Murder, She Wrote (1984–1996): Season 10, Episode 16 - Time to Die - full transcript

Jessica's teen writing class has two promising students, Alida and Chris. But when Chris' loan-shark stepfather turns up dead after pursuing Alida and fleeing a hit-and-run, Chris is the prime suspect.

Dancing by your side

I say make first-time
graffiti writing a felony.

Lock up the perpetrators
and then throw away the key.

You mean I'm going
to be published?

That's exactly what I mean. Oh!

Congratulations.

You know what? Go
ahead and quit the band.

You ain't that hot, anyways.

There'll be over 100 birds
entered in this year's Classic.

Should be some spectacle.

Solid on the wallet, home slice.



I figure I'm $10,000 richer.

If I see a gun in that hand,

you're a dead man.

They're lying. I saw him.

I committed a mortal sin and
Chris is going to suffer for it.

I just hope you're clever
enough to stay away from Alida.

Can we include a crime?

Well, I'd be very
disappointed if you didn't.

When are you gonna
get off my case?

When you start acting
like a man about something!

I want to talk to you about being
in two places at the same time.

See anything? Uh-uh.

Hey, boys.

Hey, how you doing?



Hey, baby.

Hey, how you doing, huh?

How you doing? Let me see.

Hey, how you doing, huh?

Nothing but the
best for my babies.

Nice night.

This your new chick?
Hey, hey, careful.

Hey, Chris.

It's not much.

Ah, you're wrong about this one.

Not likely.

You'll never get a decent bird
out of this tired old breeding stock

your father left you.

When you gonna
get yourself a job?

I've been thinking about
going back to school.

Garcia. Again?

Yeah. Which building?

Get a clean-up crew down there.

What the hell does this
damned Choe have against me?

Alida says you're
a great teacher.

I don't think this is very good,

but then I haven't
taken your class yet.

Well, thank you, Chris.
This will give us a jumpstart.

And welcome to
the class. Thanks.

Alida, by the way,

it's been such a long
time since the butler did it,

that I never guessed.

She's going to
like "The Racers".

After your stuff? Sure. Wrong.

All right, everybody, this afternoon
we're going to discuss character.

Now, it's the characters that can
make or break any work of fiction.

The more alive they are,

the more they
express their feelings,

the better your
writing is going to be.

And one of the best
ways that I know

to start getting feeling
into your characters

is to get in touch
with your own feelings.

So, your next assignment

will be to create a family

of five individual characters

and then write how each reacts

to learning that a sixth
member of the family

has cheated them all out of
a $10,000,000 inheritance.

Are there any questions?

Can we include a crime?

Well, I'd be very
disappointed if you didn't.

I'll look forward to
seeing you all next week.

- That's great.
- Okay, so that's great.

Well, what did you think?

Oh, she's cool.

Yeah, she is cool.

Listen, you want to get a
cup of coffee or something?

Hey, we've got rehearsal.

Oh, that's right. Listen,
I'll meet you there.

Chris and I have
some catching up to do.

Why are you doing this to me?

Hey, man, why
don't you chill out?

Look, we got two new songs to add
and Tammy's waiting for us. Come on.

I'm sorry, Chris. How about coming
to the café while we rehearse?

Uh, forget it.

I'll see you later then.

Much later.

For more rhythm

When the body starts swaying

And the band keeps playing

There is nothing you can do

Let the rhythm take
you For more rhythm

It's in my soul
I'm losing control

For more rhythm

It's spinning around
when the sun comes down

For more rhythm I've been alone

Beneath the stars
We'll keep dancing

Dancing by your side

Alida looks adorable.

Why don't you invite her to
the house for dinner anymore?

No, Ma, I told you.
She works, she writes.

She just doesn't have time.

Oh, I'm sure she could
make time for you.

Ma. Maria.

Let it go.

For more rhythm

One, two, three, four.

Mrs. Fletcher, will
you do me the honor?

I'd be delighted, Sergeant.

The graffiti squad's
going bananas.

I just hope this thing
does some good.

It's a very complex
problem, Sergeant.

Yeah, so they tell me.

You know, when I
first made detective,

Alida's father was my rabbi.
He was my friend, my counselor.

When he died, I thought I'd pay
him back by looking out for Alida,

like a big brother, you know?

That's interesting.

You know, she's written
about some of that.

The girl in her story.

She feels pressured by
this newfound big brother

who wants her to go to college.

All right. The tunes that
you guys are hearing tonight

is being brought
to you by Full Moon.

Now, tell me, everybody,

are we having fun in the house?

Good, good! Now, let's
give a great big hand

for the lady who threw
this slamming jam,

the principal of
Columbus High, all right.

And the mother of our beautiful
bass guitarist, Tammy Fisher,

Mrs. Barbara Fisher!
Come on, give it up!

Thank you, Manny.

I want to thank all of you for your
generous donations in time and money

to our local
anti-graffiti campaign,

with a special thanks
to Mr. Frank Garcia,

who personally purchased

and turned over to the police

four infrared
cameras that can see

and record graffiti
writing in the dark.

Amazing. Thank you.

Do you know Mr. Garcia?

Oh, yeah. BARBARA:
Volunteers, you can find

your assignments posted on the
bulletin board. I know Mr. Garcia.

And now, our host,
Mario Fernandez.

Thank you, Mrs. Fisher.
Ladies and gentlemen,

In gratitude to this
very hot young group

and because I like
having my place back,

I...

I am offering Full Moon

a two-week gig
here at Koffee Kafe

starting tomorrow
night. Let's hear it, huh?

Thank you, very
much, Mr. Fernandez,

and on behalf of
Full Moon, we accept.

But you're gonna have to do something
about this whack sound system you have

if you want us to rock
the house, you know?

Great party.

Yes, I'm having fun.

Well, there's fun and fun.

You look sensational.

Thank you. How about later?

Coffee? A drink?

Don't you ever give up?

Not when I really
want something.

Why you putting
up with this guy?

Because he's my husband
and your stepfather.

Like hell. Chris.

There you go.

Mmm, mmm, that's good cake.

Oh, my wife baked it.

You know, I gotta
hand it to you, man.

You are a very
clever businessman.

Well,

in the spirit of the evening,

you're really not a bad cop.

I just hope you're clever
enough to stay away from Alida.

Alida can take care of herself.

If you keep hitting on her,

she won't have to.

That pie is good, too.

Tammy is a first-class musician.

Well, thank you. All
the kids are excellent.

You really must come for dinner
one evening. Tammy would love it.

The band is off on Sunday.
Is that good for you?

Well, sounds great
to me. Thanks.

Jessica, all those
years ago at college,

did you ever think we would
spend an evening in Manhattan

for a cause like anti-graffiti?

No way, Barbara.

Goodnight, Jessica.
Goodnight, Barbara.

Somebody call 911.

Someone call an
ambulance, right away.

Get help! Don't move her!

Tammy's up at the hospital.

Barbara is about to go into emergency
surgery, but they're optimistic.

Good, good, because so am I.

This statement's
gonna nail Frank Garcia.

With what you saw
of the license plate,

and your description of the car,
matched up to prove it was his.

When he finds out how
much time he's gonna do,

I'm gonna get him to
start doing some talking

about his other
little dirty ventures,

like loan sharking.

Excuse me, Sergeant, but
we've run into some problems.

The cabbie's not
gonna help at all.

Said he was, uh,
blinded by the headlights.

Also, Garcia claims that his
car was stolen at around 11:00.

That's a half hour
before the accident.

It gets worse.

Spit it out.

Two witnesses, his foreman,
Tom Gregory, and his wife

say he was with
them. They're lying.

I saw him.

Sure they are, but
there are two of them.

They claim he was
with them for an hour.

We gotta find
Garcia's passenger,

or a corroborative
witness to back you up,

or there's no way
we can book him.

Come on, baby, where are you?

You hear anything
about your car?

It's probably in the East River.

Let the insurance
company worry about it.

There she is.

You did good.

Real good.

Seven minutes, 35
seconds from Battery Park.

Damn good time.

Your race with Mario
Fernandez still on?

Hundred miles for 5,000 bucks.

Where'd you
disappear to last night?

I took a walk. Got
tired of the crowd.

I think what you got tired of was
watching Manny come on to Alida.

They left together.

When are you gonna
get off my case?

When you start acting
like a man about something!

Good morning, you two.

Morning, Ma.

Yo, chill with that bull!

I brought some cheese Danish and

jelly donuts.

No, that's all right.
I gotta get going.

If you could only just
try to get along with him.

Why is it always
my fault? I try.

He doesn't.

Garcia. MAN: Your car was found

stripped in Washington
Heights. I'll be there.

They found my car in
Washington Heights.

Stripped.

So what was it that you
wanted to talk to me about?

Your story, "Playing".

I submitted it to my
publisher's editorial board.

They're making selections
for a young writers anthology

coming out this summer.

They accepted it.

You mean I'm going
to be published?

That's exactly what I mean. Oh!

Congratulations.

That is awesome.
Oh, I cannot believe it.

Of course, you're going to
have to make some revisions,

correct the galleys...
Oh. Just like you do.

Mmm-hmm. Oh, I
don't know what to say.

I am so happy. Thank you.
Thank you, so much, Mrs. Fletcher.

Have you read Chris's story?

Yesterday afternoon.

I think I'm going to enjoy
having him in the class.

That's great.

Yes? MAN: Mrs. Fletcher,

there's an officer here
to take your information.

Will you tell the officer that I
will be right down? MAN: Sure.

Thank you.

What was that all about?

Well, I've decided to amend my
statement about the hit-and-run.

Can I give you
a lift uptown? No.

No thanks. I, um, have
some things that I have to do.

Alida, are you all right?

Oh, I'm more than
all right, Mrs. Fletcher.

I'm just so excited
about the story and all.

Comb, street map,
auto registration,

keys to your apartment, glasses.

Sign. Keep a copy.

You know, I had a talk with your
foreman, Tom Gregory, and his wife.

You know what I think?

I think he's losing his nerve.

I think he's gonna crack

and blow away your alibi.

Sorry, Sergeant.

Tom and his wife
aren't going to crack

because they're
telling the truth.

Good morning, Mrs.
Fletcher. Mr. Garcia.

Mrs. Fletcher, I want
you to know I understand.

As a businessman,
I've seen it so often.

People under stress saying
something they regret later.

You must have been
in a state of shock.

Your good friend suddenly
struck down that way.

Mr. Garcia, I know what I saw.

Nice guy, huh?

Here's the statement with
the changes you requested.

Mrs. Fletcher, we're
gonna make this collar.

That's a list of what
we found inside his car.

I suggest you call Maria Garcia.

Oh, see we're on the same
channel. I already did that.

Claire de Lune's not her brand.

Laughton. Uh-huh. MAN:
Sergeant, the graffiti detail's found

Uh-huh. MAN: something
about that hit-and-run.

Okay. Thanks.

The graffiti detail's got something.
I'd appreciate it if you come along.

Oh, of course.

I've got one of the few red
racing pigeons in Manhattan.

All set with the, uh,
Montauk Racing Club?

Oh, yeah. I'll drive both the
birds out there this afternoon.

What about you, Garcia? Are you
still planning on entering this race?

Easy, Joe.

I hear you have a pair
of Austrian breeders.

Yes, I do.

How much do you
want? They're not for sale.

And I'm giving the first chick to
your stepson for helping me out.

It's about time somebody else around
here got a shot at the best breeders.

Age has its privileges, Joe,
but you do keep pushing it.

All right.

I set your clocks identical
and I'm locking them up.

What do you say we
up the bet to 10,000?

Come on. Been doing a lot of
talk about your big red, Mario.

You're on, Frankie.

Five hundred for the
breeders, Joe. Take it or leave it.

No way.

I hope you nail him to the wall.

It took me five years and a
broken arm to pay back Garcia

for what I had to borrow from
that pig to set this place up.

All the while his enforcers
were leaning on me.

It killed my wife.

Excuse me.

Let me look at it.

Well, that's interesting,

but I don't know how
much good it's going to do.

I can't arrest anyone for
hit-and-run on the basis of graffiti art.

Could I borrow one of your
photographs, Sergeant?

Sure. You got something?

I'm not sure.

Now.

Nice.

Hello.

Hello, Joe. It's Mario.

Hello, Mario. Time of release?

Three thirty-eight fifty.

The westerlies are
blowing pretty hard.

I doubt the birds will
be able to do better than

35 miles an hour flying
into that headwind.

Even if the Long Island
Expressway's jammed,

I ought to be home
before they are.

All right.

Should've thought twice

Should've thought twice

Should've thought twice

About your lying eyes

Should've thought twice

Should've thought twice

Should've thought twice

What'll you have, Mrs. Fletcher?

How about a double espresso?

Coming up.

This new sound
system's awesome. Great.

So, how'd the race come out?

Solid on the wallet, home slice.

I figure I'm
$10,000 richer. Huh.

Red got home at 6:08.

But I haven't heard
from Garcia yet.

Figures, huh? Come on.

Hi, Mrs. Fletcher.

Hi, Jessica. The
hospital called.

Mom's out of surgery.
Everything's cool.

All right.

I'm heading up there.

Say, will you be sure
to give her my very best?

I will. Thank you.

By the way, did either one
of you happen to see Chris?

Mmm-mmm.

He hasn't been around.

I'll see you.

Bye.

That was such a great set. Mmm.

They wouldn't even
let us off the stand.

You should have seen Manny,

just getting off on that
synthesizer, it was great.

Is there a special reason
why you wanted to see Chris?

Alida, when they found
Frank Garcia's car,

there was a lipstick in it.

It was this brand,
Claire de Lune.

Oh, really?

It doesn't belong to Maria.

Oh, I just started using that.

Mrs. Fletcher... Alida,

did Frank Garcia threaten you?

Yes. Yes, he did.
He threatened me.

Mrs. Fletcher, I've
been so scared.

He swore that if I told anyone,

he would have me
killed and I believed him.

So just what was going on
between you and Garcia?

Listen, he'd hit on me before

and I always told
him to get lost.

Yeah, but just
not last night, huh?

Oh, can I finish? Mmm-hmm.

I was coming out of Koffee
Kafe and he was there.

I guess I didn't
want to go home yet.

He said that he had
a few good friends

that could help Full
Moon get signed to a label.

Anyways, there was
this party on Park Avenue

and I did not know he was drunk,

not until I got in the car.

Then he hit Mrs. Fisher,

I tried to get out of the car,

he pulled me back inside.

Looks like we've got our
corroborative witness against Garcia.

Two witnesses. I believe
I know who Choe is.

Chris Garcia.

I have a handwriting sample that
might be acceptable evidence in court.

But more importantly, it's the way
the hit-and-run graffiti was painted,

telling us that Frank
Garcia was the driver,

but protecting Alida by
not depicting her at all.

Why didn't you just come straight out and
tell us what you saw in the first place?

Afraid you couldn't
be Choe anymore?

Is that the big deal?

No. I wanted to
nail my stepfather,

but I didn't want to
get Alida into trouble.

I would've had to tell
you she was in the car.

Are you quite sure that your
stepfather came up here?

Yeah. He was clocking his bird.

The one that was
racing in from Montauk.

Oh my God.

A lot of people knew
Frank came up here.

Any one of them could have
been interested in his money.

Yeah, but there's only
one thing, Mrs. Garcia.

Frank had over
$400 in his wallet.

Right in line with the
exit wound. A .380.

This is the bird that
came in from Montauk.

You see, his... His I.D.
band's been removed.

The first thing my
stepfather would have done

after the pigeon landed
is take off the band

and put it into the clock
to record the official time.

Would you mind, Chris?

My father used to race pigeons.

This will tell us what
time the bird got in.

Let's see, here.

It's 6:07 and 25 seconds.

Could the time on the clock

have been altered,
forward or backwards?

No way, Vic. If the clock's
opened or tampered with,

it automatically punches a hole in
the recording tape, then quits working.

So, we can assume Garcia was
murdered sometime after 6:07.

Is there any way off this
roof, except the stairwell?

Well, there's a fire
escape over there.

Ah.

Chris, where were you
at 6:07 and thereafter?

Chris came home about 6:00

and then he stayed with
me in the apartment after that.

Book him. On graffiti violation.

Gavin.

Oh, Chris...

It'll be okay, Ma. It'll be
all right. Come on. Let's go.

And hold him overnight for
questioning in Garcia's murder.

Got it.

And find out who owed
Garcia money and how much.

Right, Sergeant.

Look, I don't want it to be
the kid any more than you do.

Look, last night you said
that Garcia was a loan shark.

Now, that should give you a
long list of suspects all by itself,

what with the outrageous
interest they charge

and the brutality that comes
with his kind of business.

Yeah, but now there's Chris
and he hated his stepfather

and he knew he would
be up here by himself.

Sergeant, you know,
Chris acted out his feelings

when he did that
graffiti painting.

I find it very hard to believe
that he killed Garcia afterward.

Unless he figured we
wouldn't get the message.

Okay, it looks like you're gonna
get out of this one with no harm done.

You are very lucky.

But you can't keep going
around asking for trouble,

which is exactly what you were doing
when you got in that car with Garcia.

Vic, you have to
stop doing this.

Stop doing what?

Just stop treating me
like I'm your little sister.

Listen, I know the way you
felt about my dad and all,

but I am not your
responsibility, okay?

Yeah, okay. Okay, fine.

The big brother thing is over.

But I want you to
understand something,

if you ever need me for
anything, anything at all,

I'll be here. You got it?

Got it.

You can be a real
pain, Laughton.

Don't think I
don't appreciate it.

I'll see you later, okay?

Look who's here. Hey, you guys.

Hey, Alida. How you doing?

How's your mother?

They let me talk to
her for a few minutes.

She's going to be okay.

Good.

She's been through so much.

I'm glad Garcia's dead.
He deserved to die.

Uh, I'm late. I gotta go.

Later. Bye.

Okay, bye.

A messenger brought
this over to the cafe for you.

It's from Mrs. Fletcher's
publisher, isn't it?

Yes.

A certificate of authorship.

I have to sign this before they
can go ahead with my story.

A certificate of
authorship. My first one.

So, I guess this means you're
going to quit the band, right?

No, I'm not going
to quit the band.

You know what? Go
ahead and quit the band.

You ain't that hot, anyways.
I'll find someone else.

Hey, wait a minute. Don't
cop an attitude with me, Manny.

I don't want to
make this either/or,

and I don't want to
leave you and Tammy.

You guys are my friends,

so don't make me do it.

Yeah, yeah. Well, the
DA wants us to hold him.

He thinks we got a case.

But what about the people
that owed Garcia money?

Well, he didn't keep
a written record.

A lot of members
of the racing club

had to know that
he'd be on that roof.

I know, I know, but nobody
saw him coming or going.

Mrs. Fletcher, Chris
is still all we have.

Well, thank you, Sergeant.

You've been very helpful,
Father. Mmm-hmm.

And now if you'll excuse me.

Come in.

I don't want to disturb you.

Oh, Maria. Please, come inside.

I came to make arrangements

with Father Albert
for Frank's funeral.

I didn't sleep all night.

Have you talked to Chris?

No, they wouldn't let me. They
said they were still questioning him.

Mrs. Fletcher, he
didn't kill his stepfather,

I know he didn't.

Of course you do.

You told Sergeant Laughton
that he was with you.

He was.

Are you sure about the time?

Yes.

Maria, I called your apartment
last night sometime after 6:00.

I wanted to locate Chris.

Nobody answered.

Well, maybe we just
didn't hear the phone.

We were there.

Maria, if you're being honest,

you have nothing to worry about.

Oh, God.

Jessica,

I've committed a mortal sin

and Chris is going to
suffer for it. I didn't mean...

Excuse me, Mrs. Fletcher.

Father Albert said
Mrs. Garcia was here.

I can't speak with you now.

Uh, Mr. Fernandez...
Only take a second.

I want to convey my
deepest sympathies.

I know what a difficult
time this must be for you.

This is for you.
It's your money.

I don't understand.

$10,000.

I lost it to Frank
yesterday on the race.

I thought I'd won and then
I heard from Joe Mancuso

that his bird beat
mine by one minute.

I couldn't believe it.

I don't want it.

It'll come in handy
at a time like this.

Give it to the parish.

Just give it to the
parish, Mr. Fernandez.

I will.

Once again, my condolences.

Mrs. Fletcher.

Now, what was it that
you started to tell me?

So, Mrs. Garcia,

what time did you actually
get home last evening?

6:45.

Aha.

And you didn't see
Chris until then?

No, I didn't.

Uh-huh.

Well, then, Chris,
you've obviously lied, too.

Yes.

Where were you
between 6:00 and 6:45?

In the apartment.

Well, Chris, we, uh,
we just got this in.

And what you're about to see was
taken from the infra-red cameras

your stepfather donated
to the anti-graffiti drive.

They went into
operation last night.

That's 6:15,

seven minutes after Frank Garcia

logged his racing bird.

And that's you coming
down the fire escape

from the rooftop
where he was shot.

Okay, I want to
make a confession.

I killed my stepfather.

It's simple, Mrs. Fletcher.

I hated him, so I killed him.
Why don't you believe me?

Because I think that you're
trying to protect your mother.

Look, Chris, there's absolutely
nothing to back up your confession.

Not the gun you used, or the
gloves that you said that you wore.

I told you, I threw
them in a storm drain.

They'll find them.

Look, it's important that
you know something, Chris.

No matter what happens to you,

your mother isn't a
suspect and never will be.

That isn't true. They'll
arrest her, and...

She was downtown yesterday afternoon
and arrived back in the neighborhood

on the Columbus Avenue
bus just before 6:00.

She visited four local stores.

The police are satisfied.

There's no way that she
could have gone to the roof

to kill Frank
Garcia in that time.

So she's safe?

And very worried about you.

But nobody can help you
unless you play it straight.

I came home about
ten minutes after 6:00

and I went up to the roof.

I was curious about the race.

He was dead. I panicked.

I thought Ma had
lost it and killed him

and I just wanted to get
out of there as fast as I could.

I went down the fire escape instead
of the stairs so I wouldn't meet anyone.

Down the fire escape to where?

To the Koffee Kafe,
but I never went in.

By the time I got there, I calmed
down and I figured I better get back

to the apartment in
case Ma needed me.

Did anyone see you
near the Koffee Kafe?

I don't know. I don't think so.

The cops gonna believe me?

You weren't on the best of
terms with your stepfather.

It showed, huh?

You defaced his buildings.

The police will want
more than your word.

Mrs. Fletcher, can you
please do me a favor?

The pigeons in the loft.
Ma can't deal with them.

Could you call Joe
Mancuso for me?

Thanks.

The race will start in
Wilmington, Delaware.

That'll be in three weeks?

That's right. You better get
your application in right away.

Thanks.

Yeah, there'll be over 100 birds
entered in this year's Classic.

Should be some
kind of spectacle. Ah.

Mrs. Fletcher, you tell Chris not
to worry. I'll take care of everything.

That'll be a load off
his chest, Mr. Mancuso.

Garcia had it coming.

He hurt a lot of people.

You think the boy did it?

No. I don't.

Good.

Mrs. Fletcher, would
you also tell Chris

that the DNA from his little white
pigeon came back from the lab?

The bird's a female.

I'll let him know.
I appreciate it.

Here are the pigeons
I told you about, Joe.

Aren't they beautiful?

Mr. Mancuso, I'm
going to need a favor.

If you're willing.

Mrs. Fletcher.

Ah, good evening, Mr. Fernandez.

Where's Mrs. Garcia? I... I
was supposed to meet her here.

Yes, she phoned you.

She wanted you to have
one of Frank's breeding pairs.

Right. She said she was pleased
I gave that 10,000 to the parish.

She wanted to show
her appreciation.

Maria got called away.

Ah, well, maybe I
better come back later.

No, don't go, Mr. Fernandez.

I want to talk to you about being
in two places at the same time.

Two places, huh?

So, what's the
joke, Mrs. Fletcher?

It's about a pigeon race
that wasn't a race at all.

About your killing
Frank Garcia at 6:07

and then making it look like
you were on your own roof

a mile away at 6:08.

I don't know what you're
trying to build, Mrs. Fletcher,

but it won't work.

I think it will, Mr. Fernandez.

I found this red feather near
Frank Garcia's racing clock.

And Frank Garcia
didn't have a red bird.

A blood feather that proves that
your red bird was right here, and there's

no way it could have been
here unless you brought it.

Come on, now.

Red racing pigeons may be rare, but I
do not have the only one in Manhattan.

Oh, agreed. But the DNA lab

will be able to make a
specific match with your red.

And once the police have that,
they can reconstruct, just as I have,

how you murdered Frank Garcia.

Well, then, we mustn't
let the police have it,

or allow you to talk to them.

Fernandez, if I see
a gun in that hand,

you're a dead man.

Look at what we got.

You're under arrest for
the murder of Frank Garcia.

You have the right
to remain silent.

Anything you say can and
will be used against you

in a court of law.

This is entrapment. No way in hell
you're gonna prove all this, Laughton.

Let me help things along
here, Mr. Fernandez.

I notice that you seem to
have an excellent cash business

and yet you are
chronically short of funds.

I remembered Manny Castillo riding you
about the Koffee Kafe's poor sound system

and I had to wonder how the
very next day when you opened

you had state-of-the-art
equipment.

I called the company
that made the equipment.

You paid cash

and a fat premium to set the
system up on the same day.

Then there was that 10,000
you tried to press on Maria Garcia.

It was as if you'd been relieved
of a crippling financial burden,

like weekly payments
to a loan shark?

But it was in the pigeon
shop this afternoon

when it really occurred to
me what you tried to pull off.

One of Mr. Mancuso's
customers brought in two cages,

one in each hand, and it came
home to me that that was your trick.

You took two cages
out to Montauk, not one,

and four racing
pigeons, not two.

And two of those
birds would never race.

So, what was I gonna do? I
mean, you gotta understand,

Garcia had been
bleeding me for months.

When he challenged
me to the match race,

that's when I hit on the
idea how to get rid of him.

The two that left Montauk were my
racing birds, but they had phony I.D. bands

and they both
flew back to my loft.

The two that were supposed
to race, Garcia's and mine,

I never took them
out of the cage.

I drove them back to Manhattan.

I used the fire escape
to get up to Garcia's roof

and brought my own
racing clock with me.

I had Garcia remove the
racing I.D. band from his bird,

put his bird back in his
cage, then clock it in.

The time punched by the clock
showed that the bird had arrived at 6:07.

Then I got rid of him.

Then I used my own racing clock

to prove that my bird had
arrived at my loft at 6:08.

It made no difference that it took me
ten minutes to get back to my own loft.

It would always look like I was on
that roof to punch in Red at 6:08.

Finally, I put Garcia's bird
in his loft and got out of there.

I went down to the club and that
gave me an alibi for the rest of the night.

It was perfect.

Except for me accidentally
pulling out that damn feather

when I went to
get his I.D. band.

Lock him up.

Come on.

Mrs. Fletcher, one other thing.

If Fernandez went
down that fire escape,

how come he wasn't on the
infra-red videotape like Chris?

Well, I wondered about that
when Fernandez mentioned it.

Then I realized that the infra-red
cameras were probably set to go on

at the same time
as the street lights.

They were.

So, it was still
too light at 6:08

and Fernandez got away clean.

Almost.

You look great, Mrs.
Fisher. Doesn't she?

Thank you.

So, tell me, how's
it going, Chris?

Good. I started
my sentence today.

I can't say I'm
looking forward to, uh,

two months cleaning
up other people's graffiti.

It'll teach me not
to do that again.

But the good news is, is,
uh, I enrolled at City College.

That means we'll get to
see more of each other.

Count on it.

Oh, yeah, there's
one other thing.

I, uh, I volunteered to be
a part of a city program.

Doing what?

Working with kids who
want to paint, coaching them,

but at places that are
okayed ahead of time.

Well, I'll drink to that.

You know, Chris,
you're all right, bro.

Hey.

Aw. Yeah. Cheers.