She shivers in the wind like the last leaf on a dying tree.
I let her hear my footsteps.
She only goes stiff for a moment.
Care for a smoke?
Sure. I'll take one.
Are you as bored by that crowd as I am?
I didn't come here for the party. I came here for you.
I've watched you for days.
You're everything a man could ever want.
It's not just your face,
your figure, or your voice.
It's your eyes.
All the things I see in your eyes.
What is it you see in my eyes?
I see a crazy calm.
You're sick of running.
You're ready to face what you have to face.
But you don't want to face it alone.
No.
I don't want to face it alone.
The wind rises electric.
She's soft and warm and almost weightless.
Her perfume a sweet promise that brings tears to my eyes.
I tell her that everything will be all right.
That I'll save her from whatever she's scared of and take her far. far away.
I tell her I love her.
The silencer makes a whisper of the gunshot.
I hold her close until she's gone.
I'll never know what she was running from.
I'll cash her check in the morning.
Just one hour to go. My last day on the job.
Early retirement. Not my idea.
Doctor's orders. Heart condition.
"Angina." he calls it.
I'm polishing my badge and getting myself used to the idea of saying goodbye to it.
It. and the 30-odd years of protecting and serving and tears
and the blood and terror and triumph it represents.
I'm thinking about Eileen's slow smile.
About the thick. fat steaks she picked up at the butcher's today.
And I'm thinking about the one loose end I haven't tied up.
A young girl who's out there somewhere. helpless in the hands of a drooling lunatic.
Damn it, Hartigan, I won't let you do this. You're gonna get yourself killed.
You're gonna get us both killed. I won't let you. I'm warnin' you.
Let go of my coat, Bob.
You're draggin' me down with you.
I'm your partner. They can kill me, too.
I ain't puttin' up with that. I'm gettin' on the horn and calling for backup.
Sure, Bob. We'll just wait.
Sit on our hands while that Roark brat gets his sick thrills with victim number four.
Victim number four!
Nancy Callahan, age 11.
And she'll be raped and slashed to ribbons.
And that backup that we're waitin' on will just so happen to show up
just late enough for Roark to get back to his US Senator daddy.
Take a deep breath, Hartigan.
Settle down and think straight.
You're pushin' 60 and you got a bum ticker.
You ain't savin' anyone.
You got a great attitude, Bob.
Real credit to the force, you are.
Eileen's at home waitin' for you. Think about Eileen.
Heck, Bob,
maybe you are right.
I'm glad to hear you're finally talkin' sense.
Hell of a way to end a partnership.
Hell of a way to start my retirement.
Nancy Callahan. age 11.
For all I know. she's dead already.
You've been a very good girl, Nancy.
You've been very quiet.
Don't be scared.
We're gonna be taking you home really soon.
But first, we're going to introduce you to somebody.
He's a very nice man.
Halfway to the warehouse where Weevil said they took her. and it hits.
Wicked spot of indigestion.
At least that's what I pray it is.
...lighthearted and momentary digression.
The briefest indulge-ment in automotive pleasure.
For cheap thrills. Such short-lived durability, Mr. Shlubb.
You would risk engender-ating ill will on the part of our employers.
Burt Shlubb and Douglas Klump -
two any-dirty-job-there-is thugs with delusions of eloquence.
This Jaguar you so pinheadedly covet -
temporarily remanded to our custody though it may be -
remains the property of the son of Senator Roark.
Gotta keep this quiet. Take 'em down fast.
A single dent, the merest scratch thereupon,
and the before-mentioned consequences of which I so recently made mention
shall surely be athwart us.
Catch your breath. Give your heart time to slow down.
But it won't slow down.
Get over it.
She needs you.
We're all done here, Benny.
Let's give them some time together. Give them some privacy.
Be with you in a minute, Lenny.
I'm just making sure they get along really well.
And what kind of beast couldn't get along with a precious little girl like this?
You must be awfully scared now.
But you've got nothing to be scared of.
All we're gonna do is have a nice little talk.
That's all. Just a nice talk. Just you and me.
Don't you cry now.
Doctor said it'd be like this.
Just take the pill he gave you.
No need to play it quiet.
Not anymore.
Breathe steady. old man. Prove you're not completely useless.
What the hell? Go out with a bang.
He likes to hear 'em scream.
I've seen his victims and their twisted little faces.
all wide-mouthed and bug-eyed. frozen in their last horrible moment of living.
No screams. Either I'm just in time. or I'm way too late.
It's nothing. Barely a flesh wound. On your feet. old man.
Roark. Give it up.
Let the girl go.
You can't do a goddamn thing to me, Hartigan.
You know who I am.
You know who my father is!
You can't touch me, you piece-of-shit cop.
Look at you. You can't even lift that cannon you're carrying.
Sure, I can.
Cover your eyes, Nancy. I don't want you watching this.
I mean it, baby. Cover your eyes right now.
I take his weapons away.
Both of them.
Hell of a way to end a partnership.
For God's sakes, don't make it any worse.
- Don't make me kill you. - Doin' fine, Bob.
Never better.
I'm ready to kick your ass.
Keep him talking. Buy time.
Just a few more minutes. Just till the backup gets here.
Sit down and stay down. I'll kill you if I have to.
Keep his mind off the girl - skinny little Nancy.
He can't kill her once the backup gets here.
Run home, Nancy. Run for your life.
Hey. Don't listen to him. He's a crazy man.
- What a tough man you are, huh? - You stay right where you're at.
You shoot your partner in the back...
then you try to scare a little girl.
Maybe I'll pull my spare rod, plug you a couple of times, show you how it's done.
We could've worked something out, but you've blown that.
Sit down or I'll blast you in half.
- You're so slow, you'll never stop me. - Sit down!
You'll never be able to stop me.
I finally sit down. just like you told me to.
The sirens are close now.
She'll be safe.
Things go dark. I don't mind much.
Getting sleepy. It's OK.
She'll be safe.
An old man dies.
a little girl lives.
Fair trade.
The night is hot as hell.
It's a lousy room in a lousy part of a lousy town.
I'm staring at a goddess.
She's telling me she wants me.
I'm not gonna waste one more second wondering how I've gotten so lucky.
I want you.
She smells like angels ought to smell.
The perfect woman.
The goddess.
I need you.
Goldie.
She says her name is Goldie.
Three hours later and my head is feeling several sizes too big.
And that cold thing happens to my stomach.
And I realize Goldie's dead. Not a mark on her.
You'd have to check her pulse or notice those perfect breasts of hers
aren't moving like they would if she was breathing.
She was murdered and I was right here when it happened.
Lying next to her. stone drunk. just like she was.
Damn it. Goldie. Who were you and who wanted you dead?
Who were you besides an angel of mercy.
giving a two-time loser like me the night of his life?
It sure as hell wasn't my looks.
So why the sleazy saloon?
Why the kindness. Goldie?
The cops - they're telling me too much.
showing up before anybody but me and the killer
could know there's been a murder.
Somebody paid good money for this frame.
No reason at all to play it quiet.
No reason to play it any way but my way.
Whoever killed you is gonna pay. Goldie.
Open up, police!
I'll be right out.
I don't know why you died. Goldie.
I don't know why and I don't know how I never even met you before tonight.
but you were a friend and more when I needed one.
And when I find out who did it.
it won't be quick and quiet like it was with you.
It'll be loud and nasty - my kind of kill.
And when his eyes go dead. the hell I send him to
will seem like heaven after what I've done to him.
I love you. Goldie.
Claire?
Now, don't worry, Lucille. I was just grazed.
- You got any beers around this place? - No way am I giving you any alcohol.
Besides, it's not what you came here for anyway, is it?
No.
Go ahead. You're worse without 'em.
Thanks. You're the best.
Lucille's my parole officer.
She's a dyke. but God knows why.
With that body of hers she could have any man she wants.
The pills come from a girlfriend who's a shrink.
She tried to analyze me once but she got too scared.
Haven't seen you like this in a while.
- Got in a fight with some cops. - Didn't happen to kill any of them, did ya?
Not that I know of. But they know they've been in a fight, that's for damn sure.
How the hell do you suppose I'm gonna square this with the board?
There ain't no squaring it. Not this time.
This isn't some barroom brawl.
Or some creep with a gas can trying to torch someone.
Hey, hey. This is big.
- Settle down, Marv. Take another pill. - Hey, there ain't no settlin' down!
This is blood for blood, and by the gallons.
This is the old days and the bad days, the all-or-nothing days.
They're back. There's no choices left.
And I'm ready for war.
Prison was hell for you, Marv. It's gonna be life this time.
Ah.
Hell's waking up every goddamn day and not even knowing why you're here.
But I'm out now.
It took somebody who was kind to me getting killed to do it.
But I'm out. I know exactly what I gotta do.
So you were scared. weren't you. Goldie?
Somebody wanted you dead and you knew it.
So you hit the saloons. the bad places.
looking for the biggest. meanest lug around and finding me.
Well. I'm gonna find that son of a bitch that killed you.
and I'm gonna give him the hard goodbye.
Walk down the right back alley in Sin City...
- Leave your hands off Nancy. ...and you could find anything.
That coat looks like Baghdad.
So does your face. Take off!
He's new here, Marv. He didn't know.
Kadie's is my kind of joint.
Nancy's just getting started with her gig. but already the crowd's breathing hard.
Plenty of nights I've drooled over Nancy.
shoulder to shoulder with all the other losers like me.
But that's not what I'm lookin' for tonight.
What'll it be, Marv?
A shot and a brew, Shellie, and keep 'em comin'.
Sure, honey. You take it slow, now.
Most people think Marv is crazy.
He just had the rotten luck of being born in the wrong century.
He'd be right at home on some ancient battlefield.
swinging an ax into somebody's face.
Or in a Roman arena taking a sword to other gladiators like him.
They'd have tossed him girls like Nancy back then.
Show's over, dickwad. Drink up.
Now, that's one fine-looking coat you're wearing there.
Your killin' days are over, you over-the-hill, do-gooder son of a bitch.
I love hit men. No matter what you do to them. you don't feel bad.
- Take it off. - What?
A fine coat like that, and you're bleeding all over it.
All right, it's all yours. Oh, God!
It wasn't you losers who killed Goldie.
The guy who did that, he knew what he was doing.
So tell me, man. Who sent you?
I don't hear you giving me any names.
So I guess when I shot you in the belly I aimed a little too high.
You keep holding out on me like this, and I'm gonna have to get really nasty.
It was Telly... Telly Stern passed me the order.
He runs the tables over to the Triple Ace Club.
Thanks again.
Then the damnedest thing happens.
For a second. I smell the angel smell that belonged to my Goldie.
Just need my medicine. is all.
Bastard.
You're gonna pay for what you did to me.
Feel like talking, Louie?
How many got paid off for the frame, Louie? Huh?
How many for the kill?
It was Connelly. He set me up.
He'll never talk.
I don't know about you, but I'm havin' a ball.
Connelly talks. They all talk.
And what have been your sins, my son?
Well, Padre, I don't want to keep you up all night,
so I'll just fill you in on the latest batch.
These here hands of mine, they got blood all over 'em.
You're speaking figuratively.
When I need to find something out, I just go out and look for somebody
that knows more than me, and I go and I ask them.
Sometimes, I ask pretty hard.
By way of a "for instance", I killed three men tonight.
Tortured 'em first.
You might say I been working my way up the food chain.
First two were minnows - small-time messengers.
But it was Connelly, the money man, who fingered you, Padre.
Dear Lord, man, this is a house of God.
Just give me a damn name.
Roark.
You really are pushing your luck, Padre, feeding me garbage like that.
It can't be that big.
There's a farm at North Cross and Lennox.
It's all there. Find out for yourself.
And while you're at it,
ask yourself if that corpse of a slut is worth dying for.
Worth dying for.
Worth killing for.
Worth going to hell for.
Amen.
His keys say the padre drove a Mercedes.
or at least that's what they're passing off as a Mercedes these days.
Modern cars - they all look like electric shavers.
Goldie.
Goldie!
It couldn't be Goldie.
It's my own fault. and nobody else's. that I got confused.
I've been having so much fun I forgot to take my medicine.
That wasn't Goldie back there.
Goldie's dead.
and that's the whole reason that I've been doing what I've been doing.
When you got a condition. it's bad to forget your medicine.
The cold thing. it creeps into my gut and tells me one more time it won't let go.
This is a bad place. this farm.
People have died here...
...the wrong way.
I don't want to fight, pooch.
I got no gripe with you.
Easy, boy.
No way I was gonna use my gun on you. buddy.
It's whoever owns you I'm curious about.
because there's blood on your breath. and I think I know what kind.
So I sniff around to see what's buried.
Here we go.
It's impossible. Nobody can sneak up on me.
I go blind. Not a sound. Nobody's that quiet.
Nobody except the one who snuck into that hotel room two nights ago.
It was you, you bastard. You killed her.
You killed Goldie.
It was...
I blew it. Goldie.
I found your killer. but he was better than me.
Too quiet. too quick.
A killer born.
Why didn't he finish the job?
He keeps the heads. He eats the rest.
- Lucille? - It's not just that wolf of his.
The wolf just gets scraps.
Bones.
It's him.
He eats people.
- He cooks them like they were steaks. - Let's get you warm.
Just like they were steaks.
Now he's got both of us.
It's all right. Take a nice, slow breath.
Just look at the heads on the wall.
The heads on the wall.
Son of a bitch! He kept smiling that damned smile.
He made me watch him suck the meat off my fingers.
- He made me watch! - Oh, Jesus.
He made me watch!
Christ, I could use a cigarette.
Dames. Sometimes all they gotta do is let it out.
And a few buckets later. there's no way you'd know.
You've brought us some big trouble this time, Marv.
Whoever's behind this whole thing has his connections right in the department.
Any leads?
One guy I talked to told me it was Roark running the show.
Whoever it is, he knew I was checking out that hooker almost before I did.
- What hooker? - The one you've been obsessing over.
The dead one.
Goldie.
I didn't know she was a hooker.
Doesn't make any difference about anything.
- But I didn't know that. - She was high-class stuff.
She must have shown you quite a time.
Quiet. There's a car coming.
Kevin!
All I've got is a face... and a name.
I'll see you later, Kevin.
Let's go.
They're done checking the house.
They're coming this way.
Bastards. I'll show them.
You're not gonna get either of us killed, Marv.
No, don't shoot! Please.
Listen to me. I'm his parole officer.
He's unconscious and unarmed,
so there's no need to kill him.
Captain, the target - there's no sign of him.
Here's a sign!
That there is one damn fine coat you're wearing.
I keep coming back to that cop I just killed and what he told me.
I was pretty steamed about what he'd done to Lucille.
so I took my time with that son of a bitch.
It wasn't till I showed him all those pieces of himself that he said it.
Just a name - Patrick Henry Roark. man of the cloth.
Could've become president. but he chose to serve God.
Along the way. he happened to become the most powerful man in the state.
He's brought down mayors and governors like they were nothing.
He even made his rotten brother a US senator without breaking a sweat.
And here he's gonna get killed in the name of a dead hooker.
I'm getting used to the idea. More and more. I'm liking the sound of it.
Then it hits me like a kick in the nuts.
What if I'm wrong?
I've got a condition.
I get confused sometimes.
And with Lucille dead. I can't get my medicine.
What if I've imagined all of this?
What if I've finally turned into what they've always said I was gonna turn into?
A maniac.
A psycho killer.
Can't kill a man without knowing for sure you ought to.
I've gotta know for sure.
The merchandise is on display by the time I make my way to Old Town.
For an hour or so. I asked around about Goldie.
I don't get any answers. but I know I'm bound to.
Lucille said Goldie was a hooker.
And if she was. she has roots here friends. maybe even family.
You can't be Goldie. Goldie's dead.
Ha.
Goldie. Yeah, sure, right.
I haven't eaten anything or taken my medicine for days now.
No wonder I'm seeing things.
Bastard!
He's crazy.
Hit him again, Wendy. Harder.
Wait a minute. Why did she call you Wendy?
Because that's my name, you ape.
Goldie was my sister. My twin sister.
I guess she was the nice one.
Goldie and the other six - where are they?
What did you do to them?
You crazy goddamn broad.
Just take a look at this mug.
Would any of you dames let me get close enough to you to kill you?
None of you would, but Goldie.
And she only did because she thought I could protect her.
And I'll bet those cops didn't do a damn thing about those other girls, did they?
But as soon as they had me for a fall guy, they showed up, guns blazing.
But they didn't get me, and I've been killing my way to the truth ever since.
So, go ahead, doll.
Shoot me now, or get the hell out of my way.
Aw, nuts.
OK, I'm glad we got all that sorted out.
- What the hell? - I tied those knots! That's my specialty!
You sat there and took it,
when you could've taken my gun away from me any time you wanted to.
Well, sure. I thought I might be able to talk some sense into you.
And I probably would have had to paste you one,
and I don't hurt girls.
I need a pair of handcuffs.
What style do you want? I got a collection.
Just give him the ones you got with you, Gail.
It was a farm boy named Kevin who killed Goldie,
but it was Cardinal Roark who was behind it, and I don't know why.
I know that sounds crazy.
No, it doesn't. Goldie worked the clergy.
Just like that. a whopper of a puzzle piece falls smack in my lap.
I'm too dumb to put the whole picture together yet.
but she fires up two cigarettes and hands me one. and I taste her lipstick on it.
And suddenly. my heart's pounding so loud I can't hear anything else.
I want to reach over and touch her and taste Goldie's sweat one more time.
But she isn't Goldie.
Yeah. yeah. This'll do.
I'm also gonna be needing a dozen two-foot lengths of this rubber tubing...
and a spool of razor wire...
and a pair of those special gloves that'll let me handle the wire.
Beefing up the old home security, huh?
You can bet your ass.
She is my sister So I'm in want end
But why are you willing to go up against Roark for someone you barely knew?
She was nice to me, gave me something I didn't even know existed.
I wasn't never even able to buy a woman.
You know, the way I look.
I take my mind off her and I crawl back inside myself.
It's almost killing time. and I'd better get sharp.
I check the list - rubber tubing. gas. saw.
gloves. cuffs. razor wire. hatchet.
Gladys and my mitts.
- We're close enough. Pull over. - Yes, Marv.
Keep the engine runnin'.
If I'm not back in 20 minutes, you get the hell outta here and don't look back.
Kill him for me, Marv.
Kill him good.
I won't let you down, Goldie.
Heading downstairs to the kitchen.
Getting himself a midnight snack. and I can guess what kind.
Come on, you son of a bitch.
Damn. he's slick.
Is that the best you can do, creep?
That's right. Get personal. get close. I can take it.
I got you, you little bastard. Let's see you hop around now.
I try to slow my heart down and breathe the fire out of my lungs.
My muscles make me a thousand promises of pain to come.
Let me do it, Marv. She was my sister. Let me finish him.
You wasn't supposed to come down here, Wendy.
Oh, but I want to...
I'm sorry. kid. but I haven't even started with this creep.
and I don't want you watching the rest. It'll give you nightmares.
God, I gotta tell you, I'm good and bushed.
And it's not that fight of ours that did me in, either.
It's all that sawing and tying.
It's not as easy as it looks.
Could have been a real mess around here if I didn't have that tubing for tourniquets.
I gotta admit, there was a spurt or two,
to get the scent in the air, to get that friend of yours to come running.
Well, what do you know?
Look who's here.
Here he comes.
That's a good dog.
He doesn't scream. not even when the mutt's had its fill
and Kevin's guts are lying all over the place.
Somehow the bastard is still alive. still staring at me.
Not even when I grab the saw and finish the job.
He never screams.
I put in a call to Kadie's and ask Nancy to get her clothes on
and meet me at her place. She says. "Yes." like always.
Hey, Nancy, you got any beers?
Sure, Marv. Who's the babe?
There isn't much of anything Nancy wouldn't do for me.
Not since a year back when a frat boy roughed her up
and I straightened him out but good.
It really gets my goat when guys rough up dames.
So, what do you want me to do with her?
Well, your best bet is drive her all the way up to Sacred Oaks.
What about you? Are you leaving town?
Hell, no. I like it here.
I hot-wire a parked cab and stay under the speed limit
so as not to get any attention.
My head starts to clear. Things start to make sense.
I owe you. Goldie.
I owe you one and I'm gonna pay up.
So. if going after Roark means dying. win or lose -
hell. I'll die laughing if I know I've done this one thing right.
Quiet as a grave out here. No sign of target.
All right. keep a lookout.
- Kevin? - What's left of him, anyways.
The dog ate the rest.
Oh, my God. You monster.
You demon.
Don't scream or I'll plug you.
He had the voice of an angel, yet he spoke only to me.
And he's dead now because of one stupid whore.
It's not a real good idea for you to talk about Goldie that way while I'm around.
When he came to me...
he was a tormented boy.
Tormented by guilt.
I tried to counsel him.
But the eating - it filled him with white light.
Tearful, he swore to me that he felt the touch of God Almighty.
What the hell do you know?
I know it's pretty damn weird to eat people.
He didn't just eat their bodies,
he ate their souls.
And I joined in.
They were all whores.
Nobody cared for them. Nobody missed them.
And then your Goldie almost ruined everything.
She stayed in public places.
And then with you.
You were so convenient.
You'd broke a man's jaw that very night.
Who would believe a thug like you?
Kevin killed her.
I ordered the police in for you. but you wouldn't be caught.
You wouldn't stop.
And now he's dead and you're here to...
eliminate me.
Will that give you satisfaction, my son?
Killing a helpless old fart?
The killing, no.
No satisfaction.
Everything up until the killing will be a gas.
Kevin...
we're going home.
You can scream now if you want to.
It's beautiful. Goldie. It's just like I promised. only better.
And when his eyes go dead.
the hell I sent him to must seem like heaven after what I've done to him.
- Freeze! - Oh, my God!
Jerks.
They should've shot me in the head. and enough times to make sure.
It's so stupid.
Everybody knows what's coming. but they go through the motions anyway.
What a waste of time.