Homicide: Life on the Street s04e09 Episode Script
Sniper, Part 2
'The forecast is cloudy and windy and cold this morning, warming up 'with a few sunny breaks.
' - I thought I heard you come in.
- Hi, sweetie.
Good to have you home.
- You must be exhausted.
- How are you? How's the baby? Your child has no sympathy for a working mother.
He or she has been up all night, kickboxing.
- You felt a kick? - Mm-hm.
I don't feel anythin'.
No, of course not.
Now that I'm wide awake, the baby's asleep.
Smart child.
Sleep, what a terrific idea.
I'll get it.
Hello.
Yes, he's here, hold on just a second.
It's Lieutenant Giardello.
Yeah, Gee.
No! I'll be right there.
- I'll be right there.
- I'll be right there.
- I'll be right there.
- I'll be right there.
Argh! There's been another sniper shooting.
Three down.
- I thought you caught the sniper? - So did we.
- I gotta go back to work.
- Frank! I'll call you soon as I can.
I thought we closed the sniper case, that he killed himself? Two hours later another shooting.
I guess William Mariner had an accomplice.
Everything indicated he worked alone.
We'll need to make a press statement.
Keep the media out.
Avis Griffin, the new Public Information Officer.
- Work with her on coverin' your ass.
- Shouldn't be here without a vest.
Somebody get Colonel Barnfather and Miss Griffin a Kevlar.
- Get those helicopters outta here.
- The Commissioner ordered them.
We gotta sniper.
All we need is for him to shoot one down.
They found shell casings on the tower.
- Who's up on the roof as primary? - Your guy, Pembleton.
That sky jockey tries that again, I'll give him permission to shoot the son-of-a-bitch down.
Shoot him down! You're out for your mornin' jog and hear gunshots? I come runnin' down the block and hear this crack-crack-crack.
- You saw the shots? Which direction? - From up there.
- And you were where? - Right here.
- Right where? - Right here.
Standing.
You know when you hear a bug or mosquito buzzing around your ears? It's like that.
The Woman falls there, the guy's got this tray of bread, it falls.
Did you see any of the victims hit? With all the gunshots goin' on around here, I'm gonna look? I'd end up in the meat wagon.
I'm standin' round all these people gettin' shot, I think to myself, "If I move, I'll get shot.
" - Yeah, OK.
What's your name? - Helena Aegis.
Alex Robey.
like an entire clip was shot off.
We're now assuming that Mariner had an accomplice.
At the other shootings there was a hangman game.
How come there's no hangman game? It takes two to play hangman, and Mariner's dead.
Right, it takes two to play hangman.
- Watcha got over there? - Fibres.
Maybe wood.
If it is, it could be from the shooter's rifle stock.
This shootin' is eight hours after Mount Vernon? - Yeah.
- Exactly eight hours? Yeah.
Can I help you with that vest? - You think I'm helpless? - I don't.
No.
We've got three tentative IDs - Susan Darowz, the guy with the bread is Neal Ferdette, and the third guy, he's an Arabber, his name is William Wixson.
- Any addresses? - Uh-huh.
She works where she fell.
The breadman's from Towson, Arabber's from Sandtown.
- Notify the next of kin.
- Something I always look forward to.
- Maybe we'll get lucky.
- How's that? Maybe the two guys won't have no families.
I am so damn tired.
My eyes are so far back in my head I'm seeing things from years away.
Pembleton, Bayliss.
Over to the Mariner house, talk to the wife.
Find out if Mariner had any angry compadres.
- On our way.
- I'm waitin' for lab results, Gee.
- I'll get Russert to cover that.
- Captain Russert? Barnfather demoted her.
- I heard rumours.
- We don't have time for rumours.
Please get going.
- Hey.
Got your message.
Saw it on TV.
- The crap's flying again.
The Colonel told me not to come back until he made a decision on where to assign me.
- I need you here.
OK? - He'll have my head, and yours.
- I'll take care of Barnfather.
- How? - I'll ignore him.
- That's not gonna take care of him.
My grandfather, who was Italian, used to say, "Never stand in the way of your enemies "when they're trying to destroy themselves.
" We've got access requests from The New York Times, Washington Post, and someone asked us for a hotel recommendation.
We're the Chamber of Commerce? NBC, ABC, CBS and CNN are sending their first teams, they wanna know where to set up their satellite.
Tom Brokaw, Peter Jennings, Dan Rather, Bernie Shaw, have all requested media access passes.
You're Public Relations, you handle it.
I'm beat to hell, a shower would be nice.
Mariner and somebody slaughter nine people, then Mariner blows his brains out while I stand guessing hangman letters.
Now somebody shoots three people, and you wanna take a shower! Saving Mariner's life wasn't your responsibility.
- I was the primary.
I let him die! - You did your job! Nine names in red go to black.
So Mariner smoked himself.
- So what? - Wait a minute.
What are you sayin'? You're always tellin' me that everybody belongs to God.
Nine innocent victims.
If I were God, I'd have a hard time holding Mariner and innocent people in the same light.
I don't have energy enough to care.
Today we got three new victims.
Well, hate to tell you this, today is still yesterday.
Did I tell you I was tired? Come 4 o'clock, if we don't get this guy, it won't matter what you tell me.
Let's go talk to the Merry Widow, Mrs Mariner.
Maybe she's got something to say.
We've had three more victims this morning.
I got the wakeup call from WBAL this morning, they wanna know which of Bill's friends did this.
Which one of them would have? I don't know.
Maybe Bill wasn't guilty.
You're the cop who killed my Dad.
- No What's your son's name? - What does that matter to you? - Your husband had a best friend? - Someone who'd want to avenge him? No, someone who might have assisted him in these killings.
If Bill shot those people, he shot any chance my children will be able to do anything.
They'll always be the children of some maniac who killed nine people, and will they do the same? Anyone at your husband's office who Maybe they went out for beers? I have to find a funeral home, someone to get Bill's body outta the morgue.
Everyone's calling him a maniac, I've gotta find someone that's gonna bury this maniac for his children.
I've been thinking who to invite, what kinda service.
Any ideas? Know anyone who'd want to come and bury Bill? - Who would? - You wanna come to his funeral? You were the last one he talked to.
Excuse me! Do you have any children? Are there any suspects? I was just joggin'.
I run six miles a day.
- You saw something? - Not a good idea to talk to reporters.
- I'll be back in a minute.
- Thank you.
- You guys witnesses too? - Family of the victims.
- We'll go upstairs.
- Don't talk to the press.
I'm always making a spectacle of myself.
Anything that you say jeopardises my ongoin' investigation.
- Told you that at the crime scene.
- I'll go home.
- Need a lift? - No, I got my car.
I'll get this gentleman to walk you to your car.
If anything else comes to me about this morning - Yeah, give me a call.
- Right.
Anything from Pembleton? He said Mrs Mariner wasn't forthcoming in offering information as to who might be involved with her husband.
They're on their way to the insurance company where Mariner worked.
Stay on top of it.
Check with Quantico.
See how they're comin' with that psych profile.
Brodie, go to the Mariner house.
Videotape anyone coming in or going out.
Anyone who brings flowers or a casserole becomes a Kodak moment.
Munch! Oh, man! Have you seen Detective Munch? - The ME and Firearms reports? - I sent Shabazz to Firearms.
Shell casings were 308 calibre, same as the rifle Mariner used.
- I'm goin' to ME's, soon as I find John.
- I got the CJIS printout.
Computer banks don't show any recent parolees from Jessup or anywhere with a history of killing with a rifle.
Just knives, tire irons and handguns.
- Any connection with the Mariners? - No.
- Come with me.
- Things to do.
- I'm not askin' you out on a date.
- You're the sarge.
You're interviewin' the victims' families? Yeah.
One's a mess, the other one's cool as can be.
Any family member who isn't busted up now will be hysterical in an hour.
- And the wife who is busted up? - She'll be hysterical in an hour too.
You and Lewis, dance the dance carefully.
We're lookin' for any link to William Mariner.
Wait a second.
The woman was killed with a shot that entered from what angle? - 45 degree angle.
- Let me see the autopsy diagram.
They were all shot from a rooftop, right? Whoa! What are you doing? That guy puts me in Siberia to park again, I'll kick his teeth in.
Whoa! Easy does it, John.
- Get out of the way, you idiot.
- Slow down, what's the matter, John? Take it easy, huh? Are you outta your mind? You're gonna get us killed.
Whoa! Let me drive.
- Stay in the car! - What are you - Stay in the car! - What the matter? Not gonna get you killed.
Not worried about the sniper getting me.
One shot to my noggin, lights out, that's fine.
But I'm not gonna be sittin' here and watch you get shot again.
What? You think I could ever forget you, Stan and Beau getting shot down? I say to Gee, "They ruined my shoes with their blood.
" I was so whacked out from seeing your blood, I - I couldn't do anything.
- All right.
It's not.
No more first names, I'm Munch, you're Howard.
That's the way it's gotta be.
Mariner's co-workers were no help.
We have to lean on the wife more.
We could try to get an order for a wiretap on the Mariner phone lines.
Or we could go back to the house, get the kids away from the mother.
- Maybe they'd give up the name.
- The boy thinks you killed his father.
Come on.
Hey! What's the damn hold-up? Some kind of nonsense goin' on up there.
'Delta one-five.
' There's a sniper on the roof! There he is! Get in the car! We have a call on some guy on the rooftop with a rifle.
The report of a sniper proved to be a false alarm.
Yet the fear of a report of someone on a rooftop, is quite real.
The mother who ran to safety with her children can testify to that fear.
Schools are being closed early, hospitals are on emergency alert, and homeowners are boarding up their windows as if a hurricane alert had just been issued.
- Mary, we're goin' home.
- What? - I'm safe here.
- Let's go.
- Frank, look, stop it.
- Don't make a scene.
OK, fine.
Tim, leave, and take him with you.
- I can't do that, Mary.
- You are with child, our child.
You will not endanger yourself.
I'm only in danger because you're here, instead of catching the imbecile.
I can't have you runnin' around downtown.
You can get scared for me, but I can't for you? I live through this every day.
- This is different! - No, it isn't.
You always say to me, this is the job.
You know what, this is my job.
- I'm not leavin' until I finish it.
- Tim, get over and grab this desk.
- Give me a hand.
- Yeah, sure.
I have work on this desk.
Frank, stop it.
We're movin' this desk away from the window, or it's goin' out the window.
And these stayed closed.
- What are the odds of bein' shot? - I wish you would give in to me.
I am not giving in to hysteria.
- What are you doing? - Raise your arms.
- I'll see you tonight.
- And I'll see you, OK? OK.
OK.
Shooting areas from yesterday.
Highlandtown, Collington Square, Mount Vernon.
This morning, the clock tower.
What's the distance between Highlandtown and Collington Square? Highlandtown to the clock tower, a mile.
From the clock tower to Mount Vernon, that's half a mile.
So all the shootings took place in a perimeter around downtown? The shootings are comin' in a circular pattern.
So maybe somewhere in Little Italy's the next shootin'.
Check with the Maths Department at Hopkins.
See if there's some kind of probability factor operatin' here.
This is the third time I've called.
No, I don't remember exactly who we talked to.
I've got interview and access to the crime scene requests from all over.
What kind of rifle? Capable of holding a magazine that'll fire off 15 to 20 rounds.
You've come up with a psych profile for Mariner's accomplice? I know that you're workin' on it, but I have I have calls from the French, Japanese, Brits.
If Mariner's buddy stays true to form, he starts shootin' in eight minutes.
What comes to mind is something like an M1A carbine.
What range would our shooter have? Five, six city blocks.
An M1A with attachable Nikon or Leopold scope could command a half-mile radius from point of location.
- How many rifles like that? - ATF faxed us these numbers.
We got maybe four dozen local registrations.
There could be hundreds.
They weren't required to be registered before 1990.
Lovely.
That's sublime.
The Governor's ready to call out The National Guard.
That sends the message we've lost control.
The Guard would give citizens a sense of security.
The Guard has no experience in leadin' a criminal investigation.
What's Russert doing here? Math whizzes think that probability curve has our shooter between Little Italy and Inner Harbor.
- Notify QRT.
- You got it, Gee.
I don't want Megan Russert anywhere near this case.
I can't see anythin' with you standing in my way.
Excuse me.
You know I've watched those broadcasts from Belfast and Beirut and I used to think, "Man, if I could only have been there" This could be Jerusalem, this could be Sarajevo.
I don't need to go there.
Gettin' it all here, Baltimore.
This is not Belfast, this ain't Sarajevo.
- Get out of my way! - Excuse me.
I was ordered to Little Italy.
My unit's there, and we're back in Highlandtown? Lewis was operatin' off mathematical probabilities.
- We could've been here.
- You're here now.
Do your damn job.
The mayor.
Now we'll get some action.
Mr Mayor! Are you gonna appoint a special task force? He's this young kid, sitting in front of me.
His head And then all this glass is flying everywhere.
- His head, then the glass? - Did you hear gunshots? - No, just the glass.
- Detective Lewis? I I saw it.
How you guys doin'? Hey, Mr Robey.
What you doin' here? I live right there.
Second floor, rowhouse.
- Hey, Frank, Tim.
- Hang on a second.
I want you to meet somebody.
This is Mr Robey.
- Mr Robey helped us out this morning.
- Really? Oh, great.
This mornin'? - And here? - Uh-huh.
Would you have a few minutes to come down to headquarters with us? - Whatever you guys need.
- Why don't you take a ride with us? - Go with you guys? - Yeah.
- All right.
- OK.
We're right over here.
- We'll get a search warrant, OK? - OK.
Yesterday, three incidents - Collington Square, Highlandtown, Mount Vernon.
- Nine people down.
Today - Clock tower, 8 AM.
Three hit.
This afternoon, Highlandtown again.
Another two.
The bus, shot dead.
Right.
So this is where we get confused.
- You see, we catch the one guy - William Mariner.
William Mariner.
'Sniper Kills Self.
Baltimore Siege Ends.
' - Excuse me? - New York Times.
- THE New York Times? - Early edition.
January 12, 1996.
Section B, page twelve, column four.
Right.
Right.
So this William Mariner, he shoots himself durin' the arrest.
- You there? - Yeah.
Did he say anythin' before he shot himself? Doesn't matter.
He dies and we reckon this Red Ball is over.
Right, Frank? - Mm-hm.
- Right.
So everyone can breathe easy.
'Baltimore Stunned.
Relieved As Sniper Dies'.
- New York Times again? - Washington Post.
Front page.
With a picture of a woman sprinting away from Collington Square, one shoe off, mouth wide open, screaming.
Ah! This the picture there? Baltimore Sun, Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune.
Now all these clippings, we found them.
They came out of your john, Alex.
You one of those toilet intellectuals? You need something to read to keep you regular? Why don't you Why don't you tell us what happened at the clock tower? - I already told the other guys.
- Well, tell us again.
In detail.
Start with what you were doing there.
- I was running.
- Anywhere in particular? - Was someone chasin' you? - No.
Jogging.
My usual route.
Runnin' past the market, and I hear gunshots.
- Then what did you see? - Blood.
- Did you see anything unusual? - What do you mean? You haven't told us anything we couldn't read on your wallpaper.
See anything that might lead to a shooter? - Like what? - Any drawings on the pavement? Drawings? What drawings? - Do you remember seeing any? - No! How about the bus crime scene? Any artwork there? Like graffiti.
Is that what you mean? Do you recognise this, Alex? - It's chalk.
- Chalk.
- It's 12 pieces.
- Mm-hm.
All right? Of school certified Da Vinci chalk.
OK? - Mm-hm.
- All right.
See that? Multiple colours, as you can see.
Yellow, such.
Now, William Mariner used to use this kind of chalk.
In fact, this box here belonged to him.
Used it for what? Let me get this straight.
- You don't know William Mariner? - I don't know him.
Two shootings, one on your block, and you just happen to be joggin' by one of the scenes of the incidents? - So? - So that strikes me as unlikely.
That's odd enough, coincidence enough.
That makes me think that maybe, maybe you're the target.
You're the target.
Maybe you're the target.
Frank.
Yes.
- That's it.
- Yes.
The sniper shot the other people instead.
It was an accident.
- Me? The target.
- Yeah.
You must have done somethin' to piss this guy off.
Why would someone wanna shoot me? We isolate motive, we better our chances of catching him.
- What comes to mind, Tim.
- Money? - Always a popular motive.
- You owe anyone, Robey? You got life insurance? Got a policy there, Alex? Maybe some family members who wanna cash in on it? - Don't have life insurance.
- Oh.
- Don't have a family.
- What about women? An affair? - An affair? - Yeah.
An affair would be the answer.
You sleep with some other guy's wife.
That's gonna send him over the edge.
I can look at these shootings, I can picture them as crimes of passion.
- Absolutely.
- Uh-huh.
- I don't have a girlfriend.
- No girlfriend? - Nobody you're dating? Even casually? - Look, I'm not the damn target! Those dead delivery guys, they were the target.
OK? 'You guys are supposed to figure out who pulled the trigger.
'This is about the shooter.
He's the important one here.
- 'Ain't he? ' - 'OK, Robey.
' - Get outta here.
- Huh? - What? - You're free to go.
No more questions? - No! Go home.
- I can come back.
Didn't you hear? Leave! You are of no help to us! I can wait outside in case you change your mind.
- No, thank you.
- I'm helpin' you catch the sniper.
- You're a waste of time! - What? - A loser.
Worst of all, a bore.
- I am not.
Perhaps the most borin' man to set foot in this room! We get all kinds in here.
People who kill for all kinds of reasons.
- Lust! - Revenge.
- Drugs.
- Power.
- Plain old hate.
- People kill their husbands, wives.
- Mothers, fathers - Sons, daughters - Lovers.
Teachers - Neighbours.
Strangers.
- They kill in all kinds of ways.
- Shootings.
- Stabbing.
Drowning.
- Hanging.
Burning.
They sit across from us at this table.
- Some of 'em are stupid! - Uh-huh.
Some of 'em are crazy, some are mean.
- That's right.
- But none of them are boring.
- I need some coffee.
- Yep.
I gotta get some air.
Can I have some coffee too? - He doesn't know Mariner.
- Never met him.
Doesn't know about the chalk drawings.
- Who is he then? - Mr Robey fits our psych profile.
White male, early thirties.
A loner with no prior record.
Lives in the neighbourhood, hanging round asking questions.
He knows what Mariner did yesterday.
He watches the city explode, and he wants in on the action.
We don't have any hard evidence to connect him to Mariner.
- There is no connection to Mariner.
- He's a copycat.
A copycat.
A copycat.
We can hold this guy, Robey, Go home, get a shower, get yourselves some sleep.
Give me ten minutes for these to kick in, I'll nail his ass.
I'll be back in a second.
Haven't gone to the bathroom in two days.
The press has got the information we have someone in custody.
We're interviewing witnesses.
That's the song I gave them, but they're not dancing to it.
Barnfather and his Public Information rummy, where are they? - Breakfast.
- Oh.
- Frank.
- I'm not asleep.
Get somethin' to eat.
The coffee and the caffeine tablets just need time.
I don't need food.
Er Hey, Al? Listen, do you mind if I go in and babysit Robey? No, he's mine.
He's not gonna go anywhere for five minutes.
Go ahead.
All right? - Mr Robey? - Yeah.
- You busy? - Nah.
Everybody who comes in here starts to scratch their initials on that table.
- Can I see? - I wasn't really doin' anythin'.
So there's really not much to see.
You know you have time, you start scratchin' your initials.
- You know, huh? - Mmm.
- I'm Captain um Detective Russert.
- Alex.
- Hey.
You tired? - Nah.
Can I, er, get you a coffee? Those two detectives that I'm helpin' out, they're bringin' me some coffee.
- You helpin' out too? - Me? Er, no.
No.
I'm, er I'm not involved in this case.
Well, er, yesterday I was a captain and then I got busted down to detective.
- So I'm nobody.
- You got what? I got demoted.
Yeah.
Yesterday, I had my own personal assistant chasing after coffee for me.
Now I gotta stand in line like everybody else, hopin' the pot's not empty when I get to the front, you know? How's that happen? Someone decided.
Now I'm out.
'Nobody.
You know, I think you ought to go.
' But those two detectives, they're gonna get - You want somethin'? - They went to breakfast.
They've forgotten all about you.
I ain't hungry anyway.
I'm not a breakfast person.
- Frank? You bring Mr Robey coffee? - So tell me again.
How is it you happen to be at the shootings? - How do you take your coffee? - Straight, black.
- One black coffee.
- Excuse me? - Bring Mr Robey a coffee, please.
- I get his coffee? This is my interview.
Mr Robey and I were having a conversation.
I was just telling him about my demotion.
She says she's a nobody.
She's not a nobody.
Just because somebody makes a decision about her.
- That doesn't make her a nobody.
- You understand? A black coffee? - What do you want? - Me? Nothing.
I'm fine.
You should have something.
Whoa! What do you want? Nothin'.
I'm fine.
If you were gonna get it for yourself, what would you get? Tea.
I wanna tea and a coffee.
How do you take your tea? One sugar.
A black coffee, a tea, one sugar.
You think you can remember that? - Havin' a nice day? - So far.
Good.
Black coffee, tea with sugar, black tea, coffee with sugar.
I'm bringin' a side of sugar.
- He's got a temper.
- Yeah, well, he is who he is.
- Thanks.
- For what? - For asking for me.
- No problem.
I appreciate it though.
He's gonna get me coffee, he can't get you somethin'? I can't get anyone to pay attention to what I say anymore.
Doesn't mean it has to stay that way.
Oh, yes it does.
Then you just have to make 'em pay attention.
You do somethin'.
That guy doing the shootings today, he's doing somethin'.
Yeah, but I can't go round killing innocent people, like he does.
Everyone's paying attention though, huh? I dunno.
All the network news people are gettin' tired of him fast.
- They're losin' interest.
- They're wrong.
This guy's dangerous.
You know why? He's more dangerous than Mariner.
Nobody knows who he is.
- He's a mystery man.
- What good does that do him? What? If nobody knows who he really is, he's still a nobody.
- And a cheap imitation at that.
- Cheap? - Yeah.
- Seen how he shut the city down? He didn't start it though.
Mariner was the guy who lit up the city with his first shots.
This other guy, he's not original.
This is not a nobody they're dealing with.
Mariner was a player, he knew all this attention would come to him.
This other guy doesn't want the attention.
- Sure he does.
- He's a copycat, a phoney.
Don't say that.
I told you, he's dangerous.
I saw the bodies of the people he shot.
OK.
- Tea, one sugar.
- Huh! - That's mine black, right? - Yup.
- Hey! - I need it more than you.
He said he'd get me coffee.
So what happens if this guy doesn't stand up for the shootings? - It gives someone else an idea.
- An idea about what? About someone else taking credit for the shootings today.
A copycat of a copycat? Someone who's gonna grab the attention.
The shooter wouldn't have as interesting a story as the guy who said he did, but he didn't.
- That's not right.
- There's a right or wrong in this? Every other person is in some rush to reinvent themselves, to get out of bein' a nobody.
But anyone would know right off who was for real, and who's takin' credit for somethin' that ain't theirs.
Nobody's gonna take credit for somethin' I did.
- Like the shootings today? - Well It ain't right when somebody says they're somebody that they're not.
So you were at both crime scenes today because you wanna take the credit? I deserve the credit, don't I? Well, no one should take away what's yours.
I'm not a copycat.
I'm an original.
I had the idea before this Mariner guy.
He just beat me to the punch, that's all.
I should have been first.
I've had this idea for years.
You tell those newspeople that it was me today, nobody else.
- I'm gonna read you your rights.
- I'm not a nobody.
Can I get coffee now? I want somethin' new.
Ooh.
- An egg cream.
Chocolate.
- OK.
Usual? Coffee and a club soda? Mm-hm.
- Platform shoes.
- What about 'em? They're back.
Women are wearin' them again.
Along with beads, leather vests, bellbottom pants.
- Platform shoes? - Check it out, Tim.
See for yourself.
We ran out of new ideas somewhere around 1978.
Since, we've been repeatin' ourselves - same songs and clothes.
Even the same crimes.
Like Robey, no imagination.
He's just part of the rhythm of all this.
This is 1996.
Here comes the millennium.
Hmm? But people are nervous.
They're on edge.
They're jumpy.
Huh? This is supposed to be somethin' new.
But we can't look that in the face.
So what do we do? Grab somethin' from the '50s, little of somethin' from another year, late '60s.
We think we're creatin' somethin' new, but all we're doin' is just repeatin' the same old nothin'.
We're all copycats.
Right? Frank, where haven't I heard all this before? Huh? - Well - Coffee for you.
- Club soda for the lady.
- Thank you.
And a chocolate egg cream.
Hey, Frank, computers, the Internet.
All that is new.
- This is not an egg cream.
- Sure it is.
I know what an egg cream tastes like.
This is watery.
They probably used low-fat milk.
- It's a little bit different.
- Then it is not an egg cream! So here it is.
We take a perfectly good beverage, which is fine in its original form, and we make it undrinkable.
- I'm gettin' outta here.
- Take it easy.
- No, I'm gone.
- Goin' home? I'm outta here.
- Goodnight, Frank.
- Thanks a lot.
- Mmm.
Well, my coffee's just fine.
- So's my club soda.
So you gonna stay in Homicide? I have to go apologise to my daughter for not coming to her piano recital.
Oh, right.
Ah, thank you.
I gotta tell you, I'm glad you're back to being a detective.
- Really? - Mmm.
- Was I that bad at being a captain? - Yeah.
- Yeah? - Yeah.
You see, instead of being one of the bosses, you bucked the bosses.
You fought for us, did the right thing.
So you sucked as a captain because you were too much of an original.
Well, hooray for me!
' - I thought I heard you come in.
- Hi, sweetie.
Good to have you home.
- You must be exhausted.
- How are you? How's the baby? Your child has no sympathy for a working mother.
He or she has been up all night, kickboxing.
- You felt a kick? - Mm-hm.
I don't feel anythin'.
No, of course not.
Now that I'm wide awake, the baby's asleep.
Smart child.
Sleep, what a terrific idea.
I'll get it.
Hello.
Yes, he's here, hold on just a second.
It's Lieutenant Giardello.
Yeah, Gee.
No! I'll be right there.
- I'll be right there.
- I'll be right there.
- I'll be right there.
- I'll be right there.
Argh! There's been another sniper shooting.
Three down.
- I thought you caught the sniper? - So did we.
- I gotta go back to work.
- Frank! I'll call you soon as I can.
I thought we closed the sniper case, that he killed himself? Two hours later another shooting.
I guess William Mariner had an accomplice.
Everything indicated he worked alone.
We'll need to make a press statement.
Keep the media out.
Avis Griffin, the new Public Information Officer.
- Work with her on coverin' your ass.
- Shouldn't be here without a vest.
Somebody get Colonel Barnfather and Miss Griffin a Kevlar.
- Get those helicopters outta here.
- The Commissioner ordered them.
We gotta sniper.
All we need is for him to shoot one down.
They found shell casings on the tower.
- Who's up on the roof as primary? - Your guy, Pembleton.
That sky jockey tries that again, I'll give him permission to shoot the son-of-a-bitch down.
Shoot him down! You're out for your mornin' jog and hear gunshots? I come runnin' down the block and hear this crack-crack-crack.
- You saw the shots? Which direction? - From up there.
- And you were where? - Right here.
- Right where? - Right here.
Standing.
You know when you hear a bug or mosquito buzzing around your ears? It's like that.
The Woman falls there, the guy's got this tray of bread, it falls.
Did you see any of the victims hit? With all the gunshots goin' on around here, I'm gonna look? I'd end up in the meat wagon.
I'm standin' round all these people gettin' shot, I think to myself, "If I move, I'll get shot.
" - Yeah, OK.
What's your name? - Helena Aegis.
Alex Robey.
like an entire clip was shot off.
We're now assuming that Mariner had an accomplice.
At the other shootings there was a hangman game.
How come there's no hangman game? It takes two to play hangman, and Mariner's dead.
Right, it takes two to play hangman.
- Watcha got over there? - Fibres.
Maybe wood.
If it is, it could be from the shooter's rifle stock.
This shootin' is eight hours after Mount Vernon? - Yeah.
- Exactly eight hours? Yeah.
Can I help you with that vest? - You think I'm helpless? - I don't.
No.
We've got three tentative IDs - Susan Darowz, the guy with the bread is Neal Ferdette, and the third guy, he's an Arabber, his name is William Wixson.
- Any addresses? - Uh-huh.
She works where she fell.
The breadman's from Towson, Arabber's from Sandtown.
- Notify the next of kin.
- Something I always look forward to.
- Maybe we'll get lucky.
- How's that? Maybe the two guys won't have no families.
I am so damn tired.
My eyes are so far back in my head I'm seeing things from years away.
Pembleton, Bayliss.
Over to the Mariner house, talk to the wife.
Find out if Mariner had any angry compadres.
- On our way.
- I'm waitin' for lab results, Gee.
- I'll get Russert to cover that.
- Captain Russert? Barnfather demoted her.
- I heard rumours.
- We don't have time for rumours.
Please get going.
- Hey.
Got your message.
Saw it on TV.
- The crap's flying again.
The Colonel told me not to come back until he made a decision on where to assign me.
- I need you here.
OK? - He'll have my head, and yours.
- I'll take care of Barnfather.
- How? - I'll ignore him.
- That's not gonna take care of him.
My grandfather, who was Italian, used to say, "Never stand in the way of your enemies "when they're trying to destroy themselves.
" We've got access requests from The New York Times, Washington Post, and someone asked us for a hotel recommendation.
We're the Chamber of Commerce? NBC, ABC, CBS and CNN are sending their first teams, they wanna know where to set up their satellite.
Tom Brokaw, Peter Jennings, Dan Rather, Bernie Shaw, have all requested media access passes.
You're Public Relations, you handle it.
I'm beat to hell, a shower would be nice.
Mariner and somebody slaughter nine people, then Mariner blows his brains out while I stand guessing hangman letters.
Now somebody shoots three people, and you wanna take a shower! Saving Mariner's life wasn't your responsibility.
- I was the primary.
I let him die! - You did your job! Nine names in red go to black.
So Mariner smoked himself.
- So what? - Wait a minute.
What are you sayin'? You're always tellin' me that everybody belongs to God.
Nine innocent victims.
If I were God, I'd have a hard time holding Mariner and innocent people in the same light.
I don't have energy enough to care.
Today we got three new victims.
Well, hate to tell you this, today is still yesterday.
Did I tell you I was tired? Come 4 o'clock, if we don't get this guy, it won't matter what you tell me.
Let's go talk to the Merry Widow, Mrs Mariner.
Maybe she's got something to say.
We've had three more victims this morning.
I got the wakeup call from WBAL this morning, they wanna know which of Bill's friends did this.
Which one of them would have? I don't know.
Maybe Bill wasn't guilty.
You're the cop who killed my Dad.
- No What's your son's name? - What does that matter to you? - Your husband had a best friend? - Someone who'd want to avenge him? No, someone who might have assisted him in these killings.
If Bill shot those people, he shot any chance my children will be able to do anything.
They'll always be the children of some maniac who killed nine people, and will they do the same? Anyone at your husband's office who Maybe they went out for beers? I have to find a funeral home, someone to get Bill's body outta the morgue.
Everyone's calling him a maniac, I've gotta find someone that's gonna bury this maniac for his children.
I've been thinking who to invite, what kinda service.
Any ideas? Know anyone who'd want to come and bury Bill? - Who would? - You wanna come to his funeral? You were the last one he talked to.
Excuse me! Do you have any children? Are there any suspects? I was just joggin'.
I run six miles a day.
- You saw something? - Not a good idea to talk to reporters.
- I'll be back in a minute.
- Thank you.
- You guys witnesses too? - Family of the victims.
- We'll go upstairs.
- Don't talk to the press.
I'm always making a spectacle of myself.
Anything that you say jeopardises my ongoin' investigation.
- Told you that at the crime scene.
- I'll go home.
- Need a lift? - No, I got my car.
I'll get this gentleman to walk you to your car.
If anything else comes to me about this morning - Yeah, give me a call.
- Right.
Anything from Pembleton? He said Mrs Mariner wasn't forthcoming in offering information as to who might be involved with her husband.
They're on their way to the insurance company where Mariner worked.
Stay on top of it.
Check with Quantico.
See how they're comin' with that psych profile.
Brodie, go to the Mariner house.
Videotape anyone coming in or going out.
Anyone who brings flowers or a casserole becomes a Kodak moment.
Munch! Oh, man! Have you seen Detective Munch? - The ME and Firearms reports? - I sent Shabazz to Firearms.
Shell casings were 308 calibre, same as the rifle Mariner used.
- I'm goin' to ME's, soon as I find John.
- I got the CJIS printout.
Computer banks don't show any recent parolees from Jessup or anywhere with a history of killing with a rifle.
Just knives, tire irons and handguns.
- Any connection with the Mariners? - No.
- Come with me.
- Things to do.
- I'm not askin' you out on a date.
- You're the sarge.
You're interviewin' the victims' families? Yeah.
One's a mess, the other one's cool as can be.
Any family member who isn't busted up now will be hysterical in an hour.
- And the wife who is busted up? - She'll be hysterical in an hour too.
You and Lewis, dance the dance carefully.
We're lookin' for any link to William Mariner.
Wait a second.
The woman was killed with a shot that entered from what angle? - 45 degree angle.
- Let me see the autopsy diagram.
They were all shot from a rooftop, right? Whoa! What are you doing? That guy puts me in Siberia to park again, I'll kick his teeth in.
Whoa! Easy does it, John.
- Get out of the way, you idiot.
- Slow down, what's the matter, John? Take it easy, huh? Are you outta your mind? You're gonna get us killed.
Whoa! Let me drive.
- Stay in the car! - What are you - Stay in the car! - What the matter? Not gonna get you killed.
Not worried about the sniper getting me.
One shot to my noggin, lights out, that's fine.
But I'm not gonna be sittin' here and watch you get shot again.
What? You think I could ever forget you, Stan and Beau getting shot down? I say to Gee, "They ruined my shoes with their blood.
" I was so whacked out from seeing your blood, I - I couldn't do anything.
- All right.
It's not.
No more first names, I'm Munch, you're Howard.
That's the way it's gotta be.
Mariner's co-workers were no help.
We have to lean on the wife more.
We could try to get an order for a wiretap on the Mariner phone lines.
Or we could go back to the house, get the kids away from the mother.
- Maybe they'd give up the name.
- The boy thinks you killed his father.
Come on.
Hey! What's the damn hold-up? Some kind of nonsense goin' on up there.
'Delta one-five.
' There's a sniper on the roof! There he is! Get in the car! We have a call on some guy on the rooftop with a rifle.
The report of a sniper proved to be a false alarm.
Yet the fear of a report of someone on a rooftop, is quite real.
The mother who ran to safety with her children can testify to that fear.
Schools are being closed early, hospitals are on emergency alert, and homeowners are boarding up their windows as if a hurricane alert had just been issued.
- Mary, we're goin' home.
- What? - I'm safe here.
- Let's go.
- Frank, look, stop it.
- Don't make a scene.
OK, fine.
Tim, leave, and take him with you.
- I can't do that, Mary.
- You are with child, our child.
You will not endanger yourself.
I'm only in danger because you're here, instead of catching the imbecile.
I can't have you runnin' around downtown.
You can get scared for me, but I can't for you? I live through this every day.
- This is different! - No, it isn't.
You always say to me, this is the job.
You know what, this is my job.
- I'm not leavin' until I finish it.
- Tim, get over and grab this desk.
- Give me a hand.
- Yeah, sure.
I have work on this desk.
Frank, stop it.
We're movin' this desk away from the window, or it's goin' out the window.
And these stayed closed.
- What are the odds of bein' shot? - I wish you would give in to me.
I am not giving in to hysteria.
- What are you doing? - Raise your arms.
- I'll see you tonight.
- And I'll see you, OK? OK.
OK.
Shooting areas from yesterday.
Highlandtown, Collington Square, Mount Vernon.
This morning, the clock tower.
What's the distance between Highlandtown and Collington Square? Highlandtown to the clock tower, a mile.
From the clock tower to Mount Vernon, that's half a mile.
So all the shootings took place in a perimeter around downtown? The shootings are comin' in a circular pattern.
So maybe somewhere in Little Italy's the next shootin'.
Check with the Maths Department at Hopkins.
See if there's some kind of probability factor operatin' here.
This is the third time I've called.
No, I don't remember exactly who we talked to.
I've got interview and access to the crime scene requests from all over.
What kind of rifle? Capable of holding a magazine that'll fire off 15 to 20 rounds.
You've come up with a psych profile for Mariner's accomplice? I know that you're workin' on it, but I have I have calls from the French, Japanese, Brits.
If Mariner's buddy stays true to form, he starts shootin' in eight minutes.
What comes to mind is something like an M1A carbine.
What range would our shooter have? Five, six city blocks.
An M1A with attachable Nikon or Leopold scope could command a half-mile radius from point of location.
- How many rifles like that? - ATF faxed us these numbers.
We got maybe four dozen local registrations.
There could be hundreds.
They weren't required to be registered before 1990.
Lovely.
That's sublime.
The Governor's ready to call out The National Guard.
That sends the message we've lost control.
The Guard would give citizens a sense of security.
The Guard has no experience in leadin' a criminal investigation.
What's Russert doing here? Math whizzes think that probability curve has our shooter between Little Italy and Inner Harbor.
- Notify QRT.
- You got it, Gee.
I don't want Megan Russert anywhere near this case.
I can't see anythin' with you standing in my way.
Excuse me.
You know I've watched those broadcasts from Belfast and Beirut and I used to think, "Man, if I could only have been there" This could be Jerusalem, this could be Sarajevo.
I don't need to go there.
Gettin' it all here, Baltimore.
This is not Belfast, this ain't Sarajevo.
- Get out of my way! - Excuse me.
I was ordered to Little Italy.
My unit's there, and we're back in Highlandtown? Lewis was operatin' off mathematical probabilities.
- We could've been here.
- You're here now.
Do your damn job.
The mayor.
Now we'll get some action.
Mr Mayor! Are you gonna appoint a special task force? He's this young kid, sitting in front of me.
His head And then all this glass is flying everywhere.
- His head, then the glass? - Did you hear gunshots? - No, just the glass.
- Detective Lewis? I I saw it.
How you guys doin'? Hey, Mr Robey.
What you doin' here? I live right there.
Second floor, rowhouse.
- Hey, Frank, Tim.
- Hang on a second.
I want you to meet somebody.
This is Mr Robey.
- Mr Robey helped us out this morning.
- Really? Oh, great.
This mornin'? - And here? - Uh-huh.
Would you have a few minutes to come down to headquarters with us? - Whatever you guys need.
- Why don't you take a ride with us? - Go with you guys? - Yeah.
- All right.
- OK.
We're right over here.
- We'll get a search warrant, OK? - OK.
Yesterday, three incidents - Collington Square, Highlandtown, Mount Vernon.
- Nine people down.
Today - Clock tower, 8 AM.
Three hit.
This afternoon, Highlandtown again.
Another two.
The bus, shot dead.
Right.
So this is where we get confused.
- You see, we catch the one guy - William Mariner.
William Mariner.
'Sniper Kills Self.
Baltimore Siege Ends.
' - Excuse me? - New York Times.
- THE New York Times? - Early edition.
January 12, 1996.
Section B, page twelve, column four.
Right.
Right.
So this William Mariner, he shoots himself durin' the arrest.
- You there? - Yeah.
Did he say anythin' before he shot himself? Doesn't matter.
He dies and we reckon this Red Ball is over.
Right, Frank? - Mm-hm.
- Right.
So everyone can breathe easy.
'Baltimore Stunned.
Relieved As Sniper Dies'.
- New York Times again? - Washington Post.
Front page.
With a picture of a woman sprinting away from Collington Square, one shoe off, mouth wide open, screaming.
Ah! This the picture there? Baltimore Sun, Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune.
Now all these clippings, we found them.
They came out of your john, Alex.
You one of those toilet intellectuals? You need something to read to keep you regular? Why don't you Why don't you tell us what happened at the clock tower? - I already told the other guys.
- Well, tell us again.
In detail.
Start with what you were doing there.
- I was running.
- Anywhere in particular? - Was someone chasin' you? - No.
Jogging.
My usual route.
Runnin' past the market, and I hear gunshots.
- Then what did you see? - Blood.
- Did you see anything unusual? - What do you mean? You haven't told us anything we couldn't read on your wallpaper.
See anything that might lead to a shooter? - Like what? - Any drawings on the pavement? Drawings? What drawings? - Do you remember seeing any? - No! How about the bus crime scene? Any artwork there? Like graffiti.
Is that what you mean? Do you recognise this, Alex? - It's chalk.
- Chalk.
- It's 12 pieces.
- Mm-hm.
All right? Of school certified Da Vinci chalk.
OK? - Mm-hm.
- All right.
See that? Multiple colours, as you can see.
Yellow, such.
Now, William Mariner used to use this kind of chalk.
In fact, this box here belonged to him.
Used it for what? Let me get this straight.
- You don't know William Mariner? - I don't know him.
Two shootings, one on your block, and you just happen to be joggin' by one of the scenes of the incidents? - So? - So that strikes me as unlikely.
That's odd enough, coincidence enough.
That makes me think that maybe, maybe you're the target.
You're the target.
Maybe you're the target.
Frank.
Yes.
- That's it.
- Yes.
The sniper shot the other people instead.
It was an accident.
- Me? The target.
- Yeah.
You must have done somethin' to piss this guy off.
Why would someone wanna shoot me? We isolate motive, we better our chances of catching him.
- What comes to mind, Tim.
- Money? - Always a popular motive.
- You owe anyone, Robey? You got life insurance? Got a policy there, Alex? Maybe some family members who wanna cash in on it? - Don't have life insurance.
- Oh.
- Don't have a family.
- What about women? An affair? - An affair? - Yeah.
An affair would be the answer.
You sleep with some other guy's wife.
That's gonna send him over the edge.
I can look at these shootings, I can picture them as crimes of passion.
- Absolutely.
- Uh-huh.
- I don't have a girlfriend.
- No girlfriend? - Nobody you're dating? Even casually? - Look, I'm not the damn target! Those dead delivery guys, they were the target.
OK? 'You guys are supposed to figure out who pulled the trigger.
'This is about the shooter.
He's the important one here.
- 'Ain't he? ' - 'OK, Robey.
' - Get outta here.
- Huh? - What? - You're free to go.
No more questions? - No! Go home.
- I can come back.
Didn't you hear? Leave! You are of no help to us! I can wait outside in case you change your mind.
- No, thank you.
- I'm helpin' you catch the sniper.
- You're a waste of time! - What? - A loser.
Worst of all, a bore.
- I am not.
Perhaps the most borin' man to set foot in this room! We get all kinds in here.
People who kill for all kinds of reasons.
- Lust! - Revenge.
- Drugs.
- Power.
- Plain old hate.
- People kill their husbands, wives.
- Mothers, fathers - Sons, daughters - Lovers.
Teachers - Neighbours.
Strangers.
- They kill in all kinds of ways.
- Shootings.
- Stabbing.
Drowning.
- Hanging.
Burning.
They sit across from us at this table.
- Some of 'em are stupid! - Uh-huh.
Some of 'em are crazy, some are mean.
- That's right.
- But none of them are boring.
- I need some coffee.
- Yep.
I gotta get some air.
Can I have some coffee too? - He doesn't know Mariner.
- Never met him.
Doesn't know about the chalk drawings.
- Who is he then? - Mr Robey fits our psych profile.
White male, early thirties.
A loner with no prior record.
Lives in the neighbourhood, hanging round asking questions.
He knows what Mariner did yesterday.
He watches the city explode, and he wants in on the action.
We don't have any hard evidence to connect him to Mariner.
- There is no connection to Mariner.
- He's a copycat.
A copycat.
A copycat.
We can hold this guy, Robey, Go home, get a shower, get yourselves some sleep.
Give me ten minutes for these to kick in, I'll nail his ass.
I'll be back in a second.
Haven't gone to the bathroom in two days.
The press has got the information we have someone in custody.
We're interviewing witnesses.
That's the song I gave them, but they're not dancing to it.
Barnfather and his Public Information rummy, where are they? - Breakfast.
- Oh.
- Frank.
- I'm not asleep.
Get somethin' to eat.
The coffee and the caffeine tablets just need time.
I don't need food.
Er Hey, Al? Listen, do you mind if I go in and babysit Robey? No, he's mine.
He's not gonna go anywhere for five minutes.
Go ahead.
All right? - Mr Robey? - Yeah.
- You busy? - Nah.
Everybody who comes in here starts to scratch their initials on that table.
- Can I see? - I wasn't really doin' anythin'.
So there's really not much to see.
You know you have time, you start scratchin' your initials.
- You know, huh? - Mmm.
- I'm Captain um Detective Russert.
- Alex.
- Hey.
You tired? - Nah.
Can I, er, get you a coffee? Those two detectives that I'm helpin' out, they're bringin' me some coffee.
- You helpin' out too? - Me? Er, no.
No.
I'm, er I'm not involved in this case.
Well, er, yesterday I was a captain and then I got busted down to detective.
- So I'm nobody.
- You got what? I got demoted.
Yeah.
Yesterday, I had my own personal assistant chasing after coffee for me.
Now I gotta stand in line like everybody else, hopin' the pot's not empty when I get to the front, you know? How's that happen? Someone decided.
Now I'm out.
'Nobody.
You know, I think you ought to go.
' But those two detectives, they're gonna get - You want somethin'? - They went to breakfast.
They've forgotten all about you.
I ain't hungry anyway.
I'm not a breakfast person.
- Frank? You bring Mr Robey coffee? - So tell me again.
How is it you happen to be at the shootings? - How do you take your coffee? - Straight, black.
- One black coffee.
- Excuse me? - Bring Mr Robey a coffee, please.
- I get his coffee? This is my interview.
Mr Robey and I were having a conversation.
I was just telling him about my demotion.
She says she's a nobody.
She's not a nobody.
Just because somebody makes a decision about her.
- That doesn't make her a nobody.
- You understand? A black coffee? - What do you want? - Me? Nothing.
I'm fine.
You should have something.
Whoa! What do you want? Nothin'.
I'm fine.
If you were gonna get it for yourself, what would you get? Tea.
I wanna tea and a coffee.
How do you take your tea? One sugar.
A black coffee, a tea, one sugar.
You think you can remember that? - Havin' a nice day? - So far.
Good.
Black coffee, tea with sugar, black tea, coffee with sugar.
I'm bringin' a side of sugar.
- He's got a temper.
- Yeah, well, he is who he is.
- Thanks.
- For what? - For asking for me.
- No problem.
I appreciate it though.
He's gonna get me coffee, he can't get you somethin'? I can't get anyone to pay attention to what I say anymore.
Doesn't mean it has to stay that way.
Oh, yes it does.
Then you just have to make 'em pay attention.
You do somethin'.
That guy doing the shootings today, he's doing somethin'.
Yeah, but I can't go round killing innocent people, like he does.
Everyone's paying attention though, huh? I dunno.
All the network news people are gettin' tired of him fast.
- They're losin' interest.
- They're wrong.
This guy's dangerous.
You know why? He's more dangerous than Mariner.
Nobody knows who he is.
- He's a mystery man.
- What good does that do him? What? If nobody knows who he really is, he's still a nobody.
- And a cheap imitation at that.
- Cheap? - Yeah.
- Seen how he shut the city down? He didn't start it though.
Mariner was the guy who lit up the city with his first shots.
This other guy, he's not original.
This is not a nobody they're dealing with.
Mariner was a player, he knew all this attention would come to him.
This other guy doesn't want the attention.
- Sure he does.
- He's a copycat, a phoney.
Don't say that.
I told you, he's dangerous.
I saw the bodies of the people he shot.
OK.
- Tea, one sugar.
- Huh! - That's mine black, right? - Yup.
- Hey! - I need it more than you.
He said he'd get me coffee.
So what happens if this guy doesn't stand up for the shootings? - It gives someone else an idea.
- An idea about what? About someone else taking credit for the shootings today.
A copycat of a copycat? Someone who's gonna grab the attention.
The shooter wouldn't have as interesting a story as the guy who said he did, but he didn't.
- That's not right.
- There's a right or wrong in this? Every other person is in some rush to reinvent themselves, to get out of bein' a nobody.
But anyone would know right off who was for real, and who's takin' credit for somethin' that ain't theirs.
Nobody's gonna take credit for somethin' I did.
- Like the shootings today? - Well It ain't right when somebody says they're somebody that they're not.
So you were at both crime scenes today because you wanna take the credit? I deserve the credit, don't I? Well, no one should take away what's yours.
I'm not a copycat.
I'm an original.
I had the idea before this Mariner guy.
He just beat me to the punch, that's all.
I should have been first.
I've had this idea for years.
You tell those newspeople that it was me today, nobody else.
- I'm gonna read you your rights.
- I'm not a nobody.
Can I get coffee now? I want somethin' new.
Ooh.
- An egg cream.
Chocolate.
- OK.
Usual? Coffee and a club soda? Mm-hm.
- Platform shoes.
- What about 'em? They're back.
Women are wearin' them again.
Along with beads, leather vests, bellbottom pants.
- Platform shoes? - Check it out, Tim.
See for yourself.
We ran out of new ideas somewhere around 1978.
Since, we've been repeatin' ourselves - same songs and clothes.
Even the same crimes.
Like Robey, no imagination.
He's just part of the rhythm of all this.
This is 1996.
Here comes the millennium.
Hmm? But people are nervous.
They're on edge.
They're jumpy.
Huh? This is supposed to be somethin' new.
But we can't look that in the face.
So what do we do? Grab somethin' from the '50s, little of somethin' from another year, late '60s.
We think we're creatin' somethin' new, but all we're doin' is just repeatin' the same old nothin'.
We're all copycats.
Right? Frank, where haven't I heard all this before? Huh? - Well - Coffee for you.
- Club soda for the lady.
- Thank you.
And a chocolate egg cream.
Hey, Frank, computers, the Internet.
All that is new.
- This is not an egg cream.
- Sure it is.
I know what an egg cream tastes like.
This is watery.
They probably used low-fat milk.
- It's a little bit different.
- Then it is not an egg cream! So here it is.
We take a perfectly good beverage, which is fine in its original form, and we make it undrinkable.
- I'm gettin' outta here.
- Take it easy.
- No, I'm gone.
- Goin' home? I'm outta here.
- Goodnight, Frank.
- Thanks a lot.
- Mmm.
Well, my coffee's just fine.
- So's my club soda.
So you gonna stay in Homicide? I have to go apologise to my daughter for not coming to her piano recital.
Oh, right.
Ah, thank you.
I gotta tell you, I'm glad you're back to being a detective.
- Really? - Mmm.
- Was I that bad at being a captain? - Yeah.
- Yeah? - Yeah.
You see, instead of being one of the bosses, you bucked the bosses.
You fought for us, did the right thing.
So you sucked as a captain because you were too much of an original.
Well, hooray for me!