The Wire s02e11 Episode Script

Wake up, Baltimore.
It's 6:00 a.
m Police! Ready? Freeze, FBl! - All clear.
- Check upstairs.
Turn around.
Put your hands up.
Behind your neck.
Keep them there.
No, nothing here.
All clear.
All clear.
You won't find a goddamn thing! I can tell you that right now.
Ain't got shit on me.
Fuck! You ain't got nothing.
I'm telling you.
Nothing! Move, shitbird.
FBl, show me your hands! Get down, fuck! Get down! Nice.
Bingo.
- From behind your clothes washer.
- That's heroin, 300 gelcaps.
And on today's Chip Franklin Show at noon Chip will be live at Arundel Mills Mall asking local retailers: "What do you get for the guy who has everything?" Now here's Steve Stewart with sports.
The Orioles continue to - We could take him now.
- Not enough profile.
Fucking feds.
Be advised, target 27 is on the move.
I don't get it.
Why leave Vondopoulos out on the street? The text message that told him to clean up, it came from someone higher up.
Someone we don't know.
We leave him on the street after these raids he'll probably make contact with whoever's above him.
Either another text message or a meet.
What's with George Glekas? I'm afraid he's gonna duck this warrant.
- Chester Karol Sobotka? - It's Frank Sobotka's kid.
Frank's kid kills one of our targets? Are you shitting me? Why? What for? We hit the store this morning.
Every shred of paper's gone.
Just a bloodstain on the floor.
So we go over to his house a half hour later with the warrant and it's full up with red-eyed Greek relations looking at us like we're braindeads.
Homicide, Shea.
- This is Daniels, out at Southeast.
- Yes, sir.
Who caught the Highlandtown murder the night before last? Jay Landsman, sir.
I'll be right over.
Go get the interviews started.
- Lieutenant? - Hey, Lt.
What the fuck is that about? How did we do this morning? Eton and Sergei are in.
So is the madam.
Glekas, I'm not sure.
- The feds are waiting on Sobotka.
- What are they waiting for? You don't wanna know.
Jesus, Larry The thing is, I think we gotta reach out to a criminal lawyer real quick.
If the union guys can't handle this mess he's gonna have a bail hearing tomorrow.
- Do you have any details? - I don't know nothing except he's locked up for it.
I can't see him till 10:00.
- That's the only time? - Visiting hours, yeah.
Look, everything's gonna be fine.
- FBl! All of you move, now! - What the fuck is this? - FBl, move! - Against the wall.
He's here.
Got another problem here, Larry.
Big man on the docks.
You don't look so big now, do you? Ma.
Pop.
It's gone.
And the money, too.
They say you need to come in.
They said the warrant is at Southeastern police district.
They're out there now.
Showtime, Franky.
- Frank.
- Sir, any comment? Is it just you, or is it the whole union? What's your comment on the charges being brought against you? Sir, do you have anything at all to say? Any comment at all? How will you answer the charges against you? Let me ask you, who exactly am I working all these dead girls for? The Homicide unit, right? The same Homicide unit that can't put two and two together and pick up a phone leaving me to read it a day-and-a-half later in The Baltimore Sun.
- What did you take from the scene? - Photos, latents, spent casings.
Fuck.
They cleaned everything else? Even for a supremely fucked-up police department this takes the prize.
How'd the kid play it? He signed a full statement.
He said that there was an argument about a stolen car or two.
Think he'll open up and talk more? He's been processed and assigned a PD.
If you want to take a run at the kid, you're gonna have to get around his lawyer.
I'm sorry, Lieutenant.
It's my bad.
State your name, asshole.
What's your name? What's your name? State your name.
Come on, you know this part.
Give us a name.
There is your name.
State your name.
No name? - For now, we'll just call you Boris.
- Boris.
Why always "Boris"? Racketeering.
Wire fraud.
Conspiracy to import heroin.
Conspiracy to violate federal customs statutes.
White slavery.
Today we're only charging the customs violations, Mr.
Sobotka.
But eventually, a grand jury indictment will expose you to a lot more.
Name names, and come clean.
You help yourself and your union.
Help my union? For 25 years, we've been dying slow down there.
Dry docks rusting, piers standing empty.
My friends and their kids, like we got the cancer.
No lifeline got thrown all that time.
Nothing from nobody.
And now you wanna help us? Help me? - What's your full name? - Michael McArdle.
- White Mike.
- Yeah, that's right.
Listen to this, Mikey.
I wanna know it wasn't your people dropped that body on Potee Street the other night.
I'm asking 'cause it was someone with a Greek-ass name and fuck if he wasn't dumped in front of a house I was using.
Did he have hands? Did he have a face? Yes? Then it wasn't us.
We hit your suppliers.
They cleaned up and left you holding the dirt.
- Suppliers of what? - You discussed a drug buy on this tape.
We also have photographs tying you to your stash house and putting you at The Greek's warehouse over on Newkirk Street for re-ups.
Do yourself a solid here, Mike.
- What's the plan? - This is just a detention hearing, Frank.
You're not a flight risk, you have no meaningful priors.
And so far they've only hit you with one count.
The magistrate's gonna ask us some basic questions.
Barring anything unforeseen, you're out in an hour.
- I said nothing to them suits.
- All the better.
- This Eton, he's in charge of what exactly? - The dope.
He's what, Greek? He's a Jew.
You know, from that Jew country they got.
- And what about the guy they call Sergei? - Sergei's straight muscle.
- Look, I need something to eat.
- Okay, what do you want? Two hot dogs and a strawberry soda.
I'd fuck the order up.
It's gotta be strawberry? Hook a brother up.
Big man, that ain't gonna work for Omar.
It's all right.
Been what, a year? Boy, you don't know, I been dreaming of running into you again.
You got a focus.
I give you that.
Man be like that when he got work to do.
You know what I mean? I think you've done enough.
Bird gone.
Wee-Bey copped out to all them murders.
He in jail now forever and a day.
Stinkum? I mean, you closed the book on that nigger your damn self.
Avon, he out of pocket for the time being.
Leaving you.
- You looking for closure? - Lookit, man, ain't no closure.
Not unless Brandon walk up out his grave and come up in this room right now.
See, all I know is whoever did him that way, they gets got.
Whoever did him that way, they still out there right now.
So now you gonna play like you had nothing to do with it.
No, I can't lie.
I put the motherfucking paper out on y'all.
But y'all was fucking with my stash.
Anything after that, part of the game.
Maybe.
But see, I went past that with Brandon.
That wasn't me.
That wasn't Avon, either.
Bird and them were there to see it.
But another man did all the extras: all that cigarette shit all that bullshit with the eyes.
See now, this man, he building a rep for himself and he wants you bad.
The brutal shit, that's his calling card.
Little bow-tie wearing motherfucker from out of NYC? Yeah, small dude.
What he go by? Brother Mouzone.
I know you heard of him, right? So if y'all got the mind to go after him I might be able to point you in that direction.
Why? What happened to your boy was business.
But how that shit happened, you got the right to take that to heart.
I figure that'll make us even.
Now, you wanna know where this nigger is? - We need to sit down and talk, Frank.
- I gotta see my son.
The man's right.
Let's grab a cup of coffee or something.
Not now, I need to get clean.
Sergei and them they did Mau Mau Willis.
- Why'd they chill him? - He was welshing on the Jew.
Okay, Sergei's a soldier.
But he and Eton report to somebody.
- Who's above those two, Mike? - I don't know.
- You don't know? - Never did wanna know.
God in heaven, Zig, the cops do that to you? Ain't the cops.
Lawyers are saying the bail might be tough.
I'm trying.
You know I'm trying, right? - What happened? - I don't know.
I got tired.
I got tired of being the punchline to every joke.
You had problems, you could've come to me.
You could've said something.
You wouldn't have heard.
You were always too busy dredging up the canal.
Making sure the right bum got elected.
Buying another round for the house.
I always used to think you were working all them hours you spent away.
It was all work, Zig, even when it wasn't.
For you, for your mother.
I bet you didn't even tell her I was in here, did you? Maybe you did and she already took three Nembutals, sleeping the day away.
- Leave her out of this.
- She's out of it, don't worry.
Pop when I seen what I did to that kid down at the store it made me sick to my stomach.
- That ain't you, Zig.
- It ain't? Because the same blood don't flow for us, Pop.
I mean, I wish it did, but it don't.
You're more like me than you know.
You're a Sobotka.
Fucked is what I am.
What the fuck can I say? Best progress so far is "White Mike" McArdle.
He's standing on the edge of the cliff.
We're gonna get Pearlman in today to see what she can do to step him off.
Also, we're still hunting the Sobotka nephew.
Herc and Carver are on that.
Still, my guess is the drug players even if they roll, give us Eton and Sergei.
The case gets thin when we get up to this Spiros Vondopoulos.
Boy, them Greeks and those twisted-ass names.
Lay off the Greeks.
They invented civilization.
Yeah? Ass-fucking, too.
What exactly do we know about Vondopoulos? We should stay on him, see who he really is.
How about it? Throw us a few of your well-equipped surveillance teams? In case you haven't noticed, Lieutenant, I'm the only fed still in the room.
The US attorney has what he wants with the union guys which means my field office is pretty much over this case.
Okay, we're on Vondopoulos ourselves.
I'm sorry for him and for you.
We should've paid more attention to our own.
Like I could've stopped Ziggy from what he'd done.
Like anyone could ever control him.
I was thinking of my boy, too.
They're dropping the net on all the guys.
Ain't no secret things get lost in them cans now and again.
He'll be all right.
They tossed my house, Frank.
They don't do that when there's a couple of cases of vodka missing.
They made me sign the search warrant.
That's a receipt-like for what they found.
Heroin, Frank.
From this house.
No, that ain't right.
That can't be right.
I knew Nicky and Zig was boosting stuff.
Cameras, shit like that.
Nothing like this.
You knew? And once Nicky got used to boosting stuff and seeing a little money what did you think he was gonna do? Turn straight all of a sudden and give it up? No, Frank.
Once you gave him a taste on the house, just That was never I mean, he knew.
He knew.
Everything I did, the cans I let through the money we got from that went to keeping what we had.
God damn it, Frank! Don't let that excuse this.
Not this.
Uncle Frank, with the big shoulders.
"If it's broke, give it to my uncle.
"He can fix it.
" Hey, Killer.
I got something for you, come here.
You got the new Harper's yet? Now, you know stores down the way don't have nothing past Vibe and Handguns Today.
Some titty mags, too, if you need.
All right.
I got you.
I'm gonna hook you up, though, all right? Hey, boy.
Told you I had something for you.
There you go.
That's my good boy.
Good day for a ship.
This is the hiring hall, Frank.
Working stevedores only.
Big Roy, let me have your card.
What do you want my card for? Not you.
Little Big Roy, let me hold your card.
I need it.
I'm gonna work the Cape St.
George today.
- I'll work it for you.
- Work it for me? I work the ship on your card.
You work a barstool down Clement Street.
End of the week, you get paid.
Hey, Phil.
I'm putting up for the Cape St.
George.
I don't see no resemblance.
We're both bald, we're both Polacks.
What the fuck else you need to know? Who's gonna work for me? - A different look for our boy.
- Perry Ellis or something.
How would a just-rolled-out-of-bed-looking motherfucker like you know the designer? Okay, I'm guessing.
It's a Joseph Abboud.
He puts dark buttons instead of brass on his blazers.
That's the Abboud signature.
You know what they call a guy who pays that much attention to his clothes, right? A grown-up.
We're up.
-12-14, let's go.
- Copy, 11-34.
- That's a first.
- Sweat from a checker.
- You all right? - Ready.
Maybe you ought to set up an easel on the sidewalk - and do a sketch instead.
- I'm fine.
- Anything I ought to know? - Yeah.
Use the city.
Windows, mirrors, reflections, anything like that.
Stay on my frequency, hear? Vondopoulos should be coming out of the garage on foot - right about now.
- Copy that.
Beadie Russell.
She wasn't much when we started, you know.
But now she's got game.
Thank you.
into a fifth floor room.
Note the number then get down to the lobby.
- Wait on him there.
- Copy.
She's got Vondopoulos in a room.
It could be a while.
Copy.
- All this shit's going out to chassis? - That's what they tell me.
We need a forklift.
We're almost done here.
man, middle-aged, blue suit leaving the front door of the hotel.
They'rejust behind me.
Copy? Copy.
Subject and companion, blue suit, leaving the hotel any moment now.
Copy, we got the eyeball.
The man with Vondopoulos has got to be big.
- I mean, look at that expensive suit.
- Yeah, with them buttons and all.
We leave the Benz here? It's hot.
They didn't come back to the Benz.
You got them down there? Negative.
- You about done? - These nine here still got to be stripped.
- Harder than it looks.
- What ain't? - You hear how Moonshot got his name? - Yeah, and I could give a fuck.
Who was the room registered to? Stephen Rados.
He gave a Northwest D.
C.
address.
Maybe that's the man with the good tailor.
Maybe not.
We should run out the paper trail on this guy, see what we turn up.
As to our only tangible piece of progress from the raids what can we do for our friend White Mike? He rolls on his suppliers, and he can walk with a long probation.
- And we can move him, if he needs.
- Witness protection? Why have the feds with you if they're not gonna step up every now and then? Wait a second.
You're gonna give a drug dealer a ride like that? What about Frank Sobotka? The feds took a shot at him and got nothing.
Or so they tell me.
The way I read it, they cared more about busting up the union- Than anything else in the case.
If we came at Frank straight? You can't make him any kind of specific offer yourself.
Only I can do that, and only after I get an okay from my front office.
- She could plant the seed.
- There's no better messenger, Counselor.
Take a shot.
- You going to his house? - The Union Hall.
That's his house.
Thanks for waiting, Brucie.
Sorry I'm late.
I shouldn't even be seen with you at this point.
I just wanna settle our business while we still can.
It ain't like I'm gonna get my hands on more cash, obviously.
The grain pier is dead.
Half the votes we had lined up are walking sideways now.
They read the paper, Frank.
So what? So I'm dirty.
The grain pier's still the grain pier, right? They ain't voting for me, Brucie! It ain't about me! I'm not gonna lie.
No one is gonna stand with us now that the FBI is on you.
- They're scared.
- Of what? They took the money, Frank.
And now if they deliver the votes, they figure the feds will be on them, too.
I'm sorry, Frank.
You find a way of putting this FBI thing to bed maybe we can come back the next session with the grain pier.
You'll have a couple of people down there knowing they owe you a vote or two.
I don't know what else to say.
I don't.
I'm sorry, Frank.
You know what the trouble is, Brucie? We used to make shit in this country.
Build shit.
Now we just put our hand in the next guy's pocket.
Come on, you can't eat only olives.
Order something.
Lamb or something.
I'm not hungry.
All this trouble.
- So, our associates, they are strong? - Yes.
I don't worry about our people.
We can try to get them out before the trial.
If not, they will stand for us.
We have shown them too much.
There will be no more trouble.
We must make certain of this.
- Maybe there's another way.
- There is only one sure way.
Hear me out.
If I could guarantee that Frank Sobotka and his nephew would be silent wouldn't you prefer that? But you cannot guarantee this.
Frank's son, the idiot who shot George in his store he is going to jail for a long time unless There was a young clerk wounded that day in the store.
The prosecutors want to use him as a witness.
I know his family.
Frank Sobotka will have his son back.
If a man can have this, why would he talk to the police? What about Frank's nephew? He is the idiot's cousin.
He wants the same thing as Frank.
Anyway, I don't worry about Niko.
You are fond of him, Spiros.
You should've had a son.
But then I would've had a wife.
If this maggot doesn't post by midnight, I'm gonna take it personal.
The shitbird lives in his parents' basement.
Where's a guy like that gonna run? You wanna go with Auntie Tasha? Come on.
Nice and easy, honey.
- Come here.
- All right, come on, baby.
What's up, big man? Where the party at? Ain't no party up in here, girl.
We thought Darnell and everybody was gonna get their smoke on.
Don't you know Darnell? What's this good boy's name? Hey, boy.
How you doing today? You been good? This a good boy.
- There it is.
- Car will be running.
What is it, Lamar? No need to prolong this.
No, we got time.
- You kill my man? - No, he's resting.
- I'm saying, ain't you wanna know? - Not particularly.
About a year ago, a boy name Brandon got got here in Baltimore.
Stuck and burned before he passed.
- The game is the game.
- Indeed.
See, that boy was beautiful.
Wasn't no need for y'all to do him the way y'all did.
You feel me? - A year, you say? - About that.
You've got some wrong information.
Man, you lying to live.
I'm at peace with my God.
Do what you will.
So you know? What happened to your boy, it's not my style.
The way you bleeding out your back, looks like that bullet bore clean through.
Emergency.
Do you need police or ambulance? I wanna report a shooting over here at the new motel.
- On North Avenue.
Room 221.
- Sir? My pal, Beatrice.
What, you gonna run me in again? Isn't that like double jeopardy or some shit? Stop it, just stop it.
- Talk to me.
- And say what? I'm sitting here trying to figure it out myself.
It didn't happen overnight.
I knew I was wrong.
But in my head, I thought I was wrong for the right reasons, you know? There are different kinds of wrong.
What're you doing here, Bea? I'd like you to come in.
Not in cuffs.
Because you want to.
I'm opening a door here, Frank.
I can't promise you anything.
Just come in.
We'll start from there.
You're better than them you got in bed with.
- Our man Vondopoulos didn't come home? - Maybe he got lucky.
Maybe we didn't.
You think he ditched the Benz because he picked up the tail? Nicky from the docks.
If you hadn't called last night, I'd have never found you.
Relax, Niko, come on.
It's like I told you on the phone.
It is going to be all right.
We can make it all right.
I should have never gone down the road with you people.
Come on.
You tried to make something of yourself.
There's no harm in that.
And you still have friends.
I'm busted.
So is my uncle and the whole fucking union.
And Ziggy? - Christ! - We will be a friend to him, too.
Nothing your people can do about that.
Ziggy's done.
Nothing is done, Niko.
Nothing.
Take a look.
That's not your name.
Many names, many passports.
We can do many things.
What can you do for Ziggy? We ask only loyalty.
Why do they need sticks? Can't they kick it with their feet? She asked me straight-up to come in, so I'm here.
First, we need to know what you're looking for.
We don't want any misunderstandings later on.
I'm just looking for, you know, some help with my son.
- He can't jail where they got him.
- We move him to a county facility.
- What about my nephew? - He gets arrested and charged.
But for his cooperation and yours we can live with straight probation.
But what we can and cannot do for you and your family - depends on the level of your cooperation.
- You mean, how much I give you? I got dirt on all of them.
I'll put myself in, too.
Whatever you need.
Anything but the union.
I ain't putting in no union men.
I'll give you them dead girls in the can.
I'll give you The Greek, all them sons of bitches just to have it off my chest.
Just look to my son and my nephew.
Mr.
Sobotka, at this point I have to advise you you need to retain the services of an attorney.
We're not gonna do this now? You need to have a lawyer present in the room.
You have that, we can make this happen first thing tomorrow.
Mr.
Sobotka, I gotta ask.
Why did you stop using your cell phone? You guys flagged it.
You think I didn't know? Under the bridge? It's out in the open.
I guess the cops can't bug it or nothing.
These guys, they got a big operation to protect.
They're global-like.
- They're really something? - You got no idea.
I think I got a pretty clear picture of what they're about.
We ain't talking about a bunch of thieves rolling drums of olive oil off the docks.
Heroin? How the fuck did that happen, Nick? Look at me! You ain't much more than a kid.
Me, I should've known better.
I put you up with them, for what? I flushed my fucking family, for what? You know what that is, Nicky? Do you? A condominium.
I ain't going down there.
What I'm gonna do is, I'm gonna go in and talk with the police.
That's right.
I'm gonna do to those cocksuckers what they did to me.
- You can't do that.
- Why not? They wanna meet with us on Ziggy.
They can lean on that witness that kid that he shot, the one that was there in the store.
The kid's gonna say that Double G had the gun.
That it was like self-defense or some shit.
Ziggy could walk, Uncle Frank.
He could.
- And for that they want what? - Loyalty.
Motherfuckers! I'll hear them out.
- All right, I'll drive.
- No, it's just me.
You ain't dealing with those guys no more.
- Uncle Frank, me and Spiros- - I don't fucking want you with me, Nick! Go home! Your way it won't work.