A Walk Among the Tombstones Page #2

F***!

Where is she?

They send me over to Red Hook.

Tell me she's in the trunk

of this abandoned car.

They taped this to the

inside of the trunk

with a note that said

"for your listening pleasure."

That's my number.

It's okay.

Look at these. Look at these.

I touch them and the nipples get hard.

You get hot even when

you're scared, don't you?

And kiss me.

Yeah. Come on,

let's take the tape off of her.

Hey, Carrie Anne

Can anybody...

Yes?

Where in Red Hook?

She tipped me $2, which is twice

what anybody else tips,

if they even tip at all.

You mentioned a van.

Yeah. It was parked right there.

Two guys got out of it.

I remember they checked

her out pretty good.

They were both dressed the same,

some kind of uniform.

They pulled out after Mrs. Kristo,

cut off a Caddy.

- You remember what the van looked like?

- Yeah.

It was light blue.

It was definitely light blue.

I could tell she was a good cook.

Nothing frozen in her cart.

She said she was making kunafa, so I sent

her to the Lebanese place down the block.

Yeah, the van was

parked across the street.

I thought they were making a delivery.

I don't remember a van.

I do remember the pita maker,

Mrs. Youness, came in

and was all like, "Oh, what happened?

Are we okay?"

She saw two men and a woman

run across the street away from

the store and leap into a van.

She thought they had

just robbed the store.

Two men?

Yeah.

I think it had the name of a

TV repair place on the side.

Two initials, like B & R TV.

For sure. J & M Heating.

R & L Stereo.

B & A Appliance.

TJ, I'd like a word with you.

Now, please.

I know you've been sleeping here.

Sh*t.

I know because Mr. Keyser

says you left a god-awful

mess in the men's room.

Not to mention the

mess you've left here.

TJ, you've got to...

He'll clean it up later, okay?

Right now he's helping

me with something.

You get back issues of all the

New York papers on there?

For what?

Naw, I'm good.

Can see from right here.

Not the first old

white dude, come in here,

try to put a hand on me.

Okay.

Child of God.

What?

The name. Gotteskind.

It means "child of God."

It's German.

Except, clearly, God never

looked out for Marie.

TJ? That short for something?

Yeah, it's short for "TJ."

You 5-0?

Nope.

'Cause you've got that look.

I work private.

Yeah? Like Sam Spade?

Yeah, just like him.

What I'm saying is, I read about him.

And Marlowe, too.

All of those guys.

You spend that much time in here?

Some. Mostly when it rains.

Just like the sound it makes, you know?

Matt.

Short for Matthew.

So why you looking at

dead b*tches, Matthew?

So these guys we're

looking for, they be like

real 730, or just, like, thugs?

Like real what?

730. It's the time they give

out the meds in a mental ward.

Right. 730.

Can that program go back another year?

Listen to you. "That program."

Take you maybe a minute to figure out

how to work Yahoo all by yourself.

Why bother?

From what I hear, it's all

going to sh*t in six months.

Please, please, man.

I got way more important things to do

than worry about all that Y2K bullshit.

How ironical.

What's that?

Dumping an already dead

body at a cemetery.

Tuesday. The body of Leila Andresen

a 25-year-old Interior Design

major at Brooklyn College

was found at Green-Wood Cemetery.

Andresen had been missing two

days when Eduardo Solomon,

florist across the street

from the cemetery,

found what was later identified

as a portion of the victim's leg

in the dumpster behind his shop.

That same day,

more human remains were found

scattered about the cemetery

by a groundskeeper.

Witnesses say Andresen was last seen

getting into a blue van with three men.

Andresen's fianc, Reuben Quintana,

told police that he and Leila were

supposed to meet up for lunch.

But she never showed.

Good guess.

Thanks for your help.

- What's this?

- What's what?

My time is valuable, man.

How valuable?

Ten bucks.

Here's $20. Take it easy.

I'm going to go get something to eat.

Want a hamburger or something?

I don't eat meat.

Oh.

Okay. Nice meeting you, TJ.

What I'm saying is,

I don't care nothing about cows.

I just care about what

I put inside my body.

No meat, no soda, no Pringles,

none of that sh*t.

But I was thinking about getting

a little eat on myself.

All right. So we can both

get our eat ons together.

Come on.

Come on, Watson.

Where do you sleep?

Those nights you can't

hide in the library?

There's places to stay.

What happened to your parents?

You don't gotta feel sorry for me.

I don't.

Good.

You could hire me, though.

Make me your partner.

I don't think so.

Why? You don't think I got what

it takes to be a good detective?

I'm sure you do.

I'm just not the partner type.

What does it take to be a

good detective anyway?

A strong bladder.

Seriously.

I don't know what it takes.

I don't know. Patience. Instincts.

Blind luck, mostly.

And a good name.

A good name is very important.

One with real flavor like Sam

Spade or Philip Marlowe.

What's wrong with the name you got?

I don't know, man.

Thinking something more like

Daunte Culpepper.

Quarterback for Minnesota?

It's a good name for a detective,

but a lame-ass name for

a guy who plays football.

Daunte Culpepper.

Yeah. Daunte Culpepper. Private eye.

Now I like that name a lot.

Sure you don't want a

soda or something, honey?

I know you just love to give a

young black man like myself

one of your sperm-killer sodas.

But no thank you, ma'am.

I'll just stick with the water.

What? They only give sodas

to low-income people.

With a bunch of chemicals

in them to sterilize you.

That's why I only drink water.

A gallon a day and stay hydrated.

You don't eat meat?

Yeah. So what.

You got a problem with that?

Not at all. My ex-wife,

she was vegetarian.

So what happened? Why'd you split?

What was she? A clucker?

A what?

A clucker. Chickenhead.

You know, those females

that only like you

if you give them nice things.

If you ain't bling-blinging,

you ain't seeing sh*t.

Can't you speak English?

Hit a nerve. Sorry.

Wait a minute. What time is it?

- Almost 10:
00.

- Sh*t.

I gotta get back to the shelter.

It closes at 10:
00.

Thanks for the pancakes.

Jonas Loogan?

Yes?

You're the gardener here?

I'm the groundskeeper. Can I help you?

- I'm Matthew Scudder.

- Whoa!

That was fast.

Public affairs lady at the 77th

said it would be at least a week

before anyone got back to me.

Excuse me?

I just really want the book to

have an authentic feel, you know?

Book?

That's why this ride along is

so important to me, you know?

Spend some real time with real cops?

What do you want?

I was hoping I could talk to

you about Leila Andresen.

Who?

The woman they found over here.

Yeah, I don't know anything about that.

Your boss tells me you

were here that day.

- You spoke to Larry?

- Yeah.

Great. 'Cause my boss is Gretchen, okay?

Oh, boy. I messed up.

Rate this script:5.0 / 1 vote