Lady in Cement

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RUBIN:

How many cards, pal?

ROME:

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?

Flush!

What do I owe you now?

To keep it simple,

500,000 Spanish doubloons...

...and $2.50 cash for your share

of the map.

For this? Where'd you get this?

Three-Finger Jack.

ROME:
Only 11 Spanish galleons?

I think he's hustling us.

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

Okay, who goes over first?

- How many times?

- Once.

[COUNTING IN ITALIAN]

Your dance.

- Always look good in basic black.

- So long.

Problems, problems, problems.

- Black eight on the red nine.

- Oh, thanks.

- Find anything?

- Yeah, a couple of nosy sharks.

RUBIN:

At least you had company.

[ROME LAUGHS]

- Any sign of the 11 galleons?

- No.

You must have seen

something down there.

- Yeah, a dead blond.

- A dead blond?

Was she pretty?

She's one blond I know

didn't have more fun.

Coast Guard. This is Straight Pass

calling Coast Guard. Over.

MAN:
Straight Pass, this is Coast Guard.

- This is Straight Pass.

Like to report a body floating

off Fowey Rocks.

Is it a hazard to navigation?

Is it a hazard to navigation?

No, just a dead, wet blond

hanging around in a block of cement.

- Over and out.

- Roger, Straight Pass.

"Hazard to navigation."

These postmortems give me gas.

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 under the breastbone

into her heart, then pulled out.

ROME:

Anything else from the autopsy?

No, except she never had any babies.

Though she definitely

had relations with men.

She would have made

a natural mother.

- Is that all?

- Uh-huh. What a pelvis.

What a pelvis.

Dumping people in cement.

That went out with violin cases.

Whoever did it didn't 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.

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. 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?

You're the only guy I know who owns

a yacht and eats leftover TV dinners.

Cold yet.

MAN:
Lieutenant?

SANTINI:
Yeah.

- Picture files from Missing Persons.

- Thanks.

ROME:
See you around, Dave.

- You're not through yet, Tony.

We found her. She's yours now.

SANTINI:
There's not enough to recognize.

- Fingerprints?

There aren't any.

See if she's one of these.

[PHONE RINGING]

Yeah.

- It's Manny.

- Who?

- Your bookie.

- Oh, that Manny.

I'm out of town. Little short.

SANTINI:

The 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'll run you in for impersonating a female!

I keep telling him

he looks lousy in a miniskirt.

- She ain't here, Dave.

SANTINI:
There'll be more coming in.

The story's already on radio and TV.

Don't call me here every 15 minutes...

...because some blond

runs out on her husband.

- You got something better to do?

- Yes, I have.

- Come on, let's hoist the martini flag.

RUBIN:
Excuse me, lieutenant.

[BANGING]

I'm all through, John dear.

Is it okay, honey?

- Yeah, go clean the paint buckets.

BIRDIE:
After that?

MCCOMB:
I'll think of something.

- Okay.

MCCOMB:
Hiya, Tony.

Got a good thing in the fourth.

ROME:
Last thing you gave me

wore snowshoes.

- But this is a sure thing.

- Then you bet it.

I, play horses?

- Any messages?

MCCOMB:
Birdie, any messages for Tony?

Oh, yes, John dear.

MCCOMB:

Are you gonna keep it a secret?

You wrote it down, honey.

That's right, it's your answering service.

I think you got a new client.

ROME:
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, Sandra or Maria?

Hey, that's funny. I like a guy

with a sense of humor.

- Hm.

- You got anything else funny to say?

Yeah, what sells best,

the frozen peas or the corn?

You gotta be kidding.

Toss it over on the chair. Easy.

That was a very gutsy thing

you just tried.

I like gutsy guys.

- You're pretty fast for a big man.

- Yeah.

It surprises folks.

It surprises some of them

right to death.

- Now, who are you?

- I'm a private detective.

Somebody called me up,

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.

GRONSKY:
Sorry about that.

Just being careful. You know how it is.

ROME:
Yeah.

- Have a seat.

- Comfy?

- Yeah.

Now...

...that blond dame you picked up

in the drink.

What'd she look like?

Dead.

Yeah, did she have a birthmark

right here?

I don't know.

I didn't get that close to her.

Yeah. Yeah, it wouldn't have been

Sandra anyway.

When she goes, it'll be in bed,

and she'll take the guy too.

- You're hired.

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