The Paper Page #5

than she's been here.

For that matter, I've been here

longer than you've been here.

You wanna cover Brooklyn?

Then cover Brooklyn.

But you can't cover it

from a bar stool in Manhattan.

Call the cops.

I better see the $600

in my paycheque!

- I can't think about this now.

- She's been pulling the same sh*t!

I'm waiting!

- Jesus Christ!

- What was that?

Let Marty talk to her husband.

Please.

Yeah, cops. Maybe I can type up

some weather reports while I'm at it.

Just call the cops.

You two take your time.

I'm on the Sedona thing.

God, I miss this place.

Vinnie, can you bring your creamy friend

along with you and join us?

The heat's killing us.

When are you gonna be done?

In a couple of hours,

you'll see your breath.

I've got 64 seconds.

What's wrong?

Well, why don't you let me

go to Justice for you?

I've got a much better contact

than McDougal does.

- 'Cause you're on leave.

- Okay, I'll go anyway.

So, how was the interview?

Did he offer you the job?

Not... Yes.

You got any change?

"Not yes"?

What does "Not yes" mean?

It means he offered me the job,

but I said I had to think about it.

- We have thought about it.

- I'd like to think some more.

- Why?

- Because I have until tomorrow...

I like to think and that's

the end of the conversation.

You wish!

Anybody hear a gunshot?

A gunshot? Yeah, that was

down in Alicia's office.

Watch this.

This is gonna be...

It's empty.

Anybody respect a deadline any more?

Their whole system's screwed up.

Tell me this.

Have you ruled The Sentinel out?

Don't be a reporter.

Don't worry.

I'm not any more.

- Let me give you a hypothetical.

- Can it be a short hypothetical?

You're a professional tennis player.

You love tennis.

But you wreck your knee

and you can't play tennis again.

Your doubles partner, however,

goes on and wins Wimbledon.

- How do you feel?

- Wins Wimbledon?

Happy as hell.

Bullshit! You hate him.

- Do not.

- I don't want to hate you.

- They're doing it now.

- Coming.

I gotta go to this. Okay?

Yeah. I'll see you

at dinner tonight.

8:
30, Gus's Place.

Your parents.

Please, don't be late.

- Honey, am I ever late?

- It's not funny.

It's a little bit funny.

See you.

Give me a kiss. Goodbye.

- That's it?

- See you.

"Deadline:
A date or time

before which something must be done."

Sorry.

It's a Marx Brothers movie

every time I step in my office.

One of our security guards

actually tried to frisk me.

We're having drinks later.

- What the hell was that gunshot?

- McDougal.

- Is he dead?

- I wish.

- McDougal's insane.

- The man is certifiable.

Before we go through the schedule,

we still want the subway for page one?

Subway is ancient history. They made

a bust in the Williamsburg shooting.

Two black kids in Fort Green.

One has a record.

- Everybody has a record.

- We have any art yet?

We'll get them at the perp walk.

What's the wood?

Something simple.

"Caught."

Something like that.

"Caught"? That's so boring.

How about something like "Gotcha"?

Great. "Gotcha" with a slammer.

God forbid this paper ever runs anything

without an exclamation mark.

Hold on there. Let's hold it.

It's not that clear cut.

McDougal heard

on the police scanner...

even the arresting cops

think this bust is bullshit.

Let's think about this.

Doesn't this set anybody's

alarm bells off?

It could be like when everyone

thought the Westies...

The union guy. Exactly.

Did you get anything

officially from the cops?

I am working on that.

The other thing is, these dead guys

were not your ordinary businessmen.

They were on the board

of Sedona Savings and Loan...

and they lost a lot of money...

millions of somebody's money.

The Feds are looking

into that right now.

Where did you get this?

This?

I stole it off Bladden's desk

at The Sentinel.

I don't believe it!

You stole it?

Jesus, Henry, I was kidding.

They called us "cute," and I was right

there and they were out of tote bags.

Okay, wait a minute.

What are you saying here?

That these bankers got shot

by some pissed-off Wall Street guy?

I don't know. McDougal's down at Justice

trying to get an investors list.

You got a cop quote?

A what?

Quote. You know, they talk,

you write, we print?

- Oh, cop quote.

- They got me on hold.

Go talk to them.

Get me something.

- Working on the quote.

- Fine.

Good. It's a great lead.

We'll follow it up tomorrow, but without

a confirmation, we'll run "Gotcha!"

What if these aren't the guys?

What if they're innocent?

Taint them today, make them look good

on Saturday. Everybody's happy.

Makes sense to me.

Wait. This is a story that could

permanently alter...

the public's perception of two

teenagers who might be innocent...

and as a weekend bonus,

ignite another race war.

- Think about this.

- We have Nazi...

- Give me a cigarette.

- Move it up front a little.

Come on. We're not talking

about some publicity hound...

who crawls into the cage

and begs for this kind of thing.

It's two kids who may not enjoy

the prison experience.

You don't care whether

they get beaten up or not.

We got our ass kicked yesterday,

so you want to beat everyone today.

Yeah, I do.

- You don't?

- Give me a break.

Tell me you don't. You do!

F*** it!

Let's not beat anybody all week.

Bernie, what do you say?

Let's not beat anybody till October?

Let's never beat anybody

the rest of our lives.

- I'm glad you're not overreacting.

- What do you wanna run?

I don't know.

What do I wanna run?

"They didn't do it."

- "They didn't do it"?

- I don't think of these things.

You don't have close to that.

You have unattributed cops.

She doesn't have "Gotcha!"

You don't have "Gotcha!" for page one

until you have a shot of the kids.

So we're going on the perp walk.

- What time do they walk?

- 7:
30.

- So we stretch it a little.

- You gonna pay for that?

Yes, we stretch

the deadline to 8:00.

If we get art on the two kids

at the walk of shame, it's "Gotcha!"

If we miss them,

the subway is page one.

The subway is bullshit!

You don't have it, you know it.

You wanna run the story?

You got five hours. Get the story.

Do your job!

Do your job!

Don't just take a position because

it's the opposite of what she says!

It's like watching a bunch

of sixth graders, for Christ's sake!

Photo. Where the hell's Max?

He went home sick.

You make damn sure Photo's

at the perp walk.

I mean damn sure.

Excuse me.

Excuse me.

What's up his ass?

Bagel.

Anyway, okay, so...

You know anything

about air-conditioning?

The problem is not down there.

It's up there.

Where's Robin?

In there.

Oh, f***!

Oh, sh*t!

I mean, I'm sorry.

Mr Hackett, what's wrong?

Nothing.

Listen, Robin, I've got

a really, really...

important assignment for you.

- For me?

- Yeah.

This is big, okay?

I don't want to put

any pressure on you...

but I just want to tell you,

if you miss this shot...

that means that Alicia can't run

the page one that she wants to.

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