Caitlin Avey:
[in the lobby of their office building]
What the hell did you do to Steve? He called me from his car, hysterical. I asked him what was wrong, he said, "ask Chuck?"
Chuck Lane:
[shouting]
I fired him, okay? Not suspended, fired. Because this wasn't an isolated incident Caitlin. He cooked a dozen of them, maybe more. And we're going to have to go through them, you and I. We're going to have to go through all of them, now.
Caitlin Avey:
No, the only one was Hack Heaven. He told me that himself.
Chuck Lane:
If he were a stranger to you, if he was a guy you were doing a piece about, pretend that guy told you he'd only did it once. Would you take his word for it? Of course not! You'd dig and you'd bury him! And you'd feel offended if anyone told you not to.
Caitlin Avey:
Every one of those pieces was fact-checked, they were all...
Chuck Lane:
So was Hack Heaven!
Caitlin Avey:
[pause]
Chuck Lane:
You're a good reporter. You've always been such a smart and thorough reporter, why can't you be one now?
Caitlin Avey:
Cause what you're telling me just is impossible, Chuck.
Chuck Lane:
Go upstairs. Read 'em again.
Caitlin Avey:
This is bullshit!
Chuck Lane:
And make sure you go all the way back, because half of them ran when Mike was still here.
Caitlin Avey:
That's what this is. Of course. I mean, what are you going to do, Chuck, pick us off, one by one? Everybody that was loyal to Mike, till you have a staff that belongs to you? Is that the kind of magazine you want to run?
Chuck Lane:
Caitlin, when this thing blows, there isn't going to be a magazine anymore. If you want to make this about Mike, make it about Mike. I don't give a shit. You can resent me, you can hate me, but come Monday morning, we're all going to have to answer for what we let happen here. We're all going to have an apology to make! Jesus Christ! Don't you have any idea how much shit we're about to eat? Every competitor we ever took a shot at, they're going to pounce. And they should. Because we blew it, Caitlin. He handed us fiction after fiction and we printed them all as fact. Just because... we found him "entertaining." It's indefensible. Don't you know that?
Chuck Lane:
[Chuck leaves]
