All language subtitles for Magnum, P.I. 7 (1987) 14 - Murder by Night

How's this, boss?

Great.

You don't think it should
go below the plaque?

Oh, here, precious.

You got it crooked.

Gee, boss. This is the big
break we've been waiting for.

With all this press
and Maxfield behind you,

why, you're going to have more
clients than you know what to do with.

I would have loved to have seen
the look on Inspector Wolf's face

when they handed him
the paper this morning.

I bet he choked
on his coffee.

We'll probably need a bigger
office in a nicer neighborhood.

It's not the first time I've snatched a
case right out from underneath his nose.

I'll get it. Probably
won't be the last, either.

Still, it's Wolf's town. He's not
going to let you make a fool of him

without trying to find
a way to get back.

Thomas Magnum,
Private Investigator.

Yes.

Yes. Who?

Just a minute, please.

It's Alicia Maxfield. She
says she has to talk to you.

Yeah? What could this be?

Hello? This
is Magnum.

Uh-huh.

No kidding.
Who else knows?

That's good. No, you're doing
fine so far. I'll be right there.

William Tyler Maxfield's
been murdered.

No!

The cops aren't
in on it yet.

Listen, you'd better stick
by the phone. I may need you.

Thomas.

Be careful.

William Tyler Maxfield.

There wasn't a newsboy or office girl
in America who didn't know that name

and the papers he put out
under the Maxfield banner.

The Daily Sentinel in New
York. The Evening Star in LA.

The Gazette
in San Francisco.

And probably a dozen more
between St. Louis and Denver.

He'd made a lot of enemies
in his climb to the top.

Finding someone with a motive
for murder would be easy.

Narrowing it down to one
suspect was something else again.

Mr. Magnum,
please come in.

I'm afraid there's been a
rather unfortunate accident.

Yeah, I know. Mrs. Maxfield called me.

Looks like the police
beat me here after all.

Well, well, well.
Look what the cat dragged in.

Inspector.

Yeah, I should have
known you'd show up.

You're just naturally attracted to
trouble like rotting meat attracts flies.

That's very descriptive.

Too bad you're not as good an
investigator as you are a talker.

But then I guess having unsolved murder
cases lying around doesn't bother you.

Why, I ought to take you to the back
room of the station just for the exercise.

Easy, Inspector.

You can't go around arresting
innocent people in this country

just because you don't like the
way they look. Not just yet, anyway.

Who said anything
about arresting you?

If you two are
going to fight,

I wish you'd wait
until you've left the house.

It seems so sordid,
given the circumstances.

Sorry, Mrs. Maxfield.
I let my personal feelings

get the better of
my professional conduct.

Careful, Wolf, you
don't have much to spare.

What's the matter, afraid
you won't be able to grab

any of the headlines on
this one, sport?

I'm not looking for headlines. I'm
looking for the man who killed Maxfield.

Maxfield wasn't murdered.
He killed himself.

Jumped off his balcony
into the ocean.

Accident, suicide, body
washed up onshore this morning.

Is that so?

Well, then, I guess I'll just pay the
family my condolences and be on my way.

Well, I'll be watching you, Magnum.
I'll be waiting for you to screw up.

When you do, and you will, I'll be there.

Let's go, boys.

I'm sorry.
Christine called him.

That girl's done
the opposite of everything

I've asked her to do since
the day I married her father.

I was trying to keep everything
quiet until we had a chance to...

Thank you for coming.

According to Wolf, there's no
point in my staying.

Did William Tyler Maxfield seem like the
kind of man who would kill himself to you?

I can't say as he did.

I'll show you the room
where he was last seen alive.

You're not going to tell
me what to do.

I'm free of him at last.

And nobody else is going to
run my life for me ever again.

Don't be a fool, Christine.

Sorry to interrupt
this charming conversation.

What are you doing here?
Mrs. Maxfield called me.

She seems to think there's more to
her husband's death than suicide.

Stop it. Stop it.

Well, he's mistaken.

The police have already been
here. They filed a report.

You wanna tell me
how you see it?

Go ahead, Sam. You always
seem to have all the answers.

I don't see how
it's any of your business.

Oh, you know that,
and I know that,

but I don't think the newspapers
are gonna see it that way.

You being Maxfield's
attorney and all.

Wonder if they might think
you've got something to hide,

closing the casket on Maxfield
so quickly, no questions asked.

Now look here,
you two-bit gumshoe,

if you're looking for a buyout,
you've come to the wrong guy.

I'm not looking to shake
anybody down.

I'm telling you something
about this business stinks.

As far as I can tell, this country
was built on justice for all,

and no matter what
kind of man he was,

I intend to see that Maxfield
gets his fair share of that.

Maxfield loved to print
that kind of fair-play line.

He found it amusing.

He found you amusing,
I don't.

We won't be needing your services
around here anymore, Mr. Magnum.

I'll make a
deal with you.

You tell me where you were last
night, and I won't call the press.

I brought Father his tea
around 7:00.

I always bring him tea
before he goes to bed.

We talked briefly,
not about much.

I think we almost communicated
better with our silences.

You know the special bond
a father and daughter have.

I can't say that I do.

Maybe someday you will.

Anyway, we talked about the dog
show coming up next month in Austria.

He was always so proud of
the trophies we brought home.

He said he wanted to read
the paper and then go to bed,

so I kissed him good night and that's
the last time I saw him until...

I came up
about 9:00.

I'd drawn his bath.

But he had drifted
off to sleep in his chair.

I guess the scintillating
conversation had worn him out.

Whatever the case,
I didn't want to disturb him.

Then you were the last
person in this room?

No. I came up about midnight.
I couldn't sleep.

I thought, perhaps, I could
interest W.T. In a nightcap.

He was gone and I noticed the
doors to the balcony were open.

I closed them.

The dogs discovered his body
on the beach this morning.

He didn't need his bath.

He knew he was going to wash
up onshore in the morning.

For God's sake, Christine,
get ahold of yourself.

The Reverend Bentley,
to pay his respects.

I hope I'm not intruding.

Myron.

Oh, Myron,
it was so awful.

I came just as soon
as I heard.

If there's anything
that I can do...

Can you think of any reason why
Maxfield would want to kill himself?

Any recent
business reverses?

No.

An illness that was going
to rob him of his health?

I thought he was going
to outlive us all.

He had recently complained
of a touch of indigestion.

That's hardly the kind of illness that
would make a man contemplate suicide.

Was there anybody else
in this house last night?

No.

Well, that leaves us with only
one way to look at this thing.

Someone in this room murdered
William Tyler Maxfield.

Murder? I don't understand.
I thought that...

Don't be ridiculous. I've
listened to all I'm going to.

Christine, go pack your bags.
We're leaving tonight for Boston.

I'm not going back.

You have no choice
in the matter.

You can't let him talk
to me like this. Tell him.

Tell him what?

No more questions, Mr. Magnum. Tell him what?

That Myron and I were
secretly married last week.

You married Christine?

So that's it, is it?

No, it's not.
Now look here...

No, you look here, you
sniveling little opportunist.

When you saw Christine,
you saw dollars.

Well, she's my ward now
and I'm going to do exactly

what her father
was going to do.

I'm going to annul
the marriage.

You can't talk
to me like that.

Even in this
decadent part of the world

there are laws protecting
underage females.

Don't think I won't see
you rot in jail

before I let you get your
grimy hands on her money.

Her money. You act
like it's your money.

Get out.

Well, are you just going to stand
there and let him talk to you like this?

Get out!

You haven't heard
the last from me.

Oh, I think we have.

How could you do this to me?

Go to your quarters
and pack your things.

You seem to have everything
under control, Caldwell.

Alicia, if you'll excuse us for a
moment, I need to talk to Mr. Magnum.

What about me?
What about you?

I don't want to go to Boston.

It's immaterial to me what
you do, one way or the other.

Aren't you being a little hasty about
leaving? If William was murdered...

It was
an accident, Alicia.

The sooner you come to
terms with that, the better.

I suggest you start
making some plans

for after the reading
of the will.

Stop by my room
before you leave.

I need to speak to you.

So what have we got here?

A daughter who wants
to get married

and a controlling, domineering
father who won't allow it.

I'm not interested
in discussing Christine.

So the daughter plots to
get rid of the one impediment

to her imagined wedded bliss, her father.

I believe in a day's wage for a day's work.

You've put in several hours, however
fruitless your investigation has been.

Oh, I wouldn't say
it's been fruitless.

Will this cover
your expenses?

There's $1,000 here.

That's not enough?

You know it is.
Good.

Then that should conclude our
business dealings with each other.

It's enough to make
me forget about Christine

and consider what
your motives for murder are.

The butler will show you out.
I've got some packing to do.

Thomas Magnum,
Private Investigator.

Hello, precious.

Oh, Thomas. I was starting
to get worried about you.

I heard a report
on the radio.

They're calling Maxfield's
death a suicide.

Oh, don't believe everything
you hear, precious.

I need you to find
something out for me.

Go down to Maxfield's office
at the Gazette, ask around,

see what you can
get on Sam Caldwell.

I got a hunch
he's got money problems

that disappeared with
Maxfield out of the picture.

Sam Caldwell?

Yeah, that's the one.

Oh, and see what you can dig up
on a Bible-thumper named Bentley.

I'll get on it right away.

That's my girl.

Mr. Caldwell said you
needed some assistance.

No, I'm fine.

I'll find my
way out. Thanks.

Mr. Magnum, sometimes it's best
not to look into things too closely.

It spoils
the illusion of perfection.

I'll keep that in mind.

Oh, Thomas. I'm so frightened.

Everything's
happening so fast.

I was afraid you wouldn't come.
That I'd never see you again.

Careful, angel.
The walls have ears.

Oh, what am I going to do?

You're going to go to Boston with Caldwell
and play the part of the bereaved widow.

How can I? After what's happened between us?

The very wealthy,
bereaved widow.

You'll think badly of
me when I'm gone.

I'll try not to think
of you at all.

I'm not a bad person,
Thomas. Of course you're not.

I loved William.
So you said.

I did. Even though he
abandoned me romantically,

I devoted my life to him.

Not like that spoiled
little brat he doted on.

Ah, Christine. I thought
that name would come up.

You don't know how
she broke his heart.

She couldn't stand the thought that maybe
her father had found happiness with me.

I know we're much too close in age for
her to ever think of me as a mother, but...

I had hoped, for his sake,
that we could be friends.

That's very good. How long have you been
practicing this pretty little speech?

Thomas...

Did you get a chance to try it
out on Maxfield before he died?

Oh, don't be cruel to me.
Not now.

Oh.

I'm sorry, angel. You
just took me by surprise.

So let me get
this straight.

You think Maxfield died
of a broken heart

brought on by the thoughtless
actions of his pampered daughter.

No. I think she's
the one who murdered him.

Christine? She couldn't find her
way to the powder room without help.

Don't you see?
It's all so clear.

William was going to have
her marriage annulled.

She's willful,

used to getting
what she wants.

And what about you, Alicia?
What do you want?

I want William's murderer
put behind bars, that's all.

You are good.

You won't let Caldwell
scare you off the case?

Oh, I couldn't do that. I have
my reputation to think about.

Thomas.

When William first
hired you, I thought

perhaps you and I
would have a brief interlude.

And when it was over, I'd be
left with William and my memories.

But now I'm not sure
what's going to happen to me.

You'll land on your feet,
Alicia. Your type always does.

I knew Maxfield had
been murdered all right.

There was no doubt
in my mind about that.

The only problem was
finding the killer

before Caldwell disappeared
with all the evidence.

I decided I'd better get help.

Go away.

Hard at work, I see.

Oh, it's you, Magnum.
Come in, come in, come in.

I thought you closed shop
at 5:00 sharp every day.

No, they got me here late
working on the Maxfield case.

You know how the Chief is.

What does he care that I
promised my girlfriend, Sheila,

that I would take her to the
double feature at the Bijou tonight?

Suspicion and
Death Takes a Holiday.

I happened to drive by
there on my way over here.

Something tells me that you didn't
come all this way to discuss the movies.

What do you make of
Maxfield? You think he jumped?

It's hard to say. He got beat up
pretty bad when he fell on the rocks.

It could've been suicide.

But not for sure.

Nothing is for sure until I
see it with these two eyes.

You have a theory?

A little one.

Not enough to make
a case out of it yet.

Suppose Maxfield took a beating
before he went in the drink?

It's possible.

He sustained injuries around
his head and shoulders.

Have to be a pretty big
man to overpower him though.

Not if he was sedated.

How long before you'll know the
contents of Maxfield's last supper?

Tomorrow morning if I go to
this double feature tonight.

Funny, I just happen to have a couple
of extra tickets to tomorrow's matinee.

In that case, one hour.

You know where to call me.

He jumped right on it.

Well, I was about ready
to give up and go home.

I had a couple
of stops to make.

How'd you make out?

Not so good, I'm afraid.

All the girls are
talking, all right,

but not about
the right people.

Caldwell's clean. Well,
at least it looks that way.

But then he's too smart to
leave the obvious clues around.

I was afraid of that.

Hello! What's this?

I'm not quite sure. It was
delivered this afternoon.

I did get something
on the girl, though.

Alicia?

Christine.

Seems like she had a terrible row with her
father in his office downtown last week,

and ran out in tears

and one of the
secretaries swears

she heard Christine threaten to kill her
father if she didn't get what she wanted.

Why, Tiffy,
you're a detective.

Does that help you out?

You don't know how much. I
think we just hit the jackpot.

Somebody sent us the goods on
Myron Bentley, Christine's playmate.

Appears he's had
quite some past.

He's left six wives with less
money than when he married 'em.

Here's an arrest record.
Boston, Atlanta, Denver.

No wonder he's bringing
salvation to the West Coast.

Arrests for what?

Petty larceny, breach
of promise, bad checks...

What do I do?

Show him in, Tiffy,
dear. Show him in.

Only, file this where he won't
think of looking for it, will you?

Mr. Magnum.

Come in, Reverend Bentley. Sit
down. What can I do for you?

I think it's more a matter
of what I can do for you.

Is that so? I'm all ears.

I have certain information that I would
be willing to trade or exchange for,

shall I say,
a document.

A document?
Yes.

A collection of papers
that Mr. Maxfield assured me

would be in my possession
by early this evening.

And of course, given
today's turn of events...

Yes. Yes, I see your problem.
But what did you come to me for?

You don't have them?

Why should
I have them?

But I was led to
believe that...

Yes, Tiffy?

No, that's fine.
You can go home.

Oh, and lock up behind you,
will you, precious?

I'm going to have to ask you to put
your hands behind your head, Mr. Magnum.

Why, you...

Please. Do as I say.

Stand up.

Step out into
the middle of the room.

I'm going to have to search
your office, Mr. Magnum.

Look what you did to my tunic!

I get nervous when people
start pointing guns at me.

I'm not leaving here until I get what
I came for. Those papers belong to me.

The hell they do. Maxfield
collected a file on you. A good one.

Good enough to convince you
to stay away from his daughter

once he'd had the marriage
annulled. And for good measure,

he threw in a check
for $5,000.

You looked in my wallet?

You were ready to take a
powder, but once Maxfield died,

you decided to go back for the
goods. How am I doing so far?

He had no right
to keep those papers.

Who told you I had 'em?

No one.

All right, have it your way.

What are you going to do?

I'm calling the police. I'm telling
them you went back to see Maxfield.

You fought with him
over the papers,

and in the struggle you
pushed him over the balcony.

That's not how it happened
at all. I did go back there.

He promised me $5,000 and the papers.

He lied. But I didn't
kill him. Someone else did.

He came in while I was there and
hit him over the head with a trophy.

Who?

I don't know.
You got to believe me.

All right. Get out of here.

Stay away from
the Maxfield girl,

unless you want the police
looking into your business.

Can I have my gun?

Put your hands
behind your head.

Step out into
the middle of the room.

I intend to search
your office.

Okay, I won't stop you.

Alicia.

Oh, Mr. Magnum.

I...

I thought you were...

You thought I was who?

I thought you were
Mr. Caldwell, actually.

We've been waiting
dinner on him.

Where's Mrs. Maxfield?

She's in the study.

It's too late, Alicia,
you've lost. Don't be so sure.

The will says the entire estate goes to me.

Not until you're 25.
Or married.

The money's mine.
Not yet, it isn't.

Thomas.

Sam can annul
the marriage all he wants.

I'll just marry Myron
again, and again, and again.

I'm afraid you won't
be able to do that.

What, are you going to
stop me? I won't have to.

Bentley's dead.

No.

What? How?

If I hadn't been there myself, I'd almost
believe you had nothing to do with it.

You.

What are you talking about? You killed him.

I didn't.
Why would I?

From what I just heard, to keep
Christine from getting her inheritance.

Sit down.

Mind your manners.

All right, Alicia.
Start talking.

You got me into this mess and now
I've got a dead man in my office

and a cop who'd like nothing better
than to put me into San Quentin for it.

Why'd you kill him?
Thomas, I swear to you...

I saw your car drive away.

But I've been here all night.
Then who was driving your car?

I was.

I had to go to
the newspaper office

to get Maxfield's will
out of his safe.

Oh, Sam. Myron is dead.

Then the world is
a slightly better place.

The will?

There are no changes.

I suppose you have
witnesses to testify you were

at the newspaper at the time
Bentley was shot to death.

At least a dozen.

I'll give you exactly three
minutes to get out of here

before I have you
arrested for trespassing.

You've overplayed your
hand, this time, Caldwell.

I'm not playing, Mr. Magnum.

You think you can plot and
scheme and control people's lives.

Well, I'm not going
to let you get away with it.

Two minutes and 40 seconds. I'll be back!

Mr. Magnum...

Could you meet me
in my quarters?

I'm staying
in the guest house.

Christine. Don't you want to
hear the reading of the will?

Please.

I knew I had to
search Christine's room fast

before she tumbled
to my little game.

Easy, boys. Easy.

Okay, now.

Let's not do
anything foolish.

Oh, my God!

Isis, Osiris. Heel.

You must think I'm very bold
asking you to meet me here.

What difference does
it make what I think?

I think it makes all the
difference in the world.

Will you have a drink?

I don't trust a man
who won't have a drink.

I feel like

every bleak moment of my
existence on this earth so far

has led inexorably into the
horrifying events of the past 24 hours.

Have you ever known what it's like to
be a virtual prisoner of your own life?

I'm afraid I never
get that philosophical.

Well, perhaps if you'd
been raised by a father

whose sole aim was to
control and dominate you.

I've been bullied, threatened and
abused since the day I was born.

You know, I thought for a
fleeting moment when Father died,

that perhaps I was about
to be granted my freedom.

But I was only
to change jailers.

Caldwell.

He handles my estate
until I'm 25. Or married.

He controls
all the money. Everything.

So I'm no better off than
some prisoner on death row.

Well, I'd say

you got a nicer
cell than most.

Mr. Magnum, do you think that you could
ever find somebody like me attractive?

In the right circumstance.

I need somebody strong. I need
somebody to take care of me.

I mean, I thought Myron was that
man. But he's no match for Sam.

Oh, I'm not sure who is.

You are. You can stand up
to him. I saw that tonight.

Have you ever considered what it
would be like to be a very wealthy man?

I could make all
your dreams come true.

I'll bet you're good at that.

Let's do it tonight.

Slow down.

No, no, no. See, I know somebody
who can handle all of the paperwork.

Paperwork?

Yes, and by morning
we'll be man and wife.

And then Sam will be
out in the cold.

You'd like to see Sam get what's
coming to him, wouldn't you?

Wouldn't you?

Sure. Sure. I'd like
to see him get that.

Well, then
tell me you'll help me.

I'll help you, angel.

What are you doing
here, princess?

Wolf called me at home,
looking for you.

I didn't know where you were. What happened?

How'd Wolf get here so fast?

An anonymous phone tip.

Someone heard the shots you
fired and called the station.

The shots that I...

Oh, I see.

You're gonna pin
this one on me.

Yeah, you telling me
you didn't do it?

No. No, there's no use in me pulling
the wool over your eyes, Inspector.

I confess.

I lured Bentley up here, I tricked
him into pulling a gun on me

and then when he had
his back to this window,

I ran downstairs, shot him twice in the back

and then I tipped you off just in case
you thought it was another suicide.

What are you
boys looking for?

All right,
all right, all right.

Why did Bentley
come to see you?

He wanted some advice
on his Sunday sermon.

Laugh your way all the way
to the gas chamber, wise guy.

The coroner called. He wanted to
make sure you got this message.

Thanks, precious.

Bring me that file
on Bentley, will you?

So what's it gonna be?

You gonna take me downtown
and give me the third degree?

Or did you bring
the rubber hoses with you?

If you didn't kill
Bentley, who did?

The same person who killed
William Tyler Maxfield.

Hello?

That's fine.
I'll leave right now.

And just where do you
think you're going?

I asked Maxfield's killer
to meet me in 20 minutes.

We can take your car.

I got everyone here,
just as you asked.

Inspector,

remove this man
from the premises.

Oh, I'm not
staying, Caldwell.

I'm leaving.

Just as soon as I explain to Inspector
Wolf which one of you killed Maxfield.

Inspector!

Go on.

Well, from the first it was
obvious it was Caldwell.

This is insufferable.

Please, Mr. Caldwell.

You seemed like
the most likely suspect.

Cold, calculating. Smart
enough to cover your own tracks.

And the only one strong enough to
throw Maxfield off that balcony.

That's true.

I figured you doped him up a
little, put something into his tea.

As the mickey took hold, he accidentally
knocked his tea cup to the floor.

You waited till
he was out cold,

then you dragged him
over to the balcony,

threw his body into the ocean
and closed the balcony doors.

You cleaned up behind yourself, all right.

But you missed this little piece of china.

I didn't kill Maxfield.

I know.
I realized that later.

You didn't drug him.
You didn't have to.

Maxfield was already dead before
you even got into the room.

But that doesn't solve the
problem of the broken china cup.

And then, there's
this odd object.

Looks like it broke
off a trophy, doesn't it?

One of mine.

Maybe you can tell me what it was
doing on the floor near the balcony.

Well, I don't know.

The coroner said that Maxfield was
beaten on the head and shoulders

numerous times with a heavy object
before he took his midnight swim.

No...

There's no way to prove that.

Abrasions and contusions could
have been caused by the wave action.

They could've,
but they weren't.

Your late husband
saw him get hit.

He was going to
confront Maxfield

and force him to give him
the blackmail folder.

But before he could do that,
somebody else came into the room.

Somebody who beat Maxfield over the head
with a heavy trophy half a dozen times.

I'm already onto
that trail, Magnum.

Get your things,
I'm taking you in.

But I didn't do it.

I never said you did, angel.

Alicia did that.

Don't be ridiculous.

Why would I want to
kill my own husband?

I guess you're the only
one who can answer that.

You know yourself that I
have no claim to the will.

If I murdered William,
I'd lose everything.

Oh, not if you could make it
look like Christine did it.

That's insane.

That's also a bit
of a long shot.

But not beyond you,
my darling.

Arrest her.

You're getting ahead of me, angel.
Alicia didn't kill your father.

But you just said...

I said she hit him over the
head with a heavy trophy.

But Maxfield was already
dead when she did.

And how do you figure that?

I kept coming back to the china cup
and what it was doing on the floor.

So I had my friend at
the Coroner's office check

very carefully the contents
of Maxfield's stomach.

He was poisoned.

With this.

Designed to look like
he had a heart attack.

She planted it in my room.

Oh!

I never said I found
it in your room, angel.

Looking for this?

You know, the one thing
I couldn't figure was motive.

What's in it, angel?

Benzedrine?

All right, I'm only going to go
through this once, so listen good.

Christine got into a
little trouble with Bennies.

And when Daddy wouldn't come through
with the money to keep her in supply,

she had to look to other
ways to get her fix.

Eventually all the
avenues dried up.

She had to get her
hands on her own money.

There were only two ways,
murder and marriage.

Marriage didn't work
out so good,

so she started slowly
poisoning her father

hoping it would look
like a natural death.

And it did.

It looked so good

that Alicia thought it
was a heart attack.

She knew that would leave her
penniless. And she couldn't have that.

So she hit Maxfield over the head
with one of Christine's trophies

hoping that it would look to
everyone like Christine did it.

Don't, Thomas, don't. We can
still get away from all this.

Stop now before
you go too far.

It's too late
for that, Alicia.

It's gone too far already.

With her step-daughter up on a murder
rap, Alicia would get the money.

But she hadn't
counted on Caldwell.

Caldwell came across the
murder frame and believed it.

He knew if Christine
went to the gas chamber,

he wouldn't have
control of Maxfield's estate.

But that wasn't the real
reason you tried to rescue

Christine from what you thought
was her murderous act, was it, Sam?

No.

No.

What you didn't realize was that Sam
Caldwell was in love with you all along.

How did you know?

I'm not sure.

Anyway, he cleaned it up, he even tried
to bribe me with this thousand dollars.

You'll want that for evidence. So,
once he was in, he couldn't get out.

When he thought Bentley
was going to talk,

pointing the finger at
Christine, he had to kill him,

framing Alicia.

Exactly.

Book 'em all, Inspector. Murder
One and accessory after the fact.

Wait a minute, Magnum.

If they're all
going to jail,

who's going to get
Maxfield's money?

"As Magnum drove off into
another beautiful sunset,

"he wondered

"how many times he
could go through this

"before his heart
broke for good."

Well? What do you think?

I think it's

quite possibly the finest piece
of fiction I've ever come across.

You're kidding.

The style is strong
and aggressive,

the characterization is clean,

the story innovative,
yet comfortingly familiar...

Well, it's my first effort,

and I'm sure I'll
have to, you know,

change a word or two here and
there, but you really like it?

Like it?

Not since Dashiell Hammett have
I seen such raw, pure talent.

Wait a minute. You're comparing
me to Dashiell Hammett?

A sort of Raymond Chandler
meets Erle Stanley Gardner...

Black and white.

An Agatha Christie bumps up
against Arthur Conan Doyle,

there's an image.

Excuse me.
I'm still dreaming.

I have to get back to sleep.

Magnum.

Magnum!

Magnum!

Magnum.

Higgins, what are
you doing here?

You asked me to come down.

You implored me to
stop by before I left.

Why are you
wearing that suit?

You know why I'm
wearing this suit.

I am going to the Anglo-Hawaiian
Royal Yachting Costume Brunch.

And I'm late. Now what is it
you wanted me to see about?

Right.

I'm sorry. I've
been up all night

working.

Yes?

And...

No.

I just wanted to say,

have a good time at the party.

Don't worry about
a thing here.

I'll be on the job, making sure no harm
comes to Robin's Nest in your absence.