07x01 - Child's Play

[bunniefuu]

♪ In the heat of the night

♪ I've got troubles
wall to wall ♪

♪ In the heat of the night

♪ Yeah

♪ Must be an ending
to it all ♪

♪ Oh

♪ But hold on

♪ It won't be long

♪ Just you be strong

♪ And it'll be all right

♪ In the heat of the night

♪ In the heat
of the night ♪

I feel like crying.

Now, that would
be a spectacle,
wouldn't it?

A police officer
crying on a public street.

Why is this
happening?

Listen, the bible says

There's a time
for everything.

The bible never said,
"bye, bye, bill."

What can be done
about it?

The answer to that,
sugar child, is nothing.

The city council
hired me,

And they can quit
hiring me,

Or, in other words,

They can fire me.

But, see, your job
is different

Because you're
under the new
civil service plan.

Chief, stick
to the subject,
which is you,

Not me.

You could fight
this thing.

You could get a lawyer.

It's a new kind
of discrimination.

Fighting these people
would be like
fighting shadows.

You could name them,
but you'd never
touch them,

And there they all
sit up there

In heavy consultation--

All the shadows.

Good name
for that place.
The house of shadows.

You are a liar,
and you're
out of order.

Miss delong,
this committee
has the power

To renew a contract
or not.

Gillespie's out.
Forbes is in.

Those votes
were taken

When chief gillespie's
supporters were away.

I move we vote again.

I second the motion.

No. A quorum
was present.

It was
a perfectly
legal vote.

Ask marcus here.

The vote's legal
and binding.

And done.

Forbes will be
driving in

From memphis tomorrow,

Ready to take over
next week

When gillespie's
contract expires.

I want the reason
chief gillespie
was ousted

Stated for the record.

For the record,

The people
of this town

Wanted a change.

Why don't you say
what you really mean.

Fine.

For the record,
crime skyrocketed

During gillespie's
administration.

We had r*pes,

We've had burglaries,

And we've had more
violent murders than ever.

Culver, sparta's
crime rate

Has grown with
the population,

Same as everywhere else.

That's right.

Well, miss delong,

Our job is to see
that sparta, mississippi,

Does not grow like
everywhere else.

Not in any way.

You really
are despicable.

[Horse whinnies]

Go get 'em!

[Woof woof]

[Woof woof]

[Woof woof]

I don't see how
I'm going to stop it.

There isn't
anything to stop.

My contract has expired.

The civil service
committee refuses
to renew it,

And that's all
there is to it.

That vote didn't
have anything
to do with ability.

It was all about
our relationship.

Well, sure,

But those people
never liked

The way I operated
as chief.

You were the best chief
they ever had.

Well, thank you,
but maybe it's time
I did retire.

It's a lot
of hard work.

Virgil will be
back soon.

Yeah. He'll be back
with a law degree,

Wanting to move on
to other things.

Uh, chief,

Oh, excuse me.

No, come in, parker.

Uh, chief, I just
got off the phone

Protecting you
from arlo bailey.

Again?

Yes, sir. He was
raising the devil
about some kids,

Demanding to talk to you.

How lucky I wasn't here.

Yes, sir.

Chief, he sounded
real crazed,

Uh, even for him,

So I sent a car

Out his way
to check things out.

Listen, tell jamison
I want to see him

As soon as he arrives.

Yes, sir, chief.

Something else wrong?

Uh, no, sir.

Not--not really,

'Cept I'm really
going to miss
calling you chief.

Oh.

Can you call a man chief
even after he's gone?

After he's gone,
you can call him
anything you want.

[Woof woof]

[Woof woof woof]

Let's go!

[Woof woof]

Those dogs of yours
are little darlings.

Not if you trespassing,
they ain't.

What did you call
about this time, arlo,

The kids again?

Yeah, about
the th time.

Keep those suckers
off my property,

Or I'll handle
them myself.

Like you handled
ben rogerson?

Rogerson att*cked me.

My lawyer's
going to prove
it was self-defense.

Yeah.

Well, who was the kid
bothering you this time?

Billy caton
and his friend.

Tell his mama he needs
to be whooped.

He's only a little kid.

Yeah, I know that.

If he weren't,
I'd sh**t him.

[Tv] and now
in national news,

Here's jerry sanders.

The case of the alleged
-year-old k*ller

Ken wallace, continues
to grip the community

Of purewater, florida.

Earlier today,
bonnie baxter
was outside

The claxton county
police headquarters.

Jerry, I'm here
with the claxton county

District attorney
chester quinn.

Mr. Quinn, we've
heard reports

That the juvenile
stalked his victim.

Can you confirm that?

We believe the boy
watched the man

With binoculars,

Entered his house
through a window,

And sh*t him.

How did he come
into possession

Of a . Magnum?

He found it
at home.

Why did the boy
take such
drastic action?

I guess
he wanted revenge.

Jerry, citizens
here in florida

Are still stunned

By the recent
escalation
of v*olence.

[Mrs. Caton]
billy ray?

Oh, billy ray's
just fine.

Yeah.

Now, I want to know...

Yeah. I want you
to take me

To that place
you took me to
the other night.

Well, we could go
tomorrow night.

I will not.

No.

What? [Laughing]

Now, come on.

Well, now you stop
talking like that.

[Laughing]

Oh...

The committee refused
to take another vote.

I can't believe
it's over.

Harriet, it's time
to move on.

That's why I asked you

To come and meet me
here now.

To look at
this house again?

No, no.

I wanted to ask you
to help me decorate it.

You bought it?

My offer
was accepted
just a while ago.

Congratulations.

That means
you'll help me, huh?

Of course I will.

It would be a joy.

Can I really?

Well, you the only one
that knows what you like,

And the way you like it,

Uh, that's what I want.

[Machine g*n fires]

Hey, dee.

How's your mama
and them?

Oh, getting by.

Lydia, this is
lieutenant jamison.

We're here because
your son's been playing

On arlo bailey's land.

You talking
about that nut case

Who lives across
the woods?

Bailey's not a man
to be messing with.

He's awaiting trial
for manslaughter.

Why don't you
do something about him?

You just keep your boy
off his land.

Nobody wants to see
billy ray get hurt.

Thanks for the tip.

That wasn't
a tip, ma'am.

That's a serious warning.

Pull back!

There's another one
over there!

[Bang]

Look out!

[Machine g*n]

Move, men, move!

Don't stand there.

[Machine g*n]

You been fooling around
on arlo bailey's land?

Just playing.

Well, stop.

That man is crazy.

Johnny said
he k*lled someone.

You stay away
from there.

Go watch tv
in your room.

You ready?

Let's get out
of here.

Let's go
to the fishing shack.

You ain't gonna
k*ll arlo.

You ain't even
got a g*n.

Is that thing loaded?

You're crazy, billy ray.

Good boy.

[Crash]

You, boy!

I'm going
to b*at you to death.

[Dogs bark]

[Woof woof]

[Woof woof]

[Woof woof woof]

Sign right here,
ma'am.

Please drive safe.

Excuse me, officer.

Could you direct me
to the heart of sparta
motel?

Are you who I think?

I don't know.

I'm hampton forbes.

You're replacing
our chief, bill gillespie.

That's right.

My new boss.

Mm-hmm.

Well, hi.

Hi.

You don't want
to stay

At the heart
of sparta.

There are
friendlier places.

There always are,
thank the lord.

Now, if you take
your next right,

You'll run into
the mcguffy house.

Good hotel,
great steaks.

Thank you very much,
officer corbin.

Any time.

All units, we got
a fatal sh**ting

At axlin lane.

Would that be
arlo bailey's address?

Sure is. Somebody
k*lled that fool.

[Woof woof woof]

[Woof woof woof]

Chief, uh,
this here's
betsy mulligan.

She called it in.

Hi, betsy.

You found him dead,
did you?

Yeah. She used
to work for arlo.

Couple of times a week
I run errands.

What time
did you find him?

Half past : .

Uh, these dogs here,

W-were they inside
the house

When you found him?

Oh, they was outside,

Roaming around
like usual.

Those dogs
like to bite,

So I locked them up inside

After I called y'all.

Uh-huh.

Uh, excuse me, chief.

You might want
to look at this.

Well, uh,
the screen door

Was busted
from the inside.

Does that
mean something?

Well, it certainly
means something,
parker.

It depends on who
did it and when.

It was no robbery, chief.

No?

His wallet was lying
right over there.

Cash is still in it.

What did you do
about the dogs?

Animal control's
on its way.

Fine.

What time
did this happen?

I'd say it was
about an hour ago.

The body's
still pretty warm.

What went on here,
you reckon?

The sh**t was about
feet away

And hit him with three
small-caliber slugs.

Was this window
forced open?

No, but the weeds

Look like they've
just been mashed down,

And there's
an overturned
trash can here.

Uh-huh.

What, a lot
of people hate
this guy?

I can't think
of a living soul

Who'd tell him
it was tuesday.

[Luann] is that why
we're staking out
rogerson now?

Yeah. Yeah.

Do you think
we're wasting our time?

Aw, I don't know.

Maybe rogerson thought

That arlo was going
to get away

With k*lling his kid.

Bubba.

That looks like
rogerson's blue pickup.

What's he carrying,
some kind of purse?

g*n case.

Oh, chief.

Look what your
favorite newspaper
just came out with.

Well, well.

Well, you know,

They practically
just flat-out
accused rogerson

Of murdering
arlo bailey.

We don't have
enough evidence

To search
rogerson's house.

Where'd that paper
get evidence?

Well, this editor's
a vigilante.

Vigilante doesn't
need evidence.

All he needs
is a victim.

A lot of people
hated arlo,

But everybody
figured

He was going to b*at
that manslaughter
charge.

Think he would
have, chief?

Oh, I sure do.

Yeah, the law's
written to protect
everybody.

Everybody who can
afford a good lawyer.

There's rogerson.

Pull over here.

[Woman] can I help you?

You can't go
back there!

Mr. Rogerson,
you get out of here
right now.

Donner, you're
a filthy liar!

I just printed
the facts.

Arlo bailey deserved
his day in court!

Day in court?

I'll tell you
about a day in court!

My boy never had
a day in court!

No! Get away!

Help!

Hold on.

That man
tried to k*ll me,

Just like he k*lled
arlo bailey!

Hello.
I'm hampton forbes.

Yes, sir.
I'm dee shepherd.

Chief gillespie's
expecting you.

Chief gillespie,
hampton forbes.

Well, thank you, dee.

Please sit down,
mr. Forbes.

And welcome to sparta.

Thank you,
chief gillespie.

Well.

I'm going to be meeting

With some members
of the city council
tomorrow.

I thought it was
important to meet you.

I don't want
any misunderstanding
between us.

Well, neither do i.

And there isn't
going to be any.

I want you to know
you'll be working here

With some fine
men and women.

There's never been
a public complaint

Against any policeman
except one.

By the way,
here's a case
you'll inherit from me.

Oh, yeah. I read about
this fella rogerson.

One highly
excitable man.

Yeah, why, he sure is,

Though I have to confess

It kind of tickled me,

His as*ault on that
newspaper editor.

Uh, preston donner,

Who is the owner
as well as the editor,

May be the worst enemy
I've ever had.

Because of you
personally

Or because of you
as a policeman?

Well, there's
the personal thing,

But he's very much
down on the police
department.

You'll meet him
soon enough.

The man that he
slanders in here,

Rogerson, probably
has an alibi in the case.

He claims to have been
with his brother

Out in the woods
sh**ting targets
at the time.

Oh. Uh,
inspector forbes,

This is bubba skinner,
your captain of patrol.

Pleasure to meet you.

Yeah, yeah, me, too.

By the way, virgil tibbs,
your chief investigator,

Usually sits over there.

He's on a leave
of absence.

Uh, chief, uh,
rogerson's brother

Supported what earl said,

And the stories match.

That's that alibi
I was talking about.

Meantime,
I've been thinking

About arlo's
two guard dogs.

Two meanest mutts
you ever saw.

Just as soon
chew on you
as look at you.

Maybe they knew
the sh**t.

Well...

I'll be at
the mcguffy house

Till I find
a permanent place.

Fine. We'll meet
during the week.

See you all soon.

Yeah, yeah. You bet.

Well, he seems like
a pretty nice fella.

Yeah. City council
thinks so, anyhow.

Oh, chief, you know
what I was thinking?

Maybe them dogs
was drugged.

What do you think?

Well...

Puts us back
where we were.

In order to drug them,

You got to get
close to them.

Why would
the m*rder*r drug them?
Why didn't he k*ll them?

Hmm. Good question.

It's too bad dogs
can't talk, huh?

Beauregard
can almost talk.

But I guess
if dogs could talk,

They wouldn't be
man's best friend.

Do you suppose
anybody could
get in here

Past beauregard?

No. No one could get
past beauregard...

Except for that one time.

When was that?

Time my bicycle
was stolen.

Well, where was he?

I was feeding him
inside the house.

Right here.

[Woof]

Inspector forbes,
you know,

We've been looking
for a man like you
for a long time.

I'll certainly
try to live up to
your expectations.

Oh. Pres.

I'd like you to meet
captain forbes.

This is preston donner.

He's the owner
of the sparta herald.

When you have a minute,
we'll have a chat.

I recommend that you
hold your questions

Till after mr. Forbes
takes over.

He's going to be chief,

No matter
what you ask.

Don't get me wrong.

The sparta herald
welcomes you, chief.

Only too glad
to see the last
of gillespie.

He was bad
for this town.

Well, you can
ask me anything,

Anytime you see me,
including now.

All right. Your rank
on the memphis
police force

Was inspector.
I'm not familiar
with that title.

What does that entail?

Inspector is like
a precinct commander.

Memphis has
five precincts--

North, south, east, west,

And my district--
downtown central.

Downtown memphis.

Guess you see
everything there.

Everything,
and then some.

What made you
choose our town?

Well, our town
chose him.

We were looking
for a change.

Speaking only for myself,

I can say that
mr. Coleman's right.

I wanted a change.

Chief, betsy mulligan.

Oh, yes.

Do come in,
miss betsy.

I want to thank you
for coming down.

I'll only
take a second.

You seen arlo
feed those dogs.

Now where did he
feed them,

Inside the house or
outside the house?

No. Inside. He'd
call them inside

And feed them
on the porch.

Oh. How many times a day?

Oh, just once,
always around : .

Around : .

That's all I wanted
to know, miss betsy.

Thank you very much.

Thank you. Anytime.

Arlo bailey was sh*t
around pm.

Now those dogs,
they were eating

About the same time,
I presume.

Well, the screen hook
was broken,

So arlo didn't
let them out.

They must have busted out

When they heard
the g*nshots.

Sure. They were scared.
That could be.

But if rogerson
did k*ll arlo,

He had to have been
watching him.

He had to know
when arlo locked
those dogs inside.

Who else...

Knew about
that feeding time?

Don't tell me
billy ray's in
trouble again.

No. Uh-uh.
We were just hoping

He could help
i.d. A suspect.

He's inside
watching tv.

I got to run
to the bank.

You going to need me?

No, not right now.

The purewater,
florida, case

Is yet another example

Of the rampant v*olence
sweeping our nation.

One can point
to the abuses
some children suffer

Or the stress
of growing up

In our modern society.

But perhaps we'll
never truly understand

What motivates
a child to k*ll.

For the entire
channel news team--

[Knock knock]

I'm jerry sanders
wishing you--

Hey, billy ray.

We got something
to ask you.

You mean about arlo?

Yeah, as a matter
of fact.

I heard someone sh*t him.

Who told you that, son?

Heard people talking.

Do you go to
mr. Bailey's house
a lot?

Yeah.

Me and johnny reed.

Do you ever
see this man?

I think I've seen him
in the newspaper.

You ever
seen him over
at arlo bailey's?

I seen him a couple times.

What was he doing?

I don't know.
Just walking around.

Guess you saw him
driving around

In his red pickup,
too, huh?

Yeah. I seen him
driving it.

Rogerson's pickup's
not red.

It's blue.

Blue as the sky.

Think the kid
was just confused?

No. I think
the boy was lying.

Let me talk to the chief.

Just like your daddy
taught you, now.

Excuse me, sir.
You're charlie reed.

That's right.
What's going on?

Oh, we just need
to talk to your boy.

Johnny.

What did you do?

Whoa, whoa, whoa.

Just want to know
if, uh, you ever
seen that fella.

I never seen him.

Well, your friend
billy ray said

He saw this guy
hanging around
arlo bailey's.

Maybe he did.

Yeah.

And, uh, maybe he didn't.

And maybe the wrong guy
could go to prison.

Now you wouldn't
want that.

Do I have to whip
the truth out of you?

No. I'd have
to stop you
from doing that.

Billy ray wanted
to get arlo back
for them dogs.

He said he was
going to k*ll him.

I figured he was
just joking around,

But when we got there,

He pulled out
his mama's g*n.

Did you go in with him?

No, sir. I went home.

So you didn't see him
sh**t arlo bailey.

No, sir.

Are you going
to arrest billy ray?

We just gonna talk
to him right now.

Then what?

And then see
what he has to say.

Mrs. Caton?

What's wrong now?

Uh, mrs. Caton,
is your boy home?

I don't know.

I'm just back
from the market.

Do you own a . ?

Yes. Why?

Let's go get it, please.

Billy ray!

Billy ray caton!

I guess he's gone.

Where is his bedroom?

Come on.

When was this little
bank busted open?

Billy ray must have
just done that.

Oh. Uh, well,
where's the . ?

In my room.

Top drawer middle.

. 'S been fired, chief.

So it has.

You been doing
any f*ring with this?

No.

You don't really think
billy ray k*lled that man.

I think he could have.

Y'all have any relatives
in town, ma'am?

No. They're all
in baton rouge.

The, uh,
the boy's daddy--

Does he live
with y'all?

He's dead.

k*lled himself.

Oh. Well, when
did that happen?

A year ago
in louisiana.

Ma'am, does the boy
have any, uh, places--

Hiding places he might
have run off to?

Sometimes billy ray
and johnny play

By that fishing shack
down at brewer's pond.

Maybe that's where he is.

Does your son know
his daddy's dead?

Oh, sure.

Billy ray
found him dead.

[Car approaching]

There it is
right there.

Chief, we'll search
around back here.

Go ahead.

There he goes.

Come on.

He's o.k.
He wasn't hurt.

It's all right.

It's all over now.

It's just beginning.

What about the other
little boy?

Johnny reed?

He'll testify
for the state.

Billy ray is--
is years old.

I mean, this is a shame.

I hear they'll prosecute
that boy from florida

As an adult, too.

'Cause he's all of .

But arlo bailey's
m*rder here

Was just as cold
and calculated
a k*lling.

We don't know that.

The boy hasn't talked yet.

He could get
years.

. Kid hasn't
even lived that long.

If you didn't file
any complaint--

Well, I did.

Hi.

Oh, hi.

So how do I
read this face?

Sad to be leaving
all this, or glad?

What do you mean
by all this,

All the terrible things
that go on?

Because there's
no leaving them

Until we leave
this world, surely.

Well... So how about lunch?

No time.

Got time for supper?

That would be nice.

Fine. Meantime,
I've got a desk
I got to clean out.

Chief.

Uh, it--it's time
to transfer
the little boy.

Hi.

Hi.

Want to take
a ride with me?

Where?

To another place--

Something like this,
but a whole lot nicer.

But not home?

No.

Not for a fella
that sh*t somebody.

I tried to leave.

Say what?

I wanted to go
out the window.

Why did you
climb in that window
with that p*stol

In the first place?

I hated him.
He tried to k*ll me.

He turned his dogs
loose on me.

I went in there
to k*ll him,

But I got scared,
and I couldn't.

You say you wanted
to go back out
that window--

I think, anyhow.

Why didn't you?

Arlo came
charging at me.

He said he'd k*ll me
with a baseball bat.

With a baseball bat? Hmm.

So...

You sh*t him
to protect yourself, huh?

Yes, sir.

Listen, on the way
to where we're going...

Let's stop off
and see a friend of mine.

You'll like him.

Who?

The district attorney.

We'll go see him
together. Come on.