Magnum, P.I. (1980) s07e07 Episode Script
Little Girl Who
Stop, or I'll shoot.
Higgins, no, it's me! To quote, "Higgins, I won't be home all night.
I have to do surveillance.
" And that was the truth.
I had a change of plans, I came home, I went to bed early.
Fully clothed, wearing gloves? All right, yes, I sneaked in and got your security keys.
But not to put something over on you.
I just didn't want to wake you.
How considerate.
Please remove that mindless game from the computer.
I can't.
This instant, Magnum.
I insist.
Pull your disk and leave.
I told you, I can't.
For God's sake, it's 2:00 a.
M! And I couldn't sleep.
Look, I just wanna wind down, Higgins.
I had a terrible day.
I was right on the verge of cracking this big gambling case I've been working on, when the When you had a chronic attack of adolescence.
No.
When my suspect flew off to Maui.
Higgins, what are you doing? No! Oh, my God! Now I'm gonna have to buy T.
C.
A new game.
I told you you couldn't turn it off.
It's programmed to erase if you stop it.
Don't be ridiculous.
Why should anyone devise such a toy? 'Cause Siege of the Seventh Galaxy is not a toy.
It is designed for the adult who yearns for the risk and challenge of true-life intergalactic combat.
Stop! What are you doing? I'm reformatting.
Oh, my God! You've destroyed New Delhi.
I've what? My second campaign in India.
Three months of mind-wrenching labor, five complete chapters, an entire era of my life, gone! Why did you reformat the main drive? I was trying to delete it.
That game cost $59.
95.
Game? You dare to mention that game at this moment.
New Delhi is lost! Well, so is the Seventh Galaxy.
Oh, let's just forget it.
I've got to get some rest.
I've got to be downtown in five hours.
Then I suggest you leave now.
It's a very long walk.
No.
You can't do that.
I have to stay on that casino case.
I'm real close to breaking it.
You said your suspect flew to Maui.
But not his office.
Look, Higgins, I'm sorry about your memoirs.
Then accept just punishment.
Punishment? It wasn't my fault.
The Ferrari keys, Magnum.
Now.
And the keys to my other vehicles are to be delivered to me, as well.
Your vehicles? The vehicles Mr.
Masters has placed in my care.
No, no, no.
You think of them as your own, don't you? Your cars, your house, your computer, so you can use them to threaten me and manipulate me.
You're being quite childish.
And you're being petty, Higgins.
Real petty.
I'm being emphatic! The keys! Oh, Hig You're right.
It was a stupid thing to do.
I'll give you the other keys in the morning.
Good night.
Seven years is a long time to share common ground with someone whom you share no common ground.
But if there's one thing that Higgins and I do share in common, it's our passion for competition.
We're even sporting enough to give each other an advantage.
For instance, I gave Higgins the edge by handing over the car keys without a fight.
That told him for sure that I had no intention of giving up the Ferrari.
The funny part was that he didn't try to use the advantage and stop me from leaving.
But then if there's one other thing Higgins and I have in common, it's a respect for work.
I mean, no matter how mad he might have been about the loss of his memoirs, he would never have been petty enough to stand in my way of attending to business.
Even business as trivial as breaking and entering.
Hi.
What were you doing in my office, Magnum? Have we met? No.
But that hasn't stopped you from following me around.
Where'd you hear that? Same place I heard you were gonna break in here this morning.
Wait a minute, Bill Nahli.
You have to be Bill Nahli.
And you think I've been following you? This is funny, see, 'cause I'm a private investigator.
That I know.
Working for who? You.
Your company hired me to do efficiency reports.
Now do you see why it's funny? Hey, wait a minute Yeah, it's very funny, since we're closed for vacation.
But then, you knew that.
You watched me take off for Maui yesterday.
Okay.
Give me my camera, move your cars, and I'll come back next week.
No, you won't.
I don't believe you're working for me, Magnum.
But if you are, you're fired.
Hey, wait, my camera.
It was yours.
No, it wasn't.
If there's a third thing that Higgins and I have in common, it's an expert knowledge of evasion techniques.
I'd have to be expertly evasive with T.
C.
Until I came up with $1,259.
95, the cost of one destroyed computer disk and one misplaced camera.
And I had no doubt that Higgins would be evasive with me, rather than admit that he'd overreacted in taking my car keys.
But then, I knew how much his memoirs meant to him, so I decided if he apologized, I'd be nice about it.
I might even offer to pay my fine.
Officer, I'm sorry, I meant to fasten my seatbelt, but I You're under arrest for grand theft auto.
You have the right to remain silent.
Anything you say could be disastrous, so please speak in the warmest, gentlest, most complimentary tones.
Yes, yes.
We must take no chance of disturbing the cereus before tomorrow.
No, of course not.
Jonathan, isn't it exciting? You and Mr.
Obata could become famous.
Agatha, this is hardly the first inducement of a daylight blooming of the Cereus Mandevillus hybrid.
However, our technique is quite original.
We've managed to interrupt the natural sex cycle.
Oh, dear.
Mr.
Higgins and I have discovered that the normal behavior of the cereus can be reversed by restricting pollination.
Higgins! I can't believe you did that, Higgins! Mr.
Magnum, please, don't yell.
Think of the cereus.
You bet it's serious.
Mr.
Obata is referring to the Cereus Mandevillus.
You might disturb them before tomorrow's International Hawaiian show.
Flowers? Are you serious? You want to talk about upset flowers? What about me, Higgins? I'm very upset.
Perhaps you could explain your anger, Mr.
Magnum, in cooler tones.
Higgins had Thomas arrested.
Arrested? Jonathan! Agatha, please.
Magnum, am I to understand that it was you who took the Ferrari this morning? Oh, come on, you knew I had it.
No.
I reported it stolen because you vowed not to use it.
It never occurred to me that you might go back on your word.
Oh, cute.
Okay, just drop the charges, I'll go get the car, and we'll forget the whole thing.
I'll drop the charges, of course.
But a vow is a vow.
You can't drive the car for six days and 11 hours.
Which will give you an opportunity to make an emotional commitment to your groundskeeping duties.
I do hope you understand.
Understand? Sure.
I understand.
No problem.
He had me arrested.
Thomas, how many more times are you going to say that? Come on, Higgins already explained what happened.
And you believed him? Well, I wanted to believe that he meant what he said about dropping the charges.
I mean, I need the two grand bail money back.
Well, don't worry.
He will straighten things out with the police.
He has made his point.
What was he trying to prove about that emotional commitment stuff? That is just his way of reminding me that I promised to help out with the lawn work while he was busy on his project.
Here they are, my secret set.
Are you crazy? Are you gonna try and get the Ferrari? Of course not.
I just wanted to find these so I could give them back to Higgins.
Hey, man.
Where is my camera? T.
C.
, where the hell have you been? I needed help with the bail money.
Well, you two had already left the station by the time I got there.
Where is the camera? Safe.
I put it in the car and the car's been impounded.
It is not in the car.
I had the police check.
Oh.
Okay.
Then have this film developed for me.
Do what? Well, I don't wanna ask Higgins to use the darkroom right now.
And this film is the key to your camera.
They usually go together.
So why is this film not with my camera? Because I switched it before Nahli's guy grabbed your camera.
But don't worry, we'll get it back, when we nail Nahli.
Hold it, hold it.
Who's Nahli? The head of the biggest gambling ring in the Islands.
And that film could prove it.
It's a list addresses I shot in his office files.
Casino locations? I'll know for sure if T.
C.
Will develop the film and if you'll check some of the addresses.
Me? Rick, please.
I can't do it.
Nahli knows me now.
I wonder how he could have found out that I was tailing him.
I wonder why I'm not in there trying to kill him.
That's a $1,200 camera.
So, can you please just help me find it by developing that film? I'll get the prints to you as soon as I can, Rick.
And in the meantime, Rick, could you talk to Ice Pick? He may know about Nahli's operations.
Thomas, Ice Pick, you got to understand.
It's not that easy.
Every time I go to him I owe him another favor.
But this is important.
It's always important.
So what're you gonna do? You gonna take a nap until I get back? No, I'm gonna commit myself to some "cereus" lawn work.
What in God's name are you doing? Higgins.
Is something wrong? You've just destroyed my chance to become the first person to exhibit a day-blooming Cereus Mandevillus.
You know how hard I've worked on this project.
You've gone too far! Higgins, they weren't blooming.
Of course they're not blooming! They'll only bloom during the daytime in a dark room! I thought they were useless.
Honest.
I'm sorry.
I just got emotionally committed.
It's a logical error.
I understand.
I know what you're thinking, and, sure, I knew Higgins and I were getting a little out of hand.
But if there's a fourth thing that Higgins and I have in common, it's an adult, sensitive, rational attitude towards our problems.
We've always known where to draw the line.
I suggest we try a normal, nocturnal sex cycle.
Yes.
And then attempt to interrupt the pollination again before the competition.
Good morning, Higgins, Mr.
Obata.
Magnum, you're up early.
Didn't you sleep well? I slept great.
Any reason I shouldn't have? No.
No, of course not.
What's the condition of the cereus? Not serious, I hope.
I'm glad you can find humor in the situation, Mr.
Magnum.
Yeah, I'm glad I can, too.
Magnum, what do you want? I would like to borrow some adhesive tape.
Did you hurt yourself? No, it's for a friend.
I'll just get some out of the medicine cabinet, if that's okay.
Thanks.
Magnum, wait.
Something's troubling you.
Why aren't you asleep? It's the crack of dawn.
I have duties to perform here, remember? Not more lawn work, I trust? No, Mr.
Obata.
Security.
I check the grounds, keep an eye out for any old dangerous weapons that might be left lying around.
Things like that.
Old dangerous weapons? It's okay, Higgins.
I took care of the problem.
You and Higgins have been playing stupid games while I've been out doing your work.
No, Higgins is playing games.
I'm just trying to resolve things.
I mean, I did make a concrete effort to end this feud.
Hey, it's not funny, Thomas.
If you really wanted to stop this fight, you would have never plugged up his cannon.
He beheaded my chicken.
After you beheaded his flowers.
After he had me arrested.
After you stole the Ferrari.
I didn't steal it.
Which means that the whole fight started over nothing.
So drop it.
And do me a favor, do your own investigation from now on.
I got better things to do.
Well, will you just tell me what you found out about Bill Nahli? Oh, yeah.
As soon as you tell me what all this junk is for.
Well, it's just It's kind of insurance, you know, that I hope I don't have to use.
Now, what did Ice Pick have to say? The casino locations are the best kept secret in town.
Nahli and his boss cater to the tourist crowd.
This way, they don't have to mess around with the cops or the syndicate.
Nahli has a boss? And that is the other best kept secret.
Ice Pick's been trying to get a lead on the big guy for months, but so far Nothing.
Well, maybe you can find a lead at one of those addresses.
And that is the last favor I'm gonna do for you, Thomas, and you remember that.
You better straighten this thing out with Higgins.
I will.
All he has to do is come and talk to me.
Got your prints.
Yeah, thanks, T.
C.
Well, don't get too excited.
I mean, I only stayed up till midnight trying to get those developed.
Hey, these are all residential addresses.
Of course.
Nahli's not gonna have his casinos in Waikiki.
Maybe you can sneak a look at the first few houses and call me if you find anything.
Yeah.
Like my camera.
And speaking of my property, I think maybe I'd better pick up my disk before it gets lost.
Right.
It must be in this big pile of junk.
Higgins! Higgins, open the door! But Mr.
Magnum, you can't come in.
We're pollinating.
I want to see Higgins now! Magnum, go away! No, don't let in the daylight! The blooms are closing! Shut the door, shut the door.
Where's my stuff, Higgins? I have no idea what you mean by your stuff.
But our competition begins in exactly three hours, and if these Cereus Mandevillus blooms are not open, you are to be held directly responsible.
You cleaned out my closet.
Yes.
You said you wished to make a contribution to the Home for Incorrigible Boys Equipment Drive.
A contribution, yes.
But not my entire closet.
I didn't know that.
You had most of the closet's contents lying out in the room when the collectors arrived.
You gave away everything.
My gorilla mask, my Tiger uniform, my Al Kaline bat.
I had no idea these tokens meant so much to you.
If I had, believe me, I would not have given them away.
The blooms are opening again! Oh, Jonathan, we're saved! Yes, yes, I'm coming.
Robin Masters' Estate.
Hello? Is anyone there? Hello.
I'm very, very sorry, but all the donations have already been distributed to the boys.
Look, could you just try and find a few of the things for me? Just a second, Mrs.
Hunter.
Hello? Thomas, I checked out a couple of those addresses.
You were right.
Vegas in the basements.
That's great, Rick, but Listen to this, Nahli was at one of the casinos.
I got a shot of him before his goons spotted me.
Rick, can I call you back? Thanks.
Mrs.
Hunter? Yes, Mr.
Magnum.
I'm still here.
Good.
There's a Detroit Tiger baseball uniform in the stuff that Higgins sent you.
It really means a lot to me.
Don't go away, Mrs.
Hunter.
Hello? Thomas, did Rick call you? He found Nahli.
We can get my camera.
Meet us at Yeah, T.
C.
, I'll call you back.
Mrs.
Hunter? Mr.
Magnum, it's obvious that we're both very busy.
No, no, no.
There's just a few more things.
There's a baseball bat and a gorilla mask A gorilla mask? I know, I know.
It's kind of silly to miss a gorilla mask, but Damn! Mrs.
Hunter Mrs.
Hunter? Whoever it is, I'll have to call you back.
No, Magnum, we talk now.
It's Bill Nahli.
We need to have a meeting.
2:00 in the old abandoned Marina Medical Building.
And come alone.
If there's a fifth thing that Higgins and I have in common, it's a pragmatic sentimentality.
We only hold on to things that have some practical use in the present.
Old bats that still had a few long balls left in them, old cannons that could still fire.
But I'd begun to wonder if we were as practical about old attitudes.
Maybe Higgins and I had unconsciously decided to freshen up some old fights by going outside the rules.
And I suddenly realized that maybe Bill Nahli wasn't staying within the announced rules either.
Nahli? Higgins! What are you up to? I'm up to between the second and third floors, I believe.
And trapped here indefinitely, thanks to you.
Don't be absurd.
How should I know why we're in here.
Because you set it up.
You must have found out I was meeting Nahli.
What name did you say? Nahli, Higgins.
Bill Nahli.
The guy I've been tailing.
Don't tell me you've never heard of him.
Well, I I know him by reputation.
He's a respected businessman.
He's a crook.
And he wanted to strike a deal to give me his big casino boss's name.
Did you set that up too? Of course not.
Then why are you here? You stole the Ferrari again.
I followed you to collect it.
If you followed me, how'd you get here first? No, Higgins, you were cooking something up to get back at me for the bridge.
Ah, yes, get back at you.
Tit for tat, cut and thrust, an eye for an eye, a Roland for an Oliver.
A Roland for an Oliver? Childish retaliations to the end.
Well, I've cooked up nothing.
So claim your victory and your delirious rampage of devastation.
My rampage? Who devastated my chicken? Who deliriously gave away all my stuff? How dare you claim equitable vindication? You destroyed my milestone experiment, my most prized possessions and my history.
I merely dispensed with a few baubles.
Baubles? Yes, Magnum, baubles.
Toys.
A gorilla mask, old baseball cards, a piece of wood given you in your youth by that Kanine chap.
Kaline! Al Kaline.
My role model, and one of the greats of the game.
Game! Precisely.
It's unnatural for an adult to attach such importance to games and toys.
Oh, and toy bridges are okay, and toy cannons, and sexually maladjusted flowers that you have to speak kindly to.
Those are acceptable mature baubles for the mature, mature adult! Come on, Higgins, enough is enough.
Now, someone is going to help, right? Or turn the power back on? Double pressure from the same side should prove more practical.
Come on, Higgins, answer me.
What are you up to? What's your next part of the plan? I'm only going to try to create a leverage while you push.
Higgins, if you If you are telling the truth, we may end up having to fight our way out of here.
I don't want to do it with a bent barrel.
Only with a bent psyche.
What does that mean? Simply that there are so-called professions that only 40-year-old adolescents, desperate to prove their virility would practice.
Well, whatever I'm trying to prove, at least I'm doing it in the present.
It beats living off the laurels of an alleged past.
Alleged past? Are you suggesting that I lie about it? I am suggesting that some people just don't have much of a past, so they make one up.
Maybe even one so detailed they can even believe it.
As soon as we get out of here, I shall call Mr.
Masters.
At his discretion, one of us will agree to leave Robin's Nest permanently.
Well, we know there won't be much question about his discretion.
But I'll agree anyway.
I'm telling you, they let the whole thing get out of hand.
Look at this mess.
Thomas is definitely out of hand.
We solve his case for him and he doesn't even bother to show up to thank us.
Which means he could be in some kind of trouble.
Yeah, he sure is in trouble.
Twelve hundred and sixty bucks' worth.
Would you just forget about that stuff until we find Thomas and Higgins? No.
No! Why is it our job to find them? Why is it our job to do his job? Why am I out a camera and a disk that I never even got a chance to use Hey, wait a minute.
Look at this.
Something serious at 4:00.
Higgins doesn't misspell words.
Night-blooming cereus, It's a flower.
Yeah, the flower that got beheaded.
There's no telling what Higgins did after Thomas blew his bridge.
What are you doing? It slipped.
There's a chance that I can induce more slippage.
No, the brakes are probably worn, so they slipped a little bit.
But there's a safety.
You can't jar it loose.
And even if you could, do you wanna free-fall two and a half floors? Rather than stay here indefinitely, yes.
I'll take the risk.
No, Higgins, no.
Come on, stop, please.
Just a minute.
Now, no more games.
You didn't arrange this to mess up my meeting with Nahli? I mean, you weren't maybe pretending to be him? On my honor, as an Englishman, before the Crown, I am not responsible.
Even as we may shortly fall to our deaths, you cannot forego the opportunity to laugh at me.
Oh, come on.
If I was doing the jumping, you'd think I looked funny.
But I'd have the decency not to laugh.
This has nothing to do with decency.
You can't laugh.
You know, in all the time I've known you, I have never actually seen you have a great big belly laugh.
People of proper breeding do not belly-laugh.
Fine.
Don't offend your breeding by jumping.
Safety must be locked down tight.
It's somewhere on top of the car.
How is it that you're so knowledgeable of lifts? Elevators.
And don't tell me I actually know more about something than you do.
Your indictment presumes that I possess very little first-hand knowledge on any subject, that I am a charlatan who has fabricated his past.
Not your entire past.
Nobody's that creative.
You probably didn't make up any of it.
I've seen you in action.
That speaks for itself.
Your accusation cannot be retracted so easily.
Well, the same goes for you calling me a 40-year-old adolescent.
No, your accusation is totally false.
However, aside from your reasons for pursuing investigative work, I consider you to be quite competent.
Thanks.
Not extraordinary, mind you, but competent.
That's complimentary, when you consider that I have known the best Intelligence minds in the world.
Yes.
So it says in your memoirs.
Tell me something, Higgins, is there anybody you haven't known, or anything you haven't done? You're calling me a liar again.
I'm calling you an exaggerator.
Your memoirs read like a bad novel.
Not that it's bad writing.
No, it's kind of exciting, very imaginative, very professional.
Not like that cheap pulp that Robin writes.
How dare you! I was just quoting you.
You're the one who's always referring to Robin's writing as cheap.
I never said cheap.
It's just not serious writing.
That's the only real difference between the memoirs and the novels.
The memoirs? The novels? I was using the article "the" to compare the works, rather than the writers.
Sure.
Just how much writing have you done, Higgins? And so she says, "Ed, when are we gonna get married? I feel dirty.
" Ed, over a beer tonight, okay? We're late coming back from lunch.
Check this place one more time, okay? One more time.
Yes, naturally, I've studied the fundamentals of writing.
Professional writing? Hey, Dave, the power's still on in here.
All right, that's it, Higgins.
No more games.
I've had it! Why didn't you do that before now? Because I didn't want to waste a bullet.
If it is Nahli playing the games, we may need it.
Magnum, are you certain it was a Mr.
Bill Nahli you were to meet here? A rat! I didn't ask for your opinion of his character.
Just tell me if you're sure that's whom you were to meet.
Nahli? N- A-H-L-I? Yes.
And I just saw an R-A-T that could eat Rhode Island.
The power's off again.
Some clown called Island Power this morning and told them to cut it back on.
It's a big commitment, this marriage stuff, Dave.
If I marry Donna, what about Sally? What about this job? Get busy.
All right, all right.
Forget it.
I can't get out.
That escape's not legal size.
You still haven't explained your knowledge of lifts.
And you still haven't explain Explained why you're here.
I still say you know more than you're telling.
What happened, Higgins? Did Nahli double-cross you, too? I came to find my stolen Ferrari.
Oh, that's it! That sells it.
Sells what? You said your Ferrari.
Again.
You have done that one too many times, Higgins.
I meant Mr.
Masters' Ferrari.
No, you didn't.
You do lie about yourself.
It all adds up.
The writing, the little "my" slips of the tongue.
What one earth are you talking about? The big lie, Higgins.
Admit it.
You're Robin.
You are Robin Masters.
I'm laughing at the sheer absurdity of the accusation.
No, no, no.
You're laughing because you're trapped.
You have never laughed like this.
Now, admit it, you spent all these years pretending to be Robin's employee, because you didn't want anyone to know that you write cheap pulp novels.
And who, may I ask, is the man we know and address as Robin Masters? I don't know.
Some little guy with a voice like Orson Welles and a body like Truman Capote that you hired to pose as Robin.
That was very interesting casting.
You weren't satisfied with a nom de plume.
You developed this whole persona to create the kind of playboy you envisioned writing cheap pulp so you could devote yourself to serious writing.
Oh, please, I can't stand it.
You can't stand the truth.
Oh, come on, please.
I remember all the little slip-ups, like the time Robin called you "sir.
" And why is it that you know exactly when he's going to call, and exactly what he's going to say? I mean, why does Jonathan Quayle Higgins get these very legal looking letters from Robin's publishing company? Well Occasionally Mr.
Masters asks me to look over minor documents for him.
Minor documents? Checks, contracts, approvals for galley sheets? You steamed open my mail.
Ah-ha! Your mail! Demolition sirens? They're gonna blow this place up.
If you didn't set this up with Bill Nahli, you still got to have some idea what it's all about.
Yes.
Cereus Mandevillus.
Your attention, please.
This area is unsafe.
You must clear the area and move behind the barricades.
I repeat, clear the area and move behind the barricades.
We're here because of your flowers? Perhaps.
Because of the day-blooming experiment.
Mr.
Obata All right, I've reconsidered your free-fall theory.
Help me.
We're safe for the moment.
City codes require that the alarms sound first 20 minutes before the blast.
They'll sound again in five minutes.
Thanks.
That's very reassuring.
Now, will you please jump? And tell me why you think Mr.
Obata's mixed up in this.
I believe he's arranged for me to perish rather than share the credit on our Cereus Mandevillus project.
He sent you here? No.
But I find it disconcerting that he's Bill Nahli's uncle.
His uncle? Higgins, people don't take flowers that seriously.
Your friend, Mr.
Obata, is probably the big casino boss, and he's been using that cereus project as an excuse to hang around and keep tabs on me.
And he must've finally found out that I was onto his number two man, his nephew.
Well, I I was very angry with you when you took the car yesterday, and I might have mentioned to Agatha and And to Mr.
Obata That you were going to have me arrested at some office while I was investigating a gambling case.
If I leaked vital information, it was an innocent error.
Like your coming down here was innocent? What, did Mr.
Obata con you with some great idea for getting back at me? My reason for being here is of little importance at the moment, and may have no consequence at all in 15 minutes.
It's 12 minutes to four.
They might not withstand the shock.
Agatha, we've got to talk to you.
We can talk, but I can't open the door.
The Cereus Mandevillus must remain in total darkness until just before the opening.
Is Higgins in there with you? No, I'm alone.
Mr.
Obata is holding a press conference, and Jonathan has gone to assist Mr.
Magnum.
Assist? We thought Thomas was here.
Yeah, to try and mess up those flowers before Higgins can show them.
Oh, dear.
The call was a trick? What call? The call that Jonathan received from a man who told him that Mr.
Magnum was in serious difficulty and needed help.
Did Higgins say where he was going? Yes, the Marine.
No The Marina.
The Marina.
The Yacht Club Marina.
That's it! They're gonna take the King Kam Two out to sea, and they're gonna settle this fight once and for all.
Wait a minute, Rick.
Oh, no, you can't bloom now! Your attention, please.
You have five minutes to clear the area.
I repeat, you have five minutes to detonation.
It was a long shot, but it finally came to me.
My uncle told me on these elevators where the escape hatch was so small, that the brakes were probably in the floor.
Your uncle? Yeah, Uncle Otis.
He used to take me on repair jobs with him when I was a kid.
Your uncle was a lift repairman and his name was Otis? An elevator repairman, and yes, his name was Otis, and if you put that in one of your books, no one would believe it, would they, Robin? For God's sake, you're not going to start that again? We may have less than five minutes to live.
So, we may not have another chance to discuss it.
Confess.
Wait.
It's here.
This is the final warning to clear the area.
We are at one minute and counting.
I repeat, we have one minute to detonation.
Safety's frozen.
It won't budge.
Come on, turn loose.
Got it! You okay? Yes.
Magnum, where did you park the Ferrari? Will you forget about the car and worry about us? All clear.
We have a go.
Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one.
We had to check out the Yacht Club Marina! I should never have listened to you and that stupid duel at sea theory! We would have made it if we'd have come here first, but no Come on, will you? Just come on! It's not my fault.
I mean, we couldn't have known You couldn't have known.
We couldn't have know that they You couldn't have known we were trapped inside if you'd gotten here.
Well, Mr.
Masters' Ferrari appears to be all right.
The Cereus Mandevillus bloomed briefly in the broom closet and then succumbed, without the judges ever seeing them.
To think that Mr.
Obata might have murdered you for nothing.
Flower lovers can be pretty serious people.
But of course Mr.
Obata had far more important things on his mind than flowers.
He made a full confession about the casino operation.
Mr.
Obata arranged for my death out of a desperate need for singular notoriety.
But I could hardly expect that you and I would agree on the matter.
Yes, well, I must be going.
Bye, Agatha.
Bye.
Okay, Higgins, I'm here to get something off my chest.
I did have an uncle who repaired elevators, but his name wasn't Otis.
It was Tom.
They're the wrong size.
Fortunately, so was your Detroit Tiger costume.
It was too large for any of the boys.
Mrs.
Hunter says that most of your other donations were rejected as well.
The complaints ranged from antiquated to juvenile.
Rick and T.
C.
Say you only came to that building because you thought I was in trouble.
Is that true? I was obviously duped into going by a bogus phone call.
You won't admit that you came there to help me out, will you? Just like you won't admit that you're Robin.
No, I won't listen to that ridiculous theory again.
Sure, Robin.
And for your information, Mr.
Masters does ask me to inspect all of his important papers.
Of course.
Why not? Robin should check out Robin's papers.
Anyway, I am going surf skiing for a while.
Kids stuff, I know, but I do enjoy it.
Have fun rebuilding your toy bridge.
The cement is out of your toy cannon when you want to play with it.
Magnum, I, too, have a confession to make.
I did indeed want the last trick, the last one-up.
But, so goes the game.
You're a good loser, Robin.
Higgins!
Higgins, no, it's me! To quote, "Higgins, I won't be home all night.
I have to do surveillance.
" And that was the truth.
I had a change of plans, I came home, I went to bed early.
Fully clothed, wearing gloves? All right, yes, I sneaked in and got your security keys.
But not to put something over on you.
I just didn't want to wake you.
How considerate.
Please remove that mindless game from the computer.
I can't.
This instant, Magnum.
I insist.
Pull your disk and leave.
I told you, I can't.
For God's sake, it's 2:00 a.
M! And I couldn't sleep.
Look, I just wanna wind down, Higgins.
I had a terrible day.
I was right on the verge of cracking this big gambling case I've been working on, when the When you had a chronic attack of adolescence.
No.
When my suspect flew off to Maui.
Higgins, what are you doing? No! Oh, my God! Now I'm gonna have to buy T.
C.
A new game.
I told you you couldn't turn it off.
It's programmed to erase if you stop it.
Don't be ridiculous.
Why should anyone devise such a toy? 'Cause Siege of the Seventh Galaxy is not a toy.
It is designed for the adult who yearns for the risk and challenge of true-life intergalactic combat.
Stop! What are you doing? I'm reformatting.
Oh, my God! You've destroyed New Delhi.
I've what? My second campaign in India.
Three months of mind-wrenching labor, five complete chapters, an entire era of my life, gone! Why did you reformat the main drive? I was trying to delete it.
That game cost $59.
95.
Game? You dare to mention that game at this moment.
New Delhi is lost! Well, so is the Seventh Galaxy.
Oh, let's just forget it.
I've got to get some rest.
I've got to be downtown in five hours.
Then I suggest you leave now.
It's a very long walk.
No.
You can't do that.
I have to stay on that casino case.
I'm real close to breaking it.
You said your suspect flew to Maui.
But not his office.
Look, Higgins, I'm sorry about your memoirs.
Then accept just punishment.
Punishment? It wasn't my fault.
The Ferrari keys, Magnum.
Now.
And the keys to my other vehicles are to be delivered to me, as well.
Your vehicles? The vehicles Mr.
Masters has placed in my care.
No, no, no.
You think of them as your own, don't you? Your cars, your house, your computer, so you can use them to threaten me and manipulate me.
You're being quite childish.
And you're being petty, Higgins.
Real petty.
I'm being emphatic! The keys! Oh, Hig You're right.
It was a stupid thing to do.
I'll give you the other keys in the morning.
Good night.
Seven years is a long time to share common ground with someone whom you share no common ground.
But if there's one thing that Higgins and I do share in common, it's our passion for competition.
We're even sporting enough to give each other an advantage.
For instance, I gave Higgins the edge by handing over the car keys without a fight.
That told him for sure that I had no intention of giving up the Ferrari.
The funny part was that he didn't try to use the advantage and stop me from leaving.
But then if there's one other thing Higgins and I have in common, it's a respect for work.
I mean, no matter how mad he might have been about the loss of his memoirs, he would never have been petty enough to stand in my way of attending to business.
Even business as trivial as breaking and entering.
Hi.
What were you doing in my office, Magnum? Have we met? No.
But that hasn't stopped you from following me around.
Where'd you hear that? Same place I heard you were gonna break in here this morning.
Wait a minute, Bill Nahli.
You have to be Bill Nahli.
And you think I've been following you? This is funny, see, 'cause I'm a private investigator.
That I know.
Working for who? You.
Your company hired me to do efficiency reports.
Now do you see why it's funny? Hey, wait a minute Yeah, it's very funny, since we're closed for vacation.
But then, you knew that.
You watched me take off for Maui yesterday.
Okay.
Give me my camera, move your cars, and I'll come back next week.
No, you won't.
I don't believe you're working for me, Magnum.
But if you are, you're fired.
Hey, wait, my camera.
It was yours.
No, it wasn't.
If there's a third thing that Higgins and I have in common, it's an expert knowledge of evasion techniques.
I'd have to be expertly evasive with T.
C.
Until I came up with $1,259.
95, the cost of one destroyed computer disk and one misplaced camera.
And I had no doubt that Higgins would be evasive with me, rather than admit that he'd overreacted in taking my car keys.
But then, I knew how much his memoirs meant to him, so I decided if he apologized, I'd be nice about it.
I might even offer to pay my fine.
Officer, I'm sorry, I meant to fasten my seatbelt, but I You're under arrest for grand theft auto.
You have the right to remain silent.
Anything you say could be disastrous, so please speak in the warmest, gentlest, most complimentary tones.
Yes, yes.
We must take no chance of disturbing the cereus before tomorrow.
No, of course not.
Jonathan, isn't it exciting? You and Mr.
Obata could become famous.
Agatha, this is hardly the first inducement of a daylight blooming of the Cereus Mandevillus hybrid.
However, our technique is quite original.
We've managed to interrupt the natural sex cycle.
Oh, dear.
Mr.
Higgins and I have discovered that the normal behavior of the cereus can be reversed by restricting pollination.
Higgins! I can't believe you did that, Higgins! Mr.
Magnum, please, don't yell.
Think of the cereus.
You bet it's serious.
Mr.
Obata is referring to the Cereus Mandevillus.
You might disturb them before tomorrow's International Hawaiian show.
Flowers? Are you serious? You want to talk about upset flowers? What about me, Higgins? I'm very upset.
Perhaps you could explain your anger, Mr.
Magnum, in cooler tones.
Higgins had Thomas arrested.
Arrested? Jonathan! Agatha, please.
Magnum, am I to understand that it was you who took the Ferrari this morning? Oh, come on, you knew I had it.
No.
I reported it stolen because you vowed not to use it.
It never occurred to me that you might go back on your word.
Oh, cute.
Okay, just drop the charges, I'll go get the car, and we'll forget the whole thing.
I'll drop the charges, of course.
But a vow is a vow.
You can't drive the car for six days and 11 hours.
Which will give you an opportunity to make an emotional commitment to your groundskeeping duties.
I do hope you understand.
Understand? Sure.
I understand.
No problem.
He had me arrested.
Thomas, how many more times are you going to say that? Come on, Higgins already explained what happened.
And you believed him? Well, I wanted to believe that he meant what he said about dropping the charges.
I mean, I need the two grand bail money back.
Well, don't worry.
He will straighten things out with the police.
He has made his point.
What was he trying to prove about that emotional commitment stuff? That is just his way of reminding me that I promised to help out with the lawn work while he was busy on his project.
Here they are, my secret set.
Are you crazy? Are you gonna try and get the Ferrari? Of course not.
I just wanted to find these so I could give them back to Higgins.
Hey, man.
Where is my camera? T.
C.
, where the hell have you been? I needed help with the bail money.
Well, you two had already left the station by the time I got there.
Where is the camera? Safe.
I put it in the car and the car's been impounded.
It is not in the car.
I had the police check.
Oh.
Okay.
Then have this film developed for me.
Do what? Well, I don't wanna ask Higgins to use the darkroom right now.
And this film is the key to your camera.
They usually go together.
So why is this film not with my camera? Because I switched it before Nahli's guy grabbed your camera.
But don't worry, we'll get it back, when we nail Nahli.
Hold it, hold it.
Who's Nahli? The head of the biggest gambling ring in the Islands.
And that film could prove it.
It's a list addresses I shot in his office files.
Casino locations? I'll know for sure if T.
C.
Will develop the film and if you'll check some of the addresses.
Me? Rick, please.
I can't do it.
Nahli knows me now.
I wonder how he could have found out that I was tailing him.
I wonder why I'm not in there trying to kill him.
That's a $1,200 camera.
So, can you please just help me find it by developing that film? I'll get the prints to you as soon as I can, Rick.
And in the meantime, Rick, could you talk to Ice Pick? He may know about Nahli's operations.
Thomas, Ice Pick, you got to understand.
It's not that easy.
Every time I go to him I owe him another favor.
But this is important.
It's always important.
So what're you gonna do? You gonna take a nap until I get back? No, I'm gonna commit myself to some "cereus" lawn work.
What in God's name are you doing? Higgins.
Is something wrong? You've just destroyed my chance to become the first person to exhibit a day-blooming Cereus Mandevillus.
You know how hard I've worked on this project.
You've gone too far! Higgins, they weren't blooming.
Of course they're not blooming! They'll only bloom during the daytime in a dark room! I thought they were useless.
Honest.
I'm sorry.
I just got emotionally committed.
It's a logical error.
I understand.
I know what you're thinking, and, sure, I knew Higgins and I were getting a little out of hand.
But if there's a fourth thing that Higgins and I have in common, it's an adult, sensitive, rational attitude towards our problems.
We've always known where to draw the line.
I suggest we try a normal, nocturnal sex cycle.
Yes.
And then attempt to interrupt the pollination again before the competition.
Good morning, Higgins, Mr.
Obata.
Magnum, you're up early.
Didn't you sleep well? I slept great.
Any reason I shouldn't have? No.
No, of course not.
What's the condition of the cereus? Not serious, I hope.
I'm glad you can find humor in the situation, Mr.
Magnum.
Yeah, I'm glad I can, too.
Magnum, what do you want? I would like to borrow some adhesive tape.
Did you hurt yourself? No, it's for a friend.
I'll just get some out of the medicine cabinet, if that's okay.
Thanks.
Magnum, wait.
Something's troubling you.
Why aren't you asleep? It's the crack of dawn.
I have duties to perform here, remember? Not more lawn work, I trust? No, Mr.
Obata.
Security.
I check the grounds, keep an eye out for any old dangerous weapons that might be left lying around.
Things like that.
Old dangerous weapons? It's okay, Higgins.
I took care of the problem.
You and Higgins have been playing stupid games while I've been out doing your work.
No, Higgins is playing games.
I'm just trying to resolve things.
I mean, I did make a concrete effort to end this feud.
Hey, it's not funny, Thomas.
If you really wanted to stop this fight, you would have never plugged up his cannon.
He beheaded my chicken.
After you beheaded his flowers.
After he had me arrested.
After you stole the Ferrari.
I didn't steal it.
Which means that the whole fight started over nothing.
So drop it.
And do me a favor, do your own investigation from now on.
I got better things to do.
Well, will you just tell me what you found out about Bill Nahli? Oh, yeah.
As soon as you tell me what all this junk is for.
Well, it's just It's kind of insurance, you know, that I hope I don't have to use.
Now, what did Ice Pick have to say? The casino locations are the best kept secret in town.
Nahli and his boss cater to the tourist crowd.
This way, they don't have to mess around with the cops or the syndicate.
Nahli has a boss? And that is the other best kept secret.
Ice Pick's been trying to get a lead on the big guy for months, but so far Nothing.
Well, maybe you can find a lead at one of those addresses.
And that is the last favor I'm gonna do for you, Thomas, and you remember that.
You better straighten this thing out with Higgins.
I will.
All he has to do is come and talk to me.
Got your prints.
Yeah, thanks, T.
C.
Well, don't get too excited.
I mean, I only stayed up till midnight trying to get those developed.
Hey, these are all residential addresses.
Of course.
Nahli's not gonna have his casinos in Waikiki.
Maybe you can sneak a look at the first few houses and call me if you find anything.
Yeah.
Like my camera.
And speaking of my property, I think maybe I'd better pick up my disk before it gets lost.
Right.
It must be in this big pile of junk.
Higgins! Higgins, open the door! But Mr.
Magnum, you can't come in.
We're pollinating.
I want to see Higgins now! Magnum, go away! No, don't let in the daylight! The blooms are closing! Shut the door, shut the door.
Where's my stuff, Higgins? I have no idea what you mean by your stuff.
But our competition begins in exactly three hours, and if these Cereus Mandevillus blooms are not open, you are to be held directly responsible.
You cleaned out my closet.
Yes.
You said you wished to make a contribution to the Home for Incorrigible Boys Equipment Drive.
A contribution, yes.
But not my entire closet.
I didn't know that.
You had most of the closet's contents lying out in the room when the collectors arrived.
You gave away everything.
My gorilla mask, my Tiger uniform, my Al Kaline bat.
I had no idea these tokens meant so much to you.
If I had, believe me, I would not have given them away.
The blooms are opening again! Oh, Jonathan, we're saved! Yes, yes, I'm coming.
Robin Masters' Estate.
Hello? Is anyone there? Hello.
I'm very, very sorry, but all the donations have already been distributed to the boys.
Look, could you just try and find a few of the things for me? Just a second, Mrs.
Hunter.
Hello? Thomas, I checked out a couple of those addresses.
You were right.
Vegas in the basements.
That's great, Rick, but Listen to this, Nahli was at one of the casinos.
I got a shot of him before his goons spotted me.
Rick, can I call you back? Thanks.
Mrs.
Hunter? Yes, Mr.
Magnum.
I'm still here.
Good.
There's a Detroit Tiger baseball uniform in the stuff that Higgins sent you.
It really means a lot to me.
Don't go away, Mrs.
Hunter.
Hello? Thomas, did Rick call you? He found Nahli.
We can get my camera.
Meet us at Yeah, T.
C.
, I'll call you back.
Mrs.
Hunter? Mr.
Magnum, it's obvious that we're both very busy.
No, no, no.
There's just a few more things.
There's a baseball bat and a gorilla mask A gorilla mask? I know, I know.
It's kind of silly to miss a gorilla mask, but Damn! Mrs.
Hunter Mrs.
Hunter? Whoever it is, I'll have to call you back.
No, Magnum, we talk now.
It's Bill Nahli.
We need to have a meeting.
2:00 in the old abandoned Marina Medical Building.
And come alone.
If there's a fifth thing that Higgins and I have in common, it's a pragmatic sentimentality.
We only hold on to things that have some practical use in the present.
Old bats that still had a few long balls left in them, old cannons that could still fire.
But I'd begun to wonder if we were as practical about old attitudes.
Maybe Higgins and I had unconsciously decided to freshen up some old fights by going outside the rules.
And I suddenly realized that maybe Bill Nahli wasn't staying within the announced rules either.
Nahli? Higgins! What are you up to? I'm up to between the second and third floors, I believe.
And trapped here indefinitely, thanks to you.
Don't be absurd.
How should I know why we're in here.
Because you set it up.
You must have found out I was meeting Nahli.
What name did you say? Nahli, Higgins.
Bill Nahli.
The guy I've been tailing.
Don't tell me you've never heard of him.
Well, I I know him by reputation.
He's a respected businessman.
He's a crook.
And he wanted to strike a deal to give me his big casino boss's name.
Did you set that up too? Of course not.
Then why are you here? You stole the Ferrari again.
I followed you to collect it.
If you followed me, how'd you get here first? No, Higgins, you were cooking something up to get back at me for the bridge.
Ah, yes, get back at you.
Tit for tat, cut and thrust, an eye for an eye, a Roland for an Oliver.
A Roland for an Oliver? Childish retaliations to the end.
Well, I've cooked up nothing.
So claim your victory and your delirious rampage of devastation.
My rampage? Who devastated my chicken? Who deliriously gave away all my stuff? How dare you claim equitable vindication? You destroyed my milestone experiment, my most prized possessions and my history.
I merely dispensed with a few baubles.
Baubles? Yes, Magnum, baubles.
Toys.
A gorilla mask, old baseball cards, a piece of wood given you in your youth by that Kanine chap.
Kaline! Al Kaline.
My role model, and one of the greats of the game.
Game! Precisely.
It's unnatural for an adult to attach such importance to games and toys.
Oh, and toy bridges are okay, and toy cannons, and sexually maladjusted flowers that you have to speak kindly to.
Those are acceptable mature baubles for the mature, mature adult! Come on, Higgins, enough is enough.
Now, someone is going to help, right? Or turn the power back on? Double pressure from the same side should prove more practical.
Come on, Higgins, answer me.
What are you up to? What's your next part of the plan? I'm only going to try to create a leverage while you push.
Higgins, if you If you are telling the truth, we may end up having to fight our way out of here.
I don't want to do it with a bent barrel.
Only with a bent psyche.
What does that mean? Simply that there are so-called professions that only 40-year-old adolescents, desperate to prove their virility would practice.
Well, whatever I'm trying to prove, at least I'm doing it in the present.
It beats living off the laurels of an alleged past.
Alleged past? Are you suggesting that I lie about it? I am suggesting that some people just don't have much of a past, so they make one up.
Maybe even one so detailed they can even believe it.
As soon as we get out of here, I shall call Mr.
Masters.
At his discretion, one of us will agree to leave Robin's Nest permanently.
Well, we know there won't be much question about his discretion.
But I'll agree anyway.
I'm telling you, they let the whole thing get out of hand.
Look at this mess.
Thomas is definitely out of hand.
We solve his case for him and he doesn't even bother to show up to thank us.
Which means he could be in some kind of trouble.
Yeah, he sure is in trouble.
Twelve hundred and sixty bucks' worth.
Would you just forget about that stuff until we find Thomas and Higgins? No.
No! Why is it our job to find them? Why is it our job to do his job? Why am I out a camera and a disk that I never even got a chance to use Hey, wait a minute.
Look at this.
Something serious at 4:00.
Higgins doesn't misspell words.
Night-blooming cereus, It's a flower.
Yeah, the flower that got beheaded.
There's no telling what Higgins did after Thomas blew his bridge.
What are you doing? It slipped.
There's a chance that I can induce more slippage.
No, the brakes are probably worn, so they slipped a little bit.
But there's a safety.
You can't jar it loose.
And even if you could, do you wanna free-fall two and a half floors? Rather than stay here indefinitely, yes.
I'll take the risk.
No, Higgins, no.
Come on, stop, please.
Just a minute.
Now, no more games.
You didn't arrange this to mess up my meeting with Nahli? I mean, you weren't maybe pretending to be him? On my honor, as an Englishman, before the Crown, I am not responsible.
Even as we may shortly fall to our deaths, you cannot forego the opportunity to laugh at me.
Oh, come on.
If I was doing the jumping, you'd think I looked funny.
But I'd have the decency not to laugh.
This has nothing to do with decency.
You can't laugh.
You know, in all the time I've known you, I have never actually seen you have a great big belly laugh.
People of proper breeding do not belly-laugh.
Fine.
Don't offend your breeding by jumping.
Safety must be locked down tight.
It's somewhere on top of the car.
How is it that you're so knowledgeable of lifts? Elevators.
And don't tell me I actually know more about something than you do.
Your indictment presumes that I possess very little first-hand knowledge on any subject, that I am a charlatan who has fabricated his past.
Not your entire past.
Nobody's that creative.
You probably didn't make up any of it.
I've seen you in action.
That speaks for itself.
Your accusation cannot be retracted so easily.
Well, the same goes for you calling me a 40-year-old adolescent.
No, your accusation is totally false.
However, aside from your reasons for pursuing investigative work, I consider you to be quite competent.
Thanks.
Not extraordinary, mind you, but competent.
That's complimentary, when you consider that I have known the best Intelligence minds in the world.
Yes.
So it says in your memoirs.
Tell me something, Higgins, is there anybody you haven't known, or anything you haven't done? You're calling me a liar again.
I'm calling you an exaggerator.
Your memoirs read like a bad novel.
Not that it's bad writing.
No, it's kind of exciting, very imaginative, very professional.
Not like that cheap pulp that Robin writes.
How dare you! I was just quoting you.
You're the one who's always referring to Robin's writing as cheap.
I never said cheap.
It's just not serious writing.
That's the only real difference between the memoirs and the novels.
The memoirs? The novels? I was using the article "the" to compare the works, rather than the writers.
Sure.
Just how much writing have you done, Higgins? And so she says, "Ed, when are we gonna get married? I feel dirty.
" Ed, over a beer tonight, okay? We're late coming back from lunch.
Check this place one more time, okay? One more time.
Yes, naturally, I've studied the fundamentals of writing.
Professional writing? Hey, Dave, the power's still on in here.
All right, that's it, Higgins.
No more games.
I've had it! Why didn't you do that before now? Because I didn't want to waste a bullet.
If it is Nahli playing the games, we may need it.
Magnum, are you certain it was a Mr.
Bill Nahli you were to meet here? A rat! I didn't ask for your opinion of his character.
Just tell me if you're sure that's whom you were to meet.
Nahli? N- A-H-L-I? Yes.
And I just saw an R-A-T that could eat Rhode Island.
The power's off again.
Some clown called Island Power this morning and told them to cut it back on.
It's a big commitment, this marriage stuff, Dave.
If I marry Donna, what about Sally? What about this job? Get busy.
All right, all right.
Forget it.
I can't get out.
That escape's not legal size.
You still haven't explained your knowledge of lifts.
And you still haven't explain Explained why you're here.
I still say you know more than you're telling.
What happened, Higgins? Did Nahli double-cross you, too? I came to find my stolen Ferrari.
Oh, that's it! That sells it.
Sells what? You said your Ferrari.
Again.
You have done that one too many times, Higgins.
I meant Mr.
Masters' Ferrari.
No, you didn't.
You do lie about yourself.
It all adds up.
The writing, the little "my" slips of the tongue.
What one earth are you talking about? The big lie, Higgins.
Admit it.
You're Robin.
You are Robin Masters.
I'm laughing at the sheer absurdity of the accusation.
No, no, no.
You're laughing because you're trapped.
You have never laughed like this.
Now, admit it, you spent all these years pretending to be Robin's employee, because you didn't want anyone to know that you write cheap pulp novels.
And who, may I ask, is the man we know and address as Robin Masters? I don't know.
Some little guy with a voice like Orson Welles and a body like Truman Capote that you hired to pose as Robin.
That was very interesting casting.
You weren't satisfied with a nom de plume.
You developed this whole persona to create the kind of playboy you envisioned writing cheap pulp so you could devote yourself to serious writing.
Oh, please, I can't stand it.
You can't stand the truth.
Oh, come on, please.
I remember all the little slip-ups, like the time Robin called you "sir.
" And why is it that you know exactly when he's going to call, and exactly what he's going to say? I mean, why does Jonathan Quayle Higgins get these very legal looking letters from Robin's publishing company? Well Occasionally Mr.
Masters asks me to look over minor documents for him.
Minor documents? Checks, contracts, approvals for galley sheets? You steamed open my mail.
Ah-ha! Your mail! Demolition sirens? They're gonna blow this place up.
If you didn't set this up with Bill Nahli, you still got to have some idea what it's all about.
Yes.
Cereus Mandevillus.
Your attention, please.
This area is unsafe.
You must clear the area and move behind the barricades.
I repeat, clear the area and move behind the barricades.
We're here because of your flowers? Perhaps.
Because of the day-blooming experiment.
Mr.
Obata All right, I've reconsidered your free-fall theory.
Help me.
We're safe for the moment.
City codes require that the alarms sound first 20 minutes before the blast.
They'll sound again in five minutes.
Thanks.
That's very reassuring.
Now, will you please jump? And tell me why you think Mr.
Obata's mixed up in this.
I believe he's arranged for me to perish rather than share the credit on our Cereus Mandevillus project.
He sent you here? No.
But I find it disconcerting that he's Bill Nahli's uncle.
His uncle? Higgins, people don't take flowers that seriously.
Your friend, Mr.
Obata, is probably the big casino boss, and he's been using that cereus project as an excuse to hang around and keep tabs on me.
And he must've finally found out that I was onto his number two man, his nephew.
Well, I I was very angry with you when you took the car yesterday, and I might have mentioned to Agatha and And to Mr.
Obata That you were going to have me arrested at some office while I was investigating a gambling case.
If I leaked vital information, it was an innocent error.
Like your coming down here was innocent? What, did Mr.
Obata con you with some great idea for getting back at me? My reason for being here is of little importance at the moment, and may have no consequence at all in 15 minutes.
It's 12 minutes to four.
They might not withstand the shock.
Agatha, we've got to talk to you.
We can talk, but I can't open the door.
The Cereus Mandevillus must remain in total darkness until just before the opening.
Is Higgins in there with you? No, I'm alone.
Mr.
Obata is holding a press conference, and Jonathan has gone to assist Mr.
Magnum.
Assist? We thought Thomas was here.
Yeah, to try and mess up those flowers before Higgins can show them.
Oh, dear.
The call was a trick? What call? The call that Jonathan received from a man who told him that Mr.
Magnum was in serious difficulty and needed help.
Did Higgins say where he was going? Yes, the Marine.
No The Marina.
The Marina.
The Yacht Club Marina.
That's it! They're gonna take the King Kam Two out to sea, and they're gonna settle this fight once and for all.
Wait a minute, Rick.
Oh, no, you can't bloom now! Your attention, please.
You have five minutes to clear the area.
I repeat, you have five minutes to detonation.
It was a long shot, but it finally came to me.
My uncle told me on these elevators where the escape hatch was so small, that the brakes were probably in the floor.
Your uncle? Yeah, Uncle Otis.
He used to take me on repair jobs with him when I was a kid.
Your uncle was a lift repairman and his name was Otis? An elevator repairman, and yes, his name was Otis, and if you put that in one of your books, no one would believe it, would they, Robin? For God's sake, you're not going to start that again? We may have less than five minutes to live.
So, we may not have another chance to discuss it.
Confess.
Wait.
It's here.
This is the final warning to clear the area.
We are at one minute and counting.
I repeat, we have one minute to detonation.
Safety's frozen.
It won't budge.
Come on, turn loose.
Got it! You okay? Yes.
Magnum, where did you park the Ferrari? Will you forget about the car and worry about us? All clear.
We have a go.
Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one.
We had to check out the Yacht Club Marina! I should never have listened to you and that stupid duel at sea theory! We would have made it if we'd have come here first, but no Come on, will you? Just come on! It's not my fault.
I mean, we couldn't have known You couldn't have known.
We couldn't have know that they You couldn't have known we were trapped inside if you'd gotten here.
Well, Mr.
Masters' Ferrari appears to be all right.
The Cereus Mandevillus bloomed briefly in the broom closet and then succumbed, without the judges ever seeing them.
To think that Mr.
Obata might have murdered you for nothing.
Flower lovers can be pretty serious people.
But of course Mr.
Obata had far more important things on his mind than flowers.
He made a full confession about the casino operation.
Mr.
Obata arranged for my death out of a desperate need for singular notoriety.
But I could hardly expect that you and I would agree on the matter.
Yes, well, I must be going.
Bye, Agatha.
Bye.
Okay, Higgins, I'm here to get something off my chest.
I did have an uncle who repaired elevators, but his name wasn't Otis.
It was Tom.
They're the wrong size.
Fortunately, so was your Detroit Tiger costume.
It was too large for any of the boys.
Mrs.
Hunter says that most of your other donations were rejected as well.
The complaints ranged from antiquated to juvenile.
Rick and T.
C.
Say you only came to that building because you thought I was in trouble.
Is that true? I was obviously duped into going by a bogus phone call.
You won't admit that you came there to help me out, will you? Just like you won't admit that you're Robin.
No, I won't listen to that ridiculous theory again.
Sure, Robin.
And for your information, Mr.
Masters does ask me to inspect all of his important papers.
Of course.
Why not? Robin should check out Robin's papers.
Anyway, I am going surf skiing for a while.
Kids stuff, I know, but I do enjoy it.
Have fun rebuilding your toy bridge.
The cement is out of your toy cannon when you want to play with it.
Magnum, I, too, have a confession to make.
I did indeed want the last trick, the last one-up.
But, so goes the game.
You're a good loser, Robin.
Higgins!