Original subtitles

Where are you going, honey?

Oh, got a date.

Well, come get your raincoat.

Great skies are gonna clear up.

Put on a happy face.

Brush off the clouds and cheer up.

Put on a happy face.

Take off the gloomy mask of tragedy.

It's not your style.

You'll look so good that you'll be glad you decided to smile.

Pick out a pleasant outlook, stick out that noble chin.

Wipe off that full of doubt look, slap on a happy grin.

And spread sunshine all over the place. Whose house is this? Get it to

me! You... Hello, Ray. Look, I'm warning you right now. Don't piss me off. I can

have a drink if I want to. You can't have this. You can't have this.

You can't

give

up on me because I'm trying to stop. Look, I won't drink.

When I get home, you better be gone.

Yeah?

Hey, Marie.

Wanna go out on a date?

They're nice guys.

They'll show us a good time.

Go home, Tracy.

Whoa, whoa.

Hi. Do I know you?

No.

Okay.

Get him. Fuck off!

Fuck you!

Oh, that's a good one.

There you are!

Yeah, hi everybody. Sorry I'm late. Hi, Mom.

Happy birthday, honey.

What happened, Mom?

All of this.

Well, would you believe it? A bedpan fell off a shelf at the hospital.

Only me.

Now, where's my boy?

He's here.

Is this my favorite grandson?

Stinker. Hi, Grammy.

I knew a girl so gloomy

she'd never laugh or sing she wouldn't listen to me

now she's a mean old thing so spread sunshine

all over the place just

Come on Janet Reno, Jessie Helms, let's go!

all right what did i say you said the day is like a smelly chicken

oh well sometimes it is you know see what did i tell

you

Detective Powell, Jim Blake.

Good to see you again.

Oh, thanks, Jim.

What happened? Ah, college kid found her. Says he was out for a hike prior to

a morning exam.

We got no reason not to believe him, but we're going to take him in just in case.

Jim, who's talking to the birds of prey?

Jim, he said he was with you.

Now, get rid of him. George, lose that clown.

Okay, sir.

Nothing new here.

Tell that to her parents.

Jim, can we shield this area, please? She deserves a little privacy.

Yes, ma'am.

I want the entire area around the body shielded off. Come on.

Her name was Tracy Billings, age 21.

Her fingerprints matched a set from Dreiburg's statement.

Jen, before we get into this... You wouldn't believe it, Ellen. It was a

circus out there. You want to step into my office?

This idiot was talking to reporters, telling them anything they wanted to...

Sorry,

Mom, I gotta go. Sorry.

Oh, help yourself.

Jen, this is Dr.

Dylan McCarthy.

He's graduating from U of M's criminology department, and they ask

that he be assigned to you.

Actually, I'm not a doctor. It's a master's program.

Can I talk to you for a moment? Yeah, that's what I wanted to...

Why do you hate me? This is not personal, Jen. The puppy needs field

work. Let him shit in somebody else's field. And the university thought he

could learn a lot from you. He could learn a lot from Bert and Ernie. His

mother's a big contributor to the district attorney's campaign.

Ah, D.A. Quince. And word came down that the next major homicide case...

Countdown to safety, Ephraim Quince. Jesus. I got a complicated job, Jen.

I got to deal with the politicians as well as the crooks. Oh, you mean there's

a difference?

It's a pleasure to... Did you read the article in this afternoon's paper, Dr.

McCarthy?

I'm not a doctor. Did it occur to you that we might want to keep something

from the media so that we can catch this guy?

Well, I just thought as responsible public servants.

This reporter jeopardized a case last year that had a little boy dead and his

killer on the streets.

Please don't talk to me about public responsibility.

All I'm saying is the public has a right to know. The public is Tracy Billings.

The public is the asshole who did this. The public is maybe another girl if we

don't find him soon. But this is not the public.

Meet me in the parking lot in five minutes.

She takes this job a little too personally.

At home, she's a real sweetheart.

I should know.

I was married to her.

She hit me. She carried knives.

She worked as a prostitute.

Got into drugs.

That's when I put her in the hospital, but it didn't last.

See, when she was born, the cord wrapped around her neck or something, and she

didn't get no oxygen.

She's retarded, but not enough so as you know, you know, just enough to get her

into trouble.

More times than I care to think.

When you last saw her,

Did she say where she was going?

To meet a boyfriend or something.

She used to hang out at TJ's Tavern sometimes.

Play pool.

I always warned her, but she'd never listen.

I always saw danger hovering like an eagle over my girl.

How many times have you kicked him out?

Oh, I don't know.

At least seven times, Mom.

In over nine years.

It's got to be some kind of record.

I used to feel sorry for him.

He's just a kid.

He was a little mischief maker.

He is almost 40. We're crying out loud.

Well, he's not real mature.

Leave him.

We'll get a restraining order.

Come on, you know that doesn't work.

Well, Mommy's on parole.

If he disobeys an order like that, they will throw him in jail.

Oh, yeah, and when he gets out of jail, he'll go after you kids.

Let's just talk.

Let's not just talk.

He trashed the bedroom last night, and I'm scared of what else he could do.

What he does to people, you don't know.

Oh, no!

How could you do that?

How could you?

No!

Peace me up!

Nationally, we are number 28 criminal convictions.

I'm not going to settle for 23 or 22.

No, sir.

We're going to be number one.

As long as the good Lord's above.

Sure I knew Tracy.

She came here a lot. She's usually real happy.

Guys would pick her up, and they didn't realize that she was, you know, screwy.

Until they said something that ticked her off, or she said something really

mean.

She'd go berserk.

Why don't you tell me what happened here on the 21st? She came in probably around

noon or so, soaking wet.

But she didn't care.

It's Amory.

Hey.

Give me a beer.

Later on, she started hanging out with these two guys I'd never seen before,

hitting on them for beer and stuff.

She even asked me.

Avery, wanna go on a date?

With them?

They think you're cute.

I don't know them, and neither do you.

They're nice guys. They'll show us a good time.

Go home, Tracy.

Fuck off!

One more?

Thanks.

Later on, the place got busy.

Next thing I noticed, they were gone.

Would you recognize those guys if you saw them again?

No way.

Cause of death was asphyxia due to strangulation by rope.

It was tied around her neck with a granny knot.

Rigor mortis set in by the time the body was dumped, so the murder took place

somewhere else.

Tuna? No, thanks.

There was no sign of sperm in any of her body cavities, so either he pulled out

before he came, or he wore a condom.

The stomach contained either nuts or popcorn. Eat within an hour before she

died. Time of death, sometime before midnight.

That's all I can say.

Did he leave anything for us?

Just the murder weapon.

Look at that knot.

Well, whoever he is, he sure ain't a Boy Scout.

He took something, though. What?

The button fly of a jeans.

Cut it off.

Probably for a souvenir.

Could be a pattern.

Could be.

A pattern.

You think this guy's serial.

Thanks, Mike.

Good job.

Jesus, I'm sorry.

I gotta stop myself.

But every time I try... I can't!

I need help.

Lorraine.

Help.

I love you so much. You know, you're so good to me. You took me in and no one

else gives a shit in the whole world about me except you.

And this is how we pay you.

But I'll be good to you.

I promise. I promise. I promise.

I love you so much, Doreen.

Do you love me?

Do you?

It's gonna be okay.

Yeah? What? Just like before.

Like before?

Before you started drinking and all that stuff.

Like when it was just you and me and Wayne?

Yeah. Doing things loud and up the store. Yeah.

Remember how we used to go places? Yeah.

All the time, like one big happy family. Oh, my God.

Oh, my God.

Do you love me, Reed?

Do you? I do.

I love you, too.

You and me.

Oh.

We're meant to be.

Forever.

And always.

And always.

Hand in hand, as we planned,

forever.

No, no, no, no, no.

Stop singing. No, no, no. You know that's not right. Just keep singing.

No, no, don't touch me.

Sing it. Don't touch me.

We plug into the FBI, see if anyone else has reported a similar pattern.

Not all states comply, so any answer we get will not be definitive.

Comprende, Doc?

I'm not a doctor.

Nor am I an idiot.

I have two undergraduate diplomas, I'm at the head of my class, and I'm not

here to try and take your job.

I'm just here to observe you so that I can get my degree.

Then stop judging and observe.

I'm not judging.

Bullshit.

I should have been a more responsible public servant.

I shouldn't have had that beer at the bar.

And God knows I should have stopped Mike from eating sushi over that poor girl's

body. But it's my job to feel for the living as well as the dead.

I've been at this a lot longer than you have.

All right, I'm sorry.

I'm sorry to be so rough on you, but you're here to learn.

I'm gonna push you to do that.

And I've dealt with you college types before, and it's not a very pretty

sight.

Lesson one.

The system works when you do the work. And I mean the hard work. This job's

about passion, not ambition.

Lesson two.

I make jokes sometimes about things that aren't really very funny. That's how I

deal with the horror.

You gotta find your own way to deal with it.

Lesson three.

Don't chew your thumb.

It's bad for your cuticles.

And Mr. Clinton says unless Congress changes certain wording on the bill, he

promises a presidential veto.

Oh, no.

In local news, police are still searching for the man who murdered 21

-year-old Tracy Billings. Yes, sir. Billings, whose body was found in a

wooded area near Vista House, was marginally retarded and had a history of

prostitution and drugs.

Tracy's asking for it, man.

People like that.

Deserve to die.

Her mother, Virginia, told reporters she last saw her daughter at 2 o'clock in

the afternoon when the young woman left home for what she told her mother was a

date.

Busy? Nah. Just looking at slides from her last vacation.

Really? Ow.

It's a joke.

Oh. Forgot, you know, dead jokes.

Ha ha, very funny.

We just got a report from the sheriff's office.

They received an anonymous tip claiming a man named Rusty Zuvik is responsible

for the Billings murder.

He's currently on parole for a DWI.

Any idea who made the call?

They traced it to a pay phone at Dreiberg State Mental, where Billings

was a patient.

Zuvik lives with a woman named Lorraine Petrovich, who's a nurse's aide at

Dreiberg. Another paranoid girlfriend.

I just got a call from D.A. Quince's office asking if any progress had been

made. Our future mayor is out humping for votes, huh? He wants Larwin to be

the most crime-free city in America.

Nothing wrong with that.

Why don't you tell him to get off my back or he'll be the next statistic?

That wasn't a joke.

Hey, Doc.

We're out of here.

Doc.

Yes?

Oh, hi.

Hi.

Is, uh, Ms. Petrovich in?

That's me.

I'm, uh, looking for your daughter.

Oh, they don't live here anymore.

Are you Lorraine Petrovich?

That's right.

The woman who lives with Rusty Zubik?

Oh, he sort of lives with me.

Well, I'm, uh, Detective Jen Powell.

And, uh, this is my assistant.

We'd like to ask you a few questions, if you don't mind.

Sure.

Sure.

Oh, God. This is so weird.

Young man, an old woman.

Older. Well, what does he see in her?

Stability. Wisdom.

Young men can learn a lot from older women.

Well, I hope you take milk, because I don't have any cream because of my

ticker. Oh, no, I'm fine. I just take it black. Good.

And you, my sonny boy.

I never realized that somebody as good-looking as you could be a

detective.

Do you want some milk?

Milk's fine. Good.

I bet your mommy's proud of you.

And your girl?

Do you have a girl? Ms.

Petrovich, did you call the county sheriff's office saying that Rusty Zuvik

killed Tracy Billings? Please.

Call me Lorraine.

Lorraine.

I've been under a lot of stress lately.

Well...

We were having a fight about his drinking, of course.

And I told him I wanted him out of the house.

You promised me that you would stop, and I just can't take it anymore.

Then I went to a birthday party at my daughter Nancy's place.

And when I got home, he

wasn't there.

Hello?

Hi, you gotta come pick me up.

I need a ride.

Okay.

He was at the Salty Dog Roadhouse, where he always hangs out with his drinking

buddy, Gary.

He didn't see me come in, and he didn't know that I could hear him so good.

Just a retarded little bitch.

I dragged her up to Pista House and wasted her.

We strangled her.

Huh?

Oh, my God, Lorraine.

Hi.

Gare's here.

Say hi to Gare. Gare, say hi to Lorraine. I can't remember whether he

said, I or we.

Vista House.

That's up where she was found, wasn't it?

Close enough.

Bye.

It's not your job to give the answers.

She mentioned Vista House. You confirmed it.

What, you think she's lying?

I don't think anything.

Well, my instincts tell me we're onto something.

We need evidence to connect Zubik with Billings on the 21st of September, Doc.

And if we don't get that, your instincts and her story won't be worth the time we

wasted.

Please don't do that.

I submit that after you shot and killed Damien Blakely, you took the sculpture

so there would be no apparent link between you. But there was a link,

wasn't there? A very deadly one.

You conspired to kill your husband.

And you murdered Damien Blakely, didn't you?

No.

Sorry, I didn't hear you. You conspired to kill your husband.

And you murdered Damien Blakely, did you not?

Hello?

Lorraine, hi, it's Detective Powell.

Well, I've got a search warrant and I need to know when you'll be in and

you're...

I got some cream for your friend's coffee.

Uh, thanks.

You're welcome.

So I let Damien kill him.

Hey, Kenneth Starr.

Who's sniffing up the right tree?

I understand that you conspired to murder your husband and then conspired

to put the blame on Joel McKelvey for that murder.

There's a monster.

I just had to get free.

You can understand that, can't you?

Can't you?

Okay, here we are, sonny boy.

You're such a skinny little kid.

I used to be like that.

But now I gotta watch my ticker.

Thank you.

Lorraine, I left the search warrant on the bed.

Oh.

Excuse me, sure.

Sure.

Oh, I need my reading glasses.

Not that it matters.

I can't make heads or tails out of these things.

It's foreign to me. I mean, I can't help it.

Who's Wayne?

Oh, that's my son.

He had muscular dystrophy, and Rusty helped me take care of him.

when my husband died and then when wayne died rusty moved in he sort of took the

place of both of them i guess and i took the place of his mom

whoa

I don't know no Tracy Billings.

In fact, I don't even know what the hell you're talking about.

So this isn't your letter?

Well, it's addressed to me, clearly. But I didn't write this crap on the back.

Who did?

I don't know.

Not me.

Is this blood on your jacket?

Where'd you get this jacket?

Mr. Zubik.

We were at the Salty Dog Roadhouse on the 21st of September.

Excuse me, where exactly did you come up with this jacket? Did Lorraine give this

to you?

And what the fuck is she playing at?

I'm asking a question here.

I could be killed for what you told them, guys. Do you realize that?

Any number of guys in that goddamn car could have known it.

Could have done it. I didn't know her. Don't you blame me for what happened.

Blame you? I just can't take this anymore, Rusty.

It's all because of your drinking, you know that.

My drinking, my drinking.

And how can you remember what you did?

You forget things when you drink, and that's almost every night.

By the way, can you remember what you did last night when you got home from

the salty dog?

Tell me.

Come on. Huh?

Remember? Yeah, I remember.

What do you mean?

This is what I know.

I did not do that to her. And guess what?

I can prove it.

Baby.

Is your name Rusty Zuvik?

Yes. Did you ever see a woman named Tracy Billings at the TJ's Tavern?

Nope.

On or about the 21st of January, did you kill Tracy Billings?

No.

You flunked?

Off the friggin' charts.

Unfortunately, we can't arrest him since a polygraph isn't admissible.

Friggin'. I only use that word because I'm just a poor white kid trying to live

on the right side of the tracks.

Fuck gives the wrong impression.

On the right side of the tracks, the grass is always cleaner.

Ah, and you would know, wouldn't you?

Only child, boarding school, too much education, and you still don't know what

you want to be when you grow up. Am I right?

Or am I right?

I have a sister.

And the right side of the track's purely relative.

Not only do I drink in the job, I sneak storeways into my office.

This is Ross Perot.

Burgers, burgers, burgers, burgers.

He's not sick, is he?

I take in straights till I find a home for them.

You name them after politicians?

Yeah. Yeah, so I don't feel too bad when I have to give them away.

I must be your latest.

You want to be Ted Kennedy or Newt Gingrich?

Ooh.

See, I planned on being a vet, but I settled on homicide because you get less

emotionally attached.

At least that's what the brochure said.

Here you go.

Hey, listen, I want to apologize for putting you on the defensive.

I know I have a problem judging others.

Believe me, I judge myself much more harshly than anyone else.

I know.

I've seen your thumbs.

Yeah.

Powell? Oh, please come here.

Please come here quick.

Lorraine? Are you all right?

He's gone now, but I don't know when he'll be back. Please, please hurry.

It's correction time.

Oh, good.

I couldn't call you before he left because I didn't want him to see this.

See what, Lorraine?

I was getting groceries out of the car.

And in the trunk, I saw this. Now, it's not mine, and I don't know whose this

is, but there's something inside.

Come on, Rusty.

We know that you're lying.

I didn't know her!

How many times I gotta tell you people the same thing?

I don't know her, I don't know her, I didn't know her.

You ever get blackouts?

What?

Blackouts.

Maybe you blacked out and that's why the polygraph said one thing while you said

something else. You were drinking that night, right?

A little.

She could have been there, sure. I just didn't see her.

How could you tell if she was there or not if you didn't know her?

She was last seen with two guys playing pool across town.

Now, it's possible that two guys did this.

One guy doing the actual killing, the other one just going along for the ride.

I didn't kill her.

You know who did?

Can I ask you something? Can I get a drink here?

I can get you some coffee. I can get you a soda. I can't get you a beer.

Soda.

Why didn't you tell me you did it?

Okay, well, I was visiting this friend of mine that night, okay? I remember

that. And while we was playing darts... Well, uh, what's her name there?

She'd been with him in the past, so about...

7.30, they decided to go to a motel room and have their little bit of fun. And

the motel's right beside the bar.

That was convenient.

So now around about between 10 o'clock and 11 o'clock, I decided I was going to

go home. And Gary decides he's going to give me a ride.

I was flying, man.

She had some dust.

You should have come over, man.

You could have had a piece.

She kind of left early though.

She left early though.

Did he strangle her with his hands or did he use something else?

He didn't say.

All he did is just throw me home.

We never talked about it again.

Okay?

Don't look at me.

Hey, good morning, Jen. Good morning.

The lab wants you to take a look at that.

Uh, the ASPCA called. They have two more strays if you're willing to take them.

DA Quincy's office called. Oh, and the coffee machine's down.

Oh, thanks, Marjorie. Just to look good news.

Good morning.

Morning.

Suvick's buddy Gary has an airtight alibi.

It's no real surprise, but he was visiting friends in Detroit.

What's up?

The black purse and the button fly do not belong to Tracy Billings. Neither

does the blood on Zubik's jacket.

The blood type matched, but the DNA didn't.

And the handwriting on the back of that letter could be anybody's. God.

Today's date is October 6th. This is Detective Jen Powell. I'm interviewing

Lorraine Petrovich at Dryburg State Hospital.

Okay, all right.

I saw the search warrant and the kind of things you were looking for.

I had an old black purse and I cut the button fly for my daughter's jeans.

I wrote the note on the back of the letter.

Oh, gosh.

And the blood on the jacket is probably mine, too.

Oh, I didn't know what I was doing. I just wanted him caught.

Well, Lorraine, you just blew our whole case.

I didn't mean to.

Then why did you lie to us?

Because I was afraid. Of what?

That he wouldn't get arrested.

Did he do it?

Yes.

How do you know that?

Because I helped him get rid of her.

Jesus Christ.

I'd just come back from Nancy's birthday party when the phone rang.

Hello?

Maureen?

You gotta help me.

I'm in trouble. Big trouble. You gotta help me.

What's wrong now?

Okay, look. Listen. You gotta bring something big. Something we can wrap

something up in. Something won't leak.

Honey boy.

Oh.

Oh, my goodness.

Oh, no.

I don't know. I guess I choked her.

How did you know who she was?

She was a patient here, and I recognized her from seeing her in the hallways.

You identified her in the dark?

Mm-hmm. With her face beaten to a bloody pulp?

Yes. Don't lie to me, Lorraine.

It's the truth.

Did he say anything to you about why he did it?

All I wanted to do was just give me a little blowjob and you should find me.

I hate effective people.

You have to report this.

Have you never heard of Mackinaw Penitentiary? You call the police,

report this, you'll be locking me away forever.

This is good right here, stop it.

Can you help me?

No. No.

Good.

What are you doing?

I need a momento.

He was gone about 15 minutes.

Where? What happened while he was gone?

I think he did something sexual to her.

What makes you think so?

He had an erection when he came back.

Did he bring anything back to the car with him?

No. What happened to the shower curtain?

You better shut your mouth or I will hurt your family.

I just wanted him caught.

And I wanted somebody else to do it for me.

That's why I planted all those things.

And I didn't want to tell you the truth because there's a part of me that still

loves him.

And I'm so ashamed and confused.

But now, it's correction time.

What's the deal, man?

Huh?

You're under arrest, Rusty.

Any luck?

Only if Zuvik has super sperm that lives for weeks in dried-out sheep gut.

Shit!

Shit! Shit!

What is Tracy doing way out here anyway?

Looking for a pickup?

How'd she get out here? She didn't have a ride.

She hitchhiked.

What does it matter? We have Lorraine's testimony.

That's not much, Doc.

She's an accomplice, willing or not.

She's a scared old lady.

She lied. She manufactured evidence.

She waited too long. Well, she's living with a psychopath. To tell us the

friggin' truth.

But you know what?

There's got to be something that she knows that nobody else does.

Something that she can't plant or prepare for that'll hold up in court.

I got it.

This receipt's for the car, ma'am.

crime lab's gonna go from top to bottom so you won't get it back for a few days

all right thank you okay how

about a cup of coffee sunny boy i know ma'am i gotta get back oh just a cup as

long as it's black because gotta take care of my ticker well i don't know come

on if you insist lorraine

Lorraine, we need you to come with us.

Am I under arrest?

No.

We need corroboration, Lorraine.

We don't have blood. We don't have fingerprints.

We have an inadmissible lie detector test and a suspect in severe alcoholic

withdrawal who suffers from blackouts.

And we have you.

What more can I give you?

One of the few things that the press didn't leak to the public was the exact

location of the body.

Now only the police and the murderer know where the body was found.

And we need you to take us there.

I don't know. It was late.

It was dark and I was really nervous.

I'm not sure that I can point out the exact spot for you.

Oh, wait a minute. Wait a minute.

You've got to turn around, all right? Because I think we just passed him.

It's across the street by the guardrail.

Over there?

Yes.

Okay, this is it.

That's where he took her. I remember now.

We got him.

He admits he knew Tracy.

Says she was there at the truck stop, but he can't remember exactly what

happened.

Will they put him on the stand?

He'll hang himself for sure.

They'll probably try for a manslaughter plea.

I'll speak to D.A. Quince.

Good work, Jen.

How are you?

How's the dogs?

Happy campers.

Any new ones?

Yeah. Handsome dude named Bob Packwood.

Finally got somebody to take your place, Al.

Oh. That was a joke.

You hungry?

Famished. Another glass of wine and I, uh, might even want some dessert.

Oh, saved my Ma Bell.

Powell?

Lorraine? What's wrong?

He's gonna kill me? Honey, here's what I've said about him. He's not going to

get out, Lorraine. They're going to put him away for a long, long time.

Not when they know I'm lying.

What do you mean?

I lied to you again.

He didn't kill her.

Oh, shit.

I did.

Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow!

Ow!

Ow!

Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow!

Ow!

Ow!

We're taking her home. Get in the car. You heard the lady. Get in the car.

Now, where do you live?

Wait.

What are you doing in the front seat? You're in the back seat.

I'm going to fuck her. You want to watch me fuck her?

Do you? She said she lived with her mother in Northeast Larwin.

As we headed down I-75, he told me. From the bottom of my heart, I wanted to

make love to you.

I've been thinking about it all night long.

I've been thinking it, but, you know, I just don't know if I have the right

money.

That don't matter.

Not between us.

She's going home.

She is not going home.

Pop the trunk, please.

Actually, you're coming.

Get out of the car.

Why? Why?

Because I said so.

What are you gonna do with that?

I'm gonna tie her up.

Smother her through that way.

And you're gonna watch. And you're gonna learn. You might see something. You

might pick up something. No, no, no. You can't do... I want you to.

Hear me? No, you can't. No!

I want you to. No!

Come on.

I'm starting without you.

You don't mind if this old lady just watches us, do you?

She don't mind.

There's our good little doggie.

Put this rope around her neck.

Yeah.

That is an order. Do you understand?

Order. Put it on her neck.

Give me a little girl.

Good girl.

Good girl. Good girl. Good girl.

Oh, nice.

I'm just going to tighten up a little bit.

You hang on.

Hang on. You understand me? Hang on.

Oh,

what a good little dog.

All right!

Why did you take the button fly, Lorraine?

Because I was hoping someday that I could... I could show proof of our

involvement.

Was it your intention to come forward at some time?

Yeah. I took it home with me, but I just threw it away.

And why should we believe you this time, Lorraine?

Because it's the truth, that's why. You said that before.

I tightened the rope.

Did you tie a knot into it?

It was looped already. I don't know. Did you tie a knot into it?

Well, I must have. What kind of a knot? I don't know.

A regular knot? A slip knot?

No. What kind of a knot?

A half hitch? A granny? A granny.

Yeah, I tied a granny.

Lorraine.

Do you feel that by pulling that rope tight, you caused the death of Tracy

Billings? Yes.

Yes, I do.

Yes.

It's all my fault.

Where do you want us, Detective? Yeah, I need you to question the people next

door in the gray house, and then I think move across the street.

You hit him over the head and killed him. That's not true.

Then you trashed the place and planted one of Coach Nash's whistles there so it

looked like he had done it. I didn't do any of that. Oh, my God.

You'd been better off letting him turn you in, wouldn't you?

Oh, God.

Lorraine, I have a warrant for your arrest.

Now I'm going to read you your rights.

You have the right to remain silent.

Anything you say can be used against you in a court of law.

You have the right to an attorney before enduring questioning.

If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you before and

during questioning.

Do you understand these rights?

I feel like I just arrested

my grandmother.

Who just happens to be a murderer.

Don't you feel sorry for her? She killed somebody, and then she lied to us about

it. She wasted our time.

Yeah, why does that matter now?

Because time is the most important tool in this business, Doc. You never have

enough of it.

Hey, did you ever get a jigsaw from the Goodwill where 15 pieces are missing?

I guess you've never been to the Goodwill. Anyway, you get enough pieces

so you can see where the picture is, but you don't have enough to finish it.

Well, in this case, we're missing 50 pieces.

If we had more time, we'd only be missing 25.

I love you.

Bye.

I spoke to the DA.

They want to try you before Rusty, though they're willing to accept a plea

bargain. In spite of the fact that you held the rope, Rusty's the one they're

after.

I'll take whatever they want to give me.

I think I can get you a maximum of eight years, Lorraine, and you'll be

testifying against Rusty.

Fine.

I can do that.

I have a, uh...

Request for the warden regarding your grandson, Charlie.

He wants to come visit you, but the facility doesn't allow for wheelchair

access.

He has muscular dystrophy.

Like my son.

And Charlie won't be around when I get out.

He's only gonna live so long.

And it's all my fault.

It's... It's my genes.

My bad genes.

I passed on that disease to those children.

I've got to see him before he dies, please.

Watch your step now.

Whoa, what's going on?

Don't ask me anything.

Why are you lying?

Isn't it wrong to tell a lie?

Of course it is.

Here's what I got for you.

You plead guilty and agree to testify against Zuvik. In exchange for that,

you'll get an eight-year minimum.

All right?

So look these over, and if everything's agreeable... I don't need to look them

over. Yeah, you do. You need to read them and understand them.

I'm not gonna sign them.

What? I'm not going to plead guilty for something I didn't do.

Wait a minute. What are you saying?

I'm saying that I lied, and I was too embarrassed to tell the truth, so I kept

on lying.

I wanted Rusty Zubik out of my life.

You signed a confession, Lorraine.

This may be an imaginative defense, but it won't hold up in court.

Look, I don't care if it holds up in court.

It's the truth.

Neither one of us ever met Tracy Billings in our lives.

And whoever killed her, and it wasn't us, is still out there.

Ha!

Okay, whoa, whoa, whoa. You gotta pay me first, Jake.

I don't give free rides.

Fuck that.

Give me the money, Jake.

I'm calling Smokey.

Come on, give me a ride.

Well, I'd like him to apologize to you, but at the moment he's speechless.

Wipe your nose.

Come on.

Yeah.

Lucky I was here, huh?

So where are you headed?

You can just drop me off at the next exit.

I'll do.

Here, why don't you...

All right.

Wow. You really like these things, huh?

Don't you?

Yeah.

They're cute.

I don't know. I just always try to put on a smile, you know, no matter what

comes along.

Wife leaves me smiling.

Lose custody of the kids? Well, just keep with the grins and before long.

I'm feeling better.

You know what keeps me smiling?

You want some?

You know, I can't really blame that guy for chasing you.

No, I, uh, I get angry at women sometimes, too, you know.

I'm not joking. I'm serious.

You are the nicest guy that I've met in two years, mister.

Billy Lee.

Billy Lee.

I'm Rachel.

I

hurt

women, Rachel.

And believe it or not, I've even killed a couple.

It's not funny.

I know, I know it's not.

You know what?

I'm gonna kill you too.

Son of a bitch.

Come on, shh, shh, shh, just relax.

Relax, just go, just go.

She made it all up?

Jesus, I don't believe this. Calm down, Jen. Don't tell me to calm down, Ellen.

This is me on the line here. It's my reputation.

D.A. Quince's reputation is at stake, too. Oh, I don't care about D.A. Quince.

Be that as it may. And neither does Doc here, right, Doc?

He made some public statements about the excellent police work. What I care about

is the truth. It's impossible for her to give the information she did and not be

involved. She claims now she got her information from leaks to the press.

Bullshit! And that you asked her leading questions.

She was a witness, for God's sake! If she was a sus... I would have treated

her completely differently.

I'm being devil's advocate here. She described the knot on the rope. She said

the girl was beaten before she died. She took us to the exact spot where the body

was found. Those things were not in the papers. The only way she could give us

that information is if she was there.

Court is now in session.

Proceed, Mr. Baker.

When Rusty Zuvik was arrested, how did that make you feel?

Relieved.

I needed help to get him out of my life and to get myself into some sort of

therapy.

But I couldn't ask for help because everybody was burned out on me.

And I wanted...

To get back at him for all the stuff that he had done to me.

He's such a little mischief maker.

And so you told a lie?

Yes. And when that didn't work, you told another?

Yes.

And then one day the police took your car.

Did they give you a receipt for that car?

Yes, they did.

Do you recall later on that day driving out to where the body was found?

Yes, I had the receipt with me.

And I slipped it out and read it. It said 1.5 miles from Vista House.

And I had to figure out how far 1.5 miles was.

And then as we were going along, I saw these three orange

circles.

And when they saw the circles, they thought that it was confirmation of my

story.

They didn't realize that.

They had led me to where they wanted me to go.

We got him.

See, I'm sort of a whodunit buff.

I love mystery stories like Matlock and Diagnosis Murder.

I got a lot of my details from them.

Of course, not everything on TV is reliable, but it does give you some

ideas.

What you reading?

You would do something that you got away with if somebody else took the blame.

Yeah, yeah, cool.

It's not supposed to work that way.

Why not?

Jimmy McAleer, in the first grade, got in trouble for stealing the dessert at

Amy Mulligan's lunch.

See, I was the one who did it because Amy wouldn't look at me.

So?

Jimmy had to stay after school for a week, see?

And, uh... I felt real bad.

Oops.

Sorry.

Will you excuse me?

I killed Tracy Billings September 21st. I beat her to death, raped her, and

loved it.

Yes, I'm sick, but I enjoy myself too.

Two people took the blame, and now I can kill again.

It was found in a bathroom near Livingston, Montana.

Another one just like it was found in a truck stop near Montebello, Kentucky.

I thought you might be interested.

I mean, there's no reason to believe that there's any connection to the

crime. Even if there was, what do we do with it?

I've studied your petition to present this men's room graffiti as evidence,

Mr. Baker, but the facts in these statements, anyone could glean from the

daily newspapers, as your own defense so aptly pointed out.

I agree with District Attorney Quince.

I'm going to deny your petition.

Thank you, Your Honor.

She's so guilty, Laura, you know? I mean...

These people took the blame for something that I did, and it just

doesn't make any sense.

It's not so much that what I'm doing is wrong, you know, it's not that. It's

just that, well, that two other people are suffering.

Why would God allow that to happen?

It's funny, you know, how these things can get out of hand.

Somebody just says something to you that just sounds like your wife, and you go

berserk.

Somebody else smells like her, you know, or uses the same toe polish.

I keep looking for a girl who don't remind me in any way of my wife.

There's always something.

Even you, Laura, you know you.

And you burp like her.

I just have to learn how to live with it, I guess.

Lorraine's anonymous telephone call was made September the 26th, five days after

the murder.

By that time, articles had come out in the newspapers.

There was a lot of information in those articles.

Girl dumped off the road by Vista House wearing red top and blue jeans.

The girl was a prostitute and used drugs.

Sex might be involved.

I'm wasting our time here. Just listen. The next thing that happens is homicide

seizes a blue coat.

The blue coat has some blood spots on it. It's the wrong type of blood, but it

does tell Lorraine that blood is involved.

So how does she deal with the fact that there's no blood in the back of her car

when she claims she transported Tracy's body?

She invents the shower curtain.

Once again, police have inadvertently given her information, just like they

told her about the body location, just like they told her about the button fly

and the purse.

And finally, we come to the biggest source of information, Detective

Jennifer Powell.

She described to her the condition of Tracy's face.

You identified her in the dark.

With her face beaten to a bloody pulp.

Yes. She even led her to an exact description of the knot in the robe.

Did you tie a knot into it?

Well, I must have.

What kind of a knot? I don't know.

A regular knot?

A slip knot?

No.

What kind of a knot? A half hitch? A granny?

A granny!

I tried a granny!

This is bullshit.

I don't believe it, neither does the jury. She took us for sucker's duck.

She's a fucking murderer, for Christ's sake. She's a desperate woman.

We're escape goats. Who watches Murder, She Wrote and the OJ trial. She lives in

a world where TV's reliable.

I don't doubt that she made things up. And cops are total idiots. And guess

what? Maybe she's right.

No, I'm not an idiot, and neither are you. The only idiot is her attorney who

thinks a jury's gonna buy this shit. I mean, even if she were, I'd say, what

the hell are you gonna do about it?

Members of the jury, have you reached a verdict? We have, Your Honor.

Will the defendant stand and face the jury?

We, the jury, find the defendant, Lorraine Petrovich, guilty of the murder

of Tracy Billy.

Lorraine Petrovich, it is my duty therefore to sentence you to life

imprisonment with a minimum of 10 years served before possibility of parole.

Court is now adjourned.

Mother? Somebody help her!

It's a prank letter. He says he killed Tracy Billings and four other women. The

people who killed Tracy Billings have been convicted and sentenced and the

case is closed.

Lorraine's jury bought her emotional recorded confession over that cold as

shit testimony.

Zubik saw the writing on the wall and copped a plea.

The system fucked up, Alan.

I thought you didn't use that word.

I fucked up. Just listen to this.

I tied.

A soft white half-inch rope cut on one end and burned on the other around her

neck. Lorraine never gave us these details.

She gave us plenty of others.

Just give her a polygraph. It's too late for that, and you have plenty of other

cases that need your attention.

There's four women that he describes killing in that one. God damn it, this

is not a crusade. It's a business.

Oh, Al.

We have a conviction.

I'm happy, D.A. Quince is happy.

Larwin is now a safer city to live in. Relatively speaking.

I don't want you to pursue this any further.

I'm warning you, Jen.

I need your word on this.

You got it.

Yeah, this is Sheriff Rogers. What can I do for you?

Hi, my name is Jen Powell. I'm with Homicide up in Larwin.

We have some information about the body of a female who may have turned up

behind a place called the Smoky Hill Cafe in Stanton County. Do you know

anything about this?

I sure do.

Worked on that one myself.

The body was so badly decomposed, we couldn't figure out what might have

killed her.

There was a high level of drugs in her system, so we listed her as an OD.

You know any different?

I might.

Mind if I come in?

Oh, yeah, yeah. Why not? Sorry.

All right.

Here you go.

Thanks.

Oh, um, just got my marching orders.

D.A. Quince wants me to come work in his office for a while. Ah.

So who knows?

Maybe there's hope for me yet.

You ever think about settling down with an older woman?

Huh? Well, you know, you've got two undergraduate degrees. You've got a

master's in criminology. What are you doing with your friggin' life?

God, Quince is a shitheel.

You're not gonna be happy with him. That's for sure.

You want me to stick with you?

Well, yeah.

Yeah, I'd like you to join the force.

You'll be detective in no time.

I'll see to it.

Cheers.

You know, I have better things to do with my life than getting down and dirty

with the likes of Lorraine.

Oh.

I thought that you preferred this side of the tracks.

What a visit.

Not to live.

Besides, by the time I made detective, you'd be in forced retirement for

shooting yourself in the foot over this.

You don't give up, do you?

You know, if you're right, you prove yourself incompetent. If you're wrong,

you just make a fool of yourself.

Those murders check out.

Yeah, as what?

A drug overdose?

Cause of death unknown?

That confession, anybody could get that information and put it in a letter. It

doesn't prove anything.

Aren't you the one that said that Grandma couldn't do this? But she did do

it. She did do it. You were right. I was wrong.

Oh.

I see.

Now, an old woman is behind bars, and you feel a little... Wait a minute. You

think that I'm doing this for Lorraine? I am doing this for the women who may

have lived if she hadn't lied to us.

I am doing this for the women he hasn't killed yet.

What have you done to my car?

You owe me $1,200, asshole.

I don't know what you're talking about, Jill. The hell you don't. You pay me the

money you owe me or I'll call the police.

Yeah, right.

For what?

I'll tell them you raped me.

Even if I can't prove it, I'll still cause you more trouble than I'm worth.

Do that, Jilly Bean.

Jill?

You're sounding like my wife.

Rusty's lawyer had him cop a plea and got him 20 years instead of life.

This is all because of you, Lorraine.

Why did you do it?

I told you I wanted to get him out of the house.

And I know from my TV shows that a witness can put someone behind bars.

Lorraine, we had enough with your earlier testimony to do that. I just

don't understand why you would involve yourself as an accomplice.

Maybe I felt guilty about putting someone behind bars that didn't do it.

Maybe I felt that I deserved it. Maybe I should have shot him. Then everybody

would have been happy.

Right?

You don't know what it's like being beaten up every day.

And there's no way to stop him.

Not just physical.

It's the things he says about me.

He says how stupid I am and how...

Ugly I am.

He says that I don't... I don't feel him touch me.

That I don't feel anything when he touches me.

That's not right.

In the beginning, he made love to me.

But now, he's just...

Brutal. Why don't you ask him?

Yeah.

Ask him what he would do to me if he got out.

Bitch, you mother here!

You frame me, you cocksuckers!

You and that brick lawyer and that asshole DA!

Well, if I get out of here, well, I'm gonna rip your fucking head straight

out! I get out of here!

This time, this time I got nothing to lose!

You bitch!

Okay.

Oh, this is bizarre.

This is just way too bizarre, detective.

Look, I used my own money to have them cut this out and ship this here because

I wanted you to see this. Whoever wrote this letter wrote this message on the

men's room stall. It's the same exact handwriting. Whoever wrote this letter

knew about the deaths of five women.

But this is not evidence.

Well, I don't have to tell you that, Detective.

Even Dylan here agrees.

Dylan here doesn't know shit.

We're talking about a serial murderer here.

Get me an airtight official confession from a flesh-and-blood human being and

not some phantom letter writer.

Wait a second. I have to catch this guy first?

Let it help.

He kills women all over the country.

Well, but it's not my problem, is it? So what you're saying is this guy's got to

come back here.

He's got to kill another woman, get himself arrested, make a confession

before you reopen this case?

I'll also need some proof.

That's right, proof.

And not some anonymous handwriting specimen.

I'm going to need something that's going to stand up in court.

Jesus Christ.

Don't blaspheme, detective.

The Lord works in mysterious ways.

Her name was Jill Watkins.

Also known as Jilly Bean.

Detective Blakely said she hung out with truckers and had a long list of

boyfriends. Only thing they found so far was this address book.

I thought you might want to look it over.

Thanks, Mike.

Be my guest.

Excuse me.

Miss?

Can I help you?

Yes, I'm Detective Powell from County Homicide.

I need to ask you about an employee named Billy Lee Peterson.

What's Billy done now?

Can you tell me where I can find him?

He's on a run somewhere. I can tell him to call you when he checks in for

messages. Just tell me where I can find him.

Just a second.

Take that, you motherfucker!

Yes!

Congratulations.

You may now advance to level seven.

He's picking up a load in Illinois.

He should be there sometime tomorrow.

I'll get the address for you.

Thank you.

Mr. Peterson?

Yeah.

Hi.

My name is Jen Powell.

I'm a detective over in Larwin.

And I wonder if I could have a few moments of your time.

Sure, yeah.

Okay.

Yeah, I mean, I had a relationship with Jill years ago, and I still ran into her

every once in a while, but having a clue who might have killed her, I mean, I

just feel terrible about it.

I'm sure it must be very hard for you.

By the way, did you know a woman named Tracy Billings?

No, I don't think so.

Why? We think whoever killed Jill killed Billings, too.

And a few other women.

Prostitutes, mostly.

You know, the kind of person not many people care about.

It's weird.

People hear about a young woman being killed.

Everyone's concerned until they find out she may have slept around a little bit.

Like Jill.

But you knew her.

You knew another side to her.

Oh, yeah. No, Jill was a... Yeah, she was a good woman.

I bet you loved her.

Yeah, I did.

The rest of the world just sees her as a whore.

Same with Tracy Billings.

The thing is, even their killer has a conscience.

Get this.

He wrote a confession.

sent it to the police because he didn't want two innocent people to suffer for

something that he did.

Really? Yep.

Wow.

Hey, you know, I think I still have a few of Jill's old letters, you know, in

the truck.

I don't know, maybe they mentioned some people that she knew.

Well, come on up and just, you know, have a look. I mean, I don't know.

Well, you know something?

My wife has a smile exactly like yours.

That's pretty weird.

Yeah, that is pretty weird.

You know, I don't think those letters are going to do me a whole lot of good.

Just because whoever did this was a stranger or somebody very close to her,

and we've got a list of those names. But I really want to thank you for giving me

your time. And let me give you one of my cards.

My cell phone number's on the bottom. If you think of anything, just give me a

call. Will do.

Nice talking with you. Yeah.

possess for your happiness

every wish

I will fulfill even

make the world stand still

Uh, yeah.

Hello?

Yeah, um... I tried to kill myself.

I don't have enough pills in this whole damn country, I guess.

Uh, Billy Lee?

I want to, um... I want to turn myself in. Where are you?

Billy Lee, I need your help.

There's two people in prison for something that you did, and I know that

you feel bad about that.

Well, I mean, I already confessed.

How long does it take to plead guilty to this?

I need proof.

My word ain't good enough?

There's nothing I can do unless I can prove that you killed Tracy Billings.

Well, I mean, guys, you know, it was a long time ago.

Ain't no proof left.

Why don't you tell me what happened with Tracy?

My girlfriend at the time was out of town. I was staying at her place.

Oh, sorry.

Hi. Do I know you?

No.

I do now.

Ow!

Sorry, sorry. I don't know, she just, she started saying things to me that my

wife used to tell me when we were having sex.

Why don't you just hurry up and get this over with?

And, uh, I don't know, I guess just brought back memories.

I mean, it was like... How many

times did you hit her?

Fifteen, maybe more.

In the end, I just took my right fist and I put it on her Adam's apple and I

just pushed down really hard until she was dead.

Oh, and then I grabbed a piece of rope, tied it around her neck there because I

thought maybe her inner fluids would leak all over or something.

Then I just started thinking about fingerprints on buttons and stuff.

Man, I looked down at what I'd done.

And I couldn't believe that I'd actually done that, you know? And I just, I

panicked.

I started thinking, Jesus Christ, now what do I do?

Hello?

Hey, hon.

How you doing?

Huh? No, no, I'm just watching TV, hanging out with the cat, yeah.

Huh? See, she was the first.

The others, it was just easier, you know?

Killing... It made me feel so good about myself and about my relationships with

women.

I felt like I was in control for at least five minutes.

It might not seem like much to you, but I tell you, when you're pussy whipped

like I am, boy, five minutes can just be heaven.

What happened with the purse and the Walkman?

All right, well, the Walkman, I threw that out the window. I figured the

traffic was running over.

And the purse?

Shut it.

Well, this shouldn't take long.

All right, boys, here we go.

Great line.

Look all around.

He could be lying, you know.

He could be pulling a Lorraine and causing you a lot of trouble.

You know what the sick thing is?

I like him.

I never liked Lorraine. Or Zuvik.

But I like Billy Lee.

Maybe that's a comment on my taste in men.

I guess I just prefer an honest murderer to an innocent asshole.

If they do find this purse, it's not going to be good for you.

You've embarrassed D.A. Quince and pushed the countdown to safety back to

24.

Either way, at least he's been stopped.

I'd ask for much more than that, can't I?

You're unbelievable.

You made unauthorized long-distance phone calls. You made an unauthorized

trip to Illinois.

You spoke to the D.A. behind my back, and you dragged 17 teenage explorer

scouts into a bunch of killer bramble bushes.

If we had found the purse, Alan.

But you didn't find it. You didn't find shit.

I found Jill Watkins' killer. Why don't you give me some credit?

Fine. Congratulations.

Now, take a vacation.

You deserve it.

Well, what do you know?

Great minds think alike.

You're all right, McCarthy.

Oh, is that it?

It's gotta be it. Is that it?

Yes! Woo!

Thank you!

I'm sorry.

Mr. Zuvik, I'm setting aside your no-contest plea to aggravated murder

charges and wiping your record clean.

As of today, you're a free man.

Ms. Petrovich, however, has really no one to blame but herself.

Your only real complaint is that your prosecutors were too easily taken in by

your lies and that they inadvertently assisted you in polishing your

confession.

The cost to the taxpayers of this state has been enormous.

The cost to Mr. Zuvik nearly incalculable.

For this and other reasons, Ms. Petrovich, I'm allowing your conviction

to stand.

However, to continue to imprison you would be pointless and unjust.

Therefore, you are free to go.

This hearing is closed.

It's alright, it's alright, it's alright.

Let's go.

Good luck, Rusty.

Fuck you.

Fuck you too.

I agree.

So, why'd you do it?

Do what?

Why'd you come back to cut down the briar patch? I thought you thought he

was lying.

Oh, I did.

But you took in this directionless stray, cleaned up his thumbs.

Uh-huh.

It's the least I could do.

And by proving I'm right, you embarrassed the department.

Allen, D.A. Quince, the city of Larwin, and you ruined my reputation.

But all they can really do to me is add another week to my vacation, hope the

whole thing blows over by the time I get back.

What do they do to you?

Uh, well, they might turn down my application to the police academy, but I

don't think so.

Besides, it was worth it.

You know, you and Lorraine, you were right all along.

About what?

A young man.

You can learn a lot from an old woman.

Older!

Older.

And here's a bizarre one for you. A 60-year-old woman put herself and her 40

-year-old boyfriend behind bars rather than live with him another day.

And she got the idea from TV.

Ain't that something, Bob? Well, Marlene, you know what they say. Not

everything on the tube is reliable.

but it sure gives you ideas.