Original subtitles

Nice wheels.

Yeah.

I like them.

What?

Where's this piece of fluff you got for me?

Where's the piece of fluff you got for me?

Things sound like they're kind of tense.

Yeah.

She won't tell me nothing, though.

The chick's so scared, she's scaring me.

Whatever she's laying on is something heavy.

Where is she?

In the back seat.

Is he the one?

If you're gonna get a fair shake anywhere in

town, it's gonna be at this man's doorstep.

I got a friend.

He, uh...

We need help.

He says that if you help us, maybe we can help you.

Hold on just a second, sugar.

I don't deal in he says and she says and maybe.

Let's get right down to the dirt floor.

What kind of help are we talking about?

Just staying alive, mister.

That's all.

Just staying alive.

Please help him.

Okay, okay, pal.

I want to tell you something right out in front, though.

Like the man says, I can give you a fair shake, but if you burn me, I'm dirtier

than any hood you ever dealt with in your life.

Now, where is this he says, she says guy?

Say, wait, wait a minute, man. Look here.

Now, I think this is where I came in.

This chick and her man is hotter than the Fourth of July.

All right, I understand.

Don't nobody coop the rooster.

Come out with me, sugar.

Bringing in these weird chicks and their crazy old dudes, boy.

Just get out of here and help her out.

That's all.

Help me out by leaving me alone.

That's how I take it.

Wait here.

Yeah, sure.

Don.

Don.

Sweetheart, it's me.

Rooster says he's straight.

His name's Baretta.

All right, cop.

Now, if you're straight, and if I can trust you, maybe we can make a deal.

If, maybe.

You're hands shaking, kid.

If I was you, I'd stop all that latrine lawyer jive

and negotiating and just put my tickets on the table.

Put that piece away before you hurt yourself.

I'd like to see who I'm dealing with.

Take it easy, pal.

I wouldn't be here if I didn't want a deal.

And put that thing away before you and me start dancing.

That's the first order of business.

Go ahead.

What's on your mind?

If I can bust up a murder ring and put the

guys away, you keep me from going to the joint?

Did you do any killings?

No, man.

If you can give it to the D.A.

and they fall, all of them,

you won't do any hard time.

Rita and I are from out of town.

A brother down in Philly by the name of Walrus

turned us on to some local brothers, the Saints.

I know them.

Lolita's a guy named Coz Rogers.

We've been hanging in with them for about a year now.

One thing led into another, and recently some

of them start filling out of town contracts.

This sickle gang started snuffing people from out of town for a price?

Yeah.

One grand a head.

And I was the wheel man.

Then it was your turn in the barrel, and you didn't have the guts.

Don't make me a killer, mister.

Yeah, sure.

I swear it.

We've been holed up in this place for four days.

I left with him when he split.

Cos got the whole city out looking for us.

He's got a price on it.

It's had 500 alive, a thousand dead.

No wonder you don't want to go to the joint.

For that kind of money, you wouldn't last a week in there.

Look, man, Cos already killed the guy in the joint.

That's why I cannot do any hard time.

Okay.

Dom, that's your name?

Yeah.

Okay.

Okay.

Me and your girlfriend, we'll take a little walk and make some phone calls.

She can listen so you know I'm straight.

Then when I come back, I'll stash you someplace safe, and I go see the D.A.

But first, you give me the names, dates, places, all like that.

Dom, you got a deal.

Let's go, sugar.

Gentlemen, this is a new jurisdiction for me, so I

couldn't expect you to know how we operate up here now.

Mr. Stone, I want to apologize for bringing you out at this hour tonight.

We don't normally do this sort of thing.

But I think you can see what's happening here.

We're running out of time.

Yes, I understand you have to meet these people in the morning.

Yes, sir.

We get a statement from this kid.

By noontime tomorrow, we're going to be pulling people off the streets.

Yes, yes, but it can't be done.

What?

Look, who says that it can't be done?

I say it can't be done, Lieutenant.

I won't make a deal with a criminal.

Mr. Stone, this guy witnessed four murders.

With his testimony, we can put them people away for life.

Now, what you mean is he's a co -conspirator in four murders.

And now he's changing his mind and he wants me to forget all about that.

No way. No, all he wants to do is stay alive, that's all.

If he goes to the joint, they're going to kill him.

If he stays on the street, they're going to kill him.

His only chance for making it is to make a deal with the Heat.

Yeah, well, this is one Heat he's not going to make a deal with.

Now, you go out there and you tell him that we'll take his statement,

like any other criminal, and then we'll let the courts decide what to do from there.

He's not going to go for a deal like that. He's not going to go for it.

He wants some kind of assurance.

(...)

Let me try and explain something here, you see.

In the police department, we have always found that it works a good deal better if

we don't compromise our witnesses when they come forward with information like that.

Now, in this case, we've got a lot of lives at stake here.

We've got a lot of laws at stake here.

And they can't be compromised.

There's four murderers out there on the street.

They're paid killers.

If we don't do something about it, they're going to be filling more contracts.

All this guy says is keep me alive.

He'll testify and you can clean the streets up.

I am not dictated to by the streets.

Now, I run my office, and you do your job.

And your job is to go out there and say whatever

you have to say to bring this man in here.

I ain't going to do it.

Are you refusing?

That's what I do. I refuse.

Lieutenant, if he doesn't make an arrest, if he doesn't bring that girl and her

boyfriend in here by noon tomorrow, I'm holding you personally responsible.

He doesn't talk for me.

I talk for myself.

You don't want to make a deal with the guy?

Tony, that's your job.

Tony, when he keeps your mouth open... That's my job.

Go on out in the hall and wait for me, will you?

Don't say another word.

I'll see you in a few minutes.

Okay, Mrs. Stone, I'll tell you what I'm going to do for you.

I'm going to discharge my departmental responsibilities to you by doing my level

best to persuade Detective Baretta to exceed the request.

By noon tomorrow, Lieutenant, or you and Baretta will be facing charges.

Who do you think you're talking to in there?

You think you're talking to some two-bit shyster back in there?

That's an assistant district attorney, do you know that?

I don't care whether you like Stone or not, but you can't talk to him that way.

That's an assistant district attorney.

Well, you could have fooled me.

As far as I'm concerned, he could be the president of the United States.

It don't make no difference.

He's still shirking his responsibility.

And because of his attitude, some people may die.

Okay, look, we're going to go at this another way.

I'm going to go over his head.

I'm going to go to Maryland.

I'll go to the district attorney.

I'll get us another deal.

But in the meantime, you bring that kid in, right?

Wait a minute.

I can't bring the kid in, boss.

What do you mean, you can't bring the kid in?

I got him already.

I already made the deal with him.

Now, just take it easy.

I ain't going back on my word.

Not because I love him, but because as long as I got him on my side, I got a

chance of busting a murder-for-hire record.

Well, you know that Stone is never going to see it that way, don't you?

I know Stone. I know where he's hiding right behind his book.

Well, I'm in it, boss.

I'm in it all the way up to here.

Now you got the ball.

Oh, Baretta.

I'm with you, Baretta.

Just up to a point.

What do you mean?

You know what your problem is going to be here, don't you?

What do you think you can get done by noon tomorrow, huh?

Nobody sold you out.

I made a deal with you, and I'm going to stick with the deal.

Not because I'm Little Lord Fauntleroy, and not because I wouldn't like to call

you and put you in a slammer, but because I got bigger fish to fry, you understand me?

I'm going to bust that gang, and I'm going to stop the murdering,

because that's my job, and that's the name of that tune.

Well, if you think I'm going to help you, man, you are dreaming, all right?

You're dreaming! - Oh, yeah?

Because as far as I am concerned, you are another fink cop.

I told you, Rita, dealing with the heat will cause you nothing but trouble.

You're right, baby.

May wish you'd leave town just like we were planning.

Sure, baby.

You don't got no options.

If you were going to leave town, you'd have done it a long time ago.

Go on, go out there and hit the streets.

You won't get across one of them before somebody

fingers you and Coz will feed you to the barracuda.

And I'm supposed to sit here and let you throw me in the slammer, huh?

Listen, man, I'm sick of that kind of talk.

You think you're in a corner?

I'm in a worse corner than you.

I'm the one who put my head in a chopping block and they cut it off.

Now, you don't make no more deals.

I'm the deal maker and this is the deal.

We stay together on this.

I'm going to take you out of here and put you someplace safe.

Then you're going to tell me everything you

know about that gang and I'm going to bust them.

And I'm going to try to make it stick without your testimony.

You got that?

And if you don't?

And if I don't?

Then we all fall.

Smoke that.

All right, so we went to Philly.

Some dudes there want some people hit.

Guys who come to this town regularly.

So Walrus becomes the bag man.

He brings the bread from Philly to here.

He sets up the hits.

The people come to town, they fall.

And the guys back in Philly who push the button are clean.

Boy, that's beautiful, man.

That's beautiful.

Now tell me again about Walrus and Coz.

They used to ride together.

Rita was his chick.

She went with me when he left town.

And when he got to Philly, he got busted.

Six months for assault.

Good.

All right, let's leave that for a minute.

Go back to the hit.

The one that you were in on.

It's a come down on some old man.

Something about him walking his dog.

They didn't have enough to go on, man.

You got to give me something I can get into.

I told you, I split, man.

But I do know that Coz already got the bread for it.

So it's going to come down real soon.

Listen, if I'm going to use this guy Walrus for a cover.

Everything you gave me is good. I'll remember it.

But you got to give me some inside stuff.

Something that only Coz would know about.

Maybe something you know about both of them.

Some in kind of stuff.

That's him. That's the guy that's going to help me.

Just sit tight.

Billy.

Yeah.

Man.

Put them up there. - Prices.

All right.

Okay.

I'm sorry.

I hate to bring you in on a thing like this, but I got no choice.

The way things are going, if something goes wrong...

Tony, I live by Murphy's law.

What's that?

If anything can go wrong, it will.

I love you, partner.

This is what I want you to do.

Get your shoes out there on the streets and

cover this motel for a block in every direction.

I mean, keep that sniffer working.

If you see anything out of line, if a butterfly ain't flying right,

get on the horn to me right away. You understand?

Right.

What are you looking for?

I said, what are you looking for?

I'm looking for a little bit of tubing.

You know, the quarter-inch kind?

I got a stone hitting me on a... road.

Tubing, huh?

Tubing.

There's some tubing right over here. - What?

There's some tubing right here.

Oh, yeah.

Oh, you did that on purpose, didn't you?

You called me over here so you could stamp on my hand.

And how come you did that?

Because this is private property to Saints, man.

Oh, yeah?

I didn't see no sign.

The man didn't set private property.

Sign, man!

Wait a minute! - Come on!

I'll cut his throat out!

Take that knife off.

You're the boss man here?

That's right. Take it off.

We got business.

Take it off and we'll discuss it.

He's all yours.

Back off.

Okay.

You and me gotta talk.

You better make it good.

Else I'm gonna turn you to the wolves.

No, no, boss man.

You don't want the wolves eating a man that's holding your bread in his pocket.

And lots of it.

Talk to me.

Sure.

Maybe these school kids shouldn't hear.

Back off. Come on.

Come on, John.

Take five.

A man you do business with.

A fella named Walrus.

Him and me, we ride together.

Except that we took a fall in Philly and he's in the slammer doing time.

And he sent me here to take care of business for him.

Looks like there's a new man around here.

I know the names of the folks to be dealt with.

I got all the bread involved and all the gigs.

I guess I'm your new man.

They call me the ghost.

You used to ride with the gypsies.

Them chumps couldn't lick my boots.

I'm a Satan.

Hmm.

Maybe we ought to stop dancing and go on my bike.

I'll show you a funny story.

One G now.

And three more when the hit goes down.

The folks that are supposed to fall are on their way into town for a convention.

When they get here, I'll get a call.

And when I get a call, you'll know who, what, where, and all like that.

Wait a minute, man.

You're talking too fast.

How'd you get locked into this gig?

I told you.

Me and Walrus is tight.

But so tight we were sharing the same mama, a chick named Rita.

I'll tell you how close we are.

One night he told me a story and I was on the floor cracking up.

A story about you and him, how you went bear-hunting.

You got all jacked out of shape on acid and tequila

and you did this funny trick with a chicken, man.

Hey, man.

I don't like that story.

I heard that story.

And Walrus has got a loose lip and you got a loose lip.

You want to hang in here, you better button up.

Right.

So, want to have some chili with us?

Yeah.

Okay.

Is the guy still mad at me?

Is it okay if I hang around here?

You better split, man. Just get out of here, huh?

Hey, come on, babe.

What are you talking about?

You're wasting, man.

Give me a break, huh?

Hey, guys.

Hey, what are you sitting here for?

I thought I told you not to show your face in here again.

Didn't you understand that?

It caused me not to sit.

Get out!

I want you to take your hand off her.

I want you to take your hand off her.

You better pack it in now.

Listen, your gig comes early tomorrow.

I want your head off straight.

You run a tight ship there, boss.

When you're doing a pro's work, you've got to have a little professional discipline.

I always say, when things get lean, look for the man who's tough and mean.

I'm gonna take some of that professional discipline advice myself and go on home

because I'll be expecting a phone call tonight.

And then we're gonna have a little business tomorrow.

Sir, put a lid on what we was talking about and keep it cooking.

But don't let nobody else get it because I will be back.

I don't see any more of them around, boss.

They must all be in there.

I'm gonna go watch them.

What's bugging you, John?

Okay, well, look.

Every morning at ten sharp, he comes out of his apartment house walking a bulldog.

Sit tight, boss. Something's gone down.

I'm with you, Baretta.

Hey, man, what's known at you?

Look, that new guy Ghost, man.

I mean, you put me down in front of him last night, man.

I mean, really bad.

Uh, hey.

I like his moves.

But you're still my main man, okay?

Okay.

Now... no slips.

He just gave Johnny Boy a piece.

He's coming your way, boss.

I'm coming down.

When you bust him, make it look like an ordinary Ralph.

Then when you find the gun on him, nail him good.

That way, nobody will suspect anything.

Hey, look, don't bother me, will you?

You're not talking to Foley.

I've been out here and done this a few times before, okay?

Give me a yell as soon as you got it.

Cover this side of the park, in case he doubles back.

Boss, what happened?

They got held up.

This guy's dying.

You tell him, right?

Well, I'm sorry.

I'll get you an ambulance. - Get an APB on that biker.

Who are you?

The DA's office. Stone.

He wants to see you guys real bad.

Tell him I want to see him.

These are very serious charges, Edward.

This could be very bad if there's any validity to them.

Now, these charges are ridiculous.

They'll never hold up in court.

Well, then we'll force Baretta to drop the whole thing.

Oh, no.

We'll file a counter suit.

He's a... he's a dangerous man.

He's not gonna get anybody.

I think, uh, you gentlemen know why we're here.

Everybody here is acquainted with the Assistant Attorney General, Mr. Pruitt.

Good to see you, Walter.

Stone. Pruitt.

Okay, gentlemen, we might as well get to it.

Detective Baretta here is preferring charges against you, Mr. Stone.

Baretta, you're crazy.

I mean, you don't think you can make this stick.

I'm not fooling around, sir.

I charged you with murder.

I read the complaint, Baretta.

It's not a complaint.

It's a charge.

I think he's directly responsible for that old man's death.

What's the basis for the charge?

I base this charge, sir, on the fact that I told Mr. Stone that I had a witness who

would come forward and testify against the man who killed that old guy.

I told him the hit was going down.

I told him it was paid for.

I told him what he could do to stop it from going down.

He didn't act on none of that.

And in my book, that makes him an accessory before the fact in a murder case.

Oh, come on, Baretta, be serious.

Are you saying that because I wouldn't grant

immunity to a known criminal that I'm responsible?

That's what I'm saying.

I'm saying that you are directly responsible.

Now, your emotional involvement...

My emotional involvement ain't got nothing to do with this, sir.

I live out there in the streets.

On my end of the stick, it ain't theory, it's lives.

My job is to keep people from killing each other.

His job is to help me.

He didn't help me, he stopped me.

And that makes him responsible.

Where do we go from here now?

Well, this is an unusual circumstance.

And my office has had time to check out the charges.

And they have sufficient merit to warrant a grand jury hearing.

See, it's my hope that by calling in Lieutenant Brubaker and Detective Baretta

that they might be able to resolve this whole thing here and now.

Now, wait a minute.

Are you saying that... Are you recommending that I break the law?

Are you saying that I should leave a wanted

criminal on the streets when I can apprehend him?

Well, if that's what you're saying, then you

go ahead with your grand jury investigation.

My position is very clear on that.

My position is clear.

You realize that until there's a determination by the grand jury,

I'm going to have to take your authority away as assistant district attorney.

Uh, Mr. Pruitt, let me get something straight ahead.

Does that mean that as of this moment Mr. Stone

is not part of the district attorney's office?

That is right.

That Mr. Merriman, your office and my office have got something to talk about.

Wait. Hold it.

Hold it.

Now, the attorney general's office is going to have no part of any plea bargaining.

If you gentlemen want to sit here and discuss

the matter yourselves, that's up to you.

But this office will have no part of it.

None of them.

Yeah.

Mr. D.A., what my boss is saying is that him and me, we're on the hook already.

We've got a guy out there that says he don't want to do no hard time.

If you give him that guarantee, I can bring in four murderers.

Now you're on the hook.

Okay, Baretta.

Tell the kid he's got a deal.

Yes, sir.

Oh.

Oh.

You'll never be a Florence Nightingale.

You back among us, pal?

Yeah, I'm with you.

I got a headache, man.

Tell me again, partner.

What do you remember?

What do I remember?

Let's see.

I gave the signal.

Yeah.

I knocked.

She opened the door.

Yeah.

I walked in and whoop.

Black.

I don't know.

He must have hit me or something.

That hurts.

You feel I can get up now?

Huh?

Well, I don't want to stay here.

Let's get rolling.

Hey, Jack, bring me and the lady another cold beer, would you?

He's saying getting off the warm.

Hey, play for you.

Can I talk to you?

Hey, man, you better get out of here.

Now, listen, man, I want to fix things with me and Coz.

I hear he's looking for Dom and Rita.

Yeah? So?

Well, I can get you to him.

Rita called my sister, looking for bread.

Come on, what do you say, Pike, huh?

You better hang in here, man.

Let me go get Coz.

Okay.

Hey, I'll have a beer.

Chances of finding them two jimokes alive are slim and none.

If they try to take a hike, somebody's gonna spot

them, blow the whistle, and they'll fall like flies.

Tony, I don't like the idea of you going back there with the Sickle Gang.

If that fella that shot the old man in the park saw you,

he may have told the rest of the guys that you're a cop.

It don't make no difference.

If I don't get this thing together pretty soon, Soames and Stone and Brubaker are

all gonna cut a piece out of me and make soup out of it.

I gotta go back to the Sickle Gang anyway to find out what this guy Coz is doing.

What do you find out?

Your bike is Dom and Rita?

No surface, man.

Dead or alive.

I ain't surprised.

Well, keep on stroking, man.

Take the old sniffer here with you.

See what you can find.

If you're head ache, kill the couple.

Thanks and luck!

Okay, these are your moves.

Look it over one at a time.

Know your move.

Pass it on.

I think it's pretty accurate because I don't think I, Slimy Fran, would lie to us.

Hey, what's up here?

Got a minute?

Sit in.

What's going down?

Just a little family business.

A couple of our people have run out on us and it's time for us to run down on them.

Where you been?

I've been tending to a little of our family business.

Did you get that call?

I got that call.

The time is now, except this is liable to interfere with it, man.

Maybe we can make it a special day and we can take care of both.

We'll do the family business first, then we can take care of the citizens.

Okay, what are we talking about?

It's a guy named Dom and somebody you know.

Rita.

You're gonna dust Rita?

They're holed up at this warehouse here at 12th and Post.

Wow.

That's right.

Man, she knows him.

She lets you in.

You get in there and you set him up for us and we'll be right behind you.

And then we're gonna waste them our way.

You dig?

Yeah.

I could go for some of that freaky stuff, man, dusting the chick.

Hey, Bagman.

You ever seen anybody done by ritual?

No, I don't think you have.

I wonder if you even got the stomach for it.

I've been around a block a few times, pal.

Yeah, I'm gonna ride with you, okay?

Just to see how you operate.

Yeah, sure.

Come on.

I'll see you there, boss.

53rd, let me show you my badge.

Throw the blade away now!

Okay?

Easy with your left hand.

Easy.

You stinkin' cop.

Shut your face.

Okay?

Okay, all right.

Cuff that guy and book a murder one.

I'm gonna use the radio.

You stink!

Hey! Lighten up!

Get down on your knees!

Down!

This is Detective Baretta from the 53rd Precinct.

Pass me through to Lieutenant Brubaker.

Same precinct?

Hi, Mr. Brubaker.

Hi, boss.

Don!

How'd you find us, man?

I didn't find you.

Coz found you.

He's on his way here.

How?

What difference does it make?

You're just lucky I was here.

We ain't got much time.

They're underway.

Well, we're gonna get out of here.

We're gonna get out of here quick.

That's what we're gonna do.

What the hell's going on here?

We're splitting, man.

That's what's going on.

We're staying right here.

I had enough of you.

You understand me?

I put my neck in a line for you, fighting the D.A.

and everybody else.

What do you do? You run out on me?

All right, you got your deal.

You ain't gonna do no hard time.

You're gonna stay here till the heat shows up.

You understand?

How do I know you ain't setting us up?

Setting you up, you chump? I'm saving your life.

Your boss set you up.

You know what I'm doing here?

He's setting me here.

They're gonna snuff you.

You're a part of a little family ceremony.

You don't believe me?

Huh?

Go ahead.

Go outside to your girlfriends.

Go talk to them when they get here.

Go on.

They're here.

Mr. Pruitt said you wanted to see me.

Yes, I, uh...

I wanted you to know, Baretta.

I'm resigning.

You, uh... you got what you wanted.

You won.

I didn't win nothing, sir.

But it looks like you lost.

Yeah, well, I failed to see the distinction in that.

If I dropped the charges, what would you do?

I would do exactly what I did do.

And that's a very sad thing, Mr. Stone.

That means that you didn't learn nothing.

Baretta, I've studied the law all my life.

And I know that without it and without reason,

humanity can't survive. I know that.

Yes, sir.

No argument there.

Reason.

You worked all your life to get this job.

You need this job.

We need you.

I need you, sir.

You're a boss.

You know how to think.

You know how to get things done.

How come you're blowing everything now?

You, uh... intend to drop the charges against me, Baretta?

I was never gonna go through with them.

I just needed to get you out of the way for a while so I could do my job.

That's all.

So, uh, now you'll let me come back if I play it your way.

Is that right?

Yes.

My way?

Mr. Stone, I didn't invent the rules.

I just try to make them work.

That's all.

Maybe I'm not all right.

Maybe you ain't all right either.

Maybe that's why you ought to stay here.

I got a lifetime of police work here.

Now I'm practically walking the plank.

I want to know why that is.

24 years in the police force.

24 years selfless.

Devotion to duty.

Keeping my nose clean.

Never a problem except that now he gets me brought up on charges.

Listen, you tell him.

If he wants to make any more deals with these

people, he should come and see me first.

No, no, don't come see me.

Don't let him tell me nothing.

Because then when it all goes to hell, it's his problem, not mine. Right?

Because I go by the book.

I do not function by the seat of my pants.

Brilliant, boss.

You was brilliant.

When the chips was down and we was in the trenches, you stood up and you was counted.

And that's what's important in this world.

Standing up and being counted.

Oh, yeah, be happy.

Just keep stroking, right?

Do your own thing.

Everything's gonna be fine.

That bird does not like me.