Lady in Cement

How many cards, pal?

Give me two.

How many are you taking?

Two for you, and the dealer takes one.

I bet five lovely rubies.

I see your five, and I raise you three.

You're bluffing.

Try me.

I'm in. What have you got?

A flush.

What do I owe you now?

To keep it simple, 500,000 Spanish doubloon

and 2 1/2 bucks cash for your share of the map.

For this? Where'd you get this?

Three-Finger Jack.

Only eleven Spanish galleons?

I think Three-Finger Jack is hustling us.

I don't think so. There's the rocks.

Okay, who goes over first?

How many times?

Once.

Your dance.

You always looked good in basic black.

Wrong.

Problems, problems, problems.

Black 8 on a red 9.

Oh, thanks.

Find anything?

Yeah. A couple of nosy sharks.

Hey, at least you had company. Ha ha ha!

- Any sign of the 11 galleons? - No.

Well, you must have seen something down there.

Yeah. A dead blonde.

A dead blonde?

Was she pretty?

She's one blonde I know didn't have more fun.

Coast Guard.

This is Straight Pass calling Coast Guard. Over.

Straight Pass, this is Coast Guard.

This is Straight Pass.

I'd like to report a body floating off Fowley Rocks.

Is it a hazard to navigation?

Is it a hazard to navigation?

No. Just a dead, wet blonde hanging around in a block of cement.

Over and out.

Roger, Straight Pass.

Hazard to navigation? Ha ha ha!

These postmortems give me gas.

And to think I had a brilliant future in pediatrics.

Okay, Jerome. Okay.

She was dead before she went in- hardly any water in her lungs.

What killed her?

A knife with a long, narrow blade

driven in under the breastbone up into her heart,

and then it was pulled out.

Anything else turn up in the autopsy?

No, except that she never delivered any babies,

though she definitely had relations with men.

She would have made a natural mother.

Is that all?

Mm-hmm. What a pelvis.

What a pelvis.

Dumping people in cement- that went out with violin cases.

Whoever did it had no reason to expect she'd ever be found.

Whoever did it doesn't know much.

He dropped her where 11 Spanish galleons sank in a hurricane in 1591,

loaded with silver and gold.

Well, why don't you just hand him the maps?

Buy him a scuba suit.

Things slow on the Vice Squad, Rubin, you can go off and play games?

I had a busy week.

I personally closed two plays, put six belly dancers out of business,

and personally attended several love-ins.

- I need a rest. - Yeah, Vice runs you down, you know.

You ought to know.

And what's the matter?

- No clients? - Are you worried about me, Dave?

You're the only guy I know who owns a yacht

and eats leftover TV dinners- cold, yet.

Lieutenant?

- Yeah. - Picture file from missing persons.

Thanks.

See you around, Dave.

Hey, you're not through yet, Tony.

We found her. She's yours now.

Well, there's not enough left of her to recognize.

How about fingerprints?

There aren't any. See if she's one of these.

Yeah?

It's Manny.

Who?

Your bookie.

Oh, that Manny. I'm out of town. I'm a little short.

Pictures. The pictures.

He's out of town. How the hell do I know where Rome is?

And listen, Manny.

You book one more bet off this line,

I'm going to run you in for impersonating a female.

I keep telling him he looks lousy in a miniskirt.

She ain't here, Dave.

There will be more coming in.

The story's already on radio and television.

Now, look, don't keep calling me down here every 15 minutes

because some blonde runs out on her husband.

You got something better to do?

Yes, I have.

Come on. Let's hoist the martini flag.

Excuse me, Lieutenant.

- I'm all through, John, dear. - Uh-huh.

Is it okay, honey?

Yeah, yeah. Now go clean the bait buckets.

And after that?

- I'll think of something. - Okay.

Hiya, Tony. I got a good thing for you in the fourth.

The last thing you gave me wore snowshoes.

But this is a sure thing.

Then why don't you bet it?

I play horses?

Any messages?

Birdie, any messages for Tony?

Oh, yes, John, dear.

Well, what are you going to do? Keep it a secret?

You wrote it down, honey.

That's right. lt's between the seventh and the eighth. lt's your answering service.

- I think you got a new client. - Give me the message, John.

They said it's very urgent. All they gave me was an address.

No name? Just an address?

No name.

Which one are you? Sondra or Maria?

Hey, that's funny.

- I like a guy with a sense of humor. - Mmm.

You got anything else funny to say?

Yeah. What sells best? The frozen peas or the corn? Ho ho ho!

You got to be kidding.

Toss it over on the chair- easy.

That was a very gutsy thing you just tried.

I like gutsy guys.

And you're pretty fast for a big man.

Yeah. It surprises folks.

It surprised some of them right to death.

Now, who are you?

I'm a private detective.

Somebody called me up and told me to meet them here.

Give me your wallet.

Yeah, you're the one.

I sent for you, Rome.

Well, you can put that cannon away. I'm a little insecure.

Sorry about that. Just being careful. You know how it is.

Yeah. Have a seat. Comfy?

Yeah.

Now...

that blonde dame you picked up in the drink-

what did she look like?

Dead.

Yeah. Did she have a birthmark right here?

Oh, I didn't get that close to her.

Yeah. Yeah, it wouldn't have been Sondra, anyway.

When she goes, it'll be in the sack, and she'll take the guy with her. You're hired.

I don't want to appear nosy, but I'm hired to do what?

I got to find Sondra.

She was supposed to live in this place with that Spanish broad, but she ain't showed.

Why don't you check with the Spanish dame?

I got my reasons. You're going to find her for me.

Okay, but it'll cost you about 100 bucks a day plus expenses.

I'm a little low on cash at the moment.

Ha ha! That puts us in the same bracket,

but I don't think my bookmaker would understand

my taking a charity case at this moment.

All right.

Here. You can get 300 bucks for that in any hockshop, but hang on to the ticket.

I'll buy it back from you when I lay my hands on some dough.

Yeah, okay. Just one more thing.

Why are you trying to find this girl?

All you need to know is I told you to find her,

and, pal, when I tell a guy to do something,

it ain't healthy not to do it, believe me.

Oh, I believe you. You got a very sincere manner.

Good.

I like cooperative guys.

Listen, how do I find you?

You don't. I'll find you.

And don't tail me, pal.

I like guys who don't tail me.

The furthest thing from my mind.

What's your name?

Gronsky- Waldo Gronsky.

Waldo?

Waldo.

Waldo?

Hey, buy a girl a drink?

I bet we could relate real good.

I'm broke. You have to try me another time.

You're still in love?

I'm looking for Maria Barreto.

Mmm, she's the one with the mirrors.

Oh, if you're broke, forget it.

Well, there's always the nice, warm sunshine.

Oh, but who's going to rub your back when you burn, baby?

That's a point.

I got to go express myself.