S012E17 - “The Moroville Covenant” - Plot

Act One

McGarrett goes to visit his friend, Dave (Paul Burke) to ask him to speak at the police academy graduation. Dave proclaims he has no formal training in public speaking, which suits McGarrett just fine. They discuss Dave's Senate run and Dave says McGarrett should be his campaign manager, but McGarrett has his hands full where he is. McGarrett offers the carrot of maximum press coverage of the graduation and that can't hurt someone running for public office. Dave agrees as long as he doesn't have to eat "creamed chicken and peas" and McGarrett gives him a ride home. McGarrett agrees and they leave the office.

Street level, Lori is waiting by the Marquis Brougham. As they walk, McGarrett and Dave talk about the election and how Dave's wife, Margot (Helen Funai) is keeping him grounded because the polls are "nip and tuck".

As McGarrett pulls away from the curb, another car follows. McGarrett picks up on it and keeps driving eventually pulling into Dave's driveway. Dave mentions he goes horseback riding at "Mauna Loa Academy out in Wahiawa" inviting them to join him. Dave is about to get out but McGarrett keeps Dave in the car as he goes to confront the driver who followed them. As McGarrett is about to reach him, the driver takes off swiping at McGarrett in the process. When that happens, everybody's out including Margot who runs from the house. McGarrett remembers seeing him downtown walking with a limp.

The next morning as Lori drives, a broadcast goes out about a sudden death at the Mauna Loa Academy of a horse and rider. An on the scene reporter (Karen Ahn) gives out what few details there are.

Lori drives out to the Academy where she looks over the dead body. According to an officer (Danny Kamekona) on the scene, he signed in as "Jack Smith" (Christerpher Neddels) but there's nothing on him to contradict this. The only guess at this point is that the "horse bolted".

In the autopsy room, an initial assessment: "outdoor type, middle-40s, but it's not the Hawaiian sun on his face É "wind, long exposure"". There was definitely a limp as the left leg as it was an inch shorter than the right due to a 10 year-old fracture. There were several other fractures too and McGarrett wonders if he was connected with a rodeo somehow. Lori tells the coroner they want a report on the horse too.

Lori meets Dave for lunch where she tells him she detoured when she heard the report. She also wants to know if Dave saw anything. Dave did indeed see something, the whole thing. Dave believes he might be responsible for the man's death because he hesitated. Dave watched the man and horse gallop toward him appearing out of control. They discuss it further with Dave saying he wouldn't hesitate if it were Margot. Lori asks if Dave recognized the man but Dave didn't. Lori says they believe he's the same man who followed them the day before.

At Five-O, Lori discovers there are no prints on file in Washington. Kimo talks about McGarrett's hunch of Jack Smith "being too obvious to be an alias". Kimo answers Lori's question about the airlines, "Smith came in on Flight 247 from San Francisco yesterday afternoon". Kimo leads Lori out as McGarrett and Duke are waiting on them at the Royal Palm Hotel.

The team goes over Smith's hotel room where Duke found a bus ticket from Moroville, Idaho. Lieutenant Akane, the officer who talked to Lori at the Academy, enters the hotel room. He briefs McGarrett on the coroner's report: murder, both man and horse were drugged then the horse was poked with something in the hindquarters enough to pierce the skin.

Act Two

Lori goes to see Dave at his office with his partner (Donald Carter) present, inquiring about the small town in Idaho he mentioned to McGarrett. Dave comes clean, admitting he was born in Moroville. He didn't recognize Smith when he followed them but recognized him the next morning at the Academy because Smith dropped by Dave's house the night before. Smith tells him he's Eva's (Diane McBain) husband and tries to blackmail Dave for $100,000. Smith browbeats information out of Eva to discover what happened 20 years before. Smith knows it would ruin Dave's career and his Senate chances but Dave refuses to pay. Lori wants to know who Eva is and Dave explains she's someone he knew but hasn't spoken to in "over 20 years". Dave goes on to say the other people he told about the blackmail are: "Phil McCorkendale (Carleton Smith), our labor man; George Sulieman (John Stalker), financial man, fundraiser; Winnie Winston (Don Pomes), State chairman". Dave wanted to withdraw but they wouldn't let him as they were committed to him. Lori asks what happened 20 years before but Dave tells her it's over. Lori argues it isn't because they're dealing with murder.

In McGarrett's office, Lori was successful is getting the DA to hold off for 24 hours. It's not much but more than expected. Everyone is curious to know what happened 20 years ago in Moroville.

In Idaho, Kimo travels to Moroville. He starts digging at the Town hall & Courthouse with the record keeper (Alan Becker) asking if he found what he was looking for. Kimo is still on Vital Statistics, specifically Dave's. The record keeper isn't much but points Kimo toward the newspaper and Sarah May (Elsie Russell).

In Honolulu, Duke speaks to McCorkendale who considered Smith a "parasite". McCorkendale says they can't switch people this close to the election. Duke points out Smith's death was "a stroke of luck" for him because of the union's pension fund was messed up in Philadelphia. Dave promised an investigation into the Philadelphia firm if he's elected. McCorkendale doesn't like the accusation and leaves in a huff.

At the Moroville Gazette, Kimo speaks to Sarah. She remembers an accident occurring in the winter of 1958. Kimo finds the article about Minerva Lawrence being run over by the family car driven by Eva Pritchard. Dave went for help but by the time he returned, Minerva was dead. According to Sarah, 'Minnie' was set against paying tuition at Stanford where Dave wanted to attend law school. With her death, Dave's obstacles were out of the way and he went to school. Eva married 'Smitty' about a year later and Sarah says she doesn't know why Dave and Eva broke up because they were "keeping company". Sarah also tells Kimo that Eva lives about 30 miles North. Kimo is off to visit Eva.

Lori visits Sulieman who calls Smith "an extortionist". Lori asks about "First Unified Banking Group". The conglomerate is an "intense and unprincipled competitors" of Sulieman's. Sulieman has pushed the Department of Justice to investigate and if elected, Dave has promised to press the investigations. Sulieman has motive just like everyone else and he drops Winnie Winston's name. Lori assures Sulieman, he's covered.

In McGarrett's office, he asks Winston about it. Winston denies knowing anything about Smith other than what he's read in the paper. McGarrett doesn't necessarily buy Winston's story because if Dave is elected, Winston has a good shot to be the national chair of the party but if Dave fails, so does Winston. Not liking McGarrett's implications, Winston storms out stating he has better things to do.

Kimo arrives at Eva's place but no one is home. He asks the deputy with him if he had any idea where she is with the deputy not having an idea.

In Honolulu, a woman shows up at Dave and Margot's house with Margot answering the door. It's Eva! She wants to talk to Dave and Margot is shocked.

Act Three

Margot shows Eva in saying Dave has a visitor in the study. Margot leads her to the study where Dave is with Lori. Lori is able to redirect Margot and they leave for coffee. Dave and Eva catch up after not seeing each other for decades. Eva tells him she knew he would be someone important one day as she looks around the study. He tells Eva it's possible because of her.

Meanwhile, Margot and Lori have coffee discussing the case. When Lori mentions Kimo reported what he found, Margot informs Lori she knows "all of it". Margot tells her the whole town knew about the contention between Dave and his aunt about him attending law school. They argued more than once including once in a grocery store where the sheriff heard it all. Lori finally puts the pieces together, "was Eva driving the car?" Margot confirms Dave was driving, not Eva. Margot adds Dave went for help and when he got back, the sheriff was there and Eva said she was driving, taking the blame for his aunt's death. According to Margot, Eva felt if she did anything else, she would stand in Dave's way.

Back in the study, Dave and Eva talk more. Eva says she didn't write back because 'Smitty' was controlling and grew angry when he found the one letter she kept. Eva tells him about how he made her tell the truth. Smith then went on about how someone in Dave's position should have to pay for what he did, accident or not. When she figured out Smith was on his way to Hawaii, she followed him to stop him. Eva knows she did the right thing and tells Dave so.

Margot tells Lori Dave tried to take responsibility but the sheriff wouldn't believe him perhaps thinking the boy was trying to protect the girl. Dave and Eva emerge from the study and Dave drives her back to her hotel.

The next morning, McGarrett argues with the D.A. about their 24 hours. The D.A. wants to press charges and doesn't see any progress being made. McGarrett ensures progress is being made because they're still checking alibis and finding motives all over the place. When asked about the widow, McGarrett is honest in that he hasn't talked to her yet. As well, McGarrett promises he'll give updates. He then has Luana connect him to Eva at her hotel. McGarrett orders surveillance on Eva. The phone rings in Eva's hotel room but Winston is there and yells at her to not answer it.

Act Four

Kimo arrives back at Five-O and they've already lost track of Eva. Duke updates Kimo that McGarrett wants to check out McCorkendale, Sulieman, Winston and Burton Briggs who is Dave's partner and Briggs is missing too.

Dave says to Lori Eva as going to wait at the hotel and he was going to pick up Eva later. Dave called her about 3:00 but she didn't answer. Lori knows Eva was there because the clerk gave her the key to her room. Dave is shocked that McGarrett would think he would harm Eva. Dave doesn't have a lot of answers concerning his intentions with Eva or the election. Dave would like to come forward but he's worried about the perception he's been hiding behind Eva all these years which is exactly what he's done.

Kimo calls into McGarrett from the Prince Regent advising him Lieutenant Akane picked up Winston 20 minutes ago. Winston tried to settle Eva's bill and grab her luggage. Winston claimed she was in his car but no one was in Winston's car and he's currently being booked by HPD. This is where McGarrett and Kimo go next. Winston sticks with his story, admitting he told Eva not to answer the phone when it rang twice. The plan was to take Eva to the airport and put her on a flight to San Francisco but when they checked the car she wasn't there. Winston wants out and says he's not a suspect but McGarrett is going to leave that to the courts. When Winston is taken back to his cell, McGarrett realizes there is only one threat left for Dave's election aspirations: Margot. He orders Kimo to call Dave and to meet McGarrett at Dave's house as soon as possible.

McGarrett drives to Dave and Margot's house. After a bit, Margot lets him in. he asks if she's okay and if she's spoken to Dave within the last hour or so. She's fine and she hasn't talked to Dave. McGarrett, by his own admission, finally considers the facts of the Smith's murder. One fact is the drugs, which could only be given to him by someone he knew or was close to. As well, Smith's killer drove his rental car back to his hotel. Margot gives her guess it was his wife, Eva who now appears out of nowhere. McGarrett tells her they've been expecting her. Eva says she has to kill Margot because she knows the story and wants to tell everyone. Eva pulls a gun and McGarrett tries to talk her down, telling her he knows she killed her husband in order to protect Dave. Dave walks in and is struck by the insanity. McGarrett works within Eva's delusion saying Dave is here to take her to the dance. Dave plays along as McGarrett disarms Eva before she dances with Dave in the front room of his house.