- [first lines]
- Johnny Midnight: [Narration] He was a little man with a sad little face, but he had once played a big horn. JoJo Brown. A collector's item like Bix Beiderbecke. Now he was dying of drugs and alcoholism in the charity ward of Roosevelt Hospital.
- Johnny Midnight: In 48 hours Mack's gonna be executed. If he's innocent...
- Madge: That's a mighty big if.
- Johnny Midnight: That's an if that's gonna haunt me the rest of my life... unless I do something about it.