Shining Girls (2022) s01e02 Episode Script

1 Where's my mom? Not here.
You told me we weren't inviting her tonight.
I have to call her.
Wait, wait.
You didn't hit up Jewel? Where's all the shit? The cheese, the beer.
Kirby, I don't know.
We made a whole list.
Fuck, they're here.
Who is? All right.
We have tonic.
I'll call Giordano's.
I'll call them.
You grab that.
Hey, hello.
I wanna place Yeah.
Okay.
- Lakshmi Awad? - Are we announcing arrivals now? - Hey, hold the door.
- Hey, Kirby.
Hey.
Where is the birthday boy? Hey.
You steal that off Ben's desk? Barely cracked open.
Still counts as a gift.
So, who else is coming tonight? From the office? I'm guessing Jules.
Miles is on deadline.
He'll bail the first chance he gets.
Abby wants us to wind down on our flood story.
She killed my follow-up piece on padded claims.
What's going on? You and Marcus okay? I think so.
Good.
Want me to grab some photos tonight? Give him a break? Where's his camera? Just prop it open.
Hi.
- Oh, my God.
- Good to see you.
Whoa, don't wait.
Get in here.
You know you want to party tonight.
You know you want to party.
You're standing way too tall for getting down.
The Cubs are an institution built on letting us down.
That's what we deserve.
- Jordan's not from Chicago.
Is he? - We drink to Marcus! Wait.
Where's the cake? He needs to blow out some candles.
Oh, there's no cake.
I'm sorry.
I… - I'm sorry.
I didn't have time.
- That's all right.
You need to go in there.
Hey.
I don't know how I got here and… being married to you just doesn't seem real.
Happy birthday.
Marcus.
Yeah.
Good to see you.
Come on.
Hey, Howard.
You lose.
I saw last night's crime stats.
You okay? Yeah.
First warm week of spring, Asters bloom, people kill each other.
You lose.
How's your girl? The one you brought by.
My source.
What was your read on her? That you shouldn't have brought her into a morgue.
She was fine with it, man.
Until she wasn't.
Did her wounds match Julia Madrigal's? That's hard to say.
Her scars are pretty old.
Can I check out Julia's autopsy report? No.
Police made their arrest.
They'd have to release it.
Was anything left inside of her? Mud, debris.
I mean, she was pretty far down that pipe.
Nothing else? Like what? Okay.
Her father gave me this for reference.
Did her dad come in to identify her? No, he wasn't up to it.
He sent a cousin.
- Was she killed at the site? - No, she's a body dump.
See? Some broken blood vessels under the armpits, so he dragged her far.
You think she was still alive? Well, it's a C3 fracture but she couldn't do much more than breathe by then, even after he opened her up.
See? Ribs intact.
I swept inside the cavity.
There's nothing there.
So, you can let your source know you followed up.
Thanks, Howard.
What's this? It's just debris from the site.
We found a lot of it down in that pipe.
Radium ore, Midway Chemical Company.
Radium's been off the market since the '50s, okay? So that has been down there a lot longer than she has.
Where is that… - Can I? - Yeah, not for publication.
Howard… Can you bring her out? You up for it? Yeah.
Okay.
I know you're a delicate soul.
Okay.
So, we got three cracked ribs from external trauma.
There's tissue piling up her back from being dragged.
Hey, come on.
This is what you asked me for.
Look again.
The radium… It was inside of her.
It wasn't until Cantigny that I heard a horse scream.
When the gas moved in.
No.
The dogs would bark first.
- That's right.
- Yeah.
Yeah.
They could smell it.
Oh, yeah.
Yeah.
Then it would hit the horses.
Then the rest of us.
Yeah.
That's right.
That's right.
I'll stop if I've told you this before.
Well, we have to stop now anyway.
She's just coming in now, so… I have to go.
But, hey, you tell me.
What do you think? How do I look? You're here to see Julia? - Yeah.
- Is she your girl? Well, no.
She's not mine.
Not this time.
I'll see you, Leo.
Hi.
- Here you go.
- Thanks, sweetie.
You're welcome.
You need the pen? No, I just went out to grab these.
You can take one if you want.
I'm okay, thanks.
You visiting someone you served with? - Why'd you say that? - Your gig line.
It takes training for a man to match his buttons to his buckle.
Right.
I see.
You shouldn't wear your hair like that.
Not at work.
No Don't touch me.
Hey, Julia.
- You're half an hour early.
- My last client didn't show.
- How's your week been, Gordie? - Better now that you're here.
- Yeah.
That's sweet.
- I got two good ones for you.
Yeah.
You have no new messages.
Hey.
Dad? Back this way.
Sorry, sorry.
I was with a client.
Regional keeps denying his benefits.
I've filed for them three times.
Yeah, well, I've had to make some executive decisions.
Knives and forks.
- Dishes.
- What's this one? Los Solitarios.
I've played them for you before.
You said you liked it.
Tupperware? Maybe next to the sink.
Where is this? That's Glencoe.
North Shore? I never go there.
Yeah, you didn't seem to be having too good a time.
What about this? On the counter's fine.
Hey.
I was looking for clips on your assault.
There are none.
You're still working on Madrigal? For now.
Okay.
There won't be much to pull.
We ran a blurb on it, and there was a beat-up in the Reader.
Do you have a police report? I wanted to compare it with the Madrigal autopsy.
Did you speak to the medical examiner? What was inside of Julia? Okay… It's problematic that you work here.
I mean, that we work together.
You can't be my colleague and my source at the same time.
I have to be able to ask you questions and vet your answers.
Right? To see if I'm lying? To verify what we publish.
Fine.
Can you tell me what you meant when you said he left something inside you? Come on.
What are we doing here? He left matches inside of me.
- Matches? Like light a match, matches? - A matchbook.
From the Bee Happy bar with this address.
This must have been a bar before.
- It's actually a good spot for it.
- No, I checked the city records.
There has never been a bar at this address.
That's what was inside of Julia.
What is it? Can you… walk me through what happened to you that day? Where were you? I was by the North Avenue Beach.
You were alone? I was walking my dog.
You're married to Marcus, right? Were you guys living together back then? Why does that matter? Did he usually walk the dog with you? He wasn't there.
I was alone.
I was walking my dog by the beach and I Hang on.
Hang on, Kirby.
Do you have any family? My mom.
We talked about her.
No, we never talked about your mom.
Is she local? I think so.
You don't know where your mom lives? - I did.
I just I don't - But you won't tell me? - I can't.
- Listen, I'm not trying to trip you up.
Kirby, these are very basic questions that I For you, but not for me.
Not today.
Okay.
You don't have to have all the answers now.
It's okay.
I don't need them now.
Okay? I just don't want to get it wrong.
Me neither.
Anything you have that can corroborate your story, that would help.
Okay.
Okay.
Is there a cover? You can make donations inside.
We will celebrate his good life We will celebrate with joy We will celebrate his life We will celebrate his joy Celebrate our Lord's good life Let us celebrate our gracious Lord Who teaches us to give him more Than we ever dreamed that we could give before Yeah.
Yes! Hallelujah, hallelujah.
Oh, so nice for coming down.
Nice to see you.
Good to see you.
Barbara, good to see you.
How you doing? Oh, thanks.
Kirby? Everybody.
This is my daughter.
Hi.
Hi.
Hey.
Hi.
Mom, can we get out of here? I just came to get my stuff.
I need my hospital records and my photos, okay? Okay? Oh, Heavenly Father, thank you for bringing my daughter back to me.
Oh, Heavenly Father, we know you have the power to transform.
Heavenly Father, we know that you are the redeemer and the healer.
Oh, Heavenly Father, we feel your spirit moving in us today.
And we ask that you always, always keep her in your sight.
Amen.
Praise the Lord.
Here.
There might be some in there.
This isn't the one I need.
I need photos and journals from after the hospital.
Well, I may have tossed them.
I don't know.
Why do you need all this? There's another woman.
She's been killed, and we think it might be the same man.
So we're covering her story.
And you're helping? Check your old suitcase.
It's in the back.
Thanks.
- Who's making you do this? - No one.
I want to.
Why? Look, you were with me… when I opened for The Effigies.
Okay, yeah.
…Save me If I give any more of my brain We've been down this before And I don't wanna do it anymore -Why is it okay for you, you, you -Half those people are dead now.
Or in real estate.
Come here, baby! It's my daughter! Oh, look what's happening now.
It's so embarrassing.
I thought you were great.
You were great.
Why don't we talk anymore? That was your call.
But I told you, you're welcome to come to services anytime you want.
I've never seen any radium before.
Did Julia ever talk about any friends? Boyfriends? She never even talked about herself.
Her mind was always on everyone else.
- I mean no ill against her.
- Of course.
But her problem was she didn't know to be scared till it was too late.
Scared of who? She wouldn't say.
Then how'd you know? She changed a few weeks before she stopped coming.
This was a woman who could nut-kick a linebacker.
Then suddenly I'm walking her to her car? Didn't make sense.
- She thought someone was following her? - She must have.
Otherwise, she just wanted to hold my hand? She mention calling the cops? She never said.
She believed in that.
Going through the system.
She got me this place.
Did all the paperwork.
She was a diamond.
Rarest fucking kind.
Appreciate your time.
I wanted to follow up on Julia Madrigal.
She make any stalking complaints before her disappearance? Didn't think you guys were interested.
Not much in your paper about her.
- It was just a holding piece.
- What else are you waiting on? Did Ms.
Madrigal make any stalking complaint I can't comment on that.
What about the second victim? She claims you have the wrong suspect.
I wasn't aware of any second victim.
I don't know how that's possible.
She knows you.
Is this who you're talking to? Sharon Leads.
Is that your source? Sharon, or Kirby, or whatever she's calling herself.
You build a story off of her, and you'll end up printing a retraction.
Her wounds seem to be consistent with Ms.
Madrigal's.
The ME confirmed it.
That may be so, but Kirby barely had any memory post-assault.
And then a few months later, she completely broke down.
Had to be admitted to Chicago-Read for observation.
She seems pretty sure now.
I brought her in to ID the suspect.
She blanked on him, but she connected to the victim.
I guess she went with that.
What about Ms.
Madrigal's stalking complaints? Yeah, she was being stalked.
And now he's in jail for her murder.
Pawel Banik was stalking her? Read up on your source before you start speculating.
Your mom called.
Said you left pretty upset.
Yeah, she's a lot.
What are you doing? I'm testing out some new film stock.
When was I supposed to come home? A couple hours ago.
You're not mad? Do you want me to be? You messed up my birthday.
You went to see your mom for the first time in months.
I know something's up.
Then why aren't you asking me about it? When you wanna tell me, you will.
You wanna talk about it? No.
Okay.
Then drink your beer.
You don't need that.
I'm not in the house.
How'd you get inside? You let me in.
I don't know you.
You did.
You will.
What are these? How did you take them? They're from tomorrow, but you may not be there.
Watch your step.
When I close my eyes, the memories I have, I don't know where they're from anymore.
Do you think you can remember the future? New request.
Pull everything you have on Sharon Leads.
I usually like to get my sources' names right.
Call it professional pride.
- I pulled your employment application.
- From here? Yeah.
From here.
You put down that you went to U of I? And worked at the Tribune? I didn't lie to get this job.
"Sharon Leads.
" Is that from the police? Do you want me to walk you through what they left out? I took these after they discharged me from the hospital.
You were in there for a bit? I thought I was paralyzed.
Took a while to come back.
For this kind of assault, the PD write-up is pretty light.
Yeah, it would be.
They took my statement when I was on pain meds.
They said they were gonna come back, but they never did.
Then tell me what I'm missing here, Kirby.
Were you still living in Wicker Park back then? Yeah, that was off of Monroe.
To be closer to the Tribune? You wanted to be a reporter.
Why aren't you doing that? I was out for too long.
This is all I could get.
And you couldn't give the police any kind of ID? Not even a rough sketch? He came up from behind me.
But I don't know how no one else saw him.
There were so many people.
That's not in here.
There's no witnesses listed.
I know.
There were so many people, and then there just weren't.
And I was alone.
Before it happened, did you have any break-ins? Any wrong numbers? No.
But I knew something was… off.
I would come home, and it was like someone had just left.
Julia was being stalked.
She filed reports.
She said he had been in her house.
You think he was watching me? Hey.
Is there anything else you need to tell me? I don't want anyone else in the office to know that I'm your source.
Okay.
I understand.
Does Julia's dad know we're coming? Yeah.
The service should have finished about an hour ago.
You got kids? - Just one.
- That's enough.
- How old? - Twelve.
He's really got his shit together, my kid.
Much more than I do.
You'll get there.
You and Marcus thinking about it? We haven't really talked about kids.
So, he's shot for you before? What do you think? About your husband? You haven't formed your own opinion on the guy yet? I think he's kind.
That's not my read.
He's a martyr.
All decency but no compassion.
Well, you're not married.
Nope.
But I'm highly eligible.
Listen, you might need to hang back, okay? I only told Julia's father that I was coming, so… Julia was baptized at that church and we finally get to bury her there.
Mr.
Madrigal.
Turn around.
Mr.
Madrigal, I'm Dan Velazquez No.
I'm done.
I'm tired.
I can't do this anymore today.
Mr.
Madrigal, we spoke on the phone, remember? Maybe try again after everyone's left.
No, I can't push him too much.
Maybe the family made a statement.
Yeah? Hey, I worked with Julia.
I'm her friend actually.
Okay.
I didn't know when to do this, but she lent me these.
And I didn't think I should hang on to 'em.
Yeah.
Leave those on the counter.
Thank you.
Sure you guys don't need anything else from me? If you have a statement, I'll take it.
How do you know I'm not a reporter? Which outlet? Daily News.
Yeah, you're taking your time with that deadline.
They've been out of print for ten years.
Know what's funny is I'll bet you not many people know that.
Yeah.
Yeah, I write for the Sun-Times.
We're still in business.
Barely.
I'm Dan Velazquez.
Oh, sure.
I read you.
You Yeah, you wrote about Julia.
You knew her? Nah, I live close.
I've been following the news.
- I hear that they made an arrest.
- Yeah.
Yeah, we'll see if it sticks.
You think it was someone else, huh? Come on.
You're not very good at this, buddy.
- Yeah, you sound just like my editor.
- Sure.
All right.
- What else should I be doing? - I don't know.
Maybe not standing around talking to me.
Well, that's what the job is.
Yeah.
Well… No.
Why's everyone else gone? 911, what's your emergency? Please.
Someone's in my house.
Are they in the house now? No.
No, I don't think so.
Ma'am, how do you know someone was there? Did you see them? No, I never do, but he was here.
He was here.
I'll send someone out.
It won't matter.
He'll know you're coming.
Hello.
Stop.
Just stop! I called the police.
They'll be there in 18 minutes.
They're here now.
No, they're not.
You see, I'm… I'm already with you when they arrive.
I'm with you every moment.
I'm… I'm with you through every… everything that has happened.
Everything that will happen.
I'm with all of you.
Hey.
Hey, Dan.
I heard his voice.
It's him.
I'm with you every moment.
I'm… I'm with you through every… everything that has happened.
Everything that will happen.
I'm with all of you.
You took this without telling anyone? It doesn't matter.
You heard what he said, "all of you.
" There's more women.
We can't refer to this tape without the family's permission.
I will go back.
I will go talk to her father.
CPD needs to know.
They obviously didn't look too hard for exonerating evidence.
- Why did she hide the tape? - Because she knew he was coming.
That's all she had time to do.
If you need more help on this, Bertie's already raised his hand.
I'm good with her.
And the other victim, your source.
What did you find out about her? She held up just fine.