"Hey, buddy." "It's me." "Been a long time, huh?" "You heard who's getting out?" "Ain't that some shit?" "Like Lazarus." "Anyway, our other buddy's all tweaked about it." "You know how he used to be?" "He's worse now." "Yeah, I know." "It's a drag." "Call me." "And you never called Mr. Willis back?" "I didn't." "What about your phone conversation with George Melton?" "George called me and, um, basically just said that if this all came back, he wasn't sure that he could..." "Withstand the pressure." "He just kept saying that maybe... maybe he should tell." "Tell it all." "That it was harder and harder to keep it in anyway and that it had rotted inside of him." "H-he became, uh..." "Incoherent at that point." "Just he started crying." "What did you do?" "I just tried to calm him down." "And I said i-i thought it was, uh..." "A noble idea, but I didn't think it was a good one." "Why not?" "I told him it was too late." "It wouldn't change anything." "In fact, it..." "It would ruin a lot of lives." "What had rotted, Chris?" "What was he going to tell?" "God, it was so long ago." "I'm not the same person." "I wasn't even that person back then." "Chris, everybody here pretty much knows the gist of what you're gonna say." "You just need to..." "You know, go ahead and give voice to it." "It evolved, Sheriff." "It wasn't..." "It wasn't premeditated." "It just became." "Became what?" "Rape." "We raped Hanna Dean." "Have you just been sitting out here?" "Didn't want to bother anybody." "Daniel stayed with Jon last night." "I don't know why." "I told him you weren't gonna be here, but..." "Too many memories, I guess." "And not just recent ones." "Where you going, Janet?" "Daniel wants to leave today." "We're going on a little road trip first, and then I'm gonna take him to the new Canaan house in Nashville." "I see." "Need some help?" "I've got it, but... sure." "We'll be gone a few days." "I mean, I will..." "Three or four." "I'm not sure." "Want me to check the oil for you?" "I'll just check it on the way out." "Janet?" "I just got off the phone with Teddy." "Teddy?" "About what?" "I just wanted to check in with him before I left." "See how he's doing." "You know, after yesterday." "He asked if it would be all right if he could stay here for a little while if he needed to." "Stay here?" "Evidently, he's offered the house to Tawney if she wants to stay there." "I spent the night there, and he didn't say a word about that." "Anyway, I said I didn't have a problem with it." "It's not the same thing, Janet." "I'm not saying it is, Ted." "It's not the same thing." "Ted, we're not gonna figure this out right now." "Can we just put it on hold until I get back?" "Sure." "I'll call you from the road." "I don't really have context yet, Jon." "Okay." "Would this be considered a shitty view?" "Within the norm of shitty views?" "To me, it qualifies." "I'm still outside the norm, then." "You are that, buddy." "You have to report to Nashville probation in four days." "Understood." "How's the view for you now, Mr. Stern?" "More complicated." "Hey, y'all!" "I got Swint's doughnuts." "And fritters." "And a mother." "Don't let that woman near the box!" "She'll take all the fritters." " Fritters?" " Mm-hmm." "Amantha, I am your mother." "Give me that box." "Unh-unh." "I'm your brother." "And I've painted your pool." " What?" " I don't know." "Help, Jon." "What should I do?" "Spit in the box." "Don't give up your day job." "Aah!" "How was Hanna at that point?" "She was okay." "I mean, she wasn't, uh... okay, but she had calmed down some, and..." "And what?" "She... she was kind of apologizing to us." "Hanna was apologizing to y'all?" "Yeah, for getting things started, I guess." "But afterwards, she was more worried about Daniel than what had happened." "What do you mean?" "Well, she kept asking us not to tell him." "Why do you think she did that?" "I don't know why exactly." "I-it was all pretty surreal." "So, did y'all say you wouldn't tell Daniel?" "Trey said that we wouldn't if she wouldn't." "How did she respond?" "She just sat there." "Looking ashamed and..." "I don't know how else to say this, but..." "Kind of pouty." ""Pouty"?" "Yeah, like how my daughter does now sometimes when she's, uh, hurt or mad or..." "Disappointed." "Finally, Hanna said that she wouldn't say anything to anybody." "And we left." "Left her sitting there?" "Yes." "Still unclothed?" "Yep." "And trey threatened you after that?" "He said that, uh..." "We'd better keep our mouth shut, or else." ""Or else."" "That was what he said." "You want some popcorn?" "What?" "I microwaved a bag of it..." "Sweet kind." "No." "All right." "I've been here over an hour, lid." "Sheriff got tied up." "I'll see if I can't goose him." "Is that kettle corn?" "It's the sweet kind." "I'll take some." "And a coke." "All right, you got it." "Trey shows up at my house pretty early the next morning." "Says that if Hanna decides to change her story that we had to say that she was a willing partner." "Trey said he wasn't going down for that, that she had tried to..." "Change the rules in the middle of the game." "Were you brought down to the sheriff's station?" "Later." "My father took me." "Did you know why you were being asked to come in?" "They didn't say, but I assumed the worst." "Did anyone ever talk to you while you were there, you know, as in officially?" "No, we just sat there in the waiting area with some of the other kids and their parents, and then they came out and said, "you can go,"" "and we all just... went home." "Did you know why you were being let go?" "Not at the time." "But later?" "Well, word got around pretty quick that, uh, Daniel had confessed to raping and, uh, and killing Hanna." "Did that surprise you?" "Honestly, I just felt relief." "You weren't even surprised by the confession of the rape?" "Later, i-i thought about it, and I..." "I just tried to..." "I don't know." "Just forget." "Can we circle back?" "When trey came by your house that morning..." "Did you know that Hanna was dead?" "I did not." "And in so many words, trey said that if Hanna claimed rape, that you all must stay united." "That's accurate." "Did you take that to mean that he did not know that Hanna was dead?" "That's what it meant to me, yes." "After eating fritters in a cheap motel, the beach is gonna be such a letdown." "You can still come, Amantha." "No, I'll come visit you when you get all settled in in Nashville." "Mama's boy." "No maudlin goodbyes, then." "Deal." "Now get lost." "That's the plan." "Mr. Stern." "No way." "Oh, cheeky." "Bye, mama." "Here we go." "Here we go." "Daniel." "I love you, sister." "I love you, brother." "Perfectly strange goodbye of Daniel Holden." "God be with you, brother." "You getting some of that old-time religion?" "Hedging my bets." "You made it." "I made it." "You didn't have to ring the doorbell." "Oh, well." "I'm glad you're here." "S-so, where are you gonna stay?" "Oh, at Dad's." "At your dad's?" "Janet and Daniel took a trip down the coast, uh, near Savannah." "Oh." "Good for them." "But he's not coming back, Tawney..." "To Paulie." "That's probably best." "I wonder if he ever finished his kitchen project." "He didn't." "Dad asked me to help him with it." "But I got it finished." "I'm sure Janet appreciates that." "Yeah." "Well I think I just got about everything out of here I need." "What is it?" "I'd like to change the locks." "Locks?" "Here at the house." "I told you I'd give you all my keys, Tawney." "We don't need to change the locks." "It's just something I need to do for me." "Sure." "Yeah, we can do that." "Uh... might take me a couple days." "Uh... that's fine." "I'll get it done, then." "Thank you, Teddy." "You don't have to thank me, Tawney." "I want to." "Well..." "Guess that's about it." "See you later." "I mean... sometime." "Okay." "I wonder if Hoppy's is still there." "The seafood extravaganza?" "You remember." "It was your father's favorite." "I remember that, too." "We could Google it and find out." "Mother, I know that day is coming... my first Google." "But not to see if Hoppy's is still Hoppy's." "I'd like to find out the old-fashioned way." "Just don't expect things to look a lot like the old days." "There might be a lot of condos and chain stores." "Could we take a side trip, Mother?" "Aren't we on a side trip?" "A side trip to the side trip." "I don't see why not." "Sure was hard to get some girls of mine asleep after y'all tore through my house last night." "An unfortunate part of this business." "What do they call that..." "Collateral damage or something?" "You just want to come clean, trey?" "Clean of what?" "That gun we found by your bed..." "When was the last time you fired it?" "Few weeks ago." "I was shooting at some squirrels." "With a handgun?" "Well, I didn't expect to hit 'em." "I was just..." "Just doing it for sport." "Can you account for yourself on march 23rd of this year?" "I don't even know what day of the week that was, Carl." "It was a Tuesday." "Okay, if you say so." "I mean, I could look at my weekly planner, see what I had on my plate that particular day." "It was the day after Daniel Holden got released from prison." "Now, I remember that day..." "The day he got out..." "But the day after was just..." "Another day to me, Carl." "Sinclair cash and carry ring a bell?" "I know the place." "It don't ring no bell." "You bought gas there, paid cash." "Didn't happen." "Got a witness." "Now, who the hell's gonna remember me coming into a place on an exact day six or seven weeks ago?" "Somebody who will swear to it." "Well, I'll swear I didn't." "When was the last time you talked to Chris Nelms?" "Couldn't tell you." "Last time you called him, then." "About the same time I was shooting them squirrels." "He didn't answer." "You leave a message?" "I might have." "Remember what it was about?" "Couldn't tell you verbatim." "What if I could tell you verbatim?" "I'd take your word for it." "Something bothering you, trey?" "That son of a bitch told me he was gonna get me some kettle corn." "I forgot, Carl." "Could you still make good on it?" "We ate the whole bag." "Is there any more in the pantry?" "I'll check." "Be nice to stay in one place for a while." "Other than Paulie." "It'll be different." "Boston and Paulie?" "Really?" "Boston has the Celtics." "Right." "But then, the skating rinks are nicer here." "Rink." "So, you're gonna carry on with the thrifty town plan?" "That's the plan for now." "You know, I never would have thought in a million years you'd be in this town if Daniel wasn't." "I never thought a lot of things, Jon." "Well..." "I'm gonna go on with my life, too." "And that may lead me to something else." "I know." "Glad you know." "Well, I guess I'd better get going." "Thank you." "For all that you've done, Jon." "I didn't do anything worth thanking me for." "That's not true." "We both know he would've been better off with somebody else." "Somebody less distracted." "Sometimes I..." "Wanted to walk to the front gate and ask them to..." "Let me back in." "Back into my box." "My cocoon." "That's not right thinking, Mother." "You're not the first to romance the cocoon." "But not today." "Today, I want to go to the beach." "I want to feel the sand between my toes and look up at that infinite sky." "As fate would have it, so do I." "And I want to tell you about my friend Kerwin." "He was something special." "I'd love to hear about Kerwin." "And I want to drive." "I want to drive with the windows down, even if it is raining." "At least 4 1/2 miles over the speed limit." "I will brace myself, then." "Chris Nelms said y'all raped Hanna." "He's lying." "Why would he lie about that?" "Y'all didn't tell him it was George's DNA, did you?" "The single sample." "Chris still thinks it might be his, doesn't he?" "You know a lot about DNA for an electrician, trey." "Uh-huh." "You made a deal with him." "You raped her, trey." "It was consensual." "At least now you're admitting to having sex with her that night." "That's a step in the right direction." "This is all messed up, Carl." "George was gonna spill the beans, wasn't he?" "You got it so wrong, man." "It ain't even funny." "So, let me get this straight." "The guy at Sinclair's is lying about you being in his store near the area of the flint river where George's body was eventually found." "He could have floated for miles, Carl." "Putting you near there on the same day" "George arrived in Paulie by greyhound bus." "And Chris Nelms is lying that y'all raped Hanna, which would give you motive to keep George from ratting you out." "And then finally, Daniel Holden is lying about you having possession of George's wallet and phone, which we know was in Paulie on the 23rd but somehow made their way back to George's trailer in live oak" "after George was dead." "Holden put 'em there." "Not me." "Oh, and your own voicemail to Chris Nelms is lying, too." "I never said anything specific about anybody in that voicemail, Carl." "People can read between the lines, trey." "You think the whole world's full of idiots, don't you?" "The world is full of idiots." "And I'm one of them." "It's over, trey." "I don't even need a confession from you." "I'd suggest you just shut your mouth and call a lawyer right now." "This is so crazy, Carl." "I..." "listen... all right." "I'm gonna tell you what really happened." "But you ain't gonna believe it." "I'm serious." "Give her a shot." "I didn't kill George." "I swear to God." "Okay." "See?" "I knew you wouldn't believe me." "Who killed George, then, trey?" "Nobody." "Nobody?" "I mean he did." " George killed himself?" " Yes!" "Bam!" "See?" "I told you you wouldn't believe me." "I'd like to believe you, trey." "I really would." "But there's just too many things that don't add up." "Well, I can explain them to you." "Okay, trey." "Explain away." "I'm sorry Hoppy's is gone." "They razed it." "It was kind of ratty, even back then." "Heretic." "I'm just saying." "At least they kept the beach." "I think it was grandfathered in." "This is the perfect spot, Mother." "It sure is." "I read some more on the new Canaan project last night." "Talked to Jon about it." "You did?" "Yeah, thinking about the programs." "The possibilities, I guess." "They have a great success rate." "Maybe I can get..." "More normal." "Run for dog catcher." "Is this your ball?" "M-may I throw it to you?" "Oh." "That was one of the best catches I've seen, well, in all my years." "I catch it all the time." "I stand before you astonished and astounded." "You can throw it again if you want." "I'd be honored, young sir." "Dare we hope for two?" "Fantastical!" "Stupor-pendus!" "Uh..." "I kind of got to go now." "All good things." "You're good with kids." "Was that good?" "I certainly think so." "Beginner's luck." "I must now go to the source." "Of course." "Enjoy." "Make sure you come back." "What are you doing here?" "I came to visit you, Daniel." "That's not possible." "I know." "You're not here, are you?" "You're not here either, Daniel." "Well, where am I?" "You're at the beach with your mama." "That's unimaginable." "But it's true." "And it's glorious." "I know it is." "Where are you, Tawney?" "I don't know." "You don't know?" "I'm lost, Daniel." "And it's so lonely." "I'll come and find you." "You can't." "I need to find me." "What about God?" "God?" "As your guide." "God doesn't exist." "Of course he exists." "Tell me the truth, Daniel." "This time, tell me the truth." "You know the truth, Tawney." "Then w-where is he?" "Where is God?" "You know that, too." "I used to know." "Before I met you." "But you still know." "In between the seconds?" "Yes." "You told me too much, Daniel." "I was happy." "You remember." "God is in the flowers..." "And in the rain..." "And in your tears." "God is in my tears?" "I've seen him there, lurking." "You're a false prophet." "I'm gonna tell you something, Tawney." "I won't believe you." "God is a rain frog." "As God is my witness." "He's a rain frog." "May frog strike me down." "You're mad, Daniel." "And so must be God." "I'm gonna miss you." "The hardest part." "There's no glass." "Sometimes there is." "Sometimes there isn't." "I could kiss you right here." "I-i don't know, Daniel." "We're unguarded." "I'm afraid to." "This isn't even real, Tawney." "But won't it feel real?" "God, I hope so." "You may kiss me, Daniel." "Sir?" "You have a visitor." "We just never know, do we?" "I'm told you still have your cognitive abilities, senator." "That's something to be grateful for." "Or maybe that's more the burden now." "Anyway, I assume the sheriff has kept you abreast on the investigation of the murder of George Melton." "Or maybe not." "Sheriff Daggett is preparing to arrest trey Willis for Mr. Melton's murder." "What has me curious is, why?" "Why would trey Willis murder George Melton?" "The obvious answer is because they raped Hanna Dean." "And trey was afraid George would implicate him." "You're probably already ahead of me here, but the flaw in that premise is the statute of limitations on the rape charge itself." "It's 15 years in Georgia..." "Unless there is DNA tying the suspect to the rape." "Would trey not know that?" "So, naturally, one has to wonder if there wasn't a greater crime George knew about..." "A crime with no statute of limitations." "It's still a bit of a mystery, but the one thing I'm sure of..." "Is you are dirty here, senator, and I'm gonna find out how dirty." "And I'm going to expose that dirt, and I am going to make it your legacy, and then I'm going to get my client once and for all exonerated for the killing of Hanna Dean." "Does that compute, sir?" "Over my..." "Dead... body." "Whether you're dead or alive as this moves forward doesn't really concern me." "I would say at this point..." "It's not even relevant." "I hope your house has termites." "Jared?" "Hello?" "Hello." "Who's in there?" "Who's out there?" "What the hell are you doing here?" "Would you like me to be in your room?" "You know, this was my room for a long time." "Oh, I remember, all right." "Question is, why are you back?" "Tawney and I are separated." "She's staying at the house." "What are you doing here?" "Mom wanted me to check in on Jared, so I..." "I brought some food for him and big Ted." "Oh, Dad's at Kiwanis." "And Jared's at Claire's, but, hey..." "I'm hungry as a bear." "Well, there was no wait." "But it's not very seafoody-looking." "Of course it is." "It's got the, um..." "The..." "Thatch?" "The thatch and the big rope." "Where's the plastic lobster?" "I don't think they do that so much anymore." "Good news and bad news." "We're out of grouper." "You're out of grouper?" "I know... our specialty." "What's the good news?" "Well, we have snapper." "Snapper?" "It's not that popular." "Okay." "Snapper it is." "Excellent choice." "We could go somewhere else." "I'd feel bad for the piano player." "Thank you for the money, Mother." "It's your money, Daniel." "It always was." "I just hope I can manage things." "You'll have a support system there." "That's what they do..." "Help manage." "And I'm a phone call away, always." "And, speaking of money..." "Here is your checkbook." "And... your ATM card." "Your code is Amantha's birthday." "I don't think anyone here knows who Amantha is, Mother." "You remember?" "08-11." "You do." "Would you care to dance?" "I'd love to." "What does that mean?" "He's on break." "I didn't know you liked Chinese food, Teddy." "Got a taste for it in college." "You?" "Atlanta." "Chopsticks drive me crazy, though." "I used to practice before going out with Jon." "I didn't want to look like a..." " A rube?" " Yeah." "Like you." "How are you guys doing, anyway?" "You and old Johnny Stern?" "We're not... doing." "Damn, is something in the water around here?" "Something in the something." "Um, you want the rest of the mu shu pork?" "Yeah, if you don't." "No, go for it." "I'm really sorry about you and Tawney, Teddy." "I really hope it works out." "How it's supposed to." "Maybe it already has." "Same for you, by the way." "Maybe it already has." "What?" "Nothing." "Say it." " Nothing." " Say... it." "Want to play Gin Rummy?" "Really, Teddy?" "Hey, if you're scared, you're scared." "It's fine." "I haven't played in over 10 years, and I will still beat your redneck ass." "Talk is cheap, wicked stepsister, and old Teddy boy ain't a teenager anymore." "Okay, Mr. third person." "You go get the cards, and I'll be right back." "He bought a round-trip ticket?" "Yep." "Damn, Carl." "Uh, that don't make any sense." "I'm telling you, he offed himself." "It's late, Trey." "Why don't we pick this back up tomorrow." "Unless..." "He was undecided when he took the bus up here, you know?" "Uh-huh." "You know, and then I didn't tell him whatever it was that he wanted to hear, and he did it." "Pulled the trigger." "And you came back a week later and tossed his body in the river, took his wallet and phone?" "Oh, don't forget the gun." "Then pretended like he was alive for the next month or so." "Look, I panicked, Carl, okay?" "I panicked." "Pure Dee plain and simple." "I did some stupid, impulsive shit." "That's his gun, right?" "That's your gun." "No, the other gun, lid... that one." "That's the one they found at his trailer." "Right, that's 'cause I put it there." "That gun right there, that is the gun that I found next to his body." "Why did you put it in the trailer... to frame Holden?" "To throw you off my trail." "I know. "What trail?"" "I compounded my errors." "Look, I..." "I wish to God that I'd just come clean from the get-go, believe me." "Why don't you just come clean now?" "Because there ain't nothing to come clean about!" "That's what I'm trying to say!" "Look, all right, there has got to be some way that you can prove that this is the gun that he killed himself with, right?" "If we had a bullet, state forensics might could prove that that's the gun that killed him." "Carl, what, do you think I took his own gun from him and killed him with it?" "I mean, I didn't even know he was carrying." "Okay, Trey, we'll go out there tomorrow, and you can show me where all this took place." "Bring a damn metal detector, too." "No problem." "So, what, do I just meet y'all here in the morning?" "Why don't we just keep you here tonight, and it'll save you a trip?" "You never even had any kettle corn." "Oh, I declare." "Hey, buddy." "Who's winning?" "Don't ask." "Where has he been?" "Well, your dad gave him to Daniel." "Daniel gave him to me." "And I'm giving him back to the store." "Where he belongs." "I kind of miss the little fella." "Shut up and draw." "I'll deny I ever said this, but, uh..." "The kitchen looks pretty good." "Can I play?" "No." "No." "I swear to God." "For the 10th time." "Just have them keep looking, Carl." "He can't get down there, Trey." "The river's too high." "I'm telling you, that is where George was at..." "Right there... and his gun." "We'll just have to wait till the river goes down to come back." "Oh, that'll take a while." "Like finding a needle in a haystack anyhow." "Trey Willis, you're under arrest for the murder of George Melton." "You have the right to remain silent." "Jesus, Carl!" "Anything you say can and will be held against you..." "Can't do this!" "In a court of law." "I didn't kill George!" "You have a right to speak to an attorney and have him present during questioning." "Brave new world." "It's only temporary, honey." "I've never had a roommate before." "I thought about that." "Get to practice my interpersonal skills." "It's a lifelong practice." "I'll tell you that." "1, 2, 3." "Fits like a glove." "It does." "Don't look bad, does it?" "No, it doesn't." "Gonna need you a new refrigerator now." "I need to say something, son." "I don't want to talk about this, Dad." "When Margaret..." "Your mother left..." "I didn't say a lot about it because I felt guilty." "I felt like I failed you." "Well, I felt like it was my fault somehow... her leaving." "I see that now." "I mean, the whole time I've been married..." "I've been afraid Tawney was gonna do the same thing, Dad." "She did." "I should've told you this, but..." "It wasn't all Margaret's fault." "I mean, she had her problems." "And we got more and more distant, but..." "But what, Dad?" "I started leaning on somebody else." "Another woman." "Wasn't physical, just..." "just talking and stuff, but as soon as I opened that door..." "I sure didn't do what I could have to save the marriage." "I just let her go." "I just hope you do all you can to save yours." "Well... don't take this the wrong way, Mother, but..." "I'd like to do this part alone." "Oh." "Okay." "I'm gonna give it my best shot." "I know you will." "All I can do, right?" "It's all anybody can do." "Can you do me a favor?" "Of course." "Would you try and forgive yourself?" "You did the best you could..." "Out of the most unusual of circumstances." "I'll give it my best shot." "All we can do, right?" "See you in the funny papers."