While Rick is planning a surprise birthday bash at the King Kamehameha Club for Icepick, Carol asks Magnum to observe a court case she is presenting before Judge Kearns, who drops the case on a simple technicality. She considers the Judge to be her mentor, but is concerned that of late he has been acting uncharacteristically, and suspects him of taking bribes to dismiss cases. She asks Thomas to help her hopefully disprove her worries. But the investigation turns up evidence that implicates Icepick, who in turn faces having to implicate the woman he was in love with decades earlier. Carol, Rick and Icepick must all face up to the weaknesses and mortality of their mentors.

1940s San Francisco: Private Investigator Thomas S. Magnum investigates the murder of newspaper tycoon William T. Maxfield. The case involves characters that strangely bear a strong resemblance to the "modern day" Magnum, T.C., Higgins and Rick.