01x08 - Old Wounds

[bunniefuu]

Previously, on Battle Creek...

Holly, who sent you those flowers?

I don't know. There was no note.

You were so drunk last night, you don't remember sending them...

I know who sent them.

How'd you find out?

Uh, he called.

It's the guy who runs the coffee shop down the street.

Why are you investigating my son?

I need you to run a check on a juvenile delinquent named Danny Brackish.

Danny has been living here in a halfway house.

Why didn't you tell me you were back?

You think you need backup to talk to me?

Guziewicz: By the time he was 16, things were so out of hand. He started using.

I'm not giving up on you.

(soft, distorted): Hey, baby.

Hey, baby... hey, baby, we're gonna play a game, okay?

It's called hideaway. Okay, you stay real quiet.

(indistinct, echoing shouts)

(pounding on door)

(pounding continues)

(distorted shouts)

Rosalee! Rosalee! Rosalee!

Open the door! Open the door!

(Rosalee screams)

(g*nshots)

(g*nsh*t)

(takes deep breath)

Excuse me, Agent Chamberlain?

Oh, hey. It's... it's Danny, right?

Wh... What's on your mind?

Um, I think the guy who's in prison for k*lling my parents maybe didn't k*ll my parents.

Um, is that something that the FBI could help look into?

Well, isn't there something your mother can do?

One of the perks of having the police commander as an adoptive parent.

We're not exactly on great terms right now, and even if we were, she's too protective.

I can't even ask Russ, because she'll definitely find out and shut it down. She'll probably sniff me out for just being on this side of the hall.

We're gonna go talk somewhere else.

You're, like, a foot taller than me, man.

Just means you got to work harder to create space.

So what makes you think after 17 years the guy that they convicted is innocent?

It started last week.

I didn't check in with my PO when I was supposed to.

So, I was waiting for my arraignment, and then I hear this guy.

I was never in that motel room where those two people were m*rder*d. Nuh-uh, no.

I've been a model prisoner for the last 17 years, in a place I never should've set foot in.

I was never in that motel room where those two people were m*rder*d.

Nuh-uh.

Danny: There he was... five feet in front of me, this... this dude I... I dreamed about finding and k*lling with my bare hands.

This monster, man.

Only he wasn't.

He was just a pathetic man, skinny and sick and sad-looking.

So did you talk to him?

Yeah, but I didn't tell him who I was, though.

He told me he never thought he'd get locked up for something he didn't do.

Danny, any man in prison will tell anyone who will listen that they didn't do it.

No, no, no.

He had two chances at parole.

He said that all he had to do was show remorse and they'd let him free.

He said he didn't do it both times.

Aw, come on, I mean, you gotta...

Man, look, on the off chance that this guy's for real... that would mean that whoever really did k*ll my parents... is walking around free.

I never k*lled anyone.

Yeah, I got that part.

I also got your rap sheet.

Two felony narcotics convictions, as*ault with a deadly w*apon...

I'm not gonna sit here and tell you I didn't do that.

v*olence is all a part of getting paid.

But k*lling? You do that, you don't get paid.

I'm not sure I buy that logic.

You k*ll someone who owes you, you never don't get paid after.

Yeah, I'm sure a guy like you knows all the ins and outs of how to make it on the street, right?

Okay, o... listen, hang on, man.

Listen, I was on the outside of that building when those g*nshots went off.

Did anyone see you outside?

Yeah.

Confirm that you were out there?

Yeah. Pete.

Pete?

Who's Pete?

Prelude Pete.

He drove a Prelude.

Wavy hair. One of them stupid mustaches, like the thin kind that make you look like you're a slow learner.

And what were you and Pete doing?

I was selling; he was buying.

And I told the cops that, but as far as I know, they didn't even look for him.

(grumbles)

So you want me to find... Prelude Pete with the wavy hair and a bad mustache from 1997 to corroborate your story?

Prelude was white.

♪ I might be gone right now ♪
♪ Check me out tomorrow ♪
♪ Eyes don't see when they're open ♪
♪ Please remind me to speak ♪
♪ I have fallen from the steepest mountain ♪
♪ Broken heart, you think ♪
♪ It's just you ♪
♪ So please forgive me ♪
♪ I'm lost to be found ♪
♪ I'm lost to be found. ♪

Why is the FBI reopening a homicide case I closed out 17 years ago?

I promised a friend that I would look into it, Councilman.

I'm not in the habit of doing favors for your friends.

So... good luck.

It was Danny Brackish.

Okay.

Okay, how do I help?

First, Danny asked for secrecy because he doesn't want his mother to find out.

And secondly, if you could walk me through your version of the events on the day of the double m*rder.

(sighs)

There was a known drug dealer.

Small-time guy, Clarence something or other.

He worked the corner out in front of the 6 Mile Road Motel.

By all accounts, the victims owed him money.

(pounding on door, shouting)

Open the door!

The door chain was ripped off the jamb, so we know that there was forced entry.

Ballistics confirmed that the m*rder w*apon was a SIG Sauer nine-millimeter p*stol, which we never recovered but... Clarence carried, according to four different witnesses.

He sh*t them several times at close range in the head, neck and chest.

Figure I was at the motel, uh, three minutes after the sh**t.

(indistinct police radio chatter)

Both victims were already dead.

(door creaking)

You hear that?

You can imagine my surprise.

We brought the kid back to the squad room and made him as comfortable as possible.

He seemed okay... considering.

So I showed him a picture of our suspect.

Is this the bad man you saw?

You were leading the witness.

You tainted his testimony by showing him a single photo.

You should have asked him to describe the person that he saw or maybe draw a picture of him.

We were all out of crayons.

Children are notoriously bad witnesses; you know this.

They're too eager to please... they will tell you what you want to hear.

Wasn't as if we based our case on the kid's testimony.

Three people saw Clarence running out of that motel right after the g*nshots, and he had one of the victims' blood on his clothing.

You didn't know that?

No.

Th-There is one other detail... uh, Clarence claims that he has an alibi.

Some guy named Pete in a white Prelude.

Did you look into that?

(chuckles): Of course I ran that down.

I found 137 different Preludes in this and surrounding counties, all different colors, none of them registered to a Pete or a Peter.

Guziewicz: Did you honestly think that you could reopen the Brackish homicide and that I wouldn't find out about it?

I guess, uh, discretion has a different meaning on the third floor.

Pritchett hired me 20 years ago.

He handpicked me as his replacement.

He is my friend.

He is gonna look out for anything that could turn my son's world upside down.

This might help Danny.

Reassuring him that the right man was prosecuted could give him closure.

You're not actually naive enough to believe that crap, are you?

Because no amount of fact-checking is gonna bring back Danny's biological parents, but it could send him spiraling.

I want you to drop this.

No.

I'm sorry... I made a promise to Danny.

I'm not asking, Agent Chamberlain.

With all due respect, Commander Guziewicz, you're not my superior.

Hey, what is it about this case that makes you willing to piss off Guziewicz so much, hmm?

Did you once put away a guy who turned out to be innocent?

Is this... is this you paying your penance?

Hmm? Is this... is this what got you sent to Battle Creek?

Why does everyone always have to have an ulterior motive with you, Russell?

Because everybody always has an ulterior motive, Milton.

Look, I can't stand Pritchett.

The guy rode me nonstop when he was my commander; he held up my promotion to detective for years.

And yet, I got to admit the guy does solid work.

I mean, how do you explain the victim's blood on his clothes?

During his interrogation, Clarence told Pritchett that he'd helped Rosalee sh**t up that day.

He said that she was afraid of needles.

Maybe nobody m*rder*d them.

Guziewicz: You went behind my back.

You want to ignore me, that's just fine.

But if you're gonna come into my world, please do it through me.

Why?

Your feelings get hurt when somebody keeps something from you?

What about the letters?

What letters?

Clarence said he tried to track down the little kid in the closet.

Said he sent letters to the cops, the-the foster system...

You wanted me to read those to you as a bedtime story?

I kept a convicted k*ller from preying on the emotions of a young boy.

I don't see no young boy here.

I do.

All I want to know is what really happened to my parents.

I have never kept that from you, Danny.

All you say is drug k*lling.

'Cause that's what it was!

Not if Clarence didn't do it.

(scoffs)

Why are you suddenly so obsessed with this?

(laughs)

Why am I obsessed with my parents' m*rder?

Because if it wasn't a drug k*lling, then maybe my parents weren't a couple of drug-addicted losers.

And maybe I don't have to be one, either.

(sighs)

I still treat you like a child because you act like a child.

Take responsibility for yourself and go and get cleaned up.

Stop blaming your drug habit on two people who've been dead for 17 years!

(sighs)

Ooh, is that where you went during lunch?

Mmm. I needed to buy a new bathing suit.

Do you remember the guy who sent me flowers?

Mm-hmm.

He just asked me to go on a five-day cruise to Jamaica.

Seriously?

Yeah.

A cruise?

Haven't you guys only been out on, like, what, two dates?

Three. They've all gone really well.

Apparently.

I think it's a good idea for you to just not do this.

At least make sure there aren't any skeletons in his closet.

I'll run a background check.

Well, he's a really nice guy.

I don't think you're gonna find anything.

I'm not sure that's entirely ethical, either.

It's fine.

(knocking)

Hi. Uh, Special Agent Milton Chamberlain with the FBI.

Are you, uh, Joseph Bartley?

FBI.

Geez. What... what did I do?

Nothing wrong.

It says here that you were the owner of a 1997 Honda Prelude?

Best car I ever had. What's this all about?

Uh, my colleague's obsessed with, uh, some guy named Pete who may or may not have borrowed your car 17 years ago.

Pete? Pete's my little brother.

I gave him that Prelude when I went off to Michigan State.

Milt: Did Pete, uh, by chance, have wavy hair and a little mustache?

(laughing): If you call it that.

It was the worst 'stache I ever saw, but he was so proud of it.

Stupid idiot.

You got any idea where we can find Pete today?

Over at Reese Cemetery.

He O.D.'d back in '02.

Oh.

(birds singing)

You know, as crappy as this place is, I'm sure they've cleaned the rooms at least once in the last 17 years.

Well, it's the same owner.

Let's hope that he remembers something that's helpful.

What the hell is he doing here?

Well, I called him last night to let him know that the case had legs.

I did not tell him to come here.

I figured the first step was you'd come back to the scene of the crime.

I just hope I can tag along.

Russ: No, you can't tag along, Danny.

You got to go home.

Come on, Russ. I just want to learn anything I can about my parents, just hear stories about what they were like.

Well, I can certainly understand that, but...

Russ: Do you really think you're in a place right now in your life where you can handle that?

Yes.

Yeah? Then why did you get arrested last week?

Yeah. What, you think I didn't know that?

Danny, you got to go home.

I'll call you later, all right?

Our temple used to make vegetarian meals for the homeless.

Then one day, there was this young couple with a little baby.

Woman: Kyle and Rosalee were so nice, and you never saw families out there.

We had to do something for them.

We had vacancies, offered them a room for a few nights.

Then our maid quit, and Rosalee started cleaning the rooms.

And it felt nice, watching them get back on their feet.

It was great.

Until they met Clarence.

He put them right back to living the way they used to.

The police had it right the first time.

It had to be that drug dealer.

Let's say Clarence never existed.

Could you possibly see someone else doing this?

Nobody.

Maybe Eli.

Man: Eli was just a kid.

I said "maybe".

Eli. Who's Eli?

He was, like, ten.

Woman: No, no, no.

He was 13, maybe 14.

He used to break into other rooms, steal things.

Maybe they came home and caught him.

Maybe he was old enough to graduate from a thief to a m*rder*r.

What are you expecting to find?

That the guy's an a* m*rder*r?

That he secretly lures innocent women onto luxury cruises, and then chops them up and feeds them to the sharks?

I found a ticket... illegal U-turn.

Ooh, we better warn her.

He might turn around suddenly.

Shut up.

You were supposed to be checking Kalamazoo.

I am, I am. What's his name again?

Brady Dallas.

Oh, my God.

Didn't pick up after his dog?

I found a list of juvie offenders.

He's on it? For what?

He's not on it, but a couple names up from where Dallas should be, there's a...

(whispers): There's a Dale. Holly Dale.

No.

What's her birthday?

Stop it. May, I think.

May 15?

I don't know. What did she do?

It's sealed.

There's got to be another Holly Dale.

With a birth date in May.

There's no way our Holly has a record.

(metallic thudding)

(sighs)

Ooh.

(Holly sighs, drawer closes)

What the hell is this?

Look, man, I saw the case file sitting inside.

I had to look at it.

What?

Danny, tell me that you didn't look at these crime scene photos, man.

It's the first pictures I've ever seen of them.

Daniel, I'll get you pictures of your parents, but ones without blood on 'em, all right?

Come on, you got to go.

Did you guys learn anything about them, like anything?

Russ: Come on, go!

What?

Well, you're not gonna tell him?

No. We just found out that his parents were good people trying to get back on their feet.

And what are we gonna hear tomorrow?

Huh? Make the kid feel good on Wednesday, make him feel like crap on Thursday?

Just get in.

Try not to get glass on your ass.

(laughter)

Okay, that's enough.

Party's over. Come on, back to work.

Come on.

Grab some popcorn.

It's like watching a bad episode of Cops.

Yeah, except you're the cop.

(laughs)

Remember the call from the golf course?

You were the first responder?

Yeah, that was funny.

That was a... that was a dangerous animal.

It was a turtle.

(laughter)

It was 86 pounds.

It was a dinosaur.

It starts running away, but then Agnew gets stuck in the mud...

Woman: Oh! and the dang turtle turns around, starts coming back after him.

He starts screaming.

Everybody else is laughing.

And Agnew pulls his g*n, and believe it or not, he goes, "Freeze!”

(laughter)

Pritchett, we found Prelude Pete.

It's quite possible that you sent an innocent man away to prison for 17 years.

This Pete... he back up Clarence's story?

He couldn't. He's dead.

But if you had bothered to dig a little bit deeper, then maybe you would have found him when he was still alive.

Then maybe he could confirm what...

Confirm what?

That Clarence named one of his addicts as an alibi? Come on.

You know, I can't wait to introduce you to Clarence when I get him out of prison.

Watch you apologize to him while you're begging him to stop b*ating you.

You know why you don't like me?

Tell me.

'Cause I treated you like crap.

You know why I treated you like crap?

Because you're an insecure idiot.

Because you were always too much of a hothead to make a good detective.

Apparently, you still are.

Milt: Hey, Russ.

So I got a current location on our latest lead, Eli Cunningham.

The delinquent kid who lived in the motel.

He's with the FBI.

Good to see you again, Agent Chamberlain.

You, too. Hold on.

I'll meet you out in the car, all right?

(indistinct chatter)

Hey, um, do you know when Holly's birthday is?

Hmm?

Holly's birthday... when is it?

May 15.

So, what did your new buddy Pritchett say about me after you walked out?

He didn't say anything about you.

Yeah, right. After that blowup?

It wasn't really a blowup.

It was more like you were just a dog barking at the wind.

That's not a saying.

It's an idiom, common in the deep South.

You're an idiom.

I don't understand your obsession with Pritchett.

He was a mean boss. Who cares?

Guy never thought I was worth a damn.

So what?

Oh, so, when someone doubts me, I like to shove it right back in their face face.

If we're gonna keep working on this, you're either doing it for Danny or you're doing it for justice. It cannot be about you trying to prove something to Pritchett.

Yeah, or D: all of the above.

And don't tell me you care more about that kid than I do.

You got that?

Milt: Eli, do you remember Rosalee Brackish from the motel you used to live in?

You know, I am where I am today because of her.

Inspired me as a kid, having front-row seats, watching the demise of a poor black woman, economically disadvantaged, had to resort to selling her body to feed her family.

Russ: Hold on a second.

You saying Rosalee was a prost*tute?

She had johns coming in and out all day.

I could hear them through my wall.

Didn't she live with the other victim... Kyle?

Kyle didn't care, as long as she brought in enough money for his next fix.

You want to update Danny on today's little meeting?

So, what are you saying?

You think it was a john that did it?

Maybe someone who had a jealous rage?

No, I thought Clarence did it, like the police said.

But if the FBI's looking into it, it makes me think the police got it wrong.

In which case, the person I would look at is the owner of that sorry excuse for a motel.

He tell you that story about how he got her off the streets, gave her a free room out of the goodness of his heart?

He said she earned free rent by cleaning the rooms.

(laughs)

She earned free rent from giving him free sex.

Russ: If he was getting what he wanted from her, then why would he k*ll her?

You know, Kyle started showing signs of actually cleaning up his act.

He got a real job, and he decided to move that family out of that hellhole.

And I know that Rosalee went in and told Patel he should find a new maid, that they were leaving.

And the next day, they got k*lled.

And the poor little orphan found in the closet... had to listen to his own parents getting k*lled.

You know, I wonder whatever happened to that kid.

Hey.

Got you those photos I promised you.

Yeah, they look nice.

(sniffs)

Yeah, I bet they'd be real proud of you right about now.

Look, it's normal. Marriages, they-they go stale.

Young girls, they're... they're pretty, right?

They're exciting. They make you remember things that you forgot.

Maybe... maybe she turned to you because you'd already done so much for her.

I never cheated on my wife before that.

Or after.

Rosalee was different.

See, you were always too hard on Russ.

He was good on the streets, but he's great in the box.

Shh. I'm trying to listen.

Russ: I mean, you fell in love with her.

And she fell in love with you. Or so you thought.

Right up until the point where she told you to get a new maid, told you she was leaving.

And that's when you realized that she was never in love with you.

She was just using you for a free room.

And that made you angry.

Yes, I fell in love with her.

Which is exactly the reason I wouldn't want her dead.

The cops got the right man. Clarence k*lled them.

You k*lled two people!

You orphaned a young child.

You let an innocent man rot away in a prison for 17 years for a crime that you committed!

You!

You have a conscience.

You have a soul.

You've got that voice in your head that keeps you up at night, gives you nightmares about a mistake that you made 17 years ago. Don't you see?

This is your chance to get rid of that voice.

This is your chance to-to shut that voice up.

To get some peace.

I think I need to get a lawyer.

(sighs)

Russ: Now, lawyering up this quick?

This son of a bitch is guilty.

The only thing lawyering up proves is that you came on too strong.

You were working against yourself in there.

I nearly got him to cr*ck.

Yeah. You were nearly a good detective.

Enough.

Even if he is guilty, we're gonna have a bitch of a time proving it.

There is one witness who's been thinking about these murders almost nonstop for the last 17 years.

What, are you nuts?

Danny was three years old. He's not gonna remember squat.

His conscious mind won't remember.

When a large-T trauma occurs, especially to a child, the information isn't processed completely. It gets locked away in inaccessible memory networks.

But the information is still there.

Now, there's a process called EMDR that can help us access that information.

Russ: That's a great plan, Milt.

Dredge up the worst memories of his life, and then make him relive every grisly moment.

Milt: EMDR is actually designed to help cope with those memories properly.

No. No, no, no, no. No, no.

No. I saw Danny and...

Milt: What?

Nah, he's just... he's way too fragile.

He's way too fragile. I mean, if-if we haven't... done enough damage by dragging him through this already, then this is just gonna seal it.

Look, I believe that this will help Danny.

And it could help us.

As a cop, I think it's a great idea.

As a mom...

(sighs)

Does it even matter what I say this time?

As a law enforcement officer, no, it doesn't.

But... you should be there.

(sighs)

By replicating the eye movements of REM sleep, it's believed that the subject is able to access traumatic images through other unaffected channels, and hopefully those memories are normalized and... easier to cope with.

I want you to watch this as closely as you can.

I want you to try to remember any single detail from that horrible day.

Think about her clothes or how she smelled.

Guziewicz: Would this help?

You were holding this when we found you in there.

Couldn't get you to go to sleep without it until you were seven years old.

Milt: Okay.

Now, anything that you remember, just say it as it comes into your mind.

(Rosalee breathing raggedly)

Rosalee (echoing): Baby. Baby, we're gonna play a game, okay?

Okay, you stay real quiet.

Not one sound.

All right? You're gonna stay real quiet. Not one sound.

Ain't nobody gonna find you, okay?

It's gonna be okay. I promise.

Danny: I remember she told me it was a game.

You were scared.

Yeah.

Milt: So you were in the closet.

What did you see?

It was really dark.

I couldn't see anything, but I could hear.

Mom and my dad were yelling.

Not at each other but at some man.

And he was yelling back.

(distorted yelling)

Man: Rosalee! Rosalee! Open the door!

Open the door!

(mutters)

Milt: Did you see what the man looked like that broke in?

Danny: I couldn't...

I couldn't see him. I couldn't see him.

I was hiding. Sh...

She told me to s-stay quiet. She told me...

Milt: What did you hear?

Can you describe the man's voice?

Danny: It was loud.

(distorted yelling)

Um...

he was yelling and... my mom was yelling back at him and... fighting and attacking him.

(punching)

I heard punching and... scratching and...

kicking. And then she...

(g*nshots)

(breathing raggedly)

I'm sorry. I'm sorry...

Hey. Hey, hey, hey.

You did great.

You did great.

What you just remembered was not in the police report.

It was assumed that the murders were execution-style.

But if she fought the attacker like he said that she did, then there's a chance that there was DNA underneath her fingernails.

If we were... to exhume her body, there's a chance that we could recover enough DNA from the assailant to match it with the motel owner, prove that he was the one that did this.

Okay.

How you feeling?

I'm-I'm not sure.

Come on.

Let's get you out of here.

Milt: Well, hello, Meredith.

Oh, hey, Milt.

So?

So?

So did you find any good DNA underneath her fingernails?

I don't like your tone.

Yeah, well, I don't like you.

So why don't you just answer the question and we can leave each other's presence as quickly as possible.

Meredith... was there good DNA?

There was.

(chuckles)

Hey, you know what, it doesn't bother me that you answer his questions and not mine 'cause I'm still gonna get the info.

Have you had time to compare it with Clarence's DNA?

(whispering indistinctly)

Really?

Well, that's excellent news.

Clarence wasn't a match? I knew it. I knew that motel owner was good for this.

Did you compare it to his DNA yet?

(whispers indistinctly)

No, because she doesn't have his DNA.

Idiot.

Patel's not in the system.

Russ: Great. Well, now that he's got a lawyer, there's no way he's gonna voluntarily submit to a cheek swab.

And there's no way that we're gonna get a warrant.

Wait, wasn't he... chewing tobacco when he was here?

Spitting in that disgusting little cup?

Is there any way that you could pull DNA off of something like that?

For you, I'd brave many foul things.

(chuckling)

Well, I'll tell you what, while you two are getting a room, I'm gonna go outside and root through the trash and look for a used spit cup, which is far less nauseating than this.

So, cappuccino while we wait?

Font: Is this you with Holly Dale?

Man: Yeah, we dated in high school, but I haven't seen her in years.

We're investigating a criminal case that took place around that time.

Oh, my God. This is about Todd, isn't it?

Did he do it again?

He may have.

What, um, exactly would you say that he did?

I actually don't know.

We were at a party.

Todd asked Holly's best friend Shelby if she wanted to go for a walk, said the music was too loud.

Whatever happened, the whole next week, Shelby didn't come to school.

That next Friday in PE, everybody's playing dodgeball, and she walks right through the middle of everything carrying a baseball bat.

Shelby b*at him up?

No, not Shelby. Holly.

She went right up to Todd and b*at him like something out of a horror movie.

That's how she got the name Holly-Go-Darkly.

Um, okay.

That's all the information we need.

Thank you for your time.

Sure.

Forget about protecting Holly. We should warn the guy.

Meredith: I have some bad news and some weird news.

All right. Well, I better go get Russ.

The bad news is that the DNA we recovered from under her fingernails, it doesn't match your motel owner.

So we have no idea who k*lled Rosalee.

Well, we might.

I used DNA from family members in order to rule out the possibility that she may have accidentally scraped Kyle during sex or scraped her son while changing his diaper.

Smart. What'd you find?

She didn't. Kyle's DNA was not a match.

But here's the weird part: Danny's DNA showed a partial match.

Partial?

Whoever Rosalee scratched that day, it was Danny's biological father.

No, Kyle was Danny's biological father.

Apparently not.

Danny's real father is still out there.

And he's our k*ller.

Do you know why Danny opened up this Pandora's Box?

He told me he was hoping to find out his biological parents weren't drug addicts.

Well, instead he finds out his mother was a prost*tute and his real father k*lled her.

You want me to go talk to him?

(phone vibrates)

No.

I agreed to be his mom. I knew what came along with it.

Milt: We've got a hit.

The DNA we found matches a recently released felon named Devin Moore.

I'll meet you out front.

He's got a string of violent convictions.

His last known address is over in Eaton County.

Hey, Milt?

Thank you for not listening to me.

Russ: Oh, God.

(moans)

We're looking for Devin Moore.

Russ. Yo.

Hey, Devin.

You're under arrest for the murders of Rosalee Brackish and Kyle Chilton.

Man...

(chuckling): you guys are slow.

You the boy, huh?

You got your eyes from your mom.

Got my nose, you poor bastard.

Why?

I didn't go over to that motel to k*ll anybody, if that's what you're asking.

When your mama got pregnant, I got sent up for some half-assed B and E.

Got three years.

Didn't even get a chance to see you get born.

When I finally got sprung, I tracked down your mama, came to meet my little boy.

Plan was to do right by you. It really was.

But... when I saw my baby moms shacked up with some street hood?

Nah.

That didn't sit right.

I just meant to chase dude off, you know how it is.

But things got haywire.

(short laugh) Haywire.

So... so... so it was her fault?

I'm just saying...

You don't care that you k*lled my mother?

You don't care that I'm your son?

Look, kid.

I don't know what you was hoping to get out of this little meeting.

What, you expect me to send you a card every year on your birthday?

Come visit your pops in the pen on Sunday?

I ain't your daddy.

I just had sex with your mom one time too many, that's it.

I want to apologize on behalf of myself, the Battle Creek Police Department and the citizens of this great city for the grave miscarriage of justice that was done to this man standing here beside me today.

I know words can do little to make up for what you've lost...

You looked into the guy I've been seeing?

What did you find out?

Pritchett: Clarence Telfair an official key to the city.

He represents...

Am I safe to go on the cruise?

A hundred percent.

Pritchett: This has been a team effort.

I want to thank all the folks at the FBI, especially Special Agent Milt Chamberlain, for helping to right this wrong, correct my error and bring the real k*ller to justice.

And thanks to all the hardworking detectives at the Battle Creek PD, led by Commander Kim Guziewicz.

In fact, they all deserve recognition.

I'd like to thank them individually for their great work.

Detective Fontanelle White.

Detective Erin Jacocks.

Detective Aaron Funkhauser.

Even office manager Holly Dale.

Oh.

I hope I haven't forgotten anyone.

(crowd clapping)

I want to thank you all for coming today. Thank you.

(knocking)

Come in.

(door opens)

You didn't exactly win the genetic lottery.

But... so what?

DNA isn't destiny.

Do you remember your Nana and Papa?

Yeah, a little bit.

I remember he used to peel apples for me.

Yeah, Papa used to love spending time with you.

He also used to love b*ating Nana.

My dad was a drunk.

An abusive drunk.

My mom was a pill head.

Only way she could cope.

My dad took a lot of anger out on me.

I was an easy target, I guess.

So what did I do?

I drank.

Cycle continued.

By the time I was a senior in high school, I was drinking every day.

So, you were an alcoholic?

Still am.

Sober 22 years.

How come you never told me this before?

I wanted to be a moral example.

(laughs)

Today, I have decided that I should be me and you should be you.

So, you've been to rehab?

Thanks to Pritchett.

You know, I don't know why he handed you to me that day.

Um, maybe he had some kind of insight that I needed something to hang onto or... more likely, I was just the only woman in the room.

But I remember thinking... this is insane.

A drunk and a-a baby?

A drunk cop and a baby?

But after that?

There have been so many times on this job when I have been tempted to pick up a bottle, but I never have.

Because I always had you... to get home to.

You saved me.

And I would really like to return the favor.

Milt: Don't.

Ah, man!

Pritchett happened to be your boss when you came in.

That doesn't make his opinion any more valid than anyone else's.

Certainly no more valid than mine.

And I say you're a better detective and a better person than he could ever be.

(laughs)

Yeah, maybe.

But he was right about one thing.

I am a hothead.