Black Mask

Sidney Montgomery:
Drink?

Jimmy Mcnamara:
I prefer the tavern, but I guess the poison tastes de same everywhere.

Jimmy Mcnamara:
I Like this country... it makes good bourbon!

Jimmy Mcnamara:
No matter where you are, the stink never really gets out of you!

Jimmy Mcnamara:
It was about six o'clock. It was dark. The bottle of bourbon was long gone and my liver was dry. I checked my black book. I figured I might get a sip somewhere. I called these soft shoulders who I promised a sweet delight. But it doesn't really matter. When the call came it weren't the soft shoulders I was waiting for. These carried more weight - the weight of time. It had been six years since I last heard the voice of Vivian Lee - aspiring actress, night club singer and, as the French put it, ex-fianc?. My first impulse was to hang up but I never really had good impulses so I gave her a chance. I should have stick to my impulse. Men are never good with making decisions.

Vivian Lee:
How've you been Jimmy?

Jimmy Mcnamara:
Oh, I'm enjoying the numbers. But you, I can see you are living the dream.

Vivian Lee:
It pays the bills.

Jimmy Mcnamara:
If you like bad smells and rats you should sing in the sewers.

Vivian Lee:
There's something else, Jimmy.

Jimmy Mcnamara:
I knew the rock on my shoe was still itching.

Vivian Lee:
It's not like that, Jimmy. Listen to me. I did things. Things I'm not proud of. Things that can compromise my career.

Jimmy Mcnamara:
Sure you did.

Vivian Lee:
There are pictures, Jimmy. There are pictures.

Jimmy Mcnamara:
When can I see them?

Vivian Lee:
Saturday. You and the rest of the country. On the newspaper. Sidney Montgomery, the columnist. He will publish them on Saturday. He's been blackmailing me.

Jimmy Mcnamara:
You just signed a contract. Pay him.

Vivian Lee:
He'll just keep extorting me until I run out of dough. And you know the coppers, Jimmy. Montgomery practically owns them.

Jimmy Mcnamara:
So you want me to go through life sideways. I get to his office, slug him a little bit and throw the body in the river.

Vivian Lee:
Of course not, Jimmy. How can you say that?

Jimmy Mcnamara:
I'm a homing pigeon. I always return to the stinking coup.

Vivian Lee:
Please Jimmy. Let's do this together. Let's meet here, at the club - tomorrow night after closing.

Jimmy Mcnamara:
Every man knows you, Vivian. Every man knows you until he finds you.

Jimmy Mcnamara:
You know Sidney, I don't like you. It's not personal but I don't like you.

Jimmy Mcnamara:
See, I found the pictures deal a bit shaky but I know you. I know that you've been around. And you expected that too. What you didn't expect was Sidney. Nice fellow. You should visit him someday. New York state cemetery is the address. Good old Sidney said some things that got me thinking. He kept ramming around about treason and he seemed pretty honest about the blackmailing business - as honest as a guy like him can be of course. Then I found the plane tickets to Berlin. The final destination, that I think I can guess: East Berlin. Am I in the ballpark? I always known you as a woman of many colors Vivian, but I have to say: the red fits you perfectly.