The Tailor of Panama Page #6

I've had enough.

I want out.

I don't think so. You've taken

the money, I want something for it.

Those documents.

Those ones that you snapped.

Did you read them?

- I was pushed for time, Andy.

- Pension scheme for lock-keepers.

Dredging contract.

Water analysis. Zilch.

Time to deliver.

I'm tired of your bullshit.

I can't go on with it!

You want me to tell Louisa...

...about Harry the convict?

Will you tell me what you want?

Come here.

Keep moving. Stop acting so butch.

If the canal's being flogged off

on presidential instructions...

...what's the price? Who's the buyer?

When do they sign the contract?

How much are Delgado and the pres

creaming off for themselves?

- Right.

- Can't hear you.

- Right.

- Then there's your end of the bargain.

Abraxas, the Silent Opposition.

Are they going for direct action?

- Direct action being in this case?

- Shootibangs.

Raising proletarian consciousness.

Bombing banks, gunning down

a couple millionaires.

- No, not Mickie, not Marta.

- So, what the f*** are they doing?

Who are they buying arms from?

What are they gonna do with them?

They'll have to do more than

wear white shirts...

...and get the sh*t beaten

out of them by the dingbats!

- Come on.

- I've got to get out.

I can't think.

- I can't breathe.

- Go, Harry. Go, go, go.

Get me some answers.

Your ass is on the line.

London's coming.

Get the stuff, we make you rich.

You don't, we tell the Pans

you've been spying for the Yanks.

You and Louisa both.

Do you understand what I'm saying?

I haven't come clean with you.

I've been dragging my feet.

At Mickie's behest, I might add.

He has a huge arms shipment

on the way.

But he'll pay for it

from another source.

Oh, yeah? Who the f*** would that be?

Won't say.

No, he wouldn't, would he?

- How much?

- It's big money, Andy.

"Harry," he says to me,

"your guys pay peanuts.

This is out of their league."

Well...

...this is an interesting

development, Harry.

- Give me a ballpark figure.

- Ten.

We're talking

ten million dollars, Andy.

Ten million dollars?

Yeah.

Ten million dollars.

Yeah.

- Andrew.

- Sir.

The winds of fortune

blew me to Caracas...

...allowing me this brief stopover.

I'm on my way to Washington.

Our revered leader, Henry Cavendish,

is coming too. Pick up the phone.

There's prestige at stake, you see.

Oh, Andrew...

...I've come all this way to look

you in the eye and ask you this:

Can you back it up?

Are we copper-bottomed?

Yes.

- How much are they asking for?

- Fifteen million.

Fifteen.

If I get it for you,

can you guarantee action?

Oh, absolutely.

Go after them, Andrew.

Push. The iron is hot.

Strike!

Sir, can I have your glass?

We are ready for landing.

Thank you.

Oh, Harry. I hear that Delgado...

...is setting up a canal

police force...

...with powers to search the ships.

It'll never happen. It would kill

the drug trade, the arms trade...

...everything we hold dear.

The way it is now,

you pay your dues...

...you don't piss in the locks,

they don't f*** with you.

Does Louisa know anything

about this little plan, Harry?

Leave Louisa out of this.

Take it easy, Harry.

Time you took some holiday.

- You look f***ed out.

- Maybe if you paid your bill...

...I might be able to.

- Maybe you'd be healthier...

...if you stuck to tailoring.

- Listen, Teddy...

- Hey, Harry.

It doesn't look right.

This isn't a suit,

it's a piece of sh*t.

Come on, it's the first fitting.

It can be fixed.

I don't know.

Think I'm gonna go to Armani.

Get myself a proper suit.

He doesn't like it when

I mention Armani.

Harry, why you make me this sh*t?

Why can't you make

a suit like Armani?

Why can't I make

a suit like Armani?

You think Armani can make

a suit like Harry Pendel?

Why not?

Okay, f*** off. Go down the road,

buy an Armani!

Save yourself $1000,

see if I care!

At Pendel and Braithwaite

you get Savile Row tailoring...

...with 400 years of tradition

behind it.

Down the road you get an

Italian gents' outfitter.

If you don't understand,

then save your money.

Hey, Harry, come on.

The whole country's

going down the plug hole!

Nobody cares!

Someone's got to stand up

and be counted!

Someone has to say, "Here I am.

This is what I stand for!"

Impeccable standards and...

...and old-fashioned integrity!

And if you don't like it,

you can go down the road!

Gentlemen, you go down that road...

...you can never come back.

When you've gone down that road

it's over, it's curtains.

And I'm not just talking about Panama!

I'm talking about

the whole human race.

You too. Get out.

Harry, I was only kidding, I swear.

It's just a sleeve.

I swear to God.

Teddy came to see Mickie.

He brought two goons with him.

Said they were Ministry of Interior.

Teddy?

Of course, he's the worst.

They pay him, the ruling families.

He takes money to inform

on his friends.

They were asking around about us.

They came to me too.

Thinks we're involved in a

political thing against the system.

You know, like the old times.

- You and Marta?

- You and Mickie.

Why would they think that?

Maybe you know, Harry.

I couldn't do it again.

No more prison.

They break you in there.

You got so much courage in life.

When it's gone, it's spent.

I got none left.

I know what you mean.

I've been there, I know.

And they came to you?

Big Chinese guy.

The man who beat her before.

- What did they do to you?

- Nothing. They wanted information.

If I didn't give it to them, they'd

make me look the same, both sides.

- What information?

- About the two of you.

How often you meet,

what you talk about.

I want you both to get out of town.

Take a holiday.

There's a fireworks festival

in Guarare.

You love fireworks.

The address is on the label.

Pete Abuleira lent it to me.

What are you going to do?

Sort it out.

Talk to people I know.

Better we go in separate cars.

I follow you later.

No more drinking now.

Thanks, Harry.

Take care.

I never lied to you, Marta.

You know that.

I didn't tell you everything,

but what I told you was true.

There's only so many people you

can do that to. Tell the truth.

Other people are different.

They need to be...

Tailored.

Helped. Yes.

You flatter them. You make things up.

They start believing you, Harry.

Their leading man is one

Michelangelo Abraxas.

Known to many, I am sure,

as the elusive Pimpernel...

... of the popular movement

against General Manuel Noriega.

Abraxas is a man

of proven integrity...

... skilled in clandestine warfare.

His second in command...

...but I submit his equal

in skill and resolution...

...is code name "Marta."

Another veteran of the

anti-Noriega resistance.

For cover purposes, she is

employed as accountant receptionist...

...by our own Panamanian head agent...

...the redoubtable Buchan.

If I may say so, Elliot,

a "Silent Opposition"...

...doesn't send radio messages.

Half don't possess telephones.

Why else would they call

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