Mr. Mercedes (2017) s03e04 Episode Script
Trial and Terror
1 Previously on "Mr.
Mercedes" All of 'em could have could have conceivably walked to the crash site.
So, what's the next step? - Oh! Oh, Jesus Christ.
- Danielle! I'm gonna get all my stuff, because I am done.
Got any of John Rothstein's books? - Sold out.
- What about first editions? - Do you know how much they're worth? - If it's a long letter, could be worth a million, at least.
It's the way he was acting, fishing.
That's him.
- He's not the only one.
- What? That's the detective that broke the Mr.
Mercedes case.
You're positive he was shot here? We found the drill that was used to burrow into his head.
You got no leads at all, huh? - No.
We found the writings at the house.
- Most likely stolen.
It's him.
Lou passed her competency exam.
- What? - She's going to trial.
[GASPS, SCREAMS.]
[DARK MUSIC.]
Looks like you're making a pretty good life for yourself photos of houses where they found a dead guy.
I think I'm gonna take a picture of [GRUNTS.]
[ELEVATOR BELL DINGS.]
I miss Satan.
Really, I do.
Satan used to be somebody the Prince of Fucking Darkness.
Pilgrims knew him.
They burned witches because Satan's got some evil goddamn friends out there.
The worst crime that my generation ever committed is that we murdered Satan.
Now nobody's evil.
They're damaged, they're misunderstood, they're unloved, but they're not evil.
God forbid you say that.
But here's a problem.
If there is no Satan, then there is no God.
And where there's no God, there's Mr.
Mercedes plowing into a bunch of innocent people looking for jobs.
Hodges.
[FLAMES WHOOSHING.]
W-w-w-w-wait! Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait! No! Oh! No, no, ow, ow! Aah! It was proof that Satan lives, - and we are all - [SCREAMING.]
- just too fucking weak to admit it.
- [SCREAMING.]
[CONTINUES SCREAMING.]
[TAPPING CONTINUES FAINTLY.]
[RAPID KNOCKING.]
- [KNOCKING CONTINUES.]
- Okay, okay, okay.
[KNOCKING LOUDLY.]
Coming, coming.
What the hell time is it? 7:45.
Known in Ohio as morning.
Are you all right? Was having a fuck of a nightmare.
There's both a doorbell to ring and a door to knock on, you know.
- What are you doing? - I'm cleaning.
What does it look like I'm doing? Spilled some red wine.
[GRUNTS.]
What are you doing? I maybe have a lead.
I got a high school buddy, Andy Halliday, runs an old bookstore.
Yeah, you told me.
You got a bite? Well, some kid came into the bookstore asking about Rothstein.
That kid! We have ourselves a positive ID.
That's the Saubers family.
[WHISPERS.]
Fuck.
I've seen this kid playing with his dog.
There's also a private detective on the sniff.
Came to the bookstore asking about Rothstein.
Here.
Bill Hodges.
- You know him? - I know Bill.
He's a bloodhound, only less handsome.
- You say he's sniffing? - Seems so.
I don't like that.
Then again, he could lead us to the holy grail.
If he's looking for those manuscripts, we should keep close tabs, hmm? [DARK MUSIC.]
The man is a bloodhound.
[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 [SLOW APPROACHING FOOTSTEPS.]
[DOOR CLATTERS OPEN.]
[EXHALES HEAVILY.]
Wow, a tie.
What's the occasion? Going to court.
[EXHALES.]
The trial of the woman who killed Brady Hartsfield.
You're going? Yeah, I have to, for whatever reason.
[SIGHS.]
Pete, we, uh, we got another envelope this morning.
$9,000.
Bringing the total up to $32,000.
Oh, my God.
You have no idea where this is coming from? Actually, I do.
Pete, you've been pretty secretive as of late.
My mind keeps going to those expensive shoes that you've got.
I just can't help but think - Dad - Just let me finish, Pete, okay? You're not in trouble.
Or I should say you're not in trouble with me.
[SIGHS.]
If you need help, let me help you.
I don't need help.
Where'd you get the money? It's not coming from me.
I promise.
[TENSE MUSIC.]
[SIGHS.]
Yes, perfect.
Thank you.
You too.
Hey.
I have some good news.
Good.
Okay, so it turns out Rothstein took out insurance.
Yeah.
Yeah, it's called, um, stated value coverage, which basically means the cost of replacing whatever was in the safe.
Stated value coverage, as in subject to appraisal.
Exactly.
- Books.
- Yeah, it has to be.
His daughter said that he never stopped writing.
I mean, she said that he had tons of notebooks, just unpublished manuscripts.
Tell him the best part.
So the insurance company, Hannaford [EXHALES SHARPLY.]
they've offered a reward: $700,000 for any information that would lead to the manuscript's recovery.
I mean, that means we're no longer doing this just for the love of American literature.
This is much bigger now.
We're talking money.
$700,000.
[LAUGHS.]
Mm-hmm.
And maybe another break.
I just got off the phone with Shirley Landon.
She's an EMT.
Stan the Man, the guy that was found dead in the truck, the one that you think was planted there? - Yeah.
- Turns out, she remembers him.
Apparently, he dropped off another half-dead guy off at the hospital like some, uh, Good Samaritan drop-off? When? The night of Rothstein's murder.
- Well, let's go.
- No, no, you need to be in court.
Jerome, you go to the hospital.
We're talking about a lead that could bring us straight to those books, Holly.
I realize that, and also possibly $3/4 million.
But we need to be in court.
And by court order, in case you forgot.
I'll go.
I'll take the information.
Yes.
Take information.
Don't give any.
Do you understand? SÃ, kemosabe.
- What does that mean? - Bill.
It means you're no longer a lone ranger.
You have two sidekicks right here.
Come on.
We really have to go.
Ciao.
[CHUCKLES.]
[SOFTLY.]
Yes! This ups the ante, and not in a good way.
This reward money? Other people are gonna be lookin'.
Morris, are you listening to me? - I'm listening.
- We need to turn the screws on this Saubers kid now.
Or Hodges.
Hodges doesn't have the books.
He's just looking for 'em like we are.
But he may have more information than we do.
That kid lives in the area.
He was in the bookstore asking about Rothstein, what we was worth.
He's our best bet.
The question is, how do we make our play without tipping our own hand? I would've thought she'd be back by now.
'Scuse me? Danielle.
Oh, for God's sake.
She didn't even pack up her shit.
Not even a note.
[SUCKS FINGER.]
You really loved her.
I just don't get it.
Morris, you're a nice guy, good-looking.
But it's not the case that well, whatever women find in you, they can find elsewhere, and I don't say that to be mean.
Every woman I've ever cared for has hurt me my mother, Danielle.
I never hurt ya.
You raped me when I was 13.
But it was loving.
[CROWD CHANTING.]
Set her free! Set her free! Set her free! Set her free! [CROWD CLAMORING.]
He wants us all in chambers? According to the clerk.
Why the fuck why? With this judge, anybody's guess.
- Do not threaten him.
- I'm not gonna threaten him.
Yeah, well just don't.
As you well know, I've tried to prevent this trial from happening.
That being said, Ms.
Linklatter, you have been found competent, and it is therefore your legal right to have your day in court.
And as loose a cannon as I might strike you, and certainly you, the law wins out.
American exceptionalism is alive in the courtroom, especially mine.
Noble principles of jurisprudence let no man make a mockery thereof.
For me to allow the defense to argue self-defense, that would be such a mockery.
So that affirmative defense is denied.
Judge, you cannot do that.
I can.
I do.
I must.
The facts do not support self-defense, mm.
Nor will I allow you to argue jury nullification.
You might as well direct the verdict in favor of the prosecution.
That authority is not available to me.
[SIGHS.]
Ms.
Linklatter, you continue to refuse any plea deals, which is misguided.
So I've summoned Mr.
Hodges, Ms.
Gibney to be here for this.
It's come to my attention that these are the people who best have your ear, and I'm hopeful that they will be able to get through to you in a way that I cannot, because if you continue to go through with this trial, it is my considered and strong opinion that you will lose.
Question.
Uh if I'm to tell you to go fuck yourself, should I do that now or wait till we're in the room? [GROANS.]
Very solid attempt to incur my bias! - [CHUCKLING.]
- [CHUCKLING.]
Not gonna not gonna happen.
Well, the good news is that I am human.
Part of me is well, glad that you killed that son of a bitch Brady Hartsfield.
But the bad news is that once I put on this robe [CHUCKLES.]
I live up to it.
I'm gonna leave the room to the defense team so that you can confer.
We don't need to confer.
Let's just do this.
Time's a-wastin'.
- Lou.
- This doesn't involve you, Kermit.
Um, I-I'll take the room if your offer's still good alone.
I have nothing to say to you.
Then it falls to me to do the talkin'.
You called me Kermit.
It's your name.
Brady tell you that? Holly tells me that he talks to you.
Well, she shouldn't have done that.
I told her that in confidence.
Listen, I'm no shrink.
Oh, well, we should leave it at that, then.
But you need to let Brady go.
Easier said than done.
Lou.
He's the reason why I'm in here at all.
But to get you out of here, which is the mission of the fucking day You have to keep the man out of your head.
[TEARFULLY.]
I can't.
He's knockin' around in my brain too.
[WHIMPERS.]
At the end of the day, we're all fucking head cases.
- [SOBS.]
- I get it.
But our only hope is to hang on to our wits, even if only by a thread.
You need to be hanging on to yours.
I don't see how you win this trial.
[DARK MUSIC.]
With public sentiment on one's side, nothing can fail.
Brady say that, did he? It's Abraham Lincoln.
I killed the biggest monster ever in the history of this town.
The public is gonna set me free.
The facts don't support her.
[CROWD CHANTING.]
Set her free! The law doesn't.
She's off in the fuckin' head.
Yeah.
I don't see how this hand gets played.
I really don't.
Well, um, Finkelstein is good.
I mean, we just have to hope he's great, I guess? You fancy him, don't ya? What? Finkelstein.
I do not fancy him.
It's not a crime.
The makeup.
That looks to be a new dress.
Just open the door.
[CAR BEEPS.]
Mm.
What's your perfume? Vanilla? [SNIFFS.]
You smell like cookie dough.
You don't get to say things like that to me.
- Why not? - Because you're my boss, okay? You're not supposed to take note of how I look or smell.
It's practically illegal for you to even notice I'm a woman.
Don't you read? And where would I read that fuckshit, on your Facebook? I'm not allowed to notice ya as a woman? Would lunatic be okay, gender neutral? - Jesus fuckin' balls.
- Okay.
- [THE BLACK KEYS' "SAME OLD THING".]
- Just the same old thing Just the same old thing No matter how much love you try to bring Just the same old thing [ENGINE TURNS OFF.]
[DRAMATIC ROCK MUSIC.]
You want to tell me why you didn't finish the assignment? I didn't see the point.
You didn't see the point? How would it benefit mankind? I let that question be my compass.
And finishing the assignment I didn't see how it would improve mankind.
You never miss a chance to be a smartass, do you, Morris? I've decided instead of a detention, I'm gonna give you something else.
I'm gonna give you something a little more memorable.
[THUNK.]
This book is not on the school board's approved reading list.
I might get into trouble for giving it to you.
At least I hope so.
You and Jimmy Gold will get along.
He's a sarcastic, self-hating little shit just like you.
- - [DARK MUSIC.]
Hey.
How'd it go? No pay dirt, but I've got something.
Go on.
Um okay.
[EXHALES.]
Well, Stan McNair delivered a man, mid-30s, to the hospital.
Said he found him on the side of the road on Route Six.
Apparently, he was hit by a car.
Took him to the hospital, and the man gave the hospital a fake name, only to leave the next day and never be seen again.
Did they get anything on him DNA, photos? Uh well, they took his blood, so I guess they have his DNA.
But they're just grainy photos from a old corridor cam.
Just shows a man walking out, but you can't even recognize him.
[WHISPERS.]
Shit.
But I have a theory.
This should be good.
- 'Scuse me? - All right.
What's your theory? [EXHALES.]
Okay.
The John Doe patient was driving the truck that crashed.
He crawls out of the ditch, and that's when Stan the repair guy finds him and takes him to the hospital.
John Doe patient leaves the hospital to find Stan the Man, probably to, you know, find his stolen goods and kills him, puts him in the truck.
Why is this Shirley person telling you all this? I don't know, but she seems to be telling everybody.
You knew about this.
It's still fluid, and we haven't positively confirmed that it was Stan McNair that dropped the guy off at the hospital.
Yeah, you have a pretty good idea.
- Calm down.
- You didn't let me in on it.
We get the information, we confirm it, - and then I give it to you.
- That's bullshit.
We made a deal you scratch my balls, I scratch yours.
We didn't make that deal.
Thanks for the visual.
What about the guy at the hospital? You got a bead on him? No.
But we're working with one of the treating nurses to come up with a composite sketch.
Which you will give straight to me, right? This is about that reward that's got your balls all itchy, isn't it? No, it's the principle.
We agreed to keep each other in our respective loops.
Bill, you're a little amped up, okay? I'm not keeping anything from you, I swear.
Fucking look at me when you say that, will ya? I am not keeping anything from you, Bill Hodges.
What are you gonna testify to? - I'm sorry? - Lou's case.
You're número uno on the prosecution's witness list.
I'm gonna go in and tell them what I saw.
If you bury her, I'll fucking Oh, what the fuck? I do not have it out for Lou.
What is this, "Accuse Your Local Latino" Day? What exactly do ya plan to say? I plan to say what we both saw happen in that courtroom.
I'm not about to commit perjury.
And why can't you get Lou to cop to this plea? 'Cause I can't.
She's convinced the jury will set her free.
Involuntary manslaughter? Yeah.
I don't think the DA would go for that.
I don't need the DA to go for it because I'm not looking for a plea or a deal.
I just need you to argue that that's what it was.
And since involuntary manslaughter's not on the menu, the only choice the jury will have will be between first-degree and not guilty, and I'm betting they're gonna choose the latter.
The DA can always add the lesser included offense like involuntary, in which case the jury would have a choice.
All right.
So then they'd choose involuntary manslaughter, which is six to eight.
Factoring in mitigating circumstances and time already served, I could be out in 18 months.
That I can fucking handle.
So she never left the house not once? Not once.
I don't understand.
I know Susie Banks at Safeway.
She says Marjorie Saubers goes grocery shopping every Wednesday, regular as clockwork.
And she usually takes the crippled husband with her.
Well, she didn't go today.
I had no chance to go inside.
Trust me.
I do not like this.
This reward money there are gonna be more scavengers in the area, all on the sniff.
Time is of the goddamn essence.
Morris.
Danielly-belle didn't know about all this, did she? No.
You sure? 'Cause bitchy-ass girlfriends have a way of knowing things.
And she in particular was clearly a snoop.
She followed you here.
Who knows what other suspicions she may have had.
Why past tense? - What? - You said, "What other suspicions she may have had.
" Past tense, like she's no more.
[SCOFFS.]
She is no more.
She's no more your girlfriend.
Best for you to be thinking of her as past tense too, 'cause that's what she is gone.
Why are you lookin' at me like that? Nothing.
Tomorrow.
Hell or high water, we're searching the Saubers' house.
I'll go with ya.
- I'm leaving.
- Going where? Home.
It's late, you know? I-I got a big day ahead.
We both got a lotta tension built up.
You don't think maybe we should burn a little bit of it off? No.
I do not.
You look too pent up to sleep.
And Danielle's not there to decompress you.
- Forget it! - What did you say? I said forget it.
Don't make me come over there and sit on your head, Morris.
Good night, Alma.
The DA won't dare offer involuntary manslaughter for fear the jury will jump at that.
But if they don't think it's first-degree and first-degree is the only charge on the menu, then they gotta come back with "not guilty.
" - Right.
- I mean, it's brilliant, actually, which brings me back to somebody's helping her.
Huh? Well maybe your legal eagle acumen is rubbing off on her.
- Mm? - You know, I hear that happens when people spend a lot of time together, so Am I rubbing off on you? Sorry.
[CHUCKLES.]
- No, I-I'm sorry.
- No.
I shouldn't have said that.
That was wrong.
No, no, it wasn't wrong.
I just wasn't ready for it.
But I don't which I may never be, so [LAUGHS.]
May I ask a question? Of course.
[LAUGHS.]
[LOUNGE MUSIC PLAYING.]
Are we on a date? Would you like it to be? Well what I'd like is for you to answer my question with something other than another question.
[INDISTINCT CHATTER.]
We're having dinner, discussing the case.
Right.
Okay.
But I'm hoping that it will feel a little like a date so if we ever were to have one, it won't be such a jolt.
[CHUCKLES.]
[LAUGHS.]
[LEONARD COHEN'S "I SEEMED THE BETTER WAY".]
Seemed the better way When first I heard him speak Sounded like the truth Seemed the better way Sounded like the truth But it's not the truth today I wonder what it was I wonder what it meant [ICE CREAM TRUCK MUSIC.]
[OVERLAPPING ICE CREAM TRUCK MUSIC.]
[WHIMPERS.]
Why was she on fire? What? Lou! What do you think that was about? Her being on fire? [SIGHS.]
Shit if I know.
Something about Satan.
Rothstein was banging on about needing him back.
Satan? Yeah, the world needs him back because he's better than the alternative.
Oh-ho! God? [LAUGHS.]
People.
Well, that actually sounds like him.
Maybe people do haunt us.
Rothstein certainly had a way of haunting me.
That's really why I'm teaching him again.
How did the class go? You know, not so bad.
Kids today, they think everything is stupid.
Jonathan Swift's "A Modest Proposal" stupid.
"Young Goodman Brown," by Nathanial Hawthorne - so stupid.
- [LAUGHS.]
But when I when I set the table with the Jimmy Gold trilogy, I think I had them.
Wait'll they actually read them.
You know, John always said you gotta grab 'em by the balls.
Course, I'm not allowed to do that.
Yeah.
It's not fair.
[LAUGHS.]
What's the matter? Maybe I'm the Satan in the dream.
Okay.
Why? Everybody I touch suffers my wife, my daughter, Janey, now Lou.
- Oh, come on.
- You better mind yourself.
Nah, just bear with me.
From what I remember in "The Inferno" Dante talked about Satan as a a nonentity, kind of an absence, which I definitely was for my family.
He said that the empty sack causes the suffering.
And you called me an empty sack yourself once.
No, no.
No.
I said your life was empty.
Yes, I did.
And Dante Dante spoke of the empty soul, not an empty sack.
Same difference.
[SIGHS.]
You are so far from being an empty soul.
You're really worried about her.
Lou.
She's fucked.
My doing.
Not everything is your doing.
But this one is.
Give it to me.
Okay.
We wait till everybody's out.
What? Nothing.
Okay, not nothing.
Something.
- Only I don't know what it is.
- Mom.
You are not yourself these days.
You come home, you go to your room, and you bury yourself in your books.
What, So we've gone from, "Go upstairs and do your homework," to, "Don't go upstairs and do your homework"? Okay, don't you dare insult me.
I am not stupid.
Is it a girl? What? Teenage girls can wreak emotional havoc on teenage boys.
- There's no girl, Mom.
- I was one.
Sometimes teenage boys can get teenage girls pregnant.
Mom, for God's sake.
But mostly, teenage boys tend to be carefree.
[SLOW FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING.]
Morning.
You going to court? They say it's gonna happen today.
No more of this pretrial nonsense.
No school? I'm about to leave.
Just gotta finish this assignment.
I don't know why you feel the need to be there.
Because I do, Marjorie.
How many times are we gonna have this conversation? I just What? You're doing better.
I I see you trying, and you're doing better.
I worry that all of this is gonna stir all of that up again.
I told you I'd make my way back.
That's what I'm doing.
This is a part of that journey, I guess, but I have to be there.
I don't understand the problem.
The problem is, while most people couldn't get in here, special accommodations were made for victims of the jobs fair massacre.
This room and the deck has been emotionally stacked in favor of the defense.
W-wait a second.
Are you telling me that you can look out there and readily identify victims of the jobs fair? I'm telling you what is, Your Honor, and contrary to the rumor, juries are not stupid.
They will read those faces.
He will point to them like props, exploit the hatred against Brady Hartsfield - to make the populist argument - Oh, wait, so you know my case now.
I know you, and I have a pretty good idea.
The Sixth Amendment guarantees the defendant the right to a public trial.
- But you cannot cherry-pick - I didn't cherry-pick anybody.
- All right.
- And the court has a duty to keep extraneous influences out of the courtroom which may serve to contaminate - the process of justice, Your Honor.
- Brady Hartsfield ran down those people or members of their families you call them extraneous? This is exactly what I'm talking about! [GAVEL BANGS.]
[CROWD MURMURING.]
Motion denied.
[CROWD MURMURING.]
I want my objection on the record.
Of course you do.
So noted.
Bring in the defendant first then the jury.
[CAMERA SHUTTERS CLICKING.]
She doesn't look good.
No.
[CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKING.]
Looks like Miss Piggy is finally off to market.
[EXHALES HEAVILY.]
Why so nervous, Morris? This is a simple B and E.
Not like you'll need to be shooting somebody famous in the head.
- You think you're funny? - I'm just saying this is a piece of cake and it's also right.
- Right? - Yes.
Those books, if they're in there, are more rightly yours than theirs.
It's called self-help, which is what the country is comin' to anyway.
We're influencers, you and me.
I'll keep watch.
We're on.
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC.]
[BOOGERS BARKING.]
You must be Boogers.
You know who you remind me of, Boogers? John Rothstein.
He snarled and growled at me just like you.
Only things didn't work out too good for him.
[BARKING.]
But I got a feeling that you and I, we're gonna get on much better.
Oh, oh.
- [GROWLING.]
- Hey, hey.
Now, I know you don't mean that.
Okay, okay, I hear you.
You're asking the most universal question known to man and maybe to dog as well.
- [BOOGERS SNARLING.]
- "What's in it for me?" You got principles you stand for.
I want you to forsake those principles, so you're rightly asking, "What's in it for me?" - [OBJECT THUDS.]
- Oh! [SNARLING.]
Hey Your reward for choosing to look the other way.
Huh? Oh ah.
That's a good Boogers.
Okay.
Ms.
Pace, we'll hear from you.
A little over four years ago, Brady Hartsfield stole a Mercedes S 600 and deliberately drove it into a crowd of people.
People who were standing innocently in line to attend a jobs fair.
People a bit down on their economic luck, hoping to turn a corner.
They stood in line daughters, mothers, boys, men, babies.
Innocent people.
And he mowed them down, maimed many more.
We're still so stuck in that day.
The police couldn't catch the monster, so we just lost hope.
Evil had won out, so it seemed.
But then we did get him a foiled attempt to kill a hundred, maybe a thousand more at an arts gala.
The monster was caught.
He needed medical treatment, so we'd have to wait until he was healed before we put him on trial, so we waited.
And waited and waited and waited.
Finally, the day came.
We had Brady Hartsfield in a courtroom.
The community of Bridgeton, the victims stood poised to finally get the closure we were all so desperate for.
Lou Linklatter, the defendant, she was in the courtroom that day giving testimony against Brady.
But as the evidence will show, she was not about to concern herself with anyone's need for closure.
She was not here for law and order.
She was here for revenge.
And vengeance she got.
She pulled out a 3-D printed gun which she herself made, walked right up to him calmly said, "I do not forgive you," and she then blew out Brady Hartsfield's brains.
Witnesses you will hear from some say that as Brady lay there, he looked almost at peace.
A smile, even, on his face.
Maybe he sensed he'd won in a way.
No prison.
No suffering.
No facing the wrath of those he so devastated.
He was spared.
Spared a trial, spared prison time, spared having to face down the pain of all his victims.
She spared him.
People who waited so long to address the monster and make him see, make him feel their anguish they didn't get that.
She took that from them.
She took the law in her own hands and committed premeditated murder.
That is not in dispute.
Now, we know who and what Brady Hartsfield was, and we know who the defendant is a victim of Brady's who let herself be overtaken by her rage.
And we know what the law is, don't we? Now, if you really think about it, the only thing we don't know here is which this trial will ultimately decide is who are you? [THE BLACK KEYS' "OCEANS & STREAMS".]
With guilt that no man should carry Heavy enough for me to get buried I feel death on the road tonight It's gotten me to where I want to Run and hide Oh, I used to dream Fuck! What the district attorney left out Brady Hartsfield wasn't in court that day to stand trial for his sins.
It was a competency hearing where Brady was seeking to avoid being held accountable, and as that was going on, the federal government had issued a habeas corpus motion to take control of him so that they could put Mr.
Mercedes in a hospital, study him to help chart medical progress on the brain.
Brady Hartsfield wasn't destined for prison or the death penalty.
He was headed for "60 Minutes.
" He was going to be celebrated, a poster boy for the miracles of modern medicine.
Ms.
Pace talks about closure.
Honestly, I don't even know what that means vindication, revenge, getting even? What's closure? My best guess, it's this feeling of settling the score somehow.
Lou Linklatter settled a score, one that this justice system was not willing to address.
Put him in a cushy hospital room.
Give him three squares.
Let him help doctors win peace prizes? That is not the score the victims of the jobs massacre had in mind.
It is most certainly not closure! Ms.
Pace wants to prioritize Brady's victims today, make sure their needs are met.
Who do you think gave them what they crave most? The judicial process? Or Lou Linklatter.
Nothin' at all? I looked everywhere.
Well, then they stashed them someplace else.
- Maybe it's not him.
- It's him.
And it's time for plan B.
[ENGINE TURNING OVER.]
The room felt like it might explode.
I kid you not.
I think the presence of the victims, the anger, the anguish it was all so charged.
It's as if Mr.
Mercedes is not gone, not even close.
Everyone in the room.
Brady Hartsfield has not let go.
He's gonna be the final legacy of this town.
No.
Our legacy will be that we killed John Rothstein.
I spoke to the doctor who worked on the John Doe patient.
Says he went by Mike Lee as his name.
Okay.
Yeah, I think you might be onto something with that theory of yours.
The guy Stan the Man delivered to the hospital was probably the person that killed Rothstein.
So, uh how'd it go in court today, good or Uh It's hard to say.
Both lawyers were good.
Very good, but How did Lou seem? Well, mm Less good.
It went okay, I think.
It's probably a wash.
How'd you feel about it? Good.
Lou, don't take this personally, but that rocking you're doing right now, you were doing that some in court today.
[CLEARS THROAT.]
It calms me.
I understand.
But, uh it makes you look unhinged, so Not that that's terrible, since the crux of involuntary manslaughter is, it just kinda happened.
You didn't plan it out so much as It just happened? Here's the deal: you looking a little off is good.
It mitigates against culpable intent.
But if you seem too off, for you to be back out on the street, the jury's gotta want you back out on the street, and if you come off as scary, they won't want that.
[LAUGHS WEAKLY.]
I wanna call Holly.
Holly Gibney? I want you to call her as a witness.
Because? She's one of Brady's victims too.
Brady blew up her aunt.
She bashed his head in, put him in the coma.
I think she'd make a riveting witness.
- Even so - I'm not finished.
She could be a de facto surrogate.
She took matters into her own hands, like I did.
She let Brady have it, like I did.
Only, she's pretty and not a lesbian.
The jury, they'll relate to her, they'll they're gonna root for Holly Gibney! 'Cause she's sympathetic and relatable and [EXHALES SHAKILY.]
she's likeable.
Like me.
Ha.
You make the jury fall in love with Holly Gibney, which I'm sure you can easily accomplish, Roland, and then you turn to me and you go, "Look.
She's just like Holly.
" And the best the best part about this is, Pace's blather about how the victims, they didn't get their due, they didn't get to go toe-to-toe with Brady Hartsfield Well, Holly she's one of them.
She got to go toe-to-toe with Brady.
And she bashed his head in.
[SOFTLY.]
There's your fuckin' closure.
If you like Holly, mm wait till you see Lou.
[LAUGHS.]
Oh, my God.
Oh! Diamond in the rough, right? I'm sorry? Holly.
Diamond in the rough.
Like that Neil Diamond song.
[LAUGHS.]
Lou.
[LAUGHS.]
Oh, my mother.
God, she loved that song.
Not that she wasn't the worst mother in the world.
[SIGHS.]
I'm gonna [TAPS TABLE.]
Think all this over.
- [SOFTLY.]
Holly - It might be a good plan.
Holy eyes Dream of only me What I am What I believe in Holly holy Holly holy Dream Wanting only You It's a good song.
When she comes And I run Just like the wind will Holly holy [CLAPPING RHYTHMICALLY.]
Bah-bah, bah-bah, bah-bah, bah-bah! Sing, sing a song Sing a song of songs Sing it out Sing it strong - [NEIL DIAMOND'S "HOLLY HOLY".]
- Yeah Yeah Call the sun in the dead of the night And the sun gonna rise in the sky Touch a man who can't walk upright And that lame man, he gonna fly And I fly Ah Hey And I fly Holly holy love Take the lonely child - Sing - Sing a song Sing - Sing - Sing a song of songs Sing - Sing - Sing it out - Sing - Sing it strong Sing, sing, sing, sing Yeah Yeah Call the sun in the dead of night And the sun gonna rise in the sky Touch a man who can't walk upright And that lame man, he gonna fly And I fly Hey God, I fly Holly holy dream Dream by only you
Mercedes" All of 'em could have could have conceivably walked to the crash site.
So, what's the next step? - Oh! Oh, Jesus Christ.
- Danielle! I'm gonna get all my stuff, because I am done.
Got any of John Rothstein's books? - Sold out.
- What about first editions? - Do you know how much they're worth? - If it's a long letter, could be worth a million, at least.
It's the way he was acting, fishing.
That's him.
- He's not the only one.
- What? That's the detective that broke the Mr.
Mercedes case.
You're positive he was shot here? We found the drill that was used to burrow into his head.
You got no leads at all, huh? - No.
We found the writings at the house.
- Most likely stolen.
It's him.
Lou passed her competency exam.
- What? - She's going to trial.
[GASPS, SCREAMS.]
[DARK MUSIC.]
Looks like you're making a pretty good life for yourself photos of houses where they found a dead guy.
I think I'm gonna take a picture of [GRUNTS.]
[ELEVATOR BELL DINGS.]
I miss Satan.
Really, I do.
Satan used to be somebody the Prince of Fucking Darkness.
Pilgrims knew him.
They burned witches because Satan's got some evil goddamn friends out there.
The worst crime that my generation ever committed is that we murdered Satan.
Now nobody's evil.
They're damaged, they're misunderstood, they're unloved, but they're not evil.
God forbid you say that.
But here's a problem.
If there is no Satan, then there is no God.
And where there's no God, there's Mr.
Mercedes plowing into a bunch of innocent people looking for jobs.
Hodges.
[FLAMES WHOOSHING.]
W-w-w-w-wait! Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait! No! Oh! No, no, ow, ow! Aah! It was proof that Satan lives, - and we are all - [SCREAMING.]
- just too fucking weak to admit it.
- [SCREAMING.]
[CONTINUES SCREAMING.]
[TAPPING CONTINUES FAINTLY.]
[RAPID KNOCKING.]
- [KNOCKING CONTINUES.]
- Okay, okay, okay.
[KNOCKING LOUDLY.]
Coming, coming.
What the hell time is it? 7:45.
Known in Ohio as morning.
Are you all right? Was having a fuck of a nightmare.
There's both a doorbell to ring and a door to knock on, you know.
- What are you doing? - I'm cleaning.
What does it look like I'm doing? Spilled some red wine.
[GRUNTS.]
What are you doing? I maybe have a lead.
I got a high school buddy, Andy Halliday, runs an old bookstore.
Yeah, you told me.
You got a bite? Well, some kid came into the bookstore asking about Rothstein.
That kid! We have ourselves a positive ID.
That's the Saubers family.
[WHISPERS.]
Fuck.
I've seen this kid playing with his dog.
There's also a private detective on the sniff.
Came to the bookstore asking about Rothstein.
Here.
Bill Hodges.
- You know him? - I know Bill.
He's a bloodhound, only less handsome.
- You say he's sniffing? - Seems so.
I don't like that.
Then again, he could lead us to the holy grail.
If he's looking for those manuscripts, we should keep close tabs, hmm? [DARK MUSIC.]
The man is a bloodhound.
[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 [SLOW APPROACHING FOOTSTEPS.]
[DOOR CLATTERS OPEN.]
[EXHALES HEAVILY.]
Wow, a tie.
What's the occasion? Going to court.
[EXHALES.]
The trial of the woman who killed Brady Hartsfield.
You're going? Yeah, I have to, for whatever reason.
[SIGHS.]
Pete, we, uh, we got another envelope this morning.
$9,000.
Bringing the total up to $32,000.
Oh, my God.
You have no idea where this is coming from? Actually, I do.
Pete, you've been pretty secretive as of late.
My mind keeps going to those expensive shoes that you've got.
I just can't help but think - Dad - Just let me finish, Pete, okay? You're not in trouble.
Or I should say you're not in trouble with me.
[SIGHS.]
If you need help, let me help you.
I don't need help.
Where'd you get the money? It's not coming from me.
I promise.
[TENSE MUSIC.]
[SIGHS.]
Yes, perfect.
Thank you.
You too.
Hey.
I have some good news.
Good.
Okay, so it turns out Rothstein took out insurance.
Yeah.
Yeah, it's called, um, stated value coverage, which basically means the cost of replacing whatever was in the safe.
Stated value coverage, as in subject to appraisal.
Exactly.
- Books.
- Yeah, it has to be.
His daughter said that he never stopped writing.
I mean, she said that he had tons of notebooks, just unpublished manuscripts.
Tell him the best part.
So the insurance company, Hannaford [EXHALES SHARPLY.]
they've offered a reward: $700,000 for any information that would lead to the manuscript's recovery.
I mean, that means we're no longer doing this just for the love of American literature.
This is much bigger now.
We're talking money.
$700,000.
[LAUGHS.]
Mm-hmm.
And maybe another break.
I just got off the phone with Shirley Landon.
She's an EMT.
Stan the Man, the guy that was found dead in the truck, the one that you think was planted there? - Yeah.
- Turns out, she remembers him.
Apparently, he dropped off another half-dead guy off at the hospital like some, uh, Good Samaritan drop-off? When? The night of Rothstein's murder.
- Well, let's go.
- No, no, you need to be in court.
Jerome, you go to the hospital.
We're talking about a lead that could bring us straight to those books, Holly.
I realize that, and also possibly $3/4 million.
But we need to be in court.
And by court order, in case you forgot.
I'll go.
I'll take the information.
Yes.
Take information.
Don't give any.
Do you understand? SÃ, kemosabe.
- What does that mean? - Bill.
It means you're no longer a lone ranger.
You have two sidekicks right here.
Come on.
We really have to go.
Ciao.
[CHUCKLES.]
[SOFTLY.]
Yes! This ups the ante, and not in a good way.
This reward money? Other people are gonna be lookin'.
Morris, are you listening to me? - I'm listening.
- We need to turn the screws on this Saubers kid now.
Or Hodges.
Hodges doesn't have the books.
He's just looking for 'em like we are.
But he may have more information than we do.
That kid lives in the area.
He was in the bookstore asking about Rothstein, what we was worth.
He's our best bet.
The question is, how do we make our play without tipping our own hand? I would've thought she'd be back by now.
'Scuse me? Danielle.
Oh, for God's sake.
She didn't even pack up her shit.
Not even a note.
[SUCKS FINGER.]
You really loved her.
I just don't get it.
Morris, you're a nice guy, good-looking.
But it's not the case that well, whatever women find in you, they can find elsewhere, and I don't say that to be mean.
Every woman I've ever cared for has hurt me my mother, Danielle.
I never hurt ya.
You raped me when I was 13.
But it was loving.
[CROWD CHANTING.]
Set her free! Set her free! Set her free! Set her free! [CROWD CLAMORING.]
He wants us all in chambers? According to the clerk.
Why the fuck why? With this judge, anybody's guess.
- Do not threaten him.
- I'm not gonna threaten him.
Yeah, well just don't.
As you well know, I've tried to prevent this trial from happening.
That being said, Ms.
Linklatter, you have been found competent, and it is therefore your legal right to have your day in court.
And as loose a cannon as I might strike you, and certainly you, the law wins out.
American exceptionalism is alive in the courtroom, especially mine.
Noble principles of jurisprudence let no man make a mockery thereof.
For me to allow the defense to argue self-defense, that would be such a mockery.
So that affirmative defense is denied.
Judge, you cannot do that.
I can.
I do.
I must.
The facts do not support self-defense, mm.
Nor will I allow you to argue jury nullification.
You might as well direct the verdict in favor of the prosecution.
That authority is not available to me.
[SIGHS.]
Ms.
Linklatter, you continue to refuse any plea deals, which is misguided.
So I've summoned Mr.
Hodges, Ms.
Gibney to be here for this.
It's come to my attention that these are the people who best have your ear, and I'm hopeful that they will be able to get through to you in a way that I cannot, because if you continue to go through with this trial, it is my considered and strong opinion that you will lose.
Question.
Uh if I'm to tell you to go fuck yourself, should I do that now or wait till we're in the room? [GROANS.]
Very solid attempt to incur my bias! - [CHUCKLING.]
- [CHUCKLING.]
Not gonna not gonna happen.
Well, the good news is that I am human.
Part of me is well, glad that you killed that son of a bitch Brady Hartsfield.
But the bad news is that once I put on this robe [CHUCKLES.]
I live up to it.
I'm gonna leave the room to the defense team so that you can confer.
We don't need to confer.
Let's just do this.
Time's a-wastin'.
- Lou.
- This doesn't involve you, Kermit.
Um, I-I'll take the room if your offer's still good alone.
I have nothing to say to you.
Then it falls to me to do the talkin'.
You called me Kermit.
It's your name.
Brady tell you that? Holly tells me that he talks to you.
Well, she shouldn't have done that.
I told her that in confidence.
Listen, I'm no shrink.
Oh, well, we should leave it at that, then.
But you need to let Brady go.
Easier said than done.
Lou.
He's the reason why I'm in here at all.
But to get you out of here, which is the mission of the fucking day You have to keep the man out of your head.
[TEARFULLY.]
I can't.
He's knockin' around in my brain too.
[WHIMPERS.]
At the end of the day, we're all fucking head cases.
- [SOBS.]
- I get it.
But our only hope is to hang on to our wits, even if only by a thread.
You need to be hanging on to yours.
I don't see how you win this trial.
[DARK MUSIC.]
With public sentiment on one's side, nothing can fail.
Brady say that, did he? It's Abraham Lincoln.
I killed the biggest monster ever in the history of this town.
The public is gonna set me free.
The facts don't support her.
[CROWD CHANTING.]
Set her free! The law doesn't.
She's off in the fuckin' head.
Yeah.
I don't see how this hand gets played.
I really don't.
Well, um, Finkelstein is good.
I mean, we just have to hope he's great, I guess? You fancy him, don't ya? What? Finkelstein.
I do not fancy him.
It's not a crime.
The makeup.
That looks to be a new dress.
Just open the door.
[CAR BEEPS.]
Mm.
What's your perfume? Vanilla? [SNIFFS.]
You smell like cookie dough.
You don't get to say things like that to me.
- Why not? - Because you're my boss, okay? You're not supposed to take note of how I look or smell.
It's practically illegal for you to even notice I'm a woman.
Don't you read? And where would I read that fuckshit, on your Facebook? I'm not allowed to notice ya as a woman? Would lunatic be okay, gender neutral? - Jesus fuckin' balls.
- Okay.
- [THE BLACK KEYS' "SAME OLD THING".]
- Just the same old thing Just the same old thing No matter how much love you try to bring Just the same old thing [ENGINE TURNS OFF.]
[DRAMATIC ROCK MUSIC.]
You want to tell me why you didn't finish the assignment? I didn't see the point.
You didn't see the point? How would it benefit mankind? I let that question be my compass.
And finishing the assignment I didn't see how it would improve mankind.
You never miss a chance to be a smartass, do you, Morris? I've decided instead of a detention, I'm gonna give you something else.
I'm gonna give you something a little more memorable.
[THUNK.]
This book is not on the school board's approved reading list.
I might get into trouble for giving it to you.
At least I hope so.
You and Jimmy Gold will get along.
He's a sarcastic, self-hating little shit just like you.
- - [DARK MUSIC.]
Hey.
How'd it go? No pay dirt, but I've got something.
Go on.
Um okay.
[EXHALES.]
Well, Stan McNair delivered a man, mid-30s, to the hospital.
Said he found him on the side of the road on Route Six.
Apparently, he was hit by a car.
Took him to the hospital, and the man gave the hospital a fake name, only to leave the next day and never be seen again.
Did they get anything on him DNA, photos? Uh well, they took his blood, so I guess they have his DNA.
But they're just grainy photos from a old corridor cam.
Just shows a man walking out, but you can't even recognize him.
[WHISPERS.]
Shit.
But I have a theory.
This should be good.
- 'Scuse me? - All right.
What's your theory? [EXHALES.]
Okay.
The John Doe patient was driving the truck that crashed.
He crawls out of the ditch, and that's when Stan the repair guy finds him and takes him to the hospital.
John Doe patient leaves the hospital to find Stan the Man, probably to, you know, find his stolen goods and kills him, puts him in the truck.
Why is this Shirley person telling you all this? I don't know, but she seems to be telling everybody.
You knew about this.
It's still fluid, and we haven't positively confirmed that it was Stan McNair that dropped the guy off at the hospital.
Yeah, you have a pretty good idea.
- Calm down.
- You didn't let me in on it.
We get the information, we confirm it, - and then I give it to you.
- That's bullshit.
We made a deal you scratch my balls, I scratch yours.
We didn't make that deal.
Thanks for the visual.
What about the guy at the hospital? You got a bead on him? No.
But we're working with one of the treating nurses to come up with a composite sketch.
Which you will give straight to me, right? This is about that reward that's got your balls all itchy, isn't it? No, it's the principle.
We agreed to keep each other in our respective loops.
Bill, you're a little amped up, okay? I'm not keeping anything from you, I swear.
Fucking look at me when you say that, will ya? I am not keeping anything from you, Bill Hodges.
What are you gonna testify to? - I'm sorry? - Lou's case.
You're número uno on the prosecution's witness list.
I'm gonna go in and tell them what I saw.
If you bury her, I'll fucking Oh, what the fuck? I do not have it out for Lou.
What is this, "Accuse Your Local Latino" Day? What exactly do ya plan to say? I plan to say what we both saw happen in that courtroom.
I'm not about to commit perjury.
And why can't you get Lou to cop to this plea? 'Cause I can't.
She's convinced the jury will set her free.
Involuntary manslaughter? Yeah.
I don't think the DA would go for that.
I don't need the DA to go for it because I'm not looking for a plea or a deal.
I just need you to argue that that's what it was.
And since involuntary manslaughter's not on the menu, the only choice the jury will have will be between first-degree and not guilty, and I'm betting they're gonna choose the latter.
The DA can always add the lesser included offense like involuntary, in which case the jury would have a choice.
All right.
So then they'd choose involuntary manslaughter, which is six to eight.
Factoring in mitigating circumstances and time already served, I could be out in 18 months.
That I can fucking handle.
So she never left the house not once? Not once.
I don't understand.
I know Susie Banks at Safeway.
She says Marjorie Saubers goes grocery shopping every Wednesday, regular as clockwork.
And she usually takes the crippled husband with her.
Well, she didn't go today.
I had no chance to go inside.
Trust me.
I do not like this.
This reward money there are gonna be more scavengers in the area, all on the sniff.
Time is of the goddamn essence.
Morris.
Danielly-belle didn't know about all this, did she? No.
You sure? 'Cause bitchy-ass girlfriends have a way of knowing things.
And she in particular was clearly a snoop.
She followed you here.
Who knows what other suspicions she may have had.
Why past tense? - What? - You said, "What other suspicions she may have had.
" Past tense, like she's no more.
[SCOFFS.]
She is no more.
She's no more your girlfriend.
Best for you to be thinking of her as past tense too, 'cause that's what she is gone.
Why are you lookin' at me like that? Nothing.
Tomorrow.
Hell or high water, we're searching the Saubers' house.
I'll go with ya.
- I'm leaving.
- Going where? Home.
It's late, you know? I-I got a big day ahead.
We both got a lotta tension built up.
You don't think maybe we should burn a little bit of it off? No.
I do not.
You look too pent up to sleep.
And Danielle's not there to decompress you.
- Forget it! - What did you say? I said forget it.
Don't make me come over there and sit on your head, Morris.
Good night, Alma.
The DA won't dare offer involuntary manslaughter for fear the jury will jump at that.
But if they don't think it's first-degree and first-degree is the only charge on the menu, then they gotta come back with "not guilty.
" - Right.
- I mean, it's brilliant, actually, which brings me back to somebody's helping her.
Huh? Well maybe your legal eagle acumen is rubbing off on her.
- Mm? - You know, I hear that happens when people spend a lot of time together, so Am I rubbing off on you? Sorry.
[CHUCKLES.]
- No, I-I'm sorry.
- No.
I shouldn't have said that.
That was wrong.
No, no, it wasn't wrong.
I just wasn't ready for it.
But I don't which I may never be, so [LAUGHS.]
May I ask a question? Of course.
[LAUGHS.]
[LOUNGE MUSIC PLAYING.]
Are we on a date? Would you like it to be? Well what I'd like is for you to answer my question with something other than another question.
[INDISTINCT CHATTER.]
We're having dinner, discussing the case.
Right.
Okay.
But I'm hoping that it will feel a little like a date so if we ever were to have one, it won't be such a jolt.
[CHUCKLES.]
[LAUGHS.]
[LEONARD COHEN'S "I SEEMED THE BETTER WAY".]
Seemed the better way When first I heard him speak Sounded like the truth Seemed the better way Sounded like the truth But it's not the truth today I wonder what it was I wonder what it meant [ICE CREAM TRUCK MUSIC.]
[OVERLAPPING ICE CREAM TRUCK MUSIC.]
[WHIMPERS.]
Why was she on fire? What? Lou! What do you think that was about? Her being on fire? [SIGHS.]
Shit if I know.
Something about Satan.
Rothstein was banging on about needing him back.
Satan? Yeah, the world needs him back because he's better than the alternative.
Oh-ho! God? [LAUGHS.]
People.
Well, that actually sounds like him.
Maybe people do haunt us.
Rothstein certainly had a way of haunting me.
That's really why I'm teaching him again.
How did the class go? You know, not so bad.
Kids today, they think everything is stupid.
Jonathan Swift's "A Modest Proposal" stupid.
"Young Goodman Brown," by Nathanial Hawthorne - so stupid.
- [LAUGHS.]
But when I when I set the table with the Jimmy Gold trilogy, I think I had them.
Wait'll they actually read them.
You know, John always said you gotta grab 'em by the balls.
Course, I'm not allowed to do that.
Yeah.
It's not fair.
[LAUGHS.]
What's the matter? Maybe I'm the Satan in the dream.
Okay.
Why? Everybody I touch suffers my wife, my daughter, Janey, now Lou.
- Oh, come on.
- You better mind yourself.
Nah, just bear with me.
From what I remember in "The Inferno" Dante talked about Satan as a a nonentity, kind of an absence, which I definitely was for my family.
He said that the empty sack causes the suffering.
And you called me an empty sack yourself once.
No, no.
No.
I said your life was empty.
Yes, I did.
And Dante Dante spoke of the empty soul, not an empty sack.
Same difference.
[SIGHS.]
You are so far from being an empty soul.
You're really worried about her.
Lou.
She's fucked.
My doing.
Not everything is your doing.
But this one is.
Give it to me.
Okay.
We wait till everybody's out.
What? Nothing.
Okay, not nothing.
Something.
- Only I don't know what it is.
- Mom.
You are not yourself these days.
You come home, you go to your room, and you bury yourself in your books.
What, So we've gone from, "Go upstairs and do your homework," to, "Don't go upstairs and do your homework"? Okay, don't you dare insult me.
I am not stupid.
Is it a girl? What? Teenage girls can wreak emotional havoc on teenage boys.
- There's no girl, Mom.
- I was one.
Sometimes teenage boys can get teenage girls pregnant.
Mom, for God's sake.
But mostly, teenage boys tend to be carefree.
[SLOW FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING.]
Morning.
You going to court? They say it's gonna happen today.
No more of this pretrial nonsense.
No school? I'm about to leave.
Just gotta finish this assignment.
I don't know why you feel the need to be there.
Because I do, Marjorie.
How many times are we gonna have this conversation? I just What? You're doing better.
I I see you trying, and you're doing better.
I worry that all of this is gonna stir all of that up again.
I told you I'd make my way back.
That's what I'm doing.
This is a part of that journey, I guess, but I have to be there.
I don't understand the problem.
The problem is, while most people couldn't get in here, special accommodations were made for victims of the jobs fair massacre.
This room and the deck has been emotionally stacked in favor of the defense.
W-wait a second.
Are you telling me that you can look out there and readily identify victims of the jobs fair? I'm telling you what is, Your Honor, and contrary to the rumor, juries are not stupid.
They will read those faces.
He will point to them like props, exploit the hatred against Brady Hartsfield - to make the populist argument - Oh, wait, so you know my case now.
I know you, and I have a pretty good idea.
The Sixth Amendment guarantees the defendant the right to a public trial.
- But you cannot cherry-pick - I didn't cherry-pick anybody.
- All right.
- And the court has a duty to keep extraneous influences out of the courtroom which may serve to contaminate - the process of justice, Your Honor.
- Brady Hartsfield ran down those people or members of their families you call them extraneous? This is exactly what I'm talking about! [GAVEL BANGS.]
[CROWD MURMURING.]
Motion denied.
[CROWD MURMURING.]
I want my objection on the record.
Of course you do.
So noted.
Bring in the defendant first then the jury.
[CAMERA SHUTTERS CLICKING.]
She doesn't look good.
No.
[CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKING.]
Looks like Miss Piggy is finally off to market.
[EXHALES HEAVILY.]
Why so nervous, Morris? This is a simple B and E.
Not like you'll need to be shooting somebody famous in the head.
- You think you're funny? - I'm just saying this is a piece of cake and it's also right.
- Right? - Yes.
Those books, if they're in there, are more rightly yours than theirs.
It's called self-help, which is what the country is comin' to anyway.
We're influencers, you and me.
I'll keep watch.
We're on.
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC.]
[BOOGERS BARKING.]
You must be Boogers.
You know who you remind me of, Boogers? John Rothstein.
He snarled and growled at me just like you.
Only things didn't work out too good for him.
[BARKING.]
But I got a feeling that you and I, we're gonna get on much better.
Oh, oh.
- [GROWLING.]
- Hey, hey.
Now, I know you don't mean that.
Okay, okay, I hear you.
You're asking the most universal question known to man and maybe to dog as well.
- [BOOGERS SNARLING.]
- "What's in it for me?" You got principles you stand for.
I want you to forsake those principles, so you're rightly asking, "What's in it for me?" - [OBJECT THUDS.]
- Oh! [SNARLING.]
Hey Your reward for choosing to look the other way.
Huh? Oh ah.
That's a good Boogers.
Okay.
Ms.
Pace, we'll hear from you.
A little over four years ago, Brady Hartsfield stole a Mercedes S 600 and deliberately drove it into a crowd of people.
People who were standing innocently in line to attend a jobs fair.
People a bit down on their economic luck, hoping to turn a corner.
They stood in line daughters, mothers, boys, men, babies.
Innocent people.
And he mowed them down, maimed many more.
We're still so stuck in that day.
The police couldn't catch the monster, so we just lost hope.
Evil had won out, so it seemed.
But then we did get him a foiled attempt to kill a hundred, maybe a thousand more at an arts gala.
The monster was caught.
He needed medical treatment, so we'd have to wait until he was healed before we put him on trial, so we waited.
And waited and waited and waited.
Finally, the day came.
We had Brady Hartsfield in a courtroom.
The community of Bridgeton, the victims stood poised to finally get the closure we were all so desperate for.
Lou Linklatter, the defendant, she was in the courtroom that day giving testimony against Brady.
But as the evidence will show, she was not about to concern herself with anyone's need for closure.
She was not here for law and order.
She was here for revenge.
And vengeance she got.
She pulled out a 3-D printed gun which she herself made, walked right up to him calmly said, "I do not forgive you," and she then blew out Brady Hartsfield's brains.
Witnesses you will hear from some say that as Brady lay there, he looked almost at peace.
A smile, even, on his face.
Maybe he sensed he'd won in a way.
No prison.
No suffering.
No facing the wrath of those he so devastated.
He was spared.
Spared a trial, spared prison time, spared having to face down the pain of all his victims.
She spared him.
People who waited so long to address the monster and make him see, make him feel their anguish they didn't get that.
She took that from them.
She took the law in her own hands and committed premeditated murder.
That is not in dispute.
Now, we know who and what Brady Hartsfield was, and we know who the defendant is a victim of Brady's who let herself be overtaken by her rage.
And we know what the law is, don't we? Now, if you really think about it, the only thing we don't know here is which this trial will ultimately decide is who are you? [THE BLACK KEYS' "OCEANS & STREAMS".]
With guilt that no man should carry Heavy enough for me to get buried I feel death on the road tonight It's gotten me to where I want to Run and hide Oh, I used to dream Fuck! What the district attorney left out Brady Hartsfield wasn't in court that day to stand trial for his sins.
It was a competency hearing where Brady was seeking to avoid being held accountable, and as that was going on, the federal government had issued a habeas corpus motion to take control of him so that they could put Mr.
Mercedes in a hospital, study him to help chart medical progress on the brain.
Brady Hartsfield wasn't destined for prison or the death penalty.
He was headed for "60 Minutes.
" He was going to be celebrated, a poster boy for the miracles of modern medicine.
Ms.
Pace talks about closure.
Honestly, I don't even know what that means vindication, revenge, getting even? What's closure? My best guess, it's this feeling of settling the score somehow.
Lou Linklatter settled a score, one that this justice system was not willing to address.
Put him in a cushy hospital room.
Give him three squares.
Let him help doctors win peace prizes? That is not the score the victims of the jobs massacre had in mind.
It is most certainly not closure! Ms.
Pace wants to prioritize Brady's victims today, make sure their needs are met.
Who do you think gave them what they crave most? The judicial process? Or Lou Linklatter.
Nothin' at all? I looked everywhere.
Well, then they stashed them someplace else.
- Maybe it's not him.
- It's him.
And it's time for plan B.
[ENGINE TURNING OVER.]
The room felt like it might explode.
I kid you not.
I think the presence of the victims, the anger, the anguish it was all so charged.
It's as if Mr.
Mercedes is not gone, not even close.
Everyone in the room.
Brady Hartsfield has not let go.
He's gonna be the final legacy of this town.
No.
Our legacy will be that we killed John Rothstein.
I spoke to the doctor who worked on the John Doe patient.
Says he went by Mike Lee as his name.
Okay.
Yeah, I think you might be onto something with that theory of yours.
The guy Stan the Man delivered to the hospital was probably the person that killed Rothstein.
So, uh how'd it go in court today, good or Uh It's hard to say.
Both lawyers were good.
Very good, but How did Lou seem? Well, mm Less good.
It went okay, I think.
It's probably a wash.
How'd you feel about it? Good.
Lou, don't take this personally, but that rocking you're doing right now, you were doing that some in court today.
[CLEARS THROAT.]
It calms me.
I understand.
But, uh it makes you look unhinged, so Not that that's terrible, since the crux of involuntary manslaughter is, it just kinda happened.
You didn't plan it out so much as It just happened? Here's the deal: you looking a little off is good.
It mitigates against culpable intent.
But if you seem too off, for you to be back out on the street, the jury's gotta want you back out on the street, and if you come off as scary, they won't want that.
[LAUGHS WEAKLY.]
I wanna call Holly.
Holly Gibney? I want you to call her as a witness.
Because? She's one of Brady's victims too.
Brady blew up her aunt.
She bashed his head in, put him in the coma.
I think she'd make a riveting witness.
- Even so - I'm not finished.
She could be a de facto surrogate.
She took matters into her own hands, like I did.
She let Brady have it, like I did.
Only, she's pretty and not a lesbian.
The jury, they'll relate to her, they'll they're gonna root for Holly Gibney! 'Cause she's sympathetic and relatable and [EXHALES SHAKILY.]
she's likeable.
Like me.
Ha.
You make the jury fall in love with Holly Gibney, which I'm sure you can easily accomplish, Roland, and then you turn to me and you go, "Look.
She's just like Holly.
" And the best the best part about this is, Pace's blather about how the victims, they didn't get their due, they didn't get to go toe-to-toe with Brady Hartsfield Well, Holly she's one of them.
She got to go toe-to-toe with Brady.
And she bashed his head in.
[SOFTLY.]
There's your fuckin' closure.
If you like Holly, mm wait till you see Lou.
[LAUGHS.]
Oh, my God.
Oh! Diamond in the rough, right? I'm sorry? Holly.
Diamond in the rough.
Like that Neil Diamond song.
[LAUGHS.]
Lou.
[LAUGHS.]
Oh, my mother.
God, she loved that song.
Not that she wasn't the worst mother in the world.
[SIGHS.]
I'm gonna [TAPS TABLE.]
Think all this over.
- [SOFTLY.]
Holly - It might be a good plan.
Holy eyes Dream of only me What I am What I believe in Holly holy Holly holy Dream Wanting only You It's a good song.
When she comes And I run Just like the wind will Holly holy [CLAPPING RHYTHMICALLY.]
Bah-bah, bah-bah, bah-bah, bah-bah! Sing, sing a song Sing a song of songs Sing it out Sing it strong - [NEIL DIAMOND'S "HOLLY HOLY".]
- Yeah Yeah Call the sun in the dead of the night And the sun gonna rise in the sky Touch a man who can't walk upright And that lame man, he gonna fly And I fly Ah Hey And I fly Holly holy love Take the lonely child - Sing - Sing a song Sing - Sing - Sing a song of songs Sing - Sing - Sing it out - Sing - Sing it strong Sing, sing, sing, sing Yeah Yeah Call the sun in the dead of night And the sun gonna rise in the sky Touch a man who can't walk upright And that lame man, he gonna fly And I fly Hey God, I fly Holly holy dream Dream by only you