Beneath the Veneer of a Murder

Judd:
I know about Daisy and Lolita, dude.

Tom Buchanan:
Is Bartlesby all right?

Judd:
He'll live. Barely.

Judd:
She's in the basement of Bartlesby's apartment.

Tom Buchanan:
How do you know that?

Judd:
Bartlesby told me after I beat it out of that dumbass rent-a-cop.

Judd:
I want my goddamned money, dude. I'll get it one way or the other.

Bartlesby:
[Voice-Over] What makes you think she's got the money, man? What makes you think she's really got it?

Judd:
Hey. Say nothing. Do nothing. [Judd wraps each end of Lolita's nylon stocking around his fists] Because you ARE nothing, babe. You never do nothing right. [Judd gingerly clambers on top of Lolita's prone body] But all that's going to change. Right here. Right now. [Judd wraps the stocking around her neck and squeezes it] You'll finally do something right in your life when you die. Die. Die. [Judd squeezes until Lolita's body ceases to move]

Daisy Buchanan:
I heard the news today.

Tom Buchanan:
Oh, boy.

Daisy Buchanan:
Is it true?

Tom Buchanan:
Yes. Poor Judd. He dead.

Daisy Buchanan:
Resisting arrest?

Tom Buchanan:
That's what happened. The police arrived just as he was leaving the scene of the crime. He tried to escape but wound up getting lead poisoning for his troubles.

Daisy Buchanan:
And Lolita?

Tom Buchanan:
Her new address is now the morgue. Probably sharing a slab with Judd.

Daisy Buchanan:
Kinky. Well, I suppose they were made for each other.

Daisy Buchanan:
Do I detect a note of jealousy in your voice, dear?

Tom Buchanan:
Exasperation is more like it, dear.

Tom Buchanan:
It was hard enough last year for Bartlesby to pick up after you when your menage-a-trois with the Negro Twins turned ugly after they killed each other over you.

Daisy Buchanan:
And I remain touched by the episode. It remains a unique tribute to my desirability.

Daisy Buchanan:
I'm surprised he allowed himself to almost be beaten to death by Judd. He could have been killed.

Tom Buchanan:
No, an ex-marine like Bartlesby wouldn't have allowed that to happen.

Daisy Buchanan:
How and when did Bartlesby manage to switch the money with the newspaper clippings?

Tom Buchanan:
I've already inquired.

Daisy Buchanan:
And?

Tom Buchanan:
He said he'd prefer not to answer.

Daisy Buchanan:
Of course it was mere coincidence that an anonymous caller tipped off the police about Judd being there.

Tom Buchanan:
Of course. Just as it was equally serendipitous for Bartlesby to call me after Judd beat him up AND for Judd to interrupt our conversation by telling me what he was planning to do. That was all the head's up I needed to call in a favor.

Daisy Buchanan:
Such careless people, those two.

Tom Buchanan:
Judd and Lolita?

Daisy Buchanan:
Yes. But I'll miss Lolita and the allure of her sluttishness. Light of my life, fire of my loins. My sin, my soul. Lo... Lee... Ta.

Tom Buchanan:
Dear, from now on you must promise me to be as careful in your choice of lovers as they are in choosing you when they settle on yet another mark on whom they'll hustle.

Daisy Buchanan:
I can't promise you that, dear. It's no fun being TOO careful.

Tom Buchanan:
It's no fun being dead either.

Daisy Buchanan:
I wouldn't know. It's an experience I haven't yet tried. Nor have you.

Tom Buchanan:
True. But one day we will.

Daisy Buchanan:
That's a narrative for another day.