The Untouchables (1959–1963): Season 2, Episode 20 - The Antidote - full transcript

All right, you.

You proved how
smart you are... you win.

So, now, you're a partner,

and that's the end of it.

How much do you want?

Money won't prove anything.

Well, what do you want me to do?

Kill Max.

Wally, you wouldn't!

Freddie...

Run, Max, run!



Tonight's episode...

Starring Robert
Stack as Eliot Ness.

Co-starring Telly Savalas
and Bruce Gordon.

With special guest
star Joseph Wiseman.

And narrated by Walter Winchell.

In Mid-October of
1932, two events

had the nation's capitol
buzzing with excitement.

The first was the
election campaign

between the incumbent
President of the United States,

Herbert Hoover,

and Franklin Delano Roosevelt,

who was climaxing his great
personal triumph over polio

as the standard bearer
of the Democratic Party.

The second event
was a special meeting



of the most important
federal agents

from the leading
cities in the country.

And as all of you know,

since Prohibition became
the law of the land,

this department has been trying
to devise suitable denaturants

for alcohol, chemicals which
would enable legitimate users

of alcohol to function, but
which would make it impossible

for illegitimate sources
to use alcohol for whiskey

in the event they were
able to secure this alcohol

by illegal means.

Up to now, our efforts have
been only partially successful.

The chemicals we
have added to alcohol

for denaturing purposes...

Pyridine, methanol and others...

Have been counteracted
by criminal elements

with chemicals that have
renatured the alcohol,

making it palatable for whiskey.

And despite our
vigilance, collusion

between seemingly legitimate
businesses and the underworld

has enabled millions of
dollars worth of alcohol

to be diverted
into criminal hands.

Tonight, I am happy to
announce to all of you

that we have come
up with a formula

which we are confident

will put an end to
this problem for good.

That's right.

Our chemists have
found a formula

which denatures alcohol,

but for which there is
no known renaturant.

Gentlemen, this is a great
victory against bootlegging,

and I think I
speak for all of us

when I extend my thanks
to our chemical division.

The king of illegal alcohol in
Chicago was Wally Baltzer,

who... with his partner,

a chemist named Max Frimmel...
Converted millions of dollars

worth of renatured
alcohol to whiskey.

Their front was
an asbestos plant

on the outskirts of Chicago.

What do you mean, you
still haven't renatured it?

Look, what else can I do
except what I've been doing?

The chemists are
working day and night.

The government's got something

in the stuff now that
they can't get out.

Well, you get it out, Max.

Look, science doesn't
take orders, Wally.

Science...

And you don't give me
no spiels about science!

If I want a lecture,
I'll go to the college.

I'm doing everything I can.

You know what we're
gonna have to do this month?

We're gonna have to get
legitimate stuff in Canada,

smuggle it in and
pay through the nose.

Now, Nitti don't care

what the government
puts in the alcohol.

We've got to supply his
speakeasies with booze.

That's all he cares about,

and that's what I'm
screaming about, Max.

It's gonna cost us
an arm and a leg,

and we can't charge
any more for the real stuff

than we do for the rotgut.

Well, what do you want me to do?

All right, maybe you
need better chemists.

I got the best.

A couple of months

of buying that legitimate booze,

and we're dead, Max... dead.

Ain't the government
got anything better to do?

Take it easy, Wally.

All right, maybe I'd better
have a talk with the chemists.

You gone crazy?

Well, they don't know
you... You'll upset them.

All right.

You talk.

Talk, uh, science
talk, but just remember,

you can't fill up an
empty shot glass with talk.

All right, come on,
let's get out of here.

How's it coming, Villon?

Well, it might
come a little better

if we weren't asked
every ten minutes,

"How is it coming"?

A watched pot,
Mr. Frimmel, never boils.

Proof.

Well, I'm glad you still all

have a sense of
humor... I'm losing mine.

The kind of pressure I'm
under doesn't allow me

the luxury of a sense of humor.

Oh, cut out that frog talk.

Ah, Monsieur Frimmel,
you are mistaken.

The frog croaks like this...

You are listening to
the French language.

Now, we understand that
you have heavy pressure

upon you, but unfortunately,

pressure never
discovered anything yet.

Louis Pasteur,

patiently using trial and
error, discovered things.

Lister, patiently
using trial and error,

discovered things,
but pressure... Oh, no.

Pressure is not in the
scientific encyclopedia.

Yeah, I know
you're right, Villon.

Still I need... Need?

Necessity may be the mother
of mechanical inventions,

but she's not even remotely
related to chemicals.

Keep at it, huh?

That is what we intend
to do, Monsieur Frimmel...

when we are allowed to.

Au revoir, Monsieur Frimmel.

Well spoken, Jacques.

You know, I am
starting to wonder

whether there is
a solution to this.

I'm beginning to
wonder whether this time

our work won't be all trial,

all error and nothing more.

Despite the addition of the
new denaturant to the alcohol,

business in the speakeasies
of Chicago did not diminish.

They're getting their
whiskey from somewhere,

and it's a cinch they're
not making their own.

Maybe they still have a supply.

It's been over two weeks

since the government
added the new denaturant.

Their supply
couldn't last that long.

You think they're
smuggling it in?

No doubt about
it, but where from?

Europe, Canada, Cuba...

Could even be Mexico.

That's a pretty big can of peas.

Let's try and make it smaller.

That night, Eliot Ness and
the Untouchables picked one

of the largest operations on
the shore of Lake Michigan.

It was a speakeasy
called the Open Door.

Federal officers!

This is a raid.

Hey, hey, wait a
minute, wait a minute.

What do you mean, a raid?

Why, this is a respectable...

A respectable what, barber shop?

I suppose this is hair tonic.

Where do you get your liquor?

Is that liquor?

I thought he said
it was hair tonic.

All right, let's go.

Oh, wait a minute,
wait a minute!

I'll talk.

Hair tonic is used for the hair.

Show's over... clear out!

I won't be out of action long.

You know me!

Yeah, they know you.

The district judge will get
a chance to know you, too.

Bill, take this comedian
down to Federal Court.

Let's go, come on.

The bottles are all
the same shape, Eliot,

but they have different labels.

Bought from one source
and labeled here in Chicago.

We've got to find
the original cases.

Eliot.

Lee, get a stool.

Cuba. Cuba.

Let's open them up.

No labels.

That's funny.

The outside of the
cases have water marks.

Inside are dry as a bone.

None of the water
seeped through.

Another thing... there
must be over 75 cases here.

And if they were shipped
in a wet cargo hold,

they couldn't have all
been stored in the bottom,

which means these
water marks are phony.

Somebody went
through a lot of trouble

to stencil "Republic of
Cuba" on these cases.

They don't publish the Toronto
Dispatch in Havana, do they?

They sure don't.

Let's go.

With the information
supplied by Eliot Ness,

the Canadian police
kept all highways,

railroad stations
and railroad sidings

in the vicinity of Toronto
under constant surveillance,

and three nights later,

confiscated close to a million
dollars worth of whiskey,

earmarked for Wally
Baltzer in Chicago.

♪ It all depends ♪

♪ On you ♪

♪ I can save money or spend it ♪

♪ Go right on living or end it ♪

♪ You're to blame, honey ♪

♪ For what I do ♪

♪ Believe me, I can be bigger ♪

♪ I can be king ♪

♪ I can be almost
any old thing ♪

♪ It all depends ♪

♪ On you ♪

♪ It all depends ♪

♪ On you. ♪

♪ ♪

You're getti" better, Lorna.

Mmm, not really.

It's just that you're
looking more

and listening less, that's all.

Ain't it the truth?

Telephone for you, Mr. Baltzer.

Thanks.

Hello?

Hey, Wally?

Look, I just got a call from
Harvey Neels in Toronto.

He-he tried to get you and,
when he couldn't, he called me.

What'd he want?

They grabbed our shipment.

Who grabbed it?

The cops!

How?

With knives, with guns,
how do I know how?

All of it?

All of it!

Well, what're you
gonna do about..

Wally?

Wally?!

Is anything wrong, Wally?

Name anything and it's wrong.

Ah.

Hello, hello?

Hello?

It's Jacques!

I've got it! I've got it!

Yes, of course, I'm sure.

I just drank a
half a pint of it.

Mmm, you come round to my
place in about half an hour, huh?

I'll show you.

Good.

Hello, hello.

It was a question

of changing the whole
chemical composition

of the government's denaturant.

Just adding chemicals to the
denaturant was not enough.

The whole composition
had to be changed.

This is what I did.

Voilà!

The discovery of Jacques
Villon's body by his landlady

brought the Chicago police
to the scene of the murder.

And Captain Dorset's concern
over the improvised laboratory,

which contained many bottles
with various types of alcohol,

led to his calling Eliot Ness.

I thought I'd better
check it out with you.

Thanks.

She tell you much?

The usual.

I think I'd better
have a word with her.

Thank you.

You found the body,
didn't you, ma'am?

I came to his room
to turn down his bed

like I always do.

I found him lying there.

Dead as a doornail.

I've seen enough movies
to know not to touch nothi"

and I didn't.

That was very wise of you.

How long did he live here?

Are you gonna ask me
all the same questions

that other fella did, honey?

No, just a couple.

It's past my bedtime
already. I'm sorry.

How long did you say
he lived here? Didn't say.

Five years.

Did he have many friends?

If he did, they was
always gone by 11:00

when I turned down his bed.

I never seen anybody,
except Mr. Shield.

Who's Mr. Shield?

He lives down the
hall in Number Six.

Is there anything...

anything you might
remember that could help us?

Plenty, mister,
but not about him.

Well, thank you.

Can I go to sleep now?

Go ahead.

Say, mister,

if you know anybody
that needs a room,

I got one.

You fellas finish up in here.

I'm going down the hall.

Yeah?

Federal Officer, Mr. Shield.

May I come in?

Come in.

The door's open.

I'm sorry to wake you.

Yes?

What is it?

Bad news.

Your friend Villon,
he's been murdered.

Jacques?!

Murdered, why?

Was there a burglar?

No.

Then why?

I thought you might
help me find the answer.

Poor Jacques.

Poor gentle Jacques.

Who would want to hurt him?

When'd you see him last?

This morning.

We had coffee together.

Did he appear upset or worried?

No.

Where'd he work?

At the Collins
Pharmaceutical Company.

He was a chemist.

Did he have any family?

A sister.

She lives in Libertyville.

Do you have her address?

Yes, I believe so.

May I have it, please?

Mr. Shield... the address?

Oh, I'm sorry.

I'm sorry to put
you to this trouble.

No trouble.

Inez Villon.

657 Druid Lane, Libertyville.

That's all for now.

Thanks, Mr. Shield.

You're welcome.

Eliot.

Well, I checked
Collin's Pharmaceutical.

It's a blind alley.

Didn't Villon work there?

There's no such
company... Never has been.

What about the address
on Villon's sister?

Well, she lived there all right,

but not for the last nine years.

Any forwarding address?

No.

She died of pneumonia in 1923.

Let's have a talk
with Mr. Shield.

I'd offer you a drink, Wally,

only there's nothing to drink.

That don't bother me.

You know the story about
the shoemaker's kid's

not having any shoes.

But my Speaks not having
any whiskey, that bothers me!

Nobody's got any whiskey, Frank.

What'd you say that for,
to make me feel better?

'Cause that don't
make me feel better!

I don't feel better

until I stop losin'
200,000 every week!

I want booze, Wally!

Frank, you don't understand.

You bet I don't understand,

and when I don't
understand, I get mad!

And when I get mad, things
happen to people I get mad at!

Understand?

I want booze!

You're my supply. I want booze.

All right, Frank, all right.

Shield?

Call Captain Dorset,

ask him to put an
all-points out for Shield.

I'll talk to the landlady.

Max?

Max?

Max?

Has Max Frimmel
been here tonight?

Come in, Mr. Baltzer.

I've been waiting for you.

How do you know my name?

You should be flattered.

I would be if you knew mine.

I pictured you as taller.

What is this?

This is a laboratory working
on a new renaturant for alcohol.

The alcohol will then
be made into whiskey,

the whiskey will then
bring in a profit of millions

and you're the man who'll
make most of the millions.

I don't like your face, mister.

That's too bad.

I'm sure, however, you'll
like what I have to say.

I haven't so far.

I've got the
renaturant, Mr. Baltzer.

You've got what?

I've got it.

It.

It!

How long have you
had the formula?

Just for one day.

Why didn't you tell Max?

Because I've
been waitin' for you.

What have I got to do with it?

You're the only one who
can make me a partner

not Max.

Make you a partner?!

A full partner.

Kill me.

Go on, kill me.

Easy you.

I have to take it easy.

Very easy.

I've got the
formula, Mr. Baltzer.

Kill me and you've got nothing.

Make me a partner
and you'll have whiskey.

Thousands of gallons of whiskey.

Millions of gallons of whiskey.

Enough whiskey
to drown the world.

What'd you say your name was?

I have no name.

You're gonna
christen me tonight.

Christen me "Partner".

All right.

Partner.

And now back to...

Though Russell Shield had risen

to a position of power in
the bootlegging industry,

the Untouchables were no
closer to tracking him down.

Hello. Ness.

Eliot, we've got a good
set of prints on Shield's bed.

Good, stay with them
till you get a positive ID.

We've got to find him.

Right.

Good evening, Mr. Ness.

Good evening.

I imagine you've
been looking for me.

Sort of.

You want to sit down?

No, thank you,
I prefer to stand,

I want to tell you about
the information I gave you.

I suppose you know by now

there's no Collin's
Pharmaceutical

and that Jacques'
sister is dead.

If I had known that yesterday,

I could have saved
myself a lot of work.

My apologies, Mr. Ness.

Go on.

The morning that
Jacques was murdered,

he came into my room.

He was very excited.

He said something about
finding a new renaturant

for alcohol.

He said it was very important
and that he was going

to make his bosses
pay him a fortune for it.

He asked me to
hold this for him.

I suspected it was
something illegal...

and when you came
to see me that night

and told me Jacques
had been murdered,

well, I became frightened.

I... I lied to you.

I'm a poor man, Mr. Ness,
and handicapped.

Poor, handicapped men
frighten more easily...

about everything.

I know I should have given
you this information then,

but... well, I just
couldn't think properly.

You said it was
a new renaturant?

Yes.

Is it as important as
Jacques said it was?

Maybe.

Do you know who
he really worked for?

No, he was very
secretive about that.

I'll bet.

Am I under arrest, Mr. Ness?

No, you're not under arrest.

Where can I reach you if I want
to ask you some more questions?

I'm moving back to my old room.

You can go, Mr. Shield.

Thank you, Mr. Ness.

Thank you.

Eliot Ness.

I want a lab
analysis right away.

Yes, tonight.

♪ Mean to me ♪

♪ Why must you be mean ♪

♪ To me? ♪

Good food and good booze...

There's nothing like it, eh?

Except a good poker game.

Yeah.

Freddie's a good
man to know, Russ.

He's available for a poker game

any time of the day or night.

If you need another
hand, you just call Freddie.

I don't play poker.

You're kidding.

No, I don't gamble.

You know scientists, Freddie.

They got to know
what's going to happen.

And you don't always
get that in poker.

You never know what
the fifth card's going to be.

We're going to play, Russ.

You want to kibitz?

I'd rather stay and
watch the show

if it's all right with you.

Ail right with me?

Freddie and these two
other guys, they got to play.

They work for me.

I mean, they work for us.

But you, you're
like Max... A partner.

You do what you like.

If Max wants to play, he plays.

You want to watch the
show, you watch the show.

A-B-C... as simple as that.

Partner.

Come on.

♪ Each day ♪

♪ In the year ♪

♪ You always ♪

♪ Scold me ♪

♪ Whenever ♪

♪ Somebody ♪

♪ Is near, dear... ♪

Is it going to be
all night, Wally?

I call...

and I raise you $200.

I may not be the queen
of diamonds, Wally,

but I am standing here.

Baby, what do you want?

I'm in the middle of a raise.

Nothing.

Good night, gentlemen.

Sure, baby.

If you're waiting for Wally,
you'd better forget about it.

They're good for the night.

I wasn't waiting for Wally.

I was waiting for you.

For me?

Yes.

What are you mixing?

Vodka and vinegar.

What's it called?

A sour Russian?

No, it's not a drink.

Oh?

Well, what do you do with it?

Smell it.

It's perfume.

Vodka and vinegar,
and it's perfume.

No, not really.

It's what's known as an ester.

You see, vinegar
is an acetic acid,

and when it's combined
with alcohol, a fragrant ester,

like this one, is formed.

You said you were
waiting for me?

Was it to give me this?

No.

I was waiting to
ask you to marry me.

Marry you?

I don't expect an
answer right away.

I'd rather you thought about
it until I become a millionaire.

It's easier to answer the
proposal of a millionaire.

Sure.

Um, how long do
you think it'll take?

50 years?

No.

A few weeks.

Good night.

Operator 49,
Washington D.C., please.

Eliot Ness.

Is my call ready?

Yep.

Hello, sir, Ness speaking.

Go ahead, Ness.

The lab report is definite.

The renaturant is valid.

Do you know if they
have it in quantity?

No, I don't, but you can bet it
won't be long before they do.

I'll notify all our offices.

Meanwhile, do what you can to
head off the deluge in Chicago.

Yes, sir.

All right, make sure you
don't break the bottle.

I got it.

Hello, partner.

Our genius partner, huh?

If you weren't so
greedy, Shield,

you'd be alive tomorrow morning.

I intend to be alive
tomorrow morning, Wally.

Well, maybe you intend to be,

but take my word
for it, you won't be.

That bottle your man has...

There's no need to analyze it.

There's nothing
in it but plain water.

What do you mean?

I mean I've got the formula.

I mean the greedy know
how to anticipate the greedy.

I mean you won't kill me, Wally.

Well, a lot of chemicals
smell like water.

He's bluffing, Wally.

Taste it.

Drink it, Freddie.

Go ahead, Freddie, drink it.

Just like out of the tap.

All right, Shield, you
proved how smart you are.

You win.

You're a partner and
that's the end of it.

Now put some real
stuff in here, huh?

It's not as simple
as that, Wally.

What do you mean?

Somebody that tried to kill
me has to prove himself to me

before I trust him again.

How much do you want?

Money won't prove anything.

Eh, what do you want me to do?

Kill Max.

I'll only renature the
alcohol if you kill Max.

You're not the only one
who can use killing, Wally.

Villon.

You got Villon, didn't you?

How do you like this?

Wally, you wouldn't.

And that'll satisfy you?

Nothing else.

Wally, you wouldn't.

Freddie?

Run, Max, run!

You got two good legs! Use 'em!

No, Wally!

Give me my cane.

♪ ♪

On the night of
November 7, 1932,

the presidential election
campaign was virtually over.

The next day, the people
would make their choice.

Ordinarily, every office
in Washington would be

in a state of
suspension this night,

and the whole of the next day,

awaiting the
electorate's decision.

But on this pre-election eve,

one department was
working into the night.

These men were receiving
reports from federal inspectors

at alcohol plants
throughout the nation

about the progress of
an emergency program

which the government had
instituted to stymie the use

of the new renaturant which
Eliot Ness had uncovered.

The government ordered another
chemical added to the alcohol,

a chemical for which the
bootlegging underworld

had already secured an antidote.

But its addition at this time
would temporarily confuse

and certainly delay
the conversion

of the denatured alcohol

into whiskey fit
for consumption.

At 9:50 p.m. the final call
came in from Cleveland, Ohio.

The government's program
had been carried out

without a hitch.

At approximately the same time,

Eliot Ness was summoned
by Captain Dorset

to the banks of Lake Michigan.

His name was Max Frimmel, Eliot.

According to the identification
papers in his wallet,

he was a chemist.

That's why I called you.

I thought it might
tie in with Villon.

Thanks.

I just missed you at the office.

Here's the fingerprint
report on Shield.

"Russell Shield, born
Philadelphia 1895."

He's a research chemist.

He worked for the
government after the war.

Looks like we're involved
with every chemist in Chicago.

What do you mean, Rico?

Well, this murdered
guy, here, Max Frimmel,

he was a chemist,
too... and Villon...

Didn't we close a
distillery last year

that belonged to a Max Frimmel?

He didn't own it; he
ran it for Wally Baltzer.

Baltzer?

Yeah.

Thanks, Dorset.

All right, all right.

What else can I tell you?

We know you're Baltzer's girl.

Says who?

Look, you'd
better level with us.

This concerns a murder.

Look, what do you want from me?

I haven't seen him in four days.

Have you spoken
to him on the phone?

It's been like the day after
all the chickens were killed...

Not a peep.

Did you ever meet a
man named Shield?

Russell Shield?

Yeah... Yeah, Wally brought
him into the club one night.

He was a strange bird.

In what way?

Well, believe it or not, he
proposed to me that night.

The first time I ever laid eyes
on him and he proposed to me.

He told me to think about it.

Said he was gonna
be a millionaire

in a couple of weeks, and...

I could give him my answer then.

Is that strange enough for you?

If you hear from either of
them, let me know, hmm?

Yeah... sure.

Yeah?

The feds are looking for you,

and they're also looking
for your friend, Shield.

Well, you didn't tell
'em anything, did you?

Nothing.

The news that federal
agents were looking for him,

coupled with his growing
dread of Russell Shield,

drove Wally Baltzer
to call Frank Nitti.

Baltzer offered to sell
his business to Nitti;

and Nitti, intrigued by
the additional fortune

he could make by being his
own supplier, agreed to buy.

They made an
appointment to close the deal

on the following night.

With over half of New
York's precincts reporting,

Franklin D.
Roosevelt has piled up

a commanding 160,000-vote lead.

He is also scoring
heavily in Massachusetts,

Rhode Island and
Connecticut. Turn that off!

Although it is early...

Looks like Roosevelt is...

Well, forget Roosevelt.
Where's this chemist?

He'll be here.

Call him.

I can't call him.

He's living in the
cellar at our factory,

and I had the
phone disconnected.

I'm telling you,
he'll be here, Frank.

He better be here, after
that big buildup you give me

about nobody knowing
this formula but him.

Most of what I'm
paying for is him.

When you settled with
him, was he happy?

Why shouldn't he be happy?

I gave him close
to half a million.

I didn't ask you
why he shouldn't be.

I asked you if he was.

I don't want somebody
coming to be my partner

with a bad taste left in his
mouth from his old partner.

Well, he's happy
about the settlement.

Why shouldn't he be?

You know what I'm
gonna do, Wally?

He's here.

Hello, Russ.

The traffic's terrible.

Well, this is your
new partner, Frank...

Russ Shield, one of the best
chemists in the whole world.

We'll do all right, huh?

We'll do fine.

Well, that's it, Frank.

Here's the names
of the companies

that'll sell you the alcohol...

and the peoples to
contact in the companies.

And... the deed to the factory.

There's 750,000
in this suitcase.

That's a lot of money to
pay for a couple of names

and a broken-down plant.

Not too much when you
add in you and that formula.

The formula is
not worth anything.

What are you talking?

The government
already knows about it,

and they've
changed their formula.

You're crazy!

What kind of a
double-cross is this?

I'm surprised at you, Wally.

Did you think I'd let
you get away with this?

Why you... NITTI: Shut up.

He's lying!

I said shut up!

You got something to show
to prove what you're saying?

He gave you a list.

Call any of those
names and ask them

if the government didn't add
new chemicals to the alcohol

in the last 48 hours.

Call.

He's a maniac, Frank.

He killed the head chemist,
and he made me kill Max.

And now he's out to get me, too!

I told you to shut up.

I'm really surprised
at you, Wally.

If there's any hitting,
around here, I'll do it!

The government
added new chemicals

to all the alcohol in town.

Oh, no. Don't be a fool, Frank.

He'll get you, too.

He'll take everything you
own. He'll own your speaks!

You'll see! Shut him up!

Get him out of here!

Find someplace
and get rid of him.

We'll make good partners.

I like a boy who looks
after my interests.

I like such a boy.

I didn't do so bad
for myself, Frank.

Wally split a million
dollars with me

to break up our
partnership and now...

I'll get Wally's half, too.

First Villon, then
Frimmel, and now Baltzer.

Shield's gotten them
all out of the way.

Where is he?

All we've got is

a noose of circumstantial
evidence against him.

We've got to find him so we can
pull that noose around his neck

and make him yell "Guilty!"

We've combed the whole town.

He's probably ducked out,

now that he's got
everything he wants.

Not quite everything.

Remember what the girl said?

"Strange bird."

Proposed to her the
first time he saw her.

Said he'd wait for her
answer in a couple of weeks.

It'd take him that long
to become a millionaire.

Let's see if we can
pick up a millionaire.

Lorna?

Yes, who is it?

Russell Shield.

Well...

Did you strike oil, yet?

I told you I'd be back.

Oh!

Oh!

You're under arrest, Shield,

for the murder
of Jacques Villon,

and complicity in the murders

of Max Frimmel
and Wally Baltzer.

You're joking.

How could I have possibly
have murdered anyone?

If you've forgotten,

the district attorney will
refresh your memory.

You're wasting
your time, Mr. Ness.

You haven't got a thing.

Besides, a jury won't
convict me on your intuition.

I've got more than
intuition, Shield.

Now you're telling lies.

Am I?

I've got three coroner
reports, Shields,

three hours, on
three different days.

The jury's going to want to know

what you were doing at 7:30,

the night Jacques
Villon was murdered,

9:30 the night Max
Frimmel was murdered,

and 11:00 last night,
when Baltzer got it.

What are you going
to tell the jury, Shield?

What... days are
you talking about?

October 20, October
23, and last night.

Well, what are you
going to tell them?

I... Save your breath.

Unless you can back up

everything you're going
to say with witnesses.

Does that sound like intuition?

Come on.

They'll... go easy on
me, won't they, Mr. Ness?

Three murders in two weeks...

they'll go easy
with you all right.

They'll put a cushion
on the electric chair.

No.

The electric chair...
they won't kill me.

When they see me,
they'll understand...

A poor handicapped man
caught up in the syndicate.

What else could I do?

What else could I be?

Save your act for the jury.

What else could I be?!

I'll tell you what you
could have been.

For one thing, you
could have been elected

President of the
United States yesterday.

Come on.