They were screaming at each other for 2 hours. Nothing new.
Then they heard the gun go off. Both barrels.
A crime of passion.
Yeah.
Just look at all the passion on that wall.
This is a done deal. All but the paperwork.
Did the kid see it?
What?
The kid.
What kind of question's that?
We'll be glad to get rid of you, Somerset.
Always these questions.
"Did the kid see it?" Who gives a fuck?
He's dead.
His wife killed him. The rest is nothing to do with us.
Detective Somerset?
I'm Detective Mills.
I get in town 20 minutes ago, they dump me here.
Look...
Mills?
Let's find a bar, sit and talk...
I'd like to get to the precinct.
Not much time for this transition thing.
I had a question, when we spoke on the phone.
Yeah?
- Why here? - I don't follow.
All this effort to get transferred.
It's the first question that popped into my head.
Same reasons as you,
or the reasons you had before you decided to quit.
You just met me.
Maybe I don't understand the question.
It's very simple.
You actually fought to get reassigned here.
- I never saw it done that way. - Thought I'd do some good.
Be great if we didn't start out kicking each other in the balls.
- You're calling the shots. - Yes.
I want you to look and listen, okay?
I wasn't guarding a Taco Bell. I worked homicide 5 years.
- Not here. - I understand.
Over the next 7 days, do me a favor and remember that.
Yeah. Okay.
Say it again?
I thought we moved here to get away from tractor pulls.
Serpico's got to go.
You might want to get rid of...
this crusty. This eye, Serpico.
- Did you get it? - Got it.
Good.
Coffee? No?
Nothing's been touched. It's all like I found it.
What time was death established?
Like I said,
I didn't touch anything,
but he's had his face in spaghetti for 45 minutes.
No one bothers with vital signs?
Did I stutter?
He ain't breathing unless he's breathing spaghetti sauce.
- That's how it's done around here? - I beg your pardon, Detective,
but the guy's sitting in a pile of his own piss and shit.
If he wasn't dead, he would have stood up by now.
- Alright. - Thank you, officer.
Thank you.
I wonder...
what was the point of that conversation?
I don't know.
How many times Barney Five found dead bodies that weren't dead?
Drop it.
Phone Guinness. I think we got a record here.
Better Homes and Gardens.
Who said this was murder?
No one.
Guy's heart must be
the size of a canned ham.
If this isn't a coronary,
well,
I don't know.
Whoops.
How about that?
We had this case once,
guy dead on the ground,
knife in his back.
Murder, right?
Fuck.
Big insurance policy involved.
Guy took the tip of the blade,
stuck it in his own shoulder blades.
He must have screwed up because there were...
...multiples back there. - Please be quiet.
Wait a minute.
What?
We got a bucket here.
What's in it?
My God!
Fucking vomit!
Any blood in it?
I didn't see any. Help yourself.
Are you thinking it's poison?
Oh, wonderful. Very moody.
Think it's poison, Somerset?
You girls have got forensics waiting outside.
We might not fit.
There's room. Light's the problem.
How are you?
Detective Mills, go help the officers
question the neighbors.
What?
And send in forensics.
He's dead.
Thank you, doctor.
You saw my files, the things I've done?
Nope.
I did door-to-doors, walked the beat, all that shit...
a long time.
- And? - My badge says...
"detective", same as yours.
Look, I made a decision.
I had to consider the integrity of the crime scene,
not whether you were getting enough time in the field.
Hey, man...
Just don't jerk me off. That's all I ask.
He's been dead...
a long time, and not from poison.
Oh, man.
How can you let yourself go like this?
It took four orderlies just to get him on the table.
How'd the fat fuck fit out his door?
It's obvious he was a shut-in.
See how big this stomach is?
Strange thing is, it stretches.
Look, the size of the cardiac orifice, where the food...
I see that, but it means nothing to me.
He's got lines of distention
across the duodenum.
The interior wall's ripped open.
This man ate till he burst?
No, he didn't burst all the way.
He was hemorrhaging internally.
There was a hematoma in the rectus and...
...the abdominal muscles. - He did die by eating?
Yes and no.
What about these bruises here?
I haven't figured that out yet.
Gun pressed against his head?
Pressed hard enough.
Fuck, yeah.
On the front, flush with the muzzle.
Ladies and gentlemen, we have a homicide.
Killer put a bucket under him. Took his time, too.
Coroner said it could've lasted 12 hours.
Victim's throat was swollen, probably from the effort,
and there was a point when he passed out.
That's when the killer kicked him,
...and he burst. - Sadistic fucker.
When you want somebody dead, you drive by and shoot.
You don't risk the time it takes for this,
unless the act itself has meaning.
Somebody had a problem with a fat boy and tortured him. Simple.
In the grocer bags,
we found two receipts. So the killer went back...
to the supermarket.
So?
It's his thing. I've been out in the rain.
- This is a beginning. - We've got...
one dead guy, not three.
No motive.
Don't start that big brain of yours...
cooking on this, alright?
I'd like to be reassigned.
Whoa!
What are you talking about?
This can't be my last duty.
It'll go on and on.
You're retiring in 6 days.
You've left unfinished business before.
The cases were taken as close as possible to conclusion.
- May I speak freely? - We're friends here.
It shouldn't be his first case.
I knew it. It's not my first assignment, you dick.
It's too soon for him.
You can say that shit to my face. Captain?
It's too soon for you.
Captain,
can we talk in private?
This is a personal thing...
Just shut up, Mills.
I don't have anyone else
to put on this. This is Metro.
- You don't just get to swap. - Give it to me.
What?
He wants out, fuck him. See you, have a nice time.
Give it to me.
I'll put you on something else.
Go on, Mills, just go on.
I'm sorry, old buddy, but it looks like you're stuck
cleaning up the fat man.
Quiet down.
Alright, calm down, calm down.
Quiet down.
Here's how it'll work:
I'll answer questions for 10 minutes only.
Ask those questions in a calm, orderly fashion, or I will leave.
Detective?
- Can I have a moment? - No.
I won't discuss the details of this investigation,
so don't bother asking.
- What you got for me? - Nothing yet, boss.
Why don't you guys go get a coffee?
We have this breaking story. Let's go downtown, where attorney,
Eli Gould, was found murdered today.
DA Martin Talbot is taking questions from reporters.
That's ridiculous and offensive.
There is no conflict,
and any claim there could be is irresponsible.
Now hold on.
I just met with law enforcement officials,
and they have their very best men on this.
This will be the definition
of swift justice.
Pardon me, George.
- Somerset... - Come in.
You heard the news?
Nope, haven't heard.
Eli Gould was found murdered this morning.
Someone broke into his law firm and bled him to death.
Wrote the word "greed" on the floor.
- Greed? - Yeah, in blood.
Mills is heading the investigation.
Excuse me.
Don't do that, please?
Good for him.
What will you do...
with yourself out there, Somerset?
I'll work maybe on a farm. Fix my house.
Don't you feel it?
Don't you feel that feeling?
You won't be a cop anymore.
That's the whole idea.
I don't think you'll leave.
You can't leave all this.
Guy's out walking his dog.
Gets attacked.
His watch is taken, his wallet.
And while he's lying on the sidewalk,
helpless,
his attacker stabs him in both eyes.
This happened last night, four blocks from here.
I read about it.
I don't understand anymore.
It's the way it's always been.
- Maybe you're right. - You were made for this work.
You can't deny that.
Maybe I'm wrong.
Coroner sent this for you.
Found them in the fat boy's stomach,
mixed in with the food. Looks like little pieces...
...of plastic. - Set them on that desk.
They were...
fed to him.
Lord.
This was found behind the fridge in the obesity murder scene.
"Long is the way,
and hard, that out of Hell leads up to the light."
It's from Milton.
"Paradise Lost"
Alright,
I'm confused.
It means that this is a beginning.
This was behind the fridge,
written in grease.
There are 7 deadly sins, Captain.
Gluttony,
greed,
sloth, wrath,
pride, lust,
and envy.
Seven.
Hold on.
This is not even my desk.
You can expect 5 more of these.
Wait a minute.
I can't get involved in this.
Somerset.
He wanted it.
Damn!
I'm all over it.
Where to?
Far away from here.
- A few things to look up. - Okay.
Sit where you like.
How's everybody?
Hiya, Smiley.
George, cards are getting cold.
Duty calls.
Gentlemen.
I'll never understand.
All these books,
a world of knowledge,
and what do you do? Play poker all night.
We got culture.
We got culture coming out our asses.
How's this for culture?
You know, Smiley...
you'll really miss us.
I just might.
Fucking Dante.
Goddamn poetry-writing faggot piece of shit.
Fucker.
Good work, officer.
Thank you, Lord.
Oh, sorry.
I'll move in a second.
- You want your chair? - No, you go ahead.
Yeah?
Phone.
Package deal. Comes with the office.
Mills.
Honey. You okay? Something wrong?
Dingleberry. I told you not to call when I'm at work.
Yeah. Why?
Why?
Okay.
It's my wife.
Sorry?
She'd like to speak to you.
This is Detective Somerset.
Yes, it's nice to talk to you too.
I appreciate the offer, but...
In that case, I'd be delighted.
Yes, thank you very much.
Bye.
Honey, what...?
Well?
- Sorry? - What?
I'm invited to late supper at your apartment. I accepted.
At my... how's that?
Tonight.
Hello, men.
- Hi, loser. - Hi, idiot.
That's Tracy.
Hello.
Happy to meet you. I've heard a lot about you.
Except your first name.
It's William.
Well, it's a good name.
William.
I'd like you to meet David.
- David, this is William. - Alright, I'll be right back.
- How are the kids? - Good, they're in the room.
Good dogs.
How are you, pretty?
- Smells good. - What?
Yeah. I mean, thanks.
Please have a seat, if you like.
- Would you like a drink? - No, thanks. I'll wait.
Throw that anywhere. Excuse all this mess.
We're still unpacking.
I hear you were high school sweethearts.
Pretty hokey, huh?
You know something?
From the first date, I knew he was...
...the guy I'd marry. - Really?
He was the funniest guy I'd ever met.
Really.
It's kind of rare nowadays.
I mean, that level...
of commitment.
Don't worry.
I won't wear it to the table.
You know,
no matter how often I see guns,
I can't get used to them.
Same here.
- Why aren't you married, William? - Tracy...
What the hell...?
I was close once.
It just didn't happen.
It surprises me.
It really does.
Well...
anyone who spends much time with me finds me disagreeable.
Just ask your husband.
Very true.
Very, very true.
How long have you lived here?
Too long.
How do you like it?
You know,
takes time. Settle in,
it'll be good.
You get numb after a while.
There are things to any city.
Subway.
It'll go away in a minute.
Real estate guy.
Fucking piece of... sorry honey.
Shows us the place a few times, I think he's good.
He's efficient. Trace really likes it.
Then we wonder why he only brings us here for 5 minutes.
We found out the first night.
The soothing, relaxing...
vibrating home.
I'm sorry.
Yeah, alright, laugh it up.
I don't know why you're laughing.
Alright, already.
He had to get into the building
before the office closed.
- Gould would've been working late. - I'm certain.
The biggest defense lawyer in town. Infamous, really.
The body was found on Tuesday morning.
The office was closed Monday. He could've gotten in Friday,
laid low till the cleaners left, then had his way
with Gould Saturday, Sunday, maybe Monday.
Look.
Gould was bound, right arm free.
He was handed a butcher's knife.
- Check out the scale. - A pound of flesh.
"One pound of flesh,
no more, no less. No cartilage,
no bone,
only flesh." "Merchant of Venice"
Didn't see it.
"This task done, and he would go free."
That chair was...
...soaked with sweat. - Of course.
The killer wanted Gould to take his time,
deciding which cut
to make first.
Imagine it.
There's a gun in your face.
Which part of your body is expendable?
The love handle.
Cut along the side of his own stomach.
Let's take a fresh look. The corpse is there, but...
Iook through it. Edit out your initial shock.
The trick is to find one item, one detail...
and focus on it...
till it's an exhausted possibility.
I'll get another beer. Beer?
Wine, please.
He's preaching.
Punishing.
The sins were used in medieval sermons.
7 cardinal virtues, 7 deadly sins,
...used as teaching tools. - Yeah, like in...
- "The Parson's Tale" and Dante. - You read them?
Yeah.
Parts. Remember in "Purgatory"
Dante and his buddy climb up...
the hill and check out the sinners?
The 7 Terraces of Purgation.
Yeah, right.
But there, pride comes first, not gluttony.
Let's consider the books
as the killer's inspiration.
The sermons were about atonement for sin.
These murders are like forced attrition.
Forced what?
Attrition's when you regret your sins...
...but not for love of God. - Because of a gun in your face.
No fingerprints.
No.
Totally unrelated victims.
And no witnesses.
Which I don't get...
because the fucker had to get back out.
In a major city, minding your business is a science.
In rape prevention, they tell you never to cry for help.
Always yell "fire!"
Nobody answers "help".
Holler "fire", they'll come.
That's fucked up.
He must have left another puzzle piece.
Thanks for talking this out, but I got to sleep.
I got to walk the dogs.
This is just to satisfy my curiosity.
- I'm leaving the end of the week. - Shit. No, wait.
Gould's wife was out of town.
- So this means she saw something. - What if it's a threat?
I put her in a safehouse. She wasn't happy about it.
What if it isn't what she's seen,
but what she's supposed to and hasn't yet?
Yeah, okay. What?
I don't know.
But that's the one thing.
I'll sign us in.
Gotta see Mrs. Gould.
Mrs. Gould?
Mrs. Gould, I'm sorry. I truly am.
I don't understand.
I need you to look at each photo
very carefully.
See if anything's strange,
out of place, anything at all.
I don't see anything.
You're sure?
Please, I can't do this right now.
Okay.
It's got to be now.
Maybe we missed something.
Wait.
What?
Here.
This painting, it's upside down.
- Your men didn't move this? - No.
Those shots were taken before forensics.
Nothing.
There's got to be something.
He moved the screws to re-hang it.
What the fuck is that?
Switchblade.
Goddamn it.
There must be something.
He didn't paint the fucking thing.
No, he's fucking with us.
See this, this is us.
Just wait a minute.
- Somerset's climbing furniture. - Wait a minute.
You're kidding me.
Call the print lab.
Oh, man.
Honestly...
have you ever seen anything like this?
No.
The swell pattern tells me they're not...
the victim's prints.
I say he's whacked enough.
It doesn't fit.
He doesn't want to stop.
Who knows.
Freaks doing their evil deeds they don't want to.
"Voices made me do it." "My dog made me do it."
"Jodie Foster told me to do it."
It can take...
3 days to make a match, so maybe you guys want to...
cross your fingers somewhere else.
You meant what you said to Mrs. Gould, didn't you?
- About catching this guy. - Yeah.
Wish I still thought the way you do.
What the hell do you think we're doing?
Picking up the pieces.
Collecting evidence, taking pictures and samples,
writing everything down,
noting the times things happened.
That's all?
That's all.
Putting everything into neat piles...
and filing it, on the off chance it'll be needed in a courtroom.
Picking up diamonds on a desert island,
saving them in case we get rescued.
Bullshit.
Even the most promising clues only lead to others.
So many corpses roll away, unrevenged.
Don't tell me you didn't get that rush tonight.
I saw you.
We're getting somewhere.
Wake up, Glimmer Twins.
We got a winner.
He uses the name Victor. Real name: Theodore Allen.
Homicide found his prints at the scene.
He's got a long history of serious mental illness.
He got a very strict, Southern Baptist upbringing.
Somewhere along the line, they fell short.
Victor dabbled in drugs, armed robbery and assault.
Spent time in prison for attempted rape of a minor.
His lawyer made sure that didn't last long.
By the way, the lawyer was Eli Gould, the "greed" victim.
We're finishing this today, ladies and germs.
Victor's been out of circulation, but we have a residence for him.
- You're not buying this. - Doesn't seem like...
...our guy, does it? - You tell me.
Our killer seems to have more purpose.
You ever take a bullet?
Never in my 34 years. Knock wood.
I've only taken my gun out
three times, intending to use it.
Never pulled the trigger.
Not once.
You?
No, I never took a bullet, but...
I pulled my gun once. Shot it once.
- Really? - It was my first one of these.
We were a secondary unit.
I was shaky going in. I was a rookie.
We bust open a door, looking for this junkie,
and he opened fire on us.
One cop got hit in the arm.
What was his name?
It spun him like a top. Well, more like slow motion.
I remember
riding in that ambulance...
and well...
he died right there.
Right there.
What was his fucking name?
SWAT goes before dicks.
They love this.
Police!
Clear!
Good morning, sweetheart.
Get up now motherfucker, now!
Get up, you sack of shit!
Fuck me!
Dicks!
You'll want to look at this.
Dicks!
Jesus.
Victor?
- What the hell? - It's just Victor.
- Call an ambulance. - Hearse, I'd say.
Call for forensics.
Get your people out. No on touches anything.
It's like a wax sculpture.
Sloth.
Aw, man.
Goddamn.
The pictures were dated 3 days ago.
This must be the first.
Look.
It's dated one year ago today.
I got a hair sample.
I got a stool sample, piss,
fingernails.
He's laughing at us.
You got what you deserved.
He's alive! Cocksucker's alive!
Guns down! Emergency on that ambulance!
- He's playing games. - No shit.
We have to divorce our emotions.
We must focus on details.
I feed off my emotions, how's that?
- Are you listening to me? - Yes, I can hear you.
- Excuse me. - What are you doing?
- Closed crime scene. Out! - I got a right to be here.
I'm a UPI photographer.
I got a right to be here.
- Get out! Jesus! - Fucking jerk!
I got your picture, man.
I got your picture.
Detective Mills, M-i-l-l-s. Fuck off.
- You can spell. - Fuck you.
How do they get here so quick?
The pay police for information. They pay well.
Hey, man, I'm sorry.
They piss me off.
Okay.
It's impressive to see a man feeding off his emotions.
One year of immobility, judging by...
muscle and spine deterioration.
Blood tests show a smorgasbord of drugs in his system.
Even an antibiotic, probably to prevent
the bedsores from infecting.
Has he tried to speak, or communicate in any way?
Even if his brain were not mush, which it is,
he chewed off his tongue long ago.
Doc...
is there no chance he might survive?
He'd die of shock now if you shined a flashlight
in his eyes.
He's had as much pain and suffering as anyone,
and he still has Hell to look forward to.
Good night.
Hello, William. It's Tracy.
Tracy?
Everything okay?
Yeah. Yes, everything's fine.
Where's David?
In the other room, in the shower.
Sorry to call you like this.
It's all right.
What can I do for you?
I need someone to talk to.
Do you think you could meet me somewhere,
maybe tomorrow morning?
I don't understand.
I feel stupid calling,
but you're the only person I know here.
There's no on else.
If you can,
give me a call, okay?
I have to go now.
- Good night. - Good night.
I mean...
you know this city so well.
You've been here...
so long.
It can be a hard place.
I don't know why I asked you to come.
Why don't you talk to him?
Tell him how you feel.
I can't be a burden.
Especially now.
I'll get used to things,
you know?
I wanted to talk to someone
who's lived here a long time.
Upstate, it's a completely different environment.
Did David tell you I teach 5th grade? I did.
He mentioned it.
I've been going around, looking at schools,
but here the conditions here
are horrible.
What about private schools?
I don't know.
Tell me what's really bothering you.
David and I are going to have a baby.
Tracy, I...
I don't think I'm...
the one to talk to...
...about this. - I hate this city.
I had a relationship once.
It was like a marriage.
We got pregnant.
This was a long time ago.
I remember getting up and going to work.
A day like any other, but the first day after I knew
about the pregnancy.
And I felt this fear,
for the first time ever.
I remember thinking:
How can I bring a child into a world like this?
How can a person grow up with all this around them?
I told her I didn't want it.
Over the next few weeks,
I wore her down.
I want to have children.
I can tell you now that...
I know, I mean,
I'm positive that
I made the right decision.
But not a day passes that I don't wish
that I'd made a different choice.
If you don't...
keep the baby...
if that's your decision,
don't ever tell him you were pregnant.
But if you choose to have this baby,
then spoil that kid,
every chance you get.
That's about...
all the advice
I can give you, Tracy.
I got to go.
William,
thank you.
Victor's landlord said
there was cash in the mailbox,
first of every month.
Quote:
"I never heard a single complaint from the tenant...
in apartment 306, and nobody complained about him.
Best tenant I've ever had."
A landlord's dream.
A paralyzed tenant with no tongue.
Who pays the rent on time.
I'm sick of this waiting.
This is the job.
Why aren't we out there?
Why sit here rotting, waiting till the lunatic
does it again?
"Lunatic" is dismissive. Don't make that mistake.
Come on. He's insane. Look.
Right now he's dancing in his grandma's panties.
Rubbing himself in peanut butter.
- How's that? - I don't think so.
His luck will run out.
He's not depending on luck.
We walk in exactly one year after Victor's tied to the bed.
One year to the day.
- He wanted us to. - Don't know that for sure.
Oh, yes we do.
The note he left, his first words to us:
"Long is the way and hard that out of Hell
leads up to light."
Fuck him. So what?
He's right so far.
Imagine the will to keep a man bound for a year.
To sever his hand and to use it...
to plant fingerprints.
To insert tubes into his genitals.
The guy's methodical, exacting
and worst of all, patient.
He's a nutbag.
Because he's got a library card doesn't make him Yoda.
You got money?
I got 50 bucks.
I propose a field trip. Come on.
We'll make a list. At the top we put "Purgatory",
"Canterbury Tales" anything on the 7 deadly sins.
- Ask yourself. - Wait.
What would he study to do things he's done?
What are his interests now?
Jack the Ripper, for instance.
- Where are we going? - Library.
Coupons! Free coupons!
Discount coupons!
They must have had about 50 health violations
during the last inspection.
Sit across from me. I don't want people thinking
we're dating.
Give me your money.
I'll give you this, but I must know what we're doing.
Somerset. How you doing?
Didn't expect a ménage á trois.
It's not a problem. Sit down.
Only for you do I do this. It's a big risk.
- We're just fair and square. - It's a deal.
About an hour.
Yeah. Help yourself.
That was money well spent.
Yeah.