Act One
Two men and a woman finish lunch as one man, Tom (Ed Flanders) makes a phone call to someone who was out earlier. The woman (Lynnette Mettey) tells Mr. Heller (Peter Carew) they're going to be rich. As the three leave the restaurant, a man (James J. Borges) tries breaking into the trunk of their car. He shoots at them and they duck for cover except Tom who shoots back and seems to hit the guy and he staggers and collapses next to some trashcans. Tom says the man is dead and he killed him leaving in a big hurry. A police officer (Doug Mossman) shows up ordering Heller to stop after the woman tells him to run. As a crowd gathers, the officer tells the people everything is under control and takes the woman by the arm to take her in.
HPD with Danno and Chin arrive on scene looking for the victim but he's nowhere to be found. An HPD officer (Arte McCullough) tells Danno they can't find the victim even though there is a blood trail leading to the trashcans. Danno wants Che (Harry Endo) on the scene for some analysis. Danno then asked the gather is anyone saw the people involved. Inside the restaurant, a waitress remembers them: three of them including George Heller who paid for lunch with a credit card. The hostess then tells them about the uniformed police officer who arrested the woman. Danno is stunned not quite sure he heard her right but he did.
In McGarrett's office, Danno and Ben give a run down: no one from HPD was covering the area and no one from HPD reported a shooting or disturbance of any kind. There's nothing from the hospital and morgues of anyone being brought in from a shooting in the last 24 hours. Danno also says nobody saw the shooting even though they heard shots. Che walks in with results: Dracula blood was used on the blood trail. The kind used at Halloween that is "nothing more than vegetable coloring in a vanishing cr¸me base". Chin walks in saying Mr. and Mrs. George Heller are in room 1007 at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel. McGarrett takes Danno to have a chat.
McGarrett talks to Heller telling him they appreciate his help but they haven't found anyone dead. McGarrett wants to know why Heller was with this couple to begin with and his wife (Connie Sawyer) is adamant he talk. Heller says they were supposed to buy some diamonds for $100,000 and then sell them for $200,000. McGarrett then gives a look to Danno and they both know what happened: a swindle. Danno asks how much Heller gave them: $35,000 by selling some stocks and early withdrawal of some saving certificates. The wife was oblivious until Heller told her that afternoon. McGarrett wants to take Heller back to Five-O for a full statement and descriptions of the people involved. Danno waits back to bring up the rear as the wife makes Heller go along.
In an apartment, the gang meets with Mardo, the man trying to break into the trunk and 'shot' is complimented by the fake officer. The ringleader who went by Tom earlier is actually Joe Connors. Another man (Tommy Fujiwara) sits at the bar waiting on their next plan. At the window, Joe drools at the prospect of taking another pigeon for a boatload of cash.
In McGarrett's office, they finish up with the Hellers as he wonders if they need to stay in Hawaii to testify. However, no one has been arrested yet and the idea of the game is to leave the victim with no proof a crime was committed. McGarrett dismisses them with Mrs. Heller leading the way out. He asks Terri, one of the secretaries, for a copy of the transcript. McGarrett asks the team for ideas on who they are dealing with. Ben says there is no word on the street about them so they're probably new to the islands. Chin says the same on his contacts, no one knows anyone operating with that much class. McGarrett warns them the state depends heavily on tourism and a scam like this could torpedo the whole works. McGarrett wants Chin to send the descriptions of the con artists to the mainland and see if anyone is not in their home territory right now. He sends Ben to make sure the Hellers work with a police artist to work on portraits of the man and girl. Danno asks about the car and McGarrett figures it's a rental under phony names but to check the car agencies anyway. Opening the lanai doors, McGarrett knows the next victim is already being set up.
A man (Michael Strong) walks out the front doors of the Ilikai Hotel as the woman from the con group pulls up in a red convertible. She drives out to a business that's closed, supposedly owned by her uncle. However, the man isn't really interested in more furniture today as he's more interested in her. Behind them, the man from the apartment bar approaches them with a briefcase. When the man asks about going someplace for drinks she knows a place in Honolulu and about that time the man with the briefcase tells them a sob story about how his friend was supposed to pick him up over an hour ago and he really needs to get back to town. After a few minutes, she decides to give the guy a lift and tells him to "hop in" and they make their way back to Honolulu.
At Five-O, they finish the sketch of Connors and Ben starts them on the girl. "Well, the girl, I ... She was blond".
On the road, they run into "Jerry" broken down on the side of the road. "Willie" calls out to him as she stops the car and reverses it to pick up Jerry. The man in the front seat is not amused, as things have become increasingly crowded.
Danno arrives at 'Kalahai Car Rentals' to track down the scammers while they continue their trek back to Honolulu. Jerry and Willie give a bogus story about not seeing one another for about a year and Willie just returning from South America. Willie says he's working on a sale and needs $500 to get to New York. Jerry asks what he's selling and opens the case full of diamond jewelry, which the man in the front seat peers over at. The scheme is working perfectly.
Act Two
In McGarrett's office, Chin walks in with a mug shot from the New Orleans Police Department: their crook is Joe Connors who has done time in Louisiana for bunco but has been out for six months. Chin explains the M.O.: the girl is the roper/lure for "mostly middle-class, middle-age, middle-west with fat bankrolls and roving eyes" and they work from place to place picking up local middlemen along the way. Connors has been to Hawaii before doing a hitch in the Army but left ten years ago but he knows the territory and probably where to get a team. McGarrett knows Connors is shrewd and tells Chin and Ben they need to be smart too. He wants copies of the sketches in every establishment and police car in Waikiki and sets Ben on that task.
The group is parked at the Bank of Hawaii as Willie goes through the pieces. He gives Jerry a diamond as collateral for the $500 check and leaves to go inside the bank. Jerry admires the diamond but isn't really sure. He wants a friend to appraise it and his place is on Cooke Street. As Ben asks about the pair with sketches in hand, the trio makes their way to Cooke Street. The guy, who was the fake cop before, is now suddenly a jeweler asking Jerry where he got the stone. As they talk about the stones, they realize Willie left his case behind and when he opens it, the jeweler says it's the "Parkins Collection" and it's hot. He estimates it to be worth $200,000 and has a customer willing to buy it right now. They now have a dilemma: the diamonds aren't theirs to sell so they have to contact Willie. "Mark" says he can offer $200,000 right now but the offer won't last very long. The trio sets off for the bank to hopefully catch Willie.
Sure enough, Willie is pacing in front of the Bank of Hawaii as the group pulls up. Jerry shows the case and they laugh about it. She drives to a nice place to talk about the diamonds.
In McGarrett's office, Danno confirms the car was a rental with a phony driver's license and turned in within two hours of ripping off Heller. Ben walks in receiving hits on the girl at four different places in Waikiki.
The group keeps up their charade running their scam. Willie parts way with them saying he'll think about Jerry's offer. When Willie leaves, the men introduce themselves: Jerry Spain and Harry Maguire who is the mark and he introduces "Miss Moore". They discuss the offers: Jerry plans to buy the diamonds from Willie for $100,000 and turn around and sell them to his jeweler friend for $200,000, a 100 percent profit. He can come up with $35,000 and Miss Moore says she could ask for $15,000 but that still leaves $50,000 needed to total $100,000. As Jerry begins to leave, Maguire tells him to wait a minute.
Act Three
Ben speaks to a bartender (Joe Geremia) poolside at the hotel who remembers her being there a lot. The bartender says she's been with a guy who wouldn't have tipped him anything if he were with his wife. Ben gets a description of the guy after he threatens to spread a rumor he hasn't been pooling his tips. Ben calls into McGarrett about the latest information and they plan a room-to-room search with the girl's sketch.
In Maguire's hotel suite, the phone rings and he tells his wife Natalie (Patricia Herman) he'll answer it. In the bedroom, Maguire talks to one of his partners about sending $50,000 for a mahogany line of furniture but it's really for the scheme. Later, he meets Connors and the girl at a bar but they're $15,000 short. Maguire thinks he can raise it from his brother-in-law but it'll take a few hours. After he leaves, Connors says if Maguire was staying in town another week, they'd own a furniture store in Grand Rapids.
Danno and Ben talk to the hotel manager (Mitch Mitchell) who narrows down their field quite a bit. The manager is concerned about raising alarms with other guests and Danno says, "we'll talk softly".
The group gathers up including Willie to make the deal. Maguire shows up with the other $15,000. The deal is made and Willie takes off leaving the trio to find a phone. Meanwhile, Danno and Ben question people in the hotel with "two to go". Jerry calls his buddy at the jewelry store but he's gone to lunch and suggests they do the same. He puts the case of jewels in the car trunk and they take off.
Danno and Ben arrive at the Maguire hotel suite where Natalie says she hasn't seen the woman until she calls her a tramp and lets slip she's seen her by the pool. Mr. Maguire is out and they insist on talking to Natalie.
The trio finishes at the restaurant as Jerry goes to make the call to see if his friend is back from lunch. Once he reaches the phone, he looks back at her to cue for her to leave for the restroom. They wind up leaving and the scammers pile into the convertible taking off. Maguire is oblivious to their leaving until the check arrives and he's stuck with it. He runs outside distraught at the realization he's been had.
In McGarrett's office, Danno and Ben report back that Natalie knows all about the woman but doesn't want to admit any of it. It's worse when they told her of the rip-off. McGarrett wants to help them and goes with the pair to speak to Mr. Maguire.
Maguire walks into the suite as a zombie. Natalie confronts him with what Five-O told her and asks him how much he got taken for. Maguire doesn't answer and when Five-O arrives at the Ilikai, the answer is clear: Maguire has committed suicide!
Act Four
Connors isn't happy Maguire jumped because it means an investigation. Connors doesn't understand: $65,000 was nothing due to a big furniture store in Grand Rapids. Cindy doesn't know what happened, she didn't read him as unstable. Connors wants to try one more "while McGarrett's watching the airport" and the group agrees.
Cindy picks up another mark (John Stalker) but this time Danno is watching her work. Danno has the rundown on him already: his name is Anderson and he's in town for a meat-packers convention scheduled to leave on the 18th at 3:30 p.m. If the M.O. holds up, he'll go for a ride today seeing the diamonds and hearing the appraisal. By the 18th, they'll take him and he has little to no recourse. McGarrett tells Danno to stay with him for now.
Cindy pulls up to the hotel to make a call tipping the parking attendant well enough that nothing will happen to the car but he spots Ben tailing her. Cindy walks out with Anderson as the attendant points out her tail. She takes off as if nothing is amiss.
Cindy and Anderson arrive at a restaurant where they meet a Mr. Palmer a.k.a. Connors. Ben radios in where they are and he expects it to be the payoff. Rather than follow Anderson in, she goes to the phone to call "Palmer" as Danno and Chin arrive to back up Ben. As Danno and Chin enter the back way, Cindy warns Connors of a trap. Meantime, Willie drives up grabbing the bundle out of the car with the attendant (Dennis Chun) asking if he's taking the bundle. He walks in with the fake jewels only to be intercepted by Cindy who walks him out. At the table, Connors says the deal is off because the seller wants another $20,000 and walks out. As he leaves, Danno realizes they've been tipped and rushes out with Chin. They meet up with Ben to call McGarrett as the scammers take off in their own vehicles. When McGarrett gets the word he takes off to meet the team.
At the apartment, Connors packs to leave and tells the guys if they're ever in the islands again, they'll look them up. When Anderson knocks on the door, the four flee to the bedroom leaving Connors in the main area of the apartment. When Anderson enters he tells Connors he was able to raise the other $20,000 with $65,000 all together. When Connors goes to call Willie, McGarrett walks in with a search warrant in his hand and the Five-O team behind him ready to search. They find the rest of the gang in short order as McGarrett points out the $20,000 is marked and Connors took it hook, line and sinker!
This plot summary Copyright Bobbi Baker ©2019. No reproduction of any kind without permission.