Original subtitles

Lonely, oh Lord, I'm lonely Walking down a crowded street

Singing a lonely song Hoping to see Miss Azure D

We shared a dream, oh, such a hopeless dream But it filled

my empty life And I was one with Azure D, Miss Azure D

The city's cold, it once was warm I have no place and my heart no home

Her love meant everything to me, Azure, Miss Azure D

Night again I'll go my quiet way And I'll Cherish every thought and cling to

All I've got, a memory of Azure D [Instrumental]

[Instrumental]

[Instrumental]

You wanna grab this one, Wheeler?

It's yours, Squeal. You handle it.

Why, Squeal, why, it's yours, Squeal. You took--

You know, I'm kind of sitting in my office, and

I'm making out the semiannual evaluation report,

and then it occurs to me that maybe you'd like to know

that you two yo-yos are in a dead heat for last place.

Now, would either of you care to go for a

tiebreaker, or do you wanna leave it a photo finish?

I'm all for it.

I'm all for it.

I haven't been so touched since Roy Rogers decided to have Trigger stuffed.

Now, look, one of you tragedians, you wanna tell me what the beef is or not?

Well, some fluff did a Dutch act at the Sheppard at Arms.

[Instrumental]

You sure about this name?

Azure D. I may have spelled it.

[Instrumental]

Cut it down.

[Instrumental]

[Instrumental]

You should have seen her six years ago when I busted her in the East Village.

Teenage runaway from Elkhart, Indiana, I think. Yeah.

With the hundred dollar habit.

She was all skin and bones, but, hey, she had those big eyes.

Could put a blister on your heart.

[Instrumental]

Yeah, she kicked the habit, all right. These

tracks are so old, they got dust on 'em.

[Instrumental]

Not that she could afford it, she kicked it.

[Instrumental]

All right, call forensic. Have 'em send a crew down here.

[Instrumental]

Ice cream all the way.

You can spare me the grisly details. I want your

assurance that everything went off as planned.

I believe everything is all right here, Mr. Meadows.

[Instrumental]

This is Mr. O'Malley. Mr. O'Malley's the doorman.

You finishing the job?

Be my guest.

[Instrumental]

Well, like always, I came at ten in the morning to collect Sir Toby Belch.

That's Miss Dee's toy pool, you know.

And like always, I came and delivered him back an hour later.

Well, when she didn't answer the buzzer, I became very worried.

So I let myself in with my passkey.

And when I saw... Oh. Hmm.

When I saw what happened, I...

I locked the door and I went to my room in the basement and I phoned the police.

How long has she been living here?

A year and a half.

Lovely lady. Lovely, lovely lady.

Always prompt with the rent. No problems.

Unofficial preview, Lieutenant. You DOA

succumbed to strangulation and a broken neck.

Probably self-inflicted.

I don't want the coming of trashes. I want the full feature, Doctor.

Answer me something, Kojic.

How do you string up a lady without her at least raising a mild objection?

Well, that's what I expect you to tell me.

Go ahead.

Right.

No evidence of a forced entry?

No signs of a struggle?

No, she was prompt with the rent, you said.

A pad like this, even in today's market,

unfurnished, got to bring in $2,000 a month.

So what else are we talking about?

Well, Miss D would... entertain occasionally.

I see. You mean she was turning tricks, right?

Oh, no, no. It's not as bad as you think.

This was no common call girl. Selective she was, unfaithful in her way.

Now, I didn't know the names, but the men were men of class and substance,

and she's entertained one of them regularly for a month or so,

and then suddenly, I never knew the how or the why of it, there'd be a new face.

Like beads on a necklace?

Yes, except for the last two. One was middle-aged,

and the other one was hardly more than a boy.

Well, somehow, for the past three months, she was able to

juggle both of them, divided her time between them, you know?

It was easy enough to fathom why.

Even a blind man could see that she was in love.

But with which one, I honestly have no idea.

Anything else?

Well, I don't know if this is any help to you, but a

couple of months ago, Miss D gave me a tip on the market.

Now, I got a little bit of cash stashed away, so I took a flyer.

Well, that stock went up 30 points within a week,

and after that, I took to reading the financial section of the Times.

That's where I came across a familiar face.

It was one of Miss D's gentleman friends.

I can't recall the name, but I think if I go down to the basement,

I might be able to find the article for you.

I would appreciate it if you would.

There's something in the kitchen you'll want to take a look at.

All right.

Mr. O'Malley, I wonder if we could go over those dates and times again,

or the ingredients for a nice, cozy dinner for two.

Now, the hostess, rudely interrupted while she's putting it all away.

But delivered when?

(distant chatter)

Eddie, you fellas touch the pillows on that sofa?

Of course not.

Prince, come here.

You got an aesthetic eye. I have.

There's something about the arrangement of these pillows that's offensive.

You do me something, okay?

Mm-hmm.

You bag and you tag 'em, and send 'em to the lab.

Looking for what?

You'll know when you find it, won't you?

(distant chatter)

Hi, Millie Jo.

That's a hell of a welcome.

(music)

Oh, yeah.

Come on. Assume the position.

Now, tell me where it is.

Hey, man, you must be twisted. I'm off of the junk scene now.

Two months out of Lexington, holding down a steady gig. I'm Mr. Clean.

Yeah.

Hey, you weren't holding six years ago when I busted you.

Remember that loft on Clinton Avenue?

Your little girlfriend, she was holding your stash for you.

She gets two years on a Bedford farm and you 90 days suspended sentence.

You ought to remember her at Christmas time. What was her name again?

Huh? Uh, Dee something.

Azure, yeah. Azure. Azure Dee.

Azure Dee, that's right. What ever happened

to her? You haven't seen her lately, have you?

Like I said, I've been out of circulation a while.

That's right. Taking a cure in Lexington.

I can imagine you're surprised when you get out delivering the

gourmet goodies to all your swanky east side residents, huh?

And then lo and behold, there's your spaced out little girlfriend.

Okay. You know, so what are you playing games for?

Come here, you.

Games.

Where does it say we're playing games? What happened, you little creep?

You tried blackmail, it didn't work?

Wish you could have blown the whistle and called a cop.

Hey, come on. That's not funny.

Hey, look. Last time it was Lexington.

This time, it's gonna be the joint.

Hard time too, baby. You had to kill her.

What are you... Are you saying Azure's dead?

Me? Kill Azure?

I'd OD myself with... battery acid before I'd let anything happen to her.

She was beautiful, people.

She was the only thing in life I put a value on.

She got me this job, she put me into a methadone program.

But she was alive, man.

God strike me dead, she was alive when I split this morning.

Any way you can prove that?

Old lady Maybaum, uh... lives in the apartment across the hall.

She saw me leave.

And we rode down the elevator.

Together, she can tell you a little after 10, Azure said good morning... to her.

How did she die?

She was hanged, Billy Joe.

Oh, my God.

Oh, my God.

Hey, look.

I'm gonna want to talk to you, okay?

We'll wait. We'll wait until you get your head straight.

When you finish work tonight, you want to call me?

We'll sit together and rap?

When you saw me, you started to run.

Why?

I'm a junkie.

But I've been trying.

I'm trying.

At Lexington's, they cut me loose, but it's hard.

To place at Azure, but... it's hard, man.

It's hard.

Kojak, I can't do it without her.

( sobbing )

- Here you are, Lieutenant. - What's this?

Azure D's yellow sheets. You asked for it.

Soliciting dismissed. Shoplifting suspended.

Vagrancy dismissed.

For the past 21 months, nothing.

Okay, give me a rundown.

Check out the arresting officers, witnesses,

complainants, magistrates, attorneys, bail bondsmen.

I want to know how a freaked-out flower child

can go from the East Village to a Sutton Place apartment.

- Go ahead. - No problem, Lieutenant.

I'll take care of it.

Savings account, 17,300 and change.

Check-in, $4,261.52.

Cash deposits generally sizable, but no apparent pattern to them.

Praise value of furs and jewelry, $91,000.

Paintings, sculptures, first editions, cataloged

antiques, say in the neighborhood of $200,000.

Wait till the counselor checks.

See what shop she's favored.

Canvas them for any info they might provide, okay?

Gotcha.

- Lieutenant? - Yeah?

Don't mind me. I'm just browsing.

We tossed the subject's apartment.

14-carat silk.

It's what we didn't find that fires the imagination.

No phone book, no engagement pad, no personal correspondence, no snapshots, nothing.

But in her box downstairs was the morning mail.

A phone bill, an invitation from a park Avenue couturier

to attend a private showing of his new spring fashions,

and a thank-you note from the UJW for her generous donation.

Right here. You take the phone bill,

check out every number she's called in the last month.

Yes, sir.

Deona, listen to me.

Pulling four men off the charts and assigning them full-time to this investigation

out of some purely personal sense of commitment... You never saw her, Frank.

You never knew her like I did.

To you, she's just another statistic, another routine homicide.

No, you say homicide. Who else? Where's the proof?

Right in here. Just like you, baby.

It'll take me 20 years to sniff in the garbage.

No, it's not in here.

You won't let her be a suicide.

You take it as a personal insult because you didn't pull her off the needle

just so she could turn around six years later

and throw a do-it-yourself necktie party.

I just got the ME's report,

and there's nothing in it to refute Hammerman's preliminary assessment.

Nothing indicating foul play except for one small thing--

the deceased had a broken finger.

- Hammerman? - Hammerman, Kojak.

Broken when?

The finger wasn't taped or split.

Was there appreciable swelling, discoloration?

No. Why, what are you getting at?

Well, I'm postulating the proposition

that the victim was already unconscious when hanged, dead weight,

and that during the efforts to string her up, the finger was broken.

Being unconscious, she of course made no outcry.

And since the death followed so shortly thereafter,

the finger didn't have an opportunity to swell or discolor to any appreciable degree.

Yeah, it makes sense, Theo.

Uh-huh. When did unconscious how?

Warts office reports no bruises, contusions, abrasions, no drugs.

Lieutenant Kojak.

You know that hunch you had about the pillows?

Right on. One of 'em reveals frustration.

- Conclusion.

The DOA was first forcibly smothered...

and then, unconscious and barely breathing, hanged.

Well... I think you're on coffee.

Are you making any progress with those phone numbers?

Yeah, some.

There's one of them that sticks out like a sore thumb.

Up until a week ago, she must have called it on an average of twice a day.

This is a long-aisle exchange of private residents.

(music)

Mrs. Meadows?

Lieutenant Kojak.

Lieutenant Kojak?

I'm Regina Meadows. Can I help you?

Yeah, yeah.

Somebody in this house can. It's about, uh, Miss Azzure Dee.

Oh? Is she in some kind of difficulty?

Well, you might say that. She was found hanged this morning.

Oh, that poor child.

Oh, how ghastly, that... that poor, poor child.

Yeah, well, I appreciate what a shock this must be to you, Mrs. Meadows...

but if there's anything you can tell me...

you know, what I really mean, if you pardon my saying so...

is that I wouldn't have thought that you and she... you know what I mean?

Bluntly put, Lieutenant, you're wondering what we could possibly have in common.

Nothing really, I suppose, except our hairdresser.

And yet she called you several times a day.

According to our records, except for last week.

She was such an enchanting child.

Irresistible in her way.

I simply hadn't the heart to discourage her.

You see, I have no children of my own...

and of late I've found myself frequently alone here.

Tyler, my husband, he's recently been elected chairman of Amfed Industries.

His new responsibilities are... very demanding upon his time.

Can I offer you some tea, Lieutenant? I'm not sure how hot it is.

Now tell me about those phone calls. What'd you two find to talk about?

Have you ever seen a Sandpiper, Lieutenant?

That's what she was like. Nibbling, almost fanatically

obsessed with the determination to improve herself. Art, music, language, literature.

There was nothing in which she was not insatiably interested.

It was sad in a way.

Sad? How?

Well, she was so hopelessly out of

her depth. Perhaps she came to realize that

perhaps that was why she killed herself.

She didn't kill herself, Mrs. Menard.

But I don't understand. You said...

I said she was found hanged, but not by her own hand.

I hear we have a visitor from the city,

and a police lieutenant, no less. Tyler Meadows, Lieutenant.

Oh, yeah. Excuse my appearance, I've just been exercising our new gelding.

Well, my dear, what kind of mischief have you

gotten into?

You remember that young girl I mentioned? The cultural gourmand?

It appears she's been murdered.

Good lord, really? Yeah, well,

I won't take up any more of your time, Mrs. Meadows,

and, uh, oh yeah, thank you for receiving me.

I heard that in a movie once.

Let me see you out, Lieutenant. Do you have any horses of your own?

Thank you, my dear.

As I was saying, thank you for so skillfully handling a very

sensitive situation.

I knew I could count on you.

You bastard!

Yes, you can always count on me.

Secure in the knowledge that whatever the cost,

I'll act in my own best interests.

But I wonder, will your brother see it the same way?

His flight's due in from Tokyo at six.

You may find that he doesn't share my own abhorrence of

scandal.

With that in mind,

how do you propose to explain to him the death of your precious concubine?

Do I remember her? It's been nearly four years,

and then who could forget?

She was just a gypsy when I scouted her.

Peeping and hustling in front of the wall door.

Lavender hot pants, laced up boots, and a wiggle that could fry an egg at 50 yards.

Sure, I signed her up. I know talent when I see it.

I bring her into my stable.

I was feeling 10 of New York's finest at that time.

Then I meet her and my bottom girl.

Do I remember as your...

It's because of that bimbo I get myself all busted up.

Just because I give her a few lumps

to straighten out her head. Zap! This yo-yo turns

up out of his tree and literally stumps me into the ground.

Yeah, well, what did this ding-a-ling look like?

Skinny, scraggly hair, maybe 22 or 23.

A user.

But every inch of him was bad news.

Oh, Azzure Dee. A natural at child, never a dissatisfied

customer. I tell you, I'd had a couple more like

Azzure, I could have retired to Fort Lauderdale, huh?

Uh, she did a couple of seasons for me at my crib

on East 55th. No time at all, she was scoring three,

four bills a night. And that's not including tips.

She was a funny kid, though, always with her nose

in a book. And afternoons, she'd vanish altogether.

If asked where she'd been, she'd say some museum.

Huh? Some art gallery. Well, that was two years ago.

Haven't seen her since. I loved that child, though.

I still do, even though she put me out of business.

Uh, what can you tell me about him?

Oh, yeah.

Yeah.

I'm with Stavros. We just showed Billy Joe'spicture to a pimp named Steady Eddie Maxwell and an

ex-east side madam, uh, Savannah Fuller. They both

ID'd him as the cat who hassled them because he

didn't like what they did to Azure Dee. He told

Savannah's apartment, "Ditto Maxwell's, I think we'd

better have Billy Joe in for a little eyeball

session so we drop by DeFranco's.

Trouble is, he split for parts unknown.

Do we put it on the street, boss?

Hey,you put it on the street, boss, and you put it on television at bite time if you have to, okay?

Gotcha.

Put it on the street.

Let's go.

Crocker!

Yes, sir.

Aren't you gonna say excuse me? Forget it here. License number 287 BLA.

Run a check, huh? Maybe I'm wrong, but I can't

shake that feeling that this Regina Meadows,

he was giving me a frugal street sleeve job this afternoon.

Lieutenant, Mr. O'Malley is here to see you.

Well, Lieutenant, you know that fella I told

you about, the former gentleman friend of Miss

Azure's, the one who had his picture in the

financial section of the Times? Well, the same

photograph's in today's edition, but this time it's

not in the financial section, it's on page three.

Go for a goldfish and nib a whale.

- Hello, Lieutenant. - Your Honor.

- Just sit down, make yourself comfortable. - Okay.

Now, you, uh, wish to know about my relationship with Azzure.

Well, there's very little that I can tell you

that'll bear upon your investigation, I'm afraid.

It was clandestine, true, but I'm not ashamed of it.

It was nothing illegal, no, uh, impropriety, no betrayal of my office.

My wife died ten years ago, Lieutenant, and I'm still a vigorous man.

And Azzure was a constant delight.

I knew from the outset, of course, that I was

just a transient in her life, but I didn't care.

As long as I had her, I shared her with no man.

- And it ended, why? - No reason, just ended.

At the conclusion of what turned out to be our last evening together,

she requested the return of the gold key that she'd given me.

Asking no questions, I surrendered it,

knowing that it would be passed on to the next man in her life.

- That was, uh, three months ago. - Mm-hmm.

- And you haven't seen her since? - She left a big void in my life.

It saddens me to think that she's dead.

It saddens you?

Well, it damn well should sadden somebody.

This was no act of passion.

- This was a cold-blooded execution. - Execution? What do you mean?

The work of professionals.

They were in and out of that apartment in under an hour.

And in that time, they perpetrated an almost perfect crime

and systematically looted their premises of every

shred of evidence that might have linked their client.

Hey, your honor, you don't have any idea who that might be?

- How would I possibly know? - Well, she was your mistress.

You had to know something about her life.

I can conceive of no earthly reason why any man

should seek to destroy such an exquisite creature.

Well, maybe I can. You said you gave back the key.

Yes, why do you ask?

Well, the killer surprised Azzure in the kitchen.

To do that, someone had to provide them with a key.

Wait a minute, are you suggesting... That you're not the sporting guy you might be?

Hey, look, maybe you'd rather see her dead

than playing around with another guy or guys.

Lieutenant, have you forgotten who you're speaking to?

Your honor, I'm talking to a man.

And I don't care about your black robes.

I wouldn't care if you were sitting in the Oval Office.

I don't care about my badge. I don't care about my pension.

Somebody's gonna take a hard fall for Azzure.

You say you don't have any evidence? You know nothing about it? Terrific!

Terrific!

[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]

[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC].

[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC].

[POLICE RADIO CHATTER]

Give me the city Mark, please.

[music]

Why would anyone do such a thing? Why? Why?

It's only a police theory. It was assumed suicide initially.

Azzure never. She had no reason to do anything like that.

She had every reason to want to live.

She was going to be married in two weeks. I found a little flat in Tokyo.

She was learning Japanese.

Where is she, anyway?

Tyler, what have they done with her body?

I assume the city morgue.

Oh, where are you going?

You don't think I'm gonna leave her there, do you?

Well, you must, Farley.

Must? Why?

I hoped to spare you this, but you leave me no alternative.

Cleaver.

This is Mr. Cleaver.

By my request, he has compiled a detailed dossier on your late fiancée.

I'll omit the childhood data.

Begin with Misty's arrival in New York.

Any word on Billy Joe?

This guy's got more moves than Lou Brock.

The only way we're gonna nail him is if some junkie sells him to us.

Yeah.

Uh, that license plate you wanted me to run down?

It's a '75 Caddy registered to Bertram Cleaver, private investigator.

Now, this cat must do all right.

He's got a suite of officers in the Pan Am building.

Now, what's Tyler Meadows' loan with the Shamers on the payroll?

(phone ringing)

There. You have lunch?

(phone ringing)

Go, Jack.

Theo, I thought you would like to know that the

remains of Azzuree D have just been claimed for burial.

Who?

Who? Judge Seymour Lavery, that's who.

Where?

What?

Where?

Check.

Heavenly Rest Funeral Home.

137 East 21st Street.

I got it.

Now, why do you do a thing like that?

I mean, who knows if the papers will pounce on it?

Just a whiff of scandal and there goes the appointment.

I wonder what get into him.

This friend of yours who works for the Post, what's his name?

The one who covered the Attica riots.

Harvey Palmer.

Oh, yeah, look. I want you to get in touch with him, okay?

Tell him I want a couple of paragraphs in tomorrow morning's edition.

Azzuree D, noted Manhattan playgirl, blah, blah, like that.

Funeral services tomorrow.

The Heavenly Rest Funeral Home, okay?

But have him treated like a news item, otherwise some bored

city editor is going to Bury it in the open column, okay?

Right, got it.

I didn't say forever.

What's that all about?

She had a lot of friends, Frank, okay?

I mean, people who cared about her.

Maybe I can pull a chain and flush out a few of them.

Maybe there'll be at least one fresh face who can't

bring himself to stay away from that funeral tomorrow.

(music playing)

That's the cleaning lady, Mrs. Ortiz.

She hasn't stopped crying since they found the body.

(music playing)

(music)

(gun shot)

(screaming)

(screaming)

(gunshot)

(gunshot).

(gunshot)

Grab that gun.

(music playing).

(footsteps)

But I didn't hit him!

(gunshot)

(screaming)

Stop. Hit the rewind.

(screaming)

Hold it.

The signal ring, right?

Mm-hmm.

I want a big, big blow up.

Got it.

(phone ringing)

Kojak.

At what caliber?

Okay, thanks, Angie. Will you send me a copy?

Right.

You'll be relieved to know that ballistics confirms the

fact that it wasn't your piece that totaled Billy Joe.

The slug came from a .32.

Who's .32? Not one of ours.

No, one of theirs. Look, Billy Joe's been breaking chops, right?

First he stomps this Eddie Maxwell.

Then he totals this, uh, what's-her-name, Fuller's, uh, Pleasure Palace.

I mean, what for? What's in it for him? Kicks?

Revenge.

Sure.

He deployed himself as your guardian angel,

dealing out punishment to anyone who gave it a short end.

Check. Today, he shows up with a big, big Cannon.

Which means that he didn't show up just to break heads.

He came here for the kill.

Which means he held his intended victim responsible for Azzuree's death.

Mm-hmm.

Because he knew that much, they... they wasted him.

You know something, Frank? I could have prevented this.

I had him.

You know, all I had to do was lean a little harder.

I might have coughed up a name.

He'd be alive now.

Hey, Theo.

Hindsight is an exact science.

So he held out on you. You had no way of knowing that at the time.

I'm supposed to know, Frank, damn it! That's what I get paid for.

Yeah.

Oh. When did this happen?

Did the police leave a note?

Now, stay there. Nose around. Maybe you can snip out something.

Anyway, that explains why Lavery didn't show up for the funeral today.

That was Amos.

His honor just took a Brodie from the 16th floor of the Franklin Towers.

Well, that's a wrap.

How do you figure that?

Oh, come on, Theo. What do you want? His signed confession?

If Lavery's our man, Frank, why didn't Billy Joe move on him?

Theo, we're talking about a junkie.

For all we know, his brains were in Afghanistan when he fired those shots.

And the piece that iced them wasn't in Afghanistan. Come on, Frank.

Lavery hasn't left his pad all day.

He hasn't made one phone call.

Under whose instruction was that hitman acting when he blew away Billy Joe?

Stavros, grab a rookie. Go down to the Times.

Have him pick up the obituary on Lavery.

Oh, not the one they're gonna print. I want one with everything, okay? Go ahead.

Yes, sir.

Just for the record, do you mind telling me what that's in aid of?

It's the note, Frank.

If you're gonna, mm, Pierce away the world, you're gonna leave a note.

If he put Azzure in a box, why not say so?

He knows we'll think it anyway.

Elucidate.

You're a respected magistrate.

Twenty years on a civil bench.

You're up for appointment to the court of appeals.

And suddenly your past is invaded by a homicide inquiry.

And you're that man.

Okay, Frank.

What's even worse than murder?

That guy actually tried to kill me, Tyler.

A total stranger.

I never saw him before.

Why me?

I never did anything to him.

Well, I'm sure it's not personal.

Just another senseless act of violence that's not unusual in contemporary America.

Look, Polly, I've got to run into town.

Polly, I suggest while I'm gone that you give

serious thought to returning to Japan without delay.

We'll discuss the matter when I return this evening.

Cornell, class of '71.

You know what we found under "M"?

Farley Meadows, brother of Tyler Meadows,

chairman of AmFed Electronics Industries, period.

It's fascinating.

Regina Meadows.

Loyal confidante of the dear departed.

Doesn't come to the funeral, but her brother-in-law does.

You think that's fascinating?

Get a load of this.

You're hair show off.

The obit material on Judge Lavery.

Ten months ago in the lower courts, AmFed

lost a critical patents judgment sending their

stocks getting right straight down into the sewer.

AmFed, which was in the process of negotiating

a Japanese affiliation, appealed the decision

with a case being reviewed by three guesses.

Judge Lavery.

Who promptly overturned the original decision

in favor of AmFed, and that was three months ago.

Three months?

Yes, sir.

Three months ago, Azure D broke off with the judge.

(phone ringing)

Yeah.

Mr. O'Malley?

Yeah, I called.

Yeah, that stock tip that Miss D gave you?

The one that jumped over 30 points in a single day.

Was it AmFed Industries?

Thank you, Mr. O'Malley.

The only way she could have known that is to

know which way the judge was going to lean.

Well, no wonder he checked out.

He knew if you dug deep enough, it was bound to surface.

You know, after Lavery's bow off, two men entered Azure's life.

One hardly more than a kid, according to O'Malley,

and she was in love with one of them, according to O'Malley.

But with which, he couldn't say.

You know, we know she fought on Long Island at

least twice a day, and then one week, nothing.

Hey, check customs and immigration.

Dollars to whatever, I bet you that this what's-his-name was at a town in Japan.

Well, that accounts for one paramour.

What about his rival?

Now, who stood to gain the most from Judge Lavery's decision, huh?

Oh, Mr. Meadows, so nice of you to join us.

All right, we are.

Oh, sorry.

If you want a piece of your brother, you're going to have to stand in line.

Huh?

Park!

I got a permit.

Sure you do.

What's the other cockroach carrying?

38, S and W, like yours.

What's the 32 that knocked off Billy Joe?

You got a permit for that?

What 32?

What Billy Joe?

Come here, you.

Get over there.

Pocket scum.

And I don't want to hear anything from you.

Until further notice, okay?

Breathing maybe, and very little of that.

You got a permit?

And that's how it is with violence, Mrs. Meadows.

It's an abstract until it hits your own living room.

If that concludes the theatrics, Lieutenant,

perhaps you'll explain the purpose of the visit here.

Oh, you know, I thought you'd never ask.

Well, pending your arrival, I was entertaining

your wife and your brother with a little local folklore.

I don't know about Mrs. Meadows, but your brother was absolutely enthralled.

So I observed.

No doubt I would be equally captivated if I had the time to listen.

Do yourself a favor, make the time.

Unless, of course, you'd like to reconvene this gathering not at my office.

Well, Lieutenant.

Oh, good.

Once upon a time, that's what we call a scenario.

Anyway, this one begins six months ago when you tried to bribe a Supreme Court judge.

Oh, and it would be Judge Lavery.

Being dead, I'm afraid he has to suffer this

allegation, but I'm under no such handicap.

If you are reckless enough to repeat that

fiction in public, I most certainly will sue you for slander.

You needed it.

Secret surroundings.

So the judge, he picked a location, Azzure Dee's apartment.

The deal was struck, but it cost his honor, his mistress.

You deny that?

Because I can produce the doorman, Mr. O'Malley.

He remembers you very well.

He likes you.

Well, I was acquainted with Miss Dee, yes.

That hardly confirms the existence of a deal between myself and Judge Lavery.

Anyway, back to Ajardee's apartment.

You know, exit his honor, the judge.

Enter Mr. Tyler Meadows, a few idyllic months,

and then lo and behold, enter baby brother.

He introduced her as a friend of a business associate.

I'd run into them in a restaurant.

I didn't know.

I didn't even suspect.

And when I got up to leave, she slipped me her phone number.

Well, we have now what you call a menage a trois.

Only this time, and I guess maybe for the first time in Azzure's life, it's not a matter

of, hey, John, come on over.

This time it's a matter of love.

Hey, but this poses a problem.

You wanted to marry Farley.

Tyler here had other ideas.

You couldn't level with Farley, could you?

He didn't know about the bribe.

And how can you have a call girl marry into the family?

She knew about the bribe, and her testimony would have put you behind bars.

And that's exactly what would have happened if you interfered between her and Farley.

So what's the solution?

What do you do, huh?

We send baby brother off on a business jockey

to Japan, and in his absence, we proceed to solve the problem.

As a spinner of tales, Lieutenant, you are sheer Scheherazade.

Although I detect a strain of bias in your

presentation, as if you view Azzure as some pathetic heroine in a Victorian novel.

She was nothing like that.

She was an amoral little harlot whose sordid

passing will not cause the smallest ripple in the cosmic sea.

You pig.

Sit down!

I got your brother on a sure fuse, mister.

And for what it's worth, I might as well tell you I'm on an even shorter one.

So you got any more contributions to make

toward the idea of Azure Dee, I suggest I save it for your confession.

My confession?

To what, Lieutenant?

Judge Lavery is deceased.

My brother, as you were good enough to point out, has just returned from Japan.

What have we got, really?

Grounds for divorce.

Hardly a milestone in the annals of a police investigation.

Oh, yeah, I know.

I just came to serve notice that I'm wise to you, mister.

And I don't care how long it takes.

I'm going to see that you get it packed in, you and your hired help over there.

So I want you to take care of yourself.

I wouldn't want anything to happen to you.

It occurs to me, Mrs. Meadows, that you really never met Azure, did you?

Here.

Looks like she's sleeping, doesn't it?

Except for that Mark around her neck, you'd hardly know she was dead.

And here's another fallen sparrow.

Learned a little too late that you can't outrun a bullet.

No, no, you please keep it.

Put it in your family album.

Isn't that right?

You knew her, Lieutenant.

Oh, yeah.

A long time ago.

And Billy Joe said it, not me.

She was good people.

Lieutenant,

is it a fact of law that a wife cannot testify against her husband?

Cannot be compelled to testify.

However, if she likes to volunteer.

Regina?

If you just hadn't called her a harlot.

I held her cheap, but you shouldn't have.

Her death should have touched your heart.

Not just your bank account.

It's true, Lieutenant.

Farley was out of the country.

But I wasn't.

Stavros.

Read them their rights.

♪ Lonely, oh Lord, I'm lonely ♪

♪ Walking down a crowded street ♪

♪ Singing a lonely song ♪

♪ Hoping to see ♪

♪ Miss Azure D ♪

♪ We shared a dream ♪

♪ Oh, such a hopeless dream ♪

♪ But it filled my empty life ♪

♪ And I was one ♪

♪ With Azure D ♪

♪ Miss Azure D ♪

♪ Azure ♪.

♪ My Azure D ♪.