The Lodger Page #4

The one that the Ripper sent to George Lusk

after the double murders

of Stride and Eddowes?

Did this just come in?

It was in the Rodriguez file.

Rodriguez?

- That was seven years ago.

- You remember what the Fed profiler said?

- Yeah.

- Well, she was right.

After we arrested Rodriguez,

I made some offhand comment to the press

about how we'd gotten rid

of a modern day Jack the Ripper.

A few days later, the letter arrived.

You know, strange sh*t comes in here

all the time. I just tossed it in the file.

I completely forgot about it, until

we received the "Dear Boss" letter last week.

Well, we don't know it's from the same guy.

No, I had it tested, outside.

Ink, paper, handwriting,

- it's all the same.

- You took something

out of Rodriguez's file, tested it,

and didn't tell anyone about it?

Jesus Christ, you are such a f***ing rookie.

How long do you think it would take

for Smith and the Feds to move in here

once they found out

we'd missed key evidence

on the Rodriguez case? Take a look at this.

He's been matching the original Ripper

victim for victim.

Just Annie Chapman

and Mary Jane Kelly left.

If we don't catch this guy,

he's gonna kill two more women

and then what?

Disappear for another seven f***ing years?

We got a week. Maybe two, and that's it!

You think Smith's gonna come in here

and help us catch this guy?

Hey, what's this?

It's the footprint from

the double murder scene.

It's a boot, actually.

Size 10. Made by Raptor Footwear

out of Washington State.

Rubber sole. You could find these

all over the place 10 years ago.

Tread's worn thin.

- Hello?

- Detective Manning,

- I have the Mayor for you.

- Hi, Bill.

I need you to come down to City Hall.

Yeah...

No, I'll be there.

...and that Detective Manning

drew his service revolver

and pointed it at the attendant

in a threatening manner

without provocation.

Further, Detective Manning has

systematically excluded

all outside agencies

from the information chain

in order to impede an independent review

of the case by the LAPD

and the FBI in particular.

Tell us what you took from Rodriguez's file.

All this is bullshit! Come on, Bill.

Can't you see Smith's just trying

to weasel his way into this?

What, you're gonna let him?

Threatening a co-worker

is hardly bullshit, Manning.

IA should have shut down

your antiquated cowboy crap years ago.

You're gonna have to

take some time off, Chandler.

Oh, so I guess you found

your scapegoat for this one, huh, Bill?

It is our decision, therefore,

that Detective Manning is hereby suspended

- pending psychological evaluation...

- F*** this sh*t.

...and a more formal

and comprehensive review

of these charges by Internal Affairs.

Without pay.

Just a minute.

Room service.

Look at you.

I got mud on them last night,

walking across the garden.

I cleaned them in the sink, I'm sorry.

Those old things, who cares?

I recognize that shirt.

Yeah, it fits perfectly.

Well, if you don't need anything else...

There you are.

What are you doing back here?

I'm washing your boots.

Smith orchestrated this.

So what are you gonna do?

I don't know.

My daughter won't speak to me,

my wife can't speak to me.

Who knows,

maybe you and I should hang out

with some of your interior decorator friends.

You do need a break.

Not until I see this lunatic hang.

I thought you didn't believe

in the death penalty.

You've been watching too much TV.

Still meeting this Ripper author

with me tomorrow?

What, that guy? What's the point?

We know everything about

what Jack the Ripper did.

Names of victims, where, when, and how.

We don't know him,

who he was.

There is no him, Chandler.

The Ripper was never caught.

Yeah, but we know the names

of all the main suspects.

It's my guess this lunatic

is emulating one of them.

- What do I tell Smith?

- Nothing.

Sh*t.

You leaked it.

- Watch yourself, Detective.

- That footprint

was probably the only piece of information

the killer didn't know we had.

I mean, how else are we...

There are other factors

involved here, Wilkenson,

that you don't know about.

The city is in hysterics. The public wants to

know that we're making progress.

Are we trying to catch this guy,

or run a PR campaign?

Because the only progress I see is

towards more people getting killed.

It turns out I've made a great many mistakes.

Alonzo Rodriguez's execution

should never have happened.

Because the burden of proof in California

death penalty cases is too relaxed?

Not just California. Look.

How many convictions have been

overturned based on new DNA evidence?

Check it out. Manning's lost it.

It's not that I think serial killers

don't deserve to die...

The death penalty, it presupposes

the infallibility of a judicial system

where mistakes are made all the time,

and that means that

innocent people will continue to die.

Alonzo Rodriguez was one of them.

My part in that is something

I'm gonna have to live with for a long time.

Detective! Detective.

Rumor has it that you've been fired,

and that LAPD has taken over the case.

Is that true?

Things aren't always

as simple as they seem.

Joe, there's something odd

going on with Malcolm. I think he...

Wait, hold on. Who's Malcolm?

Our lodger.

All right, God damn it, please,

just cut the crap.

- No, Joe, listen.

- No, stop it! You listen.

There is no one back there.

Don't say that. You...

- Okay. All right. Get up.

- Listen, listen.

- Get up! I'm so sick of this!

- He's gone out!

- Come on, come on!

- No! Wait!

Promise me! Promise me you'll stop

this nonsense if there's no one there!

- He's out!

- Promise me!

- Yes.

- Say it! Say, "I promise. "

I promise.

Is anybody in there?

Is anyone in there?

No.

There's no one in there.

Joe!

It's Amanda. I'm not in.

Please leave a message.

Amanda, honey, hi, it's Dad.

Sorry I'm calling so late.

I hope you can call me back,

because I'd really love to see you.

I know I haven't been there much

for you or for your mother,

but I'm sure you know I went to the clinic

yesterday and saw Mom.

She wasn't too happy to see me,

but she looked good.

Well, I mean, it was good to see her.

Maybe we could

go over there together and...

Yeah, why the hell is Manning's name

on the suspect list?

When?

He steals evidence, and then

he asks you not to tell anyone? Why?

Tell him, Gregor.

After you left my desk,

Captain Smith and the IA guys came back,

and they made me show them

what I was doing.

Some of these sites you wouldn't believe.

This site, luskfromhell. Com,

it's named after the "From Hell" letter

that the Ripper sent to George Lusk in 1888,

along with half

of Catherine Eddowes' kidney.

He showed you the Lusk letter,

didn't he, Detective?

The one he took from the Rodriguez file?

Yeah, well, anyway,

Detective Manning was in the registry.

So what?

Look, Manning's theory is to try to find out

which of the original Ripper suspects

the killer is emulating.

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