Hawaii Five-O (1968–1980): Season 5, Episode 19 - Will the Real Mr. Winkler Please Die? - full transcript

A man named Winkler goes berserk when approached by a television reporter doing a "man on the street" story. After his arrest, Five-O and HPD can find no evidence that Winkler even existed until seven years earlier. For Five-O, this is just the start of a complicated investigation full of shadowy figures and murky motives. Winkler, for example, has a number of aliases and a photographic memory. Eventually McGarrett & Co. uncover a plot to assassinate a Soviet defector.

Thank you very
much for your opinion.

Glad you asked.

Excuse me. And what, uh...?
Can you tell us what you think

of the new proposed superhighway
from Kahuku Point to Honolulu?

Don't need it. We pay
too much taxes already.

Thank you very much. All right.

Here comes a gentleman
out of the building now.

We're getting opinions
today. I'd rather not.

Can you tell us what you think of
the new proposed superhighway

from Kahuku Point to Honolulu?

The camera's right over here.



Do you think the
enormous cost...?

Leave me alone! Leave me alone.

Hold it!

I don't know.

Get me Sergeant
Skully, BCI, please?

Sam, Duke Lukela here.

I need a background on
Peter Winkler, Caucasian,

age 42.

Lives at 1132 Auahi Street.

Arrested 4:17 p.m.
today for assault.

Prints are on the way down.

Got it. Thank you.

Computer says no
records anywhere.

Not just in Hawaii.



We ran it through the
Washington brain bank too.

Nothing on him before '66.

No birth certificates,
no social security.

Not even a library card.

It's like he was born
seven years ago.

He must be using an alias.

What about fingerprints?

No prints on file.

Not here, not in Washington.

Man uses a phony name
with no criminal record.

There's nothing wrong with that.

Law says a man can
use any name he wants,

as long as it's not
for illegal purposes.

How do we know it's not?

By checking deeper
into Mr. Winkler.

Oh, Mr. Sanders.

Yes?

I want to thank you for
dropping the charges.

Forget it. I mean it.

Well, if you ever think
of becoming a TV critic...

Thank you very much. Sure.

Mr. Winkler? Yes.

Hawaii Five-0. We'd
like to talk to you.

What for?

We'd like to know where

you're from, Mr. Winkler.

From?

L.A.? Chicago?

Romania? A place.

I'm from New York. Uh,
brought up in Europe.

No birth certificate
in New York.

Or any other place
for that matter.

Well, I was born in a
house, not in a hospital.

My parents, from
the old country,

they... couldn't keep
very good records.

That's putting it mildly.

Your life seems to be

one of the world's
best kept secrets.

We checked Interpol.
Nothing on you in Europe.

Well...

What's your real
name, Mr. Winkler?

What makes you think that
Winkler's not my real name?

I mean, why is the government
suddenly interested in my name?

They're not. Their only
concern is income tax

and immigration status for
all those unrecorded years.

Well...

My real name is Albert Hoffman.

A naturalized citizen.

I lived in
Philadelphia 22 years.

In 1966... I witnessed a murder

by an underworld figure.

I... testified.

The murderer was
given a life sentence...

and I was warned...

that some of his, uh, associates

would be coming after me.

I was told to disappear
for my own safety,

change my name, find a new life.

You're saying the
federal authorities helped

to arrange a new
identity for you?

Exactly.

Well, that's not unheard of.

However, the, uh, head
of Five-0, Steve McGarrett,

happens to be in
Washington just now.

I'm sure you wouldn't
object to us asking him

to check with the
Justice Department

to see whatever they
have on Albert, uh...?

Hoffman. Please do.

Story checks out,
according to Steve.

"Albert Hoffman, Philadelphia,

"key witness against
Big Willie Marine.

Convicted, murder one."

So the Justice Department
did in fact arrange

for the new identity.

Did they specify what it is?

No, but it's explained here.

"Present identity
of Albert Hoffman

"and identifying fingerprints

"will not be transmitted
for protection of witness.

"However, such
data may be delivered

"by courier upon
authorized request.

P.S. Danno, keep me posted."

Well, they certainly
went to great pains

to protect you, Mr. Hoffman.

Please, W-W-Winkler. Winkler.

You see, my one hope is that
my brief appearance on the TV

was not noticed
by the underworld.

Well, if you like, we can
give you police protection

until this blows over.

No. No.

I... I-I don't wanna
draw excessive attention

to myself and my family.

If you like, we could set
up plainclothes security.

I'd rather not.

Thank you.

As you wish.

You're free to go.

Yeah. You know, of course,

that I can't go very far.

My shop, my house,
everything I own

is right here on
this island. Heh.

We understand, Mr. Winkler.

Thank you.

Phone Steve. Ask
him to put through

an official request to
the Justice Department.

Let's get Albert
Hoffman's present ID

and fingerprints.

Okay.

I would leave it closed for
the moment, Mr. Winkler.

There's nothing to fear.

It's all to your advantage.

What do you want?
Who are...? Who are you?

I think you know, Mr. Winkler.

I represent your
former employers.

My name is Reeves.

But then one invented name

is as good as another,
don't you think?

My former employers
are former. No more.

You were paid well.

You were happy to
take the money then.

Uh, that was many years ago.

And the jobs? I carried it off.

I owe you nothing.

But of course you don't.

It is we who owe you.

That is why I wish to
offer you employment now.

I don't want your employment.

I don't need your employment.

Oh, please, Mr. Winkler,
how can you be so indifferent?

When we are so
interested in you...

and in your family.

Oh.

Still the same thing.
Any pressure point.

Still the same, Mr. Winkler.

What better way
to insure the safety

of your family. Don't you agree?

What do you have in mind?

Ah. At last the
professional speaks.

Accumulate maximum
data before taking

a choice of action.

The data, Mr. Winkler.

I'm sure you could
learn it very quickly.

Out of the question.

Excuse me.

I don't think you
quite understand.

I'm being very
pleasant with you,

but that is not meant to
imply that you have a choice.

Now you listen to me!

Mr. Reeves, or
whatever your name is,

we're not over there!

We're here in the United States!

Where a man is
free to make a choice,

either yes or no, and I say no!

Mr. Winkler.

All right.

As we discussed.

Contingency two.

A very stupid fellow.

He never stopped to figure out

the full meaning
of contingency two.

Now, Mr. Winkler...

you will be arrested, of course.

In a few days, one of
two letters will arrive

at police headquarters.

Tell me which you prefer.

A confession of
a crazed assassin

who killed this
unfortunate fellow

and then threw
himself into the sea?

The letter, of course,

will contain
substantial reasons,

giving exact details and so on.

Or do they receive this one?

Written by the
dead man himself...

naming you as his mortal enemy.

Expressing fear
of your vengeance,

spelling out a convincing motive

for your wanting to kill him.

As you say, Mr. Winkler,

in this country, a
man is free to choose.

We can either exonerate
you completely...

or put you away for life.

Police.

I'd like to report a shooting.

Yes. At W.W. Distributors...

on 1132 Auahi Street.

Uh, it seems a man
was just shot to death.

Now, Mr. Winkler... the data.

You've just enough
time to review it.

But, heh, I forget,
with your famous gifts,

you probably have
memorized it already.

No identification
found on corpse.

Pockets empty,
no labels in clothes.

No prints on record
in the United States,

no record with Interpol.

Who was he,
Mr. Winkler? I don't know.

Who shot him? I don't know.

Was it you? No.

Where were you when he was shot?

In my shop.

Then you saw somebody shoot him.

Yes. Who?

Somebody I've never seen before.

Describe him.

About my height and weight.

Same age, more or less.

I can't tell you anymore.

Two strangers
walked into your shop,

and one shot the other.

Just like that.
Just like that, yes!

I'm telling the truth.

I can't control what you think!

I'm telling you the truth!

Truth? And just
when did you begin

telling the truth,
Mr. Winkler? Chin?

Steve McGarrett sent us
prints on Albert Hoffman.

They arrived by
courier this morning.

Not yours, Mr. Winkler.

Not even close.

Hoffman was given
a different identity

by the Justice Department.

Different name, different job,

different state.

What made you think you
could get away with that story?

I gambled...

on the hope that you
wouldn't take the trouble

to send for the prints.

Where'd you get the
name Hoffman from?

From a newspaper story.

Which brings us back
to the original question.

Who are you?

My name... is
Helperin. Paul Helperin.

Till 1966, I was a spy.

Headquarters, East Berlin.

Until I escaped and
came to the West,

where I changed
my identity, and...

tried to live a normal life.

I... almost succeeded.

How does that explain
the corpse in your shop?

I'm a wanted man, Mr. Williams.

Wanted by at
least four countries

and several individuals.

It's not above them
to plant a corpse

to implicate somebody.

It's their favorite trick.

Well, apparently,
you know all the tricks.

If I wanted to kill somebody,

would I do it in my own
shop and then call the police?

Look, I don't blame you
for not believing what I say

after my lying to you,

but would you offer
me an opportunity

to prove to you that I'm
really who I say I am?

Please do.

Hm.

On the upper right-hand
corner of Mr. McGarrett's desk,

there is a telephone message

to call John Manicote,
district attorney.

The message came in, 8:42,

and is in reference to
the Martin Sherwood case.

Moving down in a
clockwise direction,

we come to the dossier
on Albert Hoffman.

The one you received
by courier this morning.

There's a slight
cigarette burn on the file,

but not yours. I've
noticed you don't smoke.

Beneath the dossier
and slightly to the left,

there's a yellow scratch pad

on which you've been
making some notes.

They're not entirely
legible to me,

but I have discerned
the words "call Che Fong"

and then "paraffin test."

No doubt to determine
whether the powder burns

exist on the corpse that
was found in my shop.

To the left of the scratch pad,

a letter from the office
of the chief of police,

Hilo, Hawaii, dated December 12,

and stamped file
number C-4902 double M.

The letter is short and
requests information

on suspect named Halema.

Moving now to the
upper-left-hand corner,

a memo Mr. McGarrett
apparently wrote to himself.

It reads:

"Review preparatory notes

"for meeting in Washington

re: narcotics inflow
from Indochina.

We are trained for
this. One glance.

All right.

You're a trained spy.

And a good one. So what?

That still doesn't prove you
didn't commit that murder

in your own shop.

If you believe I'm a spy,

and you know how they work...
And I know that you know them.

Don't you see? This killing in
my shop only shows the lengths

to which they will go.

I... I want protection
for myself and my family.

I want asylum.

There is much that I can
offer the United States.

So you're claiming
self-defense...

based on reasons having
to do with foreign espionage?

For reasons long past.

Jenny, get me Steve
at his Washington hotel.

Yes?

Well, send him in, please.

Steve.

Bill.

Good to see you. Yes.

You're gonna work
this late in Washington,

you might as well
join us at the CIA.

Thank you. If I'm
gonna work late,

I wanna hear the rustle of
palm trees outside my window,

not that.

Thanks for seeing me
on such short notice.

It's a pleasure.

Well, what can I do for you?

I've got a problem
in Hawaii, Bill.

It just might be
in your bailiwick.

Go.

Homicide case.

Now, circumstantial evidence...

points to a man who
can't prove his identity.

Oh, he's lied on
several occasions.

Now he claims his
name is Helperin.

Paul Helperin. Says he's
a former East German spy.

You've got Paul Helperin?

Well, that's who he says he is.

Well, if you've
got Paul Helperin,

you've landed a
very important fish.

The number one East German spy

for the past ten years.

He stole the multiple
warhead plans

right out of a NATO meeting.

And disappeared around...'66.

Yeah. Yeah,
that's the right year.

Now, can you help us...

make a positive identification?

Mm.

That's a rough order.
We've never even seen him.

We have no photographs of him,

no fingerprints, nothing.

Wait a minute,
Bill. Are you saying

that a positive
identification is impossible?

There is one way...

but I can't be
sure I can deliver.

It would mean an
eyewitness identification.

By whom?

Have you ever heard
the name Rogloff?

Yeah.

Yeah, Soviet big shot,

he defected to us a
couple of years ago.

Our prize of the decade.

The head of Soviet intelligence
for all of East Europe.

Rogloff is the only
man, Steve, in America,

who can positively
identify Helperin.

And where is he?

Mm-hm.

That's the problem.

He's in this country, but
he's in deep-security hiding.

That's the deal we
made when he came over.

Steve, I can't guarantee
Rogloff will even talk to you,

much less come to Hawaii.

Bill, look... I want
a crack at him.

Just long enough
to make my pitch.

Well, I can try to
arrange a meet,

but I can't promise anything.

How soon could
you meet with him?

Name it. Any place, any
time. Tonight, tomorrow.

Okay.

I'll do my very best.

Emerson?

Set up a call for
me with the man

in file number JV-42.

That's what I said.

Put it on scrambler.

Mr. McGarrett?

Yes.

May I see your ID?

Hm.

All right.

I am Rogloff.

I have heard a lot about you.

And I about you.

I admire good police work...

no matter what country.

As one professional to another.

We think we might have a member

of your sophisticated
profession in Hawaii.

A man who calls
himself Helperin.

I understand that you
can identify him for me.

Perhaps I can.

But why should I
risk my security?

Oh, professional courtesy?

I would rather be
discourteous and alive.

This man is facing a
possible murder indictment.

He claims to be innocent,
that he was framed.

You think I care
whether Helperin is shot,

or garroted, or
hanged by the thumbs?

Not for one minute.

But I thought you might
care if, uh, he got off scot-free.

Free?

Happens all the
time in our country.

He gets a smart lawyer,

and a... A jury of his
peers buys his story.

What story?

In this case...

we have no identification
for the murdered man.

Therefore, no provable
link to Helperin.

We have no apparent motive
for Helperin to have killed him,

no witnesses.

Yes. In this case,

a shrewd lawyer could
get him off scot-free.

But he shouldn't be
allowed to go free.

The man is a monster.

All the more reason
for you to identify him.

And how would that
change anything?

He's wanted...

in at least four
other countries.

Now, we have extradition
treaties with two of them.

If that man is Helperin...

we will make sure that
he falls into their hands,

irrespective of the outcome

of the homicide case.

Do you have his picture?

There is a likeness, to be sure.

But seven years...
difficult to tell.

Besides, there was a bit of
surgery done, I've been told.

Well... how could
you identify him

at all, then?

I would not depend
upon appearance alone.

I would ask certain questions.

Information which only
Helperin would know.

I think you'd like it in Hawaii.

I suppose I would
be fairly safe.

But not as safe
as I am right here.

No.

How many of your
people has he betrayed?

Name Kaminsky mean anything?

Zurkoff?

Mahlin?

Krista Liebman?

I understand that she
was your closest assistant.

That you sent her
to warn Helperin

that his cover was
about to be blown.

That when she walked
into his apartment,

she realized that she
had walked into a trap.

She was taken captive
by internal security.

Never seen or heard from again.

How long... are you
going to allow Helperin

to walk the face of this Earth?

Very well, McGarrett.

We go to Hawaii.

Yes.

I'm Rogloff.

You see, we never
cease to take precautions

in our sophisticated profession.

Yeah.

Beautiful.

What do they call this place?

Security 3.

A place for material witnesses,

uh, special security cases.

Well-guarded, I suppose.

You suppose right.

Mm.

Armed guards all over the place.

Up there...

down below.

One at each end of the
highway leading from the road.

We see everything
coming, everything going.

Mm-hm.

How long will I be here?

Uh, till Rogloff comes.
Makes the identification.

And then?

All facts go to the grand jury.

They decide what happens next.

You sure he'll come?

He's on his way. McGarrett
called this morning

from the mainland.

And you'll bring him
up here with me?

He'll be searched.

And so will everyone with him.

Don't worry about it.

Oh, that's easy to say.

You know what
spies are really like?

They're sickly,
treacherous people.

Some bolstering their
courage with brandy,

others with drugs.

All with the stink
of fear on their skin.

Spies?

Maggots crawling
on a garbage dump.

Look at how my hands are
shaking just thinking about it.

Just knowing that
Rogloff is coming here.

I... I-I don't usually drink...

but, uh... could I
have just a little?

I'll see that something's
brought to you.

Steve just called.
Landed and on their way.

Thanks, Ben.

You'll have to be
searched, gentlemen.

It won't be the first
time. I assure you.

My bodyguards too, I presume?

Of course.

This way, please.

I've posted extra
security guards

on all points of entry, Steve.

Hill 342... 417... and
the main highway.

Good.

Good.

I'd put a man down
by the lighthouse.

Let's not forget the
approach from the sea.

Okay.

Bodyguard" weapons.

Nothing else on them, Steve.

Put the pieces
away until they leave.

Ready?

Mr. Rogloff?

You say you're Helperin?

Yeah.

You don't look like him.

There was a bit of surgery done,

as you remember.

What case was this?

Fritz Weissler assassination.

Dossier number 6372-M.

What city? Where
did you shoot him?

I didn't shoot him.

He was knocked unconscious
by two men I employed

and drowned in the Elbe River.

Who was your contact then?

Hauptmann.
Twenty-nine Konigstrasse.

These facts were
known to others.

Only three other men, except us.

Hauptmann and the
two men I employed.

What happened to them?

Hauptmann was
recalled to the Kremlin.

The other two men
met an untimely death.

It was described
in the newspapers

as an auto accident.

Hm.

In March 1966...

a special courier
was sent to you.

Who was it?

Krista Liebman.

Why was she sent?

To warn me.

About what?

A man named Karmas,

our operative in Yugoslavia.

He was a... heroin addict.

And they lured him
away to the other side

by a promise of
unlimited supply of drugs.

And in return for that,

he gave them all the
information about our apparatus,

including my address.

What happened then?

Well, you know...

Details, Mr. Helperin. Details.

We're here to make
an identification.

Yes, yes. Yes. Krista
called me on the telephone,

and we... We... We
arranged for a meeting.

And after that, I was picked up
by counterintelligence agents.

A-A-And... And I made
an arrangement with them.

A deal. That's what you
mean, you made a deal.

Isn't that what you mean?

Yes, for... For my life.

What kind of deal did you make?

I told them where they
can find Krista Liebman.

Do you know what
happened to her?

I, uh... I could imagine.

No! No, you can do
more than imagine.

You know! You know
the procedure very well.

The beatings to
obtain information

and for the amusement
of the guards.

And then when the
victim is no longer needed,

a dram of mineral
acids in the water.

Neat, efficient.

No blood, no mess.

Just blackened lips...

burning of the intestines,

severe convulsions, and
then your victim dies in agony.

So ended the life of my
bride of seven weeks.

Oh, my God.

I didn't know.

I swear.

I didn't know.

That's terrible.

They told me that
she'd go to prison

for one or two
years. They said so!

I didn't know.

If I knew, believe me,
I'd prefer to die myself.

Forgive me. Please
forgive me. Please.

Forgive you?

There's no need to.

He's not Paul Helperin.

Are you sure?

Look at him. Trembling.

The real Helperin
never had a grain

of conscience in his life.

Nor could he pretend it.

There's more than conscience
involved here. Facts.

First...

the real Helperin knew that
Krista and I had been married.

Krista phoned me before
she went to meet Helperin.

She had told him herself
that we were married.

He...

He wished us happiness.

Sent a gift.

And then he betrayed her.

You were briefed well...

but not quite well enough.

I wish you were Helperin,
so I could kill you now.

Shall we go back to the airport?

Rogloff, don't go out there!

You're right! I'm not Helperin!

I'm not Hoffman,
I'm not Winkler!

I'm Otto Steiner.

Yes.

This whole charade...

including the murder in my shop

was designed to
get him out of hiding.

To kill him.

To kill the great Rogloff.

Okay, Steve.

Now, you understand
that this lie detector test

is strictly voluntary.

It's something I
want, Mr. McGarrett.

All right.

Please answer yes
or no to all questions.

They'll be based
on the statement

you gave us half an hour ago.

Mr. Rogloff.

"Is your real name
Otto Steiner?"

Yes.

"In the 1960s, you were
recruited for espionage

on behalf of East Germany?"

Yes.

"Before that, you were a
vaudevillian from Austria?"

Yes.

"An entertainer? Memory expert?"

Yes.

"Once you became a spy,
you worked as a courier,

"transporting information
about engineering plans

in your head from
country to country?"

Yes.

"You never carried documents.

It was all done from memory?"

Yes. Did you ever kill anyone?

No.

McGARRETT: Go ahead.

"You worked for East
German intelligence

"for about six months,

and then tried to quit?"

Yes.

"So you realized the only way
out was to vanish, escape?"

Yes.

"You got forged papers,

came to this country
as Peter Winkler?"

Yes.

"You got married, bought a shop,

lived quietly for seven
years here in Hawaii,

till your picture
appeared on TV?"

Yes.

"After which, they recruited you

for another espionage
assignment?"

Yes.

And they told you
to pose as Helperin...

knowing that there
was only one person

who could identify
Helperin. Rogloff.

Yes.

And the plan was to
get Rogloff out of hiding

so they could kill him.

Yes.

And his killers are out there

right now waiting
to... Mr. McGarrett.

Please answer yes or...

I can't go on
answering yes or no.

I have to explain to you.

I did not want this job!

They forced me. They
framed me for murder.

I had to think of
my wife and child.

But still I couldn't... I
wouldn't go through with it.

You must believe me.
I'm telling you the truth.

All right, Che.

Steve. Why don't
we dragnet the area?

Use H.P.D. and
Army reinforcements,

flush out everything that moves.

Then we only get
the small fry, Danno.

I want the big game. The
guy who engineered this.

And I think I may
know how to get him.

Ready now, Mr. Winkler?

Ready.

Command car in position.

All units report.

Unit 1. All quiet.

Unit 2 in position.

We've got a good view
from back of the shop.

All quiet.

McGARRETT: Okay. Stand by.

Now we wait.

Step lively, folks.

We have 15 minutes
to buy souvenirs,

before we go back for
the complimentary cocktail.

Oh, man.

We've been had.

Central. McGarrett.

Code Red.

In pursuit of a stolen
Trade Wind Tour limousine,

license number, Boy-1278.

Heading west on Kaimuki Street.

All units... assist.

No. Hold it.

Central, McGarrett.

Suspect has just
changed vehicles

from a tour limousine to
a black, four-door sedan.

License number, 5-Easy-8636.

Now leaving mauka end of Valley

between Koa and Auahi Street.

And send up a chopper,

and set up a quadrant
pattern on the previous m.o.

Get out.

Walk 14 paces away.

Walk.

Now turn around.

A .22 is a gentleman's death.

I have something
else in mind for you.

Now talk, quickly.

What happened to Rogloff?

He died of a heart attack.

Rogloff was strong as an ox.

He was never sick
a day in his life.

He was sick today.

Why did they let you go?

Why should they keep me?

A man was killed in your shop.

They... They... They released
me pending investigation.

Pending the setting
of a trap for me,

isn't that what you mean?

No.

Why were the police
around your shop?

Why were they
following us just now?

If there was a trap, then
it was a trap for me too.

I knew nothing about it.

You lie.

About Rogloff, the
police... everything.

I give you one last chance.

Now, what happened to Rogloff?

Freeze!

McGARRETT: Put your
hands on top of your head

and walk toward me.

I'm still walking out of here.

Or else he goes.

McGarrett may
honor your hostage.

I will not.

You traded your life for
someone else's once before.

For Krista.

For my wife.

I don't care if I have
to kill him to kill you...

Comrade Helperin.

McGARRETT: Helperin?

He's not bluffing.

Throw your gun down.

Put your hands
on your head, now.

You two up on the hill,

come down with your hands up.

Leave your weapons
on the ground.

Take him.

I'm sure we can arrange

with the State Department

to grant you asylum

for all the help
you've given us.

But you might
still be in danger.

You'll have to leave
Hawaii, of course.

A new business,

a new address will be
arranged for you and your family.

All the necessary papers
will be taken care of:

birth certificates...
social security...

school records for the child...

driver's license and so forth.

Of course, uh...
a new identity...

another name,
Mr. Winkler... Hoffman...

Helperin... Steiner, or...