The Life of David Gale Page #5

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- Hi.

- I'm Bitsey Bloom.

This is Zack Stemmons.

- We're... Uh, yeah.

- You want the tour?

There's a $20 mandatory

donation... apiece.

But you get

a reenactment photo pack,

and it's got five pictures.

- Okay.

- I gotta collect first.

Oh, sure. I got it.

Go sign the book.

It doesn't have to be

your real name though.

The first page just says

you're here to do research

on violent crime.

The state requires it

for nonprofit sh*t.

Take a reenactment

photo pack.

Uh, if you guys could share one,

it'd be really cool...

'cause the f***ers that

do my prints jerk my chain.

That's me.

My boyfriend took it.

We also got a video.

It's 50 bucks 'cause you

can see my tits.

There's a version

without tits. It's 35.

- Do many people take the tour?

- Not so much anymore.

We thought this'd be, like,

a busy week with Gale getting

the prune juice and all.

So you... you don't mind

living here?

It's better than livin'

with my dick-wad parents.

It starts over here.

She let him crash here sometimes.

He was, like,

constantly wasted.

Exhibit one.

He drank scotch religiously.

- The rest is in the kitchen.

Here's number two.

This is where the tripod was.

My boyfriend borrowed the one

we usually show to folks.

They never found a camera

or photos or video or anything.

Gale must have buried them.

These serial killer dudes

take photos to whack off to later.

He-He's not exactly

a serial killer.

Whatever.

She was, like,

totally naked right here.

The meter man saw her

through the door.

Gale handcuffed her,

taped her mouth...

and then taped a bag over

her head so she couldn't breathe.

He used those housewife gloves

so he wouldn't leave prints.

They found sticky stuff

from the tape on them.

- Uh! We ask folks

not to touch the exhibit.

- Right.

Totally sick part

is where they found

the key to the handcuffs.

- Yeah. We know.

- Wait. What? Where was it?

It was in her stomach, dude.

Gale made her swallow it

before he bagged her.

That's pretty much

the highlights.

Got questions?

I can still smell

the cigarette smoke.

It's the barbecue.

Can you imagine?

The key was in her stomach.

That's so f***ing cold, man.

- Zack?

- What?

Isn't that the cowboy

from the rest area?

- The same truck.

- Weird coincidence, huh?

Well, coincidences

are always weird.

That's why

they are coincidences.

Off the record.

Okay. We're off.

Constance

was murdered...

by what's known as

the Securitat method.

You're handcuffed,

forced to swallow the key.

is sealed around your head...

and you're left there

to suffocate.

The Securitat did it to Romanians

when they wouldn't inform or confess.

Sometimes the bag was ripped off

your head at the last moment

to give you a second chance.

Otherwise, you died knowing

that the key to your freedom...

was inside of you

the entire time.

It's a cheap

but effective method.

The problem is...

I once mentioned it

in an article that I wrote.

Prosecution never knew that.

- Someone's framing you?

- Oh, it's more than that.

- There was a tripod.

- Right.

Facing her body.

We back on the record?

Yes. The tripod

had no fingerprints on it.

That means that

somebody brought it there...

set it up,

wiped it clean and left it.

Why? It's as if they wanted me

to know that somewhere out there...

is a record of exactly

what happened that afternoon...

as if they wanted me to die knowing

that the key to my freedom...

is out there somewhere.

Maybe you're being paranoid.

Miss Bloom, I used to be the state's

leading death penalty abolitionist...

and now I'm on death row.

Doesn't that strike you

as a little odd?

Any idea who "they" are?

No, but I've got someone

working on that...

someone I'm relying on

to prove my innocence.

Belyeu's hired a detective?

A journalist.

She has to help me.

- You know I'm innocent.

- No.

- No, I don't.

Wear me like a fur, Daddy.

Wear me like a fur.

Okay. Who's your hero?

Who's your... Ow! Ow!

You go get Cloud Dog.

Hey! Cloud Dog!

Call me when you land.

- Has any couple ever survived

a trial separation?

- Don't.

Isn't separating contrary

to the whole idea of trying

to work things out?

- Don't.

- Boo!

Jamie, get in, sweetie.

- See ya later, alligator.

- After a while, crocodile.

- Take it easy, "Japaneesee."

- Okeydokey, "artichokee."

Scoot.

- Listen...

- I sent you an E-mail.

- An E-mail.

- Just read it.

Jamie.

- Come on, sweetie.

Just read it.

You could at least hide the bottle.

Well?

Officially, you're on sabbatical.

Unofficially,

they want you out of here.

It was 4-2.

How did Ross vote?

I'm not supposed to dis...

Against you.

And you?

For you...

and against my politics.

- Yes. Mada...

- No. M... Please, please.

Madam. Atenc...

Atencin.! Attenzione.!

Uh, I am...

My name is David Gale.

I have phoned before.

Yes? Yes?

- Can...

No. Uh... Por favor.

What? No, never mind.

Can you please get Sharon Gale?

- Ah.! Seora Gale.

- Ah! Yes. Miss Gale. Yes.

- Hello? Hello?

So I... I wanted to hear

your feedback on the idea.

Look, Professor Gale, I could sit here...

as I'm sure others have...

and plead departmental cutbacks,

claim you need more publications...

I need a minority... whatever.

All bull geschichte.

Your record's brilliant.

You're an original voice,

worth in today's...

"scarcity defines value capitalist

system under which we toil..."

your weight in gold.

Hell, it's... It's not even

your alcohol problem.

It'd be nice to have a faculty member

whose crutch wasn't Prozac.

But to speak plain,

if I were to hire you...

in the eyes of the regents,

the alumni and every freshman

with an ear for gossip...

I'd be hiring a rapist.

- Those charges were dropped.

- People would say

you had a good lawyer.

- I was innocent.

- You don't get it, do you?

You're not politically correct,

Dr. Gale.

Welcome to the club.

- Socrates is...

is sentenced to death.

Socrates is sentenced to death.

I bet you didn't know that.

He was sentenced to death.

But Athenian law... Athenian law

let the condemned...

- come up with their own

alternate punishment.

Isn't that a great idea?

So where are the Athenians

when you really need 'em?

So anyway, Socrates...

And he was ugly.

- Did I mention that? Did I

mention that Socrates was ugly?

He was ugly.

Socrates was ugly, Plato was fat...

and, uh, and Aristotle

was a prissy dresser.

So anyway, Socrates

comes up with this idea.

He says... He says, "Well, what if

I pay a fine instead of death?"

He suggests a fine.

All he has to do in order to live...

is to come up with

an appropriately punitive figure.

Punitive figure.

Guess what he suggested?

Thirty bucks.

Thirty bucks?

Does that make any sense?

Thirty bucks. That's 30 mina.

That was the currency

of the day... a mina.

Well, it's minae.

Minae. That's the plural.

Minae.

Thirty bucks!

Thirty pieces of silver.

And the judges are so pissed that

more of them voted to kill him...

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