Call Northside 777 Page #2

Where he got it, where you got it,

might have a lot to do with the case.

He might have had it

hidden away someplace.

Maybe you got it from some mob

that's tryin' to spring him.

No. No.

I work. I scrub floors.

Eleven years,

I never miss a day's work.

I earned it, every penny.

Eleven years? That's a long time.

Yes. You just say it.

My boy, he lived it.

Believe me, mister.

You don't know my Frank.

But me, I his mother.

- You mean, you got some new evidence...

...something that wasn't

brought up at the trial?

No.

Uh, no. That's why I try to buy

new evidence.

Oh, now, you're just-- You're just wasting

your money. You'll get cheated out of it.

No. Not me.

- Look. Look, lady.

He's in for 99 years.

Now, if you want to make

good use of that money...

...send him lots of cigarettes and candy,

try and keep him happy.

You very kind.

But I not use my money

for candy or cigarettes.

If you not able to help...

I get my Frank out someday, somehow.

I dream of this day.

$5,000 is a lot for a dream.

Yes. Eleven years.

I dream and I work.

First, I try $3,000.

Nothing. Now I try $5,000.

Suppose nothing happens?

- Then I work 11 more years.

I get $10,000.

But my boy, someday he get out.

Well, I got to hand it to ya, Mrs. Wiecek.

You got a lot of courage.

You help me?

[ Chuckles ] No, I'm afraid I couldn't do that.

I'm only a reporter.

I just write the story.

Well, good luck to you.

Good-bye.

[ Typewriters Clacking ]...

Great job, Mac.

- Thanks, Johnny.

Mac.

Hey, this story on the scrub woman--

pretty good.

How'd you like to follow it up

by goin' out to Stateville...

...and interviewin' her son?

- Well, now, wait a minute.

I didn't write this story

to glorify the son. He's a cop-killer.

Well, you got any proof he's a cop-killer?

Well, they didn't give him

He had a record.

He was on probation when he shot the cop.

Yeah, I know.

I read the record too.

He's Public Enemy Number One.

He and a couple of other kids

broke into a grocery store.

He got two bucks and a record.

But in this case,

an eyewitness...

...identified him as one of the killers.

The Supreme Court reviewed the trial.

The conviction was upheld.

Well, so what? It wouldn't hurt anything to

hear what the guy has to say, would it?

Well, why-- If you go out there--

- Well, look, Mac.

Let's put it this way...

...maybe I'm interested

for personal reasons.

Maybe I'm interested

'cause my mother did the same thing.

She scrubbed floors on

her hands and knees for...

...more than 11 years to

send me through school.

Okay, I'll go out to the pen

tomorrow and see him.

How about expenses?

[ Machine Clicks ]

- Here's a voucher. Take it to the cashier.

Kelly?

- Hmm?

I happen to know

your mother had a small annuity.

She never scrubbed a floor in her life.

You never got past the fifth grade.

But I figure if you pull such a corny gag

as this, you must want me to go pretty bad.

So I'm going.

But l-- I want you to know that

you didn't get away with it.

Jim?

- Yeah..

You're early tonight.

What happened?

Oh, I got to get up 8:30 in the morning,

go out to Stateville...

...and see that scrub woman's boy.

Got something to eat for me?

- Mm-hmm, it's all ready.

Hey.

Hi.

- Hi.

Hey. Got a new one, huh?

Isn't a beauty?

Five hundred pieces.

Say, I can't see how a smart girl like you...

...can spend so much time on these things.

Oh, I noticed you worked on the last one.

- Mmm.

You know, that was a marvelous yarn

you wrote about that Polish woman.

Had a lot of feeling.

What a magnificent thing that old lady did.

Yeah. Everybody's touched.

Especially Kelly.

I was too. Makes you feel warm.

Well, I hit it pretty hard.

But don't start believin' it.

I read the files on the case.

That kid killed the cop.

He got what was comin' to him.

Now, I need a branch of a tree

right in there.

See one around?

No, that's sky. That's sky.

l-I wasn't thinking about the boy.

I was thinking about his mother.

I hammer out a sob story,

and everybody's blubberin' all over me.

You know what it is?

It catches your imagination.

Nobody knows whether she's right

or not, but...

...she's worked so hard--

she's had such faith-- that...

...[ Chuckles ] well, I want her to be right.

Honey, I love ya.

Wouldn't you scrub floors for me

if I shot old Kelly in the head?

Oh, I don't know.

- You don't know. You don't--...

Jim--

- Oh, here's one. Here's one looks like it.

No.

- Jim.

Look, I'm goin' out to see him tomorrow.

Why you-- You women are suckers

for sentimentality, aren't ya?

I guess that's how I got you.

All I had to do was

dangle an orange blossom in front of you.

Oh, it took a little more

than that, Mr. McNeal.

It did, huh? Mm-hmm.

- Hmm.

[ Locks Rattling ]...

What kind of a guy is he, Warden?

- I like him.

Oh.

Frank, this is McNeal of the Chicago Times.

He wants to interview you.

[ Warden ] Now, you don't have to consent

to this interview...

...or answer any questions

if you don't want to.

[ Wiecek ] But I do want to....

Sure, I want to.

- Okay.

That's fine. He's yours.

Sit down, Frank.

The Times has

taken an interest in your case.

I came out to ask you some questions.

- Yes, sir.

I'd like more of your story,

your side of it.

I need an angle, something

to hit the public with. You understand?

Yes, sir.

- Now, you knew about the ad...

...your mother ran in the papers...

...and the $5,000 reward?

- Yeah.

Did ya know she was scrubbin' floors

to earn that money?

Yes, I did.

All she lives for is to get me out.

I guess that's all I've got to live for too.

Well, that's a very good angle to play up--...

...your faith in your mother,

her faith in you.

You know, if you're guilty...

...you're just letting her

slave her life away for nothing.

you're just letting her

slave her life away for nothing.

She knows I'm not guilty.

- Uh-huh.

I read the news clips...

...the transcript of the trial.

They don't whitewash you,

the way I see it.

But you only read what convicted me.

All the true facts didn't come out.

Even Judge Moulton said I was innocent.

The judge that gave you 99 years?

Well, the jury

said we were guilty. He had to.

But in his chambers,

he said he knew we were innocent.

When was that?

- Well, after he sentenced us--

Oh, after. Well, maybe

we'd better duck that.

What else?

My lawyer was a drunk.

He wouldn't even let me take the stand.

He was afraid I'd get the chair.

Uh-huh. Go on.

Well, when they question you

hour after hour...

...you're bound to get mixed up

on a lot of little things the way I did.

That's another good angle--

railroaded, huh?

Then they took me

from one police station to another...

...every few hours--...

...taking me 'around the

horn,' they call it--...

...so my lawyer couldn't get me out.

And this Wanda Skutnik--...

...the first two times she saw me,

she said I wasn't the man.

Then, all of a sudden, she said I was.

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