"Mommy!" "Mommy!" "Mommy!" " Mommy!" " Ariel?" "Ariel, where are you?" "Ariel, talk to Mommy." " Mommy!" " Where are you?" "Ariel?" "!" "Joe?" "Allison, Joe's not here." "Who are you?" "Where's Ariel?" "You know me." "I'm the golem." "I'm the devil." "I'm a monster." "And your little girl?" "She's in the trunk of my car." "Now, if you'll excuse me, I've come back to get the other ones..." "No!" "No!" "I need you awake." "I can do awake." "Just give me a couple of hours." " Joe." " Okay, okay, I'm awake." "I'm awake, mostly." "What's going on, bad dream?" "Yeah." "No." "Did you hear that?" " Mommy!" " It's Ariel!" "I'll check on Marie." " She's okay." " Mommy!" "Mommy!" "Tell me, darling, was there a doll in this dream?" "Other than you, you mean?" "Okay." "And Saturday Ariel has a soccer game, so... we have to pick up snacks." "Again?" "Okay, fine, just... this time let's bring something good." "No fruit, you know?" "I felt like an idiot last time." "If you want to feed growing girls grease and sugar, then you could stop by the market and pick it up yourself." "Fine." "Isn't this always the case?" "I'm finally tired enough to go back to sleep, and the sun's coming up." "Wait a second." "Just wait a second." "What's the matter, you miss something?" "You could say that." "I'm a week late." "Late for what?" "Oh, you're that kind of late?" "Late late?" "Yeah, Joe, a week late." "Late late." "Well." "Guess I'm awake now." "You know what, when you stop and think about it, I think it's kind of neat." "Or at least it could be, if it actually happened." "If what actually happened?" " Nothing." " Nothing." "Neat?" "Yeah." "We've been to this barbecue a couple times before-- we know what to expect." "It's not like you're in it alone." "I'll help." "Oh." "You'll help-- oh, that's great." "I'll tell you what." "I'll gain the 60 pounds this time, but you can have the hemorrhoids and the swollen ankles, 'cause that would be really helpful-- that would be neat." " What are you guys talking about?" " Nothing." "And while you're at it, maybe you could take three months off from work" " so you could stay home and breast-feed." " Very funny." " Mommy!" " What?" "Mommy said "breast."" "All right, I'm sorry I said anything." "Me, too." "So where does all this giddy good cheer come from?" "You suddenly like your cars filled with sticky car seats?" "You've grown accustomed to waking up early on Sunday mornings and not having sex?" "You're hooked on the smell of ripe diapers and you're worried it's gonna end sometime soon?" " Talk to me." " I don't have anything to say." "I was feeling good about the possibility, but you've made me see the error of my ways and I've changed my mind." "Liar." "You think I'm mean and selfish and unromantic and..." "Why do you ask me questions?" "If you think you know what I'm thinking, why put me through the trouble of answering?" "Look, I want to have a little boy, too." "Maybe not right this second, but..." "Is that what you think this is about?" "Did you finish your math homework?" "Most of it." "Most of it is not all of it." "You know you're not gonna get better if you don't work on the problems you can't solve." " I know, I know." " Ariel didn't finish her math homework." "Ariel..." "Don't be mad." "I just don't like it." "Don't like math?" "But math is the best!" "Daddy should know-- math is how he makes his living." "I thought you were an aerospace engineer." "Oh, boy." "What is it you think an aerospace engineer does, honey?" "I don't know." "What?" "Okay, you and me, tonight, by the kitchen table." "What are you talking about?" "Dad's gonna tutor you in math." " Oh, no, no, please, no." "No!" "No!" " Yes, oh, yes." "Everybody in the car." "Oh, please, no?" "Oh, great." "About earlier" " I am excited." "I'll get excited." "And I will stay home and breast-feed." "You'll see." "You know, before anyone gets too excited, we should make sure it's really, you know, happening." "What, you're not gonna pee on a stick for me, too?" "I'll pick up a pregnancy test at lunch!" "Bring it home." "I'm good at tests." " You made my job very easy." " Well, that's nice of you to say." " Thank you again for all your help, Mr. Swanstrom." " My pleasure." "I'm just glad I could help." " Hey, Allison." " Hey." "Going down?" "No." "Thank you." " Okay." "See you." " Bye." "Nice fella." "Excuse me, but who was that man?" "What man?" "That man, that man in the elevator." "Oh." "That man." "Allison, that man was a true human oddity, the kind of man you don't meet every day in this city." "A throwback to another time, when Phoenicians actually cared for the well-being of others." "Allison, that man was an honest-to-God Good Samaritan." "And does this good Samaritan have a name?" "Yeah." "Jared Swanstrom." "And what makes Mr. Swanstrom such a Good Samaritan?" "Last night, that young man happened to look out his apartment window and notice that the apartment across the way was being burglarized." "He phoned the police, gave them a complete description of the burglar, and this morning he positively identified the man in a lineup." "This afternoon he's coming back to give us his official statement, and... in the event of a trial, he's already agreed to testify." " So he's a witness?" " Yes." "Why, did you think he was a criminal?" "Why would I think that?" "A hundred and eight." "Eighty-one." "Look at it this way-- you were half right." "You dreamt about the guy, and there he was the next day." "I'm just saying it's weird, that's all." "I mean, last night I dream about this violent, scary guy, and today there he is?" "And he's all, "Howdy, ma'am, can I hold that elevator for you?"" "Am I a terrible husband if I interject here that your dreams are often subject to interpretation?" " And that given the possible state of your hormones..." " 66." "Let's leave my hormones out of this." "My hormones are innocent until proven impregnated." " So moved." " Seventy-seven." "Is that Ariel?" "Where are you?" "Home sweet home." "I finished that DOD project ahead of schedule, so I figured I'd take the afternoon off and get a jump on tutoring." "Oh, boy, you're really campaigning for father of the year, huh?" "Just trying to be helpful." "Speaking of which, don't forget to bring everything home that we need to prepare for your test." "Oh, yes, my little pop quiz" " I haven't forgotten." "Very funny." "And you'll be happy to know that Ariel does not have a problem with math." "She's doing grade-level stuff here, she doesn't even have to work anything out." "Clearly, she takes after her dad." " Oh, she snores?" " 51." "Not so funny." " So, when you gonna take it?" " Take what?" "The test." "Oh, I think you're supposed to take it in the morning." "It's more accurate or something." "So we have to wait all night?" "What's your rush?" "Thinking about painting the nursery blue?" "I'm actually at the drugstore right now." "Tell Ariel to keep up the good work, and I'll see you later." "Oh, they're having a sale on boys' disposable diapers." "You want me to pick up a pack?" "Nah." "I outgrew those a while ago." " Love you." " You better." "I look across at the other apartment, and..." "Yes?" "Allison, what's up?" "I'm sorry, I didn't realize you were in the middle of an interview." "What can I help you with?" "Well, I was... done for the day, so I wanted to know if you needed anything, 'cause I thought I would..." "I'm sorry." "You look so familiar." "Jared Swanstrom, this is a colleague of mine, Allison Dubois." "Allison, this is the gentleman who witnessed that robbery that I told you about that's been so helpful." "Oh, right, that's it, the elevator this morning." "Of course." "Thank you so much for everything you're doing." "Everyone keeps saying that." "I guess I didn't realize I had another choice." "Oh, you'd be amazed how apathetic most people are." "It's a pleasure to meet somebody like you." "It's a pleasure to meet you." " Allison?" " Excuse me." "Excuse me." "Hey... you all right?" "Thank you." "Do you want someone to drive you home?" "No, I'm okay." "Have you seen your doctor?" "No, not yet." "Is that what you think?" "No, no, no." "It has nothing to do with me-- it's him." "He shook my hand, and he... he was saying something to me, but I couldn't hear what he was saying." "Wait a second." "What?" "You're saying that Swanstrom made you feel ill?" "It was like a... a dull roar in my head, and I could hear my... blood pulsing through me, and I saw things..." "All right, come on, let's sit down." "Women." "Murder, torture." "There were so many of them, and he..." "I've never seen somebody so in their element." "He's a killer." " Who's a killer, Allison?" " He is." "That man." "Your..." "Good Samaritan." "He's killed women; he kills them, lots of them." "Allison, maybe you should clarify your own condition before you speculate..." " It has nothing to do with my own condition." " I'm just saying..." "I've been pregnant before." "I know what it is to be pregnant." " I've been pregnant three times-- this is not pregnant." " All right." "Whatever it is, we... we need to get you home." "All right?" "Come on." "You will check on him, right?" "If you go home and promise to relax, take a few days off, then... yeah." "And you'll call me as soon as you get something?" "Allison, get some rest." "You don't look good." "Beautiful, but not terribly good." "What's the matter?" "I had a little... episode." "You have a tough day?" "Sort of." "I puked in front of my boss." "Was that before or after you asked for the raise?" "Come on, let's get you to bed." "I feel so guilty." "About what?" "You look so miserable, and I'm..." "I'm excited." "It's not what you think." "Oh, baby, I think it's time we had a chat about the birds and the bees." "You're late, you're nauseous." "Face it." "I think we're talking table for six." "Relax Maitre d'." "It has nothing to do with the birds and the bees." "I saw that man again." "The one from my dream." "The one I told you about." "The solid citizen who saw the burglary?" "I touched him, I shook his hand." "That's what made me ill." "Allison, people get ill because something disturbs the body's chemical equilibrium, not because they shook hands with somebody who's..." "Evil?" "Joe, this man is evil in the most unimaginable ways." "Because he looks so benign." "Because he looks so friendly, so nice." "And not only that." "He has a kind of radar for innocence." "He can spot it a mile away." "And once he's found it, he becomes obsessed with possessing it." "He seems so harmless... so when he offers them a ride, they almost always accept." "Then he drugs them, and by the time they come to, they're tied up somewhere, helpless." "Then he rapes them, bathes them." "Rapes them again, drugs them some more." "And when he can no longer convince himself of their innocence, he kills them... takes their bodies, puts them in their car, drives them to the desert and dumps them there for the animals to feast on." "There have been lots of them." "Maybe six." "But there's this one woman in particular I keep seeing." "She has red hair, blue eyes." "A beautiful girl." "She told him her name was Sharona." "She was his first." "He didn't really want to part with her." "He loved her in his own way, but the smell was beginning to become noticeable." "And even as he walked her body towards its sandy, dusty resting place, he swore he'd never do this again." "Never fall in love with someone only to have to part with them." "But even as he made the promise, he knew he couldn't keep it." "Honey?" "Honey?" "How was your day?" "Would you do me a favor and go get me one of those tests?" "What are you talking about?" "Well, if I'm not pregnant, I really want a drink." "I thought you said mornings were more accurate." "I did say that, didn't I?" "That was stupid of me." "Get some rest, Al." "Morning." "Allison?" "It's barely 8:20." "Nobody's even here for another 40 minutes." "Well, I had to run the kids to school, so I just thought..." "I don't remember asking you to come in this morning." "I mean, how are you?" "You feeling better?" "A little." "You didn't." "I actually came in sort of on my own." "I was wondering about Jared Swanstrom." "Jared Swanstrom?" "Yeah, what about him?" "Well, you promised me you'd look into his background." "Check him out." "I guess you haven't had a chance yet." "Allison, it's not the habit of the District Attorney's office to run criminal background checks on citizens who come forward to report crimes." " Well, you told me you'd check it out." " And you told me that you'd get some rest." " I feel fine." " Well, you don't look fine." "And you're not acting fine." "You're acting a bit paranoid." "A bit obsessive." "Allison, please go home." "I'll call you when and if there's a reason to." "But you will check, right?" "You are going to run his name." "You did promise." "And there's a girl." "A victim, I think." "She has red hair." "Her name's Sharona." "She's a student, a local." "Arizona State, maybe." "Could you just check and see if maybe there's a missing persons report?" "Something open?" "Please?" "All right, Allison." "Thank you." "I'll wait for your call." "I have much good news to report." "I shall be the judge of that." "All persons under five feet of height are officially in bed." "I'm proud of you." "And reporting from the math front," "I think if you take a look at these equations I did with Ariel this evening, it'll become pretty damn obvious that her only problem with fourth grade math" " is that it isn't tenth grade math." " Excuse me?" "She's bored, Al." "She's advanced." "Look at these." "I put together some geometry problems." "Geometry?" "Joe, you're giving her geometry?" "She's nine years old." "And nine rhymes with Einstein." "Sort of." "I'm telling you, she did a spectacular job." "She's performing way above grade level." "Frankly, she reminds me of me." "A nine-year-old girl reminds you of you?" "Hmm." "You're taking a perfectly sweet figure of speech and you're turning it into something..." "I don't even want to contemplate what you must be thinking." "Why are you staring at the phone?" "It's almost 9:30." "Are you expecting a call?" "The DA's office." " But it's not going to happen." " How do you know?" "I went in to see him today." "I told him about my dreams." "Really?" "After you took the test?" "Allison..." "Peeing in the morning is kind of automatic, honey." "I just didn't think about it." "Right." "So you forgot to use the test this morning." "Well, I suppose there's more pee where that came from." "You can bet on it." "I guess I'll still sleep with you tonight." "Thank you, kind sir." "Nothing?" "Less than nothing." "Naught." "He was never suspected of murder, but he does volunteer at a homeless shelter once a month." "No arrests for assault, but he does attend church regularly." "No speeding tickets or parking tickets, and he is a mentor to a fatherless boy in Tempe." "I was thinking of asking the mayor to give him the key to the city, but I was afraid his Honor would be threatened in the presence of someone with so much moral fiber." "And you might find it comforting to know there have been no red-headed women named Sharona reported missing or murdered in this state since 1983." "Okay." "Allison, this is good news." "Sometimes it's good to be wrong." " Mommy?" " Yeah?" "Look." "Daddy said I got them all right." "Wow." "Wow, this looks complicated, sweetie." "I know, but it wasn't." "Daddy was really happy." "He's very proud of you." "He told me so." "Mommy?" "Do you think Daddy sometimes wishes I was a boy?" "No." "Daddy loves you very much just the way you are." "Okay." "Just checking." "Mommy?" "You won't let the bad man hurt us, will you?" " What bad man?" " I think she's talking about me." "Damn." "I was thinking." "I got distracted." "Yeah." "That thinking will do that every time." "The bad Samaritan, I presume?" "Stop giving him cute names." "I was thinking about his guts, actually." "Small intestine?" "Large intestine?" "Not those kind of guts?" "Think about it." "You've kidnapped, tortured and killed a handful of women and raised absolutely no suspicion." "I mean, if you're any kind of self-respecting sociopath who takes any kind of pride in their work, that must to be absolutely intoxicating, right?" "I was thinking the kids aren't going to be up for another 15 minutes and I was going to ask you if you want to have sex, but," "I don't know, you started talking and the urge just suddenly left me." "How do you up that rush?" "How do you sustain that thrill?" "By walking into the district attorney's office and offering to help him solve a crime." "That's pretty gutty." " Or?" " Or?" "Or there's no guts involved because he didn't do it." "Because it never happened." "Because he's just a good Samaritan." "Because there are no dead co-eds." "Because this whole scenario exists only..." "Because I might be pregnant?" "Or because you don't want to deal with the possibility." "I don't know." "All I know is, it takes a lot less energy to piss on a piece of plastic than it does to ponder the twisted courage of a man you've met for all of two minutes." "Swanson..." "Swanstrom." "Jared Swanstrom." "Arrogant bastard's even listed in the phone book." "This is dumb." "This is, like, the dumbest thing I've ever done in my life." "Yes, hi." "This is Allison Dubois." "I work with the district attorney's office." "Yes, this is an emergency." "I have reason to believe I'm following a car that's being used to transport the dead body of a murder victim." "Dubois." "D-U-B-O-I-S." "No." "No one's being murdered right now, but I believe the murderer is in the process of getting away or at the very least attempting to destroy the evidence." "His license plate is 1-2-6..." "F-I-O." "I don't know." "I'm... at the corner of Chaparral and Miller, traveling north." "No." "I already told you-- no one is being murdered right now." "What do you mean, "Is he breaking any other laws?"" "I told you." "I believe there is a dead body in his trunk." "Look, I can't drive and talk at the same time." "He's getting away." "He's getting on the freeway." "What do you mean, that's outside your jurisdiction?" "Oh, hell." "Yes." "I'm talking about a crime happening right now, or an accident anyway." "We are at the Chaparral on-ramp." "Not on the freeway, still in your jurisdiction." "Yes, ma'am." "No, I did it." "I hit him with my car." "Now, hurry." "Please." " Are you okay?" "!" " He's approaching my vehicle!" "Did I, did I stop short or something?" "Hey, I know you." "You're the woman from the D.A.'s." "Are you okay?" "Okay, they're here." "They're here." "Thank you." "Sir, move away from the window." "Move away from the window, okay?" "Just back off." "You all right, ma'am?" "We're fine." "You're fine, right?" "She's fine." " Great, I need to see your license and registration, please." " Okay, but I think we can work this out ourselves." "Sir, turn around and put your hands on the hood." "I need you to spread your feet, okay?" "Excuse me?" "I'm going to have an officer pat you down." " You call 911, ma'am?" " Yes, Officer." "Is this the man... driving the vehicle you claim has a body in the trunk?" "What?" "What did you tell them?" "Sir, we're gonna have to look in the trunk." "All right, this is crazy." "I mean, this is a joke, right?" " You have no right to look in my car." " Let me tell you how this works, okay?" "You're gonna open the trunk willingly, or I'm gonna take you downtown and we're all gonna sit around while I get a warrant." "It's not a question of if, it's a question of when." " Wait." "Why'd you do this?" "Why did you call them?" " Hey, hey!" "Sir." "Why don't you direct all your comments and questions at me, okay?" "I don't understand." "I witnessed a robbery and now this, this..." "Hey." "Watch yourself, okay?" "Just, this woman from the D.A.'s office is stalking me." "Ma'am?" "Your story hasn't changed, has it?" "I know what I saw." "He killed a woman." "Then he rolled her up in a rug and put her in his trunk." "Officer, that's completely absurd." "All right, look." "This is your last chance." " Fine." "Fine." " Good. let's have a look." "Hold onto this." "That's the rug, but..." "Yeah." "But what?" "The one that I saw was older." "It was stained." "I don't know what you "saw," but this rug is brand new." "My friend works at a carpet warehouse and they just went out of business." "He left this for me." " I picked it up this morning." " I don't know what to tell you." " Well, I'd start with "I'm sorry."" " Thank you." " I'm sorry." " Thanks." "I'm gonna issue you two summonses, Ms. Dubois." "One for reckless driving, and the other for filing a false report." " But, Officer, wait." " Don't compound the situation, okay?" "I'll also gonna file a report with the D.A's office and let them know that you summoned for police assistance here when there wasn't a need for it, okay?" "Sir, you want to file harassment charges against Ms. Dubois?" "No." "No." "Not at this time." "Good." "Now, I want you both to get back in your vehicles, call your insurance companies, and be on your way." " Do I make myself clear?" " Yes, sir." "Perfectly." "Damn." "Does Daddy know that you crushed the car?" "Yes, I called him." "Daddy is going to kill you when he gets home." "Ariel..." "Mommies and daddies don't kill each other." "Sometimes they get disappointed." "Sometimes they get annoyed, but by and large, mommies and daddies don't kill each other." "Okay, sweetie." "Let's have a tea party." "Now, let's do homework." "What?" "You don't have any homework?" "No." "I do, but I sorta want to wait for Daddy to get home." "Well, Daddy's got his class tonight." "He won't be home till late." "Can I help?" "No, I don't think so." "It's math, and he really makes math easy." "Well, I know math." "Sort of." "I'll tell you what." "You get your book and I'll get my abacus, and we'll give it a shot." "No..." "I need Daddy." " No, you don't." " Yes, I do." "Why?" "Because he gives me the answers." "Wait a second." "Daddy does not give you the answers." "Well... he kind of shows them to me." "What do you mean, he shows them to you, darling?" "I don't know." "He looks at the problem with me, and I just see the numbers in my head and I just write them down." "And you don't see any numbers when you're with me, right?" "Yeah..." "I do, but they have letters in them, too, so I know they can't be right." "Okay..." "Tell you what." "Write them down." "Show them to me." "Watch Marie for second." "What about my homework?" "I'll just need a second." "Try to work it out for yourself." "Work it out?" "District Attorney, Devalos' office." "Hi." "This is Allison Dubois." "I have this license plate number I need to check for this case I'm working on." "I think it might be a rental car." "Well, to be honest, the police usually handle that kind of thing." "You know, I used to work over there." "Why don't you give it to me and I'll call it over and see what I can find out." "Terrific." "Thank you." "Okay, the number is "4-2-7-Q-U-I."" "Did you say "Q-U-I"?" "Are you sure about that?" "What do you mean?" "Well, if I remember correctly, the first letter on an Arizona plate advances with each new run." "Right now, we're issuing plates with "F."" "I believe the plate you just read me doesn't exist yet." "What do you mean?" "When will it exist?" "I'm guessing we'll get to Q anywhere from seven to ten years from now." "Mommy..." "Mommy..." "Joe?" "Mommy..." "Mommy..." "Mommy..." "I think you owe me an apology, Allison." "Trouble sleeping?" "No." "Sleeping's easy." "Sleeping's a dream." "It's the waking stuff that can really screw with your head." "I don't know what to tell you, Joe." "I guess I didn't take the test because I was... afraid." "Afraid I would be pregnant." "Afraid I wouldn't be." "Depending on the time of day, I guess I just didn't really like either choice." "I'm sorry." "Me, too." "But you know what?" "We already have three great kids." "Yeah, I need to talk to you about that, too." "Okay." "Our wonderful daughter Ariel, who is so beautiful and smart and exceptional in so many ways... just isn't exceptional in the way you hoped." "She doesn't take after me at all, does she?" "She takes after you." "By the time we got to advanced algebra, I suspected." "But I guess I didn't really want to know for sure." "I guess there's a lot of that going around." "So, ask me about my case." "How goes the case?" "It's going, it's going, it's gone." "Really." "Because it never really happened." "Because he really is a good Samaritan." "Because there are no dead co-eds." "Because the whole thing only existed..." "Hi." "Is he in?" "Court." "Was he expecting you?" "No." "I thought I'd surprise him." "I have to do a little fence mending, some apologizing." "I saw the fax from the Chief of Police." "Which reminds me, there's something here for you." "Didn't you ask us to check on a possible missing "Sharona"?" " College student with red hair?" " Yeah." "No." "Not only are there none missing, there's been only been one Sharona born within a 50-mile radius of Phoenix since 1980, and she's only 14." "Wait a second." "Sharona?" "I'm sorry, do I know you?" "No." "But I need to talk to you for a second." "It's okay, really." "We can do it right here." "My name is Allison Dubois and I need to tell you something." "And you're going to think it sounds sort of crazy." "You're going to think I'm some weird old lady who you met at school who told you this strange story, and that's fine." "As long as you just listen." "Okay." "Seven years from now, a man is going to come up to you on the street." "You'll be in college, you'll be very pretty." "You'll be carrying your books and one of your shoelaces will be untied." "This man, he'll offer to hold your books while you tie your shoelace." "He'll seem nice and polite and you'll think, "maybe a little old for me but harmless."" "But he isn't harmless." "He will rape you and murder you if you let him." "So when he offers you a ride, say no." "And then just walk away." "And if he won't let you, then you fight, scream, bite him, kick him." "Just promise me you won't get in that car, okay?" "Promise me." "Wait a sec, you came here to tell me about something you think might happen seven years from now?" "Just promise me you will fight like hell." "Promise me." "Look, lady, you're right, this is crazy." "Sharona!" "You don't have to believe anything I say." "You just have to remember it." "You will, won't you?" "I can tell." "And you will fight." "And you're going to have a great life." "Slam dunk." "Judge took about a minute and half to decide to throw the book at Phoenix's favorite cat burglar thanks to the testimony of our good friend here." "How's your car?" "You and I need to talk." "Tomorrow." "Jared." "I gotta tell you, lady, you floor me." "After all I've done, all I'm doing, why would... why would you do what you did?" "Why did you say those things to the police?" "I'm sorry." " Well, you ought to be." " But it's true." "Excuse me?" "Or it will be... in the next seven to ten years." "What?" "This is crazy." "I have never hurt anybody." " I could never hurt anyone." " Then don't." "Look, I don't know who it is that breaks your heart or crushes your spirit or pushes you over that line that people like you cross so easily..." " No one's going to break my heart." " Admit it, you think about it all the time." "You think about how you'll do it-- what it'll feel like, what they'll smell like, what they'll taste like." "You know who you really are." "You're the golem." "You're the devil." "You're a monster." "Now do me a favor." "Do the world a favor." "Make a liar out of me." "Tell Mr. Devalos I had to go." "I'll do that." "You're wrong." "Let's hope so."