In the Heat of the Night (1988) s01e06 Episode Script

1
In the heat of the night
I've got troubles wall-to-wall ♪
in the heat of the night
yeah
must be an ending to it all ♪
oh
but hold on
it won't be long
just you be strong
and it'll be all right
in the heat of the night
in the heat of the night
whoa whoa whoa
I don't believe I've ever seen a pack as big as this.
That's a kilo, chief.
How many guys were in that swamp?
Uh, two, I think.
I didn't see any more.
Wallace kept talking about 'they.'
They shot Eddie Lee.
They shot John, tried to kill him.
It's tied to this cocaine.
That's been opened and resealed.
What's missing is identical to what rattler had.
You can count on that.
And it's certainly part of a larger haul.
So, you're back to the smuggling notion.
Notion? Look at that. It's obvious.
Somebody's bringing raw stuff into sparta?
Not into sparta, through sparta.
[Telephone rings]
You take that, and you lock it up.
Yes, sir.
How you doing, Jim-Jim?
What's up? What's up?
Hi, rattler.
Well, well, well
This is beginning to be a bad habit falling on you.
Why?
Why shouldn't I come down
and visit a fine human being like yourself?
Must be time for me to call lawyer montrose again.
No, no.
This isn't official.
I just come down to see you on something personal.
Why don't I like hearing that?
I don't know, unless you're scared of me.
In your dreams, white man.
I'd like you to take a spin with me.
I got a piece of property I want to show you.
Then I'm going to ask you for a favor.
And remember
Any favor anybody does me,
they always get a favor in return.
Dig this.
I'm going for a spin with the chief.
He want to ask a favor of his main man rattler.
Come on.
You crazy nut!
Don't bite him, man.
All right.
Rattler crazy.
Smile, gents. It isn't as if you haven't seen me before.
Hey, catch you later, rattler.
That's the way it is, you know, chief?
You quit school 'cause you need money.
But you can't get no good job
unless you leave sparta.
You don't want to leave,
but you want to live good.
So you stick around
and find out what you got to do, see?
Now, I can't cook,
I don't do computers,
and I don't know nothing about wall street.
So I got to sell something
to the white man.
Yeah, rattler, uh
Yeah.
This property I was telling about
Do you know this little shack here?
Seen it. What's it got to do with a favor?
Well
This is where they found John reeve.
Why are you showing me this?
I thought you could tell me about it.
Tell you what?
I didn't have nothing to do with it.
You're connected with that cocaine found on you.
That had something to do with it.
That John reeve, they tell me, is dying.
And you know what John means to me.
I'll tell you again, chief
I don't know nothing about John.
Wallace is dead. Eddie Lee's dead.
I told Wallace's mama last night, and Eddie Lee's sister.
Hey, man, what is your problem?
There's two people dead.
And John reeve
Is lying over in that hospital dying.
Someone's going to have to pay for that.
Not me, man.
Sit down before I kill you.
Kill me for what?
For self-defense.
Chief, everybody knows I don't carry nothing.
That's why everyone will believe
when I say you come at me with that ax,
which they'll find in your hand.
The favor I'm going to do you is let you live
if you'll do me the favor
Of telling me some things I got to know.
[Cocks gun]
You hear?
I hear you, chief.
I hear you.
Yeah, so what time did they call?
Uh, that's it.
Two sets, one ID.
We'll have a full report tomorrow.
All right, thanks.
They, uh, found rattler's prints
on that cocaine envelope.
Yeah?
It's nice to have evidence
when you go into court.
Oh. Oh, yeah, yeah.
What, the chief ask you to meet him here, too?
Yeah, yeah.
Bubba, I'm putting a 24-hour guard on John reeve.
Take the first shift. Junior follows.
Will rattler try something?
It isn't rattler I'm worried about.
Go ahead.
They found rattler's prints on that envelope.
No ID on the others.
They'll be Wallace's.
When you found rattler,
he was buying, not selling.
He saw that sample, not the big pack.
Who says?
He says. I nearly killed him today.
You're right. We're looking for somebody bigger,
so I'm not taking any chances with John.
What's wrong with you?
There.
He's alive.
I have this nice outfit
I got in Jackson about a year ago.
It's good for traveling.
It's still in style.
I'm going to show you off in New York.
You are going to dazzle them.
I'm not a dazzler.
You will be.
All right. Now, uh
Where haven't we been?
There's this bargain boutique I like
sweetheart, we're not bargain hunting.
You keep looking.
I'll be back in a second.
What the hell are you doing here?
I think we missed him.
What do you mean, you missed him?
There's no way he saw us last night.
All right. Be right back.
Look, uh, something's come up.
Here.
You take this.
You know what I have in mind.
Steve, wait a minute. I can't take this.
Yeah, I like those little redheads, too.
Hi.
I know you think I'm following you, but I'm not.
It's my mama's birthday.
Oh, lord, it is, isn't it?
Oh, what did you get her?
Some perfume and
Stupid little bag.
So, I'm glad I ran into you
'cause I wanted to say something.
I been acting like a fool,
and I hope you like New York.
Thank you, buddy.
So, when you leaving?
I don't know.
I don't even know if I am going.
I knew you'd get wise to that guy.
There you go again, putting words in my mouth.
I'm sick of it.
I care. That's a crime?
Maybe you care too much.
Well, maybe I do.
Buddy
I I saw a real pretty green scarf in Wal-Mart.
Think your mama would like it?
Maybe.
You enjoy doing detail work on old vans?
Yeah. Synthetic fur our specialty.
You know, I got some strong suspicions
about where we should be concentrating our efforts.
I mean
I'm not saying it's Richie epman.
I'm not saying it's Steve Vincent.
But it is tied to the Chamberlain place.
You mean you think it's tied
to the Chamberlain place.
That speech about 'it's not the most expensive place.
'It's tied up with childhood memories.'
It's also the only place with a helipad, a boat dock,
and its own private airstrip.
Tells me nothing special.
The man's a businessman.
He's got wide traveling interests.
Yeah, I know. The savior of sparta's economy.
You can't do this one
without stepping on some toes.
We're looking at a drug-related homicide.
You get all sensitive about the bank
and Richie epman's money,
the mayor, and the city council
I'll tell you something.
Don't put down being sensitive.
Being sensitive to all kinds of people and things
is the main part of a policeman's job.
Now, please remember that.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Respiratory tech to inhalation therapy.
Respiratory tech to inhalation therapy, please.
Oh.
Oh.
Wallace
Oh.
John?
Oh.
Dr. Robinson, line 217.
John is waking up.
I'll get the doctor, then call the chief.
He deserves to hear some good news.
John reeve is regaining consciousness.
Is the doctor around?
Yes, I'll go find her.
How you doing?
Don't let anybody in there.
Yes, sir.
Parker, it's althea.
Has he?
Um, after a few seconds,
I heard him say something.
But his eyes opened Slowly,
and then he mumbled something
again that I didn't understand.
But I thought it had to be a good sign of something.
Excuse me, sir.
I'm going to have to see some identification.
Sure.
Cheryl, go check in on Mr. Reeve.
Aah!
Aah!
Oh! No!
No! Aah!
You all right?
Aah!
Aah!
Hold it!
[Gunshot]
[Gunshot]
Reception, this is chief Gillespie here.
If there's one of my men down there,
tell him to stay there.
Tell the police car out front not to leave.
Get a doctor to look after this officer here.
Now, stay out of this hallway.
Clear out the way.
Aah!
Get back in there.
Man: Get us a doctor!
Mary Beth, look out!
Get out of the way.
Stand back.
Come on, get out of the way.
Get back there now.
Drop it!
Aah! Aah!
Aah!
I'll be o.K.
Is that man dead?
Yeah.
Virgil!
Virgil!
It just all happened so fast.
I was just, my heart was
Yes, yes he was.
Yes, ma'am, he sure was.
It's all right now, y'all go on back in.
[Coughing]
That big guy that was in here
is the one who shot me.
Yeah, I know.
Don't try to talk too much now.
But Wallace
Did did they shoot him?
Yeah, they shot him.
It's got me a little worried, Jim.
A drug smuggler? Epman?
We don't know how far up it goes.
Maybe it's just those two security guys hanging around.
There you are, Jim.
I talked to congressman roshto.
He's coming to the ground-breaking ceremony.
Lots of big money
showing interest in sparta
now that epman's taking the lead.
Yes, indeed. Good to see you.
We've got to put it to Richie straight out.
If he isn't involved, you'll only offend him.
If he is, you'll tell him too much.
I can handle him. Come on.
Come with me.
No.
No.
It it's not possible.
That's what I said.
It's more than possible.
It's fact.
Right under my nose?
What What am I, blind?
Am I brain dead? I would have known.
Seems that way to me, too.
You'll understand if I resent what you're implying.
Everybody knows you didn't do it.
That's not much comfort. I know I didn't do it.
Gentlemen.
You know what these men have been telling me?
What?
Logan and bass. You hired killers.
Didn't you check references?
Of course I checked.
They were both highly recommended by Paul innis,
belk petroleum's head of security.
You checked their records?
What?
Answer me!
They've been in and out of prison on the east coast.
You know what they been doing?
Smuggling cocaine in my planes, killing people!
I didn't know.
It's your job to know!
I'm sorry.
Sorry don't feed the bulldog.
You'll have my resignation right away.
Wait a minute. Let's not be too hasty.
We'll talk about it later.
Yes, sir.
Um, oh, Mr. Vincent.
Uh, your employee bass is dead,
but we don't know where Mr. Logan is. Where is he?
I haven't seen either of them since yesterday.
Well, I may want to talk to you again.
Before you leave sparta um, how shall I put it?
Uh, don't leave sparta.
Yes, sir.
Coming here
Coming home
That's all I've been dreaming about for years.
Life sure has a way of getting you back, don't it?
Well, goodbye, Mr. Epman.
[Door closes]
You see, I knew there was a logical explanation.
Anybody can see
how something like this could happen.
You hire people to do a job, trust them,
they stab you in the back.
I feel sorry for epman.
I feel a hell of a lot better.
How about you?
I feel I know a little more than I did.
We'll see you later.
Thanks a lot, lit singer.
Next time I'm in the market for non-information,
I'll know who to call.
Who's lit singer?
Mort lit singer, D.E.A., Dallas.
Oh! He tell you anything about epman?
Yeah. They got nothing on him.
I expect that breaks your heart.
No. I hope he's clean.
Oh.
I don't believe it.
I think he's still the same greedy,
slippery little rascal I knew 20 years ago.
But I hope I'm wrong.
Oh.
Chief, I live here, too.
I know what that plant could do for people in sparta
some I like, some I don't.
I'm not against prosperity.
Detective, you got a call.
Oh, thanks.
It's a man.
He wouldn't give his name. I don't know why.
Maybe 'cause he didn't want you to know it.
It sounds like it's long distance.
Yeah, this is tibbs.
The woods at the state park in yalobusha?
Yeah, I know where that is.
Sure. Yeah, yeah.
Yes, I can do that.
Come on.
Come on? Where we going?
To the state park.
No, listen, I got to see a dentist at tupelo.
Chief, this is important.
Come on.
All right.
All right
I'll go with you.
I'm in pain here, though, I tell you.
What the hell's he waiting for?
Feds are weird, chief.
You know that.
Maybe we should have worn trench coats.
Tibbs?
Who's this?
I'm his uncle Chester.
I'm agent brack, D.E.A.
Agent lit singer interfaced with me
prior to our contact.
I gathered.
Agent lit singer requested
I address several points.
He feels he may have left you with some misconceptions.
He said he had no information on epman.
That's all he wanted to say.
Why?
Phone lines can be compromised, Chester.
Why don't you talk English?
Chief!
We're here. We might as well listen.
You're saying you have something
on epman after all?
No, but we're always interested
in people with large sums of untraceable cash.
We've been following his career for some time.
You've never sourced the money?
He's covered it.
One day he was there with all that money.
Everything he's done with it is perfectly legitimate.
A plastics factory here, a textile mill there,
investment firms, merchandising outlets.
Sounds like a businessman.
What's wrong with all that?
With that kind of money, there's always rumors.
Like what?
The usual rackets drugs.
Frankly, we can't document it.
What are you saying to us epman is dirty?
I'm saying he's interesting.
We'd sure like to know
what Richie epman built his empire on.
But you've got zip.
Let's just say,
you come up with anything, pass it on.
How did some locksmiths get that coke,
and what idiot stashed it in this house?
Bass.
And where is it now?
Where's the part the cops don't have?
It's gone. New York.
It's hit the streets. We're out of it.
You better hope that's true.
This is your mess, Steve.
Clean it up.
Take a long drive, we bring back nothing,
and we end up working for the feds.
We ended up with confirmation
that we were both thinking the same thing.
I was thinking the same thing,
but I thought you were making
something personal out of it.
Well, it was personal.
It was also instinct.
I know that man.
How can a guy in times like these
do something like this to his own hometown,
his own people?
You're looking for conscience from a drug dealer?
I expected some kind of conscience
from a poor boy who made good!
You'll hear about that when we nail him.
Lawyers love that stuff.
'Poor boy from the wrong side of town,
'everybody, everything against him,
'went wrong when he was just trying to do right.'
O.k., epman's dirty.
But if he is, so is Steve Vincent.
I got to go, Virgil. I got to pay a call.
Chief, what are you doing here?
Why, waiting for you.
Is something wrong?
No
Well, yeah.
Barbara, you know
I've been telling everybody I've met
in the last few days
what a fine fellow this Steve Vincent seems to be.
I realized I wanted somebody to agree with me.
And nobody has.
Well, he hired those two security guards
one of them tried to kill John reeve.
I expect you heard that.
Steve couldn't have had anything to do with that.
Well, I don't want to make you mad at me,
but I got to say,
when it comes to picking young fellas
to be interested in, why, you
I got a miserable record.
Uh, chief?
What?
I saw one of those guards today.
Where?
At the mall.
Was he with anybody?
He was with Steve.
Uh-huh.
I heard him say something.
Something like,
'there's no way he could have saw us last night.'
Then Steve hushed him.
Hmm.
How, uh
Close are you with this guy?
It's nothing like that.
But he asked me to go to New York with him.
I hope you won't do any fool thing like that.
I was, but I changed my mind.
Are you telling me you are definitely not going?
Yes, I'm not going.
Chief, I'm not going, o.K.?
O.k.
Bye.
I'll see you.
[Knock on door]
Hi, John.
Evening, miss giles.
Mr. Vincent didn't tell me you were expected.
I just have to return something.
[Knock on door]
Come in.
No, don't. Don't.
I know what you're going to say.
Sit down.
I just can't go to New York with you.
It wouldn't be right sneaking off with my folks away.
And here. I can't take that. I can't spend that money.
I'm not a dazzler.
I wouldn't know what to do with fancy clothes.
I guess that's it then.
I guess it is.
Did you do it? Did you kill Logan?
You should've called first.
How's old John doing?
Oh, coming along, coming along.
Um, um Mayor findley called.
He said it's urgent you work out the PR aspects,
that you'd know what he's talking about.
I never know what he's talking about,
giving me one thing in common with a billion Chinese.
Anything on Logan?
Not yet, but the alert's gone statewide.
All right.
Buddy, what are you doing here?
I really need to talk to you.
Go inside.
Let's hear it.
I ran into Barbara yesterday.
Buddy, if this is advice to the lovelorn,
I've got things on my mind
no, I went and saw her last night,
and she was glad to see me.
She was going to the Chamberlain house
to talk to Steve Vincent.
And, uh
Yeah, what?
She said she had to see him last night,
and she'd see me this morning.
I was there, and she's not there.
I went next door, talked to Mrs. Givens.
You know how she's into everybody's private life.
Well, she hadn't seen Barbara since last night.
What did Barbara have to talk to Vincent about?
I don't know.
But I don't think she came home last night,
and I'm A little worried.
Parker!
Yes, sir.
Get that guy Steve Vincent on the phone for me.
I already called him.
She left for New York on a company plane.
Oh, no, she didn't.
No, she didn't.
Oh, Virgil.
You come with me, will you?
You're supposed to be smart.
I see you with a little bimbo,
I think, what the hell? He's having fun.
That's all it was.
It was nothing.
Things get out of control around you, Steve.
Now, why is that?
Nothing is out of control.
I took care of Logan. I'll take care of Barbara.
Why haven't you?
I told the kid she flew out in the company plane.
The flight log's been doctored.
And a ringer checked into a hotel under her name.
She's just another country girl
who walked down the wrong street in the big city.
It's handled.
It had better be.
I got a feeling I made a mistake with you.
Anything goes wrong this time,
you'll be joining your friends Logan and bass, hmm?
Y'all get over to that airstrip.
If that airplane's there, you keep it there.
Let's go.
I know it was sudden,
but I couldn't get away,
so I'm going to meet her later.
Little Barbara was always crazy
about shopping in New York.
Well, the fact is, chief
I guess there's no point in keeping it a secret any longer.
We're getting married,
and she's choosing a wedding dress.
That's why she flew out last night.
Where's that airplane at this moment?
On the field.
Get the flight log.
What are you looking at? Go get it.
Where's Barbara supposed to be staying in New York?
Danby-Plaza hotel.
Small, but I think she'll like it.
Very central location.
What is the number for information in New York City?
Hey, Richie.
Shovel's losing its glitter.
You got me, Virgil.
The one I ordered from Europe
didn't arrive in time for the party.
I had that rigged up.
Some kind of special gold paint.
I thought it looked good.
Does If you don't look too close.
What did he do to you?
Barbara. Can you talk to me, please?
Wake up, honey.
The hotel says somebody like Barbara,
with her name, checked in.
But the room doesn't answer.
Like Barbara?
What makes you think it isn't her?
I know her.
And everything I know tells me it isn't her.
I'm going to get you home, all right?
Come here.
Get you on your feet.
Ahh.
[Thud]
Come on, now.
Ahh.
Hey.
Put her down.
You really going to shoot me
with the chief and Mr. Tibbs out there?
You've been asking for it, punk.
Ain't that the truth.
Sounds like he's trying to bring me back the airplane.
Come on!
Buddy!
Don't stop them this time, Virgil.
I think the home team is winning.
O.k., Barbara. We're here.
Richie!
Ow!
Well, it looks a lot like
self-satisfaction on your face, Virgil.
I don't blame you.
You've spent 20 years hating me.
No. Just waiting for everybody to see you
for what you really are. After you.
Here you are, chief. He's all yours.
[Car horn honks]
Hello, Barbara.
She sure is bouncing back.
Where she's going to bounce from here worries me.
My favorite place to have lunch.
Oh, lord.
Speak of bouncing, look.
Chief Gillespie.
Chief of detectives tibbs.
Hello, Mr. Grimes. Hello, mayor.
Hello.
This is Mr. Hamp stigler of brownsville, Texas.
A pleasure.
Same here.
Howdy.
You all really say that?
Mr. Stigler's been looking over
some of our prime commercial real estate.
Are you figuring on locating here, Mr. Stigler?
Well
we've been explaining
the pride sparta takes
in catering to the needs
of the businessman.
I'm impressed with the plans they've been showing me
industrial park, new shopping mall.
We're a very ambitious community.
Yeah. Some folks are more ambitious than others.
If hamp plans on settling in sparta,
there's some wonderful old houses
coming on the market right now.
Virgil, bill. Gentlemen.
Well, hold on, mayor.
What you just said puts me in mind of something.
I got something here to show you.
What is it?
Only take a second.
This is a memento from one of those fine old houses.
That is not funny, Gillespie.
Ha ha ha.
You know, they say that
those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it.
It seems I've heard that somewhere before.
I told it to Parker the other day.
Probably all over town by now.