Death Wish Page #4

You'll have to take it.

He went that way.

Who rode in the ambulance with them?

I did.

Well, was he talking?

He said he cut whoever shot him.

Exact words:
" I cut that motherf***er,

I hit him."

Can't save him.

Too much internal bleeding.

One slug chewed up the liver. Here.

Thirty-twos.

The mysterious vigilante

is in the news again.

Two hours ago in a subway underpass

two men were shot.

One died on the spot,

the other managed to reach the street.

He died shortly afterward.

The two men are Joseph

Roscoe Adams and George Riche.

Both had long criminal records.

The vigilante himself

may have been wounded.

The actions of a vigilante,

lawless as they may be...

... seem to be giving others

a new attitude toward crime.

Instead of allowing themselves

to be mugged, a few are fighting back.

Mrs. Alma Lee Brown

today successfully defended herself...

... against two muggers

with an unusual weapon.

- Tell us, how did you drive them off?

- With a hatpin.

- You ever seen a hatpin?

- I can't say that I have.

That's what we used to use

to hold our hats on with.

I ain't got no gun

like this vigilante fellow.

But I went to my closet,

and everybody better look out for me.

Because I been robbed

too many times. And I've had enough.

The men building this skyscraper

made a citizen's arrest today.

Andrew McCabe, a foreman,

will tell you.

Me and my crew was working

down in the hole.

One of the boys yelled down, "There's

a mugging. " So we come out...

... and we caught this guy and

roughed him up before the police came.

The hospital reports the man

had broken arms and cracked ribs.

No kidding? Jeez, the poor guy

must have fell down.

Walking distance from D'Agostino's...

...two blocks across,

six blocks uptown and downtown.

That's how far I'd be willing

to walk to a market.

Good. Very good, Miss Chamitti.

a death in the past three months...

...from mugging, stabbing,

shooting, assault.

Two families have no male members.

One has only

an 80-year-old grandfather.

That leaves nine families.

Total number of males

in these families...

...old enough to have served in

Vietnam, Korea or World War II...

...comes to 14.

Wild. It's a real wild shot.

But the vigilante plugged

his first victim in Riverside Park.

Exactly two and one half blocks

from that D'Agostino's Market.

Even if all of them are clean,

we can't ignore that coincidence.

No, sir.

Our friend lives in that neighborhood.

But, Frank, he was on a subway

with groceries five miles uptown.

There's no better come-on

for a mugging than groceries.

Means he's got some money

and his hands are occupied.

He might have been carrying

those groceries for hours.

I want a preliminary on these names.

Where they work...

...service record, reputation...

...police record, if any.

And I want it fast.

Like today, huh?

It's probably having as much effect

on crime as a Band-Aid on a leper.

I don't know. A mugger will

think twice about who he hits.

Sure, they hit more old ladies.

Paul, how you doing?

Let me get you a drink.

The guy's a racist.

- He kills more blacks than whites.

- More blacks are muggers.

You want to up the proportion of white

muggers to have racial equality?

What? Racial equality among muggers?

I love it.

- What have you got here?

- Guy named Paul Kersey.

Wife was murdered in their apartment.

Interesting detail:

The attackers

gained entrance to the apartment...

...posing as delivery boys

from our D'Agostino's Market.

- What else about him?

- He lives alone now.

Development engineer for Blueridge.

Served in Korea, medical corps.

Conscientious objector.

No police record.

His credits, reputation, excellent.

Conscientious objectors

are unlikely vigilantes.

- We got a finger?

- Yeah.

Over there. Patrolman Joe Charles.

Good.

Good morning.

- Joe Charles, Mr. Kersey.

- Of course.

Good to see you again.

How's your daughter?

The same.

Take care.

Follow him.

I'll see to that, Mrs. Cohen.

One moment. You're not residents.

- I'll call who you wish to see.

- No, you won't.

The district attorney

will see you now.

- Commissioner.

- You know the district attorney.

- Mr. Peters.

- Inspector.

Commissioner says you have

a good suspect.

Well, he fits the bill

in some respects.

We got a blood sample from the

knife used on him in the subway...

...and checked it against the sample

I found in his apartment.

It narrows it down.

But he could be the man.

Yeah. Yeah, he could be.

Suppose this Paul Kersey

is the vigilante.

All right, let's say that.

We don't want him.

Okay.

Inspector, on my desk I have a

statistic red-hot out of the computer.

Mugging has gone down

by how much, sir?

From 950 a week

to 470 reported last week.

Not too many people know that.

- And you want to keep it that way.

- No, we have to keep it that way.

This city would explode.

We'd have vigilantes killing anybody

who looked greasy. You can see that.

We want this man to quit, desist...

...go away. To stop.

So the mugging rate can go up?

Why not arrest him?

- I don't want a martyr on my hands.

- All right. All right.

I just want to hear you say it.

I'll try to scare him off.

But that's as far as I'll go.

That's right, Frank. Scare him off.

Scare him off.

A call from an old friend, who

wonders if you'll recognize his voice.

Do you want it,

or shall I insist upon his name?

- Okay, I'll take it.

- I'm putting you through.

Hello?

Is this Paul Kersey?

Yes, who's this?

Mr. Kersey, you're under

police surveillance.

You're being watched.

Scare him off.

Paper, papers!

Read all about the vigilante!

Get your papers here!

Read all about the vigilante!

How are you this evening?

Paper, papers!

Read all about the vigilante!

All right, get your hands up.

Hands on the car.

Spread your legs.

Okay, turn around.

Let's see some identification.

- Where do you live?

- Thirty-three Riverside.

Sorry to rough you up. We're looking

for a guy by your description.

He's armed,

so we couldn't take chances.

I hope you understand.

- If you want to make a complaint...

- It's all right, nobody was hurt.

Thanks. Good night.

Okay?

Yeah. Okay.

Went in the building 10 minutes ago.

Went to D'Agostino's first.

Let's check him, huh?

Go to that phone and call him.

- He's up there.

- Check him anyway.

Police! I need the phone. Come on.

Who is this guy?

He said, "Police."

I didn't see a badge.

I'll call as soon as he gets off.

Thanks.

Yeah, up yours.

No answer. He could be in the shower.

Stay here.

- Good night, Mr. Kersey.

- Good night.

Has Paul Kersey gone up?

Yes, sir. He went up and came down.

Just walked out.

- Where'd you go?

- Did he show here?

Can I ask a simple question?

Is this Paul Kersey the bird?

I won't ask any more questions.

- Go home, will you? I don't need you.

- Weird.

Come on down, motherf***er.

We gonna take you.

That's right, motherf***er.

And you can't go back up either.

Come down

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