"Look." "This is a big claim." "The cops want to nail the guy who stole it too." "The difference is we have to make good the 30,000 bucks." "They don't." "To them it's another heist." "Or, has the owner stashed it away someplace, and is she trying to defraud us out of a lot of money?" "If you have large sums of cash around the house, we would insist on certain alarm and security precautions, which my supervisor would have to approve." "What we usually do in a case like this is handle the installation ourselves." "Sweetheart, can I get you?" "John, can I bother you for a minute?" " I haven't had lunch yet." " What do you want?" "Let me have a cherry cheesecake, a prune Danish and a couple of Hershey bars." "And I should have something sweet." "Let me have some chocolate-covered raisins." " I found the missing Picasso." " I don't believe it." "I..." "It's at Galaxy Opticals." "They cut the thing out of the frame, they rolled the canvas up, and it's in one of the telescopes." " How'd you figure it out?" " Let me tell you, it wasn't easy, because I'm supposed to be looking for a picture of a woman with a guitar, but it's all little cubes, you know." "It took me two hours to find the nose." " You should call the cops." " Yeah, right away." "Would you excuse me?" "Rosie, would you get me the fingerprints on the Leland claim?" " Who won the sixth race at Aqueduct?" " Your horse came in seventh." "Seventh?" "Never bet on a horse who has Parkinson's." "Oh, hey, congratulations." "I heard you recovered the stolen Picasso." " Yeah, congrats on the art burglary." " It was a breeze." "C.W., I brought you something till your order gets here." "Thank you." "You want to be my date tonight?" " What's tonight?" " George's birthday." " We're taking George out." " All right." "I'd love to." "But you have to have me home and in bed by midnight." "That's exactly what I was planning." "My God, that girl's got a body that won't quit." "Quit?" "It won't take five minutes off for a coffee break." " Oh, Briggsie, I forgot to tell you." " What?" " Hey, where are my...?" "Rosie!" " What?" " Where are my files?" "Where's my files?" " They're moved." " What do you mean moved?" " They're all moved." " Why?" " They're streamlining." " This is Fitzgerald?" " Who else?" "Did you take the files out of my office?" "Would you like to go out and try coming back in like a human being?" " Did you move my files?" " If you don't like the human idea, come in like an orangutan." " That would be a step up too." " Put them back... now, this instant!" "You knew we were rearranging this floor." "Take my files..." "put them back in my office now!" "You had plenty of time to transfer them yourself." "Fitzgerald, if you were a man, I would slam you in the teeth." "If I was a man, you'd be hiding under the desk." " This is what you do when I give you an order?" " Give me an order?" "You?" "Who do you think I am, some peroxide little stenographer with her brains in her sweater whose rear end you pinch?" "Pinch it?" "I couldn't get my arms around it." "I don't take orders from you." "I work directly for Mr. Magruder." "We're in the process of turning this place around." "I've been working here 20 years." "You're here six months." "I'm not interested in your ideas about turning..." "Get my files." "Put 'em back now!" " Or what?" " "Or what?"" "This is the question you ask me? "Or what?"" ""Or what?" Are you saying "or what" to me?" "If you don't get off my toe, you're going to be singing castrati with a glee club." "I... hated you, Fitzgerald, from the day you set foot into this office." "You'd hate any woman who doesn't have a double-digit I.Q." "I'm a good judge of character." "I hate you, and I hate the chancellor of Germany with the little mustache, but not in that order." "Be careful when you leave, don't let the door hit you on the back and fracture your pelvis." "So, did you tell her who's boss?" "Is she kidding, talking to me like that?" "It's 'cause she thinks she's smarter." "'Cause she graduated from Vassar, and I went to driving school." "Does she have any idea how many cases I cracked here?" "Never trust a woman who whistles for her own cabs." "Excuse me." "Miss Fitzgerald?" " Is that Miss Fitzgerald's lunch?" " Mmh-mm." " Yeah." " Sorry we're so late." "We're jammed up." " That's okay." " Here." "Keep that." "It's for you." " Thanks." "This is Fitzgerald's lunch." "She's been waiting a long time for it." "I'll deliver it to her." "You got to come to some terms with this woman." "This thing is only getting worse." "What do we need an efficiency expert here for?" "When the old man was here, this never could have happened." "Thought you were gonna take her out for a drink, clear the air." "I did." "I took her two weeks ago to Rocky's Bar." "You and Fitzgerald at Rocky's Bar?" " Sorry I'm late." " Is no problem." "It's just an hour and 15 minutes." " My meeting ran long." " No, I..." "I understand." "We're revamping the offices, getting rid of that antiquated filing system." "Yes?" "I can find anything I need." "I can locate it like that." "I got a feel for where all the stuff is in my office." "We're making a central data file on the second floor." "You'll get used to it." "What's the matter?" "You look flushed." "No, I'm just..." "I'm just a little warm." "That's all." "You have all your business meetings here?" "It's near the office, you know." "The coat check girl's pretty." "Do you like...?" "No, it's fine." "Gives new meaning to the word "dive", but it's convenient." "I thought you'd appreciate the thick smoke." "You don't have to put on as much makeup." " What's the lady having?" " Tequila." "Hmm." "Tsk." "So, ummh..." "Betty, Betty Ann..." "Umh, can... should I call you..." "I can call you Miss Fitzgerald, which is fine with me." "I have no problem with that." "I..." "Tell me about yourself." " Myself?" " Your hopes, your dreams, you know." "You married?" "I mean, obviously you're not married, 'cause then it would not be Miss Fitzgerald, so you have a boyfriend?" "Is this why you got me here?" "I just, umh..." "So" "What is your life like?" "I mean, do you have any hobbies?" " I have a meeting in 15 minutes, so..." " I..." "Not." "I didn't mean to ask about your marital status." "That's none of my business, you know." "Maybe you're..." "It's a touchy point with you." "You're possibly divorced or widowed." "Maybe your husband committed suicide, you know." "I could understand that." "Mr. Magruder hired me to streamline the office, and I'm going to." "You know, if something is not broken, you know what I say?" "I say, why fix it?" "There's a reason North Coast has slipped from the top five insurance companies." "There's an enormous amount of waste and duplication." "Yeah, not, not in my department." "There's not a single department that couldn't be run more efficiently or more economically." "I'm not even sure North Coast wouldn't be better off not carrying an investigative division and just farming out each case privately." "Would it be possible to meet at some point and have a drink and discuss that?" " We are having a drink." "Look, I don't think you know what you're talking about." "I think you came in here like a steamroller and..." "You felt threatened by me from the first day I got on this job." "Not only was I an efficiency expert and a challenge to your little state within a state, but I'm not one of those windup dolls you can tickle at the water cooler." "I'm smarter than you." "I'm faster." "I can see right through you." "You're right to feel threatened by me." "I... am threatened by you?" "It's fascinating, as a female executive, how many men I meet with a fragile masculinity." "A fragile masculinity?" "You make one more crack about my religion, and woman or no woman..." " I have to go." " Hey, listen, honey, let me level with you here." "Despite all your high faulting talk about streamlining the office, what you really need is a good old-fashioned roll in the hay." "Ha!" "You wouldn't know which end is up." "Well, in your case, it would be hard to tell." "Don't bother seeing me to the door." "Someone might think we're together." " Why?" "Do I look like an organ grinder?" " No, just an organ." " So the drink didn't smooth things out." " No, not exactly." "You better get used to her, 'cause she's here to stay." "I'm telling you that there's something about that broad that I don't trust." "She's got an evil streak." "Okay, we got a reservation for 8:00 at the Rainbow Room for George's 50th." "That'll be fun." "We'll split a cab uptown." "Hey, C.W. I'm not going to have time to go home to change, so does this look okay?" "Let me tell you, Sweetheart, no matter how bad the economy gets, you will never starve." "Good." "Oh, wait." "Come here." "Miss Fitzgerald?" "Okay, take a card." "You gotta see this, Fitz." "All right, that's a six of hearts." " That's amazing." "How'd you do that?" " It's magic." " He could do it all afternoon." " I want you to teach me one of those tricks." "Mr. Magruder, I'll have that report for you first thing in the morning." "Oh, fine." "Are you coming to celebrate George Bond's birthday with us tonight?" "No, not really." "I'm up to my neck in work." "Why don't you come?" "It'll be fun." "George is a great guy." "Most of the personnel here seems very nice." "The only one that gives me the dry heaves is Briggs." "C.W.?" "He's cracked a lot of cases." "Of course, I don't see how." "Such a drone." "Gets his tips from street contacts like ex-cons and blind beggars." "There's something about him I don't trust." " Any examples?" " Many." "He's smarmy with those office wisecracks and double-meaning jokes." "I mean, who is he, really?" "He's this shallow, skirt-chasing egomaniac who's probably more lucky than good." "Sometimes it's better to be lucky." "I think you're being too rough on him." "It's more that he's just kind of a schnook who's more insecure than anything else." "He's got no wife, no family." "Well, he was married." "Short and stormy." "Picked a tramp." " That's a surprise." " Excuse me, fellas." "Come tonight." "It'll give us a chance to be together, and I have the perfect excuse at home, an employee's birthday." " How much longer is this gonna go on?" " Not longer, Betty Ann." "I'll be free by the end of the year, and then we can be together openly." "You love me, but you spend all the important holidays with her." "Life can get so damn complicated when you think it's simple." "Come tonight." "So we can eye each other and steal touches and play little games in code?" "Yes, that's part of the romance." "Someday we'll be able to look back and know that at one time in public when one of us brought up the subject of Paris, it meant at that very moment that we were dying to make love with one another." " You're such an adolescent." " But cute?" " Look at this." " Oh!" "Oh!" "Happy birthday, George." "Here's to George Bond, insurance man, father." " Amateur magician." " George, please, no card tricks tonight, huh?" " Happy 50th, George." " Thank you." "Everyone, I'd like to make a toast to C.W. Briggs." "Thanks to you, the police now have the stolen Picasso in their possession." " Attaboy, C.W." " C.W.!" "By the way, where'd you come up with the idea of looking in the telescope?" "What I do is I put myself in the criminal's position." "You know, I try and anticipate what would he do next, what his next move would be." " I think like him." " That's fantastic." "I would hate to have me after me." "Very good, very good." "What are you thinking, Mr. Magruder?" "You look lost in reverie." "Oh, sorry." "I was thinking about a column I read in the paper about all these Germans occupying Paris." " Yeah, it doesn't look good." " C.W., you ever been to Paris?" "I've never been out of the country." "Zero-dash-six, eight-dash-five, eight, five, seven." "That's right." "That's exactly correct." "And now for something I call the power of the Jade Scorpion." "For this I'll need a few victims..." "I mean, volunteers from the audience and help from a few nice people." " Oh, yes." " Go on." " Sir?" " We got another one." "C.W.!" " Go ahead." " We got another one for you." "There's a sucker born every minute." " Represent us well, Briggs." " Many years ago... an emperor in China received as a gift this precious pendant, a Jade Scorpion." "It was said to possess extraordinary powers, the power to darken men's minds." "I can't get hypnotized." "I'm not a good subject." "Eyes only on the scorpion, please." "Ears open only to the sound of my voice." "Please, sir." "Sir, look at the scorpion." "The surrender of the mind." "The surrender of the mind." "They resist and resist, but the scorpion likes resistance." "What is your name, sir?" "C.W. Briggs." "What do you do, Mr. Briggs?" "I'm an insurance investigator for" "North Coast Casualty and Fidelity of New York." " What is your name, miss?" " Betty Ann Fitzgerald." "I also work at North Coast." " So you work together?" " I can't stand her." "Oh, come now." "Don't pay attention to him." "He's a sleazy little megalomaniac who's frightened of women." "Enough." "Sleep." "Silence." "You are now at the first level of trance, but the Jade Scorpion wants you to go to the deepest level." "When I say the word Constantinople, you will instantly drop into the deepest hypnotic trance." "All resistance will disappear." "When I say the word Madagascar, you will go immediately to the deepest level of hypnotic sleep, and you will obey all my orders." "Ready now." "Constantinople." "Madagascar." "C.W. Briggs and Miss Betty Ann Fitzgerald," "I now pronounce you man and wife." "When I snap my fingers, you will awaken." "You will not know you were in a trance." "You will be madly in love with each other." "You're on your honeymoon on a deserted desert island." "Maestro." "The moon shines down its magical glow on you two honeymooners." "You're deeply, deeply in love." "Are you ready?" "One, two, three." "Awaken to your tropical paradise." "What are you thinking?" "I'm thinking that..." "I'm the luckiest man in the world... to have you." "I'm the lucky one, C.W." "I was in love with you from the first moment that I saw you." "Make love to me here under the stars, to the sound of the ocean." " Miss Fitzgerald." "Aren't you making a mistake?" "I'm no longer Miss Fitzgerald." " I'm Mrs. C.W. Briggs." " Oh!" "Betty Ann!" " Make love to me here... now." " Betty Ann." "Stop." "Enough." "Unfortunately, every dream must turn to reality." "When I snap my fingers, you will awaken and have no memory at all of this event." "You will return to your regular lives as they exist with whatever destinies await you, and let us all hope they are pleasant ones." "Are you ready to awaken?" "On the snap of my fingers." "One:" "You're beginning to come up." "Two:" "The memory is fading completely." "Three:" "The Jade Scorpion has created the miracle of love." "And four:" "Awaken." " How do you feel?" " Still waiting for something to happen." "How do you feel, miss?" " I'm afraid I'm not a very good subject." " No, me neither." " I told you this would not work." " Well, I tried my best." "Come on, George." "Back me up." "Briggsie, I'm telling you." "You gazed deeply into her eyes and told her you loved her." "You're crazy." "I would never do such a thing." "This is a conspiracy to make me appear crazy." "I hope somebody talks to me like that someday." "I can't bear Fitzgerald." "Hey, speaking of that, isn't it..." "Should we be getting home to, uh, feed your cat?" "That would be fun, but I'm getting a cold, so I just want to get to bed with some tea, you know?" "If you've got a cold, somebody's got to rub your chest down with Vicks." " This is what I'm for." " Anybody rubs my chest down better bring a ring." "Good for you." " Good night, baby." " Good night, Chris." "I knew we'd get a little time alone tonight if you came along." "I'm glad I came." "Hello?" "Constantinople." "You are in a deep trance." "You will fall deeper and deeper under the sway of my words." "You will obey my instructions carefully." "You will proceed to the Kensington estate where you will obtain the jewels, all the jewels, from the Kensington safe." "You will do this with the utmost secrecy, using all the information and techniques at your command." "You'll do it with great ease and facility." "Then you will return to your apartment, taking the jewels with you." "You'll hide them in a safe and secure hiding place, awaiting further instructions from me." "You will then fall into a deep slumber from which you will awake refreshed, and you'll have no memory of anything that has occurred." "You will wait to hear from me again." "Your life will be simply as your life is until you hear from me." "Remember." "You will obey my instructions to the letter." "You will remember absolutely nothing that occurred under trance." "Is that clear to you?" "Very clear." "Go." "The Jade Scorpion commands it." "Awfully late, Mr. Briggs." "Hot on a case, eh?" "The Kensington safe was broken into last night." "Somebody got on the estate." "Jewels worth millions, all gone." "The cops don't have a clue, and Magruder is numb." "I don't understand." "I made that place burglar proof myself." "Well, tell that to the perpetrator." "Now look, we are on the hook for big money here, so you better get over there darn fast." "By now those stones could be on the market in Tangier or Cairo." "Everything, everything!" "My emerald tiara and my sapphire necklace from India..." "That sapphire is the most perfect in the world." "No fingerprints, but we got a partial shoe print." " Man or woman?" " I really can't be sure." "I want to interview everybody that works here, the whole staff, the butlers, the gardeners, everybody." " Something's going on." " This time I think your gut reaction is betraying you, C.W." "Nobody in this house is involved." "I'd bet my life." "I want to search the up." "Can I..." "I want to go up, can I go upstairs?" "If you must, but would you make it fast?" "We've had enough excitement for one day." "Mrs. Kensington, you know Alfie and I would never..." "Lotte, of course not." "What are you doing in my mother's closet?" "Well, hello." "You're one of those grubby little private detectives, aren't you?" "A private eye, they're called, a shamus, a gumshoe." "Oh, I'm..." "I'm a grubby little insurance investigator." "The private eyes are romantic." "I'm just grubby." "So what?" "You always get your kicks fondling women's shoes?" "Once in a while I'll fondle the whole woman, you know." "Hmmh." "You have a fresh mouth." "I'm not sure I like you." "Well, I tend to grow on people." "We could meet later, and I could grow on you, if you like." "You don't seem tough enough to go after criminals." "Really?" "Maybe if I slapped you around a little bit, you'd change your mind." " I could slap you back." " It's starting to sound like fun." "Should we put some music on?" " Why are you snooping around?" " You're Laura Kensington, right?" "Yeah, that's right, and I have a strawberry mark on my thigh to prove it." " Would you like to see it?" " Maybe later when I can take the full tour." "Huh." "My fiancé might not appreciate that." " Yes?" "Which one?" " Oh, so you follow my life." "Well, I read the tabloids, if that's what you mean." "So you've seen photos of me diving into public fountains." "And getting arrested for speeding and throwing champagne at El Morocco." "And while I'm out living the fast life, you're hard at work snooping in people's closets." "Can I help it if they pay me by the clue?" " Did the burglar leave any?" " He didn't leave any because he's still among us." " Says who?" " Says the little man that lives inside me." "So you're C.W. Briggs." "I hear you're a very sharp investigator with an impressive record." "I looked forward to meeting you." " They say I always get my man." " Me too." "Right." "I'm glad we could have this little chat." " Too bad there's a houseful of people." " Where shall we go tonight?" "Hmm?" "Chinatown or Harlem?" "You prefer jazz or opium?" "I prefer the rug in front of my fireplace." "Oh, directly to your apartment, eh?" "You always begin with the dessert?" "Well, depends what I'm eating." "This will be a very interesting experiment for me." "I usually prefer more attractive, athletic, muscular men." "Maybe I could get in a few push-ups before you came over." "I..." "What about your fiancé?" "If you don't invite him, I won't." " Any leads?" " It's an inside job." "No question about it." " That's not what the cops say." " They're wrong." "It's inside." "I can tell." "Are the Giants playing this afternoon?" "Yeah, they're playing the Cardinals in St. Louis." "Call my bookmaker Frankie." "I want to get a bet down." "Hundred bucks on the Giants." " On the Giants to win." " To win, naturally!" "What do you think, to place?" "Mr. Magruder?" "Oh, tilt." " Anything on the Kensington situation?" " It's an inside job." " I bet my life on it." " You bet your life on the Giants, too, and they're in sixth place." "Can we talk without the warden being here?" "Please, Miss Fitzgerald is a part of this company now." "We must all learn to work together in harmony." "What makes you so positive it's an inside job?" "'Cause it couldn't be that smooth unless it was inside." "Miss Fitzgerald is suggesting, given the magnitude of the loss, that we expand our investigation." " Meaning what?" " Look, I appreciate the value of intuition to a point, but we're moving into a decade of scientific innovation." "Miss Fitzgerald has suggested that perhaps we might get you a little help by farming out part of the work to an outside private detective agency." " What?" " To help you, test the waters, see if a new approach and fresh techniques make a difference." "Don't feel threatened immediately." "According to you, I'm only threatened by women with high I.Q.s." "Did you hire a female detective?" "North Coast has got to get with the progress of the marketplace." "There's a lot of money at stake here." "The more time passes, the colder the trail grows." "You know that." "So if the Coopersmith Private Detective Agency makes a contribution, then fine." "If not, we're only out a few bucks." "The Coopersmiths?" "Those guys are like Fric and Frac." " They're sub-mental." " We are moving into a new decade, the 1940s." "That means things are different." "Hey, can do me a favor." "Max Baer's looking for sparring partners." "Why don't you go down to the gym?" "You're the only person I've received this kind of bitter resistance from." "And if I may speak frankly, you're a dinosaur with your street ways and disorganized hunt-and-peck methods." "Please." "My father always stressed harmony." "Look, I gotta go." "I'm working on a case." "I'll call you to have lunch, I know a great restaurant that you'd love." "Gestapo Food." "Watch out for the traffic!" "Don't get hit by a bus, your body mangled beyond recognition." "I ain't heard a word about any job." "Nobody tried to fence anything or do any bragging." "Charlie, you gotta help me with this." "Keep your ears open." "Anything you hear, I gotta know." "Very important to me, okay?" "Fifty?" "You must be desperate." "You know where to reach me." "Keep eating the carrots." "I think they're working." "I think Joe said they're all gone up there, Mr. Briggs." "I'm just gonna check something out." "I'll be down in five minutes." "You startled me." "I was working late." "Oh, 'cause... you know, Eddie said he didn't think anybody was up here." "Well, I'm here." "Obviously I'm here." " Why are you so nervous?" " I'm not nervous." "Why would I be nervous?" "Working up here alone, I didn't expect to see you." "Don't you work late all the time?" "That's what they tell me." "What is this, 20 questions?" "You scared me." "I'm working up here alone." "I'm filling out some reports." "What are you gonna do, ask Magruder to take out all the water coolers?" "Why don't you make your wisecracks somewhere else?" "I'm kind of busy." "I'm outta here." "You know, I..." "Don't work too late, 'cause the bags under your eyes are getting bigger." "Yes, have a good evening, and if you find you're going to have a sudden coronary thrombosis, you should probably drive directly to the hospital." "You were right." "We shouldn't fool around at the office." " He gives me the willies." " He's a harmless sort." " Hey." "How'd you get in?" " It wasn't very hard." "Really?" "What'd you do, have your father buy the building?" "A small tip to the super was all it took." "For you maybe." "I give the super a small tip, he spits on my shoes." "I brought some very expensive Russian vodka, 120 proof." "Don't drop that, you know." "You're liable to blow up the building." "I got bored waiting." "There's nothing to read but detective magazines and the racing form." "I got a deck of playing cards with naked women on them." "You could've, you know..." "Let me guess." "You use it to play solitaire." "I used to date the six of spades." "I love where you live." "It's just what I thought it would be, a grimy little rat hole." "Oh, thank you." "I'll tell my decorator you said that." "It's the effect we were going for." "You dying to see my, uh... strawberry mark?" "Uh... if it's in the same spot it was this afternoon, I'd like to check it out." "This is truly a novelty for me." "I'm used to pent houses and yachts, gorgeous European lovers who buy me presents and sweep me off my feet." "And yet, somehow, I find it strangely exciting standing here in a grungy hovel with a myopic insurance clerk." "I know there's a compliment in there, someplace." "I just don't know where it is." "You gonna take that coat off?" "'Cause it hasn't rained in this apartment in 20 years." "Oh, well." "What do you think?" "If I happen to pass away while we're doing anything, just have the embalmer leave the smile on my face." "Perfect timing." "I'll slip into something a little more comfortable, wait for you in bed." "More comfortable than that?" "What are you going to put on, Jergens lotion?" " Hello?" " Constantinople." "You are in the power of the Jade Scorpion." "You will proceed to the Dillworth mansion." "You will enter and open the safe." "Have you ever heard of an Indian book called the Kama Sutra?" "I'm sorry, Laura, but we're going to have to postpone our little rendezvous." " Pardon me?" " I just recalled a previous engagement." "I hope you don't mind." "The doorman will get you a taxi." " I had a wonderful evening." "Thank you very much." " You are joking, of course." "I'll turn around and you can get dressed, and please try and hurry." " I'm rather pressed for time." " Have you got a loose screw?" "Tonight was very meaningful to me." "Really." "I'll always think of it in a very cherished way." "If you're in the neighborhood again, drop in!" "What's come over you?" "Should you want any peanuts to snack on the way home," "I think I have a whole dish of them in the other room." "You hate women, don't you?" "Not at all." "Actually, they're a splendid gender." "Really." "A very pleasant variation." "I should have known." "I should have known!" "A mousy little clerk like you, just chasing your entire life after criminals." " I should have known." " No, Laura, don't be cross." "Do drop in again in the springtime." "The oleander will be in bloom." "I'm going!" "I'm getting out!" "I'm not used to getting kicked out of a man's bed, but it could have been worse." "You're very sick, you know?" "Thanking you in advance for understanding, Laura." "God bless you." "You have a splendidly shaped buttocks." " Mamma mia!" " God bless you, Laura." "I can't believe it." "It's identical." "You think somebody from the Kensington household came over and pulled this one too?" "We did the security here." "We made the place fool proof." "Somebody's a step ahead of you." "I want to speak to the Dillworths." "I want to question them." "The Coopersmith detectives have been grilling them all morning." "Geez." "You mean..." "I can't believe it." "She convinced Magruder to put the Coopersmiths on." "We need all the help we can get on this case." "What's happening, fellas?" "You want to talk to me?" "Hey, C.W. We're in on this one now." "Yeah?" "Well, this is my case, just so you're clear on that, okay?" "Will you listen to him?" "Like we horned in." " Hey, they called us." " That was their first mistake." "Maybe they think you're slipping." " You know my brother Joe?" " The one that died at birth?" "I hear you're having a little trouble, C.W." " So you guys get any clues?" " A few." "Yeah?" "What?" "Wanna share them with me?" "I'll let you know if they're real clues or if you found your own laundry list." "We'd like to make this collar, C.W. It'd mean a long-term deal with North Coast." "I hear they're making some changes up there." "Fellas, I'm gonna make this bust, and then you guys are gonna be back at your old jobs tracking down lost poodles." "We had to laugh when we heard you thought the Kensington heist was an inside job." "I can see already we're gonna be tripping all over each other here." " One of us is gonna fall down." " We don't plan on falling." "Yeah, you're in over your heads, guys, all four of them." "This is a very smart burglar." "You guys have trouble figuring out who did it when you get a confession." "I'll tell you what we figure." "We're looking for a tall man, heavyset, athletic, about 30 years old." "Belly button in or out?" "Now, if he's short at that weight, he's fat, too fat to squeeze through the kitchen window." "Wanna show him the big clue?" "What's the big clue?" "The guy leave behind his birth certificate?" "Show him." "No one in this house was ever to Rocky's Bar." "Hey, I've been to Rocky's Bar." "You got a matchbook." "Big deal." "Six million people eat at Rocky's Bar." "We're gonna nail this guy." "The important thing is that you don't think of us as competition." "Don't worry." "I don't." "What are you so upset about?" "We'll get the guy." "Can you believe that she talked Magruder into hiring these two jerks?" "Look, you've been moping around all day." "It's not like you." "What's going on?" " Al, I got a confession to make." " What?" "I woke up this morning." "I found this on the floor in my apartment." " Yeah, so?" " I have no memory of being with anybody last night." "Oh, come on, Briggs." "How many times has that happened to everybody?" "You pick up a broad." "You knock off a bottle of booze." "You're in the sack." " So you didn't remember." " There was also an empty bottle of vodka on the floor." " And I don't drink vodka." " All the more reason you blacked out." "Vodka does funny things to a person." "Believe me." "I've gotten up with some pretty strange-looking heads under my arm." "I can't figure it out." "There's something wrong." "I came back here." "I wanted to check something in my office." "That I remember clearly." "This was about 9:00." "Hey, wait a minute." "I ran into..." "Wait a minute." " What are you thinking?" " Of course." "No wonder I thought it was an inside job." "But not inside with the Dillworths or the Kensingtons." " It's inside our company." " What?" "It's so obvious." "Why didn't I see it right away?" "Are you kidding?" "Who?" "Mize, Bond and me." "We're the only ones who have access to your security setups." "Yeah, and what if somebody else was given access?" "What if someone, someone we don't know as well because she hasn't worked here as long as we've been here?" " Fitzgerald?" " Why not?" "Why not?" "My God." "We've had, you know, female jewel thieves before." "You know, she's always saying she can do anything a man can do." "I don't think she meant stealing." "What do we know about her?" "Nothing." "You know, she has expensive tastes." "She wears good jewelry." " I gotta get into her office." " Don't." " I must" " If you get caught, she'll kill you." "She'll take a gun and shoot you." "You know, she goes duck hunting." "But it makes all the sense in the world." "She's here late every night." "She has the files, we've given her the files." "She knows all the security information." "I gotta go through her place." "Don't rifle her desk." "You're gonna get caught." "What are you doing?" " Me?" "No, I was..." " You're going through my desk." "I beg your complete pardon." "You're all red." "You were snooping through my papers." "You know, only a suspicious, paranoid mind would say something like that." "I doubt very much whether Amish people or Quakers would come to that conclusion." "You wormy little ferret." "Now you're mixing metaphors, so you're upset." " I know why you're snooping through my office." " I wasn't snooping." "You're looking for the report by the Coopersmith Agency." " You hired them to give me a hard time." " What?" "That's right." "Now it's too many cooks, and we're getting all over each other." "These guys have made more progress on this case in a few hours than you have in two days." "Were you crying?" "'Cause your mascara..." "No, don't try to tap-dance your way out of getting caught searching my desk." "I wasn't searching." "I was rummag..." "Can a colleague not rummage?" "Get out." "If I ever catch you going through my stuff again..." " What are you afraid I'll find?" " You couldn't find your nose if I turned the lights out." "Hey, watch out, 'cause I'm on to you." "I know what you are." "I know what you're about." "I'm on to you." "You know, this is silly." "We should both calm down." "I just had lunch, and you're liable to overtax your heart and have a massive stroke, killing you instantly or paralyzing half your body." "Have a nice day." " I gotta get into her apartment." " You're asking for trouble." " She hit the ceiling when she caught me before." " Can you blame her?" "'Cause she's guilty." "Look behind her eyes." "She's a bad broad." " She's got pretty eyes." " I said look behind, behind the eyes." "There's something wrong." "The minute I met this broad, I sensed there was trouble there." "She says the same thing about you." "You know, if you two were prize fighters, we could get a million-dollar gate." " Al, I gotta get into her place." " Look, let me tell you something." "Being an investigator doesn't put you above the law." "She catches you, she's gonna have you locked up." "Has that ever stopped me before?" " She's going out tonight." " How do you know?" "'Cause I went through her desk." "I know her appointments." "She's meeting her sister tonight for dinner at a restaurant." "Wait a minute, I thought she said her sister was an invalid in Detroit." "That's what I'm telling you." "Nothing she says ever checks out." "Yeah, well, you know, you can't break into her apartment, C.W. It's unethical." "I'm not gonna break in." "I got the key." " How did you manage that?" " I stole it from her purse." "She's gonna know something's up when it's missing, right?" "She'll never know." "I made a duplicate." "I put the original back in her purse." "My God." "You know, you've got a touch of larceny in you." "You would have made one heck of a thief." "Hey, it takes one to catch one." "Don't forget that." " I'll see you tomorrow." " Yeah, see you around." " Can I take your coat, honey?" " I'll get it." "Okay, what did you want to tell me?" "No drink?" "We've had enough drinks." "How much alcohol do you need to be completely honest?" " You're not making this very easy." " Why should I make it easy?" "Because we care about each other." "Before it was you loved me." "Now it's that you care for me?" " Betty Ann, just sit down." " I'm not gonna faint." "I've been dumped before." "I wish you wouldn't say things like that." "You rushed me out of that restaurant to talk because you were afraid I was going to make a scene or pass out." "You are a highly volatile woman." "Am I?" "Most men complain I'm cool as ice." " You know I care about you." " You said that." "Get to the point." " It's not that I don't want to leave Caroline..." " But you're not, in the end, you're not." "I've tried to work up the courage a hundred times." "All those promises?" "Those stories about how miserable you were at home?" " You're making this into a nightmare." " Isn't it?" "It is for me." " Look, try to understand." "We can still be friends." " Oh!" " We can even continue to sleep together." " Are you nuts?" "I only got involved in this because you told me your marriage was on its last legs." "When you say it like that, it sounds like I've deceived you." " Haven't you?" " I didn't mean to." "I respect you too much." "Oh, my God." "How did we go from love to you care for me to you respect me?" "Next thing you'll be buying me a prayer shawl." " Betty Ann..." " Leave me alone, okay?" "Please." " Betty..." " Just go, I'll be fine." "Leave me alone." " Honey, listen..." " Leave me alone!" "I hope you decide to stay on at North Coast." "You're really helping to turn our company around." "I guess we won't be having that honeymoon in Positano, huh?" "I feel like such a jerk!" "You shouldn't." "It's my fault." "I got into this against my better judgment." " Honey..." " Just go." "Good-bye, Chris." "Good-bye, New York." "Miss Fitzgerald!" "God!" "What are you doing?" " What are you doing here?" " What do you mean, what am I doing here?" " What are you doing here?" " I happened to be passing through." " You what?" " I'm..." "What do you..." "I was..." "I'm..." " I'm hiding behind your screen." " Behind what?" "You have this nice Japanese screen." "I was hiding behind it." "How did you get in?" "How long have you been here?" "What time..." "I've been here quite a while, actually." " You broke into my apartment?" " I didn't break in." " How did you get in?" " You really want to know?" " How did you get in here?" " I made a duplicate of your key." " You what?" " Which you can have for no extra charge." "It's good to have two keys, 'cause an emergency happens once in a while." " Why did you do this to me?" " What?" "Why?" "Because I'm convinced somebody up at North Coast is responsible for the jewel robbery." " Who, me?" " Well, you're a prime suspect, yes." " Based on what?" " Based on the fact that I know everybody else better than you." " And you have access to all the data." " So?" "So do you?" "But you were so nervous the other night when I caught you up there." "I came up, and you were acting so strange." "And you have a Rocky's matchbook." "I saw you put it in your..." "Remember we had a drink at Rocky's Bar?" "It didn't go too well." "So you broke into my apartment illegally and spied on me?" "I wasn't spying." "What's wrong with you?" "I was rummaging." " I'm a big rummager." " You what?" "I was rummaging in the afternoon." "I saw "dinner with my sister."" "Now all those sisters, all those dinners..." "Those were with Magruder, right?" "Oh, God!" "I'm mortified!" "Oh, stop it." "If it wasn't for me being here, they'd be scraping you up with a spoon." "That's none of your business, you slimy little weasel." "And over a jerk like Magruder." "He's not a jerk." "He's wonderful." "He's twice the man you are, you roach." "Don't you see?" "He gives you these stories so he can get into your pants." " He's not gonna leave his wife." " You witnessed my humiliation." "The only humiliating thing is how this guy takes advantage of a smart woman like you." "No, no, no." "You're not fit to discuss Chris Magruder." "Look at this." "She still loves the guy." "I can't believe it." "Get out!" "Get out before I call the police and have you arrested for breaking and entering." "I'm not letting you alone here tonight." "Are you crazy?" "Look at you." "I'd ask if you had any friends, but I know the answer." "Give me this." "Jesus." "What..." "What..." "Great." "Are you okay?" " Hello?" " Oh." "Jesus." "What the hell are you doing here?" "I'm making coffee." "Oh, God!" "It's all coming back to me now." "You came here last night because you thought I stole some jewels!" "This happens to be a very confusing case." "I'll say you're confused." "Why didn't you go home to sleep?" " Are you kidding?" "And let you do something crazy?" " Like what?" "Like take a swan dive out the window." "How do you know I wouldn't take a swan dive with you here?" " Because I watched over you." " You stayed up all night watching me?" "That's exactly right." "Yes." "And you snore like a grizzly bear with a sinus condition." "I had a bad moment last night." "I'm fine now." " And you talk in your sleep." " You probably took notes, you suspicious little inchworm." " Who's Rita?" " Rita's the woman my ex-husband ran away with." " Anything else?" " You certainly know how to pick men." "Check your sex." "There's not a lot to pick from." "And you mentioned my name too." "I thought you were awake." " You said that I should rot in hell." " I was probably awake." "I figured you were feeling better." "And now, if you'll go, I gotta be at work in 30 minutes, and for God's sake don't gossip about what you saw last night." "Hey, nobody's gonna gossip." "'Cause I couldn't care less about your life, okay?" "It means nothing to me." "I couldn't stand you when I met you, and I can't stand you now." "I find you obnoxious and pompous and..." "Do me a favor." "When you see me in the office, do me a favor, walk the other way, okay?" "And if Magruder tells you he's gonna leave his wife, if I were you, I would keep my legs crossed." "Don't choke on your breakfast and die of asphyxiation." "You'll wind up unable to dislodge a large piece of toast, no matter how hard you cough!" "Mr. Magruder, you sent for..." "Oh." "If you'll all open your hymn books to page 90..." "Sit down, C.W. We have a situation." "Your brother looks good." "The embalmer did nice work." "I'll let the Coopersmiths bring you up to date." "After careful search, using some of the most up-to-minute techniques, we found some interesting clues." "Yeah?" "Leading to who, Eleanor Roosevelt?" "We got a shoe print off the parapet at the Kensington place." "So?" "An eight-and-a-half "C" Florsheim cordovan." "Only worn by 20 million Americans." "I mean, I wear an eight-and-a-half "C" cordovan Florsheim shoe." "And let me tell you, for the money you cannot get a better shoe." "We also found a couple of hairs." "One on the rug at the Kensington place, the other one actually inside the Dillworth safe." "They match." "Forgive me if I'm not knocked out." "Oh, we don't mean just to each other." "They match yours." "Just like the eight-and-a-half "C" cordovans." "Hey, fellas." "I know you guys are angling for my job..." "We also got a fingerprint off the matchbook." "You got a fingerprint off a matchbook?" "The Coopersmith lab uses highly sensitive apparatus." " You're not gonna tell me it's mine?" " It is, C.W." "Well, so what?" "I mean, so I leave a footprint on the parapet, or I inadvertently drop a matchbook." "The matchbook was found before you got over to the place." "You guys don't doubt my honesty, do you?" "Because, let me tell you, I was a Boy Scout for three years." "I got a number of merit badges home, and my clergyman, who happens right now to be wanted for pederasty, will vouch for me." "Nobody's making any accusations." "You do have some outstanding debt from expensive sports betting:" "baseball, the ponies..." "Are you guys investigating me?" "C.W., I assure you, this is only an inquiry in-house at this time." "We don't want the police to know about it, and we're not looking for bad publicity." "Miss Fitzgerald, what do you think?" "Say something." "I mean, you're a bright woman." "You think I did it?" "Please, C.W. let's not have our daily bloodbath between you and Miss Fitzgerald." " She's not an investigator." " But she's a very bright woman." "She's got a lot of ideas." "She was the one who brought these two mouth breathers in on this case." "Hey C.W., it's nothing personal." "We're just building a case." "Yeah, but we all want to catch a jewel thief." "I'm on your side." "Fellas, I think we gotta get team jackets." "I want a resume of every employee who works here messengered to my apartment." "Don't worry, C.W. We'll get to the bottom of this." "Oh, Miss Fitzgerald, I wanted to meet with you later." " About what, Mr. Magruder?" " Our Paris account." "As I recall, that account is closed." "I have to see you later." "Just to talk." "I behaved like such a fool." "Later, for a drink." "Just for a drink." "Oh." "Well." "Can I come in?" "Yeah, sure." "I'm shocked." "I..." "The place is a little messy, but if I knew you were coming, I would have had the maid rearrange the dirt." "Are you alone?" "Alone?" "Yeah." "Of course." "I would have called, but I decided it was safer to talk to you in person." " What do you mean, "safer"?" " I can't stay long." "Why?" "You gonna meet Magruder in Paris?" "That's none of your business." "Thanks for coming to my defense today in the office." "It was really nice of you." "That's what I wanted to talk to you about." "The Coopersmith brothers had Laura Kensington in for questioning today." "She told them she was with you the night before last and that you got a phone call in the middle of the night and suddenly began acting very strangely and got rid of her because you had to go someplace at midnight?" "Well, let me tell you, she's lying." " Why would she lie?" " Wh..." "Use your head." "Would I kick Laura Kensington out of my bed at midnight?" "Even if the president needed me." " Why are you lying to me?" " Why did you come here with this crazy story?" "Because I should have spoken up at that meeting today." "Because while I think you're a mealy-mouthed little..." " Reptile." " Reptile, thank you, I don't think you're a jewel thief." " What makes you so positive?" " It's too daring for you." "You're not romantic enough." "It requires flair and imagination." "My instinct's telling me you're not the one." " You know, I didn't think you had instincts." " I have them." "I don't usually trust them, especially when it comes to sizing up men, but this time I can feel it." "You're good at weaselly type things, like snooping and spying." "You're not man enough to be a cat burglar." " You sound like you're attracted to men who break the law." " We're not here to discuss me." "We're here to talk about what Laura Kensington told the Coopersmiths." "Laura Kensington wasn't here." "She..." "You're making..." "Laura Kensington was not here." "She said she left her stocking here." "Hey, that could be anybody's." "I don't know..." "You know, a lot of women pass through this apartment." "And you know, I'm not saying they're all winners, but there's a lot of action here." "I'm sure you're not overly particular." "Look." "What do you want from me?" "I happen to enjoy the proximity of a well-proportioned member of the opposite sex." "That's how God created us, and why should I be the one to quibble with His concept?" "I came to tell you a case is building against you." "Be honest with me!" " I'm honest." "I'm honest." " Where did you get this stocking?" "It's some broad's." "You know, the women that are here, they lose an earring, a stocking, I don't know." "Well, Laura Kensington says it's hers." "She also says she tipped the super." "He let her in here, and that story checks out." " Whoever that is, I'm not here." " What?" "Wh..." " Who is it?" " It's Herb and Joe Coopersmith." "I don't want to be seen here!" "Why?" "What's the problem?" "What am I, a leper?" "You're under suspicion." "I would have a lot of explaining to do." "You know, I think you're still hooked on Magruder." "That's why you don't..." "Go down the end of the hall." "There's a bedroom." "Shut the door." "Go in the bedroom." "Can I sit down in there, or will I catch something?" "Germs can't live in your bloodstream." "It's too cold." "Let's go, C.W. Open up." "Coming!" "Hey, fellas." "You sure you got the right apartment?" "The traps with the cheese are in the basement." " Can we come in?" " Now, wait a minute." "I got a chorus girl in the back room, and if I don't hurry up..." "Wouldn't be Laura Kensington, would it?" "Laura Kensington?" "I don't know." "They all look the same upside down." "I can never tell." "She says she was here the other night, till you dumped her to go out on mysterious middle-of-the-night business." "Hey, would I dump Laura Kensington?" "I eat Wheaties." "Problem is, Eddie, the night guard from the North Coast building, says you, uh, made some strange middle-of-the-night visits to your office both nights the robberies took place." "Fellas, I'd love to chat with you, but, you know, there's a nurse in the other room there, and..." "I thought you said she was a chorus girl." "Who does a little nursing?" "Give me a break." "Come on." "We can discuss this tomorrow, can't we?" "I don't know how you can still make love with this on your mind." "You know, you're facing a long jail sentence." "That's exactly why I gotta get in all I can now." "Yeah?" "Well, we're gonna turn this over to the police tomorrow." "You can see." "There's a case developing that's pretty incriminating." "This is circumstantial evidence." "That's all you got." "Many a man's gone to the gallows on circumstantial evidence." "Well, fellas, the gallows are gonna have to wait, because I got a cocktail waitress in the other room now, and I..." " Cocktail waitress?" " Yeah, a nurse, you know, who's a little bit of a chorus girl, and she works a lounge now and then." "If you catch the jewel thief, let me know." " I'll get you both new yo-yos." " Yeah." "They're..." " What is this?" " I was... browsing through your bookshelf, and I found this deck of naked playing cards and these." "This is..." "What do you..." "This is..." "This is the Kensington jewels." "This is the..." "This is the Dillworth jewels and this..." "This is..." "What are you..." "What are you looking at me like that for?" "Because you found them in amongst my collection of female art studies?" "What is the implication here?" "I used to go with the six of spades." "Then the four of diamonds caught us together and there was a..." "I was aware that you sneaked up mysteriously to the office in the middle of the night and the lobby guard saw you." "I know you have Laura Kensington's stocking, and she swears you kicked her out of bed to take care of sudden business, which your super corroborates." "They have a footprint, a match book with your fingerprint, and still I believed that you didn't do it." "But now the actual stolen property turns up hidden in your bedroom." "So what are you saying?" "This makes you suspicious of me?" "I was actually a bit touched that you stayed up all night watching over me." "I began to think, "Maybe he's not the scummy little vermin he seems to be."" "I maybe a scummy vermin, but I'm an honest scummy vermin." " I didn't take these jewels." " How can you deny it?" " You've been caught red-handed." " Yes, I..." "What..." "I'm..." "I grant you, there's a fingerprint of me, and they have a footprint, and the jewels are in my bedroom." "This I give you." " I'm starting to think I'm in tremendous trouble here." " I'm calling the police." "No." "Will you forget about logic and give me the benefit of the doubt?" " Ha!" "That makes me an accessory." " Not if I'm innocent." "You don't have a kosher bone in your body." "That's exactly why you get your selves into these problems." "That's why Magruder's waiting for you, right?" "You make all the wrong decisions 'cause you make 'em here, not here." "Decisions made here are not as reliable as here, because this is gray cells and this is blood, and blood circulates through the body." "It gets around." "It knows what the score is." "But up here, gray cells just lay there and think." " You see what I'm saying?" " Hello?" " Constantinople." "You will take the jewels, each and every one of them." "Make sure you have them all." "Wrap them tightly in brown paper so it's impossible for anyone to tell what they are." "Go to Grand Central Station." "Rent a locker." "Lock them in." "Go home, taking the key with you, and put the key in your mailbox." "Make sure to leave the mailbox open." "Then you will go into a deep, refreshing slumber, and when you awake, you will remember nothing of what has transpired." "Is that clear?" "Miss Fitzgerald?" "Have..." "Have I ever told you that you're one of the most beautiful women I've ever met?" " I'm turning you in." " No, I mean it." "That's what made me first fall in love with you is those beautiful eyes." "I can't believe it." "You're actually trying to sweet-talk me?" "I resisted because, well, down deep" "I thought that you might hurt me, and I didn't want to put myself in that position again." "C.W., let me set you straight once and for all." "I wouldn't be interested in you if you were the last man on Earth." "Not only that, I find it insulting that you could think" "I would fall for such a heavy-handed ploy." "What a low opinion of me you must have." "Thank you for dropping by." "I'm a little busy right now, but tomorrow night, maybe we could have dinner." "I know a candlelight restaurant." "I could look into your eyes and tell you how crazy about you I am." "if I didn't know what a squirming little trapped rat you were," "I'd think you had a brain tumor." " You're late." " God, I'm still trembling." "Over last night?" "I couldn't sleep a wink." "It's not that, Chris." "It's Briggs." "He's guilty, isn't he?" "It's a sad story." "Please don't make me go into all the details, but I wonder if he's having some kind of mental breakdown." "He may be realizing the consequences of his deeds." " The Coopersmiths are closing in on him." " Could he have... a split personality?" "A lot of criminals have been known to play crafty games when it suited their purposes." "I need a drink." "If I tell you something, do you promise not to go off half-cocked?" "Okay, but hurry." "I've got some big news." " I found the jewels." " What?" "And keep me apprised, will you?" "Thank you." "The police are on the way, thank God." "It's an open-and-shut case." "Much as I cringe at the publicity, I'm elated at the recovery." "It's clear there's so much more to this, Chris." "Oh, I've seen men driven to extremes before being around big money." "These guys earn their living exposing all kinds of exotic schemes to defraud and rob people." "Sometimes they start thinking, "Hey, I'm on the inside." "I know why these schemes fail." "I won't make the same mistakes."" "You're saying he's cracked from so many years of hard work?" "He's a driven man." "Had a terrible marital experience." "Turned him off women, except for the little no-threat secretaries and barflies he picks up." "Crushed when he caught his wife cheating." "He's feeling older and looks around and says," ""Hey, maybe it's time I get mine and get out."" "Guy named Peterson a couple of years ago tried the same." "Of course, he's a houseguest at Sing Sing these days." "Well, I'm sure you know him better than I do." "It'll resolve itself." "Umh, Betty Ann, I spoke with Caroline." " You did?" " I told her I wanted my freedom." " Really?" " Isn't that fabulous?" "It's surprising." "I thought you'd be knocked off your feet." "Well, I mean, it was last night." " It's sort of like a roller coaster." " Forget about last night." "I knew I'd made a mistake the minute I left your apartment." "What did she say?" "I think she sensed we'd been drifting apart." "she was very poised." "Said if I was sure that's what I wanted..." " Thank you." " I'll have another one of these, please." "Sure." "You're certainly not as euphoric as I'd imagined." "Well, you can't expect me to just change gears and turn on a dime." " Have you changed your mind?" " Mmm." " No." " You haven't met someone else, have you?" "No, no, I haven't." "I don't understand, fellas." "What... what's going on?" "What'd I do?" "Yes, those are the ones." "They were in his bookcase." "He bets every day, and, uh, and he usually loses." "I knew he was into the bookmakers for a bundle." "Look, I was with him on Tuesday night till about 12:00." "Then suddenly he got a phone call and he was like a different man." "If it was anyone else but C.W., we wouldn't even be discussing this." "The jewels were in his locker." "It's an airtight case." "Listen, fellas, I know you guys wanted my job, but I could get 30 years up the river for this." "With good behavior, you'll be out in 20." " I'll get you." "No matter where you are." "I'll check every low-I.Q. club in town, and I'll find you." "I'll kill you." " Low I.Q. Some genius." " I'll kill these guys." " Take it easy." " I'm not one to give pious lectures C.W., but if you needed money, you could have come to me." "I would have listened." "I warned you about your gambling habit." "Can't you see what a conspiracy this is?" "They plant a footprint and a fingerprint, and the night watchman forges my signature." "It's easy." "And this crazy girl who smokes opium makes up a story." "And Fitzgerald plants the jewels in my apartment." "There's a word for people who think everyone is conspiring against them." " That's right." "Perceptive." " C.W., you tried to swallow the key to the locker at Grand Central Station where we found the stolen goods." " You got any witnesses?" " Yeah, me!" "You gonna take your word over mine?" "Let's get him over to the courthouse and book him." "You better get a lawyer, C.W." "I can't believe it, I'm shocked." "This is one of my best men." "You know how long I've known this guy?" "Tommy, come with me." "Yeah, Mike, I'm right behind ya." "I'm sorry about this, C.W." "I'll make the arrangements." "Stick around." "Well, well, well." "If it isn't Mr. Fast-Talking Investigator who got caught with his hand in the cookie jar." "Did I really throw you out of bed?" "Why?" "You planning on using the insanity defense?" "Listen, honey, I gotta get some help, and you're gonna help me." " Am I?" " Yes." " And what makes you think that?" " This is your kind of thing." "You know, this'll look great on your resume." "A suspected felon, a daring escape from police headquarters, broad daylight." "You like this kind of thing." "Go over to that top drawer over there." "They took the handcuffs outta the second drawer from the left." " There's gotta be a key in there." " Nervous." "See if there's a key." "Go." "Hurry up." "Come on." "Don't..." "Hurr..." "Gotta make this fast." "Otherwise, I'm gonna be..." "They'll put me away." "I'll be showering with all men for the rest of my life." "Hey, miss, I'm sorry." "No one's allowed in here." "You wanna come with me?" "Let's go, miss." "You're not allowed in here." "Come on." "Unless you wanna get locked up too." " I'm sorry things didn't work out, C.W." " Come on." "Let's go." " Yeah?" "You wanna lock me up?" " What's wrong with you?" " Just take your hands off me!" " Something wrong with you?" "Caroline and I are working on the details of the separation agreement now." "I'll be out of the house in two weeks." "The divorce will take longer." "That's why the agreement has to be securely in place." "Otherwise, it could get killed if we were found together." " Where are you?" " Do you think he's really guilty?" " Is that what you're thinking about?" " I can't shake this uneasy feeling." "What?" "That he's innocent?" "He was caught red-handed." "Believe me, it just doesn't feel right." "I don't see that snoopy little termite as a romantic jewel thief." "Well, I'd hardly call breaking the law romantic." "I didn't mean it that way." "What did you mean?" "The evidence against him is overwhelming." "I don't know what I mean anymore." "Hello?" "Yes." "Yes, he is." "Hold on." " It's the Coopersmiths." " Thank you." "Hello." "No." "Really?" "Oh-Oh, how?" "Okay." "Yes, I certainly will." "Well, if you had any doubts about his culpability, this should allay them." " He escaped." " He did?" "Slipped out of the handcuffs and leaped across to the building next door." " C.W. Briggs?" " Like a common burglar." "I'm starting to realize that none of us really knew him all these years." "I have to go down to police headquarters." "It looks like your little termite ate his way out." " Did you forget..." " Resist the temptation to scream." " What are you doing here, you little jewel thief?" " No, I'm not a thief." "I'm suspect." "It's the complete different." "I'm a very promising suspect, but I didn't do it, and I gotta have time to prove that." "Otherwise, they're gonna lock me up in a concrete building and you'll only be able to insult me on visiting days." " Why did you come here?" " Because I have no one else to turn to." "Everybody knows how much you hate me, so no one will look for me here." "I gotta have a place to sleep." "I'm exhausted." "You can't sleep here." "I couldn't afford the fumigating bills." "If you wanna call the police, call the police." "I don't care." "You know, I'm sleeping here." "You wanna call 'em, then call 'em." "Get me the 11th Precinct." " Hello?" " Miss Fitzgerald?" " Yes?" " Madagascar." "You are in a deep trance, and you will obey each and every command the Jade Scorpion gives you." "You will acquire all the pertinent security data for the Adrian Greenwood mansion." "You will proceed there, and after disabling the security system, you will remove all the jewels from the safe, obtaining each and every one of them." "These jewels you will hide in your apartment." "Is this clear?" "Yes." "What's the matter?" "Can't sleep?" "No." "I've had the strangest dreams." "That's funny, 'cause I've had some crazy dreams myself lately." "I dreamed we were finally together." "Really?" "You and Magruder?" "It's a match made in heaven." "By a retarded angel, but in heaven." "You misunderstand me." "I dreamed you and I finally wound up together." "You, that's funny, 'cause I didn't hear any screaming." "From the first minute I met you, a voice inside me said I finally found what I've been searching for my whole life." "What's that?" "A roach, a vermin, a little inchworm?" "A black... or did I call you a black widow spider?" "I knew that sooner or later, you and I would wind up in each other's arms." "Hey, have you been gargling with tequila?" "You're a very romantic man." "What did you smoke before I woke up?" "Suppose I told you I had the most passionate crush on you I've ever felt for any man." "I'd fear for my life, 'cause I'd think it was a setup." "They were playing this song the first time you and I had drinks together at Rocky's Bar." "You remember what they were playing at Rocky's Bar?" "Not that I didn't have a good time there, but I didn't." "My passion for you is so intense, it scares me." "Can't you see I've submerged it under a mask of hostile acts and cruel words?" "Don't worry about it, 'cause I never really took it seriously." "When you said you wanted to crush me like an insect under your heel, that was just your way of saying, "Back off a little."" "Couldn't you see I was just protecting myself?" " Miss Fitzgerald..." " Call me Betty Ann." "Look, Betty Ann, I hate to be a killjoy, but, but, uh..." "If this is some kind of scheme to take adv-it's not very subtle." "You're the man I'm gonna marry." "I've known it since the first moment I laid eyes on you." "If you're gonna marry me, we should call Bellevue." "You need a little electric shock, honey." " Would you kiss me?" " Me?" "You want me to lay a wet one on you?" "I've always imagined if you took me in your arms and kissed me," "I could finally feel those fireworks people talk about." " Is this the way you are away from the office?" " What are you thinking?" "I'm thinking that it's a pity we hate each other." " By now, we could have had a large family." " I'm gonna swoon." "Steady, steady." "I affect women this way sometimes." " I can't stay awake." " Easy, easy." " I just need to rest my head on your shoulder." " Easy, uh..." "I must remember what soap I used this morning." " What the hell are you doing here?" " Good morning, sweetheart." "Don't call me sweetheart." "What's going on?" "I stayed awake all last night thinking about all those things that you said, and, you know, all of that rang a very deep bell with me." " What?" " There were so many times, you know, when we were arguing in the office, and I had the feeling that down deep, underneath it all, you were really crazy about me." "Crazy about you?" "What, were you dropped on your head?" "No, hey, toots, I gotta tell you, last night, for a cold fish, you were hot stuff." "Listen, buster, don't call me "toots."" "I don't like it any better than "sweetheart."" "I'm not one of those available Annies who sits on your lap while you give dictation." "What did you do, sneak in here and slip into my arms?" "Hey, what's going on?" "You tried to undress me last night and kiss me." " What are you talking about?" " You came in here and passed out." " "And now the news."" " I'm confused." " "The elusive jewel thief"" ""responsible for robbing the Kensington and Dillworth fortunes this week"" ""has struck again."" ""C.W. Briggs, a former employee of North Coast Fidelity and Casualty Company of New York,"" ""is the chief suspect in the robbery of the latest victim,"" ""Adrian Greenwood of Manhattan."" ""The details of the crime were the same as the first two this week."" ""In addition to over a million dollars in jewelry,"" ""the thief got away with a like amount of cash."" ""Police had recovered the jewels from the earlier burglaries,"" ""which led to the capture and arrest of the prime suspect, C.W. Briggs."" "So that's why you escaped from the police." "Not to try to prove your innocence, but because you had unfinished business." "What kind of business?" "I was here with you!" "Yeah, well, for some reason, I'm having trouble remembering all of that, but I was asleep." "So even if you came here to sleep, you could have awakened, robbed these people and then come back." " You just used this as a safe haven!" " I could have, but I didn't." "You tried to undress me and kiss me." "You are feeding me the wrong lie." "I've never tried to undress you in my life, and I wouldn't kiss you if we were marooned on a desert island for 20 years." "We would never be marooned for 20 years, 'cause after 20 minutes," "I'd make a bow and arrow and kill you." "What are you thinking?" "I'm marrying Chris Magruder, for God's sakes." " You are?" " Yes." "We've set a spring date, as soon as his divorce is final." "So if I was undressing you or trying to kiss you," "I must have multiple personalities." "If you marry Chris Magruder, you have multiple stupidity." "Uh, yeah, it must have been the booze last night, but you were like a changed person, and a much better one." "I'm gonna take a shower, and if you're not gone when I get out, I'm calling my local precinct." "For one minute, you dropped your guard." "You were actually sexy, even though when the light hit you a certain way, you tend to resemble Mussolini." "Sh..." "Pretty snazzy for an office worker." "Boy, Magruder must really love you in an extravagant way." "Probably likes going to Paris with you more than he does with his wife." "I understand you and Charlie got something for me." "I don't know about Charlie, but I came up with a name." "Really?" "Well, hit me." "Lay it on me." "Eddie Polgar." " Eddie Polgar." "Who's that?" " I don't know." "It don't mean a thing to me, but it's come up twice." " Eddie Polgar?" " Yeah, yeah." "There's no police record." "Could be an alias." "I don't know." "It's all I could get." "Hey, hey." "Blue men coming." "Keep moving." "Keep moving!" " Charlie." " C.W., is that you?" " I got a message you wanted me." " You're hot as a pistol." ""Hot"?" "The New York City Police want to give me a lifetime achievement award." "Name Eddie Polgar mean anything to you?" " Zero." " Nothing." "I can't get a break, no matter what I do." " Stick your hand in the cup." " In the cup?" "In the cup." "Yeah, yeah, yeah." "Yeah." "Thirty-eight cents and a wad of paper." "Oh, and somebody threw their gum away in your business establishment." "Well, open the wad of paper." " Why?" " It's a clue." " What kind of clue?" " From last night's heist." "Coopersmiths found it on the driveway on the property." " Charlie, wha..." " The burglar dropped it getting away." " How'd you get it?" " I got a friend, who's got a friend who works in the same building as the Coopersmith Agency." " I thought maybe you'd want it." " Charlie, this is..." "These earrings are grand larceny." "I see by the look on your face I must've helped you." "Cherchezla femme." "You know what that means, Charlie?" " What?" " Find the woman." " Is there a woman?" " Well, first I thought so." "Then I didn't." "Now I think I got her." "You work next to a person for years, and then one day the temptation's too great." " I don't believe it." "Not C.W." " It doesn't make sense." " Why not?" "Jill, I don't think any of us expected it, but there is proof now." "I mean, you heard Fitzgerald saw the jewels sitting in his apartment, right?" " Yeah, and how he fought the cops when they got the key to his locker." " Exact." " To me it's open-and-shut." " What?" " You don't run from the police if you're innocent." " That's what I'm saying." "What about the nerve it took to strike twice?" "Come on, guys." "C.W. deserves some credit." "He turned out to be a pretty gutsy guy." "Hello." "Where are you?" "Never mind where I am." "I gotta get up to the office." "I think there's more people involved in this thing." "I think that Fitzgerald is behind it." "Does the name..." "Eddie Polgar mean anything to you?" "No." "Look, I gotta get up to the office." "I wanna get through the Coopersmiths' report." "I wanna check it out, and I wanna check out Fitzgerald's desk again." "There's no question about it." "Fitzgerald is involved in this thing up to her neck." "You can't let this woman and your feelings for her color your judgment." "It has nothing to do with my feelings for her." "It's the only thing that makes any sense." "You know, I go over to her house because I figured no one will look for me there 'cause she hates me so." "I go to sleep." "In the middle of the night, I hear a noise, and I wake up." "I find her." "I figure, "All right, so she can't sleep either."" "But no." "That's not what it is." "She had done the Greenwood heist, and she was coming back, and I caught her." "So naturally she starts to act very peculiar." "You know, she starts to..." "I trap her." "So she starts seducing me with her feminine wiles." " Meaning what?" " Meaning all of a sudden I'm handsome and I'm gorgeous and she can't take her hands off..." "Does that sound like Fitzgerald to you, or a schemer trying to play me for a sucker?" "Actually, it sounds like that magic show demonstration by Voltan Polgar." "That's right." "That was the night of the first robbery." "I don't know, C.W. I think she has some real feelings for you." "Don't be ridiculous." "She hates me." "What is the name you said of, of the magician who now I've completely repressed?" "Uh, Voltan." "Voltan the Inscrutable." "The Jade Scorpion." " What is his name?" " Voltan Polgar." "Eli Voytak Polgar." "I'm... just theorizing on an incredible sequence of events." "You look like my Uncle Jerry right after the United Parcel truck hit him." "What happened?" "I know you described this before, but, but what happened?" "They brought me on stage, brought me onstage." "He put you into a trance, rather easily, despite your resistance." "Right." "Yes." "And then... and then he brought Fitzgerald, who was with me at the time..." "And then you were awakened in a posthypnotic state with a word that would, uh, put you back under again." "Constantinople." "Yeah, then he started making these..." "C.W.?" "C.W.?" "Yes?" "You okay?" "I'm fine, Alvin." "How's your aging mother?" "Obviously, he was never released from the keyword." "Wake him up, George." "This is scary." "Don't be scared." "This stuff's right up my alley." "All right." "Now, when I snap my fingers, you will awaken." "Uh, you'll have no memory of what has occurred." "Is that clear to you?" " Yes." " And you'll awaken feeling happy and, and, and refreshed." " Is that clear?" " Yes." "So, the guy gets me onstage." " Now, then what?" "What took place after that?" " Wait a minute." "I have an idea." "Constantinople." "My God." "What a sense of power." "George, do you think that you can get him to recall everything and then set him loose from the trance for good?" " All right." "Now, when I snap my fingers, you will awaken." "Your memory will be clear, crystal clear." "All the events of the past week will come to you vividly and with no distraction." "You'll be completely freed from your trance, and the mention of the word Constantinople will have absolutely no meaning to you." "It will not put you back into your hypnotic state." "One:" "You're coming out of it." "Two:" "Your memories of the past week are coming back." "Three:" "You're fully awake." " I took the jewels!" "The Kensington jewels." " What?" "And the Dill..." "Yes." "Yes, and of course." "And then he probably tried to get me, couldn't get me, so he," "The Greenwood thing was her." "What..." "What is Fitzgerald's keyword?" "Madagascar." "The Jade Scorpion wants you to get the jewels." "Wrap them in plain brown paper and bring them to him." "Mark down the following address in Chinatown." "Miss Fitzgerald?" "Miss Fitzgerald?" "Miss Fitzgerald?" "Sergeant, his name is Voltan Polgar." "Somebody just gave me an address on him." "Oh, Miss Fitzgerald." "The Jade Scorpion welcomes you." " You have my package." " Yes." "Thank you." "You will now return home." "You will go to sleep." "It will be a wonderful sleep from which you will awaken cheerfully, and you will remember nothing of these events." "In fact, you will have no memory of any of this ever." "I was just passing through." "I... thought I'd... say hello." " C.W. Briggs." " Yeah." "I seem to have underestimated you." "Story of my life." "Everybody underestimates me." "They, you know, they think I'm a pushover." "It makes my work much easier." "I've seen some pretty exotic schemes, Polgar, but this one was a beauty." "But I figured it out." "That's why I get top dollar." "Don't force me to take extreme measures, Mr. Briggs." "You'd never pull that trigger." "Really?" "You think not." "Why?" "Murder's not your game." "I have just an instinct that tells me that." "You know, you're a jewel thief." "There's a big difference between doing a little time for stealing jewels and, you know, frying in the electric chair." "Once they pump 200 million volts of electricity through your body, you have a tendency to spend the rest of your days in an ashtray." "For a minute, I thought I overplayed my hand." "You're the bravest, most brilliant, most courageous man I've ever met, and I would go to the end of the earth with you." "You know, everybody should have somebody that they feel that way about." "It's, it's, you know, it's such a shame that you're gonna have to actually wake up from this, this fabulous illusion." "Just, just once before the ugly curtain of reality drops on both of us." "Oh, you kiss great." " What a wrap-up, huh?" " Did you see the look on Herb Coopersmith's face?" " Serves him right." " Hey, Al." "Where do you think Miss Fitzgerald and Mr. Magruder are gonna go for their romantic getaway?" "His divorce doesn't come through for months." "I hear his wife couldn't care less." " I hear they're getting married in June." " No." "I think I heard him talking about going to Paris." "Paris?" "Wow!" "Mr. Magruder, I'm..." "I just came to say I'm leaving." "Ah, C.W. Well, what can I say?" "We all make mistakes, huh?" "'Course, you've gotta admit, they did have a pretty strong case against you." " I don't know." " I know you could get a job anywhere." "If you decide to go, you'll have our blessings." "If you stay, you'll have a raise, and I'll see to it Miss Fitzgerald keeps out of your way." "In fact, between us boys, once we marry, she's gonna retire whether she wants to or not." "I'm not having a wife at work in my own office, for good measure." "Well, think positively." "I'll be away for a couple of weeks myself." "Miss Fitzgerald and I are going to Paris." " Oh, yes?" "The actual city?" " Huh?" " No." "Nothing." " You need a vacation." "Why don't you see if you can get that Laura Kensington girl to go with?" "I wouldn't mind some of that action myself." "She seems struck by you." "She's a little demented, but, in a hotel room, that can be a lot of fun." "Just came to say good-bye." "Right." "Chris and I have a plane to catch." "No, by good-bye I mean I'm leaving." "I'm quitting." "Oh?" "Should make you very happy." "You can enjoy your vacation now." "'Cause when you come back, you don't have to see me again." "You can revamp everything here." "No static." "Want to have a parting drink?" "A drink at 10:00 in the morning?" "It's only tequila." "Well, what can you say about a woman who keeps a bottle of Mexican booze in her desk?" "Let's drink to both of our futures." "Yeah." "Today, Mr. Magruder." "Tomorrow, the world." "I will let that pass because this is good-bye." "Mmmh." "You're really gonna marry him?" "I, you know, for a brilliant woman, I gotta say, you have the worst taste in men." "I didn't take up with you." "How bad could my taste be?" "You know, behind underneath all those nasty remarks is a very vulnerable, sweet, sexy woman." "But don't ever let it come out, because, you know, you could run the risk of being happy, and I know that would kill you." "Chris and I plan on being very happy." "Your instinct told you he would never leave his wife." "My instincts are good, but they're not infallible." "So this was one where I was wrong." "Have a, have a terrific rest of your life and try not to jump out of any windows." "Make sure the elevator's there before you get in, because I heard of a man who plunged 15 stories and wound up a vegetable." "I'll let that pass 'cause this is good-bye." " That's what she said." " Hey, Briggsie, I was just telling 'em." "You quit, I go with you." "That's right." "C.W., you are our hero." "This was a tough nut to crack." "No, this was all luck." "You know, if George didn't know magic or hypnosis, you know, I never would have known anything." "It's an amazing thing." "You can actually put somebody under and then force them to do the most outrageous things." "That is absolutely wrong." "A person will not do anything under hypnosis that they wouldn't do in real life." " Is that true?" " Yeah." " What are you saying?" "That I'm, at heart, a thief?" "Well, we know there's a little bit of larceny in you." "I mean, you're the one who's always saying it takes one to catch one." "Oh, well, there's also a little bit of larceny in Miss Fitzgerald." "I mean, that was kind of a shock." " There's a lot of surprises in her, it turns out." " Hey, come here." "Hey." "Hey." "You got a little crush on her, don't you?" "Who?" "Fitzgerald?" "What, are you..." " What are you talking about?" " Well, come on." "I've always known it." "You can't hate somebody that much without there being at least a little bit of attraction underneath it all." " Says who?" " It's my instinct." "Against all logic." "Come on, Briggsie." "You were the one who taught me to trust it." "I think I'm in love with her, but I..." "It's the stupidest thing that's ever happened to me." "It's embarrassing." "Yeah, well, uh, you better take the bull by the horns." "She's out of here in about three minutes." "Look." "Go!" "Miss Fitzgerald, marry me." " What?" " I guess C.W. 's had a few." " Pretty early for that, don't you think?" " I've had a little tequila, but, but otherwise I wouldn't have the nerve to say this." "I'm in love with you." "I want you to marry me." "Mr. Briggs, you're embarrassing me." "You don't want to spend the rest of your life with the wrong person when it's me you really love." " C.W., you're making her uncomfortable." "Whatever could make you think I could, in my wildest dreams, think of you that way, you..." "Yeah, I know. "Nearsighted little cockroach," or something like that." "But, but can't you see the venom under that?" "That's the beauty." "Betty, let's go." "C.W. leave here at once." "I think your idea of moving on professionally wasn't so crazy." "Hey, look, I'm opening up to you." "I'm putting my heart in your hands." "I've been difficult because I feared you, just like you feared me." "Because underneath, we know this is the real thing, and it terrifies us." "Yes, I fear you." "You and Boris Karloff." "Out of the way, C.W." "Your heroics do not entitle you to be an obnoxious boor." "How can a man confessing love be an obnoxious boor?" "I'm afraid Betty and I have big plans, and they don't include you." "I..." "You wanna spend the rest of your life married to the wrong guy?" "What makes you think I'd marry you even if I wasn't gonna marry him?" " Stop talking about me like I'm not here." " Because it's me you love." "You are too old for me." "You are too nearsighted for me." " You're too short for me." " You're leaving out the best part." " I'm also losing my hair." " All right, C.W. Good-bye." " And I mean for good." " Wait, wait a minute." "Betty Ann." "Betty Ann, where are you going?" " Madagascar?" " Someone call the plane and tell them we might be late." "You go ahead, Chris." "I'm staying here." "What?" "I'm staying with C.W." "We have an announcement to make." "Betty Ann, you have a crazy look in your eye." "I've never felt so normal in my life." "I can't guarantee that every time I kiss you there's gonna be fireworks." "I think I fell in love with you the first second I laid eyes on you." "I want this woman helped!" "Get an ambulance!" "Uh, Miss Burke!" "Call my wife's attorney." "Have him halt the separation." " I see trouble on the horizon." " Don't worry, Mr. Magruder." "She'll take you back." "There'll be a few new ground rules, but you can adapt." " Gosh, so much passion in a lousy insurance office." " I know." " No kidding." " You never know." "Hey." "Congratulations." "A little, uh, going-away present for you." "So, should we... get out of here and find someplace where we can start making up for lost time?" "How about my place?" "I think I can live with that." "Um, God bless everyone, and, uh, God bless Tiny Tim." " Shall we?" " Good luck, you two." "Hey, so, what's gonna happen when she, you know, wakes up and she's back to her old self?" "Guess the first word out of his mouth every morning has to be "Madagascar."" "My gosh, who'd have thunk it." "Hey, what a break for C.W. that in all the commotion you forgot to deprogram Miss Fitzgerald, huh?" "What are you talking about?" "I didn't forget anything." "I deprogrammed her last night." "You don't have to worry." "I'll never leave you." "It's something you don't even have to think about." "Tell me how you feel about me." "You're the most wonderful man in the world, the handsomest, the most brilliant, the sexiest..." "You know, someday I'm gonna make you feel those things." "Just, just really feel them." "Anything's possible." "I've made you feel that way, and I didn't even have to say Constantinople." "All right, you..."