Original subtitles

You need some help, man.

Oh, God.

I don't care.

You want to mess up your own shit.

But you're going to mess up mine, too.

I need to know you got my back.

Not that you're going to come falling through the door behind me...

Don't worry your pretty little spic head off.

Anyway. That was all I wanted to say.

Is that it?

Fuck you.

Scudder.

Remember us?

Okay, get out. Both of you.

I told you last night that we...

Oh, my God!

Is everybody okay?

Get down!

Get behind me! Get down!

Move it!

Stay low! Duck inside!

Hey, Matt.

It's me, Peter.

You know, Peter Kristo...

Oh, Peter. Hi.

Do I know you, Peter?

Yeah, I led a meeting a few weeks ago.

You know, I'm a painter,

got hooked on smack in art school...

Oh, yeah.

You're the guy did the Jackson Pollock number

on the wall of the john with the blood from your...

Syringe. Yeah.

Yeah, that was me. I enjoyed your story.

Oh! Thanks. Appreciate it.

Do you mind?

Sure, sit down.

Can't smoke in here, honey.

Yeah. Something wrong, Peter?

It's my brother, you know? He needs your help.

What kind of help?

I think it would be better if you came out to Clinton Hill,

talked about it there with him.

Clinton Hill.

Yeah, he'll pay for your cab out there and back, and your time.

Whether you take it or not.

Please, just hear what he got to say, that's all I'm asking.

When does your brother want to have this chat?

Well, you know. Right now.

That's what I was afraid you were gonna say.

Here you go, Matt. Thanks, Jenny.

Yeah, I'm sorry.

You're eating.

I'll come back.

Yeah, if you're...

Jenny, would you keep this warm for me, please? I'll be back.

Half an hour, right there on the right.

That's it. Yeah, it's a nice place, right?

All right, Mr. Matt. Go on up.

Kenny don't like me smoking in the house, so...

Hey, Kenny.

Mr. Scudder. Come in.

Can I get you something to drink?

Not a "drink" drink, I know you know Peter from AA,

but there's coffee made, or I can offer you a soda.

I'm fine.

So you're a private detective, is that right?

Unlicensed. What's that mean?

It means that sometimes I do favors for people,

and sometimes, in return, they give me gifts.

Gifts. Uh, but you used to be a cop, right?

Yeah, I was with the 6th Precinct

in the Village for a while.

And before that, I was over here with the 75th.

So why'd you quit?

I didn't like the hours, Mr. Kristo.

Nah, the corruption got to you, huh?

Not really.

It would have been hard to support my family without it.

So, what can I do for you?

Well, this was really my brother's idea,

you know, bringing you out here.

You want, I can leave.

Someone's kidnapped my wife.

That's a federal matter.

They said not to call the cops.

Naturally they would. When did this happen?

Yesterday.

You should be talking to the FBI.

I'm talking to you. Look, Mr. Kristo...

Kenny. Kenny.

If you're asking me to run a bag, deliver money,

that is not something I do.

I already paid them.

When?

Last night.

How much?

$400,000.

And your wife? Where is she?

She's dead.

I paid them, but they killed her anyway.

I see.

I'm sorry. I don't want you to be sorry.

I want you to find the men who did this and bring them to me.

You say you paid them the 400 the same day?

That's right.

You mind if I ask what kind of business you're in, Kenny?

Construction.

What exactly do you construct?

Houses.

Then I guess Peter's standing outside right now because he what?

Doesn't like your building methods?

Peter's not supposed to associate with people like me.

People in my profession.

Since when is drug dealing a profession?

I mean, that's the reason, isn't it?

I'm sitting here and not the cops? You're a dealer.

Properly speaking, I'm more of a trafficker than a dealer.

You understand the distinction.

I really don't give a shit one way or the other.

But whoever it was took your wife

didn't just pick your name out of a hat.

They must have had some idea you had that kind of cash on hand.

That's exactly what I want you to find out.

Who did this?

Now there's $20,000.

Consider it my gift to you.

There's 20 more, you find the two fucks who killed her.

So that you can kill them.

I'm sorry, but I can't help you.

Would've been nice, you told me what your brother was.

Yeah, you wouldn't a come.

That's right. I wouldn't have.

I stopped drinking that day.

Just wasn't as much fun after that.

Well, I guess I'm just a...

Anyway, I'm eight years sober.

And I... Well...

That's all. Thanks.

Howie.

Hurt yourself?

Found it out back by the dumpster.

Mrs. Dolgren in 202

left it there when Mr. D stroked out last week.

Any messages?

I never told you her name.

I don't want you to think that I'm cruel

or don't care.

I just can't say it.

What happened?

Hey

Hello?

Carrie Anne, what's your game now?

Hello?

She never came home, right?

Excuse me?

We've got your wife, fucko.

Carrie?

Carrie?

Baby, you up there?

What is it you want?

We want to help you get your wife back. If you want her back, that is.

Of course I want her back.

Good. Then stay by the phone,

don't call the police, and we'll be in touch. Very soon.

It was maybe 10 minutes before they called again.

How much does your wife weigh, Mr. Kristo?

110, 120? Somewhere in that neighborhood?

Something like 50 kilograms, you might say?

Now 50 keys, at 20 a key, run the numbers for me.

Comes out to a million, doesn't it?

What's your point?

My point?

My point is that you'd pay a million for her if she were product.

If she was powder, Mr. Kristo.

Isn't she worth as much to you in flesh and blood?

I can't pay what I don't have.

How much do you have?

Four hundred.

Five.

It's 400.

Oh, well.

That's the best you can do. Okay. Four hundred it is.

Before I give you anything, I want to make sure my wife is all right.

Well, that's impossible. I'm at a pay phone.

How do I even know you've got her in the first place?

Are you familiar with her tits?

Excuse me?

They're quite nice. Would you recognize one of them?

That would be the easiest way. I could cut one off.

The one with the cute little mole on it.

And I'll leave it on your doorstep.

Would that put your mind at rest?

Jesus, don't say that.

All right, then let's not talk any more about proof, okay?

Put the money in two hefty bags.

Go to the corner of Columbia and Commerce

to the pay phone and wait for my call.

Hello.

Where's the money?

In the back seat. Two bags, like you said.

Good. Now leave it. Walk up Columbia to Richards Street.

And then what?

Wait on the corner for five minutes,

then walk back, get in your car and go home.

Well, what about my wife?

She'll be in the car waiting for you.

Carrie?

Fuck.

And they run me around, then finally

they tell me she's at home, waiting for me.

I go home and she's not there either.

Carrie!

The phone rings again.

Fuck!

They send me over to Red Hook.

Tell me she's in the trunk of this abandoned car.

They taped this to the inside of the trunk

with a note that said "for your listening pleasure."

That's my number.

It's okay.

Look at these. Look at these.

I touch them and the nipples get hard.

You get hot even when you're scared, don't you?

And kiss me.

Yeah. Come on, let's take the tape off of her.

Hey, Carrie Anne

Can anybody...

Yes?

Where in Red Hook?

She tipped me $2, which is twice

what anybody else tips, if they even tip at all.

You mentioned a van.

Yeah. It was parked right there.

Two guys got out of it.

I remember they checked her out pretty good.

They were both dressed the same, some kind of uniform.

They pulled out after Mrs. Kristo,

cut off a Caddy.

You remember what the van looked like? Yeah.

It was light blue. It was definitely light blue.

I could tell she was a good cook.

Nothing frozen in her cart.

She said she was making Kunafa,

so I sent her to the Lebanese place down the block.

Yeah, the van was parked across the street.

I thought they were making a delivery.

I don't remember a van.

I do remember the pita maker, Mrs. Youness, came in

and was all like, "Oh, what happened? Are we okay?"

She saw two men and a woman

run across the street away from the store and leap into a van.

She thought they had just robbed the store.

Two men?

Yeah.

I think it had the name of a TV repair place on the side.

TWO initials, like B & R TV.

For sure. J & M Heating.

R & L Stereo.

B & A Appliance.

TJ, I'd like a word with you.

Now, please.

I know you've been sleeping here.

Shit.

I know because Mr. Keyser

says you left a god-awful mess in the men's room.

Not to mention the mess you've left here.

TJ, you've got to...

He'll clean it up later, okay?

Right now he's helping me with something.

You get back issues of all the New York papers on there?

For what?

Naw, I'm good.

Can see from right here.

Not the first old white dude, come in here,

try to put a hand on me.

Okay.

Child of God.

What?

The name. Gotteskind. It means "child of God."

It's German.

Except, clearly,

God never looked out for Marie.

TJ? That short for something?

Yeah, it's short for "TJ."

You 5-0?

Nope.

'Cause you've got that look.

I work private.

Yeah? Like Sam Spade?

Yeah, just like him.

What I'm saying is, I read about him. And Marlowe, too.

All of those guys.

You spend that much time in here?

Some. Mostly when it rains.

Just like the sound it makes, you know?

Matt.

Short for Matthew.

So why you looking at dead bitches, Matthew?

So these guys we're looking for, they be like

real 730, or just, like, thugs?

Like real what?

730. It's the time they give out the meds in a mental ward.

Right. 730.

Can that program go back another year?

Listen to you. "That program."

Take you maybe a minute to figure out

how to work Yahoo all by yourself.

Why bother?

From what I hear, it's all going to shit in six months.

Please, please, man.

I got way more important things to do

than worry about all that Y2K bullshit.

How ironical.

What's that?

Dumping an already dead body at a cemetery.

Tuesday. The body of Leila Andresen

a 25-year-old Interior Design major at Brooklyn College

was found at Green-Wood Cemetery.

Andresen had been missing two days when Eduardo Solomon,

florist across the street from the cemetery,

found what was later identified

as a portion of the victim's leg

in the dumpster behind his shop.

That same day, more human remains were found

scattered about the cemetery by a groundskeeper.

Witnesses say Andresen was last seen

getting into a blue van with three men.

Andresen's fianc�, Reuben Quintana,

told police that he and Leila were supposed to meet up for lunch.

But she never showed.

Good guess.

Thanks for your help.

What's this? What's what?

My time is valuable, man.

How valuable?

Ten bucks.

Here's $20. Take it easy.

I'm going to go get something to eat.

Want a hamburger or something?

I don't eat meat.

Okay. Nice meeting you, TJ.

What I'm saying is, I don't care nothing about cows.

I just care about what I put inside my body.

No meat, no soda, no Pringles, none of that shit.

But I was thinking about getting a little eat on myself.

All right. So we can both get our eat ons together.

Come on.

Come on, Watson.

Where do you sleep?

Those nights you can't hide in the library?

There's places to stay.

What happened to your parents?

You don't gotta feel sorry for me.

I don't.

Good.

You could hire me, though. Make me your partner.

I don't think so.

Why? You don't think I got what it takes to be a good detective?

I'm sure you do. I'm just not the partner type.

What does it take to be a good detective anyway?

A strong bladder.

Seriously.

I don't know what it takes.

I don't know. Patience. Instincts. Uh, blind luck, mostly.

And a good name. A good name is very important.

One with real flavor like Sam Spade or Philip Marlowe.

What's wrong with the name you got?

I don't know, man.

Thinking something more like

Daunte Culpepper.

Quarterback for Minnesota?

It's a good name for a detective,

but a lame-ass name for a guy who plays football.

Daunte Culpepper.

Yeah. Daunte Culpepper. Private eye.

Now I like that name a lot.

Sure you don't want a soda or something, honey?

I know you just love to give a young black man like myself

one of your sperm-killer sodas.

But no thank you, ma'am. I'll just stick with the water.

What? They only give sodas to low-income people.

With a bunch of chemicals in them to sterilize you.

That's why I only drink water.

A gallon a day and stay hydrated.

You don't eat meat?

Yeah. So what. You got a problem with that?

Not at all. My ex-wife, she was vegetarian.

So what happened? Why'd you split?

What was she? A clucker?

A what?

A clucker. Chickenhead.

You know, those females that only like you

if you give them nice things.

If you ain't bling-blinging, you ain't seeing shit.

Can't you speak English?

Hit a nerve. Sorry.

Wait a minute. What time is it?

Almost 10:00. Shit.

I gotta get back to the shelter. It closes at 10:00.

Uh, thanks for the pancakes.

Jonas Loogan?

Yes?

You're the gardener here?

I'm the groundskeeper. Can I help you?

I'm Matthew Scudder. Whoa!

That was fast. Public affairs lady at the 77th

said it would be at least a week before anyone got back to me.

Excuse me?

I just really want the book to have an authentic feel, you know?

Book?

That's why this ride along is so important to me, you know?

Spend some real time with real cops?

What do you want?

I was hoping I could talk to you about Leila Andresen.

Who?

The woman they found over here.

Yeah, I don't know anything about that.

Your boss tells me you were here that day.

You spoke to Larry? Yeah.

Great. 'Cause my boss is Gretchen, okay?

Oh, boy. I messed up.

You're too smart for me, Jonas. Damn.

Think you can help me anyway?

Already told everything I know to the police.

Eduardo. Guy who owns the shop across the street,

says there were about 20 garbage bags that were here.

That true?

Eduardo was wrong. There were only about 10.

And most of those were on the Fifth Avenue side.

And there were four more floating in the pond down there.

So you saw them?

I saw the pigeon first.

Keep a coop on my roof.

This was a Helmet.

It was alone.

Which, if you know anything at all about Helmets,

is quite unusual for that breed.

It was sitting on one of the bags

trying to get at whatever was in there.

I just fished them both out after I was done

with the mowing and threw them away.

You didn't open them?

No. I figured it was all just some waterlogged trash

that kids had thrown in there the night before.

They do that, you know?

Throw their rubbers and their empties into the pond.

You see the cops across the street?

Yeah, but I didn't make that connection

until Vince came running over from the Fifth Avenue entrance.

Vince.

Yeah, he's the other groundskeeper.

He's the one that found the bags over there.

Is Vince around? I'd like to talk to him.

He quit.

He opened one of the bags.

You know, I was just starting to forget about her.

Thank you so much for bringing that all back.

What's your book about?

Don't patronize me.

Yo, Matt, what's the dealie, man?

Hello, TJ.

You know I been shadowing you.

No kidding.

Alright. So, "I followed subject back

"from dinner to a meeting at some church."

Used to drink some, huh?

"I then followed subject back to some shitty-assed building on 45th

"where subject remained until..."

I know where I was, TJ.

You made me at that flower shop, didn't you?

I made you back at the subway.

Damn.

This book I'm reading says a foot tail is hard

to do on account of they're so easy to spot.

That it is.

It says it's good to use three guys.

Two alternating behind and another guy

on the other side of the street.

Sure. If you have three guys.

You know you spend a lot of time

at churches and you use a lot of payphones.

So?

So you don't got no cell phone?

I don't like them.

You don't like computers and you don't like cell phones.

Fucking Amish got more flavor than you do, Matthew.

You know, l watched you follow some dude,

you didn't even try to hide or nothing.

He wasn't looking for me.

Funny. Me following you while you following some other guy.

It's real ironical.

TJ? Yeah?

Stop following me.

Okay. No. No.

Reuben Quintana?

I help you with something?

My name is Matt Scudder.

I was wondering if I could talk to you about your fianc�e?

Fianc�e? Leila Andresen?

Oh, Leila.

You know, I kind of have this other place I have to be...

I'll just be a minute.

Yeah, okay.

Yeah, come on in.

I get you something to drink?

No, thank you.

It must be nice, have the time to work out in the middle of the day.

I'd rather be working.

Period. I'm an actor.

Yeah, I thought you looked familiar.

Have I seen something you've been in?

Maybe. I did a Stetson commercial.

Few years back.

Stetson, the hat?

No, the cologne.

Ran during the Stanley Cup Finals.

Missed that one.

Leila went to Brooklyn College, is that right?

Studied decorating?

Interior design.

Right.

You told the police that it was three men took her.

Yeah, that's right.

You're sure about that?

Yeah. I saw them.

I was at this coffee place on Prospect...

She used to meet me there sometimes.

...when I see two guys jump out of the van and grab her.

What'd they look like?

I couldn't really see their faces.

But I could see a third guy behind the wheel.

Move!

Hey! What the fuck are you doing?

That's the last time I saw her.

This is a nice place.

Lots of nice stuff.

Leila do the design?

Yeah. You should see the bedroom, it's...

Wait, I... That didn't sound right.

You don't deal, do you, Reuben?

What? You heard me.

You asking, am I a drug dealer?

Unless you prefer trafficker.

Or maybe you wanna tell me you made

your money peddling cologne on ESPN.

I got a trust fund.

From your rich family up in the Bronx? Yeah.

My mom won a lawsuit a few years back.

Hey, come on, Reuben, not even the dog's dumb enough to buy that one.

Look, I don't care how you earn your living.

But the guys who grabbed Leila? They might have.

How do you mean?

How do you mean?

Thanks for your time.

Thank you.

Jonas? Did you forget your key again?

What the hell is going on? Cops showing up

to my house asking about Leila.

Who the hell is this guy?

"He carried her through the field,

"the dandelions and cattails still wet with morning dew,

"and set her down by a stream,

"whispering through the strands

"of her fine yellow hair,

"'You're safe now. You're safe."'

Fuck.

Jonas.

You caught me.

You gave the cops a different address, didn't you?

That's why they never put you across the street from Leila.

This is my mother's building.

I live in Sunset Park, but I'm not allowed to keep my birds there.

Even though there's room on the roof.

Your mom home right now? Maybe we could

go down and talk, have a cup of coffee.

I can't let you leave here.

They'll kill me if I do.

Who's "they," Jonas?

The other two.

So what, you gonna stab me now with that big fucking knife?

It's gonna bother me, too. For a long time, I know it will.

How much is it gonna bother you

I take that knife away and stick it in your neck?

Could you really do that?

Yeah, I really could.

But I'd rather not.

How about instead we trade?

Okay.

Set it down.

What was it I said that gave me away?

Everything. You're a weirdo, Jonas.

I never laid a hand on Leila.

But the other two, they're the ones you better worry about.

What other two?

Jonas.

What other two?

They're not human.

How'd you meet them?

There's this video store near my house.

They've got this basement where they keep

some of the more specialized stuff.

Always came in together.

You wouldn't really notice them unless they spoke to you.

One of them had a beard, or a goatee.

The other one smiled a lot. He did all the talking.

What about names?

You don't exchange names in a place like that.

Not real ones anyway.

They loved that I worked in a cemetery. Thought it was funny.

Wanted to buy me drinks.

So we went to this bar in the middle of the day.

Drank rum and Coke.

Talked about the different videos we liked.

It was all one big laugh to them,

watching all the drug addicts fuck each other.

They were, like, obsessed with that whole world.

Dealers, addicts, different kinds of drugs.

They told me they worked with the DEA.

They were cops?

They wouldn't say for sure.

They said what they did was secret.

But they had one of those police radios, you know?

One of those handheld units.

And they had all these files on drug dealers with DEA stamps on them.

Told me they worked on special assignments.

You told them about Reuben.

I told them about Leila.

About how I wanted to save her from Reuben.

So we came up here. We watched them for a while.

They said they wanted to help her, too.

So you followed her?

You picked her up off the street.

Then what?

We drove around with her. We finally parked somewhere.

Near the water in Brooklyn.

Said they wanted to make their own video.

She was really scared.

They loved that.

You dirty little girl.

They kept talking to her.

Pick one. Which one's your favorite?

Eeny, meeny, miney, moe.

You pick the one that you want to keep, and I'll take the other.

One for you, one for me. That's fair, isn't it?

Well, you better pick one, or I'm going to take them both.

Come on, what are you waiting for? You trying to stall?

You trying to make me mad?

Touch the one that you want to keep.

This one?

Okay, good.

I think that's an excellent choice.

Okay, that's ones yours, and this one is mine.

A deal's a deal. No take backsies.

But then two days later,

I think they thought it would be funny,

I show up for work and there's garbage bags everywhere.

They knew I'd never say anything.

Where was this video place you met these two?

It moves around a lot.

Might still be there. Who knows?

How do I get in?

It helps if they know you.

What if you come with me?

Can I feed my birds first?

Ray.

What was that?

That was his name.

Which one? The quiet one, or the...

Jesus.

I was off-duty one day in this bar in Washington Heights

where cops didn't have to pay for their drinks.

And a couple of guys came in to rob the place.

I chased them into the street, shot two dead,

got a third one in the leg.

He'll never walk right again.

Yeah. I quit drinking that day.

It just wasn't as much fun after that.

People are afraid of all the wrong things.

I'll be right back.

I wonder if he'd pay as much for the nurse?

We made a mistake. Come on, let's go.

Wait, wait.

They work for the fucking DEA?

Probably not for very long and almost certainly not as agents.

Then what were they?

I don't know.

Maybe they were used as confidential informants

or maybe they were office staff.

gone very far or lasted very long.

Why not? Because they're insane.

They managed to get their hands on some files.

One of which had my name on it.

And if my name's on a DEA file,

that means I'm being looked at, right?

Or you were at one time.

You know a lot of people, do what you do?

It's not like we have a union or anything, but I know a few. Why?

I want you to call them and tell them what happened to Carrie.

Tell them you've hired a...

Are you fucking kidding me?

Word gets out about Carrie, cops are gonna be...

They've done this before.

And they're gonna do it again.

This time I wanna hear about it.

What do I say?

You'll think of something.

I could have paid them.

I had the whole million.

It was our nest egg.

You know, the money I was gonna use to get out.

And this guy I know, he was gonna put me into some Internet startup,

sell shoes online or some bullshit.

It was our future and I didn't want to give it to them.

Now how fucking stupid is that?

She was already dead.

If she wasn't, they would have killed her anyway.

Call your friends.

Gotteskind?

I just knew her as Marie.

Jacinto. My man.

You know where it is.

She lived around here?

She worked around here.

Where?

On the corner.

No, no, your mama likes the one percent, not the two.

She was a dealer?

She worked out of a crib not too far from here,

if you know what I mean.

See that old building down the block

with the vacuum repair on the ground?

Hola.

All right, tell me, cocksucker,

what do you want with Marie G?

You on the job, fucker?