Jennifer 8 Page #37

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TAYLOR:

He's offerin you a deal?

Why don't you take it ..

BERLIN:

He ain't offerin me sh*t.

TAYLOR lights a cigarette and exhales. Something of a real red-

headed f*** about him. And BERLIN would like to break his neck.

You're letting it show, King Jay.

TAYLOR:

I don't like you. But don't kid

yourself .. I don't take no ple-

asure sitting in on another cop ..

He rolls ash off his cigarette and pushes it round the ashtray.

Your an alcoholic, aren't you?

(BERLIN stares)

It's written in your file ..

The phone rings and TAYLOR answers. Puts his red eyes at BERLIN.

They want you to look in the mirror.

BERLIN has to find every strength for this one. Humiliation com-

pounds. Gets up and stares at his own haunted face in the glass.

148:
INT. ANTI ROOM/INTERROGATION. POLICE STATION. DAY.

The MYOPIC peers into BERLIN's face. St ANNE stands close with

his toilet roll. Light refracts in the MYOPIC's lenses "I seen

him up there quite a lot." St ANNE blows his nose "Is that the

man you saw that night?" He stares again at the tormented face.

MYOPIC:

Well .. I dunno .. it could be?

St ANNE

Alright, thank you, Mr Dawson ..

He's escorted to the door and his space is occupied by CITRINE.

CITRINE:

What's all this "deal" business?

St ANNE on his way to the door now. He pauses for the question.

St ANNE

I can have him out of here on a sec-

ond degree this afternoon. I own him,

and he knows it. And, Chief, I'm still

waiting for that warrant on his house?

149:
INT. WAITING AREA. POLICE STATION. DAY.

HELENA waits on a bench in the empty room. Maybe a few scruffy

magazines? But nothing of use to her in here except she's near

Berlin. He arrives like every hope got abandoned and sits next

to her. They clasp one another's hands before she embraces him.

BERLIN:

You don't wanna sit here

any more, sweetheart ..

HELENA:

I wanna be near you ...

Something difficult to tell her and doesn't know how to say it.

BERLIN:

I think they're gonna arrest me.

HELENA:

I don't want them to arrest you.

BERLIN:

It's not as bad as it sounds ..

They can't refuse me bail. Raise

bail of my own cognizance & find

the best damned lawyer there is ..

Her tears are close to his face. No one but him could hear her.

HELENA:

Oh, John, I'd do anything,

anything, to get you free.

150:
INT. INTERROGATION ROOM. POLICE STATION. DAY.

If the waiting room felt bad try sitting in here. Both St ANNE

and TAYLOR are smoking and the Sony playing again. This is the

final part of the tape. No speech but a lot of labored breath-

ing. Ross groaning and now the sound of his shotgun. More desp-

erate inhalations and now sound of the last shot into his neck.

St ANNE

.. and that one's with malice ..

that one's first degree .. why

don't you stop lying to me?

(Clicks Sony off)

C'mon, John, I can help you? Why

don't you tell me the truth?

BERLIN:

I've told you the truth. It

isn't me .. I've never call-

ed Ross "Freddy" in my life ..

TAYLOR:

I've heard you call him Freddy.

BERLIN:

You haven't. And you got no voice

in here, Taylor, so keep it shut.

St ANNE

Tell a lotta lies, don't you? Some-

thing that comes naturally to you?

BERLIN:

I don't lie.

St ANNE

Prepared to lie to your Chief?

BERLIN:

Under exceptional circumstances.

St ANNE

What were the circumstances that

caused you to lie to Freddy Ross?

BERLIN:

I never lied to Ross ..

St ANNE

You didn't?

Shakes his head in confirmation. And St ANNE finds a notebook.

Well, he thought you did? .. Wrote

it down in his book? "John Berlin

is a liar." Right here, underlined.

BERLIN stares at the book & can barely credit what he's seeing.

Dated the day you got your first

"break" with your "Mystery Man?"

You don't know why he wrote that?

(He doesn't)

Maybe he thought there was no "Myst-

ery Man?" That the investigation was

bullshit? That you were making it up?

And during the next attack St ANNE will work himself into rage.

Coz you wanted to be "Top Cop?" Isn't

that why you went running up that gar-

bage dump, so everyone could stand in

awe of the "Top Cop?" Isn't that why

you came up here? Coz you couldn't make

it in L.A.? Get yourself a pissy lit-

tle degree, come up here, and be "Top

Guy?" But Ross was "Top Guy", wasn't he?

Always would be Top Guy? And you know

what? He did it without even trying ..

Everybody loved him. He had everything

you wanted, didn't he? - Great woman -

Great kid? - Everything you couldn't

have? - And you wanted it to go away?

Coz your life was lousy, wasn't it? -

A lousy life, with a lousy wife, who

was f***ing everyone, wasn't she? Is

that why you pick on a little Blind

Girl? - coz you can control her? - Is

that it? - Control who she's f***ing?

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