Original subtitles

[Music]

[Music]

[Applause]

um

[Music]

bobby

bobby you come in here this minute do

you hear me

look at you you're a filthy mess just

like your room i thought i told you to

come right home from school and clean up

your room how many times why to tell you

to do something

and what did i tell you about playing

with those two

what do i have to do to make you do what

you're told well you just wait till your

father comes home

we'll see if we can't find some way to

make you listen now get in that house

[Music]

my father

all right young man now you are going to

get it

i told him if he was late one more time

he was going to get a spanking and with

this paddle now i just shut up he knows

what he's going to get i know what he's

going to get what do you want for

heaven's sake you know what that means

you know what it means being late it

means two of these right all right it

means more than that i don't want him

playing with those rotten kids across

the street anyway he's not gonna play

with the rotten kids across the street

like god's like look i've got a

splitting headache can't you lower your

voice

who knows what they could teach him

come on let's go let's just get out of

here come on all right come on

right young man

i told you you were gonna get it when

your father came home

come on

come on

maybe this will teach you a lesson

yay

[Music]

the 7am news

two more persons were found dead this

morning

they were killed with no apparent motive

this adds to the current rash of slaying

still unsolved

the skelometer reads sunny but windy so

all of you mommies dressed those little

kitties warmly for a chilling high of 55

degrees

that's it for the 7 a.m news have a nice

day

where is that baby

judy's always leading me to take care of

the baby i just can't stand it anymore

the baby does nothing but cry i think

i'll take a nap

daddy

daddy

oh go away baby i don't want to play now

daddy

danny please let's play no baby one more

word from you especially if you cry i'm

gonna throw you down the cellar daddy

hi kids

how you doing

huh

tom wait a minute

look tom i know you're uptight about it

and i know you feel it cuts down on the

spontaneity of your whole thing but i

simply can't follow you if you don't at

least stay close to your q marks it'll

be all right richard don't worry about

it i'm paid to worry about it tom but

that doesn't seem to register with you

we've gone through this a hundred times

before

but like today

move your camera richard

i'm doing this show for children not for

you

i don't need you to tell me how to

handle my job

not according to some people

why such a long face

what happened to let's pretend

carolyn we've got to talk about this no

matter how many times we go through this

it doesn't seem to get through to him

that he simply can't just in a minute

richard in a minute he started it

carolyn

he's trying to tell me how to do my show

and he doesn't know anything about

children i'll come by later okay and fix

you some dinner then we can talk about

it just the two of us

now

why don't you go get dressed and then go

to the park and spend the day with your

friends come on tommy be a good boy now

oh and don't forget your show at the

hospital this afternoon

i know you've got your problems carolyn

but you've got to appreciate mine too he

just doesn't listen

i know that richard but you've got to

try to understand how he works

[Music]

[Applause]

where the hell is she

debbie where have you been

huh i've been looking for you everywhere

hey now you know that uncle larry is

coming over for dinner tonight and i

have a big dinner to fix for all of us

so come on

i don't want to go

well

and i don't know about you

with all these children it isn't normal

i'm gonna talk with some people who have

some authority about this

what have you been telling my debbie

do the mothers of these children know

they're out here with you

i'll bet they don't and i'm gonna see

that somebody does know about it you

just wait and see are you gonna get it

when you get home you start crying and

i'll really give you something to cry

about you a little bit

hey

yeah

now we got another one vince

four-year-old boy bobby serlin my

parents reported him missing about an

hour ago

said he never came home last night

hey

hey hey

ah i'm starved you had any lunch

no not yet

there's a good chance this one's more

than a routine oh yeah how's that

well the parents might be involved in

this one

father is harold serlin he's a

history professor up at state

the old lady is a

bookkeeper or something judy sterling

terrific right out of model citizen

factory huh

so what's the catch

well about an hour before the parents

made the report we got an anonymous call

probably a teenage boy judging from the

boys

said he'd seen some

parents beating up their kid pretty bad

last night

up on pacific street

don't tell me let me guess that's

sterling kid's house right one in the

same

[Music]

okay all right what do you got uh not a

damn thing so far but we're searching

the neighborhood well what do you figure

i think it's a crack of [ __ ]

well we haven't found a trace of the kid

yet but i think there's something more

to it than just the kid running away

from home what do you mean

well there's certain feelings you get

sometimes just a certain sense of

something that doesn't quite get it

together

then you start looking at the facts

laying them out one by one and it

doesn't take too long before you start

to realize it for christ's sake harry

quit playing cops and robbers will you

get to the point yeah yeah sure okay uh

that anonymous call we got got some

wheels going from what we've gotten so

far bobby sirloin was a real quiet kind

of kid you know uh not a lot of friends

all that kind of stuff but here's the

hooker

he's been admitted to st luke's hospital

three times in the past year and the

medical reports aren't too clear on

exactly what happened to him

oh maybe he's just a sickly kid

yeah

maybe

uh you want to talk to the parents

what do you think

[Music]

mr surlin mrs serlin this is lieutenant

hayes he's in charge of your case and uh

this is sergeant graham how do you do

lieutenant sergeant yes yes how are you

sympathetic mr surlin very

i know what you must be going through

but if i'm gonna help i'll need a little

more information

he couldn't have run away he wouldn't do

that he loved us too much

you mean he doesn't anymore

what you said loved us past tense

wait a minute lieutenant i don't think

my wife meant it that way what she was

trying to say of course i understand

you're going through a difficult time

uh don't worry we'll find him

but soon please you don't know how

helpless he is he's only five years old

he can't really take care of himself

please please no we're doing the best we

can mrs sullivan but uh we got a better

chance if you could just tell lieutenant

hayes here harry do me a favor will you

take graham out and give him a rundown

on the operation you got here okay yeah

sure okay

i uh i hesitate to go on with this mr

surly no it's quite all right i know

you're trying to help us

when was the last time you saw bobby

oh did it uh like i told the other

officer last night when i put him to bed

and what time was that oh 10 o'clock

closer to 10 30 i'm sure about 10

o'clock

and that's when he usually goes to bed

and uh when did you notice that he was

missing i called him at 7 30. i always

do

i called him three or four times but

that's not unusual

he always sleeps as late as you'll let

him he's kind of lazy boy

but this morning

he wasn't in his bed

he wasn't there he was gone and it was a

couple of hours after that reportedly

missing we um checked around the

neighborhood of course first then we

waited around a little longer

sort of hoping

yeah sure i can see that uh

do you have any idea what he was wearing

oh yeah

your pants and shirt and

levi's and a white shirt i know because

i looked in his closet and the only

thing missing is just

i know you've been through all this

before but uh

can you think of any reason why bobby

would just pick up in the middle of the

night

i mean does he ever run away like this

before

no no none at all

and did you have some kind of hassle

with him

did you spank him with something in the

past no no of course not

you mean you never spank it

well i wouldn't say never no but uh

certainly not in the past few days no we

were very close i mean

yeah well

this

we'll find him

here's the picture we got from the

parents

only problem is it's about two years old

and

here's the hospital records

fell off his bike

fractured a leg

fell down the stairs concussion in

multiple contusions

[Applause]

and pneumonia

it's the only one that doesn't seem to

fit the pattern

you want to question him about it

what for

she's got all the answers

wanna know what i think

not particularly harry unless you got

some proof to back it up

you want to hold them

sure

on what

no just play that game

listen i'll check with you later

you check out the neighborhood and i'll

pick you up back at the station in a

couple hours i'll be at the hospital

oh my goodness what's that

[Music]

it is i jack ketch and i have come to

chop off your head because you've done

some very evil deeds they call me the

executioner

master executioner i'll tell you what

why don't we just

become partners oh no you're too mean

for even me i'm going to chop off your

head oh no you're not oh yes i am

oh no you're not oh yes i am

[Laughter]

how are you doing today all right

okay want to play a game

yeah

are you sure

yeah

positive yeah i don't know

i don't know if you do or not

wow all right then

this is the way the game goes

what's your name tommy all right good

you get surprised

what's your name anthony

okay anthony hey i think anthony needs a

big one good here's a toy for you

are you sick

yeah well i better check and see if your

heart's going all right okay

okay here we go

cough

cough

i didn't say laugh i said

i calm hear a thing

i've gone deaf

i can't hear a thing

oh

oh my goodness

no no you wouldn't take my word for it

so now you can see for yourself always

for christ's sake all i ask you is how

can you be sure how can you prove it you

can't prove it that's a problem but you

know

god you know a child who's been beaten

this absolutely i know i know all about

it we've been through all this before

and it always comes back to the same

thing i need facts oh yes the facts what

do you call it the index of suspicion to

identify a better child let me see now

one characteristic age usually under

three

okay okay okay i got the point now what

about bobby sterling what about bobby

sterling how do you know he was beaten

what's your name

i have a special friend for you

look i can show you the reports if

that's what you want

at minutes may 3rd 1970 multiple

conclusions on head examined for

concussion he fell down the stairs

november 8 1970 admitted fracture of

left leg and hip fell off his bike march

22 1971 admitted pneumonia uh pneumonia

now that's the one that threw me oh yeah

they said he must have had trouble

breathing with instead it must be

pneumonia

well the x-ray showed us why he was

having trouble he had four broken ribs

didn't even know where he'd fallen from

that time

look you're probably right probably

isn't enough maybe he did fall down all

the signs you've got to rip as a chance

no no chance

once you've seen a child who's been

beaten you know

you fell

not by the marks on the outside

by the ones inside

let me show you something mr hardnose

detective

lieutenant hayes i'd like you to meet

jefferson taylor

how old are you jefferson

says here jefferson taylor 3315 calvert

street h5

not as old as you'd like to be mr taylor

hello jefferson

you're not going to get a response out

of him like that you've got to threaten

him

what happened to him

fractured hip

we know by the way it's twisted

but we can't prove it

what does the boy say nothing he's too

scared to say anything

that's the funny thing people think that

a child has been beaten

will rebel become incorrigible but it's

just the opposite

oh

hi tom

hello everybody my looks like we're

having such a good time today

help out a jefferson

a child who's been beaten is

completely docile

his senses

even his tears are

deadened by

pain he'll do anything you tell him to

do just as long as you don't hurt him

again

jefferson

raise your arm

higher jefferson like this

now you keep it there

beatrice

raise your arm above your head

go ahead now higher

you leave it right there

the minute i turn my head she'll drop it

why shouldn't she she isn't afraid of me

it's only normal

oh look at jefferson

jesus

was bobby certain like that

he held his arm up for 16 minutes

[Music]

hi lieutenant hayes

are you going to arrest them that's all

i want to know

what the hell is

i know bobby serlin

he's my friend

he's one of mr rabbi's rangers

who are you

mr abby

that's the name i use on television

it's a children's show

yeah well uh mr

rabby

i

can't arrest anybody

there's no crime involved

did you arrest jefferson's mommy and

daddy

mr robbie that case is under current

investigation

[Music]

um

[Music]

yes

yes her condition is much improved

uh excuse me tom

our visiting hours are from two to five

and i know she'll be very glad to see

you

oh that's all right goodbye now nurse

i've been waiting an hour i've come to

get my daughter out of here now somebody

called me and said they wanted to see

her again i would like to know what it's

all about i'm sorry mr tsika you'll just

have to wait to see dr clark well where

is he he's expecting you he is on his

way will you please be seated

sorry tom i just wanted to thank you

personally it means so much to the

children when they know you're coming

uh rosemary

your mother's here to take you home

now if you ever want to talk to me i'm

right here at the hospital okay yes

doctor clark

good

see you later

what is going on here if her legs better

why don't they let her out of here what

do they want to see her again for this

is to seek him

rosemary is a traumatized child and i

think you know what the problem is we're

going to have our psychiatrist talk with

him are you trying to tell me my

daughter's crazy no not crazy she's

emotionally disturbed well i'm taking

her out of here give me that come on

honey

you people act like you don't ever know

what to do in these damn hospitals

to seek a child abuse put it with the

others

you didn't say anything to them did you

no mommy i didn't you better not have i

didn't i didn't

[Music]

[Applause]

uh sanders and reardon got two teams

working up the north and south trails uh

you want me to start a downward trend

not yet covered all the way up to here

first

then you better take the surlands home

yeah right

i think i better take you home now mr

sherwin it's getting kind of late uh

it'll be dark in a few minutes and

there's not much more we can do up here

uh we'll leave an all-night crew of

course just in case the boy cries out or

something well nothing so far

father says that the kid always comes up

here when he's feeling moody

because he probably got lost somewhere

up in the hills

yeah just keep at it

i'll take the squad car back with

johnson

seeing about an hour or so right

[Music]

you will come back and pick us up first

thing in the morning won't you we have

to be there when they start again

now just just try to get some sleep mrs

cylin all right and i'll be by about 5

30 in the morning to pick you up good

night sergeant matthews

yeah

nothing

nothing

do you think they'll find him tomorrow

i heard sergeant matthew say he'd be

sending a team down the ridge first

thing in the morning

will they be able to tell anything no

there'll be no question about the cause

of death

my poor baby

i thought he could make me so happy

why wasn't he good let's not think about

it

what's that

i heard something over there where are

you sure

[Music]

[Music]

hmm

[Music]

stupid fool

you almost blew the whole thing

i almost blew it huh who's the one who

started contradicting you're the one

that started contradicting the cop comes

over what time do you put it in bed ten

o'clock right no 10 30. don't give me

that

you know perfectly well that we wouldn't

be in this whole thing if you hadn't

murdered my child

oh yeah but you're the one that finished

it aren't you you're the little sadist

that killed him it's all your fault the

whole thing

that's the only thing you're good for

believe me the only thing

get out

[Music]

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mommy

[Music]

where's the baby

[Music]

so

[Music]

so

so

so

[Music]

so

[Music]

so

[Music]

judy

[Music]

now

[Music]

um

so

so

[Music]

[Music]

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so

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so

[Music]

uh

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well the way i figure

it comes up

sees a new house under construction

decides to play around climbs on the

bricks loses his balance and

200

[Music]

how the hell could a four-year-old kid

get this far away from home in the

middle of the night

well maybe like the father said he came

up here and got lost

and he had the accident

or maybe that's the way it's supposed to

look

good

now what have we got here

so

this is it huh

[Music]

you got a positive id on him

yeah

it's bobby's sirloin right

[Music]

look if you want we can call the parents

right up here

no we don't need them

not yet anyway

what's it look like to you george just a

minute vince you know i need some time

to make some blood samples come on come

on come on you got something i can tell

this kid

fell 200 feet

over a hill right to the bottom and that

fault had quite a job on him i mean

broken bones head injuries a whole bit

look at these lacerations and abrasions

and look at this gash in the back of the

head

now look again

do you notice anything unusual

well there's so little blood

almost none

now if you fell 200 feet over a hill to

the bottom you would really bleed

assuming of course that you were alive

when you went open i'll get george a

live warm body bleeds profusely

a cold dead one doesn't but that's all

now look at this

this kid has been beaten so badly that

the flesh from his lower back and

buttocks has been shredded off

and these blood tracings are older

than

those

you want to pull the parents in

on what grounds

even if george could prove what he's

saying he's not too sure he can how do

we know they did it

sure i think so but i'm getting a little

tired of getting my ass kicked by some

smart lawyer every time he gets into

court

jesus vince how much more do we need i

had a case four months ago believe it or

not the parents put their daughter in

the oven because she spilled her milk

they told us the whole story confessed

everything

they both got 27 months and were out on

parole in eight

you want me to make a report just in

case you need it tonight no

no not yet wait a minute yeah

go ahead we'll need it somewhere along

the way

no and george

don't go flapping your mouth off about

this to anybody okay

i wouldn't think of it

all right damn it to hell call burke

tell him to make out a warrant for the

servants we'll pick him up when we leave

here tell him it's

homicide in just a

[Music]

richard minute it he sends his apology

he says the whole thing was his fault

where's the salad dressing

oh never mind i found it

did you get a copy of the format for the

birthday show

[Music]

right

[Music]

let's check the house man

all right

mr sean

this is hayes we got a db at the

southern house on pacific

homicide we'll need the sid boys and the

coroner we need pictures

fingerprints that works

graham

what'd you find

this is sterling

somebody really nailed her

how was it at the hospital today

were all your friends there

not

all of them but isn't that wonderful

that means some of them are all better

and have gone home

bobby didn't go home

and he won't get all better either i bet

bobby who

bobby surlin

bobby sirlin

bobby serlin

i know that name don't i

has he been on

he's the boy who's missing

that's what everybody says but i don't

believe it

and besides

i don't care what anybody believes

anyway

[Music]

where's rabbi

where did you put

rabbi i didn't put him anywhere tommy i

know you had him when you came in maybe

you left him in the bedroom

i'll get him

i'll get him

[Music]

grabby's getting pretty dirty again

maybe a good idea if i put him in the

washer tonight

he's not dirty

leave rabby alone

[Music]

it's your favorite

[Music]

oh boy

chocolate cake

wow

i wish i had all the chocolate too in

the world

you live in a world of fantasy don't you

you know that's why your show's so good

but don't you see

it's so much more fun

and besides

fantasy is just like a dream

and we all have dreams don't we

well

if you pretend enough

and you make your fantasies real enough

then it can come true

all your dreams can come true

we certainly are philosophical tonight

i don't want to talk about it

and you can't make me

leave me alone

leave me alone

[Music]

early aren't you

yeah considering the fact that three

people are dead i'd say we're a little

late

well they can't blame us man

it's not a matter of blame graham i'm

trying to make some sense out of this

now we got a dead kid dead parents and

the only clues we got are a baseball bat

and a thread of cloth

where do you think that thread came from

i don't know it could be anything an old

t-shirt anything

where do we go from here

damn it fine though we've got a lot of

people a question come on let's get out

of here

i'm ready come on

have a nice day honey

[Music]

what kind of clicking sound

i wasn't

sure he's not even sure he really heard

it

it might have been the television

and we need some answers vince

there's a lot of pressure

to catch a maniac think like a maniac i

think be a maniac

listen any information you can give me

about the victim or our daughter could

be of help friends relatives are any

strangers you might have seen around

here in the last couple of weeks

[Music]

i didn't see anybody you mean to tell me

you don't know anything about a woman

who lives 100 yards away

i don't know anybody around here i just

live here and you didn't see or hear

anything unusual last tuesday night look

lieutenant i told you before i wasn't

even here that night i was at the club

playing cards now you can check on that

yeah

and even if you had been here you

wouldn't have heard anything right

[Music]

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wow

foreign

[Music]

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so

[Music]

so

so

[Music]

[Applause]

yeah this is unit 23. hey is here over

vince this is graham i'm on my way out

to see uh psychiatrist

dr wallach

he's got an office out on colby

we found his name from some checkbook

stubs of harold starlin from a couple

years back

over

okay

give my best to joni

out

just look what you've done

you are such a bad girl

get out of

here that settles it you're not going to

the zoo with your father this set

[Music]

you know in fact i've got a good mind

not to let you go to ricky's birthday

party tonight either

just look at that

look at it i'm sorry

yeah you never mean to do anything

you're just like your father you just

don't care come on we're going home

god bless you anyway

[Music]

you rotten little [ __ ]

i've had enough of your whining

i'm gonna get the strap out you

understand so just keep your mouth shut

or i'll shut it for you

[Music]

you're a real slob you know debbie all i

do is clean up after you and i'm sick of

it

i don't need you debbie you just mess up

my life i can't stand you anymore you're

such a brat

i'm gonna beat you for two cents i'd

beat the living daylights out of you

debbie

you better keep your mouth shut or i'll

shut it for you do you understand

to hell with you debbie go to hell

hi marge hi

honey

[Music]

you have a good time at the party you

look so pretty

and you remember mommy loves you and

give me a big kiss okay

okay

hey marge why don't you come by around

later and we can have a drink together

okay fine i'll bring her home about 10.

terrific have a good time

[Music]

do

[Music]

so

what do you want

i don't have any money in the house

my husband will be home

any minute now

so don't you touch me

[Music]

uh

[Music]

[Music]

so

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[Music]

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hello

yes

hello

yeah graham

[Laughter]

we were out by the pool i couldn't get

to it

[Music]

what

all right i'll be there in 20 minutes

what happened

[Music]

hey

[Music]

tom

mommy

oh dear god

don't punish me

no tommy

i won't punish you

it's time to go home

i

don't

want to go home

please talk i want to play a game i want

to play a game

all right

let's play

hide and seek

okay

me first cover your eyes and count to

ten

no peeking

one

two

three

four

five

you found me you found me

mommy

i am not your mommy

i don't want to play anymore

it's your turn to hide

[Music]

let me get out of here

[Music]

what do you want

come on it's your turn now

please no more games

[Music]

let me go

[Music]

play with me it's your turn to hide now

it's your turn to hide gohan i lost my

job playing games with you

the show is cancelled you understand

that

the show is cancelled

you are on your own

[Music]

come on

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ah

[Laughter]

[Music]

so

[Music]

everyone

[Music]

los angeles police department department

23 lieutenant hayes thank you

[Music]

i don't know how important this is

lieutenant but uh

while i was checking the records this

week and some of them are missing

what kind of records

just some additional material on the bad

at children

well yes we know exactly which ones

[Music]

i think they could be misplaced because

we oh we've looked everywhere and we

keep them in a specific place okay i'll

uh i'll send a man over to check it out

[Music]

you're not gonna believe this graham

you're just not gonna believe it

[ __ ]

i think i got

those missing hospital records

you ready for this

there were three missing from the files

bobby sewlins

jefferson taylors and rosemary desekas

man

that's weird what's the story under the

seeker kid

say memo

child beating where do they live

who the seekers harry come on uh your

117 montana apartment four all right

listen get out there and set up a

stakeout as fast as you can we'll meet

you there hey bins

you really think our boy's gonna hit

there next yeah harry i really think so

not always time trying to figure it out

just get your ass in gear and do it

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now

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this place looks like a crap pile why

did you get some of this junk out of

here rosemary pick that stuff up

and no more television for you tonight

got all those dishes to do before you go

to bed

pick up some milk and coffee on your way

home will you we haven't enough for

tomorrow

why in the hell could you have thought

of that earlier instead of sitting

around on your big ass all day because i

forgot all right

now there's no sweat on that

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just keep it down that's all i don't

want anybody including the secrets

nowhere around here

everything nice and normal okay

just keep me posted anything

anything at all just let me know

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jesus christ

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i did there's a door nail back there

vents

cute kid huh

read that

they did to their kid

real nice people well maybe you ought to

do the kid a family

let that freak go in there and do his

number

now listen to me harry cause i've headed

up to here with your dick tracy crop

you've got one job one place where

you're supposed to be that's watching

the back entrance of that apartment now

that's where you stay don't move unless

i tend to

[Applause]

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all right here comes he's on his way to

work

yeah i see him just stay out of sight

let him go

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so

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uh

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so

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mrs

i stopped by your apartment your

daughter said you were down here she

would

it's the rent again

two months late

now i can't afford to have this go on

the owner's getting on my back

it's not the first time i've had this

trouble with you well if you'd fix this

dump up maybe you get your rent on time

the sink is leaking the tile is coming

up in the kitchen you can move anytime

you want to just so long as your rent's

paid up is that so well i just might

take you up on that well that'd be just

fine my other tenants have been

complaining about you anyway you're

yelling the kid crying always a

commotion up there as a matter of fact

i've been tempted to call the cops more

than once okay okay my husband isn't

home now

you'll get your check in the morning

well i'd better

or you can start looking for another

place to live

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foreign yeah

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wow can i help you

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can i help you

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i want these

will you sharpen them

they're brand new

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i want them sharper

just take a minute

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to seek his gardening equipment

okay okay i hear you he'll get his check

in the morning

you probably gave him some of that nasty

mouth of yours

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what's the kid got to do with this

you keep your damn hands off i don't

want her hurt anymore

look i've got a customer

but i'm damn sick and tired of every

time i come home for work

worrying about whether i'm gonna find

that kid in one piece

now you quit taking everything out on

her

i've got to work late tonight and you

keep that rotten temper of yours under

control

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rosemary get that light off and get to

sleep

just stay put and keep down

listen i wasn't complaining

he's coming and uh i don't want to miss

him so just stay put how about harry hey

are you on here that's

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how long do you figure to keep this

going as long as it takes

sooner or later it's gonna happen

he may be around already

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oh

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up

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so

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huh

so

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foreign