Detective Story Page #2

Just have her ask for Detective McLeod.

McLeod?

- Yes, sir.

- Come in here.

Hey, Red...

This is Detective McLeod, Mr. Sims.

- How do you do?

- How do you do?

- He's an attorney.

- And very clever. I've seen him in court.

He represents Karl Schneider.

I had the pleasure

of arresting your client a year ago.

So I'm informed.

He's changed his lawyer since,

if not his business.

Mr. Schneider is a retired doctor.

He has a farm in New Jersey.

With a little sideline in New York.

A very profitable one.

Where's your boy?

He's ready to surrender himself

on the warrant you had issued.

Fine. Bring him in.

Before I do,

I have here some photographs.

Now, these were taken

only an hour ago.

Nudes? Ugly, isn't he?

- Well, he's no Mr. America.

- No, that he's not.

Now, you'll observe, there are

no bruises or lacerations of any kind.

This is the way

I'm delivering my client to you...

and this the way I want him back.

I should think that any change

whatsoever would be an improvement.

And I want you to know,

I'm not going to allow you...

to violate his constitutional rights.

You're not to abuse him physically...

nor degrade his dignity

as a human being. Do you understand?

I saw one of your client's patients last

year, in the morgue, on a marble slab.

Wasn't much human left of her,

and very little dignity.

My client was innocent of that charge.

The court acquitted him.

Insufficient evidence. But he was guilty.

What are you going to do,

try the case here? Save it for the judge.

For over a year, McLeod, you,

personally, have been making...

my client's life a living nightmare. Why?

Because I'm annoyed by criminals that

get away with murder. They upset me.

- That's your story.

- Yeah.

I've investigated

and discovered otherwise.

- What are you driving at, Sims?

- What?

Nothing, yet.

I vouch for every man on my squad,

and that goes for McLeod.

If you've got something to say, say it.

When it serves my purpose, not before.

Meanwhile, Lieutenant, I'm warning you:

Not a hand on my client.

What's he driving at?

- A fishing expedition.

- Not without bait.

He hinted you're after Schneider

for personal reasons.

The Anderson girl

is lying in the hospital.

Last year, a girl who trusted him died

when her baby was born.

What happened to her baby,

and lots of others, nobody knows.

That's why I take a personal interest

in Schneider.

This is an impersonal business,

McLeod.

- How many times...

- He's a butcher and a murderer.

You ought to visit his farm.

Especially the kitchen.

It looks like a place

where they slaughter chickens.

Your moral indignation is beginning

to give me a quick pain in the neck.

I don't like lawyers

coming in here with photos.

It marks my squad lousy. I don't like it,

and I won't have it. You understand?

Yes, sir.

Can't you say, "Yes, sir"

without making it sound like an insult?

Yes, sir.

You're getting too superior, McLeod.

A one-man army against crime.

What's eating you?

I hate criminals.

I don't believe in coddling them.

- Who tells you to?

- You do, the whole system does.

What do you want to do,

put Schneider on a rack?

No. I want to put him

in the electric chair...

where he belongs,

and pull the switch myself.

Sometimes, McLeod,

you talk like a maniac.

You want to be judge and jury, too?

Well, you can't do it!

All right. Look, suppose you look after

Schneider yourself...

when he surrenders, huh?

Make sure he's comfortable,

that he gets everything he wants.

I'm taking my wife out to dinner tonight,

and I'm going to sleep late tomorrow.

That's fine. Wrap up your squeals

for today and get out of here.

- I don't want to see you for 24 hours.

- You won't. Mind if I shave?

You got to have the last word,

don't you?

A man after me own heart.

- Hi, Lou.

- Hi, Joe.

Here you are, girlie.

- How much do I owe you?

- It's on the house.

That's very decent of you.

I mean it, very decent.

Well, you didn't kill anybody.

Embezzlement. Chicken feed.

- Here you are, kid.

- I don't want it.

Look, son, the city don't care

if you go hungry here.

We chip in for this stuff ourselves.

What branch of the service were you in?

Navy.

- Where'd you serve?

- The Marshals, Marianas, Iwo Jima.

My kid was in the Navy, too.

Juneau. You know her?

- She was a cruiser.

- Yeah.

- Didn't she go down with all hands?

- There were 10 survivors.

Rough deal.

He'd have been just about your age.

- How'd you get into this mess?

- Are you going to give me a sermon?

Don't get funny with me, son,

I'll knock you right through the floor.

Now, how'd you get into this mess?

- Hi, Lou.

- Hi, Jim.

Here comes trouble.

- What have you got there?

- Burglars. Caught them red-handed.

I went into my apartment,

and there they were all inside.

I tried to run away, but he grabbed me

by the neck and tried to choke me.

It's a lie. It's a pack of lies.

I heard her scream. They come running

down the stairs and I collared them.

This one gave me a struggle.

I'm walking down the stairs.

I'm minding my own business.

The cop jumps on top of me,

and starts beating my brains in.

All right. We'll come to you.

- Think I'm crazy? Do a thing like this?

- Sit down.

On this one, we found this.

And this jimmy.

-.22?

- Loaded.

- What's your name. Stand up.

- Gennini. Charles Gennini.

And I don't know nothing.

I don't even know this guy.

Ask him. Hey, do I know you? No.

Take easy, Charley. Sit down.

What's your name?

- Lewis Abbott.

- Were you carrying these, Lewis?

Yeah.

He grabbed me by the throat. How can

a thing like this happen in New York?

- You're all right, now, madam.

- Now, you.

I got nothing to do with this.

What do you think?

I got rocks in my head?

Look at this.

Quite a bundle.

How much is here, Charley?

$1,400.

Eleven. Why is it, every time

we drag in one of you bums...

you've got $1,400 in your kick,

I got $11 in mine?

You don't live right.

How did you get this, Charley?

- I saved it. I worked.

- Where?

I was a bricklayer.

Count it. This goes to property clerk.

We don't want Charley suing us.

He was a bricklayer.

Let's see your hands.

The only thing you ever laid

was a $2 bet.

When were you in stir last, Charley?

Me? Jail? Never.

I swear on a stack of Bibles.

What's your 'B' number?

On my mother's grave,

I ain't got no 'B' card.

How do you know what a 'B' card is,

if you never had one?

- I heard. I been around.

- I'll bet you have.

You've been working this precinct

all summer.

- No, I swear.

- Who do you think you're kidding?

I know that face. This is a good man.

- He's been in jail before.

- Never, so help...

What are you trying to do, hang me?

I want to call a lawyer.

- Sit down.

- You've got a sheet as long as your arm.

I don't know what you're talking about.

I swear. I get down on my knees.

- What do you want?

- Get up. I can smell you.

You're a cat burglar. A real killer.

Callahan? Watch the roscoe.

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