S09E05 - “Tour De Force, Killer Aboard” - Plot

Act One

An airplane lands in Honolulu carrying a tour group as the tour guide (Mel Proctor) gives them the layout for the afternoon. One tourist, Mr. Young (Jerry Cox), asks an annoying question just before deplaning. Another tourist named Hazel (Linda Ryan) strikes up a conversation with a young man, Mr. Huston (Cliff Gorman) as they exit the aircraft. The stewardess (Susie Burke) goes about her job as the plane taxis and parks at the gate finding one passenger dead!

McGarrett is getting his car washed by a bunch of kids for $1. Danno pulls up briefing him about the dead man found on the inbound flight from Seattle. McGarrett considers it HPD's problem until Danno tells him the man was killed with a surgical instrument" and a CIA agent on active assignment but what the assignment was, Washington won't say.

At the Ilikai, Huston hangs out by the fountain as people go about their business. A young woman (Udana Power) catches his eye as she hails a cab. He jumps in as they try to figure out who got there first but the cab driver (Jerry Velasco) decides for them and they seem to be going to the same place: Ala Moana. They introduce themselves: Robert Huston and Julia Lewis. He claims to be a hardware dealer from Portland, Oregon with a tour group staying at the Sea Breeze Hotel but she lives in Hawaii working as Public Relations for the Ilikai. When they start talking hotels, Julia tells him they're expecting some important people on the 11th and have reserved an entire floor in advanced as they're not allowing anything to be booked on the floor until two weeks from now once the group leaves.

At the airport, an official (Harold Iseke) meets McGarrett and Danno introducing them to the stewardess who found the agent. She isn't much help except to say he was seated on the right in the last seat next to the window. With close to 300 people on board, it's hard to say who killed him because people were moving around due to the long flight. McGarrett tells Danno to check out all the passengers and to get the lab technicians out to the plane.

Huston buys Julia a plumeria lei as they walk through Paradise Park. They walk to a bench in the quieter part of the Park where Huston makes his move trying to gain more information on the incoming VIPs to the Ilikai. When Julia is uncooperative and tries to leave, he kills her by stabbing her with a thin instrument! He lays her in the brush and walks away.

Act Two

As they walk into the Territorial Building, McGarrett and Chin go over the passengers: of the 284, 29 were locals and none of the locals have records with HPD save traffic citations. Chin goes on about the tour group from Sunrise Tours: 40 people from Oregon and Washington with Danno over at their hotel since early morning. As they enter he building, Duke tells them the inquiries to the mainland are starting to be answered with one man: William Vaughn (Boris Aplon) with a felony record. He served three years for armed robbery and indicted for extortion but released on "lack of evidence". McGarrett wants Vaughn picked up as he receives a call from Jonathan Kaye (Bill Edwards) who says the CIA isn't forthcoming about what's going on. However, he was able to discover the agent was on the tail of a man named Raymond who is an international assassin available to the highest bidder. The only thing Jonathan has been able to find is that Raymond is supposed to do a job in Hawaii within the next month. Unfortunately, that's all as there are no photos, no fingerprints and no MO but he's known to be Caucasian. "All we have to do is protect an unknown VIP from murder while we're looking for a hired assassin nobody can describe".

Danno questions the tour group members including Young and Hazel who prove more annoying than helpful especially with Hazel's foggy memory. She remembers the pilot or co-pilot leaning over him but it turns out she and the tour leader both talked to him after lunch. She leaves in embarrassment as the tour leader asks for a break and they have an event to go to that evening. Danno says he'll be back in the morning but they won't be there! This takes Danno completely by surprise and he tells the tour leader to let him know if anyone tries to leave the tour.

At the morgue, Doc (Al Eben) briefs on the agent: "subject was a well nourished Caucasian male, 35 to 40 years of age. The wound was made with a long, thin instrument. It entered the body just below the breastbone and traveled directly into the heart. No ribs to deflect it". Doc says death was "probably" instant as the killer "has the touch and skill of a surgeon". As he briefs McGarrett, Julia's body is rolled in after being found by some kids in Paradise Park. The assistant tells them she was stabbed in the upper abdomen. The HPD officer with them identifies her to McGarrett: she was the PR Director at the Ilikai. Doc takes a quick look at her telling McGarrett the same type of weapon caused both deaths.

Danno pulls in after McGarrett at the Territorial Building where they compare notes: the CIA agent was after Raymond and the only known fact is that he's Caucasian. Danno was able to complete half the interviews as the tour group starts their outer island tour in the morning and there are 19 Caucasian men in it. McGarrett has a solution to their problem with the tour group: Officer Sandi Welles (Amanda McBroom) can go along. Danno says she sure likes to talk so it could work.

In McGarrett's office, Sandi is excited to be asked and tells them she can pass herself off as a tour guide because she does know the outer islands. Things turn serious when she asks for a description: all the people who know what Raymond looks like are dead!

Huston cases the Ilikai as he picks up the latest paper covering Julia's murder. A security guard and hotel officials walk near the elevators. Huston walks to the elevators to see which floor the men stop on: 24. He then checks it for himself entering an elevator and going the 24th floor. Once the doors open, a man tells him the floor is closed down with Huston giving a story he was actually looking for floor 23. He re-enters the elevator going to the 23rd floor.

Chin brings Vaughn in to McGarrett's office where Vaughn claims to be innocent even with his past history. Vaughn tells McGarrett he's in legitimate business now: "Industrial laundries". McGarrett moves on having Vaughn point out where he was seated on the airplane: 22B and he was asleep the whole time. He tells them he sat next to a "fat dame" named Ethel Carter who can vouch for him. McGarrett releases him wanting to know where to contact him should they have further questions. McGarrett is frustrated because they have nothing new.

That evening, the tiki lighting ceremony takes place at the Ilikai as Huston receives a phone call. It's Hazel pestering him to join them for drinks downstairs but he gives her a story about having to pack. He has to pack all right, loading his gun and putting it back into his chess set in his suitcase!

Act Three

The tour group loads onto a bus in front of the Sea Breeze as Huston and Sandi meet in the process. Hazel butts in giving Huston a hard time about skipping out on engagements. The tour director tells them Sandi will be with them the next week and so far, so good.

Chin briefs McGarrett as they walk with Duke near the Territorial building: Julia was single, age 28 born in Madison, Wisconsin. She was the PR Director at the Ilikai for the last three and a half years and the most important thing in her life was her job. Duke adds she had no government connections but there was a note in her files for a booking of the entire 24th floor starting yesterday for two weeks. The main party is supposed to arrive on the 11th and a travel agency in London made the reservation but the three agents who handled it are out for the next month. McGarrett doesn't like the sounds of any of it but presses on.

The tour group flies to Maui where Hazel looks intently for Huston but Young interrupts her search. He tells her he saw him and Sandi walking on the beach earlier and Hazel heads off in that direction. As they walk along, Sandi and Huston talk about life and Portland including her adventure on Broadway driving north from Salmon Street to Stark but one problem: Broadway is one-way southbound! He asks her if she's testing him but she backpedals saying she got her streets mixed up: 6th Avenue runs northbound. As Huston sizes her up, Hazel and Young interrupt them frolicking on the beach.

Danno enters McGarrett's office saying everyone on the tour checks out; which doesn't surprise McGarrett, as Raymond would make sure his cover was foolproof. Duke chimes in saying they are about halfway through the passenger list. McGarrett wants to know if they've heard from Sandi but they haven't because nothing solid has produced itself. The phone rings: it's Jonathan with some interesting news. He tells McGarrett there are six OPEC leaders heading to Honolulu to decide on oil prices. One of them has to be the target and an assassination could spell disaster to the world money markets. The head of the group is Sheik lbrahim ibn Khaldoun (Michael Markrich) from Kuwait. McGarrett is extremely unhappy about being kept out of the loop but the ministers arrive tomorrow at noon Hawaii time. McGarrett hangs up the phone and starts barking orders. He wants Danno to contact the FBI and HPD to get every spare man. He then tells Chin to have Airport Security put two men on every gate and if it's not possible for them to contact McGarrett who will have the governor put the National Guard on standby. Finally, he asks Duke about his skills at drawing maps: "I got a merit badge for it as an Eagle Scout". McGarrett then lays out what he wants: "detailed information on every entrance and exit to the Ilikai" along with where the ministers' rooms are located, clearances on "every maid, bellhop and busboy serving them". Duke leaves to get to it.

On Kauai, the tour group continues their adventure as Hazel and young get to know one another better. The tour director tells them they'll be heading to the airport in about an hour and Sandi freaks realizing she's not packed! She runs off asking Huston to order her a black coffee. However, she stops by his room talking one of the maids to let her in. She begins searching Huston's bag finding a map to the Ilikai. As she tries to call Five-O, Huston walks in!

Act Four

Huston pulls a gun and hangs up her call but makes another as Sandi watches him dial making note of the phone number he called! It's not that easy because it's a callback system where his employer (Ted Scott) tells him he's considering cancelling the contract because there has been a leak as Huston says he's picked up a parasite but getting rid of it won't be easy. Huston says it can still be done but the problem is getting back out but he plans on using Sandi in that part with the employer saying she will have to be killed afterward and Huston agrees.

Under tight airport security, the tour group returns with the official from earlier directing them to the terminal as quickly as possible. As Sandi and Huston deplane, he holds a gun to her under a jacket but only Danno takes a passing notice at her as they walk by. Meanwhile, a United Airlines 747 lands and this is the flight they're waiting on.

Out front, Huston makes Sandi get into a cab as the rest of the tour group boards their bus. On the tarmac, the sheik deplanes meeting McGarrett and Danno at the bottom of the stairs. The sheik is not amused by the "circus" with all the police around but McGarrett makes it clear: if he doesn't like the security precautions, the sheik can re-board his plane once it's refueled and leave. Speaking to his aide (Ben Frommer), the sheik reluctantly agrees but shoots down McGarrett's suggestion to switch hotels.

Huston and Sandi arrive at the Ilikai where she sees Chin and calls him Duke. She asks if McGarrett has called over yet and tells him that he sent her and Huston over to help out. She gives a story about Huston seeing Raymond with Huston backing her up. Chin allows them entry into the Ilikai where he forces her upstairs to the 23rd floor via the service stairway. Meantime, Chin calls McGarrett via a radio patch: Chin checks on Sandi's story but it's false. McGarrett tells him to locate her, as he and Danno are only ten minutes from there.

Huston ties and gags Sandi in a storage room because he plans to come back and get her to walk out the same way they walked in. Huston makes his way out and up to the 24th floor searching for his target. Seeing the security, he goes back to the 23rd floor and out onto the balconies. He climbs up to bypass the security working his way to the hotel suite. Meantime, Sandi tries freeing herself from the ropes by scraping them on the metal shelving.

McGarrett and Danno arrive in front of the ministers escorted by several security guards and police. Huston continues to make his way around the outside of the Ilikai making it to a ledge by the suite. Sandi gets loose but she's still locked in the room but she makes lots of noise gaining the attention of an HPD officer who kicks in the door. She grabs his radio informing the net Huston/Raymond in on the 23rd or 24th floor and is armed! Five-O scrambles as Danno and a bunch of officers take the elevator up as McGarrett takes a sharpshooter outside after Chin reports someone on a ledge on the 24th floor. The sniper shoots throwing Huston/Raymond off balance but the ministers dive for cover as the plainclothes guards shoot Huston/Raymond causing him to fall off the building! Danno and Chin report everyone's fine except the sheik as his bodyguards had to tackle him and sprained his ankle! Oops. "Better than a bullet in the head".