Original subtitles

(police radio chatter)

-Let's see IDs here. -Is that Leyton?

Was.

Where's the man who shot him, his partner? What's his name?

Gann.

-Night shift? -Task force.

Anti-crack.

Yeah, he says they observed a suspect heading up the alley,

and Leyton circled around. Gann was jumpy. He shot.

(car engine starts)

I'm Captain Furillo.

I screwed up, man.

(voice breaking) I screwed up.

How long were you partners?

Eighteen months.

It's no secret I didn't like the dude.

He was a pretty boy. He dressed like a pimp.

You know how they are.

They?

But I didn't mean to kill him.

They?

(indistinct chattering)

Attention, please!

People!

I'll give you all that I have! (whistles sharply)

Hey! (whistles sharply)

Let's have a little attention up here.

Thank you.

Now, I know that we're all upset over the shooting

that took place this morning involving two members

of our night watch, officers Leyton and Gann.

They were on special assignment to Division's anti-crack task force.

Many of you will recall Hal Leyton.

He was a young man that Neal Washington took under his wing

and helped him get on the force.

His death is tragic.

-What happened to Gann? -Yeah, Gann. Is he being charged?

Officer Gann is in the custody of the police surgeon

for the standard 639 exam.

MASON: Is he busted? Who pulls the case?

All right, shooting case assignments.

Officers Canby, Welsh, Kuzlowski, and Moranse,

you will substitute for the night watch on crime site's crowd control,

and detectives LaRue and Washington,

you will pull primary investigation and liaison with internal affairs.

Captain Furillo has requested that all officers

maintain a blanket press silence.

Now, that's with special emphasis on this point

since you may have noticed upstairs a number of photographers among us.

The Hill...

and its guardians of law and order has been chosen the subject...

for the Evening Tribune View magazine weekly feature

"One Day in the Life Of."

They have been given permission to follow individuals around

on assignment at the discretion of the officers involved.

Use your common sense.

All right, item five,

after 38 years as the department accountant,

Larry Winston is retiring.

Who is he? I didn't even know his name.

Item six, because of the continuing slowdown

of the medical examiners, those of you unfortunate enough

to encounter a corpse today

may also encounter harried paramedics filling in.

Expect an extra half-hour sitting each stiff.

Item seven, Lieutenant Buntz

to the ophthalmologist this A.M., 8:00 to 9:30.

Lieutenant Goldblume to cover.

And item last, our neighborhood Visigoths

continue mugging excessive numbers of bums.

Unfortunately, Mick Belker, who was working an undercover lure,

was recognized by some of the potential victims,

and as a result, we are stalemated.

Um... dismissed.

Uh, people! One... one more point.

Common sense with the photographers today, but also common sense with each other...

with speaking out of turn to each other about the shooting.

We all want facts, not fictions.

And in situations as these,

I know from painful personal experience, truth is a precious commodity.

-So, about this new gang. -What gang?

-The Visigoths? Are they from the Heights? -The what?

I was out at the site. They didn't even bust him.

-Who, Gann? -Chalk another one up for their side.

What do you mean "their side"?

Gann's a stone racist. He hasn't been charged,

and Lil' Abner here doesn't really get it, does he?

Don't you work the night shift, man?

Why don't you go back to the night shift, get some sleep?

Hey, you're the one that's gotta wake up.

This far up to these doors.

Any pictures you want except for civilians, suspects,

anyone in for questioning, booking,

relatives, and precinct employees, yeah?

-Who's left? -NORMAN: Hey, you can't

take a picture like that.

Come on, come on, huh? What are you gonna do with that?

A picture of me adjusting my acorns?

I'm photographing a day in the life.

It happens to be a part of life.

I know, I know. You scratch, I scratch.

I just don't want the women and children of this city

seeing me scratching my, uh...

(clears throat) gentle area.

Yeah, well, I won't give you the film.

I stand on my First Amendment rights.

Yeah? Which one is that, freedom to be a Peeping Tom?

I'm going to get my eyes examined.

Watch your backs! Coming through! Stolen property.

Let me give you a hand here. I'll give you a hand, all right?

Hey, help us out, huh?

-Come on, it's heavy. -Lift, lift.

-Look out! -Oh! Oh!

Oh!

You crunched my film.

WOMAN (on radio): Dispatch. We have a 9-11.

Armed robbery in progress.

See Surplus Store, corner People's Drive and 124th Street.

(sirens wailing)

(theme music playing)

So one of these kids dealing crack on the street.

And this is a corner worth half a million a month.

A month.

Takes out the kid who owns that corner.

We got the scratch on the case. We saw a kid who matched the description,

and we gave chase.

-Sorry. He on tape? -Glad you could make it.

Officer Gann is filling us in

on the details of what happened this morning.

The kid looked like Leyton.

Both tall, Black, same build, a smoothy.

They both had on down jackets.

-They were both Black. -You mentioned that.

The streetlights were out. It was dark, man.

I was edging along the wall, and Leyton came around the corner,

and I clutched. I screwed up.

(sighs)

He came around the corner like he was coming at me.

-What do you mean by that? -Like fast,

like attacking, like maybe he thought I was the perp.

-You said the perp was Black. -Or another perp, man! I don't know!

You hear me? I screwed up!

I knew Leyton ever since I picked him up for boosting cars.

I straightened him out, got him on the force.

-That right? -That's right.

Well, I'm sorry he's dead, but the guy was a jerk.

He never would have made a mistake like you did.

What happened to the suspect? How did he get past Leyton?

Was he in the alley when the shooting happened, hiding?

What about Gann's record?

He said something about missing his monthly practice on the range.

Excuse me, Frank. I need it.

Also anything at all you can find out about Leyton and Gann's relationship.

Update from SID, update from the night guys.

-Frank. -Keep it low-key.

Some people are still edgy about what happened over in the Polk.

We don't want this becoming something it's not.

Oh, Neal? You knew Leyton better than anybody.

-Is it a problem? -I'll keep him in line.

Eleven o'clock, the brothers are meeting in roll call.

Looks like the Black officer scout troops are on the warpath.

And it's important. It's about the shooting.

We don't want what happened in the Polk to happen here.

Funny, that's what Furillo just told us.

I don't think we mean the same thing.

-Excuse me. You Detective Washington? -Right.

Uh, I hear you're working the "cop kills cop" case.

Look, I don't have time to talk. I got a lot on my plate.

'Cause I've been out there since early.

I wanna cover that in the course of today.

J.D., what's the story on the photographers?

At our discretion.

See ya around.

Oh, I'm sorry. Sorry.

Hey, who is that?

Eye doctor put these drops in my eyes.

I can't see my freaking nose.

Blind Man Buntz?

LaRue? Hey, read the Bible, pal.

Samson was blind, too. Excuse me.

(clears throat)

Holy cow. Excuse me, I'm sorry. I'm sorry.

Man. Sorry, excu-- excuse me. Excuse me, everybody.

Need some help, Norman?

Ah, Belker, listen, I was thinking maybe I could help you.

I heard about your problems with the bum mugger.

"Be thankful you can see." "Spare change, mister?"

-You want to go undercover? -I don't want to hang around here all day.

Norman, you can't see anything.

Hey, you can protect me, all right?

What do you think?

What do you think of his state?

You mean is Gann suicidal?

It's hard to say. He's all over the place.

One minute moaning about how he screwed up,

the next minute, blaming Leyton for screwing up.

-Yeah, he's pretty racked up. -What about his family situation?

-Nothing great. Divorce, no kids. -(knocking)

-Oh, sorry. Chief on line three. -Thanks, Howard.

I think Gann needs to talk to somebody, professionally.

Chief?

I understand.

I'm sure you would.

Chief, I appreciate that,

but I don't think that'll be necessary, not at this time.

Right. Thank you.

He offered Division help with the Leyton/Gann case.

-Outside of IAD? -I declined.

He's probably scared because of the Polk.

He didn't mention the Polk.

(siren wails)

(shivers)

Okay, what do we have here?

Oh, my God.

Why would anybody want to skin a corpse?

Took all the skin right off, even the toes.

A grown man, big old hump like that, big dangly arms...

-What did he die of? -Uh, hard to tell.

No bullet or stabs or anything.

Oh, Lord, think about that. Poor guy, big old head,

humped over, comes into a bar, sits down, orders a beer,

talks to a little girl, scares the daylights out of her.

None of the typical signs you'd expect in a situation like this.

What do you mean, typical? You've seen something like this before?

And shirts! How would an individual

that looks like this find a shirt that fit him?

From the subcutaneous bleeding, which, of course,

-after the unfortunate, um, skinning... -(Bobby and Renko groan)

...would no longer be subcutaneous,

and the relatively even drying of the flesh,

I'd-I'd-I'd say the victim was skinned alive.

(shivers)

Or he died a natural death and then was skinned. I don't know.

I'm just a paramedic.

When they pay me to be ME, then I'll let you know.

What an undignified way to go.

You remember my sofa when I was having it reupholstered?

All the stuffing was out. It looked just like that.

(shivers)

Now, we all know what happened in the Polk,

-MAN 1: Yeah. -MAN 2: That's right.

And we know about the hidden racism in the department,

and we know about the efforts to pretend that it doesn't exist

or to cover it up.

And we know about Gann.

We know about the cracks he made about Leyton,

about his so-called practical jokes, about--

What I'm saying, his attitude.

MAN: Yeah, we all know about attitude.

Now, we are not out to get anybody.

As some of our brother officers,

White officers, will suggest.

And we are not on a witch hunt,

as some of our brother officers,

White officers, will suggest.

But early this morning,

Harold Leyton walked into an alley, a police officer with a future,

and he never walked out of that alley, 'cause a White cop,

a cop that everyone knows is a racist,

a cop who tried to refuse duty with a Black officer, shot him.

And is that cop indicted?

-No! -WOMAN: No!

No.

Is he under arrest?

ALL: No.

No.

Now, brothers, I am not saying what went down,

but I am saying we are gonna find out.

-MAN 1: That's right! -MAN 2: Yeah!

Now, we know that there will be no cover-up

because there's a member of the Black Officer's Coalition

participating on the case.

Detective Washington.

MAN: It's about time.

(murmuring and applause)

No cover-up, and you can believe it.

(indistinct chattering)

-(sighs) -Hey, you got business here?

I told you, I'm covering the crime scene dawn to dusk.

Well, just stand behind the lines.

Go on!

So we go through it.

-You be Leyton. I'll be Gann. -Shouldn't it be the other way around?

You just circle the building, come down the other alley,

around the corner, and down to this alley.

Okay.

(siren blaring in distance)

-Bang! -Leyton staggers...

and he falls.

-It all checks out. -Look how close we were.

Even in the dark, don't tell me that Gann couldn't recognize his partner.

Unless, like he says, he screwed up.

At this distance? Uh-uh.

I don't call that screwing up.

If Leyton was facing Gann the way you're facing me.

And what would Leyton turn to his right and stagger back up the alley, huh?

-Why wouldn't he stagger toward the wall? -Because he didn't.

Unless Gann was standing at the mouth of the alley

as Leyton came toward him.

Leyton's off guard. Alley's empty. No perp, no danger.

Leyton starts to put away his gun.

Bang!

Gann set Leyton up?

Everyone knows Gann didn't like Blacks, didn't like Leyton.

Come on, man, don't go native on me, okay?

Pow!

-Another thing-- -Oh, here we go again.

Tell us more about the skinned person, would you, Renko?

The movies, can you imagine the poor guy trying to fit into a seat?

His hump would push him so far forward that he wouldn't have no leg room.

You ever tried to sit through a whole big movie

with your legs all squished up against the seat in front of you?

-Think about it. -Please!

-Hey, Luce. -Hi, Pats.

Hi, how are ya?

-Not bad. Can we go to dinner some night? -Sure.

-Next week? -Yeah, well, call me.

My life's been like a demolition derby lately.

All right, I will. Take it easy.

DISPATCHER (on radio): Disturbance outside grocery store

corner of Greene and Waymouth.

Let's see what the bad guys are doing, huh?

-You know those Chinese back scratchers? -Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Hey, Phillips. So, how'd the BOC meeting go?

Pretty good turnout.

-Mason thinks it's a cover-up. -No arrest?

Only good thing is Washington's on the case.

(siren wailing, tires screeching)

Hey, drop the gun now!

LUCY: Break it up, everybody, right now! The war is over, all right?

Take it easy and tell me what happened, huh?

Go back to Berlin!

For years we're going to this store.

A nice grocery, we thought. So what happened?

Today we go in the nice grocery

and the grocer's wearing a Nazi armband!

Two years I spend in Treblinka so now I can buy corn flakes from a Nazi?

Okay, you want to just goose-step inside for a moment?

Do you have a permit for this antique?

You know how many times I've been robbed in the last month?

Four times.

The cops say, "Put gates on the windows."

Well, the gates don't help.

The cops say, "Put PBA stickers on the door."

The PBA stickers don't help. Look at this. Look at that. See that?

Last Thursday, punks hit me right in the face

with a can of green beans, so I decided to try to scare 'em.

Since I've been wearing this, I ain't been robbed once.

Do you have a permit for this gun?

-No. -Where'd you get all this stuff?

-What stuff? -The picture of Hitler, the flags.

You really a Nazi?

I ain't saying nothing. This is a free country.

Well, Fritz, we're gonna have to take you in for this gun.

In your testimony before the Sullivan Anti-Corruption Subcommittee,

you were asked about some questionable associates.

My brother-in-law and his jerky son.

They were involved in mob-related activities.

-What's this have to do with Leyton? -That's what I'm asking.

What was your relationship with your brother-in-law?

My ex-brother-in-law.

Leyton knew you'd been questioned by the Sullivan Commission.

The Commission wasn't after me.

I wasn't suggesting it was.

Check my jacket. Except for some Mickey Mouse stuff

like missing target practice, I'm Mother Teresa.

Did the business with the Sullivan Commission

cause any trouble between you and Leyton?

Nobody said we were in love with each other.

Is that why you kept requesting reassignment?

He didn't like my relatives. I didn't like his.

Are we to take that as a racist remark?

(door opens)

(clears throat) Chief wants to see you.

Thanks, Howard. Henry, would you take over here a bit?

Chief.

I want you to call off the Gann/Leyton investigation.

-We're gonna carry it on downtown. -Why?

I can't tell you that.

Oh, for God's sake, Frank. One cop kills another cop,

that's a big story, and you've got photographers crawling all over the place.

There are gonna be leaks all day! I want it out of here.

Gann/Leyton is a Hill case.

You take it away, you cast suspicion on the ability and integrity of my people.

I'm not casting suspicion. I'm relieving you of the hot potato.

Only one IAD shipman is on it. Everything is strictly need-to-know.

Unless there's a compelling argument, there's no reason to transfer this case.

Captain, be reasonable.

(sighs)

We're on the verge of closing in on some cops

who were involved in big drug buys.

What does that have to do with Gann and Leyton?

Investigation of Gann leads to information that queers the bust.

Gann's dirty.

Leyton knew it, and Gann killed Leyton.

-Both. -Both?

Both were dirty. I don't know who said what to who,

who cheated who, but they were both dirty.

How many others? How deep does this go?

For God's sake, Captain, do I have to spell it out to you?

That's exactly what you have to do, yes, when you ask me to pull my men off!

The Black Officers Coalition had a meeting on this case.

I'm sitting on an explosive situation here!

The whole ring's in the anti-crack force. I've set up a special team to investigate.

You haven't seen this. This doesn't exist.

Do you have proof, or is this some vague surmise

one of your special teams is working on?

Proof, statements, witnesses.

So, one dirty cop kills another dirty cop because of some dirty piece of business.

Correct.

You can have 24 hours on the condition that when the bust goes down,

my men participate.

-How many? Who? -LaRue and Washington.

-You got it. -You and Patsy still on

for 7:30 Saturday dinner?

Let's put a hold on that, huh, Frank?

(clears throat) Patsy and I are having trouble.

-Serious? -It's serious.

Howard?

Could you raise LaRue and Washington for me, please?

Sure.

MAN: Here you go, buddy.

Oh, thank you. Thank you.

-(kicks box) -Who's there?

Know what I was just thinking?

Every year, kids let go of how many balloons would you think?

Ten thousand, 100,000 balloons?

These balloons do not go up into space. They don't vanish, you know.

The pop or they lose their air. They fall back to Earth.

But we never see them.

Where do all these balloons land?

-What time is it? -It's lunchtime.

Good, I'm starved. Let's go for a slice.

(grunts)

Ooh, it's freezing.

MAN: Of course I'm not a Nazi,

but after I put up all that Nazi stuff,

I haven't been robbed once, not once.

But you've got to understand that there are many people in your community

that find anything having to do with Nazis offensive.

Yeah, and I feel very bad about that.

You think I like going around saying I'm a Nazi?

I gotta survive here!

My brother had that store for years. Last May, he had a heart attack.

You want to know why he had a heart attack?

From being robbed, mugged, persecuted!

So you think you're gonna scare people off by being a Nazi?

You're gonna have your windows broken every single night.

The charge against you is serious.

You had an unlicensed handgun.

I took that gun off a German soldier in 1944!

Mr. Leonard, if you remove the Nazi material,

I think we'll be able to do something about the gun charge.

I'm sure my client would consider taking down

the objectionable items of Nazi memorabilia,

just as I am sure that the department will understand

that the gun in question is not a firearm for use

but a collector's item.

Hey, Hitler, is what she's saying right? Take down all the Nazi stuff?

-What about my store? -We'll put you down for added pass-bys.

That's very encouraging.

My client is fully ready to comply, aren't you, Mr. Leonard?

Yeah. I'll take down the Nazi stuff.

I'm temporarily taking you off

-the Gann/Leyton case. -What?

Just 24 hours, maybe less.

-Why? -I can't tell you.

You pull us off the case, you know what's gonna happen, Captain?

People are gonna think something's being covered up.

I give you my word there's no cover-up.

And I gave my word to the Black Officers Coalition

that I'd see this through.

I'm sorry, that's it. Thank you, gentlemen.

-No way. -Hey, man, come on.

Captain, you can't pull us off the case.

I told you, 24 hours.

-It's from the chief's desk. -Neal, come on.

The chief, huh?

(door opens)

Uh, look, Detective, I know you're busy,

but if I could just ask you this one favor?

On these photos, in order for them to use them,

they've gotta have releases of the people in them.

-Where do I sign? -No, not you.

I-I mean, we can get you later.

No, I got a photo of the witness this morning.

-What witness? -The witness.

The witness you guys picked up at the crime scene.

Where are they keeping him? I just need his name.

-What are you talking about? -Hey, Neal, we're off the case.

You saw some cops pick a witness up this morning?

Uh, well, I was out early taking some pictures of, you know,

the street at dawn, stuff like that, for the photo essay.

Yeah? Yeah?

Uh, so I heard the gunshot.

I figured it's some pusher wasting some other pusher.

I head over to the sound, figure I might get some real hot shots,

and by the time I arrived, there's this cop heading up the alley

and this other cop hustling this kid, this witness, into a car.

-How do you know the guy was a witness? -I don't know.

I mean, I heard someone say he was, that's all.

The shooter cop was sitting on the ground.

-Did he see the witness? -I don't think so, no.

What cop took the witness?

Well, a cop. He was a cop, I don't know. A cop, plainclothes.

Hey, look, I want to see that picture. Go get it developed.

Yeah, all right. Uh, one hour or regular service?

One hour.

-You'll help me get my releases? -Definitely.

You gotta ease up, man.

A witness tagged by someone downtown this morning

before the precinct's on the case.

I don't know, man, but if Furillo says we're off,

he's gotta have some explanation.

Yeah? Try this, someone's covering for Gann.

Right. Who, Furillo?

-You gotta be out of your mind. -Hey, hey, look, man.

What's the one thing the department don't want, huh?

A race war. White cop kills Black cop.

The department's looking at a bad scene, man.

-Everybody gets told to back off. -Which is what we're gonna do.

Well, I gave my word to Mason that I wouldn't back off.

Not me, man. You do this, you're on your own.

Look, man, I'm telling you, I hope this ain't no cover-up,

'cause if it is, I'm done as a cop.

-Here. Turn around. Sit down here. -Okay.

-What's the matter? You ain't hungry? -I bring my own lunch.

You figure that costs, what,

buck and a quarter for the sandwich, 50 cents for the soda--

that's $1.75 it costs you for lunch.

And I make my own sandwiches.

I want you to try this. Here.

That costs me 25 cents a day.

I save $1.50. That's $7.50 a week, $30 a month,

$360 a year I save on lunch.

And I'll tell you something else, in a family situation,

you always gotta think about those things.

And to maximize savings, you gotta be a little creative.

You like that stuff?

-What is it? -This is a spread that I make.

Chopped cabbage, sardine paste, mashed lung boiled,

and a schmear of chicken fat.

Chicken fat?

-What's the matter? You got a bone? -(horn honks)

-What? -It's Washington.

Hey, fellas, show you something.

He's still blind. What do you want to know?

Polyester's a detective.

Quinlan on night shift said you used to work with him, Norm.

I don't know him. Describe him.

Uh, he's 5'10", overweight,

red cheeks, big nose,

looks like he's got a mole on his forehead.

Oh, that's Maxie O'Connell. He used to be over at the Heights.

And that's not a mole. It's more like a big, ugly red dot.

Yeah, that could be red.

Yeah. Mole O'Connell. He's Division now.

-Hey, thanks, fellas. It's what I needed. -Yeah.

Earth to Robert. Do we have radio contact here?

I just wish the captain would make a statement.

-About what? -About Gann and Leyton.

-Everybody's talking about a cover-up. -Not to me.

(laughs) I guess not.

DISPATCH (on radio): Possible homicide, Sycamore and 139.

Two-two-oh-two in response.

Uh, is that a possible 'cause the individual's not deceased yet,

or 'cause we don't know the cause of death?

Stiff is deceased.

(siren wailing)

Okay, get back, step back.

-This one's skinned, too. -I noticed.

-That's two skinned corpses today. -I noticed that, too.

-Within a dozen blocks-- -Right!

You know, this one looks more like a sumo wrestler or something.

At least the guy's not a hunchback.

In the opinion of my superiors, that "hunchback" was a gorilla.

-Gorilla? -And if you ask me...

This looks like a grizzly bear.

-Thanks for your trouble. -Yeah, all right, Mr. Charlton. Thank you.

Yo! Any news?

Don't you have a shift coming up, Mason?

-First, we're off the case. -What?

Second, Division's been working the street from the jump, man.

Let's get the brothers downstairs.

I want Furillo down there, too.

Hey, Wash, what's the word?

Detective O'Connell of Division has got a witness stash.

Downstairs, soon as we get the peep.

You know, this is a hell of a thing.

Incident like this, people get all screwed up.

Mason's doing it.

Yeah, well, if I was Mason, I'd be wondering, too.

Captain, there's gonna be a B.O.C. meeting.

We want you there.

Before you go, take a look at Detective Mole O'Connell

out of Division, 5:00 A.M. at the crime site.

I told you, I can't say anything. I'm under orders.

But I can assure you there's been no cover-up.

Why were we taken off the case?

Captain, we heard Division grabbed the thing

before we ever got a chance to work it.

Or hiding stuff while we were trying to work.

Well, that part's inexcusable,

and there will be an accounting, but there's a reason.

Yeah, there's a reason all right.

Yeah, and we know what that reason is.

You got a White cop that killed a Black cop.

(all agreeing)

You talking about racism?

White and Black, Captain. White and Black.

No, two officers. One dead, one alive,

and tragic circumstances, which are being investigated.

-Who's investigating? -You know who's investigating,

and we all know what happened at the Polk.

Any attempt to make this case bigger than it is

could light a fire in this community that would be very hard to put out,

and that wouldn't do you or anybody any good.

Everyone knew Gann had it in for Leyton. You can't protect Gann forever.

You accusing me of obstructing justice?

Just giving justice a little too much room to operate in, Captain.

Let me remind you this is not a debating society.

If anybody has a complaint or a specific charge to make,

let him file it with proper authorities.

Neal, J.D., in my office.

(crowd murmuring)

This isn't for Mason, it's not for the Coalition.

-It's just for you. -Yeah?

But you don't hear it unless I know it goes no further,

and if you don't hear it, I'm taking you off the case permanently.

Come on, man.

Hey, look, I don't want to get in a position, Captain,

I mean, where I'm betraying anybody.

I'm not betraying you, so you won't be betraying anybody else.

Okay.

Gann and Leyton were tied in with some cops

who were using the anti-crack team to make drug deals, major deals.

Apparently Leyton wanted out. Gann killed him.

Division has it all. Statements, everything.

Drug deal?

Then Mason is wrong.

Hey, brother, I told you,

things ain't always what they appear to be.

And that's worth taking us off the case for?

A deal's going down this afternoon.

The chief isn't sure, but he thinks it's a six-figure payoff.

He's afraid if word leaks out that we know about Gann,

the others will figure we know about everything else

and they'll just go into hiding.

So when the Division Task Force hits, I want you with them.

(knocking)

Excuse me, Frank.

Uh, Detective Mayo called.

Uh, tell her I'll call back, Howard.

(stutters) Some kind of an apology about Saturday night dinner.

-She sounded rather upset. -Later, Howard.

Look, Captain, about the meeting--

I think it gave everybody a chance to get their fears out.

-Right. -Come on.

Another gorilla.

But I think we got a lead here.

Larry Busch, purveyor of fine meats and meat products.

Larry, is that your gorilla?

-Who says so? -I do.

There's a trail of dead animals leading to your place here.

Hey, Mr. Busch, we're missing six sides of specialty.

The lock of the truck busted again.

Every time we hit a pothole, we lose another carcass.

-So what if it's mine? -You're in serious trouble.

-I am? For what? -False purvey to the public.

What are you guys talking about, huh?

Don't you read the papers about people's changing tastes?

These days, trying to make it in beef, lamb, pork, forget it.

You never heard of venison, boar, quail, beefalo, huh?

Gorilla, too. I give 'em what they want. They love it.

Meat nouvelle, huh?

Come back when you got a legitimate beef.

What are you gonna charge him with, Renko, littering?

Let's get out of here.

You're the one that don't have a legitimate beef.

I've been there, buddy.

I've been right there where you're sitting, buddy.

This very street, this very corner.

I sat right where you are.

I was as down and out as you.

I figured life was all over for me.

But, uh, look at me now.

Just look at me now!

I was drunk as bad as you.

Then, vacuum cleaner bags. (chuckles)

My company makes vacuum cleaner bags.

-Grosses a quarter mil a year. -Leave me alone.

That's what I said when everybody tried to help me,

but you can get out of the gutter like I did.

It can be done. Come on.

You can do it. You got a shot left. Come on.

That's it. Get up on your haunches.

Look, buddy, you're gonna have your spot back in a minute,

and the way you're drinkin', you're gonna need it.

Now, leave me alone.

Come on, pal. (stammers) You don't have to beg.

You can do it on your own. You can do it!

Oh, no! No!

Don't mug him!

-Hey! Hey! -Police officer! (grunts)

-(groaning) That was me! -I'm sorry. I'm sorry.

-Hey, man, you're just doing your job. -Come on.

I knew Gann from a weekend weapons seminar.

Not too great an individual.

Leyton, I never met.

Nice kid.

A little flash. A little.

If he were a baseball player, you'd call him a foot-long dog.

DISPATCH (on radio): Disturbance outside grocery store,

corner of Greene and Waymouth.

Oh, man.

Uber alles or what?

(siren wailing)

He robbed me! They all robbed me!

-You see which way he went? -I was inside, damn it!

-You want me to get shot, too? -Can't find 'em.

Come on, let's take a drive around. Get in.

Lock it up.

I was doin' fine before.

Come on, we'll show you some books of pictures. You never know.

I know. I'll look at pictures for an hour,

then you'll tell me you'll give me more pass-bys.

The ASPCA, so they said that you would know.

The zoo.

What department?

Um, the gorilla house?

MICK: I asked you what your name was, hair bag!

Hey, these eye drops are starting to wear off.

(chuckles) I can see stuff.

Yes, sir. They are? How long?

Oh. Yes, sir. We'll be back to you soon. Thank you.

Guess what's missing from the morgue at the zoo.

-They got a morgue at the zoo? -Two gorilla carcasses, a bear,

and three other wildlife deceased.

-Notting Hill Meat. -That's right.

Notting Hill Meats!

(chuckles)

Hey, uh...

does this say "Notting Hill Meats?"

Yeah. Why?

Excuse me, gentlemen.

Somebody care for a sandwich here?

-Ah, Larry. -Excuse me.

-Cold cuts? -Oh, here.

Larrabee, have a sandwich.

Sandwich, Mason?

Why don't you bring Gann a sandwich so he can take it downtown?

Come, come, man. Give justice time to work.

Meanwhile, Larry Winston here has had 38 years in accounting.

Oh, 38 years?

Well, Leyton didn't even make three.

You know what I think about your 38 years?

Mason!

You're on report.

Howard, this is not the time for a party.

Pack it up.

(camera clicks)

(all shouting)

-Put your hands up! -Where's the stuff? Where's the stuff?

-All I got's change. -MAN: Dope on Hamelin.

Nothing over here.

Three-hundred, four... 500 bucks? This gonna be it, guys?

You morons, I was setting this guy up for bribery.

Yeah, yeah.

Teachers get bigger payoffs than this

in the third-grade classroom on the corner.

I told you, this is Mickey Mouse, man.

-Aw, shut up. -Keep lookin', okay?

Two grunt-level cops in a six-bit scam.

You think maybe this is just the tip of the iceberg, Neal?

Right. It means the iceberg is about the size of my toaster.

-Hey, brother, you got a minute? -Mason, what's your problem?

What's my problem? My problem's a brother who was on the case

promised there'd be no cover-up, promised to deal straight.

Hey, look, I ain't the chief, all right.

No. You're just a cop who rolled over.

Hey, man-- Hey, you don't know anything!

Some stuff I don't need to know!

You don't know, man! You don't know! I don't even know!

-And that's good enough for you! -Come on. Come on!

I put Mason on report for starting a scuffle.

By logic, I should put you on, too.

Well, that's just great then, Captain. Just go right ahead.

How'd the bust go?

Wasn't any six-figure deal. Wasn't even a buy.

It was a just a cheap, jack, low-level payoff.

Two detectives, Rogers and Hamelin. Division's got them.

You put me out there, Captain,

after I told you I gave my word to the brothers.

You took me off the case. I went along with that.

You played me this song and dance about the big bust getting queered.

-I went along with that. -Let me find out.

It's too late for finding out now, Captain.

It's too late for me with a lot of people!

Let me find out.

I'm going over to Division, Howard. Call the chief. Tell him I'm on the way.

The animals die of natural causes. They keep the bodies frozen.

-Once a month, we pick them up. -Or once a month you steal them.

-Hey, you the owner of Notting Hill Meats? -Yes, sir. Larry Busch.

Sir, could you help me out of this misunderstanding here?

-I tried one of your meat products. -You like it?

(belches)

You had a witness to the shooting all day.

You were on the case six hours before you informed me,

at which point you pull us off with assurances of a major arrest,

which I reluctantly go along with,

pull my men away, make them promises based on your promises,

and it's all crap.

I can't help it if the haul was smaller than expected.

What about the witness?

The one O'Connell snatched at-at 5:00 this morning?

Frank, I told you about the need for secrecy.

You lied to me!

Now, that's a little harsh, don't you think, Captain?

-Detective Mayo's here to see you. -Tell her to wait five minutes.

-Excuse me. It doesn't wait. -Patsy--

-Detective. Excuse me. -No. Stay.

Patsy, whatever our personal relations,

I've got a captain in my office and I won't tolerate--

Won't tolerate what? Won't tolerate this?

-You know what he did? -Patsy, come on.

I told him a month ago it was finished.

He had me tailed.

He found out who I was going out with, and now-- and now you set up Ricky.

He set up my boyfriend.

-He set up an innocent cop, Captain! -I didn't set anyone up.

To hurt me, you ruined Ricky Rogers' career!

-Patsy, that is preposterous. -Go to hell!

Rogers was guilty as sin.

I don't know which is worse,

a cover-up or a penny-ante personal vendetta.

Frank, this whole thing has been hell on me.

Hell on you?

I have one of my best cops, one of the best cops in the city,

about to do exactly what Patsy did because he thinks I lied to him.

Neal Washington would give his life for this department,

and you cost him face in front of every Black cop on the Hill.

-I'm sorry. -"Sorry" doesn't cut it, Chief.

If it costs me my own badge,

you're going to apologize to him and my Black officers.

-What? -I have a scandal here!

I have 20 cops who think of you, me, and everybody as racist crooks!

-There was never a hint of racism! -Tell them that.

I'll talk to your BOC immediately after shift.

Thank you.

If you can think of any way to keep Patsy from blabbing,

I could use a favor back.

Your apology isn't a favor.

Hey, we just thought we'd swing by to see how you were doing.

No matter what happened today,

I think it was a good idea to take down all that...

Nazi stuff.

Yeah, you were right about the Nazis. Mafia's better.

Just to be clear.

Officer Gann has been arrested,

charged with murder one in the death of his partner, Hal Leyton.

Gann has also been charged, along with officers Rogers and Hamelin

of the anti-crack task force, with bribery and public corruption.

Until this matter is resolved, all three officers are on suspension.

We delayed in arresting Officer Gann...

on the murder charge until we could bring charges in the bribery case.

We did this for reasons that I thought were necessary

and that turned out to be insufficient.

The extent of the bribery was neither as widespread

nor as pervasive as surveillance suggested.

Sometimes you have to do something extra.

I asked your captain for silence, and he obliged me.

In executing my wishes,

he commanded detectives Washington and LaRue

temporarily off the Gann case,

which I understand, if left to his own excellent devices,

Detective Washington might have solved in a matter of hours.

As for racism...

I will not tolerate it in this department.

I apologize...

for any misunderstanding that may have been due to my own miscalculation.

Neal, I want to thank you for your support today.

I hope I was able to give a portion back.

You were, Captain.

What'd he say?

He said I was too good for my partner.

Hey, everybody knows that.

Let me tell you about Gann and Leyton.

Aw, it doesn't matter.

What doesn't?

What happened out there.

Who shot who, why.

Yeah, it matters.

But once you start wondering, man,

you see it everywhere, anyway.

It just drives you crazy.

It really does.

You think I've been crazy out there, cowboy?

No. You're sane. You're the sanest one out there.

Just keep movin' along.

Just keep doing your job.

Keep saying, "hello," "goodbye," "pass the salt."

You know what racism is? It ain't just hatred.

Ye-yeah, yeah, it's hatred,

and it's things people do, but it's also...

It's what you got to think about.

Some damn thing happens out there,

you just can't keep saying, "Well, what went down?"

Somebody like Mason starts asking questions,

you want to pretend that he's crazy for thinking that way.

And then some White guy starts looking at the Black guys funny,

wondering, "What the hell are they stirring up all that trouble for?"

Then the Black guys start looking at White guys

that they know, brother officers, partners,

just because they're White, they don't know what it's like.

And then you get angry, man.

You get angry because the White guys don't see.

And you get angry at yourself because you can't stop seeing it.

Well, you know...

You're angry at me, right? You're angry.

Aw, no.

-Yeah. -Yeah.

Maybe I was.

Damn thing is when you--

you got to keep thinking about it when...

all you really want to do is live your life.

Yeah.

It's hard enough just to live your life, man.

Yeah, it is.

Mrs. Leyton.

Detective Washington.

I just...

-I just wanted to tell you that-- -Yes?

You might hear some things...

about the circumstances of your son's death.

Yes.

About... racial problems

and... some other things.

I wouldn't pay any of it any mind.

Not any of it.

I'm sorry.

You know what I'm sorry?

I'm sorry you ever helped my son be a cop.

Me too.

(engine turns over)

(closing theme playing)