Kojak (1973–1978): Season 1, Episode 13 - Death Is Not a Passing Grade - full transcript
Kojak is a guest instructor at a police science class. One of his students is committing burglaries with his brother-in-law and likes to leave false clues at the crime scene. These include a pen with Kojak's name on it and even Kojak's hat.
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Get the safe.
Don't do nothin'.
Let's go. Let's go!
Come on, Caz. Let's go.
Get the safe.
Get the safe.
Now?
Yeah. That's all we'll take...
just cash.
There's no way
they can trace that to us.
This had to happen
sooner or later, right?
Murder? No.
He could've called the cops.
That's the way it goes.
That's the way it goes?
Sure. Gettin' caught?
That's the way it goes?
Now come on!
Get the safe!
He never sleeps here.
I don't understand.
What a flash, huh?
Funny old man. You couldn't do that
to a woman, could you, huh?
This is like no other job
we've ever done, man.
Those cops from Homicide will come in here.
They'll push those Safe and Loft boys
right off.
There's two ways they can search...
from the body outwards, in a spiral,
or they can divide the room up
into squares.
That's the grid method.
We burn the gloves.
The knife was already here.
Let's go.
Don't do that here...
not this time, not with him.
Hey, why don't you remember
your extension cord, huh?
We don't leave real clues, Art.
We leave dead ends.
We're the dead-end kids, remember?
Huh? Remember?
Hey. When did I pick this up?
- Come on.
- Murder.
That's one for you, Kojak.
Mornin; Lieutenant.
Hi.
This is the guy who owned the store.
His name was King.
Mm-hmm.
Steiglitz, Safe and Loft.
It's been dusted.
One knife puncture,
from the rear.
Six-inch blade...
oh, right through the lung and heart.
About 3:00 a.m.
Two dollars and 25 cents.
Would you say that's a bargain,
Safe and Loft?
Oh, Lieutenant,
this is Mr. Scott.
He found the body when he
opened up this mornin'.
How are ya?
Looks like you could
open this thing up
with a can opener.
- Anybody been casin' the joint lately?
- Somebody every day.
Mm-hmm.
Well?
It was cut with a power tool.
Real slick.
Yeah, they're always slick.
He dies clutching a page
torn out of the phone book.
You got three names circled there.
Check 'em out.
The clues are fake.
Look, we know these guys.
They're making our office
look stupid.
Nine burglaries
in the last five months.
The last one, they cut
through a skylight with acid.
I never even
heard of that trick.
You're not gonna
get anywhere, Kojak.
Look, Steiglitz, this is murder.
Don't bet too much
that I'm not gonna get anywhere.
Okay?
Hey, Lieutenant.
What do you have?
What's up?
Did you drop it?
Yeah.
But I can't remember whether
I dropped it before or after
I broke into the safe.
What's it doin' back there?
- I lost it about a week ago.
- At the precinct?
Give me a list of every suspect
who was at the precinct last week,
especially those two guys from L.A.
On the Owens heist.
Uh-huh.
- Okay, Steiglitz, what do ya got?
- It might be one guy,
but we think it's two.
Okay, so they're makin'fun of us,
but there's a reason.
There's always something to lead us
on a wild goose chase.
A couple of months ago, it was
a half a Social Security card.
And we beat our backs out on that.
It lead nowhere.
Then there was a whiskey bottle
covered with fingerprints.
And we tracked them down...
to a garbage can in the Bowery.
All right, Gomez. I want you
to rip this place apart,
even if you have to reassemble it
at the precinct.
Right.
From you, I want a record of every case
that these clowns have been on.
You understand?
I want it this afternoon.
You'll have 'em.
My pen.
This will be Timothy's room
on the second floor.
When he gets older,
he can move into your study,
right next to it.
Then you can move
downstairs into my study.
I'll have my own wing by...
Hey, Art.
Are you listenin'?
This is gonna be your house, man.
Our house.
The whole family
under one roof. Oh.
I like TV.
How am I gonna play it
right next to the kid's room?
- You can play it softly, honey.
- Yeah. Use earphones, Artie.
Earphones. See? My brother
has it all worked out.
Well, I don't like it.
I like a modern house.
All on one floor...
no sweatin'up and down stairs.
Caz is paying for it, honey.
I'm putting up my share.
Yes, but he did
get you thejob.
You wouldn't be selling real estate
today if it weren't for him.
- Mommy!
- Oh, there's Timothy.
I'll get him ready for his bath.
You're lazy, Art.
You don't even wanna walk
up and down stairs.
If I hadn't gotten out of
the service last summer,
you'd have my sister
livin' on food stamps now, huh?
Honey, he wants you to come
and play ducks with him.
- Sure. Just a minute.
- Okay. Caz, are you staying for supper?
No. It's Wednesday.
I got school.
Right. Okay, I'll see you tomorrow.
Good night, honey.
Good night.
After school tonight.
The loan company, right?
I couldn't, Caz. Believe me.
You hit him from behind,
but I was watching his face.
I saw his face the minute
he knew he was dying.
I've gotta quit...
for a while anyhow.
So, quit.
Who needs ya?
Go play ducks with the kid.
You think you can handle that?
Huh?
Are you ready for a surprise?
Look what fell out of your jacket
in the bathroom...
the ring I gave you
the day we were married.
It didn't get lost last year.
It just got caught in the lining.
Oh, I'm glad
you have it back.
The house is gonna be okay,
darling.
Okay, how we doin'?
Well, so far,
the victim gets an "A"
for bookkeeping.
His records balance
to the penny.
This Mr. King had an argument
with his wife on the phone.
That's why he stayed over.
Anybody who cased that place
wouldn't have expected him
to be open.
Theo. I've been thinking.
Yeah.
Maybe Mr. King found your pen
just out on the street
or something.
Uh, Frank, I'm a guest instructor
in a police science course...
with 12 aspiring detectives.
You know what I would have done
if anyone suggested that?
I would've thrown 'em
out of school.
Selig and Olson didn't
lift it from your office.
They were picked up in Macon, Georgia,
three days ago.
Lieutenant, on these circled
names and numbers that we found...
Norman Jalosa is a waiter.
Works till 4:00 every morning.
Victoria Jalpa lives in Montreal now.
And Jalrad's a radio company.
Steiglitz was right.
These are no clues.
Nine burglaries with different M.O.'s,
and the suspects... nothin'.
Nothing. Absolutely nothing.
So how do we know
it's the same team?
Because they tell us
with these phony clues.
We're dealing with egomaniacs,
but egomaniacs with brains.
You wanna know somethin'?
These are amateurs.
I mean, what pro
would want a spotlight?
Maybe they're a couple of spoiled
Park Avenue kids.
Maybe their mommies and daddies
didn't pay enough attention to them.
Maybe they got bored
with their chemistry sets.
Hmm. All right,
I'll see you guys
in the morning.
- I'm late for class.
- All right.
Say hello to Delta.
Good night, fatso.
Hiya.
No kiddin'? Where...
I got a message for ya.
"Say hello to Delta."
Theo, darlin'. I thought
you'd never get here.
But later.
Okay.
The rest of you can sit on your brains.
We'll get this show on the road.
So far, we've been over interrogation
of witnesses and suspects,
the use of informants,
techniques of surveillance.
Now, who knows what we mean
by the term "scenario"?
- Jonas.
- A theoretical construction
of a crime,
including motives, methods
and whereabouts...
before and afterwards.
Very good.
Anybody knows how we'd investigate
six scenarios at once?
Oh, I thought you weren't
gonna talk at all tonight, Caz.
You don't investigate
six scenarios at once.
You take the most promising one,
and you concentrate on it
until you hit a dead end...
or, you know, a good reason
to dump it.
And then you move on to the next
most promising one, and so on.
Exactly. Exactly.
Except in the event of a time bomb
or a kidnapping with a child
in jeopardy.
Yeah, well, that goes
without saying, doesn't it?
Mm-hmm.
Okay, Mississippi.
There's a guy at the bottom of the well.
He's been dead a week.
He's got blueberries in his pocket,
and he's got a rash on his neck.
- Go. Right off the top of your head.
- Uh, is he wearing a turtleneck sweater?
Who's your man?
You want a turtleneck sweater,
you got it.
Well, uh, he has an allergy to wool.
Therefore, he would not be wearing
that particular sweater.
Uh, so his clothes were changed
after he was murdered.
I think, uh, a berry picker.
Fantastic.
A mad, merry berry picker.
Okay, Caz,
the report comes back from the lab.
Says that rash is poison ivy. Go.
Uh, where does
all this happen?
Where does all this take place?
It takes place in, uh, England. Oxford.
- Couldn't happen.
I beg your pardon, sir?
The man has a poison ivy rash,
and it couldn't happen, you say?
Not in England.
They don't have poison ivy
in England, Lieutenant.
- Oh.
- No poison ivy. No poison sumac.
No poison oak.
Huh. Well, I guess you could
break a case on that. It's trivia.
So, what you're saying...
is a man with a rash on his neck,
and it couldn't happen, right?
Not-Not if he hadn't been out
of the country, it couldn't. No.
Oh. Okay, Phi Beta Kappa,
try this on for size.
I go for a weekend on Long Island.
I'm lookin' to catch my old lady
with the iceman, so I crawl through
the poison ivy bushes.
I'm peekin'. I'm sneakin'.
Lookin' through windows.
Aha! He spots me.
Takes off for England with my broad.
And I follow him with my
poison ivy-infested hands.
I catch him,
and I strangle him.
Hmm?
So what you're saying is that
a freshly murdered body...
couldn't develop
a poison ivy rash, right?
- L-I don't know.
- Gotcha.
You don't know.
Well, next time
you're in your forensic medicine class,
you ask your instructor, all right?
Then when you find out,
you come back and tell me,
because I don't know either.
Okay. Friday night...
same time, same station.
Get ready for the final exams.
Excuse me, Lieutenant.
Yeah, Caz.
Would you please tell me
why it's necessary to make me
look bad in front of the class.
Well, I don't know.
I thought you were holding your own
right up until the last minute.
- Yeah, but then you had
to top me, right?
- Well...
When you were a kid, did you
always top your old man?
I don't know.
I didn't know my father.
Oh. Hey, look, uh,
when you graduate and you
wanna go to the police academy,
I want you to know this...
I'll be in back of you all the way.
Hey. Hey, I got the grades.
I don't need anybody's help, you know?
I mean, it doesn't take much
to be a cop, Kojak.
Let's face it.
You got a pretty easy gig
for 20 grand a year, right?
Huh?
Sure.
Look, if you ever get a hundred hours
during the course of a week,
why don't you come down
to the station house...
and get a peek
at your future "easy gig."
Now you'd better go home
and study your Crime Stoppers.
You are
a really patient man, Theo.
Hey, how come you talk so slow,
with your really patient man,
you kiss so fast?
Oh, I don't always, do I?
Mm-hmm.
You know somethin'?
If your chief could read
my Yankee thoughts,
he'd pack you up to Mississippi
early in the mornin'.
Oh, now, come on.
And nip my education in the bud?
Hey, you.
Cops are not supposed
to do things like this.
Go ahead. And besides,
with that lavender nightgown
I saw you buy last week...
Uh-huh?
You don't need
an education.
You need protection.
And that's why
I'm following you.
Thank you.
Uh-huh.
What's the matter?
Oh, come on.
We got a college of criminal justice,
and somebody rips off my hat.
I don't believe it.
Here. Put out an alarm...
Midtown.
"Stetson Tyrol, model 7 B,
size 71/4."
I'm serious, Stavros.
Go ahead.
Any patrolman spots that hat,
I want satisfaction.
I got a little discrepancy here,
Lieutenant.
I have 121 pawn tickets marked "ring,"
but only 120 rings.
- Maybe it means nothin'...
- What do you mean, mean's nothin'?
Stavros says he kept perfect records.
Now you get me a list of names
of everybody who pawned a ring.
Go ahead.
Right.
Hello.
This is Steiglitz, Lieutenant.
You better get over here right away.
We found your hat.
What'd he take?
Postal money orders...
good as cash.
Mm-hmm.
Okay, where is it?
Right over here.
Wanna open up, please?
All right. We know the hat
was stolen from you at college,
but what about your pen?
Look at this.
I made my attendance check
the night of the pawnshop killing in pen.
But by the end of the class,
I made these notes here in pencil.
So I must have left the pen
on my desk,
and somebody must have picked it up
after the coffee break.
Lieutenant, I got the list from the college...
students, personnel, instructors.
We tried to match the names
with the list of people
that pawned rings. Nothin'.
Take another angle. Have Crocker
get a photo of everybody in my class
from the admissions office.
Check on their backgrounds.
- Find out what they were doing after class
the night of the pawnshop killing.
- Yes, sir.
Think it was somebody
in your class, Theo?
Mm.
Did it ever occur to you, Frank,
that a class in police science...
is also a great education
for a crook?
Yeah, but your hat?
Your pen?
A student has got it in for you
somehow... that's one thing.
But a student who commits murder?
I don't like it.
You don't like it.
I hate it.
You know, I got a lot
of bright students in my class.
They keep me on my toes.
I have fun with them.
Well, the fun just went out of it.
Okay, considering
this scenario business.
Let us consider a series of crimes,
a series of burglaries
with a murder in one of them.
And I wanna have one good reason
why a really good burglar...
would take the time and the effort
to leave a series of clues behind
in a series of crimes.
- Jonas.
- Maybe he's afraid to leave real clues.
Maybe he's foggin' his trail.
Okay. How about the killing?
Unpremeditated.
Why would anyone leave
a series of false clues behind
at the scene of a murder?
- Caz?
- Sounds like, uh, a frame.
Well, in this case, nonapplicable.
Nonapplicable. Whatever.
How about a signature?
I don't follow.
Well, the killer wanting
to make himselfknown
to another party.
Does that make any sense to you?
- Without any real proof?
- Without any real proof... so far.
Yeah. Yeah, maybe it's a signature.
- Why would he leave a signature?
- There was that guy who used to write,
"Stop me before I kill."
He could be full of guilt
and want to get caught.
Mm-hmm.
Or be proud of your work...
and know you'll never get caught.
Okay. That's it.
Somebody got you
runnin' in circles, Lieutenant?
Why? Do you, uh...
you wanna straighten me out?
Me straighten out the teacher?
I couldn't do that, could I?
That wouldn't be right,
not right at all.
Jonas Wilkins, age 22.
He lives uptown, 136th Street,
with his family.
He works in the daytime
in a market.
He went back after class
the night ofhe killing,
unloaded groceries until 3.00 a.m.
Mm-hmm.
How about sonny boy here?
Casimir Mayer, age 23.
Served in Vietnam.
Got discharged six months ago.
Made sergeant in two years.
His mother died three years ago.
His allotment checks
went to his sister.
And he's on the G.I. Bill.
Oh. His father was a cop.
For a while.
He busted a crap game 20 years ago.
They say he confiscated $4,800.
He never checked in again.
Never checked in with us.
Never checked in with his family.
Just disappeared. Let's see,
the kid had to be two or three years old.
Yeah.
Lieutenant? Mayer has
a one-room apartment
on Third Avenue.
I'm downstairs in a pizza joint.
The guy here says
he recognized the picture.
He came in here a lot
with a guy named Art Gordon.
Gordon worked here last year
for a week... till they found
a case of beer missing.
Yeah, hold on just a minute.
Let me have the list of names
of the pawn tickets...
the ones with the rings.
I checked it.
There's no Mayer.
There's no Wilkins on it.
How about Art Gordon?
"Art Gordon." Oh, yeah.
Let's see, he pawned a ring,
and there's a ring missin'?
Maybe he just helped himself to it
during the burglary.
All right, fatso,
go check and see if he has a record.
Crocker, give me Art Gordon's address,
and I'll meet you there.
- 3544 Third Avenue.
- Right.
Caz.
It had to be him, huh? Caz.
Caz, huh?
Why?
Oh, I know you, Theo.
I know how you must
come across in that class.
Maybe you're more than
just a teacher to him.
Father maybe?
He could be
showing off for you.
Those burglaries started
months before I began my class.
All right. Then he was
telling the force,
"Look at me.
I'm smarter
than cops in general."
Okay, so now he's saying
he's smarter than you...
specifically.
My own kid says it to me...
flat-out, right to my face.
They want you to fight back.
They seem to want
that authority.
Want authority, huh?
Well, if that's what they want,
that's what he's gonna get... in spades.
Eddie, can I have a beer... a draft...
and, uh,
heat up one of those
little pizzas, okay?
Sure.
Hey, a cop was just in here.
Said you had some relatives
tryin' to track you down.
I told him I see you here all the time.
How could you be missing?
- Oh, uh, what else did he ask about?
- He wanted to know who you came in with.
- Did you mention my brother-in-law
to him? You know, Art?
- Art? Yeah.
I didn't know
he was your brother-in-law.
You're a little stronger this time,
Artie, but not strong enough.
I'll get ya next time.
You keep saying that.
Artie, telephone for you.
Sure. Give us another round.
- Hello?
- It's Caz. Don't say my name, Art.
Is your car out back?
Yes.
I'll meet you outside.
I don't understand.
Why these questions?
We're looking for your husband,
Mrs. Gordon.
And failing that, what time
do you expect him back?
Oh, he works nights, late,
making calls.
- For whom?
- For a real estate company...
the Green Management.
- He... He sells condominiums
for them, up in Riverdale.
- I see.
Do you recognize him?
Why am I being asked these questions?
Why do I have to answer?
The two of you together...
how come?
He's my brother.
Oh?
Well, he's a pretty confused kid,
isn't he?
Confused? How?
He went to work when he was 15
in order to support my mother.
He's helped my husband
pull the loose ends together.
He studies at night to be a cop.
I know.
I'm one of his instructors.
Kojak. Lieutenant Kojak.
Oh, yes. He talks about you.
He admires you.
You're one of the few
he does admire.
Thank you.
Well, anyway,
he's in a lot of trouble, Mrs. Gordon.
And your husband too.
And the quicker we find them,
the better.
I'm sorry, Lieutenant.
I'm... I'm afraid I can't help you.
Come on.
Thank you, ma'am.
Thank you, Mrs. Gordon.
Good night.
Good night.
- Hey, there's a bottle in there.
- Hey, you pawned this.
- I remember.
- I took it back.
Who could tell?
Here. You wanna keep it?
Don't lose it.
Diane gave that to me.
- It was awful.
- You are so stupid.
This could send you up
for murder!
Who knows?
Oh, come on.
I didn't kill anybody, Caz.
I couldn't. You know that.
You got the guts for that,
not me.
If they talked to me,
they'd know I couldn't kill.
I'd show 'em.
I was standing
over by the safe...
I mean...
I wouldn't say anything.
I tell you what, Art.
Why don't we park down by the river?
We could knock off this bottle together.
Teamwork.
That's a good idea.
Yeah.
Hey, Lieutenant.
That guy in the river...
matches the description
of the Art Gordon you want.
All right. Notify the M.E.
What is it?
What's happened?
Well, Mrs. Gordon,
Detective Crocker here tells me...
that your brother showed up
five minutes ago.
You mind
if we take a look around?
Sure, Kojak.
Help yourself.
All right.
Excuse me.
Sorry.
Mrs. Gordon, your husband is dead.
No!
- How?
- How?
Well, let's see.
He was drunk.
He fell or... was persuaded
into the river.
Oh, my God!
All right, let's go.
Assume position number three.
Oh, come on.
Oh, man.
What-What are you doing?
I'm gonna take him down
and question him for murder.
The lieutenant has it
in for me, Sis.
Hey, look, I was in the movies
at 42nd Street.
- A couple of kung fu quickies.
You want 'em scene by scene?
- Lieutenant.
- This ring belong to your husband?
- Yes, yes. I thought he was wearing that.
L... I don't know.
I could be wrong.
Here.
You get a statement
from Mrs. Gordon, and, uh,
don't let her go
to the morgue alone.
Look, whatever happened to Art,
I'll make it come out
for the best, okay?
Yeah.
Okay? I'll see you later.
I love you, honey.
Let's go.
Your brother-in-law got a call
at the barjust before he left.
- At 10:15.
- What bar?
We showed the pictures around.
We found the bar.
- I don't know anything about that.
- Where'd you go after class?
The movies.
We've been over that, haven't we?
- Where'd you eat?
- A hot dog... on 42nd Street,
at Nathan's.
Nathan's was closed last night.
They got a strike.
Baloney, it was.
Come on, huh?
Yeah?
Stay on top of him.
Sure. I remember it now.
It's a pinky ring.
Not too popular.
Yeah. I almost sold it
last week.
Yeah? You know this man?
That's the man
we bought it from.
I remember he was drunk...
almost smashed the case.
Okay, thanks.
Take his statement.
Well, we got a perfect case
against Gordon, except he's dead.
Oh, come on.
We're supposed to believe he's so chicken
he drinks himself into the river, right?
And he's so smart
he leaves false clues for us?
That's two people
we're talkin' about, Frank.
I'm not gonna crack that kid,
not without somethin' to go on
which I haven't got.
I can't prove he stole my hat, my pencil.
I can't prove he stole anything.
It seems to me he's got
just what he wants.
He's one up on teacher,
and teacher knows it.
I'll tell you something, Frank.
It's gonna take a lot more
than an apple a day to get to teacher.
I want five men tracing his whereabouts
for the last six months.
I wanna find out
what tools he's bought.
I wanna find out
how much money he's spent.
I wanna get something on him.
And the next man who tails him
loses his job if he blows it.
Frank, release him.
All right.
Hello?
This is Mr. Foster. Was that
your husband they found in the...
Oh, yes. Yes, Mr. Foster,
that was my husband.
He gave me this number.
I was supposed to get him
tickets to the Knicks... the play-offs.
Look, l-I just wanted to call
and say I'm sorry...
and to tell you that he had
a lot of nice things
to say about you.
I know he was a little high, but I
never would have guessed that...
Uh, Mr. Foster, when you
were with him last night,
you didn't happen to notice
if he was wearing a ring?
Oh, yeah. Yeah, on his right hand,
on his pinky.
We were arm-wrestling.
I remember.
That's funny.
There was a cop just here
asking the same thing.
Oh, my God.
Oh, my God.
- Caz.
- Hello?
Caz. Caz.
Oh, my God.
The police have got about
as much respect for the dead
as a grave robber.
They're tryin' to make a federal case
out of absolutely nothin'.
What sort of case?
They think that Art was pullin' off
some small jobs... burglaries.
Look, it's not impossible, Diane.
I mean, uh, maybe he wasn't
makin' it too big as a salesman.
Caz, you killed him.
I know. I know
because of the ring.
It's not the worst thing
that happened in our lives, is it?
We have always pulled through,
haven't we?
Diane, please.
Please, Diane.
It is so far and away
the worst thing that's ever
happened in my entire life.
He would have killed himself
sooner or later... drinking...
or doing something desperate
on his own.
He was not a strong man.
What kind of father would
he have been for the kid?
A gentle father.
Gentle?
What is that?
The man had no strength.
He had no authority.
He would have let that kid
do anything.
The kid would grow up...
he'd be always broke.
Who knows what he'd end up
doing or feeling inside?
Oh, Caz.
Caz. My God.
L...
I want you to talk
to the lieutenant.
No! What, you...
You think I'm crazy?
This guy wants to fry me.
He is everything that I hate.
I just have a feeling that...
that he'd help you
to see a doctor.
And I'll explain to them
all the things you've done,
all the things you've been.
You-You've done
so many good things for me.
No! No, I'm warning you!
Art would have talked,
and then we both
would have been caught.
Now, it's gotta be better
this way for you.
For the kid.
Oh, Caz.
I never should have
started with Kojak.
I don't know why I did that.
Did what?
See, I think that lousy cop
in our background,
it haunts me sometimes.
Lousy cop, lousy father.
- He knows it's me.
I guess I wanted him to,
but I didn't think it'd lead to Art.
I didn't think it'd lead anywhere.
- But he can't prove anything.
- Oh, Caz. Caz, they have a witness.
A man in the bar
saw the ring on Art,
and you're the only one
who could have brought it here.
I tried to get it back on his finger.
I couldn't get it on.
The police,
they'll be here to get you
any minute.
No.
No lousy cop is gonna keep
comin' in and out of our lives,
tearing things up...
not without paying for it.
No, sir!
- Caz!
- No.
I can't.
Say, uh...
You got a light, Officer?
Yes, Mrs. Gordon,
we just found out about the ring.
Yes, I've just given the order
to have him picked up. Thank you.
Theo, Mayer just slugged Saperstein
and took his gun.
I want every cop in the city
after him. Go ahead.
Yes?
It's Caz Mayer, Kojak.
I just wanted you to know
that I won't be taking
my final exam tomorrow,
and you won't be giving it
either.
Where are you, Caz?
I wanna talk to you.
Shut up and listen, Kojak,
because I'm calling the shots now!
And I wanna tell you
that our final exam
has already begun,
and death is not a passing grade.
Hmm.
Well, I guess his sister
wasn't kidding.
He's coming after me.
All right, you do
a fast disappearing act.
We'll pick him up
soon enough.
Frank.
Two people killed already.
I don't want him out there.
He's threatened to come after me,
and he's put up a deadline.
That could work for us.
I don't want you playing target
for some schizo killer.
No, no. Now's the time to get him...
when he's hot and bothered.
Don't worry.
He'll trip up, and I'll see to it.
Okay, the plan is simple.
You take off, and then you send
a cab back here in 10 minutes.
I'm gonna make it look like
I'm slippin' over to Delta's apartment.
Right? He'll follow.
You pick him up.
And don't shoot
if you don't have to.
I don't plan to.
All right.
Delta, who loves ya?
Wait a minute.
I take that question back.
You're liable to say Harry Schwartz
or Charlie Jones or somethin'.
Uh-huh. Well, honey...
This is Theo.
Theo?
- I got a little "wet blanket" news for ya.
- Tell me.
Mm-hmm.
Well, sure, honey, I do.
I... Mm-hmm.
All right, honey,
but why can't I stay here?
- If you're gonna pick him up downstairs...
- You can't stay there, young lady,
because I say so.
- That's all there is to it.
- All right, hon. I'll leave the key
outside in the planter.
- And, Theo...
- I know. Be careful.
Hey, look, you think I don't wanna
make that Mardi Gras with you
someday? Hmm?
Oh, yeah.
You're makin' it too easy.
I was gonna make you
invite him over.
Go back to my place
where you picked me up
and cruise around.
If anybody asks you
where you took me, you tell 'em.
Right.
Don't make it easy.
Have 'em pay you for it.
Sure. Sure thing, Lieutenant.
- Lieutenant, you all right?
- Crocker.
Untie her.
We'll get you to the hospital, Caz.
You never know.
Don't make me go out with a lie.
Okay.
Hey, look, uh...
I'll keep an eye on your sister for you.
I promise.
And that's the truth.
---
Get the safe.
Don't do nothin'.
Let's go. Let's go!
Come on, Caz. Let's go.
Get the safe.
Get the safe.
Now?
Yeah. That's all we'll take...
just cash.
There's no way
they can trace that to us.
This had to happen
sooner or later, right?
Murder? No.
He could've called the cops.
That's the way it goes.
That's the way it goes?
Sure. Gettin' caught?
That's the way it goes?
Now come on!
Get the safe!
He never sleeps here.
I don't understand.
What a flash, huh?
Funny old man. You couldn't do that
to a woman, could you, huh?
This is like no other job
we've ever done, man.
Those cops from Homicide will come in here.
They'll push those Safe and Loft boys
right off.
There's two ways they can search...
from the body outwards, in a spiral,
or they can divide the room up
into squares.
That's the grid method.
We burn the gloves.
The knife was already here.
Let's go.
Don't do that here...
not this time, not with him.
Hey, why don't you remember
your extension cord, huh?
We don't leave real clues, Art.
We leave dead ends.
We're the dead-end kids, remember?
Huh? Remember?
Hey. When did I pick this up?
- Come on.
- Murder.
That's one for you, Kojak.
Mornin; Lieutenant.
Hi.
This is the guy who owned the store.
His name was King.
Mm-hmm.
Steiglitz, Safe and Loft.
It's been dusted.
One knife puncture,
from the rear.
Six-inch blade...
oh, right through the lung and heart.
About 3:00 a.m.
Two dollars and 25 cents.
Would you say that's a bargain,
Safe and Loft?
Oh, Lieutenant,
this is Mr. Scott.
He found the body when he
opened up this mornin'.
How are ya?
Looks like you could
open this thing up
with a can opener.
- Anybody been casin' the joint lately?
- Somebody every day.
Mm-hmm.
Well?
It was cut with a power tool.
Real slick.
Yeah, they're always slick.
He dies clutching a page
torn out of the phone book.
You got three names circled there.
Check 'em out.
The clues are fake.
Look, we know these guys.
They're making our office
look stupid.
Nine burglaries
in the last five months.
The last one, they cut
through a skylight with acid.
I never even
heard of that trick.
You're not gonna
get anywhere, Kojak.
Look, Steiglitz, this is murder.
Don't bet too much
that I'm not gonna get anywhere.
Okay?
Hey, Lieutenant.
What do you have?
What's up?
Did you drop it?
Yeah.
But I can't remember whether
I dropped it before or after
I broke into the safe.
What's it doin' back there?
- I lost it about a week ago.
- At the precinct?
Give me a list of every suspect
who was at the precinct last week,
especially those two guys from L.A.
On the Owens heist.
Uh-huh.
- Okay, Steiglitz, what do ya got?
- It might be one guy,
but we think it's two.
Okay, so they're makin'fun of us,
but there's a reason.
There's always something to lead us
on a wild goose chase.
A couple of months ago, it was
a half a Social Security card.
And we beat our backs out on that.
It lead nowhere.
Then there was a whiskey bottle
covered with fingerprints.
And we tracked them down...
to a garbage can in the Bowery.
All right, Gomez. I want you
to rip this place apart,
even if you have to reassemble it
at the precinct.
Right.
From you, I want a record of every case
that these clowns have been on.
You understand?
I want it this afternoon.
You'll have 'em.
My pen.
This will be Timothy's room
on the second floor.
When he gets older,
he can move into your study,
right next to it.
Then you can move
downstairs into my study.
I'll have my own wing by...
Hey, Art.
Are you listenin'?
This is gonna be your house, man.
Our house.
The whole family
under one roof. Oh.
I like TV.
How am I gonna play it
right next to the kid's room?
- You can play it softly, honey.
- Yeah. Use earphones, Artie.
Earphones. See? My brother
has it all worked out.
Well, I don't like it.
I like a modern house.
All on one floor...
no sweatin'up and down stairs.
Caz is paying for it, honey.
I'm putting up my share.
Yes, but he did
get you thejob.
You wouldn't be selling real estate
today if it weren't for him.
- Mommy!
- Oh, there's Timothy.
I'll get him ready for his bath.
You're lazy, Art.
You don't even wanna walk
up and down stairs.
If I hadn't gotten out of
the service last summer,
you'd have my sister
livin' on food stamps now, huh?
Honey, he wants you to come
and play ducks with him.
- Sure. Just a minute.
- Okay. Caz, are you staying for supper?
No. It's Wednesday.
I got school.
Right. Okay, I'll see you tomorrow.
Good night, honey.
Good night.
After school tonight.
The loan company, right?
I couldn't, Caz. Believe me.
You hit him from behind,
but I was watching his face.
I saw his face the minute
he knew he was dying.
I've gotta quit...
for a while anyhow.
So, quit.
Who needs ya?
Go play ducks with the kid.
You think you can handle that?
Huh?
Are you ready for a surprise?
Look what fell out of your jacket
in the bathroom...
the ring I gave you
the day we were married.
It didn't get lost last year.
It just got caught in the lining.
Oh, I'm glad
you have it back.
The house is gonna be okay,
darling.
Okay, how we doin'?
Well, so far,
the victim gets an "A"
for bookkeeping.
His records balance
to the penny.
This Mr. King had an argument
with his wife on the phone.
That's why he stayed over.
Anybody who cased that place
wouldn't have expected him
to be open.
Theo. I've been thinking.
Yeah.
Maybe Mr. King found your pen
just out on the street
or something.
Uh, Frank, I'm a guest instructor
in a police science course...
with 12 aspiring detectives.
You know what I would have done
if anyone suggested that?
I would've thrown 'em
out of school.
Selig and Olson didn't
lift it from your office.
They were picked up in Macon, Georgia,
three days ago.
Lieutenant, on these circled
names and numbers that we found...
Norman Jalosa is a waiter.
Works till 4:00 every morning.
Victoria Jalpa lives in Montreal now.
And Jalrad's a radio company.
Steiglitz was right.
These are no clues.
Nine burglaries with different M.O.'s,
and the suspects... nothin'.
Nothing. Absolutely nothing.
So how do we know
it's the same team?
Because they tell us
with these phony clues.
We're dealing with egomaniacs,
but egomaniacs with brains.
You wanna know somethin'?
These are amateurs.
I mean, what pro
would want a spotlight?
Maybe they're a couple of spoiled
Park Avenue kids.
Maybe their mommies and daddies
didn't pay enough attention to them.
Maybe they got bored
with their chemistry sets.
Hmm. All right,
I'll see you guys
in the morning.
- I'm late for class.
- All right.
Say hello to Delta.
Good night, fatso.
Hiya.
No kiddin'? Where...
I got a message for ya.
"Say hello to Delta."
Theo, darlin'. I thought
you'd never get here.
But later.
Okay.
The rest of you can sit on your brains.
We'll get this show on the road.
So far, we've been over interrogation
of witnesses and suspects,
the use of informants,
techniques of surveillance.
Now, who knows what we mean
by the term "scenario"?
- Jonas.
- A theoretical construction
of a crime,
including motives, methods
and whereabouts...
before and afterwards.
Very good.
Anybody knows how we'd investigate
six scenarios at once?
Oh, I thought you weren't
gonna talk at all tonight, Caz.
You don't investigate
six scenarios at once.
You take the most promising one,
and you concentrate on it
until you hit a dead end...
or, you know, a good reason
to dump it.
And then you move on to the next
most promising one, and so on.
Exactly. Exactly.
Except in the event of a time bomb
or a kidnapping with a child
in jeopardy.
Yeah, well, that goes
without saying, doesn't it?
Mm-hmm.
Okay, Mississippi.
There's a guy at the bottom of the well.
He's been dead a week.
He's got blueberries in his pocket,
and he's got a rash on his neck.
- Go. Right off the top of your head.
- Uh, is he wearing a turtleneck sweater?
Who's your man?
You want a turtleneck sweater,
you got it.
Well, uh, he has an allergy to wool.
Therefore, he would not be wearing
that particular sweater.
Uh, so his clothes were changed
after he was murdered.
I think, uh, a berry picker.
Fantastic.
A mad, merry berry picker.
Okay, Caz,
the report comes back from the lab.
Says that rash is poison ivy. Go.
Uh, where does
all this happen?
Where does all this take place?
It takes place in, uh, England. Oxford.
- Couldn't happen.
I beg your pardon, sir?
The man has a poison ivy rash,
and it couldn't happen, you say?
Not in England.
They don't have poison ivy
in England, Lieutenant.
- Oh.
- No poison ivy. No poison sumac.
No poison oak.
Huh. Well, I guess you could
break a case on that. It's trivia.
So, what you're saying...
is a man with a rash on his neck,
and it couldn't happen, right?
Not-Not if he hadn't been out
of the country, it couldn't. No.
Oh. Okay, Phi Beta Kappa,
try this on for size.
I go for a weekend on Long Island.
I'm lookin' to catch my old lady
with the iceman, so I crawl through
the poison ivy bushes.
I'm peekin'. I'm sneakin'.
Lookin' through windows.
Aha! He spots me.
Takes off for England with my broad.
And I follow him with my
poison ivy-infested hands.
I catch him,
and I strangle him.
Hmm?
So what you're saying is that
a freshly murdered body...
couldn't develop
a poison ivy rash, right?
- L-I don't know.
- Gotcha.
You don't know.
Well, next time
you're in your forensic medicine class,
you ask your instructor, all right?
Then when you find out,
you come back and tell me,
because I don't know either.
Okay. Friday night...
same time, same station.
Get ready for the final exams.
Excuse me, Lieutenant.
Yeah, Caz.
Would you please tell me
why it's necessary to make me
look bad in front of the class.
Well, I don't know.
I thought you were holding your own
right up until the last minute.
- Yeah, but then you had
to top me, right?
- Well...
When you were a kid, did you
always top your old man?
I don't know.
I didn't know my father.
Oh. Hey, look, uh,
when you graduate and you
wanna go to the police academy,
I want you to know this...
I'll be in back of you all the way.
Hey. Hey, I got the grades.
I don't need anybody's help, you know?
I mean, it doesn't take much
to be a cop, Kojak.
Let's face it.
You got a pretty easy gig
for 20 grand a year, right?
Huh?
Sure.
Look, if you ever get a hundred hours
during the course of a week,
why don't you come down
to the station house...
and get a peek
at your future "easy gig."
Now you'd better go home
and study your Crime Stoppers.
You are
a really patient man, Theo.
Hey, how come you talk so slow,
with your really patient man,
you kiss so fast?
Oh, I don't always, do I?
Mm-hmm.
You know somethin'?
If your chief could read
my Yankee thoughts,
he'd pack you up to Mississippi
early in the mornin'.
Oh, now, come on.
And nip my education in the bud?
Hey, you.
Cops are not supposed
to do things like this.
Go ahead. And besides,
with that lavender nightgown
I saw you buy last week...
Uh-huh?
You don't need
an education.
You need protection.
And that's why
I'm following you.
Thank you.
Uh-huh.
What's the matter?
Oh, come on.
We got a college of criminal justice,
and somebody rips off my hat.
I don't believe it.
Here. Put out an alarm...
Midtown.
"Stetson Tyrol, model 7 B,
size 71/4."
I'm serious, Stavros.
Go ahead.
Any patrolman spots that hat,
I want satisfaction.
I got a little discrepancy here,
Lieutenant.
I have 121 pawn tickets marked "ring,"
but only 120 rings.
- Maybe it means nothin'...
- What do you mean, mean's nothin'?
Stavros says he kept perfect records.
Now you get me a list of names
of everybody who pawned a ring.
Go ahead.
Right.
Hello.
This is Steiglitz, Lieutenant.
You better get over here right away.
We found your hat.
What'd he take?
Postal money orders...
good as cash.
Mm-hmm.
Okay, where is it?
Right over here.
Wanna open up, please?
All right. We know the hat
was stolen from you at college,
but what about your pen?
Look at this.
I made my attendance check
the night of the pawnshop killing in pen.
But by the end of the class,
I made these notes here in pencil.
So I must have left the pen
on my desk,
and somebody must have picked it up
after the coffee break.
Lieutenant, I got the list from the college...
students, personnel, instructors.
We tried to match the names
with the list of people
that pawned rings. Nothin'.
Take another angle. Have Crocker
get a photo of everybody in my class
from the admissions office.
Check on their backgrounds.
- Find out what they were doing after class
the night of the pawnshop killing.
- Yes, sir.
Think it was somebody
in your class, Theo?
Mm.
Did it ever occur to you, Frank,
that a class in police science...
is also a great education
for a crook?
Yeah, but your hat?
Your pen?
A student has got it in for you
somehow... that's one thing.
But a student who commits murder?
I don't like it.
You don't like it.
I hate it.
You know, I got a lot
of bright students in my class.
They keep me on my toes.
I have fun with them.
Well, the fun just went out of it.
Okay, considering
this scenario business.
Let us consider a series of crimes,
a series of burglaries
with a murder in one of them.
And I wanna have one good reason
why a really good burglar...
would take the time and the effort
to leave a series of clues behind
in a series of crimes.
- Jonas.
- Maybe he's afraid to leave real clues.
Maybe he's foggin' his trail.
Okay. How about the killing?
Unpremeditated.
Why would anyone leave
a series of false clues behind
at the scene of a murder?
- Caz?
- Sounds like, uh, a frame.
Well, in this case, nonapplicable.
Nonapplicable. Whatever.
How about a signature?
I don't follow.
Well, the killer wanting
to make himselfknown
to another party.
Does that make any sense to you?
- Without any real proof?
- Without any real proof... so far.
Yeah. Yeah, maybe it's a signature.
- Why would he leave a signature?
- There was that guy who used to write,
"Stop me before I kill."
He could be full of guilt
and want to get caught.
Mm-hmm.
Or be proud of your work...
and know you'll never get caught.
Okay. That's it.
Somebody got you
runnin' in circles, Lieutenant?
Why? Do you, uh...
you wanna straighten me out?
Me straighten out the teacher?
I couldn't do that, could I?
That wouldn't be right,
not right at all.
Jonas Wilkins, age 22.
He lives uptown, 136th Street,
with his family.
He works in the daytime
in a market.
He went back after class
the night ofhe killing,
unloaded groceries until 3.00 a.m.
Mm-hmm.
How about sonny boy here?
Casimir Mayer, age 23.
Served in Vietnam.
Got discharged six months ago.
Made sergeant in two years.
His mother died three years ago.
His allotment checks
went to his sister.
And he's on the G.I. Bill.
Oh. His father was a cop.
For a while.
He busted a crap game 20 years ago.
They say he confiscated $4,800.
He never checked in again.
Never checked in with us.
Never checked in with his family.
Just disappeared. Let's see,
the kid had to be two or three years old.
Yeah.
Lieutenant? Mayer has
a one-room apartment
on Third Avenue.
I'm downstairs in a pizza joint.
The guy here says
he recognized the picture.
He came in here a lot
with a guy named Art Gordon.
Gordon worked here last year
for a week... till they found
a case of beer missing.
Yeah, hold on just a minute.
Let me have the list of names
of the pawn tickets...
the ones with the rings.
I checked it.
There's no Mayer.
There's no Wilkins on it.
How about Art Gordon?
"Art Gordon." Oh, yeah.
Let's see, he pawned a ring,
and there's a ring missin'?
Maybe he just helped himself to it
during the burglary.
All right, fatso,
go check and see if he has a record.
Crocker, give me Art Gordon's address,
and I'll meet you there.
- 3544 Third Avenue.
- Right.
Caz.
It had to be him, huh? Caz.
Caz, huh?
Why?
Oh, I know you, Theo.
I know how you must
come across in that class.
Maybe you're more than
just a teacher to him.
Father maybe?
He could be
showing off for you.
Those burglaries started
months before I began my class.
All right. Then he was
telling the force,
"Look at me.
I'm smarter
than cops in general."
Okay, so now he's saying
he's smarter than you...
specifically.
My own kid says it to me...
flat-out, right to my face.
They want you to fight back.
They seem to want
that authority.
Want authority, huh?
Well, if that's what they want,
that's what he's gonna get... in spades.
Eddie, can I have a beer... a draft...
and, uh,
heat up one of those
little pizzas, okay?
Sure.
Hey, a cop was just in here.
Said you had some relatives
tryin' to track you down.
I told him I see you here all the time.
How could you be missing?
- Oh, uh, what else did he ask about?
- He wanted to know who you came in with.
- Did you mention my brother-in-law
to him? You know, Art?
- Art? Yeah.
I didn't know
he was your brother-in-law.
You're a little stronger this time,
Artie, but not strong enough.
I'll get ya next time.
You keep saying that.
Artie, telephone for you.
Sure. Give us another round.
- Hello?
- It's Caz. Don't say my name, Art.
Is your car out back?
Yes.
I'll meet you outside.
I don't understand.
Why these questions?
We're looking for your husband,
Mrs. Gordon.
And failing that, what time
do you expect him back?
Oh, he works nights, late,
making calls.
- For whom?
- For a real estate company...
the Green Management.
- He... He sells condominiums
for them, up in Riverdale.
- I see.
Do you recognize him?
Why am I being asked these questions?
Why do I have to answer?
The two of you together...
how come?
He's my brother.
Oh?
Well, he's a pretty confused kid,
isn't he?
Confused? How?
He went to work when he was 15
in order to support my mother.
He's helped my husband
pull the loose ends together.
He studies at night to be a cop.
I know.
I'm one of his instructors.
Kojak. Lieutenant Kojak.
Oh, yes. He talks about you.
He admires you.
You're one of the few
he does admire.
Thank you.
Well, anyway,
he's in a lot of trouble, Mrs. Gordon.
And your husband too.
And the quicker we find them,
the better.
I'm sorry, Lieutenant.
I'm... I'm afraid I can't help you.
Come on.
Thank you, ma'am.
Thank you, Mrs. Gordon.
Good night.
Good night.
- Hey, there's a bottle in there.
- Hey, you pawned this.
- I remember.
- I took it back.
Who could tell?
Here. You wanna keep it?
Don't lose it.
Diane gave that to me.
- It was awful.
- You are so stupid.
This could send you up
for murder!
Who knows?
Oh, come on.
I didn't kill anybody, Caz.
I couldn't. You know that.
You got the guts for that,
not me.
If they talked to me,
they'd know I couldn't kill.
I'd show 'em.
I was standing
over by the safe...
I mean...
I wouldn't say anything.
I tell you what, Art.
Why don't we park down by the river?
We could knock off this bottle together.
Teamwork.
That's a good idea.
Yeah.
Hey, Lieutenant.
That guy in the river...
matches the description
of the Art Gordon you want.
All right. Notify the M.E.
What is it?
What's happened?
Well, Mrs. Gordon,
Detective Crocker here tells me...
that your brother showed up
five minutes ago.
You mind
if we take a look around?
Sure, Kojak.
Help yourself.
All right.
Excuse me.
Sorry.
Mrs. Gordon, your husband is dead.
No!
- How?
- How?
Well, let's see.
He was drunk.
He fell or... was persuaded
into the river.
Oh, my God!
All right, let's go.
Assume position number three.
Oh, come on.
Oh, man.
What-What are you doing?
I'm gonna take him down
and question him for murder.
The lieutenant has it
in for me, Sis.
Hey, look, I was in the movies
at 42nd Street.
- A couple of kung fu quickies.
You want 'em scene by scene?
- Lieutenant.
- This ring belong to your husband?
- Yes, yes. I thought he was wearing that.
L... I don't know.
I could be wrong.
Here.
You get a statement
from Mrs. Gordon, and, uh,
don't let her go
to the morgue alone.
Look, whatever happened to Art,
I'll make it come out
for the best, okay?
Yeah.
Okay? I'll see you later.
I love you, honey.
Let's go.
Your brother-in-law got a call
at the barjust before he left.
- At 10:15.
- What bar?
We showed the pictures around.
We found the bar.
- I don't know anything about that.
- Where'd you go after class?
The movies.
We've been over that, haven't we?
- Where'd you eat?
- A hot dog... on 42nd Street,
at Nathan's.
Nathan's was closed last night.
They got a strike.
Baloney, it was.
Come on, huh?
Yeah?
Stay on top of him.
Sure. I remember it now.
It's a pinky ring.
Not too popular.
Yeah. I almost sold it
last week.
Yeah? You know this man?
That's the man
we bought it from.
I remember he was drunk...
almost smashed the case.
Okay, thanks.
Take his statement.
Well, we got a perfect case
against Gordon, except he's dead.
Oh, come on.
We're supposed to believe he's so chicken
he drinks himself into the river, right?
And he's so smart
he leaves false clues for us?
That's two people
we're talkin' about, Frank.
I'm not gonna crack that kid,
not without somethin' to go on
which I haven't got.
I can't prove he stole my hat, my pencil.
I can't prove he stole anything.
It seems to me he's got
just what he wants.
He's one up on teacher,
and teacher knows it.
I'll tell you something, Frank.
It's gonna take a lot more
than an apple a day to get to teacher.
I want five men tracing his whereabouts
for the last six months.
I wanna find out
what tools he's bought.
I wanna find out
how much money he's spent.
I wanna get something on him.
And the next man who tails him
loses his job if he blows it.
Frank, release him.
All right.
Hello?
This is Mr. Foster. Was that
your husband they found in the...
Oh, yes. Yes, Mr. Foster,
that was my husband.
He gave me this number.
I was supposed to get him
tickets to the Knicks... the play-offs.
Look, l-I just wanted to call
and say I'm sorry...
and to tell you that he had
a lot of nice things
to say about you.
I know he was a little high, but I
never would have guessed that...
Uh, Mr. Foster, when you
were with him last night,
you didn't happen to notice
if he was wearing a ring?
Oh, yeah. Yeah, on his right hand,
on his pinky.
We were arm-wrestling.
I remember.
That's funny.
There was a cop just here
asking the same thing.
Oh, my God.
Oh, my God.
- Caz.
- Hello?
Caz. Caz.
Oh, my God.
The police have got about
as much respect for the dead
as a grave robber.
They're tryin' to make a federal case
out of absolutely nothin'.
What sort of case?
They think that Art was pullin' off
some small jobs... burglaries.
Look, it's not impossible, Diane.
I mean, uh, maybe he wasn't
makin' it too big as a salesman.
Caz, you killed him.
I know. I know
because of the ring.
It's not the worst thing
that happened in our lives, is it?
We have always pulled through,
haven't we?
Diane, please.
Please, Diane.
It is so far and away
the worst thing that's ever
happened in my entire life.
He would have killed himself
sooner or later... drinking...
or doing something desperate
on his own.
He was not a strong man.
What kind of father would
he have been for the kid?
A gentle father.
Gentle?
What is that?
The man had no strength.
He had no authority.
He would have let that kid
do anything.
The kid would grow up...
he'd be always broke.
Who knows what he'd end up
doing or feeling inside?
Oh, Caz.
Caz. My God.
L...
I want you to talk
to the lieutenant.
No! What, you...
You think I'm crazy?
This guy wants to fry me.
He is everything that I hate.
I just have a feeling that...
that he'd help you
to see a doctor.
And I'll explain to them
all the things you've done,
all the things you've been.
You-You've done
so many good things for me.
No! No, I'm warning you!
Art would have talked,
and then we both
would have been caught.
Now, it's gotta be better
this way for you.
For the kid.
Oh, Caz.
I never should have
started with Kojak.
I don't know why I did that.
Did what?
See, I think that lousy cop
in our background,
it haunts me sometimes.
Lousy cop, lousy father.
- He knows it's me.
I guess I wanted him to,
but I didn't think it'd lead to Art.
I didn't think it'd lead anywhere.
- But he can't prove anything.
- Oh, Caz. Caz, they have a witness.
A man in the bar
saw the ring on Art,
and you're the only one
who could have brought it here.
I tried to get it back on his finger.
I couldn't get it on.
The police,
they'll be here to get you
any minute.
No.
No lousy cop is gonna keep
comin' in and out of our lives,
tearing things up...
not without paying for it.
No, sir!
- Caz!
- No.
I can't.
Say, uh...
You got a light, Officer?
Yes, Mrs. Gordon,
we just found out about the ring.
Yes, I've just given the order
to have him picked up. Thank you.
Theo, Mayer just slugged Saperstein
and took his gun.
I want every cop in the city
after him. Go ahead.
Yes?
It's Caz Mayer, Kojak.
I just wanted you to know
that I won't be taking
my final exam tomorrow,
and you won't be giving it
either.
Where are you, Caz?
I wanna talk to you.
Shut up and listen, Kojak,
because I'm calling the shots now!
And I wanna tell you
that our final exam
has already begun,
and death is not a passing grade.
Hmm.
Well, I guess his sister
wasn't kidding.
He's coming after me.
All right, you do
a fast disappearing act.
We'll pick him up
soon enough.
Frank.
Two people killed already.
I don't want him out there.
He's threatened to come after me,
and he's put up a deadline.
That could work for us.
I don't want you playing target
for some schizo killer.
No, no. Now's the time to get him...
when he's hot and bothered.
Don't worry.
He'll trip up, and I'll see to it.
Okay, the plan is simple.
You take off, and then you send
a cab back here in 10 minutes.
I'm gonna make it look like
I'm slippin' over to Delta's apartment.
Right? He'll follow.
You pick him up.
And don't shoot
if you don't have to.
I don't plan to.
All right.
Delta, who loves ya?
Wait a minute.
I take that question back.
You're liable to say Harry Schwartz
or Charlie Jones or somethin'.
Uh-huh. Well, honey...
This is Theo.
Theo?
- I got a little "wet blanket" news for ya.
- Tell me.
Mm-hmm.
Well, sure, honey, I do.
I... Mm-hmm.
All right, honey,
but why can't I stay here?
- If you're gonna pick him up downstairs...
- You can't stay there, young lady,
because I say so.
- That's all there is to it.
- All right, hon. I'll leave the key
outside in the planter.
- And, Theo...
- I know. Be careful.
Hey, look, you think I don't wanna
make that Mardi Gras with you
someday? Hmm?
Oh, yeah.
You're makin' it too easy.
I was gonna make you
invite him over.
Go back to my place
where you picked me up
and cruise around.
If anybody asks you
where you took me, you tell 'em.
Right.
Don't make it easy.
Have 'em pay you for it.
Sure. Sure thing, Lieutenant.
- Lieutenant, you all right?
- Crocker.
Untie her.
We'll get you to the hospital, Caz.
You never know.
Don't make me go out with a lie.
Okay.
Hey, look, uh...
I'll keep an eye on your sister for you.
I promise.
And that's the truth.