"Fargo, North Dakota" "I'm Jerry Lundegaard." " You're Jerry Lundegaard?" " Yah." " Shep Proudfoot said..." " He said you'd come at 7.30." "What gives?" "Shep said 8.30." "We've been here an hour." "He's peed three times already." "Aw." "I'm sure sorry." "Shep told me 8.30." "It was a mix-up, I guess." " You got the car?" " Yah, you bet." "Its out in the lot there." " Brand-new, burnt-umber Ciera." " Yeah, OK." "Well, sit down, then." "I'm Carl Showalter." "This is my associate, Gaear Grimsrud." "Yah." "How ya doin'?" " So, we all set on this thing, then?" " Sure, Jerry." "Why wouldn't we be?" "Yeah, no, I'm sure you are." "Shep vouched for you." "I've got every confidence in you." "I guess thats it, then." "Here are the keys." "No, thats not it, Jerry." " Huh?" " The new vehicle, plus $40,000." "Yah, but the deal was the car first, then the $40,000, like as if it was the ransom." " I thought Shep told you." " Shep didn't tell us much." " Well, OK." "Its..." " Except that you'd be here at 7.30." " Yah, that was a mix-up." " Yeah." "You already said that." "Yah." "But its not a whole pay-in-advance deal." "See, I give you a brand-new vehicle in advance, and then..." " I'm not gonna debate you, Jerry." " OK." "I'm not gonna sit here and debate." "I will say this, though." "What Shep told us didn't make a lot of sense." "Oh, no, its real sound." "Its all worked out." " You want your own wife kidnapped?" " Yah." "You..." "My point is, you pay the ransom, what, 80,000 bucks?" "I mean, you give us half the ransom - 40,000." "You keep half." "Its like robbing' Peter to pay Paul." "Makes no sense." "OK." "See, its not me paying the ransom." "The thing is, my wife, she's wealthy." "Her dad, he's real well-off." " Now, I'm in trouble." " What kind of trouble you in, Jerry?" "Well, thats..." "I'm not gonna get into..." "See, I just need the money." " Now, her dad, he's real well-off." " So why not just ask him for the money?" " Or your fucking wife." " Or your fucking wife, Jerry." "Well..." "Its all part of this..." "They don't know I need it, see." "OK, so there's that." "And even if they did, I wouldn't get it." "So there's that on top, then." " These are personal matters." " Personal matters?" "Yah." "Personal matters that needn't..." "OK, Jerry." "You're tasking us to peftorm this mission, but you won't..." "You won't..." "Oh, fuck it." "Lets take a look at that Ciera." "Minneapolis, Minnesota" " Hon!" " Hi, hon." "Welcome back." " How was Fargo?" " Yah." "Real good." "Dad's here." " How ya doin', Wade?" " Yah." "Pretty good." " What you watchin' there?" " Gophers." "Who they playin'?" " Is he staying' for supper, then?" " Yah, I think so." "Dad?" " What?" " You stayin' for supper?" "Yeah." " May I be excused?" " What?" " You done there?" " Uh-huh." "I'm going out." " Where are you going?" " Just McDonald's." " Back at 9.30." " OK." "He just ate." "He didn't finish." "He's going to McDonald's instead of finishing here." " He sees his friends there." "Its OK." " Its OK, McDonald's?" "What do you think they do there?" "They don't drink milkshakes!" "Its OK, Dad." "Wade, have you had a chance to think about that deal I was talkin' about?" " Those 40 acres there on Wayzata?" " You told me about it." "Yah." "You said you'd think about it." "I understand its a lot of money." "Its a heck of a lot." "What did you want to put there?" " A lot." "Its a limited..." " I know its a lot." " I mean a parking lot." " Yeah, well, $750,000 is a lot." " Yeah, well, its a chunk, but..." " I had two lots." "Lost a lot of money." " Yah, but the difference..." " Why not show it to Stan Grossman?" "Stan'll say no dice." "Thats why you pay him." "I'm askin' you here, Wade." "This could work out real good for me and Jean and Scotty." "Jean and Scotty never have to worry." "Where is Pancake's House?" " What?" " We stop at Pancake's House." "You nuts?" "We had pancakes for breakfast." "I gotta go to a place where I can get a shot and a beer and steak." "Not more fucking pancakes." "Come on." "Oh, come on, man." "OK, here's an idea." "We can stop outside of Brainerd." "I know a place there we can get laid." " I'm fuckin' hungry now." " Yeah, yeah." "Jesus." "I'm saying we can stop, get pancakes and then we'll get laid." "All right?" "We sat right here in this room and went over this." " Yah, but that TruCoat..." " I said I didn't want any TruCoat." "Yah, but I'm saying, that TruCoat, you don't get it, you get oxidation problems..." "You're sitting there talking in circles like we didn't go over this already." " Yeah, but this TruCoat..." " We had a deal for $19,500." "Darned if you didn't tell me you'd get me this car without the sealant for $19,500." " All right, I'm not saying I didn't." " You called me and said you had it." ""Ready to make delivery" you says." "And here you are and you're wasting my time and my wife's time." "And I'm paying $19,500 for this vehicle here." "All right." "I'll talk to my boss." "See, they install that TruCoat at the factory." "There's nothing we can do." "But I'll talk to my boss." "These guys here." "These guys." "Its always the same." "Its always more." " You going to the Gophers on Sunday?" " Oh, you betcha." "You wouldn't have an extra ticket?" "You kiddin'?" "Well." "He's never done this before, but seein' as its special circumstances an' all, he says I can knock $100 off that TruCoat." "One hundred?" "You lied to me, Mr Lundegaard." "You're a bald-faced liar." "Bucky, please." "A fucking liar." "Bucky, please." "Where's my goddamn chequebook?" "Lets get this over with." "Where is it?" "From Hollywood, The Tonight Show, star..." "I am talking about your potential." "You're not a C student." "Yeah." "Yet you're gettin' C grades." "Its that disparity there that concerns your dad and me." " You know what a disparity is?" " Yeah!" "OK." "Well, thats why we don't want you goin' out for hockey." "Oh, man!" "Come on." "Whats the big deal?" "It's just an hour...." "Hold on." " Whats the big deal?" " Hello." " Yeah, hi, hon." " Oh, hi, Dad." " Is Jerry around?" " Yah." "Hon?" "Yah, he's here." " I'll catch him for ya." "Hon?" "Its Dad." " OK." " Look, Dad, there's no fucking way..." " Scotty!" "Hey, lets watch that language there." " How ya doin' there, Wade?" " Whats goin' on?" "Nothin', Wade." "How ya doin' there?" "Stan Grossman looked at your proposal." "He says its pretty sweet." " No kiddin'?" " Might be interested." "No kiddin'?" "I'd need the cash pretty quick there, in order to close the deal." "Come by at 2.30." "We'll talk about it." "If your numbers are right, Stan says its sweet." " Stan, you know, Grossman." " Yah." " 2.30." " Yah." "OK." "Say, Shep, how ya doin' there?" "Say, you know those two fellas you put me in touch with up there in Fargo?" " Put you in touch with Grimsrud." " Well, he had a buddy there." "He..." " I don't vouch for him." " Thats OK." " I vouch for Grimsrud." "Who's his buddy?" " Carl something." "Never heard of him." "Don't vouch for him." "He's a buddy of the guy you vouch for, so I'm not worrying." "I gotta get in touch with him." "This deal I needed 'em for, I may not need it any more." "Something's happenin', see." " Call him up." " I did, and I haven't been able to get him." "So I thought maybe you'd know an alternate number." " Nope." " OK." "Well, real good, then." "Can you crack a fuckin' window open, man?" "You know, its proven second-hand smoke is a carcino..." "You know, a cancer agent." "Look at that" " Twin Cities." "Thats the IDS building, the big glass one." "The tallest skyscraper in the Midwest, after the Sears in Chicago, or John Hancock Building, whatever." "Have you ever been to Minneapolis?" "Nope." "Would it kill you to say something?" " I did." " "No"?" "Thats the first thing you've said in the last four hours." "Thats a fountain of conversation, man." "Thats a geyser." "I mean, whoa, daddy." "Stand back, man." "Shit." "I'm sittin' here drivin'" " I'm doin' all the driving', whole fuckin' way from Brainerd - just tryin' to chat, you know, keep our spirits up, fight the boredom of the road, and you can't say one fuckin' thing just in the way of conversation?" "Oh, fuck it." "I don't have to talk either, man." "See how you like it." "Just total fuckin' silence." "Two can play at that game, smart guy." "We'll just see how you like it." "Total silence." "Mr Lundegaard, this is Reilly Diefenbach from GMAC." "How are you this morning?" " Real good." "How you doin'?" " Good." "You're hard to get on the phone." "Yah, its pretty darn busy here, but thats the way we like it." "Thats for sure." "Now, I just need, on these last financing documents you sent us," "I can't read the serial numbers." "Yah, but its OK." "The loans are in place." "I already got the..." "What?" " $320,000." "You got the money last month." " Yah." "So we're all set, then." "Yes, but the vehicles you're borrowing on, I can't read the serial numbers." "If you..." " But the deal's done." "I got the money." " Yes." "We have an audit here." "I just have to know that these vehicles you're financing with this money exist." " Yah, well, they exist all right." " Well, I'm sure they do." "But I can't read the serial numbers, so if you could read me..." "Yah, but, see..." "I don't have 'em in front of me." "Why don't I fax you over a copy?" "Fax is no good." "Thats what I have, and I can't read the darn thing..." "Yah, OK." "I'll have my girl send you a copy, then." "OK." "Because if I can't correlate this note with the vehicles, I call back that money." " Yah." "How much money was that?" " $320,000." "I gotta correlate that money with the cars its being lent on." " OK." "No problem." "I'll fax that over..." " No, no." "Fax is..." " I mean send it." "I'll shoot it over to you." " OK, fine." "OK." "Real good, then." " We're with Katie Carlson." " Hi." "Now, we just want to remind all of our viewers at home that this March, for the second year in a row, Katie and I, with Twin City Travel, will be leading a two-week trip down the Nile." "Its a terrific time." "I know you've heard about it." "We want all of you to come with." "And thats the truth." "OK, for those who've just joined us, Katie is gonna show us how to make Holidazzle eggs at home." " Now, Katie, I gotta admit." " What?" "I was a little bit surprised when I first picked this up." "This is an empty egg." " Thats right, Dale." " There was an egg in here, right?" " Yeah." " OK, well, how do you..." "You don't have an empty chicken somewhere that lays empty eggs?" "No, no." "I guarantee this was an honest-to-goodness Grade A..." " Unguent." " What?" "I need unguent." " Am I doin' it?" " Push it." "Shit." " How're you, Stan?" "How ya doin', Wade?" " Good to see you again, Jerry." "If the numbers are right, this looks pretty sweet." " Oh, those numbers are right, all right." " This is doable." " Congratulations, Jer." " Thanks, Stan." "Its a pretty..." "What kind of finder's fee were you looking for?" "The financials are pretty thorough, so the only thing we don't know is your fee." "My fee?" "Wade, what the heck are you talkin' about?" " Stan and I are OK." " Yah." " We're good to load in." " Yah." "But we never talked about your fee for bringing it to us." "No, Wade, I was bringing you this deal for you to loan me the money to put in." "Its my deal here, see." "We thought you were bringing us an investment." " Yah." "Right." " You're sayin'..." "What are you sayin'?" "You're saying we put in all the money and you collect when it pays off." "No, no, see, but I'd pay you back the principal, and interest." " Heck, I'd go one over prime." " We're not a bank, Jerry." "If I wanted bank interest on $750,000, I'd go to Midwest Federal, talk to Bill Diehl." " He's at Norstar." " He's at..." "No, no." "But, see, I don't need a finder's fee." "I need..." "Finder's fee's, what, 10%?" "Heck, thats not gonna do it for me." "I need the principal." " We're not gonna give you $750,000." " What the heck were you thinking?" "If I'm only getting bank interest, I want complete security." "Heck, FDIC." " I don't see nothing like that here." " Yeah, but I..." "OK." "I'd guarantee you your money back." "I'm not talking about your damn word, Jerry." " Jeez, what the heck are you..." " We're not a bank, Jerry." "Well, look, I don't wanna cut you out of the loop, but this here's a good deal." "I assume if you're not interested, you won't mind if we move on it." "Independently." "Dammit!" "Dammit!" "Hon?" "Got the groceries." "Yah, Wade, its Jerry." "I..." "Wade, its Jerry." "I don't know what to do." "Its Jean." "I don't know what to do." "Its my wife." "I don't know what to do." "Its Jean." "Yeah, Wade, its Jerry." "I..." "Wade, its Jerry." "I..." "We gotta talk." "Its something'..." "Aw, jeez, its terrible." "Yes?" "Yeah." "Wade Gustafson, please." "Shut the fuck up, or I'll throw you back into the trunk, you know." "Jeez, thats more than I've heard you say all week." "Ah, shit." "Oh, the tags." "All right, its just the tags." "I never put my tags on the car." "Don't worry." "I'll take care of this." "Keep it still back there, lady, or else we're gonna have to, you know, shoot ya." "Hey, I'll take care of this." "How can I help you, Officer?" " This a new car, then, sir?" " Certainly is, Officer." "Still got that smell." "You're required to display temporary tags, either in the plate area or taped to the back window." " Certainly." " Can I see your licence and registration?" "Certainly." "Yeah, I was gonna tape up the tag, you know, to be in full compliance, but it must've..." "It must've slipped my mind." "So maybe the best thing to do would be to take care of that right here in Brainerd." " Whats this, sir?" " My licence and registration." "Yeah, I wanna be in compliance." "I was just thinking we could take care of it right here, in Brainerd." "Put that back in your pocket, please." "And step out of the car, please, sir." "Shut the fuck up!" "Whoa." "Whoa, daddy." "You'll take care of it." "You are smooth smooth, you know." "Oh, daddy." "Just clear him off the road." "Yeah." "Oh, jeez." "Hi, its Marge." "Oh, my." "Where?" "Yah." "Aw, jeez." "OK, there in a jiff." "Real good, then." "OK." "You can sleep." "Its early yet." " Gotta go?" " Yeah." "I'll fix you some eggs." "Thats OK, hon." "I gotta run." "You gotta eat a breakfast, Marge." "I'll fix you some eggs." "Oh, hon, you can sleep." "You gotta eat a breakfast." "I'll fix you some eggs." "Ah, Norm." "Thanks, hon." "Time to shove off." " Love you, Margie." " Love you, hon." " Hon." " Yah?" "Prowler needs a jump." "Hiya, Lou." "Whoo!" "What ya got there?" "Margie, thought you might need a little warm-up." "Thanks a bunch." "Whats the deal?" "Gary says triple homicide." "Yah." "Looks pretty bad." "Two of 'em are over here." " Where is everybody?" " Well..." "Its cold, Margie." "Watch your step, Margie." "Aw, jeez." "So..." "Aw, jeez." "Here's the second one!" "Its in the head and the hand there." " I guess thats a defensive wound." " Oh, yah?" "Where's the state trooper?" "Back there a good piece, in the ditch next to his prowler." "OK." "So we got a trooper pulls someone over, we got a shooting, these folks drive by, there's a high-speed pursuit, ends here, and then this execution-type deal." "Yah." "I'd be very surprised if our suspect was from Brainerd." "Yah." "And I'll tell you what." "From his footprint, he looks like a big fella." "You see something down there, Chief?" "No, I just think I'm gonna baft." "Jeez." " You OK, Margie?" " Yeah, I'm fine." "Its just morning sickness." " Well, that passed." " Yah?" "Yah." "Now I'm hungry again." "You had breakfast yet, Margie?" "Oh, yah." " Norm made some eggs." " Yah?" "Well..." "What now, do you think?" "Lets go take a look at that trooper." " There's different footprints here, Lou." " Yah?" " Yah." "This guy's smaller than his buddy." " Oh, yah?" " For Pete's sake." " How's it look, Marge?" "Well, he's got his gun on his hip there, and he looks like a nice enough guy." " Its a real shame." " Yah." " Didn't monkey with his car there, did ya?" " No way." "Somebody shut his lights." "Guess the little guy sat in there waiting for his buddy." " Yah." "Would've been cold out here." " Heck, yah." " Ya think, is Dave open yet?" " Dave?" "You think he's mixed up in this?" "Oh, no." "I just wanna get Norm some night crawlers." " Did you look in his citation book?" " Yah." "Last vehicle he wrote in was a tan Ciera at 2.18am. Under plate number he put DLR." "I figure they shot him before he could finish filling out the tag number." "So I got the state looking for a Ciera with a tag starting' DLR." "They don't got no match yet." "I'm not sure that I agree with you 100% on your police work there, Lou." " Yah?" " Yah." "I think that vehicle there probably had dealer plates." "DLR." "Jeez." "Lou, d'you hear the one about the guy who couldn't afford personalised plates, so he went and changed his name to J3L2404?" "Yah, thats a good one." "Look, all's I know is you got a problem, you call a professional." "No." "They said no cops." "They said "You call your cops, we're gonna shoot..."" "Of course they'll say that." "Where's my protection?" "They got Jean." "If I give 'em a million, where's my guarantee they'll let her go?" " Well, they..." " A million dollars is a lot of money." " They got my daughter." " Think this thing through." "You give 'em what they want, why won't they let her go?" "You gotta listen to me on this one, Wade." "Heck, you don't know." "You're just whistling Dixie here." "The cops can advise us on this." "I'm saying call a professional." "No." "No cops!" "Thats final." "This is my deal here, Wade." " Yeah..." " Jean is my wife here." "I gotta tell you, Wade, I'm leaning to Jerry's viewpoint." " Well..." " We gotta protect Jean." "These..." "We're not holding any cards." "They got 'em all, so they call the shots." " You're darned tootin'." " Oh, dammit." " I'm tellin' ya." " Well, why don't we..." "Stan, I'm thinking we should offer 'em half a million." "Now, come on here!" "No way, Wade." "No way." " We're not horse-tradin' here, Wade." " Yeah." " We gotta just bite the bullet on this thing." " Yeah." "So whats the next step here, Jerry?" "They're gonna call me with instructions for a drop." "I need the money by tomorrow." "Dammit!" " How was everything today?" " Yah." "Real good now." "How you doin'?" "OK." "Now, we'll get the money together." "Don't worry about it, Jerry." "Now, do you want anyone at home with you till they call?" "No, I..." "They were just supposed to be dealing with me." "They were real clear." "You know, they said no one listening in." "They'll be watchin', you know." "Maybe its all bull, but, like you said, Stan, they're callin' the shots." "Now, is Scotty gonna be all right?" "Yah." "Jeez, Scotty." "Yah." "I'll go talk to him." "How ya doin' there, Scotty?" "Dad." "What are they doin'?" " What do you think they're doin' to Mom?" " Its OK, Scotty." "They're not gonna wanna hurt her any." "These men, they just want money." " What if something goes wrong, Dad?" " No, no, no." "Nothing's going wrong here." "Granddad and I, we're making sure this gets handled right." " I really think we should call the cops." " No, no." "No one can know about this thing." "We gotta play ball with these guys." " Stan Grossman'll tell ya the same thing." " But, Dad..." "We're gonna get Mom back for ya, but we gotta play ball, you know." "Thats the deal here." "So if Lorraine calls, or Sylvia, you just say Mom's down in Florida with Pearl and Marty." "Thats the best we can do here." "No!" "Whoops!" "Thanks, Myra." " Mornin'." " Carol." "Oh, Janie, two more of those Skin-So-Softs, please." " Hiya, hon." " I brought you some lunch, Margie." " What are those, night crawlers?" " Yah." " Aw, thanks, hon." " You bet." "Thanks for lunch." "Oh, yah, looks pretty good." "What have we got here?" "Arby's?" " How's the painting' goin'?" " Pretty good." " The Hautmans are entering a painting." " Aw, hon, you're better than them." " They're real good." " They're good, Norm." "But you're better." "You think so?" "Hey, you got Arby's all over me." " Hey, Norm." "How's the painting' goin'?" " Not too bad, you know." " How we doin' on that vehicle?" " No motels registered a Ciera last night." "But the night before, two men checked into the Blue Ox registering a Ciera and leaving the tag space blank." " Jeez, thats a good lead." " Yah." " Thats that truckers' joint on I-35?" " Yah." "Owner was on the desk then." "Said these two had company." " Oh, yah?" " Yah." " We both did." "She went to college, too." " I went to Normandale for about a year." " Yah, thats where we met." " I dropped out." " Yah, she dropped." " Yah." " So where are you girls from?" " Chaska." "Le Sueur, but I went to high school in White Bear Lake." "Go, Bears." "OK." "I want you to tell me what these fellas look like." " The little guy was kinda funny-Iookin'." " In what way?" " I don't know." "Just funny-Iookin'." " Can you be any more specific?" "I couldn't really say." "He wasn't circumcised." " Was he funny-Iookin' apart from that?" " Yah." "So, you were having sex with the little fella, then?" " Anything else you can say about him?" " No." "Like I say, he was funny-Iookin'." "More than most people, even." " What about the other fella?" " He was older." " He looked like the Marlboro Man." " Oh, yah?" "Yah." "But maybe I'm saying that cos he smoked a lot of Marlboros." " Like a subconscious type of thing." " Oh, yah, that can happen." " Hey, they were goin' to the Twin Cities." " Oh, yah?" "Yah." "Yah." "Is that useful to ya?" "Oh, you betcha, yah." "Yah." "Come on!" "Goddammit!" "Jesus Christ." "Come on, you fucking shit box." "Been here for days." "Goddammit, nothin' to do." "Fucking TV doesn't even..." "Dammit, come on!" "Plug me in, man." "Give me a fucking signal." "Goddammit!" "Unbelievable." "Come on." "God..." "Fuck!" "Come on, plug me into the ozone, baby." "Come on." "Come on!" "Fuck." "Fuck." "Fuck!" "Fuck!" "The bark beetle carries the worm to its nest, where it will feed its young for up to six months." "In the spring, the larvae hatch and the cycle begins again." "Well." "I'm turning in, Norm." "Oh, yeah?" "Here it is throwing off the larval envelope." " Hello." " Yah, is this Marge?" " Yah." " Margie Olmstead?" "Yah." "Who's this?" "This is Mike Yanagita!" "You know, Mike Yanagita." "Remember me?" "Mike Yanagita?" "Yah!" "Well, yah." "Course I remember you." "How are ya doin'?" " What time is it?" " Oh, jeez, its a quarter to eleven." " I hope I didn't wake you." " No." "Thats OK." "Yah, I'm down in the Twin Cities." "I was watching on TV about these shootings in Brainerd," " and I saw you on the news." " Yah." "I thought "Jeez, is that Margie Olmstead?" "I can't believe it."" "Yah." "Thats me." "Well, how the heck are ya?" "OK, you know." "OK." " Yah?" " Yah." " How are you doin'?" " Oh, pretty good." "Aw, heck." "Its been such a long time, Mike." "Its great to hear from ya." "Yah, you got your..." "This is loaded here." "This has your independent..." "Your front-wheel drive, rack-and-pinion steering, antilock brakes, alarm, radar." "And I can give it to you with a heck of a sealant." " This TruCoat stuff, itll keep the salt off." " I don't need no sealant." "Yah, you don't need that." "Were you thinking of financing here?" "You aware of this GMAC plan?" "Its super." " Got a call for you, Jerry." " Yah, OK." " Jerry Lundegaard." " Jerry, got the phone to yourself?" " Well, yah." " You know who this is?" "Well, yah." "I got an idea." "How's that Ciera workin' out for ya?" "Circumstances have changed, Jerry." "Well, what do you mean?" "Things have changed." "Circumstances beyond the..." "Acts of God, force majeure." "What the..." "How's Jean?" " Who's Jean?" " My wife." "What the..." "She's all right, but there's three people in Brainerd who aren't OK." "What are you talking about?" "Lets finish this deal here." "Blood has been shed, Jerry." " What the heck do you mean?" " Three people in Brainerd." " Oh, jeez." " Thats right." "And we need more money." "What are you talkin' about?" "What have you got mixed up in?" " We need more money..." " This was a no-rough-stuff deal." " Don't interrupt me." "Shut the fuck up!" " Well, I'm sorry, but I just..." "I'm not gonna debate you, Jerry." "We now want the entire $80,000." " Oh, for Chrissake here." " Blood's been shed." "We've incurred risks." "I'm coming to town tomorrow for the money." "Now, we had a deal here." "A deal's a deal." "Is it, Jerry?" "Ask those three poor souls up in Brainerd if a deal's a deal." "Ask 'em!" " The heck do you mean?" " "Heck d'you mean?" See you tomorrow." " Yah." " Jerome Lundegaard?" " Yah." " This is Reilly Diefenbach at GMAC." "Sir, I've not received those vehicle IDs." "Yah." "I..." "Those are in the mail." "That may be." "However, absent the receipt of those numbers by tomorrow afternoon," "I'll have to refer this matter to our legal department." " Yah." " My patience is at an end." " Yah." " Good day, sir." "Yah." "Hi, Norm." "How ya doin', Margie?" " How's the fricassee?" " Pretty darn good." "You want some?" "Oh, no." "I got..." "Hey, Norm." "I thought you was goin' ice fishing up at Mille Lacs." " Yah." "After lunch." " Ah." " What you got there?" " Oh." "The numbers you asked for." "Calls made from the lobby phone at the Blue Ox." "Two to Minneapolis that night." "First one's a trucking company, second's a private residence." "A Shep Proudfoot." "A what?" "Shep Proudfoot." "Thats a name." "OK." "Yah." " Think I'll take a drive down there, then." " Oh, yah?" "Twin Cities?" "Oh, yah?" "Dammit, I wanna be a part of this thing." "No." "Wade, they were clear." "They said they'd call tomorrow with instructions," " and its gotta be delivered by me alone." " Its my money." "I'll deliver it." " What do they care?" " Wade's got a point there." " I'll handle the call if you want, Jerry." " No, no." "See, they only deal with me." "You feel this nervousness on the phone there." "They're very..." "These guys are dangerous." "All the more reason." "I don't want you..." "With all due respect, I don't want you mucking this up." " What?" " They want my money, they deal with me, or I go to a professional." "There's a million dollars here!" " No, see..." " Jerry, you're not selling me a damn car!" "Its my show here." "Thats that." "Its the way we prefer to handle it, Jerry." "Hi." "How ya doin'?" " Real good." "How you doin' today, ma'am?" " I'm doing really super there, thanks." "I'm Mrs Gunderson." "I have a reservation." "Yup, you sure do, Mrs Gunderson." "Is there a phone down here, ya think?" "Detective Sibert?" "Yeah, this is Marge Gunderson from up Brainerd." "We spoke." "Yeah, well, actually I'm in town here." "I had to do a few things in the Twin Cities, so I thought I'd check in with ya about that USFI search on Shep Proudfoot." "Oh, yah?" "Well, maybe I'll go visit with him if I have a..." "No, I can find that." "Yah, well, thanks a bunch." "Oh, say, say." "Would you happen to know a good place for lunch in the downtown area?" "The Radisson." "Oh, yah." "Is it reasonable?" " Hi." "How ya doin'?" " Yeah." "I decided not to park here." "What?" "You decided not to park here?" "Yeah, I just came in." "I decided not to park here, so..." "But..." "Well, I'm sorry, sir..." "Yeah, I decided not to..." "I..." "I'm not..." "I decided not to take the trip, as it turns out." "Well, I'm sorry, sir." "We've still gotta charge you the $4." "I just pulled in here." "I just fucking pulled in here." "Well, but, see, there's a minimum charge of $4." "Long-term parking charges by the day." "I guess you think you're like an authority figure, with that stupid fucking uniform?" "Fucking clip-on tie there." "Big fucking man, huh?" "These are the limits of your life." "Ruler of your little fucking gate." "Here." "There's your $4, you pathetic piece of shit." " Where's Shep?" " Talking to a cop." " Cop?" " Said she was a cop." "Do you remember getting a call Wednesday night?" "Nope." " You reside at 1425 Freemont Terrace?" " Yup." " Anyone else residing there?" " No." "Well, Mr Proudfoot, this call came in past three in the morning." "Its just hard for me to believe you don't remember anyone calling." "Now, I know you've had some problems." "Struggling with the narcotics, some other entanglements, currently on parole." " So?" " Well, associating with criminals, if you're the one they talked to, that right there would be a violation of your parole." "Would end you up back in Stillwater." "I saw some rough stuff on your priors, but nothing like a homicide." "I know you don't wanna be an accessory to something like that." "So, you think you might remember who those folks were who called ya?" " Mr Lundegaard?" " Yeah." " Could I take a minute of your time here?" " What is it all about?" "D'you mind if I sit down?" "Carrying quite a load here." " You're the owner here, Mr Lundegaard?" " No, I..." "Executive sales manager." " You can help me." "I'm Marge Gunderson." " My father-in-law is the owner." "Well, I'm a police officer from up Brainerd investigating some malfeasance." "I was wondering if you'd had any vehicles stolen off the lot in the past two weeks." "Specifically, a tan-coloured Ciera." "Mr Lundegaard?" "Brainerd?" "Yah, yah." "Home of Paul Bunyan, Babe the Blue Ox." "Babe the Blue Ox." "Yeah, you know, we got that big statue up there." "So, you haven't had any vehicles go missing, then?" "No." "No, ma'am." "Okey-dokey, thanks a bunch." "I'll let you get back to your paperwork, then." " Yah, get me Shep." " He's not here right now." " What the heck d'you mean?" " He stepped out." " Where did he go?" " I'll get Arty." "No, I don't need a mechanic." "I need a..." "Aw, jeez." "I gotta talk to a friend of his." "So have him..." " What?" " Aw, jeez." "Mike?" "Marge?" "Jeez!" " Oh, you look great." " Yeah, so do you." "Oh, easy there, easy there." "Easy there, easy there." "You do, too." "I'm expecting." "Oh, I see that." "Thats great." " Oh, what can I get ya?" " Oh, just a Diet Coke, please." " OK." " Great." " This is a nice place." " Yah." "You know, its a Radisson, so its pretty good." "Yah." "So..." " You're living in Edina, then?" " Yah, yah, yah." "A couple of years now." "Its actually Eden Prairie, that school district." "So, Chief Gunderson, then!" "So, you married Norm son-of-a-Gunderson." " Oh, yah." "Long time ago." " Great." "Great." "So, what brings you down..." "Are you down here on that homicide, if you're allowed to discuss that?" "Oh, yah, yah." "But there's not a heck of a lot to discuss." "Well, what about you, Mike?" "Are you married?" "You got kids?" "Yah, yah." "Well..." "I was married." "I was married to..." "You mind if I sit over here?" " I was married to Linda Cooksey." " No, why not sit over there?" "I prefer that." " Sorry." " Oh, no, no." "Just so I can see ya." " Don't have to turn my neck." " Oh, sure, sure." "I understand." " I didn't mean to..." " No, no." "Thats fine." "Yah." "Sorry." "Sorry." "So, I was married to Linda Cooksey." "You remember her." "She was a year behind us." "Yeah, I think I remember her." "Yeah." "She..." "Oh, yeah, yeah." "So it didn't work out, huh?" "And then I've been working for Honeywell for a few years now." " Oh, well, they're a good outfit." " If you're an engineer, you can do worse." "But its not..." "Its nothing like your achievement." "Oh, well, it sounds like you're doing really super." "Its not that things didn't work out." "Its..." "Linda had leukaemia, you know." "She was a..." "She passed away." "No!" " It was tough." " There you go." "It was long..." "She fought real hard, Marge." "What can you say?" "Oh." "Better times, huh?" "Better times." "Oh, and then I saw ya on the TV and I remembered, you know, I always liked you." " Well, I always liked you, Mike." " I always liked you so much." "So, Mike, should we get together another time?" "No!" "I..." "I..." "I'm sorry." "Its..." "I shouldn't have done this." "I shouldn't have done this." "I shouldn't." " I thought we'd have a really terrific time." " Its OK, Mike." "You were such a super lady." "And then..." "I've been so lonely." "Its OK, Mike." "Here's a song I dedicate to all the ladies out here tonight." "It goes like this." "So, are you from around here?" "Just in town on business." "Just in and out." "Just a little of the old "in and out"." "What do you do?" "Have you been to the Celebrity Room before with other clients?" "I don't think so." "Its nice." "Yeah, well, it depends on the artist." "You know, Jose Feliciano, you got no complaints." "Waiter." "Is he deaf?" "So, how long you work for the escort service?" "I don't know." "A few months." "Find that work interesting, do you?" "What are you talkin' about?" "All right." "Come on." "I'm hearing bells." "Come on, huh?" "All right." "Where were ya?" "Shep, what the hell you doin'?" "I'm bangin' that girl." "Ow!" "Fucking asshole!" "Get the fuck outta here!" "Put me back in Stillwater, you little fucking shithead." "Get the fuck outta here!" "Yo!" "Cut that shit out, man." "I'm trying to get some goddamn sleep here." " Come on, brother." " Fuck you." " Fuck you." " Animals!" " Animals!" "Animals!" " Stay away from me, man." "Hey, smoke a fucking peace pipe!" "Wait!" "Don't you dare fucking hit me!" " Fucking little weasel." "Fuck you, man." " Stop it!" "You fucking, motheftucking, son-of-a-bitching, fucking cock!" "Jesus Christ!" "You fucking shitbag motheftucker!" " Yah?" " Jerry, I'm through fucking around." " You got the fucking money?" " Yah, I got the money, but..." "Don't you fucking "but" me!" "Meet me at the Radisson parking ramp, 30 minutes," " and we wrap this thing up." " OK, but..." "You're there in 30 minutes or I shoot you, your fucking wife and all your children." "And I shoot 'em in the back of their heads." " OK, you stay away from Scotty now." " Got it?" "OK." "Real good, then." "Dad?" " Its OK, Scotty." " Where you goin'?" "I'll be back in a minute." "If Stan calls, you just tell him I went to Embers." "OK." "Here's your damn money." "Now where's my daughter?" "You..." "You goddamn punk!" "Who the fuck are you?" "Who the fuck are you?" "I've got your damn money." "Where's my daughter?" "I am through fucking around." "Drop that fucking briefcase!" " Where's my daughter?" " Fuck you, man!" "Where's Jerry?" "I gave simple fucking instructions!" "Where's my damn daughter?" "No Jean, no money." " Drop that fucking money!" " No Jean, no money!" "Is this a fucking joke here?" "Jeez." "You happy now, asshole?" "Whats with you people?" "You fucking imbeciles." "You fucking shot me!" "May I have your ticket, please?" "Open the fucking gate!" "Oh, jeez." " Dad?" " Yah?" "Stan Grossman called." " Yeah, OK." " Twice." "Is everything OK?" "Yah." "Are you callin' Stan?" "Well, I'm..." "I'm going to bed now." " How ya doin'?" " Mr Mohra?" " Yah." " Officer Olson." "Yah." "Righto." "Well, so I'm tending' bar down there at Ecklund and Swedlin's last Tuesday." "This little guy's drinkin' and he says "Where can a guy find some action?"" ""I'm goin' crazy out there at the lake."" "I says "What kind of action?" He says "Woman action." "What do I look like?"" "And I says "What do I look like?" "I don't arrange that kind of thing."" "He says "I'm goin' crazy at the lake." And I says "But this ain't that kind of place."" "He says "Oh, I get it." "So you think I'm a jerk for askin'?"" "Only he don't use the word "jerk"." "Then he calls me a jerk." "Says the last guy who thought he was a jerk is dead now, so I don't say nothin'." "He says "What d'you think of that?" I says "Don't sound like a good deal for him."" " You got that right!" " Says "Guy's dead, and not of old age."" "Then he says "Jeez, I'm goin' crazy out there at the lake."" "White Bear Lake?" "Ecklund and Swedlin's closer to Moose Lake, so I made that assumption." "Anyway, he's drinkin' at the bar, so I don't think a great deal of it." "But Mrs Mohra heard about the homicides down here and thought I should call it in, so I called it in." "End of story." " What did this guy look like, anyways?" " Oh, he's a little guy, kinda funny-Iookin'." " In what way?" " Oh, just in a general kind of way." "OK, thanks." "You're right, its probably nothing', but thanks for callin' her in." "Sure." " Looks like she'll turn cold tomorrow." " Oh, yah." "Got a front comin' in." "Yah, you got that right." "Jesus Christ." "I'm leavin' this morning, back to Brainerd." " Well, I'm sorry I won't see ya." " But you think he's all right?" " I saw him last night and..." " What did he say?" "Its nothing specific." "It just seemed like it all hit him really hard, his wife dying'..." " His wife?" " Linda." " Who?" " Linda Cooksey." "No." "No, no, they weren't..." "He was bothering Linda for a year, really pestering her." "Wouldn't leave her alone." "So..." "He didn't..." "They never..." "No." "No, they never married." " Mike's had psychiatric problems." " Oh, my." "Yah." "He's been struggling." "He's living with his parents now." " Oh, jeez." " Linda's fine." "You should call her." "Jeez." "Well... jeez." "Thats a surprise." "Hello?" "Mr Lundegaard." "Sorry to bother you again." "Can I come in?" "Yah." "No, I'm kinda busy here." "I understand." "I'll keep it real short, then." "I'm on my way outta town, but I was wondering..." " Mind if I sit down?" "Carryin' a load here." " No." "I..." "Its this vehicle I asked you about." "I was wondering..." "Yah, like I told ya, we haven't had any vehicles go missing." "OK." "Are ya sure?" "Cos, I mean, how do you know?" "The perpetrators were driving a car with dealer plates and called someone here, so it would be quite a coincidence if they weren't, you know, connected." " Yah, I see." " So how do you..." " Have you done an inventory recently?" " The car's not from our lot, ma'am." " How can you be sure without doin' a..." " Well, I would know." " I'm the executive sales manager." " Yah, but I understand..." " We run a pretty tight ship here." " I know, but how do they establish that?" "Are the cars counted daily, or what kind of a routine here?" "Ma'am!" "I answered your question." " I'm sorry, sir?" " Ma'am, I answered your question." "I answered the darn..." "I'm cooperating here, and there's no..." "Sir, you have no call to get snippy with me." "I'm just doing my job here." "I'm..." "I'm not arguin' here." "I'm cooperating and there's no..." "We're doin' all we can." "Sir, could I talk to Mr Gustafson?" "Mr Lundegaard." "Well, heck!" "If you wanna play games here..." "I'm workin' with ya on this thing here, but..." "OK, I'll do a damn lot count." " Sir, right now?" " Yah, right now." "You're darned tootin'." "If its so damned important to ya." "Well, I'm sorry, sir." "Ah, what the Christ." "Jesus!" "Oh, for Pete's sake." "For Pete's sake, he's fleeing' the interview." "He's fleeing' the interview!" "How do I get an outside line here?" "Great." "Yah, Detective Sibert, please." "I said it was over." "I made myself clear." "Oh, you did." "You made yourself peftectly clear, but something's come up." " What?" " Its something kind of small, but it might be a big problem." "I'm pregnant." "I'm pregnant." "I've had a doctor's test and there's no doubt about it." "I'm gonna have your baby." "You should see the other guy." "What the fuck happened to her?" "Oh, she started shrieking', you know." "Jesus." "Well, I got the money." "All of it." "All 80 grand." "Thats 40 for you. 40 for me." "Thats it, then." "You can have my truck." "I'm takin' the Ciera." "We split that." "How the fuck do you split a fuckin' car, you dummy?" "With a fuckin' chain saw?" "One of us pays the other for half." "Hold on." "No fuckin' way." "Did you fuckin' notice this?" "I got fuckin' shot!" "I got fuckin' shot in the face." "I went and got the fuckin' money." "I got shot fuckin' pickin' it up." "I've been up for 36 fuckin' hours." "I'm takin' that fuckin' car." "That fucker's mine, you fuckin' asshole." "I've had to listen to your fuckin' bullshit all week." "Are we square?" "Are we square?" "Yeah, you fuckin' mute." "If you see your friend Shep Proudfoot, tell him I'm gonna nail his fuckin' ass." "His wife, this guy says, was kidnapped last Wednesday." " The day of our homicides." " Yah." " And this guy was who?" " Lundegaard's father-in-law's accountant." " Gustafson's accountant?" " Yah." "But we still haven't found Gustafson?" " Sorry." "Didn't copy, Lou." " Still missing." "We're looking." " Copy." "And Lundegaard, too?" " Yah." "Where are ya, Margie?" "I'm almost back." "I'm takin' a drive round Moose Lake." " Oh, Gary's loudmouth." " Yah, the loudmouth." "So the whole state has it?" "Gustafson and Lundegaard." "Yah, its over the wire." "They'll find them." " Copy." " Yah, we got a lead on a..." " There's the car!" "There's the car!" " Whose car?" "My car!" "My car!" "Tan Ciera." "Tan Ciera." "OK." "Careful, Margie." "I'll send a couple of cars." "Police!" "Hands up!" "Police!" "Police!" "So that was Mrs Lundegaard on the floor in there?" "And I guess that was your accomplice in the wood chipper." "And those three people in Brainerd." "And for what?" "For a little bit of money." "There's more to life than a little money, you know." "Don't you know that?" "And here y'are." "And its a beautiful day." "Well." "I just don't understand it." "Outside of Bismarck, North Dakota" "Mr Anderson?" " Who?" " Mr Anderson." "Is this your burgundy '98 out here?" " Just a sec." " Could you open the door, please?" "Yah, yah, just a sec." "Just a sec." "No!" "They announced it." " They announced it?" " Yah." "So?" "Three-cent stamp." " Your mallard?" " Yah." "Oh, thats terrific." " Its just the three-cent." " Its terrific." "Hautmans' blue-winged teal got the 29-cent." "People don't much use the three-cent." "Oh, for Pete's sake, of course they do." "Whenever they raise the postage, people need the little stamps." "Yah?" "When they're stuck with a bunch of the old ones." "Yah, I guess." "Its terrific." "I'm so proud of you, Norm." "Heck, Norm, you know, we're doin' pretty good." "I love you, Margie." "I love you, Norm." "Two more months." "Two more months."