| Director | James B. Harris |
|---|---|
| Budget | $7 million |
| Box office | $1.9 million |
LAPD detective Sgt. Lloyd Hopkins is a troubled cop, with a high arrest record but a notoriety for refusing to follow procedure. After taking a tip from a man reporting a murder, he visits the given address and discovers a woman's mutilated and bloodied body, proceeding to collect evidence on his own without informing his superiors. Afterwards, he returns home and argues with his wife, who is concerned about the influence he is having on his 8 year old daughter. He calls on his partner Dutch Peltz to engage in a stakeout, which culminates in Hopkins shooting and killing the suspect. Hopkins then proceeds to flirt with the suspect's date, and asks Dutch to stay at the scene and take care of the situation while he drives the woman home.
Hopkins tracks down Joanie Pratt, an unsuccessful actress turned drug dealer and escort, through classified ads discovered at the victim's apartment, and meets her at a cafe for information. Back at the station, Hopkins finds a poem that was sent to the victim and written in blood, whose content leads Hopkins to suspect that the murderer has killed before. When he returns home, he finds a farewell note from his wife, who has left with their daughter. Pratt phones Hopkins, and he goes over to her place to have sex, unaware that someone is watching them.
After sorting through a trove of cold case murder files, Hopkins summons Deputy Sheriff Delbert "Whitey" Haines to a diner and brusquely interrogates him about two suicides that took place on the same date a year apart on his beat. Afterwards, Hopkins breaks into Haines's apartment and discovers a wiretap that has captured evidence of Haines dealing drugs. While searching for leads, Hopkins visits a feminist bookstore run by Kathleen McCarthy, who agrees to accompany him to a party at Dutch's house. During the evening, which culminates in a lengthy discussion at McCarthy's house, she discloses a high school incident in which a group of boys, hostile to her feminist poetry club, sexually assaulted her. She reveals to Hopkins that an anonymous suitor has been sending her flowers and a poem every year. Hopkins discovers a picture of Whitey with a male prostitute nicknamed "Birdman" in her old yearbook, whose name is mentioned in the surveillance tapes made at Whitey's apartment.
When Birdman turns up dead in a motel room, Hopkins finds a message written in blood at the scene, which turns out to be the motto of the high school McCarthy attended. Hopkins returns to Whitey's apartment and surprises him as he comes home, carrying Birdman's police file. Whitey claims Birdman is his snitch, but Hopkins reveals his knowledge of Whitey's involvement with drugs and male prostitution by way of Birdman. An irate Hopkins threatens Whitey and coerces him into confessing to raping McCarthy during their high school years. Whitey feigns having to use the bathroom, only to go to retrieve a shotgun; Hopkins is ready for him, however, and kills him. Afterwards, Hopkins learns via a message on his home phone that he has been suspended and is under investigation by Internal Affairs.
Pratt calls Hopkins again, desiring another hookup, but when he arrives at her apartment, he discovers she has been murdered and her body propped up in the kitchen, where they had previously had sex. At the police station, Hopkins and Dutch persuade McCarthy to examine the yearbook in order to cross-reference suspects, but they are interrupted by their police captain, who reminds Hopkins of his suspension and orders him to leave. When Hopkins returns to the interrogation room, he sees that McCarthy has left and run to a phone booth across the street. She calls Bobby Franco, another member of her high school poetry club, to warn him that Hopkins might harass him, but Hopkins shows up at the phone booth and causes Franco to reveal that he is not only the person who has been sending McCarthy flowers and poems, but also the killer. Franco demands that Hopkins meet him at the high school to settle the score.
At the high school, Franco lures Hopkins into the gym, and a shootout occurs. Eventually, Hopkins overpowers and disarms Franco, who surrenders. Franco taunts Hopkins, reasoning that as Hopkins is a cop, he is obligated to arrest him. Hopkins responds, "Well, there's some good news, and there's some bad news. The good news is, you're right; I'm a cop, and I gotta take you in." as Franco smirks, thinking he'd get arrested. However, Hopkins says, "The bad news is, I've been suspended, and I don't give a fuck.", as Franco goes from smug to alarmed as he is shot and killed in cold blood offscreen, and Hopkins cocks his shotgun before the screen cuts to black.