Original subtitles

- Things that are dissimilar. - So there's no connection...

When will this air?

You can catch it on the 6:00 and then again on the 11:00.

- Do you love it? - That's show biz.

Have you worked for an erotic hotline before?

It's just not right to invade these people's lives, Lieutenant.

May I remind you that this is a murder investigation,

that we've got a strangler on our hands?

- Mary Beth, I think we got him. - Yay, team.

(SIRENS WAILING)

Hey, come on, man, take it easy, now.

We're just here to serve a scofflaw warrant.

Hold it!

Drop it down.

PETRIE: Children of the night. CAGNEY: Hi.

How do you like working midnight to 8:00?

We don't.

Thought we were gonna get mugged twice already tonight.

I know what you mean.

Two kids found the body about a half hour ago.

What did they teach you in the academy?

Samuels come all the way from Brooklyn for this?

You're not supposed to enter a crime scene.

You're supposed to secure it.

- That's what I want... - Negative.

He was sleeping at the station when we caught this one.

But don't ask me why.

PETRIE: Strangled.

- All right, rush them over to the lab. - I'd say in her early 20s.

All right, we've got a lot of work to do.

I want Cagney and Lacey to start with those two space cadets

who found the body.

- CAGNEY: Opal and Hillary Durrell? - You're detectives, right?

- Which one of you is Opal? - I'm Opal.

I'm not.

We found her.

- It was gross. - Totally.

Are you two in a play?

- No. - No.

- Costume party, right? - For The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

Celebrating my 47th time.

It's a movie.

They run it at midnight on weekends, all the kids dress up, right?

- It's really something. - I'll bet.

Does your mother know you're out this late?

No, she works nights.

- But if she found out... - She'll know for sure

if we don't get the last train back to Larchmont.

Well, I'm afraid you're gonna miss your train

because I've gotta ask you some questions.

- So, you want to come with me? - Okay.

Over here.

All right, give me your mother's number. I'll call her and explain.

All right, it's 5-5-5...

Sometime tonight, okay?

It's 9-1-4? Look out for her.

How long does it take to get a phone number?

I'm sorry, sir.

We can rule out robbery. She had money in her purse

and a good size engagement ring on her finger.

- Is she from this neighborhood? - Negative.

Roseanne Fiello, 24, Bay Ridge, Brooklyn.

Worked for an insurance company in the TimeLife building.

- Lived with her parents. - Anybody notify them?

Took care of that already

and I sent La Guardia to pick up her boyfriend.

- Get Isbecki. - He's off tonight, sir.

Call him, get him in. Forget about going home at 8:00.

We're staying on this until we get something.

Denise Callen, and Patricia Malloy and now Roseanne Fiello.

Are you with me, Isbecki? Am I keeping you awake?

No, those are the homicides I worked on last week.

- Yeah, and? - Denise Callen, Riverdale housewife.

Patricia Malloy, Greenwich Village college student.

- And now you've got Roseanne Fiello. - Brooklyn secretary.

We were gonna get married. Three weeks from tomorrow.

Do you know what she was doing in the city last night?

She said she had some shopping to do.

And then later on I was gonna meet her, you know, have some coffee.

Where were you last evening, Mr. Romano?

I was painting.

Painting what was gonna be our new apartment.

We had a fight about what the color of the bedroom should be, you know.

- When you say fight, what do you... - No, no, no.

I mean, argue, you know.

Argued. We always argued. It never meant nothing.

And the most serious argument we had was about the ring.

- What ring? - The ring, the engagement ring.

I've been laid off for five months.

But Roseanne,

she went and bought it anyway.

She said she was

gonna do some more freelance typing to pay for it.

Can I go?

I should be with her father, you know.

I should help bring her to the funeral home.

Alone, painting?

He had paint under his fingernails, Chris.

Well, we'll check it out.

MARQUETTE: Wait, wait, wait, wait. Please, now. One question at a time. Now.

While there are similarities in the three murders

there are many things that are dissimilar.

So, there's no connection between the victims?

No, there's no evidence at this time

to suggest to us that we should look for a single strangler.

Thanks, Inspector.

When will this air?

You can catch it on the 6:00 and then again on the 11:00.

Over here, guys.

Excellent. That was just excellent.

Authority, sincerity, concern, project all those images.

- Do you love it? - That's show biz.

Lieutenant, this was the third murder.

Are unrelated murders such as this is common?

I'm not sure they are unrelated.

Then are you saying the city does have a strangler on the loose?

That is my opinion, yes.

Then you disagree with Inspector Marquette?

You asked for my opinion and I told you. I think there's a strangler out there.

May I talk to you in the office?

I can't believe he said that.

From the look of things, neither can Inspector Marquette.

The papers are gonna have a field day.

- I can just see the headlines now. - Which one?

"Strangler Stalks City Streets" or "Lieutenant Demoted to Directing Traffic"?

- Bite your tongue. - Well, we all put foot our in it sometime.

- Right? - Wrong.

When you see an experienced cop do something like that,

you know the pressure of the job is getting to him.

Until this case is resolved, you're all off the chart.

You know, Lieutenant, you don't really think

there's a strangler, do you?

I don't need any smart mouth from you, Isbecki.

But, sir, the D.A.'s really hot on that Macy's warehouse...

You'll focus entirely on this investigation. Cagney and Lacey, you're back on days.

- Starting tomorrow? - Starting now.

- Yes, sir. - Petrie, Isbecki.

You have Callen and Malloy. Cagney and Lacey,

- you got the latest victim, Roseanne Fiello. - Yes, sir.

Here's an inventory of her personal effects.

SAMUELS: What did you get from the boyfriend?

He says he was painting, no witnesses. We're gonna talk to the neighbors.

There was this check in her wallet for $120

made out to Mary Ellen Stewart from Pierre's Restaurant.

I talked to Roseanne's parents about Mary Ellen Stewart.

She said that Roseanne worked for her, part time.

The boyfriend said something about freelance typing.

It could be that Mary Ellen Stewart assigned this check to her.

Yeah, well, check it out! Come on, let's get on it. Now.

There's no address on this check. You ever heard of Pierre's Restaurant?

I haven't been out to dinner in a year and a half.

- What time is it? - 8:33.

Do we have to do this today?

Well, think of the overtime.

I'll be with you in one minute.

- Hello. - Hey, Harv.

Hey, babe, where are you?

Hey, Michael, that's enough butter. You're missing waffles.

I'm sorry, honey. We're stuck here with a homicide.

The good news is I'm back on days. So I'll be home for supper.

Now, Mrs. Barbero was gonna drop Harv Jr. at school,

but she wanted to pick him up early.

Well, they left about 10 minutes ago. Hey, when are you going to sleep, huh?

- Samuels breaking chops there? - Yes, very much so.

So I gotta go. For tonight, there's chicken in the freezer.

- I love you. I'll take it out. - Later, love.

Ready.

There isn't any Pierre's Restaurant. I know I've heard of it.

I think I probably ate there.

It's a fancy French place on 53rd off Madison.

Uh-uh.

Pierre's is that little hole in the wall joint off Lexington and 28th.

I just read about it in New York magazine.

It's on Central Park South.

Great. Thanks, guys.

I'll call the bank.

- You want to find a phone or what? - Yeah.

Hey, hey.

Cagney!

Fellow, you wanna watch where you're going?

Sorry about that, but it helps to look where you're going.

- Listen, kid, you know this building? - Yeah, in and out of here all day long.

A&K Messenger Service, we deliver.

You know a Pierre's Restaurant in this building?

Yeah, yeah. That elevator up there, take it to the 12th floor.

When you get out, you hang a left to 1214.

You're looking for a job? I could put in a good word for you.

No, we just want to find the place.

Thank you.

Twelve, please.

- Well, this has got to be the wrong place. - I knew the kid was a flake.

- Excuse me. - Right. Bye-bye.

- Just wait right there, okay? - Yeah.

This is just an answering service.

- Look, I know you wanted to stay... - Yeah.

...with the firm for a long time, but look, there'll be other jobs.

I know you do good work. Yeah.

These things happen.

- How's your daughter's leg? - You are a dirty boy.

Yes, you are. Yeah.

Just relaxing in your bedroom?

Yeah.

What are you wearing?

Yeah.

(LAUGHING)

Are you comfortable?

Oh, yeah?

It sounds nice.

Yeah.

Come on. I know we'd be terrific together.

Ooh!

Sounds like we like the same things.

Satin sheets.

I like that, too.

- What? - I can't believe you.

What is going on here?

These girls are probably just on their coffee break

talking to their husbands and boyfriends, you know.

Don't you talk to Harvey this way?

Yeah.

You'd like to do what? I don't believe it. I don't believe it.

- Chris. You don't want to go over there. - Why not?

She's talking about things that even I never heard of.

Well, I may have.

- Look, kids. - Christine.

I'm really jammed today.

Have you worked for an erotic hotline before?

Thanks.

I don't get it, why do they call it Pierre's Restaurant?

- Credit cards. - So?

You're single, Isbecki.

If you had charged a call to the hotline, you wouldn't have any problem.

However, if you were married and your wife decided to open up your mail...

- She'd kill you. - That's right.

So, what about this Mary Ellen Stewart?

They didn't know her. But they are open round the clock,

so we still have some checking to do.

Pierre's has a couple of branch offices, Affairs by Phone and Sheila's Love Line.

We're looking into those now.

Well, at least you had a shot to make a collar.

What collar? We were all set to call the paddy wagon.

Vice tells us the whole thing is legal.

- Can you believe that? - I don't care.

What I care about are these three homicides, let's take them in order.

Okay. Denise Callen, Riverdale housewife from 4:00 to 6:00,

on the day she was killed, she had a babysitter.

Turns out now she had the same babysitter four times that week.

SAMUELS: So, where'd she go?

Well, she must have given a number for the sitter.

No, she told the sitter she wasn't reachable by phone.

Sounds to me like she's got something on the side.

Everything sounds that way to you, Isbecki.

Find him.

Or her or whoever.

Now, what about the college student, Patricia Malloy?

Well, until last week, she was taking 15 credits

in business administration at NYU.

She lived with a roommate on St. Mark's Place.

The day she was murdered, you traced her movements?

Yes, sir. From 4:00 to 6:00 she didn't show up for her exercise class.

I checked further, she dropped out of that class six months ago.

- Did the roommate know that? - Uh-uh.

Her roommate said she'd show up everyday at 6:15,

talking about how terrific her workout was.

That's okay, that's good. Now we're getting someplace.

(WHISPERING) 4:00 to 6:00, you and him.

SAMUELS: Two-hour block of unaccounted-for time.

Next.

Where's the boyfriend?

Sorrentino's Funeral Home in Brooklyn.

All right, well, you and Cagney take a ride out there.

Question the boyfriend,

see what he knows about Mary Ellen Stewart.

And everybody, let's get back here with some answers

before the strangler takes another one.

I don't want to go out to Brooklyn and bother those people.

I'll handle it.

You two got a problem?

It's just that we feel that going to the funeral home would not be useful.

We already talked to the boyfriend, sir.

You don't want to disturb them at the funeral home, is that it?

Well, that's part of it.

It's just not right to invade these people's lives, Lieutenant.

May I remind you that this is a murder investigation,

that we got a strangler on our hands?

Strangler, okay.

Oh, I see. That's what this is all about.

You don't think that there is a strangler out there.

Lieutenant, we know you're under a lot of pressure right now.

It's got nothing to do with pressure.

I'm doing my job, and you two are not doing yours.

Trail of a homicide investigation gets cold within 48 hours.

Now, if you two haven't got what it takes to question the boyfriend...

- Wait a minute. We've got... - We didn't say that, sir.

Well, I'm saying that. How about that?

Okay. Fine.

You two go to work with Petrie and Isbecki.

I'll question the boyfriend myself.

- Good. - Nice work.

My feet are killing me.

I don't want to type up all this stuff tonight.

There's not that much to type up anyway,

we hit one dead end after another.

Well, I want to give Samuels something.

- I'll tell you what I'd like to give him! - Chris.

Come on.

- Working late, aren't you? - You, too.

Yeah.

Don't you wanna know what happened at the funeral home?

I made a jackass of myself.

Boyfriend and the whole family sick with grief,

and I show up and I bully them.

It's a tough situation to walk into.

After I was through,

they stared at me like I was the scum of the Earth.

When I was a kid,

I saw a friend of my father's get his face bloodied by a detective.

It was over nothing.

That cop was a fat slob

who wasn't fit to be a human being, let alone a detective.

That's me.

That's me when I got my shield.

I promised myself that no matter what, I would never do anything like that.

This thing with Inspector Marquette bothering you, huh?

Well, when I was a Lieutenant he was still a uniformed sergeant in Harlem.

Now he's a Deputy Inspector, and I'm still Lieutenant, yeah.

That's part of it.

Maybe you need a rest. Some peace and quiet.

Yeah, even if you couldn't get away anywheres,

a week or two at home do you a world of good.

What'd I do there?

Things with Thelma aren't so good, either.

Don't worry. I'm not going to pull a number like that Captain from the 16.

- Captain Casanova Reznikov? - Yes.

That's the one, yeah.

Came in one day and said, "I quit."

Left his wife and kids and ran off to Arizona with a manicurist.

I hate the desert.

And I don't know any manicurists.

- Now, go on home. - What about you?

Go on, I'm fine.

- Good night, sir. - Good night.

Good night.

(ALARM BUZZING)

- Morning. - Morning.

Hey.

(PHONE RINGING)

(GROANS)

Hello.

Chris.

- Mary Beth. - Yeah, Chris.

I got a call at home from Isbecki this morning.

Oh, how wonderful for you.

Yeah, he's got something about Roseanne Fiello,

and Samuels wants us all in early.

What'd he get?

I don't know, he said he'd tell me when I got there.

I could kill him.

Okay, all right. I'm on my way.

- Bye-bye. - Bye.

Oh, honey.

They want me in early.

They're gonna have to wait.

SAMUELS: Taubman, this is for you on the Patricia Malloy file.

All right, Cosetti, I want you following this through on the same file.

- What you got here for me? - That's also Malloy.

Lacey, where have you been? I asked for everybody to be here early.

- I'm sorry, sir. - Hope it was worth it.

Oh, yeah. Hold on just a moment.

- It's Marquette's PIO guy, Daniels. - Yeah.

He wants to know what time you'll be available to draw up a press statement

saying that you changed your mind about a strangler.

Tell him to go to hell.

4:00 will be fine. We'll see you then.

I had to tell him something, Bert.

By 4:00 you could be out of the office on an emergency.

Denise Callen's mother-in-law,

she thought Denise was cheating on her son,

hired a private detective.

Petrie finds this guy, we're gonna get somewhere.

Now, Isbecki here has been doing some good work.

You're kidding.

Roseanne Fiello's engagement ring was worth over three grand.

She bought it last month for cash.

That's a hunk of change.

That is why we decided to have her bank statements checked out.

It turns out Roseanne Fiello was depositing Mary Ellen Stewart's checks

from Pierre's Restaurant in her account, every week, once a week for nine months.

Total, that's $9,000.

LA CEY: You know this woman?

- Yeah. - What is her name?

Mary Ellen Stewart.

- You're sure? - Positive.

Her real name was Roseanne Fiello.

Listen, we don't use our real names here.

It's not the kind of thing you want on your résumé.

- I'm beginning to lose patience with you. - Roseanne Fiello was murdered.

God, she was getting married in a few weeks.

I didn't know it was her. I don't ask the girls their real names.

- You can understand. - Yeah. Sure.

What else don't you know about her?

- You got a file on her or something? - Yeah.

Well, get it. All right, ladies, gather around.

14th Squad, Detective Petrie.

- Petrie. - Yeah, Cagney.

We're down here at the hotline place.

Mary Ellen Stewart and Roseanne Fiello are one and the same person.

- We got another one. - What do you mean, another one?

Well, I found the detective who was investigating Denise Callen,

she worked for Affairs by Phone.

- So, that's two of them? - Three of them.

Isbecki made an appearance at Patricia Malloy's exercise class.

Patricia Malloy told one of her friends there why she was leaving.

She got a job that paid big bucks talking to pathetic guys on the telephone.

Tell Samuels we'll be back there as soon as we can.

Hang on a minute.

All three victims worked for these hotlines.

Then Samuels hit it right.

- We're looking for a strangler. - Yeah.

- REPORTER 1: Inspector... - REPORTER 2: One question...

Inspector Marquette, the strangler, what sort of person are you looking for?

We're looking for an individual with deeply rooted sexual problems,

a very disturbed person.

Did your opposing views in this case early on create any friction?

No. No. Lieutenant Samuels was right in his assessment,

but what we're concerned about here

is apprehending the strangler, not who's right or wrong.

Lieutenant Samuels, do you have any suspects at this time?

- No, we don't. - But we will have soon.

You're right about one thing, Isbecki. The Lieutenant did call the shot.

- So, there's no connection between... - Instinct.

Samuels has got it. All the really great detectives have it.

I got it.

I'm sorry, gentlemen, that's all for today.

- Thank you. - You're very welcome.

Lieutenant, come with me, please.

What's the matter?

In the middle of all this I'm thinking about Roseanne Fiello.

She had a choice, Mary Beth.

She paid a very high price.

Detectives Cagney and Lacey, right?

I know you're both very actively involved in this investigation.

I'd like to ask you a favor.

If something should break, I'd appreciate if you call me first.

Mr...

Daniels, Peter.

Mr. Daniels.

You see that man in there? That man is our Lieutenant.

See, something happens, we contact him in the chain of command.

I know, but that chain may be broken soon.

I beg your pardon?

Frankly, Lieutenant Samuels is very close to becoming a memory in this department.

If Inspector Marquette sees a chance he's gonna bounce him out of here.

Now, you two are in a position to do yourselves some good.

Thank you.

Think about it.

Cute, isn't he?

All right, the circus is over, we get back to work.

Vice detectives have confirmed that all these hotlines are connected

and under the control of one Allen Brown.

Lacey, I want you to see this man.

- What we want to get is his client list. - Right, sir.

Chances are that one of his customers

may be the strangler weirdo we're looking for.

Cagney, I want you to talk to the women who work for his hotline.

See if they can recall any customers that are especially weird.

Will do.

- It's all arranged. - Thank you.

All right, Petrie and Isbecki, you got an appointment 15 minutes from now

with the department psychologist, Schulman.

I want you to get more on the profile

so that we can find out exactly what kind of a wacko we're looking for.

Anybody got anything to add?

- No. - All right. Let's get on it.

- What're we gonna do here, Chris? - About what?

About Samuels. I think we ought to tell him.

Look at him, Mary Beth.

Another crisis is not what he needs right now.

His marriage is in trouble, enough's gone down

where he knows he's not on Marquette's top-ten favorite list.

Detective Lacey. If you don't want espresso, I can make some cappuccino.

- No, thanks. - Listen.

I wanna stress that I do nothing illegal.

I pay my taxes. I even pay my parking tickets.

But there's a lot of lonely guys out there need somebody to talk to.

What I want is a list of your clients in the New York area.

You and everybody else. Magazines want it,

lonely hearts organizations, swingers clubs.

A Save the Seals organization wants our mailing list.

But I keep my clients' names strictly confidential.

You know, Mr. Brown, if we were to look closely into your hotline services

we might find that these phone calls lead to prostitution, which is illegal.

Detective Lacey, you look like a smart woman, use your head.

For a phone conversation averaging four minutes, customers pay $38.50

and they charge it to their credit cards.

And when they get the bill it doesn't say "erotic hotline."

It says Pierre's Restaurant, Northeast Marketing,

Galaxy Communication Incorporated.

My point is this operation is active in 26 states.

Last year we averaged almost two million dollars.

I got to get involved in prostitution, which is illegal? What for?

If what you do is so innocent, why are three women dead?

Uh, uh, uh, uh.

I have no knowledge of what happened to them.

I'm dealing with a murder investigation here,

not some legal loophole that you make money from.

Now, it would take time, but I could get the court to subpoena your client list.

Maybe, and maybe not.

Mr. Brown, if you make me go to court

I will make sure that you are harassed

to the point you'll regret the day you were born.

CAGNEY: Let me ask you this.

Your customers, or your men that you talk to,

do you have any weird ones?

How do you define weird?

I mean, what you think is weird someone else might think is perfectly normal.

You've no right to judge us.

No, honestly, I'm not. I am not. It's part of my job. I just need to know.

We have steady customers we talk to five, six times a week.

We're like friends to some of these guys.

We talk about a lot of things besides sex.

- Like what? - Family, their problems, whatever.

It's cheaper.

It's maybe better than going to an analyst.

Oh, boy. Thanks.

Hey, baby. Did you get that job?

I'm not your baby. And no, I didn't get the job. Excuse me.

I understand. You just don't want people to know. Right? That's cool.

Understand this. I'm the heat.

It's my best, I swear. Here, taste it.

Okay. Wait a minute. Wait a minute.

Oh, my...

- That's good. - It is good.

- Perfect. - Thank you.

Oh, it's perfect.

- That should be against the law. - Salud.

Sweetheart.

We got two things of this in the freezer already.

Michael's birthday party, vintage stuff.

You know, we should label this like wine bottles.

So if we already got them then why all this?

It's your idea.

- It was? - Yeah, don't you remember?

You cut out the coupons,

butcher had a sale on chopped meat and pork shoulders.

Me and the kids, we went over there, made a big score.

Oh, yeah.

I forgot all about it.

Samuels still putting you and Chris through the hoops

with this strangler business, huh?

Yeah.

But it's a bad time for him, you know, it's not just work, either.

I think that things between him and Thelma don't sound so good.

You know every marriage has its ups and downs.

- I don't know. It bothers me. - What bothers you, babe?

- What? - He looks so tired.

And old.

I mean, it's bad enough you turn around, the kids are growing up...

Hey, come on, Mary Beth, huh?

Come on, nothing like that is gonna happen to us.

There's too much at stake.

We're sitting on a fortune in spaghetti sauce here.

- You got sauce on your chin. - Here.

- It's about time you got here. - You don't take the subway.

Your list from Brown did it.

The computer guy's been up all night working with it.

Since when do they work so fast?

Since Samuels did a tap-dance on their desk.

They matched the customers who had any contact with any of the victims.

Well, it sounds like the computer had a busy night.

The computer came up with the one guy who talked to all three victims a lot.

- Mary Beth, I think we got him. - Yay, team.

Samuels told me to give this to you.

It's more on that psychological profile.

Passive, unresolved anger towards mother.

Why is it always the mother?

No tolerance for anxiety or rejection.

Hey, listen, I was thinking, why don't I go and collar the guy?

I mean, the shrink gave me the psychological profile.

So?

So I know what to expect, I know how to handle him.

What are we, mentally incompetent? We can read.

You sure this is the right place? Maybe we got the wrong Wyler.

- Mr. Colton Wyler? - Who shall I say is here to see him?

Detectives Cagney and Lacey, NYPD.

Why don't you just take us down to his office?

Of course.

Would you ask him to step outside, please?

WYLER: Yes.

Mr. Wyler, could you come out for a moment, please?

Yeah, Marcy?

- Mr. Colton Wyler? - Yes.

Do you live at 466 West End Avenue?

Yes, that's right. But, Marcy...

I'm Detective Lacey. This is Detective Cagney.

- Can we speak to you in private? - Well, sure.

- Come on in. - Thank you.

Mr. Wyler, do you know these women?

No. I've never seen them before.

Well, according the hotline Sheila's Love Line, and Affairs by Phone,

you talked to them all the time.

That's not true.

Mr. Wyler, we have your credit card receipts.

That was private.

You have no right to be here.

We have every right. Mr. Wyler, these three women were murdered.

Oh, no.

- And you think I killed them? - Did you, Mr. Wyler?

SAMUELS: Between the ages of 16 and 21

did you ever take anything of value that didn't belong to you?

No.

Are we both in New York city at this time?

Yeah.

Yes.

Did you ever meet any of the victims...

I got to hand it to Samuels, in spite of all his problems, he's really cooking.

Look at him.

Are you afraid I will make a mistake on this test?

Yes.

Did you commit the murder of Patricia Malloy or Denise Callen?

I've been thinking about that creep Daniels, Chris.

We gotta tell Samuels.

- ...commit the murder of Roseanne Fiello... - What do you think about Wyler?

No.

I think we're turning the man into a basket case.

No.

Did you ever meet any of the victims of this homicide investigation?

No.

No good, Mr. Wyler.

And I want you to see it for yourself.

Let's start with the question

where I asked you if you ever met any of the victims.

You see how the needle jumped?

- Why? - I wasn't lying.

I never met any of them.

Someone once offered to arrange a meeting, but that wasn't my thing.

- Who? - I don't know his name.

He's an office messenger.

I refused.

(PHONE RINGING)

Samuels. Yeah.

Right.

- Lieutenant, can we talk to you, sir? - No, not now.

That was La Guardia on the phone.

They just found another hotline employee strangled,

- killed within the past couple of hours. - Oh, Lord.

- Well, then it couldn't have been Wyler. - That's right.

I want you two to get over to the hotline offices.

Latest victim's name is Debra Alfano.

See what you can find out about her

and see what you can find out about this messenger he mentioned.

This is wrong, Christine.

I can't stand it. We gotta warn him.

You heard what he said. He doesn't want to listen.

Well, we make him listen.

Good. So you go talk to him.

I'll tell you, he likes you a lot better than he likes me, pal.

He does not. Where did you get an idea like that?

He tells you he likes your instincts, he tells me he likes my scarf.

Your scarf?

Yeah, you know, the one with the little blue and green owls on it.

- Of course, I haven't worn it in a while. - Chris.

So, go tell him. I'll keep the motor running.

- What're you doing back here? - I gotta talk to you, sir.

- This is not the time. - No, sir. I'm sorry, it can't wait.

The Inspector's Public Information aide, Mr. Daniels,

the other day he asked Cagney and myself

if we would let him know immediately if anything happened with the case,

which we refused.

Then he told us that the Inspector is looking for an excuse to get rid of you.

Doesn't surprise me.

He would've pulled me already except it might make him look bad.

You haven't been around here long enough, Lacey, to see this kind of a thing.

I have.

And what it's about is humiliation.

And it's not gonna stop here.

You can't let that happen, sir.

I'm thinking of pulling the plug myself.

I got my 20 years in, what do I need with this for?

If I can help, sir, I'd like to.

Well, then, find the strangler. That's all I got going.

Yes, sir.

- Lacey. - Sir?

You know, you played this all wrong.

It would've been easy for you to play ball with him

and find yourself a nice, cushy situation someplace.

Yeah.

Well, like you said, Lieutenant, I haven't been around here long enough.

- What's going on? - They're going through Debra's things.

What's going on, Mr. Brown, is that you lied to me.

- When? - We just finished questioning

one of your clients.

He claims that he received an invitation to meet with one of the victims.

If I knew about it I would've fired her on the spot.

He said the offer came from a messenger.

We don't have a messenger, do we?

No. We use A&K's service.

But it's pretty much the same guy all the time.

Manny.

The guy in the building.

- What? With roller skates? - That's him.

Would he have access to the names and addresses of your employees?

He collects credit card receipts from all the offices

and he delivers checks to the girls who work at home.

CAGNEY: So he has access to all of it, doesn't he?

Yeah.

Where is A&K Messenger Service?

This schedule shows him in at 4:00. Does he ever come in any earlier?

Two and a half, take care of this one right now.

Yeah.

You got to be kidding me. If he shows up at 4:00 it's a miracle.

All right. Thanks, La Guardia.

So?

The address Manfred Williams gave you, 123rd Street, doesn't exist.

The phone number's out of service, there's no listing for a Manfred Williams.

What do you expect from a guy who comes to work on roller skates?

Does he keep any personal effects here?

- Yeah. Back there. - All right.

Does that belong to him?

Mandarin orange? Yeah, that's his. He's the only one that drinks that junk.

You don't mind if I take it, do you?

We're gonna be sending someone over here to wait for him.

We'd appreciate if you didn't say anything.

I don't know nothing.

Chris.

- Thank you very much. - Take care.

- Stan. - Hey, Bert, how you doing?

What brings you to the big building?

Can you help me out, Stan? I need some lifts done right away.

You think you can cut somebody loose?

Gee, you caught me at a bad time. I got six priorities from Major Case Squad.

Tell you what. Can you get Marquette's office to phone in a requisition?

- Can't do that. - See, that way I'm covered.

My back's to the wall, Stan. I'm in the jackpot here.

- Marquette out to whack you on this? - Something like that.

Well, let me see what I can do.

You go back to your office, and I'll give you a call as soon as I get something.

Thanks.

Taubman on three.

Yeah?

What time was that?

Well, stay there in case he shows. All right.

Manny called. He said he was going straight to his runs at the hotline.

Yeah, put him on. Yeah, Samuels.

Well, you were lucky. We lifted a full five prints.

- Get an ID? - Oh, yeah.

Marvin Woodhouse. Attica graduate on a manslaughter conviction,

outstanding warrant for a felony assault in Albany.

I heard enough. Thanks, Stan. I owe you one.

I'm on it.

When we get to the messenger service let's grab him.

He's skipping the messenger service. He's going straight to the hotline.

- Hello? - Is Grace Lipton there?

This is Detective Lacey.

Just a minute.

Grace, it's Detective Lacey on 3-5.

Oh, swell.

Hello, Detective Lacey.

Oh, jeez, what am I doing here?

This woman is not gonna give me the right time of day.

Do it for me, Chris, huh? On four.

- Please. - If you weren't so emotional...

Yeah, Miss Lipton, this is Detective Cagney.

Has the messenger been in yet?

Joy, did Manny make his pickup yet?

He just left.

- He just left. - Do you know where he's going?

He's delivering checks to the girls at home.

Could you give me those names and addresses, please?

What would you do without me?

Isbecki, give this to Central. Have them put out an alarm

for Marvin Woodhouse. Armed and dangerous.

Sir, we got the messenger's delivery list. We're calling them right now.

Rita Carlisle, please.

Miss Carlisle, this is Detective Cagney, New York Police Department.

Miss Angela Lombardi?

A messenger is on his way to your apartment with a paycheck...

This is Detective Lacey, NYPD.

- Do not let him in... - ...on the way to your apartment.

- It's a messenger. Do not let him in. - We'll have a uniformed...

We'll have a uniform there as soon as possible.

All right.

(BUZZER SOUNDING)

- Who is it? - It's me, Manny.

- Come on in, Manny. - Hi.

Talking pay day.

Damn!

It's your own fault, you know. Every call you make they charge $38.50.

- You make what, $10? - $9.

You're a bigger fool than I thought. Why don't you come and work for me?

I'll get you all the calls you want and then some.

And I'll split 50-50 with you.

I'll take good care of you. Not like those other chumps.

(PHONE RINGS)

Hello?

Hi, Michael. Yeah, we're on for dinner tonight.

Yeah, spaghetti.

Right. Well, I can't wait.

Great.

Me, too. Could you hold on one second, please?

What about my offer?

I don't think so, Manny. You can let yourself out, can't you?

Michael.

Hi. Yeah.

No.

I told you I...

- You finished? - Except for Paula Mardyk. She's busy.

Operator, this is a police emergency.

I am Detective Lacey, shield number 340.

Now, I want you to cut in on 555-8135, and I'll follow with a 49 Form.

Why? Is that it?

Don't tease me, come on.

Now, do you want to or not?

You and me, let's talk business.

Thank you, Operator.

Well, it's either a problem on the line or it's out of order.

Why don't you two get over there?

I'll alert uniform and have some radio cars meet you.

Yes, sir.

You can't tease people like this.

You don't... You don't tease...

- CAGNEY: Open up! Open up! - No!

Open up!

No.

No!

Police! Open up!

Don't come in here! I'll kill her!

Hey, come on, man, take it easy, now.

We're just here to serve a scofflaw warrant.

It's not such a big deal.

Open up! Come on. Let's talk.

Stay back! I'm gonna kill her!

We'll go around.

Open up. Is Paula in there with you?

Come any closer... Stay out of here or I'm gonna cut her!

Oh, come on. Can you get that down?

Come on.

You come in here, I'm gonna cut her! I'm gonna cut her!

Stay back! Stay back!

You don't... Don't you come in here. I'm telling you I'll kill her!

I'll kill her!

Get away! Now!

Stay back!

Hold it!

Don't give me an excuse, man!

Drop it down.

Throw it down!

Drop it down.

- They're waiting for you, sir. - Let them wait.

Well, the Inspector seemed cordial enough. Come on.

If he could bury me he would.

This will keep Marquette off my back, but just for a while.

What're you talking about? This was an important collar.

I was hoping that it would help me make up for some wasted years

but it didn't.

You're a good cop, Lieutenant.

Yeah.

Why don't you tell that to my wife?

She wants me to be with her in group therapy.

Cute, isn't he, huh?