Enough's enough, Curly. You can't eat the Venetian blinds, I just got them.
Down the hatch.
- She's no good. - What can I tell you?
When you're right, you're right. And you're right.
I'll pay you the rest next week. We only caught 60 tons of skipjack.
They pay less for skipjack than albacore tuna.
I only brought it up to illustrate a point. I don't want your last dime.
- Thank you, Mr Gittes. - Call me Jake. Careful driving home.
Mrs Mulwray is waiting for you, with Mr Walsh and Mr Duffy.
Mrs Mulwray, may I present Mr Gittes.
- Mrs Mulwray, how do you? - Mr Gittes.
What seems to be the problem?
My husband... I believe is seeing another woman.
No... really? I am sorry.
Mr Gittes, do you think we could discuss this alone?
I'm afraid not. These are my operatives, -
- and at some point they'll have to assist me.
- I can't do everything myself. - Of course not.
What makes you certain that your husband is involved with someone?
A wife can tell.
- Do you love your husband? - Yes, of course.
Then go home and forget everything.
I'm sure he loves you too. Do you know the expression: Let sleeping dogs lie?
- You're better off not knowing. - I have to know.
Very well.
- What is your husband's first name? - Hollis. Hollis Mulwray.
- Water and Power? - He's chief engineer.
Chief engineer?
This type of investigation can be hard on your pocketbook.
- It takes time... - Money doesn't matter to me.
Okay, we'll see what we can do.
Today you can hop a streetcar, and in 25 minutes, you end up in the Pacific.
You can swim in it and fish in it, but you can't drink it.
You can't irrigate an orange grove with it.
We live next door to the ocean, but we also live on the edge of a desert.
Los Angeles is a desert community.
Beneath this building is a desert.
Without water, the dust will rise up cover us as though we never existed.
The Alto Vallejo can save us from this.
I suggest that 8 million dollars is a fair price to pay -
- to keep the desert from our streets, and not on top of them.
Mayor Bagby... Let's hear from all the departments again.
We'd better take Water and Power first. Mr Mulwray?
In case you've forgotten, over 500 died when the Van der Lip Dam gave way.
This shale is similar to the permeable shale in the Van der Lip disaster.
It couldn't withstand that kind of pressure.
Now you propose another dirt-banked dam, -
- with slopes of 2 to 1, 112 feet high, and a 12,000-acre water surface.
Well, it won't hold. I won't build it, it's that simple.
I'm not going to make the same mistake twice.
What the hell are you doing? Get those goddam things out of here!
Tell me where to take them! You don't have an answer for that.
You steal water from the valley, ruin the grazing, starve the livestock...
Who's paying you to do that, Mulwray? That's what I want to know!
SAVE YOUR CITY - LOS ANGELES IS DYING OF THIRST - VOTE YES
- Jeez, he was there all night. - That's right.
I had to go back three times to pick up the watches.
Yesterday he went to three reservoirs, a men's room, and the Pig & Whistle.
The guy's got water on the brain.
So what have you got?
- This? - They got into a terrific argument.
- What about? - I don't know. The traffic was loud.
I heard one thing though: "Apple core".
- Apple core? - Yeah.
- Is that what you spent the day doing? - You said to take pictures, so I did.
Let me explain something to you, Walsh.
This business requires a certain amount of finesse.
- What is it, Sophie? - Duffy's on the phone.
- Duff, where are you? - The buzzard's got a cute little twist.
- Slow down. Where are you? - They're in Echo Park, in a rowboat!
Okay...
Echo Park. Water again.
Okay, pal, let's have us a big smile.
You'll love it.
When you get this much publicity, you're practically a movie star.
- Look at that, Barn. - Yeah, the heat's murder.
Fools' names and fools' faces.
- What's that, pal? - You've got some way to make a living.
- What do you do to make ends meet? - Mortgages. First National Bank.
Did you foreclose on many families this week?
- We don't publish records in the paper. - Neither do I.
- No, you have your press agent do it. - Is this bimbo a regular customer?
I make an honest living. I help people when they're in a desperate situation.
I don't kick families out of their houses like you bums at the bank do.
Maybe you'd like to go outside and discuss it. What do you think?
- Let me tell you about the guy... - I don't know how it got in the paper.
- I make an honest living. - Of course you do.
Anyway, this guy got tired of screwing his wife.
So his friend says he should do what the Chinese do...
Duffy. Hey, Walsh! Sophie, go to the little girls' room for a minute.
But Mr Gittes...
Yes, Mr Gittes.
I want to tell you a story. There's a guy who's tired of screwing his wife...
- Jake, there's a problem. - Wait a second.
His friend says to do it like the Chinese do it. "How do the Chinese do it?"
"Well, first they screw a little bit, then they read a little Confucius, -
- come back, screw a little bit more, then they stop again..."
- Jake! - Walsh, just listen, you'll love this.
"They go back and they screw a little bit more, -
- and then they contemplate the moon. It makes it more exciting."
So now the guy goes home and starts screwing his own wife.
So he screws her a little, then goes out of the room and reads Life magazine.
He goes back in and screws her a bit, then goes out and smokes a cigarette.
His wife is sore. So the next time he's going out to look at the moon she says:
"Hey, what's the matter with you? You're screwing just like a Chinaman!"
Jesus, that Barney...
- Mr Gittes? - Yes.
Do you know me?
Well... I think I would have remembered.
Have we ever met?
Well, no.
- Never? - Never.
That's what I thought. I'm Mrs Evelyn Mulwray. Mr Mulwray's wife.
Not that Mulwray?
Yes, Mr Gittes. That Mulwray.
And since you agree that we've never met before, -
- you must also agree that I never hired you to spy on my husband.
I see you like publicity, Mr Gittes.
Well, you're going to get it.
There's been some misunderstanding. There's no need to get tough with me...
I don't get tough with anyone. My lawyer does.
Here's something for you, Mr Gittes.
I suppose we'll be hearing from your attorney.
- Mr Mulwray? - He's not in, Mr...?
- May I ask what it's regarding? - It's personal. Has he been gone long?
- Since lunch. - Gee whiz, and I'm late.
- He was expecting you? - 15 minutes ago. I'll go in and wait.
Sir!
Could I help you? Russ Yelburton, deputy chief.
J.J. Gittes. It's not a departmental matter.
- Would you care to wait in my office? - Certainly.
We're a bit nervous, with all this business in the papers -
- about Mr Mulwray. Right this way.
After you've worked with a man for a certain length of time, -
- you come to know his habits and values.
Either he's the kind who chases after women, or he isn't.
- Mulwray never even kids about it. - Maybe he takes it very seriously.
- Sit down. - No, thank you.
- Where is he having lunch? - I'm sorry, I don't know.
- Well, tell him I'll be back. - I will.
Do you mind if I take one of your cards, in case I have to get in touch with you?
- Mulvihill, what are you doing here? - They shut my water off. So what?
How'd you find out? You don't drink it, you don't take a bath in it...
They wrote you a letter... But then you'd have to be able to read.
Relax, glad to see you.
- Do you know Claude Mulvihill? - I hope so, he's working for us.
- Doing what? - There's been threats to the reservoirs.
- Any particular reason? - Rationing. The farmers are desperate.
- But the city needs drinking water. - Well, you're in luck.
When he was sheriff, the rum runners landed tons of booze on the beach -
- and never lost a drop. He ought to be able to hold on to your water for you.
J.J. Gittes to see Mr Mulwray.
Please.
You wait.
- Bad for glass. - Yeah, sure.
Bad for the glass.
- Mr Gittes. - Actually, I came to see your husband.
- Something to drink? - What are you having?
- Iced tea. - That'll be fine, thank you.
My husband's at the office.
Actually, he's not. And he's checked out of his apartment at the El Macondo.
That's not his apartment.
Anyway, the point is, I'm not in business to be loved, -
- but I am in business. Whoever set your husband up, set me up.
L.A. Is a small town. People talk. I don't want to become a local joke.
You've talked me into it. I'll drop the lawsuit.
- What? - Let's just drop the whole thing.
- Sugar, lemon, or both? - Both... I don't want to drop it.
I better talk to your husband.
Why? Hollis seems to think you're an innocent man.
I've been accused of a lot of things, but never that.
Someone's gone to a lot of trouble, and I intend to find out.
I'm not supposed to be the one caught with his pants down.
Unless it's a problem, I'd like to talk to your husband.
- May I speak frankly, Mrs Mulwray? - You may if you can, Mr Gittes.
That little girlfriend. She was pretty, in a cheap sort of way, of course...
She's disappeared. Maybe they disappeared together.
- If they did, how does that affect you? - It's nothing personal.
It's very personal. It couldn't be more personal.
- Is this an obsession with you? - Let's look at it this way...
This phoney broad, excuse the language, tells me she's you.
Whoever put her up to it isn't after me, they're out to get your husband.
If I can see him, I can help him.
- Did you talk to him this morning? - No.
I went riding rather early.
- It looks like you went quite a distance. - I was riding bareback.
You might try the Oak Pass or the Stone Canyon Reservoir.
He often takes walks. Otherwise he'll be home by 6:30.
- I'll stop by. - Please call first.
Sorry, closed to public.
That's all right, officer...
Russ Yelburton, Deputy Chief of the department.
Sorry, Mr Yelburton. Go on down.
- Gittes, get out before he sees you. - Loach, what's going on?
- Hello, Jake. - Lou. How are you?
Lousy cold I can't seem to shake, but otherwise I'm okay.
- Summer colds are the worst. - Yeah, they are.
- There's no smoking here. - We'll make an exception this time.
I'll see he's careful with the matches and doesn't burn himself.
How'd you get past the guard?
To tell you the truth, I lied a little.
- You look like you've done well. - I get by.
Sometimes it takes a man a while to find himself. Maybe you have.
Yeah, going through other people's dirty linen.
Tell me, you still putting Chinamen in jail for spitting in the laundry?
You're a little behind the times. They use steam irons now.
And I'm out of Chinatown.
- Since when? - Since I made lieutenant.
Congratulations.
- What are you doing around here? - I'm looking for somebody.
- Hollis Mulwray. You seen him? - Yeah.
- I'd like to talk to him. - You'd like to talk to him...
You're welcome to try. There he is.
It looks like he was washed down the entire length of the run-off channel.
- Could he swim? - Of course.
Obviously, the fall must have knocked him unconscious.
Mrs Mulwray, this alleged affair your husband was having...
The publicity didn't make him morose or unhappy?
It didn't make him happy.
- He couldn't have taken his own life? - No.
Do you happen to know the name of the young lady in question?
- No. - Or where she might be?
You and your husband never discussed her?
We did. He wouldn't tell me her name.
We quarrelled over her, of course. It came as a complete surprise to me.
A complete surprise? I thought you hired a private investigator.
A private investigator?
Mr Gittes.
Yes, but I did that to put an end to a ridiculous rumour that had no basis.
When did Mr Gittes inform you that the rumours had some foundation in fact?
Just before the story broke in the papers.
You wouldn't happen to know where I could find her... or her name?
- No. - Of course not.
- Will you need me for anything else? - No, I don't think so.
If we need any more information we'll be in touch.
Of course you have my deepest sympathy.
I'll see her to the car, Lou. I'll be right back.
- Jake, what's the story? - Take it easy.
We better do this in a hurry... Give us a little room!
You want a picture, guys? Here it is. "Gittes", two T's and an E.
Thank you for going along with me back there.
I just didn't want to explain anything. I'll send you a check.
- A check? - To make it official that I've hired you.
I'll have it this afternoon... Jake, what are you doing here?
It's my lunch hour, Morty. I thought I'd drop by and see who'd dropped dead.
Middle of a drought, and the water commissioner drowns.
- Only in L.A. - Looks pretty banged up.
Well, it's a long fall.
So how are you doing, Morty?
Never better, except for this cough.
- You know me, Jake. - Yeah.
- So who have you got there? - Leroy Shuhardt. Local drunk.
Used to hang around Ferguson's Alley.
Quite a character. Lately he's been living in a downtown storm drain.
Had a bureau dresser down there and everything.
He drowned too.
- Come again? - Got drunk. Passed out in the riverbed.
- The L.A. River? - Yeah, what's wrong with that?
- It's dry as a bone. - It's not completely dry.
He ain't gonna drown in a damp riverbed, no matter how soused he is.
We got water out of him. He drowned.
Hello.
Howdy. You were riding out here the other day, weren't you?
- Do you speak English? Habla Ingles? - Si.
You were talking to a man a few days ago. He wore glasses...
- What did you talk about? - The water.
- What about the water? - When it comes.
- What did you tell him? - It comes in different parts of the river.
Every night a different part.
Son of a bitch. Goddam Florsheim shoe.
Hold it there, kitty cat.
Hello, Claude. Where'd you get the midget?
You're a very nosy fellow. Know what happens to nosy fellows?
No? Wanna guess?
No? Okay. They lose their noses.
Next time you lose the whole thing.
I'll cut it off and feed it to my goldfish. Understand?
- Understand? - I understand.
So a contractor wants to build a dam and makes a few pay-offs. So what?
You can't nail Mulvihill. They'll claim you were trespassing.
I don't want Mulvihill. I want the big boys that are making the pay-offs.
- Then what'll you do? - Sue the shit out of them.
- What is it, Sophie? - A Miss Sessions is calling.
- Who? - Ida Sessions.
Don't know her. Take a number.
People like that will be having dinner with the judge who's trying the suit.
I'm sorry. Miss Sessions insists.
- She says you know her. - Okay.
Hello, Miss Sessions. I don't believe we've had the pleasure.
- Oh yes we have. Are you alone? - Isn't everyone?
What can I do for you?
Well, I'm a working girl. I didn't come in to see you on my own.
- When did you come in? - I pretended to be Mrs Mulwray.
Shut the fuck up...
Yes, I remember.
- Is something wrong? - I was just checking with an associate.
- Go on. - I never expected all this to happen.
If it gets out, I want someone to know that I didn't know what would happen.
I understand. Who was your employer? It would be helpful to both of us.
Oh, no. No.
What's your address? Maybe we could talk this over.
Just look in the obituary column of today's L.A. Post-Record.
You'll find one of those people.
Sure... How do you like them apples?
Thank you for coming.
- Yes, sir? - Drink?
Tom Collins with lime, not lemon.
I got your check in the mail.
- As I said, I was very grateful. - I'm afraid that's not good enough.
- How much would you like? - Oh, stop it. The money's fine.
But I think you short-changed me on the story.
Something else besides the death of your husband was bothering you.
- You were upset, but not that upset. - Don't tell me how I feel.
Sorry.
You sue me, your husband dies, you drop the lawsuit like a hot potato.
All of it quicker than the wind from a duck's ass. Excuse me...
- Then you ask me to lie to the police. - It wasn't much of a lie.
If he was killed, it was. This could look like a pay-off to withhold evidence.
But he wasn't killed.
Mrs Mulwray, I think you're hiding something.
I suppose I am. Actually, I knew about the affair.
- How did you find out? - My husband.
He told you? And you weren't in the least bit upset?
I was grateful.
- You'll have to explain that. - Why?
When a wife tells me she's happy that her husband is cheating on her, -
- it runs contrary to my experience.
- Unless what? - She was cheating on him.
Were you?
I dislike the word "cheat".
Did you have affairs? Did he know about it?
I wouldn't run home and tell him whenever I'd been to bed with another.
- Anything else you want to know? - Where were you when Hollis died?
- I can't tell you. - You don't know?
- I can't tell you. - You were seeing someone too.
- For very long? - I don't see anyone for very long.
It's difficult for me.
Now, I think you know all you need know about me.
I didn't want publicity. I didn't want to go into all of this then, or now.
Is that all?
Oh, by the way... What does this "C" stand for?
Cross.
- That's your maiden name? - Yes. Why?
No reason.
- You must have had a reason to ask. - No, I'm just a snoop.
No, I have my own car. The Packard.
Wait a minute, sonny. I think you better come with me.
There's nothing more to say.
Get my car, please.
Okay, but in case you're interested, your husband was murdered.
Someone's been dumping thousands of tons of water from the reservoirs, -
- and we're supposedly in a drought. He found out about it and he was killed.
There's a drowned drunk. Involuntary manslaughter, if anyone took the time.
It seems like half the city is trying to cover it up, which is fine by me, -
- but I goddam near lost my nose.
And I like it. I like breathing through it.
And I still think that you're hiding something.
Mr Gittes...
J.J. Gittes to see Mr Yelburton.
Mr Yelburton will be busy for some time.
Well, it's my lunch hour. I can wait.
He's liable to be tied up indefinitely.
I take a long lunch hour. All day, sometimes.
- Noah Cross worked for the company? - Yes... No.
- Did he or didn't he? - He owned it.
- He owned the water department? - Yes.
You mean, he owned the entire water supply for the city?
- How'd they get it away from him? - Mulwray felt the public should own it.
Mr Mulwray? I thought you said Cross owned it.
Along with Mr Mulwray.
- They were partners? - Yes, they were partners.
Mr Yelburton will see you now.
Mr Gittes, sorry to keep you waiting. These staff meetings just go on and on.
It must be especially tough to take over under these circumstances.
Yes, Hollis was the best department chief the city ever had.
- What happened to your nose? - Cut myself shaving.
- That must really smart. - Only when I breathe.
Only when you breathe... Don't tell me you're still working for Mrs Mulwray?
- I never was. - I don't understand.
Neither do I, actually. You hired me.
Or you hired that chippie to hire me.
- You're not making a bit of sense. - Let's look at it this way:
Mulwray didn't want to build a dam. His reputation was hard to get around.
You decided to ruin it. Then he found out you were dumping water at night.
Then he was... drowned.
That's an outrageous accusation. I don't know what you're talking about.
Well, Whitey Mehrholtz over at the Times will.
Dumping thousands of gallons of water in the middle of a drought is news.
Mr Gittes...
We're not anxious for it to get around, but we have been diverting water -
- to irrigate orange groves in the Northwest Valley.
They have no legal right to our water, but we've been trying to help them out.
When you divert water, there's a little run-off.
Yeah, a little run-off... Where did you say those groves were?
- In the Northwest Valley. - That's like saying they're in Arizona.
My field men are out, I can't give you the exact location.
You're a married man, aren't you? Hard working, wife, kids...?
- Yes. - I don't want to nail you.
I want to find out who put you up to it. I'll give you a few days to think on it.
Call me, I can help. Who knows, maybe we can put the whole thing off -
- on a few big shots, and you can stay head of the department for 20 years.
- Drink? - No, thank you.
What is your usual salary?
$35 a day, plus 20 for my associates.
Plus expenses, plus a bonus if I show results.
Whoever killed my husband, why have they gone to all this trouble?
Money. How they plan to make it emptying reservoirs, I don't know.
I'll pay your salary, plus $5,000, -
- if you find out what happened to Hollis, and who is involved.
Sophie, draw up one of our standard contracts for Mrs Mulwray.
Were you married before Mulwray and your father sold the water department?
Noah Cross is your father, isn't he?
Yes, of course.
It was sometime after. I was just out of grade school when they did that.
Then you married your father's business partner.
You've already got one going.
Does my talking about your father upset you?
No...
Yes, a little. You see, Hollis and my fa...
...my father had a falling out, finally.
- Over you or the water department? - Why should it be over me?
Then it was over the water department.
Hollis felt the water should belong to the public. I think my father disagreed.
Actually, it was over the Van der Lip Dam. The dam that broke.
- Hollis never forgave him for it. - Never forgave him for what?
For talking him into building it. They never spoke from that time on.
You sure about that?
Of course I'm sure.
Sign here.
The copy's for you.
Mr Gittes?
How do you do?
- You got a nasty reputation. I like that. - Thanks.
You're not a bank president. In your business it's good advertising.
- It doesn't hurt. - It helps get a client like my daughter.
- Probably. - I'm surprised you still work for her.
Unless she's suddenly come up with another husband.
She happens to think the last one was murdered.
- How did she get that idea? - I think I gave it to her.
I hope you don't mind. I believe they should be served with the head.
As long as you don't serve the chicken that way.
Tell me, what do the police say?
They're calling it an accident.
- Who's the investigating officer? - Lt. Lou Escobar.
- You know him? - Oh, yeah.
- Where from? - We worked together, in Chinatown.
- Would you call him a capable man? - Very.
- Honest? - As far as it goes.
He has to swim in the same water we all do.
But there's no reason to think he's bungled the case?
- Too bad. - Too bad?
It makes me think you're taking my daughter for a ride, -
- financially speaking, of course.
What are you charging her?
My usual fee, plus a bonus if I get results.
Are you sleeping with her?
You have to think about that to remember?
If you want an answer to that question, I'll put one of my men on the job.
- Good afternoon. - Mr Gittes...
She's just lost her husband. I don't want her taken advantage of.
- Sit down. - What for?
You may think you know what you're dealing with, but believe me, you don't.