Madame and a Thieves' Quartet is the ninety-second episode of Red Jacket that aired on July 16, 1979.
The episode opens on an old lady in the countryside picking flowers. Lupin comes across her and asks for directions to a gravesite and the time of day. The lady tells him where to go, but apologises as she has lost her watch. Lupin has come to visit the grave of an old partner of his, named Piccolo. When Lupin was younger, Piccolo taught him many tricks of the trade, and now Lupin has come to pay his respects. Before he leaves, he notices a watch on the gravestone and realises that the old woman must be Piccolo’s widow.
Catching up with Mrs Piccolo, Lupin offers her a ride and explains how he was a close friend of her late husband. Mrs Piccolo is very pleased to meet someone who knew her husband, but to Lupin’s surprise, Mrs Piccolo asks if he is also an artist like Piccolo. Mrs Piccolo never realised her husband was a thief, and believed all the stolen paintings and jewellery he gave to her were bought from the money he earned as an artist. When Piccolo died, all his possessions were confiscated by the police.
Lupin swears to Mrs Piccolo that he will recover all her property, which is being kept in the basement of a local police station. Lupin stops at a pub to call Jigen before driving on with Mrs Piccolo. It is only then that Mrs Piccolo adds that her husband was a musical artist, not a painter, at which point a flustered Lupin reverses the car right back to the pub to tell Jigen to bring along some instruments.
Meanwhile, Inspector Zenigata speaks with the Chief of police at the station that sits opposite Mrs Piccolo’s house. Zenigata was the one who confiscated Piccolo’s stolen goods and has already suspected that Lupin plans to steal them back. At Mrs Piccolo’s house, Goemon, Jigen, and Fujiko arrive. They are all very confused as to why Lupin asked them to bring musical instruments and Lupin has to lie through his teeth to convince Mrs Piccolo that these friends of his are all professional musicians named Goemon Schubert, Jigen Mozart and Fujiko Tchaikovsky.
Lupin pretends that they are practising for a performance in another room and shouldn’t be disturbed, while in reality they are digging into the police station’s basement. They play classical records on an old gramophone so Mrs Piccolo can’t hear the drilling. Jigen tells Fujiko to hide their weapons somewhere in case Mrs Piccolo finds them, and, seeing nowhere else to put them, stores them in the empty cello cases. Lupin and his gang finally succeed in breaking through into the basement and fall right into the Inspector’s trap. The police Chief thinks to himself about Piccolo’s treasure and decides that he wants to keep it for himself.
Later, Mrs Piccolo is having tea with her friends until she notices a commotion from outside. In the street, a jubilant Inspector Zenigata is driving a captured Lupin and company in a police vehicle, while civilians applaud and throw confetti. Mrs Piccolo mistakes the police convoy for a parade. Fujiko then remembers the weapons she stored away in the cello cases and asks Mrs Piccolo to bring their instruments along in Lupin’s car.
As Lupin, Jigen, Goemon, and Fujiko are driven along, they begin planning a way to escape. Fujiko unlocks the door with a hairpin, allowing Lupin to climb onto the police van and distract Zenigata. In the commotion, Lupin steals the Inspector’s gun before being thrown back in the van. The police van suddenly stops in the middle of a car dump and is lifted up into the air by a crane. The police Chief reveals himself as the operator of the crane, explains his desire to keep Piccolo’s treasure, and threatens to kill all of them, including the Inspector. The Inspector climbs up onto the crane but is shot at by police on the ground below. Lupin offers to help out on the condition that Piccolo’s treasures are returned to his widow, and uses the Inspector’s gun to shoot at the Chief, sending the crane out of control and throwing Zenigata into the operator’s compartment.
Mrs Piccolo arrives with the gang's weapons, which they use to fight off the police force to the tune of classical music. Mrs Piccolo watches on with amusement as Lupin reassures her the fighting is merely a performance. At the end of the fight, everyone applauds and Mrs Piccolo tells Lupin he should be called Lupin Beethoven.
The episode ends with Inspector Zenigata visiting Piccolo’s grave. He says that he has fulfilled his promise to Lupin and returned Piccolo’s treasures, while Lupin and his gang drive past as the sun begins to set.
This episode features examples of:
- Classical Music: The episode features a lot of references to classical music and composers. The ending fight between the gang and the police also has a curtain drop.
- Comically Missing the Point: Mrs Piccolo throughout the episode.
- Dirty Cop: The police Chief tries to kill the gang and the Inspector simply because he is greedy and wants to keep Piccolo's treasures.
- The Ditz: Mrs Piccolo isn't exactly a Scatterbrained Senior, but she is a bit too believing in Lupin and his gang. Even when the gang are being driven away in a police van, Mrs Piccolo mistakes the commotion for a parade.
- She also never suspected her husband of being a thief during their entire marriage.
- Libation for the Dead: Lupin does this when visiting Piccolo's grave.
- Mickey Mousing: The ending fight is played in tune with "The 1812 Overture".
- Senseless Violins: How Fujiko hides the gang's weapons from Mrs Piccolo. It becomes helpful later on when the gang gets arrested.
- Whole-Plot Reference: This episode heavily references the plot of the British film The Ladykillers (1955), where a gang of criminals pretend to be a string quartet so they can rent a room from an innocent old woman. This episode could be considered a more benevolent version, as Lupin's gang do everything they can to help Mrs Piccolo, whereas the gang in the film attempt to murder the old lady, Mrs Wilberforce, when she begins to get in their way.
