We just found him. The meat-water. Dead.
How'd he get it?
Multiple stab wounds.
Start nosing around, Carl.
All of my contacts came up cold.
You know, there's one we haven't used in a long time.
No.
Look, me, I don't care about. I'm finished, all right?
But my family, my wife, my kid, them you gotta protect.
What for?
Look, I ask politely.
Out! Spread them out!
Now that person knows that I scabbed on him and...
See, they're trying to get back at me by hurting you.
One day, one night somewhere, you might get it.
You can see the police.
I'll be right back.
All right, Carl, traffic.
The road is under a dead-end zone.
Pretty bad.
Get out there. You get a bad flight.
Carl?
Hi, Ed. What are you doing here?
I sent in the squeal.
You?
I was on my way home, wanted to pick up a couple of things.
I saw a guy on Sunday in a place closed early.
Pulled in, found the black and white.
Whitman was lying near the door.
How'd he get in?
Multiple stab wounds.
I figure he pulled in, making a routine check, got jumped.
Okay, you've been here long enough. How does it add up?
Three men.
Probably came in with a regular Sunday crowd and hid in the basement store room
until the store closed.
Found some cigar butts and unfinished sandwiches.
That's the alarm system.
Electronic sound sensor. They got around it somehow.
How much was the take?
Manager's in the office now trying to add it up.
This place is jammed on the weekends. It must have been high.
Safe blown or did they work the combination?
Blown. Muffled with blankets and clothing.
They bypassed the alarm safe.
Ran a new circuit around the sensor.
Hey, Lieutenant.
Yeah.
It's the night security officer.
What about him?
We just found him in the meat locker.
Dead.
Music
Looks like you've got a heavy one, Carl.
I'm nowhere. It's been two weeks and nothing's cracked.
The lab's drawn a blank, no fingerprints.
Not even that much of a lead.
The explosives used on the safe? The bypass and the alarm?
No way of tracing them.
But there was an explosives expert. An electronics expert.
Everybody I've got in my books is clean.
Good morning.
Morning, Ed.
Hi, Ed.
Carl, how's your case coming?
Oh, that question's beginning to bug me.
There's your answer.
Carl, has it occurred to you that you might be tackling this the wrong way?
After two weeks? It occurs to me that I'm not doing anything right.
You've been concentrating on the pros.
You really think this is a professional job?
Explosives? Electronics?
It wasn't necessary for those two men to be killed.
The security guard died of suffocation.
An accident. A tape across his face was just supposed to keep him quiet.
And what about Whitman?
He'll go up against a cop with knives. It was a panic move.
All right, amateurs.
They're all over the place.
Half the town's got an idea for a hundred grand caper.
But how many have the hundred thousand?
And what would they do with it? How would they spend it?
Start nosing around, Carl.
I have been. All of my contacts came up cold.
What about yours?
I'm sure we would have heard by now.
You know, there's one we haven't used in a long time.
No. Chief, he'd be very good for this job.
I said no.
Chief, you holding out on me?
The man is not available.
Well, you could try, couldn't you?
I'm sorry.
Two men were killed in that caper, Chief.
One of them a cop.
Hey. Morning, Baxter.
Hiya, Nancy baby. When will you be back?
How do you tell? I burn the road with some good sales.
I keep the match on fire. You know.
Then burn the road good.
Okay. Okay.
How do you feel, Myrtle?
By the way, when is Myrtle going to have her pups?
Pups?
Well, whatever you call baby mice.
Mice.
Okay, you're the smart one in the family.
I asked my science teacher, but he couldn't tell me.
So I wrote to Marcus Welby and told him all Myrtle's symptoms.
You get a diagnosis yet?
I haven't heard yet.
Well, I'll call and check in from time to time while I'm away.
Groovy. And if one of them's a boy, I'll name it Baxter Flynn Jr.
Hey, I'll be honored.
You better get going. You know what time it is?
Bye, Mom. Bye, honey.
Keep the match burning, Baxter.
Will do, baby. Do good in school.
When is she ever going to call you father?
She knows I'm her father.
I wonder sometimes.
Come on, Harriet.
Is there ever going to be a time when the phone rings that you don't go away?
Harriet, what do I do when a customer calls?
I've got a route to go. I've got to sell that route.
When's it ever going to stop that you have one job, one place to live?
Honey, honey, I think I've got me a shtick this time.
I'm going to sell franchises on all these little cuties, all those suckers out there.
I'm going to build us an empire, I'm telling you, Harriet.
Okay, but you'd better tell Nancy, too, because she'd like to have a father, you know.
Yeah?
Mm-hmm. And one place to stay.
And so would I.
Do you know that ever since she's been born, I feel like we've done nothing but run, we just keep moving.
I don't think I'm ever going to stop.
Well, you eat. The rent gets paid.
Are we going to stay?
I don't know. Three or four years. It's better than three or four months.
And I always come back right there.
Huh?
Mm-hmm.
Come on, you've got to catch the bus. I'll drive you to the terminal.
No, no, I'll take the local.
Come on.
Listen, don't forget...
Yeah, I know. As soon as I hit the motel, I put the salami and the cheese right in the refrigerator.
Refrigerator.
And the car. You going to wash the car while I'm gone?
Yes, I am. And please remember to stay away from all those naughty ladies in all those towns.
You're the only naughty lady I know, Harriet.
I'm going to put you on a diet.
Hey, I'd better go.
Okay.
Felix, I think you blew it by 30 seconds.
You know what happens? I mean, I could miss my other bus.
I miss my bus. That's like taking bread out of my family's mouth.
Come on, pay up. Pay up.
I had unusual traffic.
Unusual traffic. I don't want to hear your problems. The bed is a bed.
You're bold, Sheriff.
You're a good loser, Felix. I'll see you on the next goodbye.
Service.
Hey, Mr. Flynn, how was your trip?
Augie, to sum it up in one word, that's the entire vocabulary of today's youth of America was super, Augie.
Just super. I sold the line like you wouldn't believe.
Here you go.
I beat you last time, Mr. Flynn.
Last time? Augie, there are last times and there are times before the last time.
I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
But there are last times and there are times before the last times.
But this is like a new time, which is almost like a first time.
What do you say?
I say I got you wired, Mr. Flynn.
Yeah.
For how much?
Ten bucks.
Ten bucks? You got a very good deal, Augie.
Besides, I'll even throw in a bonus.
I will sweep my loss to twenty if you double my win.
How does that sound?
Sure.
Yeah? Okay.
You had me worried there, Augie.
Okay, 40 bucks.
Now wait a minute.
What do you mean wait?
Augie, you know what your problem is?
You never listen.
I told you I'd sweeten my loss to 20 if you doubled my win, right?
Twice 20 is 40.
You get the picture now, Augie?
I guess.
All right.
It's one of those super days, Augie.
Just super.
Ten.
Twenty.
Uh-huh.
Thirty.
Forty.
Beauty.
Can I have my room key now?
Three, two, two.
Pleasure doing business.
I gotta make a phone call.
I'm inside.
Oh, yes.
Nine o'clock.
Flynn?
Yes.
You disappointed, Chief?
Yes, I am.
Hello again, Baxter.
Chief?
You remember Sergeant Brown?
This is Officer Sanger.
How's your wife?
Oh, she's fine.
Just fine.
Your daughter?
You know how the kids say, super groovy.
Well, Baxter, we have a... a difficult case.
How long does it last, Chief?
How long do you keep your hooks in the guy?
Don't you ever let go?
Are you kidding?
What is it, Baxter?
Your conscience?
Do you always have to feel you're being pressured into a job?
You're leaning on me, Chief.
Not now, not even the first time.
We never sent for you.
You volunteered, remember?
Yeah, I remember.
I got taken on that job, Chief.
I got shortchanged.
That corner, those baboons really took me.
So you informed on them to bust a rap on yourself, as simple as that?
Well, wouldn't you?
I'm not you.
I didn't have to feed a habit.
I didn't have everybody on my tail, from the tables at Vegas to the shoeshine boys selling numbers.
I didn't have everybody trying to collect.
When do I get off the hook?
When do I go free, huh?
When do you want to go free?
When are you going to stop running because your markers are drowning you?
Look, I've been here in Frisco a long time.
And you know why.
You didn't have to call me back.
You've been off the hook since the first bust.
Here.
Feed a habit.
That's what you said, didn't you, Chief?
Strictly business, you and me.
Yeah, business.
I blow my cover, I'm down the drain, washed up.
No matter how you cut it, I'm up to my eyeballs in a wringer.
I didn't invent the game.
I know, but it was invented a long time ago.
Baxter, Baxter Judas, good as gold.
And what about it, talking about gold?
100 bucks a day.
What can I say, Chief? You just won me over?
Just another corner I turned, another trick?
All right, what this time?
You read about the latest rip-off?
Yeah, cop got killed, security guard, I heard about it.
There's $100,000 in cold cash that's floating around out there in some of your places.
Now, nobody steals that kind of money to put in a bank.
And the longer they hang loose, the less they think they have to worry about.
But sooner or later, some one of them is going to get drunk and start feeling indestructible.
Some one of them is going to want someone else to know how smart he is.
I don't have to tell you.
I know, these jokers run off the mouth.
There were three jokers in this. I don't want them for money, I want them for murder one.
I understand. You got a lead for me?
No. Just hit the street, circulate, you know where.
Yeah, don't I ever, huh?
It's not marked, is it?
We'll be waiting.
Waiting to hear from you.
Yeah, I got your number, chief.
We need him, Mark, you know that.
We need snakes, too. Doesn't mean I have to like them.
Hey, Baxter.
Here you go, baby.
How you doing?
Okay. You betting, man?
I don't know. You sure carrying a large bundle of bread there, Hugo?
You better believe it. There only four balls left.
Who you like?
It's a large bundle of bread.
A draught or inside straight.
All one color.
Against four aphids.
Woo!
It's like the lady always said.
How much you betting, man?
I don't know, Hugo. You name it.
50 a ball.
50 it is.
Who you like?
I'll take Billy Joe.
You got him.
All right.
Chief, uh...
Nothing new, chief. No big mouths.
Keep listening.
I'm at the back of the room.
Or is your number?
Who's your pal?
I'm the last coming down.
Hey, Artie, how you doing?
Hey, Baxter.
Hey, Artie, how you doing?
I gotta talk to you.
Wait a minute. This is more important.
Something cooking?
Yeah, I got a great deal.
If you got some bread, we can really clean up.
We'll talk about it later.
Yeah, Harry, what's going great, honey?
Well, don't spend the money.
Nothing going on, chief.
I'll be right back.
Uh...
Cup of coffee, Black.
How you doing?
What do you like in the double?
Baxter.
Hey, you said it.
How you doing?
I'm empty. Clean out.
Anything.
Come on, take it.
God love you.
Sammy, any fresh noise on the street?
I've been out in the cold, Baxter.
Real cold.
I understand.
God love you.
Honey, I think I'm gonna have to stay here a couple of days longer than I expected.
Maybe this time you can make something work, Baxter.
It's going great, honey.
Yeah, I think I got a hot one this time.
Got the match burning, huh, Baxter?
Yeah, baby. How's Myrtle?
On scent. Still on scent.
I don't know, chief.
Nothing going on.
No fresh faces, no new high rollers.
They've got to be somewhere out there, Baxter.
Angel, baby.
Little off your beat, aren't you, Baxter?
I don't know. I thought I'd see how the better half lives.
How's the action, baby?
Any hot ones, high rollers?
They're all alike with a tower, after all.
That's very profound.
Hey, snake eyes.
Maddie, long time, huh?
Yeah.
You want a drink?
Sure, why not. What are you drinking?
Just some sparkling water.
Some sparkling water here?
Yeah, I haven't been around lately.
Yeah, well, I've been to Vegas, Maddie. I got vacuums.
You know, you're just the guy I want to see.
Me?
Well, you know where the action is.
Depends what kind of action.
Oh, thanks, baby.
You know, I feel so hot
you know where there's a game, right?
Oh, you mean that kind of action?
You got some money, Maddie? Who'd you kill?
Now, come on. I just feel hot.
I'll tell you what I'll do.
I'll even stake you that 200 bucks.
Wow.
That's the best offer I've had.
Matter of fact, it's the only offer.
Let me get out of here and get dressed,
and we'll go get him, OK, snake eyes?
Sure, killer.
Matt Morris, age 43,
former Master Sergeant, Air Force,
ran Officers Club, overseas Air Force base,
brought up on charges of skimming.
Cleared.
What else?
He has a brother-in-law who runs a television repair shop,
Walter Spencer.
There's also a repair man,
Charles Voight,
graduate, MIT.
MIT?
Engineering, electronics?
Baxter said Morris was an old face on the street.
With a lot of fresh money.
Not exactly conclusive evidence.
It's more than we've had so far.
Is it? What about the sandwiches and cigar butts
you found in that discount house?
Hey, we're collected.
Averys make mouth molds and impressions.
Mark, you go after Morris. Shake him up.
What do you care about his smoking and eating habits?
Oh. Huh-huh.
What's the matter?
The Chief too busy to kiss me goodbye himself?
The Chief didn't ask us to say goodbye, Baxter.
Well,
then you say goodbye to the Chief for me, then.
He's got other ideas, Flynn.
Hey, listen, fellas.
I've been living with that guy day and night.
I got you all the stuff I told you.
So you just tell the Chief,
good luck. I'm going home.
There may be a delay about that.
Oh, come on, guys. I deliver. What more do you want?
More.
How much more?
So far, Morris has kept himself clean.
He's made no careless moves. You told us that.
Well, we can't just go out and clamp him.
Now the Chief wants to crowd him,
see which way he'll move if he's pushed.
So what does he want from me?
You do your thing, Flynn.
You finger him for us.
Hey, what's the bet, gentlemen?
Matty, go on. Double it.
This new kid is a hustler. I'm telling you.
He's got the juice, I swear.
New girl, you want to sweeten it twice?
It's okay with me.
Hey, you can't lose for trying lately, can you, man?
It's a golden touch.
Mm-hmm.
Man, I'll be right back. I got to wash up.
You,
office dude, legs apart, arms breaking apart.
What for? Look, I ask but lightly.
I'll... I'll... Spread them out.
I don't want any trouble. Please.
What is this?
Okay, turn around.
This better be good.
Identification, please.
Why don't you read me your act first?
I mean, I know my rights.
I know what your rights are.
Identification, name.
It just happens to be personal.
Look, I can book you refusals to show identification.
I'll cooperate with the police officer now.
Are you going to show me who you are,
or do I find out my way?
Matt Morris.
Yeah, that's in English.
Well, I'm sorry.
As the suspect wanted for armed robbery and assault,
you have the fifth of description.
Why, you ought to get your signal straight.
Just trying to do my job.
You know,
I could have hung you out to dry
on a false arrest charge.
Next, uh...
Hey, wait a minute, friend.
Ways not.
Want not.
Later.
What is it with you?
You look like you just shook hands with a ghost.
How long does it take you to wash your hands?
You know, there was this and there was that.
You know what I mean.
I got a sure thing going in the fifth race.
What do you say you and me go to the track, huh?
I just got shagged down by a lousy cop.
Oh, come on, you're putting me on.
I want to talk. Private.
Sure, Matty.
Let's talk. Public places for private talks.
That's my motto.
Private.
Real private.
Come on, let's take a ride.
30 minutes you've been driving, Matty.
I don't mind you drinking if I'm driving.
Drinking and driving.
Hey, Matty, baby, come on.
I figure I got some years left.
Actually, you got a pipeline.
There's a whole scene here.
You know it all.
I'm not going to let you get away with it.
I'm going to get away with it.
After the whole scene here, you know it all.
I suppose.
I need a favor. I figure you can swing me into it.
Matty, you've been jockeying me all over the county,
just ask me a favor.
I need a little edge, Rachel.
Kind of an edge.
Look at that glove compartment.
Hey, Matty, you pull this jar?
I never lay the hand on those two guys.
Says here the three guys were in on it.
Garbage-hungry. I don't share their rap.
Hey, Matty, you're beautiful. You knocked out all these alarms?
There's some backstool you're talking to, an expert.
I gotta thank Big Unk for that.
Big Unk says, what do you want to learn?
I said, I want to learn a trade, Bing Unk.
When I hang up this uniform, I want to have an education.
And Big Unk gave me one.
Electrical engineering.
I'm gonna go into partnership with that dumb idiot brother-in-law of mine.
Listen, you open your trap about this, I'll kill you.
Me? Matty, come on, you're talking to Baxter.
That hot-headed, lousy, stupid brother-in-law.
My sister has to go and marry him.
What kind of an edgety do you need, Matty?
I need a cover for that weekend.
A motel, a hotel. Somebody that'll swear that I was there, registered.
I can handle it.
I know somebody needs a business real bad, Matty.
All right, there's a thousand bucks in it for you.
And that girl, I want her to look right.
Don't sweat it, I'll take care of it.
Come on, go on.
Just tell me how you want it set up.
It's all set up, go on.
Hello, yeah?
Matt Morris?
That's right.
Uh, spell it.
M-O-R-R-I-S.
Two T's and Matt.
Oh.
Any friend of Baxter's is a friend of mine.
What date do you want to be registered?
Uh, it's August.
Uh, August.
Uh, it's August.
Uh, fourth, fifth and sixth.
Four, five, six.
Let's see.
It was a weekend, Saturday, Sunday, Monday.
Yeah, that's right.
Oh, and, uh, about the girl.
I think I ought to meet the lady.
I mean, I want to see what kind of company I go around with.
Uh.
Hey, what are you waiting for?
I wish you'd put out that cigar.
Come on.
Hi, Baxter.
Oh, hi, honey. Uh, uh, fri-friend.
This is Matt, Matt, friend.
Friend to Matt, hello.
Sit down.
Uh, you want a drink?
I never drink during business hours.
You want anything?
Tomato juice.
Uh, tomato juice for the lady.
I understand we had a super fun weekend one weekend.
Yeah.
Real super fun.
Tell me about it.
Uh, we went sightseeing like you'd never believe it.
Look, the police are gonna ask us to just keep it in order.
First, we went, um,
well, the winery.
Second, the whole
restaurant.
Uh,
second, the whole cable car bit.
Third, the bakery.
Uh, four
fisherman's wharf.
You got that?
I got the scene.
You really picked a winner.
I'm glad I passed inspection.
Look, if you, uh, got the rest of the evening free,
I'd like to sweeten the pot.
Maybe you can take me sightseeing this time.
One meeting at a time.
I want to get out.
I gotta get out.
I handed you enough on Mars to hang him, chief.
I paid my dues.
Twice over, Baxter.
So what now?
Well, before you complained that I didn't come to say goodbye to you personally.
Oh, well,
that's okay.
Goodbye.
I don't need your advice.
Don't answer the phone anymore.
What, are you letting me off the hook?
I'm telling you to get yourself off the hook.
I will call you.
Believe me, if I need you again, I will call.
Yeah.
I believe you, chief.
Well?
You know how it is, chief.
You got a route to follow, you gotta take that route.
At least I can tell Harry at one thing, I had a good road trip this time.
I'll see you sometime, huh, chief?
That's entirely up to you.
Isn't it?
Well, at least we have the mouth molds and impressions.
Yeah, but if we could have gotten him to testify when we went to trial,
we'd have a lock on Mars.
If he'd blown Baxter's cover, he'd be a marked man for the rest of his life.
Isn't he now?
Oh, honestly, you fool.
You miss me?
Of course I miss you.
Oh, terrific. How's everything?
All right, I made a few bills this trip.
I'm gonna get a little mail order business going, honey, I swear.
Great.
Where's Nancy? Nancy, where are you, baby?
Baxter, I'm in here.
Hey, how you doing, honey?
Hi.
How'd you not know how to come home on Saturday when I don't have any school?
Because I am brilliant.
I'm so glad you're here.
That's why at an early age, I learned that Saturday always came after Friday.
I'm glad you're here.
Hey, how's Myrtle?
Did she have her pups yet?
No.
No answer from Dr. Welby yet?
Probably doesn't know from mice, honey.
Hello. You forgot to put this alami in the refrigerator.
I forgot.
I was moving from one place to another, honey.
I guess I just forgot.
Hey, look, Baxter, I got a split.
You stay with Myrtle and her friends.
They missed you.
I think you're becoming paranoid.
At least I'm not pregnant.
Uh-huh. All right.
I hope I see you again.
Well, Miss Gamaris.
Fancy meeting you here.
I'll have to ask you to come to the police headquarters with me.
The last time you said I fit the description of a guy wanted for armed robbery and assault.
And you were just trying to do your job.
I still am.
You sure can find me in the funny places of the world.
I'm not a
cop.
I'm a cop.
You sure can find me in the funniest places at the funniest times.
I wonder how you do that.
Every cop has a little blood on it.
Maybe I smell a human rat.
A rat fink.
I wouldn't know how a rat fink smells.
No, but I'm beginning to.
You know, you're gonna lose that tan of yours when I hang you for this false arrest charge.
You do that.
Meantime, these are your rights.
You have the right to remain silent.
The right to.
Save that for the tourists.
Okay, let's go.
Ed.
Matt Marks.
Right around this way, please.
Mr.
White, Mr.
Spencer, that'll be all for now.
Sit down, Mr.
Morris, please.
I'm Lieutenant Reese.
I've got a call into my lawyer.
I'll talk to him.
We wouldn't have it any other way.
Let's just call this a friendly chat until he gets here.
I also don't hear very good.
Then try lip reading me.
We've got you pegged at that discount house gig.
That makes you a prime suspect for murder one.
The police office and the security guard.
Flat out, Morris.
We're trying to make that stick.
And if we can't, that puts you in a position as an accomplice to murder.
Of course, a lot depends on you.
What your brother-in-law Spencer's testimony and what Charles Boyd has to say.
Now, listen.
Hold it, hold it.
Please, don't say anything that might be held against you.
You'll have plenty of chances for that later on.
Well, Morris is low.
He is here with the release.
His family put up there.
Somebody loves him.
Okay, Morris, see you soon.
I'll say it again.
There's a smell of a rat.
The stink of a rotten rat.
Hi.
Mom?
Baxter?
Anybody home?
Ah!
Harriet said some guy from the city came by.
He said he was from the city.
Anyway, something about checking the water pipes.
She didn't know. What does she know?
He was even there when she went to the market.
She didn't know when he left.
Then Nancy came home after school.
Kid cried for two days after that.
And yesterday, Harriet went to start the car.
All of a sudden, there's a big explosion, a smoke bomb.
Harriet went ape.
I had to call a doctor.
It covers bone, Baxter.
Somebody knows.
Somebody out there spinning you.
Somebody who wants you to live with the fear
that one day, one night, somewhere, you might get it.
Yeah, but my wife, my kid, why them?
Let them just get me.
That would be too simple.
Would only hurt once.
Look, you.
I know how you hate my guts.
I'm the one who fingered Matt for you in the bar.
You're the one who picked him up next.
And I'll bet my life you're the one who blew my cover.
Only Fowler orders, Flynn.
That'll snitch. I don't talk.
You don't talk. Nobody has to talk to strip somebody clean.
All it takes is a wrong glance,
the blink of an eye, a wrong word,
the way you tighten your tie when somebody asks you a loaded question.
That's all it takes. It's as easy as that.
Baxter, Mark wouldn't knowingly lift the lid on a man.
Well, I don't care how you cut it, Chief.
It's off.
Do you honestly think we'd leave you out in the cold?
Look, me, I don't care about.
I can wear glasses, dye my hair,
change my name,
grow a beard, anything.
I'm finished, all right?
But my family, my wife, my kid,
them you gotta protect. That much you owe me.
They'll have to move.
Change their names.
We can arrange all that.
They'll have to begin another life somewhere.
But who's gonna tell them that?
Who's gonna tell them the truth about you?
Me.
It's wild, Harry.
It's so far out you wouldn't believe it.
Me, good old Baxter, see nothing, hear nothing, say nothing.
Me up in that great big spotlight in the sky.
Honest, honey, I'm destroyed.
Baxter, just because you happened to be there,
because you accidentally saw something?
No, no, no, honey.
See, what I'm telling you is
it was a thousand and one shot, honey.
Can you imagine? We have to take the beating.
I'm telling you, Baxter,
can you imagine? We have to take the beating.
We're leaving again. Is that what you're trying to tell me?
We have to bail out, honey.
You and Nancy, you've seen what they've done.
They're trying to shut me up through you.
Chief, will you tell her, please?
Your husband has information that's dangerous.
To him, to you, to all of you.
I'm sorry, honey.
I wish there was another way.
Well, we'll manage.
You see, I'll make it up to you, honey.
I swear it'll never happen again.
It's all right.
I'm sorry.
No, it's not all right, honey.
See, I'm lying to you, Harriet.
I've been lying to you about everything.
I'm a cheat.
I have a sickness, Harriet.
I gamble.
It's my whole life, see? It's all it's ever been.
Cards, horses, dice.
Will it rain? Will it snow? Will it sunshine?
I bet anything.
Two bucks, two bits, whatever I got in my pocket.
I hit it big or go broke.
I go broke, I lose my route, we move to another town.
That's what I've always told you, right?
No, no, I had to run, honey.
I had to run out of those towns.
Because I could never pay off when I lost.
And if I ever went back there,
if I ever showed my face, they'd kill me.
And there's another thing.
When we first came here, honey,
I got myself mixed up in some kind of a deal.
I was empty. I needed money.
I let myself get roped in on a robbery.
Then these guys, they tried to cheat me.
I knew I'd get caught. I knew I'd go to jail, too.
I just couldn't let that happen, honey.
I couldn't let you and Nancy...
I just couldn't let you two know about a thing like that.
I'd kill myself first.
So I made a deal with the police, and I bought my freedom.
I became an informer.
See, I turned the other guys in.
And I've been doing it ever since.
It's how we're able to live.
See, I get paid.
As soon as I hit the streets, I use that money to gamble.
I'm not a thief.
I'm not a big envelope.
I'm not a very nice person, Harriet.
I've been like a dirty snowball,
just rolling down a hill.
I keep getting dirtier and dirtier all the time.
I just blew my cover on the street.
That means I am informed on somebody, see?
and now that person knows that I scabbed on him.
That's why the mice, the car,
see, they're trying to get back at me by hurting you.
That's why he's here.
He's gonna get you away from all this,
get you out of this, give you a new name,
answer you, go to a new school.
I'm sorry, honey, so help me God I have.
Then it's like you killed Myrtle,
like you really killed her,
isn't it, Father?
Nancy, baby, Father, I'm Baxter.
Baxter died.
He's dead.
I guess I'd better be shoving off now, huh?
Harriet, you don't mind if I take the suitcase, do you?
Thanks.
I'll send a policewoman to stay with you and your daughter
until we get you moved.
I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
Hello?
Oh, here, just a minute.
Thank you.
Hindsight?
Yes.
Yes, thank you.
Chief, it's over for me. I'm out of here.
Chief, it's over for me. I'm finished.
You still want me to testify? I swear it.
Won't be necessary.
That was Lieutenant Reese.
Seems Matt Morris's brother-in-law
wasn't any more fond of Morris than Morris was of him.
He talked.
Tough rocks for Maddie, huh?
Well, uh...
You said something about another name for my daughter and myself
and another place to live and another school for her.
That's right.
Could you also, uh...
Well, could you get the same name for Baxter
and the same place to live
and a good honest-to-God job?
I mean...
Well, look, now that I know what the problem is,
maybe I can help.
I'm sure I could, Mrs. Flynn.
Thanks.
Honey, I swear I'll kick it.
I'll lay odds I kick it.
Young lady, I've come to say goodbye.
Your father is going with you.
It's how your mother wants it to be.
You know, Nancy...
Your father may not have been the smartest man
to have done what he did,
but he was a very brave man to have said what he said.
Baxter?
Nancy, baby!
See?
I know how this sounds, but I'm not going to talk to you anymore.
That sounds just fine to me.
Just fine.
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