Presumed Innocent Page #3

Your mom's not a giver-upper.

Maybe that's her problem.

I sure wouldn't do math unless I had to.

You got my genes in the math department.

If not for your mom,

I'd still be taking algebra.

I had to be good at something.

You were good at everything.

School.

Did you ever cheat?

Like borrow someone else's homework?

Copy it and pretend it was mine?

Why do I have the feeling that question

has some personal relevance?

I didn't say I did.

It's all right, kid.

It's good to see you guys happy.

Pretty.

It's new.

It's very pretty.

Mr. Polhemus? I'm Rusty Sabich.

Seems so strange to be talking about her

after all these years.

You hadn't had much contact

with her, then?

None since she left.

What about her family?

I have no idea where she came from.

She lied her way into the university.

Made up some kind of background.

She was very good at playing roles.

When she left me, I lost all pride.

I begged her not to leave.

The last time she looked at me,

it was with disgust.

Disgust that somebody she'd looked up to

could be so weak.

At that moment, I had the most

desperate wish that she were dead.

Maybe she made a man feel like that

who actually acted on his fantasy.

Would you like to see what she looked like

at that time?

Yes, I would.

They were taken at about the time

we were married.

This isn't just work?

No.

On the Polhemus thing, what the f***

is happening to the fingerprints report?

Don't give me that computer crap!

You know I don't understand that sh*t.

They want to know how big a field

you want it run against?

We could do convicted felons...

...anybody ever fingerprinted,

county employees, etc.

Just do felons.

We'll do the rest if we need them.

Do them all. I may never get back on.

Do everybody. How soon?

What the f*** takes a week?

The man has the biggest murder case

in the city...

...and he has to kiss your ring?

I know. I know.

We don't have jurisdiction

over the computer.

-A week. Probably ten days.

-I need them yesterday.

I'll push, but I don't think

you'll see them any sooner.

Have your copper get the glass back

from Evidence and down to the lab...

...in case they need it for anything.

Ah, Mr. Sabich.

Real important stuff.

We got the chief deputy with us.

Lipranzer and I were wondering,

on your report...

...are you indicating the guy bashed her

after she was strangled by the ropes?

Read the f***ing report.

This report?

No, not that report. My report.

The autopsy.

See anything with bruises on the wrists...

...bruises on the ankles,

bruises on the knees?

Are you saying she was raped

and then tied up?

Tied up last, yeah.

She already died

from multiple head injuries.

Rape? Now I'm thinking...

...no.

Why?

Read the f***ing report.

-This report?

-No.

This report? The chemist's report?

Yeah, the chemist's report.

She had a two percent solution

of nonoxynol-9 in her vagina.

A spermicide used with a diaphragm.

That's why his sperms were dead.

Diaphragm? You missed a diaphragm

in the autopsy?

No. You've been to autopsies.

You slice her wide open.

No diaphragm in that lady.

What happened to it?

Somebody took it.

I think it's a setup.

This man...

...is her lover. He comes over.

They have drinks.

This lady has intercourse with him.

Real nice. Okay?

But he's an angry guy.

Picks up something, kills her.

Tries to make it look like rape.

Ties her up.

Pulls out the diaphragm.

That's what I think.

What does Tommy Molto think?

You got his phone number right there.

Want to jot it down in case you need it?

Next time you talk to him...

...tell him to call me so I can find out...

...what's going on

in my own f***ing investigation.

Painless...

...you tell Molto, and you tell Nico, too...

...that this is cheap, cheap politics.

Cheap Police Department bullshit.

God better help them and help you, too.

I can't make a case for tampering.

Our poll shows Della Guardia's leading

Horgan by four percent. Eight days left.

At least it's made somebody happy.

I don't want to see you out of here.

Come on, pal. We're old news.

I'd miss you. Who else here can talk

morality and ethics and not break me up?

Voters smell an exhausted man who's lost

sight of all the important issues.

Issues? Bullshit.

The only issue is Raymond Horgan

has respect for the law...

...and Nico Della Guardia will f*** the law

for politics. That's the issue.

Rusty....

Have you ever been to an lrish wake?

Come on over and pull up a glass.

Know what Della Guardia

is going to find out?

You run for office because...

...you think you can make people do things,

make things better.

But you can't.

Nobody can.

You get a few potholes filled,

keep the lid on the best way you can.

But in the end...

...all you can do is try to hang on

to the f***ing job.

I never used to drink when I started here.

Then, you still believed

you could make a difference.

Funny, part of me still does.

A guy as tough as you are...

...you're still hanging on

to the shreds of your ideals.

The shreds are all I got.

You're a good man, Rusty.

God bless you.

So, tell me, who's our bad guy?

It could be a boyfriend.

Some guy she picked up.

Whoever it is knew enough about her

to know what to make it look like.

Could be a law-enforcement type.

Jesus.

One of us.

You and Carolyn have a thing?

Don't beat around the bush.

Just come right out and ask the question.

I'll say that the decedent and I

were both single and both adults.

I had a thing with her.

She thought like everybody else thought...

...that I wasn't going to run again.

That I could just hand the mantle over

to anyone I chose...

...so why not a broad?

Why not her?

One more question?

I gave her the B file

because she asked me for it.

Because I was f***ing her.

Stupid, huh?

She went over to Northside...

...shoveled through the records.

There wasn't anything there.

At least that's what she told me.

What are you going to do now?

Once the party's over?

I don't know.

I got an idea.

Suppose we try to get you on the bench.

I should still have enough clout

to pull that off. What do you say?

Why don't we just see

what the future holds.

Would that have satisfied her?

What's that?

A judgeship.

I wonder if a judgeship

would've satisfied Carolyn Polhemus.

Rusty!

Come say hello to Carolyn Polhemus.

Have you met?

I've seen Rusty.

I want to bring Carolyn on board

as a prosecuting attorney.

She's been working probation, Northside,

and she just passed her bar exam.

Congratulations.

Thank you.

She comes very highly recommended.

Why don't we see if we can find

a nice place for her.

I'd like the lndex Division.

That's not a job, it's a jail sentence.

Rape, sex crimes, child molestation.

We can do better than that.

It's hard to get a conviction on a rape.

It's a dead-end for someone ambitious.

So you get the worst attorneys

trying the hardest cases?

Listen to this. We got another idealist

in the office.

He's five years old.

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