Night Falls on Manhattan Page #9

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when he wouldn't cough up more dough

and now you're offering to turn in seven

other cops in order to save yourself...

and you have the nerve

to call them rat-fucks?

You were a cop, Joe, and

now you're garbage, you're nothing.

I hope some crazy junky takes you out

in an alley one night.

Sean, I didn't know.

- Vigoda was right.

It's funny, you spend years with

a partner, you live...

sometimes you die together.

But you don't know him.

Was Jordan Washington

the only honest witness at the trial?

You mean, did I lie about anything?

Course not, Pop.

Did you?

The warrant.

That's what I came to see you about.

What about it?

The day of the stake-out,

I made out a new one.

The old one expired the day before.

I made out a new one...

signed Impelliteri's name.

Nobody checks a signature.

Why? Pop, why?

Well...

Nail it, son.

Remember?

We were this close...

this close to nailing

that son-of-a b*tch.

Snitch said he was going to show

that weekend.

Get an extension.

- It was a Friday.

Go find a judge at 3 o'clock on a Friday

- No, you could have found one, Pop.

How many judges do you think I know?

Huh? And I don't trust half of them.

I wanted Jordan Washington.

You don't know how bad I wanted him.

Biggest f***ing collar of my whole life.

And that bastard, murderer,

A man who destroys his own people

They did it to him.

Now he was doing it to others.

And there were fifteen cops helping him.

- Don't give me that sh*t.

Six hundred thousand dollars a year?

Six hundred thousand dollars a year?

How many can resist that?

How many doctors, lawyers...

the bastards who put the gas tanks

in the wrong place?

Those fucks that buy boats with

other people's life savings.

Tell me, who can resist six hundred

thousand dollars?

I'll tell you who: twenty-seven thousand

other cops on the force, that's who.

Or maybe it's twenty-six thousand or

twenty-five thousand.

Or maybe it's twenty thousand. But it's

more than the rest of the goddam country.

And to top it all off, two of us go in,

me and Joey.

Two of us go through that door because

we want Jordan Washington.

Only Jesus Christ stopped me from

killing him on the spot.

And you think I'm going to let him walk,

when all I got to do is go down the hall,

Make a copy, smudge it up a little.

Leave it on my desk.

I'll be sure I'd rather do time than

not do what I did.

It can happen, Pop.

You can do time and Jordan'll walk

if word gets out.

I need some wine.

I still got it. The warrant.

The original. The outdated one.

I got kind of superstitious. I wanted

the jacket around me to remind me

how close I'd come to dying.

How lucky I've been after...

you know how many years?

- Thirty-seven.

Thirty-seven.

When I left the hospital, they gave me

my clothes back.

The jacket and shoes are all that's left.

The shirt, the pants, they had to cut

them away. I reached in the pocket...

and there it was.

Jesus Christ, what a mess

I've brought to you.

I think I'm going to head home now, Pop.

- Listen, Sean,

If you can't live with this...

you know, just keeping a secret

about the warrant, just tell me.

I don't want you to carry the burden.

I'll go in and tell them I did it.

I don't want you to go against your

feelings, because you know what's right.

I'm just an old cop who maybe should

have been put out to pasture long ago.

There's so much going on

I just don't understand anymore.

Joey's dead.

He shot himself.

How did you hear?

- Morning news, driving down here.

Did he leave a note?

A note, did he leave a note?

They didn't say.

Frank?

- Yeah?

Can I use your phone?

- Sure.

Can't have Pop hear it alone.

This is Liam Casey.

Please leave a message. Thank you.

I got to get out there.

Pop. Pop.

Pop?

Pop?

Pop. Pop.

Peggy, he's not here.

I want to get to the office, come on.

Just in case he calls.

You want me to come up with you?

I'll get some work done.

Hey, whose car?

- Mine.

Then move it.

Sean, are you all right?

- Yeah.

Detective Casey, nice to see you.

I'm real sorry

I had to call you at home, your honor.

Thanks for seeing me.

- No big deal. Come on in.

Thank you.

Come in.

Is this what I think it is?

What do you think it is?

During the trial, there was

a Xerox of the arrest warrant.

As soon as I saw this

I knew this was the original...

and that there is probably

a difference between the two.

Is there?

- Yeah.

The date was changed and the signature.

You going to take it to Vigoda?

- I have to.

I can't. Hear.

I work for him and I'm in love with you.

I'm the D.A. and

I'm not to destroy evidence.

It's happened before.

It wasn't supposed to happen to me

It's not supposed to happen to any of us

That's the story, your honor.

So I came to turn myself in.

- Wow.

Hello?

Mr. Casey?

- Yes.

Impelliteri here.

Your dad's sitting here with me.

He's just told me some cock and

bull story about an arrest warrant.

It seems to me he's confused.

I distinctly remember filling out

the warrant for him on the raid day.

What was that date again, Liam?

October 13th.

- Right, October 13th.

I can remember it as clearly as

if I were doing it now.

I was so excited at the idea that

we might bring in Jordan Washington,

I couldn't wait to fill it out.

I wished him good luck, I remember that.

He told me there's another warrant.

floating round. Do you have it?

Yes, your honor.

Get rid of it.

I've got the original right here.

It must have been sent to the house

instead of the office.

I'll bring it in with me today.

Thanks, your honor.

Your honor, may I speak to my father,

please?

Your son wants you.

Hey, Seano.

Pop. Pop?

Did you hear about Joey?

No.

What?

It's bad news, Pop.

So I'm quitting.

- Why quit?

Because I can see where it's going:

I owe Impelliteri,

I don't know who my father owes.

I owe Peggy. Peggy owes you

for not bringing you the warrant.

It'll go on forever.

Oh, goddamn it. Sean, things never

work out as simply as you want them to.

If Peggy had brought me that warrant,

I don't know that I would have used it.

I mean it I was after dirty cops,

I got dirty cops.

Why should I let

that animal back out on the street?

What about his rights?

- Oh, I'm not perfect.

I never thought I was perfect.

Do you think you're perfect?

Not any more.

My name is McGovern.

Mr. McGovern to you.

I'm the Assistant to the Assistant

Deputy Administrative Assistant to

the District Attorney of New York County.

We're starting something new this year.

The District Attorney will be giving

the opening orientation lecture.

Ladies and gentlemen,

District Attorney Casey.

Eight months ago I was ready to resign.

It was all so much more complicated

than I imagined.

It started when I was an ADA,

just as you hope to be soon.

My first time out,

first time in Night Court...

I had eighteen cases to handle.

And as you'll soon find out,

you have to arraign your perps...

within

twenty-four hours of their arrest.

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