Long Bright River (2025) s01e07 Episode Script

We got the guy.
Who is it?
- Sean Kelly.
I didn't do this,
what they're saying.
Taylor Yoon went to PYC?
And so did Elizabeth O'Connor.
They both had Simon as their counselor.
He used this place as a market to
shop for girls, and now they're dead.
Yeah, I know that girl. She was in
here with this guy, Jimmy Scanlon.
I remember because
they were fighting really bad.
Got ahold of Scanlon's text messages.
The last one he sent
was to a woman named Melissa.
Company that made the deposits
into Jimmy Scanlon's bank
is a subsidiary
of a Chinese consulting firm.
Why would the Chinese consultants
be paying a sheet metal worker?
Mick, come here.
Gee, how long has
that window been busted?
A week ago or something.
Was it Kacey?
These are from our dad.
And some of these letters
are dated after he died.
All this time, I was looking for
her, scared that she was dead.
And she was just hiding.
She doesn't want to see me either.
Well, I think she does. Probably
why she left the letters.
It wasn't about you, Mickey.
It was about Thomas.
What I did to her,
I did for him.
A woman from the Avenue said that
we need to be looking at a cop.
Well, who is she?
- Paula Mulroney.
I think you should come into my office.
Looking like an OD.
- It wasn't an OD.
It's not an OD.
Do you think Paula was murdered?
Do you think this has something to do
with the other women who were killed?
I think there's a reason that they're all dead.
Paula's been using for 15 years.
It could be an OD.
Yeah, well, we'll see
what the tox report says.
They didn't order one.
What?
- I tried, Mickey, but Ahearn shut me down.
Said they have a pretty airtight
case against the suspect in custody.
I'm so sorry, Mick.
You stay away from me.
You're gonna get me killed.
I know you two were close.
I know you've been going
through a lot with work,
with Kacey missing
Kacey's not missing anymore.
Found her.
How is she?
She's not good, Mick.
I didn't know who else to call.
Hi. Uh, ma'am,
there's no smoking in the room.
Does this look lit?
We just need to borrow him for a bit.
We discussed this, ma'am.
Where are you taking him?
To the NICU, just to monitor him
for a little while.
For what? Monitor him for what?
I'm gonna get clean.
I told the doctor.
He knows, all right?
Okay.
Mick? Mickey, wait.
Mickey, your sister needs you.
- Excuse me.
Excuse me. Excuse me.
Is he gonna be okay?
He's in withdrawal, isn't he?
I was scared of what might happen to him.
That's why I did what I did.
That's why you thought Thomas had
been taken, that night Bethany left.
You could've told me, Mick.
- I didn't tell anybody.
I didn't want you to think
I was a terrible person.
Why would I think that, Mickey?
My boyfriend slept with my sister.
A lot of people might think
that I took Thomas out of spite.
Did you?
Simon told me that
she had come on to him.
That he had given in to her
in a moment of weakness.
And I was in such denial
about the whole thing.
I didn't want to believe it.
I didn't want to believe her.
My own sister.
Didn't want to believe that
the man I loved preyed on her,
forced himself on her when she was
so out of it, she couldn't consent.
But you stayed with him.
No, I ended it when I found out
she was pregnant.
I should have believed her about that.
I just didn't believe
that she could get clean
for him.
For Thomas.
Listen I've always had
a soft spot for Kacey.
She's she's got a good heart.
But when I watch you with Thomas,
when I see you with the chess,
and the music, and the homework,
and the the
opera, YouTube,
or whatever it is
- Stop.
I'm serious.
You know how little it means
to have a good heart
when your kid doesn't have
food on the table?
When that kid's afraid you may
not wake up in the morning?
I do know that. Yeah.
I've known what that's like
since I was four years old.
Well, maybe you should've
listened to your sister.
I can't soften that for you. And
I don't think you want me to.
But Kacey is safe now.
She can heal.
And you can heal.
What about the rest of the women?
I can't let what happened
to Paula happen to them.
Paula said the perp was a cop,
and now she's dead.
Okay, let's go down that road.
You tell Ahearn,
she ends up dead.
Now, feelings for Ahearn aside,
that's a big accusation.
I'm not saying Ahearn is a killer,
but if the perp is a cop,
maybe he was protecting them.
And it wasn't just that Paula said it
was a cop, it was the way she said it.
She thought that I knew who the cop was.
You still think it's Simon?
We only eliminated Simon as a suspect
because Sean Kelly got arrested.
Think about it, Truman.
Two of the victims went to PYC.
Paula said the cop in question
demanded sexual favors.
I need to find out the truth.
I owe that to Paula.
And Kacey. Even Thomas.
How do you suggest we do that?
No cop in his right mind is gonna
question Simon with
the evidence we've got.
I know.
That's why I'm gonna do it.
Hey.
Hey.
Okay.
I'll be right here.
What are you doing here?
Look, if this is about
Thomas It's not about Thomas.
It's about
where you go at night.
What? You want to talk about
where I go at night? Okay. Uh
Tell me why that's your business.
Well, you made it my business when you
started killing women on the Avenue.
What the fuck are you talking about?
I saw you.
I saw you in Kensington.
I saw what you were doing with that girl.
So you're stalking me now?
Is that it?
You know what they've been saying, right?
They're saying the killer is a
cop who's doing the same thing.
Y you're nuts.
You're absolutely fucking psychotic.
Part of why I liked you at first.
I remember that. I remember
that, calling me crazy.
That's what you say when you're
- Get the fuck out of here.
You know what
- I know who you are, Simon.
I know what you're capable of.
You remember how old I was when you
met me? When you singled me out?
I was 14.
Fourteen. How old
is that girl you got right now?
Singled you out?
- Yeah.
Are you fucking kidding me right now?
It was you who was following me around.
You wouldn't leave me alone.
You came after me, Mick.
Yeah. You wanted everything you got.
Fuck you! Fuck you!
There she is. I remember her.
Want to know what makes me different
from whatever sick fuck is out
there killing girls on the Avenue?
I pay for what I get.
I paid for that girl
you saw me with in Kensington.
I paid for your sister when I fucked her.
I paid for you, too.
I gave you a home to live in.
I gave you a career.
And now I pay for Jill.
I pay for the clothes she wants.
I pay for her car.
I even paid for a trip to Salem.
You took her to Salem on Halloween?
Whole weekend?
- I did it. It was great.
She loved it.
You used to love it, too.
- Huh.
I loved a lot of things
when I was 18 years old.
She's 20.
I spent so much time
thinking I hated you.
Almost a decade of my life.
And you know what I realized?
It's not hate.
It's
embarrassment.
You okay?
- Simon's not the killer.
You sure?
He was in Salem when the first
three victims were killed.
It's not him.
Kacey! No, pause, stop!
No.
Paula!
Are you okay?
Yeah.
Yeah, of course.
Do you not want to go back to work?
You know
I don't.
- Could you stay home?
Because a lot of the moms,
like Carlotta's mom,
she's worked from home ever since COVID.
For most of those jobs,
you need a college degree.
Can you get a college degree?
Come on. Clear your dishes.
You're with Mrs. Mahon today.
Your face looks good.
It's almost normal again.
Thanks, buddy.
That's a real
confidence booster.
Anytime.
Mickey. Hey. I heard about what
happened to you. How are you feeling?
Fine. I'm better.
- Good.
Well, Ahearn said you didn't get a
good look at the guy who did this.
Well, it's good to have you back.
Yeah.
- Hey, Davis.
Did you hear about Paula Mulroney?
No. Who's that?
Come on. Why don't we
step into my office?
Um
Paula Mulroney died
on Christmas Day.
She was my sister's best friend.
She was family.
She grew up in Kensington. She
worked the Ave. , and she looked tough.
But
she wasn't, not on the inside.
And she came in as an overdose.
Like the other women.
- Yeah.
Was it insulin?
I don't know.
There was no autopsy ordered.
If we could find out for her family,
if you could find out for me.
Of course,
I'll call the ME right away.
Thank you.
- Yeah.
Mickey, I'm
I'm sorry about Paula.
Me, too.
Thanks.
Hey, Sean Kelly was in custody
when she died.
I know.
Ahearn's not a killer.
He's a dipshit with a complex,
but a murderer? I can't get there.
What if he's covering for one?
Mickey names Paula Mulroney as
someone to identify a dirty cop.
Paula then dies.
Yeah, she ODs.
Yeah, all the murdered women ODed?
Look, he may still be out there.
Unless your guy killed her
from behind bars.
I mean, I'll poke around.
- Thank you.
But I gotta ask.
This for you or for her?
Both, I guess. Does it matter?
Look, we've been friends a long time.
- Yeah.
So I'm gonna say something.
I don't know if you're
sleeping with this girl or what.
Mike, we're not doing this.
- We are doing this.
First, you come to me about
Simon Cleare being the perp,
and now you're asking questions
about Kevin Ahearn.
To my mind,
we already got the guy.
Now you're a pretty solid cop.
But you're not behaving that way.
And this girl feels like the reason.
A woman from the Avenue said that
we need to be looking at a cop.
Who is she?
- Paula Mulroney.
Has she had any other children
or lost any other children?
No.
About how long
has she been using opioids?
At least seven years.
Do you believe your sister
used throughout her pregnancy?
Does she show any desire
to get into recovery?
No.
In the event the mother is deemed
unable to care for the child,
is there a family member who
might be equipped to provide care?
Yes.
Me.
Excuse me.
May I take a look at the victim?
Sorry. Who are you?
I'm Mickey Fitzpatrick from the 30th.
I'm following up on a lead. My
sergeant thinks that the victim
James Scanlon might be tied
to a case in our precinct.
Sadly, there isn't much to see.
Probably been in that water
for over a month.
He drowned?
Yeah. Right after he was shot in the back.
I'd say he floated downstream
quite a long way.
Riverway's a boating company.
It says here, they do booze
cruises, boat rentals.
It looked like an employee jacket,
like Scanlon worked for them.
What's a sheet metal worker
doing at a boating company?
DPD didn't seem to have a record
of him on Riverway's payroll.
But I'll head over there.
Ask about it.
- The ME said that the body
had been in the water for over a
month. He was shot in the back.
He probably drifted down
from somewhere upriver.
Emily Morris was found upriver, too.
Maybe they were shot at the same time
by the same person.
But Jimmy's last text said that he
was meeting somebody named Melissa.
A lot of women in the city go by a different
name, right? You told me that yourself.
Yeah. Emily could be Melissa.
Hm.
She checked herself out of Lutheran.
She's not gonna be easy to find.
I wonder
maybe she'll be at Paula's funeral.
You want me to come with you?
To a funeral?
- Yes.
But I think I should go alone.
Colder than a witch's tit out there.
Would you like to come in?
Just like your sister taking
off without saying a thing.
Told you, didn't I say it?
Still, glad she showed her face.
Are you? Glad?
- Of course I am.
I care about Kacey. I care
about you. That's why I'm here.
Why I kept your dad away
Didn't trust him.
You girls
already lost your mom.
Didn't need another heartbreak.
I didn't either.
I understand
why you told us he was dead.
But do you know how it feels
to be a kid with no parents?
For them to just be gone?
We deserved to know the truth.
You should have told us he was alive.
I'm
Sorry?
I was gonna say thirsty.
Don't suppose you have anything
harder than water to drink?
You saw her? Kacey?
For two seconds before she
shut the door in my face.
And Daniel came out after.
How'd she look?
Sober.
And pregnant.
Hm.
Who's the father?
- Her boyfriend. Name's Dock.
That's where she disappeared.
She was hiding.
From me.
She was scared that I would try
to take this new baby, too.
You had every right to do what you did.
You stepped up, Mickey.
You knew what we all knew.
Thomas didn't have a shot.
Not with her raising him.
It ain't her fault.
Kacey had the cards stacked against her.
Born in withdrawal.
It's like a curse.
I didn't know that.
That Kacey was born addicted.
I remember Mom sleeping a lot
before she died.
But even after I knew what that meant.
I thought
I always thought that
she started using after Kacey was born.
No. Right after you.
All this time, I blamed Kacey for using,
for making that choice the first time.
And it wasn't a choice at all.
Thomas
He was cursed, too.
No, no.
No, no, it's my fault.
Kacey turned out the way she did, my fault.
Won't be the same for Thomas.
How can you be so sure about that?
Because Thomas has you raising him.
And Kacey had me.
What if they tell him? Thomas.
That I'm not his
Aunt Lynn and them
won't say nothing to nobody.
I'll make sure all the O'Briens
know the deal. Okay?
When he gets older, you can
tell him or not tell him.
Don't waste time on guilt when
you're just doing what family does.
And if you ain't his real mother,
you're the closest thing he has to it.
Mom?
Yeah.
How come you look so sad?
Thomas, you know, the other day,
you asked me if I was all right?
Well, the truth is, I've been
I'm having a hard time with something.
I made a mistake.
The kind that you can't fix.
It's never too late to fix a mistake.
All you have to do is apologize
to the person you hurt.
What if I can't talk to them anymore?
Are they dead?
Teacher Dana talks about this.
You know what the Quakers say?
What do the Quakers say?
You apologize in your heart.
You think the apology
just quietly.
Okay.
Ready?
- Yeah.
Let us pray.
O God, to whom mercy
and forgiveness belong,
hear our prayers for Your servant, Paula,
whom You have called from this world.
And because she has put her hope
and trust in You,
command that she be carried
safely home to heaven,
and come to enjoy her eternal reward.
And we ask this in the name of Jesus.
Your son, who lives and reigns with you,
and the Holy Spirit as one God
forever and ever.
Amen.
Please be seated.
We are reminded of a quote
from the 'Book of Wisdom.'
'The souls of the righteous
are in the hands of God.
'Torment will ever touch them.
'In the eyes of the foolish,
they seem to have died.
'And their departure
was seen as a disaster.
'And their going from us,
utter destruction.
'But they are at peace.'
Jimmy worked here on and off for a year,
up until uh about a month
ago, he stopped showing up.
And what did Jimmy do for you?
Uh, we leased his boat,
and he ran it.
Booze cruises, family
outings, that kind of thing?
Yeah. I mean, those were
our bread and butter.
But we brought Jimmy in to
run the launch vessels for us.
What's a launch vessel?
Okay, since 2020, Philly's
ports were humming, right?
Sometimes so busy
that these big cargo ships
have to wait at bay for a few days
in order to get a spot at the port.
Launch vessels are the small boats
that take supplies to the crew
while they wait,
and sometimes they take away
the garbage, too.
Any reason why you were paying Jimmy off
the books to drive his launch vessel?
Um
Basically removing trash. I didn't
think I needed a 1099 for that.
Why are you asking?
Well, I'm sorry to be the one to tell you this.
But Jimmy's body was found
washed up in the Delaware River.
He'd been shot.
Jesus.
Any chance he was
moving more than trash?
Like what?
Like drugs.
Well, if he was, I certainly
didn't know anything about it.
I'll be right out, okay?
Sue I'm so sorry.
Mickey, thank you.
I always felt better knowing you were
patrolling the Avenue. Watching over Paula.
Mrs. Mulroney?
My girl!
I want her back.
Me, too.
I want her back.
Yeah, I know.
I know.
Kace.
You look good.
Dad said that you stopped using.
That's great. It's
it's really it's great.
I'm really sorry.
For which part?
All of it. Everything.
For everything that happened with Simon,
for making you think
that you had to hide from me.
And, um
for Paula.
I can't do this.
Not with you, Not now.
Yeah, I'm clean.
And I did it without you.
I'm keeping this one.
I know that.
You don't think I know that?
No.
I don't.
Hey, why'd you leave the letters? Kace?
Why'd you leave those letters for me?
Hey.
- Hi.
The tox report for Paula came back.
Already?
A Detective Danjarat put a rush on it.
Insulin was in normal range.
It was an overdose.
Synthetic opioid.
Mickey, you okay?
- Yeah.
It's just she didn't deserve this.
She didn't deserve any of it.
I know. You want me to come
over? I get off in an hour.
No, thank you. I'm spent.
I'm gonna go get some sleep.
Okay.
Call if you need anything.
- Thanks.
I left the letters because I thought
you deserved to know that Dad was alive.
Is that the only reason?
No.
How long you been clean?
A couple of months.
Since the murders began.
I'm sorry I made you worry. I just
But I didn't know how to do
this, and us at the same time.
And what you said at the church,
I mean, I was I was scared.
That I would take this baby, too?
That you'd be right to take her.
Do you know what happens
to your body after you give birth?
No.
Well, you're a fuckin' mess.
Um there's a lot of blood.
Everything hurts.
You cry a lot.
Hormones, they tell you.
And then your milk comes in.
And your boobs
engorged, they call it,
they hurt so fucking much.
My body tried. I was trying
so hard to feed him.
You know, when you nurse a baby, there's
a chemical, your brain sends to you
to make you feel good?
I never got that.
He never got it.
So I asked for a pump, and after I
used it, you know what they fuckin' did?
They threw my milk in the trash.
Because they thought what you thought.
That I was poison to my baby.
And if you thought that,
it must be true.
I needed you to believe in me, Mickey.
If you just freakin'
believed in me.
I'm sorry.
I'm so sorry that I didn't believe.
I'm sorry that I couldn't see that
Simon had done this to both of us.
And I'm sorry I didn't believe you.
Maybe I should have
given you another chance.
Maybe we could've raised him together.
Or maybe everything happened
the way it was supposed to
for him,
for you.
And for me. I mean, maybe I wouldn't have
gotten here without all of that happening.
Would you like to see him?
Dun-Dun
He never goes anywhere without him.
Neither did I.
I know.
Oh, my God.
It's my fault she's dead.
I mean, we don't know that.
Aura said it was an overdose, right?
I don't care what she said.
- No, you were trying to help her.
You still can, Mick. I mean, Paula
said the killer was a cop, right?
She thought I knew him.
She thought it was Simon.
But it's not. I checked.
Still would make sense.
It's Truman.
- Take it.
Hi.
Right now is not good.
Okay. I'll meet you there
tomorrow. Good night.
So what do we do now?
- I'm not sure.
We had another lead,
but we can't find her.
I think she worked the Avenue, too.
What was her name?
Emily Morris.
Might also go by the name Melissa.
Dark hair, skinny as shit?
- Yeah.
Um
I might know where to find her.
I'm not involving you, Kacey.
I'm already involved. It's my fucking
friends who are getting killed.
I'll start looking for Melissa in the morning.
I'm coming with you.
No.
Kacey, you're pregnant,
and you're newly sober.
I'm not letting you go alone.
I have to go alone, Mickey.
She's not gonna talk to a cop.
Okay, um
Then, you just have to check in
with me the whole time.
I need to know you're okay.
Thank you for coming.
Thank you for letting me back in.
Thanks for letting me back in, too.
Come on, Kace.
Hey, this is Kacey.
Leave a message, or don't.
Hey.
You forget about our meeting?
Shit. I did forget.
So Scanlon takes an off-the-books
job as a launch boat captain.
And starts receiving
mysterious payments
from a Chinese consulting
company at the same time.
Doesn't take rocket scientist to figure he's
getting paid to take away more than trash.
Mm. How do any of the women fit into this?
Hopefully, Kacey can find out.
Hey, what's wrong?
She was supposed to check
in with me. She hasn't.
Now she's not texting me back.
Hey, maybe she slept
in, or changed her mind.
You're worried about her.
- I'm always worried about her.
It feels like ever since I was a kid,
25% of my brain's always
been busy with a problem.
If Kacey was using, the problem
would be that she might die.
If she was clean, it would be
that she might start using again.
There's never been quiet.
I don't know what it would be like
to have quiet.
And this time,
if she goes right back to it.
I don't know what I would do.
Hey. She might be stronger than you think.
Yeah, maybe.
I really, really want to believe that.
Get back on your beat. I got
the boat routes from Riverway.
Jimmy used to pass a spot
where Emily Morris climbed out
every shift he worked.
I'm gonna go back, see if he
had any reason to stop there.
Do you remember that warehouse nearby?
You remember what it said on the side?
Port Richmond Yards.
It's where Gee used to work
in his longshoreman days.
He was talking about it on Christmas.
An old Marine terminal
might still have docks.
It might. It would be
a very easy place to drop
whatever Scanlon might have been
offloading from those ships.
I'm gonna lose my mind
worrying about Kacey.
I'm gonna come with you.
What about your patrol car?
What about it?
Hey, do you know Melissa?
You know a girl named Melissa?
I am sorry to bother you.
Oh, my God.
Yo! Hey, You all right?
Where'd you go to score?
Looks like once DPD
tipped me off to Scanlon,
we were following the same trail.
There's a whole lot of product there.
So we were right about what
Scanlon was doing with his boat.
If Jimmy was bringing it in, maybe the
women were taking it out to the streets.
I don't know about that.
Do you know any dealers
who would trust someone
in active addiction
to run their supply for them?
You can't be here.
- I got him.
I got him. That's my buddy from the DPD.
Name's Martinez.
You hang back.
I'll talk to him first.
Truman.
You're not even supposed
to be here, Mickey.
There's a whole lot of eyes out there.
And you're in uniform.
After we discovered
the Riverway connection,
we went to Scanlon's house,
searched the boat in his driveway.
Its GPS led us here.
If he was being paid to offload product
and bring it here
until a runner picked it up
what did he do that got him killed?
I mean, why pay someone
you're gonna ice?
Well, that's the thing. He
wasn't getting paid anymore.
Scanlon's payments stopped a week
before he was last seen alive.
And the girl who crawled out the
river into the lot next door
how does she fit into this?
That, we don't know yet.
I think I know.
Scanlon meets Taylor Yoon at 7 Brothers.
They have an argument.
Shortly after that, SOK Holding
stops paying Scanlon, meaning
Meaning that Scanlon stopped running
product shortly after he met with Taylor.
Then, a few days later, she turns
up dead from an insulin overdose.
Mm-hmm.
And then Scanlon exchanges
text messages with Melissa.
They both get shot.
And then Paula says that the
guy in the video is a cop,
and then she ends up dead.
We've been cross-referencing Scanlon
with all the women on the Avenue.
But maybe we should've just
been crossing him with cops.
What?
I don't know, Mick.
You don't know what?
If we should be going down this path.
If it's police behind all
the drugs in that warehouse,
this thing is far bigger than we thought.
And it's not just one rogue
maniac killing women for kicks.
It's a goddamn operation.
If someone catches you
cross-referencing a dead drug smuggler
with your co-workers, you're
gonna get yourself killed.
You have no idea how far cops
will go to protect their own.
Sounds like maybe I do.
Come on, Mickey.
- Oh, my God
I just want you to be careful.
I don't get it. It finally
feels like we're getting closer,
and then you want to back off?
I didn't say back off.
I said be careful.
You really want what happened to
Paula to happen to you, or Kacey?
Exactly why I need to keep going on
this, okay? By myself if I have to.
Mickey, please. Let's just
- I don't have time for this.
I have to find Kacey.
I shouldn't have let her go alone.
- Mickey. Mickey!
Have you seen her? No?
Excuse me.
Have you seen this girl?
No?
Kace.
Oh, my God! Oh, God!
Hey, what happened?
What happened?
Uh
- What happened?
Kace
I need to get out of here.
- Wait.
Hey.
What? What's wrong?
Tell me. Please. Please.
I found her.
I found Melissa.
Where is she?
She split.
- What do you mean, she split?
Did you What did she say to
you? Did she tell you who shot her?
Kace? Did she tell you?
She said the killer is Truman Dawes.