Well, Mr. Magnum, can you do it?
Can you find my father?
They got no record of a Tran Quoc Jones or anybody even asking about him.
My mother took me to live with her family.
One day some men came and took her away.
They killed her because she had married my father.
I wish I could undo that for you.
He seemed quite anxious to try and help out.
He's using Tran Quoc as a political ploy.
Where's Tran Quoc? I don't know where they came from.
Where's the boy?
You think they're really gonna just let him go?
Hey, that's mine! T. C!
How much for this?
That's not for sale.
Would you like this necklace?
Only $15.
Last one.
I'll make you a deal. $12, wholesale.
Okay, I'll take it. Can you put it in a bag for me?
Here you go, lady. Hey, that's mine!
Meet me right here in one hour.
You come back here with that!
Come back here.
Speech, speech, speech...
I can't tell you what it means to me to see all of you here today.
I don't believe this guy. We're over in Vietnam getting our butts shot off,
while he's on a stage burning his draft card in Central Park.
Now he's telling everybody to vote for him and work through the system.
Well, times change, I guess.
So do people, apparently.
...and hard work are values of the past. I disagree.
Old-time American values will never go out of style.
Thomas.
I do not see how Robin Masters can throw a fundraiser for this creep,
and I don't see how you can help him.
I'm not helping him.
Yes, you are. You're helping him raise money.
I am not. I'm just doing the job Robin asked me to do.
No!
I feel the same way about Hasley you do.
Sure.
What am I supposed to do? Quit my job?
I wanna talk to you.
No. Now, that's it.
You're not gonna put me on the defensive on this.
I'm not working for Hasley and I'm not gonna talk about it anymore.
Who said anything about Hasley?
Look, Thomas, you wanna take an ad out in the yellow pages, that's your business,
but don't use the club phone number for your messages.
You gave out this number?
I was just trying to cover my bases.
I didn't think you'd mind taking a couple of messages for me.
A couple? Try 15 in the last two days.
Fifteen? That's great.
Eleven crank calls and three hang ups.
I'm getting a little tired of people calling up
and yelling and calling me dirty names over the phone.
Well, I figured you'd be used to that by now.
Very funny. I suppose it doesn't bother you
that he advertised helicopter service.
Wait a minute. You advertised helicopter service?
That's only 14!
Eleven crank calls and three hang ups. That's 14. Who was the 15th?
That friend of yours, Jim Bonig or Joe Travis, or whatever his name is.
Mac. He said to call him Mac.
I don't want to call him Mac.
Anyway, he wants you to get ahold of him right away. Here's the address.
Well, I can't go right now. I'm waiting to meet a client.
You advertised helicopter service? Honey Lester.
Honey Lester? Yes, she's meeting me here at 10:00
and she's just running a little late, that's all.
Well, while you're waiting,
maybe you'd better place a call to the phone company
and tell them to strike this helicopter service.
You wouldn't want anyone to sue you for false advertising.
Magnum, somebody's looking for you.
See? I told you. She's just a little late.
Where?
Over there.
That don't look like any Honey Lester to me.
Well, he says his name is Tran Quoc Jones. I think that's Vietnamese.
Anyway, he said he needs to talk to you and it's confidential.
My father gave those to my mother
the night before he shipped out.
He was going to send for us as soon as he got back to America.
But my mother died,
so I guess he couldn't find me.
At the orphanage, they taught me not to be angry about the past.
Look to the future.
So, I began to dream about coming to America
to find my father.
But here I am,
and I can't find him.
There you go.
You don't need a private investigator.
See, there are agencies that are already set up
for getting families back together.
I can take you over to one of them.
No!
I'm not exactly supposed to be here.
I kind of bought my way in.
These agencies,
I'm scared they'll send me back.
Where do you get the kind of money
to buy your way into the States?
Same place I learned to speak English,
hustling big hotels in Ho Chi Minh City.
I speak pretty good, huh?
Very good.
Here you go.
One chocolate milk
on the house.
"On the house"?
It means free.
Thanks.
On the house.
Well, Mr. Magnum, can you do it?
Can you find my father?
Why don't you tell me all you know about him?
He was a helicopter pilot and his name is Jones.
We heard he came through Hawaii on his way back home.
I know what you're thinking, and you're right.
What were the odds of my finding
the one helicopter pilot named Jones,
who left a wife and infant son behind in Vietnam almost 12 years ago?
On the other hand, the odds weren't gonna get any better
if I turned the boy down.
The important thing was to keep him out of sight,
so immigration couldn't find him before I located his dad.
This Higgins, he is a cruel man?
Not cruel, exactly. More like set in his ways.
Like Phap Quong. He was the thay tru tri at the orphanage.
Very stubborn.
I had to concentrate and concentrate
to figure out how to be his friend.
Yeah, well, what I think you should concentrate on here
is staying out of Higgins' way.
I think we made it.
Where's your Hotei statue?
What?
Your good-luck statue. You know, the short, round little man.
Don't you keep one outside your door?
Uh, some people keep them inside.
Higgins.
I have been standing here for precisely 17 minutes,
a sufficient amount of time to weigh carefully the words I shall use
to describe to Mr. Masters your appalling lack of concern
about a matter he has entrusted to your care.
Higgins, I'm sorry. Look, I know we had a meeting.
I meant to be on time, but I got held up waiting for a client.
You're taking money from children?
Oh, no, he's not my client.
Well, I mean, he is my client,
but he's not the client I went to meet.
He is the client that showed up.
Anyway, Higgins, it doesn't matter who he is.
What matters is my taking care of a few minor details,
so that you and I can then discuss the matter of security
for the fundraiser Robin's throwing.
Quite.
I just have one quick trip to Waikiki.
This lad, this mere child,
is your client?
Well, in a manner of speaking, yes.
How on earth do they find you?
Yellow pages.
Of course.
I should have guessed.
So far, so good.
The important thing now is...
Stay out of Higgins' way. ...of Higgins' way.
Watch TV, read a book, take a nap.
The bathroom's in there, there's beer...
Milk and cookies in the refrigerator.
Don't wander off. Stay in the guest house.
You gonna be okay?
Are you kidding?
Are you crazy? You wanna get killed?
No, I'm just trying to run a nice little business here.
You know, sell a few pineapples, enjoy the good life.
You know, it's the American birthright, Thomas, the pursuit of happiness.
What's the pursuit of happiness got to do with
bumping heads with some hood?
Thomas, you see all these little stands around here?
Each one of these little stands
is a little island of free enterprise.
Each one run by someone
who's working very hard just to get by.
Now, if all these people
have to keep paying protection money every month...
I am not saying they should pay.
I just think they should call the police, that's all.
What good could they do? If they come around, the bagman doesn't show up.
And they can't really run a con on him, you see, 'cause that's entrapment.
They got to be real careful about those things.
Now, look, you help me with this, and I'll see what I can do at NIA.
I don't know.
What's the set-up?
Well, everyone's agreed to give me their protection money
for this next pickup.
Now, I flash the money at the bagman,
and then I pull a switch and give it to you,
and you wait for me over there by that aquarium.
Then the bagman takes an envelope full of paper towels,
and you and I hand all these people back their money.
And when he realizes he's been had and comes looking for us?
Well, first of all, they'll never really get a good look at you.
And, secondly, I can take care of myself.
You don't have to worry about me.
Now, what do you say?
Look, if you really don't wanna do this, I understand.
I mean, it's dangerous. Really, really, forget I asked.
It's okay. I mean, you're busy trying to find this kid's father.
I can see you just don't have time to help out a few nice people.
If I agree to do this, if,
you will get into NIA and see what you can find on the boy's father?
You got yourself a deal.
Now, why don't we go someplace you can buy me a beer
and tell me what it is you're looking for.
Business is a little slow here, anyway.
I guess people are still spooked by that murder.
What murder?
They found a high-priced callgirl over in the alleyway
between the Hawaii Art Mart and Kuhio Souvenirs.
You know, she looked more like a college girl than a hooker.
All they found on her was 1,500 bucks and a driver's license.
Honey Lester. Where do they come up with these...
Honey Lester?
Yeah, you know her?
There's a special kind of bond
between a private investigator and a client.
If it's not trust, it's something very much like it.
I saw it in Tran Quoc Jones' eyes
when he asked me if I could find his father.
And I felt it in my heart when I heard Honey Lester,
a client I hadn't even met, had been killed.
I felt I had to do what I could
to find out why Honey had called me.
I asked Rick to see what he could find out about her.
In the meantime, I had to make sure my other client
was keeping a low profile around the estate.
Magnum, I want to talk to you immediately.
I demand to know what you're doing about that boy.
To tell you the truth, Higgins,
I was kind of hoping you wouldn't notice he was staying here.
I mean, look, I know you got this big shindig coming up, but...
I would hardly call Mr. Masters' fundraising dinner
for his chosen candidate a shindig.
Well, whatever. The thing is, I think Tran Quoc can stay out of the way.
What's the big deal if he stays here for a couple of days?
I'm not in the least concerned about his staying here.
You're not?
No.
What concerns me is what you're doing to find the boy's father.
Well, I have a couple of operatives working on it.
Good.
As you know, there's an enormous amount of work to be done around here
to ensure security for the fundraiser.
Yeah, I know. I kind of wanted to talk to you about that.
See, I've been kind of having second thoughts...
However, under the circumstances,
I am willing to burden most of that work
in order to free up your time to find the boy's father.
You are?
Gee.
Thanks, Higgins.
Why are you doing this?
If you had a son who was trying to find you,
wouldn't you hope the people he turned to would help him in that quest?
Besides, I rather like the lad.
He told me, quite in confidence,
that I reminded him of someone he was very close to.
The thay tru tri of the orphanage where he grew up,
as a matter of fact.
I suppose I always have had a rather authoritative air about me.
I remember the first time I was bundled off to military school.
I couldn't have been more than seven years old at the time,
but, even then, the lads apparently saw in me the makings of a leader.
The school was located on the rainy and windswept coast of...
Pity.
He would've enjoyed this one.
But I didn't lie to Mr. Higgins.
You led him to believe...
You led him to believe one thing,
when you really meant something else.
Pretty smart, huh?
That's really very good.
How long you been playing the saxophone?
For a couple of months.
I started playing for change outside of hotels
just before I came here.
How long have you been playing?
Oh, since high school.
You must be really good.
Here, play something for me.
No.
Look, it's time for you to hit the sack. We got lots to do tomorrow.
Oh, I almost forgot.
Your friend Rick called.
He said to tell you he's got some "feelers out"
and he'll get "the skinny on that dame."
He also said he'd help me with English, anytime.
Great.
And Mr. Calvin called.
He said, "Did you take care of that false advertising matter?"
He also said for me to call him T.C.,
and he invited me to go flying in his helicopter tomorrow.
Oh, he did, did he?
He invited me of his own free will.
What I said was, I'd be happy to take him on a helicopter ride sometime.
That's what I said.
He's just a kid. You know how excited they can get.
Besides, maybe his English isn't very good.
He probably misunderstood you.
That boy's English is great.
Maybe we should take him with us.
It could be interesting.
No.
Magnum dropped him off here,
we're gonna drop him off right back there and Higgins can baby-sit.
Now, I planned on a picnic for two, not three.
You're right, Mr. Calvin.
It was wrong of me to trick you.
Every morning I wake up and I think,
this might be my last day in America.
Today might be the day they come and get me
and send me back,
so I try to fill my mind with as many pictures as I can,
so I'll have something to remember
when I'm back in the orphanage.
But I should try to find my own pictures,
and not take yours away from you.
He wouldn't be taking anything away from us.
T.C.
T.Q., where you going?
Back to Mr. Magnum's house.
What, and let all this good food go to waste?
You mean I can come along?
T. C: Sure,
if you're in the chopper by the time I count to ten.
One, two, three, four, five...
You know, some days I can really see what it is I see in you.
As far as I can see, nobody wants this guy.
Oh, I got your list of all the Joneses mustered out in Hawaii.
It's a pretty long list.
I also contacted somebody at the Pearl S. Buck Foundation.
You called Washington?
Yeah. As long as I was there, I figured the Navy could afford it.
They got no record of a Tran Quoc Jones or anybody even asking about him.
The State Department said they'll keep looking,
but at first glance, they didn't have anything on the guy, either.
Anybody you didn't call?
My mother.
I started to, but I heard some footsteps coming down the hall.
I'll call the State Department back in a couple of days.
They think I'm big brass over here, you know.
But if you want my honest opinion, Thomas,
I don't think anybody's really looking for this kid.
Hey, here they come.
They're early.
Look, be sure and wait until after I take the envelope back.
I'm not ready!
You're ready.
You got the money?
Yeah, I got your money.
You know, you guys ought to be ashamed of yourselves,
taking money from working people.
Save it for Sunday.
It's $50 short.
I haven't put mine in yet.
You should also watch how you flash this kind of money around.
This isn't the best neighborhood, you know.
Be a lot safer if you carry it in one of these.
What are you doing?
Don't do that.
I'm trying to help you here.
Excuse me. I just bought this pineapple from you
and I'm afraid it's kind of rotten.
Gee, I'm sorry, Mister. I'll get you another one right away,
just as soon as you fill in this form.
Oh, no. Do I have to?
I'm kind of running late. I need to catch a plane.
Give him the pineapple.
You wanna let me run my own business, pal?
Give him the pineapple.
Thank you.
Now, give me the money back.
He has it.
Look, I don't want any trouble. Obviously,
it was an error in judgment on our part,
but as long as you get the money back, I mean, no hard feelings, huh?
Mac. Mac!
I can explain.
No, wait, he's...
Freeze. Police.
I'll take that.
Hi, Lieutenant. What are you doing here?
What am I doing here?
We got an anonymous tip that these guys
would be making the collection rounds today.
We've been after them for months,
and I might have known
you'd be right in the middle of it.
I can explain, really.
Mmm-hmm.
Take them downtown.
All of them.
I think we should at least hear what he has to say.
I don't trust that guy.
Mr. Hasley has a great number of connections in Washington.
When I explained to him about the boy's dilemma,
he seemed quite anxious to try and help out.
He's using Tran Quoc as a political ploy.
Well, I suppose it's a possibility, yes.
T. C: No possibility about it.
Stand the boy in front of the cameras, show how concerned I am
about the Amerasian problem.
Hey, we don't need the guy's help.
He's a politician, not an investigator.
I don't see what difference it makes what he is,
if he can find the boy's father.
Hi, guys.
You asked us to meet you here two hours ago.
Where have you been?
Oh, I got a little tied up with Lieutenant Tanaka on another case.
Honestly, Magnum.
I got a list of all the Joneses
who mustered out in Hawaii. It's long.
You see? I told you Thomas would come through.
I figure we've just got to divide the list up, and track this guy down.
Geez, that could take months.
Okay, maybe we should let him talk to Hasley,
but I'm gonna be there to make sure
he doesn't shove the kid in front of any cameras.
Would you look this way? - Over here.
Mr. Hasley, could you give us a statement, sir?
Is it true you're going to look for the boy's father?
I want to thank you all for coming out today,
but this is a personal event, not a public one. Okay?
I appreciate your giving us a little space.
Mr. Hasley... Mr. Hasley...
Mr. Hasley, Tran Quoc Jones.
Looks like you're quite a celebrity, son.
You know, not everyone has your courage
to come all this way looking for your father.
Well, I'll say one thing for the guy,
he always knew how to keep his face in front of the people.
He just better not get Tran Quoc's hopes up, that's all.
What?
I don't know, nothing.
Where did Hasley go?
Get a picture of that guy. Get over there.
You all right?
I think so. I'm fine.
Where's Tran Quoc?
I don't know where they came from.
Where's the boy?
I didn't see anything,
just heard the shots.
I feel so foolish.
Where's the boy?
Mr. Hasley, did you see who fired the shots?
Mr. Hasley, are you all right?
A statement, please, Mr. Hasley.
T. C: It's okay. They're gone.
You know,
when I was a kid, I used to be scared of the dark.
I used to think that there were monsters up under my bed,
so you know what?
I started talking to them,
trying to get them to go away.
You know something? They did.
After the Americans left,
my mother took me to live with her family.
We hid away.
One day some men came and took her away.
I heard shooting and I ran after her,
but they killed her.
They killed her because she had married my father.
They said that she was working for the Americans,
and that she was a spy.
I wish I could undo that for you.
I thought
if I came to America,
all these bad thoughts would go away.
Now I think
maybe they never will.
Well, maybe they won't,
but you won't think about them all the time.
I hardly ever think of the scary times back there anymore.
But when it gets really bad,
I think,
"I made it through that, didn't I?"
Well, I can make it through anything.
Come on.
T.C., what if Magnum doesn't find my father?
He'll find him.
You okay?
Yeah.
Did you see anybody?
To get in and out without a trace, the guy had to be a real pro.
So why'd he miss?
That's what I'd like to know.
What are you saying?
You're telling me you can't stop people
from taking potshots at your guests?
That is most certainly not what I am saying.
Naturally, the beaches are more open and vulnerable than the rest of the estate.
However, I will personally see to it that efforts are redoubled
to insure against any recurrence of today's most distressing events.
I don't think you have to bother.
You can tell Mr. Robin Masters that we'll hold our fundraiser elsewhere.
Let's bring the cars around. Let's go.
You were right. I shouldn't have wandered out onto that beach today.
I forget there are still people out there who would like to see me dead.
Thank God the boy's still alive.
I'd like to help you find your father.
T. C: Yeah, well, we don't want your help.
So far, all you've done is bring a lot of reporters around and caused a big stir.
T.C. - T.C.'s right.
How do we know this whole shooting thing wasn't just a publicity stunt?
It was no stunt.
I know a lot of people still harbor resentment toward me
about my activities during the Vietnam War.
They see me walking around healthy and happy,
and they get angry because they think I should have been over there.
Maybe if I had gotten shot or killed,
their husband or brother or father would still be alive today.
I may have made some mistakes when I was younger,
but I like to think they were mistakes of caring too much.
Mistakes of method, not of ethics.
And the sad fact is, if more people had listened to me sooner,
maybe some of those husbands and brothers and fathers
would still be alive today.
Wait a minute. Wait just a minute.
You make this nice little speech,
full of understanding, full of compassion,
and then you go right back to where you started.
"People should have listened to me. I was right."
Well, don't try to convince us that you're such a wonderful person
because you had the courage to stand up for what you believe in.
Convince yourself.
Because in my book,
it can't compare to the kind of courage it took
to go over there and get shot at.
I'd still like to help the boy.
Honey Lester was pretty new to the Island.
She didn't seem to have any friends,
but she had one encounter with a guy
that was running girls on the Avenue.
Now, apparently, somebody stepped in
and convinced this guy to leave her alone.
It seems that she has some pretty heavy connections somewhere.
Magnum, I just had a call from Dick Hasley's office.
If it's about what happened yesterday, Higgins, I'm sorry.
Maybe I was out of line with Hasley.
But I've been listening to these people for years
with their neat little version of how things were.
It's just not that simple, Higgins.
It never is.
However, perhaps some good has come out of our meeting with Mr. Hasley.
Apparently, the story about Tran Quoc went out on the wire services last night.
Oh, great. That means we're gonna be hearing from immigration.
Now, what are we gonna tell them?
We'll just have to tell them the truth, that we're looking for the boy's father.
Dick Hasley has found him.
He's arriving tomorrow morning on the first plane from Colorado.
T.Q. Hey, T.Q.
Hey, man, you look great.
Mr. Higgins gave it to me.
Well, everybody's waiting.
T.C. Mmm-hmm.
I've been thinking.
What?
I probably wouldn't really fit in in Colorado.
I'm used to living in the streets,
taking care of myself,
you know.
Maybe I'd better stay here.
I mean,
it's not like he's really my father.
He left us.
He probably doesn't even want me around.
Well, he's come a long way to get you.
I think he wants you around.
Yeah, but if anything happened, that he didn't want me...
Hey, hey, hey. You just call me.
Do you think I'll ever see you again?
Look, no matter where you are,
if you need me, I will be there so quick,
you won't even see me coming. You got that?
T.C. Hmm?
Nothing.
We'd better go.
Yeah.
Come on, what do you want from me, huh?
Proof that he's the boy's real father.
Surely you can appreciate our concern.
All right.
Besides the affidavits from family and friends,
he brought these with him. They're letters from his wife
before she was convicted of being an American spy and killed, okay?
You wanna read them yourself, be my guest.
They're just full of hopes and dreams for the future,
news of their infant son, that's it.
Well, reading a man's private mail...
Do you think you gentlemen could hurry this up?
I have a press conference to go to, okay?
They're here.
So that's when the other fish came around,
so then, that fish said to the other fish,
"Just because the hook was there, you didn't have to bite it."
Well, I guess you had to be there.
Tran Quoc, this is your father.
These are for you, Magnum. Pencils. You can put your name on them.
They'll be good for business.
T.C.,
you could give these to Gloria.
Rick, here, on the house.
And Mr. Higgins.
These are some old pictures of me
when I was a kid.
You can have them to remember me.
Hey,
you don't want to give these away.
It's okay. I don't need them anymore.
Thank you.
Gentlemen.
Well,
I believe I should take the advice on this T-shirt
and fix myself something cool to drink.
May I offer you lads something?
No, thank you. I have some business in town
that I haven't had time to take care of.
Where are you going?
To see a man about a pineapple.
Magnum, am I glad to see you! I was just calling you.
No, no, no, no.
You weren't just calling me.
You aren't glad to see me.
You hung me out to dry with those guys
and then you took off with all the money!
Pretty good, huh?
No, it wasn't good.
It was a rotten thing to do and you're...
You're going to give back all that money.
I already did. And I'm going to go with you to make...
Every penny.
I don't believe you.
Well, except for my recovery fee, 10%% off the top.
But, you see, I figured these guys wouldn't fall for a simple switch scam.
No, no. Uh-uh. You wouldn't give it back.
Not for 10%%, uh-uh. No way. Not you.
All right, all right, so it was a 20%% fee. But you got to figure it this way.
These people have been paying 100%% for years.
Now that these guys are in jail,
they don't have to pay anything. You had no way of knowing
they were gonna get arrested.
Well, who do you think called the police?
Let's face it, Magnum. I performed a service for my fellow craftsmen.
We did. You should be very proud of yourself.
No, I'm not proud. Leave me out of it.
I figured you'd still be mad at me.
Mad? Mad?
Mad doesn't even come close.
Well, that's one of the reasons I tried to call you.
Well, consider the message delivered,
and don't ever call me again!
The other reason I tried to call you is to tell you that I went back to NIA
and found out the information you were trying to get on the kid's father.
Well, I'm afraid you're a little late.
He picked Tran Quoc up this afternoon.
That's impossible. He was killed in action in Vietnam.
If the lad's father was killed in action,
then who drove out of here with him, and why?
Well, whoever he was, he was working for Hasley.
Here's the stuff from the envelope that T.Q. Gave me.
An appointment book belonging to...
Honey Lester.
Yeah, and also, here's the yellow pages ad
that he used to find you in the first place.
And here are at least half-a-dozen papers
linking Hasley to organized crime.
My God.
You think Hasley knew the kid had those papers?
He must have. He and Redfield.
Man, they really took us in.
I shall go down to his headquarters immediately
and demand that he give us the whereabouts of the boy.
Oh, and you think they'll just tell us?
They will if they want these papers back.
If they were willing to kill somebody for them,
they should be willing to make a trade.
Robin Masters' estate.
It's Tran Quoc.
T. C: Do you think they're really gonna just let him go?
I don't think they're gonna risk shooting him or us in front of witnesses.
Well, here they come.
T. C?
I'm okay.
How do we know you'll leave the boy alone?
'Cause I gave you my word.
The papers for the kid,
and he's free to go with you.
Until you decide to take shots at him on the beach again?
No, we weren't shooting at the kid.
It was Hasley we needed to get the message to.
Boy means nothing to us.
How did you even know he had the papers?
The girl told me.
It's amazing what people will say when they're scared.
I'm sorry I lied to you
about my father.
I thought if I didn't tell anybody
my real father was dead,
maybe somebody would think I was their son.
I thought he was really going to take me to Colorado.
After they let us go,
I won't cause you any more trouble.
You haven't caused us any trouble.
So long, kid, and welcome to America.
T. C!
Give me that. Magnum!
You just made a very serious mistake.
It isn't worth it. Let's get out of here.
You got lucky, Mister.
Did you get it?
Next time, you be the halfback and I'll be the linebacker.
I got it.
A switch.
Where did you learn that?
From a sort of a friend.
I guess you'd better get these back to Higgins.
And then, are you going to find my real family?
We're sure gonna try, kid.
You got American aunts and uncles somewhere.
We'll find them.
I thought I was doing the kid a favor, all right?
Indeed.
I thought the guy was the kid's father.
His papers, they were very convincing.
Papers which only you read.
So, you're saying that I'm working for them?
You come in here with false accusations about callgirls,
hoods, politicians gone bad.
This is all very dramatic, gentlemen,
but you got no proof.
Yes, we do.
They went for it.
I'm quite certain, in light of these documents,
Mr. Masters will want to reevaluate his support of your campaign.
That is, unless you can give us some proof
that these accusations are false.
We'll say the documents are forgeries.
You can't prove otherwise.
This is gonna follow you around, Hasley. It's not gonna go away.
Mr. Redfield, the reporters are getting anxious.
Dick.
Give me five minutes, Kathy.
Yes, sir.
There was a connection, but not the one you think.
What are you doing?
They're right.
If they don't dig this up, someone else will.
It's an old story. It's corny, like the movies.
Mobsters hire pretty callgirl to get next to naive,
but basically honest politician.
She shows him some documents designed to scare him into playing ball with them.
Why didn't you go to the police?
Something happened that nobody counted on.
Honey and I fell in love.
I couldn't bring myself to implicate her in all this.
Or maybe you just didn't want to explain it to your wife.
Maybe I didn't at the time.
Anyway, Honey and I got arrogant.
We thought we could turn the tables on those guys.
She managed to get her hands on records that would expose the key men
in underworld operations on the Islands.
Then she got scared,
said we had to hire some protection
until we could decide what to do with the documents.
So she called Magnum.
After the police found her,
I went to my wife with the whole story.
She's gone back to the mainland to sort things out.
I wanted to spare her at least the public humiliation
of dragging this out into the open.
And I kept telling myself, without the documents Honey had,
what good would it do to go to the press?
You have the documents now.
Dick,
don't be a fool.
You go out there and talk about this,
you're not gonna stop the mob.
All you're gonna do is wreck your own political career.
What other choice do I have?
Not talk about it? Cover it up?
Run scared from every gangster and investigative reporter
who wants to make something out of this?
I haven't changed that much, Dennis.
You think maybe we were wrong about that guy?
I don't know.
Where's Tran Quoc?
He's sitting on the front row. I wanted to make sure Hasley could see him.
Ladies and gentlemen of the press,
it gives me great pleasure to introduce you
to Mr. Dick Hasley
I'm sorry to have kept you waiting.
I hope you'll find what I have to say today
worth the inconvenience.
We, all of us,
have had to find our own way in life.
We've all had decisions to make
which were very difficult.
But I believe
when you face life squarely
and take on the difficult decisions
and the difficult times,
somehow things have a way of turning out all right.