True Detective (2013) s03e06 Episode Script

Back up! What happened out there? Do you know if somethin' happened? Does she look familiar? - This is my baby girl? - What do you think? Were you aware that one of the officers who processed the Woodard scene went missing during the second investigation? There's no fucking way that backpack was in that crawlspace when that mortar went off.
Tells some story of how she's a princess from the pink rooms.
Said she, uh, lost a brother.
They're looking for me.
Tell him to leave me alone.
The man acting like my father! Children should laugh.
There wasn't a lot of laughter around here.
I know Lucy wrote it when that director showed me some pictures.
Dan O'Brien's body was found in a drained quarry.
How you gonna talk to these people? We done what we done.
I remember what we done, I remember not to say.
You walked away.
Not this time.
Helluva day when a gunfight's the second most excitin' thing that happens to you.
I was trying to hold out.
Make you wait a bit.
You seem like the type that kinda thing matters.
You don't have to do that.
What? Check and see if I'm judgin' you.
I'm not.
I was so glad you weren't hurt.
Came close.
First time I fired my weapon on the job.
You fired your weapon before, in the war? I wanna hear about your stuff.
How you got here, your past.
Honestly I never give it thought.
One thing I learned, the war? Life happens now.
Then later's now, y'know? It's never behind you.
And I'm not avoidin' the question, just really don't spend time rememberin' stuff.
That's like a superpower to me.
I can't even understand that.
How do you do it? Hmm.
Just lucky, I guess.
Tell him to leave me alone.
- I-I know what he did.
- Who? The man on TV acting like my father! Can you tell me where you're calling from? Where's my brother? Will? I don't know what he did with him.
That certainly sounds like an indictment.
And according to the file, he didn't have an alibi the night of.
You two never kicked that very hard, did you? You ignored that? We need to go at him, hard.
Freddy Burns saw the boy alone out in them woods when we still had Tom workin' on his car.
Me and Ted can take a shot, y'all want to observe.
No.
We'll do it.
I don't know what that call was, but no way we could be that wrong.
Wanna give it to Morelli? No.
Them others'll eat him alive.
What's it mean? - That was her, wasn't it? - Sit down, Tom.
I don't wanna sit down right now.
It's not a request.
What're you lookin' like that for? Something you want to tell us, Mr.
Purcell? What? However long it's been, this is the time.
While you're talkin' to a couple of friends.
'Cause they bring in the other guys, it's gonna get bad.
Tell us your side.
We can help.
Make a case for ya.
My side? Everybody knows my side.
You You think me? Back in '80, the night of the incident.
Couple of neighbors saw you workin' in the garage, early evenin'.
Don't have anybody saw you after 6:30.
Saw me? Roland Lieutenant West.
You go somewhere back then? You leave the house and forgot to tell us? N-No.
No.
I went back inside, I had a couple beers, and listened to the Cardinals game, same as I told you.
Julie's room.
There's a little hole in her wall came out back of Will's closet.
- A what? - Like a peephole.
For spyin'.
Ever look in on her? Julie? Maybe while she was gettin' dressed? Some question, wasn't there, whether she was yours? Lucy passed it around a lot, what we hear.
Listen, she she I held I fed her, got up in the night.
She's mine.
That child is mine.
How could you, after everything you know, you think I could do something like that?! Do you?! - Did you give her to somebody, Tom? - What? - Was she tryin' to get away from you? - What? Somebody helpin' her out of a situation with you? - What?! Why?! - Did Will know, did he catch you? Why! Why! Goddamn, why would I?! You know they weren't playin' with that neighbor kid.
Who were they meetin' at Devil's Den? I don't know.
I don't know anything you're talkin' 'bout! No, no, no, no Tell us about it.
We wanna help you.
But we can't if you don't talk to us.
I don't know.
Usually I do.
But I don't know.
I can't believe we missed this.
I mean, could he have colluded with Woodard? Come to that, could he have planted the items in Woodard's house? There's no evidence right now for an arrest.
Hold him for the 24.
Start diggin' for anything that points in his direction.
I'm gonna give you a warrant for his place.
We need to check out where that call came from, too.
Get busy.
We missed it once we're not losin' him now.
The phone call was viewed as a major turn, correct? Law enforcement seemed to consider it as an indictment, particularly in light of what happened.
What happened? Huh? After questioning, Tom Purcell was held in jail.
What did investigators do after that phone call? That was her, wasn't it? Julie? Mm-hmm.
Call came from a truck stop outside Russellville.
We pulled a partial off of a pay phone.
Hers.
You didn't want to tell the bosses about the backpack? You were pretty convinced it was planted.
It was planted.
I didn't wanna give 'em that to use on him yet.
Hey.
Hey.
Had to change.
Gotta go back out.
Okay.
Missin' my old clip-ons.
Shit.
You're not in elementary school anymore.
Where you goin'? I have things to do.
New book.
What new book? Sequel.
It's about the current investigation.
I thought you wanted to work on a novel next.
The publisher wants this bad.
They think it's too good an opportunity.
I get troubled callin' what happened an "opportunity.
" That's their word.
We can't expect the world to conform to Wayne Hays's moral semantics.
Right.
Well, it's an opportunity for you, isn't it? Back to Major Crimes.
Keeping your own hours.
We get clear on this, I'll be home more.
Will you? Seems like this suits you better.
Running free.
Just tryin' to do my job right.
So that's my imagination seeing you like you can't breathe in here? Yeah, it's your imagination.
Telling yourself stories about me, my motives.
I could tell stories Why you're all of a sudden workin' on a book you already wrote.
What you lookin' for out there, you're not findin' here.
We dug into Tom the father, yeah.
His place.
Talked to his bosses.
I remember talkin' to y'all back then.
Yeah, he quit before the school bus factory closed.
Tell you the truth he was on his way out even before what happened.
Why's that? Caught him drinkin' on the job.
More than once.
Machines are dangerous around that shit.
Always askin' for a loan.
And, y'know didn't quite get along with the rest of the guys.
How do you mean? I didn't want to say anything back then, but a few of the boys had around saw him goin' into a queer club.
They got on him a lot, after.
So he's not the saint-of-all-sufferin'.
Everybody's got weaknesses.
Don't mean he did that to his kids.
Lookin' less and less to me like they were his kids.
Devil's Den was a homo cruisin' spot.
The kids weren't supposed to be out there.
- If Tom was - Fuck off.
We know they were meetin' somebody else out there.
Tom wouldn't do that.
- This.
- Hey.
If he wouldn't, then we'll clear him.
But we gotta get this right.
You saw at the station.
Kindt and Blevins are hot for it.
If it's not him we clear him.
But we don't stop.
Take it all the way this time.
I remember 1980.
You're supposed to be at home.
Detective Hays.
Your shooting cleared.
No surprise.
What's the latest on Roland? Gets to keep the leg.
Won't be the same, but it's a lot better than Diller and Bowen got.
They found the boy's backpack.
Girl's shirt.
Both at Woodard's place.
Yeah, it was him.
What? No, somethin's wrong here.
If it was him, that ain't all of it.
Other people involved.
Kids were meetin' somebody.
- Jesus Christ, you were there.
- Wayne.
You see what's happenin' out here? Press is makin' the county a Hee-Haw sideshow.
May have gotten some help with that.
Okay, Detective, stick to the evidence.
And it only goes one way.
Even makes sense for the kidnap note.
Cut-out words, misspelling.
It was Woodard.
Then where's the girl? He had a couple of oil drums he made into an incinerator.
Evidence suggests he burned the body.
- Are we sure? - She's dead.
Let's not draw out the family's pain any longer.
Our official position is, Woodard murdered both children.
That's it.
Take some time.
- Probably a medal in this.
- Warren.
I don't wanna take time.
I don't give a shit about medals.
I'm telling you Enough.
He killed 10 people, Wayne.
You were there.
It's done.
This community needs to heal, Detective.
We're the first step.
And state law allows conviction in absentia under special circumstances.
Our offices are gonna need all evidence, investigative records Everything.
Twelve people.
What? You puttin' the kids on him, that means he killed 12 people.
not 10.
Just so you keep your stories straight.
The cousin, Dan O'Brien.
His remains were found in a drained quarry in southern Missouri.
Do you think this could connect to Tom? I don't know.
Couldn't say.
Well, what happened with Tom, Lucy, now her cousin Dan We also had to talk to all the cops worked the Woodard scene back in '80.
I believe that's what we did next, or around then.
Because the thought was that Tom may have planted the evidence there? Well, we had to look at the possibility.
Or maybe they worked together, him and Woodard.
You know it's terrible what this work makes you ponder.
Don't you think? Mighta seen him.
Hard to say.
Had a lot of looky-loos around the place.
And you're the one found the backpack? Uh, yeah.
Yeah, I found it.
Then Harris said looked like that boy's.
- That's Harris James? - Yep.
Says he left the force.
Oh yeah, long time ago.
You know what he's doin' now? "Chief Security Officer.
" How do I get somethin' like that? Well, I moonlighted security at the plant for about five years when I was a patrolman.
When the spot opened up here, I was in the right place.
I don't know why a lieutenant'd want to switch careers.
That matter, I don't know I ever heard a lieutenant working the field.
It's a special situation.
If I get your salary, I'll switch to any career they say.
What, you look at my paycheck? Pretty depressing from my end.
You took the job May '81? That's right.
We're backtrackin'.
The Purcell case.
Got it down you were the one spotted the bag.
No, I didn't find it.
I was the first to think I recognized it off the APB.
Well, we've been wonderin' why it took two days to find that backpack.
Took God six days to make the world.
I can believe it took a bunch of GEDs two days to find a backpack.
Hmm.
The kids' father.
You ever see him out there when you were processin' the scene? Yeah, as a matter of fact I saw him in the field across the street.
Watchin'.
What was he doin'? Just starin'.
Stood there lookin' at the house, or what was left of it.
Long time.
You know, the kids' mother used to work up here.
Back in '79.
Well, unless she worked 10 to 6 in the morning, I never saw her.
That was y'all, right? The shootout? That's my fuckin' limp.
Why'd you leave Highway Patrol? Why'd I give up hemorrhoids and 15K a year? I don't know.
That question keeps me up nights.
What's the job involve? Money like that.
Hog thieves? People tryin' to steal the secret chicken recipe? "Securing without compromise the integrity of corporate assets while guarding against hazards to daily operations.
" But I'll admit, now and then I miss whilin' away my days cruisin' around, eatin' donuts.
I don't eat donuts.
I can tell.
You got a good body, Detective.
Appreciate your time.
We'll get outta your hair.
I thought it took God seven days to make the world.
He rested on the seventh.
I always thought he shoulda put the extra day in, instead of half-assin' it.
Harris James? He was one of the officers who processed the Woodard scene.
He disappeared During the 1990 investigation.
Huh.
You know what happened to him? No.
But the mother, the father.
The cousin's body being found now.
All the dead at Woodard's.
This former cop worked the scene.
I wonder if one day they'll drain a quarry with him in it.
I wouldn't know, Miss.
But what you just did is called speculation.
That leads to projection, we call it.
Twists what you see, obfuscates truth.
Have you sat back at any point over the last two decades and thought about the sheer number of fatalities surrounding this case? Uh I'm afraid I I need to stop for today.
I'm sorry, can you give us five more minutes? I didn't mean to press.
You're fine.
I'm just done.
All I meant Doesn't the simple body count point toward something bigger - Stop.
He's done.
- I'm getting to the point.
Then you should have gotten to it sooner.
Okay? Thanks so much for your help.
Do you work with a lot of young girls? We get a fair amount.
Runaways, girls trying to get away from bad homes.
We just lose so many.
I can't say I recognize her.
But that's not the best picture, is it? The idea is maybe it's this little girl, grown up.
Here we are.
Yeah, we were in the same group.
That was, um, four or five months ago, I think? Why did she leave? Things had gotten kind of shaky.
Drugs.
One of the guys had gotten some of the girls to trick.
Just got ugly.
I dropped out a couple weeks after Mary.
She called herself "Mary"? Sometimes.
Or, um, Mary-Julie.
And sometimes Mary July, like Julie, but July.
Like summertime, she said.
She had different names.
She ever talk about herself? Talk about home? Where she came from? She mentioned something about "living in the pink rooms"? Or Or, uh uh, "a queen in a pink castle.
" You know what I think? I think she didn't know who she was.
I think she just pretended.
You oughta write a book.
Write about what happens to kids out here.
What happens to girls.
D-12, you around? Over.
D-12.
We're here.
Got a call on the hotline.
Guy says he wants to talk to Lieutenant West.
Says he knows him.
What guy? Who? Gave us a number to call.
Go ahead.
Y'all still together? Right on.
You're a hard man to find.
Where you been? Time being what it is, I imagine you boys would rather I stick to what's relevant.
Which is that justice might finally be done for Lucy and her kids.
Gonna need you to make your fuckin' point, Dan.
My point is Tom goin' on TV, Julie bein' alive.
Now, there are questions that you cannot answer without what information I know.
You know somethin' you're not sayin', we can put you away right now.
Or we can take you somewhere, kick the hell out of you till we're convinced that you're as full of shit as you look to me.
- I want $7,000.
- I want a boat.
It's clear from the news that y'all don't know any more now than you did then.
But when you can deliver to me that amount, you're gonna know a whole lot more.
I imagine a whole lot of your confusion's just gonna clear right up.
You're workin' on gettin' you're head bounced off that fuckin' curb.
I been gettin' the shit beat outta me since I was two years old.
Way before Lucy came to live with us.
- Live with you? - Yeah.
She moved in, she was four.
After her mama passed.
Her and I, we sorta shared a lot of milestones, growin' up.
Hmm? First time we talked, it was clear that you can't speak without lyin'.
Why should we believe you now? Hey, you ignore me if you want.
But if you guys try musclin' me, this ain't gonna work out for anyone, hmm? Look, I got you out here because you lookin' for Julie again, that means that right now, there are people tryin' to make sure that none of your questions can ever be answered.
What people? People who do not renegotiate.
People it was in their interest, make Lucy look like she OD'd.
What, you sayin' she was murdered? Lucy, she had this problem Self-defeatin'.
Hmm? She didn't know when to stop pushin'.
She'd push till she got what she want, and then she'd keep on pushin' till she got what she didn't want.
Y'all ever know anybody like that? Let's throw him in the hole for a week, see what he remembers then.
You think she has a week, hmm? I'll just remember that I'm a sick person who got called away, carried up in his imagination, tellin' stories to the police.
And while y'all are threatenin' me and beatin' me and whatnot, what you're really doin' is makin' sure that the truth of what happened vanishes from the face of the fuckin' planet.
What happened to her have anything to do with Tom? Man, y'all are really far off, aren't you? You think that I'd be scared of stickin' my head above ground 'cause of that little cocksucker? Shit.
The people you're sayin' hurt Lucy That involve the kids? What What am I Yes, goddamnit.
Yes.
It's It's all about the kids.
And my way is the only way this works for us.
Now, you procure my funds, we meet back here, say, tomorrow, maybe the next day, you're gonna see the solution to your problems.
It's gonna take more'n a couple days to put that money together.
You ain't got much longer'n that.
Like I keep sayin', you ain' the only ones lookin' for Julie.
You can't be so fucked in the head where you're thinkin' we're gonna let you walk outta here.
Hey, maybe I misspoke, hmm? I mean, look at me.
This basket case junkie, can't tell night from day, takin' up your valuable time.
I mean, probably I'm just a crazy man you should ignore.
Oh, I speak crazy.
I'm fuckin' fluent.
Tick-tock.
Clock's tickin' for our girl out there, Detectives.
And them others that are lookin' for her, they got a serious head start on you all.
Look, I'll call you Day after tomorrow.
Unless you all would rather we keep havin' this fuckin' staring contest.
Maybe I'm a Nervous Nellie, but I catch any cops followin' me, this shit's off.
Thanks for breakfast.
Believe this? Think he's tellin' the truth? I think we need to get the phone records from Lucy's hotel.
Two years back.
Yeah.
Think we need to figure out exactly where Tom was when she died.
He didn't like Tom for it.
Well, I also think we oughta see about requisitioning that seven thou.
Keep eyes on this trash.
Go on.
You're gettin' out.
I wanna see Lieutenant West.
That's not my problem.
That was the lieutenant.
They just had lunch with our dirtbag.
- How's that? - The uncle or whatever.
Dan O'Brien? Met him some diner.
Says he has the whole story, wants a payout.
Fuck that.
Give me an hour in a room with him.
And they want us to get phone records.
Diamond Cactus Motel in Paradise, Nevada.
Two years back.
Lucy's phone records.
Yeah, that's good use of our time, huh? Where's O'Brien now? They gave us a plate to run, but sounds like he's still in the wind.
You're acting like a child.
I'm not acting like a child.
You don't give a shit about anybody but yourself! Okay, forget it! This was a mistake.
Hey.
You're smokin' now? Seemed like time to stop deprivin' myself.
You gonna keep goin' on with her after she's done filmin'? What do you mean? Have a hard time seein' you in New York City.
How'd you know? I'm still your daddy, boy.
Additionally, I was once a fair-to-middin' detective.
I feel bad.
Heather.
I mean, she's a she's a good woman, ya know? She know about it? I gotta tell her, huh? Are you leavin' her? No.
You're endin' the other thing.
There's something be said for truth just hurtin' her.
Causin' pain 'cause you feel guilty.
Is that fair? You feelin' better, she feelin' worse? I never did anything like this before, Pop, I want you to know that.
I didn't plan it.
Y'know, she just She was just She was exciting.
They're excitin', all right.
And me and Heather, it's not like it used to be.
Nothin' stays like it used to be.
I been lookin' at myself a lot.
And, um, I'm askin' this question for me, so I know.
What? Did you find, um that I, uh Did I teach you to withhold? I don't understand the question.
I didn't intend that.
I didn't realize it was happening.
I got those addresses you wanted the names.
What are you plannin'? Before you ever knew me, I I wasn't scared much.
I wasn't a fearful man.
I did things some people even called brave.
Y'all made a coward of me.
I been terrified since the day you were born.
Maybe you know what I mean.
Can't shrink from it.
Can't be stingy, son.
People you love Can't hold it back, see? Can't hold back anything.
I gotta make a phone call, Pop.
Due to the shocking and horrific events three days ago, our offices have reached a conclusion in the case of Will and Julie Purcell.
New evidence suggests that Brett Woodard murdered both children.
Now, we will pursue a conviction in absentia, due to the terrible nature of his crimes, and it is our hope that the community will begin to heal from these events which have shaken us all.
Have they found the girl's remains? We have evidence, but I don't wish to say more under the present circumstances.
Was Woodard under investigation? He was very much a person of interest.
We were lookin' at him.
Were you close to an arrest, is that why he snapped? I believe it's very likely that the pressure, maybe the guilt, drove him to explode before he could be brought to trial.
But make no mistake That was an act of suicide where he wanted to take as many with him as he could.
Brett Woodard was interrogated early on, correct? Why wasn't he held during the time of questioning? A lack of evidence.
We are bound by our common law, which preserve the rights of all men, even those as malignant and as vicious as Mr.
Woodard.
Mrs.
Purcell.
Do you have a statement at this time? Leave me the fuck alone is my statement.
- Do you feel justice has been done? - Justice?! The fuck are you talking about? What's that even mean, huh? - Here? Now? - Mrs.
Purcell Just leave her alone.
This is harassment.
It's my job.
I'm just trying to get the story right.
If I don't, someone else'll get it wrong.
That is no excuse.
The fuck do you want, teacher? I just want to apologize for how we left things Don't apologize to me.
Ever.
For anything.
You two bitches, you two talk to each other.
Make up a story on your own.
Be ironic, that shitbird clears Tom.
It's somethin', isn't it? How quick this town died.
Didn't die.
Got murdered.
We oughta look at who else mighta planted the backpack and shirt.
Coulda been anybody.
But I wouldn't clear Tom just yet.
The man had secrets.
Get back to the office, wanna look up that church program.
More co-workers.
Wait.
Where we goin'? I'm takin' you home.
Whatcha think? I'm not goin' home.
I'm workin'.
It'll still be there in the mornin'.
Come on, man.
O'Brien? We got the scent.
Let's get back, strategize, maybe talk to somebody in Vice about the queer underground.
Just stop, all right? You don't wanna go home, don't go home.
But don't make it the job.
Maybe we just work it different.
Oh, yeah, we work it different.
- I just said.
- And I agreed.
That's why I'm where I'm at, and you What? Me what? You're you.
- Pull over.
- What? Stop the fuckin' car.
What are you, a prom queen? I hurt your feelin's, you're just gonna storm off? You fuckin' kiddin' me?! This kindergarten shit? Where you think you're goin'? I don't care so much about my timecard.
I'm workin'.
People see your black ass skulkin' around, you're gonna get yourself shot! Prick.
Tom Purses.
Fuck you doin' here? Smart mouth.
For a smart guy, you're awful sloppy.
Same place you used to come to slam meth when you weren't leechin' off of us.
Don't really feel like catchin' up just now, Tommy.
Hey, you know, there's a rest stop up the road.
Saw a glory hole in the back stall, you need somethin' to do.
Heard you're wantin' a payout.
Let's pretend each of these bullets is a thousand bucks.
Hold on now, Tom.
You ain't got no problem with me.
I know we ain't been buddies, but you got no call for this here.
You know something, you son of a bitch! What is it?! What are you sellin' the cops?! Just point that gun down now, Tom.
Please.
You're makin' me real nervous here.
You been drinkin', man? I thought you quit that.
- What do you know? - Nothin'! Just nothin'! - Bullshit! - Okay, hold on, hold on.
Wait.
Wait, wait, wait, wait.
I'll tell ya.
I'll tell ya.
Hold on.
Get up, motherfucker.
Unhh! I'm gonna shoot your dick off.
And then your knees, and then maybe your ears What the fuck are you talkin' about, man? Julie! When you stayin' in Will's room, you were spyin' on her.
Made a peephole in Will's closet so you could watch her get dressed.
I never I would never I don't know what you're talkin' about.
I'll figure out where to put the last bullet when I get there.
Goddamnit, listen to me.
Listen to me! I don't know nothin' about no peephole.
All right? I'd never do nothin' like that.
- Julie? She was - Where is she?! - I don't know! - Where's my daughter?! - I don't know! - You lyin' motherfucker! You ever ask yourself where Lucy got the money to run off? Or what she was livin' off for all them eight years before she died? - Hmm? - Say what you're sayin', goddamnit! I'm sayin' I'm sayin' I know who was payin' her.
Listen, man, I know who was payin' her and who would have a problem if she asked for more.
That's all I was gonna give the cops, man! That's all I was gonna give the cops.
A name.
Shit.
Just a man's name.
All right, you dumbshit.
Give me a reason not to murder you.
They were passin' notes.
Little notes were the kids.
The hole in the wall.
That's what it was for.
That's right.
That's correct.
Yeah, that director woman.
She mentioned Harris James.
Again.
Are you sure you know what you're doin' with her? Well, if I don't What'd O'Brien tell us? "I'm just a sick man.
" I got a list of the names, addresses.
A former domestic, Hoyt's house.
Harris James' widow.
What you think we're gonna do? Take a leak.
Roland? Hey, man.
How ya doin'? Good, man.
How you doin'? Uh, all right.
All right.
You been spendin' a lot of time in here, I guess.
I don't think I sleep much.
What? Do me a favor.
Go to the window.
See if there's a dark sedan idlin' down the street.
Okay.
Naw, man.
Nothin' out there.
All right.
You been seein' a car? How ya been, Roland? Been doin' some readin'.
Oh, yeah.
I never read it all the way.
She never minded.
Good-lookin' woman.
That she was.
Yeah.
It's 2015, isn't it? That's right, pal.
"A lost child is a void that echoes backwards and forwards in time.
It encompasses not just the rooms you were in with them and are no longer, or even those rooms you will never enter together.
The negation is deeper.
It is the knowledge that in every room you enter for the rest of your life, they should be there, and are not.
And your memories of them become totems to that absence.
A lost child is a story that's never allowed to end.
" Mrs.
Hays will answer a few questions, and afterward she'll be signing copies right here.
Thank you.
Ah, are there any questions? They sayin' the girl alive now? There were fingerprints found recently, yes.
I'm writing about the new investigation now.
You got any idea where she is? Do they? Uh, no.
Nobody does.
- Are you - And what about your book? You got any theory here? You got some idea 'bout where she's at? Well, this I wrote it when she was believed dead.
So you don't know nothin'.
You just you just makin' your money and milkin' they pain.
Sir, the author has never claimed Shame on you, woman! Dolls.
The hell? Julie?