"OK." "I'll go get Larry." "Hey, hey, Larry!" " You want dinner?" " I wouldn't say no." "OK, OK." "You eat with us." " Shouldn't smoke, shouldn't smoke." " I know, I know." "Over there, sit." "Man, I stink." "I still have to go home and take a shower." " I smell like fish sauce." " Tommy, quit complaining." " Your friends will wait." " No, they won't." " They don't have to work Friday nights." " Look, I don't care." " What was that?" " You slammed the door." "No, like a bang." " What are you doing?" " Shut up." " Tom?" " Shut up." "I can't." "Where's Bayliss?" "Medical emergency, hypochondriacs' convention." "I told him to stay away from that fried fish." "Give you the scours every time." "Homicide, Pembleton." " So where's your buddy?" " Falsone?" "I don't know." "Ain't my turn to watch him." "Probably hot wiring cars just to keep a hand in." " So where's your partner?" " Kellerman?" "No idea." "Meldrick?" "In the mood for a multiple homicide?" "On a Friday night, always." "Stick that in the fridge for me, would you, Slappy?" "Sure." "Sit-down family dinner." "Sign says closed, but the front door is unlocked." "A couple minutes after 10:00..." " Knock on the door." " Mm-hm." "Somebody desperate for some takeout moo goo gai pan." "That's Chinese." "This is Vietnamese." "But yeah, "Let me order something,"" "or "Come on, open up, have a heart," blah-blah-blah." "So he lets 'em in." " Roll him over?" " Yeah, be my guest." "Gentlemen, if you would be so kind." "He's a cop." "OK, bag that." "See if it's been fired." "Maybe he got lucky." "Oh, my God." "Larry?" " You know him?" " Larry Jones." "We moonlight here, security guards." "Toinette Perry." "Any ideas what the hell..." "Looks like a robbery." "Cash register's empty." "You know what?" "Pierced ears, no earrings." "In fact, there's no jewellery of any kind." "No rings, necklaces, no watches." "You ain't gonna find no purses or wallets either." "You want to help us ID these other vics here, please?" "Mr and Mrs Nguyen, Kevin Nguyen..." "Alice Nguyen." " Same family?" " Yeah." " Mother, father, brother, sister." " Right, right..." "What do you think, Doctor?" "MSG rage?" "Tom and Lucy were here when it went down?" "Yeah, they were in the back." "Came out, found the bodies and dialled 911." "They see what happened, see the shooters?" "We don't know yet." "They're still too shocked to talk about it." "You OK?" "My chosen profession." "Falsone?" "The State's Attorney's Office can't make a case against Georgia Rae Mahoney." "They're gonna hang the shootings and the Bowman murder on Junior Bunk." "What about the hit she ordered on Wilkie Collins?" "They're not gonna charge her with that, either." "Why not?" "The hit man dropped a dime on her." "Come on, the shooter's word is not enough." "Nobody will testify." "No corroboration, no case." "Junior gave up his mother once." "Maybe he'd do it again." "Well, we can try, but as long as she's around, he'll be reluctant." "I thought she split to the Caymans once she made bail." "Well, the word is she's staying in Baltimore." "Huh!" "Unfinished business." " What?" " Nothing." "Just thinkin' out loud." "Probably was somebody from the neighbourhood." "Regular customer maybe." "Why do you say that?" "Nguyens kept a lot of money in this store." "Common knowledge." "They'd cash cheques for people, make loans." " Sort of a neighbourhood bank?" " Yeah, for the Vietnamese." "So if you ain't Vietnamese, you ain't gonna get your cheque cashed here?" "You know how these people are, especially with us." "One eye on you, one eye on the merchandise." "Tight knit, secretive." "They don't want you to know somethin', they speak in their own language." "Which is cool." "No problem with that." "We got along just fine, just like family." "That's how they was." "You think the shooter is someone from the neighbourhood, Vietnamese maybe?" "Be my first choice." " Where'd they keep the extra cash?" " Somewhere in back." "Pop would take the cheque and go in back." "You got any idea where?" "Like I said, secretive." "Maybe Tom and Lucy know." "We'll get back with them later." "Give 'em a chance to get it together." "Be happy to sit in." "With someone from the neighbourhood, I'd help you put two and two together." " We'll keep you up to speed." " All right." " Anything I can do." " OK, thank you." "Sure." "Anytime." "Who is it?" "Ms Jones?" "Ms Jones?" "I'm Detective Pembleton, Baltimore Police Department." "This is Detective Lewis." " It's about your husband." " May we speak with you?" "Ms Jones?" "May we come in?" "Ms Jones..." "So this is it, huh?" "Baltimore's favourite indoor sport." "Second favourite, anyway." "Obrycki's, I love this place." " What do you think?" " It's not bad." "All the spices get in the little cuts in your hand." "It burns." "This is the way I like it, primal." "Smash it, tear it apart with your bare hands, suck out the meat, chew the flesh, spit out the shells." "Oh, and people wonder why I left Seattle." " Little do they know." " Admit it, best crab you ever had." "Actually, I prefer Louisiana blues, with Dungeness from Puget Sound and Alaskan King as a close second." " What are you, a crab connoisseur?" " But these aren't bad." "Blasphemy." " Coffee?" " Black." " Frank?" " Tim." " Where you been?" " On a call." "Where'd you go?" "I went to an all-night drugstore for some liquid pink relief." " Is it stomach cancer or an ulcer?" " It's my working environment." " Especially my colleagues." " You weren't around." "I took Lewis." " So I'm out?" " You want in?" "Saigon Rose." "Go rustle up some disgruntled ex-employees, some customer with a grudge, anything might this thing personal, OK?" "Personal, got it." " Talk to you, Kellerman?" " I'm busy." "You don't look busy." "I'm busy." "All right, let me go first." " I'm less scary." " Really?" "Everybody says so, yeah." "I'm the friendly, affable type." "You're the terrifying, intimidating type." " Oh, really?" " Yeah, really." "Do you wanna split 'em up?" "Take 'em one on one?" "Let's talk to them together." "Maybe they won't be so terrified." "Good idea." "How y'all doing?" "Look..." "We want to help you catch the people that did this to your family, all right?" "Which means you gotta help us out." "You have to tell us everything you know about anything." "You see someone you know?" "Was it someone from the neighbourhood, a regular?" "This a gang thing, a shakedown?" "Was the shooter Vietnamese?" "If you're scared of someone, we can protect you." " Why should we trust you?" " Why shouldn't you trust me?" "There were two of 'em." "Not Vietnamese, black." "Well, you know what?" "We catch bad guys of all colours." "We don't care about that." "You recognised them?" "We didn't see their faces." " So how do you know they were black?" " They sounded black." " And you can tell?" " I can tell." "Yeah, OK." "All right." "That's not all." "She means that's not all the reason not to trust you." "What's the rest of it?" "One of them's a cop." "You're telling me the shooter was a black cop." "Toinette." "Toinette Perry?" "They found a lock box in the back, hidden beneath the sink." "The place was not ransacked." "The robbers went directly to it." " How much did they get?" " Kids don't know." "Anywhere between ten bucks and ten grand." " They're positive it was Perry?" " Positivo." " What about the other shooter?" " The kids didn't recognise the voice." "The lab says Officer Jones's gun was not fired." " So Jones recognises Perry..." " Mm-hm." "He lets Perry in." "The other shooter creeps in and throws down on him." "One off-duty cop killed another, and the family she works for?" "I don't know, the thought of this turns my stomach." "It's gonna be a media firestorm, if it's the truth." " "Cop kills cop."" " Not to mention the racial angle." "I'm more concerned about the morale of the Department than I am of the media." "We'll go talk to Mrs Jones, find out if there's bad blood between her husband and Officer Perry." "I'll pull Perry's file, talk to her sergeant, see if I can find anything out." "Apologise for the earliness of the hour." "It's OK." "I didn't sleep." "Sat up all night." "I guess you didn't get much sleep yourselves." "We want to close this case as quickly as possible." "I appreciate that." "How long did your husband work as secondary at the Saigon Rose?" "Just the last six months or so, really." "With the new baby coming..." " We can come back another time." " No, it's OK." "I'm OK." "Really." "What did your husband have to say about Officer Perry?" " They get along?" " Oh, fine, you know." "Not exactly friends, I don't think." "Larry said she was always complaining about the Nguyens, how stingy they were, how prejudiced." "Which is funny coming from her." "How's that?" "She was affirmative action." " Really?" " Felt she was entitled." "Everything on a silver platter." "Big chip on her shoulder." "Larry said she was a lousy cop." "Lazy." "No other way she could have gotten on the force." "OK, thank you very much, ma'am." "Testaverde, what a stud." "Think he took a lot of guff for his name as a kid?" "Take it from Mr Munch's little boy, he did." " What are those?" " Oh, they're cold cases." "I was gonna see if I could jump start one of them." " You remember Ramsburg?" " Floater." "Fished out of the Northwest harbour, off the shore of the Domino refinery." "You need evidence, a weapon, witnesses..." " I'm game." " Hmm, good luck." "So I spoke to this guy from Seattle, I told him your name." "He says that's a Seattle neighbourhood, an ethnic enclave." " You all right?" " Yeah, I'm just er..." "Anyway, I say to him that would be like if my name was John Federal Hill or John Canton, or Johnny Timonium." "Get it?" " I'm not feeling too good." " A little green around the gills there." "Think I'm probably just coming down..." "Whoa!" "Hey, Ballard?" "You were there." "You saw it." "I'm doing my measurements, determining which organs were severed, mangled, pulverised and blown apart, but the bottom line is they were shot to death." "We know that." "Anything... er... substantive you can shed some light on?" "Well, my best guess, it was your standard 9mm, available on any street corner in the greater metropolitan area." "Sorry." "I always get a little giddy from doing an entire family." "I start to fixate on the resemblances, you know?" "Oh, look." "He had his father's chin." "She had her mother's nose." "You know, makes you wonder a little more than usual." "You recover anything suitable?" "Most of the bullets are pretty banged up from ricocheting off of ribs and skulls." "Whatever specimens I do find, suitable or otherwise," "I will rush them down to the lab." " You are giddy." " Yeah, well, like I said..." "Hey." "Did you hear the news?" "Georgia Rae's off the hook." "They won't charge her, no case." "There's always Junior." "I guess Junior likes his chances." "I know I would." "Well, win some, lose some." "That's the way it goes." "I don't know, but I'd say you didn't care." "Look, he beats this one, he goes down on the next one." "It's inevitable, sooner or later." "Same with Georgia Rae." "I don't want them to beat this one." "Junior Bunk murdered Molly Bowman." "By mistake." "She was a bystander, wrong place, wrong time." "It happens." "Cos Georgia Rae told him to take a shot at Stivers and he missed." "Because you killed her brother." " To save my partner's life." " Is that how it was?" "Or did Mahoney had his hands up and you executed him?" "Now Molly Bowman's three kids don't have a mom." "Don't try to hang that on me, you son of a bitch." "What goes around comes around, Kellerman." "Seems to me like you got two choices." "Oh, yeah?" "What would they be?" "Looking over your shoulder all your life or do Georgia like you did her brother." "You cruel bastard!" "Hey, how you doin'?" "Oh, she is a lousy cop." "Two and a half years on the force, fistful of complaints and violations, absenteeism, excessive force, insubordination, and she failed her initial psych screening." " Unstable, paranoid personality." " How'd she get a badge?" "I called my buddies in the Mayor's Office." "Somebody overruled the shrink, pulled some strings downtown." "Affirmative action, Caucasian style." " We're makin' progress." " Learning how to play the game." "Has someone insinuated that Perry was an affirmative action hire?" "There's nothing wrong with that per se, but..." " Mrs Jones said it flat out." " And she got it from her husband." "Hey, maybe Perry resented Jones's attitude." "She seemed to have an axe to grind with the Nguyens." " What else do we know about Perry?" " No immediate family." "She filed a Missing Persons report on her father a year ago." " What, Daddy disappeared?" " Yeah, case is still open." "She does have a cousin, Curtis Lambright." "Served 17 months for armed robbery, and he was paroled last year." "Well, that's worth a look." "Take Falsone and see if we can roll the cousin." "Talk to the kids again, separately." "See if their stories jibe." "And what about Perry?" "Let's tell her the kids didn't see anything, but they gave us some bits and pieces, maybe she could help put it all together." "If she's the one, she's gonna bend over backwards to throw us off the scent." "Everybody else was out front having dinner." "We were still working." "Man, this sucks." "'So I was in a hurry to get out of there." "I had a date.'" "Closed!" "I got it." "I'll get rid of 'em." "What was that?" "It was real quiet for a second." " Then I hear everyone shouting." " 'No, no... '" " My mom and my dad." " 'No!" "'" "I hear these pop-pop-pops..." "You know, really quick." "The next thing I know, Tommy grabs me." "Shut up." "I didn't know what was going on." "How long did you wait?" "Seemed like forever." "I knew." "I..." "I just knew." " No!" " Oh, my God!" "Please, please." "Oh, please..." "Mommy?" "Oh, please, talk to me." "Tommy?" " Dad..." " Oh, God." "Oh, my God." "No!" "Wake up!" "Please, please listen to me." "Tommy..." "One number ten can of cocktail onions..." "What do you mean they don't come that way?" "No, you're..." "Hold on." "No, I'll call you, er..." "I'll call you back." "Damn." "I try to buy in bulk, you know, save a few pennies." "It ain't easy." " How you doin'?" " Not bad." " Thanks for coming down." " No problem." "Hope I can help." " Cocktail onions?" " Oh, I'm partners in a bar." " These days, you gotta moonlight." " Right." " Where you want to do this?" " Coffee Room." " Munch is racked out in there." " Wake his ass up." "I'll tell you what." "Can we do this in the Box?" " I know it's a little weird, but it's private." " No problem." "I don't mind." " You want coffee?" " Sure, bring it on." " Cos, you know, it's so damn good." " You got that right." "Good thing you brought her in." "She was going into full-blown anaphylactic shock." " Respiratory failure, the works." " Holy cow." " Is she OK?" " I had to give her a shot of adrenalin." "But you can take her home in a few hours." " You were both eating crabs last night?" " Yeah, but I'm OK." "We ate off the same crab, split the claws." "Anaphylactic shock is caused by an allergic reaction to a protein." "Seems she's developed a sudden allergy to shellfish." " To shellfish?" " Yeah." "Oh, no." "That's tragic." "Many people allergic to shellfish lead perfectly normal lives." "Oh, yeah?" "Is that so?" "Define normal!" "I'm saying Luther Mahoney didn't go down the way they said." "Kellerman waxed Mahoney after he put the gun down." "I don't believe that." " Mahoney was waving the white flag." " You don't know that." "Anyway, it's over, it's history, let it go." "Except it ain't over." "It's about to come back and bite everybody in the ass." " Five-oh ball, corner pocket." " Five-oh ball?" "Huh." "Well, that's funny." "Funny." "We're looking for Curtis Lambright." "We just want to talk to him." "Anyone?" "No?" "You?" "You know Curtis." "He's talking to you." "I don't hear nothing." "Gonna take that shot again." "So, what did the kids say?" "They didn't see nothing." "Might have heard something." "Thought you could help." " There you go." " Thank you." " They said..." "May I call you Toinette?" " Sure." "OK, Toinette." "They said they heard voices, more than one." " That surprise you?" " No." "Obviously, you already figured it out." " I did?" " Yeah." "You said earlier, "Did they ID the shooters?"" " Plural." "Didn't she?" " Mm-hm." "I heard." "Struck me." "I just figured more than one." "So many shots." " So many bodies..." " Yeah, exactly." "Well, you were right." "The kids definitely ID'd two voices." " One of the voices was a woman." " That surprised us." "Cos usually we don't expect to find a woman in a situation like that." "Of course, these days, one never knows, do one?" "It could be anybody." "Anybody you know might fit the bill?" "Let me think about it." "OK, good." "Ah, well, look who it is." "Minnesota Fats." "AKA Perry's cousin, Curtis." "Hey!" "What the..." "Baltimore Detectives." "We just want to talk to you." " Chill, man!" " He's clean." "So, you got a minute?" "I can think of somebody." "What's her name, crack addict." " Crack addict makes sense." " Yeah." "All that money laying' up in the back room, common knowledge." "Obvious target." " Street name's Readymade." " Readymade?" " She makes batches o' crack like that." " Like that." "Real name's Margaret something." "I can check it out for you." "Sounds promising." "Tommy seems to think that the woman's voice sounded a little like you." " Me?" " Actually, he said a lot like you." "We didn't give it a second thought." "Oh..." "What a messed up thing to say!" "Gonna dog me out like that, huh?" "See, he resents me." "I got along better with his folks than he did." "Ah!" "So he didn't get along with his folks." "Mm-hm, not at all." "'Course, he was running with a bad element." "I tried to get him to straighten out, but he wasn't having' it." "Maybe he was involved with this." "Y'all think about that?" "Maybe he set this whole thing up from the inside." "Hmm." "Well, we certainly haven't ruled nothing out at this point." "Always seemed to have a lot of cash in his pocket." "Maybe he was, you know, dippin' into the till." "A-ha!" "Contraband!" "Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't this in the least violate your parole?" "Ain't mine." "We're not gonna find any fingerprints on it?" "It will never stand up." "You ain't got no warrant." "You're living in a dream world, pal." " Plain sight." " See, we're taking a bite out of crime." "Toinette, tell me something." "You were off duty that night, but in uniform at the scene?" "Yeah, you rolled up in a squad car, huh?" "When I got the call, got dressed, went down to the District, grabbed a car." "I'm still trying to figure out how you got there so quick." "You have a premonition or something?" "I told you." "I heard the call." "All right, cos personally I believe in premonition." "Yeah, me, too." "Matter of fact, I know a few detectives that use psychics." " I wouldn't go that far." " Yeah, to each his own." "So, you got the call in the squad car..." "No, that's right, you were off duty." "You went and got the car after you heard the call." " Where did you hear the call?" " At home." "You got a scanner at home?" "I got a call from the District, since I worked secondary at the restaurant." "And these people, they're like family to you, right?" " You wanted to get there ASAP." " Right." "So you took the time to put on your uniform?" "And yet, you didn't go straight to the Saigon Rose." "You detoured down to the District and picked up that squad car." "I knew it was a situation, OK?" "I wanted to be in uniform so I could help." "Hold up." "Wait a minute." "What is this?" "I come down here to help y'all out, and you treat me like I don't know what!" "Chill, sister." "We just trying to sort this thing out." " Hope I'm not interrupting anything." " No, Gee." "We're just chattin' here." "This is Toinette Perry." "She's helping us out with the Saigon Rose thing." "This is Lieutenant Giardello." " How are you doing?" " Good." "Good to meet you." "May I see you two outside a moment?" "Sure." "Can you hang on for a second?" "Falsone and Bayliss found the cousin and a 9mm handgun." " May have been the murder weapon." " Lab's testing it now." "They found out something else." "All the slugs came from the same gun." "Two suspects, one shooter." "Let's find out which one is which." " I'll take a crack at the cousin." " OK, I'll be back here." "Sorry this is taking so long." "You mind hanging out?" "Lewis is trying to track down this crackhead, Margaret." "He's got a source in the neighbourhood." "He's hoping for a call-back." " So I..." "You mind?" " OK." " Could you check on Laura Ballard?" " Ballard..." "She's been back there an awful long time." "Where are we with Laura Ballard?" "OK, thank you." "Shouldn't be too much longer." "They're processing her paperwork now." "I haven't been in an emergency room since I was fourteen." "I was practising fly casting with my cousin Clete." "I got a fishing hook caught in my lower lip." " Ouch." " Yeah." "Not a feeling you ever forget." " You ever read these?" " Sure, all the time." "They're pretty steamy." "I had no idea." " Yeah, some fun, huh?" " Hey, you OK?" "It's not every day you almost die from doing something so stupid." " I'm sorry about the crabs." " Oh, it's not your fault." "It was a time bomb waiting to happen." "My next clam chowder or my shrimp cocktail..." "Kerblow!" "Out of here." "Be a great epitaph, though." ""Laura Ballard, fought felons, but was done in by a bad prawn."" " No shellfish of any kind?" " No molluscs, no bivalves." " Calamari?" " Is that a shellfish?" "Got no shell, am I right?" " You just gonna sit there?" " I ain't got no place else to go." "I got the murder weapon, I got you." "And I got witnesses." "Witnesses." "You all missed the kids, Curtis." "They were hiding in the kitchen." "They heard everything." "I'll tell you something else." "I've been talkin' to your cousin Toinette all day." "She's been helping us with that Saigon Rose thing." "But er... you know, we ain't that stupid." "She ain't getting over on us." "We know she's in it." "She's in it up to her eyeballs, huh?" "I'm just waitin' for her..." "to make a big old U-turn." "I'm just waitin' to see them skid marks on the highway." "Cos how long do you think it's gonna take her to give you up, Curtis, huh?" "To put the gun in your hand, to make you the shooter, to cut herself a deal." "How long?" "I got a feeling that she'll give you up in world record time." "What do you think?" "I'll tell you somethin' straight up, right now." "I didn't shoot nobody." "She did, man." "My cousin Toinette she shot everybody, man." "Everybody." "'She came to me." "Her idea.'" " Who, for the record?" " My cousin." "Toinette Perry." "My gun, my car, so she ain't in it." "I was supposed to go in by myself." "No shooting." "That was the deal." "She's supposed to come along after I'm gone." "Mess up the evidence, put it on somebody else." " What went wrong?" " Everything, man." "She flipped out." "'We wait for the place to close." "'I pull up, knock.'" "Closed!" "Paddy comes to the door." " The other police officer, Larry Jones." " White guy, yeah." "He opens it." " I just need one thing, baby." " No, we're closed." "Fried rice?" "I know you got it." " Look, I'm sorry." "We're closed." " Come on, man!" "The kitchen is closed." "Hey!" "Easy, Paddy." "Nobody gets hurt!" "All right?" "Give me the gun nice and easy." "Perry?" "Perry?" "No, no, no!" "Happened so fast, partner." "Everybody dead." "We dust-bust the register, scoop up the wallet and jewels, grab the box and split." "You shouldn't have been in such a hurry." "Toinette, she told me kids was on a date." " But if you had know they were there?" " Huh?" "No, man." "Toinette would've done 'em, not me." "Just for fun..." "How did y'all do, huh?" "How'd you make out, all told?" "Two grand, including the tip jar." " Hey." " Hey." "Jim Beam." "Early start." "Bit of a rough day." "Was actually just contemplating a career change." "Maybe I'd take a year off, write a book or somethin'." "A book?" " About what?" " What I do." "What I do for a living and why, if I can figure that part out." "You don't know?" "I'm not so sure." "I thought I did but..." "I'm sure it will be a bestseller." "The public loves gore, can't get enough." "Yeah, well, I got gore." "I got gore galore." "I may be in a for a career change myself." " Want to tell me about it?" " How much time you got?" "Me, I got all the time in the world." "Department shrink didn't think I looked like a cop, her idea of a cop." "'Course, she was homely." "Ruff!" "Bitch hates women and that's a fact." "So how you get around something like that?" "My daddy called a friend of his, a judge." "Judge made a few calls, got 'em to change up her report." "Hmm, so your daddy still work for the city?" "No." "We out of touch." "I don't know where he is." "He took off one day and he disappeared." "Poof!" "I been taking care of his house, in case he comes back." " Sorry about that." "That's rough." " Yeah." " Reach your guy?" " Yup." "Get off!" "Your cousin, Curtis Lambright, he just gave you up." " Gave me up?" "For what?" " Saigon Rose." "You're the shooter." "Well, I never..." "See, Curtis is crazy." " I didn't shoot nobody." " Funny, that's exactly what he said." "We got the ballistics report." "There's only one shooter." "Curtis has a record, you know." "Armed robbery." " I like him for this." " So do we." "We like you, too." "The kids put you at the scene." "They recognised your voice, and Curtis put the weapon in your hand." "Oh, man." "Punk." "Always was weak." "Come on, be smart and help yourself out." "Help yourself out." "Help yourself." "See, he just lost his head, right?" "He wasn't supposed to shoot 'em, just push in on me, take the gun, tie us up and split." "Make it look like a robbery." "You went in there premeditated." "Take no prisoners." " You weren't gonna leave no witnesses." " No, it was Curtis!" "He blew a fuse." "He's crazy." "I'll go tell him you said so." "Oh, man." "What do you think I should do?" "Well, whatever it is don't do it alone." " It's my runaway train." " No, it's not." "Lewis and Stivers are in this, too." "I flipped the switch on Luther Mahoney." "It was me." "Yeah, but they signed off on it, Mike." "And you know what?" "So did I." "You were just doing your job." "You're not involved." "Yeah, well..." "I'd hope that the Grand Jury would feel the same, but I really wouldn't bet on it." "You've gotta talk to them." "You gotta tell them about Georgia Rae's tape." "They're gonna be thrilled about that." "They must be on it, too." "Well, they have to know sooner or later, right?" "Everybody's careers are on the line here." "It's not just yours." "So you knew these people." "So?" "So they treat you badly?" "They disrespect you?" "Sexual advances?" " Racial slurs, what?" " No, not particularly." "I'm searching for a reason here." "Why would you kill the people you're supposed to protect?" " I didn't do it." " You didn't kill anyone?" "No, I didn't." "Curtis did!" "You don't feel bad about that?" "Why should I?" "I didn't do it!" "Why don't you ask Curtis if he feels bad?" "Think I'm crazy?" "Check my uncle's basement." "¶ I've got all the time in the world" "¶ I've got a sweet loving daddy's little girl" "¶ You need a minute Just take your time" "¶ You need an hour You can borrow mine" "¶ Cos I've got all the time in the world" "¶ Buying time they say is a dangerous thing... ¶" " You need some help with that?" " Thanks." "Yeah, that's exactly why I been trying to order a number ten can." "I hate these little jars." " There you go." " You must be Meldrick." "And you must be the bartender Munch hired." " Billie Lou." "Pleased to meet you." " Billie Lou." " What would you like?" " Er, draft." " Hey, hey, hey." " What's happening?" "Billie Lou, Frank." "Frank, Billie Lou." " What can I get you?" " Bitters and soda." "Somethin' to match the taste in my mouth." "When you were a kid, did you believe in guardian angels?" "I don't think I gave it much thought, Frank." "Well, if you were Catholic, you would've." "Nuns taught us that we all had guardian angels." "I'd try to catch mine out of the corner of my eye, look real quick." "Nguyens were Catholic, too." "Perry was their guardian angel." " Amen." " So, Billie Lou?" "You ever believe in guardian angels when you were a kid?" " Still do." " Yeah?" " You Catholic?" " Performance artist." "A performance artist, that's your religion?" "What's your speciality?" "Oh, I mostly play Schubert's "Trout Quintet For Double Bass" as a solo." " What's so avant-garde about that?" " Topless." "Oh." "Topless double bass." "Sounds dangerous." "So what are you doin' here with us, slingin' beer?" "Moonlighting, of course." "Gotta make ends meet." "Munch is finished excavating Perry's residence, in the father's basement actually, and guess what they found?" " Human skeletal remains." " Got the whole package." "A dandy dent in the cranium." " Dear old dad?" " Too soon to tell." "Nice way to live rent free, though." "Yeah." " So who you think pulled the trigger?" " She did." " No doubt about it." " Yeah." " You ever catch him?" " Who?" " Your guardian angel." " Nope, never did." "Never did." "Go home, babe."