Original subtitles

We have listening devices, we have telephone intercepts.

We have state-of-the-art tracking devices.

We are part of the best equipped investigation team

ever established in this country.

But none of these shiny toys

isn't gonna get us past square one

unless we know where to put them.

There are 14,000 serving officers

in the New South Wales force.

Not all of them are corrupt,

but there are plenty of shitheads who are,

and they're clever, sneaky shitheads

who will close ranks at the first whiff of a leak

and will never cheerfully come to us just to fess up.

The only way to do our job, expose corruption,

is get someone on the inside, sniff around,

find people, cop or crim,

that we can put between a rock and a hard place,

and get them to point our bells

and whistles at the corrupt officers.

Mr. Agius?

Might I add, do it legally?

♪ It's a jungle out there ♪

♪ It's a jungle out there ♪

♪ It's a jungle out there ♪

Winter, 1994, but in King's Cross,

the temperature was rising.

Every cop and every crim knew the guy next to him

could be wearing a wire.

Paranoia ruled.

Victim's a Marty Ludlow. You know him?

Yeah, low level Kings Cross dirt bag.

Bloody lucky dirt bag.

Three floor drop and he lived. Just.

She says he tripped.

But judging by the distance from the balcony

to where he hit,

forensics reckon he was thrown.

And do you know if he's got any enemies?

Hey Trevor. See you, mate.

You too.

Shit, hey?

Ouch. - We'll talk a bit later.

Yeah, that's from Benny Kassab.

So they're chucking blokes off balconies now.

Yeah, well things are getting a bit tense

up here in the Cross, Trev, you're outta touch.

You know, I reckon with the Royal Commission,

all the monkeys are getting a bit restless.

Yeah, but why Marty Ludlow?

I bet nobody could not hope to find.

Well, maybe it's not about Ludlow.

Maybe someone's sending out a message.

Hey, you early, my friend.

Lucky I already do my counting.

You hear about Marty Ludlow?

It's shocking. Poor bastard.

I send him flowers.

Look, if someone's trying to put a scare into me, Bill,

I want you to tell him he can go fuck himself.

We're scared.

You know Ludlow used to be my fizz.

And if you know, your brother knows.

Trevor,

I think maybe you're getting a little bit paranoia.

Look, the first rule I made down here was no bodies.

Now you tell Louie I will enforce that rule

whether I'm in the Cross or not.

You be careful.

My brother don't do nothing to Marty Ludlow.

Just tell Louie what I said, okay?

Benny Kassab do business with all the boys

in the Cross now.

Now they try set me up, my brother and me.

They set me up. They try to lock me up on bullshit charges.

Benny Kassab is now king of the Cross now.

- So how's our informant? - Mm.

My old sergeant used to beat blokes with a phone book

to make 'em talk.

This fella, you'd have to whack him with the A to K

to shut him up.

He does have a tendency to bang on, don't they?

Yeah, he's just ranting.

He's inconsistent. Manifest the unreliable.

We could put a wire in, but what's the bloody point?

No one in their right mind would talk to him.

Are you getting anything useful?

Oh, there is one name that keeps popping up.

- Yeah? - It's Kermit.

Good day, boss, what's up?

Things are getting a bit warm.

We might need to take our next meeting out of the Cross.

Yeah, tell me.

The TAB Birkenhead Point. You know it?

Yeah, sure.

But look, there's a lot of rumors going around, you know?

You know there's gonna be more raids,

more arrests, pressure.

Usual time. TAB Birkenhead Point.

Yeah, but I need to-

Prick.

Smart planning.

Where's Norm?

Didn't show.

I need another phone.

- Your new number. - Thanks.

Hey, I need more of these.

And this, this goes out to you, Norm, Monica, and Trevor,

no one else.

What's up, bro?

What?

You got coke on your face.

People think you're my partner. It's a bad look.

I am your fucking partner.

You are not working till you sort yourself out.

You think you're my boss?

I made you, dick head.

Oh.

listen to me. Listen.

I know you coked,

but if you don't back up right now...

Fuck you.

If you ever talk to me like that again,

I'm gonna have to drop you, mate.

Fuck you.

Get outta my face, man. Go home.

Louis Bayeh is running around bragging

how he's talking to the Commission.

They following Louie's lead,

we're as safe as bloody houses.

Guaranteed he'll be naming us.

That business chucking Ludlow off the balcony,

I should have stomped on Louie the next day.

Yeah, well actually listen about that, mate.

You had the jewelry brief, right?

The one that got knocked over about a month ago.

Yeah, the pair of dumb shitheads

may as well have left their calling card.

Well, it seems that Ludlow was fencing the proceeds

from that job.

And the word is, is he dogged them.

No one dogged them.

We had the reg of the getaway car for Christ sake.

Yes, still Trev, Ludlow was your fizz, right?

And then you pinch the correct shitheads

within 48 hours of the job.

Now if I'm imagining things that's like...

What are you saying?

Ludlow's broken back is my fault.

No, mate.

Trevor, all I'm saying is that Louis Bayeh

has nothing to do with it, okay?

It's just a pure coincidence.

Hey, Trev? Trev?

Hey, look, chucking in the booze is all well and good,

but you have got to find another way to let off steam, mate.

Otherwise, this job will kill you.

Come on.

Come on.

Another water. Thanks.

If you can't apprehend your suspect,

then all the good police work in the world

amounts to nothing.

The days of the overweight slovenly police officer are gone.

We need officers who are up to the demanding physical task

of catching and restraining a resisting suspect.

Who's gonna be the culprit?

- Yep. - Right.

And our apprehending police officer?

I will do it, sir.

I'm not a sir, I'm a sergeant.

This is your starting position

and our police officer here.

And begin.

Stop! Police!

The idea of this exercise

is to catch your man, Hollingsworth.

You're cuffed. You're caught. Clever.

Use his own weight against him.

Quick work with a handcuff too.

I had a lot of practice.

- Yeah. - Woo.

Smart girl, passing on the stroganoff.

Looks like yesterday's roast covered in yesterday's soup.

Constable Dooley, how are you doing?

Hey, it's Joe.

Actually I'm doing the detectives course.

So if you insist on formality, it's Detective Sergeant.

- That's fantastic. - Thanks.

Good day, Wooley Dooley.

Seems we have a mutual friend.

You know each other too?

I don't think we do.

Well Kim, this is Detective Sergeant Eddie Gould.

He's one of our guest instructors.

Hi.

I saw you at a party I went to once.

Don't seem to remember.

Oh, you wouldn't. It was a long time ago.

But I remember you.

Hey Kim, that party I saw you at,

you probably remember which one that was, eh?

Oh, might've been one of my shows.

Dobroyd Point.

You and two of your friends.

Pretty hard to forget that one.

Yeah, I'm not doing anything like that anymore.

Look, I'm not gonna give you a hard time about it.

In fact, I wanna make you a proposition.

All right.

So I met a couple of blokes out here, detectives,

and we're thinking of going into business for ourselves.

Your old business.

Yeah, like I said, sir,

I'm not doing anything like that anymore.

Look, I'm not asking you to hook. Yeah?

We're planning on remaining silent partners.

We just need someone to look after the joint,

do the books, manage the girls.

Just have a think about it, all right?

Just starting out on a new career here now,

it's important to make friends,

otherwise you might just take off on the wrong foot.

You wouldn't want that, huh?

Trevor?

What on earth are you doing?

Have you had locksmith in today?

Sorry?

You know, did you lock yourself out of the house

or something?

What are you on about?

Nothing. Forget about it.

Well, then why are you doing that?

I said forget about it.

So you still reckon I just need to let off some steam?

So the barrel's on your lock's were loose, mate.

It's called wear and tear, Trev.

Chook, I could see the scratches on them.

I'm telling you, someone's been in my house.

Your phone will be off then.

Not just my phone.

This means the Commission's on to me.

All right, mate, calm down, eh?

We're all a bit hot right now, no point-

Who's got the most to lose, eh?

I've been at the sharp end of this thing for two years.

No.

We are in this together.

You just keep our mouth shut and keep our heads down,

and there's no way any of us are gonna go down.

All right?

Well look, we'll just keep this between us, yeah?

There's no point making the other boys nervous.

Okay?

Cath, another one, please.

Yeah, Benny, you can't trust Norm. He's a good boy.

Like my brother, but, I don't know.

Too much cocaine. Fucked his head up.

This coming from Mr. Clean, huh?

There's no drugs in me, Benny.

- Huh. - It's me.

If I go crazy-

But brother, the steroids. You gotta relax, mate.

Listen to me, Benny. My mind is clear.

Clear Like a bell

Yo?

Yeah, it's Kermit here.

- How are we looking, Kermit? - Your next payment's due.

No, no, no, no. Wait a second.

I already told you there's been talks of raids, Trevor.

Trevor? Who fuck's Trevor?

Okay, Kermit.

Trust me, if there are raids you'll know about 'em.

Get your wallet out. I'll call you when we're good.

Bloody Haken. He tells me it's all good.

But I don't even think the prick even knows, mate.

Why do you even pay this idiot?

It's like I've got all these leeches, brother.

Leech?

Burn them with a cigarette.

Burn that bitch.

This is a turnout.

It's one of the few places left

you can be sure no one's listening.

Apart from the obvious.

Tell me, Jimbo, you had any dodgy phone chats

with your mate, Benny Kassab, lately?

How lately?

Just answer the fucking question.

No, not for a while.

Trev's been handling all that.

All right, word is, the Royal Commission has a tape

of a senior detective talking to Benny Kassab.

Apparently it's red hot and they're about to move on it.

You told Trevor about it?

No. And you be careful before you go near him.

They gonna be all over the poor bugger.

- Well, how do I fix it? - No fixing this one.

Time for some damage control, yeah?

Okay.

Hey, what's in your belt?

Water.

I reason to believe that you have a concealed weapon.

Up against the wall.

Hey. Back you go, big guy.

Legs apart. Hey, get him back. Keep him back.

Hey, you pulling my dick now?

I'm not pulling your fucking dick, okay.

Someone close to you is dogging, Benny.

What?

I said, a little birdie says that your phone's off

and the Commission's about to move on you.

- Are you sure? - Sure?

The bloke I got this from does not fuck around, okay?

Now if you're smart, you won't either.

Yeah, I got it.

- Got it? - Piss off. Yeah.

All right, nothing to see. Everyone move back.

On your way, mate.

Benny promised himself he'd find the traitor

in his team before it was too late.

And he suspected everyone.

Paranoia can be like a contagious disease.

♪ Oh ♪

Fuck.

You and Monica, you in it together?

Hey?

But you two sell me for money.

Well, you just want to get rid of me

so you can keep screwing her, Donny.

Oh no, Benny, I'm not scared-

Yeah, don't shoot me, Don. She's been calling you, mate.

I looked at the times, always when I'm working late, huh?

She, she just wants to know what time you are coming home.

Yeah, yeah, bullshit.

I swear, mate. She doesn't wanna be nagging you.

So she rings me.

I swear, man.

Okay.

Okay. Fuck.

Everything cool down here?

Yeah, fine, mate.

Fine.

I got all the stuff from last night sorted.

Did the books, paid the boys.

Easy cut.

Working hard, mate.

No coke in two days, man.

That's good, man. You know, that's good.

Benny,

about last week, man, I'm sorry.

You're my best mate, man. - It's cool, man.

You're my best mate.

You're the only one I got down here, man.

- Come here. - Sorry.

Listen, if I had to leave now like go away overseas

for a very long time,

would you come with me?

Do you want me to come with you?

Yeah, I do.

More than anything.

Convinced his best mate, Norm, had dogged him,

Benny decided to get out while the going was good.

He figured the US was as good a place as any to lie low.

- Who are you talking to? - Nobody.

♪ Hmm, rock, rock, rock, rock, rock, rock, Pussy Cat ♪

♪ You scratch and then you bite ♪

♪ And then you scratch and then you bite ♪

It was you, you bitch!

Get out of the car now.

♪ Hmm, rock, rock, rock, rock, rock, rock, Pussy Cat ♪

♪ You scratch and then you bite ♪

♪ And then you scratch and then you bite ♪

♪ And then you crawl ♪

Detective Sargent Trevor Haken?

We're from the Royal Commission.

We'd like you to come with us

and answer some questions, please.

Detective Sergeant Haken,

do you know a Benjamin Kassab?

Shit, I've already answered questions about this.

That was police internal affairs.

As you know, we are not with the New South Wales police.

Yes, I know him.

What is the nature of your relationship with Mr. Kassab?

He's my fizz. A registered informant.

Conveniently registered on the 15th of August, 1993.

A day after you became aware

of the Internal Affairs investigation.

Well, I don't recall the exact date, but if you say so.

Have you ever accepted money from Mr. Kassab?

Never.

No gifts or payments of any kind

on behalf of yourself or any other person?

Never.

Detective Sergeant Haken, I put it to you

that your relationship with Mr. Kassab is corrupt

and that money has changed hands.

No.

And that money has changed hands regularly

for the past six to eight months.

And I'm denying it.

Now the reason why I was at home off work

is that I have a blinding migraine.

So unless you've got something new to add to this,

I'd like to go home and rest.

Start with forgetting our meeting,

the next installment, we'll hold it for a week.

No, no, no, no. Wait a second.

I already told you there's talks of raids, Trevor.

Trevor? Who the fuck's Trevor?

Okay, Kermit.

Trust me, if they're raids,

you'll know about 'em.

There's more if you'd like to hear it.

Detective Sergeant Haken, in light of that recording,

do you wish to alter your previous statements in any way?

So,

what do you say?

Norman Korbage,

you're under arrest for trafficking in narcotics.

But Norm was released from custody

about seven hours later

and allowed to leave through a discreet rear entrance,

which confirmed to Benny's mates,

'Bad' Don Denucci and Danny 'DK' Karam

that Norm was the dog all along.

♪ I don't know why ♪

♪ I don't go out to see you ♪

And in the world of Kings Cross...

♪ It's not my fault ♪

There's only one way to treat a dog.

♪ But I'm out of excuses ♪

♪ When you play ♪

♪ I sing that song ♪

♪ Don't go away ♪

♪ Don't go away too long ♪

Why'd you come here?

Well, you think I want to see you?

Norman,

he's dead.

What did you just say to me? You-

He was dead last night with an overdose.

I think it was better if I come here and tell you myself.

But he was out already.

He got out straight away

as soon as you were arrested.

They tell me I'm getting seven years minimum,

but he walks out straight on bail.

I am sorry.

You know, I can't believe I fucked this up so bad.

I'm sorry.

I've gotta go.

Don!

I hear your boss he going away for a while, huh?

Yeah, he could be.

Yeah. I pray for him.

If it come bad,

maybe I take the lease for the budget myself.

I'm thinking you come work for me.

Yeah, sorry mate, I can't, can't do it.

Hey, don't be hasty. Guy's offering your job.

Maybe you should think about it.

No, I can't do it

'cause I already got the lease for the budget myself.

You?

Well, me and DK.

It was his idea. Seemed like the smart move.

But you know, if I'd have known you was interested,

I wouldn't have, I wouldn't have done it, Bill.

It's just, you know, thought it was a good opportunity.

Forget it. Forget it, Don.

Good luck to you, man. - Huh.

Good luck to you.

Okay, well I guess I'll see then, hey?

Hey boss, here's your coffee, boss.

Stick your coffee up your ass.

Hey boys, it's here.

Our fearless leader's own TV show.

To my colleagues in the police,

I'm taking this opportunity to convey to you

the vital importance of assisting the Royal Commission

to the fullest of our ability.

Having given our cooperation...

Is that who I think it is?

- We'll emerge from this... - You've gotta admit...

A better organization.

He's got a bit of an extreme presence.

As proud of our achievements, as we are confident...

Hey Parrot.

I hear that you've got a few new irons in the fire.

- Hey? - Ernest.

Why you want in?

Are we talking about Billy Bayeh?

Amongst others?

Mate, you wanna be real careful.

That lot there, he's top of the list.

Mate, I'm not planning on doing anything for Bayeh.

Stupid bastard's palming money at me, handover fist.

All I'm doing is counting it.

Smart move, Eddie. Real smart move.

Thanks Jimbo.

What's up?

Mr. Bayeh wants to talk to you urgent.

I'm on duty.

Urgent.

- Oh shit. - Detective.

Did I run over your foot?

No, no, I'm fine. How you doing, Marty?

Well, I piss in a bag, shit in a bag.

Can't get hard.

Well, if I do, I don't know about it.

Do you know Big Tommy?

Used to be Tommy Gould. - Detective Gould's brother?

Yeah, well I was sort of dropping in

on his misses for a bit,

but I guess he kind of took it bad.

- Good to see you, mate. - You too.

Shit, hey.

Ouch.

Hey, I learned my lesson.

Just too late.

So will you be there?

It's not that I, I don't wanna do it,

it's just that I'm really busy here with my classes

and everything.

All I'm asking you to do is to come

and have a look at the premises that we've picked.

It's just an empty, bloody building.

Yeah, I know.

It's just that I'm, I'm not involved in that world anymore.

Look, I'm a Detective Sergeant,

some of my partners are even higher up,

so why don't you just let us worry about the wrongs

and rights of this, hey?

They've served me.

S-7, ordered to testify at the Commission.

The boys find out about this,

they're gonna be shitting themselves.

Oh mate, if they can't trust you.

Oh mate, it's not about whether they can trust me.

I mean, the first bloke ups in a bit of a bloody spot,

isn't he?

We'll all be up there eventually.

Yeah, but the first bloke, say he says it's all bullshit.

"Right, there's no corruption down here," Your Honor.

If even one of the pricks that comes after him cracks

and spills his guts,

they'll lock the first bloke up on perjury.

Even if they can't prove he ever took a cent.

We've been through a lot of shit together,

you and me, Trevor.

You know my wife.

My kids.

What are you getting at, Chook?

I want you to look me in the eye

and swear that when you get on that stand,

you will not make me a liar.

I wouldn't do that. We're mates.

Good.

Let's go and knock some heads together.

I mean, you know how many bloody investigations

I've seen down here?

- A lot. - A fucking lot.

And the only reason anyone ever goes down

is because some bloody idiot opens his mouth.

It's true. We keep our mouth shut, yeah?

We'll all be fine, eh?

There's a rumor going around someone's dogged us already.

Louie Bayeh.

One of our own.

I'll find out which one of us is dogging,

they'll end up with a bullet in their fucking head.

You hear that expression? He protests too much.

What the hell is that supposed to mean?

I reckon even you can figure that one out, Parrot.

- Oi, oi, oi - Settle it down.

- Parrot. Eddie, sit down. - I'm alright.

But you've had some sort of problem with me, mate,

ever since I became Sergeant.

Shut up.

You have a problem 'cause you're on notice.

Sit down.

Shut up the pair of ya.

Now where did you hear this rumor?

Captain Jack.

Captain bloody Jack.

I rest my case. Captain bloody...

Listen up, gentlemen,

we are the thin line that protects pricks like Justice Woods

and keeps him safe and sound

in his North Shore mansion at night.

We have done nothing wrong, so we have nothing to fear.

Yeah?

All right. Bloody well drink up.

Cheers.

Hey Jim.

Mate, there's something I wanna discuss with you.

I've got three grand in my glove box

I'm looking to split this someone.

Oh yeah, I assume there's a catch.

Yeah, Billy Bayeh is looking for rate on the budget.

Look Trevor, I've got a lot on my plate right now, mate.

Yeah, but you blokes need some wins.

This should be an easy one. - Trev-

You don't have to go any Bayeh. I'll handle that side.

Mate, no offense,

but I'm not touching it, okay?

It's just circumstances, that's all.

Yeah, fair enough.

Hey, do you need a lift home.

Mate, I'm stone cold sober.

Might as well get some joy out of it.

I'll be right, mate. I'll grab a cab.

Having given our cooperation,

we will emerge from this process a better organization

as proud of our achievements

as we are confident of our future.

I dunno about you,

but I'm bursting with pride and confidence now.

The Commissioner's words

inspired at least one member of the New South Wales police

to obey her conscience.

Probationary Constable Hollingsworth.

It's cadet, sir.

I'm with the Royal Commission.

This is where we're doing it?

Better get used to it.

You will be seeing a lot more of these kind of places

from now on.

So why would Detective Sergeant Gould

approach you in particular with this suggestion?

Because he saw me in some strip shows.

But the proposition was that you help run a brothel.

I also worked as a prostitute.

And he knew that?

A lot of police used to come into the brothel

where I worked.

I guess it was pretty well known.

Right now, Kim, we only have your word against his.

In order to prove your allegations,

we would need to gather some evidence.

We also need to find out the names of Gould's partners

in this enterprise.

I understand that.

And the only effective way for us to do that

is for you to pretend to cooperate with him wearing a wire,

a recording device.

Is that something you're prepared to do?

I've got a lot of classes at the academy right now, so-

Obviously, you'll have to maintain your cover.

So that's something we can all work around.

Kim, we can't force you to do this.

This kind of surveillance work can be dangerous.

I'll do it.

Good girl.

I'd also like to follow up

on what you've told us about police using brothels.

Do you think you could write us a list?

Seeing your officers you know have been involved?

I'll try.

Might need a bigger notepad.

All right, I can hear them coming now.

Walk.

So you got your raid.

Budget's fucked.

All the doors been knocked in.

'Bad' Don's got chicken wire to keep the winos out.

Glad you're happy.

Eh, you know I'm not as happy as you think.

And the Cross,

everyone's getting edgy.

It's not good.

Soon there's gonna be a big bang bang.

All those young boys getting greedy.

Yeah, all they want big drink now.

They have to learn the rules first, huh?

Just like we did.

You remember the rules, Detective?

You're trying to say something, Bill, just say it.

That's for you.

I keep my promise.

You know I got money.

I can cause plenty trouble.

Plenty.

If someone dogs me,

I get them.

Their wife, their kids.

I don't care what I have to do.

Early again? It's a nice new habit.

Listen, Maria, there's, there's something that...

What is it?

Look, you need to come with me.

There's some people you need to talk to.

So you see your husband's cooperation with the Commission

could make all the difference.

Help us clean up a profoundly corrupt system.

I still don't understand.

I mean, why does it have to be Trevor?

Why not some undercover police officer

who's trained for this sort of thing?

Trevor?

I've been part of it, Maria, I've been in the thick of it.

Me and most of my mates.

Trevor's trusted by our targets

in a way that no one else could be.

Because he's one of them.

Wait, so, so what you were saying the guys, Chook and Jim,

they're gonna go to prison?

Well, if we're successful, that's highly likely.

But you're not.

We can't make any promises.

But if your husband continues to cooperate,

it's probable that he will avoid prosecution.

However, the work he's doing is dangerous.

In fact, just today we had a threat against your family,

which we regard as credible.

A threat?

My children, what are you gonna do about that?

Mrs. Haken, you may have to consider relocating.

Relocating?

Where?

You gonna say something?

I thought you might start.

I'm, I'm sorry.

There's no way I can say sorry enough for all this.

Maybe there's an upside to it.

We could start again.

New place.

New life.

My friends, I have a mother.

Do we just take them with us?

The kids?

They've got school, they've got lives.

You've just thrown it away.

Everything I did,

all, all that money I made,

I just wanted to make you proud of me.

We'll relocate, yeah.

You are right.

But it's gonna be without you, Trevor.

♪ It's a jungle out there ♪

♪ It's a jungle out there ♪

♪ It's a jungle out there ♪