Warrior

This one guy I knew, this gangster

we called him the Violin Man.

He was born into nobility

and he played from when he was like 2 years old.

No one plays the violin when they're 2 years old.

Sure they do.

They don't make violins that small.

To a baby like that, it'd be like playing a fucking cello.

Okay. 2, 3, whatever.

The point is, his family was killed off in the revolution

and he wound up out on the streets.

Turned out he could scrap like a motherfucker.

He joined a Tong.

After a while, his hands got so fucked up from the fights

he couldn't play anymore.

So he pulled the strings off of his violin..

His tiny violin. - No, he was older now.

You guys are fucking up my story.

Anyway, he pulled the strings off his violin

and he would carry them with him.

And when he killed people

he would choke them out with the same violin strings

he used to play fucking Mozart with.

Hence, the Violin Man.

How did we get on this topic?

You asked him why he fights with that rope.

Oh, yeah. What's the connection?

It's my trademark, man.

The Violin Man had his strings, I have my chain.

Did you play Mozart on it?

What?

No.

Then I don't get it. - Me either.

Fuck you guys!

"The Rope Man."

Come on.

That doesn't have the same ring to it.

It's not a rope, it's a chain.

Rope Man, you tell any Fung Hai still breathing

they work for us now.

I don't think anyone is still breathing.

That works, too.

Ready.

Nice and sharp.

There you go.

No! No! No!

You get the hell away from me!

Damn it. Someone get something in his mouth!

Please. We're trying to help you.

Get off me! Don't! Don't, don't, don't, don't, don't!

No, no! Don't take it! Don't! Do..

Please, don't! Don't!

Don't take my leg! Don't take my leg!

Please! - I'm sorry.

I-It's too far gone.

No. - It will be over soon.

No.

I promise.

Mr. Buckley.

Mr. Buckley, wake up!

Yes? What is it?

The police are here.

How long ago?

An hour, maybe two.

Neighbors heard shouting.

They saw someone running away from the house.

Sent a footman to the station.

Jesus. What a mess.

Has Mrs. Blake made a statement?

Not yet.

I thought it best not to press her until you arrived.

You did the right thing.

Mrs. Blake, are you hurt?

Can you tell me what happened here?

Your husband has been killed, Mrs. Blake

and you've clearly been in a struggle.

I'm gonna need you to speak.

Did you kill your husband, Mrs. Blake?

He was drunk.

He attacked me.

So you were defending yourself?

He was strangling me. I-I couldn't breathe.

The thing is, Mrs. Blake

your husband was hit on the back of the head

with a poker, by the looks of it.

You couldn't have hit him like that if he was strangling you.

I don't know.

It all happened so quickly.

Perhaps, your sister saw what was happening

and came to your aid? - No.

She tried, but he threw her into a wall.

So, if not her..

It was Jacob. - Sophie! - What's this now?

I'm not letting you go to jail for something you didn't do.

She's confused. She hit her head.

Samuel was trying to kill her!

Jacob, he hit him, but he was defending her.

That is not what happened! - Excuse me!

Mrs. Blake, what are you doing?

Jacob's not a murderer.

The Mayor of San Francisco has been killed in his own home.

Someone is gonna be arrested for murder.

Now it can be you

or it can be the man who actually killed him.

Or maybe it wasn't him. Maybe it was your sister.

No. - Is he still in the house?

Search the house to be sure

but I suspect we'll need to track down this Chinaman, Jacob.

Please!

He was just defending me. - Of course, he was.

But fleeing the scene isn't helping his case.

I think we should leave Mrs. Blake and Ms. Mercer to recover.

They've been through a terrible ordeal.

I'll leave a man on the door.

Chief Flannagan, may I speak to you for a moment?

So, what do you think?

I think it's clear. The Mayor was murdered by a Chinaman.

You say it like that

we'll have pandemonium in the streets.

And that's why we're gonna stay ahead of it.

We're gonna search every inch of Chinatown.

Can we pull policemen from other beats?

I suppose that's up to you now.

You're the acting Mayor.

Yes, I suppose I am.

Every badge you can muster, first thing in the morning.

I want a large scale and very visible manhunt

already underway before we announce the Mayor's death.

Do you understand? - Do you want me to put on a show?

A big one.

I wanna keep the city calm and catch a murderer.

That'll take some doing.

For one thing, we don't know what he looks like.

Just get it started.

It's important that the people know we're on top of things.

Even when we aren't? - Especially then.

I don't understand why we don't just burn

this fucking place to the ground, send a message.

Our colors on the Fung Hai headquarters

is the message

one Mai Ling has to live with every day.

The longer she waits to retaliate, the weaker she looks.

But she can't retaliate because.. - Because of the Six Companies.

Blah-blah-blah.

Either way, she's fucked.

It makes sense.

But I didn't ice out the old man

just to wait around for someone else to make the first fucking move.

This is the move. Get me?

When did you get so smart?

I don't like to show-off.

Well, we both know that's not true.

Okay, we'll try this. See how she reacts.

But I'm not gonna keep us in a stalemate forever.

I underestimated him.

You think this was Ah Sahm?

Father Jun wouldn't authorize a direct attack right now.

They hit the Fung Hai when they were at their weakest.

This was strategic

but it was also personal.

He's provoking me, daring me to break the treaty.

I didn't think they'd move so quickly after Zing.

Because you weren't looking at the bigger picture.

So what do we do?

There are other avenues.

People who aren't the least bit concerned

about our little treaties.

The bigger picture.

Exactly.

What's this?

A celebration.

We took out the Fung Hai and fucked the Long Zii hard

without breaking the treaty.

And how many of your brothers did you lose in the process?

At least I did something.

You're right, you did.

And I'm sure it was a hell of a scrap.

But you've been in-charge for, what, two days?

And you're already waging war.

The Fung Hai needed to go. - Of course, they did.

But maybe there was a smarter way to do it

one that wouldn't have cost you good men.

You've always been too impulsive.

I tried to teach you patience.

Maybe that's something that can't be taught.

Maybe that's something you have to learn the hard way.

All right.

I don't need to tell you boys what we're up against here.

Every second that goes by without that Chinaman in handcuffs

only increases the chances that we'll never see him again.

And if that happens

God help us.

Chinatown is closed. Effective immediately.

I want every filthy, god-forsaken corner in that shithole

torn to shreds until this Jacob is found.

Someone gets in your way, get him out.

Someone doesn't wanna open the door

kick it in.. - Buckley pulled in every cop in the city.

Should be a hell of a show.

Christ, Lee. You even up for this?