Hey, I haven't updated these in a while, but still.
Just...
It should be. Just go through these, okay?
If you see any you recognize, just put them down on the table here.
I'm sorry!
Oh, my God.
I didn't mean to... He made me.
Oh, shit.
This one. Look at me.
You're sure?
I'm sure.
Jesus Christ.
Oh, God! Oh, God!
Jesus Christ.
Son of a bitch.
Oh, God.
Well, he's lying.
Have you gone soft in the head, Les?
Twenty kids, sir.
He's playing you.
He knows he's in trouble, so he's come up with some cock and bull story
about how he was forced to stay in the country.
With all due respect, sir, I don't think so. You didn't see him.
This kid, he's scared half out of his mind.
He picked the Collins kid. We found him, remember?
Haven't you been reading the papers?
Or maybe you have, is that it?
Sir, if you'd just listen to me...
I'm sorry, Captain, but he's here again.
Who? That Reverend Briegleb.
He's asking about Christine Collins.
Well, you tell that son of a bitch
to get the hell off of police property,
or I'll have him arrested for disturbing the peace.
I tried. He said he won't leave, him or his friends.
What?
Oh, what the hell!
Jesus!
Oh, Jesus jumped down.
Captain?
Ybarra? Yeah.
Listen to me. You're to do nothing except get back here.
Sir, departmental policy requires that
all allegations of homicide have to be investigated.
These are kids, for Christ sake.
Departmental policy 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 talk to anybody and you bring me that kid. You got it?
Nobody!
Captain Jones. Boys.
What the hell have you done with Christine Collins?
And don't try and lie your way out of it,
because several of her neighbors saw her being driven away in a police car.
Mrs. Collins has been placed in protective custody
following a mental breakdown.
A what?
She's getting the best treatment available.
And that will be all.
Next.
Go on. Move up. For what?
Medication.
Medication for what? The kind that's good for you.
Help you relax.
Well, I don't want to relax. 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. Steele? Take it. Orderly.
Dr. Steele?
I understand. Come on.
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.
Well, then you shouldn't have any trouble signing this.
By signing it, you certify that you were wrong
when you stated the boy returned to you by the police was not your son.
It further stipulates that the police were right
in sending you here for observation and it absolves them
of all responsibility. Sign it.
I won't sign that.
Well, 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 still missing.
Mrs. Collins, you're becoming agitated.
Yes, I'm, yes... I'm not signing that, because he's not my son!
Orderly!
He's not my son! Orderly!
My son is missing!
The patient is becoming hysterical! No! My son is missing!
See to it she is sedated properly.
Get her out of here. No! No! No!
Next! No!
No, no! Orderly, hold on.
Stop it!
No! Open your mouth. Open, open your mouth.
Easy! You got her?
God! Swallow it.
Stop it!
Move back.
You! Get her out of here!
Come on, you got her?
Stay out of this! This is none of your business! This is police business!
All of you! You'll stay out of it if you know what's good for you!
You'd think you were in enough trouble with the law already,
being a whore, wouldn't you?
Attacking a staff member. Room 18.
No, no! Stop it! No!
No! No!
No! Stop it!
Come on, kid.
I don't know. I'm not sure. I think so. He was pretty close.
Excuse me.
It's all right, I can take it from here. But I got...
We need him for questioning.
Like I said, it was dark.
Thanks. Come on.
Brady, Ross.
You've just been requisitioned for backup. I'll explain on the way.
Yes, sir.
I'm not sure. She said she'd had the croup before. This could be pneumonia.
I keep telling her that, and she doesn't want to.
You have to insist.
You shouldn't have done that.
Please, let me out! Get in there!
Wanted to.
Felt good.
Let me out! No! Please! No! You got her?
I lost two babies to back alley doctors.
No choice.
Never had the chance to fight for them.
You do.
Don't stop.
I won't.
Fuck them and the horse they rode in on.
That's not exactly language for a lady.
Hell.
There are times that's exactly the right language to use.
Yeah?
When you've got nothing left to lose.
You're not supposed to be here!
Mmm. Mmm.
Stay there. Check the house. Check the barn.
It's all clear.
Clear here.
Bring me that shovel.
All 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.
My God.
Oh, my God.
Call it in.
Get the coroner and every officer
in a 20-mile radius here inside the hour.
Then put out an APB on Gordon Stewart Northcott.
The information's in my car. Go on.
You can stop, son.
You can stop now. It's over.
Hey.
We'll take it, we can take it from here. We can take it from...
We can take it from here, okay? It's over.
It's okay.
It's okay. It's okay.
It's all over.
Okay?
File.
Privacy, please.
I see that you've been refusing medication, requiring force feeding.
All right, Michael. Lunchtime?
Six days, Mrs. Collins, and no progress.
We may have to move on to more strenuous therapies.
Unless you're willing to prove that you're doing better
by signing this.
Fuck you and the horse you rode in on.
Room 18.
I want to talk to somebody in charge, right now!
Please.
Who is in charge here?
Open.
I'm the head doctor on duty.
You're the doctor who locked up Christine Collins?
Oh, I'm sorry, sir.
We don't discuss cases with anyone other than family.
Oh, you'll damn well discuss this one. Read it.
Sir.
Read it.
Stop.
Mrs. Collins, one last time.
Are you or are you not prepared to sign that letter?
No.
You're free to leave.
What?
Your clothes are in the next room. You can change there.
In the next room?
Yes. That's right.
See to it.
Christ.
Long as it's not the original.
No, it's not.
Here it is.
And who is that? Is that Baker's file or Larson?
That's Baker.
He said he wanted...
Nurse, I wanna see
every piece of paper you have on the case of Mrs. Christine Collins,
and I want to see it right now, do you understand me?
Every piece. When will she be coming out?
Oh, it's just up ahead.
Oh, all right. Let's...
Hurricane hits West Palm Beach!
Babe Ruth hits 53rd home run!
Kids found murdered in Riverside! There it is.
Biggest crime in Los Angeles history!
Collins boy assumed dead!
Read it here! Read it here!
Mrs. Collins, I'm so sorry.
Captain, your handling of the Christine Collins case
has exposed this department to public ridicule.
There is even the possibility of civil and criminal liability.
Sir, nobody could've known what was happening up at that ranch.
Not us, the sheriff's department, or the marshal's office.
And as for the Collins woman,
I'm still not convinced that her boy is among the victims up in Wineville.
No?
No.
There were four other photos of missing boys that looked a lot like him.
The Clark kid could'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 Walter Collins
is not among those boys killed up at that goddamn ranch.
Because if the boy you brought back is not Walter Collins,
and he's not dead up at that ranch, then where the hell is he?
People 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 could be, among those poor boys killed up in Wineville,
then the inquiries stop.
It's a momentary embarrassment
you're just gonna have to live with.
Better a short inconvenience
than a lingering problem, wouldn't you say, Captain?
Yes, sir.
The boy's been gone nearly a year.
If he was going to be found, it would've happened by now.
Whether he was up at that ranch or not,
the truth is he probably is dead somewhere.
Better his mother accept that now than later, don't you think?
Yes, sir. Good.
That'll be all, Captain.
That's how you want it, then I guess we're done here.
Tell county jail we're remanding him for trial.
Wait. I didn't do anything. I wasn't even here when it happened.
By pretending to be Walter Collins,
you're interfering in a police investigation of a kidnapping and murder.
We can try you as accomplice to that murder after the fact.
That's too bad.
County jail is a lot worse than a juvenile hall or a foster home.
It's a lot worse.
You can't do that. I'm just a kid.
Sanford Clark's a kid, too.
Fifteen. He's going to jail.
All murderers and their accomplices go to jail. Everybody knows that.
Get him out of here. It's out of my hands now.
Wait. I don't want to go to jail.
Prove it.
I...
I knew Los Angeles is where they make the Tom Mix movies.
I figured if I could meet Tom Mix
maybe he would let me ride on his horse.
His horse is named Tony. Did you know that?
How are you feeling?
All right.
The police still 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 lot of thought.
And what they did to those women, and what they did about Walter.
I used to always tell him, "You never start a fight, but you always finish it. "
And I didn't start this fight, but I'm gonna finish it.
Mrs. Collins, right now you're a sufficiently high profile that I think
even the police would hesitate to go after you out in the open,
but I have to warn you that could change very quickly
if they feel their position threatened.
Very quickly indeed.
What are they gonna do to me now?
They got nothing.
I'm going home.
Hi, sis.
Gordon.
I didn't know you were back in town.
Yeah, I got in a couple 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 little niece of mine?
She went into town.
Should be back this evening.
Uh, Bob's here.
Oh, good.
Uh, I was gonna ask if I could stay on a couple days.
Staying?
Yeah.
Listen, can I use your bathroom?
It's been a long ride and I could really use a shower.
Of course. Okay.
Thank you.
Is that...
All right, go next door. I'll call the police. Hurry.
Operator. How may I connect you?
He's upstairs, sir.
Go around the other side! Cut him off!
Come with me! Yes, sir.
Let's go!
Mrs. Collins, I'd like you to meet my friend, Mr. Hahn.
Mrs. Collins, my deepest condolences on your loss.
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 lost a daughter to polio five years ago.
There's not a day goes by when I don't think,
"I should mention this to Claudine. "
Then I remember she's not here.
Please, sit.
I've been on the phone all morning
with the appointment secretary of the police commission.
They said that they won't let me testify
at the hearing or call witnesses. That it won't be necessary.
I know. My sources say the police commission
is going to say that Jones and the LAPD did absolutely nothing wrong,
and that the real blame lies with the kid and with you
for being difficult and forcing them to put you away for your own safety.
Then I guess I would have to hire a lawyer, file a civil suit.
I went to the best attorney in town,
a man who's sued this city four times and won.
Unfortunately, we can't afford to really hire him.
I see.
Which is why I'm doing this pro bono.
It would be my honor to defend your honor, Mrs. Collins.
In my 15 years as a lawyer,
I have never seen anyone fight as long or as hard as you have,
in what is so clearly in the cause of justice.
Thank you.
Let me see what's on the shelf.
I'll look.
Yes? May I...
My name is S.S. Hahn,
and I have a court order for the immediate release of all women being detained
in this institution under the designation code 12
pending a formal inquiry into the reasons for their detainment.
I'm sorry, the doctor in charge is not here
until the morning. Madam, let me be clearer.
Either you will produce the people named in that court order,
or you will find yourself behind bars, and I mean without a key.
I can't authorize you... Madam, stand aside.
Can I see her now?
Sure. Absolutely. How does she look?
All right, fellas, step back. Let's give him room.
Here he is.
Mr. Northcott, any comment on your arrest?
Mr. Northcott, how are you feeling?
Oh, I'm feeling fine.
I've been on a little vacation, as some of you know.
It was a really pleasant vacation.
The police have certainly provided me with a lot of amusement.
How long you been in hiding?
How did you avoid capture?
Easy, easy. That's far enough.
Well, I didn't, did I?
One more shot!
Have you seen your picture in the paper?
Didn't know anybody wanted me until just recently.
Didn't even try.
My luggage still has my initials on it, fellas.
Did you know why the police were after you?
No, but I figured it'd be a good idea if I were to just stay out of it.
Any remorse, sir?
Do you have anything to say to the parents of the children you murdered?
No comment.
One more shot, this way!
Mayor Cryer. This is unexpected.
So was this.
Subpoenas, requests for depositions, interrogatories.
All courtesy of Mr. Hahn and his new client, Christine Collins.
You don't have to look them over too closely, Chief.
Your own copies should be coming any time now.
The city council has also agreed to look into this,
starting immediately.
God damn it!
I thought this was supposed to go away.
This is an election year.
I can't afford this kind of press.
It is going away, sir. I've instructed Captain Jones to deal with it.
I'm afraid, falling 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 while,
just might help calm things down until the hearing's finished.
What is happening? Didn't you hear?
It's the biggest protest I've ever seen.
Protest? Yeah.
Over the Collins broad, if you can believe that.
We want justice! We want justice!
Oh, my!
Mr. Harris.
The Lord works in mysterious ways, Mrs. Collins.
Boy, does he ever.
Ladies and gentlemen, can I have your attention, please?
There are more people gathered in this chamber than have ever been in this room before.
Therefore, I ask you to refrain from demonstrations of any kind.
Tell the truth! Tell the truth!
We are all here because we want to know the real 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 police commission.
Are there any members of the police department in the room?
Is Chief Davis here?
Is Captain Jones here?
Is there anybody here representing the police?
Mrs. Collins, could you come across the street with me for just a moment?
There's something I think you should see.
Well, I hate to call a recess before we've even started,
but I think a few phone calls are in order.
The police decided it'd be best to keep this off the main docket
in order to avoid exactly the sort of chaos we have across the street.
Mrs. Collins. I'm Leanne Clay.
This is my husband, John. Hi.
I just wanted to pass along my sympathies.
What we went through waiting to hear anything
about our son David was bad enough, now this.
But what the police did to you, there was no call for that.
No call at all.
All rise.
Please, be seated. Bailiff.
Oh, hey.
I saw you in the papers.
You got a lot of moxie, standing up to the police like that.
The defendant will please rise.
Gordon Stewart Northcott,
you've been charged with three counts of murder in the first degree,
with an additional 17 counts under review by the district attorney's office.
How do you plea?
Oh, not guilty, Your Honor.
You may sit, Mr. Northcott.
In light of the defendant's penchant for international travel, no bail will be set.
This court will hear preliminary motions by tomorrow morning.
The boy, Walter Collins,
was reported as missing, March 10, 1928.
We then instituted a nationwide search.
On August 18th, we received a cable indicating that a boy
matching his description was found in DeKalb, Illinois.
Upon questioning, he admitted to being Walter Collins.
We then made arrangements for him to be transported back to California.
Where Mrs. Collins told you the boy was not her son.
Yes. She denied his identity
in spite of all of the evidence pointing to the contrary.
But, as subsequent events have demonstrated,
she was correct.
So, what prompted you to send her
for psychological evaluation?
Whether or not this was in fact the correct boy
was not relevant to my decision.
Throughout this period, she acted strangely.
She was often cool and aloof and unemotional,
especially when confronted with the boy we found in DeKalb
and in our subsequent conversation.
It was because of her
disturbing behavior that I submitted her for observation
to the psychopathic ward of Los Angeles County General Hospital.
Just like that.
You snap your fingers and an innocent woman
is thrown into the psycho ward!
She wasn't thrown. Every family in this state is in grave danger
when a police captain can take a woman into his office
and five minutes later
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.
Escorted, thrown, the verb doesn't matter, Captain.
What does matter is that her incarceration was ordered without a warrant.
I am holding a carbon copy
of the affidavit of insanity that was issued in the case
of the State of California v. Christine Collins.
Who signed the affidavit?
I did.
Well, now, let 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 finally written several days later,
there was no need to sign it or to go to a judge
because she was already in the asylum!
Is this correct, Captain?
Technically, yes.
Extraordinary steps were necessary because we were dealing...
We were dealing with an extraordinary situation.
Now, is it our fault that we were being deceived
by a boy who claimed to be Walter Collins? No.
In light of his claims and her disturbing behavior,
who wouldn't begin to think that there was something the matter with her?
Because she questioned you?
No, because she wouldn't listen!
Because she insisted on being obstinate!
Because she tried to take matters into her own hand,
best left to qualified officers!
Because once civil disobedience starts...
Because she was fighting for the life of her son!
A boy who may have still been alive
while you were wasting valuable time denying you had done anything wrong!
And in the end
that's what happened, isn't it?
At some point, while all this was going on,
Walter Collins was brutally murdered,
along with as many as 19 other boys
at the Northcott Ranch in Wineville.
Is that correct, Captain?
Yes, it is.
It's a travesty.
No further questions.
Train number 14, now boarding on track...
So, after much effort, we were able to identify this boy,
who's been responsible for so much trouble lately,
as Arthur Hutchins of Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Between this, and the arrest of the man suspected of murdering
the real Walter Collins,
we've cleared up two of the biggest mysteries in the history of Los Angeles.
I hope you gentlemen of the press will give
as much space to the good things we do
as the mistakes that are made on rare occasions.
Gentlemen, allow me to introduce you
to the boy's real mother, Mrs. Janet Hutchins.
Arthur.
I hope he wasn't too much trouble for you.
Oh, no, not at all.
How about a photograph, fellas?
One more.
Mrs. Hutchins,
Mrs. Collins, the woman he was staying with, wanted him to have these.
They're the clothes she let him wear.
Well, thank you.
Isn't that nice, Arthur?
Tell the nice officer, "Thank you. "
I don't want them. Give them to somebody else.
Precocious little fellow, isn't he?
It's not my fault. It's the police.
They said I was Walter Collins, not me! It wasn't my idea!
Not my idea! Get...
Yeah. Go blame the police for your own mistakes.
We've seen a lot of that lately, haven't we?
Take care now, Arthur! Safe travels.
All right, fellas, that's it for today.
Sir, sir! What did the boy mean by that?
It was March 10th, and I came home from work,
and my nine-year-old son, Walter, was gone.
Captain Jones was acting on information he believed to be correct.
Walter Collins had a diastema, also known as a diastema.
That child was never in my classroom.
I can certainly attest to that.
We rely on our good friends in the police department
to point to us those people who exhibit behavior
which is socially unacceptable.
About four inches shorter than the last mark of Walter.
Well, some of these pictures show
what Sanford Clark told me,
that he did in fact help in the murder of these children.
Thank you, Detective.
Gentlemen of the jury,
I ask you to take a good look at these images.
They establish beyond any reasonable doubt
the circumstances and the nature of these heinous crimes.
I'm in here, Reverend.
When Walter was here, I used to walk by his room
when he was sleeping.
And even though I couldn't see him or hear him,
I could feel him.
That's why I don't think Walter's dead.
I can still feel him.
Mrs. Collins... No.
I know what the police said.
But that place and the remains,
they couldn't be properly identified.
And maybe that kid made a mistake when he picked Walter's picture.
I understand you don't want to accept this.
What mother would?
But I think it's time for you to move on
and start over for yourself.
Your son would want you to move on.
Maybe.
Maybe he'd want me to keep looking for him.
Maybe he's somewhere waiting for me.
I believe he is waiting, ma'am.
He's waiting in that place where
we'll all go someday to be reunited with our loved ones.
And on that day, he'll know from front to back, end to end,
heart to soul, that you did everything you could, Mrs. Collins.
Everything.
We should go, ma'am.
One minute.
This meeting will now come to order.
This committee has now heard all of the testimony,
and, in light of the facts presented,
we recommend that the suspension of Captain Jones
be made permanent.
Order! Please. Please.
Mr. Foreman,
has the jury reached a verdict?
We have, Your Honor.
Will the defendant please rise?
Second, that steps be taken to investigate a change
in the prevailing laws and procedures by which a citizen
of this city can be subjected to incarceration
in the county's mental facilities.
You may read the verdict.
"We the jury find the defendant, Gordon Stewart Northcott,
"guilty on all counts of murder in the first degree. "
Finally, restoration of public confidence in the police department
can only be achieved
by the removal of its chief of police,
and this committee so recommends.
This hearing is concluded.
Does the defendant wish to make a statement before judgment is passed?
I want to make it real clear
that I never once got a fair shake from you,
Your Honor,
or from this court.
The only one in here worth a good goddamn is her.
'Cause she's the only one who never badmouthed me to the press.
She's the only one who understands
what it is to be framed by the police
for something you didn't do. All right, that's enough.
And then to just be thrown in the hole,
to just rot and to fester and to be forgotten
and fade away, isn't that right? Gordon!
Counsel! Isn't it?
I never killed your boy, Mrs. Collins.
Counsel, that's enough! I would never do that.
I would never hurt Walter.
Counsel, get control of your client
or I'll have him bound and gagged!
He's an angel.
Come on, 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'll be held in solitary confinement for a period of two years,
until October 2, 1930.
On that date, you will be hanged by the neck until dead.
May God have mercy on your soul.
Is it all right if I have a 10-minute break?
Of course.
You know,
one of these days you might actually consider taking
one of these 10-minute breaks.
It might be good for you.
We'll see.
This is Christine Collins.
I called yesterday.
I was wondering if you had a chance to look through the files
and see if there was a match to my son, Walter Collins.
I see.
Well, if it's all right with you,
I'll call back in a month. Thank you very much.
Mrs. Collins. I was just...
Yes, I know.
In fact, that's why I wanted to see you.
It's about Walter. We had a...
Well, we received a very strange telegram.
From who?
Gordon Northcott.
He's asked to see you.
Why?
He said he knows you're still looking for your son,
and before he dies...
He says he lied when he testified that he didn't kill Walter.
Christine, he's willing to finally admit that he did it.
He says if you come up to see him in person,
then he'll tell you the truth, to your face
so that you can get on with your life
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 lot of time.
It took me most of the morning to make all the arrangements.
Turns out, you're the first woman in 30 years
the state has allowed to visit a serial killer
on the eve of his execution.
You'll be all 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 would tell me the truth about my son.
Yeah.
You're right. I did say that.
But see, the thing is,
I didn't really think that you would 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 talk to you. I can't talk to you right now,
not with what they're gonna be doing to me tomorrow.
It's one thing, Mrs. Collins, to send a telegram,
that is really easy.
But when it's here, right now, in person, you know,
I just, I can't...
I can't tell you what you want to hear, Mrs. Collins.
And why not?
Because I don't want to go to hell with a lie on my lips.
See, I did my penance,
and I asked God to forgive me and he did, so far as I know.
And I have been really good ever since.
But if I lie now, if I commit any sins right now,
I'm out of time here,
and I won't be forgiven again.
And I'll tell you one thing, I am not going to hell.
I'm not...
Mr. Northcott, you asked me to come here.
Mr. Northcott, please look at me.
Did you kill my son?
I don't know what you're talking about.
Yes, you do. Yes, you do. Hmm.
Did you kill my son?
I told you, I don't wanna talk to you right now.
Did you kill my son?
Hmm.
Did you kill my son? I don't know.
You don't know? You don't remember?
Did you kill my son? Oh, no.
Answer me! You answer me! You answer me!
I don't know their names. Did you kill my son? Yes...
You better get off of me.
Or what? Hmm.
Did you kill my son? I don't know.
Did you kill...
Did you kill my son?
You know his name! Oh, I don't. No.
You know his name! You called him an angel!
No. You know his name!
No, I don't know his name. Did you kill my son?
They cried for their parents to come and get them and then I...
Did you kill my son? Did you kill my son?
Answer me! Or what?
Answer me!
What are you gonna do? You gonna hurt me?
I hope you go to hell.
Did you kill my son? Guard! Hey, guard!
Did you kill my son?
Ma'am, please.
Come on. I hope you go to hell!
I hope you go to hell!
I'm sorry, ma'am.
Did you kill my son?
"Gordon Stewart Northcott,
"you have been convicted of murder,
"the penalty for which is death by hanging.
"There have been no stays or reprieves,
"therefore the execution will go forward
"as stipulated under the laws of the State of California. "
Do you have any last words?
No.
Nothing.
I kept clean after I confessed, Reverend,
just like I said I would.
Will it...
Will it hurt?
Please, please, not so fast.
Please, don't make me walk so fast!
Please, don't make me!
No, I don't wanna.
No! Thirteen steps.
Thirteen steps.
But I didn't touch them all, you bastards.
I didn't touch them all. I didn't touch them all.
Please!
A prayer! Please!
God!
Please! Somebody here, please,
say a prayer for me!
No, God. No!
No! No!
Silent night
Holy night
All is calm
All is bright
Round yon Virgin
Mother and child
We're having a party tonight
at my place for the Academy show.
You want to come? No, I have a million things to do.
Oh, come on, please. Please!
You girls blew the phone lines out from here to Baltimore.
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.
Listen, I really...
Hello, Ben.
I'm meeting some friends at Musso and Frank's for dinner.
They're gonna pipe in the movie ceremonies into the restaurant.
Should be quite a night.
I'd love it if you'd come.
I just have so much work I should be doing.
Good night.
Ben?
I...
I put $2 down on It Happened One Night
to win Best Picture.
Seems I am the only person that thinks
it has a chance against Cleopatra.
But, if it wins, do you wanna celebrate tomorrow night at dinner?
It's a deal, Christine. See you.
If your movie wins, I'll call you.
I'll be here.
Hi. Hi.
...The Thin Man, Cleopatra...
Overrated.
...and It Happened One Night.
Clark Gable, Claudette Colbert.
I rest my case.
May I have the envelope, please?
And the winner is It Happened One Night.
I knew it! I knew it, I knew it, I knew it!
Dinner is on me.
Is this Christine Collins?
Yes, it is.
This is Mrs. Clay. Do you remember me?
Mrs. Clay, of course I remember you.
I just had to call you right off.
What is it? The police just called.
They found a boy, Christine.
Where? Lincoln Heights Precinct.
We're leaving right now.
I'll be right down.
Oh, here.
I wanted to go to him right off,
but they said it was important to talk to him alone first.
Are they sure? They're sure.
But, more important, I'm sure.
It's my boy, all right.
It's David.
He's alive, Christine.
They found him up in Hesperia.
You were walking home from school,
and they told you they needed help finding a dog.
Yeah.
So, after you got in the truck, what happened next?
They drove me around for a long time,
then we ended up at this ranch.
Come on. Come on, Davy.
Davy! Come on. Get off me.
Don't fight this much. Hey!
Were there other boys there?
Yeah. Five, I think.
It was a long time ago, though.
Hello, boys. This is Davy.
I know you'll make him feel... Hey!
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 last name was Winslow.
The oldest one was Jeffrey.
And Walter.
Walter?
Yeah. Do you remember Walter's last name?
Collins.
Walter Collins.
Tell me something if you only remember some of the boys' names,
how come you remember his full name?
Because of what happened.
Walter and Jeffrey were talking.
Pull it. They kept checking around
and they found a part of the coop where the wire was all messed up.
Be careful!
Hurry!
Maybe make enough room to get out of there and run.
When we get out, we split up,
go in different directions. Okay?
They can't catch all of us.
It'd make an awful lot of noise.
Be quiet. You got it?
And if it wasn't wide enough, then we'd be stuck.
Wait. Help! Help! Come on, hurry!
My foot's stuck! Hurry, help! Help me, please!
He's coming! He's...
My foot!
He's coming.
Hurry, run, run, run!
Hey! What the hell are you boys...
Oh! Mary, Mother of God! Hey! Hey! Hey!
You get back here! Hey! Hold it! Hey!
Hey!
Stop!
Check on the others!
Stop! Damn it!
Boys, I'm coming after you!
Damn it! Damn it!
Boys, I'll find you no matter where you are!
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!
That was the last I saw of any of them.
So, you don't know if either of the other two were captured?
No.
All I know is,
if Walter hadn't come back for me
I don't think I ever would've gotten out of there.
Okay.
So, what happened after that?
I kept off the main roads,
until I saw a train stopped at a crossing and I jumped in.
Why didn't you tell anyone what had happened?
I was afraid.
I thought they'd come after me, or my folks.
So, I just didn't tell anybody.
I was on my own until I got a free meal from this lady, Miss Lansing.
Told her I was an orphan, on my own.
She said I could stay on.
And I did.
Every night,
I'd wake up thinking they were right outside my window.
And then I heard the police talking on the radio
about what happened at the ranch.
And I thought, "For sure I can't go back now. "
Why?
Why not?
Since I didn't tell anybody what happened.
I was afraid they'd blame me for those kids being dead.
So I just stayed away.
What made you come forward now, after all this time?
Hmm? Why come forward now?
I really miss my mom.
I really miss my dad.
I just wanna go home.
Are you all right?
I love you.
I still can't believe it.
Five years, case closed, everyone thinks he's dead, and there he is.
Wouldn't be, if it wasn't for Walter.
Your son did a brave thing, Mrs. Collins.
You should be very proud of him.
I am.
You still 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 Walter's out there, having the same fears that he did.
Afraid to come home and identify himself,
or afraid he'll get into trouble.
But either way,
it gives me something I didn't have before tonight.
What's that?
Hope.