Absence of Malice Page #3

You don't need that.

What are you gonna do?

I don't know yet.

Michael...

How about some spaghetti?

I'll make you some.

I don't understand. I...

The FBI came around

this afternoon,

so something's going on.

FBI? What does that mean?

What'll they do?

Snoop around,

talk to people.

They might even ask you

some questions.

Oh, my God.

Hey, it's no big deal.

Just answer them.

Hey, shouldn't we call John

and Lena and...?

Michael, don't you remember

where we were?

MICHAEL:

When?

When that guy,

that union guy, went away

or got kidnapped or whatever.

No, what?

We were in Atlanta, Michael.

Don't you remember?

You brought up the papers.

The headlines were all about it.

I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking.

Well, what kind of questions

are they gonna ask me?

I don't know. Do you know me?

How do you know me? Stuff like that.

Should I say no?

No, no, no. Don't say no.

I mean, of course you know me.

Oh, my God, Michael.

Hey, come on, take it easy.

Maybe they will,

maybe they won't.

How do you know me? Hm?

How do you know

Michael Gallagher,

Ms. Perrone?

I've always known him.

He used to take care of me.

What's your relationship now?

He cooks me spaghetti

and he nags me about my smoking.

He's my best friend.

The week that Joey Diaz

was reported missing,

did you see Michael Gallagher

that week?

Will they ask me that?

I don't know.

Answer it.

Yes.

No.

If they ask you that, just say,

"I don't remember."

[SIGHS]

I don't remember.

On May 25th, 1980,

uh, did you see

Michael Gallagher that day?

I don't remember.

Where were you on that day?

[PHONE RINGING]

[SPEAKING IN SPANISH]

SECRETARY [OVER PA]:

Mike, line four. Mike, line four.

Gallagher.

Mr. Gallagher,

this is Megan Carter

from the Standard.

I was thinking about what you said.

My name is on that story.

If there's anything wrong,

I'd like to know about it.

I would like to hear your side.

Don't expect the truth

unless you're willing to tell it.

Do you eat lunch?

Yes.

I'll pick you up in 20 minutes

in front of the building. Tan wagon.

I'll put a couple of stiffs

on the hood.

Mac, where's that

little tape recorder

you used to have?

What do you want

with that?

I'm going to lunch with Mr. Gallagher.

How'd you manage that?

Where's that stickpin

with the microphone in it?

Hey, wait. You didn't tell him

you were gonna write this?

He didn't ask.

I better send a photographer.

I can't do this with a photographer

sitting on my lap.

Who have we got in the pool?

Walker's the only one available.

Walker, terrific.

I want somebody

who knows where you are.

If anything weird starts

to happen, he can call me.

Are you sure Walker

knows what weird is?

[]

[CAR HORN HONKING]

Hi. Pretty day.

How long you got for lunch?

As long as I want.

Good job.

[]

Where we going, anyway?

To the boat club.

[]

All warmed up

and ready to go, Mike.

Where you going?

We can eat on the water.

Oh.

What's the matter? Are you scared?

Of what?

[BOAT MOTOR STARTS]

[]

How old is this thing,

anyway?

Who owns a wood boat

anymore? You must spend

all your time fixing it.

Does it have a name?

Rum Runner.

Why Rum Runner?

My old man was a bootlegger.

[]

How far out are we?

Was your father really a bootlegger?

For a while. He did a lot of things.

What else did he do?

Was he crooked?

Is that what you mean?

I guess you'd say he was crooked.

Want a beer?

Yes, please.

People say he ran Miami.

He just had a lot of friends.

Do you?

Not the kind you mean.

Wife?

Yeah, once.

A pretty lady,

but she was no friend.

I thought bootlegging went out

with prohibition.

My old man was stubborn.

He had this import business.

Daytime, bananas.

After midnight, booze.

No tax stamps.

Same boat, same crate,

same warehouse.

It used to work pretty good.

Used to?

I don't like working nights.

When did you get out?

I don't mean jail. When did

you get out of bootlegging,

or whatever you call it?

I never got into whatever you call it.

Why not? Sounds lucrative.

It's against the law.

Aren't you hot in that?

Oh, no. No, thanks a lot.

So you were never

in the business?

That's right. You sorry?

Are you?

Yeah, sometimes.

When business is bad.

Then you were tempted?

I had no choice.

My old man said no.

When he said no, it was no.

You really look uncomfortable.

No, no. This is very lightweight.

You have a record.

Yeah, assaulting a federal officer.

The FBI came

to my old man's funeral.

They brought cameras.

They came to the church, cemetery,

so I slugged one of them.

Oh.

What?

Nothing.

What else you wanna know?

As much as you wanna tell me.

Look, I really do

wanna be fair about this.

One of those up-front ladies, huh?

I try to be.

Who's the guy

in the Volkswagen?

And who the hell

am I talking to?

Oh, sh*t.

What do we do now?

Eat.

Mm.

This is good. What is it?

It's a Bordeaux,

Pontet-LaTour.

What do you call this?

Salad.

[SIGHS]

I'm a reporter. What did you expect?

Don't try to make me feel guilty.

You think I had something

to do with Diaz, huh?

It's a distinct possibility.

If there's nothing there,

why are they picking on you?

I gotta know

where that story came from.

"Knowledgeable sources,"

you said. Now, who is that?

Somebody's trying

to get to me. Somebody

with no face and no name.

You're the gofer.

You listen to them,

you write what they say,

and then you help them hide.

You say you got a right to do that

and I got no right

to know who they are.

I'm sorry, Gallagher,

I can't help you.

How old are you?

Thirty-four.

How come you're not married?

Maybe I am.

How come you don't wear a ring?

Ever heard of liberation?

Most of them are ugly.

Was that supposed to be

a compliment?

Look, if they clear you,

I'll write about that too.

What page?

You say somebody's guilty,

everybody believes you.

You say he's innocent,

nobody cares.

That's not the paper's fault,

it's people. People believe

whatever they want.

Who puts out the paper?

Nobody?

If you knew I was gonna write

about you, why do all this?

I'm a publicity hound.

No, really.

I mean, why the boat

and the picnic and everything?

I didn't want you

running out of a restaurant

before I got some answers.

Did you get any?

Not the ones I wanted, but some.

COP [OVER PA]:

Are you Megan Carter?

Are you all right?

We'd better get out of here.

I'll catch a cab.

Take care of yourself.

[CHATTERING]

[]

[MEN SPEAKING IN SPANISH]

You got no authority here.

Those men belong

to the longshoremen's union.

The union says they don't work.

It's your union he's talking about.

You people know Mike.

Make up your own minds.

You wanna keep your cards,

you don't work here today.

We got other work for you.

And tomorrow, the same.

Mike. Mike, we have a problem.

What's going on?

Motormouth from the union,

one of Diaz's guys.

He's trying to shut us down.

What's the beef?

I know you. I know your sentiments.

You don't like us,

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