So Benjamin kills himself
and admits to murdering his father,
Alderman Stephen Bartlett.
This case isn't done.
Welcome back to New York.
Let's just say you and I make great business partners.
Sara, my darlin'.
What exactly happened to my boys?
I carry another child?
Yes.
Well, excuse me, sleeping beauty.
The precinct isn't a flophouse.
I know.
Detective, go home to your wife.
I'll choose where I go.
And I'll choose when.
This vagrancy has to end.
So either you go home, go to a cathouse,
or sleep on the street,
like any normal Five Points denizen.
Can I help you, Missus?
You're in need, are ya?
Thank you, momma.
You're welcome.
What are they on about now?
Nothing to cause concern.
Oh, that's just street sweepers.
I don't even know why they bother,
with these mountains of filth.
I know it's strikingly different
from life on the plantation,
but Five Points has its charms, too.
Yesterday, we saw a naked child jumping up and down
on a pile of dead, bloated horses.
I don't even think my Sara noticed.
Doctor, my baby girl, Hazel, is sick. Real sick.
What's wrong with her?
Can't hold anything in... same as all our neighbors.
Hot fever.
It's been a few days now, and I don't know what to do.
How many people are sick?
It seems like half the block.
The hospital turned us away
so they puttin' all the stricken in a flat
on the second floor of our building.
This could take some time.
What the hell are you doing in here?
Downstairs neighbor complaining about a leak.
Go on now,
or I'll stick you like the pig you are.
Ah! All right. All right.
The Board of Aldermen vote should not be the problem.
Being underbid on the project, that is the danger.
Miss Heissen.
Thank you for coming down so early.
Ah! Woman with child first.
I need your assistance.
An especially vexing pest has been thwarting my business,
but I currently lack the leverage I need
to get rid of him.
You, my dear,
are the perfect fraulein for the task.
Go on.
Fortuitously, this individual is due
to be visiting your establishment.
Fancies girls that remind him of his time in the tropics.
At any rate, I would like your help
putting him in a more... Compliant position.
I can handle any position. What's the angle?
I'm trying to secure the contract
to build the city's new aqueduct.
This man is my only viable competition still standing.
Hmm.
What's in it for me?
Besides a lesson in politics?
Pfft! That's a lesson I could teach.
This gentleman is a right-minded individual,
deeply concerned with establishing
orphan asylums in his name
after building his fortune on the backs of 10-year-olds
in his coal mines.
Orrin Lansing.
That son of a bitch hypocrite
who led the charge to close down my place uptown?
One and the same.
Huh. Hmm.
Bloody cat keeps staring...
Something's not right with this Bartlett case.
Waiting to pounce.
Come on, Corky,
you've been stuck on this case for more than a week now
and still haven't found anything.
A rich boy killed his daddy and himself,
end of story.
The girl's parents don't even give a shite where she is,
Why do you?
Because Teresa Trembley knows what happened to Bartlett.
Missus O'Dwyer?
Fellas, come take a look.
Now Mab O'Dwyer's vanished too.
Empty as a woman's promises.
You guys ever gonna stop?
The Newcastle rail spur's been abandoned, sir.
Contract will not be awarded.
We built a goddamned train track to nowhere.
All that worthless stock money burned.
Darling, off so soon?
"Worthless stock?"
What's the trouble, Robert?
No trouble, my sweet,
other than the fact that my glass is empty.
Hell of a predicament to find oneself in
this time of the day.
How much is lost?
I'm not a fool, Robert.
I know what a man looks like in defeat.
I bet you do.
I can be of some assistance.
Forgive me, darling,
but you don't have the best record
when it comes to assisting the men in your life.
Now, why don't you run along...
...and find some poor, destitute negros
that actually need rescuing,
and leave me the hell alone to figure out what,
if anything, can be done here.
Are you feeling the kicks yet?
As rough a pounding as I've ever been given.
He's a strong little mule.
You're a brave one, Miss Eva.
I would have gone in for a cleaning myself.
Crossed my mind.
What changed?
Who can ever say what changes a person's mind?
Sometimes life just takes charge.
So who's the lucky father to be?
Not that you could ever tell for certain.
There is a reason my name is on the door, sweetheart.
When I lie down,
it's because I wanna lie down.
Or because I want something from the man
I lie down with.
Compared to you girls, I'm practically a virgin.
Who is looking for a good time?
Oh. Watch it, you big animal.
There's our guest of honor.
Oh, Corcoran, you have a visitor.
Missus McGrath.
Detective.
I'm afraid I need your assistance again.
What's the trouble?
Since me husband's most welcome departure...
God bless him,
my landlord's been making advances.
I pay the rent, keep the place in order.
No reason he should be hornin' after me.
What's he been doing?
The other day he had me cornered in the hallway,
when me boy Michael came upon us.
I'd be happy to sort him out for you.
Oh, I can handle myself all right.
Not the first baboon I've had giving chase.
It's Michael I'm worried about.
He's the man of the house now.
Bit too eager to play the part.
He's gone and got himself a gun.
I'll go see the boy. We'll have a little chat.
Norbert.
I was hoping I'd find you here.
It's Robert.
Gone missing, has he?
I'd check the usual disreputable haunts.
Your son... is losing all your family fortune.
And that surprises you?
Surely you knew when you married him
he was good for little beyond diversion.
This is the Morehouse legacy.
All you labored to build all these years.
You would hate to wind up penniless,
wouldn't you? Hmm.
A senseless point to argue, Norbert.
Hmm.
But more than that, I'd hate for Robert
to think himself a failure.
I have a meeting to keep.
I wish you both the best of luck.
Just thought you should know,
the boys and I stopped off at the Trembley apartment,
only to find the neighbor, Mab O'Dwyer, disappeared.
Took off kind of a sudden.
That can't be a coincidence.
Most people can't wait to get the hell out of Five Points.
The woman lived there for 16 years
and she suddenly ups and leaves?
Maybe she's sick of seeing your ugly mug.
What do you want?
Jesus, Mary, and Joseph! Enough, detective, enough!
Enough of this bullshit obsession
with the Bartlett case.
Yes, sir.
And don't let me tell you that again.
Um, Donovan, another issue, if I may?
Finally, a change of subject.
I have a problem with a certain landlord.
I can smack the sin out of him,
but I'm trying to fix this without raising a hand.
Admirable change of pace,
but sometimes one should stick with the simplest method.
I wanna set an example for a kid
who's seen his fair share of violence.
Who's the landlord?
Hannigan... over on Chatham.
Ah, William Hannigan. He's a real cavan man.
As mean as they come.
Best way to influence a man like that
is to go straight at his wallet.
He'll be suing for peace in no time.
How's that?
Well, I'll have my secretary send Patrick Daley
from the buildings department by.
He'll perform a full-on site inspection.
Amazing the trouble those lads can cause
without raising a hand.
Buy Daley a few drinks,
and he'll put on a real show for ye.
Thank you.
That's all right, my dear. That's all right.
Get it all out.
Lean over, ma'am. That's it.
Who are you?
Doctor Freeman.
No kiddin'.
The first negro doctor I've ever seen.
Well, welcome to Five Points,
or should I say, hell on earth.
Thanks for the welcome, but I live here.
Whew! That's awful.
I thought the mission sent you, too.
What is your diagnosis?
Well, I'd say we've got a cholera outbreak
on our hands.
Same symptoms of everyone I ask:
uh, bloody diarrhea, vomiting,
dazed by fevers.
I've not yet made it to the back room,
but I surmise it's much of the same.
No. No. No. Leave me.
I, I can't.
And what am I gonna do with writing at my age, Sara?
It's just, it's... It's just pure idleness.
Your husband wasn't at his office, so I...
Is he here?
No. He's out visiting a patient.
He may be a while.
You're welcome to come in.
That way you can meet my mother.
Hattie Lemaster.
Momma, Ellen Corcoran.
Ma'am.
My friend.
How are you finding Five Points?
Loud and crowded, mainly.
We were just learning the alphabet.
Pardon me, but I would rather do something more productive.
With all the projects in a house,
how often in your day do you stop to read,
much less write?
Reading old correspondence is my only comfort
when the wrong memories take over.
When I hate to be alone,
but I don't know how to be around others.
As if I were unworthy of company.
Recently, I've been...
Ellen, you can speak freely here.
My mother and I,
we are no strangers to darkness.
I feel it coming on.
The knocking and the crying in my head,
like a storm about to break.
I can't.
Not again. Not alone.
Can't what?
Raise another child.
Have you told Kevin?
I haven't spoken to my husband in almost a month.
He's forgotten about me, about everything we ever had.
He, he is ashamed of me...
And maybe he should be.
I can't be the messenger bringing more bad news.
Allow me. Miss Ellen,
you bringing him news
tells him that you are still his wife.
He needs to hear that from you,
and real soon.
The diseased describe an abrupt onset;
an indisputable characteristic of cholera.
Yet only the young and old seem to be afflicted here.
What are you suggesting?
Cholera does not discriminate by age or strength.
It fells those in their prime as well.
Please, doctor,
I was trained at the Columbia college of surgeons.
Is that so?
Well, if this is cholera, then tell me,
why are there no sick adults here?
Good day.
Afternoon.
I, uh, thought I'd swing by,
see how you been lately.
Could be worse.
Take a walk with me?
I'm busy.
It wasn't a question.
Back after a piss.
So, Michael,
your mother says you're having a problem with your landlord.
Cod fish! Cod fish here!
Missus Corcoran?
I'm looking for my...
For Kevin.
Uh, he's not here.
If I were you, I'd try back at night.
This is where he's been?
This is where he works.
Should I tell your husband you stopped by?
No. Thank you.
Never mind that.
What did she want?
Nothing from you.
Come sit with daddy, little monkey.
Oh, you remind me of this ripe little native
I once knew in Guatemala.
Let's see if you're as malleable as she was.
Aren't you thirsty, boy?
Here, let's have another.
Fine idea.
I do love my booze.
To you, king Lansing.
Ow!
Giddy up.
Daddy's going to ride you till your kidneys quiver.
Oh!
We're going to get you feeling better, Hazel.
How is she, doctor?
It's a difficult case, I'm afraid.
Well, he don't know what's going on,
and you's about as useless as he is.
With your fancy talk,
you may as well be back on that plantation
bowing down to them crackers.
I am a free man, a doctor,
practicing medicine in New York City.
Free? Why, you's nothing more than a white man's mule
in a white man's war.
Come around here trying to think
and act like the white man, too.
Oh, you talk all you want,
but progress and self-betterment
are not the exclusive domain of the white man, Mr. Turnow.
And besides, I'm the only mule you got.
Go ahead, shoot.
With what?
Come on.
Look at this poor bastard.
I see that every day.
So do I.
But it's not pig's brains that I see splattered.
What of it?
It's hard to tell sometimes,
but there is a difference between a man and an animal,
and you'll know sure enough
if you ever have the misfortune
of actually killing someone.
If it was your mother, what would you do?
At your age?
I'd probably have shot the bastard...
...and then hung for it.
My mother...
I can't stand to see her bothered like that.
No woman should ever be.
How about I take care of that landlord,
and then, if you want, I could teach you to box
so you can handle yourself.
Hmm. Maybe that's an okay idea.
Nobody goes to prison in this city
for smacking somebody that deserves it.
But you shoot a man dead, you're sure to hang.
Well, if it isn't father.
What bedeviling twist of fate brings you to our door?
Word on the street is...
...that the Morehouse fortune is dwindling.
Hemorrhaging funds.
You need help.
We already have a full staff, father.
Perhaps try the neighbors?
I believe their housekeeper recently took ill.
I want back into the business, Robert.
It's rather sad when one's elders
begins exhibiting early signs of dementia,
wouldn't you say? Hmm?
You need my expertise.
You'd be foolish to pretend otherwise.
Your return to the family business
wasn't ever part of the plan, father.
You were paid handsomely for your testimony
and now, your assistance is no longer required.
That big heart you pride yourself on
is a worthless attribute in finance.
Let him help.
Why bother?
The money's already gone.
I'll ask only once.
Robert, please.
Father... You will work for me.
Now get the hell out of my chair.
Mother of God!
Oh no, not the camera!
Shit!
What've you been eating? Anything unusual?
I don't know.
Same as I always do, I supposed.
Potatoes... uh, odd scrap of meat.
And you?
I'm sorry.
Where do you get your water from?
A well out back.
Does Hazel drink from the well out back?
Yes. Yes, she does.
Can you take me?
Sure. They just dug it not too long ago.
Excuse me, Mister Morehouse.
Hello, father. Back already?
Robert, I want you to meet Mister Maillard.
This is my son, Robert.
Mister Maillard.
I want to talk to you about something.
You have my full attention.
We've decided to water the stock
in both the northern and Richmond,
as well as the central, Milford,
and Raritan railroads.
We?
Mister Maillard here is going to help us
issue the necessary bonds.
With my connections in the western states,
we're able to spread rumors about which railroads
will be stitched together with the Union Pacific.
Surely you must be joking.
I never joke about money, Robert.
Well, I won't be part of it.
My son, a bastion of nobility.
Modicums of deceit are one thing, father,
but I will not be part of blatant corruption.
It's no different from that pathetic little spur
in Pennsylvania
into which you dumped our fortune.
Except, this time,
we'll be on the other side... the victorious side.
The answer is no.
If you would like a "yes", go buy it from somebody else.
We might have underestimated
just how much tincture is necessary
to knock the pig out.
Again, I'm very sorry.
Hmm.
Have I ever told you about the time...
...I pissed in that pimp's hat?
No.
Hmm.
It was quite an offloading.
I nearly filled it right up to the brim.
I was a young patrolman.
I thought humiliating that pimp would go far
towards keeping my beat in line.
It was an arrogant miscalculation.
Before the day was through, nine men lay dead.
A nasty bit of business.
Speaking of nasty bits of business...
...with all the conspiring we're doing,
I fear I've been neglecting you.
Neglect sometimes feeds anticipation.
That's it, Miss Heissen,
just like old times.
I can't believe those rebel curs
are going to make the negros fight their war for them now.
It boggles the mind.
As with everything, the war boils down to money.
Speaking of, I saw your N and R is soaring.
- Pardon? - Mm...
I only wish I'd known to invest.
You must be Patrick Daley.
Ah, one in the same.
Kevin Corcoran.
Ah.
So, you could use my expertise
with a particularly vexing landlord.
Aye. A drink?
Certainly.
Cheers.
Ah...
Another.
What do you see in front of you, detective?
Besides a level, a tape measure,
and a plumb bob?
The handsomest,
most liberal tap jockey in the whole Union.
The more I pour, the handsomer I get.
Right.
Now, they certainly appear innocent enough.
But in the right hands,
these are less tools of construction,
than destruction.
Mister Donovan, I told him you were busy,
but he threatened to throttle me, sir.
It's all right, lad.
If I find out you had anything to do
with that perfidy at Eva's Paradise,
you will wish you'd never left
that rancid potato bog you call home.
Good day to you, Mister Lansing.
I was just going over my proposal
for the new aqueduct.
If you think you'll intimidate me
into dropping my bid,
well, you are as stupid as you are duplicitous.
I am a goddamn honest businessman
and I will not sink to your level.
What you call honesty,
others might refer to as thievery and extortion.
Men like me built this country
with our own hands,
and you foreign scum...
...are trying to subvert everything we have done.
I believe you mean you exploited the hands
of the red man and the black man
to build it for ye.
Well, neat trick, by the way.
You laugh now, paddy,
but you know this:
My associates and I...
will purge that tammany nest of vipers
on Nassau Street...
and sweep you back into the sea
once and for all.
Let me tell you something:
I'm an American.
I am an American and I will build that aqueduct
whether you wish it or not.
And if you'll excuse me,
I believe my next appointment is here.
Sisters, please come in.
Thank you.
Have a seat, please.
I can violate any structure in the city into oblivion.
Well, God bless ya.
Ah. Don't bless me, detective.
Bless the organization.
Tammany takes care of its own.
Well, let's see if you can work your magic
over on Chatham.
Right.
Steady as a Methodist minister.
I have a few buildings ahead of you to start.
Shall we say, five o'clock?
Five.
You met my friend?
I did.
You're looking good.
You went behind my back and issued those bonds.
You can thank me later.
Father...
Somebody had to do something, Robert.
After all, you have a wife to keep happy now.
The same way you made mother happy?
The only thing that made your mother happy was gin.
Maybe she drank to escape life with you.
I couldn't take a drink out of that woman's hands
without her other one reaching for the bottle.
That woman was my mother.
And none too pleased about it,
truth be told.
GRUNTS)
Pull it.
Norbert! Stop it! James!
Stop it!
Stop it! Enough!
What is wrong with you?
Go on, go. Get out of here.
You would've killed me.
I'm not the one who drew a pistol.
I'll not forget this day.
I can't thank you enough, detective,
for talking sense into Michael.
Your boy will be just fine.
He's at a rough age for any lad.
Well, it helps a world being around a man such as yourself.
Is that a touch of kildare I hear in your voice?
I'm from Newbridge.
Really?
My mother was born in Kilcullen.
I know it well.
My father favored a butcher's there.
Are you glad you came here?
Who wouldn't wanna come to America?
Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, sir.
This will most definitely not do.
Why, inspector, please.
All the other steps are up to code.
Um, possibly you could,
you could find it in your heart just this once
to, to make an exception.
I'll do anything, anything.
What are you suggesting, Mister Hannigan?
This step here,
in addition to the vertical support issue in the entry,
complicated by...
oh my... my, my, my. So many violations.
Ah, surely you must know my cousin,
Kentigerna McGrath?
Lansing's out of control. He must be contained.
I'm gonna need more from ye.
Aye... Sir.
I want you on him like a hemorrhoid.
Anybody he sees, everything he does,
you bring to me. No detail's too trifling.
The man is an avowed enemy of the Irish race
who stands against everything we hold dear.
Is this official police business, sir, or--
What this is, Mister Maguire, is you showing appreciation
for being saved from the gallows.
For let's not forget
evidence of a murder once lost
can always be found.
O'Hearn.
Ah, this water is rife with it.
Swarms of these oblong rods.
I haven't seen anything like it before.
That poor girl.
Can you do anything for her?
I don't know.
But I'm convinced that this unknown contagion
is what's to blame for all the illness
in that building.
I know it gets to you, seeing all that suffering.
Sick and the lame I can handle,
it's my profession.
What got to me today was running into a black man
as bigoted as any white man.
That's a sickness I can't cure.
I had half a mind to smack his face good.
What'd that have accomplished?
I would have settled for satisfaction.
Matthew, after all you've achieved,
to lower yourself in such a way?
It's done. Let's move on.
Fine.
Ellen Corcoran stopped by today,
asking to speak with you.
I told her you were attending to patients.
She seemed troubled.
Well, sadly for her, that's not unusual.
Matthew, she's with child.
I know.
Well then you must also know that she's not doing well.
In her head, I mean.
She hasn't told Kevin, and I think...
Sara, no.
I'm just wondering if we might help
in some way.
It is not our place to interfere.
You can't heal a marriage like a disease.
Sara.
Sergeant told me that you were here.
Everything all right with Matthew?
Oh yes, he's fine.
I came for another reason.
Ellen stopped by today, looking for my husband.
Well, is she unwell?
She needs you...
...at home with her, instead--
I appreciate your concern,
but at times there are matters
between a husband and wife that--
Kevin, she's pregnant.
Get up! Get up!
You slept with my wife again, you son of a bitch!
You're wrong, Corky. I did not touch Ellen.
Then... whose child is my wife carrying?
I have no idea.
Take a breath. Take a breath!
You're a goddamn lying bastard.
I trusted you once. Never again!
That's fair play,
but I swear on the friendship we once had.
Francis...
The child is not mine, Kevin.
It's not.