I watched some of “Things to do in Denver when you’re Deat” the other day (a very good movie, mind you) and it brought up a question:
Say you’re a hired killer, and you’ve got a good 150+ successful kills on your record, and one day, you manage to come up against someone who manages to outsmart you, get’s the drop on you, and takes you down. In the few fleeting moments of your life, he/she’s celebrating, leaving him/herself completely open for you to take advantage of the situation and finish your contract. Do you a) let them enjoy the fact they got you and out of appreciation and maybe even respect, leave them be and just die, or b) finish the job, shoot them in the head, and die knowing you’ve still got a spotless record?
Yeah I agree. You have to kill him. If he’s left himself vulnerable and is doing something stupid, you owe it to the profession to dispatch the dirt bag. There’s a code of honor among true hired gunmen, and that includes not dancing around the dead and dying.
Yeah really. If he can’t finish the job, he’s not much of a hired killer. More like a Bond villain. You don’t want to be taken down by a total amateur, do you?
I was raised to finish any job I start. Therefore, thanks to the good ol’ Protestant work ethic, I would be forced to shoot him/her and take care of my end of the bargain.
He dies. If I can manage it, knowing I got him too. Slightly different situation, but ever see The Mechanic (1972) with Charles Bronson and Jan-Michael Vincent?
He’s dead. A contract is a contract.
But…
A variation: What if your target injures you, and then begins first aid? For some reason, s/he’s trying to save your life.
I don’t know if this would change anyone’s answer, but just for the record, your target isn’t another professional, he’s just some guy. Say, an accountant, but for some reason, he managed to get you good, and not because you were distracted or anything, he was just witty. hence the celebration. That’s whjy the prospect of him gaining someof your respect before you kick it comes into play.
Personally, I’d take him out as well. I’ve got a job to do. I’d say “Good job,” before I go, but he’d still go with me.
No ant mound or bees nest is going to get the drop on me.
I do my celebrating after the fact, when all their little six-legged bodies are writhing on the ground. And I merely nod and smile in grim satisfaction.
Anyone who does otherwise is a greenhorn. A dead greenhorn.
Although I think honour among hired killers exists only in John Woo’s Hong Kong movies (well, in some other movies as well), I’m going to weigh in anyway:
Well, it depends, actually. Is this guy a normal, everyday guy with a wife, a dog, and 2.5 kids? Or a scummy pimp exploiting 12 and a half year old Jodie Fosters?
I think this is key. If you’re just doing a regular old hit, taking out a guy so his wife can get some loot, yeah, let him live. I mean, why not. But, if the guy is a scumbag, drop’im.
That’s the kind of question only amateurs concern themselves. And you probably won’t know the answer. You gonna write everybody’s biography before you pop 'em?
My many professional killer friends assure me that, like most small businessmen, they receive a deposit upon making the deal, and the balance upon execution of the contract. No kill, no pay.
So, professional killers with family obligations should take out some insurance to assure complete and final payment. If you can ID the person offering the contract, you can set things up so of you die, they better pay or info goes to the DA.
If I didn’t have any family obligation, and knew the contract woud go unpaid , then the guy lives. I’ve earned my deposit by taking the bullet, and the rest of the contract won’t be paid antway.
So family-oriented hitman would be much more likely to finish the job, IMHO.
Unfortunately hired killers are not the rare and exotic species portrayed in the movies.
In some places you can get somebody bumped off for a shockingly small amount of cash or favour such as drugs, in most hired killings it’s a sordid seedy business.
So what are we saying here ? That some crack-addled idiot tried to take someone out and instead became the victim ?
In fact even if the chance of finishing the job was not taken, it would only be a matter of time before the potential victim was taken out by some other scumbag, the hirer ain’t likely to give up just because one assasin got careless.
