A Cry for Help Cagney and Lacey

Hello!

Late night, Christine? Mm.

This guy took you parachuting? Right. And hand-gliding?

I like this one. Aside from a death wish, has he any qualifications?

He's gorgeous. Of course. And an incurable romantic.

You wanna get out of here? What did he pay for that? 50, 75 bucks?

I couldn't care less. The only gift I ever have to give a woman is me.

Take me off your Christmas list.

12 grams of gold. $150 at least. But you couldn't care less(!)

Hey, I'm sending it back. That Ponzi scheme - three more victims. Thanks.

14th Precinct. ..Lacey! Telephone.

OK. I'll catch up with you inside. Right.

Detective Lacey. 'I can't stand it. I have to talk to somebody.'

Yes, ma'am? 'I know you'll stick up for him, not me. I know you will.'

You wish to report a crime? 'My doctor told me to take tranquillisers.' What's the problem?

My husband beats me. I'll send an officer. What's the address? No, that'd just make it worse.

Listen, I just wanna know... what you'd do if I turn him in.

You see, he's a...he's a...

Listen, never mind. Just forget it.

Mary Beth, Cagney's waiting for you in the interrogation room.

You're young. You won't understand about saving for your old age.

If she thinks she can make it on Social Security, I gotta laugh!

We've been investigating this Mr Ruskin... Spit when you say it.

He said he was a real estate investment counsellor.

He promised me 50% return. Guaranteed.

How much money did you give him? $10,000. Money I saved in nickels and dimes.

For a while, it was like a miracle. Then the funny stuff started. The cheques were a few days late.

Then nothing for two months. I feel so bad - like a criminal.

Oh, you didn't twist my arm. He seemed very sincere to me.

Not to me. I smelled something fishy right off the bat.

Penthouse office, all those rings. Someone pays for that, I said.

But Norma said he was OK and I lost everything.

Not that I'm blaming anyone.

Please, Officers. Is there something you can do?

We'll do our best.

Plus he's very smart and cool and was number one in our class. I hope he's got something for us.

I don't want to face one more destitute widow.

I figured out who you remind me of. My ex-wife. Number three, right? Solomon, come on.

Ever hear back from the IRS? That's my connection. And the SEC.

Turn it over to the Feds and we lose Ruskin on some technicality.

Are you nuts? Mick Solomon always gets his man. Usually his woman.

You still have a tail on Ruskin? Y... Yeah! We thought he'd make a run for it by now. I love that.

Good evidence. Brent, wanna make him nervous, see what he does?

I could meet him, undercover. You're a bit young.

You've been very difficult to reach and she hasn't received a cheque in, gosh, a couple of months.

Cash flow, that's all it is. A tiny little cash flow problem.

The escrow on the sale of a hotel in Grand Cayman has been held up. Interest rates.

It's bound to close this week. 300% profit to the investors.

Could I see the paperwork? Of course.

Of course. Now...would you do one little thing for me? Reassure your lovely mother for me.

I wonder, could you make your books available to...to my mom and me?

Absolutely no problem. Our auditors are going over them right now.

We should have a statement by the end of the month.

Isn't that great? Thank you. Now, if you can excuse me, I have some papers to sign.

I generally don't do this, but if you have some cash, I could possibly get you into the Juno deal.

Do you have any paperwork on that? Of course. Could I show it to Mom?

What a flake that guy is!

Mary Beth, I've been meaning to ask you something.

Do you read this kind of thing?

Love's Savage Harvest by Breanna Dumayne. Is it a cornball romance?

Yeah, a friend of mine wrote it and I've got to say something.

I wondered if you'd read it for me. Me? You read it.

I can't get through it, but housewives like this. Thanks(!)

Come on, it's a joke! Not really.

An ice sculpture?! I don't know if I made Ruskin nervous or not.

Something you couldn't return! I know I make YOU nervous. You should have kept the gold chain.

Thanks, anyway. No, you're already married. Five's my unlucky number.

Detective Solomon finally proposed?

This guy almost makes Isbecki look good.

What am I gonna do with 1,000lbs of ice?!

You need a guy with his feet on the ground. Like who? Harve.

Great. He's already married.

Like...Brent Nelson. He's married, too. And I like his wife. Petrie!

Could you come up with someone who's unmarried? Take your time.

PHONE RINGS I'll get it.

How are we going to arrest him? We don't have probable cause.

Wait till he gets on the plane.

Where's he going?

Probably South America. Maybe Switzerland.

Oh, a beautiful lady. Where is he? Bar.

He can recognise you. I'll take care of it.

Where is his luggage?

He didn't bring any. If that coat's lined with cash, he won't need it.

He's moving. Where?

He's not going anywhere! He's meeting somebody.

SIREN WAILS

Hey, you two. Where's Ruskin? Wild goose chase, sir.

La Guardia took a report from another victim. 72-year-old widow. Lost everything she had.

This guy is worse than the one that sent you the turtle. The snapping turtle. Remember?

And it got loose... In the men's room!

Oh, God! Lacey!

Detective Lacey, 14th Squad. 'He's never going to hurt me again.'

I'm sorry. What? 'He's never going to hurt me again.'

You called before, didn't you? 'He'll never hurt me again.'

I bought a gun and if he lays a hand on me, I'll kill him.

She says she's a cop's wife.

He's beating her and she bought a gun.

Let's get over there. I don't have an address or a name. Come on, we'll talk to Samuels.

About what? Two hysterical phone calls? A cop like that should be turned into his superior officer.

We don't know who it is. Why are you dragging your feet? Because we don't have anything.

He'll give us a lecture and tell us to sit on it.

Let me tell you a story, Lacey. When I was a rookie, I had a partner, nicest guy in the world.

But one day I picked him up and his wife had two black eyes and a hole where her tooth had been.

Did you turn him in? No, not me. Not true blue Bert.

Sam went down the tubes, but Marge...

He just kept beating her up until she wound up in a hospital.

And I could have stopped that.

Find that bastard and nail him! Excuse me, Bert... The door is closed!

OK, I'm sorry. Excuse me. I'll be out there in a minute.

Times have changed. I want you to find this guy, whoever he is.

And get his wife out of there! Yes, sir.

..Right. Right.

Take a look at Ruskin's bank statement here. Last year he's worth over $3 million.

Then poor guy falls on hard times and is down to his last mil.

Today, just before closing, he takes out every last dime. In cash.

He's getting ready to run!

You brought me all the way across town for this?! Alexander Graham Bell. It's an ingenious invention.

Why not give her this on the phone? She does look like number three!

Cute and feisty!

Next time I'm between wives, we should get together. I'm leaving.

Wait! W-Wait. Hey, hey, hey. I called you over for a reason.

Mick, it's your wife.

I figure he's going to run for it. We'll wait him out together.

I'll wait with Lacey. You'll have more fun with me.

I'll order in dinner!

She likes me. I can tell.

I can't stand that man! Listen. I got this from Communications.

'I'd like to speak to Mary Beth Lacey, please.'

That's the cop's wife asking for me. Recognise the voice?

No, I listened to it over and over. I got a print-out of all the guys at the precinct who are married.

I can't believe it's one of our guys. You think Petrie beats up on Claudia? Or Davidson? Coleman?

Nobody ever thinks it's anyone they know. One out of four guys does it. I'm talking about people!

So we stay. You wanna go home to Harvey and the boys? I'll stay. I'll stay.

I'm missing my date.

We could send out for pizza. Italian, great(!)

I was getting tired of all that fancy French food, anyway.

Well, it's certainly a personal favourite of mine.

I'm checking handgun registrations.

All right. I'll hold.

Right? Oh. That's even better.

Would you stop it? It's just not fair.

Yeah, I'm still here. All right.

Chris...the airport.

Hold that thought. Don't start without me.

Right at the exciting part.

Yeah. Me, too.

It's for real this time. A ticket for Ecuador.

He's got a bag he's holding on to.

'Intercontinental flight 347 for Quito, Ecuador, will be boarding at Gate 17.'

Stop! Hey!

Police! Stop!

OK, Security's here to witness this.

I've never held a million dollars in my hands before. It's lighter than I thought it'd be.

One million bucks. Hello, you pretty green...

Shorts. What? Shorts, socks, shirts.

My cousin reads these. Nothing but smut. It's all smut.

Movies, television, books. All smut.

If it's bad for me... I wouldn't tell you what to do.

He takes all his money out, goes directly to his office

Yes, sir. Lacey, wait a second. How you doing at finding this cop?

I called all the gun dealers. If she bought it legally, we can match with our personnel files.

Alice Martinez is checking it. I'll tell her it's top priority. Thank you, sir.

You're reading that book? No! Smut!

You arrested Ruskin. We came for our money. We haven't recovered it yet.

Have you checked with his bank? Perhaps it's still there. He withdrew all of his funds.

Then it must be in his home. We're searching everywhere for it.

We tried his car. A mistress. Check that.

His mother is Letty Corporation. So it IS his? His and 10 other guys all of whom think they own 25%.

What is that perfume? You're driving me wild. Eau de chocolat.

Ruskin sold 250% of that hotel. Small potatoes. Look at this office building in Juno.

The one he tried to sell me! Owned by... Letty Corporation?

You got it. And there are several other investors? He sold 500%.

Can you prove it? Solid. Now where is the money?

Sir, you'll wanna see this. Where is your partner? He's out with flu.

Can I see you two in my office? Excuse us, Detective. Sure.

Gimme a call if you want to put in a little overtime. Solomon...

Oh, that's not possible. Brent Nelson.

Oh, no... Wife's name's Phyllis? Yes. She's got a .38 snub-nosed registered in her name.

This is crazy, sir. I never even saw him angry. Like my partner was.

Jekyll and Hyde.

Solomon said he has the flu.

He's home and she has a gun. Check it out.

Which is faster? Tunnel or bridge? Bridge.

One more time.

RINGS BELL AGAIN

Yeah? ..What are you two doing here?

We want to talk about Ruskin. Can we come in? I got the flu. Don't get too close to me.

Oh, that's all right. Look at this house!

Harve and I are always talking about buying. I'd show you around, but the place is a mess.

Is Phyllis here? So what is it?

The Letty Corporation is Ruskin's? Yeah. Let's talk tomorrow. I'm feeling rotten.

Phyllis! Long time.

Phyllis, you remember Mary Beth Lacey. And this is her partner, Christine Cagney.

Hello. How are you?

I, uh, got your cough medicine. You'd better take it right away.

You trying to get rid of me? No, no...

Is something wrong, Phyll? Wanna talk girl talk?

I'm just concerned about your cold.

Isn't she the best little wife?

I'll take my medicine right away and leave you to your friends.

OK?

The place is great. Thank you.

So how's it going? (We know you've been calling.)

Mary Beth has to go.

Call me some time soon. I'd love to get together. I'm so busy.

Let's go, Chris. Nice to have met you, Phyllis.

She never took her sunglasses off. We can't drag her out of there.

At least he knows we're on to him. Maybe we scared him off.

Maybe we've pushed him over.

You think she likes to get beat up? If I hit you, you would leave me.

You'll never guess who just called. Phyllis Nelson? Brent.

He wants us to meet him and Solomon at Riker's Island at 10 o'clock.

Why? He has an informant on Ruskin. Did he say anything about Phyllis?

Nothing. He acted as if everything is just hunky dory.

Maybe it is.

Sure(!) Phyllis looked just swell. Maybe we should butt out.

Oh, I see. You think she got that shiner by walking into a door.

I don't know for sure. Harve says if he's hitting her and she stays, that's her choice.

I can't believe you mean that. What's not to believe?

We don't have any hard evidence and if he did hit her, why?

Remember Jeremy?

Certainly. I never could understand why you let that one get away.

Well, I'll tell you why. Cos he hit me.

That's not true. He beat me up. Once. That's all it took.

And I can fight back! You never told me.

No.

I just couldn't talk about it.

Why? According to him, he had his reasons.

Which were what? It doesn't matter! There are no reasons! Excuses, but no reasons.

Jeremy said he was sorry. He promised it would never happen again. You bet it wouldn't.

I am gonna call Phyllis.

Make sure she's OK.

She couldn't have been nicer. She's fine, they're fine.

But? She kept trying to get me off the phone. So we work with Brent and pretend nothing's happening.

Ruskin says he put the money right under your noses. That's it? Yeah. That's where he stashed it?

You burn me, man, and you are through.

What a waste of time. It's worth going through it again.

It's gotta be here. Of course. Would a Brent Nelson informant lie(?)

Look - a ring for every finger. Gold rings, bracelets, medallions.

How much is that? Any stones? Eh, no... 300 apiece?

Maybe five. So $6,000 total?

Right. Now we're $994,000 short. And change.

I love spending my day off here. I don't need the cheap sarcasm.

No, I mean it sincerely(!) You wanna work by yourself? Fine!

OK.

It's not here.

Whatever is worth one million bucks!

Maybe these socks belonged to George Washington(!)

Very creative, Isbecki. Just trying to help.

Go away! You know, it's amazing the things people collect.

I went to a sale last spring. Antique shoe hooks, collar stays, corsets.

But no socks.

14th, Detective Petrie...

Nothing. What else is here? Who wants Mick Solomon? Mary Beth.

On two. Thank you.

Talk to you tomorrow.

Brent got into a fight in a bar. Mick sent him home.

I'm right behind you.

SIREN WAILS

You promised you wouldn't hit me again!

No! NO!!

NO!!

Please...!

What are you doing? Come closer and I'll kill you!

Stay away from her! Stay out!

No! You don't take one more step. Understand me? Can you walk?

Phyllis, can you walk? I'll take you out.

Where are you taking my wife?

You have until 8am to turn yourself in to IAD. Phyllis! If you don't, I will.

Detective Cagney will back me. Come on, baby. Here we go.

PHYLLIS!!

KNOCKING Oh, my God... What the heck?

KNOCKING CONTINUES

All right, Brent. Take it easy!

Open up! Put your gun on the floor where I can see it.

Don't get crazy now, Brent! On the floor. Mom...

Go in the room and close the door.

Where is she? She isn't here!

How would you like it?

You're scaring our kids! I want you out!

But it's OK for you to bust in, stick your nose in MY business!

You were beating her up. Lies!

How can you deny this? I saw her!

Maybe I... I pushed her once. One time. Once.

That's a lie. Ahh...

Hey, OK, come on. You know what it's like.

You come home tired. Right? Under a lot of pressure.

And all I want is a little peace...and quiet.

Huh? Huh?

Why are you all blaming me? It's not my fault. It's not my fault.

Oh, God, Phyll, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.

Morning. Morning.

Phyllis Nelson is doing OK. I said we'd go and see her. Good.

It's worth a fortune. But it goes by weight. Not if it's 400 years old.

He couldn't get something new?

That's 24-carat gold. Feel how soft it is.

Like Ruskin's jewellery. The rings I asked you about.

They were all like this.

$125,000. Even in a depressed market.

For one ring? It's Minoan. This one is Chinese.

Hung Dynasty. I take this to be Mayan. This is a remarkable collection.

Where would Ruskin get it? Antiquities like these are sold on the black market.

Ruskin's friend at the airport.

It's empty. We could talk in here. You wanna sit?

Sure.

This OK?

You know, this place isn't bad. I could fix it up a little.

You know, I always thought that if I loved Brent enough I could fix him up.

Know what I mean? I could make him feel good about himself

so that he wouldn't hit me.

You know, I know police work has been really tough on Brent.

And...I'm really glad he's turning himself in, getting help.

Maybe he'll get better, you know. Maybe he will.

I don't know.

Maybe he won't.

I just know I gotta do what I can to make sure that I'm OK.

You know?

Without him.

You're doing good.

You're doing fine.

Thanks.

Cagney... There's somebody to see you.

Is that the mystery man? Why do you hang around with these losers?

Hi. Hi.

I know I'm a little early, but... It's all right. Mary Beth Lacey, meet...Breanna Dumayne.

You're Breanna Dumayne? Well, sometimes.

My mother knows me as Joe Klotzman. How do you do? You've read my books? Well, no...not really.

Try them. You'd like them. Christine reads all my books. Oh?

I can count on her for an honest opinion. We're going to be late.

Don't rush off now. Tell Joe about Love's Savage Harvest.

She had no favourite parts. She loved the entire book.

Every page, every line. Loved it.

Loved it.

You're wonderful. Hey! Nice meeting you. Nice meeting you.

I found this wonderful little Russian restaurant.

Have a good time! Bye-bye. Thanks. Bye!