Struck by Lightning

"Struck By Lightning"

episode of CAGNEY AND LACEY

Written By Scott Wicker

Based on characters created by Barbara Avedon and Barbara Corday

ACT ONE

FADE IN:

TITLES: MAY, 1983

EXT. CATHEDRAL-DAY

We see a large, majestic cathedral in downtown Manhattan. It has steps leading up to huge wooden doors and stained glass windows above the entrance. It is a sunny spring day in the city.

INT. CATHEDRAL-DAY

Inside the massive cathedral, we see DETECTIVE CHRISTINE CAGNEY enter the darkened area containing the altar and the pews. We see a few OTHER WORSHIPERS in the area as she starts looking around, like she is trying to find someone. She is wearing jeans and an NYPD sweatshirt and carrying a small purse but even in casual clothes, she is still a very attractive blond. We hear a familiar voice.

CHARLIE

(o.s.) Over here.

ANGLE ON

We see CHARLIE, Cagney's sixtysomething father kneeling in front of a small pricket stand in a corner of the cathedral in a small recessed area of a wall. The stand has glass encased prayer candles and some are already lit.

VARIOUS ANGLES

We see Cagney walk toward Charlie, very happy to see him. Charlie is serious about where he is and what he is doing and has to remind his daughter.

CHARLIE

Go to the altar, cross yourself and come back here.

Cagney stops, turns around, walks to the head of the pew area and stands at the foot of the huge statue of Jesus. She bows her heard, briefly kneels and uses her right hand to "cross herself," or make the sign of the cross out of respect. She then quickly returns to the stand where Charlie is sitting. She kneels beside him.

CAGNEY

Been here long?

CHARLIE

No.

Charlie opens his dark overcoat, pulls out a lighter and lights three of the prayer candles. Cagney is a little startled by this action.

CAGNEY

Who's that third candle for?

CHARLIE

CAGNEY

Tomorrow is Mother's Day. Every Saturday before Mother's Day you light two candles, one for Mom and one for Grandma, who is the third candle for?

CHARLIE

I'll tell you later.

Charlie then presses his palms together, closes his eyes and begins to pray silently. Christine bows her head and joins him in a silent prayer.

CUT TO:

EXT. CATHEDRAL STEPS-DAY

We see Charlie and Cagney sitting on the steps outside the cathedral. It is still a sunny, spring day. Cagney has her arm intertwined with one of Charlie's.

CHARLIE

Chris, I need a favor.

CAGNEY

What is it Charlie?

CHARLIE

I need you to pull a file for me. There is a case file I need you to look into.

CAGNEY

Why?

CHARLIE

I need to get some information for someone.

CAGNEY

Charlie, you're not using that private investigator's license of yours again are you? I don't need to worry about you getting caught peeping in some keyhole.

CHARLIE

You could say this is a private investigation. I know someone who needs some information on an old murder case.

CAGNEY

If you want to pretend to be Bogart, why don't you go to the Municipal Archives on Chambers Street?

CHARLIE

I've already been, the file is not there, I need someone with a little juice to pull it for me.

CAGNEY

Like an active member of the NYPD?

CHARLIE

Exactly.

CAGNEY

Who is this for again?

CHARLIE

Nice try. I didn't tell you, yet. I won't tell you until you get me the information.

CAGNEY

This is a one time deal. I'll see what I can do, only if you promise that you will not become a full- time "Dick."

CHARLIE

What'd you call me?

CAGNEY

If you're going to act like Bogart, I'll treat you like Bogart. Detectives were "Dicks." Women were "Dames," "Dishes" or "Tomatoes." Cops were "Bulls," remember?

CHARLIE

Show some respect.

CAGNEY

I'm sorry. But promise me.

CHARLIE

I promise.

CAGNEY

What's the case?

CHARLIE

It's the Wanda Reardon shooting from the 1930's.

CAGNEY

Wanda Reardon? You mean "Wanda the Wildcat" Reardon, the "Struck By Lightning"

CHARLIE

That's the one.

CAGNEY

Charlie, what's going on? "Wanda the Wildcat" was Irish trash. She was a whore who shot a cop. She got what was coming to her. That's all anybody needs to know.

CHARLIE

Just look up the case and go over all the facts, if you find anything unusual, let me know. We still don't know exactly why she shot the cop for one thing.

CAGNEY

Whores don't need a reason. Some'll shoot you if you look at 'em wrong. You know that. Forget it.

CHARLIE

Chris, you already said you'd look into it. You're not going back on your word in front of a House of God are you?

CAGNEY

I think God will forgive me if I let an Irish whore rest in peace.

CHARLIE

But I won't. Just do this for your old man, okay?

Cagney really thinks about it.

CAGNEY

I'll do it for you.

CHARLIE

That's my girl.

He kisses her cheek.

CAGNEY

Charlie just remember this, I'll shag the case file for you, but if I have to take the rap for this, I'll come back give you the works, see?

CHARLIE

Will you stop talking like that? Now I'm thirsty, let's go find a bar.

They get up and start to walk away.

CAGNEY

You mean you want to find a joint and pie-eyed, hunh?

CHARLIE

Cut that out.

Charlie and Christine walk down the street arm in arm.

CUT TO:

EXT. 14TH PRECINCT-DAY

We are in front of the familiar brick building entrance of the NYPD 14th precinct headquarters. It is early on a Monday morning.

INT. 14TH PRECINCT SQUAD ROOM-DAY

We see Cagney sitting at her desk writing something. She is really concentrating on what she is doing.

ANGLE ON

We see DETECTIVE MARY ELIZABETH, "MARY BETH" LACEY enter the squad room and walk past the OTHER SQUAD ROOM characters that always seem to be there. Lacey is wearing a black dress topped off by a large red silk scarf tied around her neck. She makes her way to the to the detectives chalk board and moves the peg with her name stenciled on it from the "OUT" to the "IN" column. She ends up at her desk across from Cagney.

VARIOUS ANGLES

Cagney does a double take on the scarf and Lacey takes it off and begins to settle into her desk.

CAGNEY

Pretty scarf, is it new?

LACEY

You like it. Harvey and the boys got it for me for Mother's Day over the weekend. It's from Macy's. After they gave it to me, they took me out, we went to a movie.

CAGNEY

What did you see?

LACEY

I finally saw "E.T."

CAGNEY

"E.T."? It's still showing? Who picked that one, Michael, your youngest boy?

Cagney laughs a bit.

LACEY

I picked it.

CAGNEY

(embarrassed) Oh.

LACEY

I wanted something to put me in a good mood. I hate doing what we have to do today.

CAGNEY

You mean returning personal effects of decedents to the next of kin?

LACEY

Decedent is just polite term for dead. I hate reminding people somebody close to them just died, you know.

CAGNEY

We've notified people that they've lost somebody.

LACEY

That's different. If they don't know a loved one is dead, somebody has to tell them. I hate reminding people they lost someone. It's like hitting them after they just got hit, you know?

CAGNEY

Well, I'd rather return personal effects than go through the next five minutes.

LACEY

Why?

CAGNEY

I need to pull a file for Charlie and I have to get this file request past Samuels.

LACEY

Pull a file for Charlie? Why?

CAGNEY

I'm doing him a favor and I have to get Samuels to sign off on it. Wish me luck.

LACEY

Just tell him the truth, he might go for it.

CAGNEY

You cracking wise with me?

LACEY

Am I what?

CAGNEY

I'm sorry. It's habit, I've been talking like they do in old movies all weekend just to needle Charlie. Anyway, here goes.

Cagney gets up and brings a form with her to Samuels' office.

INT. LT. SAMUELS' OFFICE-DAY

We see Cagney knock on the open door and then enter the office of her boss. We see the serious, overweight, LT. SAMUELS sitting behind his desk, holding a report page in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other. He looks up to acknowledge Cagney.

SAMUELS

Cagney, you and Lacey going to return those personal effects soon?

CAGNEY

We're on the way now, sir. Before we leave, I need a favor, it's for Charlie.

SAMUELS

(putting down the report and smiling) How is your dad?

CAGNEY

He's fine, we spent the weekend together. I think he is doing some private dick, I mean detective work, anyway he wants me to pull a file on an old case. I need you sign off on the request.

SAMUELS

Did he try the Municipal Archives on Chambers Street?

CAGNEY

Yes, he said the file is not there, I think it is still in records. Anyway, I told him this would be the only time...

SAMUELS

(his smile leaves) Oh I get it. You're not busy enough, so you thought you'd make some extra cash on the side moonlighting with Charlie! IS THAT IT!?

CAGNEY

This is not about money and any file I see I will study on my lunch hour, I promise. Besides, he hasn't offered to cut me in any of his dough, I mean any of his money.

Samuels just looks at Cagney. After a moment, he looks over the case file request. He then smiles again.

SAMUELS

He wants to know about the Wanda "the Wildcat" case?

CAGNEY

Are you familiar with it?

SAMUELS

Are you kidding? Half the cops on the NYPD have heard of the "Struck By Lightning" case. How many times is a cop shot in front of police headquarters by a hooker nicknamed "Wildcat"? Charlie's looking into this hunh?

Samuels signs the request.

SAMUELS

Just look into this on your lunch hour and on your own time, got it?

CAGNEY

Yes, sir.

SAMUELS

The legend on this case is that the motive for the killing was never really made public, let me know if dig a motive up.

CAGNEY

Yes, sir.

Cagney smiles and quickly leaves Samuels office.

INT. SQUAD CAR-DAY

We see Cagney driving Lacey in a department car that plainclothes officers use. They are making their way through New York City traffic.

LACEY

Why do you think Charlie wants to know about the "Struck By Lightning" case?

CAGNEY

He's got a client. He's conducting a private investigation for someone.

LACEY

But for who?

CAGNEY

He said he wouldn't tell me until I gave him some information. This is a trick he pulls to get me to do what he wants. When I was a kid, he said he had something for me but he wouldn't tell me until I cleaned my room or made dinner or something.

LACEY

And it still works?

CAGNEY

(annoyed) Where's the next address again?

Lacey grabs an envelope and reads the address.

LACEY

On the west side, Hudson Towers, 792 11th Avenue. We have to deliver to a woman named Agnes Flynn. She lost her husband, Tom Flynn in a hit and run accident. It doesn't say the apartment number.

CAGNEY

That's Hell's Kitchen, near the Hudson River docks.

LACEY

Why do they call that area Hell's Kitchen?

CAGNEY

I don't know.

EXT. HUDSON TOWERS APARTMENTS-DAY

We see a twin tower, twenty story apartment complex about a block from the Hudson River. The place was probably built in the 1950's and it still modern but comfortable.

INT. HUDSON TOWERS APARTMENT BUILDING-DAY

We see Cagney and Lacey walking down a hallway in the building, looking for an apartment. The hallway looks clean and well maintained. When the find the right door, we HEAR Cagney ring the door buzzer. Lacey is holding a manila envelope.

ANGLE ON

We see AGNES FLYNN, 30, open the apartment door. She is wearing an oversize green and white New York Jets football jersey marked with a number 12 and house shoes. She is thin and pretty but she is wearing very little makeup and her long dark hair has been barely combed. She looks like she's been doing housework. She motions happily for Cagney and Lacey to come into her apartment. They enter the place and Agnes closes the door behind them.

INT. FLYNN APARTMENT-DAY

We see Cagney and Lacey sitting on a couch facing a coffee table and a balcony with a view of the Hudson River. The walls of the apartment are covered with family pictures we see at least one crucifix. Agnes sits on a chair near the couch. The place is clean and it feels like a home.

AGNES

I like it when people come to the point.

CAGNEY

This is Detective Lacey and I'm Detective Cagney.

AGNES

I'm Agnes Flynn, so do you know who killed my husband yet?

LACEY

Miss Flynn, we're not working the case, we just need you to sign for your husband's personal effects.

AGNES

What?

CAGNEY

You didn't give us a chance to explain at the door. We are here to deliver the things your husband had on him at the time of his death.

AGNES

You mean you're not looking for who killed him with that car?

LACEY

No, we are not working the case. I saw that he was hit over on 9th Ave. that means somebody from the Midtown precinct is probably working the case. We're from the 14th, we're just delivering your husband's things because we share a morgue.

AGNES

Stay here, I want to show you something.

Agnes gets up out of the chair in one quick motion and leaves the room. We HEAR Agnes rustling through some papers in another room while Cagney and Lacey just look at each other, kind of confused at what is going on. Agnes comes back with an 8x10 photo. Agnes sits the photo down on the coffee table and the three women go over it.

INSERT

We see a black and white photo of four thirtysomething good looking men with their arms around each other standing in front of the drinking area of a bar. All the men are wearing jeans and sport shirts. In the background, we see on the wall above the bar part of a map of Ireland, the men block the rest of the map.

VARIOUS ANGLES

We see Agnes pointing to the picture and talking to Cagney and Lacey as she points.

AGNES

Two of the guys in this picture have died recently. My husband, on the far right last month and Mickey Dowd on the far left was shot two weeks before that. Now the two guys in the middle, Joey "Mac" McGraw and Eddie Dunbar are still around but I think something is going to happen to them.

CAGNEY

What makes you think what happened to the two people in this picture are related?

AGNES

I won't lie, my husband and these guys ain't saints. Sometimes, if one guy does something, the others back him up.

LACEY

You mean they're a crew?

AGNES

Misdemeanor stuff mostly. Anyway, my husband said he and the others in this picture did something big. He wouldn't tell me what but every since then, the guys in the photo have been disappearing.

CAGNEY

Did you tell this to the Midtown police officers working your husband's case?

AGNES

You two are the first cops I've seen since the uniformed guys who found my husband's body.

CAGNEY

All we can do is pass the information along to Midtown. It is their jurisdiction. Please sign for his things. That's all we can do officially.

Agnes suddenly feels like she's wasting her time. Agnes quickly grabs the envelope and a pen from Lacey and signs a piece of paper on the envelope. Lacey takes the paper from the envelope. All of a sudden, Agnes starts to cry.

AGNES

I thought you were cops, you're just a pair of clerks aren't you?

CAGNEY

(annoyed) Just a minute.

Lacey stops her before she says something to upset Agnes even more. Lacey gets Cagney to leave quietly.

AGNES

Get Out! Get Out!

INT. HALLWAY-DAY

We see Cagney and Lacey leave the apartment and close the door behind them. They walk down the hall as they talk.

CAGNEY

Why didn't you say anything when she called us "clerks"?

LACEY

Because that's how I felt.

They continue walking.

END OF ACT ONE

ACT TWO

FADE IN:

EXT. 11TH AVENUE TRAFFIC-DAY

We see the department car that Cagney and Lacey art still driving making its way through 11th Avenue traffic.

INT. UNMARKED CAR-DAY

This time we see Lacey driving Cagney in the same department car they used earlier. It is a few minutes after they were asked to leave the Flynn apartment.

CAGNEY

She had no business calling us clerks.

LACEY

Oh, when we have to tie up paperwork, what are we?

CAGNEY

We're cops following orders Marybeth. Men have to do this, too.

LACEY

I did matron duty and I didn't always feel like I had a badge. I felt like I was stuck someplace so I wouldn't get in the way of the men. Sometimes when we have to return effects, I feel like I'm a matron all over again.

CAGNEY

Pull over Marybeth.

LACEY

What?

CAGNEY

Just do it.

EXT. 11TH AVENUE INTERSECTION-DAY

We see the department car pull over and double park just past the 11th Avenue and 44th St. intersection. We can see some taller buildings in the background tower over the smaller apartment and office buildings of Hell's Kitchen.

INT. UNMARKED CAR-DAY

Marybeth has just pulled the car over, she quickly turns toward Cagney and Marybeth is furious.

LACEY

I know what you are going to say. I'm going to get the standard lecture about how we have to put with the mundane stuff so that the women after us who wear the badge can have it better. Right now, I'm sick of making things better for the women cops after us. I'M SICK OF IT! WHEN IT SOMEONE GOING TO MAKE THINGS BETTER FOR US?

CAGNEY

I only wanted you to pull over so that I could use the ladies room in that bar.

Lacey looks out the car windows.

LACEY POV

We see a small neighborhood bar with a sign over it in green fancy neon script, THE EMERALD ISLE. Besides the sign, the bar is nothing special.

ANGLE ON

Lacey seems a bit embarrassed now, Cagney doesn't quite know what to say, other than to be honest.

CAGNEY

Drive around the block, I'll be right back.

ANGLE ON

We see Cagney climb out of the car and make her way to the bar. The car drives on down the street.

CLOSE ON

CAMERA FOLLOWS Cagney as she walks to front door of the bar and tries to open it. The door is locked. Cagney pounds on the door. We HEAR a latch loosen and we see the door open. We see GEORGE DUBLIN, a fortyish bartender who has seen everything and didn't like it. He sees Cagney standing there and wants to get rid of her. He is wearing a white button down shirt and an apron over his dark pants.

DUBLIN

We're closed honey.

Before he can close the door, Cagney puts her left hand on the door and with her right hand, grabs her badge and gets him to see it before the door can close again.

CAGNEY

Police, you better let me in.

He opens the door and wants to know what is going on.

DUBLIN

What is this?

CAGNEY

Just need your ladies room for a second. Consider it an inspection.

He then lets her in and closes the door quickly behind her.

INT. EMERALD ISLE-DAY

We see Cagney walk into the small bar as Dublin closes the door and locks it quickly. Cagney is trying to make the best of it.

CAGNEY

What's your name?

DUBLIN

George Dublin. Ladies room is that way.

Dublin points to the back of the bar.

CAGNEY

I'll make it snappy.

Cagney walks toward the back of the bar.

CUT TO:

INT. UNMARKED CAR-DAY

We see Lacey driving the car when she sees something that catches her eye.

LACEY POV

We see a brown van parked on the street near where Lacey is driving.

ANGLE ON

Lacey looks at the van and looks the opposite direction.

LACEY POV

We see the Emerald Isle bar directly across the street from the bar where Lacey just dropped off Cagney.

ANGLE ON

Lacey smiles and holds back a laugh.

CUT TO:

INT. EMERALD ISLE LADIES ROOM-DAY

We see Cagney washing her hands in the small ladies room. Why do bar ladies rooms always have to be so small? As Cagney reaches down to pick up her purse off of the floor, she notices something.

CLOSE ON

On the floor next to the purse, we see a small gold ring.

VARIOUS ANGLES

We see Cagney get down on her knees and move her purse so that she can get a better look.

CLOSE ON

We see what looks like a man's ring on the floor of the ladies room! There is something very small in the center of the ring.

ANGLE ON

Cagney reaches into her purse and grabs a pair of tweezers and a white handkerchief. She opens the handkerchief in the palm of one hand and with the other hand uses the tweezers.

VARIOUS ANGLES

We see Cagney grab the ring and the small thing in the center of the ring and place in the white handkerchief very gently. When the ring rests on the handkerchief, we see the item in the center of the ring is red and looks like a small piece of toilet paper. It is attached to the inside of the ring. Cagney closes the handkerchief and gently places the item in her purse and quickly gets up.

CUT TO:

ANGLE ON

We see Cagney walk past the bar area where she was let in earlier. Dublin is still standing by the front door, so he can unlock it when Cagney leaves. Cagney walks to Dublin at the front door and tries to offer Dublin a $1 bill as a tip. Dublin is too busy unlocking the door to notice at first.

CLOSE ON

When he turns around and sees the $1 bill in his face it seems to make him madder.

DUBLIN

Your money's no good, get out of here.

Cagney sees something out of the corner of her eye behind the bar.

CAGNEY POV

It is the same map of Ireland that was in the photo that Agnes Flynn showed her earlier.

ANGLE ON

Cagney turns toward the door and intentionally drops the bill on the floor behind her.

CAGNEY

Oops!

She makes no effort to retrieve the bill as she walks out of the bar quickly and Dublin closes the door behind her just as quickly.

EXT. EMERALD ISLE-DAY

We see Cagney jump into the unmarked car that Lacey stops in front of the bar. The vehicle speeds away.

INT. UNMARKED CAR-DAY

They both have something they want to say.

LACEY

Somebody saw you in that bar.

CAGNEY

(startled) What?

LACEY

Did you notice the surveillance van parked out front?

CAGNEY

The dark, late model job?

LACEY

That's right.

CAGNEY

Is that all? When you said somebody saw me, I thought you meant somebody saw me.

LACEY

Somebody in the van probably did see you.

CAGNEY

Yeah, but they didn't see me.

A silence passes between them.

CAGNEY

I'll explain on the way to the lab, I have a delivery.

CUT TO:

EXT. LACEY APARTMENT BUILDING-NIGHT

We are outside the large apartment building in Manhattan that the Lacey's call home.

INT. LACEY MASTER BEDROOM-NIGHT

We see the burly HARVEY opening a white trimmed window near his side of the bed. He is wearing pajamas. After opening the window, he lays above the covers in bed. We see Lacey walk in and sit down on her side of the bed wearing a light blue robe. Her arms are crossed.

LACEY

Do you know where Hell's Kitchen got its name?

HARVEY

I heard that there was a restaurant in the 1800's called Heil's Kitchen.

LACEY

Heil's Kitchen?

HARVEY

Yeah, over on the west side, I guess over the years people would mispronounce the name of the place. And because of the location, that became the nickname of the whole neighborhood.

LACEY

Oh. I may be late coming home tomorrow.

HARVEY

Babe, you know I hate when you're late. Is it at least for a good reason?

LACEY

I'm helping Christine look up something for her father, Charlie. It's from an old case.

Lacey then turns out the light and takes off her robe and they both climb under the covers.

HARVEY

Which old case?

LACEY

The Wanda Reardon shooting from the 1930's.

Harvey jumps out of bed, runs over to Lacey's side of the bed and turns the light on. He kneels in front of his wife, who is startled by all of this movement.

HARVEY

Babe, are you talking about the "Struck-By- Lightning" case?

LACEY

Yeah, so?

HARVEY

What does Christine's father want to know about it?

LACEY

I don't know exactly, why?

Harvey runs out of the bedroom quickly. Lacey can't believe what she is seeing. We HEAR doors opening and drawers being opened, rustled and closed. After a few seconds of this, we see Harvey come back with an small business size envelope that was white but is now brown with age. Harvey pulls out a small newspaper clipping that is also brown with age. He hands it to his wife, who begins to read it to herself.

HARVEY

I cut this out of the Daily News when I was a teenager. It was a story about some of the leads that weren't followed in the Lindbergh kidnapping case in New Jersey.

LACEY

New Jersey?

HARVEY

One of the leads that wasn't followed up on was the stack of money that was missing after Wanda Reardon shot the cop and was shot herself.

LACEY

You kept this article all this time?

HARVEY

It sounded like a conspiracy, I wanted to keep it in case any of it turned out to be true. Read the article.

Lacey reads the old clipping. Harvey gets up and starts pacing around the room. He is really excited.

HARVEY

The other hookers at the brothel that Wanda worked in all said that Wanda had left the house in early 1932, the Lindbergh baby was kidnapped in March, 1932. She came back to the house in the summer of 1932, from then on, Wanda started keeping a stack of money they say, was just like the Lindbergh kidnap money. They say the New York cops questioned her and cleared her but no New Jersey cop every talked to her.

LACEY

Are you saying Wanda Reardon kidnapped Charles Lindbergh's baby?

HARVEY

Of course not. But she may have either known or serviced who did. They may have paid her in ransom money. From the time Wanda came back after the crime, she talked about babies and how to keep babies safe, where she couldn't care less before.

LACEY

Harvey that is circumstantial evidence at best.

HARVEY

To this day, $30,000 dollars of the marked $50,000 in ransom money has never been recovered. It's possible she shot the cop because he was on to her involvement in the case. I say I'm right. When you look up the Reardon case, prove me wrong.

The conversation ends with this husband and wife looking at each other, for now, this has to end in a standoff.

CUT TO:

INT. SQUAD ROOM-DAY

It is the next day in the squad room and both Cagney and Lacey are sitting at their desks doing paperwork when they HEAR their boss Lt. Samuels voice.

SAMUELS

CAGNEY, LACEY GET IN HERE!

We see Cagney and Lacey grimly walk toward their boss' office.

INT. LT. SAMUELS' OFFICE-DAY

We see Cagney and Lacey walk into the office that is a little more cramped than usual. We see a couple of black and brown cardboard boxes with matching lids used to store or move supplies in offices sitting on the desk of Lt. Samuels. Samuels is sitting behind his desk and behind the boxes.

SAMUELS

Put those boxes on the floor and sit down.

Cagney and Lacey each grab a box and set them on the floor and then sit in front the desk as ordered.

SAMUELS

Do you mind telling me just what you were doing in a bar in Hell's Kitchen yesterday while on duty?

CAGNEY

It was just me sir and the bar was closed.

SAMUELS

What were you doing in there then?

CAGNEY

I had to use a restroom and I just happened to spot the bar.

SAMUELS

Did the people in the bar know you? Did they know you were a police officer?

CAGNEY

I did have to flash my badge to get them to let me in. That was only because the bar was closed. It was my first time in there sir, so nobody knew me.

SAMUELS

A captain at Midtown said one of his surveillance crews spotted you going into the Emerald Isle bar on 11th Ave. By going into that bar, to the cops at Midtown it plays out one of two ways: one, it looks like you were involved with the characters in that bar that they have under surveillance. It looks like you were going in there to tell them what was going on or to collect your weekly payoff.

CAGNEY

That's a lie Lt. and you know it! Didn't they have the bar miked? Couldn't they hear what was going on?

SAMUELS

Apparently not. The second way it plays out at Midtown is that you walked in the bar and flashed the badge by accident. By letting them know you were a cop, you innocently let them know that cops were in the area staking out the place.

CAGNEY

We didn't know that place was being staked out when we got there.

LACEY

Besides, the surveillance van was parked right out front of the bar, anybody used to being watched could have spotted it.

SAMUELS

I thought you said you didn't the place was being staked out?

LACEY

We didn't know when we got there, we noticed it as we were leaving.

SAMUELS

So anybody could have spotted the van, hunh? Sounds like it took you two a while.

There is a pause. Samuels shifts gears and begins to smile.

SAMUELS

Let me put it to this way ladies. Now, if either one of you were sitting in my chair, which mistake would you tell Captain So and So at Midtown that my detectives made? How would you handle this?

CAGNEY

I may have found some kind of evidence in the ladies room sir. If it is evidence of a crime, you could say I helped Midtown in the end.

SAMUELS

(his smile leaves) Evidence, what kind of evidence?

CAGNEY

I found a man's ring on the ladies room floor. It looked like it had blood on it. I managed to put it in a handkerchief and drop it off at the lab. It looks kind of like a ring I've seen before.

SAMUELS

This gets better and better. Let me see if I have this right, you went to a bar at random, not knowing it was under surveillance. You find a scrap of evidence that you felt was important enough to have analyzed at our lab. Yet, you did this while never having been in the bar before or not knowing anyone in the place? How is all of this possible?

CAGNEY

I'm good, sir.

Another silence passes.

SAMUELS

I will hold off getting back to Midtown until the results come back on that ring. The minute those results come back I want to know about it. We clear?

LACEY

Yes sir.

SAMUELS

Until then, stay away from the Emerald Isle bar. Get back to work, both of yous.

They get up to leave.

SAMUELS

Wait a second. Cagney, that material you ordered is in those boxes, take them with you.

CAGNEY

Thank you sir.

Both Cagney and Lacey each take a box and walk out of the office.

INT. SQUAD ROOM-DAY

We see Cagney and Lacey carry the boxes back to their desks. Cagney opens her box pulls out the first file.

CLOSE ON

We see an old paper file folder with CONFIDENTIAL SQUAD stamped on it in black ink.

ANGLE ON

Cagney looks confused as she puts the file back in the box.

CAGNEY

This file is marked Confidential Squad. You know what that is?

Lacey shakes her head. We see PAUL LAGUARDIA, the 50ish, bow tie wearing squad detective walking by with a coffee cup in his hand. He stops by their desks.

LAGUARDIA

They were shooflys.

LACEY

I beg your pardon.

LAGUARDIA

Back in the day, the Confidential Squad were the cops who investigated dirty cops. The squad was later renamed Internal Affairs Division.

CAGNEY

Thank you LaGuardia.

LaGuardia nods and continues on his way back to his desk.

LACEY

Oh my goodness.

CAGNEY

What is it?

LACEY

If the Confidential Squad investigated the Reardon case, there is a chance one of Harvey's nutty conspiracy theories is true.

CAGNEY

I'm sure they investigated every cop shooting. It was probably routine.

LACEY

Christine, so far, nothing I've heard about the "Struck-By-Lightning" case is routine.

Cagney has trouble arguing with that as she looks over more files.

FADE OUT:

END OF ACT TWO

ACT THREE

FADE IN:

INT. WOMEN'S LOCKER ROOM AREA-NIGHT

We are in the locker room the women of the precinct use. It is cordoned off from the men's locker room by a blanket hung over a rope in the doorway. We see a small card table set up in the space with Cagney and Lacey sitting on folding chairs with files opened in from of them and a stack of files sitting on the table between them. They talk while they are reading.

CAGNEY

You know, we never told Midtown about the information Agnes Flynn told us. Do you still want to?

LACEY

No. How seriously do you think they'll take us now? We're the cops who got in their way during a stakeout.

CAGNEY

There's something I didn't tell you. I was so excited about the ring I forgot to mention it.

LACEY

Mention what?

CAGNEY

The Emerald Isle, it was where the photo was taken of those four guys Agnes Flynn showed us. I recognized the map behind the bar as the map in the photo.

LACEY

If the ring you turned in ties into what happened to any of the guys in that photo, we're going to have tell Midtown then. Either that or follow up the lead ourselves.

CAGNEY

If we follow up the lead ourselves, that means hanging out at a bar we've just been ordered to stay out of.

LACEY

(yawning) I know. Christine, why aren't we at our desks reading these files again?

CAGNEY

This is private.

LACEY

You know this happened fifty years ago this month, May, 1933. Here is something interesting.

CAGNEY

What?

LACEY

Now I know why this is called the "Struck-By-Lightning" case. According to this report, the murder weapon Wanda used was a 1900 model Colt Lightning Revolver with a pearl handle, an engraved finish and a two-inch barrel.

CAGNEY

Marybeth, everybody knows that.

LACEY

I didn't. That means when the cop was shot, he really was struck by lightning, so to speak. I thought the newspapers just made that name up. What are we looking for again?

CAGNEY

The motive or anything unusual. Here we go. witnesses reported that Reardon exchanged angry words with Officer Flanigan just before she shot him.

LACEY

Angry words?

CAGNEY

One witness, a 64 year-old woman named Mary Amhearst reported that she heard Wanda Reardon call Flanigan a "hatband" before he turned and walked away. That's when she pulled the gun from a thigh holster and shot him once in the back of the head.

LACEY

You want to reinterview that witness?

CAGNEY

Very funny.

Lacey closes a file and reopens another one. She sees something that catches her eye.

LACEY

Wanda wasn't bad looking. Even in her autopsy photos. You know who she looks like.

CAGNEY

I don't care if she looked like a movie star. She got what was coming to her, she shot a cop on the steps of police headquarters at 240 Centre St. I still say she got what was coming to her.

Cagney closes a file and opens another one. She sees something that catches her eye.

ANGLE ON

Meanwhile, Lacey pushes her chair back and opens the second box of materials. She pulls an ancient round hatbox secured by string and she pulls out a small silver pistol. Both items have old-fashioned brown evidence tags on them secured by smaller pieces of string. She sets them on the table in front of Christine, who is too busy reading her file to notice.

LACEY

Christine, wanna see the murder weapon?

ANGLE ON

Christine looks up and does a double take.

CAGNEY

That's the evidence?

LACEY

Yes. A Colt revolver and a hatbox that belonged to Wanda Reardon according to this evidence tag. I guess these are the personal effects of "Wanda the Wildcat". Want to see if her hat fits me? I can't believe the evidence stayed in evidence control all of these years.

CAGNEY

I can tell you why. Remember the file marked Confidential Squad?

LACEY

What about it?

CAGNEY

This is a memo from Lewis J. Valentine, the Chief Inspector of whole department in 1933. In this memo, he ordered all material from the case sealed in the Confidential Squad files. He did this to protect from cops taking the evidence home as souvenirs.

LACEY

That's our police department.

VARIOUS ANGLES

We see Lacey pull out a small pair of cuticle scissors from her purse and cut the string off of the hatbox. She opens the hatbox and pulls out a small, brimless layered cap that "flappers" wore in the 1920's and 1930's.

LACEY

(holding up the ancient cap) Think this will come back into style?

CAGNEY

This may be a waste of time.

Lacey goes to put the cap back into the box but she feels something under the silk lining of the box.

LACEY

Christine, I feel something here.

Lacey puts the cap on the table and starts to shake the hatbox. She tears at the lining and pulls out a small stack of dollar bills and sets them on the table.

LACEY

Chris, there's money in here.

Lacey picks up one of the bills to take a closer look at it.

CAGNEY

Is that real money? The back of the bill is orange.

LACEY

The front says "Treasury of the United States, series of 1922, $100 in gold coin payable to the bearer on demand."

CAGNEY

(snapping her fingers) That's a gold certificate. I remember those, what case was that that hinged on gold certificates? I read about it when I was a rookie cop. The Lindbergh kidnapping, that's it.

LACEY

That's what?

CAGNEY

The ransom money paid for Charles Lindbergh's kidnapped son was paid partially in gold certificates. The guy they fried for it, Hauptmann, he got the chair because he was spending the marked gold certificates used to pay the ransom. That's how they convicted him in New Jersey.

LACEY

Are you saying this money has something to do with the Lindbergh kidnapping?

CAGNEY

I don't know, but we need to find out. How many more bills are there?

Cagney gets up and goes to the box now, they are both very excited by what is happening now. It's like they found some treasure.

INT. CHARLIE CAGNEY'S APARTMENT-NIGHT

We in the living room of Charlie Cagney's apartment. We HEAR Cagney pounding on the front door calling for Charlie. Charlie comes to the door and opens it in a hurry. Cagney runs into the apartment a little out of breath. Charlie closes the door, grabs his daughter and gets her to sit on the couch of his place.

CHARLIE

Chris, sweetheart what's the matter?

CAGNEY

Charlie, this is big, you have to tell me who tipped you off about the Wanda Reardon case. Who's your client?

CHARLIE

What did you find?

CAGNEY

Reardon may be involved with something much bigger than a police shooting. We found her personal effects, they were in a Confidential Squad file. She had some money hidden in a hatbox. It was the same kind of money used in the Lindbergh kidnapping, gold certificates.

CHARLIE

Wow. How much did you find?

CAGNEY

About $1,000 in gold certificates, which must have been a fortune in 1933. We have to trace the serial numbers with the serial numbers of the bills in the Lindbergh kidnapping case. If they match, she was possibly dealing with the people who kidnapped and killed Charles Lindbergh Jr.

Charlie stands up, he begins pacing around the living room and Cagney continues to speak.

CAGNEY

Who put you up to this? They could be relatives or associates of the kidnappers who want to bury their tracks once and for all. You could be in danger here. You gotta tell who got you involved in this? You said you would if I found you something.

CHARLIE

Christine honey, the people I'm helping have nothing to do with the Lindbergh case.

CAGNEY

How do you know?

CHARLIE

Hear me out Christine. Sometimes Christine, you got a blind spot about our family and about your Irish- American background. Sometimes you don't want to know about our people.

CAGNEY

What?

CHARLIE

You never seem interested in the family. Let me ask you something, I grew up in Hell's Kitchen, do you know where Hell's Kitchen got it's name?

CAGNEY

No, and I don't care.

CHARLIE

That's my point, you should care. The place got it's name from a two day running Irish gang fight happening on the street near Five Points. Fred the Dutch Cop and a rookie cop were trying to break up the fight. The rookie cop said 'this is like hell.' Fred the Dutch Cop said 'it's hotter than hell. This is Hell's Kitchen.'

CAGNEY

What does that have to do with this case?

CHARLIE

I got to tell you, the guys in the Irish gangs were tough, but some of the women were tougher. The women in these gangs had some great nicknames, there was "Hell-Cat Maggie," there was "Sadie The Goat." They called Sadie that because she used her head to butt the men she beat up like a goat.

CAGNEY

These sound like those stories you used to tell me as a kid. I still find it hard to believe anyone was called "Hell-Cat" or "The Goat."

CHARLIE

Wanda Reardon was not born in New York or Ireland, she's from Wyoming, just outside Cheyenne. Her mother, father and older sister moved to New York with Wanda when she was a kid. Wanda used to hear stories in Wyoming about cowboys and sheriffs, she loved the adventure she heard in those stories. When her family got to New York, she heard about the Irish gangs and she saw that as her way to have the kind of adventures she could never have during the Depression in Wyoming.

CAGNEY

Charlie how do you know all of this?

CHARLIE

Did you know that my mother's, your grandmother's name was Reardon and she was born in Cheyenne?

CAGNEY

Grandma's maiden name was Reardon?

CHARLIE

You would have known that if you ever bothered to ask her.

CAGNEY

I know very few people who know the maiden name of their grandmothers. So grandma's name was Reardon, so what? What are you getting at?

CHARLIE

"Wanda the Wildcat" Reardon is my aunt and your great-aunt. She's the younger sister of my mother and your grandmother. I lit that candle for her.

CAGNEY

I need a drink.

CHARLIE

I think we both do, because there's more.

Cagney and her father Charlie both walk toward the kitchen to have their drink.

CUT TO:

INT. LT. SAMUELS' OFFICE-DAY

We see Lacey, DETECTIVE MARCUS PETRIE, the well-dressed black member of the squad, DETECTIVE VICTOR ISBECKI, the flashy, open collared shirt wearing partner of Petrie and Detective LaGuardia still clad in a bow tie crowded into Lt. Samuel's office. They are being handed pieces of paper by Lt. Samuels. Samuels notices something just outside of his office as he is handing out the papers.

ANGLE ON

He sees Cagney holding her head and walking gingerly toward the office. Although she is made up and dressed for work as usual, she is the walking picture of a hangover.

VARIOUS ANGLES

We see Samuels and the other members of the squad reacting to the tardy Cagney.

SAMUELS

Well, Detective Cagney, nice of you to join us.

ISBECKI

Hey Cagney, did the room stop spinning?

CAGNEY

Keep talking Isbecki, it will be for you.

SAMUELS

That's enough. Back to business. These merchants are reportedly on the route of the notorious Jewish loan shark, Israel "Pinky" Leftkowicz. A merchant came forward to report that two new hoods said they were taking over Pinky's shark and protection business and if the merchants didn't like it, something violent was going to happen to them.

PETRIE

What does Pinky have to say about this?

SAMUELS

We haven't been able to locate Pinky.

LAGUARDIA

Bert, isn't Pinky connected to one of the Italian mob's five families?

SAMUELS

Yes. That's why we need to know who these hoods are, we need to solve the case before the enforcers of the five families get a hold of them.

ISBECKI

Letting the five families handle it would be like an eye for an eye wouldn't it Lt.?

SAMUELS

It's the job of the NYPD to investigate and solve crimes, not referee them. Our assignment here is for each set of partners to pick a business from the list I handed you and stake it out anyway you can, when the hoods arrive, call for backup and make the arrest. We'll pry loose what they know about Pinky from there. Get going.

CAGNEY

That's it sir.

SAMUELS

What Cagney?

CAGNEY

I've busted Pinky before, I've seen his gold pinky ring. That's why the call him Pinky. I think that's the ring I found in the bathroom at the Emerald Isle and I sent to the lab.

SAMUELS

Everybody. These hoods may have killed Pinky to take over his business. Consider them armed and dangerous.

CUT TO:

INT. EMPIRE JEWELRY STORE-DAY

We in the small, family owned jewelry store known as Empire Jewelers. The place is full of glass display cases. We see Cagney and Lacey speaking to MR ROTH, 67, the small, bald store owner in a dark suit, dark tie and dark rimmed glasses. Only the three of them are in the shop.

CAGNEY

Mr. Roth, I'm Christine, she's Marybeth, understand?

ROTH

Undercover, I understand.

CAGNEY

I know you know about gold. But what do you know about gold certificates issued by the U.S. Mint in the 1920's?

ROTH

In the 1800's, the US Government started issuing certificates redeemable for gold and silver as well. In those days many pioneer people didn't believe in paper money, so they preferred gold or silver coins.

LACEY

Was that practical? Did that work?

ROTH

It worked fine until the stock market crashed. People didn't trust paper money again. They started demanding gold or silver. In 1933, President Franklin Roosevelt signed into law the Gold Reserve Act. This act made it illegal to possess gold if you were a private citizen, they were worried all of the gold at Fort Knox would end up in private hands and bankrupt the Federal Government. All of the gold certificates had to be turned in. Possession of a gold certificate was punishable by a fine or a prison term or both by 1933.

ANGLE ON

We see two men enter the small store. They seem to be in a hurry and dressed casually. They are JOEY "MAC" MCGRAW and EDDIE DUNBAR from the photo seen earlier. They seem more dangerous in person.

CAGNEY

Wait a minute, I remember in the late 1970's all of those people who owned gold made out like bandits because gold went up to $1,000 an ounce. How could they posses gold if it was illegal?

ROTH

In the 1960's, it became legal to hold gold certificates again, though you could not redeem them for gold. In the mid-1970's, you could buy and sell and possess gold pieces again if you were a private citizen.

LACEY

If I found a $20 gold certificate under a mattress or something, it would only be worth $20 then.

Roth reaches behind the counter and produces a small black cover bound book. He opens the book to a page in the middle. He sets the book on a counter in front of the officers. Just then, he sees the two men standing behind Cagney and Lacey.

ROTH

I told you two not to come around here anymore. I only deal with Pinky.

VARIOUS ANGLES

Cagney and Lacey hear that name they turn to each other. They spring into action. We see Lacey turn and walk to the door.

CAGNEY

We'll come back later Mr. Roth.

ROTH

What?

Cagney stands at the counter as Lacey stands in the doorway, blocking the doorway.

CAGNEY

I said we'll come back later, YOU GOING DEAF OLD MAN?

We HEAR Mac and Dunbar start to laugh at this sudden insult. Just then, in one quick move, Cagney draws her gun turns toward the two that just came in the store. Cagney has them cold. They turn to see Lacey standing in the doorway with her gun drawn.

CAGNEY

NYPD boys. Get on the floor. GET ON THE FLOOR, LAY ON YOUR STOMACHS, HANDS SPREAD.

We see Mac and Dunbar comply with the orders. Cagney and Lacey move in to cuff them.

LACEY

You insulted Mr.ROTH to distract these two didn't you?

CAGNEY

Yes. They're not the first men I've distracted.

DUNBAR

Get us off of this floor, now!

Cagney holsters her gun, takes the book off of the counter, closes it and throws in at Dunbar. It bounces off of his head. Dunbar screams.

LACEY

Christine!

CAGNEY

I always wanted to throw the book at someone!

We see Cagney and Lacey move in to handcuff the suspects.

FADE OUT:

END OF ACT THREE

ACT FOUR

FADE IN:

INT. SQUAD ROOM-DAY

We see both Cagney and Lacey on the phones at their desks. They are both taking notes and concentrating on their respective calls. They both end their calls and hang up at about the same time.

LACEY

That was the FBI, the serial numbers of the gold certificates do not match any gold certificate serial numbers they have on file, including those recorded for the Lindbergh kidnapping case.

CAGNEY

I always thought that was a long shot anyway. I just got off the phone with the lab, the ring I turned in may tie in to the bust we just made.

LACEY

Let's find out.

They both get up from their desks.

CUT TO:

INT. INTERROGATION ROOM #1-DAY

We see Eddie Dunbar sitting behind a small table in an interrogation room. We see a bandage in a corner of his forehead. Cagney walks into the room with Petrie.

CAGNEY

Tell us about the Emerald Isle.

DUNBAR

(to Petrie) Hey you, I want to bring brutality charges against this one. She caused this. (pointing to the bandage)

CAGNEY

That book slipped out of my hand.

PETRIE

Good luck finding a witness to the contrary.

CAGNEY

Back to business, tell us about The Emerald Isle.

CUT TO:

INT. INTERROGATION ROOM #2-DAY

In this room, we see Lacey and Isbecki talking to Joey "Mac" McGraw. He is sitting behind a similar table in a similar room. He does not have any bandages, however.

MAC

The Emerald Isle is a bar in my neighborhood, in Hell's Kitchen, so what?

LACEY

What went down in the ladies room?

INTERCUT

Between the two interrogation rooms.

DUNBAR

Why ask me, you'd know more about inside a ladies room than I would.

CAGNEY

How'd a man's ring get in there?

MAC

I don't know how Pinky's ring got in that room.

LACEY

I didn't say it was Pinky's ring. Did you hear me say it was Pinky's ring, Isbecki?

ISBECKI

Nope. Just said a man's ring.

LACEY

So Joey Mac, what did you do to Pinky Leftcowicz in the ladies room of the Emerald Isle?

MAC

I got nothing to say.

CAGNEY

You'd be better off talking to us. Pinky was backed by the wiseguys uptown, do you think they'll appreciate you knocking off someone on their payroll and trying to take over his loansharking business?

DUNBAR

I didn't have anything to do with that.

PETRIE

We could send word that you did. Riker's is a very dangerous place. That cut on your forehead will be a love tap compared to what one of five families will do to you.

CAGNEY

They can get to you in Riker's. If you talk to us, we can put up in a safe facility and maybe you could even end up with a new ID in the Witness Protection Program.

LACEY

If you don't talk to us and want take your chances in custody and in general population just keep your mouth shut.

ISBECKI

Yeah, the priest at your eulogy can say you died like a man.

DUNBAR

It wasn't my idea.

MAC

Mickey Dowd and Tom Flynn hit him first.

DUNBAR

We were just backing them up.

MAC

Pinky came in there to collect from the bar owner. He saw the four of us and called us small time.

DUNBAR

Mickey and Tom sure showed him how small time we were.

MAC

At first Mickey and Tom hit him just to teach him a lesson. Then it got out of hand.

DUNBAR

We went to back them up. Next thing you know, he was dead.

MAC

We got some trash bags and knives from each other's places.

DUNBAR

We dragged him to the ladies room and cut him up.

MAC

We drove him across town and dumped the parts in the East River.

CAGNEY

Why didn't you dump him in the Hudson? You were closer to that river.

DUNBAR

East River has stronger currents.

MAC

The body parts will float further.

DUNBAR

In the bar, we whacked up his money equally.

MAC

Mickey and Tom took his watch and ring.

DUNBAR

We took his black book and started collecting his accounts for ourselves. We'd collect and cut Mickey and Tom in for their share.

MAC

How'd you know we were in the Emerald Isle?

LACEY

The place has been under surveillance forever.

CAGNEY

It was just a matter of time before we got you for something.

LACEY

One more question, how did you get Mickey and Tom get their share?

DUNBAR

We'd meet at the Emerald Isle and exchange envelopes. Lately we've been giving Mickey's share to his mother.

MAC

We've been giving Tom's share to his wife, Agnes. She's a piece a work.

DUNBAR

She kept saying that unless her share got bigger, something was going to happen to us.

CAGNEY

We'll write all of this up.

LACEY

And we'll get your witness protection started.

INT. SQUAD ROOM-DAY

Cagney and Lacey and Isbecki and Petrie have been going over their notes. Finally, Cagney draws the meeting to a close.

CAGNEY

I think we have enough.

PETRIE

Me too.

LACEY

So, we are all in agreement here?

ISBECKI

Let's do it.

VARIOUS ANGLES

We see Dunbar talking on a phone in the squad room. He ends the call and hangs up the phone. He then looks up and nods at Isbecki. Isbecki then picks up his own phone and dials a number.

EXT. PARKED UNMARKED CAR-NIGHT

We see the same unmarked police car Cagney and Lacey drove earlier parked on a busy New York street at night.

INT. UNMARKED CAR-NIGHT

We see Cagney and Lacey sitting in their unmarked car at night. They are on a stakeout now.

CAGNEY

Marybeth, the other night, you were gonna say that Wanda looked like me weren't you?

LACEY

Yes I was. Look I know finding out Wanda is a relative is a shock but we can't choose our families Christine.

CAGNEY

I just can't believe someone that notorious is from my gene pool. What a way to find out.

We HEAR dispatcher come over the car radio.

DISPATCHER

Car 314 come in please?

Lacey picks up the police mic.

LACEY

This is car 314, over?

DISPATCHER

Both calls received, repeat both call received. Do you, copy?

LACEY

We copy, 10-4.

LACEY

Speaking of bad women, here we go...

CAGNEY

Be careful.

We see Cagney and Lacey leave their squad car.

EXT. HUDSON TOWERS APARTMENTS-NIGHT

We see Cagney and Lacey enter the same apartment building they entered earlier.

INT. FLYNN APARTMENT-DAY

We see Agnes Flynn open her door and let Cagney and Lacey enter her apartment. We see the three of them sit in the same positions they sat in when Cagney and Lacey visited before. The only thing that is different is that Agnes is fully made up and dressed in a black off-shoulder sweatshirt and black jeans.

LACEY

You called us clerks the last time we were here. Sometimes, paperwork, phone calls, errands, all the things that clerks do are part of this job.

CAGNEY

Being clerks helps us wrap up a lot of cases, for instance, we know what the big thing your husband and his crew did. They took down a loanshark named Pinky Leftcowicz.

LACEY

Name ring a bell?

AGNES

No, should it?

LACEY

He was nicknamed "Pinky" because he wore a distinctive pinky ring. Anyone taking him down would have grabbed the ring to either destroy it or take it as a souvenir.

CAGNEY

Or a trophy. Your husband mention the ring?

AGNES

No. All he said was that he did something big.

CAGNEY

A funny thing happened when we left here the other day. I found the ring. I picked it up right off of the floor of the ladies room at the Emerald Isle.

AGNES

(nervous) Really?

LACEY

Yes, blood on the ring was a match for Pinky's blood. We can't figure out how it got on the floor of the ladies room.

CAGNEY

Anything you want to tell us about that?

AGNES

What would I know?

Lacey stands up and starts to walk behind Agnes. Just like she got behind Joey Mac and Dunbar at the jewelry store.

CAGNEY

I see a lot of people wearing their sweatshirts off-shoulder now, why is that?

AGNES

It's because of that movie about the dancer, flash something. Irene Cara from "Fame" sings the theme.

LACEY

Oh. We got another break in this case. We were able to nab Dunbar and Joey Mac. The two survivors in that photo you showed us. It turns out they were trying to take over Pinky's business.

CAGNEY

They told us that a cut of the money they collected from Pinky's customers they gave to your husband and after he was killed, they paid you. This is just a guess, but I'll say that you got greedy after your husband was killed.

LACEY

Angry too.

CAGNEY

Angry enough to plant that ring on the floor of the ladies room yourself. You planted it there because your husband told you they disposed of the body in there.

LACEY

Angry enough so that if you didn't get a bigger cut of the action, you could make one phone call when you knew Dunbar and Joey Mac would be in the place. In the place to whack up the money with you and Mickey Dowd's mother as usual.

CAGNEY

That phone call would be to tell the cops everybody knew was watching the place that the killers of Pinky and the evidence would be in the same place at once.

LACEY

Since we have Dunbar and Joey Mac, we know Dunbar just called you to meet them at the Emerald Isle as usual.

CAGNEY

We also know you just called the officers at Midtown to have them picked up at the bar.

AGNES

(standing) This is crazy, get out of here!

LACEY

(whispering in Agnes' ear) You wanna tell us where the money is or do you want us to use the search warrant in my pocket to find it?

Agnes then sits and starts to cry.

AGNES

I spent the money on my husband's funeral. I know the Italians killed my husband Tom and Mickey Dowd.

She starts to cry again. Cagney and Lacey just watch her at the moment.

CAGNEY

Why didn't you just wait for the Italians to get rid of Dunbar and Joey Mac?

AGNES

Because they were paying the Italians not to hurt them. They gave them money and fingered Tom and Mickey Dowd. That's where my cut was going. A girlfriend called and told me Dunbar and Joey Mac had a meeting with the Italians at a restaurant in Little Italy. After that Tom and Mickey got killed.

LACEY

Those two seemed too afraid of Italians to be paying them.

AGNES

They probably told the Italians that they had nothing to do with Pinky's killing, but were called in after it happened, just to take over Pinky's operation. If the Italians find out otherwise, they're dead.

CAGNEY

So you just wanted them picked up for the crime so that the Italians would hear it and finish them off in Riker's or someplace like that, right?

Agnes nods and continues to cry. Lacey pulls out a set of handcuffs with one hand and with the other hand, she rubs the shoulder of Agnes. They both feel for Agnes but she is still under arrest.

EXT. CHEYENNE DINER-NIGHT

We see the bright sign of the Cheyenne Diner on the corner of 9th Avenue and 33rd Street in Hell's Kitchen. It is an old fashioned, corner diner that looks more like a chrome boxcar than a cafe.

INT. CHEYENNE DINER-NIGHT

We see a small area in the corner of the diner with a big round table and chairs surrounding the table. The walls are painted with Native American images. The table is far enough in the corner to be separate from the other tables.

VARIOUS ANGLES

Sitting at the table are Cagney, Lacey, Lt. Samuels, Petrie, Isbecki, LaGuardia and Harvey. Everyone there is eating dinner or drinking coffee. It feels like an after-hours celebration. Cagney is looking at her watch and looking beyond the people at the table.

ANGLE ON

We see Charlie come in with two women. One woman is ANNE REARDON SMITH 51, a blond but graying woman dressed in jeans, and a pullover sweatshirt that says WYOMING on the front. The other woman is a 19 year-old pretty thing named CECILIA W. SMITH, but everyone calls her C.W. She is also wearing jeans but she also has on a black long sleeve blouse with white polka dots buttoned up to the collar and she smiles a lot. Charlie brings the three of them to the table.

DISSOLVE TO:

ANGLE ON

Everyone now has been seated and has eaten. Coffee is being served all around and Cagney and Lacey stand up together. They begin to give a rehearsed presentation.

CAGNEY

We called you here to settle something.

LACEY

You all know we've been looking into an old case.

CAGNEY

You all want to know what we found. Tell me, what do you know about the "Struck-By-Lightning" case?

ISBECKI

That Wanda was a good shot.

Everyone laughs.

LAGUARDIA

Because Wanda was shot in the behind by one of the bullets, it was also called the "Shot-In-The- Reardon" case.

HARVEY

That Wanda had some of the same kind of money used in the Lindbergh kidnapping and that she disappeared at the time the baby was kidnapped on March 1, 1932.

CAGNEY

This is what we found out. My father Charlie was asked by this woman, Anne Reardon Smith to find out what we could. It turns out that we, Charlie, Anne, her daughter there Cecilia, I mean CW, and I have a personal stake in all of this. Anne and CW were coming from their home in Wyoming for a visit and just wanted to know a few things.

SAMUELS

What do you mean personal?

LACEY

We're coming to that sir.

CAGNEY

Anyway, according to the confidential file compiled by none other that Lewis J. Valentine, who would go on to be Police Chief under Mayor LaGuardia. No relation to our Detective LaGuardia, by the way, the shooting happened as the result of a clerical error.

PETRIE

A what?

LACEY

A clerical error. You see, when Wanda was paid by her clients, she got cash of course. Whenever she got a type of bill called a gold certificate, she would save them.

Cagney takes out a piece of paper and hands it to Harvey.

CAGNEY

The piece of paper Harvey is holding is a Xerox copy of gold certificate taken from a book on currency. Anyway, gold certificates were common in the 1930's, people preferred them to regular money because they could be redeemed in gold coin by a bank.

LACEY

Harvey, pass it around.

Harvey passes it, so that everyone at the table can see it.

CAGNEY

These bills were popular during the Great Depression because gold was more valuable to people than paper. Especially to a woman like Wanda, who was born and raised in Wyoming and weaned on stories about gold strikes.

LACEY

The gold certificates that she did not send back to Wyoming she kept. It is true, Wanda did disappear in March, 1932 but she did not kidnap Charles Lindbergh Jr. in New Jersey. Why is that Anne?

ANNE

(to everyone) I was born in Cheyenne on March 2, 1932. Wanda was my mother.

CAGNEY

It is true Harvey that when Wanda came back to New York to work as a prostitute, she did talk about babies and how to keep them safe. That was because she was a mother, not a kidnapper.

LACEY

1933 was an election year. So when Wanda was arrested in an election year vice sweep, Wanda took a hatbox with her as a personal possession but she left her gun behind at the house.

CAGNEY

While she was waiting to make bail, her hatbox was tagged and stored as a personal possession of someone in custody. When she made bail and tried to claim her hatbox, it was lost. No cop at the time could find it.

LACEY

This made Wanda frantic because her hatbox is where she was hiding her gold certificates for her daughter. She thought the hatbox was taken because the cops found the gold certificates she hid in the lining of the hatbox. She went home and got her gun.

CAGNEY

When she came back, she turned to the only person she felt she could trust in the police department. "Honest" John Flanigan.

LACEY

Flanigan was an honest cop. He worked to bust dishonest cops with Lewis Valentine when Valentine busted crooked cops in the Confidential Squad.

CAGNEY

It turns out that Wanda was actually an informant. She used to call Flanigan to give information on crooked cops in her cathouse.

ISBECKI

That gives new meaning to the word undercover hunh?

CAGNEY

When Wanda found Flanigan on 240 Centre St., in front of police headquarters, she asked for help. He told her to get lost. He thought it would look bad if he interceded on her behalf.

LACEY

So she pulled her gun out of her thigh holster. A Colt Lightning revolver.

CAGNEY

She screamed something about her hatbox and shot Flanigan in anger. She was killed by two passing police officers who witnessed the shooting.

LACEY

It turns out the hatbox had fallen behind a shelf in the property room. If "Honest" John had looked into it, he would have known the box was found by the time Wanda asked him about it.

CAGNEY

The cops did not know the money was hidden in the hatbox. It was never mentioned in any police department report I viewed.

SAMUELS

If the money was never mentioned, how do you know about it?

CAGNEY

Because my partner and I found $1,000 in gold certificates in the hatbox lining.

CHARLIE

Isn't my daughter something? Finding money where no other cop would. I love you Christine.

CAGNEY

I love you, Dad.

LACEY

We found out that the serial numbers of the money in the hatbox did not match any of the serial numbers of bills used to pay the ransom in the Lindbergh kidnapping case.

CAGNEY

The money belongs to the decedent's next of kin. Anne, get a lawyer because the NYPD is going to fight to keep the money. Especially when the department finds out that the gold certificates are worth two to ten times face value to collectors.

LACEY

The NYPD made one clerical error, do not let them make another and keep your property.

CAGNEY

It is going to hurt me if this is dragged out because of my connection to the case.

SAMUELS

What connection?

CAGNEY

Wanda Reardon was the younger sister of my Charlie's mother and my grandmother. She's my great-aunt.

ISBECKI

So that makes Wanda, Charlie's Aunt?

The table finds this funny.

CAGNEY

This was important to me because I just found out all of this. I hope I can become close to my cousin, Anne and her daughter CW. Her immediate family disowned Wanda. That's why Anne had to be born and raised in Wyoming. Her father's brother, my great-great-uncle Arthur and his family were the only ones who would take in Wanda and raise Anne. She grew up without really knowing her mother or ever finding out who her father was. With the line of work her mother was in her father could have been anybody. I don't want to hear any jokes, any wisecracks or any comments about this case anymore. I get touchy when it comes to family.

SAMUELS

In case she didn't make it plain enough, that's an order!

Cagney and Lacey sit down. CW stands up.

CW

I just wanted to say thanks to all of you for being nice and for finding out what you did. This trip was a Mother's Day present for my Mom. No matter what you think of Wanda, she was still my grandmother. I'm proud to be called Cecilia Wanda Smith.

CW sits down.

PETRIE

Anyone know why her nickname was "Wildcat"?

ANNE

She supposedly killed a wildcat when she was a kid in Wyoming but we think that is just talk. It makes a nice legend.

Everyone laughs and continues drinking their coffee.

CW

Why do they call this area Hell's Kitchen?

LAGUARDIA

In September of 1881, a New York Times reporter called the area Hell's Kitchen in an article. He got the name from an area on the south side of London.

HARVEY AND CHARLIE

(in unison) That's not true.

FADE OUT:

THE END