The Wire (2002–2008): Season 5, Episode 8 - Clarifications - full transcript

And as you can see
from the locations,

the killer is working primarily in
the Southern, Central and Southeastern,

which makes sense given the concentrations
of homeless in those districts.

Vics one and three were killed at night,
two and four had daylight T.O.D.s.

Detective, what about
the missing man, Mr. Butler?

Is there any lead at all
on his whereabouts?

No, sir. We...

we have teletypes with every
police agency in the mid-Atlantic,

we're also running daily morgue checks
in ten states and the district,

- but nothing yet.
- Where are we on a profile?

I've arranged for our people
to travel to Quantico today.

The bureau's been very accommodating.

This is a strange one. I've heard of
people going after street people,

but it's usually adolescent sadism.

- This sexual thing...
- It is different.

We put it out on ViCAP, and we have
no hits anywhere else in the country.

I mean, I'm all for
a little kinky shit now and then,

but chewing on a homeless fella?

You seem to be well grounded
in the case file, detective.

What else do you need?

Well, we've developed a rough
list of those adult males

who were briefly detained
by police near pier five

soon after the suspect
made his last call.

We'd like to put some of those
under surveillance.

They're not suspects but we would
consider them persons of interest.

We've also developed a rough list

of known adult white homosexual
sex offenders in these three districts.

And, as we cull that list, we would...

we'd like to put some of those
under surveillance, too.

- About a dozen men.
- Less, actually.

We should be able to
eliminate many of our

potentials through
retroactive investigation.

Do you have your people?

I've asked the chief of patrol
to detail Sergeant Ellis Carver

from the Western to Homicide

for purposes of running
the surveillance element.

Why not a man from one of the districts
where the attacks occurred?

Well, I've worked with Carver on
prolonged investigations in the past,

and his familiarity
with surveillance tactics is relevant.

Also, I would be inclined
to trust his objective assessment

when choosing surveillance teams.

Very good. If that works for patrol,
it works for operations.

with special emphasis on posts
where the homeless congregate.

We have ten undercovers dressed as vagrants
working staggered shifts.

We're going to need
good undercover cars, as well.

And I'm told that motor pool
expects nothing back

- from Dickman Street until...
- Whatever you need, detective.

Yes, Mr. Mayor, but we're
being told by Public Works...

Go to Avis if you have to, Hertz. I don't
give a shit. People are disappearing.

They're dying, for Chrissake.
Just do what you need to do.

The bad news, gentlemen,

is we're actually going to have
to catch this motherfucker.

The good news is that our mayor
finally needs a police department

more than he needs a school system.

Yo, can I help you?

- I'm looking to work.
- Here?

Yeah, you need anyone?

- How old are you?
- 18.

A'ight, man, I'm 15.

I can give you a form to fill out,

but the manager,
he ain't gonna hire no one under 17.

Hey, yo.

You used to run
with the boy Namond, right?

Yeah, I used to be
on them Fayette corners.

- Oh yeah, man, I remember you.
- Yeah, I just got tired, you know?

Shit got old.

So, I guess you need to bang
a while longer,

then come back,
see if we got something.

Why me?

Why not somebody from a district where
they caught one of your homeless cases?

Well, there's a hitch.

This is some fucked-up McNulty shit.

I don't want me
or any of my guys getting burned.

Look, here's the deal.
Command are throwing more resources at me

than I can use on my homeless stuff.
I got that covered.

But Lester's got
a fresh line on Marlo Stanfield,

and he needs people to run it down.

A fresh line, huh? He's got a
fuckin' wire up is what you mean.

No, there's no wire...

Who the fuck are you kidding?

I handed him a fresh cell number
for Stanfield not two weeks ago.

Listen, I don't know anything
about any wire.

I'm just saying he's got
a new line on Marlo,

and he needs people to run it down.

Bosses stiff-armed him?

Jesus.

Guy drops all those
motherfuckers in the vacants.

Yeah.

So you're throwing people
over to Lester, and

paying for it from
your case, is that it?

O.T. Out the ass.

- What about the paperwork?
- I'll take care of that.

All the sheets, office reports,
come through me.

All your people got to do
is straight police work.

Daniels gave me a free hand
to pull people from any district.

Just make sure you send me
people who work.

What about cars?

Departmental account
at Enterprise downtown.

Get what you need.

We delay fleet maintenance for Public Works
over the next three months.

We cut snow removal in half
and pray for global warming.

That's enough to avoid any cuts
in school funding for this quarter.

This funds police
operations fully, correct?

They're back to where they started.

It's time anyway.
We ducked the teacher layoffs,

and you got the 15 points
on the third-grade M.S.A.s.

But if we don't drop crime
in this quarter and the next,

you are vulnerable. It's now or never.

Besides, you're getting traction
in this homeless thing.

Governor was on Y.P.R.
Yesterday, and Steiner

laid him out for the
state cutbacks.

Health Care For The Homeless have asked
for City Hall's steps tomorrow night.

- Candlelight vigil.
- You said yes, right?

Norman told 'em they could do it if I
got a chance to say a few choice words.

Speak of the devil.

I just got off the phone with the Post.

Reporter there wants
your comment on a story

he's working about
Dobey, down in P.G.,

looking to take you on
in the Democratic primary.

What? Dobey's getting in?

Make matters worse, Upshaw's telling people

he might just throw in
with said county exec.

Shit, we might have a full-blown
P.G. Insurrection on our hands.

Why would they do that?

Lots of pissed off
black folks down there.

Lot of grumblin' about
always a bridesmaid, never the bride.

No way can Dobey take the statehouse.

All he's gonna do is make us
spend money we'll need in the general.

When we went a-calling
in P.G. Last month, who'd you see?

Steny.

Maloney, Miller, those guys.

White, white and white.

Not even a cup of coffee with
poor old congressman Upshaw.

I wasn't snubbing the guy.

Folks there are tired
of being taken for granted.

- Fuck, I gotta kiss a ring, don't I?
- More than a ring, actually.

Unlimited O. T?

That's what I'm told.

But you say we might not be working
the homeless cases.

Not all the time.

Major crimes has a drug investigation
that may also need surveillance work.

Shit, who cares what we work?
I need the money.

A'ight then, you'll be
working out of homicide.

Report down there to
Detective McNulty.

Oh, yeah.

Rented wheels on the back lot.

Fuckin' A!

Ah, man, this is beautiful.

Hell, yeah.

It's weird shit,
talkin' to a psychopath like that.

I interviewed Dick Cheney once.

What do you think, Gus? Are we hyping this,
or is Templeton writing as it lays?

Police say it's real.

An' those photographs he got sent?
The guy's fucking missing.

I guess we're writing
homeless stories till December?

Why till December?

Pulitzer submissions
run the calendar year.

Anything a newspaper
cares about at Christmas,

they give a fuck about by New Year's.

Homelessness it is there, gents.

Hold on.

Fella in the lobby wants
to talk to an editor.

What kind of editor?

The kind that worked on
the story about that homeless vet.

Scott's piece?
Sure they don't want to talk to Scott?

Says Templeton won't
take his calls anymore,

so he walked over here
to talk to somebody else.

Tell him someone's coming down.

That all he say?

Just walked up and said he got Savino.

Said he gonna get more of our muscle

if Marlo don't come
to the street and step to him.

Good thing he didn't make me
from Monk's apartment.

I kept on lookin' away
from the motherfucker,

hopin' he ain't remember me.

He was limpin' bad, too.

He had a crutch.

Wasn't lyin' about Savino, was he?

Everybody sayin'
Omar's on this warpath.

Heard he got a stash house last week.
Everybody's...

Everybody need to shut the fuck up.

Look, I'm just sayin', if Marlo was all
that over June Bug callin' him a name,

so that y'all dropped June and his
whole family, then what the fuck?

Omar out there
callin' 'em bitches every damn day.

Fuck Omar.

What, ya think we ain't gonna
catch this dicksucker?

This nigger gonna get got.

Y'all gonna tell Marlo?

We tell him, we don't tell him.

Man got enough on his plate.

Young on some different opinion shit there.

I dunno. If I was Marlo...

Motherfucker, you ain't.

Raspberry?

Wild strawberry.

- What?
- Nothing, man.

C'mon, man, we gotta get across town.

This bitch is gonna tell you
where there's construction,

gonna tell you left, gonna tell you right.

Pretty much blow you if you ask nice.

And look.

Yo, you gotta play some old school
R'n'B shit on that, man.

New car, O.T.
This fuckin' detail, man.

I hope we never catch
this goofy motherfucker.

Hey, officers. Lookee here.

You got two young bucks
round the corner.

One in the white tee,
the other guy a throwback on.

One got the jump in his dip
and the one with a car tire, ya feel me?

- Round the corner?
- Fulton and Lex.

- A'ight.
- Thanks, man.

Yeah.

Mr. Hanning?
It's an honour for me to meet you, sir.

- Who are you?
- My name's Gus Haynes.

- I edited the story you're featured in.
- Then you're a fucking liar.

Omar. It's Omar, yo!

Gotta giddy up an' go, dawg.

Get!

One...

Two...

Three...

Four.

Ya see there? Omar know what one it is.

Look like all your muscle
done up and indisposed now.

So you might as well go ahead
and drop it out, ya feel me?

I'm obliged to walk up in there now.

You workin' a Stanfield corner,

which means you workin'
for a straight-up punk.

Ya feel me?

I'm out here in these streets every day.

Me an' my Ionesome.

An' where he at?

Yo, y'all put it in his ear.

Marlo Stanfield is not a man for this town.
You dig?

Yeah.

Yeah, eight men, four cars.

Ellis briefed 'em.
They know what's what.

No, they're just happy for the O.T.
Don't worry, Lester.

Just sign the motherfucker
and shut the fuck up.

Gimme.

We ready?
'Cause you gotta figure an extra hour

to get round the Capital
Beltway this time of day.

You ever done an FBI profile before?

- Once.
- How'd it go?

They take your file, read you back
some shit you already know.

- Then why do it?
- So that we can say we did.

Need a pack of Newport. Soft pack.

Let me get one of them, too.

Don't shoot!

Lowenthal. Where the fuck is he?

He's...

There you go, Bunk.

Request for a DNA comparison.
Case 06H-271.

Latent trace to obtained samples.

And it's a part of the serial killer thing.
It's now a part of that investigation.

That's different.
If it's connected to that investigation...

It is, here.

- It's in my notes.
- I never said I was in a firefight.

- Not on that day.
- Sorry, but you did.

I told you the lead vehicle took a hit
from an elevated I.E.D.

Killed the 50 gunner,
and blew the hands off the driver.

That's it. That's enough, man.

- Why make the rest of that shit up?
- I didn't make anything up.

- We sat there having coffee.
- Coffee.

- Having donuts and coffee. And you said...
- What I say?

- Can I finish?
- I don't know.

I'm hearing about coffee and donuts,
I'm not hearing...

If you're not going to let me
tell my side of the story...

A lie ain't a side of the
story, it's just a lie.

- I don't have to listen to this.
- OK. Scott, let's just relax here.

Both you gentlemen,
let's just step back here, please?

Now, Mr. Hanning, forgive me,
but do you drink much?

You think I fucking sleep
under a bridge sober?

Sometimes when I have a few,
and I do like to have a few,

I tend to be a little more descriptive
in the telling of a tale.

I know what it is to tell a story.
I've told plenty in my time.

But there's some things that happen,
you don't ever fuck with them.

I believe you, Mr. Hanning.

I believe that you believe.

That you believe you told me one thing.

But, sir, with all due
respect and gratitude,

for you and the service
you gave to this country,

you didn't tell me that thing.

You told me something else.
I wrote what Mr. Hanning told me.

- Mr. Hanning, I know you...
- What if one of the guys,

what if a Marine who was there,
he reads that shit that you made up?

That's why I come down here today.
What if one of the guys sees that?

Man, get him outta my face.

Guy's just off. Off in general,
off his meds. I don't know, but off.

A lot of them are, you know.
I hate to say it...

He puts on a good front.

We'll call the Marines,
get a service record,

reach out to some people in his unit, find
out what happened that day outside of...

- What was it? Fallujah?
- Yeah.

If it went down
the way you said, we'll let it be.

But if not, we'll chalk it up
as a misunderstanding.

But misunderstanding or no,

we will write a correction
if what we printed wasn't accurate.

And we didn't have coffee.

We had chocolate milk.

You miss what you had, though?

I still got too much dog in me
to be settled like that.

It wasn't Cheryl. It was me.

Thing is, is I found a connect
with the boy, you know?

That part of it feels right to me.

Kids are great.

Yeah.

What about you and Beadie?
You were quiet there for a time.

Yeah. Bunk once told me
I'm no good for people.

Everyone around me, he said.

- Was he drunk?
- Yeah. But still.

- Omar be dead. I'm tellin' you.
- Heard that before.

- For real.
- You see him?

Seen his dead ass
layin' right up in there.

Boy up on the corner say
he try to rob them Koreans and got killed.

You shoulda let me give
him the years, Bunk.

He'd have been better off.

Thanks for calling.

Figured you'd wanna see this,
you being so tight with the mope.

Professional job here.

No. I thought so at first,
but the Korean broad we sent downtown

said he got done in by
a short little fella with a big gun.

Shit, walked in an' lit his ass up.

How short?

The boy robbed him?

Counter lady said the hoppers
all ran up in here for souvenirs.

Took his shotty and his semiauto too.
Ran all through his pockets.

Be my guest.

Back on the hunt, were you?

Young 'un say he out here with no car,
walkin' with a limp an' shit.

He gonna fall, Chris. You gonna see.

- Marlo need a meet.
- For real?

Leander, where we at?

Still setting this up.
Why, did you catch another one?

6:55 and 34.

We're not on anybody yet,
so we'll pick it up in the morning.

All right, later.

OK. Doze, Truck, you're on Monk Metcalf.

Bobby, you and Brian are on Chris Partlow.
He usually rides with Snoop Pearson,

but if they split, Karen and Tony
will pick up on her.

Marcus, Angela. You're the backup unit
when we need one.

- You're gonna do Stanfield?
- Yeah.

All their business is face-to-face, and
they meet in the open several times a day.

We're just trying to find
the pattern in the meets.

Where do we pick these guys up?

Stanfield has every corner
between MLK and Monroe,

and they start shaping it up
around 11 or so, OK?

That's when the re-up orders
start coming in,

that's when you'll start to see
Monk making the rounds.

Most mornings, Marlo starts off
with a parley or two

on the playground
between Mosher and Lanvale.

Now, these guys
seem to be wholesaling, too.

Other dealers, players,

anyone who wants to get with him
gets him there, OK?

Chris and Snoop are usually with him.

And McNulty's got you
covered for paperwork.

None of what we do here
is necessary for court,

so rest easy on that, all right?

So we stage here tomorrow at nine.

No sign of him, but I ain't on nothin' else
for as long as it take.

You ain't heard? Omar bagged up.

Shit, I thought y'all was gonna tell me.

I just got the word myself from Monk.

- Who got him?
- Some young boy.

- Who?
- Ain't heard a name.

Don't even know if there was a why.

Hopper wanna hear a pop,
see the damage, ya know?

Yeah. That shit is gone.

We done with this next resupply,

you an' me got some time
in AC coming to us, don't we?

Forensically, this guy is all over the map.

Sexual to a point, but inhibited.

Nocturnal on some, diurnal on the others.

And the notion of targeting
the homeless, to begin with?

We've only seen that a couple of times,

but in those instances,
it's been someone within that cohort.

And they're not usually carrying cellphones
and calling newspapers.

You caught a strange one here.

Detectives. Don't get up.

Arthur Toland,
deputy director of the unit.

Just wanted to drop by and make sure
we're progressing your case.

Yeah. Great. Thanks.

You might recognize
the director from television.

- He's done all of them.
- You know those news shows.

Always want a talking head
when a case comes up.

Greta van Susteren,
Nancy Grace, Chris Matthews,

that fella with the big forehead,
whatshisname?

- Larry King?
- Yeah.

What the hell. It's a chance
to get the word out for the bureau.

And I sell some books.

"Human Hunters - The Rise
of the American Serial Killer"?

They've used a lot of my stuff
on those CSI shows.

I've consulted for them.

You haven't heard...

So, how long you been doing
death investigations?

Eight years.

We don't see a lot
of serial stuff, actually.

Drug murders.
A street robbery every now and then.

300 or so a year.

Well, you've got a serial case now,
so, I'll leave you to it.

Good hunting.

Art was lead investigator
on the Unabomber thing.

That was, like, 16 years, right?

Yeah.

Then his brother ratted him out?

Homeless is in at 30 inches.

It's good shit there.

No, really. There was a real sense of
place, especially under the Hanover Bridge

when the police came up
under there to give the warning.

Drama in small moments like that.

- Truth is, I had a tour guide.
- Yeah?

Yeah, fella I met at a soup kitchen.

Volunteer there. Ex-addict.

There's something about this guy.
I mean, he's just...

I don't know, the more he
talked, the more I felt

like it was him I really
wanted to write about.

- Yeah?
- But he's not homeless.

I don't have any peg for him.
Shit, I don't know what the story is.

- He's got a name?
- Reginald Cousins.

Volunteers at a soup kitchen.
What's he do for money?

Sells the Baltimore Sun
every morning out by Light Street.

- Shit. Not exactly a growth industry.
- He lives in his sister's basement.

She'll take a plate down to him now
and then but won't let him upstairs.

- Spend some time with him.
- What about the homeless coverage?

You're covered. Take a couple weeks,
see what you see. A'ight?

Late entries from the copshop.
Two dead in a Charles county house fire,

- and a homicide from the city.
- Ettlin, what do we got room for?

We're shy one brief in the metro digest.

Four paragraphs'll fill.

What's the homicide?

A 34-year-old black male
shot dead in West Baltimore grocery.

Juvenile suspect is being sought.

Write up the fire.
Scratch the murder, we don't have room.

So what we conclude
from a behavioral analysis

of the known forensics is the following:

The suspect is likely a white male,
in his late 20s to late 30s.

He likely is not a college graduate,

but feels nonetheless superior
to those with advanced education,

and he is likely employed
in a bureaucratic entity,

possibly civil service
or quasi-public service,

from which he feels alienated.
He has a problem with authority

and a deep-seated resentment
of those who he feels

have impeded his progress professionally.
The minimized sexual activity suggests

that this is not a primary
motive for the killings.

In fact, the bite marks in the last
found victim lacking the DNA of saliva,

indicate to us
possible post-mortem staging.

The suspect has trouble
with lasting relationships

and is possibly
a high-functioning alcoholic,

with alcohol being utilized as a trigger
in the commission of these crimes.

His resentment of the homeless
may stem from a personal relationship

with someone in that cohort,
or his victimization of vagrants

might merely present
an opportunity for him

to assert his superiority
and intellectual prowess.

If you get more, fax it down,
and we can update the profile.

Thanks for everything.

Thanks.

So, what do you think?

They're in the ballpark.

Congressman, I'll do whatever it takes
to make things right between us,

but running Dobey in the primary
is only gonna hurt everybody.

- You mean hurt you.
- I'm the only viable candidate

to beat that Republican prick,
and I know you know that.

At the end of the day,
isn't that what it's all about?

Do not waste your breath

tellin' me what I already know
about our tax-cutting,

dump-it-on-the-counties,
ass-kiss-every-business-interest governor.

P.G. County has 100 murders a year,

school system held together
with spit and glue,

and worse rush-hour traffic than Atlanta.

And the man in Annapolis
wouldn't piss on us if we were on fire.

- Don't hold back, congressman.
- I'm tired of these fuckin' Republicans.

I fucked up, not coming
to see you earlier. But

between the votes I can
pull out of Baltimore,

Montgomery and your county,
I am gonna take the statehouse.

And then the frustration
that you feel is gonna end.

I know you've heard this
from every other son of a bitch,

but congressman,
I give you my word.

You know, you're right.
I have heard that before.

You wanna keep P.G. County in your camp,

it's gonna cost you
a lot more than your word.

Fuck.

You rang?

Funny case you got here.

Your victim had an address.

A home. Paid rent, so we assume.
Maybe even a mortgage.

But not homeless, in any case.
No strangulation, no red ribbon.

A lesser man might get pissy
because you jumped the line, Bunk.

Me?

I remember Partlow's name
from all those cases last year.

- Congrats.
- Yeah.

But...

don't fuck with me like this again.

Yeah.

He lied on his mortgage application, huh?

- We have a name for that over here.
- The headshot. I know.

On a mortgage charge,
he's certain to plead out.

- Billy doesn't plead his clients.
- Then he's looking at a lot of years.

A federal jury is a very different animal
than what they see on Calvert Street.

I tried to tell him that.

Yeah, but Mr. Bond
wanted to try this himself,

see if he couldn't grandstand
his way to City Hall.

Well, you have the headshot, detective,
but no gun with which to fire it.

- We can't take this case.
- It's all on paper.

You had canceled cheques.
You had bank accounts.

You had his bag man on the stand.

We had a city jury.

We've been gathering string on Clay Davis
for six years, detective.

Six years, we've had a file open
on that shakedown artist.

And now, after you
city sons of bitches

have managed, in a single week,
to transform Clay fucking Davis

into Martin Luther King Jr.,
you now come to me with this,

which you had in your
back pocket all along,

looking for the federal jury of mostly
white faces to remedy the problem?

Well...

I'm sorry.

Thank you.

What's this?

From the pocket of a dead stick-up boy.

Omar Little.

Omar? Dead?

You stop readin' the 24s?
Killed yesterday at a grocery.

- Slow to the draw, he was.
- No shit.

One to the back of the head.
Norris and Crutchfield caught it.

They're looking for a juvenile.
He was hunting Stanfield and crew.

- And this was on him?
- Yep.

Thought of you and Lester
when I saw it.

Payback for you
getting me back some great lab.

Positive DNA on Chris Partlow.

An alley beating,
not one of the ones in the vacants.

Motherfucker. You have all kinds
of news today, don't you?

Going for a warrant right now.

Hey, can you wait to serve it?

- We're right at the edge, Bunk.
- How long?

'Cause this is an honest
fuckin' murder prosecution.

I'll talk to Lester. Congrats.

Yeah. No shuckin', no jivin'. Just good
ol' police work. How about that, Jimmy?

Without my bullshit,
you're still waiting on lab work.

Listen, Jimmy, the Conaway
shooting from Westport?

The transvestite? I go to ViCAP,
there's another one just like it,

down in Carolina, four months ago.

For a road car and two nights in a hotel,
I can put this down.

What are you talking about?
Yours is a 9mm, this one's a.32.

Yours was a bar pick-up,
this one's a home invasion.

Still worth checking out.

I don't see it. Sorry.

You're gonna make me
spit it out, aren't you?

You ever played Hilton Head?

I get a call from my
brother-in-law a few days ago.

He managed to swing
a tee-time for this weekend.

Jimmy, I'm going, goddammit.

The fuck do I care? Go.

You know, this is some
real cute shit you're pulling here.

Taking the detail money and doling it
around like a priest passing wafers.

I don't know what you're
up to but I know this.

If someone picked up a phone around here,
your shit is critically fucked.

Two nights and a road car.

Leander, I'm showing
10:55 and 34 from Marlo's phone.

Anybody on the move?

I got him coming eastbound
on Baltimore Street at Calhoun.

- Who's on Monk?
- Wait one.

23-06 to 23-11. Where you at, man?

23-11. Southbound MLK,
approaching route 40.

That's the meet, Lester.
Monk and Marlo on the westside. We on it.

Corner of Argyle and Dolphin.

Monk and Marlo, as expected.

Now I got 4:40 and 35
coming into Marlo's phone.

Yeah, he's scoping that, Lester.

We know it ain't Monk callin'.

23-06 to 23-12.

- Who do you have eyes on?
- Both my subjects.

- They go to their cellphones?
- Negative.

- They on the move?
- Negative.

- 23-14, nothing moving either.
- No one else calling or moving.

Means we got somebody else
on this network we don't yet know.

Oh, boy.

- Hey, man, let me give you a hand.
- All right, you ready?

I don't have no money in the moment,

but I'll be going down
to the scales in a hour or two.

You help me out,
I'll go ten for your trouble.

Got a rag for that behind you.

Junk! Junkman!

Where the fuck are you going?

I gotta see Lester about...

What's all that?

Parole info
on known sex offenders for five zip codes.

I've also got background
info on my desk

for everyone we picked up
at pier five with a cellphone.

- You're actually gonna...
- Compare the FBI profile

with every person of interest I can find?
Hell yeah, somebody's gotta.

- Come here.
- The fuck are you doin'?

Maurice Dobey? For governor?
Of my state?

Shit.

That's some cynical politics, right there.

Playin' like you gonna run a man you know
can't win to scare people into payin' off.

Dobey could bloody you up, Tommy.
In Baltimore and P.G. Both.

Playin' that race card. Shameful.

What does Upshaw want
to stay out of the race?

- Too much.
- Are you going to pay?

Let's just say I'm in negotiations.

I'll do everything I can to make sure
this insurrection doesn't spread.

Wonderful!
And how much is the loyal support

of the Eastside Democratic Coalition
going to cost me?

Only an endorsement, given that
this man here is still standing,

I don't believe that Rupert Bond is going
to find his way into this office. Do you?

And for my endorsement,
you will return the favour

and ignore our friends
in Prince George's.

And the loyalty of the westside
is going to cost me what exactly?

Nothin' big. You got three seats
comin' open on the liquor board.

- You get one seat.
- Two an' you have me

raisin' money for you in the primary.

Sold. And it scares me
to think of the damage you can do

with two votes on the liquor board.

- It ain't right.
- No...

- It just is.
- No, I mean, you can't do this.

We're doing it.
Whatever they give us to work the bullshit,

I throw to Lester,
or Crutchfield or Norris,

anyone else who has a case
that ought to be solved.

It's bad enough I wasted your day
yesterday going to Quantico.

I can't stand to see you wasting more time.
You should be working your home invasion.

- Jimmy, you can't do this.
- A couple days more,

and Lester gets his best shot at Marlo.

After that, we'll never hear from
the red-ribbon killer again.

The bosses will lose interest, I'll
pretend to run out a little more string,

and then it goes right back
to the admin office. No harm, no foul.

Whatever you need, Kima,
to work your triple

or any other case that matters to you.

Manpower, O.T., lab work, cars.

Just let me know.

I gotta go.

Man! Junk!

Old papers!

Sheet metal!

Junkman! Junk!

Cardboard.

- Newspapers.
- Hey, Bug, up here.

Whoa, boy.

I get you that ten tomorrow
and if you're lookin' for work,

I got what needs liftin'.

You know the stable on Bruce Street?
Be there before nine.

Dag, Duke, you a-rabbin' now?

I'm showing 5:15 and 34 seconds.

I'm up Park Heights
but I lost him just past the park.

MTA bus clipped the kerb
and it knocked down a utility pole.

By the time I detoured, he slipped me.

Well, let me know.

Big news.

Bunk has a murder warrant
on Chris Partlow.

- The hell you say.
- Not one from the vacants.

DNA match on an alley beating.

He lets this go now,
these guys are gonna go to ground.

We're right at the edge
of something here.

He's giving us a couple of days.

He owes me.
I expedited his lab work for it.

- And Omar Little? Stick up boy?
- What about him?

Caught one in a Korean joint over westside.

Bunk pulled that out of his pocket.
Mean anything at all to us?

Looks like he was after Marlo's crew.

Cheese. Cheese Wagstaff?

In addition to their corners,
these guys are wholesaling all over town,

so I figured Cheese
was just one of many.

The note reads like Omar
had him under Marlo's wing.

A lieutenant, at least. Anyway, I gotta go,

do more pretending
for the rest of the city.

Oh, by the way, I - I told Greggs.

McNulty, how many more people...

She was about to jump into
the serial murders.

- I couldn't stand to spin her like that.
- How'd she take it?

23-06 to any 23 sequence.
Trying to reconnect with my subject.

- Anyone who can assist?
- 23-15 to 23-06.

I'm in the 2800 block,
Edgecombe Circle South,

sitting on the female subject.
Maybe that's the other end of your meet.

Edgecombe Circle? Where's that 20?

- It runs off Pall Mall.
- Where's Pall Mall?

- I'm not too good up in the northwest.
- Between Pimlico...

Never mind, I got a map book.

OK, see what we got here.

Map 34, grid E3.

Three.

- Whaddya got?
- What'd that last clock show?

And these people
that I share the stage with tonight

are here as representatives
of the hundreds,

no, the thousands of citizens
without shelter,

without protection, in this city tonight.

Why does this have to be?

Certainly, the last seven years

have not brought the same levels
of federal commitment

to American cities as from
previous administrations.

And certainly, our governor has
in the last year placed severe restrictions

on whatever stopgap state programs
were in place.

And what little remained
of our so-called safety net

was simply shredded,

and more and more
of our fellow citizens

found themselves living life
at the broken edges, in the street.

Well, I say that this is not only tragic,
it is unforgivable!

And I am here to say
that no longer can these people

with whom I share this stage tonight
be invisible,

just as all of those
without shelter in this city,

in this country,
can no longer be invisible to us.

And it is regrettable
that it has taken the actions

of a remorseless predator
to make us reflect.

But we in Baltimore
have been tested,

and we have been taught
that all of our citizens

deserve the full protection of the law,

and the full support of the community.

And we are saying
to this senseless killer,

and to all the other ills that prey on
those without shelter in our city,

not tonight can you prey on them.

And not tomorrow. Not any longer.

We will protect you!

Thank you.

She asked you keep that one stirred.

You were on my thing, right?

I guess I owe you a drink on that.
What's your poison?

I'm OK, senator,
thank you very much.

Obonda, huh? That's a good one.

You know, that was mostly my evidence
you beat back there, right?

- You think you could do that again?
- Excuse me?

Except this time,
the jury's a federal one.

Say, nine white, three black.

Time for you to tip on out, detective.

Bank records on that mortgage application

you made on the Calvert county
property years back.

Now, why don't you
take that back to Billy Murphy?

Ask your attorney
what you're exposed to.

At this point, this is just between
us two gentlemen here, senator.

And no one else till I make it so.

What? You tryin' to sell a case back to me?
Motherfucker, if you don't get...

I don't get paid like that.

I get paid when I come back
in a couple nights time with questions

and you, sir, have answers. Or my next call
will be to the US Attorney's office,

and we will go again.
But for real.

You can keep that copy. Ma'am.

Just to let you know, before
the fireworks start, I'm spiking this lead.

- But you got my back?
- As best I can.

I'm spiking your lead.

I'm not running a story
about a public gathering,

a candlelight vigil at City Hall, in fact,

where the lead anecdote and quote
is from an unnamed homeless woman.

She doesn't want to be known as homeless.
I explained that.

Scott, there were hundreds
of homeless down there tonight.

People who voluntarily
attended this event.

And I'd guess that any
number of them would've

let you put their
names in the paper.

But her story is great.
Look at that quote.

It's a perfect quote.
Best quote I could ever ask for.

That's my concern at this point.

Jesus Christ.

To hell with you
if you think I made it up.

We have a standard that we follow here.
And I'm gonna follow it.

Here it comes, Gus.

Yep.

Gus, you're retopping
Scott's vigil copy?

- I am.
- But I thought...

Anonymous attribution in a public setting.
There's no need for it.

- Gus, let's discuss this.
- Actually, I did discuss it

with the metro editor, and he agrees.

Now, the story's on the copy desk,

and as a line editor working this story,
I feel I've done my job.

Now, you as the M.E.,
if you want to go another way,

you pull the story back and re-edit.

But we have a sourcing policy here,
and I know it,

and I do not feel comfortable
bending the rules in this instance.

Night.

Yeah?

McNulty, it's Christeson.

Listen, my case is down
an' I wanted to thank you.

I couldn't have done it otherwise.

No problem.

- It went great.
- Kids asleep?

Yeah, but they saw you on W.B.A.L.

Anna said your hair looked funny.

Well, just so long as she was impressed.

C.N.N. Was there.

I wonder if they'll cycle
any coverage through tonight.

- A good day for hizzoner, huh?
- I don't know.

Nerese shook me down
for a mayoral endorsement,

and Clay Davis,
back from the grave,

took a couple of liquor board seats.

Just so as they won't join in
Upshaw's war party in Prince George's.

You're gonna endorse Nerese?
You told me you prefer Bond.

I do, but this thing with Upshaw...

Shit, I might even have to give him a bump
just to calm him down.

God. What's he asking?

- There. Look.
- What's Upshaw asking?

Half of any extra school
or anti-crime money

I get outta the legislature for Baltimore
would go to P.G. County.

You take that deal
and Baltimore's out

half of what you want to bring
back to the city schools.

Yeah, but if I don't win, Jen,
I bring back exactly nothing.

Look.

And we are saying
to this senseless killer,

and to all the other ills...

Go on. Straight to bed.

Hey, kiddo.

Where'd you go to?

None of your business really, Jimmy.

And next time, I'm not going anywhere.

Next time, you're gonna be out on your ass,
because that's my fucking house.

That's police work, son.

I pull the A.D.C. Book to find a location,

and I'm on the same page number
as the second hand.

And I remember we had
a lotta clocks with 34 seconds.

That's the page for West Baltimore.

Right. Now, the second hand
is always the map page.

Longitude, A-through-K, is the hour,

and for the latitude,
they go by five-minute intervals.

Now they know
the meeting spot in advance,

and they code it by the grid square.

But if the clock
has nothing to do with time,

how do they know when to meet?

Everything's less than
a half hour of driving, even in traffic.

My guess is that the standing logic

is that they meet within an hour or so.

You know what else makes sense?

This clock face when no one
was on the move?

The times are all at 35 seconds.

And that's the page for East Bawlmer.

- Cheese.
- Cheese Wagstaff?

Marlo's wholesaling westside through Monk,
and eastside with Cheese.

- He's got the whole goddamn city.
- How do we know it's Cheese?

You, too, huh?

You all are good with this?

Not me.

All the guys at the bar, Jimmy,
all the girls,

they don't show up at your wake.

Not because they don't like you

but because they never
knew your last name.

A month later, someone tells 'em,
"Oh, Jimmy died."

"Jimmy who?"
"Jimmy the cop."

"Oh," they say. "Him."

And all the people on the job,

all the people you spent
all those hours in the radio car with,

the guys with their feet up
on their desk telling stories,

who shorted you on the food runs,
who signed your overtime slips.

In the end, they're not
gonna be there either.

Family. That's it.
Family, and if you're lucky,

one or two friends
who are the same as family.

That's all the best of us get.
Everything else is just...

There is no serial killer.

There are no murders.
I made it all up.

They were shutting us down.
They were just...

It's hard to explain.

I don't even know where the anger comes
from, I don't know how to make it stop.

They fucking task me, they do.

We took the money from
the bullshit investigation,

and rerouted it to Lester.

Now he's got the cake
to take down Marlo Stanfield.

And now that I've done all this,
now that I've watched myself do it,

I can't even stand to...

Lester says he's close.

Time will pass, and I'll be able
to shut this thing down.

If you don't go to jail.

You had no fucking right.

- I know.
- This is my life, too.

You start to tell the story;
you think you're the hero.

And then,
when you get done talking, you...