Manhattan Night Page #6

She visited frank Crowley

twice every week.

I tracked her down

to an address in queens.

And, like frank Crowley,

I was running out of time.

And she was all I had.

Hello?

Hello?

- Oh, my god, get out!

- Shh!

Get out. Get out.

I'm calling the police.

- Please don't. Shh, no.

- I'm calling the police.

- No, please.

- No, don't touch it. No!

- Get out! Get out!

- Here.

Please don't hurt me.

Just please go.

Mrs. Segal, I'm desperate.

Please, I'm sorry I entered

your house without permission,

but I don't know what's wrong.

I need your help, Mrs. Segal.

Please.

You know me?

How do you know me?

Do I know you?

I'm Porter wren.

I'm a, uh...

I write a column in the paper.

Uh...

I'm risking my whole career,

telling you who I am.

And please, trust me.

Oh.

I read you all the time.

I'm not here for the paper.

Uh, I promise I won't,

I won't write about this.

I'm...

I'm trying to help Caroline.

And if you could just answer

a few questions for me,

I'd be incredibly grateful.

Okay?

- Okay.

- Now, Simon was a family friend?

Yes. Simon was best friends

with our Michael growing up,

- when they were little.

- Oh, yeah?

They remained friends?

Michael drowned

when he was eight.

Simon still came over

every day after school,

because frank was working and Simon's

mother had passed away already.

He became like a replacement son

for us, you could say.

Uh...

Now, you were visiting

frank Crowley, Simon's dad,

and billing the estate, right?

Yes. Simon had his firm

send us $2,000 a month,

once he started making money,

because he wanted

to take care of us.

I was very uncomfortable

with it.

I thought, I thought we

should earn the money.

So, I was visiting frank twice

a week, uh, at the home.

Frank and I've become close over

the years.

Um, so, I started billing

the firm

for those visits by sending

invoices on Irv's legal stationery.

Would you...

Would you like to sit,

and, uh, and go downstairs?

Sure.

- Sorry.

- That was very scary.

- I'm sorry.

- Yeah.

Now, uh, what about

those other $5,000 payments?

Oh, that was

something different.

Uh, Simon said

he had a job for me,

for which he would pay $5,000.

He told me to bill the firm, to

send something to a third party.

He said to write the invoice on

legal letterhead like I had before.

Was it a camera, memory card?

Yes, it was a video camera card.

He gave me this whole box of,

uh, little plastic things.

Uh, I don't know what was on it.

I didn't look at it.

Uh, Simon told me,

if we needed cash,

uh, follow the same

instructions, mail one of them,

and bill the firm.

It was remarkable.

Remarkable.

Mrs. Segal,

I need that box of copies.

Oh, no, no. Simon made me promise

not to give it to anyone.

No, no, you keep billing

the firm.

You just...

You can't send them anymore.

Really?

Because I'm down to my last one,

and I was wondering

how to make more.

I need that video card.

Such a small, little thing.

I have no idea

what could be on it.

I'm much heavier

than I should be.

And I'm quite incapable of

normal sexual function.

Can't have sex?

There are other things in life.

There's something that

you're not telling me.

- Well...

- Well, don't be embarrassed.

You can tell me anything, and I can take

whatever it is and keep it locked up.

Well...

Well, it happened a very...

a very long time ago.

Too long to

keep inside of yourself?

It was summer, before my final

year at university,

and I decided to work

on a freighter.

I was the son of one of

the richest men in Australia.

I took the job

just to spite my old man.

Anyway, we had a week's shore

leave in Marseilles.

Something tells me there's a

woman involved in this story.

As beautiful as you are.

She was the most expensive

prostitute in Marseilles,

and I... I did something

stupendously stupid.

And what is that?

Well, I fell in love with her.

And I gave her my last franc

just to be able to look into her

eyes for a few minutes longer.

It broke me up to say goodbye.

I kissed her,

told her I loved her,

and flew down those dark

streets to the port.

Suddenly, some of the regular

Marseille sailors

caught up with me

and beat me up, pretty badly.

One of them stuck me

with a knife, in the groin,

at least...

At least a dozen times.

And they...

And they left me for dead.

Oh, my god.

Well, my manhood was

severely wounded.

I, uh... in fact, uh...

In fact... mm...

I was butchered.

Well, I went to the best doctors

in the world, but some things...

Well, some things,

you can't fix.

And I was 20-years-old.

May I see?

Good god, it's, uh,

far too embarrassing.

Please.

Show me.

Show me.

You're not repulsed by me?

No.

I think you're sweet.

I'd like to tell you a story now

that I've never told anyone before.

It's about when I was a little

girl and I really wanted a horse.

And every day, I would ask

my stepfather for this horse.

I used to beg him, so much...

Good god.

Oh.

That's terrible.

I want...

I want to do something...

...for you.

I'd like...

...so very much...

...to kiss you...

...in a special place.

Uh, am I...

Am I allowed...

To do that?

I don't mind if you say no.

You're allowed.

You sure?

Yes.

Oh, my god.

Ah, Mr. wren.

Can we behave like

gentlemen this time?

I'm much heavier

than I should be.

And I'm quite incapable

of normal sex.

Oh, I'd like to

ask you three questions.

Shoot.

Was miss Crowley sending

these video cards?

- No.

- Then who was?

An innocent woman, taking orders

from Simon Crowley.

Did she watch the contents?

- No.

- Did you?

That's four questions.

Please indulge me.

And, uh, I'll, I'll share

something with you.

Yes, I watched the video.

Aren't I a lovely sight?

I've been, uh, holding onto

this for a long time.

And, uh, in the spirit of

"all's well that ends well,"

I'd like to, uh,

to give it to you.

We did gain access

to Ms. Crowley's apartment,

and I am sure she

suspects something.

- She does.

- We were looking for the video.

And, uh, we looked

at all her keys,

and we identified every one,

except that one.

I could've left

it there, walked away,

tried to put my life

back together.

But there were still too many

questions about Simon's death.

And the truth is this key could

unlock the secrets of Caroline.

She was a mystery I could not

walk away from.

Can I help you?

Hey. It's Porter.

Back in the day, I used to

deliver coal to both buildings,

through this basement.

The one next door that they demolished

was identical to my building.

You see, both buildings are

exactly the same.

Does the demolition crew

inspect the elevator

before they send it

to the basement?

The one next door was already in the

basement, didn't need to be dropped.

And the cops who

investigated Crowley's death,

they couldn't search

the elevator, could they?

Because it was under

20 feet of rubble.

What would they be looking for?

It's just an elevator.

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