

Walk back here to the phone booth.

Burn the car. This card, yeah.

Catherine, did you get that?

I did.

Tell the mobile units to move up.

Jason, are you all right?

I will be.

Try a trace.

Just a test.

Go get the bag.

Next stop, Dockweiler and West, south of the band shell.

Move.

I'm going to kill this guy.

Didn't happen to get a trace on that, did you?

No, cell phone.

Second thought, I'm going to kill the guy who invented cell phones.

bench and leave.

We'll let you know where to find the kid once we check the money.

Burn the car.

My pleasure.

Mobile unit, move in. All units, set perimeter.

Steve, you alright?

Yeah, except I think my arms have stretched out a few inches.

How's that?

That's perfect.

I think he's going to try and get it before we have a chance to set up a

perimeter. Well, he better hurry. He's got about 30 seconds or he's going to be

too late.

Steve, go back and open that suitcase.

What? What are you talking about?

Something is wrong.

Something's wrong. We have to check.

Steve, wait. The last time you interfered in this, a man died. If Steve

back to that bench right now, he could be next. I don't think that kidnapper's

anywhere near that part.

What you think is irrelevant.

This is an FBI operation.

If someone was going to come and get that bag, they would have been there by

now. Not necessarily, okay? We are going to follow protocol in this case, or we

may not get that little boy back.

Please, doctor, come on.

you doing now dad's right there's no reason why he wouldn't have picked it up

now get away from there lieutenant call

911 he's barely breathing do it

i don't believe it where the hell's the money

had to have switched the suitcase at some place.

Dad gets a wrong number from a kidnapper and someone ends up dead.

I end up running around trying to deliver the ransom money for two hours

end up with a suitcase full of newspapers.

And very sore shoulders.

I know a very good Zeus.

They're not that sore.

You know, anger stops being useful after a while.

Well, it depends what you're using it for.

Like trying to avoid somebody?

I just can't believe that I missed the ransom being switched.

Okay, well, we all miss things sometimes. We just have to figure out

next. But without being angry about it.

Yeah, I guess we do.

Hey, Dad.

Hi.

You talk to Jesse?

Yeah.

He said Dalloway didn't have a heart attack or a stroke.

And he's going to do some more tests, but he thinks it's going to be fine.

Oh, wait.

Right there. This is the only place that the suitcase was out of your

possession. That's got to be it.

I hate to disagree with an FBI agent.

Oh, since when?

May I?

Look at this.

Steve puts the suitcase in the basket.

Phone rings.

Runs over to it.

Picks it up. Listens for a few seconds.

Looks right back at the basket.

It didn't take ten seconds.

Not enough time to make a switch.

Unless maybe the transporters were energizing faster than normal.

Do you guys have a better explanation?

I might have an idea.

Is the newspaper still in here?

Yeah, we put them back right after we dusted them.

Hey, now if we can just maybe get a break.

I can know what happened.

How are you feeling, Mr. Dalloway?

Better.

This thing makes my face sweat.

Well, it certainly beats fainting.

You got that right.

So, was it stress?

You know, we're not entirely sure.

We know what happened, we just don't know why it happened.

That doesn't sound so good. Well, you have methemoglobinemia.

Your blood cells aren't getting enough oxygen as they pass through your lungs,

which means that your brain isn't getting enough oxygen, so you faint.

But you don't know why.

It's usually from exposure to toxic chemicals, but you said you weren't

any. Well, the only thing toxic I deal with are some of the games Ted and I

dream up.

Oh, hey, a messenger hand -delivered this a little while ago.

Bloodsuckers. One of your games crash?

No. Tricelian Software's been trying to buy me and Ted out for a couple of

months, and they choose today to send me the legal document.

I mean, don't they know what's going on here?

It's pretty cold.

Yeah, Cheryl said they were.

I think she was right.

I can't tell her about this.

What are you going to do, back out of the deal?

We're just a bunch of computer geeks, the three of us.

Staying up all night, writing code, living on pizza and sodas. We just want

try scaling in to handle the business side so we can do the fun stuff.

I mean, that hasn't changed.

I'll tell you what.

They want us that bad, they could damn well wait a while.

You may want to breathe.

Oh, thanks.

Here's one of the newspapers we found in that suitcase.

From two days ago.

An article's been cut out. Uh -huh.

This one. Right here.

The newspapers came from here?

Probably the recycle bin on your back porch.

I don't understand.

Irene, get the baby!

Lieutenant Sloan didn't lose the money. He never had it. It was switched before

I even left the house.

Oh, no.

What's Irene's last name?

Meredith.

This is Sloan. I need an APB on an Irene Meredith, approximately 20 years old.

Irene couldn't have done this. Joey trusts her.

That's why it worked.

I assume this belongs to Irene?

God, I never noticed.

That's why the kidnapper asked for a specific bag. It had to match the one

had. When was the last time you saw her?

She was taking out the trash.

She must have transferred the money to a garbage bag. Then just took out the

trash and kept on going.

Question is, where did she go? Well, she was taking tetracycline prescribed by a

doctor in Falling Spring.

Something near Mount Wilson.

A lot of places to hide up there.

Good place to hold a kidnap victim.

I hope you're right about this, Dr. Sloan. Oh, don't worry about it. My son

agent Wade are very good at what they do.

They'll find joy.

Okay, notify me when you're in position.

Are people ready?

Almost. Don't you think it's a little premature to bring along a medical

examiner? I've been known to look after live patients from time to time, and I

want to make sure Joey's all right.

I'm sorry. I'm just a little tired of surprises on this one. It's okay.

Shouldn't we call Mark and let him know what's going on? I tried. There's no

cellular service up here. Are you sure you found the right place?

Yeah, the doctor from Falling Springs remembered Irene because they don't get

lot of Lyme disease up here, so it took a couple of visits before he figured out

what she had and then prescribed the tetracycline.

The cabin was the only address she'd give.

I guess she was afraid Mrs. Edelman was going to find out she was sick.

She can't own that house.

Au pairs don't make that kind of money. Belongs to a Russell Spinks, former

electrical engineer who renounced electricity.

Are you kidding?

He's the one that took Irene to the doctor.

We also got a positive ID on Spinks from a couple of the greeting card stores.

So he's been holding Joey in his own house.

Okay. Okay, we're set.

Go.

your hands up. Where's the boy?

Amanda, you must be Joey. Are you okay?

I know it's very hot in here and you probably want to get out of here and get

something really cold like some ice cream, right?

I'm sick of ice cream. That's all he had when we got here and he wouldn't go get

anything else.

Not for a whole day.

Not even any hot dogs?

Well, that's terrible.

Can I please go home now? You bet you can. Let's go.

Ah, hell.

Stay down.

What's the matter with you?

Since I've had this badge, I've made more tackles than Dick Butkin.

You're under arrest for murder and kidnapping.

No, no, I didn't do that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, no, no.

Okay, I took the kid, but I didn't kill anybody. I didn't.

Where's dad?

Let's go home, okay?

Okay.

Thank you for everything.

I'll go tell Mark what happened.

You ready to go?

We're clear.

As soon as we get those two processed... We can finally get some sleep.

We are pretty good at keeping each other awake.

We were.

You know, I lied to you before about not intending to get involved with anybody

at that time. I figured that out.

My marriage was such a mistake, and it was over.

Why didn't you just level with him?

I guess I was just better at acting out.

Well, I figured that one out, too.

Now, come on. Our six days and 23 hours together were pretty darn good.

You could call sleep deprivation entertaining.

I hear a compliment in there somewhere.

Well, don't take it seriously.

You know, things didn't work out exactly like I planned, either.

I didn't kill him. I did not kill Edelman. I don't know who that was at

park. That's right. He didn't kill Mr.

Edelman. You were there?

No.

But Russell hates guns.

So what?

That doesn't mean he wouldn't use one to solve his problems. Aren't you

listening? I don't even own a slingshot.

I didn't kill him. That's not what you said on the phone this morning.

It's because I didn't have a chance.

This entire thing has just gone crazy. Starting with the kidnapping of a six

-year -old boy.

Well, that's as far as it was supposed to go.

So what did happen at the park?

I don't know. Listen, I got there early, about 4 .30. Edelman was already there,

and so were you.

What do you mean early? You were supposed to be there at 4 .30.

No. I told Edelman to be there at 5, with the money. I wanted to get there

just to scope it out.

Mr. Edelman's dead.

But they had so much money. They could always make more.

Get these two geniuses out of here, please.

I think we did pretty good work here.

Yeah.

You don't sound as delighted as I thought you might.

There's something off about this.

Okay, I'm listening.

But you're not going to give me an argument?

Steve.

All right, Spinks says that he told Edelman to be there at 5 o 'clock,

Yeah, so?

So whoever called my father told him to be there at 4 .30.

So why the two deadlines?

I think we arrested the kidnappers, all right.

I don't think they killed that little boy's father.

Joey was a little dehydrated, but otherwise he's perfect.

Oh, good.

Thanks for coming by to tell me.

With no bother, I would have called you from the cabin if there had been

cellular service.

Spinks didn't even have a telephone. I think it was a moral issue.

That doesn't make sense.

No, he doesn't.

No, he doesn't make any sense, but I meant... You said Joey was upset because

only had ice cream to eat that first day?

I figured Spinks didn't want to leave to get anything else.

Well, if he didn't leave the house and there was no phone, he couldn't have

called me yesterday morning.

Well, who did? Another kidnapper?

I don't think so.

Spinks and Irene Meredith were just interested in the money, and killing

would have gotten many more.

Ted Edelman's death was not a mistake. Somebody wanted it to look like the

kidnappers did it. And lead us in the wrong direction. Someone stood to gain a

lot by his death.

Had to be somebody who knew.

about the kidnapping, who was willing to take advantage of the situation, and

who smelled that money.

Did you do a preliminary autopsy on Edelman? Yes, but there wasn't anything

remarkable. He died from two gunshot wounds to the chest.

I did discover some fertilizer on his hands and face.

Probably on his clothes, too?

His, mine, anybody that was in the park that afternoon.

Including the killer.

That's the answer.

It's been right in front of me the whole time.

Mr. Dalloway, good to see you feeling well enough to go home. You gave us

a scare.

I just wish I knew why I got sick so I could avoid it next time.

Just stay away from recently fertilized parts. They'll do fine.

We're going to run some more tests on your blood, but my guess is that we'll

find traces of the chemical used in industrial fertilizers.

What you got on you when you killed Ted?

Yeah, go.

I hate hospital food.

This ought to help.

Does it always hurt this much?

Always.

Bruising? Yeah, to get used to it.

I talked to Cheryl Edelman.

Turns out Ted was having second thoughts about selling out.

He was afraid he'd be forced to give up the rights to his own games.

Yeah, I kind of thought so. Ted just wanted a comfortable place to invent

And, of course, that meant keeping the company small.

Dalloway just couldn't resist all that money.

He was the one who called me, you know.

He knew I would be intrigued. I wouldn't quit until I tracked down that ransom

drop, making me the perfect witness and the fall guy.

I think the voice analysis of that answering machine tape will prove that.

Would you excuse me a minute? No.

You know, I always wondered why no one ever did that to you before.

What?

I didn't say anything.

Catherine? They're admitting Dalloway until he's well enough to go to jail. I

already arranged for a guard detail.

Good.

So I guess that's it.

No, it's not.

I just want to know one thing.

We were in Orlando.

Would you...

Stop with Orlando. I am so sick of talking about Orlando.

Yeah, me too.

Now, see, I thought we were getting along really well. We're getting past

We're working together and thinking like a team. Yeah, that's right, but... And

obviously you need a little more of an explanation.

You need me to grovel. Oh, I think groveling may be just a little too...

straightforward, apologetic, I'm sorry.

I am sorry for...

You and me and... Oh, I'm sorry for everything.

Oh, that may be going a little too far.

No, no, no, no, no, no, no.

I'm sorry.

Really. Okay?

So maybe I should go back to my office and you should just go back to your

office and we should just forget Orlando ever happened.

No.

No?

Are you really divorced?

I've been carrying my divorce decree around in my pocket for two days in case

you asked.

Uh, yeah.

Uh, no. I, uh... Maybe later.

Later? Like later as in here later, or later as in after dinner someplace?

Don't push it.