Life s02e18 Episode Script

Maybe it's not real.
It's real.
Fakes are easy.
Any kid with a computer and a printer can do it.
It's not a fake.
This girl I knew sent me a picture of herself once.
She had this devil tail.
It looked real, but it wasrt.
Ted, I had that photo checked.
It's real.
It's Reese with Rayborn.
Three days before someone spilled his blood all over his boat.
(STAMMERING) Well, what are you going to do? You gotta do something.
Do you want me to do something? I can do something.
You gotta do something.
Don't you? I'm going to work.
(GRUNTING) Nice tat.
Where'd you get it? Your mother gave it to me.
Yeah? My mother didn't do time in Atwater.
What do you know about Atwater? (GRUNTS) Atwater's a cakewalk.
(BOTH GRUNTING) Compared to what? Crescent City.
Pelican Bay, Crescent City? You don't seem like no guard.
Wasrt no guard.
(GRUNTS) You were in Pelican Bay? No way.
Oh, yeah? Where do you think I learned this? (BOTH GRUNTING) What years? '94 to '06.
Atwater.
'98 to '08.
Oh, we got a dead woman upstairs.
I know.
Got her blood on your boots.
I know.
Is one of you Charlie Crews? I am.
Who wants to know? Jane Seever.
Detective Jane Seever.
Your new partner.
Wanna switch places? (CAMERA CLICKING) He was hiding out on the bathroom ledge? CREWS: Not at first.
He was with the body when he heard the uniforms down the hall.
He lives here.
And then he went out on the ledge? Yes, but it was too far to jump.
So he climbed back in and tried to walk right out the front door? Yes, most escapees just walk right out.
But you followed him.
Saw the blood on his boots.
And he stopped walking and he ran.
He ran because he killed her? Well, screams were his.
Which screams? The screams the neighbors heard.
They heard a man.
Not a woman.
Place was a mess when the unis got here.
Someone tossed it.
Why were you holding that knife? Dropped my gun.
So why didn't you just pick it up? You know what? Stop.
Can we Can we start again? Okay.
He was on the bathroom ledge Oh, no, no.
Before that.
Hi, I'm Detective Seever.
I'm Detective Crews.
It is an honor to meet you.
Okay.
But just to be clear, you're not.
Not what? My new partner.
I have a partner.
Two partners.
Of course, you do.
Officer Robert Stark and Detective Dani Reese.
Did a little studying.
Oh, like to be prepared.
Measure twice.
Cut once.
You know, I actually only got serious about being prepared in law school.
Law school? Yes, it's part of my plan.
Which plan is that? My 15-year plan.
To be mayor.
Mayor? Mmm-hmm.
Law school, first.
Then, detective.
Then chief of police.
Then mayor.
How's that going so far? You know, I mean, I got sidetracked, you know, a few years back, but I'm back on course now.
Went through a dark time? No, no, Olympics.
I mean, just the relay, but, still, it took time.
You know? (CHUCKLES) Olympics? Just the relay.
Yeah, you got one? No, not exactly.
CREWS: You spent a lot of time in prison, John.
Armed robbery.
That jewelry store in 1997.
You got out last year.
Now this.
I know what it looks like.
Yeah, it looks like you killed her.
Yeah, 'cause her blood was on me.
Well, that, and you being there and then suddenly not wanting to be there.
Sally Murdoch.
This girl had a job at a news station.
This girl paid her taxes.
This girl had pretty dresses in her closet.
Pretty smile on her face.
She was dead when I got there.
Look, the place was torn up.
I found her, I was holding her, I heard those cops I know what it looks like.
Yeah, but what were you doing there, John? What's a convict like you doing in a pretty girl's loft? You know you shouldn't be there, right? You're not supposed to touch that stuff.
She wanted me there.
Where did you meet a girl like this? She wrote me when I was in Atwater.
I wrote her back.
She just decided to write you.
Yep.
You never met her before? Nope.
I got out a few months ago.
We started seeing each other.
Look, I was at the movies last night.
Anybody with you? I was by myself.
I like to do that.
Okay, so this girl just decides she has to write a convict, and picks you.
Lots of girls do it.
Lots of girls do it? Lots of girls do it.
Can we talk outside for a minute? Mmm-hmm.
(CLEARING THROAT) What? You're one of them, huh? Come on, John.
Those girls on the outside send those letters.
You're that guy.
The one who writes back.
I posted my name.
She wrote me.
Looking for what, John? Looking to save someone.
Looking to find the sensitive soul inside the convict.
She liked you on the page, John.
How'd she like you in the bedroom? I didn't kill her.
You write her every day? Like she was the one you needed? Yeah.
The only one you needed? But she wasrt, was she? How many others were there? One.
I only wrote one other woman.
Every day? Like she was the one you needed? Like she was the only one you needed, huh? You stop writing her after you got out? You ever go see her after you got out? No.
How'd she take that? How the do you think she took it? How do you know me? Hmm? Because you're that guy.
Yeah.
Hey, John, what's your handicap? What? Golf.
What's your handicap? Three.
This guy? Sally never mentioned this guy.
He said they were together.
Well, if they were, she never told anyone in the office.
Well, he said she wrote him every day he was in prison.
MORSE: And he killed her? SEEVER: How long did Sally work here, Sam? Three years, now.
And what did she do? Closed captioning for the deaf.
You know, for when you hit the mute button.
She's the one that typed it in.
She was real good at it, too.
And how well did you know her? I was her boss.
We'd have lunch.
Sally wasrt the kind of person to get involved with a convict.
What kind of person was she? A nice person.
But now she's dead.
(PHONE RINGING) REESE ON SPEAKERPHONE: So, what's she like? She's just a regular detective.
Regular? How regular? Regular.
Regular, regular.
(CELL PHONE RINGING) SEEVER: Yes.
That's exactly what I mean.
Did they give you a partner? No.
I'm working on my own.
All right, great.
Well, anything interesting? Not really.
You know the Feds.
It's just a bunch of paperwork.
CREWS: Paperwork? Yeah.
Yeah, lots of it.
I should go.
(CLEARS THROAT) Settling in? Yeah, I checked out the movie Flowers said he was at last night.
It played when he said it did.
No staff remembers seeing him, so that doesn't prove anything either way.
A search of Sally Murdoch and John Flowers' place hasn't turned up any letters.
He still swears they wrote each other.
Prisons keep track of that? Prisons barely keep track of their prisoners.
We should Already done.
I located the other woman that Flowers said he corresponded with.
Oh, and I got you this.
I think that's how you like it.
It is.
Five sugars.
How'd you know? She likes to be prepared.
I asked around and no one knew what you liked.
I guessed tea.
We should go.
Traffic's going to be getting bad soon, so BOTH: Not Reese.
Definitely not Reese.
Okay, at the crime scene, you said that they were his screams.
You wrote down what I said? I write down a lot of things.
Part of your plan? Yes.
Why ask his handicap? You write that down, too? But you werert even in the room.
I was watching from the monitor.
And about you walking me out of the room like that A very effective technique.
I mean, do you use that a lot or Okay, the screams being his.
Maybe he came in after, maybe they were just grief.
But why ask his handicap? The jewelry store heist that Flowers went away for Mmm-hmm.
What job did he do on that crew? He broke open the safe.
Safecrackers typically have a healthy respect for their tools.
A golfer, as good as he is, does not Take a 3 iron to someone's head.
And don't write down what I say.
Do not write that down.
Look, I know I'm not your partner.
Okay? There's no organized crime task force.
You brought me here for this.
No, there is an organized crime task force.
And this is part of it.
Okay.
Where's your father, Detective? He left your mother, took off.
That's what the note said, yes? We're not asking you to be a rat, Detective.
Just a cop.
I know this is hard.
But there are some things you need to believe.
AMY: Every day.
Five pages, ten pages.
For five years.
Thousands of pages.
Millions of his words he poured up into me.
They went right up into me.
I've never been filled like that before.
What was it about him? AMY: His need.
He was raw and hot.
His need for what? To connect? It filled me all the way up.
It was like a wire humming up inside of me.
And after he got out? I assumed he was strong.
He stopped writing.
He could stand on his own.
But he wasrt standing on his own.
He was standing with her, Amy.
He wrote her, too.
Poured his words up into her.
Filled her up.
I knew he was with her.
You wanted him, too.
I wanted him to be happy.
Is that how you felt then? A man does that to me, I kneecap him or her.
I was angry.
But it was selfish.
It was just about me.
And I'm not angry now.
Amy? Is that John up there? Yes.
It is.
You've made him into a saint.
The lowest of us are.
SEEVER: Where were you last night, Amy? Here.
With my Lord.
John didn't write or call you after he was released.
How about after we arrested him? He call you then? No.
I guess he didn't need me.
Thanks.
She'd do anything for Flowers.
If Flowers didn't call her after we arrested him, who did he call? CREWS: Okay, got it.
After we arrested Flowers, he made a phone call, lasted six seconds.
Number belongs to a Nina Fiske.
Did you get Nina's address? Yeah.
This you can write down.
MAN: I don't wanna die! (SOBBING) I'm not ready to die! I don't want to die! I'm not ready.
I'm not ready to die.
I don't wanna die! I don't want to die! (CLATTERING) (CHATTERING) We're taking a break.
And I'm having a piss.
This is a play you've written? Yes.
About prison? It's about redemption.
It just takes place in prison.
Are there any jokes in it? You should put some jokes in it.
SEEVER: You write anything else, Nina? Like what? Like, letters to John Flowers.
CREWS: When he was in prison.
We know John called you, Nina, after he got busted.
The call lasted six seconds.
Someone hang up on somebody? You hang up on him? John and I wrote to each other every day for years.
He gets out, I never hear from him again.
Until he gets arrested.
He called me, he asked for my help, and I hung up on him.
What about redemption? This play's not about John.
Where were you last night? I was here.
At rehearsal.
Which I need to get back to.
I'll think about what you said.
About those jokes.
That's the name of your play? Yes.
I know this story, don't I? Well, it's a true story.
Yeah.
Len Lyle Hix goes to prison for 20 years for killing three women.
Beats them to death with a bat.
Those are the facts, not the story.
The story's about redemption? Yeah, that's right.
Redemption.
Well, let's put John back in the box, find out why he never mentioned Nina.
You get Flowers back from county? Little hitch with that.
When he got to county, our friend, Flowers, asked for another phone call.
He called in his own transfer to minimum security, hospital wing.
And then he just walked away.
Escaped? CREWS: Nina, Johrs gonna need support.
He reached out for you before, and he's gonna do it again.
When John calls you, that call's gotta last more than six seconds, you understand me? Yeah, I understand, Detective.
Flowers wrote all three women? Yep.
Promised them all the world? Yep.
Women write you? Yep.
You write them back? No.
What's she doing? Speed-reading.
Twelve pages a minute.
I counted.
Maybe she's a robot.
Have you seen her blink? Robots don't blink.
Blinked.
Saw that.
Transcripts from Flowers' trial.
I'll do a summary, but I think you should see this.
Page 73, paragraph four.
"Flowers' partner pulled the heist.
"They get caught "but the diamonds are never found.
" And the dead girl's apartment was torn up like someone was looking for something.
Where's Flowers' partner now? What's that smell? Disinfectant.
Underneath it.
Need.
Never been in one of these before.
Neither have I.
Need? I didn't think need had a smell.
LANKFORD: Honey Pot, you ready for Papa Bear? Cops.
I don't want cops.
Where's my Honey Pot? This is my court-ordered conjugal rights hour.
Where's my Honey Pot? Well, your hour's now The faster you talk, the faster we leave.
Or we can take it outside where everybody'd see you talking to cops.
You know what? Let's do that anyway.
I don't like the smell in here.
Look, I just want my Honey Pot.
John Flowers.
You pulled that jewelry heist together.
He got out.
You're still in here.
I had a longer sentence.
Well, you shouldn't have broken that cop's arm when they arrested you.
Yeah, I know that now.
You should have gone easy like John.
I hear Johrs not so easy anymore, is he? Heard he killed a woman.
You hear where he might happen to be? No.
Those diamonds you stole, any idea where they are? (LAUGHS) You know, a funny thing about those diamonds, you see, I thought John had them, he thought I had them.
(LAUGHS) That is funny.
This, though, not so funny.
Flowers whack her? Damn.
You know her.
How do you know her? She wrote to me.
Like a lot of them other girls do.
CREWS: You write back? Just once and that was it.
Not your type? For two reasons.
One, she asked me the wrong question.
Really? And what would that be? What was I thinking? And number two, she was too old.
Girl's gotta be half my age, minus three years, tops.
Now I'm 40, and I want my Honey Pot.
(EXCLAIMING) (LAUGHING) Honey Pot! Honey Pot! Papa Bear.
Oh, ooh, pudding.
(HONEY POT GIGGLING) Well, I don't think Honey Pot has a 15-year plan.
These girls just write anybody? No, they won't.
But Sally Murdoch wrote to the two men that were involved in that jewelry heist, and now Sally Murdoch is dead.
What's he doing? SEEVER: Reading.
Slowly.
Very, very slowly.
Just so you know, I'm not a robot.
Anything interesting in there? Our dead girl is in here.
Well, that's impossible.
I read that transcript.
There's no mention of Sally Murdoch in there.
Read the whole thing? Read the last page? Well, that's not part of the trial.
It's just the signature page.
It's the judge, bailiff Court reporter.
Sally Murdoch, court reporter.
She worked closed captioning at that TV station for three years, but before that Our victim was the court reporter.
Our victim was the court reporter.
John Flowers goes to trial for a jewelry store heist from which the diamonds are never found.
Sally Murdoch, the court reporter from that trial, starts writing Flowers, and then he moves in with her when he gets out of prison.
And then she gets beaten to death.
Flowers beat her to death.
His blood, his prints, his diamonds.
Well, I'll be damned.
She brought him in.
Didrt mention who Sally was last time we were in this room, John.
No, I didn't.
Can you guess why? It would look like she was working you for the diamonds, you found out about it, and you killed her.
But I didn't.
When did you figure out Sally was the court reporter at your trial? We swapped a few letters.
She came to visit.
And I remembered her face.
From the trial.
Yeah, I looked at her.
A lot.
I Didrt want to be there? SEEVER: Don't let this go to trial, John.
Don't fight us.
Work with us.
Let's work together on this, okay? Work together? You mean you want me to say that I killed her? Then we can help you.
Look, you did the right thing letting Nina bring you in here.
Don't stop now.
Look, I knew Sally was working me, okay? I didn't care.
I don't know where those diamonds are.
CREWS: You tell Sally that? No, I didn't.
You don't have the diamonds.
You don't tell Sally you don't have the diamonds.
Why exactly is that? Because I'm that guy.
Which guy is that, John? The guy who does anything to get by.
Who promised everything to everybody.
Promised three women the world.
And what about Sally? I don't know where those diamonds are.
But I did know she'd keep looking.
So you knew she'd never leave.
I loved her.
She was the face I looked at when I was on trial.
So what's gonna happen now? They're gonna charge you with murder, and they will find you guilty.
Evidence, motive, your record.
You will be found guilty, John, and you will spend the rest of your life in prison.
Is that true? REESE ON PHONE: So she's working out? Yeah, she's doing okay.
Well, don't forget about me.
I won't.
So he killed her because she was working him for the diamonds? Yeah, looks like it.
You don't think so? Crews? Sometimes things are just what they look like.
Right? Yeah, Reese, sometimes things are just what they look like.
I should get back to work.
See you, Reese.
Yeah.
See you, Crews.
What was Reese doing on that boat with Rayborn, Charlie? That's not the question.
What is the question then? What's she doing at the FBI? We're just asking you to be a cop.
(SIGHS) Amy from the church wants to save his soul.
Sally, the court reporter, wants his diamonds.
What does Nina want from John Flowers? You know, I don't think I really understand this.
The three women that Len Lyle Hix killed are all one woman.
Sometimes they're the guard, sometimes they're his cellmate, and sometimes Sometimes I think they're even Len Lyle.
But I'm not so sure about that last part.
It's confusing.
Take a look at this.
Come here.
So in the play, your character's in the electric chair? That's right.
Old sparky.
But of course, you yourself were never in the electric chair.
Not my body.
My soul, man.
In that chair.
Every day.
Ready to die.
Now watch this.
Here's my favorite part.
How did you two meet? I wrote to Len Lyle.
And I wrote back.
INTERVIEWER: And she wrote to the parole board.
Yes, I did.
It had become clear that Len Lyle was not the man that went to prison 20 years ago.
She's a real good writer, man.
How come he's not saying anything? He's communing.
Commuting? Communing.
With death.
Oh.
Okay.
Thanks.
Who is he now? The three dead girls or the killer? (SHUSHING) He's all four of them.
And the guard, too? Yes.
And the guard, too.
(SHUSHING) So hard to understand.
You gotta watch it more than once.
What kind of bat did you use when you did those three girls? It doesn't say in the program.
Oh.
You're that cop.
I have a question.
Now, if you don't have a bat, can you use a 3 iron? Let's take it outside.
What would be the fun in that? Excuse me.
Excuse me.
I'm sorry to interrupt the program, everyone.
Although, I think we know how it ends.
(PEOPLE MURMURING) But we have a very special guest with us tonight.
Another sweet product of a sour system.
Ladies and gentlemen, Charlie Crews.
CREWS: Looks like your work, Len Lyle.
Imitation.
Flattery.
You know.
Poor girl.
You say a 3 iron did that? Where were you last night? Publicity tour.
Oakland.
You having a good time? I'm having a great time.
How about you? (CHATTERING) So what do you think? I think Len Lyle Hix does not have a healthy respect for his tools.
You think Len Lyle was after the diamonds? You think, he finds out about it from Nina and then goes after Sally? 'Cause those three girls that Len Lyle killed with that bat, he stole a total, of like, $43 off them.
Those diamonds were probably really tempting.
What do you think? I think we should think about what Len Lyle was thinking about.
Mmm-hmm.
He's thinking, "Did Sally work alone? Or did she have a partner? "Now, if she had a partner, maybe I want to talk to that person too.
" A partner.
Okay.
Okay.
(CRUNCHING) Sally was writing John Flowers letters for just about three years.
Sally also worked at that news station for just about three years.
Mmm-hmm.
I can drive if you want.
No, it's okay.
I'm a good driver.
I'm sure you are.
Okay.
How good are you? Stock car open wheel.
A guy I used to date kind of won the Indy 500.
Taught me a few things.
Yeah.
to be mayor? I have your vote? I'll think about it.
You drive.
You know, we can talk here or back down at the police station.
But I told you everything I know.
If it's the station, just so you know, we put you in the car, we turn the light on, people see, your boss finds out, it goes in your file.
Maybe I should talk to a lawyer.
I'm a lawyer.
So you're talking to one right now.
Let's get in the car.
Okay.
Okay.
Sally told me about the trial and about the diamonds.
We had done a story about women who write men in prison.
I told her to write the guy and see if she could find out where the diamonds are.
I told her that she should turn them in, if she found them, for the reward.
The reward.
Well, good for you, Sam.
You know what's a better reward than money? Doing good.
You know why? Because when you do good, you feel good.
When you do bad, you feel bad.
SEEVER: This guy right here, he feels bad a lot.
I don't know him.
He didn't come around asking about the diamonds? He's a pretty scary-Iooking guy.
Maybe he sent someone else to ask his questions.
You ever see her? Her, I know.
She's that writer.
Which writer is that? She was writing a play about the news.
She wanted to do some research.
Did she talk to you? A little bit.
She talk to Sally? Sally tell you what they talked about? No, she didn't.
Can I go? They did it together.
Len Lyle kills Sally And Nina gets John Flowers to turn himself in.
(CHATTERING) SEEVER: Why'd she turn him in? John Flowers.
Why did Nina turn him in? Because you asked her to.
Come on, Len.
Why'd she turn him in? It was the right thing to do.
You want me to sign one of these plays for you? Some girls love it.
We got surveillance cameras by the elevators back at the station.
We got tape of Nina, in the lobby, leaving after she turned him in.
CREWS: She looked happy.
Big smile.
Like I said, she did the right thing.
Send him back where he belongs.
Well, you can't have killers roaming the streets all willy-nilly like, can you? Or Nina turned him in, and he goes down for a killing you did.
(CELL PHONE RINGING) Any who.
That picture you showed me, the dead girl.
If I do it again, there won't be enough left for a photo like that.
You having a good time? Sure am.
Arert you? Well, Len Lyle's alibi checks out.
He was in Oakland during the time of the killing.
You think Nina could have done that killing? Nina seem like the kind of woman who'd kill to get those diamonds? No, not the diamonds.
These surveillance photos we have of her leaving the station Why was she smiling? Because she got what she wanted.
Except for the diamonds.
Nina wasrt looking for diamonds.
She was looking for Sally.
Looking for the letters that Flowers sent Sally.
See what he promised her.
So Nina comes in here.
She's looking for the letters.
Sally catches her, gets out of hand.
Nina wants John Flowers back.
Only one way to make that happen.
She kills Sally.
And Flowers calls her for help.
He calls her again when he escapes.
And she brings him right to us.
Her rehearsal alibi's soft.
Theater's dark.
She could come and go, and no one would ever see her.
What did she do after that? After Nina kills Sally? She sneaks back to rehearsal.
No.
What does she do after that? CREWS: Why'd you turn John in? 'Cause it was the right thing to do? Put him back where he belongs? Yes.
On the other end of those letters? Where he needs you? Len Lyle Hix doesn't need you, does he? 'Cause Len Lyle Hix is a star.
And, Flowers, he was with another woman.
The woman dies, and John goes back to prison.
Then he needs you.
John killed that woman.
No, you did.
And what did you do after? How'd you deal with it? Taking a life? All your life, writing to criminals, writing about criminals, just writing.
You killed that woman I did not.
She's there, and then she's not there.
Her blood, it should be in her body, but it's not.
It's on you.
Was not.
It's still on you, what happened, what you did.
Always on you.
You can feel it.
But how do you deal with it? You write it down, don't you? You have to write it down.
Best thing you ever wrote? Let me read it now, Nina.
So where are the diamonds? Honey Pot? Oh, yeah.
(DOOR OPENING) Whoa! (SEEVER GASPS) Nice belly ring.
Can I ask where you got that? Didrt I tell you never to wear them out in public? Didrt I? Well, what's the point of having them if I can't wear them? Right? Right.
Right.
Our recent guest, Len Lyle Hix, finds himself back in prison for an apparently unprovoked attack on a Los Angeles police detective.
Los Angeles police detective? The altercation occurred at a performance of the play, 3 Women, which is based on Len Lyle's crimes, time in prison, and until now, apparent rehabilitation.
Here to talk about repeat offenders Agent Bodner? This is Charlie Crews.
You still have that bullet I gave you?