Zero Effect Page #3

which he didn't.

Also, like most lvy League graduates,

he drops his alma mater with...

...almost no prompting whatsoever.

I say Celtics, he says Cambridge.

Oh yeah, the gentleman prefers redheads.

He lusts after his red-haired masseuse.

You can tell by the way

he takes his massage.

It's more than a little eroticized.

He does it every day at the same time

with the same woman.

I found an e-mail message

from Clearburg.

Kind of cryptic. Note said...

..."Thorough check finds no boxer

with the name K. V. "

K.V. Are obviously initials. We have to

figure out what they stand for.

Lets see, what else?

That's the important stuff.

It's Sergio.

Sergio Knight.

Right. Whatever.

Can I ask you a question?

What's that?

Why are we talking on the phone?

I told you. We can't be too careful.

Two guys...

...in an airport...

...talking?

It's a little fishy.

Why are we even in an airport?

Why don't we just leave?

Okay, I see the confusion.

I need more research.

I need you to go back to L.A.

And get in the computer.

Then break into Clearburg's

computer and pull anything pertinent.

I've written elaborate directions.

They're in the phone book.

In front of you. Turn to Rentals.

I'll meet you at the motel tonight

when you get back.

Instead of calling me,

you had me fly up here to tell me...

...to go back to the computer

and then fly back again tonight?

It wasn't an emergency. There was no

reason to risk the long-distance lines.

They listen, you know.

Are you still there?

Here we go.

"Transaction instructions

for this Monday night.

$ 100,000 cash...

... transported in a discreet

black leather bag...

... that you shall provide for yourself.

Wear your business suit

and your gray overcoat.

Carry the enclosed pager set to the...

... inaudible vibrating response.

Go about your day per usual.

Go to the gym, then the office.

Leave the office at 5 p.m.

Your course is as follows:

Number 1:

At 5:
30 p.m., be at the intersection

of Powell and Green with the cash.

2:
When the clock

in your car reads 5:34...

... begin driving northbound up Powell.

Number 3:
Pager will go off,

displaying 6 digits.

When your vehicle's odometer reads...

... the same overall mileage,

pull over and park...

... ASAP.

Number 4:
Funds in hand,

walk to the nearest...

... bus stop, same side of the street.

Get on the next bus.

Five:

Pager will deliver a 3-digit number.

Get off the bus at the next stop,

cross the street...

... get on the train

with the painted number...

... that corresponds

with the pager message.

Sit in the front-most available seat.

Six:

Pager will deliver a third

and final message.

Get off the train...

... walk to the corresponding

street address.

7:
Upon arrival, enter the building.

Enter the first possible men's room.

Go to the toilet stall

furthest from the door...

... lock yourself in...

... in tank of toilet, find plastic bag.

Transfer cash into bag...

... replace in tank...

... walk outside

and trip the nearest fire alarm...

... then leave immediately.

You have 3 minutes to get out

of the building from the time you enter.

You are not to be accompanied...

... you are not to be followed.

Your complete cooperation..."

Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

A few words here

about following people.

People know they're being followed

when they turn...

... and see someone following them.

They can't tell they're being followed

if you get there first.

Okay folks, that's the fire alarm.

Everybody must leave the building.

Please, do not run.

Gloria Sullivan.

You Arlo?

That other guy left this for you.

That Olson?

He has a strange personality.

I can't possibly overstate

the importance of good research.

Everyone goes through life

dropping crumbs.

Recognize the crumbs and you can trace

a path from your death certificate...

... to the dinner and movie

that resulted in you in the first place.

But research is an art...

... not a science.

Because anyone can find the crumbs...

... the wheres, whats and whos.

The art is in the whys...

... the ability to read

between the crumbs...

... not to mix metaphors.

For every event,

there is a cause and effect.

For every crime a motive.

And for every motive, a passion.

The art of research is the ability

to look at the details...

... and see the passion.

Excuse me.

Okay, so, you have to tell me now.

Yesterday, how could you

tell that I was a paramedic?

You really want to know?

I could smell it.

What do you mean?

I could smell iodine.

That's a very specific scent

that's unique largely...

...to ambulances and hospitals.

I could see that your hair had been wet,

but dried naturally.

But I smelled iodine,

so you hadn't gone home...

...to bathe or scrub down

since your last shift.

Then I assumed you worked

the night before, when it rained.

Then I figured paramedic,

not doctor or nurse.

That's how...

...I just kind of guessed.

You're right about...

...each part.

Do you enjoy that work?

Sometimes.

Sometimes?

It can be a thrill.

You rush in the middle of something,

some chaotic mess, and get involved...

...intervene...

...maybe help somebody...

...maybe revive their body.

Some of it's just boring, though.

The hours are terrible.

I'm rambling now, so...

That's interesting to me.

What about you?

Do you live around here?

"Do you live around here?"

Stupid question.

What difference does that make?

No, that's okay.

I'm only here for

a couple of days on business.

So you're with that conference?

So you're an accountant?

That's pretty exciting, I know.

I don't know how you do that.

All the forms, all the time...

The forms grow on you.

Where do you live?

Nick.

I know. Nick Carmine.

Daisy, the front desk. She told me.

What did I tell you

about these curtains?

And these over here?

F***ing whales?

F*** the whales!

I'm a mess.

All that f***ing exercise.

Maybe you should

stop snorting that sh*t.

It keeps my teeth sharp.

I went back to L.A. And got that stuff

that you sent me to get...

...but since you then

went back to L.A. Yourself...

...you probably don't need it anymore.

Did you see that poem that Stark

wrote in college, "An Ode to Clarissa?"

Worst I've read since the case of the

shrinking gypsy stripper's scribblings.

Tell me this:

How do you rhyme

'towards' and 'birds'?

"Dropping, falling...

...diving towards...

Two lovers lost.

Plummeting...

...birds"?

They don't rhyme.

Maybe it's not supposed to rhyme.

Also...

...how do you write a poem

about Clarissa...

...and never have the name

in the poem?

If ever a name deserved, begged

to be in a poem, it's Clarissa.

Anyway, I did that phone book-database

cross-reference thing you asked for...

...and there are 1800 men in Oregon...

...with the initials 'K.V.'

And about a million in the United States

that are listed.

How about you?

Have any luck on your end?

I found the blackmailer.

- You did?

- Yeah.

Her name is Gloria Sullivan.

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