a case each of gin, scotch, and rum. everything top shelf. none of that watered-down stuff you push on errol flynn.
before five tomorrow.
merry christmas yourself, officer.
it's practically stamped on your forehead.
we just call him buzz.
it's not what you think.
but it's nice to know you care.
hello?
i'm sorry, but i'll make it up to you. i promise.
i've been expecting you. pierce called. told me what happened to sue.
it's officer white, isn't it?
can i get you a drink?
i was friendly with sue lefferts, but we weren't really friends. you know what i mean?
of course i am. what kind of question is that?
no i haven't. do you know why pierce is humoring you?
yes. but do you know?
that's right. our motives are selfish, so we're cooperating.
i don't know. i never heard of the nite owl till today.
like i said we were friendly, not friends.
pierce meets people. sue came on the bus with dreams of hollywood. this is how they turned out. thanks to pierce, we still get to act a little.
he's waiting for you to mention mention.
it's lynn.
i remember you from christmas eve. you have a thing for helping women, don't you, officer white?
you say 'fuck' a lot.
there's blood on your shirt. is that an integral part of your job?
do you enjoy it?
did they deserve it today?
but you did it anyway.
actually, it was two. you're different, officer white. you're the first man in five years who didn't tell me i look like veronica lake inside of a minute.
he takes a cut of our earnings and invests it for us. he makes us quit the life at thirty. he doesn't let us use narcotics and he doesn't abuse us. can your policeman's mentality grasp those contradictions?
no. i'm really a brunette, but the rest is me. and that's all the news that's fit to print.
it was nice meeting you, officer.
are you asking me for a date or an appointment?
if it's a date i think you'd better tell me your first name because i --
did you forget some --
i wondered when you might ring the bell again, officer white.
you should see yourself. you look like you're ten years old.
if you'd called first, i wouldn't look this ridiculous.
you're wondering if patchett told me to be receptive.
it doesn't matter. i like you, bud. i really do.
it doesn't matter. all they get is veronica lake. you got the real lynn margaret bracken.  where'd this come from?
so you saved her.
do you like being a cop, bud?
you found patchett. you found me. you're smart enough. be a detective if that's what you want.
i know who you are. you're the policeman bud told me about.
he said you were smart. he also said you were competing with your dead father. how did he put it? trying to measure up to a ghost.
he can take care of himself and i'm not afraid of you. and you forgot one thing, lieutenant. pierce also taught me how to fuck.  can i get you a drink?
i'm curious about you.
because bud hates you more than he loves me.
it galls you that i know so much about you. you don't have information to compete.
the way you've underestimated bud white?
oh, the best i ever had. absolutely the best.
the silver screen's loss is your gain.
you want to know what bud's like in bed?
i see bud because i want to. i see bud because he can't hide the warmth he has inside him.
i see bud because he makes me feel like lynn bracken and not some veronica lake look-alike who fucks for money. i see him because he doesn't know how to disguise who he is. there's more if you want to hear it.
does all that make it harder for you to hate him or easier?
you don't like that you don't know how to play him. he doesn't follow the same rules of politics you do. that makes him dangerous.
i came out here with a dream. that's gone, but i settled for reality.
no. this is the means to the reality. but i'm not going to tell you what it is.
because you'll use it against me. won't you?
you're tougher than bud thinks you are.
like recognizes like. i'm pretty tough, myself.
actually, bud's only tough on the outside.
come in out of the rain. in the morning we'll have both our stories for breakfast.
he's the opposite of you. he's more like me. cold, calculating.
come in out of the rain, bud.
we talked.
in the morning.
i thought i was helping you. i thought --
if i knew you were coming i'd have baked a cake.
i work for patchett. i had a feeling that there was someone else, but i never knew who.
i know how he feels.
bisbee, arizona. the air's good for pensioners and i know where everything is.
right now, before i back down.
we should go now.
some men get the world. others get ex-hookers and a trip to arizona.