Magnum, P.I. (TV Series)

Black on White (1982)

Lynne Moody: Bebe Kiamonni

Quotes 

• [Bebe explains her mission] 

  Bebe Kiamonni : After three ex-British soldiers, who served in the same regiment in Kenya, were murdered recently by methods reminiscent of the Mau Mau, Scotland Yard informed our government and I was sent to London to assist in the investigation.

  Edwin Clutterbuck : [approaches Bebe]  You are that damned tart that tried to pick me up the same night that Mau Mau came after me!

  Magnum : Well, which is it, Miss Kiamonni, CID or tart?

  Bebe Kiamonni : [smiles]  Mr. Clutterbuck and your friend here obviously share one quality - they are both stubborn. He refused Scotland Yard's protection. No bodyguard, no protective custody.

  Edwin Clutterbuck : So they sent a bloody wog to spend the night with me.

  Bebe Kiamonni : [disdainfully]  They did not send me. Your penchant for African women is well-documented.

  [everyone looks at Edwin. He feels uncomfortable] 

  Bebe Kiamonni : So I decided on my own that it was the best way to stay close to you, to catch whoever was murdering the Brits. We have no desire to see any reviving of the Mau Maus. They are of the past. And if the British cannot stop him, then I must.

  Higgins : You said the murder victims were all ex-soldiers who had served in Kenya?

  Bebe Kiamonni : [nods]  Yes.

  Edwin Clutterbuck : Privates Buckminster, Taylor, Lance Corporal Crawford, Sergeant Major.

  [Higgins sighs, wearing a sorrowful expression] 

  Higgins : [quietly]  Biribi.

  Magnum : What's Biribi, Higgins?

  Higgins : A village in Kenya. At least it was.

  Bebe Kiamonni : [surprised]  Higgins? You're Sergeant Major Higgins. Of course.

  Magnum : And I suppose you didn't know that.

  Bebe Kiamonni : No, I did not. I followed Clutterbuck here and assumed he was a guest of Robin Masters.

  Magnum : [impatienly]  What happened at Biribi?

  [Bebe gestures with her head toward Edwin. He looks uncomfortable] 

  Edwin Clutterbuck : Um... if you'll excuse me.

  [Edwin starts walking away] 

  Magnum : Hold on...

  Edwin Clutterbuck : [waves his hand]  I'm not feeling well.

  Magnum : Just wait a minute!

  Higgins : Let him go, Magnum. Let him go.

  [Edwin leaves the room] 

  Higgins : What did Private Clutterbuck tell you?

  Magnum : That you'd served together in the same unit in Kenya and one by one, members of your old unit were being killed by a Mau Mau.

  Orville 'Rick' Wright : He even showed us clippings from the London Times.

  Bebe Kiamonni : He told the truth, as far as he went. The ex-soldiers being killed are the ones who took part in the Biribi massacre.

  Magnum : Higgins?

  Higgins : [heavily]  We had been in the bush a week, when Privates Holmesby and O'Rourke were ambushed whilst scouting a wadi. We found them at sunset, mutilated. But that word cannot possibly describe what had been done to their bodies.

  [Higgins stands and starts pacing the room] 

  Higgins : There was a full moon, so we were able to stay on the Mau Mau's track. Around midnight we found them. There was a brief skirmish, and two of them were killed. But I was slashed by a panga, here in the thigh, and couldn't go on. I ordered the lads to press on. When I caught up with them the next morning, they had tracked the Mau Mau to Biribi and leveled the village. A number of innocent Africans were killed, including some women and children. But it was my responsibility. I should never have allowed the lads to go on without me.

  [a pause] 

  Bebe Kiamonni : Sergeant Major Higgins reported the massacre, assumed full responsibility and recommended a court-martial for everyone involved, including himself. Naturally, he was absolved. Unfortunately, the others were simply reprimanded and transfered out of the country.

  Higgins : The army did them no favor by not court-martialing them.

• Magnum : How'd you know Higgins was in the guest house?

  Bebe Kiamonni : I did not know Higgins even lived here. I told you, I followed Clutterbuck.

  Magnum : But I saw you not ten yards from the guest house. Then Higgins turned the light on, you saw me and ran.

  Bebe Kiamonni : [impatiently]  It wasn't me.

  Orville 'Rick' Wright : Thomas, if she's telling the truth, that Mau Mau is still here.

  [suddenly Magnum understands what's going on] 

  Magnum : Maybe he's always been here. Watch her.

  [Magnum leaves the room] 

• [at the guest house, Higgins is treating Rick's head injury. He is very displeased to hear the quarantine was a trick] 

  Higgins : Of all the imbecilic ideas... African Hemorrhagic Fever!

  Magnum : I don't know, it fooled you.

  Higgins : Fooled me?

  [Higgins turns angrily at Magnum, unintentionally hurting Rick] 

  Orville 'Rick' Wright : Ow! Watch it!

  Higgins : I'm sorry, Rick.

  [Higgins resumes treating Rick's injury] 

  Higgins : You can blame that on Magnum.

  Edwin Clutterbuck : He was only trying to protect you, Sergeant Major.

  Higgins : Protect me?

  [once again, Higgins turns angrily at Magnum, unintentionally hurting Rick] 

  Orville 'Rick' Wright : Ow! That's it! I'll fix my own busted head.

  [Rick removes his false moustache. Higgins approaches Magnum] 

  Higgins : Do you see what your interfering can do? Did it ever occur to you that three wars, five insurrections and 37 years in Her Majesty's Service might give me the skills to protect myself?

  Magnum : [raises his voice]  If I had told you a Mau Mau was hunting you, would you have battened yourself in here tonight - or gone to the concert?

  Higgins : Gone to the concert, of course. That's not the point.

  Magnum : That is precisely the point! You may be a well-trained tough old Brit, but when it comes to protecting your own hide - you're as stubborn as an... Irish mule.

  Edwin Clutterbuck : I think he means a Welsh donkey.

  Magnum : Whatever! If I hadn't gotten Doc Ibold to quarantine you, that Mau Mau...

  [Magnum points at Bebe] 

  Magnum : ...would've had you hanging from a tree by now.

  Bebe Kiamonni : I am not a Mau Mau.

  Magnum : [dryly]  Oh. She speaks. And I suppose you didn't clip Rick on the head with this...

  [Magnum examines the rungu] 

  Magnum : ...whatever the hell this is.

  [Higgins takes the rungu] 

  Higgins : It's a rungu. I haven't seen one in 30 years. The Kikuyu make them from the root of a baobab tree. Properly fired and polished, they're as hard as steel, and just as deadly.

  Orville 'Rick' Wright : [bitterly]  Yeah, tell me about it.

  Bebe Kiamonni : I didn't hit you with the rungu. The Mau Mau did.

  Magnum : Then why were you carrying these when I caught you?

  Bebe Kiamonni : One. I was only carrying one.

  Orville 'Rick' Wright : [points at his bruised temple]  We know what you did with the other one!

  Bebe Kiamonni : May I explain?

  Edwin Clutterbuck : This ought to be bloody good.

  Bebe Kiamonni : My name is Bebe Kiamonni and I am a member of the Kenyan CID.

  Orville 'Rick' Wright : Never heard of it.

  Higgins : It's the Criminal Investigation Department. It exists. That part of what she's saying is true.

  Bebe Kiamonni : [nods]  Thank you.