Pinkerton (2025) Movie Script
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continues) - Stand there.
Eh, get it up.
Now.
Get some manners.
He's bleeding.
So?
Yeah, just thought I'd bring it up,
case I was the only one who noticed is all.
You know me?
Go on. You can say it out loud.
Private eye.
At your service.
I heard she saved Lincoln.
Indeed.
When Kate came to see me
for the first time in Chicago,
I thought at first she'd
misunderstood the job posting.
I wasn't looking for a secretary,
I was looking for detectives.
No woman had ever applied.
No American detective agency had ever hired
a female investigator before.
But Ms. Warren made a convincing case.
She could infiltrate places more easily
because no one would expect a woman
to be an undercover investigator.
She could befriend the wives
and girlfriends of suspected criminals.
Women have an eye for detail.
Indeed they do.
They make very excellent observers.
You got a soft spot for
women's rights, Pinkerton?
Perhaps, or perhaps I'm
just a shrewd businessman
that knows that Ms. Warren is going
to make me a whole lot of money.
Or perhaps you're
all just a bunch of dogs
let off the leash by the railroad.
Is that right?
I came to Illinois from Scotland in '42.
I settled in a little town called Dundee
and almost immediately became
infatuated with police work.
I served as deputy sheriff
in two different Chicago area counties
before becoming a special agent
for the US Post Office in Chicago.
That meant to impress me?
No, it's meant to frighten you.
What do you wanna know?
James-Younger.
The railroad hired one
of my best operatives,
John Witcher, to find Jesse
and his brother, Frank.
John's corpse was discovered last week.
He'd bled out from a
bullet wound to the stomach,
his head, shoulders, and
face had been chewed off
by wild hogs.
Now some say Jesse isn't
responsible for John's death,
but my men and I know
Jesse's darn style when we see it.
This modern day Robin Hood.
I share no such romantic
allusions about the man,
so much so that I have
made this agency's top priority
the capture our death of Jesse James.
What do you want me to do about it, huh?
I didn't kill your man.
Tell me where I can
find the James Brothers.
How should I know?
You were seen riding toward Lafayette
with them day before last.
Now, don't make a liar outta me.
(mean heaving)
- Put your head down.
Raise your fingers.
(hand banging)
- Ah!
You have five fingers on each hand
and I've cleared my
schedule for the evening.
So what's it gonna be?
I don't know where Jesse is, ah!
Shall we end this?
He's on his way to Clay County.
There's a farmhouse there.
Farmhouse? Whose?
How should I know?
Okay. Okay.
It's his mother, okay? Please.
That's all I know. (Suspenseful music)
I believe you.
Take him outside and toss him in the back.
- Now, get outta here.
- Tell the doctor
a mule ran over his hand.
(footsteps thudding)
(sentimental music)
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What's the plan?
Kate heads back to Maryland.
Ward, you stay here with me.
We have some unfinished business to settle
before we ride for Clay County.
- What's in Maryland?
- George Gordon.
Who?
Bank Teller murdered by
an Alexander Pete Drysdale.
I want you to get close to Drysdale's wife.
We need a confession and
location of the stolen money
And after?
You can find Clay
County on a map, can't you?
Yes sir.
- Ward.
- Safe travels, Ms. Warren.
[Alan] Find us someplace
to sleep for the night.
Got it, boss. (Sentimental
music continues)
(sentimental music fades)
[Alan] And then what did he do?
Us fella, he knocked down there
in the mud and he looked up to me
and he called me something
I'd never heard before.
A Mexican strawberry.
Dried beans.
Yeah, kind so bad,
gets you back on the trots
and passing the Mormon
tea, if you know what I mean.
[Alan] Odd.
Yeah.
How 'bout you, Alan?
What's the worst they ever called you?
Men like me, I've been
through the mill, Ward.
I don't get called butch if I'm honest,
What of this unfinished business?
(wood banging)
(suspenseful music) What?
- He's watching us.
- Who?
That finger swell fellow
we roughed up earlier.
I don't see a thing out there.
Wait. (Suspenseful music)
Son(gun firing)
(man gargles) (unsettling music)
I think I'll retired for the night.
Give someone to dispose of him
and meet me at the marshal's office
first thing in the morning, will you?
Marshal?
I'll explain when we get there.
(foreboding music)
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(footsteps thudding)
Nice suits.
Morning Marshal.
Something I can do for you, fellas.
I'm Alan Pinkerton.
This is Special Agent Ward Lamon.
Chicago.
I know who you are.
Very well.
We'll just skip to the
reason for our visit then.
Say, you fellas wouldn't
know anything about
some outlaw shot dead
last night, would you?
No.
Shame, I was so certain you might.
[Alan] Mr. Ward and I required
transportation to Missouri.
- What kind of transportation?
- The inconspicuous kind.
What's wrong with the railroad?
There's a strike by
the Steel Workers Union.
At the moment it would be wise for us
to travel off the rails.
I thought the Pinkertons were employed
by the United States government.
We'll gladly pay you for your trouble.
No trouble at all.
However, my answer is no.
- No?
- That's right.
The Pinkerton agency is a
paramilitary wing of big business.
We don't deal with those
industrialists in this town.
Maybe this will help you
reconsider your answer.
Thank you, but no.
There's got to be something we can do.
Bully Hamilton.
Come again.
The man's wanted for the robbery
of three stage coaches
east of the Rocklands.
Folks say he's hiding in the trees.
If you know where he is,
why have you not arrested him?
I'm busy.
We bring in this Bully Hamilton fella
and you provide us with
the transportation we need
to Clay County.
And I keep that bag of coins too.
Hamilton.
He a dangerous kind?
He can be.
You got yourself a deal.
Oh, I'm curious.
What waits for a couple of men
like yourselves in Clay County?
Jesse James.
Marshal. (Gentle music)
(train rattling) (gentle music)
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Why are we doing this again?
We need discrete
passage into Clay County.
Yeah, why don't we just,
easier to get a order from the marshal?
That would take weeks.
James is going to Clay County now.
Let's just find this Hamilton
fellow and bring him in.
Let's not waste any time.
Which way you reckon?
Smart man heads into the bush
and only comes out to rob folks
Or when he gets hungry.
Hey, that Marshal used a word earlier.
It's para but... Paramilitary.
That's, that's it.
What's that mean?
It means a group of
people acting like soldiers
even when they ain't.
It's not official.
Not really legal.
It ain't the way they
agency usually does things.
Let's find Hamilton. (Gravel crunching)
(gentle music)
(water whooshing) (gentle music continues)
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(water whooshing faintly)
(water whooshing faintly)
We check it out. (Foreboding music)
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It's cold.
Peculiar.
Maybe somebody tipped him off.
Unlikely.
No one knows what out
here about the marshal.
Alan, look.
(man whistling) (suspenseful music)
Afternoon, this your camp?
We don't mean to pry. We just came upon it.
All the way out here?
Dressed in your best bib and tuckers?
Yeah, can't fault a man
for wanting to look his best.
Can if they're working for the law.
Oh, interesting assumption,
but we work for the railroad.
Might I also make an assumption?
You are Bully Hamilton and
you happen to be on the run.
Aren't you?
Your town marshal wants me
and my colleague here to
bring you in on robbery charges.
Now we aren't concerned
with the validity of said charges.
We're just here to do a job.
That being said, why don't
we just cut to the chase though.
(suspenseful music) (guns firing)
Ah, looks like he took that literally.
After you. (Suspenseful music)
(suspenseful music continues) (gun firing)
(suspenseful music) (gun firing)
(suspenseful music) (gun firing)
(gun firing) (suspenseful music)
(gun firing) (suspenseful music)
(Alan heaves) (gun firing)
(suspenseful music) (gun firing)
- Well.
- Well.
Seen as Hamilton fired first. Keep firing.
(guns firing)
You go around that way.
I'll go this way, we'll flank him, okay?
(Ward grunts) (suspenseful music)
(gun reloading) (suspenseful music)
(gun firing) (Bully groans)
(punch thudding)
(Bully grunting)
Don't do it.
I didn't do nothing to nobody
who didn't already have it coming.
Yeah, ain't nothing wrong with robbing
innocent people hard on belongings, huh?
And that business is
between you and the marshal.
I know you detectives.
Savages. You'll kill me,
tell the marshal you found me that way.
(Ward chuckles)
- Oh, it is insulting
that you would assume such a thing of us.
If we wanted you dead,
Mr. Ward here would've
already blown your head off.
That's right. (Sentimental music)
(Bully spitting)
I need a doctor before I lose my leg.
Oh, marshal first.
No, no.
No. Got... Shut up.
- No, you can't shoot me, you.
- Shut up. Shut up.
(sentimental music) (train rattling)
(sentimental music) (train rattling)
(gentle music)
(Bully grunting)
- Get down there.
- No.
- Sit.
Here you go.
Signed, sealed, delivered.
One Bully Hamilton.
(Bully grunting)
- What happened to his leg?
- Ah, he slipped.
Bring him to the cell.
- Get in there.
- Oh God.
(Bully mumbling)
A deal is a deal, Marshal.
You have your coin, now you have your man.
So I would be satisfied
with it if you held up your
end of our bargain now.
Here's a trail, leads all
the way into Clay County.
Stage Coach?
[Marshal] Horses.
Horses? Do I look like a fool to you?
You sure do.
Shut your filthy mouth.
That's right. Horses.
Safest way for you to travel into Missouri.
Horses.
(foreboding music)
Safe to say you'll never
be seeing these two again.
You're all right with that?
Between Hamilton and the coin,
you fellas have more than paid for 'em.
Say, that Hamilton fella.
What do you reckon will happen to him?
He'll stay right where
he's at for a long while.
Judge won't be in town until next month.
Marshal.
What's up Sassy. What's up Sassy?
All right.
(sentimental music)
(sentimental music) (saddles squeaking)
(sentimental music continues)
Get comfortable, Hamilton.
Screw you, Marshal.
That's usually how it starts.
(suspenseful music)
Son of a bitch.
(Bully laughing)
(foreboding music) (Bully laughing)
You missed it.
(bright music)
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(gentle music)
(hooves clopping) (birds chirping)
(hooves clopping continues)
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Whoa.
(gravel crunching)
Nice fella. (Liquid pouring)
Hey.
What's this?
Marshal's payment.
[Alan] How?
When?
A little slide of hand back there.
That's something I picked up in the field.
Oh, well, you must be good at it.
I had a pretty damn good teacher.
Right. Stand up. (Ward laughing)
Hold on, hold on. Come here. Come here.
Come here baby. You're okay.
(foreboding music)
Come on.
Something's got her spooked.
Come on. (Gentle music)
(gentle music continues)
(fire crackling) (gentle music continues)
I ask you something?
How come you never married?
I am married.
To the agency that is.
Well, I mean like a wife
or a family.
Like there had to have been somebody.
In Scotland.
But I made myself believe
that I was going to be married,
I was going to be very married.
Nothing reminds you of what you forget
until you actually forget it.
Birthdays, anniversaries.
Forget them just once
and a woman will never
let you forget it again.
(Ward chuckles)
- Yeah.
My work was much simpler.
It was there each morning,
arms wide open like the ocean.
I couldn't forget the
agency even if I wanted to.
So I stopped trying to
and I pushed into my work.
Yeah. Well don't you ever get lonely?
Always.
No man can claim that
he is never felt lonely.
Loneliness is a state of mind
that makes you feel
empty and unwanted.
But the Pinkertons, the
business affords us a feeling
of being needed.
What about you?
You got someone waiting
for you back in Chicago?
Nah.
I was never brave enough to
dip my toes in that cool water.
- It's as icy as the Atlantic.
- Indeed.
Say, have you ever seen the ocean?
No.
Well, you ought to.
It is a sight to behold.
I remember seeing it on my trip over here.
So wide.
It's hard to see where the
water ended and the sky began.
Yeah. I worry about life after all this.
After?
Ah, surely you can't be
a detective forever, huh?
Perhaps.
I guess I'll just have to
take it nice and slow then.
Yeah, nice and slow. (Fire crackling)
(gentle music)
(water rumbling) (wind blowing)
(gentle music continues)
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(gentle music continues)
(gravel crunching)
That it?
[Alan] That's it.
Look.
(boards creaking)
[Ward] What's the plan?
[Alan] We can take her at gunpoint
and hold her in the home
till Jessie and Frank arrive.
Or we can start a ruse.
So, ruse.
Wayward traveler.
Well, I heard she's pretty
cross when she gets mad.
I'm up for a challenge.
Besides, it worked for that
clapper fella in Santa Fe.
- Man, he was blind.
- Nevermind all that.
Stay with the horses.
I'll feel the old lady out
and come find you when I know
when Jesse and Frank will arrive.
We'll be ready to swing
a trap by then. Yeah?
I reckon so. (Foreboding music)
(foreboding music continues)
Whoa.
Easy now.
I come in peace.
You're trespassing.
This here is private land.
I didn't mean to intrude.
I'm just a little lost, is all.
Lost or not, you got about 10 seconds
to turn yourself back around.
Head back where you come
from or this here pistol shoots.
Alright, I'll go.
If you could just help me
find my way is all, please.
- Where are you going?
- Pleasant Valley.
Pleasant Valley. This here is River Bend.
You are an awful long way
from where you ought to be.
(gun cocking)
Hell, I've traveled over
half a state to get here.
- Not to hear you didn't.
- Good point.
You alone?
My horse is about a mile or so back.
What's your business in Pleasant Valley?
I'm an Oilman.
- Oil?
- That's right.
I work for the Antelope
Oil and Trading Company.
Maybe you heard of it.
You mean to tell me
there's oil in Pleasant Valley?
[Alan] All through this area, yes, ma'am.
You got a map?
No ma'am.
What kind of oil man, don't carry a map?
A clumsy one I suppose.
Come on in, I'll get
you back on your way.
Grab the bucket. (Tense music)
(suspenseful music)
Now our property runs all
along the river here to the bend
and then north and south to the hills.
They told me I had to come
to Missouri and see the valley.
There were rumors that
the right tools could pull
1,000 barrels a week from
underneath these rocks.
That would be nearly
$5,000 a month in income.
For the oil company.
Oh no ma'am. That
would be in your pocket.
Oil company has to be
getting rich off this somehow.
We lease the land.
How you split the royalties is up to you.
Tell me, have you ever had someone
like me scout your land for oil?
No.
I have a dozen drills in Kansas
and just walking out this way,
I can tell you I have a
real opportunity here.
But bear in mind you could
lose it all if you're not prudent
and it won't be long before
word spreads of the oil here
and after that, every oil man
in the country will travel
here promising you riches.
Like you just did.
These other men will be speculators
or men trying to get between
you and the oil money itself.
- Men like you.
- No ma'am.
I do my own drilling with my own team.
I know them.
They know me, men I can trust.
They work hard and they don't lose tools,
which is important in this business.
And I can start fast.
- How fast?
- I could have a string
of tools here on the rail by next week.
Next week?
Well you see there won't be
many gushes here for all that long.
In two or three years
these wells will run dry
and your land will be worthless.
Worthless?
This is family land.
Worthless in the
eyes of the oil business.
And you can put this money up now?
$600.
A good faith offer.
This is family land.
I would have to discuss this with my boys.
Are they here now?
[Woman] No.
Well, will they be here soon?
I don't mind waiting.
Day after next.
Then it's settled.
$600.
- Wait.
- Here you are.
Nonsense. I'll spend the next
few days surveying the land.
I'll be quiet. You won't
even know that I'm here.
Then when your boys
arrive you can come find me
and we can all have a little chat.
How does that sound?
What about the money
if they decide not to accept your offer?
What money?
(cup and saucer clanging) (gentle music)
(gentle music continues)
(gentle music continues)
(water bubbling)
(water bubbling)
So?
We're oil men from Antelope.
Gosh, we don't know
the first thing about oil, Alan.
Yeah, doesn't matter.
Frank and Jesse will be here in two days.
We lay low until then,
pretend to be survey in the land.
Then when he arrives,
we'll come out guns blazing.
How was she?
Zerelda.
She's got her wits about her.
We cannot afford to let her
know that something's not right.
And believe me, she'll
sniff us out if we do.
How you gonna explain my being here?
Oh my apprentice from Kansas. No problem.
Put some coffee on.
We'll take shifts watching the house.
- You first.
- You got it.
(gentle music)
(gentle music continues)
(gentle music continues)
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Boss.
- Gotta see this.
- What? What is it?
What happened?
(water whooshing)
(water whooshing)
Who the hell is he?
You've got to be kidding me.
Oil speculator. What are the odds?
I didn't actually
think there could be oil
under these rocks when
I came up with the idea.
Well, what now?
Maybe Mrs. James will shoot him.
She nearly shot me.
Yeah, I think we ought
to get ahead of this.
Agreed.
Let's go have a little
chat with him, shall we?
Afternoon gentlemen. This your land?
That depends on who's asking.
Gene Rogers with the
Northwest Oil and Gas Company.
How do you do?
I'm gonna have to ask you to leave.
But you haven't heard my offer yet?
No need.
You heard him, mister, get outta here.
I'm sorry. And you are?
I ain't asking you again.
He's with me and I'm
afraid my answer is still no.
Besides, we already have an offer
from Antelope to drill under these rocks.
Antelope?
This far east?
Anything else, Mr. Rogers?
It says here that the home is owned
by a Zerelda James.
And your point?
Well, I haven't looked
up your dresses yet,
but the notion seems odd.
Maybe your paperwork
is just a little out of date.
I purchased the home from
Zerelda many months ago.
I'm sure she's moved on by now.
- To?
- Lafayette.
- Louisiana?
- That's the one.
Time to go, mister.
Lafayette, you say.
Excuse me, gentleman.
I believe I'll have a
word on my own accord.
Take one more step, it'll be your last.
My name is Alan Pinkerton.
My detective and I are
conducting an investigation.
An investigation of which
you are now impeding upon,
which so you know is a federal crime.
- Pinkerton.
- That's right.
Now you get the hell out of here
before I allow Mr. Ward
to put a bullet in your head
and tell the marshal trail
thieves had their way with you.
[Ward] Go on, get outta here.
You got a good reason to be welding
that pistol around here like that?
Just warden off competition is all.
- Competition?
- Speculators.
We spoke of this the
other night at your table.
- Who's he?
- This is Mr. Ward.
He's my foreman.
Ma'am.
You fellas had any breakfast yet?
Not yet. No.
We start our work early.
Well, come on, get
yourself something to eat.
Work will wait.
Coffee's ready while you wait.
(gentle music)
(fire crackling) (gentle music continues)
(gentle music continues)
I've been thinking about our arrangement.
Oh?
Now $600, that stays with me.
That goes without saying.
Of course.
But when my boys get here,
there's something about
them you should know.
They despise oil men.
No, not that.
I didn't raise my
children to do bad things.
I always thought of life like a book.
Good things happen and so do the bad
and us characters in this story,
well, we can all survive
a few bad chapters, right?
My boys grew up outlaws.
We deal with many different types
of people in our line of work.
Not like my boys. You don't.
Please go on.
Robbing banks,
stealing money from trains.
No one has a child hoping
they'll grow up to be Jesse James.
Yeah.
Just because you share the same last name
with an infamous outlaw, that
doesn't make you as bad as he.
Well now that is true.
That don't help the fact
none that I'm his mother.
Your son is Jesse James, the outlaw.
- And Frank.
- His older brother.
He's smart.
He don't take as many risks.
You think your boys will
agree to lease us the land?
I don't know.
They're not too trusting of strangers.
Much less businessmen.
Maybe you should have
a little talk with them first.
Grease the wheels, as
we say in the oil business.
After all, you trust us, right?
No one can know about this.
No one.
I will sign the lease in alias.
Precisely.
No one has to know your true identities.
- No one.
- Not a soul.
Except for Mr. Ward and myself.
And it would behoove us for obvious reasons
to keep our mouths shut.
You stay in hiding
until I send word for you.
Frank and Jesse shouldn't
know that you're here
until I present the idea to them.
Mrs. James, you're speaking
as if our lives are in danger.
They are. (Unsettling music)
(water whooshing) (suspenseful music)
(suspenseful music continues)
(suspenseful music continues)
[Ward] What the hell
you think you're doing?
Pinkerton.
I think that's a lie.
Oh?
That's right.
You fellas from Antelope are just trying
to scare me off the lease is all.
Put your gun down right now.
I don't think I will.
I don't see why you should get
in the way of me leasing this land.
I think there's been a
big misunderstanding here.
Oh no, I understand
quite clearly, oil man.
So tell me,
what is it that makes the
house on the hill so special?
[Alan] The mother of
Jesse James lives there.
- Alan!
- It's all right Mr. Ward.
Mr. Jean here will be
dead in a matter of minutes.
Is that so?
That's right.
Do you know what we're doing here?
No?
We're setting a trap, an ambush.
We aim to kill the outlaw,
Jesse James, when he arrives here tomorrow.
Now in a matter of minutes,
this forest will be surrounded
by Kate Warren and 20 of
my most deadly secret agents.
And as you can imagine,
they will not hesitate to shoot
and kill you when they
see your weapon drawn
in my general direction.
- Prove it.
- All right.
If you will allow me to remove my billfold,
I have an official writ from the governor
of Missouri himself containing
the details of this mission.
Go on. (Gun firing)
Well. She probably heard that.
Well if she asks, we're
warding off wild cats.
Get rid of the body in case
she comes wandering out
this way quickly.
Ah, man.
(foreboding music)
(foreboding music continues)
(foreboding music continues)
(foreboding music continues)
(Zerelda clears her throat)
(foreboding music continues)
Mama.
Lemme look at you. (Both laughing)
You're looking so thin.
Ain't anyone feeding you?
Where's your brother?
He couldn't make it.
Business.
Couldn't take the time
to see his own mother?
Oh, it's not like that.
Somebody had to stay behind.
- How you been?
- Good, mama.
Everybody sends their love.
So you wanna tell me why
we're meeting all the way
in the woods like this
and not back of the house?
A man come to see me.
First just the one and,
and then his foreman too.
What men?
Oil men. Antelope Oil company.
And they proved this to you?
Mama, there's a lot of
bad men after me, okay?
Frank too.
He said there might be 10,000 barrels
of oil beneath our feet.
He gave me $600 just to look around.
He said we can make up
to $5,000 a month if they find a gusher.
And what if there's no oil on the land?
Then what?
We get to keep the 600.
Jesse, this could be a way out
of all them things you do.
You don't think I like what I do?
You ever stopped to think about that?
You're too busy trying
to get me to settle down.
I like who I am.
And no amount of money,
certainly not no $600,
is gonna send me to the front porch
for the rest of my days.
I only want the good things
for you and your brother.
I know, mama.
This thing with the
oil, that what you want?
Change my life, our lives.
Then that settles it.
Take my coach, go back to
the house, I'll meet you there.
- Where are you going?
- And I'll go get Frank.
We'll return to meet this oil man together.
I ain't gonna let no one
make a fool out of my mama.
Frank's keen on business. You know that.
All right. (Gentle music)
(gentle music continues)
(gentle music continues)
(gentle music continues) (water whooshing)
(birds chirping)
There's a coach out front.
Coach?
Their mother's got company.
Are you sure it's Jesse's?
I didn't see him for certain. No.
Well then you don't know.
We have to be positive.
Who else is gonna be out here, Alan?
Well, I don't think it's wise
to arrive without an invitation.
I don't wanna spook herl
What if this opportunity passes?
We can't afford to miss our chance.
And Jesse ain't gonna be back here
before we gotta make for Maryland.
I'm aware of the stakes, Ward.
Now please, your constant
talk has giving me a headache.
Stakes.
Speculators.
We saw a pair of them earlier,
but don't worry, we scared 'em off.
Told them Mrs. James is only
interested in doing business
with the Antelope Oil and Trading company.
You know I find it peculiar,
two of you show up outta nowhere
and all of a sudden I got
other oil men showing up as well.
Word travels fast in the oil business.
Bunch of savages that we are.
Would you like some supper?
Well, we appreciate the invitation,
but we really should
be headed back to camp.
No, I insist that you come.
We have business to discuss.
(suspenseful music)
He's here.
How you know?
She's playing the game.
She doesn't want us to know that he's here,
but he most definitely is.
Follow me. (Suspenseful music)
You know, I was wondering.
It's such a nice evening out.
Would it be too much trouble
to have our meal out here on the porch?
You wanna eat your food outside?
Truth be told us oil men are used
to living life in the wilderness.
- Is that right?
- Sometimes being
inside can feel a bit foreign to us.
What about you? You
wanna eat out here too?
- Yes ma'am.
- Suit yourselves.
I'll be back. (Suspenseful music)
- I gotta look inside.
- Go that way.
Check the windows.
Meet back here before
she arrives with the meal.
(suspenseful music continues)
(sentimental music continues)
(suspenseful music continues)
(suspenseful music continues)
(suspenseful music continues)
(suspenseful music continues)
(suspenseful music continues)
(suspenseful music continues)
(suspenseful music continues)
Well?
I didn't see nothing.
Did you get to look at the coach?
It's still out there.
Dammit.
What now?
If we're wrong, we could hang for this.
Zerelda James, my name is Alan Pinkerton.
My agency has sent me here
for the capture of your sons,
Frank and Jesse James.
If either or both of them are
inside, have them step outside
so my agent and I could take them in.
You will not be harmed.
I repeat. You will not be harmed.
Just have your boys come on out.
We don't want to have to
force our way into the home.
No one has to die.
'Cept maybe Jesse and Frank.
How 'bout we just go in?
Last chance. (Suspenseful music)
We started shooting in five seconds.
Five.
Four.
Three.
Two.
(guns firing)
Anybody in there still alive?
Come on out.
You won't be here for much
longer, I can assure you that.
Go check inside.
Careful. (Suspenseful music)
(suspenseful music continues)
- Come here.
- Get your hands of me.
[Ward] Get out of here.
Stop it. Don't start struggling.
- No. You're lying.
- You idiot.
- You'll get shot.
- Foolish going easy.
You son of a bitch.
- You're gonna get shot again.
- Get off me.
- Hey, stop.
[Zerelda] You get off me.
(objects thudding)
(Ward grunting)
- Get out.
Oil man, you sons of bitches.
Where is he?
Where is Jesse?
He knew not to trust you.
- Yeah.
- He was never here.
He warned me about you.
What do you mean he isn't here?
[Ward] His coach is out front.
Idiots.
Jesse's always been a
step ahead of you Pinkertons.
(Zerelda grunting)
What are you gonna do now?
(Zerelda breathing heavily)
(gun cocking)
(Zerelda grunting) (foreboding music)
We're not gonna kill this woman.
We're not gonna save her life either.
(Zerelda grunting) (dramatic music)
(dramatic music) (Zerelda grunting)
(dramatic music continues)
(Zerelda grunting) (dramatic music)
(dramatic music continues)
(dramatic music continues)
(dramatic music continues)
(dramatic music fades) (train rattling)
(crockery clanking)
So let me get this straight.
You two shot up Zerelda's home
thinking the James brothers were inside
and come to find out they're not.
That about sums it up. Yeah.
What happened to the old lady?
- Who cares?
- Who cares?
You're gonna have to answer
to the agency for this cock up.
It's my agency, Kate.
I don't have to answer to anyone.
Anyway, I took care of
that case for you. Drysdale.
- Oh?
- Yeah.
It was fairly simple too.
The wife basically led me straight to him.
Where?
Where what?
Where'd you put him down?
Inside of his home. (Unsettling music)
I think I'll start the long
ride back to Maryland.
What you want us to do now?
Chicago.
Wait for me there.
I'll send word when I get there.
Alan,
are you all right?
I'll be fine.
Safe travels.
I'll see you soon.
(gentle foreboding music)
Do you really think he's okay?
After coming that close to
Jesse James and missing,
would you be? (Gentle music)
(gentle music continues)
(gentle music continues)
(gentle music continues)
(book crumpling)
- Easy.
- You crook.
I know you stole that bag of coins.
(coins clanking)
Better? (Gentle music)
You and your men have
until the sun goes down
to ride out of town.
Or what?
You're gonna toss me in a
cell back there with Hamilton?
Hamilton's gone.
Front of a judge?
Gallows.
Justice.
Anyway, I only came to return to you
what was yours in the first place.
You won't be seeing me again.
Wait, the Pinkertons,
I heard the agency was hiring.
You own a good suit?
Matter of fact, now I do.
(gentle music)
(gentle music continues)
(gentle music continues)
(gentle music continues)
(gentle music continues)
Mama?
Mama?
Ma.
Mom.
Mama.
Mama.
Mama.
Mama.
Ma. (Dramatic music)
(dramatic music continues)
Frank. (Dramatic music continues)
Get the horses. (Dramatic music continues)
(gentle music)
(gentle music continues)
(gentle music continues)
(gentle music continues)
(gentle music continues)
(gentle music continues)
(gentle music continues)
(gentle music continues)
(gentle music continues)
(gentle music continues)
(gentle music continues)
(gentle music continues)
(gentle music continues)
(gentle music continues)
(gentle music continues)
(gentle music continues)
(gentle music continues)
(gentle music continues)
(gentle music continues)
(gentle music fades)
(sentimental music continues)
(sentimental music continues)
(sentimental music continues)
(sentimental music continues)
(sentimental music continues)
(sentimental music continues)
(sentimental music continues)
(sentimental music
continues) - Stand there.
Eh, get it up.
Now.
Get some manners.
He's bleeding.
So?
Yeah, just thought I'd bring it up,
case I was the only one who noticed is all.
You know me?
Go on. You can say it out loud.
Private eye.
At your service.
I heard she saved Lincoln.
Indeed.
When Kate came to see me
for the first time in Chicago,
I thought at first she'd
misunderstood the job posting.
I wasn't looking for a secretary,
I was looking for detectives.
No woman had ever applied.
No American detective agency had ever hired
a female investigator before.
But Ms. Warren made a convincing case.
She could infiltrate places more easily
because no one would expect a woman
to be an undercover investigator.
She could befriend the wives
and girlfriends of suspected criminals.
Women have an eye for detail.
Indeed they do.
They make very excellent observers.
You got a soft spot for
women's rights, Pinkerton?
Perhaps, or perhaps I'm
just a shrewd businessman
that knows that Ms. Warren is going
to make me a whole lot of money.
Or perhaps you're
all just a bunch of dogs
let off the leash by the railroad.
Is that right?
I came to Illinois from Scotland in '42.
I settled in a little town called Dundee
and almost immediately became
infatuated with police work.
I served as deputy sheriff
in two different Chicago area counties
before becoming a special agent
for the US Post Office in Chicago.
That meant to impress me?
No, it's meant to frighten you.
What do you wanna know?
James-Younger.
The railroad hired one
of my best operatives,
John Witcher, to find Jesse
and his brother, Frank.
John's corpse was discovered last week.
He'd bled out from a
bullet wound to the stomach,
his head, shoulders, and
face had been chewed off
by wild hogs.
Now some say Jesse isn't
responsible for John's death,
but my men and I know
Jesse's darn style when we see it.
This modern day Robin Hood.
I share no such romantic
allusions about the man,
so much so that I have
made this agency's top priority
the capture our death of Jesse James.
What do you want me to do about it, huh?
I didn't kill your man.
Tell me where I can
find the James Brothers.
How should I know?
You were seen riding toward Lafayette
with them day before last.
Now, don't make a liar outta me.
(mean heaving)
- Put your head down.
Raise your fingers.
(hand banging)
- Ah!
You have five fingers on each hand
and I've cleared my
schedule for the evening.
So what's it gonna be?
I don't know where Jesse is, ah!
Shall we end this?
He's on his way to Clay County.
There's a farmhouse there.
Farmhouse? Whose?
How should I know?
Okay. Okay.
It's his mother, okay? Please.
That's all I know. (Suspenseful music)
I believe you.
Take him outside and toss him in the back.
- Now, get outta here.
- Tell the doctor
a mule ran over his hand.
(footsteps thudding)
(sentimental music)
(sentimental music continues)
What's the plan?
Kate heads back to Maryland.
Ward, you stay here with me.
We have some unfinished business to settle
before we ride for Clay County.
- What's in Maryland?
- George Gordon.
Who?
Bank Teller murdered by
an Alexander Pete Drysdale.
I want you to get close to Drysdale's wife.
We need a confession and
location of the stolen money
And after?
You can find Clay
County on a map, can't you?
Yes sir.
- Ward.
- Safe travels, Ms. Warren.
[Alan] Find us someplace
to sleep for the night.
Got it, boss. (Sentimental
music continues)
(sentimental music fades)
[Alan] And then what did he do?
Us fella, he knocked down there
in the mud and he looked up to me
and he called me something
I'd never heard before.
A Mexican strawberry.
Dried beans.
Yeah, kind so bad,
gets you back on the trots
and passing the Mormon
tea, if you know what I mean.
[Alan] Odd.
Yeah.
How 'bout you, Alan?
What's the worst they ever called you?
Men like me, I've been
through the mill, Ward.
I don't get called butch if I'm honest,
What of this unfinished business?
(wood banging)
(suspenseful music) What?
- He's watching us.
- Who?
That finger swell fellow
we roughed up earlier.
I don't see a thing out there.
Wait. (Suspenseful music)
Son(gun firing)
(man gargles) (unsettling music)
I think I'll retired for the night.
Give someone to dispose of him
and meet me at the marshal's office
first thing in the morning, will you?
Marshal?
I'll explain when we get there.
(foreboding music)
(foreboding music continues)
(foreboding music continues)
(foreboding music continues)
(foreboding music continues)
(foreboding music continues)
(footsteps thudding)
Nice suits.
Morning Marshal.
Something I can do for you, fellas.
I'm Alan Pinkerton.
This is Special Agent Ward Lamon.
Chicago.
I know who you are.
Very well.
We'll just skip to the
reason for our visit then.
Say, you fellas wouldn't
know anything about
some outlaw shot dead
last night, would you?
No.
Shame, I was so certain you might.
[Alan] Mr. Ward and I required
transportation to Missouri.
- What kind of transportation?
- The inconspicuous kind.
What's wrong with the railroad?
There's a strike by
the Steel Workers Union.
At the moment it would be wise for us
to travel off the rails.
I thought the Pinkertons were employed
by the United States government.
We'll gladly pay you for your trouble.
No trouble at all.
However, my answer is no.
- No?
- That's right.
The Pinkerton agency is a
paramilitary wing of big business.
We don't deal with those
industrialists in this town.
Maybe this will help you
reconsider your answer.
Thank you, but no.
There's got to be something we can do.
Bully Hamilton.
Come again.
The man's wanted for the robbery
of three stage coaches
east of the Rocklands.
Folks say he's hiding in the trees.
If you know where he is,
why have you not arrested him?
I'm busy.
We bring in this Bully Hamilton fella
and you provide us with
the transportation we need
to Clay County.
And I keep that bag of coins too.
Hamilton.
He a dangerous kind?
He can be.
You got yourself a deal.
Oh, I'm curious.
What waits for a couple of men
like yourselves in Clay County?
Jesse James.
Marshal. (Gentle music)
(train rattling) (gentle music)
(gentle music continues)
(gentle music continues)
(gentle music continues)
(gentle music continues)
Why are we doing this again?
We need discrete
passage into Clay County.
Yeah, why don't we just,
easier to get a order from the marshal?
That would take weeks.
James is going to Clay County now.
Let's just find this Hamilton
fellow and bring him in.
Let's not waste any time.
Which way you reckon?
Smart man heads into the bush
and only comes out to rob folks
Or when he gets hungry.
Hey, that Marshal used a word earlier.
It's para but... Paramilitary.
That's, that's it.
What's that mean?
It means a group of
people acting like soldiers
even when they ain't.
It's not official.
Not really legal.
It ain't the way they
agency usually does things.
Let's find Hamilton. (Gravel crunching)
(gentle music)
(water whooshing) (gentle music continues)
(gentle music continues)
(water whooshing faintly)
(water whooshing faintly)
We check it out. (Foreboding music)
(foreboding music continues)
(foreboding music continues)
It's cold.
Peculiar.
Maybe somebody tipped him off.
Unlikely.
No one knows what out
here about the marshal.
Alan, look.
(man whistling) (suspenseful music)
Afternoon, this your camp?
We don't mean to pry. We just came upon it.
All the way out here?
Dressed in your best bib and tuckers?
Yeah, can't fault a man
for wanting to look his best.
Can if they're working for the law.
Oh, interesting assumption,
but we work for the railroad.
Might I also make an assumption?
You are Bully Hamilton and
you happen to be on the run.
Aren't you?
Your town marshal wants me
and my colleague here to
bring you in on robbery charges.
Now we aren't concerned
with the validity of said charges.
We're just here to do a job.
That being said, why don't
we just cut to the chase though.
(suspenseful music) (guns firing)
Ah, looks like he took that literally.
After you. (Suspenseful music)
(suspenseful music continues) (gun firing)
(suspenseful music) (gun firing)
(suspenseful music) (gun firing)
(gun firing) (suspenseful music)
(gun firing) (suspenseful music)
(Alan heaves) (gun firing)
(suspenseful music) (gun firing)
- Well.
- Well.
Seen as Hamilton fired first. Keep firing.
(guns firing)
You go around that way.
I'll go this way, we'll flank him, okay?
(Ward grunts) (suspenseful music)
(gun reloading) (suspenseful music)
(gun firing) (Bully groans)
(punch thudding)
(Bully grunting)
Don't do it.
I didn't do nothing to nobody
who didn't already have it coming.
Yeah, ain't nothing wrong with robbing
innocent people hard on belongings, huh?
And that business is
between you and the marshal.
I know you detectives.
Savages. You'll kill me,
tell the marshal you found me that way.
(Ward chuckles)
- Oh, it is insulting
that you would assume such a thing of us.
If we wanted you dead,
Mr. Ward here would've
already blown your head off.
That's right. (Sentimental music)
(Bully spitting)
I need a doctor before I lose my leg.
Oh, marshal first.
No, no.
No. Got... Shut up.
- No, you can't shoot me, you.
- Shut up. Shut up.
(sentimental music) (train rattling)
(sentimental music) (train rattling)
(gentle music)
(Bully grunting)
- Get down there.
- No.
- Sit.
Here you go.
Signed, sealed, delivered.
One Bully Hamilton.
(Bully grunting)
- What happened to his leg?
- Ah, he slipped.
Bring him to the cell.
- Get in there.
- Oh God.
(Bully mumbling)
A deal is a deal, Marshal.
You have your coin, now you have your man.
So I would be satisfied
with it if you held up your
end of our bargain now.
Here's a trail, leads all
the way into Clay County.
Stage Coach?
[Marshal] Horses.
Horses? Do I look like a fool to you?
You sure do.
Shut your filthy mouth.
That's right. Horses.
Safest way for you to travel into Missouri.
Horses.
(foreboding music)
Safe to say you'll never
be seeing these two again.
You're all right with that?
Between Hamilton and the coin,
you fellas have more than paid for 'em.
Say, that Hamilton fella.
What do you reckon will happen to him?
He'll stay right where
he's at for a long while.
Judge won't be in town until next month.
Marshal.
What's up Sassy. What's up Sassy?
All right.
(sentimental music)
(sentimental music) (saddles squeaking)
(sentimental music continues)
Get comfortable, Hamilton.
Screw you, Marshal.
That's usually how it starts.
(suspenseful music)
Son of a bitch.
(Bully laughing)
(foreboding music) (Bully laughing)
You missed it.
(bright music)
(bright music continues)
(bright music continues)
(bright music continues)
(gentle music)
(hooves clopping) (birds chirping)
(hooves clopping continues)
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Whoa.
(gravel crunching)
Nice fella. (Liquid pouring)
Hey.
What's this?
Marshal's payment.
[Alan] How?
When?
A little slide of hand back there.
That's something I picked up in the field.
Oh, well, you must be good at it.
I had a pretty damn good teacher.
Right. Stand up. (Ward laughing)
Hold on, hold on. Come here. Come here.
Come here baby. You're okay.
(foreboding music)
Come on.
Something's got her spooked.
Come on. (Gentle music)
(gentle music continues)
(fire crackling) (gentle music continues)
I ask you something?
How come you never married?
I am married.
To the agency that is.
Well, I mean like a wife
or a family.
Like there had to have been somebody.
In Scotland.
But I made myself believe
that I was going to be married,
I was going to be very married.
Nothing reminds you of what you forget
until you actually forget it.
Birthdays, anniversaries.
Forget them just once
and a woman will never
let you forget it again.
(Ward chuckles)
- Yeah.
My work was much simpler.
It was there each morning,
arms wide open like the ocean.
I couldn't forget the
agency even if I wanted to.
So I stopped trying to
and I pushed into my work.
Yeah. Well don't you ever get lonely?
Always.
No man can claim that
he is never felt lonely.
Loneliness is a state of mind
that makes you feel
empty and unwanted.
But the Pinkertons, the
business affords us a feeling
of being needed.
What about you?
You got someone waiting
for you back in Chicago?
Nah.
I was never brave enough to
dip my toes in that cool water.
- It's as icy as the Atlantic.
- Indeed.
Say, have you ever seen the ocean?
No.
Well, you ought to.
It is a sight to behold.
I remember seeing it on my trip over here.
So wide.
It's hard to see where the
water ended and the sky began.
Yeah. I worry about life after all this.
After?
Ah, surely you can't be
a detective forever, huh?
Perhaps.
I guess I'll just have to
take it nice and slow then.
Yeah, nice and slow. (Fire crackling)
(gentle music)
(water rumbling) (wind blowing)
(gentle music continues)
(gentle music continues)
(gentle music continues)
(gravel crunching)
That it?
[Alan] That's it.
Look.
(boards creaking)
[Ward] What's the plan?
[Alan] We can take her at gunpoint
and hold her in the home
till Jessie and Frank arrive.
Or we can start a ruse.
So, ruse.
Wayward traveler.
Well, I heard she's pretty
cross when she gets mad.
I'm up for a challenge.
Besides, it worked for that
clapper fella in Santa Fe.
- Man, he was blind.
- Nevermind all that.
Stay with the horses.
I'll feel the old lady out
and come find you when I know
when Jesse and Frank will arrive.
We'll be ready to swing
a trap by then. Yeah?
I reckon so. (Foreboding music)
(foreboding music continues)
Whoa.
Easy now.
I come in peace.
You're trespassing.
This here is private land.
I didn't mean to intrude.
I'm just a little lost, is all.
Lost or not, you got about 10 seconds
to turn yourself back around.
Head back where you come
from or this here pistol shoots.
Alright, I'll go.
If you could just help me
find my way is all, please.
- Where are you going?
- Pleasant Valley.
Pleasant Valley. This here is River Bend.
You are an awful long way
from where you ought to be.
(gun cocking)
Hell, I've traveled over
half a state to get here.
- Not to hear you didn't.
- Good point.
You alone?
My horse is about a mile or so back.
What's your business in Pleasant Valley?
I'm an Oilman.
- Oil?
- That's right.
I work for the Antelope
Oil and Trading Company.
Maybe you heard of it.
You mean to tell me
there's oil in Pleasant Valley?
[Alan] All through this area, yes, ma'am.
You got a map?
No ma'am.
What kind of oil man, don't carry a map?
A clumsy one I suppose.
Come on in, I'll get
you back on your way.
Grab the bucket. (Tense music)
(suspenseful music)
Now our property runs all
along the river here to the bend
and then north and south to the hills.
They told me I had to come
to Missouri and see the valley.
There were rumors that
the right tools could pull
1,000 barrels a week from
underneath these rocks.
That would be nearly
$5,000 a month in income.
For the oil company.
Oh no ma'am. That
would be in your pocket.
Oil company has to be
getting rich off this somehow.
We lease the land.
How you split the royalties is up to you.
Tell me, have you ever had someone
like me scout your land for oil?
No.
I have a dozen drills in Kansas
and just walking out this way,
I can tell you I have a
real opportunity here.
But bear in mind you could
lose it all if you're not prudent
and it won't be long before
word spreads of the oil here
and after that, every oil man
in the country will travel
here promising you riches.
Like you just did.
These other men will be speculators
or men trying to get between
you and the oil money itself.
- Men like you.
- No ma'am.
I do my own drilling with my own team.
I know them.
They know me, men I can trust.
They work hard and they don't lose tools,
which is important in this business.
And I can start fast.
- How fast?
- I could have a string
of tools here on the rail by next week.
Next week?
Well you see there won't be
many gushes here for all that long.
In two or three years
these wells will run dry
and your land will be worthless.
Worthless?
This is family land.
Worthless in the
eyes of the oil business.
And you can put this money up now?
$600.
A good faith offer.
This is family land.
I would have to discuss this with my boys.
Are they here now?
[Woman] No.
Well, will they be here soon?
I don't mind waiting.
Day after next.
Then it's settled.
$600.
- Wait.
- Here you are.
Nonsense. I'll spend the next
few days surveying the land.
I'll be quiet. You won't
even know that I'm here.
Then when your boys
arrive you can come find me
and we can all have a little chat.
How does that sound?
What about the money
if they decide not to accept your offer?
What money?
(cup and saucer clanging) (gentle music)
(gentle music continues)
(gentle music continues)
(water bubbling)
(water bubbling)
So?
We're oil men from Antelope.
Gosh, we don't know
the first thing about oil, Alan.
Yeah, doesn't matter.
Frank and Jesse will be here in two days.
We lay low until then,
pretend to be survey in the land.
Then when he arrives,
we'll come out guns blazing.
How was she?
Zerelda.
She's got her wits about her.
We cannot afford to let her
know that something's not right.
And believe me, she'll
sniff us out if we do.
How you gonna explain my being here?
Oh my apprentice from Kansas. No problem.
Put some coffee on.
We'll take shifts watching the house.
- You first.
- You got it.
(gentle music)
(gentle music continues)
(gentle music continues)
(gentle music continues)
Boss.
- Gotta see this.
- What? What is it?
What happened?
(water whooshing)
(water whooshing)
Who the hell is he?
You've got to be kidding me.
Oil speculator. What are the odds?
I didn't actually
think there could be oil
under these rocks when
I came up with the idea.
Well, what now?
Maybe Mrs. James will shoot him.
She nearly shot me.
Yeah, I think we ought
to get ahead of this.
Agreed.
Let's go have a little
chat with him, shall we?
Afternoon gentlemen. This your land?
That depends on who's asking.
Gene Rogers with the
Northwest Oil and Gas Company.
How do you do?
I'm gonna have to ask you to leave.
But you haven't heard my offer yet?
No need.
You heard him, mister, get outta here.
I'm sorry. And you are?
I ain't asking you again.
He's with me and I'm
afraid my answer is still no.
Besides, we already have an offer
from Antelope to drill under these rocks.
Antelope?
This far east?
Anything else, Mr. Rogers?
It says here that the home is owned
by a Zerelda James.
And your point?
Well, I haven't looked
up your dresses yet,
but the notion seems odd.
Maybe your paperwork
is just a little out of date.
I purchased the home from
Zerelda many months ago.
I'm sure she's moved on by now.
- To?
- Lafayette.
- Louisiana?
- That's the one.
Time to go, mister.
Lafayette, you say.
Excuse me, gentleman.
I believe I'll have a
word on my own accord.
Take one more step, it'll be your last.
My name is Alan Pinkerton.
My detective and I are
conducting an investigation.
An investigation of which
you are now impeding upon,
which so you know is a federal crime.
- Pinkerton.
- That's right.
Now you get the hell out of here
before I allow Mr. Ward
to put a bullet in your head
and tell the marshal trail
thieves had their way with you.
[Ward] Go on, get outta here.
You got a good reason to be welding
that pistol around here like that?
Just warden off competition is all.
- Competition?
- Speculators.
We spoke of this the
other night at your table.
- Who's he?
- This is Mr. Ward.
He's my foreman.
Ma'am.
You fellas had any breakfast yet?
Not yet. No.
We start our work early.
Well, come on, get
yourself something to eat.
Work will wait.
Coffee's ready while you wait.
(gentle music)
(fire crackling) (gentle music continues)
(gentle music continues)
I've been thinking about our arrangement.
Oh?
Now $600, that stays with me.
That goes without saying.
Of course.
But when my boys get here,
there's something about
them you should know.
They despise oil men.
No, not that.
I didn't raise my
children to do bad things.
I always thought of life like a book.
Good things happen and so do the bad
and us characters in this story,
well, we can all survive
a few bad chapters, right?
My boys grew up outlaws.
We deal with many different types
of people in our line of work.
Not like my boys. You don't.
Please go on.
Robbing banks,
stealing money from trains.
No one has a child hoping
they'll grow up to be Jesse James.
Yeah.
Just because you share the same last name
with an infamous outlaw, that
doesn't make you as bad as he.
Well now that is true.
That don't help the fact
none that I'm his mother.
Your son is Jesse James, the outlaw.
- And Frank.
- His older brother.
He's smart.
He don't take as many risks.
You think your boys will
agree to lease us the land?
I don't know.
They're not too trusting of strangers.
Much less businessmen.
Maybe you should have
a little talk with them first.
Grease the wheels, as
we say in the oil business.
After all, you trust us, right?
No one can know about this.
No one.
I will sign the lease in alias.
Precisely.
No one has to know your true identities.
- No one.
- Not a soul.
Except for Mr. Ward and myself.
And it would behoove us for obvious reasons
to keep our mouths shut.
You stay in hiding
until I send word for you.
Frank and Jesse shouldn't
know that you're here
until I present the idea to them.
Mrs. James, you're speaking
as if our lives are in danger.
They are. (Unsettling music)
(water whooshing) (suspenseful music)
(suspenseful music continues)
(suspenseful music continues)
[Ward] What the hell
you think you're doing?
Pinkerton.
I think that's a lie.
Oh?
That's right.
You fellas from Antelope are just trying
to scare me off the lease is all.
Put your gun down right now.
I don't think I will.
I don't see why you should get
in the way of me leasing this land.
I think there's been a
big misunderstanding here.
Oh no, I understand
quite clearly, oil man.
So tell me,
what is it that makes the
house on the hill so special?
[Alan] The mother of
Jesse James lives there.
- Alan!
- It's all right Mr. Ward.
Mr. Jean here will be
dead in a matter of minutes.
Is that so?
That's right.
Do you know what we're doing here?
No?
We're setting a trap, an ambush.
We aim to kill the outlaw,
Jesse James, when he arrives here tomorrow.
Now in a matter of minutes,
this forest will be surrounded
by Kate Warren and 20 of
my most deadly secret agents.
And as you can imagine,
they will not hesitate to shoot
and kill you when they
see your weapon drawn
in my general direction.
- Prove it.
- All right.
If you will allow me to remove my billfold,
I have an official writ from the governor
of Missouri himself containing
the details of this mission.
Go on. (Gun firing)
Well. She probably heard that.
Well if she asks, we're
warding off wild cats.
Get rid of the body in case
she comes wandering out
this way quickly.
Ah, man.
(foreboding music)
(foreboding music continues)
(foreboding music continues)
(foreboding music continues)
(Zerelda clears her throat)
(foreboding music continues)
Mama.
Lemme look at you. (Both laughing)
You're looking so thin.
Ain't anyone feeding you?
Where's your brother?
He couldn't make it.
Business.
Couldn't take the time
to see his own mother?
Oh, it's not like that.
Somebody had to stay behind.
- How you been?
- Good, mama.
Everybody sends their love.
So you wanna tell me why
we're meeting all the way
in the woods like this
and not back of the house?
A man come to see me.
First just the one and,
and then his foreman too.
What men?
Oil men. Antelope Oil company.
And they proved this to you?
Mama, there's a lot of
bad men after me, okay?
Frank too.
He said there might be 10,000 barrels
of oil beneath our feet.
He gave me $600 just to look around.
He said we can make up
to $5,000 a month if they find a gusher.
And what if there's no oil on the land?
Then what?
We get to keep the 600.
Jesse, this could be a way out
of all them things you do.
You don't think I like what I do?
You ever stopped to think about that?
You're too busy trying
to get me to settle down.
I like who I am.
And no amount of money,
certainly not no $600,
is gonna send me to the front porch
for the rest of my days.
I only want the good things
for you and your brother.
I know, mama.
This thing with the
oil, that what you want?
Change my life, our lives.
Then that settles it.
Take my coach, go back to
the house, I'll meet you there.
- Where are you going?
- And I'll go get Frank.
We'll return to meet this oil man together.
I ain't gonna let no one
make a fool out of my mama.
Frank's keen on business. You know that.
All right. (Gentle music)
(gentle music continues)
(gentle music continues)
(gentle music continues) (water whooshing)
(birds chirping)
There's a coach out front.
Coach?
Their mother's got company.
Are you sure it's Jesse's?
I didn't see him for certain. No.
Well then you don't know.
We have to be positive.
Who else is gonna be out here, Alan?
Well, I don't think it's wise
to arrive without an invitation.
I don't wanna spook herl
What if this opportunity passes?
We can't afford to miss our chance.
And Jesse ain't gonna be back here
before we gotta make for Maryland.
I'm aware of the stakes, Ward.
Now please, your constant
talk has giving me a headache.
Stakes.
Speculators.
We saw a pair of them earlier,
but don't worry, we scared 'em off.
Told them Mrs. James is only
interested in doing business
with the Antelope Oil and Trading company.
You know I find it peculiar,
two of you show up outta nowhere
and all of a sudden I got
other oil men showing up as well.
Word travels fast in the oil business.
Bunch of savages that we are.
Would you like some supper?
Well, we appreciate the invitation,
but we really should
be headed back to camp.
No, I insist that you come.
We have business to discuss.
(suspenseful music)
He's here.
How you know?
She's playing the game.
She doesn't want us to know that he's here,
but he most definitely is.
Follow me. (Suspenseful music)
You know, I was wondering.
It's such a nice evening out.
Would it be too much trouble
to have our meal out here on the porch?
You wanna eat your food outside?
Truth be told us oil men are used
to living life in the wilderness.
- Is that right?
- Sometimes being
inside can feel a bit foreign to us.
What about you? You
wanna eat out here too?
- Yes ma'am.
- Suit yourselves.
I'll be back. (Suspenseful music)
- I gotta look inside.
- Go that way.
Check the windows.
Meet back here before
she arrives with the meal.
(suspenseful music continues)
(sentimental music continues)
(suspenseful music continues)
(suspenseful music continues)
(suspenseful music continues)
(suspenseful music continues)
(suspenseful music continues)
(suspenseful music continues)
(suspenseful music continues)
Well?
I didn't see nothing.
Did you get to look at the coach?
It's still out there.
Dammit.
What now?
If we're wrong, we could hang for this.
Zerelda James, my name is Alan Pinkerton.
My agency has sent me here
for the capture of your sons,
Frank and Jesse James.
If either or both of them are
inside, have them step outside
so my agent and I could take them in.
You will not be harmed.
I repeat. You will not be harmed.
Just have your boys come on out.
We don't want to have to
force our way into the home.
No one has to die.
'Cept maybe Jesse and Frank.
How 'bout we just go in?
Last chance. (Suspenseful music)
We started shooting in five seconds.
Five.
Four.
Three.
Two.
(guns firing)
Anybody in there still alive?
Come on out.
You won't be here for much
longer, I can assure you that.
Go check inside.
Careful. (Suspenseful music)
(suspenseful music continues)
- Come here.
- Get your hands of me.
[Ward] Get out of here.
Stop it. Don't start struggling.
- No. You're lying.
- You idiot.
- You'll get shot.
- Foolish going easy.
You son of a bitch.
- You're gonna get shot again.
- Get off me.
- Hey, stop.
[Zerelda] You get off me.
(objects thudding)
(Ward grunting)
- Get out.
Oil man, you sons of bitches.
Where is he?
Where is Jesse?
He knew not to trust you.
- Yeah.
- He was never here.
He warned me about you.
What do you mean he isn't here?
[Ward] His coach is out front.
Idiots.
Jesse's always been a
step ahead of you Pinkertons.
(Zerelda grunting)
What are you gonna do now?
(Zerelda breathing heavily)
(gun cocking)
(Zerelda grunting) (foreboding music)
We're not gonna kill this woman.
We're not gonna save her life either.
(Zerelda grunting) (dramatic music)
(dramatic music) (Zerelda grunting)
(dramatic music continues)
(Zerelda grunting) (dramatic music)
(dramatic music continues)
(dramatic music continues)
(dramatic music continues)
(dramatic music fades) (train rattling)
(crockery clanking)
So let me get this straight.
You two shot up Zerelda's home
thinking the James brothers were inside
and come to find out they're not.
That about sums it up. Yeah.
What happened to the old lady?
- Who cares?
- Who cares?
You're gonna have to answer
to the agency for this cock up.
It's my agency, Kate.
I don't have to answer to anyone.
Anyway, I took care of
that case for you. Drysdale.
- Oh?
- Yeah.
It was fairly simple too.
The wife basically led me straight to him.
Where?
Where what?
Where'd you put him down?
Inside of his home. (Unsettling music)
I think I'll start the long
ride back to Maryland.
What you want us to do now?
Chicago.
Wait for me there.
I'll send word when I get there.
Alan,
are you all right?
I'll be fine.
Safe travels.
I'll see you soon.
(gentle foreboding music)
Do you really think he's okay?
After coming that close to
Jesse James and missing,
would you be? (Gentle music)
(gentle music continues)
(gentle music continues)
(gentle music continues)
(book crumpling)
- Easy.
- You crook.
I know you stole that bag of coins.
(coins clanking)
Better? (Gentle music)
You and your men have
until the sun goes down
to ride out of town.
Or what?
You're gonna toss me in a
cell back there with Hamilton?
Hamilton's gone.
Front of a judge?
Gallows.
Justice.
Anyway, I only came to return to you
what was yours in the first place.
You won't be seeing me again.
Wait, the Pinkertons,
I heard the agency was hiring.
You own a good suit?
Matter of fact, now I do.
(gentle music)
(gentle music continues)
(gentle music continues)
(gentle music continues)
(gentle music continues)
Mama?
Mama?
Ma.
Mom.
Mama.
Mama.
Mama.
Mama.
Ma. (Dramatic music)
(dramatic music continues)
Frank. (Dramatic music continues)
Get the horses. (Dramatic music continues)
(gentle music)
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(gentle music fades)