A boy swimming in the river finds a body. Carella
is assigned to the case and goes down to talk to the medical examiner, who tells Steve that the girl was dead
before she hit the water and the cause of death was acute arsenic poison. He also informs him that she was about
30, had an appendectomy scar, and had a heart-shaped tattoo between her thumb and right forefinger with the word "MAC"
inside it.
Carella and Meyer go down town to check the
missing persons files. They come across one that matches the victim exactly, with the exception of the tattoo. The
name of the person in the file is Mary Louise Proschek, a girl who recently moved to the city from Scranton, Pennsylvania.
Before she ran away, she wrote her parents a letter saying she was leaving to try to find a husband. Her dental
records match those of the victim, and her father is called to the precinct. At first Mr. Proschek denies
that the victim could possibly be his daughter, but when Carella shows him a charm bracelet that was taken from the body,
he recognizes it and begins sobbing.
Later that evening at home, Carella is in a somber mood because he had
to break the news to Mr. Proschek. Teddy asks him what's wrong and he tells her about the case. She draws him
out of his bad mood and they talk about what she did during the day. She shows him a copy of Pen Pal magazine and tells
him she was reading it for kicks. As they cuddle, the camera falls on the open magazine to show a personal ad placed
by a man looking for "an understanding woman of good character".
The next day, a man and a woman are taking a carriage ride in the city.
The woman, who is obviously deeply in love with the man, asks him how a good-looking guy like himself could be attracted
to someone as plain as she is. The man, whose name is Curt, tells her that he is interested in an intelligent
woman like herself, not some pin-up girl, and that's why he placed an ad in the magazine.
Later, Carella comes by to pick Teddy up for lunch.
On the way to the restaurant, he has to stop at a tattoo parlor to see if the owner knows anything about the tattoo they
found on Mary Louise Proschek. Teddy goes inside with him, and, after Steve questions him, the owner asks Teddy if she'd
like to get a tattoo. She seems interested, but Steve says they don't have time to get one done today.
Meanwhile, Kling is checking out another tattoo parlor and the man working there
remembers putting a tattoo like the one Kling describes on a girl not long ago. He gives Bert a description of the man
who was with her, and he also remembers the name of the couple, Mary and Curt -- MAC.
Steve and Teddy are at the restaurant trying to decide what to order.
Carella tells her he's going to use the pay phone to call in to the precinct while she's looking at the menu. When
he leaves the table, a man who has been sitting at the bar admiring Teddy, comes over and starts hitting on her.
She tries to ignore him, but he is persistent. When Steve returns, he politely asks the man to leave, but he refuses
and instead pulls up a chair and sits down at their table. Carella tells him to take off; the guy shoves Carella, they
get into a fight, and Steve beats him up. While Steve is apologizing to the owner for all the damage they did to
his place, the phone rings. It's Kling and he tells Steve that he got a good description of the suspect in
Mary Louise Porschek's murder. Steve tells him to get it out on the streets immediately.
Teddy is at home running the vaccuum cleaner, still thinking about getting
a tattoo. When her neighbor comes by to tell her that Steve called and said he'd be home late, she decides to go
out and get the tattoo. She goes back to Mr. Chan's shop, the one that she and Steve visited earlier, and
asks for a butterfly tattoo on her shoulder. While she is in the back having it put on, Curt comes in and asks about
getting some tattooing done. Mr. Chan tells him it will be thirty minutes and he agrees to come back then.
Curt and his girlfriend, Priscilla, go to a restaurant while
they're waiting, and he slips arsenic into her drink. A little while later, just as Mr. Chan is finishing Teddy's
tattoo, Curt and Priscilla show up. Mr. Chan goes to the front to wait on them while Teddy is admiring her
new tattoo. When Curt asks for a tattoo just like the one Steve inquired about earlier, Mr. Chan goes
to the back and tells Teddy that the man her husband is looking for is in the shop. She gives him
the number of the precinct and asks him to call Steve. Curt is getting very impatient because Priscilla is becoming
very ill. Charlie tries to stall them, but they leave the shop before he can contact Steve. Teddy decides to follow
them and hails a cab.
Teddy and the cabbie follow Curt and Priscilla, who is now crying
and begging for a doctor, to the docks. Teddy gives a note to the cabbie instructing him to
call the precinct, and continues to trail the couple. Curt spots her, lays Priscilla down behind
some crates, waits for Teddy get closer, and then grabs her.
Curt demands to know why Teddy is following him. He soon realizes
that she is a deaf/mute, and when he goes through her purse finds her identification card that lists Detective Steve Carella
as her husband. Curt thinks Steve sent Teddy to follow him.
Meanwhile, the cabbie calls the precinct and asks to speak to Carella.
Kling answers and tells him that he's already left for the night. When the cabbie tells Kling about Teddy's
note, Kling calls Steve at home and explains what is going on. Steve tells him he'll meet him at Pier
7.
Curt shows Teddy Priscilla's body and says she'll be dead soon and
so will she. He is very attracted to Teddy and keeps telling her how pretty she is. He thinks Teddy could
be the one who could make him happy and talks about making her go away with him. Teddy runs away from him
and hides behind some crates. At the same time, the cops show up at the pier and begin searching for Teddy. They
find Priscilla, who is still alive. Meyer stays with her while Bert goes to call for an ambulance and Steve continues
to look for Teddy.
Curt has tracked Teddy down and is still trying to convince her she
would be good for him when he hears someone approaching. He pulls out a knife and gets ready to attack whoever
is coming down the dock. Teddy knocks over some crates to alert the person to the danger. When Curt sees
Steve, he tries to run away, but Meyer blocks his escape. Steve closes in on Curt from the other direction and
they get into a fight. They fall off the pier and Carella asks Meyer to throw him the bailing hook because he has
a piece of garbage down there.
Teddy is already in bed when Steve gets out of the shower.
He sits down on the edge of the bed and takes off his slippers. He turns to look at Teddy and is surprised to discover the
tattoo on her shoulder. He kisses the tattoo and shakes her gently, but she pretends to be asleep. When
he gets up to remove his robe, Teddy smiles.
