"You all right?" "It wasn't my fault, he was on the wrong side of the road." "It's okay, just hold that, hold that." "We need to take you to a hospital, okay?" "I'm okay." "Can you give me a lift home?" "Sure, sure, just..." "Just wait in my car, okay?" "I'll be back." "Shall I call you a tow?" "No, I'll do it myself." "Thanks for the lift." "Hey, what's your name so I can tell the police?" "Beer?" "Yeah, thanks." "Is this the only hotel in town?" "What, not good enough for you?" "No, it's..." "it's good enough for me." "You, um..." "You know where I can find the local copper?" "Is there a problem?" "Yeah, there was an accident out on the highway." "He's usually in here about now." "Looking at me?" "Or are you looking for me?" "No, I was looking for the cops." "You found him." "We're kind of casual around here." "What seems to be the problem?" "There's been a bit of a crash out on the highway." "Whereabouts?" "Have you got somewhere we can talk?" "Let's go to the station." "Jesus Christ..." "Yeah, I couldn't really leave that out there." "No." "I got just the place for this too." "He was dead, you say?" "No doubt about it." "Uh, there was, uh..." "There was also this." ""Neverest Hotel, 12:30."" " Did you see anyone there?" " No." "Maybe you got the wrong guy." "Maybe he got lost." "It tends to happen since they built that bypass." "I don't know, he seemed to be in a bit of a hurry to get here." "That's a first, most people are in a hurry to leave." "You reckon he was drunk?" "No, no, he swerved to avoid the woman in the convertible." "What woman in the convertible?" "Uh, she was heading out of town." "Blonde, good-looking." "Well, we better go take a look." "You don't mind coming, do you?" "No, if you think it's gonna help." "Do you want me to, uh..." "make a statement?" "No, we'll get that later." "You'd think we'd have better things to waste taxpayer money on than some stupid marching band." "Windscreen sheared his head clean off." "Yeah." "This would be the best way to ID him." "Have Maurice do a proper autopsy first thing, and have him call me if he finds anything" " that doesn't make sense." " Like what?" "Like anything at all, anything out of the ordinary, okay?" " I want to know." " Uh, Sarge..." "Just cart the fucking body back before it starts to stink," " you got it?" " Yeah." " Bill, come with me." " Be right with ya." "What do you want, feet or shoulders?" "Feet." "Ugh." "You're a very brave man." "Bill, change the tire and tow it back to my place." " Here." " Yep." "It's enough to make most people throw up." "What, have you seen it before?" "Yeah, I saw a few in Iraq." "Infantry?" "Engineers." "No shit." "I was in the special forces myself." "Best years of my life." "If I had a couple of hours, I could tell you about it." "You headed somewhere or are you just passing through?" "I gotta be in Broken Hill by tomorrow afternoon, but I need a mechanic." "We got a good one, Armstrong's, but he's not gonna be back until later tonight." " Got a motel?" " Yeah." "It's booked solid, we've got the battle of the bands on at the moment." "I can't stand the racket, but it's the only tourism we get." "I'll tell you what." "You can come back to my place." "I'll give you a room for the night." " No." " No-no, it's the least I can do." "Got a wife that just loves to cook." "I'll drop you at Armstrong's first thing in the morning." " I don't wanna put you out." " You can't say no." "There she is." "But I think you two might've already met." "Come on." "That's more than I can manage." "Cooking's not really one of my strong points." "You hear me complaining?" "You know, it's lucky you come along when you did." "'Cause I don't get it." "Where were you going in such a hurry?" "Going for a drive, that's all." "Yeah, I got that bit, but where?" "Just driving." "Don't you ever do that?" "Yeah, but I stay on the road." "Not all the time." "So you had any thoughts on where the money came from?" "I'd say it's a couple of drug couriers making a drop." "We're not far from the border." "How much we talking about here?" "A lot." "Sure it's gonna be safe at the station?" "Honey, what have I said about police business?" "Less I know, the better, I know." "Women, aye?" "Reckon we got a change coming." "Most people don't like change." "They like things just to keep on rolling along the same." "The truth is, we're always changing." "I mean, I'm not the man I was, neither are you, right?" "Well, there's nothing we can do about it." "That's what I loved about Iraq." "Nothing was ever the same." "I mean, when you're in the line of fire and it's life and death and you survive... it's a feeling like no other." "If something was to come your way..." "I mean, something so irresistible that you just had to have it." "Do you think you could sacrifice everything for it and not regret it?" "That depends on what it was." "She walked into my station back in the city." "She said some guy stole her purse." "I took her out to dinner." "I never let her out of my sight since." "She made me feel alive again." "I felt suffocated, so I took a transfer and we moved out here." "What do you think?" "You've done well." "I was talking about the house." "I love three things in my life." "The job, my house, my wife." "I mean, if a man has a faith that can move mountains but has no love, then what is he?" "Nothing." "Pass me a cigarette." "Coming in to cool off, Frank?" "No." "No, I gotta, uh..." "Head into the office, write a few checks." "Won't be long." "No rush." "So you coming in or you just thinking about it?" "With due respect, Mrs. Turner..." "Would it kill you to call me Jina?" "Yeah, it just might." "You sure you're not coming in?" "You don't say much, do you?" "So, um, how far were you planning on going today?" "Far as it takes." "So why'd you hand that briefcase in?" "Could've kept on going." "I don't know, I guess honesty is one of my weak points." "A trait found in most people." "Pass me my robe." "I'll show you to your room." "Your eyes sensitive to the street light, Sam, or are you standing in the dark for a reason?" "Not a law against taking a little stroll, is there?" "Unless you classify a man walking around in the middle of the night with a pool cue as criminal intent." "Sam, are you playing or what?" "Yeah, I'm coming." "What the fuck you doing, Sam?" "I was wondering why you were up so late and not at home with your wife?" "She's home, isn't she?" "You ought to get yourself a life." "Mind your own fucking business." "You have many guests?" "Frank's not very social these days." "You must be pretty special." "Is that from the accident?" "Does he do that often?" "Not often, but enough." "So why'd you move out here with him?" "Frank's always had a problem with his temper." "He... threw a police officer through a window." "Severed an artery." "They didn't charge him, but they sent us out here." "So now I'm stuck here." "Frank told me a different story." "Bet he did." "How long you been married?" "In years or hours?" "Anyway, good night." "Thanks." "Thanks, Jina." "Thanks, Jina." "Sounds nicer coming from you." "Come on, tighter..." "Tighter..." "Tighter." "Come on..." "Useless, fucking pile of shit." "You'll get no argument from me." " Who are you, relation?" " No." "All my relatives are breathing." "I'm Finley from Sunset insurance." "Came as soon as I heard." "Where'd you say you're from again?" "Sunset." "Assessing the damage." "You looking for something?" "You guessed it." "Will you keep your sticky fingers out of there?" "This is a crime scene." "Local cop been over it already." "You got some sort of ID to go over that question, pal?" "Why don't I give him a call, aye?" "You can ask him yourself." "Hey!" "I'll get Sam to give me a lift home, all right?" "No, I'll knock off early, I'll pick you up myself." "I think we'll eat out for a change." "Bit of a treat." "Give me a kiss." "I'll see ya, Colin." "Here we go, Armstrong is good." "He'll fix you up, get you on your way." "Well, thanks for your hospitality." "No, no, don't mention it." "Look, I'll drop by and fill out that accident report." "Ah, yeah, yeah, I nearly forgot about that." "I'll tell you what." "My wife's witness enough." "No need to keep you hanging around." " Appreciate it." " Yeah." " Good luck." " Thanks." "Hello?" " Hello?" " Mr. Peterson?" "Yeah." "Look, it's about your job interview with Mr. Levy." "We've had to break your appointment." "Can you make it at 12:30?" "I..." "At 12:30, no, uh, that's um..." "That's gonna be a little difficult, darling." "Uh, you do want the job, don't you?" "No, I want..." "yeah, I want the job." "Then we'll see you at 12:30." "Okay, I'll be there." "Hey, anyone there?" "Where's the Sarge?" "Gone fishing." "There's a dead man back on the highway." "Sorry, love to help, but I'm a little busy." "Caught me at a bad moment." "Who's the guy?" "Frank's new help?" "Just passing through." "Where's your car?" "Doesn't Frank trust you driving yourself in anymore, huh?" "Blew a couple of tires, that's all." "Must've been in a rush." "Do you want these accounts finished or what?" "How is Frank, hm?" "He seemed a little frosty this morning... hm?" "You treating him all right?" "You know, I hear things." "And what kind of things do you hear?" " Just things." " Hm." "Always wondered what happened to Frank's other helper." "You know?" "The guy you used to take long lunches with?" "Remember him?" "What's his name..." "Chris..." "Oh, fuck, if I remember." "Just tell me how you do it." "Please, huh?" "Is it the battered wife bit, is it, huh?" ""Oh, I'm trapped in this town." "I gotta get out or I'll go mad."" "Huh?" "Flash a little skin and bang, you're off to the races." "You're good, good." "Anyway, I've got an important client coming in this afternoon, all right?" "He actually might buy the business." "This is crying for your touch." "You just plug it in and press the big button." "That too complicated for you?" "I hired you to do a job." "And that included cleaning." "You have no fucking idea." "Maybe I do." "Frank's seen you looking at me." "He hasn't knocked on my door yet." "Maybe he will." "As soon as I tell him to." "Where are you going?" "Hey!" "Big round of applause for the Redbacks." "Frank?" "Colin!" "Hey." "Can you give me a lift home?" " Frank's not around?" " No, I don't know where he is." " You all right?" " Yeah." "I'm fine, thanks anyway." "Hop in." " You sure?" " Yeah." "Not holding you up?" "No, ten minutes won't change my life." "You wanna tell me what's going on?" "Truly wanna hear about it?" "What do you mean, where is she?" "Listen, Frank got lucky, yeah, but I'm busy." "Got a buyer coming up..." "Sam, put my..." "Bye." "Frank?" "Frank!" "Frank, Frank..." "Frank..." "Come to finish the fucking job, huh?" "Get off!" "Get off her!" "Frank, stop it!" " Stop it!" " Thought you'd come back and take it all, huh?" "Fuck..." "What are you doing?" "What do you think I'm doing, I'm calling an ambulance." "He's dead." "We're going to the police." "Sam knows you're here." "You call the cops and we're both up for murder." "Murder... what are you talking about?" "That was self-defense." "It doesn't exactly look like that." "But he just tried to strangle me." "Look..." "Frank and I have got a history, okay?" "He thought I was having an affair with his partner." "We had a fight one night, things got really... really ugly." "I tried to shoot him." "Everyone knows about it, so how do you..." "How do you think this is gonna look with his body in here and your car parked out the front?" "That's great." "Fuck." "Pretty soon we're gonna have cops swarming all over the place trying to find Frank's body." "What do you expect to tell 'em?" "There's an old silver mine across the other side of town." "Put the body in the Bronco." "We take that and the cop car to the mine." "We dump the body, we leave the cop car." "Also, I heard Frank talking about some rendezvous for drug runners or something, okay?" "They're gonna think he went there." "Things went wrong." "They killed him and chucked the body in the mine." "That's great... that's great." "You've got it all figured out." "You've been planning that for a while, have you?" "We got no choice here." "Where you going?" "Checking we haven't forgotten anything." "What just happened back there?" " What do you mean?" " What do I mean?" "That was the car that passed us outside of your house." "Why is he following you?" "All I can say, he's not the police." "I can't do this without you." "Please." "He just grabbed me." "Let's go." "Here... though it's not your color." "I heard you two last night." "Didn't sound like fear to me." "You weren't listening hard enough." "You ever try to run away knowing there's nowhere you can hide?" "Guess I'm about to find out." "Where are you going?" "You're better off speaking to the police yourself." "I'm not good at lying." "My keys." "My keys... they've got my dog tags on, blood type... they've got everything." "Did you drop them down the mine?" "Oh!" "Colin!" "Colin!" "I'm okay!" "What happened to the rope?" "I don't know!" "Just hold on, okay?" "Jina!" "Jina!" "How'd you get out?" "Same way your husband did." "I'm home!" "So now you're in there with your loverboy." "You better get back to work as fast as you can if you know what's good for you." "A little bit of overtime, ay?" "Otherwise I'll have to make a little call to Frank." "Give him the full rundown." "What can I do for you, Frank?" "Returnin' your call, mate." " Call... what call?" " Yeah..." "What call." "My wife... do a bit of overtime?" "Piss off!" " Where's my wife!" " I don't know where she went." "Where's my fucking wife, huh?" "Where's my fucking wife?" "!" " Take it easy." " Huh?" "How's this for fucking overtime?" "Ahh!" "Yeah... hmm..." "Got any more fucking overtime?" "Ay?" "It's my wife!" "My wife!" "I've seen the way you looked at her." "Huh?" "I've never fucking liked you, you washed-out little prick." "You're always sniffing around, huh?" " Where is she?" " Ahh!" " Where is she?" " Ahh!" " Huh?" " She was at your place." "I followed 'em there." "The front door was locked." "They were probably inside." "I swear..." "Frank, I swear." "I swear..." "I never touched her." "I never touched her." "Please, no, Frank." "This is for thinking about her." "Ahh!" "Fuck!" "Fucking hurts, doesn't it?" "So how did you do it?" "What are you talking about?" "Frank's partner." "What was his name, is it... it's Chris, wasn't it?" "Your ex-boyfriend?" "Yeah, I ran into him down there." "He was wearing that shiny belt like a necktie." "Found these on him, too." "Hmm?" "Is that the way you like it?" "You think that I killed him?" "I loved him." "Yeah... you loved him." "Do you really think I let you go down that mine knowing his body was down there?" "Yes, you would if you thought I wasn't coming back up." "So what happened to the rope?" "You're not gonna believe me whatever I tell you." "All right, now remember, this guy tried to kill me, so let's not take any chances." "Is there another way out of here?" "There's a dirt track." "It takes longer than the highway, so no one uses it." "It'll get us to the hill." "Breathe, Frank." "They'll show..." "This is the only way" " out of town." " No, it's not." "There's another way." "Well, just stay here, okay, just in case I'm wrong." "Got it." "Hide the car, I'll buy the tickets, all right?" "The Indian Pacific departs in five minutes." "All aboard, please." "Thanks." "There you are, mate." "Next, please." " You all right?" " Yeah." "I've got it." "Hey, just relax." "Hey... hey..." "Hey." "He can't get on the train, all right?" "How 'bout you finish telling me how your boyfriend ended up down that mine?" "Where you going?" "I need a drink." "...You better escort me to my room, make sure I fall asleep on the right side of the door." "So I accommodated the lady." "Of course she didn't sleep much." "Just keep walking." "Well, I'll be fucked." "Yeah, your horoscope for the day, I read it too." "Fire that and every cop on the train will come running." "Maybe not." "Don't like your odds." "They're improving all the time." "You wanna know who'll be coming after you?" "Shut the case." "Special drug squad." "State's finest." "Kind of neat, don't you reckon?" "The Asians bring it into the country." "The cops bust the guys on the streets peddling the shit." "Collect it and bundle it up in nice plastic bags and sell it back to the Asians who hand over a shitload of cash." "Neat little circle, perpetual motion." "So you'll have the Asians and the state's finest after you." "I don't give a fuck." "We could do a deal." "I'll put them off your trail for a while." "Even the odds." "Sounds kind of complicated to me." "Straightforward." "There's enough here for both of us." "Not from where I'm standing." "Ah, ah!" "You won't pull that trigger." "I know." "You're a cop." "You know what being a cop's taught me?" "There is no justice." "It's a short trip to the grave, and it's awful dark and dirty for a very long time." "Seems like your wife had other plans." "Likes them young and firm, I hear." "The way I figure it, there's gotta be three possibilities." "Frank found you two together, so he strangled him with his own belt." "Or you wanted Chris to take you away." "You wanted to get out, hm?" "But he refused, so you went to Frank." "You told him a story, you said, what, that, uh... that he was coming on to you, yeah?" "You pushed Frank's buttons, and he did it for you." "Now that wouldn't be too hard but..." "And the third?" "The third." "You did it." "And I didn't think you had any imagination." "What's that?" "That is a police report." "Where did you get this?" "Found it on Chris' body." "It's all in there." "Possession... prostitution, dealing." "So Chris found out that you were married before Frank to a pimp." "A pimp..." "See, you... you had the motive to kill him." "You didn't want Frank to find out about that." "Is that right?" "It wasn't like you imagine." "Chris wanted to take me away." "I said I couldn't go..." "He tried to blackmail me." "I found the letter before Frank even saw it." "I confronted Chris, he was ashamed of what he did." "He said..." "He said he was gonna leave town that night." "Now that... that is imagination, Jina, that is fantastic." "You're good." "So when were you gonna tell me about the money?" "Hm?" "It's in your suitcase, isn't it?" "You tell me I'm wrong." "You have no idea..." "Stop making a scene." "No one's listening but me." "You want to hand it in, that it?" "I finally get out of this mess with nothing to show for it." " You will have your life." " That's not enough." "Where is it?" "You fucking set me up!" "Is this what you're looking for?" "Frank, Frank, just take it easy." "Oh, I'm taking it easy." "Frank, you didn't send me here, did you?" "Was that the first time or the second time, honey?" "Okay, just put the gun down..." "I've already had that conversation with your friend." "Pick him up." " Please..." " All right, come on." "Don't do anything stupid." "Put him down there." "Put him down and keep moving!" "Come on." "Come on, down to the end." "All right, that's far enough... open it." "Open the door." "Open the door!" "I found your partner down at the bottom of the mineshaft." "Right where I left him." " I didn't do..." " Shut up, shut up!" "Open the door." "You just don't get it, Jina." "I would've done anything for you, anything." "We could've gone anywhere." "But you just had to take it all for yourself, didn't you?" "Fuck you, Frank, I never loved you!" "You wanted a second chance, go on, take it, jump!" "Jump!" "You're okay, you're okay, give me the gun." "How long do you think it'd take to save half that amount?" "It's not ours to take." "My mother always said there's three things in life that make you happy." "Health, money and love." "For the first time in my life, I have the first two." "All I need is the third." "Just say yes." "Just lie to me, just once." "Jina?" "Back again." "Most people get out and never come back." "Beer?" "Yeah, why not?" "On the house." "Verdi, "Force of Destiny."" "Now that's music." "Reminds me of a story of the merchant from Baghdad." "Baghdad?" "Yeah, it's in Iraq, you heard of it?" " Yeah, I know it well." " Is that right?" "This merchant sent his servant to the marketplace to buy provisions." "And shortly, the servant comes running back pale and terrified." "And he says, "Master, Master, just now in the marketplace"." ""I was jostled by this old woman in the crowd." ""And when I turned," ""I saw that it was death who had jostled me." ""And she looked at me and she made this threatening gesture." ""Please, Master, lend me your horse" ""so that I can ride out of the city and escape my fate." "I'll go to Samarra where death cannot find me."" "So the merchant lends the servant his horse and... the servant rides to Samarra, 70 miles away, as fast as he can." "Meanwhile, the merchant decides to go and look for this old woman in the marketplace." "And he finds her." "And he says to her, "Why did you make that threatening gesture to my servant?"" "And she said, "That wasn't a threatening gesture."" ""it was a look of surprise." ""You see, I was astonished to see him in Baghdad when I have an appointment with him tonight in Samarra."" "I don't know what happened, and I don't care." "But I want my money."