[music continues]
[music continues]
[instrumental music]
[music continues]
Come on.
It's okay. Here!
[muffled groaning]
Sorry. No last words.
'No cigarettes.'
'No f*ring squad.'
We'll cut right to the coup de grace, my friend.
[g*n fires]
[intense music]
Get rid of the body.
We have to find him!
Eddie, go that way.
(Spenser) The call had come from an attorney named Charlie Branch.
I had wanted to stay warm and lazy and comfortable
but Charlie was not to sort of lawyer you could ignore.
- Spenser! Oh, thank God! - Charlie! Charlie! Charlie!
- You came so quickly. - You said you were in a hurry.
Hurry? Is that the word I use? No, no. I'm beyond that now.
I think I've gone where no attorney's ever gone before.
In this anxiety warp or something
I mean, I-I was supposed to be in court minutes ago.
And I have an office packed full with appointments.
Charlie, what's this all about?
Oh, James Camden, my wealthiest and most cherished client.
No, actually he's a very nice guy.
His year-old son says he saw a m*rder.
- You don't sound convinced. - I honestly don't know!
I mean, I don't even know, all I know is it's consuming
all my time, I also know the police don't seem
too overwhelmed.
I also know the boy is going through a difficult period.
- It's like that when you're . - No, no, no, no.
He has extra reasons.
His mother and his older brother d*ed
in a traffic accident a year ago.
And now it's just him and his dead.
And his dad travels all the time, it's hard on him.
Is that where his father is now? Traveling?
Ah, somewhere between Geneva and Berlin.
- But you've talked to him. - Of course.
He says he's gonna wrap up his business as soon as he can.
But that's gonna take a few days, and in the mean time
he asked me to hire protection for the boy
'just incase his story happens to be true.'
Doin' a little babysitting now are we, Spenser?
It is not a.. It is not a babysitting job.
Young Rene could really be in danger.
He is sure the k*ller saw his face.
Come on, Charlie, you believe that?
Why not?
What you believe is you got a year-old boy
who needs his father.
So he makes up some story to get his attention.
Unfortunately the father doesn't believe the story.
Well, at least not enough to cancel his business trip.
But being a concerned parent he wants to show the boy
that he has love and concern for him
so he hires a bodyguard.
Spenser, I am authorized to pay you double your normal fee.
- I'll do it. - You'll do it?
- For my normal fee. - Your normal fee?
You ever been accused of lying when you were telling the truth?
- Yeah, when you're -- - You know what that feels like?
Yeah, lousy.
Mrs. Durrant, I'd like to introduce you to Spenser
the private detective that I've engaged to protect young Rene,
Why must they all look like thugs?
Uh, it's required by the licensing board, ma'am.
Send him along to the house, if you must.
The Camden Estate. I'm still late!
Cafeteria. I'm still hungry.
Send him along to the house.
Thanks a lot, Leo, looks great.
Wow, nothin' bad for you in that sandwich, huh?
Some white bread with lard and salt.
Processed cheese, artificial mayonnaise.
Some very fatty luncheon meat.
- And how about salt on those-- - Thanks for the salt, Spenser.
Thanks a lot. It's the cold weather.
I always burn up a lot more calories this time of year.
I suppose you wanna know about your new case.
You don't think there was a m*rder, do you?
As a public servant
I am paid to listen to every responsible citizen's story.
Especially when their daddy happens to be
a very wealthy responsible citizen.
Any credibility at all?
Well, at first the story sounded real.
You know, non-laced, a little grisly touches to it.
And then?
Went to the scene of the crime.
No body.
No body, no blood, no nothin'.
So the kid offers to draw us a picture.
I should've asked for it in the first place
he's a terrific little artist, here.
Check out yourself.
Now, outside of Saturday morning cartoons
when's the last time you saw a k*ller look like that?
Speaking of k*ller, when was the last time
you had your cholesterol checked?
(Spenser) I read the police report over three times
trying to convince myself there might really be a case.
Of course, too much reading about foul play
can make you overly suspicious.
The guys in the brown sedan didn't exactly look like
the neighborhood welcome wagon.
Maybe young Mr. Camden could use my services after all.
- Mr. Spenser. - Mrs. Durrant.
Since you are in Mr. Camden's employ now, Mr. Spenser
you will have no reason to be lurking about
like a common prowler.
The manor is quite open to you.
I'll keep that in mind.
I suppose you'd better meet Rene.
There are several places you have to drive him today.
Mrs. Durrant, I understand that his older brother and mother
were k*lled last year.
Mr. Camden has standing orders.
Nothing's to change.
Everything's to be as it was before.
Let me make something perfectly clear
while you are in charge of Rene's personal safety
the boy is in my charge.
The child is gifted, sensitive, a young romantic
who fantasizes, as all boys of his age do.
Even about m*rder?
That is not for us to determine, is it?
At school Rene's friendless because of his age.
He skipped. He's a year-old junior in high school.
But his artistic acumen has self developed
to university level.
If the boy remains uncorrupted he will become brilliant!
- I encourage him in his art. - Yes, ma'am.
Uh, excuse me, what's the point of all this?
If I should observe any change in the boy
gutter speech, vulgar mannerisms of the like
well, be forewarned, I will not tolerate it.
You watch yourself, Mr. Spenser.
Or believe me, we'll tango!
Probably wanna lead too.
[knocking on door]
Come on in.
Rene? I'm Spenser.
Yeah.
What do you got there?
Hey, bub, you are one hell of a hockey..
...uh, one heck of a hockey player.
Let me help you here.
Oh, you hate the Gators too?
Oh, I hate 'em, hate 'em, hate 'em.
Has Mrs. Durrant seen the inside of this place?
You know, to hear her talk I expected to find you
in a painting smock
and standing in front of an easel
with a skylight, some soft classical music playing.
I think she pretends this room doesn't exist.
Can I ask you a question?
'Sure.'
If you don't believe me about what I saw
why'd you take the case?
Is it the money?
'Who said I didn't believe ya?'
- Well, do you? - Honest?
Honest.
I'm a professional private detective.
I'm, uh, paid to believe you.
So I do.
For as long as I can.
But right now I need to do my job and I could use some help.
Like what?
Well, maybe you could show me the security in the house
you know, alarms, surveillance systems, what ever you got.
That's easy.
There are two ultrasonics in the door, two infrareds
running from the second hallway..
- What do you think? - Rinky dink all the way.
You need me, buddy.
So, what should we do next, Mr. Halls.
Hockey practice.
[indistinct chatter]
[instrumental music]
(Spenser) The nice thing about being overly suspicious
is that it sometimes pays off.
Same sedan.
Now at hockey practice.
Curiouser and curiouser.
Come on RC move! Use your speed.
What're you gonna do against Sidash, huh?
He'll m*rder you if he catches you.
Alright, everybody over here. Let's go.
Alright, pretty good work out, fellas.
Couple of things, Shepard, cover in front of you goaltender.
But watch the cross checking.
RC, don't try to out muscle a bigger player.
'Use your speed and quickness'
and you're gonna come up with the puck.
Alright, that's it for today, fellas. Hit the showers.
Alright.
[indistinct chatter]
Look pretty fast out there. Good moves.
Well, that's not enough if you wanna be real good.
Well, nobody expects you to be Stanley Cup material at .
Well, Billy was.
Billy? Is he your brother?
Yeah.
He was the greatest.
Was he as fast as you?
Well, maybe not as fast, but he didn't have to be.
He could do everything, he was the league scoring champ
in every P three years in a row.
Rene, I want you to do something for me.
I want you to show me where the m*rder took place.
- Why? - 'Cause it's part of my job.
Just like checkin' the security of the house.
I want you to show me just what happened
just like it happened.
Something's happened, hasn't it?
What do you mean?
Well, the police didn't find anything out here
and you didn't even care about seeing this place before.
Something's happened.
Told you before, just doing my job.
Dammit! Don't like to me!
I'm not a baby.
Maybe I can't play hockey as well as Billy could've.
Maybe I'll never be as smart as him.
But I'm not a baby.
And I wish everyone would stop treating me like one.
(Spenser) Alright.
I saw a care when I first arrived at your house.
I saw it again at the hockey rink.
When I went to see who was inside
they drove away in a hurry.
What do you think?
It could be a coincidence.
That's a notion I usually discount
when there's a m*rder involved.
You believe me then?
Someone actually believes me.
So this is where the k*lling took place?
- Yes. - And where were you?
By those trees.
You sure?
I mean, are you absolutely positive?
The woods can be pretty tricky. What's this?
Yeah. Yeah.
Either way, you're a pretty good artist.
Thanks.
So, you saw the k*ller..
...they saw you.
You ran and they chased you, right?
Right.
When they couldn't find you they came back here
and they moved the body.
But to where?
Maybe they took it away in their car.
Well, if they did that..
...they'd run the risk of being seen by a passing motorist
when they carried it up to the highway.
[sighs]
Well that means the body must be around here somewhere.
Yeah, if we're right.
So, if you're gonna be a detective you're gotta start
thinkin' like a k*ller, alright? Where would you hide the body?
Maybe somewhere over that ridge.
Yeah, come on.
[instrumental music]
You alright?
I haven't been this way in a long time.
My brother and I used to come here.
He used to take me ice fishing.
Once I fell off that and twisted my ankle.
Billy carried me all the way home.
I never had a big brother.
I always figured I missed out on something.
[tense music]
Talk to me quick.
Lookin' for an executioner, yeah, professional hitter
uses a small silenced a*t*matic.
There are a whole lot of folk I could name like that.
This guy wears a patch over his left eye.
Well, I will check with Captain Marvel. Who's the customer?
- Uh, James Camden. - James Camden?
As in international financier?
- The very same! - Ahoo!
Old money! Big money.
Looky here, just make sure when you pay me this time
that my bills are freshly minted.
Big denominations, never folded, lots of snap.
You got good seats for the concert?
The lady is not complaining.
I'll check with you in the AM.
Now boogity. Ha-ha.
Spenser.
Looks like I guessed wrong about this one in a big way, huh?
Yeah. You got an ID on the corps yet?
Ah, the body was stripped clean of all identification
we're checking missing persons now.
God! I feel like I owe this kid an apology.
Why don't you give him one, I'm sure he'd appreciate it.
Yeah, look, I'll do it tomorrow
when you bring him by the station
to go over some mugshots. What do you say, around ?
Make it , I've got to make some stops.
- Mr. Spenser. - Mrs. Durrant.
Is Rene in any danger?
Well, it's possible if the k*ller thinks
he can identify him, but that's why I'm here
I'll see to it that he's safe.
So far indications bear out Ms. Ranch's faith in you.
'I don't like you, Mr. Spenser.'
Your lifestyle enmeshed in v*olence
is everything I despise.
But right now I'm glad Rene has you.
Hm. Well, let's double date sometime.
[knocking on door]
Come in.
Hi. Just wanted to say goodnight.
If you need me I'll be down the hall.
- Hey, Spenser. - Yeah?
I guess everyone believes me now, huh?
Yeah, everyone.
- Goodnight, Rene. - Call me RC.
I hate Rene.
My friends call me RC.
Goodnight, RC.
[instrumental music]
I thought we were supposed to be lookin' at mug books?
Well, there's more than one way to find the guy
we're lookin' for, besides, there's somebody else
I want you to meet right now.
- 'Hey, Bobby.' - Spenser, how are ya?
- Nice to see ya. - Good.
- Bobby Orr! - How are you?
- How you doin'? - Great Spenser.
Look, this is, uh, the young man I was telling you about.
Rene Camden. He likes to be called RC.
RC, my pleasure.
Spenser tells me you like to play defense
and he's asked me to give you a few tips.
That is if you're interested.
- Yeah, sure am. - Ah, get the skates on.
Let's get going.
Okay, all the way, you take it.
(RC) 'Alright, now what?'
No one followin' this morning, if they were followin' yesterday
they found somethin' better to do today.
What about the man with the patch?
Question is out, but the inbox is empty.
But life in short in your class money is long
results are predicted.
[phone ringing]
- Anything? - No.
[indistinct chatter]
Double cappuccino, double sugar. Just for you.
[chuckles] Hey, Spenser.
You know there are time when you are a noble human being?
You said you had news.
Yeah, I still got more questions than answers though.
I finally got an ID on that dead John Doe
as the wife filed a missing persons report yesterday.
One Arthur Friar.
Any idea who'd wanna hit him?
Oh, the guy was a nobody.
He worked computing statistics
for some obscure city agency.
His wife have any idea?
Maybe she does, so far we haven't been able to find her.
Don't you find that strange?
No stranger to what I'm gettin' on the kids sketch.
Absolutely nothin'.
And I'm callin' in favors from SID
and other sources I don't even wanna get into right now.
Nobody, nobody knows anything
about a hitman with a patch over his eye.
I'm talkin' blank paper.
(Spenser) At the end of one of Aesop's fables he warned
"Beware lest you lose the substance
by grasping at the shadow."
I thought I'd let Frank Belson grasp the shadow
while I got down to some substance.
First stop was Arthur Friar's house.
Wife around or no wife around
it was worth a quick look.
[instrumental music]
[music continues]
[music continues]
Denise!
Oh, great.
'Denise, you in there?'
'Denise, it's me, Eddie! Hey, sis, open up!'
'Come on, it's cold out here.'
Denise, you in there?
It's no go. He wouldn't answer the door.
He won't give us any answers friendly..
...well, then we'll have to give him ours hard.
(Eddie) 'Denise, it's Ed.'
'I'm gonna wait till you answer.'
He's got a drinking problem.
(Eddie) 'Denise! We have to talk. We need help.'
Please, let me in.
[grunting]
He's a PI.
Named Spenser.
He's too smart for his own good.
Alright, let's tear this place apart!
[clattering]
[clattering]
Nothing.
Burn it.
[tense music]
[fire blazing]
[music continues]
[Spenser coughing]
[music continues]
[glass shattering]
[fire blazing]
[indistinct radio chatter]
[indistinct chatter]
My head is not flat.
So you think there were three of them, huh?
Yeah.
Plus a heard of elephants.
It doesn't look as bad as it probably feels
but I'd come in to get scanned if I were you.
Hm. Okay, thanks.
Ah, the neighbor who saw the flames
and called the fire department
think that the Friar's might've had a windfall about a month ago
came with a lot of money.
So you think this windfall
had something to do with the k*lling?
Well, I wouldn't be surprised.
A lot of money, a dead man
a missing wife.
You know, if we found the guy with the patch
this might start to make a lot more sense.
We got the next best thing.
The Camden boy recognized these two guys
as being with patch during the k*lling.
You know 'em?
This guy was banging on the door
claiming to be Denise Friar's brother.
It's gonna come as a surprise to his parole officer.
We got warrants out for these guys now.
Can I keep these? Hawk's been helpin' me out on this.
Hawk, huh?
Well, I guess we need all the help we can get, huh?
Oh, by the way, when I was inside I came across
I came across some papers.
It seems Friar's on jury duty.
Somebody got acquitted of m*rder.
The dates seem to coincide with the arrival of all the money.
- You know what I mean? - I'll check it out, thanks.
Take care of yourself.
(male # ) 'Come on, keep your left up!'
'Move! Move!'
What did Bobby say to you?
- Bobby who? - Bobby Orr.
Oh, Bobby Orr, he said, uh, "Hey, Spenser, how you doing?"
I said, "Hey, Bobby, you're still lookin' pretty good, kid.
This is Rene Camden who likes to be called RC."
No, after that.
When I was getting dressed, I heard you guys talking.
Oh, after that, well..
he said that you have a lot of potential.
That you looked pretty good, had some good moves.
He also said you were your own worst enemy.
Why?
'Cause you don't use your head.
You don't use the gifts God gave you.
Your speed, your quickness.
What do you suppose will happen to the little guy
who tried to stand toe to toe with that big guy
and slug it out?
- He'd get k*lled. - Yeah.
Just like you're getting k*lled on the ice.
Yeah, well, I'm not always gonna be this size.
But you are now.
RC, you've gotta be yourself.
No matter how hard you try
you can't be somebody else.
Not even your brother.
And form what you've told me about him
I don't think he'd want it that way.
No, th-that's not what I'm trying to be.
It's not..
I know.
(male # ) 'Up! Keep it up. Up, up!'
How do I start?
By learning to use what you've got.
[indistinct chatter]
This guy has been in golden gloves for about four years
has has never lost a fight, and he couldn't even hit me!
You should've been there, Shipley.
Boxing?
Hockey isn't enough?
You've taken this child boxing?
Well, sort of, uh, boxing.
Shipley, you're a very good cook.
My Christian name, Mr. Spenser.
I-I-I had to learn.
I had to take advantage of what I do best.
[gasps]
(female # ) 'You come back here!'
Forget about it!
(female # ) You go out again and I'm lockin' the door behind you!
You do and I'm gonna bust more than the lock on that door
when I get back
Ah!
Well, well. Eddie J.
Be blockin' for some tough man, tough man.
You speakin' to me?
Let's not get rhetorical, Eddie, it's cold out here.
Let's keep it concise.
Okay, what do you want?
I want the name of the one eyed king.
Who is he?
[grunts]
- Come here! - Please!
- You please me! - Okay.
Okay, his name is Donovan.
- I didn't tell you to stop. - Okay.
We were cellmates together.
He was in on a manslaughter rap. No bail.
H-He lost his eye in lock up, during a riot.
H-he got out a month later on a hung jury.
I don't know where he lives, nobody does.
He just calls me up when he needs me.
And he picks me up.
That's all I know.
Walk away!
So, what did Bobby say to you?
- Bobby who? - Bobby who!
Alright, he said I'm playin' better.
- Smarter. - Good.
'Cause you're not big enough to be pushin' guys around
you know?
Yeah, I know.
Mighty casual stroll for a man with a mission.
Ever vigilant. Ever vigilant.
- What you got? - For you, two Bruins tickets.
For you, the name of the freak in the land of the blind.
Hawk!
[intense music]
[g*ns f*ring]
Spenser!
Spenser!
I'm sorry, I-I-I didn't see him.
'He just jumped in front of the car.'
[instrumental music]
(RC) I thought I was gonna be okay.
But I have to stay overnight just in case.
Yeah, well, by the time you get out of here
you're gonna have nothin' to worry about
because he and I are gonna go out
and do what we do best.
After that somebody should advice this boy
about body checkin' large movin' machines.
Hey, by the way, thanks for savin' my life.
Anywho, Eddie J say the Donovan
the one eyed Jack, small timer but good.
- I want this guy! - Unless I find him first.
He is a relic!
Mr. Spenser.
Your incompetence borders on criminal neglect.
I'm going to see to it that you are sued
and never work in this state again.
Anything else?
Mr. Camden is on his way in.
His flight should be arriving shortly.
I don't want you around when he gets here.
It's going to be hard enough for him
seeing his son in this condition.
Consider yourself fired.
You will be, once Mr. Camden arrives.
- Delightful. - Got her tattooed right here.
Look, I put a couple of uniformed officers on
to watch the Camden kid
uh, till we can wrap this thing up.
Is it that close?
With any luck it will be, we did a little bit of checkin'
on that idea you had about Friar and the jury.
Looks like it might pay off.
Well, I owe you lunch for your diligence.
Well, I haven't eaten all day, you better bring
your bank card with you, I'm starvin'.
Seems like your man Friar was on a jury
several months ago, he was the foreman as a matter of fact.
It was a man slaughter case, lasted a couple of months.
Anyway, Friar makes this adamant stand
for acquittal of the defendant.
There's a back log in the court. There's a hung jury.
Anyway, the defendant walks, his name was--
Donovan.
- Did you know? - No, but I'd like to meet him.
- He's the guy with the patch. - Since when?
There was a glitch in the ID system.
He lost his eye while in lock up. During a riot.
They never re-photographed him.
[instrumental music]
(Spenser) There's an old detective maxim
"When all else fails try greed."
Police use it all the time.
They sent out telegrams to the last known address
of wanted criminals.
Telling them they've won a new car or a trip to Hawaii
or just a bundle of cash.
It always seems to work.
I thought it was worth a try for Mrs. Friar.
After all it seemed apparent that Donovan
had bought her husbands vote on the jury.
The question was why did he then wanna k*ll him
and burn his house down?
It looked like a good day for old detective maxims.
Mrs. Friar?
Yes?
Are you the insurance adjuster?
My name is Spenser.
Are you aware that the police is looking for you?
What?
I don't know what you mean.
Your telegram said that you could give me some money today.
For the house. That I had to be her at .
I lied, I'm a private investigator.
What do you want from me?
Can't you see it's all gone?
Everything! Total loss!
What happened to your husband when he was on jury duty?
How did you find out about that?
How is not important.
What's important is that Donovan had your husband k*lled.
Why're you saying these things to me?
Because I wanna know what's going on here.
'There's a young boy out there who's in danger'
because he saw your husband k*lled.
And if you take a look around here you'll see your life
is not all that safe either.
Don't you think I know that?
That's why I went to my sister's in New Hampshire.
Tell me about Donovan.
He sent two men to talk to Arthur
while he was on jury duty during his trial.
'They got to him.'
'Found his price.'
We'd always been down.
I drove him to push it.
I k*lled him. It was my plan to blackmail him.
What?
After the trial..
...after Donovan had paid.
I told Arthur to ask for more money.
I told him to tell Donovan that there was a tape
of the transaction.
There's no tape.
Arthur was only telling him what I told him to.
[instrumental music]
(Spenser) Denise Friar could now tell her blackmail story
to someone else. Frank Belson.
On the way home I decided to stop in at the hospital
and say hello to RC.
It still bothered me that he was the one witness
who could identify the m*rder*r.
Mr. Spenser.
You were told not to come back here.
Mrs. Durrant, my favorite nanny.
I've always had trouble doing what I'm told.
- I-- - I'll handle this, Shipley.
- James Camden, Mr. Spenser. - Camden.
I came by to see how your son was.
That won't be necessary, everything is fine now.
If it was the police wouldn't have left.
What do you mean?
The officers received a message from a lieutenant
telling them there was no longer any danger and they could go!
When? When was this?
Twenty minutes ago.
Sargent Belson's in charge of this case.
I talked to him minutes ago.
He doesn't know anything about this!
Oh, my God!
- What room is your son in? - .
Call the police!
[tense music]
(woman on PA) 'Dr. Goldner. Dr. J Goldner.'
'Please report to obstetrics.'
Get down!
[g*n f*ring]
Get your hands off of me!
Come on.
Don't! Please!
[music continues]
[suspicious music]
Donovan!
[music continues]
[g*n f*ring]
[indistinct shouting]
I'm really glad you could make it.
I know it means a lot to RC.
Well, don't expect too much.
He's the smallest kid on the ice.
You must think I'm a pretty lousy father.
You both took a pretty hard fall last year.
But it's time to start picking up the pieces.
RC's gonna grow up.
With or without you.
He wants so damn much for you to love him.
What do you mean?
Why do think he's working so hard at playing hockey?
He wants you to love him like you loved his older brother.
(man on speaker) 'Ice sticking, number .'
'Two minutes.'
Keep an eye on your son, you may be surprised.
[crowd cheering]
[cheering]
(man on speaker) 'Score one.'
RC Camden.
Alright!
(Spenser) RC had learned well
and so had his father.
Last I heard they were going to the Caribbean to fish.
And in RC's words, do some serious painting.
I had gained two.
Becoming the owner of a Rene Camden original.
It was simply called Watercolor.
[theme music]
[music continues]