- On the trail of a ring counterfeiting lottery tickets, a detective's partner is killed. Det. Fiore feels guilty for giving in to his partner's quest for front page heroism, plus being felled by stomach pains when he had a chance to shoot his friend's killer. When Fiore's diagnosed with terminal cancer, he realizes he's sacrificed having his own life for devotion to Det. Ryan and Ryan's wife. Kojak worries that Fiore's quest for salvation will result in murder, blowing their long-pursued case against the counterfeiters.—David Stevens
- Detective Ben Furore (Harry Guardino) and his flamboyant partner Eddie Ryan (Jed Allan) are at the culmination of a six month investigation into counterfiet lottery tickets. As they move in on the object of their case, minor crime figure Solly DeChico (Malachi Throne), Ryan is shot to death while Furore fires in vain at the escaping killer. The low-key Furore had idolized Ryan, and is extremely shaken by his death. He vows to hunt down DeChico and make him pay.
The only witness to the murder, another criminal who was meeting with DeChico at the time Furore and Ryan moved in, arranges through his girlfriend to give evidence. Unfortunately, he (and his girlfriend) end up dead shortly thereafter.
Kojak and his men try to nab DeChico "by the book", but Furore is out for revenge. Complicating things is the revelation that he and his partner's widow (Joanne Linville) are in love with each other (though there is no indication of an actual affair.) Furore manages to arrange a meeting with DeChico in a restaurant. At the dinner, Furore tells DeChico he will shoot him and then claim self defense; but DeChico draws first and shoots Furore instead. So DeChico claims self-defense, but it turns out Furore wasn't even armed. He had sacrificed himself in order to ensure DeChico would be charged with murder.
Furore actually survives the shooting, however. But at the hospital it is revealed that he is suffering from terminal stomach cancer, and has only months to live. The implication is Furore knew this all along, though neiher Kojak nor his partner's widow did. At any rate, she vows to make the most out of whatever time he has left.
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