3The Abominable Snowman
Honey meets her client, Lucas, in a scenic parking area and hands him a sample case that she has picked up for him. When the client drives off, Honey calls Sam on her radio car phone to say, "Our clients on his way. No problems." She then notices that Lucas is being followed by another car. "Oh, oh," she says, "one just came up." She sets off to follow the follower. After a three-way chase along a winding, cliff-bounded highway, the mystery car forces Lucas off the road. Honey reaches the dying man who mutters "Snowman, snowman" before he expires. Honey grabs a snow globe from Lucas's hand and leaves. A moment later, the murderer arrives and takes the whole sample case.At her office, Sam and Honey argue with Police Lieutenant Stone who accuses Honey of stealing the sample case, but Honey truthfully protests that she did not take the case, although she does not confess to having taken one item that undoubtedly belonged to the sample case. She does give the Lieutenant the license plate number of the mystery vehicle.She only confesses that she took the snow globe after the lieutenant has left, and Sam spends the rest of the case fuming over Honey's risk-taking both with her own safety and with their detective's license. Honey reminds Sam that she was cooperative enough to give the police the killer's license plate number.The license-plate end of the car disappears beneath the water of a lake. The killer stands on the shore and turns to a man in a chauffeur's uniform; they drive away in another car driven by the chauffeur.After the two detectives have a big argument, which is mediated by Aunt Meg, Honey visits the Comfort Novelty Company for which the victim supposedly worked, but the owner, Reedy Comfort, claims that Lucas was a freelance salesman and a customer, not an employee. He was never reliable, Comfort complains. Upon being shown the snow globe, Comfort says that it is not an item he carries; however, Honey has to grab it from him when Comfort almost walks away holding onto the globe.Meanwhile, Sam is spying on Honey's interview with Comfort through binoculars. Suddenly, the chauffeur puts a pistol to the back of Sam's head. Sam pivots, knocking the gun aside and hitting the chauffeur with the binoculars all in one move, leading to a fight (Sam subsequently refers to it as "waltzing with the chauffeur") in which Sam mainly has the lead. While this fight continues, Honey leaves Comfort and takes an elevator [American for "lift"]. The only other passenger on it is the same killer who forced Lucas off the road. He produces a pistol and demands that Honey give him the snow globe, but Honey uses her handbag-which contains the snow globe-to hit the killer. As they fight in the elevator, paralleling the simultaneous fight between Sam and the chauffeur, Honey has the lead. [Plot hole: There is no explanation of why the killer and chauffeur are not turned over to the police; we are left only to assume that they either escape or, less plausibly, are let go.]Later Honey and Sam discuss the case while Honey dumps the contents of the broken snow globe out of her handbag and down her kitchen sink. Sam has the wallet of the chauffeur who turns out to be employed by a mysterious European count. As Honey cleans her purse, she keeps rubbing her lip, finally complaining that it is becoming numb. Simultaneously, Honey and Sam realize that the "snow" in the globes is really cocaine.Sam insists that it is now time to call the police, but Honey points out that the evidence has just gone down the drain. Her plan is to attend a charity ball to be held in honor of the count, anticipating that the sample case with the rest of the drug-laden snow globes will be there.Comfort phones the detectives, sounding extremely upset, and says that if Honey doesn't give the villains what they want, they have threatened to kill Comfort. Honey brings him to her office and leaves him on the couch with Bruce, the ocelot. Comfort complains that he doesn't want to stay there, but Honey tries to reassure him and then leaves for the ball.Honey crashes the party disguised as a French socialite while Sam is disguised as a waiter. They communicate through radios hidden in Sam's dark-rimmed glasses and Honey's lorgnettes.The killer asks Honey to dance, and, although she tries to keep up her cover identity, he knows who she is. With a gun in his pocket, he escorts her to the terrace. Sam, who has heard their conversation through Honey's lorgnettes, gets behind the killer on the terrace, and knocks him out. Honey suggests that Sam call the police but also insists that she should secure the sample case. Sam argues against this but grumpily relents. He goes to call the police from their van.After cinching her evening gown at the waist and ankles, Honey climbs a lattice from the terrace. Upstairs, she finds the sample case but the wheelchair-bound count, along with an armed henchman, arrives in an elevator to catch her before she can leave. Using the radio hidden in her lorgnettes, Honey casually says, "If I had known there was an elevator, I wouldnt have climbed the lattice," thus alerting Sam to where she is. As Sam is about to climb the lattice, he is attacked by a man who may or may not be the killer Sam recently knocked out.Honey pushes the count and his wheelchair into the henchman and subdues the latter. She then grabs the sample case and goes to the door to the hallway; however, she is met by Comfort who is armed with a pistol. He forces her back into the room. Honey accuses him of being the Snowman that Lucas was talking about in his dying words. Comfort says he never thought of himself that way, but perhaps he is. He asks where the snow globe is now, and Honey tells him that its contents went down the kitchen sink. As Comfort explains that the cocaine is distributed as party favors during the ball, he puts a silencer on the muzzle of his gun. At this time, the henchman is unconscious on the floor and the count has positioned himself beside Comfort; meanwhile, Sam has climbed the lattice and enters the room behind the villains. He disarms Comfort and holds the villains at gunpoint.Honey notes Sam's black eye and, establishes that he was unable to call the police because their van has been stolen; so Honey phones the police herself. In the middle of her phone call, the henchman tries to stand up. Honey says, "Excuse me," interrupting the phone call and karate chops the henchman back into unconsciouness before returning to the phone to tell Lieutenant Stone that the case has been all about "snow."Later, Sam and Honey are applying a slab of beefsteak to Sam's black eye. Aunt Meg enters, asking where the ocelot's dinner might be. Honey tries to give the steak to Bruce. Sam demands to know who is more important, him of the cat. "You're both wild," Honey says.
