Original subtitles

Vigilantes frighten me, Sergeant.

Vigilantes wearing badges I find particularly scary.

It's like I'm going to be the bait, for God sakes.

Well, it does sound like trouble.

I'll take the real estate business any day of the week.

A guy with a ski mask. I just happened to walk in right in time.

Well, I'll be over there as quickly as I can.

We've been there before, Lofton. We're cutting our losses.

You will talk to me.

Hold it right there! - Freeze, pal!

Well, it could very well be a matter of life and death.

Yes.

They're on their way! Come on, move out. Now!

Freeze! MAN 2: Hold it right there.

Oh, damn.

What's this I hear about the third time being the charm?

Yeah. You missed the last one, Marv. This is number four.

So, how long are we gonna keep playing the same game?

Sarge? Mmm-hmm.

We come at them and they slip away.

I mean, this is getting old fast.

All right. All right.

What is this, Vic? Listen up.

Central's closing us down.

Oh, what? Come on, man, we were getting so close.

They did not say permanently. It's temporary.

They just need time to review.

It's gonna look great on our efficiency report, Sarge.

Once, yeah, maybe it's a coincidence. Twice even.

Any more than that and either we're doing something wrong, or...

Well, they got our number.

What? They're being tipped?

But you're the one who's setting up the busts.

And you guys are the only ones being told.

All right, now listen. There are all kinds of people out there.

With eyes, ears.

The thing is, we need a fresh look. Even the suits agree.

Now, I've convinced them that we need some new people.

In a couple of days, they're gonna give me a new guy.

In the meantime, you hang loose. And take care.

Good night, Sarge.

See you, Sonny.

You find me someone, Meyers?

That's Captain Meyers.

And don't talk as if he's your private property.

He'll answer to me. You got it?

Got it.

All right. His name is Bondy.

John Andrew Bondy.

Young, squeaky clean.

Father, grandfather both cops.

A year out of Michigan State with a B.S. in criminology.

And faceless.

John's been on special detail for the Mayor's office.

It's unlikely any of your people will recognize him.

Well, let's hope unlikely is good enough.

I'm putting him undercover on pier 50.

No badge, no weapon.

He'll be looking for the snitch between my guys

and the bad cop's been screwing up the busts.

I'm not as sure as you are it's another cop.

You'll look after Bondy, Lofton?

Like he was my baby brother.

Paula speaking.

Paula, this is Jessica Fletcher.

Hello, Mrs. Fletcher. What can I do for you?

Well, you can stop me from murdering my computer.

Look, I can save, but I can't seem to print anything.

Well, it does sound like trouble.

I have a Monday deadline.

Is there any chance that you could come before the weekend?

How does Friday, 1:00 sound to you?

What's up, Vinnie? - John.

So, you wanted to talk.

Yeah, right.

This friend of yours. I wanna meet him.

Just say when, baby.

Yeah. Well, you gotta understand, I want 100 big ones in $50 bills.

And you don't know me anymore.

Vinnie, I mean, check it out, man.

It'll be like you never existed.

All he wants is a name.

Friday. I'll call you Friday.

He said he'd call me Friday.

Now what the hell does that mean?

It means between now and then, he's gonna talk to the leak.

It means when I introduce you to the rest of the guys,

one of them is gonna know everything about you,

and he's gonna make sure you and Vinnie don't happen.

Just look, Sarge. I'm not stupid.

It's like I'm going to be the bait, for God sakes.

Exactly.

Look. You just do like I tell you,

and you'll be okay.

Can you handle that?

Let's do it.

Hey, I just thought of something, Sarge.

What's that?

Vinnie said he was calling Friday.

So?

I got a date Friday.

So keep it. Who knows what'll happen between now and then?

Look, don't worry, kid. You're doing okay.

Someday you'll be a cop!

Gee, Dad, thanks a whole lot.

Oh, I am so grateful to you, Paula.

You know, I was afraid that it would be Monday

before I'd be able to do any work.

Which would mean you'd have to take a whole weekend off.

We certainly can't have that, now can we?

Don't remind me.

Thanks.

Well, that ought to do it. Let me just run the diagnostics.

Hello. Ah, Richie.

Oh, please, have him come right up.

Your young man.

Please. My date.

Really don't have time for anything serious.

How is school coming along?

Not fast enough.

All right. I'll just put this cover on

and you can get back to creating.

Oh, thank you.

Tell me, have you had any luck with your quest?

Well, I do have a search going at several computer bulletin boards,

but so far, I've drawn nothing but blanks.

It's like...

Well, it's like a stork really did bring me,

because I certainly can't seem to find anyone else

who's willing to take responsibility.

It's got to be very frustrating and disappointing.

Well, my psych professor says maybe it's better this way.

He claims that most people are disappointed

with the parents they grew up with,

whereas I can imagine mine any way I want them.

This week, I decided my mother was a research scientist,

working on a cure for cancer.

And I guess that's a promotion,

because before that, I always pictured her as a sultry torch singer.

Hello, Mrs. Fletcher. I'm John Bondy.

Hello, John. Please come inside. Thank you.

Be with you in a couple of shakes, John.

Take your time.

Hello. Hi.

You know, Mrs. Fletcher, I've been losing sleep because of you.

You see, Paula gave me one of your books,

and it's been keeping me up nights.

Well, I don't know whether to say I'm sorry or thank you.

You're welcome.

But look, I hate to rush Paula away,

but there's this party I've been invited to,

and I promised to bring the prettiest woman in town.

Oh, too bad you have to take me instead.

No, no. Don't hurt them, please, don't.

Get him away from those steaks. He's burning them.

So, I'm on a stakeout with this green kid, fresh out of the academy.

And we're in some bushes, watching this bozo

boosting some TVs from the back of a pickup truck.

So I say to the kid, "Okay, tiger, go get him."

And what does the kid do?

He stands straight up, big as life,

and he starts that speech from procedures class about intention to arrest

and the cause thereof and all that garbage.

Meantime, the perp is gone, man! He books!

Captain chews you out, right? There ain't no justice for cops!

Amen.

Hey, you sure your father-in-law needs to be hearing all this, Alex?

No. No. All I gotta say is

I'll take the real estate business any day of the week.

So, where's the new guy?

You know, he should be here any time now.

Hey, son-in-law, how about getting me some more barbecue sauce, huh?

Sure, Dad. Thank you.

Oh, no.

So, we know anything about him yet?

Uh, just that Lofton picked him out from some special detail.

I don't know about you guys, but I hate working with rookies.

So, does anybody know him?

Uh-uh. I guess that's why Lofton invited him.

I thought with all the trouble we're having down in Brooklyn,

what do we want to bring a rookie in on it for?

You find yourself in a situation,

you never know what they're gonna do.

Let someone else break him in.

I think it's molasses. Lots of molasses, people.

We're almost done.

And that's my wife, Jill.

Hi, Jill. Hi.

Oh, by the way, the sarge called, said he'd be late.

That's part of his style, isn't it?

Oh! You're catching on. Come on, let's go outside and grab a beer.

Can I help you with anything?

Oh, no, Paula. You go on outside and meet the guys.

Sure? Okay. Yeah.

All right, ladies, let's get everything outside.

Alice, you wanna grab that casserole?

Oh, yeah. Right.

Nice to meet you, Paula. - Nice to meet you.

John, looking good, John.

The arsonist over here who is destroying $200 worth of prime beef,

that's Jill's father, Jimmy Haynes.

My son-in-law, the barbecue expert.

See, I bought them to burn them.

Paula, Johnny.

How you doing, Jimmy?

How's it going?

Sonny Greene.

Better keep an eye on your lady there, John.

Sonny just broke up with his girlfriend.

You know each other?

Way back when.

Never thought you'd become a cop.

Jill, is this salad bowl big enough?

It's too big. Manly men don't eat bunny food.

And get the table ready. In exactly 58 and a half seconds,

these steaks are going to be perfect.

Uh, Jim. Jimbo. If it's not too much trouble,

could you make mine pink on the outside and charbroiled on the inside?

There he goes. There he goes.

I tried so hard!

Oh, thanks.

That looks good. Yeah.

Are you and John... You know?

Forget it. Not that there's anything wrong with John.

It's just that, you know, isn't on my agenda.

Good. Then I don't have to do my number

about what a picnic it is being a cop's wife.

I'm sure.

Hey, Alice.

How do your kids like their new school?

Oh, about as much as I do.

Classes are way too big, and a lot of the kids belong to gangs.

That's terrible. Yeah.

I guess it's a lot easier in private school.

Hello.

Yes, this is Jessica Fletcher.

An accident?

Can you describe her?

She suffered a concussion, fractured right ankle,

multi-contusions and abrasions.

On the upside, there are no apparent internal injuries.

How long has she been like this?

She was comatose when they brought her in.

It's not unusual with head trauma.

Well, tell me about the accident.

I think the sergeant here would know more about that.

Detective Sergeant Vic Lofton, NYPD.

Then you were the one who called me?

It was a one-vehicle accident.

The car ran into an overpass abutment on the parkway.

The impact tore the passenger door right off its hinges

and threw the girl out of the car just before it caught on fire.

As I told you, the only thing we were able to read from her purse

was your name and number.

Well, her name is Paula Raynor, Sergeant.

What do you know about her?

Well, not very much. She's a computer consultant.

She's single. She has no family.

What about the driver?

Haven't identified him yet. The flames...

Well, it could have been Paula's date.

His name was John Bondy.

I really didn't know him at all,

but he seemed like a very nice young man.

Doctor, she's squeezing my hand.

Talk to her, Mrs. Fletcher.

Paula, it's Jessica Fletcher.

Keep going. It's working.

Paula, wake up.

Please open your eyes.

Look at me.

Jessica. Yes.

John's dead. It was... It was awful.

John didn't suffer, Paula.

According to the coroner, death was instantaneous.

The moment the accident happened.

What? What accident?

What are you talking about?

You're in a hospital, Paula.

You were injured in the crash when you were thrown from John's car.

No. No. I wasn't in the car.

She doesn't remember.

Tell us about that, Paula.

We'd been at a party.

We had to leave early 'cause John had to meet somebody in a pub.

I don't know, some kind of business.

He told me to wait in the diner.

Yes, go on, Paula.

When he didn't come back,

I went out to the parking lot to look for him.

He was sitting in the front seat.

His face and head were covered with blood.

He was... My God, he was dead!

And then I saw...

The last thing I remember...

What did you see, Paula?

It was red everywhere.

It was blood. John's blood, everywhere!

She's asleep.

Well, wake her up.

I'm not gonna wake her up.

She's been through an exhausting, terrifying trauma.

You heard her. She's confused, barely coherent.

Damn it, I'm conducting an investigation here!

Damn it, I'm treating a patient here!

And my here is a hospital!

Sergeant. Yeah?

If what Paula says is true,

and not just a trick of her memory,

then John Bondy was dead before the so-called accident.

Murdered.

And his killer attempted to murder Paula.

Now, I realize you must have known that,

otherwise you wouldn't be here conducting a murder investigation.

See, I was afraid it was John.

That was his car. You knew him?

Yeah. He was a cop.

He was my new partner.

Well, do you have any idea why anyone would murder him?

One or two, yeah.

Sergeant? Mmm-hmm.

Whoever killed John Bondy

must have also believed there was a reason to kill Paula Raynor.

Now, what happens when your perpetrator discovers that...

That she survived the accident?

I'm already way ahead of you on that.

The precinct's gonna provide round-the-clock security.

Yeah. Well, starting when?

Whenever the guy gets here, okay!

Look, I'm sorry, Sergeant. I just want to help Paula.

You wanna help Paula?

You really wanna help? Then stay out of my way.

Let me take care of this myself.

I'm not gonna let this get so far along that some sleazy defense lawyer

can just march into the DA's office and make a plea bargain.

Now just listen to me. Listen to me.

The girl is starting to remember.

She remembers seeing John sitting in his car, already dead.

Yeah? When's the last time you dreamed of seeing

a dead cop sitting in his car dead in a pub parking lot?

This is what I want you to do.

I want you to call the medical examiner,

tell him to take John's body out of the drawer,

put it back on the table.

Pretend he didn't die in a car crash,

and find out what killed him.

Okay. I'll get back to you.

Excuse me. Did you want to use the phone?

Oh, no.

Can you always talk people into doing what you want them to do?

Well, it helps when he's an old buddy

and he owes you 200 bucks from a poker game.

I mean this in the friendliest way,

but you look like you're about to crash.

Yeah. Well, I don't want to go home until I'm absolutely certain

that Paula is quite safe.

She really means that much to you?

She has no family.

Well, there's a police officer.

Should be here on guard duty in a few minutes.

Why don't you take that time and go in the waiting room and rest?

Thank you, Sergeant.

You're welcome.

Mrs. Fletcher?

Yeah?

Miss Raynor is awake and asking for you.

Oh, thank you. Thank you.

Mrs. Fletcher. Doctor.

Paula.

Oh, Jessica.

When I woke up just now I had a pang of guilt.

Why was that?

Because you got dragged from your apartment on account of me.

Oh! That's all right, Paula.

I'm glad to help.

I think I remember something that happened at the party.

About John's friends?

Well, that's just it.

They weren't his friends at all.

He didn't know any of them except one.

He didn't come until later.

Around 6:30, John seems to get real nervous

and he kept looking at his watch.

And then this guy came in.

He was furious with John.

Rookie!

He was obviously drunk.

And John told him, "Go home and sober up."

But the guy pushed Mr. Haynes aside,

spilled ice cream all over his pants.

And he grabs John and slams him into a wall.

All hell broke loose.

Jill Maggio screamed about her kitchen.

And her dad saying

he's gotta go home and change his pants before he can show a property.

And then raised his fist like he's gonna smash John's face in.

Alex tried to grab him, and he almost got hit.

And Marv's yelling something like,

"Come on, Sarge, relax and have some coffee."

He called him Sarge?

That's him! That's the man that tried to kill John!

It's okay, Paula.

There's nothing to be afraid of.

Would you get the hell out of here?

Uh, look, Miss Raynor, there's no reason to be afraid.

All I want to do is find the guy who did this to you.

It's very important you try and remember

exactly what happened in the parking lot.

Get out. Get away from me, please!

Come on. I just want to ask you a few questions. Go away, please.

Just go away, please. But I...

Get out. Get out, please! Leave me alone.

It's all right, Paula.

I'm sorry. I'm sorry.

It wasn't the way it looked. She didn't know the facts.

Well, nothing would please me more than to hear the facts from you, Sergeant.

Yeah, I know.

But I have to check out something first.

Well, it seems to me that the first thing to check out

is John Bondy's car.

If Paula's memory is accurate,

John Bondy didn't drive himself into that abutment,

it had to have been rigged.

Yeah.

Uh...

John's car should be at the police garage by tomorrow.

You still wanna check out your theory?

Yes, I do.

Then I'll pick you up at your place tomorrow at 9:30.

Good.

You could see it's a real mess.

Is the accelerator linkage intact?

Oh, it's all there.

What exactly am I supposed to be looking for, Sarge?

I don't know. You tell me.

The car crashed at a high rate of speed with nobody driving it.

And since the person who made it crash was not in the car,

there must've been some sort of a device.

Possibly something quite simple.

Like a shim.

Something that would make the accelerator stick at high speed.

What is that?

A paper clip.

Somebody jammed the accelerator with a bent paper clip.

The perp didn't have to be a rocket scientist.

Thanks, Al.

Well, now you know as much as I know.

Well, not quite.

You still haven't explained your behavior toward John at the party.

Yeah. I guess that would be a little bit confusing for you.

You ever hear of a department within a police department

that investigates the illegal activities of other cops?

Well, of course. That's the Internal Affairs Department. You mean you're...

Yes. I am.

We're looking for a rotten apple with a special unit that I'm in charge of.

We're investigating a hijacking operation. A big one.

I needed someone to go undercover and get this guy.

Someone new to the department

that no one else would recognize.

John.

We'd worked together for a couple of days.

John said I was using him as bait, and I was.

He trusted me.

It's my fault he's dead, Mrs. Fletcher.

Whoever wasted John

is one cop killer nobody will get their hands on but me.

This one is mine.

Thank you for seeing me, Mrs. Fletcher.

I thought this might be a little more convenient

than meeting down at headquarters.

Well, I appreciate that, Captain.

Can I offer you a cup of coffee or tea?

Mmm. Thank you, no.

Uh, look, I'll be brief.

It's been brought to my attention

you paid a visit to the police vehicle impound

in connection with a current case.

That's correct.

And based on your reputation for, shall I say,

a certain inquisitiveness,

I don't suppose that satisfied your curiosity.

No, it didn't.

Look, Mrs. Fletcher, I ask that you permit the department

to handle this matter in its own way.

In other words, I should mind my own business.

I assure you, Miss Raynor's security is in capable hands.

Excuse me.

Hello.

Mrs. Fletcher, I've been trying to reach Sergeant Lofton.

What is it, Doctor?

Somebody tried to kill Miss Raynor.

Is she all right?

Yeah. Yeah, luckily.

A guy with a ski mask came up the fire stairs,

knocked out the security guard.

I just happened to walk in right in time.

Listen, I've been doing my best with her, but it's...

She's pretty shaken up.

Thought she could use a friend about now.

Well, I'll be over there as quickly as I can.

Thank you.

Somebody tried to kill Miss Raynor.

I'm going over to the hospital.

Okay. All the more reason for the police to handle this matter

as soon as possible.

Look, Captain, the last thing in the world I want to do is to get in your way.

On the other hand, are you aware that one of your own men

has said that he intends to find John Bondy's killer

and deal with it in his own way?

Sergeant Lofton tends to overdramatize.

Is that what you call it?

I'd say that you have a very loose cannon on your hands.

So, I hear you had a little talk with my boss, some of which was about me?

Vigilantes frighten me, Sergeant.

Vigilantes wearing badges I find particularly scary.

Meyers recruited John for me.

I sent him to work undercover as a warehouseman.

Eventually, John made a contact. His name was Vinnie.

He was a dockworker with an attitude.

John kept me up on what happened.

I'm tired of busting my hump every day.

Too bad you weren't born rich, Vinnie.

Those hijackers are driving off every night

with thousands of bucks worth of merchandise.

Yeah, some fools got all the luck, huh?

You can't be that stupid.

You buy that luck with hard cash.

They bought themselves a cop.

What? Only one?

This cop's special. He's in the right place.

What? You know him, Vinnie?

Maybe.

Are you kidding me, fool? Well, talk about lucking out, man!

What are you talking about?

You've heard of insurance companies, right?

They pay large for this kind of information, man.

Yeah, right. Big money.

Like they're gonna listen to me.

I got a connection, all right.

One of my boys from high school

works for a large insurance company now.

So if I tell him to listen, he's gonna listen.

I don't know. No, I don't know.

If you ain't interested...

I don't wanna go to court or anything.

Look, Vinnie, this is straight up confidential, man.

All you gotta do is tell my man the name of the cop

and everything you know about him.

In fact, you don't even have to tell him.

Tell me and I'll tell him.

I have to think about it.

It was the only lead we had.

Vinnie called for a meeting in a parking lot behind a pub, on Ocean View.

My God, the parking lot.

Then you arranged the party at Alex Maggio's?

Sure. It was the only way to get the entire task force in one place at one time.

I mean, I thought we had a lock.

I'd show up at the party late, playing drunk and mean.

Pick a fight with John. He would duck out,

and I'd follow the next cop to leave.

What went wrong?

Anyway, I'm keeping an eye out as John and Paula leave.

Did you know him?

And what do you know?

I mean, without missing a beat, Sonny Greene leaves,

so I follow him in my car.

After a few minutes, it became apparent

that he wasn't headed for the pub.

So I took off like a bat out of hell in the opposite direction.

It was too late. When I got back to the pub,

John's car was gone.

And so were John and Paula.

You can't blame yourself, Sergeant.

That's a nice try, Mrs. Fletcher, but...

I should have been there for him.

That's why I gotta make it right.

I gotta get that SOB who wasted John.

I gotta do that.

So. Let's see, what were your words?

Uh, you were gonna take care of him like a baby brother.

Okay. All right. I know. I blew it. Next?

Next is I'm closing you down, as of now.

Look, Captain, this was one of my guys, and I'll find him.

We've been there before, Lofton. We're cutting our losses.

What do you mean, you're "cutting your losses"?

What the hell is that? You mean you're covering up your butt, right?

You'll receive your reassignment orders by tomorrow morning.

No way. No way!

You're going to the 19. Desk Sergeant. On the graveyard shift.

Rather appropriate under the circumstances, wouldn't you say?

You're investigating me, is that it?

Bingo.

Don't worry, Sergeant.

You're gonna come out smelling like a rose.

I promise.

Well, Paula, I'd better get back to the hospital

or they're gonna have to shut down the place.

You don't know how much better it feels to be back in my apartment.

I think I do.

And I feel a whole lot better

knowing that there's a large policeman parked downstairs in the lobby.

Thanks for letting me come home, Doctor.

And thanks for checking up on me.

Funny thing, I worked very hard all my life

so that everyone would call me doctor,

and now I'd just rather be called Ramon.

Thank you, Ramon.

Anyway, bye.

Bye. Bye.

Jessica! It's a response to my computer search!

A woman in St. Louis thinks she might have known my father!

Paula, that's wonderful.

We just came from John Bondy's funeral.

We're here to look in on Miss Raynor.

Of course. Please come in.

Well, we're real glad to see you're on the mend, Miss Raynor.

I guess you didn't know John a whole lot better than we did.

No, I didn't.

Anyway, his folks flew in from San Francisco for the service.

We're throwing him a little wake tonight at my place.

Sort of potluck.

Well, that sounds nice.

Unfortunately, I'm in no condition to attend.

Yeah. Well, listen, Paula,

you wouldn't happen to have any idea, would you,

what this thing with John was all about?

What do you mean?

There's nothing in the newspapers about him.

But we kind of been hearing things about

maybe his death not being an accident.

Sergeant Lofton isn't saying zip.

And as I'm sure you can understand,

we tend to take kind of a dim view of cop-killing.

No. I hadn't heard anything. No.

Well, if you do. Maybe you could give one of us a jingle?

Yeah, I'm still at the same number.

We'll be checking in.

Thank you, Miss Raynor.

Oh, God, Jessica.

You realize we may have just been talking to John's killer?

The man that tried to kill me?

Yes. I know.

Paula, the powerful one, Sonny,

did you know him before?

Yeah. We used to go out.

I was only 17, and he was a professional boxer.

I guess I was kind of dazzled by him.

That is, until I found out that the ring isn't the only place

he likes to use his fists.

Hmm.

Whose are those?

Well, they're Alex's, I think.

I also think it's time for you to have a good rest.

Thank you, Jessica.

Mmm-hmm.

Bye, now.

This is awfully sweet of you, Mrs. Fletcher,

but Alex could've picked these up from you when he got off duty.

Well, I wanted to talk to you, Mrs. Maggio.

To me?

Well, I was curious how a young NYPD detective

could afford a $200 pair of sunglasses.

Wait a minute. What the hell gives you the right

to come in here asking questions like that?

Well, your husband is a public servant, Mrs. Maggio.

And beyond that, I'm a friend of Paula Raynor's.

I don't understand.

I'm not sure that I do,

except that Paula's life may be in danger,

possibly from someone on the police force.

Oh, my God!

Well, I can certainly put your mind at rest about Alex,

and all of this.

My dad, Jimmy Haynes, he's a very successful man.

He's in commercial real estate, and...

Well, he indulges us.

Also, Alex works for him part time, learning the business.

Mom, we're home.

In the kitchen.

What do they say, timing is everything?

Hi, hon. Hi.

Whoa! Guy! Where are your manners?

Buddy, this is Mrs. Fletcher.

Hi, Buddy. Hi.

We had art today.

Poster colors.

Are they neat or what?

Oh, beautiful.

Tell her what we call it.

Our mean machine.

This is my dad, Jimmy Haynes.

Oh, hello. How do you do?

Mrs. Fletcher is a friend of Paula's.

The one who was in the accident.

Oh, right. She okay?

She's recovering nicely, thank you.

Good. Good. Do you have enough fixings for the wake?

Yeah, Alex is bringing stuff home.

Good. Well, it was very nice to have met you, Miss Fletcher.

I've gotta get back to work. Oh, I nearly forgot.

They're taking class pictures on Monday.

Be sure to dress him up a little, hmm?

I already talked to two other Vinnies, but they were the wrong guys.

The Vinnie I'm looking for is a little guy with an attitude problem.

I know just who you're talking about, Sergeant.

You sold the black guy out to a cop.

I wanna know what cop.

I can't talk.

You will talk to me, Vinnie.

Well, Dr. Ramon said it was very important that you should take nourishment.

Mmm. Well, I'm not sure how chocolate-nut-fudge

ice cream fits into that category,

but, um, who's asking?

Thank you, Jessica. And I have something for you.

I've been trying to jog my memory about the night it happened,

so I've been writing down everything I can recall.

Good. And did much of it come back?

Well, more than I really bargained for. But, um...

I don't know how much of it makes sense.

It's like some of it's kind of, you know, surreal.

May I?

Of course. I'm not sure how much it's gonna help.

The nightmare began in an ordinary parking lot.

I was looking for John. I saw him sitting in his car.

His blood appeared to be spreading beyond him, a horrible pool of crimson,

extending beyond the open window.

As if, as if the whole world was suddenly awash in John's blood.

And then I felt this terrible pain.

John's blood.

What is it, Jessica?

May I use your phone?

Of course.

Yes, Captain Meyers, please.

Oh, no, please put me through to his car.

This is an emergency.

Yes. Beautiful. She is, is she? Okay, put her on.

There. Hello, Mrs. Fletcher.

Yes, I'm afraid you've caught me at a bad time.

Oh relax, Captain. I'm not gonna compromise your security.

I need a favor.

Oh. Now, what kind of favor?

I need quick access to some information from the Hall of Records

and the Motor Vehicle Bureau.

Well, it could very well be a matter of life and death.

There's the car! The one over there.

Are you sure that's the cop's car?

Brand new. Don't that tell you something?

Yeah. And this is the exact spot the cop made the payoff the other night?

I told you, I don't know. All these warehouses look alike.

Aw, come on! You're not gonna make me face the cop.

Yeah. Come on. Come on.

I swear on my mother's head, I didn't know he was gonna kill your friend.

Yeah, right. I understand. Get over there.

See you tomorrow, fellas.

Like I was gonna yell to them.

Hello. Hi, honey. How's it going?

About the same as usual. Buddy's got some friends over,

and they're driving me crazy, as usual.

Alex, I gotta talk to you.

I didn't mention it last night, but it's been worrying me.

A Mrs. Fletcher was here yesterday, and...

Sarge, what are you doing here?

Vinnie! Is this the cop that pays you?

What is this?

This is your trial, old buddy.

Alex?

Uh, Jill, listen. I'll call you back, okay?

I ain't even sure it's him!

What are you talking about, "You're not sure it's him"?

It was dark.

Come on! He's the guy you told about talking to John.

About his insurance company's reward.

I... I don't know.

You described John.

You knew exactly who was gonna show up in that parking lot.

You went there to kill him!

I swear to God I didn't.

And then you cold-cocked Paula Raynor and you put her in that car.

And rigged it to crash. You, a cop!

No! No!

No! No, no! Don't do it, Lofton.

It's my decision, Captain!

Sergeant, you'll be killing an innocent man.

But if he didn't kill John, who did?

There was somebody else.

Someone who knew about the undercover Internal Affairs investigation.

Someone who pretended that he was a police officer

in order to frighten Vinnie into telling him about John Bondy.

Isn't that right, Mr. Haynes?

That's the guy!

Jimmy?

Captain, Mrs. Fletcher. How can I help you?

By confessing to the murder of John Bondy

and the attempted murder of Paula Raynor.

Mrs. Fletcher, that is really quite preposterous.

I don't believe it is.

You left the party at your son-in-law's before John and Paula did,

complaining about the ice cream that had soiled your trousers.

You drove into the pub's parking lot and parked right next to John's car.

You waited. And when John came out to meet the person

he thought would be Vinnie's contact, it was an ambush.

And you killed him. When Paula came out to look for John,

she found him in his car with blood on his face. Dead.

You knocked her unconscious, planning to kill her, too.

But despite all, the single compelling image stuck in her memory.

Something she called, "A pool of crimson."

Oh, you've got the first part right. I did leave the party early,

but that was because I had to show a property up in the Bronx.

Oh, I'm quite sure your appointment book

will indicate that that's true, Mr. Haynes.

But I expect you'll tell us that the party failed to show up.

That you waited for a long time and that nobody saw you.

I also expect that the police will be unable to trace

the party with whom you supposedly had an appointment.

You might as well save us all some time, Haynes.

How?

Paula remembered, but she didn't realize what she remembered.

She confused the pool of crimson with John's blood.

When, in reality, it was something quite different.

I recalled where I had seen the same thing,

your grandson's drawing of the "mean machine."

The pool of crimson was in fact the side of your red truck.

Sergeant.

Mr. Haynes, you have the right to remain silent.

You have the right to an attorney.

How did you know about the warehouse?

Well, when I found out that Jill's father was in commercial real estate,

I asked Captain Meyers to find out if he owned some property near the area

where the hijacking had taken place.

And also, I had him find out whether Mr. Haynes owned a red vehicle.

You know, that warehouse was packed with hijacked merchandise.

Right under Alex's nose, too.

But he had no idea it was all stolen goods.

Who would've thought that about Mr. Haynes?

He seemed like such a nice man.

Paula, is there something you're not telling us?

It's my father. I finally located him.

I'm leaving for Denver tomorrow to meet him.

Oh! He sounds as excited as you are!

And I don't suppose that wild horses could stop you from going?

Not even loose cannons.

Me? No!