"My name is Melinda Gordon." "I just got married, just moved to a small town, just opened up an antique shop." "I might be just like you." "Except from the time that I was a little girl," "I knew that I could talk to the dead." "It's all right, honey." "Earthbound spirits, my grandmother called them, the ones who have not crossed over because they have unfinished business with the living." "And they come to me for help." "To tell you my story, I have to tell you theirs." "Do you have to suffer to be an artist?" "No." "I think it just gives you an edge over the competition." "I mean, wouldn't you trade an ear for immortality?" " How about a finger?" "I got 10 of those." " You guys got to hear yourselves." "These are amazing." "I don't now, they're a little bleak for me." "Well, life can be bleak." "Another optimist heard from." "What are you drinking?" "He's just tired." "Look at the eyes." "They're the eyes of a killer." "Clete Youngblood murdered a man in '89 and spent years on death row." "Last man hanged in the state in '93." "Rumour has it that a German industrialist bought the whole collection, and right after this, it's being shipped off to Europe." "All right, how did we get invited to this?" " Oh, see that guy over there?" " Yeah." "Came into the shop last week." "Alan Rowe." "A tad bit pompous." " You lying son of a bitch." " Hello, Leslie." "You told me you were honouring Clete Youngblood." "This isn't supposed to be about an execution." "This isn't about a killer!" "This is supposed to be about an artist and his work!" "That is why I lent you the painting!" "Not for this!" "Someone call security!" "Hey, hey, miss." "Let's go." " Let go of me!" " Let her go." " This is mine!" " Let her go." "Don't look at me." "You're the fools here." "Celebrating a man's execution." "You ought to be ashamed of yourself, Rowe." "You're right, you're right." "I should've let you know what I had in mind." "Now, please, take your painting and go home before I call the police." " No, I'm not finished." " Yes, you are." "Take her out." "Help her." "Help her." "Help her." "Can you see us?" "Excuse me." "If I could just talk to you for a minute, please." " My name is Melinda." " What do you want?" "Your painting." "There's something very special about it." "Where did you get it?" "It was given to me by the artist." " Wow, it's so valuable." " Well, yeah?" "You think?" "Well, maybe I should sell it." "Oh, maybe I should sell it to you." "Then I'd be able to buy pretty dresses and go to swanky parties, like you do." "Okay, I'm sorry I bothered you." "Look, I..." "He was my father, the artist." "I'm sorry." "I didn't know." "Of course you didn't." "I barely knew." "He died when I was eight." "Look, I know this is gonna sound weird, but do you ever feel your father's presence?" "All the time." "He's always with me." "If I didn't think he was watching me, and I was going through this crap all by myself..." "My father was a genius." "You don't kill genius." "He wasn't a murderer." "He didn't deserve to die." "He was set up." "He was an innocent man." " Lf you ever wanna talk..." " I talk too much." " Everything okay?" " I don't know." "That girl." "There's something about that painting." "Hey, do they..." "Do they still hang people?" " I'm sure they do somewhere." " What about here?" "The last man executed by hanging in the United States was Billy Bailey, September 25, 1996, Delaware." "Impressed, huh?" "How did you know that?" "I read it in the brochure." "Come on." "He chose hanging over lethal injection." " He was a purist." " Could you cut it out?" "I got to go home to an empty apartment." "Thank you." "Sorry." " Bye-bye." " Sweet dreams." "Night." "So, that was fun." "Yeah." "We should do that more often." " How about tomorrow?" " Oh, I can't." "I'm busy." "Married." "Yeah." "Well, you didn't tell me about that." "What the..." "Oh, my God." "Am I bleeding?" "No." "It's..." "It's paint." " Paint?" " Yeah." " In my hair." " Yeah, paint." " Gross." " We'll get it out." "It had to have come from the gallery." "It figures the one night we go out, I get paint in my hair." " It's not too much." " Don't touch it." "It's not funny." " All right." " Oh, I'm gonna go wash this off." "The shower's broken." " Again?" " I forgot to tell you." "I'll fix it tomorrow." "You could use the kitchen sink." "I do it all the time." "I really wish you hadn't told me that." "Jim!" "Jim!" "Jim!" "Jim!" "Jim!" "Jim!" "It's going to be all right, it's gonna be okay." "It won't turn off!" "Cut it." "Cut it." "Jim!" "Jim!" "Hey." "Hey." "It's all right." "It's all right." "It's all right, babe." "What happened?" "What happened?" "We're not alone." "It's still here." "Come on." "It's all right." "It's okay." "You're all right." " Hey." " Hey, you're here early." "Yeah." "I couldn't sleep." " Oh, what's that gonna be?" " The house I grew up in." " Wow." "You cut your hair." " In a manner of speaking." " Who did it?" " Jim and Freddy Krueger." "It's a long story." "Coffee?" "I can't keep my eyes open." "Yeah, I'll pay." "You know, it looks great." "You know, your hair, I mean." "Good." "I'll make an appointment for you." "Andrea." "Did anybody see what happened here?" "She tripped on the step." "Are you there?" "Can you hear me?" "Can you hear me?" "Is she okay?" "There we go." "What happened?" "Nothing." "You just stopped breathing for a little while." "Gave us a scare." "You saved my life." "I was just in the neighbourhood." "Now, you relax." "Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you." "You relax." "All right." "This good man's gonna take care of you." "Relax until the ambulances get here." "All the ladies love him." "Man, maybe I should start fainting in front of firehouses." "Are you kidding me?" "They would knock each other down to get to you." "Paramedics, cops, Boy Scouts." "Well, that's not the house I grew up in." "Fascinating, isn't it?" "You know, the man I bought these things from found them hidden in the wall of a prison he helped renovate, you know, as if someone were ashamed of it." "Of all the means of execution, hanging to me seems the most cruel, don't you think?" "I'm not really crazy about any of them." "Yeah, but, no, no." "Think of this." "In the late 1800s, it was a sign of class and breeding when you could afford to pay children to hang on your legs after you dropped through the trapdoor to ensure a quick death." "Do you know any happy stories, Mr Rowe?" "Sorry." "This is colourful." "It's a Youngblood, isn't it?" "Where'd you get this?" "I found it in my shop this morning." " I don't understand." " Neither do I." " The paint's still fresh." " Strange, huh?" "You know, whoever did this was obviously an expert." "Same thick brush strokes, same colour palette." "Even has Clete's mark in the corner." "But as we know, dead men don't paint." "And I know every one of his pieces, so, if I haven't seen it, it doesn't exist." "What are you gonna do with this thing?" "Well, I was hoping to show it to Clete Youngblood's daughter." "Why would you wanna do that?" "Well, that would be between me and Leslie." "Do you know where I might find her?" "You know, my advice to you, Miss Gordon, would be to steer clear." "She's got her father's temper." "I know." "I've been dealing with her erratic behaviour for years." " Were you a friend of the family?" " There is no family." "Clete went to jail when she was four." "At eight he was executed." "Over the years, she's convinced herself that he was innocent, that they murdered him." "Do you think Clete was innocent?" "We got him one of the top attorneys in town." "We gave him the best defence we could." "He was broke, of course." "Paid me back with paintings." "You didn't answer my question." "Sorry." "It'll have to do." "Now, getting back to Leslie." "I don't think she's stable." "Noted." "Do you have her address?" "She probably wouldn't want me to give it to you." "So, I will." "Going away?" "My landlord lost his sense of humour about not being paid." "Sorry." "So where you gonna go now?" "Nowhere." "I'm here." "You're gonna live in your van?" "Look, what do you want?" "How did you find me?" "Alan Rowe gave me your address." " Are you a friend of his?" " No." "Well, that's something you've got going for you." "Hey, I really wanna help you." "What, are you gonna offer me money or something?" "What am I, a charity case to you?" "Well, you could always sell your father's painting." "Yeah, I'd rather live in the street than sell this painting." "It's all I have left of him." "It keeps me connected to him." "I understand." "Yeah?" "What do you understand?" "That he's still with you." "Look, I don't need your pity, lady." "I can take care of myself." "Leslie, please, your father's still here." "I mean, really here." "I've seen him." "What did you just say?" "Your father's spirit is still here." "And I know how this sounds, so please forgive me." "He's still here and he has a message for you." "And if you could just let me show you what he left for me." "Please!" "Leslie, I have to show you." "Where did you come from?" "Yeah, I don't know why somebody would do that either, Mr Rowe." "But there you have it." "The bag was in my car." "Well, if you wouldn't mind." "Yeah." "That would save me a trip." "Okay." "Thanks." "Bye." "Is it just me, or is everyone in this town weird?" "That's a rhetorical question, right?" " No." "I want an answer." " All right." "I think you have the unique, innate ability to bring out the strangeness in other people." " How does that sound?" " Rather sweet." "I tried." "Hey." "Andrea." "Can I talk to you for a second outside?" "She claims I injured her ribs and bruised her while I was reviving her." "They're calling it negligence." "I can't believe it." "You saved that woman's life." "How can she get away with this?" "She's got a doctor's report, a lawyer." "And she's in the hospital." "It's pretty easy, actually." "You just fill out the forms." "The investigation begins." "Yeah, but aren't you protected from this by the county?" "That's the problem." "Technically, I was off-duty." "Yeah, she's suing me personally, the squad, the village of Grandview, the county of Driscoll." " What are you gonna do?" " Stay focused." "What can I do?" "I just wanted to tell you what was going on." "Okay." " Call me." " I will." "Bye." "Damn." "Why are you doing this?" "What do you want?" "Please." "Make this stop." "Make what stop?" "Help Leslie so this can stop." "Make what stop?" "Sometimes spirits who've died a violent death get stuck here, reliving the final moments over and over again." "And maybe, maybe that's what's happening here." "He wants to say something to his daughter." "I keep trying to get them together." "How close are you gonna get to this one?" " As close as I have to, I guess." " Yeah." "Oh, man." "You know, it's just a glass." "We have others." "I know." "But I like that one." "Watch your feet." "Hey." "How you doing?" "Just got this deposition hanging over my head, you know?" "Oh, I'm sorry." "I was going on about my stuff." "It's like you say, "our stuff."" "You know," "Tooch thinks this is gonna taint me no matter what." "I mean, it's like it's on my record." "Is this the same Bobby Tooch who tried to dry his underwear in the stove and almost set his kitchen on fire?" "Yeah." "Look, all I'm saying is don't sit around and wait for something to happen." "Why don't you go talk to this lady, you know?" "Show her who you are." "Try to reason with her." "You, you can be hard to resist." "Oh, yeah?" " It was his socks." " What?" "He set his socks on fire, not his underwear." "My sincerest apologies for my rush to judgement." "Who's that?" "Is that Geraldo?" "Mrs Reese, can I talk to you for a minute?" "I thought you were on the box." "You look like Geraldo." "Geraldo has a giant moustache." "He could've shaved." "Mrs Reese, I don't know if you remember me or not." "Of course I do, Mr Clancy." "Nice to see you again." "And please, call me Brenda." "Brenda, I just wanted to talk to you to see if we could try to find a solution to this problem" " without going to the courts." " My lawyer wouldn't like this." "Mrs Reese, I'm trained to save lives." "It's what I do for a living." "What I did that day in the square, it was second nature." "I didn't think about it." "You needed help." "I gave it to you." "But you did it too hard, hon." "You hurt my ribs." "I'm all bruised up." "Because you fell down on concrete before I even got there." "I can barely move." "I can't even lift my arms." "Look, hon, it's nothing personal." "My lawyer tells me I've got to do this." "So I listen to him." "No, it is personal." "It goes on my record." "There are legal fees." "But the county has money put aside for things like this." "I just want to get what I'm entitled to." "What you're entitled to." "All right." "Could you fix it, sweetie?" "Thank you." "Well, it's all there, Mr Rowe." "Thanks for coming by to get it." "So is this part of the plan, or would it have been better for you to come to me?" "What plan?" "I don't know." "Whatever you and Leslie are hatching." "I don't know what you're talking about." "Oh, I think you do." "Leslie's got you convinced that there's been some great injustice done to the Youngblood name." "The only thing she's convinced me of is that she's angry and broke." "Broke?" "Yes." "And yet oddly enough she can still afford art classes at the Wellins Institute." "Oh, and by the way, if there could ever be money better spent..." "Miss Gordon, don't let her fool you." "Interesting work." "God, you scared the hell out of me." "Yeah." "I get a lot of that." "I always wished that I could draw, paint." "Well, that makes two of us." "Another thing my father neglected to leave me was talent." "No, I disagree." "I think you're very talented." "What do you want?" "I need you to take a look at this for me." "Where'd you get this?" "It showed up at my shop." "The paint was still wet." "Well, that's impossible." "This is his work." "No one could fake it that perfectly." "Yeah, I keep seeing this, even at the gallery." "What is it?" "When I was little, no matter what my dad was doing, or who he was with, he always would drop everything for me." "One Sunday after church, I went to the beach and when I got home I gave him a present." "A seashell I found." "You"d think I"d given him a million bucks the way he acted." "He was so happy." "That"s how he was with me." "He could always make me feel so important." "So loved." "We did everything together." "He told me to always look for that shell on his paintings so that I would know he was thinking about me when he worked." "He put that mark on every one of his paintings." "He had that shell in his hand on the day he died." "How can you know that?" "I saw it." "He showed me." "Why are you doing this?" "I'm helping your father." "He's trying to reach you through me." "If I thought there was a chance I could really..." "If I had one more chance to talk to my father..." "Leslie, please, just trust me." "You almost had me, lady." "You are very cruel." "Very cruel." " These are pretty." " Yeah, and expensive." "Is this a bad time, or should I come back?" "No, it's fine." "Are you all right?" "I caught some punk trying to steal my van." "I realised it's not safe to keep my father's painting there." "Maybe you could hold on to it for me." "Of course." "We'd be honoured." "I'll put it in a safe place." "It's just until I get myself squared away." "There's a job at the art institute." "Just cleaning up and stuff." "But they might give me a room." "Is that all?" "Well, you know it's not." "Can I see..." "Will you show me that other painting again?" "It's his." "I can feel it." " Please tell me how you got this." " I already did." "I wanna believe, I swear." "But I can't." "If I did and it was a lie, I..." "I'd die." "I'd just die." "I can't have my heart broken again." "Hey." "You wanna take a walk?" "Rowe discovered my father." "He lent him money, and he took care of him." "And then when he went to prison, he became his supplier." "Brushes, paints, canvas, anything he needed." "From then on, my dad thought he was a saint and totally trusted him." " But you never did." " Not even as a kid." "Every time I saw my dad, Rowe was always around." "The last year he was alive, I only saw him three times." "That must have been hard." "You were so young." "He was the one sitting in prison for something he didn't do, accused of murdering a man he didn't even know." "Yeah, how did that happen?" "Well, they've only told me pieces of the story." "I've had to fill in the blanks." "My father"s girlfriend turned out to be married." "She said that her husband abused her and that she needed him to save her." "Hey, I'll talk to my wife..." "But all she really wanted was to see her husband dead." "Go, go." "She set my dad up." "Help!" "Somebody, anybody." "When the cops started asking questions, she accused my dad." "He was arrested, and then he let Rowe handle everything." " The lawyers, the defence." " What did Rowe get out of it?" "All the paintings." "My father signed everything over to him." "For his defence, Rowe said." "And then when he died, Rowe just took them all." "Said he had a contract." "All I got was the one painting he gave me from prison." "Well, there's got to be some legal steps, I mean, something." "I'm sure there is." "But it takes money and years." "I hope you appreciate the fact that I don't have to do this, Miss Gordon." " Then why are you?" " Because Clete was a friend." "And even though Leslie's clearly damaged," "I'd like her to have some peace of mind about Clete's intentions." "How can Leslie end up with only one painting?" "Look, I never made any claims on the self-portrait although I had every right to do that." "Oh, you are a piece of work, Mr Rowe." "Hey, don't patronise me, Miss Gordon." "You don't know anything about my relationship with Clete Youngblood." "I made him." "And given his self-destructive tendencies, that was no easy task." "Now, what I couldn't do was take the gun out of his hands the night he killed someone." "Maybe that's what Leslie has against me." " She says he's innocent." " Yeah, she does." "Who bought the paintings, Rowe?" "Where are you sending them?" "To a gallery in Munich." "I hope that satisfies your curiosity." "Is this your father's signature?" "I guess so." "You know, Leslie, your father had a quality that you sorely lack." "Gratitude." "You son of a bitch!" "You may have had my father fooled, but not me!" " No, no, no." " Not for a second!" "Come on." "Not like that." "Come on." "I'm not a lawyer, but the contract seemed real." "Look, there's no use trying to figure this out." "People like Rowe, they're powerful." "When they line up against you, there's nothing you can do." "Just look what happened to my dad." "An innocent man hanged." " He's here." " Where?" "What?" "What is it?" "Tell her I'm sorry, for everything." "Dad?" "Look in the back." "The back." "What?" "What happened?" "Was he here?" "Yes." "And he said that he's sorry, sorry for everything." "And then he said, "Look in the back."" "The back?" "The back of what?" "It's a double canvas." "Well, maybe there's something in between." "We'll have to cut it open." "The painting could be destroyed." "Your father needs us to see inside." "When you called, I assumed you meant an x-ray of the human variety." "Well, Kev, I assumed if I told you it was of the valuable painting variety, you would've said no." "Good assumption." "You better get behind the shield." "Why do I feel like I'm suddenly in a Steve McQueen movie?" "Yeah, me, too." "That your husband?" "He's a good man." "A righteous man." "You tell him that Brenda Reese is a liar." "She's no more hurt than I am." "Her husband's putting her up to it." "I heard him talking about it when he came to take her home." "I'd tell him myself, but I don't want him to find me out here in this hallway." "They think a old lady can't get around on her own." "I understand." "I'll tell him." "Thanks." " Something's definitely back there." " Looks like it." " Now what?" " We operate." "It's the same contract Rowe has." "Except this one says that you own 85% of every sale of your father's paintings." "Now I know what he meant." "I was visiting my father in prison and I didn"t Know then, but they were gonna hang him that night." "He Knew he was never gonna see me again." "Don't look so scared." "Everything's gonna be fine." "I made this for you." "Only you." "Always remember how much fun we had painting together." "You're gonna have to be a big girl now, honey." "And remember one more thing." "Everything you need is in this painting." "It's all yours." "And always remember how much your daddy loves you." "All right, let's go." "Why are you crying, Daddy?" "I love you." "He never trusted Rowe either." "Why else would he hide the contract in the painting?" "Leslie, your life is about to change." "Wait a minute." "Wait." "Isn't Rowe about to sell the paintings?" "Like hell he is." "Hey, take a break, fellas." "It's not going anywhere yet." "Stop raising your voice." "You cheated me and you cheated my father." "Take me to court then, Leslie." "See if a jury buys a contract between a murderer and an 8-year-old." "It'll take years and every penny you've got." "Can you wait that long?" "Can you outspend me?" "I don't think so." "This paper means nothing." "Tell him to give my daughter what is hers." "He wants his daughter to have those paintings." "That's the only thing he's ever wanted." "Clete Youngblood is dead, and those paintings are mine." "Mr Rowe, unless you wanna spend every day of your life being hanged over and over again, I suggest you do the right thing here." "No, no, no." "Enough." "Does Leslie get the paintings?" "Yes." "Yes, she can have the paintings." "She can burn them for all I care." "Just get out of here." "Get out!" "Now!" "Get out of here!" "We always get our man." " Man, that was beautiful." " Thanks a lot, Tooch." "Hey, no problem." "I never had more fun following an old lady around for a week." "But how did you know she was faking?" "Well, you know, Melinda just had a..." "Had what?" "Let's say she had a hunch." "Lunch is on me." "Come on." "As part of settlement with Rowe," "I got the paintings and took over the lease." "Well, I love what you haven't done to the place." "So, how does it feel to have your own gallery?" "Oh, it feels good." "I think my dad would be proud." "Tell her she did a good job." "He's here." "And he's really happy." "Dad." "Tell her I'm sorry for everything." "He wants you to know that he's really sorry..." "No, no, no, no." "You don't have to be sorry for anything." "I'm going to fight for you and clear your name." "Tell her I don't want her to clear my name." "She can't clear my name." "I'm a murderer." "One night she called me." "Told me where to meet her." "It was cold." "I wanted to get her away from that bastard." "Go, go." "It was stupid." "It was crazy." "But I did it." "He killed him." "Leslie, he was guilty." "No, Daddy." "You couldn't have." "She has to stop being so angry." "I ruined my life." "No one else's fault but mine." "He doesn't want you to blame anybody else." "If I had realised what it would cost me..." "That I would lose you, lose everything." "What is he saying?" "He's saying that if he could do it all again, he would just take you away." "Just the two of you." "Somewhere where you could just paint all day and nothing else." "I remember it, Dad." "I remember sitting on your lap, watching you paint, moving the colours around." "I remember, Dad." "I remember." "I remember, too." "He remembers." "I see something." "A light." "I'm scared." "It's okay." "It's just your next step." "He's gonna cross over now." "No." "Daddy, please don't go." "I've lived so long without you." "I'll always find a way to watch over her." "She'll always feel me there." "Tell her not to remember the man I was, but the man that she wanted me to be." "I will." "I love you, Daddy." "Goodbye, baby." "Thank you." "He's gone." "I don't feel alone any more." "You're not." "Guys, we have got to get that door open." "There's like 40 people waiting out there." "Okay, you ready?" " I'm ready." " Let them in." "Come on in, folks." " Hi, Thomas." " Hey." "Welcome to my father's show."