Episode 11 - "CONFIDENCE "
Air Date - 1/14/99

Jackie and Jay Jackson are handing over $40,000 earnest money towards a house and they're handing it over to Con Man, Joseph Budnik, aka Larry Gower. Jackie is pregnant; it's all they have and Budnik takes it, keeps it, and absconds - leaving the Jacksons to find they've purchased someone else's house. They turn Budnik in, but he's such a sociopath that he can pass a polygraph. The DA has to let him go, but she doesn't like it. She doesn't believe the polygraph. KC overhears the DA tell the Jacksons there's no more to be done. Budnik/Gower is free to go. The Jacksons get The Envelope... spread out all over the floor of their house.

Jay is not too happy with having Mr. Chapel around - wants to deal with Budnik himself, but Jackie wants their money back. She wins. Chapel wants to send them off to Paris - he likes to send his revengees out of town while he's fixing things. Out of harm's way and all that. After Chapel leaves, Jackie says to Jay, "That guy who took our money? All of a sudden, I feel sorry for him."

First objective: Find out where Joe Budnik is stashing all the money he ran off with. So, enter - Doug Keenan (former recipient of The Favor) oartner in a big time, legitimate investment firm, who sets up KC in a big, expensive office - to be associated with his firm. Then we have Martinelli, whose wife is dead from whatever bad thing befell HIM (avenged by Mr. C, of course) and he has a million dollars from her life insurance that he hasn't touched. He tells Chapel it's his, but Chapel would rather have The Favor. Martinelli moans, "Am I gonna wish I'd given you the million bucks?" They both laugh and laugh. It was very funny. Chapel sets up Martinelli to do business with Budnik in the near future.

In the meantime, Budnik has centered in on another victim, Alice. BUT, Chapel heads off Alice before she can lose any money and as a favor for helping her avoid disaster, she poses as his "mark", an older woman being conned by "Vic". They go to meet with Budnik and "Vic" tells Budnik that he's not sure he wants his sweetie buying the house after all. Budnik is enraged that someone else is cutting in on HIS mark and threatens Vic with a knife. They end up at KC's phoney office with Martinelli's insurance check laying in plain sight for Budnik to see... Budnik is led to believe that KC and Vic are conning Martinelli and he wants a piece of that money or he'll go to the cops. Our dynamic duo let him blackmail them into letting him in. It's so neat, watching KC be Vic's boss and snap at him to shut up and ordering him around. Pretty cool..... anyway - On to meet Tim Scanlon, owner of a biker bar - Tim and his now ex-wife, Lucinda, owe The Favor because of Chapel helping Tim after Tim was victimized by an armed robber. Tim tells Mr. Chapel he keeps his money in the back - rigged and safe, but Tim says to get the favor from his ex-wife and he refuses to play. (Chapel lifts Tim's wallet at this point.) KC is incredulous.

"He said no? How can he refuse to do the favor? Oh well, you can get someone else, I guess. Lot's of people owe you favors." Chapel corrects her, "Not that many that are 6'3 and 240 pounds, with a tattoo on their neck that says "Death Becomes You", he says. He thinks Tim will want to do the right thing so he's going to get Tim to help anyway. SO. . . KC calls Tim (saying she is a nun) and tells him she found his wallet and will mail it to him. She hangs up and says of her impersonation of the nun, "I'm going to Hell." Chapel says, "Well, maybe just Heck".

The Plan has Budnik setting himself up as owner of the restraunt, leased for the purpose of luring Martinelli into wanting to buy it. Vic is the real estate agent KC, Martinelli's financial advisor. Another Favoree - Lester - shows up posing as a Health Inspector and forces Joe to get the money for permits and such or he'll close him down before he opens. Budnik has to run to his safety deposit box to get the money. Now, Chapel knows where the money is. (Lester, now out of it, is TOO relieved. "Thank you Jesus".) Joe is very mad at KC for having to shell out money just to further the hoax of owning the restraunt. He thinks they're incompetent and inept, and he's getting very bold and dangerous.

Jackie and Jay have decided not to go to Paris because of Jackie's advanced pregnancy, they go somewhere else until Jay decides he has to do something on his own to see that Joe is punished. Joe gets the drop on Jay right away, and stabs him in the leg to emphasize that the Jacksons had better forget about him and leave him alone. Jay apologizes to Chapel for interferiing. Chapel says, "You're just a regular guy; probably a Republican, who wants his wife to feel protected." Jackie comes in really mad at Jay for his butting in. Chapel notes, "My guess? She's a Democrat."

Now, Joe is being very harsh and cocky in his dealings with KC and Vic. Calls Mr. C "Lurch". Very disrespectful. Loves to pull his knife on people. Thinks Vic is an ex-con thug and hates him but is making them cut him in. He's sent off to meet Martinelli at the supposedly full and beautifully operating resteraunt he's paid so much money to set up. He finds only a department store dummy in the empty place. Chapel is, at that moment, opening the safe deposit box (dancing all around and laughing - too cool!) and takes all the money out, leaving a note: "Nanny Nanny Boo Boo".

During all this, Chapel goes back to Tim's bar and Tim is getting the bills from his stolen credit cards. He's ready for revenge. Chapel wants to borrow the backpacks full of money. He tells Tim to now call 911 and tell them he's been robbed.

Joe is very upset and goes to Martinelli's house to rob him. He finds Vic instead. AND a very angry Tim. Tim wants a piece of Joe, but allows Chapel to force Joe to list all of his victims. Telling him that, if he does, he can pick up the money and go. Joe doesn't believe him and says how does Chapel know he's not just making up a list. Chapel says there will be two names on it and if they're NOT on it, he'll turn Joe over to Tim. Budnik gives him all the names of the people he's scammed, afraid to leave anyone off the list because he doesn't know it's the Jackson's name Chapel is looking for. He takes the rigged money and leaves; goes to his car, opens the money and is squirted with red dye just as the police show up to catch the thief who stole Tim's money. Of course, he's s creaming that he was framed and offers to take a polygram, which the DA just laughs at.

Chapel and KC send big bunches of Joe's money off to the people on Joe's list of victims. Everyone is happy (except for Joe Budnik) and it's the end of another perfect caper.


MAIN PAGE
1. CRUEL & UNUSUAL 5. JUSTICE 9. NOIR 13. CLIQUE
2. VICTIM OF CIRCUMSTANCE 6. AMBITION 10. VENDETTA 14. CRITICAL
3. EDEN 7. SECURITY 11. CONFIDENCE 15. LEGALESE
4. BITTER END 8. DISHONORABLE DISCHARGE 12. JUDGMENT 16. FRIENDS