Deadline at Dawn Page #2

Drop in at The Jungle again.

That's very nice of you, Miss Goffe.

But my pass is up

and I'm leaving on the 6:00 bus.

- I'm very proud to wear this uniform.

- Why not?

And that's what worries me.

I'm sure they'll nab me

before I get to Norfolk.

- Norfolk?

- Norfolk, Virginia where the naval station is.

Is that where you're taking

a 6:
00 bus to?

Right into the terminal on the northeast

corner of Tazewell and Monticello?

I was born in Norfolk.

- You were?

- Yes, I was.

I was. I was.

What's your problem, son?

If you do something for me, I'll help you.

See my mother in Norfolk.

Tell her you saw me. She'll appreciate it.

All she's got down there is a porch

and an old hound dog.

You saw me in a show. Tell her,

in a good leading part, dancing and singing.

Say I looked happy.

I said I'll be home for a visit soon.

But that wouldn't be telling the truth,

would it?

Oh, sure, of course. Why not?

A stickler for the truth.

You'd like to go there

and tell her I'm a dance-hall girl.

That I'm ashamed to go home,

I'm sick with pride and depression.

Is that what you'd tell to a lady

with a daughter, a son...

...a belly gunner somewhere over Japan?

- Just a minute...

Do you get out or do I throw you out?

I'm sorry. l...

Would you do me a favor, Miss Goffe?

It's not my intention

to burden you with my problems...

...but I have a lot of money here.

It's no good to me. You could use it.

Go back to Norfolk. Surprise your mother.

This is real money, son.

I took it.

Let us pause for station identification.

- You stole this money?

- I did and I didn't.

In my book, you do or you don't.

She made me mad.

I didn't know what I was doing.

She and her brother run this Italian place

where I went in to eat.

He comes over, the brother. Gives me

a drink and asks me if I care to play casino.

We played two hours.

He was cheating like a skunk.

Then I was broke.

- Why didn't you stop him if you saw him?

- I was too embarrassed.

They closed up and the sister asked

would I come home and fix her radio?

Because that's my rating in the Navy.

Up her house, she kept...

...drinking and being disgusting

in general.

But I fixed the radio.

By this time, I had a few drinks,

which resulted in a real blackout for me.

- When I turned around, she was fast asleep.

- Passed out.

Yes.

I remember I demanded

if she'd pay me for the radio, I would go.

Then I worked it out in my mind.

I'd take the money myself

for fixing the radio.

- And that's as far as I remember.

- Until when?

Until I was sitting at a newsstand drinking

black coffee, which the fellow gave to me.

Then this roll of bills

fell out of my pocket.

So you see what I did in this uniform?

Fourteen hundred dollars

and some checks.

She's probably still out. Put it back.

Suppose I'm caught. Her brother,

he's got a face like the back of a hairbrush.

- He knows where I'm from.

- Then put it back.

Don't go into prayer and fasting

about it.

Might I leave my radio here?

You might not.

I'd be asleep when you got back.

I wonder if you would help me,

Miss Goffe.

- All you'd have to do is wait downstairs...

- No. No.

I should say not.

It's just because I'm in the uniform.

I'd take my medicine standing up

if not for that.

You see, Miss Goffe?

Suppose I was your brother,

the belly gunner, Miss Goffe.

What an operator.

There any more at home like you?

Which house?

That one.

Opposite the place with the two lights.

That's a police station,

that place with the two lights.

This is it, Miss Goffe.

Call me June. It rhymes with moon.

I'll turn on the radio

if anybody starts up after you.

Yes, thanks.

Come on. Come along now.

No. No, you don't, Pop. No, you don't.

You can't come in here.

Take my advice,

don't make the sergeant mad.

All I want is a place

to lay my head down. A cell.

Oh, move along. Don't you know?

You gotta commit a crime to get in a cell.

Nobody wants anybody

at a time like this.

I'll get a place though.

Did you put it back?

You've been very kind, Miss Goffe.

- I won't need your help anymore.

- What happened?

The woman is dead.

Here. Hold this.

I hear the whistle blowing.

Who did it? You?

You mean you think I did it?

- Didn't you?

- Don't look at me like that.

I think you'd better leave.

Yes.

Well, this is New York...

...where "hello" means "goodbye."

What are you gonna do?

I don't know.

Go for a walk or we'll go home.

Make up your mind, now.

Hot, isn't it?

- Yes.

Oh, he won't hurt you.

He's just a puppy. A baby.

He wouldn't hurt a flea.

Make up your mind, now.

A baby.

Did you do it?

Miss Goffe, please believe me.

Someone has to believe me.

Oh, sure, of course. Why not?

The cops' windows look

right into these windows.

But you wouldn't think of that.

What did you wanna be

when you were 12 years old? Boob McNutt?

It can't be suicide. There's no weapon.

Strangled, is she?

Yes, that's how it looks, strangled.

- You're perspiring.

- Well, l...

You'd better drop down

on your bendified knees and pray.

Edna, it's the Babe. Babe Dooley.

Why don't you open the door

for your Babe?

Edna, why don't you answer me?

I need a bottle, Edna.

Rain, rain, go away.

Come again some other day.

Nobody loves a fat man.

Out at second.

Out at third.

Out of my mind.

He's gone.

Yes.

We better wait in the dark a minute.

Do you hear anything?

Only your breathing.

- Is that what that is?

- Yes.

And mine.

Should I call the police

and have it done with?

It's your problem, son, not mine.

You're much smarter than me,

that's why I ask. What should I do?

Cut and run now.

- Forget all this. Get on your bus.

- They'll catch me.

Her brother knew I came to fix the radio

and I told him all about myself.

- I'd be the first they'd look for.

- But what's the good...?

At least they couldn't say I ran away.

- I thought if we looked around the room...

- Don't say "we," it's not my problem.

What do you think people do?

Leave clues around?

- Why are you mad all the time?

- This weather brings me to a boil.

And so do you.

You're such a helpless baby.

Oh, of course, here's a clue.

Mentholated cigarettes

used by the millions.

Or this, a lipstick. Need I tell you?

Some matches and a book.

A dead white carnation.

This isn't her lipstick.

It belongs to a blond, light.

A man did it, not a woman. A man.

He came by appointment

to get the money.

Otherwise, she wouldn't have brought

all this money home.

She let him in,

so she must've known who he was.

Then she made him mad and he did it.

A man did it because a woman

wouldn't strangle someone.

It wasn't premeditated

because he would bring a weapon if it was.

- Does that sound right, Miss Goffe?

- Continue.

I can't.

But he must've been very nervous

when he left.

We have that clue, for sure.

We have a nervous man.

We have that clue.

And what a clue.

He was nervous like every butcher,

baker and candlestick-maker in the town.

Now, suppose we stick to the text.

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