"Hello!" "Yes, this is Harold Angel." "Yes, initial R, like in the phone book." "Excuse me?" "Winesap." "Winesap from Winesap  ..." "Mackintosh." "I've got it!" "It's like a lawyer, only the bills are bigger." "Sure, I'll hold." "Yeah, I could be free." "Gimme that again." "Cyphre ... okay." "What is it ... foreign?" "Is your client a foreigner?" "Mr. Winesap, could you give me a few more details?" "Okay, I know the place." "It's a long way up, but I can be there." "Hallelujah!" "Show right now how much you love God!" "Open up your hearts and open up your wallets!" "Open your purses!" "Open your pockets!" "And give it up!" "Praise the Lord!" "Somebody has been talking about me" "Would you come with me, please?" "of one of Pastor John's flock took a gun to his head." "Most unpleasant." "Mr. Angel?" "Please?" "I don't want to appear impolite, but do you have any l." "D.?" " Sure!" "Here ..." "How's that?" "GU N PERM IT" "You know how these things are." " I know." "So ..." "How did you hear about me?" "I guess you guys just looked in the phone book." "People are lazy." "They see the first name and ..." " Johnny Favorite." "Excuse me?" "Johnny ..." "No, I don't think so." "You never knew him?" " Am I supposed to?" "He was a crooner before the war, quite famous in his way." "Well, I tell you, Mr. Cyphre ..." "I'm sorry!" "things of that nature." "or anybody famous." " His real name was Liebling." "What do you want from me?" "I helped Johnny at the beginning of his career." "You were like ... hisagent?" "Nothing so ..." "Monsieur Cyphre has a contract." "You're talking about a guy that's dead?" " He was drafted in '43," "North Africa." ""Special Entertainment Services"." "There was an attack, and his head and face was badly injured." "He had ..." " Amnesia." "I think you call it ..." "Shell shock." " Exactly!" " I know how that feels." "Why?" "Were you in the services?" " I was in for a short time." "the war, the medals, everything." "I guess you could say I was lucky." "His friends had him transferred to a private hospital upstate." "There was some sort of radical psychiatric treatment involved." "His lawyers had the power of attorney to pay the bills, things like that." "But you know how it is." "He remained a vegetable, and my contract was never honored." " I see." "I don't want to sound mercenary." "Each year my office receives a signed affidavit confirming that Johnny Liebling is indeed among the living." "were near the clinic in Poughkeepsie." "I didn't want to cause a scene, I hate any sort of fuss." "subtly and in a quiet manner ..." "You want me to check it out." " Check it out!" "I have a feeling I've met you before." "Do you remember the name Johnny Favorite?" "His real name was Liebling." "My only interest in Johnny is in finding out if he's alive or dead." "from the National lnstitute of Health." "Is there anyone in particular you want to see?" "The Institute is conducting a survey of incurable trauma cases." "I understand you have a patient here fitting that description?" "We can't let you see anyone without an appointment." "I appreciate that, but maybe you could check the files" "I don't want to bother anybody unnecessarily." "Okay?" "Thank you." "One moment please, I'll check." "Were you working here last weekend?" "My sister's wedding." "We did have a Mr. Liebling, but he was transferred." "You sure?" " That's what it says." "It's an old file." " It's in ballpoint!" "They weren't big on ballpoint in '43." "Is that ballpoint?" "No." "does he still work here?" " Just part-time, he's old." "Thank you." "Who are you?" "How did you get in here?" "Through the mailslot." "I'm a private detective." "whoever or whatever you are." " Hey man, call the police!" "Which you won't do in case they discover your opium den" "Information about Johnny Liebling." "I treated a patient of that name many years ago." "I'm not fooling around." "Either you give me some answers or I'll call the police myself." "I've seen the works cooking upstairs, and it ain't Mr. Salk's vaccine." "No chance of recovery, so I transferred him to a V.A. hospital in Albany." "I hate to shake you up, but I checked, and he's not there." "You faked the transfer." "Because he recently had a visitor, the first in 1 2 years." "Popular guy, eh?" "I haven't seen him since he was a patient here." "You can't wait for me to leave so you can raid the icebox." "The sooner you get out with it, the sooner you can shoot up." "I'll ask you again:" "Where is he?" "At first he was in a coma but he quickly recovered." "But he still suffered from amnesia." "Who were the friends?" " His name was Kelley, Edward Kelley." "The young lady I don't know." "She stayed in the car." "And what was the deal?" " $25,000." "Didn't the administration suspect?" " Why should they?" "I kept the charts up to date." "And no one asks questions when the bills get paid." "Tell me about Johnny Liebling." "He had facial reconstruction." "He was in bandages the day he left." "It's too long ago." "I only have a vague memory." "I truly don't remember." " All right, Doc." "Have a lie down." "Watch yourself!" "We're going to take a little nap, sit your ass down." "We're going to clear your mind." "I'm going out." "When I get back," "I'll fix you some goodies from the icebox, alright?" "I'm back, Doc!" "I brought you a little something!" "I didn't think you'd want a cheeseburger ..." "Is that your boyfriend?" "He's got a car and everything?" "See you later!" "Did you see him?" " No." "Why not?" " It would've been difficult." " Why?" "Why?" "Because he's not there." "Johnny Favorite walked out of the clinic 1 2 years ago, in his best suit, with a new face wrapped in bandages and a headache." "It seems this Kelley paid off some bent doctor called Fowler to pinch hit for your guy." "He's covered up for him all these years." "a perfect disappearing act." " It seems so." "But you know what they say about slugs." "No, what do they say about slugs?" "You'll find him." " No, I won't find him." "Because I left out one little detail." "This Dr. Fowler ended up dead" "But the cops might think I did." "I took on a $1 25-a-day missing persons job for you." "The closest I ever come to death" "Are you afraid?" "Yeah, I'm afraid." "I'll instruct my lawyer immediately to send you a check for $5,000." "If you don't want the job, I'll engage someone else." "5,000?" "You want this Johnny pretty bad, eh?" "I don't like messy accounts." "Some religions think the egg is the symbol of the soul, did you know that?" "No." "Would you like an egg?" "No, thank you." "I got a thing about chickens." "It's after eleven, you're late." " I'm sorry." "You get it?" " If I lose my job," "I'll come and be your secretary." "I couldn't pay you what the "Times" pays." "Besides, they won't miss it." "Hi, Johnny, where the fuck are you?" "He was in a band called the Spider Simpson Orchestra." "They're all dead." "The dyke in the archive is suspicious." "You can get the files." "Spider is in an old people's home on 1 38th Street." "Oh, I get to go to Harlem again." "No one's heard of him for years!" "Johnny was engaged to a rich broad," "Margaret Krusemark." "Her dad owns half of Louisiana." "Met him at a high school prom." "Johnny shit on her, and she went back to Daddy." "Spells, what do you mean, spells?" "The eye of a newt, toe of a frog and that kind of shit?" " Seems she was a bit of a crackpot." "Casting spells at society do's and stuff." "She was known as the Witch of Wellesly." "Did I do good?" "I gotta find Johnny "Golden Tonsils" and we don't know where he is." "I got a geriatric bandleader in a home in Harlem." "A hard-on?" "attorneys." "As reported, Johnny Favorite has not been" "He was taken away by a man called Edward Kelley and a girl." "The girl is unidentified." "stating that Favorite was still in the hospital." "Before Johnny's accident it seemed like his career was going great, until he started to dump on everyone." "I tracked down Spider Simpson," "at the Lincoln Presbyterian Hospice on 1 38th Street." "Johnny also had a good buddy, a guitar player called Toots Sweet." "Toots went back to Algiers." "That's Algiers in New Orleans." "I think maybe Margaret went back there, and maybe Johnny, too." "Oh, yeah!" "According to Spider, Johnny had a secret love." "Evangeline ran some kind of spooky store in Harlem called "Mammy Carter's."" "You don't need to know that, Cyphre." "I think a secret love should stay secret." "who Johnny was seeing regularly" "Are you lzzy?" "Looks like the last bit of sun, eh?" "The guy in the arcade over there told me you might be able to help me." "I'm looking for Madame Zora." " I know her, friend of the wife before the war." "She was a fortune teller, right?" " And then some!" "I hate those hocus-pocus bitches!" "Her and the wife got along real well." "Wife's a baptist." "Oh, here!" "Have a nose shield!" "Go on, take one." "I found a whole boxful under the boardwalk." "There's not much sun right now." "Ever hear of a Johnny Favorite?" "The singer?" " Yeah, he used to visit Madame Zora." "Heard of him, but don't know nothing." "Ask the wife." "She always sings stupid tunes off the radio." "She knows all that shit." "She likes the water, eh?" " She hates it." "She's getting on the heavy side." "She thinks it's good for varicose veins." "Alright, thanks." "Bite the heads off the rats." "I was inquiring about Madame Zora." "Yeah, I knew her before the war, Madame Zora, you say?" "Yeah, she was a gypsy fortune teller!" "and she did more than just read tea leaves." "Did you ever see her with a guy called Johnny Favorite?" " Yeah, he was cute." "She was stuck on him." "He was called "Golden Tonsils"." "I knew all his tunes." "Well what happened to her?" "No, maybe the cemetery." "Want to hear one of his tunes?" "Thanks for the nose shield." "I'm going to need it where I'm going." "In Brooklyn?" " Louisiana." " Nice." "Where'd he go?" "FOR COLORED PATRONS ON LY" "I had a bad line." "I didn't know if you said 4:00 or 4:30." "This is a wild place you got here!" " Yes, I've been very happy here." "I've never had my fortune read before." "Does it take long?" "I'll take the details now." "It usually takes a couple of days to do a chart." "Tea?" "Do you want some tea?" "Yes, thank you." "Darjeeling, jasmine or oolong?" "Do you play the piano?" "No, not exactly." "Sing?" "My father." "Don't worry, he hates it too." "Ethan." " Ethan Krusemark ..." "Well, I tell you, I never saw any of Ethan's movies." "Do you speak French?" "I'm from Brooklyn." "Straight up is fine, thank you." "I need your exact date of birth." "Sure!" "I was born on February 14th ..." "Well, you know how it is, all the soldiers home on leave and all." "Maybe we could pull your friend's chart and save ourselves some time." "I don't think so." "Every person is very different." "I don't think" "Place of birth?" "Brooklyn, New York." "Was your friend a jerk or something?" "You could say that." "I guess you didn't get along." "You and Johnny." "You and Johnny Favorite?" "Who are you?" " I was an old army buddy." "Johnny has no future, he's dead." "He died 1 2 years ago." "I'd like you to leave." "I don't want to sound nosy, but ..." " He's dead, Mr. Angel." "And if he isn't, he is to me." "He must've hurt you pretty bad!" "I don't know too much about the guy, but he must've been stupid to let you go." "Pity, I really would've liked to have gotten my palm read." "Then I could have held your hand just a little longer." "You got any High John the Conquerer root?" " Powdered or hanging?" "Caught in the rain, eh?" "Two roots, $1 .20." "I have a question." "I had an acquaintance in Harlem who used to deal in the root." "Practically everyone around here is called Evangeline." "After the poem." "Do you know it?" "This acquaintance had a store in Harlem and it was the same name:" ""Carter."" " Everybody uses the name, mister." "Like "Howard Johnson," but this is the real place." "Evangeline Proudfoot?" "Do you know where she is now?" " She got sick and died." "She was waiting on some fellah." " Just like in the poem?" " Yep." "$1 .20." "Who was the guy?" " She never told." "Okay, thanks." "A week, you say?" " At the most." "What is it?" "Why are you crying?" "Grandma." "Give me your hand." "Some crazy guy." "I was hoping I could talk with your mother." "You're a little late." "Did you know her?" "No, I never met her but I was hoping she could answer some questions for me." "Are you a cop?" "I'm a private detective." "So what's ... ?" " Epiphany." "And not much else." "Actually, I'm looking for a friend of your mother's, a guy called Johnny Favorite." "I met all her friends but never anyone called Favorite." "Shit!" "I got a thing about chickens." "This Favorite was friends with your mother in New York city before the war." "Well, she never told me." "Mama had a lot of guys." "She liked men." "He was a friend of Favorite." "Know him?" " No." " He was a good guitar player." "These crazy chickens!" "I'm not after him." "I'm just being paid to find out where he is." "He could be 6 feet under." " Then I'll have to buy a shovel." "you were singing there, Mr. Sweet." " Toots, son!" "Thanks." " Buy you a drink?" "You know, I heard you play years ago in New York." "Before the war at the old Dickie Wells Bar." "You were having it up pretty good with a guy called Johnny Favorite." "No, he recorded one of my songs." "Say, are you a dick or a book writer?" "Neither." "I'm a journalist and I'm doing this piece" "Spider played them drums like two jackrabbits fucking!" "Haven't got much time." "Got to piss, spit and get back to work." "That's what you usually do, anyway." "I can't even take a piss!" "I just wanted to talk about Johnny Favorite and Evangeline Proudfoot." "I'm too big to go hiding under beds." "I don't know nothing." "I'm only interested in cocktails." "Fuck!" "What's going on?" " Nothing!" "Mind your own business." "I want to piss!" "Get outta here," "Please!" "I've got a thing about chickens." "I've had a good look at you and young Epiphany" "I ain't up on this voodoo shit." "I'm from Brooklyn." "We ain't all Baptists here." " What's with this Proudfoot girl?" "When was the last time you saw Johnny Favorite at a chicken dance?" "He used to run around with Ma mambo." " I ain't seen him since before the war." "And the chicken foot in the john?" " It means I got a big mouth." "It's not big enough." "What's this fucking star in your mouth?" "I'll tell you what." "As far as I'm concerned, any dead chicken is a good chicken." "Only cops and bad news don't knock." "Only private dicks sleep late." "Shit!" "There's some leak up there!" "Here!" "ls this your name?" "That your hotel?" "You're standing in it, ain't you?" " Your handwriting?" "I think so." "Then perhaps you can tell us why we found it in the hand of a dead guitar player." "Toots Sweet is dead?" "This one wasn't so quick, this one took time." "And not so technically?" "They cut his dick off and choked him with it." "Then redecorated his apartment with his blood." "When did you see him?" " I interviewed him around 1 :00." " About what?" "A missing person." "A guy who took a walk 1 2 years ago." "There was a photo of him and Toots." " Who is the party you're looking for?" "I can't say." "I'm working for a New York lawyer." "Name?" " Come on, man!" "Winesap!" "You want his number, his address?" "You can go eat lunch, but don't stroll too far." "Not until we talk to this lawyer." "Ever watch the "Mickey Mouse Club?"" "Today is Wednesday." "It's "anything can happen" day." "Hey man, do you want a tune?" "Yeah, I got a tune for you." "Hiya, boys!" "Same to you." "I'm getting kinda hungry." "Do you want to sell some of those?" "Listen good!" "Margaret Krusemark's old man wants you on the first train home." "Take that fucking thing away from me!" "Don't, or the dog will bite your fucking face clean off." "A dog bit me." "So, what do you want?" "Listen, Epiphiny ..." " Epiphany." "There's something I want to ask you." "What's your problem?" "It's a free country." "Not for chickens." " Oh yeah, your thing about chickens." "Listen, Toots is ..." "You were the only one that knew I was seeing Toots." "I guess he did, judging by what the cops found in it." "Quite a cute religion!" " Nailing a man to a cross ain't so cute either!" "You've got to kill the chicken to make the soup, eh?" "We don't go around murdering people." "What about your Johnny Favorite?" "Now you remember him after all." " Yes, he was my father." "Anything you're holding out, now is a good time to tell." "Nothing to tell." "Johnny never came back from the war." "Mama waited and Mama died." "Sad and simple." "I'd tell your old man to look out for you." "You do have a husband?" " No." "No?" "Jesus, you've got beautiful eyes!" "Listen ..." " Yes, I'll call you if I hear anything." "Alright?" "I have a message for you." "Thank you." " You're welcome." "I'm so glad you could come." " I didn't know you were in town." "I'm speaking in Baton Rouge and thought I'd catch up on your progress." "I'll tell you, the progress ain't too good." "How unfortunate!" " All I've got is a belly full of hocus-pocus and ..." "3 stiffs." "Murders." "I got Fowler, Johnny's doctor, bumped himself off." "This old voodoo guy Toots Sweet." "He got choked to death with a part of the body meant for pissing with ..." "This is a church!" "The whole thing has to do with religion." "It's very weird." "They say there's enough religion to make men hate each other but not love." "Do they say that?" "He was bad luck!" "It's starting to rub off on me." "I'm a murder suspect already in two cases." "The police found my name and my address in Toots Sweets' hand." "I know, Winesap told me." "You must be careful, Mr. Angel." "And the third murder?" "I checked out Johnny's old society girlfriend, Margaret Krusemark." "Vaguely?" "I'm a little fed up with fucking vaguely." ""Vaguely" is putting a noose around my neck and I'm choking, so ..." "Did you know her or not?" "I knew about her, but I never actually knew her." "Tell you what, she was doing my chart." "I gave her Johnny's birthday, February 14th." "Except someone got to her and took out their own Valentine's card." "I guess she couldn't predict the future for herself." "And your conclusions?" " I haven't any." "All I know is that Johnny is running around bumping off everyone he knew." "I'm being set up and it's scaring the shit out of me." "I have old-fashioned ideas, about honour." "Who the fuck are you?" "Yes, I'm from Brooklyn." "I'll be in town for a day or two, let me know what else you find, and if you need more money ..." " No!" "But if I'm not careful, that 5,000 bucks you gave me could" "She's got 14 of her own, so he'll be okay there." "You're welcome to stay here, or I can get you a room." "No, it's okay." "I'm going to have a drink." "Want one?" "I don't know." "Whatever he had, it sure stole her heart away." "She sure missed him." "They say it's always the bad-asses who make a girl's heart beat faster." "Did she ever say anything about him?" "Just two things." " What?" "That Johnny Favorite was as close to true evil as she ever wanted to come." "That he was a terrific lover." "How old are you?" "1 7." "Kind of young to have a kid, isn't it?" "Where did the father go?" " I never knew him." "I'm sorry." "I don't know why I took this room." "I can't believe this!" "It was a Bambouche." "When spirits possess you, it's called "chevalier."" "Chevalier." " That's what I said:" "Chevrolet." " Mounted by the gods." "So the gods got you pregnant?" "I understand now." "I'm sorry." "Want to dance?" "Here?" "Yes, here." "You won't feel a thing." "I should've recognised the knock." "At least you got a reason for sleeping late." "Down here we don't mess with jigaboos." "The colored folks keep to themselves." "I'm not from down here." " You cut yourself?" "Dog bit me." "Somebody called Margaret Krusemark figure in your missing persons case?" "No, why?" " She's dead." "That nigger guitar player of yours, he didn't matter a shit." "He was into voodoo, they 86 each other every week." "But this Krusemark dame, she comes from a Louisiana money family." "Two people bumped off in a week, what's the connection?" "Did she have her dick cut off too?" " No!" "Look, mine's a missing persons, it's not a murder." "I want the name of the party you're looking for." " Talk to the lawyer." "What should I say?" "Why don't you and Effie Klinker just fuck off and leave me alone?" " You ass-wipe!" "You play jump rope with Louisiana law and I'm going to stick your big city smarts right up your New York ass." "This Krusemark was into black magic and all that shit." "Nothing is worse for a cop than people who get killed for nutso reasons." "Sorry about the mess." "Maybe your nigger can clean it up." "It's by Johnny Favorite." "My mother used to sing it all the time." "You okay?" "Shit!" "What do you want, Mr. Angel?" "I thought you knew." " Why should I?" "As far as I know, that dance band scumbag is dead." "Who is employing you?" " I can't say." "You gave a junkie doctor 25 grand to pretend Johnny was still there." "You did a good job until a week ago." "Let's go over here." "It's a little private and you can sample our Gumbo." "Pity about your stomach!" "You'd have enjoyed our Gumbo." "I was Edward Kelley." "It was me who paid Fowler the 25 grand." "Did Favorite know you?" " No." "He acted like a sleep walker." "He looked out of the window at the lights." "Where were you taking him?" " Times Square." "New Years Eve, '43." "Or so we thought." "You're telling me you paid 25 grand for a guy and lost him in a crowd?" "I did it for my daughter." "Some sort of hocus-pocus she and Johnny were fooling with." "She was obsessed." "I know, I found a mummified hand in her room." "It was the right hand of a murderer, cut off while his neck was in the noose." "Black magic!" " Black, white, what's the difference?" "Margaret was always ..." "She was a strange kid!" "She was into Tarot cards before she could read." "Who got her started?" " Some maid, or governess, who knows." "You got her started!" "Shit!" " I can't help if you don't believe it." "I introduced Johnny Favorite to my daughter." "He made a pact with Satan." "He sold his soul." "He sold his soul for stardom." " For stardom?" "But he tried to outwit the Prince of Darkness." "That's a crock of shit!" "Johnny found an obscure rite in an ancient manuscript." "He needed a victim." "Someone his own age." " Why?" " To steal their soul." "Toots and Johnny picked up a young soldier." "Who?" " Just a soldier celebrating New Year's Eve in New York." "They took him back to Johnny's hotel, where they had the ceremony." "The boy was bound naked on a rubber mat, there were complicated incantations." "A pentacle was branded on his chest." "He sliced the boy clean open and ate his heart." "Johnny wanted to become that soldier." "Before he had worked it out, he was drafted," "Who was the boy?" "Only Johnny knew." "He put the dog tags in a vase and gave it to Margaret." "It was Margaret's plan to drop him off in Times Square." "The last place he remembered before it happened." "He sliced the boy clean open and he ate his heart." "Johnny wanted to be the soldier." "I know who I am!" "How terrible is wisdom if it brings no profit to the wise, Johnny." "Louis Cyphre ..." "Even your name is a dime store joke." "Do you think posing as the devil," "and that witch, and that nutty old man, do you think it's going to scare me?" "It ain't, because I know who I am." "You killed them, and you're trying to pin it on me." "I know who I am." "I know who I am." "You're trying to frame me." "You're trying to frame me." "I know who I am." "You murdered them people!" "I never killed nobody!" "I didn't kill Toots, and I didn't kill Margaret or Krusemark." "I killed no one." "I'm afraid you did, Johnny." " My name's not Johnny!" "You were doomed from the moment you slit that young boy in half." "You've been living on borrowed time and another man's memories for 1 2 years." "I want to tell Winesap, he knows!" " He's dead." "Don't worry, no one will mourn one less lawyer." "Death's everywhere these days." "Because someone loves it, hates it." "And yours belongs to me!" "However cleverly you sneak up on the mirror, your reflection" "I know who I am!" "I live here." "She ain't:" "Angel, Harold." "She's my daughter." "Bullshit!" "Who is she?" "Epiphany Proudfoot." "Long enough for you to kill her?" "Or ain't that your gun up her snatch?" "You're going to burn for this." "Sous-titres par Binôme"