Absence of the Good (1999) Movie Script
Michael?
Michael, you okay?
Don't move, honey.
It's gonna be okay.
Your mother's very worried about you.
Don't move, Michael.
What time did they get here?
A little after 6:00.
I thought they weren't
supposed to come till 8:00.
Yeah.
Did you have any breakfast?
You go ahead.
Mr. Barnes?
Good Hope Charity.
We have a pickup.
One minute.
Here you go, guys.
Thanks.
Welcome back, partner.
Hey, Glenn. Thanks.
How's Mary?
Okay.
It's gonna take some time.
And you?
I'm okay.
So what's your thinking?
You just wanna hang out today?
- Get back in the rhythm?
- You got something?
Just came in.
- Hey, Sid.
- Caleb, I didn't know you were back.
- How're you doin'?
- What do you got?
Lynette Gumme,
Bible student, 22 years old.
The guy upstairs heard her scream,
called 911.
She put up a fight?
She was a strong young woman.
Good muscle tone.
These bruises here--
she was strangled...
I'd say about six hours ago.
- Six hours, huh?
- Yeah, give or take.
She might have been suffocated
during the attack.
She was killed in the process
of being raped.
How long ago
did the 911 call come in?
'Bout an hour ago.
The neighbor heard her scream,
waited five hours to call?
- Thanks, Sid.
- Mm-hmm.
It's open.
Mr. Marshall, we'd like to speak
to you about Miss Gumme downstairs.
Let me ask you something. What were
you thinking when you saw that gun?
Guy's got one of us for sure.
Do you remember
what went through your head?
What were you thinking?
I didn't want to be
in a wheelchair, you know.
Bullet in my spine.
I was raised Methodist.
Yeah?
We believe God
has already decided...
whether someone
will choose good or evil.
Those that choose evil
don't really have a choice.
So you're saying it's not
really this guy's fault.
I'm saying the decision
had already been made...
whether he was going to
point the gun at himself...
or at you.
I don't think that really helps me
if I'm still in a wheelchair.
I agree.
Right.
We'll talk about it later.
You got it.
- Hey, welcome home.
- Hey, great friend.
- I love it, Caleb. I really do.
- Thanks. So do we.
Wow, you guys been busy, huh?
You've got so much room here. The
closets are bigger than my apartment.
Okay, look, dinner's almost ready.
I'm gonna put some sheets on the bed.
And then I'll leave you two alone.
- You don't have to do that.
- Yeah, I know.
Now shut up.
Did you have a good day?
Yeah, it was good.
Been busy?
Pretty busy.
Something smells good.
All right, Agnes.
'Night, Roger.
See you tomorrow.
Franky!
Here, kitty, kitty, kitty.
Mama's home.
Come on.
Oh, smell the cat food.
She was struck from behind
several times, blunt instrument.
I would say a hammer.
The head, not the claw.
But she didn't fall.
She never hit the ground.
He dragged her in here
from the living room.
- How do you know?
- Carpeted floors.
I found some matching fibers
in the heels of her stocking.
They were dragged from over there
to her bedroom.
- Where'd you find blood?
- Some on the sheet.
I got some on the mattress.
I got a little trace right over here.
I don't get it.
The guy cleaned up after himself.
Should have used bleach.
Check it out.
He must have sat her in the chair
after he killed her.
Why?
The fucker's been playing house.
"Dear Mom, sorry about the mess.
I'll clean up after school. Love, B."
She couldn't have been home
for more than two minutes.
- They were waiting for her.
- How'd he get in?
This we do not know yet.
Look at this.
She hasn't got a family.
Her only son died eight years ago.
No other blood relatives.
And we have confirmed this?
Car accident.
Drunk driver hit him.
She had no other family.
Jesus.
They lifted a bloody palm print
off the sheet.
The lab's running six months behind,
if they like you.
If they don't--
What about another kid?
Before she was married,
gave it up for adoption.
You had to be there, Lieutenant.
The guy tidied up the place.
- It didn't feel that rational.
- Yeah, I assumed that.
The woman's head was caved in.
What did it feel like?
Evil.
As opposed to all the other murders
you've investigated?
We got more people to talk to.
Yeah, okay.
Caleb, listen.
I didn't get a chance before.
I--
I'm very sorry for your loss.
If I can do anything--
Thanks, Lou.
Thanks.
- Is it good?
- Yeah.
Glenn recommended this place.
Those guys come here all the time.
How is he?
He's good.
And Jennifer?
Not so good.
She left him again.
Says she needs to find herself.
That's gotta be tough
on those kids.
You know,
he wanted to stay home.
What?
Michael.
He didn't want to
go to school that day.
He said he was sick.
I made him go.
Detective Dwyer, Detective Barnes,
this is Dr. Lyons.
I faxed her your report last night,
asked her to consult with you.
I haven't had a lot of time on this,
fellas, but my feeling is...
that you should be less concerned with
the note than the cleanup afterwards.
I ask myself, how long
does it take to write a note...
and how long to get
a bloody house in order?
It's the image of this guy measuring
laundry detergent that creeps me out.
Join the club.
- So the note doesn't mean anything.
- That's not what I said.
The note is an illustration
or an expression...
of whatever delusion
brought him into the house.
He's cracked open a window,
but I wouldn't expect much light.
- Doesn't matter who he wrote it to.
- Right.
But in some obsessive-compulsive
nether region of his mind...
he thinks that he can wipe the violence,
the murder away like it never happened.
And then do it all over again.
Possibly.
Dr. Lyons.
Yes?
Do you have a minute?
One.
I wanted to schedule an appointment
for my wife in your office.
For your wife? Why?
Five weeks ago we lost our son.
He was six years old.
I'm sorry.
What happened?
An older boy brought a handgun
to his school.
He was showing it off
to the other kids.
- I'll call your office.
- All right.
You said for your wife.
Will you be there?
He was your child too.
Yes, I know.
I'll make some time.
Thank you.
Hey, Roger.
Thanks for seeing us.
I'm Detective Barnes.
This is Detective Dwyer.
It's funny, you get
your regulars on your run.
You don't really know 'em,
but they become like your friends.
Do you remember Agnes Thurmond?
Yeah, Agnes.
That's what I mean.
I knew her, but I never
knew her last name.
Did you notice anything unusual,
like maybe something she said?
Nah, just small talk mostly.
She'd sit there, she'd fall asleep.
On her feet most of the night.
Wait. Now that you mention it,
three days ago I dropped her off.
There was this guy,
he might have been following her.
- Did you get a good look at him?
- Yeah, pretty good.
Good enough to give a description
to our sketch artist?
I think so.
We're gonna need you to go to the
station. We'll send a car for you.
Thanks, Roger.
He the one that killed her?
We'll call you.
Detective Barnes' desk.
- Hang on. Caleb.
- Yeah?
You know anybody in the sheriff's
office at Cache County?
You're about to.
Couple's name is Sheridan.
Family's lived out here
for about, oh, four generations.
Heard about your case, and I thought
you just might want to take a look.
Now, the murders happened last month.
One of the hands found 'em out here.
Somebody beat the back
of their heads in. This was here too.
Have no idea what it means.
Probably some kid.
"Gone back home.
Love--"
What does that look like to you?
It could be a "B," an "H."
It's painted over though.
Any indication of the bodies
being moved after the fact, Sheriff?
Nah, not that I could tell.
What about the barn?
Any sign of cleaning up?
It's a barn. Take a lot
of cleaning to spruce it up.
- That's it?
- That's it.
All right.
Take a look at this.
Tell me if that guy
looks familiar to you at all.
Not that I can say.
Well, hang on to it.
Maybe somebody
will simplify our lives.
- Thanks again for your call, Sheriff.
- Pleasure.
All right.
Listen, you find this joker,
I'd like a chance to talk to him myself.
Sheridans were friends of mine.
You got it.
Hello!
Sir?
Excuse me, sir?
Detective?
You might want to see this.
You think this guy
is Mr. Clean?
Go get the boys to come down here
and dust, all right?
Yes, sir.
Give me a few minutes first, huh?
You got it, sir.
Hold on a second.
D and D, right.
The year? Right.
- Where's Barnes?
- He's in the basement.
He wants to dust
for prints down there.
- Childress.
- Right there.
Yeah?
Dormitory from hell.
All right, so the guy upstairs
is Charles Lowman.
We got him on the books for an old DUI
and a couple of drunk and disorderlies.
He's been dead about 48 hours.
Same amount of time
as Agnes Thurmond.
Gets worse.
Same blows to the back of the head.
Same good housekeeping seal.
Only thing missing is a note.
But he didn't need one.
He had a map.
Yeah, that clears up everything.
What do you think happened here?
Boarders?
I don't think anybody
comes down here to live.
I think somebody would
come down here to hide.
- From what?
- Whatever scares 'em.
I think we should invite
our friend Dr. Lyons in for a look.
Oh, shit. I gotta go.
- Everything okay?
- I forgot something very important.
You change your mind?
Yeah.
I thought this was a good idea.
Talk to somebody
and work this thing through.
I could talk to you.
We could always talk.
I know.
We will.
I can try harder, Caleb.
There's nothing to be afraid of.
What if I go up there...
and she says I'm crazy?
And then you'd leave.
I can't lose you too.
You're not crazy.
And I'm not going anywhere.
I just think about him,
that's all.
I know.
Then why don't you show it?
God, you never fucking show it!
Caleb, people who hurt,
they cry.
They ache, they lose themselves.
They ache for what's lost,
for what's gone.
I don't want to go in there.
Okay.
I'm Detective Barnes. My wife
had an appointment with Dr. Lyons.
Detective.
- Where's your wife?
- She won't be able to make it.
Do you want to reschedule?
Come in.
The lieutenant called.
There's been another murder.
- Do you think it's the same person?
- It's possible.
Mr. Clean?
I don't like that.
- Excuse me?
- Names.
I don't like those names.
They catch on and before you know it,
people are just walking around...
saying them like it's just
some weird neighbor.
Isn't that the point?
That if we name them,
they're not as scary.
- They still are.
- Have a seat.
What scares you, Detective?
Questions like that.
It was just a question.
You know what St. Augustine said.
Excuse me?
St. Augustine.
He said that evil has no embodiment,
no incarnation.
It is simply absence of the good.
Absence of the good?
He believed that a will,
by nature, is good.
So when somebody commits an evil act,
they're turning away from who they are.
Their own nature.
They cannot commit an evil act...
without the absence of good.
And that scares you?
Yes.
Have you ever seen an evil act?
Yes.
How did you know?
I knew.
Was your son's death an evil act?
That was an accident.
What's the difference?
Intention.
But the older child
brought the gun to school.
Not to hurt anyone.
Are you really that objective?
I've been through this before,
Doctor.
What would you like for me to tell you?
About my dreams?
- Do you have dreams?
- No.
He's about 30.
Very rigid, strict.
From a poor family,
but he probably lies about it.
He has an acute sense of justice, which
is why he thinks he'd be a good cop.
If he ever applied, he probably wouldn't
make it past the first interview.
Best he could do would be
a private security company.
He has trouble holding any job. He'll
say it's because no one respects him.
Thank you.
You're welcome.
I'm sorry, Caleb.
So what do you think?
Jennifer.
What?
My ex-wife Jennifer.
First time I ever danced with her
was to this song.
- What year was that?
- '77.
Twenty-two years ago...
and Roger, our bus driver,
makes our boy...
to be late 20s, early 30s.
Yeah, well, it depends on
when he bought the record though.
- That's all I got.
- Okay.
Here's what I got.
Guy breaks into Lowman's house,
right, kills him...
cleans up, takes the key,
goes to Agnes' house...
does the same thing to her.
Okay. So he goes to all that trouble
to get to the box...
and then leaves it there.
Why?
He did what he came to do.
He didn't need it anymore.
Or maybe he wanted it there.
Still doesn't make him our guy.
He goes to Agnes' house, Glenn.
He goes directly to the shed.
Why?
Because he knew the box was there.
Because he put it there.
Because he lived there as a kid.
So why does he have a key
to the other house?
Follow the map. It leads back to Agnes'.
He wanted to go back.
Because he lived there first.
And he never wanted to leave.
- You realize how thin this is.
- I don't think so.
All we gotta do is place this kid
at either house at the right time.
Help me with this, Detective.
How would you define "thin"?
Lab's gotta rush
on that palm print.
What I'm saying is,
how do we know there is a kid?
This is not just some loony tune
going through his second childhood.
He's out there right now, playing
mumbly-peg with the entire neighborhood.
We don't.
We don't?
You have anything else?
Something to keep me warm at night?
Look, we're workin' on it, Lou.
We'll get you somethin'.
Please do.
-This feels right, and you know it.
-I don't know it, and you don't know it.
In the harsh light of day,
the lieutenant's right. We are reaching.
- What do we got?
- Nothin'.
Come on, Glenn. That's bullshit.
All right, fine.
Why don't we just work the case,
make a few notes...
stick 'em in a frickin' file and forget
about the whole goddamn thing?
- Is that what you want to do?
- What are you getting at me for?
Hi there.
Can I help you find something?
Sir?
Excuse me, sir.
You can't go back there.
Sir!
Did we get the records
on those houses?
They go back
since they were built.
- None of the owners' names match.
- So we're back to square one?
I can still do some digging, maybe come
up with an aunt or cousin by marriage.
They don't have to have the same name
to be the same family.
All right. Great.
The second house, Lowman?
The legal owner is something
called the Unity Gospel Fellowship.
- What's that, a church?
- Yeah.
They got it about eight months ago,
tax free.
Mrs. Lowman was a fine woman.
Never lost her belief in the
fundamental goodness of the human heart.
Her son Charles was the one person
she could not reach.
- What do you mean?
- Charles had a substance abuse problem.
Mrs. Lowman was afraid
that after she died...
he'd sell the house
and use the money for drugs.
Any idea who might
want to kill him?
I do know there were drug dealers
in the house from time to time.
How do you know?
Charles told me during group.
What about the rooms in the basement,
the ones with all the beds?
Mrs. Lowman used her basement
as a shelter...
for abused and battered women.
She fed them, clothed them
when she could...
for 25 years,
sometimes 5 or 6 at a time...
for as long as they needed.
And the room
with all the wind chimes?
That's where Charles worked.
That was my idea. A creative outlet
for all his self-destructive energy.
Anything else?
I stopped it as soon as I could.
Stopped what?
Before that...
Mrs. Lowman had some pregnant women
stay in there.
Women who, for whatever reason...
wished to terminate
their pregnancies.
You mean, she locked them in?
I can only tell you
her intentions were good.
She remembered all their names
years after they had left.
Never stopped looking
at their pictures.
What pictures?
I don't know.
I checked with Narcotics.
You think about it, the good reverend's
idea doesn't smell too bad.
This guy Lowman's marginal at best.
He takes up with a drug crowd and--
So?
So nothin'.
Just you're sitting there
looking at pictures, some kid.
You don't know what he looks like,
if he exists at all.
- What's on your mind?
- Nothin'.
I'm just saying it's
not like you, as a rule.
Did you get those tax records?
Lowman's house
you already know about.
The other place Agnes Thurmond
bought 21 years ago at a bank auction.
Bank had foreclosed
on one John and Helen Gaskin.
They defaulted on a loan
after less than a year.
- Why?
- Doesn't say. Gaskin was in prison.
- For what?
- Beat the shit out of his wife.
Yeah, this was Gaskin's M.O.
The only difference was this time
he put her in the hospital.
- How many kids did they have?
- Who said they had kids?
Two boys and a girl.
Bard, five. Sara, eight.
John, Jr., ten. We got an address
up in Bountiful for John, Jr.
Good afternoon, ma'am.
I'm Detective Barnes.
This is Detective Dwyer.
We'd like to speak to your husband.
He's in the shop out back.
My house is a mess.
- You gotta go around.
- Thank you.
- Jack?
- Jesus, Sheila! What?
Honey, the police are here.
- Mr. Gaskin?
- Yeah. Sheila, go back inside now.
Put the hammer down, please, sir.
This is Detective Barnes.
I'm Detective Dwyer.
Just tell me who called you
and what they say I did.
Called us?
Christ. That's--
That's-- What do you call that?
Self-incrimination?
Something we should know about?
Just a couple of problems
with customers in the past.
No big deal. But that's
not why you're here, is it?
Excuse me. Can I help you?
Are your parents
John and Helen Gaskin?
You ever hear of Agnes Thurmond?
Yeah, I read about what happened
to her in the paper.
I thought the address
sounded familiar.
I used to live there, right?
- You don't know?
- Let me explain something to you.
When we were kids,
we moved around all the time.
Sometimes a week or two in somebody's
basement I didn't even know.
I sat down once, tried to add up
all the different places.
I counted 26 before I gave up.
I cut out on my own
before I was 17...
so sometimes an address rings a bell,
sometimes it doesn't.
We believe that you lived there.
Yeah, well, like I said.
What about the other place? You read
about that, the guy in that house?
Yeah, I read about it.
Didn't ring any bells though.
Does this person
look familiar to you at all?
- That looks like my brother.
- Bard?
Yeah, he's the youngest.
What do you guys want?
You think he killed those people?
- We just want to talk to him.
- Well, can't help you there.
Haven't heard from him in years.
All right, what about the family?
Maybe they can notify him.
My parents are dead,
my sister Julie--
I don't know. The last I heard she's
living down south somewhere near Draper.
- We're not exactly close.
- Do you have a phone number for her?
Maybe, yeah. I don't know.
Bardy, man.
He's not exactly the brightest bulb.
My dad would tie one on,
start goin' off.
The rest of us would dive for cover,
but Bardy, man, he'd just--
Goddamn it.
Why all the movin' around, Jack?
My old man was a fuckup.
Couldn't keep a job,
always gettin' in trouble.
I can say that now.
Sheila!
Door!
A couple of times, he woke us up
in the middle of the night.
Jump in a car.
I still don't know why.
Mr. Gaskin?
The house where you found the other guy,
there were rooms in the basement...
for people to sleep,
and it was real dark?
Yes.
Yeah.
I was there one time.
He beat her up real bad...
and she went and hid
in this house.
She took Bard with her
'cause he was...
you know, sick or somethin'.
Anyway, we drew him
this little map, you know...
so he could find his way back
to our house at night...
to see Julie and me.
Do you have any pictures of Bard?
No pictures.
Try not to think about it
too much, you know.
You know, it's funny though.
When Bard and I were kids...
we wanted to grow up
to be policemen...
just like you.
Ain't that a bitch?
Excuse me.
Julie Gaskin?
What do you want?
I'm Detective Barnes
with the Salt Lake Police Department.
I'm looking for Julie Gaskin.
Why?
Are you Julie Gaskin?
I'm Sarah Quinn.
That's Julie.
What happened?
- Take a walk?
- Sure.
There were a bunch of guys
out cruisin', lookin' for fun.
They found her,
and the fun went on all night.
When did this happen?
Couple of months ago.
Doctor said her brain
just shut down.
She couldn't take no more.
She's really okay physically.
She can hear us.
She could talk if she wanted to,
but all she does is just sit there.
- Who takes care of her now?
- I do.
I bring her here
whenever I can.
She fixed this place up all by herself,
so she belongs here.
- What about her family?
- What about them?
She's got a brother named Bard.
You haven't seen him around?
In the four years I've known her,
she's stayed far away from those people.
Why?
Does she look like she's got
a lot of happy memories?
Well, thank you for your time,
Sarah.
Bye.
What?
You forgot my kiss.
You're in a good mood.
- Bye.
- Bye.
Morning.
- May I say you look like shit today?
- Thank you.
- Welcome.
- We got anything on this kid yet?
No driver's license, no credit cards,
no vehicle registration.
I even checked for a dog license.
Nothing. It's like he never existed.
He existed, and I think
Sarah Quinn knows it.
You think the kid
dropped in on his sister?
Bard must have found out what those guys
did to Julie. That's what set him off.
I talked to some of the local boys.
They're gonna keep an eye on the house.
Good. Okay.
- Who you calling?
- School district.
- Yeah, records office, please.
- Records?
They send report cards home.
Addresses.
I'm afraid we're way behind
in getting our records on the computer.
We've had so many
cutbacks recently.
How far back
does the computer go?
Eight years.
Maybe nine.
- Great.
- No luck for you, I'm afraid.
If I were you
I'd start up here...
and work my way
all the way down to the back.
The files are alphabetized
by the school...
and then the students' names
are alphabetized under each school.
- Thank you very much.
- Good luck.
Let's go to work, partner.
Bingo.
Caleb.
"While Bard is clearly
an intelligent child...
his tendency to lash out in anger
should be monitored...
and whenever possible
redirected."
Okay, so look, we got
all these addresses, right?
There's still a lot of holes.
There's no record where they live.
We'll go with what we know. We've got
a lot of places to look for this guy.
- We'll fill in the holes along the way.
- What if he fills them in first?
Well, then I guess a lot more people
are gonna die, Glenn.
- You sure this was the guy?
- Yeah. He's not someone you'd forget.
Sir.
Excuse me, sir.
You can't go back there.
Like I said,
he just stood there.
He didn't say anything?
No. I told you,
this guy was really weird.
So he tries to go
behind the counter.
I remember I had the mace
under the counter.
I grabbed it,
and he attacked me.
It was horrible.
I sprayed him,
and he ran out.
I thought he was out for the money,
but he didn't take anything.
What are those?
Those I found
when I opened the store.
Where?
We tore out some walls
when we remodeled.
Those were in there
with a bunch of other kid stuff.
We're gonna send some guys over.
Tell them where you found this.
- Thanks, Tracy.
- Sure.
What's the address
of the next house?
Looks pretty abandoned.
I just wanna take a look around.
I got a feeling.
Freeze! Police!
I'm a cop!
- Let's get outta here!
- Get outta my way!
Caleb! Caleb!
Talk to me, Dwyer.
What's your partner up to now?
Detective?
Detective Barnes.
- He was here.
- What?
- The kid, Gaskin.
- You saw him?
- I feel him.
- You feel him?
You fucking feel him, Detective?
He's got to get into this place.
There's something here he wants.
And that is?
A piece of his childhood.
He used to live here.
This is one of his addresses.
We got a citizen down who,
as we speak, is nip and tuck.
Oh, come on, Lieutenant.
You know that that's a coincidence.
This is just some
stupid junkie's lousy timing.
Who did not discharge his weapon
until you came on the scene.
Whose goddamn face
is now a chunk of hamburger!
- I thought it was him!
- You were wrong!
Look, whatever it is he left,
we have to find it.
Or we have to make him think we have,
or else he'll come back.
Yeah, hit some more walls,
you crazy bastard.
- Just listen--
- No more listening.
- Just listen to me!
- Let's take a walk.
Wait a minute.
When he was a kid, he was scared,
he was moving around all the time.
Too many places, no home.
The only thing that stays the same
is the old man beatin' on him.
So he starts leaving himself
these little things, Lou--
you know, kid stuff--
so that he can come back
and claim them for himself...
so he can make himself
part of something.
So he can come home.
That's what he's trying to do.
He's just trying to come home.
And he's gonna keep on doing it
until we find him.
Clean yourself up, Detective.
- Lou, look--
- Then go home.
Get some rest.
We'll do this in the morning.
Go.
Honey?
Yeah, I'm in here.
You like it?
Yeah.
What happened?
It's nothing to worry about.
Does it hurt?
I love you.
I love you too.
Michael?
Is Mommy coming to get me?
- What, honey?
- Is Mommy coming to get me?
Mary?
Wake up.
Detective Barnes.
I'm here for a patient,
and I saw the admitting log.
I'm sorry.
Is there anything I can do?
I don't think so.
We can't--
This is the challenge--
to make sense
of times like this.
Which part of all this should I
try to make sense of first, Doctor?
Shit.
Work?
Yeah.
Look, I'll stay with her.
Okay?
Don't worry.
She'll be out for a while.
Thanks, Beth.
I just can't--
I understand.
- What are you doing?
- Is it on the list?
- How's Mary?
- She's fine. Thank you.
- Is this house on the list?
- Go home.
Go home.
Be with your wife.
Is this address
on the list or not?
This is bad.
Where are they?
He killed them one at a time.
Mom was first.
Then the kids,
they come home from school.
Dad was last.
He catches each of them just as
they come inside the front door.
He waited?
The variance of times would indicate
that he was here most of the day, yeah.
What about the food?
They didn't cook it.
You want to see what he came for?
Sorry about your wife.
Guess he wanted to make sure
they were still there.
I really need this location.
Caleb, listen, I understand.
Your people have been all over me.
Computers are down. With the system
changeover, we're back on-line tonight.
Could we do it by hand?
What they used to do
is make these master maps...
and every couple of months come back
and update the changes with overlays.
So, what, Beecham Road
is on one of these overlays?
The problem is, there's no telling
which overlay it's on.
I'd have to go through them all
one at a time.
Beecham Road. Don't forget it.
Call me when you find it. Thanks.
Caleb.
All right, now, look...
we've got units watching
all these other addresses.
But the captain wants everybody
out of those houses right now.
We can't do that. If we scare him away,
we may never see him again.
What if he kills somebody else and word
gets out that we could've warned them?
Then the captain can use me
for target practice.
That's a given, Detective,
but my head gets chopped first.
All right, all right.
What have you got?
748 Beecham Road.
We have all of the family's past
addresses except for 748 Beecham Road.
I checked the school records.
He lived there for one year.
It's the only one not on this map.
They must've changed the street name.
What are you talking about?
I got the roads department calling me
any second with new information.
I don't believe this.
Are you telling me this rat can crawl
through a huge hole in our net?
I'm workin' on it.
All right?
No, it's not all right!
Come on. Come on.
Is this the place for you
to be right now, Detective?
Look, if your concern
is about my focus---
My concern is for this case.
Dr. Lyons called. She thinks
you should go back on personal leave.
- That's bullshit.
- Perhaps.
Look, you wanna catch this guy,
it's right now.
I am here, and I am fine.
All right,
but have enough sense...
to take yourself off the case
if it's best for all concerned.
Don't wait for it to fall apart.
Nobody will question your decision,
least of all me.
I'll keep that in mind.
You do that.
We're checking applications...
following up on Dr. Lyon's ideas
of a cop wanna-be.
You know what I think it is?
You're thinking too hard.
- Is that right?
- Yeah. Get outta here--
Stop watchin' me, Glenn.
- Sir.
- Tell me something, Doctor.
- What scares you?
- Excuse me?
I said, what scares you?
Have you ever seen an evil act?
Shouldn't you be home?
I answered your questions.
You answer mine.
And if I do?
This isn't a word game.
I'm not being rhetorical.
Have you ever seen an evil act?
No.
Then don't judge me.
It scares me too, Detective,
the absence of the good.
Because it doesn't happen
all at once.
Something eats away at us
inside...
and we don't even know it.
- Mrs. Gaskin?
- Detective.
He's not here.
He's on a service call.
I fell down.
You ought to be more careful.
Especially with that baby coming.
I have the address...
where he is.
It's not far from here.
I'll go get it.
- Yes?
- John Gaskin.
- Jack.
- What are you doin'?
Go back inside, will ya.
- What do you want?
- Got a minute?
Hang on.
- We can't find this house on the map.
- Yeah, I read about what happened.
If I could remember anything,
I'd tell you.
What happened to your brother?
What happened?
Your father abused the whole family.
What do you think made Bard snap?
I don't know. Maybe the old man
knocked something loose in his head.
- Christ knows he tried.
- He singled him out?
- Yeah, he singled him out.
- How'd your father die?
Lung cancer.
He smoked like a chimney.
- And your mother?
- I don't know.
We lost touch.
I just heard from Julie that she died.
- When?
- Two, three years ago.
Then you never spoke
to Julie again?
The line was disconnected.
-But you tried to get in touch with her?
-Yeah, yeah, I tried. What is this?
Last night I saw your truck
drive by one of the old addresses.
You wouldn't be looking
for Bard, would ya?
Last night I was on
a service call. Okay?
If my truck drives past one of the old
places, believe me, it's a coincidence.
Where was the call?
The north end. I'll give you
the address. You can check it.
I will.
Christ! You people.
How do you think I feel
knowing this is going on?
You seem pretty relaxed to me.
One thing has got nothin'
to do with the other. Okay?
Right.
Did Sheila tell you I was here?
I saw your truck out front. The manager
told me what room you were in.
Okay?
Right.
Wendy's been gettin' all over me
about all this overtime.
Yeah, you can't win.
Robby.
Yeah, what?
Look at that across the street.
What do you see?
Is that him?
Is it?
Call it in.
4-Delta-1-2-5.
I got him.
I think he saw me.
Go, go, go, go, go!
Shit. He's runnin'.
Go, go, go!
Go.
Move out! Move!
Come on! This way!
Check in with Red Team!
Blue Team, fan out!
I want some space between us!
Where is he?
Shit!
- You got him?
- Keep moving!
We got no visual!
There's nothin' here!
What's it read like?
SWAT in! Don't shoot!
Oh, son of a bitch!
Where is he?
- I don't know!
- Go, go, go!
Go deeper in!
- Where's that canine?
- Over here!
Down by the water.
Bring the dog in.
- Check in the water.
- Nothing here.
- You got him?
- We're still looking.
- Where is he?
- I don't know how he got past us.
Don't you tell me
he got through.
My instructions were to deploy my men
on a line parallel to the street.
That presupposed
he had no other way out.
You were supposed to
drive him towards me!
- You let him get through!
- He went through here.
Comes out the other side of the street.
I don't know how the hell he found it.
He didn't find it!
He used to play here when he was a kid!
He knew it was here,
and you and your men didn't!
You knew that?
Thanks for telling me.
You jumped the gun.
My men had 30 seconds notice.
You fuckin' blew it,
and you know it.
Now, I'd really appreciate it, when
I'm attempting to debrief your ass...
if you wouldn't be fraggin' me
over this shit.
- You let him get away!
- All right, all right!
How long ago did he rabbit?
How long?
- Three, maybe five minutes.
- Let's just cut the shit and find him!
- Telephone. Sheriff Burnett.
- I'll call him back.
He says it's important.
Barnes.
Saw the name "Gaskin." Couldn't
figure out why it sounded so familiar.
Then I put it together with your sketch.
That's when it all came back.
Come on.
I'll show you.
Is Detective Barnes here?
I'm Sarah Quinn.
- No, he's at work right now.
- When's he gonna be home?
I'm not sure.
I have the number, though.
No, I've gotta see him.
It's really important.
How long did
the Gaskin family live here?
A few weeks.
Mr. Sheridan hired the father
for the summer as a laborer.
Mend the fences, fix the barn,
that kind of thing.
Started out all right.
Then he fell off the wagon
pretty quick.
We started getting calls after that
from a couple of bars.
You ever have to come out here?
A couple of times.
There'd be all this yellin',
screamin', cryin'.
Mr. Sheridan was pretty upset.
Even went after the old man
with a hammer.
Had to take him back with me,
let him cool off overnight in a cell.
My God.
The Sheridans took those.
It was about all they could do.
How somebody could do that
to a little kid.
What did you do?
I called all the right people,
all right.
Told 'em what was goin' on
out here.
Promised they'd look into it.
That's it?
No.
That's not it.
Mama backs up his story.
Says how her little boy falls down.
So I can't arrest him.
I even tried to get the son of a bitch
to take a swing at me.
At least that way
he'd be away from the kids.
- And then what happened?
- Nothin'.
It was the last I saw of 'em.
Sheridan said there was
more yellin' and screamin'.
Then they just
packed up the car and left.
This is where it started.
He killed the Sheridans first...
and then everybody else
came afterward.
All right.
But why them?
Why them first? He wasn't here long.
He hardly knew the Sheridans.
What is this?
Trap door.
Every barn's got one.
Watch out for snakes.
That poor little boy.
Which boy?
In the picture.
Which boy?
Bard.
Police! Get down!
Get down! Get down!
- I'm not Gaskin! I'm not him!
- Please! My baby!
I'm not Gaskin!
- Don't hurt my baby!
- Where is he?
Clear!
Take those cuffs off her.
Where is he?
I haven't seen him
since you came this afternoon.
Barnes.
Garcia, you got him?
- Damn it!
- We're okay, Sarge.
He saw it, Glenn.
Jack watched his father murder Bard.
For all those years
it's been eatin' away at him.
He finally found a way
to let Bard get his revenge.
That son of a bitch.
There they are.
The Gaskin clan.
Okay, Beecham.
Look, you two
aren't helping one bit.
I'm doing this as fast as I can.
Back off.
Damn it.
- Hello?
- Yeah, hi, Beth. It's Caleb.
- Somebody called about the furnace--
- Whoa. Slow down. Who called?
- Some guy. He's coming over.
- What'd they say?
Something about working on the furnace.
Wanted to know when you'd be home.
Know anything about it?
- Let me call you later.
- Okay. Bye.
Andrea?
Why does this computer screen say,
"System On-Line, Enter Password"?
- You think it's in there?
- I don't know. I don't know.
Come on, come on, come on.
Stay very still, honey.
I didn't do anything.
- Put the gun down.
- No way, man. You're gonna kill me.
No, I'm not.
I can't.
Look, I tried.
Put the gun down
and let her go now.
It wasn't my fault.
She hit me, for Christ's sake.
She wouldn't listen.
Julie!
Oh, Julie.
Look what you did.
Look what you did.
You're all I want, Mary.
I couldn't lose you too.
I need you.
I need you.
Set up some tape.
Got it.
Nobody else go in yet.
Call it in, Sarge.
Notify dispatch
we're sending two more units.
He's coming out now.
Michael, you okay?
Don't move, honey.
It's gonna be okay.
Your mother's very worried about you.
Don't move, Michael.
What time did they get here?
A little after 6:00.
I thought they weren't
supposed to come till 8:00.
Yeah.
Did you have any breakfast?
You go ahead.
Mr. Barnes?
Good Hope Charity.
We have a pickup.
One minute.
Here you go, guys.
Thanks.
Welcome back, partner.
Hey, Glenn. Thanks.
How's Mary?
Okay.
It's gonna take some time.
And you?
I'm okay.
So what's your thinking?
You just wanna hang out today?
- Get back in the rhythm?
- You got something?
Just came in.
- Hey, Sid.
- Caleb, I didn't know you were back.
- How're you doin'?
- What do you got?
Lynette Gumme,
Bible student, 22 years old.
The guy upstairs heard her scream,
called 911.
She put up a fight?
She was a strong young woman.
Good muscle tone.
These bruises here--
she was strangled...
I'd say about six hours ago.
- Six hours, huh?
- Yeah, give or take.
She might have been suffocated
during the attack.
She was killed in the process
of being raped.
How long ago
did the 911 call come in?
'Bout an hour ago.
The neighbor heard her scream,
waited five hours to call?
- Thanks, Sid.
- Mm-hmm.
It's open.
Mr. Marshall, we'd like to speak
to you about Miss Gumme downstairs.
Let me ask you something. What were
you thinking when you saw that gun?
Guy's got one of us for sure.
Do you remember
what went through your head?
What were you thinking?
I didn't want to be
in a wheelchair, you know.
Bullet in my spine.
I was raised Methodist.
Yeah?
We believe God
has already decided...
whether someone
will choose good or evil.
Those that choose evil
don't really have a choice.
So you're saying it's not
really this guy's fault.
I'm saying the decision
had already been made...
whether he was going to
point the gun at himself...
or at you.
I don't think that really helps me
if I'm still in a wheelchair.
I agree.
Right.
We'll talk about it later.
You got it.
- Hey, welcome home.
- Hey, great friend.
- I love it, Caleb. I really do.
- Thanks. So do we.
Wow, you guys been busy, huh?
You've got so much room here. The
closets are bigger than my apartment.
Okay, look, dinner's almost ready.
I'm gonna put some sheets on the bed.
And then I'll leave you two alone.
- You don't have to do that.
- Yeah, I know.
Now shut up.
Did you have a good day?
Yeah, it was good.
Been busy?
Pretty busy.
Something smells good.
All right, Agnes.
'Night, Roger.
See you tomorrow.
Franky!
Here, kitty, kitty, kitty.
Mama's home.
Come on.
Oh, smell the cat food.
She was struck from behind
several times, blunt instrument.
I would say a hammer.
The head, not the claw.
But she didn't fall.
She never hit the ground.
He dragged her in here
from the living room.
- How do you know?
- Carpeted floors.
I found some matching fibers
in the heels of her stocking.
They were dragged from over there
to her bedroom.
- Where'd you find blood?
- Some on the sheet.
I got some on the mattress.
I got a little trace right over here.
I don't get it.
The guy cleaned up after himself.
Should have used bleach.
Check it out.
He must have sat her in the chair
after he killed her.
Why?
The fucker's been playing house.
"Dear Mom, sorry about the mess.
I'll clean up after school. Love, B."
She couldn't have been home
for more than two minutes.
- They were waiting for her.
- How'd he get in?
This we do not know yet.
Look at this.
She hasn't got a family.
Her only son died eight years ago.
No other blood relatives.
And we have confirmed this?
Car accident.
Drunk driver hit him.
She had no other family.
Jesus.
They lifted a bloody palm print
off the sheet.
The lab's running six months behind,
if they like you.
If they don't--
What about another kid?
Before she was married,
gave it up for adoption.
You had to be there, Lieutenant.
The guy tidied up the place.
- It didn't feel that rational.
- Yeah, I assumed that.
The woman's head was caved in.
What did it feel like?
Evil.
As opposed to all the other murders
you've investigated?
We got more people to talk to.
Yeah, okay.
Caleb, listen.
I didn't get a chance before.
I--
I'm very sorry for your loss.
If I can do anything--
Thanks, Lou.
Thanks.
- Is it good?
- Yeah.
Glenn recommended this place.
Those guys come here all the time.
How is he?
He's good.
And Jennifer?
Not so good.
She left him again.
Says she needs to find herself.
That's gotta be tough
on those kids.
You know,
he wanted to stay home.
What?
Michael.
He didn't want to
go to school that day.
He said he was sick.
I made him go.
Detective Dwyer, Detective Barnes,
this is Dr. Lyons.
I faxed her your report last night,
asked her to consult with you.
I haven't had a lot of time on this,
fellas, but my feeling is...
that you should be less concerned with
the note than the cleanup afterwards.
I ask myself, how long
does it take to write a note...
and how long to get
a bloody house in order?
It's the image of this guy measuring
laundry detergent that creeps me out.
Join the club.
- So the note doesn't mean anything.
- That's not what I said.
The note is an illustration
or an expression...
of whatever delusion
brought him into the house.
He's cracked open a window,
but I wouldn't expect much light.
- Doesn't matter who he wrote it to.
- Right.
But in some obsessive-compulsive
nether region of his mind...
he thinks that he can wipe the violence,
the murder away like it never happened.
And then do it all over again.
Possibly.
Dr. Lyons.
Yes?
Do you have a minute?
One.
I wanted to schedule an appointment
for my wife in your office.
For your wife? Why?
Five weeks ago we lost our son.
He was six years old.
I'm sorry.
What happened?
An older boy brought a handgun
to his school.
He was showing it off
to the other kids.
- I'll call your office.
- All right.
You said for your wife.
Will you be there?
He was your child too.
Yes, I know.
I'll make some time.
Thank you.
Hey, Roger.
Thanks for seeing us.
I'm Detective Barnes.
This is Detective Dwyer.
It's funny, you get
your regulars on your run.
You don't really know 'em,
but they become like your friends.
Do you remember Agnes Thurmond?
Yeah, Agnes.
That's what I mean.
I knew her, but I never
knew her last name.
Did you notice anything unusual,
like maybe something she said?
Nah, just small talk mostly.
She'd sit there, she'd fall asleep.
On her feet most of the night.
Wait. Now that you mention it,
three days ago I dropped her off.
There was this guy,
he might have been following her.
- Did you get a good look at him?
- Yeah, pretty good.
Good enough to give a description
to our sketch artist?
I think so.
We're gonna need you to go to the
station. We'll send a car for you.
Thanks, Roger.
He the one that killed her?
We'll call you.
Detective Barnes' desk.
- Hang on. Caleb.
- Yeah?
You know anybody in the sheriff's
office at Cache County?
You're about to.
Couple's name is Sheridan.
Family's lived out here
for about, oh, four generations.
Heard about your case, and I thought
you just might want to take a look.
Now, the murders happened last month.
One of the hands found 'em out here.
Somebody beat the back
of their heads in. This was here too.
Have no idea what it means.
Probably some kid.
"Gone back home.
Love--"
What does that look like to you?
It could be a "B," an "H."
It's painted over though.
Any indication of the bodies
being moved after the fact, Sheriff?
Nah, not that I could tell.
What about the barn?
Any sign of cleaning up?
It's a barn. Take a lot
of cleaning to spruce it up.
- That's it?
- That's it.
All right.
Take a look at this.
Tell me if that guy
looks familiar to you at all.
Not that I can say.
Well, hang on to it.
Maybe somebody
will simplify our lives.
- Thanks again for your call, Sheriff.
- Pleasure.
All right.
Listen, you find this joker,
I'd like a chance to talk to him myself.
Sheridans were friends of mine.
You got it.
Hello!
Sir?
Excuse me, sir?
Detective?
You might want to see this.
You think this guy
is Mr. Clean?
Go get the boys to come down here
and dust, all right?
Yes, sir.
Give me a few minutes first, huh?
You got it, sir.
Hold on a second.
D and D, right.
The year? Right.
- Where's Barnes?
- He's in the basement.
He wants to dust
for prints down there.
- Childress.
- Right there.
Yeah?
Dormitory from hell.
All right, so the guy upstairs
is Charles Lowman.
We got him on the books for an old DUI
and a couple of drunk and disorderlies.
He's been dead about 48 hours.
Same amount of time
as Agnes Thurmond.
Gets worse.
Same blows to the back of the head.
Same good housekeeping seal.
Only thing missing is a note.
But he didn't need one.
He had a map.
Yeah, that clears up everything.
What do you think happened here?
Boarders?
I don't think anybody
comes down here to live.
I think somebody would
come down here to hide.
- From what?
- Whatever scares 'em.
I think we should invite
our friend Dr. Lyons in for a look.
Oh, shit. I gotta go.
- Everything okay?
- I forgot something very important.
You change your mind?
Yeah.
I thought this was a good idea.
Talk to somebody
and work this thing through.
I could talk to you.
We could always talk.
I know.
We will.
I can try harder, Caleb.
There's nothing to be afraid of.
What if I go up there...
and she says I'm crazy?
And then you'd leave.
I can't lose you too.
You're not crazy.
And I'm not going anywhere.
I just think about him,
that's all.
I know.
Then why don't you show it?
God, you never fucking show it!
Caleb, people who hurt,
they cry.
They ache, they lose themselves.
They ache for what's lost,
for what's gone.
I don't want to go in there.
Okay.
I'm Detective Barnes. My wife
had an appointment with Dr. Lyons.
Detective.
- Where's your wife?
- She won't be able to make it.
Do you want to reschedule?
Come in.
The lieutenant called.
There's been another murder.
- Do you think it's the same person?
- It's possible.
Mr. Clean?
I don't like that.
- Excuse me?
- Names.
I don't like those names.
They catch on and before you know it,
people are just walking around...
saying them like it's just
some weird neighbor.
Isn't that the point?
That if we name them,
they're not as scary.
- They still are.
- Have a seat.
What scares you, Detective?
Questions like that.
It was just a question.
You know what St. Augustine said.
Excuse me?
St. Augustine.
He said that evil has no embodiment,
no incarnation.
It is simply absence of the good.
Absence of the good?
He believed that a will,
by nature, is good.
So when somebody commits an evil act,
they're turning away from who they are.
Their own nature.
They cannot commit an evil act...
without the absence of good.
And that scares you?
Yes.
Have you ever seen an evil act?
Yes.
How did you know?
I knew.
Was your son's death an evil act?
That was an accident.
What's the difference?
Intention.
But the older child
brought the gun to school.
Not to hurt anyone.
Are you really that objective?
I've been through this before,
Doctor.
What would you like for me to tell you?
About my dreams?
- Do you have dreams?
- No.
He's about 30.
Very rigid, strict.
From a poor family,
but he probably lies about it.
He has an acute sense of justice, which
is why he thinks he'd be a good cop.
If he ever applied, he probably wouldn't
make it past the first interview.
Best he could do would be
a private security company.
He has trouble holding any job. He'll
say it's because no one respects him.
Thank you.
You're welcome.
I'm sorry, Caleb.
So what do you think?
Jennifer.
What?
My ex-wife Jennifer.
First time I ever danced with her
was to this song.
- What year was that?
- '77.
Twenty-two years ago...
and Roger, our bus driver,
makes our boy...
to be late 20s, early 30s.
Yeah, well, it depends on
when he bought the record though.
- That's all I got.
- Okay.
Here's what I got.
Guy breaks into Lowman's house,
right, kills him...
cleans up, takes the key,
goes to Agnes' house...
does the same thing to her.
Okay. So he goes to all that trouble
to get to the box...
and then leaves it there.
Why?
He did what he came to do.
He didn't need it anymore.
Or maybe he wanted it there.
Still doesn't make him our guy.
He goes to Agnes' house, Glenn.
He goes directly to the shed.
Why?
Because he knew the box was there.
Because he put it there.
Because he lived there as a kid.
So why does he have a key
to the other house?
Follow the map. It leads back to Agnes'.
He wanted to go back.
Because he lived there first.
And he never wanted to leave.
- You realize how thin this is.
- I don't think so.
All we gotta do is place this kid
at either house at the right time.
Help me with this, Detective.
How would you define "thin"?
Lab's gotta rush
on that palm print.
What I'm saying is,
how do we know there is a kid?
This is not just some loony tune
going through his second childhood.
He's out there right now, playing
mumbly-peg with the entire neighborhood.
We don't.
We don't?
You have anything else?
Something to keep me warm at night?
Look, we're workin' on it, Lou.
We'll get you somethin'.
Please do.
-This feels right, and you know it.
-I don't know it, and you don't know it.
In the harsh light of day,
the lieutenant's right. We are reaching.
- What do we got?
- Nothin'.
Come on, Glenn. That's bullshit.
All right, fine.
Why don't we just work the case,
make a few notes...
stick 'em in a frickin' file and forget
about the whole goddamn thing?
- Is that what you want to do?
- What are you getting at me for?
Hi there.
Can I help you find something?
Sir?
Excuse me, sir.
You can't go back there.
Sir!
Did we get the records
on those houses?
They go back
since they were built.
- None of the owners' names match.
- So we're back to square one?
I can still do some digging, maybe come
up with an aunt or cousin by marriage.
They don't have to have the same name
to be the same family.
All right. Great.
The second house, Lowman?
The legal owner is something
called the Unity Gospel Fellowship.
- What's that, a church?
- Yeah.
They got it about eight months ago,
tax free.
Mrs. Lowman was a fine woman.
Never lost her belief in the
fundamental goodness of the human heart.
Her son Charles was the one person
she could not reach.
- What do you mean?
- Charles had a substance abuse problem.
Mrs. Lowman was afraid
that after she died...
he'd sell the house
and use the money for drugs.
Any idea who might
want to kill him?
I do know there were drug dealers
in the house from time to time.
How do you know?
Charles told me during group.
What about the rooms in the basement,
the ones with all the beds?
Mrs. Lowman used her basement
as a shelter...
for abused and battered women.
She fed them, clothed them
when she could...
for 25 years,
sometimes 5 or 6 at a time...
for as long as they needed.
And the room
with all the wind chimes?
That's where Charles worked.
That was my idea. A creative outlet
for all his self-destructive energy.
Anything else?
I stopped it as soon as I could.
Stopped what?
Before that...
Mrs. Lowman had some pregnant women
stay in there.
Women who, for whatever reason...
wished to terminate
their pregnancies.
You mean, she locked them in?
I can only tell you
her intentions were good.
She remembered all their names
years after they had left.
Never stopped looking
at their pictures.
What pictures?
I don't know.
I checked with Narcotics.
You think about it, the good reverend's
idea doesn't smell too bad.
This guy Lowman's marginal at best.
He takes up with a drug crowd and--
So?
So nothin'.
Just you're sitting there
looking at pictures, some kid.
You don't know what he looks like,
if he exists at all.
- What's on your mind?
- Nothin'.
I'm just saying it's
not like you, as a rule.
Did you get those tax records?
Lowman's house
you already know about.
The other place Agnes Thurmond
bought 21 years ago at a bank auction.
Bank had foreclosed
on one John and Helen Gaskin.
They defaulted on a loan
after less than a year.
- Why?
- Doesn't say. Gaskin was in prison.
- For what?
- Beat the shit out of his wife.
Yeah, this was Gaskin's M.O.
The only difference was this time
he put her in the hospital.
- How many kids did they have?
- Who said they had kids?
Two boys and a girl.
Bard, five. Sara, eight.
John, Jr., ten. We got an address
up in Bountiful for John, Jr.
Good afternoon, ma'am.
I'm Detective Barnes.
This is Detective Dwyer.
We'd like to speak to your husband.
He's in the shop out back.
My house is a mess.
- You gotta go around.
- Thank you.
- Jack?
- Jesus, Sheila! What?
Honey, the police are here.
- Mr. Gaskin?
- Yeah. Sheila, go back inside now.
Put the hammer down, please, sir.
This is Detective Barnes.
I'm Detective Dwyer.
Just tell me who called you
and what they say I did.
Called us?
Christ. That's--
That's-- What do you call that?
Self-incrimination?
Something we should know about?
Just a couple of problems
with customers in the past.
No big deal. But that's
not why you're here, is it?
Excuse me. Can I help you?
Are your parents
John and Helen Gaskin?
You ever hear of Agnes Thurmond?
Yeah, I read about what happened
to her in the paper.
I thought the address
sounded familiar.
I used to live there, right?
- You don't know?
- Let me explain something to you.
When we were kids,
we moved around all the time.
Sometimes a week or two in somebody's
basement I didn't even know.
I sat down once, tried to add up
all the different places.
I counted 26 before I gave up.
I cut out on my own
before I was 17...
so sometimes an address rings a bell,
sometimes it doesn't.
We believe that you lived there.
Yeah, well, like I said.
What about the other place? You read
about that, the guy in that house?
Yeah, I read about it.
Didn't ring any bells though.
Does this person
look familiar to you at all?
- That looks like my brother.
- Bard?
Yeah, he's the youngest.
What do you guys want?
You think he killed those people?
- We just want to talk to him.
- Well, can't help you there.
Haven't heard from him in years.
All right, what about the family?
Maybe they can notify him.
My parents are dead,
my sister Julie--
I don't know. The last I heard she's
living down south somewhere near Draper.
- We're not exactly close.
- Do you have a phone number for her?
Maybe, yeah. I don't know.
Bardy, man.
He's not exactly the brightest bulb.
My dad would tie one on,
start goin' off.
The rest of us would dive for cover,
but Bardy, man, he'd just--
Goddamn it.
Why all the movin' around, Jack?
My old man was a fuckup.
Couldn't keep a job,
always gettin' in trouble.
I can say that now.
Sheila!
Door!
A couple of times, he woke us up
in the middle of the night.
Jump in a car.
I still don't know why.
Mr. Gaskin?
The house where you found the other guy,
there were rooms in the basement...
for people to sleep,
and it was real dark?
Yes.
Yeah.
I was there one time.
He beat her up real bad...
and she went and hid
in this house.
She took Bard with her
'cause he was...
you know, sick or somethin'.
Anyway, we drew him
this little map, you know...
so he could find his way back
to our house at night...
to see Julie and me.
Do you have any pictures of Bard?
No pictures.
Try not to think about it
too much, you know.
You know, it's funny though.
When Bard and I were kids...
we wanted to grow up
to be policemen...
just like you.
Ain't that a bitch?
Excuse me.
Julie Gaskin?
What do you want?
I'm Detective Barnes
with the Salt Lake Police Department.
I'm looking for Julie Gaskin.
Why?
Are you Julie Gaskin?
I'm Sarah Quinn.
That's Julie.
What happened?
- Take a walk?
- Sure.
There were a bunch of guys
out cruisin', lookin' for fun.
They found her,
and the fun went on all night.
When did this happen?
Couple of months ago.
Doctor said her brain
just shut down.
She couldn't take no more.
She's really okay physically.
She can hear us.
She could talk if she wanted to,
but all she does is just sit there.
- Who takes care of her now?
- I do.
I bring her here
whenever I can.
She fixed this place up all by herself,
so she belongs here.
- What about her family?
- What about them?
She's got a brother named Bard.
You haven't seen him around?
In the four years I've known her,
she's stayed far away from those people.
Why?
Does she look like she's got
a lot of happy memories?
Well, thank you for your time,
Sarah.
Bye.
What?
You forgot my kiss.
You're in a good mood.
- Bye.
- Bye.
Morning.
- May I say you look like shit today?
- Thank you.
- Welcome.
- We got anything on this kid yet?
No driver's license, no credit cards,
no vehicle registration.
I even checked for a dog license.
Nothing. It's like he never existed.
He existed, and I think
Sarah Quinn knows it.
You think the kid
dropped in on his sister?
Bard must have found out what those guys
did to Julie. That's what set him off.
I talked to some of the local boys.
They're gonna keep an eye on the house.
Good. Okay.
- Who you calling?
- School district.
- Yeah, records office, please.
- Records?
They send report cards home.
Addresses.
I'm afraid we're way behind
in getting our records on the computer.
We've had so many
cutbacks recently.
How far back
does the computer go?
Eight years.
Maybe nine.
- Great.
- No luck for you, I'm afraid.
If I were you
I'd start up here...
and work my way
all the way down to the back.
The files are alphabetized
by the school...
and then the students' names
are alphabetized under each school.
- Thank you very much.
- Good luck.
Let's go to work, partner.
Bingo.
Caleb.
"While Bard is clearly
an intelligent child...
his tendency to lash out in anger
should be monitored...
and whenever possible
redirected."
Okay, so look, we got
all these addresses, right?
There's still a lot of holes.
There's no record where they live.
We'll go with what we know. We've got
a lot of places to look for this guy.
- We'll fill in the holes along the way.
- What if he fills them in first?
Well, then I guess a lot more people
are gonna die, Glenn.
- You sure this was the guy?
- Yeah. He's not someone you'd forget.
Sir.
Excuse me, sir.
You can't go back there.
Like I said,
he just stood there.
He didn't say anything?
No. I told you,
this guy was really weird.
So he tries to go
behind the counter.
I remember I had the mace
under the counter.
I grabbed it,
and he attacked me.
It was horrible.
I sprayed him,
and he ran out.
I thought he was out for the money,
but he didn't take anything.
What are those?
Those I found
when I opened the store.
Where?
We tore out some walls
when we remodeled.
Those were in there
with a bunch of other kid stuff.
We're gonna send some guys over.
Tell them where you found this.
- Thanks, Tracy.
- Sure.
What's the address
of the next house?
Looks pretty abandoned.
I just wanna take a look around.
I got a feeling.
Freeze! Police!
I'm a cop!
- Let's get outta here!
- Get outta my way!
Caleb! Caleb!
Talk to me, Dwyer.
What's your partner up to now?
Detective?
Detective Barnes.
- He was here.
- What?
- The kid, Gaskin.
- You saw him?
- I feel him.
- You feel him?
You fucking feel him, Detective?
He's got to get into this place.
There's something here he wants.
And that is?
A piece of his childhood.
He used to live here.
This is one of his addresses.
We got a citizen down who,
as we speak, is nip and tuck.
Oh, come on, Lieutenant.
You know that that's a coincidence.
This is just some
stupid junkie's lousy timing.
Who did not discharge his weapon
until you came on the scene.
Whose goddamn face
is now a chunk of hamburger!
- I thought it was him!
- You were wrong!
Look, whatever it is he left,
we have to find it.
Or we have to make him think we have,
or else he'll come back.
Yeah, hit some more walls,
you crazy bastard.
- Just listen--
- No more listening.
- Just listen to me!
- Let's take a walk.
Wait a minute.
When he was a kid, he was scared,
he was moving around all the time.
Too many places, no home.
The only thing that stays the same
is the old man beatin' on him.
So he starts leaving himself
these little things, Lou--
you know, kid stuff--
so that he can come back
and claim them for himself...
so he can make himself
part of something.
So he can come home.
That's what he's trying to do.
He's just trying to come home.
And he's gonna keep on doing it
until we find him.
Clean yourself up, Detective.
- Lou, look--
- Then go home.
Get some rest.
We'll do this in the morning.
Go.
Honey?
Yeah, I'm in here.
You like it?
Yeah.
What happened?
It's nothing to worry about.
Does it hurt?
I love you.
I love you too.
Michael?
Is Mommy coming to get me?
- What, honey?
- Is Mommy coming to get me?
Mary?
Wake up.
Detective Barnes.
I'm here for a patient,
and I saw the admitting log.
I'm sorry.
Is there anything I can do?
I don't think so.
We can't--
This is the challenge--
to make sense
of times like this.
Which part of all this should I
try to make sense of first, Doctor?
Shit.
Work?
Yeah.
Look, I'll stay with her.
Okay?
Don't worry.
She'll be out for a while.
Thanks, Beth.
I just can't--
I understand.
- What are you doing?
- Is it on the list?
- How's Mary?
- She's fine. Thank you.
- Is this house on the list?
- Go home.
Go home.
Be with your wife.
Is this address
on the list or not?
This is bad.
Where are they?
He killed them one at a time.
Mom was first.
Then the kids,
they come home from school.
Dad was last.
He catches each of them just as
they come inside the front door.
He waited?
The variance of times would indicate
that he was here most of the day, yeah.
What about the food?
They didn't cook it.
You want to see what he came for?
Sorry about your wife.
Guess he wanted to make sure
they were still there.
I really need this location.
Caleb, listen, I understand.
Your people have been all over me.
Computers are down. With the system
changeover, we're back on-line tonight.
Could we do it by hand?
What they used to do
is make these master maps...
and every couple of months come back
and update the changes with overlays.
So, what, Beecham Road
is on one of these overlays?
The problem is, there's no telling
which overlay it's on.
I'd have to go through them all
one at a time.
Beecham Road. Don't forget it.
Call me when you find it. Thanks.
Caleb.
All right, now, look...
we've got units watching
all these other addresses.
But the captain wants everybody
out of those houses right now.
We can't do that. If we scare him away,
we may never see him again.
What if he kills somebody else and word
gets out that we could've warned them?
Then the captain can use me
for target practice.
That's a given, Detective,
but my head gets chopped first.
All right, all right.
What have you got?
748 Beecham Road.
We have all of the family's past
addresses except for 748 Beecham Road.
I checked the school records.
He lived there for one year.
It's the only one not on this map.
They must've changed the street name.
What are you talking about?
I got the roads department calling me
any second with new information.
I don't believe this.
Are you telling me this rat can crawl
through a huge hole in our net?
I'm workin' on it.
All right?
No, it's not all right!
Come on. Come on.
Is this the place for you
to be right now, Detective?
Look, if your concern
is about my focus---
My concern is for this case.
Dr. Lyons called. She thinks
you should go back on personal leave.
- That's bullshit.
- Perhaps.
Look, you wanna catch this guy,
it's right now.
I am here, and I am fine.
All right,
but have enough sense...
to take yourself off the case
if it's best for all concerned.
Don't wait for it to fall apart.
Nobody will question your decision,
least of all me.
I'll keep that in mind.
You do that.
We're checking applications...
following up on Dr. Lyon's ideas
of a cop wanna-be.
You know what I think it is?
You're thinking too hard.
- Is that right?
- Yeah. Get outta here--
Stop watchin' me, Glenn.
- Sir.
- Tell me something, Doctor.
- What scares you?
- Excuse me?
I said, what scares you?
Have you ever seen an evil act?
Shouldn't you be home?
I answered your questions.
You answer mine.
And if I do?
This isn't a word game.
I'm not being rhetorical.
Have you ever seen an evil act?
No.
Then don't judge me.
It scares me too, Detective,
the absence of the good.
Because it doesn't happen
all at once.
Something eats away at us
inside...
and we don't even know it.
- Mrs. Gaskin?
- Detective.
He's not here.
He's on a service call.
I fell down.
You ought to be more careful.
Especially with that baby coming.
I have the address...
where he is.
It's not far from here.
I'll go get it.
- Yes?
- John Gaskin.
- Jack.
- What are you doin'?
Go back inside, will ya.
- What do you want?
- Got a minute?
Hang on.
- We can't find this house on the map.
- Yeah, I read about what happened.
If I could remember anything,
I'd tell you.
What happened to your brother?
What happened?
Your father abused the whole family.
What do you think made Bard snap?
I don't know. Maybe the old man
knocked something loose in his head.
- Christ knows he tried.
- He singled him out?
- Yeah, he singled him out.
- How'd your father die?
Lung cancer.
He smoked like a chimney.
- And your mother?
- I don't know.
We lost touch.
I just heard from Julie that she died.
- When?
- Two, three years ago.
Then you never spoke
to Julie again?
The line was disconnected.
-But you tried to get in touch with her?
-Yeah, yeah, I tried. What is this?
Last night I saw your truck
drive by one of the old addresses.
You wouldn't be looking
for Bard, would ya?
Last night I was on
a service call. Okay?
If my truck drives past one of the old
places, believe me, it's a coincidence.
Where was the call?
The north end. I'll give you
the address. You can check it.
I will.
Christ! You people.
How do you think I feel
knowing this is going on?
You seem pretty relaxed to me.
One thing has got nothin'
to do with the other. Okay?
Right.
Did Sheila tell you I was here?
I saw your truck out front. The manager
told me what room you were in.
Okay?
Right.
Wendy's been gettin' all over me
about all this overtime.
Yeah, you can't win.
Robby.
Yeah, what?
Look at that across the street.
What do you see?
Is that him?
Is it?
Call it in.
4-Delta-1-2-5.
I got him.
I think he saw me.
Go, go, go, go, go!
Shit. He's runnin'.
Go, go, go!
Go.
Move out! Move!
Come on! This way!
Check in with Red Team!
Blue Team, fan out!
I want some space between us!
Where is he?
Shit!
- You got him?
- Keep moving!
We got no visual!
There's nothin' here!
What's it read like?
SWAT in! Don't shoot!
Oh, son of a bitch!
Where is he?
- I don't know!
- Go, go, go!
Go deeper in!
- Where's that canine?
- Over here!
Down by the water.
Bring the dog in.
- Check in the water.
- Nothing here.
- You got him?
- We're still looking.
- Where is he?
- I don't know how he got past us.
Don't you tell me
he got through.
My instructions were to deploy my men
on a line parallel to the street.
That presupposed
he had no other way out.
You were supposed to
drive him towards me!
- You let him get through!
- He went through here.
Comes out the other side of the street.
I don't know how the hell he found it.
He didn't find it!
He used to play here when he was a kid!
He knew it was here,
and you and your men didn't!
You knew that?
Thanks for telling me.
You jumped the gun.
My men had 30 seconds notice.
You fuckin' blew it,
and you know it.
Now, I'd really appreciate it, when
I'm attempting to debrief your ass...
if you wouldn't be fraggin' me
over this shit.
- You let him get away!
- All right, all right!
How long ago did he rabbit?
How long?
- Three, maybe five minutes.
- Let's just cut the shit and find him!
- Telephone. Sheriff Burnett.
- I'll call him back.
He says it's important.
Barnes.
Saw the name "Gaskin." Couldn't
figure out why it sounded so familiar.
Then I put it together with your sketch.
That's when it all came back.
Come on.
I'll show you.
Is Detective Barnes here?
I'm Sarah Quinn.
- No, he's at work right now.
- When's he gonna be home?
I'm not sure.
I have the number, though.
No, I've gotta see him.
It's really important.
How long did
the Gaskin family live here?
A few weeks.
Mr. Sheridan hired the father
for the summer as a laborer.
Mend the fences, fix the barn,
that kind of thing.
Started out all right.
Then he fell off the wagon
pretty quick.
We started getting calls after that
from a couple of bars.
You ever have to come out here?
A couple of times.
There'd be all this yellin',
screamin', cryin'.
Mr. Sheridan was pretty upset.
Even went after the old man
with a hammer.
Had to take him back with me,
let him cool off overnight in a cell.
My God.
The Sheridans took those.
It was about all they could do.
How somebody could do that
to a little kid.
What did you do?
I called all the right people,
all right.
Told 'em what was goin' on
out here.
Promised they'd look into it.
That's it?
No.
That's not it.
Mama backs up his story.
Says how her little boy falls down.
So I can't arrest him.
I even tried to get the son of a bitch
to take a swing at me.
At least that way
he'd be away from the kids.
- And then what happened?
- Nothin'.
It was the last I saw of 'em.
Sheridan said there was
more yellin' and screamin'.
Then they just
packed up the car and left.
This is where it started.
He killed the Sheridans first...
and then everybody else
came afterward.
All right.
But why them?
Why them first? He wasn't here long.
He hardly knew the Sheridans.
What is this?
Trap door.
Every barn's got one.
Watch out for snakes.
That poor little boy.
Which boy?
In the picture.
Which boy?
Bard.
Police! Get down!
Get down! Get down!
- I'm not Gaskin! I'm not him!
- Please! My baby!
I'm not Gaskin!
- Don't hurt my baby!
- Where is he?
Clear!
Take those cuffs off her.
Where is he?
I haven't seen him
since you came this afternoon.
Barnes.
Garcia, you got him?
- Damn it!
- We're okay, Sarge.
He saw it, Glenn.
Jack watched his father murder Bard.
For all those years
it's been eatin' away at him.
He finally found a way
to let Bard get his revenge.
That son of a bitch.
There they are.
The Gaskin clan.
Okay, Beecham.
Look, you two
aren't helping one bit.
I'm doing this as fast as I can.
Back off.
Damn it.
- Hello?
- Yeah, hi, Beth. It's Caleb.
- Somebody called about the furnace--
- Whoa. Slow down. Who called?
- Some guy. He's coming over.
- What'd they say?
Something about working on the furnace.
Wanted to know when you'd be home.
Know anything about it?
- Let me call you later.
- Okay. Bye.
Andrea?
Why does this computer screen say,
"System On-Line, Enter Password"?
- You think it's in there?
- I don't know. I don't know.
Come on, come on, come on.
Stay very still, honey.
I didn't do anything.
- Put the gun down.
- No way, man. You're gonna kill me.
No, I'm not.
I can't.
Look, I tried.
Put the gun down
and let her go now.
It wasn't my fault.
She hit me, for Christ's sake.
She wouldn't listen.
Julie!
Oh, Julie.
Look what you did.
Look what you did.
You're all I want, Mary.
I couldn't lose you too.
I need you.
I need you.
Set up some tape.
Got it.
Nobody else go in yet.
Call it in, Sarge.
Notify dispatch
we're sending two more units.
He's coming out now.