T.J. Hooker (1982–1986): Season 3, Episode 13 - The Lipstick Killer - full transcript
Hooker and his team track a psychotic nurse-killer who sends flowers to his future victims.
(upbeat music)
(upbeat music)
- You know, I don't know
if I like Stacy going out
with Dave Jamison.
- He's okay.
- Yeah, but he's divorced.
Will be.
- What's wrong
with divorced men?
- Well, for one
thing, they're...
Terrific guys.
Come to think of it,
divorced men are a real find.
A real find.
(mellow flute music)
(sinister music)
(screaming)
(screaming)
(sinister music)
(Engine turns and revs)
(tires squealing)
- [Dispatcher] Four
Adam 30 and all units
in the vicinity of
County Hospital.
A 187 just occurred.
Suspect left in brown
late model Ford Fairmont.
License William,
Dog, Mary, 6-4-6.
- Tell 'em we've got it.
- Four Adam 30, Roger.
(siren blaring)
(upbeat music)
(tires squealing)
- I think that's him.
(tires squealing)
(upbeat music)
Four Adam 30 in
pursuit of 187 suspect
Southbound on
Chandler crossing 8th.
- Four Adam 16, we'll
pick them up at 10.
(upbeat music)
(sirens wailing)
(tires squealing)
(explosion blasts)
- Get out of here.
(explosion blasts)
(sirens wailing)
- I'll call it in.
- You guys okay?
- Yeah.
- Your back hurting, Hooker?
- Only when I breathe.
- You sure you're okay?
- Let's get to the
scene of the 187.
- We're gonna need a ride.
(fire crackling)
(engine turns and revs)
(chattering on radio)
(siren wailing)
- It's the staff parking area.
- The victim must have
worked at the hospital.
- The motive probably
wasn't robbery.
It's not likely that
anyone on a hospital
staff would be
carrying a lot of money.
- You haven't paid
any doctor bills lately.
- Let's see if we can
give the detectives a hand.
(radio chattering)
- Hooker.
Been awhile.
- Lieutenant Pete O'Brien.
My partner, Vince Romano.
- [Romano] Lieutenant.
- You're riding with
top company, kid.
- You doing your brown bag
number on this one, Pete?
- Eh, you know me, Hooker.
Creature of habit.
What's your stake in this?
- Well, we were in hot pursuit.
Lost the suspect and the car.
- That's too bad.
I wish you would've
caught the lady.
- [Romano] Lady?
The killer's a woman?
- The report I got from
division, says the witness
described the killer as a
woman dressed in a nurse's
uniform, long
brunette hair, 5'7".
The victim was a nurse too.
Bludgeoned to death.
- Bludgeoned.
Pete there were a couple of
nurses in the Highland area
that were bludgeoned to death.
Could me more of the same.
- I remember.
Three murders
separated by a year.
That doesn't set a pattern.
- No, but there
might've been others.
It's a big city.
- Could be.
(radio chattering)
- Where's he going?
The murder went down there.
- He knows what
he's doing, Junior.
- Hooker, you
look a little ouchy.
- No pain, no gain.
Well, let's hear it.
- A severe blow to the
skull with a blunt instrument.
That's all I can tell
you at this point.
- Joan, I have a
hunch about this one.
Can you give it priority?
- Hooker, have I
ever said no to you?
- This belong to her?
- I guess so.
(sinister music)
- I just checked the
board, they assigned us
to Pete O'Brien.
- Yeah, he wants us to
assist in the nurse killing.
What did you dig up in records?
- 11 months ago, Paula
Lipton, several blows
to the head with
a blunt instrument.
Two days later Genevieve
Mann taken out the same way.
- Where?
- Highland, both of them,
like you remembered,
no apparent motive.
- Two senseless killings,
two days apart and nothing.
- Till five months later.
In Bayside, another
nurse, Ruth Russo.
Again a blunt instrument.
Then again two days later,
one more, Louise Meredith.
- That's a pattern.
- Sorry to disappoint
you but Louise Meredith
was killed by a loaded
street type driving
a stolen vehicle.
- That 48 hour interval
is like a red flag.
I had the same thing
on a case I worked
with O'Brien five years ago.
- They nurses too?
- No, ordinary women.
And they were stabbed not
bludgeoned, but they were
killed 48 hour apart.
(phone ringing)
I'll dig out the name
of a hype driver.
You call Joan Wagner
and tell her I want
an autopsy report on
the nurse that was killed
last night and the file
on Louise Meredith.
- You got it.
- Striking surface of
the murder weapon
measured 36 millimeters square.
- About an inch and a half.
- And probably metal
judging by the clean definition
of the wound and
I'd say it was smooth.
- Can you get me a sketch
of the wound configuration?
- Better than that.
I'll have Dr. Yamoto
take an impression.
- Is that Louise
Meredith's file?
- What are you looking for?
- To prove a theory.
There have been four homicides
of nurses by bludgeoning
the last 11 months, I'm
betting that Louise Meredith
makes it five.
- Hooker, look at this.
Cause of death,
internal injuries.
- Isn't there any evidence
of blows to the head?
- It's too hard to tell.
Body was too badly damaged.
- Oh, Joan.
These three nurses,
will you check and
see if their wounds
could have been caused
by the same weapon?
- Sure.
What else have I got to do?
- Well, I'm sure if we
put our heads together
we can think of something.
(laughs)
- You think maybe
O'Brien got lucky?
- Could be, he figures he's
the luckiest guy in the world.
- You've got to be kidding.
The guy's in a wheelchair.
- Before I turned in my
gold shield, Pete and I
worked on that psycho
killer case, the one Travers
helped us with.
- Yeah.
- And Pete went after the
killer on a rooftop chase,
it was eerie as hell.
It was dark, there was no moon.
And Pete never saw the
killer, he was just chasing
shadows and shapes.
And suddenly he glimpsed
a figure leaping across
to the next building.
- And he followed
and didn't make it.
- He fell eight stories.
But his fall was broken
by a window awning.
He only lost the
use of his legs.
Lucky for him.
Lucky for us.
He's a damn good cop.
(mellow music)
Pete, what's up?
- Tango red.
- Sounds pretty exotic.
- It's supposed to
and it's the name
of a lipstick shade.
- You found this near the
scene of Karen Peyton's murder?
- Yeah, over near
the hospital entrance.
- That's over 50
yards from the scene.
- [O'Brien] Close enough.
Had it analyzed
the brand color ID
is tango red.
Paula Lipton, Highland Hospital.
- [Romano] The
first murdered nurse.
- Right.
Found not too far
from the murder scene.
- [Hooker] Tango red.
That ties Karen
Peyton to Paula Lipton.
And she was murdered two
days before another nurse
was bludgeoned to death.
It's coming together.
- Could be.
But according to your
research one of the murders
over at Bayside was a
vehicular manslaughter.
- Committed by one
Maurice Winston Morgan.
- Sounds like a banker.
- The only banking
this Morgan's ever done
is a cue ball off
the rail while waiting
for his connection to show.
Now it's our turn to
pick up some garbage.
There he is.
The one on the left.
- Looks like he just
bought himself a fix.
Gives us probable cause.
- You've been reading
your manuals, Junior.
(tires squealing)
(sirens wailing)
(upbeat music)
I got him, I got him.
Maurice, you always
were a pain in the back.
- Hooker, I've only been
out of jail for a month.
I don't wanna go back.
- That was for
vehicular manslaughter.
This is a change for you.
- It was an accident.
That nurse ran right
in front of my car.
- Your car?
- Okay, so it was borrowed,
but she wasn't even looking.
I told the detectives,
like she was running away
from the other nurse.
- This other nurse,
what did she look like?
- She was scary,
wrapped up in that cape.
Bright red lips.
It was like George Hamilton
in that vampire picture.
- Sounds like you
were hallucinating.
- Yeah, that's what
the detective said,
only she was there.
She was a witness.
She could've gotten me
off the hook but she split.
- I think I know why.
Hook him up, Romano.
We're taking him in.
- Hey, come on, Hooker.
I'm clean.
- Maurice, the reason the
detectives didn't believe you
about the other nurse,
is that you lack credibility.
(engine revving)
- You think Maurice can
come up with somebody
in the mug books?
- We can go through
the motions but we're
not going to find our
killer in a mug book.
- Why not?
- I've got a feeling no
cop has ever laid hands
on this lady.
My gut tells me she's
gotten away with murder
five times and she's
headed for number six.
- How do you figure?
- Pairs.
Paula Lipton.
And 48 hours after
that, Genevieve Mann.
Then Ruth Russo
and 48 hours after that,
one Louise Meredith.
And last night, Karen Peyton.
And I think that could
mean within 24 hours
another nurse will
die at County Hospital.
(upbeat piano music)
(sinister music)
- [Corrigan] Cream
and sugar, Stacy?
- [Stacy] Yes, please.
- Stacy.
On such a chilly night
you have quite a glow
your love life picking up?
- Well, I bet it is.
(laughing)
- Heard you went out with
Dave Jamison last night.
- Well, we were trying
to keep it low profile,
but no chance with
you guys around.
- Well, that's life in the
precinct goldfish bowl.
- [Romano] Low profile.
Sure.
- What's that supposed to mean?
- Well, isn't Dave
Jamison married?
To a police woman?
Works out of midtown.
- Don't start in, Romano.
Dave and Irene are separated.
They're getting a divorce.
- Okay, I was
just trying to help.
- Well don't.
I'm a big girl and I
can take care of myself.
- Stacy, I just care about you.
We all do, don't we, Jim?
- Passionately.
- Just keep everyone
out of my personal life.
Including yourselves.
- We're only trying to
protect you, partner.
Heard that Jamison's
wife shoots expert
on the shooting range.
- Ah, come on you guys, will ya.
Stacy's right,
it's her business.
Let's roll.
- Okay.
(mellow music)
(sinister music)
(mellow music)
- [Intercom] Dr. Klein,
telephone please.
Dr. Klein.
- Hooker, what are
you doing around here?
- Looking for you, Doc.
I need your expertise
on these nurse killings.
- Killings, plural?
I heard about last night but...
- Here's what came
out of the computer.
It's not much.
But it reminded me of
the case that you helped
our psychiatric case you
helped our people with
when we first met.
- Five years ago.
Four women were attacked.
Only one survived, right?
- You put together a
psychological profile of the killer.
- A lot of good it did.
Murderer was never caught.
- The murders stopped.
And we didn't
have much to go on.
And the one witness
who did survive,
she never eyeballed
her assailant.
- You don't think
this is the same killer
starting up again, do you?
- It could be.
Five years ago we didn't
know whether the killer
was a man or a woman.
- All right.
I'll take a look at this.
See what I can come up with.
- Thank you, Doc.
- Okay.
- Say hello to Marilyn for me.
- Ah, wish I could.
Split a couple of years back.
- Ah, I'm sorry to hear that.
Welcome to the club.
- See you later.
- Problems, partner?
- Someone saw Dave
Jamison out on a date last night.
(laughs)
- When a guy
splits with his wife,
he sometimes plays the field.
- Yeah but the girl he
was with was his wife.
- Well maybe I should
have a little talk with him.
- Thanks, Jim.
But no thanks.
- Okay.
Just say the word if
you want me to get into it
with Jamison.
- I tried, Hooker.
But the division is not going
to swing anyone to help.
- Well, at least you
got the four of us.
- Yeah but Sheridan
is not happy.
But he did clear you
guys for 48 hours.
- We better get crackin'.
- All right, I'll get on
the horn to Bayside
and Highland Hospital
and I'll have my boys
waiting for you
when you get there.
- Okay.
- Hey, Corrigan.
That partner of
yours is USDA prime.
- Well starting now,
Jamison, she's off limits to you.
- What I do is my
business so butt out, huh?
- Hey, read my lips, Jamison.
Hands off Stacy.
She doesn't need to be
hit on by a married guy.
- Leave him alone, Jim.
He's not worth it.
- Stacy I want to talk to you.
- You heard the
lady, now buzz off.
I think he got the message.
- Yeah, so did
the whole precinct.
From now on, stop acting
like my guardian angel.
- Something wrong?
- Just a little
misunderstanding.
Heard the Captain
assigned us to O'Brien.
- Yeah.
I want you and Stacy to go
down to Highland Hospital.
Pick up a list of the
nurses that were on staff
at the time of the
first two murders.
- Same for Bayside and
the second two victims?
- Right, and Romano
and I'll pick up the list
at County.
- We'll match up the
rosters and see if there are
any names that
appear on all three.
- And afterwards we'll
eliminate anybody who's not
a brunette and under 5'7".
Let's roll.
- Come on, Hooker.
I can see your back
is still bothering you.
That crash must have
jostled that old slug
you've been carrying around.
- It's a souvenir ever
since I took down
the Bonner Brothers.
I'm used to it.
- You still think the nurse
murders are connected
to that old case you
worked on with Travers?
- I don't know.
If only someone
had seen the killer
and tell us whether
it's a man or a woman.
- You said one of
the victims survived.
Maybe it's worth talking to her.
- We'll find out as soon
as we leave the hospital.
- Here you go.
- [Hooker] Don.
- Hooker.
I'm afraid I don't
have anything for you.
There wasn't enough
information in the computer
readout for a profile.
- Well, there's more now.
The details are in here.
Now, we're sure
she strikes in pairs.
Two victims 48 hours apart,
five or six month wait
and then she strikes again.
- Interesting pattern.
Always the same MO?
- She bludgeons
her victims to death,
metal instrument,
square striking surface.
- My guess is, you're
dealing with a rigidly
compulsive individual here,
probably paranoid
with a controlled rage
that breaks loose periodically
and can only be
suppressed through
these ritualistic
acts of murder.
- Suppressed until she
feels the urge again?
- Exactly.
- Don, I appreciate
the diagnosis,
but I need a
specific profile now.
- I'll do the best I can.
I only hope it does
some good this time.
- Doctor Travers, how you doing?
- So far so good.
- Got the list, Hooker.
- Good, one stop,
then we'll check her out.
Shirley Potter.
This is Officer Romano,
my name is Hooker.
I've been trying to
reach you at the office.
- I know, I got your message.
I left word that I didn't want
to discuss the killings.
- Please, we've talked before.
Five years ago,
I was a detective.
- Of course, the hospital after.
Oh god.
I can't.
- I know the memory
of what happened
must be very painful,
but there's been
a new series of
murders, and it's possible
they could be connected
to the ones five years ago.
- I still have nightmares.
- Please try to remember.
- It's very important
Mrs. Potter.
- I tried so hard to forget.
I was coming home late, and,
and all of a sudden, there
was someone behind me
and before I could
just scream or run
or anything, he
grabbed me and he...
- He?
You said he, are you
sure it was a man?
- When he put his
hand over my mouth,
I could tell it
was a man's wrist
because there was
hair on the back of it,
long hair, and it
brushed my neck,
and then he started stabbing me.
(sobs)
I'll never forget it.
- I'm really sorry to
bring it back like this.
- Are you okay, mommy?
- I've told you all I can.
- You did very well.
Thank you.
- The killer five
years ago was a man.
There goes your connection.
- Yeah, you win some...
You lose some.
(slow paced music)
All right, nine
brunettes who worked
at each of the
hospitals at the time
of the murder.
- And just five of
them are 5'7" or taller.
- Your instincts
were right, Hooker.
First three victims,
same murder weapon.
- Wound impressions,
all 36 millimeters square.
- Like this, the mold
from Dr. Yamoto.
- Did you get
anything from Travers
on the profile?
- I'm gonna call him right now.
- These two nurses
live at the same address.
- Maybe they were roommates.
- I'll take them, we
can split up the rest.
Something wrong, Hooker?
- I'm disappointed
to Don Travers.
- He dragging his
feet on our profile?
- He said he's not ready yet.
- Well then, we have to
work with what we got.
- Well, I got Maryanne
Friedman Taylorstream.
- The others all live
near the hospital.
I'll work with Corrigan
and Stacy on it.
- Let's go.
Excuse me.
- Can I help you?
- Yes, I'm looking for
Maryanne Friedman.
- Come on, I'll show you.
Number 12, right down that way.
(suspenseful music)
- Mother?
(screaming)
- [Hooker] You, stop!
You all right?
(dramatic music)
(tires screeching)
(police siren blaring)
(dramatic music)
(exclaims)
- How long have you had
that bullet in your back?
- About five years.
It has a way of acting
up every now and then
to remind me it's there.
- Well, I'm no neurosurgeon,
but I think you should see one,
and maybe stay
here for a few days.
- I'll take a rain
check on that.
- All right, so we
shouldn't have interfered.
- You're the one who said he was
going out with his wife.
- Well, it just proves
that things aren't
always what they seem.
There is nothing wrong with
Dave and Irene discussing
their divorce settlement.
- All right, so Corrigan
made a mistake.
- Me?
- All right, we both did.
- Look, from now
on, your personal life
is your own business.
- Thank you.
How's the patient nurse?
- Impossible, but nice.
I had him scheduled for
my first class massages,
but...
- Listen, I've got
this muscle spasm.
- Yeah, you can't stop talking.
Thanks for everything, Betty.
Come on, come on.
How'd you guys
do with the nurses
you questioned last night.
- Corrigan and I were
each with one of them
while you were
chasing the killer,
so they're in the clear.
- There's no way
either one of them
could have been involved.
- How were your
candidates, Stacy?
- One of them
is still a possible.
Her roommate says
she's out of town.
She's due back this evening.
- We can't let up.
The murderer's
compulsion will keep her
hunting for a
second victim until
she makes the kill.
- You sound pretty positive.
- Pretty specific, like you took
a crash course in
criminal psychology.
- I got the word
from Don Travers
just a few minutes ago.
- He was here?
I don't know if I'd
show up for work
after my Porsche got totaled.
- Don's Porsche?
He never mentioned
anything about it.
- Yeah, the killer was
driving it last night.
She stole it from the
hospital parking lot.
- You're kidding.
Did the homicide talk to him?
- Yeah, didn't get anything
that could help us though.
- Why don't the two
of you double check
that nurse that's
supposed to be out of town,
see if she's back, see
if her story holds up.
- Will do.
- Okay.
Let's drop in on
Don along the way.
(doorbell rings)
Don.
I want to talk to
you about your car.
- Well, I was trying
to catch a few winks.
- Oh, I'm really sorry,
but maybe there was something
the detectives didn't get.
- There's not much to get.
I was working late, when I went
to get in the car, it was gone.
- Did you notice anything,
I mean, where
the car was parked.
- An empty space.
- No, Don, I mean on the ground,
something that might
have been dropped.
- Come on, Hooker,
I loved that car.
I almost went into shock
when I saw it was gone,
as a matter of fact, it
took me quite a while
to get myself together
to call the police.
That was it.
- Well, I guess so if
you can't remember
anything more about last night.
- You mean, if I saw
a tall brunette nurse
sneaking around the
hallway on the way
to steal my car,
the answer's no.
- We'll get out of your hair.
- You collect antiques?
- It's a surgeon's kit from
the turn of the century.
- It must be worth
quite a bit of money.
- An old family heirloom.
I'm sorry I'm so crabby.
It's been a rough
couple of days.
- So I've been told.
Thank you.
(soft mood music)
- The nurse you
saved last night,
she was still in shock when I
got to the scene,
but she had some
strands of hair
clutched in her fist.
- [Hooker] Human hair.
Some of the ends have traces
of a rubber based adhesive.
- Maybe they were
yanked out of a wig.
- I say our killer
isn't a brunette.
- I'd go one step further, Pete.
I have a hunch our
killer isn't a woman.
- That's out of
left field, Hooker.
- What do you got
to hang that on?
- I never saw a
woman run like that,
and I'm not just
talking about speed.
- Shirley Potter said long hair.
Her attacker could have
been wearing a wig too.
- You got it, partner.
We could be after a man.
We'll be in touch, Pete.
Tell 'em to get
back to the morgue.
We'll go over those
victims' files one more time.
- [Joan] Looks like
you struck out, Hooker.
- I was really hoping that
we'd missed something.
- But there's zip.
- Another nurse may die tonight,
and we keep hitting dead ends.
What's this?
- Surgical mallet.
- It's metal, smooth.
If the head wasn't round.
- You're right.
- My god, it was so close to me,
I didn't see it.
- See what?
- That's a modern
surgical mallet.
The old ones had a square head.
- Old, like in turn
of the century old?
- Yes.
How'd you know?
- A friend of mine, Don Travers,
has a collection of antique
surgical instruments.
(suspenseful music)
- Tonight, I'm going
to kill you, mother.
And then...
Then...
(growls)
You will not come
back to haunt me.
You will die.
Die.
Die.
(police siren blaring)
- Don.
Don.
- [Romano] Hooker, in here.
Uniforms, over there on
the dressing table, makeup.
- The wig, it's
gone and so is he.
- He's out there, Hooker,
looking to kill again.
- The question is who,
I'll tell you, Romano,
it's a nurse who works at County
whose been given
a long stem rose.
- How do you figure that?
- I'll bet ya money this
picture's his mother,
and those murders are tied up
with his feelings about her.
- Karen Peyton, in
the hospital parking lot,
the rose left near her body.
- And last night, the
nurse he tried to kill,
she had a long stem rose.
- Hooker, there could
be 100 nurses at County,
how do we find out which
one he sent the rose to?
- We go down to the
hospital and ask questions.
Get Stacy and
Corrigan on the horn
and tell them to meet
us down there and fast.
- [Woman on
Intercom] Nurse Macrae,
nurse Betty Macrae, report
to Dr. Miles in pathology.
(police siren blaring)
- We'll split up.
Stacy, you take
the nurses' lounge,
Corrigan, you
cover the cafeteria.
- They're covered, Hooker,
got hospital security scouring
the spot where nurses gather
and backups rolling
from the precinct.
- We'll cover this
place floor by floor.
You take the second,
we'll take the third,
and we'll work our way up.
- [Woman On Intercom]
Dr. Kline, telephone please,
Dr. Kline.
Dr. Henso, to surgery
please, Dr. Henso.
- This is the floor you were on.
- Find some nurses to
help spread the word.
Don travers has
left his calling card.
- And he left it with Betty.
- Betty Macrae, where is she?
- She was just called
down to the basement,
to pathology.
- At this time of night?
- One of the doctors
must be working late.
I saw her start down.
- Junior, if Betty shows up,
keep your eye on her.
(suspenseful music)
(screaming)
- [Hooker] Don, Stop!
Get upstairs, tell the police
I've got Travers down here, now.
- Travers?
Oh, my God.
- Do it, now!
(dramatic music)
(objects crashing)
(grunting)
(glass shattering)
(fire alarm blaring)
Dr. Travers.
- Travers' mother
mistreated him as a child
and didn't let up
until the day she died.
Our police shrink speculated
that the first
victim of each pair
represented his mother,
and the second, her ghost.
- The case you were working on,
five years ago, it was
Travers even back then
in drag.
What I don't get is that
there were a few years
in between there
when he wasn't killing.
- Well, he met a lady, right?
- Marilynn, while
they were involved,
when they split up,
he started killing again.
- Only this time, he
focused on nurses,
like his mother.
- @@ Travers, it's all
mumbo jumbo to me.
The important thing
is, we nailed Travers
before he started killing again.
- Jameson's wife
have any hard feelings?
- Hard feelings?
She told me he's been
working extra shifts,
special duty, he doesn't
come home much at night.
- You mean
they're still together
and she doesn't know he's...
- You got it, the creep.
And I'm supposed to
meet him for dinner tonight.
Maybe one of you
would like to keep
my date for me.
- I'd love it, let me at him.
- Wait a second,
hold on, Romano.
- Wait a second, I...
Call it, call it,
he's not all yours.
- Heads.
- He's mine.
(energetic mood music)
(upbeat music)
(Columbia Pictures jingle)
(upbeat music)
- You know, I don't know
if I like Stacy going out
with Dave Jamison.
- He's okay.
- Yeah, but he's divorced.
Will be.
- What's wrong
with divorced men?
- Well, for one
thing, they're...
Terrific guys.
Come to think of it,
divorced men are a real find.
A real find.
(mellow flute music)
(sinister music)
(screaming)
(screaming)
(sinister music)
(Engine turns and revs)
(tires squealing)
- [Dispatcher] Four
Adam 30 and all units
in the vicinity of
County Hospital.
A 187 just occurred.
Suspect left in brown
late model Ford Fairmont.
License William,
Dog, Mary, 6-4-6.
- Tell 'em we've got it.
- Four Adam 30, Roger.
(siren blaring)
(upbeat music)
(tires squealing)
- I think that's him.
(tires squealing)
(upbeat music)
Four Adam 30 in
pursuit of 187 suspect
Southbound on
Chandler crossing 8th.
- Four Adam 16, we'll
pick them up at 10.
(upbeat music)
(sirens wailing)
(tires squealing)
(explosion blasts)
- Get out of here.
(explosion blasts)
(sirens wailing)
- I'll call it in.
- You guys okay?
- Yeah.
- Your back hurting, Hooker?
- Only when I breathe.
- You sure you're okay?
- Let's get to the
scene of the 187.
- We're gonna need a ride.
(fire crackling)
(engine turns and revs)
(chattering on radio)
(siren wailing)
- It's the staff parking area.
- The victim must have
worked at the hospital.
- The motive probably
wasn't robbery.
It's not likely that
anyone on a hospital
staff would be
carrying a lot of money.
- You haven't paid
any doctor bills lately.
- Let's see if we can
give the detectives a hand.
(radio chattering)
- Hooker.
Been awhile.
- Lieutenant Pete O'Brien.
My partner, Vince Romano.
- [Romano] Lieutenant.
- You're riding with
top company, kid.
- You doing your brown bag
number on this one, Pete?
- Eh, you know me, Hooker.
Creature of habit.
What's your stake in this?
- Well, we were in hot pursuit.
Lost the suspect and the car.
- That's too bad.
I wish you would've
caught the lady.
- [Romano] Lady?
The killer's a woman?
- The report I got from
division, says the witness
described the killer as a
woman dressed in a nurse's
uniform, long
brunette hair, 5'7".
The victim was a nurse too.
Bludgeoned to death.
- Bludgeoned.
Pete there were a couple of
nurses in the Highland area
that were bludgeoned to death.
Could me more of the same.
- I remember.
Three murders
separated by a year.
That doesn't set a pattern.
- No, but there
might've been others.
It's a big city.
- Could be.
(radio chattering)
- Where's he going?
The murder went down there.
- He knows what
he's doing, Junior.
- Hooker, you
look a little ouchy.
- No pain, no gain.
Well, let's hear it.
- A severe blow to the
skull with a blunt instrument.
That's all I can tell
you at this point.
- Joan, I have a
hunch about this one.
Can you give it priority?
- Hooker, have I
ever said no to you?
- This belong to her?
- I guess so.
(sinister music)
- I just checked the
board, they assigned us
to Pete O'Brien.
- Yeah, he wants us to
assist in the nurse killing.
What did you dig up in records?
- 11 months ago, Paula
Lipton, several blows
to the head with
a blunt instrument.
Two days later Genevieve
Mann taken out the same way.
- Where?
- Highland, both of them,
like you remembered,
no apparent motive.
- Two senseless killings,
two days apart and nothing.
- Till five months later.
In Bayside, another
nurse, Ruth Russo.
Again a blunt instrument.
Then again two days later,
one more, Louise Meredith.
- That's a pattern.
- Sorry to disappoint
you but Louise Meredith
was killed by a loaded
street type driving
a stolen vehicle.
- That 48 hour interval
is like a red flag.
I had the same thing
on a case I worked
with O'Brien five years ago.
- They nurses too?
- No, ordinary women.
And they were stabbed not
bludgeoned, but they were
killed 48 hour apart.
(phone ringing)
I'll dig out the name
of a hype driver.
You call Joan Wagner
and tell her I want
an autopsy report on
the nurse that was killed
last night and the file
on Louise Meredith.
- You got it.
- Striking surface of
the murder weapon
measured 36 millimeters square.
- About an inch and a half.
- And probably metal
judging by the clean definition
of the wound and
I'd say it was smooth.
- Can you get me a sketch
of the wound configuration?
- Better than that.
I'll have Dr. Yamoto
take an impression.
- Is that Louise
Meredith's file?
- What are you looking for?
- To prove a theory.
There have been four homicides
of nurses by bludgeoning
the last 11 months, I'm
betting that Louise Meredith
makes it five.
- Hooker, look at this.
Cause of death,
internal injuries.
- Isn't there any evidence
of blows to the head?
- It's too hard to tell.
Body was too badly damaged.
- Oh, Joan.
These three nurses,
will you check and
see if their wounds
could have been caused
by the same weapon?
- Sure.
What else have I got to do?
- Well, I'm sure if we
put our heads together
we can think of something.
(laughs)
- You think maybe
O'Brien got lucky?
- Could be, he figures he's
the luckiest guy in the world.
- You've got to be kidding.
The guy's in a wheelchair.
- Before I turned in my
gold shield, Pete and I
worked on that psycho
killer case, the one Travers
helped us with.
- Yeah.
- And Pete went after the
killer on a rooftop chase,
it was eerie as hell.
It was dark, there was no moon.
And Pete never saw the
killer, he was just chasing
shadows and shapes.
And suddenly he glimpsed
a figure leaping across
to the next building.
- And he followed
and didn't make it.
- He fell eight stories.
But his fall was broken
by a window awning.
He only lost the
use of his legs.
Lucky for him.
Lucky for us.
He's a damn good cop.
(mellow music)
Pete, what's up?
- Tango red.
- Sounds pretty exotic.
- It's supposed to
and it's the name
of a lipstick shade.
- You found this near the
scene of Karen Peyton's murder?
- Yeah, over near
the hospital entrance.
- That's over 50
yards from the scene.
- [O'Brien] Close enough.
Had it analyzed
the brand color ID
is tango red.
Paula Lipton, Highland Hospital.
- [Romano] The
first murdered nurse.
- Right.
Found not too far
from the murder scene.
- [Hooker] Tango red.
That ties Karen
Peyton to Paula Lipton.
And she was murdered two
days before another nurse
was bludgeoned to death.
It's coming together.
- Could be.
But according to your
research one of the murders
over at Bayside was a
vehicular manslaughter.
- Committed by one
Maurice Winston Morgan.
- Sounds like a banker.
- The only banking
this Morgan's ever done
is a cue ball off
the rail while waiting
for his connection to show.
Now it's our turn to
pick up some garbage.
There he is.
The one on the left.
- Looks like he just
bought himself a fix.
Gives us probable cause.
- You've been reading
your manuals, Junior.
(tires squealing)
(sirens wailing)
(upbeat music)
I got him, I got him.
Maurice, you always
were a pain in the back.
- Hooker, I've only been
out of jail for a month.
I don't wanna go back.
- That was for
vehicular manslaughter.
This is a change for you.
- It was an accident.
That nurse ran right
in front of my car.
- Your car?
- Okay, so it was borrowed,
but she wasn't even looking.
I told the detectives,
like she was running away
from the other nurse.
- This other nurse,
what did she look like?
- She was scary,
wrapped up in that cape.
Bright red lips.
It was like George Hamilton
in that vampire picture.
- Sounds like you
were hallucinating.
- Yeah, that's what
the detective said,
only she was there.
She was a witness.
She could've gotten me
off the hook but she split.
- I think I know why.
Hook him up, Romano.
We're taking him in.
- Hey, come on, Hooker.
I'm clean.
- Maurice, the reason the
detectives didn't believe you
about the other nurse,
is that you lack credibility.
(engine revving)
- You think Maurice can
come up with somebody
in the mug books?
- We can go through
the motions but we're
not going to find our
killer in a mug book.
- Why not?
- I've got a feeling no
cop has ever laid hands
on this lady.
My gut tells me she's
gotten away with murder
five times and she's
headed for number six.
- How do you figure?
- Pairs.
Paula Lipton.
And 48 hours after
that, Genevieve Mann.
Then Ruth Russo
and 48 hours after that,
one Louise Meredith.
And last night, Karen Peyton.
And I think that could
mean within 24 hours
another nurse will
die at County Hospital.
(upbeat piano music)
(sinister music)
- [Corrigan] Cream
and sugar, Stacy?
- [Stacy] Yes, please.
- Stacy.
On such a chilly night
you have quite a glow
your love life picking up?
- Well, I bet it is.
(laughing)
- Heard you went out with
Dave Jamison last night.
- Well, we were trying
to keep it low profile,
but no chance with
you guys around.
- Well, that's life in the
precinct goldfish bowl.
- [Romano] Low profile.
Sure.
- What's that supposed to mean?
- Well, isn't Dave
Jamison married?
To a police woman?
Works out of midtown.
- Don't start in, Romano.
Dave and Irene are separated.
They're getting a divorce.
- Okay, I was
just trying to help.
- Well don't.
I'm a big girl and I
can take care of myself.
- Stacy, I just care about you.
We all do, don't we, Jim?
- Passionately.
- Just keep everyone
out of my personal life.
Including yourselves.
- We're only trying to
protect you, partner.
Heard that Jamison's
wife shoots expert
on the shooting range.
- Ah, come on you guys, will ya.
Stacy's right,
it's her business.
Let's roll.
- Okay.
(mellow music)
(sinister music)
(mellow music)
- [Intercom] Dr. Klein,
telephone please.
Dr. Klein.
- Hooker, what are
you doing around here?
- Looking for you, Doc.
I need your expertise
on these nurse killings.
- Killings, plural?
I heard about last night but...
- Here's what came
out of the computer.
It's not much.
But it reminded me of
the case that you helped
our psychiatric case you
helped our people with
when we first met.
- Five years ago.
Four women were attacked.
Only one survived, right?
- You put together a
psychological profile of the killer.
- A lot of good it did.
Murderer was never caught.
- The murders stopped.
And we didn't
have much to go on.
And the one witness
who did survive,
she never eyeballed
her assailant.
- You don't think
this is the same killer
starting up again, do you?
- It could be.
Five years ago we didn't
know whether the killer
was a man or a woman.
- All right.
I'll take a look at this.
See what I can come up with.
- Thank you, Doc.
- Okay.
- Say hello to Marilyn for me.
- Ah, wish I could.
Split a couple of years back.
- Ah, I'm sorry to hear that.
Welcome to the club.
- See you later.
- Problems, partner?
- Someone saw Dave
Jamison out on a date last night.
(laughs)
- When a guy
splits with his wife,
he sometimes plays the field.
- Yeah but the girl he
was with was his wife.
- Well maybe I should
have a little talk with him.
- Thanks, Jim.
But no thanks.
- Okay.
Just say the word if
you want me to get into it
with Jamison.
- I tried, Hooker.
But the division is not going
to swing anyone to help.
- Well, at least you
got the four of us.
- Yeah but Sheridan
is not happy.
But he did clear you
guys for 48 hours.
- We better get crackin'.
- All right, I'll get on
the horn to Bayside
and Highland Hospital
and I'll have my boys
waiting for you
when you get there.
- Okay.
- Hey, Corrigan.
That partner of
yours is USDA prime.
- Well starting now,
Jamison, she's off limits to you.
- What I do is my
business so butt out, huh?
- Hey, read my lips, Jamison.
Hands off Stacy.
She doesn't need to be
hit on by a married guy.
- Leave him alone, Jim.
He's not worth it.
- Stacy I want to talk to you.
- You heard the
lady, now buzz off.
I think he got the message.
- Yeah, so did
the whole precinct.
From now on, stop acting
like my guardian angel.
- Something wrong?
- Just a little
misunderstanding.
Heard the Captain
assigned us to O'Brien.
- Yeah.
I want you and Stacy to go
down to Highland Hospital.
Pick up a list of the
nurses that were on staff
at the time of the
first two murders.
- Same for Bayside and
the second two victims?
- Right, and Romano
and I'll pick up the list
at County.
- We'll match up the
rosters and see if there are
any names that
appear on all three.
- And afterwards we'll
eliminate anybody who's not
a brunette and under 5'7".
Let's roll.
- Come on, Hooker.
I can see your back
is still bothering you.
That crash must have
jostled that old slug
you've been carrying around.
- It's a souvenir ever
since I took down
the Bonner Brothers.
I'm used to it.
- You still think the nurse
murders are connected
to that old case you
worked on with Travers?
- I don't know.
If only someone
had seen the killer
and tell us whether
it's a man or a woman.
- You said one of
the victims survived.
Maybe it's worth talking to her.
- We'll find out as soon
as we leave the hospital.
- Here you go.
- [Hooker] Don.
- Hooker.
I'm afraid I don't
have anything for you.
There wasn't enough
information in the computer
readout for a profile.
- Well, there's more now.
The details are in here.
Now, we're sure
she strikes in pairs.
Two victims 48 hours apart,
five or six month wait
and then she strikes again.
- Interesting pattern.
Always the same MO?
- She bludgeons
her victims to death,
metal instrument,
square striking surface.
- My guess is, you're
dealing with a rigidly
compulsive individual here,
probably paranoid
with a controlled rage
that breaks loose periodically
and can only be
suppressed through
these ritualistic
acts of murder.
- Suppressed until she
feels the urge again?
- Exactly.
- Don, I appreciate
the diagnosis,
but I need a
specific profile now.
- I'll do the best I can.
I only hope it does
some good this time.
- Doctor Travers, how you doing?
- So far so good.
- Got the list, Hooker.
- Good, one stop,
then we'll check her out.
Shirley Potter.
This is Officer Romano,
my name is Hooker.
I've been trying to
reach you at the office.
- I know, I got your message.
I left word that I didn't want
to discuss the killings.
- Please, we've talked before.
Five years ago,
I was a detective.
- Of course, the hospital after.
Oh god.
I can't.
- I know the memory
of what happened
must be very painful,
but there's been
a new series of
murders, and it's possible
they could be connected
to the ones five years ago.
- I still have nightmares.
- Please try to remember.
- It's very important
Mrs. Potter.
- I tried so hard to forget.
I was coming home late, and,
and all of a sudden, there
was someone behind me
and before I could
just scream or run
or anything, he
grabbed me and he...
- He?
You said he, are you
sure it was a man?
- When he put his
hand over my mouth,
I could tell it
was a man's wrist
because there was
hair on the back of it,
long hair, and it
brushed my neck,
and then he started stabbing me.
(sobs)
I'll never forget it.
- I'm really sorry to
bring it back like this.
- Are you okay, mommy?
- I've told you all I can.
- You did very well.
Thank you.
- The killer five
years ago was a man.
There goes your connection.
- Yeah, you win some...
You lose some.
(slow paced music)
All right, nine
brunettes who worked
at each of the
hospitals at the time
of the murder.
- And just five of
them are 5'7" or taller.
- Your instincts
were right, Hooker.
First three victims,
same murder weapon.
- Wound impressions,
all 36 millimeters square.
- Like this, the mold
from Dr. Yamoto.
- Did you get
anything from Travers
on the profile?
- I'm gonna call him right now.
- These two nurses
live at the same address.
- Maybe they were roommates.
- I'll take them, we
can split up the rest.
Something wrong, Hooker?
- I'm disappointed
to Don Travers.
- He dragging his
feet on our profile?
- He said he's not ready yet.
- Well then, we have to
work with what we got.
- Well, I got Maryanne
Friedman Taylorstream.
- The others all live
near the hospital.
I'll work with Corrigan
and Stacy on it.
- Let's go.
Excuse me.
- Can I help you?
- Yes, I'm looking for
Maryanne Friedman.
- Come on, I'll show you.
Number 12, right down that way.
(suspenseful music)
- Mother?
(screaming)
- [Hooker] You, stop!
You all right?
(dramatic music)
(tires screeching)
(police siren blaring)
(dramatic music)
(exclaims)
- How long have you had
that bullet in your back?
- About five years.
It has a way of acting
up every now and then
to remind me it's there.
- Well, I'm no neurosurgeon,
but I think you should see one,
and maybe stay
here for a few days.
- I'll take a rain
check on that.
- All right, so we
shouldn't have interfered.
- You're the one who said he was
going out with his wife.
- Well, it just proves
that things aren't
always what they seem.
There is nothing wrong with
Dave and Irene discussing
their divorce settlement.
- All right, so Corrigan
made a mistake.
- Me?
- All right, we both did.
- Look, from now
on, your personal life
is your own business.
- Thank you.
How's the patient nurse?
- Impossible, but nice.
I had him scheduled for
my first class massages,
but...
- Listen, I've got
this muscle spasm.
- Yeah, you can't stop talking.
Thanks for everything, Betty.
Come on, come on.
How'd you guys
do with the nurses
you questioned last night.
- Corrigan and I were
each with one of them
while you were
chasing the killer,
so they're in the clear.
- There's no way
either one of them
could have been involved.
- How were your
candidates, Stacy?
- One of them
is still a possible.
Her roommate says
she's out of town.
She's due back this evening.
- We can't let up.
The murderer's
compulsion will keep her
hunting for a
second victim until
she makes the kill.
- You sound pretty positive.
- Pretty specific, like you took
a crash course in
criminal psychology.
- I got the word
from Don Travers
just a few minutes ago.
- He was here?
I don't know if I'd
show up for work
after my Porsche got totaled.
- Don's Porsche?
He never mentioned
anything about it.
- Yeah, the killer was
driving it last night.
She stole it from the
hospital parking lot.
- You're kidding.
Did the homicide talk to him?
- Yeah, didn't get anything
that could help us though.
- Why don't the two
of you double check
that nurse that's
supposed to be out of town,
see if she's back, see
if her story holds up.
- Will do.
- Okay.
Let's drop in on
Don along the way.
(doorbell rings)
Don.
I want to talk to
you about your car.
- Well, I was trying
to catch a few winks.
- Oh, I'm really sorry,
but maybe there was something
the detectives didn't get.
- There's not much to get.
I was working late, when I went
to get in the car, it was gone.
- Did you notice anything,
I mean, where
the car was parked.
- An empty space.
- No, Don, I mean on the ground,
something that might
have been dropped.
- Come on, Hooker,
I loved that car.
I almost went into shock
when I saw it was gone,
as a matter of fact, it
took me quite a while
to get myself together
to call the police.
That was it.
- Well, I guess so if
you can't remember
anything more about last night.
- You mean, if I saw
a tall brunette nurse
sneaking around the
hallway on the way
to steal my car,
the answer's no.
- We'll get out of your hair.
- You collect antiques?
- It's a surgeon's kit from
the turn of the century.
- It must be worth
quite a bit of money.
- An old family heirloom.
I'm sorry I'm so crabby.
It's been a rough
couple of days.
- So I've been told.
Thank you.
(soft mood music)
- The nurse you
saved last night,
she was still in shock when I
got to the scene,
but she had some
strands of hair
clutched in her fist.
- [Hooker] Human hair.
Some of the ends have traces
of a rubber based adhesive.
- Maybe they were
yanked out of a wig.
- I say our killer
isn't a brunette.
- I'd go one step further, Pete.
I have a hunch our
killer isn't a woman.
- That's out of
left field, Hooker.
- What do you got
to hang that on?
- I never saw a
woman run like that,
and I'm not just
talking about speed.
- Shirley Potter said long hair.
Her attacker could have
been wearing a wig too.
- You got it, partner.
We could be after a man.
We'll be in touch, Pete.
Tell 'em to get
back to the morgue.
We'll go over those
victims' files one more time.
- [Joan] Looks like
you struck out, Hooker.
- I was really hoping that
we'd missed something.
- But there's zip.
- Another nurse may die tonight,
and we keep hitting dead ends.
What's this?
- Surgical mallet.
- It's metal, smooth.
If the head wasn't round.
- You're right.
- My god, it was so close to me,
I didn't see it.
- See what?
- That's a modern
surgical mallet.
The old ones had a square head.
- Old, like in turn
of the century old?
- Yes.
How'd you know?
- A friend of mine, Don Travers,
has a collection of antique
surgical instruments.
(suspenseful music)
- Tonight, I'm going
to kill you, mother.
And then...
Then...
(growls)
You will not come
back to haunt me.
You will die.
Die.
Die.
(police siren blaring)
- Don.
Don.
- [Romano] Hooker, in here.
Uniforms, over there on
the dressing table, makeup.
- The wig, it's
gone and so is he.
- He's out there, Hooker,
looking to kill again.
- The question is who,
I'll tell you, Romano,
it's a nurse who works at County
whose been given
a long stem rose.
- How do you figure that?
- I'll bet ya money this
picture's his mother,
and those murders are tied up
with his feelings about her.
- Karen Peyton, in
the hospital parking lot,
the rose left near her body.
- And last night, the
nurse he tried to kill,
she had a long stem rose.
- Hooker, there could
be 100 nurses at County,
how do we find out which
one he sent the rose to?
- We go down to the
hospital and ask questions.
Get Stacy and
Corrigan on the horn
and tell them to meet
us down there and fast.
- [Woman on
Intercom] Nurse Macrae,
nurse Betty Macrae, report
to Dr. Miles in pathology.
(police siren blaring)
- We'll split up.
Stacy, you take
the nurses' lounge,
Corrigan, you
cover the cafeteria.
- They're covered, Hooker,
got hospital security scouring
the spot where nurses gather
and backups rolling
from the precinct.
- We'll cover this
place floor by floor.
You take the second,
we'll take the third,
and we'll work our way up.
- [Woman On Intercom]
Dr. Kline, telephone please,
Dr. Kline.
Dr. Henso, to surgery
please, Dr. Henso.
- This is the floor you were on.
- Find some nurses to
help spread the word.
Don travers has
left his calling card.
- And he left it with Betty.
- Betty Macrae, where is she?
- She was just called
down to the basement,
to pathology.
- At this time of night?
- One of the doctors
must be working late.
I saw her start down.
- Junior, if Betty shows up,
keep your eye on her.
(suspenseful music)
(screaming)
- [Hooker] Don, Stop!
Get upstairs, tell the police
I've got Travers down here, now.
- Travers?
Oh, my God.
- Do it, now!
(dramatic music)
(objects crashing)
(grunting)
(glass shattering)
(fire alarm blaring)
Dr. Travers.
- Travers' mother
mistreated him as a child
and didn't let up
until the day she died.
Our police shrink speculated
that the first
victim of each pair
represented his mother,
and the second, her ghost.
- The case you were working on,
five years ago, it was
Travers even back then
in drag.
What I don't get is that
there were a few years
in between there
when he wasn't killing.
- Well, he met a lady, right?
- Marilynn, while
they were involved,
when they split up,
he started killing again.
- Only this time, he
focused on nurses,
like his mother.
- @@ Travers, it's all
mumbo jumbo to me.
The important thing
is, we nailed Travers
before he started killing again.
- Jameson's wife
have any hard feelings?
- Hard feelings?
She told me he's been
working extra shifts,
special duty, he doesn't
come home much at night.
- You mean
they're still together
and she doesn't know he's...
- You got it, the creep.
And I'm supposed to
meet him for dinner tonight.
Maybe one of you
would like to keep
my date for me.
- I'd love it, let me at him.
- Wait a second,
hold on, Romano.
- Wait a second, I...
Call it, call it,
he's not all yours.
- Heads.
- He's mine.
(energetic mood music)
(upbeat music)
(Columbia Pictures jingle)