"Police!" "Hands up!" " Get on the ground now." "" "Hold it right there." "Albany PD." "You're under arrest." "I think there's been a mistake." "There has been a mistake," "Donald Strachey, private investigator, and you've just made it." "What is it?" "They're back." "What are you doing?" "That is Carl Deems' kid." "I'm gonna scare the living shit out of him." "Dorothy, wait." "No." "Dorothy, d-- What are you doing?" "Dorothy, don't go down-- Dor" "Wait." "For God's sake." "Come back." "Stop." "Don't do it." "Joey Deems?" "Call the police." " " "You better run, you son of a bitch!" "You come back here, I will kick your teeth so far down your throat, you'll bite your asshole" " next time you take a shit!" "" "No." "No." "Ohh..." "He ran away." "Ohh..." "Oh, my God." "Shit." " - lt's okay." "It's gonna be okay." "We'll get him." "It's never gonna stop." "No." "It's never gonna stop." "It's gonna stop." "It's gonna stop." "All right, Strachey." "Let's go over this one more time." "Who hired you?" "Shall I try this in Russian, or Swahili, maybe?" "Because English for the last six hours hasn't worked." "Your husband." "I'm not married." "Shocking." "You really don't want to mess with me." "You may have just blown an eight-month undercover investigation." "Okay." "A guy shows up in my office." "He tells me he's married to you and wants me to follow you because he's afraid that you're having an affair." "And how were you supposed to contact him?" " Said he'd call me." " What about the retainer?" "Cash." "And you didn't think that was a little suspicious?" "Well, I never argue with cash." "Ah." "Morning, Strachey." "You're looking lovely as usual." "Well, it's a nice hotel, but the room service is lousy." "You know, you'd make my life a hell of a lot easier if you decided to move someplace far, far away." "Come on, Bailey, you'd miss these special moments between us, wouldn't you?" "All right, ladies, enough with the banter." "Here's what you're gonna do." "The second your client contacts you, you're gonna get in touch with Bailey here." "I want to know who this guy is." "Well, me, too." "I don't like to be lied to." "Oh, yeah, well, you're gonna like it a lot less if you screw my investigation." "You know where to find me." "She's a peach." "Ah, she's new." "You get used to her." "So, uh, how'd you get involved in all this?" "I don't know." "But I intend to find out." "Yeah. I'm sorry, honey." "It's just I didn't want to wake you, so I figured I'd come straight to the office." "Well, I forgive you." "As long as you're not late for the school board meeting." "School board meeting?" "Tell me you didn't forget." "Andrew McWhirter asked us to come show some support for that librarian." "Andrew..." "Andrew." "From college?" "Oh. "First-time" Andrew." "The one who moved to California when you dumped him." "I didn't dump him." "We just" "We just..." "lost touch." "Anyway, he's been visiting friends up here, and I promised we'd come to the meeting." "And besides, he really wants to meet you." "Oh, you know, l-- l-- l want to meet him." "I just..." "You know, I just got a new case." "I'm so busy." "Uh..." "Honey?" "Hello?" "You are an evil, manipulative man." "I love you, too." "So I'll pick you up at 3?" "Fine." "You're late." "For what?" "For the staff meeting." "I hope I didn't hold everybody up." "First order of business." "I checked with the state on getting my P.l. license." "So far, I'm five months into my required year of associative investigator experience." "Who says you're an associate investigator?" "You promoted me." "Gave me a little raise, too." "Well, aren't I a good boss." "But I still need 30 hours of field experience to qualify." "Well, I need the files filed and the phones answered, so..." "Right." "'Cause we're simply flooded with phone calls for new cases." "You run the information on that guy who hired us to follow the cop?" "Uh-huh." "His name, address, and phone number are all phony." "How is he gonna get my report?" "E-mail address?" "He left his e-mail address?" "Hello. 21st century calling Don Strachey." "All right." "This is good." "Then send him a message." "See if we can draw him out." "And what if he doesn't respond?" "He can't hide forever." "Oh, you take me to all the nicest places." "One more complaint, I swear I'll slap you." "Oh, that sounds much more promising." "We're just here to show our support." "Look, the other side's out in full force." "I wonder if they have an open bar at these things." "Donald!" "And I have been a guidance counselor in this school for over 30 years, and I know when a student is in crisis." "This woman is promoting homosexuality in the school." "She gave my son the number for some gay recruiting place and told him to call." "I gave him the number for the Trevor Project, which is a suicide prevention hotline for gay and questioning youths!" "In Haesemeyer that's a decision for the parent to make, not some lesbian." " Please, can we-- - l've had this conversation with this family twice about my concerns about Derek." "And we told you to mind your own damn business, didn't we?" "And it is my business." "I'm his guidance counselor." "I'll tell you, a little popcorn and some Jujubes, I could really start enjoying myself." "This is serious." "Andrew said they've been looking for any excuse at all to-- to fire her after she came out publicly a couple of years ago." "What's the matter with you?" "All right." "Which one is he?" "Where's the ex?" "I don't know if I'd even recognize him now." "He's probably... bald and-- and chubby." "Hey, just calm down, okay?" " What, are you one of them, too?" " Not bald." " Yeah, I'm one of them." " Figures." "We understand this is a difficult issue, and we'll be taking the matter under consideration." "Until then, we'll be placing Miss Fisher" " on paid leave." " No way." "What?" "This meeting is adjourned." "I need a drink." "They can't do that." "This" " This is discrimination, isn't it?" "Yeah, they can, at least until the investigation's over." "" " Andrew." "Oh." "Tim." "Hey." " Hey." "Nice to see you." " Hey." " This must be Don Strachey." " Hehe, must be." "It's great to meet you." "I've heard so much about you." "The lucky guy who made an honest man out of Tim Callahan." "Oh, I'd like to think it took a little bit of skill." "So, uh, this is all horrible." "If it's any consolation, this-- this is just wrong." "Yeah, don't worry." "We've not yet begun to fight." "Andrew, I'm getting awfully thirsty." "Dorothy, Edith, this is Tim Callahan and his partner Don Strachey." " Pleasure." " Hi, Don." "Good to meet you." " Nice to meet you." " Pleasure." "I wish it was under slightly more pleasant circumstances." "Yeah." "I don't suppose we're going to be particularly delightful company this evening, but if you'd like to come back to the house with Andrew for a drink..." "Or ten." "I plan on having ten." "You guys game?" " Well" " Yes." "I like what you've done with the place." "It's sort of urban chic." "Kind of a smart aleck, aren't you?" "A little bit." "Some of my best friends are smart alecks." "Then we'll get along." "Cops catch whoever did that?" "Yeah." "Right." "You're in Hollis right now, not Albany." "At least these days we don't have to worry that it was the police that did it." "That's a waltz." "Oh, a martini should always be shaken to a waltz." "You know, it's just kids acting out." "Doesn't make it any easier to read." "I can ask the senator to look into it as well." "That'd be great." "I'm sure we can get a letter of support from the Trevor Project." "I'll even see if Lambda Legal wants to get involved." "Ooh, no, no." "Andrew, I really appreciate it." "Thank you, but I can fight my own battles." "You always have." "Make it easier, though, if you weren't always picking fights." "We don't pick our fights, Edith." "They pick us." "And I have no intention of backing down at all." "Well, if you weren't so tough on me when I was going to school here, I wouldn't be half the man I am today." "You were Andrew's guidance counselor." "Well, you... you didn't really need much guidance, did you?" "Andrew always knew exactly what he wanted." "You know, Andrew was the one who first got me interested in politics." "After I left the seminary and went to college, I had no idea what I wanted to do." "So you were a good boy, huh?" "Not always such a good boy." "Stop that." "Well." "Here's to bad boys then, huh?" "And to bad girls." "I'll drink to that." "Okay." " Ohh!" " Ohh!" "Down!" "Wait!" "Don!" "Hey, asshole!" "I see you, you son of a bitch!" "Come here!" "Come here!" "Everybody all right?" "Yeah, yeah." "Everybody's fine." " Did" " Did you see who it was?" " No." "But I tell you, it didn't look like some kid's prank, though." "Oh, God." "It's okay." "Morning!" "Hey, we get anything on this mystery client of ours?" "I don't know." "Does his picture count?" "You got his picture?" "I remembered there's a security camera in the parking lot, so I contacted the guard service, and they got me this." "Kenny Kwon... good job." "As if the face and body weren't enough." "There's a mind to go with it, too." "He wrote back." ""l am traveling in Taiwan this week." "Please e-mail me the report as arranged."" "Okay." "Send him back a message." "Just say everything's fine." "Nothing suspicious." "We can keep him online that way." "But I thought you were supposed to contact Bailey the second this guy contacted you." "I will." "Eventually." "First, I'd like to figure out what this undercover cop's been investigating." "If we can figure out who's got the most to lose, maybe that'll lead us to our mystery man." "Why do you even care?" "We got paid." "I don't like being made a fool of." "You know, go over my notes from when I was tailing the cop." "Maybe you can figure out what she's been working off now." "You realize this is only asking for trouble." "We don't pick our fights, Kenny." "They pick us." "Where you going?" "I'm heading out to Hollis, see if I can help those ladies figure out who's harassing 'em." "Aw, that's sweet" "Private Eye Donald Strachey taking time out of his busy crime-fighting schedule to save two helpless little old ladies." "We should just move!" "Then they win!" " So what?" " Ohh!" "So what?" "Maybe we win, too!" "Maybe" " Maybe we could go to Vermont like we always wanted to and start that bed and breakfast." "Or" " Or we could take a year off," " or we could go to Italy, Spain!" " No!" "I've already told you, when we do any of those things, we are going to do them on our own terms and not because some f'ing jackass has spooked us into leaving." "Fine." "Have it your way." "Ohh!" "Talk to her, would you please?" "Ohh!" "You always fold the cards!" "You do it every time." "Whatever happens, I'm not leaving till we get it figured out." "Oh, Andrew, you got a life." "You've got a job in San Francisco." "You can't just pack up and... I already took two weeks off." "I'm sleeping right here every night until I know the two of you are safe." "Ohh..." "Oh, I've missed you so much." "Oh, and you're so far away." "God." "And Don's offered to help us out with the case." "Yeah. lf that's all right with you, I'd like to ask a few questions, see if I can help." "Starting with, uh, Jonas Baskin." "What can you tell me about him?" "Well, he-- he's a bigot." "He's an idiot." "Uh... I don't think he has a clue how close his son is to harming himself seriously." "But, uh, God, I don't think he's a petty vandal." "Well, I'm not sure I'd call this "petty."" "I'm-- l'm dead certain that this is Joey Deems." "I told the police that." "He's called me so many worse things to my face, you wouldn't believe it." "Okay." "Where can I find Joey Deems?" "Can I help you?" "Yeah." "Does Joey Deems live here?" "And who wants to know?" "Don Strachey." "I'm a private investigator." "What do you want with my son?" "Mmm, you know Dorothy Fisher and Edith Strong?" "Uh, I know them to say hello, not much more." "Well, they've been having some problems at their place." "Vandalism, spray painting, graffiti, ugly stuff." "And you're accusing Joey of being involved?" "Evidently, there's been some words exchanged between them." "Joey wouldn't have anything to do with that." "We raised him to be a good Christian boy." "Good." "Then I can talk to him." "I don't think so. I don't think he'd have anything to say to you." "And if you're looking for more people with a grudge against those two women, there's plenty of them that are more ticked off at them than Joey." "Okay." "Who's that?" "Oh, any of the neighbors up and down Moon Road." "Oh." "They didn't tell you that, did they?" "How they pissed everybody off by refusing to sell." "You all got offers on your properties?" "You see, that's what homosexuals do." "They make it seem like everything is some kind of prejudice or something." "When really, it's nothing of the kind." "Let's talk about you." "How ticked off are you?" "I don't let anger enter my heart, Mr..." " Strachey?" " Don's fine." "Don." "Well, Don... let me tell you something." "God must've wanted me to stay here for a reason, and I am content to do whatever he thinks is best." "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have work to do." " lt's been nice talking to you." " Thank you for your time." "Have a nice day." "You talk to Joey?" "No." "Couldn't get past papa bear." "You didn't tell me you had an offer on your house." "Oh." "Yeah." "Well, that was a few months ago." "Sounds like you two pissed off quite a few of your neighbors." "Not "you two." Dorothy." "She wouldn't even consider the offer." "You wanted to sell?" "Well, it was a lot of money." "And, yeah, I'd love to move, see some new sights." "Honestly, I was always more of a city girl." "Then Dorothy got offered the job, and we had to find a place to live, and we've been here ever since." "Hmm." "You don't seem so happy about that." "Dorothy loves this house." "I love Dorothy." "But it hasn't been easy, you know?" "When we first got here, the neighbors didn't even talk to us." "We were so isolated." "Lonely, huh?" "Yeah. "Lonely" is a good word." ""invisible," that's another one." "But we've always had each other." "Hmm?" "Hmm?" "And things have gotten better over the years." "I suppose they have." "Uh, so, the... the trouble with the school board, that didn't start till after what happened with the house, huh?" "You think they're connected?" "I don't know." "Coincidental timing." "I'm not a big fan of coincidence." "Who was it made the offer on the house?" "Some realtor." "Ah. I'd like to talk to them." "All right. I ha-- l've got his card upstairs." "She thinks I've quit." "Ah." "If we don't demand equality, we won't get it." "Nobody's just going to offer it to us." "I'm just saying, every step of progress has been achieved through incremental gains, not grand, sweeping gestures." "Oh." "In the meantime, we're supposed to be satisfied just being second-class citizens." "Don, what do you think?" "Oh, I try not to." "I wasn't expecting you home so early." "Well, the bad guys weren't home." "Something smells good." "Yeah, I picked it up on the way over." "I know this great little place near the bridge." " They make the most incredible biryani." " Yeah?" "Don's not a big fan of Indian food." "Well, got company." "I can make an exception." "So, honestly, Don, don't you think the best way to affect change in the community is through gradual growth?" "Don agrees with me." "Any real lasting change is sudden and abrupt." "Oh, actually, I agree with both of you." "I mean, yeah, I think sometimes a slow approach is definitely the most effective way to change, but other times, a more dramatic, big-bang kind of a thing is what's necessary." "But you're right, the biryani is great." "Oh, Andrew, didn't you say you were staying with Dorothy and Edith tonight?" "Yeah. I can't believe we've been talking for three hours." "Well, you know how time just melts away when you're talking social politics." "So, Don, any leads on who's been threatening Dorothy?" "No, not yet." "These things take time." " We still on for lunch on Monday?" " Absolutely." "I'll take you around the Center Building." "We've just installed a new cross-referencing database in the economics science laboratory." "Hmm. lt's a date." "Andy, it's good to see you." "Thanks for the food." "That really hit the spot." "My pleasure." "Next time, Thai." "I know this great place." "They deliver." "See you guys later." "Bye!" "He's a good guy." "I like him." "Yep." "Yep, yep, yep, yep, yep." "I know what you're doing." "Hmm?" "This whole agreeing with him thing?" "This whole suddenly, "l like biryani"?" "You're jealous." "Jealous?" "Uh-huh." "Using reverse psychology." "Making a preemptive strike on any old spark lighting up." "Mmhh." "Honey, you're crazy." "I love you, but you're crazy." " l'm not jealous." "" " Why not?" " What?" "Why aren't you jealous?" " - l mean, if I came home and I found you having a tête-à-tête with an ex-boyfriend over a plate of Indian food, you know what I would do?" "Yeah." "You would grab a plate and join in, just like I did." "You're right." "I would." "Rather depressing, isn't it?" "No, it is not depressing." "Andrew McWhirter is just like you." "He's a smart, successful, beautiful, good-hearted man." "Probably even likes that weird chanty monk music you listen to." "No." "Andrew introduced me to it." "Yeah." "See?" "You're too much alike." "That's probably why you broke up 15 years ago." "I don't want to come home to somebody just like me every night, and neither do you." "No." "That's why we're perfect together." "Mm-hmm." "Exactly." "Still, it'd be nice if you were just a little jealous." "Oh, I am." "You are?" "Yeah." "Of him kissing you on the hand like that." "Yeah?" "I'm green with envy." "I'm-- l'm seething with jealousy." "Seething?" "Mmm." "And there's only one way that you can make it up to me." "Oh?" "My mother wouldn't have liked that." "Yaahh!" "Are you out of your mind?" "You should try it." "Uh, nah." "Unfortunately, I seem to be without a bathing suit." "Oh, that's okay." "I didn't bring one, either." "Thanks." "I was hoping we'd get a second to be alone." "Uh, I don't know." "That's" " No." " lt's okay." " No one can see us out here." " No." "It's not okay." "Oh, God." "So you guys are monogamous, huh?" "Yeah." "Yeah, we are." "Yeah?" "That's a shame." "It would've been fun." "Make a habit on hitting on married guys?" "Guess you could call it a bad habit." "You do that with Timothy?" "You don't need to worry about that." "Tim and I messed around in college, and that was a lifetime ago." "Besides, he's always been more like a best friend to me, anyway." " Help!" " Edie!" " Help!" " What?" "Turn on the hose, Dorothy!" " - ...the goddamn hose!" "Keep that clear!" "" " Stay back!" "Do you have a fire extinguisher?" "" " There's someone in there!" "Hurry!" "What is this?" "" " Ohh!" "Ohh!" "You weren't supposed to go in there when" " Uhh!" "Ohh!" "" "Oh, my God!" "Listen!" " Ohh!" "God." "" " Ohh!" " Get out." " Get out." "" "is he dead?" "Yeah, he's dead." "Looks like he was using some kind of chemical accelerant to start the fire." "Probably got overwhelmed by the fumes and passed out." "You think this is the guy responsible for all the vandalism?" "Hard to tell who he was till the autopsy." "And exactly who are you again?" "Oh, he's a friend of the family, Reg." "Hi." "Oh." "Right." "All right, now, listen." "We're gonna need formal statements from all of you, and then once we l.D. this guy, there'll be more questions, all right?" "Now, in the meantime, looks like we've solved your little graffiti problem." "I told you we should've just gone." "I don't want to stay here." "Edith." "Edith." "I have lived in this house for 35 years, and I'm not about to get run off now." "Oh." "When did I hear that before?" " Oh, yeah." " Edith, not now!" "Yesterday." "Ugh." "Edith." "Edith, just wait." "This isn't fresh paint, is it?" "No, that's from the first time." "I washed all the others off." "I just didn't get around to that one." "Why are you here?" "It's my office." "Yeah!" "The office that you're never in before 10." "What are you doing?" "I've been here all night... scouring databases." "Find anything interesting?" "It's what I'm not finding that's more interesting." "Well... I got some good stuff on that undercover cop of yours." "She's been planted at a development company owned by a guy named Crane Sturgis." "Wait." "I tailed her for a week." "I got nothing." "How'd you get this?" "Oh, I've got my sources in the police department." "Sources?" "Actually, I used to date a guy in vice." "Sex was great, but he kept losing the key to the handcuffs." "Uhh." "All right." "T-Two things." "First, see if you can find out what projects they're working on." "Second, stake their office out a little bit." "Maybe you can follow her." "M-Me?" "I finally get to do some fieldwork?" "Well, she knows my face, so it's up to you." "Can you handle this?" "Please." "I've been stalking this hot bartender at the Waterworks Club for three months." "I'm a pro." "Okay, Kenny, do not get too close." "Okay?" "I just need to know what she's up to, who she's meeting with." "Catch up with you later." "I got a few people to piss off today." "Well, at least that's something you're really good at." "So, do you think this is the guy that's been harassing them?" "That's what the sheriff thinks." "I'm going to go by the coroner's office later and see what they found out." "Thank Goodness no one was hurt." "Yeah." "Tim, I've got Andrew McWhirter on line two." "Thanks." "I got it." "That's Andrew calling about lunch today." "You want to join us?" "Yeah, uh, honey, Andrew, um..." "Sorry." "No, I don't." "Tell him-- Tell him I said hi." "I will." "I love you." "Yeah." "Love you, too." "" " Oh, right in the middle of..." "Are we supposed to wait here?" "That was kind of nice." "Strachey?" "I got a page to come down here." " Was that you?" " Well... I was afraid you might not take my call." " You're absolutely right about that." " l'm willing to trade." " Come on." " Tr" "What have you got that I want?" "E-mail address for that guy that hired me to follow your officer." "You were supposed to get in touch with me when he called you." "I am." "This is me getting in touch." "Strachey, this is not a negotiation." "You have information vital to an ongoing investigation, you give it to me now." "I'm planning on it." "Just need an autopsy report." " Ge" " Strachey!" " Come on!" "A John Doe was killed out in a fire in Hollis last night." "Here's your e-mail address." "Use it to lD the guy." "We're on the same team." "No, we're not." "Come on." "Here you go." "Oh, I'm so sorry." " My dad getting them to suspend you" " Uh-uh." " it's all my fault." " Uh, uh, uh, uh." "Listen to me." "You're not to blame." "Do you understand that?" "Now, what is happening with me is not important." "Really, what's important is that we get you help." "I can't handle it anymore, Ms. Fisher." "They're talking about sending me away." "Well, uh..." " l'll talk to them." " You already did." "Well, uh, I will try again." "And I'll keep on trying until they listen." "How's that?" "I promise." " Jonas." " What the hell you doing with my son?" "Oh, we're just-- we're just talking." "Maybe if you come and talk with us" "No, I don't want to hear anything you got to say." "Derek, get in the truck." " Now!" " Derek." "l-- l really get how difficult" " this is to deal with." " There's nothing to deal with." "You just got him all confused, that's all." "You're right." "He is confused." "He's very, very confused." "And if he doesn't get the help he needs..." "He's gonna get help, just not your kind." "Jonas, he is your son." "Can't you put his needs first, for Christ's sake?" "I love my son." "I raised him by myself, and I'll be damned if I'm gonna stand by while anybody tells me" " what's best for my kid!" " Ohh!" "Ohh!" "Get your hands off of her!" "Uhh!" " Ohh!" " Don't touch me." "Stop it!" "Ohh!" "Stop it, both of you, for Christ's sake!" "Well, at least one good thing's come out of all this." "You just got your ass fired for good!" "Maybe it'll finally get through to you nobody wants you here in Hollis!" "Oh, God." " Ohh..." " You all right?" "Yeah." "Well, I tell you, these parent-teacher conferences are a little different" " than when I was a kid." " Oh, God." "I'm so sorry." " Are you okay?" " l'm used to it." "Come on, let's get you" " some ice." " Yeah." "Here you go." "I got you some ice." "You know, I tried everything I could think of to get-- ooh" "Derek's father to listen, but I couldn't do it." "Uh-huh." "Can't save all of them, right?" "Listen, it is not in my nature to give up." "I know what you mean." "And speaking of, I was looking at the title records database for the residents here on Moon Road, and I noticed that Edith's not on your title." "She never has been." "When I met her, she didn't have any money, and the bank insisted mine be the only name on the deed." "You never changed that." "Edith is in my will." "She's taken care of." "is there some reason that this is important?" "Well, I was just curious." "Tell me about, uh... coming out last year at the school." "That must've been rough." "Uh, well..." "yeah." "It was certainly a firestorm at the time, but we got through it." "Hmm." "Seems like a big decision so late in life." "Late in life?" "is that a euphemism for "You're too damn old to come out of the closet"?" "is that what that is?" "No. I just figured something must've happened." "Well, uh let's just say that I spent too many years being what other people wanted me to be, and I'd finally just had enough." "And I went, "To hell with what they think!" "I can only be who I am."" "Uh, the guy in the barn." "Did you ever identify him?" "No." "No." "They haven't identified him yet." "Something interesting did come up on the autopsy report-- a blunt-force trauma to the back of the head." "They think a timber fell and hit him." "And you don't agree with that?" "Mmm, I didn't see any timbers anywhere near him, and an injury like that could've been from anything." "It could've happened right before the fire." "You think this was a murder?" "I think there's a very good chance that this isn't over yet, and I want you and Edith to be very, very careful." " - l'm sorry." "I gotta take this." "Yeah, Kenny." "You need to get over here." "You're on that cop, right?" "She's at a coffee house on the corner of Cambridge and Shiloh." "And she's not alone." "Who's she with?" "You're not going to believe this." "The guy she's having a grande nonfat Frappuccino with right this second is the same guy that hired us to follow her." "So much for Taiwan." "All right, Kenny, I'm on my way." "Just do not lose her." "All right?" "Please. I'm like a chameleon." "I got to go." "Um... I do need to speak with Edith, though." "Oh, yeah." "She'll-- She'll be back soon." "I'll, uh, call later." "Maybe I'll even come by." "Yeah, great." "Thanks." "Thank you." "Good work." "You cover the lady cop." "I got him." "How come I don't get the hot guy?" "Just go." "Hey, buddy, can you move your damn car, please?" "Strachey, you parasite!" "Thanks to the damn pictures you took of me outside that strip club," "Daddy's cut off my trust fund!" "Oh!" "I'm going to go broke!" "I ought to sue you, Strachey!" "By the time I'm done with you, you won't have a pot to piss in!" "Oh." "Kenny." "Yeah." "Tell me you still have the cop." "Yeah." "I'm still on her." "Okay, good." "W-Where?" "She's at Sturgis Development." "I'm on my way." "Psst!" "Psst!" "It's me." "One word about me hanging out in bathrooms and I'll quit." "Heh." "Too easy." "You try finding someplace inconspicuous in a building like this." "You wanted to do fieldwork." "Where is she?" "She's in the office." "She works under the same name that guy gave us-- Elizabeth Gaston." "But I still haven't been able to figure out what she's doing exactly." "Well, there's one trick that works when all else fails." "Walk in and ask her." "Hello." " Good afternoon." "Can I help you?" " Yeah." "I'm looking for Elizabeth." " Elizabeth Gaston?" " That's the one." "And you are?" "I'm Berne Gaston, her ex-husband." "Oh." "Ms. Gaston, Berne is here to see you." " Oh." " What are you doing here?" "Hi, sweetheart." "I'm sorry." "I didn't mean to bust in here like this, but you didn't pay the child support again this month," " and I didn't know what to do." " You know what?" "Why don't you come back to my office, and we'll discuss this, Berne." "Okay." "Thank you." "Wow!" "We're gonna have to talk about increasing those alimony payments." "You know, I could get your license suspended for interfering with a criminal investigation." "I actually came by to tell you I found the guy that hired me to follow you." "You just had coffee with him an hour ago." " Are you sure?" " Oh, I'm sure." "I think he may also be involved in another case that I'm working." "Look, whatever you've got going here, I think someone may have been killed over it." "Killed?" "Who?" "Why don't we trade a little information, huh?" " What are you working on?" " How about I call downtown right now and have you dragged back to that interrogation room the minute you step foot outside this building?" "Look, you don't want to answer my questions, I'll just wander around here, see if I can find someone who will!" "It's a fraud investigation." "We had an informant come forward a year ago who told us Crane Sturgis was buying off zoning commissioners." "He'd acquire a lot of residences cheaply, knowing that he was short of getting them re-zoned to commercial use whenever he wanted." "Doesn't sound like a good enough reason to kill someone." "Are you kidding me?" "It's about 40 million good reasons to kill somebody, per project." "Sturgis currently has three projects in the planning stages." "All right, who was your coffee date?" "His name is Peter Garritty." "He's a real estate broker." "He puts together properties for commercial development." "What were you meeting with him about?" "He's been after me to see if Sturgis might still be interested in the Hollis SuperCenter project." "It got derailed a couple of months ago." "'Cause one of the homeowners didn't want to sell." "Okay, your turn." "Who got killed?" "They haven't id'd the guy." "Look, ask Bailey." "He'll tell you." "Someone got burnt up in Hollis last night." "Someone's definitely trying to make sure that this thing" " Elizabeth." " Mr. Sturgis." "Oh, baby, I missed you!" "Don't you understand that?" "Why you gonna hold that against me?" "I want you back." "Gimme another chance." "Berne..." "You love doing this to me, don't you?" " Seeing me beg like this?" " l think you need to leave." "That woman is the best damn thing that ever happened to me." "He's my ex." "He's kind of an asshole." "Mmhh." "That's crazy." "You're the only connection I have to what's going on in Hollis." "You asked Timothy to invite me to that hearing." "For support." "What is going on here, Don?" "You don't think that Andrew had" " something to do with this?" " l'm not buying it." "You know who Peter Garritty is, don't you?" "I'm sorry. I don't." "He's a real estate broker." "Same one that tried to get Dorothy and Edith to sell their place." "He also hired me to follow someone." "So if you didn't give him my name, how'd he find me?" "I have no idea." "Maybe you should ask him." "Andrew, listen." "If you are involved in this thing in any way, you need to tell me." "Right now." "A man got killed." "Dorothy and Edith could be next." "Look, Don, if this is about me kissing you last night..." "You kissed him?" "I was gonna tell you about that." "You kissed him." "He kissed me." "There's a difference." "G" "Timothy, come on." "Hey." "Hey." "I stopped it immediately." "And I made it very clear I was not interested." "You did?" "Yes." "Why didn't you tell me?" "I wanted to." "Th" "The fire happened." "There wasn't" "No." "You know what the problem was, Don?" "He's your friend." "You clearly look up to him." "You admire him." "I can see that." "And up until a couple of hours ago, I didn't want that to change." "You did it for me?" "Yeah." "You have that thing that thing I love where you see people as basically good." "It's one of the things I love the most about you." "I don't have it." "And, Tim, I hope that I'm wrong." "But it doesn't feel right." "I don't trust him." "The only thing I am sure of-- l love you." "Okay?" "Okay." "Uh... I'll call you." " Bye." "" "Back to work." "Back to work." "There's nothing to see here." "Kenny, you're sure?" "You checked both state and federal records?" "Yeah, I don't know." "But I'm about to find out." "Thanks, Kenny." "It said, "Our love is our home forever."" "We carved it into the wood when we rebuilt the old barn, put our initials on it." "This is close to a wedding vow as we've ever had." "Maybe, but these aren't your initials." "Are they?" "I've checked every database known to man." "You didn't exist before 1972." "Which would explain the photos in your house." "Dorothy's go back to the beginning." "Yours start when you two met." "Now, how about being honest with me?" ""You can't hide"?" "That wasn't written by somebody who was threatening Dorothy." "They were harassing someone with a secret." "We all have secrets, don't we?" "Who are you?" "Really." "Laura Whitaker." "I haven't said that name in years." "That's who I was" "Laura Whitaker." "Okay, what happened to Laura Whitaker?" "She..." "Sh-She... killed a man." "I killed a man... a good man who was my friend." "His name was Michael." "We were young activists when I was living in Manhattan, back when I thought fighting actually made a difference." "We both lost brothers in the Vietnam War." "You can't know what it was like to know how wrong that war was and have nobody listening." "You wanted to make someone listen." "We decided to bomb a courthouse." "A blow against authority." "We knew the courthouse was empty." "We planted the explosives." "Everything was going perfectly." "But then, at the very last moment we found out that there was a janitorial crew inside." "We both ran back." "I got them out." "All of them, but..." "But Michael." "The explosion was in the news for weeks." "I went into hiding." "Changed your identity." "By the time I got to Albany, I was already Edith Strong, and Laura Whitaker was just a memory." "Dorothy knows nothing about this?" "No." "Are you going to tell her?" "Please." "You can't." "lt-- lt will break her heart." "Which part, the truth or the fact that you didn't trust her enough to share it with her?" "Now, somebody found out." "Do you have any idea who?" "No." "This man called me at home when Dorothy was at work." "He warned me that he would go to the police and tell them who I really was." "What did he want?" "For us to sell the house." "I tried to get her to sell, but she wouldn't even think about it." "You're behind the vandalism?" "No." "N-Not all of it." "Look." "Look, all the craziness at the school was happening, and so I just thought-  l just-- l just wanted us..." " Who?" "to get away from here, to-- for everything to go back the way it was." "Who?" "Who'd you get to do it?" "Joey." "Joey Deems." "But I never wanted him to go this far-- all the vandalism, the-- the brick through the window, the-- the fire." "That" " That poor man." "You think Joey Deems is still behind all this?" "I don't know." "I hope not." "Edie!" "Edie!" "We're coming!" "Andrew!" "They're hurting him!" "Uhh!" "This came in my e-mail." "Please!" "Stop!" "Uhh!" "Uhh..." "Dear God." "They wouldn't kill him, would they?" "No." "We're gonna get him back." "But I don't have $500,000." "Yeah, but you have the house." "This house isn't worth $500,000!" "It's not the house." "It's about the property." "I'm willing to bet that developer who tried to get you to sell a few months ago would give you anything in exchange for the title." "That's what this whole thing's about." "He would do that for a house?" "It's a $40 million deal." "Somebody wants to make sure it happens." "They can't get away with this." "I can't risk them hurting Andrew, so if it's the house he wants, then we will sign over the house." "Dot." "No." "We have to call the police." "No!" "No." "Uh-- you saw the message here." "They know how to deal with kidnappers." "Well, so do you, don't you?" "Please." "Help us." "Okay." "But if we do this, we do it my way." "Hang on." " Hey." " How badly is Andrew hurt?" "Uh, just beat up from the looks of it." "Are you gonna be able to give them the ransom?" "Maybe, if I hurry." "But they've already killed one person." " l doubt they're going to let Andrew go." " So, what do you do?" "Whoever burned down the barn has to be the same person that took Andrew." "If I can figure out who that is by midnight tonight..." "You two, stay here and keep Dorothy and Edith safe." " All right?" " You're the one that I'm worried about." "Don't do anything crazy." "Do I ever?" "Yes." "Frequently." "Kenny, I need you to do one other thing, quietly." "You really expect me to go along with this?" "Think Sturgis can get access to a half a million dollars cash tonight?" "That's not a problem for him." "But I'm gonna have to convince him that this is legit." "Dorothy Fisher signed a contract." "She turned over the title to her property to Crane Sturgis in exchange for $500,000." "That's a copy." "You can get the original with the money." "I don't know." "We've both got something to gain here." "If Crane Sturgis can be involved in this thing, he's certainly got the most to gain." "You can make a much bigger case here than fraud." "Okay. I'll have to hurry, though." "I only have half an hour to get someone at the bank working on this before they close." "Okay." "Call me on my cell phone when you got it worked out." " lt'll take me a few hours." " That's okay." "I got a few stops to make." " Strachey." " Yeah, it's Bailey." "Look, they lD'd that guy from the barn." "Thought we'd see if it rang any bells for you." "Let me take a guess." "Leo Colter, private investigator." "How the hell did you know that?" "Colter's been working with a guy named Peter Garritty." "He's a real estate broker." "Garritty's the same guy that hired me to follow your undercover cop." "So, what is this all about?" "What else?" "Money." "My guess is Colter's dead because someone got greedy." "So you think this Garritty person killed him?" "I don't know yet." "But I think I may have just uncovered one hell of a motive." "Uh, okay." "You need to get a hold of the sheriff and tell him everything you know." "Because they have been so helpful so far." "Sorry, detective." "I got to go." "Ohh!" "Ooh!" " Uhh!" " Where is he?" "Sh" " Sh" " Don't shoot me!" "Please don't shoot me!" "Where's Andrew McWhirter?" "W-Who?" "Don't play games with me." "Honest to God, I don't know who you're talking about." "I saw you at Dorothy Fisher and Edith Strong's house." "Oh, all right, all right." "I threw a brick, okay?" "And I painted the barn, but that's all." "I was just trying to scare them!" "Why'd you hire me to follow Elizabeth Gaston?" "Because she's the one that fixed all the deals for Crane Sturgis." "I was just trying to see if there's anything, you know, I could find." "Why?" "So you could blackmail her like you did Edith Strong?" "J-Just wanted some insurance." "Got to make sure she pushed Sturgis for the deal." "Who told you to hire me?" "Nobody!" "All right?" "I just found you the way I found Leo Colter." "How stupid do you think I am?" "Uhh!" "All right." "All right." "I saw you on the cover of that magazine, you know, the-- the gay one." "I figured because you were gay, you could get into places without that Gaston broad getting suspicious." "You know?" "Because..." "Because women trust you gay guys." "Do you know where your buddy Colter is right now?" "I swear to God I don't." "I've-- l've been trying to call him." "It's like he disappeared." "He's dead. lf you don't start giving me some answers" "Yeah, Bailey." "So, did you get the money?" "Good." "Well, I'll just head over there now, then, and I'll trade it for Andrew McWhirter." "Good. I've got one more stop to make." "So I'll meet you at Dorothy Fisher's house on Moon Road in an hour, and I'll have the title." "Good." "What do you want?" "You been here all night, Mr. Deems?" " What business is that of yours?" " l need to talk to Joey." "Look, I already told you." "We don't know anything about what happened to those women." "Well, you're wrong, because I happen to know for a fact that Joey did break into their house and vandalize it." " No." "He wouldn't." " Now I'm trying to figure out whether he may have committed an arson, possibly a murder, and may have taken a couple of shots at me." "Who do you think you are, coming here, accusing my family?" "Hey, I'm just a guy looking for the truth, okay?" "So either I can talk to your son, or the cops can come here and do it." "Yeah, well, he's not here, and he doesn't know anything about that." "You know what?" "Let's figure out how deeply you're involved, okay?" "Because I happen to know for a fact that the contract you signed on your house has a 90-day window, which means in two days the whole shot you may have had at selling your property goes down the drain." "Sounds like a hell of a motive to me." "You know what?" "I'll tell you what I think." "I think those two ladies deserve whatever's happening to them." "This is our one chance to sell this dump and lead decent lives for a change." "I thought God wanted you here." "Well, maybe he did for a time." "But we have been sent deliverance from the good people at the Millpond Company." "And those two have almost ruined it for all of us." "Good night." "Mmm..." "Hey!" "Holy shit." "Hey, guys." "Sorry about that." "Nice place you got here." "Kind of romantic." "What the fuck are you doing here?" "Hey, Derek." "I'm Don." "We didn't get to meet the other night when I was introduced to your dad." "Hell of a guy." "You can't" " You can't tell anyone." "Hey, look, take it easy, okay?" "I don't really give a damn what you guys are doing together." "Joey, you got to tell me the truth about something." "Did you have anything to do with that fire over at Dorothy and Edith's barn?" "No. I didn't do anything." "But you did do something." "Broke into their place, spray painted on their walls, right?" "Only because she told me to." " You did that?" " She asked me to. I swear." "You didn't have anything to do with that fire?" "No." "Why did you do that to Ms. Fisher's house?" "The other old lady wanted me to." "I understand you may have gotten a little carried away, huh?" "Or just a little more violent than what she asked?" "I want them to leave, okay?" "Joey!" "Everything was great between us before you started talking to her." "Ms. Fisher's been helping me." "But we were fine." "Nobody knew." "We were careful to make sure nobody knew." "Yeah, we were." "And it's been making me crazy, you know?" "Sneaking around all the time, lying to everybody?" "I've been trying to tell you how fucked up it makes me feel, but... you never want to hear about it." "Well, guess what." "You don't have to worry about that anymore." "You and me, it's going to have to stop." "What?" "I told you to tell her to shut up, but she just kept pushing and pushing, and I just" "I want her to go away." "Hey, Joe, I got to tell you." "It's because of people like her that in a lot of places you two wouldn't have to hide." "You don't know Hollis, mister." "Maybe I don't, but I know a lot of places like it." "I get it, okay?" "It sucks." "But I promise you, if you guys hang in there, maybe take care of each other a little bit, I promise you, you'll always have someone you can count on." "Okay?" "No matter where you wind up." " All right?" "" "Hey." "Put the cars around back, like you said." "Yeah." "Did you find what I asked you for?" "Yeah." "I felt kind of icky, though, sneaking around in their personal papers." "Yeah, well, that is the job, so get used to it." "So, what are you going to do?" "Couples counseling." "There you are." "This is all very strange, you know, sitting around in the dark like this." "We need the house to look empty." "Kenny, keep an eye on them." "We've got another e-mail." "They want Dorothy to bring the money to the old Hampton Bridge at midnight." "I don't think we're going to be making that appointment." "Why?" " Did you find Andrew?" " No." "What I am finding out is making my job a hell of a lot more difficult, and I'll tell you, I've had about enough of you two lying to me." "Especially you, Dorothy." "What are you talking about?" "Talking about the mortgage on the house." "Or should I say "mortgages"?" "Three of them." "You had no right to go through my things." "What?" "That can't be right." "" " Don, what's going on?" "She's been taking out $10,000 a month in cash for almost a year and a half." "10,000 a month?" "You're being blackmailed, aren't you?" "But why?" "So you" " Edith, Dorothy knows." "She knows who you really are." "Mmhh." "An envelope was delivered to the school, and it was full of clippings about the bombing in New York City." "And they had photographs of you from the newspaper." "Your hair was different and you were younger, but, uh..." "Oh, I'd know that face anywhere." "Oh, Dot." "And they, uh, they said that they would go to the police and tell them everything if I didn't pay up." "Why didn't you tell me?" "Because I was pulling all that money out of the house, and I thought you would say no, and I thought you would prefer to go to jail than-- than risk our home." "I couldn't lose you." "I wouldn't." "I wouldn't lose you." "Dorothy... I am so sorry." "I should've told you years ago." "I wish I had." "I thought that you would hate me." "Hate you?" "How could I hate you?" "You're the love of my life." "I'd-- l'd do anything for you." "Edie, I am so tired of all these secrets." "There's somebody out there." "Okay, uh, that is a woman with a half a million dollars." "Next step-- no matter what happens out there, you all stay inside and out of sight." " Got it?" " Yes." "Timothy." "Inside." "A lot of trouble for this old place." "Well, home is where the heart is, you know." "Where are the women?" "Oh, they're safe at my place." "Did you get it?" "Half a million dollars." "You got the title deed?" "So Sturgis went for it, huh?" "To help secure a $40 million deal?" "He jumped at it." "Garritty's here watching us." "Play along." "Uh, in fact, you've been working with Peter Garritty on putting together the, uh, Moon Road options, huh?" "Uh, we talked about it." "I also understand that the title to the Fisher house is the last piece of the puzzle." " ls that right?" " Right." "Okay." "So, I got a proposition for you." "Since all the rest of the options are expiring in less than two days, what if you and I were to hang onto this title?" "We could pick up the rest of the options for ourselves, swoop in, sell the whole thing to Sturgis." "We get to be millionaires." "What do you think?" "So we cut out Garritty." "Yeah." "No!" "You can't do that." "This was my deal!" "Oh, my God." "What's happening?" "Kenny, call the sheriff's office." "Do you have any idea how hard I worked to put this thing together?" "Peter, I'd put the gun down if I were you." "Give me the land title now!" "Albany PD." "Put the gun down." "Put it down now!" "I got some more bad news for you, Peter." "Not only is she Albany PD, she also killed your buddy Colter, and she tried to kill you tonight at your office." "Me?" "Yeah." "See, the whole thing about swooping in and picking up the other options?" "Officer Santer here thought of that before I did." "She almost got away with it, too." " lsn't that right?" " You're crazy." "Must've been irresistible to you, living on a cop's salary." "Garritty shows up with this fat deal." "How much were you going to sell the whole project for?" "Five, ten million dollars?" "Give me the title deed." "Garritty and Colter are crooks." "You're the only one willing to commit murder." "Oh, you never should've gotten involved in this." "I had to be involved." "Who else was going to take care of the ransom?" "Andrew knew that." "That's why you got my boyfriend to bring me that teacher thing." "Isn't that right, Andrew?" "This could've been so easy." "Yeah, but you shouldn't have gotten me involved." "See, at first, I couldn't figure out why are Dorothy and Edith both getting blackmailed." "And then I realized I got two problems." "You wanted the money, Andrew." "You wanted to pick up all the options and sell them all to Sturgis." "It was inevitable your two paths were going to cross." "Why not get together, fake a little kidnapping?" "Everybody gets what they want, huh?" "Till this little one wants the whole damn thing for herself." "You know what?" "You're all fucking guilty." "I'm just gonna take my money and let the two of you fight over the title." " Like hell you are!" " No!" "" " Uhh!" "Uhh!" "Ohh!" "Kenny, shots fired!" "Get in here!" "Let it go, Andrew!" "Aah!" "Ooh!" "Why couldn't you just deliver the ransom like you were supposed to?" "What, the $10,000 a month you've been scamming from Dorothy is not enough, huh?" "How'd you find out about Edith's past?" "She talks a lot when she drinks." "One night, she just broke down." "Said she did some terrible things." "You son of a bitch." "They trusted you." "Yeah, it's a gift of mine." "People just naturally like me." "Yeah, well, I don't." "" " Uhh!" "Not anymore." "Good." "35 years of Women's Softball League finally paid off." "Hey..." "Okay." "You ready?" "Coming through." "Coming through." "Oh, it was part of the sting, Bailey." "Save it for the jury." "This is gonna be a shitload of paperwork." "Yeah, he does that." "Welcome to my world." "The only thing I haven't been able to figure out is why did he have Garritty hire us to follow her?" "Guess it really was a coincidence." "Well, like you said, a good detective" "Kenny!" "Hey, Edie, it's gonna be okay." "I'm gonna be by your side the whole time." "Don't you worry." "Someday, when I'm old like all you guys, I hope I have an amazing relationship, too." "Yeah." "What's your E.T.A.?" "What?" "It was a compliment!" "That's a roger, Dispatch." "I got nothing to say to you." "Look, we got started on the wrong foot." "Well, why don't we just keep it that way?" "What the hell are these?" "They're autopsy photos." "Teen suicides." "Hey, your son is begging for your help." "He's my little boy." "Yeah, I know." "What's this?" "Called the Trevor Project." "Sometimes parents need about as much help as their kids dealing with this stuff." "What did he want, Dad?" "My son." "Naked?" "Well, you wanted to hear the whole story." "Well!" "I don't want to anymore." "Well, that is your prerogative, but I'm not keeping any secrets from you." "Never again." "I guess Andrew and I aren't as much alike as I thought." "No." "Thank God." "I like you much better." "Do you think Edith will be okay?" "I do." "My bet is, with a plea bargain, she'll probably do six months, maybe a year or two of house arrest after that." "She'll be all right." " With Dorothy by her side?" " Mm-hmm." " And Dorothy got her job back." " She did." "These kids need her." "And she needs them." "Do you think we'll still be together 40 years from now?" "Oh, yes." "We will." "You'll still be carping about our second date." "Well, you were flirting with that wannabe outlaw biker." "I was not flirting." "We were having a conversation." "With your back to me." "For, like, 30 seconds." "Maybe." "It was not more than that." " How would you know?" " How do I know that?" "You" " You had 14 martinis in you." "How would you know anything?" "And you were taking notes." "I was terrified." "What do you want me to do?" "Nothing."