:
(male narrator) Tonight on "Spenser For Hire."
Your son sh*t a cop.
If it concerns you, it concerns me.
Can't you stay outta this one? Please?
I ask the questions, and you answer 'em.
Young Ronny gets more of a kick outta
'stealing cars and pushing pills.'
Picked a good day for it.
Quirk's wife was sleeping with somebody else.
- Shut the hell up. - Some guy puttin' you away.
Don't let him do it.
Still have the pictures of your wife?
Damn it, Marty. Whoever it is, he's not worth it.
[g*nshots]
'You're hereby relieved of all duties.'
[theme music]
[music continues]
[music continues]
[music continues]
[music continues]
[instrumental music]
[music continues]
[indistinct screaming]
[grunting]
[upbeat music]
Hey, what the hell you think you're doin'?
Hey!
Hey!
[instrumental music]
[police siren wailing]
[music continues]
[tires screeching]
Freeze!
You got a license for this?
Back pocket.
Spenser.
You're Spenser?
(Spenser) Like all living legends, I guess I was supposed to be
larger than life.
I could see that I was going to have to do
some work in that area.
But meanwhile, in order to pay my bills
I was also doing odd jobs.
Like sitting surveillance at "Harvard Gallery."
The hardest thing about that particular job
was that after I deducted the broken window
the destruction of a brand new bicycle
the damage done to the cab I had to borrow
I was out $. for my effort.
[indistinct arguing]
It was almost enough to convince me
I was in the wrong business.
Until I was reminded of the business I had been in.
Bureaucracy.
I never could understand why it takes so many people so long
to make something good look like a mistake.
That's one of the main reasons the police force and I
had gone our separate ways.
[coin clattering]
The quick, red fox jumped over the..
Forget it.
That's a shovelful, Mac. You know it and I know it.
Hey, I'm just repeating what I hear.
Yeah, well, take it somewhere else, will you?
Now, why are you taking it so personal?
So, the Iron man got rusty, so his seam's a-crooked.
Look, I know Marty Quirk for ten years and he never once--
Never once did anything right.
Never once came to work without his shoes polished.
Never once "Lost his man." Come on, Frank.
Save the benediction for the rookies, will you?
The knees of my pants have worn out from genuflecting.
You got a big mouth, Mac.
Yeah?
Not as big as Marty Quirk's.
- Son of a bitch. - Hey! Get off of me.
What's wrong with you?
[indistinct muttering]
You got a temper, Belson.
What's goin' on?
Yeah.
(Belson) Speed it, will you, Spenser?
I shut the door for a reason.
You slammed it.
Better the door than Mac's face.
Door could probably take more punishment.
It's not the same.
What the hell was that all about?
You're the hotshot PI. Why don't you figure it out?
[exhaling heavily]
Where's Quirk?
- Internal affairs. - What?
Vice has been runnin' down this gamblin' operation
workin' out at a Channel Bar.
Illegal poker machines in video, no less.
It's a big deal. It's worth its weight in quarters.
Marty's homicide. What's he got to do with vice?
"Vice" was getting ready to hit the place last night
and Confiscate the evidence.
Only somebody tipped the boss off
and he pulled his machines out of there.
'By the time our guys arrived'
it was strictly beer and pretzels.
- They're sayin' it was Marty. - 'What?'
"Vice" has been workin' on this one a long time, Spenser.
Stakeouts, wire taps, video tapes.
Where does Marty fit in?
In an by glossy.
They got pictures of 'em in a coffee shop pow-wow
with the punk that loans out the machines.
They snapped a picture the day before the raid took place.
- What's Marty say about that? - Zip.
You ask him a question he dodges it
like Steve Grogan shakin' off a linebacker.
Won't even talk to me.
Stink in room is floatin' around this place like..
...like swamp gas.
People sayin' he
he turned his head for a couple of favors.
Now, you know he don't work like that, Spenser.
We been working together for ten years.
[phone ringing] I'm gonna see we do another ten.
I'm gonna get him out of this.
Whose pocket your supposed to be in?
Horgan.
Ronny Horgan.
Yeah.
No, this is Belson. Who is this?
No, no.
Quirk's not here.
'You read the reports and understand'
'the allegations lieutenant?'
Yes, sir.
And you still refuse to defend yourself?
We have hard evidence, lieutenant.
'Eyewitness testimony, photographs.'
'Refusing to answer our questions'
'doesn't help your case.'
I'm well aware of that, sir.
And you are prepared to accept the consequences?
Yes, sir.
[exhaling heavily]
I'm putting you on suspension, lieutenant.
Pending investigation.
[arbitrary gym noises]
[gasping]
Yeah.
Hawk, you're gonna have to put a little more weight on here.
You're gonna have to get in shape.
Some guy's gonna come along, kick sand in your face
and maybe steal your girlfriend.
You're doin' this for me?
I'm doin' it for myself.
I gotta be seen in public with you every now and then.
Know a guy named Ronny Horgan?
Kid doing kid's stuff.
Heard he used to deal dr*gs to his frat brothers.
Now he's into gambling on the waterfront.
Mm-hmm. South end?
- 'General direction.' - Go for it.
[gasping]
Come on. Come on.
Yeah! Yeah.
I knew you could do it.
I was just showin' off.
How about showing ten more?
[both laughing]
[instrumental music]
The Fort Point Channel must have been a majestic sight
back in the days of the Boston Tea Party.
The only things people toss in the harbor today
are dr*gs and an empty gin bottle or two.
Hawk said that Ronny Horgan worked the waterfront bars
in the south end.
The boys in the south-east said
I'd find him at the Channel park.
And I could recognize him by the flashy
silver sedan he drove.
Even on a silver-grey day, the car stood out
in sharp relief to the rest of the center.
I couldn't figure out how a punk like Horgan could put
a muscle on a man like Marty Quirk.
But, I knew how to find out.
In my line of work, sometimes being brawny is a little more
effective than being brainy.
- Who the hell are you? - Friend of Marty Quirk.
[chuckles]
You find that amusing?
What have you got on him?
Me?
Nothing.
Who planted the rumor about Quirk?
- I did. - Why?
It was convenient.
I picked his name out of a hat.
- Wrong answer. - Wait a minute, now..
Hey, wait a minute!
Look, it's not me.
It's my father, alright?
I don't care what scam you got runnin' here.
I just wanna know why you picked Quirk.
Well, alright.
My father set it up.
Set what up?
He found out that Quirk's wife was sleeping with somebody else.
Who?
I don't know who.
Somebody in one of my father's buildings.
What building?
"Vernon Towers." Beacon Hill.
It cost me $ cash and a half hour of jawing
over a pint of cheap bourbon
before the doorman became cross-eyed enough to recall
Katie Quirk's description
and place it with her room.
It cost me another bucks to convince him not to buzz up
before my arrival.
After all, it was a security building.
[knock on door]
Can I help you?
My name is Spenser. I'm a private cop.
Yes?
I'd like to ask you a few questions.
- About what? - Katie Quirk.
Oh, that's great.
That is just great. It's about time, huh?
Yeah.
Alright, let's do it tonight.
Hit 'em both. One of 'em is bound to turn up roses.
Yeah, look I'll, I'll get it all set up.
Hey, lieutenant.
Set up what, Frank?
Got a tip on Ronny Horgan.
Couple of warehouses down by the river.
We're gonna do it tonight.
Is it solid?
No, It's the first piece of information we had since you..
I don't think it's too good of an idea, Frank.
What're you talkin' about?
I mean, this Horgan thing is a dead end.
Why don't you just leave it?
You're joking!
Horgan's nothing. Forget him.
You're covering up for somebody. Aren't you, Marty?
Who for, somebody on the department?
Damn it, Marty.
Whoever it is, he's not worth it.
Alright.
Alright.
Alright, you don't wanna do anything to help yourself.
You might as well just leave.
I got work to do.
You're a good cop, Frank.
Go home, Marty.
- Spenser. - Hi, Katie.
Is, uh, Marty here?
Oh, no. I'm sorry.
He's, um, committee for neighborhood watch
at Roxbury community.
You know Marty. Some things never change.
Yeah.
Well, actually, I, uh, I wanted to talk to you.
Come in.
What is it?
I just had a long talk with a friend of yours.
Matthew Cousins.
When I spoke with Katie, all I could do is listen.
She needed to talk to work it out with somebody
until it made sense.
I knew just the person.
After...the children left home
I decided to go back to school
and get my degree.
Masters degree in German romanticism.
Sounds pretty foolish, doesn't it?
I know a lot of people who'd be envious.
Oh, no, the truth is I didn't really care about the degree.
I just wanted to get out of the house.
Felt like the walls were closing in on me.
You know, a-all of Marty's friends are cops.
And all of my friends are cops' wives.
And I don't really have anything to talk to them about.
And Matt..
Mathew Cousins, he was a teaching assistant at BU.
And I could talk to him.
I felt he was interested in me.
And for the first time it
in years I felt like someone responded to me.
Is it over, Katie?
Oh, yes.
Several months.
I, I ended it.
Why?
Because I love my husband.
I love Marty.
I mean, he's a career cop.
And he's on call hours a day.
But I realized that the little time that I had with him
just a few hours a day
were the ones that I cherished the most.
It's not that we're used to each other
or that we're comfortable with each other.
It's that I don't want to lose him.
Katie, look, I'm not gonna tell you
that your problems with Marty aren't serious.
But maybe, they aren't irreversible.
The fact that you wanna save your marriage is proof of that.
You've already made that decision.
You don't know Marty.
[dramatic music]
If you did know Marty Quirk, you knew he'd do anything
to protect his family.
Someone was holding Katie's affair over his head.
And I had a pretty good idea who it was.
I knew Hawk could fill me in on just what made the man tick.
Old Philip Horgan is a wealthy man.
Made it in land development, real estate.
- Genuine? - Careful.
Buys up prime property at a bargain price.
One wonders how it got to be so cheap.
Ronny involved in any of this?
Young Ronny and his daddy don't get along. Never did.
Old Philip tried to groom his son for the family business
but young Ronny
gets more of a kick out of stealing cars
and pushing pills.
His choice of occupation didn't make his daddy happy.
So, what does his daddy do about it?
Covers young Ronny's tracks.
Bails him out whenever he gets in trouble.
Keeps it out of papers.
See, daddy's got this corporate image to protect.
Number one son and the rackets
don't read well in the fine print.
Sounds like you know him pretty well.
Hard man to know. Harder man to see.
I'll bet he'll see you.
This guy has something to do with Quirk?
Yeah.
- You gonna tell me what. - No.
You know how much I dislike working for the police?
You wouldn't be working for the police.
You'll be workin' for Marty Quirk.
Huh.
[instrumental music]
Hawk was a rare bird.
I knew he didn't have any affection
for the police department.
But I also knew he respected
men of principle.
Men like Marty Quirk.
He could never say he'd do anything for a cop
but he could never let a power monger like Phillip Horgan
bring down a good man like Marty.
(male #) 'Hawk.'
- You're looking well. - I ought to.
Used to have the same tailor, I found one better.
Wasn't wise of you to come here?
You embarrassed to be seen with me?
Oh, it's a minor indiscretion.
But you have this reputation.
You have an excellent memory.
New project?
This is the biggest hotel development
Boston has ever seen.
In three days, my bid is going to go through with the city
and we're going to start breaking ground.
Mm-hmm. Worth a lot to you?
Millions.
Just what is it you need?
- Your attention. - You've got it.
Back off from Marty Quirk.
- What? - What do you have?
Pictures, videotapes.
What're you after, Hawk?
Whatever you have is not going to help your son
no matter how much juice you think you have.
Marty Quirk falls, Young Ronny falls harder.
Somebody's gonna see to it.
You working for Quirk?
I'm just giving you a message.
From who?
You don't need to know that.
All you need to know, it's gonna happen
just like I say.
Well, you tell whoever sent you that I'm doing
what I have to do for my son.
I love him.
And I'll do anything to protect him.
I wonder...is it your son you're protecting
or yourself.
You found your way in, Hawk.
Find your way out.
And the way back.
[intercom buzzing]
Where the hell is Ronny?
I don't know, Mr. Horgan.
That idiot kid.
[instrumental music]
Come on.
Move it out fast.
[indistinct chatter]
You two guys go down there.
One on the right hand side, one on the left.
Yeah, I got it.
That's the last to bring in here.
Okay, it's gonna hold.'
Bay Police! Freeze!
Freeze!
[tires screeching]
- Cover the other side. - Got it.
Now, get out of that truck!
'Let's go.'
'You heard it, come on!'
Well, look what we got here.
[g*nshots]
'Get the..'
Let's go. Go.
'They sh*t Frank.'
- Get an ambulance. - 'Move it.'
Now!
[siren blaring]
You're gonna be alright. You're gonna be alright.
Hold on. Hold on.
He's awake, he's talking.
'Little to the right.'
Frank, you're gonna be alright.
Sir, we're taking care of him. We need you wait here.
Hang on, Frank.
[indistinct chattering]
How bad is it?
Bad. He took it full in the chest.
They're not sure about internal damage
and they won't be for a while.
- Did he say anything? - Frankie?
All the way in the ambulance.
The medics, they're tryin' to stop the bleeding.
He was goin' on about calling Quirk
and Ted and those machines.
Who did it?
- I'm sorry, Marty-- - Who sh*t him, Joe?
- Ronny Horgan. - Alright, I want an APP.
I want every available man on this.
If you pull them out of their--
Lieutenant!
You're not on this one.
[dramatic music]
- Marty, let's go. - I'm not leaving.
Look, there's nothing you can do here.
- Frank is in good hands. - I'm staying.
Katie's waiting.
Stay out of it, will you?
[dramatic music]
'You gotta talk to her, Marty.'
I know how you feel.
You do, huh?
I think so.
You ever invest years in a marriage
and watch it fall apart after days?
No.
Did you ever raise your kids to respect their mother..
...and they know that something has gone wrong?
But do you know there's no way in hell that you can ever
explain to them what it is?
No.
Then you don't know how I feel.
I don't know about that.
I do know what it is like to wanna do the right thing.
No matter what it does to you.
Well, I don't have any martyr complex, Spenser.
And I don't need anybody to tell me how to run my life.
You, Marty, you count.
You gotta look after yourself
because if you don't, everything you have done with your life
everything you stood for, goes right down the drain.
No, shut up. Shut the hell up.
'You gonna let some guy'
who can't walk in your shoes put you away.
Don't let him do it. Stop him, Marty.
I told you to stay out of it.
Now, it's my life and not yours.
It's your life, okay.
What's it worth if you gonna throw it away
because you can't forgive Katie for one mistake
one mistake in-in years of marriage.
Is that too tough?
Is your male ego so out of..
[grunting]
Oh.
Whatever it takes.
It's one brief moment in time.
'One moment, Marty.'
Damn it, Spenser, I can't let Horgan tell the world.
I can't let my kids know.
You can't let your kids think your whole life is a fraud.
But I don't have a choice.
- Talk to Katie. - I can't.
Then talk to me until you can.
But it's my family, Spenser.
My family. It's a mess, yes, but it's my mess.
And I can't just dump it in somebody else's lap.
Damn it, Marty. What are friends for?
[dramatic music]
It took a lot for a man like Marty Quirk
to come face to face with the problem like the one
he had with Katie.
He wanted some answers.
But he didn't know how ask the questions
to the woman he loved.
I wanted some answers, too.
And I was angry enough not to care much about
what I have do to get 'em.
Especially, since the kind of people will have the answers
I needed were people I didn't find at all loveable.
Howdy, Tex.
We got an occasion?
I'm looking for Ronny Horgan.
- Is he around? - No.
But you'd tell me if he were, right?
Why would I want to do that?
[grunting]
That's one reason.
I got some more if you need it.
- Who are you? - Private cop, name's Spenser.
Who are you workin' for?
Now, let's get the rules to this game straight.
I ask the questions and you answer 'em.
What do you know about a raid that went down this week?
- Nothing. - Word is a cop spilled it.
A homicide lieutenant named Quirk?
Don't believe everything you hear.
Elaborate.
You know what that means?
Ronny.
Ronny got a lot mileage out of that one.
I'm the one who gave him the push.
Who tipped you?
No way, man. No way.
You can do whatever you want to me.
I'm not gonna talk no more.
[dramatic music]
How long have you known?
A while.
How'd you find out?
Someone needed my help.
They had these...pictures.
Where'd they get them?
I didn't ask.
They weren't explicit.
'But being a cop I just checked them all out by myself.'
Then I had these other pictures..
...in here.
But why Katie? Why?
It wasn't your fault.
Marty, I mean, you have to know that.
It's just that, uh, when Debbie got married
'and John moved to a place of his own'
and the house is so..
...empty.
I mean, you have your work and I...I had nobody.
Katie, how can you say something like that to me?
Your work is dangerous.
I'm, I know that and at first you-you didn't tell me things.
'You didn't wanna worry me.'
'I-I loved you for that. It made me feel safe.'
But...over the years it's become a habit for you
to keep things from me.
To shut me out.
'I-I accepted it because it's become a habit with me too'
'and I had the children.'
But..
...sometimes I feel like I..
...I don't belong in your life.
'And if I don't..'
If I don't belong there, I don't know where I belong.
'And I..'
Look, I...I felt lost.
I don't know how to reach you.
And I turned to a friend.
I don't wanna hear that.
For the companionship.
I mean, that's what's been missing.
There's..
There's no us anymore. It's only you and me.
Now, for God sakes, Marty, will you talk to me?
We have to start somewhere.
What if it happens again?
Now, that's up to us.
To us? Katie, you're the one that--
What about you?
What about your affair?
The one that's been going on for years?
- My what? - Your other mate.
The one that you spend most of your time with.
You are not talking about Frank?
I know it's part of your job.
But he comes to dinner three times a week.
There's always a place setting for him at the holidays.
There's clean sheets
'in the spare bedroom.'
Katie, Frank has no family of his own.
And he's my partner.
But what am I?
I mean, I love him too, Marty.
But he has all your time, all your confidence.
And that's all that I've ever wanted.
Oh, God, Katie, Katie.
I don't know how to handle this, Katie.
Together, Marty.
I don't how, either, but we have to do it together.
You see, I'm..
...I'm an old fashioned man.
I got old fashion ideas.
I mean, my suits..
...they are blue, they are brown.
Everything I see is-is black and white.
And I read all the newspapers.
All the right magazines.
I know that the world is changing.
I just feel like..
Well, like it's...changing behind my back.
That's one of the reasons why I love you.
I've been sitting out in front of Horgan's office
for four hours.
A lot of pretty women passed me on their way to work and lunch.
But not one leaned in my window and asked me the time.
Or if I had a match.
Maybe they didn't know I was a gumshoe.
Maybe, I needed to get me a fedora.
Or a trench coat.
Since, I couldn't be in two places at the same time
I asked Hawk to sit on the Channel bar.
We knew Ronny Horgan was a runner.
If he couldn't run to daddy
he'd go to somebody else who might help him.
I didn't know if Hawk was having anymore luck than I was
but I knew he'd hang in there.
Rain or shine.
[dramatic music]
- Hey. Hey, hold it, hold it. - Get your hands off me.
You better get him out of here.
Last night your son sh*t a cop.
My partner.
'I'm here to you tell you, it's not gonna work anymore.'
- I've got you. - Wrong, you had me.
Almost.
You're smart, Horgan.
You set up that meeting with the kid
you tipped off Feis so they would watch Ronny
pass me those photographs of Katie
and take their pictures of their own of a dirty cop.
Well, I still have the pictures of your wife.
And they can still make it into the kids' family albums.
Oh, my wife is a lot stronger than I realized, mister.
And what you got can't hurt us anymore.
When that kid of yours gets caught
you can kiss this land deal goodbye.
'And he's gonna be caught and convicted, mister.'
'I can guarantee you that?'
And nobody in the city of Boston is gonna sell you any land
when I can prove that your kid sh*t a cop.
Uh, Quirk, Quirk, wa-wa..
[chuckles]
Uh..
I'll destroy the pictures.
I want Ron.
He's my son.
Quirk!
Alright, I'll get him to you.
You can have 'em!
Just, uh..
Just wait two more days.
Just until this, uh, this land deal is locked.
This hotel deal will never be closed.
You can go to the bank on that.
[dramatic music]
[horn blaring]
[g*nsh*t]
[g*nsh*t]
[engine revving]
tires screeching]
[horn blaring]
[siren blaring]
[horn blaring]
Ronny Horgan had already tried to see his father.
Chances are he wouldn't show his face there again
but he had to contact him somehow
meet him some place he figured was safe.
After you sh**t a cop, you don't have many people
left who are willing to put a roof over your head.
You're paid to do this, huh?
Sometimes you get paid really good.
Yeah, we ought to get you a man-sized car.
Heater. Only works in the summer time
You air conditioner is dripping this foul grease slime
all over my shoes.
You're a sure fine mess, baby.
The coffee is coat roast.
The croissants are from Richard's.
Now, if you stop complaining long enough
or you're gonna make this front page news sound like good news?
Hold off on that newspaper.
[telephone ringing]
- Yes. - Hello, dad.
'I'm in trouble, dad.'
- Where are you? - I'll be at the Channel Bar.
It's on the water.
And dad..
...I need $,.
- 'You gotta hurry.' - I'll be there in an hour.
'I'm going to take care of this'
'myself this time, Ronny.'
And last time.
Says here, "Why be bald?"
"This procedure ensures almost everyone a full head
of living, growing hair."
You finished?
Anything else work in this classic?
[chuckling]
So, you're ready to tell me about Quirk?
I can't.
- Must be bad. - It's personal.
Old Quirk walks the straight narrow.
You can tell he's a cop two blocks away.
Didn't know he had time to be personal.
Hmm, neither did he.
It's our boy.
[instrumental music]
But it was still to early to make the play.
Marty Quirk's professional life was still on the line.
And the only way to help him now
was to bag both the Horgans.
If Quirk could face up to his personal thing
I figured I could stand a little more
professional discomfort.
You think we got a company?
And if we do, I wonder who sent 'em.
Big daddy.
How you wanna play?
Keep an eye on Tweedledum and Tweedledee. I'm going inside.
Thanks for coming. Ow.
All I have ever gotten from you is misery.
Yeah.
A lifetime of it.
Every time I've tried to bail you
you've tried to tear it down.
Now, it took me seven years.
Seven years to get that hotel deal off the ground.
You've managed to knock it out from under me in two days.
Not all my fault.
Last time, last time Ronny you're gonna screw things up.
Yeah.
Last time.
Dad, just give me the money, please.
Just let me go.
[tapping]
- What'll it be? - Ronny Horgan.
Please, I'm getting out of town tonight.
'I won't come back. Ever.'
Ronny!
[g*nsh*t]
[groaning]
tires screeching]
tires screeching]
[groaning]
[g*nshots]
You picked a good day for it.
[dramatic music]
Ah!
[siren blaring]
Who tipped stoner?
Who told him about the police raid?
[laughing]
Hi, Katie.
- Hi, lieutenant. - Hi.
You're looking good.
You know what, must be my new pajamas.
Horgan is done, Frank.
Both of them.
- Who is dirty money? - Joe Glenn.
'He was a high school buddy of Jack Stoner.'
I gave him a warning. I didn't know it'd blow up in his face.
Who got Horgan?
- Spenser. - What?
- What does Spenser have-- - Frank, you shut up.
That's an order.
That's great, Marty. That's great.
"No evil can befall me."
"By God, I have a son" Christopher Marlowe wrote.
Marlowe never knew the Horgans.
He was one of the lucky ones.
Spenser..
...thank you.
I guess, somebody thinks I'm narrow-minded, huh?
Nah, myopic maybe but not narrow-minded
By the way..
Tell her yourself.
If he doesn't, I will.
(Susan) 'I'm going to see a councilor I recommended in Cambridge.
(Spenser) 'That's good.
'That's your job, huh?'
(Susan) 'Spenser, I don't understand this masculine, ethical code
'that men like Marty Quirk have.'
That you have.
Doesn't make sense to me.
Oh, it makes sense to me.
It has to do with priorities.
To yourself, to your job. people you loved.
Uh, talking about a misguided sense of honor
it's going too far if it destroys the happiness
of two people who love each other.
That worries me.
Well, that worries me too.
There's hope for you, after all.
What?
[chuckling]
I'm cold.
Well, not for long.
Not for very long.
[theme music]