The Hot Rock Page #2

- Okay.

And I wouldn't mind doin'

the lock work myself.

You make your calls.

That'll be just fine...

except I was thinking

of using Saul Neisser for lock man.

- No hard feelings.

- Uh, Saul's in jail now.

They got him

for letting a lion loose.

Hey, we're home!

- Hello. Hello.

-

Hi.

Hi.

- God, you look awful.

- Not you. Who's keepin' you?

- Him. We're practically rich.

- We're not rich.

And now you're working together.

Listen, he doesn't think

I'm good enough to work with him.

He must have just been kidding you.

Personally, you know

how fond I am of Kelp.

He, he hit me in the eye this morning

when I went to pick him up.

He gets nervous under pressure,

you know that.

Not anymore. We're well off now.

He doesn't have to hustle.

He's relaxed.

He's still family, and I don't like

working with family.

- What if we get caught?

Who'd look after you?

- Andrew doesn't get caught.

You're the one with that difficulty.

Come on, Clara. You're not fair.

He's had rough breaks.

I don't need you

defending me to my sister.

I don't need you

attacking my husband.

My record doesn't need

defending by anybody.

Bye, John. Pull thejob

without him and write me...

when you're back in stir

so I'll know where you are.

Hold it. All right. I'll tell you what.

I'll consider using him, okay?

- His nerves are now steel.

- I'll get to work making some calls.

Are you happy?

The kid's peeing on me.

Hey, everything okay?

Hello, Stan.

Hey, what do ya say, Ma?

Hey, look what

I bought. Brand-new.

- "What is it?"

- Daytona Speedway... in stereo.

Oh, play it for me, Stan.

I could use a little cheering.

Okay, Ma?

Uh, a little more treble, Stan.

What?

- Treble.

- Treble, right.

Yeah?

Who? I can't hear.

Hey, Kelp! What do ya say?

All right. We go into the

top half of the seventh inning.

Mets on top of the Dodgers.

Score three to one.

Rather exciting game

this evening...

on a very, very hot evening

here in New York.

104 degrees.

We don't have the humidity.

- Good to see you back.

- Anybody here yet?

One fellow. A draft beer.

I don't think I knew him.

You're a double

Jack Daniel's straight up.

- Surprised you remember.

- It's the only way

to make it in this business.

Customer relations. Once I got

your drink, you're mine for life.

- Murch?

- Dortmunder?

- What do ya say?

- Hi.

- How ya doin'?

- You're early.

Yeah. I made good time.

You know, instead of goin'

all the way around the Belt...

I went up Rockaway Parkway

and over Eastern Parkway

to Grand Army Plaza.

Then right up Flatbush Avenue

to the Manhattan Bridge...

and up Third Avenue, pbbt,

through the park at 79th Street.

There's a Pinch bottle and Perrier

out there asking for Kelp.

If he calls himself Greenberg,

send him on in.

Sure. Kelp takes

his Jack Daniel's with soda.

Next time around, gimme

a bottle of salt, will ya there, pal?

You know at night you can

make better time that way

than if you went...

all the way around the Belt,

through the Battery Tunnel,

up the Westside Highway?

I never knew that.

- The bartender said

to bring salt to the draft.

- Yeah, right here, pal.

- Rollo said you had the bottle. Oh.

- Right here.

- Hey!

- Hey, you're early. Huh?

Hey, Allan Greenberg,

this is John Dortmunder.

- Pleasure.

- Stanley Murch, Allan Greenberg.

- I'll get your chair, Al.

Sit right down.

- Al.

- Thank you.

- Okay.

Huh.

Dortmunder's open for questions.

Yeah, I was thinking...

We get 150 a week

till we do the job, right?

Then why do we ever do the job?

Because we'll only get

a few weeks out of Amusa and

I'd rather split the 100,000.

- Right.

- Equal splits?

Yeah. I don't work

any other way.

There's gonna be need for a lot

of preparation and surveillance.

Most of it night work.

Kelp says there's muggers

in the area so go easy.

Once we get the diamond, um...

Well, why do we have

to give it to this Amusa?

It sounds like it's

worth more than 100,000.

Should we deal with the, uh,

insurance company directly?

Well, that's always possible

if something happens to Amusa.

Well, just so we're

flexible in our thinking.

Uh, one little problem

is that Amusa knows who

me and Dortmunder are.

And since this stone

is this big symbolic thing,

I'm not all that anxious...

to have an entire African nation

after my ass, if you don't mind.

Blowguns and poison arrows,

no thanks.

I think they're a little

more modern now, Andrew.

Is that supposed to make me

feel better, tommy guns and airplanes?

What are these numbers there?

- Suit sizes for the uniforms

you're gonna buy.

- Buy? What's wrong with renting?

Come on, Doctor.

You said you'd supply matriel.

You mean it's actually

going to happen?

Maybe not right away,

but we're researching full time now.

I'm a criminal.

Bigger.

I've never seen one like that before.

Uh, well, it's kind

of European and I, uh...

I learned it when I was

at the Sorbonne.

Oh. Right.

- God, I'm sorry.

- Oh, that's okay. Just go ahead.

No. Bigger.

Uh, I picked this up at Berkeley.

- You studied a lot, I guess.

- I love school.

Bigger still.

I'll work on it.

And I'll need noise.

How much noise?

Okay.

Aaah!

Oh!

Help! Police!

Police... Police!

All right.

Are you okay, fella?

I am now.

Aaah-h...

Get the fire extinguishers.

I'll take care of him.

- It wouldn't steer. The wheel...

- Yeah.

Kelly, don't just stand there.

Get the buckets.

Get those fire extinguishers...

Get them away from the gas tank.

The wheel. The wheel.

- Easy, fella.

- I couldn't make it turn.

- "What is this?"

- H-H-How do you mean?

How do you mean?

I can't find the goddamned place.

The building sounds like it's exploding.

- And I'm all the hell turned around.

- Uh-huh. Let me show you.

Take the east and your first left

and that should be it.

Sounded like a mother of a crash.

I wouldn't miss a crash like that.

- Thanks.

- Yeah, anytime.

Get back over here with

that extinguisher. Hurry up!

- I called the ambulance.

-

Get those people back.! Back.!

Cops cannot get

this thing under control.

It wouldn't matter. He's gone.

How's it coming?

You don't mean how's it coming.

You mean what's the matter.

That's what you mean.

You mean what am I doing

with a lox like Kelp?

A no-talent, no-good,

no-confidence...

I get caught tonight,

and it's life for me.

And in all the world, who did

I choose to take that risk with?

You.

Now why do you think I did that?

Because you've got

golden hands, Andrew.

Those hands can open

any lock devised by man.

You really think I got golden hands?

Nah, maybe they used to be golden.

- I used to be great, I admit that.

- You are great now.

And you're gonna be legendary.

- I'm a doctor! Let me through, please.

- " Oh, God.!"

- Anybody call an ambulance?

- Yes, sir. A few minutes ago.

- It's all right. It's all right.

I'm gonna need all of you.

We're gonna have to put him

in temporary traction ourselves.

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