"I can't see." "I'm blind." "Good morning, Mr. Phelps." "Undercover Agent Warren Hays, assigned to gather evidence against the underworld empire of John Lawton, was recently blinded in the line of duty." "Lawton's right-hand man, Carl Deetrich, and his chief business adviser, Henry Matula, are bitter rivals, each hoping to succeed Lawton." "Henry Matula is our man, infiltrated into the syndicate five years ago." "Now he is in danger of being uncovered." "Conventional law enforcement agencies are unable to protect him." "Your mission, Jim, should you decide to accept it, is to preserve Matula's cover and to see that he is moved up in the organisation." "This tape will self-destruct in five seconds." "Good luck, Jim." "Nurse." "I understand you're gonna take my place." "Yes, that's right." "I hope you bury them." "We're gonna try." "I'm afraid we'll have to drag your name through the gutter temporarily." "Dismissed from the agency, forfeiture of all pay, no pension, no disability." "A history of alcoholism and dereliction of duty, climaxed by drunkenness on the night of the fire." "I can stand it, for as long as it takes to do the job." "Thank you." " Good luck." " Good luck to you." "These lenses work like a two-way mirror." "One side is transparent." "The other side completely opaque." "Now, there will be considerable physical discomfort at first, but it should pass quickly." "How long will the operation take, doctor?" "About an hour." "Now, once these appliances are in place, they can only be removed by a trained surgeon." "Now, you've got a whole new world to adjust to." "You'll be in orientation, mobility training for 16 hours a day." "Which will give Casey time to get things set up at the rooming house." "Yeah, and everything's set for you, Barney." "Matula's already told Lawton he's expecting you." "Isn't there a way of giving Jim some vision and still making him seem blind?" "Can't take a chance, Casey." "A quick flash of light, a reflex reaction, we're dead." "That's right." "And there's only one way to do it." "Until I remove these appliances," "Mr. Phelps will be totally and completely blind." "Gentlemen, I'm sorry I'm late." "Sit down." "I'm disappointed in the Cordillera operation." "The board of directors voted against replacing the present executive officer with our candidate." "I don't understand the sudden opposition." "Well, maybe it's like you've been saying, Mr. Lawton, somebody gave them a special reason." "Somebody in our organisation." "Not necessarily." "The board of directors might have balked at replacing a man who's turned the company around from loss to profit." "Profit?" "With two big chemical spills, a tanker fire and four other major plant accidents in the last six months?" " As I was saying" " Henry." "Why was there a federal agent at Cordillera?" "Well, why don't we ask him?" "He's been fired for not getting to the plant in time." "I have reason to believe that someone has been talking." "Find him." "Gentlemen." "Why is it, Henry, every time I say black, you say white?" "I say yes, you say no." "I say there's a stool pigeon, and you make a joke." "I'm starting to fill up with you." "Look out." "Watch where you're going, will you?" " I'm sorry." " Watch it." "The bar's over there." "Pal, can I give you a hand here?" "Hey, yes, thank you." "Thank you, buddy." "Hang on." "Let me get you set up to the bar." " You're a buddy." " There you go." "Well, a buddy needs a buddy." "Okay, there you go." "Thank you." "Can I buy you a drink?" "Sure, why not?" "May I help you, gentlemen?" "Yes, I will have the same." " How about you, sir?" " I will have the same as I had before." "And the same as the one before that." "Bourbon." "Make it a double, will you?" "Double." "I always drink the same thing." "Bourbon and bourbon and more bourbon." "It lights up the inside." "That's $2, sir." "Hit me again." "Sure, all you can hold." "But would you mind taking care of the tab?" "Oh, sure, yeah." "No sweat." "That's no sweat at all." "Yeah, sure, I..." "I tell you, I'll write you a cheque." "But set them up for the bar, huh?" "Sir, I'm very sorry, but that's against our policy." " Why?" "I got plenty of money." " I'm sorry." "What, do you think I'm some kind of a deadbeat or something?" "My name is Hays." "Bob Hays." "Fifteen years with the department" "Sir, would you please keep your voice down?" "You don't know who you're talking to." "I was a federal cop." "Now, I say set them up." "Come on, old buddy." "Let's get you out of here." "Okay, here we go." "All right." "I'll tell you something, I'll never spend a lousy dime in this joint again." "That must be him." "Johnny, get a line on him." "Forget it." "Mr. Lawton, why fool with a cop?" "Well, he might be of some help to us." "You do as I say." "Hey, watch it, will you?" "I'm sorry." "Mr. Matula?" "That's me." "Mr. Matula, I'm Steve Anderson." "It's from Tommy Landers in Detroit." "This is the guy I was telling you about." "When did you get into town?" "I just came here from the airport." "Well, sit down." "Have a drink." "Thank you." "Meet Carl Deetrich." " How are you?" " Hello." "Well, tell me, what are you good for, huh?" "Brown is following you." "Look, Mr. Hays, I'm sorry, you know, but, I mean, you haven't paid your rent in two weeks." "Look, I'm good for it." "I'll give you a cheque in the morning, my dear." "A cheque?" "Hey, the last one you gave me bounced right back at me." "Oh, look, I'll get the cash from somewhere." "Just give me a couple of days." "I'll borrow it." "Give me till Saturday, will you, Chris, please?" "All right, till Saturday, huh?" " You're a very good lady." " Yeah." "But remember, no room, no rent." "Sure, sure, sure." "Steve Anderson, Johnny Brown." "How are you?" "He works for me now." "Hi." "What did you find out, Johnny?" "Not much." "He lives around the corner." " A little room house, 110 Main Street." " Anything else?" "He gave his landlady a bum cheque for the rent." "I overheard her chew him out." "I think we ought to look into this." "He's an ex-federal cop who's worked this area." "So what?" "Well, he might know where the tip came from that night." "Well, you don't think he's gonna tell us?" "You're both way ahead of yourselves." "Let's first find out what makes this blind man tick." "Yes?" "You're the landlady?" "Yes." "Well, the..." "Well, the sign outside didn't give too many particulars about the room, but I think I'm gonna like it." "Look, it's $25 a week, in advance." "That's just what I want." "A nice room, congenial atmosphere." "Twenty." "And five." "Wait here, I'll get your receipt." "One dollar." "Hi." "Hi." " Need some help?" " Yes, please." " I have a problem." " Haven't we all?" "Well, it's a little rickety and it gives me vertigo." "Would you mind?" "What's in it for me?" "Don't you ever do anything just out of kindness?" "Matter of fact, no." "See what I mean?" "How do you like your room, Mr. Brown?" "Mr. Brown?" " How do you like your room?" " Oh, yes." "Yes, it's just fine." "Just fine." " Except for one small thing." " What?" "Do you know that the landlady, even after a week, still calls me Mr. Brown?" "The name is Johnny." "We'll have to do something about that, huh?" " They're crawling all over me!" " Mr. Hays." "I can't stand them!" "They're crawling." " Mr. Hays." " Chris." " Is that you, Chris?" " Yes." "Help me, Chris." "Please help me." "They're crawling all over me." "Help me, Chris, please." "Help me." "Chris, help me." "Please, Chris." "DTs." "Chris, help me, please." "Oh, God." "You know, it was really kind of fun to watch." "Now, a blind man, right?" "You gotta picture this." "A blind man with the DTs, right?" "You know, I'll bet you that the only thing he can see at all are those things crawling all over him." "I like your sense of humour." "I hate paperwork." "Yeah, I know what you mean." "What do you want me to tell Lawton?" " Nothing." " Nothing?" "But Hays is just what he wants." "He's a cop." "Ex, very ex." "A cop." "Mr. Deetrich's office." " Hang on." " Deetrich." " Working late, Carl?" " Yeah." "Carl, what has Brown found out about Hays?" "I don't know." "I haven't talked to him about it yet." "I see." "Look, I'm having lunch at Duke's tomorrow." "Why don't you and Brown join me?" " All right." " Good." "See you then." "Matula." "Well, from what Johnny says, it's obvious that Hays can help us." "Well, maybe it's obvious to you, Matula." "But to me, it stinks." "He's a cop." "I have an idea for a little test for ex-officer Hays." "Look, I left my money at home." "Let me have a bottle and just put it on credit" " Cash only." " No, I'll be back with it this afternoon." " You don't have to worry about it." " No credit." "Cash only." "Tomorrow I'll bring you the money, I promise you." "Look, get out of here." "Cash, that's it." "Leave." "Why don't you watch where you're going?" "Well, I had the green light." "You all right, Mr. Hays?" "What happened?" "Well, you walked against a red light and almost got hit by a cab." " Who are you?" " I'm your neighbour, Johnny Brown." "Oh, yeah, yeah." "Hi, Johnny." "Come on, there's a bench over here." "We can sit down and you can catch your breath." " Let me take your arm." " Okay." " That all right?" " Yeah." "Now, look out, we're coming to a kerb." " Right there." "Yeah." " Okay." "All right." "Now, the bench is about two steps." "Here, wait." "You got it?" " That better?" " Yeah." "Well, it's just one thing after another with you, isn't it?" "What do you mean?" "Well, our landlady told me all about you." "What was it, 15 years a cop?" "Give them your eyes." "Then this." "What have they ever given you?" "Nothing, right?" " Johnny." " Yeah?" "Lend me a buck, will you?" "Just a little dollar." "I gotta have a drink." " Yeah, sure." " Oh, you're a good guy, Johnny." " Here, got it?" " Thanks." " I'll see you in a minute." " Wait a second." " Wait a second." " What?" "How would you like to make 500 of those?" " Five hundred?" " Five hundred dollars." "Five hundred?" "For what?" "For the name of the undercover man that took your place." "Jim, couldn't you just give him a phoney name?" "If Lawton's testing me, he already knows who the agent is." "Can't we get the real name from headquarters?" "No, Willy, because he also knows that information is confidential." "There's only one way that ex-officer Hays could get it." "That's by stealing it." "Without help?" " Yes." " Lawton's got to have men on the inside." "He'd know if we tried to set this up." "I read it the same way, Willy." "Fortunately, I know the building well and I know the computer room." "But I'll need a timing on the rounds of the guards." "Once we have the agent's name, he'll have to be warned that he's been made." "Brown's coming." "Get rid of the extra cups." "It's open." " Johnny?" " Yeah." "Did you make up your mind?" "I need eyes." "I need your eyes." "All right." "You got them." "Good." "Have a drink on it." "Well, where is it?" "Coffee, Johnny." "Coffee?" "For 500 bucks, I'll even give up drinking." "Well, when do we do this?" "Tomorrow night." "Here, little kitty." "There you are, boy." "Now which way do we go?" "There's an elevator on the left." "Door next to it." "Get me there when it's clear." "Is that good?" "Is that good?" "Yeah." "Good boy." "Good boy, O.J." "Good." "Good boy." "Hold it." "Here." "Corner." "We're coming to a corner." "Okay, let's go." "Come on." "What time is it?" "Eleven forty-five." "That gives us five minutes before the guard passes." "Where are the files?" "No files anymore." "All computers." " Desk?" " Yeah, right in front of you." " Everything on?" " The whole room is on." "One-two-nine-CDR." "Right." "What are you waiting for?" "This." "Read it." ""Region five, area 12." "Internal assignment 22."" "Gloves." "Turn them off." "Look out." "I'll put it behind you." "Sit down." " Region?" " Five." "Five." " Area?" " Area 12." "Twelve." "Current internal assignment two-two." "Two-two." "Come on." "All right, let's go." " What time is it?" " Eleven fifty-one." "We're a minute late." "You, stop or I'll shoot." "Here." "Go." "Come on." " I can't see him." "What do you do?" " Go." "Stop." "Hold it right there!" "Basement." "Hays." "Hays." "Come on, we gotta get out of here." "Hays!" "Hays, snap out of it." "Snap out of it." "We gotta get out of here." "Come on, get up." " Where is it?" " Over here, behind you." "Start climbing." "Come on." "All right, duck your head." "I'll open the window." "You did very well, Mr. Hays." "Five $100 bills." "Thanks." "You realise you've committed a felony." "I haven't forgotten the law, Mr. Lawton." "Good." "I believe I have an informer in my organisation." "You do." " Who?" " That I don't know." "It means a lot of money to me." "I'm sure it does." "I'd like to help you." "Maybe you can." "Would you mind taking off your glasses, please?" "What for?" "Oh, call it a whim." "Perhaps I wanna give you a job." "Even a blind man can feel heat, Mr. Lawton." " True." " Are you through testing now?" "I'm sorry." "Now I'd like you to meet some of my people." "Perhaps you could recognise a voice, a mannerism, a way of doing things." "If that doesn't work, well, you're a good cop, you could think of something." " How much?" " Name your price." "Two-fifty a week." "Ten grand when I finger your boy." "Done." "Gentlemen." "I'd like you to meet Mr. Hays." " Mr. Matula." " Mr. Matula." "Glad to know you." " Mr. Deetrich." " Mr. Deetrich." "Something wrong, Mr. Deetrich?" "Yeah, plenty." "What did you say?" "Forget it." " Mr. Saunders." " Mr. Saunders." "Hi, Johnny." " Well, hi." " Would you care for a drink?" "Well, it's that time of the evening." "Don't apologise for it." " What would you like?" " Whatever's easy." "He's there." "Go." "Here's to you." "Who is it?" "Hays." "I'll get rid of him." "Mr. Hays, I was just getting ready to go out." "Listen, I got the rent money for you." "I owe you two weeks and I wanna give you two weeks in advance." "That's a hundred, right?" " That's a hundred." " Yeah." "Listen, I haven't had a drink in two days." "How about coming to dinner with me tonight?" "Oh, gee, I'm sorry, but I can't." "Why, because I'm blind?" "Are you such a bargain?" "No, it's just that I told Mr. Brown that I'd go out with him." "Brown?" "What do you want with him?" "He's a cheap hood, Chris." "Says who?" "Never mind." "Hey, where'd you get the bread?" "A job." "Oh, doing what?" "Call it a research project." "Well, how long is it gonna last?" "Depends on me." "I got all the answers right now." "But I'm gonna stretch this thing out as long as I can." "Listen, are you sure you won't have dinner with me?" "Well, maybe some other time, huh?" " Okay." " Hey, and good luck with the job." "What's wrong?" " Yeah?" " Meet me." "Hays, wake up." "What?" "Who is it?" "It's me, Deetrich." "Deetrich?" "Now, listen." "You're not gonna milk Lawton." " Who's the fink?" " I don't know what you mean." "Johnny, let him feel it." "Now, who?" " You." " Me?" "Now, you know I'm clear." " Do I?" " What do you mean?" "Listen, Deetrich, I don't know any more than you do, but I gotta finger somebody for my ten grand." "I don't like getting pushed around in the night, so it might as well be you." "Why, you filthy, double-cro-- Johnny." "Now, come on, don't be a sap." "You'll only be fingering yourself for Lawton." "Talk to Lawton." "Explain it to him." "Yeah, that's right." "You talk to him." "Just remember I'm solid and he's gonna take a hard look at anybody that tries to dump me." "You had this wired from the beginning, didn't you?" "That's right." "Right from the first minute your hood here approached me." "The beauty of it is it doesn't matter, because I can finger you or Matula or anybody and still collect my ten grand." "Unless of course you'd like to offer me 25 grand to keep my mouth shut." "He's too much." "That's right, Johnny." "Too much for you, blind or not." "Now, don't push me, blind man." "I got another proposition for you." "I'm listening." "I'll pay you 25 grand for fingering Matula." "Can you do it?" "For 25 grand, sure, why not?" "I need a little time." "I got no time." "I wanna get rid of him once and for all." "Where's Lawton now?" "He's probably in his office." "He works half the night." "All right, call him." "Tell him we'll meet him there." "Forget that." "This is gonna be on my turf." "We'll get together at the warehouse." "I'll call Lawton and I'll send somebody to pick you up." "You get ready." "I don't trust him." "Neither do I." "That's why I set it up this way." "If anything goes wrong" "you'll kill him." "Hello?" "All right, Carl, I'll be right over." "He's on his way." "You know what to do." "I've gotta talk to you, Mr. Lawton." "I can't now." "I gotta see Carl." "I must insist, Mr. Lawton." "All right, make it snappy." "Deetrich?" "This way, Hays." " Is Lawton here?" " He'll be here any minute." "Where's Johnny?" "Don't worry about Johnny." "Here, sit down." "Right here." "Oh, Anderson, we don't wanna be disturbed." "I understand, Mr. Lawton." "Just relax." " What is this?" " Just be cool." "Glad you could get here so quick, Mr. Lawton." " Hi, Carl." " What's he doing here?" "Oh, I thought he should know what's going on." "Yeah, he knows, all right." "He knows real good." "Come on, Hays, tell him." "Matula's your fink, Mr. Lawton." "How do you know that, Mr. Hays?" "Well, I thought I recognised his voice." "You thought?" "I wasn't sure, so I called him up." "I disguised my voice and gave him a departmental code word." "He thought I was an agent." "He gave the countersign and agreed to a meeting." "He's your man." "Hays, you're a disappointment." "I told you, Mr. Lawton." "I was right all along." "I got another proposition for you." "I'm listening." "I'll pay you 25 grand for fingering Matula." "Can you do it?" "For 25 grand, sure, why not?" " I'll need a little time." " No, I got no time." "I want to get rid of him once and for all." " Where's Lawton now?" " He's" "Matula's always been smarter than you, Carl." "It's a phoney." "I've been set up." "Have you?" "Matula's got your job now, Carl." " And, Carl, you're fired." " Johnny, hit him." "Yeah, Hays, here comes yours." "You set this up, Hays." " Now you're dead." " Johnny." " Jim." " Yeah." "You all right?" "Yeah, I'm gonna be." "Let me help you." "Thanks, Barney." "All right, let's go." "Brown's dead." "What do you want me to do with this one?" "Kill him." " Look, Mr. Matula, I was only" " Save it." "This way, you can consider yourself lucky." "Look, you get this place cleaned up, Steve." "I'll see Mr. Lawton out." "See if you can find some place to hide the garbage." "Then I think you better blow town for a while." "I like your style, Anderson." "Come back." "Right, Mr. Lawton." "Let's go." "Excellent." "Glad to see you."