Spenser: For Hire

Spenser: For Hire (1985–1988) was an American crime drama TV show, airing on ABC, about a private investigator living in Boston, who gets involved in a new murder mystery each episode. The series was based on Robert B. Parker's Spenser novels.

Season 1

Promised Land [1.01]

Spenser: I was rooting for the Celtics, but I was identifying with every team that ever came in here and was lucky enough to get out alive.

No Room at the Inn [1.02]

Spenser: Got a make on the hitters. Both from Jersey, Phil Masack and Sunny Cardoza.

Lt. Martin Quirk: You burned 'em?

Spenser: Hawk.

Lt. Martin Quirk: Hawk? You hired Hawk as backup?

Spenser: Hawk's the best.

Lt. Martin Quirk: Where is he?

Spenser: Don't know.

Lt. Martin Quirk: What? Where's the woman?

Spenser: With Hawk.

Lt. Martin Quirk: Well, how do you know that if you don't know where Hawk is?

Spenser: I know Hawk.

---

Spenser: You said you didn't know what my ambitions are. They're very simple. A 40-foot sloop off the coast of Bora Bora. Enough cash to, uh, keep me in shorts and sun tan oil for a year or two. I could be sending postcards back to the first female governor of the Commonwealth.

Tom Shanley: We don't even know you've found the woman.

Spenser: I'll bring her to you. But I won't pull the trigger. He's gotta do that. It's either that or I turn her over to Quirk. To march her into that hearing tomorrow.

Meghan Farrell: What about your friend?

Spenser: Hawk? He's a professional. He'll be reasonable. It's Marty Quirk you can't buy. And if Marty gets hurt... you're gonna find out just how good a department you're running. Marty's got a lot of friends.

---

Spenser: "The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests. The son of man hath not where to lay his head." I couldn't remember if it was from Luke or John, but it looked like I'd just joined a very exclusive club. It was Matthew, and reading the rest of the chapter before I fell asleep helped me get over the feeling I had when I watched almost everything I own go up in smoke. I tried to drown the rest of my thoughts in beer; that never really works. And the alcohol in my blood didn't make an August night in Boston any cooler.

---

Meghan Farrell: My witness is the wife of a prominent member of the organization. She's given me names and figures that can expose certain public officials as being under the influence of the organization.

Spenser: Somebody would rather see her dead than walk into that grand jury session tomorrow.

Meghan Farrell: Apparently.

Spenser: You said you already have your testimony.

Meghan Farrell: I have a deposition. She still has to appear before the grand jury. I'm depending on you to protect her. With your own life, if necessary.

Spenser: Well, I value my life a great deal, Ms. Farrell.

Meghan Farrell: Would $5,000 be appropriate?

Spenser: For my life? No. For one day of it, I'd say you were getting royally ripped off.

---

Spenser: You already have a deposition. All the connections, names, numbers you want the public to have. You don't want Angela Zemeckis in that grand jury session.

Meghan Farrell: And why is that?

Spenser: Because if she goes in... the defense can tear down what you wanna build up. You want the statehouse. You want City Hall. You run on law and order. Point the finger at people in power, scare tactics. Backed up with a dead woman's deposition. You present the perfect evidence. Evidence that people can deny but can't disprove because they can't cross-examine. You get elected. You run on her coattails. Everybody remembers how tough you were in going after organized crime. Nobody remembers about an unsolved hit on a witness. Or the death of an ex-cop you tag as irresponsible. So you tell Marty Quirk that somebody wants to kill her, and you contract for a murder.

Meghan Farrell: You have a vivid imagination, Mr. Spenser. What about hard evidence?

Spenser: I've got Angela Zemeckis. Imagine her telling the people of Massachusetts you were the only ones who knew where she was supposed to be.

Tom Shanley: That doesn't prove anything.

Spenser: I'm just taking a leaf out of Ms. Farrell's book. You don't have to prove anything. You just point your finger and bring in the press. Oh, you might not fall. But you both can forget about climbing any higher.

Cast

• Robert Urich - Spenser
• Avery Brooks - Hawk
• Richard Jaeckel - Lt. Martin Quirk
• Ron McLarty - Lt. Frank Belson
• Barbara Stock - Susan Silverman
• Carolyn McCormick - Rita Fiore

External links

• Spenser: For Hire quotes at the Internet Movie Database