"Oh, no, it can't be." "It must have been left here by the people that moved out." "Maybe." "Maybe I didn't do such a wonderful thing after all." "Gets me every time." "I'm going to bed, everybody." "Good night." " Night, night, hon." " Night, night." " Night." " Did you say good night to your mother?" "Night, Mom." "Night, doll." "Well, that's about everybody's bedtime." "Who wants some ice cream?" "Sara?" "Can I?" "I'm gonna have some." "How 'bout you, Dad?" "No, thank you." "It was kind of frozen, so I put lots of chocolate" "Here, Dad, I made you one too." " I told you I didn't want any." " Sure you do." "You always do." "Come with me, Sara, honey." "You can help me scoop my bowl." "Take this up to my room and lock the door and stay there." " I need to brush my teeth." " No, not tonight." "Don't let anybody in, not even Daddy." "Okay?" " Okay." " Okay." "Let's get going." "What are you doing with her?" " Nothing." "She's just going to bed." " Wait a minute." " What is this?" " What?" "Why are you wearing your clothes?" "You're wearing your clothes under your jammies?" " What are you up to?" " Nothing." "What the hell are you up to?" "Huh?" "Where do you think you're going?" "Tell me!" "911- possible disorderly near the intersection of Lamp and Terminal." "Anyone in the vicinity, you'll be looking for a woman wearing a nightgown." "There she is." "Gotta stay on the line." "Gotta stay on the line." "Gotta stay on the line." "Gotta... stay on the line." "Miss." " Ma'am." "Stop, ma'am." " Gotta stay on the line." "Miss, we're gonna have to talk to you." "Ma'am?" "Gotta stay on the line." "Gotta stay on the line." "Hello?" "Just a minute." "It's for you." "Hi." "I'm eatherine Black." "I'm a clinical social worker." "Are you Connie Bangs?" "Yes, this is my brother Larry and my sister Ruth." " Hi." " Sorry about all this." " Sorry about what?" " Th-The bother." "You know, that it's causing everybody." "This woman is here to help you." "If there's some way I can help you, Connie... that's what I wanna do." "If you wanna talk to me now, here or alone... it's your choice." "Whatever we talk about, it's just between us." "Okay?" "Did they tell you anything about my problem?" "I was told it isn't your problem." "It's your father's." "Oh!" "Nobody's gonna believe that." " Why?" " Because of who he is." "joe Bangs, mr. ehamber of eommerce, and all that." "What won't they believe?" "That it's been so long." "How long has he been doing it, Connie?" "Oh, um... 23 years." "Here I am, I'm 32, and I haven't even told anybody." "People keep secrets for all kinds of reasons, Connie." "Everyone who knows you and loves you understands that." "We wanna do what's right here." "we wanna stand by eonnie." "Do you wanna talk about it?" "Part of me does." "Which part of you?" "The part of me that wants him dead." "Not in a hundred years with two 10-foot poles." "I've seen cases like these come through here." "Nobody wants them." "Not even the good ones, and this isn't one." "This is a felony crime we're talking about." "And it damn well should be, but state law has a statutory limitation... of three years after the complainant's 18th birthday." "Your victim is about 10 years too late." "Then prosecute it as rape." "They did a rape kit on her last night." "The results were negative." "This has been going on since she was eight years old." "I'm sorry." "I really am." "Do you have any idea the secrets that she's been living with for over 20 years?" "Do you know what it takes to keep all that inside?" "Has she opened up to you at all?" "It takes time." "Did she tell you about any kind of mental health history?" "No!" "Look." "My job is to support the victim." "I am doing my job." "I just want you to do yours." "Let me give you the most plausible scenario." "We start prosecuting, and the defense will find a way... to relabel it a case of family dysfunction." "If they don't dismiss, the defendant gets three years' probation... and we've wasted a lot of taxpayers' money." "What does that have to do with the victim?" "You want the sad facts?" "This is a nice, middle-class family." "The father's a local businessman." "Who's gonna believe that a 32-year-old woman couldn't have just walked out?" " Have you asked yourself that?" " No, because I know the answer." "And it's why you're going to help me prosecute this case... or I'll go over your head and get a grand jury convened." "Because if that woman's father isn't put away... then this is going to go on for the next 20 years." "Or somebody's going to die." "I'll schedule a psychiatric evaluation for the victim." "Thank you." "Hi, Bob." "Thanks for coming down." "I'm sure you're busy." "No, I was kinda worried about you... how you sounded on your message." "Well, it's one of those cases, you know?" "It just hits a nerve." "Yeah." "Uh, the guy, the father, do you know anything about him?" " Joe Bangs?" " Yeah." "He's kind of a town booster." "Oh, ran for city council a few years back." " Not an unpopular guy." " What are you saying?" "I'm just saying..." "I talked to the assistant D.A. about it." "She doesn't like this case." "It's a horrible case, Bob." "ButJoe Bangs has an eight-year-old daughter living at home with him." "That's the same age Connie was when he started molesting her." "Why can't Child Protective Services go in there?" "Until they get a psych evaluation of the victim... they don't feel they have enough for probable cause." "What, uh, would you like me to do?" "Shh." "Go away." " Yes?" " Mrs. Bangs?" " Yes." " I'm Catherine Black... from the Seattle Victims Assistance Program." "This is Detective Bletcher." "Is your husband home?" "No, he's not here." " Are you expecting him back soon?" " I can't quite say really." "Do you know why we're here, Mrs. Bangs?" " Why you're here?" " Is your daughter Sara here?" " No." " Get off my property!" " Mr. Bangs." " We've nothing to say." "Leave us alone!" " I need to speak with Sara." " You bring shame to my family." "You've got no right." "Now get off my property!" "Get outta here!" "Mr. Bangs." "Come on, mr." "Bangs." "Open up." "Open the door, mr." "Bangs." "Do you know what they're doing?" "Huh?" "Do you know what they want?" "Your sister is trying to hurt Daddy." "Do you wanna hurt Daddy?" "No." "I'd like to see the full report as soon as possible." "Thanks." "You don't waste any time pissing people off, do you?" " Beg your pardon?" " I just got a call, says you're at the Bangses' house..." " put a hole through the door?" " You gotta be kidding." " I'm sure there's more to the story." " Yeah, like some reality." "The fact is no charges have been made, and until they are... you're not making my work any easier." "How could your work be any easier?" "The psychologist just got finished with Connie Bangs." " And?" " She's not gonna have a full report for a few days... but there was something she found, something you're gonna want to know about." " What?" " The younger daughter, Sara... there was a strong impression she's Connie's." " Who's the father?" " The father." "Joe Bangs." "Oh, God." " Catherine." " What are you doing?" "Frank." " What time is it?" " Morning." "I was just gonna close my eyes." "I was working." " I was so worried." " Where's Jordan?" "Next door at the Merediths'." "She's fine." "I'm sorry." "I didn't mean to worry you." "It's all right." "I just woke up, and you weren't there." " It's this case." " I understand." "We're trying to find a legal angle to get the younger daughter out of the house." "It's just very hard to get the court to do that." "What about a psychiatric evaluation of the father?" "I can't push for that until I get what's called "validation of the claims,"" "based on the victim's own psychiatric evaluation." "What about the woman, the victim?" "Will she testify?" "She's reluctant, but only because it's so hard." "Oh!" "Damn it!" "I'm supposed to meet with her at her sister's house in half an hour." "Oh, I'm sorry." "I just" " I'll call you." "Tell" " Oh." "Tell Jordan I miss her... and I gotta go." "Go." " Hi." "I'm sorry I'm late." " Hi." "No, I was wondering if you'd run into Connie or something." " Run into her?" " Yeah." "She went for a walk about a half hour ago." "She knew you were coming." "Maybe she got caught in the downpour, waiting for a break." "Yeah." "But I don't think she had any phone money with her or anything." " You wanna go out looking for her?" " Well, let's" "No." "No, I don't want her to think she's gone right from one con-- control freak to another, you know?" "Has she told you much?" "Not much she has to tell me." "How long have you known?" "Since I was about eight." "I'm sorry." "I know the story all right." "How it starts, how he... confuses you... and makes you think you're the special one because... you're too young to know what he's doing." "Because you think..." "it's just Daddy, and he loves you." "How did you make it stop?" "I got sick." "Really sick, and they..." "I had to go away to a... special hospital." "And... when I came back... he didn't want me anymore." "Can I ask you something?" "Where was your mother in all this?" "Oh, God." "Connie, what were you doing?" "I was just out for a walk." "Mom and Sara came by and picked me up." " what did she say to you?" " Nothing." "Well, you're soaking wet." "You're gonna get yourself sick." " Are you okay, Connie?" " Fine." " I'll get you a change of clothes." " It's okay." "I can do it." "Do you wanna talk, Connie?" "I'm not really feeling like talking right now." "I'm just gonna go be by myself for a while." "I-I don't know what to say." "It's okay." "I" "I just worry about time, about Sara." " Maybe this isn't the best place." " No, I'll talk to her." "I will." "I-I'll do my best." "This is McCarthyism." "You're ruining my good name." "You're out to get me." "No one's out to get you, Mr. Bangs." "Our job is to prosecute the law." "Persecute is more like it." "That's what this is, the persecution of my family." "Can you calm down, Mr. Bangs?" "All we'd like is your cooperation." "I'm not giving any evaluation." "Next thing I know, you're gonna tell me I'm the crazy one." "You saying your daughter's crazy, Mr. Bangs?" "It runs in the women." "Ruthie had to be hospitalized." "Connie is even worse, but her mother protects her." "She doesn't go out of the house most days." "Did you know Connie's allowed us to give her a psychiatric evaluation?" " What did it say?" " We don't know yet." "Either you know or you don't." " Now, who are you B.S.'ing here?" " Where can we get the results?" " We're waiting for the examiner to complete her findings." " It's a load of crap." " All right, Joe." " That's what it is." "I did hear one thing that came out of the evaluations, Mr. Bangs." "Yeah?" "What's that?" "I can't say it." "I wouldn't wanna... persecute your good character." "Yeah, well, you just go right on believing it, whatever it is." "But when lies pass for the truth, then the whole world will have gone crazy." "And there won't be a damn thing that matters." "Lady, there are things you just don't know." "Mommy!" "Mommy's home!" "Hey, you!" "Oh, I missed you!" "I missed you too." "Where were you last night?" "Oh, I was working." " On what?" " Something very hard." " Where's Daddy?" " He's in the living room talking to Mr. Bletcher." " Hi." " Hi, honey." " Hi, Catherine." " What's going on?" "Bob has something he wants to talk to you about." "Wouldn't have something to do with the Bangs's case, would it?" "The D.A.'s office is getting a lot of pressure from city hall." "They called the chief of police about our visit to the Bangses'house." "They want this matter cleared up." " Cleared up or swept under the carpet?" " I'm not gonna kid you." " Your job's in danger." " For what?" " Your obsession with this case." " For my obsession?" "You're rattling the wrong cages is what I'm trying to say." "So I'm the bad guy because I'm trying to do what's right?" "They think you're driving this forward against all good sense." "Don't you see what's going on here, Bob?" "just because it's hard to imagine or hard to accept... people don't want to deal with this... because it's easier to believe that it couldn't really happen." "I'm just telling you what they're saying." "I didn't come here to tell you what to do." "Thank you." "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna take a shower." "Tell her I'm still on her side, will ya?" "Sara, open the door." "Open the door, Sara." "It's Daddy." "No!" "Oh, Sara!" " No!" " It's okay!" "what's wrong?" "Mom said Daddy would hurt Sara if I did anything against him." "No, no, he wouldn't hurt Sara." "He said he would kill himself too!" " Did you put Jordan to bed?" " Yeah." "She wanted to know why I didn't protect you." " Protect me?" " From Bob." "What did you tell her?" "I told her that you didn't need protecting." "You knew how to protect yourself." "Thank you." "It's true." "Everything you said down there was true." "Bob knew it too." "He said he's on your side." "Tell me honestly, Frank." "Am I going too far?" "We live in a world where too many people won't go far enough... won't do what they know is right, what they believe." "I don't know how or why it got this way, but the world has become so complicated... that to involve yourself in someone else's problems... is to invite them needlessly on yourself." "Hello." " Oh, my God." " What?" " I'll be right there." " What is it?" "Joe Bangs has disappeared with his daughter Sara." "Three Union Five, E.T.A. two minutes." "Dispatch,you can release eharles Six." "Incident at 936 Summit." "Two males, one armed, eitizen reporting." "3.4, domestic violence." "354 Northeast 55th Street." "Okay, thanks a lot." "Hey." "What have you found out, Bob?" "The father said he was taking the little girl shopping at about 7:00 p.m." "The mother waited dinner on them until 9.:00 p.m." "waited another two hours to call 911." "She have any idea where he might have taken her?" "No." "But for a woman whose daughter is missing... she sure doesn't seem that upset." "How quickly things change." "Yeah." "You mind if I look around?" "By all means." "I'm sorry this is happening." "Could have been avoided." "How do you mean?" "I think you know." "Are you at all aware how your daughters feel about their father, Mrs. Bangs?" "Everything seemed quite all right for the past 35 years." "Now you're an expert?" "Did you ever have a secret?" "Something you didn't want to tell because you were afraid... someone might use it against you?" "No." "We all have secrets, Mrs. Bangs." "Then maybe that's what they're best kept as." "Family had a cabin that they rented every winter during Christmas break." "What makes you think he'd take her there?" "His need for control would dictate that he'd choose a place he knew... a place he felt safe." "Somewhere secluded enough that he wouldn't be discovered." "Mrs. Bangs said he threatened to hurt Sara or himself." "According to the son, he's got a gun, but it wasn't in the usual hiding place." " Oh, God." " I don't think he'll hurt her... or he would have done it at home." "You can't put this on yourself, Catherine." "You didn't cause this." "You just flushed him out." "I know." "You guys take the rear." " Around the side?" " Yeah." "Got it." "He was here." "Cover the road!" "Cover the road!" "Stop the car!" "Hold it!" "Hold your fire!" "Hold your fire!" "They hit!" "Get him!" "Get the driver!" "Get the driver!" " Catherine." " Outta the car!" "Get outta the car!" " Come on." " I'm okay." "Where's the girl?" "Where's Sara?" "It's all right." "It's all right." " It's all right." " Come on." "Read him his rights and get him outta here." "We are standing outside chambers where a special grandjury... has been convened here in downtown Seattle... awaiting word on the indictment of local businessman Joe Bangs... on a charge the district attorney's office will not reveal... but is almost certainly related to Bangs's arrest last night... for reckless child endangerment." "Here we go." "What's your reaction to the indictment?" " Hi." " Hi." " How you doing?" " Fine." "You're gonna be okay." "You're gonna be just fine." "An inch at a time." "An inch at a time." "What about Sara?" "She's gonna be fine too." "One comment, miss Bangs." "Just one comment, please." "You all right, miss Bangs?" "You're gonna fall asleep in court and miss everything." "I'm just nervous." " About what?" " The D.A.'s office." "They're backpedaling." "They've offered a plea toJoe Bangs's attorney." " Why?" " They think he's presented a strong case." "They think because eonnie's early psychiatric records... show no evidence of sexual abuse, it's eroded the jury's certainty." "What you're really worried about is Connie, isn't it?" "The D.A.'s office doesn't have confidence... in her ability to give a convincing testimony." "She's done it before." "Five months ago, for a grand jury without her father there." "A plea would reduce the maximum prison term to eight years." "He'd be eligible for parole in three." "Sara would be 11 or 12." "It's a huge gamble... after how far we've come... after everything we've put Connie through." "As much as I believe in her... sometimes I think there's no light... that can penetrate the darkness of where she's been." "You're doing the right thing." "I have a strong feeling about it." " Hi." " You look great." "We're all here for you, Connie." " How's she doing?" " She's okay." "All rise." "The Honorable judge Rubey presiding." "Be seated." "May I have counsel up here?" "Before we go forward, I would like to know... if you've exhausted your avenues of compromise?" "No bargains, no pleas." "we want an acquittal here." "Nothing less." "Then let's finish up and get this to thejury." "Is prosecution ready with its final witness?" "I want to recall my client first." "For what?" "Your Honor, this man's been a pillar of the community." "His name is being smeared with no foundation of the charges." "All right." "Okay, a slight change here." "The defense would like to recallJoe Bangs back to the stand." "What are they doing?" "Mr. Bangs, you learned something last night." "Something that you've suspected for a long time." " Is that right?" " For over 30 years." "Something that your wife wouldn't admit to you about your daughter, Connie." "Yes." "That Connie was the product... of her union with another man." "Objection!" " Objection, Your Honor." " You're strong, Connie." "Objection!" "Let's have some order, please." "Let's have order." " Objection, Your Honor." " Objection sustained." "The jury will disregard those statements from the defendant." "And I will admonish counsel from making any further prejudicial statements." "Nothing further, Your Honor." " Witness for the prosecution." " Connie, I'm sorry." "Are you ready?" "We'd like to call Connie Bangs." "Raise your right hand." "Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?" "Yes." "You told me this morning, Connie... that your life has been two lives-- the first 32 years and the last six months." "But that you've hated both lives because they were so painful." "I know that it's painful here today... to tell the terrible truth... about the man who's caused you all that pain." "Isn't it, Connie?" " Yes." " Part of the pain is knowing... that it's hard to believe that you couldn't stop it, couldn't just leave." "Isn't that what you told me?" " Yes." " Then I need you to tell me... to tell those people here who might not want to believe... how your father made it impossible for you to take control of your life." "Connie." "Do we have someone from Victim Services in the courtroom?" " Yes, Your Honor." " eould you come up here, please?" "I need you to talk to the witness." "I need you to do whatever you need to do to get her testimony." " Objection." " Overruled." "We don't have her testimony, we don't have a trial." "Connie." "You're not a victim." "You're a survivor." "Connie." "Tell me how your father kept you his prisoner." "He told me that I was... his special one, that he loved me more." "And that he had a s-- th-this special way of showing it." "And he said that if I told... that he would kill himself." "And he had a gun." "He would take it out with us every time." "I'll do it." "I'll do it!" "He told me to steer, to stay on the middle line... or else we would crash and we would both die." "But when you got home... you told me it was worse than death-- what he did for 23 years." "He" " He put a lock on my door." "He said it was to keep me safe." "No!" "No!" "But it was to keep his secret safe, wasn't it?" "He was supposed to be my protector." "He was supposed to love me with his heart." "Why couldn't you just love me for me, Daddy?" "what kind of man does this?" "Shut up!" "Shut your mouth!" "Shut up!" "Let's have some order, please!" "Shut up." "I brought something for you." "Thank you." "I made this!"