04x07 - A Hair-Trigger Away

[bunniefuu]

Will you listen to me?

Honey, I'm fine.

Well, don't tell me that.

No, I swear, you worry too much.

Okay, okay, please, Claire.

Just stay there.

What time are you coming home?

Look, I don't know.

Well, I'll surely be back by then.

Claire!

What are you doing away from the car?

What's eating you?

You want to know what's
eating me, I'll tell you.

The streets is filled with dirt that walks.

You let it pile up for one
second and it buries you.

Now we have a big time
age salesman to grab.

We're waiting for our tail call right now.

And you decide to take a
walk away from the radio.

That's what's eating me.

Car 92, pick up your tail.

A brown and white Cadillac
approaching you on 33rd.

There he is.

See the bag? Yeah.

Mallick has the bag.

That salesman is close.

I'll get a backup.

Hello, central, this is car 92.

Mr Mallick.

Cabrillo.

A beautiful sight than any currency.

Don't touch the money.
I've got to taste this stuff first.

Stop! Police!

Go down to the
gate and stay there.

I'll flush them down here.
Great, move.

You know, you spend ten
some odd years on the force...

and then some bum suckers you
onto a dirty old barge and you get k*lled.

Tell me what happened.

I saw a g*n flash.

Morgan was supposed to stay up by the gate.

I thought the salesmen were sh**ting at me.

Well, obviously you
didn't identify the target.

Morgan shouldn't have been there.

Morgan is dead and he blew it.

Don't you have people to question?

Was he wrong?

Look, there was a shootout.

Whoever went down was
the victim of the shootout.

If that isn't clear, what
the hell is this all about?

Lieutenant, there's an automatic
lock on that door over there...

and this is what held it open.

He's planning to escape before they meet.

All right.

We're dealing with a very special pro.

Theo!

Another mess we didn't need.

Oh, Captain, did you know the I.A.D.
was tailing you?

Theo, cooperate. It's too hot.

What do you want me to do,
sit here and get press releases?

You want me to get over
there and do something about it?

Captain, I want Giddings transferred
to the Chief of Detectives Office...

until this is investigated.

You know that Giddings is the
key to this long, hard, dirty case?

And he is also one of your
boys in your mother hand.

I don't care if he's your son-in-law.
He's out. It's the rule.

Hey, Captain, he wants to
take the man off this case...

who's been wet-nursing it from day one.

Are you ready for this?

He does understand.

You know the regulations?

Captain, I know I need Giddings.

You know what else I know?

I know you can do something about it.

All right, I want you to cover
this entire leaky pigsty here.

We might come up with something.

What are we looking for?

- Corporal Klutz.

Just keep looking, okay?

You might discover America.

Giddings has been
transferred to the Borrow Office.

Oh, Frank.

I'll get them to loan him back to us.

Thanks.
- It stinks.

It makes me a manipulator... like some of
the guys I criticize for the same stunts.

But it fills the requirements.

He's technically out of the department.

We'll have to k*ll him, Frank.
He did the right thing.

Stavros.

Yes, sir.

Get Giddings.

He's just left.

What the hell is he up
to now?

I have an idea. Relax.

It's beautiful.

This is prettier.

Louis, you didn't tell
me you pulled it off.

How many times can you do it?

Oh, maybe two, maybe three.

But one is enough.

Next time I sell it, we
leave the city with a fortune.

Champagne?

Salud.

Where?

Over there.

Hey, go easy.

You said if I tipped you,
you'd promise to go easy.

Don't scold me.

I do not want to be scolded.

I needed it, Len.

Needed a fix.

It's pretty here.

Oh!

Do you think that we'll
ever have a life together, Len?

Some people have made
out after worse starts.

Over there.

Please don't tell a man.

Please. Look, he'll k*ll me.

Relax here.

You're wealthy.

I see Leo is still true to form.

Yeah, well, you
figured if it's important to

you, it's important to me
because we're friends.

Maybe you can't handle
it alone in like that.

Hi.

Claire, this is Lieutenant Kojak.

Yeah, I know, Claire.

We met last year at Captain
McNeil's birthday party.

Hi.

I got a virus sweating it out.

Yeah.

Come here.

Lieutenant.

They made her this way.

The pushers, the salesmen.

She was going through a bad divorce.

She was scared.
And they hooked her.

They did it.

Now, you listen.

I don't want no yo-yo cop walking
around these streets like a blind man.

Do you understand?

I stuck my neck out for you, baby.

Look, I'm okay.

Morgan was an accident.

I swear.

Now, I know this case.

I know the people involved
and I know I can break it.

I'll give you an hour.

You take her home and I'll meet you.

I can't kick it then.

I... I get scared in
that room on my own.

We'll work it out.

You got your job.

I've got my life.

Let's go home.

Can you stand up?

Two potato, one cheese.

Told you I wasn't hungry.

Are you kidding?

I mean, fit for kings and
queens, these Jewish jelly beans.

I got to make a phone call.

You know that deep in your gut
Morgan blew it and not Giddings.

No.

No, man, I want to leave.

Because I know what
this has been all about.

This let's take a ride
downtown for knishes.

And on the way back you
start telling me how it would

be a good idea to get
together with him on this bust.

Are you on this roster
or not? I don't know.

If I have to work with
Giddings, I don't know.

He used to be OK.
Lately he doesn't talk.

He doesn't listen.

It's the first time I've been afraid to run
up the stairs with a partner behind me.

Hey, Crocker, he's got his problems.

Why don't you give him a break?

What problems?

Big ones.

Now, every time I see a kid
on the street without his father,

I think of my own kid.

I guess having a kid was a mistake,

but she wanted a normal life.

How can a cop's wife have a normal life?

So our marriage broke up.

The divorce really
whipped me over the coals.

It was like withdrawal.

Then I met Claire at one of those
divorced people's

therapy groups.

We got along.

We suffered together.

But she was really coming apart.

I guess I was too busy
with my work to notice.

Hey, maybe if the guys
knew about it, Claire.

Sure.

Then the I.A.D. hears about it, and
suddenly I'm moved to a less sensitive area.

And Claire, when Claire hears about it,

she comes apart over what she did to me.

Hey.

Andy!

Getting ready to pick
up some white stuff, huh?

That's what you're whistling
for, right?

Oh, no, man.

Okay, okay.

Where's your sauce?

Come on, here, blow me away, man.

You want me to file what I got
on you, or did we have a deal?

Okay, man, no, we got a deal.

We got a deal.

Call it.

Dan Hudson.

You just don't tell him it was me, huh?

All right, now you try to
stay clean, all right, baby?

I'm telling you, I know this
case better than anybody.

Yeah, what are you getting
so hot about, huh? Cool it off.

Now, once you drop me off at Mallick's
brother, I want to pay my condolences, okay?

Then I want you to go find
Hudson and stake him out.

And when you do, you call me.

What, are you sweating about me?

I'm sweating you, and
you know it's the weather.

Come on.

My dear fellow,

I found myself in the unfortunate position
of a businessman forced to renegotiate

at a time when he was
totally unable to do so.

Look, do you know who he was?

Do you know who his brother is?

George Mallick, the George Mallick.

Mr. Scammons, we have a deal to consummate.

Why do we discuss a former customer?

Because everybody is talking.

The one thing I don't want
is for George Mallick to get

any kind of idea that I was
part of his brother's burn.

I see.

Well, under the circumstances,
and due to recent attempts by

certain customers to turn
me into a target of opportunity,

shall we say good
day?

Wait, wait.

A little more time.

I'm getting things together here.

Scammons, more time
often becomes too much time.

Will he get it?

He'll get it.

Yes, I much prefer the black one.

Hello there, it's your
friendly neighborhood cop.

He's in mourning, Kojak.
Can't you see the reef?

Oh, George, I share your grief.

I appreciate your sympathy, but
this is no day for me to talk to a cop.

I have to buy a casket.

Oh, well, look at it from
my side of the street.

No day is a good day to talk
to a hood, so there, we're even.

So, out of respect for the
deal he departed, no fight.

I'll just ask my quick
question, and I'll be on my way.

Who's your brother's k*ller?

You come here to
protect that pig, Giddings.

My brother's k*ller? You got him.

And he also k*lled a cop.

Ballistic says it wasn't Giddings' g*n.

Does it penetrate? The salesman, baby.

You cover it this way,
you cover it that way.

Giddings the cop.

Giddings the crazy man
who sees pushers under every rock,

and he's been after
my brother for a year.

Hey, your brother was
ripped off by the salesman.

I just want you to think about it, okay?

He's set up by this guy,

takes the money, makes
another sale someplace else.

This way, you double your profits,

you double your pleasure,
double your fun, I like that.

Lieutenant, I'm filled with grief.

Get lost.

Hey, Georgie
Porgy, eliminate by.

I lost one of my best cops, okay?

Sure, Giddings gunned fire this shot,

but your brother and the salesman
might just as well have been pointing at.

And I want him. So all you
gotta do is tell me when the

next sale is coming down
and then you just sit and wait.

I'll look into it. Hey, man.

When you tell me
you're gonna look into it,

I'm telling you that's
all you better do. Look.

He's in...

What's aroused?

Uh, the big patches, baby.

The pure white, uh, heroin.

You know, the kind that got Mallick k*lled.

Now you want to join
him, you want to join us.

Come on, Hudson, give me an excuse and
I'll jam that sandwich down your throat.

I don't know a thing about any shipments.

I'm into numbers, you know that.

Let him go.

What'd you let him go for?

Hey, from the look on his
face, you ought to tell why.

If he don't talk to us, we
send him away on vacation.

If he does talk, the
neighborhood blows him away.

This way, who knows?
He'll go back to his boss

and say do something different
and maybe we can follow it.

Wait a second.

Yesterday, Joe Mallick was with
a girl that looked a lot like that.

She walked like that, too?
Yeah, pretty much.

She looked like she'd just stepped out of
one of those glamour magazines, you know?

That's a change of routine.

You know, Mallick's wife, she's
big and fat and he loved her.

Where'd you see him together?

A cafe, coming out of a
cafe in the West Village.

I'll follow that.
You stay here on the street.

All right, get Mallick's photo out of
the file and bring it down to the cafe.

See if they can remember.

Let's face it, how many chicks could he
know that shave under their arms? Right.

Oh, hi there.

Hi there.

I'm just going downtown to
break bread with the brass.

Want to join me?

Well, what do they want now?

I don't blame you for not
wanting to get down there.

I don't want to get down there either.

Even when they have a party down there,

I prefer that they send a piece of
cake up here because I do not, repeat,

I do not enjoy that building down there.

So we shuffled getting his papers
a little bit and he's still with us.

Huh? And somebody's yelling.

They want Giddings
treated like every other cop

who does what he did.
Are they being unreasonable?

Let me tell you something, Frank.

If you pull Giddings out of this thing
right now, you know what's going to happen?

Mallick is going to think that he
did it and you're going to mock him.

What the hell are we worried about now?

How the hoods will
accept what we do? Oh, no.

We're worried about 20 kilos of heroin
in the hands of some k*ller salesman.

We're also wondering about Mallick's big
brother George who's after Giddings' blood.

And we don't have time
for a departmental review

on the character of Mr. Giddings as
a police officer and as a gentleman.

Well, would he pass
the way he's been acting?

He's got his problems.

I figured.

Well, what should I know?

Frank.

Theo.

Let me worry about it, okay?

You know, Theo,

every time you say to me,

Frank,

let me worry about it.

I worry about it.

Now, we pulled something
to keep him on the job.

A lot of the guys don't like it.

Are you telling me that Giddings should
be afraid to turn his back on another cop?

Don't ask me what I'm telling you.

You know what I'm telling you.

Frank, I can handle him.

Really? You know what Morgan
told me before he got blown away?

That he could handle Giddings, too.

I figured some muscle might help.

There he is over there.

You're bigger than he is?

Yeah, but your shield is
bigger than mine, lieutenant.

That's true.

Dumpler, doubler of all people.

Hell, Jack, like old times.

Oh, no, no, no,
not like old times.

Old times.

Here comes a couple of little tables
and a little store. Now, look at you.

You're all over the streets.

Yeah, go figure.

Well, I figure you know
something about Joseph Mallick.

I told him I don't know about Mallick.

Well, you know that he was
a very, very, very bad person.

And you know his brother still is.

You get the message.

Oh, you get the message.

You see all these tables inside, outside,

down a sewer, if your
memory keeps failing you.

All right.

So we met this doll.

She was a looker and they talked.

What did they talk about?

Mallick said she ate nothing.

She laughed and said that models get fat
just looking at food. That's all I heard.

Come on, I'll take you down to the station.

I'll introduce you to
the police sketch artist.

And if it's any good, I'll have
them autograph it for you.

You still go with that schoolteacher?

Nice looking chick, huh?

Crocker, let's get something straight.

You're working on this
case for two reasons.

One, to help us get to the
bottom of this heroin handoff.

And two,

because I blew my partner away.

And no part of either one of
those reasons includes chit chat.



Hey, Giddings.

What's going down? Come on, man.

Please.

What you guys up to?

Get away, chum.

Now, look what I found.

Three months of cold
turkey if I pull you in.

Okay, okay. What you want?

Your pimp's a pusher.
Where does he get the stuff?

Make it look good.

Does he believe it?

Yeah, yeah. He believes it.

Okay, so, uh, he's got
a lot of money on him.

He's waiting.

Just set up the deal.

Who with?

I don't know.

Somebody's making a lot
of promises on the street.

Come on, come on.

Last time, the guy drove
a maintenance truck.

When he comes by on that
thing, nobody notices.

Giddings. Don't leave me out here.

Try running that way.

He'll never catch you
with those alligator boots.

You know what's gonna happen, right?

She hooks for that pusher.

She also turns other girls
on so he can hold them.

Now, if you want a babysit
for her, you be my guest.

Where's Crocker?

He passed out about an hour ago.

That's clear.

Trying?

Well, that's more than
most of us do with our lives.

We'd have this around the clock.
Why don't you go home to her?

We need a lead.

Never the salesman.

One day's suitor is gonna do her any good.

What about all the others out there?

You think I don't care about them?

You think I'm thinking
only about myself or her?

Okay, but sometimes
you gotta forget about

the ballgame and just
worry about one player.

Get off your chair,

grab your coat over there, go
downstairs to your car and go home.

Right now, baby.

Honey, please.

You're doing fine.

I need a face.

Claire, I'll call you
back in five minutes.

That maintenance company has
over 200 trucks in the city alone.

There's no way to account for any of them

being on that street
at that time of the day.

Well, you contact the drivers and
let them account for themselves.

There, Kitsy.

Hey, wait a minute. Come on, sit down.

I just want Gittings.

Look at me!

I begged you.

You miserable pig.

Hey, wait a minute. Come here.

What do you got for me?

This is the girl who met Joe
Mallick before he was shot.

Louis,

don't try to get away with it again.

It's a tempting idea, isn't it?

I know you. You like the excitement.

A million is enough.

No.

Ex-model, ex-actress.

She quit her job a couple of months ago.

Now she's an airline stewardess.

Her usual flight is to Mexico City.

I call the airport.

But tonight she's flying to [...].

Oh, yeah? When?

Less than an hour.

For which airport? Neither.

The Lancaster Hotel.

That's where they put the crews up.

I know you a long time.

It suddenly came to me that you've been

a second-rate delivery
boy for a second-rate hood.

And it won't ever get better
until you make it better.

Right?

Anything you say, Mr. Mallick.

I knew I'd pick the right boy.

What I say is

you take this envelope.

Charlie?

Oh, you don't even
have to call for the police.

We're already here.

No, no, no, no.

Let the lady do her own housework.

It's needed that way.

All finished?

Huh.

Good.

They just went into the park around.

You have the right to remain silent
and refuse to answer questions.

You understand?

Hey, kid inks, what's George
Mallick doing in midtown?

He never set foot above 14th Street.

Maybe he's looking for somebody.

You know, I think he met
him when he said he was

gonna even the score with
the guy who hit his brother.

What do you say, cookie?

Your honey got a better
chance with us or with him?

The Park Doral, room 1705.

Stavros.

Room 1705, Park Doral Hotel.
And we're on our way.

Take the lady to Manhattan South.

So you see,

taking revenge against my brother's k*ller

is the most important
thing I could ever do.

Mr. Mallick,

your desire for revenge has
stopped you from thinking.

The police officer closed in on us.

I ran.

My g*n, the stuff, the money.

I left everything behind.

How much does a cop make?

So he shot his partner.

And your brother.

No, Cabrillo, you're wrong.

It's not a g*n in his pocket.

It's a knife.

Mr. Mallick, I assure you I'm not a fool.

The K*llers are in the car,

and the car is down the street.

You're only creating suspicion,
pushing me around like this.

Cabrillo, one brother is dead,

the other one plays it safe.

Which car?

That black car there.

Here it is.

Oh, and I,

I talked to your kids today.

They want to know why you haven't
come home from your vacation,

and why you haven't
even sent them a postcard.

And, I think they're
beginning to like me.

How can you stand me?

A junkie.

I can't face life, so...

I sh**t up.

And it doesn't help
keeping you from your work.

And you don't get any sleep.

And I'm wrecking your life.

And your job, and

you don't deserve that.

I'll tell you what I deserve.

I deserve not to be alone.

I deserve to be happy.

You made me happy.

You made me laugh.

I was more afraid of
being alone than you were.

Then you'll never be alone again.

Okay?

They hurt you.

Once upon a time,
there was a little boy.

One day, he went out
and he lay down in a field.

And all of a sudden,

he saw a flower.

And it was like no flower
he had ever seen before.

But when he reached
out to touch it,

it stuck him.

And it made his finger bleed.

But you know what?

He still wanted to keep
that flower alive and beautiful

and with him forever.

Because as long
as he had that flower,

he knew he had something special.

And I let you bleed too.

And you also make me feel

like I have something

very special.

Hey, Lenny.

Let me explain, Frank.

Don't tell me how it really
happened at the hotel.

I don't want to know. I heard
how he handled that hooker.

She's also a pusher.

I don't care what she is.

He let her walk into that beating.

That's no way for a cop to act.

Not one of my cops.
Now what happened at the hotel?

He blow that too? No,
the salesman got away.

He didn't blow it, Frank.

Theo, I know this is an important
case and it's got everybody uptight.

You want it over, I want it over.

But Giddings is going to k*ll someone.

He goes at that street
like it was his private

w*r. And he will
k*ll someone again.

Frank, he's not going to win
any contests, but he works hard.

You know, bad or good,
he's the only key we got.

You better be right.

How about that maintenance company?


and they're all accounted for.

Well, why don't you check the service
stations, okay? Maybe they borrowed one.

Come on! What about the tire company?

What about the tire company, Lieutenant?

Mallick left his house.

I tailed him to a place
where he parked his car.

Who pulls out of the tire shop? Dan Hudson.

Hey, Giddings, I think
we've got our break.

Come on! Bakery trucks,

laundry trucks,

maintenance trucks, I like that.

How old are you?

Thirty-four.

You never make forty, you know that?

I remember when you
first came on the force.

Your mouth was so dry
you couldn't make spit.

And two days later you wixed and painted

to stop us as water for
the plants, eh, Lenny?

What happened to all the laughs, kid?

You saw what they did to him?

What's there to laugh about?

How's this for starters?

You and me, here we are standing
on this dirty stoop in New York

and in some air-conditioned
restaurant someplace some cheap punk

with two chicks out his arm is
sipping those frozen daiquiris.

Hey, that's life, baby.

If you don't laugh about
it, you gotta go bananas.

Easy, baby.

No wonder we never made it.

We're looking for cars
and they're using trucks.

Crocker.

A plumbing truck.

Come on.

All right, you take that roof.

Hey, you split so fast.
You okay?

Yeah.

A cold turkey that's pretty
rough, haven't you?

He was friend.

I mean, not just his boss.

Yeah, you think so?

Well, save his life.

Tell him to give up on me.

Well,

life is life, baby.

And we can always predict
what's gonna happen, right?

Suppose it happens again.

Suppose I go back on.

All right, then don't wait until the
captain's next party for us to get together.

Good luck.

I almost shot you on the roof.

Yeah, well,

I shouldn't been there.

Neither should Morgan.

It doesn't hurt any less.

Do you think there's any hope?

You're helping to fight it?

Hey, Lenny.

Why don't you take your vacation now?

Come on, take it.

I know you can be of help to her.

But then when you come back,

you, me, the captain, whatever

we'll talk about,

we'll review our mistakes, okay?

Lenny!

I'll see you, baby.