The Blue Dahlia Page #2

---

- Better close up. It's gonna rain.

- Okay.

Maybe you'd better pull the blinds down, too,

if you're gonna push your wife around.

A call from the house detective.

Pretty, isn't it?

Now what about Dickey?

- Forget it, Johnny. It was nothing...

- What about Dickey?

It was nothing, I tell you.

- Talk, tell me, will you?

- Johnny, please.

It could happen to anybody.

I'd been to a party.

I had to take Dickey with me.

I had a few drinks.

Oh, stop the tears!

All right, hero.

I was drunk. I was in a car smash.

Dickey was killed.

I wrote you he died of diphtheria

because I was afraid to tell you the truth.

How do you like it?

Johnny!

That's what I ought to do.

But you're not worth it.

Line, please.

York 2-3-3-8.

Mr Harwood, please. Mrs Morrison calling.

Will you ask him to call me, please?

Yeah?

Johnny?

Oh, oh, yeah, Mrs Morrison.

George and me, we're Johnny's pals.

I know. That's why I'm calling.

We had a quarrel. He walked out on me.

Walked out on you?

Well, don't you worry about a thing.

George and me, we'll bring him

back if we have to frogmarch him.

Yeah, sure, he'll come over here.

Yeah, I'll call you as soon as he shows up.

That's all right. Bye.

George. Hey...

That's right, he went out.

Quiet in there. Quiet! I got a sick baby!

- George.

- We eat eggs.

- Johnny's wife just called up.

- Yeah?

- That's swell.

- No, it ain't swell.

He just walked out on her.

- Did you hear from him?

- No, not yet.

He will come over here, though,

won't he, George?

Not if I know him, he won't.

But I just told his wife we'd bring

him back. What are we gonna do?

Look, Buzz, there isn't anything we can do.

This is one problem Johnny's

got to handle by himself.

- Yeah, but if he's not going to...

- Forget it.

Whatever's the right thing to do,

Johnny'll do it.

We got to do something.

We got to find Johnny.

Yeah, we'll talk about it afterwards.

Let's eat first. We got real eggs.

Come on, crack 'em up, will you, while

I get the rest of these things ready.

Buzz.

- Yes, sir?

- Is Mrs Morrison in?

- Who shall I say is calling?

- Just say Buzz.

- Buzz. That's my name.

- Oh. 93.

I'm sorry, Mrs Morrison isn't in.

- Oh.

- Would you care to leave a message?

- Well, you mind if I wait around?

- Not at all. It's over there.

- Huh?

- The bar.

Oh, thank you.

- Bourbon.

- BARTENDER:
In a minute.

Didn't we meet at the Blue

Dahlia the other night?

I may have been there.

We certainly didn't meet.

I'm sure we have mutual friends...

- Hey, you, that's my seat.

- Go pick yourself an orchid.

- Masterful type.

- All I want is a drink, and quick.

- Hey, how about that?

- Take one of mine.

- Thanks.

- Mmm.

- Umm. Scotch.

- So they tell me.

I'll buy you a drink some rainy night.

It's raining now.

All right, I'll buy you a drink.

And no passes.

- Uh-huh.

- What's the matter, don't you believe me?

Uh-huh.

- Okay, so I won't buy

you a drink. - Uh-huh.

- That's the end of that conversation.

- Wait a minute. You can buy me a drink.

Only not in this joint. I've

had enough of it. Come on.

- It's really coming down now.

- We haven't far to go.

Look,

you don't want to go out in that.

Why don't we go back to the bar?

Anyway, I came here to see somebody,

and I ought to stick

around till she gets here.

Well, you can phone from my place

and leave word where you are.

- You live here?

- Sure. Come on.

What's the matter? Scared?

- You free?

- Sorry, no pickups tonight.

- Good evening, Mr Harwood.

- Good evening, Melanie.

- It's kind of wet out, isn't it?

- It certainly is.

Hello, Eddie. You're early.

- Evening, Leo. How's everything?

- Took in seven grand last week.

That's fine.

- Have a drink?

- No, thanks.

You're alone tonight, huh?

Good.

I was afraid that Morrison

dame was getting to be a habit.

Look, Leo, you run the Blue Dahlia,

I'll take care of my private life.

We're hooked up together, Eddie.

You get in a jam, I get in a jam.

You can forget Helen Morrison.

Her husband's back from the South Pacific.

Let him take care of her.

If you think my wife left

me because of another woman,

it was something else entirely, Leo.

Like how you make some of your dough?

Like your putting in

with people like me?

It's quite possible.

She was in the bar a little while ago.

She just left.

Gave me a message for you.

She's going out of town for a few days.

Save some money on flowers.

She could have told me that herself.

Maybe she figured it would

sound worse coming from me.

- Any cheques for me to sign?

- Yeah, there's a few.

You, uh...

You ever know a guy named Quinlan?

- Never heard of him.

- Did a stretch somewhere back east.

Not interested, huh? Okay.

- Don't get cute with me, Leo.

- Nothing cute about it.

I heard this Quinlan spoke to you

in the parking lot the other night.

When you were with Mrs Morrison.

Called you by some other name.

- Did he?

- Not if you say he didn't.

But it doesn't matter now, anyway.

Quinlan was bumped off a few

nights ago over on East 5th.

What makes you think I'd be interested?

Just don't get too complicated, Eddie.

When a man gets too

complicated, he's unhappy.

And when he's unhappy, his luck runs out.

Yeah?

Just a minute. She's calling you.

The Morrison dame.

Hello, baby. I was just gonna call you.

Well, it's about time.

I've been calling you all evening.

Hold on a minute.

Hello?

No, of course he's not here.

No, he hasn't just stepped out.

He's gone. G-O-N-E. Gone.

He'll be back all right, baby. It's all my fault.

I think he's a nice guy.

He was so far away, and I'd never seen him.

I guess I didn't realise how it looked.

Now wait a minute. I'm not hinting.

I'm saying it straight out.

I think we better call it a day.

Supposing I don't want to call it

a day? Two walkouts in one evening

would be just a little too much

for me, Eddie. Ever think of that?

And if I don't want to call it a day,

I'm quite sure you won't

for a very good reason.

I'd better come over

and talk to you, huh?

Say half an hour? Right.

I told you she was poison.

They're all poison sooner or later.

Almost all, anyway.

Get in.

Well, you could get wetter

if you lay down in the gutter.

I wasn't trying to get wet.

You ought to have more sense than to

take chances with strangers like this.

It's funny, but practically all the people

I know were strangers when I met them.

I'm going to Malibu. Is that any use to you?

- What's in Malibu?

- Houses. People.

- I have some friends there.

- Any hotels?

Motel, maybe.

Pick up many people like this at night?

Not many. Only one or two at a time.

You're right.

- Right?

- That wasn't funny.

I'm sorry, but nothing's

very funny to me tonight.

It all blows up in your face sometimes,

doesn't it?

What does?

Whatever you're doing.

Wherever you're going.

- I thought you were going to Malibu?

- I flipped a coin.

Heads, I go to Malibu. Tails, I go to Laguna.

What happens if the coin

Rate this script:5.0 / 1 vote