01x06 - Chapter 6: Crime Seen

[bunniefuu]

Previously on A m*rder
at the End of the World...

[DARBY] We were in Andy's
suite. It's a bunker.

I'm starting to feel
like this might not be

- a hotel at all.
- [ANDY] This is sabotage.

I'm being set up.

You have hacking skills, right, Lu Mei?

- What were you doing?
- I don't f*cking have to answer that.

I know that Zoomer is Bill's son.

Darby, you said that to my husband?

[ANDY] I'm sterile.

I never told anybody, not even my wife.

[LEE] It's never good to keep secrets.

I've kept so many of them.

I cannot trust a single f*cking person!

I think we should go home.

I, I think you might
be losing it, Darbs.

[DARBY] I really thought
you were different.

[BILL] You're ready to break into
a potential serial k*ller's house,

to what, to save them?
I mean, you can't. They're dead.

[ANDY] Why is it, wherever
you go, death follows?

[GRUNTS]

[FLAMES CRACKLING]

[MUFFLED GRUNTING]

♪ ♪

[CRACKING]

[BREATHING ERRATICALLY]

- [LEE] Darby.
- [GASPS]

[ECHOING] Darby, I think
we've got to get you warm

and we've got to get you dry.

I'm really, really cold now.

Andy's gonna be out of his
treatment in 43 minutes.

I'm gonna go upstairs, try
to intercept him, but...

[LEE] Be careful, he's
very raw right now.

[DAVID] Oka-Okay.

Be safe.

Okay.

Get you up. Gonna get
you up, Darby, okay?

- [WHIMPERS]
- Okay. There you go.

[HAIR DRYER BLOWING]

You just have to sit
tight till David gets back.

Was it you

who sent me the Morse code
to tell me to meet you here?

Of course. The phones aren't safe here.

In certain spaces there's
no surveillance, though,

for his privacy.

Our bedroom, these baths.

So it's safe to talk here.

How do I know you didn't
lure me to a blind spot

to close the pool cover over me?

[LAUGHS] Jesus, Darby.

The pool cover was closed
by the time I got here.

It jammed. That's why I ran
for David to get you out.

Is the pool cover on the grid?

- You think it was hacked?
- Hacked.

[SIGHS]

I want to trust you,
Lee. I-I really do.

But it's hard.

The fake passport, and...

I don't think you've ever

been honest with me about anything.

Everyone I've told the truth to is gone.

Everyone except for David.

Really, Darby, I've just
been trying to keep you safe.

Well, I'm not safe.

No one is.

It's about Andy.

Isn't it?

You're hiding something for him.

Lee...

you've got ID and credit
cards in another name.

A wig and a go bag you
carry with you everywhere.

You look like someone
guilty of something.

At first it was really small things.

Andy always used to
say, "My son. My boy."

He never once said "ours."

But he loved Zoomer, so it
hardly mattered what he said.

But later those small things

became much bigger things.

What Zoomer eats,
measured to the last gram.

Prolonging his REM sleep cycles.

Increasing his alpha waves

for greater concentration.

Andy controls every
aspect of Zoomer's life.

I mean, as the stress and
pressure of building this place

and Ray mounted, he'd lose
his temper more quickly.

Steady, steady, steady.

Okay, you're doing good.

And just imagine, when Andy

first showed us this hotel,

he wouldn't let Zoomer go outside.

- [ZOOMER] Look at me, Mommy!
- [LEE] Fear of kidnappings.

So Zoomer rode his bike in here.

[LOUD THUD]

But he fell.

- And Andy flew into a rage.
- [ZOOMER CRYING]

- Are you okay?
- Something Zoomer witnessed

- too many times to count.
- My head really hurts.

[TODD] Let me take you to see...

I'm really sorry. Just,
it was so... [GROANS]

Mommy.

[LEE] Andy was obsessed
with building an empire

to protect his son from
every kind of apocalyptic end

- he could imagine.
- I'm okay.

But the thing Zoomer
needed protecting from...

was Andy.

You can't unteach the
things that they learn

in that moment.

I realized that once the hotel was done,

Andy's control would be complete.

He'd move us into the
underground suite, and...

we'd be trapped.

I knew I had to get him out,

but I just didn't know how.

I guess I could have called the cops,

but Andy has the president's
cell phone number.

My accounts are shared.

My credit cards are all in his name.

I don't have any real money.

And then I remembered this
one kid from high school,

he'd become a journalist
and lived off the grid

in a little cabin in
the woods in Nova Scotia.

And I'd never told Andy about him.

[SCHOOL BELL RINGS]

So one day I go to pick
up Zoomer from school,

same as always.

[INDISTINCT CHATTER]

Mommy!

[CAR DOOR OPENS]

[WOMAN] See you tomorrow, kiddo.

- [LEE] Hi, my love.
- Hey, Mommy.

- How was school?
- Good.

Are you buckled up?

Okay.

Only I don't go home.

[KIDS LAUGHING, SCREAMING]

I take him somewhere
with a lot of people.

Rum raisin. Your favorite, right?

- No.
- No? Chocolate?

Yeah. I want some.

All right, are we
doing a roller coaster,

or are we gonna go on the Ferris wheel?

All public surveillance
cameras are routed through

massive facial recognition databases,

but I have a way to defeat that.

And I know Andy's got
malware on my cell phone,

so I find a way to give him
someone else to follow for a while.

You think we're gonna be able
to make it through that line?

- Huh? That's a long line.
- Yeah.

I hacked the New Jersey DMV,

found a woman with
brown hair, blue eyes,

my height and weight,
who also has a young son.

Her driver's license is about to expire.

[SPEAKS INDISTINCTLY]

So I applied for a new one
and showed up at the DMV

to get my picture taken in her place.

What about our car?

This is our new car.

I like the other one better.

[LAUGHING] Oh, you do, huh?

You haven't even driven in this one yet.

How do you know?

We drove for 18 hours straight.

I didn't dare pull over to sleep.

I stopped only for gas.

We crossed the border into Canada

as Monica Chapman and her son Tommy.

[CHUCKLES]

We had $213 to our name.

[SIGHS]

When we got to that cabin in the woods,

I was so relieved.

I had done it.

[LAUGHTER]

I heard my friend's laugh
coming down off of the porch.

[SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY]

And I smiled to hear that laugh because

it hadn't changed in 15 years.

Hey, Lee, you made it.

And then I saw who he was laughing with.

Andy.

On the plane ride back,

Andy only spoke once.

You can go.

Zoomer stays.

Honestly, Darby, to this day,

I have no idea how he did it.

There is no leaving him.

And he's grown more and
more obsessed with Zoomer.

Andy's success comes
from his singular focus,

and that new focus is his son.

So he wanted to know Bill?

To know his own son more deeply?

That makes sense, maybe.

I had no idea that Bill
was Zoomer's father.

I thought that Andy invited Bill because

he wanted to keep his critics close.

And I wasn't surprised when
Bill rejected the invitation.

Wait.

So Andy invited me?

The bait.

And Bill said yes.

Oh, my God.

I reached out to Bill after
he accepted Andy's invitation.

I couldn't think of anything
else to do. I was desperate.

And you thought...

that was your second chance to get out?

And Bill told you to put Rohan
on your list for the boat?

A climatologist at this sort of
thing doesn't raise any eyebrows.

Yeah, but even a boat
has to dock at some point,

so you needed new passports, new names.

So you went to the person
Andy would least suspect.

The Argentinian.

Who could get you safe
passage to Buenos Aires.

David has seen his fair
share of Andy's rage.

And that would explain why David was

at Bill's room that night.

They were to meet. The three tea cups.

Bill.

Rohan.

David.

And you-you think that
Andy is behind all of this?

Maybe. But Andy's too smart

to invite Bill to his
retreat and have him m*rder*d.

Especially if he knew
about the paternity.

Even if he thought he
knew about the paternity.

Wait, which would explain
why Andy's been so nice to me.

I mean, maybe he genuinely
needs me to figure this out.

Except, like a f*cking idiot,
I led him straight to you.

God, Lee, I'm so sorry

- for everything you've been through.
- Don't be.

I fell in love with Andy,

and there are whole parts
of me that love Andy still.

But I can't let Zoomer grow
up in a house of pain like I did.

I'm the one who owes
you an apology, Darby.

All this is really my fault.

You wish it was that easy.

Sian said that to me.

She said that often guilt

is easier than the truth.

What's the truth?

That you were doxed, stalked,

terrified into
disappearing from the world.

But you met a man, a powerful man

who you thought could
save you from all of that.

Except it turns out
he was all of that...

just in a new form.

It was a good plan, though.

I mean, the retreat would
have been in full swing,

and you and Zoomer would
have just slipped away

into the night. It was a good plan.

Then someone m*rder*d
Bill to try and stop you.

And now they're trying to k*ll me.

But I think we should go to Bill's room.

- Why?
- I think I've been...

I think I've been making what they call

the big old mistake.

What's the big old mistake?

I've been focusing on
trying to find the k*ller,

when I should be trying
to understand the victim.

How long till Andy
gets out of treatment?

In ten, 15 minutes.

- Great.
- [CLATTERING OUTSIDE DOOR]

David?

[DOOR UNLOCKING]

David, is that you?

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

[CHIMES]

- He deactivated my ring.
- Wait, try mine.

[CHIMES]

f*ck.

[DOOR SHUTS]

[DARBY] sh*t.

[FOOTSTEPS APPROACH]

[LEE] Oliver.

David sent me.

He said he's keeping Todd busy.

- And where's Zoomer?
- Asleep, David said.

He sent me to take you both
back to my room across the hall.

You'll be safer there
when he intercepts Andy.

What's going on, exactly?

Why your room?

Uh, no one is looking for me.

Fair. Um, well,
I got to go to Bill's room.

I'll come with you.

Can I come, too?

It's been really stressful
sitting alone in a room

for days on end, not
knowing what's going on.

Not knowing if you're next.

Just waiting.

I can't do it anymore.

Please.

[DOOR CHIMES]

♪ ♪

I don't think David is going to be able

to stall Andy very long.

Why are we here?

I don't know yet.

[INHALING]

You know the doorbell cams?

- Do they have playback memory?
- No.

f*ck. Wish I had my laptop.

I keep thinking about
that door cam footage.

I wasn't about to let
Todd take my precious.

Here.

Sick.

You know the network?

Yeah, I do, actually.

I got it from a light bulb.

[CHUCKLES]

Mm.

[DARBY MUTTERS]

[DARBY] Number 11.

There's this thing from
right before Bill d*ed

that's really bugging me.

Right there.

That.

- It's an empty hall.
- No, look.

The light changes. See?

Bill opened the door.

Someone's edited themselves
out of the footage.

Yeah, but why not just cut that
section of the footage entirely?

[DARBY] You'd notice a time jump.

Whoever did this is really good.

Well, maybe Bill thought
he heard something,

opened the door, but no one was there?

One more time.

Look.

Your book's here.

- You should wear gloves.
- Uh, okay.

None of us should even be in here,

and you were literally
smelling the dead guy's shirts.

There are a lot of prints.

Bill's injected. It
catches him by surprise.

The k*ller leaves.

It's a few moments before Bill realizes

that he's in any trouble.

Then suddenly his... his
chest starts to feel like

it's about to explode and...

his brain starts
shutting down and his...

his fingers start to go cold.

And then he feels...

He starts losing his
major organ function.

He tries to steady
himself on the fireplace.

But he hits his head.

He falls.

Then he's on the ground and...

There's a lot of blood.

There's blood everywhere.

He knows he doesn't have a lot of time.

He sees the book.

And he grabs it.

Because he knows you will come.

Because there's something in
here that he wants me to know.

It's the last chapter.
I always read this at readings.

[LEE] R-Read it out loud.

- Right now?
- Yes, right now.

I'm not sure this is the best
time for starting a book club.

[LEE] Bill was dying.

He knew he was dying.

And in his last moments,

he doesn't reach for
the phone or the door.

He reaches for that book.

Because there's something in it

he wants Darby to know.

[OLIVER] Read it, Darby.

Three heads are better than one.

"I sometimes wonder...

would it have been better not to go?"

I think about it like a match
point in tennis or a coin toss.

When the game, the bet,

your life,

can go one way or another."

We're just gonna, what,
break into a potential

- serial k*ller's house?
- Vacant house, Bill. It's for sale.

- Still breaking and entering.
- You picked me up in a stolen car.

And then, what, we're
gonna tear up the house

in hopes of finding his first victim?

If you want to give up and go home,

that's fine. I can do this on my own.

Sorry.

This is... this is stupid...

[LEE] It's not stupid.

I think you just feel overwhelmed.

And that's okay.

- We're here.
- [OLIVER] Yeah.

Go to the next part.

It's just that I, I don't...

read this part...

normally.

But that's where all the blood is.

"We took apart the
staircase one step at a time.

- Until there was no going back."
- [DRILL WHIRS]

Bill.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

He started with his wife...

Patricia.

[DOOR OPENS]

[FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING]

[DOOR CREAKS OPEN]

Patricia Bell.

Carmen Perez.

Latisha Jones.

Ruth Kaminski.

- Melissa Chang.
- Alison Dupree.

[BILL] Marissa Bahari.

[g*n COCKS]

[DARBY] Bill...

[g*nsh*t]

[BODY THUDS]

[HIGH-PITCHED RINGING]

[MUFFLED, DISTORTED SPEECH]

[MUFFLED, DISTORTED SPEECH CONTINUES]

[MUFFLED] What? I can't hear you.

You're okay, you're okay.

My cell phone's dead.

Can you help?

Bill?

Will you help me? I need your help.

Will you help me?

Yeah. Mm-hmm.

[PANTING]

- Ah!
- Yeah.

- Yeah, yeah.
- Yeah.

[DARBY] Here, you take the side.

All right?

Yeah.

[GRUNTING]

♪ ♪

[GARAGE DOOR OPENING]

♪ ♪

- [KNOCKING]
- [DARBY] Hello?

Someone? Please.

I'm sorry.

There have been two murders.

And my-my phone's d*ed. Can... ?

What? Where?

Across the street, 394.
Could you call the police?

Frank's old place? [STAMMERS]

It's empty. For sale.

Always back on the
market, Frank's old place.

Besides, he is police.

Patricia Bell is in there.

Patty?

Yeah, uh, we think

we found her remains
b-beneath the house.

Can I use your phone, please?

George?

Get the phone.

[FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING]

- [BUTTONS BEEPING]
- [LINE RINGING]

[OPERATOR] 911. What's your emergency?

They-they found Patty.

[OPERATOR SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY]

Patricia Bell.

She didn't skip town.

She never left her house.

[OPERATOR SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY]

- Hello?
- Hello?

- What's the address?
- Yeah. Patricia Bell and Frank Bell,

both dead in their
home, 394 Maple Drive.

Frank Bell is a former police officer.

He committed su1c1de on the premises.

We have reason to believe,
and evidence to back it up,

that he is responsible
for the serial m*rder

of 11 women across seven states.

[OPERATOR SPEAKS INDISTINCTLY]

Thank you. Thank you.

- [PHONE BEEPS]
- [EXHALES]

[DARBY] Bill?

[BILL] Yeah?

Want to get in?

Yeah. Yeah.

Here.

[BILL SNIFFLES]

Did you see his face?

No.

No, I didn't.

Neither did I.

I wonder what was in his eyes.

Whether he knew he was gonna do it or...

if he was still deciding.

I don't think it matters.

Yeah.

He must have been on that sub-reddit.

Following us for a while.

Getting high off the work we were doing.

So I guess, in a way, it's like
we were appreciating what he'd done...

I wasn't appreciating him.

You know what I mean though.

Like, we were doing all this
work to try and figure out...

Wait, what are you, what
are you talking about?

He had a g*n. He was about to sh**t us.

I-I thought we were gonna die.

We didn't die.

We didn't. He did.

- Because he couldn't face...
- Who cares about him?

He's nothing.

He's the result of faulty programming.

He's the... the-the juice concentrate

of a system that needs
to be fed dead bodies

in order to survive.

He's boring and predictable,
like the most basic code

cycling over and over again until all

the women are destroyed
and the world just burns...

What are you...

- what are you saying?
- I'm saying

you want the k*ller to have meaning

and he doesn't have
meaning. He's just...

he's just a k*ller... [STAMMERS]

I don't know, Darby, I just,

I'm trying to process
this and-and-and, like,

tell you how I feel and-and

you're on the case.

I want to know how you feel.

I'm tired.

I'm just tired.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

[BIRDS CHIRPING]

♪ ♪

Bill?

Bill?

[WATER DRIPPING]

♪ ♪

Bill?

[GASPS SOFTLY]

♪ ♪

[CRYING]

[CRYING]

[SNIFFLES]

- Sorry.
- It's okay.

It's actually really,
really good to cry.

No. No, it feels like sh*t.

Yeah, but it's like throwing up.

It would be worse to keep it in.

You'd end up a bitter old bitch.

[LAUGHS]

He's right.

[DARBY] I just...

I never, um...

I haven't read this since I wrote it.

I approved the galleys when
it was published, but...

[OLIVER] Why?

I guess that I, um...

I didn't want to see
all the ways that...

I had left him before he left me.

I didn't want to believe that I...

I'm not able to meet love.

[SNIFFLES]

I know a thing or two about that.

Me, too.

- [LAUGHS]
- It, um...

It struck me funny, the word he used.

- Can I?
- Yeah, of course.

He said...

the k*ller was the result
of "faulty programming."

Yeah, um...

"The same code recycled over and over

just in new bodies."

What-what does that mean?

[LEE] I think it means Bill

knew his k*ller, knew
the k*ller was a hacker.

And he was trying to
communicate that to Darby.

Maybe David's right.

Maybe it was Lu Mei.

Lu Mei?

You know she knew Bill, right?

Or at least, he made work
very critical of smart cities.

Smart cities aren't just, like,

cities where the lights
automatically turn on.

They're cities where
everyone is tracked.

- Surveilled.
- f*ck.

All right, so, um...

so Lu Mei?

What about Eva? [SNIFFLES]

I don't know, I-I...

started to get the feeling that, um...

She's in love with Andy?

She is. [LAUGHS]

And who knows, I mean,

maybe after all those
f*cking treatments,

he's in love with her, too.

But would Eva know how to
hack the pacemaker receiver?

I don't know, but, um...

she has access to the morphine

and the pacemaker receiver and...

maybe she's not working alone.

Andy.

I mean, doesn't he
have the biggest motive

for k*lling Bill...

and laying the blame at your feet?

Maybe we need to get you
and Zoomer out of here.

Like, right now.

Don't we all need to get
out of here right now?

Yeah, but...

I think they're in a greater danger.

Even if the police get here.

You were the one that
was held up at knifepoint.

I know, but only to stop
me getting closer to you.

If they'd have wanted to
k*ll me, they would have.

Look, Sian and I made it
to the coast. It's not far.

Maybe ten miles east of here.

It doesn't matter.

Bill always said that
Rohan's boat didn't have

any electronics on it,
they navigate by the stars.

How would we even get a message to them?

I don't know.

But a boat never leaves
its captain behind.

They left a zodiac, flares.

Maybe they're just waiting nearby.

[SHOUTING OUTSIDE DOOR]

Lee!

[GRUNTING]

[OLIVER] Lee, wait.

Darby?

[GRUNTING]

Oh, my god, David.

[GRUNTING]

Sorry. I'm sorry.

There's my wife.

♪ ♪