Original subtitles

[rock music plays]

[Munch] He was found this way?

Yeah. Water was still running when the body was discovered.

Well, you shut it off.

I ain't wrecking my new work shoes.

I just wanted to make sure you had a pure look

at the crime scene before we did that.

Okay, we had our look. Can you shut off the damn water!

Thank you!

[Westby] Victim's a senior here at Mencken High.

- His name is Mark-- - Mark McCarron, I know.

You know this guy?

Anybody who knows basketball knows him.

He's in the sports pages every other day.

So he was pretty good with the old round ball, huh?

Oh, he's great with the round ball!

He was Street & Smith's preseason player of the year.

I think USA Today had him rated top player in the country as well.

Wonderful, but didn't stop someone

from putting two bullets into our Mr. Basketball here.

- Yeah, he was that, too. - He was what, too?

Well, Maryland's Mr. Basketball.

There really is such a thing as Mr. Basketball?

What does Mrs. Basketball look like?

Any witnesses?

[theme music plays]

[static crackles]

- [phone rings] - [man] Homicide.

[Munch] So you found the body at 6:30?

You hear the shower going?

I walk in and I see Mark laying there on the floor.

Uh, I go to him, and I see he ain't breathing.

And then I see all of his blood running out of him.

No one else is in the building?

Oh, no, the place is empty.

- Did you hear anything? - [guard] No.

The kid was shot twice. You gotta hear something.

Nothing that got my attention.

What's Mark doing in the showers past closing?

Working his game.

Uh, he's got his own key.

Every day, I come in at seven o'clock in the morning

to open the school.

He's out there on the court.

He's there an hour ahead of me.

[chuckling] I see him.

He looks at me with the biggest smile,

says hello.

This is a kid who knows [indistinct] courtesy.

Handled himself well, huh?

Oh, yeah.

He was a phenom,

both on and off the court.

[shutter clicks]

Every Division One coach in the country had contacted him.

Arizona, North Carolina, Duke, UCLA.

I mean, like Duke needs any players, right?

Well, that tells you how good Mark is.

Yeah, we hear he was a model citizen.

Ah, he was an unbelievable person.

I mean, lot of boys with Mark's kind of talent,

you know, they're relying on it and that's all they use.

And Mark's not like that?

No, he's not gonna

step onto the court and fool around.

I mean, he's not jacking up a bunch of three-pointers

that don't make any sense.

I mean, he has discipline.

He's working jump shots,

you know, 15- to 18-footers,

the kind of shots that work within our system--

This is all you can tell us about McCarron,

is how he practiced his jump shot?

- [coach] What? - [Munch] Is there anything you can tell us

about him outside of basketball?

What do you want me to say, that he went to church?

Yeah, his family's churchgoing. [mumbles]

Good student? Solid Bs.

You wanna know if he makes his bed

or how often he brushes his teeth,

go ask his parents.

[shutter clicks]

You said this case was a no-brainer two days ago.

Well, we do have the name of the killer, Manuel Renderos.

Yeah, the name, but where is he?

Renderos has never been arrested.

Nothing's come off NCIC?

Well, we checked. So far, nothing.

Renderos came to Baltimore about a year ago.

He's been doing gas station stick-ups mostly.

But we don't know anything else, do we?

Well, we have the name, and we've got the facts.

The witnesses say that he did the killing.

The witnesses gave you a description of Renderos?

[Bayliss] Oh, yeah. Sure they did.

- [Pembleton] Vague. - Vague.

Average height, average weight.

- Middle-aged. - [Bayliss] [indistinct]

Well, this isn't vague.

This is red.

[Bayliss] Okay, we'll get right on it, Gee.

Don't worry.

[Ballard] Do you want this one?

Mike, would you like this case?

[Kellerman] No, you take it.

Oh, I don't know.

I'm already the primary on two cases this month,

and you haven't caught one in a couple weeks.

So what are you saying?

All I'm saying is that you're up.

Well, fine, then just tell me I'm up.

That's all you gotta say.

[clears throat]

- Do you want to talk about it? - Talk about what?

About whatever's messing with your head.

Man, since I've been in Baltimore,

you have been the bear of the shift.

I'm fine.

Are you feeling burnt out?

'Cause, you know, I've felt that way.

A lot, I've felt that way.

Everybody has, but...

you can't forget to pay attention to the job.

Hey, the job sucks.

[laughing] Obviously, the job sucks.

But we speak for the dead, remember?

Hey, screw the dead.

What'd their moldering asses ever do for me?

I-- I said I'd take the call, okay?

Let's just leave it at that.

[Kellerman scoffs]

- Hey. - He was alive when I got here.

- [Kellerman] Who? - Calvin Leroy Barnes.

Still breathing when you rolled up?

- Did he say anything? - [Sanders] I asked who shot him.

- [Kellerman] And? - Told me to stick it.

Ah, screw him, then, if he's gonna be that way.

We might as well go get some breakfast.

Come on, Mike.

You gotta go, "We talk for the dead,"

and this guy won't even speak for himself?

He doesn't deserve a cop standing over him.

It's not about deserving.

Yeah, well, whatever makes you happy, Ballard.

Calvin Leroy what's-his-name?

- [Sanders] Barnes. - Barnes, right, right, right.

What's his date of birth?

Uh, 4-10-72.

Hey!

Happy Birthday, Calvin! Check it out.

Most guys get cufflinks or a tie for their birthday.

Calvin here got himself a bullet.

[Kellerman whistling "Happy Birthday to You"]

[*]

Hey, take a picture of me here with the birthday boy.

Uh, Laura, you wanna-- you wanna get in this one?

Smile, Calvin.

Look, we don't even have a picture of this guy,

let alone a fingerprint card.

We wouldn't recognize him if he walked right by us in the lobby.

Well, we know that he hangs out at the Derby on Wolfe Street.

Every half-assed thug on the East Side hangs at the Derby.

What are we gonna do?

Walk into the bar, show our badges and say,

"Manuel Renderos, come on down!

The price is right! Come on down!

Come on down!"

Well, Frank, we've got his pager number.

At least his girlfriend gave us that.

- His pager number? - [Bayliss] Mm-hmm.

Right. It would have been even better if she'd given us a picture.

She gave us what she had.

Well, great. We can-- we can page him.

And then when he calls back,

we can ask him to please meet us at Central Booking.

- I have a plan. - A plan?

Yeah, a clever plan.

Huh, Bayliss has a clever plan.

Do you have a plan, Frank?

I admit it. I have no plan.

[*]

[Mr. McCarron] Who would kill our son?

[Gharty] There's not a lot we know right now.

We were hoping that you two would be able to tell us

if Mark was having any problems with anyone.

[Mr. McCarron] What kind of problems?

Well, was anyone giving him any trouble of any kind?

No. Everyone adored Mark.

Well, maybe someone was jealous of his success.

No, I-- I don't think so.

I think maybe it was more like they wanted to be a part of it.

And Mark made everyone feel like they were.

Was he having any problems here at home?

Only that we didn't see him enough.

But if that's the worst thing your child does,

is practice basketball all day,

with everything going on today...

I think you have to consider yourself lucky as a parent.

You know, um,

Mark was having these headaches from tension,

all the recruiters calling day and night.

Well, that's a lot of pressure on a 17-year-old.

My son wasn't going to college.

[Gharty] No?

[Mr. McCarron] Mark and I would talk.

He knew it would be best if he turns pro.

Yeah, that's...

from high school to the pros, that's rare.

Very few make that work.

He'd be taking a big chance, huh?

Well, he's got something extra special.

- He ain't Black. - Excuse me?

Every kid that tries to make the jump is Black.

The NBA caters to corporate America,

and corporate America wants to see a white boy out there.

Yeah, they love Jordan, but...

they're starving for the next Larry Bird.

So your white son was a can't-miss, huh?

He signs his first contract, and...

he's got a life you and me only dream about.

Hey, where are we on Calvin Barnes?

I've got the case surrounded.

Excuse me. What do we know?

We know that Calvin Barnes was an East Side drug dealer,

with more previous arrests than I can count.

We know that there's a .44 hollow-point

where the back of his head used to be,

and we know that he's not gonna be missed by anybody past his mama,

and she's probably not all that tore up about it, either.

Huh.

And we know that he worked for Georgia Rae Mahoney.

[shutter clicks]

Background file from Narcotics unit

has our victim as a mid-level supplier

for the Mahoney organization.

- [yawns] No kidding? - Yeah, no kidding.

In fact, this is the fifth drug dealer

with a Mahoney connect to go down in two weeks.

Five murders?

Coming up, the night shift catches three in a row.

And then Stivers has a guy that goes down two nights ago,

and it turns out that he is a-- an enforcer for Georgia Rae.

So, now with your case,

that makes it a grand total of five unsolved drug murders,

all on the East Side, all with a Mahoney connect.

Hmm.

It's just so hard to keep good help these days.

I mean, you know, it-- it almost makes you feel for Georgia Rae.

Look, I'm-- I'm--

I'm thinking that this is a drug war.

I'm thinking, "Who cares?"

We're just the garbage men--

Sorry, we're the garbage persons.

You know, every day, we get in our--

in our little Cavaliers, and we drive to some corner

and pick up some fresh piece of garbage, right?

Why break a sweat over it?

Are you out of your mind?

We've gotta sit down with Stivers and the others,

and we've gotta figure out if there's a connection

to all this, if there is-- is some kind of a pattern.

Oh, you want a pattern? I'll give you a pattern.

They're all worthless sleazebags,

and they're all dead.

How's that for a pattern?

[*]

Where are we at with that Mencken High School shooting?

We're going to the ME's.

The kid took two shots to the upper chest.

I saw Matt McCarron in the State's playoffs last year.

The night was poetry.

You go to high school basketball games, chief?

Oh, no, I was with a woman who was a fan.

Um, I'm just along for the ride.

So, uh-- so this kid McCarron was poetry in motion, huh?

I was talking about the night.

The date was poetry, Stu.

Oh. Oh! Good for you, lieutenant.

Munch, I have every confidence that you'll close the case.

Yes, sir.

Who-- who's this--

who's this woman that Giardello is seeing?

- I have no idea. - You've never met her?

The lieutenant's like a sphinx

when it comes to his personal life.

This McCarron kid's dead only one night,

and his father's talking about what a tragedy it is

he didn't sign an NBA contract.

Well, how do we know how any of us would be

if we had a kid like that?

It's basketball. It's only a game.

Yeah. It's a serious one.

That's an oxymoron, pal.

Games weren't meant to be serious.

Well, how-- how come they keep score?

Anyone's got a kid blessed with a talent,

they're gonna be serious about it.

A bunch of fat, balding geezers in $50 seats

is what ruined sports today.

A child's good at math, or violin,

nobody makes a stink over him being talented.

You put a ball in his hand, and he goes pro,

that's the sign this world is coming to an end, ah?

- Yes. - Well, that's crap.

It's crap!

[inaudible speaking]

- [seatbelt clicks] - Oh, then you're going in there?

Yeah, that's my plan.

[birds chirping]

[ska music plays]

[patrons chattering]

Change of plan. Come on.

Change of plan.

[ska music plays]

[patrons chattering]

Let me have a tonic with a twist.

[*]

No ballistic matches on any of the East Side murders,

meaning we are probably looking at

a different shooter for each case.

These are not street guys getting killed.

These are lieutenants, enforcers, wholesalers.

They're the cream of Georgia Rae's crop.

- Any new leads? - Zero.

And they're shot execution-style.

Professional and efficient.

It seems to me, the law of the street

works a hell of a lot better than the law of the land.

The trouble with a drug war is, someone always wins.

Not Georgia Rae, apparently.

So far, all the fallen soldiers are hers.

Numbers six and seven.

[Ballard] Just that fast.

My call this morning on Ashland Avenue

turns out to be two dead in the Mahoney organization's stash house.

From the looks of things, there was a firefight.

We've recovered two guns, and we're checking ballistics.

But right now, looks like my two victims

may have shot each other.

Could it be Georgia Rae's crew is blowing itself up?

Well, that would explain why

all the bodies are Mahoney players.

They're not fighting another organization,

they're turning against each other.

I say we put the top down

and enjoy the ride for as long as it lasts.

Yeah, except an innocent bystander could be next.

Your victims aren't innocent, and they won't be missed.

I'm not worried about who's losing the war.

I'm worried about someone winning it.

Work your cases.

[*]

- [Kellerman sighs] - Hard.

[*]

[seabirds calling]

[siren wailing]

Alyssa Dyer, my favorite body parts person.

Detective Gharty, Detective Munch.

What do you have on the McCarron case?

Two bullets in his chest.

- [tray rattling] - [Gharty] Uh, close range?

This is one hunky specimen.

Kind of refreshing to get someone who's in shape.

Hunky?

If you had this kid's pecs,

you and I would still be an item.

At least I'm not stone-cold dead.

Matter of opinion.

You two were an item?

Gharty, you're starting to irritate

like another short, round man I once worked with.

Anything of real import you could tell us about this case?

Entrance wounds are typical.

Circular, straight-on shots.

No evidence of any defense wounds.

So maybe he didn't expect any trouble,

didn't have time to react.

Well, maybe he was ambushed.

I found blood in his stomach and his mouth,

so his heart and his esophagus were probably pierced.

I'll know more later today.

Stu, we should go to the school.

If you come up with anything new on this autopsy, call me.

You call me.

[Munch sighs]

I'm always put in the position

of having to make the first move,

and I've learned there's no percentage in that.

You're a bitter man.

Bitter, bitter man.

[funky music plays]

[patrons chattering]

Yo, yo, yo, this better be good.

What? What?

Man, I can't--

[Bayliss] Hey, is that him?

Yup, that's him.

- Huh, my plan. - Your plan.

Now, we could snatch him up right now,

but I'd like to know where he lays his head.

That way, if we get an address,

we stand a much better chance of recovering the murder weapon.

[Bayliss] Right.

[*]

If you could come to the door, ma'am,

I just want to ask some questions.

Just need a couple of minutes of your time.

Can't blame people who live in the projects

for not wanting to mark themselves as a witness.

You know, we're just here

for as long as it takes to solve the case,

and they have to live here every day.

This is their neighborhood.

They don't want to do anything to make it better,

- why the hell should I care? - You know what?

Victim's family lives over in the next court,

so why don't we just go talk to them,

and see if we can kick anything loose?

- You go. - It's your murder.

It's my murder, and I'll work it the way I want.

Right now, there's somewhere I gotta be.

Fine. Fine. That's fine.

I'll go talk to the dead man's mother by myself, then.

You want the car? Take the Cavalier.

No. Thanks. I'll call a cab.

Suit yourself.

sullied your otherwise spotless reputation.

The threat of those allegations

might cause the judge to make an error under pressure.

During a high-profile civil suit, say?

Very likely. Almost inevitable, in fact.

Now, I call you guys a week ago about this tape.

You don't give me the common courtesy

to call back, so I decided to come

and personally make the acquaintance.

I'll say this much, detective.

You got some kind of stones, to go around

taping conversations with the city judges.

The guy's dirty.

The question for you all is,

is what's the FBI gonna do about it?

Even if this tape were usable in court,

it's hardly definitive.

- What are you, dense? - Dense?

Yeah, dense.

Gibbons has been bending the rules

for the Mahoney organization for months now.

A sitting judge is on the pad.

Now, you all work for the Public Corruption Squad

of the FBI's Baltimore Field Office.

Is any of this sinking in?

Go home, Detective.

Work your murders.

Leave the corruption cases

to the people who know what they're doing.

Bunch of humps.

[phone ringing]

[agent sighs]

What do you want?

We're not having this conversation.

What are we not having a conversation about?

We've had a case up on Judge Gibbons

for four months now.

We've got him dead to rights on bribery and extortion charges.

Yeah?

We're already talking to him through his lawyers.

If all goes well, he's going before

a Federal Grand Jury in two weeks.

- Can he give you Georgia Rae? - We think so.

Look, one cop to another,

I didn't want you leaving here thinking that

we weren't interested in what you were trying to tell us.

But when we're investigating local corruption,

Bureau policy is not to talk with the locals.

So do me a favor, just keep this under your hat.

[Kellerman chuckles] We've never met.

We never talked. We're not even here.

What was he really like?

Mark? Man, he was the bomb.

Way cool, but really down to earth.

- You know what I'm saying? - [bell ringing]

Real friendly. He wasn't in class as much.

But I guess that's 'cause of basketball.

Mark wasn't much on schoolwork.

He blew out his SATs twice, I heard.

He couldn't get above 700 on either time he took it.

I feel bad saying this, 'cause he was real sweet to me,

you know, but I heard

there was some kids he kind of shoved around.

But mostly sweet, you know.

It doesn't add up.

A straight B student who can't get better

than 680 on his college boards?

We were going to change tutors,

see if we could help Mark bring those scores up a bit.

A bit?

To get into a Division One school,

he'd need a minimum SAT score of 1000.

680's a joke! You're the principal.

How was he keeping a 3-0 average with scores like that?

Tutors.

And here and there, I'm sure some of his teachers

were willing to cut him some slack.

After all, Mark's extracurricular regimen

didn't leave a lot of time for--

For high school.

No wonder his father was talking about the kid

jumping straight to the pros.

With SAT scores as low as this, he's looking at nothing better

than two years playing ball at a junior college.

Anything else we should know about?

Not really. He was a fine boy, a treasure.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

What about his relations with other students?

Did he get along with everyone?

Very few complaints.

[Munch] Very few? How many exactly?

Two, three...

What were the complaints about?

The usual sort of teasing and roughhousing

that is typical, you know.

- Who complained? - [principal scoffs]

Look, I-- I don't think it serves anyone's interest

to risk Mark's memory by exaggerating--

[Gharty] Look, can you give us the names, please?

- Really, it was nothing-- - The names!

You're not gonna repeat this to anybody around here, right?

Nah.

This is just you and me here talking.

'Cause, I mean, he's dead and all,

and talking bad about him is kinda, like, sacrilegious.

So now it's just like, "Whoa, speak no evil."

Trust me.

He did some stuff to me, yeah.

It wasn't too bad.

Just little things, to let everyone know he could.

Like what?

Stupid things.

I mean, stuff that shows you

he wasn't even very smart about being a jerk.

Um, like, uh, every once in a while,

in the cafeteria, he'd walk by and dump my tray

into my lap, that sort of thing.

- Why you? - Uh, why not me?

I mean, one day some butthead in a varsity uniform

learns your name, and the next you're picking

tapioca and Salisbury steak out of your sweater.

I-- I don't know.

You seem pretty cool about it.

Well, I mean, it's all in the past, really.

I haven't-- I haven't crossed paths

with that jerk since second quarter.

- [Munch] Why not? - Um, he got tired of me.

- He found David. - [Munch] David who?

David Tarnofsky. He's a senior.

Lately, he's been Mark's new pal.

[Munch] David Tarnofsky?

Yes?

Detective Munch, Baltimore Homicide.

This is my partner, Detective Gharty.

We'd like to ask you a few questions about Mark McCarron.

Sure.

We understand he did some things to you.

He picked on you.

He can't pick on me anymore, can he?

Maybe you should come with us, so we can talk about this.

Yeah.

Sure.

[funky music plays]

- So, what's this all about? - I don't know.

It looks like he's just waiting on a callback.

Stop, start, stop.

Get a call, make a call.

Look, it's counter-surveillance.

He's wanted for a murder, and he's trying to avoid being followed.

[Pembleton] Right, well, it's not working.

[Bayliss] Oh, here we go again.

[Pembleton] Okay, you know what? I'm tired of this.

- 64-09 to KGA. - [dispatcher over radio] KGA.

Go ahead, 64-09.

Okay, I'm at the corner of, uh, Park and, uh--

- where the hell are we? - [Bayliss] Madison.

[Pembleton] We're at the corner of Park and Madison,

going north on Park,

uh, requesting back-up to stop and detain

a number one male driving a black Toyota Camry,

temporary tags.

Suspect is wanted in connection with a homicide

and may be armed.

[dispatcher] 10-4. Units responding.

[brakes screeching]

[upbeat music plays]

[siren wailing]

[Pembleton] Come on. Come on. Come on outta the car!

Come on outta the car!

[suspect] Just be cool, be cool!

- [overlapping shouting] - Be cool! Be cool!

I'm assuming the position.

- I'm assuming the position! - [Pembleton] Good position.

[suspect] I'm in the position, officer.

[Pembleton] Okay. We get it, baby.

[Bayliss] Assume the position.

I'm assuming-- the position is assumed!

See? Everybody just be calm. Just chill.

All right? See?

[Pembleton] Shut your lips, Superfly.

Nothing there.

[Pembleton] Salerno, go pop the trunk.

That's not necessary, Officer.

- [Pembleton] I think so. - [Manuel groaning]

[Pembleton] Manuel Renderos, you're under arrest

for the murder of Reggie Gaynor.

- Who? - [Bayliss] Reggie Gaynor.

The kid you killed on Mount Riggs a week ago.

What?

[Pembleton] Come on, it's over, Manny.

Your run is over, baby. Who is Manny?

What the--

Hey, detective. Check this out.

Ooh. Damn.

[Pembleton] Who is he?

Well, you know, this man is supposed to be just,

like, a gas station stick-up artist, right?

What's going on?

You're not Manuel Renderos, are you?

Bernard Weeks.

How the hell did y'all get onto me?

I was so damn careful.

I been muling this kind of weight for five years now,

not so much as a traffic stop.

Y'all DEA, right?

No.

- [Bernard] FBI? Customs? - Uh-uh.

Local Narcotics? [scoffs]

How long you been onto me?

Six months? Longer?

You had to be onto me about a year to roll up on me

with this kind of weight.

No, we weren't looking for you.

- Say what? - We're not local Narcotics.

Yeah, we're Baltimore Homicide, we're looking for someone else.

This is just a, uh, mistake.

- A mistake? - [Pembleton] Yeah.

You roll up on me with 200 kilograms,

and it's a mistake?

Well...

you haven't, by chance, killed anybody

in Baltimore lately, have you?

No way.

Well, we have wasted another day.

Yeah.

A mistake?

Yeah, sorry. Get him outta here.

[funky music plays]

[reporters chatting, laughing]

[Barnfather] All right, everyone.

If I can have your attention, please.

Now, this seizure is the largest in the history of Baltimore.

It is the result of an exhaustive,

ten-month investigation by detectives

in the City Homicide Unit,

working in conjunction with CID Narcotics

and the Patrol Division.

It is a clear indication that we can win the war

against illegal drugs in this city.

That's all for now. Thank you for coming.

- [group applauding] - There's a commendation for both of you in this.

[Pembleton] Thank you very much.

[Barnfather] Pembleton, thank you.

Thank you very much.

[Giardello] You know, I'm proud of you both. I'm proud of you.

- My heroes. - Mm-hmm.

Well, that's what we are, Gee.

- My drug warriors. - [Bayliss] Mm-hmm.

Oh, my!

Why, it's still red.

In all this excitement,

I didn't see this red name on the Board here, "Gaynor?"

Now, how could I have forgotten

this red name on the Board?

[laughing]

What up, what up, what up?

You tell me.

Ain't much about nothing.

That's not how I figure it.

What do you mean?

For weeks now, I've been feeding you

sheets and records and photographs

which belong to players in the Mahoney organization.

So?

I did it because you asked me to,

I did it without any explanations being offered.

[Lewis sighs and scoffs]

What, I-- I can't count on you now?

For two weeks, bodies have been falling all over the East Side.

The Mahoney organization is falling apart at the seams.

How about that?

We have names on the Board, in red.

Some are the same names that you had me pulling out of the computer.

We have seven open murders.

Myself, I caught the double over on Ashland.

Oh, well... [scoffs]

...them two boys killed each other, huh?

You ought to be able to close that one at least!

How do you know that?

No, you know what...

I don't even-- I don't want to know.

[laughs] Ah, so, you've got to relax, brother.

Come on, man.

Meldrick, are you whacking these guys?

- I'm a cop, Falsone. - [Falsone] I have to ask.

No, no, no, you ain't got to ask.

What, you think I'm-- you think I'm like them, huh?

You think I play by those rules?

What the hell rules are you playing by?

I'm just working the street, you know.

Listening, learning.

Every now and again, maybe I'll tell somebody

something that they wouldn't otherwise know.

People are killing each other.

How about that?

[Falsone] Meldrick, this is crazy.

[Lewis chuckling]

You gonna take those home with you?

I owe you one, baby.

- Hey, Meldrick? - Huh?

Be careful, man.

Always.

Hey, Michelle, this one's on me, right?

- Who's on the other side? - Nobody.

No one's looking in?

I know what this mirror is here for.

- That make you nervous? - No.

Why don't you have a seat over there

on the other side of the table, take a load off?

There's no one behind there. I give you my word.

Okay.

[Munch] My partner went to get you a drink.

[clearing throat]

I don't need anything to drink anymore.

You a sports fan?

No.

Yeah, me neither. Maybe a little baseball.

[door creaks open]

Here you go, David.

[David] Thank you.

So, it's been a crazy couple of days over at Mencken High, huh?

Yeah, wild.

All the newspapers and sports stations

are coming into the school.

You know Mark McCarron?

This doesn't taste right.

I can get you something else.

- Nah, that's okay. - No, no. You're sure?

- It's not a problem. - Yeah, I-- I'm just commenting.

I'm not complaining.

So, it's been a wild day at school today, huh?

Yeah, we didn't have any regular classes today.

We-- everybody's talking about what happened.

It'd just be good to have things regular.

[Munch] What were they talking about?

About how cool McCarron is.

Yeah, I hear he wasn't such a cool guy.

Him not cool?

He isn't, no one is. The guy's a god.

We hear he had a pretty nasty streak.

You know Danny Lynch?

Yeah, I see him around school.

He says that McCarron used to go after him.

How about Philip Grimes?

You know, I did hear that...

Philip had a problem with McCarron,

but, you know, it's high school,

bad stuff happens.

Something real bad happened to McCarron.

He deserved it.

You know about your rights, David.

Um, I got to advise you at this point

that you can have a lawyer present.

We also called your dad.

He's coming here?

- Why did you do that? - Part of the job.

Well, what are you gonna tell him?

What do you want us to tell him?

Nothing. He doesn't know.

He doesn't know what, David?

Anything.

About how McCarron would pick on you?

- How he humiliated you? - He'd bully you, wouldn't he?

Danny Lynch and Philip Grimes told us all about it.

Every day, huh?

Not every day.

[Gharty] I-- I, uh...

I gotta tell you again, you can have a lawyer here.

What, you want to protect me?

What's a lawyer gonna do, he's gonna take a beating for me?

You are?

I'm protected now.

Now. I don't want a lawyer.

Took a lot of garbage from McCarron, didn't you?

- What's a lot? - [Munch] You tell me.

He'd take his class ring and turn it inside,

whack me open-handed, in the back of my head.

[Munch] That make you mad?

- It wouldn't you? - Yeah.

And what would you do?

I'd think about ways to get even.

Oh, you'd get even?

You'd go against him, right?

You can talk like that 'cause you weren't there.

You didn't go to anybody about this?

Yeah, I tried. I went to the principal.

She tells me I'm exaggerating, that I should avoid McCarron.

But how do I do that?

He's the hero of the school.

He's got a right to anything.

He's got more than rights.

He's the guy who makes up the rights.

You couldn't talk to your dad?

I-- I wanted to, but I'm thinking, "What's he gonna do?"

I tell him, and he's gonna go after McCarron.

And what if McCarron beats my dad up?

In front of everyone.

How do I live with that, then?

I ain't gonna let that happen.

My dad, he's like me. He ain't got a chance.

You couldn't talk to your friends about it?

Who'd wanna hang with me? [scoffs]

You get smacked around, they might, too, huh?

You know, huh?

I know.

[David sighs]

He has his buddies hold me down in the locker room,

and they strip my shirt and pants off,

everything's off.

I'm naked, all right?

And, uh, he takes strips of athletic tape

and plasters them to my short hairs.

And then he rips the tape off.

And then he-- he goes, and him and his friends,

they carry me and they throw me into the girls' locker room,

where all these girls from my homeroom

are showering from gym class.

And it ain't so much that he does that with the athletic tape,

but then all the girls gotta laugh at me, too...

girls gotta laugh at me, too.

Girls gotta laugh at me, too.

I go home, I get my dad's gun.

And I find McCarron.

And he's there in the shower,

he's getting all clean,

ready to go out and have himself a good time.

And he sees me.

And all's I want to do is show him the gun.

And maybe I can scare him.

Maybe he'll think before he tries to

do anything else to me.

And I don't want to shoot him.

But when he sees me, and I'm holding the gun...

and I've had the gun before in my hands.

'Cause some nights I'm thinking I can just stop it all myself.

[voice breaking] I could just shoot myself.

But I can't, but I don't know why.

So I just want him to know that I'm serious

about all this crap ending.

I point the gun at him, but he knows what's going on.

And what does he do?

He smiles.

That big famous smile of his,

that stupid smile everyone takes a picture of.

[shutter clicks]

[gunshot bags]

And I don't remember what happened next.

But I can still see him.

He's not smiling anymore.

[David exhales sharply]

I appreciate you getting me something.

I've been thirsty all day.

No matter how much water and stuff I take,

- I just need a lot to drink-- - Where's the gun?

My father's closet.

Everything's gonna be different from now on, David.

Your life changes.

For the better.

You need anything, David?

I ain't sorry about a damn thing.

[*]

[Munch sighs]

[sighs] He'll do hard time

for shooting Maryland's Mr. Basketball.

He'll have his ass handed to him every day he's up in Jessup.

I can sympathize. I know why he did what he did.

Going to high school was no day at the beach

for a teenage Jew in the '50s.

Oh, come on.

Hey, I was 15 years old. I ran.

What else could I do?

It's part of growing up.

[sighs] Gharty, it sounds like you never were

on the receiving end, were you?

Every day was open season on me.

- You got past it, right? - Says you.

You ever go after anybody in those days?

- Sure. - Sure?

I was a kid being a kid.

It was, uh, testosterone, hormones.

I hated morons like you.

All right. I'll tell you what.

If it'll make you feel any better,

I'll give you a free shot.

- What? - Yeah.

Come on. Give me your best shot.

Don't get goofy on me. No, no, no!

It's okay. Come on. Come on.

Hit me. Hit me.

Let go of all that crap out of your past.

Give me your best shot.

- My best shot? - Yeah.

Whoa! Ooh! Wait, that-- wait a second!

- You said my best shot! - Not with that!

You want me to get all Marquess of Queensberry?

How about I buy you a beer instead?

A beer's gonna make up for my past?

No, but at least it'll get that ashtray out of your hand.

[smooth jazz music plays]

[Munch sighs]

[tense music plays]

Numbers eight, nine and ten.

Well, what do you know?

The Mahoney killings just went double digits.

[*]

[theme music plays]