REPORT: UNHAPPY LANDINGS
FILE #: 118

As U.S. Marshall Jarod Cody , Jarod is responsible for transporting a witness from Oklahoma City to Washington D.C. to testify against the Arellano drug cartel. The witness, Eugene Diggs, was unwillingly involved into a drug deal through his best friend Rayford. Diggs and Rayford owned an air cargo company in Arkansas. When business was bad, Rayford made a deal with the Colombians to smuggle cocaine, but Diggs believed they were transporting coffee beans. After being arrested by the DEA, they were offered a deal for reduced sentences if they testified against the cartel. However, during a transfer by plane, Rayford supposedly attacked one of the marshals, Bob Garrison, with a hand made knife and then jumped to his death from an altitude of 33 ‘000 feet, thus betraying his friend and leaving him to clean up his mess. Afraid that the cartel was going to kill him, Eugene then fled. Jarod, however, doesn’t believe that Rayford betrayed his friend. But in order to help Eugene, he needs to find him first.

Meanwhile, Miss Parker asks Broots to find the children from her mother’s “Rescued”-envelope. Indeed, Broots finds one of the children and Miss Parker goes to visit the (now) woman. When she gets there, the girl’s mother (or rather: adoptive mother) immediately identifies her as Catherine Parker’s daughter.

In Oklahoma, Jarod simulates the so-called attack in the plane and comes to the conclusion, that there is no way that Rayford could have caused the kind of injuries on Garrison’s back. In reality, Garrison had injured himself and made it look like Rayford did it, which he then pushed out of the plane. With the help of Eugene’s wife, Jarod finally manages to find the fugitive and regain his trust, although he had almost been shot to death in an earlier contact with the marshals and therefore gone under ground.

Miss Parker, meanwhile, learns that the woman she’s looking for had died from a sudden illness a couple of months ago. However, the mother gives her a souvenir of her daughter: A bracelet that she had worn when Catherine Parker brought her. Engraved inside the bracelet are the letters “SL-27”.

Jarod convinces Eugene to place himself under the protection of the marshal Service and to testify against the cartel. He has Eugene guarded in a safe house, while he prepares his plan of proving his partner Garrison’s corrupt activities. Miss Parker gets a call from Broots. He tells her that he has tracked the other names from the file. However, all these people have died of sudden infections within the last four months. It’s obvious: The Centre is responsible for their deaths.

In the middle of his preparation, Jarod gets a call from Eugene’s wife. She tells him that marshals are taking Eugene away and that they are on their way to the airport. Jarod gets on his way immediately and sneaks into the plane unobserved. In the fuselage of the aircraft, he finds a manipulation on the plane’s electronic system: Through a remote control, it is possible to block the plane’s power supply. However, Jarod’s presence doesn’t remain unnoticed. From the cockpit, the pilot informs the two marshals about a movement in the hold. Garrison tells his young colleague to check the hold, but when the latter follows the order, Garrison knocks him out.

Garrison goes back to the passenger compartment and tells Eugene and his lawyer that nothing happened. But when he goes to the compartment in the back, he encounters Jarod. They have a fight and Jarod wins, but then Eugene’s lawyer with a fire extinguisher knocks him out. The cartel hadn’t bought only one , but two of the people who were supposed to help Eugene. However, unexpectedly the lawyer then shoots her accomplice, she obviously wants all the money for herself. It is finally Eugene who saves Jarod, by knocking out his lawyer. However, the injured Garrison manages to push the button on the remote control and the pilot loses control over the plane. They quickly lose altitude and Jarod only has one minute before the plane crashes. Just in time, he manages to short-circuit the electronic system with his Marshall badge so that the pilot can regain control over the aircraft. The trial ends well for everybody involved – except for the cartel. Eugene and his wife join the witness protection program and get their new identity from Jarod (who would be better for the job?). They ask him where he got all the experience concerning new identities – as a Marshall. He replies that, tonight, he’s not a Marshall – rather a chef on a rodeo festival…