Hawaii Five-O (1968–1980): Season 6, Episode 20 - Murder with a Golden Touch - full transcript

A private detective, and former HPD officer, turns up dead. Following his trail, Five-O discovers the private detective was investigating whether a businessman's son-in-law was being faithful in his marriage. It turns out the son-in-law is up to his neck in a scheme to steal gold from the businessman, melt it and recast it and make it appear to be a treasure find. Things will turn more deadly before Five-O can crack the case.

Watch it, watch it!

Credit cards? Credit cards?

I want to show you this.

Give me your drink. There.

Check the room.

All intact.

Did you count them?

Come and have a
look for yourself, love.

We made an ID positive
through his prints.

A private eye named Henry Mott.

Henry Mott. Bill Hayes' partner,



used to be on H.P.D.
Burglary Squad?

Good man. One of the best.

At first it looked like
homicide-mugging.

That's how we
gave it to the press.

No way. A man
with Mott's know-how

wouldn't be outfoxed
by a two-bit mugger.

His money, his watch,
and his wallet were gone.

Now, we also know
he had a gun, a .38.

That's gone too. Shot
with his own piece?

Negative. Here's the
slug that killed him, a .22.

But we don't have
the gun to match it.

This man was killed
on the job. He had to be.

I'll check with his partner,
see what case he was on.

Hold it, Steve. Hold it.



You haven't heard
the strange part yet.

All over his clothes, his
shoes, and on his hands,

were tiny grains of
a yellow substance.

I think I know what it is.

I was about to verify
it when you called.

Put a few grains
of this substance

in this carbon-electrode crater,

photo plate directly above.

Now we pass an electric
arc through the crater.

This may not look like much,

but it confirms what I thought.

Mott fell down or
crawled in gold dust,

pure gold dust, before he died.

Gold dust?

Was there gold in the car?

Negative.

Which means that
he fell someplace else,

or maybe was shot
someplace else,

before he got to Makiki Street.

Well, I made a calculation
which may be of help.

Assuming that Mott fell down
in a room of average size,

10 by 12 feet,

and assuming that the
concentration of gold

was uniform, Mott
fell down in a room

covered with dust
worth a small fortune.

Where's that much
gold in Hawaii?

Mm. I don't know, Danno,

but it's all on file
with the government.

Check mainland treasury,

all companies licensed
to deal in gold in Hawaii.

Right.

Gentlemen, please, remember.

Let's not alert our adversaries.

Until this is pinned down,

no tips, no leaks to
anyone about gold.

They, uh... They were
all out of diet soda, so...

Champagne. How lovely.

That is a gift from
a groveling buyer

begging for a
franchise to sell our line.

I think you should grant it.

Oh, well, there's no hurry.

Let him... Let him
pamper us for a while.

Hey, I'm thinking about

a little champagne
party tonight.

Sound interesting?

Well, I might consider it.

You just keep the
wine nice and chilled,

and everything
else nice and warm.

Greg?

Last night, I... I
did something.

I hope you won't be angry.

At you? How could I be?

When you didn't come
home by midnight, I...

I was so worried.

I called my father to see if...

I'd had an accident?

Drove the car off Diamond
Head into the ocean?

May I tell you
something, Tamisha?

You are a silly, foolish,

lovely, wonderful
joy in my life,

and you worry too much.

Bye.

Read the papers?

Sure. Three shootings reported:

a suicide, a jealous
husband thing,

and a mugging. Nothing else.

Who was the man?

I figure him for a burglar.

Second storey man.

That's why he didn't
go to the police.

Let's hope you're right, love.

Besides, he couldn't possibly
have seen what was in that room.

No argument there.

So we proceed as planned.

Mr. Lawrence. Yes?

Mr. Kayata said that
he wanted to see you

as soon as you got here.

Hello, Greg. Just coming in?

Sorry, T.K.

I, uh... I was out with a
buyer last night and we...

Yes, I knew you
were out last night.

Tamisha called
me around midnight.

Write up any orders?

Orders?

The buyer.

Oh, no. Nothing yet, but, um...

I am close to a...
To a very big sale.

I'm glad to hear it.

These things take a lot of time,

a lot of persuading.

Only up to a point. Then
the product takes over.

The beautiful
line you've created

really, really sells itself.

You don't do badly, either.

Let me know how it turns out.

All right.

I'm grateful for this audience.

The honor is ours, Chin Ho.

What is it you want?

It is known to us that
some of you possess

large quantities of gold.

Now, we want to know if you
have any knowledge of a crime,

a shooting in
connection with gold.

We know of no shooting, Chin Ho,

but we do know something
special happened,

perhaps of importance.

Yes.

Several months
ago a stranger came

to see the honorable Han Yat Lee

to purchase a quantity of molds,

the type our people
have used for centuries

to make gold bars.

This stranger, what
did he look like?

Unfortunately, we
shall never know.

The honorable
Han Yat Lee is blind.

Can I help you, sir?

I'm just passing.

I collect antiques.
Mind if I browse?

Oh, not at all.

Hey, Ned!

The gentleman
wants to see the items.

Coming right up.

Best stock only. Right.

English, right?

Born within the
sound of Bow Bells,

which makes me a
Cockney, and proud of it too.

Ah, but you've got
the right life here.

To plunge into the briny deep

and explore the
treasures of the past.

That's true adventure,
true adventure.

I believe someone even found
a China trader hereabouts.

That was us.

You're joking.

No, a three-master,

found on the bottom
of Makapuu Bay.

Papers wrote us up
about a year and a half ago.

Well, I am in luck.

Ah, here we are.

The, uh... The best
items for the gentleman.

Take a look.

Oh, h-here's a lovely
piece of jade, hand-carved.

Took them years to make that.

They used bamboo
drills, you know.

Do tell.

Yeah. You... You
know what this is?

No.

Ching dynasty, 1655.

I am impressed.

If that piece was perfect,

it would cost you
hundreds of dollars alone.

Hmm.

Yeah, you know, we got
a lot of sweat and time

invested in our merchandise.

A lot of time.

Uh, ha, I'll, uh...
I'll wrap it for you.

No, uh, just wrap
yourselves, lads.

You're under arrest.

Arrest?

Hey, what for?

Bunco, fraud, and
larceny, that's what for.

Ching dynasty...

Maybe the
five-and-ten-cent store kind.

Come on. Let's go.

Now w-w-wait a minute,
wait a minute. Uh,

maybe we made a mistake.

It happens. Listen, we
don't want your money.

Take it back. Take it all back.

No, lads, I'm not a copper.

Just teaching you
a lesson, that's all.

Never ever try to con a con man.

What are you, some kind of...

Hey, hold on. Hold on now, lads.

I'm here to make you some money.

I do want to buy something,

$10,000 worth, in fact.

Ten thousand bucks?

That's what I said.

What is it you want to buy?

You.

Steve? Just in from Washington,

Office of Domestic Gold
and Silver Operations.

These are the people licensed
to deal in gold in Hawaii.

Snug-Fit Watchband Company,

Marko Dental Supplies,
King Electronics.

They use gold salts for plating.

Mauna Loa Chemical Supply,

University of
Hawaii laboratories,

Asian Metal Arts Company,

Tenjo Kayata, president.

That rings a bell.

They manufacture jewelry,
the biggest in the islands.

Wait a minute.

Yeah.

Tenjo Kayata employed Henry Mott

of the Oahu Detective
Agency on August the 16th.

What makes you think I
can help you, Mr. McGarrett?

At the time Henry
Mott was murdered,

he was working for
a number of clients.

You were included.

I'd like to know
more about that.

You must be mistaken.

I'd have no reason to
hire a private detective.

This is all wasted
motion, Mr. Kayata.

We've seen the records of
the Oahu Detective Agency.

We know the date
that you engaged them,

the deposit paid,

and the name of the
person to be followed.

I told her not to marry him.

I saw the signs,

but what can you
tell a girl of 20?

Your daughter, hmm?

Yes.

She met this Caucasian
named Gregory Lawrence.

Good-looking, suave.

Tamisha fell in love
with him hopelessly.

What could I do?

I took him into the business.

Then he began to
stay away from home.

An evening here,
a weekend there,

and always an ingenious excuse.

I hired Mott to find out
what he was really doing.

And did you find out?

I was to get a report this week,

and then I read this
morning that Mott was killed.

I understand that
you, uh, deal in gold.

Among other things.

Large volume?

We export all over the world.

Was Henry Mott
ever in your vaults

where the gold was kept?

No, never.

Have you had any
robberies or burglaries,

uh, gold missing for any reason?

No, nothing like that.

Thank you, Mr. Kayata.
We'll be in touch.

Put me through to the vaults.

Central, McGarrett.

Patch me through to
Danny Williams, please.

10-4.

Steve?

Danno, I want a background
on Kayata's son-in-law,

Gregory Lawrence.

I want the book
and I want it fast.

Okay.

Cut your engine.

Drop it in.

There they are. Right on time.

Morning.

Morning. Check the location?

All bearings check
out, Mr. Quillian.

All yours. Take them away.

Aye, aye.

Okay.

Okay.

Bring her up.

That's it.

Give them a good
drenching, boys.

Drop her down.

It's coming.

Tighten up over there.

Tighten up.

Okay.

Start to let her out.

Bring her over.
Up a little more.

Up a little more.
Up a little more.

All right, we got her!

All right, let's run her out.

Last one coming up.

The Convincer, I call it.

You know what to do.

Right.

Take me a minute
to get to my gear.

Okay, Mr. Quillian.
Everything's okay.

Jolly good.

Now hurry back
and report your find.

Mustn't keep the world waiting.

Background on Gregory Lawrence.

Born in Houston,
Texas. Parents divorced.

Drifted to Los Angeles

and started to
make it on his own.

First modeling and then,
uh, movie-extra work,

then a number of fast
promotional schemes,

quick buck turnover.
But no criminal record.

For that live report...

Steve, there's something
on TV I think you ought to see,

a news report,
something about gold.

We switch you there
now for the live interview

with the treasure hunters.

And what time this morning
was that, Mr. Fleming?

Oh, about 8, 8:30.

Yeah, about 8:30.

We were down on the bottom
of that old Chinese trader.

Looking for relics. We've
been down there 20 times before

and never found anything.

Never spotted
these chests before.

So we hauled one
up, took a look inside.

Well, can you imagine
the look on our faces?

I doubt if we can, Mr. Fleming.

In fact, I doubt if any
one of our viewers

can even imagine what
it must be like to discover

over $1 million in gold.

Now what's the next step...

Fleming!

Mr. Boyle.

Five-0. We'd like to come
aboard and talk to you.

Sure, come aboard.

What can we, uh,
do for you gentlemen?

We, uh, caught you on
television this morning.

Big moment in Hawaii's history.

How about that? I
can't believe it myself.

That the gold onboard the truck?

Oh, yeah, yeah.

It's, uh, safe and sound
on the way to the bank.

I never even won
a raffle before. Heh.

But you did win a
suspended sentence once.

Danno.

"Charles Fleming and Ed Boyle,

"arrested for selling
a worthless pendant

"represented as an antique.

"Defendants claimed
an honest mistake.

"Judge granted an S.S.

"in view of no
previous criminal record

after the money was
returned to the buyer."

Yeah. Like the man said,
it was an honest mistake.

Yeah. We, uh... We
found it on the ocean floor.

We thought it was real.

Is that gold real?

Uh, don't know
whether it is or not.

Don't matter to us. Why not?

Well, you see, when we...

When we made the find
we were under charter.

So the gold belongs to
the people that hired us.

McGARRETT: Who is that?

Outfit named Geodetic Surveys.

Joe Quillian, president.

When I read that
they'd discovered it,

I knew right away
what they'd found.

The clipper Boston Cloud.

Length of keel 200 feet,

breadth of beam, 41.

Her captain was a
Jeremiah Farnum,

a scoundrel if ever one lived.

He bought opium in India

and sold it to the
Chinese warlords for gold.

Pure gold.

He was on his way
back home to enjoy it

when he struck a
reef off Makapuu Point.

Well, that was it.
Rotten luck, eh?

Prepare to lower the anchors.

Lower the anchor.

Put our divers over, Danno.

Mind you, sir,

your divers may
find nothing below.

My two boys are very thorough.

Very thorough.

Yeah, I know.

Send a cable down.

Che, Arthur Jentry,
San Francisco.

Jentry And Sons,
precious metals,

largest dealers in the country.

I'm flattered, Mr. Fong.

I was about to test
this gold for purity.

My highest karat needle.
You know what that means.

Top quality. 99.5 pure.

All right, pure gold.
But is it antique?

Could it have been in the sea

for over 150 years?

No way to tell that, Steve.
Gold doesn't oxidize.

No way of telling its age.

What about the rest of the find?

The chest, for instance,
or the hull of the ship?

The ship's long been verified,

carbon dated by
the university labs.

As far as the
chest is concerned,

there's no
question that it's old.

Early 19th century manufacture,

but it's not that rare.

What about the shape
of the ingot itself?

We know that a
lot of antique molds

were purchased from the Chinese

here in the islands.

Without the molds, we can't
possibly identify the ingots.

What you're saying then,

maybe it's authentic
and maybe it's not.

There will be more
tests on the mainland.

Where? At the
U.S. Mint laboratory

in Washington.

There's a sample on its way now.

That's required by law
before I'm allowed to buy it.

Buy it?

You plan on buying this gold?

That's why I'm
here, Mr. McGarrett.

Pending the green
light from Washington,

I'm prepared to pay
upwards of a million dollars.

Hey, Fleming?

Fleming! FLEMING: Yeah.

What's the emergency?

I tell you. We're scared,
Mr. Quillian. Scared.

Got cops all over the
place asking questions,

taking the gold
to the lab for tests.

It's the risk. You see, uh,

it just ain't worth the risk.

Not for ten grand.

We just want to be treated fair.

I mean, a million for you
and, uh, ten grand for us?

It ain't worth the risk.

Not when you consider
how much we know.

What would you consider fair?

Well, have a beer, Mr. Quillian,

and we'll talk about that.

Yeah?

Churchill here.

Two of our troops are defecting.

Threatening too.

The naval forces?

Unless they get sizable awards.

What, uh... What is sizable?

Sixpence on the shilling, love.

That's half and no mistake.

You know what to do

with defecting
troops, uh, Winston.

Greg. Huh?

If there was some
kind of trouble,

you'd tell me, wouldn't you?

Of course I would, darling.

Because if there
was, no matter what,

I would help you, Greg.

I know you would, sweetheart.

Good morning, Steve.

Oh. Good morning, Danno.

Telex just came in
from the U.S. mint.

"Sample gold
submitted 99.5 pure.

"Bar crudely cast and porous,

"giving credence
to antique claim.

"This could be simulated

"by casting at
excessive temperatures,

"but we have no evidence
that such simulation took place.

"Mold marks authentic,

"corresponding with
early 19th century

"Chinese forms in Smithsonian.

J. Grimaldi, deputy director,
U.S. Mint Laboratory."

The same story as Che's, huh?

Something else from H.P.D.

Two juveniles picked
up in Makiki Heights

on a routine marijuana bust.

They had a watch,
a camera, and a gun.

It belonged to Henry Mott.

The kids broke down
under questioning

and admitted they took
the stuff from Mott's body

after they found him dead.

Ties in with our theory.
Any film in the camera?

Yes, but none exposed.
We checked it out.

What's that?

Oh.

May I help you, Mr. Kayata?

After you left the other
day, I had an inventory taken.

We normally do it once a year.

What about it?

Gold missing, 185
pounds troy weight.

That's about 300 kilos.
How much in dollars?

One million two
hundred thousand.

One million two
hundred thousand stolen?

One million found in the wreck.

Got to be it.

Who had access to the vaults?

One man. One man besides me.

Your son-in-law?

Yes.

Danno, I want
warrants for Quillian,

Lawrence, Boyle, and Fleming.

I want the harbor and
airport police notified

and I want a wall
around this island.

McGarrett.

Coast guard chopper just
spotted the Pacific Pearl.

She's anchored off Makapuu
near the sunken ship.

On my way, Danno.

Fleming?

Boyle?

Anybody aboard?

Get our divers over, Danno.

Okay. Go ahead over.

What is it?

That gold may be 99.5 pure,
but it's 100 percent stolen.

Oh, no.

Three hundred kilograms

missing from the Asian
Metal Arts Company,

258 found in the wreck of
the clipper Boston Cloud.

And the finders
were not keepers.

And what about Quillian?

We haven't found him
yet. I hardly need tell you

to withhold
payment on that gold.

Mr. McGarrett, I'm
afraid that advice

is a little late.

What do you mean?

You paid him?

By certified check as soon
as the green light came

from the U.S. mint laboratory.

Danno, get on the horn
to every bank in Oahu.

Find out if a check
for a million dollars

was deposited to any
account within the last 24 hours.

Right.

What did you do?

What did I do? I
know you hate him,

but at least you could let
us live. He's my husband.

Your husband stole a
million dollars from me.

That's a lie.

You told the police a lie

to destroy him, to make
him run away from me.

He's gone? Why did you
do that to him? To me?

Tamisha... Is there
no limit to your hatred?

Just listen to me.
A man was killed,

a private detective
in my employ.

I told the police

that I had received no
reports from this man.

That wasn't true.

I told them a lie to
protect your feelings,

but now...

The account was
opened in our bank

a little over a year ago

under the name of the
Geodetic Survey company.

The amount was $12,000.

Later, 10,000 was withdrawn.

The money for Fleming and Boyle.

Yeah. They must have
gotten greedy later on.

This morning at 10:07,

the check for a
million was deposited.

Nice payoff for 11
months of stealing.

Uh, how much gold

would have to be taken each day?

Thirty ounces.

It could fit into a
small attaché case.

Later melted down
and recast crudely

to simulate antique bars.

Oh, uh, by the way,

the DA tells me with
the evidence we have,

we can get an attachment
order on that certified check.

So you haven't lost your
money yet, Mr. Jentry.

But we've lost
Quillian and Lawrence.

Have we?

Well, they got off the island.

But I think I know
how to get them back

with the help of the bank.

Of course. Anything we can do.

Who is authorized to
withdraw from that account?

That would be the
company officers.

Mr. James Brennan of
London, Andre Lemieux of Paris.

There are the signatures.

Who are they?

Oh, that would be
Lawrence and Quillian.

Now, sooner or later,

you're going to get
a draft on this money

from either London
or Paris or both.

And when you do,
I'd like you to reply

with this message.

Steve, telex from Scotland
Yard and the French Sûreté.

They're onboard these flights
heading for the United States.

Oh, the magnet is working, huh?

And, uh, Mrs. Gregory
Lawrence is here to see you.

Mrs. Lawrence?

All right, show her in.

This way, please.

Yes, Mrs. Lawrence?

In my garden...

this.

McGarrett.

All right, Chin. Stay with them.

They've both arrived.

I'd like to see a
bank officer, please.

My name is Lemieux.
Andre Lemieux.

Just one moment, please.

A Mr. Lemieux would
like to see a bank officer.

Yes, sir.

Mr. Miller will see you, sir.

Go right in room A.

Thank you.

Either there's been a mistake

or I am the victim
of a terrible fraud.

Welcome to the
club, Mr. Lawrence.

Bring him in.

Aloha, gentlemen.

Let me assure you that neither
one of you cheated the other.

We just made you
think that happened

by sending you both
the same message:

account overdrawn.

Book them, Danno.
Murder one, three counts.