Murder, She Wrote s11e13 Episode Script

Sherif, I'm looking at the reports.
Carbon dating puts it over 4,000 years old.
This is the original Nefertari bust from Medina.
I bet my life on it.
FARIS: Thank God! This is wonderful news.
How quickly can you get it here? SALLY: What are you talking about? Are you crazy? You expect me to smuggle this into Egypt? Miss Otterburn, I have no intention of entrusting a $10 million artifact to the mail service.
I've told you what's in it for you.
Put it in your hand luggage.
The museum has carte blanche with the custom service, and I'll have an affidavit for you verifying that it's only a replica.
I'll take it off your hands at the airport.
And what excuse am I supposed to use for dropping everything and hopping a plane to Cairo? That persistent woman on the board of your museum, what's her name? Fletcher.
She seems most anxious to finalize the exchange exhibition between the Museum of Cultural History in New York and us here.
Tell her I've agreed to it, but under no circumstances let her know what you're carrying.
It'll take me a month to get this together.
Good Lord, no.
A week, at the latest, or I could find myself in great difficulty.
BRADFORD ON PHONE: Hello.
We hit pay dirt.
The one here in Cairo is a fake, the real thing just turned up in New York.
And you can get your hands on it? GRIMES: Shouldn't be very difficult at all.
Excellent, Rudy, excellent.
Listen, I've gotta run.
Why don't we meet tomorrow, we'll finalize the details, all right? I'll call you.
Right, great, thanks.
Rudy Grimes.
He thinks he can make a deal on the broodmare I told you about.
Oh, that's wonderful, Bradford.
How much will you need? I can manage it, I suppose.
Do me up, will you? This one's a winner, darling.
And a bargain.
Bloodlines going all the way back to Secretariat.
Think of it as an investment in our future.
Wouldn't want me to spend my entire life coming to you for handouts, would you? Have I ever complained? WOMAN ON PA: Announcing the arrival of Egypt Air flight number 985 from New York.
Passengers may be met at Gate 20 after completing customs.
(WOMAN SPEAKING ARABIC) I can't believe Faris is not here.
Oh, I'm sure he'll turn up, Sally.
I mean, after all, you said he was very enthusiastic about our exchange agreement.
Oh! There's our driver.
(LAUGHS) (SPEAKING ARABIC) (SPEAKING ARABIC) I think you'd better tell Naser that my Arabic is still somewhat limited.
Not to worry, I speak English and I'm a very safe driver.
For two years I have driven a cab in Manhattan.
Really? A New York taxi driver? Yes! Oh, I think those are our suitcases.
Right there.
I will get them.
This one, and that one.
Hey! Stop it! (SHOUTING IN ARABIC) JESSICA: His face I'm terribly sorry.
I allowed him to get away.
Oh, well, it wasn't your fault.
I mean, why would anybody want my carry-on bag? I'll go and get security.
Where on Earth is Faris? You all right? I am fine.
Thank you.
FARIS: Of course it's not an inconvenient time, Minister, but if you had called earlier, I would have arranged for a luncheon.
That is very kind, Sherif, but I find my little surprise visits give me a more candid view of my museum director's management capabilities, huh? Hello? SALLY: Mr.
Faris? Our American guests.
Oh, hello, Miss Otterburn.
Welcome to Egypt.
Some welcome! I'm barely off the plane and somebody tries to steal you-know-what.
Why the hell aren't you here? Oh, oh.
Yes, yes.
The Nile can be lovely at this time of the year.
I'm sorry I wasn't able to meet you at the airport, but the Minister of Antiquities had some urgent business.
He's here with me right now, as a matter of fact.
Look, obviously somebody knows I have your little statuette and he's going to try again.
I'm gonna bring it over to the museum now.
Please, that really won't be necessary.
I will call you at your hotel.
SALLY: All right.
We are appraising the authenticity of everything in all our museums, from Aswan to Alexandria.
Naturally, I'll be happy to help in any way I can.
I am sure that you will, Sherif, just as I am sure that you, of all my curators, have nothing to conceal.
(WOMAN SPEAKING ARABIC ON PA) Pardon, mesdames.
Inspector Halim, Cairo police.
Oh, yes.
How do you do, Inspector? And you, I believe, are that author P.
D.
James? No.
J.
B.
Fletcher.
(LAUGHS) I just got in from Luxor.
Security informed me that one of your bags has been stolen.
Yes.
This type of crime is unusual in Egypt.
Can you describe the thief? Oh, yes, I can.
He appeared to be a Westerner, Caucasian, 6'1", about 175 pounds.
Dark brown jacket and khaki pants.
Interesting.
Uh, and your bag? Did it contain any valuables? Well, mostly paperwork, but very important to my trip here.
I mean, it took a great deal of work to prepare.
Mrs.
Fletcher and I are here to arrange for a transfer of artifacts from the Cairo museum.
I was under the impression the industrial nations had given up ransacking the treasures of the ancient world.
Well, it's a temporary exchange exhibition, Inspector, with our museum in New York.
And as your half of the bargain, you'll loan us Mickey Mouse? (SIGHS) I'd prefer you return the Rosetta Stone.
Well, then you'd better speak to the English, because I'm sure you're aware it's in the British Museum.
Forgive me, Mrs.
Fletcher.
To atone, I shall make certain that your police report doesn't get lost in the usual bureaucratic maze.
Well, I would certainly hope so, Inspector.
Thank you.
BRADFORD: What the hell do you mean, the wrong bag? You said this would be a simple interception.
Get off my case, for God's sake, these things happen.
You should've moved when I told you to.
The thing was just sitting there in New York.
It was on a plane before I could mount an operation.
Listen, worst-case scenario Stop, stop.
Save the buzzwords, all right? You're not in the CIA anymore.
Look, you've got just as much at stake as I do.
Just go get the damn thing.
Whatever it takes.
Well Are we talking about a broodmare or possibly a pork belly? Vanessa, you're back.
Mr.
Grimes, is it? Mrs.
Thorpe.
I'll call you as soon as those papers come through.
Right.
Bradford.
(LAUGHS) Be a dear, pour me a Scotch and soda, will you? This city gets in my throat.
Rudy figures we'll have the deal on the mare made by the end of the week.
Really? Still, I think you should choose your business partners more carefully.
You mean Grimes? You know something I don't? Just intuition, darling.
I wouldn't trust Rudy Grimes to give me change for a dollar.
JESSICA: And in addition, I'll need copies of all the insurance endorsements.
RUTH: Right, but he's not in now.
Yes, but we do need to talk.
I mean, could I reach him later? He'll be in about 11:00.
New York time? Yes.
That's in two hours, right? Uh-huh.
Thank you, Ruth.
Well, at this rate, it'll take a week to replace our papers.
A week I don't have.
Jessica, this is my friend Boyd Venton.
Oh, it's a pleasure to me you, Boyd.
Pleasure to meet you.
Now, if you're wondering why Sally has lured you into a half-finished hotel instead of something plushier Well, she told me that you're giving our museum a price break and we're very grateful.
Here's your room key, Mrs.
Fletcher.
307.
The elevator's that way, to the left.
Thank you.
Thank you, Naser.
Sally, dear, I'll make the rest of my calls from the room.
I'll see you later.
Welcome back, Sal.
This old place has come a long way.
I'm surprised you decided to come back, let alone stay here.
Hmm.
I know that you can use every guest you can get.
Oh, very nice.
Oh, no, no, no, madam.
I was wondering if I might have a moment of your valuable time.
Well, Naser, after you risked a broken nose to help save my bag, how can I say no? It is my fiancée, Tasnin.
She is a U.
S.
Citizen and lives in New Jersey.
That has to be difficult, thousands of miles apart.
When are you planning to get married? Well, that is the problem.
When I was in America before, I did not have the work visa.
I had to return to Cairo to apply for a green card.
That was many months ago.
Uh, but surely when you get married I mean, that makes you eligible for residency.
Yes, but I do not want to sneak in again illegally.
Then I may never get the green card.
It's a bit of a catch-22, isn't it? It gets worse.
Now I hear my cousin, Abdullah, is courting Tasnin (SIGHS) I know you are a famous lady in America, and Well, Naser Look, I can't make any promises, but Well, I do have a friend in Washington who may be able to see that your application gets to the right desk.
You will do this for me? (SIGHS) Thank you a thousand times.
And the blessings of Allah be upon you.
(LAUGHS) My colleagues say I made a mistake trusting you.
It's only because of your wife's considerable assets, which they regard as collateral against our generous advances.
I told you, I can't get at Vanessa's money.
Exactly.
If you can't, neither can we.
In which case your wife becomes the only collateral you have.
Vanessa! No, you wouldn't.
Without the Nefertari, you have nothing, Mr.
Thorpe.
Without Mrs.
Thorpe, you have less than nothing.
I want it by midnight tomorrow, or we'll foreclose.
Then you'll have it.
It's gonna happen, believe me.
Goodbye then, Mr.
Thorpe.
SALLY: Look, I must speak to Mr.
Faris now.
SECRETARY: I'm sorry, Miss Otterburn.
He left the building with the Minister of Antiquities.
I don't know when he'll be back.
Wonderful.
Damn.
(PEOPLE CHATTERING) (GIGGLES) Aren't we jumpy today? Hell, yes.
I've gotta be back at the store in 20 minutes.
What's this all about? Well, you're not gonna need that job anymore, Laura.
LAURA: Airline tickets? BRADFORD: Mmm-hmm.
Rome.
9:00 tomorrow night, we're out of here.
It's the big score that I promised you.
It's coming through for us, Laura.
Huh? Hey, sweetheart, what gives? It's a little sudden, that's all.
I mean, to just scoot off to Rome? I need some time.
What's to think about? You and Vanessa, for one.
It hasn't been that long for us, you know.
Maybe I shouldn't have thrown it at you like this My mind's made up.
Vanessa's history.
You'd really do that for me, wouldn't you? Oh, yeah.
Look, I've got to get back.
We'll talk tomorrow, okay? (SHOWER RUNNING) (SHOWER STOPS) And there you go.
Now you've got something to read by, at least.
Great.
I don't know what Sally's told you about us.
Just that you'd met when she was interning at the Cairo museum.
We got very serious, but when it came time for her to leave I don't know, we got our signals crossed.
Her goals were in New York, and yours were here.
Oh, no! God! Stop him! JESSICA: Sally, what's the matter? What is it? Someone was in my room, he took my bag It was the same man who stole my bag at the airport! What's going on, Sally? What did he take? The Medina Nefertari.
It's gone.
The Medina Nefertari was part of the Alfred Worthington bequest to the Museum of Cultural History.
But as I remember, that piece was listed as a Victorian copy.
Except when I examined it, I had a suspicion that it went back much further.
I ran tests The bust was over 4,000 years old.
Faris finally confessed that the original had been stolen over two years ago.
It's becoming obvious to me, Sally, that this sudden rush-rush exchange program with our museum and the need for our presence, they were just an excuse for you to hand-carry the Nefertari back to Cairo.
It was Faris' idea.
We'd get our first world-class exhibit.
And you'd receive the fellowship at Cairo University, and the eventual assistant curatorship here that you told me about, right? You really wanted to come back? (KNOCKING AT DOOR) Mrs.
Fletcher.
Mr.
Faris.
I'd hoped that we'd find Miss Otterburn here.
You're about 10 minutes late, Sherif.
The Nefertari's gone.
How could you have allowed this to occur? JESSICA: Look, I don't think this is the time for recriminations, Mr.
Faris.
At the moment, our concern is what the Cairo police are going to have to say.
Please! No police, Mrs.
Fletcher! The authorities will inevitably believe that I had something to do with the original theft.
In which case, I shall hardly be in a position to approve the exchange.
Well, I assure you that that's the farthest thing from my mind right now.
Furthermore, I don't appreciate being enticed halfway across the world as a cover for your duplicity.
Mrs.
Fletcher.
I'm not a vengeful man, but if I'm arrested, there will be no way I can avoid implicating Miss Otterburn.
You mean you'd let Sally take the blame? No, Boyd, please (SIGHS) Under the circumstances, I think you can see it serves all our purposes if the police are not brought in at this time.
All right, for Sally's sake, no police.
Well, for now, at least.
(CLASSICAL MUSIC PLAYING) SALLY: Oh, this is just great, Jessica.
Celebrating an exchange that's never going to happen.
Well, chin up, Sally.
And don't talk to any strangers.
MAN: Sally! Excuse me.
SALLY: We should look at the other one.
You agree? MAN: Yes, I agree.
Let's go.
Would you like to see the other side? Yeah, right here.
There's something thoroughly barbaric about him, don't you think? Well, Mrs.
Thorpe.
He doesn't strike me as pharaoh material.
Well, I'm afraid history would disagree with you.
Under the Narmer dynasties, there was the beginning of writing, the unification of Egypt I stand humbly corrected.
Is Mr.
Thorpe with you? More or less.
I must congratulate you, Jessica.
Putting together that museum in New York from such a decrepit department store.
You mean since we last crossed swords? Well, it was either the museum or allowing your people to destroy a perfectly glorious landmark to make way for a parking structure.
We must get together while you're here.
I keep telling Bradford, "It's a wretched enough place "even when one knows people.
" (SIGHS) A friend of yours? Isn't that what all the fuss is about? It really is exquisite, isn't it? And as these ladies will attest, she's like a daughter to me.
Mrs.
Fletcher, Miss Otterburn, Trevor Han.
How do you do? Delighted.
And if she ever disappeared, the sense of loss would be devastating, no? Mrs.
Fletcher, Miss Otterburn.
That man gives me the shivers.
True, but if there's anyone in Cairo who will know where the statuette can be found, it's Trevor Han.
He owns an art gallery near Opera Square.
No one's ever been able to prove anything, but he's suspected of being involved in the illegal export of antiquities.
HAN: Do you understand? Mrs.
Fletcher, my congratulations on the evening.
It's brought out the creme de la creme of Cairo.
Thank you, Inspector.
I wish I could make it more memorable by telling you my people have recovered your stolen bag, but Well, it's more of an inconvenience than anything else.
All of the documents are being replaced.
I've been thinking about that, and how strange that they were taken in the first place.
And by a man you described as European or American.
Omar, you are here to help us honor Mrs.
Fletcher and her museum, not to interrogate her.
Even at college, he was a compulsive worker.
Sherif, you're looking rather tense this evening.
Overworked? Or is there something weighing on your mind? Please, excuse me.
I guess the jet lag has caught up with me.
I think it's just about that time, Sally.
Gentlemen.
I'll see the ladies to the door.
Good evening, Omar.
What do you mean, you're bailing out? You can't bail out! It's gone and I can! I searched Sally Otterburn's room, the Fletcher woman's room.
I even got into the hotel safe, nothing.
She must have passed it to Faris already.
Well, then get into the museum somehow.
Look, I don't think you've been listening, Mr.
Thorpe, our deal is off, as of now.
Goodbye.
VANESSA: Very nice, Mr.
Grimes.
I hope we don't have to do business together again.
That's mutual.
Whoa, whoa, whoa.
Aren't you forgetting something? Haven't you enough to retire on already? You have the Nefertari.
I'm sure by now you've acquired a buyer.
Don't play games with me, lady.
You wanted to keep your husband.
Now, I did what you asked me to do.
GRIMES: Thank you.
A word of free advice Knowing some of the people that your old man's been talking to, I'd get him out of Cairo, real quick.
I am way ahead of you.
You're welcome.
(GUN COCKING) You move, you're gonna get a free tracheotomy.
You know, this is a lousy way to say hello to an old friend.
Hey, Rudy, for old times Where is it? You remember the rule in the good old days when you were pulling weeds for the CIA? It's funny, I can't seem to remember who, what, where, when Go on.
Get outta here, and don't even think about talking to the police.
One word from me to Egyptian Intelligence and they will take you apart, piece by piece, my friend.
Get outta here.
Have you lost something, Inspector? Yeah.
A cufflink.
It belonged to my father.
What good is one without the other? I'm not sure if that's more of a waste of time for you or for me, Mrs.
Fletcher.
Oh? Why would you say that? 'Cause I believe a busy woman of your reputation has better things to do than look at mug shots of petty crooks.
I sense that you're here for another purpose.
Oh? What is it you think I haven't told you? The same thing that makes Sherif Faris so nervous lately.
An idle speculation, perhaps, but I suspect there was something more valuable in your bag than you are willing to admit.
No, I can assure you I gave you a complete list of the contents.
Are these all you have? That's all that fit your general description of the man.
Well, thank you very much for your time.
You're welcome.
Thank you, Mrs.
Fletcher.
That's a start.
God, I've missed you.
It's gonna be hard for a while.
We've got your situation to resolve I can't think of that right now.
The clean-up on this place is costing me three times what I figured.
Boyd, it's your dream, and I believe in it now.
What is it, Boyd? Sit down Something you should know about me before it all comes out.
About what I was and did before I met you.
And it has something to do with the guy who broke into your room.
He's a former CIA operative.
These days he goes by the name of Rudy Grimes.
You did good, Laura.
You did real good.
A little pillow talk, Rudy.
That's all it took.
And boom! You find out about your statue, or whatever it was.
The guy talks in his sleep? Never mind how I know.
Laura, you know, you really are the best.
You always do your part.
You never ask any questions.
You just grab 20 grand.
Look, just stop treating me like this, all right? I'm worth a damn sight more than that! I put me on the line, Rudy, you understand that? My body.
You know what that means? Uh, no What are you getting at, Laura? Considering how much you're making out of this, I'd say I'm worth a hell of a lot more than a lousy 20 grand! But we have a deal.
I mean, you can take it or, well, you can leave it, if you want.
I gave up one neat situation for this! Sweetheart, this gig is a done deal.
(LAUGHS) Look, it's over.
It's finished.
You'll be sorry, Rudy.
Don't ever call me again.
Mmm, right.
Till the next time.
MAN: Telephone.
Yeah? Sure.
You're damn right I'm interested.
Mr.
Grimes! As I've already told you, Inspector, I have no idea what business Rudy Grimes had here at the hotel.
HALIM: You were acquainted with him, however? BOYD: Well, sure.
Rudy was a fixture around Cairo.
I mean, I knew him by reputation, which, to be honest, wasn't the best.
(SPEAKING ARABIC) That will be all for now, Mr.
Venton.
And now, Mrs.
Fletcher, perhaps we can complete your statement.
Darling It's all right.
HALIM: Miss Otterburn I'm sure you've numerous other concerns, Mr.
Venton.
I'll see you a little later.
Mrs.
Fletcher, you recognized the decedent's picture in my office.
He was the person who stole your bag, wasn't he? Yes, Inspector.
As I was about to mention earlier in my statement, I was on my way to you to explain when When you had the misfortune to find yourself confronting the man's corpse in the elevator.
Mrs.
Fletcher, Miss Otterburn, in my work I find a simple omission is frequently tantamount to a lie, and I'm certain neither of you wants to be guilty of that.
It's time you help me fill in the blanks.
FARIS: You had to tell him? Why didn't you just stick a knife in my heart, Mrs.
Fletcher? At this point, your problems really are very little concern to me.
I mean, the subterfuge of our so-called cultural exchange was bad enough, but now a man has been murdered.
HALIM: Sherif, Sherif, Sherif.
When the Medina Nefertari was first missing, why didn't you immediately come to me? I had been foolish enough to lend it to a curator in Italy.
It was unofficial, I know, but I saw nothing wrong.
And it would have meant a feather in the friend's cap.
So much for friends, huh, Sherif? Yeah.
See, he returned the copy and vanished.
I was desperate, Omar, you know the Minister of Antiquities.
It would have meant the end of my career! So, the original ended up in the Worthington collection, and then in our museum.
We've searched the hotel top to bottom, no sign of statuette.
Grimes' bag was empty when you found him, which might suggest he was either delivering the Nefertari or expecting to collect it.
Yes, but Naser saw Grimes enter the lobby and go directly into the elevator.
Now, it's unlikely he had time to do either before I ran into him.
Well, the fact remains, he was shot either as he entered the elevator or when he arrived on the third floor.
Two positions covered by yourself and Naser Hasan.
Unless the elevator stopped at the second floor.
Nevertheless, I'll be questioning your driver further.
Mrs.
Fletcher, a favor? Stay out of my investigation.
(MAN RECITING PRAYER IN ARABIC) Vanessa? What are you doing? It's what we're doing.
And we're about to redefine our relationship, Brad.
It's Mother's way from here on.
No more handouts for mythical business deals, illicit amours.
I don't know what the hell you're getting at, Vanessa.
Rule number one, no lies.
You borrowed half a million dollars from Trevor Han.
Vanessa, how do you You'll be lucky to get out of Cairo with your skin! Then I get a charming little phone call from your Miss Laura Gibson (SCOFFS) Well, you have a choice, Brad.
You can walk out of here right now and face the prospect of making a living on your own.
But if you choose to stay, then it must be on my terms.
Ours may not be the best of marriages, but it is the one I want, heaven help me.
(SIGHS) Vanessa If you can find it in yourself to forgive me.
You have a message for me? Yes.
Oh.
Thank you.
Naser! From my friend in Washington.
They're tracing your file.
They are? Oh! I am through the ceiling with joy.
Thank you so much, Mrs.
Fletcher.
I must call Tasnin.
Sally! Inspector Halim mentioned that there's still no sign of the Nefertari.
If it doesn't turn up by tonight, I'm afraid we'll have to get the next flight back to New York.
What floor does Boyd live on? The second.
Why? I'd like to try a little experiment.
I want you to try to beat the elevator to the next floor on foot.
What's this about, Jessica? Well, I think that the inspector is on the wrong track.
So, let's just try it.
(ELEVATOR BELL DINGS) There! I made it with time to spare.
Yes, indeed.
Well, this floor isn't open to guests, yet.
No.
It wouldn't make a lot of sense to shoot someone in the lobby.
I mean, it would be too public.
So you think Naser came up here and killed Grimes? Well, you've just demonstrated that he could have, and he is Inspector Halim's prime suspect.
Hey, Boyd! Jessica's just showing me the mind of a mystery writer.
Really? Well, watch your step.
I don't carry much liability insurance.
Boyd, there's something you didn't tell Inspector Halim last night.
What do you mean? Well, you knew Rudy Grimes.
Last night, the police found a knife on Mr.
Grimes.
It was yours, wasn't it? The same knife you were using to open a parcel when Sally and I first arrived here.
Yeah, it's true.
I saw him the night before he was murdered.
I should have told you, Jessica, but She was trying to protect me.
Ah.
A friend in Washington told me that Grimes used to be in the CIA, and your name came up in his file.
Yeah.
I was barely 21 at the time.
I'd been bumming through Europe and landed here broke, lost Grimes used him, Jessica.
This was before the Egypt-Israel peace accord.
He was paying me to get information.
You know, it was penny ante stuff at first Later, it got more serious.
I mean, people started dying.
If the government found out even now, Boyd could be thrown out of Egypt and lose everything.
You could always count on Rudy to follow the big money.
So the night before last, I confronted him.
I figured he'd know where the statuette was.
And he threatened you with your past? (SCOFFS) The big money.
I might know where that was coming from, and just maybe where the statuette ended up.
JESSICA: At the reception you appeared to be arguing with Mr.
Han.
You're way off base, Mrs.
Fletcher.
I know nothing about this statuette.
Well, then help me any way you can, Mr.
Thorpe.
I mean, the police have implicated two friends of mine in serious crimes.
And you've admitted having business with Rudy Grimes.
Well, the upshot of that is, I never want to hear the name again.
And in point of fact, the lowlife got what he deserved.
Whoever killed him saved me a bundle, too.
(EXCLAIMS) Saved me a bundle, darling.
Let's get that straight, shall we? You really have no right coming in here, asking questions, Jessica.
Now, if you don't mind, Bradford and I have a plane to catch.
Vanessa, you've helped me more than you know.
You both have.
(MAN SPEAKING ARABIC) He says Mr.
Grimes used to eat here every day.
One of his best customers.
Would you tell him that I'm Mr.
Grimes' mother and I've come to collect his mail.
Mrs.
Fletcher! That would be less than honest! (SPEAKING ARABIC) (SPEAKING ARABIC) (MEN GREETING IN ARABIC) He says the late Mr.
Grimes often told him how his mother loves mulukhiya.
Her favorite dish.
Mulukhiya? A very spicy green stew.
Green? Egyptian delicacy.
(EXCLAIMS) (SPEAKING ARABIC) (SPEAKING ARABIC) (CLEARS THROAT) (NERVOUSLY LAUGHS) (CLEARING THROAT) Delicious.
(ALL LAUGHING) Thank you.
Did he say if there was any mail for Mr.
Grimes? (SPEAKING ARABIC) (SPEAKING ARABIC) (MEN CHATTERING IN ARABIC) (BOTH SPEAKING ARABIC) You really must give me the recipe for this.
It's so delicious.
Naser, we must be on our way.
Oh, no Not yet, Mrs.
Grimes.
It is considered very rude to leave even a crumb.
(MEN SPEAKING ARABIC) Thank you.
Welcome.
May I have the bag, please? I thought you were going to let the police handle this, Mrs.
Fletcher.
Part of your exchange exhibition? Inspector, I can explain everything.
Unnecessary.
But I have something of more vital interest to you, Mrs.
Fletcher.
We are about to arrest Mr.
Grimes' killer.
Do you still need this for your indigestion, Mrs.
Fletcher? Who, Inspector? Mr.
Naser Hasan, you are under arrest for the first-degree murder of Rudolph Grimes.
(GASPS) We need little more than this.
Found in Naser Hasan's quarters.
Ballistics tests indicate it fired the bullets that killed Mr.
Grimes.
Well, I hardly think that avenging a bloody nose is a motive for murder.
Given the time to reflect, I expect that Mr.
Hasan will provide us with an explanation.
Five minutes, Mrs.
Fletcher.
I know now I will never go back to America.
Madam, please, will you do something for me when you go home? If I can, Naser.
Go and see my fiancée, Tasnin, and tell her what's happened.
She shouldn't wait for me.
She should marry my cousin, Abdullah.
I pray he will be a good husband to her.
Look, Naser, I don't think for a minute that you killed Rudy Grimes, and I'm going to do everything I can to get you out of here.
Insha' Allah, Mrs.
Fletcher.
God willing.
(EXCLAIMS) Inspector.
HALIM: Yes? I've found your missing cufflink.
Oh, blessing upon blessing! One of a pair One missing! Naser, your prayers may just have been answered.
Inspector, don't plan any trips.
It's imperative that I see you later.
I've managed, don't ask me how, to convince the inspector that the real killer waited for Grimes on the second floor.
So he's sending a forensic team first thing in the morning to go over the whole area again.
And if they find anything that can help Naser, they will.
Sally, Mrs.
Fletcher, won't you join me for dinner? Oh, thank you, but I've got some calls to make.
Sal? Hello, Boyd.
Oh! Jessica! Not sleepwalking, I hope.
Oh, no.
Just trying to confirm some suspicions.
I believe that the killer waited here at this window as Grimes entered the lobby.
Think about it, Boyd.
The murderer arranged to meet Grimes upstairs, say, on the third floor, counting on Grimes taking the elevator.
Please, go on.
I'm very intrigued.
In which case, the killer would've pressed the button to this floor, assuring that the elevator would stop.
And shot him as the elevator doors opened.
From here, I'd guess.
The doors close, the elevator went to another floor, where you run into him.
Makes perfect sense, Jessica.
The only question is, who? Hey! I see I'm not the only one with a touch of insomnia.
(SIGHS) Not really, Sally.
I was just telling Boyd how I believe you killed Rudy Grimes.
(LAUGHS) Jessica, have you lost your mind? No, Sally.
When I asked you to prove that Naser could have beaten the elevator to this floor, you ran up the stairs, you took a position in the alcove, overlooking the front entrance.
Why, Sally? Unless you knew where you fired the shot from? Jessica, this is utterly ridiculous.
Hardly, Miss Otterburn.
We've taken residue samples from the drapes that show a weapon was shot from here recently.
Surely, you'd have to prove that I was on the scene.
But you were on the scene.
Earlier, I found a cufflink that Inspector Halim had lost that rang a bell.
I remembered that when you entered the lobby last night after the murder, you were missing an earring.
You must have realized you'd lost it and came down here just now to look for it.
It was snagged in the drapes over there, where you were hiding when you shot Rudy Grimes.
When you told me about him, I knew that he'd never let you off the hook.
I called him.
I didn't even know for sure if he had the statuette, but I told him that Faris was so desperate that he had stolen museum funds.
Millions in cash to buy it back.
He was interested, and he said he'd meet me.
That was all I needed.
You planted the weapon in Naser Hasan's apartment? I'm sorry about that, Jessica.
I couldn't think of anything else.
Boyd Darling, please, try to understand.
(SPEAKING ARABIC) (BOTH SIGHING) A most unfortunate set of circumstances, Mrs.
Fletcher.
Perhaps you'll allow me to ease your pain.
There's a charming little restaurant in old Cairo where they make a delicious, spicy Egyptian stew You mean mulukhiya? Exactly.
Thank you, Inspector, but I think I'll pass.
NASER: In only two weeks, I will go to the U.
S.
Embassy and get my green card, and then my snake of a cousin, Abdullah, (LAUGHING) Had better make himself scarce.
WOMAN ON PA: Flight number Better be on my way! Hey, Tasnin and I have talked.
We're naming our first child after you.
Are you sure it's going to be a girl? Well, yes! It's fated.
You have made our happiness.
Well, with the help of some very good friends.
I wish you a wonderful life, Naser.
And when I get to New York, I will put out a good word for you.
You will never have to wait for a taxi again! Insha' Allah, Naser.