Well, darling, you're home early.
Yes, Betty went to visit her parents tonight.
She's been doing that quite often lately, hasn't she, Alex?
Could it be that she's getting tired of the waiting game?
No, Melissa. She's a woman of infinite patience.
We'll see.
By the way, where were you this evening?
Are you really interested?
You were aware of nothing wrong until you heard the maid scream?
I was working in the garage using an electric drill.
They make a great deal of noise.
Then I turned it off.
When I heard Amanda screaming, I ran out of the garage
just in time to see a man running up the driveway.
Then he turned and started shooting at me.
Steve.
- I just talked to the maid. - How is Amanda?
The sedative you gave her helped, doctor.
What's her story, Danno?
Just that she heard the gunshot, went to a window,
saw Mrs. Southmore slumped over, saw the figure of a man running away.
Are you sure there's nothing specific you can tell us about the man, doctor?
Oh, he was just a shadow.
- How about the r he was driving? - I only got a glimpse of it.
Oh, you saw it?
Well, I had run back into the garage, and when he stopped shooting,
I came back out again just in time to see him pulling away in it.
It was an older, inexpensive r of some kind.
Doctor, do you have a description of the jewelry
your wife was wearing this evening?
Yes, I think so.
I have photographs and a professional appraisal
of all our jewelry.
The insurance company insisted on them.
They're right here in the desk.
Got anything?
Yeah. Two slugs from that garage door
and a gasoline credit-card receipt dated today.
She was wearing this wristwatch, this necklace,
and her engagement and wedding rings, of course.
I don't know what else.
Why don't you just take-f? Here, take all of these.
Thank you.
Oh, tell me, doctor,
do you know of anyone who had a reason to kill your wife?
I don't understand, Mr. McGarrett.
She was robbed. Isn't it obvious why she was killed?
Well, the obvious always bothers me, doctor.
Steve, look at this.
- Fresh. - Yeah.
Okay, get me photographs and plaster casts.
Maybe we'll get lucky.
There were two shots fired.
One in the chest and one through the left temple.
Powder burns indicate the second shot was fired
with the gun right against the head.
- Sort of coup de grace, huh? - Right.
Thirty-eight caliber. The killer was making sure, wasn't he?
Very sure.
- What kind of a gun was it, Che? - Smith & Wesson.
What about the plaster casts of the tire tracks?
Old rubber, size 600-13. Tread practically gone on them.
- A lateral break on one. - Good.
Danna'?
What have you got, Danno?
Last night, Mrs. Southmore had dinner at the Surfrider
- with a Mr. and Mrs. John Phillips. - Who are they?
Old friends of hers from San Francisco. Just visiting here.
She met them about 6:15, they left the Surfrider about 8.
Mr. and Mrs. Phillips walked her to her car. She drove off alone.
The Phillips then went to a concert.
- Did their story check out? - All the way.
What about the description of Mrs. Southmore's jewelry?
Every pawnshop will have it within the hour.
All right.
I want you to get the word to every fence in town.
Let them know just how hot this ice is,
and if they touch it, they're gonna get burned.
- Steve. - Yeah?
- What about that gas receipt'? - Kane's on it.
- Sure, I remember her. - Any particular reason?
Yeah, she was good-looking with class.
And great legs. Drove in about 9.
- How do you fix the time? - Because I close at 9.
She drove in alone.
Yeah.
Yeah, this is Charlie Ling.
What?
The Guru tell you to call me?
Okay. Okay, okay, okay, what you got?
Yeah.
Yeah, I may be interested.
Okay. Make it the Wailea overpass in an hour.
- You're Charlie Ling? - Am I?
- My name is- - Skip it.
Look, mister, what I don't know ain't gonna hurt me.
Like this stuff you wanna show me.
Maybe you inherited it from your rich auntie.
Maybe not. I don't know and I don't re.
You dig?
Okay, let's see what you've got.
- Not bad. - What will you give me?
Not great, but not bad.
Well, how much?
What's the rush?
Look, will you just make me an offer?
- This stuff must be pretty hot. - No.
So hot you just wanna dump it and cut out, right?
No.
Look, mister, forget it.
Man, the way you're pushing,
I wouldn't give you more than a grand for the whole thing.
- A thousand? - Yeah, outside.
- Okay. - What?
I'll take a thousand for all of it.
Okay.
Okay, I'll meet you inside the main entrance at Sea Life Park.
In a couple of hours.
Well, what's the matter with fight here, fight now?
Because this is all the bread I got on me.
One dime.
Just enough for a phone call.
This way, anything goes wrong,
I tell the oops I was just asking you for a light.
Sea Life Park.
Make it noon.
- Oh, Steve. - Yeah?
- I've got something. - Like what?
Southmore. He owns a .38 caliber Smith & Wesson.
Gun number 3798, registered in his name.
Coffee?
Alex, you don't look well.
You look terribly tired.
It's this horrible business.
I guess the shock is beginning to tell.
Why don't you let Dr. Berdahl take your calls for the next few days?
I'd rather be busy.
You know, it's ironic.
For three years, the one thing I wanted
was my freedom from Melissa.
But as much as I wanted my freedom,
for her to be murdered...
Oh, it's horrible.
Alex.
How much do you love me?
What are you really asking?
You said there were times when you hated her.
Hated the sight of her.
- Do you love me so much that-'P - Betty.
Oh, you can't believe I'd do anything like that.
Her death was so lucky.
Isn't that an awful thing to say?
But it's true.
Fate stepping in and giving us this terrible gift.
So I wondered if it was fate or if you were so desperate that--
No, no.
What kind of a way would that be for us to start our life together?
You can't mean that.
I'm sorry, Alex. lam sorry. I love you so.
- Can I see you tonight? - Is that wise?
I don't care what people think, I've got nothing to hide.
Oh, Mr. McGarrett.
Come in. That will be all, Miss Viati.
- Any news? - Yeah.
Your wife was killed with a .38 caliber Smith & Wesson.
So?
So you have a handgun.
Same caliber, same make, registered in your name.
That's right.
I'm sure a lot of people have a gun just like it.
Doctor, I'm not interested in a lot of people, just you.
What was the status of your relationship with your wife?
Well, it's no secret.
We were strained, I guess is the word for it.
I wanted a divorce.
- But your wife wouldn't give you one? - No.
So the last few years, we went our separate ways.
As for the gun, it's right here.
- Well, Che? - Have a look.
The one on the left is the one I just test-fired
from Dr. Southmore's gun.
You can see the lands and grooves aren't nearly as prominent on it
as they are on the one taken from Mrs. Southmore's body.
So that means she couldn't have been killed with Dr. Southmore's gun.
No way.
Hello, Charlie.
Hey, Mr. Williams. How are you?
Hey, come in, come in. Sit down, sit down.
- Buy you a cup of coffee? - No, thanks.
- What can I do for you? - Take a look at these.
Sure.
- This stuff hot? - So hot they could raise blisters.
Stolen from a woman who was murdered last night.
Maybe we should talk about it.
Hey, wait a minute, Mr. Williams. I don't know nothing about this stuff.
Yeah, I guess we'd better talk.
Right on time.
- Have you got the money? - Yeah.
Hey, man. Relax, man, relax.
Where you going? Where you going? Relax.
Steve.
I'm gonna ask you again, Mr. Harper, did you kill Melissa Southmore?
I don't wanna answer any more of your questions.
Does that mean you've changed your mind and wanna talk to a lawyer?
I don't need a lawyer.
I'll tell you something, Mr. Harper.
I've been a cop a long time
and I've never seen a man who needed a lawyer more.
We have a statement from Charlie Ling
that you met him on the Wailea overpass,
offered to sell him some jewelry.
This jewelry.
The jewelry you had in your possession when you were arrested.
Melissa Southmore's jewelry.
We have a plaster cast of a tire track.
It matches the tire on your car exactly.
That puts you at the Southmore home last night.
If you want to tell us the rest of the story, fine.
But don't kid yourself, Mr. Harper,
that we haven't got you, because we have.
Cold.
All right, Chin. Take him away.
Come on.
All right. I killed her.
That's what you wanna hear, isn't it?
All I wanna hear is the truth.
- Mrs. Harper? - Yes.
- Mrs. David Harper? - Yes.
We're from Hawaii Five-0.
May we come in?
- What is it? - It's about your husband.
He's being held on suspicion of homicide.
Homicide?
And Charlie Ling said to meet him at Sea Life Park at noon.
Let's take this apart and put it together again, Mr. Harper.
You were parked near the gas station.
- You were desperate for money. - I haven't worked in a long time.
- You were gonna hold up the station. - Yes.
But then you saw Mrs. Southmore, noticed her jewelry,
changed your mind about holding up the gas station,
- and followed her instead. - Yes.
You didn't know she was going home?
How could I?
All right.
You got to the Southmore home. Tell me about that.
- I told you. - Tell me again.
May I have a glass of water, please?
Are you all right?
Her car turned into a driveway. I stopped and waited a minute.
- What for? - Trying to figure out what to do.
Then I turned off my headlights,
I started up the driveway toward the garage.
There was a light on, I looked in.
There was a man working on an old r.
Are you sure you're all right?
I'm fine.
All right, go on.
I started toward the house.
I saw lights on around the swimming pool.
- Then I saw the woman. - Standing beside the pool.
Lying on a sort of chaise, I told you that.
- And then she saw you? - Yes.
And?
- And I shot her. - Just like that?
Yes.
Then you took her purse and her jewelry.
There was $40 in the purse.
Forty-eight. Why are you trying to trick me?
Skip n.
- And I shot her again. - Why?
To make sure that she was dead.
To be sure that she'd never be able to identify me.
You're sure there was no other reason?
Yes.
Okay.
Then I started back up the driveway and I heard somebody scream.
Then the guy me out of the garage.
I sort of panicked, I took a couple of shots at him
and he ducked back in the garage.
And I ran back to my car and drove off.
- And drove straight home? - No.
I drove to the McCully Street Bridge
and threw the gun in the Ala Wai Canal.
Please, I can't answer any more questions.
All right, Chin. Book him.
Jenny, get me Lieutenant Rice of Harbor Patrol.
Tell him I need a couple of his divers.
Right.
Yeah, Chin, yeah. Yeah.
Jenny, raise Danno for me.
Yeah, Steve?
- Danno, is Mrs. Harper with you? - Right.
Mrs. Harper, can you hear me?
Yes, Steve, she can.
I'm sorry to have to tel! you this,
but your husband collapsed when he was being booked.
He's at the hospital. Danna, take her there.
Right.
I'll be at the hospital.
Dr. Fogeda, Kino 1, stat.
Mrs. Harper, this is Steve McGarrett.
- May I see my husband? - Yes, of course.
Nurse.
David?
How do you feel?
David?
It isn't true, is it? What the police said?
It isn't. It can't be.
David?
Can you hear me?
Then tell me what happened. Please.
David?
Please tell me what happened.
He's dead. Apparently from a brain hemorrhage.
- But that's academic. - What do you mean it's academic?
He'd have died anyway, in a matter of weeks.
What makes you say that?
David Harper was a patient here a few months ago.
He insisted on being released
when he was told there was nothing that could be done for him.
He had leukemia.
My husband was a kind and gentle man, Mr. McGarrett.
A good man.
He never hurt anybody in his life.
I don't care what evidence you have. I don't care what David said he did.
I know he didn't kill that woman.
Why do you think he confessed?
- Perhaps you n tell me. - Oh, no.
No, Mrs. Harper. No threats, no intimidation.
Then I don't know.
Your husband said he needed money desperately.
- What did he need it for? - Michael.
Our son.
He's 8 now.
He's in a private school on Maui.
The Lahaina School for retarded children.
It's expensive.
It was more than we could afford when we were both working.
And...
Then David became ill.
When they told him at the hospital
that there was really nothing they could do for him,
he became frantic worrying about Michael and me.
Especially Michael.
There was no savings.
No-- No insurance.
All right, thank you.
Keno, take her home.
My husband is not a killer, Mr. McGarrett.
Do we wrap it up?
No, Danno. Something's wrong.
What's wrong?
I don't know, but we're gonna find out.
Dig up everything you can on David Harper. Okay. Get on it.
Hey, Roy. Give me your hand.
Okay.
You have anything for me?
There's an awful lot of stuff down there, but no gun.
At least, not yet.
We've covered 50 feet on either side of that bridge.
Well, then make it a hundred, will you?
- That's an awful lot you're asking. - I know.
Okay. If it's down there, we'll get it for you.
Good. Okay, brudda.
- Look, I swear to you- - Come on, Charlie, come on.
Harper needed all the bread he could lay his hands on.
Why would he take only a thousand for nearly 30,000 worth of ice?
- It doesn't make sense. - Okay, okay, it doesn't make sense.
But I'm giving it to you straight, man. He jumped at the grand.
Sorry, I can't help you.
You're sure you never saw the man before?
I'm positive. He's a perfect stranger to me.
And the name David Harper means nothing to you?
Not a thing.
Look at it again, doctor. Think back to the other night.
Could he have been the man you saw? Maybe the same height, same build?
Could be, but I told you, what I saw was just a shadow.
I mean, it could have been anybody.
Mr. McGarrett, I detect a reluctance on your part to accept his confession.
Why is that?
Well, doctor, have you ever run all the tests you can run on a patient,
gotten all the facts and still feel that the diagnosis is wrong somehow?
- That there's something missing? - Yes, that happens.
That answers your question, doesn't it?
- Is the boss in? - Yeah.
- Ready for this? - What have you got?
Harper, a conscientious objector.
During Korea, he was called for induction into the Army.
He refused.
Said under no circumstances could he take the life of another human being.
Harper agreed to a non-combat assignment
rather than be subject to arrest.
He served in the medical corps.
Doesn't sound like a man who put a gun to a woman's head, does it?
Got something, Danno?
I just talked to the Lahaina Institute.
The Harper boy's been there for four years. As far as they're concerned,
- he can stay forever. - What does that mean?
It means that last week, they got a cashier's check for $75,000.
Seventy-five thousand? From whom?
David Harper.
The man came out of the garage.
I sort of panicked, l took a couple of shots at him.
He ducked back into the garage. I ran back to my car and drove off.
- And went straight home? - No.
I drove to the McCully Street Bridge
and threw the gun into the Ala Wai Canal.
Saimin. Japanese chicken noodle soup from my uncle Lee's all-night joint.
Thanks, Chin.
- I thought your uncle was Chinese. - Well, he is.
But he's Chinese in a Japanese neighborhood.
So he's passing.
Say, Steve, what have you got against an easy one once in a while?
Nothing. If you catch one, let me know.
Well, we've got one. This one.
Harper confessed. You took him over the jumps.
- His story's solid, not a crack in it. - You think so?
Let me show you something.
Okay.
Harper lived here.
The gas station where he said he spotted Mrs. Southmore is here.
- Southmore home is here. - So?
Mrs. Harper said her husband picked her up at work,
someplace in Waikiki, drove her home.
They arrived home at 8:45 last night, give or take a minute or two.
Now, Mrs. Southmore bought gasoline here a few minutes before 9.
Now, I drove this route this afternoon.
Took me exactly 17 and a half minutes.
Harper could not have gotten to the station
in time to see Mrs. Southmore.
With a little luck, he could.
And if he made every green light and averaged about 35 miles an hour.
- Well, that's a lot of luck. - Yeah.
And with a lot less luck,
he could have made it from his house directly to the Southmore home
in a little over 25 minutes.
Well, that could mean he was waiting for her when she arrived home.
Hello? Hello, lieutenant.
Yeah, he's here. Well, just a minute. I'll ask him.
It's Rice. He wants to know if you want his divers
to go on looking for Harper's gun in the morning.
Steve?
- Steve? - What?
Rice wants to know if you want him to go on looking for the gun.
No.
Tell him I just found it.
Well?
The inside diameter measures
just exactly one-thousandth of an inch larger
than is standard for a revolver of this make.
It was a good hunch, Steve. I really should have checked it myself.
Oh, forget it. I'm sorry to get you out of bed at this hour.
Well, for something like this, anytime.
Next question, Che. Was the gun rebored?
Well, if the person had the proper equipment
and the know-how, it could have been.
- But was it? - I think it was.
Not good enough.
I need supporting evidence. I've gotta have it.
- It's fight over there. - Right.
It won't take a minute for a test ring.
Give me a test call on 946-2115.
Right. Okay.
Thanks, bro.
This is gonna be like looking for a very small needle
in a very large haystack.
Speak English.
Translation: Don't hold your breath.
- Che's taking a long time. - Yeah.
Yeah, just a minute.
- Che? - Danny from the hospital.
- Yeah , Danna'? - Your hunch was fight, Steve.
Southmore donates one day a week here at the hospital.
- Did he see Harper there? - I couldn't pinpoint that.
But I did find out that a couple of months ago,
Southmore went through the files
looking for male patients with terminal illnesses.
That's good enough, Danno. Come on in.
- Che. - I was just calling you.
Now, let me get this straight.
You're accusing me of killing Melissa?
Yeah, would you like me to run it down for you, doctor?
If you can, yeah.
You wanted a divorce. Your wife wouldn't give it to you
without handing you your head, financially, along with it.
I don't deny that.
So you got an idea.
You searched the hospital records for a man who had a terminal illness
and who needed money, needed it desperately.
You settled on David Harper.
You offered him $75,000, maybe more,
but at least $75,000 to kill your wife,
providing he got himself caught and finally confessed.
Ridiculous.
Harper had leukemia.
He had nothing to lose. He'd probably die before he went to trial.
But there was a hitch.
He just couldn't bring himself to kill.
So you tipped your hand.
You were stuck with him, so you made him a proposition.
You'd do the killing if he took the rap for it, and he bought it.
So he came here the other night
and he waited while you killed your wife.
He took her jewelry, make it look like a robbery,
then you got him to take a couple of wild shots at you before he took off.
You're guessing, McGarrett.
You can't prove one thing that you're saying.
And what is that?
The results of spectrographic and x-ray diffusion tests
on some metal borings that we took from that boring machine.
The tests prove that some of the filings
were definitely from the barrel of your revolver.
After you used the gun on your wife, you rebored it.
You changed the rifling so that in a ballistics test,
the slugs wouldn't match. Very clever.
I'm gonna ask you to come along with me, doctor.
- I'm gonna call my lawyer right now. - Tell him you'll be in my office.
Book him.