Hammett

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- [Dog barking]

- [Car engine revving]

[Children shouting]

[Dog barking, howling]

[Typewriter keys clicking]

[Clicking continues]

[Trolley bell ringing]

[Children yelling]

[Dog barking]

[Breathing deeply]

[Whispering]

Oh, jesus.

[Typewriter keys clicking]

[Clicking continues]

[Man]

The pearls were insured for 100,000.

So when the thief offered

to sell them back for five...

the insurance company

came to us.

There was just one hitch:

The thief insisted

on a woman go-between.

The old man suggested sue alabama,

who worked for us a few years back.

When he asked me

what i thought, i said i thought

she'd be perfect, just perfect.

That'll stop a kitten,

if you're lucky.

- [Clicking]

- It'll stop a tiger,

if you know how to point it.

[Man] her name

wasn't really sue alabama.

It was sue something greek

and unpronounceable.

But all of us called her alabama,

so she had it changed back in '25.

- [Car door closing]

- That was just after she and i

took nowhere nickelton...

at the biltmore in l.a.

She primed him,

and i went in on the cleanup.

Sex was nearly all

sue alabama ever needed.

And she could use it the way

some guys use a blackjack.

I still think she was probably

the best i ever worked with.

[Gunshot]

- 5,000 bucks?

- Inside coat pocket.

He needed one hand for the money

and the other for the gun.

He wasn't good enough

to handle both.

If it isn't pen pal morrison.

Hello, pen pal.

- At least you didn't hit the money.

- I didn't aim at the money.

I can't figure him

for a cannon.

- [Foghorn blaring]

- The only thing pen pal

would ever use is the u.s. Mail.

Extortion.

That's why they parked him

in atlanta for three years.

Maybe he just

got ambitious.

Maybe he did.

- No pearls, though?

- No pearls. It was

a cute heist, that's all.

Just one small step up

from extortion.

Where were you gonna

fence 'em? Chicago?

- Cincinnati.

- If you still want 'em, you're

gonna have to use that shooter.

- Give me two hours.

- Why?

- For old times' sake.

- I'll give you one.

Okay. One.

[Man] i didn't give her an hour.

I didn't even give her 15 minutes.

[Typewriter keys clicking]

They picked her up at the union station

with a ticket for chicago in her bag.

I was almost sorry

she didn't make it.

Back in '26, sue alabama and i

nearly got married.

I suppose it's just as well

we didn't.

[Man coughing]

[Gagging]

[Coughing continues]

[Breathing heavily]

[Water running]

[Sighs]

[Breathing heavily]

[Papers shuffling]

Ryan.

Jesus, ryan.

- James francis xavier ryan.

- Himself.

Look at you, kid.

You're whiter than i am.

[Chuckles]

Clean living.

- You still a lunger?

- Cured. Almost, anyway. Thirsty?

Always.

I looked at this

while i was waiting...

except her name

wasn't sue alabama.

It was betty philadelphia,

and i did marry her. Worst luck.

- Ever hear from her?

- You ever hear from yours?

[Chuckling]

- Let me ask you a literary question.

- Sure.

I'll be sittin' around

with nothin' to do...

and i'll pick up one of those pulp rags

just to see if you've got a story in it.

When you do, it's usually

about this tough old bird...

who's about two and a half hops

ahead of everybody else.

How come he hasn't got a name?

Are names hard to write?

Shoot, i can write names.

Foxfire mccabe,

bitsy glass...

- [chuckles]

- Joe pickles.

- You think he's you, right?

- I know he is.

He goes around doin'

everything i used to do.

Half the time i don't know whether to be

flattered or embarrassed as hell.

What brings you to town?

That's what i want to talk to you about.

I got an m.p. Thing goin'.

- Who's missing?

- Little chink girl...

about 16 or 17... pretty.

Her name's crystal...

crystal ling.

I need some help, sam.

- You know this burg and i don't.

- I'm out of it.

Once in, never out.

Hell, i'll bet you're still half snoop.

I taught you good.

I bet you read other people's

mail, poke around their

medicine cabinets, eavesdrop...

when i walk down the street,

you know what i still look at?

Earlobes, noses, eyebrows, scars,

if there are any.

- See what i mean?

- Yeah, but you're trying

to put them in jail.

- I'm just trying

to put 'em in a magazine.

- Like i said, i need some help...

especially in chinatown.

- I want you for my tin mittens.

- No chance.

I don't screw around with

the cops anymore. Not in this town.

- Let's go get some booze.

- In a minute.

Let me tell you

a story first.

You like stories, don't ya?

Sure you do.

It seems this old bird is up

in some place that sounds a hell

of a lot like butte, montana.

He got a sidekick this time...

kid the agency sent.

Green as grass.

Somehow they get themselves

in a soup...

and the old guy takes a slug

in the shoulder that by rights...

should have taken the kid

in the left eye.

The green kid falls all over

himself, tellin'the old guy

no matter what he wants...

no matter when,

no matter where, just holler.

You remember that story.

Anywhere, anytime

is now, hammett.

I'm callin' it in.

Let's go get

that whiskey.

[Knocking]

[Woman] hi, neighbor.

Can you spare a cup of booze?

[Hammett]

Hello, kit. I'm all out.

Oh, sorry.

I didn't know you had company.

- Miss conger, mr. Ryan.

- How are you?

Kit's a librarian downtown.

We werejust going out to mail this.

- I'll bring you back some booze.

- Okay. Let me give you the money.

[Kit]

So where are you from, mr. Ryan?

[Ryan]

Baltimore, birmingham,

butte... you name it.

Anyplace that begins

with a "b," huh?

I left out biloxi.

Your new story set

in any of those places, sam?

[Hammett]

Yeah, maybe... maybe not.

- Sounded like baltimore to me.

- Did you make a carbon?

- No.

- One of these days, you're...

is that what you wear

to the library?

That's what i wear underneath

what i wear to the library.

- Never seen any before?

- Couple of times... maybe three.

Four, counting the redheaded

contortionist from yakima.

- Cute dish.

- Yeah, very.

I hear you left pinkerton's.

- Yeah, three or four years ago.

Long hours, short dough.

- [Cat meowing]

- Any money in the writing racket?

- Penny a word.

- Write a million words, you'd be set.

- Like war and peace.

- Bring you back some gin.

- Gin's for old ladies.

Make it scotch.

[man singing, indistinct]

[Hammett]

Christ, you're sure looking flush...

somewhere between

a bootlegger and a banker.

Got my own little agency

up in tacoma now.

Lot of divorces in tacoma.

No wonder. Hell, it rains

350 days of the year.

What's your town like, anyway?

Free and easy?

Yeah. More so than most.

- Who runs things?

- Same people who run

things everywhere.

The cops, the crooks

and the big rich, huh?

[Chuckles]

Who else?

- Where?

- A little to your right

and back six yards.

I'd sort of like to lose him.

You still know how?

Yeah, i think i might remember.

A corkscrew or splitaway?

Corkscrew. Looks like i taught you

somethin' after all.

[Women talking, indistinct]

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