"VINCENT:" "This is where the wealthy and the powerful rule." "It is her world, a world apart from mine." "Her name... is Catherine." "From the moment I saw her, she captured my heart with her beauty, her warmth and her courage." "I knew then, as I know now, she would change my life... forever." "CATHERINE:" "He comes from a secret place, far below the city streets, hiding his face from strangers, safe from hate and harm." "He brought me there to save my life." "And now, wherever I go, he is with me in spirit." "For we have a bond stronger than friendship or love." "And although we cannot be together, we will never, ever be apart." "¶ ¶" "Listen, Danny," "I appreciate you going to bat for me like that." "I guess I owe you one, huh?" "Forget about it." "(siren wails in distance)" "Keller's on edge like the rest of us." "Yeah, well, he really lost it when I told him." "Look, all we gotta do is return this stuff to Property." "They don't keep track of it." "They'll never know it was missing." "We wipe the slate clean." "I mean, who needs that kind of pressure, huh?" "Hey, I told you don't worry about it." "I'll smooth things out with Laine and then we'll talk about it." "It's getting cold out, huh?" "Yeah." "Hey, you okay to drive?" "Oh, yeah, yeah." "I've driven worse than this." "Listen to me." "Some cop, huh?" "Well, listen, where are you parked?" "A couple blocks down on South Street." "Well, come on, I'll give you a lift." "No, no, I'm gonna walk." "Are you sure?" "Yeah." "I'll see you tomorrow." "I'll see you later." "Hey, Danny?" "What?" "Everything's gonna be all right, huh?" "Don't worry, Tony." "Everything's okay." "(gunshots)" "(loud crash)" "(gunshot)" "(gunfire)" "(grunts)" "(girl gasps) You okay?" "What the hell are you doing in this part of town, anyway?" "Are you...?" "Hey!" "(distant, rhythmic tapping)" "(rhythmic tapping continues)" "See?" "I worked out an abbreviation for the express stuff." "You wouldn't believe how much we can cut down on congestion." "Oh, I believe it." "But don't you ever get tired, Pascal?" "(rhythmic tapping continues)" "Only when I stop." "(crying)" "(wails)" "You look fine, Joe." "Oh, I hate these guys." "They travel in packs, like sharks." "It's a room full of reporters." "Easy for you to say." "Relax, you're not running for office." "Or are you?" "Well, let's just say that putting a cop killer away right now, wouldn't hurt my career any." "Wish me luck." "(overlapping conversations)" "All right, I'm going to read a statement and then, after that," "I'm not at liberty to answer any questions." "Oh, come on, just a couple." "I'm sorry." "I'm sorry." ""Last night, Curtis Jackson" ""was arrested and charged with the murder" ""of Vice Squad Detective Tony Perotta." ""Ballistics has confirmed that the hand gun" ""that was found in his car was the murder weapon." ""The District Attorney has set" ""a preliminary hearing date, and we have" ""every reason to believe" ""that justice will be served in a fair, but expeditious fashion."" "That's all, folks." "Oh, come on, just a question." "(reporters clamoring)" "Can you at least give us an idea about the hearing date?" "Are you gonna handle the case yourself?" "I'm sorry, I can't..." "I can't..." "I can't answer any more questions." "What has the reaction been to this killing in the precinct?" "(reporters clamoring)" "REPORTER:" "One or two more questions." "I can't." "Well...?" "How'd I do?" "Watch out, City Hall." "He was my partner eight years, you son-of-a..." "Hey." "How the hell could you do it, Danny?" "You ought to thank me for doing your dirty work." "Come on!" "Come on!" "Back off!" "Both of you!" "Now, I'm sorry, Laine, but Danny only did what he had to." "Now, you know how Tony was, especially the last couple of weeks." "He would've blown it for us." "All of us." "Anyway... it's over with." "Now, if you're gonna blame Danny, you might as well blame me, too." "What about Jackson?" "Oh... we got him cold." "Murder weapon, motive." "All we have to do is sit tight and let the system do its thing." "He was a punk." "Whatever he gets, he deserves." "Look, Laine..." "I want you to know," "I only did what was necessary." "Tony was a good man." "What we are talking about... is $100,000 here." "This month and every month, from now on." "Thanks, hon." "Thank you." "Drink?" "I'm so sorry about Tony." "Yeah, Maggie..." "me, too." "(subway train passing in distance)" "I'm listening." "(rhythmic tapping in distance)" "The wrong man?" "(whimpers)" "You saw the killer?" "The killer was a white man?" "(distant, rhythmic tapping continues)" "It's good that you came to me." "Don't be afraid." "You're not alone." "I promise." "VINCENT:" "When Laura first came to us, she was only a child-- alone, frightened." "Her parents had abandoned her in the park." "I suppose... they wanted a normal daughter." "But there was a friend." "A helper... who brought her to us, where it was safe... where she could know love." "I remember... in the beginning, she used to collect things, keep them on her bedside table-- alarm clocks, bells, buzzers and she would hold them close to her ear, feeling the vibrations," "trying to hear the stolen sounds." "It broke my heart." "And you became her teacher?" "I became her friend." "Can she speak?" "At all?" "She speaks... with her hands-- a beautiful language." "And she told you that she saw this murder?" "How can she be sure it wasn't the same man?" "The man she saw was not a black man." "Vincent, the evidence they have against him is overwhelming." "Is she positive?" "She's not mistaken." "She knows what this might mean." "Coming forward to tell her story." "Yes." "I'll do everything I can to make that unnecessary." "But, Vincent, I don't think there's any other way." "(distant, rhythmic tapping echoes from distance)" "(tapping continues)" "(tapping continues)" "(subway train passing)" "(rhythmic tapping in distance)" "I understand the problem enough to know it isn't ours." "Does our world exempt its people from moral responsibility?" "No, it offers them sanctuary from an impossible madness." "Especially those who most need to be protected." "Like the girl." "Laura is no longer a girl." "She's still vulnerable." "Exposing her to something like that..." "Vincent, here, we've given her a chance to heal." "And to hide." "I know Laura's pain." "When she first came here, her soul was broken, and our love helped it to mend." "But the time will come when she will need to grow beyond all of this, beyond us." "You think that time is now?" "Without Laura's word, Catherine has no case." "An innocent man goes to prison." "That should mean something to you." "Our priority is still to Laura." "Before, you said the problem was not ours." "Well... neither is the decision." "(indistinct police radio communication)" "(Jackson laughing)" "Now, that's a new one on me." "Since when does the DA's Office go around trying to get people off, hmm?" "I know." "That's some kind of new psychology, right?" "How long were you out of prison?" "Almost a year." "Your parole officer tells me you were meeting regularly." "(laughing):" "Every week, ma'am." "And I also help little old ladies cross the street, and I go to church every Sunday and repent my sins." "Let's get this straight." "A man who sells drugs to kids doesn't deserve to see the light of day, ever." "They tell me you're rehabilitated." "Congratulations." "But if it were up to me, I'd have buried you." "Now, I am here because I don't believe you killed Detective Perotta, and I want to find out who did." "And you are going to help me." "Yeah, lot of good that'll do." "Tell me about the threats you were supposed to have made against Perotta." "Look, man, that was a long time ago." "It was stupid." "I mean, he was the cop who busted me." "I... (sighs)" "I was mad." "And I said some stupid things, you know." "How did that gun get in your car?" "How the hell do I know?" "Somebody put it there." "Any ideas who?" "What do you want, a list?" "Yeah." "That's exactly what I want." "(people conversing, phones ringing)" "Excuse me, I'm looking for a Detective Keller." "Third desk, right back there." "Uh, the guy in the striped shirt." "CATHERINE:" "Thank you." "Detective Keller." "That's me." "I'm Catherine Chandler with the District Attorney's Office." "How you doing?" "CATHERINE:" "I'm sorry about Lieutenant Perotta." "Yeah, me, too." "Have a seat." "Eight years is a long time." "Um, do you have anything to do with nailing Jackson?" "Yes." "I appreciate it." "We all do." "Believe me, it's no small consolation." "Detective Keller, I don't believe" "Curtis Jackson killed your partner." "What are you talking about?" "We may have an eyewitness." "What eyewitness?" "Who says Jackson didn't do it?" "I'm sorry, I'm not at liberty to disclose that." "Jackson killed my partner." "He had it out for Tony." "Everyone knew it." "They just about caught him in the act." "Yes, I know." "He says he was set up." "Look, um," "I'm sorry I flew off." "It's just, you know, you come in here, you lay this on me like a ton of bricks." "Now I don't know what to think." "I understand." "If you have a few minutes, I'd like to ask you some questions about recent cases, anybody else who might have had a motive." "Just preliminary, but it might give me a place to start." "Sure, I got a few minutes." "Okay." "Father and I have talked for a long time." "(subway train passing in distance)" "The decision... has to be yours, Laura." "Laura... this place, our world, means different things to different people." "For some, it's a place of healing and safety." "To others, it's our home." "But all of us reach a point when we have to decide for ourselves what this place means to us." "Perhaps, now, is your time to decide." "If you go away, can you come back?" "Of course you can come back." "You can always come back." "If you decide to leave." "I can't tell you what to do." "But you are strong, Laura." "Your life has made you powerful in ways you can't even begin to imagine." "If I don't... if I can't..." "If I can't..." "I'm sorry." "Vincent?" "If she can't imagine her strength, how does she know it's true?" "Laura, you know by learning, by following what your heart tells you is right, by going where you need to go." "Hey, Chandler, you got a second?" "Excuse me." "Excuse me." "Just what the hell do you think you're doing?" "Let go of my arm, Joe." "No, you answer me." "You know, Cathy, I don't understand you." "Yesterday, everything is beautiful." "We close a major investigation, like in a textbook, and today..." "today, I find out you've been sniffing around behind my back." "Joe, I only waited so I could bring you something solid." "What?" "I'm having second thoughts." "Why didn't you come to me yesterday with your second thoughts?" "Because yesterday, I didn't know there was a witness." "There was a witness, Joe." "Come inside." "Can you produce this witness?" "Not yet." "You know, Cathy, I've been at this game a little longer than you-- and we got a cop killer here cold-- open and shut case-- and you're blowing it." "What about due process, Joe?" "What about reasonable doubt?" "Or do you want me to just go out and hang Curtis Jackson now and save you the trouble?" "You still don't get it, do you?" "!" "Jackson killed a cop." "And if he's innocent, does that make a difference?" "Does it make a difference?" "Cathy, leave this alone, for your sake." "My sake." "Isn't there some sort of hidden agenda here we're not talking about?" "Like how the truth might make for an embarrassing press conference." "You know, my father was a cop." "Up in the South Bronx." "52nd precinct." "He was getting off from work one morning, two guys jumped him." "They took his gun and his watch and they slit his throat." "Yeah." "And they left him there to bleed to death." "There was no arrest." "Nobody went to trial." "They were 14 years old." "So was I." "(whispers):" "Joe..." "Joe!" "Oh!" "¶ ¶" "(playing various notes)" "¶ ¶" "(key ratcheting)" "(music box plays delicate, melancholy tune)" "¶ ¶" "(quietly):" "Help..." "Laur... (haltingly):" "Laura..." "(grunts)" "Turn her around." "(Catherine moans)" "The only thing worse than a cop killer is somebody who covers up for one." "Back off." "(grunts)" "(grunts, Catherine moans)" "(Catherine gasps)" "(gasping)" "(moaning)" "Catherine." "(gasping)" "(yells in pain)" "(sighs)" "¶ ¶" "(gasps):" "Vincent..." "Don't go." "I need you close." "I'll watch over you." "Don't worry." "Sleep now." "(subway train passing in distance)" "(distant, rhythmic tapping)" "(subway train passing in distance)" "This is where you go out." "You can still change your mind." "Try not to worry." "You'll be safe, I'll be near." "The woman I told you about is waiting." "Yes, Catherine." "You have yourself to thank." "Yourself to be proud of." "Sometimes... events in our lives can show us what we've known all along." "This last year," "I felt, in you, a need to see beyond these tunnels and chambers." "You've known, inside yourself, that it was time." "Until we see each other again," "I will miss you, as well." "¶ ¶" "I love you too." "(distant siren wailing)" "Laura, I..." "Are you cold?" "I made some hot chocolate." "Come inside." "(car horns honking in distance)" "Tomorrow, you'll have to give a statement to the police." "After that, it might be a little rough." "The deposition and the trial." "Lawyers are not always the nicest people." "What you're doing is very brave." "Me?" "I'm not so brave." "Why?" "Because no one wants me on this case, except me." "Until now." "I don't understand." "Thank you." "Miss Chandler, this is Detective Snyder." "He'll be conducting the interrogation." "Sergeant Griggs." "Sharon Lewis, from Social Services." "She's here to interpret for the witness." "This is Laura Williams." "SHARON:" "Laura, I'm your interpreter." "Please have a seat." "We ready to go?" "Detective..." "Laura is deaf." "We know that." "CATHERINE:" "And no one in this room speaks without facing her first." "All set, Larry?" "LARRY:" "Yeah." "SNYDER:" "Okay." "Laura, why don't you start by telling us what you saw, in your own words?" "I saw somebody kill a man." "SNYDER:" "And where did you see this happen?" "It was on..." "Cedar Street, near the corner of Edgemount." "SNYDER:" "Would you describe for us what you saw?" "There were two men." "One had a gun." "And I saw him reach inside the car and shoot the other man." "W" " I'm sorry, would you repeat the last part... about the car?" "A man... who was shot, was sitting in the car." "(quietly):" "Come here." "Joe, that information has not been made public yet." "There is no way she could've known that Perotta was killed in his car." "I think we got the real thing here." "SNYDER:" "Okay, Laura, why don't you start from the beginning?" "I was walking along, looking through the garbage can for clothes that I might like." "As I looked up," "I saw the man fire the gun into the car." "The man shot." "You did great." "Really." "No jury in the world would ignore that testimony." "Excuse me." "Are you Catherine Chandler?" "Yes." "Call for you." "Who is it?" "Your office." "Take it over there, if you want." "Line five." "Phone call." "Sit right here." "I'll be back in two minutes." "Yeah." "Hi, Mary." "(people arguing indistinctly)" "(gunshot)" "(loud crash)" "(gasps)" "¶ ¶" "(subway train passing in distance)" "(rhythmic clanking echoes through tunnels)" "Don't blame yourself, Catherine." "What could be safer than a police station?" "The blame rests only with those who have Laura." "I don't know what to do." "You've told the police." "That's all you can do for now." "They don't even have an idea where to start." "She could be anywhere." "She could..." "Don't even think of it." "I have to go back." "Please, Vincent, just take me back." "(rhythmic tapping echoing)" "(tapping continues)" "What are they saying?" "Shh." "(tapping continues)" "There's a message..." "from Pascal." "Come with me, quickly." "(rhythmic tapping)" "I don't believe this." "W-What are we doing?" "Only what's necessary." "Nothing more, nothing less." "Why didn't you tell us there was a witness?" "What difference would it have made?" "I'll tell you: zero." "We'd be right where we are now." "Will you tell her to shut up?" "Hey, don't talk to me like that." "Stop that!" "No!" "VINCENT:" "Pascal." "I put out an emergency all-quiet signal." "Was it Laura?" "Yeah, we think so." "It was Outpost Six that picked up her SOS when the tapping stopped." "Isn't there anything we can do?" "Wait." "(tapping continues)" "Maggie and the kids are out of town until tomorrow, so the time is now." "KELLER:" "No way I'm gonna let you do this." "Jack, look at her." "She's just a girl." "What is she, a year older than Nancy?" "Two?" "Shut up!" "I'm getting just a little damn tired of having to sugarcoat everything for you." "It's not my responsibility." "You wanted in on this from the beginning, just like the rest of us, for all the same reasons." "You got a wife, kids, car, mortgage payments-- all weighing heavy on a cop's salary." "Am I right?" "(rhythmic tapping echoes through tunnels)" "That's it." "They've found her." "She's in Brooklyn." "Kill the girl, the blood's on your hands." "You know the law as well as I do." "It's on all our hands." "No." "Not this time." "I'm leaving." "You're going nowhere." "Stop me." "DAVIS:" "Forget it, man." "You should've let me." "Oh, come on." "You're talking crazy." "Yeah?" "What's he going to do now?" "Go to confession?" "I'll go get him." "Nah." "I'll take care of him later... (anxious gasping) ...after we're done here." "What the...?" "You got a flashlight?" "Yeah, yeah." "YATES:" "Keller." "Come on, Danny, let's do it." "(glass shattering in distance)" "(Vincent roaring)" "(screaming)" "¶ ¶" "Joe...!" "Hi." "Can I talk to you for a second?" "Sure." "Listen, I'm sorry about what happened, Cathy." "I know it's been tough on you." "I didn't make it any easier." "No, you didn't." "I let it get personal." "I was stubborn." "I was wrong." "Apology accepted." "Great." "About your father, Joe..." "No, listen, I-I had no right to bring that up when I did." "You had every right." "And I'm glad you told me." "Yeah, well, thanks." "(sighing):" "Well.... listen, I'm late for my weekly report." "You might be interested to know" "Jackson's being released today." "What about the Keller interrogation this morning?" "He's glad it's over." "The two kilos of cocaine we recovered from Yates's basement-- they're from the Ricardo bust last month, which both sets of partners were on." "Huh." "So, when Perotta got cold feet," "Yates killed him, set up Jackson." "Mm-hmm." "Simple enough." "Only Yates didn't count on your witness being there." "Speaking of which, where did you find that witness?" "I didn't." "She found me." "(siren wailing, car horns honking)" "I don't think Father has reconciled himself." "All he sees is that he's losing one of his family." "But he won't try to stop Laura from coming up..." "No, that's not our way." "Where is she now?" "Below." "Gathering her things for tomorrow." "A helper will meet her and care for her till the time comes when she can live on her own." "What she did took great courage." "Laura is a remarkable person." "She feels everything deeply." "She embraces life." "It's how she survives." "You're worried about her coming up into the world." "Her strength is her vulnerability." "I think she'll be fine, Vincent." "I really do." "She had a great teacher." "¶ ¶" "CC Extracted by:" "MrLifestyles"