A Civil Action Page #3

- How do you know?

- I just do.

A lot of people in my neighbourhood

are dead,

or dying, Mr Chessman,

from something.

Look, if I took a hundred pennies

and threw them in the air,

half would land heads

and half tails, right?

Looking close, I'd probably find

some heads grouped together.

Does that mean anything?

You see, no one knows

what causes leukaemia, Al.

No one knows

what caused that cluster.

I know what happened.

And I know who did it.

Al, this is very important.

I want you to tell me

who those people are.

I'm not a rat.

You know, it's important,

because if there is something wrong,

we need to disclose it

to the authorities.

We need to get them out there

and have it cleaned up.

You think about that and call me.

Yeah. Yeah.

Do you eat peanut butter?

No.

You've never eaten peanut butter?

I guess everyone alive

has tried it,

but I'm not a peanut butter fan.

Did your son

ever eat peanut butter?

- Do you eat bacon?

- Yes.

- Yes.

- How often? How many slices?

Do you have Teflon pans

in your kitchen?

Do you chew sugarless gum?

Do you pump your own gas?

Do you use hair spray?

Do you use artificial sweeteners?

Smoke cigarettes? Drink diet soda?

Use tampons?

Are your clothes ever dry-cleaned?

Do you have silver fillings

in your teeth?

You knew when you moved to Woburn

that its water didn't taste good?

Yeah, but lots of places

the water doesn't taste so good.

I agree with that.

Did you ever consider

using bottled water?

We used bottled water off and on,

split half and half.

Like...we cooked with

regular water - tap water.

We did other things,

like make orange juice.

But to...drink just straight

water, we drank bottled water.

Has a doctor ever said that you have

any immune system dysfunction?

No. But when my son died,

they told us that was why he died.

His immune system was...

tore down to nothing.

- Why did you have an autopsy?

- Because he was doing good.

He only lived three months

with leukaemia

and he looked fine.

Did you talk to the doctor

about this?

I had more like

a violent talk with him.

- "Violent"? You were angry?

- Yelling at him.

Your son seemed to be doing

all right. He was in remission?

You were optimistic about his future

and suddenly he became ill and died.

And they said that was expected -

that anybody with a disease like

leukaemia could die any minute.

- But you were angry and upset.

- My son just died.

I understand, I'm just

trying to recreate the event.

You know when your child isn't well.

You try to explain on the phone

and they say,

"Has he got a temperature?"

You say, "No."

"He's all right, then," they say.

"Don't worry - bring him

into the clinic Monday."

He died Monday morning.

He was in the clinic when he died?

No.

He was in the car on the way.

He died in the car

on the way to the clinic?

He died on l-93,

up by the Somerville exit.

My wife was yelling

that he'd stopped breathing.

I pulled over

and tried to give him CPR.

I was holding him in my lap.

Lauren was...

screaming.

Cars and trucks rushing by.

And...

she helped...

I'm sorry.

It's all right.

It's OK.

These people can never testify.

No.

We'll have the first seven

monitor wells in this area,

in the permeable rock here.

All right. There's seven?

Yes. I did say only seven.

Now we'll probably

have 12, because...

Hey! Hey!

- Private property.

- Yes, your property.

My property and you're trespassing.

- Here.

- What the f*** is this?

That's a court order, Mr Riley,

giving me the right to be here,

and to inspect every inch

of your tannery, too.

No, keep that. That's your copy.

Let's go.

I started working

when I was seven years old,

sweeping the beam house floors

for my father,

which he swept for his father

when he was seven years old.

- Which my boys...

- I know. They swept it, too.

Please answer the question I asked.

Silicone and trichlorethylene.

These two chemicals mixed together

are used to waterproof leather,

are they not?

I asked you a question,

Mr Riley - again.

Please inform your client that he's

obligated to answer my question.

Let the record show

that the witness

emptied a glass of water

on my conference table.

What exactly do you intend to say

to me by pouring water on my table?

It's how silicone

is used to waterproof leather.

I'm answering your question.

It's poured on,

like you poured water on my table.

Yeah. Correct.

So some of it must

spill off the leather,

Iike the water spilling

off my table...

and onto my rug.

That's the part I'm interested in.

The spilled silicone

and trichlorethylene, sir,

how you disposed of that.

- I never once used TCE.

- TCE? Did I say TCE?

I didn't say TCE.

I said trichlorethylene.

You said TCE -

as it is commonly known...

to those who know it.

Mr Riley, would you mind if

I checked your statements today

against your records - invoices,

purchase orders and formulas?

No. Be my guest.

They go back...three years.

Everything before that, we dumped.

- Jan, you're not listening.

- You've been out there three times.

I know why

you find this unacceptable.

But you don't know what it's like.

Riley is Woburn.

His employees are loyal subjects.

They won't talk.

Ex-employees, that's who

you should be talking to.

- Disgruntled employees, they talk.

- You want me to go back there?

This is THE case against Beatrice.

He's a liar. Go back and catch him.

- You got the medical records?

- I can't...

Just get it.

This figure here,

this 100 an hour for Dr Cohen,

that seems fair,

considering his pre-eminence.

That's for his nights in the hotel.

That's his discount sleeping rate.

- Your doctors have cost 900,000.

- They're worth it.

- Your geologists over 500,000.

- They're worth it.

The point is, everybody here

is working on this case.

There's no money coming in -

just going out.

You want to cut our losses now?

You want to get out

and throw away 900 and...what?

1.4 million.

There's certain things

I've got to prove

and I can't do that

not spending money.

We have to see Uncle Pete.

- Where are we on the last loan...

- Spent it.

- How much of it?

- All of it.

And the Carney settlement?

How much...

- Spent it.

- On?

Woburn.

We spend everything on Woburn now.

On Woburn.

What will you need

to tide you over? Two hundred?

600,000.

- 600,000?

- Yeah.

Pete, when was the last time

you lost money betting on me?

Never. I'm probably the best

investment your bank ever made.

How do vampires

get around on Halloween?

- Pass.

- Blood vessels.

Let's go.

- Bye, Dad.

- See you later. Goodbye.

Love you.

I thought about

seeing you for a long time.

I was afraid to 'cause...l didn't

think you'd want to talk to me,

'cause of where I work

and everything.

I'm concerned about what's been

happening around here and...

I'm angry at the way

the company's handling itself.

I'm very sorry about your son.

Thank you.

He said he never dumped anything,

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