Cold Case s01e05 Episode Script
The Runner
July 20, 1973 Timmy's sick, the baby's sick, and the wife's gonna give me hell 'cause I forgot her mint chip ice cream.
The other night Diane says, "Joe, baby, I'm hankering for some pickles with fish sauce.
" Pregnant women.
Jones for a domestic disturbance.
See, now if we answer that mommie-poppie call and my mommie's beating me down tonight.
Okay, got it.
Get outta here.
You split, man.
No, I ain't letting you go out on your own.
I told you to get your ass home by midnight, didn't I? Hey, wait until the kid's born.
That's when you'll really kiss your life good-bye.
- Yeah.
- I hear you, man.
Thanks, Joe.
They told me you got the old murders.
What? He said, um, you the one that's got to listen to this.
What is it? I found it in a garbage dump over by the raymond jennings projects.
You got a name? Neesey.
Neesey, huh? That your real name? Deniece, okay? Deniece Funderbunk.
I already told him.
So, look, I get anything for this? Just a sincere thanks for your civic-mindedness.
My civic what? Thanks, Ms.
Funderbunk.
I gotta jet.
A garbage dump? You don't mind a little dirt, do you, Rush? I hang around you, don't I? Runner! Runner! Runner! Standard cassette player and recorder way old school.
Early '70s.
I transferred the audio from analog to digital.
The stuff after the gunshots, the man's muttering, I'm still working on that.
But check this out.
Shan what's that? I'm going to eq it by rolling off some of the top and bottom, filter out the background noise.
Tweak it and clean it, correct the pitch.
Bam! Sounds like some sort of public announcement system.
/ Yeah.
And near a railroad station.
Sh shanning station.
The old train tracks in north Philly.
They closed that station some time in theearly '80s.
A lover's lane.
You know this from experience? Not a soul around.
Just you and the stars.
Runner! Runner! Runner! Lonely place to die.
Cold Case ORIGINAL AIR DATE ON CBS: 2003/10/26 Small caliber weapon fired three times in the vicinity of shanning station.
Before it closed in '81.
That narrows it down.
Where the hell is it? - Did you say shanning station? - Yeah.
You're not gonna find that box job down here.
This one was one of our own.
Never left homicide, Three shots to the heart.
One year on the force.
Washington? / Mm-hmm.
He just graduated from the academy.
Worked in the 27th district.
Citywide Manhunt For Cop Killer Raised in a North Carolina orphanage, a stint in the military before entering the police academy.
Washington was responding to a domestic call.
He never made it there.
A few hours later, they found his body near the shanning tracks.
Blood spatter matching Washington's blood type was found in a stolen vehicle left on a turnpike two days later.
It was mostly a dead end.
We lifted a fingerprint off the car windshield.
No hits.
Maybe we run the print again.
I'd like to work with you on this one, Lily.
I knew Joe Washington.
You knew his partner? Of him.
Butch Rinaldi.
Why wasn't he with Washington that night? I let him go out alone.
Shouldn't have done that.
Must have pulled over a motorist that ran a traffic light or something.
Joe got three bullets for his trouble.
I was standing right here when I first seen Diane that night Joe's wife.
Butchy! No! No! No! Diane lost the baby a few weeks later.
You last saw Washington at 12:00 midnight.
That's when our shift ended.
On the tape, there's a train horn seconds after the gunshots.
We checked train schedules at the museum.
Only one arrival that night at 1:00 A.
M.
So we can place time of death about an hour after you saw Washington.
But shanning's only five minutes from the precinct.
Maybe he wasn't headed to the domestic.
He said he was, clear as day.
According to the logs, dispatch sent another call ten minutes after the domestic.
Drug activity at the raymond jennings project where the tape recorder was found.
If Washington responded to that call, the timeline adds up.
Raymond jennings wasn't even in our district.
Why would Joe go there and not tell no one? That's what we got to find out.
I did live in the raymond jennings project, young lady.
And I called the police that night.
My tax pays your salary.
a call you made, Ms.
Gloria.
I remember real good, sir.
You want to know why? Because those damn police actually came for once.
What does that mean? Black folks from the project calling on Friday night, police don't come.
But that night that black cop showed up.
And he gets to fighting with the drug dealer.
- What drug dealer? - Never saw him before, but after I called the police, I went out to see what happened, not expecting a damn thing.
Get off my court.
You don't own this.
Well, I own this.
I own you.
I own everything you is, Joe boy.
You ain't better than me.
You just pretend you is.
The dealer called him Joe? Joe this, Joe that.
That black cop must have come around the projects regular 'cause he knew enough not to park at the curb.
Those drug dealers'll see him a-coming a mile away.
What'd the drug dealer look like? Skinny.
Young.
Black.
Strutting around like some sort of crazy rooster.
My eyes been bad since forever.
Can't tell you more.
But I did hear those druggies calling him "the runner".
- What? - The runner.
What kinda name is that? Thank you, Ms.
Menards.
Washington called the killer that on the tape, the runner.
'Cause he knew him.
They both knew each other.
Real well.
I did patrol of the raymond jennings projects in the '70s.
Never heard the name the runner.
Guy ain't in the system anywhere.
No arrests, nothing.
So how'd this runner and Washington get so cozy? And how'd Washington know those projects enough to know where to park when he didn't even work that district? Maybe he had it in for drug dealers.
Washingtong's patrol log.
Radioed in calls on dealers in his district constantly.
Got into two altercations.
There's a lot of hate here.
Love hate.
No arrests on his record.
Smoke and mirrors? Acts tough for appearances' sake, but he's really on the take? Bank records don't show cash coming in.
But cash was going out, every few weeks.
These didn't cover his usual living expenses.
He wrote clearly marked checks for those.
And these sums are big enough to stand out.
What are we thinking, buying drugs? No, addicts clean out bank within a couple months.
This doesn't follow that pattern.
So what was he doing? Maybe his widow knows.
The runner? No.
I never heard of him.
How long were you married, Diane? Ten months, two weeks.
Was Joe a big spender? Um first year of marriage and all.
No.
We just got the house.
Why? Um, these checks he wrote for cash every few weeks.
Do you know what they were for? He got me flowers every Friday.
And movies.
We went to movies all the time.
But I never thought it would amount to that much.
I thought things would be different by now.
That I'd be different.
Time makes things worse, not better.
Maybe time also finds the truth.
Can you tell me what you remember from that day, Diane? We were thinking about what to name our baby.
Our little girl.
- Marianne.
- No.
- Martha.
- Uh-uh.
- Matilda.
- No way.
Okay, Mr.
Man, let me see you come up with something more groovy.
You want groovy, baby? Uh-huh, I want far out, psychedelic, groovy.
How about Diane? I'm vibing Diane.
I love diane.
You do? What? Love me? I do.
- You know what else? - What? I'm gonna love ya, love ya, love ya just a little more.
Come here, baby.
Joe left for work 20 minutes later and I never saw him again.
I'm sorry.
Sometimes I think, My god, she'd be a woman by now.
My little girl.
Anyway Um, if you think of anything else.
Detective Rush? Could you tell from the tape whether Joe was in pain when he died? No.
He wasn't.
I don't know if Diane was telling the truth about the money.
Wonder why she was never asked about it.
Maybe Butch has an idea.
Tonight's first Thursday at the tavern right? Bet he'll be there.
- You're not going to first Thursday.
- Why not? The old timers don't take too kindly to women crashing their night with the boys.
Too bad.
It's a new world.
Those dinosaurs are bad enough sober, Lilly.
You saying you won't go with me? I'm saying go see Butch in the morning.
Forget Jones tavern.
Wife know you're on a date tonight? Hey, Butch.
You know detective Rush.
How you doing, Butch? This one's for Joe Washington and all the guys who died on the line.
We got to talk.
Yeah.
Diane called and told me about the crap you came asking about Joe's money.
There was money going out of his account.
You know what it was for? This ain't no place to bring a lady, bro.
- Any ideas about the money, Butch? - No.
Turns out Washington knew runner real well.
I hope no one's trying to associate my fallen partner with some drug dealer.
- How'd he know runner, Butch? - She thinks she can come in here - Just answer the question.
- Smearing a good cop's name Hey! I'm the one asking the questions.
So what's your question, detective? Was Washington paying someone off? You know who we got here, boys? The only female in homicide working cold cases.
- Know why? - Maybe you ought to sit down, Butch.
'Cause it's in the basement.
Where the little lady can dust down the files.
So how'd it go at the tavern? Ass handed to me.
Does that surprise you? I think Sarreti, the assigned on the case, suspected the drug angle, too.
An interview Sarreti did with Deante Rollins, heroin dealer.
His territory was raymond jennings in the early '70's.
Like Sarreti was wondering about the cash himself.
But we can't ask him 'cause he keeled over from a heart attack last year.
And back then, - Deante wasn't sharing.
- What about now? Maybe he's learned to play with others.
Never heard of no runner.
You sure about that? Like I say, never heard of him.
And your word is bond, Deante.
My name is Brother Jamal.
Sure it is.
Asalaam a fakim, my brother.
Like you know what that means.
What does it mean, Jamal? Peace be with you.
Have you found it yet? Peace? It's a journey.
There is no it.
There is no end.
A tough road, redemption.
Yes, especially when you're dealing smack to women and children.
I never sold to children.
Ever.
Back in the day, we was businessmen.
Organized, chains of command, none of this teenage gangsta bull today.
- You were disciplined.
- That's right.
Working those basketball courts, Never missed a day.
So you were there that night Washington got killed.
And you must have seen the fight.
Yeah.
I seen it.
You don't own this, man.
Well, I own this.
I own you.
I own everything you is, Joe boy.
And the cop runs up into the projects.
What was he doing? A few minutes later he comes running back down.
Sam! Sammy! Sammy! Sam! Sammy! Where'd Sammy go to? What about runner? You seen him? Where did runner go, huh?! Took off in some car, man! Towards the tracks, man! Who's Sammy? The reason runner and his homie split 'cause of something that happened to her.
Who was his homie? All I know is they was tight.
Had the same tattoo on their knuckles.
Here we go.
Joseph Washingtongs autopsy photo.
From the original negative, I printed onto technical pan film and transferred onto high contrast slides.
From what you asked, I figured density slicing might do the trick.
What's that? It's when you take each scale of gray and you print it as pure black and white.
Is that the best you can do, Ray? Matter of fact, I did better.
And better.
Better.
So that's how Washington knew the runner.
Washington hung with a small-time heroin dealer called the runner in the early '70s.
We checked juvie records in the court history database.
Used the tattoo as an identifying mark.
Meet the real Joe Washington.
Gave the arresting officer a false name.
That's why police background check missed it.
No North Carolina orphanage? Fairy tale.
He grew up in raymond jennings.
Straightens out, starts flying right, joins the military.
Then the police academy.
Gets married, and we know the rest.
So Washington buried who he was from everyone.
Even his wife? I never knew those things about him.
He never told you where he really came from? There were other things he was hiding from you, weren't there? Someone robbed you, Diane of your husband, of your child.
don't you think he should pay? Everybody wanted to remember him as this golden boy great cop great husband.
I didn't want to rain on their parade.
By doing what? I knew he was he was involved with somebody else.
Married less than a year and already cheating.
What a joke.
One afternoon, he went out to the shooting range, and I needed something from the store, so I called him.
He wasn't there.
He never showed up.
When he came home that night, I said, "hey baby, how was target practice?" And he said, fine.
It was fine.
I'm sorry.
He'd go out two, maybe three times a month.
One day I followed him Sammy.
It's me.
Her name was Sammy? Yes.
/ And she lived at the raymond jennings projects? Did you ever confront Joe about her? I was 20 years old and pregnant.
What was the point? And you never told the assigned detective this? Or even butch? Like I said, what was the point? I always wanted to go back there one day meet her face to face, but I never did.
Heads up.
You never know when a TV might fall out of a window.
Samuela? This must be the girl who drove Washington and runner apart.
Looks like our sammy.
Think she's still here? After all these years? In these projects, where you're born is where you die.
We're looking for Samuela Robbins? Yes, I am she.
You're miss Samuela? Yes.
I said that already.
Detectives Rush and Jeffries.
- Could we come in? - I'd rather you not, thank you.
Did you know a Joe Washington, Miss Samuela? You here about Joe? You should have said so! Come in.
Joe grew up on this very floor.
Why, he took care of Sammy ever since they were kids.
Sammy? My granddaughter, Samantha.
They grew up together? Like brother and sister.
He'd bring her back from school every day.
Real protective.
She was all the love he had in the world.
Do you remember when you last saw him? Well, after he moved out, he used to come by all the time, bring her toys, take her to the fair.
Why, on that night he the night he what? / Oh no, I.
.
I don't know.
The night he was killed.
Isn't that what you mean? No.
I don't know anything.
I don't.
Joe loved your granddaughter, like his own blood, didn't he? Yes, he did.
And he came here the night he was killed, didn't he? Yes, he did.
Joe? He think he owns me.
Owns Sammy! What's wrong? I thought Sammy was in her room.
Oh, she's messing with runner, takes him them drugs.
You know that, Mrs.
Samuela? I she won't listen to me, and I can't keep her in the house all day.
I'm sorry, Miss Samuela.
I know it ain't your fault.
It's just the way things go around here.
Now it's my turn to take care of Sammy.
You know we talked about this.
You know she gots to get out of here if she's ever going to have a chance for a life.
That night Joe was killed, and Sammy it was difficult, you understand? No mother, no father, just me and Joe.
And then he was gone.
So why didn't you come forward when Joe was murdered? There was nothing I could do to bring him back.
And Sammy.
.
where is she? I haven't seen her in over 20 years.
The drugs, they kind of took her over when Joe died.
Did you know someone called the runner? Joe's best friend.
Mason Tucker.
They went to the catholic school together, ran track.
So that's why the nickname.
Long way from raymond jennings, aren't you, Mason? Can I help you? Detectives Rush and Jeffries.
Homicide.
We just had a few questions.
About Joe Washington? Your homie from high school? Your little drug-running buddy? I knew Joe.
What's your point? Night he was murdered, we got witnesses in the projects saying you two had a fight.
I don't remember no fight.
'Course not.
Remember what you were fighting about? I'll say it again, I don't remember.
How about Sammy? Do you remember her? - Your point being? - The girl had a lot of problems, and from what I hear, you had something to do with it.
Whatever problems Sammy had were Joe's doing, not mine.
That's not what I hear.
I hear it was all on you, Mason.
Then I suggest you check the hospital records yourself.
He was the one who brought her in, not me.
Now, if you don't have anything else, I'd like to enjoy my afternoon.
Oh, uh, one last question.
How does one go from selling smack to selling jags? Children do dumb things.
I'm sure you did, too, detective Rush.
That isn't who I am now.
Sammy was like a little sister to Washington.
He felt responsible for her, so he flips when she starts muling drugs for Mason Tucker.
The night of the murder, Washington hears a radio call about drug activity at the raymond jennings projects.
And from the description, he knows it's mason? He goes to the projects, fights with mason, gets Sammy's grandma to okay his plan to get her out of there, - but when he comes back down - Sammy's gone.
Washington hears Mason took off for the railroad tracks.
He follows.
And that's where he ends up dead.
And Mason drops off the face of the earth.
Only to reemerge as a law-abiding, yacht-owning citizen years later.
Deante talked about an incident that went down between mason, Sammy and Washington years before the murder.
Do we know what it was? Only that it put her in the hospital.
Mm-mm.
Please don't let it be that.
We got to look at it.
The nearest emergency room is Saint Joseph's.
Well, the best person to ask is Sammy herself.
Check narcotic intelligence.
Just got the news.
We got a hit on the fingerprint inside the stolen car.
The killer's car? The print in the car matches Samantha Robbins.
Sammy was in the car when Washington got killed.
Thanks for the tip about the hospital.
So Sammy od'd on heroin in 1971.
Now how's a little girl get her hands on that? I wouldn't know.
No? 'Cause Washington told the doctors you gave it to her.
That's a lie.
You're right.
You know what, Mason? I'm like you.
I lie a lot.
Let's both try something new the truth.
Sure.
I'll tell you the truth.
You want know what happened to Sammy? It was during high school.
Me and Washington were getting high all the time.
Hey hey, you're my bro, you know that man? You all I got, Washington.
We gonna own this world, you and me.
Can I play? Get outta here.
Please? - I wanna play the game.
- I said get outta here! Don't yell at the angel, bro.
Sammy, put that down.
Shut up, Washington.
Ow! So that's why he went his way and you went yours? Seems to be the way the ball bounced.
Mason, I know sammy was in the car that night Joe was killed.
Who told you that? A middle-aged heroin whore? Joe was running from his guilt about Sammy.
What about you? What are you running from? You wanna talk to me, talk to my lawyer Bitch.
Cop on kensington said Sammy's in here.
Coming on the end of her 28 days.
- This her first time in detox? - Uh-huh.
Bet it won't be her last.
Maybe it will be.
Why? 'Cause maybe she's looking for forgiveness.
I thought Denise Funderbunk was a pretty weird name.
One of the counselors here, that's her name.
For real.
Thanks for bringing in the tape recorder.
Your tape recorder.
Why you here anyway? Why ain't you arresting the guy who did it? We need your help, Sammy.
I'm clean outta help.
Ain't got nothing to give.
Sorry.
It's all about you, isn't it? Always getting in trouble.
Always waiting for someone to bail you out.
That's why Joe came to the projects that night.
That's why he died, helping you.
Helping me? Helping me? He lied to me! He promised and then he just went and died! What did Joe promise you the night he died? He promised to take me home.
Hey, get off of my car.
You don't own this.
Well, I own this.
I own you.
I own everything you is, Joe boy.
You ain't better than me.
You just pretend you is.
Sammy! Sammy.
Look, I told you not to mess with Mason! I told you not to touch that crap! I didn't do nothing! You can't tell me what to do! - You ain't my daddy! - You ain't got no daddy.
You ain't got nobody.
I'm all you got.
You shut up! You shut up! Look, look, come here, come here.
Come here.
My wife's going to take care of you.
Give you the love you don't know.
Let's go up and talk to your grandma.
She won't let me go.
I'll go, okay? You stay here and wait for me, okay? Mason don't own you, Sammy.
You own you.
Really? You gonna wait for me or what? Gimme so skin.
He went up and never came down.
That's all I know.
Hmm.
Really? Really.
So how'd your tape recorder get in mason's car? And your fingerprint? You think this is over? Just 'cause you dropped a tape recorder on my desk? Ever hear of the eighth step, Sammy? Making amends.
It's not over.
Not till you tell me what happened on those tracks that night.
Big old bad Mason don't own you.
You own you.
You think you can just walk on out after all I done for you? I gotta pee, runner.
Well, he thinks he can take what's mine and walk away? I own you.
He don't own you.
I do.
Come here.
Come here.
Runner! Runner! Runner! When I woke up, we weren't at the tracks any more.
We was headed back to the projects.
Mason was driving and talking, and he just kept talking to himself.
What was he saying? The lord's prayer.
He left me near the garbage dump outside my building.
Like a piece of trash.
You never answered my question about why you're running.
And why it never ends the running.
I'm not talking to you.
I'm talking to you.
Fact is, I'm here to arrest you.
So sit down.
We found Sammy.
You were wrong.
You don't own her.
I know you.
You don't know a thing about me.
I know what it's like to run from who you are I don't know what you're talking about.
From what you did.
But you can't, can you? So you spend your whole life running.
Runner! Runner! Runner! Our father, who art in heaven what're you doing here? you're praying.
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth You were asking for forgiveness.
Remember? He should have never tried to change things.
He should have never come back.
He he should he he he was all the love I had in this world.
Joe was looking for forgiveness.
I think you are, too.
It's time, isn't it? To forgive yourself runner? Runner! Runner! Runner! ~~ Sometimes in our lives, ~~ ~~ we all have pain ~~ ~~ We all have sorrow ~~ ~~ But, if we are wise ~~ ~~ We know that there's always tomorrow ~~ ~~ Lean on me, when you're not strong ~~ ~~ And I'll be your friend ~~ ~~ I'll help you carry on ~~ ~~ For it won't be long, ~~ ~~ till I'm gonna need ~~ ~~ Somebody to lean on ~~ ~~ Please swallow your pride, ~~ ~~ if I have things ~~ ~~ You need to borrow ~~ ~~ For no one can fill, those of your needs ~~ Hi.
I wanted to come here, Diane, to tell you about Sammy.
She wasn't your husband's mistress.
She was a little girl that Joe grew up with.
that he loved and he had a debt to her.
So we brought her home to you.
Diane.
Sammy.
The other night Diane says, "Joe, baby, I'm hankering for some pickles with fish sauce.
" Pregnant women.
Jones for a domestic disturbance.
See, now if we answer that mommie-poppie call and my mommie's beating me down tonight.
Okay, got it.
Get outta here.
You split, man.
No, I ain't letting you go out on your own.
I told you to get your ass home by midnight, didn't I? Hey, wait until the kid's born.
That's when you'll really kiss your life good-bye.
- Yeah.
- I hear you, man.
Thanks, Joe.
They told me you got the old murders.
What? He said, um, you the one that's got to listen to this.
What is it? I found it in a garbage dump over by the raymond jennings projects.
You got a name? Neesey.
Neesey, huh? That your real name? Deniece, okay? Deniece Funderbunk.
I already told him.
So, look, I get anything for this? Just a sincere thanks for your civic-mindedness.
My civic what? Thanks, Ms.
Funderbunk.
I gotta jet.
A garbage dump? You don't mind a little dirt, do you, Rush? I hang around you, don't I? Runner! Runner! Runner! Standard cassette player and recorder way old school.
Early '70s.
I transferred the audio from analog to digital.
The stuff after the gunshots, the man's muttering, I'm still working on that.
But check this out.
Shan what's that? I'm going to eq it by rolling off some of the top and bottom, filter out the background noise.
Tweak it and clean it, correct the pitch.
Bam! Sounds like some sort of public announcement system.
/ Yeah.
And near a railroad station.
Sh shanning station.
The old train tracks in north Philly.
They closed that station some time in theearly '80s.
A lover's lane.
You know this from experience? Not a soul around.
Just you and the stars.
Runner! Runner! Runner! Lonely place to die.
Cold Case ORIGINAL AIR DATE ON CBS: 2003/10/26 Small caliber weapon fired three times in the vicinity of shanning station.
Before it closed in '81.
That narrows it down.
Where the hell is it? - Did you say shanning station? - Yeah.
You're not gonna find that box job down here.
This one was one of our own.
Never left homicide, Three shots to the heart.
One year on the force.
Washington? / Mm-hmm.
He just graduated from the academy.
Worked in the 27th district.
Citywide Manhunt For Cop Killer Raised in a North Carolina orphanage, a stint in the military before entering the police academy.
Washington was responding to a domestic call.
He never made it there.
A few hours later, they found his body near the shanning tracks.
Blood spatter matching Washington's blood type was found in a stolen vehicle left on a turnpike two days later.
It was mostly a dead end.
We lifted a fingerprint off the car windshield.
No hits.
Maybe we run the print again.
I'd like to work with you on this one, Lily.
I knew Joe Washington.
You knew his partner? Of him.
Butch Rinaldi.
Why wasn't he with Washington that night? I let him go out alone.
Shouldn't have done that.
Must have pulled over a motorist that ran a traffic light or something.
Joe got three bullets for his trouble.
I was standing right here when I first seen Diane that night Joe's wife.
Butchy! No! No! No! Diane lost the baby a few weeks later.
You last saw Washington at 12:00 midnight.
That's when our shift ended.
On the tape, there's a train horn seconds after the gunshots.
We checked train schedules at the museum.
Only one arrival that night at 1:00 A.
M.
So we can place time of death about an hour after you saw Washington.
But shanning's only five minutes from the precinct.
Maybe he wasn't headed to the domestic.
He said he was, clear as day.
According to the logs, dispatch sent another call ten minutes after the domestic.
Drug activity at the raymond jennings project where the tape recorder was found.
If Washington responded to that call, the timeline adds up.
Raymond jennings wasn't even in our district.
Why would Joe go there and not tell no one? That's what we got to find out.
I did live in the raymond jennings project, young lady.
And I called the police that night.
My tax pays your salary.
a call you made, Ms.
Gloria.
I remember real good, sir.
You want to know why? Because those damn police actually came for once.
What does that mean? Black folks from the project calling on Friday night, police don't come.
But that night that black cop showed up.
And he gets to fighting with the drug dealer.
- What drug dealer? - Never saw him before, but after I called the police, I went out to see what happened, not expecting a damn thing.
Get off my court.
You don't own this.
Well, I own this.
I own you.
I own everything you is, Joe boy.
You ain't better than me.
You just pretend you is.
The dealer called him Joe? Joe this, Joe that.
That black cop must have come around the projects regular 'cause he knew enough not to park at the curb.
Those drug dealers'll see him a-coming a mile away.
What'd the drug dealer look like? Skinny.
Young.
Black.
Strutting around like some sort of crazy rooster.
My eyes been bad since forever.
Can't tell you more.
But I did hear those druggies calling him "the runner".
- What? - The runner.
What kinda name is that? Thank you, Ms.
Menards.
Washington called the killer that on the tape, the runner.
'Cause he knew him.
They both knew each other.
Real well.
I did patrol of the raymond jennings projects in the '70s.
Never heard the name the runner.
Guy ain't in the system anywhere.
No arrests, nothing.
So how'd this runner and Washington get so cozy? And how'd Washington know those projects enough to know where to park when he didn't even work that district? Maybe he had it in for drug dealers.
Washingtong's patrol log.
Radioed in calls on dealers in his district constantly.
Got into two altercations.
There's a lot of hate here.
Love hate.
No arrests on his record.
Smoke and mirrors? Acts tough for appearances' sake, but he's really on the take? Bank records don't show cash coming in.
But cash was going out, every few weeks.
These didn't cover his usual living expenses.
He wrote clearly marked checks for those.
And these sums are big enough to stand out.
What are we thinking, buying drugs? No, addicts clean out bank within a couple months.
This doesn't follow that pattern.
So what was he doing? Maybe his widow knows.
The runner? No.
I never heard of him.
How long were you married, Diane? Ten months, two weeks.
Was Joe a big spender? Um first year of marriage and all.
No.
We just got the house.
Why? Um, these checks he wrote for cash every few weeks.
Do you know what they were for? He got me flowers every Friday.
And movies.
We went to movies all the time.
But I never thought it would amount to that much.
I thought things would be different by now.
That I'd be different.
Time makes things worse, not better.
Maybe time also finds the truth.
Can you tell me what you remember from that day, Diane? We were thinking about what to name our baby.
Our little girl.
- Marianne.
- No.
- Martha.
- Uh-uh.
- Matilda.
- No way.
Okay, Mr.
Man, let me see you come up with something more groovy.
You want groovy, baby? Uh-huh, I want far out, psychedelic, groovy.
How about Diane? I'm vibing Diane.
I love diane.
You do? What? Love me? I do.
- You know what else? - What? I'm gonna love ya, love ya, love ya just a little more.
Come here, baby.
Joe left for work 20 minutes later and I never saw him again.
I'm sorry.
Sometimes I think, My god, she'd be a woman by now.
My little girl.
Anyway Um, if you think of anything else.
Detective Rush? Could you tell from the tape whether Joe was in pain when he died? No.
He wasn't.
I don't know if Diane was telling the truth about the money.
Wonder why she was never asked about it.
Maybe Butch has an idea.
Tonight's first Thursday at the tavern right? Bet he'll be there.
- You're not going to first Thursday.
- Why not? The old timers don't take too kindly to women crashing their night with the boys.
Too bad.
It's a new world.
Those dinosaurs are bad enough sober, Lilly.
You saying you won't go with me? I'm saying go see Butch in the morning.
Forget Jones tavern.
Wife know you're on a date tonight? Hey, Butch.
You know detective Rush.
How you doing, Butch? This one's for Joe Washington and all the guys who died on the line.
We got to talk.
Yeah.
Diane called and told me about the crap you came asking about Joe's money.
There was money going out of his account.
You know what it was for? This ain't no place to bring a lady, bro.
- Any ideas about the money, Butch? - No.
Turns out Washington knew runner real well.
I hope no one's trying to associate my fallen partner with some drug dealer.
- How'd he know runner, Butch? - She thinks she can come in here - Just answer the question.
- Smearing a good cop's name Hey! I'm the one asking the questions.
So what's your question, detective? Was Washington paying someone off? You know who we got here, boys? The only female in homicide working cold cases.
- Know why? - Maybe you ought to sit down, Butch.
'Cause it's in the basement.
Where the little lady can dust down the files.
So how'd it go at the tavern? Ass handed to me.
Does that surprise you? I think Sarreti, the assigned on the case, suspected the drug angle, too.
An interview Sarreti did with Deante Rollins, heroin dealer.
His territory was raymond jennings in the early '70's.
Like Sarreti was wondering about the cash himself.
But we can't ask him 'cause he keeled over from a heart attack last year.
And back then, - Deante wasn't sharing.
- What about now? Maybe he's learned to play with others.
Never heard of no runner.
You sure about that? Like I say, never heard of him.
And your word is bond, Deante.
My name is Brother Jamal.
Sure it is.
Asalaam a fakim, my brother.
Like you know what that means.
What does it mean, Jamal? Peace be with you.
Have you found it yet? Peace? It's a journey.
There is no it.
There is no end.
A tough road, redemption.
Yes, especially when you're dealing smack to women and children.
I never sold to children.
Ever.
Back in the day, we was businessmen.
Organized, chains of command, none of this teenage gangsta bull today.
- You were disciplined.
- That's right.
Working those basketball courts, Never missed a day.
So you were there that night Washington got killed.
And you must have seen the fight.
Yeah.
I seen it.
You don't own this, man.
Well, I own this.
I own you.
I own everything you is, Joe boy.
And the cop runs up into the projects.
What was he doing? A few minutes later he comes running back down.
Sam! Sammy! Sammy! Sam! Sammy! Where'd Sammy go to? What about runner? You seen him? Where did runner go, huh?! Took off in some car, man! Towards the tracks, man! Who's Sammy? The reason runner and his homie split 'cause of something that happened to her.
Who was his homie? All I know is they was tight.
Had the same tattoo on their knuckles.
Here we go.
Joseph Washingtongs autopsy photo.
From the original negative, I printed onto technical pan film and transferred onto high contrast slides.
From what you asked, I figured density slicing might do the trick.
What's that? It's when you take each scale of gray and you print it as pure black and white.
Is that the best you can do, Ray? Matter of fact, I did better.
And better.
Better.
So that's how Washington knew the runner.
Washington hung with a small-time heroin dealer called the runner in the early '70s.
We checked juvie records in the court history database.
Used the tattoo as an identifying mark.
Meet the real Joe Washington.
Gave the arresting officer a false name.
That's why police background check missed it.
No North Carolina orphanage? Fairy tale.
He grew up in raymond jennings.
Straightens out, starts flying right, joins the military.
Then the police academy.
Gets married, and we know the rest.
So Washington buried who he was from everyone.
Even his wife? I never knew those things about him.
He never told you where he really came from? There were other things he was hiding from you, weren't there? Someone robbed you, Diane of your husband, of your child.
don't you think he should pay? Everybody wanted to remember him as this golden boy great cop great husband.
I didn't want to rain on their parade.
By doing what? I knew he was he was involved with somebody else.
Married less than a year and already cheating.
What a joke.
One afternoon, he went out to the shooting range, and I needed something from the store, so I called him.
He wasn't there.
He never showed up.
When he came home that night, I said, "hey baby, how was target practice?" And he said, fine.
It was fine.
I'm sorry.
He'd go out two, maybe three times a month.
One day I followed him Sammy.
It's me.
Her name was Sammy? Yes.
/ And she lived at the raymond jennings projects? Did you ever confront Joe about her? I was 20 years old and pregnant.
What was the point? And you never told the assigned detective this? Or even butch? Like I said, what was the point? I always wanted to go back there one day meet her face to face, but I never did.
Heads up.
You never know when a TV might fall out of a window.
Samuela? This must be the girl who drove Washington and runner apart.
Looks like our sammy.
Think she's still here? After all these years? In these projects, where you're born is where you die.
We're looking for Samuela Robbins? Yes, I am she.
You're miss Samuela? Yes.
I said that already.
Detectives Rush and Jeffries.
- Could we come in? - I'd rather you not, thank you.
Did you know a Joe Washington, Miss Samuela? You here about Joe? You should have said so! Come in.
Joe grew up on this very floor.
Why, he took care of Sammy ever since they were kids.
Sammy? My granddaughter, Samantha.
They grew up together? Like brother and sister.
He'd bring her back from school every day.
Real protective.
She was all the love he had in the world.
Do you remember when you last saw him? Well, after he moved out, he used to come by all the time, bring her toys, take her to the fair.
Why, on that night he the night he what? / Oh no, I.
.
I don't know.
The night he was killed.
Isn't that what you mean? No.
I don't know anything.
I don't.
Joe loved your granddaughter, like his own blood, didn't he? Yes, he did.
And he came here the night he was killed, didn't he? Yes, he did.
Joe? He think he owns me.
Owns Sammy! What's wrong? I thought Sammy was in her room.
Oh, she's messing with runner, takes him them drugs.
You know that, Mrs.
Samuela? I she won't listen to me, and I can't keep her in the house all day.
I'm sorry, Miss Samuela.
I know it ain't your fault.
It's just the way things go around here.
Now it's my turn to take care of Sammy.
You know we talked about this.
You know she gots to get out of here if she's ever going to have a chance for a life.
That night Joe was killed, and Sammy it was difficult, you understand? No mother, no father, just me and Joe.
And then he was gone.
So why didn't you come forward when Joe was murdered? There was nothing I could do to bring him back.
And Sammy.
.
where is she? I haven't seen her in over 20 years.
The drugs, they kind of took her over when Joe died.
Did you know someone called the runner? Joe's best friend.
Mason Tucker.
They went to the catholic school together, ran track.
So that's why the nickname.
Long way from raymond jennings, aren't you, Mason? Can I help you? Detectives Rush and Jeffries.
Homicide.
We just had a few questions.
About Joe Washington? Your homie from high school? Your little drug-running buddy? I knew Joe.
What's your point? Night he was murdered, we got witnesses in the projects saying you two had a fight.
I don't remember no fight.
'Course not.
Remember what you were fighting about? I'll say it again, I don't remember.
How about Sammy? Do you remember her? - Your point being? - The girl had a lot of problems, and from what I hear, you had something to do with it.
Whatever problems Sammy had were Joe's doing, not mine.
That's not what I hear.
I hear it was all on you, Mason.
Then I suggest you check the hospital records yourself.
He was the one who brought her in, not me.
Now, if you don't have anything else, I'd like to enjoy my afternoon.
Oh, uh, one last question.
How does one go from selling smack to selling jags? Children do dumb things.
I'm sure you did, too, detective Rush.
That isn't who I am now.
Sammy was like a little sister to Washington.
He felt responsible for her, so he flips when she starts muling drugs for Mason Tucker.
The night of the murder, Washington hears a radio call about drug activity at the raymond jennings projects.
And from the description, he knows it's mason? He goes to the projects, fights with mason, gets Sammy's grandma to okay his plan to get her out of there, - but when he comes back down - Sammy's gone.
Washington hears Mason took off for the railroad tracks.
He follows.
And that's where he ends up dead.
And Mason drops off the face of the earth.
Only to reemerge as a law-abiding, yacht-owning citizen years later.
Deante talked about an incident that went down between mason, Sammy and Washington years before the murder.
Do we know what it was? Only that it put her in the hospital.
Mm-mm.
Please don't let it be that.
We got to look at it.
The nearest emergency room is Saint Joseph's.
Well, the best person to ask is Sammy herself.
Check narcotic intelligence.
Just got the news.
We got a hit on the fingerprint inside the stolen car.
The killer's car? The print in the car matches Samantha Robbins.
Sammy was in the car when Washington got killed.
Thanks for the tip about the hospital.
So Sammy od'd on heroin in 1971.
Now how's a little girl get her hands on that? I wouldn't know.
No? 'Cause Washington told the doctors you gave it to her.
That's a lie.
You're right.
You know what, Mason? I'm like you.
I lie a lot.
Let's both try something new the truth.
Sure.
I'll tell you the truth.
You want know what happened to Sammy? It was during high school.
Me and Washington were getting high all the time.
Hey hey, you're my bro, you know that man? You all I got, Washington.
We gonna own this world, you and me.
Can I play? Get outta here.
Please? - I wanna play the game.
- I said get outta here! Don't yell at the angel, bro.
Sammy, put that down.
Shut up, Washington.
Ow! So that's why he went his way and you went yours? Seems to be the way the ball bounced.
Mason, I know sammy was in the car that night Joe was killed.
Who told you that? A middle-aged heroin whore? Joe was running from his guilt about Sammy.
What about you? What are you running from? You wanna talk to me, talk to my lawyer Bitch.
Cop on kensington said Sammy's in here.
Coming on the end of her 28 days.
- This her first time in detox? - Uh-huh.
Bet it won't be her last.
Maybe it will be.
Why? 'Cause maybe she's looking for forgiveness.
I thought Denise Funderbunk was a pretty weird name.
One of the counselors here, that's her name.
For real.
Thanks for bringing in the tape recorder.
Your tape recorder.
Why you here anyway? Why ain't you arresting the guy who did it? We need your help, Sammy.
I'm clean outta help.
Ain't got nothing to give.
Sorry.
It's all about you, isn't it? Always getting in trouble.
Always waiting for someone to bail you out.
That's why Joe came to the projects that night.
That's why he died, helping you.
Helping me? Helping me? He lied to me! He promised and then he just went and died! What did Joe promise you the night he died? He promised to take me home.
Hey, get off of my car.
You don't own this.
Well, I own this.
I own you.
I own everything you is, Joe boy.
You ain't better than me.
You just pretend you is.
Sammy! Sammy.
Look, I told you not to mess with Mason! I told you not to touch that crap! I didn't do nothing! You can't tell me what to do! - You ain't my daddy! - You ain't got no daddy.
You ain't got nobody.
I'm all you got.
You shut up! You shut up! Look, look, come here, come here.
Come here.
My wife's going to take care of you.
Give you the love you don't know.
Let's go up and talk to your grandma.
She won't let me go.
I'll go, okay? You stay here and wait for me, okay? Mason don't own you, Sammy.
You own you.
Really? You gonna wait for me or what? Gimme so skin.
He went up and never came down.
That's all I know.
Hmm.
Really? Really.
So how'd your tape recorder get in mason's car? And your fingerprint? You think this is over? Just 'cause you dropped a tape recorder on my desk? Ever hear of the eighth step, Sammy? Making amends.
It's not over.
Not till you tell me what happened on those tracks that night.
Big old bad Mason don't own you.
You own you.
You think you can just walk on out after all I done for you? I gotta pee, runner.
Well, he thinks he can take what's mine and walk away? I own you.
He don't own you.
I do.
Come here.
Come here.
Runner! Runner! Runner! When I woke up, we weren't at the tracks any more.
We was headed back to the projects.
Mason was driving and talking, and he just kept talking to himself.
What was he saying? The lord's prayer.
He left me near the garbage dump outside my building.
Like a piece of trash.
You never answered my question about why you're running.
And why it never ends the running.
I'm not talking to you.
I'm talking to you.
Fact is, I'm here to arrest you.
So sit down.
We found Sammy.
You were wrong.
You don't own her.
I know you.
You don't know a thing about me.
I know what it's like to run from who you are I don't know what you're talking about.
From what you did.
But you can't, can you? So you spend your whole life running.
Runner! Runner! Runner! Our father, who art in heaven what're you doing here? you're praying.
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth You were asking for forgiveness.
Remember? He should have never tried to change things.
He should have never come back.
He he should he he he was all the love I had in this world.
Joe was looking for forgiveness.
I think you are, too.
It's time, isn't it? To forgive yourself runner? Runner! Runner! Runner! ~~ Sometimes in our lives, ~~ ~~ we all have pain ~~ ~~ We all have sorrow ~~ ~~ But, if we are wise ~~ ~~ We know that there's always tomorrow ~~ ~~ Lean on me, when you're not strong ~~ ~~ And I'll be your friend ~~ ~~ I'll help you carry on ~~ ~~ For it won't be long, ~~ ~~ till I'm gonna need ~~ ~~ Somebody to lean on ~~ ~~ Please swallow your pride, ~~ ~~ if I have things ~~ ~~ You need to borrow ~~ ~~ For no one can fill, those of your needs ~~ Hi.
I wanted to come here, Diane, to tell you about Sammy.
She wasn't your husband's mistress.
She was a little girl that Joe grew up with.
that he loved and he had a debt to her.
So we brought her home to you.
Diane.
Sammy.