Back to the Q bureau and Amanda is helping Lee and Shamba to track down Joe King.
No- really! 
Not Joking!
Amanda: No, the first apartment was on 17th and J, and before that Joe lived in a room in a big old rooming house near the university, and before that he lived with his parents in Chevy Chase on Ellington and he went to North High— Lee, you know I can go on forever.
[how interesting that Amanda knows all this about Joe.. and about Lee? zero!! Maybe Lee is not a complete open book either!]
Lee: Yeah, I know, I know. I doubt we’ll need before College. It’s unlikely he went back 15 years for help, right?
[thank goodness for that!]
Amanda: Yeah.
[Shamba listens to their conversation with his brand new shiny ID badge.. ugh…]
Lee: It’d be a lot easier if he lived in the US though. But he’s got a bank account here, a tax man, a broker, and a secretary that shuffles his mail over at the EAO.
Shamba: In Estoccia a running man only runs two ways – away from something or towards something.
Lee: No, he’s not running away – he came straight to DC. He wants something here.
[Does he want Amanda?! lol.. I guess he wants something to do with the case.. but maybe it hints that maybe Joe wants to be part of his family again too?]
Amanda listens intently and nods..
Shamba: Perhaps, er, at the Emergency Aid Organisation or maybe he is looking for his superior, Byron Foster.
At this moment, Francine bursts in.. hmm no knocking Francine?!
I think Shamba just dropped a hint.. I think he’s trying to steer the investigation toward Foster without appearing to. [Another guy named Byron.. someone is a poetry fan maybe..]
Francine addresses Shamba in his own language.. whatever.. rah rah.. Francine is super clever and.. IMHO showing off
Whooo see the look Amanda gives Lee as Francine prattles on? Like enough already Francine get on with it! Francine sounds far too chirpy given the seriousness of Amanda’s situation here..
though interesting that Francine doesn’t get a hand kiss? Maybe Francine was saying ‘try and kiss my hand and I’ll throw you across the room!’ 
Hey- Lee has his zebra on his desk.. remember the close up of it we saw in TOTDWeasel?
Shamba will like that.. lol.. umm where is Shamba’s zebras?! Still down with Leatherneck?!
Finally, Francine addresses the rest of the room: Well, I just came from the FBI.
Lee: Hmm?!
Francine: They drew a complete blank on hotels and motels in DC and three counties. Likewise for hospitals, jails, rescue missions, flop houses and morgues.
[I had to look up ‘flop house’ I hadn’t heard that before!]
Is Shamba staring at Francine or the earrings?! I think Shamba stares at Francine rather strangely.. full on!
Amanda: Good.
Lee: Ah, that’s thorough. I’d better hit the road.
Francine starts prattling on with Shamba again.
Lee makes moves to leave.. Francine and Shamba leave the Q bureau..
Lee: Amanda—
(Lee gets something out of his desk drawer)
Amanda: Yah.
Lee: I want you to call me on this when you’re ready to catch up with us, okay?
(it’s some kind of phone/radio thingy! Umm a phadio?)
… I’ll get Shamba started, and then you can buzz by your house.
Amanda: Can’t we lose him?
Lee: Uh well, it’s not that simple. I don’t want him running around out there all by himself, and I don’t want him finding Joe before we do. 
Amanda: Is this a regular phone? Does it have an area code?
Lee: No, no area code.
[lol.. I think Lee is patient with Amanda’s question here..]
Moving on to Arlington Heights Middle School.. LOL it looks like Mr Prescott is on detention! [I wish!!]
Mrs Dennis: Mr Pryor?
Prescott: Present.
[lol actually.. Mr Pryor is not present 😉 ]
haaa haaaa. jerk!
Mrs Dennis: I’m Allma Dennis, Principal here. Can I help you?
Prescott: Yeah, Mrs Dennis, I’m a private investigator. Uh, Amanda King, she’s got a couple of boys here, James and Philip. Is that right?
[is it just me or does this office/reception look like a kitchen?!]
Mrs Dennis: Yes.
[Argh!!! don’t tell this creep anything!!]
Prescott: Uh-huh. Uh, let me ask you something, does the father, er, does he ever come around the school?
Mrs Dennis: He’s mostly abroad I understand. Why?
[Mostly? Hmm.. does that mean Mrs Dennis knows him? and he has come by the school?]
Prescott: Well, it just wouldn’t be a good idea 
for him to be bothering the kids. Yeah, there’s been a little trouble.
[Why should Mrs Dennis pay any attention to what this jerk says?!]
Mrs Dennis: Since when? Amanda is active in our PTA. I know her. It’s always been amicable with Joe. [whooo cool. maybe she isn’t paying attention to the jerk! and.. how interesting – I think a school would know if things are not amicable]
Prescott: Hey, things change. You know what I mean? Look, I want you to do me a favour – if you see him around, I want you to give me a call right away. Mrs King’s a little worried. If her ex sees the kids, he – er – may want to take ‘em. Follow me?
[This is a curious tactic – suggesting Joe would try and take the kids could result in an increase of security for the boys.. which would ultimately mean Mr Prescott/Pryor would find it difficult to take them also]
Mrs Dennis: Sure.
[Noooooooo!!! I feel some suspense here at what Mrs Dennis could do unknowingly!! eek!! I think if there was a problem – Mrs King would have told the school herself.. not sent around this jerk! At least Mrs Dennis isn’t looking too enthusiastic about what Prescott is saying..]
Prescott: Keep in touch, huh?
The scene ends there.. oh noooo!!! I hope Mrs Dennis doesn’t keep in touch!!!
Oh very cool btw that Mrs Dennis is not a white male! whooo hoo!! bit of diversity here in a leadership position… I like it!
The script includes at this point a moment of Prescott watching Jamie and Phillip playing from a distance.. ewwww – was there a need to show that..or is this guy is evil enough already?!
Okay guys.. I better pause here – needing to keep things short.. What did you make of Shamba in the Q bureau?! What do you think of this visit to the Principal’s office by Prescott? Isn’t he awful?! I loathe him!!
Anything you’d like to share? I’d love to hear it! byeee!!
"Just walk with me.." 
I think you are right, iwsod, about Shamba trying to drop hints and subtly steer the investigation! I never caught that before.
I did catch Amanda calling Lee by name and even worse saying that he knows she can go on and on. These two are terrible at pretending they don’t know each other, LOL! They are so connected, they just can’t help themselves, I guess!
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Yep, not exactly subtle, are they?
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My sides actually hurt from laughing! The phadio and Francine and the rolling paper…😂
I think Shamba is looking at the earrings trying to figure out what kind of superstitious saying he could come up with to undo the damage that looking at them has done to himself. Forget the camera flash being an issue! Those are like blue orbiting moons hanging from her lobes!!!!
Respectfully submitted, Amandarambler 😉
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Martha Smith is fluent in other languages in real life. Not sure what they are, but am pretty sure that Italian is one of them. If you’re curious enough I’m sure you could Google her to find out.
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My favorite part of this is the end as Lee and Amanda walk out the door discussing the “phadio.” They sound so comfortable with each other. I like the way someone commented (sorry, I can’t remember who) that Amanda’s saved by the bell comment and her smile were meant to ease any tension between herself and Lee. I think it would be noticeable if there was tension, but I don’t pick up on any. That makes me think that Amanda just wasn’t ready to have the conversation with Lee…yet. There seems to be a comfort between them at the same time that there is a respect and awareness that there is a lot going on for Amanda and a sensitive case for both of them to work on.
I like hearing Francine speak Shamba’s language. I like it that she is a linguist. But I have no idea what t make of the way he stares at her. I think the earrings must be remarkable to him, that is the best explanation yet.
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Francine must be quite the linguist since she spoke Italian in ALLA and is now speaking Shamba’s native language. I’m going to go with Jestress on this one about why Shamba sort of chills out a bit around Francine. If she knows the language she may also be able to see through whatever it is he’s doing. I also agree with Kiwismh about those ridiculous earrings. Maybe Shamba was mesmerized by their sheer magnitude.
One question about Shamba’s statement. Where else would a running man, run…sideways? I’m not sure if I really ever paid much attention to all of his sayings and just sort of took them at face value, but this one did sort of throw me off when I thought about it a bit more.
I was waiting for Amanda to ask Lee if she could make long distance calls on that phone. Maybe they were trying to move the technology forward a little bit.
It’s amazing how things have changed with school safety since this aired. This Prescott wouldn’t have gotten in the building and he certainly wouldn’t have gotten the little bit of information that he did in this day and age. Plus, he is coming off like a big jerk. I don’t even like it when my students say “Present” if I’m checking attendance. It has turned into one of those smarmy, sarcastic responses. Every kid will say “Here”, but then one always has to be different and make a point about it. I do like how Mrs. Dennis handles this though. She doesn’t seem to be giving too much away and she is looking at this guy like he can’t be trusted.
The actor playing Prescott used to be on this soap opera that my mother used to watch. If I remember correctly he played a doctor and was a nice guy at first, but ended up becoming a jerk in the long run, so he’s had some practice with this kind of a role.
Even back in the 80s I thought calling them flop houses was a bit outdated. I had only heard that term in movies from the 30s and 40s. Interesting how Lee and Amanda have switched places at the desk. Also interesting that Amanda says she could go on forever about Joe, but just not about her marriage. Also, she was happy to getting a reprieve from Lee’s questioning by Shamba’s arrival, but is now wanting to ditch him. Maybe she’s assuming Lee has put all thoughts of questioning her out of his mind.
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Hiya Valerie.. sorry I’ve not had much time for the blog lately guys.. but it’s my safe little place to come back to for fun when I can 🙂 and I’ve been doing lots of reading of people’s comments on the bus – giggling away to myself..
thanks for clearing up flop house Valerie.. yeah Amanda’s particular about what she doesn’t want to share.. hmm that might tell us something!! 🙂 yeah I think Amanda might be worried that they’ll find Joe while Shamba is with them maybe? and she wants to get to him first? Iwsod shrugs hmm that’ all I’ve got!
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Prescott is actually half-way amusing and believable here. He seems a bit more authentic without his tea-sipping baddie companion.
I wondered why Joe would run straight to the one place in the world where he could be easily tracked, but I suppose he’s thinking if he goes anywhere else he will look guilty. I’m thinking their info and/or people in DC who can help him clear his name. Part of it was probably running back to the safety of Amanda as well. Even though he doesn’t want her to get involved, seems like she was the first person he rang, ostensibly to warn her that people would be looking or him but I think he also just wanted the comfort of talking to her.
I think Shamba is wondering what possessed Francine to leave the house this morning wearing those bulbous blue earrings! 😯
While we’re talking fashion felonies, I do not like that huge cardigan Amanda is wearnng. It really ruins the style of her pants and blouse, and hides her lovely figure. (I had pants like that in the 80’s – they were great! Very comfy. Sadly my figure was not as svelte as Amanda’s.)
I guess the phadio is like an early cell phone? How much easier L&A’s lives would have been if only they’d had cell phones. 😉
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Prescott just irritates me. The way he lolls in the chair makes me want to slap him. I think he’sobnoxious, and it must make Mrs Dennis glad that she’s working in a middle school not a high school because he acts like a 16 year old going through an insolent stage (where rudeness alternates with incomprehensible grunting).
I’ve been looking at the horrible cardigan for days and wishing Amanda would change too. Ten minutes of screen time featuring that cardigan feels like a week. And only KJ could carry off trousers with those large darts, and not look like an elephant. May I also draw attention to those vile brown trousers that Lee is wearing? Less than flattering…
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Interesting that Amanda calls Lee by his first name. I thought they didn’t know each other so I would have figured she would have called him Mr. Stetson.
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Yes, I noticed that too. Maybe it was deliberate – a rare slip by Amanda that clues Shamba in to the fact that L&A might have a prior acquaintance? SMK isn’t known for such subtleties but we can make it subtle if we use our imaginations. 😀
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I didn’t notice it!
Good call Melissa.. and well spotted also kiwismh! rofl.. some subtleties smk does perfectly (like the relationship between Lee and Amanda) tea-sipping baddies and Francine’s earrings are completely lacking in subtlety 🙂
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What cracks me up in the Q Bureau scene (other than Shamba inspecting Francine like she’s a bug)? The magically rolling report page — flat on the desk in the first image, then suddenly it’s rolled itself halfway through the scene (and Lee fights with it to close the folder at the end)… Maybe the zebra did it?
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ROFL “Maybe the zebra did it.” 😀
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KC I was soooo happy to see you stop by!!!!! I’ve missed ya!!!!
Love it. Yep! the Zebra did it! 🙂
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“In Estoccia a running man only runs two ways – away from something or towards something.” I love Shamba’s sayings. I’ve actually used this
(dropping the ‘In Estoccia’ part) and the superstition one in real life and people think I am full of ancient wisdom. 🙂
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lol! I love Shamba’s sayings, too. I may have to try them on someone myself. 😉
Shamba’s sayings show that there’s something deeper to him than the eccentric that he’s been playing. I wonder if Shamba downplays his eccentric behavior around Francine because he knows that she can speak his native language, maybe thinking that she won’t be as fooled by his act as the others would (although they’ve already started to suspect that there’s more to him than he pretends). That could be why Shamba gives Francine that odd stare when she’s not looking at him, maybe trying to assess how much Francine might know about Estoccia and what her thoughts on him in particular might be.
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Good call! I like his jestress!!
I was thinking earring that size might be the norm in Africa no? they do lots of big headdresses and earrings don’t they?
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ROFL! You did it again, Cindy – thanks for making me laugh out loud 🙂 I needed that!
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