Hunter (1984–1991): Season 6, Episode 7 - Yesterday's Child - full transcript
Hunter receives a life-altering shock when he is asked to take the case of a Vietnamese teenager who is accused of murdering a car salesman.
Tonight on "Hunter."
-Come on, guys.
I don't think is
such a good idea.
-Then why don't wait here.
We'll be right back.
-Stop, you little punk!
-Don't move.
-You're staring the murder
rap square in the face.
It's not gonna go away.
-Ben is innocent.
-I'm telling the truth
and no one cares.
-Your father cares.
-Oh, yeah?
So what?
-You must help him,
Sergeant Hunter?
He is your son.
-Come on, guys.
I don't think this is
such a good idea.
-Then why don't you wait here?
We'll be right back.
Ben, relax, Ben.
This is it.
-Stop, you little punk!
-Ben!
Oh, man!
Get in!
-You shot him!
-Just get in the damn car!
-No.
-Freeze!
Don't move, punk.
-Good morning, belly bomb.
-This is just what
I need right now.
-Well, you're gonna
to need it to cut
through material the
material you got there.
-We.
And that's because
Kinnins and McGovern are
at TDY at the academy
and we have their.
-Those coneheads can't type.
-No kidding.
-Rick, I got a guy at the desk
that, uh, wants to talk to you.
-Yeah, good.
Can he type?
You're gonna need that.
How do you do?
I'm Sergeant Hunter.
-I apologize for taking you
away from your duty, sergeant.
My name is Nyuen Tran.
-Well, what can I do
for you, Mr. Nyuen?
-It's about my son Ben.
He was arrested last night.
There was a shooting.
And he was with
the boys who did it.
-Oh, the, uh, Elegant
Motors shooting.
-Yes.
But Ben is innocent.
-Well, I think there's been
some sort of mistake, Mr. Nyuen.
I'm not handling that case.
Sergeant Matthews is.
I'll get him for you.
-Please.
I hoped you'd look into
Ben's case personally.
-I don't understand.
-Ben's mother was someone
you knew in Vietnam.
-When my tour of duty was up I
asked Lynn to marry me and come
back to the States, but she
wouldn't leave her family.
-I know.
-12 years ago, I
received a letter
saying that she had died in
a refugee camp in Thailand.
Letter never did
mention a child.
-I wrote that letter.
She spoke often of you.
She told me that you wanted
to become a policeman in Los
Angeles, so that's
where I sent a letter.
You are a man who makes
his dreams reality, sergeant.
-Well, not all of them.
When I got home I wrote
her many more times,
but she never
answered my letters.
Then when Saigon
fell I, I wrote her again.
All my letters were
returned unopened.
-The regime was
very hard on anyone
who had an affiliations
with Americans.
She was sent to reeducation
camp for a couple of years.
Of course, she wasn't
allowed any letters.
I was sent to the
camp as well because I
served in the South
Vietnamese Army.
That is where I first
met Lynn, with her child.
-Ben is not your blood son?
Before she died she asked
me to make two promises.
The first that I would
always protect Ben.
The second that I
would never tell him
that his real father was alive.
But because what
happened last night to Ben,
I must break the second
so that I may keep the first.
You must help him.
Sergeant Hunter,
his is your son.
-Hello, Ben.
I'm Sergeant Hunter.
Have a seat.
You're in a lot of
trouble, you know that?
-I had nothing to do
with that guy getting shot.
I already told that
to the other detective.
Where is he?
-Well, uh, he's doing
something else right now.
I'm, uh, I'm taking
over for him.
-Well, he didn't believe me
so I figure you won't either.
-It's quite a story
you've got here.
In your statement you said that
you were with these two guys.
And you only knew them by the
nick names of Slice and Speed.
Is that right?
-That's right.
-And you never got
their real names?
-Hey, what's the point?
No one believes
that I didn't know
they were planning to
steal a car or kill anyone.
-Sit down.
-Hey, look.
I'm telling the truth
and no one cares.
-Your father cares.
-Oh yeah?
So what?
-So what, huh?
Look, you got two choices.
You can feel sorry for yourself
and go to prison for murder
or you can shut
up, relax, talk to me.
Maybe I can help you.
Now what do you want to do?
-Hey, why does it matter to you?
-I'm a police officer, Ben.
It's my job.
Now, you wanna talk or not?
Good.
Now, why don't you
start from the very top
and tell me what happened.
Hey, how you doing?
-Hi.
Just talked to Joe Matthews.
-Hmm.
-So what's this about us taking
the Elegant Imports shooting?
-Oh, yeah.
Look, I was gonna
talk to you about that.
-Better late than never.
-It's very personal.
-It's personal?
-Yeah.
-Well, I thought we decided that
if something personal came up
in a case we'd shift it
over to somebody else.
-Look, you're absolutely right.
I'd like to make an
exception in this case.
You'll Go along with
me on it, won't you?
-Yeah, OK.
-Thanks.
-No, I've never seen
this kid around here.
-Do you remember a
couple of guys in their 20s
who might have been
hanging around the show room?
-Oh, man.
A lotta guys come
in here, you know,
with big dreams
and empty pockets.
Uh, I'm sorry I, I tend to only
remember the ones who buy.
-Oh, sure.
Well, you think these
guys came in here
to case the joint or something?
-Well, yeah.
It's possible.
Tell me something.
Is not unusual for a salesman
to be working that late?
-No, not really.
I mean, Franz had a lot of,
you know, paperwork to finish up.
He'd, uh, he had a big day.
Big day.
But I don't know.
What happened, it made me sick.
He was such a good guy.
Oh, there's Ken.
Do you wanna come with me?
-Yeah.
-Ken, this is Sergeant McCall.
Ken Martin.
-Oh yes, of course.
We spoke on the phone.
-Right.
-Anything new since then?
-No.
The stolen car
hasn't turned up yet.
And, uh, the vehicle
that was left on the lot
didn't have any prints.
Something will come up.
-I'm sure you're
doing all you can.
Come on.
We can talk in
my office upstairs.
-Ken, boys on the floor kind
of pitched in for some flowers.
So just let me know
where we can send them.
-Oh, Julie is making all
the funeral arrangements,
so to talk to her, Jack.
-OK.
-Thank you.
-My pleasure.
-You're handling the
funeral arrangements.
Did Mr. Have a family?
-Well, we get a
lot of rolling stones
in this business, sergeant.
And, um, Franz was Austrian.
He never talked about
family back home.
Um, tell you the truth I don't
know anything about him
other than his
monthly sales report.
I am going to
pay for the funeral.
Uh, it's the least we can do.
-Morning, Uncle Ken.
-Hey, Danny.
-Customer for me?
-Oh, I'm afraid not.
Uh, this is my nephew, Danny.
-Oh.
-Sergeant McCall, LAPD.
-Hi, Danny.
-Hi.
I Right.
Jeez, I hope you catch
the creeps who killed Franz.
-I'm sure we will.
-Is something wrong?
-No, nothing's wrong.
You look a little
tired over there.
Wanna soda?
-How about you just
get me out of here?
-Ben, you think this is a joke?
Huh?
You're staring a murder
rap square in the face.
It's not gonna go
away, you know?
-What if I don't find Speed or
Slice in any of these books?
-We'll worry about that
when the time comes.
Meanwhile, keep looking.
-OK.
-Why don't get me one too?
-Only if you have
good news for me?
-Well, how about 26
reasons why I outta
buy an imported car, but.
Kid come up with anything?
-Not yet.
-You know what I don't get?
Why a couple of
guys in their 20s
would wanna hang
out with a teenager,
especially if they were
gonna rip off a car.
Unless the kid's in on it.
-No, I don't think
he was in on it.
-Well, get's got
a couple of priors.
Truancy at school, shoplifting.
-That doesn't make him
a car thief or an accessory
to murder, does it?
-Well, look who's here.
The only two cops
in the department
that don't have a
big enough case load.
You mind telling me why
you took the case away
from Matthews?
-Interesting case.
-Really?
Is that why you pulled strings
to have your only suspect
released to his
father's custody?
What the hell's going on here?
-OK, I think we all
better have a talk.
And the kid still has no
idea that you're his father.
-No, he doesn't.
-You gonna tell him?
-Tran said it's up
to me, but I don't
think his mother
would want me to.
-What do you wanna do?
That's a good question.
I don't know.
You know, looking at Ben I
feel as though the war stole
a little bit of my
life too, you know.
I just don't know what the
hell I wanna do right now.
-She should have told
you that she was pregnant.
-But she couldn't, Charlie.
She knew I'd come
back for her and the boy.
She'd have never left
Vietnam or her family.
-But she did leave.
They ended up in Thailand.
-Well, I know that.
That's because her
family was wiped out.
-By that time she was
married to Mr. Nyuen.
-That's right.
-Yeah, come on.
-Captain, the vehicle
stolen from Martin Motors
has been found.
It's at the impound.
-Oh, thanks, man.
-Charlie, look, I think the
boy's telling me the truth.
I'd like to help him.
-So what are you waiting for?
Thanks.
Looks more like vandalism
than it does an accident.
Get the lab over here and
have them take a look at it.
Yeah.
-Sergeant McCall.
-Hi.
-Well, I see you found our car.
-We sure did.
Jack Stone, Dan Martin, this
is my partner Sergeant Hunter.
-Mr. Stone
-Pleasure.
-Pleasure.
Mr. Martin.
Boy, look at this, would you?
They destroyed a $50,000 car.
I'm gonna have to have
her towed outta here.
-Oh, the car's not
going anywhere
until we have a look at it.
Mr. Stone, no hands, please.
-Oh, sorry.
Can't believe Franz was
killed just so a couple of kids
could go joyriding.
-Did you have any luck with
that dink kid that you caught?
-Now what kind
of language is that?
-I'm sorry.
Didn't mean anything by it.
-I'll let you know
if we find anything
out after we release the car.
-Good.
We'd appreciate that.
Shall we go?
-You OK?
-Yeah, I'm fine.
-Sergeant Hunter!
It's him.
That's the guy.
That's Slice.
-You sure about that?
-Yeah.
-McCall.
Look who Ben found.
-Ron Miller, AKA Slice.
I'll get an address on the guy.
-Good work, Ben.
-You do great work, Tran.
I'll take it.
-My father and his
father before him
were very respected
diamond cutters in Vietnam.
-Well, you've learned well.
-I can never repay your kindness
for what you have done for Ben.
-He's not the one
who ID'd Slice.
I did.
-Sergeant Hunter?
I would like very much for you
to have dinner with us tonight.
-Oh, if it's not too
much of an imposition,
I'd like that very much.
-Ben and I would
consider it a great honor.
Tran, the meal was delicious.
Thank you very much.
I don't think I've had
authentic Vietnamese for,
well, it's been some time.
-Sometimes I find
it difficult to get
all the ingredients here.
That's why when
you live in America
you should eat American food.
I think it's nice to have both.
Why don't you clear the table?
Sergeant Hunter,
I have something
to show you in the living room.
-Certainly.
You might want to see this.
She was beautiful, wasn't she?
-That was taken
years before we met.
-I know.
I have the same
photograph at home.
-Why are you showing him that?
-Oh, I just thought he
might find it interesting.
-The only one who finds old
wars of Vietnam interesting is you.
-There's nothing wrong
remembering how things were.
-There is if it keeps you
from accepting how things are!
-You must understand
it is not easy
being caught between two worlds.
Ben is trying so hard to fit in.
-I know that.
It's probably one of the
reasons he's in so much trouble.
Danny, telephone, line three.
-Hello, Danny Martin here.
-I want my cut of the
diamonds and I want them now.
-What the hell's your problem?
-I got a call from my landlady.
A cop's been checking me out.
The dink must have
spotted me in the mug book.
I gotta get out of town.
-All right, Slice man, relax.
-You relax.
Be at my place in
15 minutes or you're
gonna find out how
I got my nickname.
-Don't get too comfortable.
I just got a possible
address on Slice.
-But I thought you
said his landlady
didn't give you anything.
-Oh no, she didn't.
I checked with the post office.
This guy is so intelligent
he's having his mail forwarded.
-Oh, I love smart crooks.
-Shot once with a large caliber.
Could have been the same
45 that was used to kill.
-I'm betting 10 to one it is.
-If that's true Ben could
be in an awful lot of danger.
-Yeah.
I'm gonna set up
surveillance on Tran's house.
-Drop me off.
I'll go talk to
Stone and Martin.
-Sergeant Hunter, why
is there a policeman?
What's wrong?
-Ron Mellor, the
man Ben identified
was found shot to
death in his apartment.
-Is the killer after Ben?
-Well, we're not sure,
but just to play it safe
we're gonna keep the house
and Ben under surveillance.
- I promised Mr. I'd
recut a diamond for him.
He is coming for it today.
I'd better call him and tell
him I'm staying home today.
-You know, look, Tran, why
don't you go ahead and go to work?
I'll stay here with Ben.
It'll be all right.
-Ben, I see you later.
-Yeah, right.
He has such a sense of
duty, to rich fatcat customers.
-What's the problem, Ben?
You're kinda tough on
your father, aren't you?
He's a good man.
He's done nothing but love you.
-He and my mother told
me my real father is dead,
but I know that's not true.
You see, he was some GI
who got lonely during his tour.
So he did a number on my mom
about how much he loved her
and all that.
Then he went back state side.
And forgot all about her and me.
-Well, maybe he
didn't know about you.
-Oh yeah, right.
We think that he
was one of the men
that stole your car off the lot.
-No, I, I've never
seen him here.
But I'll show it around at the
sales meeting tomorrow morning.
I mean, maybe somebody had.
-Well, good.
I'd appreciate that.
You know, it's
possible they he came
in posing as a customer
to check out your security.
-Mhmm.
-I don't understand any of this.
I mean, why all this bloodshed
over a simple car theft?
-We're trying to figure
that out, Mr. Martin.
-I've been in this
business for 30 years
and I've never seen
anything like this.
-Well, I'll answer it.
Kids are just nuts today.
I mean, they run around.
They're hopped up on drugs.
Armed to the teeth.
What kind of society
are we living in?
-Let me know if any of your
salesmen recognize that man,
would you?
-I will, sergeant.
-Thank you.
-Thank you.
-Ken, when is Danny in?
I've got some invoices
I need him to sign.
-Oh, I gave him the day off.
He said he had
some errands to do.
Oh, by the way, bring those
invoices up to my office.
I'll take care of them myself.
Great..
Uh, I'm gonna need you.
Tell me again you
don't know anything
about the diamonds, Danny boy.
Tell the Dutchman here.
-Diamonds?
What the hell are you
talking about, Jack?
Wait till my uncle
hears about this.
-Hey!
Don't treat me like a fool.
The cops showed
me a mug shot of a guy
I've seen you hanging out with.
-So what?
OK.
OK.
- They're in my car.
- Behind the,
behind the, the radio speakers.
-Check it out.
-Besides your, uh, buddy,
who else was in on this?
-Nobody.
-You really are a ruthless
little slime, aren't you?
Hmm?
I'm, I'm shocked, Danny.
I'm really shocked.
So what put you on to
our little enterprise, Danny?
Hmm?
-I heard you talking in the
office next door with Franz.
You didn't know I was there.
-Ah, and you saw an
opportunity to get ahead.
Do you think you
can fence diamonds
like car stereos, huh, Danny?
-Hmm?
Not only do you steal from
me, but you whack my cover.
-Who, Franz?
So you don't know
everything after all, huh?
A good diamond cutter is
more valuable than the stones,
Danny.
-Hey, I have my
own cutter all lined up.
The dink's old man.
We were gonna
hold the kid hostage
and then the old man was
gonna do the diamonds for us.
He could still do it.
-Maybe smarter than
I thought, Danny boy.
-Wait here for me, Ben.
-OK.
Danny Martin, huh?
-Yeah.
One small caliber slug
shot to the back of the head.
-Ben?
Do you feel like making
an ID on this gentleman?
-I've seen dead people before.
-Is it Speed?
-Yeah.
-If Danny wanted
to take a joyride
why would he steal a car?
-Now Ben, that
night at the car lot,
was there anybody else
there besides Speed and Slice?
-What do you mean?
-Well, did you see
them talking to anybody?
-No.
Like I said, they were
just out to grab a car.
They broke through the
gate and were looking
through all the
windows with a flashlight.
-What were they looking for?
Keys in the ignition?
-I don't think so.
They broke in.
-Wait a minute.
Were they looking
in the windows?
Or were they at the
stickers on the windows?
-Yeah.
They were reading the stickers.
I remember now.
-Yeah, they were looking
for one specific car.
Jack, telephone.
Line four.
This one's too slow for you.
-I don't know where else to go.
I've run background checks
on everybody that works here
and they're all clean.
Let's check out.
-Why?
Guy was a victim.
-I don't know.
Let's check him out anyway.
-OK.
-Let's go, Ben.
Ah, goodnight.
-Goodnight, Mr. Nyuen.
-Come with me.
Quietly.
-Doesn't look like
anybody's home.
Maybe I should come in and
wait till your dad gets back.
-Look, I don't need him.
And I don't need babysitter.
-Ben?
-I told you I didn't
need a babysitter.
Why don't you just
leave me alone?
What do you know
about me anyway.
-I know your father
married your mother
when you and she had nothing.
He brought you to this
country, gave you a good home,
and loved you.
And when you got in
trouble he called me.
-Yeah.
Yeah, why you?
Why not some other cop?
-Because he knew I was the
only one that would help you.
-But he told me he
never met you before.
-He was telling
you the truth, Ben.
He'd never met me before.
But your mother had.
I'm your father, Ben.
-I knew it.
All of a sudden there's this
cop who was helping me out.
I should have seen it.
-Ben, listen to me.
-Why didn't you
tell me that before?
-Because I didn't
know how you'd take it.
-No.
No, you just didn't
think I was worth it.
-That's not true
and you know it.
-Yeah, it is.
Or maybe just too damn ashamed
to have a half breed for a son?
-That's not true.
Ben.
-Damn you!
-Ben?
Ben?
One William 156.
-56, go.
Meet Sergeant McCall on tac 7.
-Hunter.
-Hunter, I'm down
at the Diamond Mart.
Two guys just came in and
snatched Mr. Nyuen Tran.
The security guard
saw the whole thing.
He called the black and white.
-Do we have any
ID on the two guys?
-From what he said it
sounds like one of them
could have been Stone.
-Oh, nice work, Mr. Nyuen.
But you're gonna
have to hurry it up.
You see, time is not
one of our luxuries here.
OK?
You know, if you do a really
exceptional job here today we,
we could make
this a regular thing.
You know, cut you in.
On the other hand, screw
this job up even a little bit,
Dutchman will have
to break all your fingers.
-Yeah, OK.
Uh, keep me posted.
-What do you got on Tran?
Anything?
-No.
That was McCall.
She was phoning
from Stone's apartment.
It's clean as a whistle
looks like he cleared out.
-Damn.
They gotta be here
somewhere, Charlie.
-Look, I can tell that
you're upset about Ben,
but he's gonna turn up.
We'll find him.
-Yeah.
You know, that boy's
been angry for so long.
I just felt as though
if I didn't tell him,
he'd go on being
angry the rest of his life.
-Well, for what
it's worth, I think
you made the right decision.
-Yeah.
Right, Bill.
17 years of age, Amerasian
5'9, about 145 pounds.
Last seen wearing jeans, a
jeans jacket, white tennis shoes.
Right.
He's on foot, so he
probably hasn't gone very far.
Great.
Appreciate it.
What's up?
You were right about.
He is new at selling cars.
Used to be cutting
diamonds over in Austria.
-They were smuggling diamonds.
Got an address on?
-Yeah, 75 West
Hilshire in Hollywood.
-Great.
-Superlative.
I told you you could work
with speed and precision
at the same time.
All you needed
was a little faith.
-Kill him!
-Freeze, police!
Tran?
Hey, Tran?
Just relax.
You're gonna be OK.
Harrison, RA unit immediately.
Code three.
Just take it easy.
You're gonna be OK.
How you doing?
-Tired.
Have I been here long?
-I've been here since
they brought you in, Tran.
And you've been in
surgery for about three hours.
There are things
I must say to you.
-Just rest.
We'll talk about him later.
-Ah, no.
This has to be settled now.
You saved my life.
And another way
saved my son's life.
You have done more
than I could hope for.
Thank you.
-I'm the one that
should thank you, Tran.
You brought Ben into my life.
When I got home
told me happened.
I would have been
here sooner, but
-It's all right.
You're here now.
-This is all my fault.
I'm so sorry.
-It's all right.
Everything is
going to be all right.
-He's sleeping now.
I hope he'll be OK.
-Ben, he's gonna be just fine.
He just needs some
time to heal is all.
You hungry?
-No.
Think I'll just stay
here until he wakes up.
-I can't change what's happened
to you over the last 17 years,
Ben.
I just want to know
that right now I just want
to be your friend
if you'll let me.
-All these years I
wondered who you were.
What you were like.
I wondered if I was
anything like you.
I just wanted to know
who my father was.
-Well, now you know.
You should also
know that you've had
a father for the last 17 years.
A good man.
A man that's loved
you, raised you,
given you a good
home, worried about you.
I think that's a pretty good
definition of fatherhood.
I'd just like to be a
part of your life, Ben.
If you'll let me.
That's up to you.
I'm gonna come by and see
your father tomorrow morning.
You think about it.
-Hey, Rick?
I guess I am kinda hungry.
-Come on, guys.
I don't think is
such a good idea.
-Then why don't wait here.
We'll be right back.
-Stop, you little punk!
-Don't move.
-You're staring the murder
rap square in the face.
It's not gonna go away.
-Ben is innocent.
-I'm telling the truth
and no one cares.
-Your father cares.
-Oh, yeah?
So what?
-You must help him,
Sergeant Hunter?
He is your son.
-Come on, guys.
I don't think this is
such a good idea.
-Then why don't you wait here?
We'll be right back.
Ben, relax, Ben.
This is it.
-Stop, you little punk!
-Ben!
Oh, man!
Get in!
-You shot him!
-Just get in the damn car!
-No.
-Freeze!
Don't move, punk.
-Good morning, belly bomb.
-This is just what
I need right now.
-Well, you're gonna
to need it to cut
through material the
material you got there.
-We.
And that's because
Kinnins and McGovern are
at TDY at the academy
and we have their.
-Those coneheads can't type.
-No kidding.
-Rick, I got a guy at the desk
that, uh, wants to talk to you.
-Yeah, good.
Can he type?
You're gonna need that.
How do you do?
I'm Sergeant Hunter.
-I apologize for taking you
away from your duty, sergeant.
My name is Nyuen Tran.
-Well, what can I do
for you, Mr. Nyuen?
-It's about my son Ben.
He was arrested last night.
There was a shooting.
And he was with
the boys who did it.
-Oh, the, uh, Elegant
Motors shooting.
-Yes.
But Ben is innocent.
-Well, I think there's been
some sort of mistake, Mr. Nyuen.
I'm not handling that case.
Sergeant Matthews is.
I'll get him for you.
-Please.
I hoped you'd look into
Ben's case personally.
-I don't understand.
-Ben's mother was someone
you knew in Vietnam.
-When my tour of duty was up I
asked Lynn to marry me and come
back to the States, but she
wouldn't leave her family.
-I know.
-12 years ago, I
received a letter
saying that she had died in
a refugee camp in Thailand.
Letter never did
mention a child.
-I wrote that letter.
She spoke often of you.
She told me that you wanted
to become a policeman in Los
Angeles, so that's
where I sent a letter.
You are a man who makes
his dreams reality, sergeant.
-Well, not all of them.
When I got home I wrote
her many more times,
but she never
answered my letters.
Then when Saigon
fell I, I wrote her again.
All my letters were
returned unopened.
-The regime was
very hard on anyone
who had an affiliations
with Americans.
She was sent to reeducation
camp for a couple of years.
Of course, she wasn't
allowed any letters.
I was sent to the
camp as well because I
served in the South
Vietnamese Army.
That is where I first
met Lynn, with her child.
-Ben is not your blood son?
Before she died she asked
me to make two promises.
The first that I would
always protect Ben.
The second that I
would never tell him
that his real father was alive.
But because what
happened last night to Ben,
I must break the second
so that I may keep the first.
You must help him.
Sergeant Hunter,
his is your son.
-Hello, Ben.
I'm Sergeant Hunter.
Have a seat.
You're in a lot of
trouble, you know that?
-I had nothing to do
with that guy getting shot.
I already told that
to the other detective.
Where is he?
-Well, uh, he's doing
something else right now.
I'm, uh, I'm taking
over for him.
-Well, he didn't believe me
so I figure you won't either.
-It's quite a story
you've got here.
In your statement you said that
you were with these two guys.
And you only knew them by the
nick names of Slice and Speed.
Is that right?
-That's right.
-And you never got
their real names?
-Hey, what's the point?
No one believes
that I didn't know
they were planning to
steal a car or kill anyone.
-Sit down.
-Hey, look.
I'm telling the truth
and no one cares.
-Your father cares.
-Oh yeah?
So what?
-So what, huh?
Look, you got two choices.
You can feel sorry for yourself
and go to prison for murder
or you can shut
up, relax, talk to me.
Maybe I can help you.
Now what do you want to do?
-Hey, why does it matter to you?
-I'm a police officer, Ben.
It's my job.
Now, you wanna talk or not?
Good.
Now, why don't you
start from the very top
and tell me what happened.
Hey, how you doing?
-Hi.
Just talked to Joe Matthews.
-Hmm.
-So what's this about us taking
the Elegant Imports shooting?
-Oh, yeah.
Look, I was gonna
talk to you about that.
-Better late than never.
-It's very personal.
-It's personal?
-Yeah.
-Well, I thought we decided that
if something personal came up
in a case we'd shift it
over to somebody else.
-Look, you're absolutely right.
I'd like to make an
exception in this case.
You'll Go along with
me on it, won't you?
-Yeah, OK.
-Thanks.
-No, I've never seen
this kid around here.
-Do you remember a
couple of guys in their 20s
who might have been
hanging around the show room?
-Oh, man.
A lotta guys come
in here, you know,
with big dreams
and empty pockets.
Uh, I'm sorry I, I tend to only
remember the ones who buy.
-Oh, sure.
Well, you think these
guys came in here
to case the joint or something?
-Well, yeah.
It's possible.
Tell me something.
Is not unusual for a salesman
to be working that late?
-No, not really.
I mean, Franz had a lot of,
you know, paperwork to finish up.
He'd, uh, he had a big day.
Big day.
But I don't know.
What happened, it made me sick.
He was such a good guy.
Oh, there's Ken.
Do you wanna come with me?
-Yeah.
-Ken, this is Sergeant McCall.
Ken Martin.
-Oh yes, of course.
We spoke on the phone.
-Right.
-Anything new since then?
-No.
The stolen car
hasn't turned up yet.
And, uh, the vehicle
that was left on the lot
didn't have any prints.
Something will come up.
-I'm sure you're
doing all you can.
Come on.
We can talk in
my office upstairs.
-Ken, boys on the floor kind
of pitched in for some flowers.
So just let me know
where we can send them.
-Oh, Julie is making all
the funeral arrangements,
so to talk to her, Jack.
-OK.
-Thank you.
-My pleasure.
-You're handling the
funeral arrangements.
Did Mr. Have a family?
-Well, we get a
lot of rolling stones
in this business, sergeant.
And, um, Franz was Austrian.
He never talked about
family back home.
Um, tell you the truth I don't
know anything about him
other than his
monthly sales report.
I am going to
pay for the funeral.
Uh, it's the least we can do.
-Morning, Uncle Ken.
-Hey, Danny.
-Customer for me?
-Oh, I'm afraid not.
Uh, this is my nephew, Danny.
-Oh.
-Sergeant McCall, LAPD.
-Hi, Danny.
-Hi.
I Right.
Jeez, I hope you catch
the creeps who killed Franz.
-I'm sure we will.
-Is something wrong?
-No, nothing's wrong.
You look a little
tired over there.
Wanna soda?
-How about you just
get me out of here?
-Ben, you think this is a joke?
Huh?
You're staring a murder
rap square in the face.
It's not gonna go
away, you know?
-What if I don't find Speed or
Slice in any of these books?
-We'll worry about that
when the time comes.
Meanwhile, keep looking.
-OK.
-Why don't get me one too?
-Only if you have
good news for me?
-Well, how about 26
reasons why I outta
buy an imported car, but.
Kid come up with anything?
-Not yet.
-You know what I don't get?
Why a couple of
guys in their 20s
would wanna hang
out with a teenager,
especially if they were
gonna rip off a car.
Unless the kid's in on it.
-No, I don't think
he was in on it.
-Well, get's got
a couple of priors.
Truancy at school, shoplifting.
-That doesn't make him
a car thief or an accessory
to murder, does it?
-Well, look who's here.
The only two cops
in the department
that don't have a
big enough case load.
You mind telling me why
you took the case away
from Matthews?
-Interesting case.
-Really?
Is that why you pulled strings
to have your only suspect
released to his
father's custody?
What the hell's going on here?
-OK, I think we all
better have a talk.
And the kid still has no
idea that you're his father.
-No, he doesn't.
-You gonna tell him?
-Tran said it's up
to me, but I don't
think his mother
would want me to.
-What do you wanna do?
That's a good question.
I don't know.
You know, looking at Ben I
feel as though the war stole
a little bit of my
life too, you know.
I just don't know what the
hell I wanna do right now.
-She should have told
you that she was pregnant.
-But she couldn't, Charlie.
She knew I'd come
back for her and the boy.
She'd have never left
Vietnam or her family.
-But she did leave.
They ended up in Thailand.
-Well, I know that.
That's because her
family was wiped out.
-By that time she was
married to Mr. Nyuen.
-That's right.
-Yeah, come on.
-Captain, the vehicle
stolen from Martin Motors
has been found.
It's at the impound.
-Oh, thanks, man.
-Charlie, look, I think the
boy's telling me the truth.
I'd like to help him.
-So what are you waiting for?
Thanks.
Looks more like vandalism
than it does an accident.
Get the lab over here and
have them take a look at it.
Yeah.
-Sergeant McCall.
-Hi.
-Well, I see you found our car.
-We sure did.
Jack Stone, Dan Martin, this
is my partner Sergeant Hunter.
-Mr. Stone
-Pleasure.
-Pleasure.
Mr. Martin.
Boy, look at this, would you?
They destroyed a $50,000 car.
I'm gonna have to have
her towed outta here.
-Oh, the car's not
going anywhere
until we have a look at it.
Mr. Stone, no hands, please.
-Oh, sorry.
Can't believe Franz was
killed just so a couple of kids
could go joyriding.
-Did you have any luck with
that dink kid that you caught?
-Now what kind
of language is that?
-I'm sorry.
Didn't mean anything by it.
-I'll let you know
if we find anything
out after we release the car.
-Good.
We'd appreciate that.
Shall we go?
-You OK?
-Yeah, I'm fine.
-Sergeant Hunter!
It's him.
That's the guy.
That's Slice.
-You sure about that?
-Yeah.
-McCall.
Look who Ben found.
-Ron Miller, AKA Slice.
I'll get an address on the guy.
-Good work, Ben.
-You do great work, Tran.
I'll take it.
-My father and his
father before him
were very respected
diamond cutters in Vietnam.
-Well, you've learned well.
-I can never repay your kindness
for what you have done for Ben.
-He's not the one
who ID'd Slice.
I did.
-Sergeant Hunter?
I would like very much for you
to have dinner with us tonight.
-Oh, if it's not too
much of an imposition,
I'd like that very much.
-Ben and I would
consider it a great honor.
Tran, the meal was delicious.
Thank you very much.
I don't think I've had
authentic Vietnamese for,
well, it's been some time.
-Sometimes I find
it difficult to get
all the ingredients here.
That's why when
you live in America
you should eat American food.
I think it's nice to have both.
Why don't you clear the table?
Sergeant Hunter,
I have something
to show you in the living room.
-Certainly.
You might want to see this.
She was beautiful, wasn't she?
-That was taken
years before we met.
-I know.
I have the same
photograph at home.
-Why are you showing him that?
-Oh, I just thought he
might find it interesting.
-The only one who finds old
wars of Vietnam interesting is you.
-There's nothing wrong
remembering how things were.
-There is if it keeps you
from accepting how things are!
-You must understand
it is not easy
being caught between two worlds.
Ben is trying so hard to fit in.
-I know that.
It's probably one of the
reasons he's in so much trouble.
Danny, telephone, line three.
-Hello, Danny Martin here.
-I want my cut of the
diamonds and I want them now.
-What the hell's your problem?
-I got a call from my landlady.
A cop's been checking me out.
The dink must have
spotted me in the mug book.
I gotta get out of town.
-All right, Slice man, relax.
-You relax.
Be at my place in
15 minutes or you're
gonna find out how
I got my nickname.
-Don't get too comfortable.
I just got a possible
address on Slice.
-But I thought you
said his landlady
didn't give you anything.
-Oh no, she didn't.
I checked with the post office.
This guy is so intelligent
he's having his mail forwarded.
-Oh, I love smart crooks.
-Shot once with a large caliber.
Could have been the same
45 that was used to kill.
-I'm betting 10 to one it is.
-If that's true Ben could
be in an awful lot of danger.
-Yeah.
I'm gonna set up
surveillance on Tran's house.
-Drop me off.
I'll go talk to
Stone and Martin.
-Sergeant Hunter, why
is there a policeman?
What's wrong?
-Ron Mellor, the
man Ben identified
was found shot to
death in his apartment.
-Is the killer after Ben?
-Well, we're not sure,
but just to play it safe
we're gonna keep the house
and Ben under surveillance.
- I promised Mr. I'd
recut a diamond for him.
He is coming for it today.
I'd better call him and tell
him I'm staying home today.
-You know, look, Tran, why
don't you go ahead and go to work?
I'll stay here with Ben.
It'll be all right.
-Ben, I see you later.
-Yeah, right.
He has such a sense of
duty, to rich fatcat customers.
-What's the problem, Ben?
You're kinda tough on
your father, aren't you?
He's a good man.
He's done nothing but love you.
-He and my mother told
me my real father is dead,
but I know that's not true.
You see, he was some GI
who got lonely during his tour.
So he did a number on my mom
about how much he loved her
and all that.
Then he went back state side.
And forgot all about her and me.
-Well, maybe he
didn't know about you.
-Oh yeah, right.
We think that he
was one of the men
that stole your car off the lot.
-No, I, I've never
seen him here.
But I'll show it around at the
sales meeting tomorrow morning.
I mean, maybe somebody had.
-Well, good.
I'd appreciate that.
You know, it's
possible they he came
in posing as a customer
to check out your security.
-Mhmm.
-I don't understand any of this.
I mean, why all this bloodshed
over a simple car theft?
-We're trying to figure
that out, Mr. Martin.
-I've been in this
business for 30 years
and I've never seen
anything like this.
-Well, I'll answer it.
Kids are just nuts today.
I mean, they run around.
They're hopped up on drugs.
Armed to the teeth.
What kind of society
are we living in?
-Let me know if any of your
salesmen recognize that man,
would you?
-I will, sergeant.
-Thank you.
-Thank you.
-Ken, when is Danny in?
I've got some invoices
I need him to sign.
-Oh, I gave him the day off.
He said he had
some errands to do.
Oh, by the way, bring those
invoices up to my office.
I'll take care of them myself.
Great..
Uh, I'm gonna need you.
Tell me again you
don't know anything
about the diamonds, Danny boy.
Tell the Dutchman here.
-Diamonds?
What the hell are you
talking about, Jack?
Wait till my uncle
hears about this.
-Hey!
Don't treat me like a fool.
The cops showed
me a mug shot of a guy
I've seen you hanging out with.
-So what?
OK.
OK.
- They're in my car.
- Behind the,
behind the, the radio speakers.
-Check it out.
-Besides your, uh, buddy,
who else was in on this?
-Nobody.
-You really are a ruthless
little slime, aren't you?
Hmm?
I'm, I'm shocked, Danny.
I'm really shocked.
So what put you on to
our little enterprise, Danny?
Hmm?
-I heard you talking in the
office next door with Franz.
You didn't know I was there.
-Ah, and you saw an
opportunity to get ahead.
Do you think you
can fence diamonds
like car stereos, huh, Danny?
-Hmm?
Not only do you steal from
me, but you whack my cover.
-Who, Franz?
So you don't know
everything after all, huh?
A good diamond cutter is
more valuable than the stones,
Danny.
-Hey, I have my
own cutter all lined up.
The dink's old man.
We were gonna
hold the kid hostage
and then the old man was
gonna do the diamonds for us.
He could still do it.
-Maybe smarter than
I thought, Danny boy.
-Wait here for me, Ben.
-OK.
Danny Martin, huh?
-Yeah.
One small caliber slug
shot to the back of the head.
-Ben?
Do you feel like making
an ID on this gentleman?
-I've seen dead people before.
-Is it Speed?
-Yeah.
-If Danny wanted
to take a joyride
why would he steal a car?
-Now Ben, that
night at the car lot,
was there anybody else
there besides Speed and Slice?
-What do you mean?
-Well, did you see
them talking to anybody?
-No.
Like I said, they were
just out to grab a car.
They broke through the
gate and were looking
through all the
windows with a flashlight.
-What were they looking for?
Keys in the ignition?
-I don't think so.
They broke in.
-Wait a minute.
Were they looking
in the windows?
Or were they at the
stickers on the windows?
-Yeah.
They were reading the stickers.
I remember now.
-Yeah, they were looking
for one specific car.
Jack, telephone.
Line four.
This one's too slow for you.
-I don't know where else to go.
I've run background checks
on everybody that works here
and they're all clean.
Let's check out.
-Why?
Guy was a victim.
-I don't know.
Let's check him out anyway.
-OK.
-Let's go, Ben.
Ah, goodnight.
-Goodnight, Mr. Nyuen.
-Come with me.
Quietly.
-Doesn't look like
anybody's home.
Maybe I should come in and
wait till your dad gets back.
-Look, I don't need him.
And I don't need babysitter.
-Ben?
-I told you I didn't
need a babysitter.
Why don't you just
leave me alone?
What do you know
about me anyway.
-I know your father
married your mother
when you and she had nothing.
He brought you to this
country, gave you a good home,
and loved you.
And when you got in
trouble he called me.
-Yeah.
Yeah, why you?
Why not some other cop?
-Because he knew I was the
only one that would help you.
-But he told me he
never met you before.
-He was telling
you the truth, Ben.
He'd never met me before.
But your mother had.
I'm your father, Ben.
-I knew it.
All of a sudden there's this
cop who was helping me out.
I should have seen it.
-Ben, listen to me.
-Why didn't you
tell me that before?
-Because I didn't
know how you'd take it.
-No.
No, you just didn't
think I was worth it.
-That's not true
and you know it.
-Yeah, it is.
Or maybe just too damn ashamed
to have a half breed for a son?
-That's not true.
Ben.
-Damn you!
-Ben?
Ben?
One William 156.
-56, go.
Meet Sergeant McCall on tac 7.
-Hunter.
-Hunter, I'm down
at the Diamond Mart.
Two guys just came in and
snatched Mr. Nyuen Tran.
The security guard
saw the whole thing.
He called the black and white.
-Do we have any
ID on the two guys?
-From what he said it
sounds like one of them
could have been Stone.
-Oh, nice work, Mr. Nyuen.
But you're gonna
have to hurry it up.
You see, time is not
one of our luxuries here.
OK?
You know, if you do a really
exceptional job here today we,
we could make
this a regular thing.
You know, cut you in.
On the other hand, screw
this job up even a little bit,
Dutchman will have
to break all your fingers.
-Yeah, OK.
Uh, keep me posted.
-What do you got on Tran?
Anything?
-No.
That was McCall.
She was phoning
from Stone's apartment.
It's clean as a whistle
looks like he cleared out.
-Damn.
They gotta be here
somewhere, Charlie.
-Look, I can tell that
you're upset about Ben,
but he's gonna turn up.
We'll find him.
-Yeah.
You know, that boy's
been angry for so long.
I just felt as though
if I didn't tell him,
he'd go on being
angry the rest of his life.
-Well, for what
it's worth, I think
you made the right decision.
-Yeah.
Right, Bill.
17 years of age, Amerasian
5'9, about 145 pounds.
Last seen wearing jeans, a
jeans jacket, white tennis shoes.
Right.
He's on foot, so he
probably hasn't gone very far.
Great.
Appreciate it.
What's up?
You were right about.
He is new at selling cars.
Used to be cutting
diamonds over in Austria.
-They were smuggling diamonds.
Got an address on?
-Yeah, 75 West
Hilshire in Hollywood.
-Great.
-Superlative.
I told you you could work
with speed and precision
at the same time.
All you needed
was a little faith.
-Kill him!
-Freeze, police!
Tran?
Hey, Tran?
Just relax.
You're gonna be OK.
Harrison, RA unit immediately.
Code three.
Just take it easy.
You're gonna be OK.
How you doing?
-Tired.
Have I been here long?
-I've been here since
they brought you in, Tran.
And you've been in
surgery for about three hours.
There are things
I must say to you.
-Just rest.
We'll talk about him later.
-Ah, no.
This has to be settled now.
You saved my life.
And another way
saved my son's life.
You have done more
than I could hope for.
Thank you.
-I'm the one that
should thank you, Tran.
You brought Ben into my life.
When I got home
told me happened.
I would have been
here sooner, but
-It's all right.
You're here now.
-This is all my fault.
I'm so sorry.
-It's all right.
Everything is
going to be all right.
-He's sleeping now.
I hope he'll be OK.
-Ben, he's gonna be just fine.
He just needs some
time to heal is all.
You hungry?
-No.
Think I'll just stay
here until he wakes up.
-I can't change what's happened
to you over the last 17 years,
Ben.
I just want to know
that right now I just want
to be your friend
if you'll let me.
-All these years I
wondered who you were.
What you were like.
I wondered if I was
anything like you.
I just wanted to know
who my father was.
-Well, now you know.
You should also
know that you've had
a father for the last 17 years.
A good man.
A man that's loved
you, raised you,
given you a good
home, worried about you.
I think that's a pretty good
definition of fatherhood.
I'd just like to be a
part of your life, Ben.
If you'll let me.
That's up to you.
I'm gonna come by and see
your father tomorrow morning.
You think about it.
-Hey, Rick?
I guess I am kinda hungry.