03x03 - The Big Never

[bunniefuu]

[MUSIC PLAYING]

♪ I got a letter this mornin' ♪

♪ How do you reckon it read? ♪

♪ Said, "Hurry, hurry, the man you love is dead" ♪

♪ I got a letter this mornin' ♪

♪ How do you reckon it read? ♪

♪ It was sayin' "Hurry, hurry ♪

♪ The man you love is dead" ♪

♪ Well, I grabbed up my suitcase ♪

♪ And I took off down the road ♪

♪ When I got there he was layin' on the coolin' board ♪

♪ Grabbed up my suitcase ♪

♪ And I took off down the road ♪

♪ Mmm, when I got there he was layin' ♪

♪ Layin' on the coolin' board ♪

♪ Mmm, mmm ♪

It's just like the paperwork says. Read the report.

JIM DOBKINS: Our feeling is that the prosecution didn't make a full accounting or mount a suitable case.

So we have to do that now... get the full accountin'.

- [CLEARS THROAT]

Around the end of the first week, family got the note.

JOHN BOWEN: Envelope's handwritten, so this isn't a brainiac.

Processing stamp's from a post office in Farmington... that could have been dropped in any mailbox.

We're puttin' men out there to canvass.

You see this?

BOWEN: Twiggs said they've been fielding calls from Martians all day.

What's the Ozark Children's Outreach?

BURT DILLER: Some charity.

ROLAND: You think it's true?

Girl's alive?

I think she is.

What were you focusing on prior?

Neighborhood surveillance. Like it says in the report.

Right, yeah. Uh...

"All day." Mm-hmm.

But you guys didn't get to the house till after everybody else.

I mean, you'd have got there first if you were in the neighborhood, wouldn't you?

Well, mighta taken the call late, or...

I'm a little fuzzy.

Wayne probably has a better memory.

The picture doesn't show anything new.

Nothing that suggests a blackout, and that's good.

Since your CT scan looks clean, I think the concern right now is the need to adjust your lifestyle to what's happening.

I wasn't...

He explained it wrong.

Didn't drive in my sleep or any kind of "state."

I mean... at the time, I...

I believe I-I did know what I was doin'.

It's only I forgot later.

We're just gonna have to do some things differently.

OK, Dad?

I went up there for a reason.
I just can't remember.

It's not like I'm losin' it.

HENRY: Do you remember the rest of dinner at my place?

Remember me driving you home?

Yeah.

Heather drove you home.

Now we're playing "gotcha."

DOCTOR: Mr. Hays, your son loves you.

Our only concern is for your well-being.

I know my son loves me, Doctor.

But thanks for walking me through that.

The place you found yourself.

Do you know why you might have wanted to go there?

Does it have any significance?

HENRY: Yeah. It did.

He did a couple interviews for this show.

Been talkin' about an old case took place out there.

- What, you rattin' on me?
- What, are you workin' a case?

It was never fully solved.

People don't remember being babies... it's good we get to revisit this stage at the end.

Mr. Hays, believe me, I can understand your frustration with the disease.

A disease you can't even say what it is.

We can say what it almost certainly is.

I told you.

You try puttin' me in a home, I'll off myself.

Put it out your head.

AMELIA: Don't you want to know?

You do.

And she needs help, doesn't she?

AMELIA: Julie.

WAYNE: Yeah.

You know, it was just a case when I caught it.

I didn't know it'd be my last.

You with the book these last years...

I feel like I'm... tired of this thing being in our lives.

Like when we met.

I mean, Saturday night, your mom's got the kids... got this thing sittin' between us.

So what do you want to do?

I don't know.

There was a motel back there.

We could just drink and have sex all night.

Boy, that'd be great.

Alan said so far they have her prints on the counter

and some shelves in the main area.

Were there any behind the pharmacy?

He didn't know. Sallisaw PD's got it.

Shouldn't you talk to them?

May come back on me.

It's not like if they check, someone's gonna have my back.

[WAYNE SIGHS]

What if I talk to them?

Sallisaw.

An author with a book about the case.

I have galleys, I'm legitimate, I bet I could get 'em to share with me.

- I doubt it.
- No, no, no, no, no.

I'll get done up, bookish but sexy, intimidated by those big, tough cops.

[CHUCKLES] This is, like...

Afro Hart to Hart? That it?

- AMELIA: Come on.
- [LAUGHING]

Wanna use the pay phone, we're here? Check on the kids?

Why don't I call from the motel?

[CHUCKLES]

[STARTS CAR]

We need to walk it back.

Re-examine it all.

It's like a thing's staring right at us.

Got that feelin' myself.

[KIDS LAUGHING]

The Purcells.

Said they were gonna play with their neighbor,

- the Boyle kid.
- Yeah?

But he said they didn't have any plans.

Why would the Purcell kids lie about meeting the Boyle kid?

What were they up to?

What were they really doin'?

Back to the kids.

Talk to the parents again,

the Boyle kid, any others knew 'em.

Go back through the house again, right?

Yeah, right on.

That's good, man.

Get that teacher to help with the kids.

ROLAND: Wayne had the idea them kids would tell him stories.

And he was correct.

Y'all f*cked a good detective there.

You know that, right?

I wouldn't argue with you.

But it wasn't me.

Probably didn't even give you sh*t for it when you saw him, huh?

I can't say he did, no.

Purple Hays. My man.

Tried to get him transferred over here twice, ya know?

Blocked both times by the major's office.

Told me not to ask again.

Feels like we should stay on point.

I'm makin' a point, son.

ROLAND: You played with Will and Julie a lot, huh?

RONNIE BOYLE: Not really. I mean, I hung out with Will at school a little.

But y'all hung out after school.

His dad said y'all played after school.

No, sir. We didn't play much.

I mean, I told him he could come over sometime to see the new puppy, but that's it.

JAMES BOYLE: He's home after school.

Or at basketball now.

He don't go out playin' much.

ROLAND: You said they played a lot... that neighbor, Ronnie Boyle?

- [OPENS POP-TOP]
- Yeah, well... three, four times a week.

They're best friends.

Did Ronnie ever come over here to the house?

Did you ever see him when the kids get together?

Um, no...

I guess not.

I mean, I know him and his parents from school.

And they'd go over to his place.

Well, actually, looks like they didn't really play together.

TOM: What is this...

What's this mean?

Why aren't you out there lookin' for her?

That's where she is.
Out there. She's alive.

The letter said she's out there.

Feds are runnin' a wide search, Mr. Purcell, and they have a lot more manpower.

We're just trying to focus on what's personal.

ROLAND: Would you folks be all right if we started going back through some of their things?

We're afraid now we... we mighta overlooked somethin'.

What?

We just don't know, ma'am.

ROLAND: We'll process this stuff and get it back to ya.

Don't lose it, OK?

We won't.

Say, one of you used to work at Hoyt Foods?

Yeah, I did.

On the chicken line.

Quit a year or two ago.

Make better money in tips at the Sawhorse.

Why?

Just asking.

Thank you, now.

So Wayne opened up that the kids weren't doin' what they said they were.

With that big reward, brought everybody out the woodwork.

ALAN: You see Wayne much anymore?

Not at all, really.

And I don't know why.

No hard feelin's, though?

Not between him and me.

We were good friends, as I see it.

I think it was... once we stopped workin' together, we just stopped.

Sometimes it's like that with people.

[CHATTER]

Dad, can I get a Transformer?

No.

Can we get something from the toys, Dad?

- If it's cheap?
- No.

Where the hell's the charcoal?

- How about if it's only a dollar?
- No.

Stores aren't supposed to be this big.

Can we at least go look at the toys?

No. You guys have to stay with me.

So we're tryin' to update the book, if possible.

Hearing about her prints at the drugstore, it's very significant.

How'd you hear about that?

My ex-husband.

He's a cop in Arkansas.

Always had a thing for cops, I guess.

KITTING: We got a few partials and a lot of fulls.

We verified it with the state crime lab.

It's definitely a match.

Were any of her prints found behind the pharmacy?

No.

But we didn't get to keep workin' the scene, neither.

End of the day, store just wanted to get back to business.

So hers were just the shelves.

COP: Yes, ma'am.

We only focused on the robbery, and that was months ago.

I'm about to clock out.

You wanna grab a bite? We can talk more about it?

All right.

Hey... I think we're done.

That was awful, right?

Since you guys were so good, I'll let you get one thing.

- Yes!
- Feel better, sad guy?

[LAUGHS]

Where's your sister?

She was right behind me. I don't know.

Come on.

BOTH: Becca!

Becca!

Becca!

Becca! Becca!

Becca! Becca!

WOMAN [P.A.]: ... please come to customer service.

Look for the nearest Wal-Mart representative and ask them to bring you to customer service.

- Rebecca Hays.
- It's been ten minutes.

Need to lock down the store.

- Shut all the doors, nobody in or out.
- Uh...

Listen to me. I'm a cop. State Police.

Lock down the store now.

I'll make an announcement, give me the mic.

Sir, I don't think that you...

- Give me the mic!
- REBECCA: Hi.

- Where were you?
- I don't know.

They were giving out chips in one place, and I stopped to eat some, and y'all were gone.

Goddamnit, you can't do that! You hear me?!

Don't f*ckin' do that, Rebecca!

[CRYING]

- Oh...
- [CONTINUES CRYING]

OK. OK.

Let's go. Let's just go home.

[INDISTINCT ANNOUNCEMENT OVER P.A.]

MAN: We were happy to help.

Especially once we heard she was a former employee of ours.

Just, it led to a lot of false tips.

You know, it's better to coordinate this kind of thing between our offices.

But we did.

The board cleared it with the county prosecutor's office.

I don't see any pictures of y'all puttin' up rewards for anybody.

Up till now, we've tended to help families with children that needed medical treatment.

But with it all over the news, and knowing the mother used to be in our family of workers, the board voted to contribute.

When did this outreach start?

Mr. Hoyt endowed the foundation after they lost their granddaughter a couple of years ago.

Mother worked on the chicken line. Where's that building?

Uh, let's see...it would be one of... those two.

You know what would help?

Names and dates of hire for every employee that works at this plant.

That's nearly people.

Faster we get 'em back, the better.

All right. Sure. Of course.

We'll start getting it together right now.

And the big man... Mr. Hoyt... he ever here?

Well, hardly, no.

Mr. Hoyt's been in Africa since mid-October.

- Safari.
- Oh, yeah?

My partner's a bit of a hunter himself.

[CLACKING]

[WHIRRING]

[TELEPHONE RINGS]

State PD. Task Force.

Uh-huh.

The girl's bein' held at a snake farm in Huntsville?

And how do you know this, ma'am?

Listen, we closed right now, but do me a favor-call back in the mornin'.

This number, and ask for Agents Bowen or Diller.

- FBI.
- [WAYNE CHUCKLES]

Tell 'em what you're tellin' me.

All right, now.

[HANGS UP PHONE]

Lady seen Julie Purcell in a dream.

She say her dreams always come true.

All this stuff's about that game.

Couldn't find his dice, but...

I'm not seein' anything.

Except he played a lot... and them other kids didn't play with him, huh?

Who gave Julie the doll, met 'em in the woods?

Who played the game with Will?

Where'd they go after school?

They were meant to be with that neighbor.

So what was your next move?

ROLAND: Shut down the park, except for search parties.

They were still doin' 'em every day.

Mostly volunteer.

State park's about acres.

AMELIA: So, how does it work?

Spot patterns.

Disturbance, flattening.

It's there, you just have to look for it.

Bent grass, compressed ground.

You tracked men in the w*r?

I did.

Did you march?

I did.

Funny how the protests stopped once the draft ended.

Hey, that, uh, poem you were teaching...

Yeah. You had some thoughts about it?

He says you call the story Time.

But you can't say its name.

Why is that?

I think it's because we're in time... and of time... but to name...

You separate yourself from something when you name it, and I think he means we can't be separated from time.

Oh.

I thought he meant it was like the name of God.

You know, how the Hebrews weren't supposed to say God's name.

Oh.

Think maybe we should have dinner sometime?

[CRICKETS CHIRPING]

[FOOTSTEPS APPROACH]

- AMELIA: Hey.
- Hi.

Those Sallisaw boys couldn't stop tellin' me stuff.

I was pretty tremendous.

I think I have a future at this. [LAUGHS]

- You're reading it! Finally.
- Not really.

Keep seeing my name.

Are you drunk?

No, I'm...

I had a drink at dinner.

This detective took me out to eat.

- Oh, terrific.
- No, actually,

I got a lot of info from him.

Listen, her fingerprints were found just on the shelves in the cosmetics aisle.

Looks like she was probably a customer.

They had the prior week's surveillance footage, I think they're gonna let me take a look at it.

I didn't get any of the sh*t you want.

At Wal-Mart.

OK.

Did something happen?

- Are the kids all right?
- The kids are fine.

- Are you all right?
- I'm all right.

But one thing. One favor.

Do not come bouncin' in here, half in the bag, all giddy about this sh*t.

Can you do that?

Can you summon the mental resolve to shut up about this sh*t with me?

If you feel this way, you don't have to talk to me like that.

- You could just tell me.
- You've been told.

Why don't you go check on your kids since you haven't seen 'em all day.

- They're supposed to be in bed.
- f*ck off.

I'm with them five times the amount you are for a job that treats you like sh*t.

I don't really feel like tradin' curses. I said my piece.

I'm not gonna stop, Wayne.

[INDISTINCT CHATTER]

[UNZIPS BAG]

Patrol's got the scene. Forensics is on the way.

That's where the boy d*ed.

Somebody carried him to the cave.

The office checked the field reports.

Nobody talked to this guy.

And the farm road's not on our maps.

I already talked to your people.

Man came here the next day.

What man?

Was he police? Sheriff's?

Man in a suit. Showed me a badge.

Asked me about those missin' kids,

if I'd seen anything.

Can you describe him?

A normal guy. White. A suit.

Showed me a badge.

What'd you tell him?
Did you see anything?

I told him I seen those kids 'fore.

Two or three times. They come down my road and into the woods.

Couple afternoons I seen 'em.

- You see anybody else?
- Yeah.

Told him I seen a car out here a couple times.

Nice one. Brown. Man and woman.

Uh, but it... but it wasn't the same day.

What'd they look like?
The man and woman.

Like y'all.

Black and white.

Man was n*gro.

I couldn't see faces.

Now, most times, you gotta be lookin' for our place... but sometimes people come out here.

Sir?

You mind we search your property?

Yes, sir, I mind.

Don't you need a warrant for somethin' like that?

If you make us get one.

I think you'll have to, son.

DIRECTOR: Can I ask... do you feel there was sufficient coverage of the neighborhood during the canvassing?

Yes, I do.

We brought whatever we had.

General rule is, you start close, then work your way out.

Did officers conduct multiple interviews

- with all potential witnesses?
- Yes. Mm-hmm.

And, uh, I feel like, honestly, everyone was givin' everything they had.

Well, we have people who say they were never questioned by the police, although they remember the officers going door to door.

WAYNE: Hmm.

I don't know.

If anyone got overlooked, it was a mistake.

We had over a hundred law enforcement officers out there.

Some residents did get talked to three or four times.

But nobody spoke to these people.

And we found two who both separately claim to have witnessed a very nice brown sedan driving around the neighborhoods, and later, away from Devil's Den on the day of the m*rder.

Brown sedan?

A witness said police talked to him once, and he told them about the car, but they never came back.

And there's no mention of the sedan in the field reports.

Another said police never took a statement, but they both noticed the car because it was new and upscale, and that was unusual for the area.

And that the vehicle kept driving around.

[CAMERA CLICKS]

Treads.

I remember. Treads.

Another former resident, Charles Snyder, said two weeks before, he reported that his boy and a friend had told of a black man with a scar, in a suit, at the cul-de-sac where the kids played near Devil's Den.

No one ever came back to question him.

None of this is mentioned in the official reports.

This alone, don't you think, points to serious flaws in the investigation from the beginning?

What's goin' on?

Really.

You have some new evidence?

Are you lookin' for Julie?
You find somethin'?

- HENRY: That's enough for today.
- No, I'm all right.

- I think we're doing well.
- I'm sure you do.

You see his distress?
This man is ill, Elisa.

- Henry...
- That is enough.

For today.

- [DOG SNIFFING]
- WAYNE: Over there.

Other side of the tree line.

It's hard to find. Kinda hidden.

That's where they played.

We need to process these toys.

Can bag the toys, but we need pictures to show the parents.

[TIRES SCREECHING]

[HORN HONKING]

[HONKING CONTINUES]

MAN : Hey.

[TRUCK DOORS OPEN, CLOSE]

EDDIE: Get up.

What's goin' on?

What are you doin', skulking around here?

Wha...

We got kids playin' out here, and we don't need you lurkin' around 'em.

My kids and two others say you keep comin' around that field where they all play.

What are you comin' around the kids for?

I'm not.

I don't.

- I have kids.
- No, you don't.

And we don't want you around, ya hear?

I live here! I have rights!

I fought for your f*ckin' rights, you assh*le...

[GRUNTING, GROANING]

You're a g*dd*mn bum.

You stay away from these kids.

And stay out of our neighborhood!

[ALL GRUNTING, GROANING]

[WOODARD GROANING]

You hear me now, boy?

You don't come around here no more.

We don't see you, and God help you if you talk to another child out here.

[ENGINES START]

MAN: Get the f*ck outta here!

[HINGES CREAK]

[COFFEE MAKER GURGLING]

So how's life in charge?

Ahh.

It's got its good and bad.

You talked to 'em? Alan's firm?

Yeah, they approached me.

The guy's kids hired them, he said.

ROLAND: But you support it?

Reopenin' it?

They tell you about the fingerprints?

Yeah.

You have any idea what that means to me?

I have to imagine.

But yes, sir.

You know, I...

I think of Lucy.

I wish she was still around to hear this.

Two years ago now.

Alan had her file.

I had the body brought back from Vegas.

What about you?

How you doin' with all this now?

I'm still sober.

Five years.

I know.

I'm proud of you, man.

So, uh... I got my Higher Power, and he's putting this in front of me now.

Cream and extra sugar still?

Yes, sir. Like a dessert.

How about the other one?

Your partner. He still around?

He's on the job.

Hasn't been in major crimes in a long time.

Anyways, yeah, me and him... kinda lost touch.

You didn't have to check on me, Lieutenant West.

You've done more for me than just about anybody.

Pulled me out of that hole five years ago.

Nah.

You done good.

Can I ask you for somethin'?

You can ask.

Would you pray with me?

God...

save me from anger.

God... save me from resentment.

God, save me from my judgments and prophecies, my... my need to control.

I have known You by the hawk and the dove...and I live at your infinite compassion.

Lord, guard what I hold dear, and let me never hold too dearly anything of this world. Amen.

[RECORDER BEEPS]

Brown sedan.

Farmer talked about a... brown sedan...

' ..

We knew.

Was that who... they played with?

Hmm.

She wrote a bit about how the games we found... got people worried that kids were gettin' k*lled playin' this stuff... or something...

Henry was, uh, five or six, I think, when she started writing.

Becca would have been... three or four.

[RECORDER BEEPS]

AMELIA: Scientists now theorize an infinite number of dimensions outside our own.

Einstein said past, present, and future are all a stubbornly persistent illusion.

Ohh... Oh, God.

And are you waking up to that illusion?

Now, while things fall apart, are you starting to see them clearly?

And at the end of all things...

are you awakening to what you withheld?

[BREATHING HEAVILY]

Did you confuse reacting with feeling?

Did you mistake compulsion for freedom?

Please, not... not like this.

[GRUNTS]

And even so... did you harden your heart against what loved you most?

Not like this.

Not like this.

Oh, sweetheart.

Did you think you could just go on and never once have to look back?

Please, I... I don't deserve this. I...

Whatever's happening, I-I don't deserve this.

No, you don't.

But it's happening anyway.

I'm so sorry.

[YOUNG REBECCA LAUGHING]

[BOTH KIDS LAUGHING]

Where is it? I...

[PANTING]

How much... do I have to lose?

Everything.

Same as everybody else.

I lost Becca.

No, you didn't.

Not the way you think.

You're worried what they'll find.

What you left in the woods.

Finish it.

- [TYPEWRITERS CLACKING]
- [OFFICE CHATTER]

[CHATTER CONTINUES]

[TYPING CONTINUES]

Got a message. The lieutenant wanted to meet you.

Movin' up in the world.

[GRUNTS]

TOM: No. I don't recognize 'em.

I think. I mean...

I know I didn't buy any of these.

Ma'am?

I don't think so.

I don't really remember.

I'm the one bought 'em toys.

I don't recognize any of those.

TOM: This about the reward?

Someone called us.

What's it have to do with?

Where'd you find these?

ROLAND: Looks like the kids had this kinda... play area hidden out in the forest.

Found these toys there.

TOM: They could be anybody's.

Had the kids' prints on 'em.

Another set of prints we can't ID.

And more of those straw dolls.

They were meetin' somebody?

Like some adult?

Maybe. Yes, sir.

What are these?

We haven't seen this.

It's an old baby album.

He brought it out. I...

I can't look at it.

Roland?

[WHISPERS] It's the same.

What's this one from?

That's Will's first communion.

He was ten.

What?

What?

SONG ON JUKEBOX: ♪ One by one ♪

♪ They're turning out the lights ♪

♪ I been feedin' that old jukebox ♪

♪ Just to hold you tight ♪

♪ Guess it's for the best... ♪

Purple Hays.

How you been, k*ller?

Just makin' my rounds. Places I'm not wanted.

- Dub SoCo.
- You served?

- Every day of my life.
- Yeah? What w*r?

m*therf*cker, get me two fingers of Southern Comfort.

He's a lieutenant with state police.

Coulda told him you were fixin' jeeps while the rest of us was gettin' sh*t at.

Coulda slapped my d*ck on the bar, too.

Nine years, you're still talkin' about your d*ck.

Well, I don't mean to.

It just... keeps comin' up.

New task force. I'm in charge.

Good for you, Lieutenant.

Say... that promotion for merit... or did it come with the pigmentation?

I think, unlike some others, I lacked a big f*ckin' mouth.

Hell, with affirmative action, you coulda been my boss by now.

Guess if I'd been clumsy enough to get sh*t, I'd be playing golf most days and callin' old buddies like I'm doin' 'em a favor.

Guess you had a few 'fore I got here.

Could be avoidin' home.

I was gonna keep goin', some race bit.

You never been very funny.

You feel like maybe bein' a detective again?

'Cause that, you were OK at.

Purcell case?

State's reopenin' it.

They want me to steer.

Look at you. [CHUCKLES]

Can't stop this rocket. Mm-mm.

You wanna get back to work, or not?

♪ Once again ♪

♪ The whole time they'll be talkin' ♪

♪ Yes, they will ♪

I, uh...

I'm sorry about the pigmentation line.

No, you're not.

Half-sorry.

♪ They can never understand ♪

♪ It's her sorrow, it's not a man ♪

♪ And no matter ♪

♪ What they say ♪

♪ We know she tried ♪

♪ Baby's packed ♪

♪ Her soft things ♪

♪ And she's left me ♪

♪ She's left me, she's left me ♪

♪ And I know ♪

♪ She didn't mean ♪

♪ To make me cry ♪

♪ It's not her heart, Lord, it's her mind ♪

♪ She didn't mean to be unkind ♪

♪ Why she even woke me up ♪

♪ To say goodbye ♪

♪ It's not her heart, Lord, it's her mind ♪

♪ She didn't mean to be unkind ♪

♪ Why, she even woke me up ♪

♪ To say goodbye ♪

Goodbye, baby.