Chapter 1
"We musta pulled a hundred tapes outta this joker's apartment, y'know?"
"I mean, the guy is like a one man porno mill!"
"He had ev'ry fuckin' thing you could name in there t'make full-scale Hollywood productions, almost!"
"A regular small-screen, bare-ass Cecil B. deMille, huh?" Delaney responds.
"Yeah, matter of fact," the sheriff's deputy replies.
"Surprised as hell when we served the warrant, too."
"Gives us this bullshit about free enterprise, about how this is the big city, not the fuckin' Midwest or deep south or whatever, how he doesn't violate public morality here 'cause, we got low standards.
"I mean, we couldn't, like, get a word in edgeways, y'know?
"Finally, we got 'im calmed down enough to explain that we got 'im for contributing to the delinquency of minors, accessory to sexual battery-the whole bit."
"So then, he goes into this song an' dance about what minors, what are we talkin' about, he's got releases from his models, all over eighteen an' no he took their word for it, din't axe for no ID, why should he an' all.
"Which gives me the perfect opening for my line, as I put the cuffs on 'im, 'This is why, pardner. You're under arrest,' followed by my rendition of the reading of the rights.
"Geez, they shoulda had a crew there from that show on TV-you know, the one that follows the cops around on the job?
"I mean, I sounded good!"
"Yeah, but it wouldn't of done any good, would it?
"I mean, you were there to serve the warrant and pick up the joker, but it was actually this office that did the investigation."
"Sayin' that I was a fuckin' messenger boy, right?"
"Merely pointing out that it was pretty cut and dried, but for the interesting nature of the crime itself.
"I mean, you have run across tougher bad guys, am I right? Or was this one considered armed and dangerous?"
"Ey, this guy was fuckin' dangerous, all right! You seen any of them tapes yet?"
"Not that I know of."
"Wait 'til you do, pal! They got some hot numbers there!
"Young stuff, most of it, high school seniors. Or mixed in with, I dunno, pro's must be, maybe.
"They got this one lez tape, the guy made it like a classroom scene. 'Stayin' after School', it's called."
"You recommend it highly then, do you?"
"I definitely give it a thumbs up, yeah."
"I have something to look forward to when I get to the evidence review, then.
"You uh, you calmed down enough to go on the record now?"
"Look! My hand ain't even shakin'!"
They laugh, then Delaney turns serious, saying,
"Okay, play it straight, once I start talking, right? Remember, I'm the one who's gonna hafta prosecute the case, so this is essentially like a dress rehearsal. Here goes."
Delaney turns on the tape recorder.
"It's now nine thirty ayem, Thursday, January eighteenth, nineteen ninety. I am Assistant State's Attorney Howard B. Delaney. With me is Sheriff's Deputy Lieutenant Walter Wyczowski, arresting officer serving Warrant Number..."
It takes an hour and a half to get through the background, the grounds for and details of the arrest of one Murray Weiner, interrupted only by Walter's occasional cracking up over word association with the photographer's last name.
"I take it, Lieutenant, you're not going to have similar difficulties on the witness stand, if and when this case goes to trial?"
"Nah, it's just, like, the name gets to me, y'know?
"Especially, there's this one tape where he's got himself in action, if you can believe it.
"And the guy is a nothing, except he's got, without exaggeration-"
And Walter spreads his hands like a bragging fisherman.
"So the guy is, like, you know-a real weiner!"
And he cracks up.
But the name rings a bell for Delaney.
"Weiner, Weiner, Weiner. Why do I know that name, Lieutenant."
"The Lydia Fuiham Halfway House scandal, remember?
"Supervisor made all them female cons pose for pitchers, even posed with 'em in that crazy costume of hers with the hood and the black mesh stockings-"
"Yeah, yeah! I remember!
"Sally something-or-other, her name was. She's doing time at the women's reformatory, they closed down Lydia Fulham, transferred all the residents back behind bars-"
"So that means our favorite weiner's got a prior-"
"No he ain't."
"How can he not? If they got her-"
"How d'ya think they got her, pal?
"Witness for the prosecution, saves the state a bundle in investigation an' trial time.
"The guy skated, is what I'm sayin' here.
"That shock ya?"
"Not really. This is not good. He's had skating lessons."
"Which means they're gonna plead him out, so don't knock yourself out, right?
"Enjoy the tapes, make the deal with Zuckerman-"
"Zuckerman? A schlock porn operator like this and he can afford Izzy Zuckerman?"
"Prob'ly figgered after the number he did for Sally, he won't do day one in the slammer, which has just gotta be worth somethin' to him. Or you never heard of business interruption insurance?"
"What did Slick Izzy pull for Sally?"
"Fifteen on a goddam fifty count indictment, of which she will do three hard tops unless she kills somebody or they kill her."
"Which means that for Murray-"
"Suspended sentence. Because I got news for ya, pal; you look at them tapes an' you tell me them girls was forced into it or wasn't enjoyin' themselves."
"That's not the point, dammit! Those girls were underage at the time."
"Barely. Not even all.
"Matter of fact, the original complainant-this one girl's mother, once she found out where all the extra spendin' money was comin' from-her daughter was already eighteen."
"Still, she'd have knowledge of the others-"
"If you could find her. And if you could get funding so's anybody could look for her.
"She dropped out, run away, split.
"You could still depose the mother, but what's the point?
"One thing din't lead to another, we wouldn't be here talkin', y'know?"
"I don't have a case then, do I?
"Slick Izzy is gonna find one of his pet judges and have the warrant vacated."
Walter nods, saying, "It's so difficult ta walk when you've just had your legs cut off at the knees, don't you find?"
"Yeah, well I'm not gonna be the only amputee on this one, pal!
"Who was the investigator again?"
"Jane Rudolph, like you got onna tape. My guess is she's gonna be out an' about, tryna get some other fallen angel's mother to initiate a new complaint."
"Fat chance! Fat fucking chance!
"This isn't an office, it's a goddam paper mill!"
"Not ta mention the best porno house in the city. New features daily, all first run," Walter says, enjoying Delaney's agitation.
But enough fun for one morning, he tells himself, rising, saying, "Be sure an' call me when you're ready t'have me run the tapes back over t'Murray the Hotdog, okay?
"An' be sure you get cherself a copy of the one I toldja about. Like, hot, hot, hot, know what I'm sayin' here?"
"Yeah, yeah. Lemme get ahold of Baby Jane and see what ever happened to her.
"You're not off the hook yet.' You could still end up on the witness stand."
"Don't holdjer breath, pal. First you gotta get Jane-baby's deposition, which, you will discover, cannot be substantiated."
"But we have the physical evidence-"
"Which is not dated, which does not pertain to a minor, and which cannot be used in support of the contentions of a witness who didn't see anything.
"Like I say, counselor, you've got new corroboration and new complaints, or you've got nothing.
"Because without that, we could be looking at a buncha marvellously well preserved thirty-five year olds cavorting on the small screen for fun and profit. "Which, in this state at least, is not a crime. "An' on that cheerful note-I bid joo adieu." And the deputy leaves.
Delaney looks up Jane's extension, picks up the telephone and punches it in.
"Rudolph."
"Yeah, Rudolph. Delaney here. I just spent the better part of the morning deposing a deputy who tells me I have no case."
"The Weiner thing?"
"What else?"
"Working on it."
"Can we uh, can we do this, Jane? I'll put this whole thing on hold until your work pays off?"
"I was gonna call you, uh, Howard."
"When? When I was ready to go in fronta the grand jury?"
"No, no, I just wanted to progress the thang."
"Well, if I know this individual's attorney, he's about to do that very thing.
"Y'blew it, Jane.
"Zuckerman calls for sending the warrant on vacation and we have to return Murray's property to him forthwith and that inventory can never be used against him again."
"I've got forty-nine chances to see to it that we get an interim complaint."
"Which is now down to?"
"Ten, on the first go-around. Let me back on my telephone and I'll carry on."
"Waste of the taxpayers' time and money."
"Be in touch."
And she hangs up on him.
Delaney removes the tape from the machine and fills out the label in ballpoint, tossing it in his HOLD box and opening the next folder on his desk. Fuck it, he tells himself.
He goes down the hail to the evidence room. "Tapes from the Weiner case, Harry. Sheriff's deputy brought them in this morning, along with other stuff."
"How many boxes do ya want?"
"Just one. Just wanna see what the fuss is all about, not make a career out of it."
"Makes me no never mind," Harry replies. "Here's Evidence Box One, containing fifty video tapes.
"Titles're on the labels. Enjoy."
"I'll have a ball, I m sure.
Delaney takes the box to the viewing room. "Lemme give ya a hand there, Howard," one of the investigators says, relieving him of the box.
Then, to another passing investigator, "Show time, Len!"
"I'll go get Jack and the guys! You fellas want sodas, or what?"
"How about a large popcorn, hold the butter?" Delaney says.
"Gee, Howard, you shoulda said something sooner."
"I was being sarca-never mind."
"Any one in particular you wanna see first, Howard?"
The one called 'Staying after School' comes recommended, if it's handy there."
"Right up front, Howard."
"How very fortunate for all of us."
Sullenly, Delaney sits before the large screen TV, as the others in the room settle into chairs all around him and the helpful investigator inserts the tape into the VCR.
The camera zooms in on the schoolteacher, seated at the front desk, in front of the green chalkboard, large breasts completely covered by her white blouse, ruffled tie secured by a brooch as she peruses a piece of paper,
A bell rings.
Sound of scuffling chairs, as the teacher hooks up over her granny glasses.
"Oh Susan, I'd like to see you about your homework."
Enter Susan, stage right, saying, "Yes, Miss Upbottom?"
"Are they all gone?"
"Yes."
"Then lock the door!"
Exit Susan, stage right, as Miss Upbottom removes her glasses and begins to strip, Susan reentering the picture and joining her as, together, they remove their clothes, Susan retaining only saddle oxfords and bobby socks, Miss Upbottom her high heels.
"At last we are alone, my darling!" Miss Upbottom emotes. "Get up on the desk, so I can eat you!"
And Susan complies.
"Oohoohoo!" "Hey, hey, hey!" "Yummyyummyyummy!"
"Knock it off, you guys," Delaney growls. "I just wanted to see something here."
"You got that right, Howard!"
And yes, there it is, what he was looking for.
The deputy was correct, at least on this one, he sees.
Because Susan-or whatever her name is-is clearly getting red in the face, the redness expanding downward, onto her chest, her nipples turning hard, prominent.
And if the others are all the same way, then it is obvious that he doesn't have the full, or for that matter any, background into the motivation or recruitment of these girls.
The point is moot with regard to the original complaint, in any event, since the girl was over eighteen at the time.
"That's enough of that one, I think," Delaney says.
Because he finds himself becoming red in the face, finds the crotch of his trousers getting suddenly very crowded. And if that big-boobed "teacher" swings into full action-he doesn't want to even think about it.
The others apparently already are.
Because there are "ooh's" of disappointment as Delaney's self-appointed projectionist obediently stops the tape. "Waitaminnit, waitaminnit, waitaminnit!" Len says, running up to the TV, inserting a blank tap, selecting the DIRECT COPY option, reinserting the tape, putting it on fast forward.
And the screen goes crazy for five minutes, as the copy is pirated. "Okay, go 'head," Len says,' parodying a tiptoe away from the set to the sound of applause.
"Go to the next," Delaney says.
This one is between a man and a girl, some stupid intro to which Delaney pays no attention, then watching the nitty-gritty, which opens with her giving him a blowjob.
And very clearly warming to the task.
This time, the are in a bedroom, where all the games are possible.
And Delaney sits there, watching, as they are all played, and played quite literally to the hilt.
"Mmmm! Give it to me in my ass!" the girl enthuses.
"You got it babe!"
"I'm next!"
"Flip ya for it!"
And Delaney sighs at these clowns, who have apparently never heard of the word sophomoric.
And these are the county's guardians of the sexually abused, he reflects. He can really see a lot happening for the good in this area, with attitudes like these on the job.
Still, in this case, he can really find no case.
Granted, some of the girls might not yet have been eighteen, still there is no abuse here, at least none that he can see.
Unless.
Unless this Murray is a veritable Svengali, a tempter of the first magnitude which, based on the deputy's description of him, Delaney very much doubts.
Yet another tape, and then, "Sorry, guys, show's over, at least for now."
"Hey, thanks a lot, Howard; makes for a pleasant day, y'know? Uplifting, that sort of thing!"
"Yeah, right, a real spiritual experience, Lenny. You're a better person for having seen this shit, I know."
"You got that right, Howard!" Howard shakes his head, returning what is surely about to become once again Murray's property to the evidence room.
"Learn anything?" Harry asks.
"Nah! Actually, they haven't changed the basic model on that for quite awhile now, Harry."
"From the noises comin' outta there, I thought maybe they finally did."
"That's because I put on a helluva floorshow."
"Sorry I missed it, then."
"You didn't miss much, that's for damned sure. "That is, unless you wanted to catch Lenny, the world's fastest tape pirate, in action."
"He's not s'posed t'do that, y'know."
"I'm not his keeper, Harry."
"No, but you made the fuckin' things available to him."
"Thing," Delaney corrects. "He only made the one."
"And that's supposed to make it all right?"
"You got a problem, Harry, b'ake it up with his supervisor, arright?"
"I see nothing," Harry replies.
"Welcome to the club."
"How did you make out?" Delaney asks Jane.
"I didn't. It's, it's ... incredible.
"I had this scumbag nailed fifty times over, all the pieces of the puzzle, I put it all together, and I come up empty, if you can believe it."
"I can believe it. I do believe it.
"It's all over but the PR."
"The what?"
"Oh come on, Jane. PR, as in public relations?
"We haven't lost anything-yet.
"We've got one person who wants us to take action and fifty who are not about to let their daughters get within fifty miles of this office.
"Indicated action, therefore?
"Somebody goes to this woman-who, by the way, being as how her particular offspring was a consenting adult when the alleged offense took place does not have a leg to stand on-and explains to her these simple facts of life, okay?"
"I, I can't."
"What the hell d'you mean, you can't."
"I more or less promised her I'd see Murray hanged."
"Smooth, Jane, very smooth.
"We ignore her, we walk away, and who is she gonna blame for what's happened to her scumbag douchebag of a daughter?
"Us, that's who, kiddo; you know the type. She is the wronged party, the one who raised her daughter as best she could in a cold, cruel world, struggling alone against impossible odds and like that.
"And she does her civic duty, exposing this defiling of young womanhood-in return for which her daughter abandons home and hearth and takes off for parts unknown, after which the authorities also turn their backs on her.
"Her daughter she cannot find, will never see or hear from again, but. We have offices, titles, telephones. We have people to whom we are responsible-people with titles like county commissioner and governor and a whole big hierarchy in between.
"Needless to say, however high the buck bounces, we know where it will ultimately stop.
"So unless you want to become particularly intimate with the outer workings of the Bureau of Unemployment Compensation, you had best find it in your heart to speak to this woman-heart to heart."
"Could, could you do it for me, Howard?
"If not for me, could you do it' for the Unit?"
"Geez, Jane; you shoulda never promised her!"
"But the evidence, Howard, the evidence!"
"But human nature, Jane, human nature! What's done is done and can't be undone.
"These young ladies all made mistakes, but at least they were private, confidential mistakes.
"As in what is the likelihood that somebody they actually know is gonna see these tapes, once Murray peddles them for mass production?
"In fact-aha! In fact, we can do damage control.
"That's it, damage control.
"It was already too late for her daughter-but!
"We have the release forms, right?
"We cross-reference these to the high school's student records, find out which ones were underage when they signed the consent forms, seize just those tapes or, if we're too late, get to the distributors, who have not yet had the time to advertise, let alone distribute them.
"I will secure Murray's full cooperation through his attorney who, whatever else he may be, is not a stupid person, I run the game plan by the complainant, upon whom I will prevail to drop the complaint, thus wiping the slate-and your slate-clean.
"Good plan?"
"I can live with it. Want the file?"
Delaney takes the file from her.
"Listen, Howard, I really appreciate this. Are you sure you won't get in trouble with your front office?
"I mean, it was my uh, my overconfidence that-"
"Hey, PR is everybody's business, okay?
"Just uh, in the future, no matter how good it looks, run it by me or one of the other attorneys first.
"Not saying you can't trust your own judgment, understand, but on citizen-initiated complaints involving family matters, we wanna be sure that there's nothing that could come back to haunt us.
"This whole thing could have been avoided, if somebody had just told the woman that, since her daughter was already over eighteen at the time of the alleged offense, the abuse unit was not and could not become involved.
"That way, she calls the regular cops, they investigate her allegations in the regular way, what they come up with they come up with, and Murray ends up on the street, same as now, except that I don't waste a whole morning on a deposition that's going nowhere, our investigators don't get to attend their matine, and Mrs. Lonelyhearts-and guaranteed that's who it's gonna be I gotta see, am I right?- can bitch to whoever she pleases, we could care less.
"I'll be more careful next time, Howard. Just that dammit, no way I didn't have this scumbag."
"And no way ya did, either.
"Okay, lemme get on my horse.
"I'll get the woman to drop 'her complaint, I'll drop the charges pertaining to the warrant and shortstop Zuckerman's motion to vacate, in return for his client's cooperation, with which we can save at least half these girls from the wonderful' world of the VCR until after they graduate, at which point Murray can make them all stars, if that's what they want."
"Sorry I started this whole thing, Howard. Maybe, maybe this isn't really my line of work."
"If you're looking for an argument from me, Jane, I'm afraid you're gonna be very disappointed."
"There's an opening in Children's Services."
"Jump on it, then. This meat grinder was never really your scene, is my opinion. It's obvious to me that you're not happy here."
"How ever did you guess, counselor?"