01x19 - Angel of Desolation

Episode transcripts for the TV show, "Spenser: For Hire". Aired: September 20, 1985 – May 7, 1988.*
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American crime drama series based on Robert B. Parker's Spenser novels.
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01x19 - Angel of Desolation

Post by bunniefuu »

(male narrator) Tonight on "Spenser, For Hire."

I sh**t a guy on your behalf and you tell the cops

that I don't work for you?

I've always wanted to see

a genuine private eye work with clues.

Getting ready to play the famous hirin' scene.

You know what I want?

Mindless, passionate, love.

It's very interesting, doctor. A little lower to the left.

(Hawk) She ain't no princess. She's just another hooker!

Leave me alone. I know what I'm doing.

Don't stand so close to Spenser.

You stand next to trash, you're likely to get trashed.

[g*nshots]

[theme music]

[music continues]

[music continues]

[instrumental music]

[music continues]

(Spenser) She was...quintessential.

The most photographed woman in Boston.

Married to one of the richest men in the world.

And she feared for her life.

Her name was Deidra Carlisle.

And she hired me to keep her alive.

Anyone who reads the society pages

or the supermarket tabloids

knows Deidra Carlisle.

Deidra was one of the hottest models in New York.

One day Marcus Carlisle came to town on business

for the family bank. They met.

And three days later, Cinderella had married

the prince and moved to Beacon Hill.

Since she asked me to protect her

nothing much had had happened.

That was a mystery.

She couldn't or wouldn't tell me

who or what she was afraid of.

That was a mystery too.

Ten days passed and nothing happened.

Well, that's when I'm at my best.

And then Deidra's husband came home.

She and I met him at the airport.

Deidra explained who I was on the way to the bank.

Well, if you'd like to step inside, Mr. Spenser

we'll prepare a draft and have it cashed for you right away.

How do I know the check's good?

[truck engine starts]

Honey, that's not the service we use.

[g*nf*re]

Forget about the check.

[Deidra sobbing]

(Deidra) 'No!'

[sobbing]

Alright..

[instrumental music]

[music continues]

[music continues]

[siren blares]

[music continues]

[tires screeching]

[g*nshots]

Spenser, what's going on?

They're the bad guys!

[g*nshots]

Ow!

[tires screeching]

[indistinct chattering]

Damn!

[instrumental music]

When the dust finally settled

it occurred to me that I never got my check.

I thought I should stop by

and discuss that with the Carlisles

among other things.

Of course you did exactly the right thing

in going for help if you were frightened, Deidra.

But we have family lawyers for problems like that.

Or even the security officer at the bank.

I got sh*t at with the Carlisles this morning.

I think that makes it okay to drop by without an invitation.

- Spenser? - Well, that's a relief.

Beg your pardon?

You remembered my name.

Lt. Quirk in Homicide calls your bank

and your secretary tells him that

I'm not working for your wife.

That kind of rejection gives me an identity crisis.

Well, it seemed best.

We're a low key sort of family, you know?

Low key is the one they're gonna throw away

after they lock me up.

I sh**t a guy on your behalf and you tell the cops

that I don't work for you?

Tea, Mr. Spenser?

Or do private eyes drink chamomile?

Warm beer usually.

(Marcus) 'This is my sister, Alicia.'

Oh, you spoiled it, Marcus.

I wanted to see Mr. Spenser figure it out.



Are you good with clues, Mr. Spenser?

I've always wanted to see

a genuine private eye work with clues.

Well, sometimes we work with clues.

Usually we work with people

'which I'm trying to do at the moment.'

Like why would two people want to k*ll you and your wife?

I told the police everything I know

which is absolutely nothing.

You don't seem to feel much either considering that

two guys tried to cut you into little pieces

with a*t*matic w*apon fire this morning.

Actually, my theory is that they were after you.

A vendetta from you mysterious past.

Marcus and Deidra, were just..

...innocent bystanders. What do you think, Mr. Spenser?

Well, it's always a possibility.

Actually, I'd like to know what Deidra thinks.

'Seeing how she's the one who hired me to keep her alive.'

And don't think we are not appreciative

for your good efforts, Mr. Spenser.

Dropping by allows me to thank you personally.

Plus a bonus for what you did today.

I don't want a bonus, I want an answer from my client.

I was lonesome for my husband and I overreacted.

Everything's fine now.

Now, if you will excuse us

we have some family business to attend to.

You don't care who hired these two guys?

We'll handle that ourselves, Mr. Spenser.

Your services are no longer required.

If you change your mind..

Spenser?

Thank you.

Sure.

I'd been paid off and dismissed

which is much better than just being dismissed

but annoying anyway.

Spenser!

Ah-ha! Sublimation.

You're hanging out with that

psychology professor again, haven't you?

Yes, Lord.

Ebony lady says

she loves my unfettered autonomy.

Those Harvard people will say anything.

Goodness gracious, you working out hard today.

Delayed stress reaction.

Somebody tried to k*ll my client today.

Got himself k*lled instead.

Ah, that'd be one Pat Brady.

The one who went splat in the middle of the avenue, huh?

You know him?

'We getting ready to play the famous hirin' scene.'

Sorry, I'm out of it.

With the evil doer still afoot?

Dismissed with a fat check

and a thin smile.

One out of two ain't bad, babe.

Unfortunately for me though

I was planning to cover my expenses

with a Jamaica run with the ebony Harvard lady

with the not so subliminal set of desires.

Well, I'm sorry, I'm out of it.

'No regrets right, too, huh?'

'You be anymore blase about being fired'

you throw that weight clear through the ceiling.

Ha ha!

[instrumental music]

[music continues]

(Susan) 'When I said I wanted to be a therapist'

this wasn't exactly what I had in mind.

Sound body, sound mind.

Aah, whatever you want.

Just ask.

You still worrying about Deidra?

Deidra? Who?

[exhales]

Because I was thinking.

You know, she might just be a hysterical personality.

That wouldn't make her fear any less real.

Hmm, well, those b*ll*ts this morning sure were real.

Just think about how all this started.

I mean, first of all her husband's away in Europe.

- That's a symbolic rejection. - Yeah.

And she's placed in a life threatening situation.

Mm-hmm.

Then this big thug, who some women might

possibly find marginally attractive

shows up and rescues her.

It's very interesting, doctor. A little lower to the left.

So she starts projecting what..

...going to bed with this big thug might be like

and then she starts believing the story she fabricated.

You did say anything I want, didn't you?

You don't even have to ask.

[phone rings]

If you answer that, I may break your arm.

Oh, yes. The sexual nuance of v*olence.

No, no, no.



Spenser.

Spenser, it's Deidra.

Uh, what is it?

Please, just come to the house.

And hurry.

It's Marcus.

[sobbing] Marcus is dead.

[siren blaring]

"The seat of desolation void of light"

wrote Milton in "Paradise Lost."

Is that what Marcus Carlisle contemplated

just as the b*llet hit his head?

Where was all your gold, Marcus?

All your stocks, bonds

as your spirit winged to the darkness?

Did they wing with you?

Probably not.

Probably didn't matter much to Marcus anymore.

Holy Toledo, it's cold! What's the matter, Spenser?

Can't you arrange these murders at a warmer time of day?

Good for your diet, Frank.

Cold air burns up more calories.

His name was Marcus Carlisle, sh*t at close range

no sign of the m*rder w*apon.

This is the husband of the woman you were

protecting yesterday afternoon?

Yeah.

Wasn't she in the house with him, or what?

Along with the maid, and Jeffery

Mrs. Carlisle's chauffer.

Yeah?

Mrs. Carlisle was upstairs.

Heard a sh*t, came downstairs

found her husband in the library.

What's it look like up there, Sam?

Well, the wife's got blood all over her.

Yeah, well, she took him in her arms when she found him.

I figured the guys who took a sh*t at him at the bank

this morning came back to finish the job.

Wasn't the wife who was in danger, it was the husband.

For someone who wasn't even on the property at the time

you sure got some mighty firm opinions.

[laughs] I knew it just wasn't me, Spenser.

The whole world adores you.

Alright, get on it, Frank. Come on.

Right, right, I'm on it.

(Spenser) 'His sister.

Spenser, what is it?

Someone sh*t Marcus, he's dead.

Oh, no.

Oh, my God.

Marcus?

Deidra. Is she alright?

Where is she?

She's inside, I wouldn't say she's alright.

She's the one who found the body.

Who's in charge of the investigation?

I am, and you are?

Bill Langford, Miss Carlisle's attorney.

Lieutenant Quirk. Homicide.

Deidra..

Oh, it's a terrible nightmare.

'But we'll go through it together.'

Deidra, this is Lt. Quirk.

'He'd like for you to come down'

to police headquarters to give a statement.

The officer told me. I'm ready.

I was afraid.

And Marcus was the one who had to die.

Come on.

The last time I'd seen Pat Brady

he was looking for a cab.

He found it.

The police didn't have a file on him

but a phone call to a friend in motor vehicles

gave me his last address.

I'd seen the super rich in their grief.

Now, I was with the not so rich in theirs.

There wasn't much difference.

Excuse me, are you Tim Brady? Pat's father?

Yes.

Are you a friend of my boy?

My name is Spenser.

Uh, they told me at the house that you'd be here.

I don't think I've met you before, but then..

...my Pat had so many friends.

'You look like you might have played football'

with him at All Saints.

Actually, um, I knew Pat after school.

Oh, from his new job?

Lord, after all the fights we had about him

not amounting to anything and then he..

'He gets a terrific job like that and..'

Excuse me, I..

...got to fill out an order.

[sighs]

(male #) 'Spenser.'

Showing up while Pat's father picks out a casket.

Hello, Casey.

You know, I could recommend



an excellent group therapy program for ya.

Raise your awareness and sensitivity levels incredibly.

Maybe I'm just sensitive to unfinished business.

You know if you could focus that determination

into an organized flowchart

you might be able to really maximize your potentials.

'Make something of yourself.'

Is that what Pat Brady was doing?

Maximizing his potential?

You know it's too bad.

The wrong man wound up dead in that street.

It's wrong when any man winds up dead in the street.

Goodbye.

Goodbye.

I noticed you talking to Mr. Casey.

An old friend of Pat's too?

Well, he's the one who gave my Pat his big job.

Working for him in his insurance company.

'Blessed friend he is.'

'He is paying for my son's funeral.'

Though I just met him today myself.

Thanks for your sympathy. Goodbye.

Coincidence is always possible.

It happens in Dickens. It happens in life.

But Mitch Casey was a bad man.

And Pat Brady worked for him.

As much as I enjoy Charles Dickens, I felt, well

a professional loyalty to guys like Raymond Chandler

and Dashiell Hammett.

They didn't much believe in coincidence.

They were telling me to keep my g*n handy because

Mitchell Casey was in this up to the lapels

on his vicuna coat.

How do you expect to stay at the top of your profession

if you don't do your own work?

Don't need lays if we don't run away.

Or if you're smart enough to let the fools come to you

which brings me to the point, what do you want?

Remember a guy named Mitchell Casey?

Mean as they come.

All him college degrees didn't make

his personality any brighter.

Pat Brady was one of his boys.

'Carlisle and Casey got two things in common.'

Education and money. Mostly cash money.

Casey is rich as the Carlisles?

Come on. Nobody's rich as the Carlisles.

Not yet, as long as some fools think his high-toned status

to sniff his imports, he's on his way.

They don't strike me as the type of family

that'd be involved in dr*gs.

Right. Too grubby for them genteel hands.

[tires screeching]

Get way from my car.

[g*nshots]

Think that Casey had anything to do with that?

I'm sure gonna find out.

What does it take for probable cause for you, Spenser?

Marty, great news.

If that has anything to do with my client, it doesn't fly.

Your client. Always protecting your client, right?

And they are always so damn innocent.

Well, not this time, Spenser. We got her good.

Martin, we found the m*rder w*apon

the g*n, not yards from the house.

It was on the ice in the Charles river.

Somebody threw it into the river except it landed on the ice.

Couple of kids turned it in.

I'm a humanitarian. Do you want to tell him?

- You want me? - Tell me! I'm tellin' you, pal.

'The best part is, the g*n happens to be registered'

to Mrs. Deidra Carlisle.

Yeah, the housekeeper saw it in the bedroom

not two hours before the husband was m*rder*d.

What do you think about that?

It stinks, Frank.

This whole, lousy, rotten business..

...stinks.

Apparently, Alicia Carlisle made a few phone calls

to people with unlisted numbers, you know, the big people

assuring them that justice would not be served by

indicting her sister-in-law.

That the only thing that would be hurt

would be the family's name.

And that she would appreciate if they'd just forgot

the whole thing which apparently they did.

[scoffs] You mean we're not even gonna arrest this dame

for murderin' her own husband?

Marty's right. It does stink.

There's only one way to clear the air.

I told you everything we had to say at the press conference.

Will there be an indictment against Mrs. Carlisle?

Mrs. Carlisle has been completely exonerated.

No charges have been pressed. No charge..

(female reporter) Did political pressure cause this?

I don't know anything about any political pressure.

No comment on any of these allegations.

(male reporter) Who do you think k*lled your husband?

Mrs. Carlisle has nothing to say.

'Nothing at all. Thank you very much.'



I didn't have much time to wonder about the twisted fate

that saw the charges dropped against Deidra Carlisle

because not two hours after she walked out of the courthouse

I got a phone call from her.

Her voice had the same urgency it had when she hired me.

And she was just as frightened.

You know, it's not over yet.

Yes, it is. It has to be.

They can change their mind and indict you any time.

You know, the last time I got a check

Marcus was telling me to get off the case.

Very nicely, of course, but still f*ring me.

So am I?

Don't you see, even if they don't try you

for Marcus's m*rder, this way everybody thinks you k*lled him.

- You gotta let me-- - Damn it, Spenser.

Why won't you listen?

Why won't you hear what I'm sayin'?

You've got to quit.

You've got to leave this alone.

Why?

Because there's nothing more you could do to help me, Spenser.

Nothing.

I did it!

I k*lled him!

[instrumental music]

Confession may or may not be good for the soul

but in my detective manual it says

it's supposed to solve problems.

Deidra's didn't. It raised new questions.

Had another flaw too.

It just didn't sound like the truth.

Thank them for their condolences.

And assure them that I personally will be

at the board meeting in Zurich.

Spenser, you do have the rather taxing habit

of entering rooms without knocking.

I'm saving my hands for the violin.

What about you? What are you saving Deidra for?

Raymond, will you send those cables for me?

And we will finish the rest of this later.

Thank you.

[sighs] I don't have a secret, Mr. Spenser.

I didn't try to hide what I did.

'My brother is dead.'

All I have left is his memory, and the family name.

And neither will be served by Deidra being tried for m*rder.

She confessed to me.

She confessed to me too.

'That was the price I exacted for saving her.'

You believe her. I don't.

I want to. You don't.

She revealed her big secret right in front of the chauffeur.

That's not too bright, would you say?

[sighs] 'Deidra has not had the advantages'

'that some of us have.'

She doesn't understand about help.

She insisted that Marcus hired Jeffrey

and then, she proceeded to turn him into her pet.

And, uh, you didn't want that, did you?

I mean, a, a servant for a pet, right?

Do you know what I want? Really, Mr. Spenser?

To get about three bottles of very good champagne

'check into a nondescript hotel'

and spend the rest of the afternoon

making mindless, passionate love.

'What do you say?'

No, you'd probably just cut my hair off while I slept.

Oh, my dear, Samson.

Deidra is guilty.

Do you have any thing other than a historical confession?

Yes, but I won't tell you.

I'm a prejudice source, remember?

- Who will tell me? - 'Bill Langford, our lawyer.'

'You might ask him to give you Marcus' personal file.'

I think you'll find it terribly disappointing.

It's tiresomely common.

Spenser?

Alicia Carlisle told me you'll be coming to see me

but I had no idea it would be so soon.

Well, I have a propensity for instant gratification.

She also tell you what I'd be asking?

Oh, she had to.

Otherwise I couldn't help you.

The information is confidential.

- Marcus' estate. - Marcus' divorce.

- Marcus is getting a divorce? - Yeah.

He came to see me.

He explained that the marriage was impetuous, a mistake.

Asked me to talk to her.

I was authorized to offer her a million in cash

plus a handsome amount of support.

Considering they were married, uh, less than a year

it was extraordinary generous.

Not to mention romantic.

Did you ask her for the divorce?

Yes, unfortunately.

I say unfortunately, because a week later

that young man was dead.

How much was that young man worth?



His personal fortune?

Oh, I guess in excess of $ million.

I suppose some jurors might consider $ million dollars

a motive for m*rder, wouldn't you?

The enticing thing about higher education

lunching in exclusive surroundings.

Hawk, how are you?

You can save the charm for the whores of IV, Casey.

- This is not a social call. - Business?

Three thousand dollars worth.

Hawk, I don't know what the hell's on your mind

but I do know this is not the right time or place.

Just as good for me as it was for you this morning, huh?

Your boys should know what I carry under this jacket.

This morning has nothing to do with you.

[sighs] Maybe you should let it be a part of your own

liberal arts education.

You stand next to trash, you're likely to get trashed yourself.

You watch your mouth, and I suggest

that you indulge me while I'm still being nice and polite.

Three thousand dollars, for what?

For raising my stress quotient and damages to my wardrobe.

[chuckles] Your wardrobe?

And my time.

You see, it takes very expensive time

to fit a suit to hide the gleam of a*tillery.

Would you like a lunchtime demonstration

of my tailor's remarkable skill?

- Done. - Brilliant.

The university should be proud of such a bright son.

'Hawk.'

'Take it as a good will of gesture.'

And be smart yourself. Don't stand so close to Spenser.

'There's no need for you to be buried in a $ suit.'

Did Sam Spade ever have this dilemma?

Was there anything in Dashiell Hammett's imagination

that can help when your client confesses m*rder most foul

and has a damning motive thrown in at no extra charge?

I was back where I started, except this time

I wasn't being paid.

It's one thing to be resolute but it's a thin line

between resolution and being a chump.

I hadn't decided yet which side of the line I was on.

What I learned by following Deidra

didn't helped the decision.

Just because the police couldn't officially

investigate Deidra Carlisle

didn't mean they couldn't unofficially encourage me.

I didn't ask Frank Belson if being the assistant

to a private cop was the high point of his career.

And what I learned was that Deidra Shelford, Jeffrey Miller

had done time for second degree man slaughter.

Pieces were beginning to fall into place.

And the picture they were forming looked a lot like..

...being a chump.

m*rder classically is a crime of passion.

Maybe Deidra Carlisle had taken a leaf

from "Lady Chatterley's Lover."

Maybe she'd fallen in love..

...or at least passion with her chauffeur.

And maybe that passion had ended in m*rder.

Because if Deidra Carlisle k*lled her husband

she hadn't done it alone.

Not, and have the m*rder g*n found in the ice

in the Charles River, yards from the house

when I arrived minutes after Marcus was sh*t

and found Deidra with dry feet.

It was a mystery.

But then as I often say with a right twist of my mouth

that's how I earn my living.

When I saw Deidra embrace the chauffeur

who lived downstairs in the same house

tumblers clicked.

[instrumental music]

[engine starts]

I wanted to chortle.

Spenser, you sly dog, you've done it again.

I didn't, of course.

Chortling being bad for the macho image.

What do you mean opening my door?

Don't you have no upbringing at all?

Oh, yes, ma'am.

Uh, my name is Spenser. I'm a...private investigator.

I'd like to talk to you about Jeffrey.

Yeah, could be in some trouble.

Trouble is nothing to talk about in the cold air.

You'd best come in and have a seat.

Less fuss, and more genteel, polite besides.

My name is Evelyn Carter.

- You said yours was Spenser? - Yes, ma'am. Spenser.

- These your children? - And grandchildren.

Ah! Is Jeffrey among them?

No, but he treats me a whole sight better than some of them.

- How long have you known him? - Raised his mama.

Took him in when she d*ed. Jeffrey was just four years old.

He wasn't real bright, but he's never been bad, not really.

What kind of trouble is it?

Oh, it's pretty serious. Maybe you can help him if--

- It's about Deidra, isn't it? - Deidra Carlisle?

'Hmm, what she calls herself now?'



I warned him. Don't take that job.

Don't go to work in that house. It's trouble.

'Bad trouble like he had before on account of that woman.'

- When he went to jail? - All over her.

- It's no secret around here. - Oh, what happened?

'Somebody made a remark about Deidra. Like men do.'

'And that boy just go crazy.'

'No matter who it is'

he just loses his mind when they talk about her

specially when the man be black, and she being so lily-white.

Giving him the job of the chauffeur might be

her way of, uh, helping him out.

It's hard to come by good jobs

when you got a record like Jeffrey's.

Jeffrey don't need charity. She knows that.

'He's just a little slower is all.'

'Always takes him a little bit longer maybe.'

But that boy is not stupid.

He's just as smart as anybody

when it comes to the things that count the most.

Well, it sounds like he and Deidra go back a long way.

I notice you got her picture right there

'along with your own family.'

What the world is it is.

'You take the bitter with the sweet.'

- How did you meet her? - Her mama put her in my arms.

- You knew her family? - 'Didn't know her daddy.'

He was too good for us too.

Now she sends a check every month, but I tell Jeffrey

"You give it back to her." Sends a check like its welfare.

[chuckles] But you didn't see me at the wedding.

'You didn't see any of us.'

Oh, has it been very, uh, painful, uh..

...I mean, you working for her family and all?

Working for her family? That girl is my family.

My grandchild.

My blood.

To all the world, Deidra Carlisle had been

the golden girl. Cinderella.

The successful New York model who had married

into one of the wealthiest families in America.

But in a less glamorous section of Boston

an old woman had told me the truth about Deidra's past.

I wondered how much of this Deidra had told her husband.

And when?

This Carlisles don't seem like the most enlightened folks.

Just think how they felt when they discovered

a woman of color married into that white enclave.

So when Deidra said her life was in danger

she sure wasn't kidding.

That's what you might call ironic.

'Cause folks like the Carlisles brought African people

to this country in the first place

'during the ever popular Triangular Trade.'

Molasses is the rum of the slaves

from the West Indies to the colonist Africa.

'Do you think the fair Deidra did her daddy in'

and sh*t him through his white hair in a fit of passion?

Well, it's a possibility.

'Either that, or Jeffrey did it? She's covering for him.'

Damn! You private investigators sure are smart.

Oh, heck, we speculate with the best of 'em.

You know what to do?

Yeah.

[sighs]

Something I can do for you?

I got a question for you, Mr. Jeffrey.

What's that?

Whether you think the fair Deidra Carlisle

can handle a stretch in the joint like the one you did?

I don't know you.

But I know you.

You put on one of those little jacket suits

and stand out front with a lantern in your hand

if old master told you to, wouldn't you?

Or especially for a woman passing for white.

Ah! See that gets you goin', don't it?

Woman like that.

You'd jump through any hoop she hold up for you, wouldn't ya?

Who are you? What you come here for?

Don't let that woman put you away for good, man.

See, you're confused. She pulled a trigger.

She did the man just to get his money.

- Let her take her own fall. - You a cop?

That still don't give you no right to talk that way, man.

I'm just another brother, man.

A brother that sees clear the way you feel.

And I know you can't go on living like this.

It's a lie, man. It's a lie.

Put the woman where she belongs.

She been faking it all her life.

Struttin' for any hunk who could keep her in style.

- Yo, man, stop it. - No, you gotta stop it, man.

Hey, you stop selling yourself for a phoney

color-struck soft leg, do whatever it takes

to live like a princess in some rich, white dude's castle.

Well, hey, man. She ain't no princess.

She's just another hooker

sellin' it to the highest bidder.

You, listen to me, brother.



I ain't no schoolboy whacked out on a bone of weed.

I come here to get you straight, man.

Now the woman k*lled her own husband. Stop playing a fool.

She didn't k*ll him.

- She loved him. - And you hated him, right?

Man, he was good though. How could I hate him?

'Cause he had the woman, and as long as he was alive

'you couldn't have her, ain't that right?'

We'll let the cops take it from here, Hawk.

I didn't k*ll him. She did.

My, my, my. You do blow in the wind, Jeffrey.

I thought you said she loved him too much.

Not Deidra. It was Alicia.

Alicia wasn't even there.

Oh, she was. I saw her.

- When? - 'After the g*nsh*t.'

I was in the kitchen.

Housekeeper asked me to have a look at the dishwasher.

See if I could fix it.

[g*nsh*t]

I knew Deidra was afraid somebody was trying to hurt

her, I mean, especially after they took a sh*t at her

and Mr. Carlisle in front of the bank.

I wanted to see where the g*nsh*t came from.

[dramatic music]

I saw somebody coming out of the library.

It was a woman.

Miss Alicia, but she didn't see me.

Then, uh, I didn't know what to do.

I mean, I wanted to run, but I couldn't.

So I went to go see what she was running from.

'I got to the library and Deidra got there at the same time.'

We opened up the library door.

Saw Mr. Carlisle layin' next to the g*n he bought for Deidra.

- And you took the g*n? - I had to.

I mean, I knew what Miss Alicia was trying to do.

Frame Deidra?

Why? Why would she wanna k*ll her own brother?

(Jeffrey) 'Hey, man. I don't know.'

All I knew was that I was a black ex-con

in a rich, white family's house.

There wasn't no way nobody was gonna believe me what I saw.

So I didn't tell nobody what I saw.

Except Deidra.

No, not Deidra neither. Till after they took Deidra away.

Then I went to Miss Alicia, and I told I wrote down

everything I saw, and I gave it to somebody.

And if she didn't helped Deidra

I told that somebody to go to the cops

'no matter what happened to me.'

- She said you were smart. - Who?

(Spenser) 'Deidra's grandmother, Evelyn Carter.'

She's the one you gave the letter to, right?

That don't matter, man, the only reason I told you

what I did was so that you'd leave Deidra alone.

Well, I'm sorry, Jeffrey. I can't do that.

- You got to. She's free now. - Wrong, brother.

She's not free, and neither are you.

Long as she can sic them dogs

back on you anytime she wants to.

Take the help that's being offered to you.

Ain't nothing you can do. Ain't nothing nobody can do.

(Hawk) 'You can stand up, man. You can take that woman down.'

- How? - Tell it like you saw it.

Tell the truth.

Man, it don't matter what's true. Don't you understand that?

It don't matter what's right or wrong.

Ain't no way nobody gonna take the word of a man like me

over the word of a woman like her.

I do.

(Spenser) 'Hello, Deidra.'

A little weekend on Palm Beach, maybe.

[sighs] Thank you. I'm good.

I decided to move back to New York.

Spenser, I'd like to talk to you but..

...I'm leaving tonight, and there's lots of things--

My guess is that Alicia told you

she'd make charges against Jeffrey stick

unless you agreed to the terms she dictated, right?

She knew about Jeffrey's record.

About your relationship in the past.

What do you mean?

I met Grandma Evelyn today.

'And Jeffrey told me what he saw.'

It was Alicia you were afraid of when you hired me, wasn't it?

She offered me a million dollars if I divorced Marcus

'and just leave before he came back from Europe.'

I told her that I loved him.

She didn't wanna hear that.

- Did you tell Marcus? - Mm-hmm.

On the night that he d*ed. He said he didn't care.

He said that he wouldn't let Alicia hurt me.

But he's gone now, and I'm still afraid, Spenser.

For Jeffrey now, as well as me.

Please, just leave me alone. I know what I'm doing.

You're protecting the woman who m*rder*d your husband.

I can't fight her. Who am I?

You're the woman Marcus Carlisle loved enough to die for.

You asked me for my help? Now, let me give it to you.

[dramatic music]



I thought I told you to stay out of this house.

- Yes, ma'am. - What are you doing here?

It's my fault, he was just showing me

where your brother was when you sh*t him.

- Who are you? - 'He's a friend.'

Probably one of the best ones I've had in a long time.

He's also Mitchell Casey's friend.

We've all been comparing notes.

Well, you all can just get the hell out of this house

before I call the police.

(Spenser) 'Oh, they've already been called.'

And they're almost as interested in the accounts

Casey keeps with your bank, as they are with the statements

Jeffrey's prepared to make about what he saw the night

your brother was m*rder*d.

Have you lost your mind?

No, ma'am. Let's just say I found my pride.

You all seem to know what's going on here.

Escapes me. I'm calling my lawyer.

My gut's saying now he's a co-conspirator.

I wonder how long he'll lie about Marcus wanting a divorce

from Deidra after he reads Jeffrey's statement.

Also when he knows about the laundry business your bank's

been doing with Mitchell Casey's dirty drug money.

He might wanna get his answers ready for the D.A.

(Spenser) 'Marcus wanted out of that arrangement, didn't he?'

That's why Casey tried to hit him in front of the bank.

And why Marcus didn't want me digging for more information.

[sighs] You disappoint me, Spenser.

You struck me as reasonably intelligent

but you prefer to take the word of a convicted felon over mine.

Now if you press this further, I think you're going to find

that you're distinct minority of one in the state.

It's not just Jeffrey's word. It's also Deidra's.

You don't know Deidra. She has all she wants now.

Enough money so that she need never mix

'with her own kind ever again.'

Not that I blame her.

She blames herself, Alicia..

'...for living a lie..'

...for not being able to tell the truth.

My lie is over now.

And so is yours.

[instrumental music]

[siren wailing]

The lady you want is inside.

Take Mrs. Carlisle downtown, Frank. I'll wrap this up.

So thanks for your help.

I owe you.

How's that?

Everybody has to come home again.

That's where you lost me.

You never had a dangerous fence.

Fair Deidra had it.

She lived it.

I never could.

Did I ever tell you about my fantasy?

No, but I know it's not gonna stop you.

- No, I'm sure you're gonna-- - Come on, man, drive the car.

Driving the car is exactly what it's about.

- The pole position-- - Oh!

Gentleman, start your engine.

You know what I mean. I mean think about it.

The chance to go..

[instrumental music]

[theme music]
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