"Rumaki?" "Uh, no, thank you." "Ma'am?" "No, thank you." "Lee, you ought to try those." "They're good." "Oh, I'm sure they are." "I'm just not very hungry." "Hi." "Hi." "Don't I know you?" "No, I don't think so." "Well, I'm Betsy Jordan." "Buy me a drink?" "Uh, sorry, I'm really not very thirsty." "Maybe some other time, huh?" "I'll be here all night." "Look me up if things get dull." "Sorry." "Amanda." "I'm sorry." "Not hungry, not thirsty, not interested in Betsy Jordan." "You must not be feeling well." "I'm really very sorry." "I know I'm not being very fun tonight." "Oh, that's all right, Lee." "We never have much fun." "Well, I mean, no, we're not really supposed to." "I didn't mean it the way it sounded." "I know that I'm your cover and that you are on to something." "Yes, something big." "Right." "See the gentleman there glad-handing everyone?" "Yeah?" "That's Harrison Slater." "The attorney?" "Mouthpiece is more like it." "Earlier this evening, he put some papers in a wall safe in the library." "I'll pick them up before we leave the party." "What papers?" "Statements made by a client of his named Johnny Salinas." "Lifetime mobster, very well connected." "But it looks like he may be doing something worthwhile." "He's decided to reminisce about his boss and the gang in those papers." "It seems like he's ready to turn state's evidence and sing." "Oh." "Ooh, don't look now, but your mouthpiece is headed in this direction." "I need to see to him alone." "I'll take a powder to the powder room." "Harrison." "Oh, excuse me, could you tell me where the powder room is?" "Two doors down, ma'am." "Thank you." "You go on without me." "I've got a ride home tonight." "Hey, Sally." "Here." "What's the matter?" "Somebody try to get fresh with you in the pantry tonight?" "Oh, my." "What?" "Vic take a look at what Sally found cluttering up the safe." "That's it,Malcolm." "That's the last time." "Sal, what you snagged tonight is real hot." "Yeah, this is too hot, Malcolm." "You realize who these are talking about?" "I know who." "I think we should take a pass." "You crazy?" "You have any idea what this is worth?" "A fortune." "Quitting?" "You tired of making money?" "I almost got caught tonight." "Just pay me off." "You'll never see me again." "Just as simple as that, huh?" "I'll talk, Malcolm." "Either you pay up or I'll talk all day, all night to some DA about the Burling brothers and Private Party." "Sally." "I know enough to blow you both out of the water." "You're right." "And you got us." "You're a smart girl, Sal." "You're free to go." "We got her." "It's a dead end." "Back in." "Hey, hey, hey, come on." "Pick her up." "Now you can quit." "I don't get it." "Me either." "Slater tells me the papers are in the safe." "I go to check and they're gone." "That means we have to start all over again." "Re-establish contact with Salinas, everything." "Yeah, this little theft jeopardizes our entire organized-crime operation." "We have to find out who lifted those papers." "Amanda, come in." "Hello." "This about last night?" "Yeah." "Sorry to have to drag you down here." "That's all right, sir." "You were at the party last night, maybe you had seen something." "Anything unusual." "No, sir." "Lee, what about Judge Moreland?" "He gave the party." "Did you talk to him?" "Yeah, he's stumped too." "He gave strict orders to the help that the library was out of bounds for guests." "Slater and I were the only ones allowed in the room." "Well, it was all right for the maid to be in there, wasn't it?" "What maid?" "The maid." "Um...." "Remember when I went to the powder room?" "I took a wrong turn and went down the wrong hall and opened the wrong door." "It was the library door and there was the maid in there." "Might be our thief, Scarecrow." "Francine, do me a favor." "Call Judge Moreland..." "...find out what catering service he used." "Got it." "Lee, you don't think the maid took the papers?" "I don't know." "All I know is Johnny Salinas wrote down a lot of damaging stuff about his mob friends and gave it to his lawyer to give to me." "Now, his lawyer doesn't have it and I don't have it." "But somebody does." "Mr." "Columbus?" "Yeah, yeah." "But hey, hey, call me Frankie." "Hey, Paulie, you clean that knife real good, you hear?" "Take care of your tools, Daddy always said, and they'll take good care of you." "You gotta excuse me, I've been working." "I don't have to, but, hey, I love it." "Some guys tinker with cars some guys, they collect stamps." "Me, I butcher meat." "So you're the Burlings, huh?" "I'm Malcolm and that's my brother, Vic." "Sit down." "Paulie here tells me you guys run a maid service or something." "Private Party, sir." "We're a cleaning and catering service." "Yeah, that's it." "So, what can I do for a couple of party boys like you?" "Last night, some papers of yours came into our possession." "You understand, they mean absolutely nothing to us but they may to you." "I doubt it." "Paulie, am I interested in some party papers?" "In 1983, you grossed $3,719,000 from prostitution in Virginia, Washington and Maryland." "In 1978, you ordered a hit on two associates, a Mr. George Delgado..." "...and a Mr. Ronald" "Okay, okay." "You got my interest." "So, what are we talking about here?" "I figure the signature here alone is worth at least" "Ten thousand." "Or 25." "Cash." "Paulie." "Guess who the bigmouth is." "Whoever it is, the scum won't know what hit him." "You guys been in my office, what five minutes?" "And you made 25 grand." "That's smooth." "Come on, tell an old man where did you find the papers?" "It's okay, Vic." "Tell him how we work." "What we do is we arrange parties for prominent people in Washington society." "This is what we really do." "I think you'll appreciate this." "Over the years, certain of our employees have been taught to borrow things for a night." "Interesting papers, reports, files..." "...that sort of thing." "Which you can copy and then sell, right?" "The next day we return the original" "Then no one knows they've been taken." "Ha-ha-ha." "Well, that's good." "Hey, Paulie, why didn't you think of something like that?" "Well, you boys must be making a fortune selling your little secrets." "We do all right." "I'll bet." "You know a lucrative business like this you boys should think about getting some protection." "No, thanks." "We're small and unnoticed." "It's better that way." "But thanks anyway." "Suit yourself." "Been a pleasure doing business with you." "Pleasure." "Paulie, see the boys out." "And make sure they take home some of those veal chops I just cut." "The best veal you ever tasted." "Thanks a lot." "Thank you." "If someone is helping themselves to classified information from homes it could explain the leaks that have hurt us in the past." "That is very true." "You realize Amanda's running into that maid is the biggest lead we have?" "Lucky for us she's the type who could mistake the library for the bathroom." "I hope you're as amused with your next assignment, Francine because I want you to sign up with Private Party." "What?" "Francine as a maid?" "Oh, I love it." "Lee, I'm a trained, a highly trained, agent." "I can adopt any cover and make it work." "ls that so?" "Yes." "Well, how about a little test?" "Suppose you had to clean Billy's office." "What would you do?" "Well, I'd--I'd clean." "I'd just clean it up." "She's got a handle on this." "What would you use for the job?" "I would use cleaning things." "Oh, boy, she's gonna need a lot of help on this." "Can we go out and play now?" "Well, I don't know." "Did you finish your rooms?" "Mine's great, but I'm not so sure about Jamie's." "Hey, what's wrong with my room?" "It happens to be I found a half of a sandwich in your toy chest." "lt was a hundred years old." "Oh, sweetheart." "It's okay, Mom." "It's just peanut butter." "It just dried up." "Tell Mom about the spider family you found in your closet shelf." "Yeah." "Oh, Philip." "Mom." "Okay, I tell you what." "Go to the park and play basketball." "Thanks!" "Look, you can go to the park for one hour." "Be very careful." "Come home in an hour." "Okay." "Look at your watch." "Now, go on." "Go on." "Be careful, Philip." "And don't slam the door." "This is the last of the rugs from upstairs." "Well, just drop it, Mother." "Just drop it." "Now, I'll take it outside and give it a good shaking out." "I am so sore." "I wonder who invented spring cleaning." "Oh, probably somebody who liked to feel that their house was just shipshape from top to bottom." "You sound just like your grandmother." "I remember when she first explained to me the rituals of spring cleaning." "I mean, I really rather enjoyed it." "She made it sound so intriguing." "After all these years, I now realize what it really is." "A lot of hard work." "A lot of hard--Yes, you're right." "Okay, I'm gonna go upstairs, finish the linen closet." "All those sheets and towels." "And then I'm going to sit back and count the days..." "...until we have to do this all over again." "Okay." "Ooh!" "Lee, bless you." "Come on." "Come on." "Amanda, what--?" "Hey." "Hello." "Hi." "I was just finishing up my spring cleaning." "You finished cleaning your whole house?" "Yeah, the whole house." "Top to bottom, inside out." "Clean as a whistle." "Oh, well, you probably won't wanna do the job..." "..." "I came to offer you." "Why not?" "You're probably all worn out." "I'm not tired." "It was just a little cleaning, a little mopping little dusting, little going through things, but I'm not tired." "I can do it." "What is it?" "I want you to become a maid." "I'm impressed, Mrs. King." "Obvious enthusiasm, wonderful school records." "You have all the skills we need." "Well, thank you." "There is just one more thing." "Why are you seeking a job as a maid with Private Party?" "Well, quite frankly, I can use the money." "Refreshingly honest, Mrs. King." "Thank you very much." "Take a seat with the others please." "Yes, thank you, Mrs. Flannigan." "Francine Desmond." "I didn't get a chance to finish all the questions." "Oh, that's quite all right." "Now, let's see what we have here." "Address, yes, right." "Blue eyes." "Um, Miss Desmond under height, you have 5'8' or 5'9' and then 'D.O.H.'?" "What is D.O.H.?" "Depending on heels." "I see." "'Weight, 1 10-ish'?" "Could you keep your voice down just a bit?" "And you haven't filled out your age, Miss Desmond." "No, I didn't think it was really important." "I mean, I am over 21." "I'm quite sure you are." "Miss Desmond, this is a job questionnaire." "And there are certain vital statistics that are required." "Now your age, please?" "Uh, twenty" "Mrs. Flannigan, could you step in for a minute?" "Yes." "Yes, of course, sir." "Excuse me, Miss Desmond." "And you can use the time to finish the questionnaire." "Honestly." "All these questions just to become a maid." "Francine, you've gotta get this job no matter how old you are." "I know, Billy made that very clear." "It's really gonna be fun." "I'm sort of excited we're working together for the first time." "Nifty, isn't it?" "Excuse me, ladies, I'd like you all to meet our owners." "This is Mr. Vic and Mr. Malcolm Burling." "My brother and I wanted to take this opportunity to thank you for your interest in Private Party." "Now, you'll all be given a short trial run before final selections are made." "Mrs. Flannigan will get in touch with you concerning the specifics." "Thank you, all of you, for coming, and drive carefully." "Thank you." "Oh, thank you." "Fill in your age, Francine?" "Anybody look good?" "Yes, as a matter of fact." "Mrs. Amanda King." "Divorcee, mother of two, wants the job badly." "She even said she needed the money." "Oh, that sounds promising." "Good, keep an eye on her." "We need somebody to replace Sally." "Where are you putting her tomorrow?" "General Olivers' garden party." "Thank you." "Francine I just overheard two other maids talking about how you can earn extra money..." "...when you work at these parties." "Let's see what we can find out." "Right." "Oh, Lord, this is not work, this is torture." "Francine, housewives and mothers do this kind of thing every day." "A lot of people sleep on a bed of nails too." "It's not my business." "Should've worn comfortable shoes." "I don't have anything else to go with this outfit." "Should've worn something more sensible." "I'm not into the Che Guevara look." "Serve the food,see what we can find out." "Okay, good." "Oh, no." "What?" "Did you spot something?" "See the man over there, the cute one?" "Yes." "He's Scott Shayne." "I used to go out with him." "He's gonna see me, recognize me." "Francine, does he know what you do?" "No." "I told him I was a model." "Since then you became a maid." "Look, try to avoid him." "If you can't, just be professional." "Now, let's see what we can find out." "God, what a great story." "Hors d'oeuvres, at last." "Caviar looks great." "Those olives and cream cheese?" "Yes, sir." "Mm." "Mm." "Mm." "He's still crazy about me." "Oh, I'm sure I have a slipped disk." "What's the routine for the employees?" "Well, sir, first we all report to the Private Party offices." "We change our clothes there then they take us to the job in a van and then bring us back." "Nice controlled atmosphere." "Any hunches, Francine?" "Well, the thefts are clearly at the employee level." "I don't see anybody running the operation other than the owners, the Burlings." "I do, however, have my money on that drill sergeant Mrs. Flannigan being in on it." "Police report." "Just found Johnny Salinas' body in the trunk of his car." "Looks like whoever took those papers found a buyer." "There goes six months' work." "All right." "Now we're gonna nail those guys who sold that information." "What's next for you two?" "Uh, party tomorrow night, Senator Wrightwood's house." "Yes, sir." "But first we go over and clean up during the day, right, Francine?" "Silly me." "After all these years, I thought the vacuum was a labor-saving device." "It's hard work, Francine." "I'll tell you what, if you want me to, I'll do the downstairs vacuuming." "Oh, bless you." "You know what Mrs. Flannigan wants me to do later on?" "No." "Clean the kitchen." "No problem." "Oh, no problem." "That's easy for you to say." "Amanda, I am an expert at hand-to-hand combat small arms weaponry wealthy men between 30 and 40, but definitely not a kitchen person." "Look, Francine, you gotta do it, okay?" "Now, you know how to cook, don't you?" "I know how to hire a cook." "Just go down in the kitchen, do the best you can and then fake it." "Okay, fine." "So at least we're done up here." "Almost." "Oh." "Wait a minute--No" "Guest bathroom." "Yes, Francine." "But--But I don't" "Francine, you just take a few of these crystals you pour them in they foam and bubble, then take the brush" "The part I've been waiting for." "The brush." "Where I get down on my knees." "You don't have to." "Bye." "Francine." "Amanda, now, you seem like an enterprising young woman to me." "How would you like an easy $10?" "Francine." "Fifteen." "It's just a toilet." "What are you gonna be doing?" "Master suite." "Oh, the master" "Francine Mrs. Flannigan gave very specific orders that I was to do the master suite." "You will do the guest bathroom." "Hello." "You wanted to see me?" "Have a seat, please." "Mrs. King, you were assigned to Senator Wrightwood's party..." "... isn't that correct?" "Yes." "So you were on the cleaning crew there today?" "Uh, yes." "Perhaps we should get right to the point." "The senator's wife phoned a few moments ago and reported that a pair of diamond earrings was missing from her bedroom." "You did clean in there, didn't you?" "Well, yes, I cleaned the bedroom, but I don't know anything" "Would you mind emptying your purse for us, Mrs. King?" "No, not at all." "I really have no idea how those got in there." "Mrs. King, we, as well as you, have a reputation to think of." "Yes." "Hear me out." "We can arrange for Mrs. Flannigan to return the earrings in tomorrow's cleanup" "They'll be found under the bed and Mrs. Wrightwood will assume it was all a mistake." "Mrs. King we will ask a favor in return." "One for which you'll be paid very well." "At tonight's party, we want you to slip into the senator's office and bring us some papers." "That's great." "No, this may be the break that we're waiting for, Amanda." "I will meet you an hour before the party, give you papers we'll dummy up to look good to the Burlings." "Then we'll follow you over to their offices tonight." "Don't worry, Amanda, you'll be in our sight the whole time, believe me." "Amanda and Francine just entered the building." "Wait a few minutes and then move in." "Mr. Burling?" "Mr. Burling, I've got the papers." "Mr. Burling?" "Mr. Burling?" "I'm still shaking." "What a terrible way for Malcolm Burling to die." "Yeah, his hands tied behind his back and a piano wire around his neck." "Obvious suicide." "Any chance it could be a family thing?" "Brothers get together and Vic decides he wants it all." "No." "I seriously doubt that." "Oh, let's stop wasting our time here, okay?" "Malcolm Burling was assassinated." "You two know the m.o. as well as I do." "There's only one person that kills that way." "I'm a sad man today, Vic." "I hardly got to know your brother and now...." "Mr. Columbus." "Paulie, fix the wreath." "Make it look real nice." "I wanna talk to this young man." "Thank you for remembering Malcolm." "It was nice of you to come." "Oh, Victor, believe me, I wish I could do more." "I can pay my respects, I can leave flowers as a token  but I can't do what I'd like to." "What's that, Mr. Columbus?" "I can't turn back the clock, make things right with Malcolm again." "Look, Vic, I know this ain't the right time for me to say this to you but I told you this might happen." "This is what I feared the most." "That day in my office, I warned you." "I warned you someone was gonna try to muscle in." "Yes." "Yes, you did." "Now here you are." "Here you are without a brother." "You're alone now and still you got no protection." "Is that what you came to talk to me about?" "If you wanna discuss your security, you bet." "I'm ready to listen." "It's the smart thing to think about, Vic." "Well, we could...." "We could talk about an arrangement, if you like." "That would make me very happy." "So Columbus liked what he heard of the Burlings' side business..." "...and then made them an offer?" "Which Malcolm refused and paid for." "Now if it were illegal and profitable, Frankie Columbus would want a piece." "If Columbus and Private Party have started doing business together and if we could nail both...." "Any suggestions how?" "Yeah." "Let's go on the offense, force their hand." "And it all starts with Amanda." "Amanda?" "Yeah." "We have her go see Vic and Mrs. Flannigan and she tells them that she's anxious to earn some more extra money." "Next chance comes up, she'd be happy to pocket something else for them." "And then?" "We provide the bait." "We throw our own party." "Right." "Complete with juicy, stealable information." "All three of us will be there." "That way there's no danger for Amanda." "I love it." "Our own party." "What exactly is iff?" "No, thank you." "It's a documentary film company." "We have a piece coming up on the vampire bat which is absolutely riveting." "Well, I wouldn't wanna miss that." "Just check your public television listings." "It's called" "Dracula of the Dark." "Do you know our host today, the minister of defense?" "Uh...." "Vaguely." "I met him a few years ago in Africa." "In fact, there he is by the buffet." "Oh, excuse me for a moment." "Mr. Ngamo, hi." "I'm Linda Seward." "I'm a graduate student at Georgetown in African studies." "Very nice indeed." "But here in America, I must speak English, is it not true?" "Excuse me." "Please, so very nice to meet you." "Your accent is excellent." "Thank you." "The next time we do this make sure I play somebody that speaks English." "Yeah." "How are you making out?" "Well, everything's going according to plan." "I just planted a list of confidential arms bids inside the office a few minutes ago." "Columbus and Vic will think they'll make a million selling them." "Yeah, not that it'll get that far." "All we have to do is catch them in the act of accepting those papers and they are all out of business." "Have you spoken with her yet?" "No, I was just on my way." "Uh-oh." "Hold on to your dashiki, here you go again." "I still don't think it was a good idea for you to be here." "Mr. Columbus likes to have his interests looked after." "You're welcome." "Oh, hello." "When the time is right for you it's inside the office cabinet, top drawer." "Right." "Lee, there's something a little strange going on." "What?" "lf you'll take a look over there you'll see a man with the beard." "Yeah?" "It's Vic Burling." "He wouldn't normally be here?" "No." "As far as I know, the owner never comes." "Thanks." "Signal me when you've picked up." "Yes, sir." "Listen, Paulie, we need more ice." "Ice." "It's in the kitchen." "Yeah." "How are you doing?" "Fine." "How are you doing?" "Listen, I need to talk to you." "Would you follow me, please?" "Hey, you won't need the gun, Mister...?" "Stetson." "Stetson." "The night my brother was killed, I saw you and two men charge into our offices." "Now, are you police?" "No, but close enough." "All right, I need your help." "Frankie Columbus had my brother killed and now he's my partner." "Wondering how long it will be before you end up like Malcolm?" "Right." "All right, I can offer you protection." "But you're way beyond amnesty from prosecution." "I'll take my chances with the courts." "I just wanna stay alive and I wanna help you bury Columbus." "Billy." "Billy, this is Vic Burling." "He's very wisely decided to join our side." "Mr. Burling." "Since we're all on introductions maybe you all wanna meet me." "Give it up." "Shooting your mouth off real good, huh, Burling?" "Paulie, I didn't" "Shut up." "There are a lot of people around here." "You're taking a big chance." "Then we ought to leave." "Now you listen good." "I'm gonna get real nervous one of you guys tries something." "You so much as breathe wrong, I'm gonna start shooting." "Understood?" "Let's go." "Come on." "Francine, hurry." "Lee and Billy are in trouble." "Where do you think you're going?" "You go out of this tent you'll never work another job with me again." "Is that a promise?" "The van." "Come on." "Hey!" "So, what have we got here?" "Vic, I know." "Who are your two new friends, huh, Vic?" "No badges, nothing, but they were carrying guns, huh?" "Real big, professional guns, huh, Paulie?" "That's right." "So, what are you?" "Punks?" "Drop dead, Columbus." "Hey, call me Frankie." "You hear that?" "Guy's hanging from a meat hook, he's giving me lip." "You either got a lot of guts or you're real stupid." "Now what, Francine?" "Take the van." "Find a phone, get some help." "Okay, where will you be?" "I'll be in there." "There may be no time to wait." "You can't." "I have got no choice." "I'll go with you." "No." "Yes." "No." "I'm going with you." "Francine, I might be able to help." "Lee's done a lot for me and if there's a chance that I can help him then I wanna do it." "You know, just when I think there's no more surprises about you, you...." "All right." "Okay, we go in together." "But you listen to me." "When the going gets rough, you get going." "You ready?" "Yes." "All right." "Let's go." "But you got some kind of names, huh?" "Melrose, Stetson." "You're some kind of heat, but you're not cops." "Feds maybe?" "Important enough for you to think twice before starting any rough stuff." "Oh, you're scaring an old man, Mr. Melrose." "We've already seen the Salinas papers, Columbus." "Right after the Burlings put them back." "So did a lot of other people." "You might just try giving that some thought, huh?" "Salinas is dead." "He had a real bad accident." "Without Johnny to swear to that testimony, you got nothing." "Now, I'm not worried." "After 30 years of blood feuds, territory wars and dodging creeps like you I don't tend to worry much about anything." "But I do get curious." "Now, I want some answers." "Who wants to talk first?" "Francine, except for Lee and Mr. Melrose, everybody down there thinks that I'm a thief who works for the Burlings." "What are you getting at?" "I think I could walk out there and create a distraction for you." "Okay." "Amanda, look." "Yes?" "We've done a good job on this so far." "Yeah." "I'm not much of a housekeeper..." "Well-- -...and you are not an agent, okay?" "No." "I don't want you getting hurt." "Understand?" "Yes." "Talk only to Columbus." "Which one is Columbus?" "Gray hair out there." "Right." "I'm gonna cover you." "When I signal you jump for cover." "I will." "Good luck." "Thank you, Francine." "I'm gonna need it." "Punks like you, I've broken tougher guys than you." "Hey, Mr. Columbus." "Hey." "Who the hell are you?" "Uh, Amanda King, sir." "What are you doing here?" "Well, sir I was supposed to pick up some papers at the, uh, party tonight." "Right, Mr. Columbus." "Yes, sir, Mr. Columbus." "How long you been working for me?" "I just started, Mr. Columbus." "Hey, call me Frankie." "Frankie, thank you." "I like you." "Thank you, sir." "Listen forget what you see here." "I don't see anything, sir." "I like you." "Thank you, sir." "Drop the gun." "Come on, let's go." "Good work, Scarecrow." "Nicely done." "Now don't anybody move." "There it is." "Amanda, terrific." "Well, I guess together we're a pretty good one-two punch." "Francine, let's get these turkeys in the van and downtown." "Got it." "Great work, Amanda." "She's right." "You were" "Come on." "You were great, Amanda." "Well, I really didn't do so much." "No, no." "You were absolutely" "That was great." "That was great." "Well, it's" "Ha, ha." "I mean, look, you went undercover, you kept your eyes open you got Francine, you followed us here tonight and" "I mean, it took a lot of courage to walk into this room, Amanda." "Really, it did and, uh" "Well, I just wanna say that well, your bravery..." "...it saved my life." "Aw...." "Hi." "Well, somebody's birthday?" "No, just a little something I picked up for Francine." "Oh, well, she did a good job." "Yeah." "Everybody did a good job." "You broke up the Private Party ring and you arrested Frank Columbus." "What a great morning." "I had the pleasure of personally arresting Mrs. Flannigan." "Well." "Yes." "During the booking, I got to ask her height, weight and her age." "Oh, it was wonderful." "Francine, this is for you." "A little memento of the case." "Oh, Lee, thank you." "Oh, that's sweet." "Thanks." "Very funny."