The Sniper Page #5

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- Where?

- In that driveway over there.

The nurse was down in the kitchen

getting herself a glass of milk

when she heard the shot.

She called us right after.

There's a chance

we might nail the guy this time.

The section's full of prowl cars.

We know. We saw half a dozen of them

on the way up here.

- You know what this will mean?

- Let's not talk about it.

- I wouldn't want to be in your shoes.

- They'd hurt your feet anyway.

- Where's her husband?

- Fitzpatrick? Beats me.

Downtown somewheres.

They're trying to find him.

This looks like him now.

- Where are the children?

- Upstairs, Mr. Fitzpatrick. They're asleep.

How long is it going on?

What are you doing about it?

We're doing everything we can,

Mr. Fitzpatrick. I'm very sorry.

What are you doing about it?

What are you going to do about it?

Listen, the whole city's gone crazy.

I come to work this morning on the streetcar

and everybody's reading the newspaper,

all about the sniper, even talking about it,

you know, people who never

talk to each other any other time.

Yeah. I leave my joint this morning,

I hear my wife lock the door.

She never locked the door before.

She's one scared dame.

- How about you? You scared?

- For her or for me?

For her.

He's just killing dames, the paper says.

So this week he's killing dames,

so next week it's guys with one leg

or false teeth or something.

Or maybe guys who work in cleaning plants.

You better stay home nights, Joey.

Maybe he's got his eye on you.

No, just dames, the paper says.

Listen, if he wants to get in touch with me,

I'll give him the addresses of two,

maybe three.

- Dames never done me any good.

- You should have heard my wife at breakfast.

Why, you'd think she'd expect me

to go out and catch him myself.

Somebody better catch him.

Cops ain't doing any good.

There's an editorial in the paper.

Papers are plenty sore at the cops.

Papers! What do they know?

Scream till they get the guy

and then when they have the trial,

why, they cry in their beer because

the guy's probably innocent after all.

Take a dame that's on trial for murder.

Unless she's got two heads,

why, they think she's beautiful.

If I get my hands on the guy,

they wouldn't have to worry about no trial.

- Yeah? What would you do to him?

- He wouldn't die quick, I'll tell you that.

Mr. Lydell, I'm sure no one

regrets any more than I do

the outrages perpetrated on these women.

Mrs. Fitzpatrick, in particular,

was a very good friend of mine...

Mr. Mayor, this isn't a personal matter.

The people of this city are alarmed

and frightened.

There's a maniac loose

and the police seem helpless.

That's why we've asked for this conference.

We want to know why such

a state of affairs can continue.

Chief?

As far as the people

being frightened goes, Mr. Lydell,

maybe your newspaper

has something to do with it.

My newspaper merely reports the news.

It doesn't make it.

It slants the news. It exploits hysteria.

That doesn't solve your problem.

You still haven't caught the man.

Most killers are caught because of motive.

There's no motive here.

Murder itself can be a motive.

We're short foot patrolmen, Mr. Harper.

If you want to volunteer,

I'm sure we can find a place for you.

I'm efficient at my job.

Evidently your men aren't efficient at theirs.

I agree. The police have shown themselves

unimaginative and...

- Now, hold on, Mr. Weiss...

- Just a moment, gentlemen.

Mr. Weiss, I'm not trying

to defend my administration,

but I seem to remember

that two years ago when we tried

to get the police budget increased,

your group fought us tooth and nail.

Taxes are high enough as it is.

And as far as that goes, we're getting

very little value for the taxes we do pay.

Mr. Lydell, please. I think we're

going at this thing like little children.

Lieutenant Kafka here has been on the case

since the beginning.

Perhaps, if we can continue

meeting reasonably,

with his giving us a sketch

of what has happened to date, we might...

We know what's happened up to date.

What we want to know is

what's going to happen from now on.

We want this man caught and caught quick.

And punished. Punished. Punished.

Well, if everyone's going to sound off,

I guess I might as well get in the act.

You mention punishment, Mr. Lydell.

Just what sort of punishment

did you have in mind?

The sort the man's crimes deserve.

He ought to be killed

the way a mad dog is killed.

- That's right.

- Absolutely.

Or put in the insane asylum.

Do you know the legal definition of insanity?

- No.

- I'll tell you.

It's based on an old English law,

a law passed

when they were still burning witches.

An insane person, according to the law,

must not be able to tell the difference

between right and wrong.

Well, obviously, this man doesn't know

the difference between right and wrong.

Don't be too sure of that.

You see, Mr. Stonecroft, there are

hundreds of thousands of sex offenders

walking American streets at this moment

who could be the sniper or worse.

But only 1% of them are legally insane.

1%, Mr. Stonecroft.

Now what will we do with the other 99?

Never mind the other 99.

Let's get back to the matter in hand.

- The madman who's loose with a rifle.

- Carbine.

Get back to him, Mr. Lydell?

I've never left him.

And I'll tell you something.

When this man is caught, you'll find he has

a record dating back to when he was a kid.

Believe me,

he's been in the hands of the police before.

Thirty days for one thing,

60 days for another.

And I'll tell you something else.

If his first act had led to treatment

instead of jail,

three women wouldn't be lying dead today.

The fact remains

three women are lying dead today.

- And the killer's still loose.

- Yes, loose because of us.

And a killer because of us.

And the horrible thing about it is

we may be sitting here six months from now

or three months from now

on another case just like it.

Gentlemen, the city is frightened,

and when cities get frightened,

they rear up on their hind legs

and strike out at something, anything.

This time we have a chance not to strike out

blindly, but to act with reason.

This time we can do something.

You all have weight and power,

not only in the city, but in the state.

Put your weight behind

getting a new law passed.

Let every socially dangerous sex offender,

as soon as he is caught for his first offense,

be committed to a mental institution,

and there he can be cured

or put away indefinitely.

- I think...

- What is this you think?

Who cares what you think?

The important thing to think about

is three dead women,

not coddling the man who killed them.

Look, I'm thinking of the hundreds of women

who will be dead if something isn't done.

Now, listen, Mr. Harper, just...

Just let me give you an example.

A few years ago a man named Albert Fish

was executed in New York

for the murder of a child.

A judge of the state supreme court

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