Call Northside 777 Page #3

- Finger woman, huh?

All right.

We'll play that up too.

I was home with my wife

the night the policeman was killed.

Does your wife visit you regularly?

My wife? Yeah.

We're divorced.

Well, we... better duck that angle too.

You duck so many things.

You don't believe me, do you?

Listen.

I talked to your mother.

She's a very fine old woman.

She believes you. I need proof.

I got no proof.

- Yeah. Yeah, I know.

All right. Now, what we'll

do with this thing is this.

We'll play up this mother angle

and the finger woman...

...and maybe a little police

and political corruption too.

I didn't say that.

Well, what difference

does that make? It's a good angle.

Probably true anyway.

See, you don't want a wishy-washy story.

This thing's

got to have sock-- mass appeal.

It's the only way we'll

be able to help you--...

...get sympathy, public support.

You leave it to me.

Okay, Warden.

Thank you.

That's all, Frank.

Are there any guilty men out here?

Not if you hear them tell it.

They sure make a hard pitch, don't they?

Ninety-nine years is a long time.

Maybe he'd been better off

if he got the chair.

Mr. McNeal is busy. But I'll tell him

you liked the story. You're welcome.

Yes, the Times is going to continue

with the Wiecek case. You're welcome.

[ Typewriter Clacking ]

Yeah.

Yes. Well, thank you very much for calling.

That's right, lady. I guess the Times

is gonna follow up the case.

Yes. Good-bye.

Say, what are you gonna

use for a follow-up?

What follow-up?

Well, the thing is snowballing.

I want more of it.

Well, do you wanna

give me a raise, or do I just get...

...the 5,000 from Wiecek's mother?

Look, Mac. My job's to print the news

that's fit to print.

Did it ever occur to you that we might be

sellin' this dead cop short?

Maybe he had a mother

that scrubbed floors too.

[ Ringing ]...

...[ Ringing Continues ]

And another thing,

remember what Wiecek said...

...about that judge that

promised him a new trial?

Well, the judge died

three weeks after the case was closed.

He's been dead for 11 years.

That Wiecek's a pretty

smart cookie, you know.

He gives me a lead

and knows I can't check up on it.

Well, why don't you take a different lead?

Look, Mac. You know we're

getting more than...

...20 phone calls per hour from our readers.

Yeah, and every time that phone rings,

you see those great big juicy headlines.

I know, 'Chicago Times

Clears Innocent Man.'

Well, why not?

- Well, why not? It's impossible, Kelly.

You can't do a thing like that.

- Listen, Mac.

If you don't like the story,

if you think he's guilty, end it.

Write a finish piece, and kill it.

- I'll take that deal.

I'll interview his wife. She believed in him

so much, she divorced him.

That ought to kill it for good.

[ Children Shouting ]...

...[ Train Whistle Blaring ]...

...[ Knocking ]...

I'm looking for Helen Rayska.

- Yes.

I'm McNeal of the Times.

I'm doing a series on the Wiecek case.

Oh, yes. I read them.

Please come in.

This way, please.

Oh, excuse me. Just a minute.

I got your address from

your former mother-in-law, Tillie Wiecek.

I haven't seen her since the divorce.

I guess she doesn't feel

very kindly towards me.

Uh-huh.

- Will you sit down, please?

Do you think there is a chance that

Frank will get free?

Do you want him to?

- Sure, I want him to.

Would you be waiting for him?

No. No, I wouldn't.

I married again.

- Oh.

But I'd be glad for Frank...

...because he's a fine man.

And because he's innocent.

He was at home with me

when the policeman was killed.

Yeah. Yeah, I know.

You were bakin' a cake.

Uh-- You loved him-- then, I mean.

I did... very much.

But the lonely nights

were too much for you.

You couldn't go on that way. Was that it?

- Oh, no, no.

No, that's what Tillie might think.

I loved him.

I would have stuck to him.

But Frank wanted me to get the divorce.

Hmm. Did he pick out

your new husband for you too?

It's the truth.

Did you contribute to the reward money,

or did Tillie earn all that by herself?

No, I couldn't help.

I haven't anything.

My husband, Mr. Rayska...

...takes care of me and

my boy-- Frank's boy.

I can't ask more than that.

He is a good man, and he loves me

and he loves the boy.

We're lucky.

Yeah. You seemed to have

got out of it all right.

Mr. McNeal, I told you the truth about

the divorce. Frank wanted it.

Well, it's going to very hard

to make people believe it.

Frank's wife says he's innocent and shows

her faith by divorcing him, you know.

But that's just the way it was.

[ Helen ] I went up to see him that day...

...wanting him to keep up hope,

wanting to cheer him up.

He looked depressed, the way you do

when you're terribly worried.

How have you been?

- Fine.

How have you been?

- Fine.

How's Ma?

- Fine.

And the boy-- How's the boy?

Oh, he is fine.

Always fine.

Everything's fine.

We have nothing to say anymore.

Oh, Frank, darling, please.

- I know. I know.

So many things you don't say.

You don't want to talk

about the outside, because I'm in here.

You don't want to remind me.

But I remind myself.

I think of lots of things.

Helen, tell me, how--

how's the boy doing in school?

He's doing very well, Frank.

But what about the other boys?

Kids can hurt him bad.

They're only kids, Frank.

- Yeah.

They do not know what they are saying.

- They know--...

...son of a jailbird,

cop-killer's son.

Oh, it's nothing, Frank.

I was thinking about moving

to a new neighborhood anyway.

He'll go to a new school.

- No, it's no good.

A new school is no good, Helen.

A new name, that would be good.

Frank.

- I'm--I'm just like dead, Helen.

In 30 years, maybe I can get a parole

if I'm lucky.

Thirty years.

Helen, you've--

You've got to divorce me, Helen.

You can't mean that, Frank.

- Yes.

Love's not for us anymore, Helen.

It's finished.

Now we must think of the boy...

...only the boy.

My boy must live for me.

But I couldn't do it, Frank.

I just couldn't.

And for over a year,

I wouldn't do it, Mr. McNeal.

[ Sniffles ] But Frank kept begging me

and begging me.

Then I met Mr. Rayska.

He loved me, and he was fond

of little Frank.

He understood everything about us.

Well, what about the boy?

Does he know?

Yes. He knows.

But now, everyone calls

his father Uncle Frank.

We've made a point of that.

- [ Door Slams ]...

...[ Boy ] Mom..

- [ Running Footsteps ]

Look, Mom. Brand-new--

He lost the other one.

This is Mr. McNeal of the newspaper.

And that's my husband,

Mr. Rayska.

Rayska.

- And that's my boy, Frank.

Hello.

- How are you? Say, I'd like to get...

...a couple of shots of you and the boy.

- That's all right.

Come on, son. Sit right there.

- Come over here, Frank.

Here you are.

- [ Train Whistle Blowing In Distance ]

Hey, Pete.

Mr. Rayska, you mind if I ask you

a couple of questions?

Certainly not.

Were you in Chicago in December of 1932?

Yes, why?

- Did you know Helen then?

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