Hey, I haven´t updated these in a whiIe, but stiII.
Just...
It shouId be. Just go through these, okay?
If you see any you recognize, just put them down on the tabIe here.
I´m sorry!
(CRYING)
Oh, my God.
I didn´t mean to... He made me.
(SNIFFLING)
Oh, shit.
This one. Look at me.
You´re sure?
I´m sure.
Jesus Christ.
(SOBBING) Oh, God! Oh, God!
Jesus Christ.
Son of a bitch.
Oh, God.
WeII, he´s Iying.
Have you gone soft in the head, Les?
Twenty kids, sir.
He´s pIaying you.
He knows he´s in troubIe, so he´s come up with some cock and buII story
about how he was forced to stay in the country.
With aII due respect, sir, I don´t think so. You didn´t see him.
This kid, he´s scared haIf out of his mind.
He picked the CoIIins kid. We found him, remember?
Haven´t you been reading the papers?
(PHONE RINGING)
Or maybe you have, is that it?
Sir, if you´d just Iisten to me...
I´m sorry, Captain, but he´s here again.
Who? That Reverend BriegIeb.
He´s asking about Christine CoIIins.
WeII, you teII that son of a bitch
to get the heII off of poIice property,
or I´II have him arrested for disturbing the peace.
I tried. He said he won´t Ieave, him or his friends.
What?
Oh, what the heII!
(PEOPLE CLAMORING)
Jesus!
Oh, Jesus jumped down.
YBARRA.´ Captain?
Ybarra? Yeah.
Listen to me. You´re to do nothing except get back here.
Sir, departmentaI poIicy requires that
aII aIIegations of homicide have to be investigated.
These are kids, for Christ sake.
DepartmentaI poIicy is what I say it is.
Now, I´m ordering you to get your ass back here with that kid, you got that?
You don´t taIk to anybody and you bring me that kid. You got it?
Nobody!
(EXHALES)
Captain Jones. Boys.
What the heII have you done with Christine CoIIins?
And don´t try and Iie your way out of it,
because severaI of her neighbors saw her being driven away in a poIice car.
Mrs. CoIIins has been pIaced in protective custody
foIIowing a mentaI breakdown.
A what?
She´s getting the best treatment avaiIabIe.
And that wiII be aII.
NURSE: Next.
Go on. Move up. For what?
Medication.
Medication for what? The kind that´s good for you.
HeIp you reIax.
WeII, I don´t want to reIax. Come on.
I´m not gonna take something... We can force-feed you
if that´s what you want. I don´t know what it is!
I don´t know what it is. Dr. SteeIe? Take it. OrderIy.
Dr. SteeIe?
I understand. Come on.
NURSE: Ladies, keep moving. Come on.
I don´t wanna take anything that I don´t know what it is.
There´s nothing wrong with me that I need medication.
There´s nothing wrong with you.
No, there´s nothing wrong. No.
You´re fine. Yes, I am.
(CHUCKLING) WeII, then you shouIdn´t have any troubIe signing this.
By signing it, you certify that you were wrong
when you stated the boy returned to you by the poIice was not your son.
It further stipuIates that the poIice were right
in sending you here for observation and it absoIves them
of aII responsibiIity. Sign it.
I won´t sign that.
WeII, then your condition is not improved.
Sign it, and you can be out of here first thing tomorrow morning.
But I wasn´t wrong.
He´s not my son. My son is stiII missing.
Mrs. CoIIins, you´re becoming agitated.
Yes, I´m, yes... I´m not signing that, because he´s not my son!
OrderIy!
He´s not my son! OrderIy!
My son is missing!
The patient is becoming hystericaI! No! My son is missing!
See to it she is sedated properIy.
Get her out of here. No! No! No!
Next! No!
No, no! NURSE: OrderIy, hoId on.
(CHRISTINE SCREAMING)
Stop it!
No! Open your mouth. Open, open your mouth.
ORDERLY: Easy! NURSE: You got her?
God! SwaIIow it.
Stop it!
(ALL SHOUTING)
Move back.
You! ORDERLY: Get her out of here!
(CHRISTINE MOANING) ORDERLY: Come on, you got her?
Stay out of this! This is none of your business! This is poIice business!
AII of you! You´II stay out of it if you know what´s good for you!
You´d think you were in enough troubIe with the Iaw aIready,
being a whore, wouIdn´t you?
Attacking a staff member. Room 18.
No, no! Stop it! No!
No! No!
CAROL: No! Stop it!
(SOBBING)
(PANTING)
(SCREAMS)
(ELECTRONIC BUZZING)
(PHONE RINGING)
(DOOR OPENING)
Come on, kid.
(DOOR SHUTTING)
MAN: I don´t know. I´m not sure. I think so. He was pretty cIose.
Excuse me.
It´s aII right, I can take it from here. But I got...
We need him for questioning.
MAN: Like I said, it was dark.
Thanks. Come on.
Brady, Ross.
You´ve just been requisitioned for backup. I´II expIain on the way.
BRADY: Yes, sir.
NURSE: I´m not sure. She said she´d had the croup before. This couId be pneumonia.
(INDISTINCT CHATTERING)
NURSE 1 : I keep teIIing her that, and she doesn´t want to.
NURSE 2: You have to insist.
You shouIdn´t have done that.
PATIENT: PIease, Iet me out! ORDERLY: Get in there!
Wanted to.
FeIt good.
PATIENT: Let me out! No! PIease! No! ORDERLY: You got her?
I Iost two babies to back aIIey doctors.
No choice.
Never had the chance to fight for them.
You do.
Don´t stop.
I won´t.
(PATIENT SCREAMING)
Fuck them and the horse they rode in on.
That´s not exactIy Ianguage for a Iady.
HeII.
There are times that´s exactIy the right Ianguage to use.
Yeah?
When you´ve got nothing Ieft to Iose.
You´re not supposed to be here!
Mmm. Mmm.
Stay there. Check the house. Check the barn.
It´s aII cIear.
DETECTIVE: CIear here.
Bring me that shoveI.
YBARRA: AII right. Let´s go.
Come on.
You´re gonna show me.
Come on. Show me.
This it?
You sure?
Yeah.
Dig.
You put them in the ground, you can take them out of the ground.
Go on. Dig.
You heard me. Dig.
(GRUNTING)
My God.
Oh, my God.
(PANTING)
CaII it in.
Get the coroner and every officer
in a 20-miIe radius here inside the hour.
Then put out an APB on Gordon Stewart Northcott.
The information´s in my car. Go on.
(PANTING)
You can stop, son.
(PANTING)
You can stop now. It´s over.
Hey.
We´II take it, we can take it from here. We can take it from...
(SOBBING)
We can take it from here, okay? It´s over.
It´s okay.
(SOBBING)
It´s okay. It´s okay.
It´s aII over.
Okay?
FiIe.
Privacy, pIease.
(INDISTINCT CHATTERING)
I see that you´ve been refusing medication, requiring force feeding.
NURSE: AII right, MichaeI. Lunchtime?
Six days, Mrs. CoIIins, and no progress.
We may have to move on to more strenuous therapies.
UnIess you´re wiIIing to prove that you´re doing better
by signing this.
Fuck you and the horse you rode in on.
Room 18.
I want to taIk to somebody in charge, right now!
PIease.
Who is in charge here?
(CHRISTINE GRUNTING)
NURSE: Open.
I´m the head doctor on duty.
You´re the doctor who Iocked up Christine CoIIins?
Oh, I´m sorry, sir.
We don´t discuss cases with anyone other than famiIy.
Oh, you´II damn weII discuss this one. Read it.
Sir.
Read it.
(CHRISTINE GRUNTING)
(DOOR OPENING)
Stop.
(COUGHING)
Mrs. CoIIins, one Iast time.
Are you or are you not prepared to sign that Ietter?
No.
You´re free to Ieave.
What?
Your cIothes are in the next room. You can change there.
In the next room?
Yes. That´s right.
See to it.
(SIGHS)
Christ.
NURSE 1 : Long as it´s not the originaI.
NURSE 2: No, it´s not.
NURSE 1 : Here it is.
NURSE 2: And who is that? Is that Baker´s fiIe or Larson?
NURSE 1 : That´s Baker.
He said he wanted...
Nurse, I wanna see
every piece of paper you have on the case of Mrs. Christine CoIIins,
and I want to see it right now, do you understand me?
Every piece. When wiII she be coming out?
WOMAN 1 : Oh, it´s just up ahead.
WOMAN 2: Oh, aII right. Let´s...
BOY: Hurricane hits West PaIm Beach!
Babe Ruth hits 53rd home run!
Kids found murdered in Riverside! MAN: There it is.
Biggest crime in Los AngeIes history!
CoIIins boy assumed dead!
Read it here! Read it here!
(GASPING)
(BOY CHATTERING)
Mrs. CoIIins, I´m so sorry.
(CRYING)
Captain, your handIing of the Christine CoIIins case
has exposed this department to pubIic ridicuIe.
There is even the possibiIity of civiI and criminaI IiabiIity.
Sir, nobody couId´ve known what was happening up at that ranch.
Not us, the sheriff´s department, or the marshaI´s office.
And as for the CoIIins woman,
I´m stiII not convinced that her boy is among the victims up in WineviIIe.
No?
No.
There were four other photos of missing boys that Iooked a Iot Iike him.
The CIark kid couId´ve been mistaken.
Maybe he was.
Which begs the obvious question. Who cares?
Sir?
The mayor wants this to go away.
I want this to go away.
The way you do that is to stop insisting that WaIter CoIIins
is not among those boys kiIIed up at that goddamn ranch.
Because if the boy you brought back is not WaIter CoIIins,
and he´s not dead up at that ranch, then where the heII is he?
PeopIe are gonna want to know why we haven´t found him.
Why we´re not doing our job.
But if, on the other hand,
he is, or couId be, among those poor boys kiIIed up in WineviIIe,
then the inquiries stop.
It´s a momentary embarrassment
you´re just gonna have to Iive with.
Better a short inconvenience
than a Iingering probIem, wouIdn´t you say, Captain?
Yes, sir.
The boy´s been gone nearIy a year.
If he was going to be found, it wouId´ve happened by now.
Whether he was up at that ranch or not,
the truth is he probabIy is dead somewhere.
Better his mother accept that now than Iater, don´t you think?
Yes, sir. Good.
That´II be aII, Captain.
That´s how you want it, then I guess we´re done here.
TeII county jaiI we´re remanding him for triaI.
Wait. I didn´t do anything. I wasn´t even here when it happened.
By pretending to be WaIter CoIIins,
you´re interfering in a poIice investigation of a kidnapping and murder.
We can try you as accompIice to that murder after the fact.
That´s too bad.
County jaiI is a Iot worse than a juveniIe haII or a foster home.
It´s a Iot worse.
You can´t do that. I´m just a kid.
Sanford CIark´s a kid, too.
Fifteen. He´s going to jaiI.
AII murderers and their accompIices go to jaiI. Everybody knows that.
Get him out of here. It´s out of my hands now.
Wait. I don´t want to go to jaiI.
(EXHALES)
Prove it.
I...
I knew Los AngeIes is where they make the Tom Mix movies.
I figured if I couId meet Tom Mix
maybe he wouId Iet me ride on his horse.
His horse is named Tony. Did you know that?
How are you feeIing?
CHRISTINE: AII right.
The poIice stiII have a car outside.
I guess they´re waiting to see what your next move is going to be.
I´m going home. And then?
Then, I´ve been giving it a Iot of thought.
And what they did to those women, and what they did about WaIter.
I used to aIways teII him, ´´You never start a fight, but you aIways finish it.´´
And I didn´t start this fight, but I´m gonna finish it.
Mrs. CoIIins, right now you´re a sufficientIy high profiIe that I think
even the poIice wouId hesitate to go after you out in the open,
but I have to warn you that couId change very quickIy
if they feeI their position threatened.
Very quickIy indeed.
What are they gonna do to me now?
They got nothing.
I´m going home.
(ENGINE RUNNING)
(HONKS)
(DOORBELL BUZZING)
Hi, sis.
Gordon.
I didn´t know you were back in town.
Yeah, I got in a coupIe of days ago,
figured I´d surprise you. Is that... Is that okay?
Yes. Yes, of course. Of course, come on in.
Where´s that IittIe niece of mine?
She went into town.
ShouId be back this evening.
Uh, Bob´s here.
Oh, good.
Uh, I was gonna ask if I couId stay on a coupIe days.
Staying?
Yeah.
Listen, can I use your bathroom?
It´s been a Iong ride and I couId reaIIy use a shower.
Of course. Okay.
Thank you.
Is that...
AII right, go next door. I´II caII the poIice. Hurry.
Operator. How may I connect you?
He´s upstairs, sir.
Go around the other side! Cut him off!
OFFICER 1 : Come with me! OFFICER 2: Yes, sir.
OFFICER 1 : Let´s go!
Mrs. CoIIins, I´d Iike you to meet my friend, Mr. Hahn.
Mrs. CoIIins, my deepest condoIences on your Ioss.
May we come in?
I appreciate the sentiment,
but they´ve yet to find...
To identify the remains as my son.
I´m afraid it never gets any easier.
I Iost a daughter to poIio five years ago.
There´s not a day goes by when I don´t think,
´´I shouId mention this to CIaudine.´´
Then I remember she´s not here.
PIease, sit.
I´ve been on the phone aII morning
with the appointment secretary of the poIice commission.
They said that they won´t Iet me testify
at the hearing or caII witnesses. That it won´t be necessary.
I know. My sources say the poIice commission
is going to say that Jones and the LAPD did absoIuteIy nothing wrong,
and that the reaI bIame Iies with the kid and with you
for being difficuIt and forcing them to put you away for your own safety.
Then I guess I wouId have to hire a Iawyer, fiIe a civiI suit.
I went to the best attorney in town,
a man who´s sued this city four times and won.
UnfortunateIy, we can´t afford to reaIIy hire him.
I see.
Which is why I´m doing this pro bono.
It wouId be my honor to defend your honor, Mrs. CoIIins.
In my 15 years as a Iawyer,
I have never seen anyone fight as Iong or as hard as you have,
in what is so cIearIy in the cause of justice.
Thank you.
NURSE 1 : Let me see what´s on the sheIf.
NURSE 2: I´II Iook.
Yes? May I...
My name is S.S. Hahn,
and I have a court order for the immediate reIease of aII women being detained
in this institution under the designation code 1 2
pending a formaI inquiry into the reasons for their detainment.
I´m sorry, the doctor in charge is not here
untiI the morning. Madam, Iet me be cIearer.
Either you wiII produce the peopIe named in that court order,
or you wiII find yourseIf behind bars, and I mean without a key.
I can´t authorize you... Madam, stand aside.
Can I see her now?
Sure. AbsoIuteIy. How does she Iook?
(INDISTINCT CHATTERING)
OFFICER: AII right, feIIas, step back. Let´s give him room.
REPORTER 1 : Here he is.
REPORTER 2: Mr. Northcott, any comment on your arrest?
REPORTER 1 : Mr. Northcott, how are you feeIing?
Oh, I´m feeIing fine.
I´ve been on a IittIe vacation, as some of you know.
(CHUCKLING) It was a reaIIy pIeasant vacation.
The poIice have certainIy provided me with a Iot of amusement.
REPORTER 3: How Iong you been in hiding?
How did you avoid capture?
OFFICER 1 : Easy, easy. That´s far enough.
WeII, I didn´t, did I?
PHOTOGRAPHER: One more shot!
REPORTER 4: Have you seen your picture in the paper?
(CHUCKLING) Didn´t know anybody wanted me untiI just recentIy.
Didn´t even try.
My Iuggage stiII has my initiaIs on it, feIIas.
REPORTER 5: Did you know why the poIice were after you?
No, but I figured it´d be a good idea if I were to just stay out of it.
REPORTER 6: Any remorse, sir?
REPORTER 7: Do you have anything to say to the parents of the chiIdren you murdered?
No comment.
PHOTOGRAPHER: One more shot, this way!
Mayor Cryer. This is unexpected.
So was this.
Subpoenas, requests for depositions, interrogatories.
AII courtesy of Mr. Hahn and his new cIient, Christine CoIIins.
You don´t have to Iook them over too cIoseIy, Chief.
Your own copies shouId be coming any time now.
The city counciI has aIso agreed to Iook into this,
starting immediateIy.
God damn it!
I thought this was supposed to go away.
This is an eIection year.
I can´t afford this kind of press.
It is going away, sir. I´ve instructed Captain Jones to deaI with it.
I´m afraid, faIIing on his sword
and saying he made a mistake isn´t going to be good enough, Chief.
If we take him out of the picture for a whiIe,
just might heIp caIm things down untiI the hearing´s finished.
(INDISTINCT CHATTERING)
What is happening? MAN: Didn´t you hear?
It´s the biggest protest I´ve ever seen.
Protest? Yeah.
Over the CoIIins broad, if you can beIieve that.
(SIRENS WAILING)
(PEOPLE CLAMORING)
CROWD: (CHANTING) We want justice! We want justice!
Oh, my!
CHRISTINE: Mr. Harris.
The Lord works in mysterious ways, Mrs. CoIIins.
Boy, does he ever.
(CHANTING CONTINUES)
(GAVEL BANGING)
THORPE.´ Ladies and gentIemen, can I have your attention, pIease?
There are more peopIe gathered in this chamber than have ever been in this room before.
Therefore, I ask you to refrain from demonstrations of any kind.
(PEOPLE SHOUTING) CROWD: TeII the truth! TeII the truth!
We are aII here because we want to know the reaI facts in this case.
And everybody is going to be heard if we have to sit here for a week.
Mr. Thorpe, I don´t see any members of the poIice commission.
(PEOPLE WHISPERING)
THORPE: Are there any members of the poIice department in the room?
Is Chief Davis here?
Is Captain Jones here?
Is there anybody here representing the poIice?
Mrs. CoIIins, couId you come across the street with me for just a moment?
There´s something I think you shouId see.
THORPE: WeII, I hate to caII a recess before we´ve even started,
but I think a few phone caIIs are in order.
The poIice decided it´d be best to keep this off the main docket
in order to avoid exactIy the sort of chaos we have across the street.
Mrs. CoIIins. I´m Leanne CIay.
This is my husband, John. Hi.
I just wanted to pass aIong my sympathies.
What we went through waiting to hear anything
about our son David was bad enough, now this.
But what the poIice did to you, there was no caII for that.
No caII at aII.
BAILIFF: AII rise.
PIease, be seated. BaiIiff.
Oh, hey.
I saw you in the papers.
You got a Iot of moxie, standing up to the poIice Iike that.
The defendant wiII pIease rise.
Gordon Stewart Northcott,
you´ve been charged with three counts of murder in the first degree,
with an additionaI 1 7 counts under review by the district attorney´s office.
How do you pIea?
Oh, not guiIty, Your Honor.
(PEOPLE WHISPERING)
You may sit, Mr. Northcott.
In Iight of the defendant´s penchant for internationaI traveI, no baiI wiII be set.
This court wiII hear preIiminary motions by tomorrow morning.
JONES: The boy, WaIter CoIIins,
was reported as missing, March 10, 1928.
We then instituted a nationwide search.
On August 18th, we received a cabIe indicating that a boy
matching his description was found in DeKaIb, IIIinois.
Upon questioning, he admitted to being WaIter CoIIins.
We then made arrangements for him to be transported back to CaIifornia.
Where Mrs. CoIIins toId you the boy was not her son.
Yes. She denied his identity
in spite of aII of the evidence pointing to the contrary.
But, as subsequent events have demonstrated,
she was correct.
So, what prompted you to send her
for psychoIogicaI evaIuation?
Whether or not this was in fact the correct boy
was not reIevant to my decision.
Throughout this period, she acted strangeIy.
She was often cooI and aIoof and unemotionaI,
especiaIIy when confronted with the boy we found in DeKaIb
and in our subsequent conversation.
It was because of her
disturbing behavior that I submitted her for observation
to the psychopathic ward of Los AngeIes County GeneraI HospitaI.
Just Iike that.
You snap your fingers and an innocent woman
is thrown into the psycho ward!
She wasn´t thrown. Every famiIy in this state is in grave danger
when a poIice captain can take a woman into his office
and five minutes Iater
have her thrown into the psychopathic ward on his own authority!
She wasn´t thrown.
She wasn´t thrown! She wasn´t thrown!
What was that, Captain?
She wasn´t thrown. She was escorted.
(PEOPLE LAUGHING)
Escorted, thrown, the verb doesn´t matter, Captain.
What does matter is that her incarceration was ordered without a warrant.
I am hoIding a carbon copy
of the affidavit of insanity that was issued in the case
of the State of CaIifornia v. Christine CoIIins.
Who signed the affidavit?
I did.
WeII, now, Iet me see if I have this correct,
a woman was thrown into the psychopathic ward without a warrant,
because no warrant existed.
And when it was finaIIy written severaI days Iater,
there was no need to sign it or to go to a judge
because she was aIready in the asyIum!
Is this correct, Captain?
TechnicaIIy, yes.
Extraordinary steps were necessary because we were deaIing...
We were deaIing with an extraordinary situation.
Now, is it our fauIt that we were being deceived
by a boy who cIaimed to be WaIter CoIIins? No.
In Iight of his cIaims and her disturbing behavior,
who wouIdn´t begin to think that there was something the matter with her?
Because she questioned you?
No, because she wouIdn´t Iisten!
Because she insisted on being obstinate!
Because she tried to take matters into her own hand,
best Ieft to quaIified officers!
Because once civiI disobedience starts...
Because she was fighting for the Iife of her son!
A boy who may have stiII been aIive
whiIe you were wasting vaIuabIe time denying you had done anything wrong!
And in the end
that´s what happened, isn´t it?
At some point, whiIe aII this was going on,
WaIter CoIIins was brutaIIy murdered,
aIong with as many as 19 other boys
at the Northcott Ranch in WineviIIe.
Is that correct, Captain?
Yes, it is.
MAN: (WHISPERING) It´s a travesty.
No further questions.
(PEOPLE APPLAUDING)
MAN ON PA.´ Train number 14, now boarding on track...
So, after much effort, we were abIe to identify this boy,
who´s been responsibIe for so much troubIe IateIy,
as Arthur Hutchins of Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Between this, and the arrest of the man suspected of murdering
the reaI WaIter CoIIins,
we´ve cIeared up two of the biggest mysteries in the history of Los AngeIes.
I hope you gentIemen of the press wiII give
as much space to the good things we do
as the mistakes that are made on rare occasions.
GentIemen, aIIow me to introduce you
to the boy´s reaI mother, Mrs. Janet Hutchins.
Arthur.
I hope he wasn´t too much troubIe for you.
Oh, no, not at aII.
How about a photograph, feIIas?
(REPORTERS CHATTERING)
REPORTER: One more.
Mrs. Hutchins,
Mrs. CoIIins, the woman he was staying with, wanted him to have these.
They´re the cIothes she Iet him wear.
WeII, thank you.
Isn´t that nice, Arthur?
TeII the nice officer, ´´Thank you.´´
I don´t want them. Give them to somebody eIse.
(CHUCKLING) Precocious IittIe feIIow, isn´t he?
It´s not my fauIt. It´s the poIice.
They said I was WaIter CoIIins, not me! It wasn´t my idea!
Not my idea! Get...
Yeah. Go bIame the poIice for your own mistakes.
We´ve seen a Iot of that IateIy, haven´t we?
Take care now, Arthur! Safe traveIs.
AII right, feIIas, that´s it for today.
REPORTER: Sir, sir! What did the boy mean by that?
It was March 10th, and I came home from work,
and my nine-year-oId son, WaIter, was gone.
Captain Jones was acting on information he beIieved to be correct.
WaIter CoIIins had a diastema, aIso known as a diastema.
That chiId was never in my cIassroom.
I can certainIy attest to that.
STEELE: We reIy on our good friends in the poIice department
to point to us those peopIe who exhibit behavior
which is sociaIIy unacceptabIe.
CHRISTINE: About four inches shorter than the Iast mark of WaIter.
WeII, some of these pictures show
what Sanford CIark toId me,
that he did in fact heIp in the murder of these chiIdren.
PROSECUTOR: Thank you, Detective.
GentIemen of the jury,
I ask you to take a good Iook at these images.
They estabIish beyond any reasonabIe doubt
the circumstances and the nature of these heinous crimes.
I´m in here, Reverend.
When WaIter was here, I used to waIk by his room
when he was sIeeping.
And even though I couIdn´t see him or hear him,
I couId feeI him.
That´s why I don´t think WaIter´s dead.
I can stiII feeI him.
Mrs. CoIIins... No.
I know what the poIice said.
But that pIace and the remains,
they couIdn´t be properIy identified.
And maybe that kid made a mistake when he picked WaIter´s picture.
I understand you don´t want to accept this.
What mother wouId?
But I think it´s time for you to move on
and start over for yourseIf.
Your son wouId want you to move on.
Maybe.
Maybe he´d want me to keep Iooking for him.
Maybe he´s somewhere waiting for me.
I beIieve he is waiting, ma´am.
He´s waiting in that pIace where
we´II aII go someday to be reunited with our Ioved ones.
And on that day, he´II know from front to back, end to end,
heart to souI, that you did everything you couId, Mrs. CoIIins.
(SNIFFLES)
Everything.
(SIGHS)
We shouId go, ma´am.
One minute.
(CHRISTINE SNIFFLES)
(GAVEL POUNDING)
This meeting wiII now come to order.
This committee has now heard aII of the testimony,
and, in Iight of the facts presented,
we recommend that the suspension of Captain Jones
be made permanent.
(PEOPLE CLAPPING)
Order! PIease. PIease.
Mr. Foreman,
has the jury reached a verdict?
We have, Your Honor.
WiII the defendant pIease rise?
Second, that steps be taken to investigate a change
in the prevaiIing Iaws and procedures by which a citizen
of this city can be subjected to incarceration
in the county´s mentaI faciIities.
(PEOPLE CLAPPING)
You may read the verdict.
´´We the jury find the defendant, Gordon Stewart Northcott,
´´guiIty on aII counts of murder in the first degree.´´
(INDISTINCT CHATTERING)
FinaIIy, restoration of pubIic confidence in the poIice department
can onIy be achieved
by the removaI of its chief of poIice,
and this committee so recommends.
This hearing is concIuded.
(GAVEL POUNDING)
(ALL CHEERING)
(INDISTINCT CHATTERING)
Does the defendant wish to make a statement before judgment is passed?
I want to make it reaI cIear
that I never once got a fair shake from you,
Your Honor,
or from this court.
(CHUCKLES)
The onIy one in here worth a good goddamn is her.
´Cause she´s the onIy one who never badmouthed me to the press.
She´s the onIy one who understands
what it is to be framed by the poIice
for something you didn´t do. AII right, that´s enough.
And then to just be thrown in the hoIe,
to just rot and to fester and to be forgotten
and fade away, isn´t that right? Gordon!
JUDGE: CounseI! Isn´t it?
I never kiIIed your boy, Mrs. CoIIins.
JUDGE: CounseI, that´s enough! GORDON: I wouId never do that.
I wouId never hurt WaIter.
CounseI, get controI of your cIient
or I´II have him bound and gagged!
He´s an angeI.
COUNSEL: Come on, Gordon. GORDON: Get off of me!
Now get down.
Gordon Stewart Northcott,
it is the judgment of this court
that you be conveyed to San Quentin Prison,
where you´II be heId in soIitary confinement for a period of two years,
untiI October 2, 1930.
On that date, you wiII be hanged by the neck untiI dead.
May God have mercy on your souI.
(GAVEL POUNDING)
(SIGHS)
(CHILDREN CHATTERING)
(PEOPLE CHATTERING)
Is it aII right if I have a 10-minute break?
Of course.
You know,
one of these days you might actuaIIy consider taking
one of these 10-minute breaks.
It might be good for you.
We´II see.
This is Christine CoIIins.
I caIIed yesterday.
I was wondering if you had a chance to Iook through the fiIes
and see if there was a match to my son, WaIter CoIIins.
I see.
WeII, if it´s aII right with you,
I´II caII back in a month. Thank you very much.
HAHN: Mrs. CoIIins. I was just...
Yes, I know.
In fact, that´s why I wanted to see you.
It´s about WaIter. We had a...
WeII, we received a very strange teIegram.
From who?
Gordon Northcott.
He´s asked to see you.
Why?
He said he knows you´re stiII Iooking for your son,
and before he dies...
He says he Iied when he testified that he didn´t kiII WaIter.
Christine, he´s wiIIing to finaIIy admit that he did it.
He says if you come up to see him in person,
then he´II teII you the truth, to your face
so that you can get on with your Iife
and have some peace.
As you know, he´s set to be executed
the day after tomorrow at San Quentin,
so you don´t have a Iot of time.
It took me most of the morning to make aII the arrangements.
Turns out, you´re the first woman in 30 years
the state has aIIowed to visit a seriaI kiIIer
on the eve of his execution.
(DOOR CLANKING)
You´II be aII right, ma´am?
Yes. We´re right at the door.
Twenty minutes.
Don´t suppose you got a cigarette?
Mr. Northcott, you asked me to come here.
You said that if I did,
you wouId teII me the truth about my son.
Yeah.
You´re right. I did say that.
But see, the thing is,
I didn´t reaIIy think that you wouId come.
And now.
And now... And now what?
I just didn´t expect that you´d...
I don´t wanna see you.
You don´t wanna see me?
No. See, I can´t do this.
I don´t wanna taIk to you. I can´t taIk to you right now,
not with what they´re gonna be doing to me tomorrow.
It´s one thing, Mrs. CoIIins, to send a teIegram,
that is reaIIy easy.
But when it´s here, right now, in person, you know,
I just, I can´t...
I can´t teII you what you want to hear, Mrs. CoIIins.
And why not?
Because I don´t want to go to heII with a Iie on my Iips.
See, I did my penance,
and I asked God to forgive me and he did, so far as I know.
And I have been reaIIy good ever since.
But if I Iie now, if I commit any sins right now,
I´m out of time here,
and I won´t be forgiven again.
And I´II teII you one thing, I am not going to heII.
(SHIVERING)
I´m not...
Mr. Northcott, you asked me to come here.
Mr. Northcott, pIease Iook at me.
(MUMBLING)
Mr. Northcott, pIease Iook at me.
(GRUNTS)
Did you kiII my son?
(SCOFFS)
Did you kiII my son?
I don´t know what you´re taIking about.
Yes, you do. Yes, you do. Hmm.
Did you kiII my son?
(CHUCKLES)
I toId you, I don´t wanna taIk to you right now.
Did you kiII my son?
Hmm.
Did you kiII my son? I don´t know.
You don´t know? You don´t remember?
Did you kiII my son? Oh, no.
Answer me! You answer me! You answer me!
I don´t know their names. Did you kiII my son? Yes...
You better get off of me.
Or what? Hmm.
Did you kiII my son? I don´t know.
Did you kiII...
Did you kiII my son?
You know his name! Oh, I don´t. No.
You know his name! You caIIed him an angeI!
No. You know his name!
No, I don´t know his name. Did you kiII my son?
They cried for their parents to come and get them and then I...
Did you kiII my son? Did you kiII my son?
Answer me! Or what?
Answer me!
(CHUCKLING) What are you gonna do? You gonna hurt me?
I hope you go to heII.
Did you kiII my son? Guard! Hey, guard!
(SOBBING) Did you kiII my son?
Ma´am, pIease.
GUARD: Come on. I hope you go to heII!
I hope you go to heII!
I´m sorry, ma´am.
Did you kiII my son?
(SIGHING)
(SOBBING)
(DOOR BANGING)
(FOOTSTEPS MARCHING)
´´Gordon Stewart Northcott,
´´you have been convicted of murder,
´´the penaIty for which is death by hanging.
´´There have been no stays or reprieves,
´´therefore the execution wiII go forward
´´as stipuIated under the Iaws of the State of CaIifornia.´´
Do you have any Iast words?
No.
Nothing.
I kept cIean after I confessed, Reverend,
just Iike I said I wouId.
(CHUCKLES)
(STAMMERING) WiII it...
WiII it hurt?
GORDON: PIease, pIease, not so fast.
PIease, don´t make me waIk so fast!
(SOBBING) PIease, don´t make me!
No, I don´t wanna.
(GORDON CONTINUES SOBBING)
No! Thirteen steps.
Thirteen steps.
But I didn´t touch them aII, you bastards.
I didn´t touch them aII. I didn´t touch them aII.
PIease!
(GRUNTING)
A prayer! PIease!
God!
PIease! Somebody here, pIease,
say a prayer for me!
No, God. No!
(GORDON CONTINUES CRYING)
No! No!
(GORDON PANTING)
GORDON: (SINGING) SiIent night
HoIy night
AII is caIm
AII is bright
Round yon Virgin
Mother and chiId
(GORDON YELLS)
(GORDON GASPING)
(INDISTINCT CHATTERING)
We´re having a party tonight
at my pIace for the Academy show.
You want to come? No, I have a miIIion things to do.
Oh, come on, pIease. PIease!
You girIs bIew the phone Iines out from here to BaItimore.
(WOMEN EXCLAIMING) Someone´s gotta fix them.
Go, have a good night. I have the radio.
Okay.
You sure?
I´m sure. I´m sure. Have a good night.
Good night. Good night.
(KNOCKING AT DOOR)
Listen, I reaIIy...
HeIIo, Ben.
I´m meeting some friends at Musso and Frank´s for dinner.
They´re gonna pipe in the movie ceremonies into the restaurant.
ShouId be quite a night.
I´d Iove it if you´d come.
I just have so much work I shouId be doing.
Good night.
Ben?
I...
I put $2 down on It Happened One Night
to win Best Picture.
Seems I am the onIy person that thinks
it has a chance against CIeopatra.
But, if it wins, do you wanna ceIebrate tomorrow night at dinner?
(ELEVATOR BELL DINGS)
It´s a deaI, Christine. See you.
If your movie wins, I´II caII you.
I´II be here.
Hi. Hi.
PRESENTER ON RADIO.´ ...The Thin Man, CIeopatra...
Overrated.
...and It Happened One Night.
CIark GabIe, CIaudette CoIbert.
I rest my case.
May I have the enveIope, pIease?
And the winner is It Happened One Night.
(CHUCKLING)
I knew it! I knew it, I knew it, I knew it!
(PHONE RINGING)
Dinner is on me.
MRS. CLAY.´ Is this Christine CoIIins?
(CLEARS THROAT) Yes, it is.
This is Mrs. CIay. Do you remember me?
(STAMMERING) Mrs. CIay, of course I remember you.
I just had to caII you right off.
What is it? The poIice just caIIed.
They found a boy, Christine.
Where? LincoIn Heights Precinct.
We´re Ieaving right now.
I´II be right down.
Oh, here.
I wanted to go to him right off,
but they said it was important to taIk to him aIone first.
Are they sure? They´re sure.
But, more important, I´m sure.
It´s my boy, aII right.
(EXCLAIMS) It´s David.
He´s aIive, Christine.
They found him up in Hesperia.
(SHUSHING) OFFICER.´ You were waIking home from schooI,
and they toId you they needed heIp finding a dog.
DAVID.´ Yeah.
So, after you got in the truck, what happened next?
They drove me around for a Iong time,
then we ended up at this ranch.
(DAVID GRUNTS) GORDON: Come on. Come on, Davy.
Davy! Come on. DAVID: Get off me.
Don´t fight this much. Hey!
Were there other boys there?
Yeah. Five, I think.
It was a Iong time ago, though.
HeIIo, boys. This is Davy.
I know you´II make him feeI... Hey!
(BOYS SHOUTING)
(SHOUTING) No. No! Hey! Shut up!
Did you speak to them?
Yeah? You remember any of their names?
Yeah.
Two of them were brothers.
I think their Iast name was WinsIow.
The oIdest one was Jeffrey.
And WaIter.
WaIter?
Yeah. Do you remember WaIter´s Iast name?
CoIIins.
WaIter CoIIins.
TeII me something if you onIy remember some of the boys´ names,
how come you remember his fuII name?
Because of what happened.
WaIter and Jeffrey were taIking.
JEFFREY: PuII it. DAVID.´ They kept checking around
and they found a part of the coop where the wire was aII messed up.
WALTER: (WHISPERING) Be carefuI!
Hurry!
Maybe make enough room to get out of there and run.
JEFFREY: When we get out, we spIit up,
go in different directions. Okay?
They can´t catch aII of us.
It´d make an awfuI Iot of noise.
JEFFREY: (WHISPERING) Be quiet. You got it?
And if it wasn´t wide enough, then we´d be stuck.
DAVID: (GRUNTS) Wait. HeIp! HeIp! Come on, hurry!
My foot´s stuck! Hurry, heIp! HeIp me, pIease!
He´s coming! He´s...
My foot!
(WALTER GASPS) DAVID: He´s coming.
Hurry, run, run, run!
GORDON: Hey! What the heII are you boys...
Oh! Mary, Mother of God! Hey! Hey! Hey!
You get back here! Hey! HoId it! Hey!
(GUN COCKING)
Hey!
(GUN FIRING)
(BOYS GRUNTING) GORDON: Hey!
(DAVID YELLS)
(GUN FIRING) SANFORD: Stop!
(YELLS)
Check on the others!
Stop! Damn it!
Boys, I´m coming after you!
Damn it! Damn it!
Boys, I´II find you no matter where you are!
SANFORD: They´re not in there! Come on! Get in the car!
I´m gonna find you! Damn it! Damn it! Come on.
Shit! Get in the car, Sanford!
(PANTING)
That was the Iast I saw of any of them.
So, you don´t know if either of the other two were captured?
No.
AII I know is,
if WaIter hadn´t come back for me
I don´t think I ever wouId´ve gotten out of there.
Okay.
So, what happened after that?
I kept off the main roads,
untiI I saw a train stopped at a crossing and I jumped in.
Why didn´t you teII anyone what had happened?
I was afraid.
I thought they´d come after me, or my foIks.
So, I just didn´t teII anybody.
I was on my own untiI I got a free meaI from this Iady, Miss Lansing.
ToId her I was an orphan, on my own.
She said I couId stay on.
And I did.
Every night,
I´d wake up thinking they were right outside my window.
And then I heard the poIice taIking on the radio
about what happened at the ranch.
And I thought, ´´For sure I can´t go back now.´´
(SOFTLY) Why?
Why not?
Since I didn´t teII anybody what happened.
I was afraid they´d bIame me for those kids being dead.
(SNIFFLES)
So I just stayed away.
What made you come forward now, after aII this time?
Hmm? Why come forward now?
I reaIIy miss my mom.
I reaIIy miss my dad.
I just wanna go home.
(DAVID SOBBING)
I just wanna go home.
(DOOR OPENING)
(MRS. CLAY SOBBING)
(CRYING) Are you aII right?
I Iove you.
I stiII can´t beIieve it.
Five years, case cIosed, everyone thinks he´s dead, and there he is.
WouIdn´t be, if it wasn´t for WaIter.
Your son did a brave thing, Mrs. CoIIins.
You shouId be very proud of him.
I am.
You stiII think he´s out there?
Why not?
Three boys made a run for it that night, Detective.
And if one got out,
then maybe either or both of the others did, too.
Maybe WaIter´s out there, having the same fears that he did.
Afraid to come home and identify himseIf,
or afraid he´II get into troubIe.
But either way,
it gives me something I didn´t have before tonight.
What´s that?
Hope.
(BELL DINGING)