Under Suspicion

"Hurricane Lucy ripped across Puerto Rico last October 12,

"causing even greater devastation than Hurricane George two years ago.

"This time the damage was considerable.

This time the damage was... estimated at $1.8 billion."

"This time-"

"This time the damage-"

"This time the damage is estimated-"

Ah, Jesus.

Chantal!

Chantal.

Chantal?

Shouldn't you get that?

Hello. Henry?

Victor Benezet here. How are you?

Oh, as well as can be expected, under the circumstances.

That's good. Henry, I'm sorry to call you like this, but I need you to come in.

There's a charity ball tonight. It's just a few questions,

I understand why you were dis - tressed yesterday, but we do need to make a proper report.

- I'm giving the toast tonight.

- And I'm looking forward to it,

Can't we do this tomorrow, Victor? It's a fund-raiser.

This'll only take ten minutes. See you at the station then.

But-

Ah.

Arias?

Yes?

Ah. Bien.

Henry, Chantal.

Hey, how you doing?

Ah, tell me your speech won't be insufferably long.

They won't serve dinner until you're finished, Henry. Well, if you're hungry,

write a check, because I can go on all night.

Don't bait Henry. He'll starve us.

Henry loves being the center of attention. Don't you?

Excuse us, will you? Yes, go ahead.

Get out of the way.

I have a position for a good handyman...

in case you ever tire of these long policeman's hours.

Ah. Nothing works around here.

I do appreciate your coming in on such short notice, Henry.

You look marvelous,

just... grand.

You get younger every day. Thank you, Victor.

You've met Detective Owens. Yesterday at the house.

Happy St. Sebastian to you.

Same to you, Mr. Hearst.

I'll burn us some coffee.

Nonfat milk, if you have it, uh-

I don't think he heard me. Actually, he reminds me a lot of you-

only listens when it suits him.

That's unfair, Henry.

Not only am I a good listener, but I keep it all in here.

Anyway, we should have this cleared up in no time.

Perhaps, under the circumstances, I should be calling you "Captain."

Oh, no. No need for that formality.

I apologize about the timing, Henry. I know you're due across the street.

We just need to clarify some of the details from your report.

Your superintendent is one of the charity's biggest supporters.

Oh, I know, I know. So, if you will help us put an end to some of these nagging

questions, why, we'll have you on your way.

I would have thought you'd be at the party already. You know how to have fun, don't you?

- Ah. Tuxedo's all ready to go.

I must say, Henry, you- you seem in high spirits,

what with all this on your doorstep.

How should I behave?

Mm.

How's Chantal?

Waiting.

A noble quality in that young woman.

Something mine didn't seem to want to do.

I was sad to hear that. We always thought you made a charming couple.

Charming, perhaps, but... dull, apparently.

You see the children much?

Both of my daughters are living with their mother back in New York City.

Must be hard during the holidays and all.

We should get on with it, Henry.

No milk? Out. Sorry.

No, thanks.

Well, you're into charity. Why don't you fund-raise us up a cappuccino machine...

so all the lowlifes who come through here can enjoy a solid cup of coffee?

I was just going to ask Mr. Hearst about the dog.

Oh, yeah, right, right. "The mystery dog."

Actually, I like "ghost dog." That's got a nice ring to it.

Could we start again?

I come in here like you ask, and Mr. Congeniality here is

taking a hostile manner with me.

It's this case, Henry.

It has everyone on edge.

But it's just... this business is strange,

going by what's in the record.

But let's- let's see.

Here. Uh, January sixth, yesterday afternoon.

You say you were out jogging with a dog...

Yes. Man's best friend.

belonging to a neighbor of yours named Ricardi.

- Did you ever own one? - When I was a boy, the family had Great Danes.

But you don't own one now?

Chantal prefers cats.

So, do - do you have a cat? Too unsanitary.

Chantal would want a cat, but only if it could be sanitized.

What do you mean? Cats are always licking themselves.

I dumped a girlfriend once because of her damn cat.

That thing had me up all night, slurpin' away.

A dog, yeah, is a lot more unsanitary,

but at least when they're sleepin', they sleep.

Thank you for that, Detective.

Anyway, the messiest is a canary.

She refused that too.

But for once, I stuck to my guns.

I... can be quite firm if I need to be.

W hat was his name again?

Tango.

Tango? D - Do you write that just like, uh, "tango"?

How else would you write it? Like "waltz" or "fox-trot"?

When you were questioned,

you said,

"I discovered the girl."

What we're not clear about here is what the dog was doing.

So?

Logically, you would expect that the dog would have found the girl.

Well, I suppose it did.

But you say-

you say you found her.

Well, me, the dog - we were together. We found the body.

What difference does it make? I- I called the police.

Unless, perhaps, you think that the dog called and disguised its voice.

Mr. Hearst,

two young girls have been found strangled within the past 16 days.

It is my job to find the murderer.

You're a principal witness to the crime scene. Now,

I have to make sure the facts of your statements agree...

with the other facts of the case.

- Mr. Hearst doesn't appear to be as distressed today. - I'm a guest here.

- I'll be treated with respect, Sergeant "Opie." - Owens.

That's D etective Owens.

Please. Please.

P lease. Please!

O- W-

Let's all- let's all relax.

Everyone has somewhere else they'd like to be.

Now, Henry, if you don't mind, please,

tell us one more time how you came upon the girl.

I jogged up to Ricardi's like I always do. I grabbed the dog.

- Better run him a little faster, Henry.

He's getting a belly as round as yours.

Old geezer. Come on, boy. Let's go, let's go!

This... dog- he was definitely with you?

What dialect do you need this in? Yes, the dog was with me.

The dog was with me. Got it?

You're sayin' Tango- he was there.

Oh, good. You're catching on.

Tango's all right.

Keeps me company on my runs.

We take the path by my house, like always.

Suddenly, Tango wasn't there.

Tango! Come on, boy. Hey!

I called to him, but, um, he wouldn't come.

I could hear him- he was growling, barking,

acting peculiar.

That's when I turned back. I kept calling.

Tango! Tango, come on, boy.

The dog wouldn't come.

And you couldn't see the girl at this point?

Obviously, not from the path,

but I could see Tango in there, moving around.

So you ventured off into the grove.

That's when I saw her.

At first, I thought she was asleep.

She was almost- I-

I wanna say...

angelic-

the way she just lay there.

Her eyes- they were dark brown.

They were still open.

Sue Ellen Huddy.

She was three days shy of her 13th birthday.

How did you discern she was dead?

I touched her.

I mean, I-I put my head on her chest.

There was no heartbeat.

And that was that.

The dog found the body. That's correct.

Mr. Ricardi states firmly that you did not run the dog yesterday.

He admits that on most days you do, but not yesterday.

Well, he just doesn't remember right.

Well, that may be, but in that case,

your neighbor, Ms., uh,

Ms. Lazzo doesn't remember either.

And another neighbor, Mr. Irwin, also suffers memory loss.

Now, you're the only one who remembers correctly. Who am I to believe?

- Them, naturally. - Oh, come on, Henry. You're taking this personally.

I'm just trying to find the truth.

- You know, you enjoy hounding me. - How is that, Henry?

You forget, Victor. I know all your tricks.

A murder by some thug or nutcase- that's average.

But when it's a pillar of the legal community that's more than a witness-

Ah, then it's banner headlines, television.

It'd help in your push to become our next police superintendent. Am I right?

Come on, Victor. Confess.

You see?