Mr. Mercedes (2017) s03e07 Episode Script
The End of the Beginning
1 Previously on "Mr.
Mercedes" If you could hit rewind, you sitting in the courtroom, Brady at the defendant's table, would you do it all again? - Yes.
- Holly? She's a fragile person.
- Meaning what? - Meaning you need to tread careful.
She's precious cargo.
Lou's hands spoke for her.
They spoke for all of us.
On the law, she's guilty, of course, but in the court of public opinion, sh You're looking at me funny.
It's just a look of admiration.
[TIRES SQUEALING.]
The bejesus is all scared out of him.
You find him after school.
You Jimmy that boy up.
Original Rothstein material.
- One page? - Meaning I'd need to see you can deliver on what you promise.
What about the Saubers kid? - Peter Saubers? - You know him? Yeah, he's a student of mine.
Leading candidate to have stumbled upon those books.
Maybe we should go to the police.
And tell them what, exactly? You return the manuscripts.
I'm offering you found money, your freedom, and your life.
How do you turn that deal down? I'm warning you for the last time! - [GUNSHOT.]
- [GROANS.]
Look on the bright side.
We're living exciting lives.
Ah! Oh, shit! Oh! [RODGERS AND HAMMERSTEIN'S "OH, WHAT A BEAUTIFUL MORNIN'" PLAYING.]
[GROANING.]
Oh, please just go slow! Just please go slow! - [SHUSHING.]
- Stop it! Stop! Okay, okay.
Okay, all right.
- Just do it gently, please.
- Come on, Morris.
It's not that bad.
Pain is just weakness leaving the body.
- Oh, it hurts worse.
- 'Cause the shock is wearing off.
[GROANS.]
I am gonna kill that fucker.
No, you ain't neither.
At least not until we get ahold of those manuscripts.
Oh, shit! - Fuck! - Once we get the notebooks, you can do whatever you want with him.
- Fuck.
- Okay.
There's some kind of liquid oozing out.
On the side of caution [BREATHING HEAVILY.]
Oh, Jesus fucking Christ! What the fuck? What the fuck? I don't have proper tools.
No, no, no, no, no! Aah! - Shit! - It's just antiseptic.
Makeshift medicine.
We call it health care.
- [GASPING.]
- Okay, okay.
You know, this kid shooting you is actually a pretty good thing.
[GRUNTS.]
Means he's showing desperation.
People in desperation make mistakes.
Also means he can't very well be going to the police.
He shot a man.
Ooh, these are exciting times, Morris.
[LAUGHS.]
[BOB DYLAN'S "SERIES OF DREAMS".]
I was thinking Of a series of dreams Where nothing Comes up to the top Everything Stays down where it's wounded And comes To a permanent stop Wasn't thinking Of anything specific Just thinking Of a series of dreams Just thinking Of a series of dreams Hey, I was thinking of trying to catch the Saubers kid at his school or maybe after school.
Anything new from Montez on that? Um, nada.
When the police searched the house, they even spoke to the parents, but nothing.
I mean, who are we kidding, though? He lived right near the crash site.
Teenage tipster.
Yeah, and Ida said he's a sudden Rothstein scholar.
All right, so what are we waiting for? I'll talk to him.
Mm.
We leave for court in 20.
Okay.
What? Nothing.
You were staring at me, Jerome, again.
I'm not staring at you.
Yes, you were.
You've been doing it on and off like I'm some kind of crazy person, and I do not like it, okay? I know that look when I get it, and I'm getting it from you, and I do not like it.
Okay, Holly, I discovered you on the floor the other day half catatonic, singing some crazy-ass song.
Yeah, to calm myself before court! Oh, well, it scared the shit out of me, okay? Yeah, well, I told you that I'm fine.
I was fine on the stand, and I'm fine now, so if you have me on some kind of suicide watch, you can just Jerome, I'm so sorry.
- I didn't mean that.
- No worries.
No, it just came out of my mouth.
You know how things just come out of my mouth.
- I'm so sorry.
- Holly.
You said what you said.
You're fine.
I'm fine.
Oh, God.
What's wrong? I got mad at Jerome for staring at me and I made a stupid remark about suicide watch, forgetting that his mother Is that it? Yeah, that's a lot.
Hey.
[SIGHS.]
I'm fine.
I didn't ask that.
I just said, "Hey.
" [CHUCKLES.]
Hope that's not porn.
No.
Uh, it's your man's girlfriends.
- Rothstein's girlfriends? - Yup.
Actually have someone here that really hated him.
Wrote some nasty-ass letters.
Alma Lane.
- You know her? - Oh, I know her.
You live long enough in Bridgton, you'll run into Alma, believe me.
She's a real beaut.
Sh-she really hated him, huh? Yeah, seems so.
Hmm.
The law couldn't stop Brady Hartsfield, so Lou did.
She didn't wanna be in court that day.
The People of Ohio imposed upon her to give testimony against Mr.
Mercedes, and even though she was terrified, she agreed.
How could she not be? This man had stabbed her, left her for dead, and demonstrated the capacity to kill even while in a custodial setting.
She couldn't trust the law to protect her.
The government, in fact, was seeking to spare him from prison, to glorify him as the future of medicine.
Brady Hartsfield still had a future.
It was possible, even bright.
The man who had killed so many, who had tried to kill Lou.
Lou brought a gun to court that day to protect herself, and then after giving her testimony in the throes of past trauma, current trauma, fear, terror, even, and yes, the compulsion to eradicate evil, she acted.
Acted, reacted.
Like Holly said, her hands spoke for all of us who she made safer with an impulse.
It just happened.
First-degree murder, that is what the prosecutor has charged her with.
The worst of the worst.
Worst of the worst? First-degree murderer? If you think that, that Lou Linklatter is a menace to society who should be put in prison, then do that.
If you don't don't.
[PEOPLE MURMURING.]
Holy shit.
You wanted proof of concept, there you go.
$75,000.
You're welcome.
For one page of Rothstein? I told you.
How do I know that's all you got for it? How do I know you didn't get more? Maybe a lot more? I just gave you 75 grand and you're choosing to doubt me? [SCOFFS.]
Little shit.
If anything, I should be taking more than a quarter of the gross.
I'm the one taking all the risk.
You Bullshit.
If we get caught, you'll do five, six years max in juvenile hall.
I'd be looking at real time.
Who'd you sell it to? You don't wanna know, so don't ask.
This is an illegal operation.
We don't give out receipts and keep paperwork.
When do I get the manuscripts? Soon.
In fact, real soon.
Little change of plans.
How so? I'll bring you all the manuscripts, but I want to be paid in advance.
[CHUCKLES.]
That's impossible.
You think I have that kind of money? Well, you better get it.
What the fuck are you doing here? I just gave you proof of concept.
I just wanna be done with all this shit and get back to my normal life.
Oh, oh, you wanna get back to your normal life? Gee.
You're fencing stolen books by the greatest living author in America, who only now isn't living because he was shot dead, and since you've got his books, you'd be a suspect.
This is your new normal.
I'll just find a new buyer.
Yeah, you let me know how that goes.
I can see you're about to shit your pants.
If I was sitting on what you got, with the police on the hard sniff [INHALES SHARPLY.]
Here's what we can agree on.
We got changed circumstances.
Here's my new and improved offer.
You bring me all those books, and in exchange for me sitting on them as I look for buyers, in exchange for me assuming that risk going forward, I increase my cut to 40%.
No fucking way.
Oh, it's the only fucking way.
It's your only fucking way out of this mess.
- I'll give you 30%.
- 40%, or fuck off.
It's too much risk.
[TENSE MUSIC.]
- I gotta think about it.
- Yeah, you think on it.
- [BELL JINGLES.]
- You pray on it.
Just do so quickly.
Fuck off! [TENSE ROCK MUSIC.]
She printed the gun, used ceramic bullets to avoid the metal detectors.
It was meticulous, and the execution itself was as matter-of-fact as it was cold-blooded.
I'm not gonna spend time convincing you of something you already know, and I'm not gonna talk about Brady Hartsfield either, because we know who and what he is, and we pretty much know who Lou Linklatter is, don't we? A fundamentally good person who committed an illegal act.
I'm not gonna tell you not to feel for her.
I do.
And I'm not gonna ask you to judge her, just what she did.
At the beginning of this, I said that this trial was really about us.
Mostly you.
Are we a society of law and order or not? Is everyone held to the same law, or if someone is popular enough, they get to commit murder? Okay to shoot unarmed people in the head just so long as they're bad people? Really? Yeah, I know who Brady is.
And I know who Lou is.
Who are you? [PEOPLE MURMURING.]
[BELL JINGLES.]
So [DOOR SLAMS, LOCK CLICKS.]
What did he have to offer? - Wh I'm sorry? - The kid.
The kid who was just here again.
The kid who doesn't have the Rothstein books.
That kid.
What was his story just now? - He's a book collector.
- [SCOFFS.]
He comes in from time to time to see if I have anything new, which I don't.
You lying piece of shit! How stupid do you think I am, Andrew? Well, I just don't know.
Stupid enough to break into John Rothstein's home and shoot him in the head? Stupid enough to steal his books, only then to lose his books? Stupid enough to commit a murder and end up with diddly-squat? That makes you kind of a Hall of Fame numb nuts, Morris.
- [CHUCKLES.]
- [EXHALES SHARPLY.]
Ugh, one with bad breath, to boot.
You know what, Andrew? There's a reason you ended up where you ended up.
Uh-huh.
In this shithole used-book, bum-fuck, musty, dilapidated dump in Bridgton fucking Ohio, the epicenter for losers, of which you [LAUGHING.]
would be the poster boy.
There's a goddamn reason.
You're mistaken, Morris.
You see, I haven't ended up anywhere.
[TENSE MUSIC.]
At least not yet.
One could even say I'm at my beginning.
Yeah? How's that? I got a lottery ticket.
I feel lucky.
You know the feeling? Oh, I bet you don't.
It'd be the biggest goddamn mistake of your life to fuck with me.
See? This is you being stupid again, because I am fucking with you.
I'm in your face, and I'm fucking with you.
You set foot in here again, and I'll call the police and tell them you shot John Rothstein.
That's serious leverage, don't you think? [EXHALES HEAVILY.]
Go ahead.
Say something smart.
Pull a muscle.
[LAMP CLATTERING.]
Fucker.
[GRUNTING.]
[JUICER GRINDING.]
I thought you said this guy was your friend.
He was, back in high school.
Fuck! I'm gonna fucking kill him, I swear.
Jesus Christ, Morris.
First you say you're gonna kill Peter.
Now you're gonna kill the bookstore guy, huh? You already killed Rothstein and the repairman.
How'd that work out for you, huh? [SIGHS.]
[JUICER GRINDING.]
He's just playing poker, that's all, and he hasn't got shit.
He's made a deal with the kid.
I can feel it.
I think he's already got the books.
Time for me to pay a little visit to this bookstore.
[JUICER GRINDING.]
Why? Do what? Well, for starters, get a sense of who and what I'm dealing with.
He'll move them fast.
Fuck, I'll never get to read them because whoever buys them, it's not as if they'll be made available to the public.
Whether or not you get a chance to read those books is not our biggest concern at the moment.
Yes, it fucking is! It's the fucking reason I took such a risk to begin with.
It it was never about the money so much.
You weren't even sure those Jimmy Gold books existed.
But I am now.
I am now! All right.
Jesus, Morris.
All right, calm down.
I'll have a little chat with Andrew Schmandrew, and then we'll take it from there.
Now, come on.
I want you to drink your antioxidants.
Let me see you.
Attaboy.
- Never showed up? - Nope.
And that's not like him.
He's actually a model student.
God damn it.
His paper on Rothstein, you said it was good? Yeah, a little too good.
Would you say it's possible that he's got the manuscripts? Look, first of all, there is just no way in hell that that boy broke into Rothstein's house No, no, no, no, no.
Just just the idea that he found them, that he came across them in the crashed car.
Well, I don't know.
Maybe.
Look, this is this is a good kid, but I do get the sense that he's mixed up in something that's bigger than himself.
He hasn't said anything, right? Well, not in so many words, but see, every time we talk about Rothstein, I feel there's this this whole subtext, and lately he's very fidgety, very nervous.
I'm actually kind of worried about him.
Yeah.
Any sense on how long they'll be out? No, no telling.
And what do we think? Finkelstein is good.
The DA's also good, so I just don't know.
Jerome? I'm so sorry for what I said earlier.
You know, it just came out of my mouth.
I know.
Okay.
[CHUCKLES.]
And to be honest, I was staring at you how you suggested.
What, like I might kill myself? Yeah.
You were acting all catatonic and shit.
Listen I've never been better in my whole life.
You know, on firmer footing.
You know, surrounded by people I love.
My mom had all that too.
Right.
Yeah, she had her issues, but there was never any sign.
One day, I go off to school and everything's fine, and then I come back home and nothing's fine ever again.
Just happened out of nowhere.
I can't imagine.
You know, with Olivia, there was a trajectory.
It's not like we expected it, but looking backwards It's hard for me to trust anything.
Just feel like I'm standing on a big trapdoor.
Is that why you can't handle Harvard so well? It can be difficult to venture out sometimes when home base feels precarious.
Maybe you don't have a home base.
Okay, well, don't give me this whole "you're not alone" speech, please.
We're all alone.
You know, that's why we have friends.
To make the loneliness easier to take.
Mr.
Saubers? Tom Saubers? Mr.
Hodges.
Sorry, do I know you? Your face seems familiar.
I was I was at court.
I was also at the jobs fair.
Yeah, I'm I'm sorry.
I guess I owe you some thanks.
We all know it was you who was responsible for bringing Mr.
Mercedes down.
Well, team effort.
I was hoping to speak to your son, Peter.
Is he here, by any chance? He is at school right now.
I've just come from there.
He's not.
How about a cup of coffee? If If Peter is mixed up in this in any way, he figures to be in danger.
I need your commitment that you're gonna keep this completely confidential.
I can't give you that.
Peter, there's no reason to fear me.
My hunch is, he came across the stolen books.
Would that be your suspicion? We're dealing with a killer, Tom, one who no doubt right now is looking for his stolen treasure.
I did see him with a notebook with a moleskin cover.
Yeah, there's more.
I've been getting money sent to me.
Cash, anonymous.
Just shows up in the mailbox.
Somebody claiming to have been at the jobs fair.
- When did this start? - Just after Rothstein.
We searched his bedroom for the for the books, for the cash.
We didn't find anything.
Well, the best way he can help himself is to come forward with what he has, what he knows.
He's admitting nothing, and God knows I've pressured him on it.
I need to talk to him.
[BELL JINGLES.]
We're actually just closing up.
Ah, let me help you, then.
- [DOOR CLICKS SHUT.]
- [BELL JINGLES.]
Guess it'll just be the two of us, Andrew.
Who are you? My name is Alma.
My friends call me Alma.
So do my enemies.
Alma Lane.
Morris' friend.
I guess we both got that in common, huh? Friends with Morris, except you ain't acting like much of a buddy, are you? Look, I'll call the police on you just like I'll call the police on Morris.
Yeah, I suppose we can all call the police.
I can tell them that you're in receipt of stolen literature penned by John Rothstein.
I have nothing by John Rothstein.
Morris is mistaken.
Oh, well, then let's make our calls, then.
I got nothing to hide.
My hands are clean.
Are yours, Andy Schmandy? Get out of my store.
Look, there's enough money in this for all of us, but I will call the cops and tell them you're fencing Rothstein material.
That will certainly kill any deal you got going.
I don't have any deal going! Or we play nice together and we all get rich.
More better, don't you think? I don't have any Rothstein books.
I have nothing to give you, so get out, you decrepit old cunt.
I am not decrepit, and I'm not that old.
For the last time, get the fuck out of my store.
Or what? See, when you make a statement like that, you gotta back it up with an "or what" or an "or else" to give it some teeth.
Otherwise it just falls flat.
Let me show you.
Give me those manuscripts.
Now you say, "Or what?" Then I'll say [GASPS, SCREAMS.]
Seems I'm lost for words.
[GRUNTING.]
I try to play nice.
[WHEEZING.]
- Where is he? - I don't know.
How many times do I have to tell you? - I don't know where he is! - You shouldn't have talked to the police.
I didn't talk to the police.
- I talked to a private detective.
- He's freaked out.
He's probably Okay, same difference.
We should have gone to the police like you said earlier.
We should have done that.
- I'm sorry we didn't do that.
- Great.
Just fucking great.
- Fuck.
- He's not at school, and he hasn't come back here.
Something has happened to him! [CELL PHONE RINGING.]
It's Peter.
It's Peter.
[CELL PHONE BEEPS.]
- Pete.
- Pete! I'm fine, okay? I just need some time to think.
Peter, listen, the cops know that you have the books, okay? - They know that you found them - Dad.
- at the crash site.
- Dad, Dad, listen to me, okay? I do not have any books.
Honey, you have got to stop lying to us, all right? You are gonna get hurt.
I'm safe.
Peter, I talked to Bill Hodges, okay? We trust him.
He can help you.
Honey, just tell us where you are.
[CELL PHONE BEEPS.]
- [LINE CLICKS.]
- Peter.
[CELL PHONE CLICKS.]
[SNIFFLES.]
[GROANING.]
[MUFFLED SHOUTING.]
Clearly you have deduced by now that I am not fucking around.
Can I safely assume that, Andy? That you have rightly deduced? God.
You're fucking crazy.
You think? I don't I don't have the books.
You know, I'm 1/8 Shawnee on my mother's side.
Well, maybe less.
[CHUCKLES.]
Not enough Shawnee to get any money out of the deal, but still, something to be proud of.
We were the first people here and the first ones to get fucked over by the government.
Chickasaw, Shawnee, Apache.
In all the tribes, the women were in charge of torture.
Did you know that? That's true.
Burning men's gonads, flaying them alive, disemboweling them.
But the stuff they did with rope was really special.
The trick was to go slow.
Slow enough to make it last.
And I inherited this gift from my mother's side.
[CHUCKLES.]
The kid's got them.
Saubers? - Yes.
- You know this for sure? He sold me one page from a journal.
I got 200 grand for it.
Gave the kid 75.
The rest of it, it's in it's in my desk.
You can have it.
What about the manuscripts? He says he's got them.
He's yet to produce them.
Is he planning to? [STAMMERING.]
I don't know.
We had a communication breakdown last time he was in.
He ran off.
He wants the money up front, which I don't have.
And you don't know where he's got the manuscripts at? No! [BREATHING HEAVILY.]
I don't believe you, Andy.
Oh, fuck you! Oh.
[TSKS.]
You are bound to a chair, sitting across from a fully weaponized woman who's already chopped off your fingers.
Do you really mean to say, "Fuck you"? I'm gonna give you a mulligan, because deep down, I'm I'm really sweet.
Look, I don't I don't have the books, and I don't know where they are.
I so wish I could take you at your word, but you see, you lied to Morris and you first lied to me, which kind of prevents us from establishing a trust.
Which means that I can't really rely on you not to tell the police what's transpired here, can I? And you know what that is, Andy? That is a real bugger.
[TENSE MUSIC.]
Now, I could cut out your tongue.
But you could still text and email and tweet.
You could tweet, tweet, tweet like a little birdie.
[CHUCKLES.]
And I cannot have that.
[GROANS.]
Now [LAUGHING.]
This isn't really an option.
[LAUGHING.]
Mm.
If I were to hit you on the head with a tomahawk, being part Shawnee, I'd be feeding into a nasty stereotype, one that could cost the Atlanta Braves their very best rally cry.
So being the politically correct person I fancy myself to be, - I will spare you the tomahawk.
- No.
You get the pickax.
[GRUNTS.]
You get it twice.
[EXHALES SHARPLY.]
[DRAMATIC ROCK MUSIC.]
[DOG BARKING DISTANTLY.]
[SIGHS.]
What's with the getup? The getup? It's your vision.
You tell me.
Tell me who killed you first.
Ah, the old Faustian bargain.
A pact with the devil.
Your soul in hell for honor, power, wealth, fame and the love of women on Earth.
Freud said that last part, not the other fella.
You know what your problem is? I'm your hero.
The fuck does that mean? [MOCKINGLY.]
"The fuck does that mean?" You read all my books.
You told me one time, you read all the books.
So you saw greatness and maybe craved a little bit for yourself.
And it never came.
You whiffed on Mr.
Mercedes.
Couldn't even solve that until it was too late.
And now you're left with me.
And you're not even getting paid.
[LAUGHS.]
You forgot about the reward money.
Oh, really, the reward money.
That's what you've been chasing, the big reward? You know what you are? You're a lying fuck.
Because this is about one thing: to give your life meaning, to make it matter that you even lived.
The jury arrived at its unanimous verdict at 10:47 p.
m.
last night, which means they deliberated for about seven hours total.
A fast deliberation, no question.
All right, then.
[CLEARS THROAT.]
It is my understanding that the jury has reached a unanimous verdict? - We have, Your Honor.
- All right.
Well, Bailiff, would you please bring that to me? I will read the verdict.
Would the defendant please rise? The verdict [CLEARS THROAT.]
"We, the jury in the matter of the People of Ohio "versus Lou Linklatter "on the charge of murder in the first degree, "find the defendant, Lou Linklatter not guilty.
" - [PEOPLE MURMURING.]
- [CAMERA SHUTTERS CLICKING.]
All right, all right, hold it down.
Hold it down.
[INDISTINCT CHATTER.]
Hold it down, please.
"On the second charge of murder in the second degree, "we, the jury, find the defendant, "Lou Linklatter guilty.
" [PEOPLE GASPING.]
The defendant will be remanded into custody.
Members of the jury, thank you.
That concludes your service.
Yes, and you are dismissed with the court's thanks.
- [PEOPLE MURMURING.]
- [WHISPERING.]
It's okay.
It's okay.
Counsel, we need to set a date for the pleading.
How much time will you need? We're ready now, Judge.
Well, then okay.
Without objection, we will reconvene at 3:00, all right? 3:00, so ordered.
Take her into custody.
- [GAVEL BANGS.]
- We are adjourned.
- Please, sir, please.
- Lou, we still have to get through the sentencing.
Stay calm.
Please don't do this! - Please! - No, it's okay.
No, no, no! No! - Take it easy.
- No, what's happening? Oh, my God, please! - No! - I love you, Lou! No! [REPORTERS CLAMORING.]
Detective.
[REPORTERS CLAMORING.]
Sir, Mr.
Hodges, any comment? - Not a good time.
- Sir.
Sir, comment? What's with the immediate sentencing? I asked you a question! I heard you.
I'm hoping there will be some outrage over the verdict.
Best we do the sentencing in the throes of that outrage because once the fury subsides, the judge will resort to sentencing guidelines, which puts Lou in prison for 20-plus years.
- Wait, 20 years? - Yes.
If ever we needed this judge to go rogue, it's now.
Go rogue? That conniving prick set up the second degree in his instruction to the jury.
Why didn't you see that coming? This is basically as bad as murder one.
- I understand that.
- Bill.
Something's come up.
Bill, now.
- [SIREN WAILS.]
- [INDISTINCT CHATTER.]
So, what, now you're holding out on me? When you say you met the guy I told ya, I called into his store.
I asked him if anyone had been in offering Rothstein material, and he said there hadn't.
- Well, there's - That's it.
There's no way there isn't a connection.
First Rothstein, now the owner of a rare bookstore? Security cameras? Of course not.
That'd be too easy.
There were cameras.
They took them.
They took computers and the footage too.
All right.
He's with me.
- You get a positive ID? - Not yet.
We're having trouble notifying next of kin.
- Shit.
- How you doing? Hey, wait a minute.
You can identify him.
You must be joking.
You just told me that you met him.
- So did you guys.
- Yeah, but our guys are not here, not the guys that interviewed him.
Look, if you can't, you can't.
But you're here.
Fine, fine.
Looks like him.
I only met him the once, and he was cracking wise, but he ain't so much now.
Yeah, that's him.
The proprietor, Halliday.
Took a hell of a blow or two.
Fuck.
Don't touch that.
Just leave it.
The fuck is that? - What does it look like? - What? Gotta be kidding me.
Oh, fuck.
I've been flipped off by a few assholes in my day but not literally.
There's something going on, but I can't put me finger on it.
- All right.
- [LAUGHTER.]
Look over here.
The fuck? Jeez.
Oh, shit.
He was a registered child sex offender.
Looks like somebody got payback.
- - Yeah.
Holy shit.
Just when you think you've seen everything.
I don't buy it.
This payback for a pedophile thing, I don't buy that.
It's gotta be connected with Rothstein, right? Maybe, maybe not.
Jesus fuck.
You're not kidding.
You know, growing up, I hated school.
Like doing homework.
My father would always say, "Get your finger out of your ass and hit them books.
" This guy literally made a career out of hitting the books, ends up with a finger up his ass.
I'm just saying.
[TENSE ROCK MUSIC.]
You killed him? I had to.
After I chopped his fingers off, my options became limited.
Jesus fucking Christ.
You're talking to me about Thomas Paine, Daniel Shays, Molly fucking Maguires, telling me to be a beacon and you're chopping off fingers, cratering heads with a pickax? Because we're running out of time, Morris.
Peter Saubers has the books, so that much was confirmed.
So our scope can officially narrow.
[EXHALES SHARPLY.]
So what now? I'm not sure, since he's armed and dangerous.
He's got something we want.
We need to get something he wants.
Make a little trade.
- What do you mean? - Grab his little doggy.
[LAUGHS.]
I'm sorry.
Or better yet, his mommy or daddy.
What's our endgame? Our endgame is to get those books and then get out of Dodge, and it can be done.
All righty, then.
Here we go agai No, no.
I don't need to hear from counsel.
- Your Honor - No.
If you're gonna file an appeal, go right ahead.
But on sentencing, I don't need to hear from you, and I won't.
Ms.
Linklatter, stand up.
I will hear from you if you have anything to say.
Uh no, not really.
I think that my testimony pretty much covered it.
I'm sorry.
I guess.
Okay, then.
Judge, if I may be heard? No.
No, you may not.
Judge, I would like to be heard.
[GROANS.]
Mm.
I will give you 30 seconds.
29 seconds.
This whole proceeding seems a bit upside down.
Good guy is on trial for dispatching the bad guy, the evil one.
Many of us here are a bit out to sea.
Well, me more than most, if I'm honest.
20 seconds.
I was always taken with the notion that America was formed on the basis that we stand our ground to protect our own, in our own home, even in a courtroom.
When the law isn't here, when it no longer protects us, order demands that we protect ourselves.
Maybe jail is where Lou belongs, you know? I mean, in an unjust world, the only place for a just person is prison.
Somebody said that, Thoreau or somebody, I think.
Yeah, Pontius Pilate, you know, was the first one to wash his hands of injustice.
And I imagine you relate to him.
Yeah, well, he wasn't a real judge in the end.
I am.
Yeah, you've followed the law.
And good on you.
Nobody can deny it.
But the question is, will you do justice? What you do in the next ten minutes, right now will be your legacy.
[SIGHS.]
I am required by law to ask if the victim's family or friends have anything they wish to say.
Anybody? Nobody? All right, then.
[CHUCKLES.]
No, you've had your turn, Ms.
Linklatter.
I had my turn for me.
You asked if anyone wanted to speak for Brady.
I'd like to speak for Brady.
I think [PEOPLE MURMURING.]
I think somebody should.
As evil as he was, he wasn't all evil.
As damaged of a man as he was, he was also very capable of humanity.
And love.
He loved and was loved by his mother.
And he loved And was loved by me.
[SNIFFLES.]
He wasn't all evil.
He wasn't.
There was some There was some really good in there too.
Ms.
Linklatter.
You've been found guilty by a jury of your peers of committing murder in the second degree.
It is the ruling of this court that you be sentenced to 15 years in the Ohio State Penitentiary.
Now, due to the unique underlying circumstances of your criminal conduct I'm going to give you credit for the nine months already served.
And I'm going to suspend the remainder of your sentence.
- [APPLAUSE.]
- [GAVEL BANGS.]
Quiet.
Quiet! I'll have - [APPLAUSE CONTINUES.]
- All right.
Quiet.
I will have quiet.
[CAMERA SHUTTERS CLICKING.]
I said from the start, I'd let conscience be my guide.
[CRYING.]
But, Ms.
Linklatter, going forward, you'd better damn well make sure that you let it be yours, because if you run afoul of the law in any way, I will rescind that suspension and reinstate the full sentence to be served.
Am I making myself clear? Yes, Your Honor, and thank you.
I'm going way out on a limb for you, young lady.
Don't make me regret it.
I absolutely won't, Your Honor.
And don't you be killing anybody else.
I won't, Your Honor.
All right, you're gonna go back into custody just for a bit until they can process you out.
All right? - We're adjourned.
- [GAVEL BANGS.]
[LAUGHING.]
[PEOPLE MURMURING.]
How about that? Right.
You did it.
Excuse me.
[INDISTINCT CHATTER.]
- [LAUGHS.]
Thank you.
- You're innocent.
- [GROANING.]
- You did it, huh? Hey.
[INDISTINCT CHATTER.]
Well played.
Good work.
Thank you.
That was great.
[BOTH CHUCKLING.]
You don't seem happy.
No, I am.
Couldn't have asked for a better result.
But? It's just the anarchy of it.
Well, the law be damned.
- Crumbling foundations.
- Yeah.
I mean, I'm glad for Lou.
[GROANS.]
You know Rothstein spoke of a pending apocalypse.
He said we're just at the end of the beginning of the world turning to absolute shit.
You know what? Let's just let's just give Rothstein a rest, shall we? Let's turn to Huxley, if you're so determined to drink to dystopia.
A brave new world it is.
Tell me something.
How did a lump like you get to be so literate? My father.
The only thing he gave me before he fucked off A love of books, reading.
Places they bring me, I suppose, seeing as he wasn't going to be there to bring me anywhere himself, that prick.
Where's it from, the title, then, "Brave New World"? Please.
Shakespeare.
Well, yes, but which? "The Tempest.
" Mm-hmm.
"How many goodly creatures are there here?" "How beauteous mankind is.
" "O brave new world " BOTH: "That has such people in it.
" [SNICKERS.]
Yeah.
[TENSE MUSIC.]
[WOOD CREAKING.]
[FOOTSTEPS SHUFFLING.]
[GUNSHOT.]
[GUNFIRE.]
Mercedes" If you could hit rewind, you sitting in the courtroom, Brady at the defendant's table, would you do it all again? - Yes.
- Holly? She's a fragile person.
- Meaning what? - Meaning you need to tread careful.
She's precious cargo.
Lou's hands spoke for her.
They spoke for all of us.
On the law, she's guilty, of course, but in the court of public opinion, sh You're looking at me funny.
It's just a look of admiration.
[TIRES SQUEALING.]
The bejesus is all scared out of him.
You find him after school.
You Jimmy that boy up.
Original Rothstein material.
- One page? - Meaning I'd need to see you can deliver on what you promise.
What about the Saubers kid? - Peter Saubers? - You know him? Yeah, he's a student of mine.
Leading candidate to have stumbled upon those books.
Maybe we should go to the police.
And tell them what, exactly? You return the manuscripts.
I'm offering you found money, your freedom, and your life.
How do you turn that deal down? I'm warning you for the last time! - [GUNSHOT.]
- [GROANS.]
Look on the bright side.
We're living exciting lives.
Ah! Oh, shit! Oh! [RODGERS AND HAMMERSTEIN'S "OH, WHAT A BEAUTIFUL MORNIN'" PLAYING.]
[GROANING.]
Oh, please just go slow! Just please go slow! - [SHUSHING.]
- Stop it! Stop! Okay, okay.
Okay, all right.
- Just do it gently, please.
- Come on, Morris.
It's not that bad.
Pain is just weakness leaving the body.
- Oh, it hurts worse.
- 'Cause the shock is wearing off.
[GROANS.]
I am gonna kill that fucker.
No, you ain't neither.
At least not until we get ahold of those manuscripts.
Oh, shit! - Fuck! - Once we get the notebooks, you can do whatever you want with him.
- Fuck.
- Okay.
There's some kind of liquid oozing out.
On the side of caution [BREATHING HEAVILY.]
Oh, Jesus fucking Christ! What the fuck? What the fuck? I don't have proper tools.
No, no, no, no, no! Aah! - Shit! - It's just antiseptic.
Makeshift medicine.
We call it health care.
- [GASPING.]
- Okay, okay.
You know, this kid shooting you is actually a pretty good thing.
[GRUNTS.]
Means he's showing desperation.
People in desperation make mistakes.
Also means he can't very well be going to the police.
He shot a man.
Ooh, these are exciting times, Morris.
[LAUGHS.]
[BOB DYLAN'S "SERIES OF DREAMS".]
I was thinking Of a series of dreams Where nothing Comes up to the top Everything Stays down where it's wounded And comes To a permanent stop Wasn't thinking Of anything specific Just thinking Of a series of dreams Just thinking Of a series of dreams Hey, I was thinking of trying to catch the Saubers kid at his school or maybe after school.
Anything new from Montez on that? Um, nada.
When the police searched the house, they even spoke to the parents, but nothing.
I mean, who are we kidding, though? He lived right near the crash site.
Teenage tipster.
Yeah, and Ida said he's a sudden Rothstein scholar.
All right, so what are we waiting for? I'll talk to him.
Mm.
We leave for court in 20.
Okay.
What? Nothing.
You were staring at me, Jerome, again.
I'm not staring at you.
Yes, you were.
You've been doing it on and off like I'm some kind of crazy person, and I do not like it, okay? I know that look when I get it, and I'm getting it from you, and I do not like it.
Okay, Holly, I discovered you on the floor the other day half catatonic, singing some crazy-ass song.
Yeah, to calm myself before court! Oh, well, it scared the shit out of me, okay? Yeah, well, I told you that I'm fine.
I was fine on the stand, and I'm fine now, so if you have me on some kind of suicide watch, you can just Jerome, I'm so sorry.
- I didn't mean that.
- No worries.
No, it just came out of my mouth.
You know how things just come out of my mouth.
- I'm so sorry.
- Holly.
You said what you said.
You're fine.
I'm fine.
Oh, God.
What's wrong? I got mad at Jerome for staring at me and I made a stupid remark about suicide watch, forgetting that his mother Is that it? Yeah, that's a lot.
Hey.
[SIGHS.]
I'm fine.
I didn't ask that.
I just said, "Hey.
" [CHUCKLES.]
Hope that's not porn.
No.
Uh, it's your man's girlfriends.
- Rothstein's girlfriends? - Yup.
Actually have someone here that really hated him.
Wrote some nasty-ass letters.
Alma Lane.
- You know her? - Oh, I know her.
You live long enough in Bridgton, you'll run into Alma, believe me.
She's a real beaut.
Sh-she really hated him, huh? Yeah, seems so.
Hmm.
The law couldn't stop Brady Hartsfield, so Lou did.
She didn't wanna be in court that day.
The People of Ohio imposed upon her to give testimony against Mr.
Mercedes, and even though she was terrified, she agreed.
How could she not be? This man had stabbed her, left her for dead, and demonstrated the capacity to kill even while in a custodial setting.
She couldn't trust the law to protect her.
The government, in fact, was seeking to spare him from prison, to glorify him as the future of medicine.
Brady Hartsfield still had a future.
It was possible, even bright.
The man who had killed so many, who had tried to kill Lou.
Lou brought a gun to court that day to protect herself, and then after giving her testimony in the throes of past trauma, current trauma, fear, terror, even, and yes, the compulsion to eradicate evil, she acted.
Acted, reacted.
Like Holly said, her hands spoke for all of us who she made safer with an impulse.
It just happened.
First-degree murder, that is what the prosecutor has charged her with.
The worst of the worst.
Worst of the worst? First-degree murderer? If you think that, that Lou Linklatter is a menace to society who should be put in prison, then do that.
If you don't don't.
[PEOPLE MURMURING.]
Holy shit.
You wanted proof of concept, there you go.
$75,000.
You're welcome.
For one page of Rothstein? I told you.
How do I know that's all you got for it? How do I know you didn't get more? Maybe a lot more? I just gave you 75 grand and you're choosing to doubt me? [SCOFFS.]
Little shit.
If anything, I should be taking more than a quarter of the gross.
I'm the one taking all the risk.
You Bullshit.
If we get caught, you'll do five, six years max in juvenile hall.
I'd be looking at real time.
Who'd you sell it to? You don't wanna know, so don't ask.
This is an illegal operation.
We don't give out receipts and keep paperwork.
When do I get the manuscripts? Soon.
In fact, real soon.
Little change of plans.
How so? I'll bring you all the manuscripts, but I want to be paid in advance.
[CHUCKLES.]
That's impossible.
You think I have that kind of money? Well, you better get it.
What the fuck are you doing here? I just gave you proof of concept.
I just wanna be done with all this shit and get back to my normal life.
Oh, oh, you wanna get back to your normal life? Gee.
You're fencing stolen books by the greatest living author in America, who only now isn't living because he was shot dead, and since you've got his books, you'd be a suspect.
This is your new normal.
I'll just find a new buyer.
Yeah, you let me know how that goes.
I can see you're about to shit your pants.
If I was sitting on what you got, with the police on the hard sniff [INHALES SHARPLY.]
Here's what we can agree on.
We got changed circumstances.
Here's my new and improved offer.
You bring me all those books, and in exchange for me sitting on them as I look for buyers, in exchange for me assuming that risk going forward, I increase my cut to 40%.
No fucking way.
Oh, it's the only fucking way.
It's your only fucking way out of this mess.
- I'll give you 30%.
- 40%, or fuck off.
It's too much risk.
[TENSE MUSIC.]
- I gotta think about it.
- Yeah, you think on it.
- [BELL JINGLES.]
- You pray on it.
Just do so quickly.
Fuck off! [TENSE ROCK MUSIC.]
She printed the gun, used ceramic bullets to avoid the metal detectors.
It was meticulous, and the execution itself was as matter-of-fact as it was cold-blooded.
I'm not gonna spend time convincing you of something you already know, and I'm not gonna talk about Brady Hartsfield either, because we know who and what he is, and we pretty much know who Lou Linklatter is, don't we? A fundamentally good person who committed an illegal act.
I'm not gonna tell you not to feel for her.
I do.
And I'm not gonna ask you to judge her, just what she did.
At the beginning of this, I said that this trial was really about us.
Mostly you.
Are we a society of law and order or not? Is everyone held to the same law, or if someone is popular enough, they get to commit murder? Okay to shoot unarmed people in the head just so long as they're bad people? Really? Yeah, I know who Brady is.
And I know who Lou is.
Who are you? [PEOPLE MURMURING.]
[BELL JINGLES.]
So [DOOR SLAMS, LOCK CLICKS.]
What did he have to offer? - Wh I'm sorry? - The kid.
The kid who was just here again.
The kid who doesn't have the Rothstein books.
That kid.
What was his story just now? - He's a book collector.
- [SCOFFS.]
He comes in from time to time to see if I have anything new, which I don't.
You lying piece of shit! How stupid do you think I am, Andrew? Well, I just don't know.
Stupid enough to break into John Rothstein's home and shoot him in the head? Stupid enough to steal his books, only then to lose his books? Stupid enough to commit a murder and end up with diddly-squat? That makes you kind of a Hall of Fame numb nuts, Morris.
- [CHUCKLES.]
- [EXHALES SHARPLY.]
Ugh, one with bad breath, to boot.
You know what, Andrew? There's a reason you ended up where you ended up.
Uh-huh.
In this shithole used-book, bum-fuck, musty, dilapidated dump in Bridgton fucking Ohio, the epicenter for losers, of which you [LAUGHING.]
would be the poster boy.
There's a goddamn reason.
You're mistaken, Morris.
You see, I haven't ended up anywhere.
[TENSE MUSIC.]
At least not yet.
One could even say I'm at my beginning.
Yeah? How's that? I got a lottery ticket.
I feel lucky.
You know the feeling? Oh, I bet you don't.
It'd be the biggest goddamn mistake of your life to fuck with me.
See? This is you being stupid again, because I am fucking with you.
I'm in your face, and I'm fucking with you.
You set foot in here again, and I'll call the police and tell them you shot John Rothstein.
That's serious leverage, don't you think? [EXHALES HEAVILY.]
Go ahead.
Say something smart.
Pull a muscle.
[LAMP CLATTERING.]
Fucker.
[GRUNTING.]
[JUICER GRINDING.]
I thought you said this guy was your friend.
He was, back in high school.
Fuck! I'm gonna fucking kill him, I swear.
Jesus Christ, Morris.
First you say you're gonna kill Peter.
Now you're gonna kill the bookstore guy, huh? You already killed Rothstein and the repairman.
How'd that work out for you, huh? [SIGHS.]
[JUICER GRINDING.]
He's just playing poker, that's all, and he hasn't got shit.
He's made a deal with the kid.
I can feel it.
I think he's already got the books.
Time for me to pay a little visit to this bookstore.
[JUICER GRINDING.]
Why? Do what? Well, for starters, get a sense of who and what I'm dealing with.
He'll move them fast.
Fuck, I'll never get to read them because whoever buys them, it's not as if they'll be made available to the public.
Whether or not you get a chance to read those books is not our biggest concern at the moment.
Yes, it fucking is! It's the fucking reason I took such a risk to begin with.
It it was never about the money so much.
You weren't even sure those Jimmy Gold books existed.
But I am now.
I am now! All right.
Jesus, Morris.
All right, calm down.
I'll have a little chat with Andrew Schmandrew, and then we'll take it from there.
Now, come on.
I want you to drink your antioxidants.
Let me see you.
Attaboy.
- Never showed up? - Nope.
And that's not like him.
He's actually a model student.
God damn it.
His paper on Rothstein, you said it was good? Yeah, a little too good.
Would you say it's possible that he's got the manuscripts? Look, first of all, there is just no way in hell that that boy broke into Rothstein's house No, no, no, no, no.
Just just the idea that he found them, that he came across them in the crashed car.
Well, I don't know.
Maybe.
Look, this is this is a good kid, but I do get the sense that he's mixed up in something that's bigger than himself.
He hasn't said anything, right? Well, not in so many words, but see, every time we talk about Rothstein, I feel there's this this whole subtext, and lately he's very fidgety, very nervous.
I'm actually kind of worried about him.
Yeah.
Any sense on how long they'll be out? No, no telling.
And what do we think? Finkelstein is good.
The DA's also good, so I just don't know.
Jerome? I'm so sorry for what I said earlier.
You know, it just came out of my mouth.
I know.
Okay.
[CHUCKLES.]
And to be honest, I was staring at you how you suggested.
What, like I might kill myself? Yeah.
You were acting all catatonic and shit.
Listen I've never been better in my whole life.
You know, on firmer footing.
You know, surrounded by people I love.
My mom had all that too.
Right.
Yeah, she had her issues, but there was never any sign.
One day, I go off to school and everything's fine, and then I come back home and nothing's fine ever again.
Just happened out of nowhere.
I can't imagine.
You know, with Olivia, there was a trajectory.
It's not like we expected it, but looking backwards It's hard for me to trust anything.
Just feel like I'm standing on a big trapdoor.
Is that why you can't handle Harvard so well? It can be difficult to venture out sometimes when home base feels precarious.
Maybe you don't have a home base.
Okay, well, don't give me this whole "you're not alone" speech, please.
We're all alone.
You know, that's why we have friends.
To make the loneliness easier to take.
Mr.
Saubers? Tom Saubers? Mr.
Hodges.
Sorry, do I know you? Your face seems familiar.
I was I was at court.
I was also at the jobs fair.
Yeah, I'm I'm sorry.
I guess I owe you some thanks.
We all know it was you who was responsible for bringing Mr.
Mercedes down.
Well, team effort.
I was hoping to speak to your son, Peter.
Is he here, by any chance? He is at school right now.
I've just come from there.
He's not.
How about a cup of coffee? If If Peter is mixed up in this in any way, he figures to be in danger.
I need your commitment that you're gonna keep this completely confidential.
I can't give you that.
Peter, there's no reason to fear me.
My hunch is, he came across the stolen books.
Would that be your suspicion? We're dealing with a killer, Tom, one who no doubt right now is looking for his stolen treasure.
I did see him with a notebook with a moleskin cover.
Yeah, there's more.
I've been getting money sent to me.
Cash, anonymous.
Just shows up in the mailbox.
Somebody claiming to have been at the jobs fair.
- When did this start? - Just after Rothstein.
We searched his bedroom for the for the books, for the cash.
We didn't find anything.
Well, the best way he can help himself is to come forward with what he has, what he knows.
He's admitting nothing, and God knows I've pressured him on it.
I need to talk to him.
[BELL JINGLES.]
We're actually just closing up.
Ah, let me help you, then.
- [DOOR CLICKS SHUT.]
- [BELL JINGLES.]
Guess it'll just be the two of us, Andrew.
Who are you? My name is Alma.
My friends call me Alma.
So do my enemies.
Alma Lane.
Morris' friend.
I guess we both got that in common, huh? Friends with Morris, except you ain't acting like much of a buddy, are you? Look, I'll call the police on you just like I'll call the police on Morris.
Yeah, I suppose we can all call the police.
I can tell them that you're in receipt of stolen literature penned by John Rothstein.
I have nothing by John Rothstein.
Morris is mistaken.
Oh, well, then let's make our calls, then.
I got nothing to hide.
My hands are clean.
Are yours, Andy Schmandy? Get out of my store.
Look, there's enough money in this for all of us, but I will call the cops and tell them you're fencing Rothstein material.
That will certainly kill any deal you got going.
I don't have any deal going! Or we play nice together and we all get rich.
More better, don't you think? I don't have any Rothstein books.
I have nothing to give you, so get out, you decrepit old cunt.
I am not decrepit, and I'm not that old.
For the last time, get the fuck out of my store.
Or what? See, when you make a statement like that, you gotta back it up with an "or what" or an "or else" to give it some teeth.
Otherwise it just falls flat.
Let me show you.
Give me those manuscripts.
Now you say, "Or what?" Then I'll say [GASPS, SCREAMS.]
Seems I'm lost for words.
[GRUNTING.]
I try to play nice.
[WHEEZING.]
- Where is he? - I don't know.
How many times do I have to tell you? - I don't know where he is! - You shouldn't have talked to the police.
I didn't talk to the police.
- I talked to a private detective.
- He's freaked out.
He's probably Okay, same difference.
We should have gone to the police like you said earlier.
We should have done that.
- I'm sorry we didn't do that.
- Great.
Just fucking great.
- Fuck.
- He's not at school, and he hasn't come back here.
Something has happened to him! [CELL PHONE RINGING.]
It's Peter.
It's Peter.
[CELL PHONE BEEPS.]
- Pete.
- Pete! I'm fine, okay? I just need some time to think.
Peter, listen, the cops know that you have the books, okay? - They know that you found them - Dad.
- at the crash site.
- Dad, Dad, listen to me, okay? I do not have any books.
Honey, you have got to stop lying to us, all right? You are gonna get hurt.
I'm safe.
Peter, I talked to Bill Hodges, okay? We trust him.
He can help you.
Honey, just tell us where you are.
[CELL PHONE BEEPS.]
- [LINE CLICKS.]
- Peter.
[CELL PHONE CLICKS.]
[SNIFFLES.]
[GROANING.]
[MUFFLED SHOUTING.]
Clearly you have deduced by now that I am not fucking around.
Can I safely assume that, Andy? That you have rightly deduced? God.
You're fucking crazy.
You think? I don't I don't have the books.
You know, I'm 1/8 Shawnee on my mother's side.
Well, maybe less.
[CHUCKLES.]
Not enough Shawnee to get any money out of the deal, but still, something to be proud of.
We were the first people here and the first ones to get fucked over by the government.
Chickasaw, Shawnee, Apache.
In all the tribes, the women were in charge of torture.
Did you know that? That's true.
Burning men's gonads, flaying them alive, disemboweling them.
But the stuff they did with rope was really special.
The trick was to go slow.
Slow enough to make it last.
And I inherited this gift from my mother's side.
[CHUCKLES.]
The kid's got them.
Saubers? - Yes.
- You know this for sure? He sold me one page from a journal.
I got 200 grand for it.
Gave the kid 75.
The rest of it, it's in it's in my desk.
You can have it.
What about the manuscripts? He says he's got them.
He's yet to produce them.
Is he planning to? [STAMMERING.]
I don't know.
We had a communication breakdown last time he was in.
He ran off.
He wants the money up front, which I don't have.
And you don't know where he's got the manuscripts at? No! [BREATHING HEAVILY.]
I don't believe you, Andy.
Oh, fuck you! Oh.
[TSKS.]
You are bound to a chair, sitting across from a fully weaponized woman who's already chopped off your fingers.
Do you really mean to say, "Fuck you"? I'm gonna give you a mulligan, because deep down, I'm I'm really sweet.
Look, I don't I don't have the books, and I don't know where they are.
I so wish I could take you at your word, but you see, you lied to Morris and you first lied to me, which kind of prevents us from establishing a trust.
Which means that I can't really rely on you not to tell the police what's transpired here, can I? And you know what that is, Andy? That is a real bugger.
[TENSE MUSIC.]
Now, I could cut out your tongue.
But you could still text and email and tweet.
You could tweet, tweet, tweet like a little birdie.
[CHUCKLES.]
And I cannot have that.
[GROANS.]
Now [LAUGHING.]
This isn't really an option.
[LAUGHING.]
Mm.
If I were to hit you on the head with a tomahawk, being part Shawnee, I'd be feeding into a nasty stereotype, one that could cost the Atlanta Braves their very best rally cry.
So being the politically correct person I fancy myself to be, - I will spare you the tomahawk.
- No.
You get the pickax.
[GRUNTS.]
You get it twice.
[EXHALES SHARPLY.]
[DRAMATIC ROCK MUSIC.]
[DOG BARKING DISTANTLY.]
[SIGHS.]
What's with the getup? The getup? It's your vision.
You tell me.
Tell me who killed you first.
Ah, the old Faustian bargain.
A pact with the devil.
Your soul in hell for honor, power, wealth, fame and the love of women on Earth.
Freud said that last part, not the other fella.
You know what your problem is? I'm your hero.
The fuck does that mean? [MOCKINGLY.]
"The fuck does that mean?" You read all my books.
You told me one time, you read all the books.
So you saw greatness and maybe craved a little bit for yourself.
And it never came.
You whiffed on Mr.
Mercedes.
Couldn't even solve that until it was too late.
And now you're left with me.
And you're not even getting paid.
[LAUGHS.]
You forgot about the reward money.
Oh, really, the reward money.
That's what you've been chasing, the big reward? You know what you are? You're a lying fuck.
Because this is about one thing: to give your life meaning, to make it matter that you even lived.
The jury arrived at its unanimous verdict at 10:47 p.
m.
last night, which means they deliberated for about seven hours total.
A fast deliberation, no question.
All right, then.
[CLEARS THROAT.]
It is my understanding that the jury has reached a unanimous verdict? - We have, Your Honor.
- All right.
Well, Bailiff, would you please bring that to me? I will read the verdict.
Would the defendant please rise? The verdict [CLEARS THROAT.]
"We, the jury in the matter of the People of Ohio "versus Lou Linklatter "on the charge of murder in the first degree, "find the defendant, Lou Linklatter not guilty.
" - [PEOPLE MURMURING.]
- [CAMERA SHUTTERS CLICKING.]
All right, all right, hold it down.
Hold it down.
[INDISTINCT CHATTER.]
Hold it down, please.
"On the second charge of murder in the second degree, "we, the jury, find the defendant, "Lou Linklatter guilty.
" [PEOPLE GASPING.]
The defendant will be remanded into custody.
Members of the jury, thank you.
That concludes your service.
Yes, and you are dismissed with the court's thanks.
- [PEOPLE MURMURING.]
- [WHISPERING.]
It's okay.
It's okay.
Counsel, we need to set a date for the pleading.
How much time will you need? We're ready now, Judge.
Well, then okay.
Without objection, we will reconvene at 3:00, all right? 3:00, so ordered.
Take her into custody.
- [GAVEL BANGS.]
- We are adjourned.
- Please, sir, please.
- Lou, we still have to get through the sentencing.
Stay calm.
Please don't do this! - Please! - No, it's okay.
No, no, no! No! - Take it easy.
- No, what's happening? Oh, my God, please! - No! - I love you, Lou! No! [REPORTERS CLAMORING.]
Detective.
[REPORTERS CLAMORING.]
Sir, Mr.
Hodges, any comment? - Not a good time.
- Sir.
Sir, comment? What's with the immediate sentencing? I asked you a question! I heard you.
I'm hoping there will be some outrage over the verdict.
Best we do the sentencing in the throes of that outrage because once the fury subsides, the judge will resort to sentencing guidelines, which puts Lou in prison for 20-plus years.
- Wait, 20 years? - Yes.
If ever we needed this judge to go rogue, it's now.
Go rogue? That conniving prick set up the second degree in his instruction to the jury.
Why didn't you see that coming? This is basically as bad as murder one.
- I understand that.
- Bill.
Something's come up.
Bill, now.
- [SIREN WAILS.]
- [INDISTINCT CHATTER.]
So, what, now you're holding out on me? When you say you met the guy I told ya, I called into his store.
I asked him if anyone had been in offering Rothstein material, and he said there hadn't.
- Well, there's - That's it.
There's no way there isn't a connection.
First Rothstein, now the owner of a rare bookstore? Security cameras? Of course not.
That'd be too easy.
There were cameras.
They took them.
They took computers and the footage too.
All right.
He's with me.
- You get a positive ID? - Not yet.
We're having trouble notifying next of kin.
- Shit.
- How you doing? Hey, wait a minute.
You can identify him.
You must be joking.
You just told me that you met him.
- So did you guys.
- Yeah, but our guys are not here, not the guys that interviewed him.
Look, if you can't, you can't.
But you're here.
Fine, fine.
Looks like him.
I only met him the once, and he was cracking wise, but he ain't so much now.
Yeah, that's him.
The proprietor, Halliday.
Took a hell of a blow or two.
Fuck.
Don't touch that.
Just leave it.
The fuck is that? - What does it look like? - What? Gotta be kidding me.
Oh, fuck.
I've been flipped off by a few assholes in my day but not literally.
There's something going on, but I can't put me finger on it.
- All right.
- [LAUGHTER.]
Look over here.
The fuck? Jeez.
Oh, shit.
He was a registered child sex offender.
Looks like somebody got payback.
- - Yeah.
Holy shit.
Just when you think you've seen everything.
I don't buy it.
This payback for a pedophile thing, I don't buy that.
It's gotta be connected with Rothstein, right? Maybe, maybe not.
Jesus fuck.
You're not kidding.
You know, growing up, I hated school.
Like doing homework.
My father would always say, "Get your finger out of your ass and hit them books.
" This guy literally made a career out of hitting the books, ends up with a finger up his ass.
I'm just saying.
[TENSE ROCK MUSIC.]
You killed him? I had to.
After I chopped his fingers off, my options became limited.
Jesus fucking Christ.
You're talking to me about Thomas Paine, Daniel Shays, Molly fucking Maguires, telling me to be a beacon and you're chopping off fingers, cratering heads with a pickax? Because we're running out of time, Morris.
Peter Saubers has the books, so that much was confirmed.
So our scope can officially narrow.
[EXHALES SHARPLY.]
So what now? I'm not sure, since he's armed and dangerous.
He's got something we want.
We need to get something he wants.
Make a little trade.
- What do you mean? - Grab his little doggy.
[LAUGHS.]
I'm sorry.
Or better yet, his mommy or daddy.
What's our endgame? Our endgame is to get those books and then get out of Dodge, and it can be done.
All righty, then.
Here we go agai No, no.
I don't need to hear from counsel.
- Your Honor - No.
If you're gonna file an appeal, go right ahead.
But on sentencing, I don't need to hear from you, and I won't.
Ms.
Linklatter, stand up.
I will hear from you if you have anything to say.
Uh no, not really.
I think that my testimony pretty much covered it.
I'm sorry.
I guess.
Okay, then.
Judge, if I may be heard? No.
No, you may not.
Judge, I would like to be heard.
[GROANS.]
Mm.
I will give you 30 seconds.
29 seconds.
This whole proceeding seems a bit upside down.
Good guy is on trial for dispatching the bad guy, the evil one.
Many of us here are a bit out to sea.
Well, me more than most, if I'm honest.
20 seconds.
I was always taken with the notion that America was formed on the basis that we stand our ground to protect our own, in our own home, even in a courtroom.
When the law isn't here, when it no longer protects us, order demands that we protect ourselves.
Maybe jail is where Lou belongs, you know? I mean, in an unjust world, the only place for a just person is prison.
Somebody said that, Thoreau or somebody, I think.
Yeah, Pontius Pilate, you know, was the first one to wash his hands of injustice.
And I imagine you relate to him.
Yeah, well, he wasn't a real judge in the end.
I am.
Yeah, you've followed the law.
And good on you.
Nobody can deny it.
But the question is, will you do justice? What you do in the next ten minutes, right now will be your legacy.
[SIGHS.]
I am required by law to ask if the victim's family or friends have anything they wish to say.
Anybody? Nobody? All right, then.
[CHUCKLES.]
No, you've had your turn, Ms.
Linklatter.
I had my turn for me.
You asked if anyone wanted to speak for Brady.
I'd like to speak for Brady.
I think [PEOPLE MURMURING.]
I think somebody should.
As evil as he was, he wasn't all evil.
As damaged of a man as he was, he was also very capable of humanity.
And love.
He loved and was loved by his mother.
And he loved And was loved by me.
[SNIFFLES.]
He wasn't all evil.
He wasn't.
There was some There was some really good in there too.
Ms.
Linklatter.
You've been found guilty by a jury of your peers of committing murder in the second degree.
It is the ruling of this court that you be sentenced to 15 years in the Ohio State Penitentiary.
Now, due to the unique underlying circumstances of your criminal conduct I'm going to give you credit for the nine months already served.
And I'm going to suspend the remainder of your sentence.
- [APPLAUSE.]
- [GAVEL BANGS.]
Quiet.
Quiet! I'll have - [APPLAUSE CONTINUES.]
- All right.
Quiet.
I will have quiet.
[CAMERA SHUTTERS CLICKING.]
I said from the start, I'd let conscience be my guide.
[CRYING.]
But, Ms.
Linklatter, going forward, you'd better damn well make sure that you let it be yours, because if you run afoul of the law in any way, I will rescind that suspension and reinstate the full sentence to be served.
Am I making myself clear? Yes, Your Honor, and thank you.
I'm going way out on a limb for you, young lady.
Don't make me regret it.
I absolutely won't, Your Honor.
And don't you be killing anybody else.
I won't, Your Honor.
All right, you're gonna go back into custody just for a bit until they can process you out.
All right? - We're adjourned.
- [GAVEL BANGS.]
[LAUGHING.]
[PEOPLE MURMURING.]
How about that? Right.
You did it.
Excuse me.
[INDISTINCT CHATTER.]
- [LAUGHS.]
Thank you.
- You're innocent.
- [GROANING.]
- You did it, huh? Hey.
[INDISTINCT CHATTER.]
Well played.
Good work.
Thank you.
That was great.
[BOTH CHUCKLING.]
You don't seem happy.
No, I am.
Couldn't have asked for a better result.
But? It's just the anarchy of it.
Well, the law be damned.
- Crumbling foundations.
- Yeah.
I mean, I'm glad for Lou.
[GROANS.]
You know Rothstein spoke of a pending apocalypse.
He said we're just at the end of the beginning of the world turning to absolute shit.
You know what? Let's just let's just give Rothstein a rest, shall we? Let's turn to Huxley, if you're so determined to drink to dystopia.
A brave new world it is.
Tell me something.
How did a lump like you get to be so literate? My father.
The only thing he gave me before he fucked off A love of books, reading.
Places they bring me, I suppose, seeing as he wasn't going to be there to bring me anywhere himself, that prick.
Where's it from, the title, then, "Brave New World"? Please.
Shakespeare.
Well, yes, but which? "The Tempest.
" Mm-hmm.
"How many goodly creatures are there here?" "How beauteous mankind is.
" "O brave new world " BOTH: "That has such people in it.
" [SNICKERS.]
Yeah.
[TENSE MUSIC.]
[WOOD CREAKING.]
[FOOTSTEPS SHUFFLING.]
[GUNSHOT.]
[GUNFIRE.]