Grant quotes from Taggart

Murray

[Leaving his office followed by Taggart, referring to Taggart's previous "neighbour"] Mackie was a good man, the best. You were a good team. But he's gone now. There's a new breed of men, Jim, you know that.

[Pushing a button on the hot drinks machine] It's his attitude, sir.

Murray

Oh, come on. You're too good a man yourself to let personality come into it.

[Handing the drink to Murray] I have to work with him.

Murray

He has a good record.

[Pushing the button again] I don't care about his record.

Murray

Is it his background?

There is that.

Murray

You and I came up the same way, Jim. A long, slow climb. [Taggart gets his drink] I know how you feel, I felt that way too. Graduates jumping in where we spent years slogging. That's the new way, live with it. [They go into Taggart's office] Al Mackie won't come back.

I'll never know why he did it. [Left the police to become a Buddhist monk.]

Murray

He was your friend.

Not his confidante, it seems.

Murray

It was a personal decision.

He was a good copper.

Murray

A deeply unhappy one, Jim. At least he's found his purpose.

Livingstone's found his - to annoy me!

Murray

Nobody's asking you to marry him, Jim! Work with him on this one case, what, forty-eight hours?

Come in. [DC Grant does so.]

Excuse me, sir. It's a message from Detective Sergeant Livingstone. They found a purse five hundred yards down the river, and they've identified the body.

[At the door] It's DC Grant, we just want to ask you a few more questions. [He, Livingstone, and the Ballantynes enter the living room.]

Have you any news?

Not yet, I'm afraid, no. Is there anything you'd like to add to what you've already told us?

No.

You still think Billy did it!

Last night, do you remember a phone call?

It rang, there was no...

What time?

Quarter to one.

You're sure of that?

I looked at the clock. [Grant looks at the clock on the mantelpiece, then checks his own wristwatch.]

What happened?

I answered, it rang off.

Did Eileen's watch ever run fast or slow?

What's this got to do with anything?

The time's very important in an enquiry.

You're not supposed to be here, Mr. Dalgleish.

[Motions to Mr. Ballantyne] Joe's my partner.

Well, you were warned to stay away.

At a time like this?

It's still subjudice.

What?!

Your presence here can be construed as...

Look, I've been questioned for two hours. Billy's bedroom's been searched and he's never been home, and you've had him there for how long?

You put us in a difficult situation by being here.

What, just because he ran away?

You think Billy did it!

You've got it in for him!

No, we haven't.

Look, my boy couldnae... He couldnae do a thing like that. [He breaks down in tears.]

Eileen's killer's loose, and you're questioning the wrong man.

I came here to help him.

[Noticing the scarf] You're no' even one of us!

My God. Now they're leaving it to kids!

In there?

What, you're afraid of the natives?

Sorry.

Are you the polis?

Yes.

He's inside.

What's happening, sir?

The Mint's having a go.

[Confused] "Mint"?

Superintendent Murray. [Murray Mints.] Personality conflict. He refuses to talk to me.

All the same, is there time for this?

Sherlock Holmes had his violin.

[The pub landlord, passing by] He can play it.

Same again. [Passes Tiny his glass.]

Billy's dad was there.

He shouldn't have been.

Well, he was, and that didn't make it very easy.

Where's your scarf?

[Lying] I lost it.

[Chuckles] You're going to make a murder squad detective(!)

I don't believe Billy did it.

I do.

Well, perhaps you want to believe it.

There's a lot of things I want to believe, like respect.

I can't talk to you, sir, while you're playing on this. [Sure enough, Taggart loses his last life, and it's game over. They head to the bar]

What's your drink?

Lager and blackcurrant.

You can buy that yourself!

[To Tiny] Half a pint of lager and blackcurrant, please.

Sickening for something, are ya?

Tiny, Detective Sergeant Livingstone.

Got that strangler yet?

Och, come on. You should know better. [Livingstone pays for the drink and follows Taggart into the lounge. They find a table and sit at it.]

I'd like to work with you, sir, not against you.

Cheers(!) [Sips on his Scotch]

The phone rang at quarter to one.

How do we know what went through his mind? If only the ground hadn't been too hard for footprints.

I still think you're wrong, I'm sorry.

Why?

Because it's so circumstantial.

[Sighs] There was a Detective Chief Inspector Wallace. A bastard man. I worked with him on a dozen enquiries. He used to say that a... a nose for the truth was a talent, you either had it or you hadn't. The bastard never made a wrong jump.