Original subtitles

[upbeat rock music playing]

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[theme song playing]

[music fading]

[police siren blaring]

If that's what you think.

Marky Deutch.

If it's your people on this scene, I know it's screwed.

Yeah, with you working the murder,

it'll stay open forever.

Maybe, but I'll get my 40 hours overtime no matter what.

Well, you're gonna get more than that.

This thing's got red ball written all over it.

The Deputy Commissioner was called at home.

- He's on his way in. - Yeah, why? What's the deal?

Catherine Anne Ellison, mother of two, tourist.

She takes one in the face at close range.

You got one .45 shell casing on the ground.

- Witnesses? - Yeah, her family.

I sent them downtown. Husband, and two kids.

Most I could get out of 'em was three yo's,

18 to 30 years, who stole a wallet,

a purse, and a gold locket.

They run south, after doing the deed.

- On foot? - So says the husband.

Only one place they could be heading is South Baltimore.

- [Howard] Hamburg and Leadenhall. - [Felton] Hell, yeah.

[Deutch] Want the district DEU to come along?

- [Felton] The more, the merrier. - [police siren whooping]

[officer] Move aside, people.

[man] Do a little hiking, a little camping,

whole family decides, right? This was once a good town.

Out of the blue, they announce,

they'd rather have spent the morning in Willamsburg.

You're gonna be okay.

You know?

I just have to answer a few questions, okay?

Then we'll go back, and sleep for a while.

Stay with me.

Get a hold of Munch, Bolander, Pembleton,

Crosetti, Bayliss, Lewis.

We've got a red ball. I need them all to wrap it up.

- Crosetti's on vacation. - Not anymore.

I got witnesses from Sharp Street.

- Witnesses? Who are they? - Hell if I know.

We're just the transport. You guys got a fresh pot on?

In the coffee room.

I'm Lieutenant Giardello, shift commander.

- You are? - Her husband.

You're the victim's-- victim's husband?

I'm sorry, sir.

- Is this necessary? - Unfortunately, yeah.

- Come on, honey. Let's go. - Why?

I mean, I told you everything.

They had a gun, they took my wallet, and my wife's locket.

I mean--

[Munch] While it's still fresh in their minds,

we've gotta talk to these kids.

Maybe they don't wanna say anything.

Come on, honey. Let's go. We're going to go for a ride.

- No, I think she goes with me. - You can go with her.

We're just going to go right in here and have a talk, all right?

May I talk with you?

It's okay. It's okay, honey.

You got some questions?

Where have they taken my wife?

She's down at the medical examiner's office.

The law requires that we do an autopsy.

- Where do I go? - No, no, no.

You don't want to go down there.

Just tell the funeral home of your choice that...

that's where the body is.

Can you recommend someone?

I mean, locally.

Sure, sure, you know, I'll write it down for you.

This is a very ugly room.

Yeah, we're gonna have to throw some paint on the walls, huh?

What's that mirror for?

Is this where you change policeman clothes?

No.

No, policemen don't change.

Dad, Matt is mad at me.

No, he's not mad at you. It's okay.

[Bayliss] So, what grade are you guys in?

Matt's in eighth grade.

[Bayliss] Really? Oh.

He's a lot bigger than I was.

I liked the eighth grade.

I got to be in charge of the playground.

I was a patrol boy.

Matt.

Abby.

Your mom was hurt today.

These three guys, they robbed us,

didn't they, Dad?

[Robert] Yeah. Yes, they did.

Did you see these-- these three guys, huh?

They were yelling, saying bad words.

[Robert] Oh, yeah.

[sighs] Oh...

Do you remember what these-- these three guys,

what they looked like?

I didn't see them too good.

Mommy pushed me in back of her.

Yeah.

[Bayliss clears throat]

Matt, do you remember anything?

Anything you might be able to tell me?

- Come on. - [Matt sobbing]

All right, don't-- don't be scared, all right?

- Okay? Just try-- - [Matt sobbing]

You just try, all right? Okay?

- Okay? Just try. - [Matt] I can't remember.

- [Matt sobs] - All right.

- Come on. - [Matt sniffles] My mom.

- [Bayliss] Yeah? - She's on the ground.

And there's blood.

Everywhere.

[Bayliss] It's all right. I know, it's...

- If you can just try and remember his face-- - [sobs] I can't remember.

- I can't! - That's it, please.

- [Bayliss] Okay. - No more. We have to stop.

[Matt sobbing] My mom.

Matt.

He never cries.

[Robert] It's okay. It's okay.

It's all right. It's okay.

- Five-oh, five-oh! - [police siren blaring]

[many sirens wail]

[tires screech]

Oh! Right there!

[officer] Let's go, boys, go!

[officer] Left!

[Felton] Shop's closed, boys and girls.

[all shouting at once]

- Move back, man. - This ain't right.

- What? - [handcuffs clicking]

[grunts] I've been backing up four years, man.

I can't take a humble like this.

Parole backup? For what?

Possession with-- with intent.

Talk to me.

You're looking for them boys that come running through here

about an hour ago, right?

Make your play.

I don't know 'em.

- No, no, man! No! - Let's go.

Hey, I'm East Side, man. I ain't from around here.

[sighs]

Yo, I got street names.

One of 'em call himself Kid Funkadelic.

[upbeat pop music playing on radio]

- [door bangs] - [officer] Police, freeze!

The damn gun, Marvin. Where's the gun?

What the hell y'all doing coming in here, man?

That's right, you ain't done nothing, right, Marvin?

You were here all day, weren't you?

I suggest you read this warrant, to remind you of your deeds.

- Hey, hey. Hey, hey. - Where's the gun, Marvin?

Kid Funkadelic on the cutting edge, huh, baby?

- What you know about it? - What crap is that?

[Marvin] Oh, come on, man! Come on, man.

[Lewis] Come on, man, respect the music, if nothing else.

Oh, look what I found, Marvin.

- ...45's. - [Felton] Gotcha, Marvin.

[office din]

[Munch] The husband was standing there for the whole thing.

But he doesn't think he can ID anybody.

I asked him to describe the gun. You know what he said?

He said, "It's big, and metal." [laughs]

With a hole in it like this.

Why is it every civilian says the same thing about a robbery?

Three nondescript yo's, with a hole in the end

of the barrel the size of the Fort McHenry Tunnel.

I am telling you, I am going to rack up

the overtime on this one.

- This funny to you? - Gonna be able to put new--

- It's a big joke, huh? - [Munch] Mr. Ellison.

I want him off this case, okay? I don't want him anywhere near my family.

Look, I'm sorry about your wife.

I know this must be tough on you.

But I'm the primary in this case.

You don't have a choice here.

I want to make a complaint.

I want to make a complaint to his superior.

Which guy is his superior? Okay, I want to start with you.

- I want to start now. - [Giardello] Mr. Ellison, please come with me.

A few weeks ago, he was working

on a father of four shot in East Baltimore.

After that...

a domestic stabbing.

And after that, a drug shooting in the projects,

where an innocent bystander was killed.

Next week, it will be somebody else.

He's not going to feel what you feel.

None of us are.

But you, you're not him.

Mr. Ellison, I can still remember the first murder I ever handled.

Walbrook Junction. Kenny Damon Barnes.

I can still remember the--

that look he had on his face.

I can remember how he was laid out in the apartment.

I can remember the--

the pictures of his kids that he, uh,

had taped to the-- to the refrigerator.

[Robert sighs]

I-- I can't remember my 50th or my 40th.

None of us cared.

But the only difference between...

Felton and the rest of us, is that he doesn't have

the patience to hide that fact.

You need him to solve your murder, not to grieve.

I just want to get my kids, and get out of here.

[police radio chatter]

No one's going to bother you if you go this way.

Oh, hey, okay, guys, give me a break.

- Mr. Ellison. - Come on.

Have you identified any of the suspects?

Do you know the man who murdered your wife?

How are the children handling the trauma?

[journalist] Mr. Ellison, what are you going to do now?

[journalists all talking at once]

Mr. Ellison. How do you feel, Mr. Ellison?

What?

[Abby] We can't go home without Mommy.

[Matt] We are, Abby, because Mom's dead.

- [Abby] Stop saying that. - [Matt] She's dead.

She's not coming home with us.

[Abby] Yes, she is.

I'm going to sit on her lap all the way home on the plane,

just like when we came out.

[Matt] You're acting like such an idiot.

- She's dead. - [Robert] Hey, hey.

Come on. You've got to go to sleep.

We've got a really big day tomorrow.

[Matt] I'm trying to tell Abby

that Mom's not coming home with us.

Come on. Come on.

We've got to go to sleep now.

How are we going without her?

[Robert] Go to sleep now.

We've got to get up early and pick up Grandma.

Good night, Dad.

Come on, Matt. Come on.

Good night, Dad. Good night, Dad.

Good night!

Good night.

[sighs heavily]

[sighs]

[melancholy music playing]

[sobbing]

[sniffling]

[hysterical sobbing]

Come on, man. [grunts]

Antonio Barr, a.k.a. Tweety, 22 years of age.

Guess what we found with him?

This braindead yo leaves a murder,

takes the vic's jewelry,

goes home, gives it to his girlfriend.

We kick open the door,

and she swears for, like, ten minutes

that her Mama gave it to her.

I guess that makes this guy her daddy, right?

Cross him up, Beau.

Hey, Meldrick, you come with me. Kay, you take Bolander.

- [Howard] You got it. - Beau!

Hey, hey, hey.

- [Felton whistling] - Kid Funkadelic!

Look who dropped by to say hello, huh?

See, he's waving to us.

Hello, Tweety.

He wasn't tough to find, either.

See, we know you and he are rap buddies,

so we, being smart police,

we just pulled your sheet up, and hunted up codefendants.

And, surprise,

you and Tweety took a charge together back in '91.

So we're taking up a pool over who gives it up first.

- You want in? - Smart money's on Tweety.

His game's a little weak.

Marvin, you have the right to remain silent.

Although, personally, I don't feel remaining silent's

all it's cracked up to be.

Smoke?

- I just wanna make sure-- - See him? He's giving you in.

- He's giving you up. - We know he's the shooter.

- [door clicks closed] - He says you're the shooter.

Hey, Tony, you know how the gas chamber works?

- You understand? - Death penalty bit, Marvin.

Chill out all that death penalty stuff, man.

I ain't going out like that.

Especially because of some numb-thinking,

fresh-on-the-block knucklehead, man.

Gone and blown some bitch away.

Don't know what the hell he's doing.

Are we talking about Marvin here?

Hell, no.

I'm saying Vaughn.

Vaughn Perkins. 19 years of age. Oh, whoa.

His sheet shows only a shoplifting, and a disorderly charge.

- Kid's a virgin. - Sure doesn't sound like a shooter.

Got an address in Baltimore County.

Everybody's gotta start someplace.

Tweety has Vaughn asking for the gun

right before they get the Ellisons.

I don't know, how does a kid go from stealing a new pair of tennies

to homicide in one leap?

[door latch clicks]

Game's over, Marvin.

Tweety gave up Vaughn.

He says you gave the boy the gun.

Tweety always was a punk.

I still think he's leaking all over us, and calling it rain.

I don't think Vaughn's the shooter.

He doesn't have the sheet for it.

I think you're the shooter.

Look, man, I've put that .45 in people's faces 200 or 300 times,

and I've never once let go of a bullet.

That's why I use a .45.

Because people are fool enough to argue with anything smaller.

I'm a stone stickup man. I know my business.

What about the "assault by shooting" charge in '84?

You went down three years for that.

Yeah, that bitch. He needed to get shot.

- Uh-huh. - That wasn't no robbery, either.

I loaned him my Eddie Hazel album, and he's gonna put it

in the back of his raggedy Cutlass

on a 100 degree day.

Eddie Hazel album? Mm-hmm, a collector's item.

Yeah, I guess the guy had it coming, didn't he?

Look, man, I ain't saying nothing else.

Now, you know and I know

the two of us going to be doing 30 in

just for having anything to do with it.

And the third one probably going to see death row.

So you can just ship my little lonesome ass

back over to city jail, and we'll see how it plays out.

Because I ain't saying nothing else without a lawyer.

Between you and me...

look, man, I ain't saying you right about anything.

But that boy you mentioned,

if he was there...

I bet he didn't mean to do it.

[dramatic music plays]

[man] What's that on your shirt, man?

Looks like somebody hit you with some brown paint or something.

[man 2] Looks like you got rust on it.

You're rusting out, Vaughn.

[video game beeping]

I was just playing with you, Vaughn.

[video game gunfire booms]

Vaughn, what are you doing?

You're wasting all your shots.

I'm Robert Ellison.

- Are you the mortician? - [Reinhold] No, that's me, sir.

Richard Reinhold, Reinhold Funeral Homes.

I'm terribly sorry about your loss.

I've spoken to your people back in Iowa,

and I'll be handling the arrangements

for shipping the body back home.

I'd like to see my wife.

[zipper rasps]

Where are her clothes?

She had a band.

A wedding band.

- Where's the wedding ring? - You gotta check with the cops.

Uh, it was a gold wedding ring. It looked like this.

We had them made together.

[Dr. Lausanne] All personal effects and clothes of the victim were taken.

- No one told me this. - You should have been told.

No one tells me anything.

They don't tell me anything.

[melancholy music plays]

[sobs]

[zipper rasps]

[door slams closed]

[quiet hum of chatter]

Excuse me, may I have a word with you?

Excuse me. Mr. Ellison.

Where's her ring?

My wife's wedding ring.

All of her personal property was taken as evidence.

- Her ring is safe. - Oh.

But who gave you permission to take her clothes?

She's lying down there in that damn room with no clothes.

You don't know Catherine. She's very, uh, proper.

And, you know... she wasn't very much at ease with her body.

I understand how you feel.

You know, you've got her lying down there in a damn morgue,

in a plastic bag, with no clothes.

Now, I want her out of the plastic bag.

I want her clothes back, and I want you to have someone there to protect her.

- I understand how you feel. - You keep leaving her there alone.

Excuse me, Mr. Ellison.

You remember Detective Bayliss?

We've identified three possible suspects,

and we'd like you to look at some photos.

Here you go. Okay.

Now, Mr. Ellison, just a couple of things.

These are photographs, and the complexions,

the shadings can change.

They differ on each person.

Also, the hairstyles can be easily changed.

- All right? - [Robert] All right.

- [Bayliss] Take your time. - [Robert] Okay.

[Robert sighs]

[breathes raggedly]

I can't say.

What, you think it should be easy?

Some sort of snap?

Take another look. Take your time.

[hyperventilating]

It all happened so fast.

Yeah, but I bet if someone murdered your wife,

you'd remember all their faces, wouldn't you?

But I'm just an average guy. All I remember is the gun.

I just stood there, staring at it.

I just stood there, and I watched him kill my wife.

I didn't do anything.

Yeah, but you, you would have done something, wouldn't you?

[Felton] I'm not saying I would have done--

Oh, you're not saying anything,

but you're thinking it, aren't you?

I mean, hell, everybody's thinking it.

Even my own son thinks it.

Like there's a whole list of things

that you're supposed to do before your wife...

You know, maybe you grab the gun,

or you shield her.

And if you can't do anything,

at least remember their faces,

so when the police show you a bunch of pictures,

you can point 'em out.

Him! Him! Him!

No.

That's not the way we do things here, Mr. Ellison.

We need your help in finding the men that murdered your wife.

You tell me who did it. I'll identify them.

- [Rose] Yes. - Baltimore City Police, ma'am.

We're looking for Vaughn Perkins, is he home?

- Oh, what trouble's he in now? - [Crosetti] May we come in, ma'am?

Please, come in.

- Where's your son, ma'am? - Vaughn is not my son.

He-- he's my nephew.

Has he been caught stealing again?

Vaughn is wanted in connection with a homicide.

Oh, my God.

- Have you seen Vaughn? - No.

He's not a bad boy.

He sings on the church choir with me.

We just want to ask him-- ask him a few questions.

Um, according to our records,

we have you listed as Vaughn's mother.

Well, um, I helped to raise Vaughn

and his brother, Emanuel.

My brother, Jeffrey, he married Vaughn's mother.

After he died, we took the boys in.

Renee, she just has troubles all the time.

She's a dope fiend.

[Rose] She just has trouble being patient with the world.

Your brother died?

[man] He was murdered. A few years ago.

[Rose] Renee was in, um--

She was in so much grief, she, um--

She didn't notice her babies.

I wrote down that I was the mother

so they could go to school out here,

because there's just better schools out here.

Was Jeffrey's killer ever caught?

No.

Which murder is this? Jeffrey Perkins?

Perkins, huh? Huh.

How did Vaughn react when his father died?

Every day,

he would go out to the curb.

Just like a little puppy.

Hoping to see, um,

Jeffrey come down the-- the road.

We loved him.

But that girl,

Renee, just was not able just to think ahead for those boys.

Mrs. Landry, where's the mother living?

Stop. [laughs]

- [car alarm blaring] - I don't know.

Vaughn, baby, what you been into?

- Nothing. - Hey, hey, hey, hey.

I ain't seen you putting nothing in there, boy.

So don't you be taking nothing out.

Stop. [laughs]

- [thudding] - [Renee] Hey!

- [Crosetti] Down! - Whoa! Down you go.

What are you doing? My baby! My baby!

- [gun clicks] - Leave him alone! He ain't done nothing.

- [Pembleton] Are we ready to go? - Leave him alone!

- [Pembleton] Are we ready to go? - We got him.

- Come on, Vaughn, off we go. - Okay, come on.

Downtown, to see your friends.

[Renee] He ain't done nothing. You are lying on it!

What is it exactly he ain't done?

Whatever it is you say he did, he ain't done it!

[Crosetti] I say he shot and killed a woman

in front of her children for $70, and some jewelry.

[Renee] You mean the white lady downtown?

He couldn't have had nothing to do with that.

Because he was home with me and my man that day.

Right here, watching TV.

- [Pembleton] All day? - Yeah, all day!

- You can't take my baby away from me. - All right, come on. Come on.

Grand jury's going to want to hear all these details.

You know, they might have to charge you with perjury

and lock you up, if they find you're lying about your boy.

- Grand jury? - That's right. Now, put your legs in.

Come on. We're goin' downtown. Let's go.

Ain't nobody said nothing about no perjury.

Mom.

[police radio chatter]

[Bayliss] Mr. Ellison?

I have your wife's things here.

Thank you. Thank you very much.

[Bayliss] Yeah, I'm out of here. I got to get home.

Now, if you'd like, I can have a uniform

take you back to your hotel.

Oh.

It's Catherine's wedding band.

You always wear a gun?

[Bayliss] Yeah, pretty much all the time. Sure.

You live in a world where everybody wears a gun, don't you?

- Yeah. - You know, the funny thing is, I've never even held one.

- No? - No. You mind? Could I hold it?

I just want to feel it.

Come on, let me hold it.

Mr. Ellison...

I'll tell you something.

All right?

A thing like this happens...

and people, they spend the rest of their lives telling themselves,

"If I only did this or if I only did that."

But the killer is the one with the gun.

Not you, Mr. Ellison.

You just-- you just have to let go of that.

Right? Just put that behind you.

- Put it behind me? - Yes.

Let me tell you something.

You know when they pulled that gun out?

Catherine's chin was way up, you know?

Real defiant.

You don't know how many times I've been

on the receiving end of that chin.

Me?

I got my hand frozen on my wallet.

Paralyzed.

I didn't do anything.

You understand what I'm saying to you?

Yeah.

So I'd just like to...

hold your gun, just to feel what it's like.

Come on, I got two kids. I'm not gonna do anything crazy.

Take the bullets out. I just...

[clicks]

[Bayliss] All right?

Okay.

[gun clicks]

[Howard] I'm telling you the truth, Vaughn.

You don't believe it now, you will at the arraignment.

Your pals are putting you in.

Right this morning, right in there was Tweety,

saying you've done all this shooting, smooth, Marvin,

oh, he's too professional

to be throwing people down like that, he says.

What do you say, Vaughn?

He's got nothing to say, because there is nothing to say.

We got him already, Kay. We're done.

I'm not, do you mind?

'Cause there's something more going on here,

isn't there, Vaughn?

[whispers] It was Marvin.

We both know it.

Can I have some paper and a pencil?

[Howard] Paper.

And a pencil or pen.

Please.

[door slams]

Stinking low-life! [indistinct] Oh!

Whoa, whoa, whoa!

Beauregard Felton, maturity, stability,

- a lawman for our time. - [Pembleton] What happened?

He sits in there for four hours without saying a word.

Then he writes a letter, says,

"Please give this to the lady's husband."

What does it say?

[Felton] He's sorry, like the family wants

a condolence letter from this character.

"Dear sir, I know nothing I can say

can change what I have done, I can't say why it happened,

and I know I can't take it back.

I had the power, but forgot who I was.

This won't make you feel different,

but I'm sorry just the same."

Well,

sounds like he learned his lesson.

What say we just send him home?

Now wait a minute, when was the last time you heard a shooter say

he was sorry he pulled the trigger?

Most of the time they say they're sorry they're charged.

"I had the power, but forgot who I was."

I don't get that part.

And you threw that away?

That is what we refer to in law enforcement as evidence.

Doesn't exactly say he shot the woman.

What is with you, Kay?

It doesn't fit right, Beau.

[Lewis] Did Vaughn say he shot her?

That's what I'm saying. He doesn't admit anything.

He writes the letter, and he demands a lawyer.

- It doesn't fit. - [Felton] Who gives a damn, either way?

His homeboys put him in. He's willing to take the weight.

I'm on to new business.

- Leave it up in red, Beau. - Why?

Do you really believe that Vaughn Perkins is your shooter?

You deal with three squirrels, you get four lies.

All I know is, the kid is willing to eat the whole meal.

[scoffs] He's taking the fall for his buddies.

Why would he do that?

Be--

That's what I want to find out.

Hmm?

Kay, this case is down.

You do what you got to do. I'm on to the next dead guy.

In case you haven't heard,

they're kinda piling up around here.

[Howard sighs]

You ready for this?

Vaughn's pleading out at the arraignment.

What?

I guess the guilt-stricken little fella

wants to save the taxpayers' money.

We arrest him, and boom, ten days later, a guilty plea.

On to new business. I like that.

I call that justice.

Petey says he wants life, no parole.

Won't take less.

Let's get to the courthouse.

He's going into court today asking for a life sentence?

I've said it before, I'll say it again.

He's taking the fall for those guys.

Are you making this plea today of your own accord?

- [Vaughn] Yes, I am. - And you are aware that by pleading guilty to this crime,

you are giving up virtually all legal grounds

by which you could appeal the verdict?

Yes, sir.

[judge] Then I am in no position to do anything more

than sentence you to the custody

of the Division of Corrections for the term of natural life,

without the possibility of parole.

[gavel thuds]

[Vaughn] Mister?

- Did you get my note? - [Felton] Don't talk to him.

- I just wanted-- - What you want isn't important.

- [Vaughn] My note! I just want to know-- - You hear me?

Man! You didn't even give it to him!

Just like I asked you to do, huh?

Oh, man, why didn't you give it to him, huh?

What you afraid of? Why didn't you give it to him?

Get off! Why didn't you give him my note?

What note? What's he talking about?

[Vaughn] Get off me! Why didn't you give it to him?

[spectators murmur quietly]

[melancholy music plays]

With your permission, sir, I'd like some time to follow through on this.

- Convinced we got the wrong man? - Vaughn was there, all right.

- He just didn't pull the trigger. - I know.

[Howard sighs]

I can't help thinking...

Mrs. Ellison gets shot...

and the mayor, the governor, the commissioner

are on the phone within the hour.

A tourist gets shot outside the new stadium is...

It's not the kind of thing that keeps white folks coming to town.

That's what's bothering me.

We had a red ball going full throttle,

but if instead Catherine Ellison's name

was Louella Jones of the 1200 block of Calhoun Street...

would Beau have gotten an hour of overtime?

Kay.

Take a few days.

See what you can find out.

Thank you, sir.

He's a very sensitive child.

- [Howard] How so? - Let me show you this.

Look here.

Now, here's Vaughn, Emanuel, my husband,

down by Greenville.

Oh, I guess Vaughn must have been--

I guess he must have been about 12, maybe 13, here.

My husband had taken him hunting...

and Vaughn shot a rabbit.

And do you know what he did?

He buried it.

He felt terrible.

Said he was worried about how sad

that mama rabbit was gonna be...

when the baby didn't come home.

Mrs. Landry, do you think Vaughn killed that woman?

You raise two boys,

the same, give them the same love,

and one of them ends up at West Point,

at the top of the class.

I honestly don't know if he killed her.

He said he did.

He told you that?

Called me from the jail.

He told me he did it.

Said, "Aunt Rose, I'm sorry."

My husband and I, we battled for that boy's soul.

And that last time that he went to his mother,

I thought, "That's it, that's it, we lost him."

But when he called me from that jail,

I knew we didn't.

His soul, we didn't lose.

Can't nobody say I didn't love that boy.

Not Rose Landry,

not social services,

not you damn police.

Can't nobody say that.

I stayed on methadone all while I was carrying him,

and a good while after.

I-- I married Jeffrey on account of him.

I did these things, know what I'm saying?

Did Vaughn go and live with the Landrys

right after your husband died?

Yeah, they got a lot of love for him.

- Don't you think maybe they-- - He decided for his own self.

What'd he learn from them, anyway?

And then Vaughn decide to come back here?

He could have stayed, but he wanted to be with his mama,

singing in the church,

going fishing down in the boondocks.

I don't know what that got to do with my Vaughn.

[Howard whispers] I don't know.

You got any idea why he killed that woman?

He ain't the one.

I don't care what y'all say. I know that boy.

It ain't in him to murder nobody.

30 years.

[courtroom din]

[Robert] 30 years.

He's gonna spend 30 years in jail.

How do they determine that number?

I mean, how do they gauge

that 30 years of his life

equals what he helped that boy do to my wife?

I mean, is there some sort of slide rule?

Do they do it that way?

Homicide sentences have been developed

over the course of time.

Time.

Well, that's what he got, didn't he?

Time.

Thank you for coming.

- I know you didn't have to. - Yes, I did.

- It's my job. - Mine too, I guess.

I mean, after going to all the arraignment hearings and trials, I--

I feel like it was my vocation.

I thought that if I came here and saw them get what they deserve, I'd feel better.

I don't.

It didn't mean anything.

Catherine's dead.

That's the only thing that means anything.

It's like some sort of instant replay, really.

I mean, let's look at that one again.

Here's the gun.

Cold lips. Cops laughing.

Me, all alone.

Oh, you're not alone.

Oh, you're right, I'm not.

Because the funny thing is,

the instant they pulled that trigger,

I lost my wife, but I joined a club.

It's a very exclusive club.

But the funny thing about the club is,

none of the members want to belong.

It's like some sort of secret society

where only the initiated could recognize the other members.

Here comes an associate member.

She probably had someone who was close to her killed,

but not that close, maybe her mother-in-law.

There's a long-term member.

He's seen a lot of people go.

There's thousands of us.

And it's growing each year.

And we all end up talking to some poor homicide detective like you

and asking, "Why?

Why me?"

The truth is,

it's not "Why me?" anymore.

It's, "When me?"

I hope you don't take this personally, Detective Howard,

but, uh, I hope I never see you again.

Mr. Ellison, before you go, the--

Vaughn Perkins wrote you a letter.

Would you like it?

No.

Vaughn really wanted you to have his letter.

- Did he? - So, just take it.

I'll tell you what, why don't you give it

to any one of the people passing by here?

I think they'd understand it as well as I would.

[solemn music playing]

[Felton] You'd be better off just letting it be.

I mean, what do you expect him to say

that he hasn't had 20 chances to say already?

[Howard] I don't know.

[Felton] What are you going to say to him?

I don't know.

[melancholy music playing]

[door rattles]

[inmates catcalling]

[door rattles]

[Vaughn sighs]

They came and got me out of the dormitory

saying I had a lady friend in.

They didn't say it was no damn police.

Vaughn, please wait.

Sit down.

My name is Abdul Aziz.

Are you Muslim now?

Nation of Islam or Moorish brethren?

You got something to say to me?

Sit down, Vaughn, please.

[sighs]

[Howard] Please.

[sighs heavily]

I want to know if you killed that woman.

It was the will of Allah.

Oh, come on, Vaughn. I know about you.

I talked to your aunt.

Oh, yeah?

You know me.

Well, why don't you tell me, then?

You don't know nothing about me.

I saw your mom, too.

She all right?

How'd she look?

She looks fine.

She still doesn't think you could have possibly

murdered Catherine Ellison.

She swears you don't have the heart for it.

Heart ain't got nothing to do with it.

You know what I'm saying?

I've talked to a lot of people who've done what you've done.

Very few of 'em had your options.

Nice home in Baltimore County, with people who love you.

You should be there right now.

What were you doing in South Baltimore sticking people up?

Did you think it was something your dad would have respected?

[sighs] Nah, it's nothing like that at all.

[sighs heavily]

[sighs]

I wanted to hold the gun.

Because I wanted the power.

Then everyone would be safe, and then nothing would happen.

You took the gun so nothing would happen?

I thought if I took the gun...

But the lady...

she wouldn't give up the locket.

And I felt the whole sky fall on top of me.

What I did to that lady...

[Vaughn sighs]

...it's done.

And she's gone.

I can't do nothing about that.

[Vaughn sighs]

She's gone.

And this...

this is about me.

[sighs tearfully]

[door bangs shut]

[somber music playing]

- Well? - Well, what?

Were the mysteries of life unveiled?

[scoffs]

He's still my shooter, right?

He is the shooter.

You should have left it alone, Kay.

Yep.

[melancholy music playing]

[*]