Previously on AMC's "Hell on Wheels..."
Fifty thousand dollars... now.
Where's the money, New York?
I am between transactions.
We need to find a way to pay them, or we will be hip deep in blood.
And ain't no scheme in the world gonna save us.
How much do you think I'm worth...
Were I to go missing?
- I got a job for you. - Who're we killin'?
No one dies.
I found the money. The funds are being wired.
Why...!
Stop!
No!
There are only three others like it on this planet.
Imagine how valuable it is.
That, sir, is no trinket, oh, no.
That is a piece of history, forged from the golden spike.
- Golden what? - Spike!
The great transcontinental railroad?
Didn't you learn anything in school?
I didn't go to school.
The marriage of the mighty Union Pacific
and the significantly less mighty Central Pacific Railroad Companies
connecting at last the east and west of this great nation.
Let that be a history lesson... Free of charge.
I can give you the going rate.
$37.27.
But I'll give you $37.30 even...
For the history lesson.
Fine.
On the ride down,
people were behaving like they'd never seen strawberries in winter before.
Please!
Even Quail a la Chasseur loses its charm.
- I needn't tell you. - Oh, I love a good quail!
A la whatever you please.
We served quail at our wedding.
Yes, we did, and we were very sorry you couldn't be in attendance, Thomas.
Yes, yes. Well, I was on The Continent.
Uh, business in London waits for no man these days.
What we did, sir, let no man put asunder.
And I must say, though I am positively rhapsodic to see you looking so well.
I feared the crash of '73 would've shaken your foundations.
Oh, heavens, no, no, no, no.
Only a fool doesn't diversify.
Bella here is the very ambassadress of diversification.
- Aren't you, mon petit chou? - Guilty, mon coeur!
Pretend you have some manners, for the lady's sake.
Don't insult me.
Were we not in the company of said lady, I would call you what you are.
What's that?
A jackass, my dear.
All right, you win.
And we thank you very kindly, sir.
Mr. Durant, thank you. The food was divine.
Oh, it's nothing. Nothing at all.
Hell On Wheels - 05x11 - Gambit
Miss Palmer? Maggie? Did you hear what I said?
$250,000 or Thomas Durant dies.
The note says to contact the Union Pacific Board.
- That's just what we'll do. - No, we should contact the fort.
A government official was murdered.
Martin Delaney was a railroad employee and Thomas Durant is its president.
That makes this a railroad matter to be dealt with by railroad personnel.
Now, I'm the only stockholder in this town with the authority to handle it.
We'll do just what they say. We'll contact the board.
The board will pay. They have to.
You give him the note, he telegraphs the board of the railroad,
they pay, we all go home rich.
It was a simple plan, John.
Yeah, a simple plan that turned to shit. I adapted.
By killing the Chief Engineer of the Union Pacific
in front of a newspaper reporter?
The railroad will pay twice as fast now blood's been spilled.
Blood brings guns, not money.
They'll have our heads in the noose!
My head, not yours! I was the one on the train. Not you!
It's me at risk here, all right?
Delaney's death was a tragic, unforeseen consequence.
But it's in the past, it's out of our hands.
We need to control and I mean control...
What happens next.
From the inside.
You think it was ranchers behind this?
No, no. Thomas paid them off.
There was no way any of us could have predicted what happened, Miss Palmer.
Durant burned this whole town with his land scheme and I helped...
I helped him create more enemies than you can count.
The board will pay, Maggie.
Once these men get what they want, Durant will walk free.
It'll be over soon.
It's from the Union Pacific in New York...
The Union Pacific board is refusing to pay the ransom.
They've referred the matter to the federal government.
Laramie's welcome wagon, led by a criminal...
No surprise there.
I'm a Union Pacific shareholder now, Governor.
I hope you have bags of money following you off that train, for Durant's sake.
I didn't get elected by caving to demands of thugs and ransomers.
When we find the men responsible,
the only payment they'll receive is swift justice.
They're not gonna pay, Eva. And when they don't...
- Campbell's gonna get him killed. - Oh, hell with Campbell.
We'll start a collection.
I got $1,000.
Spends just as good as any government money.
Plus I got a horse. I could sell him.
Keep your horse, honey.
There ain't enough assets in this whole damn town to raise the ransom.
Who could've done this?
From his accent, the leader was Irish.
What did he say to you?
"Up. Move."
Short words. He was... He was trying not to speak.
After Marty tried to stop him...
He didn't have to shoot him.
And after the leader murdered Mr. Delaney?
There were two riders who held up the railroad crew.
They put Durant on a horse and rode off.
Look, Durant always owes people money.
If we can look at the Railroad's books...
- The books? - Yes.
We follow Durant's debts, then we can find out who did this.
Right then, I'll release the books. Anything to help.
I just need consent from the board members first.
We don't have time to waste on the damn board!
You've had a difficult day, Miss Ellison.
- Don't patronize me. - You're lucky to be alive.
In which direction did they ride?
I'm sorry?
Even a starting direction would help, madam.
North. They rode north.
- That's enough. - Get to it, Major.
- We have to call it off. - No chance.
I ain't risking the rope to walk away with empty pockets.
There's no money, John. Campbell won't pay.
John Campbell cannot afford the political fallout of my death.
- He will pay. - He's brought the cavalry onto us.
And they have Indian trackers, who are going to find us.
- And when they do... - If they do.
We'll just have to get rid of the witness, Michael.
Oh, you're going to kill me, Mr. Shea?
Yeah. You think you can stop me, old man?
Nobody's killing nobody.
Now, you brought me into this because I know how to run a job.
You gotta trust me, Doc.
You say Campbell will pay.
We just have to make that his only option.
You all right?
Marty was a good man.
A friend.
And now he's dead, for what?
Just a little bit of money, that's it.
Oh, I'll be fine. No need to worry about me.
- Miss Ellison. - Governor.
- Shouldn't leave a scar. - Thank you.
Railroad's account books. Government audit.
Oh.
Thank you.
- Louise. - John.
I regret our last conversation. The way things ended...
Before the railroad moved on from Cheyenne.
I've put Cheyenne behind me.
Where it belongs.
I hope you find something.
Inside! Go! Now!
What is this?
_
If they don't get their money, the next body we see will be Thomas Durant's.
Message Secretary McCulloch.
Tell him we need $250,000 wired to the Laramie Central forthwith.
Yes, sir.
Thank you.
The son of a bitch needs to finish what he started.
Grant needs this damned road done and so do I.
I don't care about your reasons. Thank you, John.
They knew we were coming, Major.
And the "Irish accent," the lady reported.
Trail McGinnes.
- The Major is awful interested in you. - I know it.
Where's Shea?
What'd you do?
Mickey.
What the hell did you do?
I'm in trouble, Eva.
Durant, he hired us.
Nobody was supposed to get hurt...
But Shea...
He killed Delaney.
We killed that soldier today.
Listen here, Mickey.
Shea won't blink at killing Durant.
And he's been trouble ever since he showed up in Cheyenne.
You know what you've got to do.
And what, pray tell, is that?
You've got to kill that mad dog.
Look at my face.
What is it you see here that makes you think I'd murder my own kin?
You know I'm right.
Charming.
What's that, Fatty?
You remind me of a gorilla I saw once in a traveling circus.
Only the gorilla had better breeding.
You'd be wise to mind your hole or I'm liable to give y'another.
I'd wager your mother dropped you on your head more than once
when you were a baby.
Whiskey fingers, as you well know, can be slippery.
You're nothin' but a bloated old Mary-Ann.
I should kill you right here and now!
You're an idiot!
A useless, pathetic, idiot.
If you don't shut your hole,
you'll be shittin' your death shit right here in this murky drink...
Some privacy, please?
Oh.
I think I've a notion of who you're wantin' for this.
I've not seen my cousin anywhere since this whole thing started.
Pains me to say it,
but that's what I'm figurin'.
Your own blood.
He's killed Delaney.
He'll kill Durant, too.
We both know what he's capable of.
You saw him take out a man's eye.
I did.
Johnny's never been a very patient man.
You best get that ransom together quick.
Lads.
Campbell thinks it was you behind this.
What in hell made him think that?
Well, we needed a credible threat for Durant, so I told him.
It's over, John, and so is our time in this godforsaken country.
- We'll take the money and we'll go home. - Ireland?
Are you off your head?
It's like I fell asleep on a train four years ago.
I had a brother, a family...
Dreams of gold.
But it's like I've woken up, I'm alone...
In hell.
You're not alone, sure. You've got me.
America's an awful bitch. I'm done with it.
Would you listen to yourself?
You're a big man here.
You have whores, cash. You have a saloon.
You've a stake in a railroad, for Christ's sake.
There's nothing back home but bleedin' famine and Englishmen.
At least we can breathe there.
And with the money from this job, John, we could run things.
You know what?
You're god damned right.
They're gonna pay.
Of course they'll pay.
We can't have the country's most consequential businessman
taken by bandits.
And they'll keep quiet about it.
It's the American Way!
Aye.
It must be exhausting, being so consequential.
Make the drop. But not until Thomas Durant
has been handed over to your custody.
Understood.
Major Bendix and his men will finish with Mr. Shea.
Maggie... A word.
You're too late, Miss Ellison.
Johnny Shea killed Mr. Delaney and kidnapped Durant.
McGinnes turned him in.
Why?
No loyalty amongst rats.
Maggie,
Durant told you he wired for money to pay off the ranchers?
Yes.
I've been through the books. There's no wire.
- He sold his personal stock. - No, he didn't.
He's broke.
Ransom yourself.
- That's one way to solve that problem. - A man was killed.
- Your friend, murdered. - Yes, and I wasn't.
I'm not lucky to be alive.
I think Shea was told not to kill me on that train by Thomas Durant.
What you are suggesting is beyond absurd. This isn't a dime novel.
You don't know what happened on that train, Louise.
You were there but you don't know.
I'm telling you, Maggie. Shea was following orders.
Unpack that cash. I'll squander neither money nor lives.
- We wait. - Your waiting is gonna get him killed.
- We only have a few hours before... - Listen to me...
Miss Ellison may just be right.
Durant is just the kind of man to do such a thing,
arrange his own kidnapping.
- No. - If she's wrong, if we're wrong...
Durant's no worse off than he is now.
If we're right, won't be long before he waltzes through that door.
Of course, he'll have to stand trial
for what befell his chief engineer on that train.
Fine.
Do what you want.
Bring me Mickey McGinnes.
John Campbell is not going to let the murderer
of the chief engineer of the Union Pacific railroad go free.
He will hunt your cousin down until he finds him.
And when he finds him...
Do you think we can rely on that thing up there?
It would be prudent to tie things off.
No loose ends.
You're absolutely right.
That would be the prudent thing to do.
So when these bastards get here, and drop that money off,
that thing up there and me are gonna take it
and get the hell out of this shit hole.
No, you're not.
That's what we're doing. There's not a damn thing you can do about it,
so I don't want to hear another word out of your mouth.
Rider approaching!
Maggie? What are you doing here?
No one else thought you were worth saving.
We'll be needin' the cash, darlin'.
Come on.
There's $50,000 in there. You just take it and go.
Look, we need to take this money and get the hell out of here. Now.
Take the damn money. Take it and get of here.
$250,000. Not 50.
It's not enough.
It's enough for the life that we want.
Enough for the life you want, maybe.
Damn it, John, will ya listen to me?
McGinnes?
No.
Maggie...
Jesus... Maggie!
Why?
Maggie, Maggie.
No loose ends.
When the train came to a stop,
the masked man boarded my car.
Dandy Johnny Shea, I later found out.
He shoots my chief engineer, thoroughly unprovoked,
and forces me off at gunpoint.
We ride on horseback to an abandoned depot a few miles north,
at the end of a defunct spur.
After a time, maybe half a day,
we moved again.
I liked Miss Palmer.
She was a good woman.
A good businesswoman.
Anyway,
I was meeting a man out at Soda Springs when it happened.
He sells these.
Grapefruit.
A bit more bitter than I'd hoped.
Go on.
Ugh!
Exotic, isn't it?
When the time came...
Yes?
When the time came,
Maggie Palmer rode up over the ridge.
She had a sack of money.
And Dandy Johnny Shea... He picked up the bag,
shot her dead and rode away, if I had to guess.
- Where would he go? - Christ if I know.
Uh... I'd start anyplace that sells liquor or whores.
He could still be in Wyoming.
He could be in New York.
Uh, California...
Ireland.
He could be anywhere.
I don't know.
One thing's gnawing at me.
Why didn't he kill you?
I don't know, John.
Maybe he got tired of all the death.
I know I am.
I'm free to go, I assume.
I know what happened out there.
I know the whole story.
I can't prove it.
But I know it.
I've told you the whole story.
There's nothing else to know.
That $50,000...
She sold her hotel to save you.
I killed him.
I killed my cousin.
I killed my brother.
- Stop... - I'm sorry. I'm sorry!