Original subtitles

Hey, you want forgiveness? Call a priest.

Uh, Tommy, you there?

Yeah, no, I'm your lawyer. I don't care if you did it or if you didn't do it. If

the prosecution can't make its case, you get off. You're not guilty.

End of story.

Okay? Talking to me about this stuff is just costing you nothing but money. You

know, Tommy, you take this stuff way too personally.

I'm telling you, you gotta get a thicker skin, pal.

Hey, my car won't start. Tommy, do me a favor. Call the... Hey, Tommy. Tommy!

Hey! Hey, my battery's dead. My cell phone isn't working.

I'm here all alone. Call the triple A for me.

Whoa, hey.

That's quite a trick. How'd you do that?

Whoa, that was dead.

That's you alright.

What do you mean that's me alright?

Who the hell are you?

You feel that, do you?

Okay, here it is. It's yours. It's all yours.

I don't want your blood money.

Blood money?

What is it you want? What do you want?

Just a confession.

A confession?

But I didn't do anything.

The final weeks of the regular season, the Dallas Cowboys continue to struggle.

They had another injury -riddled season, yet they may manage to sneak into the

playoffs. That brings us to today's game, where two more teams continue to

struggle as well.

We're going to be sending you out to Erickson Stadium, where the Carolina

Panthers take on the Baltimore Ravens. Now, Carolina has been desperate... Who

take on the what?

Beer.

I don't want you to miss Breaches and Kathy Lee.

I think they're doing grandmother makeovers. Whatever happened on the

day he rested?

He?

You are no he, Ezekiel. Besides, the game's a bust anyway. The Panthers are

going to lose 24 to 10 after their quarterback suffers a crippling injury

fourth quarter.

What? Sorry. Oh.

Great, great. Thank you very much. You just ruined my Sunday afternoon. I

send you back here to while away the hours in front of the tubus bubus

But being an enormous fan of the mind -draining little box myself, I'll allow

some idle viewing. As long as it's rated TVD. D for diabolical, you know. Oh,

great. Let's see if there's a Giants game on. They tortured me for years.

After your untimely demise, the Giants won two Super Bowls, you know.

Two Super Bowl, 1986 over Denver and again in 91 over Buffalo.

The Giants? World champions? You missed it.

The city's torture continues.

Naturally, skeptics will score.

But we here at the Institute believe in language. Language.

What happened?

Why did my head disappear?

Someone talk to me?

Public access. What do you need to do? A true boon to mankind. Take the plug and

stick it.

Stick it.

I'm sorry.

It's just a technical glitch.

Oh.

Or was it?

Maybe it was someone trying to keep you from the truth.

Doctor. Doctor.

Anyway, cases of spontaneous combustion have been reported for centuries.

As recently as a few days ago, as a matter of fact, I have asked Dr.

Woodbine to come and help me with a demonstration today.

Dr. Woodbine. Doctor, the photos, please.

Are we?

As you can see here, in this photograph, of Attorney Errol

Lifter on his motorcycle.

Now, they would have you believe that Mr. Lichter

died in an electrical accident.

But was it? Or was it a case of spontaneous combustion?

We here at the Institute intend to get to the bottom of this as soon as

possible.

I was a cop.

When my wife was raped, I caught the guy who did it, and I killed him.

Two months later, I died.

I went to hell.

113 of the most vile creatures escaped.

They think they'll beat the devil. Nobody beats me.

How am I supposed to send them back?

The eyes, windows to the soul.

Destroy the eyes and the mouth. Get a one -way ticket back home to hell.

But it's not hell you should be scared of.

It's losing your second chance at life on Earth. Time to give the devil his

Why don't you come over here, Mr. Stone? I think I have some things that might

be of interest to you.

As you can see, the Institute suffers from no shortage of documentation for

theories.

What file is this? Well,

I can assure you that everything there has been checked and double -checked.

There we are.

Please sit down.

Here are all our most recent files involving self -combusting individuals.

You'll notice that in every single file, the cause of death is listed as

accidental.

Electrical malfunctions, lightning strikes.

Those things happen every day, don't they?

So you think, what, some of these are just people who burst into flames?

I mean, you know, some people are actually electrocuted, right? Or hit by

lightning.

Well, indeed they are, but these are not simple electrocutions.

It was as if each and every victim were cooked from the inside, like microwave

popcorn. Popcorn?

Please feel free to make copies of any file that you might find helpful.

And please feel free to use the name of our institute in your publication.

Yeah, of course.

What was the name of your publication again?

Oh, it was the Journal of Science.

Good luck, Dodgers Stadium, with the load this sucker was pulling.

So what do you think happened here?

A couple of homeless guys said they saw bolts of lightning that night. That

wouldn't do it. I think it's a glitch down at one of the substations because

there have been sudden spikes like this all over the county for the last few

weeks. Yeah?

How many would you say?

This makes, uh... Four?

Yeah, about right, yeah.

As I live and breathe.

Yes, you do live and breathe, don't you, Detective Ash?

You're my best.

If we keep meeting like this, folks will start to talk.

Oh, yeah, you know, freedom of speech.

You know about this tendency of yours to show up in the most morbid of places,

really. I got all sorts of tendencies.

You should tell me about the other ones sometime.

You got any theories about all this?

I'm not so sure you're the person to whom I'm most likely to reveal my

My tendency is your theory. Yeah.

I'm going to need a statement from you, sir.

Well, uh... I'll see you later.

Around.

I'm sure that I will see you around.

Around is good. Yeah.

I go out.

So do you know anyone who would want to hurt Mr. Lecter?

Oh, yeah, sure.

I don't have enemies.

Who doesn't in this business?

Anyone who'd want him dead?

His wife.

If she ever saw these.

Look at that.

Look at that.

It's nice.

I take it that's not her.

Well, not by a long shot.

Look at that one.

Where is she?

Please, let's not taint the man's good name. Harold Lichter should be

as a great lawyer.

Is that right?

Yeah, that's right.

He beat the Iron Maiden in a case just before he died.

That's not easy.

The Iron Maiden?

Julia Trent, assistant DA from hell.

Now, that was a great piece of lawyering from a man who... Whoa, whoa, whoa,

what's this?

Oh, God, I think these are Cubans.

Oh, yes.

Oh.

Hmm.

And here I am choking on white owls right across from them.

Hey,

maybe his wife should see these, huh?

Oh, it ain't that good name. Come on. If the guy wasn't dipping into our

discretionary funds half the time, he's getting special client services in lieu

of payment.

You have a list of those clients?

Another bear.

Who's our first contestant tonight?

Put your gun away, Tommy. The baby could get to it. Yeah, put the baby away. How

about that?

Shut that mutt up, too, will you? Yeah, well, you would bark, too, if somebody

locked you up in the basement.

No. If somebody locked me up in the basement, they'd be dead by now.

Shut that yapper up before it becomes tomorrow night dinner. You know,

I wish that smart lawyer hadn't gotten you off.

Yeah? What, he got some other guy stashed away, maybe? If only I did.

Great.

You happy now?

Damn. Take that brat and go to your mother's. Tommy, if I went to my

he'd never see me again.

Uh -huh.

Cry, cry, cry.

Teach that stupid kiss -a -mother trick.

Wow.

Bam.

Well, must be a fuse.

Oh, no.

No, it's the Martians' invade.

Oh, well, maybe you can sell them some dope.

Come on, come on.

Whole building went.

No lights, nothing.

Cut right into my WrestleMania.

There's pay -per -view, you know, $29 .95.

$29 .95?

That thing's rough all over, huh?

Yeah. Hey, where's Ash?

That's getting right to the point.

Too bad she's got the night off.

She's going to have to go home to your inflatable policewoman.

Who's the victim?

That is Tommy Funero.

That well -known dirtbag about Tom.

Also dope dealer, spouse abuser, and, of course, murderer.

Convicted murderer?

No.

Tommy's one of those nasty little piranhas that slip through the net.

Of course, the little piranha had a shark lawyer to help him out.

A shark lawyer named Errol Lichter, by any chance?

Yeah, something like that.

Did Assistant D .A. Trent prosecute this one?

You mean the Iron Maiden?

How would you know that?

He was left in the basement.

He's small. He's white. He was in the basement. Have you seen my dog?

No.

Excuse me.

Do you know where I can find Assistant DA Trent?

Oh, Julia?

Yeah, yeah. I got her mail right here. She's right around the corner. You give

me a second. I'll take you to her.

All right.

Oh, just hang on.

I'm not going to miss a hello to the prettiest prosecutor in town.

What's the problem, Julie? The two of your bad guys suffer horrible deaths in

less than a week. You should be breaking out the champagne.

I don't like other people doing my job.

Hey, Ms. Trent, did anybody say come in, mailman?

Stuart.

Hey, Willie, how you doing? I'm hanging in. Thanks. Good. Got a fellow here

asking for you. I'll see you later. Okay.

Uh, Ms. Trent, yeah, Detective Stone.

I just want to ask about the Thomas Fennaro case.

Yeah, we just heard about it last night.

Shocking. This is A .D .A. Lambert, detective.

He attempts to find humor in tragedy, and he often fails.

Is there any way we could talk about this alone?

I'd rather stay.

At least until I know the nature of your questions.

Okay. It's regarding Thomas Fennaro. Let me save you some time, detective. I

prosecuted Thomas Fennaro for killing his landlord.

Then his esteemed counsel, Errol Lichter, got him a walk on one of the

of technicalities.

Frankly, I'm not terribly inclined to lose sleep over the loss of either of

them. Spoken like the Iron Maiden we all know and love.

You know what, Stuart?

On second thought, there's really no reason for you to be sitting here

to any of this, is there?

This Iron Maiden thing gets around, huh? Oh, well, Iron Maiden, Dragon Lady, and

let's not forget the ever -popular bitch.

Heard them all so much, he just kind of shrugged it off.

I don't understand that.

I doubt that you do, detective. Have I addressed everything you came for?

Yeah, except I was wondering what you thought about all this wayward

buzzing around.

Well, I have to admit the similarities in the two deaths have me a little

spooked. Sure.

Five deaths.

Excuse me?

Five deaths.

Four months.

Oh.

Before Lichter and Fennaro, it was Wolf, Bondstead, and Pritchard.

Let's see.

Electrical fire, blow dryer in the bathtub, lightning strike.

Can I see those, please?

Oh, my God.

Gosh, I'm sorry, Mr. Lambert. I didn't see you listening at the door there.

I wasn't listening at the door, you idiot.

You ran the damn thing right over my foot. I'm sure it was an accident.

Hey, hey, hey, calm down. You calm down!

Mr. Lambert.

What the hell is the matter with you, Stewart?

Take it easy.

You okay, Willie?

Oh, yeah, yeah.

Your life's a little too short. Why don't you go cool off?

All right.

You don't know who I am, what you're dealing with, all right? You just watch

your step.

You too, pretty boy.

You okay?

Yeah, I'm okay.

It was an accident, really. Yeah, yeah, of course it was. I think he's just

having a bad day.

I want to work with you some. Yeah, I'm fine. Please? I'm fine. I'll see you

later. Okay.

Yeah, Assistant D .A. Trent, this is Detective Sergeant Ash.

Yes, I've heard of you. Oh, yeah.

Okay.

Would you excuse us just for a minute?

Of course.

Yours and... Things aren't usually quite this exciting.

Of course.

You certainly cover the waterfront.

What are you doing here?

Well, this is the way it works. I'm an L .A. cop, and this is L .A.

You know, one of these days, somebody's going to take a closer look at that New

York badge you flash around.

You think?

This is not an alleyway stone. This is the DA's turf.

You could find yourself in a lot of trouble.

I didn't know you cared.

Oh, don't flatter yourself. You're simply in the way.

This is me.

I'm needed.

See you around.

Yes.

I said I'd get off, and I did.

Detective Kelly. Now get these things off me!

Yeah, thanks and have a nice day

What

are you looking at you never

seen a brother get sprung before

It's all real.

You want to get the sign of the swing?

Heard you wanted to see me.

Yeah, I wanted to ask you about some of them.

Darnell Wolfe. Two counts of murder, right?

What happened to him?

The case was thrown out because of improper police procedure.

Right.

Louis Pritchard.

Assault with intent, armed robbery.

What happened to him?

There was something about a neighbor's alibi, I believe.

Bonstead. Who?

Agnes Bonstad, she's the neighbor with the alibi.

She's also the third victim, which means we've got two who walked, one who

opened the door, and all three are dead, electrocuted.

I don't connect it.

That's impossible.

Who would do something like this?

Someone who felt strongly enough that these people deserve to die.

It sounds like something out of the tabloids.

This world you people live in is right out of the tabloids.

Well, in case you haven't noticed, you're living in it too.

Sort of.

Look, in other states, Fennaro might have been facing the death penalty.

I mean, maybe this is just fate's way of playing judge, jury, and executioner.

Executioner? I don't know how or why these people died, but maybe it was just

act of God.

No, believe me, this is not that.

How well do you know Lambert?

Lambert?

Yeah. Wolf and Pritchard were his cases, right?

Mm -hmm.

And for now, it was mine.

What's your point?

He's kind of new, isn't he?

Don't even go there, detective.

You know what? I have a case to beat you, so...

Wait, one second.

Is there any way I can get a list of all of his cases passed and pending?

Absolutely not.

Now, if I lose this motion because you've wasted my time, he will not be

the favorite people.

It's an unhealthy place to be these days.

Oh, you are way out of line.

Do you know where he lives?

Max, I owe you a quarter for the candy. No one at the counter.

Max.

Please. The creative process.

Pac -Man?

Pac -Man.

Welcome to the planet.

Thank you.

You look a little more lost than usual today.

Is something wrong?

No, there's just, um... I'm trying to get some information. The damn library's

closed. The library?

Who needs a library?

Hi, we are surfing the web.

Give me a keyword.

A keyword?

Yeah, a topic. You know, like, Spice Girls.

Spice Girls?

Yeah, like, something like Spice Girls or blow dryers or... Oh.

Um, okay, uh...

Electrocution. Ah, see, now that would be good for the Spice Girls.

So, Stone, what's all this about?

Some little kinky fascination you want to share with me? Actually, no.

I don't even know if I'm on the right track.

Well, that makes me feel better about giving you all my valuable time.

Here we go. In the early 1900s, Thomas Edison was commissioned by the New York

Correctional Institute to design the electric chair. A city with a heart.

How about, uh, executioner?

We can do that.

Ah, there's a bunch of them. Oh, and they have cute little nicknames, too.

That's good. All right. Francis, Big Boat Dodd, Dentist by Day, Grim Reaper

Night. See, that's just the same job.

Frederick Wilcott Graver, a .k .a. the Dog Man, Backwoods Attorney, embittered

by his own success at getting clients off scot -free.

Oh, so he quits so he can execute people.

That's nice.

Cooper, a doomsday Samuel's tax collector who freelanced as a

killer. Well, that's just redundancy. Go back to the second one, the attorney.

The dog man?

Yeah, the dog man.

Ah, serving smaller jails of California in the late 20s was Frederick Wilcott

Graver, known for his profound love of dogs.

Graver charged a nominal fee to employ his custom -built truck -mounted

chair, believed to be in the possession of a private collector.

Can you run a classified ad on this?

This thing?

Yeah. You loves it?

What? Well, no, they get dates and stuff on here nowadays.

Oh.

Well,

I'm glad I saw your ad on the Internet.

I haven't had to call or rent any of this stuff for the longest while.

But, you know, I spend a major part of my...

Time with the computer, you know, these kinky porno sites.

You know what I mean?

Anyway, what's your movie about?

It's a thriller.

A thriller, huh? A thriller, yeah.

Listen, what do you know about Graver? I just don't know about Graver. I knew

the man personally.

Just a boy I was.

Very famous in his day he was. Why is that? Once he wouldn't stop a killing,

even though he knew that the governor was on the phone with a pardon.

He simply refused to pick up the phone and he threw the switch himself.

He insisted that he made the world a better place.

Listen, you don't buy any chance.

have a picture of him do you the only picture of gravel on record i got it

yeah here it is

i'll

be damned well what's the matter i mean he's been dead for years sometimes

that's not enough

Got your little note, Willie.

You know, you oughtn't to startle a man like that, Mr. Lambert. You oughtn't

direct idle threats at those more powerful than yourself, Willie.

You been drinking, Mr. Lambert? You think you can squeeze cash out of me?

An upholder of justice with this bogus lawsuit? You are insane!

That note don't say nothing about no lawsuit.

You just hurt my back when you gave me that... Who do you think you're dealing

with here?

Do you have any ideas for the things I could dream up to do to you?

Mr. Lambert, I had no intention of causing you any trouble.

You don't fool me for a minute, Willie.

I don't?

So if you think you can in any way, shape, or form intimidate me, if that's

game... It's not my game at all, sir.

Not by a long shot.

Then tell me, after humiliating me, leaving this little moat under my door,

playing the pathetic little victim, just what?

Mr. Lambert?

Well, my game was simply... simply to get you here.

I just wish I could do more for you, Miss Trent.

There's not really much to be done at this point, is there?

Well, like it says in Proverbs chapter 10, treasures of wickedness profit

nothing, but righteousness delivereth from death.

Why don't you go make your other rounds now, Willie?

Forgive me.

Miss Trent, it's just the tragedy of Mr. Lambert and all.

Oh, I can appreciate the tragedy of it all.

Take care.

Hey, you're working for him, Willie.

Stay away from me.

You're the one who wanted Lambert's address.

No, I know all about Lambert. This isn't what you think.

Willie's into this a lot deeper than you realize.

Willie has nothing to do with this.

I'm sorry you're wrong.

Why don't you sit down? I'll explain what I can.

Well, this is fairly creepy.

And dirty.

You sure he's got a locker down here?

Uh, well, I know he does the mail for the entire building.

And I think he comes down here, he has his lunch sometimes, too.

Some lockers in here.

Bingo.

You know what?

Let me do that. Come on.

You really think Willie's a friend of yours, don't you?

Honestly, I get a lot more respect from Willie than I do from half my

colleagues. He just kind of gets my frustration, I suppose.

Oh, he gets your frustration.

I mean, what, in a system where guilty people get off once in a while?

Am I alone in that?

Exactly what is it that we're looking for? I don't know exactly.

Talk about your sweet tooth.

That happens when you haven't eaten for 50 years.

What?

Nothing. Oh, God.

What is that?

Oh, God.

Fennaro.

Wolf. Richard.

And Birch.

Who's Birch?

Luther Birch. My hearing yesterday took count as a child molestation.

Failed to a day um it was another technicality an improper search I

Can't believe this Can you help me?

Help you what I have no time to explain this to you I Need to do this by myself

No one else could know about it What about birds look you have to trust me?

And exactly why is it that I'm trusting you again? All right, fine. Don't trust

me. Trust your instincts.

I bet they're pretty damn good.

Look, I just need a few hours to do my thing.

What, do your thing?

Yeah. People still say that, don't they?

Yes, they still say that. Just a couple of hours.

You have two hours.

Thank you.

Julie Trent.

Uh -huh.

What?

He confessed, are you sure?

Um, all right.

All right, thank you for letting me know.

It's Julian Trent.

Who?

Assistant DA Trent.

Mr. Burch. Trent.

Sorry, no Burch here. Don't hang up.

Don't hang up.

I think that you're in danger. In danger, yeah, from the likes of you.

Isn't it enough you ruined my life?

All right, look, I'm sorry. I had no idea that you were innocent.

Another man has just confessed to the crime that you were accused of, and I

that this sounds insane, but I think that someone is on their way to murder

for it anyway.

Murder me?

You flipped out, lady. Mr. Burch, look.

You gotta trust me on this one. I need you to get out of there, alright?

Damn. Crazy.

Telling me to leave my job. You leave your job, bitch.

Nothing like public transportation.

And for free.

Crazy. You know, you'd think the devil could afford a limo. No, the devil

You can't. Great.

Let's talk about my race.

Oh, let's talk about Willie Graber.

You getting a charge out of this one? Take it to Vegas.

Vegas. Ah, the devil's playground.

You know, something very interesting has occurred to me.

You and Graver have a lot in common. You're very alike.

Positively kindred spirits.

I don't like it at all. You are. You are. You both killed those you deemed

unworthy of life.

Like him, you appointed yourself judge, jury, and executioner. You know,

depending on the outcome of your current mission, Graver's efficiency would

certainly make him the favorite to replace you.

This is my stuff. Good. That's the spirit. The kindred spirit, you might

Off you go.

Sorry.

My eyes are closed.

My eyes are too closed.

Willie? Willie?

Willie?

Miss Trent, let's just say neither of us was ever here.

You murdered an innocent man.

Oh, no.

No, I didn't murder him.

I executed him.

None of these people deserve to die.

Sure they did.

I'm just trying to make the world a better place.

Just like you.

Don't you see? I pick up where you leave off. You of all people can appreciate

that. No, I can't.

We were friends, Miss Trent.

I thought you were one of the good ones.

One of the righteous.

I should warn you ma 'am, I don't suffer enemies real well.

from a familiar place.

Here's my best if it bolts back home.

Yeah, we're getting some balls.

Choose your weapon, sir. Anyone, anyone.

Want a break?

Balls. That's my job, clearly.

You've done this before.

I have done everything before. Not to brag.

You know, you still haven't told me how long you're going to be around for.

That depends on circumstances beyond my control.

Way beyond.

Yes, well, that seems to be the trouble with most circumstances.

Here we go. A beer for Mr. Stone and for the little... Oh, come on. I'm so

sorry. It's all right.

The lady will just go to the little lady's room.

Accidents will happen.

Accidents?

I'm sorry.

I confess.

Your friend back there gave me 20 bucks to do it.