"HOMICIDE: LIFE EVERLASTING" Written by James Yoshimura, Eric Overmyer, Tom Fontana EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS Barry Levinson, Tom Fontana, Jim Finnerty FINAL DRAFT - October 22, 1999 Rev. 11/8 blue Rev. 11/15 pink CO-EXECUTIVE PRODUCER Eric Overmyer DIRECTOR Jean De Segonzac LIST OF REVISED PAGES Revision Date Pages in revision BLUE 8 November 99 Full Script PINK 15 November 99 Full Script PLEASE NOTE: The action for "HOMICIDE: Life Everlasting" takes place over the course of one Day, ending that Night. All wardrobe, props, etc., should reflect the weather conditions of the Fall in Baltimore. The following shots of "The Board" should be scheduled: "HARDWICKE" in RED "HARDWICKE" in BLACK "RYLAND" in RED "RYLAND" in BLUE These names are to be written under Lewis' name. "GIARDELLO" in BLACK This name is to be written under Hall's name. The following CHARACTER NAMES have been changed: OFFICER FRANK KEANE to OFFICER JEFF WESTBY DOCTOR SUNIL MEHTA to DOCTOR ROBERT WILLIAMS NEWS ANCHOR to DINA NAPOLI UNIFORM to OFFICER JAY SALERNO CAST BEAU FELTON...................Daniel Baldwin STANLEY BOLANDER..............Ned Beatty JOHN MUNCH....................Richard Belzer FRANK PEMBLETON...............Andre Braugher MIKE KELLERMAN................Reed Diamond MIKE GIARDELLO................Giancarlo Esposito JULIANNA COX..................Michelle Forbes STUART GHARTY.................Peter Gerety MEGAN RUSSERT.................Isabella Hofmann ED DANVERS....................Zeljko Ivanek MELDRICK LEWIS................Clark Johnson AL GIARDELLO..................Yaphet Kotto KAY HOWARD....................Melissa Leo TERRI STIVERS.................Toni Lewis RENE SHEPPARD.................Michael Michele J.H. BRODIE...................Max Perlich STEVE CROSETTI................Jon Polito TIM BAYLISS...................Kyle Secor PAUL FALSONE..................Jon Seda LAURA BALLARD.................Callie Throne COLONEL GEORGE BARNFATHER.....Clayton LeBouef CAPTAIN ROGER GAFFNEY.........Walt MacPherson DOCTOR GEORGE GRISCOM.........Austin Pendleton DETECTIVE ROBERT HALL.........Jason Priestly QTR LIEUTENANT JASPER.........Gary D'Addario DOCTOR LAUSANNE...............Herb Levinson NAOMI.........................Sharon Ziman OFFICER JAY SALERNO...........Jay Spadaro DOCTOR SCHEINER...............Ralph Tabakin OFFICER JEFF WESTBY...........Granville Adams ERIC THOMAS JAMES.............Eamonn Walker HOMELESS MAN..................Lanny Flaherty DAWN DANIELS..................Rhonda Overby SHIRLEY DESASSY...............Elizabeth Berman DOCTOR ELI DEVILBISS..........Sean Whitesell DOCTOR VICTOR EHRLICH.........Ed Begley Jr. ROBERT GESSNER................ ROSINA GIARDELLO..............Irma St.Paule RICHARD GILROY................John Badila CARDINAL KEELER...............As Himself JOHN KOMEN....................Craig Wallace HELEN LUCAITIS................As Herself BILLIE LOU MCCOY..............Ellen McElduff KARL MILLER...................Paul West DINA NAPOLI...................As Herself ROBBIE ROBERTS................Phillip Reid NATHANIEL STEIGLER............Mark Joy BERNIE WEEKS..................Reg E. Cathey DOCTOR ROBERT WILLIAMS........David Copeland Goodman NEWS MANAGER..................Gradley Thoennes NURSE.........................Susan Lynn Ross OLD WOMAN.....................Leeana Saunders O.R. NURSE....................Adetoro Makinde SKINHEAD......................Matt Oney WITNESS #1....................Richard DeAngelis WITNESS #2....................Jarvis W. George SETS EXTERIORS INTERIORS African Revival African Revival Movement Building Movement Building Alley Bolander Home Baltimore Kitchen Canton Street Church Home & Hospital Charles Street Chapel Church Home & Hospital Emergency Room Emergency Room RE Entrance Gunpowder Falls Hallway Inner Harbor ICU Ampitheatre Corridor Jimmy's Restaurant Giadello's Room Backdoor Nurse's Station Little Italy Operating Room #4 Alley Operating Room #5 Bocce Ball Court Waiting Room Playground Desassy Apartment Sidestreet Homicide Unit Perry Hall Coffee Room James Home Lieutenant's Office Police Headquarters Interrogation Room #1 Balcony Interrogation Room #2 Roof Observation Room State Police Headquarters Squad Room Street James Home Thames Street Bedroom WYAT Hallway Kitchen Loyola College Lecture Hall NYPD Special Victim's Unit Pembleton's Toyota Police Headquarters Garage Lobby Stairway Radio Station Studio Visiting Room Sand's Lounge State Police Headquarters Screening Room Swimming Pool The Waterfront Restaurant WYAT News Manager's Office News Studio Set ACT ONE FADE IN EXT. BALTIMORE - DAY Establishing. Eight a.m. EXT. INNER HARBOR - DAY TV REPORTERS with film CREWS clusterfuck the area. BUSINESS EXECUTIVES grabbing coffee, MOTHERS with TODDLERS, SENIOR CITIZENS gawk, as a shiny Lincoln Town Car pulls up to curb. AL GIARDELLO exits the Car, followed by NATHANIEL STIEGLER, campaign manager. Other AIDES exit a Ford Van. The NEWS CREWS beeline for GIARDELLO as he heads for: EXT. AMPITHEATRE/INNER HARBOR - DAY As GIARDELLO, STIEGLER, AIDES and NEWS CREWS approach, video floodlights flash on. CU on GIARDELLO caught in the glare. A CROWD engulfs him. Sings "Giardello for Mayor" flash into CAMERA. A moment when GIARDELLO is jostled. DAWN DANIELS, WYAT Reporter, followed by CAMERAMAN, shoves a mic at GIARDELLO. DANIELS How's it feel to be the favorite going into the last week of the campaign? GIARDELLO (smiling) It ain't over 'til it's over. DANIELS The polls show you twelve points ahead of your opponent Robert Gessner. The fat lady has taken her curtain call, don't you think? GIARDELLO I learned one lesson in all my years running the Homicide Unit: Never assume anything. A HOMELESS MAN, malevolent, red-rimmed eyes, pushes past DANIELS and grabs GIARDELLO's lapel. HOMELESS MAN Gimme a dollar. A dollar. For something to eat. GIARDELLO and HOMELESS MAN exchange a look. GIARDELLO smiles, a flash of anxiety. STEIGLER calls to AIDE. STEIGLER Henry, take care of this. AIDE pulls HOMELESS MAN aside, as STIEGLER guides GIARDELLO toward a stage. HOMELESS MAN mumbles a curse. A UNIFORM shoves him further back into the CROWD. A CHANT from the CROWD: "Giardello. Giardello. Giardello." DANIELS persists: DANIELS Your recent statements that, if elected, you'd push to legalize drugs -- Do you think this is the issue that has set your campaign apart from your rivals? GIARDELLO I know this city. I know what drugs have done to this city. The murders and robberies and domestic problems. I believe that substance abuse is a health issue. Like drinking and smoking. Nicotine is more addictive than heroin or cocaine, but you don't see the Marlboro Man being sent to Jessup on a three-to-five. I love this city. I want this city to be whole again. DANIELS But don't you-- GIARDELLO (his slogan) Educate, don't legislate. STIEGLER That's all for now. Everyone please step back. DANIELS and CAMERAMAN step back as GIARDELLO ascends the stage, where Mayor KURT SCHMOKE and other famous BALTIMOREONS wait. A huge CHEER from the CROWD as GIARDELLO steps to the microphone: "We Want Al, We Want Al, He's Our Pal. We Want Al." GIARDELLO tries to quiet the CROWD, but the CHEERING grows LOUDER. Tons of FLASHBULBS from PRESS and AUDIENCE are going off. As GIARDELLO smiles, a rapid dull REPEAT is alarmed. A BUZZ of concern and confusion. STIEGLER and the CELEBRITIES reflexively back away. GIARDELLO watches UNIFORMS and PLAINCLOTHES push through the CROWD, which is charged with fear, curious, looking around. Then, GIARDELLO slumps to his knees. His white shirt fills red with his blood. STIEGLER and AIDES reach to support GIARDELLO, who looks out at the CROWD, confused, in pain. He slumps forward. On STIEGLER, cradling GIARDELLO'S head, CUT TO: EXT. STREET - DAY MELDRICK LEWIS and PAUL FALSONE pull up, exit Cavalier, walk down littered sidewalk in devastated neighborhood. FALSONE Meldrick, I'll be your partner, any time, any place -- when it comes to a crime. But I'm not investing in your bar. No way. LEWIS C'mon, you can see for yourself that The Waterfront is a money making operation, a veritable green machine. FALSONE Then why're you so anxious to cut me a slice? LEWIS 'Cause my other partners are all too silent. Munch's living large in New York City. Bayliss went on a semi- permanent disappearing act. FALSONE Aah, what you need is someone to help do all the work. No thanks. THEY TURN INTO: EXT. ALLEY - DAY They head toward a crack house. LEWIS I'm simply asking that you consider my proposition, give the concept a few moments of serious thought. A UNIFORM stands with his back to them. FALSONE Yo, Officer-- The UNIFORM turns, revealing himself to be MIKE GIARDELLO. MIKE Gentlemen. FALSONE Mike Giardello, as I live and as I breathe. I heard that you traded the Bureau for a beat. MIKE Working on my detective shield. LEWIS Your dad's making a whole lotta noise in his run for City Hall. MIKE Yeah. Every time I open the front door, it's "Candid Camera" -- LEWIS Alan Funt, a great American. I took his passing very personally. FALSONE So, what've we got here? MIKE Local dealer. Shot in the head. Looks like he's been dead at least a day. FALSONE Does our dead head have a name? MIKE Joseph Hardwicke, a.k.a. Yin Yang. LEWIS Yeah, well, looks to me like he Yin'd when he shoulda Yanged. Officer JEFF WESTBY approaches. WESTBY Hey, Mike... MIKE Yeah? WESTBY Dispatch just radioed. They want you Downtown pronto. MIKE What's up? WESTBY Your father... He's been shot. MIKE stares at him, not comprehending. FALSONE turns to LEWIS As SONG BEGINS, CUT TO: EXT. INNER HARBOR - DAY SONG CONTINUES. Bedlam. Terror. SIRENS and SCREAMING. UNIFORMS clear a path. EMS wheel an unconscious GIARDELLO out on a gurney. As EMS works GIARDELLO's chest, CUT TO: INT. LIEUTENANT'S OFFICE/HOMICIDE UNIT - DAY SONG CONTINUES. CU on phone in hand. PULL BACK to REVEAL STUART GHARTY. Shocked, HE puts down phone, exits into: INT. SQUAD ROOM/HOMICIDE UNIT - DAY SONG CONTINUES. GHARTY tells LAURA BALLARD and TERRI STIVERS. As THEY react, CUT TO: EXT. BACKDOOR/JIMMY'S RESTAURANT - DAY SONG CONTINUES. Short order COOK smokes cigarette outside kitchen door. KAY HOWARD walks up, shows a warrant, spins COOK around, cuffs him. UNIFORM runs up, YELLING the news. As HOWARD reacts, CUT TO: EXT. INNER HARBOR - DAY SONG CONTINUES. GIARDELLO is loaded into EMS Wagon. As UNIFORMS push the NEWS CREWS away from Wagon doors, CUT TO: INT. SPECIAL VICTIM'S UNIT/NYPD - DAY SONG CONTINUES. CU on copy of The New York Post being held. Cellphone RINGS. Newspaper comes down to REVEAL JOHN MUNCH, as he reaches for cellphone, answers it. As HE listens, CUT TO: EXT. CHARLES STREET - DAY SONG CONTINUES. MIKE KELLERMAN sits in Car, secretly photographing a MAN kissing his MISTRESS. As KELLERMAN HEARS the NEWS on the car radio, puts down his camera, CUT TO: EXT. EMERGENCY ROOM/CHURCH HOME & HOSPITAL - DAY SONG CONTINUES. EMS Wagon ROARS to a halt. As TRIAGE TEAM races with GIARDELLO into Emergency room, CUT TO: INT. KITCHEN/BOLANDER HOME - DAY SONG CONTINUES. CU on eggs being fried up. As WE PULL BACK to REVEAL STANLEY BOLANDER, sipping a beer, watching the news bulletin on TV, CUT TO: EXT. GUNPOWDER FALLS - DAY SONG CONTINUES. CU on a fly plopping onto the water from a long arching cast. Cellphone RINGS. As WE PULL BACK to REVEAL a pacific TIM BAYLISS answering the phone, CUT TO: INT. EMERGENCY ROOM/CHURCH HOME & HOSPITAL - DAY SONG CONTINUES. NURSES stabilize GIARDELLO, put him on IV's. PULL BACK to REVEAL DOCTOR, who checks GIARDELLO's vitals on a cardiac monitor. As HE eyes an attractive NURSE, CUT TO: INT. LECTURE HALL/LOYOLA COLLEGE - DAY SONG CONTINUES. A woodpaneled, two-hundred seat Lecture Hall. Six STUDENTS sit in the first row, looking terrified. PULL BACK to REVEAL FRANK PEMBLETON raving at his hostages. On the blackboard behind PEMBLETON is big chalk lettering "The Principles of Ethics." Various quotes from Aquinas, Nietzsche and Camus. A PRIEST comes to the doorway, pauses, meek. PEMBLETON catches the PRIEST out of the corner of his eye. The PRIEST motions. PEMBLETON continues lecturing. The PRIEST motions again. PEMBLETON glares. The PRIEST motions imploringly, respectfully. PEMBLETON walks over. The PRIEST whispers into PEMBLETON's good ear. On PEMBLETON, staring at him as if he were speaking Esperanto, CUT TO: EXT. EMERGENCY ROOM/CHURCH HOME & HOSPITAL - DAY SONG ENDS. A Philadelphia rat-fuck of POLICE, PRESS and PARAMEDICS; Emergency Vehicles, Cop Cars, City Cars, Press Vans. HELEN LUCAITIS, Court TV Reporter, does live report: LUCAITIS ...Mayoral candidate Al Giardello was making a campaign appearance early this morning when he was shot by an unidentified assailant... Squad Car pulls up, MIKE leaps out. LUCAITIS ...Giardello was rushed here to Church Home and Hospital, where he is undergoing emergency surgery. His condition is listed as critical. (as MIKE walks past) Wait, here's his son, Officer Michael Giardello, perhaps we can get a word-- LUCAITIS collars MIKE as he goes by, shoves microphone in his face, runs alongside him as he motors for door. LUCAITIS Officer Giardello. Officer Giardello. Any news on your father? How do you feel? MIKE How do you think I feel? Get out of my face-- He shoves her. As LUCAITIS falls down flat on her ass, CUT TO: INT. WAITING ROOM/CHURCH HOME & HOSPITAL - DAY On her knees, LUCAITIS continues her report: LUCAITIS ...Officer Giardello, understandably distraught about this tragic turn of events. This is Helen Lucaitis, reporting live from church Home-- As LUCAITIS gets to her feet, CUT TO: INT. HALLWAY/CHURCH HOME & HOSPITAL - DAY BARNFATHER and STIEGLER intercept MIKE. STIEGLER Mike, I just watched you body block Helen Lucaitis into the next time zone-- MIKE How's my father? STIEGLER I know you're upset, but you gotta keep your hands off the press-- MIKE How's my dad? BARNFATHER He was shot in the abdomen, maybe more than once-- MIKE Is he gonna make it? STIEGLER They just started surgery. You'll be the first to know, as soon as there's any news, I promise you-- MIKE Who's his doctor? I need to talk to somebody right now, whoever's in charge. STIEGLER We've been working through the communications director-- MIKE I wanna talk to his doctor-doctor not some spin doctor. STIEGLER Okay. MIKE How the hell could the shooter get away? THEY GO INTO: INT. WAITING ROOM/CHURCH HOME & HOSPITAL - DAY MIKE enters with BARNFATHER and STIEGLER. MIKE Place should've been crawling with cops. STIEGLER There was an appropriate amount of security for a routine campaign stop. MIKE Then what happened, they were asleep? BARNFATHER We had no reason to expect any trouble-- MIKE No reason? What about all the death threats? STIEGLER There's been nothing out of the ordinary, nothing any person running for public office doesn't encounter-- MIKE How can you say that? Since he announced his position on drugs-- BARNFATHER We've taken the serious threats seriously-- MIKE Hate mail, faxes, anonymous phone calls in the middle of the night-- BARNFATHER The rest have been cranks-- MIKE Black nationalists, the Klan, red- neck law enforcement, even the drug dealers-- BARNFATHER We've done everything possible. MIKE If you'd done everything, we wouldn't be standing here now. They've been shouting. Now they stop and glare. Then: STIEGLER We'll get somebody to come down and brief you-- MIKE Soon. BARNFATHER and STIEGLER exit. MIKE looks over. A Man's sitting in the corner: BOLANDER. As MIKE crosses to payphone, CUT TO: INT. GARAGE/POLICE HEADQUARTERS - DAY FALSONE and LEWIS exit parked Cavalier. FALSONE Maybe we should go to the hospital. LEWIS Gee wouldn't want us sitting vigil. He'd want us to find the ebola who did this. FALSONE What about Joseph "Yin Yang" Hardwicke? LEWIS Who? FALSONE Our day-old dead drug dealer. LEWIS Him? He'll keep. Beat-up Ford Explorer HONKS, as it pulls into space. They turn to see BAYLISS, exiting Explorer. FALSONE Ho, look who's back from oblivion. BAYLISS Catch Gee's shooter? LEWIS Not yet. We were waiting on you. BAYLISS I'm here to help. FALSONE Sabbatical's over? BAYLISS For now. LEWIS Weird. BAYLISS What? LEWIS That day you cleaned out your desk and walked away. Didn't even say goodbye. BAYLISS I had things to think about. Issues. LEWIS Bayliss, you always got issues. FALSONE Are we gonna stand here yapping? THEY EXIT TO: EXT. POLICE HEADQUARTERS - DAY TV NEWS CREWS YELL questions to BAYLISS, FALSONE and LEWIS as they head for entrance. A Toyota pulls up and parks in the middle of the street. PEMBLETON emerges. BAYLISS Frank... As PEMBLETON stares up at Headquarters, CUT TO: INT. SQUAD ROOM/HOMICIDE UNIT - DAY Redball chaos. "The Aquarium" is crammed with potential WITNESSES. GHARTY stands in front of blackboard, on which are pasted Crime Scene photos. PULL BACK to REVEAL STIVERS, HOWARD, FALSONE, BALLARD, BAYLISS, PEMBLETON and LEWIS, as well as new DETECTIVES, including ROBERT HALL, twenties, handsome, peachfuzzed. GHARTY Some of you came to homicide after Al Giardello left. Some of you worked alongside him, like Kay Howard, now in the fugitive squad, Tim Bayliss, who's been on a leave of absence, and Frank Pembleton, who retired two years ago-- HALL So you're the almighty Pembleton... We've all heard the stories. PEMBLETON stares at HALL, says nothing, then turns to GHARTY. PEMBLETON Can we get on with this? GHARTY Yup. A homeless man, who won't tell us his name, grabbed Giardello just before the shooting. FALSONE We've swabbed his hands for gunpowder residue. He's clean. HALL Soon as the uniforms bring him up, I'm gonna interview him, find out if he saw anything. STIVERS We talked to everybody at the rally who stuck around and all the vendors. We've brought in a few witnesses for further questioning. PEMBLETON And this event was covered by the press, right? GHARTY Way ahead of you, Frank. We've already requested video footage from the local news stations. Stivers, Ballard, I need you to collect the cassettes. STIVERS Sure, Lieutenant. BALLARD Lots of witnesses. What about suspects? LEWIS Gee's campaign for Mayor has knocked some noses outta joint, made him a few enemies. HOWARD Coupled with the ones he already had. UNIFORM escorts HOMELESS MAN into Interrogation Room #1. HALL I'm up. GHARTY Alright. Howard, Bayliss -- I want you researching Gee's past, get me everything on anybody he's ever tangled with. BAYLISS How far back? GHARTY To his rookie days, if you have to... Pembleton, Lewis, Falsone, make a list of people he's pissed off along the campaign trail. PEMBLETON A list? I didn't come here to make lists-- GHARTY We meet again in an hour. GHARTY goes into his Office. PEMBLETON sighs. As the DETECTIVES go in different directions, CUT TO: INT. WAITING ROOM/CHURCH HOME & HOSPITAL - DAY BOLANDER looks over at MIKE, who talks on payphone. MIKE I don't know, sis, they haven't told me anything... Yeah, Theresa's on the next plane in... Get here as soon as you can... I love you, too. He hangs up, crosses to couch, sits next to BOLANDER. BOLANDER I caught a bullet on the job myself, you know. A bullet in the brain. (offers hand) Stanley Bolander. Used to work for your dad. MIKE Thanks for coming. BOLANDER I had to, didn't I? When I got shot, your dad was -- I don't know, what's the word? Tenacious. MIKE Yeah, well, he is that. BOLANDER Not that he sent me flowers or anything. But he was like a pit bull. Wouldn't let go 'til they found the bastard who did it. ROSINA (O.S.) Caro-- ROSINA GIARDELLO, eighties, enters. MIKE embraces her. MIKE Nonna-- ROSINA Michael, this is terrible, terrible-- MIKE kisses her on both cheeks. BOLANDER crosses to water fountain, as MEGAN RUSSERT gets off elevator. RUSSERT Stan. BOLANDER How are you, Megan? RUSSERT Good. I hear you retired. BOLANDER Yeah, now I play a little golf, practice the cello-- RUSSERT Retirement agrees with you. You got that nice pink glow about you. BOLANDER High blood pressure. I'm on a zero sodium diet. Zero. As in none. As in, I can't even go down the ocean and take in the sea breeze. You know how bland life is without salt? RUSSERT I know about bland. I married a TV executive. As THEY sit down, CUT TO: INT. SQUAD ROOM/HOMICIDE UNIT - DAY PEMBLETON sits with BAYLISS and LEWIS. LEWIS Okay, here's a case of Gee's from nineteen eighty-two-- PEMBLETON groans, looks around the Room. PEMBLETON Very blue. (yells to BAYLISS) You never said anything about the squad room being this blue. BAYLISS Sure I did. PEMBLETON Never. Not this shade. BAYLISS No, huh? PEMBLETON This is excessively blue. Azure. Cobalt. Cerulean. PEMBLETON crosses to "The Board," shields his eyes from the glare, takes out a pair of shades, puts them on. PEMBLETON 'Cept "The Board" -- All these open cases. Too much red. Hurts my eyes. I'm seeing spots. BAYLISS' POV: The name "Ryland" in Red on "The Board." PEMBLETON scans BAYLISS' look. PEMBLETON What. BAYLISS Nothing. PEMBLETON No, something. Who's this Ryland? And old case of yours? LEWIS crosses by. LEWIS That stone-cold sucker is mine, Frank. Luke Ryland snuffed two women over the Internet. FLASHBACK-- On LUKE RYLAND murdering a VICTIM, CUT TO: BACK TO PRESENT-- LEWIS But then, Balti-more being Balti- less, he got off on a technicality. Next day, Ryland's laying curbside with the slug from a forty-four in the back of his head FLASHBACK-- On LEWIS and SHEPPARD standing over Ryland's BODY, CUT TO: BACK TO PRESENT-- PEMBLETON You have no suspects? LEWIS Nope, no clues of any kind. Whoever did the deed, knew how to execute an execution. LEWIS walks off. PEMBLETON turns to BAYLISS. PEMBLETON And this sordid little tale makes you jumpy because--? BAYLISS I'm not jumpy. PEMBLETON You're jumpy. I know you. BAYLISS You don't know me. Things change, Frank, people change-- PEMBLETON looks over to Lieutenant's Office. PEMBLETON And my "Box"... What'd they do to my "Box"? BAYLISS Like I said. PEMBLETON turns to Observation Room. PEMBLETON That kid still in there interviewing the homeless man? BAYLISS I guess. PEMBLETON He's taking way too much time. BAYLISS Yeah. THEY cross to Observation Room, exit into: INT. OBSERVATION ROOM/HOMICIDE UNIT - DAY PEMBLETON and BAYLISS enter, see GHARTY observing. PEMBLETON looks back and forth to each Interrogation Room. PEMBLETON's POV: In Interrogation Room #1, HALL hovers over the HOMELESS MAN. HALL (V.O.) You got a name. I know you do. HOMELESS MAN (V.O.) Gimme a dollar PEMBLETON looks into the Interrogation Room #2 HIS POV: Another DETECTIVE hovers over another WITNESS. PEMBLETON turns back to Interrogation Room #1. HALL (V.O.) I got a hundred eyeballs who say you assault Al Giardello. You saw who shot him, didn't you? HOMELESS MAN (V.O.) I want a dollar. I gotta get something to eat. HALL SLAMS the back of the HOMELESS MAN's chair, open-handed. The HOMELESS MAN is startled. HOMELESS MAN (V.O.) A measly little dollar. Is that so much to ask? PEMBLETON exhales disgust. HALL removes his jacket. HALL (V.O.) That's it, pal. I'm outta patience. I was gonna give you a number two beating, but you worked and worked and earned yourself a number one. I am gonna beat your balls off 'til you tell me what I want to know. BAYLISS turns to PEMBLETON. BAYLISS A new breed of detective. PEMBLETON Inbreed. GHARTY This does not reflect my command. PEMBLETON Really? I thought you were in charge, here, Lieutenant Gharty. GHARTY glares at PEMBLETON. BAYLISS You better go help your man BAYLISS points: HALL is scuffling with the HOMELESS MAN. GHARTY rushes into: INT. INTERROGATION ROOM #1/HOMICIDE UNIT - DAY YELLING and CURSING. HALL and GHARTY wrestle HOMELESS MAN to the ground. HALL struggles to cuff HOMELESS MAN. HALL This is gonna cost you. HALL hoists him up by the shirt collar. GHARTY breaks HALL's hold, eases HOMELESS MAN into a chair. GHARTY You okay, Mister? HALL He swung at me. Bastard swang at me. HOMELESS MAN bullrushes HALL. GHARTY restrains him. More CURSING and YELLING. BAYLISS and PEMBLETON enter. HALL What're you two doing in here? HOMELESS MAN eyes PEMBLETON, who sits in a chair, smiles, then sets dollar bill in front of HOMELESS MAN. HOMELESS MAN What's this? HALL I'm in the middle of something-- PEMBLETON A dollar. You asked for a dollar. HOMELESS MAN Yeah, I asked for a dollar. PEMBLETON I heard you. HALL Look, I know you two guys are supposed to be legends, but this is my interview. BAYLISS Shut up. HALL What? Excuse me? BAYLISS I said, shut the hell up. BAYLISS eyefucks HALL, who looks to GHARTY, outraged. GHARTY motions HALL to exit Room. HALL Me. Out? GHARTY Grab a coffee. HALL This ain't right. GHARTY Grab me one, too. Milk, two sugars. HALL storms out, BANGING the door open. GHARTY Feisty little guy, isn't he? (re: Observation Room) I'll be in there if you need me. As GHARTY closes the door, CUT TO: EXT. CHURCH HOME & HOSPITAL - DAY PRESS surround the Building, waiting. INT. NURSES' STATION/CHURCH HOME & HOSPITAL - DAY MIKE is in the face of a battle-ax NURSE. MIKE Tell me what's going on. NURSE Sir, I don't know what's going on. MIKE Find me someone who does, dammit. RUSSERT puts her hand on MIKE's shoulder. RUSSERT Mike... MIKE It's been hours and I can't get any real information from anybody -- Like what they're doing or how bad it is or if he's gonna live or die-- RUSSERT Relax. I'm sure the minute he's out of surgery, they'll be telling you exactly what they did and handing you the itemized bill... MIKE (exhales) Yeah. RUSSERT points to TV set, which is covering the Giardello shooting, replaying clip of Mike and Lucaitis. RUSSERT They're replaying that clip of you pushing Helen Lucaitis ass over teakettle and cussing her out-- MIKE Great-- RUSSERT Made the national news. Al would be proud... MIKE changes channel to "Miss Sally's Schoolyard". MIKE You worked with my dad, right? RUSSERT I've had the honor of being his equal, his boss and his underling. I know every side of the man... MIKE I wish I did. (off her look) I used to be F.B.I. Liaison with the Department. I took the job to be closer to him, make amends, maybe put to rest all the anger and bitterness between us... RUSSERT But that didn't happen? MIKE If anything, working together made things worse. We were always stepping on each other's toes. Then I had a little dust-up with my boss at the Bureau, so I quit. Started over as a Balto uniform, bottom of the totem pole... I don't know if any of it made any difference to my dad. If he even noticed. RUSSERT Did you ever think to ask him? MIKE We don't have that kind of relationship. He's my father, but... in a lot of ways, the man's a stranger to me. On RUSSERT, trying to comfort MIKE, CUT TO: INT. INTERROGATION ROOM #1/HOMICIDE UNIT - DAY PEMBLETON and BAYLISS sit with HOMELESS MAN. PEMBLETON You wouldn't hurt anyone, would you? HOMELESS MAN No. PEMBLETON You wouldn't hurt anyone because it's not in you. I know this about you. Al Giardello wouldn't hurt anyone either. It's not in him. You and he, you have a lot in common. HOMELESS MAN That's why I asked him for a dollar. 'Cause I knew he'd understand. HOMELESS MAN takes dollar in hand. BAYLISS What's your name? HOMELESS MAN I'd tell ya my name, but what's it matter? You ain't got an address, whaddya need a name for? Post office can't find me. So why should it mean anything if I have a name? PEMBLETON We don't need to know your name. What we need to know is if you saw who hurt Al Giardello. HOMELESS MAN (to BAYLISS) Got a dollar? BAYLISS A dollar? HOMELESS MAN Been jonesing for a Hershey bar. PEMBLETON I just gave you a dollar. HOMELESS MAN (re: BAYLISS) I'm asking him. PEMBLETON What did you see at the Inner Harbor today? HOMELESS MAN (to BAYLISS) I'm a fiend for chocolate. PEMBLETON stands, leans across the table. PEMBLETON Didn't I just give you a dollar? No response. PEMBLETON Didn't I? HOMELESS MAN Yeah. PEMBLETON So now you play me for the fool? No response. BAYLISS If I give you a dollar, you'll tell us what you saw today? PEMBLETON (to HOMELESS MAN) I'm the fool, huh? I give you a dollar and now, what? BAYLISS takes out a dollar. PEMBLETON stops him: PEMBLETON Put that away. (to HOMELESS MAN) I'm here out of concern for a good person. Someone who means a lot to me, who means a lot to this city. And what, now you think this is some kind of deal where you're going to use my concern to mooch money? 'Cause you think you're the key to the puzzle, you're holding all the vital info? So, yeah, screw me? (points to BAYLISS) And screw him. And screw Al Giardello. (puts hand on chest) Do you think you mean anything to anyone? Anything to this city? HOMELESS MAN No. PEMBLETON But I'm here. I'm extending you my kindness. I give you what you ask for, out of goodwill. And it's not about the dollar. This is not the money. If you'd asked me for ten, I'd give you ten. A hundred, you've got it. I'm respecting you. But you sit here and piss on me? I will send you to hell, Mister I-don't-have-a- name-so-feel-sorry-for-my-mooching- ass. HOMELESS MAN (to BAYLISS) The guy I see is late forties, early fifties maybe. Of the Negro persuasion. PEMBLETON glares at HOMELESS MAN. BAYLISS The shooter is Black? What's he look like? How big is he? HOMELESS MAN A little taller than me. And he has grey sidewalls. His hair. You know, sideburns. And he's got a gun. (to PEMBLETON) Don't stare. You're staring. That's not polite, sir. BAYLISS You see this guy, Black, late forties, fifties, with a gun. HOMELESS MAN Yuh. One of them black guns that goes "pop-pop-pop"-- BAYLISS An automatic. HOMELESS MAN If you say so. BAYLISS After this guy shoots Giardello, what then? Where does he go? HOMELESS MAN I dunno. BAYLISS Whaddya mean, "I dunno"? HOMELESS MAN (to PEMBLETON) You gotta stop with the evil eye, sir. It's gonna screw up all your good blood with bile. And bile, it's poison, y'know. BAYLISS Okay, he shoots -- "pop-pop-pop." Then what happens? What does he do then? Where does he go? HOMELESS MAN I don't know. He just disappears. Gets swallowed up by the crowd. I got scared, I was just trying to get outta there, and then the cops grabbed me up. (to BAYLISS) Can I have that other dollar now? On PEMBLETON and BAYLISS, exchanging a look, FADE OUT END OF ACT ONE ACT TWO FADE IN INT. HALLWAY/CHURCH HOME & HOSPITAL - DAY ROSINA and RUSSERT exit the Women's Room. They are pursued by DANIELS and her Cameraman, ERIC THOMAS JAMES. DANIELS Missus Giardello, any word on his condition ROSINA (terrified) No. RUSSERT Please step back-- DANIELS Any ideas who shot him? MIKE (O.S.) Hey-- DANIELS turns to see MIKE charging toward her. MIKE Leave her alone. You're not supposed to be up here anyway-- MIKE grabs the camera. MIKE Leave us the hell alone JAMES heads down Hall to retrieve camera. DANIELS We're just doing our job. MIKE That's no excuse. DANIELS and JAMES go. As MIKE puts his arm around his GRANDMOTHER, CUT TO: EXT. WYAT - DAY Cavalier pulls up. STIVERS gets out driver's side. BALLARD gets out as STIVERS looks into the backseat, piled with video cassettes, with logos from various local TV stations. STIVERS Last stop. As SHE follows BALLARD into building, CUT TO: OMIT INT. NEWS STUDIO SET/WYAT - DAY NEWS MANAGER walks with STIVERS and BALLARD as News Room Redballs Giardello shooting. They walk past News Anchor DINA NAPOLI on air: NAPOLI Giardello is still in surgery at this hour... Meanwhile, police have intensified their investigation, interviewing literally hundreds of witnesses. NEWS MANAGER I'd like to give you the tape, but I can't. BALLARD Then we'll get a subpoena-- NEWS MANAGER You don't understand. There was some kinda technical glitch with our camera. STIVERS Glitch? NEWS MANAGER We were the only station in town who didn't get footage of the actual shooting. All I got is stuff leading up to the gun shots, then the camera dies. And believe me, I'm not happy, losing out on the biggest news event of the year. STIVERS Geez, I'm weeping for ya. Okay, just give us what you've got. On NEWS MANAGER, nodding, CUT TO: EXT. POLICE HEADQUARTERS - DAY BOLANDER and MUNCH walk to entrance, passing MEDIA. MUNCH You're living in Saint Michael's now? BOLANDER Yep. Who'd wanna shoot Giardello? MUNCH I was under the impression you were here in Balto. BOLANDER Nope. MUNCH That you were just refusing to answer my calls out of some misdirected spite. BOLANDER I have never mis-whatever'd my spite. MUNCH I got married again. BOLANDER What's that? Number four? MUNCH Yep. BOLANDER Geez... MUNCH We're getting divorced. BOLANDER Geez, John... MUNCH This feels good. Me and you prowling the streets of Baltimore again. BOLANDER I have never prowled anywhere with you, awright? Don't start agitating me, Munch. On BOLANDER, entering ahead of MUNCH, CUT TO: INT. LIEUTENANT'S OFFICE/HOMICIDE UNIT - DAY PEMBLETON, BAYLISS, MUNCH, BOLANDER, FALSONE, HOWARD, STIVERS, BALLARD, LEWIS and GHARTY crowd around VCR, watching videotape of the shooting. BOLANDER Stop there. GHARTY hits pause. BOLANDER looks closely at SCREEN. PEMBLETON What are you looking at, Stan? BOLANDER This guy, near the edge of the stage, his body language, it ain't right. A moment of intense study on the stopped tape. HOWARD I can't see anything. BALLARD You're looking for a gun? This angle, I can't even see his hands. HOWARD What we need is to enhance the tape. FALSONE Yeah, send a copy to the State Police Lab-- We HEAR the SOUND of the door opening. Captain ROGER GAFFNEY enters. In b.g. of doorway, PICK UP HALL, pouty face. GAFFNEY Lieutenant. GHARTY Captain. GAFFNEY My my my. Lookit this. Sergeant Howard, Frank Pembleton, Munch, Bayliss, even the Big Man -- All the ol' boys and girls gathered again, everybody pal-sy, wal-sy. (to GHARTY) You interrupt one of my detectives in the course of interviewing a witness? GHARTY looks through blinds, exchanges a look with HALL. GHARTY I was giving him some relief. GAFFNEY "Relief" my ass. You wanted to show him who's boss. That's your game. GHARTY Sir-- GAFFNEY But now I'm gonna show you who's boss. I order you to apologize to Detective Hall. GHARTY Apologize? GAFFNEY Hall-- HALL steps in. GAFFNEY turns to GHARTY. GAFFNEY Go ahead. GHARTY I... apologize... HALL No problem. HALL goes. GAFFNEY faces the GROUP. GAFFNEY Why the hell are all of you in here? MUNCH We came to see if we could help. GAFFNEY (to GHARTY) This is your call? What are you, desperate? BAYLISS We came on our own. GAFFNEY Truly noble. Get your ass in gear, Gharty. I want this Giardello shooting down today. PEMBLETON That's what we all want, Gaffney. GAFFNEY This is police business. You're not a cop anymore, Frank, are you? PEMBLETON That's correct. GAFFNEY Then get lost. PEMBLETON Yeah. Sure. Good. BOLANDER Me too, then. GAFFNEY No, Bolander. You can stay. That's the beauty of power, it's arbitrary... (to GHARTY) I have a press conference, two o'clock. I better have startling new revelations to tell the media. GAFFNEY exits. STIVERS Somebody open a window. LEWIS Won't do any good. Eau De Gaffney lasts for days. PEMBLETON starts to exit. GHARTY Frank, hey. PEMBLETON No need to say anything. GHARTY We get anywhere, I'll keep you posted. PEMBLETON Fine. Give me a holler. PEMBLETON exits. BAYLISS follows. GHARTY turns to the OTHERS. GHARTY 'Appreciate you being here. MUNCH It's about Gee. Not you. GHARTY I know that. Where are we with the possible suspects? BOLANDER You shoot the President. You shoot the Pope. John Lennon, maybe, but a guy running for Mayor of Baltimore? Who's crazy enough to do that? On the GROUP, pondering the question, CUT TO: INT. STAIRWAY/POLICE HEADQUARTERS - DAY BAYLISS pursues PEMBLETON down stairs. BAYLISS You really just gonna leave, Frank? PEMBLETON Yeah. And you're coming with me. BAYLISS Where? PEMBLETON If the bosses won't let us investigate officially, we'll do one of our own. BAYLISS Unofficially. PEMBLETON A citizen's brigade. THEY exit building. EXT. POLICE HEADQUARTERS - DAY PEMBLETON and BAYLISS walk briskly through MEDIA CIRCUS, ignoring REPORTERS' questions. PEMBLETON What's this semi-permanent leave of absence you're on? BAYLISS Same as you, Frank. Got tired of the job, Homicide sucked the life outta me. PEMBLETON Really... BAYLISS Yup. PEMBLETON There's no other reason? BAYLISS What other reason could there be? PEMBLETON I dunno. You tell me. BAYLISS Nothing to tell, Frank. Can we concentrate on Gee? PEMBLETON and BAYLISS cross street, reach Pembleton's Toyota. PEMBLETON Okay. We'll start with the Crime Scene. BAYLISS I'm driving. PEMBLETON You ain't driving my car. BAYLISS We're taking your car? PEMBLETON It's the better car, Bayliss. I make forty-five grand a year teaching at Loyola. BAYLISS Forty-five? And you can afford a car like that? What're you, on the take? PEMBLETON On the pad? At Loyola? As THEY get into the Car, CUT TO: INT. SQUAD ROOM/HOMICIDE UNIT - DAY Redball chaos continues. GHARTY stands before MUNCH, BOLANDER, STIVERS, HOWARD, FALSONE, BALLARD, LEWIS and HALL. HOWARD We've got fifteen different descriptions of a possible shooter from twenty-five different witnesses. STIVERS Some say he's Black, some say White. Some say in his twenties, others in his sixties. BALLARD They all agree that the shooter's a man, right? STIVERS Actually, a couple of them think he might've been a woman. MUNCH I say it's a conspiracy. OTHERS groan. MUNCH The guy Gee's running against for Mayor, what's his name, Gessner. He's about to get his ass kicked. Decides to take action. Hires an assassin. Like in "The Manchurian Candidate"-- BOLANDER What'd I say about agitating, Munch? HOWARD I'm gonna check out the widow of Raymond Desassy. LEWIS The guy Gee shot? FALSONE Gee shot someone? HOWARD Coupla, three years back. Kevin Lugo, big shock radio personality-- FALSONE Oh yeah, I remember, got whacked in a Mount Washington parking lot. HOWARD We get a tip Raymond Desassy's the murderer. Gee and I go to the house, the suspect pulls a gun. Gee shoots him dead. Turns out our tip was Desassy's best friend, who'd called it in as a practical joke. Desassy's wife was pretty bitter about the whole thing. GHARTY Howard, Missus Desassy it is. FALSONE You need backup? HOWARD Sure. GHARTY Stivers, you and Ballard take the video tapes to the State Lab, study every frame... Lewis, stop by the courthouse, grab Sheppard, go talk to Karl Miller. LEWIS The pride of the Aryan Nation? GHARTY He's been beating the drums trying to start a race war over Gee's drug policy. (to BOLANDER) If you're volunteering, how 'bout calling on John Komen? BOLANDER Whatever you need, Lieutenant. FALSONE Who's John Komen? LEWIS That mass suicide at the African Revival Movement. BOLANDER Yeah yeah. I saw that on the news. MUNCH QRT storms the place and finds sixteen bodies. Poison. Regular Jonestown. GHARTY Komen has taken over as head honcho of the movement. 'Course, he was the only one left. Last man standing. FALSONE And he blames Gee. BOLANDER So we go talk to him. MUNCH I say a Black nationalist and two whiter-shades-of-pale detectives don't exactly interface, you catch my drift? GHARTY You got a problem with that, Munch, make it easy on yourself. There's an Amtrak back to the Big Apple every hour. (to BOLANDER) Stan, you know where the African Revival Movement building is? BOLANDER If it's in Balto, I'll can find it. GHARTY We've set up an eight-hundred number for tips. You all know that realistically we got forty-eight hours to catch this guy. After that, the odds get long and you know what hits the fan. Okay, let's go. We're a team. Let's catch this bastard. DETECTIVES move off. MUNCH leans into GHARTY. MUNCH You could've handled this better, Stu-ie. BOLANDER You coming, Detective Munch? MUNCH Yeah, yeah. But I'm driving. As MUNCH follows, FADE OUT END OF ACT TWO ACT THREE FADE IN INT. PEMBLETON'S TOYOTA - DAY PEMBLETON drives. BAYLISS rides shotgun. BAYLISS How was that for you, Frank? Being back in the Squad Room. PEMBLETON Strange. BAYLISS So many things have changed. PEMBLETON The color of the floors and the doors, maybe. But the room's the same. The work's the same. BAYLISS Yeah. I guess that's never gonna be different. PEMBLETON What bothered me was not seeing Gee there. Charging outta his office, like a water buffalo... Y'know, the last conversation he and I had was standing over your hospital bed. After you took a bullet for me. CUT TO: FLASHBACK-- On BAYLISS getting shot, CUT TO: BACK TO PRESENT-- PEMBLETON Did I ever thank you for that? BAYLISS No. Not in so many words. PEMBLETON Thank you. BAYLISS Prego. PEMBLETON "Prego"? BAYLISS It's Italian PEMBLETON I know it's Italian. Why Italian? BAYLISS I'm thinking of Gee. PEMBLETON I was so angry at him. But I see now, it wasn't him I was angry at. It was the whole bloody business. BAYLISS Yeah. PEMBLETON I never spoke to him after that day. And now I may never get the chance to speak with him again. BAYLISS Let's stop by the hospital. PEMBLETON He's in surgery. And besides, I can do more for the man being out on the street. BAYLISS He didn't hate you. And he knew you didn't hate him-- PEMBLETON I handed him my badge, Tim. He hated that. As THEY drive along, CUT TO: EXT. AFRICAN REVIVAL MOVEMENT BUILDING - DAY Establishing. INT. AFRICAN REVIVAL MOVEMENT BUILDING - DAY BOLANDER and MUNCH sit across from JOHN KOMEN, forties, greying temples. BOLANDER You're not upset by the news about Al Giardello. KOMEN Upset, yes, but not surprised. He's a Black man who spoke the truth. There's a long tradition in this country of shooting Black men who speak the truth. BOLANDER We have a witness says the would-be assassin was Black. KOMEN A Black assassin? How convenient. The White man can always find a race traitor to do his dirty work. MUNCH There are some who blame Al Giardello for what happened in this building three years ago. Some who say Giardello is responsible for those sixteen suicides. CUT TO: FLASHBACK-- On GIARDELLO finding the BODIES of dead Members of the African Revival Movement, CUT TO: BACK TO PRESENT-- KOMEN You think I would want revenge? BOLANDER Maybe one of your followers. KOMEN Which you see where? This Movement was destroyed that day. There is me and the janitor and two elderly couples who show up on Fridays for the food giveaway. The problem is: We don't have any food to give away anymore. But they show up anyway. MUNCH So this morning, say eight-fifteen-- KOMEN Was I at the Inner Harbor? No. BOLANDER You can verify your whereabouts? KOMEN I was here. BOLANDER Someone an back you on that? KOMEN Yes. They'll tell you that I was at this desk working. MUNCH What work? You say you don't have any following. KOMEN The tide is turning. Soon. I'm going to be interviewed this week on the radio. "The Mark Steiner Show"-- BOLANDER Steiner, huh? I like him. KOMEN And I'm going to tell the world how Al Giardello was set up by the White banking establishment to run for Mayor, then shot by them. BOLANDER The banks shot Giardello. KOMEN Giardello gets popular, he gets shot, he dies, the city riots, the city goes up in flames. The smoke clears, the banks come in and rebuild the neighborhood, shoving all the poor Blacks out to the collar counties. What's behind Lexington Towers and Boston Homes being torn down? The land they're on is too valuable. The banks and the developers want all that land near the Harbor. It's worth hundreds of millions. BOLANDER The banks, huh? MUNCH Actually, it makes sense, when you think about it. The banks, the multinationals, the real estate lobby... On BOLANDER giving MUNCH a look, CUT TO: EXT. AMPITHEATRE/INNER HARBOR - DAY Still a Crime Scene. Area of shooting taped off. PEMBLETON and BAYLISS talk to WITNESS #1. WITNESS #1 So when are you gonna let me re-open my cart? I'm dying here. I'm losing a whole day's receipts. I've told you and them other detectives ninety- nine times already, I didn't see nothing. PEMBLETON And I've told you a hundred times, you are lying. WITNESS #1 Why would I lie? BAYLISS Because you're afraid. WITNESS #1 Me? I'm not afraid of nobody. BAYLISS Yes, you are. You're frightened. Of the man who shot Al Giardello. PEMBLETON You're afraid if he finds out that you ID'd him, he'll come back, shoot you, too. BAYLISS Listen, if you know anything, tell us. We'll protect you. WITNESS #1 Oh yeah. How? This goes to trial, I gotta testify. The gunman gets off, I'm dead. No thanks. I got no reason to die for that goon Giardello. PEMBLETON Goon? WITNESS #1 Legalizing drugs, that's just insane. BAYLISS You don't tell us what you know, the gunman's free, running around the streets. He hits his mark next time, he kills someone, that's on you. WITNESS #1 Guess what, I can carry that. BAYLISS (sighs) Thanks for your time. WITNESS #1 Hey, so when can I re-open? As PEMBLETON kicks a garbage can, CUT TO: INT. WAITING ROOM/CHURCH HOME & HOSPITAL - DAY RUSSERT sits with ROSINA and MIKE, as J.H. BRODIE approaches. BRODIE Hiya. RUSSERT Brodie. Mike, Missus Giardello, this is J.J. Brodie, he used to work with us in Homicide. ROSINA Hello. Thank you for coming. BRODIE I was in D.C. for a film festival and I heard about the Lieutenant. (holds up stuffed giraffe) I bought him a giraffe. How's he doing? MIKE I can't get anybody to tell me anything. I can't even find out who I should be mad at for not telling me. BRODIE I thought ER doctors were supposed to be so compassionate and caring and all that crapola. MIKE As far as I can tell, they don't give a tinker's dam. COMMOTION at the elevators. REPORTERS, including DANIELS, YELLING questions at ROBERT GESSNER, forties, Redford-esque, stepping into view. DANIELS Mister Gessner, how will today's shooting affect balloting on Tuesday? Do you think Al Giardello will benefit from a sympathy vote? Will this put you even further behind at the polls? GESSNER The polls be damned, Dawn, a man's life is at stake. Al Giardello and I may disagree on many fundamental issues, but when a tragedy like this occurs it is essential to put aside our differences and bring the city together. I'm not here as a candidate for Mayor, I'm here as a concerned citizen, as a friend. MIKE (to RUSSERT) My father hates this guy's guts. GESSNER approaches MIKE. GESSNER How are you holding up there, son? MIKE I'm alright. GESSNER Good man. As GESSNER shakes MIKE's hand, nodding grimly for the cameras, CUT TO: INT. DESASSY APARTMENT - DAY HOWARD and FALSONE across from SHIRLEY DESASSY, thirty-five, world weary, drunk. DESASSY When I heard Giardello had taken a bullet, I'll admit, I thought, "Well, that's some damn justice for you"... FLASHBACK -- As GIARDELLO shoots RAYMOND DESASSY, CUT TO: BACK TO PRESENT-- HOWARD Where were you this morning, Missus Desassy? DESASSY Me? Right here. Making love to this bottle of Tanqueray. HOWARD You start drinking early in the morning? DESASSY No. FALSONE No? DESASSY I don't start early, 'cause I don't stop the night before FALSONE Maybe you should get some help. DESASSY Maybe you oughta shove this bottle where the sun don't shine. HOWARD Anybody vouch for your whereabouts this morning? DESASSY My next door neighbor. She was over here, mooching a toot. HOWARD rises. FALSONE follows suit. HOWARD We may need you for further questioning... DESASSY Ray and me, we was all each other had in the world. And you cops killed him. I hope that Giardello dies and goes straight to hell. I only wish I had shot the bastard. As HOWARD and FALSONE exit, CUT TO: EXT. CANTON STREET - DAY RENE SHEPPARD and LEWIS exit Cavalier, survey pleasant, leafy, quaint Main Street, Baltimore County. LEWIS Huh. SHEPPARD I have to admit, White supremacist, I was expecting something a little more South Baltimore-- LEWIS House trailer, broken down rowhouse, major appliances on the front porch-- SHEPPARD Exactly. Not so-- LEWIS Quaint. SHEPPARD Uh-huh. More-- LEWIS White trash. SHEPPARD You said it, not me. They stroll up sidewalk. SHEPPARD You sure this is the right address? LEWIS 'Course I'm sure. Have I ever gotten the wrong address? Don't answer... They stop in front of a Variety Store. LEWIS shrugs. Puzzled, THEY go in: OMIT INT. WAITING ROOM/RADIO STATION - DAY LEWIS and SHEPPARD stop. In front of them, behind glass, KARL MILLER, thirties, well-groomed, David Duke-ish, sits at console, headphones on, in front of mic, listening to a caller. Their VOICES are audible over speakers: CALLER (V.O.) Giardello got what he deserved. When the United States Government wages war on its own people and conspires with their enemies to legalize drugs, when the very identity of this country as a White Christian nation is in jeopardy-- MILLER looks up, sees SHEPPARD and LEWIS. MILLER Terry, I couldn't agree with you more. In the words of Thomas Jefferson -- which Timothy McVeigh wore on a tee- shirt -- the tree of liberty must be watered frequently with the blood of patriots and tyrants-- LEWIS holds up his badge and TAPS on the glass. MILLER Ladies and gentlemen, stay tuned. It looks like I'm about to interview two of Baltimore City's finest. SHEPPARD and LEWIS enter Studio, LEWIS points to "on air" light. As MILLER reluctantly turns it off, CUT TO: INT. CHAPEL/CHURCH HOME & HOSPITAL - DAY MIKE enters. CARDINAL KEELER is at the altar. KEELER Michael. MIKE Your Eminence. KEELER We're all praying for your father. MIKE Thank you. I appreciate that. KEELER God bless you. KEELER exits. MIKE lights a candle at the altar, then pulls out his Rosary. As HE kneels and says his Rosary, praying with all his heart, CUT TO: INT. OPERATING ROOM #5/CHURCH HOME & HOSPITAL - DAY Classical MUSIC PLAYS as SURGICAL TEAM works on GIARDELLO. Doctor ROBERT WILLIAMS reaches deep into GIARDELLO'S abdomen with surgical instrument and pulls out a battered bloody bullet. He holds it up to the light. WILLIAMS That's one. Big sucker-- O.R. NURSE holds out tray. WILLIAMS drops bullet on tray and turns to consult X-ray that Doctor ELI DEVILBISS holds up for him. WILLIAMS Where's the other one? (off X-ray) There. Lodged up under the second lower left rib. Lots of lovely bone fragment debris from the pulverized rib-- DEVILBISS Pressure's sixty over palp, heart rate one-twenty. WILLIAMS Okay. I'll extract the slug first, then we'll spend the rest of day tweezing rib slivers out of his gut. WILLIAMS bends to his work. Behind him, the door opens. A tall Black MAN, in surgical mask, gown and cap, enters. No one pays any attention. The MAN stands near the door, watches for a moment, then brings his arm up. The movement catches the eye of DEVILBISS, who glances in his direction. DEVILBISS Excuse me, are you in the right-- MAN is pointing a gun. DEVILBISS stops, not understanding what he's seeing. A beat. Then MAN FIRES several shots -- DEVILBISS ducks as monitor SHATTERS behind him. A moment of silence, classical MUSIC keeps PLAYING, then SCREAMS and SHOUTING. CHAOS. DEVILBISS looks up: MAN is gone. NURSES are CRYING. DEVILBISS looks around. WILLIAMS has thrown himself over GIARDELLO. O.R. NURSE grabs intercom and starts SCREAMING into it as DEVILBISS goes to WILLIAMS: O.R. NURSE Security. Security. There's been a shooting in O.R. Five-- DEVILBISS Is the patient okay? O.R. NURSE A shooting, a shooting in O.R. Five-- WILLIAMS doesn't respond. DEVILBISS pulls WILLIAMS up, turns him over. He's unconscious, his chest a wet red mass of blood. DEVILBISS stares: Is this the patients blood or Williams'? DEVILBISS Oh, God. Doctor Williams has been shot. Doctor Williams has been shot. (to O.R.NURSE) Code Red, Code Red. O.R. NURSE Code Red, Code Red, we need another surgeon, stat-- As O.R. NURSE SCREAMS into intercom, the TRAUMA TEAM tends to both WILLIAMS and GIARDELLO, FADE OUT END OF ACT THREE ACT FOUR FADE IN INT. ER ENTRANCE/CHURCH HOME & HOSPITAL - DAY BRODIE, in scrubs, carrying camera, brushes past tall Black MAN, still in scrubs, face turned away. MAN exits building. As BRODIE heads for elevator, CHAOS erupts. As a FLOOD of COPS and SECURITY head upstairs, CUT TO: INT. OPERATING ROOM #5/CHURCH HOME & HOSPITAL - DAY CHAOS continues, as MEDICAL STAFF lifts WILLIAMS onto gurney. DEVILBISS We've got to save Doctor Williams. O.R. NURSE Take him to O.R. Four -- We've gotta keep working on this patient-- DEVILBISS looks at O.R. NURSE, panicked, frozen. INT. HALLWAY/CHURCH HOME & HOSPITAL - DAY STAFF carries WILLIAMS into Operating Room #4, as other DOCTORS and NURSES rush toward them, splitting up between Operating Room #4 and Operating Room #5. BRODIE comes down Hallway. BRODIE Hey, what happened? DEVILBISS Not now. DEVILBISS exits into Operating Room #4. BRODIE crosses to door of Operating Room #4, looks in window. INT. OPERATING ROOM #4/CHURCH HOME & HOSPITAL - DAY SURGICAL TEAM works on WILLIAMS. INT. HALLWAY/CHURCH HOME & HOSPITAL - DAY BRODIE crosses to Operating Room #5, looks in window. INT. OPERATING ROOM #5/CHURCH HOME & HOSPITAL - DAY SURGICAL TEAM works on GIARDELLO. INT. HALLWAY/CHURCH HOME & HOSPITAL - DAY BRODIE, alone, in a now quiet Hall, mumbles to himself BRODIE Strange days indeed. As BRODIE raises his camera and starts filming, EXT. CHURCH HOME & HOSPITAL - DAY Cop Cars and QRT Vehicles. QRT OFFICERS rush into Hospital as VISITORS, HOSPITAL STAFF and AMBULATORY PATIENTS are ushered out. RICHARD GILROY is broadcasting: GILROY ...In a bizarre development, shots were fired moments ago inside the hospital. It's unclear if this latest incident is related to the shooting earlier today of Mayoral candidate Al Giardello. Police are clearing the building and QRT Teams are conducting a room by room search of the hospital-- HE is drowned out by the SOUND of a HELICOPTER landing nearby. INT. CORRIDOR/ICU/CHURCH HOME & HOSPITAL - DAY QRT OFFICERS, let by QRT Lieutenant JASPER, march down eerily quiet and deserted floor. They enter room with bedridden PATIENT, searching it quickly. As THEY fan out and move on to the next room, CUT TO: EXT. AMPITHEATRE/INNER HARBOR - DAY PEMBLETON and BAYLISS face WITNESS #2. BAYLISS You sure you saw this drug dealer at the rally this morning? WITNESS #2 Easy Eddie Moe. I know him all too well. Used to cop from him when I was in the game. Back in the day. Before I got clean. PEMBLETON Why would he be at a rally for Giardello? WITNESS #2 That's what I'm saying. To take him down maybe. Drug dealers are so flipped out by the idea of Giardello being Mayor, they're even registering to vote. PEMBLETON And how do we find Easy Eddie? WITNESS #2 You might talk to Bernie Weeks down at the Sand's Lounge. Eddie used to work for him. BAYLISS Bernie Weeks? Wasn't he that dealer we busted by mistake, looking for Manuel Renderos? PEMBLETON Yeah, he wasn't our killer, but he had fifty kilos of coke in the trunk of his car. BAYLISS And he's back on the street already. (to WITNESS #2) Okay, thanks. PEMBLETON and BAYLISS turn and walk away. BAYLISS Well, what do we do now? Pass this along to Gharty? PEMBLETON We could. BAYLISS Or-- PEMBLETON We could check it out ourselves. As BAYLISS and PEMBLETON move off, CUT TO: INT. STUDIO/RADIO STATION - DAY MILLER looks at LEWIS and SHEPPARD. SHEPPARD Where were you this morning around eight-fifteen? MILLER When Giardello got shot? LEWIS Yeah. MILLER On the air. And when the good news came out over the Jewish-controlled mainstream media, we popped a bottle of genuine American sparkling wine and shared the glad tidings with our listeners across the country. SHEPPARD Across the country? MILLER We reach most of our followers on the Internet. SHEPPARD You can verify you were in the studio at the time of the shooting? MILLER I'll play you the tapes. LEWIS Those can be faked. You could've been on the air and nowhere near this place. MILLER I'll give you a list of people who were in and out of the station all morning and saw me. In the flesh. LEWIS Here's a pen. Start writing. MILLER starts writing, laughs. MILLER I do wish we were on the air right now, so that I could describe you all for the benefit of my audience. SHEPPARD What do you mean? MILLER Well, we're always talking on my program about mud people -- you're familiar with the term? SHEPPARD Yeah. I am. MILLER One of our favorite topics. Along with the evils of race-mixing. And look at the two of you. Prime examples of both. On LEWIS and SHEPPARD, "oh, man, this guy," CUT TO: EXT. CANTON STREET - DAY LEWIS and SHEPPARD exit Store, with witness list. LEWIS Gotta admit, they've come a long way from Grand Kleagles, burning crosses and "Birth of a Nation"-- SHEPPARD Yup. Good old boys have definitely traded their bedsheets for websites. (re: list) Assuming these check out, Miller's not Gee's shooter. LEWIS No, but he might have told someone else to pull the trigger. SHEPPARD Or he might have just incited it. If the shooter turns out to be one of his regular listeners, maybe we can tie Miller in. LEWIS Man, I'd love to pin something on this racist clown, some kinda conspiracy charge-- Three SKINHEADS block the sidewalk. SKINHEAD What are you doing here? LEWIS On second thought, they may have changed, but they ain't evolved SHEPPARD Ask me. They're going backwards. SKINHEAD We got rights, too. Freedom of speech. You made a big mistake closing down Miller's show-- SKINHEAD puts his hands on SHEPPARD, who flips him around and cuffs him as LEWIS simultaneously draws his gun and badges the other two SKINHEADS. LEWIS Anybody else wanna ride Downtown? As SHEPPARD puts SKINHEAD in the Cavalier, CUT TO: EXT. STATE POLICE HEADQUARTERS - DAY Establishing. INT. SCREENING ROOM/STATE POLICE HEADQUARTERS - DAY A state-of-the art video/audio facility. STIVERS and BALLARD sit with ROBBIE ROBERTS, Chief State Lab Tech. Dozens of tape cassettes from Channels Two, Eleven, Thirteen and Fox Forty-Five litter the console. STIVERS Next tape... ON SCREEN: A newsreel videotape plays. The Ampitheatre at the Inner Harbor. Faces of an expectant crowd. BALLARD This is from 'BAL, Channel Eleven. BALLARD and STIVERS study the faces on the videotape. ON SCREEN: Faces in the crowd. Giardello comes into frame. BALLARD and STIVERS lean in, searching for a clue. ROBERTS Maybe we should push the tape. To where Giardello gets shot. ON SCREEN: The Homeless Man grabs Giardello STIVERS (V.O.) Stop. ROBERTS hits button which freezes tape. ON SCREEN: The startled image of Giardello instinctively shying away from the Homeless Man. STIVERS circles an eight- inch diameter ON SCREEN. STIVERS Bring this section here up? ROBERTS hits a few bells and whistles. ON SCREEN: The section is enlarges times five. The image zooms up grainy. The hands of everyone within reach of Giardello. Only the bottom of Giardello's suit is ON SCREEN. STIVERS The gun the gun the gun, where the hell is the gun? As BALLARD and STIVERS look at the enlarged anonymous hands, CUT TO: EXT. EMERGENCY ROOM/CHURCH HOME & HOSPITAL - DAY Sidewalk, street, parking lot now full of VISITORS, STAFF and PATIENTS, ambulatory and in wheelchairs, COPS, QRT OFFICERS and NEWS MEDIA. BARNFATHER stands with MIKE. MIKE How could something like this happen? BARNFATHER We had officers posted on every floor. MIKE Then how did the shooter get in? If I were paranoid, I'd say someone in the Department is involved-- BARNFATHER I'm gonna forget you said that-- MIKE Has QRT has sealed off the building? BARNFATHER Yes. We'll catch him. It's only a matter of time. Officer JAY SALERNO approaches. SALERNO Officer Giardello? MIKE How's my dad? SALERNO They got another surgeon working on him. Didn't miss a beat. MIKE What about his surgeon? The one who got shot? SALERNO Doctor Williams. MIKE Is he gonna make it? SALERNO Who knows. A second surgical team's cutting into him now. MIKE Thanks. BARNFATHER Are we positive the two shootings are related? MIKE Of course they're related, what're you talking about? BARNFATHER Maybe Doctor Mehta has enemies. MIKE The shooter was after my father-- BARNFATHER We won't know for sure until we can get in there and investigate. And right now our Crime Scene is still an O.R. JASPER exits building, sees BARNFATHER, shrugs. JASPER He's not in there. MIKE He got away. MIKE curses under his breath. BARNFATHER Let's get everybody back inside. As STAFF and PATIENTS start to re-enter building, CUT TO: INT. SAND'S LOUNGE - DAY BAYLISS and PEMBLETON play pool with BERNIE WEEKS. WEEKS I've always wondered, myself, why don't they do what he's saying, you know, kick the bottom out of the market by making the stuff legal. Put me outta business like that-- He misses shot. BAYLISS takes a turn. PEMBLETON So you're happy about somebody trying to kill Giardello? WEEKS I didn't say that. Could backfire. The, whatchacallit, sympathy vote. BAYLISS You know our next question. WEEKS Do I got an alibi? BAYLISS Yeah. WEEKS (reaching for cellphone) Maybe I should call my attorney-- BAYLISS (stops him) You don't have to lawyer up. PEMBLETON This is still friendly. You lawyer up, we gotta put you in the system. Waste a time for all of us. WEEKS You Homicide, right? Know anybody in Narcotics? PEMBLETON Yes. Absolutely. WEEKS You got any juice with Steve Fletcher? PEMBLETON (no clue) I could talk to him, yeah. WEEKS If you could get the bastard off my back -- He's camping out on my front stoop. My oldest daughter thinks he's gonna kill me, bust the door down and grease me in my own bed. The stress is aggravating her asthma. PEMBLETON I'll speak to him. WEEKS I didn't do Giardello. BAYLISS What about your crew? WEEKS Them neither. PEMBLETON Witness put Easy Moe at the scene. WEEKS He doesn't work for me anymore. BAYLISS Know where we can find him? WEEKS I'd try his moma's house first. PEMBLETON Let me just make this shot-- As PEMBLETON shoots and scratches, CUT TO: EXT. STREET - DAY BAYLISS and PEMBLETON exit Lounge. PEMBLETON We'll give this to Gharty. If Easy Eddie's the shooter, he's in the wind. You and I won't be able to find him on our own. I could use a cup of coffee. BAYLISS I'm buying. PEMBLETON I can't. 'Cause of the stroke-- BAYLISS Oh, yeah. For a minute, I forgot. For a minute, time seemed not to have gone by. For a minute, it was eight years ago... Y'know, Frank, I never really told you how much I enjoyed being your partner. How much I loved... working with you. PEMBLETON eyes BAYLISS, clicks his tongue. PEMBLETON You think maybe a cop shot Gee? BAYLISS A what? PEMBLETON A cop. BAYLISS Why would one of us wanna shoot the Lieutenant? PEMBLETON Not one of us. A cop with attitudes. Prejudices. A red-neck cop. BAYLISS God knows there are plenty of them. PEMBLETON A Gaffney. A guy who's put in the time, walked the beat, now sees Giardello making the reach for power -- decides to change history. BAYLISS Interesting theory. Cops as killers. PEMBLETON Happens. Kellerman plugged Luther Mahoney. And I still think a boy in blue finished off Gordon Pratt. BAYLISS Me too. But saying you're right, saying some law enforcement officer shot Gee, how do we find him? Where do we start to look? PEMBLETON I don't know. Needle 'n haystack time... let's go see how Ballard and Stivers are doing with the video tapes. THEY get to Car. PEMBLETON You know why I left Homicide? Because I couldn't hear one more confession. I got sick of hearing people confess to me. Like some Jesuit, I would sit there in "The Box," listening to a man not just admit that he'd killed someone. But cop to all the crap in his life, over the course of his life, that had led him to that moment. BAYLISS The merit of a whole life can be undone in a single moment. PEMBLETON Who said that? BAYLISS The Buddha. PEMBLETON The Buddha. Huh. Well, he was right, exactly. But unlike a priest, I could never give the man what he really needed--absolution. I could only give him prison time. BAYLISS You'd've made a great Jesuit, Frank. As THEY get into Car and drive off, CUT TO: INT. HALLWAY/CHURCH HOME & HOSPITAL - DAY GIARDELLO is wheeled out of O.R., under guard, accompanied by assortment of COPS. As THEY move him toward ICU, FADE OUT END OF ACT FOUR ACT FIVE FADE IN INT. SCREENING ROOM/STATE POLICE HEADQUARTERS - DAY STIVERS and BALLARD sit at the video console. An empty pizza box and cans of soda litter the console. STIVERS sips a Coke. ROBERTS isolates another section of tape, freezing the image of a startled, frightened Giardello from another angle. A middle-aged Black Man zooms up. ROBERTS This guy? BALLARD That guy. ROBERTS You wanna see what's in his hands? STIVERS Do your voodoo. ROBERTS works the controls. A section of the frame zooms up, a grainy image of the Black Man holding an object. BALLARD He's holding something. His right hand. STIVERS steps to the screen, anxious. STIVERS Pop it bigger. ROBERTS works the controls. The Black Man's right hand zooms up, isolated, more grainy. STIVERS studies the image. STIVERS Is that a gun? BALLARD steps to the screen, anticipating. ROBERTS zooms up the Black Man's hand to fill the entire screen. His hand holds a rectangular object. BALLARD I can't tell. The image zooms up again, isolating the fingers on the Black Man's hand. BAYLISS and PEMBLETON enter. BAYLISS Anything? STIVERS I dunno. PEMBLETON You dunno, so maybe you've got something? STIVERS Maybe. (to ROBERTS) He's definitely holding something. BALLARD But what? ON SCREEN: The Black Man's fingers are enlarged times two. STIVERS It's not a gun. BAYLISS (re: image ON SCREEN) That's a camera. PEMBLETON One of the disposable kinds. BALLARD (to BAYLISS) You got anything? BAYLISS Maybe. Drug dealer with a grudge. Passed it on to Gharty. PEMBLETON How far into these tapes are you? BALLARD 'Bout halfway. PEMBLETON You mind if we sit in? STIVERS Not a problem. On the grainy image of Giardello ON SCREEN, CUT TO: INT. GIARDELLO'S ROOM/ICU/CHURCH HOME & HOSPITAL - DAY GIARDELLO, unconscious, wired and intubated. PULL BACK TO: INT. CORRIDOR/ICU/CHURCH HOME & HOSPITAL - DAY MIKE looks in at his father, talking to Doctor VICTOR EHRLICH. EHRLICH I'm not gonna sugarcoat reality for you. The internal damage is substantial. Your father was shot twice in the abdomen. One bullet pierced his right kidney and colon, the other missed the vital organs but pulverized a rib. MIKE Mother of God-- EHRLICH He's looking at several more operations to fully repair his colon and remove the damaged kidney. And the risk of peritonitis remains high. MIKE So what's your most pessimistic assessment? EHRLICH Recovery's going to take time, but I think his long-term prognosis is good. He's a very strong man, his general health is excellent. MIKE When's he gonna come to? When do you think I can talk to him? EHRLICH I don't know. MIKE Huh. Well, that's refreshing. A doctor who doesn't know everything. EHRLICH You're welcome. EHRLICH turns to go. MIKE Hey, I'm not thanking you. I've been here all day, worried to death, couldn't get a straight answer from anybody. I have to tell you, I've got a lot of problems with the way this place is run-- EHRLICH I was two under par on the fifteenth green with a four-foot gimme, about to go to three under when I got beeped. Dropped my club, didn't even take the shot. I get here, the O.R. is a war zone. Kosovo on ice. You rather we held your hand or saved your father's life? (as he walks away) Putz. On MIKE, "Well, you put it that way," CUT TO: INT. SCREENING ROOM/STATE POLICE HEADQUARTERS - DAY ON SCREEN: A new section of news videotape plays. Giardello and Schmoke bask in the glow of the crowd's reception. WE HEAR a barely audible "pop-pop-pop" through the CHEERING. Giardello and the Police Officers react to the muffled report of gunshots. STIVERS Hear that? BAYLISS (re: the audio) Pop-pop-pop. The gun. ON SCREEN: Giardello, stunned, in pain, grimacing, falling out of frame as Stiegler reaches for Giardello. BALLARD Lookit Gee there. He's hurt. BALLARD turns from the SCREEN. Slow motion. Giardello being shot from yet a third angle. ROBERTS works controls. ON SCREEN: The image of Giardello falling is frozen. The image is blown up in sections of the frame, in rapid sequence. STIVERS I see Gee getting shot. We need the reverse. To see from wherever the shots are coming from. ROBERTS I can only give you what you give me. STIVERS I know that. ROBERTS So I'm giving you what you have. STIVERS I said, I know that. As BALLARD pats STIVERS' arm, CUT TO: INT. GIARDELLO'S ROOM/ICU/CHURCH HOME & HOSPITAL - DAY MIKE slumbers in chair. Sunlight hits his face. HAND taps him on shoulder. He wakes with a start-- MIKE Hey-- GIARDELLO, dressed, smiling, knots his tie. GIARDELLO Let's go. Stunned, MIKE looks over to bed. It's empty, made. GIARDELLO Buy you breakfast? MIKE What're you doing? Get back in bed-- GIARDELLO Mike, I'm fine. Never felt better. MIKE You were shot, twice. You shouldn't be outta bed-- GIARDELLO I feel fine. Come on, let's grab some scrapple at Jimmy's. A couple of funnel cakes with frim-fram sauce and shifaffa on the side-- MIKE What? GIARDELLO Nat King Cole was a merry old soul and a merry old soul was he-- MIKE Listen, pop, you really think you should be doing this? GIARDELLO My cholesterol's down, I'll risk it-- MIKE I don't mean breakfast at Jimmy's, I mean checking yourself out of the hospital. GIARDELLO looks around, grins, leans in, finger to lips. GIARDELLO Don't ask, don't tell. I won't, if you won't-- MIKE Pop, you're not making sense, please lie back down, lemme call the nurse-- GIARDELLO Last one out is a rotten egg-- Grinning, GIARDELLO walks out. As MIKE leaps up, CUT TO: INT. GIARDELLO'S ROOM/ICU/CHURCH HOME & HOSPITAL - DAY Asleep in chair, MIKE comes forward with jolt, wakes up. He looks over at GIARDELLO, who lies unconscious in bed, IV'd and wired. MIKE rubs his eyes, as Doctor JULIANNA COX and Doctor GEORGE GRISCOM enter. GRISCOM Mike... MIKE Hello, Doctor Griscom. GRISCOM Do you know Julianna Cox? My predecessor as Chief Medical Examiner. COX Sorry about your dad. MIKE Thanks. GRISCOM We've been talking to his doctor. Getting the full story. COX Knowing Gee the way I do, I'm sure he'll pull through. MIKE Yeah. Hope so. I gotta take a walk. MIKE exits. As COX and GRISCOM turn toward GIARDELLO, CUT TO: INT. WAITING ROOM/CHURCH HOME & HOSPITAL - DAY MIKE enters Room as RUSSERT approaches with ROSINA. RUSSERT Mike, I'm gonna take your grandmother home. She's exhausted. MIKE Thanks, Megan. (kisses ROSINA) Get some rest. RUSSERT You're tired, too. Maybe you should go, grab some nap-time. MIKE No. I'm too fired up to sleep. Where's Brodie? RUSSERT I dunno. He wandered off somewhere. RUSSERT stands at elevator as doors open to reveal: KELLERMAN Hey, Megan. RUSSERT gets in, without a word, as KELLERMAN gets off. KELLERMAN Nice to see you, too... Doors close. KELLERMAN turns to MIKE. KELLERMAN They told me downstairs that your dad's out of surgery. MIKE Yeah, he's in ICU. KELLERMAN Any word from Homicide, they catch the shooter? MIKE Geez, I don't know. I've been so caught up here-- KELLERMAN I'm sure they're all over it. MIKE Yeah... Maybe I'll head down there, check things out. I got an idea I have to tell Gharty about. KELLERMAN I could go with you. (off MIKE's look) Hey, I know I'm not a cop anymore. And I know there are alotta people who'd be just as happy never to see my puss again. But Gee was always good to me. And fair. MIKE nods, as BRODIE returns, still in scrubs, with camera. KELLERMAN Brodie... BRODIE I just filmed a bypass operation. Did you know this is the hospital where Edgar Allen Poe died of rabies? MIKE We're gonna head over to Headquarters for a little while. If my dad comes to, beep me. As MIKE and KELLERMAN head off, CUT TO: INT. GIARDELLO'S ROOM/ICU/CHURCH HOME & HOSPITAL - DAY GRISCOM and COX study X-rays, consult chart over GIARDELLO, still unconscious. GRISCOM That kidney's definitely history-- COX It's amazing how effectively they treat massive traumas nowadays. Even ten years ago, these bad boys would have been fatal. GRISCOM The upside of automatic weapons. They've expanded the boundaries of medical science. COX Talk about a silver lining. I wish we knew what caliber-- GRISCOM What's your best guess? COX From the size of the entry wounds and the internal trajectories, I'd say a nine mil. She raises GIARDELLO's sheet, peeks under smock. COX Odd. GRISCOM What? COX I'm not used to seeing a body that's still breathing... No powder burns. GRISCOM So judging from the internal damage, the assailant was how far away when he fired, would you say? COX Fifteen feet, max. GRISCOM Maybe as much as twenty-five. COX Injuries are too severe for that distance, he must have been closer. GRISCOM I'd love to get in there and have a really good look around. Not that I'd want him-- COX No, no, of course not. But I know what you mean-- GRISCOM Yes, I'm sure you do. On GRISCOM and COX, just itching to do that autopsy, CUT TO: OMIT INT. LIEUTENANT'S OFFICE/HOMICIDE UNIT - DAY MIKE stands across from GHARTY at desk MIKE I'm here 'cause I've been thinking -- and I've had alotta time to think -- When I first came back to Baltimore, there was a series of murders in Little Italy. GHARTY Your cousin, right? MIKE Mario. CUT TO: FLASHBACK-- On GIARDELLO finding Mario Giardello dead in the bathtub, CUT TO: BACK TO PRESENT-- MIKE We eventually caught and convicted the two children of one of Mario's old enemies, Carlo Roletta-- GHARTY I remember. MIKE Maybe another member of the Roletta family is responsible for Dad's shooting. GHARTY Possibly... MIKE Put one of your guys on it. GHARTY Maybe I oughta put you on it. MIKE Me? GHARTY You were in the F.B.I. You're a helluva cop. You know the people in that neighborhood, they'll talk to you. MIKE Okay, yeah, just a casual conversation between me and some old friends. On GHARTY, nodding, SMASH CUT TO: EXT. ALLEY/LITTLE ITALY - DAY SONG BEGINS. CU on ITALIAN GUY #1 being rocked. PULL BACK to REVEAL MIKE, in street clothes, stomping ITALIAN GUY #1. As KELLERMAN looks on dispassionately, CUT TO: EXT. SIDESTREET/LITTLE ITALY - DAY SONG CONTINUES. CU on ITALIAN GUY #2 being rocked. PULL BACK to REVEAL MIKE stomping ITALIAN GUY #2. As KELLERMAN sips coffee, CUT TO: EXT. PLAYGROUND/LITTLE ITALY - DAY SONG CONTINUES. MIKE chasing down middle-aged ITALIAN GUY #3. He catches ITALIAN GUY #3, smacks him down, begins kicking ITALIAN GUY #3. ITALIAN GUY #3 balls up to protect his vitals. As KELLERMAN chews slice of pizza, CUT TO: EXT. BOCCE BALL COURT/LITTLE ITALY - DAY SONG CONTINUES. CU on an ELDER of the neighborhood, bug-eyed. PULL BACK to REVEAL MIKE holding his service revolver to the ELDER's head, his forearm braced against the ELDER's throat. KELLERMAN stops him. KELLERMAN Mike, enough. MIKE breathes, steps back. KELLERMAN One of the things your father taught me was: How to recognize a dead end. MIKE A dead end? KELLERMAN Uh huh. On MIKE, frustrated, CUT TO: INT. SWIMMING POOL - DAY GIARDELLO stands on bottom of dry Pool, wearing suit and tie and goggles. Far above him is a LIGHT. Suddenly, the Pool is full of water. UNDER WATER -- GIARDELLO looks up: The LIGHT shimmers through the water like a distant beacon. GIARDELLO breaststrokes for surface. He swims and swims, up, up, up, toward the LIGHT. He breaks the surface, gasping, into the LIGHT. He rips off his goggles, wipes the water from his eyes, looks around. GIARDELLO Michael? Michael? As GIARDELLO looks in vain for his son, treading water, trying to keep his head above the surface, CUT TO: INT. GIARDELLO'S ROOM/ICU/CHURCH HOME & HOSPITAL - DAY GIARDELLO, in bed, wired and IV'd, opens his eyes. GIARDELLO Michael? Michael? He looks over. On Mike's chair, empty, FADE OUT END OF ACT FIVE ACT SIX OMIT OMIT FADE IN INT. SCREENING ROOM/STATE POLICE HEADQUARTERS - NIGHT ON SCREEN: Giardello smiles, the rapid dull REPEAT is HEARD, a "pop-pop-pop". BALLARD's on the phone, making notes. She hangs up. BALLARD That was Falsone. The day-old dead drug dealer, Yin Yang Hardwicke? STIVERS The one he and Lewis caught this morning? BALLARD The lab boys ran a comparison on the slugs outta Gee and our day-old dead drug dealer. Same caliber, same gun. BAYLISS We have a witness, places a dealer named Easy Eddie Moe at the scene. And another dealer who says Eddie had it in for Gee. PEMBLETON Maybe Easy Eddie shot Yin Yang, too. BAYLISS Talk about bad kharma. BALLARD (to STIVERS) Let's go meet Falsone, help him check this out. See if there's some connection between this Easy Eddie and Yin and Gee. Maybe it's something, maybe it's nothing. STIVERS Fine by me. I can't look at these tapes for another second. As STIVERS and BALLARD exit, leaving PEMBLETON and BAYLISS behind, CUT TO: OMIT INT. SQUAD ROOM/HOMICIDE UNIT - NIGHT BOLANDER and MUNCH check their notes. BOLANDER How man Black Nationalist groups are there in Baltimore? MUNCH Many. Lewis and Sheppard still working the various Aryan angles? BOLANDER Yup. Baltimore, city of brotherly love. MUNCH That's Philadelphia. Call me crazy, but wouldn't it make more sense at this point for us to switch? I mean, what is Gharty thinking? BILLIE LOU (O.S.) John. MUNCH turns to see BILLIE LOU MCCOY, very calm cool and collected. MUNCH Billie Lou. BILLIE LOU I heard you were in town. Why haven't you come to see me? MUNCH Billie Lou, this is my old partner, Stan Bolander. BILLIE LOU Pleased to meet you. (to MUNCH) I guess you have to eat your words about never setting foot in Charm City again. MUNCH When did I say that? BOLANDER Maybe I need a cup of coffee-- BILLIE LOU And telling everybody I ran off with one of your colleagues. MUNCH You know those New York cops, they'll believe anything. BILLIE LOU Who'd you have in mind -- Stuart? MUNCH Stivers. BILLIE LOU In your dreams. MUNCH Okay, I'm a dog. Can we talk about this later? I'm working-- BILLIE LOU You know where to find me. She exits. BOLANDER looks at MUNCH. BOLANDER The fourth ex-Missus Munch. MUNCH You think maybe I'm not cut out for the domestic life? BOLANDER Guys like us, work is where we shine. MUNCH nods. As THEY go back to it, CUT TO: INT. SCREENING ROOM/STATE POLICE HEADQUARTERS - NIGHT ON SCREEN: The Inner Harbor crowd. Giardello ascends the stage. Daniels is pushed back. PEMBLETON and BAYLISS watch SCREEN. BAYLISS You watch these tapes of Gee getting shot, over and over, in slo-mo, frame by frame, and the act itself stops being shocking. PEMBLETON That's the problem with the job. Things stop shocking you. BAYLISS That murderer, Luke Ryland, that you said made me jumpy. The women he killed, those murders still shocked me. They angered me-- PEMBLETON Good. The tape plays Giardello smiling and the CAMERA PANNING left to right again. PEMBLETON Back it up. ROBERTS rewinds tape. PEMBLETON points to SCREEN. PEMBLETON This here. ON SCREEN: The CAMERA PANNING left to right, picks up the WYAT Cameraman, Black, late forties, aiming his camera toward the unseen stage. As the CAMERA continues to PAN left to right and the WYAT Cameraman being taped is about to leave FRAME, three FLASHES of different colored light flare the left side of the FRAME. A split second. The three FLASHES of light in sync with a dull REPEAT, "pop-pop-pop". PEMBLETON "Pop-pop-pop," with three flashes of light. See, the color's different from all the others. BAYLISS Where? PEMBLETON Back it up. ROBERTS works controls. ON SCREEN: The section of tape replaying. PEMBLETON (V.O.) See the flashes? Left side of the frame. BAYLISS (V.O.) I heard the "pops," but back it up again. ROBERTS works controls. ON SCREEN: The section of tape replaying. PEMBLETON (V.O.) Watch. Just as the WYAT Cameraman is leaving frame. ON SCREEN: The three FLASHES with the "pop-pop-pop." BAYLISS (V.O.) Maybe the flashes are from those cheap cameras. PEMBLETON (V.O.) No. Those are white, these are orange. (to ROBERTS) Give it to me bigger. ROBERTS works controls. ON SCREEN: The section of tape blown-up times three. The WYAT Cameraman's features zoom up grainier. The faces of the crowd to his right side flare up in reflecting three FLASHES in sync with the "pop-pop-pop." PEMBLETON (V.O.) If there's a gun, it's right next to that Cameraman in view and the people to his right. TIME CUT TO: INT. SCREENING ROOM/STATE POLICE HEADQUARTERS - NIGHT ON SCREEN: The section of tape being replayed in slow motion. PEMBLETON (V.O.) Again. But slow it down even more. TIME CUT TO: INT. SCREENING ROOM/STATE POLICE HEADQUARTERS - NIGHT ON SCREEN: The section of tape being played, blown-up, at a frame-by-frame sequence. It becomes clearer as the CAMERA is PANNING just past the WYAT Cameraman leaving FRAME, the FLASHES of light are in perfect synch with the audio of the three gunshots. The audio of the "pop-pop-pop" is slowed in synch. A few faces in the foreground of the frame turn, looking around, confused, trying to locate the source of that MUFFLED "pop-pop-pop". SMASH CUT TO: INT. LIEUTENANT'S OFFICE/HOMICIDE UNIT - NIGHT ON SCREEN: The section of tape is being played, blown up, at regular speed. GHARTY (O.S.) You're saying the shooter is the Cameraman from WYAT? PEMBLETON (O.S.) Maybe. PULL BACK to REVEAL GHARTY, PEMBLETON and BAYLISS. PEMBLETON This tape was shot by Channel Eleven. PEMBLETON points to the three FLASHES of light. PEMBLETON The three flashes of orange light. GHARTY I see 'em. BAYLISS With the "pop-pop-pop"-- GHARTY Nothing showing him with the gun. PEMBLETON Went through all the tapes. No guns visible from any angle. GHARTY You feel there's something to this. BAYLISS Could be. Me and Frank'll go suss him out, huh? GHARTY You can go, Bayliss, but Pembleton, you should back off a bit right now. PEMBLETON Right now, huh? GHARTY Not my decision. You saw: I got my lunch handed to me for letting you take over the homeless guy. When Bayliss called in the tip on Easy Eddie Moe, I knew you guys were out there working, and I didn't say squat. But now-- PEMBLETON Not that I ever had a whole lot of respect for you, Gharty, but what are you doing, putting up with all that nonsense from Gaffney? GHARTY I had to get off the street. I could smell it, that I wouldn't last. I live with Gaffney and all the rest of the brass 'cause that's what this job is. I'm just a stooge. I know that. But still, it's better than being out there-- PEMBLETON Al Giardello had nothing but respect for you. GHARTY He did. Yes. PEMBLETON He stood up for you, for the rest of his men. Covered our backs. Never gave a crap about Gaffney or anybody else. It is all about putting down cases. GHARTY I know. PEMBLETON So take a clue from Gee, huh? You're heading a Detective Squad. They're looking to you. Give 'em something. Or walk the hell away. GHARTY (exhales) You two, go to 'YAT, find out who the guy is. PEMBLETON and BAYLISS head for exit. BAYLISS 'Spoken like a champ. Like a true murder police. PEMBLETON Kiss my ass. On GHARTY, sweating, CUT TO: OMIT OMIT EXT. STREET - NIGHT BALLARD, STIVERS and FALSONE stand with an OLD WOMAN. OLD WOMAN Yes, sir, I saw the man clear as day. Well, dressed, good looking. Got out of his car, walked up to that boy -- that Yin Yang -- and spoke to him for a moment. Figured he was buying drugs. Then the well dressed man, he took out a gun and shot the boy dead away. FALSONE What'd he look like? OLD WOMAN Who? Which one? BALLARD The well dressed man. OLD WOMAN Forty or so. Grey at the temples. Distinguished-- STIVERS Black? OLD WOMAN Oh yes. Blacker than you or me. FALSONE (to BALLARD) Sound like Easy Eddie to you? BALLARD Not much. Easy Eddie's twenty-two, short, funny looking. And his idea of dressing up is clean sneakers. On FALSONE and BALLARD, wondering, CUT TO: INT. NEWS MANAGER'S OFFICE/WYAT - NIGHT NEWS MANAGER sits with PEMBLETON and BAYLISS. NEWS MANAGER The guy you're looking for, name's Eric Thomas James. BAYLISS Is he still on the job? NEWS MANAGER He was down at the hospital, but he's off now. PEMBLETON We'll need his home address. BAYLISS Any idea what he thinks of Al Giardello? NEWS MANAGER I don't have a clue. I've never heard him talk politics. I don't really know anything about the man. He's a freelancer, works mostly weekends. He comes and goes. What can I tell you? He's a cameraman. He's removed. He sits behind his lens and observes people. Cameramen. They're all a little hinky, if you know what I mean. As the NEWS MANAGER reaches for Rolodex, CUT TO: INT. GIARDELLO'S ROOM/ICU/CHURCH HOME & HOSPITAL - NIGHT MIKE enters. GIARDELLO sits with plate of gnocchi. MIKE Dad... GIARDELLO They catch the guy who shot me? MIKE Not yet. But everybody's working every side of the equation. Even Bayliss and Pembleton. GIARDELLO Pembleton? Huh. MIKE That does not smell like hospital food. GIARDELLO Nonna brought me some of her gnocchi. MIKE Heaven. GIARDELLO The Doctor won't let me have any. Mangia? MIKE If I'd known. I just got through wolfed down some bad Chinese take- out. GIARDELLO Michael, just because you're a cop, doesn't mean you have to eat like a dog. MIKE You've always said that-- GIARDELLO I've never considered indigestion part of the job description. I don't believe that along with your gun and your badge, they issue you a bottle of antacid. MIKE No, they sure don't. GIARDELLO When I was a beat cop, my partners made fun of me because I always insisted on eating a real sit-down dinner, no fast food. I told them it was because I was Italian. MIKE What'd they say to that? GIARDELLO Ah, who cares? People are a little more enlightened these days. You know, when I went to Rome-- MIKE When were you in Rome? GIARDELLO Many years ago. Before you were born. Spent three weeks there. MIKE I never knew that. GIARDELLO It was September. It was hot. Beautiful blue skies. Policemen, workmen, the most common laborer, everyone -- Would sit down in the middle of the day and have a two hour lunch with three courses. And good wine. MIKE Which is why the Romans never get anything done-- GIARDELLO Maybe. But they know how to live. I never forgot that. And I always tried, no matter how deep into a case I was, to sit down like a human being and have a decent meal. That's important, Michael. MIKE I hear you. GIARDELLO To know how to live. In the little time we have. MIKE Okay. No more bad take-out. GIARDELLO Promise me. MIKE I promise. GIARDELLO Bene. MIKE Listen, I'll see you tomorrow. Charisse and Theresa'll both be here by then. Charisse is bringing little Al. The whole family will be together. GIARDELLO Good. Buona notte -- MIKE Buona notte, Poppa. MIKE leans over and kisses GIARDELLO on cheek. On GIARDELLO, smiling, as MIKE exits, CUT TO: OMIT EXT. PERRY HALL - NIGHT Establishing. EXT. JAMES HOME/PERRY HALL - NIGHT PEMBLETON and BAYLISS exit Toyota, walk up to a well-kept, cookie cutter suburban home. BAYLISS RINGS the bell. JAMES opens door. PEMBLETON Mister James? Eric Thomas James? JAMES Yes. BAYLISS flashes his shield. BAYLISS Baltimore Homicide. I'm Detective Bayliss. This is my... partner. PEMBLETON Frank Pembleton. JAMES holds open the door. JAMES Sure. Come in. PEMBLETON and BAYLISS enter. INT. KITCHEN/JAMES HOME - NIGHT They step in, JAMES closes the door. JAMES I've got some coffee. PEMBLETON No, thank you. BAYLISS I'll take a cup, thanks. JAMES I know it's late-- JAMES pours BAYLISS a cup of coffee. JAMES But I don't sleep much anyway. JAMES hands BAYLISS coffee. BAYLISS Neither do I. Thank you. JAMES You're welcome. I've been expecting you. BAYLISS Why's that? JAMES looks at them, exits Kitchen, PEMBLETON and BAYLISS follow. INT. HALLWAY/JAMES HOME - NIGHT JAMES heads off to Bedroom right off the Kitchen. PEMBLETON and BAYLISS follow, a buzz of wariness to their step. JAMES opens Bedroom door. BAYLISS slides his hand to his weapon. INT. BEDROOM/JAMES HOME - NIGHT A typical teenager's Bedroom. Unmade bed. Clothes, soda cans, CD's video games, school books litter the floor. JAMES This is my boy's bedroom. BAYLISS Mister James, are there any weapons in the house? JAMES This is how his room was three months ago. It hasn't been touched. BAYLISS guides JAMES to a wall, frisks him. JAMES I'm not carrying a gun either. BAYLISS Just making sure, that's all. JAMES What, you don't trust me? PEMBLETON You were at the Inner Harbor this morning, weren't you, Mister James? And at the hospital this afternoon? JAMES I was working. Lemme tell you something, awright? My Tom, my Tommy, he's got it all. Smarts, looks, girlfriends. This is someone who will make his mark. Put his imprint on the world. BAYLISS releases JAMES, sets him down in a chair. A beat, JAMES looks around the Room. JAMES He just got his driver's license. Me and the wife, we're going to help him get ahold of a decent used car for college. PEMBLETON Where is Missus James? JAMES Who knows? She left a coupla weeks ago. Didn't say for where. I'd guess her sister's in Buffalo, but I haven't called, she hasn't either. Don't have the energy. Yeah, I shot that man this morning. Giardello. BAYLISS Mister James, I have to advise you of your rights-- JAMES My what? Rights?-- (smiles, looks away) I have a right to have things as they were three months ago. I'd always played by the rules. Cut my lawn, paid my taxes, didn't honk at anyone coming out of the church parking lot. What else was I supposed to do? I don't deserve my Tommy dying. That is my right. BAYLISS Your son is dead? JAMES Yes. BAYLISS I'm sorry. JAMES What for? You didn't know him BAYLISS No one should have a child die. JAMES Tell that to all them bigshots who want to legalize drugs. Who want everyone to have the right to get themselves high on anything they want. PEMBLETON You've admitted shooting Al Giardello. JAMES I shot him, yeah. I was aiming for Schmoke, too, but, hey, why should I expect to be a sharpshooter, huh? Why should I expect my boy to go into Baltimore, buy himself his dope and O.D. right on the street? Why should I expect his friends who I know were with him, why do they leave him on the street, right there at Broadway and Fleet and let him die? Three months ago almost to the day. And this is how Tommy leaves his room. If he'd've just cleaned the damn place up, I could've sold our home. But, naw, he's gotta leave it like this. His personal touches. How can I sell this house that his mother cannot stand to live in anymore? I shot the dealer who sold Tommy the drugs. And that man, Giardello, because he wants to legalize drugs. I'm trying to stop that. I'll shoot whoever says it's okay. 'Cause it's not. I'm trying to save these innocent kids. That's all. BAYLISS I understand. JAMES and BAYLISS exchange a look. BAYLISS stands JAMES up, reflexively reaches for his cuffs, turns to PEMBLETON. BAYLISS I don't have any cuffs on me. JAMES You don't need 'em. BAYLISS and PEMBLETON lead JAMES out of the Room, into: INT. HALLWAY/JAMES HOME - NIGHT BAYLISS guides JAMES. PEMBLETON picks up the video camera with cover, off side table. He examines it, opens cover. He shows it to BAYLISS: James has rigged the gun to the camera. On BAYLISS and PEMBLETON, walking JAMES out, FADE OUT END OF ACT SIX ACT SEVEN FADE IN INT. LIEUTENANT'S OFFICE/HOMICIDE UNIT - NIGHT CU on VIDEO from the POV of the shooter. See Giardello standing on stage, then the CAMERA jolts from the gunshot, then Giardello falls. PEMBLETON (O.S.) He had the gun attached to the camera, which is why no one saw it. And the kept the camera rolling when he shot Gee, only he didn't turn the cassette in to WYAT. PULL BACK to REVEAL PEMBLETON, BAYLISS, GHARTY and Assistant State's Attorney ED DANVERS. DANVERS We show this tape in court, Eric Thomas James is done. We got two counts of attempted murder, Giardello and Dr. Williams, maximum thirty years each, not to mention the spare change he'll pick up for killing the drug dealer. (to PEMBLETON and BAYLISS) Congratulations. PEMBLETON Uh huh. DANVERS I'll need you both to testify. PEMBLETON goes. BAYLISS We'll be there. BAYLISS exits into: INT. SQUAD ROOM/HOMICIDE UNIT - NIGHT Normal activity as PEMBLETON and BAYLISS pass through. PEMBLETON Like old times, huh? BAYLISS I know how James feels. You have to stop those who are going to hurt the innocent. PEMBLETON James is a lunatic. Certifiable. BAYLISS His son dies, he's got to do something. PEMBLETON and BAYLISS exit. EXT. ROOF/POLICE HEADQUARTERS - NIGHT PEMBLETON and BAYLISS step out. BAYLISS Say one of your kids gets hooked on drugs. PEMBLETON One of my kids what? BAYLISS Gets hooked. PEMBLETON They wouldn't. BAYLISS Say they did. PEMBLETON They're not going to. It's not going to happen. Case closed. Next. BAYLISS You have no sympathy for James? What he's going through? PEMBLETON He's laying the blame off on Gee 'cause in his heart of hearts, he knows he's responsible for what happened to his kid. BAYLISS I appreciate how he feels. PEMBLETON You can appreciate all the hell you want, Tim, but there's a line. Between right and wrong. BAYLISS You're the expert on that. Nothing lumpy about you, 'cause you know all. PEMBLETON The city looks good tonight. BAYLISS We can't all be you, Frank. PEMBLETON Let the courts figure it out for James, awright? I'm gonna take my wife out to dinner in the Harbor. BAYLISS Sometimes you can lose your bearings. Sometimes the line isn't so clear. PEMBLETON Maybe wine and dine her at Pierpoint. Romantic. Of course the line is clear. There's good, there's evil. Don't be one of these namby-pamby relativists and start running that oh-life-is- shades-of-grey nonsense. That's for weak thinkers. BAYLISS (stops) Yeah. You're the expert. PEMBLETON turns, sees that BAYLISS stopped. PEMBLETON It doesn't take an expert to tell right from wrong. BAYLISS You've never shot anyone, have you? PEMBLETON No. BAYLISS And you never would. PEMBLETON I've never had to. I've been lucky. BAYLISS You've always been the righteous cop. The line has always been clear to you. PEMBLETON Not always. BAYLISS Time for one last confession, Frank... PEMBLETON Confession? BAYLISS I killed a man. PEMBLETON I'm not in the mood, awright? BAYLISS Luke Ryland. PEMBLETON Huh? BAYLISS I shot the bastard dead. PEMBLETON Good. Go to jail. Lethal injection or the gas chamber? BAYLISS I'm not kidding. I killed him. PEMBLETON You couldn't kill anyone. BAYLISS He got off on a technicality. Sonofabitch had to die before he murdered another innocent woman. PEMBLETON stares hard at BAYLISS. PEMBLETON Don't screw with me. BAYLISS looks at PEMBLETON, no joke. PEMBLETON You killed this whoever. BAYLISS Luke Ryland. PEMBLETON Internal cleared you? BAYLISS Frank, I'm saying I went to hunt this bastard down. I found him and blew his brains out. I executed him in cold blood. PEMBLETON And I'm saying, Internal rules it was a good shooting. BAYLISS Internal doesn't know crap about me killing Ryland. PEMBLETON You're standing here and you're telling me you killed someone. BAYLISS Yes. PEMBLETON In self-defense. BAYLISS No. PEMBLETON You were standing there with your gun and then it went off and you don't remember how. BAYLISS Frank-- PEMBLETON 'Cause guns go off accidentally. Happens all the time. BAYLISS This was no accident. PEMBLETON I'm saying it's an accident. For you to shoot someone, it has to be a mistake. BAYLISS No mistake, no accident. PEMBLETON Tim-- BAYLISS You're a good cop. PEMBLETON I'm not a cop anymore. BAYLISS You'll always be a cop. PEMBLETON I'm a teacher now. A civilian. BAYLISS I murdered this guy, 'cause he was a predator. He preyed on women. PEMBLETON Why are you doing this? BAYLISS I put the gun right up to the mother's brain and I pulled the trigger. PEMBLETON Shut up. Just -- shut up. BAYLISS What do I do, Frank? PEMBLETON You put this on me? You sonofabitch. BAYLISS You have a conscience. I have one. I don't know why mine keeps kicking me, but it does. All the time. (taps his chest, open- palmed) Here I'm okay with it. In my heart, I know I saved some girl's life. Some girl in New Orleans. Who will never know. That's where Ryland was headed. He said the girls were "easy" there. He'd have "access"-- (taps his temple) But here? Pause. PEMBLETON and BAYLISS exchange a look. PEMBLETON I come back for this. BAYLISS Maybe it's 'cause this James guy he's going to jail for basically the same reasons I had for doing what I did. And I'm out here. Free. PEMBLETON You wait 'til I'm back and then you have to unload, huh? Unburden yourself... What's supposed to happen now? BAYLISS You tell me. PEMBLETON I'm not bringing you in. BAYLISS No, huh? PEMBLETON I'm not a cop. I'm not official. BAYLISS So you'll what, not tell anyone? Keep my secret to yourself? PEMBLETON Sonofabitch. You're a sonofabitch. You murdered him. BAYLISS Yes. PEMBLETON Who's the primary? BAYLISS Lewis. PEMBLETON You talk to him? BAYLISS You're the first to know. Who else was I going to tell? PEMBLETON But did you talk to Lewis? BAYLISS About the case? No. PEMBLETON No one suspects it was you. BAYLISS C'mon, me? Who'd suspect me? Good old Tim Bayliss. The Zen Detective. PEMBLETON Hunh. BAYLISS So you'll take me in. PEMBLETON I'm going to take you in? Are you wild? BAYLISS You'll take me in. PEMBLETON No. BAYLISS Did I take a bullet for you once? PEMBLETON Cut it out. BAYLISS Did I? PEMBLETON I'm not taking you in. BAYLISS I take one for you, you take one for me. That's square business. PEMBLETON This is not taking a bullet for you. This is you wanting me to toss your ass into a jackpot. You're confessing to a murder, Tim. You understand that? BAYLISS You want someone else to bring me in. Someone else should bust me. PEMBLETON No. BAYLISS Then it has to be you. PEMBLETON No. BAYLISS I thought about eating my gun. I figured if I didn't tell you and you didn't do what is right-- (taps temple) --for here -- then there's only one other way out. PEMBLETON Tim, cops in prison -- not a pretty sight. BAYLISS I respect you, Frank, I love... you... PEMBLETON and BAYLISS look off, then back at each other. PEMBLETON You thought about putting a gun to yourself? BAYLISS You'd be saving my life. I don't know for how long, but for now, at least, you would. PEMBLETON I believe that you didn't mean to do this killing. BAYLISS If that's what you want to believe. PEMBLETON Do you want to go back inside now? BAYLISS Never delay what's inevitable, right? It has to be what it has to be. PEMBLETON Sonofabitch. BAYLISS Frank, do you absolve me? PEMBLETON Absolve you? I can't. BAYLISS Can't. You mean you won't. PEMBLETON I can't. Can not. It's not within my power... BAYLISS takes his badge out of his pocket, hands it to PEMBLETON. PEMBLETON looks at it a moment, puts it in his pocket, looks out at the sky. PEMBLETON I think maybe Mary and I should stay home tonight and have dinner with the kids. As PEMBLETON and BAYLISS start back to Headquarters, CUT TO: INT. THE WATERFRONT RESTAURANT - NIGHT BALLARD, STIVERS, MUNCH, BOLANDER, KELLERMAN, GRISCOM, COX, LEWIS, HOWARD, SHEPPARD, FALSONE, DANVERS and Medical Examiners Doctor LAUSANNE and Doctor SCHEINER sit, drinking. BILLIE LOU tends bar. COX raises a glass to the room. COX A toast to Al Giardello. Too badass to die. ALL toast, hear-hear. BALLARD Here's to Bayliss and Pembleton-- STIVERS Where are Bayliss and Pembleton? KELLERMAN C'mon, you expect to see the notoriously anti-social Frank Pembleton here? DANVERS And Bayliss, who knows? LEWIS Yeah, who could ever figure Bayliss out. I mean, is he gay or bi or what? HOWARD Who cares? BALLARD Hey, hey, I'm in the middle of a toast. And it's bad luck not to finish a toast. LAUSANNE Says who? BALLARD Says me. So... To Bayliss and Pembleton, who doggedly pursued the case -- despite interference from the Bosses -- and brought the shooter to justice. ALL toast, hear-hear. SHEPPARD raises her glass. SHEPPARD To new friends. ALL toast, hear-hear. LEWIS raises his glass. LEWIS To old friends. ALL toast, hear-hear. GRISCOM To pathological friends COX/LAUSANNE/SCHEINER Hear, hear. FALSONE Y'know, Lewis, I have always liked this joint. Maybe I will be your partner. LEWIS No. Really? FALSONE Really. MUNCH I'll sell you my share. In a New York minute. BILLIE LOU Not so fast. We're still married. I own half of your third. FALSONE raises his glass. FALSONE To partners. ALL toast, hear-hear. BRODIE enters. LEWIS Hey, Brodie, where you been? BRODIE The hospital. BOLANDER What's the latest? BRODIE He died. Lieutenant Giardello died. Shock, confusion. BOLANDER That's not funny, son. BRODIE The doctor says it was some kind of aneurysm. It was fast. There was no pain. BOLANDER No pain, huh? BRODIE That's what the doctor said. BOLANDER turns to HOWARD, takes her hand. BALLARD starts to cry. FALSONE comforts her. KELLERMAN and COX hug. STIVERS leans on DANVERS. SCHEINER, GRISCOM, SHEPPARD and LAUSANNE exchange a mournful glance. BILLIE LOU puts her hand on MUNCH's shoulder. LEWIS rises, exits. EXT. THAMES STREET - NIGHT LEWIS comes out, stares up at Police Headquarters, sees: EXT. BALCONY/POLICE HEADQUARTERS - NIGHT MIKE stands looking down at The Waterfront. LEWIS nods to MIKE, who returns the gesture. MIKE heads inside. INT. LOBBY/POLICE HEADQUARTERS - NIGHT MIKE, grieving, stops, feels in his pocket, takes out his Rosary. He contemplates it a long moment, puts it back in pocket. As MIKE enters: INT. SQUAD ROOM/HOMICIDE UNIT - NIGHT MIKE walks past unfamiliar FACES. NAOMI walks by. MIKE Uh, listen, you mind if I take a peek in his office? What used to be his office? NAOMI Lieutenant's out, I'm sure he wouldn't mind. MIKE Thanks. NAOMI walks on. MIKE goes over, enters: INT. LIEUTENANT'S OFFICE/HOMICIDE UNIT - NIGHT MIKE stands there, looks around. He tries to feel his father's presence. He finds one picture on the wall of Giardello, takes Rosary out of his pocket and hangs it on corner of frame. PEMBLETON enters. PEMBLETON Oh. Hello, I'm Frank Pembleton. MIKE Mike Giardello. PEMBLETON I heard about Gee... I'm sorry. MIKE (nods) Thank you for catching the man who killed my father. PEMBLETON Yeah... I'm good at catching bad guys. Caught me a couple tonight. (looks at Squad Room) Lotta people have worked in that room over the years. Lot of 'em have died. Beau Felton got killed in the line of duty. Steve Crosetti committed suicide. To this day, no one knows why... MIKE Do you miss it, Homicide? PEMBLETON I dunno. You can never really escape, y'know, 'cause death is everyday, death goes on and on and on... MIKE That's because life goes on and on. Here. And there... PEMBLETON Where is there? MIKE Wherever. A moment of silence. THEY exit. INT. SQUAD ROOM/HOMICIDE UNIT - NIGHT As MIKE and PEMBLETON exit Squad Room they walk past GIARDELLO, who enters. They can't see each other. GIARDELLO stops, looks around, surprised to find himself there. The unfamiliar FACES of a moment ago are gone, replaced by POLICE OFFICERS from the Twenties, Thirties, Forties, Fifties, Sixties, Seventies and Eighties in period uniforms. All killed in the line of duty. GIARDELLO acknowledges a few of them, nods to three OFFICERS killed by Junior Bunk in the big Squad Room shoot-out. A LITTLE BLACK GIRL skips by him. He knows who she is: GIARDELLO Adena Watson. GIARDELLO EXITS INTO: INT. COFFEE ROOM/HOMICIDE UNIT - NIGHT STEVE CROSETTI and BEAU FELTON are playing cards at a table set with four chairs. CROSETTI Hey, hey. FELTON Gee. GIARDELLO Crosetti. Felton. CROSETTI We been waiting on you. Have a seat. CROSETTI deals down card, then up card all around. CROSETTI Ten of spades to Mister Beau Felton. Jack of diamonds to my esteemed Lieutenant, eight of clubs to yours truly-- GIARDELLO What're we playing? CROSETTI Five card stud. They bid around. FELTON Ten. GIARDELLO I'll meet that. CROSETTI Too soon to quit. I'll pay to see one more. They're all in, CROSETTI deals another card to each. CROSETTI Pair of tens showing to Mister Felton, another diamond for Gee, possible flush -- and a handful of nothing for the little Dago dealer. Pair of tens bets-- GIARDELLO Who's the fourth chair for? FELTON We don't know yet. But they'll be here sooner or later. GIARDELLO Anybody I know? CROSETTI Maybe. It ain't like it's written in stone, Lieutenant. Pre-ordained or anything. FELTON Take you, for example. If you'd just slept five minutes longer this morning, you woulda run into this fender bender on Light Street on your way to the Inner Harbor-- CROSETTI Which would've made you a half hour late for your speech-- FELTON And the guy who shot you woulda got nervous and left-- CROSETTI Probably shot somebody else-- FELTON And we wouldn't now be having the pleasure of your company. GIARDELLO I suddenly got worried that -- My son, he's a cop. I thought, maybe-- CROSETTI I wouldn't worry. Life is short, but once you're dead, you're a long time dead, if you know what I mean. FELTON Your son--? GIARDELLO Michael. FELTON He's a good kid? GIARDELLO Yeah. FELTON You taught him well? GIARDELLO I did my best. I wish I'd-- CROSETTI Uh-uh-uh. No regrets. FELTON Just have to wait and see. See what hand he's dealt-- GIARDELLO And how he plays it. FELTON The best thing about this place? All those cares and worries you had in life? They don't matter anymore. Rest in peace, means what it says. CROSETTI You want some coffee? GIARDELLO Coffee? Coffee would be good. You got espresso? CROSETTI Espresso? Where do you think you are? Heaven? FELTON (re: the bid) Fifty to you, Gee-- GIARDELLO I'm in... As GIARDELLO puts his money on the table, FADE TO BLACK THE END