Original subtitles

NEWS ANCHOR: The forecast is cloudy and windy and cold this morning,

warming up a bit this afternoon

with a few sunny breaks in the clouds.

- I thought I heard you come in. - [Pembleton] Hi, sweetie.

Hey. It's good to have you home.

You must be exhausted.

How are you? How's the baby?

Your child has no sympathy for a working mother.

He or she has been up all night, kickboxing.

- You felt a kick? - [Mary] Mm-hm.

[Pembleton sighs]

- I don't feel anything. - No, of course not.

Now that I'm wide awake, the baby's asleep.

Smart child. Sleep, what a terrific idea.

- [phone ringing] - I'll get it.

[phone ringing]

Hello.

Yes, he's here, hold on just a second.

- It's Lieutenant Giardello. - [Pembleton sighing]

- Yeah, Gee. - [intense music plays]

[groans]

I'll be right there.

- I'll be right there. - I'll be right there.

- [Munch] I'll be right there. - I'll be right there. Ah!

There's been another sniper shooting.

- Three down. - [Mary] What?

- I thought you caught the sniper? - Yeah, so did we.

- I gotta go back to work. - Frank!

I'll call you soon as I can.

[theme music plays]

[camera shutter clicking]

[Barnfather] What the hell is going on?

I thought we closed the sniper case.

I thought the sniper killed himself.

What do you have? Two hours later another shooting?

- I guess William Mariner had an accomplice. - [Barnfather] You guess?

Everything indicated, up to this point,

that William Mariner worked alone.

[Griffin] Well, we'll need to make a statement to the press.

Meanwhile, we should keep the media out of the area.

You know Avis Griffin, the Department's new Public Information Officer?

- [Giardello] Griffin? - Work with her on covering your ass, Al.

You shouldn't be here without a vest.

Somebody get Colonel Barnfather and Ms. Griffin a Kevlar.

[helicopter buzzing]

- Get those helicopters outta here. - It's not my call, Al.

- The Commissioner ordered them in. - [Giardello] We got a sniper.

All we need is for him to shoot one of those copters down.

They just found some shell casings up on the Bromo tower.

- Who's up on the roof as primary? - [Jasper] Your guy, Pembleton.

If that sky jockey tries that again,

I'll give you permission to shoot the son of a bitch down.

Shoot him down!

So you come out for your morning jog and you hear gunshots?

I come running down the block and then I hear this "crack-crack-crack."

You saw the shots? Which direction?

From up there.

- And you were where? - Right here.

- [Munch] Right where? - Right here. Where I am. Standing.

It's [indistinct], you know, like, when you hear a bug

or mosquito buzzing around your ears?

It's-- it's like that.

I see the woman fall over there,

and the guy, he's got this whole tray of bread, and it falls over.

Did you see any of the victims hit?

With all the gunshots going on around here, I'm gonna look?

I look, I'm gonna end up in the meat wagon.

I'm standing around all these people getting shot,

then I think to myself, "If I move, I'll get shot."

- Yeah, okay, what's your name? - Helena Aegis.

Alex. Alex Robey.

[orchestral music plays]

[Bayliss] Okay, 30 caliber rifle.

Looks like an entire clip was shot off.

Okay, we're now assuming that Mariner had an accomplice,

- someone who is carrying on these shootings without him. - Yeah.

At the other three sniper shootings

there was a hangman game at the site.

How come there's no hangman game on this rooftop?

It takes two to play hangman, and Mariner's dead.

- [Pembleton] Right, it takes two to play hangman. - [Bayliss] Right.

- Whatcha got over there? - [technician] Fibers. Maybe wood.

If it is, it could be from the shooter's rifle stock.

- This shooting is eight hours after the one at Mount Vernon? - Yeah.

- Exactly eight hours? - Yeah.

Ms. Griffin, can I help you with that vest?

- Do you think I'm helpless? - I don't. No.

Yeah, we've got three dead, three tentative IDs.

Susan Darowz, uh, the guy with the bread is Neal Ferdette,

and the third guy, he's an arabber, his name is William Wixson.

- Any addresses? - Uh-huh. She works where she fell.

The breadman's from Towson, and the arabber is from someplace in Sandtown.

All right, what we've got to do is notify the next of kin.

- Something I always look forward to. - All right, Gee.

- Hey, maybe we'll get lucky, huh? - [Kellerman] How's that?

Maybe the two guys won't have no families.

I am so damn tired.

My eyes are so far back in my head

I think I'm seeing things from 1,000 years away.

Pembleton, Bayliss. Get over to the Mariner house and talk to the wife.

Let's find out if Mariner had any angry compadres.

- On our way. - I'm-- I'm waiting for lab results, Gee.

- I'll get Russert to cover that for you. - Captain Russert?

Barnfather demoted her. She's no longer Captain.

Oh, really? I heard rumors to that effect.

We don't have any time for rumors, Bayliss.

- Please get going. - Hey.

Got your message. Saw it on TV.

As you can see, the crap's flying again.

[sighs] Well, you know, the Colonel told me not to come back to work

until he made a decision on where to assign me.

- I need you here. Okay? - Yeah, I know, but he's gonna have my head, and yours.

- [Giardello] I'll take care of Barnfather. - How?

- I'll ignore him. - Al, that's not gonna take care of him.

Like my grandfather, who was Italian, used to say,

"Never stand in the way of your enemies

when they're trying to destroy themselves."

We've got access requests from The New York Times,

Washington Post, Chicago Tribune.

Someone from the Des Moines Register called and asked us

for a hotel recommendation.

What are we, the Chamber of Commerce?

And NBC, ABC, CBS and CNN are all sending their first teams down.

They wanna know where they should set up their satellite.

And, uh, Tom Brokaw, Peter Jennings, Dan Rather,

Bernard, better known as Bernie, Shaw,

they've all requested media access passes.

Well, you're Public Relations, you handle it.

[sighs]

[eerie music plays]

I'm beat to hell.

- I could use a shower, that would be nice. - What?

Mariner and somebody slaughter nine people,

then Mariner blows his brains out

while I stand on the other side of the door

guessing hangman letters.

Now somebody shoots three people

at yet another eight hour interval,

and you wanna take a shower!

Saving Mariner's life was not your responsibility.

- I was the primary, Frank! I let him die! - You did your job!

Nine names in red go to nine names in black. So Mariner smokes himself.

- So what? - Whoa, whoa, wait a minute. What-- what are you saying?

You know, you're always telling me that--

that everybody-- everybody belongs to God.

Look, nine innocent victims?

If I were God, I'd have a hard time holding Mariner

and nine innocent people up in the same light.

Either way, I don't have energy enough to care.

Today we got three new victims.

Well, hate to tell you this, today is still yesterday.

[Pembleton] Hey, did I tell you I was tired?

Tell you what, come four o'clock,

if we don't get this guy, it won't matter what you tell me.

[Pembleton] Well let's go talk to the merry widow, Mrs. Mariner.

Maybe she's got something to say.

[indistinct chatter on police radio]

We've had three more shooting victims this morning.

[Linda] So I was told.

I got the wakeup call from WBAL this morning.

They wanna know which of Bill's friends did this.

Which one of them would have?

I don't know. Maybe Bill's not the guy. Maybe he wasn't guilty.

You're the cop who killed my dad.

No.

Uh, what's your son's name?

What does that matter to you?

Did your husband have a best friend?

Someone who'd want to go out and, what, avenge him?

No, someone who might have assisted him in these killings.

Bill shot all those people, and he shot to hell any chance that his children,

my children, will ever be allowed to do anything with their lives.

They'll always be the children of some maniac

who killed nine innocent people,

and will they do the same?

Is there anyone at your husband's office who, I don't know,

maybe they went out for beers together after work?

I have to call and find a funeral home today,

someone who's gonna get Bill's body out of the morgue.

Everyone's calling him a maniac,

and I've gotta find someone that's gonna bury this maniac

for his children.

I've been thinking all morning who to invite and what kinda service to have.

Any ideas?

Know anyone who'd want to come and help me bury Bill?

- Who would? - [Linda] You wanna come to his funeral?

You were the last one he ever talked to.

Do you have any children?

- When are the funeral services? - Are there any suspects?

Yeah, I was just jogging. I run maybe five, six miles a day.

[reporter] Mr. Robey, you say you saw something?

It's really not a good idea for you to talk to reporters.

- I'll be back in a minute. - Thank you.

Hey, you guys witnesses too?

Family of the victims. We're gonna go upstairs.

I'd appreciate you don't talk to the press, okay?

All right, I'm always making a spectacle of myself.

Now, look, anything that you say to these people

jeopardizes my ongoing investigation.

- I told you that at the crime scene, all right? - Yeah, all right.

- I'll just go home. - Okay. Need a lift or something?

No, no, it's all right, I got my car.

I'll get this gentleman to walk you to your car.

Walk this man to his car, all right?

All right, if anything else comes to me about this morning...

- Yeah, yeah, yeah, give me a call. - [Alex] All right.

[unsettling music plays]

- [Giardello] Anything more from Pembleton? - Yeah, he called in.

Said that Mrs. Mariner was not very forthcoming in offering any information

as to who might be involved with her husband and the shootings.

He and Bayliss are on their way down to the insurance company where Mariner worked,

- see what's up there. - Stay on top of it.

- Yeah. - Megan, I want you to check back with Quantico.

See how they're coming with that psych profile they're compiling.

- Okay. - Brodie, take a uniform and go to the Mariner house.

- Videotape anyone coming in or going out of the house. - You got it, Lieutenant.

Anyone who shows up, brings flowers or a casserole becomes a Kodak moment.

Munch! Oh, man!

Have you seen Detective Munch?

Where's the report from the M.E. and the firearms lab?

I sent Shabazz over to firearms.

Shell casings we recovered this morning were .308 caliber,

same as in the rifle Mariner used.

I'm on my way to the M.E.'s now, soon as I find John.

I got the CJIS printout right here.

The computer banks don't show any recent parolees from Jessup

or anywhere in the state prison system

with a history of killing with a rifle.

Just the per usual, knives, tire irons and handguns.

- Any connection with the Mariner family? - No.

- Come with me, Munch. - I got things to do.

I'm not asking you out on a date, John.

- Let's go. - You're the sarge, Sarge.

- Are you interviewing the victims' families? - Yeah.

One's a mess, the other one's cool as can be.

What you'll learn is any family member who isn't busted up now

will be hysterical in an hour.

And the wife who is busted up?

She'll be hysterical in an hour too.

You and Lewis, dance the dance carefully.

We're looking for any possible linkage to William Mariner.

Wait a second, the Darowz woman was killed with a shot

- that entered from what angle? - 45 degree angle.

Uh, let me see the autopsy diagram.

- [buzzing] - [unsettling music plays]

They were all shot from a rooftop, right?

Whoa, whoa! What are you doing? Please!

If that parking lot guy puts me in Siberia to park again,

I'll kick his teeth in.

[*]

- [Howard] Whoa! Easy does it, John. - [horn honking]

- [tires screeching] - Whoa!

Oh, get out of the way, you idiot!

[Howard] Slow down, what's the matter, John?

Take it easy, huh?

- [tires screeching] - Are you outta your mind?

Hey, you're gonna get us killed!

- Whoa! Let me drive. - Get-- stay in the car!

- What are you doing? - Stay in the car!

Quit grabbing me like that! What the hell's the matter with you?

I'm not gonna get you killed, all right?

I'm not worried about the sniper getting me.

One shot to my noggin, lights out, finis, that's fine.

But I'm not gonna be sitting here and watch you get shot again.

- What? - [Munch sighs]

You think I could ever forget you, Stan

and Beau getting shot down?

I say to Gee, "Look how they ruined my shoes with their blood."

I was so whacked out from seeing all your blood all over the place, I--

I couldn't do anything, all right?

- All right. - It's not all right.

From now on, no more first names. I'm Munch, you're Howard.

That's the way it's gotta be.

[helicopter spinning]

[Bayliss] Well, Mariner's co-workers were no help.

I say we have to lean on the wife a little more.

[Pembleton] We could go to a judge and try to get an order

for a wiretap on the Mariner phone lines.

Yeah or we could go back to the house,

get the kids away from the mother, talk to them.

Maybe they'd give up the name.

The boy thinks you killed his father.

- Come on. Hey, hey, hey! What's the damn hold-up? - [horns honking]

Some kind of nonsense going on up there.

[woman on police radio] Delta one-five.

- [man] There's a sniper on the roof! - [woman] There he is!

[intense music plays]

[Pembleton] Get in the car! Get in the car! Get in the car!

We have a call on some guy on the rooftop with a rifle.

The report of a sniper in this neighborhood proved to be a false alarm.

Yet the fear of a report, any report, of someone on a rooftop,

is quite real.

The mother who ran to safety just moments ago with her children

can testify to that fear.

Schools are being closed early,

hospitals are on emergency alert,

and homeowners are boarding up their windows

as if a hurricane alert had just been issued.

- [knocking on door] - Mary, we're going home.

- [Mary] What? - We're taking you home. Your work here is done.

- I told you, I'm safe here. - Come on, Let's go.

- Frank, look, stop it. - Look, don't make a scene in front of my partner, okay?

Okay, fine. Tim, leave, and take him with you.

I can't do that, Mary.

[Pembleton] You are with child, our child.

You will not endanger yourself.

I'm only in danger because you're here,

instead of out there catching the imbecile who's shooting up the city.

I can't have you running around downtown, not with this crap going on.

You can get scared for me, but I can't get scared for you?

All right, look, I live through this every day

when I see you walk out the front door.

- This is different! - [Mary] No, it isn't.

You always say to me, "This is the job."

Well, you know what, Frank? This is my job.

And I'm not leaving until I finish it.

Tim, get over and grab this desk.

- Come on, grab it. Give me a hand. - Sure.

I have work on this desk.

Frank, stop it.

We're moving this desk away from the window,

or it's going the hell out of the window.

And these stayed closed.

What are the odds of my being shot here?

[Pembleton] I really wish you would give in to me this one time.

I am not giving in to hysteria.

- What are you doing? - Raise your arms.

- I'll see you tonight. - And I'll see you, okay?

[Pembleton] Okay.

[phone ringing]

[clamoring]

Okay, shooting areas from yesterday.

Highlandtown, Collington Square, Mount Vernon.

[Kellerman] This morning, the clock tower.

So what's the distance between Highlandtown and Collington Square?

- What's that, about half a mile? - [Kellerman] Half a mile.

From Highlandtown to the clock tower, it's about a mile.

From the clock tower to Mount Vernon, that's another half a mile.

So all the shootings took place in a perimeter around Downtown?

Seems to me the shootings are coming at us in a circular pattern.

Right, so maybe somewhere in Little Italy

- is the next shooting. - [Lewis] You know what?

You check with the Math Department up at Hopkins.

See if there's some kind of probability factor operating here.

Yeah, this is the third time I've called.

No, I don't remember exactly who we talked to.

Yeah, I've got interview and access to the crime scene requests from all over.

What kind of rifle we talking about?

A rifle capable of holding a magazine

- that'll fire off 15 to 20 rounds. - Math Department, please.

I need to know if you people at Quantico

have come up with a psych profile for Mariner's accomplice?

No, I-- I know that you're working on it, but I have...

I have calls from the French, the Japanese, the Brits to handle.

Look, if Mariner's buddy stays true to form,

he starts shooting again in eight minutes.

What comes to mind is something like an M1A carbine.

What kind of range would our shooter have with a gun like that?

Five, six city blocks, easy.

An M1A with attachable Nikon or Leupold scope

could command a half-mile radius from point of location.

How many rifles like that out there?

[Maxwell] ATF faxed us these numbers.

We got maybe four dozen local registrations. There could be hundreds.

They weren't required to be registered by the state before 1990.

Lovely. That's sublime.

[Barnfather] The Governor's ready to call out The National Guard.

That sends the message that we've lost control of the city.

Well, having the Guard deployed would give the citizens

- a sense of security. - Smoke and mirrors.

The Guard has no experience in leading a criminal investigation

to catch this sniper.

[Barnfather] What's Russert doing here?

Math whizzes up at Hopkins quote chapter and verse

that the probability curve has our shooter

somewhere between Little Italy and Inner Harbor.

- [Giardello] Notify QRT. - You got it, Gee.

Lieutenant, I don't want Megan Russert anywhere near this case.

- [sirens blare] - [helicopter buzzing]

[dramatic sound effect plays]

[buzzing]

[helicopter buzzing]

- [dramatic sound effect plays] - [gun clicking]

[dramatic sound effect plays]

[helicopter buzzes]

[dramatic sound effect plays]

[clock ticking]

[phone rings]

[dramatic sound effect plays]

[sirens blaring]

[eerie music plays]

[Brodie] Ah, shit.

[Pembleton] Hey, hey, I can't see anything with you standing in my way.

Excuse me.

You know I've watched those broadcasts from Belfast and Beirut,

and I used to think, "Man, if I could only have been there," you know?

But this could be Jerusalem, this could be Sarajevo.

I don't need to go there. I got it all here, Baltimore.

This is not Belfast. This ain't Sarajevo.

- Get out of my way! - Excuse me.

I was ordered to the Little Italy area.

[Jasper] My unit's deployed there, and we're back in Highlandtown?

[Griffin] Your man said Little Italy.

Detective Lewis was operating off mathematical probabilities.

[Jasper] We could've been here in Highlandtown.

Well you're here now. Just do your damn job.

Just do your job!

- [reporter] The mayor. - [reporter] Now we'll get some action.

[reporters] Mr. Mayor!

[reporter] Are you gonna appoint a special task force to deal with this?

And there's this guy, he's this young kid, he's sitting in front of me

and his head--

- And then all this glass is flying everywhere. - His head and then the glass?

- [Lewis] Did you hear gunshots? - [woman] No, just the glass.

Detective Lewis? I-- I-- I saw it.

How you guys doing?

Hey, Mr. Robey. What you doing here?

[Alex] I live right there. Second floor, rowhouse.

Hey, Frank, Tim.

Hang on a second.

I want you to meet somebody. This is Mr. Robey.

- Mr. Robey helped us out this morning at the clock tower. - Really?

- [Bayliss] Oh, great. - This morning?

- And here? - Uh-huh.

Mr. Robey, um, would you have a few minutes to come down to headquarters with us?

Whatever you guys need.

Why don't you, uh, take a ride with us, huh?

Go with you guys?

- Yeah. - Yeah.

[Alex chuckles]

- All right. - Okay. We're right over here.

- We'll get a search warrant for the house, okay? - Okay.

[indistinct].

[Pembleton] Yesterday, we had three incidents.

Collington Square, Highlandtown, Mount Vernon.

Nine people down.

- Today-- - [Alex] Clock tower, 8:00 a.m.

Three hit.

This afternoon, Highlandtown again, another two.

The bus, shot dead.

Right. So this is where we get confused.

You see, we catch the one guy--

William Mariner.

William Mariner.

"Sniper Kills Self, Baltimore Siege Ends."

- Excuse me? - New York Times.

- [Pembleton] The New York Times? - Early edition.

January 12, 1996.

Section B, page 12, column four.

[Bayliss] Right. Right.

So this William Mariner, he shoots himself during the arrest.

- [Alex] You were there? - Yeah.

Did he say anything before he shot himself?

Doesn't matter.

He dies and we figure, you know, this red ball is over. Right, Frank?

- [Pembleton] Mm-hmm. - Right.

So everyone can just breathe easy.

"Baltimore Stunned. Relieved As Sniper Dies."

- The Times again? - Washington Post.

Front page.

With a picture of a woman sprinting away

from Collington Square.

One shoe off, mouth wide open, screaming.

- [Bayliss] Mm-hmm. - [Alex imitates screaming]

This the picture there?

Baltimore Sun, Boston Globe,

Chicago Tribune.

Now all these clippings, we found them,

they came out of your john, Alex.

You one of those toilet intellectuals?

You need a little something to read to keep you regular?

Why don't you, uh,

why don't you tell us what happened at the clock tower?

I already told the other guys.

Well, tell us again. In detail.

Start with what you were doing there.

- I was running. - [Pembleton] Running anywhere in particular?

Was someone chasing you?

No. Jogging. My usual route.

I'm running past the market, and I hear gunshots.

- [Pembleton] Then what did you see? - Blood.

[Pembleton] Did you see anything unusual?

- What do you mean? - [Pembleton] Well, help us out here, Robey.

You haven't told us anything we couldn't read on your bathroom wallpaper.

Did you see anything out of the ordinary,

anything which might lead to a shooter?

- Like what? - Any drawings on the pavement?

Drawings? What drawings?

- Do you remember seeing any? - No!

[Pembleton] How about the bus crime scene? Any artwork there?

Red graffiti on the side of the liquor store. Is that what you mean?

Do you recognize this, Alex?

- It's chalk. - [Bayliss] Chalk. Chalk.

It's 12 pieces.

- [Alex] Mm-hm. - [Bayliss] All right?

Of school certified DaVinci chalk.

- Okay? - [Alex] Mm-hm.

All right. See that?

Multiple colors, as you can see.

Yellow, such.

Now, William Mariner used to use this kind of chalk.

In fact, this box here belonged to him.

Used it for what?

Let me get this straight, so there won't be any more misunderstandings.

- You don't know William Mariner? - I don't know him.

There are two shootings in your neighborhood, one on your very block,

and you just happen to be jogging

by one of the scenes of the incidents?

- So? - So that strikes me as unlikely.

That's odd enough, coincidence enough.

That makes me think that maybe--

maybe you're the target.

You're the target.

Maybe you're the target.

- Frank. Yes. - [Pembleton] That's it.

Yes, yes, yes, the, uh,

the sniper shot the other people instead.

- It was an accident. - [Pembleton] Hmm.

- [Alex] Me? - [Bayliss] Yeah.

- [Alex] The target? - Yeah.

I mean, you must have done something to really piss this guy off.

I don't know.

Why would someone wanna at shoot me?

[Pembleton] Well, let's figure it out.

We isolate motive, we better our chances of catching this bastard.

- [Bayliss] Mm-hmm. - [Pembleton] What comes to mind, Tim?

- Money? - Mm, always a popular motive.

You owe anyone, Robey?

You got life insurance?

You got a policy there, Alex?

Maybe some family members who wanna cash in on it?

- Don't have life insurance. - [Bayliss] Oh.

- Don't have a family. - [Bayliss] What about women?

- An affair? - An affair?

Yeah. Yeah.

An affair would be the answer.

I mean, you go off, you sleep with some other guy's wife,

that's gonna send him completely over the edge.

I can look at these shootings, I can picture them as crimes of passion.

- Absolutely. - Uh-huh.

[Alex] I don't have a girlfriend.

What? No girlfriend?

Nobody you're dating? Even casually?

Look, I'm not the damn target!

Those dead delivery guys,

they were the target, okay?

You guys are supposed to try to figure out who pulled the trigger.

This is about the shooter. He's the important one here.

Like Mariner. Ain't he?

Okay, Robey.

- Get out of here. - Huh?

- What? - You're free to go. Free to go. Get out of here.

No more questions?

- No! Go home. - I can come back if you want me to.

Didn't you hear the man? Leave! You are of no help to us!

I can wait outside if you-- In case you change your mind.

No, no, thank you.

What-- But I'm helping you catch the sniper.

- You're nothing but a waste of time! - [Alex] What?

- You're a loser! And worst of all, you're a bore. - [Alex] I am not!

You're perhaps the most boring man ever to set foot in the room!

- We get all kinds in here. - Murderers.

Yeah, people who kill for all kinds of reasons.

- Lust! - [Bayliss] Mm-hmm, revenge.

- Drugs. - Power.

- Plain old hate. - People kill their husbands, wives.

- Mothers, fathers. - Sons, daughters.

- [Pembleton] Lovers. - Neighbors.

- [Pembleton] Teachers. - [Bayliss] Strangers.

- And they kill in all kinds of ways. - Shootings.

- Stabbing. - Hanging.

- Drowning. - Burning.

And then they come in here and they sit across from us at this table.

- Some of 'em are stupid! - Uh-huh.

- Some of 'em are crazy. - [Bayliss] Uh-huh.

- Some are mean. - That's right.

But none of them are boring.

- I-- I need some coffee. - [Bayliss] Yep.

I gotta get some air.

Can I have some coffee too?

- He doesn't know Mariner. - He's never even met him.

Doesn't know anything about the chalk drawings.

- So who is he then? - [Russert] Well, Mr. Robey fits our psych profile.

He's white male, early thirties.

A loner with no prior record. He lives in the neighborhood.

He's hanging around the crime scenes asking questions.

He knows what Mariner did yesterday.

He watches the city explode, and he wants in on the action.

And we still don't have any hard evidence to connect him to Mariner.

There is no connection to Mariner.

- He's a copycat. - [Giardello] A copycat.

A copycat.

[sirens blare]

[Giardello] We can hold this guy, Robey, 48 hours on probable cause.

Go home, get a shower, get yourselves some sleep.

Give me ten minutes for these NoDoz to kick in,

and then I'll go back and nail his ass to the wall.

I'll be back in a second, I just need a minute.

Haven't gone to the bathroom in two days.

Al, the press has gotten hold of the information we have someone in custody.

As far as we're concerned, we're interviewing witnesses.

Well, that's the song I gave them, but they're not dancing to it.

[Giardello] Barnfather and his public information rummy, where are they?

- Breakfast. - [Giardello] Oh.

- Frank. - I'm not asleep.

[Giardello] Get yourself something to eat.

No, the-- the coffee and the caffeine tablets just need some time.

I don't need food.

[Russert] Uh, hey, Al?

Listen, do you mind if I go in and babysit Robey?

[Pembleton] No, no, no, he's mine.

He's not gonna go anywhere for five minutes.

Go ahead.

[Russert] All right?

- Mr. Robey? - [Alex] Yeah.

- You busy? - Nah.

Hey, everybody who comes in here starts to scratch their initials in that table.

Can I see?

I wasn't really doing anything, so there's really not much to see.

Well, you know, you have the time,

you start scratching your initials.

- You know, huh? - [Russert] Mm.

I'm Captain, um, Detective Russert.

- Alex. - [Russert] Hey.

- You tired? - [Alex] Nah.

Can I, uh, get you a coffee or something?

Those two detectives that I'm helping out,

they're gonna bring me some coffee.

You helping out too?

Me? Uh, no.

No, I'm, uh...

I'm not involved in this case.

Well, uh,

yesterday I was a captain and...

and then I got busted down to detective.

So I'm nobody.

You got what?

I got demoted.

Yeah.

Yesterday, I had my own personal assistant

chasing after coffee for me.

And now I gotta-- gotta stand in the back of line like everybody else,

hoping the pot's not empty when I get to the front, you know?

How's that happen?

Someone decided.

Now I'm out.

Nobody.

You know, I think you ought to go.

But those two detectives, they're gonna get me some--

You want something?

They went to breakfast.

They've forgotten all about you.

I ain't hungry anyway.

I'm not a breakfast person.

Frank. You bring Mr. Robey his coffee?

So tell me again.

How is it that you happen to be at the first

and second shootings today?

[Russert] How do you take your coffee?

Straight, black.

- One black coffee. - Excuse me?

[Russert] Bring Mr. Robey a coffee, please.

I get his coffee? This is my interview.

Mr. Robey and I were having a conversation.

I-- I was just telling him about my demotion.

She says she's a nobody.

She's not a nobody.

Just because somebody makes a decision about her,

that doesn't make her a nobody.

You understand?

A black coffee?

- What do you want? - Me? Nothing. I'm fine.

Hey, you should have something.

Whoa! What do you want?

Nothing. I-- I'm fine. I'm fine.

If you were gonna get it for yourself, what would you get?

Tea.

I want a tea and a coffee.

How do you take your tea?

One sugar.

- A black coffee. - [Pembleton] Yeah.

- A tea... - [Pembleton] Mm-hmm.

- ...one sugar. - [Pembleton] Mm-hmm.

You think you can remember that?

You having a nice day?

- So far. - Good.

Black coffee, tea with sugar, black tea, coffee with su--

Anyways, I'm bringing a side of sugar, all right?

- He's got a temper. - Yeah, well, he is who he is.

- But thanks. - For what?

- For asking for me. - No problem.

I, uh, I-- I appreciate it though.

Wha-- He's gonna get me coffee, he can't get you something?

Well, I can't get anybody

to pay attention to what I say anymore.

[Alex] Doesn't mean it has to stay that way.

Oh, yes it does.

Then you just have to make 'em pay attention.

You do something.

That guy doing the shootings today,

he's doing something.

Yeah, but I can't go around killing innocent people, like he does.

Everyone's paying attention, though, huh?

Hmm, I dunno.

All the network news people are getting tired of him fast.

- They're losing interest. - They're wrong.

This guy's dangerous. You know why?

He's more dangerous than Mariner.

Nobody knows who he is. He's a mystery man.

- So-- so what good does that do him? - What?

[Russert] Well, if nobody knows who he really is, then he's still a nobody.

And a cheap imitation at that.

- Cheap? - Yeah.

You seen how he shut the whole city down?

He didn't start it though. Um, Mariner...

See, Mariner was the guy who lit up the city with his first shots.

- This other guy, he's not original. - [Alex chuckles]

This is not a nobody that they're dealing with.

Mariner was a player. He-- he knew all this attention would come to him.

This other guy, he doesn't want the attention.

- Sure he does. - Oh, he's a copycat, a phony.

Don't say that. I told you, he's dangerous.

I saw the bodies of the people he shot.

[Pembleton] Okay.

- Tea, one sugar. - [Alex scoffs]

- That's my black, right? - Yup.

- Hey! - [Alex] I need it more than you do.

He said he'd get me coffee.

So what happens-- what happens if this guy

doesn't stand up for the shootings?

It gives someone else an idea, right?

An idea about what?

About someone else taking credit for the shootings today.

A copycat of a copycat?

Someone who's gonna grab the attention.

Right, and even if the real shooter did turn himself in,

he wouldn't have half an interesting a story

as the guy who said he did, but he didn't.

[laughs] That's not right.

[Pembleton] What, there's a right or wrong in this?

Every other person out there now is in some rush

to reinvent themselves,

to get out of a lifetime of being a nobody.

But anyone would know right off who was for real,

and who's taking credit for something that ain't theirs.

Nobody's gonna take credit for something I did.

Like the shootings today?

Well...

It ain't right when somebody says

they're somebody that they're not.

So you were at both crime scenes today

because you want the attention, you wanna take the credit?

I deserve the credit, don't I?

Well, no one should take away what's yours.

I'm not a copycat.

I'm an original.

I had the idea before this Mariner guy.

He just beat me to the punch, that's all.

I should have been first.

I've had this idea for years.

You tell those news people

that it was me today, nobody else.

I'm gonna read you your rights.

I'm not a nobody.

Can I get a coffee now?

[dramatic sound effect plays]

[dramatic sound effect plays]

[dramatic sound effect plays]

- [dramatic sound effect plays] - [tense music plays]

[Pembleton] I want something new.

Ooh.

- An egg cream. Chocolate. - Okay.

Uh, the usual? Coffee and a club soda?

[Bayliss] Mm-hmm.

- [Pembleton] Platform shoes. - What about 'em?

They're back. Women are wearing them again.

Along with beads, leather vests, bellbottom pants.

Platform shoes?

Yeah, check it out, Tim. See for yourself.

We ran out of new ideas somewhere around 1978.

Since then, we've been repeating ourselves.

Same songs, same movies, same clothes.

Even the same crimes. Like this Robey guy. No imagination.

He's just part of the rhythm and the rhyme of all this repeating.

This is 1996. Here comes the millennium. Hmm?

But people are nervous. They're on edge. They're jumpy. Huh?

This is supposed to be something new, huh?

But we can't look that in the face, can we? Ah, so what do we do?

Ah, we grab a little something from one year in the '50s,

a little of something else from another year, maybe late '60s.

We think we're creating something new and different,

but really all we're doing is just repeating the same old nothing.

We're all copycats. Right?

- Frank, where haven't I heard all this before, huh? - [Russert laughs]

- Well-- - [waitress] Coffee for you.

- Ah! - Um, club soda for the lady.

- Thank you. - And a chocolate egg cream.

[Pembleton] Mm!

Hey, Frank, computers, the internet.

All that is new.

- This is not an egg cream. - [Bayliss] Sure it is.

No, no, no, no, I-- I know what an egg cream tastes like. This is watery.

Well, they probably used low-fat milk.

So it's a little bit different. What?

Then it is not an egg cream!

- [Bayliss] So? - So here-- here it is.

We take an-- a perfectly good beverage,

which is fine in its original form, and we make it undrinkable.

- I'm getting outta here. - [Bayliss] Oh, Frank, take it easy.

- No, I-- I'm gone. - [Bayliss] Going home, Frank?

I'm outta here.

- [Russert] Good night, Frank. - [Pembleton] Thanks a lot.

Mm. Well, my coffee's just fine.

- So is my club soda. - [Bayliss chuckles]

So you gonna stay in Homicide?

Right now what I have to do

is go home and apologize to my daughter

for not coming to her piano recital.

Oh, right.

Ah, thank you.

I gotta tell you, I'm glad you're back to being a detective.

- Really? - [Bayliss] Mm.

- Why, was I that bad at being a captain? - [Bayliss] Yeah.

- Yeah? - [Bayliss] Yeah.

Yeah, you see, instead of being one of the bosses, you bucked the bosses.

You fought for us, did the right thing.

So you sucked as a captain

because you were too much of a-- too much of an original.

Well, hooray for me!

[*]

[song lyrics play]

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