Absence of Malice Page #7

I don't want you hurt.

Thanks.

You can't use this, Meg.

You sure as hell can't tell Gallagher.

It would mean my job.

[DOORBELL RINGS]

Hi. Come on in.

What did you bring?

A friendly Bordeaux.

Pretty good year.

You want some right away?

Sure.

Smells good.

What?

The wine.

Oh.

Thanks.

Is something bothering you?

Quinn clearing you,

did you know he was

gonna do that?

No.

He didn't tell you?

No. It was a nice surprise, though.

I bet.

I'm taking the boat

down to Bimini.

Wanna come?

Bimini?

How far away is that?

Oh, three, four hours.

What else is around it?

A lot of water.

What happens if we miss it?

You're gone for a long time.

[CHUCKLES]

Why do you think he called

that conference?

What?

Quinn. Why do you think...?

What are you, working?

They don't usually do that, you know.

Yeah, okay, yeah,

you've told me. I remember.

What do you think you know,

Megan?

Would you tell me the truth?

I'd just please like to know the truth.

Tell you or the whole world?

What's the difference?

The truth is the truth.

No.

You wanna know the truth?

You wanna ask me as a person?

I'll tell you.

Ask me as a reporter, no comment.

That's not fair.

Not fair to who?

Wait a minute.

You don't write the truth.

I mean, you write what people say.

What you overhear, you eavesdrop.

You don't come across

truth that easy.

I mean, maybe

it's just what you think,

what you feel.

I don't need

your goddamn newspaper

to decide what

they're gonna do with me.

Or who I am.

Then you tell me, who are you?

You mean you're not sure yet?

No.

[SIGHS]

Well,

I guess you'll just have

to decide for yourself.

I mean, who I am

and what you are.

Michael...

would you just answer me

one question?

Quinn's statement,

did you do anything wrong to get it?

What's wrong?

You know what wrong is.

That's right. I do.

Well, tell me.

I'm sorry, I won't.

[SIGHS]

I guess you just did.

Things are not

what they seem, not always.

You ought to know that.

They usually are.

Okay.

[DOOR CLOSES]

[]

Mac? It's Meg.

Jim, listen,

I'm sorry about this,

but I have a story that

says you're suspected

of taking bribes.

I would like to hear your comment.

You've got your information

mixed up.

Either that or you're fishing.

Wait a minute, now,

that was off the record.

My question was on the record.

No comment.

Now, tell me

what you're talking about.

Did you get to him?

I need someone for dictating.

Okay, go.

This is insert A after the fifth graph

ending XXX clearing Gallagher.

Paragraph. Quinn denied...

[]

What the? Ha, ha, ha.

Elving, go yourself

down the hall there

and collect our friend.

QUINN:
Hello, Jim.

ROSEN:
Hi, Jim.

Morning, fellas.

Angeline, quickly, please.

What are you doing?

We'll be just a second here, please.

Have a seat, folks.

Well, now, let the record show

that I'm James J. Wells,

assistant attorney general

for the Organized Crime Division

of the United States

Department of Justice.

With me here are...

Hell, Angie, you know

who these folks are,

just write them in.

I've had no conversation

with anyone here

prior to the beginning

of this record.

I'd like to inform all present

they have the right to remain silent

and the right to retain counsel.

I inform them further that

anything they say during

the course of this... Uh... Uh...

What the hell is this?

- This inquiry may be taken down

and used against them.

Anybody here

want a lawyer?

No.

No.

Ms. Carter,

you brought your own.

Mr. Gallagher,

do you want a lawyer, sir?

No.

WELLS:
Good.

No more room in here anyway.

Anybody wanna read the paper?

You got a story in here that says,

"Strike force investigating a DA,

suspecting bribes."

It's the damnedest story

you ever read.

Nobody in this department

ever read a story like that.

Tell you what we're gonna do.

We're gonna sit right here

and talk about it.

Now, if you get tired of talking here,

Mr. Marshall Elving Patrick

will hand you

one of them subpoenas he's got

and we'll go talk

in front of the grand jury.

We'll talk all day if you want to.

But come sundown, there's gonna be

two things true that ain't true now.

One is that the United States

Department of Justice

is gonna know

what in the good Christ...

Excuse me, Angie.

- Is going on around here.

And the other is I'm gonna have

somebody's ass in my briefcase.

Elliott?

Jim?

Fine. All right, Elving,

hand whichever of these fellas

you like a subpoena.

We'll go and talk

in front of the grand jury.

Gallagher's a government witness.

A wonderful thing, subpoena.

He's working on Diaz,

reporting to me.

Your arrangements include

campaign contributions?

What are you talking about?

I'm talking about $9000.

Cashier's checks. It's all in the file.

What file?

This file.

Rosen's investigation file.

You can't have an investigation

without a file, Jim.

Let me see.

I'll save you looking.

It says you met with Gallagher

and didn't report it.

It says Gallagher gave money to

some committee thinks you're pretty.

I got phone taps, not legal,

mind you.

I got phone taps of you talking

on Gallagher's answering machine.

You son of a b*tch.

WELLS:

He don't think much

of your investigation.

Jim, why didn't you report

that meeting?

That was Gallagher.

Those were his rules.

He said he wanted

to deal only with me.

We had had a leak.

WELLS:
You'd had a leak?

You call what's going on

around here a leak?

Boy, the last time

there was a leak like this,

Noah built himself a boat.

But look, I don't know anything

about any cashier's checks.

Now, Gallagher said that he would

listen for us if we quit hassling him.

He wanted a public statement.

He got it.

Robert, where'd you get

the authority to run those taps?

No place. I just did it.

You wanna tell me why you'd go

and do a fool thing like that?

You see, we had reason to believe...

He was acting on my instructions.

WELLS:

He don't get paid

to act on your instructions.

He gets paid to abide by

and to enforce the law.

Elliott, how come

you're investigating the DA

without telling the department?

It was preliminary.

We had cause but no case.

Do you think you have

a case now?

Think so.

Make it.

Here? In front of them?

WELLS:

Do you know something

that ain't all over the newspapers?

Go ahead and make your case.

It'll be good practice for you.

Mr. Gallagher, you know Mr. Quinn?

Yeah.

ROSEN:

How do you know him?

He asked me if I would help him

find out what happened to Joey Diaz.

I show you photostats

of two cashier's checks

drawn on

the Flagship National Bank,

made payable to the

Committee for a Better Miami.

Have you seen them before?

Yeah, they're mine.

For what purpose

did you make these checks?

To contribute

to the committee.

Well, why was that?

Because they do good work.

You aware the committee

is interested in the political

career of Mr. Quinn?

So?

That's okay with me.

Let me point out

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