The Asphalt Jungle Page #3

in each particular case...

...and don't tell me anything about it.

All I want is results.

Easy, boy.

Easy, boy. Easy.

Hello. Who?

Oh, sure, Gus.

He's still asleep.

What?

Yeah. Yeah, I'll tell him.

Honey. Honey, that was Gus.

He says you can come over.

He's got something for you.

Okay.

Coffee, honey? I made fresh.

Yeah, yeah.

Hey, you sure were dreaming.

How do you know?

You were talking in your sleep.

What was I saying?

It was all jumbled up,

but I heard one word real plain.

You called it out several times.

'Corn cracker.'

What's that mean?

Corn cracker.

Corn Cracker was a colt.

Yeah, it would be.

Yeah. He was a tall, black colt.

Yeah, I remember what I was dreaming.

I was up on that colt's back.

My father and my grandfather were there,

watching the fun.

That colt was buckjumping and pitching...

...and tried to scrape me off against

the fence, but I stayed with him.

Then I heard my granddaddy say, 'He's

a real Handley, that boy. A real Handley.'

And I felt proud as you please.

Did that really happen, Dix,

when you were a kid?

No. The black colt pitched me

into a fence on the first buck...

...and my old man come over,

prodded me with his boot, said:

'Maybe that'll teach you not to brag

about how good you are on a horse.'

It's nice to hear you laugh.

You know something?

One of my ancestors imported the first

Irish thoroughbred into our county.

Is that a fact?

- Sure.

Why, our farm was in the family

for generations.

One hundred sixty acres,

Fine barn and seven brood mares.

It sounds wonderful, Dix.

- It was.

And then everything happened at once.

My old man died,

and we lost our corn crop.

That black colt I was telling you about,

he broke his leg and had to be shot.

That was a rotten year.

I'll never forget the day we left.

Me and my brother swore we'd buy

Hickorywood Farm back someday.

Growing up in a place and then

having to leave must be awful.

I never had a proper home.

Twelve grand would have swung it,

and I almost made it once.

I had more than $5000 in my pocket...

...and Pampoon was running

in the Suburban.

I figured he couldn't lose.

I put it all on his nose.

He lost by a nose.

Drink your coffee, honey,

before it gets cold.

The way I figure,

my luck's just gotta turn.

One of these days, I'll make a real killing,

then I'm gonna head for home.

First thing I do, I take a bath in the creek

and get this city dirt off me.

What's the matter?

- Nothing, Dix. Nothing.

I say something wrong?

- No.

But, gee, this place is a mess.

It needs a good cleaning.

How can you stand to live like this?

Count it.

Count it.

- Don't have to pay the whole tab at once.

Go ahead and count it.

Why get sore?

There's no reason to get sore.

You boned me in front of a stranger,

made me look small.

I didn't mean it.

I shoot my mouth off.

Maybe I had a slight load on.

You know how it is.

No, I don't know how it is.

Look, Dix...

...I made a mistake.

Don't you ever make a mistake? Sure.

Sure. Here, have a drink.

Here you are.

There you are, Dix.

You gotta play the horses the smart way.

Save your money.

The next time there's a fix,

I'll let you know. It'll be money from home.

Excuse me.

Oh, it's the Doc. Come on in, Doc.

Meet a friend of mine, Dix Handley.

This is Doc Riedenschneider.

You heard of him, I guess.

Yeah.

Well, how'd you like the whiskey?

Made in your home state.

Where is that, sir?

Kentucky. Boone County, Kentucky.

Best water in the U.S.A.

- Is that so?

Yes, the water makes

the whiskey fit to drink.

Well...

...I gotta be going.

I'll see you around, maybe.

So long, Dix.

Big hick.

His money's all right,

but I wish he wasn't so touchy.

Maybe it's a point of honor with him.

A gambling debt.

Him, that hooligan? Honor?

Don't make me laugh.

He's a hooligan?

- Yeah, but a smalltimer.

He'll stick up cigar stores, gas stations.

And every cent goes to the ponies.

One way or another,

we all work for our vice.

What do you say, Doc?

How was your date last night?

The young lady drank too much,

but the evening wasn't a complete loss.

She talked more than if she'd been sober.

- Yeah? What about?

Your friend Mr. Emmerich.

- Emmerich? Now, look here, Doc...

There's half a million at stake.

I've gotta know where I stand.

Emmerich must put up

before I can hire a crew.

For him, it's nothing. A dead cinch.

The information she gave me

is that he's broke.

Are you crazy?

I've seen him operate for 20 years.

He handles only the biggest cases.

He's got two houses, four cars,

half a dozen servants...

And one blond.

- Doc, whose word you gonna take?

Mine or some dimwitted dame?

Yours, naturally.

If he's broke,

I wanna be broke the same way.

Lieutenant. Lieutenant.

That guy you saw in my office,

he's just passing through.

Shut up. I didn't see anybody.

How could I? I wasn't here.

Yeah, that's right. That's right.

Look...

- Yeah?

I came to tell you

you'll have to stand still for a raid.

You mean they'll haul me downtown?

- It's a short ride.

I thought you were a friend of mine.

Right now I've got one friend: Ditrich.

And Ditrich's out on his ear

if he don't make a showing.

Why me? Why pick on me?

- Because it's logic.

You're the biggest parlor in my precinct.

The citizens know it, the newspapers

know it and even I know it.

And Mr. Commissioner knows I know it.

- I just hate to have it happen, that's all.

I'm as sorry as you are.

- Look, lieutenant...

...I've always given you

plenty of cooperation...

...but you're hitting me

at just the wrong time.

Well, all right.

Close up tight.

Keep the place dark.

Don't answer any phones.

Thanks, lieutenant.

Thanks.

That copper, he recognized me.

How'd you know he was a copper?

- I can smell one a block off.

Don't worry about Ditrich.

He's on my payroll.

Me and him, we're like that.

Experience taught me

never to trust a policeman.

Just when you think one's all right,

he turns legit.

A Mr. Brannom is here.

- Oh, yes, show him in.

Pardon me, sir.

Mrs. Emmerich is not feeling well.

Yes, well...

...send for Dr. Houseman.

- I already have, sir.

Good.

Tell her...

Say I'll be up to see her later.

Well, what about my debtors?

How many of them came through?

Not a one.

- What's that?

You want all the excuses?

I've got some beauts.

- It's as bad as that, eh?

Two or three may come

through with a part.

They promised.

- I don't want promises, I want cash.

Look, my friend, a private detective

can't go around threatening people.

I'd lose my license. Ninety-eight percent

of them you're gonna have to sue.

There's no time for that.

I gotta have money.

I've gotta have it this minute.

What is it, girl trouble?

Shut up, Brannom. That's not funny.

How's that?

Nobody tells me to shut up.

Sorry, Bob.

Bob, l...

I'm broke.

There. That's the plain, simple fact.

I'm finished. I'm bankrupt.

How could you let Angela take you?

- It's not Angela.

It's everything. It's my whole way of life.

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