S11E14 - “The Meighan Conspiracy” - Plot

Act One

A bank manager, Doheni (Hedley Mattingly) shows up to his job asking Mrs. Tanaka to put some documents into the vault once it opens. The bank and the vault open at 10:00 a.m. but when Mrs. Tanaka goes into the vault, she discovers it has been emptied of its valuables! Doheni stands stunned finding the whole idea "impossible".

In McGarrett's office, he tells Danno and Duke the estimates are needed by the end of the week for Five-O's budget and it's not their strong point. Danno catches the printouts promptly shoving them to Duke! The phone rings: the governor calls after just speaking to Doheni, manager of First Security of Oahu but doesn't have any details. The governor is late for a shopping center dedication and wants McGarrett to call Doheni right away before inviting McGarrett to the dedication. When he hangs up, McGarrett tells Luana (Laura Sode) to call Doheni but he's calling Five-O! She puts him through: Doheni tells them about the vault robbery that could total millions of dollars, happening between closing last night and opening this morning.

At the bank, Doheni leads Five-O to the vault where Sullivan (Bob Sevey) is already on scene with a photographer. Doheni tells them everything is automatic including the opening of the door and the alarm system. When McGarrett asks who knew the combination, Sullivan answers three and they're working on them now. Doheni says the door only opens on a "previously determined hour". Sullivan says there is no evidence of a break-in, not even a scratch. Doheni explains the entire vault is surrounded by steel-reinforced concrete, specified by the FDIC. McGarrett decides he wants to speak to the builder who just completed the shopping center the governor is dedicating. Sullivan declines an invitation by McGarrett who tells Danno and Duke to check into all the electronic equipment in use as he leaves.

McGarrett goes to the dedication of Wapahanu Mall just as the governor cuts the ribbon. The governor says a few words introducing Matthew Meighan (Robert Reed) to the crowd lauding his good deeds. Meighan says some words of kindness before the ceremony ends. The governor introduces McGarrett and Meighan who says he and Didi (Barbara Anderson) will be in Hawaii for a couple more days then take a vacation in the Caribbean after he "cleans up some things". After the governor leaves, Meighan claims the bank robbery was an inside job because he built the vault to specifications to be surrounded by concrete. McGarrett would like to look at the building blueprints of the Plaza Mall but they are in the San Francisco office. However, Meighan says the layout of the banks between the Plaza and Wapahanu Malls. He excuses Brooks (Kevin O'Connor) so McGarrett can get a closer look. Meighan points out the concrete all the way around, according to FDIC specifications and wonders if the robbery will become an unsolved case. McGarrett tells him, "the law catches up" and knows they'll eventually solve the case. McGarrett thanks him for his help and says they'll be in contact if needed, regardless of where Meighan is.

Meighan returns to his house with Brooks. Meighan go in hugging Didi while two men wait outside with four suitcases. They walk inside with the cases as Meighan says he had to straighten out McGarrett with one of the men (Don Reider) saying he's dangerous but Meighan isn't worried. They open the cases revealing the stuff stolen from the safety deposit boxes: mostly cash and jewelry that Brooks figures is about $4 to $5 million! Meighan says the insurance companies will pay out $8 to $10 million, ultimately driving up insurance rates! Meighan tells his associates to put the cases in someplace safe once they get to San Francisco, preferably a bank he didn't build. The three leave with the cases as Didi voices her concerns but Meighan still isn't worried.

Act Two

In the governor's office, McGarrett tells the governor of the possibility that Meighan may know more than what he's saying. McGarrett says everyone is a suspect until proven otherwise and that includes Meighan. The governor isn't convinced Meighan is involved.

The Five-O team discusses the alarm systems after lunch: they're in 95 percent of the new bank building and it's "impossible" to bypass. Danno explains even an attempt will set off the alarm including a circuit break caused by a power failure or someone jumping the wires. According to Sullivan, the three people who had the combination are clean so no luck there. Duke then talks about the door, a foot of carbon steel built by a company in Pittsburgh, and "the time-lock is fail safe". When he talked to the president of the company, he told Duke he was done trying to convince everyone his lock is foolproof. McGarrett stops, considering this new bit of information. He sets Danno on the task to discover who else the president is talking about.

Danno goes to see Sullivan who tells him three other banks were robbed the same way, finding out that information when he called Washington. His higher-ups in the FBI tell Sullivan to accept Five-O's help, which Danno is happy to hear. Just to be clear, Danno asks there were three mainland banks robbed in the same manner as the one in Plaza Mall. Sullivan confirms this saying all are still open with no clues because every angle was checked: employees, construction and alarm systems with everything checking out just fine. The contractors were different every time in Chicago, Wichita and St. Paul. None of the stolen items have turned up and there's no way to trace any of it. As well, all the banks are in shopping centers but this may not be anything because shopping centers are being built everywhere. Danno goes to call McGarrett briefing him on what he just found out. McGarrett wants Danno to find out who completed the final inspection on the Plaza bank and to talk to Bill Woodrow (Jay Aubrey), a broker friend of Danno's: McGarrett wants to know everything about the Bruckmer Construction Company.

Danno goes to see Woodrow about Bruckmer: "Pacific Counter, no rating. Capitalized under $5 million. 1700 stockholders. Price range last four years was 1 1/2 to 4 1/4. Common shares outstanding: 3 million. Referred none. Home office: Market Street, San Francisco." Didi Jonas is listed as the President and Chairman of the Board but no Meighan. Danno is confused: Meighan supposedly owns the company with Woodrow explaining that owners don't have to be on the board.

At the shopping center, Didi signs more contracts before moving on. She enters a store 'Hawaii Sound' where she takes a slight interest in a panel on the wall. In the back, concrete is being delivered as McGarrett pulls up and Didi looks for Meighan. McGarrett introduces himself before Didi calls out to Meighan who shows his face. He introduces McGarrett and Didi formally before McGarrett asks about the government inspector on the Plaza job. McGarrett says he would like to know more on the government inspection process. Meighan says the process is thorough as he signs for the delivery. McGarrett tells them about the three unsolved robberies on the mainland and how they match the Plaza robbery. They discuss the number of bank robberies that occur in the U.S. each year before McGarrett leaves. Meighan stops him telling McGarrett if he needs anything else, they'll be there until Tuesday inviting McGarrett to "a farewell dinner" on Monday evening. McGarrett accepts. As they watch McGarrett leave, Didi reminds Meighan of Burke's warning and not to underestimate him. Meighan is completely enjoying toying with McGarrett. Brooks tells Meighan they're ready and they decide to "get this done" before it's too late.

Act Three

McGarrett walks into Five-O with Luana informing him Duke called from Wichita and will try again in 30 minutes. Danno is on the phone in his cubicle knocking on the glass before McGarrett goes into his office: the federal inspector, Laveck, retired a few months ago and is proving hard to track down. McGarrett also wants to know who inspected the mainland banks that were robbed. He suspects they're all living high on the hog.

In McGarrett's office, Luana buzzes in: Duke is calling from Wichita after covering all three locations. The vault layouts are the same and the FBI was thorough in all the cases, covering every angle. McGarrett wants photos if possible and wants to know who built the shopping centers. Duke already has photos thanks to an instant camera and has all the names and data: for Chicago, Sendrex Development Company; in Wichita, Wincott Brothers.

Danno returns to Woodrow wondering where he got his information on Bruckmer: in the company directory, a.k.a. "the businessman's bible". Danno then gives him the other companies: Sendrex, Wincott and H.K. Solkin Builders and Developers who built the center in St. Paul.

According to Woodrow, all three are privately owned as Danno briefs McGarrett in his office. Information is tough to come by because they are private and not on any exchange. However, Sendrex has a Chairman of the Board: Didi Jonas!

McGarrett goes to the Meighan house where he meets with Didi asking about Meighan calling her Didi. Meighan walks in finding McGarrett telling him Didi is short for Dorothy and Jonas is her maiden name. McGarrett then goes into the three other unsolved robberies: of the four banks robbed, two were built by companies owned by Meighan. McGarrett states his theory hypothetically: who better than the builder than to figure out how to rob the vaults without leaving a trace. McGarrett is pretty sure who robbed the banks but he's not sure how. Meighan calls him "entertaining" with McGarrett saying he'll put on a show later. After McGarrett leaves, Didi finally gets it: Meighan's high comes from proving how much smarter he is than McGarrett.

McGarrett and Danno return to the bank looking for answers with McGarrett sure it's in there somewhere. In the vault, McGarrett asks for Doheni's permission to tear up the floor. Sullivan tells him there should be eight feet of reinforced concrete around the vault but McGarrett isn't convinced arranging for heavy drilling equipment to be used while the Meighans watch. The drilling commences but every time and every place they drill is the same: concrete! As each hole is drilled, Meighan becomes more smug even taunting McGarrett about going back to the drawing board.

Act Four

In McGarrett's office, they look over the plans again as they discuss the other robberies, which hauled in $4 to $5 million each. They move to the corkboard and the other cases including vault pictures. Looking over everything, McGarrett wants a pattern or even a clue. They even look at what was built nearby: "in each case, a music store". McGarrett tells Danno call the places to discover who owns them, starting in St. Paul where Meighan built that one.

At the newest music store, McGarrett wonders why Didi leased it out like she did in St. Paul. McGarrett asks Duke if he went into the music store in St. Paul, which he did to buy a harmonica because he can't play the ukulele and was homesick for some Hawaiian music. Standing at the counter, Duke notices the panel on the wall, there was one exactly like it in St. Paul!

At the Meighan house, they comment about McGarrett being a half-hour late. As they have a drink and Didi has a cigarette, McGarrett shows up. He apologizes for being late and offers to be their host as he has a surprise for them.

McGarrett drives them to the latest shopping center where they enter the music store. McGarrett turns the dials on the panel as Didi tries to talk him out of the whole thing but when it's all said and done: there's a tunnel straight to the bank vault! As they walk down the stairs, McGarrett tells them they found a similar panel in St. Paul and were able to track down Laveck in Jamaica. Laveck is being brought back under escort along with a couple of other bank inspectors the feds are hauling in to talk with them. McGarrett exposes the stairs leading to the vault and they climb up to meet Danno and Sullivan. McGarrett hands them over to Sullivan, as Meighan wonders why the drilling into concrete didn't satisfy McGarrett: the truckload of cement being delivered for "the finishing touches". Danno cuffs the pair for "a federal rap".

In McGarrett's office, he receives good news from Sullivan: Laveck is talking and talking a lot, which means the money can be traced. The governor is in the office too: wondering why the FBI didn't find the connection to Meighan on the mainland. McGarrett suspects he had someone front for him and figured he could outsmart the "hicks". The governor now wonders who's going to donate a new hospital wing with McGarrett suggesting the politicians gift something to the people for a change!