Primal Fear Page #2

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Call Sullivan in Judge Trutter's office.

Find out where he is,

and call me at the Alibi.

- A lot ofguys'll want this one.

- OK.

The police have taken the first steps,

acting with speed, with the arrest.

- Are you taking the Stampler case?

- I'm sorry, I can't talk right now.

- State Attorney left yet?

- Yeah, Yancy no less.

- PD?

- Come and gone.

Lock up!

- Give my best to your brother.

- Yeah, sure.

I'd like to see him alone if I could.

- All right, but I'll have to lock you in.

- Understood.

You know who I am?

No, no, sir. No, I don't.

My name is Martin Vail.

I'm what you call a big-shot attorney.

-I don't... I don't have no money.

- I didn't think you did.

I'm willing to take

your case pro bono,

which means you get all of

my expertise and hard work for free.

Or you can get the 40,000-a-year

court-appointed public defender,

who will almost certainly

escort you to death row. Your choice.

No, sir. I'd surely be grateful

for anything you can do.

You're welcome.

Now, your full name is...?

My... Aaron Luke Sta...

Stampler.

Stampler.

- You from Kentucky, Aaron?

- Yes, sir. I'm from Creekside.

- Does it say that there?

- No.

How long have you been

here in Chicago?

Two years next month, I think.

- Have you been arrested?

- No, sir.

How do you know the Archbishop?

I was begging on the street,

up on the Wacker Drive.

Bishop Rushman came by

in his Cadillac.

He saw me and he stopped.

He took me into Savior House.

I work as an altar boy.

And I sing in his choir.

How long were you there, Aaron,

Savior House?

A year. Year and a half.

You're supposed to leave

when you're 1 8, but...

But Bishop Rushman let me stay on

way past my 1 9th birthday.

That was nice of him.

Yes. Yes, it was.

Aaron, did you have any reason

to dislike the Archbishop?

Dislike? No, no, sir.

He was like a father to me.

Yeah, but you...

How am I gonna say this?

Were you in the room

when he was murdered?

How can you explain that?

There was someone else

in that room, Mr Vail.

- There was a third person?

- Yes, sir.

- Did you tell the police this?

- Yes, I did.

- But they didn't believe me.

- All right. You tell me now.

I was returning a book

to Bishop Rushman's library.

I heard a noise,

so I went back into his bedroom.

Bishop Rushman

was lying on the floor.

There was blood all over everthing.

Then I saw the shadow.

I saw a person

Ieaning over Bishop Rushman.

He looked up, and he came at me.

And that's when I lost time.

What does that mean? Lost time?

I bla... I blacked out.

It happens to me sometimes.

I have...

..spells. I have spells.

I lose time.

I can't remember nothing.

Why did you run from the police,

Aaron, if you didn't do anything wrong?

Well, when I woke up,

I was covered in blood.

I didn't know what to do.

I got scared,

I heard sirens, so I ran.

Look, I know how it looks, Mr Vail,

but I swear...

I don't need you to convince me.

Just answer my questions.

- I didn't do this. You got to believe me.

- No, I don't. I don't care.

I am your attorney, which means

I'm your mother, your father,

your best friend and your priest.

I don't want you talking

to anyone but me.

Not the cops, the press,

the guys in the cells, nobody,

without my permission.

You understand?

- Yeah?

- Yes. Yes, I do.

All right. Now the important stuff.

What's your suit size?

- My what?

- Suit size. What are you? A 38"?

- I don't know.

- Well, a 38" Iong.

The police flushed Stampler from

his hiding place behind the Cathedral.

They chased him through

the train yard, almost losing him

as he scrambled over tracks before

an oncoming train separated them.

Prominent local criminal

defence attorney Martin Vail

is believed to have visited Stampler

at the Maxwell Street ...

After a brief chase across the rail yard

behind St. Michael's Cathedral,

Stampler was apprehended

in a hole beneath train tracks...

- Are you defending this man?

- I'm sorry...

Thank you very much. Thank you.

We've taken the first step

in the process.

I can now take your questions.

Shaughnessy, what about the

altar boy group Stampler was part of?

Not much at this time.

Could other altar boys be involved?

We have no reason to suspect

anyone other than Stampler.

He had access to the Archbishop's

quarters. He was caught as he fled.

The blood-soaked Aaron Stampler

was chased under McCormick Place,

but not before he was almost killed

by a passing train.

He's gonna call you

as soon as he gets here. Thank you.

- Naomi!

- Yeah.

Sorry, I'm late.

We have a new client.

- I was afraid you were gonna say that.

- Who?

You know what they're calling him?

The Butcher Boy of St. Mike's.

- I like that.

- You'll be hearing it a lot.

Is the kid who chopped up

the Archbishop our client?

You have to get "allegedly" into your

vocabulary if you want to be a lawyer.

- Coffee, Tommy?

- No, thanks.

He admits he was in the room when

the killing occurred, but he didn't see it.

- Can I stop you right there?

- No. He was returning a book.

He heard loud noises in the bedroom.

He went in. He sees a figure in

the shadows, kneeling over the body.

He blacks out. Next thing he knows,

sirens are screaming,

he's covered in blood.

The cops find him in a train tunnel.

He's got the Archbishop's ring on him.

- He stole the Archbishop's ring?

- No, it was in his pocket.

Is that it?

Yep.

That's...

That's the worst bullshit story

I've heard in my entire life.

Now it's our bullshit story.

OK. Let's get to work.

The name of the game is "motive".

The Prosecution doesn't have one.

We have to prove that someone

else could have committed the crime,

then we can establish

reasonable doubt.

I want to know everthing I can

about this guy.

Go to Database,

go to Hall of Records, IRS files.

- Even so-called charities.

- So-called? He was a priest.

Naomi, write this down. B 32.1 56. It

was carved into the Archbishop's chest.

- Allegedly.

- No, that was a fact.

- But I appreciate the effort.

- Thanks.

I also need case histories on murder

by stabbing, mutilation and religion.

- Also I'm gonna need a psychiatrist.

- You're telling me.

Not the kind who lives

in a witness box. I need a real one.

- And an expert on amnesia.

- What does he look like in person?

The Butcher Boy?

- Like a boy scout.

- A boy scout...

..with a merit badge in carving.

The Archbishop was

a close friend of Mr Shaughnessy.

He asked me who my best man was.

- I said you.

- Thank you.

I trust if I'm to prosecute this case,

I'll get the authority

which comes with it.

You're the one trying the case.

But let's establish one thing

at the outset. I want the death penalty.

I'd like to go over the case before we

determine whether or not to seek that.

I'm open to anything you have to say,

but in my mind there's no debate.

Did the boy they picked up

say anything?

Yeah, he didn't do it.

- It's a slam dunk, Janet.

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