Pilot
<Doomah>
<Doomah>
[ snowy landscape]
[
a
man (Robert Fraser) finds
something in the
snow.
A gun
cocks…
]
Robert Fraser:
You’re going to shoot a Mountie? They’ll hunt you to the
ends of the earth.
*BANG*
[“Two Thousand Miles to the
Northwest”]
[
a
dog sled charges through the snow]
RCMP Officer #1: I
tell him the snowmobiles are frozen dead. He says, ‘I’ll
take a dog sled.’
RCMP Officer
#2:
[laughs]
A
dog sled?!?! Is this guy living
in this century?
RCMP Officer #3: I
heard he was going over the pass.
RCMP Officer #2:
Don’t be ridiculous. Nobody makes it over the pass.
RCMP Officer #4:
Fraser went over the pass.
RCMP Officer #5:
Boy, you’ve got to be kidding.
[
sled
careens through the
snow]
RCMP Officer
#
2
:
50
below out there, I froze coming
in from my car.
RCMP Officer #3: The
guy is certifiable.
RCMP Officer #2:
Who’d he go after anyway?
RCMP Officer #1: You
wouldn’t believe it.
RCMP Officer #2:
Who?
[
a
knife is stuck into the snow
(to steer?) and the knife is
lost]
RCMP Officer #2:
Somebody’s got to tell the Chief.
RCMP Officer #3:
That’s the Sergeant’s job.
RCMP Officer #2:
Then tell the Sergeant.
RCMP
Sergeant:
Wh-
when I lift
this
[Sparklett’s
bottle], you-you jam
your hand down there fast. Ready?
RCMP Officer #2:
Sergeant?
RCMP Sergeant:
Yeah?
[
the
dogsled man
(
Benton
Fraser) bursts in, a man slung
over his shoulder; everyone is stunned, including the
Sergeant, who lets water from the bottle drip all over the
floor… Fraser dumps the man into a
cell
]
Fraser: That’s the
last time he’ll fish over the
limit.
[Superintendent Meers’
office]
Superintendent
Meers: And you felt
it necessary to go out there and get him now? In the
middle of one of the worst storms we’ve had this
year?
Fraser: Yes,
sir.
Meers: Fraser, you
just tracked a man 300 kilometers because he caught too
many fish?
Fraser: He exceeded
the limit by quite a bit, sir.
Meers: How much
could a man fish over the limit that would justify you
recklessly endangering your life and the reputation of
this police force?
Fraser: Four and a
half tons, sir.
Meers: Of
fish?
Fraser: Yes, sir. He
was dynamiting the rivers, scooping the salmon off the
surface with a backhoe. So I destroyed the plastic
explosives, the nitroglycerin, fragmentary mines. And I
then donated the three and a half truckloads of fish to a
local Inuit village. The tribal elder said he would call
you with his thanks as soon as their local phone lines
were restored.
RCMP Officer #1:
Sir, there’s a tribal elder on the phone for you and this
just came in over the wire.
[
hands
him a paper]
Meers: It’s your
father.
[
plane
; flying over a
dam]
Pilot: Time was, you
could look out that window and see nothing but geese,
thousands of ‘em.
That river down
there?
Beavers used to cover it like a
bunch of hairy little ants. Government kinda put them out
of business.
Fraser: Yeah.
Everything’s
changing.
[
coroner’s
office; Fraser views his
father’s
body]
Chief Superintendent
Gerard: Still don’t
know what the hell he was doing there. Ten below zero,
middle of nowhere.
Fraser: His log
book?
Gerard: Closed his
last case over a week ago.
Should have been catching up on
paperwork.
But you know your dad. He’d
rather freeze his rump off than hug a desk.
Thirty-ought-six, standard hunting
ammo.
[
hands
Fraser the bullet in a plastic evidence
bag]
The first week of the
season.
Suddenly every damned idiot
wants to kill something. Near as we can tell, he must have
caught a stray bullet.
Useless damn way to
die.
Son, every officer in this post
spent the last three days combing that gulch. If there was
evidence of foul play, we would’ve found it. When was the
last time you talked to him?
Fraser:
Christmas.
Gerard: Well, I
guess the more you know someone, the less needs to be
said.
[
snowy
landscape; crime scene tape
marks out an area around bloody
snow]
[Dief woofs]
[
there
are several dead caribou just outside the taped area;
Fraser kneels to inspect one… a thrown knife lands in the
caribou’s
neck]
Eric
: This is mine. You want meat,
Mountie? Go to supermarket.
Fraser: You kill
them?
Eric: Nope.
Fraser: Seen any
hunters come through here?
Eric: Yep.
Fraser: They kill
them?
Eric: Nah.
Fraser: Then
who?
Eric: Nobody. They
just drank too much.
[
puts
rope around the antlers & drags off the caribou behind
his snowmobile]
[Fraser continues investigating; dusts footprint in the
snow, with black powder]
[
airplane
hanger]
Pilot 2:
[into cell phone]
Betty, honey. Ya got milk. I
brought home a gallon yesterday… Yeah, look in the
fridge.
[
to
Fraser]
I never should have bought the
damn thing. Now
it’s
bring
milk, bring butter. I’m up at
ten thousand feet and she wants me to stop at a 7-11. Uh,
a week ago, you say?
Fraser: It would
have been a party of six.
Pilot 2: Uh, I
brought some nuns up on a retreat, does that help?
Fraser: Not unless
they were carrying firearms.
Pilot 2: You’re sure
they were Americans, eh?
Fraser: They were
all wearing new boots, they were driving a Jeep Wrangler,
and they carried big guns.
Pilot 2: Americans
it is.
[
looks
through
logbook]
Now here you go. A bunch of
dentists from
Chicago
came up for the weekend, killed
their limit and went home early.
Fraser: Do you have
a passenger list?
Pilot 2: Uh,
yeah...
[ he looks through loose pieces of paper all over floor of plane; wife is still chattering away]
Pilot
2
:
[hands Fraser a greasy
page
]
Uh
, I’ll need it back.
Fraser: Thank
you.
[
exits
]
Pilot 2: No
problem.
[
into
phone]Yeah.
Betty:
[voice
]
Foot
powder, and...
Pilot 2: Foot
powder?
[
coroner’s
office; Fraser brings in a
caribou and dumps it onto a metal
table]
Coroner: Pet, was
it?
Fraser: You think
you could tell me what killed it?
Coroner: Toss it in
the freezer. It’ll be a few days.
[Robert Fraser’s funeral; all in red serge. Music: bagpipe rendition of ‘Amazing Grace’]
Charlie
Underhill
: Twenty-two years ago, I came
to the
Northwest
Territories
as a Corporal. Even then the
name Bob Fraser was spoken with awe among the ranks of the
new recruits. It was said that he could track a ghost
across sheer ice, and that a young officer would have to
move fast and drive hard just to catch his shadow. Many
have followed the spirit and traditions of the Royal
Canadian Mounted Police, but few have embodied it. The
name of Sergeant Robert Fraser will always be among
them.
[
tavern
; the
wake]
Bartender: To your
father: May he not
give
the angels a moment’s
peace.
[
glasses
clink (bartender & Gerard
have shots, Fraser has a coffee
mug)]
Gerard: Your dad and
I spent too many nights in places like this.
Fraser: What did
they say?
Gerard: I gave them
your list of names. They’ll sign it off and check them
out.
Fraser: With
respect, sir, the Chicago PD is not gonna make this a high
priority case.
[Gerard offers
whiskey]
No, thank you.
Gerard: Didn’t fall
too far from the tree, eh?
Fraser: I understand
that there’s an opening at the
Chicago
consulate.
Gerard: And you’re
gonna what? Go charging across the border frisking
sportsmen at random? Ben, man to man, if this really was
a
murder,
I’d like to find whoever did it
and show them the view from the end of a rope. But I can’t
do that, and neither can you. There were a hundred hunters
out in the woods that day. Most of them from
God
knows
where. You found six. They will
check them out. Let them do their job.
Fraser: I realize I
wouldn’t be allowed to work the case, sir, but if I’m in
the same city, I can at least check on their
progress.
Gerard: Tell me,
Constable: how many years you been on the force now?
Fraser:
Thirteen.
Gerard: And what was
the biggest city you ever worked in?
Fraser:
Moose
Jaw
.
Gerard: Yeah, and
you were transferred out after five weeks because you
couldn’t adapt to such an urban lifestyle. You’re like
your father. Out there in no man’s land, there isn’t a
better cop in the world. But in
Chicago
, they’d eat you alive within
minutes. Sorry.
Fraser: I
understand. But you also understand that nothing is gonna
stop me from finding my father’s killer and bringing him
to justice.
[
places
a badge on the bar, and exits]
Underhill: Give him
the transfer.
Gerard: Oh come on,
Charlie. You think they’re going to let him do anything? I
have no jurisdiction.
Underhill:
Chicago
PD is gonna treat this like any
another request. The only way they’re going to catch this
guy is if he’s picked up for a broken taillight and blurts
out a spontaneous confession. This was Bob Fraser. Give
him the
transfer.
[O’Hare Airport,
Chicago
,
Illinois
,
USA
.
Music: ‘From a Million Miles’
by Single Gun
Theory
]
Nurse: Help feed the
hungry?
Food for the hungry?
[Fraser deposits something into her bucket; she takes it out & holds it gingerly]
Nurse
: What is it?
Fraser: Pemmican.
Now, if you’re still hungry when you finish it, drink
water. It expands in your stomach.
[Fraser walks away & the women look at the pemmican, disgusted]
[
people
mover]
Fraser: So they
won’t operate on your little girl unless you pay them in
advance?
Airport Hustler:
Man, without seeing the cash, they won’t even give you an
aspirin.
Fraser: You promise
to pay me back within the week?
Hustler: As God as
my witness.
Fraser: Well, I’m
afraid all I can give you is a hundred.
Hustler: You’re
going to give a perfect stranger a hundred dollars? You’re
kidding?
Fraser: Son, I never
kid about a child’s life.
[ takes off his Stetson & hands the man a bill]
[
getting
a taxi; Fraser notices an elderly woman
waiting]
Fraser: Oh, you take
it, ma’am.
[ another cab comes]
Fraser : Hi. [ notices another lady waiting] Oh, please .
[ he almost places his luggage into the trunk of another cab, until he notices a couple waiting, and puts their bag in]
[ the place is empty now; as he goes to pick up his stuff, a guy steals his cab; he decides to walk into the city]
[
street
, night; Fraser checks his
logbook, and enters a
building…]
[27
th precinct (very
crowded)]
Desk Sergeant: Look
here. It’s Nanook of the North.
Fraser: Constable
Fraser.
Royal Canadian Mounted
Police.
[
shows
ID]
Desk Sergeant: No
kidding. You got a dog?
Fraser: He’s in
quarantine.
Desk Sergeant:
Shame. You like pigeons?
Fraser: I don’t have
much experience with them.
Deats: Sarge, you
want to move it along?
Desk Sergeant: Shut
up, Deats.
[
to
Fraser]
It’s not that they’re dirty.
It’s just that I’m starting to question their
loyalty.
Fraser: I’m looking
for an officer assigned to this case number.
[
shows
paper]
Desk Sergeant: Oh
yeah. You’re gonna like this fellow. Drop your stuff over
there with Gruber.
Through those doors, down the hall, third holding cell on
your
right.
[
hands
him a visitor’s ID]
Fraser: His
name?
Desk Sergeant: You
can’t miss him. Just look for
Armani.
[
holding
cell]
Ray Vecchio: Can you
read that? Does the label not say Armani? Of course it’s
original merchandise. A friend of mine just sorta found a
truckload sitting on the side of the road.
Inmate: Isn’t this
kind of a strange place to do business?
Ray: Hey, at least
in here you know who you’re dealing with, right?
Fraser: Excuse me.
I’m looking for a Detective…Armani?
[
the
other occupants of the cell close in]
Ray
: Come on. You mean
me?
Guard!
[
bullpen
]
Ray: Okay, who let
the Mountie into the holding cell?
[
all
raise their hands]
Fraser: I’m sorry. I
believe it was an unfortunate confusion with an unfamiliar
idiomatic trade name.
Ray: What the
confusion was, was down here we don’t bust in on some guy
when he’s about to take down the biggest operator in the
garment district for buying stolen merchandise!
Fraser: Oh, so you
were attempting to sell him a truckload of
illegally-obtained men’s clothing?
Ray: That’s
right.
Fraser: Isn’t that
entrapment?
Ray: What do you
want from me?
Fraser: I was told
that you were in charge of this case.
[
hands
him a paper]
Ray: Ah yes. The
dead Mountie thing, like I couldn’t have guessed. Look. I
got your list of names in my basket here. The moment I get
a chance I’m going to go to the computer, pick up the
phone, and call you with the information so you can go get
your
boy
scout
points. Now, is there anything
else?
Fraser: Yes. The
dead Mountie was my father. And I would appreciate it if
you would check the names while there’s still a chance of
catching the man who killed him. Oh, and by the way, he’s
not in the garment business.
Ray: What?
Fraser: Your man, in
the cell. He had a hole in his shoe. Now I’m not familiar
with your city but I would assume that a big garment buyer
wouldn’t be caught dead with a hole in his shoe. So, like
you, he is pretending to be someone he’s
not.
[
consulate
;
day]
Inspector Moffet: So
you want to be a Deputy Liaison Officer, eh?
Fraser: It was my
understanding I already had the position, sir.
Moffet: No. You’re
the Acting Deputy Liaison Officer. You’re on probation.
Now, I’ve read your reports. Nobody’s questioning your
abilities as a police officer, but this is,
um,
Big
City
,
USA
, and a consulate office is an
entirely different kettle of uh...
Fraser: Fish?
Moffet: Fish,
uh.
Do you even know what we do
here?
Fraser: As Chief
Liaison Officer, you work closely with the local police
and the various arms of the American criminal justice
systems and the intelligence community on matters of
mutual interest.
Moffet: Basically,
yes. However, the FBI and CIA types are very picky who
they cozy up to. You’ve got to earn their respect. You’ve
got to gain their trust and at the same time show them
you’re nobody’s lap dog.
Fraser: Lap dog,
sir?
Moffet: These are
Americans, Fraser. If they think they can walk all over
you, they will. It’s a delicate balance. You’ve got to be
just as shrewd and cunning and ruthless as they are, and
then, being Canadians, we have to be polite.
Fraser: Polite,
sir?
Moffet: What’s the
one thing you hear Americans say about Canadians over and
over again? ‘They’re such nice polite people.’ So we use
that against them.
Fraser: I’m not
exactly clear as how we do that, sir.
Moffet: We let them
underestimate us. You’d be surprised the number of people
who underestimate me, Fraser.
Fraser: I don’t
think so, sir.
Moffet: How many
times I’ve been at some diplomatic cocktail party when
people start to say something and then stop, realizing I’m
within hearing distance and then say ‘Oh, it’s just the
Canadian.’
It always works, though it
never quite loses
it’s
sting… So, it’s a big job with
a lot of ground to cover. Do you think you’re up to
it?
Fraser: I’ll do my
best, sir.
[
clears
throat]
As to my
duties?
Moffet: Oh,
LeeAnn’ll give you a full briefing. She takes care of all
that stuff.
[
rings
for
her]
Have you met Constable
Brighton? My right arm. She’s the best assistant a man
could have.
LeeAnn: Yes,
sir.
Moffet: You’ll, uh,
give, um…
Fraser:
Fraser.
Moffet: Fraser here
a full briefing on all the uh, you know, the .
.
.
LeeAnn: Yes,
sir.
[
they
exit]
Moffet:
[muttering
]
I’ll
just, um…take the uh…Can…Well
I’ll, just...lunch,
because…
[
office
, crowded with boxes &
furniture]
LeeAnn: This is your
office.
Fraser: It’s very
nice.
LeeAnn: This is your
desk.
[
starts
unpacking box testily]
This is your phone. This is
your rolodex. This is your tape dispenser. And this is
your stapler.
Fraser: Thank
you.
LeeAnn: Oh, there’s
more. This is your pencil sharpener. This is your
appointment calendar. This is your combination pencil cup.
These are your pencils. And this is your plant.
Fraser
: You know, I can do
this.
LeeAnn: Are you sure
you don’t want some help with your computer?
Fraser: No, I don’t
want to--
LeeAnn: Well then,
I’ll be at my desk.
Fraser: Well I-I
appreciate the uh--
[
she
slams door as she
exits]
LeeAnn:
[reentering] I want
to apologize. That was uncalled for.
Fraser: Well, I was
a little curious, uh...
LeeAnn: You
see
,
this was to be
my job. I put in
four years behind that desk out there.
Getting coffee, running errands, organizing every minute
detail of his
life.
I paid my dues. I’m a cop,
Fraser. Picking up dry cleaning just doesn’t come
naturally.
Fraser: Well I
didn’t--
LeeAnn: And then the
job opens up, and I’m finally going to get to do something
other than show my legs, and it’s, ‘Well, we’re sorry, but
we don’t think you’re quite ready for the job now. We need
someone with kayaking experience.’
Fraser: I don’t
recall that--
LeeAnn: No, they
didn’t say that, Fraser. They didn’t have to. They
hired
you, didn’t they?
Can I be frank? I have nothing against you personally, I’m
sure you’re that a very nice
person,
and you’re very good at
wrestling fur-bearing animals. But I’m going to do
everything in my power to have you fired, because this
is
myjob! I don’t mean
to sound like a bitch.
Fraser: Oh, no, no,
not at all.
LeeAnn: I’m not
usually like this.
Fraser: No, I can
see that.
[
clears
throat]Perhaps you
can tell me, I’m a little bit unclear as to what
my--your--
the job actually
entails.
LeeAnn: Well, that’s
the one good thing about this menial job of mine. I hold
the duty roster.
Which means that your job is pretty much whatever I tell
you it
is.
Fraser: Where do I
start?
[ several boys are staring, then blow raspberries: Fraser is out front of consulate, doing guard duty (standing at parade rest, staring straight ahead, wearing the red serge)]
Woman
: Come along,
boys.
[
to
Fraser] Excuse
us.
Ray:
[passes
by
]
Hey
, what’s up?
[
comes
back]
It’s you! I didn’t recognize
you standing there like that. Okay, I acted like a jerk. I
didn’t realize it was your father. I should have checked
into it earlier. I’m sorry. Anyway, you know, you were
right about the goomba in the cell. Now, I dig around and
I find out that this guy is Internal Affairs trying to
nail my butt for illegal entrapment. Can you believe that?
This guy’s trying to entrap me into entrapping
him!
Cops.
[
sigh
] In any case, I
figured I owed you one, so here it is. Thanks.
[
holds
out hand to shake, Fraser doesn’t
move]
Come on, I’m apologizing here.
What else do you want from me?
[Fraser stares straight
ahead]
You’re kidding, right? This is
your job? This is, like, your real job? Do you believe
it?
[
to
passersby]
This is his job. They actually
pay people to do this in
Canada
!
[
cuffs
him on the
shoulder]
Sorry.
[
sigh
] Anyway, I uh, I
checked into that list of names for you, and I came up
with something that might be something. So we should
talk.
[
waits
] You’re putting me
on right? Okay, you just let me know when you get off and
I’ll come back.
[
pause
]
You got a break coming up soon
or something?
[
sighs
]
I’m talkin’ to a corpse here.
Oh.
[
smiles
widely for a tourist’s photo]
[
office
building
lobby]
Ray: So I called the
American Dental Association, and everyone on your list
comes up and members, only one of them – this Dr. Laurence
Medley – isn’t current with his dues. So I call the last
number they have on the guy, and the nurse says he can’t
come to the phone, seeing that he’s been dead twelve
years. This makes me curious.
Fraser:
[stops
Vecchio
]
It
only takes an extra second to
be courteous.
After you
ma’am.
After you
sir.
[ allows several people onto the elevator before them]
Ray
: Are we gonna get on or
what?
[
climbing
the
stairs]
Ray: Well, my bet is
there ain’t a lot of high speed chases in
Canada
, huh?
[
dental
office]
Dentist:
I’d actually never met him. He called and said he’d heard
about our annual hunting trip and asked if he could come
along. Harry Prentice - periodontist - he usually comes
with, but this year he had that accident, so, uh… Let me
take a look here.
[
shuffles
through
snapshots]
Ah, there he is!
Yeah, Larry
Medley.
He’s the one in the corner. And
I believe that’s the only one I got of him. Yep. For some
reason he was never around when we were taking pictures.
Not much of a hunter, though, he didn’t shoot a thing. I
came home with that big fella right there.
[
points
to a stuffed
beaver]
[27
th
precinct]
Fraser: So, how do
you know him?
Ray: I don’t. I
never said I did. I just have this feeling that I’ve seen
him before.
Fraser: You
recognized his face?
Ray: Not so much his
face as his nose.
Fraser: His
nose?
Ray: Yeah. It’s like
I have this ability. Everyone’s nose is distinctive. No
two people have exactly the same nose. I just have this
thing where I never forget a nose. Call it a gift. You
know how to type?
Fraser: A hundred
words a minute. Why?
[
computer
; Fraser is
typing]
Ray: June ‘86, I’m
walking a beat. I get a call on this domestic violence
case.
Very, very
messy.
The guy has his wife’s arm in a
car door and he’s slammin’ it and slammin’ it. Now, when I
see the guy in the photo, I flash on this guy’s nose.
That’s the puppy, Frankie Drake. What do you think?
Fraser: It’s exactly
the same nose.
Ray: What did I
tell
you.
Now it stuck in my mind,
because homicide has been tryin’ to nail him for a mob
hit.
Fraser: He’s a hired
killer?
Ray: Well, I don’t
think he hunts for relaxation, Fraser. Now someone wants
your dad out of the way enough to import a professional.
You have any idea why?
Fraser: No. Do you
have an address?
Ray: Yeah, but it’s
not worth the cab fare to check. He’d
a
been
long gone by now.
Fraser: But you have
an idea.
Ray: One lead, okay?
I’m going to follow up one lead and that’s it, because I
don’t have time to make a career of this case. And gettin’
my name in some Yukon Gazette ain’t gonna do bupkiss for
my career, you understand?
Fraser: I
understand.
Ray: Good. Now mush,
yee-ha, or whatever you Canadians
say.
[
street
outside the
station]
Fraser: Where are we
going?
Ray
: There’s this place I know
where a lot of heavyweights hang out, the kind of people
who can reach out and touch somebody like Frankie.
Now
I
been
working it for months, you
know, hanging out, fitting in. They think I’m complete
scum, and down here, your reputation is everything. Where
the hell did I leave my car?
Fraser:
[whips out
compass
]
Thirty
-two degrees south.
Ray: Right. Uh,
what’s your first name anyway? I mean, I can’t keep
calling you ‘Fraser.’
Fraser:
Benton
.
Ray: What’s your
first
name.
Fraser:
Benton
.
Ray: Do you have a
first name?
Fraser: Can
we
made
a stop on the way?
Ray: Sure.
[
customs
; Vecchio waits in the car
(Mercedes).
Dief jumps in through the
window & gets onto Vecchio’s
lap
]
Ray:
Whoa-whoa-whoa-what are you doing? What are you doing?!
He’s on me!
Fraser:
Diefenbaker--
Ray: He’s on
me!
Fraser: Dief--
Ray: He’s getting
intimate with me! Did you see him? He was getting intimate
with me!
Fraser:
I’m
sorry,
he’s usually much better
behaved. He’s just excited to be out of that quarantine
cage.
Ray: You want to
tell him to get off of me?
Fraser:
Diefenbaker!
Ray: Oh, yeah, he’s
very well-trained.
Fraser: Well he is,
actually. He’s just deaf.
Ray: Huh?
Fraser: And he’s
facing the wrong way so you just tell him yourself.
Ray: I’m not real
good with dogs.
Fraser: Actually
he’s more of a wolf.
Ray: WOLF!
Fraser: Just try to
enunciate.
Ray: GET! OFF!
ME!
[Dief goes into the
backseat]
Fraser: Sorry.
Ray: There is a deaf
wolf in my back seat.
Fraser: Yes. Two
years ago he jumped off an ice floe into Prince Rupert
Sound and pulled me out, and his ear drums burst from the
cold.
Ray: Really? I
didn’t know wolves saved lives.
Fraser: Well, he
doesn’t always. I mean, he’ll save you if he sees
you.
Ray: Oh,
great!
[Mercedes]
Ray: Now you won’t
find this on most of your tourist maps. And I wouldn’t go
walking around here by
yourself
.
Fraser:
Really?
Ray: Trust me on
this, will ya? That’s the joint.
[ they park & get out]
Ray
: Just tell him to stay here
and not eat anything with an emblem on it, all
right?
Fraser: Stay.
Here.
Ray: He reads
lips?
Fraser: I’ve never
been sure. If so, he’s self-taught.
[Vecchio sets car alarm]
Fraser
: Hmm.
[to men
loitering
]
Evening
. Excuse me. My friend here
tells me that this isn’t a very good neighborhood, so I
wonder if you would mind watching the car for us.
Hood:
Absolutely.
Fraser: Thank
you.
[
to
Vecchio] I just
asked them to watch the car.
Ray: I think they
were already watching
it.
[
outside
bar
doors]
Ray: Whoa, whoa,
whoa, Red. You can’t just go marching in there. I have a
history with these people. They think that I’m one of
them. You understand?
Fraser: Ah. So you
want me to blend into the crowd.
[Vecchio
nods]
Ah.
[
takes
off Stetson]
Ray: You have a hat
line embedded in your forehead.
Fraser: Well,
perhaps if we identified ourselves and then questioned
them directly, they’d cooperate.
Ray: And what would
make them do that?
[
car
alarm goes off in the
background]
Fraser: Their basic
respect for the law.
Ray: I think we’re
gonna do this my way. Now why don’t you just stand here
and pretend that you’re a fire hydrant or something.
Fraser: And if you
get into trouble?
Ray: I’ll do a moose
call.
[
enters
the bar]
[Dief appears, and has what looks like a man’s shirt in
his
mouth]
Fraser : Did I not tell you to stay in the car? Let’s go.
[
another
car alarm goes
off]
[Dief whines]
Fraser: Let’s.
Go.
[
inside
the tavern]
Ray
: Hey Chuck, how’s it going?
You still single?
He he
he.
Life’s a bitch, huh? Listen, do
me a favor. I’m looking for a friend of mine.
Chuck: You’re in the
wrong neighborhood, Vecchio. You got no friends
here.
Ray: Aw come on,
Chuck. I got nothing but friends. Everybody likes me. I do
business with everybody.
[
to
patron]
Hey, how’s it going,
man?
[
to
Chuck]
And um, I’d like to do a little
business with Frankie Drake. You seen him around?
[
holds
up a bill]
Chuck: You know,
Vecchio, it’s the strangest thing. Every time I introduce
you to someone, the cops appear.
[
takes
the money]
Ray: I had some
unreliable people working for me, Chuck. It happens. What
can I say?
Chuck: I don’t know.
Use your imagination.
Ray: Hey. What the
hell is going on--
[
two
thugs corner him, and one takes
Vecchio’s gun & hands it to
Chuck]
Chuck: You’ve been
made, man.
Ray: Aw come on just
because I carry a gun, does that make me a
cop?
[ thug #2 breaks a bottle & holds it at Vecchio’s neck]
Ray
: Okay. Okay, now maybe I
offended some of you guys but uh, I know. I know. Let me
make it up to you. I’ll give five hundred dollars to
anyone who knows what a moose sounds like.
[
door
crashes open]
Fraser: Excuse me.
May I have your attention please?
[
record
scratches, music & conversations
stop]
Thank you.
Anyone carrying illegal weapons, if you would place them
on the
bar.
You are under
arrest.
[ patrons all pull guns; knife is thrown, embedding in the door frame near Fraser’s head]
Fraser
: You realize I’m going to have
to confiscate that?
Punk 1: Hey,
Dudley-Do-Right, you got no jurisdiction here!
Fraser: Now that is
true, son. However, this gentleman does. Ray, would you be
so good as to show them
your
ID.
[Vecchio freezes as he is going for his ankle
holster]
And now if you would all just
step back, Detective Vecchio and I will collect your
weapons.
Punk 2: Would it be
asking too much to show us your gun?
Fraser: No, not at
all. I carry a standard .38 caliber Smith & Wesson
service revolver.
Man: I got a
Barretta, man, would you like to see it?
[
patrons
relax]
Fraser: But without
a local license, I am not permitted to use it. And that is
why it’s empty.
[
man
picks up bottle, in threatening
way…
Dief growls…man drops bottle
& Fraser catches
it
]
Fraser: Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you, you’re a good citizen.
[
begins
collecting weapons]
Ray:
[points his
pistol
]
Okay
, weapons on the bar. You heard
the man. You, you with the Uzi, on the bar! Don’t even
think about it, Scarface.
Fraser: Thank you.
Thank you. I’ll be back for those.
[
man
in a trenchcoat starts to exit
out the back
door]
Ray: Yo,
Batman!
[Drake pulls out a shotgun
& starts shooting…everyone ducks & runs for
cover…Drake pauses, Vecchio stands up to shoot, then dives
behind the bar as Drake resumes
shooting]
Ray: Who carries an
unloaded gun? Would I carry an unloaded gun? Would anybody
I know carry an unloaded gun? What do they shoot people
with in
Canada
, serviettes?
[Vecchio stands up to shoot again, just as Drake runs
off]
Ray : Does the word ‘bullets’ mean anything to you?
[
they
follow into the alley, as Drake
speeds off on
motorcycle]
Fraser: I think
we’re on the right
track.
[
phone
booth; a guy is trying to
crowbar the change box open, but Drake shoves the shotgun
in the guy’s face…guy leaves. Drake
dials
]
Drake: Francis
Drake…Yeah, like the explorer. Never heard that one
before…Guess
who
?…
Well I thought you said there
weren’t going to be any complications…Yeah, yeah a big
one. And it’s wearing a hat…No-no.
No-no.
I’ll take care of him myself,
but uh, I’m afraid there’ll be an additional charge…Oh
yes, sir.
My
pleasure.
[27
th precinct;
Captain Walsh’s
office]
Walsh: One solid oak
bar; sixteen tables; twelve chairs; one etched mirror, six
by nine; one antique pool table; two doors; thirty-two
bottles of liquor; and a Pabst Blue Ribbon neon clock.
Does this seem like a fairly accurate list of the damages,
Detective Vecchio?
Ray: I don’t believe
the pool table was an antique, sir.
Walsh: Oh. Well.
We’ll never know, will
we.
Because all that’s left is this
bag of felt.
Ray: I sought refuge
behind the item in question when the suspect pointed a
shotgun in my direction and fired repeatedly, sir.
Walsh: Ah. Suspect.
I’m glad we got around to that, because I would hate to
think we were responsible for all this damage without a
very good reason. You say you identified him by his
nose?
Ray: Yes, sir.
Walsh: You didn’t
say something about his nose, causing him to fire
repeatedly into the bar?
Ray: Ah, no,
sir.
Walsh: You just felt
that his nose was so offensive that you decided to pursue
and arrest him?
Ray: Captain, the
suspect is a known felon and you
see, I had this hunch that--
Walsh
: You had a hunch?
[
laugh
] A hunch! And you
coupled your hunch with your positive identification of
his nose. And this was the basis for your
investigation.
An investigation which resulted in injury of seven
people.
Three with gunshot wounds, two
with broken limbs, one hospitalized with a concussion, and
one who claims to have been bitten by a wolf.
Ray: The wolf was
just trying to help, sir.
Walsh: They usually
are.
Fraser: If I could
say something, sir?
Walsh: Well of
course you can, young man. I’m not sure exactly how a
Mountie fits into this case but…I like to keep an open
mind.
Fraser: It was at my
urging that Detective Vecchio went to the bar.
Walsh: Ah, so, it
wasn’t just a hunch about a nose. You went there at the
urging of a Mountie.
Detective.
How many open, unsolved crimes
are on your desk right now?
Ray:
Forty-one.
Walsh: And how about
you, Constable Fraser. How many open, unsolved cases are
you working on right now?
Fraser: One,
sir.
Walsh: One. Then as
intrigued as I am by this case, let me suggest that you go
back to your desk and you pick up any one of those open
forty-one files and you put your nose into it. And you
keep it there until you have an epiphany.
Ray: Yes, sir.
Walsh:
Yes.
[
bullpen
]
Fraser: I’ll write
up a report. I’m sure he’ll see this was all my
responsibility.
Ray: Yeah,
thanks.
[
looks
through his messages]
You leave this number for a
doctor somebody?
Fraser: He
called.
Ray: So it
says.
Fraser: May
I?
[
dials
the phone]
[Canadian
morgue/27th
precinct]
Coroner
: Coroner’s office.
Fraser: It’s
Constable Fraser.
Coroner: Oh, yeah, I
was just about to put this thing in the mail to you. I,
uh, I did that autopsy on that caribou you dropped off. It
drowned.
Fraser: I’m
sorry?
Coroner: Drowned.
Lungs were full of water.
That
do
anything for you?
Fraser: It drank too
much.
Coroner: Yeah.
That’s another way of looking at it. I’ll,
uh,
I’ll mail you the report.
Fraser: Thank
you.
[
hangs
up]
How much do I owe you?
Ray:
Explanation.
Fraser: A hundred
yards from where my father died, I found the carcasses of
several dozen caribou. Coroner says they drowned.
Ray: And I thought
they were such great swimmers.
Fraser: They didn’t
have to be. They drowned on dry land.
[
takes
a bill out of his Stetson & drops it onto the
desk]
For the
call.
I appreciate you putting
yourself out for me.
[Music: ‘Superman’s Song’ by Crash Test Dummies]
[Fraser finishes correspondence (Dief licking stamps); LeeAnn watches. Consulate closes, and they walk together to the street]
Fraser
: Taxi!
LeeAnn: You know, we
even heard about your father down here. He was quite the
man.
Fraser: Yes, he was
a great man.
[
to
driver]Walk her to
her door.
[
hands
him a bill]
Cabby:
This is Canadian.
Fraser: So is
she.
[Chicago scenes, then into a diner, where Fraser sits alone, reading]
Robert Fraser’s Diary : Ten January, 1969 . I tracked McClay up to Chilkoot Pass. I found him at the top, half a mile from the border. His ankle was broken, his ammunition was spent. He just sat, staring at the horizon. I took his rifle without a struggle. All he said was, ‘Don’t tell my son’ and then he jumped. The man was falling to his death, and all he cared about was how his son would remember him. I buried him there this morning. I’ll tell Gerard he got away from me. The last time I saw Ben he was barely tall enough to reach my belt. When I said good-bye, he shook my hand. Never a tear or a complaint. Seven years old and he’s already a stronger man than I’ll ever be. Someday I’ll tell him.
[Vecchio enters the diner & sits across from
Fraser]
Ray: You
know
,
I started thinking when you
left.
Fraser: You solved
all forty-one cases?
Ray: Yeah, well, I
got
restless,
I made a few
calls…
Truth?
I checked every snitch I ever
knew. No one’s talking. No one knows
Drake,
no one wants to know me. What’s
this?
Fraser: It’s my
father’s journal. I was just reading.
Ray: Looking for
something you missed?
Fraser: Yeah.
Ray: 1969? Going
back a ways. Find anything?
Fraser: I don’t
know.
Ray: Look. I know
how you must feel. I mean, if it was my old man? Well, if
it was my old man, I’d be the last person you’d want on
the case. He pretty much thought that I screwed up
everything I ever touched. You know, he’s been dead for
five years now and I still feel like I’m trying to prove
myself to him? Your
father
want
you to be a cop?
Fraser: I don’t
know. All these years, I can’t remember him ever asking me
to do anything for him. Not one thing. This is the only
time he’s ever needed my help.
Ray: You got any
other family?
Fraser: No.
Ray: Well, I’m gonna
show you why you’re a lucky man. Come
on.
[Vecchio’s house; dinnertime;
all talking over one
another]
Mrs. Vecchio: Maria,
you are not getting an annulment.
Maria: Ma, how can
you say that? The man is an animal.
Mrs. Vecchio:
[to Fraser]
You’re
among friends, use your
fingers.
Fraser
: Yes, ma’am.
Maria:
Ma.
Ma.
He’s a beast.
Mrs. Vecchio: A man
who buys his wife a leopard-print housecoat is no
beast.
Maria: For an
anniversary present? Five years we’ve been together. All
he can come up with is a used housecoat.
Tony: It was not
used. The guy just happened to sell lingerie out of the
trunk.
Ray: You make any
sense out of the dead caribou?
Fraser: Uh
no.
Um…
Mrs. Vecchio:
Francesca, you stay out of this.
Francesca: Ma! Thank
you!
Fraser: Is it always
like this?
Ray:
It’s
okay,
they only attack the ones they
love.
Tony: I’ll tell you,
Ma--
Maria: Don’t you
call her Ma. And get your own polenta. You ate it
all.
Tony: She’s still my
mother-in-law and I’ll call her what I like, you
understand?
Mrs. Vecchio: All
right, stop the arguing, I’ll get the polenta.
Francesca: No, Ma.
Don’t touch the polenta. He can get his own.
Maria: He is my
husband, I will tell him not to get the polenta.
Francesca: Well
maybe you
should tell him not
to get the polenta after all.
Fraser:
[clears throat]
Perhaps I could get the
polenta.
Tony: Would you
bring the pan, please?
Mrs. Vecchio: He’s
very nice.
So
polite.
Ray: He’s Canadian,
Ma.
Mrs. Vecchio: Oh, I
thought he was sick or something.
Francesca: Is he
married?
[ all quiet & give her a ‘look’]
Francesca
: What?!
Fraser:
Ray?
Polenta?
Ray: Uh, sorta
like
a
yellow
pemmican.
Francesca: At least
my husband never yelled at the dinner table.
Tony: Maybe because
he wasn’t around long enough to have a full meal.
Francesca:
Ohh, ma
donna
mia…
Ray: He broke her
arm!
Maria: He did?
Fraser: I found the
polenta.
Ray: We gotta
go!
Fraser: I’ll get my
hat.
Mrs. Vecchio: Who
broke who’s arm?
Ray: Drake. He broke
his wife’s arm.
Francesca: Of course
he did, he’s a man, isn’t he?
Maria: Oh, all men
are evil just because you can’t keep one.
Francesca: Oh,
sure.
Ray: Now if we find
the ex-wife, we find Drake. This is a woman who’d love to
see him behind bars.
Fraser: Thanks for
dinner, ma’am.
Mrs. Vecchio: You
hardly ate a thing. Wait I’ll wrap it up.
Francesca: It was
very nice to meet you. Maybe next time you can bring your
girlfriend.
Fraser: Oh, I’m
afraid I-I don’t--
[Vecchio pulls him
out]
Francesca: Oh
really?
Mrs. Vecchio:
Raimondo!
Baciare.
Ray:
[whines
]
Maaaaa
!
[
comes
back and kisses her cheek]
Mrs. Vecchio.
Eh.
Grazie.
[Vecchio exits and she squeezes the baby’s
cheeks]
Eh, come si
bello
, come si
bello
, come si
bello
!
[
outside
apartment
building]
Fraser: Looks
dark.
Ray: Eh, driver’s
license says she still lives here. Now watch what you say
to her, you don’t want to spook her. And take your lead
from me. You got to know how to play these people.
[Fraser bends down, investigates
something]
Ray: What are you
doing? Put that down, you don’t know where that’s
been.
[Fraser picks it up & tastes
it]
Oh No, that is disgusting! Put
that down. Don’t do that. God! That is disgusting.
Fraser: I’m
sorry.
Ray: Can’t I take
you
anywhere?
[
apartment
; knock knock
knock]
Ray: Mrs. Drake,
police, may we come in, thank you.
[
enters
]
Mrs. Drake: Do you
have a warrant? Hey, my kid is sleeping.
Ray: We’re looking
for your husband, Mrs. Drake.
Mrs. Drake: We’re
divorced. He doesn’t live here. Now get out of my
house.
Ray: But you know
where he is.
Mrs. Drake: Yeah, we
exchange love letters. I don’t see him, I don’t speak
to
him,
now get out of my house.
Ray: Come on, you
don’t want us taking you in, waking up the kid, right? Now
has he seen his father?
Mrs. Drake: Get out.
Get out of my house!
Fraser: Ma’am, we’re
sorry to disturb you. We won’t keep you any longer. Let’s
go.
Ray: What?
Fraser: Ray.
Ray: Great. You
know, maybe we shoulda had tea on your chesterfield
instead.
Fraser: Sorry. Oh
uh, Mrs. Drake. When your husband was here this afternoon,
did he threaten you?
Mrs. Drake: I
haven’t seen him, okay?
Fraser: We can
protect you.
[
she
considers, then writes on paper]
Mrs.
Drake
: He’s in
Chinatown
. Don’t think you can just
arrest
him,
kill the son of a
bitch.
[
outside
apartment
building]
Ray: Okay. Okay, it
was the mud, right? You knew it came off his shoe, because
when you sniffed it, it smelled like…mud! I mean, what
else does mud smell like?
Fraser: Perhaps
something that was on the floor of the bar.
Ray:
Wood?
No-no-no.
Beer.
And maybe uh, peanut
shells.
And when you tasted it – which,
by the way, I can’t believe you put that in your mouth –
you tasted the salt from the peanut shells and
knew that he had
been here, right?
Fraser:
Wrong.
[
they
get into the
Mercedes]
I guessed. I had a hunch.
Ray.
No-no-no-no.
You don’t have hunches. *I*
have hunches.
Fraser: I had one of
your hunches, Ray. Felt good.
Ray: And what was it
with the mud? You put mud in your mouth.
Fraser: Ray, she was
looking out the window and I simply made her believe that
I’d found something.
Ray: You made her
believe you were a mud-eater! I can’t believe I’m sitting
in the same car with you.
Fraser: Where’s this
address?
Ray: Why, what are
you gonna do? Tell him to surrender or you’re gonna eat
something off the
curb?
[
apartment
]
Drake: Very
convincing.
[
to
boy] Now let’s put
you and your mama to bed,
huh?
[Mercedes]
Ray:
[into
radio
]
One
-two-seven-hundred Franklin,
one officer on the scene, and tell ‘em not to shoot the
guy in the hat.
Woman:
[voice] Backup’s on
the way.
[
on
street in
Chinatown
]
Ray: So where you
from?
Fraser: Is this a
good time to be discussing this?
Ray: Come on. We’re
two friends out for a walk. Where you from?
Fraser: Well, I grew
up with my grandparents in
Inuvik
.
Ray: Really? Is that
downtown
Inuvik
or more the outskirts?
Fraser: More the
outskirts. Then when I was eight we moved to Alert, and
after that Tuktoyaktuk.
Ray: Ah, let me
guess. Your grandparents were what, nomadic glacier
farmers?
Fraser: Librarians.
Do we have a warrant?
Ray:
Practically.
[
apartment
; they kick in the door &
enter cautiously…Fraser just misses stepping on a
tripwire]
Ray: Here’s a man
who doesn’t know how to spend his money.
Fraser: You know,
Ray--
[steps into tripwire just as Vecchio spots
it
]
Ray:
Fraser!
[Vecchio pushes him out the
window as the apartment
explodes…]
[
hospital
room; Vecchio has neck brace
on, bruises, he’s hooked up to
machines]
Ray: I, uh, I think
this was a big mistake.
Fraser: Yeah.
Ray: I screwed up.
I’m sorry.
Fraser: Don’t.
Ray:
Yeah.
[
waiting
room; Vecchio family is there;
Fraser enters, shares a look with Mrs.
Vecchio]
Gerard: Ben. You
were supposed to work through the police. You had no right
to be in that apartment working this case. You’ll have to
come back with me. There’ll be a fitness board hearing. I
did what I could.
Fraser: I
know.
Gerard: I’ll get the
car.
[
exits
]
LeeAnn: I’m
sorry.
Fraser:
Diefenbaker.
LeeAnn: Oh uh, I’ll
get him through quarantine. I’ll have him back up north
before you are.
Fraser: Thank
you.
[Fraser slings bags on
shoulder, almost says something to LeeAnn, but exits
instead]
[
parking
garage; Fraser puts bag into
Gerard’s car… figure lurks in the
shadows]
Gerard: You know
what I was just thinking about? The first time I met your
father. We were standing out for inspection, and he had
one boot on. Sergeant looks down at his feet and
says--
[Drake blows out the passenger window with the
shotgun…Fraser gets out, fights & disarms him… Drake
grabs Fraser’s gun & pulls trigger, but – it isn’t
loaded…
]
Fraser:
[to Gerard] You
okay?
[Drake runs, falls, into the path of an oncoming van,
which
stops…Drake
pulls out the driver]
Drake: Come on, come
on, come on,
move
!
[Fraser gives chase, and ends
up hanging off the back of the van, then climbs to the
roof, using his buck-knife to crawl toward the
windshield…Gerard finally drives after them…Fraser smashes
the windshield of the van, and Drake crashes into a wall,
sending Fraser rolling into a stand…he pulls Drake out of
the van & holds him against the
side]
Fraser: I am making
a citizen’s arrest!
Gerard: I’ll take
over.
Fraser: I got
him.
Gerard. No, I got
him.
[
points
a revolver & shoots Drake in the head]
He reached for his knife.
Fraser:
[incredulous] There
was no knife.
Gerard: The man
killed your father. He was reaching for his knife.
[
clicks
pocketknife] We both
saw it.
[
to
arriving cops]
RCMP!
[ snowy Canadian landscape; Fraser takes another look at site where Robert Fraser died]
[
lakeside
, near the dam; Eric
arrives]
Eric: This used to
be a feeding ground for thousands of caribou. They lived
off the land and so did we.
‘Til the water
came.
They said it wouldn’t change
anything. But now some nights, the rivers run backward.
Land becomes an ocean, and the caribou die. And in the
morning the ocean is gone. All back here neat and
tidy.
Fraser: Why haven’t
you told someone?
Eric: Told your
father. He didn’t do anything. Neither will
you.
[
exits
]
<Doo
Mah>
[
roadside
; Gerard
waits]
Fraser: He knew what
they were doing at the dam.
Gerard: Most people
around here did. But they earn their livings off it.
People want homes, jobs. You know how much money this dam
brought into this community? How many people would be hurt
if they shut it down? Progress has
it’s
price.
Fraser: And what was
yours? They paid you to keep quiet about it. He was gonna
turn you in. That’s what I’m gonna do.
Gerard: I wasn’t the
only one they paid.
[Gerard hands him a bankbook]
Gave his whole life to the people up
here.
And all he ended up with was
that shack of his. He wanted to buy a little piece of land
up there someplace. Do you blame him? Can you see your dad
stuck in some government retirement home? Not likely. It
wasn’t easy to convince him to take the money, but he
finally did.
Fraser: This is just
a piece of paper.
[
throws
it to the ground]
Gerard: Didn’t start
off as such a big thing. They built the damn thing wrong.
Can’t hold that much water. So you twist a valve here,
press a button there, you let out a little. Only it turned
out to be more than a little, and they had to keep doing
it. I think when he saw what they were doing to the land
he just couldn’t live with it. He wanted out. They wanted
me to do it. But I couldn’t. I made the call.
Fraser:
[pulls a gun on Gerard]
He was your friend, you son of
a bitch.
Gerard : Yes, he was. Your father was a great man. A hell of a lot better man than me. And now he’s only got one thing left. His reputation. Arrest me and you take away the only thing he lived for. It’s your call. [Fraser lowers gun]Check the bank. It’s all there. I’m sorry.
[Gerard exits; Fraser retrieves bankbook]
[
cabin
. Fraser looks through trunk
filled with father’s things: medals, photos, childish
drawing of Mountie “Dad”; puts bankbook inside the 1969
journal and closes the trunk. Music: ‘Cabin Music’
(original)]
[
building
lobby;
presentation]
Politician: The
enormous prosperity which phase one of our
operation
has brought to this region will
be more than doubled by phase two. A facility which will
not only boon the economy of this unique community but
which will, when completed, provide vital hydroelectric
power for the people and industries of most of the eastern
seaboard. Ladies and gentlemen, with great pride I give
you – Phase Two.
[
applause
]
[ corridor ]
Politician
: Well?
Gerard: He won’t
cause any trouble.
Politician: Good,
because I’d hate to see
a perfectly good career
go
to waste.
Gerard: Yours or
mine?
[
they
walk into pol’s office to see
dead caribou on the
desk]
Politician: This
time
do
it right.
[cabin; Fraser is loading a
rifle when Dief barks outside…Fraser goes to door with
rifle in hand, on guard…he yanks open the door, pointing
the rifle
and…]
Ray: You ever think
about getting a phone? We use ‘em quite a bit in the
States now. Maybe
you
seen
the commercials for ‘em?
Fraser: Ray?
Ray: Go ahead,
shoot. Be a hell of a lot easier than getting out of this
snowsuit.
Fraser: Are you
supposed to be out of the hospital?
Ray: Figured out who
did it. I was lying there, and I just kept going over and
over it in my head. If Drake didn’t have a phone in his
apartment, how did he do business? So I check out the
payphone at the bar we busted up.
One call to
Canada
, number in this area
code.
You know who he called?
Fraser:
Gerard.
Ray. Exactly…You
knew?
Fraser: Yes.
Ray;
You
couldn’t have called and told
me this?
Fraser: I’m
sorry.
Ray: Dropped me a
postcard saying ‘Hi, I solved the case’?
Fraser: My
mistake.
Ray:
‘
Don’t
bother crawling out of your
deathbed and flying up to the armpit of the frozen north.
I figured out who did it’?!
Fraser: Can I help
you get out of that?
Ray: Just point me
to the john.
Fraser: Well,
uh…
[
later
; Vecchio struggles to put on
socks, hindered by his arm and neck
braces]
Ray: So we got some
fishing rods, a rifle last used by Chuck Conners and a bag
of rice. So what’s your plan?
Fraser: We wait for
them to come.
Ray: Yeah,
and?
Fraser: And then we
arrest them.
Ray: You see, that’s
such a simple plan that the American mind automatically
tends to discount it, so let me run it back to you. We
wait here. Gerard and God
knows
who else comes. Some time when?
We’re not sure. And then, when we least expect it, they
shoot us dead with automatic weapons. Any part I left
out?
Fraser: Yes. I need
Gerard alive to testify, so we can’t kill him.
Ray: Oh, I don’t
think we’re in any danger of doing that.
Fraser: When I
graduated from the Academy, my father gave me one piece of
advice. He said always… No, he said never… Well actually,
he gave me two pieces of advice, I’ve forgotten the other
one, but the important one is, ‘Never chase a man over a
cliff.’
Ray: That’s supposed
to mean something in Canadian, isn’t it?
Fraser: If you’re
going to take on a man, you better know more than he does.
Our strength
is
,
I know this area better than
anyone. Their weakness
is
,
they
think they have an
advantage.
Ray: Let me see that
bag. Being an American, I also know where my strength
lies, and that’s in being as heavily armed as possible at
all times.
[
dumps
contents: guns, grenades, etc.]
It’s all completely legal, I
swear to you.
Fraser:
Hmm.
Time to feed the
troops.
[
to
Dief]
Let’s go.
[Dief
whines]
I don’t have time to
argue.
[ outside ]
Fraser : Okay girls.
[ dog shed]
Fraser : Diefenbaker? [ finds him in the garage] What are you doing, huh? [ he’s watching the cabin] Come on.
[he opens the garage door, and a man in a white snowsuit shoots a shotgun…Fraser rolls under the Jeep, which the guy shoots up…the cabin is barraged by a machine gun, Vecchio ducks…guy ducks under Jeep to finish Fraser off, but Dief attacks…]
[ they stop firing and burst into the cabin…one sees the open trapdoor (through which Vecchio has escaped) and walks toward it…he trips a tripwire…]
Gunman : Grenade!!
[
the
cabin
explodes]
[Vecchio runs up, looking for
Fraser…gunman sneaks up behind him…Fraser knocks him out
with a
branch]
Ray: You okay?
Fraser: They’re
here.
Ray: Yeah, they
knocked.
[
gunman
gets up, and they punch him in
the
face]
Fraser: This way.
We’re taking the sled.
Ray: With
dogs?
[
gunshots
] Go-go-go! Mush!
Mush! Yee-ha! Mush!! Go!
[
they
stay]
Fraser: Okay,
guys.
[
off
they go]
[
on
sled]
Fraser: Haw!
Ray: Haw? What is
haw?
Fraser: Left.
Haw!
[ gunmen chase after them with snowmobiles]
Fraser
: Use that.
[
points
]
Ray:
[holds up sled anchor]
How
?
[ the sled tips over down a hill, they keep going]
Ray : Ahhhhhhhhh!
[ gunman tries to chase them, tumbles over – one down]
Fraser: Watch out.
Hang on.
Ray: Whoa-whoa-whoa,
watch the arm!
[they steer through a narrow passage; one gunman follows, another falls into the crag full of water – two down]
Fraser:
Hill.
Ray : Whoooaaaaaa!
[ they begin a long dangerous descent down through a valley]
Fraser : Hang. On.
[ the gunmen pause to shoot at them, their way blocked by a fallen tree]
Fraser : Look, when we get past this bend, jump off.
Ray : Like hell!!
Fraser
: They’ll follow me.
Ray: Yeah, because
I’ll be dead from falling off the sled!
[ a gunman fires at them from above; Vecchio returns fire]
Fraser: Just get
this guy off my tail. I can take the other one.
Ray: All
right!
[
he
jumps… scrambles behind a boulder…searches his jacket for
ammo, muttering] Aw
jeez, jeez. I have some more, I have some
more...
Fraser : Chee!! ( right turn)
[ boulder ; Vecchio peeks, and almost gets run over by a snowmobile]
Ray : AHH!! [ ducks… he peeks again] AHH!! [ ducks ]
[ he throws a stick and the gunman falls – three down]
Ray : Cool!
[the last gunman chases Fraser, shooting a pistol at him…suddenly, Fraser turns the sled over…the snowmobile sails over it…and goes right over a cliff, where it crashes & explodes]
Fraser : Obviously your father never gave you that piece of advice.
[
he
walks back to his sled…Dief has
been
shot.
A gun
cocks…
]
Fraser: It’s over,
Gerard. You can’t cover this one up. You shoot me, and
they’ll hunt you to the ends of the earth.
*BANG*
[Gerard falls & slides down hill. Eric approaches with a rifle]
Eric
: Sorry. Thought he was a
caribou.
So many hunting accidents around
here.
[
exits
]
Fraser : Hold on, Diefenbaker, we’ll get you fixed up. Open your eyes, look at me when I’m talking to you. I said Hold. On. You never listen.
[ he picks him up & places him in the sled; Vecchio points to Gerard]
Ray : Help me put him on the sled.
Fraser : No. We’ll come back for him later. Okay, guys. [ off they go]
Ray : You know , we just took out seven guys? One more and you qualify for American citizenship.
[ outside courthouse; media frenzy; Gerard is taken away in handcuffs]
Reporter : In a stunning setback for the defense, Gerard pleaded guilty today, and agreed to testify against his co-defendant. Now, while attempting to distance itself from the murder trial, the new government was quick to deny any wrongdoing at its East Bay Power Plant, maintaining that ten thousand caribou drowned in the forests as a result of a series of freak natural occurrences. Phase Two of the project, scheduled to begin construction this year, will flood a wilderness area the size of Germany . Shelley Perry, Channel Six News.
Underhill : You didn’t make a lot of friends today. But there’s no record of your father making any withdrawals. None of the deposits were made in person. People will believe what they want to believe. I know what I do.
Fraser : I appreciate that, sir.
Underhill : I talked to the super at your last job. He suggested transferring you further north.
Fraser : Well, that would put me in Russia , sir.
Underhill : Seems like the only people that do want you are in Chicago . If I were you, I’d make do, until things calm down.
Fraser : How long will that be?
Underhill : You turned in one of your own. That’s not right. But, uh…
Fraser : Thanks for trying, sir.
Underhill : Everyone says he was the last of a breed. That’s not true. You are.
[ cabin ; Fraser finishes hammering and picks up his bag]
[Dief whines]
Fraser : I’m not carrying you. I’m not. [ hangs head] All right. [ picks him up] Just don’t get comfortable.
[ Chicago ; Fraser walks into the city again]
[ consulate ; Fraser stands duty]
Ray : Listen, I just want to know if you can really smell what’s in mud, because I’ve been following this guy… Are you listening to me?? I can’t believe it. I get my ass blown off for you and you won’t even nod? Okay, how about winking? Winking is against the law?
Airport Hustler : [to Vecchio] Uh , when he gets off work could you give him this? It’s the hundred he lent me.
End