Knots Landing (1979–1993): Season 2, Episode 2 - Hitchhike: Part 2 - full transcript
Here are some scenes
from the first part of tonight's story:
- Okay.
- How about a ride in a van?
Come on, honey.
You have my buddy and me.
- Not interested.
- We're going.
- No.
- Get in this van. It's gonna be nice.
Hey, stop it. Don't touch my hair.
Now come on. Get with it.
It's gonna be nice. We'll have a
good time. - You're hurting me.
I'm gonna hurt you real bad if you don't
get back here. Come back here!
- All right. Come on.
- Lock the door.
Those guys in the van back there,
they didn't even scare you at all?
No.
The world is full of heroes.
- How much money you got on you, Sid?
- I don't know. Why?
- A hundred, do you think?
- Maybe.
- Can I have it?
- I'm sorry, I can't help you.
- Or else I'm gonna scream "rape."
- You gotta be kidding.
Help! Help!
Let go of me!
Help! Rape!
Out, out. Hands on your head.
Turn around. Turn around.
Put your hands on your head.
On your head.
Here's a summons.
The prelim's on Tuesday,
if she goes through with it.
I don't think there's a snowman's chance in
hell that Sid Fairgate will be convicted.
Then why'd you come here?
I thought we might work something out.
I don't know.
Richard lawyers like he does everything.
He looks for the shortcut.
He hasn't done anything
to discredit the girl's story.
How could he? No witnesses.
It's her word against mine.
Somewhere in her story,
there's gotta be holes.
He hasn't been looking for them.
- Richard has his heart and soul in this.
- Just not his head.
- What do you think you're doing?
- Just helping Pam get some gear together.
Your Mr. What's-His-Gate tries to rape her,
then you come to buy her.
- Now listen...
- No, you listen. We're not selling out.
It is the opinion of this court...
that probable cause
for proceeding in this case does exist.
The bench recommends
that the defendant...
William Sidney Fairgate...
be bound over to superior court
for trial...
on charges of contributing
to the delinquency of a minor...
and assault with intent to rape.
- Take it easy. Don't worry.
- You've gotta be kidding.
- Listen to me.
- I don't wanna listen.
This was only a formality.
So is a hanging.
Karen, will you leave the lawyering
to the lawyer?
Richard, I...
Eric?
What were you saying, Richard?
I was just saying I wish Karen
would let me handle this case.
Look, I have an investigator on her.
You don't need an investigator to dig up her
dirt. She's been broadcasting it all over.
"I'm no good, but that doesn't mean
I can be raped."
It's a neat gimmick. It won't work.
It's working already. She's a media hero.
She gives a great interview,
"I'm trash, but I wanna be trash."
Everybody says, "What an honest girl."
And Sid Fairgate can go down the drain.
Oh, Richard. Look...
can't you get a criminal lawyer to work
with you? Maybe somebody in your firm?
Well, I guess it's time
to play my ace in the hole.
- What?
- I spoke to the prosecutor.
He's willing to deal.
- To deal?
- Mm-hm.
We take a fall on harassment
and simple assault.
He'll throw out assault with intent to rape.
He'll throw out contributing to delinquency.
- You want to plea-bargain?
- It's done all the time.
- He wants you to plea-bargain.
- Karen... Karen.
Look, law is not an exact science.
It's a discipline of the possible.
I mean, the DA doesn't wanna
throw the book at you...
but you've gotta give him something.
- I don't believe this.
- Karen.
- If you'd done your job to begin with...
- I'm doing it.
Wait a minute. Wait just a second.
Look...
the fact is this:
I gave that girl a lift
for her own protection...
and now she's trying to blackmail me.
If we let her succeed in any way, she's
gonna try this again on somebody else.
Somebody else is not your problem.
- Sleep on it. I'll talk to you in the morning.
- I don't have to sleep on it, Richard.
I'm gonna fight every charge all the way.
Okay.
If you wanna be Don Quixote, I guess
I'll just have to be your Pancho Sanchez.
I'm sure Richard'll handle it.
It'll be okay.
Sancho Panza.
Why don't you do
what Mr. Avery says, Daddy?
I can't.
- Why can't you?
- You heard the reasons.
I also heard
what that girl's been saying.
I mean, it's all over town.
That's just why we have to fight this,
to prove that what she says is not true.
But...
Maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea
for you to get some help in this thing.
Laura, listen to me.
There are no eyewitnesses.
It comes down to the complainant's word
against the defendant's word, right?
I mean, the jury has to decide
who's telling the truth.
The only basis they have
for their decision...
is the character
of the two adversaries, right?
So we trot in an army of witnesses
who say that Sid Fairgate is a boy scout...
and she brags about being a slut.
A neat gimmick,
but who do you think they'll believe?
Especially when I start
piling up evidence against her.
All right. All right, but would it hurt
to just ask the firm for help?
- Yes.
- Why?
Because Simpson already offered me
Hanover's help and I turned him down.
Oh, Richard, no.
I am invisible down there, Laura.
I mean, if I let them bring in Hanover...
they'll say he won it
and I'll still be invisible.
With all the publicity this case is getting,
a victory could do me a lot of good.
- I wanna win it alone and I will.
- Ahh.
But what?
But what if you don't win it?
Thanks a lot. That's just what I needed.
No, no. Hold it. Hold it. Hold it.
Wait. No.
It's no good. Wait a minute.
Take it back. A little slower this time.
- I'm gonna try to lay something on top of it.
- I'm sorry I'm late.
- But I had to get a science project in by...
- Uh...
Uh, we didn't know if you
were still gonna be, you know?
Still gonna be what?
- With us.
- You could've asked.
Yeah. Uh...
You know how it is.
I mean, we're trying to get bookings.
Trying to do dances, all that stuff.
- Sid, I don't care. I am calling Stan Lesser.
- We can't do that to Richard.
Forget Richard.
He's trying to sell you out.
If the DA offered him a deal and he didn't
tell me, he wouldn't be doing his duty.
How far is this gonna get before you...?
- Give me that! It's my favorite.
- Olivia!
Give me it! You better give me it!
Oh, hi. Listen, is Diana home?
I'd like her to babysit tonight.
- No, she's at rehearsal.
- Oh.
- Well, maybe...
- Don't even ask.
I love your kids, Abby,
but I've really had it up to here.
We invited Abby to stay.
- I'm sorry, Sid. I'm sorry.
- No, I'm sorry.
Listen, Sid, if there's
anything I can do...
Hi, honey.
Diana, what's the matter?
Why did you have to pick her up?
- You know.
- I don't understand...
why my father was riding around
with a teenaged chick in his car!
- Diana!
- The whole thing is sick.
The whole story and everything
and everybody.
We're all sick and
we're never gonna get better.
Never!
I'm not in the mood
for a heart-to-heart talk...
or any words of wisdom.
Nothing like this has ever
happened to me before.
I don't know where I'd come up
with any words of wisdom.
Good.
But what I would like from you
is a little support.
You don't know what I've been through.
I don't really care
what you've been through.
It's nothing compared
to what I'm going through...
or what your mother
goes through every day.
Can you imagine having the man
that you share your bed with...
the man that's the father of your children,
being called a rapist? A child molester?
This is ruining me.
Oh, well, then you ruin pretty easy
because it could get a lot worse.
What if I go to trial?
What if I get convicted and go to jail?
Then what happens to that fragile,
little-girl ego of yours?
Daddy, I'm sorry.
But I just can't understand
why this had to happen now.
Neither can I.
I saw a girl like you in trouble...
and I tried to help her out.
Now, I hope that if the same thing
happens tomorrow...
I'd have the guts
to do the same thing again...
but I'm not sure I would.
Probably what's gonna happen...
is that we're all gonna get
a little bit more cynical...
less eager to trust people,
less able to help.
That's what I hate most about this
whole thing. That's what I hope you'd hate.
Okay.
Now, when you come downstairs...
I want you to leave all this childish,
selfish pride behind you.
And I want you to stand up with...
and for your family.
Mm-hm.
Yeah.
Of course there's talk.
There's always talk, but...
Well, you know Sid Fairgate.
Okay, Mr. Aukerman, I guess we could always
give you blank license-plate holders.
- Service Desk, Line 2.
- Yeah. Wait a minute. Wait a minute.
What we're talking about here are five
cars, specially ordered, specially priced...
What?
Wait... A man is innocent until
proven guilty. You've got no right...
Oh, is that right?
You wanna come down here and say that
to my face, idiot? I'll smash yours.
- How many is that today?
- Just two.
- And the Kramer deal's kind of shaky.
- Service Desk, Line 2.
Well, it's early yet.
With any luck,
we could be bankrupt by sundown.
No, it's not that bad, Sid.
All the dealers in town are slumping.
I've gotta get to that Jaycee lunch.
Oh, yeah, me too.
It'll just take me a second to get dressed.
Uh, Sid.
Um...
I told them I'd give the talk.
I thought you'd want a break.
You wouldn't wanna be bothered
right now.
You thought or they thought?
- Want it straight?
- That's the only way I like it.
They thought.
Sid, um...
you pulled me through a nightmare
not long ago. I'm sober.
And I've got a future now,
all thanks to you.
- And Val?
- Yeah, Val, of course. Sure.
Look, what I'm trying to say is,
you're not gonna go broke.
- I hope you're right.
- Because I'm not gonna let it happen.
Whatever it takes, I'll come up with it.
We'll get through this.
I think it's wrong for the trial.
It's the thing you'd wear
to say you're a solid citizen.
That's not what you're saying.
That's why we're gonna win.
We're gonna beat all of his money
and his pull with honesty.
So, what'll I wear,
shorts and a halter?
- How about something in between?
- Ha, ha.
- Hello, Pam.
- What do you want?
- I'd like to talk.
- Mom?
Mrs. Fairgate.
She alone?
Let her in.
Mrs. Messinger.
- What do you want?
- To talk.
- About what?
- Something, anything...
that might help us understand
each other.
That leaves nothing.
I thought I could tell you
a little bit about Sid...
and our marriage...
- our kids.
- What do I wanna hear that for?
So you'll know what you could destroy.
So you'll know how badly
you're hurting me and the children.
He's the one who's hurting you.
He has to learn to leave the chicks alone.
He's not interested in chicks
and you know it.
Maybe I know him
a little better than you do.
You couldn't.
Pam.
- He never tried to rape you.
- A report at the station says different.
Think of what you're doing, Pam.
My daughter, Diana, she's just...
a little bit younger than you are.
Put yourself in her place.
Oh, I can see your daughter, all right.
Pampered little wimp
who goes to the best schools...
wears the best clothes,
picks up the best friends.
Only I wouldn't put myself
in her place for anything.
My daughter goes to public school
and she makes her best clothes herself.
She also loves her father
and looks up to him.
I'm sure he loves her.
She's his favorite age, right?
- You don't believe all this, do you?
- Yeah.
Hey, lady, wait a minute.
Your husband, he's as guilty as sin.
Just now inside, you looked at Pam
and you knew she was lying.
I saw it in your face.
And I saw you wipe it from your mind.
Yeah. Sure, I had my doubts
for a second.
Old habits are hard to break.
But I'm trying to break them.
I'm proud of her.
She's saying, "We are what we are,
but that don't mean we're not people."
That's a wonderful thought
and the idea of what Pam's saying...
that the difference between force
and choice is all that matters...
I'm all for that.
I'd be on her side in this case,
if only she weren't lying.
My husband did not try to rape her.
- Are you sure?
- Damned right. He's innocent.
If he's innocent, why'd he send
his lawyer up here with money?
- What?
- We wouldn't even hear him out.
- That's not true.
- I don't lie.
I fight, I punch, I kick, but I don't lie.
And I can't be bought.
Check it out for yourself.
Ask your husband
why he sent his lawyer with a bribe.
Seems to me you're the one
that's gotta think straighter, not us.
Damn.
Karen?
Here.
Why are you sitting in the dark?
Came home, closed the drapes,
front and back, upstairs and down.
The symbolism is so obvious,
it's embarrassing.
God, how I hate to be obvious.
You're home early.
Yeah.
What little there is to do at the shop,
Gary's doing.
It's over, Sid. Finished.
- What is?
- The case, the trial. It's over. We're dead.
What are you talking about?
Richard offered them a bribe.
What?
I went to see the girl and the mother.
They said he offered them a bribe.
I believe them.
It's over, Sid.
Oh, no, it isn't.
Can you get the mail?
- You're fired.
- What are you talking about?
- You offered them a bribe.
- Listen to me.
The reason I'm in this mess is because
I wouldn't give that girl money.
- You offer them a bribe in my name?
- If you don't pay her, you're going to jail.
I won't go to jail. I'm innocent.
Oh, Sid, this is not Camelot.
You are not King Arthur. Pay her.
- No more advice. No more deals.
- Pay her. Get on with your life.
You're off the case.
Mail, Dad.
Yes?
- Mr. Simpson?
- Yes.
This young lady certainly keeps herself
in the news, doesn't she?
Newsworthy, anyway.
Yes. She's becoming a cause célèbre.
- Avery?
- Yes, sir?
I'd like Mr. Hanover to assist you
on this matter.
Strictly as a consultant, you understand.
Help you prepare, sit beside you in court.
No reflection on your abilities...
but this case does seem to be
assuming a certain significance.
We wanna make sure the firm employs
every applicable resource.
And Hanover is the best we have
in the criminal area.
- All right?
- I'm...
no longer representing
Mr. Fairgate, sir.
Oh?
No, uh, we didn't see eye to eye
on the approach to the case...
and we felt that
our professional relationship...
was beginning to interfere with our
friendship, which we both value very highly.
Mr. Fairgate also personally acquainted
with Hanover?
Not that I know of, sir.
But Mr. Hanover was unacceptable
to Fairgate?
Mr. Fairgate has retained Stan Lesser.
- Lesser, I see.
- That's who he wanted.
Lesser's a good man.
Yes, sir.
Well...
good day, sir.
Yes.
Okay, now here's something.
According to her statement...
she says that you offered her $100
to have sex with you.
She asked me for $100 for nothing.
Let's just start with her story for now.
So you offered her $100.
Now, when you were booked,
the police took your belongings.
They took your money,
your keys, your wallet.
- Right.
- And they gave you a receipt?
- Yeah.
- Well, that receipt doesn't seem to be here.
- Gave it back when they gave me my things.
- We can get another one if we need one.
I want you to try and remember
how much money did you have with you.
- What was the amount on the receipt?
- Oh, I don't know.
Was it more or less than $100?
Oh, no, it was a lot less.
Now we're moving.
That's one point for us.
How could you offer her 100
if you didn't have 100?
They could say that
Sid never meant to pay.
Yes, they could. But that would
be another stretch for the jury.
You don't understand.
Here's how it works.
The prosecution is gonna try to prove...
that this respectable man
has a weakness for young girls.
Now let's just suppose
that they buy that.
Are they also gonna buy
that the same man...
would try to cheat this girl out
of money he offered her at first?
- Maybe they will.
- And maybe not.
Anyway, that's the first thing
that came to my mind.
I'm gonna study this real carefully
tonight...
and we'll see how many inconsistencies
we can come up with.
And then tomorrow,
we'll go back to where you picked her up.
Maybe you'll remember some more.
- How's that?
- Yeah.
Okay.
Hi.
- Hi, how are you?
- Pretty good. How about you?
- Not bad.
- Is Sid around?
Uh, yeah. He's in his office.
Uh, but he's...
- He's kind of...
- Laying low?
Yeah. I was trying to think of
a more diplomatic way of putting it.
Come on, you don't have to be
diplomatic with me. I'm his sister.
- Right.
- What's that?
- An ad? Or a manifesto?
- Ha, ha.
Both. It's a perfectly
logical explanation...
of why the energy crunch and inflation
make now a terrific time to buy a new car.
Not the best time in the world
for the automobile business?
No, the worst.
But we'll get through it as soon
as this garbage with Sid is done with.
I have a feeling with you
looking out for him...
Sid doesn't have anything
to worry about.
Yeah.
Where are your kids? With Karen?
No, with Val. They've fallen in love.
Right. Yeah, Val's in heaven.
That's Southern California for you.
Um, what's Southern California?
Everybody's in love. It's in the air.
Isn't it where they make
make-believe come true?
Sometimes.
- Only sometimes?
- Damn right you're gonna pay.
We reconnected your smog device.
There's a charge for that.
Look. You see that?
That's smog and it's killing us.
No car that leaves my shop
is gonna add to that...
any more than absolutely necessary.
Here, see the cashier.
That's the only way you're gonna
get your car keys back.
Can you beat that? This guy comes in
with his smog device disconnected...
and he complains when I connect it up.
We're choking to death from that stuff.
They pull that garbage.
A law is a law, right?
What the hell is the sense of having a law
if nobody obeys it?
A dash of cognac...
and a pinch of parsley...
and a dash of cognac
and a dash of cognac.
Hey. Richard, what are you doing?
Sand dabs... Sand dabs flambé
and fettuccine Alfredo...
- Honey?
- Flambé.
- Honey, what are you doing?
- I am cooking for you, my sweet.
A man, he slaves from sun to sun,
but a woman's work is endless fun.
Honey, why are you drunk?
- Oh, I'm drunk because I'm celebrating.
- What are you celebrating?
I'm celebrating your success
and my early retirement and Sid's.
What are you talking about?
Sid. I offered him freedom,
he chose martyrdom instead.
Saint Sid.
God bless him, nobody else will.
- What is it? What happened?
- He, uh...
fired me.
Can you believe that? He fired me.
Why, what'd you do?
Ow!
What did I do? Why not ask me
what he did? He stabbed me in the back.
- Sid wouldn't do that.
- Oh, no, Sid wouldn't do that. Not Saint Sid.
Sanctimonious, self-righteous creep.
- I'm gonna go knock his halo off.
- Richard.
- Sid.
- Richard.
Hey, Sid!
Hey, Saint Sid. Come on out here,
I wanna talk to you.
- Hey. Sid?
- Richard, come back in the house.
- Come on out. I wanna knock your halo off.
- Come on.
- Come on out, I wanna talk to you!
- Richard.
Hey, Sid.
- Come on, I'm right out here.
- Richard.
Oh, there you are at the window.
- I see you at your window. Come out.
- Richard, stop it.
- Come on.
- Please, stop it.
I wanna knock your halo off.
Aha.
There he is.
Saint Sid.
Come on. Come on, Sid. I'm right here.
Right on your own turf.
You got the home-field advantage.
- Go home, Richard.
- I am home.
I'm your neighbor, remember?
Richard Avery, your friend.
The guy you called up in the middle
of the night to bail you out of jail.
Come on, Richard, let's go. You're drunk.
You should know, rum pot,
you're the expert.
- Richard, stop it!
- Let go of me.
- Come on, Avery. Let's go.
- Gary.
It's okay.
- It's my problem.
- Yeah, it sure is, baby.
Nobody wins in a rape case.
Nobody. As dumb as she is,
the girl knows that.
As smart as you are,
you're too dumb to see.
Nobody cares
whether you're innocent or not.
- I care.
- Oh, you blew it.
You blew your own defense
the moment you let her in the car.
I was trying to help her.
Help her? Tell that to the jury.
Juries don't like saints.
You know what the jury'll say?
They'll say you picked her up
because she was cute.
She was a cute little teenybopper
with great legs and a nice little...
Sid!
Guilty!
Guilty!
Guilty!
Guilty!
Richard, Richard. Richard.
- Guilty!
- Richard, come on.
Guilty!
Sid wants me to stay a while...
but I can't keep the kids
out of school much longer.
Yeah, I know. That is a problem, isn't it?
- Do you have family in San Diego, Abby?
- No, nobody. Nothing.
But I thought...
Well, then why are you moving there?
Well, I've always liked San Diego.
When you divorce, that's the time
to do what you feel like doing.
When you're married,
you're doing what you have to do.
- At least it was for me.
- Did you ever think about living here?
I've never liked L.A. that much.
I have to admit I've been enjoying myself
since I've been here.
Except for Sid's thing, of course.
I mean, I like Knots Landing
and I sure like all you people.
- I want that.
- I was using it.
No, you weren't.
You didn't want it till I wanted it.
Look, it's mine, anyway.
Hey, what's going on?
- He took it without asking me.
- She wasn't using it.
And besides, his hands are all
sticky and he'll get it on all my stuff!
All right, all right.
Just settle it quietly.
- Please.
- I don't like sticky things.
She's gotten plenty of my stuff sticky.
Here, wait a minute. Wait a minute.
Will this help, Olivia?
Thank you.
Wash your hands with this
and then you can use it.
That's a good girl.
Thank you.
Well...
- thanks.
- Mm-hm.
You know, I think it'd be nice
if you moved here.
Because the kids'd have cousins and all
and it'd be good for you too.
Family and friends.
There'd always be people
to help you.
Well, that's something to think about.
I hope you will.
Oh, think about it, I mean.
- I'm gonna go run in the water.
- I'll go with you.
No, you're not. You're gonna wait for me.
Come on, let's run.
We're gonna run on down there.
Come on. Fast.
Brian, come on. Run.
Here we go.
Are we ever gonna get over this, Stan?
Is it ever really gonna go away?
- Well...
- Yeah, that's what I thought.
Look, I want you both to listen.
There are degrees.
There are different strengths
of aftershocks.
A conviction is the worst possible thing
that can happen.
We all know that.
After that is a hung jury...
and dismissal which carries with it
an onus of guilt.
Also, an acquittal is
not so terrific either.
- Why?
- Well, people have become trial-wise.
They understand that not guilty
doesn't necessarily mean innocent.
It simply means
that the state couldn't prove guilt.
So we live under the shadow forever.
To some extent, that's true, I'm afraid.
- Great.
- The best thing for us...
is to get a confession
from Pam Messinger that she was lying.
The second best is
for the DA to throw the case out.
Can he?
He can recommend it
if he finds his chief witness lied.
- Is that what we're aiming for?
- Yes, that would be nice, Karen.
But I'm afraid it's not gonna happen.
This is soft evidence.
And if she lies and we catch her,
she can always deny it.
So I think that... Sid?
Karen, I think we'd better get started
right now.
Sid.
When you pulled away,
what did the van do?
Followed me, I guess.
- What do you mean, you guess?
- No, I'm sure.
It followed for a while.
I really don't know how long.
What? What is it, Sid?
What'd you flash on?
You know, that's funny. I...
No, this is impossible,
but I get the impression...
that I saw that van later on
while I was being arrested.
But that just doesn't make sense,
does it?
I don't know. Let's just go over it.
She said that she was walking along
when you picked her up.
No, no. She was standing right here
by this pole.
- You sure?
- Yeah.
That makes a difference.
She was standing there, you say...
- and made no mention of the van.
- Oh, yes, she did.
I have the reports here.
The DA's and the police.
But when I picked up Sid
at the police station, she screamed at us.
She was upset because they were letting
Sid go. She yelled something like, uh:
"He was trying to scare me.
Telling me all the things...
- the guys in the van were gonna do."
- Sid, is that true?
Oh, yeah, that's right.
Let's just review this now.
Point one: She talks to the police,
doesn't mention the van.
Yells at you, mentions the van.
Step three: She goes to the DA, no van.
The only time she mentioned the van
was when she got excited.
When she was calm and collected,
she left it out.
Right, deliberately. Why?
- She knew the guys in the van.
- Okay, that's gotta be it.
Sid, she knew the guys in the van.
This whole thing is a scam,
and that van is part of it.
Haven't heard a peep from your kids
in two nights.
- What are you doing, giving them dope?
- Val.
Val's giving them dope?
No. They're over there.
- She begged me to let them stay.
- Oh.
You here, Sid?
Yeah.
What are you thinking, honey?
I was thinking about that night.
The street corner.
I visualize everything so clearly now.
I see that girl, I see the two guys,
I see the van.
I see the radiator on the van.
I look down and I see the license plate.
For the life of me,
I can't think of a number...
or a letter on that plate.
Maybe you didn't really look at it.
I didn't look at the street names either...
yet I know all of those.
Here I am...
my business is failing...
my family is suffering.
My whole life is just...
falling apart.
Yet I can't think of a number
on that plate to save my neck.
Sid?
What did the van look like?
I don't know. It was a van.
It was one of those decorated things.
It had...
It had these arrows or something on it.
It was kind of...
I think beige or orange
or something like that.
- Jagged things.
- I saw it.
- What?
- I saw it. I saw the van.
Well, are you sure?
Yeah. I'm sure.
- And I know part of the license.
- Well, how come?
Well, it's crazy, sort of.
The mother, she got me so furious,
I couldn't wait to get out.
And when I tried to pull out, this van
was trying to back in, in front of me.
And I noticed the license because I thought
to myself, "My sentiments exactly."
- Karen, what are you talking about?
- The license plate, Sid.
It said Y-U-K. "Yuk."
"Yuk." Ha, ha.
And I thought, "My sentiments exactly."
So you narrow down
the features you remember...
and when you get the prototype, you try
to match them to the license-plate numbers.
We're only punched into Los Angeles
County northwest region registrations.
License plates ending in Y-U-K.
Should keep the number down
to a couple hundred.
Oh, great.
And once we get the license-plate numbers,
we'll see how lucky we are.
Aha.
- What?
- One of the van owners is Rodney Williams.
And a year ago, Pam was arrested
for petty theft with an accomplice.
- Rodney Williams.
- Rodney Williams.
Well...
it's around here somewhere.
Sixteen.
Okay.
- Eighteen.
- She, uh...
She was arrested with this guy, right...
- Yeah.
- Who owns this van?
But doesn't she keep saying
that there wasn't any van?
Yeah, well, Sid said there was a van...
and I saw it.
Eighteen.
Oh, boy.
Twenty-four.
There she is.
Okay, Abby.
Here we are.
Okay.
Come on.
All right.
- Maybe.
- But you did see a van...
the night Sid Fairgate was arrested?
Heard it go over a pothole,
turned around to see it pass.
Didn't mean anything to me.
But this is a pretty distinctive design,
isn't it?
If it was the only one of its kind.
If we knew that for a fact,
then that was the van.
- Well, I know it for a fact.
- How?
I don't know, I feel it in my gut.
Yeah, I feel it in your gut too.
Well...
Officer...
- Bright?
- John.
John.
Did you take the girl's statement?
Nope. My partner did.
But in the statement, she said no van.
- Right?
- It's in the record.
But when she was here that night...
screaming at my sister-in-law
and my brother...
she mentioned a van.
Yeah, I think she said something
about it.
- Something about the guy.
- Who, my brother?
About how he told her what the guys
in the van were gonna do to her.
- See, John?
- So you'll tell the DA...
that you heard her mention the van?
- Sure, I will.
- Good. Thank you very much.
- Abby?
- Yeah.
John, what time do you get off?
Um, 4:30.
See you then.
He didn't know if you meant it or not.
I didn't know if you meant it or not.
I'm sticking to my story.
That's your prerogative, Miss Messinger.
But since you are the complainant...
and since I represent the state
and you...
I wanted you to be aware...
that these developments
render your testimony worthless.
- I thought you were on our side.
- I am.
It's just that it's illegal for me...
to withhold evidence
that might help the defendant.
So, what if I forgot about the van?
I mean, it doesn't matter.
It wasn't Rodney's van anyway.
Are you sure of that?
She just said it wasn't Rodney's van.
Send him in, please.
Come in, Rodney. Come on.
Now, you know the young lady?
Yes, yes.
And you were with her the night that
she says Mr. Fairgate tried to rape her?
Yeah.
- That's right.
- All right, now tell us...
what you told me before.
About the things that you and Pam
did sometimes to make money.
It wasn't all the time,
like I told you before.
You know, it was just, like,
when we didn't have any money.
We didn't have nothing else to do.
We'd wait on a car...
that looked like it had some money.
Pammy here would try to hitch a ride.
If the dude doesn't pick her up...
- He's lying.
- No, no, I'm not lying.
If the dude doesn't pick her up...
I'd get out of the van,
make like I'm hassling her.
- He's lying.
- Be quiet, please.
Go on, Rodney.
Well, the guy thinks she's in trouble...
and he comes back and picks her up.
- And then she asks the guy for money?
- Yeah, that's right.
He made it all up.
No, I didn't. If the guy says
he doesn't... Doesn't wanna pay, then...
Well, then...
Pammy says...
she's gonna cry "rape."
They paid him to say this.
- No. No, Mrs. Messinger.
- I'm sorry, baby.
The Fairgates never spoke to Rodney.
They brought it to me and I checked it out.
I don't care.
We're not liars.
Tell them we're not liars, Pam.
Well, go on, tell them.
Tell them.
- Is it over?
- Yes, this part of it is...
- but the rest will take time.
- Oh, we can handle that.
- We're tough, right?
- Right.
I mean, I don't have nothing
to worry about.
- Really, so you'll be okay?
- Look.
- What happened?
- They said yes.
- Oh, that's wonderful.
- You're kidding.
You can rent it month-to-month,
no lease.
Well, that's terrific.
- There they are.
- Ooh, ooh, come on.
He said it'll be a while
before anyone's gonna buy it.
Maybe you'll like it, maybe you'll buy it.
Hi. How are you doing?
It's good to see you. Everything okay?
Give it back, I said!
- Kids. Olivia. Brian.
- Oh, you guys.
Come on, Brian.
- Congratulations, Sid.
- Thank you, Laura.
Well, now we'll have time to help Abby
find a place to live.
That's okay. She's already got a place.
- She does?
- Hey, that's great.
Hi, honey.
I've got good news.
Come on, come on, come on.
- Sid's been cleared.
- Richard, I just want to...
He'll come around, Sid.
He just needs to sulk a while.
- Yeah, sure.
- That ball.
- That ball, that's mine.
- Shh.
- Brian, be quiet.
- I get the ball...
Abby, Val's just been telling us
that you've found a place to live.
- Yeah.
- Here in Knots Landing?
Here in Knots Landing?
- Yes.
- Yes.
- Not too far, I hope.
- Not too far, I hope.
- Oh, no, real...
- No, real...
close.
- Come on in, tell us all about it.
- Yeah.
I'll get it on a month-to-month
basis. I don't have to sign a lease.
- Hey, that's terrific.
- That's wonderful.
- Is it really what you want?
- Yeah.
from the first part of tonight's story:
- Okay.
- How about a ride in a van?
Come on, honey.
You have my buddy and me.
- Not interested.
- We're going.
- No.
- Get in this van. It's gonna be nice.
Hey, stop it. Don't touch my hair.
Now come on. Get with it.
It's gonna be nice. We'll have a
good time. - You're hurting me.
I'm gonna hurt you real bad if you don't
get back here. Come back here!
- All right. Come on.
- Lock the door.
Those guys in the van back there,
they didn't even scare you at all?
No.
The world is full of heroes.
- How much money you got on you, Sid?
- I don't know. Why?
- A hundred, do you think?
- Maybe.
- Can I have it?
- I'm sorry, I can't help you.
- Or else I'm gonna scream "rape."
- You gotta be kidding.
Help! Help!
Let go of me!
Help! Rape!
Out, out. Hands on your head.
Turn around. Turn around.
Put your hands on your head.
On your head.
Here's a summons.
The prelim's on Tuesday,
if she goes through with it.
I don't think there's a snowman's chance in
hell that Sid Fairgate will be convicted.
Then why'd you come here?
I thought we might work something out.
I don't know.
Richard lawyers like he does everything.
He looks for the shortcut.
He hasn't done anything
to discredit the girl's story.
How could he? No witnesses.
It's her word against mine.
Somewhere in her story,
there's gotta be holes.
He hasn't been looking for them.
- Richard has his heart and soul in this.
- Just not his head.
- What do you think you're doing?
- Just helping Pam get some gear together.
Your Mr. What's-His-Gate tries to rape her,
then you come to buy her.
- Now listen...
- No, you listen. We're not selling out.
It is the opinion of this court...
that probable cause
for proceeding in this case does exist.
The bench recommends
that the defendant...
William Sidney Fairgate...
be bound over to superior court
for trial...
on charges of contributing
to the delinquency of a minor...
and assault with intent to rape.
- Take it easy. Don't worry.
- You've gotta be kidding.
- Listen to me.
- I don't wanna listen.
This was only a formality.
So is a hanging.
Karen, will you leave the lawyering
to the lawyer?
Richard, I...
Eric?
What were you saying, Richard?
I was just saying I wish Karen
would let me handle this case.
Look, I have an investigator on her.
You don't need an investigator to dig up her
dirt. She's been broadcasting it all over.
"I'm no good, but that doesn't mean
I can be raped."
It's a neat gimmick. It won't work.
It's working already. She's a media hero.
She gives a great interview,
"I'm trash, but I wanna be trash."
Everybody says, "What an honest girl."
And Sid Fairgate can go down the drain.
Oh, Richard. Look...
can't you get a criminal lawyer to work
with you? Maybe somebody in your firm?
Well, I guess it's time
to play my ace in the hole.
- What?
- I spoke to the prosecutor.
He's willing to deal.
- To deal?
- Mm-hm.
We take a fall on harassment
and simple assault.
He'll throw out assault with intent to rape.
He'll throw out contributing to delinquency.
- You want to plea-bargain?
- It's done all the time.
- He wants you to plea-bargain.
- Karen... Karen.
Look, law is not an exact science.
It's a discipline of the possible.
I mean, the DA doesn't wanna
throw the book at you...
but you've gotta give him something.
- I don't believe this.
- Karen.
- If you'd done your job to begin with...
- I'm doing it.
Wait a minute. Wait just a second.
Look...
the fact is this:
I gave that girl a lift
for her own protection...
and now she's trying to blackmail me.
If we let her succeed in any way, she's
gonna try this again on somebody else.
Somebody else is not your problem.
- Sleep on it. I'll talk to you in the morning.
- I don't have to sleep on it, Richard.
I'm gonna fight every charge all the way.
Okay.
If you wanna be Don Quixote, I guess
I'll just have to be your Pancho Sanchez.
I'm sure Richard'll handle it.
It'll be okay.
Sancho Panza.
Why don't you do
what Mr. Avery says, Daddy?
I can't.
- Why can't you?
- You heard the reasons.
I also heard
what that girl's been saying.
I mean, it's all over town.
That's just why we have to fight this,
to prove that what she says is not true.
But...
Maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea
for you to get some help in this thing.
Laura, listen to me.
There are no eyewitnesses.
It comes down to the complainant's word
against the defendant's word, right?
I mean, the jury has to decide
who's telling the truth.
The only basis they have
for their decision...
is the character
of the two adversaries, right?
So we trot in an army of witnesses
who say that Sid Fairgate is a boy scout...
and she brags about being a slut.
A neat gimmick,
but who do you think they'll believe?
Especially when I start
piling up evidence against her.
All right. All right, but would it hurt
to just ask the firm for help?
- Yes.
- Why?
Because Simpson already offered me
Hanover's help and I turned him down.
Oh, Richard, no.
I am invisible down there, Laura.
I mean, if I let them bring in Hanover...
they'll say he won it
and I'll still be invisible.
With all the publicity this case is getting,
a victory could do me a lot of good.
- I wanna win it alone and I will.
- Ahh.
But what?
But what if you don't win it?
Thanks a lot. That's just what I needed.
No, no. Hold it. Hold it. Hold it.
Wait. No.
It's no good. Wait a minute.
Take it back. A little slower this time.
- I'm gonna try to lay something on top of it.
- I'm sorry I'm late.
- But I had to get a science project in by...
- Uh...
Uh, we didn't know if you
were still gonna be, you know?
Still gonna be what?
- With us.
- You could've asked.
Yeah. Uh...
You know how it is.
I mean, we're trying to get bookings.
Trying to do dances, all that stuff.
- Sid, I don't care. I am calling Stan Lesser.
- We can't do that to Richard.
Forget Richard.
He's trying to sell you out.
If the DA offered him a deal and he didn't
tell me, he wouldn't be doing his duty.
How far is this gonna get before you...?
- Give me that! It's my favorite.
- Olivia!
Give me it! You better give me it!
Oh, hi. Listen, is Diana home?
I'd like her to babysit tonight.
- No, she's at rehearsal.
- Oh.
- Well, maybe...
- Don't even ask.
I love your kids, Abby,
but I've really had it up to here.
We invited Abby to stay.
- I'm sorry, Sid. I'm sorry.
- No, I'm sorry.
Listen, Sid, if there's
anything I can do...
Hi, honey.
Diana, what's the matter?
Why did you have to pick her up?
- You know.
- I don't understand...
why my father was riding around
with a teenaged chick in his car!
- Diana!
- The whole thing is sick.
The whole story and everything
and everybody.
We're all sick and
we're never gonna get better.
Never!
I'm not in the mood
for a heart-to-heart talk...
or any words of wisdom.
Nothing like this has ever
happened to me before.
I don't know where I'd come up
with any words of wisdom.
Good.
But what I would like from you
is a little support.
You don't know what I've been through.
I don't really care
what you've been through.
It's nothing compared
to what I'm going through...
or what your mother
goes through every day.
Can you imagine having the man
that you share your bed with...
the man that's the father of your children,
being called a rapist? A child molester?
This is ruining me.
Oh, well, then you ruin pretty easy
because it could get a lot worse.
What if I go to trial?
What if I get convicted and go to jail?
Then what happens to that fragile,
little-girl ego of yours?
Daddy, I'm sorry.
But I just can't understand
why this had to happen now.
Neither can I.
I saw a girl like you in trouble...
and I tried to help her out.
Now, I hope that if the same thing
happens tomorrow...
I'd have the guts
to do the same thing again...
but I'm not sure I would.
Probably what's gonna happen...
is that we're all gonna get
a little bit more cynical...
less eager to trust people,
less able to help.
That's what I hate most about this
whole thing. That's what I hope you'd hate.
Okay.
Now, when you come downstairs...
I want you to leave all this childish,
selfish pride behind you.
And I want you to stand up with...
and for your family.
Mm-hm.
Yeah.
Of course there's talk.
There's always talk, but...
Well, you know Sid Fairgate.
Okay, Mr. Aukerman, I guess we could always
give you blank license-plate holders.
- Service Desk, Line 2.
- Yeah. Wait a minute. Wait a minute.
What we're talking about here are five
cars, specially ordered, specially priced...
What?
Wait... A man is innocent until
proven guilty. You've got no right...
Oh, is that right?
You wanna come down here and say that
to my face, idiot? I'll smash yours.
- How many is that today?
- Just two.
- And the Kramer deal's kind of shaky.
- Service Desk, Line 2.
Well, it's early yet.
With any luck,
we could be bankrupt by sundown.
No, it's not that bad, Sid.
All the dealers in town are slumping.
I've gotta get to that Jaycee lunch.
Oh, yeah, me too.
It'll just take me a second to get dressed.
Uh, Sid.
Um...
I told them I'd give the talk.
I thought you'd want a break.
You wouldn't wanna be bothered
right now.
You thought or they thought?
- Want it straight?
- That's the only way I like it.
They thought.
Sid, um...
you pulled me through a nightmare
not long ago. I'm sober.
And I've got a future now,
all thanks to you.
- And Val?
- Yeah, Val, of course. Sure.
Look, what I'm trying to say is,
you're not gonna go broke.
- I hope you're right.
- Because I'm not gonna let it happen.
Whatever it takes, I'll come up with it.
We'll get through this.
I think it's wrong for the trial.
It's the thing you'd wear
to say you're a solid citizen.
That's not what you're saying.
That's why we're gonna win.
We're gonna beat all of his money
and his pull with honesty.
So, what'll I wear,
shorts and a halter?
- How about something in between?
- Ha, ha.
- Hello, Pam.
- What do you want?
- I'd like to talk.
- Mom?
Mrs. Fairgate.
She alone?
Let her in.
Mrs. Messinger.
- What do you want?
- To talk.
- About what?
- Something, anything...
that might help us understand
each other.
That leaves nothing.
I thought I could tell you
a little bit about Sid...
and our marriage...
- our kids.
- What do I wanna hear that for?
So you'll know what you could destroy.
So you'll know how badly
you're hurting me and the children.
He's the one who's hurting you.
He has to learn to leave the chicks alone.
He's not interested in chicks
and you know it.
Maybe I know him
a little better than you do.
You couldn't.
Pam.
- He never tried to rape you.
- A report at the station says different.
Think of what you're doing, Pam.
My daughter, Diana, she's just...
a little bit younger than you are.
Put yourself in her place.
Oh, I can see your daughter, all right.
Pampered little wimp
who goes to the best schools...
wears the best clothes,
picks up the best friends.
Only I wouldn't put myself
in her place for anything.
My daughter goes to public school
and she makes her best clothes herself.
She also loves her father
and looks up to him.
I'm sure he loves her.
She's his favorite age, right?
- You don't believe all this, do you?
- Yeah.
Hey, lady, wait a minute.
Your husband, he's as guilty as sin.
Just now inside, you looked at Pam
and you knew she was lying.
I saw it in your face.
And I saw you wipe it from your mind.
Yeah. Sure, I had my doubts
for a second.
Old habits are hard to break.
But I'm trying to break them.
I'm proud of her.
She's saying, "We are what we are,
but that don't mean we're not people."
That's a wonderful thought
and the idea of what Pam's saying...
that the difference between force
and choice is all that matters...
I'm all for that.
I'd be on her side in this case,
if only she weren't lying.
My husband did not try to rape her.
- Are you sure?
- Damned right. He's innocent.
If he's innocent, why'd he send
his lawyer up here with money?
- What?
- We wouldn't even hear him out.
- That's not true.
- I don't lie.
I fight, I punch, I kick, but I don't lie.
And I can't be bought.
Check it out for yourself.
Ask your husband
why he sent his lawyer with a bribe.
Seems to me you're the one
that's gotta think straighter, not us.
Damn.
Karen?
Here.
Why are you sitting in the dark?
Came home, closed the drapes,
front and back, upstairs and down.
The symbolism is so obvious,
it's embarrassing.
God, how I hate to be obvious.
You're home early.
Yeah.
What little there is to do at the shop,
Gary's doing.
It's over, Sid. Finished.
- What is?
- The case, the trial. It's over. We're dead.
What are you talking about?
Richard offered them a bribe.
What?
I went to see the girl and the mother.
They said he offered them a bribe.
I believe them.
It's over, Sid.
Oh, no, it isn't.
Can you get the mail?
- You're fired.
- What are you talking about?
- You offered them a bribe.
- Listen to me.
The reason I'm in this mess is because
I wouldn't give that girl money.
- You offer them a bribe in my name?
- If you don't pay her, you're going to jail.
I won't go to jail. I'm innocent.
Oh, Sid, this is not Camelot.
You are not King Arthur. Pay her.
- No more advice. No more deals.
- Pay her. Get on with your life.
You're off the case.
Mail, Dad.
Yes?
- Mr. Simpson?
- Yes.
This young lady certainly keeps herself
in the news, doesn't she?
Newsworthy, anyway.
Yes. She's becoming a cause célèbre.
- Avery?
- Yes, sir?
I'd like Mr. Hanover to assist you
on this matter.
Strictly as a consultant, you understand.
Help you prepare, sit beside you in court.
No reflection on your abilities...
but this case does seem to be
assuming a certain significance.
We wanna make sure the firm employs
every applicable resource.
And Hanover is the best we have
in the criminal area.
- All right?
- I'm...
no longer representing
Mr. Fairgate, sir.
Oh?
No, uh, we didn't see eye to eye
on the approach to the case...
and we felt that
our professional relationship...
was beginning to interfere with our
friendship, which we both value very highly.
Mr. Fairgate also personally acquainted
with Hanover?
Not that I know of, sir.
But Mr. Hanover was unacceptable
to Fairgate?
Mr. Fairgate has retained Stan Lesser.
- Lesser, I see.
- That's who he wanted.
Lesser's a good man.
Yes, sir.
Well...
good day, sir.
Yes.
Okay, now here's something.
According to her statement...
she says that you offered her $100
to have sex with you.
She asked me for $100 for nothing.
Let's just start with her story for now.
So you offered her $100.
Now, when you were booked,
the police took your belongings.
They took your money,
your keys, your wallet.
- Right.
- And they gave you a receipt?
- Yeah.
- Well, that receipt doesn't seem to be here.
- Gave it back when they gave me my things.
- We can get another one if we need one.
I want you to try and remember
how much money did you have with you.
- What was the amount on the receipt?
- Oh, I don't know.
Was it more or less than $100?
Oh, no, it was a lot less.
Now we're moving.
That's one point for us.
How could you offer her 100
if you didn't have 100?
They could say that
Sid never meant to pay.
Yes, they could. But that would
be another stretch for the jury.
You don't understand.
Here's how it works.
The prosecution is gonna try to prove...
that this respectable man
has a weakness for young girls.
Now let's just suppose
that they buy that.
Are they also gonna buy
that the same man...
would try to cheat this girl out
of money he offered her at first?
- Maybe they will.
- And maybe not.
Anyway, that's the first thing
that came to my mind.
I'm gonna study this real carefully
tonight...
and we'll see how many inconsistencies
we can come up with.
And then tomorrow,
we'll go back to where you picked her up.
Maybe you'll remember some more.
- How's that?
- Yeah.
Okay.
Hi.
- Hi, how are you?
- Pretty good. How about you?
- Not bad.
- Is Sid around?
Uh, yeah. He's in his office.
Uh, but he's...
- He's kind of...
- Laying low?
Yeah. I was trying to think of
a more diplomatic way of putting it.
Come on, you don't have to be
diplomatic with me. I'm his sister.
- Right.
- What's that?
- An ad? Or a manifesto?
- Ha, ha.
Both. It's a perfectly
logical explanation...
of why the energy crunch and inflation
make now a terrific time to buy a new car.
Not the best time in the world
for the automobile business?
No, the worst.
But we'll get through it as soon
as this garbage with Sid is done with.
I have a feeling with you
looking out for him...
Sid doesn't have anything
to worry about.
Yeah.
Where are your kids? With Karen?
No, with Val. They've fallen in love.
Right. Yeah, Val's in heaven.
That's Southern California for you.
Um, what's Southern California?
Everybody's in love. It's in the air.
Isn't it where they make
make-believe come true?
Sometimes.
- Only sometimes?
- Damn right you're gonna pay.
We reconnected your smog device.
There's a charge for that.
Look. You see that?
That's smog and it's killing us.
No car that leaves my shop
is gonna add to that...
any more than absolutely necessary.
Here, see the cashier.
That's the only way you're gonna
get your car keys back.
Can you beat that? This guy comes in
with his smog device disconnected...
and he complains when I connect it up.
We're choking to death from that stuff.
They pull that garbage.
A law is a law, right?
What the hell is the sense of having a law
if nobody obeys it?
A dash of cognac...
and a pinch of parsley...
and a dash of cognac
and a dash of cognac.
Hey. Richard, what are you doing?
Sand dabs... Sand dabs flambé
and fettuccine Alfredo...
- Honey?
- Flambé.
- Honey, what are you doing?
- I am cooking for you, my sweet.
A man, he slaves from sun to sun,
but a woman's work is endless fun.
Honey, why are you drunk?
- Oh, I'm drunk because I'm celebrating.
- What are you celebrating?
I'm celebrating your success
and my early retirement and Sid's.
What are you talking about?
Sid. I offered him freedom,
he chose martyrdom instead.
Saint Sid.
God bless him, nobody else will.
- What is it? What happened?
- He, uh...
fired me.
Can you believe that? He fired me.
Why, what'd you do?
Ow!
What did I do? Why not ask me
what he did? He stabbed me in the back.
- Sid wouldn't do that.
- Oh, no, Sid wouldn't do that. Not Saint Sid.
Sanctimonious, self-righteous creep.
- I'm gonna go knock his halo off.
- Richard.
- Sid.
- Richard.
Hey, Sid!
Hey, Saint Sid. Come on out here,
I wanna talk to you.
- Hey. Sid?
- Richard, come back in the house.
- Come on out. I wanna knock your halo off.
- Come on.
- Come on out, I wanna talk to you!
- Richard.
Hey, Sid.
- Come on, I'm right out here.
- Richard.
Oh, there you are at the window.
- I see you at your window. Come out.
- Richard, stop it.
- Come on.
- Please, stop it.
I wanna knock your halo off.
Aha.
There he is.
Saint Sid.
Come on. Come on, Sid. I'm right here.
Right on your own turf.
You got the home-field advantage.
- Go home, Richard.
- I am home.
I'm your neighbor, remember?
Richard Avery, your friend.
The guy you called up in the middle
of the night to bail you out of jail.
Come on, Richard, let's go. You're drunk.
You should know, rum pot,
you're the expert.
- Richard, stop it!
- Let go of me.
- Come on, Avery. Let's go.
- Gary.
It's okay.
- It's my problem.
- Yeah, it sure is, baby.
Nobody wins in a rape case.
Nobody. As dumb as she is,
the girl knows that.
As smart as you are,
you're too dumb to see.
Nobody cares
whether you're innocent or not.
- I care.
- Oh, you blew it.
You blew your own defense
the moment you let her in the car.
I was trying to help her.
Help her? Tell that to the jury.
Juries don't like saints.
You know what the jury'll say?
They'll say you picked her up
because she was cute.
She was a cute little teenybopper
with great legs and a nice little...
Sid!
Guilty!
Guilty!
Guilty!
Guilty!
Richard, Richard. Richard.
- Guilty!
- Richard, come on.
Guilty!
Sid wants me to stay a while...
but I can't keep the kids
out of school much longer.
Yeah, I know. That is a problem, isn't it?
- Do you have family in San Diego, Abby?
- No, nobody. Nothing.
But I thought...
Well, then why are you moving there?
Well, I've always liked San Diego.
When you divorce, that's the time
to do what you feel like doing.
When you're married,
you're doing what you have to do.
- At least it was for me.
- Did you ever think about living here?
I've never liked L.A. that much.
I have to admit I've been enjoying myself
since I've been here.
Except for Sid's thing, of course.
I mean, I like Knots Landing
and I sure like all you people.
- I want that.
- I was using it.
No, you weren't.
You didn't want it till I wanted it.
Look, it's mine, anyway.
Hey, what's going on?
- He took it without asking me.
- She wasn't using it.
And besides, his hands are all
sticky and he'll get it on all my stuff!
All right, all right.
Just settle it quietly.
- Please.
- I don't like sticky things.
She's gotten plenty of my stuff sticky.
Here, wait a minute. Wait a minute.
Will this help, Olivia?
Thank you.
Wash your hands with this
and then you can use it.
That's a good girl.
Thank you.
Well...
- thanks.
- Mm-hm.
You know, I think it'd be nice
if you moved here.
Because the kids'd have cousins and all
and it'd be good for you too.
Family and friends.
There'd always be people
to help you.
Well, that's something to think about.
I hope you will.
Oh, think about it, I mean.
- I'm gonna go run in the water.
- I'll go with you.
No, you're not. You're gonna wait for me.
Come on, let's run.
We're gonna run on down there.
Come on. Fast.
Brian, come on. Run.
Here we go.
Are we ever gonna get over this, Stan?
Is it ever really gonna go away?
- Well...
- Yeah, that's what I thought.
Look, I want you both to listen.
There are degrees.
There are different strengths
of aftershocks.
A conviction is the worst possible thing
that can happen.
We all know that.
After that is a hung jury...
and dismissal which carries with it
an onus of guilt.
Also, an acquittal is
not so terrific either.
- Why?
- Well, people have become trial-wise.
They understand that not guilty
doesn't necessarily mean innocent.
It simply means
that the state couldn't prove guilt.
So we live under the shadow forever.
To some extent, that's true, I'm afraid.
- Great.
- The best thing for us...
is to get a confession
from Pam Messinger that she was lying.
The second best is
for the DA to throw the case out.
Can he?
He can recommend it
if he finds his chief witness lied.
- Is that what we're aiming for?
- Yes, that would be nice, Karen.
But I'm afraid it's not gonna happen.
This is soft evidence.
And if she lies and we catch her,
she can always deny it.
So I think that... Sid?
Karen, I think we'd better get started
right now.
Sid.
When you pulled away,
what did the van do?
Followed me, I guess.
- What do you mean, you guess?
- No, I'm sure.
It followed for a while.
I really don't know how long.
What? What is it, Sid?
What'd you flash on?
You know, that's funny. I...
No, this is impossible,
but I get the impression...
that I saw that van later on
while I was being arrested.
But that just doesn't make sense,
does it?
I don't know. Let's just go over it.
She said that she was walking along
when you picked her up.
No, no. She was standing right here
by this pole.
- You sure?
- Yeah.
That makes a difference.
She was standing there, you say...
- and made no mention of the van.
- Oh, yes, she did.
I have the reports here.
The DA's and the police.
But when I picked up Sid
at the police station, she screamed at us.
She was upset because they were letting
Sid go. She yelled something like, uh:
"He was trying to scare me.
Telling me all the things...
- the guys in the van were gonna do."
- Sid, is that true?
Oh, yeah, that's right.
Let's just review this now.
Point one: She talks to the police,
doesn't mention the van.
Yells at you, mentions the van.
Step three: She goes to the DA, no van.
The only time she mentioned the van
was when she got excited.
When she was calm and collected,
she left it out.
Right, deliberately. Why?
- She knew the guys in the van.
- Okay, that's gotta be it.
Sid, she knew the guys in the van.
This whole thing is a scam,
and that van is part of it.
Haven't heard a peep from your kids
in two nights.
- What are you doing, giving them dope?
- Val.
Val's giving them dope?
No. They're over there.
- She begged me to let them stay.
- Oh.
You here, Sid?
Yeah.
What are you thinking, honey?
I was thinking about that night.
The street corner.
I visualize everything so clearly now.
I see that girl, I see the two guys,
I see the van.
I see the radiator on the van.
I look down and I see the license plate.
For the life of me,
I can't think of a number...
or a letter on that plate.
Maybe you didn't really look at it.
I didn't look at the street names either...
yet I know all of those.
Here I am...
my business is failing...
my family is suffering.
My whole life is just...
falling apart.
Yet I can't think of a number
on that plate to save my neck.
Sid?
What did the van look like?
I don't know. It was a van.
It was one of those decorated things.
It had...
It had these arrows or something on it.
It was kind of...
I think beige or orange
or something like that.
- Jagged things.
- I saw it.
- What?
- I saw it. I saw the van.
Well, are you sure?
Yeah. I'm sure.
- And I know part of the license.
- Well, how come?
Well, it's crazy, sort of.
The mother, she got me so furious,
I couldn't wait to get out.
And when I tried to pull out, this van
was trying to back in, in front of me.
And I noticed the license because I thought
to myself, "My sentiments exactly."
- Karen, what are you talking about?
- The license plate, Sid.
It said Y-U-K. "Yuk."
"Yuk." Ha, ha.
And I thought, "My sentiments exactly."
So you narrow down
the features you remember...
and when you get the prototype, you try
to match them to the license-plate numbers.
We're only punched into Los Angeles
County northwest region registrations.
License plates ending in Y-U-K.
Should keep the number down
to a couple hundred.
Oh, great.
And once we get the license-plate numbers,
we'll see how lucky we are.
Aha.
- What?
- One of the van owners is Rodney Williams.
And a year ago, Pam was arrested
for petty theft with an accomplice.
- Rodney Williams.
- Rodney Williams.
Well...
it's around here somewhere.
Sixteen.
Okay.
- Eighteen.
- She, uh...
She was arrested with this guy, right...
- Yeah.
- Who owns this van?
But doesn't she keep saying
that there wasn't any van?
Yeah, well, Sid said there was a van...
and I saw it.
Eighteen.
Oh, boy.
Twenty-four.
There she is.
Okay, Abby.
Here we are.
Okay.
Come on.
All right.
- Maybe.
- But you did see a van...
the night Sid Fairgate was arrested?
Heard it go over a pothole,
turned around to see it pass.
Didn't mean anything to me.
But this is a pretty distinctive design,
isn't it?
If it was the only one of its kind.
If we knew that for a fact,
then that was the van.
- Well, I know it for a fact.
- How?
I don't know, I feel it in my gut.
Yeah, I feel it in your gut too.
Well...
Officer...
- Bright?
- John.
John.
Did you take the girl's statement?
Nope. My partner did.
But in the statement, she said no van.
- Right?
- It's in the record.
But when she was here that night...
screaming at my sister-in-law
and my brother...
she mentioned a van.
Yeah, I think she said something
about it.
- Something about the guy.
- Who, my brother?
About how he told her what the guys
in the van were gonna do to her.
- See, John?
- So you'll tell the DA...
that you heard her mention the van?
- Sure, I will.
- Good. Thank you very much.
- Abby?
- Yeah.
John, what time do you get off?
Um, 4:30.
See you then.
He didn't know if you meant it or not.
I didn't know if you meant it or not.
I'm sticking to my story.
That's your prerogative, Miss Messinger.
But since you are the complainant...
and since I represent the state
and you...
I wanted you to be aware...
that these developments
render your testimony worthless.
- I thought you were on our side.
- I am.
It's just that it's illegal for me...
to withhold evidence
that might help the defendant.
So, what if I forgot about the van?
I mean, it doesn't matter.
It wasn't Rodney's van anyway.
Are you sure of that?
She just said it wasn't Rodney's van.
Send him in, please.
Come in, Rodney. Come on.
Now, you know the young lady?
Yes, yes.
And you were with her the night that
she says Mr. Fairgate tried to rape her?
Yeah.
- That's right.
- All right, now tell us...
what you told me before.
About the things that you and Pam
did sometimes to make money.
It wasn't all the time,
like I told you before.
You know, it was just, like,
when we didn't have any money.
We didn't have nothing else to do.
We'd wait on a car...
that looked like it had some money.
Pammy here would try to hitch a ride.
If the dude doesn't pick her up...
- He's lying.
- No, no, I'm not lying.
If the dude doesn't pick her up...
I'd get out of the van,
make like I'm hassling her.
- He's lying.
- Be quiet, please.
Go on, Rodney.
Well, the guy thinks she's in trouble...
and he comes back and picks her up.
- And then she asks the guy for money?
- Yeah, that's right.
He made it all up.
No, I didn't. If the guy says
he doesn't... Doesn't wanna pay, then...
Well, then...
Pammy says...
she's gonna cry "rape."
They paid him to say this.
- No. No, Mrs. Messinger.
- I'm sorry, baby.
The Fairgates never spoke to Rodney.
They brought it to me and I checked it out.
I don't care.
We're not liars.
Tell them we're not liars, Pam.
Well, go on, tell them.
Tell them.
- Is it over?
- Yes, this part of it is...
- but the rest will take time.
- Oh, we can handle that.
- We're tough, right?
- Right.
I mean, I don't have nothing
to worry about.
- Really, so you'll be okay?
- Look.
- What happened?
- They said yes.
- Oh, that's wonderful.
- You're kidding.
You can rent it month-to-month,
no lease.
Well, that's terrific.
- There they are.
- Ooh, ooh, come on.
He said it'll be a while
before anyone's gonna buy it.
Maybe you'll like it, maybe you'll buy it.
Hi. How are you doing?
It's good to see you. Everything okay?
Give it back, I said!
- Kids. Olivia. Brian.
- Oh, you guys.
Come on, Brian.
- Congratulations, Sid.
- Thank you, Laura.
Well, now we'll have time to help Abby
find a place to live.
That's okay. She's already got a place.
- She does?
- Hey, that's great.
Hi, honey.
I've got good news.
Come on, come on, come on.
- Sid's been cleared.
- Richard, I just want to...
He'll come around, Sid.
He just needs to sulk a while.
- Yeah, sure.
- That ball.
- That ball, that's mine.
- Shh.
- Brian, be quiet.
- I get the ball...
Abby, Val's just been telling us
that you've found a place to live.
- Yeah.
- Here in Knots Landing?
Here in Knots Landing?
- Yes.
- Yes.
- Not too far, I hope.
- Not too far, I hope.
- Oh, no, real...
- No, real...
close.
- Come on in, tell us all about it.
- Yeah.
I'll get it on a month-to-month
basis. I don't have to sign a lease.
- Hey, that's terrific.
- That's wonderful.
- Is it really what you want?
- Yeah.