QWas Sid in on everything with Dudley and Patchett?
ASid (Danny DeVito) was indeed in league with Smith and Patchett (David Strathairn). He photographs prominent politicians while they have sex with Patchett's prostitutes (like Lynn) to blackmail them later. He even does this with Exley (whether he did this with Bud White is not known but wouldn't be beyond him.) However, what Sid does not realize (as does Patchett ultimately) is that Dudley Smith basically sees everyone as disposable. As soon as they have served his purpose he's happy to get rid of them, and he certainly does not tell anyone all of his plans. Another good example of a character that does the same thing is Jimmy Conway in Goodfellas. When Jimmy & his army of cohorts pull off the Lufthansa Heist, he has them all killed so he doesn't have to pay them their shares AND so none of them can be found by the police & talk.
QWhy did Exley do what he did at the end?
AExley was determined to root out the bad apples one by one and clean up the LAPD.
If he had gone public, the police department would have closed ranks, dismissed him from the force, rubbished his claims as conspiracy theories or mud-slinging, and watched him disappear or even thrown him in jail. By staying quiet, he was able to advance further in the department and be in a position to fulfill this agenda, as evidenced by his last line, "They're using me, so for a little while I'm using them."
QIf Susan Lefferts was shot to death in the Nite Owl, why was her body intact?
ASusan Lefferts' body can be seen briefly when Exley opens the restroom door at the Nite Owl massacre, where a single shotgun wound to her chest is visible. This same wound is partly visible when the sheet is pulled back at the morgue, though hard to detect due to the viewing angle and presumable cleansing of the body.
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