Murder, She Wrote (1984–1996): Season 10, Episode 2 - For Whom the Ball Tolls - full transcript
Jessica helps her friend Margaret Johnson and preservation committee president Carol Collins fight against a New York development project which would cause a historical building, where Ernest Hemingway, author of For Whom the Bell Tolls (hence the title), once had an apartment, to be torn down if the last adjoining building is sold to them, but Nolan Walsh holds out with his pubs lease, even throws developer Eugene Gillrich out after promises and threats quite violently in public. Eugene and his wife Lee are desperate to save the project, while his brother and partner Walter wants to consider an alternate site; Eugene secretly romances Carol Collins. Then Walter is found shot dead at Eugene's desk, presumably Eugene was the target. NYPD Lieutenant Artie Gelber and Detective Henderson examine, and arrest Margaret after finding her fingerprints in the office. Jessica gives her an alibi, though not foolproof, and finds evidence Walter's body was moved, so he was the intended victim, and indeed the bullet is in Eugene's office. Jessica notices Carol ordered her usual drink at Nolan's pub, so she probably knew Eugene in advance, unlike her claim. Improbable mail gives Jessica a clue the 87 year-old is deceased; her heiress, a nurse, wanted to keep the apartment and inspires Jessica about a parking matter, the key to the murder plot...
FEMALE NARRATOR:
Tonight on Murder, She Wrote.
Construction on Gillrich
Towers begins immediately,
upon demolition of
those brownstones.
The bad guys are
running the store.
It's easy to feel that way.
If I have to tear it down with
my own hands, that building falls.
If you ever come back here,
Gillrich, you're a dead man.
(GASPS) Notify the
captain. We got a break.
That is absolutely
fabulous! You caught me.
I slept last night, knowing
the cops are off my case.
Margaret doesn't
know how to say no.
I find that pillow talk brings out a
man's generosity and expectations.
I don't believe the
end justifies the means.
I'm a little tired of
this condescension.
(GRUNTS)
(BEEPING)
WOMAN: Save our buildings!
(PEOPLE CHATTERING)
MAN: Save our buildings!
CAROL: They're knocking down
buildings all over New York, and for what?
More skyscrapers!
(SIGHS) Jessica, I envy
you, your Cabot Cove retreat.
(BOTH LAUGH)
Hi, thanks for being here.
WOMAN: Save our block!
Look, Jessica, two out of
these three beautiful old buildings
have already been vacated.
Well, without number 65, they
won't be able to build anything,
much less a 40-story co-op.
Which is why I
asked you for lunch.
Uh-huh.
(EXCLAIMS)
We have been engaged in an
absolute dogfight over these buildings.
Look, Carol, I
really want to help,
but I just had my editor's
notes on my final draft.
Now, don't worry.
Margaret's joining us for lunch.
She's assured me that
the deadline's pretty flexible.
Margaret just doesn't
know how to say no.
Look, I'd be delighted to
make a contribution, but...
No "buts." We've got a hearing
scheduled at the city planning board...
Hi, Mrs. Fletcher. Ms. Collins.
Hi, Margaret. Sorry,
something came up.
Do you realize that Margaret
discovered that Eugene O'Neill
did rewrites for Strange
Interlude from this very table?
I think it was when
it was a speakeasy.
A famous gangster
used it as an office.
Dutch Schultz.
And did you know that Ernest
Hemingway used to live on the top floor?
(CHUCKLES) When
you called last week,
I did a little bit of digging around
at the local historical society.
Hemingway on the top floor!
Jessica, you are wonderful!
We have managed to save the homes of
Mark Twain and Edna St. Vincent Millay.
And now Hemingway and
O'Neill. And Dutch Schultz.
(LAUGHING)
A close, personal
friend of my grandfather's
and he brought in a lot
of business, believe me.
What are you
drinking, young lady?
Got any non-alcoholic beer?
Coming up, ladies.
Look, Carol, I'll be delighted to
sign any petition or letter or whatever,
but I'm afraid this book
deadline precludes me
being involved any
further than that.
She's right, Ms. Collins. Oh.
Is there any chance
that these developers...
The Gillrich brothers.
Well, is there any chance that
they might consider an alternate site?
(LAUGHS SARCASTICALLY)
Believe me, we have tried.
We've put any number of
possibilities on the table.
What would be acceptable to me is if
Eugene Gillrich was found in cement shoes
at the bottom of the East River.
(CHUCKLES)
EUGENE: Oh, come on, Vincent.
The hearing is
simply a formality.
It isn't as if we're gonna
default on the loan.
You tell him, darling.
You bought those buildings, you
have a right to knock them down.
Lee, please, the man
is just a bean counter.
Vince. Vince, in the last
week foreign interests
have committed to renting the
rest of the ground-floor retail space.
VINCENT: You're
broke, Eugene. Not true.
Any cash flow problems you
think we're having are just rumors.
Not according to
our loan committee.
Vincent, would I hang you
out to dry? Eugene, this is not...
You tell your loan committee
that we are absolutely on schedule.
Construction on Gillrich
Towers begins immediately
upon demolition of
those brownstones,
which we're hitting with the
wrecker's ball in 72 hours.
Okay. But not a minute more.
All right. I will call
you immediately
upon the completion
of that hearing.
I'll do what I can. Thanks.
Foreign interests? Since when?
Since soon.
Hey, Walter, you have an eye.
Your opinion of my
bride's latest sketches.
My instructor says
I'm really growing.
These are for the model
apartments in Gillrich Towers.
Well, these are...
These are very nice, Lee.
All the promise you showed
when you did Eugene's office here.
Thank you.
Oh, Eugene, I just got off the
phone with a Margaret Johnson
from the City
Preservation Committee.
Damn it, Walter, I told you
not to take their calls anymore.
Well, she just wanted to know what's
to become of a woman in number 65.
One of the tenants,
a Mrs. Rhodes,
who's 87 years old and
has lived there for 60 years.
Are we throwing her out?
Of course not.
You wouldn't let me.
In fact, we've already committed
to paying for her move to Florida.
This injunction
they're going for...
Ms. Johnson wanted me to tell you that
there are gonna be pickets and TV coverage.
She also wanted to know whether you've
had time to review those alternate sites.
Or maybe we could at
least spare number 65.
Oh, God, Walter,
whose side are you on?
Look, how many times do I
have to spell it out for you?
Come on, Eugene, I'm a little
tired of this condescension.
You... Walter. Eugene.
These people are determined
to make real trouble for us.
I don't see why we can't at
least consider an alternate site.
You think you know real trouble?
Sixty-three, 65, 67.
We lose 65, the whole project
crashes and burns, Walter.
Followed immediately by us.
Now, all I want from you
tomorrow at the hearing is silence.
(SIGHS)
And after, the Hamptons,
before you have a coronary.
(SIGHS) If the hearings
don't give me one first.
We could still lose
this whole thing, Lee.
It could go away from us,
even without Walter's help.
This is Mike LaRocca
with a feature report
for Channel 6 at
the city court house,
where a surprise development
took place a few moments ago
as the hearings adjourned
for the day with no decision.
I am with two members of the
City Preservation Committee.
What is your reaction to the split
at Gillrich Realty, Ms. Johnson?
Me? Well, I...
The fact that Walter Gillrich
publicly broke ranks with his brother
and agreed to
consider alternate sites,
means that even the
enemy has a sense of history.
And a conscience about
architectural continuity
and senior citizens being
thrown out into the street.
I mean, what are you thinking?
LaROCCA: Thank
you very much, ladies.
I believe I see Eugene
Gillrich coming out.
(CHATTERING)
Mike LaRocca. No comment.
But today your brother
seemed to break ranks with you...
It's clearly a misunderstanding.
Forgive me, Mr. Gillrich, but
that sounds like an oxymoron.
Walter Gillrich, perhaps
you have something to say?
My brother has
nothing more to say.
Mr. Walsh, you have
a lease on the 65 Bar
that allows you to operate
the place till they tear it down.
That's right, Mike.
And with friends
turning out like today,
and Walter Gillrich coming
through at the 11th hour,
it looks as if my lease is
gonna last as long as I do.
Yes. But some cynics are
saying that due to all this publicity
the 65 has turned
into a cash cow,
and you into an overnight
devotee of cultural history.
Hey, Mike, the 65 was my father's
and my grandfather's before him,
a hangout for the
famous and the infamous,
and if you wanna talk cold beer
and the best sliced
steak sandwich in town...
Thanks very much, Mr. Walsh.
This is Mike LaRocca,
Channel 6 News, at city hall.
It's nice to finally
meet you in person.
Ernest Hemingway in 4B.
(CHUCKLES)
For Whom the Bell Tolls.
That's my favorite, Ms. Johnson.
Margaret. Margaret.
He wrote it on top of
an icebox on legal paper.
Oh? He was tall.
(CHUCKLING)
Instead of a desk? Hmm.
Yeah, well, I need a
desk. I'm not that tall.
I'm also not Ernest Hemingway.
(LAUGHS)
Walter, the car's waiting.
(SIGHS)
We'll talk, Margaret.
LaROCCA ON TV: And tonight,
many of the faithful will hold
a rally at the 65 Bar which, like
a cat, may truly have nine lives.
It won't quite be a victory
rally, but after this day's events,
many of the Preservation
Committee's supporters
believe that the construction of
the Gillrich Towers is no longer a...
(TV TURNS OFF)
Carol? It's Jessica Fletcher. I
hope I'm not calling you too late.
I had the news on and
it's good for a change.
Well, I guess the two-day reprieve
is better than a demolition permit,
but still, there's no telling what
Eugene Gillrich has up those
immaculately-tailored sleeves.
Except that you can be certain
that it will be Machiavellian.
(CHUCKLES) Well, I find
I'm a little ahead of schedule,
so if another body
will help at the rally...
Oh, Jessica! That is
absolutely fabulous!
I'll alert that cute reporter from
Channel 6. You are an angel.
Thanks for calling. Bye.
Bye.
Did you hear that?
EUGENE: Another celebrity isn't
going to impress them downtown.
What gets those people where
they live are the tax revenues
the city'll realize
from my new co-ops.
So, you know that romancing me
isn't gonna shake my
people off your back.
Carol, has it occurred to you
that I may have no ulterior motive?
For about two
wish-fulfilling seconds
until you flunked
my reality check.
You have a very young,
very attractive wife.
Who's very busy this
afternoon with homework.
So you thought you'd come by and
do a little of your own, at my home.
Why don't you think of me
as an insatiable student?
There's always
new things to learn.
Excuse me, sir?
Is your report
ready to be typed?
Not yet, Evelyn.
Look, it's almost 6:00.
Why don't you
leave it till tomorrow?
Great. Thank you,
sir. Good night.
VICTOR: Hey, LaRocca,
wait up. We've gotta talk.
Victor, just the
man I wanted to see.
Listen, about the layouts
for my 64th Street special?
My picture has got
to be bigger. Okay?
I mean, the lettering has
to be behind me, you know?
Which is where I'd like to
be with a sledgehammer.
What do you mean, Victor?
I mean I've been upstairs
for the last two hours,
trying to explain away the
bill of goods I let you sell me.
It's a sure thing, Victor. Who's got
the muscle to stop the Gillrich brothers?
You're talking about this
landmark preservation business?
It's all smoke, Victor.
It's gonna happen.
Yeah, from your lips, we've got
pickets, petitioners, angry ladies,
hearings, evicting old people.
And we got sponsors going south in
droves, Mike. Some sure thing, huh?
Victor, you know as well as I
do, that only means bigger ratings.
Yeah. And if it doesn't happen,
the station's out all the thousands
they've spent promoting it
and I'm out all my credibility.
Mike, we're gonna figure out another
angle, an out. Do you understand me?
Victor, not to worry. I
have a little plan of my own.
If I have to tear it down with
my own hands, that building falls.
(JESSICA LAUGHING)
So did you finish the
notes for the book?
Yeah. It's only a page. I'll
fax it to your place tonight.
Oh, that's great.
(CAR TIRES SCREECHING)
Lucky to get a space.
(CHUCKLES)
Isn't that Eugene
Gillrich's wife?
So it is. What do you suppose
she's doing on enemy turf?
Spying, perhaps?
(LAUGHS)
Really? Well, Mrs.
Gillrich is probably here
to lend her husband
some support.
My guess is he's here to manufacture
some excuse to break my lease.
Well, anyway. Hey,
Pete! PETE: Yeah?
First round's on me. Then
it's every man for himself.
(ALL CHEERING)
This whole building, right?
Yes. Absolutely.
Mike LaRocca with celebrated
local author, J.B. Fletcher.
So, does your pub-crawling
bring you here often?
Well, I live just
around the corner.
Tell me something, Ms. Fletcher.
What's the appeal of these
broken-down old tenements
to a bright, successful
woman such as yourself?
Well, as a neighborhood resident,
I'd like the area to remain just that,
a neighborhood.
Thank you very much.
Mr. Gillrich, off the record, your
coming over here a sign of capitulation?
(CHUCKLES) For the
record, Mr. LaRocca,
my coming over here is to
talk dollars and common sense
with the neighborhood merchants.
More specifically?
More specifically, what's wrong
with 1,000 affluent new residents,
all of them ready to
shop till they drop?
You'd think they'd be afraid to
show their faces around here.
To answer your question, Mrs.
Fletcher, I live over in Queens.
Oh. I'm the visiting nurse
to Mrs. Rhodes upstairs in 4B.
Oh, where is she? Fifty
years in one building.
It would be wonderful
to get her on the news.
Well, you know, Mrs. Collins,
I don't think she's quite up to it,
but, you know, I'll be glad
to give her the petition.
I know she wants to sign up.
All right.
J.B. Fletcher. Eugene Gillrich.
Oh, yes. Mr. Gillrich.
It's certainly a pleasure to
meet you. And Ms. Collins.
Well, allow me to
buy you both a drink.
Ms. Collins? A dry martini.
And Ms. Fletcher?
Well, white wine.
All right. One white wine
and a dry martini with an onion.
Got it.
Yeah. Yeah. Speak up.
Margaret Johnson, yeah.
Margaret Johnson?
Maggie! Phone call.
Thank you.
There you go.
Hello. Why, yes, I'd love to.
That would be wonderful, Walter.
So, this is the table where Eugene
O'Neill supposedly carved his initials?
Granddad said he
used a steak knife.
Nolan, my offer's still open.
Oh, come on, give up this
city preservation crusade.
Sign on for demolition
and I will move this place
lock, stock, and
sawdust to the East Side.
You'll become another
Hard Rock Cafe.
T-shirts, souvenirs and tourists
lined up around the block.
PETE: Yo, people.
You're parked out front,
the cops are towing!
(ALL GROANING)
On the downside,
you must know that I'm a man
who has a lot of friends downtown.
I mean, one phone call
and the city fire department
finds your venerable,
old institution a trap.
And another phone call to,
say, the city health department
and they find rats
in your kitchen.
I don't take too good
to threats, Mr. Gillrich.
Look, Nolan, Nolan. We're
just a couple of working stiffs
trying to turn a buck here.
Come on, why don't you give
up this nostalgia garbage and...
I mean, your lace
curtain origins?
(GRUNTS)
If you ever come back here,
Gillrich, you're a dead man.
It's all right. It's all right.
(PEOPLE CHATTERING)
What's wrong? All
right. Let's go. Let's go.
He said he'd have that report on
my desk first thing this morning.
But knowing Walter,
it's probably not there.
Well, knowing Walter, he probably
typed it himself, so it might be on his...
(GASPS) Walter. Oh, my God.
HENDERSON: Okay, Lieutenant.
The janitor says he saw the victim
last night around 6:30 at the water cooler,
but with his vacuum running,
he never heard a shot.
Well, according to the after-hours sign-in
sheet, nobody got up here past 6:00.
God. I suppose we're
looking at a robbery, also?
A man's dead wearing a
thousand-dollar watch, I don't think so.
He was shot at close range.
It figures maybe
he knew the shooter.
The bullet went into the back
of the chair, in here and out here.
Well, keep looking
for the bullet.
And, Henderson, cheer up,
will you? We'll solve this, or not.
Mr. Gillrich, I know this isn't a
great time to be piecing together
what happened. But let
me talk to you over here.
Whatever it takes, I want
who did this caught, and now.
Well, did your brother
have any enemies?
Not a one. Everybody liked him.
Maybe someone who he let go,
someone who didn't get a promotion,
returns with a gun. It happens.
I know. But we're
a small company.
We haven't let
anyone go in years.
I saw on the news you and
Walter had a flare-up at city hall.
You accusing me?
My brother worked nights
to put me through college.
His capital started this
business. I loved him.
For the report, where
were the both of you
between, say, 6:30
and 10:00 last night?
The 65 Bar. We
went there about 6:00.
We left there around 9:30. Witnesses
saw us. Then we took a cab home.
Do you have any idea why
Walter was at your desk?
His office connects,
but, no, I don't.
Walter's report. Maybe he was
bringing it in when he was shot.
We did find a draft of an
environmental impact report on his desk.
It hadn't been typed up.
Reports, permits, condos.
It all seems so damned
unimportant now.
Lieutenant, Mike
LaRocca, Channel 6.
No comment.
So your department
has nothing to go on?
Citizens stand by helpless as another
senseless shooting goes unsolved?
LaRocca, you wanna make
speeches, run for congress, all right?
WOMAN: Lieutenant, let me
ask you one more question.
Victor.
Okay, just remember that it was Walter
Gillrich who gummed up his brother's plans.
Now, with him gone,
it's clear sailing.
Wrong. I just heard
it on the news.
Until the police
know why he's gone,
the planning board is
postponing the final hearing.
No digging for Dutch Schultz's
victims till further notice, if ever.
I swear to God, LaRocca, I am not gonna
be the only one who's looking for a job.
The police, look, they
know what they're doing.
They'll find the killer.
We'll be in business.
And what makes you so sure?
Call it my nose for news.
I really don't think there's
anything I can add, Artie.
I met Walter at the hearing. He
became our political ally, so to speak.
Yeah. Well, that was
the last time you saw him?
In person, you mean. We
spoke later on the phone.
About 6:30, I think.
The department's
already getting heat
from Eugene Gillrich
and his city hall contacts.
What I don't get is,
Eugene is the heavy,
and Walter, who never
had an enemy in the world,
winds up with a
hole in his chest.
(CELL PHONE RINGING)
Gelber. Doris?
DORIS: Artie, he failed.
What? When?
No, that's terrible.
Our year-old grandson
was turned down
by the Wee School in
the Dell's infant program.
Well, how could they
do that? The kid's brilliant.
He fell asleep.
He fell asleep
during the interview?
(STAMMERING) I'll
get back to you, Doris.
Sorry.
Artie, since Walter was shot
from behind in his brother's office,
I assume that you've
considered the possibility
that Eugene was
the intended victim.
And that Walter
was killed by mistake.
Yeah. Yeah, we have.
Apparently, the list of people
who can't stand Eugene
begin with Nolan Walsh
and end with his friends.
The coroner's office approximate
time of death at 8:00 to 9:00 p.m.
Do you know how many homicides
he said there were
last night, Lieutenant?
Henderson, I don't care, okay?
We worry about this one.
Period. Then we go on to the next.
Henderson is convinced that
the bad guys are running the store.
(SIGHS) It's easy
to feel that way.
(CHUCKLES)
The lab's backed up. They're
still running the fingerprints.
No bullet's been found, yet.
And, oh, yeah, the taxi
company confirmed it,
the Gillrichs got home at 9:30.
Henderson, check
all the tenants in 65.
If Gillrich was trying to throw me
out of my rent-controlled apartment,
no love lost, yes?
Here are the tenant
lists for all three buildings.
Old Mrs. Rhodes
in 65, could you die?
She's been there so long,
she's only paying $300 a month.
GELBER: (CHUCKLES) 300?
Maybe the old bird would like some
roommates to share the expenses.
Doris and I don't
take up much space.
Maybe Mrs. Rhodes put out
a contract on Eugene Gillrich
so she wouldn't lose her pad.
Or the ghost of
Dutch Schultz did it.
(LAUGHS)
Henderson, check every
tenant, even Mrs. Rhodes.
You sure I can't get
you some coffee?
Something to calm you down?
No, thank you.
It's these petitions,
Ms. Collins.
They've been thrown out. There
are at least 900 dead people.
Oh, really? I don't
understand that.
Collectors were moving
rather slowly, but still...
(LAUGHS)
Now, don't you worry,
signatures can be replaced.
There are plenty of people
out there who are willing to sign.
Eugene Gillrich's lawyer
has moved to have the whole
petition drive declared invalid.
Oh, I don't think Eugene
Gillrich will allow him to do that.
You don't? Why?
Why don't you give me those
petitions and I'll take care of everything.
Thank you.
CAROL: Suffice it to say,
Margaret, that there is no teacher
quite like experience.
Especially, when it comes to learning
exactly where a man's buttons are
and when to push them.
Ms. Collins.
Mmm-hmm.
I don't think I really
understand you.
That's very true. But try to think
of it in terms of you and Walter.
I hardly knew Walter.
Oh, that's what you
may tell the police,
but when you got the phone
call at the bar last night,
I heard you call him by name.
And then you left right after.
You did go and see
Walter last night, didn't you?
No. I have to go.
I have to tell you this.
A lot of people think
Walter was killed by mistake.
That the real target was Eugene.
So I heard.
Ms. Collins, just so you know,
even though a cause may be just,
I don't believe the
end justifies the means.
(LAUGHS)
I like you, Margaret, but I
don't want to see you get hurt.
You mustn't go through life
tilting at dragons, like Don Quixote.
Don Quixote tilted at windmills.
Saint George slew dragons.
You see, that's
just what I mean.
After a while, who remembers?
MAN ON RADIO: For those
who are just joining us, we are in...
Me, sneak out of here
and kill Walter Gillrich?
And the settlers, they
ambush the cavalry
as they ride to the rescue.
(SCOFFS)
Now, his brother, maybe.
Precisely, Mr. Walsh.
You slug Eugene in
front of a lot of people,
you grab a knife and
you threaten to kill him.
You leave after he does,
you sneak into his office,
it looks like him in his chair
and you pop Walter by mistake.
If I may say so, Lieutenant,
from what I know of Mr. Walsh,
if he had decided to
go after Eugene Gillrich,
there would have
been no mistakes.
She's speaking the
truth on that one, all right.
I'm not so sure I like that
kind of a character reference
tossed around about me.
(CELL PHONE RINGING)
Stay in town. Hate to
have to send for the cavalry.
Gelber. Yeah, Henderson.
What? What? Whose prints?
I never would have figured that.
Notify the captain.
We got a break.
(PHONE RINGING)
Hello? PEGGY: Mrs. Fletcher?
This is Margaret's
assistant. She...
She won't be able to
keep her appointment.
Peggy, what is it?
The police just arrested her
for the killing of Walter Gillrich.
Margaret?
Thank you, Peggy.
(SIGHS)
"8:30 p.m."
JESSICA: Oh, Mrs. Gillrich, I'm
very sorry about your brother-in-law.
Oh, thank you, Mrs. Fletcher.
But it's been much harder on
Eugene, as you can imagine.
Well, I certainly can. Excuse me,
I want to check with the lieutenant.
GELBER: Doris, in
this town, money talks,
and maybe that's
what it's gonna take
for them to look a little bit
more kindly at little Josh. Later.
Jessica. Look, Artie,
I have to talk to you
about Margaret Johnson.
Look, Jessica, we didn't
pull it out of the ether.
Her fingerprints matched
with those on an elevator button
and on the doors
of the reception area.
And in her initial statement,
she said the only time she
talked to Walter was on the phone.
So, how come we find
this "Save our Block" pin
with Ms. Johnson's
thumbprint on it?
Artie, I was just asked
to sign in downstairs.
How is it that you don't have
Margaret's signature from that night?
Well, she admits to
meeting Walter downstairs
at around 7:00 for a
drink in the restaurant.
Then they came up here
to talk about the hearings.
She didn't have to sign in
because Walter was with her.
Your lab people put
Walter's death at around 8:30.
Now, I think I can prove that
Margaret wasn't here then.
She couldn't, and you can?
Well...
Margaret faxed me these notes
last night from her apartment.
Well, my fax machine prints
out a chronological summary
of messages that I receive.
Now, there's Margaret's
fax to me at 8:30,
following an 8:10 fax and preceding
another which came in around 9:00.
Jessica, suppose that the
coroner's off by 30 minutes.
Walter's murdered at 8:00,
in which case, Margaret's at home
faxing you, as she claims, at 8:30.
Artie, I can't believe that
she would murder an ally
that she was beginning
to grow very fond of.
Well, she is so lucky
to have a friend like you.
But you know what she
really needs right now?
She needs an alibi
with no holes in it.
(GRUNTS)
Artie, the carpet here is gold.
Yeah. So? Jessica, you're
doing it again, aren't you?
This carpet is blue, Lieutenant.
Jessica, we like each other,
but picking out patterns...
Look, if blue carpet fuzz
was on the wheels of the chair
in Eugene's gold-carpeted
office where Walter was found,
it's possible that Walter was
killed here in his own office.
Perhaps he was the
intended victim all along.
You mean, wait, wait, the
killer pushes Walter in his chair
into Eugene's office.
Then he pushes Eugene's
empty chair back in here,
so that we believe from the get-go
that the wrong man was murdered.
No wonder you
couldn't find the bullet.
We were looking
in the wrong office.
Ah! I love it.
You gave us a
missing piece, Jessica.
Romance turned sour.
Romance? Walter wines Margaret.
They come up here,
just like she said.
Only this time, not
to talk about hearings.
She's growing fond
of him, like you said.
Maybe he got rough with
her. She tries to push him off.
Not the first time a guy doesn't
stop when a woman says no.
And then...
MAN: Here's the work
order the sergeant wanted.
Thanks.
GELBER: Ms. Johnson,
what can I tell you?
We live in a society where it's
easier to prove you own a gun
than it is to prove
you don't own a gun.
Some places, it's harder
to buy a pack of cigarettes.
Oh, for heaven's sakes,
Artie. I mean, think.
Doesn't it just smack of
circumstantial evidence?
Jessica, the DA's people
are comfortable with it.
This is crazy, for God sakes.
You've all caved in
under the pressure
Eugene Gillrich put on your
superiors to charge somebody.
That's the only reason I'm here.
Lieutenant, the statements
from the residents of 65.
None of them seemed all that
hostile towards the Gillrich brothers.
They say. Did you get everyone?
Except Mrs. Rhodes. I couldn't
reach her, only her answering machine.
Her nurse called back to say Mrs.
Rhodes' niece came in from Jersey
to bring her out
there for a few days.
Well, so get an address.
You don't need a passport to take
the Lincoln Tunnel into New Jersey,
at least, the last
time I looked.
Coffee's still warm.
Jessica, would you care for
some with milk? Thank you.
Yeah. Ms. Johnson, don't tell
me. Let me guess. Black, right?
But no, thank you.
Look, Jessica, I would
love it if you and...
Jessica, what?
Memory. The way
people order their drinks.
Say again?
Margaret, keep a good thought.
It's 2:00 tomorrow, Nolan.
Now, that Walter's
murder is solved,
the planning board's going
ahead with the final hearing.
And I think it's safe to say that
we'll all have reason to celebrate.
(SCOFFS) I don't
mind telling you,
I slept last night, knowing
the cops are off my case.
To sleeping.
Oh, Jessica! What
a lovely surprise.
Do you have a few
moments, Carol? Of course.
I've got a few
things to take care of.
Why don't you have
a seat? Thanks.
I don't, for a moment, believe
that Margaret killed Walter Gillrich.
Carol, I must ask you to
be very truthful with me.
And I haven't been?
Now, you and Eugene Gillrich
were not only bitter enemies,
but each one of you said that
you hadn't met until the hearing.
That wasn't the truth?
The night of the rally, Mr. Gillrich
offered us a round of drinks,
and I overheard
him tell the barkeeper
that you preferred one with
an onion. As you have here.
That's what I asked for.
No. You simply said a martini.
He volunteered the onion.
You ought to be
running our committee.
Eugene Gillrich on
tape, offering me $50,000
to withdraw the Committee's
objections to his project.
He thought you'd go for that?
I find that pillow talk brings out a
man's generosity and expectations.
And I have to admit,
it wasn't the most unpleasant
afternoon I've ever spent.
You intend to present
that at the hearing?
If push comes to shove, yes.
If I turn this over to
the planning board,
Eugene Gillrich won't be able to
get a permit to build a doll's house.
And if they ask you
how you got the tape,
you could be hurt
as badly as Eugene.
Well, maybe less.
My reputation is already a bit
tarnished, and he's got a wife.
Jessica, in my divorce, I got the
Park Avenue apartment. Period.
$50,000 is inordinately
tempting, but this...
This is more important.
AL: Hiya, Pete! Hello, Al.
Well, that day of days!
My social security check.
Right on schedule.
Hey, listen, would you mind
giving Mrs. Rhodes her mail?
The vestibule's all
blocked up back there.
No problem, Al. Is this all?
That's it. Have a good one.
Excuse me.
Pete, since you're on duty, why don't
you let me take Mrs. Rhodes up her mail.
Oh, be my guest, Mrs. Fletcher.
With my knees, I never mind letting
someone else walk up those four flights.
(CHUCKLES)
Hey, pal, you gotta
understand I can't lose.
Either this place gets declared
a landmark and I stay here,
or it gets torn down and I
reopen on the East Side.
Okay. Look,
I'm sure it's not
gonna come as a big
surprise to you that
if Gillrich wins, I win.
And if he loses, you're
dead. I heard. Too bad.
You ever tend bar? We're gonna
need some help around here.
That's cute.
All right. Listen, I have
a proposition for you.
You close down the bar for one
month while we dig up the basement
and find the bones of Dutch
Schultz's victims for the TV cameras.
I pay you a fat fee as co-host
and co-producer of my TV special.
Me and my place, coast-to-coast.
That's right. I'm telling you
the tourists will be lined up
from here to Hoboken because
they saw you and the 65 on my show.
Yeah. Yeah. I love it.
I'm telling you. You're gonna
parlay beer, burgers and blarney
into a huge pile of green cash.
LaRocca, you grave-robbing scuz,
now you get out of my joint now!
Mrs. Rhodes.
My name is Jessica Fletcher. We
haven't met, but I have your mail here.
There's two magazines,
but no social security check,
unless you would prefer
that the police deliver it.
(DOOR LOCK RATTLING)
Mrs. Fletcher, you caught me.
It was a bit difficult to
swallow, an 87-year-old woman
who subscribes to fitness magazines
and doesn't get a social security check.
Mrs. Rhodes was a
dear, Mrs. Fletcher.
I mean, in the last months of her
life I went from visiting nurse to live-in.
I mean, I even wrote the
checks to pay her bills.
And you gave up your apartment?
Well, nothing much to give up.
I'd been rooming
with two other girls.
Anyway, Mrs. Rhodes
had no family or friends,
so she left what
little she had to me.
Four years ago, she passed away.
And you never told the landlord.
Mrs. Fletcher, I
kept meaning to,
you know, but the days turned
to weeks, and then months
and then when I finally started
shopping for an apartment,
the prices were
through the roof.
So you kept 4B and
a low profile as nurse
to a non-existent patient and
saved yourself a fortune in rent.
Thousands.
I guess, in the back of my mind,
I knew I was breaking the law,
but I wonder what the
penalty is for rent fraud.
Hop in.
Where to?
Across the street.
You see the parking sign?
In three minutes, we're
all illegally parked here.
So I've got to move across the
street where it's okay to park after 3:00.
You gotta be crazy
to keep a car here.
Now, I am shifting from one side
to the other every couple of days.
Well, it's the same on my
block. It's like musical chairs.
Yeah. Really.
Yeah. So, meanwhile,
I'm taking cabs and buses.
I mean, it's cheaper than
getting towed, or a garage.
Josie, that's it!
What's it?
A missing piece.
Thank you very much.
Hurry. Move your car.
Artie, I'm grateful you're going
out on a limb for me. I hope it works.
Out on a limb? Let
me put it this way.
If you're wrong, school-crossing
guard's gonna look like a promotion.
Wish us luck, Jessica.
I don't think you're
gonna need it, Carol.
I'd prefer it that way. You
here on business, Lieutenant?
Yes, I am.
So are we. Come on, Carol.
LaROCCA: Lieutenant.
Any new developments
I should know about?
Something that might
affect the outcome?
Hang loose, LaRocca. You could
turn out to be a development yourself.
I love to make guys
like that squirm.
Afterwards. Afterwards, please.
Lieutenant. Mrs. Fletcher.
Not to taint the Committee's
credibility, Lieutenant,
but Ms. Johnson, has
she confessed yet?
She hasn't confessed.
Mr. Gillrich, you got a minute?
One.
Okay. A couple of
details I need to clean up.
You stated that you were at the 65 last
Tuesday night between 6:00 and 9:30.
We've done this. The
time is on our bar check.
Lieutenant, you've got your
killer. What is this about?
Well, it's about a parking
space, Mr. Gillrich.
The evening your
brother was killed,
Margaret Johnson and
I noticed that your wife
was fortunate enough
to find a parking space
almost directly in front of
number 65, West 64th Street,
despite the fact that it was
a few minutes after 6:00.
Yeah, when most of the
spaces are already long gone.
What's wrong with that?
Oh, nothing. And when your husband
mentioned that you'd taken a cab home,
the inconsistency slipped by me.
And everybody else.
Until Nurse Miles explained
the parking hassle to me.
Mrs. Gillrich, if your car was
parked outside the 65, where I saw it,
why didn't you drive it
home, instead of taking a taxi?
What is this about, Lieutenant?
Honey, do you know
what they're talking about?
I think it's called
common sense, darling.
We'd both been drinking, so
leaving my car and taking a cab home
was the safe, sane thing to do.
Yeah. Gelber, I don't
know what your game is
or what kind of balloons
Mrs. Fletcher here is floating,
but I read it as harassment.
And the commissioner's
gonna hear about it
the minute that this hearing is
concluded. Now, if you'll excuse us...
Got it, Lieutenant.
Just like you said.
Don't look so disappointed, Henderson.
I warned you we might solve this one.
Mrs. Fletcher and I
weren't all that certain
that this proof
existed, Mrs. Gillrich.
Proof? Of what?
I'll have to ask both of you
to accompany me downtown.
EUGENE: What the hell are these?
A parking ticket,
issued to your vehicle.
And the log-in sheet from the
impound lot where it was towed
after being ticketed at
9:02 in front of 65 West 64th.
No parking after 9:00
p.m. that side of the street.
Everyone in the 65
heard the bartender warn
that illegally parked cars
were about to be towed.
You never told me you
even brought your car.
But you weren't
there, Mrs. Gillrich.
You'd gone back to the Gillrich
brothers' offices to murder Walter.
(SCOFFS) What?
I suspect, that you took a
taxi to your husband's office.
And since no one saw you
leave the 65 Bar, or return,
my guess is that you used the
side door, just beyond the restrooms
and returned the same way.
And got back too late to
hear the bartender's warnings.
What is this "left by a
side door," Mrs. Fletcher?
She was with me all evening.
JESSICA: Not true, Mr. Gillrich.
For part of the night, I saw
you alone with Nolan Walsh.
That's your signature
from the impound lot.
You retrieved your car the
next day, ticket and towing, $140.
It doesn't pay to keep
a car in New York City.
(SCOFFS) This is insane! I
mean, so my car was towed.
I forgot to move it in time and I was
embarrassed to admit it to my husband.
The police have the
bullet, Mrs. Gillrich.
I'm fairly certain it'll prove to
have been fired from your gun.
Lee?
I lost the gun months
ago. Don't you remember?
I saw it last week on
your dressing table.
A paraffin test will
prove that you fired it.
Along with everything else,
I doubt we'll have any trouble
getting a murder one indictment.
Lee, talk to me.
When Margaret got the
phone call from Walter,
I could hear her
surprise and pleasure.
LEE: He invited her to
meet him at the office,
and I just had to find
out what they were up to,
and Eugene was
busy working the room.
I saw a rear-exit sign
by the powder room
and I didn't want to
lose my parking space,
so I took a taxi.
I let myself in with my parking
key and took the elevator
straight up, bypassing the
guard and the lobby sign-in sheet.
I got to the office before
Margaret and Walter.
I didn't realize they had met
downstairs for a drink first.
I was ready to give up waiting,
when I heard them coming
through the reception area.
(MARGARET AND WALTER LAUGHING)
I slipped into Eugene's office.
Over here and I'll
show you what...
It was pretty obvious
that was Walter was
already half-convinced
that my husband was
destroying old Manhattan.
And Margaret Johnson was
taking him the rest of the way.
I heard Walter promising that he'd
convince Eugene to build elsewhere
to spare those decrepit,
God-awful brownstones.
And it was making me furious.
I couldn't believe that Walter could
find that woman sexually attractive,
but there it was,
and she was
making the most of it.
I stayed out of
sight until she left.
I'll talk to you soon. Okay.
Bye-bye. Bye.
LEE: And then it was my
turn to talk shop with Walter.
For God's sake, Walter,
what's your job here?
Getting in the way of a dollar?
(SIGHS) Yeah, well,
what is yours, spying?
Listen, damn you,
Eugene has put everything
he's got on the line for this project.
Everything. And you're willing to
buy a stupid woman's story about...
Just shut up. No, I won't.
Not until I'm finished.
Eugene may feel an obligation
to carry you, Walter, but I don't.
You've never been
anything but dead weight,
dragging him down.
Turn around, damn
you. I'm not finished.
Fine. I'll leave
it up to Eugene.
Either he dumps you, or I
take a hike. It's you or me.
Well, that's the first
good idea you've had.
Let Eugene choose
between you and me.
And then perhaps he'll
come to his senses about you.
Lee, close the door
on your way out.
Turn around,
Walter, or I'll kill you.
I'm not kidding!
And then, to make it look as
if Walter was shot by mistake,
you wheeled him into
your husband's office.
And I put Eugene's
chair in Walter's office.
When I got back to the 65, I
saw that my car had been towed.
So you said nothing about it and
took a taxi home with your husband.
Yeah.
Oh, God, Eugene, I...
There's no gun permit on file.
I bought it for
her out-of-state.
I insisted she have
it for protection.
He wasn't just my brother.
He was my conscience.
He might've talked me into
sparing those brownstones.
Let's go.
And if it had come to
choosing between us?
I'm never gonna have
to make that decision.
NEWS ANNOUNCER: And
with the preservation designation,
as well as Eugene
Gillrich filing chapter 11
and pleading no contest
to bribery charges,
the disputed brownstones
are here to stay.
(ALL CHEERING)
Well, to my father
and my grandfather.
And to Eugene O'Neill.
Ernest Hemingway.
Oh, Mrs. Rhodes.
And don't forget Dutch Schultz.
And have I got
good news for you.
You mean about Margaret being
elected head of the Committee?
Better. My grandson, Josh. We
decided against the Wee School.
The kid's too smart
for them anyway.
Instead, he's gonna be in a weekend
program for one-year-olds in Central Park.
Great. Isn't it wonderful that
the city has such a program?
What city?
Doris decided she and I are
gonna take Josh and the kids.
Yes.
Tonight on Murder, She Wrote.
Construction on Gillrich
Towers begins immediately,
upon demolition of
those brownstones.
The bad guys are
running the store.
It's easy to feel that way.
If I have to tear it down with
my own hands, that building falls.
If you ever come back here,
Gillrich, you're a dead man.
(GASPS) Notify the
captain. We got a break.
That is absolutely
fabulous! You caught me.
I slept last night, knowing
the cops are off my case.
Margaret doesn't
know how to say no.
I find that pillow talk brings out a
man's generosity and expectations.
I don't believe the
end justifies the means.
I'm a little tired of
this condescension.
(GRUNTS)
(BEEPING)
WOMAN: Save our buildings!
(PEOPLE CHATTERING)
MAN: Save our buildings!
CAROL: They're knocking down
buildings all over New York, and for what?
More skyscrapers!
(SIGHS) Jessica, I envy
you, your Cabot Cove retreat.
(BOTH LAUGH)
Hi, thanks for being here.
WOMAN: Save our block!
Look, Jessica, two out of
these three beautiful old buildings
have already been vacated.
Well, without number 65, they
won't be able to build anything,
much less a 40-story co-op.
Which is why I
asked you for lunch.
Uh-huh.
(EXCLAIMS)
We have been engaged in an
absolute dogfight over these buildings.
Look, Carol, I
really want to help,
but I just had my editor's
notes on my final draft.
Now, don't worry.
Margaret's joining us for lunch.
She's assured me that
the deadline's pretty flexible.
Margaret just doesn't
know how to say no.
Look, I'd be delighted to
make a contribution, but...
No "buts." We've got a hearing
scheduled at the city planning board...
Hi, Mrs. Fletcher. Ms. Collins.
Hi, Margaret. Sorry,
something came up.
Do you realize that Margaret
discovered that Eugene O'Neill
did rewrites for Strange
Interlude from this very table?
I think it was when
it was a speakeasy.
A famous gangster
used it as an office.
Dutch Schultz.
And did you know that Ernest
Hemingway used to live on the top floor?
(CHUCKLES) When
you called last week,
I did a little bit of digging around
at the local historical society.
Hemingway on the top floor!
Jessica, you are wonderful!
We have managed to save the homes of
Mark Twain and Edna St. Vincent Millay.
And now Hemingway and
O'Neill. And Dutch Schultz.
(LAUGHING)
A close, personal
friend of my grandfather's
and he brought in a lot
of business, believe me.
What are you
drinking, young lady?
Got any non-alcoholic beer?
Coming up, ladies.
Look, Carol, I'll be delighted to
sign any petition or letter or whatever,
but I'm afraid this book
deadline precludes me
being involved any
further than that.
She's right, Ms. Collins. Oh.
Is there any chance
that these developers...
The Gillrich brothers.
Well, is there any chance that
they might consider an alternate site?
(LAUGHS SARCASTICALLY)
Believe me, we have tried.
We've put any number of
possibilities on the table.
What would be acceptable to me is if
Eugene Gillrich was found in cement shoes
at the bottom of the East River.
(CHUCKLES)
EUGENE: Oh, come on, Vincent.
The hearing is
simply a formality.
It isn't as if we're gonna
default on the loan.
You tell him, darling.
You bought those buildings, you
have a right to knock them down.
Lee, please, the man
is just a bean counter.
Vince. Vince, in the last
week foreign interests
have committed to renting the
rest of the ground-floor retail space.
VINCENT: You're
broke, Eugene. Not true.
Any cash flow problems you
think we're having are just rumors.
Not according to
our loan committee.
Vincent, would I hang you
out to dry? Eugene, this is not...
You tell your loan committee
that we are absolutely on schedule.
Construction on Gillrich
Towers begins immediately
upon demolition of
those brownstones,
which we're hitting with the
wrecker's ball in 72 hours.
Okay. But not a minute more.
All right. I will call
you immediately
upon the completion
of that hearing.
I'll do what I can. Thanks.
Foreign interests? Since when?
Since soon.
Hey, Walter, you have an eye.
Your opinion of my
bride's latest sketches.
My instructor says
I'm really growing.
These are for the model
apartments in Gillrich Towers.
Well, these are...
These are very nice, Lee.
All the promise you showed
when you did Eugene's office here.
Thank you.
Oh, Eugene, I just got off the
phone with a Margaret Johnson
from the City
Preservation Committee.
Damn it, Walter, I told you
not to take their calls anymore.
Well, she just wanted to know what's
to become of a woman in number 65.
One of the tenants,
a Mrs. Rhodes,
who's 87 years old and
has lived there for 60 years.
Are we throwing her out?
Of course not.
You wouldn't let me.
In fact, we've already committed
to paying for her move to Florida.
This injunction
they're going for...
Ms. Johnson wanted me to tell you that
there are gonna be pickets and TV coverage.
She also wanted to know whether you've
had time to review those alternate sites.
Or maybe we could at
least spare number 65.
Oh, God, Walter,
whose side are you on?
Look, how many times do I
have to spell it out for you?
Come on, Eugene, I'm a little
tired of this condescension.
You... Walter. Eugene.
These people are determined
to make real trouble for us.
I don't see why we can't at
least consider an alternate site.
You think you know real trouble?
Sixty-three, 65, 67.
We lose 65, the whole project
crashes and burns, Walter.
Followed immediately by us.
Now, all I want from you
tomorrow at the hearing is silence.
(SIGHS)
And after, the Hamptons,
before you have a coronary.
(SIGHS) If the hearings
don't give me one first.
We could still lose
this whole thing, Lee.
It could go away from us,
even without Walter's help.
This is Mike LaRocca
with a feature report
for Channel 6 at
the city court house,
where a surprise development
took place a few moments ago
as the hearings adjourned
for the day with no decision.
I am with two members of the
City Preservation Committee.
What is your reaction to the split
at Gillrich Realty, Ms. Johnson?
Me? Well, I...
The fact that Walter Gillrich
publicly broke ranks with his brother
and agreed to
consider alternate sites,
means that even the
enemy has a sense of history.
And a conscience about
architectural continuity
and senior citizens being
thrown out into the street.
I mean, what are you thinking?
LaROCCA: Thank
you very much, ladies.
I believe I see Eugene
Gillrich coming out.
(CHATTERING)
Mike LaRocca. No comment.
But today your brother
seemed to break ranks with you...
It's clearly a misunderstanding.
Forgive me, Mr. Gillrich, but
that sounds like an oxymoron.
Walter Gillrich, perhaps
you have something to say?
My brother has
nothing more to say.
Mr. Walsh, you have
a lease on the 65 Bar
that allows you to operate
the place till they tear it down.
That's right, Mike.
And with friends
turning out like today,
and Walter Gillrich coming
through at the 11th hour,
it looks as if my lease is
gonna last as long as I do.
Yes. But some cynics are
saying that due to all this publicity
the 65 has turned
into a cash cow,
and you into an overnight
devotee of cultural history.
Hey, Mike, the 65 was my father's
and my grandfather's before him,
a hangout for the
famous and the infamous,
and if you wanna talk cold beer
and the best sliced
steak sandwich in town...
Thanks very much, Mr. Walsh.
This is Mike LaRocca,
Channel 6 News, at city hall.
It's nice to finally
meet you in person.
Ernest Hemingway in 4B.
(CHUCKLES)
For Whom the Bell Tolls.
That's my favorite, Ms. Johnson.
Margaret. Margaret.
He wrote it on top of
an icebox on legal paper.
Oh? He was tall.
(CHUCKLING)
Instead of a desk? Hmm.
Yeah, well, I need a
desk. I'm not that tall.
I'm also not Ernest Hemingway.
(LAUGHS)
Walter, the car's waiting.
(SIGHS)
We'll talk, Margaret.
LaROCCA ON TV: And tonight,
many of the faithful will hold
a rally at the 65 Bar which, like
a cat, may truly have nine lives.
It won't quite be a victory
rally, but after this day's events,
many of the Preservation
Committee's supporters
believe that the construction of
the Gillrich Towers is no longer a...
(TV TURNS OFF)
Carol? It's Jessica Fletcher. I
hope I'm not calling you too late.
I had the news on and
it's good for a change.
Well, I guess the two-day reprieve
is better than a demolition permit,
but still, there's no telling what
Eugene Gillrich has up those
immaculately-tailored sleeves.
Except that you can be certain
that it will be Machiavellian.
(CHUCKLES) Well, I find
I'm a little ahead of schedule,
so if another body
will help at the rally...
Oh, Jessica! That is
absolutely fabulous!
I'll alert that cute reporter from
Channel 6. You are an angel.
Thanks for calling. Bye.
Bye.
Did you hear that?
EUGENE: Another celebrity isn't
going to impress them downtown.
What gets those people where
they live are the tax revenues
the city'll realize
from my new co-ops.
So, you know that romancing me
isn't gonna shake my
people off your back.
Carol, has it occurred to you
that I may have no ulterior motive?
For about two
wish-fulfilling seconds
until you flunked
my reality check.
You have a very young,
very attractive wife.
Who's very busy this
afternoon with homework.
So you thought you'd come by and
do a little of your own, at my home.
Why don't you think of me
as an insatiable student?
There's always
new things to learn.
Excuse me, sir?
Is your report
ready to be typed?
Not yet, Evelyn.
Look, it's almost 6:00.
Why don't you
leave it till tomorrow?
Great. Thank you,
sir. Good night.
VICTOR: Hey, LaRocca,
wait up. We've gotta talk.
Victor, just the
man I wanted to see.
Listen, about the layouts
for my 64th Street special?
My picture has got
to be bigger. Okay?
I mean, the lettering has
to be behind me, you know?
Which is where I'd like to
be with a sledgehammer.
What do you mean, Victor?
I mean I've been upstairs
for the last two hours,
trying to explain away the
bill of goods I let you sell me.
It's a sure thing, Victor. Who's got
the muscle to stop the Gillrich brothers?
You're talking about this
landmark preservation business?
It's all smoke, Victor.
It's gonna happen.
Yeah, from your lips, we've got
pickets, petitioners, angry ladies,
hearings, evicting old people.
And we got sponsors going south in
droves, Mike. Some sure thing, huh?
Victor, you know as well as I
do, that only means bigger ratings.
Yeah. And if it doesn't happen,
the station's out all the thousands
they've spent promoting it
and I'm out all my credibility.
Mike, we're gonna figure out another
angle, an out. Do you understand me?
Victor, not to worry. I
have a little plan of my own.
If I have to tear it down with
my own hands, that building falls.
(JESSICA LAUGHING)
So did you finish the
notes for the book?
Yeah. It's only a page. I'll
fax it to your place tonight.
Oh, that's great.
(CAR TIRES SCREECHING)
Lucky to get a space.
(CHUCKLES)
Isn't that Eugene
Gillrich's wife?
So it is. What do you suppose
she's doing on enemy turf?
Spying, perhaps?
(LAUGHS)
Really? Well, Mrs.
Gillrich is probably here
to lend her husband
some support.
My guess is he's here to manufacture
some excuse to break my lease.
Well, anyway. Hey,
Pete! PETE: Yeah?
First round's on me. Then
it's every man for himself.
(ALL CHEERING)
This whole building, right?
Yes. Absolutely.
Mike LaRocca with celebrated
local author, J.B. Fletcher.
So, does your pub-crawling
bring you here often?
Well, I live just
around the corner.
Tell me something, Ms. Fletcher.
What's the appeal of these
broken-down old tenements
to a bright, successful
woman such as yourself?
Well, as a neighborhood resident,
I'd like the area to remain just that,
a neighborhood.
Thank you very much.
Mr. Gillrich, off the record, your
coming over here a sign of capitulation?
(CHUCKLES) For the
record, Mr. LaRocca,
my coming over here is to
talk dollars and common sense
with the neighborhood merchants.
More specifically?
More specifically, what's wrong
with 1,000 affluent new residents,
all of them ready to
shop till they drop?
You'd think they'd be afraid to
show their faces around here.
To answer your question, Mrs.
Fletcher, I live over in Queens.
Oh. I'm the visiting nurse
to Mrs. Rhodes upstairs in 4B.
Oh, where is she? Fifty
years in one building.
It would be wonderful
to get her on the news.
Well, you know, Mrs. Collins,
I don't think she's quite up to it,
but, you know, I'll be glad
to give her the petition.
I know she wants to sign up.
All right.
J.B. Fletcher. Eugene Gillrich.
Oh, yes. Mr. Gillrich.
It's certainly a pleasure to
meet you. And Ms. Collins.
Well, allow me to
buy you both a drink.
Ms. Collins? A dry martini.
And Ms. Fletcher?
Well, white wine.
All right. One white wine
and a dry martini with an onion.
Got it.
Yeah. Yeah. Speak up.
Margaret Johnson, yeah.
Margaret Johnson?
Maggie! Phone call.
Thank you.
There you go.
Hello. Why, yes, I'd love to.
That would be wonderful, Walter.
So, this is the table where Eugene
O'Neill supposedly carved his initials?
Granddad said he
used a steak knife.
Nolan, my offer's still open.
Oh, come on, give up this
city preservation crusade.
Sign on for demolition
and I will move this place
lock, stock, and
sawdust to the East Side.
You'll become another
Hard Rock Cafe.
T-shirts, souvenirs and tourists
lined up around the block.
PETE: Yo, people.
You're parked out front,
the cops are towing!
(ALL GROANING)
On the downside,
you must know that I'm a man
who has a lot of friends downtown.
I mean, one phone call
and the city fire department
finds your venerable,
old institution a trap.
And another phone call to,
say, the city health department
and they find rats
in your kitchen.
I don't take too good
to threats, Mr. Gillrich.
Look, Nolan, Nolan. We're
just a couple of working stiffs
trying to turn a buck here.
Come on, why don't you give
up this nostalgia garbage and...
I mean, your lace
curtain origins?
(GRUNTS)
If you ever come back here,
Gillrich, you're a dead man.
It's all right. It's all right.
(PEOPLE CHATTERING)
What's wrong? All
right. Let's go. Let's go.
He said he'd have that report on
my desk first thing this morning.
But knowing Walter,
it's probably not there.
Well, knowing Walter, he probably
typed it himself, so it might be on his...
(GASPS) Walter. Oh, my God.
HENDERSON: Okay, Lieutenant.
The janitor says he saw the victim
last night around 6:30 at the water cooler,
but with his vacuum running,
he never heard a shot.
Well, according to the after-hours sign-in
sheet, nobody got up here past 6:00.
God. I suppose we're
looking at a robbery, also?
A man's dead wearing a
thousand-dollar watch, I don't think so.
He was shot at close range.
It figures maybe
he knew the shooter.
The bullet went into the back
of the chair, in here and out here.
Well, keep looking
for the bullet.
And, Henderson, cheer up,
will you? We'll solve this, or not.
Mr. Gillrich, I know this isn't a
great time to be piecing together
what happened. But let
me talk to you over here.
Whatever it takes, I want
who did this caught, and now.
Well, did your brother
have any enemies?
Not a one. Everybody liked him.
Maybe someone who he let go,
someone who didn't get a promotion,
returns with a gun. It happens.
I know. But we're
a small company.
We haven't let
anyone go in years.
I saw on the news you and
Walter had a flare-up at city hall.
You accusing me?
My brother worked nights
to put me through college.
His capital started this
business. I loved him.
For the report, where
were the both of you
between, say, 6:30
and 10:00 last night?
The 65 Bar. We
went there about 6:00.
We left there around 9:30. Witnesses
saw us. Then we took a cab home.
Do you have any idea why
Walter was at your desk?
His office connects,
but, no, I don't.
Walter's report. Maybe he was
bringing it in when he was shot.
We did find a draft of an
environmental impact report on his desk.
It hadn't been typed up.
Reports, permits, condos.
It all seems so damned
unimportant now.
Lieutenant, Mike
LaRocca, Channel 6.
No comment.
So your department
has nothing to go on?
Citizens stand by helpless as another
senseless shooting goes unsolved?
LaRocca, you wanna make
speeches, run for congress, all right?
WOMAN: Lieutenant, let me
ask you one more question.
Victor.
Okay, just remember that it was Walter
Gillrich who gummed up his brother's plans.
Now, with him gone,
it's clear sailing.
Wrong. I just heard
it on the news.
Until the police
know why he's gone,
the planning board is
postponing the final hearing.
No digging for Dutch Schultz's
victims till further notice, if ever.
I swear to God, LaRocca, I am not gonna
be the only one who's looking for a job.
The police, look, they
know what they're doing.
They'll find the killer.
We'll be in business.
And what makes you so sure?
Call it my nose for news.
I really don't think there's
anything I can add, Artie.
I met Walter at the hearing. He
became our political ally, so to speak.
Yeah. Well, that was
the last time you saw him?
In person, you mean. We
spoke later on the phone.
About 6:30, I think.
The department's
already getting heat
from Eugene Gillrich
and his city hall contacts.
What I don't get is,
Eugene is the heavy,
and Walter, who never
had an enemy in the world,
winds up with a
hole in his chest.
(CELL PHONE RINGING)
Gelber. Doris?
DORIS: Artie, he failed.
What? When?
No, that's terrible.
Our year-old grandson
was turned down
by the Wee School in
the Dell's infant program.
Well, how could they
do that? The kid's brilliant.
He fell asleep.
He fell asleep
during the interview?
(STAMMERING) I'll
get back to you, Doris.
Sorry.
Artie, since Walter was shot
from behind in his brother's office,
I assume that you've
considered the possibility
that Eugene was
the intended victim.
And that Walter
was killed by mistake.
Yeah. Yeah, we have.
Apparently, the list of people
who can't stand Eugene
begin with Nolan Walsh
and end with his friends.
The coroner's office approximate
time of death at 8:00 to 9:00 p.m.
Do you know how many homicides
he said there were
last night, Lieutenant?
Henderson, I don't care, okay?
We worry about this one.
Period. Then we go on to the next.
Henderson is convinced that
the bad guys are running the store.
(SIGHS) It's easy
to feel that way.
(CHUCKLES)
The lab's backed up. They're
still running the fingerprints.
No bullet's been found, yet.
And, oh, yeah, the taxi
company confirmed it,
the Gillrichs got home at 9:30.
Henderson, check
all the tenants in 65.
If Gillrich was trying to throw me
out of my rent-controlled apartment,
no love lost, yes?
Here are the tenant
lists for all three buildings.
Old Mrs. Rhodes
in 65, could you die?
She's been there so long,
she's only paying $300 a month.
GELBER: (CHUCKLES) 300?
Maybe the old bird would like some
roommates to share the expenses.
Doris and I don't
take up much space.
Maybe Mrs. Rhodes put out
a contract on Eugene Gillrich
so she wouldn't lose her pad.
Or the ghost of
Dutch Schultz did it.
(LAUGHS)
Henderson, check every
tenant, even Mrs. Rhodes.
You sure I can't get
you some coffee?
Something to calm you down?
No, thank you.
It's these petitions,
Ms. Collins.
They've been thrown out. There
are at least 900 dead people.
Oh, really? I don't
understand that.
Collectors were moving
rather slowly, but still...
(LAUGHS)
Now, don't you worry,
signatures can be replaced.
There are plenty of people
out there who are willing to sign.
Eugene Gillrich's lawyer
has moved to have the whole
petition drive declared invalid.
Oh, I don't think Eugene
Gillrich will allow him to do that.
You don't? Why?
Why don't you give me those
petitions and I'll take care of everything.
Thank you.
CAROL: Suffice it to say,
Margaret, that there is no teacher
quite like experience.
Especially, when it comes to learning
exactly where a man's buttons are
and when to push them.
Ms. Collins.
Mmm-hmm.
I don't think I really
understand you.
That's very true. But try to think
of it in terms of you and Walter.
I hardly knew Walter.
Oh, that's what you
may tell the police,
but when you got the phone
call at the bar last night,
I heard you call him by name.
And then you left right after.
You did go and see
Walter last night, didn't you?
No. I have to go.
I have to tell you this.
A lot of people think
Walter was killed by mistake.
That the real target was Eugene.
So I heard.
Ms. Collins, just so you know,
even though a cause may be just,
I don't believe the
end justifies the means.
(LAUGHS)
I like you, Margaret, but I
don't want to see you get hurt.
You mustn't go through life
tilting at dragons, like Don Quixote.
Don Quixote tilted at windmills.
Saint George slew dragons.
You see, that's
just what I mean.
After a while, who remembers?
MAN ON RADIO: For those
who are just joining us, we are in...
Me, sneak out of here
and kill Walter Gillrich?
And the settlers, they
ambush the cavalry
as they ride to the rescue.
(SCOFFS)
Now, his brother, maybe.
Precisely, Mr. Walsh.
You slug Eugene in
front of a lot of people,
you grab a knife and
you threaten to kill him.
You leave after he does,
you sneak into his office,
it looks like him in his chair
and you pop Walter by mistake.
If I may say so, Lieutenant,
from what I know of Mr. Walsh,
if he had decided to
go after Eugene Gillrich,
there would have
been no mistakes.
She's speaking the
truth on that one, all right.
I'm not so sure I like that
kind of a character reference
tossed around about me.
(CELL PHONE RINGING)
Stay in town. Hate to
have to send for the cavalry.
Gelber. Yeah, Henderson.
What? What? Whose prints?
I never would have figured that.
Notify the captain.
We got a break.
(PHONE RINGING)
Hello? PEGGY: Mrs. Fletcher?
This is Margaret's
assistant. She...
She won't be able to
keep her appointment.
Peggy, what is it?
The police just arrested her
for the killing of Walter Gillrich.
Margaret?
Thank you, Peggy.
(SIGHS)
"8:30 p.m."
JESSICA: Oh, Mrs. Gillrich, I'm
very sorry about your brother-in-law.
Oh, thank you, Mrs. Fletcher.
But it's been much harder on
Eugene, as you can imagine.
Well, I certainly can. Excuse me,
I want to check with the lieutenant.
GELBER: Doris, in
this town, money talks,
and maybe that's
what it's gonna take
for them to look a little bit
more kindly at little Josh. Later.
Jessica. Look, Artie,
I have to talk to you
about Margaret Johnson.
Look, Jessica, we didn't
pull it out of the ether.
Her fingerprints matched
with those on an elevator button
and on the doors
of the reception area.
And in her initial statement,
she said the only time she
talked to Walter was on the phone.
So, how come we find
this "Save our Block" pin
with Ms. Johnson's
thumbprint on it?
Artie, I was just asked
to sign in downstairs.
How is it that you don't have
Margaret's signature from that night?
Well, she admits to
meeting Walter downstairs
at around 7:00 for a
drink in the restaurant.
Then they came up here
to talk about the hearings.
She didn't have to sign in
because Walter was with her.
Your lab people put
Walter's death at around 8:30.
Now, I think I can prove that
Margaret wasn't here then.
She couldn't, and you can?
Well...
Margaret faxed me these notes
last night from her apartment.
Well, my fax machine prints
out a chronological summary
of messages that I receive.
Now, there's Margaret's
fax to me at 8:30,
following an 8:10 fax and preceding
another which came in around 9:00.
Jessica, suppose that the
coroner's off by 30 minutes.
Walter's murdered at 8:00,
in which case, Margaret's at home
faxing you, as she claims, at 8:30.
Artie, I can't believe that
she would murder an ally
that she was beginning
to grow very fond of.
Well, she is so lucky
to have a friend like you.
But you know what she
really needs right now?
She needs an alibi
with no holes in it.
(GRUNTS)
Artie, the carpet here is gold.
Yeah. So? Jessica, you're
doing it again, aren't you?
This carpet is blue, Lieutenant.
Jessica, we like each other,
but picking out patterns...
Look, if blue carpet fuzz
was on the wheels of the chair
in Eugene's gold-carpeted
office where Walter was found,
it's possible that Walter was
killed here in his own office.
Perhaps he was the
intended victim all along.
You mean, wait, wait, the
killer pushes Walter in his chair
into Eugene's office.
Then he pushes Eugene's
empty chair back in here,
so that we believe from the get-go
that the wrong man was murdered.
No wonder you
couldn't find the bullet.
We were looking
in the wrong office.
Ah! I love it.
You gave us a
missing piece, Jessica.
Romance turned sour.
Romance? Walter wines Margaret.
They come up here,
just like she said.
Only this time, not
to talk about hearings.
She's growing fond
of him, like you said.
Maybe he got rough with
her. She tries to push him off.
Not the first time a guy doesn't
stop when a woman says no.
And then...
MAN: Here's the work
order the sergeant wanted.
Thanks.
GELBER: Ms. Johnson,
what can I tell you?
We live in a society where it's
easier to prove you own a gun
than it is to prove
you don't own a gun.
Some places, it's harder
to buy a pack of cigarettes.
Oh, for heaven's sakes,
Artie. I mean, think.
Doesn't it just smack of
circumstantial evidence?
Jessica, the DA's people
are comfortable with it.
This is crazy, for God sakes.
You've all caved in
under the pressure
Eugene Gillrich put on your
superiors to charge somebody.
That's the only reason I'm here.
Lieutenant, the statements
from the residents of 65.
None of them seemed all that
hostile towards the Gillrich brothers.
They say. Did you get everyone?
Except Mrs. Rhodes. I couldn't
reach her, only her answering machine.
Her nurse called back to say Mrs.
Rhodes' niece came in from Jersey
to bring her out
there for a few days.
Well, so get an address.
You don't need a passport to take
the Lincoln Tunnel into New Jersey,
at least, the last
time I looked.
Coffee's still warm.
Jessica, would you care for
some with milk? Thank you.
Yeah. Ms. Johnson, don't tell
me. Let me guess. Black, right?
But no, thank you.
Look, Jessica, I would
love it if you and...
Jessica, what?
Memory. The way
people order their drinks.
Say again?
Margaret, keep a good thought.
It's 2:00 tomorrow, Nolan.
Now, that Walter's
murder is solved,
the planning board's going
ahead with the final hearing.
And I think it's safe to say that
we'll all have reason to celebrate.
(SCOFFS) I don't
mind telling you,
I slept last night, knowing
the cops are off my case.
To sleeping.
Oh, Jessica! What
a lovely surprise.
Do you have a few
moments, Carol? Of course.
I've got a few
things to take care of.
Why don't you have
a seat? Thanks.
I don't, for a moment, believe
that Margaret killed Walter Gillrich.
Carol, I must ask you to
be very truthful with me.
And I haven't been?
Now, you and Eugene Gillrich
were not only bitter enemies,
but each one of you said that
you hadn't met until the hearing.
That wasn't the truth?
The night of the rally, Mr. Gillrich
offered us a round of drinks,
and I overheard
him tell the barkeeper
that you preferred one with
an onion. As you have here.
That's what I asked for.
No. You simply said a martini.
He volunteered the onion.
You ought to be
running our committee.
Eugene Gillrich on
tape, offering me $50,000
to withdraw the Committee's
objections to his project.
He thought you'd go for that?
I find that pillow talk brings out a
man's generosity and expectations.
And I have to admit,
it wasn't the most unpleasant
afternoon I've ever spent.
You intend to present
that at the hearing?
If push comes to shove, yes.
If I turn this over to
the planning board,
Eugene Gillrich won't be able to
get a permit to build a doll's house.
And if they ask you
how you got the tape,
you could be hurt
as badly as Eugene.
Well, maybe less.
My reputation is already a bit
tarnished, and he's got a wife.
Jessica, in my divorce, I got the
Park Avenue apartment. Period.
$50,000 is inordinately
tempting, but this...
This is more important.
AL: Hiya, Pete! Hello, Al.
Well, that day of days!
My social security check.
Right on schedule.
Hey, listen, would you mind
giving Mrs. Rhodes her mail?
The vestibule's all
blocked up back there.
No problem, Al. Is this all?
That's it. Have a good one.
Excuse me.
Pete, since you're on duty, why don't
you let me take Mrs. Rhodes up her mail.
Oh, be my guest, Mrs. Fletcher.
With my knees, I never mind letting
someone else walk up those four flights.
(CHUCKLES)
Hey, pal, you gotta
understand I can't lose.
Either this place gets declared
a landmark and I stay here,
or it gets torn down and I
reopen on the East Side.
Okay. Look,
I'm sure it's not
gonna come as a big
surprise to you that
if Gillrich wins, I win.
And if he loses, you're
dead. I heard. Too bad.
You ever tend bar? We're gonna
need some help around here.
That's cute.
All right. Listen, I have
a proposition for you.
You close down the bar for one
month while we dig up the basement
and find the bones of Dutch
Schultz's victims for the TV cameras.
I pay you a fat fee as co-host
and co-producer of my TV special.
Me and my place, coast-to-coast.
That's right. I'm telling you
the tourists will be lined up
from here to Hoboken because
they saw you and the 65 on my show.
Yeah. Yeah. I love it.
I'm telling you. You're gonna
parlay beer, burgers and blarney
into a huge pile of green cash.
LaRocca, you grave-robbing scuz,
now you get out of my joint now!
Mrs. Rhodes.
My name is Jessica Fletcher. We
haven't met, but I have your mail here.
There's two magazines,
but no social security check,
unless you would prefer
that the police deliver it.
(DOOR LOCK RATTLING)
Mrs. Fletcher, you caught me.
It was a bit difficult to
swallow, an 87-year-old woman
who subscribes to fitness magazines
and doesn't get a social security check.
Mrs. Rhodes was a
dear, Mrs. Fletcher.
I mean, in the last months of her
life I went from visiting nurse to live-in.
I mean, I even wrote the
checks to pay her bills.
And you gave up your apartment?
Well, nothing much to give up.
I'd been rooming
with two other girls.
Anyway, Mrs. Rhodes
had no family or friends,
so she left what
little she had to me.
Four years ago, she passed away.
And you never told the landlord.
Mrs. Fletcher, I
kept meaning to,
you know, but the days turned
to weeks, and then months
and then when I finally started
shopping for an apartment,
the prices were
through the roof.
So you kept 4B and
a low profile as nurse
to a non-existent patient and
saved yourself a fortune in rent.
Thousands.
I guess, in the back of my mind,
I knew I was breaking the law,
but I wonder what the
penalty is for rent fraud.
Hop in.
Where to?
Across the street.
You see the parking sign?
In three minutes, we're
all illegally parked here.
So I've got to move across the
street where it's okay to park after 3:00.
You gotta be crazy
to keep a car here.
Now, I am shifting from one side
to the other every couple of days.
Well, it's the same on my
block. It's like musical chairs.
Yeah. Really.
Yeah. So, meanwhile,
I'm taking cabs and buses.
I mean, it's cheaper than
getting towed, or a garage.
Josie, that's it!
What's it?
A missing piece.
Thank you very much.
Hurry. Move your car.
Artie, I'm grateful you're going
out on a limb for me. I hope it works.
Out on a limb? Let
me put it this way.
If you're wrong, school-crossing
guard's gonna look like a promotion.
Wish us luck, Jessica.
I don't think you're
gonna need it, Carol.
I'd prefer it that way. You
here on business, Lieutenant?
Yes, I am.
So are we. Come on, Carol.
LaROCCA: Lieutenant.
Any new developments
I should know about?
Something that might
affect the outcome?
Hang loose, LaRocca. You could
turn out to be a development yourself.
I love to make guys
like that squirm.
Afterwards. Afterwards, please.
Lieutenant. Mrs. Fletcher.
Not to taint the Committee's
credibility, Lieutenant,
but Ms. Johnson, has
she confessed yet?
She hasn't confessed.
Mr. Gillrich, you got a minute?
One.
Okay. A couple of
details I need to clean up.
You stated that you were at the 65 last
Tuesday night between 6:00 and 9:30.
We've done this. The
time is on our bar check.
Lieutenant, you've got your
killer. What is this about?
Well, it's about a parking
space, Mr. Gillrich.
The evening your
brother was killed,
Margaret Johnson and
I noticed that your wife
was fortunate enough
to find a parking space
almost directly in front of
number 65, West 64th Street,
despite the fact that it was
a few minutes after 6:00.
Yeah, when most of the
spaces are already long gone.
What's wrong with that?
Oh, nothing. And when your husband
mentioned that you'd taken a cab home,
the inconsistency slipped by me.
And everybody else.
Until Nurse Miles explained
the parking hassle to me.
Mrs. Gillrich, if your car was
parked outside the 65, where I saw it,
why didn't you drive it
home, instead of taking a taxi?
What is this about, Lieutenant?
Honey, do you know
what they're talking about?
I think it's called
common sense, darling.
We'd both been drinking, so
leaving my car and taking a cab home
was the safe, sane thing to do.
Yeah. Gelber, I don't
know what your game is
or what kind of balloons
Mrs. Fletcher here is floating,
but I read it as harassment.
And the commissioner's
gonna hear about it
the minute that this hearing is
concluded. Now, if you'll excuse us...
Got it, Lieutenant.
Just like you said.
Don't look so disappointed, Henderson.
I warned you we might solve this one.
Mrs. Fletcher and I
weren't all that certain
that this proof
existed, Mrs. Gillrich.
Proof? Of what?
I'll have to ask both of you
to accompany me downtown.
EUGENE: What the hell are these?
A parking ticket,
issued to your vehicle.
And the log-in sheet from the
impound lot where it was towed
after being ticketed at
9:02 in front of 65 West 64th.
No parking after 9:00
p.m. that side of the street.
Everyone in the 65
heard the bartender warn
that illegally parked cars
were about to be towed.
You never told me you
even brought your car.
But you weren't
there, Mrs. Gillrich.
You'd gone back to the Gillrich
brothers' offices to murder Walter.
(SCOFFS) What?
I suspect, that you took a
taxi to your husband's office.
And since no one saw you
leave the 65 Bar, or return,
my guess is that you used the
side door, just beyond the restrooms
and returned the same way.
And got back too late to
hear the bartender's warnings.
What is this "left by a
side door," Mrs. Fletcher?
She was with me all evening.
JESSICA: Not true, Mr. Gillrich.
For part of the night, I saw
you alone with Nolan Walsh.
That's your signature
from the impound lot.
You retrieved your car the
next day, ticket and towing, $140.
It doesn't pay to keep
a car in New York City.
(SCOFFS) This is insane! I
mean, so my car was towed.
I forgot to move it in time and I was
embarrassed to admit it to my husband.
The police have the
bullet, Mrs. Gillrich.
I'm fairly certain it'll prove to
have been fired from your gun.
Lee?
I lost the gun months
ago. Don't you remember?
I saw it last week on
your dressing table.
A paraffin test will
prove that you fired it.
Along with everything else,
I doubt we'll have any trouble
getting a murder one indictment.
Lee, talk to me.
When Margaret got the
phone call from Walter,
I could hear her
surprise and pleasure.
LEE: He invited her to
meet him at the office,
and I just had to find
out what they were up to,
and Eugene was
busy working the room.
I saw a rear-exit sign
by the powder room
and I didn't want to
lose my parking space,
so I took a taxi.
I let myself in with my parking
key and took the elevator
straight up, bypassing the
guard and the lobby sign-in sheet.
I got to the office before
Margaret and Walter.
I didn't realize they had met
downstairs for a drink first.
I was ready to give up waiting,
when I heard them coming
through the reception area.
(MARGARET AND WALTER LAUGHING)
I slipped into Eugene's office.
Over here and I'll
show you what...
It was pretty obvious
that was Walter was
already half-convinced
that my husband was
destroying old Manhattan.
And Margaret Johnson was
taking him the rest of the way.
I heard Walter promising that he'd
convince Eugene to build elsewhere
to spare those decrepit,
God-awful brownstones.
And it was making me furious.
I couldn't believe that Walter could
find that woman sexually attractive,
but there it was,
and she was
making the most of it.
I stayed out of
sight until she left.
I'll talk to you soon. Okay.
Bye-bye. Bye.
LEE: And then it was my
turn to talk shop with Walter.
For God's sake, Walter,
what's your job here?
Getting in the way of a dollar?
(SIGHS) Yeah, well,
what is yours, spying?
Listen, damn you,
Eugene has put everything
he's got on the line for this project.
Everything. And you're willing to
buy a stupid woman's story about...
Just shut up. No, I won't.
Not until I'm finished.
Eugene may feel an obligation
to carry you, Walter, but I don't.
You've never been
anything but dead weight,
dragging him down.
Turn around, damn
you. I'm not finished.
Fine. I'll leave
it up to Eugene.
Either he dumps you, or I
take a hike. It's you or me.
Well, that's the first
good idea you've had.
Let Eugene choose
between you and me.
And then perhaps he'll
come to his senses about you.
Lee, close the door
on your way out.
Turn around,
Walter, or I'll kill you.
I'm not kidding!
And then, to make it look as
if Walter was shot by mistake,
you wheeled him into
your husband's office.
And I put Eugene's
chair in Walter's office.
When I got back to the 65, I
saw that my car had been towed.
So you said nothing about it and
took a taxi home with your husband.
Yeah.
Oh, God, Eugene, I...
There's no gun permit on file.
I bought it for
her out-of-state.
I insisted she have
it for protection.
He wasn't just my brother.
He was my conscience.
He might've talked me into
sparing those brownstones.
Let's go.
And if it had come to
choosing between us?
I'm never gonna have
to make that decision.
NEWS ANNOUNCER: And
with the preservation designation,
as well as Eugene
Gillrich filing chapter 11
and pleading no contest
to bribery charges,
the disputed brownstones
are here to stay.
(ALL CHEERING)
Well, to my father
and my grandfather.
And to Eugene O'Neill.
Ernest Hemingway.
Oh, Mrs. Rhodes.
And don't forget Dutch Schultz.
And have I got
good news for you.
You mean about Margaret being
elected head of the Committee?
Better. My grandson, Josh. We
decided against the Wee School.
The kid's too smart
for them anyway.
Instead, he's gonna be in a weekend
program for one-year-olds in Central Park.
Great. Isn't it wonderful that
the city has such a program?
What city?
Doris decided she and I are
gonna take Josh and the kids.
Yes.