The Sting Page #13

Lonnegan slips into the betting line, feeling somewhat

estranged from the general merriment around him. There are

two men in line ahead of him. The first, Curly Jackson,

slaps down several bundles of cash in front of Niles, who's

the cashier, and places a $20,000 bet on War Eagle. Gondorff

appears at the cashier's window and catches sight of Lonnegan.

GONDORFF:

Never get enough, huh pal? I'd

think you'd get tired of losin',

Honnigan.

LONNEGAN:

(piercingly)

The name is Lonnegan.

GONDORFF:

(to Niles)

Make sure you see cash from this

guy, Eddie. He's got the name for

bettin' money he don't have.

The man in front of Lonnegan puts $5,000 on Dancing Cloud.

He makes the bet on credit. Lonnegan steps to the window.

LONNEGAN:

Two-thousand on Bluenote.

NILES:

(writing out a ticket)

Is that all?

LONNEGAN:

(pissed)

That's all.

Bluenote's race is now up on the board. The race caller

comes on the loudspeaker.

CALLER:

Ladies and Gentlemen. This is

Arnold Rowe, your caller for the

second race at Belmont in New York.

A mile and 1/8. Four year olds and

up. And they're off!

We see that the caller is Singleton, and that he's calling

the race from a concealed booth next to the cashier's cage.

CALLER:

Around the first turn it's a War

Eagle first by a length, Jail Bate

second by one and a half, Dancing

Cloud third by a half on the

outside, followed by Lucky Lady,

Mojo, Wits' End and Bluenote.

Lonnegan goes to the bar, orders a drink, and settles down

at one of the tables. It happens to be the one the Eirie

Kid is at. Gondorff and Niles watch it from the cashier's

cage.

GONDORFF:

(worried)

That's not where we want him to sit.

Eirie tries to ignore Lonnegan at first, but realizes he

better make some conversation.

EIRIE KID:

C'mon War Eagle.

(to Lonnegan)

That Dancing Cloud's a hell of a

finisher. War Eagle's gonna have

to open up a little more on 'em.

LONNEGAN:

You know anything about a horse

named Bluenote?

EIRIE KID:

Naw, he's never done much. Probably

in here just to round out the field.

War Eagle's where you wanna have

your money.

Eirie excuses himself and heads for the bar.

CALLER:

Into the clubhouse turn, it's War

Eagle by two lengths, Dancing Cloud

has moved up to second by a half,

Lucky Lady is third by three

followed by Jail Bait, Mojo,

Bluenote and Wits' End.

The heretofore chaotic energy of the parlor is now focused

on the race. Several of the patrons begin to yell for their

horses. Lonnegan remains seated. He seems bored with it

all. Hooker comes over to clear some empty glasses from his

table.

LONNEGAN:

(out of the corner of

his mouth)

You really picked a winner, kid.

HOOKER:

Give 'em a little time.

CALLER:

Into the backstretch it's War Eagle

still by a length, Dancing Cloud

closing on the inside, is second by

two, Lucky Lady is third by one and

a half, followed by Bluenote, Jail

Bait, Wits' End and Mojo.

Lonnegan perks up just a little. Bluenote, at least, has

moved up. The rest of the people in the place are really

rooting now. Few of them remain seated.

Hooker arrives at the bar, with the glasses he cleared from

Lonnegan's table. Eirie is already there, fortifying

himself with a scotch.

HOOKER:

You're doin' great, Eirie. He

loves ya.

Eirie nods, somewhat unconvinced, and heads bak to the table.

CALLER:

Into the far turn, it's Dancing

Cloud now by half a length, War

Eagle is second by two, Bluenote is

third by a half and moving fast on

the outside. Lucky Lady is fourth

by four lengths, followed by Jail

Bait, Wits' End and Mojo.

Lonnegan is getting more intent now.

CALLER:

Coming down the stretch, it's

Dancing Cloud by one length, War

Eagle and Bluenote are neck and

neck by two. Now it's Dancing

Cloud, Bluenote and War Eagle.

(shouting now)

Dancing Cloud and Bluenote head to

head...

The place is going crazy. Even Singleton is standing up to

get the necessary excitement in his voice.

CALLER:

Dancing Cloud, Bluenote. Dancing

Cloud, Bluenote. It's Bluenote by

a nose. Dancing Cloud is second by

two, War Eagle third by three and a

half. Time for a mile and 1/8,

2:
01 and 6/10 seconds.

Most of the patrons collapse into their chairs like spent

lovers. Eirie slams his racing form to the floor. Nobody

had Bluenote.

CURLY:

(tearing up his ticket)

Bloody awful. Who in blazes is

Bluenote?

LONNEGAN:

(to Eirie, very self-satisfied)

War Eagle's where you want to have

your money, huh?

Eirie doesn't reply. He can't believe Bluenote won.

Lonnegan looks to Hooker. Hooker gives him a wink. For

the first time, Lonnegan permits a smile.

CUT TO:

LONNEGAN AT THE CASHIER'S WINDOW

Niles is counting out $16,000 to him (all of which Gondorff

won the night before). Gondorff looks somewhat perturbed.

Lonnegan picks up the money and tauntingly waves it at him.

GONDORFF:

(getting his name

right this time)

Don't bother to come back with a

piker's bet like that again,

Lonnegan. We got a $5,000 minimum

here.

(to Hooker)

Show this bum out.

Hooker hesitates a second.

GONDORFF:

Go on, ya goddamn ninny.

Gondorff gives Hooker a hard shove in the back with his

foot, sending him into a table and sprawling to the floor.

GONDORFF:

(indicating Lonnegan's

bodyguards)

And tell him not to bring his

garbage men in here no more. This

is a class joint.

Hooker, pretending to be humiliated, gets to his feet and

escorts Lonnegan to the door. Lonnegan stops, gives Gondorff

a derisive smile, and walks out. Once he's gone, the

general clatter and hubbub in the room cease, like it had

been turned off by a faucet. Most of the boost sit down and

relax. Curly Jackson rips off his Van Dyke. It's been

itching him.

GONDORFF:

He's gaffed, kid. He should start

coming to you now.

CUT TO:

INT. COMB'S OFFICE AT THE CLEARINGHOUSE - DAY

Combs sits passively on the edge of his desk glancing across

the room every now and then at Riley, who is slumped uneasily

in a folding chair, looking like a defendant at the

Inquisition. Both remain silent, like two men in a waiting

room. Suddenly, what they've been waiting for arrives.

Lonnegan comes into the office, flanked by his bodyguards.

Skipping the usual pleasantries, he walks right over to Riley.

LONNEGAN:

All right, Riley. What the hell

happened?

RILEY:

(not looking at him)

We missed him.

LONNEGAN:

You weren't hired to miss him.

RILEY:

There wasn't any way he coulda

known we was in there. We made a

clean pick on the lock and didn't

leave no footprints in the hall.

Somebody musta wised him up.

LONNEGAN:

Yeh, and what does Cole say about

that?

RILEY:

I don't know. He took it hard.

LONNEGAN:

All right, get outa here. You're

outta work.

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