L.A. Confidential Page #11

Blood-soaked bodies on the floor. Five, maybe six in a

tangle. Dozens of shotgun shells float in the pools of

blood. As Exley struggles to maintain his composure...

ROOKIE (O.S.)

Holy sh*t f***...

Exley looks at a green-faced ROOKIE in the locker

doorway.

ROOKIE:

S-s-sir, there's a captain outside

wants to see you.

EXLEY:

Don't get sick! Not in here!

Exley shoves the Rookie, puking, out the door.

EXT. NITE OWL - NIGHT

Patrolmen hold back a swarm of reporters and rubber-

neckers. HORNS BLAST. Motorcycles run interference for

meat wagons cut off by the crown. As Ed emerges,

reporters surge, shout questions. Exley hurries past,

finds Dudley in command and barking orders.

EXLEY:

Sir, I took the call. It's my

case.

DUDLEY:

Edmund, you don't want it and you

can't have it.

EXLEY:

Yes, I do, sir.

DUDLEY:

It's mine. I'll make you my

second in command.

Exley spots a photographer moving in. He looks properly

serious as the flash bulb pops.

INT. NIGHT OWL - NIGHT

Forensics Chief RAY PINKER walks Exley and Dudley

through.

PINKER:

We got a total of forty-five spent

12-gauge Remington shotgun shells.

Three men with five-shot-capacity

pumps. All of them reloading

twice.

EXLEY:

Hold on... We need to canvass.

See if a purple Mercury was seen

around here tonight.

DUDLEY:

Why?

EXLEY:

We got a call earlier on three

Negro youths. Firing shotguns in

Griffith Park from a late-model

purple Mercury Coupe.

DUDLEY:

(to his adjutant)

Get on it.

A FORENSICS COP approaches Pinker.

FORENSICS COP:

We got an I.D. on one of the

victims, sir... I think it's Dick

Stensland.

Exley and Dudley react, look at each other.

EXT. VICTORY MOTEL - DAWN

Set in a no-man's-land of bulldozed homes. A sign

proudly announces the impending arrival of the freeway.

The motel is surrounded by a barbed-wire fence.

Abandoned but for a pair of LAPD cars and a light burning

in room 6.

An unmarked pulls up and Exley and Dudley step out. They

start forward, but a SCREAM inside 6 stops Exley short.

DUDLEY:

With Mickey Cohen in prison, Los

Angeles is organized crime free.

The Chief wants it to stay that

way, Edmund. The means are not

for the weak-hearted.

INT. VICTORY MOTEL - ROOM 6 - DAWN

Bare. A table and chair bolted to the floor. A tough

FLAT-NOSED GANGSTER is cuffed to the hot seat. On the

table are a .45 and a fat roll of $100 bills.

Breuning and Carlisle watch as Bud White delivers a

couple of short, stiff body shots. Flatnose is not used

to being on the receiving end. All the same, we get the

idea Bud's a bit reluctant.

Bud's back is to Dudley and Exley who enter behind him.

DUDLEY:

Come, Wendell, you can do better

than that.

Bud turns, sees Exley and Dudley. A beat. As Bud looms

over Flatnose, the gangster babbles. Snitch-frenzied.

FLATNOSE:

I know things. I hear things.

Like with the Mick inside, things

are on this weird slowdown.

(MORE)

FLATNOSE (CONT'D)

These shooter teams, bang bang

bang, they're 86-ing Mickey

Cohen's men.

DUDLEY:

We know all that, lad. Tell us,

who do these shooters work for?

FLATNOSE:

I don't know. No one knows.

Maybe they're mavericks. You want

a prostie roust? Huh? Some narco

action?

(breaking down)

What do you want?!

DUDLEY:

We want you to go home.

(to Breuning)

Uncuff him, Michael.

Dudley turns to Exley.

DUDLEY:

Mr. Sifakis is a known loan shark

from San Francisco. He arrived

this afternoon at Union Station.

Looking for business opportunities

in our fair city. An organized

crime associate in need of re-

education in the ways of polite

society.

Uncuffed, Flatnose rubs his wrists. Wary. As Breuning

steps back, Flatnose snatches the .45 off the table.

FLATNOSE:

Motherfuckers!

Exley dives for cover, but the other four cops just stand

there. Dudley looks down on the floor at Exley.

DUDLEY:

It's part of the play, Edmund. A

sincerity test.

Flatnose looks at the gun a beat, then squeezes the

TRIGGER. CLICK CLICK. No bullets.

DUDLEY:

(to Breuning)

Sit him back down.

CLICK, CLICK. They shove Flatnose back in the hot seat.

Dudley offers a hand to Exley, helps him to his feet.

DUDLEY:

Wendell, you need to accompany

Detective Lieutenant Exley on

official police business. I'll

finish up here.

INT. EXLEY'S PLYMOUTH - DAY

They drive in silence. No love lost here. Finally.

BUD:

Where are we going?

EXLEY:

It's a surprise. You like

surprises, don't you, White?

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