Original subtitles

Ronnie, it's an improvement.

I love catalogs.

You know, the workmanship that goes into this just boggles the mind. Only if the

mind is yours.

Yeah, full disability helps.

But it doesn't make up for the pain I've been through.

And Rita here.

That's what being a cop's all about, Lee.

Hey, don't get me wrong.

I'm not bitter about my suffering.

I'm going to miss wearing the blue.

There's nothing like putting yourself on the line for your fellow citizens.

I'm going to clean my locker out.

I just hope I can keep control over my emotions.

Putting himself on the line for his fellow citizens.

Please!

He didn't fall down the steps. He's faking the whole thing.

He never belonged here anyway. He's scared of his own shadow.

Now he's taking money out of the miles of cops who really need it. The medical

board ruled in his favor.

Permanent disability.

Why can't they challenge the ruling?

They did in court.

But they didn't challenge it in the locker room.

Leaving in such a hurry?

Boo.

Boss, I... It's a miracle.

The shock made my legs work again.

Here's another shock for you, Lee.

You're going to jail for fraud.

But look on the bright side.

Now you can put yourself in the line for your fellow inmates.

Book them.

All units, we have a silent alarm at Lawndale and Townsend. Repeat, silent

at Lawndale and Townsend.

This is X -ray 5, roger that.

Don't hurt us, please!

Nose to the rug, mouth shut!

Leave her alone.

You saw me.

That's a big mistake.

Henry! Oh, my God!

No, no!

Henry!

Henry Sims.

Age 47.

One shot to the right temple.

He must have used the silencer. I didn't hear the shot.

That's his M .O.

He's the guy they call the ghost.

Victims are wealthy. He grabs jewelry, cash.

And if they see his face, he kills them.

Hey, Ronnie.

I got here too late.

I tried to come down Lawndale. What was I thinking?

Hey, it's not like you stopped for donuts.

I knew about the construction.

I just...

difference. It might not have.

Where's his wife?

I woke with a bright light in my face.

He told us to keep our eyes closed.

Made us lie down on the floor.

He went through the bureau and he tried to take my wedding ring.

That was when Henry looked.

His clothes, his shoes?

What about his voice?

Did he sound young, old?

Young.

Maybe 30 or so.

Accent?

New York, I think.

Good.

Good.

That's a very big help, Mrs. Simms.

Thank you very much.

We already knew about the voice.

How does that help us? It doesn't. It might help her.

Why don't you go home, Sacko?

I want to be in on this.

Look, Paulie's putting together a special unit. You can hook up with him

morning. I could hook up with him now. My tour just started.

Our little girl likes to paint this section of the wall with her food.

We've tried cleaning it, but... Basically, we just wanted to know what

charge to paint the wall. I know it's a small job.

No job's too small for a man who takes his craft seriously.

Should be more than a hundred or so.

On the other hand, paint the wall, not the rest of the kitchen, might look

funny.

I suppose we could paint the rest of the walls.

Not the ceiling?

Up to you. You have to live with it.

I suppose... Well, I suppose that we could do everything.

You want to keep it this color?

You know, I have been wanting to go a little lighter.

Um, is it more expensive for lighter paint? No, not at all. Oh, okay, we can

lighter.

Oh,

the counter's starting to crack.

It's fine.

You have to live with it.

What? Nothing.

It's just the kitchen is going to be lighter. It won't coordinate with the

dining room.

This could burn the house down.

Wow.

So we'll lay new carpet in the den, paint the dining room, replace that

counter,

re -plaster the fireplace.

Let's see. That comes to $6 ,300.

When we started out, you were going to paint the wall for 100 bucks.

Hey, that's right.

6 ,400.

Trust me, you are going to love it.

This guy's been hitting upscale neighborhoods.

He was working Cloverdale, and now he started on Oak Glen. That's where we'll

put the extra units.

You think the ghost was going to pull something so soon? He's got to know the

heat's on.

In the first place, this guy's not a rock star or an athlete.

The press can call him the ghost, but we don't. In the second place, I think

this guy likes the heat, just like he likes his nickname and rubbing our noses

in the fact that we can't nail him.

So let's nail him.

We went over that whole house again. We got no prints, nothing.

Did you get any more from the wife?

So we got five break -ins, two murders, no leads.

Sure don't feel like another shift.

Me neither.

Let's do your job, will you?

Hey, all I'm saying is I'm whipped. You're whipped?

How do you think this lady feels seeing her husband shot right in front of her?

Just put this guy away and then you can talk about being whipped.

I just want to get them, that's all.

You can't keep blaming yourself, Ronnie.

For two reasons.

One, it's not your fault. And two, it won't do any good.

Yeah. Might not be a bad idea to go get some rest. No. Start fresh tomorrow

night. I'm not going to get any rest anyway.

I might as well just keep working.

Really. I'm okay.

Really.

All right, go ahead.

Strait 5, I've got a possible 10 -31 at 8 -1 -4 -9 Greenwood.

Roger that. This is C -1. All units respond.

Ronnie, you wait for backup.

Who's there?

Please don't move!

Are you all right?

Yeah.

Yeah, how's the lady?

She's scared, but she's all right.

Well, he's definitely not all right.

Got him right in the pump.

I assume he attacked you.

Yeah, he shot at me.

What?

There's no gun.

He's got me, I'm telling you.

What do you think, I'm lying?

I think you're telling the truth as you see it.

But I also think you just killed an unarmed man.

No. No, this is crazy.

This is nuts, I'm telling you. He shot him.

He did.

Guy had no idea on him. Nothing.

All we found was a St. Jude's medal.

And this.

Roddy, let's go over this again.

You fired. After he fired at me. Guy delivering pizza across the street. He

heard one shot. Same with Mrs. Gilbert.

Mrs. Gilbert was terrified.

And the pizza guy, he's just a pizza guy.

We all heard one shot, too.

Me and Paulie and Hibs. Maybe he used the silencer like he did the other

I know he fired at me.

I saw the flash.

Maybe you saw this or one of the lights off our cars. Maybe it reflected off of

something in the house.

You were ordered to wait for backup.

I thought someone might be in danger.

Mrs. Gilbert got out. Why didn't you follow her and wait for support?

I'm a cop.

I'm supposed to catch the bad guy.

Especially this bad guy.

Ronnie, just relax a minute, all right?

There's still no gun.

Right.

What?

Maybe there were two of them instead of one.

Where'd you come up with that?

I'm just... Well, if there were two of them, maybe the other guy ran off with

the gun.

Still, there's no bullet inside this house.

That's for sure.

There'll be daylight soon.

There's a lot of woodpeckers around here. Look at these trees. There must be

million holes in them. We're going to check every one. Get ladders. Get a fire

engine out here if you have to.

Thanks.

I should have never let Ronnie go out again. I should have made him take a

break. If you had the ghost.

That is, the guy the papers are calling a ghost would still be alive.

I'm not even sure it's him.

It's the right kind of neighborhood, same M .O. But no weapon.

What if he's some run -of -the -mill cat burglar?

Then Ronnie's in big trouble.

Keep looking.

I'll see you later after I go home and take a shower.

What happened to the water?

I meant to tell you.

It'll be back on by dinner time.

Dinner time?

Since when do you have to shut off the water to paint?

I had to replace this.

Dangerous. Dangerous?

Rust. Could cause it to blow.

That happens, you ruin your new paint job.

I'd call that dangerous, wouldn't you?

It may cost you a little more now, but in the long run, you'll save.

It's gonna cost.

It's all right here in the contract.

I'm using copper pipes everywhere.

It costs a little more now. But in the long run, I save.

Come on. Where's my lunch? I'm gonna be late.

It's in the fridge.

It's in the fridge.

Where's the fridge?

It's in the dining room.

It'll be back by Thursday. That's the latest.

What are you doing?

Dental work and fingerprints didn't help.

We still don't have an ID on the guy that Ronnie shot.

But I put some acid on this and raised the serial number.

Ah.

You know, this might have been made for a particular church or school or

something. Well, that's what I was thinking.

We traced the serial number. Maybe we can get a line on this guy. Otherwise,

got nothing.

Well, maybe that's why they call him the ghost.

Not that I would call him.

The ghost.

Still no bullet?

Face it, Tony. There's no bullet and no gun because there was no shot.

Now stop blaming yourself.

Like a wise man once said, first, it's not your fault. And second, it won't do

any good.

Already looked there.

Three times.

Looked everywhere three times.

Guys have been great. They've been working here all day on their own time.

Are you going to suspend me?

Well, if I don't, the review board will hold a hearing and do it anyway.

And what? Criminal charges?

It's possible, Ronnie.

If you have to ask for my gun and badge, then do it.

Just as long as you know that I am not crazy and I am not a liar.

If there was a shred of evidence, anything at all... There is.

What?

My word.

I've worked for you my whole career.

Most of what I know, you taught me.

Yes, I was tired and I was stressed.

But if I wasn't fit for duty, there's no way I would have let you put me out

there.

Because you taught me better than that.

And you know there was an easy way out if I wanted it. All I had to do was

that this guy tried to kill me with his bare hands and the shooting would be

clean.

But I didn't.

Because it's not the truth.

You taught me that too.

I don't care what the public or the press or the review board thinks.

But I do care what you think.

Do you believe in me or don't you?

Yeah, I believe in you.

Then don't let him take me down without a fight.

All right, Ronnie.

The city was being terrorized by a vicious killer.

Officer Lopez ended that reign of terror.

Instead of thanking him, we investigate him. We can't be sure the dead man

really is the so -called ghost.

There hasn't been another crime bearing his stance since the shooting. The ghost

carried a weapon. The dead man didn't. He didn't present an immediate threat to

Officer Lopez or anyone else. We contend that he did carry a weapon.

Based on? The word of a police officer with ten years of experience and a

full of citations. And a strong incentive to twist the facts.

I'm telling the truth.

The evidence suggests otherwise.

Not necessarily.

It's possible.

There were two men in the house instead of just one.

The man who fired the shot escaped, and his accomplice was shot by Officer

Lopez. The owner of the house didn't report a second intruder.

Well, maybe he stayed out of sight, acted as a lookout, and then went inside

house to warn his accomplice.

Officer Lopez, you reported seeing one man enter the house. Are you now

you saw two?

No, just one.

The missioner.

Did you or any other officer see a second man at the crime scene?

No, but that doesn't mean he wasn't there. Your loyalty is commendable, but

have to go by the evidence.

Officer Lopez, you entered the house against orders.

All witnesses say that there was only one shot fired.

No gun or bullet or second intruder has been found which could account for

another shot.

We have no choice but to suspend you from active duty and recommend that the

district attorney's office open a criminal investigation.

My mom died when I was...

wasn't much.

Gambled away his paycheck as fast as he got it.

My two brothers, I pretty much raised them myself.

I kicked their butts when I had to.

Keep them out of trouble.

I always made sure I was somebody they could look up to.

Maybe the other day I joined the force.

Oh, they were prouder of me than I was of myself.

We're not giving up.

Come on.

Lucky to stay out of jail now.

The guy's a burglar. He had to sell his goods somewhere.

I'll check with a couple of fences, see what turns up.

And don't forget, we got that St.

Jude's medal.

How's that gonna help?

I don't know.

That's something.

You know about St. Jude, don't you?

It's a patron saint with a lot of cotton.

So you want me to pawn some diamonds, huh?

How hot are they?

Commissioner.

No offense, but you've got to come during business hours.

Why? What's the difference?

You're not doing anything illegal, are you?

No.

But we'd have more time to chat, say, an hour.

We gotta chat now.

You ever seen this guy before?

Was he criminal?

Because I don't associate with criminals.

Come on, Sammy.

The cop's in trouble here, Ronnie Lopez.

You help me out, I won't forget it.

Yeah, I like Ronnie.

Yeah.

Yeah, I dealt with him.

He was one strange individual.

Something spooky about the guy.

We did business.

If I can't fizz, I'll miss him.

Can you tell me anything about him besides he spooked you?

I never even knew his name.

This racket.

Names aren't all of it.

Yeah, fine, Ronnie.

Uh -uh.

The guy he thinks he killed isn't dead, and we can't even tell him.

Tong. I want you to double up patrols around Sammy's pawn shop in case the

goat... the perp shows up again.

Why?

Tony, we've been looking for this guy for about 12 hours now, okay? We're

up a lot of manpower.

I don't care how much manpower we're tying up.

You don't think I saw him?

This is the guy, right?

That's the guy.

This guy here, with the .45 in his chest.

Now, the fact that he's six feet under, doesn't that make you wonder a little?

No.

It makes me wonder a lot.

Are you nuts?

God. Hey, boss.

I just want you to know I think you're on the right track.

Thanks, John.

My grandmother used to tell me about holy men in the old country who could go

into a trance so deep you couldn't detect a heartbeat.

Your grandmother told you that?

Yeah, you bury him, dig him up about a week later, and he'd still be just as

alive as you and me.

Uh -huh.

Unless, of course, some wild animal got in there and chewed his arm off or

something, and you'd have one angry holy man on your hands.

Really? Yeah.

Interesting.

Just about got it.

Yeah, reptile like this.

Too bad you can't kill him twice.

Or at least once.

Someone's trying to make us think the ghost is still alive. He is. I chased

down the street.

Tony, I took his pulse. How long?

Long enough to know he didn't have one.

You know, there are certain holy... Oh, come on. You're going to tell me you

believe Hibbs' grandmother?

Look, McGinley's getting the autopsy report. Marty's done a thousand of them.

He'll know if the guy's dead. No record of it, Pauly. What?

Marty's embarrassed, but... Did he do the autopsy? No. His assistant was off

backpacking in the Sierras.

He can't reach him.

I know how to take a pulse.

I want to talk to Ronnie.

He's not at his apartment. We checked his brother's place in the Bronx. Well,

find him. When you do, let me know. I don't care what time it is.

Weird, huh?

No. This is weirder than weird.

Tom, I can't take this anymore.

Yesterday, I was drying my hair in the bathroom, and the tile man comes barging

right in and says, can't I do that somewhere else? Because he's really got

go. The plumber put one of his pipe rings right down on my bathroom.

Oh, you gotta do something.

Leave it to me.

Look, you gotta talk.

I know. I need another 500 or the plaster guy can't finish. Also, you're

tomatoes.

No, that's not what we... That's not what we gotta talk about.

See, you said the cabinets would only take three days. It's already been six.

They do only take three days. They're just not three consecutive days.

We've asked you not to let your men smoke in the house and not to use the

upstairs bathroom.

You gotta go, you gotta go.

And to keep their tools and their kits and not to play music before eight o

'clock in the morning.

Is it that big a deal?

I mean, these guys are trying to make your house a thing of beauty.

And we're just trying to set up a few ground rules. I mean, we live here. How

would you feel?

I'll take care of it.

Job's over.

Wait a minute. Hey, we're not good enough to use your bathroom. How could

good enough to work on your house?

Hey, get back here.

We have a contract.

Morning.

Boss.

How's things down at the old precinct?

We're short a man.

Not too bad.

A spherical or pointed cylindrical metallic projectile.

That's the definition of a bullet.

I looked it up in the dictionary.

The funny thing is...

I got plenty of bullets.

I got them at home, in my locker.

Hundreds of them.

But the one little bullet that saved my life,

nobody can find.

Isn't that funny?

Why don't we take a walk and get some coffee?

What good will that do?

For starters, it might clear your head. And what good will that do?

You're going to need a clear head for what I'm going to tell you.

Don't want a clear head.

Hey, come on, leave me alone. I can drink if I want to.

Wrong. You're on duty.

Since when?

Right now.

You don't have the authority.

You take one more sip, I'll bust you.

You wouldn't.

Let me see if I understand this.

The guy I killed, you saw on the street, and his coffin was empty.

Mm -hmm.

I need another drink.

You need about a gallon of coffee, and you need to help us find this guy. Then

maybe you'd be off the hook.

So I'm back on duty?

For now.

What about the review board? I'll handle them.

Whoa.

I hope you don't feel as bad as you look.

Listen, the St. Jude medal was part of a batch made in the fall of 74.

Now, most of them went to this place called Our Lady of Sorrows.

Church? No, it's an orphanage. Someone burned it down a few years later, but

Sister Marie O 'Brien used to work there. Now she's over at St. Mark's

Hey, maybe St. Jude will come through for you after all.

Come on, gorgeous.

How's your head?

About to explode.

to come back in school.

Me too.

Me three. Commissioner?

Gentlemen, I'm Sister Marie. How can I help you?

We want to ask you a few questions about Our Lady of Sorrows.

Wonderful place.

I worked there for many years.

Well, we're looking for someone who may have been an orphan there.

I'm afraid this is the only picture we have of him.

You're looking for someone who is dead?

Well, it's a long story. He may not be as dead as he looks.

We don't know his name or much about him, except for that he's vicious and

very smart, too.

We had our share of troubled boys.

One of them set the fire that destroyed the orphanage.

And what was his name?

We never knew for certain.

Personally, I suspected it was a boy named Jim Hawkins.

He ran away soon afterwards.

Do you have any idea where he might be now?

Last I heard, he had a place over in Fall Creek. That was some time ago.

That's a start.

Thank you, sir. You're not going to arrest him for anything based on what I

said.

This is just an investigation.

Good. Because I'm only speculating.

We were never sure which one actually set the fire.

Which one?

James or Jonathan.

They were twins.

They were identical twins?

You couldn't tell them apart.

I checked the Fall Creek phone book.

No listing for a Hawkins.

If they had land there, we'll find them.

Start with the county recorder's office.

So these two guys worked as a team.

Right. One went into the place while the other stood guard.

I thought you just made that up at the hearing.

I did.

So I got one.

Probably the one that took the shot at me.

Then the brother picks up the gun and splits.

He was in the clear until you saw him at the pawn shop.

Then he steals his brother's body. Why?

How does that help him?

Look, we'll head over to Fall Creek and start tracking him down, all right?

Call me if you find out anything.

Yeah.

Ruffington, contracting.

This is Tony Scali. You better listen up, and you better listen good.

We have a contract.

I'm out of the job, so just leave your name and number. And remember, do it

right the first time. In the long run, you save.

This is Tony Scali.

You... We should sue him.

It'll take forever.

Shoot him.

I'm not ruling that out.

We have to do something. We can't go on like this.

What about another contractor?

I've called dozens. All the good ones have booked up for weeks.

Tony, you are the police commissioner, for heaven's sakes. Lay down the law

here. Yeah, Dad. Lay down the law.

No, that's not such a bad idea.

I'm going to swing by the city hall and pick up a copy of the building code.

Hello?

Hi,

Paulie. He'll be there in a minute.

He's in a shell.

It's registered to a J .J. Hawkins. Cute. One J for each brother.

You ready?

Let's go.

I'm still in here.

Hey, Tony, look at this.

This guy's scheduled for surgery the 10th of next month.

He's getting a new face.

When he saw me at the pawn shop, he knew we'd be after him. Right.

So he steals his brother's body, bribes the M .A. He gets a new face while we're

looking for the guy with his old one.

If it wasn't for good old St. Jude, it might have worked.

We're still gonna catch him.

Hey, we'll just wait till he gets back.

We might not have time.

This may be his next target.

Why would he pull another job before the operation?

Maybe he needs the money to pay for it.

Look at this.

45th and Marguerite. Let's go.

Hi, uh, sorry to bother you. We're just checking the neighborhood to see if

everything's all right.

Everything's fine, officer.

Um...

Is your husband home?

No, he's working late tonight.

Well, if you see anything out of the ordinary, just give us a call.

I certainly will.

Thank you for coming by.

I think he's inside.

She wasn't wearing a wedding ring.

Maybe he took it.

How do you want to handle this?

Keep the guys knocking on the other doors like we're satisfied here.

Ronnie and I will double back and get inside.

You okay?

I'm fine.

There's more than we could say for him.

He's really a ghost now.

Okay.

We'll send someone for your husband. We'll make sure he gets home right away.

Okay?

Sorry.

Thanks, man.

Well, this should finally clear him, huh?

Shouldn't it?

But Sister Marie couldn't identify the photograph as either James or Jonathan

Hawkins. And since you haven't found the first body... He could have buried the

body anywhere. The point is, the evidence from the original investigation

changed. The bullet from the weapon allegedly fired at Officer Lopez has

been found. And neither has the weapon itself.

It still looks like Officer Lopez committed an unprovoked killing.

Nobody wants to see Officer Lopez go to jail.

Perhaps... Something can be worked out with the district attorney. A plea

bargain? Unless he wants to take his chances with the jury trial.

He's innocent.

Not according to the evidence.

Commissioner, you and I both know we live by regulations and procedures.

And if we disregard those, we have nothing.

And in this case, without that bullet, nothing is exactly what we have.

When did those pinheads ever look down the barrel of a gun?

What do they do all day but decide where to have lunch?

Yeah, Ronnie, you should fight this, man.

Get a good lawyer and go to court.

Yeah, like a cop could afford a good lawyer. I don't know what I'm going to

if I can't be a cop.

You guys ordered pizza? Yeah, pizza.

How much?

31 bucks.

All right.

Hey, weren't you there the night of the shooting?

Guys, I don't even own a gun.

There's got to be a bullet.

We searched every inch of that neighborhood 50 times.

Then you just get up and walk away.

Enjoy your pizza.

Ciao. All right.

Thanks.

Hey!

Is that the same car you drove that night?

Yeah. We have assigned vehicles.

Which way were you going?

What?

direction east or west uh toward oakdale boulevard west so the driver's

side was facing the house

What's that?

A spherical or pointed cylindrical metallic projectile, also known as a

Welcome back, Officer Lopez.

I don't know.

I understand perfectly.

Go to work.

Okay. Yes, sir.

It

takes

a big man to apologize.

And in my book, you're tops.

But my guys were deeply insulted when you said they couldn't use the

in your home.

Now.

For another five grand, I could uninsult him and get him to start working again?

That won't be necessary.

How come? You're under arrest.

What? You have the right to remain silent.

Anything you say can and will be used against you. If you cannot afford an

attorney, one will be appointed for you.

Faith, you and I may have had our differences, but I haven't done anything

can arrest me for.

Missing fixtures, exposed wiring, faulty pipes.

There are at least a dozen building code violations in this room, all because of

you. Now, each one is a misdemeanor, but taken together, we could be looking at

some serious time.

Oh, come on. Now I could press charges, or we could talk a little plea bargain.

Such as? You agree to live in this house till the work gets done.

Oh, okay. Live here?

You crazy? You got no water pressure? Your fridge is in the dining room?

Exactly. Meantime, my family and I move into a hotel and send you the bill.

Or we could go down to the precinct and start the booking process.

Up to you.

How nice a place you're talking about staying.

Nice. So the faster you get the work done, the better off you are.

Deal?

Oh, and Bob, next time remember, do it right the first time, and in the long

run, you save.

Bye -bye. Bye -bye.