Hammett Page #3

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I just collect gossip for the papers...

for the post and call.

Look, i was trying to write

a real story for once...

about the slave racket

in chinatown...

twelve, thirteen-year-old girls coming

right off the boats and into the cribs.

Well, i met her there.

Crystal. Look.

Oh.

- Now, isn't she beautiful?

- Yeah, she is beautiful.

She's very beautiful.

- So what?

- Well, a lot of people

wanna talk to her.

I'd like to talk to her myself.

Why is everybody so interested

in this chinese dame anyway?

Just tell your friend ryan

i want her back!

- Back? What are you

trying to tell me, salt?

- That's all i can say.

Believe me.

I'm already out on such a limb.

You tell your friend ryan

if he doesn't watch his step,

he can wind up dead.

And you tell him i mean it!

Young wild west, eh?

[Chuckles]

[Phone ringing]

- Hello?

- [Ryan] sam, it's me.

- Ryan, where the hell are you?

- I'm in a jam.

Look in the dictionary,

your big dictionary.

I can't talk now.

I've got to find that girl.

[Dial tone]

Swell. Where do you

want me to start?

- Could i get another copy of

the chronicle forjanuary 3?

- [Man] comin'right up, sam.

Thanks, hank.

[Footsteps echoing]

Man alive,

this guy can write.

[Dumbwaiter rings]

[Footsteps continue echoing]

"Mr. Callaghan was prominent

in local business and civic circles.

"Recent financial reversal.

Despondent, according to

a spokesman for the family...

attorney e.l. Hagedorn."

English eddie hagedorn.

[Footsteps echoing]

[whistling]

i wish that i

[whistling]

[humming]

could write

a song about you

- hello.

- Hello.

- Remember me? Elizabeth.

- Ellen.

- Christmas eve, 1924.

- That's right.

- I'm married now.

- Oh.

- Congratulations.

- Thank you.

[whistling]

Lee, where would you

go in chinatown...

to find a girl

who's run away from the cribs?

There's only one place:

The mission house

on sacramento street.

[Horn honking]

- [Children chattering]

- Yes? May i help you?

How do you do? I'm peter collinson

from the chronicle.

I'd like to have a word

with miss cameron if i may.

A newspaper reporter?

Yes. I'm from the chronicle.

I've been working on a story

about the slave rackets here...

and i've got a problem i think

you might be able to help me with.

We've been having some trouble

locating a primary source.

Who is "we,"

mr. Collinson?

It wouldn't be fong wei tau,

now, would it?

I know who he is,

but that's about it.

Your source came to us

in the middle of the night...

with nothing but

the clothes on her back...

crazed with fear!

She would only tell me

she had escaped from fong.

Fong paid $5,000 for her

when she was brought here...

from china at the age of 12.

$5,000 dollars...

so he could sell her body

in his parlor house.

If she's caught,

it would not be...

a life worth livin',

now, would it?

Do you have any idea

where she is now?

Ayoung man tricked one of my staff

into letting her leave with him.

I'll never forgive myself

for being out that day.

Thanks. That's swell.

If i, uh, find anything out,

i'll let you know.

You're quite welcome,

mr. Hammett.

I've lived in san francisco

since 1895, young man...

and there's very little

i don't know about our city.

Yes, ma'am.

I should've known better.

- Eli.

- Where to, hammett?

- The morgue.

- You back on the game?

Sort of.

I was worried there for a while.

I thought you was getting

halfway respectable, like me.

- [Man] come in.

- Hello, doc.

I heard you retired.

I got 13 kids, hammett.

You don't ever retire

if you've got 13 kids.

[Chuckles] you ever heard of

a doctor with 13 kids?

- [Laughing]

- I was sure i heard you retired.

- I heard you quit drinking.

- I guess we were both wrong.

[Footsteps echoing]

You know what my problem is?

I'm a halfway honest man...

in a 9/10ths dishonest world.

- What's your problem?

- Suicide.

- My advice:
Don't hesitate.

- Not mine. C.f. Callaghan's.

Funny you should ask.

Had a guy in last week asking

about the same thing.

The guy had

a fancy tan topcoat...

and a hat to match.

He was on the expense.

[Pigeons cooing]

You on the expense,

hammett?

No.

We go back a ways, don't we?

- Quite a ways.

- The colcord thing in '21.

I wasn't in on that one, doc.

What about callaghan?

You sure you're not on the expense

like that other fella?

I'm sure.

- You know what i got?

- What?

Bad kidneys.

[Toilet flushing]

[Door closing]

Like i said...

a most interesting case.

[Gagging]

The victim struck himself in the head

with a blunt instrument...

and then pumped

a.38 round into his heart.

Or maybe it was vice versa.

Suicide...

[laughing]

Is often fascinating.

I'll say.

[Chattering]

- [Snorting]

- [Sirens blaring]

- [Door closes]

- [Whistling]

[Speaking in chinese]

- [Moaning]

- Crystal ling, right?

Do you always leave

your door unlocked, mr. Hammett?

Why not?

Nothing of value.

- You never know who will come in.

- I guess not.

While waiting for you here...

i felt so safe...

protected.

It's such a masculine place.

- Safe from what?

- Your friend mr. Ryan.

What do you know

about me and ryan?

You and he were in chinatown

last night.

Nothing there goes unobserved.

Would you tell

your mr. Ryan...

to stop looking for me?

I am not lost.

What about a guy named salt,

gary salt?

He also seems to think

you're either lost or strayed.

[Giggling]

Salt.

He's a evil little man.

He's corrupter.

He is "worser"

than fong wei tau.

No, that is not true.

No one is worse than fong,

not even salt.

So why come to me?

In chinatown,

you are known as a kind man...

a just man.

I came because i need

a safe place to stay for a few hours...

no more than eight.

I need a haven.

If you could help me...

- i would...

- you'd do what?

[Chuckles] anything.

Anything what you want.

Yeah, i bet you would at that.

First, you're gonna

have to do something for me.

After all,

i am a kind man, a just man.

[Giggles]

Anything.

Anything at all.

Tell me about you

and c.f. Callaghan.

I cannot.

Why not?

I was there

when she killed him.

- Who's she?

- His wife.

Oh. Mrs. Callaghan.

I fled, and later

the police came, and...

- called it suicide.

- Suicide.

- What the hell were you doing there?

- Well, you see...

mr. Callaghan...

he bought me.

He bought me from fong.

You spin quite

a tale, sister.

It's true, mr. Hammett.

It's all terribly, horribly true.

You must understand.

I was a whore...

a very, very "skillet" whore...

until i found christ,

my redeemer.

- At the mission?

- Yes, at the mission.

I was made to do such...

terribly wicked things.

- Maybe i'd better go now.

- [Gasps]

Mr. Hammett!

Can i stay?

Okay. Lock the door. Don't let

anyone in. Don't answer the phone.

I'll be back later.

- I was so very wicked.

- Yeah, i can believe that.

[Door closes]

How are the wonders of the orient?

I saw her go up.

She's a favor i owe ryan.

Oh, sure, sam.

Absolutely. You bet.

Look, there's a cop i know

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