Question: What made Vincennes and Exley think Smith was Rollo Tomasi? Surely it wasn't just because he was a criminal.
Sierra1
7th Jun 2016
La Confidential (1997)
21st Jan 2016
La Confidential (1997)
Question: How was the Mexican girl connected to the story? The three Night Owl suspects abused her and then burned their blood-stained clothes. She is found tied up at a house (why?), and later she says "Would anyone care that they raped a Mexican girl if they hadn't killed those white people at the Night Owl? I did what I had to do for justice." What does she mean?
Chosen answer: Inez's statement that they left her at midnight meant the suspects had time to commit the Nite Owl massacre at 1am. However when Exley questions her about the time, she implies that she only said that so they would be in the frame for the Nite Owl and would be arrested (and likely killed) by the police. No one would care about her rape, so she indirectly accused them of the killings "for justice".
14th Jun 2014
La Confidential (1997)
Question: Ed Exley recommends that the LAPD shift the blame for Bloody Christmas to men whose pensions are secured, and he names Bud White and Richard Stensland as two such men. But when Dudley Smith later tells Bud White that Stensland has been forced to retire, White says "A year from his pension!" So was Stensland entitled to a pension or not?
Answer: Exley is suggesting two things: to shift some blame to three officers with secured pensions and forcing them to retire; when he refers to White and Stensland though, he is saying "someone has to swing" and that they should be charged, tried and imprisoned - so Stensland is not entitled to a pension.
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Chosen answer: As he died, Vincennes mentioned the name "Rollo Tomasi" to Smith because he knew he would follow it up, which would reveal to Exley that he was with with Vincennes when he was killed. Exley did not really think Smith was Tomasi (the purse snatcher who shot his father), but when Smith asked him about the name, he knew he had killed Vincennes. The nickname also fit because Smith had been getting away with his crimes, as "Tomasi" had.
Sierra1 ★