Call Northside 777 Page #8

give you any trouble.

I'd just like to ask you

a few questions.

You want to cry

in my beer?

All I want to know is this:

Is there any possibility

that you might have been mistaken...

when you identified Wiecek?

No.

Well, if you're so positive, we can prove it.

Will you take a lie test?

A lie test? You think I'm crazy?

Look, will you give me

a sworn statement?

I did my swearin' in court.

How many times did you see Frank

before you identified him?

- Never.

- You didn't see him

before the police show up?

No. Only when he killed the cop.

Look, I said all I got to say.

That's all there is, see?

What do you mean, "That's all there is"?

There's a lot more than that.

This kid's been up

in the pen for 11 years.

Now, look. I got to go before

the Pardon Board day after tomorrow.

Frank's got a good chance

to get off if you help him.

I got no reason

to help Wiecek...

and I got no reason

to help you, neither.

You're the one that wrote them lies about me.

I've been thinking of suing for libel!

That's the reason I wrote 'em.

I called you a liar...

and a bootlegger

and a finger woman.

I insulted you every way

I could think of.

And I'm gonna keep on

doin' it, see?

Go ahead and sue us for libel.

I'd just like to get you

up on a witness stand under oath--

Yeah, and you still

wouldn't get nothin' out of me!

[ Train Whistle Blowing ]

Why you bother her?

Put that down!

You want to go tojail?

Now, you get out of here!

Now, listen, maybe there's

something you didn't think of.

- There's a $5,000 reward, you know.

- Five thousand dollars!

And what's more, you don't

have to do anything about it.

Just tell me enough to clear things up,

get Wiecek out, and you get the 5,000.

- So what do I gotta do?

-Just tell the truth.

Who got you to identify him?

Who are you afraid of?

Nobody. Nothin'. Nobody.

I ain't afraid of nobody,

and I ain't got nothin' to say.

Wanda, it's $5,000.

Shut up!

Now, you get out of here!

You ain't gonna get

nowhere.

I identified him.

I told the truth. It's him!

I ain't never gonna change my mind.

It's him! Now, get out of here!

- Boris!

- [ Train Whistle Blowing ]

[ Keyboard Clacking ]

[ Keyboard Clacking ]

Well, Mr. Burns has given us

a clear picture of the situation.

If Wanda Skutnik can defy

the Pardon Board...

if the board has no authority

to subpoena her...

the power to make her talk,

then we're helpless.

What do we do now?

The thing for us to do now

is for me to appear...

before the Pardon Board

of Springfield this afternoon...

present our apologies,

and ask that the case be withdrawn.

Will that appear

on Frank's record?

Will it spoil his chances

when he becomes eligible for a parole?

No. His name simply

will not come before the board.

All right. That's it, then.

I'm sorry, Mr. Palmer.

I want to apologize

to you, too, Mr. Burns.

I thought if I found this woman, I could

make her talk, but I missed it. I'm sorry.

Okay, Mac. Kelly,

write a finish story...

on this Wanda Skutnik

and end the whole thing.

Get the paper off the hook.

I can get a train for Springfield

in about a half-hour.

Good.

Big day for the Wieceks.

"Write a finish story."

"Get the paper off the hook."

How do you end it?

First, you better go out

and see Wiecek's mother.

I couldn't do that.

I just couldn't do that, Kelly.

What do you want her to do,

read it in the paper?

[ Elevator Door Opens ]

- [ Children Chattering ]

- [ Train Whistle Blowing ]

[ Knocking ]

- Mr. McNeal! Come in.

- Thank you.

Oh! [ Chuckles ]

I've got to excuse myself.

I was not expecting company.

Oh, you mustn't regard me

as company, Tillie.

I was baking a pie for Frank.

Please sit down.

I get you some coffee.

l-I really can't stay, Tillie.

I just came out to talk

to you about something.

About the Pardon Board, yes?

Oh, I pray for this day!

I want to tell you about it.

Come over here and sit down.

And now--

now it has come! It is here!

- Tillie, I must tell you this.

- Yeah?

We're going to

call off the hearings.

We don't have a chance in the world

of getting Frank his pardon.

- No chance?

- No.

But you work so hard.

You do everything.

Everything I could.

You got lawyers.

He tell Pardon Board.

We have the best.

But don't you see, Tillie?

If we go before

the Pardon Board now...

it'll just be hurting Frank's chances

for a parole later on.

We can't get a thing

out of Wanda Skutnik...

and without her,

we have nothing.

I saw her at the trial.

She will never tell.

Like a rock.

She will never tell.

But she knows.

Yes, she's afraid.

She will not talk. Never.

And without her,

we have no evidence.

"Evidence"?

They got no evidence

when they sent my Frank to prison...

for 99 years.

I got no evidence

when I scrub floors every night.

Go without supper.

Walk to work...

so I save a nickel for Frank.

"Evidence."

What is this "evidence"?

I can't tell you

how sorry I am, Tillie.

You try to help.

You're a good man.

But if this thing happen...

then we fight some more.

We fight more and more. Yes?

No, Tillie.

We're calling off the hearing.

The Times is dropping the case.

No.

But if you go,

I got no friend left.

Sorry.

[ Weeping ]

No friends left.

No friends no more.

Big fool, me.

Sure I got a friend.

- [ Children Shouting ]

- [ Horn Honking ]

Where to?

Ah, the Chicago Times.

You're the fellow

that's writing those stories, ain't you?

- [ Mouths Word ]

- Seen the paper?

[ Bell Ringing ]

Hey, change that, will ya? Get me down

to police headquarters fast as you can!

Right away!

McNeal of the Chicago Times.

First door on your left,

Mr. McNeal.

Say, uh, did you make the enlargement of

the photograph of this forged check here?

Yes. Why?

I got a picture here.

I just wondered...

could you blow that section

of the picture up right there?

- Sure.

- Would all the details come out on it?

- That depends. You got the negative?

- No, that's all I got.

- Well, then, I'd have to make a dupe.

- How long would that take?

- Oh, couple of hours.

- What do you think?

Could you get started

on it right away?

Yes.

But you're McNeal

at the Times, aren't ya?

- Been working on that Wiecek case.

- That's right. I'm McNeal.

At first, I thought

this guy was guilty.

Now I don't know.

Let me take a look at it.

- Hey, could I use your phone?

- Sure. Right over there.

I want to put in a person-to-person call

to Mr. Martin J. Burns.

He's up at the state capitol

in Springfield, Illinois.

That's right. Yeah.

Sorry, gentlemen.

The Pardon Board

is in special session.

The case of Frank Wiecek.

Gentlemen, I feel

somewhat at a loss...

because I came here to ask that

the petition of Frank Wiecek be withdrawn.

However, about an hour ago,

I received a telephone call...

from James McNeal

of the Chicago Times...

who informs me he has uncovered

the evidence we have been seeking.

It is conclusive evidence...

that supports the petition

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