Matlock (1986–1995): Season 4, Episode 10 - The Prisoner: Part 2 - full transcript

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Among the things
we still don't know

is why famed defense
attorney Benjamin Matlock,

who entered the
prison five days ago,

still has yet to leave.

Is he a negotiator, a hostage

or is he defending the
guard on trial for murder?



Oh, yes, sir, he is.

It's the governor.

Yes.

He was found
hanging in his cell.

I can't tell you anything else.

Looked like suicide.

Ben says it looked
like a suicide.

Only it wasn't suicide.

Only he says it
wasn't a suicide.

You sure about that?

Positive.

He's positive, Governor.

I understand.

Well, I know that, but...



Wait a minute. Please hold on.

He's afraid if he
doesn't respond

to this second killing
with some show of force,

that the press will crucify him

when they find out about it.

He can't do that.

The warden doesn't
think that's a good idea

and frankly, neither do I.

Tell him... Give me the phone.

Just give me the phone.

Burt, Ben Matlock.

Now listen, I know
it doesn't sound like

we're making much
progress, but we are.

I can't do it in 48 hours.

And they won't
let me out of here.

I've got to have more time.

I understand.

I understand.

And here's something
for you to understand...

I'm in this and
I've got to finish,

or there's going to be
a lot more dead people,

and I might be one of them,

and I'm too damn young to die.

You got that?

I don't know what to tell
you to do with the press.

I know... lie.

48 hours!

Anything I can do?

I don't know.

Yes.

Transfer Rudy Chambers
to Greenwood Prison.

Rudy Chambers is dead.

Maybe not.

You'll be given a
daily work assignment.

Only when it's complete

will you be able to use
the recreational facilities.

Track and tennis
courts over here,

basketball court, swimming pool

and putting greens on the
other side of the weight room.

Beats the hell out of the state
pen, doesn't it, Chambers?

No guard towers, no walls.

Just a little fence.

I don't have to tell you

what'll happen if
you try to escape.

Please, look... don't
ruin the moment.

How'd you do it
anyway, Chambers?

Do what?

This is where they send
creative bookkeepers

and inside traders,
corrupt politicians...

You know, white collar crooks.

What's a safecracker like you

doing in a place like this?

With any luck, about five years.

What are you looking for?

Anything that'll tell
me who killed Lenny.

He killed himself.

No.

Lenny was a survivor.

He knew he had
something that I wanted,

and he knew I'd
make a deal to get it.

I just didn't get
to him in time.

He'd never have killed himself

till he heard what
I had to offer.

Well, then who killed him?

Whoever killed Rudy.

The first place to
look is under the bed.

It's bloody.

Yeah.

And I'll bet anything it's
Rudy Chambers' blood.

What's Lenny doing with it?

Well, either Lenny killed him...

The wimp?!

Or he took the knife after
somebody else killed him.

Lenny knew this knife
would implicate somebody,

so he kept it, figuring
the killer wouldn't kill him.

In other words, Tiny,

if we can find out
who owns this knife,

we'll know who the killer is.

Damn.

You recognize it?

No.

Uh, appreciate it, man.

You won't catch
me talking about it.

If I had that much time,

then I wouldn't
be doing all of this.

Not me, man.

Oh, just the boys
I was looking for.

Man, when are you
going to get off our backs?

Well, just as
soon as I figure out

which one of you
killed Rudy Chambers

and Lenny Marcus.

Whoa-whoa, wait... now
one of us killed Lenny, too?

I know one of you killed Rudy.

If he hadn't blown
the whistle on you,

why you'd all be on the beach
in South America or somewhere.

Hell, maybe you
were all in on it.

Drew straws or something.

Lenny was a friend of ours, Ben.

Why would we want to kill him?

Because one of you bribed
Lenny to look the other way

while Rudy was being killed.

And that was okay then,

but then this kangaroo
court thing came up

and you were afraid
that somebody else

might bribe Lenny... me.

And so, one of you,

the one with the most to lose,

the one who killed
Rudy, killed Lenny.

Lenny hung himself.

You know as well as I
do Lenny wasn't the type.

If you're waiting for one
of us to confess here,

don't hold your breath.

The reason I came to see you
is I've got something to tell you.

What's that?

We found the murder
weapon in Lenny's cell.

You found the knife?

We found a knife.

We found a knife.

Now, the warden is
willing to make a deal

with anybody who knows anything
about Rudy Chambers' murder.

And I figure

two of you might be interested.

Let me know.

I'm easy to find.

What's wrong, man?

I wasn't supposed to
tell them about the knife?

No, Tiny, you weren't supposed
to tell them about the knife.

You didn't tell me that!

I didn't think I had to!

Chambers?

You're blocking my rays.

I'm Lesser.

Nice to meet you.

Could you move about
six inches to the right?

I have a message from Harper.

I'm listening.

Get acquainted
meeting tonight at 10:00.

312 Valley Vista.

Enjoy.

I never seen it before.

According to Tiny, nearly
everybody in this place

makes himself some
kind of a weapon.

I thought maybe you might recognize the
way this tape's wrapped around the handle

as being somebody's trademark.

I don't know.

Things are looking up, you know.

We finally have something
that can implicate the real killer.

A good solid piece of evidence.

You don't get it, do you?

You keep talking like this
thing is for real, and it's not.

It's a joke.

The same thing
is going to happen,

whether you find
the real killer or not.

They're gonna kill me.

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I'm Jim Beck.

This is Mike Saunders.

How you doin'?

I'm here.

So... where's Harper?

You probably won't
see him till after the job.

When's the job?

Tomorrow night.

Had us worried.

Figured that prison riot
screwed everything up.

Yeah, well, riot broke out

just as I was being
transferred to Greenwood.

Harper gave us your list.

We got everything
you wanted in there.

You mind if I look at it?

Be my guest.

Yeah...

Yeah, that looks,
that looks good.

That... looks like
it's, uh, it's all here.

That's nice work.

So, guess I'll see you
boys tomorrow night.

And where you going?

Out. No, no.

You're an escaped con, remember?

You're not going
anywhere till after the job.

You need to get out here
and work out a little bit.

So where's your new
homeboy... the lawyer?

Talking to Mazarofski, man.

He told me to take a walk.

Probably figures

an uneducated guy like you

would get lost with
all the legal talk.

Or maybe he just
doesn't trust you.

Listen, Tiny,

I got this friend who'd like
to know more about that shiv

you found in Lenny's cell.

What's in it for me?

Plenty.

What'd it look like?

It's a mess hall knife, man.

It's filed down,
black tape for a grip.

Where's it now?

It's locked in solitary.

You think, if I gave you
the word ahead of time,

you could leave that cell
unlocked for an hour or two?

No problem.

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That's a security peep
from the bank lobby.

We planted a transmitter
on one of the poles they use

to rope off the teller area.

Signals from this makes it

vibrate just enough

to set off the motion detector.

We've been
triggering it a couple

of times a night,
for almost a week.

And here we go again.

Motion on the main floor.

Nothing's moving down there.

I don't care what
Maintenance says.

There's a short in the
system somewhere,

damn it.

It's your turn to check.

Give him a couple of minutes

to get back upstairs
to his buddy.

A million bucks

for a security system
that doesn't work.

And now...

it's showtime.

You're feeding 'em the tape?

Two hours of empty lobby.

Recorded it last night.

Ready when you are.

Let's hit it.

I say we pull the plug.

Okay.

It's all yours.

Yeah, there we go.

See what you got for me.

It's thick.

You're supposed to be fast.

What's taking so long?

Hey, I learned this
from Charlie Hawk.

He's the best
safecracker in the country.

But if you think you
can get somebody faster,

you're welcome to go get him.

Come on, man!

We got nine minutes
left on that video.

Uh...

I think that's it.

You think?

Yeah, yeah.

Come on.

Yes!

How much you
figure, one, two million?

Who's counting?

Who wants a beer?

Make it two.

Rudy!

See, now, ordinarily, I'd pass,

but, right now, I'm, I'm
feeling congenial, guys.

A good day at the office.

There's two million at least.

I was starting to get worried.

Chambers here was
a little out of practice.

That's not Chambers.

Who are you?

Travis Jenkins.

Yes, and I've been in
the pen for five years,

and Rudy's one
of my best buddies.

What, he ne... he
never said anything

to you about me?

What happened to Rudy
Chambers, Mr. Jenkins?

He busted his arm
breaking out, I told you.

He couldn't crack a
paper bag, let alone a vault.

Which is why he
told me about the plan

and had me fill in for him.

Bull! It's true!

Half of my take's
gonna be waiting for him

when he gets out.

He told me because he...
Look, half of something

is better than all of
nothing, am I right?

How come you didn't tell
us all this right from the start?

Because I figured you
wouldn't let me pull the job.

You were right. See?!

But I pulled through, didn't I?

I'm gonna check...

see if Travis Jenkins
really was a prisoner

in the pen for five years.

Without mentioning specifics,

authorities here at
the Atlanta State Prison

say they are making
progress in their negotiations

with the inmates who are
now in control of the facility.

They refused to comment
on the trial going on inside.

Mr. Stone, would you
please tell the court

what it was you saw
on the night of the 21st?

Well, Mr. Mazarofski,
uh, you know,

I hurt my knee while I
was working in the laundry.

A, uh, press door
fell over, whacked me

right across the kneecap.

Hurt so bad, I didn't
know what to do.

Why don't you sue?!

Shut up before I come
over and sue you, man!

All right!

You don't know who
you messing with!

Order! Order or
I'll clear this room.

That means pipe down or get out.

Yeah, yeah.

All right, so you
hurt your kneecap

and you went to the infirmary

to get it fixed up, right?

Yeah, yeah, that's right.

What did you see?

Well, first, I saw
John Jackson standing

above one of the beds.

Then I saw Rudy Chambers
laying on one of the beds.

And the minute I saw the
brother, I knew he was dead.

He had been wasted,

'cause there was
blood all over the place.

Did you see anyone else?

Just Jackson.

That's it...!

Hang him, Judge!

No further questions.

Ah, uh, Mr. Stone...

did you actually
see the defendant,

John Jackson, stab
Rudy Chambers?

Yeah, I saw him...

You're a damn liar, Stone!

Hey, man, don't call me no liar!

Order!

You do that again, I'll have you
bound and gagged, Mr. Jackson.

Now, let me ask you again.

Did you actually
see the defendant,

John Jackson, stab
Rudy Chambers?

He was standing right over him.

Did you see him
holding the knife?

Let me... Well, now, I
didn't actually see the knife,

you understand?

Oh, oh, so you didn't
actually see the murder,

and you didn't
actually see the knife.

You didn't see much of
anything, did you, Mr. Stone?

You saw the knife!
Nothing further.

Hey, wait, hey...
Witness is excused.

Hey, you!

I saw John Jackson

standing over Rudy
Chambers' dead, bleeding body.

That's what I saw, man!

Aw, shut up and get down.

I'm trying to explain the...

Time for dinner.

This court's
adjourned till 9:00 or so

tomorrow morning.

Say, Tiny...

have that cell open
by 10:00 tonight, okay?

Okay.

What's going on, Art?

Stay back, both of you.

Whose side are you on, Tiny?

Rudy Chambers
was a friend of mine.

I didn't kill him.

But he was the reason
your escape failed.

He snitched on you.

As I understand it, around
here, that's a capital crime.

I didn't kill him.

What are you in for, Mr. Spring?

Murder one, two counts.

Oh, an experienced killer.

But I didn't kill Rudy Chambers.

This knife is the murder weapon.

Tiny and I found
it in Lenny's cell.

My guess is that he took it

out of Rudy Chamber"
body as insurance.

If he had the knife, he'd
be safe from the killer.

Whose knife is it,

Mr. Spring?

It's mine. But I'm...

You killed Rudy Chambers
and then you killed Lenny Marcus

because you were afraid he was
gonna squeal on you, didn't you?

No!

Then why was your
knife in Lenny's cell?!

Somebody stole it from me
and used it on Rudy Chambers

to frame me for the murder!

Oh, come on!

If I was the killer,

I would've torn Lenny's cell
apart looking for that knife.

You found it because whoever
did kill Rudy wanted you to.

Because it wasn't
his knife, it was mine!

All right.

Where were you at
the time of the murder?

I was right here,
watching the Braves game.

Anybody watching it with you?

Of course.

Lots of guys.

Who?

I don't know! I don't remember!

Nobody was watching
that game that night,

not even you, Mr. Spring,

because it wasn't on.

Here's the TV station's
daily broadcast log.

Read me what it says
about the Braves game.

Okay, so the game wasn't on.

I must have been
watching it some other night.

Again, where were you
at the time of the murder?

I don't remember.

Hell, I bet half the guys in
this room can't remember

what they were
doing that night either!

The knife that killed
Rudy Chambers

doesn't belong to any
of them, it belongs to you.

That's right!

All right.

I'll tell you.

But just remember, Matlock,

if anything happens
to me, it's on your head.

Now you remember where you were.

I was talking to Frank Latham.

Who's Frank Latham?

He's one of the guards.

You're a snitch?

If you kill this man,

you're gonna destroy
everything we've done so far.

Back off.

Move it, man!

Look, they're
negotiating with us.

We can get our demands,
if you just don't blow it.

We can't continue
with this trial if you don't

turn this man over to the
authorities, outside, alive!

Shut up!

Shut up!

To hell with Spring!

Let the warden have him!

Once a snitch, always a snitch.

Let him have him dead!

He'll get what he's
got coming to him.

Tiny.

Take Mr. Spring to the gate.

If anybody asks,

tell them you're
dumping the trash.

All right.

Get back in your seats.

Everybody, sit down!

And to add insult to injury,

he threw it over
Randolph's head,

allowing Harmon to
score from second base.

In the seventh inning
though, it was all Braves.

Aaron led off with a smash...

Hey, why don't you turn it up.

Where do you think you're going?

I'm thirsty.

Go ahead.

All right, you in the van,

you in the car, come out with
your hands above your head!

Everybody up against the van!

Put your hands behind your head.

Move it!

Feet apart.

Yet another National Guard
unit has just arrived on the scene.

While prison officials are still
not giving out any information,

it's clear from the
kind of firepower

being amassed
outside these gates

that some sort of assault
on the prison is imminent.

Burt, you can't do that!

I know what you said,
but you're the governor.

Tell them you changed your mind.

Burt, I told you,
they won't let me go.

Of course I'm making progress.

I need 48 hours.

All right.

All right, I'll
talk to you then.

Hey, Burt...

I didn't vote for you.

He gave you two more days?

He wants me out
of here in six hours.

When this is over,
let's impeach him.

Ben...

Yeah.

Oh, I hope you have
some good news.

Good news... I got great news.

Now, Mr. Costello...

Uh...

wh-what are you in for?

Robbing a couple jewelry stores.

That's what they say I did.

I'm innocent, of course.

Yeah, yeah.

Now, uh, these, uh,
these, uh, robberies...

Alleged robberies...
That, uh, that you pulled...

Did you work alone?

They say I had partners.
Never caught 'em, though.

Oh, they couldn't get
you to rat on 'em, huh?

A man of principle.

Well, uh... what,
what was your, uh,

what was your job in
these alleged robberies?

Plastics.

As in explosives.

Uh-huh.

Uh, do you suppose
your alleged friends

could pull off one of these
robberies without you?

Be pretty tough.

Always gotta blow a
hole in something...

Door, wall... safe.

Plastics work best.

On-On vaults, too?

Vaults are a different story.

Pretty tough to
blow a hole in a vault

without attracting
a lot of attention.

Or so I've heard.

Uh-huh.

So-So, i-i-if you were
gonna, say, oh, rob a place,

and had to deal with a vault,

then, uh, then-then
you'd have to employ

the aid of a safecracker,

wouldn't you? That's right.

And Rudy Chambers was
a safecracker, wasn't he?

Now, let's say that, uh,

let's say that your
friends on the outside...

Yeah, here... let's say
that their names are, are

Ed Harper, uh, Jim
Beck and Mike Sanders.

Is that all right?

Uh-huh.

And let's say that, uh,

let's say that, uh, they
decide they want to rob a bank,

and so, somehow,
they got word to you.

And the plan was that you
would escape from prison here,

just in time to help
them out with the heist.

Only somewhere along the line...

they realized they
had to deal with a vault.

So they got you to
recruit Rudy Chambers.

Right?

I don't know what
you're talking about.

The way I see it,

the plan was...

for you to escape.

So you and Rudy got together
with Art Spring and Val Delaney,

and planned this breakout.

Of course, Art and Val didn't
know anything about the robbery.

They just wanted to
get away from this place.

Does that sound familiar?

Not at all.

Now, let's say your
friends got greedy.

They got greedy.

They realized they
didn't need you.

But because of the
vault, they needed Rudy.

So, they came up
with an ingenious plan

to cut you out.

The escape was going
along fine, going along fine,

moving right along,
and all of a sudden...

Rudy faked an injury.

And the reason he did
that was to buy a transfer

to Greenwood Prison
Camp... Easy to get out of,

by informing on
you and your friends.

You're making this
up as you go along.

You know I'm not.

You know I'm not!

And now comes Lenny Marcus.

When you found out

that he snitched on Rudy,

you decided... you knew...

You knew that you'd
been double-crossed,

and you decided you'd get even.

And you killed the man

that your friends needed
to get into that vault.

You killed Rudy Chambers.

Objection!

Mr. Matlock is engaging
in rampant speculation.

There's not a shred of proof.

Your Honor, if you'll bear
with me, I do have proof.

Go ahead.

Thank you.

Now, this is today's paper.

You see here?

Those men did
get into that vault.

See?

You see that?

They got into the
vault. See that?

See here?

They got into the vault

by using somebody they
thought was Rudy Chambers.

Are you surprised?

And guess whose van
they used for the getaway.

Yours.

The police recovered it
when they arrested everybody.

See? It says right here.

"Police... Police
seized a vehicle

"containing equipment
used in the bank robbery.

"It was registered
to Billy Costello,

currently an inmate at
Atlanta State Prison."

See? They even
spelled your name right.

I didn't kill Chambers.

I was nowhere near him.
I was taking a shower.

What?!

When?!

7:30 Wednesdays.

After dinner, Cell Block
A always takes showers.

Where?!

On the cell block. Where else?

So, on-on Wednesday...

the day of the
murder, at 7:30...

you were taking a
shower in Cell Block A.

That's right.

How'd your feet feel
after you got out?

How'd my feet feel?

Yeah.

When I think I'm onto something,

I don't miss a trick.

Let's see here. Willie...

Willie...

yeah, Willie Lamberthal.

Willie Lamberthal.

He's the one that cleans
the, uh, the showers.

Willie is ready to testify
that he had forgotten

that-that Wednesday.

And he put a big sign
on the shower door,

said "Do not enter."

And then about ten,
15, 20 minutes after 7:00,

he poured a bunch of
this stuff on the floor.

You know what it is?

Disinfectant. That's right.

Very powerful. Heavy duty.

Mostly hydrochloric acid.

See that right there?

It says "Danger. Contact
with the eyes or skin

can cause serious injury."

Willie tells me that
he leaves this stuff on

from 15 to 25 minutes
to get it real clean, see?

Then he washes it off.

So, Mr. Costello, if
you took a shower

that Wednesday at 7:30,

you wouldn't be walking.

Willie's lying.

John Jackson paid him to lie.

I don't think so!

I don't think so!

I don't think so!

But I think you...

paid Lenny to look the other way

while you hit John Jackson
in the back of the head

and drug him in the infirmary,
and then killed Rudy Chambers.

It's a lie.

It might've worked if it
hadn't been for this trial.

But I got ahold of Lenny,

and you knew I
wanted Lenny to talk.

And you knew that
Lenny might break.

So you killed Lenny.

And then you tried
to frame Art Spring

by planting his
shiv in Lenny's cell.

No. Not a word of that is true.

You promised Lenny

that you would take care
of his cellmate, and you did.

You promised
Lenny a lot of money.

You promised him
it'd be waiting for him

when he got out. Did not.

All right.

All right, explain this.

Explain this, Mr. Costello.

These are... are
bank statements.

One is yours.

One is Lenny's.

On the day of the murder,

your wife withdrew
$47,000 exactly

from your savings
account, and, that same day,

$47,000 appeared

in Lenny's savings account.

How do you explain that?

You paid... Lenny
Marcus... $47,000...

to help set up and then cover up

your murder of Rudy Chambers.

That's all.

About time!

Let's get it straight this time.

All right. Let's quiet down.

C.J., did you
arrive at a verdict?

We wouldn't be here
if we hadn't, Norman.

Well, let's hear it.

We didn't have a choice.

We had to find John
Jackson not guilty.

Wait, wait, wait.

Wait!

Now, we promised if he
was declared not guilty,

we'd release him.

So we lied!

Yeah, we lied!

They lie to us all the time.

If you kill this man,
they'll swarm this place

like World War III.

Half of you will be
killed and the rest of you

will stay in here for
the rest of your lives.

Is that what you want?

You gave your word!

Ah, save your breath. Shut up!

Look, look... for once,
we got the upper hand.

Now, I hate that guy's guts
just as much as anybody,

but if we don't let him go,
they won't meet our demands.

So what's up, man?

All right, we're going to
listen to this bull this time.

But you better
have it right, though.

Better have it right.

Yeah!

Come on...

Come on, man. Let's go, man.

I don't believe it.

Why? Have you forgotten what
it's like to be a human being?

Well, Steve?

All right.

Yeah, I know.

But you know what?

It felt pretty good being
on the D.A.'s side for once.

I tell you what...

When you get out,
let's try for a rematch.

It's a deal.

Tiny, Tiny, thanks
for helping me out.

I'm glad, man.

No, we make a hell of a team.

When you get out, look me up.

Here's my card.

I don't know.

No, I might have a job for you.

What are you in
here for, anyway?

Aggravated assault.

Armed robbery.

Grand theft auto.

See, I used to work for a
guy who made a ton of money,

and I asked him for a raise,
and he wouldn't give it to me.

So I beat him up.

I took his gun.

I robbed.

I know it's wrong, but
it made me so mad.

One thing I hate...

is a cheapskate.

It was just a thought.