01x05 - Episode 5

Episode transcripts for the TV show, "Mindhunter". Aired: October 13, 2017 – August 16, 2019.*
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Two FBI agents are tasked with interviewing serial K*llers to solve open cases.
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01x05 - Episode 5

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*MINDHUNTER*
Season 01 Episode 05
Title: "Episode #1.5"

His given name is Benjamin
Barnwright, but everybody calls him Benji.

Came back to town,
just like I told you he would.

Benji was home watching TV
the night Beverly Jean was k*lled?

That's what he told us and I believe him.

He let us search his car, no warrant.

And we didn't find a thing
except for some of Beverly Jean's hair,

but in the passenger seat,
like you'd expect it.

Passenger seat's not the best way
to transport a corpse, I'll give you that.

But you said he was home alone
watching TV?

- That's not much of an alibi.
- Why?

Isn't that what most people do
most nights of the week?

Benjamin is definitely most people.

He's worked the same job
ever since high school,

bagging groceries at the A&P.

Works at the A&P? Does he have access
to a delivery vehicle?

Nope. Only works the floor.

Is he expecting us?

He's in mourning,
I thought it'd be polite to let him know.

We should've brought a six pack.

- Can I get you some coffee?
- Sure.

- It's instant.
- None for me, thanks.

I'll wait.

Uh...

I got some donuts, too.
Half glazed, half cake.

I'd love a donut. Thanks, Benjamin.

Thanks for meeting with us,
Mr. Barnwright.

Benjamin.

I'm Bill Tench, this is Holden Ford.
We're with the FBI.

He told me you'll be helping
with the case.

We're sorry about your girlfriend.

I still can't believe it.

- How long were you with her?
- Eighteen months.

So this was pretty serious.

We just got engaged.

Big step.

- I knew she was it when I met her.
- How'd you know?

Uh, we saw things the same way.

- And you're how old?
- Twenty-six.

You play sports in high school?
I'm guessing not the football team.

- Band? Debate?
- No.

Then what did you do?

Uh, I... nothing.

Well, you're doing good now.
Got your own place and everything.

Got this place for Beverly Jean.

She ask you to move?

I wanted us to have some privacy.

Where were you before?

A few blocks over on Chestnut.

- With your family?
- Uh, with my mom.

It must have been hard on her,
seeing you leave home.

I think she was happy to see me move on.

She loved Beverly Jean as much as I did.

Mrs. Barnwright goes to my church, too.
First United Methodist.

So you two know each other from church?

Yeah. You and Rose.

Mostly by sight now.
I don't go much anymore.

Was your mother a disciplinarian?

You mean strict?

Yeah. She cr*ck the whip?

Uh...

She just cried.

Well, I'm sure it was difficult
raising two kids without a dad.

Yeah, he split when I was ten.

- What was your father like?
- I don't much remember him.

You and Beverly Jean ever fight?

Perfectly normal for a young couple.

Sometimes.

What'd you fight about?

Just stupid stuff.

Like what?

Like, uh...

what movie to go to.

- Any nerves around the engagement?
- No, sir.

You got this place for her?
Did she like it?

She, uh...

She wanted to make it pretty
when she moved in.

When was that gonna be?

- After the wedding.
- Traditional, huh?

- Yeah.
- Was that for your mother?

That was just to keep it proper.

Was she saving herself for marriage?

Well, maybe she didn't want to wait.

Girls like fooling around
just as much as boys.

That's okay, Benjamin.

We understand, that's...

That's private.

We'll keep it private.

Uh, well...

Beverly Jean was, uh, my...

first, uh...

Your first sexual experience?

Yeah.

But she was nice.

I don't know what all this has to do
with what happened to her...

Listen, Benjamin.
We're from a particular unit of the FBI.

We investigate murders
when there's a sexual angle.

It may be unpleasant, but it's what we do.

It's awful, what was done to her.

Does he know?

Mark, seriously?

He only knows about the breasts.
It was another officer...

- It's hard keeping this quiet.
- I want to talk to Mrs. Barnwright.

Should we stop at a pay phone,
give her a heads up, too?

- That'd be fair.
- What about the tears?

- I didn't buy them.
- Think he was faking?

- Seemed a bit much.
- Given what he's been through?

- It sure got us out of there.
- He's obviously a mama's boy.

Or he knows how to play one.

What do you mean?

He was a virgin? He serves donuts?

All of that could have been rehearsed,
especially since he knew we were coming.

Benjamin has never seemed
like a performer to me.

Two Feds in your living room
would make anybody nervous.

Look at him, you think
he could have easily moved a body?

Not without bursting into tears.

I always worried about Benjamin.

He was living with you
when he met Beverly Jean?

- He was so excited to have a girlfriend.
- Did she reciprocate those feelings?

He said that she was crazy about him.

- Did you meet her?
- Of course.

What were they like together?

Well, they were... normal.

She teased him a lot. He pretended
not to enjoy it, but I know he did.

Benjamin told us
the two of them argued sometimes.

Did you see him?

This morning.

Is he in trouble?

We're just going over the case again,
talking to everyone who knew Beverly Jean.

Well... I never heard them argue.

Benjamin is soft, you know.

What was he like as a kid?

He was always sensitive.
But when his father ran off, he just...

What do you mean?

Well...

he started to cry a lot, wet the bed.

- He wouldn't leave the house.
- That must have been difficult.

I had to leave the kids
on their own a lot.

Rose helped out,
but she was just so little.

Those were hard years.
I did a lot of praying.

But then Rose met Frank
and he moved in with us.

Frank Janderman.

That's right.

They just had a baby, you know.

Your first grandchild?

Congratulations.

People talked about Frank back then,
but I never listened to all that.

I loved him from the first time I met him.
I still do.

Did Benjamin feel the same way?

Well, he started to go out, you know.

He became friends with Frank.

Frank protected him.

He wouldn't let anyone near Rose.

He even got Benji a job
so I didn't have to work two shifts.

Sometimes Rose said
I loved him more than she did.

When was this?

Well, uh... they got married at 18,

so Rose must have been...

15, 16 at the time.

Frank moved in. Why?

Well, I don't remember.

He had some problems at home
with his father, as young boys do.

But he got them their own place
when they married.

And Benjamin lived at home with you
until he met Beverly Jean?

It's been a strange time.

We were so happy that Rose and Frank
were having a baby,

and then Benjamin loses his love
in such a horrible way.

Like mother, like son.

You think there's a gene for crying?

I keep wondering why Beverly was
with him in the first place.

She might have liked that he was older,
easy to talk to. He's sensitive.

"Half glazed, half cake"?

Sure.

I bet Beverly had poor old pipsqueak Benji
wrapped around her golden triangle.

Maybe she wanted a nice guy
with a steady income who loved her.

Whatever you say, Ocasek.

What's that?

We were just saying there's not much here.

I assured Mrs. Barnwright
this was a formality.

- It's not a formality.
- Well, I can tell her it is.

So where does this leave us?

There's still Alvin.

You don't want it to be someone
in the community. Neither of you do.

Who drives all this way
to come to some rust belt town?

If you're hunting for girls,
you got big cities.

You got freeways with hitchhikers.

Why choose a place like this?

How would a drifter
know where the dump is?

- Hi.
- There you are.

I got all kinds of fun things
for you to look over.

Ooh. Paperwork?

Yeah, it's hardly sexy, but I'm trying
to put together a list of questions

for the K*llers that you interview.

Things like family history, mood,

thought patterns before, during,
and after the crime.

This is just a first draft, but look it
over and let me know what you think.

Shouldn't we tailor the interviews
based on the k*ller's personality?

You mean just wing it?

With these guys,
we need to look for different ways in.

Yes, but we still need a data set
that's consistent across all our subjects.

You leaving?

- Back to Boston.
- You just got here.

Well, until you conduct more interviews,
there's really nothing for me to do here.

We had a really interesting conversation
with the fiancé of that victim in Altoona.

- I got a taxi waiting.
- Cancel it. I'll drive you.

- Let me take your bag.
- Thank you.

He lost it. I've never seen a guy
cry like that.

Bill was skeptical.

- But you believed him?
- It looked real.

Well, how did it feel?
I mean, were you moved?

- Did you want to comfort him?
- I wanted him to stop.

Why'd you want him to stop?

I don't know, maybe I'm just callous.

Try a little harder, Holden.

It felt wrong.

Benjamin was blubbering like a baby,
but it didn't seem vulnerable.

It felt hostile.

You know, psychopaths are extremely
skilled at imitating human emotions.

It's how they manipulate other people

or how they gain power
over their environment.

How do they understand emotions
if they don't have them?

Well, they have emotions. They just
don't believe other people have them.

Or more specifically, they don't believe
that other people have interior lives.

How do we sniff them out?

Well, it seems like you just did.
Trust your instincts.

The whole town sees Benjamin as this lost
little puppy that needs protecting.

Maybe my instincts are wrong.

Well, we're developing a methodology,
so use it.

Look at where the perpetrator went.

Hair, breasts, vag*na,
all symbols of her sexual power.

Disfiguring her reproductive organs
was a way to neutralize her.

What about the hair on the ironing board?
Was that some kind of display?

Like a trophy.
A way to assert his dominance.

Benjamin is anything but assertive.
Beverly's the first woman he slept with.

- How old is he?
- Twenty-six.

So that would give the relationship
an extra significance.

Bill thinks the only reason
she was with him

is because she has total
sexual control over him.

Well, what's her history?
Was she a virgin, too?

He was touchy about that.

So then she had some experience,
which could either excite or thr*aten him.

In the photo,
she looks like the girl next door.

You really believe that a young,
pretty girl can't be manipulative?

Even if she
was using sex to control him,

and you have absolutely no evidence
for this,

then it would be what many women do
to have an ounce of power in this world.

Fine, but if it went too far,

if something happened
and Benjamin snapped,

could feelings of impotence
explain his rage?

Could it explain him going back four days
later to cut her up like you said,

- as an attempt to assert control?
- Possibly.

But then wouldn't the r*pe
already have accomplished that?

- Accomplish control?
- Exactly.

In all the crimes we've studied,
there's never been an example

of a victim being r*ped
then depersonalized.

If the k*ller mutilates her after death,

then he usually commits sexual acts
after death as well.

To make up for his sense of inadequacy
while she was still alive.

It's like there's two different
presentations in this crime scene.

Anybody picking you up in Boston?

I'll grab a cab. Bye.

♪♪ Rock music plays...

♪♪

- Hey.
- Hey. What are you...

- Up to?
- Studying.

Pulling an all-nighter.

Writing a paper on C. Wright Mills
and the power elite.

Due tomorrow.

It's about the people
who really run this country.

Hardly what our democracy
is supposed to be about.

- Are you okay?
- What?

- You seem...
- Oh. My friend gave me diet pills.

- Really?
- Speed actually makes this interesting.

May I see those?

Great for concentration,
keeps you totally focused.

- Beer? Coffee? Tea?
- Is this legal?

Uh-oh. Out comes the narc.

We were digging into his relationship
with the fiancé and he burst into tears.

Bill thought he was bullshitting,

but psychopaths are extremely skilled
at imitating human emotions.

I once went crying to my professor.

You fake cried?

Made up an elaborate story about my dad
in some horrendous accident.

- When was this?
- My freshman year.

I was partying a little too much,
almost flunked out of school.

The interesting thing was,

while I was lying,
I actually started believing it.

Made for a good show.
He raised my grade to a C.

- Your teacher was male.
- So?

- Women crying to men always works.
- Men to men?

- Not my point.
- Why were you drinking so much?

I wanted to fit in.
I wanted to be wild and crazy.

- Why?
- I was tired of always thinking.

- Don't you get tired of thinking?
- No.

And it made it easier
to sleep with people.

- How many people did you sleep with?
- Let's not.

- A lot?
- What difference does that make?

- Just curious.
- And judgmental.

Five...

- Ten...
- This is getting tedious.

- Ten?
- Holden... I'm not doing this.

Ten.

Uh-huh.

- Jesus.
- I know. What do we do?

- Hell, pick him up.
- What do I tell him?

Don't tell him anything. Let him stew
for a few hours until we get there.

Okay.

Ocasek looked into Frank Janderman.

Apparently, in high school,
he was sent to a psychiatric hospital

for taking a monkey wrench to a girl.

- Frank Janderman?
- Rose's husband.

We should get this on tape.

So I got to thinking,
why did Mrs. Barnwright

say people were talking
about Frank back then?

- What were they talking about, right?
- Right.

So I talked to this family court judge
who's a friend of mine.

Sure enough, he remembers the case.

Since Frank was a juvenile
when the as*ault occurred,

the court sealed the records.

Fortunately, the judge
is a very good friend of mine.

Here's what we've got on Frank's hearing,

and his time at Warren State.

Nice work, Mark.

This is where your community system
pays off.

He's been here since nine.
Maybe we should...

Let him wait.

Why don't we have a cup of coffee?

If Frank's a hothead,
it'll irritate him, throw him off.

Class of '71?

- Yep.
- You go to your five-year reunion?

I don't really keep up with that stuff.

It's commendable that you graduated,
seeing as how you missed your junior year.

What do you want from me?
I've been here all day.

- I answered all your questions last week.
- We just have a few more.

You've got everyone in a tizzy.

- You mean Benjamin?
- Yeah.

The whole family. Me, my wife, mom.
You scared the sh*t out of Benji.

I'm sorry if we scared everyone.

And for keeping you for so long.

Beverly Jean Shaw was close
with your family.

We're simply looking
for a little background.

She wasn't that close.

She was about to marry
your brother-in-law.

They hadn't set a date.

- I didn't spend a lot of time with him.
- You and Benjamin aren't close?

What's this "close" sh*t?
That's like women.

Mrs. Barnwright said
you looked out for him.

- Well, yeah, he's a shrimp.
- And he's your brother-in-law.

Yep.

- So you would help him if he needed it.
- Yep.

Did you fight a lot in high school?

Like Popeye.

How'd you land yourself
in Warren State Psychiatric Hospital?

It's probably in your f*cking file.

We want to hear your side.

This girl freaked out on me,
came after me with a wrench.

I tried to get it,
it swang back, hit her in the face.

Then all this sh*t
came raining down on me.

Why'd she freak out?

- I was seeing some other girl, too.
- You a ladies man?

Maybe. Back then.

- They sent you to a mental institution.
- That was bullshit.

- I had to go, it was part of the plea.
- You did a plea deal?

Why not go to court,
tell them what you told us?

My lawyer said I'd never win
against a sweet girl with a broken nose.

There were other infractions, I was
running around like a jackass back then.

- But no longer?
- I'm married now. Got a kid.

Marriage and fatherhood
don't make anger go away.

I wasn't angry, I was just...

Misunderstood?

Makes me sound like a p*ssy, but yeah.

Want to tell us about the night
Beverly Jean disappeared?

I don't know. It was, uh...
typical, I guess.

Rose was still pregnant back then.

Got her some dinner and watched TV.

- So you were home all night.
- No.

No?

No. I told you,
I went out and got us dinner.

How long were you gone?

I don't know, 15, 20 minutes maybe.

Where'd you get food?

Rose likes the rolls at Hannah's Diner
on Market Street.

And Rose will confirm this?

Am I under some kind of suspicion here?

We're just looking at it from every angle.

No, Beverly Jean was, uh...
was Benji's girl.

I barely knew her.

Strange, seeing as how she was
about to be part of the family.

Stop saying it like that.

You said they hadn't set a date
for the wedding.

- It was loose.
- They were engaged, weren't they?

Benji thought they were.

The impression I got is that she was
in love with him, wanted to marry him.

Oh, man, I don't want to rain
on his parade...

You're saying he made the relationship
more than what it was?

She let him call her his girlfriend.

He got that apartment for her.

Yeah, that was the big plan,
get her to move in.

- Was Beverly even sleeping with him?
- Now and again.

A looker like her, he thought he'd d*ed
and gone to heaven.

- You found her attractive?
- She's a seven.

Really? From the photos,
I'd give her an eight.

In Altoona, she's a solid eight.

I thought Benji had done
pretty good for himself.

Especially for a guy who's...

so quick to cry.

sh*t, yeah.

Do you think that he was satisfying her?

- I don't think he was blowing her mind.
- She tell you that?

Not in so many words, but when a chick's
enjoying it, she's all over you.

You think Beverly Jean
knew the difference?

You think she'd, you know...
been around?

I'd say she was, uh... open.

Benjamin see it that way too?

I don't know if he didn't get it
or he didn't want to.

Everyone we interviewed
said Beverly Jean was...

nice, loyal, decent.

Well...

no one's gonna come right out
and say the dead girl was easy.

Frank's cagey. You hear him deflect
on that deal in high school?

He could have made that up
about her being a slut.

What if he didn't?

Listen, if Beverly had the upper hand
in the relationship

and made Benjamin feel jealous
by seeing other men,

if Benjamin felt sexually powerless,

he might lash out with the kind of anger
we see in this crime.

Let's see what Benjamin has to say.

- Bring him in?
- Yeah.

You understand you're not under arrest?

You're free to leave at any point,
only have to talk to us if you want to.

And you're okay with us
recording this conversation?

It's just so much easier
than writing everything down.

Yeah. I want to help if I can.

You know a lot about this case
you're not telling us, don't you?

Uh, no,
nothing more than what I already said.

We talked to Frank.

He paints a different picture
of your relationship with Beverly.

He said you made up that part
about you and her being engaged.

Uh...

Well, I didn't have a ring yet,

but, um, but I asked her and she said yes.

It sounded like she wanted
to keep her options open.

Benjamin?

Did Frank say that?

He said a lot of things.

- 'Cause he was jealous.
- Jealous?

Why would he be jealous?

He's married. To your sister.

Well...

He was always asking when...
she was coming around,

always talking to her
like she was his girlfriend.

- What do you mean?
- Like "Hey, hon,"

"Hey, babe,"
"Hey, sweetheart, go get me a beer."

And...

he was always getting her
to sit on his lap.

- Did she want to sit on his lap?
- She had to or it would've been rude.

- Did he try to have sex with her?
- No, it didn't go that far.

He told us he was interested.

Beverly Jean was a beautiful woman.
She wouldn't do that.

- Do what, have sex? She had sex with you.
- She loved me.

But she wasn't exactly
saving herself for marriage.

Do you think you satisfied her, Benjamin?

Did you see her that night
when she got off work?

No. I was home, I was watching television.

Didn't you want her to come over,
hang out with you?

Of course I wanted her to come over,
because I loved her.

Now she's dead.

Oh, my God!

Oh, my God!

♪♪ Soft music plays...

♪♪

So did Beverly Jean sleep around?

- Alvin tried to pick her up at a bar.
- She turned him down.

What was she doing at a bar?

- Having a drink?
- Was she alone, with a girlfriend?

What would that tell us?

A single woman in a bar...

A single woman might go alone
just to have a drink.

What about her?
Is she trying to pick someone up?

- Well, probably.
- Why, because she's by herself?

Because she's at a bar?

- Yeah.
- That's an assumption.

Say she is looking for someone,
does that make her easy?

Is she looking for a husband
or a one-night stand?

Does the difference
change your perception?

- Sure.
- Why?

Well, changes whether
I'd be interested in her, theoretically.

What if you're looking
for a one-night stand... theoretically?

No, I don't... It's not my thing.

- Come on, Mark.
- Leave him alone.

Beverly's sexual history is only important
because if she was seeing other men,

then obviously they're suspects.

So who else can we talk to?

There's a couple of friends
we could question... again.

Anyone else she might have confided in?

She did just get her hair done. Right?

Here's a question,

if it is Benjamin or some other boyfriend
who freaked out on her,

does the case merit our involvement?

We still can't rule out a sequence k*ller,
but if the perpetrator was a townie,

then the crime is random, and there's
no expectation that he'll be repeating it.

Here's my question, shouldn't our funding
cover separate rooms?

You don't like my company?

We'll get connecting doors.

The mutilation of her body alone
justifies our involvement.

Would you mind sitting
on your own bed, please?

Well, that was a dead end.

Who's next?

One of the families she baby-sat for,
the Snyders.

You mind if we take a quick detour?
Something's been bugging me.

Okay.

Hi, Rose.

I just got him to sleep.

Pretty hard having a newborn.

All anybody ever tells you
is how great it is.

But my wife and I, with both our kids,
we walked around like zombies

for the first three months.

You know, Trinity Lutheran,
over on Sycamore,

has a program for single moms.

Not that you're single,
but it's your first child

and they'll have all kinds of information
on feeding him, getting him to sleep.

- Thanks.
- What about Frank?

- He help you out?
- When he can.

He's got work.

Your mom certainly seems excited
about having a grandbaby.

She is happy.

And Benjamin, is he helping?

- No.
- You close with Benjamin?

He's my older brother.

By how much?

Fourteen months.

You have good memories growing up?

Mom went to work. Got two jobs.

Two kids, two jobs. How'd she swing that?

Me and Benji went to school
a couple blocks over.

We would walk home in the afternoon.

- And you were how old?
- Ten. Maybe eleven.

That's pretty young.

Mom would come home tired,
wasn't really up for dealing with kids.

- I'd make sure the house was clean.
- It's no small feat.

- How old were you when you met Frank?
- Sixteen.

You know about the incident with Frank
in high school?

It was before I met him.

- You ever talk with him about it?
- He told me it was some accident.

Rose...

you knew Beverly Jean.

What was she like?

She was really sweet.

You think she
was good for Benjamin?

She made him want to leave home.

I thought that was good.

We gave him money for a security deposit.
Signed his lease.

Did she intend to marry him?

He was working on her.

Was she... seeing other men?

Benjamin thought she might be.

Benjamin told you this?

He said he thought
she was giving him the runaround.

Getting done up for other guys.

Done up how?

Dressing provocatively?

Painting her nails? Wearing perfume?

Getting her hair done.

Frank told us he was with you
the night Beverly Jean was m*rder*d.

- Is that true?
- Yes.

Well, uh...

he went out to get us food.

How long was he gone?

Rose, if you are hiding something

and they find out about it,
it will not be good for you...

or for him.

What are we missing?

- Did you see those bruises on her arm?
- Yeah.

You think Frank did that?

Her mother told us that he wouldn't let
anyone else get close to her.

Should we search Frank's car?

- I would need a warrant.
- Let's get one.

Mark. There's a young woman downstairs
asking for you.

Hi, Rose.

Do...

Do you promise my baby will
be okay if I tell you what happened?

Of course.

It's okay.

It's okay. Hey.

So you said Frank was not home
the night Beverly Jean disappeared?

Yes.

Do you know where he was?

Yes.

Where was he?

Benji called us that night
and asked Frank to come over.

Okay.

So Frank left.

How long was he gone?

He called after two or three hours.
Asked me to come over there too.

- What time was this?
- Ten or eleven?

But I told him I was tired.

My back hurt. My feet.

I was more than eight months pregnant.

Did he say why
he wanted you to come over?

No.

He just said to come?

He said to bring cleaning supplies.

But... I forgot.

Drove over, let myself in.

Frank was in the living room.
He told me not to get upset.

Was he upset?

He was calm.

Okay. So Frank tells you
not to get upset...

He told me something bad had happened.

My mind started racing, I was worried
something had happened to Benji.

Frank said, "He's fine,
but he's done something."

Benjamin did something?

Yes.

I said, "What's he done?"

He said he got mad at Beverly Jean.

Frank said Benjamin hit her.

I asked if she was okay.

Frank said,
"We got to help Benjamin out of this.

We got to stick together
or he's going to get in trouble."

I asked where Benjamin was.

He said, "He's in the bathroom."

I said, "I want to see him."
He said, "Okay.

But Beverly Jean is in there too."

The door was open.

I saw Benji. He...

He had his head in his hands,
he was crying.

There was blood everywhere.

Splashing.

And then I see Beverly Jean
in the bathtub.

Was she alive?

Dead.

She had her top on, but no panties.

I said, "Benji, what have you done?"

He shook his head.
He didn't want to look at me.

- Was she face up, face down?
- Face up.

Did you notice any wounds?

I couldn't tell, there was a lot of blood.

Then what happened?

Then Frank brought in a tarp,
spread it on the floor.

Then he asked me
to go get cleaning supplies.

When I came back,
they had already rolled her up.

So they took her out to Frank's truck
and drove off.

I washed out the tub
and cleaned up the bathroom.

I scrubbed the tiles, in the cracks,

the grouting, the window frame.

I had to wash all the blood
down the sink and that seemed to...

It took forever...

trying to get it all to go down.

- Did you see a w*apon?
- There was a Kn*fe in the tub.

What'd you do with it?

I rinsed it off.

Took it to the kitchen,
washed it with dish soap.

Put it away.

And then I went home.

Did you see Frank or Benjamin
again that night?

No.

Frank came home early the next morning.

Why did you help them?

It's just what I've always done.

Who k*lled her?

I don't know.
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