Hawaii Five-O (1968–1980): Season 4, Episode 20 - Cloth of Gold - full transcript
At a birthday party, the guest of honor suddenly suffocates after getting a card saying this is his last birthday. The dead man is one of three partners in a shady real estate business with a reputation for swindling its customers. Five-O's investigation intensifies after a second partner gets a similar threat. When the second partner turns up dead, McGarrett knows he is running out of time to solve the case.
( upbeat surf theme playing)
( suspenseful theme playing)
CROWD: ♪ Happy birthday to you ♪
♪ Happy birthday to you ♪
♪ Happy birthday, dear Mingo ♪
♪ Happy birthday to you ♪
(crowd cheering, applauding)
My dear friends.
My good partners.
Thank you... from
deep in my heart...
where it counts.
MAN: Right on, baby.
MAN: Open your presents.
MAN 2: Let's see 'em.
(all chattering)
MAN: Who made the big
green one over here, hey?
How pretty it looks.
(tensely): Don't crowd me.
Hm?
Let's just back off.
Heh.
That's "more better,"
like my native friends say.
(all laugh)
Now...
It's from Tommy.
WOMAN: Aw.
MINGO: Thanks, kid.
What I've always wanted. Heh.
Let's have a big hand for Tommy!
ALL: Yay!
(all applauding, cheering)
"Happy birthday...
"pilau kane, Mingo.
It is your last."
No signature.
What's it mean, Akamai?
Pilau kane?
Oh, nothing. Forget it.
(angrily): What does
it mean, Akamai?
It means "filthy scum."
(people gasp)
Well, forget it. Open
the next one, huh?
ALL: Yeah. Yeah.
This one here.
( suspenseful theme playing)
(retching)
What is it? MAN: Mingo?
MAN: What is it?
MAN 2: Was it...?
(coughs)
(gasps)
( upbeat surf theme playing)
( suspenseful theme playing)
Better get started
inside, Danno.
All right, doc.
What's the story?
I'm not sure. Very strange.
Something hit his
central nervous system.
Turned the lights out, but fast.
Nervous system?
What does that mean?
Some sort of
cerebrovascular accident.
We'll have to put
the pieces together.
It will make an
interesting autopsy.
Not for Mingo.
DANNO: He was
opening some presents
and reading this note
when he collapsed.
"Happy birthday.
It's your last."
Ah. Cream of
society, huh, Danno?
Yeah. Con men, grifters,
pimps, assorted playmates.
See if there's a
typewriter inside, will you?
(people murmuring)
Well, well.
Two of our leading real
estate operators, huh?
Here he comes again
with the big hassle.
Move it, girls.
What happened to your partner?
He got sick.
He just got sick
and... And died.
Yeah, one minute,
everything's going great.
You know, he's, uh...
opening his birthday presents,
everything's fine.
And then suddenly... (snaps)
pow.
Kind of makes you think.
Nobody touched him?
Nobody.
Black magic?
Uh, you figure it out, pal.
That's your job.
You three are
partners, is that right?
Who gets Mingo's piece of
your real estate shill game?
Oh, now, McGarrett.
That's no way to talk
to respectable businessmen...
Who? Who stands to profit?
Oh, no sweat, McGarrett.
Mingo's dead, we cut everything
two ways instead
of three, that's all.
All right, folks,
can I have your
attention, please?
I don't want to stay here
any longer than you do.
So just do as I ask,
and we can all go home.
Now...
will you kindly
arrange yourselves...
just as you were earlier,
when Mingo was
opening his presents.
Exactly as you were earlier.
Steve. Note was typed
on the portable in the den.
So any one of
Mingo's good friends
could have slipped
in and done it, huh?
The card was ordinary
stationery-store stuff.
Che's dusting it for prints.
Good, Danno.
McGARRETT: Okay.
So Mingo was standing
here, is that right?
Then what happened?
Well, then he was opening
his birthday presents.
Which one was he touching
when he got the attack?
This one.
And before that?
Uh, the necklace. No.
No, that's not right.
Uh, between the two he had a...
A little one. A little box.
Is that right? Yeah, he's right.
There was a little box.
The one that had the note in it.
Can you point the
box out to me, please?
It's not here.
How do you like that? It's gone.
Uh.
Could you describe the box?
What did it look like?
Well, it was just a little box.
You know, like from a store.
About, uh... About so big.
And what was in it?
Never did get to see.
Well, Mingo looked
inside the box,
just after he read the note.
And I told him forget it,
to open another present.
And then he passed out.
Passed away.
Did anybody, uh, see
what was in the box?
Did anybody...
see what happened to the box?
When Mingo got his attack,
did he hold it in his hands?
Did he drop it? What?
Nobody knows.
All right. So Mingo looked
in the box, and then what?
Well, then he starts
gasping. Like, uh:
"Ah... Agh..."
(makes choking sounds)
And... then he just caves in.
And nobody touched him?
Mingo... had this thing.
He didn't like
people to touch him.
Anybody missing?
No, everybody's here.
All right, folks,
will you just sit
down now, please?
Just sit back.
How many people
have you swindled?
Now, now, McGarrett. No
unsubstantiated charges.
Okay. I'll put it another way.
How many phony real
estate lots have you sold?
(chuckles)
Oh, have it your own way.
Uh, 4,000, give or take a few.
And aside from
these 4,000 people,
who else wanted Mingo dead?
In this group, for instance,
who else wanted Mingo dead?
Look. Nice, Mingo wasn't.
You know that, McGarrett.
But nobody wanted to kill him.
If nice he wasn't,
why do you come to his parties?
Because he asked us to come.
And when Mingo asks, you come.
Sure. Especially when
you got plenty wahines,
free booze, free entertainment.
All right, folks.
Let's wrap it up.
Mingo is dead.
If he died of natural causes,
one of you is a prophet,
and I'd like to meet him.
Or her.
All right, go home.
The party's over.
And, uh...
no sudden departures
from this rock.
DOC: You know a pathologist
waits for an interesting case.
And this is a beaut.
Cause of death?
DOCTOR: Unknown so far.
Mr. Mingo did not
die of natural causes.
He did not die of a disease
of the nervous system.
And he did not die of
cerebrovascular accident.
He is dead?
Oh, yes, quite.
He suffocated.
Now let me show you something.
I did a workup on the
sample of his blood.
The slide on the left is a
sample of normal blood.
Healthy, type A. Not
Mingo's. Same type.
The slide on the
right is Mingo's.
DOC: Notice anything?
Those particles.
Hexagonal?
That's right.
Amazing thing.
It's foreign matter.
An alkaloid. Unusual.
Have you identified it yet?
Not specifically.
But I do know that
it's a... An ammonium
derivative of some kind.
You're saying he was poisoned?
In effect, yes.
And that this poison
causes paralysis
and death by suffocation?
That's right.
Was there any of the stuff
in his stomach? No.
If you're thinking that
it might have been
ingested with food
or drink, negative.
In the blood only.
How could it get there?
That's what's so interesting.
I looked over his
body quite carefully.
There are no wounds,
no skin abrasions,
no means of entry.
Look, doc, that
poison is in Mingo.
He didn't swallow it. It
had to get in somehow.
Right.
At least you know now
that it was definitely murder.
Or suicide, cause unknown.
Doc, that's not good enough.
We need to know
what the poison was,
we need to know how
it got into his system,
and we need to know fast.
( mysterious theme playing)
WALLIS: Did you call the
cops? AKAMAI: Why should I?
We... Because Mingo
got a notice like this,
that's why, and he's dead.
Ha. He rattles easy, don't he?
Well, not me.
Come on, babies.
Let's catch our wave.
You're a lunatic!
Y-you're crazy!
Out of your Hawaiian head!
( suspenseful theme playing)
Operator. This is an emergency.
Get me Five-0.
( mysterious theme playing)
(people chattering)
Hey, man. Where is it?
I wouldn't have believed it.
You really called him, huh?
Well, sure I called him.
Hey, you're too
dumb to be scared.
The note.
Same bit?
Yeah. It says,
"Rest in peace, Fred Akamai Loy.
Born July 6, 1929.
Died September 10th."
Hey, that's tomorrow,
Williams. Tomorrow.
And this weirdo...
goes swimming with a broad
on each arm like it's nothing.
When did you get it?
I found it under the
bedroom door this morning.
After we got up.
Got any ideas who,
uh, put it under the door?
Now, how would I know?
Wallis?
Well, don't look at
me. I was asleep.
Akamai woke us
up with this note.
How do I know you were asleep?
Maybe you were awake.
Yeah, what's that
supposed to mean?
Whatever you
want it to mean, pal.
Akamai is saying, uh,
you might have
faked being asleep
after putting the
note under his door,
and sneaked back to bed again.
I didn't write that
note to you or...
You think I killed Ralph?
How do you know
Ralph was killed?
Well, he's dead, isn't he?
Somebody wrote him a note
saying he was gonna die.
Now he's dead.
Manoa.
Let's go out on the reef.
They say fishing
is good for the soul.
Right, boss. How
about I change clothes?
Maybe you wrote that note
to clear yourself
of suspicion, huh?
How do I know you didn't?
You don't.
Listen...
cop.
I don't like you here.
You're busting up my party.
Now, you think
Ralph was murdered,
you go and find the murderer.
Wallis here is scared?
You hold his hand.
Me, I'm not interested.
And now I'm going fishing.
So you wanna ask
me any more questions,
you gotta come in the water.
Come on, girls. Wiki-wiki.
DANNO: Hey. Akamai.
I can think of at
least a dozen things
I'd rather do than baby-sit you.
Akamai.
(speaks Hawaiian)
( mysterious theme playing)
Hey, Danny, look at this.
Dead fish, dead man.
Same house, same
day. Interesting, huh?
Okay, enough with the
deep Hawaiian symbolism.
Check out Akamai's
room, huh? I'll take Mingo's.
What's the videotape
machine for?
Oh, it's a sales tool.
Our mainland customers
can't come to beautiful Hawaii,
so we bring beautiful
Hawaii to them.
Nice, huh?
DANNO: None of that stuff
is anywhere near your property.
That shot.
It's way over on the other side
of the island.
Well, it's the same island.
One of these days,
you guys are gonna slip off
the legal tightrope
you've been walking.
And when you do,
we're gonna be
there to catch you.
We won't slip.
(shuts off)
If it's a sales machine,
what's it doing in the bedroom?
Well, it has to be somewhere.
Well, sometimes
Mingo... Mingo what?
(scoffs)
Well, remember he had this thing
about being touched?
Yeah.
Well, some people... Oh.
Well, it's... It's like sports.
Some... like to
play... and, um...
some like to watch.
Mingo, he was...
kind of like a spectator...
if you know what I mean.
Just one big
beautiful human being,
your late partner Mingo.
Well... nobody's perfect.
(laughs)
Uh, not even me.
Um... Would you
like to look at some...
really beautiful scenery?
Sure.
(laughing)
Oh, you shrewdie.
Uh, you'd probably have
me pinched for pornography.
Hm?
Paul... we're going in.
I'm gonna set
around-the-clock watch.
I'll, uh, send
your relief later.
Williams to Central. Patch
me through to McGarrett.
( mellow theme playing)
( mysterious theme playing)
You okay, buddy?
Yeah, yeah, I'm okay.
You want me to
call a doctor or s...?
I said I'm all right.
Anything I can do?
Not right now, sweetheart.
Manoa.
Thanks, bro.
That's okay.
You like this watch?
It's yours. No.
Now, you take it, man.
All right, girls.
Let's get back to the booze.
The show is over.
Akamai needs his rest.
( tense theme playing)
McGARRETT: And
what have we got on
the so-called
guest list of theirs?
They're all pretty
much in the same bag.
On the hook to the partners
for one thing or another.
Plus a few moochers.
You know, good-time
camp followers.
DANNO: Plenty of resentment,
but, uh, motive for murder?
Chin... what about the staff?
Give me the book.
Start with what's-his-name.
The, uh... The cook.
Name: Chang Lu, 52. Bachelor.
He's worked some of the
best hotels in the island.
Born in Canton.
Changes jobs a lot.
No police record.
And, uh, what
about the houseboy?
Oh, Jack Manoa, 43. Local.
Respected old Hawaiian family.
Married.
One child: daughter, deceased.
He's worked as a fishing guide.
He's clean.
And the maid?
Kyo Sasaki, Nisei.
Married, two children.
Husband also Japanese.
Successful fisherman.
Operate fleet of five boats,
runs one of them himself.
She works on and
off as a domestic.
All three look clean
as far as we've gone.
Well... then go farther.
Like what?
If Chang is such a good cook,
how come he can't hold a job?
Manoa's daughter,
what did she die of?
Any details on that?
How come the wife of
a successful fisherman
has to work as a domestic?
That's what I mean.
You know, Steve, digging into
the guest list and staff...
okay, that's about 40 people.
And if there's a
murder motive there,
we'll find it.
But... But what?
Well, if we have to start
going through
the customer list...
that's a few thousand people.
Yeah. That's where
it's going to get tough.
We may have to run
a computer on them.
After my meeting
with the governor,
I stopped at the attorney
general's office again.
His book on Wallis,
Akamai and, uh,
Mingo gets thicker every month.
Were there any
threatening letters?
No, none that he knew of.
Plenty of letters of complaint
from all over the
country, lots of lawsuits.
Nothing to indict on? Not yet.
They always manage to
operate just inside the law.
A guy in Indiana buys
a lot from these people.
Never saw it, of course.
Buys it from a
description in a brochure.
Finds out that
he's bought himself
a quarter acre of lava rock.
Hawaiian Palms Estates
has no palms on it,
20 miles from any beach,
and is one royal swindle.
Guy gets done in
for his life's savings...
could move him to murder.
Mm-hm.
Yeah, it's... It's been
done for a lot less.
Meanwhile, we don't even know
what kind of
poison killed Mingo.
Or how it got into him.
( mysterious theme playing)
Akamai not up yet?
He sleep late.
Maybe not feel so good
after almost drowning yesterday.
All right I bring him tray?
Sure.
(woman screams)
WALLIS: Oh, my God.
MAN: I'll get an ambulance.
WALLIS: Get Five-0. Get Five-0!
MAN: Yeah.
( dramatic theme playing)
( funky theme playing)
Paul. Everybody inside?
Sure.
He just ran up and
he jumped in my car.
He's scared out of his gourd.
Mr. Wallis.
No more jokes, witty sayings?
All right, do we walk,
or do I carry you in?
(clicks vacuum off)
Does this list
have all the people
who wandered in and
out of here last night?
What time did
the last one leave?
It was at 3:05 a.m.
Anything you can add?
You?
You? I'm leaving.
I will not work here anymore.
All right, Mrs. Sasaki.
But, uh, keep yourself available
if we should need you.
The island is my home.
I would not leave here.
But I will not work
in this house again.
Okay.
You know, uh, she's
got something there.
I, uh... I'm gonna take the next
plane out of here myself.
Forget it.
Well, you can't hold me.
I'm... I'm not under arrest.
You will be the minute
you try to leave Hawaii.
On what grounds?
What about, uh,
material witness?
Which is just a
nice way of saying,
as of now, you're
suspect number one.
Are you crazy? I am
target number one now.
Maybe. Maybe not.
What would a grand jury say?
Three little Indians,
two are gone.
Leaving the third one rich,
and sole owner of the
Hawaiian Palm Estates.
You wanna buy a hot
real estate company...?
You had opportunity and motive.
Now what do you say?
Well, I say...
I'm scared.
You want protection?
Yeah, every day,
uh, unless it snows.
We've got a nice cell downtown,
solid steel bars.
No way.
No other way.
Yeah, well, you find a way.
That's your job.
Can you imagine me
walking into a jail voluntarily?
Heh.
Yeah, I've been
booked... pinched,
indicted for more
raps. Uh... But jail?
Oh, man, that's one
scene I don't make.
Heh.
Oh, me and, um... Eadie...
heh... and Donna,
we are gonna stay
right here, huh?
Heh. Have fun, Wallis.
You know it.
(clicks tongue)
Eadie.
( mysterious theme playing)
Where were you this morning?
Me?
I was... just around.
Donna?
Well... let me see.
I was... I know. Around.
(clicks)
Find anything?
I thought you said Akamai
hadn't been swimming
since yesterday.
Yeah.
This pillowcase is damp.
It smells like seawater.
Let me have it. I'm
going back to the lab.
Where are your two friends?
Oh, well, I, uh...
I told 'em to cut out.
Hope I didn't spoil
your fun and games.
Paul, double the manpower.
I want the house sealed off.
Two men inside,
two men out here.
Right, Danny.
What do you see, big kahuna?
Two dead fish. Pretty
soon, maybe three.
Well, what are you, a
cop or a fortuneteller?
Maybe a little bit of both.
You're crazy, out of
your Kanaka head.
All right, doc. What do you got?
We may have some goodies.
Just may.
Good. Go.
We took some
spectrophotometer readings.
Okay. The alkaloid we
found in Mingo's blood.
No wonder we
couldn't break it down.
It never did show up in
the routine blood tests.
You'd have to be looking
for this baby to find it.
Anyway... it's an alkaloid
of quaternary
ammonium compounds,
consisting of
N-methylpyridinium ho...
Doc. English, please.
Works like curare, the
South American poison.
Short-circuits right here
at the myoneural junction.
The nerve signal
is stopped there,
paralyzing the autonomic
nervous system,
including the muscles
that control breathing.
The victim suffocates.
Like curare? So
they were poisoned.
How?
DOC: Don't know yet.
Meanwhile, there
is something else.
Akamai's pillowcase. It
was damp with seawater.
Even though he
hadn't been swimming?
Right. And another thing.
Once I found that, I
went back and checked.
The note that Mingo got
when he was opening his
presents and keeled over?
It checked out same
as the pillowcase.
Seawater.
That note was damp
with seawater too.
What did I tell you? I knew
there was a connection.
Same day, same house.
Dead fish, dead men.
Seawater and Akamai.
Seawater and Mingo.
DANNO: Kono.
It keeps coming back.
That it does.
Danno, get me some answers.
What kills people and fish,
and lives in the sea?
MAN: What kills...
fish and people
and lives in the sea?
Well, gentlemen, there
are many poisonous
organisms in the sea.
Some fish are deadly
when they attack,
others, when you eat them.
Skates. Sea snakes.
Some of the corals.
Some of the jellyfish.
DANNO: Capable of
killing a grown man?
MAN: Oh, yes.
For example, there
are two gastropods
living in Hawaiian waters.
This one, for example.
Hold it, don't move.
If you were to take this shell
by the front, as you
were about to do,
you would be very
dead, very quickly.
This way, by the back.
Away from the
aperture, it can't hurt you.
This beautiful little baby?
Dariconus textile Linnaeus.
This beautiful little baby
can paralyze a man
in less than a minute.
Kill him in a couple of hours.
And it's a particularly
horrible way to die.
Death by inches.
Is it fatal only to humans?
No.
Other gastropods,
fish. Each other.
They're shy. But
anything comes near,
they're vicious killers.
Beautiful. And as deadly
as they are beautiful.
DANNY: If it's all
the same to you, doc,
let's put that little baby
back in the tank, huh?
If you wish.
I wish.
How does this, uh...
What did you call it?
Cloth of gold will do.
How does it kill?
Now, here is the Leiblein gland,
where the venom is stored.
And here is the
proboscis. It's extendable.
And here is the radula,
where a bundle of
hollow needles are stored.
Maybe 20 of them,
like arrows in a quiver,
each only about
5 millimeters long.
What happens to the needle?
Oh, that remains
buried in the tissue.
The guy who gets
it, can he feel it?
Sometimes a slight sting,
sometimes nothing at all.
You must remember
that the needle
may be only five-one-thousandths
of an inch in diameter.
So it wouldn't leave
a very big hole going in?
Well, no larger than a pore.
You'd really have to know
what you were looking for
and where to look, if
you'd hope to find it.
And the poison, uh,
wouldn't by any chance
be a derivative of
ammonia, would it?
Yes. How did you know?
We're learning the hard way.
Kono, get on the phone to doc.
Have him check Mingo's hands,
Akamai's face, neck and scalp.
Tell him to use a
magnifying glass.
I need a phone too.
Oh, yes, this way.
(rings)
Hello?
Yes, sir.
(speaks Hawaiian)
Hey, officer. For you.
Thank you.
Nakamura.
Paul, Danny. Is Wallis okay?
I guess so. I spoke with
him a few minutes ago.
Where is he?
He's up in his room.
He locked himself in.
Well, is he okay
now? Talk to him again.
Hang on a second.
Hey, Wallis?! Are you okay?!
WALLIS: Yeah. I'm okay.
And I'm hungry.
And I want another drink.
And where's my dinner?
He's okay.
We're on our way over.
And, Paul, stick
close to that aquarium.
No one but no one goes near
that aquarium, understand?
Sure, Dan. Whatever you say.
Five years on the force...
and I wind up
guarding a fishbowl.
You haven't been doing
too good a job. Look.
( dramatic theme playing)
( suspenseful theme playing)
( dramatic theme playing)
All right. Okay.
(door opens, closes)
Oh, what's... What's that?
I catch you fresh
mahi-mahi today.
Nice. Broiled.
Oh, that's pretty.
Yes, boss.
Something special. Oh.
Present.
From Manoa... to you.
( dramatic theme
playing) (laughs)
(gasping)
The cloth of gold, Mr. Wallis.
A noble Hawaiian creature.
Its work... is over.
Beautiful, isn't it?
As beautiful as a
young girl named Tia.
You remember Tia, Mr. Wallis?
Sweet... pure...
as lovely as a plumeria flower.
Untouched. Until you...
Where's Steve?
Budget hearing.
And Danny?
Well, last I heard, he and Kono
were en route to Sea Life Park.
Central Dispatch, Kelly.
Patch me through to Williams.
You don't remember
that girl, Mr. Wallis?
Then I'll show you.
I'll show you what
you did to my Tia.
CHIN HO: Danny, get this.
Manoa had a daughter who died.
When?
Uh, five months ago.
Age? Sixteen.
She wouldn't do what you asked.
So you gave her
drugs to make her
do those things
for this machine.
Filthy things.
My Tia's shame.
Her hilahila.
Cause of death?
Infectious hepatitis.
Then you made her
watch what she had done.
You played it back
on this machine.
Your filth became her filth.
Addict? Yeah.
Same old story.
Hundred-and-fifty-a-day
habit. Picked up for prostitution.
More drugs.
And then the streets.
And then your final gift:
a dirty needle.
Isn't it fitting that
the three of you
should die from a needle?
It all happened
for her at a party.
You know where
the party took place.
I can imagine where
the party took place.
Any sign of the shell?
It's gone.
( ominous theme playing)
Wallis? In there.
Wallis?
Wallis?!
Go ahead.
( dramatic theme playing)
(tires screech)
(tires screech)
Manoa planned it very well.
He had the shell out of the tank
before we put a watch on it.
Kono...
if you wanted to
hide in a canebrake,
what island would you head for?
The big island. Hawaii.
Yeah.
Danno, do you read me?
DANNO: Pretty clear. Go ahead.
Well, there's a fair chance
he might try for the big island.
We'll keep our present heading,
but why don't you go
southeast for a look?
Okay, Steve. 10-4.
( dramatic theme playing)
Steve?
Yeah. Go, Danno.
The big island was a good hunch.
We're over him right now.
From where you
are, it's a probable
heading of between
125 to 130 degrees true.
Got it. All right, Danno,
we'll take him from here.
( adventurous theme playing)
Manoa. This is Five-0.
You're under arrest.
Come about.
Come about.
Is this what you're
looking for, Mr. McGarrett?
Please, Mr. McGarrett...
I don't want to hurt you.
Too many already have been hurt.
Stay where you
are, Mr. McGarrett.
You can't raise the dead.
It's too late.
I'm sorry about your
daughter, Manoa.
But I've gotta take you in.
You've already killed three men.
How can you...
arrest...
a dead man?
( dramatic theme playing)
( upbeat surf theme playing)
( suspenseful theme playing)
CROWD: ♪ Happy birthday to you ♪
♪ Happy birthday to you ♪
♪ Happy birthday, dear Mingo ♪
♪ Happy birthday to you ♪
(crowd cheering, applauding)
My dear friends.
My good partners.
Thank you... from
deep in my heart...
where it counts.
MAN: Right on, baby.
MAN: Open your presents.
MAN 2: Let's see 'em.
(all chattering)
MAN: Who made the big
green one over here, hey?
How pretty it looks.
(tensely): Don't crowd me.
Hm?
Let's just back off.
Heh.
That's "more better,"
like my native friends say.
(all laugh)
Now...
It's from Tommy.
WOMAN: Aw.
MINGO: Thanks, kid.
What I've always wanted. Heh.
Let's have a big hand for Tommy!
ALL: Yay!
(all applauding, cheering)
"Happy birthday...
"pilau kane, Mingo.
It is your last."
No signature.
What's it mean, Akamai?
Pilau kane?
Oh, nothing. Forget it.
(angrily): What does
it mean, Akamai?
It means "filthy scum."
(people gasp)
Well, forget it. Open
the next one, huh?
ALL: Yeah. Yeah.
This one here.
( suspenseful theme playing)
(retching)
What is it? MAN: Mingo?
MAN: What is it?
MAN 2: Was it...?
(coughs)
(gasps)
( upbeat surf theme playing)
( suspenseful theme playing)
Better get started
inside, Danno.
All right, doc.
What's the story?
I'm not sure. Very strange.
Something hit his
central nervous system.
Turned the lights out, but fast.
Nervous system?
What does that mean?
Some sort of
cerebrovascular accident.
We'll have to put
the pieces together.
It will make an
interesting autopsy.
Not for Mingo.
DANNO: He was
opening some presents
and reading this note
when he collapsed.
"Happy birthday.
It's your last."
Ah. Cream of
society, huh, Danno?
Yeah. Con men, grifters,
pimps, assorted playmates.
See if there's a
typewriter inside, will you?
(people murmuring)
Well, well.
Two of our leading real
estate operators, huh?
Here he comes again
with the big hassle.
Move it, girls.
What happened to your partner?
He got sick.
He just got sick
and... And died.
Yeah, one minute,
everything's going great.
You know, he's, uh...
opening his birthday presents,
everything's fine.
And then suddenly... (snaps)
pow.
Kind of makes you think.
Nobody touched him?
Nobody.
Black magic?
Uh, you figure it out, pal.
That's your job.
You three are
partners, is that right?
Who gets Mingo's piece of
your real estate shill game?
Oh, now, McGarrett.
That's no way to talk
to respectable businessmen...
Who? Who stands to profit?
Oh, no sweat, McGarrett.
Mingo's dead, we cut everything
two ways instead
of three, that's all.
All right, folks,
can I have your
attention, please?
I don't want to stay here
any longer than you do.
So just do as I ask,
and we can all go home.
Now...
will you kindly
arrange yourselves...
just as you were earlier,
when Mingo was
opening his presents.
Exactly as you were earlier.
Steve. Note was typed
on the portable in the den.
So any one of
Mingo's good friends
could have slipped
in and done it, huh?
The card was ordinary
stationery-store stuff.
Che's dusting it for prints.
Good, Danno.
McGARRETT: Okay.
So Mingo was standing
here, is that right?
Then what happened?
Well, then he was opening
his birthday presents.
Which one was he touching
when he got the attack?
This one.
And before that?
Uh, the necklace. No.
No, that's not right.
Uh, between the two he had a...
A little one. A little box.
Is that right? Yeah, he's right.
There was a little box.
The one that had the note in it.
Can you point the
box out to me, please?
It's not here.
How do you like that? It's gone.
Uh.
Could you describe the box?
What did it look like?
Well, it was just a little box.
You know, like from a store.
About, uh... About so big.
And what was in it?
Never did get to see.
Well, Mingo looked
inside the box,
just after he read the note.
And I told him forget it,
to open another present.
And then he passed out.
Passed away.
Did anybody, uh, see
what was in the box?
Did anybody...
see what happened to the box?
When Mingo got his attack,
did he hold it in his hands?
Did he drop it? What?
Nobody knows.
All right. So Mingo looked
in the box, and then what?
Well, then he starts
gasping. Like, uh:
"Ah... Agh..."
(makes choking sounds)
And... then he just caves in.
And nobody touched him?
Mingo... had this thing.
He didn't like
people to touch him.
Anybody missing?
No, everybody's here.
All right, folks,
will you just sit
down now, please?
Just sit back.
How many people
have you swindled?
Now, now, McGarrett. No
unsubstantiated charges.
Okay. I'll put it another way.
How many phony real
estate lots have you sold?
(chuckles)
Oh, have it your own way.
Uh, 4,000, give or take a few.
And aside from
these 4,000 people,
who else wanted Mingo dead?
In this group, for instance,
who else wanted Mingo dead?
Look. Nice, Mingo wasn't.
You know that, McGarrett.
But nobody wanted to kill him.
If nice he wasn't,
why do you come to his parties?
Because he asked us to come.
And when Mingo asks, you come.
Sure. Especially when
you got plenty wahines,
free booze, free entertainment.
All right, folks.
Let's wrap it up.
Mingo is dead.
If he died of natural causes,
one of you is a prophet,
and I'd like to meet him.
Or her.
All right, go home.
The party's over.
And, uh...
no sudden departures
from this rock.
DOC: You know a pathologist
waits for an interesting case.
And this is a beaut.
Cause of death?
DOCTOR: Unknown so far.
Mr. Mingo did not
die of natural causes.
He did not die of a disease
of the nervous system.
And he did not die of
cerebrovascular accident.
He is dead?
Oh, yes, quite.
He suffocated.
Now let me show you something.
I did a workup on the
sample of his blood.
The slide on the left is a
sample of normal blood.
Healthy, type A. Not
Mingo's. Same type.
The slide on the
right is Mingo's.
DOC: Notice anything?
Those particles.
Hexagonal?
That's right.
Amazing thing.
It's foreign matter.
An alkaloid. Unusual.
Have you identified it yet?
Not specifically.
But I do know that
it's a... An ammonium
derivative of some kind.
You're saying he was poisoned?
In effect, yes.
And that this poison
causes paralysis
and death by suffocation?
That's right.
Was there any of the stuff
in his stomach? No.
If you're thinking that
it might have been
ingested with food
or drink, negative.
In the blood only.
How could it get there?
That's what's so interesting.
I looked over his
body quite carefully.
There are no wounds,
no skin abrasions,
no means of entry.
Look, doc, that
poison is in Mingo.
He didn't swallow it. It
had to get in somehow.
Right.
At least you know now
that it was definitely murder.
Or suicide, cause unknown.
Doc, that's not good enough.
We need to know
what the poison was,
we need to know how
it got into his system,
and we need to know fast.
( mysterious theme playing)
WALLIS: Did you call the
cops? AKAMAI: Why should I?
We... Because Mingo
got a notice like this,
that's why, and he's dead.
Ha. He rattles easy, don't he?
Well, not me.
Come on, babies.
Let's catch our wave.
You're a lunatic!
Y-you're crazy!
Out of your Hawaiian head!
( suspenseful theme playing)
Operator. This is an emergency.
Get me Five-0.
( mysterious theme playing)
(people chattering)
Hey, man. Where is it?
I wouldn't have believed it.
You really called him, huh?
Well, sure I called him.
Hey, you're too
dumb to be scared.
The note.
Same bit?
Yeah. It says,
"Rest in peace, Fred Akamai Loy.
Born July 6, 1929.
Died September 10th."
Hey, that's tomorrow,
Williams. Tomorrow.
And this weirdo...
goes swimming with a broad
on each arm like it's nothing.
When did you get it?
I found it under the
bedroom door this morning.
After we got up.
Got any ideas who,
uh, put it under the door?
Now, how would I know?
Wallis?
Well, don't look at
me. I was asleep.
Akamai woke us
up with this note.
How do I know you were asleep?
Maybe you were awake.
Yeah, what's that
supposed to mean?
Whatever you
want it to mean, pal.
Akamai is saying, uh,
you might have
faked being asleep
after putting the
note under his door,
and sneaked back to bed again.
I didn't write that
note to you or...
You think I killed Ralph?
How do you know
Ralph was killed?
Well, he's dead, isn't he?
Somebody wrote him a note
saying he was gonna die.
Now he's dead.
Manoa.
Let's go out on the reef.
They say fishing
is good for the soul.
Right, boss. How
about I change clothes?
Maybe you wrote that note
to clear yourself
of suspicion, huh?
How do I know you didn't?
You don't.
Listen...
cop.
I don't like you here.
You're busting up my party.
Now, you think
Ralph was murdered,
you go and find the murderer.
Wallis here is scared?
You hold his hand.
Me, I'm not interested.
And now I'm going fishing.
So you wanna ask
me any more questions,
you gotta come in the water.
Come on, girls. Wiki-wiki.
DANNO: Hey. Akamai.
I can think of at
least a dozen things
I'd rather do than baby-sit you.
Akamai.
(speaks Hawaiian)
( mysterious theme playing)
Hey, Danny, look at this.
Dead fish, dead man.
Same house, same
day. Interesting, huh?
Okay, enough with the
deep Hawaiian symbolism.
Check out Akamai's
room, huh? I'll take Mingo's.
What's the videotape
machine for?
Oh, it's a sales tool.
Our mainland customers
can't come to beautiful Hawaii,
so we bring beautiful
Hawaii to them.
Nice, huh?
DANNO: None of that stuff
is anywhere near your property.
That shot.
It's way over on the other side
of the island.
Well, it's the same island.
One of these days,
you guys are gonna slip off
the legal tightrope
you've been walking.
And when you do,
we're gonna be
there to catch you.
We won't slip.
(shuts off)
If it's a sales machine,
what's it doing in the bedroom?
Well, it has to be somewhere.
Well, sometimes
Mingo... Mingo what?
(scoffs)
Well, remember he had this thing
about being touched?
Yeah.
Well, some people... Oh.
Well, it's... It's like sports.
Some... like to
play... and, um...
some like to watch.
Mingo, he was...
kind of like a spectator...
if you know what I mean.
Just one big
beautiful human being,
your late partner Mingo.
Well... nobody's perfect.
(laughs)
Uh, not even me.
Um... Would you
like to look at some...
really beautiful scenery?
Sure.
(laughing)
Oh, you shrewdie.
Uh, you'd probably have
me pinched for pornography.
Hm?
Paul... we're going in.
I'm gonna set
around-the-clock watch.
I'll, uh, send
your relief later.
Williams to Central. Patch
me through to McGarrett.
( mellow theme playing)
( mysterious theme playing)
You okay, buddy?
Yeah, yeah, I'm okay.
You want me to
call a doctor or s...?
I said I'm all right.
Anything I can do?
Not right now, sweetheart.
Manoa.
Thanks, bro.
That's okay.
You like this watch?
It's yours. No.
Now, you take it, man.
All right, girls.
Let's get back to the booze.
The show is over.
Akamai needs his rest.
( tense theme playing)
McGARRETT: And
what have we got on
the so-called
guest list of theirs?
They're all pretty
much in the same bag.
On the hook to the partners
for one thing or another.
Plus a few moochers.
You know, good-time
camp followers.
DANNO: Plenty of resentment,
but, uh, motive for murder?
Chin... what about the staff?
Give me the book.
Start with what's-his-name.
The, uh... The cook.
Name: Chang Lu, 52. Bachelor.
He's worked some of the
best hotels in the island.
Born in Canton.
Changes jobs a lot.
No police record.
And, uh, what
about the houseboy?
Oh, Jack Manoa, 43. Local.
Respected old Hawaiian family.
Married.
One child: daughter, deceased.
He's worked as a fishing guide.
He's clean.
And the maid?
Kyo Sasaki, Nisei.
Married, two children.
Husband also Japanese.
Successful fisherman.
Operate fleet of five boats,
runs one of them himself.
She works on and
off as a domestic.
All three look clean
as far as we've gone.
Well... then go farther.
Like what?
If Chang is such a good cook,
how come he can't hold a job?
Manoa's daughter,
what did she die of?
Any details on that?
How come the wife of
a successful fisherman
has to work as a domestic?
That's what I mean.
You know, Steve, digging into
the guest list and staff...
okay, that's about 40 people.
And if there's a
murder motive there,
we'll find it.
But... But what?
Well, if we have to start
going through
the customer list...
that's a few thousand people.
Yeah. That's where
it's going to get tough.
We may have to run
a computer on them.
After my meeting
with the governor,
I stopped at the attorney
general's office again.
His book on Wallis,
Akamai and, uh,
Mingo gets thicker every month.
Were there any
threatening letters?
No, none that he knew of.
Plenty of letters of complaint
from all over the
country, lots of lawsuits.
Nothing to indict on? Not yet.
They always manage to
operate just inside the law.
A guy in Indiana buys
a lot from these people.
Never saw it, of course.
Buys it from a
description in a brochure.
Finds out that
he's bought himself
a quarter acre of lava rock.
Hawaiian Palms Estates
has no palms on it,
20 miles from any beach,
and is one royal swindle.
Guy gets done in
for his life's savings...
could move him to murder.
Mm-hm.
Yeah, it's... It's been
done for a lot less.
Meanwhile, we don't even know
what kind of
poison killed Mingo.
Or how it got into him.
( mysterious theme playing)
Akamai not up yet?
He sleep late.
Maybe not feel so good
after almost drowning yesterday.
All right I bring him tray?
Sure.
(woman screams)
WALLIS: Oh, my God.
MAN: I'll get an ambulance.
WALLIS: Get Five-0. Get Five-0!
MAN: Yeah.
( dramatic theme playing)
( funky theme playing)
Paul. Everybody inside?
Sure.
He just ran up and
he jumped in my car.
He's scared out of his gourd.
Mr. Wallis.
No more jokes, witty sayings?
All right, do we walk,
or do I carry you in?
(clicks vacuum off)
Does this list
have all the people
who wandered in and
out of here last night?
What time did
the last one leave?
It was at 3:05 a.m.
Anything you can add?
You?
You? I'm leaving.
I will not work here anymore.
All right, Mrs. Sasaki.
But, uh, keep yourself available
if we should need you.
The island is my home.
I would not leave here.
But I will not work
in this house again.
Okay.
You know, uh, she's
got something there.
I, uh... I'm gonna take the next
plane out of here myself.
Forget it.
Well, you can't hold me.
I'm... I'm not under arrest.
You will be the minute
you try to leave Hawaii.
On what grounds?
What about, uh,
material witness?
Which is just a
nice way of saying,
as of now, you're
suspect number one.
Are you crazy? I am
target number one now.
Maybe. Maybe not.
What would a grand jury say?
Three little Indians,
two are gone.
Leaving the third one rich,
and sole owner of the
Hawaiian Palm Estates.
You wanna buy a hot
real estate company...?
You had opportunity and motive.
Now what do you say?
Well, I say...
I'm scared.
You want protection?
Yeah, every day,
uh, unless it snows.
We've got a nice cell downtown,
solid steel bars.
No way.
No other way.
Yeah, well, you find a way.
That's your job.
Can you imagine me
walking into a jail voluntarily?
Heh.
Yeah, I've been
booked... pinched,
indicted for more
raps. Uh... But jail?
Oh, man, that's one
scene I don't make.
Heh.
Oh, me and, um... Eadie...
heh... and Donna,
we are gonna stay
right here, huh?
Heh. Have fun, Wallis.
You know it.
(clicks tongue)
Eadie.
( mysterious theme playing)
Where were you this morning?
Me?
I was... just around.
Donna?
Well... let me see.
I was... I know. Around.
(clicks)
Find anything?
I thought you said Akamai
hadn't been swimming
since yesterday.
Yeah.
This pillowcase is damp.
It smells like seawater.
Let me have it. I'm
going back to the lab.
Where are your two friends?
Oh, well, I, uh...
I told 'em to cut out.
Hope I didn't spoil
your fun and games.
Paul, double the manpower.
I want the house sealed off.
Two men inside,
two men out here.
Right, Danny.
What do you see, big kahuna?
Two dead fish. Pretty
soon, maybe three.
Well, what are you, a
cop or a fortuneteller?
Maybe a little bit of both.
You're crazy, out of
your Kanaka head.
All right, doc. What do you got?
We may have some goodies.
Just may.
Good. Go.
We took some
spectrophotometer readings.
Okay. The alkaloid we
found in Mingo's blood.
No wonder we
couldn't break it down.
It never did show up in
the routine blood tests.
You'd have to be looking
for this baby to find it.
Anyway... it's an alkaloid
of quaternary
ammonium compounds,
consisting of
N-methylpyridinium ho...
Doc. English, please.
Works like curare, the
South American poison.
Short-circuits right here
at the myoneural junction.
The nerve signal
is stopped there,
paralyzing the autonomic
nervous system,
including the muscles
that control breathing.
The victim suffocates.
Like curare? So
they were poisoned.
How?
DOC: Don't know yet.
Meanwhile, there
is something else.
Akamai's pillowcase. It
was damp with seawater.
Even though he
hadn't been swimming?
Right. And another thing.
Once I found that, I
went back and checked.
The note that Mingo got
when he was opening his
presents and keeled over?
It checked out same
as the pillowcase.
Seawater.
That note was damp
with seawater too.
What did I tell you? I knew
there was a connection.
Same day, same house.
Dead fish, dead men.
Seawater and Akamai.
Seawater and Mingo.
DANNO: Kono.
It keeps coming back.
That it does.
Danno, get me some answers.
What kills people and fish,
and lives in the sea?
MAN: What kills...
fish and people
and lives in the sea?
Well, gentlemen, there
are many poisonous
organisms in the sea.
Some fish are deadly
when they attack,
others, when you eat them.
Skates. Sea snakes.
Some of the corals.
Some of the jellyfish.
DANNO: Capable of
killing a grown man?
MAN: Oh, yes.
For example, there
are two gastropods
living in Hawaiian waters.
This one, for example.
Hold it, don't move.
If you were to take this shell
by the front, as you
were about to do,
you would be very
dead, very quickly.
This way, by the back.
Away from the
aperture, it can't hurt you.
This beautiful little baby?
Dariconus textile Linnaeus.
This beautiful little baby
can paralyze a man
in less than a minute.
Kill him in a couple of hours.
And it's a particularly
horrible way to die.
Death by inches.
Is it fatal only to humans?
No.
Other gastropods,
fish. Each other.
They're shy. But
anything comes near,
they're vicious killers.
Beautiful. And as deadly
as they are beautiful.
DANNY: If it's all
the same to you, doc,
let's put that little baby
back in the tank, huh?
If you wish.
I wish.
How does this, uh...
What did you call it?
Cloth of gold will do.
How does it kill?
Now, here is the Leiblein gland,
where the venom is stored.
And here is the
proboscis. It's extendable.
And here is the radula,
where a bundle of
hollow needles are stored.
Maybe 20 of them,
like arrows in a quiver,
each only about
5 millimeters long.
What happens to the needle?
Oh, that remains
buried in the tissue.
The guy who gets
it, can he feel it?
Sometimes a slight sting,
sometimes nothing at all.
You must remember
that the needle
may be only five-one-thousandths
of an inch in diameter.
So it wouldn't leave
a very big hole going in?
Well, no larger than a pore.
You'd really have to know
what you were looking for
and where to look, if
you'd hope to find it.
And the poison, uh,
wouldn't by any chance
be a derivative of
ammonia, would it?
Yes. How did you know?
We're learning the hard way.
Kono, get on the phone to doc.
Have him check Mingo's hands,
Akamai's face, neck and scalp.
Tell him to use a
magnifying glass.
I need a phone too.
Oh, yes, this way.
(rings)
Hello?
Yes, sir.
(speaks Hawaiian)
Hey, officer. For you.
Thank you.
Nakamura.
Paul, Danny. Is Wallis okay?
I guess so. I spoke with
him a few minutes ago.
Where is he?
He's up in his room.
He locked himself in.
Well, is he okay
now? Talk to him again.
Hang on a second.
Hey, Wallis?! Are you okay?!
WALLIS: Yeah. I'm okay.
And I'm hungry.
And I want another drink.
And where's my dinner?
He's okay.
We're on our way over.
And, Paul, stick
close to that aquarium.
No one but no one goes near
that aquarium, understand?
Sure, Dan. Whatever you say.
Five years on the force...
and I wind up
guarding a fishbowl.
You haven't been doing
too good a job. Look.
( dramatic theme playing)
( suspenseful theme playing)
( dramatic theme playing)
All right. Okay.
(door opens, closes)
Oh, what's... What's that?
I catch you fresh
mahi-mahi today.
Nice. Broiled.
Oh, that's pretty.
Yes, boss.
Something special. Oh.
Present.
From Manoa... to you.
( dramatic theme
playing) (laughs)
(gasping)
The cloth of gold, Mr. Wallis.
A noble Hawaiian creature.
Its work... is over.
Beautiful, isn't it?
As beautiful as a
young girl named Tia.
You remember Tia, Mr. Wallis?
Sweet... pure...
as lovely as a plumeria flower.
Untouched. Until you...
Where's Steve?
Budget hearing.
And Danny?
Well, last I heard, he and Kono
were en route to Sea Life Park.
Central Dispatch, Kelly.
Patch me through to Williams.
You don't remember
that girl, Mr. Wallis?
Then I'll show you.
I'll show you what
you did to my Tia.
CHIN HO: Danny, get this.
Manoa had a daughter who died.
When?
Uh, five months ago.
Age? Sixteen.
She wouldn't do what you asked.
So you gave her
drugs to make her
do those things
for this machine.
Filthy things.
My Tia's shame.
Her hilahila.
Cause of death?
Infectious hepatitis.
Then you made her
watch what she had done.
You played it back
on this machine.
Your filth became her filth.
Addict? Yeah.
Same old story.
Hundred-and-fifty-a-day
habit. Picked up for prostitution.
More drugs.
And then the streets.
And then your final gift:
a dirty needle.
Isn't it fitting that
the three of you
should die from a needle?
It all happened
for her at a party.
You know where
the party took place.
I can imagine where
the party took place.
Any sign of the shell?
It's gone.
( ominous theme playing)
Wallis? In there.
Wallis?
Wallis?!
Go ahead.
( dramatic theme playing)
(tires screech)
(tires screech)
Manoa planned it very well.
He had the shell out of the tank
before we put a watch on it.
Kono...
if you wanted to
hide in a canebrake,
what island would you head for?
The big island. Hawaii.
Yeah.
Danno, do you read me?
DANNO: Pretty clear. Go ahead.
Well, there's a fair chance
he might try for the big island.
We'll keep our present heading,
but why don't you go
southeast for a look?
Okay, Steve. 10-4.
( dramatic theme playing)
Steve?
Yeah. Go, Danno.
The big island was a good hunch.
We're over him right now.
From where you
are, it's a probable
heading of between
125 to 130 degrees true.
Got it. All right, Danno,
we'll take him from here.
( adventurous theme playing)
Manoa. This is Five-0.
You're under arrest.
Come about.
Come about.
Is this what you're
looking for, Mr. McGarrett?
Please, Mr. McGarrett...
I don't want to hurt you.
Too many already have been hurt.
Stay where you
are, Mr. McGarrett.
You can't raise the dead.
It's too late.
I'm sorry about your
daughter, Manoa.
But I've gotta take you in.
You've already killed three men.
How can you...
arrest...
a dead man?
( dramatic theme playing)
( upbeat surf theme playing)