The Romeo Section (2015) s02e01 Episode Script
The Official Narrative
S02E01 The Official Narrative Some identification, sir? If you'll step out of the car Leave the vehicle running.
If you'll give me your phone, sir You'll get it later, along with the car.
Very good.
If you'll head that way, he's by the water.
Wolfgang.
How are you? Well, after that massage from your security, pretty good.
The university still keeping you fed? Barely.
And what about you? Back in government.
I thought you'd sworn off it.
I was made a very generous offer to return.
"The Ministry of Excavation and Exhumation.
" Digging up bodies buried by the previous regime.
Well, you've always been pretty handy with a shovel.
Digging them up or putting them down.
I have a little something.
It's right up your alley.
Is it? It's a bill that the previous government attempted to push through Parliament.
It recommends placing all our intelligence agencies, border services, port police, airport security, and perhaps even prisons, all under one command.
One big circus tent.
Exactly.
It died when they lost the election, but now the same clowns are resurrecting it.
There's a big push-on.
Take a read.
But this is what I really wanted to show you.
About 18 months ago, there was an alleged terror incident here, at the baseball stadium A backpack bomb.
The suspect was killed.
This is the official report filed by our predecessors, before they departed Parliament.
It is in my opinion, a piece of cheese Stinky and full of holes.
I'd like you to poke into it, as soon as possible.
Well, thank you for thinking of me.
There's likely quite a bit of fuck-you money in it for you, if you decide to come aboard.
And this is a little something for you, to help you wash it all down.
When you come here, you bring all your worries and ignore me.
Maybe you don't wish for me to bear you a child.
One day, you will come and find I have flown away.
But first I will use your sword and cut off your head.
Maybe then I can see what you are thinking.
The British are sitting in Canton Harbour with their ships full of Indian opium.
More ships are on their way.
20,000 barrels of it sit on the docks.
Everywhere I turn, people crave opium.
Rich, poor my own ministers.
Even under your own roof.
Even under my own roof.
My own son.
You may one day rid us of the British but there will always be opium.
It is stronger than nations.
Lovelier than heaven.
[calls out.]
: Line? [director.]
: All right! We'll go again.
- I forgot the line.
- Cut! Cut it! Mae, that was good.
Uh, Sam, when you're talking about your son being addicted, we need to see how much this hurts you, you know, this is the, uh, personal reason you are determined to ban opium in China.
You've lost your son to it.
Wing called from Hong Kong.
Some of our financing has been delayed.
He wants to start moving some product so we don't have to shut down.
What happened to the Mexican deal? It went south.
We're gonna unload some of what we got.
You know Bennie? Got a storefront on East Hastings? Sure, yeah.
I used to I used to go with his girlfriend.
You don't need to mention that if you see him.
I won't be seeing him.
As far as Bennie knows, you're the only guy in this deal.
I'm not involved, Wing's not involved.
You got your own source.
I get it.
Give him a sample.
Make the best deal you can, and don't drag it out.
I got to make payroll on this fucking movie.
[Rufus whistles.]
What's a kilo go for these days? Uh Maybe 100,000.
Wholesale.
Half a mil to a mil, retail.
Everybody steps on it, so it's really hard to say.
What are you thinking? I'm thinking about all the money Bennie's gonna be making that we could be making.
[club music filtering out.]
Well, if it isn't the big bad Wolf.
May I join you? Of course.
Expecting company shortly, but, please.
I see your tastes haven't changed.
No.
It's just the appetite isn't quite as keen as it once was.
Whatever my friend fancies.
Whisky, a double, neat.
He's beautiful, yes? Make a lovely recruit for someone.
Knows all the wrong people.
You available? Now, that makes me sound like a cheap whore.
Why, darling? What are you paying? Whatever your rate is these days.
Must be something nasty if you've come to me for help.
There's always a chance.
Well, what is it? An investigation into an inquiry.
Political? That rarely ends well.
But I am intrigued by certain elements, particularly the money.
Call me in the morning.
Oh, and if you could possibly afford it, he's a bit high-maintenance.
Bless you.
Take it off my wages.
That was intoxicating.
Thank you.
Bottle of Champagne.
Compliments of an old friend.
Well, not sure he's a friend exactly.
[car alarms sounding.]
What up, B? He looks pretty busy.
Dope never sleeps.
Bennie around? What are you doing here? Good to see you, too.
[knocks.]
[entry buzzer sounds.]
Rufus.
Where you been? You know hanging.
Get you a drink or something? You hungry? Naw, I'm-I'm good.
You heard about Vince.
Everybody heard about Vince.
That was a heavy move.
Well, nothing to do with me.
Guess Dee bolted before they could lay a charge? Uh-huh.
[shuts door.]
You're the man now.
[chuckles.]
Opportunity knocked, I answered.
Now I'm knocking on your door.
What can I do for you? What is it? Straight out of the Golden Crescent.
Uncut.
I heard that before.
I got a kilo.
Heard that before, too.
Where'd you get it? I woke up early one morning, and there it was, under the Christmas tree.
Santa's getting in the game? Yeah.
He thought, "What the hell?" He's got all those elves sitting around, doing nothing most of the year.
What are you asking me? Make me an offer.
I got to check it first.
Okay.
I'm shopping it around, so, the sooner the better.
Couple hours.
I'll, uh I'll have a number for you.
Make it a big one.
It's worth it.
You'll see.
Call me.
Why? Because you've missed me? What's your name again? [Bennie.]
: Yo! I need a volunteer.
[knocking on door.]
[cell phone ringing in apartment.]
[ringing.]
[knocking on door.]
Thanks.
Norm? Norm, come on.
Let's go.
Hey! Hey! Let's go! [Norman coughs.]
They're alive.
Thank you.
[groaning.]
Of course, we're alive.
It's a wonderful world.
Why would we leave? You could open a pharmacy with what you've got here.
[groans.]
Would you close the blinds, please? [exhales deeply.]
Get me a cup of coffee, please.
Still taking it black? Yes, black.
Still black.
Black forever.
You need something to eat? No.
Liquor store will do.
Oh.
I'll be good as gold in a jiff.
You've got to get the mixture just so.
[pills rattling.]
There we go.
There we go! [exhales.]
So then what sort of wickedness are we up to? The man in charge thinks this is all a bit fishy.
And who is the man in charge, these days? New man since the election.
He's seeking dirt on the predecessor.
Of course he is.
He's collecting ammo.
[starts engine.]
Ahh.
How have you been? Been a bit out of the loop.
Blackballed, actually, truth be told.
On the shit-list.
That's no doubt why you called me.
Not the only reason.
Was I on the top of the list? Midway down? You stood out.
Well, I suppose I should be grateful to be on a list at all.
You know, if it's dirt you want dug, I'm your man.
It seeks me out.
It clings to me.
[Wolfgang.]
: 18 months ago, a bombing.
One killed.
You recall? I'm afraid not.
I was "out of town," as they say.
Well, that young man decides to commit jihad.
[Norman.]
: Your man suspects this thing is dodgy? He needs the details.
He suspect the Service was involved? Well, he's not telling, but it smells that way.
[paper rustles.]
There he is.
So what's the blowback? Well, a man dies as the result of a possible conspiracy by a number of people.
Anyone involved, all along the chain, is looking at possible murder charges accessory before the act, or accessory after the fact, in the cover-up.
He wants to take 'em all down? He didn't say.
He's awfully ambitious.
Hi.
We're from the insurance company.
Your girl in Honduras ahem.
The one that you hired to front for that N.
G.
O.
that you set up Eager, always at the club, what was her name? - Delores.
- "Delores.
" Did you manage to get her out eventually? I did.
She made it to Miami.
Ah.
Don't stay in touch, I suppose? No.
Right.
Not your style.
My boy, Eduardo, you recall? Oh! Lovely lad.
Those long eyelashes of his.
He'd bat them at you and that was it you'd lose yourself in him.
He never made it out.
I would've liked to have stay in touch, but they rounded him up, threw him in a stadium, not unlike this one.
Baseball.
Never understood it.
Oh.
Beautiful game.
Brief escape from reality.
Escaping is easy.
Try finding your way back in.
All right.
Witness number one.
The security guard.
He stops the kid coming up these stairs and asks to check his backpack.
The kid resists, but the guard manages to get a look inside, sees what he thinks is a bomb.
Kid takes off with the pack, the guard chases him.
Witnesses? Uh the security guard, and one other.
It's, uh, in the report somewhere.
A young woman.
I'm chasing her down.
I'm wondering how this guy makes it all the way inside the stadium with a backpack full of explosives.
Wouldn't they have checked the pack at the gate? Apparently, he came in a side door.
At a sold-out ball game, he just slips in? Anything in the surveillance footage? There wasn't any.
They were switching over to a new software that day.
[surreptitiously.]
: Watch your step.
What? The rabbit hole.
You know why the Service blackballed me? I heard rumors.
Too many to mention something about being addicted to just about every substance in the known world.
No, no, no, no, no.
It's because I scare them.
Because I know how this whole game plays out.
Because I was there, I know the history, and because I know the history, I know the future, because I have been behind the curtain.
I have worked on the show.
Ah-hah! There it is, you see? First, they ignore you, then they mock you.
Then they call you "mad".
You became a liability, Norm.
I am only a child of the mother who made me.
As are we all.
That's where they went over the fence.
[Lily.]
: I thought you'd vanished into thin air.
I was called out to visit the capital.
That sounds very mysterious.
I can't say much, except it seems I'm on a short list of some s This is a pleasant surprise.
Hello, Bill.
I won't interrupt.
I was just going to grab a quick bite.
Professor Song, always a delight to see you, and I'll just say congratulations to Mr.
Sproule here on his promotion.
Quite the coup d'é.
You're a bit premature.
It hasn't been officially confirmed yet.
Of course.
I'm sorry.
Didn't mean to let the cat out of the bag.
I'll just say best man won and all that.
And you, Miss Song, I believe we're still on for tomorrow? I'll see you then.
Delighted.
A bientôt.
He is a bit miffed.
We were up for the same position, but, apparently, he didn't make the cut.
Always a bit bitter, our old Bill.
But that's fantastic news for you.
I'm ambivalent about it.
I'll miss some things out here.
Mostly the people.
[car horn honks.]
It's okay.
I got this.
What do you want? You're looking good.
Is that why I'm here? I just wanted to know how things are going for my boy, Bennie.
Why? Is he solid? Has he got a good crew? Good enough.
How much is he pulling down in a week? Average? A lot.
Why? Specifically, how much? A whole fucking lot! You think he'd be open to a partnership? [snickers.]
Seriously? I had to listen to what a scumbag you were for about an hour and a half after you left.
So probably not.
He thinks you fixed it for Vince to be killed.
He's wrong.
He's not the only one thinks that way.
If that's it, I gotta get back to the shop.
Hey.
Don't start anything you can't finish.
Just tell Bennie to hurry up and make me an offer.
You're crazy if you think I'm gonna tell him I was talking to you.
Tell him yourself.
Now get out.
I gotta go.
Out! [chuckles.]
[Wolfgang.]
: According to the security guard, he chases this Mustapha character out of the stadium, runs to his car, gets the gun from his trunk, continues the chase, loses the kid somewhere in this alley, then manages to flush him out of this garage, and shortly after, the backpack bomb exploded.
What kind of bomb materials? Peroxide.
He's running with something as volatile as that? Okay.
We'll just put that down as "incredibly stupid" and revisit it later.
So he ditches the bomb in the garage, comes out, runs between the houses here, the security guard still chasing him, ends up on the street.
And this is just about where the kid went down.
He shot him from where? About 50 yards that way.
Two shots.
The first one missed and hit a parked car.
Second one scored a hit on the kid.
That's a pretty good shot from 50 yards.
What's the autopsy say? There was no autopsy.
How could there be no autopsy? Something in here about it being against the Muslim faith to have one.
How about it being illegal not to have one? It was a fucking homicide! That means we'd be without a blood report as well? So, whether he was on or off medication, or clean as a whistle, nobody knows.
I'm appalled.
And that is only because I am too hungover to be flabbergasted, or I would be! [bellows.]
: Excuse me! Hey! [shuts leafblower off.]
You never heard of a fucking rake? What's wrong with using a fucking rake? Enough! We're done here for now.
Broken windows.
Right.
You let one little punk get away with it, one pissant leafblower, then one guy doesn't pick up after their dog, and then what? It's two, it's three, it's four.
The next thing you know, you're ducking flying dog shit everywhere you turn, when all you wanted to do was go for a quiet walk.
[sighs.]
No autopsy? That takes some organization.
Makes you wonder how many people are involved in this bungle.
I'd like to talk to this security guard, the shooter.
What do we know? Was hired two weeks before the incident, and retired immediately after.
I've got in a call in to the security firm.
[phone alert buzzes.]
Seems I've been evicted from my room.
It's just for the one night.
I got a lead on something for tomorrow.
May the best man win.
That was silly.
You could've approached me more discreetly.
You might have told me you were in the running for the same bloody position.
I wouldn't have wasted my time.
After all, why wouldn't they appoint an insider? Makes sense.
I don't believe that influenced their decision.
Edmund, the Deputy Minister is your damn cousin.
Nobody need say anything after that.
I'm not having this discussion.
Professor Song is my asset, remember that, and, please don't blow smoke up her ass while I'm handling her.
You're crossing the line being seen with her.
Point taken.
I'll be sure we employ more discretion in the future.
What's going on? [Bennie.]
: Wrap him up.
Put him in the alley.
Quick.
Quick.
The guy O.
D.
's right in front of me.
You're just going to dump him in the alley like that? I'll wait a couple of minutes, I'll call 911.
I gotta call Rufus before he sells that shit to anybody else.
I'll tell you what Bennie's got that you don't.
What he's got is a good phone number.
Every junkie needs a number they can call 24/7, he's got a good one.
Dial-a-dope, that's where it's at.
One number, place your order, it's delivered to your door.
It's a courier system.
So, if you have the number If you own the number, you got the customers.
All they care is you show up with the dope.
[phone ringing.]
Yeah? [Lana.]
: It's me.
That stuff you got just dropped a guy in his tracks.
You there? I fucking warned Bennie it was pure.
It's the best stuff he's ever seen on the street ever, and I'm not supposed to tell you that, so I didn't.
Anyway he wants it all.
Okay.
Bennie wants to buy it all! Says it's the best shit ever.
So what's the matter with that? I just I don't understand why we'd leave half a million dollars on the table by selling him the entire kilo wholesale.
All right.
Come on.
Come on.
Just for tonight.
Gone in the morning.
You hear me? Appreciate it.
And if anyone comes knocking, do not answer that door.
I wouldn't dream of it.
Oh, my pills? Right beside you.
[sighing deeply.]
Ohh Black.
What was that? In the morning.
My coffee.
I like it black.
Mm.
[crack.]
[Rufus.]
: There's a ridiculous amount of money out there, four or five times what wholesale brings in, if we keep retail.
It'll just take a little longer.
Maybe another week.
I can't shut down and wait a week.
If you can't sell it, tell me.
I can sell it, I just hate the idea of throwing a half-million dollars into the gutter, when, if you give me the time You're not in the business.
Please, just get me the fucking money.
You don't want Wing pissed at you.
Everything okay, Tony? Everything's great.
That's, uh, Rufus.
Wing's friend.
Good to finally see you again.
My husband has nothing but good things to say.
Can I talk to you a minute? Yeah.
We're good, right? Yeah, sure.
The Director just told me that he hasn't been paid yet.
He wants you to call his agent.
He shouldn't have to be talking to me about this, you should be on it.
Oh, I'll go talk to him right now.
Look, we're We're going to be all right.
Rufus is roping in some cash.
We're gonna be good.
Should I be calling my husband? No, no, no.
We're good.
Trust me.
I'll go talk to him right now.
Eric.
I need a word.
And how much cash would you say Bennie has on-hand? He knows you're gonna be asking about a hundred, so he's got that, maybe.
Would he have it at the shop? He probably keeps it close by.
And if you're thinking about knocking him over, a couple of jokers tried that a year ago.
It didn't go their way.
Just a thought.
[chuckles.]
I could talk to him.
Now he knows you got what he wants, he could be seeing the benefits of working together.
You have some leverage now.
Maybe we can get him up to 150.
Offer him half-a-ki for 75 cash, up front.
We can give him a day or two to get the cash together for the rest of it, if he can do it.
Get a little more out of him, anyway.
We gotta make something out of it.
I gotta have dinner with my folks.
I'll stop by Bennie's after that.
Don't haggle.
I won't.
You want a drink? I can get it, Going anyway.
Don't burn mine.
[Red.]
: Hey, Bennie.
Hey, Red.
You get a new ride? Yeah.
What's happening? We got a deal? We got a deal.
[silenced shots whooshing.]
[music filtering out from house.]
[Norman.]
: You cancel all your credit cards? Yeah.
Concussion? Mm-hmm.
You remember any of it? You catch a look? No.
I don't even remember how I got to the hospital, or how I got home.
What's this? Oh! Yeah.
That's, uh, Donna's makeup brush.
She, uh, called late.
She had a bad night at the club.
He was here? He was, uh, upset.
Hey.
Thanks for putting me up.
I'm embarrassed to impose.
Mm-hmm.
Forget it.
Not my style, as you know.
You got a headache? Yeah.
And I left the pills at home.
Rookie mistake.
Here.
Just take half.
So What's the first stop on our descent into madness today? The Psych Ward.
I tracked down the other witness.
She was quoted in a newspaper article the day after the incident, but it does not make it into the official report.
Now may be worth it, maybe not.
Ahh.
Cin Cin.
[bites pill in half.]
Why don't you take the lead on this one? Show me what you can do.
It's been a while.
Well, you've spent more time in an institution.
Gentlemen.
She's on a drug regimen, so she's a little sluggish.
Oh, and she's probably gonna ask you to buy her some cigarettes from the canteen.
Please don't.
Of course.
Ahem.
Hello, Sonya.
I'm Norman.
Where should we talk? I don't like to go outside.
That's fine with me.
We're from the insurance company.
Here to ask you a few simple questions.
Do you have any cigarette? Yes.
Would you like one? Yes.
[claps case shut.]
You may recall a statement you gave regarding an incident at the baseball stadium about 18 months ago.
I don't remember.
You don't remember the statement you gave, or you don't remember the incident? Yes.
The police interviewed you.
A reporter also interviewed you.
It says here that you saw the security guard stop and ask to search the other man's backpack.
I don't remember that.
I'm sorry.
What do you remember? Do you have a cigarette? You were at the ball game.
There were a lot of people asking me questions.
Police.
Who else? I don't remember.
I don't want to miss lunch.
When you do remember something, maybe not right away, or maybe you already have call me at this number.
[sighs heavily.]
Okay.
Catch you later.
I got somebody might be interested in taking a quarter off us if Bennie doesn't want it.
Bennie ain't gonna want it.
He got shot last night.
Dead.
He was out back barbecuing.
Somebody rolled up and picked him off.
Whoa.
Anybody see it? Don't know.
Lana called.
His crew's freaking out, nobody knows where he hid the dope, so no deliveries, or where his cash is.
No one's getting paid.
And our fucking deal just fell apart.
There might be an opportunity here.
Memory it does unpredictable things.
The guy accused of shooting Robert Kennedy Sirhan Sirhan.
He claimed he didn't remember doing it.
There was a hypnotist involved.
The LAPD used him when witnesses couldn't recall things.
He bragged to a couple of hookers that he had hypnotized Sirhan to do it.
Hey.
I am just repeating well-documented facts.
And they'd been working on it for years, trying to use hypnosis for assassinations.
Now, they managed to get it to the point where they could get the guy to pull the trigger, but then they discovered the guy couldn't deal with stopping at a red light, or finding a parking spot.
They couldn't suggest all the possible moves the guy would have to make to get from point "A" to point "B" All the unpredictable variables.
Making the victim forget their role, that's the easy part.
Why are you telling me this? The nurse said that they've got her on a heavy drug regimen.
Now, if it is a hypnotic opioid of some kind, you can forget stuff.
You can't get too excited, you can't get too low.
It keeps you right in that middle lane, going 15 miles an hour.
The highlight of the day is the daily pudding.
Hmm.
If she wasn't so medicated, we might be able to get something from her.
Oh! By the way, I managed to find a room above the club where Don works.
Well, that's convenient.
It is! I can move in a couple days.
The police say they've got footage of the car.
From a couple of cameras in the alley.
They got any ideas? He knew the guy.
[sniffs.]
Bennie walked right up to the car.
They showed me the tape.
Did you recognize anybody? You can't tell.
So we're here to help.
Anything we can do? You can help me find where Bennie hid the money.
What happens to the game here? It goes with Bennie.
I've got no cash to pay the couriers.
They're running out of dope.
We can help.
We can supply you.
I told you, I've got no cash.
We'll front you.
Take the money as it comes in.
We'll cut you in.
We'll take care of you.
[door opens.]
I thought maybe a phone call, or a note on my door.
I've been worried about you.
What brings this on? I found you in a parking lot.
You had a terrible smack on your head.
I drove you to the hospital.
You don't - Come in.
Come in.
- Remember.
I just came by to drop off your wallet.
There's nothing in it, by the way.
Well, I'm not supposed to drink, but I can pour you one and you can tell me how you found me.
You were face-down.
There was a lot of blood.
Did you see anyone? I saw a man leaving as I was coming in.
He was wearing a baseball cap, sunglasses.
I thought that was weird in the middle of the night.
Think that might've been him? Well, it's possible.
Come in.
No trouble finding it? No.
I parked a couple blocks away, like you asked.
Come sit.
We can chat.
I won't keep you long.
Oh, I've got time.
I wanted to talk to you about how you might work for us.
I thought maybe that's what this was about.
We're safe here.
We can speak without anyone overhearing or interrupting.
I want you to become familiar with someone.
To seduce them into friendship, or whatever evolves.
I see.
Who is this person? A man or woman? A man.
An important one, as far as national security is concerned.
Is he an older man? Middle-aged, married.
I have no doubt that he'll find you very attractive.
Now it's a delicate business that we have between us.
Complicated.
I understand.
He's been short-listed for a very important position in our security apparatus and I've been delegated to vet him, to examine his suitability for the job.
As it happens, you already know this man, and he's already demonstrated a very keen interest in you.
Mr.
Sproule.
Edmund Sproule.
Destined for power in the capital unless, of course, we discover something to upset the apple cart.
Mm.
I agree that it smells.
Like what, I don't know.
The fact there was no autopsy on the suspect leaves us clueless regarding his mental state.
Whether he was on drugs or not, we have no idea.
Unusual, at the very least.
You can never discount outright incompetence.
Well, if it was a bungle, someone's going to great effort to cover it up.
You said you'd interviewed a witness.
A girl in a hospital.
She can barely remember what day of the week it is, forget what she may or may not have witnessed.
Not much hope there.
Are we pissing up a rope with this? Could be.
You tell me.
I know no more than you.
A man was killed.
Either by great effort or extraordinary incompetence by a number of people, the event was wiped from memory.
A report was commissioned that glossed over events.
I need to know if I'm chasing smoke.
Will you stay on? For now.
Until I start meeting rabbits that talk.
We'll talk in a couple of days.
You intimated that there was some sort of connection between the terror incidents and the "Super Intelligence Agency" idea.
Well.
.
What do you think? They happened very close together.
I have trouble believing that to be a coincidence.
Don't you? We'll talk soon.
Give us a few minutes to disappear.
[sirens wailing.]
If you'll give me your phone, sir You'll get it later, along with the car.
Very good.
If you'll head that way, he's by the water.
Wolfgang.
How are you? Well, after that massage from your security, pretty good.
The university still keeping you fed? Barely.
And what about you? Back in government.
I thought you'd sworn off it.
I was made a very generous offer to return.
"The Ministry of Excavation and Exhumation.
" Digging up bodies buried by the previous regime.
Well, you've always been pretty handy with a shovel.
Digging them up or putting them down.
I have a little something.
It's right up your alley.
Is it? It's a bill that the previous government attempted to push through Parliament.
It recommends placing all our intelligence agencies, border services, port police, airport security, and perhaps even prisons, all under one command.
One big circus tent.
Exactly.
It died when they lost the election, but now the same clowns are resurrecting it.
There's a big push-on.
Take a read.
But this is what I really wanted to show you.
About 18 months ago, there was an alleged terror incident here, at the baseball stadium A backpack bomb.
The suspect was killed.
This is the official report filed by our predecessors, before they departed Parliament.
It is in my opinion, a piece of cheese Stinky and full of holes.
I'd like you to poke into it, as soon as possible.
Well, thank you for thinking of me.
There's likely quite a bit of fuck-you money in it for you, if you decide to come aboard.
And this is a little something for you, to help you wash it all down.
When you come here, you bring all your worries and ignore me.
Maybe you don't wish for me to bear you a child.
One day, you will come and find I have flown away.
But first I will use your sword and cut off your head.
Maybe then I can see what you are thinking.
The British are sitting in Canton Harbour with their ships full of Indian opium.
More ships are on their way.
20,000 barrels of it sit on the docks.
Everywhere I turn, people crave opium.
Rich, poor my own ministers.
Even under your own roof.
Even under my own roof.
My own son.
You may one day rid us of the British but there will always be opium.
It is stronger than nations.
Lovelier than heaven.
[calls out.]
: Line? [director.]
: All right! We'll go again.
- I forgot the line.
- Cut! Cut it! Mae, that was good.
Uh, Sam, when you're talking about your son being addicted, we need to see how much this hurts you, you know, this is the, uh, personal reason you are determined to ban opium in China.
You've lost your son to it.
Wing called from Hong Kong.
Some of our financing has been delayed.
He wants to start moving some product so we don't have to shut down.
What happened to the Mexican deal? It went south.
We're gonna unload some of what we got.
You know Bennie? Got a storefront on East Hastings? Sure, yeah.
I used to I used to go with his girlfriend.
You don't need to mention that if you see him.
I won't be seeing him.
As far as Bennie knows, you're the only guy in this deal.
I'm not involved, Wing's not involved.
You got your own source.
I get it.
Give him a sample.
Make the best deal you can, and don't drag it out.
I got to make payroll on this fucking movie.
[Rufus whistles.]
What's a kilo go for these days? Uh Maybe 100,000.
Wholesale.
Half a mil to a mil, retail.
Everybody steps on it, so it's really hard to say.
What are you thinking? I'm thinking about all the money Bennie's gonna be making that we could be making.
[club music filtering out.]
Well, if it isn't the big bad Wolf.
May I join you? Of course.
Expecting company shortly, but, please.
I see your tastes haven't changed.
No.
It's just the appetite isn't quite as keen as it once was.
Whatever my friend fancies.
Whisky, a double, neat.
He's beautiful, yes? Make a lovely recruit for someone.
Knows all the wrong people.
You available? Now, that makes me sound like a cheap whore.
Why, darling? What are you paying? Whatever your rate is these days.
Must be something nasty if you've come to me for help.
There's always a chance.
Well, what is it? An investigation into an inquiry.
Political? That rarely ends well.
But I am intrigued by certain elements, particularly the money.
Call me in the morning.
Oh, and if you could possibly afford it, he's a bit high-maintenance.
Bless you.
Take it off my wages.
That was intoxicating.
Thank you.
Bottle of Champagne.
Compliments of an old friend.
Well, not sure he's a friend exactly.
[car alarms sounding.]
What up, B? He looks pretty busy.
Dope never sleeps.
Bennie around? What are you doing here? Good to see you, too.
[knocks.]
[entry buzzer sounds.]
Rufus.
Where you been? You know hanging.
Get you a drink or something? You hungry? Naw, I'm-I'm good.
You heard about Vince.
Everybody heard about Vince.
That was a heavy move.
Well, nothing to do with me.
Guess Dee bolted before they could lay a charge? Uh-huh.
[shuts door.]
You're the man now.
[chuckles.]
Opportunity knocked, I answered.
Now I'm knocking on your door.
What can I do for you? What is it? Straight out of the Golden Crescent.
Uncut.
I heard that before.
I got a kilo.
Heard that before, too.
Where'd you get it? I woke up early one morning, and there it was, under the Christmas tree.
Santa's getting in the game? Yeah.
He thought, "What the hell?" He's got all those elves sitting around, doing nothing most of the year.
What are you asking me? Make me an offer.
I got to check it first.
Okay.
I'm shopping it around, so, the sooner the better.
Couple hours.
I'll, uh I'll have a number for you.
Make it a big one.
It's worth it.
You'll see.
Call me.
Why? Because you've missed me? What's your name again? [Bennie.]
: Yo! I need a volunteer.
[knocking on door.]
[cell phone ringing in apartment.]
[ringing.]
[knocking on door.]
Thanks.
Norm? Norm, come on.
Let's go.
Hey! Hey! Let's go! [Norman coughs.]
They're alive.
Thank you.
[groaning.]
Of course, we're alive.
It's a wonderful world.
Why would we leave? You could open a pharmacy with what you've got here.
[groans.]
Would you close the blinds, please? [exhales deeply.]
Get me a cup of coffee, please.
Still taking it black? Yes, black.
Still black.
Black forever.
You need something to eat? No.
Liquor store will do.
Oh.
I'll be good as gold in a jiff.
You've got to get the mixture just so.
[pills rattling.]
There we go.
There we go! [exhales.]
So then what sort of wickedness are we up to? The man in charge thinks this is all a bit fishy.
And who is the man in charge, these days? New man since the election.
He's seeking dirt on the predecessor.
Of course he is.
He's collecting ammo.
[starts engine.]
Ahh.
How have you been? Been a bit out of the loop.
Blackballed, actually, truth be told.
On the shit-list.
That's no doubt why you called me.
Not the only reason.
Was I on the top of the list? Midway down? You stood out.
Well, I suppose I should be grateful to be on a list at all.
You know, if it's dirt you want dug, I'm your man.
It seeks me out.
It clings to me.
[Wolfgang.]
: 18 months ago, a bombing.
One killed.
You recall? I'm afraid not.
I was "out of town," as they say.
Well, that young man decides to commit jihad.
[Norman.]
: Your man suspects this thing is dodgy? He needs the details.
He suspect the Service was involved? Well, he's not telling, but it smells that way.
[paper rustles.]
There he is.
So what's the blowback? Well, a man dies as the result of a possible conspiracy by a number of people.
Anyone involved, all along the chain, is looking at possible murder charges accessory before the act, or accessory after the fact, in the cover-up.
He wants to take 'em all down? He didn't say.
He's awfully ambitious.
Hi.
We're from the insurance company.
Your girl in Honduras ahem.
The one that you hired to front for that N.
G.
O.
that you set up Eager, always at the club, what was her name? - Delores.
- "Delores.
" Did you manage to get her out eventually? I did.
She made it to Miami.
Ah.
Don't stay in touch, I suppose? No.
Right.
Not your style.
My boy, Eduardo, you recall? Oh! Lovely lad.
Those long eyelashes of his.
He'd bat them at you and that was it you'd lose yourself in him.
He never made it out.
I would've liked to have stay in touch, but they rounded him up, threw him in a stadium, not unlike this one.
Baseball.
Never understood it.
Oh.
Beautiful game.
Brief escape from reality.
Escaping is easy.
Try finding your way back in.
All right.
Witness number one.
The security guard.
He stops the kid coming up these stairs and asks to check his backpack.
The kid resists, but the guard manages to get a look inside, sees what he thinks is a bomb.
Kid takes off with the pack, the guard chases him.
Witnesses? Uh the security guard, and one other.
It's, uh, in the report somewhere.
A young woman.
I'm chasing her down.
I'm wondering how this guy makes it all the way inside the stadium with a backpack full of explosives.
Wouldn't they have checked the pack at the gate? Apparently, he came in a side door.
At a sold-out ball game, he just slips in? Anything in the surveillance footage? There wasn't any.
They were switching over to a new software that day.
[surreptitiously.]
: Watch your step.
What? The rabbit hole.
You know why the Service blackballed me? I heard rumors.
Too many to mention something about being addicted to just about every substance in the known world.
No, no, no, no, no.
It's because I scare them.
Because I know how this whole game plays out.
Because I was there, I know the history, and because I know the history, I know the future, because I have been behind the curtain.
I have worked on the show.
Ah-hah! There it is, you see? First, they ignore you, then they mock you.
Then they call you "mad".
You became a liability, Norm.
I am only a child of the mother who made me.
As are we all.
That's where they went over the fence.
[Lily.]
: I thought you'd vanished into thin air.
I was called out to visit the capital.
That sounds very mysterious.
I can't say much, except it seems I'm on a short list of some s This is a pleasant surprise.
Hello, Bill.
I won't interrupt.
I was just going to grab a quick bite.
Professor Song, always a delight to see you, and I'll just say congratulations to Mr.
Sproule here on his promotion.
Quite the coup d'é.
You're a bit premature.
It hasn't been officially confirmed yet.
Of course.
I'm sorry.
Didn't mean to let the cat out of the bag.
I'll just say best man won and all that.
And you, Miss Song, I believe we're still on for tomorrow? I'll see you then.
Delighted.
A bientôt.
He is a bit miffed.
We were up for the same position, but, apparently, he didn't make the cut.
Always a bit bitter, our old Bill.
But that's fantastic news for you.
I'm ambivalent about it.
I'll miss some things out here.
Mostly the people.
[car horn honks.]
It's okay.
I got this.
What do you want? You're looking good.
Is that why I'm here? I just wanted to know how things are going for my boy, Bennie.
Why? Is he solid? Has he got a good crew? Good enough.
How much is he pulling down in a week? Average? A lot.
Why? Specifically, how much? A whole fucking lot! You think he'd be open to a partnership? [snickers.]
Seriously? I had to listen to what a scumbag you were for about an hour and a half after you left.
So probably not.
He thinks you fixed it for Vince to be killed.
He's wrong.
He's not the only one thinks that way.
If that's it, I gotta get back to the shop.
Hey.
Don't start anything you can't finish.
Just tell Bennie to hurry up and make me an offer.
You're crazy if you think I'm gonna tell him I was talking to you.
Tell him yourself.
Now get out.
I gotta go.
Out! [chuckles.]
[Wolfgang.]
: According to the security guard, he chases this Mustapha character out of the stadium, runs to his car, gets the gun from his trunk, continues the chase, loses the kid somewhere in this alley, then manages to flush him out of this garage, and shortly after, the backpack bomb exploded.
What kind of bomb materials? Peroxide.
He's running with something as volatile as that? Okay.
We'll just put that down as "incredibly stupid" and revisit it later.
So he ditches the bomb in the garage, comes out, runs between the houses here, the security guard still chasing him, ends up on the street.
And this is just about where the kid went down.
He shot him from where? About 50 yards that way.
Two shots.
The first one missed and hit a parked car.
Second one scored a hit on the kid.
That's a pretty good shot from 50 yards.
What's the autopsy say? There was no autopsy.
How could there be no autopsy? Something in here about it being against the Muslim faith to have one.
How about it being illegal not to have one? It was a fucking homicide! That means we'd be without a blood report as well? So, whether he was on or off medication, or clean as a whistle, nobody knows.
I'm appalled.
And that is only because I am too hungover to be flabbergasted, or I would be! [bellows.]
: Excuse me! Hey! [shuts leafblower off.]
You never heard of a fucking rake? What's wrong with using a fucking rake? Enough! We're done here for now.
Broken windows.
Right.
You let one little punk get away with it, one pissant leafblower, then one guy doesn't pick up after their dog, and then what? It's two, it's three, it's four.
The next thing you know, you're ducking flying dog shit everywhere you turn, when all you wanted to do was go for a quiet walk.
[sighs.]
No autopsy? That takes some organization.
Makes you wonder how many people are involved in this bungle.
I'd like to talk to this security guard, the shooter.
What do we know? Was hired two weeks before the incident, and retired immediately after.
I've got in a call in to the security firm.
[phone alert buzzes.]
Seems I've been evicted from my room.
It's just for the one night.
I got a lead on something for tomorrow.
May the best man win.
That was silly.
You could've approached me more discreetly.
You might have told me you were in the running for the same bloody position.
I wouldn't have wasted my time.
After all, why wouldn't they appoint an insider? Makes sense.
I don't believe that influenced their decision.
Edmund, the Deputy Minister is your damn cousin.
Nobody need say anything after that.
I'm not having this discussion.
Professor Song is my asset, remember that, and, please don't blow smoke up her ass while I'm handling her.
You're crossing the line being seen with her.
Point taken.
I'll be sure we employ more discretion in the future.
What's going on? [Bennie.]
: Wrap him up.
Put him in the alley.
Quick.
Quick.
The guy O.
D.
's right in front of me.
You're just going to dump him in the alley like that? I'll wait a couple of minutes, I'll call 911.
I gotta call Rufus before he sells that shit to anybody else.
I'll tell you what Bennie's got that you don't.
What he's got is a good phone number.
Every junkie needs a number they can call 24/7, he's got a good one.
Dial-a-dope, that's where it's at.
One number, place your order, it's delivered to your door.
It's a courier system.
So, if you have the number If you own the number, you got the customers.
All they care is you show up with the dope.
[phone ringing.]
Yeah? [Lana.]
: It's me.
That stuff you got just dropped a guy in his tracks.
You there? I fucking warned Bennie it was pure.
It's the best stuff he's ever seen on the street ever, and I'm not supposed to tell you that, so I didn't.
Anyway he wants it all.
Okay.
Bennie wants to buy it all! Says it's the best shit ever.
So what's the matter with that? I just I don't understand why we'd leave half a million dollars on the table by selling him the entire kilo wholesale.
All right.
Come on.
Come on.
Just for tonight.
Gone in the morning.
You hear me? Appreciate it.
And if anyone comes knocking, do not answer that door.
I wouldn't dream of it.
Oh, my pills? Right beside you.
[sighing deeply.]
Ohh Black.
What was that? In the morning.
My coffee.
I like it black.
Mm.
[crack.]
[Rufus.]
: There's a ridiculous amount of money out there, four or five times what wholesale brings in, if we keep retail.
It'll just take a little longer.
Maybe another week.
I can't shut down and wait a week.
If you can't sell it, tell me.
I can sell it, I just hate the idea of throwing a half-million dollars into the gutter, when, if you give me the time You're not in the business.
Please, just get me the fucking money.
You don't want Wing pissed at you.
Everything okay, Tony? Everything's great.
That's, uh, Rufus.
Wing's friend.
Good to finally see you again.
My husband has nothing but good things to say.
Can I talk to you a minute? Yeah.
We're good, right? Yeah, sure.
The Director just told me that he hasn't been paid yet.
He wants you to call his agent.
He shouldn't have to be talking to me about this, you should be on it.
Oh, I'll go talk to him right now.
Look, we're We're going to be all right.
Rufus is roping in some cash.
We're gonna be good.
Should I be calling my husband? No, no, no.
We're good.
Trust me.
I'll go talk to him right now.
Eric.
I need a word.
And how much cash would you say Bennie has on-hand? He knows you're gonna be asking about a hundred, so he's got that, maybe.
Would he have it at the shop? He probably keeps it close by.
And if you're thinking about knocking him over, a couple of jokers tried that a year ago.
It didn't go their way.
Just a thought.
[chuckles.]
I could talk to him.
Now he knows you got what he wants, he could be seeing the benefits of working together.
You have some leverage now.
Maybe we can get him up to 150.
Offer him half-a-ki for 75 cash, up front.
We can give him a day or two to get the cash together for the rest of it, if he can do it.
Get a little more out of him, anyway.
We gotta make something out of it.
I gotta have dinner with my folks.
I'll stop by Bennie's after that.
Don't haggle.
I won't.
You want a drink? I can get it, Going anyway.
Don't burn mine.
[Red.]
: Hey, Bennie.
Hey, Red.
You get a new ride? Yeah.
What's happening? We got a deal? We got a deal.
[silenced shots whooshing.]
[music filtering out from house.]
[Norman.]
: You cancel all your credit cards? Yeah.
Concussion? Mm-hmm.
You remember any of it? You catch a look? No.
I don't even remember how I got to the hospital, or how I got home.
What's this? Oh! Yeah.
That's, uh, Donna's makeup brush.
She, uh, called late.
She had a bad night at the club.
He was here? He was, uh, upset.
Hey.
Thanks for putting me up.
I'm embarrassed to impose.
Mm-hmm.
Forget it.
Not my style, as you know.
You got a headache? Yeah.
And I left the pills at home.
Rookie mistake.
Here.
Just take half.
So What's the first stop on our descent into madness today? The Psych Ward.
I tracked down the other witness.
She was quoted in a newspaper article the day after the incident, but it does not make it into the official report.
Now may be worth it, maybe not.
Ahh.
Cin Cin.
[bites pill in half.]
Why don't you take the lead on this one? Show me what you can do.
It's been a while.
Well, you've spent more time in an institution.
Gentlemen.
She's on a drug regimen, so she's a little sluggish.
Oh, and she's probably gonna ask you to buy her some cigarettes from the canteen.
Please don't.
Of course.
Ahem.
Hello, Sonya.
I'm Norman.
Where should we talk? I don't like to go outside.
That's fine with me.
We're from the insurance company.
Here to ask you a few simple questions.
Do you have any cigarette? Yes.
Would you like one? Yes.
[claps case shut.]
You may recall a statement you gave regarding an incident at the baseball stadium about 18 months ago.
I don't remember.
You don't remember the statement you gave, or you don't remember the incident? Yes.
The police interviewed you.
A reporter also interviewed you.
It says here that you saw the security guard stop and ask to search the other man's backpack.
I don't remember that.
I'm sorry.
What do you remember? Do you have a cigarette? You were at the ball game.
There were a lot of people asking me questions.
Police.
Who else? I don't remember.
I don't want to miss lunch.
When you do remember something, maybe not right away, or maybe you already have call me at this number.
[sighs heavily.]
Okay.
Catch you later.
I got somebody might be interested in taking a quarter off us if Bennie doesn't want it.
Bennie ain't gonna want it.
He got shot last night.
Dead.
He was out back barbecuing.
Somebody rolled up and picked him off.
Whoa.
Anybody see it? Don't know.
Lana called.
His crew's freaking out, nobody knows where he hid the dope, so no deliveries, or where his cash is.
No one's getting paid.
And our fucking deal just fell apart.
There might be an opportunity here.
Memory it does unpredictable things.
The guy accused of shooting Robert Kennedy Sirhan Sirhan.
He claimed he didn't remember doing it.
There was a hypnotist involved.
The LAPD used him when witnesses couldn't recall things.
He bragged to a couple of hookers that he had hypnotized Sirhan to do it.
Hey.
I am just repeating well-documented facts.
And they'd been working on it for years, trying to use hypnosis for assassinations.
Now, they managed to get it to the point where they could get the guy to pull the trigger, but then they discovered the guy couldn't deal with stopping at a red light, or finding a parking spot.
They couldn't suggest all the possible moves the guy would have to make to get from point "A" to point "B" All the unpredictable variables.
Making the victim forget their role, that's the easy part.
Why are you telling me this? The nurse said that they've got her on a heavy drug regimen.
Now, if it is a hypnotic opioid of some kind, you can forget stuff.
You can't get too excited, you can't get too low.
It keeps you right in that middle lane, going 15 miles an hour.
The highlight of the day is the daily pudding.
Hmm.
If she wasn't so medicated, we might be able to get something from her.
Oh! By the way, I managed to find a room above the club where Don works.
Well, that's convenient.
It is! I can move in a couple days.
The police say they've got footage of the car.
From a couple of cameras in the alley.
They got any ideas? He knew the guy.
[sniffs.]
Bennie walked right up to the car.
They showed me the tape.
Did you recognize anybody? You can't tell.
So we're here to help.
Anything we can do? You can help me find where Bennie hid the money.
What happens to the game here? It goes with Bennie.
I've got no cash to pay the couriers.
They're running out of dope.
We can help.
We can supply you.
I told you, I've got no cash.
We'll front you.
Take the money as it comes in.
We'll cut you in.
We'll take care of you.
[door opens.]
I thought maybe a phone call, or a note on my door.
I've been worried about you.
What brings this on? I found you in a parking lot.
You had a terrible smack on your head.
I drove you to the hospital.
You don't - Come in.
Come in.
- Remember.
I just came by to drop off your wallet.
There's nothing in it, by the way.
Well, I'm not supposed to drink, but I can pour you one and you can tell me how you found me.
You were face-down.
There was a lot of blood.
Did you see anyone? I saw a man leaving as I was coming in.
He was wearing a baseball cap, sunglasses.
I thought that was weird in the middle of the night.
Think that might've been him? Well, it's possible.
Come in.
No trouble finding it? No.
I parked a couple blocks away, like you asked.
Come sit.
We can chat.
I won't keep you long.
Oh, I've got time.
I wanted to talk to you about how you might work for us.
I thought maybe that's what this was about.
We're safe here.
We can speak without anyone overhearing or interrupting.
I want you to become familiar with someone.
To seduce them into friendship, or whatever evolves.
I see.
Who is this person? A man or woman? A man.
An important one, as far as national security is concerned.
Is he an older man? Middle-aged, married.
I have no doubt that he'll find you very attractive.
Now it's a delicate business that we have between us.
Complicated.
I understand.
He's been short-listed for a very important position in our security apparatus and I've been delegated to vet him, to examine his suitability for the job.
As it happens, you already know this man, and he's already demonstrated a very keen interest in you.
Mr.
Sproule.
Edmund Sproule.
Destined for power in the capital unless, of course, we discover something to upset the apple cart.
Mm.
I agree that it smells.
Like what, I don't know.
The fact there was no autopsy on the suspect leaves us clueless regarding his mental state.
Whether he was on drugs or not, we have no idea.
Unusual, at the very least.
You can never discount outright incompetence.
Well, if it was a bungle, someone's going to great effort to cover it up.
You said you'd interviewed a witness.
A girl in a hospital.
She can barely remember what day of the week it is, forget what she may or may not have witnessed.
Not much hope there.
Are we pissing up a rope with this? Could be.
You tell me.
I know no more than you.
A man was killed.
Either by great effort or extraordinary incompetence by a number of people, the event was wiped from memory.
A report was commissioned that glossed over events.
I need to know if I'm chasing smoke.
Will you stay on? For now.
Until I start meeting rabbits that talk.
We'll talk in a couple of days.
You intimated that there was some sort of connection between the terror incidents and the "Super Intelligence Agency" idea.
Well.
.
What do you think? They happened very close together.
I have trouble believing that to be a coincidence.
Don't you? We'll talk soon.
Give us a few minutes to disappear.
[sirens wailing.]