Tears to a Glass Eye

Eddie, what can I do?

Make you smart?

I'd like to think so.

Shut up and drive.

A dog! Dog!

One dead.

One might as well be dead.

Jack knifed.

He'll never walk again.

The driver is dead, and I'm alive.

If I wore my seat belt,

I wouldn't be in this wheelchair.

So your friend Eddie.

Mmm!

When did he die?

- 18 months ago. - Oh, yeah.

How long was he in a wheelchair?

Over 20 years, the entire time I knew him.

But Eddie was not an easy guy to know.

Wait, this happened 20 years ago?

Yeah.

Tell me about the money.

Gone.

Disappeared from the accident scene.

It was in a duffel bag, I think,

because that's all Eddie would ever talk about.

So anytime you would go see Eddie,

especially towards the end of his days,

it was the duffel bag.

Duffel bag?

- Yeah. - What's that about?

Some kind of emotional artifact,

remind him of before the accident, when he was a kid?

What is that?

Maybe like Rosebud from "Citizen Kane."

Oh?

I'm a big film buff.

- That's good. - Glad you got the reference.

Listen, don't get your hopes up.

This happened 20 years ago.

Like they say, after 20 years,

it's all forgotten but the songs.

Yeah, maybe.

And I'm not really taking cases anymore.

I'm more of a writer now.

Well, yeah, but I saw you on TV, though.

And on TV, you said, I would like to get back into the game.

Yeah.

Unless the great Martin Dye just doesn't

like mysteries anymore?

No, I'm trying to sell books.

- - I'm making up stuff.

I'm on a talk show.

But obviously, I'm interested, or I wouldn't be here.

So just let me think about it.

I'll get back to you.

I'm staying with my nephew next town over.

Oh. Nice.

I guess the Plaza must have been fully booked.

Yeah.

Hey, there he is.

So how's my favorite nephew?

Oh, good, but soon to be busy.

Oh.

How was your meeting?

Oh, it was... it was good.

Thanks for asking.

Wait, so tell me, what is "busy" these days for a kid?

Well, the party boat will be in soon.

Okay.

I gotta do some cleaning, fillet some fish.

Then I gotta hose down the boat.

It'll be a lot of work, but the tips should be good.

Okay, yeah.

Sounds like a lot. Kinda impressed.

All right, keep busy. Keeps you out of trouble.

Oh, can you, by any chance, find me a whiteboard?

Like a schoolroom-sized whiteboard?

I'm doing a project.

I think I know where I can find one.

Today on "Coffee Talk," I'm here with Martin Dye,

the author of this book, "A Drop in the Gray."

What happens when an adopted daughter searches

for her birth parents and discovers that her birth mother

might have been murdered and her birth father

is famous LA detective Martin Dye?

Well, together, they solve the case.

And it's a true life tale.

Wow, I wanna read that book.

What an intro. Yeah, it is.

It's all true. And thank you, by the way.

I'm happy to be here. Thanks for having me.

I'm so glad you're joining us.

Well, I have to tell you, this book is a real page turner.

I thoroughly enjoyed it.

You know, I really love the relationship

that you have with your daughter in this book

and how you bond by solving this case.

I found it funny and very touching.

I mean, critics and readers alike really enjoy your books.

So I have to know,

is there going to be a sequel, a follow-up?

Well, I hope so.

I mean, you know, I'm always interested

in the next big case, right?

In the meantime, the paperback is about to come out,

and it can be found at all your best bookstores.

And hopefully, once your paperback is launched,

you will come back and bring your daughter.

We would love to meet her.

Well, thank you.

I would love to come back, and I would absolutely

love to bring Janet.

Well, thank you so much for joining us today, Martin Dye.

And to you, stay tuned.

You're not gonna wanna go anywhere because we have

another very special guest.

Stephanie Powers is going to be joining us,

and you're not going to want to miss it.

Hey, Mommy. How's the baby?

Oh, he's great.

He's sleeping.

Something I have to do every once in a while.

How was the award show?

You know what, it was great.

It really was.

I never won an award for my chosen profession,

so it was kind of a treat.

No one is ever private eye of the year.

I know. Can you believe it? It's such bullshit.

Dad, our talk show run is over.

"PM Magazine" is never going to call us again.

I know.

It's gonna be a struggle, but I'm gonna fight through it.

With you selling your firm, I think you should find someone.

Irene's been gone a while.

And a fabulous non-award-winning.

PI like yourself should have someone.

Well, I'll take that under advisement.

Thank you.

You know what, though, I did?

I talked to a guy today who had a pretty interesting story

about some missing money. I might just take the case.

Take the case.

Go back to being you.

Semi-retirement isn't working for you.

Maybe you'll get a story out of it.

My husband comes bearing gifts.

I got it. Here it is.

The Rosetta Stone is here.

So there it is.

That is the duffel bag.

Wow, it's big.

How much money are we talking about here?

Oh, it was, like, $25,000 to $35,000.

It would depend.

What did he do to make this money?

Selling grass.

Wow, that's a lot of grass.

George is fascinated by you

because you were on "The Geraldo Show."

They both went to community college.

Oh, did they?

You know, you give me two years,

and I'll give you the world.

Did you go to a community college, or...?

No, I didn't have the grades.

Oh.

Oh, okay, he's busting my balls.

That's what they do in Hollywood because... if you're famous.

Okay, some hypothetical business talk.

If... if I took the case, my fee would be 20% of the retrieval.

So it's no out-of-pocket for you.

It's all or nothing for me. Would that work for you?

Of course, the answer is yes.

You're letting George fulfill his old movie fantasy.

Oh, yeah.

And you were in charge of Eddie's estate

near the end, right?

Correct.

Okay, that... That could be helpful.

Tell me, where did you meet Eddie?

At Dory Conrad's art therapy class.

It was a program funded by the state.

Dory was the instructor there.

Everyone was in wheelchairs.

Eddie was there.

And Dory Conrad, she still around?

Yeah.

We still see her.

So if I wanted to meet with her,

you could help make that happen?

Sure, we can do that.

Okay.

But not for a couple days.

I got some things to do.

You, I have a couple things for you to do too.

Me? Does that mean that we're working for you?

Yes, it does.