Scarecrow and Mrs. King (1983–1987): Season 4, Episode 3 - Unfinished Business - full transcript

An old criminal whose testimony ruined the reputation of Lee's parents after their deaths resurfaces and threatens a King.

It's 10 past.

Give him time.

You know, I got a call from
your son's school today.

Oh.

- What now?
- During play period...

your son built quite
an impressive fort...

which he then defended
with his slingshot...

using leftover bits of graham
cracker as ammunition.

And I told her it was brilliant
strategy but very bad behavior.

Here we are.

Glad you could make
it, Mr. Blackthorne.



I don't think I had much choice.

- There's more where this came from?
- There's quite enough.

- I see.
- Tomorrow, then.

My office at 11.

If I bring you what you want...

- you'll leave me alone?
- If you tell us everything...

I'm sure we can reach a
satisfactory agreement.

You're awfully
quiet, Mrs. Stetson.

Just wondering if Blackthorne
will come through tomorrow.

If he's smart, he'll be there.

Then this whole
protracted affair will be...

No, no. No problem, Chris,
I'm just, uh, glad I called.

I'm sure I can find something to do with
two incredibly expensive Maine lobsters.

Ah, but you could do
me one favor though.



Uh, in your little phonebook under
D, where it says Desmond, Francine?

Cross it out.

Problem, Francine?

No, just a TV newsman
committing social suicide with me.

I'll tell you, brother...

Oh, sorry, sir, heh.

It's just, I mean one broken
date for the Rene Sinclair story.

All right, I can
understand that.

Two, he's history.

Francine, look over
these files for me, will you?

Remember that Rene Sinclair
will most certainly be elected...

the new president
of Ile de Marin.

That's probably why your
newsman friend wanted the story.

Ah, Thomas Blackthorne, heh.

Now there's a real man for
you. An American folk hero.

You know, he stood by
Rene Sinclair and his country...

before anybody else recognized
them. He deserves some of the glory.

He's powerful, he's
rich, he's single.

And as far as he knows, there is no
such thing as a Francine Desmond.

Try to get your mind back
to this office, Francine.

Lobster for one.

No.

No, I'm gonna be busy
here all day. Believe me. Uh...

So I'm just gonna have to say...
I am gonna have to say goodbye.

Goodbye, ahem.

- Good morning.
- Morning.

- Pretty morning, huh?
- Yes, it is.

I grew these flowers
in my own garden.

- Well, they're very pretty. Ha, ha.
- Lovely, I know.

- Okay, what's up?
- Absolutely nothing.

- You're kidding.
- Nope. All of my reports are in.

No urgent cases pending
and my calendar is clear.

So, what do you say we get out of here
before Billy comes up with something?

You mean, ditch?

Uh, let's call it a lesson
in casual surveillance.

No.

A walk in the park, huh?

Mrs. Martson gave
this to me to give to you.

- Yeah, yeah. Well, it can wait.
- It's CIA.

I'm not looking.

"Dear Mr. Stetson,
in request..."

What's the matter?

Nothing. Amanda, I just thought
of something that I have to do.

- Take the day off, huh?
- You're kidding.

No, no, I'm not. It's
just a routine thing.

I'm here to work.
I'm not here to...

- It's okay.
- Maybe I can help you.

- Take the day off while you can.
- Really, you should...

British intelligence?

My mother?

Hey, Stetson.

How they treating you out
in the low-rent district, huh?

Why don't we talk about Madrid,
McCrary, the apartment, the girl...?

Come on, Stetson.
For crying out loud.

Heh, what's the matter, pal?

Look, uh, I have got
season tickets to The Skins.

Now, they're yours. I
mean they're just yours.

I'll tell my wife I'm
bored with football.

No, I don't think that'll do it.

Come on, Stetson, cut
me some slack, huh?

- What do you want?
- I need a name.

A name? That's it?

I want to know the original
source of these reports.

Well, this is
pretty routine stuff.

Not to me.

Okay, it's a deal.

Just give me a day to poke
around and you'll get your name.

Good morning.

- Amanda.
- Hello.

- What are you doing here?
- Well, uh...

- I told you to take the day off.
- That was yesterday, not today.

- What are you doing?
- Straightening up your desk.

You know that, uh, I can
never find anything, anywhere...

when someone straightens
up my desk, right?

Well, I'm sorry. I just thought
I, uh... Where are you going?

I've got some things to do.

Mom?

Dad?

Dad? Mom?

Where are you?

Dad!

Dad, let me in.

This is Lee Stetson.
I'm not in right now.

Please leave a message.

Hello, it's me again, Amanda.

I wish you'd answer. I'm
really sorry I upset you.

And I'd like to at
least talk about it.

So I hope you'll call me as
soon as you get a chance.

Okay, bye.

Hello?

Oh, hi, Joe.

Oh.

Uh, ball game on Sunday?
Sure, let me just ask him.

Fellas, ball game with
your dad on Sunday?

Fellas?

Boy, are they
ever excited, yeah.

Okay. Yeah, that'd be fine.

Oh, yeah, I'm just
great. Thanks, Joe.

Yeah, you too. Okay.

All right, I'll see
you then. Okay, heh.

Bye-bye.

Duclos took a great deal of
money when he fled the island.

That money is desperately needed
to revitalize the country's economy.

And I need to return that money.

- The people, that's your first priority.
- Right.

Yes, Landers?

Telephone for Mr. Sinclair,
Mr. Blackthorne.

It's Mrs. Sinclair, sir.

Thomas, if you will excuse me.

- Yes, of course.
- It was a pleasure.

- Say hello to Maria for me.
- I will.

I'm afraid I misjudged our friend Rene.
He's on a crusade to clean up the island.

I doubt that we can do
business with him anymore.

Lee?

Hello?

Lee?

Lee, are you all right?

- Amanda.
- Yes.

What the hell are
you doing here?

- How did you get in here anyway?
- Lock pick. Standard issue.

I'll have to do
something about that.

Look, I know this is
about your mom and dad.

- What makes you think that?
- There are pictures all over.

And besides that, I saw
the CIA folders on your desk.

I mean, I didn't
mean to snoop...

but I snooped. I'm
sorry, I snooped. I did.

So you snooped. Hm-hm.

- Ugh, Amanda.
- Yeah.

This is something very
personal. Can't you leave it at that?

No, because when somebody
that I care about hurts, I hurt too.

I've never told anyone.

I never leaned on anybody,
even when I needed to.

You can lean on me. I'm
a lot stronger than I look.

Let's take a walk.

- That file I just got...
- Yeah?

It's a follow-up to reports
from an undisclosed source...

saying that my mother and father
were double agents during the war.

Oh, come on, now,
you know that isn't true.

How do I know that?

Well, I mean, you don't know.

I guess you'll just
have to prove it.

- I mean, are you willing to do that?
- Yes.

Amanda, there's this nightmare
that I've had ever since I was a boy.

And I've been
having it a lot lately.

I'm looking for my
mother and father...

and all of a sudden this
monster comes after me...

and I run and I run
and I run away from him.

And I get to this
door, but it's locked.

Just as this monster
is about to grab me...

I wake up.

Now, I know that this door...

means something.
It's important, Amanda.

Ah.

Now, I have an idea.

Do you really wanna help me?

Oh, heh.

That's a pretty silly question.

Then you're really
gonna have to trust me.

Mr. Blackthorne?

- Did you find our man?
- Yup. He's a real pro.

Thinks killing Sinclair
is his ticket to heaven...

and he is not going to blow it. He
just wants to know where and when.

The "when" will be
the day after tomorrow.

As to the "where," you tell me.

There's an empty office building
across from the Plaza Hotel.

Good. I want your man
to check it out tonight.

I don't want any screwups.

- You know what you have to do?
- Yeah, I know what I have to do.

- You've got it?
- I got it.

- Okay.
- Okay.

Yeah, come in?

- Hello. Excuse me, Dr. Anderson?
- Yeah, come on in.

- Well, uh, my name is Amanda King.
- How are you doing?

I don't think we've met.
It's very nice to meet you.

- Pleasure.
- Thank you.

Well, um, I have
a question to ask...

something I've been
wondering about for a long time.

Now, I know it may sound silly but
I'm just gonna go ahead and ask it, heh.

- Go ahead.
- I've been wondering for a long time.

You know, when we have a
headache, we take an aspirin.

Mm-hm.

And when you have a muscle
ache, you take an aspirin.

You know, we just take an aspirin,
take an aspirin, take an aspirin.

Well, I was just, uh,
wondering, how does it work?

That is an excellent
question, Mrs. King.

Acetylsalicylic acid, or ASA,
as we pharmacists call it...

is a very effective analgesic which
is rapidly absorbed from the gut...

and is hydrolyzed to release
salicylate after entering the bloodstream.

Oh.

Interestingly enough, the exact
mechanisms of action are unknown.

- We just know that it works.
- Uh-huh.

I mean, there's one theory that
says that, uh, ASA decreases...

the synthesis of
prostaglandins, lipoperoxidases...

but I don't think
anybody really knows.

Well, that certainly
clears it up for me.

- Yes. Thank you so much.
- You're more than welcome.

You haven't heard anything yet.

Come back here tomorrow, I'll
tell you about acetaminophen.

Wonderful. Thank you.

- That's very nice of you, Dr. Anderson.
- You're welcome.

If I don't make it, it'll only be
because my boys have a ball game.

- No problem.
- Really, I mean, if you see me, I'm here.

- Okay. Stay well. Bye-bye.
- All right. Bye-bye. Thank you.

- What did you just do?
- Swiped a vial of promazepam.

Are you crazy? That stuff's
experimental, it's got side effects...

and it can turn
your brain inside out.

- That's why I need it.
- It's controlled.

- I've been trained to use it.
- You stole it.

- You helped me.
- Oh, an unpleasant little detail.

- Who's gonna know?
- Not the point.

- Hold it right there.
- Yes, sir.

What were you doing
at the dispensary?

Headache. Horrible
headache. I needed an aspirin.

- Yeah, a real lollapalooza.
- Oh.

Well, you're not by yourself.

The talk on the street is that
there's plot to assassinate Sinclair.

Treasury's getting antsy. They don't
like his staying at the Blackthorne estate.

I'm asking everybody,
keep an ear to the ground.

- Absolutely, sir.
- Will do it.

Oh.

An agent from Langley, McCrary's
the name, keeps calling you.

Says he has to see you ASAP.
- Hmm.

Could you pick your messages
up more than once a week?

- Yes, sir. I'll remind him.
- Yeah, Billy.

- Yes, she'll remind me.
- No problem.

Come on.

- What have you got for me? McCRARY:
You're not gonna believe this one.

Yeah, this is from
my father's file.

I'd like to call you attention to the
name at the top of the page, the source.

"Thomas Blackthorne"?

Thomas Blackthorne, the
patron saint of Ile de Marin.

Well, are we square?

- Ah, yeah, thanks.
- Sure.

Thomas Blackthorne?

Why would he wanna
accuse my parents of treason?

I don't think this is
such a good idea.

Amanda, just go along with it, okay?
- All right.

- Hi.
- Hello.

- Hi.
- Stetson and King from the agency?

Got a line on those
threats against Mr. Sinclair.

Right. We wanna ask him a couple
of questions. Only take a few minutes.

- Mm-hm.
- Thanks a lot.

- Nice pickup.
- Yeah. I'll probably be sorry I did that.

Mr. Landers? Yeah, this is the
Secret Service guard at the front gate.

We're from the agency
to see Mr. Blackthorne...

regarding the threats
against Mr. Sinclair.

- Yes, sir. I'll announce you.
- Thank you.

Oh, boy.

- Come right this way, please.
- Thank you very much.

Look, um, if he says he'll see
you, why don't I just wait here.

He may have some things
to tell you that are private.

And, you know, you
wouldn't want me around.

- Would you come this way, please?
- Go ahead.

Mr. Blackthorne?

My name is Lee Stetson.

I came to talk to
you about these.

These are the reports
I filed on your parents.

Look, Mr. Stetson...

I heard things, I
had to report them.

Report what?

Rumors?

Nothing ever came from
them, no formal proceedings...

just a black mark
on their records.

Look, Mr. Stetson, I know
that this is very difficult for you...

but there's nothing
I can do to help you.

I made those reports based
on facts as I knew them...

and I stand behind
these reports.

Good day, Mr. Stetson.

I'm ready to hear
an explanation now.

Sir, we could apologize
to Mr. Blackthorne.

No, we can't.

Complaint did not come from Blackthorne,
it came from the Secret Service.

They checked with Sinclair
after you left yesterday.

You never spoke with
him about the death threats.

Now, I don't like my agents to
abuse their security privileges.

I don't like getting complaints from
Treasury before I've had my morning coffee!

And I don't want friction
between agencies!

Unless you have a concern
about Sinclair's security...

and can tell me what it is, steer
clear of the Blackthorne estate!

- Understood?
- Yes, sir.

I think this agency has been
bruised enough for one day.

Do me a favor. Just
go away for a while.

Yeah, sure.

Yes, sir.

I wish you wouldn't
go through with this.

We should have
done this yesterday.

I'll go under pretty
fast. You got that list?

Yeah, it's right here.

And now, remember, if my
temperature spikes suddenly...

or I get violent, bring
me right out of this.

- Yeah.
- If I start to convulse...

Please don't do that.

See you later.

Lee?

Can you hear me?

Mm-hm.

Do you know who I am?

Heh, my Amanda.

All right. I want you
to look at your dream.

Mm-hm.

Where are you?

I'm down in the basement.

I'm not supposed
to be down here.

Do you see the locked door?

Dad? LEE: Yes.

Open the door.

What's behind it?

Mommy and Daddy.

It's safe.

There's a room in the basement.

I can't tell. It's
supposed to be a secret.

Shh, shh, okay, you
don't have to. Okay?

You're back upstairs now.

Uh, you're in the hallway
and the monster's there.

Open the door.

He can't hurt you because, uh,
he can't move. Because he's frozen.

- Uh... AMANDA: Can't
move and he can't hurt you.

Hmm.

- All right, what does it look like?
- Ah.

It doesn't have a face.

It's gone. The monster's gone.

When I count to three...

you'll wake up and
you'll feel refreshed...

and good as if you'd
had a long night's sleep.

- You feeling all right?
- Hmm, I'm fine.

Do you have time for just more
question? Never mind. Look, okay.

One...

two...

three.

- The room in the basement.
- You can't get up.

You've got almost a
cc of that stuff in you.

Unh.

Manual says you gotta stay
down for 12 hours. Now come on.

You just help me or I'm
gonna do this on my own.

Hey.

Lee?

I'm all right. I'm all right.

- What is it?
- It's that tree.

I probably spent more
time in it than my room.

- But I'm okay, don't worry.
- All right.

Hello? Anybody home?

Okay.

Hello?

Anybody home?

Which way?

Daddy's home. Daddy's home.

Hey, come give your
tired old dad a big hug.

Hurry, up, Lee. You'll
be late for school.

We should go up to the...

Mrs. Ward will stay with you.
We won't be gone long, I promise.

Happy birthday. Come on, Lee.

We're going to walk
to the store with daddy.

- No, it's this way.
- Okay.

Surprise. I made you chocolate
chip cookies for dessert.

Big kiss goodnight,
sweetheart. Sweet dreams.

What do you think about going over
to the pet shop and get that puppy?

Come here.

- This isn't right.
- You sure this is the right house?

- Of course I'm sure.
- Well...

Lee? What are you
doing down there?

I thought I told
it was off-limits.

Lee, where are you?

Lee, answer me. Lee...

Lee, answer me.

- That's it.
- Lee, what?

It's here.

What?

I'm not looking for a
locked door, it's a trap door.

And it's right here somewhere.

Here.

- Be careful with that thing.
- Here.

Shh.

- Unh.
- Be quiet.

- That's gonna be it.
- You're right.

Ooh.

- Be careful.
- Yeah.

- Easy. Easy.
- Yeah.

- Can I come down?
- Yeah, come on. Careful.

- Give me a hand.
- Here you are. Careful.

- Oh.
- Here you go.

You know, they told me this
place was so secret so many times...

- I guess I didn't remember it.
- Will you look at this.

Yeah.

Look, Amanda, let's
get this stuff out of here...

before someone comes home
and we have to do some explaining.

Yeah. Mr. Melrose
will appreciate that.

Yeah.

All right.

Another list of corporations.

I've never heard of any
of these companies...

and so far none of them are
listed on any of the exchanges.

These notes are 30 years old. They
may very well have gone out of business.

- Every single one of them?
- Uh, that would be a long shot.

Mm-hm.

We'll run it through the agency
computer, see what it comes up with.

- I wonder what these symbols are?
- I don't know. They're all over.

- This is funny.
- What?

Well, I don't know. They're
vaguely familiar, but I don't know why.

- Gotta be a code of some kind.
- Yeah.

Hmm.

You have something?

Well, it's, uh, a letter...

to you from your mother.

It starts up there.

"My dear son.

There's so much I wanna...

tell you when you get older."

Amanda, would you?

- Are you sure?
- Yeah.

"My dear son.

There's so much I wanna
tell you when you get older...

so I'm writing it all
down, lest I forget.

I'll start with your father.

Everyone thinks...

we met in the States in 1949..."

But it actually happened
during the war in London.

I was walking down the street one
night, minding my own business...

- when, suddenly, a cheeky yank...
- Excuse me, miss, heh.

- I beg your pardon.
- Look, I'm an American.

- Really?
- I'm in trouble. Someone is following me.

Just walk with me, please?

- No, heh, I will not.
- No, no, no, please.

I'm in trouble.

Please?

All right, what do
you want me to do?

It's urgent this letter be delivered to
the prime minister's office immediately.

- It's life or death.
- Oh, no, really, this is absurd.

What's your name?

Heh, I don't think that's
any of your business.

Just deliver it,
please? Just deliver it.

But he said it was a
matter of life and death...

so I did try to
deliver the letter.

"Of course, who would let
me in 10 Downing Street...

and I didn't think I should
put it in the post, heh.

Then one night, there he was...

peering in the window
of my basement flat."

And it goes on and on.

There's even a family tree.

It's really quite a legacy.

Like father like son.

- Sinclair.
- Up so late, Thomas?

Just having a
night cap. Join me.

No, thanks.

I'll be leaving tomorrow
after my speech at the Plaza...

so I came to say goodbye.

I know you're
anxious to get back.

You must come back
to Ile de Marin soon.

And don't be surprised if all
the schools are named for you.

Well, I'm looking forward to it.

- Don't work too hard now.
- Don't worry.

After seven years of revolution, I
think I'm due a little peace and quiet.

- Heh, good. Have a safe trip, friend.
- Thank you.

It's all set.

By tomorrow afternoon, Mr. Sinclair
will no longer be a problem.

Excellent.

Then in 1953, Inter-Ocean Freight was
bought out by Pan-Coastal Shipping...

which went bankrupt in 1954.

And, sir, we can't find any
evidence that these companies...

- ever actually conducted business.
- So?

Every one of these is a dummy
corporation traced to the same company...

- Redmont Supply.
- Started by Thomas Blackthorne...

with money that he got
somehow during the war.

I thought I told you
to lay off Blackthorne.

We haven't been near
him. This is research.

Come on. Doesn't
this tell you something?

Yes. It's tells me something. It tells me
that you have developed an obsession.

It tells me that you
need a couple of days off.

Ugh.

And don't argue with me.

I'm doing you a favor by giving
you a couple of days to cool out.

As of now, you're on leave. Turn this
over to Francine and let her sort it out.

If there's any real crime involved,
we'll follow it up. Understood?

Yes, sir.

- Well, we tried.
- We're not finished yet.

Yeah, I know we're not.

You know, I think this stuff
in the margin is shorthand.

It's not like any
shorthand I've ever seen.

I know it's not.

This could be an old
method called Pitman

and I think I've seen
Francine use it before.

Why don't I find her and
we'll meet you back upstairs.

All right.

"Blackthorne's signature on
petrol requisition not authorized.

Blackthorne positive
link, at least 200,000.

Gave Blackthorne copy of faked voucher
and then advised he turn himself in.

We will meet him tonight."

- That's it.
- What was the date on that last entry?

- Uh, September 18th.
- It's the night they died.

Thomas Blackthorne sold Allied
supplies to the Russians? That's treason.

And then he took the money
to an obscure little country...

started a business empire,
and kept right on stealing.

That explains why he's so
friendly with Rene Sinclair.

Is he still in the country?

The International Communications Agency
is throwing a luncheon at the Plaza...

in his honor at 1:00 and then he's
going straight from there to the airport.

If we wanna talk to
him, we better get rolling.

We've got trouble upstairs.

Amanda, you go inside and
make sure Sinclair stays put, huh?

We got a shooter on
the roof across the street.

Don't look. I don't
wanna spook him.

Francine, check out Don
Johnson over there, will you?

- Bag him?
- Quietly.

You know what to do.

End of the line, pal.

- Well? Do they know?
- They know.

They've got something to show
me but not here. There's a kid.

It's gonna happen tonight.

Next time I won't
ask you so nicely.

- Amanda. He did it.
- Yeah?

- Who did what?
- Blackthorne's behind everything.

He put the shooter on the
roof. He killed my parents.

- I heard him.
- Wait. Where are you going?

- I was in the tree and I heard it.
- What tree?

- It was no accident.
- Wha...? Wait up.

Lee?

Amanda? AMANDA: Yes.

Amanda, don't. I need
that. Amanda, don't. I need...

Hold that car.

Stetson.

The Secret Service told
you not to interfere with me.

- They did.
- If you got a point to make, make it.

I know what happened.

My mother and father found about
your dealings with the Russians.

And you fed the CIA with a lot of
phony accusations to discredit them.

But it was too big a risk to let
them live, so you staged an accident.

I wanna hear you admit it.

A gun is not the way
to get to the truth.

You killed my mother
and father, you bastard!

- Now you say it!
- Stetson.

Your shooter missed his
target today, Blackthorne...

and the Secret Service
isn't far behind me...

so I think you wanna
get out of here, fast.

All right, if I admit it,
will you let me walk?

Yeah, sure.

You can walk.

Everything I said before was the
truth. See, I made a lot of mistakes...

but I didn't wanna spend the
rest of my life paying for them.

But your parents were
very good at their job.

They had a lot of stuff on me, enough
to nail me. I had to discredit them.

So we set up this meeting.

But the truck, that truck
came out of nowhere.

- The accident was real.
- No, it wasn't!

Wait!

I told you, I framed them.

Now we had an agreement.

I lied.

Daddy's home. Hey,
come give me a big hug.

- Amanda?
- Yeah.

The monster has a face.

Hi.

Hi.

I hope you don't mind.

I called and you weren't at the
office and you weren't at home...

- so I figured you'd be here.
- No, not at all.

I grew these in the garden.

Thank you. Very pretty.

I haven't been by
here in a long time.

Somehow, it always
seemed easier to stay away...

but now...

- I'm gonna leave you alone now.
- No, Amanda.

No, don't go.

I sure wish you could
have known them.

I think I do.