Big Jim McLain Page #8

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than necessary, Doctor.

We are one step away from disaster.

But I don't understand.

ObviouslY, You do not understand.

The most primitive of police tricks.

And done in such a clumsY fashion.

This McLain is

an exceedingly competent operative.

He had his reasons for doing this

in such a manner.

I wish I knew those reasons.

Baxter.

What had you to do with Baxter's death?

He died almost immediately

after the injection of sodium pentothal.

You killed this Baxter?

I injected 0.3 grams of sodium pentothal,

then tried to interrogate him.

A certain number of people are

allergic to this dosage,

and he must have been.

Quiet.

Now we come to the real stumbling block.

This fool has committed a murder.

No, no, wait.

There might be other ways of phrasing it,

Doctor, but you have committed a murder

and put the Party in jeopardy.

How was I to know that...

Doctor, try and look a little less surprised

and listen to me attentively.

You will arrange a meeting

of the Seventh Cell.

Pay a great deal more attention

than seems usual with you to security.

That is all, Doctor. You may go.

I far prefer to work with mercenaries.

You recite the obvious.

These domesticated Party members,

these dedicated Communists,

they make me sick.

We need them until we take power,

then liquidate.

I'll report that you handled this matter

with your usual finesse.

A note of innuendo, my friend?

I am not given to innuendo, friend.

Hilda?

Nobody gets down, you understand?

Nobody but Mr. Sturak.

If anybody gets curious,

tell them it's a private party.

Mr. Briggs.

Hi.

I didn't expect you home.

I was just about to leave.

Fix us a couple of drinks, will you, Nancy?

Sit down.

No, thanks. I've got a date.

What'd you call me about?

I want you to stay on tap.

What's the pitch? Story breaking?

Could be. Tell you all about it in a minute.

Mr. Sturak. Gentlemen.

- Hello.

- Hello.

- How are you?

- How do you do?

Edwin White, Comrade.

Oh, yes, a rising young man

in the labor union?

- We have good reports of you.

- Thank you, Comrade.

You know our bacteriologist, Mortimer.

And this is Whelan,

Labor Relations Counselor

for one of the bigger interests

in the Islands.

I'm well aware of your activities,

Mr. Whelan.

Thank you.

Now, you will listen to me attentively.

The Seventh Cell has been penetrated,

how badly we do not know.

The important thing now is

that we take some constructive steps.

You, my dear Doctor,

are about to become a red herring.

You will go to this Un-American Activities

Committee investigator

and confess to being

a longtime Party member,

disciplinary head

of the top-secret Seventh Cell of Hawaii.

But how will that help, Comrade?

Since you persist in being so obtuse,

I will blueprint Seventh Cell action

from this moment.

We have long had plans

to create a paralysis of island shipping

and communications.

Word will come from our people

when they intend to make their next move

either in the Near or Far East.

Where that move will be, I do not know,

nor would I tell you if I did.

When the word will come, I do not know,

but two things I do know.

The word will come, and when it comes,

the un-expendable members

of the Seventh Cell

must be free to perform their functions.

Now, these three un-expendable members

are Whalen and White,

who must cause enough dissension

to cause a labor stoppage,

one as a negotiator for the employers,

the other among the negotiators

for the unions.

35,000 tons of critical materials

clear the Islands every day for the East.

Every day we can stop

that flow of materials

is as effective as if our people

were to put another division in the field.

Dr. Mortimer and his rodents must also

be protected from exposure.

The creation of an epidemic

in the harbor area is a must.

The fear of infection

will provide our people

with a talking point during negotiations.

Wages and hours are no longer adequate

to that purpose.

- What's happened?

- A gathering of the group.

This fellow Sturak is

really telling them off.

To sum up,

Mortimer, Whalen and White

must be protected at all costs.

So, Doctor, you will inform on these

other members of the Seventh Cell.

They will, of course, be replaced,

and meanwhile,

the authorities will be happily deluded

into believing that we have been

rendered impotent.

Is your text clear, Doctor?

We're to be thrown to the wolves?

A somewhat florid way of putting it,

but true.

No legal action can be taken against you.

As for these other members

against whom you inform,

they will simply plead

their constitutional rights.

Well, we'd better alert Chief Liu.

I'll take a couple of your men with me.

And keep Nancy here, will you?

Shove off.

Get a hold of the Chief, tell him to roll.

All right.

This is the end of my professional career.

Oh, don't take such a defeatist view,

Doctor.

We take care of our own.

And so that all of you will be certain

to remember that fact, I repeat,

we take care of our own.

House Un-American Activities Committee.

I'm sorry, this is a private party.

No trespassers.

Knock it off. Drop that chain.

You heard what the man said.

Get over there and sit down.

A final rehearsal,

so that each man knows

his course of action...

Hey, here's that big cop.

Everyone will remain completely silent.

Any talking will be done

through our attorneys.

What are your intentions?

I pretended like I wanted

to make this pinch myself.

That's unusual, of course,

but that's what I kept pretending.

The real reason was

I wanted to hit you, one punch.

Just one full-thrown right hand.

But now I find I can't do it,

because you're too small.

That's the difference between

you people and us, I guess.

We don't hit the little guy.

We believe in fair play

and all that sort of thing.

So you get a pass.

I have subpoenas

for everyone in this room.

You're pretty tough when you're talking

to some guy that's only

half your size, ain't you?

Keep your mouth shut.

No, I won't. I've had a bellyful of

this East Texas cotton-chopping jerk.

Did you ever chop cotton?

No, I'm from the country club set.

That chopping cotton's

for white trash and n*ggers.

Chief, this man, he attacked us

without provocation.

Without provocation?

We all have sufficient provocation

to attack you, all Americans.

- Dr. Gelster?

- I demand medical attention.

You'll receive that.

An ambulance is on its way.

Right now, I'm placing you under arrest

for manslaughter.

Take them away.

That was a very stupid way

for a cop to act.

It sure was.

How do you feel?

Fine. Just fine.

While I was getting patched up,

Chief Liu had his three men in jail,

indicted for murder.

The following month, the House

Committee on Un-American Activities

opened its hearings in Honolulu.

MYjob was done.

I claim my rights

under the Fifth Amendment

and refuse to answer on the ground

of possible self-incrimination.

Are you now, or have you ever been,

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