Starsky and Hutch (1975) s02e02 Episode Script

A strangler plays deadly games in Las Vegas.
Is anybody there? And five women are murdered.
I said, is somebody there? It seems we have a maniac roaming our streets in Las Vegas.
Look, I need two good men Two good men that I can be sure won't be recognized as cops.
I mean, did you ever feel like you'd just died and gone to heaven? I mean, will you just look at this place? I suppose it's a little late to get a bet down.
What you're saying is that Hutch's old pal in there, you suspect him of being the strangler? It's our strong feeling that he's killed at least four women already.
He was my best friend.
You wanna take a walk? Walk? Uh Sure.
Hutch, there! Somebody call the cops.
I think we caught the strangler.
Hey, what the hell is wrong with you two? We made a mistake! Won't happen again.
If he commits one more murder I told you.
It won't happen again.
And now, the exciting conclusion of "The Las Vegas Strangler.
" Come on, come on, come on.
You ever get the feeling we're doing something wrong? I mean, people come to this town from all over the world to relax and enjoy themselves.
Well, I'm having a wing-ding of a time.
Aren't you? Yeah, terrific.
This way.
Hm? Jack? Jack? Jack? Ja? Hey.
Hey, where you guys been? Oh, we went for a cup of coffee.
Oh, you got more stamina than I do.
I don't know about you, but I'm gonna get some sleep.
Oh.
I know there was another reason why I got up.
Vicky.
Uh-huh.
She called, said, uh, her car broke down.
She wants you to pick her up.
Where? Harry's Gas Station on the Strip.
And take her to Boulder City.
Boulder City, okay? Good night.
Yeah, good night, Jack.
I don't know about you, but I suddenly had a very cold feeling in the pit of my stomach when we came in and he wasn't here.
You know, Starsk, Yeah? Maybe you ought to take that trip out to Boulder City.
What about him? Well, I'll be here.
I'll stick with him.
You know, if Vicky knew Tracy, maybe she knew some of the other girls.
At least maybe some of their friends, huh? At least it's a start.
Oh, that feels good.
Hi.
Hi.
This is terrific.
Is that your car? I'm afraid so.
Now I know what Jack was talking about.
What? He said that of all the girls he met in Vegas, you were by far the tightest with a dollar.
Used your tea bags three times.
Four.
Water down your Scotch.
You noticed.
I also make my own soap.
No kidding.
Best in town.
And it doesn't mess up the ecology.
What do you do with your money? I've got the market cornered on Arkansas pork-belly futures.
I'll be just a minute.
Okay.
Mama, Mama.
Oh, Cary.
Oh, my goodness.
You're getting so big.
Give me a hug.
Arkansas pork bellies.
How have you been? Fine.
Okay, you give Iris another call, and I'll buy what you need.
Okay.
Whoops, forgot my purse.
Now, you take Clark Gable and Ty Power.
Those were real men.
That's what's wrong with the world today.
There are no real men around.
Just sissy boys and perverts.
May I help you? Uh Yeah.
Well, I haven't got all night.
Well, I'm interested in a pair of stocking hose.
I can't hear you.
Speak up.
Oh, uh Well, I'm interested in a pair of pantyhose.
What size are you, sweetie? I'll meet you at the Circus Circus in 10 minutes.
Uh I gotta go.
Need some help? I just need one pair to take with me and about five to go.
Are these new? Mm-hm.
Came in this afternoon.
This one.
Just put it on the bill, Mrs.
Pruitt, and deliver it.
What about Iris? Well, I told her where we'd be.
She said she'd meet us there.
Good.
I can't wait.
You been winning again? You know we gotta give that money back.
No, no, no.
What do you want me to do? He insisted the first 50 we drop be my money.
Only, I haven't exactly dropped anything.
How much? You still got your nine? Yeah.
Well, I got a little over 13.
Twenty-two thousand dollars.
Well, that's just terrific.
Well, if you're not too busy, there's someone I'd like you to talk to, alone.
It's important.
We can watch him from up there.
Come on.
Leave it.
Hey, uh, Jack.
Listen, I'll be right back.
You wouldn't, uh, run out on me, would you? No, no, no.
I'll be right back.
I'm gonna be up there.
Listen, I got another bonanza down there.
Why don't you clean up? Don't spend it all.
Okay.
I don't know.
I was the last one to see Sharon alive, you know what I mean? The show was almost over.
We were done, right? We were walking offstage playing "movie stars.
" You know, like, I'll say, "Buster Crabbe.
" You have to give me one with a C because "Crabbe," the last name, started with a C Iris Constance Bennett.
Constance Bennett? Yeah, Barbara Stanwyck.
That's it.
Iris, look, I'm sure it's a terrific game, but would you tell him about your friend Sharon, the last couple of days before she died? Like what? Like, had she thought she saw someone in her bedroom? Yeah, she had this feeling that as she was sleeping, somebody was standing over and watching her, and it was not the tooth fairy, I'll tell you that.
Did she go to the police? Iris.
What? Why don't you tell them who she was dating before I'll show you who she was dating.
She was dating Jack over there.
You know, Jack, your friend? Now tell him why she didn't wanna go to the police.
Uh, she really didn't think it would do her any good, you know? I mean, she knew who was going into her room at night.
It was a cop, her old boyfriend.
He got, like, uh He got a little wacky because she dumped him for Jack.
Now tell him the name of the cop.
Cameron.
C for Cameron.
Lieutenant Ted Cameron.
Cameron? Cameron.
I'm a big girl.
And I've gotta go to work.
Are you sure you got a ride? Yes.
They fixed my car, and they're gonna leave it in the parking lot for me.
You gonna be okay? Yeah.
I'll be fine.
I guess.
If I don't see you tonight, I'll call you in the morning.
Well Well, that's one fine kettle of fish.
I mean, Cameron isn't exactly the type to be a psychopathic strangler.
No, he isn't.
Maybe he's not a psychopath.
Maybe this is all part of an elaborate plan to kill his girlfriend and frame Jack in the proce No, that doesn't make any sense, does it? I mean, why would a police lieutenant wanna kill five girls just to cover one murder? He has a motive.
It sure would help Jack out, wouldn't it? No, I can't buy that.
How do we know that Cameron is the only one who had a motive? You mean, besides Jack? Okay.
What do you wanna do? Let's stick with Jack.
We were supposed to have stuck with him last night.
I mean, Vegas isn't an easy place to keep a tail on someone, but especially someone who doesn't want a tail.
Well, I won't lose him this time.
How do you propose to do that? Let's move him.
Let's get him out of town.
Whatever.
It's the only way we're gonna prove he's not the killer.
Yeah, but what about Cameron? Let's start with Jack.
Okay.
Okay, let's go.
Hutch.
Dr.
Blue, call the operator, please.
Slow down, slow down.
Dr.
Blue, call the operator.
Would you please tell me one thing? Where are we going? Starsk, tell him where we're going, huh? All right.
Dog races.
There are no dog races in Las Vegas.
Of course there are no dog races in Las Vegas.
That's why we're going to Miami.
Miami? What's going on here? Something's going on.
Something is going on.
You know that "Dr.
Blue"? That's security special for: "Police emergency.
" Well, I always was the curious type.
I'm gonna find out, huh? Pal, what's going on? We're waiting for the city police.
Who are you? Special assignment, attached to Lieutenant Cameron.
What's the problem? It seems we have the strangler trapped in the emergency stairwell headed for the roof.
Are you sure? I saw him attack the girl myself.
He'd have killed her if I hadn't been there.
Almost had the guy too, but he took a shot at me.
And, well, he got away.
Where? Take that elevator right over there.
Thanks.
Hutch.
What? Now, where are we going? They got the strangler trapped on the roof.
I told them we were cops.
Cops? You guys are out of your minds.
Well, there's a $10,000 reward on him.
Oh, yeah? Yeah.
Look, why don't you? Why don't you go back and play? Are you kidding? I wouldn't miss this for the world.
Booze and broads.
I'm glad you guys turned up.
What's? Let me see that.
Where did you get? Jack, you stay out of this now.
You're along for the ride.
Are you cops? Huh? Yeah, we're cops.
You are.
Cops I thought you were my friends.
All the time, We are your friends, Jack.
You were finking on me.
We're not finking and we'll explain God, I needed you.
And all the time you were stabbing me in the back! Jack! Come on.
Give me that! Guys, come on.
I don't believe this Jack! Jack, come back here! Jack! Jack, Jack, get back! Cover me.
Go ahead, go ahead.
Don't even breathe.
Take it easy.
Get me a car and follow this ambulance.
I want this man followed for 24 hours a day.
Hey.
Don't you ever give up? What the hell are you hounding him for now? You got your strangler.
I hope so, for your sake.
Meanwhile, we have your suspect in a security room.
Now, you realize, Mr.
Lantz, you don't have to talk to us.
You do have the right to an attorney.
I don't need an attorney.
I don't have anything to hide.
You've admitted to killing six women.
Devils.
Six devils.
The creatures I killed were of the evil world.
I have nothing to be ashamed of.
I'm proud of what I done.
I did it for my country.
Real Americans will understand that.
You done anything else for America lately, Mr.
Lantz? My partner wouldn't ask that question if it wasn't very important.
You see a man like you we understand the wonderful things that you've done for our country.
But what's more important is that we want everyone to understand.
So it becomes so important that we get all the information straight before we tell it to the press.
You understand? More than you know.
A man of your courage Your name should be in the headlines, Mr.
Lantz.
I'm the man who blew up Boulder Dam.
No, really? Did you hear? That's incredible.
Also the Empire State Building.
Anything else? And the Washington Monument.
And But really, the hardest thing I have for people to understand is how many flying saucers I've had to demolish.
They're out there.
And it's an enemy that no one knows of.
Sometimes I get so tired.
Yeah, me too.
Why don't you rest now? It's nice meeting you.
You too.
Hey, how you doing? Hey, thanks a lot.
What's the matter, boys? Trouble? Well, this ought to make you happy.
You got a copycat killing.
Oh, he may have attacked that girl tonight, but he didn't kill the other six girls.
Well, well.
Score two for the big-city detectives.
What's that supposed to mean? We already knew about it.
We just got the feedback on our friend Lantz.
Up until noon today, he spent the past three months at the county funny farm.
Which brings us right back to your pal, Jack Mitchell.
Excuse me.
You're, uh, friends with Jack Mitchell? Yeah.
How is he? Well, we got the bullet out.
It wasn't that bad.
That's good.
He's gonna be all right.
How well do you know Jack? Well, I, uh I went to high school with him.
And, uh, the three of us are sharing an apartment.
Did you, uh, know he was dying? I guess you didn't.
Um Your friend has a brain tumour.
He's known about it for a year now.
A brain t? It's not the easiest thing in the world to detect.
I only know because he had to be on record with a physician out here in case the pain became too great and he required special medication.
Now, he asked me not to tell anyone, and I haven't until now, but, uh, quite frankly, your friend's in pretty bad shape.
The wound isn't that bad, but the trauma, the shock caused by the wound, has, uh, accelerated everything.
Well, you must have realized his behaviour was, at best, erratic lately.
Yeah, yeah.
In any case, it won't be more than a matter of weeks, maybe even days.
I think his family should be notified.
Sure.
Would you know how to get in touch with them? Yeah, yeah, I can call them.
Listen, doctor, I wanna see him.
Well, if you don't mind waiting.
He's unconscious now.
No, no.
Thank you.
Yeah.
Oh, damn it.
What? Nothing.
What the hell are you two doing in my office? It's called a murder investigation, Cameron.
You think you're really gonna find something that we overlooked? Yeah, I think we might.
Because maybe we're looking for something that you didn't.
Or maybe something you deliberately overlooked.
That sounds like an accusation.
Oh, really? Well, maybe it is.
We just had a conversation with a girl named Iris, who told us about you and Sharon Flynn.
And how Jack had taken her away from you just a few days before she was murdered.
Iris.
Yeah.
I suppose she told you that Sharon and I had heated arguments during that time.
That's right.
Well, did she also? Did she also tell you that we had those heated arguments over a period of six months, every time Sharon decided she wanted to have a little fling? No, I suppose not.
Because Iris wouldn't have known about that.
They hadn't been friends that long.
Before Sharon Flynn was murdered you had at least half a dozen murder suspects.
Afterwards, you concentrated all your efforts on Jack Mitchell.
Because I had strong evidence against him.
You had footprints that matched Jack's shoe size.
You had the fact that he dated all the girls.
Now, that's a place to start, Cameron.
But it sure doesn't convict anybody.
It stinks.
Lieutenant Cameron's office.
What? Your friend Jack Mitchell just regained consciousness.
He got past the guard, and he escaped from the hospital.
According to the cab company, he's on the way right now to the Thunderbird Hotel.
That's where Vicky works.
Hold the screaming.
It's me, it's Jack.
Jack, you scared me You scared me to death.
What do you think you did to me? Screaming like Jack, you've been bleeding.
I know.
Oh, my God.
It's Hutch.
They tried to kill me, Hutch and his friend.
What are you talking about? They're cops.
They tried to kill me.
Listen.
Please, you You gotta hide me before they Before they kill me.
Please.
Please, just Okay, okay.
All right, all right.
Just hide me.
Are you okay? I'm okay, all right? Yeah.
Let's go.
Let's get out of here.
Yeah.
You're sure? Vicky! Okay, okay.
Just put your arm around me.
Put your arm around me.
Oh! Okay, okay.
Wait.
Just some steps over here.
One at a time.
I'm all right.
I'm all right.
Okay.
Okay.
I got it.
I got it.
Okay.
Okay.
Just lean against Lean against this.
Okay.
Hurry up, hurry up.
They're coming for me.
Hurry up.
Get an ambulance.
Somebody get an ambulance! Vicky.
Vicky.
Why don't you get out of here? How is she? Severe concussion.
Whatever happens, she probably won't be able to go to work for the next three months.
You know, for the last three years she's held down two jobs.
Her kid's had three operations, probably needs that many more.
Only she's so in debt the doctors refuse to work until she pays it down.
At least she's alive.
Hey, I've had it up to here with optimistic views of life.
Cameron's closed the case.
Terrific.
You wanna hear it officially? Sure.
Jack attacked Vicky to try to get even with us.
When he heard the sirens, he couldn't do anything else, so he jumped over a banister.
Starsky, Jack didn't attack Vicky, and he didn't kill anybody.
Oh, come on, will you? That's another thing I'm sick of.
I'm sick of your stinking loyalty to your friends.
Is that present company included or excluded? You know what I mean.
What do you want? Do you want me to go down to the mortuary and get a signed confession from Jack? Starsky, Jack did not attack Vicky.
I just got Jack's doctor out of bed and had coffee with him.
It was a miracle that man could walk out of here last night.
He was 90 percent paralysed on his right side.
He couldn't attack Vicky, and if he didn't do it, somebody else did.
Eugene, hurry up or we'll be late.
Coming, Ma.
Every Sunday we're late for Mass.
God knows how he'll punish us.
Things were never like this when your father was alive.
You're not a boy any longer, Eugene.
You're 28 years old.
At the store, they're always saying, "Oh, you're so lucky, Mrs.
Pruitt.
You have Eugene.
You'll never be an old and lonely woman.
" Well, I'm 59 years old, and I have no grandchildren.
They ask, "Why doesn't Eugene marry?" Well, I can't very well tell them that he has no taste for decent women.
Just harlots and tramps! Eugene, I'll wait in the car.
What on earth are you doing with that shotgun? There's something here, Hutch.
I can feel it.
Well, what makes you so sure? Well, if you're right about Jack being innocent, then the real guy would've had to have been waiting inside the apartment.
They would've seen him if he was out on the balcony.
Look familiar? Some of the other girls had bags like this in their effects.
Might not be much, but most of the showgirls shopped there.
Closest place to the strip.
Hutch.
Vicky bought this last night.
I was with her.
Yeah, go on.
Well, she didn't go right home afterwards.
After she left us, she went to work.
The drugstore was supposed to deliver this, along with What's the next name? Gretchen Hollander.
Hollander.
Bingo.
She's here too.
That's all five of the dead girls.
If Mrs.
Pruitt ever knew you were going through our delivery book without her knowledge Shut up.
Who's Mrs.
Pruitt? She's our night manager.
Relieves me at 5.
And she dispatches all our deliveries.
And her son makes all the deliveries.
That's right.
Eugene.
Where do we find him? And kick, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight.
One, two, three, four I got it.
Hello? Could I speak to Iris Thayer, please? This is Iris Thayer.
Miss Thayer, you don't know me.
My name is Greene.
I'm currently putting together a new revue, and I'm in dire need of a lead female dancer for my headliners.
Uh, you were recommended to me.
If you'd be interested, I'd like to set up a meeting.
All right.
Yeah, when? If you could possibly make it this morning, how about the convention centre at Circus Circus in half an hour? Half an hour? All right, I'II, uh I'll drop over.
Okay.
Bye.
What is it? I'm a star.
I'm a star.
I just got discovered.
Some guy wants to see me.
I gotta go to Circus Circus, and I gotta dance my little heart out.
That's it right there.
I got the back.
She's still warm.
Hey.
Constance Bennett.
I think we may have found his next victim.
Five, six, seven and eight.
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven and eight.
Take five.
Hello? Who's this? Taffy.
Taffy, this is Starsky.
Give me Iris.
Oh, she isn't here.
She left about 10 minutes ago.
Where'd she go? Um, Circus Circus.
She had an interview.
Oh, my God.
Listen.
Listen carefully.
I want you to get in touch with Lieutenant Cameron.
This could mean Iris' life.
I want you to tell him that if he wants his strangler, he should meet us at Circus Circus.
Got that? Just do what I say.
Yeah, yeah.
Kill them today, honey.
All right, Iris.
Do it up.
Mr.
Greene? Mr.
Greene? Hey, Mr.
Greene? Must be seen by Mr.
Greene.
Mr.
Greene? Don't know why I'm always on time.
Everyone else is late.
P for punctual and H for hot.
One, two, three, four.
Mr.
Greene? One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight.
One, two, three.
Ah.
Turn around.
Turn around! Eugene? You wanna talk? Get down! That's six.
Hold it! Well, one of us has to go.
Well, what are you looking at me for? You were here first.
You know I'm afraid of heights.
Well, who do you think I am, Evel Knievel? Well? It's a long way down.
Yeah, for everybody.
You did a good job in Las Vegas.
Thanks, cap.
Thank you, captain.
Really had fun up there, didn't you? Pretty girls, a lot of wild parties, all expenses paid, gambling.
They tell me you really had a streak too.
Uh, look, captain, if you got something to say, why don't you just make the point? All right, Hutchinson.
The point is a sum of money, something in excess of $28,000.
The Las Vegas police wanna know where it is, and so do I.
Twenty-eight thousand dollars.
You happen to know where it is? No.
Well Ah Thank you, Mr.
Brennan.
Oh, let's see what this is.
Who is it for? Well, it's I don't know.
It's from some, uh very special friends.
Ah Keno.
We lost it playing keno.
That's right.
Keno.
Keno? Keno.
Keno.
Easy come, easy go.
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