Tony Rome Page #3

- It's all right. Let him in.!

- That's big of you.

Thanks to your daughter, there was a guy

killed in my office tonight.

What's my daughter gotta do

with a guy killed in your office?

He was the house dick from the hotel

where I picked her up.

Oh. Well, that doesn't mean

that she's involved.

She's involved.

And pretty soon, Mr. Kosterman...

there are gonna be a gang of cops

crawlin' all over me...

wanting to know why this guy got himself

croaked in my office.

Well, they can't hang you

if you didn't do it.

No, but they could

lift my license.

Now, you can pull some strings in this state.

I'd like you to pull a few...

and get the law

off my back.

- Who's Lorna?

- Lorna?

- Mm-hmm. Dame with the bottle.

- That's my ex-wife.

- That's Diana's mother.

- Mm-hmm. Adam?

Adam Boyd. That's her present husband.

How'd you get mixed up with them?

- How'd you get mixed up with them?

- Oh, that's a good question.

I've asked myself that

quite a few times.

You see, I started out as a bricklayer,

a common bricklayer.

Twenty million dollars later, they said

I had no class, so I bought some... Lorna.

I caught her with Boyd,

and I kicked her out.

- She landed pretty hard.

- She wanted Boyd, and now she's got him.

Mm-hmm. Well,

that's her problem.

My problem's a stiff

layin' in my office.

All right.

I'll advance you 500.

And they'll be a bonus.

Just keep my family out of it.

I need more than money,

Mr. Kosterman. I need juice.

All right. I'll make

a few phone calls.

But I'm sure that Diana

had nothing to do with it.

Maybe. Maybe not.

But if you let the cops roust me too long,

I'm gonna bring her into this thing.

You'll get a refund,

but she's gonna be in it.

Mrs. Kosterman.

Did my husband

hire you?

You were listening.

Did he or didn't he?

Mr. Rome,

I love my husband.

I don't want to

see him hurt.

Whatever you find out

about Diana, please...

use judgment about

whether to tell it.

I usually do.

And I've blown

a few clients doing it.

Tell me something. How did you get hooked

up with someone like Mr. Kosterman?

Repeat:

I love him.

No offense,

but, uh...

seems to me you might have

run some pretty fast tracks.

We met in the bar

of the Columbia Towers in New York.

I was a cocktail waitress.

He was lonely, and...

I guess you could say

I was a pickup.

- I could.

- But I wasn't hustling, if that's what you mean.

And I've been good for him.

And how's he been for you?

The best.

This is $500.

If you find out anything upsetting

about Diana, don't tell him.

First Diana hires me, then your husband

hires me, now you wanna hire me.

If you had a bigger family,

I could retire.

- But I can't take it.

- Why not?

That would give me three clients

at cross purposes. Unethical.

Do you really care?

This may come as a surprise

to you, lady...

it may also break my bookmaker's heart,

but sometimes I do.

Then at least

tell me first.

- That I can do.

- Mr. Rome.

- Mm-hmm?

- Diana's pin...

Have you any idea

where it is?

I thought I did,

but now I'm not too sure.

You must've found out

something by now.

Are you sure you're

working hard enough?

Me, working hard enough?

Do you know since I took this job, I've had

to turn down two offers to go to bed?

And I never wanna work

that hard again. Never.

Two!

Santini, please.

Dave, it's Tony. Oh, wait a minute!

Don't blow a gasket!

I'm on my way down.

Yeah, I'll be right there.

You always come in this late?

No wonder

your wife's in heat.

Come on. We've been going around

for four hours with this crap, Dave.

- Why don't we knock it off.

- Don't be such a hard-nose. Give us cooperation.

You know I didn't

kill that bum.

Ballistics already told you the bullet

in Turpin didn't come from my gun.

Why don't you check the hospitals

for the guy that Turpin shot.

A guy walking around with a hole that big

in him has got to go get patched up.

Look, Tony, I just asked

for a list of your clients.

- A list of my clients I could

write on a piece of confetti.

Yeah.

- I take it I've been released.

- Yeah.

It seems you know

Rudy Kosterman.

Well, like I always said,

it's nice to have influential friends.

Is it?

Your father didn't

think so, at the end.

Dave, we've been friends

a long time. You're upset.

I'm gonna forget

you just said that... this time.

- You shouldn't. You should remember it.

- Why?

As a warning.

All right, you

sanctimonious bastard.

You want to play for keeps,

we'll play for keeps.

I'll dump Kosterman, and I'll turn over

everything I've been holding on to to you if...

- If what?

- If you forget the word that came down.

You know Kosterman's my client.

You drag him down here

and bother him like you bothered me.

Okay. You made your point.

Now get out.

I'd be delighted.

- It's dawn!

- Mm-hmm.

- You certainly pick odd hours to call on a girl.

- Mm-hmm.

Not that I'm complaining.

Come on in.

Coffee or a screwdriver?

- Screwdriver.

- Vodka or gin?

Gin.

Tell me something.

Was Diana wearing a diamond pin...

the night she flew out

of the Kosterman house?

I didn't notice.

All women look

at other women's jewelry.

Not me.

Just their men.

Miami Beach...

20 miles of sand looking for a city.

Twenty miles

of pure jerks.

Florida orange juice... That's about

the only thing I've been enjoying...

since I've been down here.

You know, the other day,

I met this big hunk of stuff out by the pool.

He started to turn me on,

so we went to the bar for a drink.

You know what he orders?

Brandy and ginger ale.

Brandy and ginger ale!

Mmm.

Don't get flustered.

Just testing.

Mmm.

Gin for you...

vodka for me.

I'll drink to that.

What was I talking about?

Oh. This stink-pot town.

Do you know the women

outnumber the men 10 to 1?

That means you go out with guys

who order brandy and ginger ale.

- Brandy...

- Unless you want to sit in a hotel room...

waiting for a picture to get crooked

on the wall so you can straighten it.

Just anything to do.

- You know what your trouble with men is?

- What?

You don't try hard enough. You gotta

stay in there and punch all the time.

It's a man's town. Admit it...

you've made a few scores.

Mm-hmm. With women who want me

to watch their husbands...

to see if they're cheating.

Now, tell me about

Diana and the party.

Oh, can't you cool this

detective stuff for a while?

After all, you're not

a real cop anymore.

All right, so I've been

nosing around.

You were a cop,

and so was your father...

until he leaned

on the wrong politician.

It broke in the papers,

and he blew his brains out.

At least, that's

the story I heard.

Are you finished?

No wonder

you quit the force.

All right. Let's get back to Diana.

When she left the party,

she must've been pretty steamed.

Just a minute.

Were you, by chance,

friendly with her husband?

Don't tell me she hired you to find out

how far it went between us.

How friendly were you?

Well, she walked into the bedroom,

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