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responding officer is told . . . (Checks notes) “He ripped off my dress, he threw me on the bed.” . . . he sees no sequins. Fresh rookie officer. First felony—bending over backwards , do it by the book. “Broken lamp, linens on the floor, liquor bottles.” No sequins.
    HENRY : . . . and we have the “phrase.”
    JACK : He called her “ my little nigger.”
    HENRY : Is that what he said?

    JACK : You bet it is and the jury averts its eyes from the whole fucking incident. Tell me the dress again.
    HENRY : Again?
    JACK : Where is the dress? The lab?
    HENRY : The D.A., do you want me to request the dress?
    JACK : No. Tell Kelley . Get me, from the manufacturer. The specs. The dress material, the thread , most importantly the thread, the sequins, need be , we will reconstruct the dr . . . The entire dress. What size was the dress? (To Henry) . . . you give me ONE WOMAN. In that jury box, if he “ripped off that dress,” any woman. Knows: somebody sneezes , those sequins are coming off that dress like rain.
    (Susan enters.)
    SUSAN : He is waiting outside.
    JACK : What size was the dress?
    SUSAN : What size?
    JACK : Her dress.
    SUSAN : About a two.
    JACK : “About” a “two.”
    SUSAN (Checks notes) : Dress was a two.
    JACK : About your size.
    SUSAN : Yes.
    JACK : I need, the sales receipt. For the dress. Stating the size. The sales receipt and match it to the dress—
    SUSAN : Why?
    JACK : Because they’ll say the dress was too fucking big, too fucking small, mis- tagged , and thus invalidates our demonstr . . . he’s waiting . . . ?
    SUSAN : Yes.
    JACK : . . . and thus invalidates our demonstration.
    SUSAN : What demonstration?
    JACK : We’re going to stage a demonstration .
    HENRY : Yes.
    JACK : Same dress. Exact same dress. Woman of a similar size, you could do it. Woman of a similar size puts on the dress. Somebody. Throws you down.

    SUSAN : Throws me down?
    JACK : Upon a mattress . . . put a bed in the court—you put that bed in the court, people are looking away anyway . . . He throws you down . . .
    SUSAN : The girl still says “he raped me.”
    JACK : The dress kills ’em on cross.
    SUSAN : On cross.
    JACK : We let them bring it up. Girl says, “He threw me down and raped me,” now we cross- examine. Model, puts on the dress, sequins fly, we move for a directed verdict.
    HENRY : Well this is good.
    JACK : You could put on the dress.
    SUSAN : Why? Because I’m black.
    (Pause.)
    JACK : Well, it has to be a black girl.
    SUSAN : Why?
    JACK : Why? BECAUSE, in fact, you put a white girl in the dress, what does the jury think . . .
    HENRY : “They’re using a white girl, so we will not remember the victim is black.”
    JACK : That’s correct—the alleged victim, that’s right . . .
    SUSAN : . . . he’s waiting outside . . .
    JACK (To Henry) : You want to hotwalk him a moment.
    HENRY : Explain it to her.
    JACK : She understands.
    HENRY : Tell her anyway .
    (Henry exits.)
    JACK : We’re going to give the jury a gift.
    SUSAN : A gift?
    JACK : We’re going to give them a surprise. But it works only as a surprise.
    SUSAN : And the surprise is the dress.
    JACK : That’s right. Sufficient to get whosoever’s on the jury, to put aside all the nonsense they think they’re supposed to think
about race. And rule on the facts. Why? (Pause) Because the fucking guy’s innocent.
    SUSAN : “Nonsense about race.”
    JACK : That’s right . . .
    SUSAN : Is it nonsense?
    JACK : Most of it is. Sure.
    SUSAN : Why?
    JACK : Because we’re herd fuckin’ creatures; and we’ve all got to go home and face the people on the block.
    (Pause.)
    SUSAN : Do you think black people are stupid?
    (Pause.)
    JACK : I think black people are fragile.
    SUSAN : Are black people different from other people?
    JACK : All people are different. Sometimes they conjoin.
    SUSAN : They conjoin.
    JACK :