Original subtitles

Hey You crazy what kind of heat's in there?

I found it jammed into the driver's seat. It says morphine on it, so I

you should be here, Lieutenant.

Oh.

You're so good to me.

Oh, mercy, mercy.

All right, have it run through the lab, tag it, and put it in the property.

Right. I told him exactly my words. He's playing some kind of a joke, messed up

on those woolly masks.

I told him he was being a dummy. I used to merchandise like that.

He said they knew what I was carrying with that power.

He said,

we know.

How many were there?

All I saw was two of them. Where did you pick up the stuff, and where were you

going to deliver it?

I picked it up at Air Express at Kennedy, and I was going to deliver it

plant, Dexter Pharmaceutical.

All right, now that coffee shop across the street, do you always stop there

after you leave Kennedy?

Well, sometimes.

Not all the time.

Why? You like Danish?

They got good Danish. Ask for plum.

You sure it wasn't a prune Danish?

Forget it.

Now, this tie goes with anything.

Brown, striped, gray, and it's fully lined, see?

Maybe you like bow ties. I got a bow tie for you. This is lovely. Everybody's

wearing bow ties. What are you doing, Marsh? You know I don't like bow ties.

always try to sell me bow ties, something in a solid color, you know

mean? Hey, Lieutenant, wait a second.

Hey, Lieutenant.

You're a college man, ain't you? I got ties in all school colors. Tell me,

where'd you go to? Fordham, CCNY?

I went to Barnard, Marshal. How many years have I been telling you to stay

of the squad room?

Twenty -two. Get out of here. Well, maybe you don't need any ties, but I got

other things, Lieutenant. I got wallets. I got socks. Oh, I got a beautiful

handkerchief. Hey, Lieutenant, you got a crumb on your mouth. Yeah, sure.

Irish linen, right? That's right. So how come it's stained with prune Danish?

Fifty cents.

Thank you. We're in good health.

Hey, Saris, I got some other toys for you if you'll leave.

Well, what do we have?

Well, let's see.

According to the bill of lading, the driver's carrying about a million

worth of morphine.

Well, that's a switch.

In Marseille, it figures Bolivia, Morocco.

I mean, they've got the facilities to extract the heroin, but here? Yeah,

cocaine's the street drug. Smack.

Mojo's not that easy to get rid of.

Where'd you go to school? Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Cohen?

There you are. Pure Irish linen with a touch of pruntenis. Show me two dollars.

Merchant was here, huh? Now, where would the heisters get rid of a load of

morphine? Not too many places. They'd try to unload it. They wouldn't get

for it. The mob? Would they touch it?

I mean, they'd have to smuggle it out of the country, refine it into heroin, and

then smuggle it back.

That's a long, rough road, Mac.

And a lot more tourist than it's worth.

And most important, time.

Street pushers, they want to make the quick hit and get out.

Now, educated guests?

They're looking for a buyback, Mr. Dexter.

Fly back.

Now, we believe the heisters will try to get in touch with you in order to make

a deal with your merchandise, which is why I want Mr. Saperstein over there to

monitor all your calls.

No problem. Of course.

We're concerned about this as much as you are. Full cooperation goes without

saying. Yes, that's right.

We have commitments here for this morphine. There's supply, hospitals,

pharmacies all over the city.

Cheers.

Do you process your own morphine, Mr. Dexter? Well, you might say we are.

Packagers, Lieutenant.

We have the material flown in, medicinally pure, in powder form or

we bottle it, label it, and sell it to our own outlets.

And this shipment here was in powdered form?

Completely.

Morphine sulfate.

84 to 85 % pure.

What do you want me to say if they call?

Well, I'll beat you on that later, Mr. Defter.

Which is why I want to be here when you say it.

Well, uh... How are we going to arrange that?

Well, you just tell your secretary that you're not in, and if it's important to

call back after six, I'll make sure that I'm here, and then you tell him, well,

I want my chemist to examine it to make sure it's pure mojo. Mojo?

Yeah.

Mojo, morphine, methistopheles, spins and needles, uh, cubes, and Emma.

There are a dozen street names for it. Mojo, the words they use.

Now, how many people know about that shipment?

Ten, twelve.

Do you think any of my employees were involved?

Well, they did know the driver's route, didn't they? And they knew where he

stopped for his prune danish and his coffee.

They also knew what he was carrying. Of course, I believe they had inside help.

Which is why I want a list of all the names they knew about that shipment.

And we in turn will check with the consignor in Toledo.

I'll get you your information, Lieutenant.

This thing, is it here for show, or does it really tell time?

Well, for $2 ,000, Lieutenant, I should hope it does both.

Just the same, I...

I'd hate to send John Cameron Swayze down to Colorado Rapids with a job like

that. Huh? Huh?

That, uh... That really does it for you, huh?

Where's Marty?

How should I know?

You should know how to make that your business, you know, until all this is

over.

Now, this is one fat score.

We get caught.

We get thrown in jail for a long time.

Now, I got two murder warrants out from Nashville.

They pick me up, they throw me in the hole for life.

So you tell that brother of yours not to wander, not to jinx up the campaign.

If he pulls any numbers on me, I'll kill him.

All right.

All right.

You think this setup was your idea?

Well, it was me who invited you in, remember?

You think you want to call the shots, Harry?

I didn't think so.

That man's secretary said after six o 'clock.

Never mind.

We got you morphine. If you want it back, it's gonna cost you a couple

bucks.

It's not worth that much.

I don't have to deal with you.

I can simply wait 90 days and recoup my losses from my insurance company.

You can call me when you have a more sensible deal.

Hold it. How much?

Well, I think the insurance company would allow me to buy it back for about

,000.

Well, you're getting a bargain.

How do I know you've got it?

Well, how many other people have called you up offering to sell you back your

morphine? That's not good enough.

I want to send an expert, someone who can verify that the morphine is what you

say it is, and not just milk sugar.

No way.

Then I'm afraid there is no point in any further discussion.

Who do you want to send?

A chemist, someone designated by my insurance company.

I'll get back to you.

What's the matter?

Hey, what's wrong? What's the matter? Back it off! Floyd, are you going to

me what's the matter?

Harry, nothing's the matter.

They're just going to send somebody to test this stuff.

That's all.

That's all?

Wouldn't it be dumb not to test this stuff before they brought it back,

Floyd, what if they send a cop or a narc?

They won't.

Just suppose they do.

Well, then we'd burn him.

Wouldn't we?

Wouldn't we?

Hey, Floyd, Harry.

What's going on?

Where you been, Marty?

Nowhere. I've just been taking a walk, watching the broads.

Let me see. I ain't been using this stuff, Floyd, are you? Let me see them

Well, you keep it that way.

I wouldn't do nothing, Floyd. Not now.

I mean, not when things are going so good.

Well, I mean, ain't they?

Well, what's happening, guys?

Well, it says we may not burn a guy.

That's what's happening.

Oh, yeah?

Just a little sulfuric acid will do it.

If it's morphine, it'll turn a deep violet.

Yeah, and if it's not?

And maybe it's tooth powder.

Try it and see.

Oh, yeah.

Give me a couple of test tubes and I push back front ears.

Gorgeous. Okay,

this stuff is a sample from the carton of the hijacked truck, right? Yeah.

Now, how do I know this stuff by analyzing the same purity?

By quantitative analysis.

All right, show me.

What do you do if they ask you things, Lieutenant?

Technical things, like atomic weights, distillations, things like that. Who's

going to ask me?

Maybe they'll bring a chemist along.

I'll be laconic.

Where did he go? I don't know!

That's the one thing I told you to always know, Harry. How come you don't

How come just when everything's coming together for us, you let him drink?

How come?

Marty's got this thing.

Thing? He likes to watch girls.

He doesn't do anything. Just likes to look at them.

Wait. What's this thing?

Now, look.

Don't... Don't worry about it.

You don't worry about it.

You could go down to Bleeker Street. You could watch him watching the girls.

Way on, Bleeker.

You're kidding.

I'm not kidding.

Look, another couple of days and we got this thing knocked. Till then, I want to

know where that flaked -out brother of yours is every minute.

Now, where on bleak?

On 76th Avenue.

Hey, look.

Look, I'm going over to the Greeks.

I'm going to get a connoisseur or something.

You want to come?

Look, Marty will be here when I get back.

You wouldn't see.

What do you got? It's a probable OD.

The lead? No, no, no.

Well, where are you taking it? West by zero.

That's a Greek word for a lot of southern accents. Who knows, Virginia

someplace, one of the borderline states.

Anyway, the driver's coming down. See if he can't recognize that joker who

dented his bonnet.

I got that lab analysis from the mojo that was hijacked yesterday.

Almost 85 % pure.

And it's on the streets, Theo.

They picked up a guy in an alley near 72nd and 9th Avenue, OD'd.

It was morphine. And he was carrying.

Dead? Not yet.

The doctors aren't promising he won't be.

We've got an around -the -clock plant on him. How'd that stuff he was carrying

compare to that ripped -off mojo?

It's up in the lab.

Oh, and 24 hours went over the same, right?

Right. Who's the hype? No idea.

FBI ran the prints?

Nada.

Theo, you figure it's the same stuff.

Figured it was on the streets.

Hey, Frank, it just doesn't make sense.

Look, a sticker man is a sticker man.

A robber is a robber, and a hijacker is a hijacker, and that's what they do.

They rob, they steal, and they hijack. They don't peddle morphine on the

streets. Maybe they sold the whole load.

Split.

Maybe the idea of sending in a chemist spooked them. And maybe they give away

door prices at the tombs.

Let's think of it this way.

I figured that the booster shoots it up, so he pinches a couple of hits from the

mother load.

That means that we got a hijacker in a sickbay.

How's that grab you?

Let me out of here.

Please, Lieutenant.

Oh.

I see you got a new plan.

Yeah.

Shirley's lonely.

Oh, really?

Tell me, how could you tell?

Well, her leaves are drooping down, and she's not her same gay, vibrant,

effervescent, ebullient self.

Ebullient self, huh?

Well, she might have heartburn. Did you ever think of that?

That's why I got Sam.

Crocker, you're not too busy.

Any word on that dude in the hospital? He's still out of it, but the doctor

thinks that we still have a shot at him.

How about the driver? Did he come in yet? He came in, listened to the tapes

three times, but couldn't identify the voice. He only had a couple words to

listen to, you know.

What else? Well, far as we can tell, the personnel at Dexter Pharmaceutical

checks out clean.

Also, zilch from the Toledo police on the shippers. Lieutenant Bruce Hamilton

line two.

The meeting's on.

There's a car parked at the corner of Lexington and 57th Street.

They want our chemist there in 30 minutes.

Instructions will be under a mat.

Yeah, well, send him home. We won't be needing him.

You won't be needing him. I don't understand.

It's simple. I'm taking his place. What's his name?

You. His name.

I just hope he's made your will.

What's the chemist going to come back with, Bobby?

A notch on his eye drop? I'm a trained observer.

I'm trained for things like this. I'm going to go to that meet. I'm going to

come back with something.

I don't know what it is, but it could be a lot more than we've got right now.

They're sending a what?

And you're letting them do it?

Well, you got a big fresh head of marble.

But already I got a beanbag sitting up in a narco ward that's gonna crumble

a bacon -powder biscuit the minute the fuzz jumps on him.

And now you're asking me to sit still for a visit from the heat.

Well, no way, cousin. Now I'm packing it and the deal is off.

What guarantee?

How you gonna guarantee me?

Now, okay.

If you're so sure nothing's gonna happen, you'll be there when the ringer

That's right, cousin.

In person.

Yeah, well if that balloon goes up tonight, I want you sitting in my lap.

In case you haven't noticed, there's a gun pointing at your head, so no tricks.

Understand? Yes.

I'll hand you this blindfold.

Just put that on.

Now just slide over.

Is he wide he's clean My my my I take case it has all my

equipment in it.

Take it out.

I'll let you come out Dean

You're John

Taylor chemist, right?

That's right, sir Well, that's great. Mr. Taylor.

He just do you supposed to and you go back that drugstore. Well, you can't

All right, there are more fiends in front of you, Mr. Taylor.

And we're behind you.

Now, do you feel this, Mr. Taylor?

Yes. Well, that's a gun.

You move an inch, it'll burn.

Now, take your blindfold off now.

Well, about an inch.

You know, I'm not going to snitch the stuff. I'm merely here as a chemist to

analyze it. You just look straight ahead and don't turn around and do what you

have to do.

Of course.

May I put this down?

I'm going to... I'm going to need another back further analysis.

Blindfold back on.

Take it off

Hmm

are

you satisfied?

Mr. Taylor?

No, sir. You mean no Well, you see, that test only indicates the presence of

morphine, not its purity.

We must make sure that it's not diluted.

Do it.

How long is it going to take? You can't rush chemicals, sir.

You should all learn a lesson from that.

I'm going to have to reach into my pocket.

What for? For a comparison table. You see, it will tell us the purity of the

residue as opposed to the weighed -in portion of the... Do it, do it.

Yes, mm -hmm.

Splendid, yes, that's okay.

Good.

Now put that blindfold back on.

And in the car.

You too.

All the way, cousin.

Now we get to the money, Mr. Dexter.

When am I going to see it?

Tomorrow.

I'll get in touch with the insurance company.

Try for a meeting around six o 'clock.

If I'm not there, make it the day after.

Why shouldn't you be there?

The insurance company.

How quickly can they come up with the money?

Because of the meet tomorrow.

You be there.

You bring the bread.

Tomorrow.

Not today.

Okay?

In the distance, a foghorn.

Plugboat, ferry?

Could have been a ferry, maybe a garbage scow.

What else?

Oh, train.

Freight, yeah.

Backing up and down, forth, coupling with other cars.

A yacht?

No.

No, no, it must have been a sighting.

Wasn't enough activity. Maybe a loading zone?

Oh, yeah, and about 8 .20, I heard a siren.

An engine company.

From the sound of it, it sounded like a tool alarm.

That's good. We can track that down in no time.

Yeah, warehouses.

Not too far away.

Uh, throbbing.

That'll help.

Can't be too many factories working that late.

Oh.

Okay, here's where they dumped me.

Approximately 15 minutes' drive from the place of the meet. Figure we're

averaging 35 miles per hour, okay?

Now, somewhere in this area, right?

Near the river, railway spur, fire in the neighborhood, small factory,

just a skeleton crew.

That's what you look for.

Put the men off the chart, put them to work on it. Steal some uniforms from

downstairs if you need them. I want a clean sweep of the whole area.

Something else.

What? I can't remember.

Mr. Todd, do you want to pick it up on line three? It's Weinstein. That cap

that's covering the OD at the hospital?

Go, Jack.

Oh, that's great, Weinstein.

No, I'll be down there in about ten minutes. Just keep the door closed.

will disturb him. Fine.

Okay.

Well, isn't that swell?

Our O .D. is alive and well.

And screaming.

I got ripped off in Roanoke.

So I ain't got no ID. Well, so what?

So, uh, so, uh, are you from Roanoke?

Yeah. So?

So, uh, what do you do in New York? I came to make my fortune, okay?

Look, why don't you just go get my clothes and get me out of here?

You don't want your ear, Marty?

Yeah.

Sometimes I black out.

You OD'd, baby.

Now, where'd you get the morphine?

What are you talking about, OD'd? Look at my arm. You see any needle tracks

there? Huh? You put it in your mouth, baby, right underneath the tongue, and

then you pass it around a little bit, and you start sailing to the moon. Boo

-boo. Now, where'd you get the morphine?

I found it.

Oh. You found it?

Yeah.

Tasted it, and then you put the rest of it in your pocket, right? That's right.

I had it just like that.

Possession. Have you ever been in a can?

No. Let me tell you about it.

It's not a very nice place for a guy like you.

I sure don't want to go there.

Then you talk to me, okay?

What the hell am I going to do with you?

I want your boss.

I want the guy who gave you that junk.

Man, I can't do that.

You're a real stand -up guy. What's he going to get you?

You do what you got to do.

But you ain't going to bust me up like some kind of cheap watch.

You can bust my jaws if you want.

That's your thing.

But all you're going to get is a whole lot of ouches.

Okay, kid.

Here.

Put that in your mouth.

Keep you out of trouble.

Hold him about another half hour or so. Give me time to put a tail on him, then

let him go.

Our friend Dexter's a real shark. The thieves called and said he'd call back

two to make up for the meat. What are you talking about?

He pulled the tap. We're out of it.

I'm not happy with you, Mr. Dexter. I'm not happy at all that you pulled this

tap.

Well, play back that last tape, Lieutenant, and you'll understand why.

Now, Mr. Cullen has been in this end of the insurance business long enough to

know that those thieves weren't kidding.

Tell him.

They said any sign of the law and they'd be armed and prepared to use their

weapons. It's old talk to you, but it's new to me.

Now, that kind of talk frightens me. But it all seems so simple now, anyway.

Just arrange a time and a place, pay the money, and...

Pick up the morphine, and the police... Superfluous. That's terrific.

We take the risk, and then you turn it over to the insurance company.

That sounds like a big, fat, sloppy -lipped kiss -off to me.

The thankless task of the dedicated public servant, Lieutenant.

What can you do? What cops do, Dexter.

Find a crime and make arrests.

Not in this case.

The police are not in on it. How do you know you won't be walking into a trap?

You don't think we're going to let them walk in there alone, do you?

What do you mean?

Well, I'm going to be right by your side.

That's the same.

Damn thing.

What is, Mr. Dexter? You're coming along.

That is not the deal that I made with those hijackers. Well, they stole a

million dollars worth of morphine.

And you told a fib.

We forgive you.

Don't we, Lieutenant?

Gentlemen, you've, uh, you've made my day.

Yet I had the money.

Where and what time?

We got company, Bobby.

Can you make him?

No, I've never seen him before.

Well, in case they go their separate ways, let's put a tag on the new boy.

Let's call for some help. All right, I'll take care of it.

You haven't been telling me about the... That's what I'm on about. I mean, why

were you there?

I was a hit and run, Floyd.

All right, run, huh?

Cops ask you questions?

Cops? What's they usually do? They ask victims questions.

They're very good.

Maybe they can help you collect some insurance.

How about that?

You think so, Floyd?

Did you talk to him?

A little bit.

But I didn't tell him nothing, Floyd. I didn't.

Douglas, where are you?

Next block down by the Velika Tessin on the east side.

Sweetheart, let's go together.

All right.

Saperstein will pick us up in two minutes. In his car.

All right?

Saperstein, this is Stavros. Do you read me?

Both suspects enter an alley between Bleeker and Houston from Seventh Avenue.

Both men wearing jeans.

One man wearing a picot, six foot tall, slender build.

The other one's five foot ten, medium build.

Pick them both up as they exit the alley.

Will do.

Check. Right.

You like the ladies, huh?

I don't do nothing. I just work. You know something, Marty?

Yeah? One of those cartons was open and a plastic bag was slid.

I thought you were off that junk, Marty.

I didn't do nothing wrong, Floyd.

Well, I've been waiting for a score like this a long time now, buddy.

I'm not going to blow it.

Damn it, don't do that.

Stop it, Steve. This is Stavros.

Yeah, but we don't see anyone coming out of the alley.

We're waiting.

Well, you don't have to wait.

There's no one going to come out of the alley.

Call a wagon.

Who do you want to see, Andy?

Someone designated by my insurance company.

Is that for me?

Yeah, and you're not going to like it.

Observe.

Now, we swept this entire area.

That's a total of six industrials active and occupied last night.

Three machine shops, a tall and die, a maritime metalworks, and an outfit that

manufactures loose -site bowling balls.

We tossed them all. We come up with garnish.

Yeah, well, it was a long shot.

You don't seem especially disappointed.

I thought you had the hots for those guys.

Oh, I did. But I let Crocker and Stubber smoke them out. I'm on to bigger game.

Now, I want you to listen.

How am I going to know that?

Because I'll arrange it that way.

Don't talk to me about guns and shooting.

You hear that?

This is the last tape made before Dexter pulled the plug on the tap.

Now, listen.

Don't talk to me about guns and shooting.

You hear it?

He wheezes.

Probably has asthma. So did somebody in the storeroom when I went to check the

morphine. You remember when I said there was something I couldn't remember?

That's it.

You think Clay Dexter's jammed in with the heist? I think Clay Dexter is the

heist. I think Clay Dexter is the main man.

Why would he engineer the robbery of his own morphine? To rip off the insurance

company. He picks up 300 ,000 large, right?

Except for the commission he's going to give the boosters. And then he gets back

the mojo in a bargain.

Then why run the risk of allowing you to sell for his cameras? Well, he couldn't

help it. I pulled the switch on him. He didn't know it. And look what I did. I

verified the merchandise. The insurance company knows it. And the police, me,

made it all kosher.

Yeah.

When did it happen?

Okay, look, Crocker.

You know, there are days like that, kid.

Okay. That was Crocker.

He and Stavros followed the OD out of the hospital, right?

Intercepted by a friend of his. They followed him into an alley, bracketed on

both sides.

When they went in to make the tag, the OD was dead.

And the friend?

Gone with the wind.

Well, a buyback is a different story, isn't it? Well, Dexter could have frozen

us out there. But this is murder number one, baby.

The hell with Dexter. The hell with the mojo. We want the killer.

Come on, let's take a ride.

I'm afraid you just missed him, Lieutenant. Mr.

Dexter left with Mr. Cullen not five minutes ago. I see. They already left

the buyback spot. I would assume so.

I see. And what else would you assume, Mr. Hamilton?

I don't get what you mean.

Poor man.

I mean, your partner is a gunner.

I'm not his partner.

I'm an employee.

That's why I always talk to the working stiff.

I don't want you to be thrown into the same box that we're going to heave your

boss into.

What for? What's he done?

Well, let's put it this way. Where's the drop?

Drop? Yeah, Mr.

Hamilton, I'll allow you your loyal little dance, but then I want you to

to sing.

He's not a bad man.

Mm -hmm. Okay, that's the dance.

And now we sing.

And if you sing straight, maybe I can go to the D .A. and do you an awful lot of

good, and if you don't, I'm gonna come down on you so hard, you'll be nothing

but a bruise, okay?

Now listen, your boss Clay, he has asthma, right?

Oh, I'm not gonna nail him because he's a weasel, Mr. Hamilton.

But that's how I nailed them. When they took me, you know, to test the mojo, I

discovered that. Now, Clay Dexter, he's on the hook.

Where do you want to be?

I don't know a thing.

I hope that's the case, sweetheart.

Because one of the hijackers is in the morgue right now.

Dead from a knife wound.

Murder.

What part of it do you want?

He was in trouble. I knew that.

Money?

I mean, what, bad investments?

He was investing?

My good friend, Clay.

Did a heap of living, Lieutenant.

The ponies with the boys in the back room, two fillies, one on Sugar Hill,

on Central Park West.

He was down about $200 ,000.

And the accountants are coming in next week.

I didn't see how he was going to cover.

I see.

Well, he gets to keep a big slice of the buyback money and all of the hijacked

morphine, huh? That was his rationale for a guy.

Hey, what are you bleeding for? It was my neck. The company could go under.

Okay.

Where's the buyback spot?

Lieutenant, as God is my witness, I don't know.

Captain, what do you think?

I think he's telling the truth.

I was afraid you were going to say that.

Yeah.

All right, and then what else?

And then we go from there, and then what happens?

Oh, boy.

They're going to pull it off, okay?

Another 10 or 15 minutes of these out -of -state rednecks, they'll be headed

the boondocks. Not to worry.

So you pull Dexter in, you sweat him a little, he'll give them up. Where's

on top of old Smokey? Come on, what are you... No, that wasn't

machinery. It was a power generator.

Car 723 to Central.

Car 723 to Central.

Go ahead, 723.

Have Crocker check the hunt point section for a mobile power generator.

It's been in service in the last week.

10 -4, Car 723.

What's the matter, Harry?

Worried about your brother?

Heard about not hearing from him?

Oh, Harry.

I know you're a good old boy.

You know that?

Oh, you are.

I'm gonna miss you, Harry.

How you doing?

I'm greedy, Harry.

of a power generator in service at the Chico's Graveyard in the Hunts Point

section.

help it i'm telling you i couldn't help it he's an insurance agent it's the only

way that would come up with the money will they come up with it where's it get

it open it

now

where's the morphine there well i want to see it because you do so you're

it's empty

Put your hands down.

No!

No!

Okay, okay.

I hurt my foot.

Well, I had to do it. Something.

Don't you see?

In order to survive.

Survive.

It's a lousy way to live.