The Rockford Files

The Hawaiian Frame-Up

By Lucky_Ladybug

Notes: The characters are not mine and the story is! This is a sequel to the season 6 episode The Hawaiian Headache, because I was not satisfied with the idea that Dutch Ingram was the murderer. It seemed rather shoehorned in there, particularly since it was only mentioned in passing in the epilogue and there was no proof of its truth. Also present are characters from season 4's episode The Queen of Peru, which is a certain in-joke and irony because both Dutch and Ginger were played by the same lovely person. There are a few references to a story I wrote called The Warehouse on Wharf 33, but it shouldn't have to be read for this to make sense. And because I love for characters from other series to make cameos, the Hawaii 5-O characters will play supporting roles as the obligatory police.

Chapter One

Her husband was innocent.

That was what Lisa Ingram fully believed and would continue to believe.

At least, well, he was certainly innocent of murder. He wasn't any naïve, innocent child; he was a rather gleeful mercenary and made deals upon deals with multiple sets of people. Usually he profited from them quite handsomely. That was how he had become the self-proclaimed king of a certain stretch of Hawaiian beach.

But occasionally his deals backfired, and as far as he and Lisa were concerned, that was what had happened this time. The idiot American intelligence agent he had been doing business with had decided to send someone to complete a transaction who really didn't know what he was doing. Someone had framed that man for the murder of another American intelligence agent, and when he had been proven innocent, Dutch Ingram had been arrested instead.

It all made sense, the prosecutor had been insisting during the preliminary hearing. The American agent had learned of Dutch's double and even triple-dealing in the transaction and Dutch had either killed him or ordered him killed because of it. Some of Dutch's henchmen had backed up the story, relating incriminating things Dutch had said or mentioning that they saw him carrying a gun shortly before the estimated time of the agent's death.

But Dutch continued to proclaim his innocence and insisted that he was being framed as much as Jim Rockford had been. His lawyer was petitioning the judge to have the case thrown out of court for lack of evidence. There was no concrete proof of anything that was being said; almost everything was hearsay testimony.

The gun was the biggest concern. It had been Rockford's gun that Dutch had taken away from him. And the only fingerprints on it belonged to those two men and the agent who had given Rockford the gun. But Dutch had lain unconscious from a knockout blow in a fight with Rockford right after acquiring the gun. The two men who had restored Dutch to consciousness testified that the gun had not been on his person upon awakening, and Dutch insisted that anyone wearing gloves could have taken it from him. The prosecution suspected that Dutch had bribed his men into covering for him, but there was no proof of that.

And so, all in all Dutch had been confident that morning that the judge would see reason. He had smiled and embraced his wife, telling her that he would be going home today a free man.

She prayed it was true. Now as they sat, waiting in the courtroom for the judge to return and give his verdict, she was growing more nervous by the minute. And in spite of Dutch's confidence, she could tell that he was anxious as well. He was leaning back in his chair, his hands together with his thumbs under his chin and his forefingers against his lower lip. He was intently watching the bench, waiting to see the door open and the judge return.

She leaned forward, reaching over the gate separating the gallery from the defense table, and laid her well-manicured hand on his shoulder. "Dutch."

He glanced over, smiling as he covered her hand with his. "It will all be over soon now, Love," he said.

She tried to smile, not wanting to be a dissenting voice and remind him that the judge might rule against him. Instead she focused on the feel of his hand. It was soft; he was not a manual worker or a fighter. He strategized and planned and oversaw everything about his little schemes, but it was mainly his workers who carried them out.

And now some of those workers were betraying him. It amazed and stunned Lisa, how so many of them were helping the prosecution with its case. They weren't simply testifying as they were required by law to do—they had voluntarily offered information, seeming to want to see Dutch put away or executed. Any one of them could have committed the murder. Or perhaps they were all in on it together, like in that old book Murder on the Orient Express.

She couldn't think about that for too long or she would become very upset. Dutch had trusted them with his business deals and had paid them well for all their troubles, and instead of gratitude, they were completely turning against him. Dutch might manipulate things to get the most money he could in every case, but he didn't outright lie and he didn't kill or try to frame people, either.

She looked across the gallery to where a restless Jim Rockford was sitting. He, of course, believed Dutch was guilty, not only for the murder, but also for trying to frame him for it. The prosecution had sent for him as a witness, and though he had not come willingly and had only testified to facts and not opinions, he had certainly added to Dutch's problems with his testimony. Now he was shifting all about and glancing at his watch. He wanted to be somewhere, anywhere else.

Dutch didn't like him any more than he liked Dutch. Dutch still couldn't understand why the Army commander had recruited Rockford to help out with their little deal. Lisa had idly done a bit of research on him and had learned that he was a private investigator in Los Angeles. He seemed to be quite good, too. But it was hard to picture, after the way Dutch had described his handling of the secret mission.

Rockford's Army commander was there too, shooting evil-eyed looks at Dutch. He also believed in Dutch's guilt, probably far moreso than Rockford, since he had dealt with Dutch before. Dutch ignored him, but Lisa gave him a steady, haughty look and he scowled and turned away in disgust.

Members of the Hawaii 5-O taskforce had slipped into the courtroom at one point. Although they had not been directly involved with Dutch's arrest, they felt that the case against Dutch tied in with a case of their own. They were hoping to prove that Dutch was responsible for other murders, especially if he could be convicted of this one.

The return of the judge brought everyone to attention and they rose. The older, balding, and bespectacled man looked over the courtroom calmly and with a pokerface. He was awfully good at that, really, and Lisa wondered if he played.

"It is the decision of this court that the case against Dutch Ingram be dismissed for lack of evidence," he intoned. Dutch smiled knowingly and Lisa could not refrain from a joyous cheer.

"What!" That was that pesky, loud-mouthed Army commander, of course. Lisa had never liked him.

The outburst prompted a flurry of whispered comments. Displeased, the judge pounded his gavel. "There will be order in this courtroom or you'll all be in contempt," he threatened.

Everyone quieted except that commander. "But Your Honor, Sir, he has to be guilty," he cried, pointing frantically at Dutch. "It's the only thing that makes sense. We all know what he is. Rockford here personally witnessed this slimeball in action!"

Rockford looked like he wanted to drop through the floor out of embarrassment.

"A lot of us are familiar with Mr. Ingram's . . . business practices," the judge replied, coolly. "They are distasteful. But that doesn't make him guilty of murder. The court's decision still stands. Now sit down, Sir!"

Glowering at his hated nemesis, the commander finally did as he was told. Dutch smirked at him.

The judge continued, "Mr. Ingram, you are free of the murder charge, but watch yourself. There are other charges that can and may be brought against you. Next case." He banged his gavel to signal the finality of his decision.

Dutch turned to face his wife and embraced her as she threw her arms around his neck in relief. "You're free, Darling," she said with fervency. "But they're probably going to charge you with a slew of other horrible things."

"And maybe some of those will be true," Dutch mused. "No matter; we can beat them like we've beat this." He kissed her. "Let's go, Love. I don't want to spend a moment longer in a courtroom than I have to."

Lisa was in firm agreement.

As they turned to leave, Dutch keeping an arm firmly around his wife's shoulders, they both felt everyone's eyes on them. But Dutch just tossed them a triumphant, cocky smile and strolled out of the room.

xxxx

The blonde woman stood at the bottom of the courthouse steps, sweeping her locks over her shoulder with an absent gesture as she spoke into her microphone.

"Aloha! This is Lana Allisen, coming to you live from the Hall of Justice. We're waiting for the entrance of local mercenary Dutch Ingram and his wife Lisa. For those who have just joined us, Mr. Ingram was recently arrested and charged with the murder of a CIA agent. The judge has just thrown the case out of court, citing lack of evidence. While this is no doubt a relief to the Ingrams, it's a source of consternation for the prosecutor, HPD, and 5-O, who believe that Mr. Ingram is most likely getting away with murder. Oh, here come the Ingrams now." She hurried up the steps, shoving her microphone at Dutch. "Mr. Ingram, how does it feel to be free again?"

Dutch smiled at her and moreso, the camera. "Why, it feels just dandy, Love," he said.

"Is it true that there are other charges pending against you?" Lana persisted. "Charges that include conspiracy and even treason?"

"Now you're exaggerating things a mite," Dutch said. "I haven't heard about any such charges. Have you, Lisa?"

"Not at all," Lisa said, shaking her head. In truth, however, she had heard such rumors, and she prayed that any possible case for treason would never be built up enough to make it to court. She loved Dutch. She could not bear for him to be released on the murder charge only to be convicted of something that might have consequences just as grave.

"There now, you see?" Dutch smiled at the camera again. "It's all a lot of bleedin' rubbish put out by my enemies. I have an awful lot of them, you know."

The sudden shot that zipped past Dutch to take a chink out of the courthouse's brick wall created instant mass panic. The witnesses and curious bystanders screamed, scattering. Lisa screamed too, throwing her arms around her husband and trying to drag him to the landing in case more ammunition followed.

Steve McGarrett dashed past them, yelling to the other members of his squad. "There's a sniper on the roof across the street! Spread out and keep him from getting out of the building!"

Lisa sobbed, clutching Dutch close to her and suddenly feeling his blood on her hand. In horror she looked up, only to find him curiously touching his left cheek and studying the blood on his fingertips. His eyes narrowed.

"He tried to kill you!" Lisa wailed, digging into her purse for a handkerchief. "He bloody well tried to kill you!"

Dutch let her dab at the blood on his cheek, after he wiped his fingers on the cloth. "I knew they wouldn't stop with trying to get me convicted," he said darkly, looking to where the sniper had already fled. "Now that that's failed, they're trying more desperate measures. Well, they're going to regret it. I promise you that. I'll find out who it is before they can get away with one more thing against me."

"Will you, Dutch?" Lisa returned in anguish. "Or will I have to find it out after you're dead?"

"Look." Dutch gripped Lisa's shoulders. "I've got no intentions of croaking. You know that, Lisa. I'm going to be alright. You have to believe that. Do you understand me?"

Lisa looked into his light-blue eyes and finally, slowly nodded. "Yes," she said quietly. "I understand that you believe you'll be alright. But your luck can't hold out forever."

"It'll hold out long enough," Dutch vowed. He looked to where the 5-O men were converging on the sniper's building. "Long enough."

xxxx

Jim fled the chaos at the courthouse as quickly and as silently as he possibly could, for several reasons. It had been agonizing enough to be subpoenaed and forced to fly out to Hawaii for the hearing. After his last experience in Hawaii, he had never wanted to return again. And most certainly he didn't want to return to revisit that disaster.

His old commander had mortified him with his display in court. He knew the man must have an earful for Jim after Dutch's release and Jim just plain didn't want to hear it. Visions of the man's plans to investigate Dutch and make sure he got convicted for something were spinning in Jim's mind. He did not want to be dragged into any more hair-brained schemes. He just wanted to pack up and leave Hawaii as swiftly as possible.

The latter, however, wouldn't be possible. Rocky had been thrilled and overjoyed at any chance to return to Hawaii, and he was determined to have the vacation he and Jim had been tricked and cheated out of before. And Jim, of course, didn't have the heart to refuse him.

This new attack on Dutch could change a lot of people's plans, but Jim was not willing to let it change theirs. They would have their vacation this time, even if he had to stand up and tell his commander No.

He wasn't sure what he felt when the cab let him off at the hotel and he wandered inside only to see two familiar men registering at the desk. "Ginger? Lou?" he greeted.

It was Lou Trevino who was busy scribbling in the register. Ginger Townsend was waiting and leaning on the marble desk with one arm, looking fairly bored. At Jim's voice he turned, studying the private detective with emotionless ice-blue eyes.

Jim shook his head. If Ginger was more lively and mischievous, he would look eerily like Dutch Ingram. Dutch was the epitome of a cheeky Brit, colorful language and all. Ginger was most often aloof and cold, now and then dissolving into almost uncontrollable rage when something set off his deadly temper. He seemed fairly harmless at the moment, but that was the scary thing about Ginger—you never really knew what was going on behind those frosty eyes. Lou could sometimes keep him in line, but sometimes he could not, especially if someone harming him was the reason for Ginger's fury.

"What are you doing here, Rockford?" Ginger grunted.

Finished signing the register, Lou turned in surprise and confusion. "It really is a small world, like they say," he said.

Jim nodded. "I would have to agree with that. Of all the places you two could turn up, it would have to be right here and right now."

"We've got a business conference," Lou supplied.

"Oh, so you're not just here to see Diamond Head and watch the hula dancers," Jim quipped. Although he somehow couldn't imagine Ginger taking much interest in either.

"It's work, Rockford, plain and simple," Ginger said. "I take it you're on vacation?"

"My father's hoping to be," Jim said. "Actually, I got called out to testify in some big court case." He scowled at the reminder and then thought of something. "Hey, you two had better watch it while you're here," he warned.

"What?" Lou blinked. "Why?"

"Because somebody just tried to murder the guy I came out to testify against," Jim said. "And you probably won't like me saying this, but if somebody didn't know what they were doing, they could mistake Ginger for him."

Lou's jaw dropped, while Ginger's interest had finally been piqued. "Are you serious, Rockford?" he frowned.

"Oh yeah." Jim headed past them to the elevator. "Turn on the news when you get settled. You can see for yourselves." He could feel them watching him as he got into the elevator and pressed the button for his floor, but he didn't stop and offer any further information.

He wasn't on what he would call friendly terms with the two former jewel thieves, but he supposed they had a certain respect for him after their paths had crossed while attempting to solve a mystery surrounding an attempt to kill Ginger. He hadn't seen them since the trial of the culprits. He had assumed they were doing fairly well and indeed, they seemed to be.

He hoped, for their sakes and his own sanity, that nothing would go wrong concerning them. If it did, considering they were all in the same hotel, he doubted he would be able to keep from becoming involved. And that was most certainly what he did not want right now.

When the elevator opened on the sixth floor, he got out and immediately headed for the suite he and Rocky were sharing. With a flick of the cardkey in its slot, the door opened and Jim entered the room.

Rocky, who was staring at the television set, looked up with a start. He smiled in happy relief to see Jim walking in. "Oh good, Son, you're safe!" he proclaimed. "They were just showing what happened out at the courthouse today."

Jim sighed. "Yeah, Dad, that was a real mess." He shut and locked the door and collapsed in a chair. "As soon as Ingram gets out of the hot seat, somebody tries to put him in a pine box their own way. And I'm caught right in the middle. You know it's not going to be long and old Colonel 'Howling Mad' Smith is gonna come barreling over, wanting to talk my ear off about getting Dutch put away and insisting I help him out with it."

"Oh, that reminds me!" Rocky exclaimed. "Somebody called and left you a message."

"Oh no," Jim groaned. "Was it the Colonel?"

"Nope. This was a woman. Actually, I think it was the wife of that Mr. Ingram character." Rocky placed a slip of paper into the disbelieving Jim's hands. "She told me her phone number and gave her name as Lisa Ingram."

Jim stared at the phone number. "That's his wife, alright," he frowned. "But what would she be calling me for?"

"I told her I'd give you the message and you'd call her as soon as you got in," Rocky inserted helpfully.

Jim glowered at the piece of paper. He really wanted to ignore it altogether. He had had enough of the Ingrams for a lifetime. But he supposed he would have to return her call. Rocky had already promised, and anyway, it could be important.

"I just hope the Colonel doesn't find out about this," he muttered as he picked up the phone and dialed.

"Hello?"

He blinked in surprise at how on edge and hopeful the woman sounded. "Hello," he said slowly. "This is James Rockford. I just got in and my dad gave me your message." He knew he was talking to Lisa; he recognized her voice after listening to her at the hearing.

A sigh of relief. "Oh good. Well, Mr. Rockford, Dutch isn't terribly pleased that I'm calling you, but I finally convinced him it was the right thing."

Jim raised an eyebrow. "Oh really? The . . . right thing?"

"The truth of the matter is, well, we realize you don't make a very good spy, but your record as a private investigator seems to be ace. And Mr. Rockford, I want to hire you to find out who's trying to kill my husband!"