"Sam?" "Oh, it just kills me thinking of you going to jail tomorrow." "Yeah." "A year for tax evasion." "If I ever find out who turned me in, I swear I'Il..." "Come on, now, don't blow up." "Hello?" "It's for you." "Sam, who knew you were here at my place?" "Just pour me another drink, will you?" " Yeah?" " Sam?" "On that tax evasion affair," "The government was tipped off by your lady friend." " Are you sure?" " Positive." "That's fine." "Fine, that's marvellous." "I'll talk to you later." "Yeah." "Anything wrong?" " I want you to do me a favour, honey." " Sure." "Whatever you say." "That's my baby." "Now you get dressed and I'll wait for you outside." "Okay." "Quick enough?" "Perfect." "How are you gonna get down without the car?" "I'll manage." "Go to 1708 Bradshaw." "Al Parker." "Give him my name." "He'll hand you $5,000." "It's for you." "Sam." "It's my goodbye present, baby." "Sam?" "Sam?" "Good morning, Mr. Phelps." "The authorities suspect but have been unable to prove that crime-syndicate chief, Sam Dexter, murdered his girlfriend, Vicki Wells." "Dexter is currently serving a prison sentence for tax evasion, and because of the murder investigation, he has been kept under close surveillance." "Nevertheless, his criminal organisation continues to extort millions of dollars in illegal revenues," "Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to discover the identity of the General and prove Dexter's guilt in the Vicki Wells murder, thereby smashing Dexter's crime syndicate." "This tape will self-destruct in five seconds." "Good luck, Jim." "That's the prison where Sam Dexter is, Jim." "I'll be going in tomorrow as Carl Blainey, convicted murderer, and two escape attempts from Folsom Prison." " Willy?" " I'll be going in tonight." "My record will read assault and battery." "Only the warden will know that Barney and I are ringers." "My escape route will be through the abandoned drainage tunnel and then out through the culvert." "Yeah." "Mimi?" "Casey worked on a full biography for me as Sally Bukitch." "Profession, cocktail waitress." "Background, a drifter from the Midwest, including a documented friendship with Vicki Wells from Cleveland." "Good." "Are you all set, Jack?" "Ben Murdock, Sam Dexter's lieutenant and his best friend." "Add skull dressings and a gimmick life-support system, and I should be able to die as Murdock" " very convincingly." " Very good." "Now, my credentials have already been sent through from Washington." "I'll be David Simon, a special prosecutor out of Washington, assigned to the Vicki Wells murder and to Sam Dexter." "He's a nervous man right now." "He's arrogant, he's used to power, used to being the top dog." "He doesn't like being just another prisoner." "And in prison, he has one sidekick, a lifer named Gordon, one friend, Murdock, and one source of information, Reynolds." "We're going to remove those three one by one and leave Sam Dexter all alone." "I'll start by working with one of them," "Assistant District Attorney Arthur Reynolds." "Vicki Wells?" "There wasn't any case, Simon." "It was an accident and it's closed." "I've reopened it." "Washington's very interested in Sam Dexter." "We're gonna take him apart." "I'd like you to sit in with me." "Send Murdock in." "Look here, Simon, I intend to file a formal objection to this harassment." "My client's home was invaded at 6 a.m. with a phoney warrant." "Just what are you after, headlines?" "No." "I'm after the man who murdered Vicki Wells, who burned her to death." "Are you accusing my client, an honest man," " of having anything...?" " Your client's a cheap crook." "Did you see Sam Dexter the day that Vicki Wells was murdered?" "I can't remember." "We have a deposition covering that area, Simon." "I'd like to cover it, if you don't mind." "Did you see Sam Dexter the day that Vicki was killed?" "To the best of my recollection, Mr. Dexter was out of town." "Sure." "According to you and an airlines clerk who has since disappeared." " Do you know about that?" " Don't answer." "Were you with Vicki Wells the day of the murder?" "Look, that was an accident." "It's a matter of record." "That's enough." "We're not answering any more harassing questions." "All right, that's all for now." "But just for now." "Get him out of here." "Simon, I said I'd file an objection." "Not anymore." "I'm gonna file a lawsuit." "What in the devil do you think you're doing?" "You throw wild allegations and my office takes the gaff." "We'll have a suit for harassment or malicious slander." "I've got an angle that cheap hood doesn't know about." " What angle?" " I'll produce it in time." "You'll produce it right now or I get on the phone to Washington." "Help yourself." "But I've got a witness." "An eyewitness who's gonna nail Sam Dexter into an indictment for murder one." "What's with that maniac from Washington?" "For openers, he's no maniac." " Eyewitness?" " That's the word, Sam." "Any details?" "Any confirmation from the?" " From the Pentagon?" " Nothing." "This lousy hole." "I can't sleep, the food stinks." " I can't keep control of anything." " You'll be out in 90 days, Sam." "You try holding your breath for 90 days." "Ben, I want you to lean on our legal friend." "I wanna find out who their witness is." "And when you do," "I wanna hear all about it." "Hey, new fish." "Hey, Mr. Dexter, look, a roust." " Amateur night." " Let's have it, fish." "Name, rank and serial number." "Well, not that it's any of your business, man, but the name is Carl Blainey." "Don't you start pushing at me unless you're ready to go all the way." "I heard you, hit man." "And you nearly busted out of Folsom, I hear." "Big man, huh?" "Big enough, man enough." "Maybe you and me, we'll find out sometime, Blainey." "Without no audience, huh?" "Any time, man." "You got a match?" "Keep them." " What are you in for, Blainey?" " A mistake." "Thanks for the light." "Hey, you, Mr. Dexter wants the table." "Get lost, punk." "You don't understand." "Stay out of my way, will you?" "Now wait." "Wait a minute, wait a minute." "I guess you don't know who I am." " I'm Sam Dexter." " Well, that's your problem." "Look, you stupid clown, you got two choices: get sensible or get hurt." "Now I'll give you a choice, mister." "Get lost." "Take care of him." "Little man, big mouth, huh?" "You wanna see more of your punks get hurt?" "Maybe you're ready, huh?" "Why you..." "All right, wipe him out!" "Hold it, man." "Don't you cats be stupid." "What, are you out of your mind?" "What's the matter, man?" "You wanna see us all get busted?" "Maybe you ought to join the party, Blainey, huh?" "Come on." "Not me, baby." "Hey, that's beautiful." " I owe you a favour, Blainey." " Forget it, man." "Come on, don't be stupid." "I pay my tabs." "Okay." "We're even for the match you gave me." "This deposition is being taken in relation to the investigation of the death of one Victoria Wells." "Will the witness please state her name and address?" "Sally Bukitch, 1208 Penrick Drive." "Just try to relax, Miss Bukitch." "Tell us what happened, in your own words." "Well, Vicki and me got..." "Vicki Wells." "Well, we got pretty friendly." "So she called me and told me that her boyfriend, Sam Dexter, that he was gonna take a fall, go into the can the next day." "She wanted some company, so I told her I'd come right over." "As I was driving up to her house," "I saw Vicki and Sam Dexter coming out." "So I stopped." "Didn't wanna intrude." "And you can definitely identify the man as Sam Dexter?" "Sure. I..." "Vicki showed me a picture of him once and I saw them both together." "Go on, Miss Bukitch." "Well, he put her into the car." "It started off, car went out of control," "and she couldn't stop it." "It smashed up." "It was terrible." "And Sam Dexter, he just stood there, looking at it and smiling." "Why haven't you come forward before?" "Miss Bukitch was arrested for narcotics dealing." "She agreed to testify against Sam Dexter" " in return for consideration." " Consideration?" " You gotta fix that dealing rap." " We'll do all we can." "No promises." "All right, now take it easy, David." "Sally's been very cooperative here." "Sally, after the crash, did Dexter leave?" "Sure, he split right out of there." "Figures, don't it?" "Yes, yes." "It certainly does." "Did you see the car he drove?" "Was it a black, four-door sedan?" " I think so." " Now come on, Sally," " I want a definite answer." " Hey, take it easy." "Now just..." "Just try to remember." "A black, four-door sedan." "Yeah." "Yeah, that was it." "Good." "That's very helpful." "I hope so, because Vicki was a good friend of mine and I wanna see Sam Dexter nailed for killing her." "I believe you, Sally." "I believe you." "Well, Blainey, I've done you a favour." "I passed the word." "Nobody's going to finger you for putting that slob in the hospital." "Hey, you racked that guy up pretty good." "They just shipped him out of here." "I didn't ask you for a favour, Dexter." "Well, you got one anyway." "Now look, I can make things a lot easier for you here." "As a matter of fact, I could use a man like you." "Nobody uses me, man." "He's holding some kind of secret, Mr. Dexter." " Yeah, sure he is." " No." "Honest, Mr. Dexter." "He was drawing something here." "A plan." "I don't know." "Yeah, like every other lamebrained con in here." "Here?" "That's not...?" "That's an escape plan." "That's dream stuff." "I'm gonna take this to Blainey." "Maybe I'll get in on it." "Oh, come on." "Forget it, will you, kid?" "Every clown in this joint is always dreaming up escapes and they're all going nowhere." "Where am I going, Mr. Dexter?" "I mean, you're gonna get out of here in three months" "and I'm in here for life." "Hey, kid, I told you." "When I get out of here, I'll get a lawyer and we'll work on getting your sentence reduced." "Well, what if he can't do it, you know?" "I'm just left in here to rot in here?" "Gordon, listen." "I promise you, as a straight, I'll look out for you." "Hey, Dexter." " You have a visitor." " Okay." "Trust me, will you, kid?" " Got anything, Ben?" " Yeah." "The witness is a girl, name of Sally Bukitch." "Sally Bukitch." "Doesn't mean a thing." " And she's a phoney." " What?" "She identified the car you drove away from Vicki's place." "The car." "Well, isn't that interesting?" " It's a frame, Ben." "Who's behind it?" " We don't know yet." "That's not good enough." "Look, I'm isolated in here." "I'm cut off." "Somebody's moving in on me." "You gotta get that girl to talk." "Don't worry, Ben." "We're going to." " Mr. Reynolds." " Can I come in, Sally?" "Oh, sure." "What's up?" "Oh, just a few details I'd like to get straight." "Come on in." "I have a map here I'd like to show you." "See if you can make it a little clearer to me some of the facts you gave at the deposition." "Now, this is the cabin, this is the road." "Vicki Wells." "Sam Dexter." "The black car." "Now, you were where?" " Here?" " Yeah, that's about it." "So you saw them on this angle?" " This way?" " That's the way it happened." "It didn't." "Sam Dexter's car wasn't at Vicki Wells' house." "Only her car was there." "There wasn't any big, black, four-door sedan." "Another of your lies." "I want you to tell me who paid you to tell this?" "Nobody paid me dollar one and I'm not lying." " I just can't remember every detail." " Sally, I like you and want to help you." "I don't wanna see you in serious trouble but you've committed perjury." "Now, if you want me to help you, you tell me who put you up to this." " Nobody." " Come on." "We both know somebody's trying to frame Sam Dexter." "You don't have no proof and I don't know anything about it." "Okay, Sally." "All right." "You remember that drug-dealing charge, Sally?" "Yeah, I remember." "But I got nothing more to say." "Nothing." "You're really frightened of whoever it is, aren't you?" "Will you please get out of here?" "Okay." "I'm sorry, Sally." " No good." " Okay." "I'll get some answers." "I don't have to be so legal." " Who are you?" " I'm in Research, Sally." "I dig out answers." "I don't know what you think this is but you better get out..." " You all right?" " Yes." "You ready, Jack?" "Look out!" " Anything new on who hit Murdock?" " No." "Nothing." "Police make it a professional job." "Somebody wanted him dead." "Ben Murdock?" "I'm Arthur Reynolds of the DA's office." "This is David Simon." " How is he?" " His condition is critical." " We have to talk to him." " He may not be too coherent." "Murdock?" "Ben Murdock?" "Who ran you down?" " Who did it?" " The girl." "The Bukitch girl." "She was hired by the..." "By the General." "Murdock, who ran you down?" "The General framed Sam and hit me." "The General..." "He's dead." "That he was not killed in an accident, it was murder." "Who did it?" "Before Murdock died, he said something about a general." "A general?" "General who?" "We'd like you to clear that up." "Look, gentlemen, you've got me very confused." "Yeah, well, I'll try to clarify it for you." "You have a partner who's referred to as the General?" "Yeah, yeah, sure, and I'm the chief of staff, except on Tuesday, that's when I'm the admiral." "Look, Mr. Simon, I..." "I don't know what you're talking about." " What are you fishing for?" " Your friend's been killed." "Interested?" "Of course, I'm interested." "But what can I do?" "How can I help?" "Look, I never even heard of this..." "What'd you call him?" "This major general?" "Oh, come on, Dexter." "Excuse me, gentlemen." "Could I have a word with you, Mr. Simon?" "Yeah, sure." " What the hell happened?" " You heard it." "You heard it." "The General is cutting you out." "No chance." "Look, whatever he said, Benjie was dying, he didn't know." "He knew." "And you add this in too." "That phoney eyewitness, that Bukitch girl, she was hired by the General." "Everything's coming apart." "You know, I had some..." "I had some guys in there, some..." "All right, they were just muscle, but they were mine." "Now all four of them have moved out." "Like somebody's putting in a fix." "Somebody with solid connections." "All right." "Get the word to Benjie in Cleveland." "I want a hard contract." "I don't want any part of it." "Look, you've been getting paid off for eight years." " Now you start earning your money." " All right." "All wrong." "You've just retired, Mr. Reynolds." " Now listen to me, Simon." "You..." " We have." "We have it all on tape." " Take him out." " Now wait a minute." "You can't make this stand up in court." "No court will accept this." "All right, Dexter, that's it." "You're all alone, no organisation, no bought-and-paid-for connections." "You ready to cooperate?" "Sorry, Mr. Simon," "I gotta go shoot a game of pool." "I know all about your breakout plans through the drainage system." "Except the time's been changed." "It's tonight." "It's what?" "I got a job for you." "Emergency." "A hit." "Ten thousand dollars in it for you." "Or I let the warden know about your little secret." " You're pushing me, man." " I'm in a box." "And you wanna put me right in there with you." "All right, ten grand's not enough." "I want 50." "It's a deal." "Except for one little extra condition." "I go along with you." "You gotta be out of your mind." "You got three months to pull." "That's right." "So I go along with you." "Except I'll be back in here before morning." "Now, can you think of a better alibi?" "Barney's bringing Dexter out tonight, after lockup," " and they'll come out here." " The car is ready." "Okay." "We'll put the car there." "We'll put the van out of sight, just over the rise." "We'll have to stay right with them, Willy." "Dexter's too intelligent to use a man in a murder and then let him go." "Once he takes care of the General, he'll kill Carl Blainey." " How do we get in the tunnel?" " Relax, Dexter." " Where's the tunnel?" " You're standing in front of it, man." "Move." "Yeah, fine." "Thanks, warden." "They're on their way." " What happened here?" " Water damage, man." "These tunnels haven't been repaired in 30 years." " We'll have to squeeze by." " Well, let's clear it away." "You all right?" "Yeah." "We gotta go back." "They're late." "I'm gonna have a look." "What is it?" "It's a side tunnel." "Wait a minute, wait a minute." "It's gotta go somewhere." "Come on, come on." "Come on, will you?" "That's it." "Well, go on." "Come on." "I got a car staked out two miles down the road." " It's so dark." "I can't see." " Just stay close to me." "We got a car." "Come on." " Tunnel's blocked." " Are they caught inside?" "No way of telling from this end." "Maybe the warden can search from inside." "Perfect." "The kid left the keys." "You drive." "Look, man, we don't need this kind of trouble." "My car is safe." "Look, I'm in a rush and your car's two miles away." " So drive, will you?" " Forget it." "Drive." "Okay." "Hey, that's my car." "Hey!" "Hey!" "Come on, there's a phone at the gas station." "Searched the tunnel all the way to the cave-in." "Right." "Okay." " Yes, I'll hold." " What is it?" "I see." "All right." "Thanks, warden." "A car was stolen about two miles from here, near the mouth of another abandoned drainage tunnel." "Barney and Dexter." "And they're heading for the General." "Yes." "Murdock." "Who are you?" " What is all this?" " Haven't you figured it out yet, clown?" "We're moving in." "We're gonna take over your organisation." "We took you out like a baby." "Dexter's in the can." "He can't do anything." "And the General's next." "And that's where you get lucky, right there." "We want the General." "You take us to him and you can stay in." "You can stay on top of everything with us instead of with Sam Dexter." "No chance." "Your other choice is to get deep-sixed." "Yeah?" "Okay." "Right away." "We just got a fix on the General." "Sorry, Murdock, you haven't got anything left to bargain with anymore." "Address trace, 555-6173." "Thank you." "282 Cedar Terrace." "282 Cedar Terrace, Willy." "Mr. Dexter." "Step outside." "Come on, move." "Hey, what about me?" "I'll handle the hit." "Come on." "Open it." "Who are you, sir?" "Sam." "Good evening, General." " General?" " That's right." "One slightly illegal ex-war hero." "Well, it's been a long ride, General." "Sam, you broke out." "What's the matter with you?" "First you, and then this patsy here." "Hey, man." "Patsy, huh?" "And I guess it's gonna look like an accident." "Like when you had that Vicki Wells broad knocked off." " Who handled that for you?" " I did, punk." " Nice job." " You bet it was." "All the edges nicely tucked in." "Nothing to tie me into it." "And I suppose now I'll be blamed for the General's untimely death." "There's only one problem, Mr. Dexter, the General is not trying to wipe you out." "Stop stalling." "And my name is not Carl Blainey." "I don't care who you are." "He's right, Dexter." "Hold it right there." "The other one too." "Let's go." "You idiot." "Move." "Come on." "You okay?" "Jim?" "The computer." "This should wrap up Dexter and the General very neatly."