02x10 - The Smoking g*n

Episode transcripts for the TV show "Home Before Dark". Aired: April 3, 2020 – present*
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A young girl moves to a lakeside town where she uncovers a cold case that everyone, including her father, tried to hide.
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02x10 - The Smoking g*n

Post by bunniefuu »

I can't believe it's really you.

Tommy, why don't you show her your room?

It's okay.

How long have you been living here?
Has it just been you and your dad?

My mom d*ed when I was little.

Oh.

I'm sorry.

Hey. Don't worry,
our dads are just old friends.

You wanna show me some of your toys?

These were my grandpa's.

Do you wanna show me how they fly?

I just don't really know what to say.

I can't believe it's really you.

Why'd you come looking for me?

We had no idea you were here.

How could we?

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

I'm...

I'm a little stunned. I mean...

we're looking for Arthur Conway.

Yeah, my daughter,
she's a reporter like me.

And we just wanna ask him some questions.

About what?

Well, about his time at... at Strata.

Yeah, we... we know he's a whistleblower.

Where have you been?

And what are you doing here?

I'm sorry. It's just too...
How do you know Arthur Conway?

How do you know him?

He was the one who brought me here.

Wait, he kidnapped you?

I don't understand. Why
would he kidnap you?

He didn't kidnap me, Matt. He rescued me.

Well, Arthur rescued you? Well, from what?

I'm the reason he had to blow the whistle.

When my mom got sick,

she started taking me down to the
airfield to watch the planes take off.

That's where I met Arthur.

I didn't know it then,
but Arthur was my biological father.

Did anyone else know?

I don't think so.

My mom, she warned me not to tell
anyone about going to the airfield.

I think she didn't want anyone to find out.

Things were hard enough at home.

I have an idea.

How about no present?
What do you think about that?

Yeah. Well, I...

I get that.

My mom knew she wasn't gonna be around
forever to take care of me, and...

... hanging out at Strata,
that's where I was happy.

One day, I overheard something
I wasn't supposed to hear.

Arthur let me check out a new
plane as it was being built.

These executives were talking
about a chemical called cadmium,

about how toxic it was.

They didn't want anyone to know
that the company had been using it.

They were planning to dump
it outside of town somewhere.

I warned Hank and Arthur,

and they thought by coming forward,
they could force Strata to tell the truth.

But instead...

they came after us.

He had to figure out how
to get me out of there

so that Strata would never find me,

but he put his trust in the wrong guy.

It wasn't his fault that it all went wrong.

Richie!

When we didn't show
up at the meeting point,

Dad came looking for me,
and we've been in Canada ever since.

I knew it.
Strata was the reason you had to leave.

You knew they were using that
chemical that was making people sick.

Please. Come back.

You're the eyewitness we need.
Dad, we can finally take them down.

Take down who? What is she talking about?

Strata. They're denying everything,
and they're the reason my Pop-Pop d*ed.

Your dad?

What happened to him?

It was cadmium.

Yeah, they're saying they didn't know
it was dangerous back then, but...

They're lying. They knew.

And Arthur had proof, a smoking g*n.

He caught one of the executives
on tape admitting it.

He was gonna bring the tape to the
police once he had Strata's dump site.

But then...

They sabotaged Hank's plane.

They k*lled him.

Yeah. Arthur left town that night and
made a plan to get me out of there.

Where's the tape now?

I don't know.

Dad would never tell me where it was. He...

He didn't want me going into
town looking for it. It was...

too dangerous for me in Erie Harbor.

Let me go!

Don't worry.
We're taking you someplace safe!

I k*lled a man, Matt.

I can never go back.

Wait, Richie, I...

Okay, don't... don't call me that.
That's not who I am anymore.

My... My son,
he doesn't even know who that person is.

I'm not gonna lose him over this.

I'm sorry. You have to go.
I can't help you. I...

You gotta go.

But we can fight this.

Together.

Right, Dad?

No. We should go.

Yeah. We gotta leave.
We should go. Come on, sweetie.

There were always people who
cared about you in Erie Harbor.

We never gave up on you.

Yeah, a few people have come forward.

What years did you say that
your father worked at Strata?

Small-cell carcinoma, plant four.

Okay. Yeah. Thank you. I will be in touch.

So many people in this town have
family members with symptoms.

Lung and kidney problems, memory loss.

That means we have a case though, right?
Shared symptoms means there's a link.

Yeah, well, not if people are
too scared to come forward.

Look, what we need more than
anything is plaintiffs, a lot more.

Class actions only work when hundreds of
people accuse a company of wrongdoing.

What, so hundreds of people have to
get hurt before anyone believes them?

That's so messed up.

I know.

What if we could, like,
show people that they're not alone?

I don't know. Bring them together and,
like, have a meeting. Like in person.

Town hall. That's a great idea.

I mean,
I barely spoke to anyone at my school,

but, you know, at the walkout,
suddenly everyone was listening.

Hey. How'd it go?

What's going on?

We found him.

Arthur was there?

- What did he say?
- No, Bridge.

We found Richie.

What?

He's alive.

Wait, so, Richie knew the entire
time that Sam was in prison,

and didn't tell anyone
they had the wrong guy?

Look, you don't know that.

You know, he was in a different country,
and it was a local story.

Yeah.

Things were different before the Internet.
News was harder to spread.

Yeah, he probably didn't even wanna know.

But he could be here now,
helping all these people.

And he won't do it?

You know, it's complicated, Hilde.

He was scared for his life, right?
He accidentally k*lled a man. Right?

When he was not much older than you.
Like, imagine that.

Mom, what does all this mean legally?

Legally,
coming back could mean risking jail time.

- But he was defending himself.
- I know, honey.

And he probably...
He won't go to jail for it.

But honestly,
now that we know that he's alive,

I think we're obligated to tell the police.

Otherwise, we're covering it up.

But Sam deserves to know the truth,
and Richie should be the one to tell him.

All right, look. I gotta go handle this.

Okay. You did the right thing.

And obviously there are
extenuating circumstances,

but the state needs to
know that Richie is alive.

What will happen to him?

Well,
he'll be extradited back to Erie Harbor.

- Probably have to face his day in court.
- Oh, Jesus.

Given the facts, the
DA might not prosecute.

Look, guys,
there is a protocol that I have to follow.

Right.

You really saw him yourself?
It was really him?

Yeah. Yeah, I saw him.

He...

He seems scared, Frank.

- He had a son?
- Yeah.

Yeah. He did, yeah. A little boy, Tommy.

That's where our Richie was, man.
It was right in his boy's face.

Really. It was good to see.
It was good to see it for a moment.

Let me go.

And I can talk Richie down, I can...

explain everything beforehand.
I can protect him.

Can you wait to call it in until tomorrow?

I can't if you ask me to.

Then I'm not asking.

I overheard some company executives
say that it was the cadmium.

- That they tested it, and it was toxic.
- Hey. What's going on?

Richie said there's a smoking g*n.

Arthur had a confession tape
that could take Strata down,

but he left it behind in Erie Harbor.

I was showing my friend's
kid the new planes.

That kid was Richie. Richie's the
one who overheard the executives.

That must have been when
he became Strata's target.

But the confession tape could be anywhere.
How are you gonna track it down?

Well, let's think. Yeah, what do we know?

We know Arthur was holding on to the
tape until the day Hank's plane crashed

'cause he was planning on
taking that to the police.

And Richie said that Arthur left town
that night because he was so scared.

Dad, look. Hank Gillis crashed the
afternoon of October th, .

We just have to find out
what Arthur did that day.

Oh, yeah, sure. Just that.

Dad, is there anything you can remember
about the day Hank Gillis crashed?

Guys, guys, hold up. Hold up.
I wanna take a picture.

All right.

Get together. You guys.

Yeah, that's right.

We were supposed to go on a
fishing trip that day. Yeah.

Yeah, let's see.

Yeah, look. There it is.
Look. Look at that date.

And you know what?
I remember Arthur being there.

He was the one who told us
about Hank Gillis's plane crash.

It was him.

Do you think the tape
could be on Pop-Pop's boat?

I mean, it's not a bad lead.

Get as many people as you
can to come to the town hall.

We can convince them.

All hands on deck, right?

All right, let's... let's do this. Come on.

- Ladies first.
- Thanks.

We're hosting a town hall for anyone
who may have been hurt by Strata.

Feel free to give the other one to anybody
that you think may wanna show up, okay?

Thank you guys so much.
Have a good night, okay?

Yeah. And I mean, it's all pro bono.

We wanna help people get
their medical bills paid.

Just come hear what they have to say.

Your brother, Jimmy,
you tell him he ought to come out too.

And if they've done anything to
your family, you or your family,

you know anybody, please.

I'll give you another flyer.
Feel free to spread the word. Hi.

Is there any place we haven't checked?

I don't know. I feel like we've
turned over this whole boat.

Oh, no.

What?

Don't just say, "Oh,
no," then go all quiet.

Strata knows about your mom's lawsuit.

My dad said they sent this
to the entire company.

Wait, what? Here, let me see that.

Wait.

"Such false and defamatory claims thr*aten
our ongoing operations in Erie Harbor."

So they're saying we're lying.

No, they're threatening people's jobs.
That's what they're saying.

I should go check on my dad.

He forgets to eat when he's worried,
and he's hypoglycemic.

I should go too.
I wanna hang these up at school.

Fight fire with fire.

- Well, thanks for helping out, guys.
- Of course.

Try not to get arrested.

- Add that one to the list.
- This checked out.

- We're running out of flyers.
- Great. I mean, we'll get you more.

Here you go.
I think we are gonna have a packed house.

People are finally listening.

Maybe not everybody.

- I'll take these.
- Of course.

Great.

- Here. I'll go make some more copies.
- Thanks, sweetie.

Hey, you know, it was years ago, honey.

You know, I doubt the tape
even survived half that time.

You know, honestly, I don't think we
should've even gotten our hopes up.

Arthur hid that tape knowing it was the
one thing that could protect Richie.

Wherever he hid it,
it must've been somewhere safe.

Yeah, that's true.
But I mean, I got no idea where.

You know, apart from these old coins
that Pop-Pop hid in his tackle box,

I mean, well,
there's just nothing else here.

Dad, what if the tape was on the boat,
but he hid it somewhere else?

Somewhere safer.

Remember when Pop-Pop started
hiding things around the house?

Yeah, like the safe in the attic.

Right. Those were all
things he wanted to protect.

That can't be there.

Dad, what are you doing?

Let me do it. Stop. Come on. Stop it.

Hello.

Can't sleep?

I think I might know where the tape is.

Just this notebook.

Wait, what is this?

Tape's not here. I was wrong. Again.

Wait, I don't believe it. Look.

Hey, look at this.
He... He knew something was wrong.

Yeah.
He knew the whole time something was wrong.

Look. He was onto 'em.

Yeah, he must've seen all of his...

All of his old friends
from work passing away,

and he's trying to piece it all together,
look.

He must've ran out of
time before he solved it.

He got too sick.

You know, I...
I could've helped him with this.

Yeah, I could. I could.
You know, if I'd have been here, I would...

I could've totally helped
him with all of this stuff.

I just never knew.

He didn't have the tape.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Richie?

Richie?

Richie?

Well, did Izzy say who vandalized it?

No.

I can't believe some townsperson
spray-painted our car.

Or maybe it's Strata.

Matt, it's a small town.
Everyone knows who we are, where we live.

Yeah, well, I think we should report it.
We should.

Maybe the town hall isn't such a good idea.

Mom, no. There's time to fix this.
We can still find the tape.

All right. It's okay. I'll go check it out.

All right, it's good. We're good.

Hey, guys. What's going on?

What is it?

Richie's gone.

I held off calling it in for as long
as I could, but it didn't matter.


It looks like he left right
after you guys were there.

What?

All right, kiddo.
It's just a couple more hours.

Dad, why do they think that
your name is Richie Fife?

- And who's Sam Gillis?
- What?

Oh, my God.

Hilde, let's go.
The town hall starts in minutes.

- Here, take this.
- All right, we all good?

Dad. Dad, I can't find my notebook,

and I was gonna hold it during my
speech or else my hands are gonna shake.

Okay. All right. Now don't worry.
We'll... All right, let's see.

Hey, you know what?
Why don't you take this?

Yeah, you can finish what he started.

Hey, come on.

All right, here we go.

There's no one here.

What's he doing here?

Look.

If you don't wanna do this,
you don't have to.

No, I want him to hear this.
Even if it doesn't make a difference.

The truth matters because it matters to me.

All right. You go get 'em.

All right, come on. You got this.

Whenever the community has concerns,
we're always happy to listen.

It doesn't seem like you have much support,

so why don't you just go ahead and say
your piece, and we can all go home.

Hi.

I'm Hilde Lisko.

And...

as some of you may know...

we lost my Pop-Pop right
before his th birthday.

It was too fast.

And...

before he bought the bike shop,

he worked at Strata Tech Industries,
spraying planes.

How many of you worked there
or know someone who did?

There are so many stories...

like Pop-Pop's in this town.

These are all photos of
former Strata employees

who got sick and d*ed too young.

They're not just names or numbers,
they were people,

people who were loved.

She was somebody's mother.

And he was somebody's son.

Everybody wishes they had more time,

but these people should've had it.

We're all aware your mother's leading
a baseless lawsuit against our company,

trying to benefit off
the misfortune of others.

- Yeah? She's doing it for free.
- Yeah, you know, this family,

they care about the
truth and helping people.

I think we've heard enough.

Your dad poisoned this town.

Be careful, young lady.
My lawyer's with me.

Hey, you know what?
Don't talk to her like that.

Whatever you're accusing my father of,
I had nothing to do with it.

While this is very sweet,
it's proof of nothing.

You have no support. You have no case.

I think you've got a case.

Because now you have an eyewitness.

Who are you?

I'm Richie Fife.

- Hey, man.
- Hey.

Hi.

When I read your articles,
I knew I had to come back.

I feel like I've been
running my whole life...

even when I was standing still.

I didn't want my son to see me like that,

running away.

Your company needs
to pay for what it did...

to my dad, to Richie, to me.

And to the town.

We couldn't find the tape.

That's because I had it.

I panicked. I was trying to get rid of you,
and... I'm sorry.

I'm ashamed of that.

Well, you're here now.

Mr. Williams did not appreciate you
harassing him with these accusations.

He needs to tell his workers,

or we'll be forced to take public action.

That was the deposition.

We already have this.

Sorry, but...

it didn't change anything.

Just wait.

Arthur.

Mr. Williams, sir.

That's Grant's dad.

So there's some health and safety concerns.

These people should be grateful
they've got a job at all.

That Fife kid doesn't deserve
to get caught up in all this.

Which executive did he overhear?

I want a name.

It wasn't an executive.

It was Grant, your son.

You knew.

That kid never thinks before
he opens his mouth. Damn it.

This is Arthur Conway.
It's September th, .

That doesn't change anything.

I'll bury you in paperwork
for the next years.

That tape will never see the light of day.

Too late.

Grant Williams, you are under arrest.

You have the right to remain silent.

Anything you say...

Hey, Hilde, Hilde. What did I tell you?

You did it. You did it. Come here.

I can't possibly make up for
all the time that you lost.

That's on Sheriff Briggs, not you.

You gotta believe me, Sam.
If I had ever known...

You were just a kid, Richie.

So were you.

To all our loyal Magic Hour
Chronicle subscribers...

we're back.

We got a code .

"as*ault by deadly w*apon."

And for once we have some good news.

In light of Grant Williams's
criminal behavior,

Junior was able to void
the contract they signed.

Trip and her dad got their farm back,
fully cleaned and restored.

Izzy and my mom got enough
people to join their lawsuit,

and she thinks Strata will have
to settle by the end of the year.

Millions of dollars will go to
every family that they hurt.

There are a lot of
people to thank for this,

including, of course, Richie Fife,
where this story first began.

You're really here.

We thought about you so much.

Yeah, no, I can see that.

And you're okay?

Yeah. I'm actually really good.

I've had a good life.

I always knew you were out there.

Want a cookie?

Oh, yeah.

Perfect.

I won't be publishing any
more stories about Richie.

But I want to say for the record,

I wouldn't be the reporter
I am today without him.

And I know my dad feels the same way.

What have you got there, apples?

- That's it?
- I got some apples over here.

- That's all you brought was apples?
- Yeah, something healthy. Hey.

Hey, now we're talking.

We're pretty unstoppable.

Hey. My name's Kim.

Nice to meet you.

You know, your dad, he used to be
my best friend when I was your age.

It's true.

Hey, you.

- Hey, man.
- What's up?

- How's it going? You okay?
- Oh, yeah.

Race you there.

You know what I can't get over...

- is how old we all are.
- Oh, God.

I just can't believe we're all here.

All because of a girl who never gave up...

on a kid she never knew.

So thank you to all of you.

My friends and I will grow up in a safer,
cleaner world

all because you were brave
enough to fight back.

And I hope you have some
really good scoops for me.

Because I am never ever going
to stop searching for the truth.

You guys!

Calling all units. . Possible homicide.

Hey, you kids can't be here.

This is a crime scene.

Come on. Let's go.
Donny, Spoon, on your bikes.

- Hilde, let's go. Everybody out.
- Hey.

- Come on, Frank.
- You can't be here, guys.

Is that my notebook?
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