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-+-------------------*----+[ Spensor For Hire ]+----*-------------------+- Regular Cast: Robert Urich..........................Spenser Barbara Stock.........................Susan Silverman Avery Brooks..........................Hawk -+-----------------------+[ 1985 Episode Guide ]+-----------------------+- Episode #1: "Pilot" Spenser (ROBERT URICH) is hired to find the runaway wife of a successful land developer, a woman who has tired of her humdrum existence and looks for something exciting, fulfilling and meaningful to do. Instead, she finds herself involved with revolutionaries and gunrunners. Accused of armed robbery and murder, only Spenser can help her. CAST Geoffrey Lewis........................Harry Patterson Donna Mitchell........................Pamela Patterson Ron McLarty...........................Belson Ruth Britt................................Anita Richard Jaeckel........................Lt. Martin Quirk Chuck Connors........................King Powers Executive Producer..................John Wilder Producer..................................Dick Gallegly Director...................................Lee H. Katzin Television Writer.....................John Wilder Episode #3: "Discord in A Minor" Hired by famed conductor Matthew Lowington (PAUL SHENAR) to serve as a bodyguard for his teenage daughter Cathy (BARBARA GARRICK), Spenser (ROBERT URICH) finds himself in a chauffeur's uniform waiting for Cathy at her very exclusive private high school for girls. Suddenly, a van speeds helter-skelter among the students on the grounds and stops near Cathy. A burly man grabs her and drags her towards the vehicle; a younger driver yanks her inside. Reacting as fast as he can to the situation, Spenser spots the big man pull a weapon from a hip holster. In the gunfire volley that follows, Spenser shoots and kills this kidnapper. But in Spenser's ensuing chase in his limousine, the driver of the van escapes with Cathy. Spenser reports back to Lowington and is fired. But man of honor that he is, Spenser determines to find the young lady on his own. To this end, he first visits the homicide squad room of the Boston Police Department. Here, despite the protestations and lack of cooperation from Sergeant Belson (RON McLARTY), Spenser espies a folder that gives him a make on the guy he shot and killed. He was Eddie Blake, an ex-cop who once took a payoff from mobster kingpin Joe Broz (RAYMOND SERRA). Following up on this lead, Spenser looks up Broz, who's attending a baseball game with his eldest son Tony (JAY THOMAS). The terse talk between the mobster and the private eye confirms what Spenser had suspected: that the driver of the van was Broz's youngest son, Jimmy (NEILL BARRY), who Spenser is surprised to learn from Tony, apparently abducted his own girlfriend. Spenser strikes a deal with Broz: if he can bring Cathy back to her father, he'll turn Jimmy over to his father, not the authorities. Spenser is aware, though, that he'll have to work secretly and swiftly to elude Tony and the other hoods that the senior Broz will have following him. To gather clues to the whereabouts of Jimmy and Cathy, Spenser questions Elaine Hebner (ANNE MARIE BOBBY), a close classmate in high school. Elaine is loathe to talk to Spenser because "you scare me." She relents, though, and eventually gives him information enabling him to track the young couple to a remote, lakeside mountain cabin. There, Jimmy tries to put up a fight but is quickly subdued by Spenser. Out of anger and desperation, he blurts out that he ran away with Cathy to save her -- because she has been a victim of incest by her father. Realizing that Cathy surely needs an understanding woman to talk to, Spenser calls upon his compassionate girlfriend, Susan Silverman (BARBARA STOCK), a high school guidance counselor. Warily, Spenser confronts Lowington with Jimmy's accusation. Enraged, the conductor lunges for Spenser and is easily rebuffed. But Keller (JAY GINSBERG), Lowington's new bodyguard, is not. He gets into a knock-down drag-out fistfight with Spenser, who's battered but victorious. After the skirmish, Lowington still steadfastly maintains his innocence, insisting that he has doted on Cathy solely to cultivate her inherent genius as a pianist and now can't "understand why she'd invent such a vicious fabrication." If it was, Spenser wants to find out. So he seeks a lead to Cathy's mother, whom Lowington says is dead but whom Cathy believes is still alive. Lowington knows where Spenser is headed and has Keller tail him. He also has an assignment for the menacing Hawk (AVERY BROOKS). He has done some dirty work in the past for Lowington, who is not aware that he knows Spenser well. THE CAST Ron McLarty..........................Sgt. Frank Belson Richard Jaeckel.......................Lt. Martin Quirk Patricia Elliott.........................Edie James Neill Barry..............................Jimmy Broz Barbara Garrick......................Cathy Lowington Paul Shenar.............................Matthew Lowington Raymond Serra.......................Joe Broz Jay Thomas............................Tony Broz Anne Marie Bobby.................Elaine Hebner Episode #4: "Original Sin" Against his better judgment and because of the insistence of his girlfriend Susan (BARBARA STOCK), Spenser (ROBERT URICH) accepts as his client a Catholic priest named Crawford (JAY O. SANDERS). Father Crawford does not believe a police report that labeled a novice's fall to her death a suicide, and he wants Spenser to find out what really happened to the young woman Kathleen O'Rourke (ELIZABETH ANN). Launching his investigation, Spenser visits the nunnery where Kathleen was cloistered. He's surprised to see Hawk (AVERY BROOKS), his sometime friend, sometime adversary, leaving there in the company of the notorious racketeer Tom Flaherty (DAVID O'BRIEN), who had donated this mansion to the Catholic sisters. At the convent, Spenser discovers that, before her death, Kathleen had been working with an inner-city project and living outside the order to ensure she was making the right choice before taking her final vows. Spenser's next stop is at the home of Kathleen's parents, Michael (EDDIE JONES) and Sarah O'Rourke (ELIZABETH FRANZ), who are sharing their bereavement with a gathering of friends and family, including Michael's brother, Monsignor John O'Rourke (JONATHAN MOORE). Gently, Spenser approaches Sarah, who imparts to him how close Kathleen was to Father Crawford, who's on hand, too, and breaks up an impending row between Spenser and Michael O'Rourke, a proud, burly man who's furious that a private eye is investigating his daughter's death. Continuing to seek clues, Spenser heads for the inner-city neighborhood where Kathleen had been working. He stumbles into an angry, predominantly black mob attacking a portly man and his bodyguard -- Hawk. As Spenser comes to Hawk's aid, the melee is ultimately quelled by Shelly Stewart (ERICA GIMPEL) and Robert Jordan (JAMES ECKHOUSE), Kathleen's former co-workers at the nearby store-front office called the Neighborhood Alliance. It turns out that the crowd was incited to anger by eviction notices that the portly man was distributing. Spenser questions Shelly and Robert. Robert recalls Kathleen's enthusiasm and dedication on behalf of the underprivileged; he further tells Spenser that he had urged her not to go back to the convent. For her part, Shelly reproves Kathleen as a weak-willed woman whose family ran her life. Spenser remains virtually bereft of hard facts regarding Kathleen's death, but a trip to the coroner's office turns up one unsettling fact: Kathleen was two months pregnant when she plunged to her doom. CAST Ron McLarty...........................Sgt. Frank Belson Richard Jaeckel........................Lt. Martin Quirk Jay O. Sanders.........................Father John Crawford Elizabeth Franz........................Sarah O'Rourke Eddie Jones.............................Michael O'Rourke Erica Gimpel...........................Shelly Stewart Jonathan Moore.......................Monsignor O'Rourke David O'Brien.........................Tom Flaherty James Eckhouse.......................Robert Jordan Marsha Bagwell.......................Lillybet Episode #5: "Children of a Tempest Storm" After he kills the hit man who ambushed him, Spenser (ROBERT URICH) feels responsible for the guy's now orphaned kids, Jenny (JUDITH TANNEN) and Rick (NOAH MOAZEZI). So, without immediately telling the youngsters what happened to their father, Spenser takes them home to his renovated firehouse -- much to the surprise of his girlfriend Susan (BARBARA STOCK), who is harboring a secret from Spenser: she is carrying his child. While Susan reluctantly keeps her secret, Spenser with equal reluctance breaks the news to the children about their father, but withholds the fact that he shot him. Together, with his friend and ally, Hawk (AVERY BROOKS), who likes the style with which Spenser has taken charge of the orphaned children, Spenser turns his attention to the real business at hand: find out who ordered him killed. In separate investigations, they learn that the contract out on Spenser stems from "heavyweight, out-of-town talent." To figure out just who might have placed the order, Spenser breaks into the apartment of the hit man he killed. There, he's attacked by two hired assassins. In the ensuing exchange of blows and gunfire, the assassins escape. Spenser is left with only one clue he could salvage from the apartment: the business card of Ronald Chadway (BAXTER HARRIS), attorney-at-law. Following up on this lead, Spenser determines that the man who put out the contract on his life is none other than the racketeer King Powers (CHUCK CONNORS), who's now serving a prison term for a crime in which he was implicated by Spenser. Spenser visits Powers in prison, and is more convinced than ever that Powers is paying for the hit. Back at home, Susan's uneasy behavior alerts Spenser to the fact that she's pregnant. Stating that she cherishes her independence as much as she feels Spenser guards his freedom, Susan tearfully tells Spenser that she is considering an abortion. He responds that he is prepared to assume his responsibility as the father and asks that she keep the child. As their future together hangs in the balance over this decision, Spenser is again accosted by the two hired killers who attacked him earlier. This time, Spenser leads them on a chase through downtown Boston that's capped by his run-in with a lawyer named Macy (PETER KOVNER), who hired the thugs. Spenser learns that Macy also works for King Powers, and he drags from him a confession that he had hired the hit man whom Spenser killed, employing the lawyer Chadway as the go-between and money-drop. Armed with this information, Spenser uses it as leverage to force King to call off his hired killers. He also forces Powers to set up a trust fund for the orphaned Jenny and Rick to see them through private school and college. Facing a much longer jail term should Spenser go public with Macy's confession, Powers goes along with Spenser. With this matter settled, Spenser faces two other difficult confrontations. In one, he relays the good news about their futures to Jenny and Rick, then, challenged by the young boy for the truth, admits that he killed their dad. At the same time, he tries to instill in them a respect for their father, whom Spenser says loved them very much. On a deeper personal level, Spenser visits Susan at the hospital. She has chosen to have an abortion, but he wants her to know that he respects her decision and still loves her. CAST Ron McLarty..........................Sgt. Frank Belson Richard Jaeckel.......................Lt. Martin Quirk Noah Moazezi.........................Rick Judith Tannen..........................Jenny Chuck Connors.......................King Powers Robert Serbagi........................Nick Nizamoff Lauren Tom............................Sally Chin Baxter Harris...........................Chadway Gregg Baker............................Ben Cristine Rose...........................Rebecca Sears Larry Victor............................Dan Bill McCutcheon.....................Bailiff Episode #6: "The Killer Within" Spenser (ROBERT URICH), is hired by an amateur photographer, Diane York (NANCY PAUL), to protect her sister against a troublesome ex-lover. Diane is a soft and sensitive brunette; the sister, Donna, is a self-assured, coldly beautiful blonde. Spenser trails Donna to an outdoor cafe and watches her exchange some object from her purse for an attache case from ex-boyfriend George Garrett (JON DeVRIES). At that moment Rolfe (RICHARD BORG), a professional hit man, zeroes in on Donna with a high-powered scope rifle from a window across the street, but an unsuspecting busboy moves into the line of fire and is killed. Spotting the assassin, Spenser gives chase, but Rolfe discards the weapon in a passing trash truck and ducks into a nearby church where he overpowers a nun and strips her of her clothing. Dressed as the nun, Rolfe makes his escape on a subway. Confronting Diane, Spenser accuses her of withholding information, a tactic that Diane vigorously denies. At the abandoned firehouse that serves as Spenser's home, his girlfriend, high school guidance counselor Susan Silverman (BARBARA STOCK), informs him that Ed Howard (DAVID ALLEN BROOKS), chairman of her school's psychology department, has invited her to accompany him to San Francisco for a conference. Spenser, the tough guy, is as jealous as a lovesick teenager when it concerns Susan, but she has accepted Howard's offer. Police Sgt. Frank Belson (RON McLARTY) drives Spenser to Lt. Quirk (RICHARD JAECKEL), who wants to question him about a strangled security guard and a naked nun, but Spenser refuses to identify his client. Later, Spenser recovers the murder weapon from the garbage dump and shows it to his old friend Hawk (AVERY BROOKS), an enforcer, who occasionally teams with him. Hawk tabs the hand-tooled rifle as one used by hit men in the espionage racket. Hawk knows who made it. Spenser confronts Donna in her sister's apartment, but she's a tough cookie who refuses to cooperate. When she retires to the bedroom and begins a violent argument with Diane, Spenser peeks in and observes the girl holding a loud shouting match with herself. A blonde wig rests on the dresser. Donna and Diane are one and the same, a psychiatric victim, plagued with a dual personality! To find out why she is a target for death, Spenser takes her to his pad for safekeeping. This time the jealousy belongs to Susan, but they both agree: the woman needs help from a professional psychologist, and Ed Howard is their man. When Hawk invades the gun shop of Sam Wu (KIM CHAN), a skilled Oriental gunsmith, the hit man, Rolfe, is also there to take delivery on a new rifle. A fight pitting one trained killer against another is a portrait of awesome violence, but in the end Hawk is barely conscious, Rolfe has made his getaway and Sam Wu lies dead, clubbed by Rolfe after Wu set off a silent alarm to summon guards. Hawk is jailed. With three bodies in the morgue, Spenser reveals his client to Lt. Quirk and informs him of the dual personality phenomenon. He effects the release of Hawk, who immediately departs on a mission of revenge against Rolfe. Quirk seeks a rundown on Diane via Federal Intelligence files and Jack Collins, bureau chief, finds no evidence of espionage activity by either Donna or "George Garrett." Unbeknownst to Quirk, Collins and Garrett are one and the same. CAST Ron McLarty...........................Sgt. Frank Belson Richard Jaeckel........................Lt. Martin Quirk Nancy Paul...............................Donna/Diane York David Allen Brooks..................Ed Howard Jon De Vries.............................Jack Collins/George Garrett Richard Borg............................Rolfe Kim Chan..................................Sam Wu William Cain.............................Senator Hastings Gregg Edelman.........................The Agent Episode #7: "Autumn Thieves" Tailing a young man named Alex (MARK KEYLOUN) to Boston's Granville Museum, Spenser (ROBERT URICH) winds up in a chase after the fellow, who, in a well-staged plot executed with disguised accomplices, steals from the museum a priceless, bejeweled, miniaturized replica of the Ten Commandments known as the Toledo Ten. Alex escapes, and the private eye is arrested for the theft. The museum's Dr. Margaret Lind (GAIL GRATE) is anxious to press charges against Spenser. But when the evidence is produced, it turns out to be a fake. Alex has gotten away with the authentic Toledo Ten, which he has made plans to fence through a corrupt banker (RON FRAZIER), from whom he has already received a cash advance of $100,000. Alex's uncle, the suave con artist Roman St. George (ALFRED DRAKE), is holding up the final transaction. To ensure the deal, the banker assigns two thugs to accompany Alex to a meeting with uncle Roman in the Berkshire Mountains. That's also the destination of Spenser and his girlfriend Susan (BARBARA STOCK), who seek out Kay Redfield (ALICE HAINING), the young woman who operates an amateur Shakespeare theater and who originally hired Spenser to find Alex. The news that he's involved in the theft of the Toledo Ten leaves her stunned. She's unable to offer any clues as to Alex's current whereabouts, but he intuits that she has not been told the truth about uncle Roman. CAST Ron McLarty..........................Sgt. Frank Belson Richard Jaeckel.......................Lt. Martin Quirk Mark Keyloun.........................Alex Alice Haining..........................Kay Redfield Ron Frazier.............................Banker Will Lyman.............................Capt. Morrison Alfred Drake...........................Roman St. George Gail Grate...............................Dr. Lind Episode #8: "Blood Money" Spenser is hired to deliver $1-million ransom to the so-called Liberty Brigade, kidnappers of an executive from the multi-national corporation Overdyne. He has made plans to exchange the loot while jogging along Boston's Esplanade Park. He has also arranged for Lieutenant Martin Quirk (RICHARD JAECKEL), Sergeant Frank Belson (RON McLARTY) and other plainclothes policemen to be in hiding, ready to tail the kidnappers picking up the ransom. But the operation is ruined by the sudden appearance from the shrubbery of Overdyne's chief security officer, Matt Partland (JIMMIE RAY WEEKS). A shoot-out ensues, in which one of the kidnappers lies gravely wounded and the other escapes. Chagrined, Spenser conveys the bad news to Ellen Villard (MAUREEN ANDERMAN), wife of the kidnap victim, George Villard (RUDOLPH WILLRICH). She shows Spenser a video tape of George in the hands of his abductors, who are demanding that Overdyne cease its offshore drilling for oil and exploitation in the Third World country of San Maritas. Though visibly upset, Ellen puts up a brave facade, especially in the company of the Villard's 14-year-old daughter Monica (SAMANTHA ATKINS). Spenser next visits the Overdyne board room, where he confronts George's fellow top-flight executives Paul Manning (JAMES REBHORN), Frank Howland (BERNIE McINERNEY) and Hillary Small (LONETTE McKEE). As they debate whether or not to continue with the ransom payment, Spenser scornfully tires of their political infighting. In the meantime, the wounded young man from the park incident dies, leaving no clue as to the whereabouts of Villard. To get a handle on the Liberty Brigade, Spenser asks his girlfriend Susan (BARBARA STOCK) to introduce him to a campus radical named Dorothy Marks (CHARLAINE WOODARD). She dismisses the Brigade as a bogus organization. His suspicions aroused, Spenser determines to investigate Overdyne's security man Matt Partland, the man who ruined his trap. Cleverly gaining admission to his office, the private eye tears off what might be a clue: a computer printout detailing Overdyne's global shipments. An irate Partland enters and takes a poke at Spenser, who gets the best of his attacker and warns Partland not to interfere. The delivery of another video tape showing a battered George Villard incites Spenser to hurry his search for him. A rummage through Villard's office yields a printout like the one Spenser found in Partland's desk, plus a batch of florist receipts. From Hillary and Manning, Spenser discovers that Villard and Partland were on the track of an in-company thief -- which explains the identical computer printouts. After the murdered body of the escaped kidnapper from the park turns up, Spenser attempts to pinpoint where Villard is being held from hints on the video tape. Identifying the spot as a gravel pit, the private eye enlists the help of his sometime friend and nemesis Hawk (AVERY BROOKS) into raiding the place. In this action, Partland's unwelcome and unexpected appearance blows the surprise again. That night, Villard's dead body is dropped on his wife's doorstep. As the Overdyne executives gather to pay their respects to the widow, Ellen Villard lashes out at them in grief and anger. For his part, Spenser assures her that he's sticking with the case, which takes a strange twist: from Villard's daughter, Susan learns that her father had recently moved out of the house, and, tracking down the florist's receipts, Spenser finds out that he was keeping a mistress -- Overdyne executive Hillary Small, who professes to Spenser her deep and secret love for Villard. CAST Ron McLarty...........................Sgt. Frank Belson Richard Jaeckel........................Lt. Martin Quirk Lonette McKee........................Hillary Small Maureen Anderman..................Ellen Villard Jimmie Ray Weeks...................Matt Partland James Rebhorn.........................Paul Manning Bernie McInerney.....................Frank Howland Rudolph Willrich......................George Villard Samantha Atkins.......................Monica Villard Charlaine Woodard...................Dorothy Marks Executive Producer....................John Wilder Supervising Producer.................William Robert Yates Producer in Los Angeles.............Robert Hamilton Producer in Boston.....................Dick Gallegly Director......................................Virgil Vogel Writer of Teleplay.......................Bob Shayne & Bruce Murkoff Writer of Story............................Bob Shayne Episode #9: "Resurrection" An attack by street toughs sends Spenser (ROBERT URICH) chasing after one called Rick Mallea (D.B. SWEENEY), who has gravely stabbed a paroled prostitute named Lydia Wilson (KASI LEMONS), who, in turn, superficially wounds him with the pistol she was carrying. Eventually, Spenser nabs Rick, but the tough tells a disgusted police Sgt. Frank Belson (RON McLARTY) that he'll soon be out on bail and back on the streets -- thanks to his lawyer, Bryce Taylor (PAUL DOOLEY), a former big-time attorney who gave Spenser his first job after he left the police force. Sure enough, Taylor does show up, and is coldly discomforted to admit to his old friend Spenser that tough times in the wake of the death of his wife have brought him so low as to defend the likes of Mallea. Disgusted as he is by this change in the once high-principled Taylor, Spenser has other things on his mind: like tracking down the young tough who stole Lydia's purse, which she claims contained information that could seal her death warrant. To get it back, spenser first queries the hostile Rick and a hulking, glowering pimp nicknamed Conan the Barbarian (ROBERT TESSIER). Gleaning nothing from them, the private eye nonetheless gets a tip that prompts him to stakeout Conan -- who leads him to Sgt. Mike Clayton (EARL HINDMAN), a powerfully built, mean-spirited, undercover cop assigned to Boston's vice detail. Clayton takes an instant dislike to Spenser and his prying questions, and winds up in a brawl with him. Conan joins in the fray, too, but Spenser parleys his agility over their bulk and batters them both. Meanwhile, Taylor turns his attention to Lydia, who'll be charged with breaking parole for carrying a gun. He boorishly accosts her as she's being taken to her room to recover from emergency surgery, then offers his services as legal counsel. Spenser's girlfriend Susan (BARBARA STOCK) is on hand and reacts incredulously to Taylor's gross behavior. Taylor doesn't waste any time championing his new cause at a televised press conference on the hospital steps. This scene is witnessed by a malevolent trucking magnate named Camaris (DICK LATESSA). He's watching the TV in his limousine that's parked outside his plant, at which toxic wastes are being poured into trucks. Angered, Camaris snaps to an aide to "find out from Clayton what went wrong." Spenser is approached by his friendly antagonist and alter ego, Hawk (AVERY BROOKS). From him, Spenser learns that Clayton is overly fond of using his power to enforce order among the prostitutes in his jurisdiction, beating them up when they get out of line. Later that night, the bullet-ridden body of Rick Mallea is found outside Spenser's remodeled firehouse home. Ironically, police Lt. Martin Quirk (RICHARD JAECKEL) suspects Hawk of the murder. That's because he thinks that Rick was tied to Clayton, who allegedly killed a prostitute -- who was close to Hawk. Indeed, Hawk confronts Clayton in a darkened alley and, with utter contempt, warns the cop that he'll be watching his every move from now on. CAST Ron McLarty...........................Sgt. Frank Belson Richard Jaeckel........................Lt. Martin Quirk Paul Dooley.............................Bryce Taylor Earl Hindman...........................Mike Clayton Dick Latessa............................Camaris Kasi Lemmons.........................Lydia Wilson Robert Tessier.........................Conan the Barbarian D. B. Sweeney........................Rick Episode #10: "Internal Affairs" After subduing a would-be jewel robber and corralling his accomplice in a subsequent car chase, Spenser (ROBERT URICH) is helping fill out a report of the incident at police headquarters. He's distressed to learn from an enraged Sgt. Frank Belson (RON McLARTY) that the stalwart, incorruptible Lt. Martin Quirk (RICHARD JAECKEL) is being investigated by the department's Internal Affairs division for suspected collusion with a young punk named Ronny Horgan (BRUCE MacVITTIE). Ronny is operating an illegal gambling operation out of a dive called the Channel Bar, and it's alleged that Quirk tipped him off to a vice raid on the place. Quirk won't say anything in his defense, so Internal Affairs puts him on suspension, and strips him of his badge and gun. To try to help his old friend, Spenser seeks out Ronny Horgan at the Channel Bar, after first getting past Ronny's partner-in-crime, Jack Stoner (RICHARD JENKINS). Then, Spenser puts the pressure on Ronny, from whom he learns that his father Phillip Horgan (JAMES DOUGLAS), a powerful, real-estate magnate, was involved in the set-up of Quirk because he has something on him: pictures of an extramarital affair being carried on by Quirk's wife Katie (SHIRLEY KNIGHT). Meeting with Katie, Spenser finds to his chagrin that this is true. Now doggedly determined to save Quirk and his marriage, Spenser arranges a meeting between Katie and his compassionate girlfriend Susan (BARBARA STOCK), a high school guidance counselor. Katie opens up to Susan about her feelings of loneliness and anxiety that made her drift into an affair, now ended, despite 30 years of seemingly connubial bliss. Spenser also secures the help of his shadowy nemesis Hawk (AVERY BROOKS), who tells him that Phillip Horgan has a history of bailing out his trouble-making son so that Ronny's transgressions don't reflect adversely on his father's ambitions. These currently entail landing a multi-million dollar hotel construction contract with the city of Boston. Since Hawk has dealt with Phillip Horgan before, he agrees to see him again and lay down Spenser's ultimatum: back off of Martin Quirk or face the consequences. Yet, neither Belson nor Spenser can get Quirk to face up to his situation -- even after Spenser lets on that he knows about Marty's marital difficulties. CAST Ron McLarty...........................Sgt. Frank Belson Richard Jaeckel........................Lt. Martin Quirk Richard Jenkins........................Jack Stoner Bruce MacVittie......................Ronny Horgan James Douglas.........................Phillip Horgan Shirley Knight..........................Katie Quirk Episode #11: "Death By Design" Spenser (ROBERT URICH) takes his morning run through a quiet Boston park, he is ambushed by a grinning assassin driving a huge garbage truck. Using his fanciest footwork, the ex-boxer sidesteps the onrushing truck and gives chase, leaping onto the truck and shattering its windshield before the would-be killer manages to dislodge him and escape. Made wary by the morning's attack, Spenser buys himself some insurance in the form of mercenary strong-arm Hawk (AVERY BROOKS), his sometime friend. Thus protected, the literate detective proceeds to a meeting with his client Linda Collins (ROBIN GROVES), Harvard research chemist and friend of his girlfriend Susan (BARBARA STOCK). Arriving early, he finds a nervous Linda talking with Wilson Renhill (HANSFORD ROWE), head of Renhill Pharmaceuticals, who quickly departs. Spenser reports he has had no luck in finding Tony Ristelli (BURKE MOSES), Linda's missing boyfriend who she claims has stolen some jewelry from her. Later at dinner, Spenser learns from Susan that Linda's government-funded research involves the synthesis of a nonaddictive substitute for morphine. Spenser soon tracks Tony down, nabbing him outside a posh hotel as he plies his trade as a high-priced gigolo. When Spenser arrives at his car with the reluctant Tony, the murderous truck driver from the morning reappears and starts shooting, but a shotgun-wielding Hawk steps from the shadows and silences the hired killer in spectacular fashion. At Spenser's converted-firehouse apartment, an intimidated Tony denies stealing any jewelry but admits he asked for and received $50,000 from Linda -- ostensibly to open his own gym -- on orders from a private investigator named Michael Graves (LEON RUSSOM). A visit by Spenser to Graves' high-tech office confirms that he is the man responsible for the attempts on his life. And when he meets again with Linda, she confesses that she is hopelessly in love with Tony and that she stole the $50,000 she gave him from her research fund. With an audit of the fund just three days away, Linda fears her life is ruined, but Spenser vows to help her. CAST Ron McLarty...........................Sgt. Frank Belson Richard Jaeckel........................Lt. Martin Quirk Robin Groves...........................Linda Collins Leon Russom...........................Michael Graves Hansford Rowe........................Wilson Renhill Burke Moses............................Tony Ristelli Chuck Patterson.......................Jimmy Marilyn Redfield.......................Mrs. Holmby Executive Producer..................John Wilder Supervising Producer...............William Robert Yates Producer in Los Angeles..........Robert Hamilton Producer in Boston..................Dick Gallegly Writer......................................Bruce Murkoff Director...................................Virgil Vogel Episode #13: "A Madness Most Discreet" Tired and disheveled after a four-day stakeout, Boston's literate private eye Spenser (ROBERT URICH) hurries to a meeting with new client Anna Marinakova (MARIA HOLVOE), while three suspicious men follow at a distance. Spenser is instantly taken with the lovely Anna, coming upon the ballerina as she dances to the music of Tchaikovsky. She tells him she is a Russian exchange student living in Washington whose valuable research notes were stolen by men she believes to be from Massachusetts. Though he doesn't believe her story, an enchanted Spenser agrees to help the frightened young woman. Leaving the meeting, Spenser notices that the three shady characters are no longer interested in him. The tough ex-cop doubles back and catches the two larger thugs trying to kidnap Anna while boss Max Klaus (WALTER GOTELL) waits in the car. Utilizing his boxing skills, Spenser subdues the two long enough for he and Anna to escape. At the detective's converted -firehouse apartment, Anna admits her life is in great danger. She tells Spenser she obtained his name from wealthy importer Jason Tyler (RON PARADY), a former client of his. Leaving Anna in the capable hands of his sometime friend Hawk (AVERY BROOKS), the best hired muscle available, Spenser goes to see Tyler. Spenser's suspicions are aroused when Tyler disavows any knowledge of Anna. Spenser then proceeds to meet with retired professor Karl Planitz (STEFAN SCHNABEL), whose car Anna had seen in Washington at the time of the supposed burglary. Spenser finds Planitz to be a kindly old man who claims he hasn't been in Washington in years. Nevertheless, the shrewd investigator lingers at the scene and catches the professor making a very suspicious call from a nearby pay phone. On their way to meet Spenser, Hawk and Anna are waylaid by Klaus and his men. After being chased through a bustling outdoor market, they manage to escape, though not before Hawk has to gun one of the assailants down. When they meet, Anna confesses to Spenser that she is really a ballerina and widow of a Soviet diplomat; the attackers are K.G.B. agents who are out to kill her because they think she is going to defect. CAST Ron McLarty...........................Sgt. Frank Belson Richard Jaeckel........................Lt. Martin Quirk Robert Hogan...........................Robertson Maria Holvoe...........................Anna Marinakova Stefan Schnabel........................Dr. Karl Planitz Ron Parady...............................Jason Tyler Walter Gotell............................Max Klaus David Neal Brown....................Ben Jean Mar Brown.......................Mother Oliver Solomon........................Michael Episode #14: "Brother to Dragons" On his way to Vermont for a weekend of skiing, Spenser (ROBERT URICH) stops at Smithfield High School in the affluent Boston suburb of Smithfield to pick up his girlfriend, guidance counselor Susan Silverman (BARBARA STOCK). There he finds a tragic scene, a young girl has been found dead of a heroin overdose, the second such death in three months. The staid community is shocked, and Assistant School Superintendent Betty Times (ELLEN HOLLY) hires Spenser to look into the matter. CAST Ron McLarty...........................Sgt. Frank Belson Richard Jaeckel.......................Lt. Martin Quirk Stephen McHattie....................Corbett Timothy Carhart......................Jim Gullen Michael Zaslow.......................Dr. Alistar Layton Patrice Colihan........................Amanda Layton Ellen Holly..............................Betty Times Episode #15: "When Silence Speaks" After having accidentally foiled a $10 million diamond heist, while working on another case, Spenser (ROBERT URICH) and his girlfriend Susan (BARBARA STOCK) celebrate with champagne and oysters at a posh hotel restaurant. As they are eating, a deaf woman named Joan (PHYLLIS FRELICH) approaches Spenser with a note. Reading it, he finds that she wants to hire him to find a man named Tyrone. She does not divulge any further information either about the man or herself. Intrigued yet puzzled, Spenser agrees to the job accepting $1,000 as a retainer. Later that day, Spenser is told by his friend Hawk (AVERY BROOKS) that there are people after him for having ruined the diamond theft. Hawk shows a newspaper article, with an accompanying photo of Spenser, applauding his efforts in foiling the robbery. Hawk warns Spenser that his high visibility will make him an easy target. CAST Ron McLarty...........................Sgt. Frank Belson Richard Jaeckel........................Lt. Martin Quirk Phyllis Frelich...........................Joan Caitlin O'Heaney......................Laura Louise Johnson Mathieu Carriere......................DuPree Philip Kraus.............................Brad Munson David M. Berti.........................Jerry Esposito Kevin Fennessy........................Post Office Counterman Joanne Rheinhart.....................Receptionist Episode #16: "In A Safe Place" A small Hispanic boy is run over by a crazed driver in front of Spenser (ROBERT URICH) and Susan (BARBARA STOCK). When Susan rushes to help, the mother begs her to take good care of her child and runs off as she hears the approaching sirens in the distance. With the mother gone, the two rush the boy to the hospital where he later dies. There they meet Emily Garden (NANCY MARCHAND), an elderly woman devoted to a local "Safe House" movement that offers aid to legal and illegal aliens. They also meet Jacob Zalesky (JEFFREY DeMUNN), an immigration lawyer and associate of Emily's. Through the two, it is learned that the child's mother, an illegal alien, abandoned him to Susan because she feared being deported. She had to choose between the injured boy and her other children waiting at home. Susan, drawn to the plight of illegal aliens, offers her time and help to Emily and Jacob's "Safe House." It is through Susan that Emily later hires Spenser to find the boy's father, Henry Rosalez, who disappeared two weeks earlier. From there, Spenser goes to see an ex-union scab named Guzman (JOE SILVER), who is notorious for his exploitation of workers. Apparently, Henry worked for him just prior to his disappearance. Spenser receives no answers but sees a man drive up in a government car as he is leaving Guzman's dock warehouse. The following day, a young man named Hector Valdez (JIMMY SMITS) approaches Spenser saying he is a friend of the Rosalez family and that he used to work with Henry. He claims that Guzman and the man in the government car, Matt Wilson (RAY BAKER), work together in a deportation scheme. If one of Guzman's laborers makes a fuss about the low wages or hazardous working conditions, Wilson, as an immigration officer, is paid to deport them without due process. This, Hector says, is what happened to Henry when he tried to speak out on behalf of the dock workers. That night, Jacob convinces Hector to finish the work that Henry had begun. The next day, as Hector is about to rally Guzman's dock workers, Jacob is 'accidentally' killed by falling pipes from a nearby crane. Fearing for his life, Hector runs away, leaving Spenser unable to prove Guzman's guilt. CAST Ron McLarty...........................Sgt. Frank Belson Richard Jaeckel........................Lt. Martin Quirk Ray Baker................................Matt Wilson Jaime Sanchez..........................Jose Perez Joe Silver.................................Guzman Jimmy Smits.............................Hector Victoria Racimo.......................Mrs. Rosalez S Jeffrey DeMunn........................Jacob Gerald A. Cooney.....................Angel Cardona Nancy Marchand.......................Emily Garden Episode #17: "Angel of Desolation" Ten days after he is hired as a bodyguard by the beautiful, well-to-do Diedra Carlisle (SHELLY BURCH), who fears for her life, Spenser (ROBERT URICH) is taken off the detail by her sophisticated husband Marcus (JAMES PATRICK GILLIS), a banking magnate. Outside the Carlisle Bank, Marcus prepares to pay off Spenser for his work when suddenly they're ambushed by semiautomatic fire coming from an armored car. Spenser gives chase to the vehicle, and kills one of the attackers in a shoot-out in foot pursuit. To ascertain possible reasons for this assault, Spenser calls on the Carlisles at their Beacon Hill mansion, where he meets the stunning, imperious Alicia (LEIGH TAYLOR YOUNG), Marcus' sister. But the private eye gleans nothing, save another curt dismissal from Marcus and a paycheck for services already rendered. Nor can Spenser's sometime nemesis and ally Hawk (AVERY BROOKS) or girlfriend Susan (BARBARA STOCK) assuage Spenser's conscience that he should not pursue this case further. Then Spenser gets an anxious call from Diedra. She has found Marcus shot to death in their mansion. To police Lieutenant Quirk (RICHARD JAECKEL) and Sgt. Belson (RON McLARTY), her blood-stained nightclothes and lack of a credible alibi make her the number-one suspect. CAST Ron McLarty...........................Sgt. Frank Belson Richard Jaeckel........................Lt. Martin Quirk Shelly Burch............................Deidra James Patrick Gillis..................Marcus Holt Jack Coulter............................Mitchell Casey Eriq La Salle............................Jeffrey Stuart Burney..........................Tim Brady Leigh Taylor Young.................Alicia Carlisle Leila Danette............................Evelyn Episode #18: "She Loves Me, She Loves Me Not" At a wedding reception, Michael Glynn (JESS OSUNA), a retired cop and father-of-the-bride, is murdered shortly after he gives his daughter Jean (RUTH COX) a very expensive gift: a full-length, black-sable coat. Spenser (ROBERT URICH) is attending the party and immediately gives chase to the killer, who is himself killed during the pursuit in a car crash, thereby leaving no clues to the reason for the homicide. But Lieutenant Quirk (RICHARD JAECKEL) thinks he has a clue. He got a tip from a snitch inside Walpole Prison that a hit was out on two cop partners, and he asks Spenser to keep an eye on the guy who used to work with Glynn -- Sgt. Frank Belson (RON McLARTY). Spenser can't believe that anybody would mark the innocuous Belson for murder, yet he agrees to covertly follow him. This surveillance takes him to an out-of-the-way furrier called Gelman's, located in a seedy part of Boston. Spenser's suspicions are alerted that Belson might be pursuing a lead on the purchase place of the black-sable coat, which the private eye finds difficult to believe that a retired cop could afford. Sure enough, on a follow-up visit to the furrier by Spenser and his girlfriend Susan (BARBARA STOCK), they are told by Gelman that the export of live black sables has been illegal for many years, and that the only way to purchase a coat of this fur is as an import from Russia at a cost of some $200,000. In the meantime, Spenser has recruited his sometime ally and often nemesis, Hawk (AVERY BROOKS), to spell him in watching Belson. During the course of one evening, Hawk observes Belson keeping company with an attractive, middle-aged woman named Mildred Frances (GAIL STRICKLAND), who has just moved into a neighboring apartment. Belson becomes smitten with her. However, he does not know that she is really a syndicate killer nicknamed Frankie, hired by a convict at Walpole named Nash (GREG MULLAVEY) to squeeze some information from him regarding the whereabouts of the sables. CAST Ron McLarty...........................Sgt. Frank Belson Richard Jaeckel........................Lt. Martin Quirk Greg Mullavey.........................Walter Nash Jess Osuna...............................Michael Glynn Ruth Cox.................................Jean Naughton Mike Nussbaum.......................Gelman Gail Strickland.........................Mildred Frances Episode #19: "At the River's Edge" Leaving a department store after shopping with his girlfriend Susan (BARBARA STOCK), Spenser (ROBERT URICH) hears a woman scream from a nearby expensive car. As she slumps over behind the wheel, Spenser gives chase to the suspicious character near her auto. They skirmish and the private eye pulls his gun on the suspect, who, to Spenser's shock, commits suicide with his own pistol rather than surrender. Even though it's not his case, Spenser feels compelled to follow up on the investigation, which is now a homicide: the 19-year-old woman named Brook Harrington was stabbed to death in the car. At the apartment of the suicide victim and prime suspect in the killing, Spenser encounters Lieutenant Quirk (RICHARD JAECKEL) and Sergeant Belson (RON McLARTY) of the police department sifting through evidence -- which includes $5000 tucked into a book. This leads Spenser to believe that the murder was a contracted hit, and while sharing his thoughts with the cops, he comes across a bookmark proclaiming the virtues of evangelist Bobby Freemont. Mulling over the case as he works out at the gym with his sometime rival and often ally Hawk (AVERY BROOKS), Spenser is approached by Marcella Harrington (CARRIE HEIM), the precocious 12-year-old sister of the murder victim. She wants him to unravel the circumstances surrounding her older sister's strange death. She has the money, too, set up in a trust fund by her very wealthy father. Moved by her sincerity and vulnerability, Spenser takes her on as his client and hears her out at the imposing Boston brownstone, in which she lives with servants only, while her mother and elderly father reside in Bermuda. In Brook's room, Spenser finds yet another coincidental memento of Bobby Freemont: a poster of him over the headline "Pray for a New America." To check out a possible link between the slain Brook and the Reverend Freemont, Spenser calls on the evangelist himself (JOHN DAVIDSON) and his wife Lenore (KAREN CARLSON) in the midst of their preparations for an upcoming crusade. During the meeting, Spenser notes a glint of recognition when he mentions Brook's name, although Freemont denies any knowledge of her. Later, Freemont admits to his wife that he casually knew Brook, with whom he says he prayed and sought to counsel because she was such a troubled soul. Lenore hints at a closer relationship than that, intensifying Bobby's already deep guilt over the young woman's death. At the same time, Lenore tries to assuage these feelings by reminding Bobby of his responsibility -- and potential political power -- to bring his "American crusade" to TV. Spenser learns that the big backer behind Freemont's projected crusade is none other than Brook's father's business partner, a powerful, monied man named Walter Billingham (PAUL SPARER), whom Spenser next contacts. Billingham says that he sent Brook to Freemont for counseling because he is on close terms with her father, but his further evasion of the private eye's queries leads Spenser to suspect some kind of cover-up. Indeed, unbeknownst to Spenser, Brook was a prostitute, whom Billingham knew was intimate with the Rev. Freemont. Lenore knew, too, but she tells her husband that she was willing to forgive him if he just pursue the destiny unfolding for him. CAST Ron McLarty...........................Sgt. Frank Belson Richard Jaeckel........................Lt. Martin Quirk Karen Carlson..........................Lenore Freemont Paul Sparer..............................Walter Billingham Carrie Kei Heim.......................Marcella Harrington Laurie Wilson..........................Chrissy Pierce John Davidson.........................Rev. Bobby Freemont Episode #20: "Rage, Rage" Emerging from a suburban high school dance into the cold air of a late winter Boston night, private cop Spenser (ROBERT URICH) presses close to the svelte Susan Silverman (BARBARA STOCK), who, in her position as school guidance counselor and sophisticated woman, has gently coerced the detective into reluctant temporary service as the evening's chaperone. The two adults quickly cease their romantic familiarity when a shattering cry is heard from the school's parking lot. Spenser immediately rushes toward the violent sound and spots a disheveled teenage girl struggling with a lanky boy. As the imposing Spenser charges at him, the boy releases the girl and jumps into a nearby car, making a careening escape. The detective notes the license number. The sobbing girl, Jill Weller (CHRISTINE HOUSER), adamantly refuses to talk about the incident or reveal her attacker. Susan and Spenser can do nothing but drive the traumatized girl to her home. The following day, Spenser chauffeurs his occasional cohort, the vastly imperious Hawk (AVERY BROOKS), to a foreign car service center, where Hawk's BMW is being customized. After leaving Hawk, the sleuth nearly runs down an unwary pedestrian. Pausing briefly after the incident, Spenser's eye is arrested by the man's bulky coat...and hidden shotgun. Squealing his Mustang in reverse, Spenser rears into the gunman just as the man draws a bead on Hawk. Picking up the dazed man, Hawk reveals that revenge is the motive for the assassination attempt. After handing the slightly injured man over to the police, Spenser heads back to his firehouse apartment. Susan is waiting for him with the news that Jill has run away. The girl's transplanted South Dakotan parents have called the police, but also seek Spenser's help in finding their daughter. However, the gruff father is less than sympathetic to his daughter's emotional condition when it is revealed that Jill was indeed raped the previous night. Spenser identifies the boy from the parking lot via the remembered license number. The kid is Dan Hurley (ADAM PHILIPSON), and Susan is convinced the lad wouldn't rape anyone. Never one to make assumptions, Spenser tracks down Dan at a high school hangout. The boy denies any responsibility except in trying to be Jill's friend. Dan knows who raped Jill, but if she doesn't want to talk about it, he won't either. CAST Ron McLarty...........................Sgt. Frank Belson Richard Jaeckel........................Lt. Martin Quirk Brad Dourif.............................Max Lyons Christie Houser........................Jill Weller Trey Wilson.............................Jack Weller Adam Philipson........................Dan Hurley Rocco Sisto..............................Eddie Jihmi Kennedy..........................Chico Barbara Blossom......................Claire Weller Herb Mandell...........................Bald Man Daniel Van Bargen...................Jim Hurley Episode #21: "Hell Hath No Fury" At the annual Career Fair held at the State House for Boston area high school and college students, a visibly agitated, middle-aged man appears, distinctly out of place. But his .45, wildly brandished, soon provides sufficient legitimacy for his presence. Gordon Rudd (PAUL BUTLER) is out for justice, the hard way. He holds the entire Career Fair captive. His demand: he wants the guest speaker on public service, a Massachusetts State Senator, to admit collusive responsibility for the collapse of an apartment building which killed Rudd's young son. But the bereaved father wants more than just the truth. He also commands Boston's popular television news anchor, Karen Cooper (LINDA THORSON), to broadcast live his version of the "criminal" events which led to the death of his boy. A radio news bulletin on the Career Fair hostage story alerts spenser (ROBERT URICH), who speeds to the scene knowing that his girlfriend, school guidance counselor Susan Silverman (BARBARA STOCK), is the moderator for the fair. Arriving, the muscle-hardened private detective assesses the situation and quickly distracts the maddened Rudd. But just as Spenser has soothingly convinced the gunman to give up, a shot blasts past the sleuth and slams into the amateur extortionist, who instantly joins his son in death. A young security guard who fired in panic then watches as Spenser pulls out the clip from Rudd's silent .45. No bullets. Spenser is angry, not only at the needless death of Rudd, but at what the detective senses is a coverup. He teams with Karen, the investigative news anchor, to try and reveal what actually made the Chelsea Towers fall. CAST Ron McLarty...........................Sgt. Frank Belson Richard Jaeckel........................Lt. Martin Quirk Linda Thorson.........................Karen Cooper Lucinda Jenney........................Melissa Brenner Paul Austin..............................Wally Sills Mary-Joan Negro.....................Maggie Petrie Stephen Joyce..........................Ed Farady Paul Butler...............................Gordon Rudd Thomas J. Urich.......................Thomas Madden Gary Klar.................................Roma David Fonteno..........................Washington -+-----------------------+[ 1986 Episode Guide ]+-----------------------+- Episode #1: "Widow's Walk" Deeply hurt by his romantic breakup with Susan, Spenser (ROBERT URICH) seeks solace in his work, a new job that takes him out of Boston to the historic oceanside town of Gloucester. There, he's hired to protect Ellen Calone (MARGARET WHITTON), the recently widowed owner of two commercial fishing boats. Her husband died in a fire-bombing of the third boat that her hotheaded 16-year-old son Tony (NEILL BARRY) blames on a fiercely competitive fishing family, headed by Manuel Almeida (LOUIS ZORICH). To get a handle on the situation, Spenser visits Almeida, who tells him in no uncertain terms to stay out of the matter. When Spenser replies that he won't be scared away, Almeida sics a dog on him. Spenser wards off the animal's attack, but not without suffering injuries to his arm that require a doctor's attention. Later, back at Ellen's house, Almeida's burly, mid-30s sons, Buddy (ED O'NEILL) and Frankie (JOHN FIORE), barge in to reiterate their father's message and end up in a brawl with Spenser and Tony, who's impressed by the way the private eye handles himself by soundly thrashing both Almeidas. But Spenser hasn't seen the last of the Almeida boys. Despite the stern remonstrance of their mother Velma (HELEN STENBORG), Buddy and Frankie return to dockside, taunting Ellen, Tony and Spenser on their return from a hapless fishing venture. The private eye had tried to help widow and son on this outing, but the cable winch that lowers the heavy netting snapped, disabling the boat. The gibes from the Almeidas prompt Spenser to suspect sabotage on their part, but he has no proof. To guard against another possible attack on Ellen's one remaining functioning boat, Spenser spends the night on board. While he is fighting sleep below, an arsonist torches the craft. At first, Spenser attempts to combat the blaze, but as flames consume the trailer, he's forced to dive for safety. But not before he espies Buddy Almeida on the dock nearby. Sensing that it's time he had some muscle of his own for backup, Spenser calls on his strongarm "friend" Hawk (AVERY BROOKS), who agrees to stand sentry over the Calone boats while the private investigator himself sets out with a Gloucester police officer to confront Buddy. CAST Carolyn McCormick.....................Rita Fiori Ron McLarty................................Sgt. Frank Belson Richard Jaeckel.............................Lt. Martin Quirk Margaret Whitton..........................Ellen Calone Neill Barry.....................................Tony Calone Louis Zorich..................................Manuel Almeida Helen Stenborg..............................Velma Almeida Ed O'Neill.....................................Buddy Almeida John Fiore......................................Frankie Almeida Adrian Sparks................................Dom Nesbitt Blaisdell.............................Sam Valette Episode #2: "An Eye For An Eye" Spenser (ROBERT URICH), who has always prided himself on his code of ethics, is understandably bewildered when, from out of his past, a number of former clients, together with various persons involved in his earlier investigations, accuse him of attempted blackmail. In each instance, the intended shakedown target tells of having received a telephone call from a man, identifying himself as the private eye and threatening exposure, or worse, if they fail to meet his demands. The most serious threat to Spenser's safety is posed by underworld kingpin Louis Groton (CHARLES KIMBROUGH), who has already made a $25,000 payment to someone calling himself Spenser's messenger, and who now has assigned a pair of thugs to blow Spenser away. Police have become involved and, in spite of Spenser's long-time personal friendship with Homicide Lieutenant Martin Quirk (RICHARD JAECKEL) and Sergeant Frank Belson (RON McLARTY), they are required to turn his case over to new Assistant District Attorney Rita Fiori (CAROLYN McCORMICK). Aware the investigator's many friends vouch for his integrity, she makes it clear she nevertheless, has to go by the book and it doesn't look good. CAST Carolyn McCormick.....................Rita Fiori Ron McLarty................................Sgt. Frank Belson Richard Jaeckel.............................Lt. Martin Quirk Charles Kimbrough.......................Louis Groton Marg Helgenberger.......................Nancy Kettering Carole Shelley...............................Irene Kent Broadhurst............................Michael Brimson Joshua Mostel................................Leonard Dan Lauria.....................................Harry William Wise..................................Stan Episode #3: "Rockabye Baby" When Murray Peltzer (JAMES BAFFICO), a small-time operator and casual acquaintance, is murdered by mob gunmen, Spenser (ROBERT URICH) feels duty-bound to track down the killer and honor the dead man's last request: that he find and protect a young woman named Michelle Gilbert (SUSAN HESS). From police Lt. Martin Quirk (RICHARD JAECKEL) and Sgt. Frank Belson (RON McLARTY), Spenser learns that Michelle has a checkered past and an involvement in prostitution. Further, he discovers that the gunmen are tied to Frank Bennett (JOHN CULLUM), a syndicate big shot, who word has it, is about to become embroiled in a mob war with another top Boston racketeer, George Cannon (SPIRO MALAS). CAST Carolyn McCormick.....................Rita Fiori Ron McLarty................................Sgt. Frank Belson Richard Jaeckel.............................Lt. Martin Quirk John Cullum..................................Frank Bennett Susan Hess....................................Michelle Gilbert Norman Snow...............................Peter Devane Clarise Taylor................................Miss Emma Janice Rule....................................Mrs. Bennett Spiro Malas...................................George Cannon James Baffico................................Murray Peltzer Episode #4: "White Knight" As a favor to his rival and ally Hawk (AVERY BROOKS), Spenser (ROBERT URICH) travels with him to the small town of Cornwall, New Hampshire, to check out a 22-year-old heavyweight boxer named Benny Haskell (DOUGLAS WERT), in whom Hawk has an investment. The trip proves to be a disaster on two counts. First off, Benny is brutally beaten in a bloody bout witnessed by his 17-year-old fiancee, Laura Findley (PAGE HANNAH), whose disapproving parents are also on hand. Secondly, Hawk is arrested on the charge of carrying a concealed weapon -- his .357 Magnum -- by a zealous sheriff's deputy named Hatch (TOM ATKINS), who claims he was tipped off. Irate, Spenser accosts Cornwall's sheriff, Hollis Cushing (ALAN NORTH), to get the lowdown on Hawk's arrest but instead, gets the runaround. His private-eye instincts tell him that something foul is afoot. Unbeknownst to Spenser, indeed there is: a conspiracy mounted by the distinguished Brahmin Theodore Wilkes (JOE LAMBIE) and Hatch to silence Hawk. That plan involves setting him up to be killed in the Cornwall jail by a hulking cellmate named Sloan (JUDE CICCOLELLA). But, instead, Sloan is himself killed in a fight with Hawk. That puts an end to Spenser's attempts to free Hawk via the intercession of his comely friend in the District Attorney's office, Rita Fiori (CAROLYN McCORMICK). More alarmed now than ever that Hawk's life is in grave danger, Spenser first ensures that Benny and Laura are kept out of harm's way in a deserted lakeside resort called Camp Sunapee. Then, he turns his attention to Hawk, whom he discovers is being secretly transferred by Deputy Hatch out of Cornwall to Concord. Following a hunch that this trip is a ruse to do in Hawk, Spenser tails Hatch and his prisoner, and intervenes just in time to rescue Hawk. Together, they elude the pursuing Hatch by jumping off a bridge into a rushing river, and both are on the run from the law aiming to clear both their names. CAST Carolyn McCormick.....................Rita Fiori Ron McLarty................................Sgt. Frank Belson Richard Jaeckel.............................Lt. Martin Quirk Tom Atkins...................................Hatch Page Hannah.................................Laura Findley Douglas Wert................................Benny Haskell Joe Lambie....................................Theodore Wilkes Alan North....................................Chief Hollis Cushing Bernie McInerney..........................Sam Findley Pamela Burrell...............................Jessie Findley Samuel L. Jackson.........................Leroy Clancy Jesse Doran...................................Joey Thorpe Jude Ciccolella..............................Gus Sloan Episode #6: "The Long Hunt" A quiet dinner between Spenser (ROBERT URICH) and his attractive District Attorney friend, Rita Fiori (CAROLYN McCORMICK), at her apartment, is suddenly shattered by gunfire from outside that ricochets through the place. Pulling Rita to the floor, Spenser returns the shots but discovers that their assailant has vanished into the night. The next day, they're told by police Lieutenant Martin Quirk (RICHARD JAECKEL) and Sergeant Frank Belson (RON McLARTY) that the culprit was one Don Martine (DON REILLY), a simple-minded young man from the Maine backwoods, who had just escaped from the custody of jail guards and was probably out for revenge against Rita, who had successfully prosecuted him for an attempted murder in Boston. Believing that Don is making tracks back to his Maine roots, Spenser heads north, too, to meet with County Sheriff Bayer (MICHAEL CURRIE). No sooner have they linked up than Don is spotted, holed up at a local farm. In the attempt to smoke him out, Don makes a daring getaway, but is nabbed by Spenser -- although it costs him dearly: Spenser's beloved old Mustang is incinerated in the chase. After securing Quirk's permission to escort Don back to Boston to begin his prison term, Spenser is secretly visited by Paul Martine (DREW SNYDER), Don's stoic, terse and quietly menacing father. A trapper trail guide with a rifle crooked in his arm, the elder Martine seeks to reason with Spenser to turn the lad over to him. Spenser stands firm, replying the Don must face justice. Paul leaves, impressing upon the private eye that he'll do anything possible to free his son. True to his word, on the following morning, Paul ambushes the prison bus carrying Don, incapacitates it with his precisely aimed rifle shots, and pins it down on a remote road in the Maine countryside. To encourage Spenser to free Don immediately, Martine pumps more rounds into the immobile bus, sending the other prisoners and chief guard Bob Hagen (J. KENNETH CAMPBELL), out of the vehicle and diving for cover in a nearby ditch. Taking command, Hagen orders his charges on a march through the woods to a town some 10 miles away in total disregard for Spenser's advice. Reluctantly, Spenser handcuffs Don to a cold-blooded killer named Tanner (ARNIE MAZER) and joins the group, which also numbers scared teen-aged car thieves Wyatt Casey (JOHN GILBERT) and Joannie Isaac (LISA FEDERICO), a hooker called Linda (DAWN DAVIS), and another injured guard, Crebbs (ROBERT SWAN). It appears as if they've lost Paul Martine, but more shots ring out at the huddled group. It's becoming doubtful the group will make it to town before dark, and Spenser convinces Hagen that nightfall is when Martine will make his move on the huddled group. Spenser calls a powwow with their dogged pursuer. In exchange for Paul's promise that he'll refrain from shooting at them, Spenser gives his word that he'll make sure that Don gets safely back to Boston. But circumstances invalidate Spenser's pledge. CAST Carolyn McCormick.....................Rita Fiori Ron McLarty................................Sgt. Frank Belson Richard Jaeckel.............................Lt. Martin Quirk Drew Snyder.................................Paul Martine J. Kenneth Campbell......................Deputy Hagen Don Reilly.....................................Don Martine Michael Currie...............................Sheriff Bayer Robert Swan..................................Virgil Crebbs Episode #7: "Home Is The Hero" As a favor to his winsome friend in the District Attorney's office, Rita Fiori (CAROLYN McCORMICK), Spenser (ROBERT URICH) agrees to check out one of her personal concerns: an athletic, recalcitrant, 17-year-old named Kevin Moran (TIM GUINEE), who has apparently dropped out of school and also out of a "Fresh Start" program, designed to get wayward youths back on the right track. Rita has good cause to worry. Unbeknownst to her or to Spenser, Kevin has involved himself with Frank Scanlon (GREGORY SALATA), a well-heeled hoodlum, who, like Dickens' Fagin, uses desperate kids like Kevin to foster his own illegal concerns and ill-gotten gains. CAST Carolyn McCormick.....................Rita Fiori Ron McLarty................................Sgt. Frank Belson Richard Jaeckel.............................Lt. Martin Quirk Tom Guinee..................................Kevin Moran John Spencer.................................Joe Moran Gregory Salata..............................Frank Scanlon Leon Russom................................Brad Stiles Lauren Holly.................................Emily Brown Frankie Scasso...............................Mario Peter Maloney................................Red Donnelly Episode #8: "One If By Land, Two If By Sea" At a colorful, authentic reenactment of the Battle of Lexington, a man named Joe Kelly, who's posing as Paul Revere, is shot and killed by a musket ball while riding his horse. Spenser (ROBERT URICH) is at the scene and, because Kelly was his good friend, he promises Joe's widow Catherine (SUZY HUNT) that he'll follow up on the bizarre incident. Spenser doesn't think it could possibly be foul play, but police Lt. Martin Quirk (RICHARD JAECKEL) and Sgt. Frank Belson (RON McLARTY) aren't so sure. For one thing, Joe's brother Michael (STEPHEN JOYCE) stands to inherit a $2-million life insurance policy that would bail out his failing toy business. For another, Joe's bank account shows some large numbers that are even too big for his work as a tax lawyer. Quirk's thought that Kelly could have been into something illegal stirs Spenser's ire, which is further provoked by Hawk (AVERY BROOKS), his streetwise friend, who tells the shocked private eye that Joe had mob connections and, at one time, even had a contract out on his life. CAST Carolyn McCormick.....................Rita Fiori Ron McLarty................................Sgt. Frank Belson Richard Jaeckel.............................Lt. Martin Quirk Donal Donnelly.............................Mr. Martin Stephen Joyce...............................Michael Kelly Margaret Hilton............................Mrs. Martin Suzy Hunt.....................................Catherine Kelly Robert Gerringer...........................Mr. O'Grady Dee Hoty.......................................Sarah Brown Casey King....................................Beauregard Peter Boyden.................................The Maitre 'D James Kiberd.................................Lewis Johnson Episode #9: "Shadowsight" In the historically eerie city of Salem, Mass., where the colonists once burned witches, Spenser (ROBERT URICH) and Hawk (AVERY BROOKS) arrive on separate purposes: the private eye to locate a missing judge, who's haunting the dreams of 12-year-old Chrissy Cabot (KIM HAUSER), and his companion to get away from an enraged teenager named Willie Conroy (CLAYTON PRINCE), who's out for revenge against Hawk for putting him out of the drug-dealing business. Spenser drops Hawk off at a house that doubles as the occult shop of his lady friend, Nina (TAMARA TUNIE). He then meets with Lucas Cabot (JAMES HURDLE) and his wife Sarah (PAT RICHARDSON), the anxious parents of young Chrissy, who is presently visiting with the friendly local florist, Gallagher (KEVIN CONROY). Spenser learns that Chrissy's dreams concern the pursuit of the judge from his burning house by an indistinct man in heavy boots, who apparently lets the magistrate drown in a pond. What is real about the dream is that the judge's house did burn down, and shortly thereafter, he turned up missing. CAST Carolyn McCormick.....................Rita Fiori Ron McLarty................................Sgt. Frank Belson Richard Jaeckel.............................Lt. Martin Quirk Kim Hauser...................................Chrissy Cabot Kevin Conroy................................Gallagher Pat Richardson...............................Sarah Cabot James Hurdle.................................Lucas Cabot Tamara Tunie.................................Nina Colin Fox.......................................Father Brendan Christopher Loomis........................Costigan Jon Tenney.....................................Garrett Nicholas Kepros.............................Chaplain Clayton Prince................................Willy Fern Dorsey....................................Jennifer Episode #10: "The Hopes and Fears" Caught up in the swirl of the yuletide season, Spenser (ROBERT URICH) and his district attorney friend, Rita Fiori (CAROLYN McCORMICK), are Christmas shopping in the private eye's neighborhood, which also bustles with good spirits. Suddenly, the buoyant mood is shattered by a gang of masked thugs. Led by a wild-eyed tough named Hank (STEPHEN BRACKLEY), they ransack a private home and beat up its occupants before making their getaway, which is witnessed by a neighborhood newcomer, 13-year-old Andy Chandler (SETH GREEN). Especially since it's his turf, Spenser resolves to nab the gang. He's encouraged in this quest by police Sgt. Belson (RON McLARTY) and Belson's nephew, Charley Horn (JACK GWALTNEY), a rookie cop on the beat. Patrolling the area, Spenser takes time to talk with Andy's stepfather, Dan Chandler (GEORGE DiCENZO), whose outrage and concern are palpable. Spenser also encounters Hawk (AVERY BROOKS), who has his own ax to grind with these thugs: they stole some very valuable jewelry from him. Spenser visits the nearby grade school to try to gain more information from Andy, but the boy is unable to clearly identify the hoodlums. Andy's teacher, Hal McGraw (DAVID S. CHANDLER), voices his concern for the safety of his pupil and offers to personally walk him home from class. Later, at home, Spenser and Rita take time out from tree-trimming to go for a bite to eat at the local deli. There, the wanton gang hits again. But this time, they're thwarted by a brave young dining patron named Maggie (NANCY TRAVIS), who tears off Hank's mask. Spenser and Rita arrive on the scene, just as Hank readies to shoot and kill Maggie. Hurling a crate at the deli's glass door, Spenser succeeds in distracting Hank, but he can't catch up to him and his cohorts, who escape. Just as this furor is subsiding, Andy's distraught mother, Jane Chandler (CORDIS HEARD), runs up to tell Officer Horn that Andy has mysteriously disappeared. Police Lt. Quirk (RICHARD JAECKEL) is quick to point out that this incident is probably just an unfortunate coincidence, so Spenser turns his attention to Maggie. He learns that she is pregnant (the father has run off), that she lives alone, and that she is determined to stay in her apartment, despite the fact that Hank could return. Impressed by her resolve, Spenser next follows up on the case of the missing Andy. The logical lead is the teacher Hal McGraw, who was the last to see the boy. Spenser is convinced that he knows nothing of the lad's disappearance, but the police aren't. They pick up McGraw because his record shows a child-molesting arrest six years ago. Even though the suspect is soon released for lack of evidence, McGraw is later hassled at a local tavern by Dan Chandler and other parents, threatening violence. At the behest of Mrs. Chandler, Spenser comes to the aid of McGraw, whose past record, he discovers, was trumped up. In the meantime, Hawk has tracked down some of his jewelry to a store run by an ex-fence named Andre (GILBERT LEWIS). He's got a lead to run down, but Spenser prevails on him for another assignment: a stakeout of Maggie's residence. The young woman felt she had been followed home, and indeed she was -- by Hank, who reconnoitered the place so as to strike again. Now Maggie agrees to act as "the cheese in the trap" to lure Hank. When he does return, the vigilant Spenser and Hawk nail him. Under grilling at police headquarters, Hank hangs tough, refusing to turn in his malicious compatriots. On a hunch, Spenser heads for Maggie's place, where his suspicions are well-founded. The gang is there to link up with Hank. Instead, they're engaged in a shootout with Officer Horn, who is wounded in the exchange. Hawk arrives, too, to help seal the thugs' fate. In the true spirit of Christmas, all ends well. Andy returns on his own, explaining to his stepdad that he took a bus to Syracuse to buy a special Christmas present for his mom. And Maggie is feted with a gala yuletide party organized by Spenser, who toasts her bravery as the neighborhood folks gather round. CAST Carolyn McCormick.....................Rita Fiori Ron McLarty................................Sgt. Frank Belson Richard Jaeckel.............................Lt. Martin Quirk George DiCenzo...........................Dan Chandler Nancy Travis.................................Maggie Ellis Jack Gwaltney...............................Charlie Horn Seth Green....................................Andy Chandler John Bell.......................................Tim Sullivan David S. Chandler.........................Hal McGraw Lynne Thigpen..............................Mrs. Jarvis Stephen J. Brackley.......................Hank William Parry................................Tom Sullivan Cordis Heard................................Jane Chandler Gilbert Lewis................................Mr. Andre David Kieserman..........................."Pop" Donnelli Episode #11: "Among Friends" A police setup of Boston mobster Tommy Flaherty (DAVID O'BRIEN) catches him in the act of trying to bribe a cop. Also nabbed is Flaherty's hired bodyguard/chauffeur Hawk (AVERY BROOKS). Of course, the influential Flaherty quickly makes bail, but Hawk has a longer wait until his sparring partner and sometimes associate, private detective Spenser (ROBERT URICH), can spring him. Even then, Hawk has to listen obediently to some behavioral words of warning from police Lt. Marty Quirk (RICHARD JAECKEL) and Sgt. Frank Belson (RON McLARTY). In the meantime, Flaherty gets an unwelcome visit at his palatial, tightly secured estate from a muscular, very imposing, young black man named Tyrone Blackwell (BADJA DJOLA), who sneaks in, roughs up one of the ganglord's burly enforcers, then offers his services to Flaherty in place of Hawk. The mobster turns him down, though he's suitably impressed by Tyrone's "flash." But he's really impressed later by what Tyrone does to take some heat off the police investigation: Dressed like Hawk, the flashy, reckless Blackwell shoots and critically wounds Quirk. What's more, Hawk is mistakenly identified as the gunman by an eyewitness -- Belson. While Quirk's condition stabilizes and Hawk remains out of sight to hide out from the police dragnet, the revengeful Belson hauls in Flaherty for a grilling on Quirk's shooting. But prosecutor Rita Fiori (CAROLYN McCORMICK) is sure that Frank is endangering her case against Flaherty, whom she insists be released. Out of friendship and trust for Spenser, Rita turns over to him surveillance reports of Flaherty's activities in the protection racket. These the private eye hopes to use to turn Flaherty against his new collector, Tyrone -- whom both he and Hawk saw in action and know is the man who shot Marty. Spenser puts his plan into action. He takes money from the till of a collection mark of Flaherty's and tells the shop owner that he's working for Tyrone. When word of this gets back to Flaherty, the mobster attempts to strong-arm Blackwell back into line, but the powerfully built hoodlum easily handles Flaherty's car, killing his chief enforcer. Fearing for his life, Flaherty appeals to Spenser to get Tyrone off his back. To this end, he tells the private investigator where Tyrone can be found on his evening collection rounds. Spenser and Hawk locate Tyrone who spots and eludes them. Hawk reveals that he recognizes Blackwell as the "psycho boy" who tried to kill him ten years ago. "It's me he wants, and it's me he's gonna get. It's a one-man party now, Spenser." Sgt. Belson, however, has other ideas. Since a ballistics test completely clears Hawk of shooting Lt. Quirk, the sergeant now wants Blackwell for himself. The showdown occurs in an abandoned theater, where Blackwell grabs Belson as a hostage to halt the gunfire from Hawk. This resourceful, calculating man, however, is not deterred. Taking advantage of a sudden shift in Tyrone's movements, Hawk fires his nickel-plated .357 Magnum and takes out Tyrone with one shot, leaving Belson tremulous and awestruck. Justice is further served in the case of Flaherty, who, fearing reprisal from Hawk, agrees to turn State's evidence on the indictments against him in exchange for protective custody. CAST Carolyn McCormick.....................Rita Fiori Ron McLarty................................Sgt. Frank Belson Richard Jaeckel.............................Lt. Martin Quirk Badja Djola...................................Tyrone Blackwell David O'Brien...............................Tom Flaherty Episode #12: "I Confess" In the middle of the night in a deserted alleyway in Boston's seedy "combat zone," diner employee Morton Fuller (JAMES MURTAUGH) witnesses the fatal shooting of wealthy banker John Anthony by two flashily attired Caribbean's, Bosquez (MACHISTE) and Lunza (PAUL CALDERON). A van happens on the scene just as the gunmen open fire on Fuller. Scared off by the van, the killers burn rubber to get out of the area. After the van speeds away, Fuller approaches Anthony's body. With the murder weapon in hand, Fuller is arrested by the arriving cops to whom he confesses having committed the crime. Spenser is hired to investigate the validity of Fuller's confession by Fuller's parish priest, Father O'Conner (STEPHEN BURLEIGH), who doesn't believe it. Spenser (ROBERT URICH) is assured by police Lt. Quirk (RICHARD JAECKEL) and Sgt. Belson (RON McLARTY) that the confession makes the case an open and shut one. Unconvinced, public defender Linda Verrain (OLIVIA VIRGIL HARPER) states that the college-educated Fuller, now her client, has no police record at all. But prosecutor Rita Fiori (CAROLYN McCORMICK) is nonetheless readying for trial, urged on by her superior Bernie Jessman (JOHN KORKES), who cites the case's underlying political pressures: the victim had married into the well-to-do, influential Canning banking family. Undaunted, Spenser sticks to Fuller's case, won over by the plight of the accused's wife, Karen (PAMELA PAYTON-WRIGHT). She recounts how her marriage suffered and how her husband lost jobs as a result of the depression that descended on him following the death of their only son in a car accident. Probably, Fuller confessed to the slaying on a self-destructive impulse, which is why he won't accept any help in his own defense. But Fuller may have gone too far in his death wish: he is knifed in jail by another inmate. While Spenser convinces the wounded Fuller to retract his confession and tell the truth, the two killers meet with the man who contracted them: Edward Niles (SPALDING GRAY) -- the murdered man's boss in the foreign-investments department at Canning Bank. Now that he's out on bail, Fuller is in jeopardy from the killers whom he can identify. Spenser persuades Hawk (AVERY BROOKS) to protect Fuller. Then, the private investigator heads for the Canning mansion, where his attempt to glean information from Anthony's widow, Elizabeth (MARITA GERAGHTY) is rebuffed icily by her mother, the imperious matriarch Vera Canning (PATRICIA ELLIOT). Spenser returns to town to keep watch over the Fuller home. Together with Hawk, he repels a surprise attack by Bosquez and Lunza in a gun battle in which Bosquez is killed and Lunza flees. That bloody incident prompts the terrified Karen to pack her belongings and leave her husband. Meanwhile, the anxious Spenser probes for a lead from Niles, whose nervousness makes the investigator very suspicious. At the same time, Elizabeth has unwittingly uncovered the illegal link between her husband and Niles in hidden records of bank transactions which Vera seizes. While Hawk baby-sits Fuller, who is suicidally despondent over his wife's departure, Spenser tracks down the van spotted at the murder site. Facing criminal charges of a different sort, the van's driver gives Spenser the license plate number on the killer's car -- it's parked right in front of Niles' office. Vera visits Niles at the bank. She has learned he had Anthony killed for muscling in on his racket of laundering drug money through the bank. In return for Niles' resignation and to protect the family name, Vera won't go to the police. Niles can't take that chance, however, and, with gunman Lunza, breaks into the Canning mansion to kill Vera and Elizabeth. The assassins are foiled, though, by Spenser and Hawk, who have trailed Niles' auto. Cleared, yet still deeply troubled, Morton Fuller finally owns up with the truth to Karen: he fears he may have contributed to the death of his son, a passenger in his car. As she tenderly comforts him, Spenser and Father O'Conner reflect that the strength of their love may very well bring about a reconciliation. CAST Carolyn McCormick......................Rita Fiori Ron McLarty.................................Sgt. Frank Belson Richard Jaeckel.............................Lt. Martin Quirk James Murtaugh............................Morton Fuller Pamela Payton-Wright...................Karen Fuller Olivia Virgil Harper.......................Linda Verrain Marita Geraghty............................Elizabeth Canning Anthony John Korkes..................................Birney Jessman Paul Calderon................................Lunza Stephen Burleigh...........................Father O'Conner Spalding Gray...............................Edward Niles Patricia Elliot................................Vera Canning Episode #13: "Murder and Acquisitions" While waiting in line at the courthouse to pay some traffic violations, Spenser (ROBERT URICH) picks up an unlikely client: Sgt. Frank Belson (RON McLARTY), who hires the private eye to find his lost wallet. It contains a lottery ticket that qualifies Frank to roll the wheel on TV's "Big Spin" to win anything from $10,000 to $2 million. Because Belson's plight strikes a sympathetic chord, Spenser takes the case-- for 10% of Belson's winnings. Following the cop's itinerary on the day he lost the billfold, Spenser first stops off at the hot dog stand outside the courthouse, where the vendor says he hasn't seen the wallet. Meanwhile, Belson is onto a case of his own: an investigation into the mysterious death in an auto crash of corporate executive Phillip Bodman, who was about to turn state's evidence in a probe of inside trading of stock information. Legwork takes the sergeant to an exclusive auto showroom, whose pompous dealer assures Belson there was nothing mechanically wrong with Bodman's new car that would have caused a crash. Continuing his search for the billfold, Spenser calls on Bodman's posh Beacon Hill townhouse, where he hopes to make a quiet inquiry without disturbing the family's grief. However, he's mistaken for a funeral director and gets caught up in the middle of an argument between Bodman's widow, Cynthia (E. KATHERINE KERR), and college-age daughter, Lisa (DANIELLE VON ZERNECK). Finally dismissed by Cynthia, Spenser then uses Belson's passkey to check out Bodman's office. There, he winds up in a fistfight with a man who turns out to be a Federal agent named Todd Wallace (JAMEY SHERIDAN). It isn't until later that Spenser learns Wallace is an old flame of his friend, Rita Fiori (CAROLYN McCORMICK). Wallace is trying to woo her back with a job offer in Washington, D.C. After a warning from Lt. Quirk (RICHARD JAECKEL), Spenser withdraws from Belson's case -- only to be hired on by Lisa Bodman, who suspects her father's death was a homicide. Spenser asks Hawk (AVERY BROOKS) to help him out and nose around for an "invisible partner" -- a stock-market trader who could have killed out of fear that Bodman was going to squeal. CAST Carolyn McCormick.....................Rita Fiori Ron McLarty................................Sgt. Frank Belson Richard Jaeckel.............................Lt. Martin Quirk E. Katherine Kerr..........................Cynthia Bodman J.T. Walsh.....................................Andrew Lawford Danielle Von Zerneck....................Lisa Bodman Jamey Sheridan..............................Todd Wallace Rob Morrow..................................Danny John Madden Towey......................Bruce Huber Episode #14: "Personal Demons" A recommendation from his district attorney friend, Rita Fiori (CAROLYN McCORMICK), lands Spenser (ROBERT URICH) a new client: Carolyn Tomlinson (BLANCHE BAKER), the very beautiful and bright director of the African Famine Foundation. She is convinced that Foundation administrator David Mukende (LARRY FISHBURNE), an East African himself, is siphoning off millions of relief dollars into his own pocket through his African artifact import business. Carolyn wants Spenser to find Mukende and provide evidence that he is indeed the criminal. CAST Carolyn McCormick......................Rita Fiori Ron McLarty.................................Sgt. Frank Belson Richard Jaeckel..............................Lt. Martin Quirk Blanche Baker................................Carolyn Tomlinson Larry Fishburne..............................David Mukende Dick Latessa..................................George Kendrick Christine Farrell.............................Brenda Reston Ruby Dee.......................................Eleanor Simpson Episode #15: "Mary Hamilton" Thanks to police Sgt. Belson (RON McLARTY), Spenser (ROBERT URICH) picks up a new client named Mary Hamilton (MELISSA LEO). The cop retrieved her handbag from a would-be purse-snatcher. Later, at the station house, he learns the spunky 19-year-old has just arrived on the bus from a small Texas Panhandle town in search of her father, Billy Joe Hamilton (JIMMIE RAY WEEKS), an irresponsible wastrel currently employed by mobster-turned-thoroughbred-horse trainer Jackie Coyle (DAVID LEARY). While calling on Coyle at the racetrack to ascertain the whereabouts of Billy Joe, Spenser discovers that his friend, Hawk (AVERY BROOKS), is also in the big shot's employ: to protect Coyle from another murder attempt. Billy Joe, it turns out, cares for Coyle's stock in the stables. Spenser interrupts an argument between Billy and Max Ordella (EARL HINDMAN), a seedy loan shark to whom Billy Joe is in debt. After Ordella leaves, Spenser plays the good old boy to get Billy Joe to loosen up about Mary and his family. But this ne'er-do-well is so unconcerned that Spenser has to restrain himself from decking him. Back at his home in the company of Mary and his friend, prosecutor Rita Fiori (CAROLYN McCORMICK), the private investigator repeats Billy Joe's conversation. Mary takes what her dad said in stride. She reiterates her necessity to see him in order that he might sign some papers ceding the land he owns in Texas to his family. CAST Carolyn McCormick......................Rita Fiori Ron McLarty.................................Sgt. Frank Belson Richard Jaeckel..............................Lt. Martin Quirk Melissa Leo....................................Mary Hamilton Jimmie Ray Weeks.........................Billy Joe Hamilton Earl Hindman.................................Max Ordella Patricia Charbonneau.....................Linda David Leary...................................Jackie Coyle John Christopher Jones..................Fred Taylor Randall Edwards............................Betsy Episode #16: "Trial and Error" Hired by a distraught father named Don Clemens (BARTON HEYMAN) to find his teen-aged runaway daughter Janie, Spenser (ROBERT URICH) combs Boston's "combat zone," a sinister area populated mostly by criminals, pimps and streetwalkers. In a tidy apartment in a battered building, the private investigator finds Janie -- dead -- apparently murdered. At the crime scene, police Lt. Quirk (RICHARD JAECKEL) and veteran vice cop Terry Vogel (TREY WILSON) are quick to point the guilty finger at Arnie Wexler (JACK COULTER), a sleazy pimp for whom Janie worked as a prostitute to earn money for her ballet lessons. But proving it, as Sgt. Belson (RON McLARTY) points out, is "...going to be tough. We've got no witnesses and no murder weapon." Adding to their difficulties is the fact that Wexler has disappeared. CAST Carolyn McCormick......................Rita Fiori Ron McLarty.................................Sgt. Frank Belson Richard Jaeckel..............................Lt. Martin Quirk Episode #17: "One For My Daughter" Private Investigator Spenser (ROBERT URICH) and his friend Hawk (AVERY BROOKS) have their hands full protecting Bo Braxton (LARRY RILEY), a 35-year-old black man and low-budget filmmaker who is hard-drinking, irresponsible, unpredictable -- and in debt to a psychotic mobster named Doggie Thorpe (DAVID STRATHAIRN) to the tune of $60,000. Speaking of money, neither of these self-styled bodyguards is getting dime one for the job, which Hawk took out of a longstanding friendship with Bo's ex-wife Callie (MARGARET AVERY), an administrative chief in the District Attorney's office. Callie's position gives her access to Spenser's prosecutor friend, Rita (CAROLYN McCORMICK), whom she asks to intercede on her behalf for police protection from Lt. Quirk (RICHARD JAECKEL). That's because threats against her ex-husband make her fear for her life too, as well as that of their teen-aged daughter Jessie (PAM POTILLO). CAST Carolyn McCormick......................Rita Fiori Ron McLarty.................................Sgt. Frank Belson Richard Jaeckel..............................Lt. Martin Quirk Larry Riley.....................................Bo Braxton Pam Potillo.....................................Jessie Braxton David Strathairn.............................Doggie Thorpe Rocco Sisto....................................Sonny Stroud Margaret Avery..............................Callie Braxton Episode #18: "My Brother's Keeper" A brief romantic encounter between Spenser (ROBERT URICH) and Rita (CAROLYN McCORMICK) is interrupted by the arrival, on the private investigator's doorstep, of a well-dressed Vietnamese gentleman named Long Van Linh (ISAO SATO), who hires Spenser to find an "old friend": Brad Griffin (JORDAN CLARKE), a one-time Marine lieutenant whom Long fought alongside in Vietnam 17 years ago. Despite the fact that Brad is now a famous writer living in the Boston area, Long is having difficulty tracking him down. Spenser approaches Brad's agent, Joan Cahill (FRAN BRILL), who explains that Brad's latest work -- a wrap up of his Vietnam trilogy -- has driven him into complete seclusion. But Joan is won over by the plight of Spenser's client and, since she is Brad's wife as well, she agrees to take Spenser and Long out to meet her husband. The reunion goes instantly sour. Brad recognizes Long as a hanger-on in the employ of racketeer Tommy Nguyen (MAKO), who has dispatched Long to remind Brad that Nguyen doesn't want the writer to publish his new work which exposes illegal activities in the U.S. Vietnamese community. CAST Carolyn McCormick......................Rita Fiori Ron McLarty.................................Sgt. Frank Belson Richard Jaeckel..............................Lt. Martin Quirk Michael Countryman......................Nick Griffin Fran Brill........................................Joan Cahill Jordan Clarke.................................Brad Griffin Isao Sato........................................Long Van Lihn Mako.............................................Tommy Nguyen Beatrice Winde...............................Delia Johnson Tom Matsusaka..............................Phan Episode #19: "The Road Back" Hired as a bodyguard for a young, dedicated, and honest state-senatorial candidate named Dan Mahaffey (KIP NIVEN), Spenser (ROBERT URICH) accompanies the politician to a depressed area of Boston. Here, Mahaffey speaks out against slum landlords like Karl Shore (DAVID MARGULIES), who is evicting the mostly impoverished black tenants from one of his seedy buildings. When a young boy protests the goings-on, one of Shore's thugs starts slapping him around -- and Spenser, in turn, roughs up the hoodlum, much to the chagrin yet grudging admiration of Shore. However, Spenser's stand at the tenement could place him in jeopardy from the same moneyed interests out to get Mahaffey. Indeed, at his apartment that night, Spenser gets a threatening phone call from a mysterious source; it angers him and, at the same time, frightens his dinner date and friend Rita Fiori (CAROLYN McCORMICK). The call is an omen of trouble yet to come. The following day, a rooftop sniper fires at Mahaffey and Spenser. The private eye espies the gunman, pushes the politician out of harm's way, and gives chase to the shooter. Unbeknownst to the private investigator, there are two gunmen: French-Canadian brothers. In the pursuit, Spenser catches the one brother off guard and kills him. But then Spenser, himself, is caught unaware and shot by the other, who leaves him for dead. Fortunately, Sgt. Belson (RON McLARTY) is close by and gets the seriously wounded Spenser into an ambulance and off to a hospital, where the private eye later discovers from Dr. Hambrecht (TONY SHALHOUB) the gravity of his condition: the nerve damage is severe enough to his right arm that, even with therapy and surgery, he may never be able to use it again. CAST Carolyn McCormick......................Rita Fiori Ron McLarty.................................Sgt. Frank Belson Richard Jaeckel..............................Lt. Martin Quirk Kip Niven......................................Dan Mahaffey David Margulies.............................Karl Shore Tony Shalhoub...............................Dr. Hambrecht Heather Menzies............................Mrs. Westmore Frank Whaley.................................Evicted Boy Episode #20: "If You Knew Sammy..." Patronizing his favorite neighborhood bookstore, private investigator Spenser (ROBERT URICH) is chagrined to see its affable, well-read proprietor, Larry Sills (BILL COBBS), playing host to a promotional appearance by Sammy Backlin (SAL VISCUSO), the bombastic, bragging author of .357 Justice, a chronicle of his vigilante-style killing of three would-be attackers in Florida that resulted in his serving an 18-month jail sentence. Amidst crowding at the height of the hoopla, a gunman fires at Backlin, missing him but wounding Sills. Spenser dives upon the would-be assassin and is knifed in the ensuing struggle, while the bumbling Backlin draws his weapon and scatters his fire, unwittingly abetting the gunman's escape. Recovering in a hospital, Spenser is visited by Sammy, who brings along a TV news crew to record his heaping of thanks on the private eye. Provoked into action, Spenser tosses out the entourage and Backlin, but not before the blowhard tries to hire the private investigator to protect him. Sammy may have good cause to worry: his car is later fire-bombed and, as Spenser learns from Lt. Quirk (RICHARD JAECKEL) and Sgt. Belson (RON McLARTY), Sammy has disappeared. Not even his brash yet spirited publicist Randy (KATE BURTON) knows where he is. CAST Carolyn McCormick......................Rita Fiori Ron McLarty.................................Sgt. Frank Belson Richard Jaeckel..............................Lt. Martin Quirk Sal Viscuso....................................Sammy Backlin John Seitz......................................Duke Fallon Bill Cobbs......................................Larry Sills W.H. Macy....................................Effrem Kate Burton...................................Randy Andrew Clark................................Hugo Pedro Sanchez...............................Gang Leader Episode #21: "The Man Who Wasn't There" In the early evening in an older, quiet, residential neighborhood of Boston, a fiery explosion suddenly rips through a darkened, second-story apartment. More than just another incidence of big-city violence, this episode strikes a bizarre chord in assistant District Attorney Rita Fiori (CAROLYN McCORMICK). She tells private investigator Spenser (ROBERT URICH) that the man who died in the blaze has been identified as one Caspar Marley -- a fictional character she and four other college students created as a prank eight years ago using the school's computer. Asked by Rita to investigate Marley's death, Spenser first visits the fire scene. There, he learns from Sgt. Frank Belson (RON McLARTY) that Marley's body was burned beyond recognition. No one in the apartment building remembers having seen him nor could they describe him. Next, Spenser calls on Thomas Oliver (TOM URICH), an alumni-relations administrator at Rita's college. From him, the private eye obtains the Boston addresses of three of Rita's conspiratorial classmates. The time has come for Rita and Spenser to fill Lt. Martin Quirk (RICHARD JAECKEL) in on the situation -- which has just shifted to homicide: the coroner reports that the victim, Marley, died before the fire, from a blow to the head. CAST Carolyn McCormick......................Rita Fiori Richard Jaeckel..............................Lt. Martin Quirk Tom Urich.....................................Thomas Oliver Paul Guilfoyle.................................Ross Bates Jay Patterson..................................Al Sheen Peggy Smithhart.............................Lissa Thomas John Rothman................................Stanley Michaels Richard Backus..............................John Thomas Reg E. Cathey................................Shephard David Pierce...................................O'Neill Steve Ahern....................................Camp Officer Episode #22: "Song of Orpheus" Uncomfortably attired in a tuxedo, Spenser (ROBERT URICH) is ill at ease among Boston's moneyed elite at a charity fund-raiser, but he's trying hard to please his date, assistant District Attorney Rita Fiori (CAROLYN McCORMICK), who is having a grand time. Professionally, too, Rita thinks she's on top of the world: She's getting information from a well-placed secret source that could help her topple mobster Jake Williams (GEORGE LOROS). Warning her to be careful, Spenser takes renewed interest in the party when he spots a familiar face -- Hawk (AVERY BROOKS) -- whom Rita is amazed to learn, was also invited to the gathering. But Hawk can't stop and chat with Spenser because "it's payday" from his present employer, whom he doesn't reveal is Jake Williams. Hawk should have remained at the party. At the wharfside restaurant where he meets Williams' men, Hawk smells something fishy as the deal is going down. Before he can counter, the thugs get the drop on him and ready him for a gangland execution -- which Hawk tries to evade by making a break for it. On the run, he's gunned down by Sonny Lucovick (ANDREW DAVIS) and a guy named Latta (OLEK KRUPA) who watch, along with Sonny's horrified cousin, Billy Hanratty (JOHN PANKOW), as Hawk's body plunges into the bay. As the days pass, Spenser becomes increasingly concerned by his friend's absence. He talks with Jock (LEONARD JACKSON), the custodian, at their favorite hangout, Cimoli's Gym. Jock hasn't seen Hawk. Nor has Archie Greco (TOM BRENNAN), a bookie who wants to clear a $1500 debt to Hawk. As Spenser converses with Greco, shots suddenly ring out from a passing sedan. The private eye glimpses at the triggerman, Latta. Greco is wounded. Spenser, though uninjured, thinks the bullets were meant for him. His suspicions are not shared by police Lt. Quirk (RICHARD JAECKEL) and Sgt. Belson (RON McLARTY). Meanwhile, the private investigator wonders aloud if this is all linked to Hawk's disappearance. Then Spenser gets some bad news: his friend Hawk is thought to be dead. CAST Carolyn McCormick......................Rita Fiori Ron McLarty.................................Sgt. Frank Belson Richard Jaeckel..............................Lt. Martin Quirk John Pankow..................................Billy Hanratty George Loros.................................Jake Williams David O'Brien................................Tom Flaherty Leonard Jackson.............................Jock John Hutton....................................Bendix Roger Serbagi.................................Dunleavy Andrew Davis................................Sonny Lucovick Olek Krupa....................................Latta Liann Pattison................................Millie Tom Brennan.................................Archie Greco Angela Logan.................................Hawk's Lady -+-----------------------+[ 1987 Episode Guide ]+-----------------------+- Episode #1: "Homecoming" Hired by dying judge Emmett Cavanuagh (GEORGE MARTIN) to protect his only son Nick (JAMEY SHERIDAN) from vengeful mobster Gus Harley (WILLIAM HICKEY), private investigator Spenser (ROBERT URICH) encounters trouble almost immediately. Nick, who has been living in Canada thanks to a witness relocation program, is returning to Boston to see his ailing father. On a highway outside Boston, while driving Nick home, the private eye is attached by gunmen in Harley's employ. It takes some fancy maneuvering by Spenser to elude the henchmen, then reunite Emmett with Nick, who has been hiding out for the pat five years because of evidence he obtained as a Boston cop that sent Gus's youngest son Kevin (DAVID PATRICK KELLY) to the slammer for drug-dealing. It's now apparent that Nick needs a safe place to stay, so Spenser turns to his sometimes associate Hawk (AVERY BROOKS). Hawk also agrees to set up a meeting between Emmett and Gus, the two patriarchs on opposite sides of the law. For his part, Gus would like to strive for a resolution without violence. He conveys this to Kevin in prison and to his eldest son Georgie (TIMOTHY CARHART), an impetuous hothead whom his father has to restrain from fighting Hawk during the setup of the rendezvous. As the meeting time approaches, Spenser links up with Police Lt. Quirk (RICHARD JAECKEL) and Sgt. Belson (RON McLARTY), who fill the private investigator in on some other pertinent facts in the Nick Cavanaugh-Kevin Harley case: specifically, that an anonymous source tipped Nick off to Kevin's criminal activities. At the showdown itself, the hoped-for truce between the judge and the mobster erupts in a swirl of gunfire initiated by Georgie. The bullets miss their mark and send Spencer scurrying back to regroup at his apartment. Here, he's surprised to share a bittersweet reunion with Susan Silverman (BARBARA STOCK), his former girlfriend, who left him a year ago but has now returned to work things out. Also still determined to work things out, Emmett secretly sets up a one-on-one session with Gus, who apologizes for Georgie's rashness. In private, the two long-time enemies come to terms: the judge will work for Kevin's parole if Gus promises no harm will come to Nick. Emmett wants Nick and his family to return home to Boston. To show his good faith, Emmett relieves Spenser of his job safeguarding Nick. But the private eye still senses trouble afoot. Following up on his intuition, Spenser goes to the prison to question Kevin, who reveals that he was surprised he got nailed because the Harley organization had a rogue cop named Lee Kazek (HARRY S. MURPHY) on the take reporting to the family. Soon after Spenser leaves, Kevin is stabbed to death by an inmate in the prison yard. Kevin's brother Georgie blames a conspiracy planned by Emmett and Spenser, and his heartbroken father, Gus, plaintively and reluctantly echoes Georgie's call for revenge. Warned by Belson that he could be marked a man, Spenser is consoled by Susan's reassurance that she'll stick with him through this crisis. Spenser and Hawk are then briefed by Nick that it was an unknown woman who tipped him off to Kevin's criminal activities. Following up on this clue, the private investigator grills Kazek, who identifies the mystery woman as his go-between with the Harley organization. Tracking her down to her address, Spenser and Hawk observe her arm-in-arm with none other than Georgie Harley, now the mob's heir apparent. Painful though it may be, Spenser and Hawk confront Gus with their conclusions that, out of jealousy, Georgie set up his own brother to take the drug-bust fall so that he could take over the organization. CAST Ron McLarty .....................................Sgt. Frank Belson Richard Jaeckel...................................Lt. Martin Quirk William Hickey ..................................Gus Harley George Martin....................................Emmett Cavanaugh Timothy Carhart.................................Georgie Harley James Sheridan...................................Nick Cavanaugh David Patrick Kelly.............................Kevin Harley Harry S. Murphy.................................Lee Kazek Jimmy Nicherson ................................Ollie Episode #2: "My Enemy, My Friend" To pressure a recalcitrant low-level gangster named Leo (JAY BLIZTMAN) for information, private investigator Spenser (ROBERT URICH) and sometimes associate Hawk (AVERY BROOKS) are operating side-by-side. The enraged hoodlum suddenly lashes out at Spenser with a knife, wounding him before the private eye lets loose with a punishing backhanded slap. Now humiliated, Leo threatens retaliation, prompting Hawk's desire to finish him off, then and there. But the detective cools off his ally who admits that Leo is, after all, Spenser's business. As Hawk leaves, he tells Spenser, "Time comes, it's my business...don't need you telling me how to do it" -- a prophetic warning, as it turns out. While Spenser seeks the tender loving care of his girlfriend, Susan (BARBARA STOCK), Hawk frequents a jazz nitery. Here, he runs into 16-year-old Bobby Waters (KADEEM HARDISON), an engaging yet roguish hustler who idolizes the suave, tough figure whom he's known since he was a child. For his part, Hawk feels protective toward the teenager. That's why he's disturbed when he sees Bobby huddling with two real mean hoodlums named Monroe (JOHN FINN) and Harris (TIM de ZARN). To determine what's going on, Hawk later seeks Bobby out at Pride Center, an inner-city youth organization Bobby attends, the same place where Susan works part-time. But here, Hawk is turned away as a suspicious character by Greg Bronson (DARYL ROACH), a caring Pride Center counselor, who thinks Bobby is smart and talented enough to break out of the ghetto. But that's not to be. For Bobby has locked himself into a drug deal as the middle man for two rich youths anxious to buy cocaine from Monroe and Harris. But the deal goes sour. Conned and cheated, the young men are shot to death by Monroe and Harris, who also wound Bobby as he flees the scene., Now the horror-stricken teen finds himself in the middle again -- between the mobsters who want to kill him, and police Lt. Quirk (RICHARD JAECKEL) and Sgt. Belson (RON McLARTY) who seek him as a material witness. Meanwhile, Spenser has tracked Bobby down on his own, but before he can take the boy to the police, Hawk appears. As Bobby flees with Mac, Spenser and Hawk engage in a knockdown brawl that ends when they are hauled into the police station house for disturbing the peace. Unconvinced that his safety lies in running off to Florida with his dad, Bobby breaks loose and heads for the Pride Center., rummaging for funds to make a getaway on his own, Bobby comes upon Greg, who has been badly battered by Harris and Monroe, who are still looking for their quarry. Bobby phones for help for Greg, then runs off again. Released on bail after their tussle, Spenser and Hawk learn of Bobby's disappearance and agree to forget their argument and team up to find him. Acting on tip, they draw out of a low-life drug addict named Ned (SAMUEL L. JACKSON), Hawk and Spenser force their way into Harris and Monroe's hideout, where they expect the teenager has gone to settle the score on his own. Combating a barrage of gunfire from the assembled thugs, Spenser and Hawk are soon reinforced by a contingent of cops that include Belson, who gets the drop on Monroe. Bobby had gone to the cops, after all, to turn in the young men's killers. Taking stock afterwards, Spenser, Susan and Greg hope for leniency from the court for Bobby, who leaves open the chance for a new beginning with his dad. There is also a rapprochement of sorts between Hawk and Spenser, who realize that "healing can bring much...a deepening of care and respect." CAST Ron McLarty .....................................Sgt. Frank Belson Richard Jaeckel...................................Lt. Martin Quirk Kadeem Hardison ..............................Bobby Waters Daryl Roach.......................................Greg Bronson Samuel L. Jackson..............................Ned John Finn ...........................................Monroe cleavant Derricks................................Mac Dickerson Tim de Zarn........................................Harris Daniel Beer ........................................Jack David Youse.......................................Larry Episode #3: "Heart of the Matter" On his way home from work Lt. Martin "Marty" Quirk (RICHARD JAECKEL) interrupts a package-store robber in progress and chases the suspect, a 20-year-old ruffian named Sean Winston GARY McLEERY), who shot the proprietor, down alleys and back streets. The fast pace takes its toll on Quirk. His racing pulse and aching chest force him to let uniformed offices apprehend Sean. Quirk finally shows up at a dinner party his wife Katie (SHIRLEY KNIGHT) arranged with private investigator Spenser (ROBERT URICH) and his girlfriend Susan (BARBARA STOCK). Marty looks so worn out that his spouse and guest quietly voice concern among themselves over his health. At the police station the next day, Quirk has two unsettling encounters. One is with Sean, who was caught, and despite facing murder charges because of the proprietor's death, is out on bail. He audaciously dares Quirk to testify against him. Another confrontation is with Clay Rogers (WILLIAM CONVERSE-ROBERTS), a parolee who once squared off against Quirk in a shoot-out in which Marty killed Clay's brother. Clay had so severely wounded a cop that the officer became a paraplegic. On the advice of Clay's parole officer, George Murphy (RICHARD GANT), Rogers is going to make every effort to go straight. At least, that's what he tells Marty. Returning home from an evening out, Quirk and Katie dive for cover in their car, parked outside their home, as their auto is riddled by gunfire from a passing vehicle. Is this more than random violence? Sgt. Frank Belson (RON McLARTY) thinks so. When he can't persuade Lt. Quirk to accept police protection, Belson asks Spenser if he'll keep a secret surveillance on the lieutenant. Out of his long friendship with Marty, Spenser is glad to oblige, even though he hears an overture from Hawk (AVERY BROOKS) on a deal in Dallas that could pay each of them $100 a day as security guards. Yet Spenser is needed more than ever to help Marty, whose stress finally brings on a heart attack. Recuperating in a hospital, Quirk gets a grave prognosis from Dr. Harriet Dartman (TANYA BEREZIN): "Retire -- or you'll die a lot sooner than you expected." While Quirk mulls over her words, Spenser prevails upon Hawk to help him locate Sean, whom Belson believes shot at Marty and provoked his condition. Yet, after they grill the hoodlum, Spenser and Hawk are sure he wouldn't have the nerve to go after a police officer. Only Quirk knows the truth: Clay Rogers is behind the threats -- and they're continuing with telephone calls to Quirk's house since his hospital discharge. Though Quirk puts up a stoic front, Katie senses that something is amiss and confides in Susan. She in turn tells Spenser, to whom the shaken Quirk reveals Rogers' name. The private eye and Hawk hatch a plan to hound Rogers. As Spenser puts it, "Clay gets irritated enough, he either makes his run at Marty, and we put him out. Or, he makes a run at us, and we put him out." Clay makes a run at Spenser, all right, and the private investigator knocks him about like a punching bag. In the meantime, Quirk had decided to retire, and he nominates Belson to replace him. The Captain has other ideas and brings in hard-nosed Lt. Nicholas Webster (KENNETH WELSH), who wastes no time in throwing Spenser out of his niche in the station house. Spenser is further bothered by Clay's parole officer, George Murphy, who threatens to have the detective's license revoked for harassing Rogers. Spenser and Hawk begin phase two of their plan: pretend they've followed Murphy's orders and wait for Rogers to make his move. He does. Hawk sees him assembling a couple of armed hoodlums for what could only be a surprise attach on Quirk in his home. Spenser briefs the retiring lieutenant on this probability. He suggests Marty and his wife take their oft-postponed vacation right away, while he prepares an ambush for Rogers. Quirk refuses to leave town early but offers to take his wife out to dinner to keep her from danger. As anticipated, Rogers' gunmen arrive at the Quirk home and are forcefully subdued in the fray. As Quirk arrives home, Clay is shot to death by his very target, Quirk, in a one-on-one showdown. Police arrive on the scene and Katie embraces her husband. Spenser says his own reflective good-bye to Marty Quirk, a man of conviction and courage. CAST Ron McLarty .....................................Sgt. Frank Belson Richard Jaeckel...................................Lt. Martin Quirk Kenneth Welsh....................................Lt. Nicholas Webster William Converse-Roberts...................Clay Rogers Gary McCleery....................................Sean Winston Shirley Knight......................................Katie Quirk Tanya Berezin......................................Dr. Dartman Richard Gant........................................George Episode #4: "On The Night He Was Betrayed" Riding through the so-called "combat zone" of Boston on their way back from a football game, private investigator Spenser (ROBERT URICH), his girlfriend Susan (BARBARA STOCK), and police Sgt. Frank Belson (RON McLARTY) spot a local priest, Father Mike Hoyt (JAMES REBHORN), running like a man on a desperate mission. Sensing danger, Spenser takes off after him and follows Father Mike to an adult bookstore. Here, a tussle ensues involving a young man named Champ (JACK GWALTNEY) and several thugs, who try to stop the priest from going upstairs. With help from Spenser, Father Mike makes it to his destination -- but it's too late to save a 14-year-old boy from a fatal drug overdose. As Father Mike gives last rites, Champ and the other hoodlums are hauled away by the arriving police, headed up by a detective named Grady (THOMAS KOPACHE) and his partner Ramos (GIANCARLO ESPOSITO). Also there to give solace to Father Mike is a young woman named Sharon (LAURA SAN GIACOMO), whom he had helped in the local shelter he once ran for troubled youths who were preyed upon by the drug pushers, pimps, and prostitutes that populate the "combat zone." Later, Sharon comes to the side of the inconsolable priest at a sleazy bar where he is drowning his sorrows in booze. As Father Mike gets increasingly inebriated, bitter, and angry, he lashes out verbally and physically at the bar patrons and winds up out of control. The next morning, Father Mike phones Spenser to ask for his help. He's afraid that in his drunken stupor he might have killed someone. That shocking revelation wakes Spenser from his reverie: he had been dreaming about a boyhood friend, whom he learned had suddenly passed away. CAST Ron McLarty .....................................Sgt. Frank Belson James Rebhorn....................................Father Hoyt Jack Gwaltney.....................................Champ Giancarlo Esposito..............................Ramos Thomas Kopache................................Grady Brent Collins.......................................Doc Laura San Giacomo.............................Sharon Sean Kemery.......................................Young Spenser David Seamen......................................Charlie Moon Mary Fogarty.......................................Harriet Episode #5: "Sleepless Dreams" On his way to a stakeout where he's been working with Hawk (AVERY BROOKS) for the past thirty-six hours straight, weary private investigator Spenser (ROBERT URICH) has a chance encounter with a young woman named Laurie (TRINI ALVARADO), whom he recognizes as the figure he has spotted in the window opposite his apartment. Shortly thereafter, the private eye and his friend badly botch the stakeout detail, and Spenser retires to his apartment to get some much-needed sleep. There, he once again spots Laurie in the window. Before he can make a move to stop her, the young woman leaps from the window ledge in a suicide attempt. As fate would have it, an awning breaks Laurie's fall; but, as reported to Spenser by Sgt. Frank Belson (RON McLARTY) of the police department, the girl has been taken to the hospital in critical condition. Haunted by the images of her plunge, Spenser takes it upon himself to find out why she leaped -- a question that's complicated by the fact, according to Belson, she was living under a phony name. For starters, Spenser searches Laurie's apartment, where he finds examples of her work as a book illustrator, including pictures of himself as the knight Roland, the most famous of Charlemagne's paladino, and other shadowy drawings expressive of a woman in turmoil. He also finds a business card that leads him to the hotel address of Harry Slade (RON RYAN), a rough but well dressed private eye in his 40's, who is in no mood to give Spenser any information. So, Spenser opts to tail Slade when he leaves the hotel in the company of a broad-shouldered bodyguard named Redd Naples (JOHN ELIJAH BAUMAN). That's a big mistake on Spenser's part. The duo spots him after a short car chase that winds up with Spenser being punched out by Redd's solid, gloved fist. Bruised, but undaunted, Spenser later breaks into Slade's hotel room and obtains a copy of Slade's hotel bill, from which he gets a lead on an often called long-distance telephone number to the San Diego residence of a family named Kincaid. Next, Spenser tracks down Slade and Naples to a meeting I a posh Boston hotel with Keith Kincaid (JOHN BEDFORD LLOYD) and his wife Tracy (CHERRY JONES). Passing himself off as Slade's associate, Spenser works his way into the Kincaid suite for a private meeting with Tracy, a boozing, bitter young woman, who relates that her husband had hired Slade to find his sister Laurie, a missing person for almost two years. Before she can say more about Laurie's fragile emotional state or why she tried to disappear, Slade and Redd enter the suite. This time, though, Spenser gets even with Naples, flattening him with one powerful punch. Taking time out for a rendezvous with his girlfriend Susan (BARBARA STOCK), Spenser still can't sleep or get the image of the tormented Laurie out of his mind. He is so obsessed with the case that he's almost run over by a truck while on his way to visit the now-conscious Laurie in the hospital. There, Laurie begins shrieking and pleading uncontrollably upon seeing Keith Kincaid who arrives moments after Spenser. Determined to get to the truth, Spenser angrily confronts Slade and Naples -- who are both gunned down and killed by a unknown snipe in hit-man style, leaving Spenser even more baffled. So, too, is Belson's new boss Lt. Nicholas Webster (KENNETH WELSH), who demands that the private eye back off the case. But that won't happen since Belson has come up with the background from which Laurie's torment stems: at 14 she witnessed her mother being stabbed to death by a killer who has never been found. Taking his new-found information to Kincaid, Spenser finds the man hostile and more anxious than ever to take Laurie back to San Diego with him -- or have her committed to a mental institution. Frustrated and helpless, Spenser displays his anxious state to Susan, who convinces him that he needs immediate rest or he'll go over the edge. Just then, shots are fired into Spenser's apartment, sending him and Susan ducking for cover. Quick on the scene to return the fire, Hawk tells Spenser he wounded the sniper, then reconnoiters to find the gunman dead of his wounds. Meanwhile, Spenser retraces his steps to Tracy Kincaid. Drunk and dazed, she recounts the "deep, dark family secret" her brother has been covering for her all these years: Laurie Killed her own mother. Tracy says Keith is presently at the airport preparing to spirit Laurie away to San Diego in a private jet. Still unsettled an concerned for Laurie's safety, Spenser rushes to the airport and blocks Kincaid's flight. With moral support from Spenser, Laurie blurts out the real family secret: it was her brother Keith who killed their mother and forced to lie. The facts fall into place for Spenser who realizes Keith hired an assassin to shoot at him and to murder Slade and Naples who threatened blackmail. Keith's face takes on a frenzied look as he reaches for his gun. A struggle ensues between Spenser and Kincaid. The gun goes off and Keith is slain with his own gun. "For Laurie," Spenser reflects, "the nightmare had ended. Time would pass, and with it would come healing. For me, release would come in sleep." CAST Ron McLarty .....................................Sgt. Frank Belson Trini Alvarado....................................Laurie Kincaid Cherry Jones......................................Tracy Kincaid Ron Ryan...........................................Harry Slade John Bedford Lloyd............................Keith Kincaid Kenneth Welsh....................................Lt. Webster John Elijah Bauman............................The Man Episode #6: "Consilium Abditum" Musing about his beloved Boston from the vantage point of a towering skyscraper, private investigator Spenser (ROBERT URICH), ever the shining white knight, steps in to defend the honor of a comely young woman named Ruth (ELLEN FOLEY) from her boyfriend Stan (ARNIE MAZER), a hulking brute who has just given her a vicious thwack, and threatens more violence, until Spenser takes him out of commission. Meanwhile, Spenser's girlfriend, Susan (BARBARA STOCK), is in dire need of having her own honor defended: she has fallen prey to the sleazy come-ons and sexual harassment of her thesis advisor, psychology professor Robert Dorian (PETER MICHAEL GOETZ). Although she rebuffs him, Susan is shaken by the encounter, especially by Dorian's calculating attitude and veiled threats. Storming out, she vows to file a complaint with the college's Board of Conduct. Spenser gets more out of his good Samaritan efforts than he bargained for. A former boxer, Spenser is astonished to learn from Sgt. Frank Belson (RON McLARTY) of the police department, the he's facing charges of assault with a deadly weapon -- his fists -- from Stan and Ruth, who claim he attacked them. Spenser's indignation tells Susan that this is no time to reveals her problems with the professor, so she turns instead to Spenser's sometimes associate, Hawk (AVERY BROOKS). Angry in his own intense and stoic way, Hawk beards the lion in his den, slapping Dorian about in his office to make sure he gets the point not to mess around again with Susan. Dorian won't; because, he has somebody else to do his dirty work for him: a psychotic ex-con named Carl Shearson (DAVID SCHRAMM), whom Dorian is now treating -- and manipulating -- as a private patient. Realizing Susan has become a problem for him, Dorian seeks Carl's help to obtain a permanent solution. Still unaware of Susan's plight, Spenser gets more welcome news from Sgt. Belson. It seems that Stan, who's pressing charges against Spenser, has a long police record -- specifically in insurance fraud. Armed with this knowledge and anxious to avoid a long trial, Spenser persuades Ruth to agree to change her story or face prosecution for perjury. Now that Spenser is in the clear, Susan tells him over the phone about her run-in with Dorian. Still, she is sure she can handle the matter on her own. What she doesn't count on, however, is a surprise visit that night from the crazed Carl, out to do Dorians bidding. Susan finally manages to yell for help from passers-by, and that sends Carl scurrying. Physically battered and emotionally scarred, Susan receives comfort from Spenser, who rushes to her side. Despite this terrifying experience, Susan still is determined to proceed with her case against Dorian to the university's Board of Conduct. In a session, presided over by Professor Peters (HANSFORD ROWE), Susan presents her testimony, which is forcefully discredited by Dorian, who labels her charges "malicious fantasy" and her character that of a very troubled personality. She locates a past student of Dorian's, Dr. Gloria Blackmon (LESLIE LYLES), who confesses that she submitted to the professor but can't bring herself to testify now out of concern for her family and career. As Susan presses on with her cause, Spenser and Hawk seek out the assailant. Since the attack occurred so soon after her confrontation with Dorian, a link to him seems a logical consequence. And when a prison warden (TED KAZANOFF) confirms that Dorian worked with prison inmates who had a history of violence towards women, the link seems sealed. Hawk steals Dorian's appointment book, which gives Spenser and Hawk a lead on Carl. Initially, Carl gives them the slip, but his apartment yields a bonanza of grisly evidence; electronic bugging devices, audio tapes he's made of his attacks, and tapes of his conversations with Dorian. With Carl's tapes and Dr. Blackmon's change of heart, Susan has all the ammunition she needs for the conduct board to castigate Dorian, who also faces enough felony charges to make a long prison term a certainty. Vindicated and happy, Susan shares her joy with Spenser, who is likewise proud of her courage and strength. CAST Ron McLarty .....................................Sgt. Frank Belson Peter Michael Goetz............................Peter Dorian Hansford Rowe...................................Prof. Peters Ellen Foley..........................................Ruth Arnie Mazer........................................Stan David Schramm......................................Carl Leslie Lyons.............................................Dr. Blackmon Episode #7: "Thanksgiving" Plymouth, Massachusetts truly takes Thanksgiving seriously as the townspeople dress in 17th Century garb and impersonate the original Pilgrims. This greatly increases the holiday's atmosphere for visitors, and for Boston private detective Spenser (ROBERT URICH), the town is the best possible place to celebrate a traditional Thanksgiving. Having the beautiful Susan Silverman (BARBARA STOCK) along to share those cold, New England nights really adds to the overall pleasure of the event. But murder doesn't. A young woman is found dead on the shore of a nearby lake. Her credit cards and money are missing from her purse. the Plymouth police figure it's a clear cut case of robbery and murder. Their only lead is a camper with Michigan plates was seen near the scene about the time of the murder. While sightseeing with Susan near the Mayflower replica, Spenser's attention is drawn to a large man. Could it be? Yes, it's Mike Kaminski, an Army lifer Spenser inadvertently gave early retirement to by permanently injuring the burly man in the boxing ring. A painful memory for Spenser, he nevertheless greets his old puglistic adversary, and a tentative reunion ensues. Mike (ROBERT SWAN) introduces Susan and Spenser to his wife, Etta (MARY JOAN NEGRO), and kids. Life has been particularly unkind to the Kaminskis -- outrageous medical bills, unemployment and a foreclosed home have forced them to travel the country looking for work. It doesn't seem much like Thanksgiving, especially when the Plymouth police rush up and roughly arrest Mike for murder. It was in the Kaminski camper that stolen credit cards from the dead woman were found. Susan takes charge of a distraught Etta and the children, while Spenser confronts Mike in the Plymouth jail. The Vietnam War veteran admits taking the money and credit cards. Desperate, he didn't know how else he was going to feed his family. But, he forcibly states, he hasn't sunk so low as to kill -- the woman was already dead when he came upon her. Believing Mike's story, Spenser investigates the dead woman's background. Wife of Plymouth's leading citizen, Alfred Devon, Senior, she was only recently married, after divorcing a third-rate Boston crooner name Tony Romano. Spenser has Hawk (AVERY BROOKS) check out the singer and discovers that vast sums of money were being poured into the singer's newly purchased nightclub. Spenser's own investigation reveals that the voluptuous woman was also forty years younger than her wealthy husband, as well as several years younger than her stepson, Alfred, Jr. (RICHARD BACKUS), whose inheritance was vastly decreased upon his father's marriage. Suspects abound. The private detective combs the murder scene and while looking for clues upon the sandy shore, Spenser is brutally attached by a marauding motorcyclist, swinging a tire iron. Only a haphazard gunshot from the dazed detective drives the helmeted and visored assailant away. Spenser reports the incident to the Plymouth police Officer George Huntley (RON FRAZIER) who reveals that the evidence from Mrs. Devon's autopsy shows that she was killed by a high velocity blow, similar to the one sustained by Spenser. The object now is to flush out the murderous motorcyclist. Meanwhile, Mike Kaminski is clear of the murder charges and freed on bail, though he still faces robbery charges. Alfred, Sr. (GEORGE EDE) unexpectedly invites Spenser to his mansion. The aging millionaire denies any connection with his wife's murder. However, he was aware of her monetary generosity to Romano. But, for the old man, it was a small price to pay for happiness. Returning to Boston, Spenser and Hawk quickly pay a visit to Tony Romano's club. The place is shuttered, but in the alley is parked a motorcycle -- with a bullet hole in it. The tough investigators burst in on Romano (DAVID GROH), who sits alone at the empty bar, drinking and casually holding a gun. The singer smiles at the intruders. Sipping his drink, Romano relates the plan he and his wife had devised t scam the infatuated Alfred, sr. The scheme worked brilliantly, as the old man fell for the beautiful woman while Romano collected the cash. But then disaster struck; the lovely young woman actually fell in love with Alfred, Sr. Roman's money supply abruptly stopped. Frantic, Romano pleaded with his ex-wife for more cash. She refused. Enraged, Romano Killed her. With the pitiful Romano properly behind bars and hoping to sing in prison sage shows, Spenser offers to help Mike find a job. And, as Spenser shares the news that a job is waiting for Mike after the holiday weekend, the celebration of thanks for the Kaminski's is now truly complete. CAST Ron McLarty .....................................Sgt. Frank Belson Robert Swan......................................Mike Kaminski Ron Frazier........................................George Huntley Mary-Joan Negro...............................Etta Kaminski George Ede........................................Alfred Devon, Sr. Richie Devaney..................................Mike Danielle Harris...................................Tara Episode #8: "Gone Fishin'" Spenser (ROBERT URICH) is fed up with the way things are going for him lately. First of all, a woman named Helen (DEBRA JO RUPP), with whom he had been friends for ten years, had hired him to spy on her philandering husband. Finally faced with the truth about her unfaithful spouse, she angrily turns on Spenser. Secondly, his apartment is burglarized. To cool off and get a new lease on life, the detective determines to head out into the Berkshires for a weekend getaway -- even though he can't talk his girlfriend Susan (BARBARA STOCK) into accompanying him. Just as he's all packed up and set to go alone, a timid, teenager apparently well-to-do preppie named Thad (STEVE DRURY) appears on his doorstep seeking protection. Unfazed by promises of double salary, Spenser advises the lad to seek out Hawk (AVERY BROOKS) for a bodyguard. At curbside, however, a shotgun blast from a passing car shatters Spenser's car window and sends Thad scurrying. Perhaps Thad is in real trouble. After reporting the burglary and the drive-by shooting episode to Sgt. Belson (RON McLARTY) of the police department, Spenser heads off to his Berkshire retreat with Susan, who changed her plans to tag along. Still, trouble follows Spenser: his car is stolen while he and Susan are sharing a bucolic picnic, causing them to have to walk to their rented cabin in the pouring rain. Even at the cabin site the couple encounter difficulties: the proprietor, Tally (RICHARD EARLE), had difficulty locating Spenser's reservation. Then, finally ensconced in front of a crackling fire, the couple's romantic interlude is suddenly squelched by the surprise arrival of Hawk and Thad, who burst into the cabin followed by a hail of gunfire. After the unknown gunmen depart, Thad relents to tell his story. It involves Janet De Franco (MARITA GERAGHTY), the love of his life, and her bullying father Lou (DAVE MARGULIES), the wealthy owner of a pest-control business. Lou is so outraged that his precious daughter is pregnant by Thad and intends to marry him that Lou had called upon an ace hit man named Lucas Cantrell (MICHAEL LOMBARD) to scare off the kid. CAST Ron McLarty .....................................Sgt. Frank Belson David Margulies.................................Lou De Franco Michael Lombard...............................Lucas Cantrell Rutanya Alda.....................................Estelle Marita Geraghty.................................Janet Steve Drury.......................................Thad Martha Gehman...................................Louanne Debra Jo Rupp...................................Helen Episode #9: "Child's Play" A warm, sunny Sunday in Boston -- perfect weather for football -- and the Patriots are in town. Private investigator Spenser (SPENSER URICH) is happily escorting the lovely Susan Silverman (BARBARA STOCK) to the football game. But, before going to the stadium, a side trip to a newsstand is required. Spenser promised to stop by and get some information from his friend, the blind vendor, Eddie (JACK MARKS). As Spenser and Eddie confer on the crowded sidewalk by the newsstand, gunshots startlingly ring out. Eddie goes immediately down, mortally wounded. Spenser covers Susan, while pulling out his gun. The burly detective spots a man in a blazer holding a pistol. He fires at the fleeing man, who runs into a nearby warehouse. The building is dark and empty. Spenser cautiously moves inside, alert for any sound. Footsteps are heard retreating. A shadow appears in the distance. The glint of a gun barrel is clearly seen pointing at Spenser. The detective fires first, and the shadow figure goes down with a thud. Moans slowly draw the grim Spenser to the inert figure of a plaintive young teenager, dressed in a private school blazer, blood pouring from his chest. But the killer who shot blind Eddie was a tall man. Who is this boy? Spenser sadly looks on as an ambulance pulls away with the wounded boy, identified as Harry (JASON KRISTOFER). Boston homicide Sergeant, Frank Belson (RON McLARTY), then relays the horrifying news to Spenser that the boy didn't have a gun. Now, a court inquiry will have to be held to determine the private cop's responsibility in the shooting. Faced with an unknown killer, and severely questioning what he thought he saw in the warehouse, Spenser goes to the hospital to check on young Harry's condition. It is grave. The teenager's widowed mother, Mrs. Fontana (HELEN CAREY), is understandably distraught. She is being comforted by her neighbor William Reed (GERRY BAMMAN), who loudly blames Spenser for being a trigger-happy gunman, who unnecessarily caused an innocent kid to be critically shot. Checking the street rumors for Spenser, his streetwise muscle-for-hire friend Hawk (AVERY BROOKS) discovers that both Eddie and the detective were targets of a hitman, who was hired by a thug put in prison Spenser on a tip from Eddie. That gives the "why" of the shooting, but the unknown "who" still stalks the private investigator. Keeping a vigil at the hospital, Spenser meets Harry's best friend, Jimmy reed (PETER SMITH), the son of the Fontana's antagonistic neighbor. In talking with the teenager, trying to find out why Harry was in the empty warehouse, Spenser senses fear from Jimmy. Adamantly denying any knowledge of Harry's actions, Jimmy rushes out of the hospital. On the way to Susan's, Spenser narrowly escapes another attempt on his life. The detective also experiences a conflict of conscience, as he holds back firing at his assailant in a crowded street. Hawk wonders if Spenser is losing the e needed edge for survival. The next order of business is not a test of Spenser's reactions but the court hearing. the detective is reluctantly exonerated by the judge, who rules the shooting accidental. But Spenser is then on the receiving end of diatribe by Jimmy's father, Mr. Reed, who vows the matter is not over. Retracing his steps on the day of the shooting, Spenser finds a battered tin can full of bullet holes and spent bullets in the nether regions of the warehouse. The haze suddenly begins to clear from the investigator's anguished mind. Spenser then confronts Jimmy Reed and his father with the tin can and the bullets. This forces Mr. Reed to bring forth a family heirloom, an old pistol that Spenser shows was recently fired. cornered, Jimmy reveals that took the forbidden gun from his father's closet. Jimmy and Harry then went to the warehouse for target practice. There, they unfortunately got caught in the shutout, with Harry getting a bullet in the chest. Frightened, Jimmy took the pistol from his friend's hand and ran home, leaving Harry helplessly bleeding. Even with the truth known, Spenser feels little satisfaction. He still has to live with having shot an innocent kid. Perhaps getting Eddie's killer would help ease the pain. Albert (GARY MORGAN), the frustrated hitman, calls Spenser to arrange a meeting to settle the score between them. the detective agrees to the site, a boathouse on the Charles River. Knowing the hitman's reputation, Spenser brings Hawk as backup. In a furious battle on the Charles, using automatic weapons and powerboats, Albert is severely wounded, but will live to stand trial. And, as Spenser holsters his weapon, he shares a slightly satisfied smile with Hawk. However, the pleasure in nailing a killer is quickly erased when Spenser learns that young Harry has died. Spenser knows that he will carry the agony of that boy's death for a great many years, in what is an already heavily burdened heart. CAST Ron McLarty .....................................Sgt. Frank Belson Gerry Bamman...................................William Reed Norman Mattock................................Lt. Garrison Helen Carey.......................................Mrs. Fontana Gary Moorage.....................................Albert Peter Smith........................................Jimmy Jason Christopher..................................Harry Michael Saunter................................Cabby Jack R. Marks...................................Eddy Episode #10: "Skeletons in the Closet" A routine case of blackmail involving one of Boston's most prominent judges turns into a mystery for private investigator Spenser (ROBERT URICH). Hired by Judge Jason Kingsley (E. G. MARSHALL) to retrieve a "little black book" that could reveal his support of the world's oldest profession, Spenser encounters Alfie Cates (BOYD GAINES), a ne'er-do-well opportunist who is in possession of the book. The judge is willing to pay dearly to insure his private life doesn't become public. He has given Spenser an envelope full of money to give to Cates. The hustler, however, wants more money before turning over the book. Spenser gives him an envelope and Cates promises to be in touch. Not about to turn over the money unless he's given the book, Spenser gives Cates an envelope...one containing play money. Spenser later tracks down Cates to a bar he frequents. There, Spenser meets a small-time hooker named Eileen (JUDITH HOAG), who Spenser learns is the judge's stepdaughter. Cates stubbornly refuses to give up possession of the book until he receives $20,000. Eileen registers surprise that Cates is blackmailing her father. A violent argument erupts. She escapes from the cruel and belligerent Cates with the help of Spenser, who offers her a safe haven at his girlfriend Susan's (BARBARA STOCK). There, Eileen bemoans her life style and deteriorating relationship with Cates, who she realizes had lied to her all along. Eileen denies the importance of the book. She tells Spenser her father is a "pious old fake" who gets paid good money to lock people up for something he got away with -- the murder of her mother! This sheds new light on Spenser's now-complex investigation, which has also come to involve his friend Hawk (AVERY BROOKS), a man Cates has turned to for help in bringing down Judge Kingsley. Hawk has his own personal reasons for getting involved, but surprisingly, he urges Spenser to stay off the Kingsley case and away from Cates. Spenser, however, means to learn the details of Mrs. Kingsley's death. Spenser finds evidence of a cover-up by coroner Robert Kelford (BRUCE DONALDSON), who found something peculiar during the autopsy, yet later claimed it had been a mistake. Upon a visit to Kelford, Spenser notes a photo on the doctor's wall of Kelford and Kingsley together. After his visit, Spenser tails the very nervous Kelford to a racquetball court where Kingsley and he talk privately. The two are obviously concerned Spenser is getting too close to the truth. Meanwhile, a thug named Dennis (JIM CONNORS) tails Spenser's every move. Eventually, Spenser learns the thug is Kingsley's bodyguard. On Kingsley';s orders, Dennis attempts to retrieve Eileen at Susan's apartment, but Spenser knocks him out cold and has him arrested. With the judge's help, Dennis is back on the streets in no time. In the meantime, Hawk's personal vendetta against Kingsley, and his desire to get his hands on Kingsley's book, prompts him to make a deal with Cates. Convinced Hawk is working for him, Cates orders Hawk to kill both Kingsley and Spenser. Eileen finally agrees to let Spenser help her. She claims information from her father's book caused her mother's distress the night of the so-called accident that killed her. As Kingsley's enemies prepare to close in on him, Hawk and Spenser arrange a scenario that throws everyone off guard. Later, at a sleazy bar, Kingsley and Dennis arrive to discuss the payoff with Cates, who is flanked by Hawk. Cates first requests that Kingsley call off the bothersome Spenser. Kingsley agrees Spenser must be eliminated. Even Kingsley is surprised when Spenser suddenly appears from out of the shadows and is shot by Hawk. Wrapping Spenser's seemingly dead body in a blanket, Hawk puts it in his car for disposal. As Hawk drives away, losing Cates and Kingsley in the process, it becomes clear that Spenser is very much alive. Spenser learns the reason behind Hawk's vengeance: Hawk's sister is among the women named in Kingsley's little black book. Although he refuses to tell Spenser what happened, Hawk states that Kingsley might as well have put a bullet in her heart. That night, Eileen arrives at her stepfather's courthouse office with a gun in her hand to avenge her mother's death. Hawk arrives just in time. He orders Eileen out of the room and takes care of business in his own way. Police arrive at the courthouse, summoned by Spenser. Meanwhile, he captures Cates, who drops the much-sought after book as he's being apprehended. Spenser retrieves the book and turns over Cates and the book to the police. Just then, two gunshots are heard. They came from the judge's office. Police converge on the office and find the body of the dead judge. Eileen's gun, which hasn't been fired, is in Kingsley's hand. Spenser confronts Hawk, who has emerged from the building undetected by the police. He hands Hawk a page from the book -- the page concerning Hawk's sister. Though Hawk will have some explaining to do, it appears he shot the judge in self-defense, or so he will say. As for Eileen, she intends on moving to another city to start her life anew. THE CAST Ron McLarty .....................................Sgt. Frank Belson Boyd Gaines.......................................Alfie Cates Judith Hoag........................................Eileen Kingsley Elain Graham......................................Jess E. G. Marshall....................................Judge Jason Kingsley Liz Whitcraft......................................Annie Episode #11: "The Seige" Private investigator Spenser (ROBERT URICH) and his sometimes friend and associate Hawk (AVERY BROOKS) are recruited by the lovely Susan Silverman (BARBARA STOCK) to help mail Christmas packages for one of her favorite charities. While Susan and Hawk wait in line at the post office for service, Spenser makes one last trek to the car for a final load of packages. Inside the post office, as they move closer to the postal clerk's window, Hawk and Susan notice something peculiar taking place inside the postmaster's office. Suddenly, a gun shot rings out and three heavily armed men run out of the office. An alarm goes off. All the customers fall to the floor, many screaming with fear. A guard fires his revolver at the fleeing robbers. He is quickly and lethally cut down. Hawk sees the guard killed; he then pulls out his gun and shots at the man's killer. He misses. He doesn't get another chance. The elegant gun-for-hire is hit by one of the robber's bullets and severely wounded in the side. As Susan covers an anguished Hawk with her own body, another of the armed men bolts shut the only exit. The three failed robbers are now locked in the fortress-like post office with a dead man and a dozen hostages, one bleeding profusely. Spenser is caught on the outside where he looks on helplessly as police arrive to set up barricades and take sniper positions on nearby roofs. The hostage negotiator, Sgt. Frank Belson (RON McLARTY), allows Spenser to listen in on the proceedings once a telephone linkup with the post office is established. The distraught private cop hears the robbers' leader, Mickey (JOHN SHEPARD), demand $100,000 and a helicopter or the hostages will be murdered, one-by-one. CAST Ron McLarty .....................................Sgt. Frank Belson John Shepard......................................Mickey Richard Brooks...................................Robert Andrew Davis.....................................Sal MacIntyre Dixon................................Higgins Leonard Jackson.................................Larry Nadine Hart........................................Marsha Joe Aufiery.........................................Officer Fielding George Guidall...................................Captain Samuels Episode #12: "Arthur's Wake" When private detective Spenser (ROBERT URICH) was a Boston Police rookie, he absorbed all there was to know about being a streetwise cop from one of the best, Sgt. Arthur Reynold (FREDERICK NEUMANN), a tough, friendly, poetry spouting man-in-blue, whom people respected and liked. Arthur, long since retired and living alone in his South Boston neighborhood, still maintains his overtly gregarious ways with fiends and strangers alike as he takes a casual walk carrying a canvas bag. At peace with himself and the world, the pensioned ex-cop is taken totally off-guard by two young muggers who mercilessly beat him into giving up the canvas bag. In the struggle, the bag rips open, revealing thousands of dollars in tightly wrapped packages. Spenser is called to the hospital, where pensive police Sgt. Frank Belson (RON McLARTY) meets the private detective outside Arthur's room. Belson tells Spenser that witnesses saw the cash being taken by Arthur's escaping assailants. Where did Arthur get that kind of money? Perplexed, Spenser walks into Arthur's hospital room, where the retired cop is regaling his nurses with humorous stories. The hardened investigator smiles warmly at his old friend. Taking Arthur home to a cheerful gathering of concerned neighbors and friends floods Spenser with memories of the many lessons he learned from his teacher, from criminology to human nature. It is great to see that other people also appreciate Arthur's richness. But the party that Arthur ironically refers to as his "wake" is slight altered when two menacing figures appear. Arthur notes that they are collectors from the local loan shark to whom Arthur is in debt for some misplaced bets on horses. In fact, the stolen money was to have been for the shylock. Spenser takes control of the thugs, relieving one of a gun and the other of a roll of quarters marked "Emerald Amusement Corporation", Arthur then assures the muscle men that he can repay the money from the profits of his security guard company. This sideline of Arthur's is news to Spenser. Events rapidly become ugly as the two muggers turn up dead, shotgunned at point blank range. Arthur's money is gone, but the bag, his watch, and his retirement ring are found by a questioning homicide squad. Spenser, worried about Arthur's involvement with the loan shark, has his streetwise associate, Hawk (AVERY BROOKS), check on Emerald Amusement Corporation. The fearsomely imposing sleuth with the shaved head discovers that the company is merely a front for Barney Leopold (DAVID CRYER), the king of prostitution and drugs, a criminal so highly connected that he's never been indicted. Word on the street is that Leopold had the muggers killed because they took his money. With Hawk's unsettling information, Spenser tries to ease his mind by locating Arthur's security guard business. The address proves to be an abandoned building. Forced to follow his old mentor to find out the truth, even if it's vastly painful, Spenser follows Arthur from his house to Emerald Amusement, where the retired cop comes out carrying a flight bag. Arthur then goes downtown and walks into the offices of Brian Melchior (KENT BROADHURST), deputy police commissioner. The older man quickly exits...without the bag. Spenser confronts Melchior with his knowledge of the obvious bribe. The detective then tracks down Arthur t a tavern, where the retired cop only offers a feeble excuse for being Leopold's bag man. Arthur pleads with Spenser not to turn him in; the older man could not handle prison. But the hard decision is made for Spenser, as Leopold's killers try unsuccessfully to eliminate Arthur. The frightened and angry man agrees to turn state's evidence, no matter the consequences. In the hallway outside the grand jury courtroom, a very humiliated and defeated Arthur walks with Spenser and Hawk to the elevator. The retired cop just testified to his own corruption, blackening many years of fine police work in the process. The elevator doors open, and out bursts a deranged deputy commissioner Melchior, rendered insane by the criminal indictment which ruined his career and his life. The crazed man sees Spenser and aims his drawn pistol at the detective. As he quickly fires, Melchior is rushed by Arthur, who takes the bullet meant for Spenser. Hawk wrestles the maddened Melchior to the ground, as Spenser holds his dying friend and teacher. Arthur smiles one last time, knowing that this was the perfect way to end -- a good copy always protects his partner. This is Spenser's final lesson. CAST Ron McLarty .....................................Sgt. Frank Belson Frederick Neumann............................Arthur Reynold Peter Crombie....................................Solomon Trench Kent Broadhurst................................Brian Melchior David Cryer.......................................Barney Josh Carroll.......................................Donald Watson Khalif Bobatoon.................................Larry Evanly Shin........................................Mugger #1 David Herman....................................Mugger #2 Episode #13: "To the End of the Line" At a family get-together in the home of Sgt. Frank Belson's sister, Francine (EDA ROTH), spenser (ROBERT URICH) and Susan (BARBARA STOCK) share in the festivities with Frank (RON McLARTY) when tragedy occurs. Frank's adored 15-year-old niece, Laurie (CADY McCLAIN) is found unconscious in her bedroom form a cocaine overdose. She dies a short time later in a hospital. Her death throws Francine into a paroxysm of grief and propels Frank into a manic quest for revenge against those who sold Laurie the cocaine. He is especially eager to get the supplier, the man at the top. Sensing Belson's intemperate rage could jeopardize his job as cop, private investihator Spenser volunteers to track down the pushers. The first link in the chain is Laurie's boyfriend Brian (KEITH BOGART), a clean-cut 17-year-old, whose tough demeanor gives way to tears and remorse as he tells Spenser he bought the cocaine from a lad named Vinnie Drake (TONY GUEST), a junior-high school student. On a stakeout of Vinnie, Spenser and Belson observe the youth's mother (ROBIN BARTLETT) buying cocaine from a passing car. In the ensuing confrontation with this strung-out woman, the private eye and the police sergeant advise that her young son is selling her supply of cocaine in school. Appaled and anguished, Mrs. Drake vents her ire on Vinnie. She gives Spenser and Belson her dealer's name: sleazy restaurateur Ned Cleary (ANDREW BLOCH), her former employer. Knowing that a man like cleary is involved in the cocaine trade, Spenser decides it's time to "break out the big guns" for backup: namely Hawk (AVERY BROOKS), his sometimes associate. While the duo check out Cleary's cafe, their cover is almost blown by the intrusion of Frank Belson, whose presence is noticeable amid the young professional crowd. After Belson leaves, Spenser makes his presence known to Cleary. He poses as a chef, desirous of opening up his own establishment with his partner, Hawk. Their conversation is interrupted when Cleary must excuse himself to meet with a man whom Hawk recognizes as a known drug dealer. Later, Spenser and Hawk follow Cleary, but Spenser drops out when he spots Mrs. Drake. Once again, she is buying drugs after having promised she would enter a rehabilitation clinic. While Spenser takes her in tow, Hawk continues to pursue Clear. When he's spotted, Hawk swings into action and outmaneuvers Cleary's car, forcing it off the road. Quickly dispensing with the hapless chauffeur, Hawk fores Cleary to open the trunk of his car. It is stuffed with cocaine. Faced with an ultimatum of grave bodily harm, Cleary gives Hawk the name of his supplier, whom Spenser is stunned to learn is Fred Mullens (FRED J. SCOLLAY), a good-natured old-timer, whose racket had been gambling not drugs. Meeting with Mullens at his warehouse headquarters, Spenser uncovers a high-tech drug lab in full swing. Unfazed by Spenser's accusations and threats, Mullens replies that he's in this business now becasue it pays well. If Spenser tries to shut him down, he'll just pack up and quickly move. To prohibit that and to get the edge on Mullens, Spenser and Hawk break into the drug dealer's warehouse and steal his bookeeping ledgers. Now Mullens has no choice but to name his supplier: prominent Bostonian and multi-millionaire real estate developer named Roger Thornwood (CHARLES KIMBROUGH). In Thorwood's majestic suite, overlooking downtown Boston, Spenser and Hawk pass themselves off as Mullens' men, who are anxious to go into the cocaine business for themselves. After a deal is struck, whereby Thornwoodl will be in touch with them, Spenser and Hawk are ambushed on the streeby by Cleary and his two thugs who are out for revenge. In the shootout, Cleary is killed. Spenser and Hawk are picked up and questioned by FBI agents, headed up by an agent named Stapleton (RON CANADA). As it turns out, the FBI has been keeping tabs on Thornwood to arrest him for weapons smuggling, since there is no solid evidence to nab him on cocaine charges. Stapleton changes his mind when he hears about Spenser's deal with Thornwood and agrees to help nab him. At the rendezvous where Thornwood agreed to seal the cocaine deal, senser and Hawk instead run into an ambush. It is quickly put down thanks to assistance from the FBI and even Sgt. Belson, who appears to be back in command of his emotions. Thornwood, however, is nowhere in sight. Soon after the shootout, Belson disappears, and Spenser fears the worst. He's right; the unnerved and mournful policeman had gone to Thornwood's office for a personal showdown. Spenser arrives in time to see Frank ready to kill the cocaine magnate. He uses his wits and compassion to talk Belson out of harming the drug magnate. Spnser reflects, "Someday Frank Belson will find comfort in remembering his niece as she lived not as she died. For now, he still must come to terms with his deep grief." CAST Ron McLarty .....................................Sgt. Frank Belson Charles Kimbrough.............................Roger Thornwood Fred J. Scollay....................................Fred Mullens Andrew Bloch.....................................Ned Cleary Robin Bartlett......................................Mrs. Drake Ron Canada........................................Stapleton Cady McClain.....................................Laurie Keith Bogart........................................Brian Episode #14: "Play It Again Sammy" Spenser (ROBERT URICH) receives a frantic phone call from Sammy Backlin (SAL VISCUSO), a troublemaking, con-artist acquaintance with a wild imagination. Fashioning himself as a writer and passing himself off as a vigilante hero, Sammy constantly tries to sell his hokey memoirs. Now, Sammy claims he's in mortal danger from the mob and desperate needs Spenser's help. The last time spenser offered Sammy assistance, he got himself stabbed and his car was totalled. So, this time around, Spenser is more cautious. Minutes after Sammy and Spenser reunited at the bus depot, two thugs unexpectedly opn fire on them. After the surprise attack, Spenser is rushed to the hopsital with a gunshot wound in his posteriior, while Sammy is responsible for ruining Spenser's car to escape the gunfire. Even as Spenser recovers at the hospital, Sammy, who has taken up residence at Spenser's apartment, eats him out of house and home, tries to steal his silverware and shocks Spenser's girlfriend Susan (BARBARA STOCK) with his presence. A gift-wrapped red herring, with a letter containing instructions oif where to deliver it, spells even more trouble with it arrives at Spenser's door. It reopens a 10-year-old kidnapping case for Spenser, who returns home to a grim task -- delivering the package to an address that seems vaguely familiar. CAST Ron McLarty .....................................Sgt. Frank Belson Sal Viscuso........................................Sammy W. H. Macy.......................................Efrem Connors Jean de Baer......................................Dorothy Winsome Edmond Genest..................................Burl Dodds Kate Burton.......................................Randy Lofficier James Baffico.....................................Nash Bodine John Bell............................................Max Winsome Episode #15: "The Big Fight" EPISODE INFORMATION UNAVAILABLE Episode #16: "Discord in A Minor" EPISODE INFORMATION UNAVAILABLE Episode #17: "Substantial Justice" Out of deference to a very influential Boston theater producer named Janet Cole (MARGARET WHITTON), whose career he has followed since she was a rising actress, Spenser (ROBERT URICH) agrees to lend his services as a private detective to try and help her out of a terrible bind. Janet has been charged with murder -- deliberately using her automobile to kill her associate, Sherri Belcher. Even her attorney, the dominating courtroom presence David McVane (PHILIP BOSCO), thinks the case against her is so stacked that she had best plead guilty to manslaughter and take her punishment, rather than face a homicide trial. As Janet is explaining her situation backstage to Spenser, she has a run-in with Annie Bucklin (SUSASN WILDER), a beautiful young actress and the girlfriend of Brian Lord (STEVEN M. GAGNON), a haughty mobster's nephew who has hired Spenser's friend, Hawk (AVERY BROOKS), as a bodyguard. Continuing her story, Janet discloses her suspicions that a considerable amount of mob money is being laundered through the theater. Sherri, in charge of raising money for their productions, sought out the investors. She was later killed because she was stealing from the mob. A bookkeeper named George Lynnwood (HARRY GROENER) can substantiate this link, but he has since disappeared. Spenser talks to Police Sgt. Belson (RON McLARTY), who believes Janet is guilty. Lawyer McVane also suspects his client may be guilty. Janet steadfastly maintains her innocence in court, however, and turns down the deal McVane made with ambitious prosecutor Sammy Reynolds (DYLAN BAKER), who hopes to ensure his reputation by defeating McVane in a trial. To get a firmer grasp on the mob angle in the case, Spenser persuades Hawk to accompany him to a meeting with Brian Lord. They're too late, however. The young man has been shot to death in his stylish condominium. Now Hawk is a man marked by the mob for failing in his job. Hawk is determined to find Brian's killer on his own. Spenser calls on McVane to determine if this coincidental shooting can be introduced in Janet's trial. The revered lawyer tells Spenser it's out of the question. Later, however, McVane is contacted by the missing bookkeeper George Lynnwood, who supports Janet's story. McVane gives the information on his whereabouts to Spenser. Back in court, McVane tries to crack Ted Watson's (STEPHEN KEEP MILLS) testimony. An actor, Watson reveals on the stand the intense animosity between Janet and Sherri and an argument between them the night of Sherri's death. Locating Lynnwood, Spenser persuades him to testify on Janet's behalf. In the meantime, Hawk gets the better of two thugs out to avenge Brian's death. Menacingly, he reiterates that he'll find whomever killed Brian and then meet with Brian's family. In the courtroom, Lynnwood takes the stand. The bookkeeper verifies the mob laundering of cash invested in Sherri's theatrical ventures. He confirms Sherri had siphoned off some of the money for herself. Lynnwood's further inferences -- that the mob slew Sherri -- is enough to raise the spectre of doubt and vindicate Janet. True to his word, Hawk nabs Brian's killer: his actress girlfriend Annie, who shot him to death in a jealous rage. But who killed Sherri? To narrow the field, Spenser and Hawk confront Brian's uncle, a syndicate boss named Jimmy Culver (GEORGE LOROS). After Culver relieves Hawk of responsibility for Brian's slaying, he stuns Spenser with the news that the mob's money-laundering business was done with Janet, who he knows for sure killed Sherri. Janet stole mob money, but why should Culver worry? The court will prosecute her, he says. Janet is found "not guilty." Spenser is infuriated that he was set up by her. Janet cannot be retried for the same crime under the double-jeopardy statutes. Spenser and Hawk determine to nab her on other charges by breaking down her accomplice Lynnwood, who, it turns out, is also her lover. Before they can do this, however, Janet is killed instantly in an explosion that blows up her car when she starts the engine. Perhaps, as Hawk and Spenser speculate this was Jimmy Culver's own idea of retribution. As Lynnwood later faces his own trial for various counts of fraud, Spenser muses upon the words of Thomas Carlyle: "Judgment for an evil thing may be delayed some day or so, some century or two, but it is sure as life; it is sure as death." CAST Ron McLarty....................................Sgt. Frank Belson Philip Bosco......................................David McVane Dylan Baker......................................Sam Reynolds Harry Groener...................................George Lynnwood Stephen Keep Mills...........................Ted Watson Jack Davidson...................................Judge Sorenson Susan Wilder.....................................Annie Bucklin George Loros....................................Jimmy Culver Margaret Whitton...............................Janet Cole Steven M. Gagnon..............................Brian Lord Episode #18: "Company Man" Stark lights cast eerie shadows through the girders of a construction site. A security guard on his rounds pauses, hearing the creak of steel in the wind. Then, out of the nights stillness, a massive explosion occurs! Fortunately, the guard is neither killed nor maimed, but the blast's damage to equipment is considerable. Boston private detective Spenser (ROBERT URICH) inspects the twisted metal along with his current employer, the construction firm's owner, Jack Delroy (LOUIS ZORICH). Industrial sabotage is common enough; but, when forty pounds of dynamite are also missing, the search for the bomber becomes intense. Delroy's vice-president, William Wright (MICHAEL MANTELL), whose only concern is the bottom line on the project, reluctantly turns over company records to Spenser. The ex-cop considers the possibility that a disgruntled employee is the bomber. Delroy, however, assures the burly detective that the construction firm is run like a family -- no real problems. Wright states that the bombing must have been the work of a competitor, because no threats were made to the company. Spenser knows that within every "family" there is some measure of dissatisfaction. Spenser's family is centered on two people, his girlfriend Susan Silverman (BARBARA STOCK), a psychologist, and his friend and sometimes associate, Hawk (AVERY BROOKS). Hawk checks his underworld sources for the bomber and the missing dynamite. Meanwhile, Spenser and Susan spend an intimate evening together, a pre-celebration of her attaining a doctorate. The following day, after a visit to a doctor, Susan abruptly announces that she's taking a Florida trip to visit her sister. The detective senses more to this journey than a mere family reunion, perhaps, even a measure of fear in Susan's attitude. Yet, he doesn't pry into the reason for sudden departure. Concerned for Susan, Spenser nevertheless throws himself into the bombing investigation. Talking with former and current Delroy employees reveals that, since William Wright was hired, Delroy Construction has been laying off capable, veteran workers. The rumor is that the company is being bought out by a ruthless conglomerate, Arata, whose one goal is to maximize profits -- even at the expense of quality workmanship. Following a tip from a financial reporter he knows, Spenser contacts Delroy Construction's personnel manager, J.D. Hayes (EDDIE JONES), and discovers Wright is actually employed by Arata. He further learns that Wright, pressured by the conglomerate to make the buyout work, has held back anonymous blackmail notes. The notes demand Delroy stop the merger or continued explosions will destroy the company. Hawk provides Spenser with an address of the bomber. A stakeout of the residence brings Spenser face to face with the man -- a professional -- but the bomber eludes Spenser's grasp. Later, attempting to destroy Spenser, the bomber rigs an explosive device to the detective's refrigerator. Unexpected, Spenser arrives home before the bomber can escape and a desperate struggle results. Unfortunately for the criminal, one of his own tools, a pointed screwdriver ends up embedded in his chest. Later, investigating the bomber's automobile, Spenser discovers the man's name, but it is too late. With the professional bomber dead, the individual who hired him has no choice but to surface and take charge to stop the merger. So, J.D. Hayes, the elderly personnel manager, takes the remaining dynamite he stole and becomes a walking bomb. the pathetic but lethal man stalks into the Delroy Construction office demanding justice for the workers. After thirty-six years with the company, J.D. knows that he, along with a 150 others, are to unceremoniously fired -- no job, no pension, no future. The Arata merger was wrong; it hurt people. It has to be stopped, even if it takes a bombing to do it. Jack Delroy sincerely assures J.D. that the pensions will remain intact, even if he has to pay them out of his own pocket. J.D. believes his boss and slowly releases the triggering device. As he does so, a shot rings out. To everyone's shock and dismay, the sad, older man drops dead from a bullet fired by William Wright, who had needlessly killed him. The threat over, and Wright justifiably in police custody, Spenser turns his focus to Susan. He calls her sister in Florida and finally locates his lover in a Boston hospital. The beautiful therapist didn't want Spenser to know she needed exploratory surgery for a possible cancerous growth. Susan realizes now, even if she had had cancer, she should have shared the trauma with the man she loves, who unconditionally loves her. Spenser gently cradles Susan in his arms. They are alive. They are healthy. They have each other. All is well. Two weeks later, Susan receives her doctorate and, joined by her friends, she has reason to celebrate. CAST Ron McLarty....................................Sgt. Frank Belson Louis Zorich......................................Jack Delroy Eddie Jones.......................................J.D. Hayes Michael Mantell................................William Wright Samuel E. Wright..............................Dave Watkins Graham Beckel.................................Sulley Ching Valdes-Aran...........................Dr. Pearson Ivar Brogger.....................................Harold Sara Michelle Geller..........................Emily Episode #19: "Watercolors" At the behest of "not the sort of woman you could ignore" -- an indomitable attorney named Charlie Branch (JUDITH BARCROFT) -- Spenser (ROBERT URICH) hires on to safeguard Rene "R.C." Camden (JORDAN MARDER), the artistic, 14-year-old son of a very wealthy international financier. R.C. claims he witnessed a murder in a desolate woodland and fears he could be marked for death. According to police, there are no signs of a killing those woods. Hence no one really believes R.C., whose sensitive nature has been heightened by a family tragedy: the death a year ago of his mother and elder brother, his only sibling. His plight is worsened because he has a usually absentee father who pays him no mind. Among those who do not accept the youth's story are Sgt. Belson (RON McLARTY) and Mrs. Durrant (PAULINE FLANAGAN), the Camdens' very stout, very proper, British housekeeper. She'll take no nonsense from Spenser, either, as she's quick to tell him when he checks into the Camden estate. To establish a rapport with R.C., Spenser accompanies him to hockey practice, where he observes the slimly built teen trying too hard to be a tiger on skates. Spenser notices something else, too; a sedan he had spotted outside the Camden mansion is also lurking around the ice rink. This alerts Spenser to the possibility thee may be truth in the lad's story. Spenser has R.C. show him the murder scene. Combing the woods for clues, the private investigator and R.C. find a body hidden deep in a thicket. While waiting for police to identify the corpse, Spenser enlists the help of his friend and sometimes associate, Hawk (AVERY BROOKS). Spenser needs to track down the killer fitting R.C.'s drawing of an evil-looking large man with a black patch covering his left eye. Knowing R.C. needs a friend, Spenser introduces the boy to hockey great Bobby Orr (HIMSELF), who volunteers to give the lad some pointers in the sport. This allows the detective time to search for clues following the identification of the body -- one Arthur Friar -- a virtual nobody with no criminal record and not much of a past. Securing Friar's address, Spenser gains entry into his house, located in one of Boston's lower-middle-class neighborhoods. His search for evidence unearths newspaper clippings describing an acquittal in a murder trial. Apparently, Friar was among the jurors. Before Spenser can get a firm grasp on what he's discovered, he's knocked unconscious by Friar's killer, Donovan (JOHN JUBACK), who followed Spenser to Friar's home with his henchmen, Ed (GEORGE GERDES) and Sam (BOBBY BASS). The three hoodlums turn the house topsy-turvy before giving up their own search for some hidden valuable information; then, they set the house ablaze. Awakening to the smell of smoke in this inferno, Spenser hurtles himself outside to safety. Taking some time out to be a big brother to R.C., Spenser accompanies him to Cimoli's Gym. There, a boxing match illustrates a point Bobby Orr tried to make: R.C. should use his speed and agility to his advantage. He shouldn't try to emulate the more aggressive style that his bigger, stronger brother once employed. This compassionate attention indebts R.C. to Spenser. The following day, Spenser and R.C. emerge from the ice rink and are met by Hawk, who has some information. He has the name of the dead man's killer -- Donovan. No sooner does he say this than they are ambushed by Donovan and his thugs. R.C. calls out to warn Spenser, who reels in time to shoot Ed. A passing car, caught in the fray, strikes R.C. The young man is all right, but he'll need a hospital under police guard to fully recover. In the meantime, Spenser uses the guise of an insurance adjuster to bring Mrs. Friar out in the open. Scared and trapped, she confesses to Spense that she pushed her husband to work out a monetary deal with Donovan: his acquittal in return for cash. Then, after the trial, she pushed him to threaten blackmail for more money. That's when Donovan killed her husband. Spenser returns to the hospital only to learn Donovan, a clever criminal, has lured away the officers guarding R.C. Spenser rushes to R.C.'s room just in time to corner Donovan, chase him, and gun him down in a shootout. Still deeply caring of his teen-age charge, Spenser is on hand for a reunion between R.C. and his father (PAUL DUNN) at a hard-fought hockey game. The lad distinguishes himself with his new-found skills as a slippery, elusive iceman. Proud and delighted, the detective sees a renewed understanding between the son and aloof but loving dad. CAST Ron McLarty....................................Sgt. Frank Belson Pauline Flanagan...............................Mrs. Durant Jordan Marder..................................R.C. Gilchrist Susan Pellegrino................................Mrs. Friar Judith Barcroft..................................Ms. Charlie Branch George Gerdes.................................Ed Angela Logan..................................Woman in Car Episode #20: "Hawk's Eyes" Mitchell Weinstein -- an attorney, crusader against politcal corruption and a friend of Boston based detective Spenser -- dies in an auto accident. Alcohol is listed as a factor, but Mitch didn't drink. Weinstein's widow tells Spenser (ROBERT URICH) her husband knew beforehand that he was marked for death. A short time later, Spenser gets a call from Mitch's clerk. In straightening out the dead man's effects, the clerk found a file on political contributions that Spenser should look over. Spenser is convinced his was murdered. The detective immediately goes to Mitch's office. There, two thugs are ransacking the place. Spenser knocks out one of the hoodlums, but the other man gets away with a file. In the aftermath, Spenser notices the dead clerk, who clutches a small piece of paper with the logo of the First Party. Spenser visits a Harvard political science professor, Max Freed (OMAR SHAPLI), who provides data on the First Party. Basically a fascist organization, the First Party has a small but extremely dedicated following. If Weinstein was investigating the group, the First Party might have had cause to eliminate the civil libertarian. While having dinner at a restaurant with Spenser, Susan Silverman (BARBARA STOCK), Spenser's girlfriend, reads the First Party material provided by Freed. A psychologist, Susan pronounces the group "sick" and "dangerous." Before their discussion can go further, Spenser is called to police headquarters to provide details on the clerk's murder. With dinner abruptly over, Susan hails a taxi. To her horror, the driver is from the First Party. He proceeds to terrorize the lovely therapist in an attempt to get her to convince Spenser to leave the Weinstein case alone. Susan is throughly frightened but not intimidated. Having survived the ordeal, she is now guarded by the extremely capable Hawk (AVERY BROOKS), Spenser's friend and sometime associate. Meanwhile, Spenser confronts the Frist Party leader, William Prince (DAVID LEARY). The detective warns the radical right winger to cease his threats, but Prince profeses his innocence. Soon after, an attempt is made on Spenser's life by two men -- one on foot and one in a car. The assassins are themselves shot and killed by Hawk, who is temporarily blinded when he pulls the dead driver -- William Prince -- from the car. Hawk is hospitalized, with trauma to his eyes. Knowing the vengeance of the First Party, Spenser removes Hawk from the hospital. He takes both Hawk and Susan to a secluded farmhouse in a tiny town outside Boston. Spenser returns to Boston and asks his friend, Sgt. Belson (RON McLARTY) of the Boston policy, to arrange protection for his friends, through the local police in the small town. Spenser works with Sgt. Belson to ferret out the remaining First Party members. A raid on a hideout does not net the party's most dangerous member, Prince's widow Martha (ANDREA THOMPSON). She must be captured. Susan assists Hawk by familiarizing him with the farmhouse's layout and she hesitantly accepts a handgun. Hawk insists they must be prepared to protect themselves. Soon, two cars drive up, a police patrol car and an unmarked vehicle. An officer gets out of his car. A man and a woman get out of the other. Susan relates what she sees to Hawk, who realizes that the Frist Party has arrived. The police officer must be a member. The policeman leaves; the other two walk toward the house. Hawk forces Susan to hide in a crawl space. He hides in the darkness of the basement. Martha Prince and Dale (EDWARD MASON), the thug who escaped Spenser's grasp at Weinstein's office, enter the farmhouse, search the upstairs and find nothing. Then, Dale goes into the darkened basement where the blind Hawk had the edge. Dale is swiftly rendered unconscious by a bottle Hawk cracks over the man's head. Martha enters the cellar, flashlight in hand. She silently locates the overhead light. The room is suddenly illuminated. The committed fascist spots in the shadows and takes aim. A shot rings out. The gunsmoke, however, is not from Martha's gun but Susan's. She had come up from behind to rescue her friend Hawk. The First Party is now literally dead. Hawk slowly recovers his eyesight; normalcy will take awhile longer for Susan to attain. Spenser is there to help them both heal. CAST Ron McLarty....................................Sgt. Frank Belson Andrea Thompson............................Martha Prince David Leary.....................................Willard Prince Omar Shapli.....................................Professor Freed Cheryl Yvonne Jones........................Alicia Katherine Waters.............................Officer Roseland Brian Howe......................................Cab Driver Episode #22: "Haunting" As a favor to his girlfriend Susan (BARBARA STOCK), Spenser (ROBERT URICH) agrees to lend his investigative skills to her work: a psychological case that has her baffled. Susan has a patient, a troubled young amnesiac named Valentine (BARBARA GARRICK), who has but dim and fearful memories of her past which Susan has already determined include chronic instances of sexual abuse. Ironically, Spenser, too, has been troubled by memories stirred in dreams. In fitful sleep, he relives a time when he was 12 years old and lent his good luck charm -- his dad's cigarette lighter -- to a close friend who was running away from home. During the course of his gentle but persistent questioning of Valentine, Spenser is further disquieted by recollections of her youth. As he later tells Sgt. Belson (RON McLARTY) of the Boston police, this woman could be Jennifer O'Keefe, the subject of a case that cost Spenser his badge in the Boston Police Department. As Spenser recalls, Jennifer was the only child of a very wealthy Boston family who suddenly disappeared 12 years ago. A few years later, a couple called the Hanovers confessed that the O'Keefe girl was among the fourteen children they abducted and brutally murdered. Jennifer's body was never fond, however. Although he'll pull the O'Keefe file for Spenser, Belson reminds him o his obsession with the case that alienated his superiors. Like the original case, Jennifer won't leave Spenser's mind. He enlists the help of his friend and sometimes associate, Hawk (AVERY BROOKS), to pry information from child pornographers. Meanwhile, Spenser returns to the O'Keefe mansion to talk with the sole family survivor, matriarch Rose O'Keefe (CELESTE HOLM). His presence angers the old-time family chauffeur, Victor, (ERNEST MISCO) and upsets rose, who, in the company of her physician, Dr. Aubrey Forsythe (W. CLAPMAN MURRAY), shocks Spenser by informing him that she has already been contacted by a man seeking the million-dollar reward still in effect for Jennifer's return. As he wanders through the desolate mansion, Spenser flashes back to a conversation he had with Jennifer's nanny, Dorothy Bowers (CAROLINE LAGERFELT), over the girl's favorite doll. Spenser looks out a window and espies Valentine on the O'Keefe grounds, but she disappears like a ghost before he can catch up with her. Believing that he's being played for a fool, Spenser waits for Valentine outside her apartment. He finds her in the company of Jack Leclerc (ALAN VINT), a sleazy, one-time crime reporter who had covered Jennifer's disappearance. Cornered, Leclerc admits that he's using Valentine to get the reward money. However, he thinks she might really be Jennifer and hopes Spenser can prove it. Hawk shares information with Spenser that he uncovered. There exists some very explicit photographs taken of Jennifer as a child. Those photographs are now in the hands of pedophiles, who outwardly appear to be respectable. While Spenser tries to sort out what clues he has, he receives a phone call from a terrified Leclerc. Spenser listens as Leclerc is gunned down by someone who has broken into his apartment. Belson refuses to make a link between the killing, the attempt on Spenser's life, and the O'Keefe case. Spenser doggedly pursues the investigation on his own. This time, he conducts an interview with one of Jennifer's convicted killers, Elsie Hanover (LOIS SMITH), in her prison confines. Playing upon her new-found religious fervor, Spenser prompts Elsie to admit that she and her husband did not abduct or kill Jennifer. Elsie admits they pled guilty in order to escape the death penalty for a murder they committed in another state. Finally convinced, Belson agrees to reopen the O'Keefe case. Spenser hears from Hawk that young Jennifer used to be delivered to lewd parties by a lady in gray. As if he were struck by a thunderbolt, Spenser knows who that is...nanny Dorothy Bowers, who used to wear a gray uniform. Accompanied by Hawk, the private investigator heads for Dorothy's apartment. Spenser sees she has a guest, Dr. Aubrey Forsythe, in whose car trunk Spenser uncovers reels of pornographic film. To seal the case, Spenser listens in on the incriminating conversation between the doctor and the nanny. It ties them to Jennifer's abduction and confirms their sordid perversities. As Spenser bursts into the apartment, he is critically shot by Victor, the O'Keefe chauffeur, who is then fatally shot by Hawk. Spenser survives, thanks to the lucky cigarette lighter from his childhood that deflected a bullet bound straight for his heart. A few days later, Spenser is back at the O'Keefe estate where an anxious Valentine tries to remember childhood details that will validate her as Jennifer. Just when it appears as if Rose is moved enough to accept this young woman as her granddaughter, whether it be true or not, Spenser asks about something that only the real Jennifer would know: the hiding place of her favorite doll. Valentine moves to a bedroom closet and pulls back wallboards to reveal the precious doll. Jennifer O'Keefe has come home. CAST Ron McLarty....................................Sgt. Frank Belson Barbara Garrick...............................Valentine Lois Smith........................................Elsie Caroline Lagerfelt.............................Governess Alan Vint..........................................LeClercLt. Grant Celeste Holm....................................Rose Sean Kemery....................................Young Spenser Robbie Neigeborn.............................Charlie Moon -+-------------------*----+[ Spensor For Hire ]+----*-------------------+-