Miami Vice (1984–1989): Season 4, Episode 18 - Badge of Dishonor - full transcript

[Man Singing]

This little piggy went to market...

[On Radio]
While the other little piggies
stayed in their cars.

Everything is looking cool.
You guys got your ears on?

The wire's blowin' our doors off, Rico.

Just don't leave me hangin'.

[Singing Continues]

[Continues]

London gold was goin' at 450 today.

That should put the briefcase
at just under 50 pounds troy.

Yeah? What I'm gettin'
better be worth the trade.



[Continues]

You don't mind a taste first, do you?

Help yourself.

[Continues]

[Laughing]

We're in. Let's hit 'em.

[Man On Loudspeaker]
Freeze! Police!

[Machine Gun Fire]

[Switek On Radio]
Sonny, deal's gone bad.

All right, everybody move.
Everybody move, move!

[Tires Screeching]

[Continues]

Come on.

What the hell's goin' on here?
This some type of joke or something?



Yeah, and here's the punch line.
Swim or die.
[Siren Blaring]

Let's go. Come on. Let's go.

[Continues]

You okay? You all right?

Yeah.
All right. Stay there.

[Continues]

[Ends]

This Special Ops squad
sounds like a demolition team.

Oh, yeah.
Solid bunch of pros.

Three executions,
no gold, no coke.

The river's always been
South Beach jurisdiction.

Special Ops was organized to try
to bring some order to the area.

Executing people?
That's a great start, huh?

Wasn't us.
[Spanish]

How are you?
Good.

It's good to see you.
Lieutenant Arturo Dominguez.

South Beach Division.
Special Ops in charge.
Hello.

How do you do?
How do you know
it wasn't cops?

Well, these were pulled off
the dead Panamanian.

Standard issue.
Serial numbers show
they were stolen...

from the quartermaster's warehouse
three weeks ago.

Someone made off with caps, jackets,
M-16's, ammo and those cuffs.

And that doesn't suggest cops?

Our thinking makes it a rival crew.

Panamanians, Colombians, maybe.

They just beat you guys
to the punch.

No.

No, these guys had the drill down right.

Get serious.

Cops don't have to steal uniforms.

Hey, cops or no cops,
the word had to come
from the inside.

Oh? Your side or mine?

[Crockett]
Well, then, it would
have to be yours.

See, all the people in this room
practically breathe for each other, sir.

My house is clean, Arturo.

If there's a leak,
it's not from in here.

Lieutenant, what are you suggesting?

I'm not suggesting anything.
I'm just stating a fact.

Fine.

I'll be in touch.

Don't buy
the gang rival theory?

The three Panamanians?
They were loaded down with jewelry?

Fourteen pounds of 14 karat.

When they fished 'em out,
they were clean.

Is that significant?

Your rival gangs,
they don't touch the flash.

They deal with the money.
They deal with the coke.

But they'll walk away from a body
that has $10,000 worth of ice
on its fingers.

Maybe they weren't dealers,
but that doesn't mean
they had to be cops.

Gina, Trudy and Switek,
I want you guys to pull the papers
on the S.O.S. Unit.

Full background checks.
Crockett and Tubbs,

I want you guys on
the quartermaster warehouse.
Check it out.

Cops can steal uniforms too.
That's it.

[Phone Rings]

Hello.

[Speaking Spanish]

[Spanish]

[Spanish]

[Horn Honking]

[Spanish]

[Speaking Spanish]

[Gunshot]

That's where they came in.
Used a glass cutter on it.

Pulled out a pane,
tripped the latch.

Alarm?
Connected by phone line
to the duty watch commander's console.

Somebody breaks the circuit here, his desk
lights up like the odds board at Hialeah.

- But what happened?
- They bypassed it.

- Any pieces missing besides the M-16's?
- No. Just the four and the ammo.

Thank you.

[Crockett]
Crew that breaks into
a warehouse like that,

you think they just want M-16's?
You kiddin'?

They'd be like kids in a candy store.

It doesn't figure though.
Cops don't need to steal guns.

Unless they don't want to file
weapons discharge reports.

Yeah, or run the risk
of ballistics match-ups.

Anything?
[Gina]
How's this?

There are 12 members
of the Special Ops squad.

Nine of them are cubanos,
all hired since 1980.

Make a hell of a baseball team.

Find out if any of'em had
sealed youth records.

I gotta speak
to the commissioner on this.

Cops with yellow sheets?
He can't be serious.
Switek.

Right.

- Alfredo Morega's just bought it.
- Morega was a river dealer.

Well, they're pulling him
out of it right now.

Call Crockett and Tubbs.

[Chattering]

[Police Radio, Indistinct]

[No Audible Dialogue]

[Man Singing]

[Continues]

[Continues]

[Continues]

Hold it. Hold it right there.
[Hammer Cocks]

Hold it! Hold it!
Hey, hey. Easy.
Hey, I'm a police officer. Easy.

- Let me see some I.D.
Let me see some I.D.
- All right, all right.

All right. All right. Miami Vice.

South Beach. Special Ops.

[Ends]

[Ship's Horn Blowing]
[Chattering]

[Woman]
So.

This is it.

For almost two months
it's my home away from home.

I can understand the idea
of being invisible,

but don't you think
you're taking your, uh,
cover a little bit too far?

I don't know.

You live undercover, don't you?
Yeah.

You wear thousand-dollar suits
and bounce around in a Caddy?

Yeah? So?
So I get my clothes out of Dumpsters
and I live in a box.

We're both after the same thing.

You have to work
with the scum suckers.

I prefer to bust 'em.

I'd rather hang out with a strung-out
red wine derelict any day...

than a Colombian
with a spoon up his nose.

Listen, uh, Detective?

You can call me Montana, Tubbs.

The night those three Panamanians
went down?

Montana, you've gotta level with me.

You were there.
You saw the whole thing,
didn't you?

From a distance.

But you were actually close enough
to recognize those so-called cops,
right?

Yeah.
What's your call?

Were they players or... cops?

"Cops"?

That's a laugh.

They were dirt,
just like the animals they killed.

Same kind.
Why didn't you write it up?

You actually witnessed
a triple homicide,

and it's only now
that I'm finding out
that you're a detective.

I did write it up?
a full situation report.
How come we didn't get it?

Why don't you ask Dominguez?

Officers, uh, we seem to have
our wires crossed here.

These guys can't be cops.

We triple-checked
these names.

The lieutenant's gotta see this.

[Chattering]

[Gina]
Four of the nine cops
have heavy youth-offender records.

Everything from chain snatching
to burglary and assault.

They hit Miami as kids
in the mid-to-late '60s.

Used to be in the same street gangs
in Little Havana.
Here's your mug shots.

[Humming]
[Trudy]
There were, like, 15, 16 there.

You got Andohar, Merez,
Col?n and Perez.

[Chattering In Spanish]

The records were sealed
when they were 18,

but I still can't figure it.

- What?
- How fourJ.D. With rap sheets
like those ever got on the force.

During the McDuffie riot in 1980,
half the town was burning down.

Most of the force
was white.

There was a lot of pressure back then
to do some minority hiring by the P.D.

Great. Couple ofbad apples
set back minority recruiting
another 400 years.

Well, a dirty cop is a dirty cop,
white, green or red.

Look at this.

Col?n's arrest report.

A bust he made in '75.
Check it out.

Dominguez was arresting officer.

Mm-hmm.
[Tubbs]
That's pretty coincidental.

Years later he ends up burying
Montana Stone's report
on river murders.

Give me Dominguez.
What you're saying is...

the head of the Special Ops unit
is tied into all of this?

He said himself,
it was an inside leak.

Dominguez is not with his squad.

This is his home address.

Okay.

Are you sure this is the address?

Yes, partner, this is it.

Are we thinking
the same thing here?

Yeah.

Maybe he struck oil,
and police work is just a hobby.

[Chuckles]
Hope he shows up
pretty soon though.

I'm getting hungry.

What the hell
are you guys doin' here?

It's funny, Lieutenant.
That was gonna be my opening line to you.

Who is it, dear?

Uh, it's just a couple of friends, honey.

Won't be a minute.

You guys better have a damn good reason
for invading my privacy.

- How's "accessory to murder"?
- What?

That little gang of four
you're running in Special Ops?

Col?n, Mendez, Andohar, Perez.

What about 'em?
You tell us.

But first tell me how a lieutenant
making 42,500 a year...

walks on one of these
without carrying a tray
of hors d'oeuvres.

I married well, Detective.

And you better watch your step here.

You could find yourself up
on insubordination charges
faster than you can blink.

My apologies, sir.

Something else doesn't fit here.
What?

The reports on the river murders?

Montana Stone said she filed one,
only we didn't get it.

Darling, we're going to be late.

I'm gonna be just
one more minute, honey.
One.

Okay. I got it narrowed down
to the same group of four that you have.

But I don't have anything solid.
I can't make it stick.

It's like there's a piece missing.

Lieutenant?

That's got a hole in it
the size of the Grand Canyon.

Look. Come by my office
tomorrow morning.

I've got it all on file,
and I'll lay it out for you.

Dominguez.

Would you call it
proper police work
if we just walked away?

What does your gut tell you,
Detective?

All right, Lieutenant.
Tomorrow it is.

I wouldn't want to ruin the ball.

I don't like it.

[Man]
Andohar, you're already
becoming a slave to that crap.

[Speaking Spanish]

[Doorbell Rings]

Our friend's a bit late.
[Spanish]

Okay, let me re-deal it.

[Footsteps]

[Man]
So? Enjoy your share, huh?

[Buzzes]

Yeah? Send 'em in.

[Sighs]

Well, you guys
look like hell.

[Crockett]
Well, you try sleeping in a car
and you'll look the same.

[Tubbs]
Some life you lead, Lieutenant.

Charity ball,
bar-hopping till 2:00,

nice wake-up sauna and massage
at your club before work?

[Crockett]
You also told us you had a leak.
Let's get to it.

All right.

The river murders,

they weren't the first ones
involving police.

Come again?

Altogether...

six dealers have been hit.

At first we thought
it was a turf war.

Then after the second homicide,

a snitch told us
that cops did the shooting.

We didn't take him seriously.

His recollections
were inconsistent.

Then a week later,

he turned up dead.

- Why wasn't all this reported?
- Because it all played like...

garden-variety
narcotics-related homicide.

I didn't even know it was cops
until that night at the river
when you saw 'em.

They probably figured you for a dealer.

You're lucky you got
out of there alive, man.

You tellin' me you had a hunch that cops
were killing dealers, and you sat on it?

I walked in there carrying gold.

I had no idea... that you people
were onto the Panamanians.

None.

They weren'tjust hitting
random dealers.

They were hitting dealers
that this unit had under surveillance.

We'd go in.
We'd identify players.

Nail down their movements,
watch for scores.

Then, before we could move on 'em,
cops would hit 'em first.

Coke and the money,
they'd be gone.

All right, who has access
to this file?

Well, in this office...
seven altogether.

Let me see?
There's Captain DeMarco,

myself, my secretary,
Lieutenant Gibson,

- Sergeants Mueller, Scheck and Stone.
- Montana Stone?

Yeah. She's senior officer
in charge of Special Ops. Why?

No reason.

Nah. Nah, she's too dedicated
to be the leak.

Besides, she's in the field
all the time.

What about the others?

All above suspicion,
as far as I can tell.

Put together a list of your pendings,

- and we'll run 'em by Castillo.
- What for?

Best shot we got...

is trying to outguess 'em.

[Woman Screams]
[Gunshots]

All their pendings
are centered around the river.

Yeah, I know.
It's like playing a shell game.

But it's all we got.

- Castillo didn't have any preference?
- No, he just said, "Start at the top."

Let's see.
That would be?

Gotta be the freight house on 19th.

[Phone Rings]

Okay. Yeah.

Turn around.
Head back to Bay Drive Marina.

Slip F-51.
That's where Dominguez lives.

Lived. He's dead now.

Got it.

Dominguez is dead.

[Tires Screeching]

There's a pattern.

Six out of the last eight deaths
on the river,

Montana Stone has written
a statement of some sort.

What about the other two?

Doesn't fit our M.O.

One, there was no rip-off.

The other was a bomb.

She was at the immediate area
for all six?

Maybe she was playin' lookout.

Wait a minute.

It's her assignment to monitor
drug traffic along the river.

Rico, it's too coincidental.

There is no way that she could have
guessed right on all six locales.

Okay, it's pretty incriminating,

but I don't think we should
push her over the edge just yet.

How much more do you want?

I don't know.

Where you goin'?

Where do you think?

Montana.
Get back here
and make yourself useful.

Excuse me.

You been here all night?
Why?

Dominguez was killed tonight.

Do you know anything
about it?

Are you sure that's what
you want to ask me?
What do you mean?

Sounds to me like you wanna know
whether or not I was involved.

I'm hopin' that's not the case.

Is that true?

There were six instances
where dealers went down,
and each time you were there.

And you can't buy that?
Should I?

You buy anything you want, Tubbs.

I got 50 people here
who'll tell you where I was.

I'm hopin' my gut was wrong
on this, Montana,

but I got a feeling
there's a lot of bad water
runnin' down the river.

That "S and l" report
was worth nothing.

You said there was gonna be 200 keys.
We barely got 200 grams.

I don't care. It's over.
I'm out.

I don't think you're hearing me
too well here, Stone.

For God's sakes, he was your mentor.
He helped you get on the force.

You know what I learned
from Dominguez?

There are only two ways
to make money.

You either steal it or you marry it,
and I ain't met no heiresses.

My deal was to help you sting dealers,
not to become an accessory
to murder.

Hey, you don't help us
on one last hit,

you'll be an accessory to your own.

Hello, Montana.

I guess I had you figured wrong,
Detective.

[Woman]
Turn to your left.

Turn to your right.

[Chattering]

[Woman]
Hey, "D"block, here she comes.

Give her a nice welcome.

[Jeers, Catcalls]

[Jeers, Catcalls Continue]

Hey, baby, you expect
to last in here long?

[Buzzer]

Detective Stone?
Steven Bloom, P.D. Office.

I'd like to advise that we
discuss this matter in private
before we go any further.

I'll take that into consideration,
Mr. Bloom.

I'm well aware of the drill.

I'd like to find out
what Mr. Tubbs is interested in.

I'd at least like to know why.

Does it matter?

Yeah. It matters to me.

Officer, I really think that?
Wait.

I'd like to know what happened.

Col?n and I started
as partners...

on traffic detail.

One night we pulled over a Jag
with a broken taillight?

Officer, I must?
and discovered...

four keys of blow
in the trunk.

I did the paperwork
on the collar,

and Col?n checked
the cocaine into Evidence.

A week later I found out
he only checked in two keys.

And the other two?

I challenged him on it,
but he just laughed
and assured me...

that there was enough of a paper trail
to pull me down with him.

He even went so far as to make
multiple bank deposits
into my account.

When did they start killing dealers?

Not for a couple of months.

He and the other three were
shaking down small-time players?

tirateros, "nickel-dimers."

Then Col?n got the idea
to use the S.O.S.
Intelligence files.

Pretty soon they were taking down
200,000 or 300,000 a pop.

And Dominguez?

Col?n knew Dominguez
was close.

What part did you have?

File access?

Yeah.

A big cut?

Twenty percent.

Why didn't you just drop a dime?

Make an anonymous phone call
to Dominguez?

If they went down,
they'd take me with 'em.

And so you just let it spiral and spiral,
and more people died?

How did you think
it was gonna end, huh?

[Sobbing]
I don't know.

Look, if I could throw something
into the fishbowl here.

I've talked to the D.A. About this.
Come on, Bloom.

He's willing to go three-to-five?
They'd have her hit so fast.

Man, she wouldn't last
a day on the inside.

We'll ask for
the Witness Protection Program.
She wouldn't last a day in there.

I'll make any deal...

as long as one thing is addressed.
Yeah? Like what?

I'll show you.

So am I gonna have to start searching,
or are you gonna make it easy?
You're lookin' at it.

Come on, Montana.
It's too late to start
playin' games.

This ain't no game, man.

Out there, that's a game,
but these people's lives are at stake.

These people's lives are at stake?
It's funny to hear you say that.

Where's the money?
Like I said, this is it.

Are you tellin' me that you put
200 easy grand into this place?

[Laughs]
It went pretty fast.

The lot cost 125,000.

By the time
everybody else got their cut,
I was left with 50,000?

for food and medicine and bedding...

and sheets and soap and towels,
you know?

Why'd you do it with dirty money?

Why didn't you just
go out and get a grant
or something?

Oh, right, right.
I tried that once.

Ran into a big brick wall.

Probably would have had better luck
if I said it was for freedom fighters.

The means justify the ends?

You never once heard me try
to justify murder.

I never once heard you try to make it
anything better either.

You just don't get it, do you?

I want you to help us
with the sting.

Col?n is too nervous already
about the amount of stuff
he's sitting on.

Bring me in as an out-of-town mover.
We'll pay him top dollar
to take it off his hands.

Look, Tubbs, if you're talking deal?
I'm not talking deal.

What I'm saying is,
I'll lay it out to my lieutenant,

and if he goes for it,
what do you want?

What do I want?

What do I want?

This!
[Crowd Murmuring]

The remainder of my cut
is sitting in a trust fund
to keep this shelter running.

If you want my help,

you make sure that
that is untouchable.
[Man] Tell him!

I'll do the best I can.

[Tubbs]
Col?n's group is still unaware
that she's been picked up.

We need her to get me in there
to see him.

Col?n's gotta know the heat's on him,
after the Dominguez death.

Exactly why he's sitting
so nervous on all that weight.

Montana can get me in
as a New York buyer
who can take it off his hands.

There's always a chance
you might be recognized
from the raid on the river.

No. They didn't recognize me.

[Switek]
Even if they did, it wouldn't
hurt his own credibility.

All our reports were in-house on that.

They'd never know he was a cop.

I really want a shot
at these guys, Lieutenant.

It's the best shot we got.
[Tubbs]
It's the only shot.

I'll want Special Ops to get
a mocked-up surveillance file
on Tubbs to cover him.

Two, three hours.

I don't know. He's smart.
He may suspect it.

Montana, they'll never
check you.

If they suspect anybody,
it'll probably be me.

What are we gonna use
for a panic code?

How about "down,"
within a sentence?

Okay, "down" it is.

I'm getting a reading.

One, two, three?
Yeah, it's wall to wall.

Look, I know what policy is on this,
but if I go in there without a piece,

Col?n will smell a setup.

He is a cop.

I could use the backup.

All right.

All right. We're on.

You still clear?
Yeah, we're good.

[Montana]
Ricardo Cooper, out of New York.

[Col?n]
I'm sure you understand, Mr. Cooper.

Can't guarantee that your man
won't lose his hand
in the process.

A risk you have to take, Esteban.

Mr. Cooper's reputation precedes him.

Ain't that right, Montana?

Yeah.

Hey, can we get
to the point here?

Something bothering you, Stone?

Yeah, a lot of things
bother me, Col?n.

Do you want me to make a list for you?

[Chuckles]

That always seems to be
your problem, Montana.

Step into my office,
Mr. Cooper.

She's having trouble keeping it together.

She'll be all right.

Heads up, girls.
We got a late arrival.

Montana tells me you can relieve me
of some recently accumulated problems.

Depends on the quantity
and the quality.

Excellent quality.

Over 100 kilos.

Let me see it.

Mmm, mmm, mmm! I love it.

- My man.
[Chuckles]
- What is this?

- You know this guy?
- [Col?n] Why?

'Cause he's one of the vice cops
that came to see Dominguez.

[Montana]
What? I checked his file up and down.

- That's it. She dropped it.
- All right. We're in. Go.

Go!
[Tires Screeching]

[Col?n]
The only uncertainty here, Montana,
is your involvement. Put down the gun.

What? Are you out of your mind?

This man had a book for a file.

- How was I supposed to know?
- Put down the gun.

[Machine Gun Fire]

[Groans]

[Tubbs]
Montana!

Freeze, Col?n!

- Col?n, freeze.
- [Gunshots]

[Panting]

[Exhales]

We gotta get an ambulance.

No.

How you feelin'?
I can't stop thinkin' about her.

Some kind of heart she had.

I just wish she'd used
her head a little bit more.
Maybe she'd still be around.

Well, she made a mark, Rico.

At least she left
something good behind.