"I run out of stamps." "Congratulations you won the lottery, you are patriots." "200 bucks a piece for throwing a switch." "Blocks out the smell reporter." "Frank." "Mark." "Poor Johnny." " Aren't you going to read it?" " Do I have to?" "I wake but there ain't any birds singing." "And then I look up in my minds eye... and I know they are saving their song... for when I join them." "After this pain and noise... it will be beautiful music." "Well?" "Jesus..." "How Much?" "30 grand... tops." "Charlotte Cory." "You kept that one quite." "Biggest female execution in Oklahoma history." "All American sport star in there... a baby killer, the papers love that." "Its worth more than the last 5 or 6 put together... maybe worth half a million dollars." "Half a million?" "Minimum..." "So... how did you get through to her?" "Her father was killed in Somalia." "I checked the army papers." "Told her I was in his platoon." "Now I am a school teacher in New Mexico teaching 10 year olds." "Says here she wants you to visit her." "Jesus isn't going to break his own rule and meet this one?" "I tell you what I think Frank." "A shut at a half a million dollars is worth one prison visit." " Hallo?" " Charlotte?" "Hi, it's Frank Walsh." "Frank." "Wow." "I can't believe it." "How are you doing?" "So that's what you sound like." "That's what I sound like." "I can't believe you called me." "You get my last letter?" "I did and I am real sorry to hear that news." "It was always in the cards." "Listen I put you on my visitors list." "And I was wondering can you come?" "Can you come?" "That's going to be difficult." "You see I am real sorry Charlotte I've got a prior." "I mean I may be able to but..." "That's okay Frank..." "I don't know..." "I got to go..." "What?" "Charlotte?" "Don't..." "Oh shit." "Shit... shit..." "Frank?" "Frank?" "Frank?" "You haven't been answering my calls, Frank." "She stopped writing." "Two letters a week for six months and suddenly nothing." "We need the last letter, Frank." "We've got a real circulation builder here... but we need the whole set." "Charlotte is our big star, Frank... and anything you can do to hype it up is only gonna make it bigger." "We need that last letter." "A convoy of armed vehicles left at Mabel Bassett... transferring Thanksgiving killer Charlotte Cory... to the all male maximum security facility at McAllister... where execution is scheduled in six days." "Cory was convicted of the kidnapping of Kirstie Hammond... daughter of major league star hitter Joe Hammond... who after a decade with the LA dodgers... retired to Oklahoma to head a construction company." "The ransom money was reportedly handed over... but the child's body was never found." "Having failed to get the supreme court to hear her argument... against the death penalty handed to her 7 years ago... only one level of review remains." "They have seen her Pontiac near the Hammonds place... right around the kidnapping, right?" "Didn't they arrest her trying to leave town... finding a 100 dollar bill from the ransom in the car... and the bloodstain matching the blood on accused pajamas... they found in that ditch." "Next Charlotte Cory never denying her guilt." "Bob, this woman was so cold hearted the cops says... she stopped and ditched her fan-belt with a stocking... with that poor girl bleeding in the car and she was a nurse." "Howdy I'm Frank Walsh." "I'm here to see Charlotte Cory." "I should be on the list there." "Excuse me are you Frank Walsh?" "I'm Susan Kennan Charlottes attorney." "How do you do, very nice to meet you." "You knew her father in the army?" "Oh yes mam." "Yes mam I did." "I am sorry its just you look familiar somehow." "I don't believe we've met." "It's gonna make her day to meet you." "She talks about you a lot." "Your letters have really helped keep her going." "So it's a fait accompli." "They are going to do this thing?" "There's an election coming up." "And there's the view that the public want her dead." " Got a visitor for that girl." " Very nice to meet you." "You too." "Thank you." "So we meet at last." "Sorry I didn't get the time to put my face on." "I work out every time I see the shrink." "Gets rid of the tension." "I wanna stay off the psychotropic drugs... and the paper dress." "which I do." "I have to talk to him, see him and talk to him." "But I do masturbate... and don't eat roaches." "That pisses him off." "You are not like I thought you were." "Your hair, I never had a schoolteacher look like you." "I don't know..." "It's your face..." "You don't look like the guy who wrote those letters..." "Well, I don't want to sound cockey... but I had a feeling it would come right back to me." "I had a lot of letters from real sickos so... just people who wanted to save me, marry me... curse me, damn me." "There was one woman... had her kids draw pictures of me dead." "I had colleague professors wanting to teach courses on me." "Specialists trying to analyse me... figure out what made me so screwed up." "Trying to unlock the secret on me." "Just closed down." "Everybody wanted something that's what made you different." "Your letters were so... sorrowful." "They spoke to me... your' truthful... with all their bitterness and humour." "I felt like we were on the same wavelength." "I felt that too." "One thing you said, I think about a lot." "One moment of madness is within all of us." "The unlucky ones pay for it." "The rest of us live without ever knowing its within us... and never learn to understand ourselves." "Their from experience." "Maybe your moment of madness is coming here to see me." "The anonymous caller alerted us... to visit Charlotte Corys empty house." "He called the police." "At Corys bedside a strange twisted tableau... a doll representing Charlotte Cory with the words around its neck:" "The innocence die the guilty live." "Charlotte Cory is a blood sacrifice." "But the most sinister detail was a baby's shoe." "The question everyone is asking now: is it real?" "Did it really belong to little Kirstie." "Morning." "Saw that thing on the news." "About grannys house." "The fuckers." "Just remind me what they are all about." "The vandals." "Just ain't right, she left it to me, you know." "And it wasn't much... but I fixed it up best I could." "Guess what, just what people do." "And that whole shoe business." "Its all bullshit." "Just some sick puppy looking for attention." "I am sorry you have to have this all going on around you." "What are you sorry for, Frank?" "I don't want you to feel sorry for me, Frank." "Its not what you are here for." "It was hell." "We were pinned down in the "mogue", Mogadisio." "Its night time, fire fight, may ham." "And the skinnies are firing upon us from their roof top... and we start taking fire from the rear... from where our own troops are." "Now our radio had been knocked out." "So this is friendly fire." "PFC private Sachs volunteered to get a message through... he got halfway across the square and then he just got torn up." "We all figured he was dead." "But you know your old man, stubborn bastard." "Never leave a man behind." "So he sat off and he got hold of the kid... and he was dragging him back to us when it happened." "I want you to know he didn't suffer." "He died instantly." "He's a hero." "Thank you." "What the army told us was so un personal." "Your old man always put his men first." "He saved a lot of lives that day." "You don't forget a man like that." "I'll be together with him soon." "I'll see them all soon." "You don't believe there is anything after all this, do you?" "I don't know." "I sure hope there is but..." "I don't know." "I don't think you do." "You don't seem like it." "Your letters are beautiful... but you are so cut off, lost maybe... get your ideals beaten out of you, did you?" "Did you kind of cynical..." "You sure are one perceptive woman, aren't you?" "I'd like to ask you to do something for me?" "Sure, what?" "I'd like you to find my sister." "I'd like Stella to have this." "It's a beautiful name, isn't it?" "Will you please get it over with." "I always hoped she'd come back and live with me... in Grannys." "I want her to have it now." "Their mother died when Charlotte was eighteen." "Charlotte became her sisters legal guardian." "I think they were pretty wild, you know." "There was a car crash a couple of years later." "Stella was blinded, ended up hating Charlotte." "So you have any idea where I could find her?" "She met someone, changed her name... started a new life." "So, any idea where I could find her" "You can't." "My uncle hired a private detective to try to locate her." "They never did." "Your uncle?" "Who is your uncle?" "Henry Mayer, Charlottes original lawyer." "Died last year." "He was very old." "Maybe Charlotte didn't get the best defense." "So you are saying it's a dead end?" "If there was a car crash and Stella ended up blind... did she ever claim any kind of compensation?" "To tell you the truth I have had other things to worry about." "I understand." "But you did say that Charlotte was at the wheel?" "I want you to check with her insurance company." "See if there is any claims against her policy... what ever the name." "That's a good idea." "Well, it might be." "Do you have a number I can reach you at?" "Here, let me punch it in." "A few more of them every day." "The circus is coming to town." "I spoke to someone at Charlotte's insurance company." "There was a claim, from a Julie Smith." "By God, that's fast work." "I should have thought of it my self." "A friend of mine was a broker." "He's going to send over the whole file." "Do we have an address on this Julie Smith?" "The guy said Dakota but in the last five years... she's been up at the Oklahoma school for the blind." "It's about an hour away Muskogee." "Muskogee?" "Give our team a great begin." " Can I help you?" " I am looking for a Julie Smith." "In connection to?" "Just a friend." "Gubby, there's a man here." "He'd like to see Julie." "Gub MacCredy." " What's your name stranger?" " Frank Walsh." "How do you do?" "Welcome to you." "You say you are a friend of Julie?" "The truth is I have a letter for her from an old friend." "Martin?" "Martin?" "This is Martin North's workshop." "Julies guy." "They spend lunch inhere usually." "Wait here, they are properly over at the administration." "I'll send her down to you." "Well, is there a light up there?" "Hello?" "I couldn't find the light switch." "Mr. Walsh, I'm Martin North." "How do you do." "I am afraid that you workshop here just got a little redecorated." "Some of us forget to put the light on." "Can save a lot of power though." "So what did you wanna see her about?" "I've got... a letter here from her sister Charlotte." "I thought so..." "You didn't tell nobody about them being sisters did you?" "No Sir, I did not." "I look out for her." "You know what the papers would be if they found out who her sister was." "I'm not from the papers." "Anyway, her and Charlotte ain't sisters anymore." "Are you a friend of hers, a husband or..." "We have been together since she lost her sight." "I guess some good did come out of it." "She won't have nothing to do with Charlotte after that." "I understand but I did promise Charlotte... that I'd try and deliver this letter personally... so that's what I am trying to do." " Hi Mary." " Hi, Mr. North." "Only about thirty percent are totally blind." "Mary has some shadowed vision, she can see shadows, some light." "I saw that game that they are playing outside." "Beeper ball, we are local champions." "wrestling too." "We play soccer with a ball that has a bell in it." "We just try to do things like anyone else." "You, just wait here for a minute." "Come on in." "Thank you." "Julie... this is Mr. Walsh." "How do you do?" "Hello..." "I hear you got something for me." "From my sister." "Yes mam, I've got a letter for you from her." "So you are a friend of hers?" "Yes." "She doesn't have many." "She don't have any." "Including you." "How much money have you given her?" "I haven't given her any money." "Then she must want something else out of you." "She's out of my life." "I don't want her letter." "You tell her that." "Alright." "But you should know that she does care about you." "Mister, that's not for a stranger to decide." "Julie has faced her all she can." "Her sister stole her sight from her." "Her sister is also about to die, Sir." "You feel pain." "You be with her at the end." "You hold her hand." "It's too late for her and me." "It's just the way things are." "That's enough, Mr. Walsh." "If you do change your mind I'm gonna leave my number on the counter..." "I am real sorry for upsetting you." "I should have known it would be a waste of time." "But I am glad she is alright." "Thanks a lot for doing that." "I do wish there were some way I could reward you though." "What did she say about me?" "I know she hates me." "You don't have to pretend she doesn't." "Stop pretending when we are in the same room." "I don't think she hates you." "I think she's confused." "I fucked up." "My mum died." "My dad had passed away the year before." "And I couldn't handle the responsibility... taking care of Stella." "Lost in drugs, drinking... and anything bad." "And I had this boyfriend, an older guy." "We were in the car." "We were high." "Stella was in the back." "She was seventeen she was beautiful and smart." "She was gonna teach kinder garden." "Me and this guy we were making out." "The car was going way too fast." "Stella was freaking out." "I remember her screaming." "But we were too fare gone." "We didn't care... we crashed." "Stella was in the hospital for months." "She lost her sight." "Her face was ruined." "And a lot of other stuff." "She'll never forgive me." "That's the one shrinks like to hear." " Hallo?" " Frank?" "About fucking time man." "Only four days to go." " Listen I've been busy." " I guess." "Do you have anything to do with that baby shoe stunt?" "I don't know what you are talking about." "It has nothing to do with me." "At least you don't mind I upped the prize by another fifty grand." "I think we could push this thing all the way to six hundred." "Listen, I got to go." "I'm trying to keep a low profile here, you know." "Hello there." " Got a problem?" " Yeah, this piece of maneuver." "Hop in, I'll get you back to town." "No, I better stay with the car here." "I'll call my friend Tony." "If its not too serious he'll fix it and get it back to you." "Just leave the keys on top of the tire." "That's how we do things around here." "Ok." "She won't help herself." "She kept her mouth shut from the start." "Never blamed it on voices in her head." "Never tried to make herself look better to the jury." "Guess she hasn't opened up to you about the crime?" "No." "Maybe her silence is her only way of dealing with the guilt." "Bullshit." "She's protecting someone." "The guy who helped her do it who got away with the ransom money." "All I know is women don't kidnap kids for money." "They do it to have a child of their own." "That's statistical." "Then maybe you are right maybe there was a man." "Comes down to love." "Some guy is out there... sitting on that money, doing nothing to help her." "But she goes on protecting the bastard." "And you think she is capable of that kind of loyalty?" "Under that surface, yes, I do." "I thought we were heading into town?" "I'm sorry, I'm late." "I can't be late for this." " For what, where are we?" " The Hammonds." "The Hammonds?" "What the hell are we doing here?" "That baby shoe at Charlottes place." "The cops weren't going to show it to Hammonds." "I insisted that they do, just in case." "I need to be here when they do it." "Come on, this is ridiculous." "That story was just a hooks." "I mean, don't you think?" "But what if the shoe is for real?" "Maybe we get the sentence commuted to life." "I've got to take every chance." "At least get her to stay." "Keep her alive a couple of more weeks." "You are late." "Who is this?" "An associate of mine." "Come on in then, let's get it over with." "You better come." " District Attorney." " Did your client insist on this... to give Joe more heartache?" "Who are you?" "My associate." " Joe Hammond." " Frank Walsh, nice to meet you." "If we could just get on with this I..." "I'm..." "I'm not sure." "Could you get Mary please." "It's alright son, I'll be with you in just a bit." "Could you go now please?" "This has been fare too hard." "Please, go." "Thanks for the ride." "I can't believe I did that to them." "Was I wrong?" "No." "Hang on a second here now." "You had to give it a try." "I can't take much more of this." "It's alright." "I am sorry." "I almost forgot." "There's some stuff in the back for you." "Charlottes impounded by the police." "It's backed and tacked." "She wanted you to have it." "She's not even dead yet." "You are a big part of her life." "It's her wish, Frank." "You are a good guy." "This thing is hard for all of us." "Goodnight." "Stella, maybe one day you will forgive me." "I can't ever forgive my self." "But I dream what could have been." "I see the two of us living in our house, Grannys house." "I see you coming home from work teaching little kids." "Us eating together, we could have had a good life." "But I made us take a different course." "I had this lovely girl to take care of... but I ruined her, she's blind." "Her womanhood is gone, and we are both in prison." "You in your blindness and me in here." "I'll be free soon... but no one can ever free you of your prison." "These are my thoughts." "I want you to know..." "I love you and I always will." "I don't expect you to visit me, so this is goodbye." "What the fuck happened to you?" "I don't know..." "I didn't see them." "It was dark." "Maybe one of Hammond clan or one of those pro dithers out there." "I shouldn't have asked you to come." "No, it was just a blanket party, I'll live." "That's a prison term, Frank." "Blanket party." "School kids use it too." "There's something I never asked you, Frank." "I know you are divorced." "Are you sleeping with anyone right now?" " You are not sleeping with Kennan?" " Kennan?" "No." "I save this hickey for you, Frank." "I'd like you to think of me tonight." "At midnight." "I'll be thinking about you." "Do you dream about me?" "Yes." "In what way?" "In that way." "I know it's hard for you, Frank." "I mean people are scared of so many things." "You are scared of not making your way in." "Getting mugged." "Getting old." "I don't have to be scared of any of those things." "I think you are afraid of something." "I'm not scared of getting involved with you, Frank." "That's what I'm talking about." "Officer?" "Is something going on?" "Are you Frank Walsh?" "Yes, Sir." "Officer Charbonic." " I am babysitting you." " Babysitting me?" "I shouldn't be." "I am detailed of Miss Kennan." "She took off to the State Capital, will be gone for a couple of days..." "Asked me to keep an eye on you." "After what happened." "That's good of you." "I'm doing it for me, she'll owe me a little favour after this." "She's got nice legs that girl." "Are you making a report on me at the same time?" "A crime novel." "I'll make that a best seller." "Blackmail, murder, bad guys end up in prison that kind of thing." "You don't need prison if you got violent retribution." "Blow the fuckers away, that's what I say." "Who needs happy endings?" "That is a happy ending." "Goodnight." "Joe Hammond." "Things are just different here than I thought they would be." "Hold on, partner." "Rounding fourth, you are almost home." "Only 48 hours to go." "No, I don't know about this one." "I always pick cases that are slammed dunks." "Well this ain't feeling like a slammed dunk anymore." "I am starting to have my doubts here." "Every layer in the face of the fight says he has an instinct." "And it's bullshit." "You are believing your own propaganda." "No, it takes a certain kind of person... to kill a kid." "That's what I'm saying." "No face is too pretty not to end up as a mug shot." "You are going to turn around and try make a guilty person innocence... for all those clients you lost." "That is not what this is about." "What is going on between you two?" "There is nothing going on." "Listen Frank, you are the guy who said emotion is fatal." "The rest of the world is moving on and you are standing still." "We are talking 800.000 bucks." "How much?" "800.000 grand." "Frank she probably minced that kid... into tiny little pieces." "This is Susan Kennan." "Could you pull up everything you have on one Frank Nitzche..." "Texas, defense attorney?" "I'll be right down." "If the Governor ever gets down to see me..." "I'll be down in the law library." "I'm sorry, Miss Kennan, his mind is made up on this one." "Look, no shackles." "I told my shrink that the bruises was crueller than usual." "Guess what, it's time." "It's time to trust me." "I know you don't want to tell me." "And I need to know the truth." "You want to know where the ransom money is?" "Please, I don't give a fuck about that." "I just want you to be yourself." "Otherwise it makes all of this all bullshit." "All guards, report." "I read you." "We have a situation in block 15." "I am trying to thrust you, Frank." "I am, but we can't help what this is." "Roger to that, we are on our way." "I'm trying to be strong here." "And I don't want you to stop me from being strong." "I am not trying to stop you from being strong." "I'm just trying to help you." " Unburden yourself." " I've got to luck you in." "It won't be for long, alright?" "Don't forget you are being watched." "And she will be stripped searched afterwards." "This is like being married." "Just the two of us." "I don't think anyone will be watching the monitors... with all that stuff going on." "I don't care if they are watching." "Well..." "So close." "Come here." "Let me kiss it better." "Frank, I forgot how good it can be." "You are not a killer." "You never killed that baby." "Yes, I am." "No, you are not." " I killed that baby." " You are lying through your teeth." "I killed that baby." "Don't you understand." "I killed that baby." "Now fuck me." "Can I have the bill please." "I'm leaving." " Hallo?" " Kennan?" "Do you remember that make shift fan belt on the kidnap car... that was really a stocking?" "Yes." "When I was with Stella Cory she was wearing the same stocking." " And?" " That's her style, not Charlottes." "I have seen pictures of hem when they were younger." "I am saying Stella is the one Charlotte is protecting." "How are you planning on making money of off that, Mr. Neitzche?" " What are you talking about?" " I know about your dirty game." "Selling death row letters and I am on my way to tell her." "No, Kennan, listen, I am not going to sell her letters." "Kennan, please don't do that." "Don't do that to her." "To her or to you?" "What you do is the lowest thing I can think of." "Listen, believe it or not I can explain it." "I don't doubt it." "I read what a persuasive talker you were in court." "You know I was a death row lawyer, too." "I want to help." "Thanks for all your calls this morning." " Now please be patient our." " Get out of my way." "We are staying on the air non stop the next 12 hours... until the execution." "Susan?" "Susan, don't..." "Been running, Frank?" "This might be a meeting you wanting to miss." "The night is gone." "Dreaming is over." "Witching hour." "Did we do it, Frank?" "We did it, didn't we?" "Was it good for you?" "Scary good." "You two had a fight." "Didn't you?" "I hope it isn't about me." "Well figure it out when I am gone." "Frank?" "Yes." "There's something I like to ask you." "Sure." "What?" "This is real now, ok?" "I want to be cremated." "But the state won't pay for it." "And I ain't got no money left." "Will you take care of it?" "Yes." "Susan, thank you." "Why didn't you tell her?" "She likes you." "Why should she loose thatjust because you happen to be a shit." "I guess things didn't work out at the Capital." "That fuck of a Governors just signed the death warrant." "You walk into that court and the prosecution is against you..." "The police are against you, the judge, the jury..." "Hell, even the law is against you." "If you don't believe in yourself no one else will." "I had some early success." "Maybe I started believing my own bullshit." "You know that, are you doing it for your client... or are you doing it for your self thing." "All it takes is one victory, Frank." "That's what my uncle said." "Always held out for." "Did he get ahead?" "He may have been defeated... but he did not end up running a scam." "In a scam there is a victim in this nobody gets hurt." "I do my research, I know which ones are going to go all the way." "How many people are you writing to Frank?" "I don't know." " How many?" "I don't know, 10..." "Why don't you get off your moral high horse here for a second." "You think I don't suffer with them?" "You are suffering all the way to the bank." "It's all about money." "If you only knew..." "Fuck." "You planted that baby shoe there, didn't you?" "To up the prize." "And then you watched while I made the Hammonds look at it..." " You son of a bitch." " No, hang on..." "I didn't mean for that to happen." "I am sorry about that." "I really am but listen..." "I need you to get me your uncles file papers." " Cause I want to help you." "You want to help now." "The big shut lawyer to the rescue." "Did you know that Hammond was having an affair with Charlotte." "What are you talking about?" "It is right there on one of them home movies." "No, I watched those movies." "He is not on the film." "Its tacked on right there at the end where you would not see it." " It is him." " Are you sure?" "I am positive." " You are sure it is Hammond?" " It is him, clear as day." "How long have you been sitting on that little bombshell?" "Hello, I need to speak to the district attorney." "It is Susan Kennan." "Hello?" "Who is this?" "Hello?" "So the bitch was fucking Joe Hammond." "So what?" "Now you listen and listen hard Kennan, I am not putting..." "Joe Hammond and his family through any more shit." "Now the only thing you got is the reason why she did it." "And if you think I am letting Mary Hammond know... that her husband was screwing around with the woman who murdered her child... you really have lost it." "The torso was severed just below the waist... with a serrated knife." "Jagged lumps of flesh hanging just below the navel." "The other body half lay only a few yards away." "The strangest damn thing... both halves had been drained of blood... and both halves... were from different bodies... of different sexes." "Shit." "That is everything." "I have been through it all about twenty times." "Each one of these tabs is something I figured... my uncle overlooked at the original trial." "I put it all in a motion of ineffective assistance of council." "You did?" "That must have been hard, him being your uncle and all." "Tell me about it." "Tell my aunt." "And then the supreme court would not even look at it." "Even if they had it would not have been enough." "Charlotte needs a miracle." "What was that videotape?" "It came this morning." "This is from the insurance files from the accident." "You know when you were trying to find Stella." "Julie Smith surveillance tape, 1995." "Stella is finding herself in the back yard." "She reaches for the radio and turns up the volume without looking." "It is half an hour later and she falls flat on her face." "Poor girl." "I guess we still have time for one last look." "I see your friend Tony here fixed Charlottes car once." "No wonder her fan belt broke." "Morning." "Morning." "Thanks for keeping me warm last night." "Did you find anything?" "Only that you don't have the prerequisite... for a death row lawyer." "Coffee?" "Dakota?" "You remember Stella used her stocking for the fan-belt?" "They were in contact." "But they both are saying that they were not." "And Stella used to live in Dakota." "Now Charlotte was arrested somewhere between Oklahoma City... and the road to Dakota." " Hello?" " Yes hello, is Julie Smith there?" "One moment, please." "No." "Can you hang on one second." "That is her cell phone?" "Go ahead." "Goose." "Well, now we played goose outside." " And then what?" " And then we heard... this phone coming off... and then we walked over to the dead body and..." "You are not welcome here, Walsh." " What happened?" " You happened." "I do not know who you are... but you are the one who pushed Julie over the edge." "What are you talking about?" "She was alright." "She is dead now." "She killed herself." "She started sinking as soon as you started coming around." "Now, you get the fuck out of this school and out of this state." "And do not come near Martin again." "Sorry, Mister." "Come on." "I need to see her." "She is on her way, won't be for a couple of hours." "I need to talk to someone now!" "I have something to say." "Come on." "Dr. Sharkey I got something to tell you." "I heard about your sister." "You have to listen to me." "It is very important." "Get out of the way." " Did she hear?" " Sent her into a panic." "She spoke to the psychiatrist." "Said she was innocent." "By the time I got here she had come down, withdrawn her story." "Innocent?" "Wait a minute, what was her story?" "Frank you have been through this before." "Last minute pleas of innocence are normal, isn't that right?" "Yes, that's right, but what was her story?" "She won't say." "She won't let the shrink tell anyone." "I guess she think it's just too late." "It's never too late." "It was nothing." "It was just a lie, I panicked." "I've gone all this time in here." "I never thought it would get to this." " I'm fine." " You know something?" "I think you are bullshitting me." "I don't think you are capable of killing a baby." "It was screaming when I got it." "It knew what was happening." "I thought stick a pacifier in it's mouth and it's gonna shut up." "I didn't mean to kill it..." " But it happened." "Why?" "Why take a child?" "Why take this child?" "For Stella." "The ransom was for her." "She had lost everything." "She couldn't even have a kid cause of that crash." "I had destroyed her life." "The ransom money was compensation." "You know what I think?" "You picked Joe Hammond... because Joe was just as responsible for that crash as you were." "He was the one you were fooling around with." "How did you know about Joe?" "Just you never mind how I know." "I know." "Now stop the bullshit." "Tell me what really happened." "I woke up in the hospital." "And he had disappeared." "I asked the doctor where he was." "He said I was delirious." "No one believed me." "I didn't know what to do." "I guess that gives you a motive." "You are damn right it does." "What did you do with the body?" "I got rid of it." "Look, I killed that baby." "You know something?" "I don't believe you." "And if you think that turning yourself into some psycho... is going to make me feel better about you dying... you are wrong." "Now I am sorry... but your sister is dead." "Stop covering for her." "I know you loved her." "I know you felt guilty about her being blind... and I know she is dead now." "God rest her soul... but stop lying." "There is no reason to lie anymore." "I want you to live." "And I think somewhere in there you want to live too." " It's too late." " No." "I've got to know what happened." " It's too late." " Not for me, ok?" "I have to wake up tomorrow." "Just tell me the fucking truth, will you?" "Your not going to like it." "Try me." "I was sick that whole Thanksgiving weekend." "I never even got out of bed." "I saw the news about the kidnapping on TV." "The ransom being paid." "I didn't think about it." "I felt bad for Joe." "But then out of the blue I get a call from Stella." "First time in two years." "She sounded weird." "She was telling me to get rid of the car fast." "My car." "That's when I knew she was involved." "So I got into the car to go find her." "And you headed for where she lived?" "I thought if the baby was still alive." "I could get Stella to let it go." "Give her back." "But I never made it there." "She was impressionable." "Maybe she had gotten into some bad people." "But then she must have found out that they had used my car." "So she called to warn me." "She called me." "I told you she wanted to teach kinder garden." "She would never have killed a child on her own." "It was all my fault." "I didn't take care of her like I should." "I was on the wrong path." "Drugs, drinking." "Fooling around with a married man." "I thought about Joe and his family." " They had lost a daughter." " You didn't do it." "For Christ sake." "Why didn't you tell the truth?" "I owed it to her." "She was my sister... and I took everything away from her." "But I loved her." "And that call meant she loved me." "I did the right thing." "The right thing is tell everyone the truth right now... and maybe we can stop all of this now." "Don't be nave." "Whatjudge is going to believe you." "We have no proof." "I can't." "I think about the moon." "When it's pink early in the morning." "And the sun is rising." "And they are both low in the sky." "That's the only thing I'm going to miss." "I want you to go now." "You don't want me to stay?" "No." "Promise me you are not going to go there and trying to stir things up." "Promise me." "I want to do this." "I'm fine with it." "Goodbye, Frank." "Thank you for everything." "You have been so good to me." "I'll write." "What did she say?" "She said she made it all up." "She's at peace with dying." "We said goodbye." "Even if she had proof of being innocent... it's not grounds for stay this late." "I know." "You don't want to go to that motel." "There are reporters hanging around." "You can stay at my place if you want." "I got to be here for the end." "OK." "Thank you." "You can get the key from the guard." "I'll see you later." "Gees the whole press club is here." " Can I buy you a drink?" " Yeah, okay." "Ten hours to go." "It looks like it's the real thing this time." " Did you ever sit in on one?" " Yeah." "Electrocution down in Texas, Johnny Decker." "Had to soak my suit for three days... to get rid of the smell of burning flesh." "Give me a lethal injection anytime." "I'll have a cold one." "What are you having?" "Make that two." "Are you watching an empty house?" "Tell me about it." "Ain't you going to the prison to hold Cory's hand?" "You can you know." "It's not the electric chair." "It's the mercy seat." "The week before the kidnapping." "What are you saying, Frank?" "That a blind woman and a half blind man pulled off a kidnapping?" "I checked this guys file." "He's done some serious time." "He is no saint." "Charlotte was sick in bed over that Thanksgiving." "They could have taken her car without her knowing maybe." "Maybe to get revenge on her and Hammond for what happened." "What am I supposed to do with this?" "There is no time." "I want you to call Charbonic and tell him to do what I say... because he'll listen to you." "He's got the hots for you." "Okay." "Just trust me on this." "That's bullshit." "I know my job." "This could make a difference." "You can catch yourself a murderer here." "Come on." "Violent retribution." "No." "Justice." "The final night of Charlotte Cory's life we can expect." "The witnesses to the execution to begin arriving around five am." "Thirty people in all will watch..." "Charlotte Cory's final moments through the glass screen." "And around four thirty am... we can expect to see the three." "Three civilians who have applied for the 200 dollarjob... of operating those syringes." "Sizing this crowd there must have been a lot of applicants for the job." "Yes?" "Mr. North..." "I was told I could find you here." "And you are?" "Officer Charbonic." "I'm just returning your wife's clothes and stuff." "I am real sorry about your wife." "Well, if you need anything call us." "I've got to move now." "They think they have discovered the body of the Hammond kid... and all hell's breaking loose at the station." "Goodnight." "Your fucking fool." "That poor guy is not hiding nothing." "He didn't give a shit about that body laying." "You're a flick mister, I'm going." "Hi, baby girl." "Dad, I feel so bad." "Come here, sweetheart." "It's okay." "Are you lost or something?" "I never knew you had a daughter." "I thought Stella couldn't have children." "Who was that?" "How old are you?" "Nine in two months." "You look a lot like your little brother Kirstie." "What are you doing?" "This is our home." "You get the hell out of here." "The power is gone, my radio won't work." "Quite." "Shut up, I say." "Did a man come in here?" "I don't think so." "No one came in here." "I know you are in here." "You've come to take my child." "What father would let you do that?" "Now look where we got to." "I never killed anyone before." "Oh yeah?" "What happened to Stella?" "Things went wrong, because of you." "You brought her sister back to her." "It was her and Joe Hammonds fault Stella couldn't have kids." "All we ever wanted was the things everyone else had." "A normal life, a family." "That ain't at all bad." "What's happening?" "Where's my dad?" "You got to come with me." "Listen I'm a policeman, it's not safe here." "Where's my dad?" "Stay right here, I'll be right back." "Tonight of all nights you show up." "What the hell are you trying to do?" "I've got someone in my car that you have to meet." "Let me out." "What's going on?" "Mister Hammond, I don't know how to say this to you... but..." " Could you come with me." " Don't follow..." "Let me out of here." "Just come with me." "Take a look at this girl here." "Just take a look at her." "What are you doing with that girl?" "What is this?" "This is your daughter." "The kidnappers didn't kill her." "They took her as her own." "This is way too..." "Take a look at her and you tell me." "We need a blood test." "And we need it right now." "They have postponed, some kind of new evidence, the governorjust called." "Postponed." "But it can still happen." "I don't think so." "There's a new material witness." "You are safe now." "You are not going to die." "Okay." "Your attention please." "It's been cancelled." "I don't know the governor called just now." "It's off." "I think we just got us a miracle." "Hi there." "You did it, Frank." "All it takes is one victory and you got it." "Did you tell her about me?" "Yeah, the bad and the good." "I hope you made a strong case for me, counselor." "I defended you brilliantly." "Forget about me, what she needs to know... is that her sister tried to save her in the end." "Make sure she knows that." "I see you in court sometime, counselor."