Sin City

Just one hour to go. My last day on the job.

Early retirement. Not my idea.

Doctor's orders. Heart condition.

"Angina" he calls it.

I'm polishing my badge and getting myself used to the idea of saying goodbye to it.

It, and the 30-odd years of protecting and serving and tears

and the blood and terror and triumph it represents.

I'm thinking about Eileen's slow smile.

About the thick. fat steaks she picked up at the butcher's today.

And I'm thinking about the one loose end I haven't tied up.

A young girl who's out there somewhere, helpless in the hands of a drooling lunatic.

Damn it, Hartigan, I won't let you do this. You're gonna get yourself killed.

You're gonna get us both killed. I won't let you. I'm warnin' you.

Let go of my coat, Bob.

You're draggin' me down with you.

I'm your partner. They can kill me, too.

I ain't puttin' up with that. I'm gettin' on the horn and calling for backup.

Sure, Bob. We'll just wait.

Sit on our hands while that Roark brat gets his sick thrills with victim number four.

Victim number four!

Nancy Callahan, age 1 1.

And she'll be raped and slashed to ribbons.

And that backup that we're waitin' on will just so happen to show up

just late enough for Roark to get back to his US Senator daddy.

Take a deep breath, Hartigan.

Settle down and think straight.

You're pushin' 60 and you got a bum ticker.

You ain't savin' anyone.

You got a great attitude, Bob.

Real credit to the force, you are.

Eileen's at home waitin' for you. Think about Eileen.

Heck, Bob,

maybe you are right.

I'm glad to hear you're finally talkin' sense.

Hell of a way to end a partnership.

Hell of a way to start my retirement.

Nancy Callahan, age 1 1.

For all I know she's dead already.

You've been a very good girl, Nancy.

- You've been very quiet. - (Nancy whimpers)

Don't be scared.

We're gonna be taking you home really soon.

But first, we're going to introduce you to somebody.

He's a very nice man.

Halfway to the warehouse where Weevil said they took her, and it hits.

Wicked spot of indigestion.

At least that's what I pray it is.

...Iighthearted and momentary digression.

The briefest indulge-ment in automotive pleasure.

For cheap thrills. Such short-lived durability, Mr. Shlubb.

You would risk engender-ating ill will on the part of our employers.

Burt Shlubb and Douglas Klump -

two any-dirty-job-there-is thugs with delusions of eloquence.

This Jaguar you so pinheadedly covet -

temporarily remanded to our custody though it may be -

remains the property of the son of Senator Roark.

Gotta keep this quiet. Take 'em down fast.

A single dent, the merest scratch thereupon,

and the before-mentioned consequences of which I so recently made mention

shall surely be athwart us.

Catch your breath. Give your heart time to slow down.

But it won't slow down.

Get over it.

She needs you.

We're all done here, Benny.

Let's give them some time together. Give them some privacy.

Be with you in a minute, Lenny.

I'm just making sure they get along really well.

And what kind of beast couldn't get along with a precious little girl like this?

You must be awfully scared now.

But you've got nothing to be scared of.

All we're gonna do is have a nice little talk.

That's all. Just a nice talk. Just you and me.

- (sobbing) - Don't you cry now.

Doctor said it'd be like this.

Just take the pill he gave you.

No need to play it quiet.

Not anymore.

Breathe steady old man. Prove you're not completely useless.

What the hell? Go out with a bang.

He likes to hear 'em scream.

I've seen his victims and their twisted little faces,

all wide-mouthed and bug-eyed, frozen in their last horrible moment of living.

No screams. Either I'm just in time or I'm way too late.

Ooh!

It's nothing. Barely a flesh wound. On your feet old man.

Roark. Give it up.

Let the girl go.

You can't do a goddamn thing to me, Hartigan.

You know who I am.

You know who my father is!

You can't touch me, you piece-of-shit cop.

Look at you. You can't even lift that cannon you're carrying.

Sure, I can.

Cover your eyes, Nancy. I don't want you watching this.

I mean it, baby. Cover your eyes right now.

I take his weapons away.

Both of them.

Hell of a way to end a partnership.

For God's sakes, don't make it any worse.

- Don't make me kill you. - Doin' fine, Bob.

Never better.

I'm ready to kick your ass.

Keep him talking. Buy time.

Just a few more minutes. Just till the backup gets here.

Sit down and stay down. I'll kill you if I have to.

Keep his mind off the girl - skinny little Nancy.

He can't kill her once the backup gets here.

Run home, Nancy. Run for your life.

Hey. Don't listen to him. He's a crazy man.

- What a tough man you are, huh? - You stay right where you're at.

You shoot your partner in the back...

then you try to scare a little girl.

Maybe I'll pull my spare rod, plug you a couple of times, show you how it's done.

We could've worked something out, but you've blown that.

Sit down or I'll blast you in half.

- You're so slow, you'll never stop me. - Sit down!

You'll never be able to stop me.

I finally sit down. just like you told me to.

The sirens are close now.

She'll be safe.

Things go dark. I don't mind much.

Getting sleepy. It's OK.

She'll be safe.

An old man dies,

a little girl lives.

Fair trade.

Just tell me it isn't true, John.

What they're saying about you and that child.

It can't be true.

If you ever want to see me again...

say something now.

We're looking at your basic mountain of DNA evidence,

the testimony of your own partner,

corroboration by six eye-witnesses - and that's just so far -

and there's your own silence.

I'll do what I can, but needless to say, you are good and screwed.

Come on, Hartigan. What's holding you back?

What's shutting you up? This whole thing stinks to high heaven.

I'm not the only one on the force who smells it.

Sure, I'll rinse your bedpan and wipe your butt. That's my job.

But don't expect any friendly chitchat outta me, mister.

I heard what you've done to that girl. I hope they throw away the key.

Evenin', officer.

I don't have to introduce myself, do l? You read the papers.

This being an election year, you've seen plenty of my picture.

You know who I am and what I can do.

And I'm doin' you, Hartigan.

Cold and hard, I'm doing you.

You blew my son's ear off.

You blew his arm off. You even blew his nuts and his pecker off.

He's in a coma right now. They say he may never come out of it.

My boy.

He could've been the first Roark to become the President of the United States,

but you went and turned him into a brain-damaged, dickless freak.

Pullin' that trigger make you feel powerful?

Power don't come from a badge or a gun.

Power comes from lying.

Lying big, and gettin' the whole damn world to play along with you.

Once you got everybody agreeing with what they know in their hearts ain't true,

you've got 'em by the balls.

There's what, maybe 500 people in this hospital?

I could pump you full of bullets right now, and I wouldn't even be arrested.

Everyone would lie for me - everyone who counts.

Otherwise, all their own lies - everything that runs Sin City -

it all comes tumbling down like a pack of cards.

But I want you firm and fit and healthy.

I'm even putting up cash of my own to get you more surgery.

Fix that heart condition of yours.

You're gonna keep on living a long time. I'm gonna make sure of that.

You're gonna be convicted of raping that little brat, and shooting my boy.

And you're gonna spend the rest of your life in prison,

disgraced, destroyed...

alone.

Your wife?

You tell her the truth and she's dead.

You tell anybody the truth and they're dead.

They won't let me testify.

I told the cops that you saved my life and they just acted like I was crazy.

They talked my parents into keeping me away.

They said that you'd done things that you didn't do.

I told them that you saved me from that Roark creep,

but they won't even check me out to see that I'm still a virgin.

I'm still a virgin, still alive - thanks to you.

They got it all backwards.

Sometimes, the truth doesn't matter like it ought.

But you'll always remember things right.

That's gonna mean a lot to me.

But stay away, Nancy. They'll kill you if you don't stay away.

Don't visit me.

Don't write me.

Don't even say my name.

Maybe you won't let me visit, but I'll still write to you, Hartigan.

I'll sign my letters "Cordelia"

That's the name of a really cool detective in books I read.

I'll write you every week... for forever.

Sure, kid.

Now, run on home.

It's not safe for you here.

Bye, Nancy.