Anatomy of a Murder Page #4

Will you lay off the booze?

I don't know about that.

Why don't you know?

Do you think I could lay off the booze?

Have you ever tried it?

Try it.

I've never been in a big murder case.

Not once in all my life.

Well, it's up to you, Parn.

Will you be around tonight?

Yeah, I'll be around.

Maida, darling, I might manage it.

I might manage to be a real lawyer again...

...for a little while, anyway.

I tried remembering.

There were still some pieces missing.

I remember...

...going to Quill's bar with a gun.

And I remember Quill's face

behind the bar...

...but I don't remember anything else.

Not even going home.

Don't you remember firing the gun?

Five shots. That's a lot of noise to forget.

I remember hearing shots,

but they don't seem connected with me.

They seemed far away, like somebody else

was doing the shooting.

Lt. Manion, I'll take your case.

Thanks, Mr. Biegler.

There's the little matter of the fee.

$3,000. That's reasonable enough, isn't it?

More than reasonable.

I'll pay you later. I'm broke.

- You're what?

- I'm flat busted.

I don't have $3, much less $3,000.

Can you raise it?

Yeah, as soon as I get out of jail.

Next week's payday,

I'll be able to give you $150.

If you get me off,

I'll give you a promissory note for the rest.

Suppose I don't go along with you

unless you pay me half the fee?

I'll have to take a lawyer

the court appoints. I got my defence now.

Right? Insanity?

I think I'll stick around

and make damn sure you get off.

- Where do we start?

- We're gonna need a psychiatrist.

As neither one of us has money...

...do you think

the Army'll stir one up for you?

I know a colonel in the Pentagon. I'll write.

Good, do that. Sulo?

Where are you going now?

I'm going to see your wife, for one thing.

Why? Didn't you see her yesterday?

That's right, I did.

She's a very pretty woman, your wife.

A man gets used to the way his wife looks.

Yeah, I guess he does. I'll see you.

Come on in, Pauly.

You haven't been in here

since you vacated.

Hardly recognise the old place?

Mary did it for me.

She just finished a decorator's course.

Smart girl.

- Look at this, a real genuine Picasso print.

- Very nice.

Try this chair.

It sort of does things for you.

Here, sit right down.

Great, isn't it?

"Good for the nerves," they say.

How do you shut it off?

Here we are. Feel better?

I feel all shook up.

I just dropped by to tell you

I've got both feet in the Manion case.

- You're going to cop out, aren't you?

- No.

That's a mistake. It's open and shut.

Maybe. We'll see.

Judge Maitland's in the hospital.

Maybe you'd like a continuance

until he gets back.

If we go now, we'll have to try...

...before some grab-bag judge

they'll send in.

- I'd rather have Maitland.

- Yeah, so would I.

But, of course, that also means my client

lies around in jail another two...

...or three months before the trial.

If you drop the charge

down to manslaughter...

...so he can get out on bail,

we'll agree to a continuance.

You wouldn't do that if you were still D.A.

I don't know, I might.

I might, since a big fat lie-detector test

on his wife has given proof...

...to the rape story.

The jury'll be with him.

How did you know what the lie...

- Bit, didn't I?

- Yeah, you did.

A lie-detector test

isn't admissible evidence.

You can't use it.

No, but it carries moral weight.

I wouldn't sit in that chair too much.

It could shake a fellow's brains loose.

I'll see you later.

He remembers you, Paul. He likes you.

He likes the beer in my icebox.

What's the occasion today, a buffalo hunt?

No, I bought these in Arizona

when we were stationed there.

Aren't they smart?

We can sit in my car.

Here you are.

Several things have occurred to me.

The undergarments

that Barney Quill tore off:

Who has them now? The police?

You mean my panties?

All right, your panties.

I haven't seen them since.

I gave the torn skirt and sweater

to the police.

Then I went with them into the woods

to look for the panties...

...but we couldn't find anything

but my glasses.

Your glasses!

You mean,

you were wearing glasses through all that?

I had them in a case in my hand.

I wear them for reading,

playing pinball, things like that.

I must've tried to get out of the car

and dropped them.

You might be interested to know

that your lie-detector test turned out...

...in your favour.

Of course it did.

I could've told you it would.

You weren't worried about it?

No, why should I be?

Would you like to have something

to worry about?

Silly.

Like your husband watching us

from his cell window?

All right, let's have it.

Did he say something to you?

Just enough. Are you afraid of him?

Yes.

Is that why you volunteered

for a lie-detector test? For him?

Yeah.

Does he have reason to be jealous?

He was jealous

even before we were married.

I should've known how it would be.

It's funny, though.

He likes to show me off.

He likes me to dress the way I do,

and then he gets furious...

...if a man pays any attention to me.

I've tried to leave him, but I can't.

He begs, I give in.

Now, if you think

I've forgotten my question, I haven't.

I have.

Then I'll ask it again. Does your husband

have any reason to be jealous?

No. Not once.

Not ever.

Like the place all right?

I was just looking at those pictures.

That was Barney Quill, wasn't it?

- That's right. Barney Quill.

- I'm Paul Biegler...

I know who you are.

I've seen you around Iron City.

You didn't tell me your name.

Paquette. We don't open till 5:00.

That's all right. I can wait.

I don't have the shakes yet.

You were on the job that night,

weren't you?

The night Barney Quill was killed.

Like the newspaper said, I was present.

You were the fellow

that stopped Lt. Manion outside.

That's right.

He pointed the gun at me and said,

"You want some too, buster?"

And you said no,

because your name isn't Buster.

Wasn't anything funny about it.

No, there wasn't anything... I'm sorry.

Where were you

when Barney Quill was killed?

I gather you don't want to talk

about that night?

That's right. I don't want to talk about it.

You'll have to talk to me about it in court,

why not now?

'Cause I don't have to now.

Reason enough, okay?

Okay.

Old Barney, he was

kind of a rugged character, wasn't he?

Ex-prize fighter and muscleman,

and fancy with guns.

He paid his debts, ran a clean place.

Me, I liked him.

You run the place now?

No, I just work here.

Mary's running things.

Mary? Was that Barney's wife?

No. He didn't have a wife.

Mary was his manager.

I wonder who's going to inherit the place.

- Mary, I guess.

- Mary again, huh?

What's the matter with that?

You mean, what's the matter with Mary?

I don't know.

Mary what?

Pilant. Mary Pilant.

She's in the back booth.

We don't talk about our customers here,

but if we did, which we don't...

That's her. That's Mary Pilant.

Do you know Lt. Manion's wife?

Sure. I know the lieutenant, too.

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