The Presidio (1988) - full transcript

Try to imagine:
Colonel Gray's secretary.

Unbelievable. I mean I'm talking
Hoover here.

She's been after my ass for months.

Uh-uh. Jody called in sick.

- I'm gonna put you on a desk du...
- My ass you are.

Well, stay on the radio. The fog's
a bitch out there tonight.

OK.

I saw some activity awhile ago
at Fort Point.

Patti Jean,

if you get cold out there,
you give me a call.

I got a jacket.



- It's not the same as a man.
- Neither are you.

Unit One Foxtrot is 10-8.

Unit One Foxtrot to Dispatch 297.

Scared away a couple of lovebirds.

Judging by the car, you'd think
they could afford a nice motel room.

10-4 One Foxtrot.
Stay on the handset, Patti Jean.

Yes, Daddy.

One Foxtrot to Dispatch 297.

Checking an open door
at Officers' Club.

One Foxtrot stand by for Unit Two Bravo
to back you up.

Stay where you are, Patti Jean.
Bud's leaving right now.

Stay where you are.

Freeze!

Presidio, this is Unit One Bravo.
I've had a T.A.



Suspect vehicle,
light-coloured Lincoln

heading southbound
on Bernard from Presidio.

Get him. The bastard
run me off the road!

Son of a bitch!

Shit! Hang on.

We've got him! We've got him!
He's heading for the Arguello Gate.

Stay on the base, Zeke.
Do not pursue off base.

SFPD will be notified.
They will respond.

Do you read me?

Zeke, answer me, damn it!

We want to catch him
we'll have to cut him off!

You all right?

Yeah.

Hey, scuzzball.

What's this, plant food?

Come on, Ace. That's not my stuff.

- No?
- No.

I borrowed this vest from
a friend of mine tonight, alright?

And it belongs to him.

That's what it is.

Is that right?

Attention all units. Possible 459.

'86 Lincoln travelling
eastbound on Lombard.

Come on, Schmitty. Let's move.

Hang in there, Leroy.

Save this for me till we get back,
would you pal?

- Hey, gentlemen, this is not legal.
- So sue us!

Dispatch, we are in pursuit
of a silver Lincoln

travelling southbound
on Arguello from California,

at speeds in excess of
70mph and climbing.

Roger, Edward Five. All units
in the area, please respond.

Edward Five, eastbound California.

Roger, Edward Five.

Austin.

Yeah. Be right there.

Howard, I'm gonna give you
one more chance.

- Who were you with?
- I don't know jack shit.

Come on Howard, you're too dumb to
have done something like this by yourself.

Come on.

When you were in the army, you were
stationed at the Presidio, weren't you?

Mm-Hm. Why?

There's been a shooting.
I'd like you to handle it.

A Colonel by the name of Caldwell,
he's in charge.

Yeah. I know him. I don't like him.

So? Don't take any shit from the Army.

Howard, my man,
this doesn't look too good for you.

This will be your third time down.

Third time. Ooh.

That's the big one.

- Eat shit!
- You got that wrong there.

I'm gonna be in restaurants
eating steak and lobster.

You'll be in the slam
for the rest of your life.

Shit is what you'll be eating.
It's their best entree!

Howard is beginning to see the light.

Hey. Hey.

Oh, Jesus!

You'll be OK. You'll be OK.
I'll get some help.

My heart!

What?

- Priest.
- What?

Right there man!

You move, and I'll kill the cop!

Take your gun out.
Nice and easy, by the barrel.

Drop it on the ground
and kick it to me.

Do it now, or I'll fucking blow him away!
I swear to...

Don't give him your gun.

Give me the god damn gun.
You want to die, cop?

Nope.

Do you?

- Put the gun away.
- Give me the gun! I'm gonna do it.

Think about it, pal.

You shoot me,
he's gonna shoot you.

Keep your eyes on me. If you take
your eyes off me I guarantee I'll kill you.

I'll do it!

Either way pal, you're dead.

- I'm gonna shoot!
- You know, you keep saying that.

I don't think you're gonna do it.

He's got his hand on his gun now.

It's not quite working out the way
you thought it was, huh?

Live or die asshole. Your choice.

I need some help in here, now!

OK, everybody. Let's go.
Move back. Let's go.

It doesn't concern you. Let's go.

The show's over. Come on. Back. Back.

Hey Zeke, how's it hanging?

Austin.

What in the hell
are you doing here?

- No shit?
- No shit.

- You didn't steal that?
- I didn't steal it.

What happened, some officer
shoot himself in the foot?

It's Patti Jean.
She never had a chance.

- I'm sorry, Jay.
- Is the old man inside?

If there's anything I can do...?

It's a kentia palm, sir.

Sergeant Mueller, I don't care what
it's called. When did you last water it?

Excuse me sir, would the Colonel
like me to type up my report?

Who are you?

John Mueller, sir.
I manage the Officers' Club.

You checked the inventory?

Yes sir, but there's nothing in here
to steal, just supplies.

No? Well somebody wanted something
because somebody broke in here and
killed that girl.

- Yes, sir.
- Don't call me sir.

Anything missing?

No, sir...
I mean, no. Nothing.

- The rear door's been jimmied.
- Yeah, I noticed that.

My people will handle this
from now on.

I don't want your guys
to touch anything.

Oh, really?

Listen to me.

What we've got here is a
multi-jurisdictional investigation

involving the cooperation of the army

and the San Francisco Police Department.
Now I'm the police part.

As far as I know CID still handles
felonies, don't they?

So, unless I miss my guess,

you're still the provost marshal.
Isn't that right? - Mm-hm.

Sir.

Are you done?

Maybe.

Now listen, boy.

I was prepared to cut you a little
slack because of Patti Jean.

Well, your time's up, so listen real good
to what I'm gonna tell you.

This is my command here.

You watch your mouth
when you're here.

Or I just might cut off your balls
and serve them up for breakfast.

- Do you understand me?
- Oh,

yes, sir.

Good.

Mueller,
did you water this plant?

Say something.

- What?
- That's a start.

I'm Inspector Jay Austin,
San Francisco Police Department.

- Who are you?
- You didn't do that right.

- I didn't?
-No. You're supposed to show me your ID.

Close the door.

- What?
- Close the door.

Hello. I'm Inspector Austin,
San Francisco Police Department.

I'm looking for Colonel Caldwell.

This is where he lives.
He works somewhere else.

I figured that.

You wanna wait on the porch,
Inspector Jay Austin?

No, I wanna come in.

Donna Caldwell,
the colonel's daughter.

Did you here about the MP
that was killed last night?

Mm-hm.

Yeah, the phone's been
ringing off the hook.

Such a small post.
Never any excitement.

Tell me about it.

I used to be an MP here a few years
back, under your father's command.

- I never knew he had a daughter, though.
- I was away at school until last month.

Why did you leave the army?

- I had my reasons.
- Was my father one of them?

Yeah.

You're very pretty.

- Is it hard?
- Is what hard?

- Being a policeman.
- Oh, yeah.

Inspector Austin,
are you flirting with me?

Yeah, I thought it was
the other way around.

You know, your father is gonna
tell you all kinds of things about me.

What kind of things?

Mm. Not the good kind.

Are they true?

Find out for yourself.
Want to have dinner with me tonight?

You don't waste much time, do you.

How do I get hold of you without
going through your father?

- I should have made decaf.
- Listen.

He's gonna come walking through that
door any minute. He's an intelligent guy.

He's gonna take one look at you and me
talking and he's gonna figure out
right off what's going on.

- What's going on?
- How attracted you are to me.

You'll have him climbing the walls.
Then later, when he gets you alone,

he's gonna tell you what a jerk I am, and
he's gonna order you to stay away from me.

No. My father doesn't order me to
do anything. We have an agreement.

He'll break it.

No he won't. We made it
when I was 7 years old.

You were never 7 years old.
Free tonight?

I'm a free woman.

My card. My home address is on it.
Here's my phone number.

Call me.

You remember Jay Austin?

Yeah. I remember.

He remembers you.

What are you doing in my house?

I got a ballistics match on the weapon
that was used to kill the patrolman -

the slugs match the ones in Patti Jean.
- So?

They all came from a Tokarov 33.

So it's Russian.

It's still a long way to come
for a cup of coffee.

What do you want?

Well, I thought
I could use your help

and it would be best
not to go through channels.

My instincts tell me it belongs
to someone on the base.

Your instincts suck.

It could belong to anybody. It could
even belong to a Russian. They do
have a consulate, remember?

Or it could belong to someone who brought
it back from Vietnam as a war trophy.

I'm only going to ask you one more time.
What do you want?

I spoke with a Sergeant Garfield
this morning at the pistol range,

and I asked him if he knew anyone
who owned a Tokarov on the base.

He said he might.

When I tried to get more
information out of him, he

suddenly got amnesia and
threw a lot of red tape in my face.

And you want me to talk to Garfield.

I thought you told me
you only wanted to go through CID,

and I was just a provost marshal.
- Tell you what.

Forget it.

Wait!

Let's go.

- Afternoon, sir.
- At ease, Sergeant.

This is Inspector Austin,
San Francisco police.

I spoke to you one the phone
about a Tokarov 33.

Yeah.

You got one stored here?

Nope.

When I spoke with you
on the phone,

you mentioned you might
have some information for me.

That's right, but you didn't
ask me about any information.

You asked if the weapon
was stored here.

Fine.

Yeah, I'm having fun.
Are you having fun?

All right,

what information do you
have for me on a Tokarov 33?

I worked on one for an officer,
as a favour to him.

It had a busted firing pin.

I had to make him a whole new one.
Made it from scratch...

- out of tooled steel...
- Name of the officer?

God damn it, forget about him.
You look at me. The name of the officer?

- Colonel Lawrence.
- Paul Lawrence?

You knew.

You god damn knew.

That's all, Sergeant.

Did I say something I shouldn't?

- Let's go talk to him.
- No way.

I'll get a warrant.

See how far you get trying to serve it
on a federal reservation.

Since you got back here,

you've been trying to piss on me
like I'm some a tree in a park.

Because you thought you
didn't need me for anything.

So, suddenly it's a little different...
No!

If you want to talk to Colonel Lawrence,
you do it my way. Got that?

Whatever happened between you and Lawrence
happened a long time ago.

You were wrong then,
and you're wrong now.

There's a proper way
to do things.

And if you want to do anything
with my help,

you're gonna do it the proper way.

You coming?

I'll walk.

...Air Force academy as a freshman

and decided to become
a civilian once again.

The bears on the one. Gilbert.

There's MacDougal, going in motion.

There's the hand-off, right side,
a dive, and he doesn't get in.

Who's winning?

I don't know.
The bad guys, probably.

You're not going out
dressed like that, are ya?

- Like what?
- Why you can see right through that dress.

- You might as well go out without one?
- There's a thought.

Good night.

You're gonna see Austin,
aren't you?

I don't think that's a good idea.

- Yeah, he told me you'd say that.
- Oh did he. Did he tell you why?

- That's between you and him.
-Correct. And you shouldn't get in the middle.

I was just going out to dinner.
I don't tell you who to see.

You're god damn right
you don't!

If I did, I don't think
I would choose Myra.

That's her name isn't it?

The redhead who makes you
breakfast every Thursday mornings.

That's different.

There are certain things you don't know.

- Austin was an MP here, and I was his CO.
- He told me.

- He told you a lot.
- He told me some.

Oh, don't be fooled by him.
He has no respect for women.

And you have enormous respect
for Myra. I certainly do!

He'll use you to get at me.

Gonna fight again?

Look.

I care what happens to you.

I know that.

What is with you two anyway, huh?

Ah, it happened a couple of years
ago. You were away at school.

He and Patti Jean Lynch
were out on patrol.

- The girl who was shot the other night?
- Yeah.

And they pulled over
Paul Lawrence,

who had a little too much to drink,
words were exchanged,

- and Austin blew up.
- What do you mean, blew up?

Well, he claimed that Lawrence
had insulted the girl,

so he beat the hell out of him
and then threw him in the drunk tank.

And then you went right down and you
got Lawrence and you took him home.

Even if Lawrence
had insulted the girl,

there's no way he can
justify beating him up.

-That depends on the insult, doesn't it.
- No.

He was out of line,
he was an MP, for Christ's sake.

How the hell can you defend him,
you don't even know the guy!

I have a right to find out about him.
Don't I?

I don't want you seeing him.

Is that an order?

Yes, it is.

And what about our agreement?

Yeah.

He told me you'd break that, too.

Don't wait up for me.

I'm going to be late.

Shit on a stick.

- Hi.
- Hi.

- Am I late?
- 10 minutes.

10 minutes isn't late.

In my house after 5 minutes
they call out a search party.

You look great.

Some people say I look like my father.

Christ, what a thought!

- He know where you are?
- Yeah, he knows.

I got a question for you,
and I need a straight answer.

That's the only kind I got.

Why'd you want to have
dinner with me tonight?

Why do you think?

I'm not sure. My father thinks
you're using me to get at him.

- What do you think?
- I said I'm not sure.

Your father and I don't like
each other much.

That's no big secret.

There was an incident
when I was an MP at the Presidio.

I busted a Colonel named Lawrence,
a real sloppy drunk.

I threw him in the tank.

Did you beat him up first?

Yeah.

I told you your father was going to
tell you a lot of garbage about me.

And you also told me
to find out for myself.

- Did you beat him up?
- He resisted arrest,

then he started on my partner,
who was a woman.

Oh.

And were you involved
with your partner?

She was my partner. Lawrence was way out
of line. He took a swing at me, missed.

I hit him - once.

- Were you out of line?
- It depends on how you look at it.

- How do you look at it?
- No way. He deserved it.

And the son of a bitch had the balls
to demand that they court martial me.

So in walked your father.

What a sight - not a wrinkle on him.

He didn't want to know why.
He didn't care.

"Why?" isn't in his book,
just "how much? When? What?"

See, there was an officer involved.

That's all that mattered,
not my word. Hell, no.

I was just one of his men.

You want to know
what the colonel did?

Backed Lawrence.

He walked. And I lost
one of my stripes. That's it.

So I got out.

I'm here because I'm interested
in you, not your father.

Prove it.

What?

The way I see it,
we can do this either of two ways -

we can sit here and talk
for a couple of hours

and wonder what it would be like
to be alone together...

or we could just cut to the chase.

- Pull across the street. Follow me.
- Oh No. I think you should follow me.

You don't know where you're going.

What are you doin'?

Gave me your address,
remember?

Oh, God.

Come on.

I don't know.

After I got out of school,

I just thought I'd move
back home until I got settled.

Until I figured out
what I was gonna do.

My father would be happy if I married
an officer and had a million kids.

Would it make you happy?

How about your mum?

She and your father get divorced?

Nope.

My mother killed herself
when I was 2.

Sorry.

Where you going?

I've gotta get back.

I want to see you again.

I'll call you.

- You take it easy. I'll do the talking.
- OK.

Good morning, sir.
Colonel Lawrence is expecting you.

Thank you.

Good to see you, Alan.

Paul.

- What's he doing here?
- I need to ask you a couple of questions.

- What the hell is this?
- I'm afraid it's official business.

- Where's the gun, asshole?
- What?

You really are smooth.

- Where's the damn Tokarov?
- Up yours, kid!

He needs the gun. It's part of a
homicide investigation.

I don't have to answer any of his
dipshit questions. And I'm not going to.

Listen to me, Paul, you're marking time.
He can get a federal judge.

- Let him. I don't give a damn.
- I don't want it to come to that.

Now just give me the gun, and I'll check it
against those slugs from the other night

And when they don't match
you can have it back,

and this guy will be
out of your hair forever.

I don't have it anymore.

Where is it?

I lost it in a poker game
a couple weeks ago.

- To who?
- None of your god damn business.

- I'm making it my god damn business.
- Get the hell out of my office, now!

- Come on.
- What.

I said come on.

You can't stay on the Presidio forever.
When you leave I'll be waiting.

You'll be on my turf,
and I'll own your ass.

Let me tell you something.

I'm not gonna let you protect him again.
You understand what I'm saying?

- I'm impressed. You handled that really
professionally! - That jerkoff was lying.

You keep trying to cover for him,
we're gonna have serious problems.

Tell me, what do you hear from your head?
Even with one as empty as yours,

an occasional thought must
creep in sometimes. Hm?

Like, er...
maybe we don't need the gun.

Like maybe we already have a bullet.

Careful now, don't try too much.
You might pull something.

- Afternoon, sir.
- At ease, Sergeant.

When you repaired the firing pin on
Colonel Lawrence's Tokarov,

did you test it afterwards?

Yes, sir.

I capped it 4 or 5 times, Colonel.

Any chance you'd still have
one of the slugs, Garfield?

They should be in
the bottom of that barrel.

It should be easy to spot.

A Tokarov's only a 7.62 millimetre.

Should stick out like a sore thumb

against all these 45's
and 9 millimetres.

Here's one here.

This come from
Colonel Lawrence's Tokarov.

Thank you, Sergeant.

If this matches the slug
taken from my MP and your cop,

I want your word
that you'll go through me.

- Sure.
- There's more.

If it doesn't match, I want you to
get off Lawrence's back and stay off it.

Take it or leave it.

Deal.

Guy named Peale called yesterday morning,
reported his Lincoln stolen.

Tough guy to see. Very heavy money.

So?

Well, I'm not gonna ask you to come.

Probably wouldn't like it if you did.

But if you want to, it's OK.

You're all charm and grace, boy.

Pick me up at the museum.

More American soldiers were killed
in the civil war than in any other war.

How come?

Because all the soldiers
on both sides were American, Julius.

That's kind of lame.

This flag was at Fort Sumter in 1861
when the war started.

What's this stuff?

Don't worry about that now, Julius.
Come back over here.

Hey Julius,
get him to tell you what it is.

Don't listen to him.
He's mentally incompetent.

That's the medal of honour, the highest
award any soldier can ever get.

Did you let that man in here?

Hey Julius, take a close look
at that photograph in there.

The man on the right is Lyndon Johnson.
He was President of the United States.

That soldier with him
he won that medal.

Don't they have any kind of
security around this place?

I mean, just anyone
can walk in off the street?

Doesn't that soldier's face
look familiar?

And remember it was a long time ago.
He wasn't nearly as ugly then.

Holy shit!

That relic of a man there before you
is Sergeant Major Ross Maclure retired.

Now, why don't you ask him
how he won the medal of honour?

How old are you Julius?

- 8.
- You wanna live to be 9?

Obviously, it wasn't for charm.
He won it in Vietnam.

In the jungle.

When he was separated from his unit,

he found this wounded officer
who was pretty close to dying,

so he picked him up.

And as he was carrying him towards
the American lines,

came across a group of the enemy.

They were all set up to ambush
an American patrol,

so he put down the officer,

and with one M-16
and a few hand grenades,

he attacked them.

He was one man against 40 or 50.

- 40 or 50?
- Yes. He wiped them out. All of them.

And despite being wounded,

he went back, got the officer,
and carried him to safety.

- What's that gun?
- It's the 45

that the wounded officer gave him
for saving his life.

- What's Vietnam?
- A place Julius,

a place where we fought a war.

- I never heard of it.
- Well, it... happened.

Did we kick ass?

I want you all to

thank the Sergeant Major for
taking the time to give us this tour.

Thank you, Sergeant Major.

You guys come back anytime, huh?

Did we kick ass?

Thanks a lot.

Don't mention it.

I should've left your worthless
Scotch ass in that jungle.

Scotch is a drink.
A man born in Scotland is a Scotsman.

Oh, who gives a shit.

Next time you're dying
in the boonies, call a friggin' cab.

You still worried about Donna?

It seems we can't have a conversation
without one of us blowing our tops.

Well, she's not a little girl any more.
In case you haven't noticed.

Maybe you don't want her to grow up.

She's seeing Jay Austin.
You remember him?

The young MP who threw Paul Lawrence
into the pokey?

Yeah, that's the one.

I never did like Lawrence.
He's a monkey dick.

You're a big help.

Anyway, Austin's a cop now.

And that female MP that was
killed the other night?

She was with Austin
when they busted Lawrence.

The thought of bringing down
Lawrence after all these years

is giving Austin a real hard-on.

- Is Lawrence involved?
- I don't know.

The weapon that was used
was a Tokarov.

Lawrence has one, but he claims
he lost it in a poker game.

- Did he?
- I don't know.

Lawrence isn't talking.

So, maybe Austin's right.

- I don't want Donna seeing him.
- Yeah, but that ain't up to you, is it.

The only reason she's seeing him
is because I don't want her to.

Well, if that's true. Tell her
you like him. Maybe she'll stop.

He's wrong for her.

Would you listen if someone
told you not to see somebody?

That's different.

Sure it is.

Maybe you see a little
bit of yourself in him.

- What do you mean by that?
- I mean...

I remember seeing this 90-day wonder
with a manual of order in his back pocket.

I said to myself, "Well, the Army has
finally found a way to screw me."

But you didn't turn out so bad.
I mean, it took a little time, but...

maybe Austin just needs a little time.

Anybody home?

Yeah. Over here.

Hey, top. How you doing?

Oh, still kicking.

You still got a big mouth?

I guess so.

Figures.

Just a little time.

Mr Peale will see you now.

This is Inspector Austin, Mr Peale.

Jay Austin.

Colonel Caldwell,
Presidio Provost Marshal.

Hi, I'm Arthur Peale.

Can I get you guys something?
Beer, coffee?

- No, thanks.
- Oh, this is my assistant, Mark Walsh.

- Pleasure.
- Coffee for me, Mark.

Well, how can I help you?

Well, I'd like to ask you
a few questions, if you don't mind.

Sure, no problem. I assume it's about
my car. Have you located it yet?

Your Lincoln was involved
in a homicide at the Presidio

approximately 4:30
Tuesday morning.

The one on the front page
of the Chronicle?

Afraid so.

Mark, did you hear that?

The Lincoln was involved in
a shooting at the Presidio.

You're kidding.

When did you last
use your car Mr Peale?

It's my wife's car. She dropped by here
Monday night. I took her out to dinner.

When we finished it was late, so I
left the Lincoln here and drove home..

next morning, it was gone.

- What is Transcorp?
- We're a holding company.

Fairly diversified at the moment.
There's a

chain of Jewellery stores, a couple
of shopping centres, that sort of thing.

Which restaurant
did you and your wife visit?

Jake's. Seafood place
over on Broadway.

- How far is that from here?
- Thanks for your time Mr Peale.

Your car's being printed and processed
at the Forest street garage...

you can tell your wife we'll probably
get it back to her inside 90 days.

Forget about the car, I just hope
you find whoever shot those people.

Thank you.

Why were you in such a hurry
to get out of there?

Are you late for an appointment
with your hairdresser or something?

Hey, you're the one who's
real big on jurisdictions.

This is my jurisdiction.

I was conducting an investigation.

Oh, that was an investigation?
"Sorry Mr Peale sir to trouble you,

"but your car was used in a homicide.
And gee whiz Mr Peale we're really sorry."

Colonel, this may be real hard
for you to understand.

You're not in command here.

You were in such a rush
to get out of there,

that you didn't even see
what was on the table.

Look, I ran a make on Peale.

I put him through R&I a hundred times,
checked him up, down, sideways...

Hey, I don't like him, but he's clean.

OK. When do you get the ballistics report
on this Tokarov slug?

- Couple of hours.
- Good.

Come on. I'll buy you a cup of coffee.

Are you kidding?

No. No, I'm not kidding.

I want to talk to you about Donna.

Are you really going to sit here
and ask me my intentions?

That is exactly what I'm gonna do.

- Colonel, you really are a piece of work.
- What's so funny?

How's it hanging, Major?

Wanna leave?

No. After my coffee.

- So...
- Come on, Major.

I'm talking to you.

Let it alone, boy.

Excuse me, Major?

I said let it alone.

Did I hear the Major right?

Did he give ME an order?

You stink, Major.

What is that smell anyway,

mothballs?

What are you gonna do now, Major?

Now, are you sure you want to have a fight?
Because I'm only going to use my thumb.

- Thumb?
- My right thumb.

Left one's much too powerful for you.

Come on!

Guys...

keep it fair.

- Get up, man!
- Come on!

I'll get him!

You see these little oak leaves?
They're silver.

That means I'm a lieutenant colonel.

If they were gold,
then I'd be a major,

you understand?

- Yes, sir.
- That's good.

Because next time you see
an officer of the army,

you'll be able to recognise his rank,

and he won't get pissed off
and accidentally hurt you.

- Understand?
- Yes, sir.

Thank you.

About your daughter, sir,

I want you to know my intentions
are strictly honourable.

I love this place.

Soldiers from all the wars
trade lies with each other.

Soldiers should rest together.
They earned their peace.

I got a nice spot picked out
for myself right over there.

They closed the cemetery in 1962,
but I have got special permission.

I'm right next to a corporal
from the Spanish-American war.

Boy, are we gonna trade stories.

I'm going to say, "Listen, Corporal, I
know you've been here longer than I have,

but stop telling me
about those cannons."

"In 'Nam, we had Claymores, AK-47s...

now, they were real weapons."

- Dad told you to talk to me, didn't he.
- No. It was my idea.

You two been going
the full 15 rounds every day?

Yeah. Sometimes it's like
talking to a brick wall.

Yeah, he can be a stubborn
son of a bitch.

Of course you can't, right?

You like this kid Austin?

Yeah, I do.

We've been seeing each other a lot.

Are you sure your not just doing it
to piss your old man off?

Well, it might've been
part of it in the beginning.

You know, he wants me
to marry Captain Gordon.

- That what you want?
- Of course not!

- Well, let HIM marry Captain Gordon.
- That's what I told him.

This guy is different, though.
He just...

scares me.

Why?

I don't know. He just...

gets too close.

You're not afraid of HIM,
you're afraid of YOU.

I'm ugly, but I'm not stupid.

I think you're gorgeous.

- Afternoon, Colonel.
- At ease, sergeant.

- You have the storeroom key?
- Yes, sir.

Yeah.

This better be about what I think it is,
you sorry son of a bitch?

- That package you wanted me to locate?
- Where?

I found it. You can pick it up
in Chinatown, 1412 Washington.

But you better hurry. I don't think
it's gonna be there long.

Thanks, Bubba, I owe you one.

- Surprise!
- You can't arrest me.

Wrong. You're not on the Presidio,
you're in the real world.

You're not a Colonel, you're just
another asshole, and I own you.

You can't do it.

Guess what? I got a warrant.

I got a slug from your Tokarev,

I got a ballistics match, that says

it's the one that killed Patti Jean.

You know what I'd like?

I'd like you to resist arrest...

just a little.

God, I'd really like that.

You have the right to remain silent,
you have a right to an attorney...

Get out of here!

Shit!

You were supposed to go through me.
You gave me your word.

He ran. I chased him. What
the hell was I supposed to do?

You gave me your word.

I got a ballistics match
and a clean bust.

He did it. I knew it.
You didn't want to know it.

You realise what you've done?

Yeah, just caught the guy
who killed your MP.

Can you prove
that he pulled the trigger?

He proved it... by running.

Uh. Can you tell me why he broke
into the Officers' Club? Can you?

Lawrence sure as shit can't!

You made a clean bust all right!

You're a real prize.

You're wrong about Lawrence.
He's part of all this.

I was never wrong about him.
The truth is, I never liked him.

Then why didn't you
back me the night I busted him?

Because you broke the law!

You're the cop, and he
was the god damn bad guy.

You still don't get it,
do you?

Tell me, do you think that Lawrence
is the only one involved in all this?

Hm? I tried to tell you
after we left Peale's office -

about the coasters on his table?

- Coasters?
- Yeah.

From the Caravelle Bar in Saigon.

- Now you ran a make on him, right?
- I told you that he was clean.

He wasn't on the make. If the guys
never been convicted of rape, he's clean!

- Did you check his service record?
- He wasn't in the service.

- Oh, he wasn't in the service.
- And he's got souvenirs from Vietnam.

Why would a guy collect coasters?

I ran a check myself through my people.

Peale was CIA.

He was a province adviser in Long Binh
at the same time as Lawrence was there.

- They knew each other?
- Well, what the hell do you think?

How the hell do I know?

That's classified military shit!
How am I supposed to find that out?

All I know is whoever
broke into the storeroom

was looking for something
they wanted real bad.

Oh, Christ!

The water.

One of the plants had water.
And the rest of them were dry.

There was an empty bottle in the
store room that Mueller never opened.

- Right. What about Mueller?
- He's got an alibi. I checked him myself.

Anyway, why would he break in?
He's got a key.

If you're interested I have
the address of the water company.

- They open at 0900.
- Pick you up at your quarters, 8:30.

Listen, I was...

Shit!

- Follow my lead, OK?
- No, it's not OK.

I want to know how
you're going to handle it?

We don't want to tip anybody off.

Hey,

I'm good at this.

Hi.

All right!

I'm looking for the dispatcher.

You found her, man.
Her name is Gloria.

Gloria.

- You follow the Dead?
- Everywhere, man. You, too?

Oh, yeah. First time I saw them
was '73 at Winterland.

Flipped me right out.
Been a fan ever since.

- That is intense!
- Tell me. Did you do Oakland, New Years?

All 6 shows. I slept in the parking lot.

- It was so mellow.
- How many you seen?

Anaheim was 179.

My boyfriend hasn't missed one
for 4 years.

I can't do that 'cause of work.

His old man's got money.
Work's such a drag, you know?

Who's General Washington?

- My father.
- Bummer!

- Tell me!
- He into elevator music?

What do you think?

Gloria, this is kind of embarrassing,
you know, but

last week I borrowed
my father's car.

Had it parked outside the
Officers' Club at the Presidio and

turns out someone banged into it.
No big deal. But,

I remembered seeing
a delivery truck.

One of your delivery trucks
making a delivery.

I thought maybe the driver saw something?
I thought maybe I could talk to him.

He doesn't believe me.
He thinks I did it.

- He never believes you, right?
- Yours any different?

You never heard it from me.

- Officers' Club at the Presidio?
- Mm.

Deliveries are every Tuesday.

Driver's name is Spota.

He working today?

His day off. You can catch him
at 8:30 in the morning.

- He got a first name?
- Do you?

Jay.

First name George.

I like yours better.

I know this is asking a lot

but do you think you could
give me his home address?

- No hassles.
- I don't know, man.

Take a good look at him.

Does he look like someone who would
wait until tomorrow morning?

732 Vermont.
You never heard it from me.

Got it, thanks.

- If I sent you something at this
address, you'd get it? - Sure.

Friend of mine's got a bootleg copy
of the Dylan concert at Meadowlands.

I'll send you a copy.

- I don't know what to say, man.
- Just say thanks.

Us Deadheads got to stick together.

Later.

- Hey, General.
- Colonel!

You really ought to lighten up.

I'll try.

The guy who delivers water
to the Officers' Club is named Spota.

- George Spota?
- Yeah. How did you know that?

There was a Master Sergeant George Spota
who served under Lawrence in Long Binh.

Maybe the same guy.

Anyway, he's off today, but he
comes back on tomorrow morning at 8:30.

Water was delivered to the Presidio
the same day that Patti Jean was killed.

What in the hell's the Dead?

You wouldn't understand.

Try me.

The Grateful Dead.

The Grateful Dead?

Grateful Dead.

I don't understand.

That's a surprise.

There's something I want to
check out when I get back.

- What?
- I'll tell you tomorrow.

Oh, good.
Something I need to check out, too.

Tomorrow.

I hated it, though.

Whenever I'd make a friend, Dad would
get new orders and we'd have to...

we'd have to leave, so I was
always saying goodbye to somebody.

I got to see a lot of great places, though.

Leavenworth, Kansas.

Always so special during the summer.

And who could forget
Christmas at Fort Bragg?

What is going on in there?

What are you thinking about?

Is what we've been doing good
enough for you, Donna?

What do you mean?

I don't know...

Look, I don't know how to say
any of this so I'm just gonna say it.

What we've been doing has been...

great.

It's been...

games?

And that's crazy 'cause
this should be perfect for me.

I think what I'm trying to tell you is,
I really care about you.

I'm just having a little trouble
saying it, that's all.

Gareth Wooten, please.

Wooten. Alan Caldwell here.

Fine. Fine. How are things at Langley?

Careful, you'll get sores on your ass
sitting at a desk.

Look, I need a favour.

There's a holding company
out here called Transcorp.

T-R-A-N... I know you can spell!

Just push one of your buttons and
tell me what companies they own. Hm?

Thank you. I do appreciate it.

Oh, and give my love to Linda.

No. No, we're not even.

Just tell her she made a mistake.

I'm still much better-looking!
Goodbye.

Can we leave now?

I just ordered this drink.

Please can we go?

- May I have this dance?
- Oh, give it a rest.

Captain Gordon, this is
Inspector Austin. He's a policeman.

You're being very impolite, Jay.

You don't like it here?

No, I don't, dickhead.

What did you say?

Why are you doing this?

- I don't want to do this.
- Hey, I asked you a question Mr!

Yeah, I heard you.

Just got to push it, don't you?
Right up to the edge, all the time.

Maybe you and I should step outside.

Is that what you want?

To fight this jerk for your hand?

You want to step outside
and settle this like gentlemen?

However you like.

Marquis of Queensberry rules.

There! That what you wanted to see?

Easy, Colonel. I'm done.

Whatever my intentions were,
you can forget 'em.

She's dangerous.

You really are something.

Why in the hell did you
bring him there in the first place, eh?

Why not just throw in a hand grenade?
It would've been quicker.

Leave me alone.

Are you proud of yourself, eh?
Are you?

Why don't you ask yourself
that question.

- What?
- You set the whole thing up, not me.

What the hell
are you talking about?

Captain Gordon.
Who I can see, who I can't see.

You probably have it all written down
in one of your stupid folders.

You know you never ask me what I want.
You always tell me what you want.

And I have news for you, Colonel,
I didn't enlist in your army.

I decide what I do.

Terrific, and you're doing
a wonderful job about it.

I didn't get any help from you, sir,
all I ever got were rules.

You decide what's fair
and what's foul.

- Aw, this is ridiculous.
- Don't turn your back on me.

Do you think I'm going to stand here
listening to your rubbish.

That's perfect.

- You're done talking so there's
nothing else to say. - Right.

- Your a coward.
- That's enough.

No, it's not enough,
it's never enough.

What are you so afraid of?

- You think I'm like her? Is that it?
- Stop it.

You turned your back on her too,
didn't you?

- I said stop that!
- You are a bastard, it was your fault!

Do it.

Colonel...

Jesus! What the hell are you doing?

I'm getting drunk.
What does it look like?

- Looks like you've already done that.
- Aah, I'm going to get drunker.

I'm going up on the roof.

- Why?
- Your window sill hurts my ass.

- Well, why don't you come inside?
- Because I'm outside.

- Do you know what time it is?
- Who cares?

Well, I sure as shit don't.

Drink this all by yourself?

Yeah.

You can keep that one.

Thanks.

I've lost her.

Who?

Donna.

You didn't lose her.
She's just grown up.

- You got to start to accept that.
- Oh, yeah?

She hates me.

She doesn't hate you, she's just
trying to measure up to you.

Sometimes that ain't easy.

You kind of want perfection in people.

There's not a lot of perfect around.

You know how much I love her?

Yeah, I know.

It's not important what I know.
It's important what SHE knows.

When was the last time you told her?

She knows.

I've known buildings that are
easier to talk to than you.

Hey, was that my gun
you pointed at me?

Yeah.

I took it out of the museum.

Why?

I just wanted to hold it for a while.

Well, what for?

I had my reasons.
Give me some of that.

You know sometimes I think it was easier
winning that medal than wearing it.

Think any of those people over there
give a shit about us?

We give a shit about them.
That's what matters.

You know what I think?

I think America is like a big,
fancy house...

and we're the Doberman pinschers.

- Doberman pinschers?
- A guy hears a noise downstairs,

he's really happy to have his
big, ugly dog, huh?

But...

the next day when he's got his friends
coming around, he locks up the dog.

Why?

'Cause he's embarrassed.

But that night, sure as shit

he unlocks the dog
to protect his big fancy house.

And if some guy comes in
and the dog doesn't bite his ass,

he's gonna take a rolled up newspaper and
smack him right in the fucking mouth.

Yeah, it's like that.

I'll tell you something else -

and I remember this
like it was yesterday -

when I was 10, my old man
was laid off again,

comes home and says,

"We're leaving Scotland.
We're going to America,"

and gives me this book
by Thomas Jefferson.

I read it right through.
The next thing I know, I'm

on the deck of this ship.

My old man shouts,
"Look, there she is."

I could just see over the guard rail.

It's the Statue of Liberty.

Her look,

and that green colour on her face.

You know,

she really is that beautiful.

Anyway, that's how I see America.

Yeah. And that's why I'm a soldier.

We don't have to have thanks
from anybody,

because it's...

that's not important.

Or this.

Sergeant Major...

- I'm really drunk.
- As a skunk!

The look on his face
said he was scared.

I never saw that before.

You know my whole life,
he's taught me

to never say too much.

Don't show too much.
Never lose control.

That works,

because nobody can hurt you
if you don't let anybody in.

I have to give him credit for that.
Because he really taught me that well.

He even tries to keep me away,
and that is what hurts.

And that's what
I've been doing to you.

Go on.

So I've been trying
not to lose control.

I could sleep with you,
as long as it was on my terms.

And I was doing OK that way,
I really was, you know?

Except the more time
I spent with you here...

the scarier it got.

That's why I behaved that way
at the Officers' Club. 'Cause

I couldn't run away from you any more.

I just wanted you
to run away from me.

I don't want to hurt you
like that any more.

Because...

because I love you.

You're 10 minutes late.

Got some good news for you
and some bad news.

Oh. What's the good news?

Donna's with me.

That's the good news?

Hm. Yeah.

The bad news is, I love her.

And so do I.

Are we gonna sit here discussing
my personal life all morning?

- Nope.
- Good.

The car that killed Lawrence
is registered to George Spota.

Arthur Peale owns the
Black Mountain Water Company.

He's in the second truck. Number 68.

- Recognise him?
- Yeah. That's Sergeant Spota.

Right in front of God and everybody.

It's always the most successful way.

None of that covert shit.

Excuse Captain, where did you
just come in from?

A contract flight from Clark, sir.

The Philippines?

Yeah, you know,
Clark Air Force base, Colonel.

- Come on. He's leaving.
- Thank you.

What's with the Philippines?

I don't know. Something.

Why water from the Philippines?

There's something in that bottle other
than water. Something worth killing for.

Water comes from the Philippines
is delivered to Spota.

Spota delivers it to the bottling company.

Except he makes a mistake.

He delivers the wrong bottle
to the Officers' Club that night.

And when he realises
what he's done he comes back,

he retraces his steps
and he comes back here.

Patti Jean surprises him,
and he smokes her.

I want to know what's in that bottle.

What's with you?

Nah, there's a piece missing.

Something about the Philippines.
There's another hand in this.

There's a piece missing.

Peale, Lawrence, Spota...
they all knew each other in Vietnam.

They're all part of this.
What's missing?

Oh, shit!

He served with Lawrence
in Vietnam.

They'd have to use him
or somebody like him.

He knows every maintenance man
in the Orient.

Everybody's gone. We're secure.

These are good quality.

Cable our friend in Manila,
tell him he's done well.

And also tell him he's out of work.
Because this shit is gonna stop now.

- What are you doing here?
- You told me no one was gonna get hurt.

- No one was supposed to get hurt.
-Tell that to the girl Lawrence just killed.

- Lawrence has been dealt with.
- That's not enough pal. It's over.

It's a little late for a conscience,
don't you think?

- It's over.
- Who the hell do you think you are?

I'm the infantry sonny.

The war's been over for a long time,
old man. Nobody cares.

Why don't you go back to your
little museum and play soldier.

You open your mouth
one more time,

and I'll shove your head so far up your
ass you'll be talking out of your armpit.

Where are you going?

God damn it!

Son-of-a-bitch!

This is ridiculous.

I'm sure that we can reach
some understanding.

Now look, Sergeant, we're already
sorry for what's happened, but

that's already done, there's
nothing we can do about it.

You don't seem to understand.
It's over.

Just what do you think
you're going to accomplish?

I'm going to make it right.

You want to set off
the god damn alarm?

Here. You're gonna need this.
We'll get our asses shot off!

He wants more money.

I don't like you.
Tell him I don't like him.

Well, come on. Open it.

Now, I know that you didn't want
to be a part of this.

I know that you're a man of honour,

but Lawrence had something
on you going back to Vietnam,

something about the black market, I don't
know all the facts, I don't care to know.

But you made a mistake
a long time ago.

You didn't want your name ruined,
so you agreed to look the other way.

I can sympathise with that.

There is no reason
to ruin everything now -

your name along with it.

You're only gonna do yourself harm
along with everybody else.

I don't give a shit about myself anymore.
I'm going to do what's right.

Somebody's inside.
Let's get the hell out of here.

Wrong!

Looks like we're back in the shit again,
Colonel.

Maclure - in the name of Christ, why?

It doesn't matter.

They screwed up.

I'm going to make things right.

Don't.

Don't!

I want you to do something for me.

What?

Delay your report for 48 hours.

That'll give me time
to bury him with his name.

Whatever he did he deserves that.

Please?

OK.

Thanks.

None of us who knew
Sergeant Major Ross Maclure

could ever accuse him of being perfect.

However,

only God can judge him now,

and I won't...

and I won't apologise for him.

He was... my friend.

He was a soldier.

We used to joke
that being in the army...

is not a matter of life and death.

It's more important than that.

We first met in Vietnam.

He was my sergeant.
I was his lieutenant.

To this day, I still don't know
who served under who.

And it was his luck to be a hero
in a war that nobody liked.

He said to me the other day
that winning his medal

was a lot easier than wearing it.

This is the second time...

I've lost someone
who meant everything.

Whenever I've come
to visit this place, I

only hear the silence,

the sense of loss.

Maclure, he heard something else.

For him, I hope it was right.

There were so many things
that I wished...

I could have said to him...

and to others.

And now that he's gone,

I realise that...

nothing should be left unsaid...

even between people

who don't say things easily.

So, here we are...

in this place that he loved so much.

Here to say goodbye.

If I know Maclure...

he'll be impatient to be on his way.

Ready...

Aim.

Fire.

Fire.

Fire.

Take the colours.

Donna. I'd like you to have this.

Aah.. do you want to go for a walk?

Yeah. I'd like that very much.

Come on.