Original subtitles

This man now works for us.

How could they say the prisons are overcrowded?

All the criminals are on the police payroll.

If I read my rap sheet, I wouldn't have much use for me either,

but I've changed.

He made a mistake. He's only 19.

He will never live to see 20.

So, what do you think, kid?

Think they'll let you watch cartoons in prison?

'Cause that's where you're going!Just wait a minute.

I got a proposition for you.

I mean, a guy like that

could break any law he wants and not go to jail.

If we hadn't put an informant in the school,

Jeremy would not be in the hospital bed right now.

But it isn't informants. It's Matt.

It's Matt this time.

Next time, it's somebody else.

You play in the gutter, you get your hands dirty.

Matt!

CAGNEY: Hold it!

Playtime is over, Matt!

You made a fool out of me, buster, and I don't like that.

Hey, you look at me when I talk to you.

That's it, isn't it?

He got you with that stuff about the TV and the-- and the promotions.

Because all you care about

is your next step up the ladder

for being first woman chief of detectives.

You really believe that?

No! No!

I'm sorry! I'm angry!

MAN: Well, what kind of car was it?

WOMAN: This is where you belong.

I don't want to hear it.

Oh, good morning. Lacey, good morning.Watch out!

By the way, you never typed up the report on felony assault.

Well, I'll take care of them.

All of them....police brutality!

Hey, I've got a witness. A witness...

MAN 1: Sit down. Now, we've got some police work to deal with now.

MAN 2: Oh, you'd just love to see me get 10 years, wouldn't you?

Ten years? No. I'd love to see you get a lobotomy

for what you did to that old man.

This guy's animal life, man.What'd he do?

PETRIE: Carved up an old wino for a $5 bill. Ugly.

Now we've gotta listen to his abuse.

You know, nobody loves you when you're a cop.

If you wanted love, you should have been a fireman.

What kind of a mood is he in?

Because I gotta ask about Harvey Jr.

coming down to do a project for school.

Well, he's already chewed out Petrie this morning,

he kicked Coleman out of the office,

and he's gotten down on La Guardia for some bad paperwork.

He even started to yell at me.

One of his good mornings, huh?

Uh, Mary Beth, you got a minute?Paul, no.

It's about your mother-in-law, Muriel.

Oh, go ahead.

Listen, I really enjoyed meeting her, and I was wondering...

Does she have any free time?

Detective Lacey, if you're not too busy,

I was wondering if you might join Detective Cagney

and me in my office?Certainly, sir. Right away, sir.

Call her up. She'd love to hear from you.

Four PCP raids and no arrests.

That's a batting average of .000.

You know something?

You two ought to get in touch with George Steinbrenner.

He pays millions for guys with records like that.

We're fighting phantoms here, sir.

They move those labs faster than a floating crap game.

In three out of the four raids,

the coffee was still warm when we got there.

You're bleeding all over my report, the both of youse.

Look, the bottom line is that there's somebody out there

selling PCP to high school kids on school property.

And we got citizens out there

who happen to think that we should be able to stop this.

And I happen to think that they're right.

Well, would the schools let one of us go undercover as a teacher?

Yeah, well, that's interesting

you should mention that, Cagney,

because, uh, I've been talking to Max Mulgannon over in Narcotics,

and he's got a young kid working for him,

an informant who we could have on loan if we want to.

Sir, I'd rather not use an informant if we don't have to.

There isn't one of them who wouldn't sell their mother

for a new bowling shirt.Yeah.

Well, we're not working in a democracy here, Lacey.

The decision's already been made.

Mulgannon is waiting for you.

Yes, sir.

Oh, uh, sir, I know this isn't the time,

but I have a personal favor to ask.

Trust your instincts, Lacey. It's not the right time.

Yes, sir.

Informants are criminals.

Hey, look, if perps hung out with model citizens,

we wouldn't have this problem.

But they don't. Perps hang out with other perps.

Where else are we gonna get our information?

Have you read this fellow's rap sheet?

"Four counts grand theft auto. Burglary.

"Possession, heroin. Possession, cocaine."

And one count of selling his mother for a bowling shirt.

This man now works for us.

How could they say the prisons are overcrowded?

All the criminals are on the police payroll.

Get up against the wall. Get up there.

MATT: Look. I haven't been doing nothing, man.

Don't try that crap...

Hold it right there. We're police officers.

What?

Oh, boy. You two've gotta be Samuels' girls, right?

Yeah. Okay, which one's Cagney and which one's Lacey?

I'm Detective Cagney.

This is Detective Lacey.

You must be Samuels' boy.

You broads don't let us get away

with anything anymore, do you?

This is, uh, Matt Thompson.

He's my gift to the 14th Squad.

Say hello to the ladies, Matthew.

Say hello!Hello.

Where do you think you're going?

Gonna sit down.Yeah.

Get us something to eat.

Look, I want a double cheeseburger,

extra tomato and mayonnaise, no relish,

some fries and a root beer, no ice.

You want something?

Coffee.Two.

I guess the ladies don't want you to strain yourself.

That's it.

Hey, don't get cute with the change, either.

You always this charming with informants?

He gives me information. I don't send him to jail.

That don't mean he still isn't a slime ball

or I have to like him any more than I do my hemorrhoids.

Hey, look.

This ain't no kid from the South Bronx, you know.

He's from the suburbs.

He grew up with a hell of a lot more than I ever did.

His parents are probably at their shrink right now,

trying to figure out where they went wrong

with their little darling Matthew.

Ah, he's a good stoolie, though.

So, why are you giving him to us?

I'm working on a much bigger case right now.

Hey, listen. Have you dames ever heard

of a guy by the name of Andreas Palmer?

Hmm?No.

He's a major South American heroin and cocaine importer.

Just getting ready to close in on him.

The kid can't help us on this one, so...

You two go ahead and use him, but look...

Treat him rough, will you? So he don't forget who's boss.

Thanks.

Look, I got one request.

Don't spoil him.

I've just about got him broken in.

Use him. Make him work for you.

But don't trust him any further than you can spit on him.

So, when do I get to go undercover?

Well, what's your hurry? You got a better offer?

I've been thinking about this,

and, uh, I'm really looking forward to doing this.

I've got my personal reasons, but...

You do?Yes.

My parents, they always wanted me to go to Weston Prep.

This is gonna make 'em real proud.

Right.

Look, I know you're not gonna believe me,

but I got strong feelings about doing this.

Drugs messed up my life real bad.

If I could do something to save some other kid from that,

maybe I'd feel a little bit better about myself.

Detective Cagney is setting it up right now.

We want you to be registered like any other student.

There might be a little bit of a problem.

What's that, old friends?

Old clothes.

You see, everyone there,

they wear stuff with alligators and polo ponies across them.

We'll get you some new clothes.

Thank you.

That's the third time you rubbed that shoulder.

Why don't you let me type?

Yeah, I can type 90 words per minute.

I had a crush on my typing teacher,

so I took typing one, three years in a row.

My only A.

Okay?

Okay.What do I do?

Uh, take this here and transfer it onto a blue.

Okay.

La Guardia?

Yeah.

I, uh, got that form you wanted typed, finally.

Oh, thanks. Oh, Mary Beth, listen.

About Muriel...Did you call her?

No, I can't find the number.

Paul, I gave you the number half a dozen times.

I know, but I keep losing it.

I think maybe I'm afraid she'll say no when I ask her to dinner.

She won't say no. She was very impressed.

Hey, I am telling you, I never saw that stuff before.

Hey, man, you planted it on me. You think I had some...

Who told you to stand up?

Turn around and put your hands behind your back.

Hey, Matt, what you in for?False arrest.

Yeah? Me, too.

PETRIE: Keep laughing, son.

That old man you carved up is still in intensive care.

In for false arrest. That's a good one.

I'll see you on the streets, Matt.

That's nice friends you've got.

Thank you.

For what? We always protect an informant.

Yeah?

Mulgannon would use his handcuff routine as an excuse to rough me up.

I will tell you again.

You treat us fair, we'll treat you fair.

You're a real decent lady, huh?

If the mutual admiration society's adjourned,

I'd like to get onto some new business.

Is it set?

Yeah, he enrolls tomorrow.

Look, I'll-- I'll do a good job for you.

You can trust me.

Right.

You think I'm a dead-end street, don't you?

I think you are who you are.

Lady, if I read my rap sheet,

I wouldn't have much use for me either,

but I've changed.

I just hope that I can prove it to you.

HERROLD: I've arranged for one of our students

to walk Matt through his first day of classes.

Of course, neither he nor the other boys

will know Matt's real purpose for being here.

Jeremy. Come in.

This is Jeremy Martin, one of our better students.

Jeremy, this is Matt Thompson, the new boy I told you about.

Hi.How you doing?

Can we go now, Mr. Herrold?

Go ahead.

It was nice meeting you, both of you.

CAGNEY: Thank you, Jeremy.

I have to tell you,

I still have misgivings about bringing a drug addict,

even an ex-drug addict, into my school.

Our department has done this thing before, sir,

and it's been very successful.

Well, it's your responsibility.

Yes, sir.

Thank you.

Your shoulder?Yeah.

Okay, darling, give me a second, huh?

Give me the brush. Thank you.

I'll be with you.

All right. Come on, sit down. Sit down.

It's right here.You got it.

Ooh.

Tight?Yeah.

Feel better?

Ah, it's beginning to.

Mom

Did you ask Lieutenant Samuels yet

about me coming down to the station house?

No, but I promise I will.

But when?Soon.

Why don't you work at the library or something?

No, my work's all done there.

I got 35 pages on the criminal justice system

and 10 pages on the courts.

All I have left to do is my interviews with the police.

So, what do I look like?

Well, you're my mother. You don't count.

Nice. I don't count.You know what he means.

Come on, Mom. When can I come?

I give you my solemn word of honor

I will talk to Lieutenant Samuels this week.

You're welcome. No, more here.More?

More here.More.

Is Samuels gonna be a problem?

Yeah, well, he's always a problem.

Yeah, is he still riding you about that PCP case?

Yeah.Yeah?

And I hate the whole thing.

Half those kids I see on dope are not any older than what's-his-name.

Don't you worry. He's a good kid.

I didn't think it was possible,

but the Lieutenant was in an even worse mood than yesterday.

You get to talk to him about Harvey Jr. yet?

No.

Well, you got tomorrow.

Tomorrow is a school holiday.

Tomorrow I said I'd take the kid in.

I must talk to the Lieutenant this afternoon.

So, where's our other young scholar?

He said he was gonna be here at noon.

Hey, I was here. You're late.

What the hell are you doing, trying to give us a heart attack?

Get over here.

I'm sorry. I didn't mean nothing by it.

We are not playing games here, Matt.

Look, you don't like hide-and-seek,

we'll play show

Here's the show.

The sherm, it's a cigarette dipped in PCP liquid.

Found the dealer?

Not the dealer, but a kid who's a runner for the dealer.

Now, I think he can help us set up a buy.

Who is it?

Well, I'm gonna need a couple of hundred dollars or so

to make it-- make it look good.

I think $100 will look good enough.

A student, or somebody from the outside?

MATT: A student.Did you get a name?

You met him. It's that kid that was showing me around.

Martin. Jeremy Martin.

Well, if he's a dealer, he's one hell of an actor.

They're all actors.

That's part of the gig.

Martin has got a bad habit.

Desperate people do desperate things.

I ought to know.

I used to be real desperate myself.

I'll see you around the quad, huh?

Oh, he's good, I'll give him that.

But he's seen one too many Bogart films.

Meaning?

That con job.

The reformed criminal routine. Please.

You don't think it's possible?

You do?

It's possible.

Not in a million years. Come on.

You got very cynical, Christine.

I'm hoping that you are wrong.

Hey, if I'm wrong, all I have to do is say I'm sorry.

If you're wrong, we get burned.

LACEY: Sir, I promise Harvey Jr. won't interfere with any police business.

I'll stay with him the whole time.

If you don't think it's a good idea, sir,

I'll put him on the subway home right now.

Lacey, look, next time I would appreciate it

if I was consulted before the damage is done.

Well, I...

The police station is just not a place for a young kid like that.

If it was up to me, I...

What was I saying?

If it was up to you, sir.

Yeah, if it was up to me, I would...

The kid is here already, so let him stay the whole day.

But you gotta promise you're gonna watch him, right?

Oh, I will, sir. Thank you, sir.

It sounds good. All right, we'll be there.

That was our boy. The buy is going down.

Gotta go pick up the stuff, take it to the lab,

and then turn it over to the property clerk.Oh, no.

I am sorry, kiddo, but I cannot leave you here alone. I got duty.

So get on the subway. Go back home.

Don't worry about it, Mary Beth.

He can stay with me.

I'd love to give him an interview, anyway.You sure?

Sure. I'm just pushing paper for the next hour.

Paul, you're a peach. I owe you one.

That's great.You, stay with Detective La Guardia.

Sit right down there.All right.

I'll be back in about an hour and a half.

Okay.Yeah. Yeah.

Bye-bye, Mom.LACEY: Bye-bye.

To begin with,

you might take a look at the Magna Carta.

Magna Carta?

Yeah. It's amazing

when you begin to explore

the ramifications of the concept of habeas corpus.

Yes, sir.

LACEY: You think something happened to him?

I think something happened to us.

We've been stood up.

Let's give him 10 more minutes.

Okay.

What do you do with a kid like that?

I mean, what if you're that kid's mother?

Would you put your head in the sand,

or you blame yourself, or you write him off?

What would I do if Harvey Jr.

got mixed up in that dope stuff?

Oh, Harv Jr.? Come on, he's a great kid.

Nothing is gonna happen to him.

Harvey Sr. told me the same thing.

See, there you go.

I'd just like him to know how dangerous it is.

Actually, I'd like to take him down to the morgue

and scare the hell out of him.

Listen, you make too big a deal out of this,

it's gonna make it all that much more exciting to him.

It's like what happened to me when I discovered sex was a sin.

LA GUARDIA: It wasn't until the year 1652

that New York actually had its own police department.

I'm afraid I'm boring you, son.

No. No, not really, sir.

Would you like to talk about something else?

Like what?

Well, I was wondering if you know

whether your grandmother likes macrobiotic food?

MATT: Yeah.

Open the door, kid.

Hi.

I screwed up, didn't I?We had an appointment.

Or did that just slip your mind?

Come on in.

MATT: Look, I could tell you guys a really outstanding story

and you'd believe me.

Or I could tell you the truth.

I got burned. I--I gave the guy the money, and he never came back.

I knew you'd be angry, so I came home.

I couldn't face you.

Guess you opted for the outstanding story...

That is the truth, I swear it!Hey, cut it.

I'm real sick of your act, you know it?

So far, you've produced zilch,

you burned us for 100 bucks, plus a new wardrobe!

Look, I'm not doing business on Wall Street.

I'm dealing with low life.

I mean, guys that I think are low life.

You cannot expect things to run smoothly.

I got burned.

It happens.It doesn't happen to me.

Now, I can't prove you've lied, and you know that.

But I'll tell you this much. If you don't come up with something soon,

I'm kicking you right back to the tender care of Detective Mulgannon.

Let's get out of here.

What happened to fair and fair, huh?

Look, wait. Wait.

Not too many people have ever given me a reason to trust them,

least of all cops.

It is hard for me to accept the idea

that you're just not gonna dump on me like everybody else.

You're very good at speeches, Matt.

So far, you haven't shown us anything.

Look, I got burned. I know I did.

When I got back here, all I wanted to do was get stoned, but I didn't.

I believe in what I'm doing, and it's helping me to stay straight.

Now, you gotta give me another chance.

You gotta.Go back to school and find something out.

You stay clean, you hear me?

Lacey, we're not the feds, you know.

We haven't got unlimited funds to give to stoolies.

Well, sir, he seems to think that he's onto the suppliers.

So, can we give him a few more days?

I guess we got to.

In the meantime, we got a call

from a guy who lives in an apartment building near Weston Prep.

He says he thinks there's a guy

in his building making and selling PCP.

Why does he think that?

'Cause he heard a news broadcast that warns parents

that a minty odor could be a sign of PCP manufacture.

And there's one apartment in his building that stinks of mint, he says.

I think it's worth checking out. LACEY: Yes, sir.

"Madame Frolovsky, spiritual and herbal healer."

Oh, boy.

So, which one of us is gonna have the disease?

Not me. My mother always said,

"Pretend to be sick, you get sick."

She just didn't want you to cut school, that's all.

I'm not doing it!Okay.

I'll have tennis elbow.

You don't play tennis.

So it'll be a quick cure.

Yes?Hello.

Uh, I wondered if you could help me...Excuse me, dear.

There's something wrong with your shoulder, isn't there?

How do you know I got a problem with my shoulder?

Relax. I don't read minds.

I simply observed that you carry this shoulder

slightly higher than the other.

It looks like it gives you a little pain.

Yeah, it's, uh, here. It's-- It's right in here.

Do you use herbs?Among other secret ingredients.

Is that why I smell mint?

Yes. Herbal tea.

It lends an air of authenticity.

A lot of people are more comfortable

if everything is exactly the way they imagine it to be.

You wait here. I'll get you some ointment to rub into your shoulder.

So much for our PCP bust.

We should've got La Guardia some of that mint tea.

What?Next time.

You're kidding. You gonna go back there?

I swear, Christine, it's better.

The shoulder is better.

Right.

If she gives you any chocolate mousse, don't eat it.

Remember Rosemary's Baby?

Are we talking the movies or are we talking life?

Life in the movies.

What?

The car was locked!

Yeah, it took me all of 20 seconds to unlock it.

Listen, I've been looking for you two.

There's a big drug buy going down in about 10 minutes

in the back of Jack's Cafe over on 34th.

Are you sure?

Hey, be there or be square.

"Be there or be square."

34th Street.

This is it.

We should call for backup.We don't have time.

Excuse me, where's your restroom?In the back.

Thank you.All right.

Relax, we got a little business back there.

Okay, yeah.

I'll take the john.

Right.

When you hear me?Right.

Excuse me. Sorry. Excuse me.

Gentlemen, stay where you are.

You're under arrest. We're police.

The lady said to freeze, bozo.

Now get your hands over your heads.

On the wall!MAN: Cops! Damn it!

All of you, on the wall!

Get on the wall!Hands on your head!

See, you made a big mistake.

SAMUELS: How could you let a thing like this happen?

Two of the three perpetrators are G-men. FBI!

They've been working on the case for six months.

How were we supposed to know?

Well, you ask. That's how you know.

Now I've gotta spend the next two days clearing up this mess.

I gotta deal with the feds and with Narcotics

and with the Division Commander.

And worst of all, I gotta deal with Deputy Inspector Marquette.

We are very sorry, sir.

Sorry doesn't do me a lot of good.

Now get out of here. The both of youse.

Yes, sir.

He made a mistake. He's only 19.

He will never live to see 20.

I am saying, look at the facts, Christine.

That kid got some information on a drug buy.

So he had no reason to believe it wasn't legitimate

and no way of knowing the feds were there.

I cannot believe you're defending him.

You're the one who didn't want

to work with him in the first place,

and now you're turning into Pollyanna.

I'm saying we treat him like a human being.

We don't know that he set us up.

Except he's disappeared off the face of the Earth.

I don't happen to think that's coincidence.

I don't happen to think you can make it...

What, is it 3:30 already?

Yeah. Hi, Mom.

Hi, Aunt Chris.Hey, how's my favorite sixth grader, huh?

Still outrageous?Totally.

Whoah!

Cagney, Lacey, I just got a call from Weston Prep.

Some kid went through a plate-glass window. They think it's PCP.

Martin is the kid's name.

Now, you get over to St. John's Hospital and check it out.

Talk to him if he's conscious.

LACEY: Right, sir. There is one small problem, sir.

Yeah

Harvey Jr. is here to finish his interviews.

Well, that can wait until you get back.

In the meantime, Petrie and Isbecki will be more than happy

to talk to your son.

Well, they're busy, sir.

And I thought if you had a minute,

Harvey would love to interview you.

I mean, you could really help him out.

A Detective Lieutenant like yourself,

with your wealth of experience

and your skillfulness, your philosophy of work...

Yeah, yeah, I got a real lot of choice here, don't I?

I really would like to talk to you, sir.

You would, huh?

Yeah.

All right.

Looks like you're, uh, stuck with me.

WOMAN ON P.A.: Dr. Fischer to Pathology, please.

He's not that kind of boy.

He had absolutely no interest in drugs or alcohol.

He never even tried smoking cigarettes.

At least, that's what I thought until now.

Mr. Martin, we see a lot of this.

And a lot of people are fooled.

Don't blame yourself.

Ever since his mother died,

Jeremy and I, we built a strong relationship.

My son's only problem was his shyness.

I can't believe this, Mr. Martin. How is he?

There was a lot of bleeding, a lot of stitches,

but they think he'll be okay.

Mr. Martin, do you have a family lawyer?

Why?We have information that Jeremy

may have been dealing drugs at Weston.

That's impossible.

Well, we have a very good source.

I think your son might want to talk to a lawyer.

My God.Now, hold on a minute, Detective.

I know this boy. I know your source.

And I have a pretty strong suspicion who's dealing drugs.

It's not Jeremy.

Sir, would you mind very much if we talked to him?

JEREMY: I don't remember much of anything.

When I think about going through that window,

I can't believe it was me that did it.

It doesn't feel like me.

Well, from what we hear about you, it wasn't like you.

Who gave you the PCP?

Loyalty is a fine thing.

Jeremy, it's something to be respected in a friend.

I'm sure that whoever gave you that dope counted on that loyalty

and your silence.

No, he just thought I'd have a good time, that's all.

He's my friend.

You know what I think of his friendship?

I think it stinks.

He almost killed you with his friendship.

It's not gonna work.

I'm not gonna tell you who it was.

Okay.

Isn't it funny the way that things turn out?

When we came down to the hospital this afternoon

because we had information you were dealing dope.

Me?Yeah.

Who told you something like that?

It was Matt, wasn't it?

Matt told you that?

Yes, he did.

I thought he was my friend.

Matt gave you the drugs?

Yeah.

All right. All right. All right.

Pick up the stoolie and bring him in.

Yeah, right.

Harvey Jr.?

Well, he's annoying the hell out of me, that's what.

No, no, no, no. No, no, no.

You--You go bust that kid.

Everything here will be fine. Harvey will be okay. Yeah. Okay. Bye-bye.

Mmm-hmm.

Thank you. Gin.

I'm gonna get that little creep, and I'm gonna kill him.

See, we treated him too good.

He took advantage of us. He would never have done that to Mulgannon.

It's not Matt, and it's not Mulgannon.

It's the whole system of using informants.

So, you think it's our fault the kid went out the window?

If we hadn't put an informant in the school,

Jeremy would not be in the hospital bed right now.

But it isn't informants. It's Matt.

It's Matt this time.

Next time, it's somebody else.

You play in the gutter, you get your hands dirty.

Forgot that you were collecting fives.

All right.

How old are you?Twelve, sir.

It's hard to believe.

So, where was I?

You were saying you liked being a policeman

because it was so real.

Yeah, right. Real.

Well, you see,

when we deal with people, it's because

they did something bad to somebody.

Or somebody did something bad to them.

And at a time like that, it's, uh, kind of hard to put on airs.

Follow what I mean?

Sort of.

You see outside, in the real world, there's,

you know, people.

People say things to each other like, uh,

"Have a nice day," or, "Lovely weather we're having."

Stuff like that.

Or they talk about movie stars or the Queen of England,

like that stuff mattered in their lives.

No. No.

I like it in here, because in here

may not be the prettiest job in the world,

but in here it's real.

CAGNEY: Hold it right there, sonny!

I'm gonna kill him.

LACEY: We gotta catch him first.

Matt!

CAGNEY: You lousy perp!

There!

Hold it right there.

CAGNEY: Hold it!

Playtime is over, Matt!

Come on down from there.

Keep your hands where I can see 'em.

Do the best you can, kid.

You took our money and you bought drugs.

You bought drugs with our money

and sold it to those kids in that school.

One of them is lying in St. John's right now.

Look, you don't understand.

I was...Hey, I'll let you know when you can talk!

Did you hear that, Mary Beth? We don't understand him.

This poor boy is a victim of our misunderstanding.

You made a fool out of me, buster, and I don't like that.

Hey, you look at me when I talk to you.

You have fixed it so I have to come up with answers

to some very rough questions, and I don't like that, either!

What do we have on him?

We have the original two counts of possession

which the DA was holding at Detective Mulgannon's request.

In addition, we have new charges of possession,

possession with intent to sell, resisting arrest.

So, what do you think, kid?

Think they'll let you watch cartoons in prison?

'Cause that's where you're going.Just wait a minute.

I got a proposition for you.

What say if I get you a real drug dealer, huh?

What is it? Is it your hearing? Is that it?

See, there are no deals, huh?

The trading post is closed, pal.

I'm talking Mr. Big. I'm talking Mr. Very Big.

Have you ever heard of Andreas Palmer?

Matt, it's over.

It's all over. You're going to jail.

I'm not going.

What could you possibly know about Palmer?

I know plenty.

Really?Yeah.

Why don't you talk fast and make it real good?

A few months ago, when I started working for Mulgannon,

I was making a lot of buys from people who worked for Palmer.

You see, I was always supposed to try

and set up a meeting, but I never could.

Anyway, we knew where he lived.

So, one night, I paid his place a little visit.

I--I picked the locks in 10 seconds.

I'd figured he'd have drugs just lying around.

Why are we listening to this?

We've gone this far. Go ahead, talk.

He wasn't stupid enough to leave drugs lying around,

but I did find one thing, a book.

Believe it or not, a little black book,

only instead of girls' phone numbers,

he had all his contacts listed.

Importers, customers' names, addresses, the works.

You've got this book

He would've missed it.

I took pictures of it. Every page.

You conveniently had a camera.

He had a camera. It was a fancy German model. I stole it.

So why didn't you give these pictures to Mulgannon?

Well, I thought I ought to keep them for a rainy day.

You know, in case I got into real trouble.

Right now, it looks like it's pouring.

So, what's it gonna be

I mean, put a small-time punk like me in jail and nobody notices.

Or get yourself a big arrest,

6:00 news, medals, promotions.

Come on. Sounds good, don't it?

Don't it?

I hate this whole thing here.

We're talking about Andreas Palmer.

You know how big this could be?Right.

And there's a kid in the hospital.

He could've killed himself.

That could've been my kid.

How many kids are in the hospital now

because of the drugs Palmer sells?

How many murders are committed to get his stuff?

The robberies that are committed to get the money to pay him.

Matt Thompson deserves to be in jail.

It's a tradeoff, Mary Beth.

I don't like it any more than you do.

That kid is smart. He knows.

We could nail somebody much more important.

Is that it

That's it, isn't it?

He got you with that stuff about the TV and the-- and the promotions.

Because all you care about

is your next step up the ladder

for being first woman chief of detectives.

You really believe that?

No! No!

I'm sorry! I'm angry!

I'm not gonna stand in the way of this. Let's go ahead and do it.

For the greater good and all that.

All that... That's why I'm angry, Chris.

That's why I said what I said. Forgive me.

But I will never feel good about letting Matt Thompson walk.

It may be expedient, Christine.

May be convenient, but it isn't justice.

And it sure as hell isn't right.

So, you spoke to her?Yeah.

And where are you going to dinner, Paul?

We're not.

She turned you down?

No. Not exactly. We had a lovely conversation.

Then I told her I wasn't busy Saturday night.

And she said?

I should get out more often.

Paul, I think the idea was to ask if she was busy Saturday night.

Why don't you go and call her again?

Be a little more aggressive.

Some of us still like that in men.

Right, I will.

CAGNEY: I'll get you the arrest reports

from a couple of the interesting cases your mom and I worked on.

All right?All right.

And then you ask me any questions you have,

and I'll try and answer them.

There's one case I'm real interested in.What's that?

Matt, the enforcer.

Uh, it's informant.

All right.

Not one of our great successes.

At least not yet.

I saw an informant on Kojakonce.

Kojak would give the guy $10, and he would help him solve crimes.

He was great.

Well, on television, they are great, Harvey.

But in real life, they are criminals.

I want you to write that down. "They are criminals."

Now, does that about wrap it up, huh, pal?

Almost.

This informant stuff is real interesting.

I just hope my teacher doesn't think I made it up.

Nah, you got too honest a face.

Come on, I'm gonna buy you a candy bar for the road.

I mean, a guy like that

could break any law he wants and not go to jail.

Harvey.

I understand how all of this is very fascinating to you,

and I know how strange it must seem to hear

that we use criminals to help us here in the department.

So I wanna explain it to you.

Are you listening to me?

Yeah.Okay.

They give us very valuable information, all right?

Information that we need.

And, in exchange for that, we keep them out of jail,

for as long as they continue to help us.

Guy goes free, right?

Right, but I want you to understand

what it is that we get in exchange for that.

Can he do anything? I mean, could he kill someone?

No, I'm not gonna let him get away with that.

Well, could he break someone's arm and get away with it?

Harvey, we don't have any set rules for this.

We--We make it up as we go along.

Hey, kid, when you're done here,

I just remembered a terrific case that I cracked.

What is this?

That PCP dealer.

The one you blew the FBI collar on.

Well, they've been tailing him ever since he was sprung.

What if Matt gave me drugs and I went to the hospital?

I mean, I don't think Mom would let him off for that.

I mean, she yelled at Dad once

just for giving me a sip of beer.

I don't have the answer for that, Harvey.

Christine, take a look at this address, on the bottom.

LACEY: I never figured out how come Matt happened to see our car

the day he told us about the drug buy.

So, you don't think it was a coincidence.

Not unless it was also a coincidence

that our PCP dealer went to the same building

one hour after he was released.

I think they both went to see somebody.

Madame... What's her name? Yeah.Frolovsky.

How do you disguise the smell of mint?

With more mint.

So your quack's a front?

Well, sir, in fairness, the shoulder did feel better.

Go get it.

Hey!I'll cover the back.

Let's go.

Damn! Kick that thing in for me.

MAN: Try the backroom.

Let's try this one.

LACEY: Hey, kick that thing in.

LACEY: Hold it right there!

Don't move, either of you!

Get them covered.

Freeze! Police!

That's as far as you go, fool.

Camphor and menthol. You can buy it across the counter for $1.69.

Ladies.What?

You got a visitor.

Detectives.

Mr. Martin. Good evening, sir.

I hope I'm not bothering you.

I was in the area and I thought I'd let you know

that Jeremy's gonna be okay. He's getting out Monday.

Oh, that's terrific. Good.

Did you, uh, pick up that Thompson kid, yet?

Jeremy says he's willing to testify against him.

Yes, sir. We did.

We have him in custody now, actually.

Well, what's the next step?

Should I bring Jeremy down here to make a statement?

I think that might be a little premature.

Why don't you let me... I'll give you...

Please, Detective Cagney.

I don't want this to just fade away.

I almost lost my son, and I want someone to pay for it.

Mr. Martin, it's just that we do have procedures.

Detective Cagney, excuse me.

Mr. Martin, I've been a police officer a long time,

long enough to think that I know human nature.

I looked at Matt Thompson. I thought I saw something.

And when my partner said she saw something else,

I accused her of being cynical.

I'm sorry for that, Chris. I was wrong about you. I was wrong about Matt.

Excuse me, I don't understand.

You said you arrested him.

Yes, sir, we did.

But before I sign out tonight and get on the subway,

go home and make dinner for my boys, I'm gonna let him go.

Let him go

Well, when we arrested Matt, he had certain very important documents.

Documents that can help us arrest and convict

one of the largest drug importers in the city of New York.

In exchange for that information, Matt will go free.

I'm sure you've heard about this sort of thing before, sir.

Believe me, we only do this

when we are convinced that the exchange is worth it.

Does anyone else know about this?

The whole department, sir.

And his information, it's really that important?

Yes, sir, we believe it is.

I guess you know your business.

I just wish I could bring you home to explain that to Jeremy.

Aren't you gonna say anything?

Nothing to say.

Yeah, there is.

Come on.

CAGNEY: In the end, we've gotta live with ourselves.

And I know this much.

I know that we'll just sleep a lot better if that kid's put in prison.

So, if it's all the same to you, sir,

we'll just get Palmer another way.

Finished?

I think so.Good.

Very nice sermon. I'm very impressed, but you're a little late.

What do you mean, sir?

The little jerk got tired of waiting

of you two Sunday school teachers to make up your mind,

so he called Mulgannon, offered him the information.

Mulgannon sprung the kid in 15 minutes.

Excuse me.

Excuse me, sir.

Christine, you okay?

You been in here half an hour.

Yeah, I just wanted a little privacy.

Right.

Did you want me to leave?

He's laughing at us, Mary Beth.

Right now, wherever he is,

Matt Thompson is having such a laugh on the two of us.

The hell with him.

Yeah, but all that talking we did.

Who the hell did we think we were? Plato and Socrates, huh?

Morality and justice, it's...

It is such a joke.

The system just... It just keeps on trucking.

Mulgannon gets all the glory,

and that little creep, he just gets off scot-free.

We did our job.

Our job was bust a PCP ring. We did that.

And I might add, without the help of an informant.

And don't you laugh at me.

We did it with our principles intact,

which is not an easy thing to do in this job, in this city.

Mary Beth! Mary Beth!

La Guardia, what in the hell are you doing?

It's about Muriel.LACEY: What?

We're going out tonight to a macrobiotic dinner.

I'm delighted for the both of youse.

La Guardia, this is the women's john.

Do you wanna talk to me when I get back to my desk?

Oh, excuse me. Please forgive me. See you later.