alias_lk
They say that jazz life takes its toll. But this isn't what they had in mind.
The dark side of jazz, America's greatest indigenous art form...
... has always been its capacity for self-destruction.
Drugs, alcohol and the road are the perils of the life lived after midnight.
But not 20,000 volts of state-supplied electricity.
After a year's worth of appeals, the governor remains adamant...
... refusing to grant clemency to jazz colossus Wayne Cotrell.
Condemned to death at midnight tonight...
... for the passion slaying of his wife, songstress Linda Lake.
One of the finest modern jazz stylists in decades, Linda's first and only recording...
...Smoke Dreams, went triple platinum after her death a year ago.
The prosecution convinced a jury of his peers that Linda's success...
... drove Wayne into a jealous rage.
So with the streets of Central City, an armed camp of hoodlums...
... the state enacts the death penalty for the first time in 15 years...
... for Wayne Cotrell at midnight tonight.
Damn!
It makes you think, huh?
- I needed that analysis yesterday. - Get off my back.
- We've got a heavy caseload. - Like the Cotrell case?
That what you've spent...?
- Somebody's gotta look into it. - And somebody did.
He was indicted, tried, convicted.
All on circumstantial evidence. You guys never even found the babe he was with.
You think we didn't try?
- Wayne is innocent. - You face the facts, Mendez.
Cotrell strangled her.
And then he tried to make it look like an automobile accident.
Wayne is like a brother to me, okay?
He had his problems, but he couldn't kill anyone, let alone Linda.
You don't think I know how you feel? But you didn't see her.
You didn't see what was left of her after that explosion.
Linda's murderer is walking free, when Wayne dies in less than an hour.
This department did a first-rate job.
We opened the case, and the jury shut it. Now you get back to work.
And I don't wanna hear anything more about it.
Julio, I'm a little worried about you.
Now, I've never seen you like this. It's like you've been ready to erupt all week.
My oldest friend dies in less than an hour, and I can't do squat to stop it.
I know.
- But you won't get anywhere with Garfield. - Oh, the hell with Garfield.
I gotta get some air.
I'll cover you here.
Crime lab. Allen.
- I gotta talk to Julio Mendez. - He's not available right now.
- Can I help you? - No, man. Julio's the only cop I trust.
Tell him Dave Buell called.
Decibel Dave Buell?
Yeah, do I know you, man?
Do I know you? I've been a big fan of yours since the Black Heat sides.
I love the new chart on "Sing the Blues" you premiered at Take Five last week.
Well, the song's been recorded.
But now it's got a vocal track. That's why I'm calling.
Listen, man, tell Julio I've got a tape for him.
Proof Wayne didn't kill anybody.
Why did you...?
The man dies in less than an hour. Why did you wait until now?
Because I just now stole it. And if it's missed, man, I'm gone.
You just tell Julio to meet me at the Take Five within the next 15 minutes.
No, man. No! Back off!
No!
Buell? Buell!
Hey, who was that?
There he is over there!
- Hey, hey. - Hey, stop!
Hello?
- Julio? - Barry?
I thought you were here.
Wait, why is the phone off the hook?
It wasn't working...
...so I went to another line to check it out.
- Hello? Can you hear me okay? - Yeah.
Great. Listen, we had a message from Dave Buell, all right? About the Cotrell case.
- What did he say? - Something about new evidence.
What new evidence?
How fast can you get down to the Take Five?
I'm out of here, man.
This is Joe Kline, voice of the city...
...with Wayne Cotrell's brother, Elliott, asking:
Why are you here tonight?
I'm keeping the club open tonight in the memory of Linda...
...and to bear witness of Wayne's innocence.
So you're still convinced your brother was railroaded?
Nothing in life is certain, Mr. Kline.
But there's one thing I have no doubt about:
My brother never killed anybody.
Do you plan to be at your brother's side tonight, Mr. Cotrell?
I'll be there.
Mom...
Mom would want me to be there.
Thank you. I know how difficult this can be. I really appreciate it.
Wrap up here. We gotta get back to the studio for a late report.
How you doing?
- What are you doing? Get off me, man. - It's a private affair. Invitations only.
Excuse me just a second, please. Thank you.
Mendez.
I didn't recognize you with the spaghetti on your head.
- Get off of me, man. - Whisper.
This is Julio Mendez, one of Central City's finest.
Hey, come on. Cool it. Cool it. He's with me.
I apologize.
Things have been very, very tense around here lately.
- Never mind Whisper. He's harmless. - Whisper was never harmless.
Thanks for coming.
Oh, Elliott, this is my friend Barry Allen.
Barry. Barry, I've seen you. You've been a regular here for years.
- Since Linda's debut. - Linda was very special for all of us.
Hey, any truth to the rumors?
The unreleased tracks?
All I have in the vaults are a bunch of old jazz standards. Real chestnuts.
- Well, you could make a fortune. - I'm not in it for the money.
Right now it would be real painful to go through all those tapes...
...to hear her voice. It's very much alive.
But when the time comes that I can, I will release the tracks for all her fans.
Wayne saved my butt too often. If there's anything I can do...
Any miracles handy?
You know, I'm surprised Dave Buell isn't here.
Dave?
Dave's still in Chicago. He couldn't make it tonight.
Decibel in Dutch with the cops?
- No. - Nothing like that.
We gotta blow. We gotta try and find a miracle.
Okay. Fall by a little later for the wake.
He'll have those tapes on disks before Wayne's corpse is even cold.
Elliott's all business, man. This place is his entire life.
He even has an apartment upstairs.
He lied about Buell. I found his horn case on the bandstand.
We can find him later. But he said this would prove Wayne's innocence.
What the hell good is that, man? It looks like it got run over by a truck.
Where's Dave?
Beats the hell out of me. But we got 40 minutes, all right?
Call me at Star Labs after you've pulled everything you can on the case, all right?
All right, whatever you say, man.
You paged me in the middle of Swan Lake. I got dirty looks climbing over knees.
I'm sorry, okay? But it's a matter of life and death, literally.
We may just save Wayne Cotrell from the chair.
- But that's tonight. - Yeah. At midnight.
It's 20 past 11 already.
It's 17 past, and I need your help desperately.
- I'll do anything I can. - This is all we have to work from.
Can you rebuild it?
I'll try the digitizer. It's a long shot. Especially with the time we have.
Long shots are all we've got. Just do it fast, all right? I'm off to see Cotrell.
I can't understand why you keep refusing absolution, Wayne.
Nothing personal, Padre. I got nothing to confess.
I didn't kill Linda. That's the truth, so help me God.
- I'll pray for you anyway, brother. - Thanks.
But you better pray in double time.
Nice.
I know you.
You're the guy they call the Flash.
What are you doing here? What do you want with me?
Some people I know think you're innocent.
- I'm here to help you. - Well, thanks, but it's a little late for that.
I don't think so. But I need to hear your side.
Oh, man. I've been over this, like, forever.
Nobody believes me.
Man, I love...
Loved Linda. She was the best thing ever happened to me...
...on or off the stage. Man, that night...
... we fought like cats and dogs. But that was just us.
There's no way I could have killed her.
I worshiped Linda.
I mean, I was angry that night, man, not homicidal.
Later on, I left the club with this girl named Suzi Storm.
I know it was a stupid thing to do, but I was feeling bad.
Feeling sorry for myself.
We went back to her place, but all we did was talk.
We talked about how much I loved Linda.
And the next day...
...Linda's dead...
...and Suzi, my alibi, is nowhere to be found.
But Linda was leaving you.
She'd booked a one-way flight to L.A.
She wasn't leaving me, man.
You see, Linda cut her first record for my brother.
But she didn't wanna do her second album with Elliott.
She wanted to get out from under his shadow, you dig?
So there was this bigtime producer out on the West Coast...
...said she could do what she wanted.
The songs, hire the session musicians, everything.
But she was coming back. She was coming back to me.
The prosecution insists she walked out on you...
...because you were seeing Suzi Storm. - I couldn't help seeing Suzi Storm.
She followed me everywhere. She was after me for sure.
She even had these earrings custom-made. Little gold saxes.
- But we weren't having an affair. - Why didn't she come forward to testify?
She was a band chick, man. In and out of town all the time.
No permanent address.
Suzi Storm was probably one of a half a dozen names she had.
Who knows what happened to her.
If I have anything to say about it...
...this won't be your last meal.
No big deal.
I don't much want to live without Linda anyway.
The tape wasn't on Buell's body or at his crib either.
Now we got Mendez nosing around on us.
- Lf that tape gets out, we got nailed tight. - Relax, Elliott.
That tape's not getting out till we say so.
That's not enough.
I want a guarantee.
A personal guarantee.
Make that call on Mendez.
Yeah.
He and I got a lot of catching up to do.
- Yeah? - Mendez!
- Who? - Forensics, let me in!
Did Julio call in?
Not yet. But listen.
I transferred the magnetic pattern to the tape fragment on the digitizer.
I let the computer run millions of possibilities...
...organizing according to algorithms.
That's Linda.
- Are you sure? - Yeah, no question.
But that's not from her album.
What is this?
Coming through.
Wait. That's Dave Buell. Where'd you find him?
Vacant alley near Feather and Grants. He was strangled.
Like Linda. Wait up, guys, I want to go with you.
Wait.
That's Dave Buell's new chart from the Take Five gig he did last month.
If the arrangement is new, how can it be Linda?
I guess it can't.
Last time she did the Five, I caught her act.
Last night...
...last show.
Three days later, I was handling forensics in her murder.
It's Julio.
Dave Buell's dead. I saw his body at the morgue.
I can't believe it. Dave had evidence Wayne didn't kill Linda. Now he's dead.
- I'm sorry. - I gotta get it out of my mind...
...if we're gonna save Wayne, right? Any luck on that tape?
It sounds like Linda's voice, but the music is new. Can't figure it out.
Probably some kind of phony. It's a bootleg. So what?
No need to speculate. Linda's Smoke Dream disk.
Voiceprints are as individual as fingerprints.
Now the new tape.
The sine waves are identical.
How could Linda be singing an arrangement that's only a month old?
There's more on the tape.
I'd like to help you to remember by having you sing a little.
- Hey, that's... That's Elliott Cotrell. - Are you sure?
Yeah, I'm sure that's him.
Suppose that wasn't Linda in the car wreck.
All we had to identify her with were dental x-rays.
- Which could have been switched. - Exactly.
Now, Wayne told me that Suzi had earrings...
...custom-made to look like saxophones. - We just assumed they were Linda's.
But what does this all mean?
It means that Suzi Storm was murdered and put in the car.
It means that Linda Lake is not dead...
...and somebody framed Wayne. - Elliott.
I knew those were crocodile tears. It's Elliott.
Good Lord. Wayne Cotrell is gonna die for a murder that never happened.
- I'm headed to Take Five to talk with Elliott. - I'm with you.
Julio, listen, you call the governor, all right? Wayne dies in 30 minutes.
Tina, you call the governor, all right? This is my deal. I'm coming with you.
Come on!
- Hello? - Statehouse, please.
- Clearance? - Security 150.
- Can I help you? - I need the governor.
- He's asleep. - No, this is an emergency.
I'll see what I can do.
Why don't you take it to the Statehouse...
...and I'll go to the Take Five. - I want a piece of Elliott.
- And his bodyguard. - This isn't about revenge, Julio.
Maybe not for you.
- Dr. Christina McGee, Star Labs. - I can help you.
- I have to talk to the governor. - The governor's out.
A man's life is at stake here.
- Well, whose life is that? - Wayne Cotrell.
- The governor is out. - I don't give a damn if he's out.
Don't use foul language with me.
Give me your name, you idiot, or give me that number now.
Hello? Hello?
Damn it all. Not now.
Use both hands, all right?
You know, I never knew how much Wayne meant to you till this week.
I tried to put it behind me after the appeals failed, but it hurt too much.
Wayne and I go back, man.
He was like a brother to me.
You had Jay. I had Wayne.
See, I grew up real middle class, but my dad, he had this ghetto head, man.
Refused to leave the neighborhood, even when he could afford it.
He said he owed something to where he came from.
Wayne was the only guy who didn't bust on me...
... for having a couple extra bucks.
Not like the local homeboy gangsters, the Railers.
Their warlord told me I was in, like it or not. I told him to forget it, man.
He threatened my family. I just freaked out.
I attacked a whole bunch of Railers by myself, man.
Until Wayne saw what was happening and helped me out.
Got the hell kicked out of us, man.
But the Railers never bothered us again, man.
- The warlord, what happened to him? - Believe it or not, he became a singer.
- What? - Yeah.
He was owned by a couple of mob guys. He rolled over on them to the feds...
...and they just cut his throat from ear to ear.
Severed his vocal cords.
Never sang again.
You don't want to know what he did to the guys who sliced his throat.
They call him Whisper now.
Fair warning. I'm armed.
Give me the tape.
I think you need fresh batteries.
- Hey, bro, don't forget, I get your sax. - Oh, yeah? Well, says who, little man?
Says you. You said I was your most promising student.
Yeah? Well, with the time you got left...
...you shouldn't be making no promises you can't keep.
Man, you know you can't take it with you.
Man, with all the great cats there already, I'm gonna put together a band.
- Julio. - What?
- That's Elliott's apartment, right? - Yeah.
- What's it doing boarded up? - I don't know. Beats me.
Maybe he had something to hide.
See if Elliott's in the club. I'll check the living quarters.
- All right. - Julio, be careful, all right?
If they killed Suzi and framed Wayne, they'll be unhappy we know it.
Okay. All right.
All right, that was wonderful. Wonderful.
Tomorrow we'll fill in the earlier track.
When will I be better? I still can't remember a thing.
Linda, you had an accident.
It was a terrible shock to your mind. Do you understand?
Sometimes when I sing, I can almost remember lights, people...
- But then it just fades. - You see?
Singing is just what the doctor ordered.
Singing's gonna help get back your memory.
Yes. I love the songs.
But how could I forget everything about my life?
I have something to do.
But I'll be right back in a while to tuck you in...
...and give you your medicine.
Elliott, Mendez and the other cop had this.
It's a reconstruction of Dave Buell's tape.
She might hear. Let's talk about this outside. Come on.
Damn it!
Fifteen minutes away from being home free.
We don't know what else Mendez and his partner have on us.
As far as I'm concerned, those guys are dead.
My pleasure. Elliott, we're gonna have to lose Linda too.
No. She is a gold mine. I'm not throwing that away.
Hey, we've taken this as far as we can.
The heat is up, my man.
And if you fry, I'm on the burner beside you.
I don't know.
Linda's voice built this club.
Yeah, and the minute the record came out, she was gonna leave you...
... and sign with a big label.
You made that tramp.
She was more mine than she ever was Wayne's.
Yeah, that night she tried to split...
... you would've beat the life out of her if I hadn't stopped you.
Now, don't you play sentimental on me.
I lived up to my end.
I did Suzi. Put her in Linda's car.
And you set Wayne to take the fall.
Now it's time to do Linda for good.
We gotta do her for real.
Elliott, we got enough new song tapes.
We're gonna be in business for a long, long time.
Do it away from here.
Make sure that the body's unrecognizable. I...
I don't want any reopened investigations.
- I gotta go play the grieving brother. - Elliott.
Give Wayne my regards.
- Linda, I'm your friend. - Who are you?
- You've got to come with me. - Get back.
- Back. I won't go with you. I won't! - Wayne, your husband, will die...
...if you don't come with me. - Wayne?
- I can't. Stay away! - Please.
Why did you do that? You killed that man.
I was only protecting you, honey.
It's time for your medicine, Linda.
- Elliott was gonna give it to me. - Elliott's not here. Come on.
There.
Who am I?
Who are you?
I don't even know who I am.
Come on, let's take a ride.
Showtime, huh, Father?
Bless me, Father.
Bless me.
Linda!
You're under arrest, Whisper.
Don't make me laugh. It hurts my throat.
Look, I know all about what you did to Suzi and Dave.
And I know how you and Elliott set Wayne up.
You should have stayed at home.
Nobody's here to help you this time.
Not Wayne, not anybody.
You never should have messed with me, Mendez.
Not then, not now.
Look, you killed Suzi Storm and you framed Wayne.
Mendez, I'm gonna enjoy tearing you apart.
You're not gonna get away with it!
You see who's there, right?
Hey.
- Is that Linda? - No, that can't be.
- Look. - Who is that?
I don't know, man.
Old scores come to tonight.
I'm gonna teach you about the quick and the dead.
- Julio, you okay? - Yeah. Did you take him out?
Me? No, man. You were all over it.
- I was? - Yeah.
- That's Linda. - They're gonna kill her.
We gotta get her to the prison. We've got five minutes.
I'm Wayne's brother.
Warden, may I speak to my brother, please?
I'm glad you could make it.
You quit that, little brother. Listen, before they strap me in...
...I want to apologize.
Apologize? For what?
I didn't always treat you right, Elliott.
Left you to do the chores, taking care of Mama.
You got stuck being the responsible one.
Always playing the straight man to me.
Of course, you also got stuck with all the brains in the family.
Yeah, but you always had the genius.
No, but I was always putting you down.
Bird-dogging all your chicks.
I'm really sorry, Elliott.
No kidding.
Forgive me, okay?
- I know you didn't do it. - Oh, God, that means a lot.
Whenever you gentlemen are ready.
Excuse me! Stand back! Get away from the stage!
- We have to get to the prison. - Prison? Why?
To save your husband.
- I'll take her. - You won't make it in time.
- Then call Garfield, man. - Listen, listen! I can make it.
- Because I'm... - Damn it, Barry, just get to a phone!
You're not going anywhere.
What happened?
Please, it's one to midnight. You have to get her to the prison.
I can try.
- I'm a friend. Really. - I know that now.
- Don't shoot! - Where did he come from?
I think you'll agree...
...there's been some mistake. - Stay calm, everyone.
- Wayne? - I don't know, I don't know.
Wayne?
Linda? Linda? Linda!
- Time to face the music, Elliott. - No, I am not going down for this.
I'm walking out of here!
No.
I think you're gonna be around for a long while.
- Beautiful, baby. - Wonderful.
All right, yeah!
Jazz has never been my cup of soup, but I gotta tell you, this was very cool.
- Not bad, Wayne. Not bad. - Not bad?
Considering your junior high school teacher...
...wouldn't trust you with a woodblock. - Look at this guy.
This place is absolutely packed.
If this keeps up, I won't be able to get in.
Yes, you will, Barry. There'll always be a table for you and Julio.
Thanks, Linda.
But you may notice a few changes next time you're here, though.
Yeah. After what I went through, all these clocks around here...
...just gotta go. Except that one.
Of course, that one I can live with.
- What's this? - A new item to the menu.
In honor of our mysterious friend.
- Buffalo wings? - No, no. Flash wings.
Oh, I get it. Kind of like:
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