"As Baltimore's race for mayor heats up, former Homicide lieutenant, Al Giardello, is s cheduled for a press conference this morning, at the Inner Harbor." "He'll be joined by current mayor Kurt Schmoke." "The joint appearance signals an important endors ement for Giardello." "How does it feel to be the favorite the last week of the campaign?" "It ain't over till it's over." "The polls show you 12 points ahead of your opponent, Robert Gessner." "The fat lady has already taken her curtain call, don't you think?" "One thing I've learned working with Homicide unit." "Never assume anything." "Give me a $1.00?" "A $1.50?" "Just a measly $1.50!" "Your recent statement, that if elected, you'd push to legalize drugs." "Do you think this is the issue that has set your campaign apart from your rival's?" "I know what drugs have done to this city." "Educate." "Don't legislate." "That's all for now." "Everybody, take three steps back." "We want Al!" "We want Al!" "We want Al!" "We want Al!" "We want Al!" "We want Al!" "Meldrick, I will partner with you any time, any place, when it comes to a crime." "But I'm not investing in your bar." "Come on, Falsone, you can s ee for yours elf that "The Waterfront" is a moneymaking proposition, man." "It's a cash cow." "Veritable green machine." "Yeah?" "So why you so anxious to cut me a slice." "'Cause my other so called partners are way too silent." "Munch is up in New York looking for fame and glory." "And Bayliss has taken a semi-permanent leave of his senses." "So you need someone to do all the work." "Hey, all I'm asking, Falsone, is just to give it a couple of minutes of your very, very valuable time." "Just examine the concept." "That's all I'm saying." "Yo, officer." "Gentlemen." "Mike Giardello." "As I live and as I breathe." "I heard you traded the Bureau for a beat." "Working on my detective shield." "I love a man in uniform." "Check you out." "Your pop's out there, stumping for mayor, and you're back here having yourself a little yard sale." "Oh, it's been a real media circus." "Every time I open the door it's like candid camera." "Hey." "Alan Funt was a great American, okay, and I took his passing very, very personally." "So what we got here?" "Local dealer." "Shot in the head." "Been dead about a day." "Does our deadhead have a name?" "Jos eph Hardwick." "AKA Yin-Yang." "Yin-Yang?" "Looks like he "yinged" when he should have "yanged."" "Hey, Mike." "Yeah?" "Dispatch just radioed." "They you downtown pronto." "What's up?" "Your father." "He's been shot." "The question remains:" "Is it possible to find a rule of thumb to look outside the realm of religion and its absolute values?" "The answer is no." "All people, in the community, even those without formal religion, formal absolute values, formal spirituality... always construct their own." "Class dismissed." "Mayoral candidate Al Giardello was making a campaign appearance early this morning when he was shot by an unidentified assailant." "Giardello was rushed here to Church Hillman hospital, where he is now undergoing emergency surgery." "His condition is listed as critical." "Here is his son, Officer Michael Giardello, perhaps we'll be able to get a word with him." "Officer Giardello!" "I have nothing to say." " Officer Giardello!" " Look, I don't know anything." "Well, tell me this, how do you feel?" "How do you think I feel?" "Get out of my face!" "Officer Giardello... understandably distraught about this tragic turn of events." "How's my father?" "He was shot in the abdomen." "Maybe more than once." "Is he gonna make it?" "He just went into surgery." "As soon as there's any news, you'll be the first to know." " I promise you." " Soon." "No." "No." "Maybe we should go to the hospital." "Hey!" "G wouldn't want us keeping vigil." "He'd want us out there in the black looking for the ebola that did this." "What about Joseph "Yin-Yang" Hardwick?" "Who?" "Our day-old, dead drug dealer." "Aw, he'll keep." "Oh, look who's back from oblivion." "Hey." "You guys..." "you find the shooter?" "Naw." "We were waiting on you." "Oh, well, I'm here to help." "Sabbatical's over?" "Yeah, for now." "That's weird, ain't it?" "What's that?" "He just packs up his desk, doesn't say nothing to nobody, just splits." "I had things to think about." "Issues." "That's the thing about you Bayliss." "See, you always did have..." ""issues."" "You gonna stand here yapping?" "Step back." "Step back." "Any comment?" "Any comment?" "Frank." "All right, some of you came to homicide after Al Giardello left." "Some of you worked alongside him." "Like Kay Howard, now on the Fugitive squad." "Tim Bayliss, been on a leave of absence." "Frank Pembleton, retired a couple years ago." "You're the almighty, Pembleton." "We've all heard the stories." "Can we get on with this?" "Yep." "Okay." "We got a homeless man, won't give us his name, he grabbed Giardello just before the shooting." "We swabbed his hands for gunpowder residue." "He's clean." "As soon as uniforms bring him up," "I'm gonna interview him, find out what he saw." "We talked to everybody at the rally, and all thevendors, and we brought in a few witness es for further questioning." "And this event was covered by the press, right?" "We're way ahead of you, Frank." "We've requested video footage from the local news stations." "Stivers and Ballard, I need you to collect those cassettes." "Sure, Lieutenant." "Lots of witnesses, what about suspects?" "G's campaign for mayor knocked some noses out of joint." "Made him a few enemies." "Coupled with the ones he already had." "I'm up." "All right." "Howard, Bayliss." "I want you researching G's past." "Get me everything on anybody he ever tangled with." "How far back?" "To his rookie days, if you need to." "Pembleton, Lewis, Falsone." "Make me a list of people that he's pissed off on the campaign trail." "A list?" "Well, I didn't come here to make lists." "Frank." "Just like old times." "Okay, we meet back in an hour." "Yeah, I love you too." "I caught a bullet on a job myself, you know." "Bullet in the brain." "Stanley Bolander." "Used to work for your dad." "Thanks for coming." "I had to, didn't I?" "Your dad, when I was shot..." "He was..." "what's the word?" ""Tenacious."" "Yeah, he is that." "Not like he sent me flowers or anything like that, no." "But he was a pit bull." "He wouldn't let go until they caught the bastard who did it." "Mikey!" "Nonna!" "This is so terrible!" "This is terrible!" "Come on." "What's a new?" "There ain't nothing." "They tell me nothing." "Hey, here's one of G's from '82 that looks promising." "Very blue." "You never told me the squad room was this blue." "Sure I did." "Yeah, but not this shade." "No, huh?" "This is excessively blue." "Azure." "Cobalt." "Cerulean." "Except the board." "All these open cases." "Too much red." "Hurts my eyes." "I'm seeing spots." "What?" "Nothing." "No, something." "No." "Well, what's this, Ryland." "Is this one of your open" " Hmm." "No, no, no, no." "That stone cold sucker is mine, Frank." "Luke Ryland snuffed two women live on the Internet." "And Baltimore being Balto-less, he got off on a technicality." "Next day they found him, curbside, laying there." ".44 slug in the back of his head." " You got a suspect?" " Not anyone." "Nuh-uh." "Whoever did the deed, knew how to execute an execution." "And this, sordid little tale makes you jumpy, because" "No, no, Frank." "Doesn't make me jumpy." "Oh, come on." "You're jumpy." "I know you." "No." "You know something, you don't know me." "Things change, Frank." "People... they change." "Kid's still in the interview room with the homeless guy, huh?" "Yeah, I guess." "Taking way too much time." "Yeah." "You got a name." "I know you do." "Give me a dollar." "You know, I got a hundred eyeballs saw you assault Al Giardello." "Now you saw who shot him, didn't you?" "Didn't you?" "I want a dollar." "I gotta get something to eat." "Come on!" "Just a, measly little dollar?" "That so much to ask?" "You know what?" "I am really losing my patience with you." "You know, I was gonna give you a number two beating." "But you have worked and worked." "And you have earned yourself a number one." "Now I am gonna beat your balls until you tell me what I wanna know." "This does not reflect my command." "I thought you were in charge here, Lt. Gharty." "You better go help your man." "Damn!" "This is gonna cost you, buddy." "This is gonna cost you." "You okay, mister?" "See him come at me?" "Huh?" "See how he came at me?" "Whoa!" "Shit!" "All right, sit down." " Sit down." "Sit down." " Why, you big " "Come on, sit down." "What are you two doing in here?" "What's this?" "Hey, hey, hey," "I'm in the middle of something here." "A dollar." "You asked for a dollar?" "Yeah, I asked for a dollar." "I heard you." "I know you guys are legends, but, uh..." "This is my interview." "Shut up." "What?" "Excuse me?" "I said:" "Shut the hell up." "Me out?" "Yeah, grab a coffee." "This ain't right." "Grab me one, too." "Milk, two sugars." "Well, he's a feisty little guy, isn't he?" "I'll be right in there if you need me." "Tell me what's going on!" "I'm really sorry, sir, but" "I don't know what's going on." "Well, then find me someone who does!" "Hey, Mike, Mike." "It's been hours." "I can't get any real information from anybody." "The hospital has got to cover its ass just like everybody else." "And you want to know something else?" "The minute that he's out of surgery," "I'm sure they'll be telling you exactly what they did and handing you an itemized bill." "Yeah." "Oh, look, they're replaying that little clip of you pushing Helen Lucaitis ass over tea kettle." "Great." "You made the national news." "Al would be proud." "You know, I can't believe you were my father's boss." "For awhile." "But, I was also his equal." "And his underling." "Guess you might say I know all sides of the man." "Yeah, wish I did." "I used to be FBI Liaison with the department." "Took the job to be closer to him." "Make amends." "Maybe put to rest some anger and resentment we have for each other." "But that didn't happen?" "If anything, working together made things worse." "You pimped us." "Oh, man." "He gave everything you told him to the Independent Counsel's office." "Well, how was I to know?" "We were always stepping on each other's toes." "So, I quit." "Started over as a Balto uniform." "Bottom of the totem pole." "I don't know if any of it made any difference to my dad." "If he even noticed." "You wouldn't hurt anybody." "Would you?" "No." "You wouldn't hurt anybody because it's not in you?" "Al Giardello wouldn't hurt anybody either." "It's not in him." "You and he, you got a lot in common." "That's why I asked him for a dollar." "I knew he'd understand." "What's your..." "your name?" "You ain't got an address, what do you need a name for?" "Post office can't find me." "Why should it matter if I have a name." "Well, we don't need to know your name." "What we need to know is if you saw who hurt Al Giardello?" "You got a dollar?" "A dollar?" "I'm jonesin' for a Hershey bar." "I just gave you a dollar." "I'm asking him." "What did you see at the Inner Harbor today?" "I'm a fiend for chocolate." "Didn't I just give you a dollar?" "Didn't I?" "Yeah." "So now you gonna play me for the fool?" "If I give you a dollar, will you tell us what you saw today?" "I'm the fool, right?" "I gave you a dollar, and now, what, huh?" "No, no, no, no." "Put that away." "I'm here out of concern for a good person." "Somebody who means a lot to me." "Means a lot to this city." "And what, now you think this is some kind of deal where you gonna..." "use my concern to mooch money?" "'Cause... you think that you're the key to the puzzle?" "You're holding all the vital info, so yeah, screw me." "And screw him!" "And screw Al Giardello." "Hmm?" "Do you think you mean anything?" "To anybody?" "Anything to this city?" "No." "But I'm here." "I'm extending you my kindness." "I give you what you want, out of goodwill." "And it's not about the money." "It's not about a dollar." "'Cause if you ask me for ten, I'll give you ten." "Ask for a hundred, you got it!" "I'm respecting you." "But you're gonna sit there... and piss on me." "I'm gonna send you to hell, mister." ""I ain't got a name," so feel sorry for my mooching ass." "I'm jonesin' for a Hershey bar." "The guy that I see is in his late 40s-- or early 50s, maybe." " Jonesin' for that Hershey bar!" " Of the Negro persuasion." "The guy is black." "Uh-huh, what's he look like?" "How tall is he?" "He is..." "nearly as tall as me." "Got gray sidewalls." "His hair, you know." "Sideburns." "And he's got a gun." "One of them black guns, that go pop-pop-pop." "An automatic." "I don't know." "Okay, so he shoots this gun, pop-pop-pop." "What happens then?" "Where does he go?" "He just disappears." "He gets swallowed up in the crowd." "I got scared." "I was just trying to get out of there." "And then the cops grabbed me up." "Oh." "Can I have that other dollar now?" "Giardello is still in surgery at this hour." "Meanwhile, police have intensified their investigation, interviewing literally hundreds of witnesses." "We'll have more after this." "And we're out." "I'd like to give you the tape, but I can't." "Okay, well then we'll get a subpoena." "No, you don't understand, I can't." "There was some kind of technical glitch" " with our camera." " Glitch?" "All I got is stuff leading up to the gunshots, then the camera dies." "We're the only station in town that didn't have footage of the actual shooting." "And believe me, I'm not happy, losing out on the biggest news story of the year." "I'm crying big crocodile tears." "Give us what you've got." "Okay, we're back in 10." "So you're living in St. Michael's now, huh?" "Yeah." "Play a little golf." "Practice the cello." "Hey, retirement agrees with you." "You got that healthy pink glow." "That's high blood pressure." "I'm on a zero sodium diet." "Zero as in none." "As in I can't even go down to the ocean." "Take in the sea breeze." "You know how bland life is without salt?" "I was under the impression that you were still in Balto." "No." "That you refuse to answer my calls out of some misdirected spite." "I have never mis-whatevered my spite." "I got married again." "What, number four?" "Yeah." "In two weeks, I'm getting divorced." "Jeez, John!" "I like this." "This is great." "You and I, we're prowling the streets of Baltimore again." "I have never prowled the streets of anywhere with you, all right?" "Don't start agitating me much." " Come on..." " What's the status..." "Step back, step back." "Stop it there." "What are you looking at, Stan?" "Uh, well, you see this guy right here?" "He's right on the edge of the stage." "His body language." "Doesn't look right." "I can't see anything." "We're looking for a gun." "At this angle, you can't even see his hands." "Well, what we need is to enhance the tape." "Yeah, send a copy to the state police lab." "Lieutenant!" "We" "Captain." "My, my, my, look at this." "Sgt. Howard, Frank Pembleton, Munch, Bayliss." "Even the big man." "All the old boys and girls gathered again." "Everybody pals y-walsy." "You interrupt one of my detectives in the course of interviewing a witness?" "I was giving him some relief." "Relief, my ass." "You just wanted to show him who's boss, that's your game." "Sir" "But now I'm gonna show you who's boss." "I order you to apologize to Detective Hall." "Apologize?" "Bobby." "Go ahead." "I... apologize." "Yeah, no problem." "Now what the hell are all of you doing in here?" "We came to help." "This is your call?" "What are you, desperate?" "No, for G we come on our own." "Truly noble." "Get your ass in gear, Gharty." "I want this Giardello shooting down today." "That's what we all want, Gaffney." "This is police business." "You're not a cop anymore, is that right, Frank?" "That's correct." "Then get lost." "Okay." "Sure." "Fine." "Me too, then." "No, no, Bolander." "You can stay." "That's the beauty of power." "It's arbitrary." "I have a press conference at 2:00." "I better have some startling new revelations to tell the media." "Somebody open a window." "That won't do any good, that's "Eau de Gaffney."" "Lingers for days." " Frank?" " Uh, don't worry about it." "If we... if we get anywhere, I'll keep you posted." "Fine, fine." "Give me a ring." "Frank!" "Wait, wait, wait." "You're just gonna leave?" "Yes." "And you're coming with me." "Where?" "If the bosses won't let us investigate, we'll do our own." " Unofficially." " A citizen's brigade." "Okay, let's start with the crime scene." "Excuse me, excuse me, excuse me." "We got 15 different descriptions of a possible shooter from 25 different witnesses." "Some say he's black, some say white." "Some say he's in his 20s, others in his 60s." "Yeah, well, they all agree that the shooter is a man, right?" "Well, actually, a few of them think that maybe he's a woman." "Yeah, I say it's a conspiracy." "Oh, Munch." "This guy that G's running against, what's his name, Gessner." "He sees that he's going to get his ass kicked." "So he decides to take action." "So he hires an assassin, like in the "Manchurian Candidate."" "What did I say about agitating, Munch?" "I'm gonna check out the widow of Raymond Desassy." "What, the guy G shot?" "G shot someone?" "Yeah, a couple, three years ago." "Kevin Lugo, big shock radio personality." "I remember, he got whacked in the Mt." "Washington parking lot." "Yeah, we get a tip Raymond Desassy is the murderer," "Gand I go to his house, Desassy draws a weapon," "G shoots him dead." "Turns out our tip was from Raymond Desassy's best friend." "Called it in as a practical joke." "Desassy's wife was pretty bitter about the whole thing." "Okay, Howard." "Mrs. Desassy it is." "Hey, you need backup?" "Sure." "Stivers, Ballard, take the video tapes to the state lab and study every frame." "Lewis, stop by the courthouse, grab Sheppard, and go talk to Carl Miller." "Carl Miller?" "The pride of the Aryan Nation." "Yeah, he's been beating the drums, trying to start a race war over G's drug policy." "If you're volunteering, how about calling on John Komen?" "Whatever you need, Lieutenant." "Who's John Komen?" "Uh, there was a mass suicide of the African Revival Movement." "Yeah, I saw it on the news." "Yeah, QRT storms the place, finds 16 bodies." "Poisoned." "A real Jonestown." "Not like the other one, where the CIA and the military whacked those people." "Komen's taken over as the head honcho of the movement." "So, we talk to him." "You know, I say a Black Nationalist and two whiter shades of pale detectives don't exactly interface, you catch my drift?" "You know, if you got a problem with it, Munch, make it easy on yourself." "There's an Amtrak back to the Big Apple every hour." "Stan, you know where the African Revival Movement building is?" "If it's in Balto, I can find it." "What do you want me to do, L.T.?" "Check the 800 Tip line." "Okay, we got 48 hours to catch this guy." "Anything longer than that, and you know what hits the fan." "All right?" "We're a team." "Let's go." "Let's catch this bastard." "Could have handled this better, Stuey." "Are you coming, Detective Munch?" "Yeah, yeah, but I'm driving." "You know I like to drive, as long as you don't smoke with the windows closed." " We're gonna smoke." " What you know" " I've got a cigar this big." " Oh, man." "Here we go again." "Mrs. Giardello, any word on his condition?" " Uh, excuse me, do you mind?" " No, no." "Hey!" "Hey, you!" "Leave her alone!" "Leave her alone!" "What are you doing here, anyway?" "Leave her the hell alone!" "We're just doing our job, okay?" "That's no excuse." "Pressure's 90 over 60." "Heart rate's up to 120." "That's the second one." "Big sucker." "Let me see the X-ray." "Suction, please." "Hmm, we need to clean up these rib slivers." "So, how was that for you, Frank?" "Being back in that squad room?" "Strange." "So many things have changed." "Well, the color of the doors and the floors, maybe." "But, the room's the same, the work's the same." "Yeah." "Yeah, I guess that will never be different." "What bothered me the most was not seeing G there, you know?" "Having him charging out of his office like a water buffalo." "As a matter of fact, the last conversation we ever had was over your hospital bed." "After you took the bullet for me." "My partner's down!" "My partner's been shot!" "Somebody!" "But really it wasn't him I was angry at." "It was the whole, you know... bloody business." "Yeah." "I haven't spoken to him since that day." "And now, here it is," "I may never get the chance to speak to him again." "Well, Frank, why don't we just stop by the hospital now, huh?" "He's in surgery." "Besides, I can do more for the man... out here on the street." "He didn't hate you, Frank." "And he knows you didn't hate him." "But I handed him my badge." "He hated that." "You're not upset by the shooting of Al Giardello?" "Upset?" "Yes." "But not surprised." "There's a long tradition in this country of shooting black men who speak the truth." "We got a witness who says that the would-be assassin was black." "A black assassin?" "How convenient." "The white man can always find a race traitor to do his dirty work." "There are those who blame Al Giardello for what happened in this building three years ago." "There's some say he's responsible for those 16 suicides." "Do you think I would want revenge?" "Well, maybe some of your followers" "Which you see where?" "This movement was destroyed that day." "So this morning, at about 8:15" "Was I at the Inner Harbor?" "No." "Anybody who can vouch for your whereabouts?" "I was here." "Okay, what about somebody to back you up, then" "Yes." "They'll tell you that I was at my desk." "Working." "Working?" "Said you had no following." "I'm going to be interviewed this week on the radio." ""The Mark Steiner Show."" "Steiner?" "I like him." "And I'm going to tell the world that Al Giardello was set up by the white banking establishment to run for mayor." "Then shot by them." "The bank shot Giardello?" "Giardello gets popular, he gets shot, he dies." "The city riots." "The city goes up in flames." "The smokes clears." "The banks come in and rebuild the neighborhoods." "Shoving all the poor blacks out to the collar counties." "The banks and the developers want all that land near the harbor." "It's worth hundreds of millions." "The banks, huh?" "If you think about it, the scary part is, it makes sense." "The banks, the multinationals, the real estate lobby." "That's big money, Stan." "Think about it." "When you gonna let me re-open my cart?" "I mean, I'm dying here, I'm losing a whole day's receipts." "I told you and them other detectives 99 times already" "I didn't nothing." "And I told you a hundred times you are lying." "Why would I lie?" "Because you're afraid." "Me?" "No I'm not afraid of nobody." "Yeah you are, you're frightened." "You're frightened of the guy who shot Al Giardello." "You're afraid that if he finds out you I D'd him, he'll come back, shoot you too." "Listen, if you know anything, you should tell us." "We'll protect you." "Yeah, how?" "Look, this thing goes to trial, I've got to testify." "The gunman gets off, I'm dead." "No thanks." "Look, I got no reason to die for this goon Giardello." "Goon?" "Well, legalizing drugs?" "Come on, that's insane!" "Listen, listen, if you don't tell us what you know, that gunman is free and he is running the streets." "If he hits his mark next time, if he kills someone, that's on you." "Yeah, well, guess what." "I can carry that." "Okay, thanks for your time." "Uh, hi, I'm J. H. Brodie." "I used to work with your dad at Homicide." "Hello." "Thank you for coming." "I'm sorry." "I was at D.C. at a film festival and I heard about the lieutenant." "How's he doing?" "I brought him this giraffe." "Yeah, I can't get anybody to tell me anything." "I thought the ER doctors were supposed to be so caring and compassionate and all that crapola." "Yeah, as far as I can tell, nobody gives a tinker's damn." "Do you think Al Giardello will benefit from a sympathy factor?" "Will this put you even further behind in the polls?" "Well, the polls be damned, Donna, a man's life is at stake." "Now, Al Giardello and I may disagree on certain fundamental issues." "But when a tragedy like this occurs, it is essential that we put these differences aside." "No, I'm not here today as a candidate for mayor." "I'm here today as a concerned citizen and as a friend." " Sir." "Sir." " Now excuse me." "My dad hates this guy's guts." "How you holding up?" "I'm all right." "Good man." "Huh." "I have to admit, white supremacists," "I was thinking something a little more south Baltimore." "Yeah." "Trailer park... broken down row house, major appliance on the front stoop." "Exactly." "Not so" "Quaint?" "Yeah, a little more, you know?" "White trash." "You said it, not me." "Sure we got the right address?" "Sure I'm sure." "You ever know me not to have the right address?" "Don't answer that." "Can I help you with something?" "And the very identity of this country as a white, Christian nation is in jeopardy." "Aw, Jerry, I couldn't agree with you more." "But in the words of Thomas Jefferson, and Timothy Mc Veigh once wore this on a t-shirt," ""The tree of liberty must be watered frequently with the blood of patriots, and tyrants."" "Ladies and gentlemen, stay with us." "It looks like I'm about to interview two of Baltimore City's Finest." "When Al Giardello took a bullet, I admit, I thought," ""Well, there's some damn justice."" "Where were you this morning, Mrs. Desassy?" "Me?" "Right here." "Making love to my bottle of gin." "You always start drinking early in the morning?" "Nah." "No?" "I don't start early 'cause I don't stop the night before." "Maybe you should get some help." "Maybe you should shove this bottle where the sun don't shine." "You got anybody that can vouch for your whereabouts this morning?" "My next door neighbor, she was over here." "Mooching a toot." "We may need you for further questioning." "Hey, Ray and me, we was all each other had in the world." "You cops killed him." "I hope that Giardello dies and goes straight to hell." "Only wish I had shot the bastard." "Have a good day." "Where were you around 8:15 this morning?" "When Giardello got shot?" "Yeah." "On the air." "And when the good news came out, across the Jewish controlled mainstream media, we popped a bottle of genuine American sparkling wine and shared the glad tidings with our listeners across the country." "Across the country?" "Well, we reach most of our followers by the Internet." "You can verify that you were in the studio at the time of the shooting." "I'll play you the tapes." "Don't bother." "You could fake that." "You could be on the air and nowhere near this dump." "Then I'll make you a list of people who were in and out of the studio all morning and saw me in the flesh." "Yeah." "Here's some paper." "Here's a pen." "Knock yourself out." "Oh, I do wish we were on the air right now." "So I could describe you all for the benefit of my audience." "Why is that?" "Well, we talk all the time on my program about mud people." "You familiar with the term?" "Yeah, I am." "It's one of our favorite topics." "Along with the evils of race mixing." "Just look at the two of you." "Prime examples of both." "You gotta admit, they've come a long way from the Grand Kleagle," ""Birth of a Nation," cross burning days." "Yep, good old boys have definitely traded in their bedsheets for Web sites." "Assuming these check out, Miller's not G's shooter." "He could have got somebody else to pull the trigger for him." "Or he might have incited it." "The shooter ends up being one of his regular listeners, maybe we can tie Miller in." "Yeah, I'd love to tie him into something." "How many Black nationalist groups are there in Baltimore?" "Many." "Sheppard and Lewis still checking the Aryan angle?" "Yeah." "Baltimore." "City of brotherly love." "That's Philadelphia." "Call me crazy, but don't you think we should be switching with Sheppard and Lewis?" "I mean, what's Gharty thinking, anyway?" "John?" "Billy Lou." "I heard you were in town." "Why didn't you come to see me?" "Billy Lou, this is my old partner, Stan Bolander." "Pleased to meet you." "I guess you have to eat your words about never coming back to Charm City." "When did I say that?" "Maybe I need a cup of coffee." "And telling everybody I ran off with one of your colleagues." "Well, New York Cops, they'll believe anything." "Who did you have in mind?" "Stuart?" "Stivers." "In your dreams." "Maybe I'll see you later." "You see, I got a lot of work to do." "You know where to find me." "Is that the fourth ex-Mrs." "Munch?" "Yeah." "You think maybe I'm not cut out for the domestic life." "Okay." "Guys like you and me." "Work is where we shine." "Work." "Excuse me." "You in the right OR?" "Excuse me." "This is OR 5, here, doctor." "Security!" "There's been a shooting in OR 5." "Security!" "Security!" "He's been shot!" "We got a code red!" "We need a code red here!" "Code red!" "Code red!" "In a bizarre development, shots were fired inside the hospital." "As you can see, QRT teams have been called in." "They are to do a room by room search of the building." "Police are now moving everyone out of the hospital." "Clear!" "Clear!" "Move around." "Don, get in here." "Get in here!" "Clear!" "It's not clear at this point... whether this incident is connected with the shooting this morning of mayoral candidate Al Giardello." "Ready?" "And up." "We've got 90 over 60 still." "Okay." "Heart rate's at 130." "Heart rate's at 130." "Clear!" "You saw this dealer at the rally this morning." "Yeah, man." "Easy Eddie Moe." "I know him all too well." "Used to cop from him when I was in the game." "Back in the day, before I got clean." "Why would he be at a rally for Giardello?" "That's what I'm saying." "To take him down, maybe." "Drug dealers are so flipped out by the idea of Giardello being mayor, man, they're registering to vote." "So where can we find this Mr. Moe?" "Whoa, whoa, whoa, baby, whoa... whoa." "You might want to talk to Bernie Weeks at the Shiny Foil Lounge." "Eddie used to work for him." "Bernie Weeks..." "Wasn't he that dealer we busted by mistake?" "We were looking for Manuel Rendero!" "Right." "He wasn't our shooter, but he had 50 kilos of coke in the trunk of his car." "Yeah." "And now he's back on the street already." "Right." "How could something like this happen?" "We had officers posted on every floor." "How did the shooter get in?" "If I were paranoid," "I'd say someone in the department was involved." "I'm gonna forget you said that." "Has QRT s earched the whole building?" "Yes." "We'll catch him." "It's only a matter of time." " Hey, Mike." " How's my father?" "Another surgeon is working on him." "He didn't miss a beat." "And the one who's shot?" "Second surgical team's cutting into him now." "Are we positive the two shootings are related?" "What are you talking about?" "Of course they're related." "Maybe Dr. Williams has enemies." "The shooter was after my father." "We won't know for until we can get in there and investigate." "Right now our Crime Scene is still in OR." "Colonel Barnfather!" " He's not in there." " Damn!" "He must have escaped when everybody was rushing out." "Let's get everybody back inside." "Always" "Always wondered myself why they just didn't do what he said." "Kick the bottom out of the market by making the stuff legal." "Put me out of business like that." "So, you're happy Giardello got shot?" "No, I didn't say all that." "It could backfire, the... what you call it?" "Sympathy vote." "You know what our next question is, don't you?" " Do I got a alibi?" " Yeah." "Maybe I should just call my attorney." "Whoa!" "You don't need to lawyer up yet." "Come on, this is still friendly." "You lawyer up, we gotta put you in the system." "Waste of time for all of us." "You Homicide, right?" "You know anybody in Narcotics?" "Yes, absolutely." "You got any juice with Steve Fletcher?" "I could talk to him, yeah." "'Cause if you could get that bastard off my back." "I mean, he's camped out on my front stoop." "My oldest daughter thinks he's gonna kill me." "Just bust in the front door, and grease me in my own bed." "The stress is just aggravating her ass." "I'll speak to him." "I ain't do Giardello." "Well, how about your crew?" "Them neither." "Wait, wait, wait." "We got an eyewitness, says that Easy Eddie was at the rally." "He don't work for me no more." "He was spending too much time running his mouth about Giardello and not enough time bringing me the cash money." "Soon as it happened, everybody thought the shooter had to be Easy Eddie." "Okay." "Okay, so we'll give this to Gharty." "And if this Easy Eddie Moe is the shooter... then he's in the wind." "You and I are never gonna be able to find him." "Not on our own." "I could really use a cup of coffee." "Oh, y eah, good, I'll be buying." "No, no, I can't." "Because of the stroke." "You know, for a minute, I forgot." "For a minute there, it s eemed like time hadn't even gone by." "For a minute, it was eight years ago." "You know, Frank, I never... never told you how much I... enjoyed having you as a partner." "You know, how much I loved-- working with you." "You think maybe a cop shot G?" " What?" " A cop." "Why would a cop, one of us, want to shoot G?" "I'm not talking about one of us." "I'm talking about a cop with attitudes, with prejudices, a redneck cop." "Well, God knows there's plenty of those around." "A Gaffney!" "A guy who'll put in the time, walk the beat, he sees Giardello making a reach for power, decides to..." "change history." "Yeah, yeah, that's a real interesting idea, Frank." " Cops as killers." " Happens." "Kellerman plugged Luther Mahoney." "Still thinks some boy in blue finished off, uh..." " Gordon Pratt." " Yeah, me, too." "Hey, you know, saying you're right-- saying that some law enforcement officer shot Giardello" "How do we find him?" "Where do we start?" "I don't know." "Needle in a haystack." "Let's go see how Ballard and Stivers are doing with that videotape." "You know why I left Homicide?" "Why?" "Because I could..." "not... hear... one more..." "confession." "I got sick of hearing people confess to me." "Like some Jesuit." "I'd sit there in the box, listening to some guy not only admit to... having just killed someone, but cop to all the other crap in his life that over the course of his life had... led him..." "to that point." "You would have made a great Jesuit, Frank." "Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee..." "I'm not gonna sugarcoat reality for you." "Internal damage, substantial." "Your father was shot twice in the abdomen." "One bullet pierced his right kidney and colon." "The other missed the vital organs but pulverized a rib." "He's looking at several more operations to fully repair the colon and remove the damaged kidney." "And the risk of peritonitis remains high." "Recovery is gonna take some time, but I think the long term prognosis is good." "He's a very strong man." "His general health is excellent." "When do you think I can talk to him?" " I don't know." " Well, that's refreshing." "A doctor who doesn't know everything." " You're welcome." " Hey, I'm not thanking you." "I have been here all day worried to death." "I have big problems with the way this place is run." "I'm two under par on the 15th green with a four foot gimme, about to go to three under when I get beeped." "I drop my club" " I don't even take the shot." "I got here" " OR is a war zone." "Kosovo on ice." "You'd rather we held your hand, or saved your father's life?" "Putz." "The gun, the gun." "Where the hell is the gun?" "Right there." "Pull it up." " This guy?" " No, that guy." "You want to see what he's holding in his hands?" "Yeah, do your voodoo." "Okay, see, he's holding something in his right hand." "Anything?" "Maybe." "Look, he's definitely holding something." " No, that's a tapere corder." " A microcassette recorder." "Well, you guys got anything?" "A drug dealer with a grudge." "We passed that on to Gharty." "How far into these tapes are you?" " About halfway." " You mind if we sit in?" " Not a problem." " Please." " Let's go!" " Huh?" "What?" "I'm buying you breakfast." "What are you doing?" "Get back in bed." "I feel fine." "Never felt better." "You've been shot twice." "You shouldn't be out of bed." "I feel fine." "Let's go down to Jimmy's and get some scrapple." "Get some funnel cakes, with frim-fram sauce, chufafa on the side." "What?" "Nat King Cole was a merry old soul." "A merry old soul was he." "Wait, wait, Pop." "Are you sure you should be doing this?" "My cholesterol is down." "I'll risk it!" "I don't mean having breakfast at Jimmy's." "I mean checking yourself out of the hospital." "Don't ask, don't tell." "I won't if you won't." "Pop, you know you're not making any sense." "Why don't you lay back down and let me call a nurse?" "Sh-hh!" "Last one out is a rotten egg." "Mike?" "Hello, Dr. Bristol." "Do you know Julianna Cox?" "She was my predecessor's chief medical examiner." "Hi." "I'm really sorry to hear about your dad." "Thank you." "We've been talking to his doctor and getting the full story." "His prognosis sounds promising." "Knowing G the way I do, I'm sure he's gonna pull through." "Excuse me." "I gotta take a walk." "Hey, Mike?" "I'm gonna take your grandmother home." "She's exhausted." "Oh, thanks, Megan." "Get some rest." "Speaking of rest, you could use some." " Grab some nap time." " I'm too fired up to sleep." " Will you call me later?" " Yeah." "Mike." "They told me downstairs your dad's out of surgery." "Yeah, yeah, he's in ICU ." "You hear anything from Homicide?" "They catch the shooter?" " I've been so caught up here." " I'm sure they're all over it." "I wanna go down there in a little while anyway." "I have an idea I want to tell Gharty about." "I could go with you." "I know I'm not a cop anymore." "And there's a lot of people who would be just as happy never to see my mug again, but G was always good to me." "And fair." "Yeah, sure." "Come on." "Brodie!" "Hey, hey, I just filmed a triple bypass operation." "It was awesome, man." "Do you guys know that this is the very hospital where Edgar Allan Poe died of rabies?" "News to me." "I guess they must have remodeled." "We're gonna head down to headquarters for a while." "If my dad comes to, would you beep me?" "Sure." "That kidney is definitely history." "It is amazing how effectively they treat gunshot traumas nowadays." "Even 10 years ago, these bad boys would have been fatal." "The upside of automatic weapons." "They've expanded the boundaries of medical science." "Talk about your silver lining." "Wish I knew what caliber." "What's your best guess?" " It's odd." " What?" "I'm just not used to seeing a body still breathing." "So judging from the damage, the internal damage, the assassin was how far away when he fired, would you say?" "15 feet, max." "Maybe as much as 25?" "No, no, the injuries are much too severe for that." "Much too severe for that distance." "I would love to get in there, and have a good look around." " Not that I want him..." " No, no, of course not." " I know what you mean, though." " I'm sure you do." "When I first moved back to Baltimore, there were a series of murders in Little Italy." " Your cousin, right?" " Mario." "Mario?" "It's Al." "Oh..." "Oh, man..." "Now eventually we caught and we convicted the two children of one of Mario's enemies." " Carlo Rolletta." " Yeah, I remember." "Maybe another member of Rolletta's family is responsible for Dad's shooting." " It's possible." " Put one of your guys on it." " I ought to put you on it." " Me?" "Yeah." "You know the people in that neighborhood, they'll talk to you." "Oh, yeah." "Just casual conversation between me and some old friends." "You wanna talk to me now?" "You wanna talk to me now?" "Talk!" "Talk!" "I'll talk!" "I'll talk!" "You tell me!" "Tell me what I wanna know!" " All right." " No, he knows!" "Mike!" "Mike, enough." "Enough." "One of the things your father taught me was how to recognize a dead end." " Dead end?" " Uh-huh." "And this is a dead end." "Michael?" "Michael?" "Dad?" "Yeah?" "They get the guy who shot me?" "No, not yet." "But everybody is working every side of the equation." "Including Bayliss and Pembleton." "Pembleton?" "That doesn't smell like hospital food to me." "Nonna brought me some gnocchi." "But the doctor won't let me eat any of it." "Mangia." "Grazie, but I wish I had known." "I had just finished whipping down some bad Chinese takeout." "Michael, because you became a policeman, doesn't mean you have to eat like a dog." "Yeah, well, you've always said that." "When I went to Rome..." "We would sit down, and have a two hour lunch... with three full courses, and a good wine." "That's why the Romans never get anything done." "But they knew how to live." "That's important, Michael." "I hear you." "To know how to live... in the little time that we have." "Okay." "No more bad takeout." "Promise me." "I promise." "Bene." "Okay." "That was Falsone." "That day-old dead drug dealer, Yin-Yang Hardwick?" "What, that K.C. and Lewis picked up this morning?" "Yes." "The lab boys did a comparison of the slugs out of G and our dead dealer." "Same gun." "We have a witness that places a dealer named Easy Eddie Moe at the scene." "And another dealer that says that Eddie had it in for G." " Maybe Easy Eddie shot Yin-Yang." " Yeah, maybe he did." "Let's you and me meet Falsone, see if we can help him out." "Maybe there's a connection between Easy Eddie, Yin-Yang and G." "Fine by me." "I can't look at these tapes another second." "Okay, back it up for me." "I was looking out of my kitchen window and I saw the man, clear as day." "Well-dressed." "Good-looking." "Walked up the alley to that boy, that Yin-Yang." "Spoke to him for a moment, I figured he was buying drugs." "Then the well-dressed man took out his gun and shot that boy dead away." " What did he look like?" " Who?" "Which one?" "The well-dressed man." "40 or so." "Gray at the temples." "Beard." "Glasses." " Distinguished." " Black?" "Oh, yes." "Blacker than you or me." "Sound like Easy Eddie to you?" "Not much." "You watch these tapes of G getting shot, over and over, frame by frame, in slo mo, the act itself stops being shocking." "That's the problem with the job." "Things stop shocking you." "You know that murderer, Luke Ryland?" "The one you said made me jumpy." "Those women that he killed, those murders, they still shocked me." "They angered me." "Good-- whoa!" "What's that?" "Go back." "Wow, you see that?" "Wow!" "That's pop-pop-pop..." "followed by a puff of white smoke" "Pow!" "Right here." "Just a wisp." " Right..." " Where?" "Okay, hold on." "Go forward." " I still don't see it." " Okay, give it to me bigger." "Okay." "Daniels, cameraman." "See that?" "Well, it could be, I just didn't see a gun." "I mean, where's the gun?" "I don't know..." "Boom." "But if this smoke is coming from a gun, then it's right next to the Y.A.T. cameraman." "Pow!" "You hear that?" "You're saying the shooter was the cameraman from WYAT?" "Maybe, maybe." "Now this is tape from channel 11." "See that, see that puff of white smoke?" "Yeah, I see it." "That's with the pop-pop-pop." "Not just showing him with the gun?" "No, no, of all the tape that we looked through, there's no gun visible from any angle." "You feel there's something to this?" "Could be." "Yeah." "Frank and me, we'll go suss it out." "Yeah, well, Bayliss, you go, but," "Pembleton, um..." "I think you should back off right now." "Right now?" "It's not my decision." "You saw, I had my lunch handed to me for letting you take over that homeless guy." "When Bayliss called in the tip on Easy Eddie Moe," "I knew you guys were working out there." "I didn't say squat." "But this is..." "It's not like I ever had a lot of respect for you, okay?" "But what are you doing?" "Putting up with this nonsense from Gaffney." "I had to get off the street." "I could smell it." "I wasn't gonna last." "I live with Gaffney and the rest of the brass because that's what this job is." "I'm just a stooge." "I know that." "But it's better than being out there." "Al Giardello had nothing but respect for you." "He stood up for you." "For the rest of his men." "Covered our asses and didn't give a crap about Gaffney or anybody else because it was all about putting down the cases." "So take a cue from G." "See, you're heading a detective squad... and they're looking to you." "Give them something... or else walk the hell away." "All right, all right, wait, wait, wait." "Hold." "Go over to YAT and find out who this guy is." "That was spoken like a champ." "A true murder police." "Kiss my ass." "The guy you're looking for, his name's Eric Thomas James." "Okay, is he still on the job?" "He was down at the hospital, but he's off now." "We'll need his home address." "You have any idea what he thinks about Al Giardello?" "I don't have a clue." "I never heard him talk politics." "I don't know anything about the man at all." "He's a freelancer." "Works weekends, evenings." "He comes and goes." "What can I tell you?" "He's a cameraman." "He's removed." "He sits behind his lens and observes people." "Cameramen." "They're a little "hinky," if you know what I mean." "Mr. James?" "Eric Thomas James?" "Yes." "Detective Bayliss, Baltimore Homicide." "This is my partner." "Frank Pembleton." "I suppose you better come in, yeah." "I've got some coffee here." "Would you like some coffee?" " No, thank you." " I'll take a cup." "Sure." "I know it's late, but I don't sleep much." "Well, neither do I. Thank you." "You're welcome." "I've been expecting you." "Why is that?" "See this?" "It's my boy's room." "Any weapons in the house, Mr. James?" " I don't have a gun." " Well, just having a check." "Were you at the Inner Harbor this morning, Mr. James?" " And at the hospital?" " I was working." "But I'm going to show you something, okay?" "It's my boy." "It's my son, Tommy." "You know...?" "No, look." "He's got it all." "He's got smarts..." "and he's good looking, and he's got girlfriends, and..." "He's gonna make his mark." "He's gonna leave his imprint on the world." "He's just got his license, and... me and the wife, we're gonna, get a hold of a used car, you know, for college." "And where is Mrs. James?" "Who knows?" "She left." "I don't know, a couple weeks ago, she just... left." "Buffalo." "No, Buffalo." " Her sister." " Sit down." "But I haven't called her, she hasn't..." "I don't have the energy." "You haven't asked, but..." "Yes..." "I shot that man this morning." "Giardello." "Mr. James, we're going to have to advise you of your rights." "My rights?" "I have the right to have things as they were three months ago." "I play by the rules." "I pay my taxes." "I cut my lawn." "I mean, that's what you're supposed to do, right?" "So, I don't deserve to have my son die." "Your son is dead?" "Yes." "Well, I'm sorry." "Why?" "No one should have a child that dies." "Maybe you should tell that to all those bigshots." "You know, want to legalize drugs, give everybody the right to get high on whatever they want." "Okay, okay." "You've admitted shooting Al Giardello?" "Yes, I shot him." "I wanted to kill him." "But, hey, why should I expect to be a sharpshooter?" "And why should I expect my son, go all the way into Baltimore, buy his dope... and OD..." "right on the street." "And his friends-- why?" "Why did they leave him?" "Why did they leave him on the street?" "They just left him there to die." "Three months ago to the day." "This is how he left his room, you see?" "I'm sorry about the doctor, okay?" "I never meant that." "And..." "I meant to shoot the drug dealer who sold my Tommy the drugs." "And that man, Giardello, because he was trying to legalize drugs." "That's what I'm trying to stop." "I'll shoot whoever says it's okay." "I'm just trying to save all those innocent kids." "I understand..." "Yeah." "You know what, I don't have any cuffs on me, Frank." "You don't need them." "Hey, hey." "He had the gun attached to the camera, which is why no one saw it." "And it's right here that... he keeps the camera rolling after he shoots G." "Although he neglected to turn the cassette in to YAT." "We show this tape in court, Eric Thomas James is done." "We got two counts of attempted murder:" "Giardello and Dr. Williams." "30 years each." "Not to mention the spare change he'll pick up for killing the drug dealer." "Congratulations." "Thanks." "I'll need you both to testify." "Yeah, yeah, we'll be there." "I know how James feels." "You gotta stop those that are gonna hurt the innocent." "James is a lunatic." "He's certifiable." "His son gets killed." "He's gotta do something." "Hey, say, uh..." "Say one of your kids gets hooked on drugs." " One of my kids what?" " Gets hooked." " They wouldn't." " Just say that they did." "They're not going to." "It's not gonna happen." "Case closed." "You have no sympathy for James, for what he's going through?" "James is trying to lay the blame on G, because in his heart of hearts he knows that he's responsible for what happens to his kid." "I appreciate how he feels." "You can appreciate it all you want to, Tim, but there's a line between right and wrong." "Yeah, well, you're the expert on that, Frank." "Nothing lumpy about you." "You know all." "The city looks clean tonight." "We can't all be you, Frank." "Think I'm gonna take my wife out to dinner in the harbor." "Sometimes you can lose your bearings." "Sometimes, the line isn't so clear." "Of course the line is clear." "There's good, there's evil." "You never shot anyone, did you?" " No." " No." "And you never would?" "I never had to." "I've been lucky." "Yeah." "The righteous cop." "Line's always been clear to you." "Not always." "Time for one more confession, Frank." "Defendant is set free." "Confession?" "I killed a man." "I'm not in the mood, all right?" "Luke Ryland." "Be seeing you, detectives." "Who?" "I shot the bastard dead." "Good." ""Go to jail." "Go directly to jail." "Do not pass Go--"" "I'm not kidding, Frank." "I killed him." "Come on, Tim." "You couldn't kill anybody." "Frank, he got off on a technicality." "Defendant is set free." "The bastard had to die before he went out and he murdered another innocent woman." "Don't screw with me." "You killed this, whoever?" "Luke Ryland." "Internal cleared you?" "Frank..." "I'm saying that I hunted the bastard down, and when I found him, I blew his brains out." "I executed him in cold blood." "And I'm saying, Internal rules this as a good shooting?" "No, no." "Internal doesn't know crap about me killing Ryland." "You're standing here telling me you killed somebody?" "Yes." "In self defense?" "No." "You're standing there with your weapon, and it went off, and you don't remember how." "Frank" "Guns go off accidentally." "Happens all the time." "It was no accident." "No, I'm saying this is an accident." "For you to shoot somebody?" "It's gotta be a mistake." "No, no, no." "It's no mistake." " No accident." " Tim...!" " Frank, you're a good cop." " I'm not a cop anymore." "No, you're always gonna be a cop." "No, I'm a teacher." "I teach." "Civilians." "No" " I murdered this son of a bitch, because he was a predator, Frank." "He preyed on women." "What?" "Why are you doing this?" "I put the gun right up to the mother's brain and I pulled the trigger." "Shut up!" "Just shut up!" "You put this on me." "You son of a bitch." "In here, I know that I did right." "But for here..." "So you waited till I came back, so you could... unload this...?" "Unburden yourself?" " What's supposed to happen now?" " You tell me." "I'm not bringing you in." "No, huh?" "I'm not a cop." "It's not official." "Really?" "What are you going to do, not say a word?" "Gonna keep my little secret to yourself?" "Son of a bitch!" "You son of a bitch!" "You murdered him." "I executed him, Frank." "Who was the primary?" " Lewis." " You talk to him?" "No." "I came to you first." "Who else would I tell, Frank?" "But did you talk to Lewis?" "About this case?" "No." "So nobody suspects you're the shooter?" "No..." "no, man..." "Suspect me?" "Good ol' Tim Bayliss, the Zen detective?" "Huh." "So, you... you'll take me in." "I'm gonna take you in." "Are you wild?" "No." "You'll take me in, Frank." "No." "Did I take..." "a bullet for you?" "No, no." "Cut it out." " Did I take a bullet for you?" " I'm not taking you in" "Did I take a bullet for you?" "I take a bullet for you, and you take a bullet for me." "Now that is square business, Frank." "This is not taking a bullet for you." "This is you wanting me to toss your ass in the junkpile." "You're confessing to a murder." "Do you understand that?" "You want someone else should take me in?" "Someone else should bust me." "Is that what you want?" " No." " Then it has to be you." "No, no, no." "Frank, listen." "Listen to me." "I've thought about eating my gun, and I'm gonna eat that gun-- right now-- if you don't do the right thing for me, Frank!" "For right here!" "I have no other... no other option, Frank." "Please...?" "You thought about putting a gun to yourself?" "Yeah." "You'd be saving my life." "I don't know for how long." "For now." "At least you would." "I believe that you did not mean to do this killing." "You believe what you want to believe." "That's okay." "So we're gonna turn around... right now... and we're gonna go back inside... okay?" "Never put off the inevitable, Frank." "It's gotta be what it's gotta be." "Son of a bitch." "Frank..." "If you absolve me..." "Absolve you?" "I can't." "Can't?" "That's remarkable, I mean... 'cause I was certain that you could." "I think maybe..." "Mary and I are going to stay home tonight." "Have dinner with the kids." "Thank you." "I would like to make a toast, actually." "To Al Giardello..." "too badass to die." "And to Bayliss and Pembleton." "Where are Bayliss and Pembleton?" "Oh, come on, do you really expect to see the notoriously antisocial Frank Pembleton here?" " What about Bayliss?" " Who knows?" "Yeah, really, who does know?" "What's up with that Bayliss anyway?" "Is he pitching, or is he catching?" "Who cares?" "Hey, hey, I'm making a toast." "It's bad luck not to finish the toast." "Says who?" "Says me." "So, to Bayliss and Pembleton, who doggedly pursued the case, despite interference from the bosses, and brought the shooter to justice." "And to new friends." "And old friends." "To pathological friends." "Hey, you know, Lewis, I really love this joint." "Maybe I will be your partner." "You serious, man?" "I'll sell you my third in a New York minute." "Not so fast." "We're still married." "I own half of your third." "Hey, hey, Tony!" "Tony!" "Tony!" "Tony!" "I was at the hospital." "So what's the latest?" "He died." "Lieutenant Giardello died." "That's not funny, son." "Wasn't meant to be funny." "Doctor said it was some kind of aneurysm." "It was fast." "And there was no pain." "No pain, huh?" "That's what the doctor said." "Hello, I'm Frank Pembleton." "Mike Giardello." "I heard about G. I'm sorry." "Thanks... for catching the man that killed my father." "I'm good at catching the bad guys." "Caught me a couple tonight." "Lot of people worked in this squad room over the years." "Lot of them have died." "Beau Felton got killed in the line of duty." "Steve Crosetti committed suicide." "To this day, nobody knows why." "Do you miss it?" "Homicide?" "I don't know." "It's not like you could escape it, you know?" "Death is every day." "Death goes on..." "and on and on and on..." "And that's because life... goes on, and on." "Tina?" "Hey, hey, hey." "G." "Felton?" "We've been waiting for you." " Crosetti." " Have a seat." "Okay." "Jack of spades for Mr. Beau Felton." "A 10 of diamonds for my esteemed lieutenant." "And a whole lot of nothing for the little Italian salami brain." " What are we playing?" " Five card stud." "Who's the fourth chair for?" "We don't know yet." "But they'll be here sooner or later." "Anybody I know?" "Maybe." "It's not like it's written in stone." "It's not preordained, or anything, Lieutenant." "I suddenly got worried." "My son." "He's a cop." "I thought maybe" "I wouldn't worry, Lieutenant." "Life is short." "And once you're dead... you're a long time dead, if you know what I mean." "Your son?" "Michael." " He's a good kid?" " Yes." "You taught him well?" "I tried my best." " I wish" " G... no regrets, huh?" "You know what the best thing about this place is?" "All the worries and cares that you had in life..." "They don't matter anymore." ""Rest in peace"... means what it says." "Lieutenant, do you want a cup of coffee?" "Coffee." "Coffee would be good." " Do you have any espresso?" " No espresso." "Where do you think you are, heaven?" "Sit!" " $20 to you, G." " I'm in." "Okay, we got one more card coming up here." "We have another card there." "Who am I to need you when I'm down?" "And where are you, when I need you around?" "Your life is not your own" "Who am I?" "Who am I?" "Who am I?" "Who am I?"