02x13 - The Ghost Writer Part 3

[bunniefuu]

I think these walls will

probably be plastered.

What is he doing?

Jim Sullivan brought

his architect today.

I guess to discuss how

to rip this place down

and turn it into condos.

We can't just sell the store.

There has to be another way.

Ruben, trust me.

We have tried everything

we can think of.

Don't make this harder

than it needs to be.

Who's ready to write? Gross.

- He's here again?

- [RUBEN] Yep.

And he brought an architect with him.

I can't believe this guy's gonna turn

my grandparents' building into condos.

Grandma always said how excited

they were the day it opened.

And how about when we

went back to the '50s

when we saw Sarah and all the

kids from the neighborhood?

This place is a huge

part of people's lives.

Then we need to save it.

Curtis, what are you talking about?

- How?

- I don't know.

But you know how Owen always says

how you need to be persistent

to solve cases?

Well, so do we. We can't give up.

Persistence is great and all,

but that doesn't solve

our immediate problem.

Grandpa needs money

to renovate the store.

I think I know how we

can come up with money.

Finish the book.

How will finishing the

book give us money?

Once we find Mason

Briggs' lost manuscript,

publishers will want to

pay big bucks for it.

And think about the press.

People will come to the

bookstore to check it out.

We can do this.

Ruben?

Let's go for it.

And no offense, G.W., but we're

not doing this for you anymore.

We're doing this to save the bookstore.

This is so fun. Camping

out in the bookstore.

It's so eerie. We should tell

ghost stories or something.

Who needs ghost stories when

we have an actual ghost?

Good point.

Plus, we're here for a reason.

Yeah.

We have a late night of writing

ahead of us, so let's get going.

[MS. REYNA] Hi, kids!

Uh, it's your mom. Hide everything.

[BOTH GRUNT]

I thought you could use some food.

- Is that caramel corn?

- Mm-hmm.

Thanks Mom.

- You can leave.

- I get it.

You don't want your mom getting

in the way of your special night.

It's really sweet of you all

to wanna camp out here

as a way to say bye to the store.

Well, this place means a lot to us.

Yep. This is gonna be great. See ya.

[CHUCKLES] Okay.

If you need anything,

I'll be downstairs for a while.

Grandpa and I have a

lot of organizing to do.

[RUBEN] Thanks.

Okay. So, um, what's our

next move with the book?

I think it's time to find Owen.

He didn't answer any of the

messages Ben left him though.

Yeah, because he left them with

Frank who we now know is bad.

Hold on. Are we sure we know he's bad?

We spent time with the guy

when he came out the poem.

He seemed really nice

and not the type to steal a priceless

mask and frame a friend.

I agree, but anything's possible.

The only way we'll know what's going

on for sure is if we find Owen.

Ben's been leaving messages

all over town for him.

Let's hope he answers.

This is a perfect place for a meeting.

A book's gotta have a good setting,

and this one from Trinity

was definitely memorable.

Yeah. Let's hope he shows up.

We've left messages everywhere

we could think of for him.

What do we do if he's a no-show?

Well, fancy seeing you here.

Uncle Owen. We were worried.

You still have the Cobalt Mask?

- Yeah. It's in here.

- Oh, good.

But first, we need some answers.

Frank's bad.

He's as crooked as a fishhook.

He framed me.

- I still can't believe it.

- Why would he do that?

Yeah, Owen?

- Why would I set you up?

- Frank.

You followed us?

It wasn't hard. You didn't look

over your shoulder once.

I think you owe your nephew

and his friends an explanation.

What's going on?

Nothing. Don't worry about it.

Truth is

I'm nothin' but a good head

of hair and square jaw.

The real brains behind

this whole operation

has always been Frank.

[RUBEN] What?

Wait a minute. So, Frank is

the real private investigator?

Afraid so.

You always had a knack for finding

good cases, didn't you, Frank?

But the times weren't on your side.

People wanted somebody

they felt comfortable with,

and, well, I had the look folks

wanted in a private eye.

Why? Because Frank's black?

Are you serious?

Duh.

But that's r*cist and so wrong.

Hey, that's the world we live in.

Hopefully it'll change one day.

It was all my idea.

I used to manage Frank

when he was a fighter.

We became friends.

Trust me. It can't fail.

That's what you said about

the magical cleaning supplies

and the all-you-can-eat

seafood restaurant

I I know. Some of my ventures

haven't exactly come to fruition.

- But you gotta hear me out on this.

- I'm listening.

You have a brilliant mind, Frank.

But people aren't hiring you

because of the color of your skin.

I have the look, and talk about

talkin' the talk, I can talk.

So, I do all the work

and you get the glory?

No, no, no, no. 50-50 partners.

I'll be the front man. I'll do the

sales, because I'm good at that.

And you will be the brilliant detective.

Well, I hate to say it

but it sounds like a good plan.

- Partners?

- [LAUGHS] Partners.

[BOTH LAUGHING]

It was all swell at first.

We did good together.

I brought in business.

Frank solved the big cases.

Which you took credit for.

Fast forward to the Cobalt Mask.

What happened there?

About a year or so ago I went to Owen.

Told him I wanted to change

our business arrangement.

Tell the world I was

the real private eye,

but Owen wanted to keep

things the way they were.

- I figured it was working.

- Yeah. For you.

It must've been hard to

watch him get the glory.

You have no idea.

When the Cobalt Mask was stolen,

the museum made a big deal of

hiring the great Owen Quinn.

And master salesman that he is,

made a grand show in front of

the press how confident he was

he'd catch the burglar in no time.

Which means you would have

to find the burglar in no time.

Talk about pressure. Did you?

Yeah. I figured it was Jimmy Bones.

He'd just gotten out of jail,

and I knew he couldn't

resist a score like that.

No way. I totally believed

he had gone straight.

I've known Jimmy for a long time.

He's a two-bit con man and a thief.

He's not even capable of going straight.

I noticed at the museum gala

he had a pair of wire cutters

concealed under his tray.

And every time he passed

by the suit of armor,

he secretly cut one of the wires.

[CHEVON] And when the suit of armor

fell, that was Jimmy's chance.

[CURTIS] So Jimmy did take the mask.

- That's actually a smart idea.

- But he got sloppy.

I followed him and saw

where he hid the mask.

And when he wasn't

there, I took it back.

I was about to hand it over to Owen

so he could once again

get the glory, but

I just couldn't do it.

Instead of telling him

I found it, I confronted him.

I'm serious. I want credit this time.

There's too much riding

on the return of the mask.

Maybe sometime down the road,

but I'm workin' on some big things.

I'm workin' on getting us

some big international cases.

They pay major dough.

You mean getting me some

international cases.

You're not an actual PI,

in case you've forgotten.

Frank. You've taught me

a lot over the years.

It's not that hard.

Fine. You wanna be the investigator,

then go ahead and find the

Cobalt Mask without me.

Frank. Fr Frankie.

I put the mask in the hidden

compartment for safekeeping

while Owen ran around town

trying to solve the crime.

I figured after a day or two,

once the museum pressured

him to see results,

he would crawl back to me begging

to change our business arrangement.

I'm sorry I let you down, Frank.

I guess I let the fame get to my head.

I promise I'll make things square.

- I'm gonna tell the world the truth.

- That can wait.

The first thing we need to do is

return this mask to the museum.

- [BANGING]

- [FEET THUD ON GROUND]

- Jimmy?

- That's quite a story.

You followed us too?

We gotta get better at this stuff.

I knew you knew something.

You walk into the diner

asking all sorts of questions

about Owen here.

Yeah, I knew something was up.

You're the same lowlife

you've always been, Jimmy.

Aw, that hurts, cabbie.

I mean, come on.

I made one mistake, right?

I should've hidden the mask better.

Yeah, you should've.

Yeah, well, next time

I'll be more careful.

[GRUNTS]

Wait!

- Get him!

- Come on, run!

[OWEN GRUNTS]

[OWEN] This way!

Oh. Go, go, go.

Go, go, go!

[GRUNTS]

I heard something!

[OWEN GRUNTS]

- Did you hear him?

- [GRUNTS]

- [CURTIS] Get him! Where is he?

- [LAUGHS]

Oh, man.

I can't believe it.

Frank's the real private eye.

Fans of Mason Briggs will be shocked.

I think it's awesome.

And it's a plot twist that

no one will ever expect.

Obviously Sarah got the

idea from her own life.

Nobody would hire female crime writers,

so she hired someone to

pose as Mason Briggs.

Hey. It's Trinity.

- Seems like years ago.

- I'll never forget that lasso battle.

- And the Camarillo Kid. "Miss Donna."

- [ALL CHUCKLE]

I actually thought moving

here would be boring.

Who knew I'd be having conversations

with a talking rabbit,

time traveling with

a pirate and his rat,

and running from Frankenstein's monster?

And it all started in this bookstore.

I always loved coming here.

Yeah. When we were younger,

our parents used to take

us to get ice cream.

And then we'd stop by the

bookstore on the way back

to browse for books.

- There's a new horror book I want.

- Forget it, Donna.

Every time you read a scary book,

you make me sleep with the lights on.

And you sleep in my room 'cause

you're too afraid to be alone.

And I'll always remember all the

times I hung out with Grandpa.

He never got tired of talking books.

You were right. I loved

The Secret Garden.

It was a great book.

If you liked that, then

wait until you read this.

Anne of Green Gables.

How much is it?

Just take good care of it and

return it when you're done.

This isn't a library, Grandpa.

If I've helped you love reading,

then my work is done.

Just don't tell my wife.

She's the one who pays the bills.

[CHUCKLES]

I wish I had as many memories

of this place as you do.

Most of mine started when I moved here.

Well, none of us will ever

forget this wild adventure.

Although I doubt we'll be able

to tell many people about it.

When I moved here I didn't

know a single person.

I'm glad we all became friends.

- Who said we were friends?

- Curtis.

- [CHEVON CLEARS THROAT]

- I'm kidding.

Yeah. Me too.

[RUSTLING]

What was that? I'll be right back.

- [GRANDPA SIGHS]

- Hey.

I heard noises.

What are you doing sitting

down here in the dark?

Sorry. I just felt I needed

to be close to Grandma.

She always sat in this chair

when she was troubled.

Are you upset you have

to sell the store?

Yeah. This place has been my life.

There are so many memories here.

Like when you were a little boy,

you used to love climbing on

Grandma's lap in this very chair

as she read you story after story.

Do you remember that?

Yeah.

Actually, I do.

"'May we leave?' said Sister.

'Yes,' said Brother,

'let's get outta here.'

And that's how Brother and Sister

got rid of a pretty bad case

of the galloping greedy

gimmies." [LAUGHS]

Can we read one more?

All right. But then it's bed.

Oh, well. This is a good one.

Everything okay?

Everything will be once we finish

this book and get it published.

We're running out of time.

No more reminiscing. We have work to do.

Okay. Let's do this.

Let's see. Jimmy Bones took the mask.

What would he do with it?

I know. He'd try and sell it.

And I know who he'd go to

for help. Genevieve Marcus.

He told Charles he does

some work for her.

And she told Yvonne she was having

a big dinner at her mansion.

That's a good opportunity

to try and sell the mask.

She did say she knew some people

who'd pay a fortune for it.

"Follow the money."

This is the perfect ending.

And we have to have Owen and Frank

finally working together as a team.

Remember, everything in this

book has built to this moment.

- It needs to be exciting.

- Right.

It should feel like how it did in

Time Castaways on the ship:

high stakes and full of suspense.

Let's go.

[ENGINE STOPS]

Hey, Mack. Move your cab.

Sorry. I just dropped a

fare off to your party

and this piece of junk d*ed on me.

Can I get a hand?

[RUBEN SIGHS] Go, go, go.

[JAZZ PLAYS]

Come on.

- [CHATTERING]

- [MUSIC CONTINUES]

Whoa. Nice place.

Come on. Better get a move on.

Okay. Let's split up.

Owen, you wait on that

side of the house.

If Genevieve spots you,

it'll be game over.

Once we have the mask,

we'll hand it to you through the window.

Ben and I will search on this floor,

while Yvonne and Charles

start on the top floor.

But everyone be careful.

If you need me, anything

at all, just holler.

I'll be close by.

All right. Let's go.

[GENEVIEVE] That's wonderful.

And how is Joan?

It has been ages since Paris, hasn't it?

Let me show you what we've

done here. It's divine.

Here's my tools.

Hmm. Nice room. [CHUCKLES]

Good place to hide a mask. Come on.

Who wraps the cover of

their books in silver paper?

I like it, but I don't know about

silver. Maybe a floral print or

Ooh, a holiday theme,

'cause I love Christmas.

Can we focus?

[SIGHS] It's not here.

- Come on.

- Hold on.

Look.

That book is a lot bigger

than the others.

You're right.

[CHUCKLES] Bingo.

Excuse me.

I don't wanna knock off another ruby.

So you hold it.

[SIGHS] We need to get this to Owen.

But he's at the other side of the house.

- [DOOR OPENS]

- [GENEVIEVE] Right this way, gentlemen.

Genevieve. How'd you

manage to pull this off?

It's best you don't know.

Let's just say I couldn't have

done it without Jimmy here.

And let's just say I

wouldn't have done it

if Genevieve hadn't offered

to split the cash. [CHUCKLES]

Speaking of which

[MAN] Let's see it.

[GENEVIEVE] First, let's go

over the terms one more time.

You have the cash, I take it?

[MAN] It's right here. Care to count it?

[JIMMY] Let's do this already.

Come here.

[SLOW JAZZ PLAYS]

They must be here somewhere.

Ooh. How much do you

think this thing is worth?

- Focus.

- Fine.

All right. Let's just make a run for it.

[GENEVIEVE] I think we have a deal.

Before we hand anything over,

let's count the cash.

- [THUDS]

- [MAN] What was that?

I heard it too.

[GENEVIEVE] It's nothing. It's nothing.

Come on. I have guests

to tend to out there.

Help.

You better not be trying to

pull something, Genevieve.

We have to help them.

No! I have a better idea. Stay here.

I assure you, everything is fine.

Jimmy here likes to worry, that's all.

- [CRASH, THUMPING]

- [GASPS] Oh.

[GUESTS GASP]

What happened? Is anyone hurt? [GASPS]

It's not an accident.

It's been tampered with.

Someone pried this off.

[GENEVIEVE] What are you talking about?

Why on earth would someone do [GASPS]

- Hey!

- [GENEVIEVE] Get them!

[JIMMY] Oh, no!

[ALL GASP]

You need to work on your aim.

Owen Quinn. Now why am I not surprised?

I didn't take it, Belson.

It was Genevieve, with a

little help from Jimmy Bones.

I got a tip it was gonna be here.

Yeah. That was from me.

Oh, I believe you're lookin' for this.

[CHUCKLES]

[SERGEANT BELSON] How'd you know

Genevieve and Jimmy took it?

It's my job to know.

Actually, I don't deserve

any of the credit.

No, all of that should go to Frank.

[SERGEANT BELSON] What? The cabbie?

His name is Frank Clemmons

and he's the real private investigator.

Nice to meet you, Sergeant.

So you're the one who's

been solving all my cases?

Indeed. From now on,

I hope we can work together.

"His name is Frank Clemmons

and he's the real private investigator."

Yes. Come on.

[RUBEN] Come on.

- Yes!

- Yes! Let's go.

We did it.

I love the ending.

Especially the way

Charles saved the day.

Like how we outsmarted Dajie

in The Magic Paintbrush.

Charles got the idea from Jimmy Bones.

Just like how he made a distraction

to steal the mask in the

beginning of the book.

- What are you doing?

- There's still one more thing to write.

"The Cobalt Mask."

"Written by "

[CURTIS] What are you waiting for?

It feels weird writing

"written by Mason Briggs"

when it's actually Sarah Weaver

who's the real author.

I agree, but it's her secret

to keep. It's not up to us.

Hey, G.W.?

If you're listening, what do we type?

[TYPING]

[TYPING CONTINUES]

"Written by Sarah Weaver."

Grandma would be proud.

Sullivan. He's here to sign

the papers for the bookstore.

[JIM] Everything's in order, Ernesto.

[SIGHS]

[SIGHS] It'll be okay, Dad.

Gonna miss this place.

[SIGHS]

[RUBEN] Stop!

Put down that pen, Grandpa.

Yeah. This bookstore's not for sale.

[CHATTERING]

Here you go. It's one of my favorites.

Hey.

Here you are. You're welcome.

Wow. This place looks amazing.

Thanks to your dad's help.

And the big finder's fee the

publisher gave your grandfather.

Look at this turnout. It's huge.

Well, it is the grand reopening.

Not just that.

It's also because of this.

Hey, everyone.

Can you believe it?

They just found the manuscript

while cleaning up.

It's hard to imagine no one

saw it after all those years.

Yeah, it was weird. It was just

wedged between some floorboards.

Guess Sarah Weaver hid

it there years ago.

And they're sure it's an

authentic Mason Briggs?

Yeah. It's the same typewriter

used for all the other books.

Can you believe she used

to work here in the 1950s?

My dad even remembers her.

It's the best book in the series.

I won't spoil the ending in case

you kids ever wanna read it,

- but it's a real surprise.

- [MS. REYNA CHUCKLES]

All good stories are full of 'em.

I heard there was one really

cool character named Charles.

Okay. Who's ready for a story?

- [KID] Ooh, I am, I am!

- Come. Come this way. Come on.

Yeah, take a seat. Take a seat.

Today I'm going to read from one

of my favorite books of all time,

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

"Chapter one. Down the Rabbit Hole."

You know what? We've helped G.W.

with her unfinished business,

but it turns out she has

helped us just as much.

Yeah. If it weren't for her,

my grandpa would've sold the store,

and nobody would be enjoying

story time or browsing books.

Speaking of books,

could you imagine if we wrote

one about our experience?

[CHUCKLES] Nobody would believe it.

We'd have to say it

was a work of fiction.

[ALL CHUCKLE]

[THUDS ON GROUND]

Ghost Writer.

Come on.

- "Thanks for everything."

- "Your friend "

"S."

You're welcome, Sarah.

Thank you. Good night.

What a day.

What an adventure.

I can't believe it's actually over.

I know. It's weird.

What do we do now?

Oh, homework, piano, debate.

Gotta reorganize my filing system.

I have stuff to do.

But it won't be anything

as great as this.

I'll tell you one thing I'm going

to do: read more books.

What? I like books now.

Good for you, Curtis.

Well guess that's it.

We'll see you at school.

Wait.

Maybe we can all do

something this weekend.

Like go get something to eat or

go bowling.

Maybe see a movie?

As long as it's not a mystery.

[CHUCKLES]

See you tomorrow, Ruben.

- Bye.

- Later.

[BUTTON CLICKS]

[WHIRRING]

- [BELL DINGS]

- [DOOR CREAKS]

[DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING]