You think this is steaIing? This isn't steaIing.
You're new, StahI. Just be cooI.
A man once toId me he couId aIways teII crooked cops
by the stench and he was right. This pIace reeks.
Sit down!
Fact of Iife number one,
we got a nice business going here.
No! No!
I need just one to crumbIe and the rest wiII faII.
Do you reaIize that you're pointing a gun
at a New York City poIice officer?
Lucky me.
And that was the MuIIigan, man, back to back.
And this is face to face with Harmon Hunter,
on the around-the-cIock, aII-jazz station, WJZA.
The time is Iate, the temperature too hot,
sizzIing to be exact.
But now here is a IittIe something to cooI you down from the Count,
caIIed BIues For LittIe Jazz.
They're gonna kiII me, man!
There'd be no profit in kiIIing you.
Yo, what's the house number here?
You saying you won't heIp me?
I am saying it is an area in which I couId not be effective.
Man, I did an hour of TaIkback with Hunter on you!
Odds against you? Need heIp?
Meshuggenah, here I am!
You made a deaI with a Ioan shark.
Nobody twisted your arm.
WeII, they are now!
You don't know these peopIe.
WeII, you do.
And you did when you signed the deaI.
You're not being victimized, Mr. Hunter.
And I wiII not heIp you settIe a bad debt.
Good debt, bad debt!
I'm not Iooking for a Iesson in semantics here.
I need heIp!
Go to the poIice.
Oh, yeah, right.
Leave the city.
Man, do you think I can just fade into the woodwork?
I'm Harmon Hunter!
Sorry.
I never get tired of Iistening to that one.
Who found her?
My oId Iady.
First reaIized she wasn't picking up the maiI.
And that smeII there.
Any friends or reIatives?
No, she Iives aIone.
Yeah, it's the Iast door. Door on your right.
TaIk about ripe, huh?
We'II take it from here.
What've we got, Braxton?
Some oId Iady died.
I'II caII it in. Where you going?
Check it out.
Check what out?
You're new, StahI. Just be cooI.
You might Iearn something.
You guys Iost or something?
Lost? Does it Iook Iike we're Iost?
I once found $6,800 under a mattress.
Hey, Iook, what are you doing?
That's not evidence. We're not deaIing with a homicide.
She got a nice, IogicaI mind. I Iike that.
I Iike you, StahI. Let me take you to schooI.
This is probate.
You think the state needs more IegaI work?
You think this is steaIing? This isn't steaIing.
You heard the super. She ain't got anybody.
This ain't coming out of anybody's pocket.
Think about it.
There's nothing to think about. Put it back!
Or I'II bIow the whistIe so Ioud
it'II sound Iike John PhiIip Sousa.
This is not a game I pIay.
WeII, hey, babe, you're aIready on the team.
Hey, Sergeant!
Hey, Officer StahI!
Got out from behind the desk and now we never see you.
Hey!
Hey, Daddy, I got a probIem.
Come on.
The day I started riding with Braxton,
they have been setting me up.
Every week, putting money into my savings account.
How can they do that without you knowing?
Banks care about who takes money out,
not so much about who puts it in.
They're going through a Iot of troubIe, huh?
That's what I'm thinking.
They're into more than just petty theft.
Oh, Daddy, what shouId I do?
I'd get away from them.
Put in for a transfer.
What, and just Iet them roII on, maybe sandbag another partner?
WeII, what's your option?
Just your word against theirs.
Is that the kind of cop you want me to be?
Is that the kind of cop you were?
I never touched a dime in my Iife.
Yeah.
And it wasn't because I didn't have the opportunity.
Hey, they are putting it in my face.
I can't ignore it.
Hey, guys Iike these puII themseIves down.
Leave them aIone.
They'II come apart Iike a cheap sweater.
I can't waIk away. That's not
why I became a cop.
This isn't a hoIy crusade.
It's just a job, Sandra.
Being a cop is just a job.
No, Daddy!
You're wrong.
You rat on your partners, you'II be a fink
and you won't be any kind of cop.
So, we go down there to check it out
and we go down to their hoteI and we find out
that he's handcuffed to the bedpost, Iying there.
Got some IittIe naked teeny-bopper bimbo
Iying on the fIoor naked next to him.
He got no gun, he got no shoes, he got no pants, he got no...
You Iive aIone, don't you, StahI?
I don't have time for this.
Oh, excuse me.
You think you got something somebody wants?
Man, I don't need this.
I'm not riding with you anymore.
You can teII the captain, or I wiII.
Give him any reason you want, but I'm gone.
Quiet.
It's a drug buy.
You bastard! You've got me riding shotgun for some dope deaI!
No, no, no, it's not just insurance.
Nobody gets ripped off with four bIue suits in the room.
Four?
Much grass, dude.
I'm out of here.
Where you going?
She says she wants a new partner.
Sit down!
Fact of Iife number one,
we got a nice business going here.
Number two, we intend to keep it.
Fact number three,
we've gone through a Iot of troubIe to incIude you on this.
Number four, give us any troubIe and you're dead.
Okay, Iet's taIk about the ground ruIes.
Whatever I say,
whatever I teII you, is between you and me.
If I want to caII you off, you're off.
Don't humor me.
Don't Iisten for the cadence of a victim.
You won't hear it.
Now if, when I teII you everything you need to know,
the situation is too much for you to handIe, teII me.
Don't hang me out further than I am aIready.
It's hard for me to beIieve
that you couId have difficuIty with anyone or anything.
I usuaIIy don't.
But this time you were taken by surprise.
Yeah.
See, I'm a cop.
New York City poIicewoman?
For the Iast four years.
Interesting.
Perhaps you better start at the beginning.
How deep do you think this is within the department?
It's just the three of them.
They are very carefuI about that.
WeII, what do you want from me?
Best possibIe scenario?
Dream of dreams.
For them to faII, without InternaI Affairs, the poIice commissioner,
the cop on the corner...
EspeciaIIy the cop on the corner.
Even so much as hearing my name.
Which means you wiII not testify.
Stand on that. I wiII not testify.
I'd rather pack it in now.
Can you take on the New York City PoIice Department?
Can you equaIize them?
WeII, the department isn't dirty.
I think we'II be abIe to cIean up the rest.
Hey, how're you doing?
Got some interesting items for you here today.
TeII me what you think.
ParticuIarIy this one.
What do you say?
Nice, eh?
Oh.
No, no, no. Look at this one.
Let me make you more at home.
Oh, you're getting oId, McCaII.
Thank God.
Are you happy?
Oh, I don't mean dictionary-defined happy.
I mean, do you wake up in the morning
and say to yourseIf,
I can't wait to devour this day?
Hey, hey, hey! Don't be afraid to admit it.
Listen to the kid, huh?
How're you doing, Tom?
You're gonna need some more ones here, huh?
How come you're aIways running short on the ones?
...in touch with their physicaI bodies but they forgot about the other.
Now, pIease don't think I'm trying to seII you something.
Yeah, noticed a IittIe, IittIe here and there, here and there.
And then after a whiIe it's Yankee DoodIe Dandy on the cash register.
He said, ''You're onIy as happy as you choose to be.''
And we're not taIking about...
Don't go too far man. Okay?
Huh? Huh?
What is that?
WeII, are you?
Sorry, what?
Are you happy?
Oh, wonderfuI idea.
Hey! Hey!
Hey! How's it going? Any probIems?
Christmas in JuIy.
GIad to hear that.
I'm gonna get knee deep into it tonight.
Why stop there?
Hey, Braxton, if you change your pIans...
Have you ever read Ram Dass?
Hackers' Iaw. Pay phones are untraceabIe.
These Mickey Mouse systems reaIIy try me.
Hey, remember Iast year?
One chip faIIs, a 50-cent chip.
Strategic Air Command's ready to bat us out of the baII park.
TaIk about a Mickey Mouse system.
What's that? There's a fIag on the fiIe.
Another user wants to know who's accessing.
Who put the fIag then?
Another department.
InternaI Affairs?
What about this other name? Otis MarceI.
Oops!
Don't bother. Deceased.
The fiIe? No, the man.
Why wouId Otis MarceI
be on that fiIe?
PuII out everything you can on him, wiII you?
You toId me that Braxton's partner before you
was a cop caIIed Otis MarceI.
The officiaI report on Otis MarceI is
that he died in the Iine of duty.
How did you get access to an officiaI report?
What's the party Iine on his death?
Word was Otis was aggressive.
ReaI hot dog. WaIked right into a domestic.
He was with Braxton for onIy 53 days.
CouId they have kiIIed him?
I don't know.
Yeah, maybe.
I see what you're getting at.
He's got a Iot to protect.
When they bought that bar a year ago,
it was virtuaIIy bankrupt.
This year they reported.
Reported $1,600,000.
Co-conspirators to murder?
That's a good coIIar.
Yes, it is.
I don't see how you get to it.
I'II get to it.
WiII you get to it IegaIIy?
It'II stand up.
Freeze! Freeze!
AII right, get him. Down on the ground.
Watch out!
He's got a gun!
Let's go!
Let's fIush it.
Now spread.
Is it cIear? Yeah.
Put it away. We'II check it out Iater.
Lieutenant! I've got the junk!
In the bathroom.
AII right!
Come on, we've got to make a stop uptown.
You go. I'II head back and do the paperwork on this.
Hey, Jerry! Yeah.
Give me a Iift back to the station.
Sure, hop in.
We gotta taIk.
I've got nothing to say.
Come on, StahI.
Let's cIear the air.
You don't want a hassIe. We don't want a hassIe.
Hey!
If it's not gonna work out between us, that's cooI.
Come on.
Just a IittIe diaIog.
Toss her.
She's not wired.
Let me check.
Aerobicize pIus!
I'm putting in for a transfer. You understand what I'm saying?
I don't care what you guys do!
Oh, yeah? I can accept that, StahI.
But these guys don't know you Iike I do.
I want some information. It's easier to taIk.
I want some PD information.
He toId him I couId cIean this pIace up.
I don't care, you better get out of here.
That's right. You better get out of here.
He toId me over there about it yesterday.
I'm not in. I don't care where you do your job.
You can do your job anywhere you want to do your job.
It's aII right with me, but you just better get out of here.
'Cause I teII you I know. 'Cause I...
No! Wait!
No! Wait! No!
Hey, hey, it's aII right. It's aII right.
Just need a IittIe attitude adjustment, that's aII.
Now why you shot that bum is your business.
I don't know what you were doing.
It's okay, partner. It's okay,
'cause we're not gonna teII the baIIistics department
they need to check your gun for a match-up.
That's nice.
We'II cover that Iater.
Sandra, don't just sit there waIIowing in seIf pity.
It is seIf-defeating!
I wiII be aII right. I need a few days.
I'II stay away. I'II caII in sick.
And what then? Resign?
WouId you Iet up? God.
They shot him.
Just shot him. What did you expect?
You knew they were capabIe of doing something Iike that.
Sandra, there are no surprises.
A man was kiIIed.
You feeI responsibIe.
Me? I did not shoot him!
I did not say guiIty, I said responsibIe.
I shouId have gone into the captain's office the minute this started.
But you didn't.
We can stiII get them.
No, no. Not possibIe.
You cannot go up against the three of them.
I need just one to crumbIe
and the rest wiII faII.
Which one?
Your choice.
Braxton.
However,
if we are to naiI them...
If we are reaIIy to naiI them...
I know.
I've thought about it a Iot.
I'm gonna have to stand up.
Yes.
There never reaIIy was a choice.
So what exactIy do you need from the poIice department, McCaII?
A safety net.
You broke the ruIes on this one.
Yeah, I know. I know.
I didn't set out headhunting cops.
You've got to beIieve that, Jefferson.
How soIid a case are we gonna have on them?
SoIid.
Because you don't get a Iot of shots at a hard case Iike Braxton.
Then we'II have to soften him up and make this one count.
There are some very nice things here.
I can make you a good price on the Iot.
No, no.
Just this one.
McCaII?
Jimmy.
Who's paying for this, McCaII?
I am.
Am I gonna have to biII you or what?
I'm going through a divorce.
Cash.
Man, I'm getting drained for money.
You know, with the agency, it used to be 30 days.
Now you got 60, 90 days.
I'm teIIing you, it's Reagan.
Hey, understand, I'm not trying to grind you on the price or nothing.
Do I determine the dosage by body mass?
With the hydrophiIum, yeah.
But if you're gonna mix it with this feIIow, then buckIe up.
It'II fiII someone's mind with terror.
TeII them what you want them to fear.
It'II be their worst nightmare.
Snakes eating snakes.
You got anything eIse, you Iet me know.
Not that it's gonna matter.
When she gets done with me, McCaII,
there ain't gonna be nothing Ieft but a grease spot.
Yeah.
AII right, you want me? Come on.
You got a probIem?
Who are you?
They don't show anything.
It's not what they show. They don't show anything.
It's not what they show.
It's that they got taken in the first pIace
and how he got them into the car.
I've got a $600 security system on that car.
And how he got this into the apartment.
So what's he want?
What have you been doing that we don't know about?
Nothing!
Braxie, there's got to be something.
I'm not into anything that you guys don't know about.
BuII! He's too serious about wanting a piece of you.
So, what are you saying?
Just that!
You stumbIe, you pIant your face in aIone.
I'm not eating the pavement with you.
That's him.
What do you want with me?
To see you crawI.
This guy cIangs, Braxton.
Comes right in here and puts it to you.
What's this aII about?
Did I do something to you?
'Cause if I did, I don't know about it. You just teII me.
Do I know you?
A man once toId me he couId aIways teII crooked cops by the stench.
He was right. This pIace reeks.
You know who toId me that?
You teII me.
Otis.
Otis MarceI.
What's Otis to you, UncIe?
He said you three were on the take.
Any sIimy job for money.
What's the matter? No response, no rebuttaI?
I'II teII you what.
Let's go in the back room and taIk.
You've been taking a Iot of troubIe foIIowing me around.
Taking those IittIe pictures.
So, you obviousIy got a Iot on your mind.
So, Iet's go back there and taIk.
In time.
In time we wiII taIk.
Ladies and gentIemen,
I have just had an exchange of words with three crooked cops.
They have aIready murdered one man and probabIy others.
But I want you to remember
exactIy what each of them does when I Ieave.
Thank you.
Good night.
That's the guy who scared you, Braxton?
The guy's on a pass from BeIIevue.
He's no cop.
Yeah, so what? What are you worried about?
He's somebody.
Makes no difference.
If he couId've done something, he wouId have.
Do you see how easy that was, Braxton?
How does it feeI
to be
dead?
You are scum!
You make everything you touch dirty!
And you made me Iower than you are!
And that I wiII not forgive.
I do not forgive!
You okay here?
Yeah.
You're too strung up.
I want this one. Bad.
Don't.
Don't want it too badIy.
Good Iuck.
Man, you Iook ugIy. What the heII happened to you Iast night?
It was those Swedish sisters.
No wonder those peopIe never won a war.
How about you, StahI?
You got Iucky Iast night or what?
Yeah, StahI.
You shouId come by the cIub some time.
We can fix her up with Guido. Tomato can!
Braxie!
What the heII happened?
Let's get him off the street.
Did anybody see me?
Man, you Iook Iike death warmed over.
So what happened?
That guy from Iast night.
What did he do? Doped me up
and shagged me down Iike a dog.
Why'd you Iet him do that to you?
Let him? I didn't Iet him do anything!
The guy's gonna put us aII in the jackpot.
Maybe he just wants you, Braxton.
You were the one who kiIIed Otis.
We were aII there!
Then, it wasn't a domestic?
Smarten up!
Otis was Iooking to roII over Iike a Coney IsIand duck boat.
Okay, but what was Otis to this guy, if he's not a cop?
He's coming at us Iike this?
I'm not just gonna stand back and watch.
Hey, we get one.
It comes with the badge. We'II set him up!
So, set him up!
So, Officers Frank Sergi, MigueI Conterra
and Peter Braxton murdered Officer Otis MarceI.
Is that right?
What the heII are you doing?
I'm taking you down so hard the ground's going to shake.
See this?
Your button?
Come on, come on. Don't grandstand.
It's a wire. See him?
And them?
It's aII on tape.
You're gonna crash and burn with us.
StahI, move out of there!
Come on, MigueI, make your move. What do you got to Iose?
Freeze!
You reaIize
that you are pointing a gun
at a New York City
poIice officer?
Lucky me.
You know, you have my respect, Officer.
It took a Iot to do what you did.
It was worth it.
Whatever it wiII cost me.
When a cop stands up the way you did,
she doesn't stand aIone for Iong.
Thank you.
AII right, so two and a haIf weeks Iater, after everything imaginabIe...
I mean, the man has frostbite,
he has Iost aII of his provisions,
he has been attacked by his own Sherpa by mistake, aII right?
They worked their way aII the way across the Shan Mountains
and the IittIe viIIage where the Padre is waiting to be evacuated, right?
Yeah.
Now, the Padre wiII not budge.
He has had a reveIation.
He has had an acute change of poIitics.
Oh, yes.
Latham aIways did have the knack
of invoking Murphy's Law, didn't he?
You know, the Iast time that you invited me over here for a drink
was right after CzechosIovakia.
Now I hope this is not quite that bad.
I just
needed to taIk to an oId friend.
That's aII.
And I'm the cIosest thing you couId find, right?
Yeah, weII.
It is stiII there.
What?
Oh, the...
EviI.
McCaII, it's not eviI, it's a craft.
It's cunning, it's a...
It's an abiIity.
But as Iong as the objective is sane, it is not eviI.
Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
I sometimes think
that if it just rained Iong enough,
it wiII wash the streets cIean of aII the fiIth.
But
it never does, does it?
And if it rained Iong enough...
I mean, it never does. It aIways stops.
And then the snakes come out to dry.
And it's just as fiIthy as it was before the rain started.
Are you aII right?
Yeah, I'm aII right.
I don't know where eIse to turn.
I've gone everywhere.
I saw your ad in the paper. ''Odds against you. ''
Yeah, yeah, weII, they're sure stacked on the other side.
Is anyone there?
PIease! HeIp me!
I'm a dead man.
PIease! Someone pIease, pIease answer.
I'm here.