In his mind, Hugo kept recalling the matters between his predecessor and Tracy, trying to piece together the truth of that time. Unfortunately, he still had no clue. Meanwhile, Columbia Pictures' goddess holding the torch had already appeared on screen, forcing Hugo to turn his attention to the big screen.
For Hugo, the experience of filming A Few Good Men had been a kind of enjoyment. The breakthrough in acting was undoubtedly his greatest gain, and he was extremely curious—would the breakthrough he felt be shown on the big screen as well? Was it merely his illusion, or was it indeed real?
The film began with a case on a dark and windy night that instantly caught everyone's attention. Two soldiers broke into a room, gagged another soldier with a cloth, and tied him up—it was obvious they meant harm. In the terrified eyes of the victimized soldier, the curtain of the film was lifted.
Washington, D.C., Office of the Judge Advocate General. Major Joanne Galloway, dressed in uniform, reported to her superior about a criminal case in Cuba. Corporal Harold Dawson and Private First Class Louden Downey had entered the quarters of Private First Class William Santiago and assaulted him. An hour later, Santiago died in the base hospital. After investigation, it was concluded that Dawson and Downey acted to prevent Santiago from reporting Dawson's unlawful firing across the boundary line. A hearing was about to be held.
Though the case seemed without doubt, Major Galloway suspected it was a "Code Red," so she requested that a lawyer be appointed for the case, volunteering to serve as defense counsel herself. Unfortunately, her superior thought Galloway would make an excellent investigator but was not fit to be a lawyer. So the division assigned a lawyer for the case: Daniel Kaffee.
When Kaffee—played by Hugo—appeared on the big screen, he was wearing a baseball outfit with a cap, practicing batting and catching. Kaffee was undoubtedly a skilled negotiator. While playing baseball, he debated with a defense lawyer, easily securing the best deal for his client, reducing a thirty-day confinement to fifteen days of restricted duty.
Although Kaffee was an outstanding lawyer, having successfully handled forty-four cases in just nine months of Navy service, his work attitude left much to be desired. He was cynical, joined the Navy only because of his father's reputation and pressure, arrived late to meetings, never brought a pen, ate apples when meeting superiors, and showed far more passion for baseball than for legal cases. Perhaps he had quick thinking and excellent eloquence, making him a good lawyer, but not necessarily a competent one.
Kaffee himself had only ever been to court once—for a revoked driver's license. To him, if a case needed to go to court, what was required was not a lawyer but a priest. He believed a lawyer's duty was not to pursue justice but to settle matters for clients before trial at the lowest cost. As Kaffee's assistant, Sam Weinberg was responsible for the "paperwork." He didn't want to bear any responsibility, only to provide Kaffee with basic support.
After hearing Galloway describe the case, Kaffee learned that Santiago, who had always performed poorly in the military, believed he suffered from a serious illness. To be transferred off the base, he had written letters of appeal to various departments, but they vanished without response. Finally, Santiago wrote to the Naval Investigative Service, offering Dawson's illegal firing evidence in exchange for his transfer.
Upon learning this, Kaffee judged the case might expose Guantanamo's unsavory side and embarrass security personnel, including Colonel Nathan Jessup. So he concluded, "I'll aim for conspiracy and conduct unbecoming. Twelve years."
In Kaffee's view, this was the best option for Dawson and Downey. But his attitude left Galloway very dissatisfied. Even when the defendants arrived in Washington, Kaffee was still practicing baseball. This utterly infuriated Galloway, to the point where she considered requesting his replacement, because she firmly believed Dawson and Downey were innocent. She wanted a lawyer who would fight to clear them—but Kaffee clearly wasn't that choice.
Galloway believed Dawson and Downey had no motive, and the cause of Santiago's death was suspicious. For two hours after his death, the coroner could not determine a cause, but two hours later, the conclusion was poisoning. Galloway suspected this was a Code Red case. Ridiculously, Kaffee didn't even know what Code Red meant.
The story then returned to the moment Santiago wrote to the Naval Investigative Service. Naturally, the officers became aware. Colonel Jessup erupted in fury. In his view, Santiago was not only an incompetent Marine but also a traitor who betrayed his comrades by reporting Dawson to his superiors, and even attempted to expose the military's disgrace. In a force where obeying orders was the first principle, such acts were unforgivable.
The three officers argued over the matter. Lieutenant Colonel Markinson advocated transferring Santiago off the base—not only because his requests deserved response, but also because if news of his betrayal spread, his comrades would never forgive him.
But Colonel Jessup and Lieutenant Kendrick disagreed. Jessup saw transfer as cowardly evasion. He believed Santiago should be subjected to harsher training to meet Marine standards. Problems within the military had to be solved with military methods. To Jessup, this was a necessary measure to protect the nation. Kendrick, meanwhile, was Jessup's loyal supporter.
Meanwhile, Dawson and Downey arrived in Washington. Clearly, neither understood the gravity of their situation. Downey even looked around excitedly at being in the capital. They didn't know their position, or even why they had been arrested. They thought they had simply followed orders.
When Kaffee arrived at the interrogation room, he found the soldiers' strict obedience unsettling, but still pressed on with his questions. "What is a Code Red?"
"It's a disciplinary regulation," Dawson answered, eyes straight ahead. "If a Marine falls behind, it's used to help him catch up with the unit."
"What kind of stunt is a Code Red exactly?" Kaffee still didn't grasp these internal military affairs. "Spell it out. What does Code Red specifically mean?"
"Sir,"—even though Kaffee had emphasized three times not to call him sir, Dawson still persisted—"for example, if a Marine refuses to shower as required, the squad will give him a military bath—with brushes, wire brushes."
"Was Santiago subjected to a Code Red as well?" Kaffee asked.
"Yes, sir," Dawson replied firmly.
Kaffee then immediately asked Downey about some details. Downey had not applied any poison or drugs to the cloth; they only intended to shave Santiago's head, but suddenly Santiago began bleeding from his mouth, so they called for an ambulance. Unfortunately, no one saw them make the call, and by the time the ambulance arrived, they had already been arrested.
Under Weinberg's questioning, Dawson admitted that on August 2nd he fired toward the Cuban border because he saw suspicious movements at the Cuban sentry opposite him. And the reason he carried out the Code Red on Santiago was not because Santiago was going to report him, but because Santiago had bypassed his immediate chain of command. He had skipped his own squad leader; when there was a problem, he should have reported it first to his direct superior, then step by step upward. Dawson enforced the Code Red simply to teach Santiago to consider the unit first before acting, and to respect order.
"Unit, Corps, God, Country." That was the order of the Marines.
The prosecuting attorney Jack Ross was an old friend of Kaffee's. Ross offered the prosecution's deal: if they pled guilty, they would only face twenty years. But Kaffee would not accept; he would only accept twelve years. Kaffee and Weinberg both believed Dawson and Downey were guilty, and only sought to reduce their sentence. Weinberg even felt the two soldiers ought to spend the rest of their lives in prison.
When Kaffee mentioned the Code Red to Ross, Ross first acknowledged the twelve-year sentence, then reminded his friend: "Lieutenant Jonathan Kendrick convened his men and specifically instructed them not to touch Santiago." Although Ross had already agreed to Kaffee's twelve-year deal, Kaffee no longer wanted to nod immediately. He sensed there was something hidden, something wrong here. So Kaffee decided to go to Guantanamo and return before making a decision.
Meanwhile, Galloway obtained authorization from Downey's aunt to act as Downey's representative, joining Kaffee and Weinberg to head for Guantanamo, Cuba.
Considering Cuba's heat, Weinberg suggested to Kaffee that they wear white uniforms to avoid darker clothes absorbing heat. But upon getting off the plane, they were advised by soldiers that in Cuba it was better to wear camouflage—because officers in white uniforms would be mistaken for important figures, making them easy targets.
Such a lack of common sense naturally made Colonel Jessup disdainful. Kaffee's formal meeting with Jessup carried a certain tension. Jessup knew Kaffee's father. He said to Lieutenant Kendrick, "His father offended many people back in your hometown. Jefferson and Madison District schools fought a lawsuit. Locals opposed a black girl attending a white school. Lionel Kaffee said, 'We'll just wait and see.'" From Jessup's tone, it was clear he held little respect for Kaffee's father's actions, thinking the man had nothing better to do.
Led by Lieutenant Kendrick, Kaffee and the others carefully examined the crime scene, reviewed the timeline of events, and learned about Kendrick's meeting where he had forbidden touching Santiago. They also deeply sensed Kendrick's dismissive attitude toward Santiago's death.
In addition, Kaffee unexpectedly learned that Jessup had actually signed Santiago's transfer order, booking him on the 6:00 a.m. first flight the next morning to the United States. Sadly, Santiago did not live to see the next sunrise.
But Galloway refused to let go of the issue of the Code Red, because that February Jessup had received a memorandum from the Commander-in-Chief prohibiting him from further use of Code Reds. This had clearly enraged Jessup. "At breakfast, three hundred yards away, there are four thousand well-trained Cubans wanting to kill me, so don't think you can strut around here showing off!" He struck Galloway with a fierce rebuke that left her speechless, almost unable to respond.
Before leaving, Kaffee requested a copy of the transfer order. This again infuriated Jessup. "Do you know, Danny? I can handle bullets flying, I don't need money, I don't need medals. What I want is for you, in your faggoty white uniform, to stand there, and with that Harvard mouth of yours, give me some damn respect. You must ask me politely!"
Kaffee was a bit puzzled, but still politely repeated his request. This time, he received Jessup's affirmative answer.
....
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