The Hit Man

[Footsteps] [Booth] Would any of you happen to have an aspirin? [Peters] Sorry. [Booth] Ah, no. [Joe Reilly whistling] [Announcer on loudspeaker] Attention. All passengers. Due to low visibility all aircraft has been grounded until further notice. [Announcer] All aircraft has been grounded. Thank you. [Reilly claps hands, sighs] [Reilly] Oh no, it's closed. Yep. What kind of an airport is this? A very small one. Boy, I love these late flights. [Reilly] The least they can do, is offer you some coffee. [Peters] They're not even offering a late snack. [Reilly] What are you talking about? [Booth] Look out the window. [Footsteps] All right. I can't see anything except the fog. All flights are grounded. You didn't hear the announcement? [Reilly] No, is that what they were mumbling. You know, I can never understand those clowns. [Reilly] So, how long is the delay? [Peters] 'til the fog lifts. Could be all night. [Reilly] All night! [Reilly] Well, in that case. [Reilly] The bar is open. [Peters] Could that possibly be brandy? [Reilly] No, it's scotch. Twenty-one-year-old scotch. Oh well, I guess I'll have to make do. [Reilly] Hi, Joe Riley. [Peters] Hi, Peters. [Reilly] All right, good. Hi, Joe Reilly. [Booth] Booth. [Reilly] Now, are we all going on that flight to Chicago. [Booth] Uh-huh. [Peters] Mm, hmm. [Reilly] Well, here's a toast to Chicago. [Peters] And to leaving this burg. [Booth] What do you have against this fair city? [Peters] Oh, it was a dry well for me. I'm a reporter for a wire service. [Peters] What do you do? [Booth] I teach. [Peters] High school? [Booth] College. I'm an ethics professor. [Peters] Ethics. Nice cut-and-dried subject. [Peters] What do they learn? [Booth] Mostly to hate essay exams. [Reilly laughs] Well, unlike you two. I do honest work. [Peters] Oh, let me see. You're a brain surgeon. [Reilly] No, bigger than that. I'm a shoe salesman. [Reilly] You meet a lot of people with no brains, but never with no shoes. [Laughter] [Peters] Well, with an august body such as this. And a bottle of 21-year old scotch. We ought to be able to solve half the problems of the universe. [Pensive music begins and continues under dialogue] [Peters] And what do you do? For a living? Mm-hmm. [Fletcher] I kill people. [Music crescendos] [Logo theme music] [Menacing music] [Booth] You kill people? [Fletcher] Yeah. [Peters] You mean a hit man? [Reilly] Like in bang, bang, you're dead? [Fletcher] How it's done, depends. Results the same. [Peters] Fascinating. [Reilly] Are you on a job, right now? You might say that. Yeah. [Footsteps, sound of setting cup on table] [Fletcher] Going somewhere professor? [Booth] Yes, I'm not gonna listen to any more of this. [Fletcher] Don't you like the company here? [Booth] That's right. [Fletcher] Why don't you take a walk, professor?  [Booth] Are you threatening me? [Fletcher] Now, why would I threaten you? [Reilly] Hey professor, come on. Take it easy. [Peters] Maybe he's threatening all of us. [Peters] What motivates a man like you? [Peters] Why do you kill? [Fletcher] It's a job. [Fletcher] Like any other job. Do it for the money. [Peters] You enjoy it? [Fletcher] Not really. Somebody has to do it. [Booth] Eight thousand years of civilization. Look how far we've come. [Booth] We can still produce primitives like us. Gimme another one of those.  [Reilly] Oh, sure. [Reilly] Come on. The guy's sitting right over there and you're talking as if he's a laboratory rat or something. [Booth] What, does that bother you? That I talk about you as though you were a laboratory rat or something? [Reilly] Hey, the professor is kind of, [Booth, interrupting] Don't apologize for me, Reilly. [Booth] I just don't like fraternizing with murderers. [Menacing music] [Fletcher] I don't like fraternizing with a hypocrite. [Reilly] Come on, Professor. [Reilly] What, have you got a death wish? But that was crazy what you did. [Booth] Like ice. [Booth] True professional, wouldn't you say. I'll say one thing for you, you're probably good at your job. [Booth] You got it all planned out haven't you. You know exactly how and when you're gonna do it. [Fletcher] Oh wait a minute. [Reilly] Are we, I mean, am I on your list. [Fletcher] No. [Reilly] Ha, ha. I'll drink to that. You're drinking to another man's death. [Reilly] No, no, I'm just drinking. [Booth] So, killings all right as long as you're not the one who's getting it. [Peters] This person you're gonna kill.  What's he done? [Fletcher] Does it matter? [Peters] Did he kill anybody? [Booth] What are you driving at? [Peters] I'm just trying to figure out how the system works. See, most paid killers work for the mob. They have their own set of laws. The law of the jungle. An eye for an eye. Surely you're not condoning this. I don't condone it. I don't condemn it. I just report it. [Booth] But who decides who dies. I mean, where's the responsibility. [Reilly] Hey, why is everybody getting so upset around here? Haven't you been listening? Or does your world end when you get  above the laces? [Reilly] Oh, wait a minute. Don't climb on my back. [Booth] Why not, he's gonna kill somebody tomorrow and you shrug it off because it isn't you. [Booth] And you say maybe the victim has it coming. Doesn't either one of you have a a little bit of a problem with that? [Reilly] Yeah, I got a problem with that. I also got a house payment I can't make. I got a kid who's on drugs. [Reilly] I need some root canal work. I got a lot of problems. [Reilly] You want to guess where this fits on my list? [Booth] Nobly put. [Reilly] Now wait a minute. Wait a minute. Now listen. I am not trying to reform the world. [Reilly] I'm just trying to cope, okay. [Reilly] And if this guy decides to blow somebody away there, there's nothing I can do about it. [Booth] Except read a lurid account of it in the paper. So much for the sanctity of human life. Every great philosopher, as well as each one of the world's great religions, says that human life, no matter what it's form, is sacred. Saint or demon. Every human being has the right to life. And nobody has a right to take it away. [Peters] Violin music, please. Turn the other cheek. Love your enemy. [Booth] Each killing. Each act of violence becomes the motive for the next one. [Booth] How do we break the chain? [Peters] Maybe you don't. [Peters] Maybe you just duck when violence comes your way. [Booth] You're very cynical. [Peters] I'm just a realist. [Peters] I have no love for that character either. [Peters] But, he's not the one you go after. It's the people who hire him. I wondered when you were gonna get around to that. [Booth] Who does hire you? [Peters] You don't have to name names. [Menacing music begins, continues under dialogue] I don't mind naming names. [Reilly] Who then? [Fletcher] You. [Reilly] Me? [Fletcher] All of you. I work for the government. State prison. I'm an executioner. [Booth] Oh, for God's sake. [Reilly, laughing] Oh my God. I had a feeling you weren't such a bad guy. [Booth] You should have told us that in the beginning. [Music fades] [Fletcher] I told you I killed people. You presumed I was a murderer. [Peters] What was the point in stringing us along? [Fletcher] When I tell people what  I do straight out, they treat me like poison. [Peters] Who says you're not. [Fletcher] The state. [Fletcher] The citizens of the state. You! Not me. [Reilly] Hey, come on, lighten up. He's on our side. [Peters] Who says so? [Reilly] Hey wait a minute. Are you against capital punishment. That's  right. [Reilly] I don't get it. Five minutes ago, killing didn't seem to bother you that much. I was simply acknowledging the reality of the world about me. Now we're talking about the state. What's the difference? By executing the criminal, the state is sanctioning premeditated killing. Punishing the crime, by committing it. the state should be above revenge. [Reilly] Ah, I guess I can go along with that. [Reilly] At least you and the professor got something you can agree on. [Booth] Not on that. [Reilly] Now what? Revenge isn't necessarily involved at all. Justice is. [Reilly] Wait a minute. Are you for capital punishment? [Booth] Under  certain conditions. [Reilly] What the hell is going on here? [Peters] What conditions? I'd rather not discuss it. [Peters] What's the matter, professor? I thought you were such a believer in the sanctity of human life. Now, you want an eye for an eye. Which is it? [Booth] I could ask you the same question. [Peters] I've already answered it. [Booth] You've said that you can accept slaughter in the streets but not formal execution based on due process. [Booth] I think you've slipped a cog in there. [Peters] Maybe you just hate lady reporters. [Booth] It's nothing personal. [Booth] I just think you're inconsistent and irrational. [Peters] I think it is personal. But not with me. With you. [Booth] You're an analyst too. [Peters] Just explain your little flip-flop. [Booth] It's very simple. There are certain crimes for which one forfeits the right to live. [Peters] And to use your words. Who decides what those crimes are? You? Me? Reilly? [Peters] Or maybe our executioner friend. [Reilly] Isn't that what the courts are supposed to decide? [Peters] It's still people judging people. Yeah, but they got the jurisdiction. They're the experts, right? Let's just drop it. I don't want to drop it. [Peters] How many people do you have on death row right now? Twelve. Any blacks? Seven. Latinos? Three. White? Two. And how many of them are wealthy or even middle-income? Zero. And that's my point. No matter what crime you think someone should die for, the only people who will be convicted are the ones who can't afford a good lawyer. What about all the murders that don't take place just because there's capital punishment. You actually believe capital  punishment is a deterrent of a potential murderer? I think it's only logical. Well, let me see now. Before I kill this guy, I better look it up in the law books and see just what the penalty is. Oh my. Capital punishment. Well, maybe I'll just kick his teeth in instead. Is that what you're trying to tell me? You're oversimplifying. [Peters] I am trying to show you that most murders are committed in the heat of the moment, [Peters] with not a thought of the consequences. [Peters] So therefore, deterrence doesn't even apply. [Booth] But, if capital punishment deters just one murder, it does apply. And if it kills just one innocent person, it should be banned. We're right back where we started. [Booth] I am certain the facts are  gonna prove I'm right. [Peters] All the evidence I've seen, doesn't point your way. [Peters] Japan, which has no capital  punishment, and a much denser population, [Peters] has about 1/9 the homicides of the United States. [Booth] What does that mean? We ought to all wear kimonos? [Peters] What do you think? [Fletcher] Is a deterrent. Using capital punishment. The prison system. That's the way it is. The way it should be. I absolutely agree with you. We create more criminals than we reform. But, even if we made all the necessary changes in the system, the professor here, would still opt for capital punishment and I want to know why. Why can't we just leave this whole thing alone. [Peters] Oh, Reilly, you know how reporters are. Snoop, snoop, snoop. What do you say professor? [Booth] What does it cost to keep a lifer in prison? Twenty thousand dollars a year. Okay. So, if we give a man a life sentence and keep him in jail say, forty years, we're talking about a minimum of eight hundred thousand dollars. Yeah, and that's my tax money, right? Oh, that's not the worst of it. You take that same criminal. Put him on death row. And keep him there until all his appeals run out. Add up the court costs. And you spent as much in, say, two years as you would have spent in forty. I wonder how many starving children that money might feed. So, you're saying it costs us more to kill them, than to keep them. Even if he stays for life. [Booth] But he doesn't. [Booth] Ten years later, he's out on parole. We gotta deal with him all over again. [Peters] Not if he's rehabilitated. [Booth] But you just got through reminding us that they come out worse than they were when they went in.  [Peters] All right. You're saying if lifers really got life, you'd be against capital punishment? I don't know. No, I wouldn't. Why not, professor? Deterrence isn't the reason. Money isn't the reason. None of those logical things. [Booth] I said I don't want to get into it. [Peters] Why not? [Pensive music begins and continues under dialogue] You afraid I'll show how biased you are? Just how unqualified you are to teach? Two years ago, my wife and I, we'd just recently been married, both of us for the first time. [Booth] Bit unusual at our age, huh? We were, we were driving north to Big Sur. We hadn't eaten and we decided to have a picnic. [Music fades] So, we we stopped to buy the sandwich makings. Got in an argument about what to drink. I thought the occasion called for champagne. But, Janet said no. Of course, she would. Can you imagine? [Pensive music begins and continues under dialogue] Our combined income had to be over fifty thousand dollars a year. Here we were arguing about a twelve dollar bottle of champagne. There's a park. It's a state park. Redwoods. Beautiful. [Booth] We found a secluded little spot. [Booth] I opened the wine. She won the argument. [Booth] We were two lovers together. [Booth] Then a man entered the clearing. [Booth] Said he was hungry. [Booth] I offered him a sandwich. He took her hand instead. She asked him to let go. He wouldn't. She screamed. I hit him. He let go of her. He was on me like like, like a wild animal. [Booth] He was young. Twenty years younger than I. It was no match. While Janet screamed, he pounded me into, into a bloody pulp. I thought he was gonna kill me. But somehow she, she intervened. Must have hit him with something. He descended on her. What's the phrase? Had his way with her. Finally, he, beat her into unconsciousness. Went away, whistling. Oh, God. The local park ranger found us eventually. I spent a week in the hospital. [Music fades] What about your wife? [Booth] My wife. [Music begins, continues under dialogue] [Booth] It was several weeks before Janet could, could feed herself. Dress herself. Even walk. But she doesn't speak. She doesn't recognize me. Every weekend I visit her. Every weekends the same. She lies with her face to the wall. Sometimes she cries. She's never responded. What happened to the guy? [Booth] Yes, the guy. [Music fades] [Booth] He was arrested two months later for raping three elementary school children. [Fletcher] Was there a trial? [Booth] Oh, yes and a conviction. [Reilly] Where is he now? [Booth] In a state hospital for the criminally insane. I trust they're tending to all his needs. Professor. So, yes. I have let my emotions get into it. But, would you please tell me. If you're a human being, how do you keep your emotions out of it? Professor, I'm sorry. What for? Isn't that your job? I had no right to pry. Why should that stop you? Question is, have you gone far enough? Aren't you curious whether I'm just trying to cover up my own guilt? No. Of course, you are. Could I have stopped him. Did I fight back hard enough. What bothers me most? His crime or my conscience. Come on, Peters, go for it! Reilly was right. Let's drop it. Oh, no. You wouldn't let me off the hook. Now, let's check out your little faults. Or, maybe you don't have any. I'm ashamed for having put you  through this. I can be persistent to a fault. All I can ask now, is that you please, please accept my apology. All right. Thank you. And, I, have to admit to you that if what happened to your wife had happened to me, I honestly don't know that I could disagree with you on this whole issue. [Reilly] I feel the same way about it. [Fletcher] Both of you saying you'd throw the switch. [Reilly] I would. I guess I'm saying that I would have to think about it. Think about it now. [Fletcher] Because I've got to decide now, what I'm gonna do.  This time I'm not gonna do it alone. [Fletcher] I want you to decide. [Fletcher] I want you to vote. You're asking us to take responsibility for what you do? [Fletcher] I'm asking you to take responsibility for what I do in your name. [Fletcher] I pull the switch. [Fletcher] You're the executioners. [Peters] You don't have to pull that switch. [Fletcher] Oh, you're right. I don't. [Fletcher] You vote no. [Fletcher] I don't get on that plane. So, what'll happen? They'll just call in another executioner, won't they? Maybe. Maybe not. You're laying a real heavy trip on us.   I'm not sure I want to deal with this. Yeah. Why shouldn't you? I'm tired of being treated like  a leper. When all I do is what the law tells me to do. They got people like you living your lives as though you had clean hands. I'll think about it. That's your cop-out. Tired of sharing your, burden, of confusion and guilt. Tired of these damn headaches. What headaches? [Fletcher] Every time. [Fletcher] Just before I'm gonna do it. [Fletcher] I can see in my mind what it's gonna be like. [Fletcher] I try to, [Fletcher] I try to black it out. [Fletcher] I get these, [Fletcher] great throbbing headaches. Like my head is gonna explode. This guy you're gonna kill. What did he do? What he did, he did to helpless old people. It wasn't just rape either. Murder. Torture. To create a guy like this, you need experts. This guy had 'em. His parents. Both of them beat on him since before he could walk. Stuck him in the closet to shut him up. [Fletcher] Sometimes for days. Even set fire to him once. So. It's funny the kid should turn out to be a human time bomb. Nowhere along the line, did he get a chance for any help. So, now they're, calling on me, to fix him. Permanently. [Fletcher] Any of you ever see an execution? It goes like this. [Menacing music begins and continues under dialogue] He'll probably come in, kicking and screaming. But, no problem. The four guards, they'll get him into the chair. They're will be so much tension in his muscles they'll have to force him into a sitting position. First thing they do is, strap his ankles. Then his wrists. The greasy leather belt is around  his waist. The metal comes down over his head. If he's ever going to get religion, he'll start praying his pants off now because there's a minute and a half to go. You can tell. The overhead fan goes on. Vent out the smell, of burning flesh. Doesn't work very well. And the hood, comes down over the prisoners head. I go to the control panel. The warden gives me the nod. Man gets two, thousand, volts. [Music intensifies] First jolt, his eyes bulge. The second one they burst. The third his brains are boiling. We don't want to take any chances. That he just might not be reformed yet.  So, we hit him a fourth time, just for good measure. [Music fades] Whole thing takes about two minutes. Seems like two years. When it's over, the, doctor gives the thing, not a man anymore. quick check. Pronounces it, dead. [Announcer] Passengers on Chase Airways, flight 196 to Chicago, please proceed to the departing gate, for check in and boarding. [Announcer] Chase Airways, flight 196 for Chicago, now checking in. This is your first boarding call. Thank you. [Footsteps] [Fletcher] Time to vote. [Booth] I've got to get on that plane. [Fletcher] Not yet. [Fletchr] A man's life, in your hands. [Fletcher] I'll make it easy on you. A secret ballot. [Pensive music] [Fletcher] Yes, I get on that plane. [Pensive music] [Fletcher] No, I don't. [Pensive music] Three votes. Majority rules. [Pensive music continues under dialogue] [Reilly] I still don't see what this is gonna prove. [Fletcher] I'm gonna prove that you can't wash your hands of this thing. [Fletcher] Come on there's been a lot of talk, [Fletcher]  about elevating ourselves out of the jungle.  An eye-for-an-eye. [Fletcher] Breaking the chain of command.  The chain of violence. Which is it folks? Vote. [Pensive music] Animus. [Melancholy music] Oh, what state. Cop out. [Menacing music, intensifies] [Music continues under credits]