01x09 - Superhero Monster Slayer

[bunniefuu]

Good morning, Ms. Collins.

We're looking for books on American history.

Specifically, the election process.

More specifically, local elections.

More specifically, has a rookie deputy ever pulled off a last minute election to become sheriff in a small American town?

So, what is it you're looking for specifically?

I'm kidding. Let's look.

Hi, Mom. Oh.

Good morning. We're polling for the election.

May we ask who you're voting for?

Strictly off the record, I'd like to see some new blood around here.

I like what I'm hearing, ladies.

I made them myself. Oh, how creative.

But I'm not sure l can wear mine at school.

She has to give the appearance of objectivity. I don't.

Nice.

Margaret Miller?

Agent Chris Adkins, FBI.

We have some questions for you.

You've made a mistake. This is my mother, Carol Collins.

It's okay, sweetie.

Mom? Mom, wait, don't go with him.

Excuse me, what's happening? Are you arresting her?

We just wanna ask her some questions.

It's okay.

Make sure the kids are okay. Keep them in here.

Hilde!

I need to get my things in the office.

Matt, what the hell is going on?

I, uh... I wanted to give you a heads-up, but they said that I couldn't.

They who? The FBI? You knew they were coming?

They ran a DNA from the blood on Richie's jacket.

You know, the one he was wearing. Yeah.

Well, apparently, you did a genetic profile kit.

What does that have to do with anything?

Kim, your blood matched the profile.

Well, obviously I didn't have anything to do with it. So...

No, but... And that's the thing, it was a 50% match.

And it was female. What are you trying to say?

Well, you don't have a sister. So...

My mom?

What's going on?

Matt, that doesn't make any sense. I know.

But they ran her picture through facial recognition and, well, they got a hit.

Well, there must be some sort of explanation.

I know. Look, I know these guys. They'll clear this up.

You did all of this? Look, I had to.

I couldn't bring any of this to Sheriff Briggs.

Look, whatever happened, he... he's been covering this up for... for, like, decades.

Look, I'm... I'm sorry. All right? We'll figure it out.

I got a pitch for the headline.

"Don't judge a book by its cover".

Get it? Because she's gonna be in front of a judge soon.

Not salacious enough.

We need a catchy nickname, like ''Mother m*rder".

Guys, we can't publish.

But this story is huge.

I know, but we just gotta be careful.

This is a real person.

Just imagine how Principal Collins must feel.

Are you saying we should give her special treatment?

No, it's just that we have to get it right.

There was a time when I thought Principal Collins m*rder*d Penny Gillis.

We need more facts. Not just what we think, but what we know.

All right, folks.

I know that was exciting, but you know what else gets excited?

Atoms. Today, we're studying...

Where is she? She's okay.

The FBI guys are just asking her some questions.

Guess they own the place now.

How you holding up?

Can I see her?

Are you sure you're gonna be okay in there?

I doubt it.

Then maybe you should wait in my office.

That's my mom in there.

All right. Come on.

As I'm sure you know, there's been some new information in the Richie Fife case.

Hey.

We have some questions for you.

Yes. Of course. Whatever you all need.

Does this look familiar to you?

I understand you were the one who found it during the initial search for Richie on...

January 31st, 1988.

Is that correct? Yes.

Can you tell me why your blood is on this jacket?

I... I cut myself...

... in the kitchen, and I guess I was still bleeding...

I remember that. ... when I picked it up.

I remember her saying that she cut her hand.

Yeah, but did you see it happen?

And you didn't think to tell anyone?

I never thought that would matter.

I realize how naive it sounds, but back then I'd never even heard of DNA.

And-and we were all just trying to find Richie.

Don't worry, Kim. They don't have a clean chain of custody.

There's no judge on earth that would allow it as evidence.

Is that your former address in Portland?

Yes.

You wanna tell me about this?

In 1973...

I was arrested for auto theft.

My family...

Um, well, there was trouble and money was always tight.

A lot of people experience financial hardship, Ms. Miller.

My name's Carol now, please.

Most of them don't commit grand larceny.

I know that, which is why I...

When I got out of prison, I was so ashamed of... what I'd been, what I'd done...

and I just wanted a do-over.

Just a new name and a new life.

And I found that here in Erie Harbor.

Which broke the terms of your parole because you weren't allowed to leave the state, Margaret.

Even though water is supposed to keep us clean, H2O molecules are actually very sticky.

Can I have a bathroom pass?

To the Holmes County Sheriff's Department?

No.

And you knew Richie Fife through your daughter?

Yes.

They just seemed to really care about each other.

And you've said before that you did not see Richie Fife the night he was abducted?

That's correct.

You know how long l've been doing this job, Margaret?

It's Carol.

Long enough to know when I'm hearing the truth and when someone is lying to my face.

Why is he going after her like that? She didn't do anything.

Don't you remember?

You said you thought your parents were hiding stuff.

Normal parent things.

Infidelity, money problems... not m*rder.

I swear to you, I did not hurt Richie Fife.

I loved that boy.

My daughter loved that boy.

We all did.

Now, even though water is supposed to keep us clean, H2O molecules...

Ms. Lisko.

As I was saying, the hydrogen atoms...

... of the water molecule like to stick to the nearby oxygen atoms, which causes multiple water molecules to stick together.

Oh, come on!

Oh, come on, molecular fusions.

Why are you so interesting?

I'm glad we all find this fascinating, because water's remarkable stickiness...

If you leave, you can go straight to the principal's office.

She's not here, but I'll give her the message.

We don't know yet, Jack. I'm sorry.

Richie had dinner at her house almost every night.

Why would she have anything to do with this?

Maybe she didn't.

You know, that's exactly what we're trying to find out.

Hilde, what are you doing here? This isn't some story.

I know. I just... I wanted to make sure you're okay.

Hey, uh, let 'em go, Hilde. Come on. Let 'em go.

I meant it.

I know you did, sweetie. I know.

It's just, uh, she's going through a lot right now.

Hey, come on. We should get you home. Really?

I... I don't have to go back to school?

Well, we'll call it a mental health day.

Okay? Come on. Huh?

Dad, why would Carol change her name?

Just because she got arrested?

Yeah, maybe.

You know, maybe she didn't like who she was.

And maybe she wanted to start over.

Press the reset button on her life.

Yeah, look, some people, well, if they don't like something that they did or they don't like something that happened to 'em, well, they try and move on, right?

Pretend it never happened.

Kinda like you did when you left Erie Harbor?

Yeah, yeah. Kinda like that.

Did it work out for you?

It kind of did. For a while.

What ends up happening is you try so hard to convince yourself that you can leave that person behind, right?

And, uh, you end up just lying to everyone.

Just so you can be someone else.

And then one day you end up kinda believing it.

Maybe that's what happened to Ms. Collins.

Yeah, but you know what?

Always catches up with you in the end. Always.

Trust me. It caught up with me.

When we came back to town?

I think it was more around the time when I had you.

Yeah. Yeah, you were so annoying that you wouldn't let me get away with anything at all.

And you would drive me crazy all the time, asking questions.

Let's do this.

Okay. So, these are all the eyewitness accounts from the kidnapping in the hours leading up to it in the news.

Okay.

And this is a rundown of Sylvester's research organized chronologically.

And this is probably the worst moo shu pork I've ever eaten. Ever.

Can you be helpful?

I am being helpful. Don't eat the moo shu pork.

I don't get it. Not one thing in all of this research points to a woman being involved.

You're sure it was a male's voice you heard that night?

Yeah. Yeah, I'm sure. I wish I could forget it.

There's something that's always bothered me.

Come on. We've watched that video like a hundred times.

Count until the van drives away.

No! No!

Hey! Richie!

Maybe two seconds.

Not even. I don't think the person who took him could've gotten from the back of the van to the driver's seat that quickly.

So, what now? The person who took Richie is... is not the driver?

Maybe there were two people in the van.

So, Principal Collins's mom could've been the getaway driver.

Oh, come on. Why would Carol do it?

I... I can't think of anyone with less of a motive.

Well, the first night out of prison I got as far away from Portland as I could.

I hopped this bus to this cheap motel and, um, Carol Burnett was on the TV.

And she was funny, and she was smart.

And I just wanted to be all those things too, so...

That was it. I decided to become Carol.

You say that like it was a fun nickname you chose for yourself.

Look, you wanted to know what happened, and I'm telling you.

But my biggest fear was that my old life would somehow touch this one.

Touch you.

That didn't work out so well, did it?

Come on. Nothing's changed.

I'm still your mom.

And you are the best thing that I've ever done with my life.

I'm the one who's watched you... become this smart... and amazing tough lady boss.

I'm just in awe of the woman that I somehow created.

Because I can see that little girl... underneath all that, who has such a good heart.

And I don't wanna lose that, any of that.

You were the one that made me feel like the world could be safe again.

And now I can't believe that I listened to you.

Because... I don't know who you are.

This. This is me. I... Ah.

You have got to believe me, honey.

Please.

I did not k*ll Richie Fife.

Honey.

I thought of something.

Oh, my God. You just... You just gave me a heart att*ck.

What's happening? Uh, Hilde just thought of something.

Oh, good.

You wanted to start over, but you didn't change your name.

Uh, can we... can we talk about this tomorrow?

You were basically the same person.

Ms. Collins became someone else.

I was trying to figure out why she would want to do that, why she would k*ll Richie.

And then I realized, what if Carol didn't k*ll Richie, but maybe Margaret Miller did?

It's like you said, you lie to other people and then you actually start to believe it.

What if Carol doesn't have a motive, but Margaret Miller does?

Hey, you know what? That's, uh...

That's really something, Hilde.

Are you just saying that so you can go back to sleep?

No. No, no, no. No, that's... that's really smart.

Thanks.

We need to find Margaret Miller. Find out who she was.

Hey, you know what?

I've, uh...

I've got an address in Portland.

Really? Uh-huh.

Road trip? Tomorrow.

Tomorrow.

All right, come on. Go back to bed. Okay.

All right. There we go.

It's fake.

Yeah. Well, technically, yeah.

But since I didn't include the date and the state seal, I think we'll be all right.

Hey, no one's gonna know.

But I know it's fake.

Yeah. Well, it's not for you.

See, this... this is for the people who don't believe in you.

You have had this thing the whole time as far as I'm concerned.

What? It's beautiful.

Mom.

Aw. I'm so proud of you.

You look like a soldier for truth.

Remember, it's fake.

Yeah, for now. All right. Come on. Let's go.

Come on. Let's do it.

You got it? Yeah, I got it.

Uh, Matty?

Please don't go.

New York is too far.

I'll never see you.

I'll come back and visit, Pop.

Hey, come here.

Hey. Hey, it's just a day trip.

All right? I won't leave you again.

Okay. Okay.

Yeah. All good.

Hey, Scout. What are you thinking about?

Pop-Pop. How sick is he?

Is he gonna die like Grandma?

Well, that's... that's how it works.

You know, people... people get old and... yeah, you know, they... they die.

I was really sad when Grandma d*ed.

Yeah, me too.

It snuck up on me sometimes.

I remember.

That's kinda the order of things.

Losing your grandparents and then losing your parents.

You know, it's kinda... kinda the way that's supposed to go.

That's why the Richie Fife thing was so hard.

Yeah, parents aren't supposed to lose their child.

And a kid isn't supposed to lose a friend either, Dad.

Yeah.

Is Matt okay?

Is this Carol thing helping him or messing him up?

Helping him, actually. Oh.

For the first time in a long time we're not not okay.

Or at least Matt's not not okay.

So, I guess we're pretty good.

Happy husband. What's that like? Yeah.

Oh, I'm sorry.

Is there anyone new you're interested in?

It's gotta be slim pickings around here.

You are the nicest, most well-meaning snob.

No, I just mean, you know, numbers-wise, like, statistically speaking because the town is small.

Do you hate this place that much?

No. No, I...

It... It's amazing in a lot of ways.

The air is clean. The rent is cheap.

Yeah, everything I get here would cost me $8 billion in New York.

I'm actually wrapping my mind around staying a while.

Maybe even opening an office.

With everything that's been going on with Sam since he went AWOL, it's...

They're transferring him to maximum security right while I'm trying to prove he's innocent.

Go get 'em, snob.

All these neat little house son all these nice little streets.

It's hard to believe that something's wrong with some of those little houses.

Yeah. Well, you need to watch a movie for once that's not All the President's Men.

I know, but it's so good.

All right. Listen up.

Okay, remember, silence is your friend.

Each new question is the end of the last answer.

So, you gotta be patient.

Let the silence go on till it gets awkward, 'cause that person's gonna wanna fill the empty space, okay?

Okay?

All right. Okay, I get it. You're, uh...

Enjoying the silence.

Very good. All right. Save it for in there.

Come on, give it a knock.

Hi, sorry to bother you.

We're here from The Magic Hour Chronicle.

Yeah, we just wanna ask some questions about a woman who used to live here a long time ago.

Uh, a woman called Margaret Miller.

Uh, thank you.

So was she the one that sold you this house?

No, Margaret is...

I guess you could say she's my fairy godmother.

She gave me this house. I've always wanted to thank her.

Well, any idea where she lives now?

No. I was hoping you knew.

Oh. Yeah, well, we're... we're looking into it.

My mom and I, we, uh... we could not have survived without Aunt Margaret.

Aunt Margaret?

So, Margaret and your dad were brother and sister?

Yeah. My biological dad is Margaret's brother.

Why do you say, "biological dad"?

I guess because I never met him.

He ran off before I was born.

My mom said it was right after he found out she was pregnant.

She didn't like to talk about him much.

There's some photos of him and Margaret at the diner my grandparents used to own.

I still go look at them sometimes.

I could take you guys.

There they are. That's my dad, Zeke, and Aunt Margaret.

Margaret and Ezekiel were inseparable as kids, but then Ezekiel started getting into trouble.

Some more photos over here.

Uh, so when did he disappear?

Little before I was born.

And if I could ask, uh, w... when was your birthday?

March 14th, 1988.

Hey. That's right around the time when Richie...

Yeah.

Um...

He left town.

What's your story about anyway?

Oh, well, we're not exactly sure yet, right?

But we're definitely getting closer.

Let me know if you need anything. Thank you.

Thank you.

That's the tattoo.

What tattoo?

That "sinner" tattoo.

The one in Pop-Pop's notes.

Sam saw it too.

Yeah. Well, maybe.

Oh, that tattoo says "saint".

Sound it out, honey.

I learned how to read upside down.

When Mom was teaching Izzy.

If he held his arms down by his sides...

people would see "sinner".

It's an ambigram.

Yeah, I got it.

Yeah, thanks, Joe. I appreciate it.

Thanks.

Do you have a source at every police department in the country?

Twenty years at the New York Sentinel.

That didn't pay much, but yeah, I got some pretty good contacts.

Here, look, check this out.

Ezekiel Miller's record, right?

Guy had a rap sheet like a mile long, and they both spent time in prison.

Lead with that.

No, you lead with it.

I'm grounded, remember?

On a case-by-case basis, you're ungrounded.

You write the article.

Dad, it's your story.

Anyway, look.

We gotta head out. You know, your mom's gonna get worried.

Take that in the kitchen and wash up for dinner, okay?

Hey, Izzy.

Izzy, I'm gonna need you for some extra babysitting duties.

I'm really going back to work. Before you roll your eyes at me, I am prepared to pay you because I will have money because I will be working.

What, no snarky comments?

You all right, Iz?

You can have me full-time.

It's not like I have any friends anyway.

Iz.

Oh, man.

Izzy!

These comments on your profile... they're really mean.

Especially the ones from Jessica.

Look, I'm gonna be real honest, I'm... a little out of my depth here.

We didn't have all this... open cruelty when I was growing up.

It was more of a behind your back, quiet kind of cruelty.

So, I'm not exactly sure what the right thing is to say. I mean...

Girls were mean and shitty to each other, but it wasn't amplified around the world and immortalized until the end of time.

What'd you do?

I ignored them.

And avoided them.

And sometimes I just cried quietly in my car like a loser.

Mom, what are you doing?

I don't cry in my car anymore, sweetheart.

I am a lawyer, I take screen sh*ts.

No, Mom, please don't. I mean, it's... Look, I know you don't want me to do...

You don't want me to get involved.

So, I'm not gonna do anything with these.

But I want you to know that I have your back.

So, if it gets worse or you need help or you start feeling bad about yourself, which is insane because you are the most amazing, funny, smart, sarcastic, awesome girl on the planet.

I... forgot where I was going with that.

I just...

I love you.

Oh, Ginny!

Mom, Mom! It wasn't me.

Oh, of course not.

No, it really wasn't.

Pop-Pop.

Come on.

Ezekiel seemed like a guy that was up for a buck, right?

Like he's not a k*ller.

He wasn't even arrested for anything violent.

W... What if his plan was to hold Richie ransom, and then something went wrong?

Something went awry. Dad.

No, what... what if Ezekiel thought that Richie was someone else? I mean...

Dad! What?

Why did you quit?

You do like this.

You love it. We love it.

You, uh... You remember that girl that disappeared in Montauk?

You know, when I wasn't home a lot?

I didn't realize until now that all of that was just because I never let goof what happened to Richie.

And that's why Mom got mad at you.

When you get married, you... you make a deal.

And that deal is that that person is your person.

You know, you go to them with all of your feelings.

Good and bad.

And I... I didn't do that.

No, I talked to one of my sources instead of talking to your mom.

Hey, but not anymore.

No, no, no.

No, your mom and I... yeah, we share everything.

No more secrets. Yeah, that's thanks to you.

"Secrets are like monsters under the bed".

That's what Sam said.

But I think that once you shine a light on them, they're actually not that scary anymore.

You're pretty much a superhero monster slayer, kid.

Bridge! What the hell happened?

He fell. They... They think it's a stroke.

Go with him. I'll follow in the car with the girls.

Easy.

See you there.

Hey, guys.

Hey.

Here. Hey, what did you get?

Egg salad with one bite missing.

'Cause I didn't like it.

Oh, well, thank you. Thank you very much.

How's Pop-Pop?

It's okay. You can tell us.

Well, listen, guys. Um...

Look, your Pop-Pop's had something called a mild ischemic stroke.

All right, and he's lost some blood flow to a part of his brain for a little bit.

It couldn't have been too long.

We heard him fall and we called 911, like, almost...

Hey, Iz. Iz, no, no, no, no, no.

Look, you... you saved his life.

Yeah, 'cause, uh, you know, the doctors, they think he's going to be okay.

Will he remember us now?

I don't know, sweetie.

Are you sure you don't want us to stay?

No, no, no. You guys, uh... You guys head off. Get some sleep.

I'll grab some stuff for you. All right. Thanks.

Come on.

All right, see you later, guys.

See you later.

Bye-bye.

I'll write the article for us.

I'll take care of you, so you can take care of him.

I love you, Pop-Pop.

Night.

Good night. Good night, Mom.

How long are you going to be typing?

You might want to put in earplugs.

The Chronicle has uncovered that our very own school librarian, Carol Collins, has an unlikely criminal past.

Her real name is Margaret Miller, and she was part of a car-theft ring in Portland with her younger brother, Ezekiel Miller, back in the 1970s.

She got an early release for good behavior and changed her name to Carol when she moved to Erie Harbor.

That's where she married Roger Collins and had her daughter, Erie Harbor's school principal, Kim Collins.

Margaret Miller's brother, Ezekiel, was released from prison about six months before Richie Fife was abducted.

Ezekiel has a distinguishing tattoo on his arm that reads "sinner".

And multiple sources confirmed seeing a man with that tattoo around the time Richie went missing.

DNA tests on Richie Fife's jacket revealed Margaret Miller's blood.

The jacket remains inadmissible in court.

As of the time of publication, there is still no conclusive evidence tying Margaret or her brother, Ezekiel, to Richie Fife's disappearance.

You read it yet?

Why don't you want to know the truth?

Thirty-one years ago, we buried an empty coffin, and I've been wondering about your brother's final moments every day since.

What if we find out what happened to him, and it's worse than we thought?

I'm sorry.

sh*t.

Yeah, uh, hello?

It's about the article.

About this picture.

The day Richie Fife was taken... for me... it was different.

I woke up after a few days in the hospital, and I didn't remember anything.

Until I saw Hilde's article today.

Well, you think he could be a witness?

That would officially place Ezekiel Miller in Erie Harbor on the day Richie was taken.

Yeah. Yeah? Okay. That's good.

Look, uh, I-I gotta make some calls, but...

Thank you. Appreciate it.

She went home sick.

All right, thank you.

Hey, Chris. Yeah, it's Matt.

Listen, I... I think I got something for you.

Can I see it?

He got one too.

I wonder if he still has his.

Hey. Hey.

I'm, uh, glad you came.

Yeah, me too.

Hey. Will, uh... Will you sit down?

Please, Kim.

All right, look, um...

Sipple is saying that he saw your uncle here in Erie Harbor.

He is also saying that he ran him off the road too.

God.

Look, it's only a matter of time before we connect him to what happened to Richie.

And your mother too.

Look, I ju... I just wanted you to know.

So you could be prepared.

Sipple, he's, uh... he's saying he's gonna testify.

Jesus, Matt. What am I supposed to do with all of this?

Well, maybe you could help.

Talk your mother into confessing.

Get her to tell all of us what really happened.

So choose between you and my mother?

No, just... just tell the truth.

You know, the way things are going this... this isn't gonna end well for her.

Agent Adkins is already trying to figure out what to charge her on. So...

So, no choice really.

I wish you'd never come back.

You got this.

Perfect. Now watch me one more time. That's the intro. Ready?

♪ I'll never be the same ♪

♪ Stars have lost their meaning to me ♪

♪ Never be the same ♪

♪ Nothing's what it once used to be ♪

♪ And every songbird that sings ♪

♪ Tells me it's spring ♪

♪ And I don't believe their song ♪

♪ Once love was king ♪

♪ Kings can be wrong ♪

Kim.

Where are you going? Kimmy!

Kimmy, I get why you're upset.

There was one thing that always bothered me about that night.

For 31 years my brain hasn't been able to let it go.

The night Richie disappeared, Matt came banging on our door, and I followed him back to the overpass.

So, I'd been, you know, over the same section of road twice before the search party even started.

But when I circled back with you...

suddenly it was there.

As if you knew it was there.

Or you put it there.

Richie! Richie!

Oh, honey.

Hello! Richie!

Richie! Richie!

What I can't figure out is why.

The only thing I can come up with is maybe you thought if you were the one to give them the evidence, that they'd never suspect you.

Let's run away.

I know how to start over.

That's not gonna happen.

Kim.

Kim!