Original subtitles

What if you knew, beyond a doubt, what was going to happen tomorrow?

What would you do?

There is no easy answer for a guy who gets tomorrow's news today.

Go back to sleep, and then I'd have the same dream over again.

About a tumble?

I don't know. I was underground.

I was trying to get somewhere. I was trying to get something, and I couldn't.

Well, maybe you had too much coffee.

Yeah, maybe.

So, what's in the paper today?

Oh, it's pretty light.

All except an execution of Ricky Brown.

You don't want me to get any rest, do you?

I'm right here.

You're not going to believe this. This is a story about the execution.

What is it?

Brown's defense was always shaky.

The only witness to support his story was an elderly eccentric named Lucius

Snow.

Lucius Snow?

You're Lucius Snow? Well, who else could it be?

The man who got the newspaper before you.

It says here that Ricky Brown was a trucker.

Supposedly killed the owner of the company.

No testified that he saw someone else leave the scene.

Who was Snow doing that?

Well, Snow got the paper.

So he must have known about the murder.

Then why didn't he get there in time to stop it?

I don't know.

He claimed he saw someone else?

Yeah.

So why was Brown convicted?

Says here Snow was a lousy witness.

They basically tore him apart on the stand.

I don't know what happened.

Morris?

Hello?

Spockett?

She's got to be.

Morris!

It's about time.

Been expecting you.

Expecting us?

Thought you'd have come here before now.

This is about Ricky Brown, isn't it?

How did you know that?

You were friends with Lucius Snow.

Not exactly. I never really met the guy.

No. But for some strange reason, he left you everything he had, didn't he?

Sort of. But you were good friends with him, weren't you, Morris?

Um, fellow employees is more like it.

I run the archives.

Lucius was a typesetter.

Last of his kind.

Now, I didn't mind him, but he was a strange sort of duck.

Kept to himself.

What you two have in common with Lucius Snow is beyond me.

A cat.

Pardon me, ma 'am. Why don't you get to the point, Morris?

Always in a hurry, aren't you? All right.

Last couple of times I seen you here, it was linked to old Lucious Snow.

Toward the end of his life, he was down here nearly every day working on this.

What is it?

It's a file on Ricky Brown.

The Brown case was his obsession.

He said he knew that boy was innocent.

It bothered him to the end that he couldn't do more to help.

Here, sit here, Marissa. Oh, thank you.

And why don't I let you all be? I got plenty to do to keep me busy.

Thank you.

Yeah, thanks, Morris.

I imagine Lucius Snow would be happy to know that you all finally got down here

to look through that file.

I imagine it would.

Just hope you're not too late.

So what exactly are we looking for? I don't know.

Well, if Mr. Snow couldn't find anything down here, what can we do?

I don't know, but we've got to start somewhere, don't we?

Looks like this answers one of our questions.

What? This story from the same night Ricky Brown was arrested.

Train collision avoided. Mystery man intervenes.

An unidentified man pulled the manual track switch to prevent a runaway

train from hitting a passenger train last night on the Division Street yard,

saving the lives of hundreds of people.

We should know.

I guess he had to make a choice, didn't he?

Either the train or it was Ricky Brown.

He didn't have time to get from the train yard down to Lower Wack where the

murder took place, so he didn't have time to stop Tom Fletcher from being

killed. He made the right choice.

Yeah, but that doesn't make it any easier, does it?

One of these days, I'm not going to be able to get there on time just like Snow

wasn't able to. You don't know that, Garrett. Yeah, well, if it happened to

Snow, it can happen to me, can't it? You can't think about that right now.

Ricky Brown is alive.

You still have time to save his life.

Well, how am I going to do that, Marissa?

You said fill yourself with snow camp figures. How am I supposed to do it?

Look, Ricky Brown, he's going to be executed tonight at 9 o 'clock.

Now, that doesn't give me enough time to get through all this paperwork, let

alone I'm supposed to solve a murder.

I know what I said, but you still have to do something.

You have to at least try.

about seeing Ricky Brown?

You don't.

Wait a second. I've done some independent investigating and I've got

I need to talk to him about before he's gonna... Before it's too late.

Yeah.

Well, so... So how do I get in and see him?

Do I look like a moron to you?

No. Then don't waste my time.

He's on death row.

You just don't take a number and walk in.

On one.

Gary Hobson?

Molly Green.

You know this joker, Molly? Yeah, I wrote a few columns on his brief but

brilliant career as a supervisor.

What are you doing, dear?

Can I talk to you for a minute?

I need to see Ricky Brown.

Yeah? Why?

Do you know his story?

I'd better. I'm about to go in and get his final interview.

You... Can I go with you?

Why?

Well, I've stumbled upon a few things.

Oh, don't tell me you think he's innocent.

Oh, my God, you do think he's innocent.

Just listen to me for a minute. You are the original bleeding heart. You know

that? Do you remember when you first met me?

When you tried to get something done in Chicago politics by being honest? Yeah,

and it worked, didn't it? My grandfather used to say, even a blind squirrel

stumbles onto an acorn now and then. Well, he was a smart man.

Thank you. Yeah, but so why don't I go in with you? What harm can it do, huh?

What good can it do? Look, there might be one insight, one thing that was

overlooked that might do some good.

This might be far -fetched. Yeah.

But if Ricky Brown was falsely condemned, then you got the story.

No, no, no.

You've got the exclusive.

All right, boys camp. But as far as everyone else is concerned, you're my

research assistant, okay?

Do not be wasting my time, please.

Sleepy, I don't have time to waste.

Open three.

First time on death row?

Good. Open four.

Don't let it freak you.

Remember, we get to leave when the interview's over.

They're here for the Brown interview.

My biggest regret is that I'll never see Allison again.

Tell me about her.

Mind if I take this?

I thought you were a reporter.

You don't know this stuff?

Well, it would help to get your version.

Makes better copy, huh?

Look, this might be the last chance you have to get your story out.

You want people to know the truth, right?

Mister, I've been telling the truth for the past eight years.

I didn't kill Tom Fletcher.

Nobody wants to listen.

Some people do.

Look, I'm just here to write whatever you have to say.

I happen to believe that the readers would like to hear your story one last

in your own words.

Well, yeah.

You would have never put the two of us together.

Me, I'm Kentucky Bluegrass.

And Allison, well, Allison Chicago Blueblood.

Her father had died of a heart attack a few months before I met her.

Allison and her older brother Tom had just taken over Fletcher Enterprises.

trucking business was just a small piece of the operation.

Nice parking job.

Well, can't scratch company property.

No?

No, that was old man Fletcher's rule.

Gotta keep it looking new.

Really? You'd have thought, rich as he was, the old man had employed the

docks, but...

No, that old man was down here all the time, just sticking his nose into

everything. Uh -huh. Really?

Yeah.

Yeah, he was a good boss.

He was the best.

You know, now that he's gone, I bet we don't see another Fletcher down here.

You don't think so?

Oh, heck no.

A couple of rich kids inheriting all of Daddy's money.

Last thing they're going to do is poke around a bunch of noisy old big rigs.

no. They'll be off spending all their time playing tennis or something.

Well, not all their time.

I'm Alison Fletcher.

Oh.

Oh, I guess I just stepped in it, didn't I?

No, not necessarily.

You know, I could use a tour of the loading dock.

Are you serious?

Yeah, Dad said we have to learn the business from the ground up, so...

You know what? We've got to make it fast, though, because

I've got a tennis game at three.

She was so easy to talk to.

There was nothing I couldn't tell her.

I'd get up every morning, counting the minutes before I'd see her that day.

Even though we were from different sides of the tracks, I was happier with her

than I'd been with anyone in my life.

I proposed to her three months later.

Gave her my grandmother's engagement ring.

It was fast, but sometimes you just know something's supposed to be.

But there was trouble with her brother, right?

Tom didn't like me from the jump.

Why was that?

Thought I was after Allison's money.

It was always about money with Tom.

When he and Allison took over, he seemed to think some of the family's assets

were being mishandled, and that included Allison.

There was a big bash at Fletcher headquarters, too.

Celebrate Tom and Allison's taking over.

I thought it was a good time for Allison and me to announce our engagement.

I guess I was the only one.

You know I don't care about your money. I know.

All I care about is you.

I know.

Tom can be so stubborn.

Oh, and what does that mean?

It means that I think that we should hold off for a while.

the engagement?

No, no, no.

Just the announcement.

I don't think that we should do it at the party.

I don't want Tom to resent you.

This is about us, okay?

Not him.

Ricky, he asked me to wait.

You told him?

I had to. He's my brother. Together, we... Yeah, yeah, you run a Fortune 500

company. I know.

Ricky.

Look, if we love each other, then it's not going to be so bad.

I wish I would have listened to her.

Everything would have been different.

But she was my whole world.

I just couldn't stand being treated like that.

Ricky, don't do this. Why not?

This isn't the time or the place. There's never going to be a time or

Ricky. Ricky, please.

I got to talk to you, Tom.

I got an announcement to make.

Maybe we should go somewhere else. Talk this through.

I don't see anything that needs to be talked through. It's real simple what

talking about.

Ricky. And it doesn't have anything to do with money.

I never said anything about money. No, but it's what you meant.

You know, if you would just take two minutes of your precious time to get to

know me. You don't need to hear about our problems, Ricky. You won't talk to

anyplace else.

If you'd like to make an appointment.

An appointment? I'm talking about your sister.

I'm talking to you. Take your hands off of me. Not until I'm through saying what

I want to say. I think you've said enough.

Oh, you think you know much better.

You don't even know who I am.

I think you've shown everyone here exactly who and what you are.

Wouldn't you agree?

Excuse me.

Oh, you think you're the better man?

anything by it. It was stupid. I was mad.

What happened next?

What's the point?

There was one witness who tried to help out.

Lucius Snow.

He was sort of a friend of mine.

He was?

Lucius Snow.

Old man never gave up trying to help.

If he'd just gotten there a few seconds earlier, he would have seen everything.

What happened?

Day after the party, I figured I had some fence -mending to do.

I needed to do more than apologize.

I went to find Tom to try to work out some kind of prenuptial agreement.

Whatever else I could come up with to try to make things right.

I'd like to see Mr. Fletcher.

Sorry, Mr.

Fletcher's gone for the day.

Well, his car's still here.

Maybe you passed each other.

Let me go check.

He's not in, sir.

Sir, come back here.

Security, please.

He wasn't in his office.

I went down and rechecked the parking lot. His car was still there.

I saw somebody run away.

Well, I didn't really see him. I saw his shadow.

I tried to follow, but it's like a maze down there.

I lost him.

But the police didn't lose me.

I didn't do anything.

Put your hands... No!

No!

They never found the gun.

They said I threw it in the river.

They said I was a cold, calculating killer.

I'd gone there to shoot Tom, to show him who was the better man.

Some story.

You don't believe them?

It's death row.

We're all innocent.

It's back to them.

What if he's telling the truth?

I guess we'll never know.

Excuse me, is anyone here?

May I help you?

Yes, my wallet fell out of my purse down the hallway and I was wondering if you

could help me find it.

Well, please.

It has everything in it.

Just a minute.

Thank you so much.

Excuse me.

Alison Fletcher?

Who are you?

Gary Hobson. I really need to talk to you.

About what?

I was a friend of Lucius Snow's, and I came across some of his papers that

involved Ricky Brown.

Well, I think that Ricky Brown might be innocent, but I could use your help to

prove it. How did you get past the receptionist?

Well, look... No reporters, okay? No interviews, no questions, no comments.

Understand? No, I'm not a reporter.

Get out. You don't understand. No, you don't understand.

What's the problem?

This reporter sneaked in somehow.

No, I'm not a reporter. Look, just give me a second here.

It's okay.

It's all right, Winston.

No, it's not all right.

Claims he has new evidence on the Brown case.

Oh. Then why don't you come with me for a moment, Mr., um... Hobson. Mr. Hobson,

in addition to being corporate counsel, I'm also Allison's personal attorney,

and I'd like to hear anything you have to say about Ricky Brown.

Thank you, Winston, and you can tell him anything that you would tell me.

This way, Mr.

Hobson. Thank you.

Maybe we should knock off the rest of the day.

No, uh... No, I feel better working, especially today.

I, uh, I know I've come onto this case a little late.

That's an understatement.

Well, it's just that, uh... Well, if Lucia Snow thinks that Ricky Brown was

innocent, I have to believe that, too.

Nobody would like to hear that more than me, Mr. Hobson.

The Fletcher family is practically my family.

I grew up with the old man, John Fletcher. I went off to law school while

started this tiny trucking company.

I've been the family attorney since I passed the bar.

Together, we built this corporation from the ground up.

I watched his children grow. I never had any myself.

When Tom died, it felt like losing one of my own.

Here, sit.

So, uh...

You believed that Ricky Brown did it. Well, no, not at first.

And it's always troubled me.

I genuinely want to believe that he's innocent.

We've done more than you might realize, Mr. Hobson.

Given the circumstances of the case, you'll appreciate why this knowledge

made public. But working through me, Allison has secretly financed Ricky's

defense and all of his appeals.

Huh.

No one ever believed Lucious Snow.

He was a terrible witness.

At first, police thought he was a transient.

He was filthy, his clothes were in tatters, he looked like... Like he was

train wreck?

Exactly. The prosecution had a field day with him.

What was he doing down there?

He thought something was wrong?

Why? How?

They attacked his credibility from every angle.

and the more he tried to explain himself, the more convoluted and strange

testimony began to sound.

Everyone thought he was a lunatic.

But he and Ricky did see somebody.

But no description.

A shadow.

Nothing to go on.

We did everything we could to find this man, and we had ample resources, believe

me. I'm afraid we were chasing a phantom, Mr. Hobson.

Now you're chasing it, too.

Yeah.

All right, you got three steps here.

My dream.

What?

This is the exact same as it looked in my dream.

Are you sure?

Yeah, I'm sure.

Maybe Lucius was trying to reach you.

This must have been where he came down.

Come on.

Hang on a second.

There's nowhere to go help Ricky.

But by then, the murderer already moved past him.

But the problem is that the murderer could have been anywhere.

So what do we do?

I don't know.

Mealtime.

I don't want it.

It smells pretty good.

I leave it out here, there's no telling what's going to happen to it.

You want it, you take it.

No, I was just trying to... I don't know what I was

trying to do.

Just let me know if you change your mind.

Didn't Lucius write anything down or take any notes?

Not much. He just sat right there where Marissa is, going over the clippings and

talking to himself.

I'm not going to end up like that.

Like Lucius Snow?

What makes you think he would?

It's nothing.

Hey, what's this?

It's a business card. Where'd you get it?

In the drawer here.

That drawer's empty.

I cleaned it out myself.

Well, this was in it.

Frank Scanlon, Vice President of Fletcher Enterprise.

Wait a second.

I just saw that.

I

know

who Frank Scanlon is.

And I'll bet you Lucious Snow knew who he was, too.

I'll be darned.

Now, all we got to do is make a connection here.

You mean a motive, don't you?

Yeah, I guess I do.

What's this supposed to prove? That Scanlon was involved.

In the murder? Yeah.

How is a business card supposed to prove that?

Well, I don't know.

Perfect. Well, that's why I brought it to you. Well, I'll get right on it.

Listen, I'm telling you, there's a connection. Now, that card was in a file

in the archives from Snow.

Well, why didn't you say so? That changes everything.

No, look, you know what? I asked some of the old -timers around here about Snow.

To put it nicely, it doesn't seem like the elevator went to the top.

Well, maybe he had things on his mind all the time. What is that?

All right, well, I thought I'd give Fletcher Enterprises a second look.

I thought you didn't believe Ricky Brown.

Oh, no, no, no. I said you shouldn't believe Ricky Brown. I'm a journalist,

Hobson. You know, it's just facts with me, not emotion.

And?

And the only red flag is... Come on, come on, come on.

Okay, right after Tom Fletcher's murder, the company sold off its specialty

parts division to Forrester International.

So? So, a bunch of executives made a killing in a stock options thing as part

the deal.

Numero uno was the division director at the time. Your boy, Frank Scanlon.

green from the sun times to see you should i call security uh no no that's

you can send them in winston could you please uh come in here gary hopson's

with molly uh molly green from the sun times i'd like you to be here are you

sure you want to see anyone right now if they have new evidence

Thank you for seeing us, Miss Fletcher.

Molly Green from the Chicago Sun -Times. I know this must be a very difficult

day for you.

Hold on, Miss Green. We haven't agreed to any interviews.

Miss Fletcher, if there is any chance at all of saving Ricky Brown, we need your

help. What makes you so sure about this?

Lucius Snow.

Now, I know he made a poor witness, but I would stake my life on anything the

man had to say.

Miss Fletcher, for the sake of Ricky Brown, for the sake of your own brother,

you could just hear us out here.

Of course.

Go ahead.

Fletcher Specialty Parts was a very profitable division, yet it was sold off

well under its market value.

And key execs were awarded stock options from the buyer, Forrester

International.

After the sale, those options shot up in value.

I don't understand what that has to do with Ricky.

Ricky told us that your brother thought that somebody was trying to profit off

of this company after the death of your father.

Yes, but he never mentioned anyone in particular.

Well, nobody made a larger profit off the sale of the parts division than

Scanlon. Frank?

That's outrageous.

We all profited. Scanlon just happened to broker the deal.

Frank has been advising me since my brother died, and we've become close.

Well, what about the bargain basement price for the division?

On paper only.

The truth is the international market for those kind of parts has been drying

for years. We were lucky to get what we did.

That Forrester was able to turn its stock around with the new division and

such a profit.

It was pure luck.

Wait a second. There's got to be an explanation. There's got to be a motive

this somewhere. I admire your determination, Mr. Hudson.

But what makes you think you can succeed when so many others have failed?

In two hours, no less.

That I don't know.

But I do know I'm not going to let an innocent man die without using every

minute that I've got.

All right.

Sorry to bother you.

What now, Ace? There's got to be something we don't understand yet.

think about it. Do you honestly think in these last few hours we're going to

uncover anything? Yeah, I know, I know. But Lucius Snow would not have stuck

with Ricky Brown if he wasn't innocent. You and Lucius Snow, you both told me

enough. I will tell you enough. Let me tell you.

I think he might have heard you. Me and my big mouth.

What, you think I'm nuts now?

Yes? Allison, Molly Green.

Yes? I think we might have left your office a little early.

What do you mean?

Well, can I come back over there and look through your financial records from

before the sale of the parts division?

Well, it's funny that you should ask, because after you left, I went to look

them over, and they're gone.

What do you mean?

They've been wiped off the computer. They're not there.

Their financial records were wiped off the computer? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Ask them

if they keep hard copies in a warehouse in Calumet.

How do you know?

Just ask her.

No, I heard what he said, and he's right. That's exactly where we keep all

hard copy files.

Let's go.

Huh? Let's go.

How did you know that? I just know these things.

Creeps me out about you. Don't answer me questions.

Edit the cop.

Yeah, let's call the cop. No. No, Hudson, wait!

What are you doing here?

We killed Tom Fletcher, and you're trying to cover up what you're doing

company money, aren't you? What?

And you're trying to get rid of the evidence.

Get rid of it? I'm trying to find it. Oh, that's right. That's why you tried

run us over at the office, huh?

Run you over? What are you talking about? I'm talking about your black

parked out back, pal. I have a red Chevy, and it's parked in front.

Red Chevy?

Oh.

I heard you talking to Allison.

I came here to find the paperwork that proves...

Someone manipulated the record.

Do you smell that?

Yes!

Yes,

I'm sure. Somebody just tried to run us over. Wait, oh God, don't please don't

put me on hold again.

Hobson.

There's a minister here.

I already done my praying.

Might be easier if you talked about it.

There ain't nothing easy about this.

I thought a minister.

Despite his claims of innocence right up until the end, convicted murderer Ricky

Brown faces death by lethal injection in just a few minutes from now at the

Illinois State Maximum Security Penitentiary. His final stay of

denied earlier today by the governor's office.

Brown's defense was not able to provide any new evidence in the case. That would

have been necessary for any final review of his death sentence.

Brown was convicted of the 1990 murder of Thomas Fletcher, the heir to the

Fletcher Enterprises fortune.

Well, I guess some things were just meant to be.

Sorry about that, Mr. Snow.

I know that Hobson kid did all he could.

Yes, he did.

The Fletcher family has decided not to issue any formal statement on Brown's

execution. In other news today in Springfield...

Come here.

You look exhausted.

I didn't want to be alone.

No, no, you shouldn't be.

I keep thinking I'm going to cry, but the tears don't come.

They will.

They will.

When's the last time you had a meal?

No, I'm not hungry.

You want to get out? Maybe try to eat?

No, no, I want to stay here and wait until they call.

I still love him, Winston.

God help me, I do.

I know.

I know.

Get away from her, Thorpe.

Frank, what happened?

We just put out a fire.

What? All the records are safe, at least the ones that matter.

What are you talking about?

I can't believe you did it, Winston.

What? He skimmed a million dollars during the company transfer to you and

Absolutely, Chris. An army of lawyers went over that transfer.

And who supervised the lawyers?

Your brother found the shortages.

But he was killed before he could tell anyone about it.

Don't listen to them. All the losses were covered in the sale of the parts

division. We almost pulled it off, Thorpe. This is an embarrassing,

You killed Tom?

Please.

Did you? Please.

Did you kill Tom?

You killed Tom Fletcher, and then you undermined all of Ricky Brown's defense

over the years. And then you tried to run us over when we got close to the

truth. Winston.

I built this company, not just your father.

I was there, too, every day.

My father made you a rich man.

Not compared to you.

To you and your brother.

I never got my fair share. Never.

So I arranged a little benefit package on my own. It was just a drop in the

bucket compared to what you got.

A million dollars?

Some drop.

And then Tom found out.

He wouldn't listen.

He was going to expose me.

After all these years, expose me, the man who made his father what he

was, who made his company what it was.

So you shot him.

You'll never prove that.

All you have is a set of financial records, and we all know statistics can

made to say whatever anybody wants them to say.

No.

No, we have one thing more.

What's that?

We have this.

Ricky. Ricky, what time is it?

Live outside Illinois Maximum Security Penitentiary at Joliet, where death row

inmate Ricky Brown is walking out a free man after last -minute evidence cleared

him of the murder of Fletcher Enterprise heir Tom Fletcher.

Brown was just minutes away from being executed.

My column today has a lot of stories in it.

There's the story about Ricky Brown, who escaped the executioner at the last

minute.

There's the story about Lucius Snow, an old man who died thinking he'd lost his

final battle, only to win it from the grave.

But the biggest story is about how, when we feel most alone, when hope seems

like a word with no meaning,

Someone is there, and that makes it a story about all of us.

whose body dates from the Bronze Age is discovered in the Italian Alps, and a

genetic experiment is about to yield a cruel joke on an infertile couple.

Evolution's Child, the hallmark lunchtime film next.