Tucker's Witch (1982–1983): Season 1, Episode 11 - Living and Presumed Dead - full transcript
- Hi.
- Hi.
- That's new, it's great.
- You like it.
- Yeah.
- Well, I haven't quite mastered it yet,
it keeps bumping into things.
- Dear, what is the vacuum
cleaner doing on the sofa?
- It's resting.
Coffee Ellen?
- Oh,
- Gesundheit.
- That's Swahili for thank you.
I'll get it!
I'll get it!
KGOB plays all the hits.
Oh.
Oh hi Marcia.
Yeah, okay.
Uh, Rick, it's for you.
- Thanks.
- Mom.
- Yes?
- Is there something you want to tell us.
- The radio station is
giving away a vacation
to anywhere in the world you want to go.
So I've chosen Africa.
- Mom, have you ever met anyone
who's won one of those things?
- Well, I sent in a bunch of entries.
- 31.
- No, 50.
- No, 31, I just flashed on that number.
Maybe that's your lucky number.
- Really?
- Thanks Marcia.
This could be big.
- What?
- The chairman of Trans Allied Shipping
wants to see us in his office right away.
- Daniel Gorman himself.
- Tucker and Tucker,
detectives to tycoons.
- I'll get it!
I'll get it!
KGOB plays all the hits.
Oh.
Oh hi Bernie.
Oh I'm sorry to hear that.
Well just take some vitamin C
and drink plenty of liquids.
Listen could you talk to me later about it
because I don't want to tie up the phone.
Okay?
Oh, okay, bye.
- That's me on the right.
Beth was kidnapped right
out of nursery school.
- Steel.
- Hmm.
- Are you in steel?
- It's one of our biggest cargoes.
- This is gonna sound crazy,
but what about fishing?
Fish?
- No.
Trans Allied operates on a
somewhat larger scale than that.
- Sorry.
- You don't know how it feels.
After 22 years to hear that your baby girl
could be coming home again.
- Dad, this one is probably
like all the others.
You can't imagine what we've
been through all these years.
- A lot of clowns trying to cash in.
- First few years
we had a regular parade through here.
But this woman, this
Florence, she felt legit.
- Florence mentions here
that Beth has a birthmark
on her right shoulder, her left thigh.
- Yeah, yeah, that's what I mean.
The others didn't know about those.
- Yeah, put him on.
- Does Florence have a last name?
- Nope, just a post
office box and a zip code.
The postmark is smudged.
I think that's the Venice area.
Box 31.
- 31!
I've been talking to
mom about that number.
I must've gotten my signals crossed.
- What signals?
- Nothing, never mind.
- My assistant wrote her a letter,
telling her to meet me here
last night at seven p.m.
She never showed.
Never called, nothing.
- Yeah right, thanks, I'll tell him.
Okay.
Excuse me.
Dad that was Ferguson
and he recommended buying
two new tankers, so I
told him to go ahead--
- Natalie!
Natalie I still run this company.
Next year when I retire,
you can buy all the tankers you want.
Now call him back and tell him no.
Hmmph, she's all business,
she doesn't have enough fun.
- Oh Dad, business is fun.
- You think you could do this for me?
You think you could find
this Florence woman?
- I think so.
Here's my plan.
First, you write another letter.
We send it to the post office box
and we'll be there when it arrives.
- Uh huh.
- Oh thank you.
- Thank you.
- Michael, Michael!
There's somebody I'd like you to meet.
These are my private eyes,
Rick and Amanda Tucker.
- How do you do?
- Nice to meet you.
- Mr. Gorman told me about you.
Michael Carr.
- Oh, he's my good right
arm and a terrific golfer.
Anything you need, anything, talk to him.
I trust him like family.
- More.
- And it has guests.
This was a big case back then.
- Yeah, today they'd
make a movie out of it.
Little girl kidnapped from the playground
of a private school.
- Father almost loses
his shipping business
trying to come up with the ransom money.
You know half a million dollars
was a lot of money in 1960.
- Yeah.
Today you can only buy a couple
of cheeseburgers with it.
This guy Fenton must
have been a real amateur.
I mean first he sets up the ransom
then he panics and tries to
shoot it out with an FBI guy.
- Fenton's dead, FBI guy's dead.
Seven years later, the
daughter is presumed dead.
- All dead ends.
- Except for Florence.
- You were right.
The zip code on the letter
is for a post office box in Venice.
- Oh honey, I love jobs
that take us to the beach.
Venice is great.
- Waikiki is great.
Venice is Venice.
- Oh come on honey.
This is like a real neighborhood.
This is a real open lifestyle.
- Big deal, just another mesomorph.
- True.
- Signed, sealed and ready for Florence.
- Hmm mm, well, now we wait.
- What you whittling?
- A stick.
- Do guys automatically
know how to do that
or is it something that's
passed down from father to son.
- We aren't supposed to talk about it.
- What's it gonna be?
- Smaller.
I like your mesomorph.
Follow that bike.
- We lost him.
- I don't think so, there's the bike.
- Steele and fresh fish.
- Your hunch was right.
- It's a beautiful fish,
look how it looks at you.
Reggie, wrap this for Mrs. Pellegrini.
And the seven dollars and 49 cents.
Alright, alright, I'll
make sure she gets this.
Listen 749, 749
Number 24 please.
- Excuse me.
- Excuse me!
Take a number.
- You gotta take a number otherwise chaos.
What's fair is fair.
Hello Mrs. Katz, Mrs. Rose,
what can I do for you girls?
- How's the Halibut today?
- It is sensational.
- But is it fresh?
- His family doesn't
even know he's dead yet
of course it's fresh!
- Alright, I'll buy the halibut.
- Alright how many--
- Two pounds.
- Sold.
- It doesn't look fresh.
- Okay who's next.
- Number 37.
- 37.
- Mrs. Rose has 25.
We came in together.
- I have 37.
- Saul, the machine broken again?
- I'll take care of 37.
Here, this just came.
Hello sweetheart.
We have some wonderful swordfish.
- Well nothing personal,
but could we switch.
- Lady, I sell the same fish.
- Are you Florence?
- She's not in today.
- Well, I have to talk to you .
- Look, I don't have time to talk.
I gotta wait on customers.
- Hey, we're customers.
- Who are you?
Go take a number.
- No, I'm with her.
Give us a couple of pounds of--
- The swordfish.
- Yeah.
- We're looking for Florence.
- What do you want her for?
- She contacted one of our clients.
- What are you, lawyers?
- No, we're private investigators.
We're the ones who sent that letter.
- Did something happen to my mother?
- We don't know.
- Just want you to take a look at this.
- Now will you talk to us.
- Saul I need a minute.
- Okay go ahead.
Two pounds of swordfish,
I'll take care of it.
- Daniel Gorman, shipping magnate.
This is crazy.
- Your mother wrote that letter to him.
They were supposed to have
a meeting two days ago.
- Well yeah, this could
be her handwriting.
But this is impossible.
My mother is Florence Miller.
- Well look, Florence could probably
clear this whole thing up.
Could you take us to Florence?
- She hasn't been home for two nights now.
I'm worried about her, I
even checked the hospitals.
- Do you have any idea where she might be?
- She said she had an appointment,
she wouldn't tell me where.
You know she's been
acting very strange lately
and I don't know why.
- Look, you read this letter.
Do you have those birth
marks on your right shoulder
and your left thigh.
I got to think about this,
this is all happening too fast.
- Hey!
Your genius boyfriend
Louis, is on the phone.
- Tell him I'll call him back.
- Elaine, come on.
I'm all alone here.
- I gotta go back to work.
Meet me at my house at six o'clock.
No, make it seven, I gotta clean up.
Maybe my mom will be home by then.
- I'm sure she will.
We'll see you at seven.
- Bye.
- Hey, your swordfish.
- Mom?
Somebody help me!
- Elaine!
It's Rick.
Elaine!
- Elaine!
Oh you poor thing.
Rick!
- I'm okay.
Whoever that guy was he must
have flunked driver's ed.
- Elaine.
Elaine?
- Elaine, it's okay.
Elaine.
- She's gone.
- Did you see that bathroom door.
- Yeah, he really tried to kill her.
- He's got a special going,
he tried to kill me too.
- Why?
Unless she is Beth Gorman.
- Well whether she is or not.
We bought her a whole lot of trouble.
What's this?
- That must be Florence.
- Well at least we know
what she looks like now.
Well thanks Saul, I will let
you know if I hear anything.
Alright, goodbye.
Ah, he doesn't know where
she might be either.
She's running scared.
- Who can blame her after
what happened tonight.
I wouldn't trust anyone either.
- Any luck with those new
files Marcia brought over?
- Agh!
- Absolutely nothing.
It's probably right under our noses.
Maybe Dickens can help.
- Yeah, ask him if he
knows where Florence is.
- Dickens sees cranes.
- Flamingos.
I have flamingos here
in my African brochures.
- Now here's something.
Gorman has a brother Harvey.
The police considered him a suspect,
but they couldn't prove anything.
- What's the connection?
- He and the kidnapper
Fenton were buddies.
They both worked for Gorman,
right around the kidnapping
Harvey disappeared for a few days.
- So why didn't Gorman tell us this?
- Let's ask him then.
We'll ask Gorman about his brother Harvey.
Do you want anything?
- No thanks.
Problems Mom?
- What?
Oh no, no, uh uh, I'm fine.
Oh well, I talked to Bernie
and his fever is down.
- And?
- And, oh now, he thinks
that if I win this trip
to Africa for two, that
he should go along.
- How do you feel about that?
- Well I don't know.
The only person I went away
with before was your father.
- What do you think Dad
would want you to do?
- Well, if he were alive he certainly
wouldn't want me going with Bernie.
- Oh come on Mom, you know what I mean.
Don't you think he'd want you
to do what makes you happy.
- Well I don't know.
I mean,.
Nice to have the company, but
it's, commitment isn't it?
- Not if you don't want it to be.
- Well I don't know maybe
I should see other people
it's so confusing.
Maybe I should play the field more.
The only thing is, I don't
know where the field is.
- Yeah, it's a real problem.
But I'm with ya.
- KGOB plays all the hits.
Oh Marcia, I was hoping
it would be somebody else.
- Okay, make believe I'm a burnt flat.
- Rick, it's for you, it's Marcia.
- Marcia, what you got.
- I found Florence Miller.
- Oh that's great.
Do we have some questions for her.
Where's she been hiding?
- At the morgue.
- Yo, Stucky.
Why you up early?
- Oh it's you.
- Well listen to you
Mr. Sweetness and Light.
- I hate to get up early in the morning
but it's the only way to get good fruit
from the produce mart.
Now, that's a melon.
- Yeah, I know Stucky,
I've seen 'em before.
- You don't see melons like
this after seven o'clock
in the morning, I can tell you that.
- Can we get off the fruit.
- What can I do for ya?
- Florence Miller.
- Ah ha.
22.
- Yeah, that's her.
Where was she found?
- Alley, near Butch Street, Long Beach.
- That's a block from Gorman's office.
- What happened to her?
- Came in as a Jane Doe
mugging up to two hours ago
till we got the fingerprint match.
Poor lady.
She was knifed.
The angle of the wound indicates
that her assailant was a lefty.
I guess in a way she was lucky.
- Well how do you figure that?
- She had a brain tumor, terminal.
Autopsy shows she had less
than two months to live, tops.
What's your interest?
- She claimed her daughter was an heiress.
- I don't think so.
No.
Her cervix is unmarked.
She was never anybody's mother.
- Do you think Florence was
involved in the kidnapping?
- Yeah, she had to be or how
else would she have known
who the real parents were?
- So her illness was the
reason that she decided
to come forward after all these years.
- Right.
- You don't think
her death was a mugging
or just a coincidence?
- No way no.
She was on her way to see
Gorman when she was murdered.
That means to me that somebody
didn't want he to get there.
- You know we really have to talk
to Gorman's brother, Harvey.
- Do you really think
he would help to kidnap
his own brother's child?
- Well...
Lot of strange things happen in families.
- Gorman said that he and
that assistant of his,
what's his name er?
- Michael Carr.
- Michael Carr.
Had made the appointment
that Florence didn't keep.
- What would be his motive?
- I don't know.
Let's see, I'm Michael Carr.
Gorman said that I was like family.
Now maybe another daughter
would complicate things for me
maybe knock me out of
the picture completely.
Maybe I can take over this company.
- Someone wants to kill my Beth.
- Mr. Gorman, we're not exactly certain
that she is your daughter.
- But she's got to be.
You said this Florence
Miller was not her mother.
- Well that's the problem Mr. Gorman.
We don't know who she was.
- Obviously Florence had something
to do with the kidnapping
but I thought since your
brother Harvey knew Fenton,
maybe he could help us out.
- My brother Harvey is a bum!
- He's not a bum.
- Why are you so down on him?
- Because he doesn't care about anything.
I worked like a dog, my whole
life, taking care of my family
even taking care of him.
He could've had a share of all this.
- Dad take it easy.
- That's exactly what
he's done for 30 years,
taken it easy.
Thumbin' his nose at me,
thumbin' his nose at me my whole life.
- Don't talk to him about Harvey.
Push all the wrong buttons.
I'll take you to him.
He operates a crane
for us down on pier 15.
- A crane?
- Yes, something wrong?
- No, not really.
- Dad, see you later.
Come on, I'll show you.
- Your dad's an impressive man.
- You know he
started as a stevedore.
Worked his way up and now Trans Allied
is one of the top shipping
companies in the world.
- It's the American dream.
- Did he ever remarry?
- No.
It's just as well.
- Why do you say
that, you didn't want him to?
- No it's just, what he had with my mom
was really beautiful,
why spoil the memory.
- Your dad is really on Harvey's case.
Does Harvey feel the
same way about your dad?
- See dad worked hard,
he brought Harvey over
from the old country
and daddy became successful
and Harvey didn't.
- You think Harvey's
jealous of that success.
- Maybe.
I don't know, it's their history not mine.
- Wait a minute, kidnapping.
You really think he could do that?
- No, I can't imagine it.
Oh damn!
- What's the matter.
- I broke my heel.
- Rick!
Rick there's something wrong here.
- KGOB plays all the hits.
This is Ellen Hobbs,
neither the Tuckers nor I
can answer the phone right
now, but if you will leave
a message, we will be happy
to answer, oh hi kids.
Oh no, no, not you.
Oh.
Oh!
- What are you doing Mother?
- Oh, it's Bernie, he's
still feeling a little bit
under the weather so
I thought I'd take him
this chicken soup and I
just didn't want to miss
my chance for a trip to Africa.
It looks like Dickens
wants to go to Africa too.
- Hey, yeah, take a vacation.
Visit the relatives Dickens, why not?
- Dickens you were right about the crane.
- Next time I want you to be
a little bit more specific.
- Excuse me what was that Dickens?
Ah, cats should not use such language.
- Here Rick.
This is that picture you
wanted that Marcia sent over.
- Great.
The first thing we gotta do is get copies
downto everyone we know on the street.
- She couldn't have just
vanished into thin air.
- 22 years old, nice girl like that,
she had to have made some friends.
- How about her lawyer.
- Lawyer?
She works in a fish market,
why would she have a lawyer?
- Then listen to this.
This is the only one that came out.
I'm a lawyer not a photographer.
Louis.
- Louis, that name sounds familiar.
- At the fish market,
she got a telephone call.
- Her genius boyfriend.
- Right.
But again, we're stuck
with only a first name
and a dest.
- Dest?
- Yeah, look on the window behind them.
- Oh, well that looks like a store front.
The letters are backwards.
- Of course that explains everything.
Tzed.
Louis the lawyer, sells tzeds.
- Oh, sure I like my brother just fine.
He brought me to this land of opportunity
gave me a job.
I'm very grateful to him.
- That's not the way he tells it Harvey.
- Daniel is jealous of me.
I know you find that hard to understand.
- Well he does seem to have
everything that he wants.
- Yeah, everything but happiness.
Sure he's rich.
So what?
So what?
If he wasn't so rich maybe
he would still have Beth.
What the hell is going on here?
- What do you mean he'd still have Beth?
- Oh no wait!
I don't mean that I helped
that Fenton to kidnap her.
Oh no, that's crazy altogether.
What I mean, is that sometimes
too much money can be a curse.
Look at me, I work when I have
to, no more than I have to.
You see, look, I'm
doing what I want to do.
My brother finds it very
difficult to understand.
He can afford to buy a
million checkerboards
but he can't buy the time to play.
- Harvey, does the word
tzed, mean anything to you?
- Tzed, tzed?
Could be a Hebrew word
tzedic, means justice.
- Justice, justice store,
is there such a thing?
- Betzedic, house of justice.
- Betzedic, is that like a court?
- There's a bunch of young lawyers.
They get together they give
time to community service.
There's one on 8th.
- Louis the lawyer.
Thanks Harvey and enjoy your game.
- Harvey you're a prince.
- King me.
- That man could no more kidnap his niece
than he could squash us with his crane.
- Not only that, he didn't
kill Florence Miller.
- Huh?
How do you know that?
- He's right handed.
Hi Marcia, it's Rick.
Yeah listen, did you talk to the golf pro
at the country club.
- Yeah, here it is.
- Righto, thank you.
Michael Carr just bought a nine iron
and a number three wood
at his golf course.
- So?
- They were both left-handed.
- It's all falling apart.
They know about me.
They think I'm trying to
take over the company.
25 years with your father.
Why did I get into this?
- For me.
- I was fine until you...
- No, you weren't fine.
You were just content to
grovel around in the dirt
for any bone my dad tossed you.
I'm giving you a chance,
to show what you've really got inside.
You can run one of the biggest
shipping empires in the world Michael.
With me.
- Why do we have to do it like this?
She is your sister.
The most she's gonna get is her share.
- Because he has no confidence in me.
He doesn't think I can
handle it, he never has.
The only reason I'm here now
is because I'm all he's got.
Michael, I need your help.
- Elaine Miller?
Elaine Miller.
Elaine Miller.
No, I'm sorry guys, I'd love to help
but it just doesn't ring a bell.
- We were at the fish market
when you called Louis.
- Louis I hope you're a better lawyer
than you are a photographer.
Now where's Elaine?
- I'm sorry, I really
can't say where she is.
- You mean you can, but you won't.
- Look, this is the
legal assistant service.
Now even if I knew where she was.
I protect the confidentiality
of my clients.
- Louis, she's in a great deal of danger.
We need to know where she is.
- I don't think you
appreciate what's involved here.
- He knows exactly what's involved
and so do we.
We know that Florence
was your client Louis.
She came to see you on January 8th
about an inheritance
claim, then she came back
on January 17th and
then again on the 21st.
- How do you know all about that?
- It's our job.
Now tell us where she is,
somebody tried to kill her.
- I know.
She's very frightened of you Mr. Tucker.
The attempt on her life
occurred at the time
she was supposed to meet you.
- She's still in danger,
but it's not from us.
- Please for her safety,
tell us where she is.
- Mrs. Miller wanted to know
how to prove someone's identity
so that somebody could inherit
what was rightfully theirs.
Now she never told me
what it was all about.
Before I go any further, suppose you do.
- Elaine may inherit
a great deal of money.
- I'm afraid Florence is going
to have to tell me that herself.
- Well, we're afraid that
Florence can't tell you herself.
Florence is dead.
I'm sorry.
- Florence told me to give
you this after she was gone.
- What is that?
- It's her diary.
- Florence knew she
didn't have long to live
so she wanted you to have
the life you were born to.
- I don't wanna be Beth Gorman.
I wanna be Elaine Miller.
I am Elaine Miller.
- Whoever killed your mother
thinks you're still a threat
no matter what name you go by.
- I just wanna go home
and I don't even know
where home is anymore.
- It's where you're loved.
- I'm so scared.
- Yeah Michael.
- They've found her.
- You follow them.
I have a plan.
- Did Florence have any other family.
- No relatives.
- According to this she
was in love with Fenton.
He was a smooth talker with lots of plans.
She didn't realize what he
really was until the kidnapping.
- Then why didn't she send me home.
- She was probably afraid
you could identify her.
- And then as the years
went by she couldn't,
because she loved you too much.
- She wasn't even my real mother.
- Not your natural mother maybe,
but I'd say she was pretty real.
- Your father would very
much like to see you.
Would you be up to that?
- If I could just talk to him first.
- I have his private number.
Phone's over here.
- Hello.
- Hello, is Mr. Gorman there please.
- Who may I say is calling?
- Tell him it's... his daughter.
- Who is it?
- It's Ferguson again about the new ships.
Yeah, I'll get rid of him.
He's in a meeting right now,
he'll have to get back to you.
- Yeah, I'm at the Tuckers.
- Okay, fine.
- He's in a meeting.
- Why didn't you have them break in?
- It's okay, said he'd call back.
I need a minute anyway.
- She's not gonna be safe
until we get something
out of Michael Carr.
- We can't leave her alone.
- You stay with her.
I'll go have another
talk with brother Harvey.
- Sure he was here that scum.
All back slapping and buddy buddy.
Told me he was tired of
sitting on his tuckus
he wanted to come and
watch how people work hard.
- So you taught him how to work the crane?
- Yeah, I should have
dropped a load on him huh.
- Where were you on the
day he tried to kill us?
- Tuesday?
- Yeah, is that your regular day off?
- No, I get Mondays.
- Well why weren't you here?
- Well the front office
called me and told me
I didn't have to come in.
- Your brother?
- You know I don't talk with him.
Was Natalie's idea.
- Natalie!
She warned us, right before it fell.
It was a set up!
Harvey thanks!
- Sure, thanks for what?
- Well this is a surprise.
- Mr. Gorman.
Where's Natalie?
- I don't know, out on
some errands I think.
What are you doing here?
- What do you mean?
Didn't you talk to your daughter?
- Natalie?
- No, to Beth, we found her.
- Where?
Where is she?
- She's at my house.
Didn't you get the message?
A half hour ago, she called
you on your private line.
- I've been here all afternoon.
The only call that came
in was from Ferguson
about some ships.
Natalie took the call.
- Natalie!
She knows where Beth is.
- So what?
I'm gonna see my daughter.
- No, no, not yet Mr. Gorman, please.
Stay here!
Just stay here!
- Hi Natalie.
- Hi.
I'm here to see my sister.
I just couldn't wait.
I had to see you.
Sit down.
I know it's hard to talk.
- Impossible.
- Do you remember me?
- A little.
- What?
Say.
- Well.
Actually what I remember most
is you broke my hobby horse.
- That's me alright.
I wish I could buy you a new one.
- Please, just don't cry.
- I have to.
- It's Dickens.
Dickens huh?
What's the matter?
- Inside.
- Elaine, Natalie, run!
- Oh God, Beth.
I wish they never found you.
You're just too much of a threat.
- How can she be a threat
when you have so much?
- Because she's here.
You know, Daddy never really loved me.
- Come on, let's get this over with.
- Why?
- Because they were on to you.
Beth.
They know he tried to kill you once,
only this time, he succeeded.
- What was his motive?
- 'Cause with the two
of us out of the way,
he's next in line to
take over the company.
- So, so he killed me
because I was a witness.
- Yeah, it got to be too much for him
and he killed himself out of remorse.
- Natalie.
You're crazy to think that
anyone's gonna buy that story.
- Who's gonna be around to say otherwise.
- Come on, don't try anything.
Don't!
- Natalie!
Daddy?
- Beth?
Beth.
You don't know how long, how long.
- Oh Daddy.
- Oh dammit, I can't get
the vacuum cleaner to work.
What's the matter Mom?
- What?
Oh nothing, nothing.
I was just thinking about Mr. Gorman.
You know, same day he
gets one daughter back
he loses the other one.
It's so sad and so happy.
- It's more like gaining a
daughter and losing a rival.
- Ha, ha, hello.
Yes this is Ellen Hobbes.
Who's speaking please.
KGOB?
Oh, KGOB oh, ah, KGOB plays all the hits.
Yes, I didn't really mean hello.
Really, I always answer the phone
KGOB plays all the hits.
Don't I? Don't I?
- She always says KGOB plays all the hits.
- Every single time.
- I always say that, yes I do.
Well I, Africa, I wanted to go to Africa.
Oh, I didn't win Africa.
Oh, did I win anything.
Oh, well.
Oh well that's so nice.
Oh yes, thank you, I think.
Uh huh, goodbye.
- Well?
- Well, did you ever hear of
the Tularry Raisin Festival?
- Oh sure.
Oh you're gonna love that.
- Yes well, I promised Bernie if I won
he would get to go to Africa with me so.
I think he's gonna be very disappointed.
- Hey Mom, it's not where you go,
it's who you're with.
- Hi.
- That's new, it's great.
- You like it.
- Yeah.
- Well, I haven't quite mastered it yet,
it keeps bumping into things.
- Dear, what is the vacuum
cleaner doing on the sofa?
- It's resting.
Coffee Ellen?
- Oh,
- Gesundheit.
- That's Swahili for thank you.
I'll get it!
I'll get it!
KGOB plays all the hits.
Oh.
Oh hi Marcia.
Yeah, okay.
Uh, Rick, it's for you.
- Thanks.
- Mom.
- Yes?
- Is there something you want to tell us.
- The radio station is
giving away a vacation
to anywhere in the world you want to go.
So I've chosen Africa.
- Mom, have you ever met anyone
who's won one of those things?
- Well, I sent in a bunch of entries.
- 31.
- No, 50.
- No, 31, I just flashed on that number.
Maybe that's your lucky number.
- Really?
- Thanks Marcia.
This could be big.
- What?
- The chairman of Trans Allied Shipping
wants to see us in his office right away.
- Daniel Gorman himself.
- Tucker and Tucker,
detectives to tycoons.
- I'll get it!
I'll get it!
KGOB plays all the hits.
Oh.
Oh hi Bernie.
Oh I'm sorry to hear that.
Well just take some vitamin C
and drink plenty of liquids.
Listen could you talk to me later about it
because I don't want to tie up the phone.
Okay?
Oh, okay, bye.
- That's me on the right.
Beth was kidnapped right
out of nursery school.
- Steel.
- Hmm.
- Are you in steel?
- It's one of our biggest cargoes.
- This is gonna sound crazy,
but what about fishing?
Fish?
- No.
Trans Allied operates on a
somewhat larger scale than that.
- Sorry.
- You don't know how it feels.
After 22 years to hear that your baby girl
could be coming home again.
- Dad, this one is probably
like all the others.
You can't imagine what we've
been through all these years.
- A lot of clowns trying to cash in.
- First few years
we had a regular parade through here.
But this woman, this
Florence, she felt legit.
- Florence mentions here
that Beth has a birthmark
on her right shoulder, her left thigh.
- Yeah, yeah, that's what I mean.
The others didn't know about those.
- Yeah, put him on.
- Does Florence have a last name?
- Nope, just a post
office box and a zip code.
The postmark is smudged.
I think that's the Venice area.
Box 31.
- 31!
I've been talking to
mom about that number.
I must've gotten my signals crossed.
- What signals?
- Nothing, never mind.
- My assistant wrote her a letter,
telling her to meet me here
last night at seven p.m.
She never showed.
Never called, nothing.
- Yeah right, thanks, I'll tell him.
Okay.
Excuse me.
Dad that was Ferguson
and he recommended buying
two new tankers, so I
told him to go ahead--
- Natalie!
Natalie I still run this company.
Next year when I retire,
you can buy all the tankers you want.
Now call him back and tell him no.
Hmmph, she's all business,
she doesn't have enough fun.
- Oh Dad, business is fun.
- You think you could do this for me?
You think you could find
this Florence woman?
- I think so.
Here's my plan.
First, you write another letter.
We send it to the post office box
and we'll be there when it arrives.
- Uh huh.
- Oh thank you.
- Thank you.
- Michael, Michael!
There's somebody I'd like you to meet.
These are my private eyes,
Rick and Amanda Tucker.
- How do you do?
- Nice to meet you.
- Mr. Gorman told me about you.
Michael Carr.
- Oh, he's my good right
arm and a terrific golfer.
Anything you need, anything, talk to him.
I trust him like family.
- More.
- And it has guests.
This was a big case back then.
- Yeah, today they'd
make a movie out of it.
Little girl kidnapped from the playground
of a private school.
- Father almost loses
his shipping business
trying to come up with the ransom money.
You know half a million dollars
was a lot of money in 1960.
- Yeah.
Today you can only buy a couple
of cheeseburgers with it.
This guy Fenton must
have been a real amateur.
I mean first he sets up the ransom
then he panics and tries to
shoot it out with an FBI guy.
- Fenton's dead, FBI guy's dead.
Seven years later, the
daughter is presumed dead.
- All dead ends.
- Except for Florence.
- You were right.
The zip code on the letter
is for a post office box in Venice.
- Oh honey, I love jobs
that take us to the beach.
Venice is great.
- Waikiki is great.
Venice is Venice.
- Oh come on honey.
This is like a real neighborhood.
This is a real open lifestyle.
- Big deal, just another mesomorph.
- True.
- Signed, sealed and ready for Florence.
- Hmm mm, well, now we wait.
- What you whittling?
- A stick.
- Do guys automatically
know how to do that
or is it something that's
passed down from father to son.
- We aren't supposed to talk about it.
- What's it gonna be?
- Smaller.
I like your mesomorph.
Follow that bike.
- We lost him.
- I don't think so, there's the bike.
- Steele and fresh fish.
- Your hunch was right.
- It's a beautiful fish,
look how it looks at you.
Reggie, wrap this for Mrs. Pellegrini.
And the seven dollars and 49 cents.
Alright, alright, I'll
make sure she gets this.
Listen 749, 749
Number 24 please.
- Excuse me.
- Excuse me!
Take a number.
- You gotta take a number otherwise chaos.
What's fair is fair.
Hello Mrs. Katz, Mrs. Rose,
what can I do for you girls?
- How's the Halibut today?
- It is sensational.
- But is it fresh?
- His family doesn't
even know he's dead yet
of course it's fresh!
- Alright, I'll buy the halibut.
- Alright how many--
- Two pounds.
- Sold.
- It doesn't look fresh.
- Okay who's next.
- Number 37.
- 37.
- Mrs. Rose has 25.
We came in together.
- I have 37.
- Saul, the machine broken again?
- I'll take care of 37.
Here, this just came.
Hello sweetheart.
We have some wonderful swordfish.
- Well nothing personal,
but could we switch.
- Lady, I sell the same fish.
- Are you Florence?
- She's not in today.
- Well, I have to talk to you .
- Look, I don't have time to talk.
I gotta wait on customers.
- Hey, we're customers.
- Who are you?
Go take a number.
- No, I'm with her.
Give us a couple of pounds of--
- The swordfish.
- Yeah.
- We're looking for Florence.
- What do you want her for?
- She contacted one of our clients.
- What are you, lawyers?
- No, we're private investigators.
We're the ones who sent that letter.
- Did something happen to my mother?
- We don't know.
- Just want you to take a look at this.
- Now will you talk to us.
- Saul I need a minute.
- Okay go ahead.
Two pounds of swordfish,
I'll take care of it.
- Daniel Gorman, shipping magnate.
This is crazy.
- Your mother wrote that letter to him.
They were supposed to have
a meeting two days ago.
- Well yeah, this could
be her handwriting.
But this is impossible.
My mother is Florence Miller.
- Well look, Florence could probably
clear this whole thing up.
Could you take us to Florence?
- She hasn't been home for two nights now.
I'm worried about her, I
even checked the hospitals.
- Do you have any idea where she might be?
- She said she had an appointment,
she wouldn't tell me where.
You know she's been
acting very strange lately
and I don't know why.
- Look, you read this letter.
Do you have those birth
marks on your right shoulder
and your left thigh.
I got to think about this,
this is all happening too fast.
- Hey!
Your genius boyfriend
Louis, is on the phone.
- Tell him I'll call him back.
- Elaine, come on.
I'm all alone here.
- I gotta go back to work.
Meet me at my house at six o'clock.
No, make it seven, I gotta clean up.
Maybe my mom will be home by then.
- I'm sure she will.
We'll see you at seven.
- Bye.
- Hey, your swordfish.
- Mom?
Somebody help me!
- Elaine!
It's Rick.
Elaine!
- Elaine!
Oh you poor thing.
Rick!
- I'm okay.
Whoever that guy was he must
have flunked driver's ed.
- Elaine.
Elaine?
- Elaine, it's okay.
Elaine.
- She's gone.
- Did you see that bathroom door.
- Yeah, he really tried to kill her.
- He's got a special going,
he tried to kill me too.
- Why?
Unless she is Beth Gorman.
- Well whether she is or not.
We bought her a whole lot of trouble.
What's this?
- That must be Florence.
- Well at least we know
what she looks like now.
Well thanks Saul, I will let
you know if I hear anything.
Alright, goodbye.
Ah, he doesn't know where
she might be either.
She's running scared.
- Who can blame her after
what happened tonight.
I wouldn't trust anyone either.
- Any luck with those new
files Marcia brought over?
- Agh!
- Absolutely nothing.
It's probably right under our noses.
Maybe Dickens can help.
- Yeah, ask him if he
knows where Florence is.
- Dickens sees cranes.
- Flamingos.
I have flamingos here
in my African brochures.
- Now here's something.
Gorman has a brother Harvey.
The police considered him a suspect,
but they couldn't prove anything.
- What's the connection?
- He and the kidnapper
Fenton were buddies.
They both worked for Gorman,
right around the kidnapping
Harvey disappeared for a few days.
- So why didn't Gorman tell us this?
- Let's ask him then.
We'll ask Gorman about his brother Harvey.
Do you want anything?
- No thanks.
Problems Mom?
- What?
Oh no, no, uh uh, I'm fine.
Oh well, I talked to Bernie
and his fever is down.
- And?
- And, oh now, he thinks
that if I win this trip
to Africa for two, that
he should go along.
- How do you feel about that?
- Well I don't know.
The only person I went away
with before was your father.
- What do you think Dad
would want you to do?
- Well, if he were alive he certainly
wouldn't want me going with Bernie.
- Oh come on Mom, you know what I mean.
Don't you think he'd want you
to do what makes you happy.
- Well I don't know.
I mean,.
Nice to have the company, but
it's, commitment isn't it?
- Not if you don't want it to be.
- Well I don't know maybe
I should see other people
it's so confusing.
Maybe I should play the field more.
The only thing is, I don't
know where the field is.
- Yeah, it's a real problem.
But I'm with ya.
- KGOB plays all the hits.
Oh Marcia, I was hoping
it would be somebody else.
- Okay, make believe I'm a burnt flat.
- Rick, it's for you, it's Marcia.
- Marcia, what you got.
- I found Florence Miller.
- Oh that's great.
Do we have some questions for her.
Where's she been hiding?
- At the morgue.
- Yo, Stucky.
Why you up early?
- Oh it's you.
- Well listen to you
Mr. Sweetness and Light.
- I hate to get up early in the morning
but it's the only way to get good fruit
from the produce mart.
Now, that's a melon.
- Yeah, I know Stucky,
I've seen 'em before.
- You don't see melons like
this after seven o'clock
in the morning, I can tell you that.
- Can we get off the fruit.
- What can I do for ya?
- Florence Miller.
- Ah ha.
22.
- Yeah, that's her.
Where was she found?
- Alley, near Butch Street, Long Beach.
- That's a block from Gorman's office.
- What happened to her?
- Came in as a Jane Doe
mugging up to two hours ago
till we got the fingerprint match.
Poor lady.
She was knifed.
The angle of the wound indicates
that her assailant was a lefty.
I guess in a way she was lucky.
- Well how do you figure that?
- She had a brain tumor, terminal.
Autopsy shows she had less
than two months to live, tops.
What's your interest?
- She claimed her daughter was an heiress.
- I don't think so.
No.
Her cervix is unmarked.
She was never anybody's mother.
- Do you think Florence was
involved in the kidnapping?
- Yeah, she had to be or how
else would she have known
who the real parents were?
- So her illness was the
reason that she decided
to come forward after all these years.
- Right.
- You don't think
her death was a mugging
or just a coincidence?
- No way no.
She was on her way to see
Gorman when she was murdered.
That means to me that somebody
didn't want he to get there.
- You know we really have to talk
to Gorman's brother, Harvey.
- Do you really think
he would help to kidnap
his own brother's child?
- Well...
Lot of strange things happen in families.
- Gorman said that he and
that assistant of his,
what's his name er?
- Michael Carr.
- Michael Carr.
Had made the appointment
that Florence didn't keep.
- What would be his motive?
- I don't know.
Let's see, I'm Michael Carr.
Gorman said that I was like family.
Now maybe another daughter
would complicate things for me
maybe knock me out of
the picture completely.
Maybe I can take over this company.
- Someone wants to kill my Beth.
- Mr. Gorman, we're not exactly certain
that she is your daughter.
- But she's got to be.
You said this Florence
Miller was not her mother.
- Well that's the problem Mr. Gorman.
We don't know who she was.
- Obviously Florence had something
to do with the kidnapping
but I thought since your
brother Harvey knew Fenton,
maybe he could help us out.
- My brother Harvey is a bum!
- He's not a bum.
- Why are you so down on him?
- Because he doesn't care about anything.
I worked like a dog, my whole
life, taking care of my family
even taking care of him.
He could've had a share of all this.
- Dad take it easy.
- That's exactly what
he's done for 30 years,
taken it easy.
Thumbin' his nose at me,
thumbin' his nose at me my whole life.
- Don't talk to him about Harvey.
Push all the wrong buttons.
I'll take you to him.
He operates a crane
for us down on pier 15.
- A crane?
- Yes, something wrong?
- No, not really.
- Dad, see you later.
Come on, I'll show you.
- Your dad's an impressive man.
- You know he
started as a stevedore.
Worked his way up and now Trans Allied
is one of the top shipping
companies in the world.
- It's the American dream.
- Did he ever remarry?
- No.
It's just as well.
- Why do you say
that, you didn't want him to?
- No it's just, what he had with my mom
was really beautiful,
why spoil the memory.
- Your dad is really on Harvey's case.
Does Harvey feel the
same way about your dad?
- See dad worked hard,
he brought Harvey over
from the old country
and daddy became successful
and Harvey didn't.
- You think Harvey's
jealous of that success.
- Maybe.
I don't know, it's their history not mine.
- Wait a minute, kidnapping.
You really think he could do that?
- No, I can't imagine it.
Oh damn!
- What's the matter.
- I broke my heel.
- Rick!
Rick there's something wrong here.
- KGOB plays all the hits.
This is Ellen Hobbs,
neither the Tuckers nor I
can answer the phone right
now, but if you will leave
a message, we will be happy
to answer, oh hi kids.
Oh no, no, not you.
Oh.
Oh!
- What are you doing Mother?
- Oh, it's Bernie, he's
still feeling a little bit
under the weather so
I thought I'd take him
this chicken soup and I
just didn't want to miss
my chance for a trip to Africa.
It looks like Dickens
wants to go to Africa too.
- Hey, yeah, take a vacation.
Visit the relatives Dickens, why not?
- Dickens you were right about the crane.
- Next time I want you to be
a little bit more specific.
- Excuse me what was that Dickens?
Ah, cats should not use such language.
- Here Rick.
This is that picture you
wanted that Marcia sent over.
- Great.
The first thing we gotta do is get copies
downto everyone we know on the street.
- She couldn't have just
vanished into thin air.
- 22 years old, nice girl like that,
she had to have made some friends.
- How about her lawyer.
- Lawyer?
She works in a fish market,
why would she have a lawyer?
- Then listen to this.
This is the only one that came out.
I'm a lawyer not a photographer.
Louis.
- Louis, that name sounds familiar.
- At the fish market,
she got a telephone call.
- Her genius boyfriend.
- Right.
But again, we're stuck
with only a first name
and a dest.
- Dest?
- Yeah, look on the window behind them.
- Oh, well that looks like a store front.
The letters are backwards.
- Of course that explains everything.
Tzed.
Louis the lawyer, sells tzeds.
- Oh, sure I like my brother just fine.
He brought me to this land of opportunity
gave me a job.
I'm very grateful to him.
- That's not the way he tells it Harvey.
- Daniel is jealous of me.
I know you find that hard to understand.
- Well he does seem to have
everything that he wants.
- Yeah, everything but happiness.
Sure he's rich.
So what?
So what?
If he wasn't so rich maybe
he would still have Beth.
What the hell is going on here?
- What do you mean he'd still have Beth?
- Oh no wait!
I don't mean that I helped
that Fenton to kidnap her.
Oh no, that's crazy altogether.
What I mean, is that sometimes
too much money can be a curse.
Look at me, I work when I have
to, no more than I have to.
You see, look, I'm
doing what I want to do.
My brother finds it very
difficult to understand.
He can afford to buy a
million checkerboards
but he can't buy the time to play.
- Harvey, does the word
tzed, mean anything to you?
- Tzed, tzed?
Could be a Hebrew word
tzedic, means justice.
- Justice, justice store,
is there such a thing?
- Betzedic, house of justice.
- Betzedic, is that like a court?
- There's a bunch of young lawyers.
They get together they give
time to community service.
There's one on 8th.
- Louis the lawyer.
Thanks Harvey and enjoy your game.
- Harvey you're a prince.
- King me.
- That man could no more kidnap his niece
than he could squash us with his crane.
- Not only that, he didn't
kill Florence Miller.
- Huh?
How do you know that?
- He's right handed.
Hi Marcia, it's Rick.
Yeah listen, did you talk to the golf pro
at the country club.
- Yeah, here it is.
- Righto, thank you.
Michael Carr just bought a nine iron
and a number three wood
at his golf course.
- So?
- They were both left-handed.
- It's all falling apart.
They know about me.
They think I'm trying to
take over the company.
25 years with your father.
Why did I get into this?
- For me.
- I was fine until you...
- No, you weren't fine.
You were just content to
grovel around in the dirt
for any bone my dad tossed you.
I'm giving you a chance,
to show what you've really got inside.
You can run one of the biggest
shipping empires in the world Michael.
With me.
- Why do we have to do it like this?
She is your sister.
The most she's gonna get is her share.
- Because he has no confidence in me.
He doesn't think I can
handle it, he never has.
The only reason I'm here now
is because I'm all he's got.
Michael, I need your help.
- Elaine Miller?
Elaine Miller.
Elaine Miller.
No, I'm sorry guys, I'd love to help
but it just doesn't ring a bell.
- We were at the fish market
when you called Louis.
- Louis I hope you're a better lawyer
than you are a photographer.
Now where's Elaine?
- I'm sorry, I really
can't say where she is.
- You mean you can, but you won't.
- Look, this is the
legal assistant service.
Now even if I knew where she was.
I protect the confidentiality
of my clients.
- Louis, she's in a great deal of danger.
We need to know where she is.
- I don't think you
appreciate what's involved here.
- He knows exactly what's involved
and so do we.
We know that Florence
was your client Louis.
She came to see you on January 8th
about an inheritance
claim, then she came back
on January 17th and
then again on the 21st.
- How do you know all about that?
- It's our job.
Now tell us where she is,
somebody tried to kill her.
- I know.
She's very frightened of you Mr. Tucker.
The attempt on her life
occurred at the time
she was supposed to meet you.
- She's still in danger,
but it's not from us.
- Please for her safety,
tell us where she is.
- Mrs. Miller wanted to know
how to prove someone's identity
so that somebody could inherit
what was rightfully theirs.
Now she never told me
what it was all about.
Before I go any further, suppose you do.
- Elaine may inherit
a great deal of money.
- I'm afraid Florence is going
to have to tell me that herself.
- Well, we're afraid that
Florence can't tell you herself.
Florence is dead.
I'm sorry.
- Florence told me to give
you this after she was gone.
- What is that?
- It's her diary.
- Florence knew she
didn't have long to live
so she wanted you to have
the life you were born to.
- I don't wanna be Beth Gorman.
I wanna be Elaine Miller.
I am Elaine Miller.
- Whoever killed your mother
thinks you're still a threat
no matter what name you go by.
- I just wanna go home
and I don't even know
where home is anymore.
- It's where you're loved.
- I'm so scared.
- Yeah Michael.
- They've found her.
- You follow them.
I have a plan.
- Did Florence have any other family.
- No relatives.
- According to this she
was in love with Fenton.
He was a smooth talker with lots of plans.
She didn't realize what he
really was until the kidnapping.
- Then why didn't she send me home.
- She was probably afraid
you could identify her.
- And then as the years
went by she couldn't,
because she loved you too much.
- She wasn't even my real mother.
- Not your natural mother maybe,
but I'd say she was pretty real.
- Your father would very
much like to see you.
Would you be up to that?
- If I could just talk to him first.
- I have his private number.
Phone's over here.
- Hello.
- Hello, is Mr. Gorman there please.
- Who may I say is calling?
- Tell him it's... his daughter.
- Who is it?
- It's Ferguson again about the new ships.
Yeah, I'll get rid of him.
He's in a meeting right now,
he'll have to get back to you.
- Yeah, I'm at the Tuckers.
- Okay, fine.
- He's in a meeting.
- Why didn't you have them break in?
- It's okay, said he'd call back.
I need a minute anyway.
- She's not gonna be safe
until we get something
out of Michael Carr.
- We can't leave her alone.
- You stay with her.
I'll go have another
talk with brother Harvey.
- Sure he was here that scum.
All back slapping and buddy buddy.
Told me he was tired of
sitting on his tuckus
he wanted to come and
watch how people work hard.
- So you taught him how to work the crane?
- Yeah, I should have
dropped a load on him huh.
- Where were you on the
day he tried to kill us?
- Tuesday?
- Yeah, is that your regular day off?
- No, I get Mondays.
- Well why weren't you here?
- Well the front office
called me and told me
I didn't have to come in.
- Your brother?
- You know I don't talk with him.
Was Natalie's idea.
- Natalie!
She warned us, right before it fell.
It was a set up!
Harvey thanks!
- Sure, thanks for what?
- Well this is a surprise.
- Mr. Gorman.
Where's Natalie?
- I don't know, out on
some errands I think.
What are you doing here?
- What do you mean?
Didn't you talk to your daughter?
- Natalie?
- No, to Beth, we found her.
- Where?
Where is she?
- She's at my house.
Didn't you get the message?
A half hour ago, she called
you on your private line.
- I've been here all afternoon.
The only call that came
in was from Ferguson
about some ships.
Natalie took the call.
- Natalie!
She knows where Beth is.
- So what?
I'm gonna see my daughter.
- No, no, not yet Mr. Gorman, please.
Stay here!
Just stay here!
- Hi Natalie.
- Hi.
I'm here to see my sister.
I just couldn't wait.
I had to see you.
Sit down.
I know it's hard to talk.
- Impossible.
- Do you remember me?
- A little.
- What?
Say.
- Well.
Actually what I remember most
is you broke my hobby horse.
- That's me alright.
I wish I could buy you a new one.
- Please, just don't cry.
- I have to.
- It's Dickens.
Dickens huh?
What's the matter?
- Inside.
- Elaine, Natalie, run!
- Oh God, Beth.
I wish they never found you.
You're just too much of a threat.
- How can she be a threat
when you have so much?
- Because she's here.
You know, Daddy never really loved me.
- Come on, let's get this over with.
- Why?
- Because they were on to you.
Beth.
They know he tried to kill you once,
only this time, he succeeded.
- What was his motive?
- 'Cause with the two
of us out of the way,
he's next in line to
take over the company.
- So, so he killed me
because I was a witness.
- Yeah, it got to be too much for him
and he killed himself out of remorse.
- Natalie.
You're crazy to think that
anyone's gonna buy that story.
- Who's gonna be around to say otherwise.
- Come on, don't try anything.
Don't!
- Natalie!
Daddy?
- Beth?
Beth.
You don't know how long, how long.
- Oh Daddy.
- Oh dammit, I can't get
the vacuum cleaner to work.
What's the matter Mom?
- What?
Oh nothing, nothing.
I was just thinking about Mr. Gorman.
You know, same day he
gets one daughter back
he loses the other one.
It's so sad and so happy.
- It's more like gaining a
daughter and losing a rival.
- Ha, ha, hello.
Yes this is Ellen Hobbes.
Who's speaking please.
KGOB?
Oh, KGOB oh, ah, KGOB plays all the hits.
Yes, I didn't really mean hello.
Really, I always answer the phone
KGOB plays all the hits.
Don't I? Don't I?
- She always says KGOB plays all the hits.
- Every single time.
- I always say that, yes I do.
Well I, Africa, I wanted to go to Africa.
Oh, I didn't win Africa.
Oh, did I win anything.
Oh, well.
Oh well that's so nice.
Oh yes, thank you, I think.
Uh huh, goodbye.
- Well?
- Well, did you ever hear of
the Tularry Raisin Festival?
- Oh sure.
Oh you're gonna love that.
- Yes well, I promised Bernie if I won
he would get to go to Africa with me so.
I think he's gonna be very disappointed.
- Hey Mom, it's not where you go,
it's who you're with.