How we cite our quotes: All quotations are from Chinatown.
Quote #1
FARMER: You steal the water from the valley, ruin the grazing, starve my livestock— who's paying you to do that, Mr. Mulwray, that's what I want to know!
The irony is that Mulwray is actually on this farmer's side. It's Noah Cross and his cronies at the water department who are stealing the water, and Hollis has been unraveling their scheme.
Quote #2
MORTY: Can you believe it? We're in the middle of a drought, and the water commissioner drowns. Only in L.A.
It's pretty ironic, for sure. But it's not coincidental, since Hollis was really murdered.
Quote #3
GITTES: Okay, go home, but in case you're interested, your husband was murdered. Somebody's been dumping thousands of tons of water from the city's reservoirs and we're supposed to be in the middle of a drought. He found out about it and he was killed. There's a waterlogged drunk in the morgue, involuntary manslaughter if anybody wants to take the trouble - which they don't. It seems like half the city is trying to cover it all up, which is fine by me. But Mrs. Mulwray, I goddamned near lost my nose. And I like it. I like breathing through it. And I still think that you're hiding something.
Does Jake really care only because of his nose? That might just be tough guy talk. He seems to care about the city, and, later, Evelyn herself.