Three Pines (2022) s01e07 Episode Script

1
[INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC PLAYING]
[INDISTINCT CHATTERING]
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
[MAN] Fuck!
[BELL RINGS]
Move!
I know what you've done.
- Hey!
- I know what you've done.
- I know. I know
- Come on.
what you've done.
You all know, don't you?
You're all in on this!
Everyone.
I know your secrets.
Yeah. You're gonna pay for
this. This is not over yet.
You hear me? You're all
going to pay for this.
- [DOOR CLOSES]
- [GASPS]
[OPENING THEME MUSIC PLAYING]
[SIGHS]
- Hey.
- Hey.
You okay?
I was thinking about when I was a kid.
There were all these
birds in our backyard.
Mom had gone. They
were all on their own.
Just like you as a child,
you were left all alone.
Well, they were dead.
They couldn't survive without her.
- [BIRD CAWS]
- [REINE-MARIE] Maybe you.
There's a part of you that died, too.
That couldn't survive
without your parents.
These memories coming back
up, I know they're upsetting.
But whatever your subconscious is
trying to tell you, it will come.
Don't force it.
You are right.
- [SIGHS]
- [FOOTSTEPS RECEDING]
Look what we have
here, a little squirrel.
You're all still out here.
- We won't stop until we find her.
- We already searched this stretch.
It could take a year or more
to cover this whole forest.
Be out here the rest of my
days if that's what it takes.
It won't take that long.
Kevin said they were pulled
up that way on Pine Ridge
and that's where he heard the gunshots.
- Did he say anything else?
- [LACOSTE] I'm sorry.
- I wish he had.
- If he hadn't wound up dead,
he could have pointed us
in the right direction.
- There's an ongoing inquiry.
- I won't hold my breath.
When we find them, we will get justice.
Right? For Blue, Tommy
and Kevin, honey. Okay?
So if your search takes
you off Iotenen'tón: ni,
you're in SQ jurisdiction.
- You're saying we can't search out there?
- No.
No, I'm saying that maybe our
search wasn't thorough enough.
- Wow.
- I could get you some help.
- I'll talk to my boss.
- Okay.
I will hold you to that, Lacoste.
[BEA] Hey, come here!
- You find something?
- Come here!
Stay back. Is it them?
- [LACOSTE] Go home.
- Don't look.
Except for you.
- You stay.
- Don't look.
Keep out of here until
the scene's cleared.
It might take a couple days.
- Don't look.
- I'm going to need backup and an ambulance
just off of Pine Ridge Road, three
miles east of Iotenen'tón: ni.
A suspected suicide.
I'll send you the coordinates now.
[BEA] I think you got that wrong.
It doesn't look like suicide.
More than one set of footprints.
- Merci.
- No Jean-Guy?
[GAMACHE] Taking some time with Enid.
I spoke to him yesterday.
He sounded cheerful.
They're about to take a
ferry across Lake Champlain.
[LACOSTE] Sounds fun.
- [GAMACHE] So, when was he found?
- [LACOSTE] A couple of hours ago.
He's been dead 10, maybe
12 hours, by the look of it.
- He was found just over there.
- Oh.
[CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKING]
[GAMACHE] Mmm.
What a place to end a life.
It's so beautiful.
- Did you ever climb trees?
- Sure.
Still do with my girls.
These are not the hands of someone
who climbed up there. Too clean.
And these thumbprints,
they seem more like a manual
strangulation than a hanging.
Well, maybe he was strangled and
then strung up to look like a suicide?
There's multiple tracks around the tree.
Do we know who he is?
[SIGHS] No wallet, no cell
phone, his pockets were empty.
Get a photo circulated,
maybe we can get an ID.
Do you know anything about pine trees?
These needles seem
unusually long.
Maybe Bea does.
- Been a while, Chief.
- [GAMACHE CHUCKLES]
You keeping well, Bea?
Well as I can.
You know who he is?
No, I'm sorry. I don't.
You know about pines.
- They're all the same here, right?
- Yeah, pretty much.
- Mostly red pine.
- Hmm.
So what are these ones called
with the longer needles?
Those are white pine.
Their bark is paler, and I've
seen white pines around here,
but there can't be more than a
handful in the whole Pine Ridge.
Mmm. Thank you.
- You want to show me those tracks?
- [LACOSTE] Sure.
Here.
Any chance these belong
to the search party?
No, not from today.
We stopped them all before
they got to the tree.
It rained last night, so I'm
guessing these were made then.
Show me where they're headed.
[LACOSTE] Any word on ID'ing
who was driving a patrol car?
[GAMACHE] I checked.
An SQ traffic cop named
Dan Chowski was here
the day Tommy and Blue disappeared.
You know him? No? Me neither.
- When can we talk to him?
- Apparently, he's gone AWOL.
- No one's seen him for a week.
- Convenient.
I think he was tipped off.
You think the inquiry into Kevin's death
is going to get near the truth?
Someone at the Department of Corrections
told me that everything points
to a self-administered OD.
Kevin sold black market
cigarettes. He wasn't a drug user.
- Chowski must have gotten to him.
- No, he wasn't acting alone.
But you, you have to stop blaming
yourself for Kevin's death.
Who else should I blame?
I promised him he'd be
safe if I took him in.
Hmm.
You really think Tommy
and Blue are out here?
It makes sense.
We need to get the Two-Rivers some help.
I think we should go over it again,
expand the search area a little wider.
Hmm.
As long as Francoeur
doesn't hear about it.
The tracks stop there.
[LACOSTE] This is where
they disappear. Right here.
[GAMACHE] What is it with this place?
We're looking for two dead bodies
and there's a third hanging from a tree.
[NICHOL] So we're
looking for a lynch mob?
We're looking for a reason.
It takes a lot for a group to
come together to end a man's life.
He must have done something bad.
We got to figure out who he is.
- [KNOCKING ON DOOR]
- [CLARA] Hey, stranger.
- I heard you were back in town.
- [GAMACHE CHUCKLES]
Clara. What a lovely surprise.
Gabri just baked your
favourite. They're still warm.
- Is that what I think they are?
- Mmm.
[SNIFFING] Mmm! Thank
you. That's very kind.
I presume you know why we are here.
- This might be distressing. Do you mind?
- No, of course.
Oh, my God.
[GAMACHE] Do you know him?
Not by name, but he did some
damage in the Bistro last night.
How so?
[CLARA] Had a few too many.
He came in spoiling for a fight.
Took Peter and Mike to hold him down.
Do you know where he lived?
He'd only been in town a few days.
He was staying at the B&B.
Let's go.
You mean, like, now?
Okay.
Mmm.
[QUACKING]
[GAMACHE] Hi, Ruth.
[RUTH] Assholes.
- [KNOCKS ON DOOR]
- Angela.
Chief Inspector, what brings you back?
Well, we're here about one of your
guests, a gentleman in his 50s.
Arthur Ellis?
- He's the only male guest.
- You checked him in?
Yes, on Sunday night, and
he checks out next Monday.
- Paid cash for the whole week.
- Is that unusual?
Most guests only stay a night or
two and nobody pays cash these days.
Did he have any guests?
Take anyone up to his room?
Not that I'm aware of.
Do you have any cameras?
Our guests value their privacy.
Did Mr. Ellis say why he was here?
I'm sorry. I don't recall.
He did ask for the quietest
room, so he wouldn't be disturbed.
He explained why?
I assumed maybe he has trouble sleeping,
or maybe he's just a
very private person.
- Is he in some kind of trouble?
- Big trouble.
Dead?
How?
- Was it an accident?
- No. He was found in the forest. Hanged.
Suicide?
My God, that is awful.
May we see his room?
- It's right at the top, in the loft.
- Thank you.
[DOOR OPENS]
He didn't pack enough for a
week. Three days at the most.
Maybe he didn't change
his clothes too often.
Some people are pigs.
Pigs don't wear suits outside
of work or leave rooms this neat.
No wallet. No cell phone.
Not on him. Not here.
Maybe the killers emptied his
pockets before they strung him up?
Have SIJ process the room.
Agent Nichol, did you
check the bed thoroughly?
- Yes, sir. Every nook and cranny.
- Mm-hmm.
So what is that?
Oh
It's
I'm sorry.
"My work is finally done.
Sometimes vengeance is
the only path to peace.
I know you cannot forgive me,
but perhaps you can understand."
That reads like a suicide note.
Can we be wrong?
You've seen suicide notes before.
Shaky handwriting, ink smudged
with tears. This is too neat.
Somebody wrote this to stage a suicide.
- Is it true? Is he really dead?
- Yeah. I'm sorry.
I can't believe it.
We heard there was some sort
of altercation last night.
Ellis was drunk, upsetting
my customers, mouthing off.
About what?
None of it made any sense,
just drunk and angry.
Who was his anger aimed at?
Anyone in his path.
Path to vengeance
What?
[CELL PHONE VIBRATES]
I have to take this.
Get a list of everyone who
was at the Bistro last night.
Mmm.
Pierre, at last. I was
beginning to worry about you.
I'm sorry. It's been one hell of a week.
Listen. I heard Lacoste found
a suicide at the Pine Ridge.
Not a suicide.
- No?
- Homicide.
Homicide? Geez.
- Any news on Chowski?
- Nothing. I checked with his folks.
They haven't heard from him.
I called all his buddies and I got zip.
You think something's happened?
I think he heard you were
asking about him and took off.
That makes him look pretty guilty.
Well, yeah, his work file is clean.
But I did some digging.
There was an incident, he shot an
unarmed man during a drug arrest.
The guy survived. Chowski was cleared.
He's trigger-happy.
Could be he got scared his history's
going to put him in the frame.
We can't be blindsided here.
Kevin Kis was no angel.
I still think there's
a chance he's involved.
I appreciate that, Pierre.
Oh, Kevin said that there
were two officers in the car.
Do you know who was riding with Chowski?
No. He was down to ride solo, so
Maybe it wasn't another cop.
I'll ask around, see what I can find.
Thanks, Pierre.
[DOORBELL RINGS]
[IN FRENCH] We're not open yet.
[IN FRENCH] Good day, Chief Inspector.
Bonjour.
- Oh, it's nothing.
Did it happen last night?
So Mr. Ellis went for you.
One too many tequilas.
Comes with the territory.
You get some drunk
who doesn't like the toasted almonds.
Did he object to anything else
besides the toasted almonds?
I don't know, he was
going on about secrets.
I kind of tuned out after he punched me.
No, I understand.
Thank you.
Wanna come back for lunch?
I'll make your favourite.
Mmm.
[DOOR CLOSES]
[IN FRENCH] Why was
Ellis upset with you?
[IN FRENCH] He was crazy, you saw him.
[IN FRENCH] I was just
the nearest target.
[IN FRENCH] What was he doing
in your office yesterday morning?
[IN FRENCH] I saw you,
I heard you fighting.
[IN FRENCH] What was it about?
[IN FRENCH] It was nothing.
[IN FRENCH] Do you know him?
[IN FRENCH] Did you know
him before he came here?
[IN FRENCH] He seemed
really angry with you
[IN FRENCH] What exactly
are you accusing me of?
[IN FRENCH] We've never kept
secrets from each other before.
[DOOR CLOSES]
[LINE RINGING]
[VOICE MESSAGE IN FRENCH]
Hi! You've reached
Enid. I'm unavailable.
Please leave a message. Thank you.
- You know how she got that name.
- I don't.
She was at bingo, and she needs I-29
- I-29
- Shit.
[WOMAN] Let's see what they want.
Sergeant Lacoste called in a favour.
They've got plenty of
experience running ground search.
They can look with fresh eyes.
You've got them for two weeks.
It's the best I could do.
Appreciate it.
Let's get started.
So what's your name, officer?
- Juliet.
- Juliet.
Jean-Guy? How's it going?
We just got back a couple
hours ago. She's in the kitchen.
- She's cooking her famous shrimp linguini.
- Oh, that's great.
Yeah, well, now that
everything is sorted,
I think I'm ready to come back to work.
Wonderful. That's wonderful, Jean-Guy.
Okay, well
- Have a good evening.
- You, too.
[LACOSTE] This is everyone
who was at the Bistro
when Ellis freaked out on Gabri.
They all said the same thing.
Ellis was drunk, he told the town
he knew their darkest secrets.
They all had the same scripts.
Gabri told me the exact same thing.
[LACOSTE] Maybe they got their
stories straight together.
Ellis freaks out at the Bistro,
threatens to reveal their secrets.
The next day, he's dead.
Which means someone has
a secret worth protecting.
And a whole lot of help protecting it.
I can't find an Arthur Ellis
matching the description
anywhere in the official records.
Angela mentioned that he paid cash,
so maybe he was living under the radar.
Anyway.
Olivier said he had a rental car
and I found it parked up the street.
Here's a copy of the rental agreement.
He gave an address in Ottawa.
Handwriting's exactly the same.
Which means Ellis wrote
the suicide note himself.
How do you write so neatly under duress?
I'll call Ottawa, get them
to look into this address.
Isabelle, when SIJ
processed Kevin's place,
they found pine needles
under the floorboards, right?
There's pine trees all
round Iotenen'tón: ni.
The needles get stuck in the boards.
It'd be tough to find an old
house that doesn't have them.
But were they identified?
The exact type?
I don't know. I mean, we didn't
ask. It didn't feel relevant.
- Is it relevant?
- I don't know.
Perhaps.
Could you get them out of
evidence? Get them identified.
Sure.
[MYRNA READING] "And it
was then that she knew,
without any doubt at all,
that they had done the right thing.
That whatever secrets lay there
rotting in the ground
beneath their feet,
that they would disappear
altogether in less than 100 years.
And by that time, no one
would even remember his name."
[ALL CHUCKLING]
If you ask me, she was
justified in killing him.
I'd have cut that fucker a new asshole.
[ALL LAUGHING]
No one is ever justified in
the taking of a human life.
After what he did, are you kidding me?
She could have gone to the courts.
Like that always happens.
You have to take matters
into your own hands.
I had no idea he was
pro-vigilantism when I married him.
You better watch your
back after an argument.
Those guys got access to
a bunch of sharp knives.
I keep a first aid kit in every
room in the house, just in case.
[ALL LAUGHING]
[IN FRENCH] You think it's funny?
[IN FRENCH] To joke about these things?
[IN FRENCH] You carry
on, but I'm leaving.
[IN FRENCH] We're just messing with you.
- But we haven't voted yet.
Hands up if you think
murder is justified
if the circumstances are right.
You're with us, aren't you, Angela?
- Well, I
- Who cares? It's just a story.
- Don't take it so damn seriously.
- So much for fucking sisterhood.
Honestly, I thought the whole
premise was kind of lame.
Like every man she meets
is a rapist or a psychopath.
- Come on.
- You want to hashtag that?
- "Not all men."
- Well, yeah, I would
Guys, come on. What's
next month's book, Myrna?
It's biography month, so
- Hand them around.
- Thank you.
- Wow.
- Biography, huh?
The Hangman?
[GAMACHE] Ooh.
[NICHOL] I'm stuffed.
- So good.
- Yeah, not bad.
I want a deuxième crème brûlée though.
I'm not sure we can eat
like that every night.
Chief Inspector! Chief Inspector.
I don't know why I didn't notice before.
Hangman?
[CLARA] We're reading it for
Book Club next month. Right there.
Maybe it's just a coincidence.
But that was his name, wasn't it?
Arthur Ellis, the man you found hanging.
Thank you.
Arthur Ellis was Canada's
official executioner.
He hanged people, over 600 of them.
- Are you kidding me?
- Listen to this.
Arthur Ellis wasn't his real
name, it was a pseudonym.
And he came from a long line
of executioners from England.
And his family had been hanging
people for over 300 years.
And they knew people
feared the executioner.
They wanted the job done, but they
didn't want to know the person.
So the family used a pseudonym
to protect themselves?
Exactly.
You know, Arthur Ellis was
successful until he made a mistake.
In 1935, he guessed a
woman's weight wrong.
- She killed him? That's harsh.
- [NICHOL CHUCKLES]
No, he miscalculated
the length of the rope
and took Tommasina
Teolis' head clean off.
It caused a huge public
outcry, ruined his career.
He died in Montreal three
years later. A broken man.
So maybe our Arthur Ellis
used the hangman pseudonym too?
To deliver a death penalty
to someone who'd wronged him.
"Sometimes vengeance is
the only path to peace."
Do you think he tried to get revenge
on someone here in Three Pines?
What are you doing, Agent Nichol?
Cat's cradle.
It is hard. It's harder than it looks.
So Ellis came to Three Pines looking
for someone, intent on vengeance.
I think the intended victim
knew and got to him first.
So we find out who he really is.
- Dig up his past.
- And we'll find the killer.
Who must have forced him
to write the suicide note.
I think so.
[SPITS WATER]
[COUGHING]
[GAGGING]
[PANTING]
[BREATHING HEAVILY]
- [GAMACHE] I'm frightened.
- Of what?
[IN FRENCH] My heart?
like this in a long time.
Tell me.
What are you feeling?
Confused.
Alone.
You're never alone.
Not as long as my heart beats.
[CHUCKLES SOFTLY]
You felt this before?
Yeah.
When my parents died.
Hmm.
You know
What happened to that little
boy made him into the man I love.
Your pain, your grief
It gave you your compassion.
It made you fight for others
that have felt it,
too. It's who you are.
Do you remember when
you were at Cambridge
and I was in Toronto and we
used to spend all our money
on long distance phone calls?
[CHUCKLES]
When one of us couldn't sleep
and we just left the line open
so we could be there for each other.
Want me to stay with you?
So you can sleep?
I do.
It's cheaper now, so
[LAUGHING]
It's cheaper now.
Let's do this.
[SPEAKING FRENCH] Close
your eyes, honey. Sleep.
Sleep, Armand. Sleep.
Sleep.
[MAN ON VIDEO] Today I'm going to
show you how to identify a pine tree.
Now, there are many species
of pines, 115 to be precise.
But by learning a few techniques,
you will be able to distinguish
them from other conifers.
- You're up early.
- Hmm.
You're looking tired,
Chief. Not sleeping so good?
Something like that.
I saw the new installation,
the red dresses.
Yeah, each and every one represents
a missing Indigenous woman or girl.
It's humbling.
Is that what's keeping
you awake at night?
Blue Two-Rivers?
Blue and other things.
Everything's connected,
one way or the other.
[LACOSTE] Patron.
The pine needles found at
Kevin's place, they're white pine.
Are you sure?
- Lab confirmed it.
- Excellent.
White pines were probably walked
in by the killers of Tommy and Blue,
which means that they're buried
near some white pine trees.
That could be anywhere along the ridge.
Except that white pine
is unusual in this area.
There's just a handful in this forest.
According to Bea, they're
concentrated in this area.
Was this area checked
by the search parties?
No.
It wasn't.
Call Arisawe and the others. Let's
get them searching the right area.
- Meanwhile, I'll get started.
- Okay.
[EXHALES]
[GAMACHE] We should call the Two-Rivers.
Isabelle?
Isabelle.
We should call the Two-Rivers.
Stop them before they head back out.
You okay?
[CHOKING UP] Any news on the IDs?
Both sets of dental
records were a match.
It's Blue and Tommy.
I found more bullets at the scene.
The striations are pretty distinctive.
Police issue.
Ballistics might be able to
tell us whose gun they came from.
You still have them?
I didn't think it was wise to hand them
to SQ ballistics until
we know who we can trust.
First bullet I found
must have killed Tommy.
The pathologist thinks it hit soft
tissue, but can't say exactly where.
Blue had a bullet in
the back of her skull.
[LACOSTE] So she was running away.
[GAMACHE] She was.
Here we go.
[KNOCK ON DOOR]
Is it them?
Oh
There's no doubt.
[SOBS]
Come in.
[SOBBING] It's them.
It was them.
Come here, sweety.
Oh, my baby.
So when do we get her back?
Well, there are bullets that
need to be analyzed first.
Are those bullets going to
tell us which cop killed her?
It's possible that we can
trace them back to the gun,
if it's police issue.
Well, I want my granddaughter
back so we can lay her to rest.
And after you bring her back to us
and Blue's killers are behind bars,
your work is done.
We're going to find who did this to her
and we're going to make them pay.
You can count on it.
My baby.
[DOOR CLOSES]
[SOBBING]
This was never gonna work
out the way we'd hoped.
But you never gave up.
We brought Blue back to
them, which is something.
Finding Blue and Tommy
is just the start of it.
At least now we've got
something to work on,
help us find their killer.
[CELL PHONE VIBRATING]
Hello.
[NICHOL] Lacoste.
The address on the car
rental forms was a dud.
But there was a tracker on the car.
It had Ellis driving for
two days before he came here.
Kept returning to the same
point, an apartment in Ottawa.
Well, I'll ping you the address, okay?
Okay.
- Thanks.
- Thank you.
Why don't you check it out,
just in case Nichol screws it up?
How long do you think
ballistics will take?
I called in a favour.
He's running it through a private lab.
Do you think it'll trace
back to Chowski's gun?
I'm sure of it.
[SIGHS]
[SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY]
[SOBBING]
[CELL PHONE VIBRATING]
Isabelle?
His real name is James Hill. He
packed up his whole apartment.
He wasn't planning on coming back.
- Did you find anything significant?
- He had a family.
He had a wife, a daughter.
His neighbour said he'd
been living alone for years.
Maybe the wife left him, took the kid?
And left half of their
possessions behind?
Something's not right.
What if the suicide note was genuine?
Perhaps Hill was planning to take
his own life before he was murdered.
Maybe. I don't know.
We need to track down his family.
I'll get on it.
How about you? Any news?
I heard from my friend.
The bullets are a match.
I didn't want them to email it,
so I'm driving back to the city.
He's going to meet me at
nine. Can you meet me then?
Yeah, sure. Just text me the address.
See you later. Bye.
[INDISTINCT CONVERSATION]
Well?
[SIGHS]
Based on analysis of
bullets fired in other cases,
he traced the markings
back to two different guns,
both registered to Sûreté officers.
Shit.
Their names and badge numbers
are in here with the report.
Are either of the guns lost or stolen?
What does it say?
"Bullet number one fired
from firearm number one
into male victim,
registered to Daniel Chowski.
Bullet number two and
Bullet number three
fired from firearm number two
into female victim, registered "
Well?
"Firearm two registered to
Chief Inspector Pierre Arnot."
- [GUNSHOT]
- [GASPING]
[CLOSING THEME MUSIC PLAYING]