Homicide: Life on the Street s04e07 Episode Script
Heartbeat
'I was the one who was always afraid of the dark, remember? 'You slept like a dead man.
'Thunder and lightning? You wouldn't make a peep.
'I was the one waking up night after night 'with a bloody mouth from biting my lips.
'You remember? ' I really appreciate you helping us out.
I just got so tired of punching the clock, you know, "Hold the pickle, hold the lettuce.
" How many times can you hear that before you start howling at the moon? And like the corporate giants of petroleum are gonna miss $153.
Take a pill, get real.
You know, I'd have someone take a look at that cut.
It's a doozy.
I'm a little bit country.
Yeah.
And I'm a little bit rock 'n' roll.
- Mi espalda me duele mucho.
- What? - It means, "my back hurts" in Spanish.
- Really? - Yeah.
Want to try another? - No, I don't.
¿Cómo se fue su fin de semana, Francisco? - What? It's my book! - Give me the damn It's my book! Why learn Spanish? It's an interesting language.
And we share the Western Hemisphere with a billion Spanish-speaking people And it's a jag-load easier than French.
But you live in Baltimore.
There must be eight Spanish-speaking people here? Part of language retention is practice.
Who'll you practise with? My chiropractor from Chihuahua.
They named a town in Mexico after a rat-dog? No, Frank.
They named the rat-dog after the town.
Why is every question like a "Meet The Press" discussion? Just answer the damn question! ¿Cómo se fue su fin de semana? - How was your weekend, Frank? - Hmm? It el sucko-ed the biggo wiener-o.
- There, I'm bilingual.
- You are the ugly American.
Don't get personal.
Mary's having a biblical bout of morning sickness, but she refuses to vomit, even though she knows it'll make her feel better.
So all she did this weekend was lie around and moan, eat saltines and yell at me for telling her, - "Throw up!" - Right.
Business or pleasure? - One doesn't carry this for pleasure.
- Oh? Hookers do.
- Prostitution is a business, not pleasure.
- Yeah.
I still don't get that.
- Hey! - ¡Qué! Hey, could could you Hey, pull over! I gotta make a call! 'So you'd go crying into Mama's room.
'Remember how she never comforted you.
'She'd just call you "sissy boy" and tell you to get back to bed.
'You'd have been a hopeless bag of crap without me.
'But you don't have to be afraid of things that go bump in the night 'if you become the thing that lurks in the darkness.
'Mum found that out the hard way, huh? 'Am I right? ' - Megan, good morning.
- Good morning, Al.
- Nice to be home again, huh? - Yeah, it's nice to be home, except all the mice in the basement have moved upstairs, so now I'm taking bids on exterminators.
It's kind of like police work, but different.
- I need you to tell me something.
- Oh Al, look if it's about broken-down Cavaliers, overtime, or more detectives, I swear I'm on it.
- Which tie? - What? Usually I bluff my way through my wardrobe, but today I'm at a loss.
I'm meeting my daughter, Charisse, for lunch and I need some advice.
Oh, let's see.
OK, this one's this one's very fatherly and wise, and this one is frayed and has a stain on it.
I know.
I got some oil on it the last time I made dinner for Charisse.
Oh.
Oh, yeah? When was that? June '92.
Wait a minute.
You haven't made dinner for Charisse in three years? She lives in Richmond.
Usually when she visits, we go out, - but I'm taking her to the Polo Grill.
- Oh! - I haven't seen her in months.
- Yeah? Then, you know what? Go with the stain, if for nothing else than for purely sentimental reasons.
Hey, man! Mikey, Mikey, I get one thing wrong on my entry form, - I could blow my chance of winning.
- A coffee stain's gonna cost you - $10 million? - I can't take any chances.
Your RSVP to Ed McMahon has to wait.
I got us signed up for range time.
- It's firearms re-qualification time? - Yeah.
Everyone's gotta get checked.
Today's the last day.
- OK.
Where's my release form? - What release form? In case I win.
Ed McMahon pulls up in my driveway, I gotta give permission to put my handsome face on billboards and big screens across the country.
Meldrick, you're not gonna win OK? You're just licking Marilyn Monroe's butt in the form of a commemorative stamp.
I'm in the finals.
Prisoners in China are in the final draw.
Anyone breathing gets one of these.
I can't take any chances.
Gee, it's humiliating to have the public see two veteran homicide detectives towed to crime scenes.
You both know Special Agent Van Brandt of the FBI.
- Miami Steve.
- At least give us bus tokens.
- I'm on it, Frank.
- You two should work for Big Brother.
We have newer cars, better health insurance.
- We chase bad guys past the state line.
- The reason Van Brandt is here.
It seems we have a thrill killer heading north up l-95.
Can one of you get the shade? The killer walked into a convenience store in Jacksonville, Florida, pulled a 12-gauge side-by-side and blew the heart out of the cashier.
Six hours later, two truckers had their heads blown off at a truck plaza in Savannah, Georgia.
Then he must have taken a nap, cos eight hours after that at 3:00am, a 22-year-old black woman at a gas station in St George, South Carolina and then another gas-station attendant in Fayetteville, North Carolina - at about seven this morning.
- Man! What's the hurry? At his current pace, and if he stays on the interstate, he should be in your area code by dinnertime.
Only a long-term speed freak could drive and kill at this schedule.
- You got a psych profile? - Behavioural Science at Quantico believes we're looking for a white male, late 20s, early 30s, at best a high-school dropout, abused as a child.
Started killing his pets and then worked his way up the food chain.
- Bed-wetter.
- Probably.
- How'd you know that? - I've been re-reading the "Homicide Investigation Handbook" and a thrill killer is usually impulsive, - has a loss of control over himself.
- I'd like to see the crime-scene reports.
- Think you'll see something we missed? - I'm counting on it.
Thanks.
- Thank you, guys.
- OK.
Yay-oh! If you were William Tell, you'd be in jail for shooting your kid.
Shot a hell of a lot better than you did.
I've been in Arson for four years.
In Arson you need guile and brains and guts to defend yourself.
People with Tourette's shouldn't handle firearms.
- I hit him.
- In the shoulder.
Hit a shooter in the shoulder, he just gets more pissed off, especially if he's fully automatic like we aren't.
This is the one part of the job I hate.
What? You hate guns and you're a cop? I'm my brother's keeper.
That's why I'm a cop.
Right.
Yeah, well that's very noble, very, very noble.
Wow! Death is so weird.
It's like you just squeeze a trigger and kill a person ' with so little effort.
'What's that like to be so empty of compassion, take a life in your hands 'and just pop pop ' pop! 'No fear of hell, no fear of lethal injection, 'no fear at all.
' If we catch up to this guy, you go in first, OK? 'I'm telling you, man, it's the weirdest rush of your life.
'Your lips over the mouth of a dying man, sucking in their last breath.
'After that, I usually feel like having a beer.
' Thanks very much, Richard.
Lieutenant Weston? I'm Detective Pembleton.
This is Detective Bayliss.
Baltimore City Homicide.
Probably passed the bastard on the way down.
Yeah.
We're hoping he'll keep on going.
In case he doesn't, a fresh crime would do.
Doesn't get any fresher than this.
Yeah.
Why is it that travellers never flush? Frank, would you use a disgusting place like this? When you gotta go, you gotta go.
My mother always went into public bathrooms with me, washed the seat off for me, made me put down paper.
Really? When she comes to my apartment she spends an hour disinfecting everything.
Everything! She's Howard Hughes about germs.
- Triple-ought? - Mmm.
You haven't dusted anything yet, have you? Not yet.
Since this is a public restroom on an interstate, I'm sure we'll find several hundred prints, unless, of course, your mother came in and cleaned up after the killer.
Can we speak to the guy who found the body? - Sure.
- Good.
We were just stopping for a sandwich and had to go to the toilet.
We're coming home from a visit to Gettysburg.
Now, did you buy the sandwich - before you walked to the restroom? - Yes.
- Did you see anyone walk in or out? - No.
And there was no one else in there when you walked in? - Just the dead guy.
- OK.
Is your son doing OK? Oh, yeah! He's he's really shook up.
He wants to go back and stare at the body.
What is it with kids and dead things? Too young to be afraid, I guess.
Did you see a white male, late 20s, perhaps in a cap, pull into the rest area around 1:00? No, sir.
- You're sure? - Yeah.
I empty the vending machine every day at 1:00.
- It was just me here.
- Anything? - No.
- You here this afternoon? - Yes, sir.
- Anything unusual you remember? - I already asked him that.
- Just a guy that bought the last bags of bubble gum from the machine.
- When? - About 1:15.
- You said you didn't see anyone.
- I said I didn't see no one around 1:00.
- 1:15 is different.
- Oh.
Sorry, I didn't mean to be so subtle.
What did this guy look like? Think some people work harder at being stupid than others? I'm gonna go out on a limb and say yes.
"1:15's different.
" It's different.
The killer is chalking up a new victim in every state, right? - Right.
- So he gases up, he pulls into the rest area.
Gomer the janitor, told you he remembered an old two-tone Ford pickup - Right.
that was parked in the lot.
How long does a tank of gas last in the average car? Well, the average tank is fifteen gallons.
Getting 20 miles per gallon, that's 300 miles, divided by an average of 55 miles an hour is - Probably five and a half hours.
- Right.
So that would be a big-block V-8.
- And your point? - Well, look, he killed the first in Florida, right? Then here in Georgia, then South Carolina, and then North Carolina, and every time it's at a gas station or at a truck stop.
So you think he's stopping to kill every time he fills up? Well, no one said that every killer has to be a poet.
'Look at all the nice people out driving on the nation's highways.
'Lf they only knew.
' 'lf they only knew.
'Uh-oh.
Look at that.
We need to stop for more gas.
'Where next? 'Who's next? ' So are they sending you this copy of the tyre tracks? - Yeah.
- What did Virginia State Police say? They're faxing a lab report on gum found at the crime scene.
Judy? Did Charisse call yet? No, Lieutenant.
What did you two learn on your field trip today? Well, not much.
It's the same method, but there's no physical evidence, there's no witnesses, so we gotta wait.
- That won't do! - We have no choice.
Your plan is to huddle in the one place we know the killer isn't? How inspired.
- Hi.
You got gas money? - Yeah.
- Thanks for the ride.
- Don't thank me yet.
Who's that back there? That's just my brother.
Here, you want a piece of gum? - How was lunch with Charisse? - She never showed up.
- She call? - She's just coming from Richmond.
I don't know why she's so late.
She's fine, Gee.
I know.
I know.
I'm just gonna go call her apartment again.
Al? All right, what's up? Ten minutes ago, a Maryland trooper heading south on 95 saw a two-tone Ford pickup stop for a hitchhiker on the northbound side.
It matches the vehicle description we believe our suspect to be driving.
The trooper tried to pull a U-ey, but it was rush hour.
- We need you to OK a roadblock.
- Where? - L-95, second and third lanes.
- Ah! You don't have enough to convince me to shut down two lanes of the 95.
- He may still be in the area.
- You don't know that.
The only way to confirm his presence is to find another body.
- That's what we're hoping to avoid.
- I don't know.
- It'd just be for a couple hours.
- Two.
OK.
All right, I'll call Public Works and see if I can get them to jack-knife a truck or something.
If we're gonna fool him, let's not be pansies about it, huh? Bayliss, you got a call.
It's Van Brandt.
- 'Hello.
Bayliss, Homicide.
' - Tim, it's Van Brandt.
I'm at Exit 23 off the downtown interchange at l-95.
I'm standing over another body, a black female shot in the chest and face.
Same MO, same weapon.
Got it, Steve.
We're on our way.
Guess who's here.
Oh! Hi, Daddy.
Sorry I'm late.
Ooh! My car broke down.
- Why didn't you call? - Sorry, but I was trying to get here.
It's so good to see you! - It's so good to be home.
- Oh Amazing.
Hanging by threads of pale silver I could've stayed that way forever Bad blood and ghosts wrapped tight around me Nothing could ever seem to touch me I lose what I love most - A call would have been nice.
- I'm sorry about that, but I just dropped 100 bucks on new belts and an hour into the drive the engine overheats, so I had to leave the car at a service station in Alexandria.
I was sure I'd make it for dinner.
- We were supposed to have lunch.
- Really? - Really.
- Oh, Dad, I'm sorry.
Did you hear your sister made the Dean's list at Rutgers again? Theresa? Miss Blow-Homework-Off-To-Go-See Snoop-Doggy-Dogg-Giardello? She sent home copies of it.
Three A's and a B.
She makes Al Junior and I look like you blew your money on our tuition! Dad, I have some news.
I'm leaving Richmond.
- To where? You coming home? - I'm moving to San Francisco with my fiancé.
- You're getting married? - Yes.
His name is Rob.
You're marrying Rob? We're doing it out west.
I hope you can make it.
I You want me to get it? I didn't know you broke up with the other guy.
What was his name? Henry or whatever his name was? And the little pig said, "Not by the hair of my chinny-chin-chin.
" Someone left his car in the middle of the road! - What kind of car is it? - Piece of crap blue and white pickup.
You guys oughta get He's gone! Come on! Suspect on foot! Let's go! Let's go! Check all these vehicles! Spread out.
Check the vehicles, check the meridian! Let's go! OK, everybody! - Listen up.
- Here we go.
The plates on the truck were from the car of the first victim.
The VIN number on the truck matches one registered to a Mabel Dell of Titusvilie, Florida.
Munch, find out if it was stolen, if she lent it to somebody.
The shotgun, however, was not recovered from the truck, so our bad boy is still armed and dangerous.
Agent Van Brandt, FBI.
We're looking for a white male, early 30s.
He's wearing a cat's paw-soled army surplus boot and video enhancement showed he had a ring on the left index finger.
We're cross-matching prints.
We hope to have a face by tomorrow morning.
The schedule this guy is keeping implies the use of narcotics - methamphetamines, cocaine, maybe the whole works.
He won't have much cash on him, so any bump-and-run mugging, any penny-ante burglary, we have to check out and follow through.
He's on the run a long way from home and has demonstrated an absolute lack of a need for a reason to kill.
If you come across him, call back-up and exercise extreme caution! That's all.
I saw an angel Shooting junk in Reno Blinded by the Devil Playing chequers in the park They're all out to get me But I can't find no one today Won't somebody help me? Just you don't get in my way 'Police released this sketch of a suspect ' Check this out.
'Watch for his dog tags and army boots.
'Lf you see this man, dial 911 immediately.
'He is considered armed and may be headed to Baltimore 'after killing several people along l-95 at gas stations and rest stops.
'Again, dial 911 if you see this man.
'I'm Dawn Daniels reporting live.
Back to you in the studio.
' 'Mabel Dell of Titusville has disappeared.
'Last seen by the local police' responding to a domestic disturbance at her house.
- ' Cause? ' - Her son was beating her - but never arrested.
- What's this son's name? 'She had two, but the wacky spud who ignored the fifth commandment - 'was named Newton Dell.
' - It's the fourth commandment, John.
'Maybe in your church.
' She must have smoked a lot while pregnant with Newton.
By puberty, he had arrests for petty theft, then two counts of cruelty to animals for mutilating neighbourhood strays.
'Mr "Even Keel" disappeared the same time Mabel did.
Page two.
' - What? - 'Nothing.
It's a Paul Harvey thing - 'I've always wanted to do.
Out.
' - Out.
Well, as they say, if it's not one thing, it's your mother.
- 'Pembleton? ' - Pembleton.
'It's Kellerman.
Get on your horse.
He just walked out of a bar - 'at Retreat and Francis.
' - Over.
- Hey, hey, hey! - Dell was in here all morning.
What? You interviewed the owner an hour ago.
He was sitting at the end of the bar the whole time.
We only got that fax 20 minutes ago.
We didn't know what he looked like.
- Where's the owner? - Already questioned him.
- As well as the first time? - Hey, take a deep breath and spank yourself! We re-interviewed him.
Dell went out the back.
And we ordered a sweep for the area, OK? He left this.
Looks like a clean thumb print right there.
- Mike, Meldrick - No, no, no! - Don't even bother to say sorry.
- I wasn't about to.
I was gonna say I'll interview the owner my damn self! He had no friends growing up.
- Munch! - Yes.
Get another body and meet Frank and Tim at Retreat and Francis.
- Dell's been spotted downtown.
- Right.
And make sure everybody's wearing a vest.
You hear me? Yes, sir.
Hi.
Thanks for the charge card, but I couldn't find anything I wanted.
Sorry I couldn't be with you I'm in the middle of a redball.
There's always a redball around you.
I spoke to Rob this morning and he wants to get a jump on packing, so I was gonna leave tonight.
I'd like it if you could spend one more day.
- I can't.
- Sweetheart, you can't imagine what it is to sit here and learn about everything after the fact.
Daddy, be honest.
We've never had the kind of relationship where we include each other in every decision.
- That's not the point.
- It's exactly the point! If you don't have a say, you turn into a bully.
Charisse just because a child leaves home, gets married, has their own family, doesn't mean that you stop being a parent or stop caring.
Now, grant me that respect, OK? - You're not respecting me.
- You're not giving me reason to.
I don't have time to walk you through the reasons I live my life the way I do.
Charisse, wait a minute.
Now, just just Just let me go.
- Cash or charge, ma'am? - Charge, please.
- I'm sorry.
Your card wasn't accepted.
- That's ridiculous.
The credit company's on the phone.
Why don't you come inside and talk to them? - I will not.
- Ma'am, they said you had to.
For crying out loud! - Argh! What in the hell are you doing? - Your credit card's fine.
There's a man lying on the floor of the back seat of your car.
Do you need Police, Fire or Ambulance? - Police.
- 'What do you wanna report? ' That guy who's been killing people on the interstate? Yeah, he's here.
- He's in the back of a lady's Lincoln.
- Do you have a description? He had dark pants, dark jacket, he's wearing a ball cap, I think.
I know it's him.
Can you get some cops here? Stay on the line, please.
- 'This is Giardello.
' - This is the Emergency Operator.
A suspect matching the description of an APB issued by your unit for a Newton Dell has been reported.
'At present the suspect is at Hunter's Gas Station 'at 809 North Point Road.
' Pembleton, Bayliss, I think we've got Newton Dell! Sir, ma'am, come with me! Get down, stay calm! 'Newton Dell, 'we are the Baltimore City Police! 'You are surrounded! ' - I'm not trying to get away! - 'Step out of the car, 'get on your knees, lay face down on the ground, 'hands behind your head.
' - You're not gonna shoot me? - 'Get out of the car! - 'Don't move.
Get down on the ground.
' - If I get on the ground, - I'm gonna have to move.
- 'On the ground! 'Hands behind your head! You're under arrest for suspicion of murder.
Why are you so nervous, Officer? You're the one with the gun.
You have the right to remain silent.
Anything you say and do - can be used against you in court.
- You riding? Yeah.
You have the right to an attorney.
'Dawn, you're on.
' Moments ago, Newton Dell, a suspect in a string of cross-country murders 'was brought to police headquarters for processing.
'Dell, from Titusville, Florida, is being questioned by homicide detectives.
' Newton Dell.
Mind if I call you Newt? - God, yes.
- You don't like that name? - Would you? - Why leave your truck? - It's not my truck.
- That's right.
It's your mother's.
- Did you call her? - No.
- Why not? - We're not on speaking terms.
- Is that why you beat her up? - Essentially, yeah.
Tell me, Newt, why did you run away? Are you guilty of something? This chair's uncomfortable.
Your truck or not, you left gum wrappers, clothes, a overdue library book, and some spent shotgun shells covered with your prints in that truck.
Remember your rights being read? - Yes, sir.
- And what you were charged with? - Yes, sir.
- You're very polite.
- I try to remember my manners.
- Did you kill Wendy Simpkins? - I never heard of her.
- You picked her up hitchhiking.
- Oh, that was her name.
- You admit you knew her? - Briefly.
- Remember what you did to her? - I offered her some gum.
- Wendy Simpkins was 23-years-old.
- I was 23 once.
- But by that time, you'd been arrested a dozen times for petty theft - and, oh, cruelty to animals.
- How can you be cruel to an animal? It's just an animal.
It's not a person.
When you bash your neighbour's cat with a roller skate and stuff it in a mailbox, that qualifies.
You're right when you put it that way.
Detectives from Jacksonville, Savannah, Alexandria and other places - are waiting to talk to you.
- About what? - What you've been up to.
- I haven't done anything.
- Where's the shotgun, Newton? - I don't own a shotgun.
You know something? He didn't ask you if you owned one.
He asked you where the one is that you've been using.
I don't have a gun.
I hate guns.
They're loud.
- You're a killer, Newton, - No, I'm a Presbyterian.
No, Newton, you are doomed.
We have you on camera.
Your prints cover that truck.
We know where you've been and whose lives you've taken, so please be a big boy now.
Be as brave and well-mannered as you were when you stuck that barrel of that non-existent shotgun into Wendy's head and blew her the top of head off.
Just admit to it.
Maybe she'll forgive you.
I I I told him.
I said, "You can't be that cruel to people.
Their spirits will come after you.
"Their spirits won't let you sleep no more.
The dead don't always die.
"They'll want their time on Earth back, want answers.
" But he just laughed and made me watch him kill all those people.
- Who made you watch, Newton? - I can't say.
I can't betray him.
- Who, your evil twin? - I love him.
Wait a minute.
Are you already moving towards some psycho defence? Is that what you're doing? Let me save you the time.
Because I will vouch in court that you're crazier than a crap-house rat! Does that make you happy? He said humans are insects, only after the Apocalypse we won't last as long as they will.
He said to kill a person, was like swatting a fly! No big deal! - You killed Wendy Simpkins.
- No! - Say it.
- No.
- Say it! Come on! - No, I can't! - Why not? - It would be a lie.
Forget it.
He don't have to say it.
We got him on camera, we got his prints, and after the jury sees the autopsy photos, well, he's toast.
Let's give the other cops a whack at him.
I got one more question to ask you.
Were you gonna kill that woman at the gas station? No, no, really, I I'm not a killer.
I told you that.
Then why did you get into her car? You wanted us to catch you? As they say in nursing homes all across the country, "Bingo.
" - Why? - I had to get away from him.
Broken record.
Ever wonder why both doors of the truck were open? Did you find the bedding on the jump seat? That's where I slept when he drove.
You just remember I didn't betray him.
Don't you tell him I did! I didn't say his name.
It's just he's gone too far! What the hell do you mean by that? What the hell's that supposed to mean? It means your work is far from over.
OK.
Detective Pembleton, Baltimore Homicide.
Well? He confessed to picking up Simpkins, but not to killing her.
Get enough for the US Attorney? Oh, yeah, more than enough, but this guy's gonna plead psycho.
Well, at least you got him.
I wish they could all be this easy.
This was easy? Roadblocks, manhunts and seven new holes dug from here to Florida? You know what I mean.
Thanks, Tim.
All right.
Frank what do you think Dell meant when he said our work is far from over? I got nothing on it.
Maybe he's a legit psycho and believes his alter ego's still running around out somewhere out there.
He's locked up, which means I can go home.
You'll sleep better now knowing that? Yes.
- Goodnight, Tim.
- Yeah.
- Hi, Megan.
- Hey.
Good work today, Al.
Yeah.
It wasn't just another day at the office, you know.
I know, I know.
I had another in a long line of fallouts with Charisse this afternoon.
It seems I have a knack for pissing off the ones I love the most.
I tried to reach her at home, but she's on her way back to Richmond.
I had a knockdown drag out with my parents the summer before I went to Navy, and I swore I was gonna make them apologise, but I picked up the phone first.
When she walked out of that door I realised that, at the end of the day, she and her brother and her sister are all that I have.
Megan my family is my life savings and each day that goes by I have so little time to spend it.
You know what I mean? I know exactly what you mean.
- I'll see you tomorrow.
- OK, Al.
- Hey, take it easy, Al.
OK? - All right.
¡Qué sorpresa! - Bayliss, Homicide.
- 'You got the wrong guy.
' - Excuse me? - 'You got the wrong guy.
' - Munch, Is that you? - 'Newton Dell didn't kill a soul.
' - I see.
I suppose you're the real killer? - 'Oh, yeah.
' Oh, yeah.
- Hear about the arrest on the news? - 'Yeah.
' Well, you know, this happens.
A high-profile killer gets arrested, sad-sacks like you need some spotlight too.
Well, not tonight, amigo.
- 'You got the wrong guy.
' - Come on, buddy 'You know how you love your parents cos you have to, 'then one day you look in the crib and see the one person who you can love 'because you want to, the one who is always on your side.
'Well, that's Newton and I can't have him suffering for me.
- 'I'm the one you want.
' - No, no, no.
We got our guy.
'No, you don't! And I can prove it.
' 'I'll be waiting for you.
' Hey? Hey, you still there? Nothing could ever seem to touch me I lose what I love most - Give me the hands! - Now! Stroke of luck or gift from God? Hand of fate or Devil's claws? From below or saints above? Howdy.
'Thunder and lightning? You wouldn't make a peep.
'I was the one waking up night after night 'with a bloody mouth from biting my lips.
'You remember? ' I really appreciate you helping us out.
I just got so tired of punching the clock, you know, "Hold the pickle, hold the lettuce.
" How many times can you hear that before you start howling at the moon? And like the corporate giants of petroleum are gonna miss $153.
Take a pill, get real.
You know, I'd have someone take a look at that cut.
It's a doozy.
I'm a little bit country.
Yeah.
And I'm a little bit rock 'n' roll.
- Mi espalda me duele mucho.
- What? - It means, "my back hurts" in Spanish.
- Really? - Yeah.
Want to try another? - No, I don't.
¿Cómo se fue su fin de semana, Francisco? - What? It's my book! - Give me the damn It's my book! Why learn Spanish? It's an interesting language.
And we share the Western Hemisphere with a billion Spanish-speaking people And it's a jag-load easier than French.
But you live in Baltimore.
There must be eight Spanish-speaking people here? Part of language retention is practice.
Who'll you practise with? My chiropractor from Chihuahua.
They named a town in Mexico after a rat-dog? No, Frank.
They named the rat-dog after the town.
Why is every question like a "Meet The Press" discussion? Just answer the damn question! ¿Cómo se fue su fin de semana? - How was your weekend, Frank? - Hmm? It el sucko-ed the biggo wiener-o.
- There, I'm bilingual.
- You are the ugly American.
Don't get personal.
Mary's having a biblical bout of morning sickness, but she refuses to vomit, even though she knows it'll make her feel better.
So all she did this weekend was lie around and moan, eat saltines and yell at me for telling her, - "Throw up!" - Right.
Business or pleasure? - One doesn't carry this for pleasure.
- Oh? Hookers do.
- Prostitution is a business, not pleasure.
- Yeah.
I still don't get that.
- Hey! - ¡Qué! Hey, could could you Hey, pull over! I gotta make a call! 'So you'd go crying into Mama's room.
'Remember how she never comforted you.
'She'd just call you "sissy boy" and tell you to get back to bed.
'You'd have been a hopeless bag of crap without me.
'But you don't have to be afraid of things that go bump in the night 'if you become the thing that lurks in the darkness.
'Mum found that out the hard way, huh? 'Am I right? ' - Megan, good morning.
- Good morning, Al.
- Nice to be home again, huh? - Yeah, it's nice to be home, except all the mice in the basement have moved upstairs, so now I'm taking bids on exterminators.
It's kind of like police work, but different.
- I need you to tell me something.
- Oh Al, look if it's about broken-down Cavaliers, overtime, or more detectives, I swear I'm on it.
- Which tie? - What? Usually I bluff my way through my wardrobe, but today I'm at a loss.
I'm meeting my daughter, Charisse, for lunch and I need some advice.
Oh, let's see.
OK, this one's this one's very fatherly and wise, and this one is frayed and has a stain on it.
I know.
I got some oil on it the last time I made dinner for Charisse.
Oh.
Oh, yeah? When was that? June '92.
Wait a minute.
You haven't made dinner for Charisse in three years? She lives in Richmond.
Usually when she visits, we go out, - but I'm taking her to the Polo Grill.
- Oh! - I haven't seen her in months.
- Yeah? Then, you know what? Go with the stain, if for nothing else than for purely sentimental reasons.
Hey, man! Mikey, Mikey, I get one thing wrong on my entry form, - I could blow my chance of winning.
- A coffee stain's gonna cost you - $10 million? - I can't take any chances.
Your RSVP to Ed McMahon has to wait.
I got us signed up for range time.
- It's firearms re-qualification time? - Yeah.
Everyone's gotta get checked.
Today's the last day.
- OK.
Where's my release form? - What release form? In case I win.
Ed McMahon pulls up in my driveway, I gotta give permission to put my handsome face on billboards and big screens across the country.
Meldrick, you're not gonna win OK? You're just licking Marilyn Monroe's butt in the form of a commemorative stamp.
I'm in the finals.
Prisoners in China are in the final draw.
Anyone breathing gets one of these.
I can't take any chances.
Gee, it's humiliating to have the public see two veteran homicide detectives towed to crime scenes.
You both know Special Agent Van Brandt of the FBI.
- Miami Steve.
- At least give us bus tokens.
- I'm on it, Frank.
- You two should work for Big Brother.
We have newer cars, better health insurance.
- We chase bad guys past the state line.
- The reason Van Brandt is here.
It seems we have a thrill killer heading north up l-95.
Can one of you get the shade? The killer walked into a convenience store in Jacksonville, Florida, pulled a 12-gauge side-by-side and blew the heart out of the cashier.
Six hours later, two truckers had their heads blown off at a truck plaza in Savannah, Georgia.
Then he must have taken a nap, cos eight hours after that at 3:00am, a 22-year-old black woman at a gas station in St George, South Carolina and then another gas-station attendant in Fayetteville, North Carolina - at about seven this morning.
- Man! What's the hurry? At his current pace, and if he stays on the interstate, he should be in your area code by dinnertime.
Only a long-term speed freak could drive and kill at this schedule.
- You got a psych profile? - Behavioural Science at Quantico believes we're looking for a white male, late 20s, early 30s, at best a high-school dropout, abused as a child.
Started killing his pets and then worked his way up the food chain.
- Bed-wetter.
- Probably.
- How'd you know that? - I've been re-reading the "Homicide Investigation Handbook" and a thrill killer is usually impulsive, - has a loss of control over himself.
- I'd like to see the crime-scene reports.
- Think you'll see something we missed? - I'm counting on it.
Thanks.
- Thank you, guys.
- OK.
Yay-oh! If you were William Tell, you'd be in jail for shooting your kid.
Shot a hell of a lot better than you did.
I've been in Arson for four years.
In Arson you need guile and brains and guts to defend yourself.
People with Tourette's shouldn't handle firearms.
- I hit him.
- In the shoulder.
Hit a shooter in the shoulder, he just gets more pissed off, especially if he's fully automatic like we aren't.
This is the one part of the job I hate.
What? You hate guns and you're a cop? I'm my brother's keeper.
That's why I'm a cop.
Right.
Yeah, well that's very noble, very, very noble.
Wow! Death is so weird.
It's like you just squeeze a trigger and kill a person ' with so little effort.
'What's that like to be so empty of compassion, take a life in your hands 'and just pop pop ' pop! 'No fear of hell, no fear of lethal injection, 'no fear at all.
' If we catch up to this guy, you go in first, OK? 'I'm telling you, man, it's the weirdest rush of your life.
'Your lips over the mouth of a dying man, sucking in their last breath.
'After that, I usually feel like having a beer.
' Thanks very much, Richard.
Lieutenant Weston? I'm Detective Pembleton.
This is Detective Bayliss.
Baltimore City Homicide.
Probably passed the bastard on the way down.
Yeah.
We're hoping he'll keep on going.
In case he doesn't, a fresh crime would do.
Doesn't get any fresher than this.
Yeah.
Why is it that travellers never flush? Frank, would you use a disgusting place like this? When you gotta go, you gotta go.
My mother always went into public bathrooms with me, washed the seat off for me, made me put down paper.
Really? When she comes to my apartment she spends an hour disinfecting everything.
Everything! She's Howard Hughes about germs.
- Triple-ought? - Mmm.
You haven't dusted anything yet, have you? Not yet.
Since this is a public restroom on an interstate, I'm sure we'll find several hundred prints, unless, of course, your mother came in and cleaned up after the killer.
Can we speak to the guy who found the body? - Sure.
- Good.
We were just stopping for a sandwich and had to go to the toilet.
We're coming home from a visit to Gettysburg.
Now, did you buy the sandwich - before you walked to the restroom? - Yes.
- Did you see anyone walk in or out? - No.
And there was no one else in there when you walked in? - Just the dead guy.
- OK.
Is your son doing OK? Oh, yeah! He's he's really shook up.
He wants to go back and stare at the body.
What is it with kids and dead things? Too young to be afraid, I guess.
Did you see a white male, late 20s, perhaps in a cap, pull into the rest area around 1:00? No, sir.
- You're sure? - Yeah.
I empty the vending machine every day at 1:00.
- It was just me here.
- Anything? - No.
- You here this afternoon? - Yes, sir.
- Anything unusual you remember? - I already asked him that.
- Just a guy that bought the last bags of bubble gum from the machine.
- When? - About 1:15.
- You said you didn't see anyone.
- I said I didn't see no one around 1:00.
- 1:15 is different.
- Oh.
Sorry, I didn't mean to be so subtle.
What did this guy look like? Think some people work harder at being stupid than others? I'm gonna go out on a limb and say yes.
"1:15's different.
" It's different.
The killer is chalking up a new victim in every state, right? - Right.
- So he gases up, he pulls into the rest area.
Gomer the janitor, told you he remembered an old two-tone Ford pickup - Right.
that was parked in the lot.
How long does a tank of gas last in the average car? Well, the average tank is fifteen gallons.
Getting 20 miles per gallon, that's 300 miles, divided by an average of 55 miles an hour is - Probably five and a half hours.
- Right.
So that would be a big-block V-8.
- And your point? - Well, look, he killed the first in Florida, right? Then here in Georgia, then South Carolina, and then North Carolina, and every time it's at a gas station or at a truck stop.
So you think he's stopping to kill every time he fills up? Well, no one said that every killer has to be a poet.
'Look at all the nice people out driving on the nation's highways.
'Lf they only knew.
' 'lf they only knew.
'Uh-oh.
Look at that.
We need to stop for more gas.
'Where next? 'Who's next? ' So are they sending you this copy of the tyre tracks? - Yeah.
- What did Virginia State Police say? They're faxing a lab report on gum found at the crime scene.
Judy? Did Charisse call yet? No, Lieutenant.
What did you two learn on your field trip today? Well, not much.
It's the same method, but there's no physical evidence, there's no witnesses, so we gotta wait.
- That won't do! - We have no choice.
Your plan is to huddle in the one place we know the killer isn't? How inspired.
- Hi.
You got gas money? - Yeah.
- Thanks for the ride.
- Don't thank me yet.
Who's that back there? That's just my brother.
Here, you want a piece of gum? - How was lunch with Charisse? - She never showed up.
- She call? - She's just coming from Richmond.
I don't know why she's so late.
She's fine, Gee.
I know.
I know.
I'm just gonna go call her apartment again.
Al? All right, what's up? Ten minutes ago, a Maryland trooper heading south on 95 saw a two-tone Ford pickup stop for a hitchhiker on the northbound side.
It matches the vehicle description we believe our suspect to be driving.
The trooper tried to pull a U-ey, but it was rush hour.
- We need you to OK a roadblock.
- Where? - L-95, second and third lanes.
- Ah! You don't have enough to convince me to shut down two lanes of the 95.
- He may still be in the area.
- You don't know that.
The only way to confirm his presence is to find another body.
- That's what we're hoping to avoid.
- I don't know.
- It'd just be for a couple hours.
- Two.
OK.
All right, I'll call Public Works and see if I can get them to jack-knife a truck or something.
If we're gonna fool him, let's not be pansies about it, huh? Bayliss, you got a call.
It's Van Brandt.
- 'Hello.
Bayliss, Homicide.
' - Tim, it's Van Brandt.
I'm at Exit 23 off the downtown interchange at l-95.
I'm standing over another body, a black female shot in the chest and face.
Same MO, same weapon.
Got it, Steve.
We're on our way.
Guess who's here.
Oh! Hi, Daddy.
Sorry I'm late.
Ooh! My car broke down.
- Why didn't you call? - Sorry, but I was trying to get here.
It's so good to see you! - It's so good to be home.
- Oh Amazing.
Hanging by threads of pale silver I could've stayed that way forever Bad blood and ghosts wrapped tight around me Nothing could ever seem to touch me I lose what I love most - A call would have been nice.
- I'm sorry about that, but I just dropped 100 bucks on new belts and an hour into the drive the engine overheats, so I had to leave the car at a service station in Alexandria.
I was sure I'd make it for dinner.
- We were supposed to have lunch.
- Really? - Really.
- Oh, Dad, I'm sorry.
Did you hear your sister made the Dean's list at Rutgers again? Theresa? Miss Blow-Homework-Off-To-Go-See Snoop-Doggy-Dogg-Giardello? She sent home copies of it.
Three A's and a B.
She makes Al Junior and I look like you blew your money on our tuition! Dad, I have some news.
I'm leaving Richmond.
- To where? You coming home? - I'm moving to San Francisco with my fiancé.
- You're getting married? - Yes.
His name is Rob.
You're marrying Rob? We're doing it out west.
I hope you can make it.
I You want me to get it? I didn't know you broke up with the other guy.
What was his name? Henry or whatever his name was? And the little pig said, "Not by the hair of my chinny-chin-chin.
" Someone left his car in the middle of the road! - What kind of car is it? - Piece of crap blue and white pickup.
You guys oughta get He's gone! Come on! Suspect on foot! Let's go! Let's go! Check all these vehicles! Spread out.
Check the vehicles, check the meridian! Let's go! OK, everybody! - Listen up.
- Here we go.
The plates on the truck were from the car of the first victim.
The VIN number on the truck matches one registered to a Mabel Dell of Titusvilie, Florida.
Munch, find out if it was stolen, if she lent it to somebody.
The shotgun, however, was not recovered from the truck, so our bad boy is still armed and dangerous.
Agent Van Brandt, FBI.
We're looking for a white male, early 30s.
He's wearing a cat's paw-soled army surplus boot and video enhancement showed he had a ring on the left index finger.
We're cross-matching prints.
We hope to have a face by tomorrow morning.
The schedule this guy is keeping implies the use of narcotics - methamphetamines, cocaine, maybe the whole works.
He won't have much cash on him, so any bump-and-run mugging, any penny-ante burglary, we have to check out and follow through.
He's on the run a long way from home and has demonstrated an absolute lack of a need for a reason to kill.
If you come across him, call back-up and exercise extreme caution! That's all.
I saw an angel Shooting junk in Reno Blinded by the Devil Playing chequers in the park They're all out to get me But I can't find no one today Won't somebody help me? Just you don't get in my way 'Police released this sketch of a suspect ' Check this out.
'Watch for his dog tags and army boots.
'Lf you see this man, dial 911 immediately.
'He is considered armed and may be headed to Baltimore 'after killing several people along l-95 at gas stations and rest stops.
'Again, dial 911 if you see this man.
'I'm Dawn Daniels reporting live.
Back to you in the studio.
' 'Mabel Dell of Titusville has disappeared.
'Last seen by the local police' responding to a domestic disturbance at her house.
- ' Cause? ' - Her son was beating her - but never arrested.
- What's this son's name? 'She had two, but the wacky spud who ignored the fifth commandment - 'was named Newton Dell.
' - It's the fourth commandment, John.
'Maybe in your church.
' She must have smoked a lot while pregnant with Newton.
By puberty, he had arrests for petty theft, then two counts of cruelty to animals for mutilating neighbourhood strays.
'Mr "Even Keel" disappeared the same time Mabel did.
Page two.
' - What? - 'Nothing.
It's a Paul Harvey thing - 'I've always wanted to do.
Out.
' - Out.
Well, as they say, if it's not one thing, it's your mother.
- 'Pembleton? ' - Pembleton.
'It's Kellerman.
Get on your horse.
He just walked out of a bar - 'at Retreat and Francis.
' - Over.
- Hey, hey, hey! - Dell was in here all morning.
What? You interviewed the owner an hour ago.
He was sitting at the end of the bar the whole time.
We only got that fax 20 minutes ago.
We didn't know what he looked like.
- Where's the owner? - Already questioned him.
- As well as the first time? - Hey, take a deep breath and spank yourself! We re-interviewed him.
Dell went out the back.
And we ordered a sweep for the area, OK? He left this.
Looks like a clean thumb print right there.
- Mike, Meldrick - No, no, no! - Don't even bother to say sorry.
- I wasn't about to.
I was gonna say I'll interview the owner my damn self! He had no friends growing up.
- Munch! - Yes.
Get another body and meet Frank and Tim at Retreat and Francis.
- Dell's been spotted downtown.
- Right.
And make sure everybody's wearing a vest.
You hear me? Yes, sir.
Hi.
Thanks for the charge card, but I couldn't find anything I wanted.
Sorry I couldn't be with you I'm in the middle of a redball.
There's always a redball around you.
I spoke to Rob this morning and he wants to get a jump on packing, so I was gonna leave tonight.
I'd like it if you could spend one more day.
- I can't.
- Sweetheart, you can't imagine what it is to sit here and learn about everything after the fact.
Daddy, be honest.
We've never had the kind of relationship where we include each other in every decision.
- That's not the point.
- It's exactly the point! If you don't have a say, you turn into a bully.
Charisse just because a child leaves home, gets married, has their own family, doesn't mean that you stop being a parent or stop caring.
Now, grant me that respect, OK? - You're not respecting me.
- You're not giving me reason to.
I don't have time to walk you through the reasons I live my life the way I do.
Charisse, wait a minute.
Now, just just Just let me go.
- Cash or charge, ma'am? - Charge, please.
- I'm sorry.
Your card wasn't accepted.
- That's ridiculous.
The credit company's on the phone.
Why don't you come inside and talk to them? - I will not.
- Ma'am, they said you had to.
For crying out loud! - Argh! What in the hell are you doing? - Your credit card's fine.
There's a man lying on the floor of the back seat of your car.
Do you need Police, Fire or Ambulance? - Police.
- 'What do you wanna report? ' That guy who's been killing people on the interstate? Yeah, he's here.
- He's in the back of a lady's Lincoln.
- Do you have a description? He had dark pants, dark jacket, he's wearing a ball cap, I think.
I know it's him.
Can you get some cops here? Stay on the line, please.
- 'This is Giardello.
' - This is the Emergency Operator.
A suspect matching the description of an APB issued by your unit for a Newton Dell has been reported.
'At present the suspect is at Hunter's Gas Station 'at 809 North Point Road.
' Pembleton, Bayliss, I think we've got Newton Dell! Sir, ma'am, come with me! Get down, stay calm! 'Newton Dell, 'we are the Baltimore City Police! 'You are surrounded! ' - I'm not trying to get away! - 'Step out of the car, 'get on your knees, lay face down on the ground, 'hands behind your head.
' - You're not gonna shoot me? - 'Get out of the car! - 'Don't move.
Get down on the ground.
' - If I get on the ground, - I'm gonna have to move.
- 'On the ground! 'Hands behind your head! You're under arrest for suspicion of murder.
Why are you so nervous, Officer? You're the one with the gun.
You have the right to remain silent.
Anything you say and do - can be used against you in court.
- You riding? Yeah.
You have the right to an attorney.
'Dawn, you're on.
' Moments ago, Newton Dell, a suspect in a string of cross-country murders 'was brought to police headquarters for processing.
'Dell, from Titusville, Florida, is being questioned by homicide detectives.
' Newton Dell.
Mind if I call you Newt? - God, yes.
- You don't like that name? - Would you? - Why leave your truck? - It's not my truck.
- That's right.
It's your mother's.
- Did you call her? - No.
- Why not? - We're not on speaking terms.
- Is that why you beat her up? - Essentially, yeah.
Tell me, Newt, why did you run away? Are you guilty of something? This chair's uncomfortable.
Your truck or not, you left gum wrappers, clothes, a overdue library book, and some spent shotgun shells covered with your prints in that truck.
Remember your rights being read? - Yes, sir.
- And what you were charged with? - Yes, sir.
- You're very polite.
- I try to remember my manners.
- Did you kill Wendy Simpkins? - I never heard of her.
- You picked her up hitchhiking.
- Oh, that was her name.
- You admit you knew her? - Briefly.
- Remember what you did to her? - I offered her some gum.
- Wendy Simpkins was 23-years-old.
- I was 23 once.
- But by that time, you'd been arrested a dozen times for petty theft - and, oh, cruelty to animals.
- How can you be cruel to an animal? It's just an animal.
It's not a person.
When you bash your neighbour's cat with a roller skate and stuff it in a mailbox, that qualifies.
You're right when you put it that way.
Detectives from Jacksonville, Savannah, Alexandria and other places - are waiting to talk to you.
- About what? - What you've been up to.
- I haven't done anything.
- Where's the shotgun, Newton? - I don't own a shotgun.
You know something? He didn't ask you if you owned one.
He asked you where the one is that you've been using.
I don't have a gun.
I hate guns.
They're loud.
- You're a killer, Newton, - No, I'm a Presbyterian.
No, Newton, you are doomed.
We have you on camera.
Your prints cover that truck.
We know where you've been and whose lives you've taken, so please be a big boy now.
Be as brave and well-mannered as you were when you stuck that barrel of that non-existent shotgun into Wendy's head and blew her the top of head off.
Just admit to it.
Maybe she'll forgive you.
I I I told him.
I said, "You can't be that cruel to people.
Their spirits will come after you.
"Their spirits won't let you sleep no more.
The dead don't always die.
"They'll want their time on Earth back, want answers.
" But he just laughed and made me watch him kill all those people.
- Who made you watch, Newton? - I can't say.
I can't betray him.
- Who, your evil twin? - I love him.
Wait a minute.
Are you already moving towards some psycho defence? Is that what you're doing? Let me save you the time.
Because I will vouch in court that you're crazier than a crap-house rat! Does that make you happy? He said humans are insects, only after the Apocalypse we won't last as long as they will.
He said to kill a person, was like swatting a fly! No big deal! - You killed Wendy Simpkins.
- No! - Say it.
- No.
- Say it! Come on! - No, I can't! - Why not? - It would be a lie.
Forget it.
He don't have to say it.
We got him on camera, we got his prints, and after the jury sees the autopsy photos, well, he's toast.
Let's give the other cops a whack at him.
I got one more question to ask you.
Were you gonna kill that woman at the gas station? No, no, really, I I'm not a killer.
I told you that.
Then why did you get into her car? You wanted us to catch you? As they say in nursing homes all across the country, "Bingo.
" - Why? - I had to get away from him.
Broken record.
Ever wonder why both doors of the truck were open? Did you find the bedding on the jump seat? That's where I slept when he drove.
You just remember I didn't betray him.
Don't you tell him I did! I didn't say his name.
It's just he's gone too far! What the hell do you mean by that? What the hell's that supposed to mean? It means your work is far from over.
OK.
Detective Pembleton, Baltimore Homicide.
Well? He confessed to picking up Simpkins, but not to killing her.
Get enough for the US Attorney? Oh, yeah, more than enough, but this guy's gonna plead psycho.
Well, at least you got him.
I wish they could all be this easy.
This was easy? Roadblocks, manhunts and seven new holes dug from here to Florida? You know what I mean.
Thanks, Tim.
All right.
Frank what do you think Dell meant when he said our work is far from over? I got nothing on it.
Maybe he's a legit psycho and believes his alter ego's still running around out somewhere out there.
He's locked up, which means I can go home.
You'll sleep better now knowing that? Yes.
- Goodnight, Tim.
- Yeah.
- Hi, Megan.
- Hey.
Good work today, Al.
Yeah.
It wasn't just another day at the office, you know.
I know, I know.
I had another in a long line of fallouts with Charisse this afternoon.
It seems I have a knack for pissing off the ones I love the most.
I tried to reach her at home, but she's on her way back to Richmond.
I had a knockdown drag out with my parents the summer before I went to Navy, and I swore I was gonna make them apologise, but I picked up the phone first.
When she walked out of that door I realised that, at the end of the day, she and her brother and her sister are all that I have.
Megan my family is my life savings and each day that goes by I have so little time to spend it.
You know what I mean? I know exactly what you mean.
- I'll see you tomorrow.
- OK, Al.
- Hey, take it easy, Al.
OK? - All right.
¡Qué sorpresa! - Bayliss, Homicide.
- 'You got the wrong guy.
' - Excuse me? - 'You got the wrong guy.
' - Munch, Is that you? - 'Newton Dell didn't kill a soul.
' - I see.
I suppose you're the real killer? - 'Oh, yeah.
' Oh, yeah.
- Hear about the arrest on the news? - 'Yeah.
' Well, you know, this happens.
A high-profile killer gets arrested, sad-sacks like you need some spotlight too.
Well, not tonight, amigo.
- 'You got the wrong guy.
' - Come on, buddy 'You know how you love your parents cos you have to, 'then one day you look in the crib and see the one person who you can love 'because you want to, the one who is always on your side.
'Well, that's Newton and I can't have him suffering for me.
- 'I'm the one you want.
' - No, no, no.
We got our guy.
'No, you don't! And I can prove it.
' 'I'll be waiting for you.
' Hey? Hey, you still there? Nothing could ever seem to touch me I lose what I love most - Give me the hands! - Now! Stroke of luck or gift from God? Hand of fate or Devil's claws? From below or saints above? Howdy.