Life (2007–2009): Season 2, Episode 18 - 3 Women - full transcript

Maybe it's not real.

It's real.

Fakes are easy. Any kid with a
computer and a printer can do it.

It's not a fake.

This girl I knew sent me
a picture of herself once.

She had this
devil tail.

It looked real,
but it wasrt.

Ted, I had that photo checked.
It's real.

It's Reese with Rayborn.

Three days before someone spilled
his blood all over his boat.

Well,
what are you going to do?



You gotta do something.

Do you want me to do something?
I can do something.

You gotta do something.

Don't you?

I'm going to work.

Nice tat.
Where'd you get it?

Your mother
gave it to me.

Yeah? My mother didn't
do time in Atwater.

What do you know
about Atwater?

Atwater's a cakewalk.

Compared to what?

Crescent City.

Pelican Bay,
Crescent City?

You don't seem
like no guard.



Wasrt no guard.

You were in Pelican Bay?
No way.

Oh, yeah?
Where do you think I learned this?

What years?

'94 to '06.

Atwater. '98 to '08.

Oh, we got
a dead woman upstairs.

I know.

Got her blood
on your boots.

I know.

Is one of you
Charlie Crews?

I am.
Who wants to know?

Jane Seever.
Detective Jane Seever.

Your new partner.

Wanna switch places?

He was hiding out
on the bathroom ledge?

Not at first.

He was with the body when he
heard the uniforms down the hall.

He lives here.

And then he went
out on the ledge?

Yes, but it was
too far to jump.

So he climbed back in and tried
to walk right out the front door?

Yes, most escapees
just walk right out.

But you
followed him.

Saw the blood
on his boots.

And he stopped
walking and he ran.

He ran because
he killed her?

Well, screams were his.

Which screams?

The screams
the neighbors heard.

They heard a man.
Not a woman.

Place was a mess
when the unis got here.

Someone tossed it.

Why were you
holding that knife?

Dropped my gun.

So why didn't
you just pick it up?

You know what?
Stop. Can we...

Can we start again?

Okay. He was on
the bathroom ledge...

Oh, no, no.
Before that.

Hi, I'm Detective Seever.

I'm Detective Crews.

It is an honor
to meet you.

Okay.

But just to be
clear, you're not.

Not what?
My new partner.

I have a partner.
Two partners.

Of course, you do.

Officer Robert Stark
and Detective Dani Reese.

Did a little studying.

Oh, like to be prepared.

Measure twice.
Cut once.

You know, I actually only got serious
about being prepared in law school.

Law school?

Yes, it's part of my plan.

Which plan is that?

My 15-year plan.
To be mayor.

Mayor?
Mmm-hmm.

Law school, first. Then, detective.
Then chief of police.

Then mayor.

How's that going so far?

You know, I mean,
I got sidetracked,

you know, a few years back,
but I'm back on course now.

Went through a dark time?

No, no, Olympics.

I mean, just the relay, but, still,
it took time. You know?

Olympics?

Just the relay.

15-year plan.

Yeah, you got one?

No, not exactly.

You spent a lot
of time in prison, John.

Armed robbery.

That jewelry store
in 1997.

You got out last year.
Now this.

I know what
it looks like.

Yeah, it looks like
you killed her.

Yeah, 'cause
her blood was on me.

Well, that,
and you being there

and then suddenly
not wanting to be there.

Sally Murdoch.

This girl had a job
at a news station.

This girl paid her taxes.

This girl had pretty
dresses in her closet.

Pretty smile on her face.

She was dead
when I got there.

Look, the place
was torn up.

I found her, I was holding her,
I heard those cops...

I know
what it looks like.

Yeah, but what were
you doing there, John?

What's a convict like you
doing in a pretty girl's loft?

You know you shouldn't
be there, right?

You're not supposed
to touch that stuff.

She wanted me there.

Where did you meet
a girl like this?

She wrote me
when I was in Atwater.

I wrote her back.

She just decided
to write you.

Yep.
You never met her before?

Nope.

I got out
a few months ago.

We started
seeing each other.

Look, I was at
the movies last night.

Anybody with you?

I was by myself.
I like to do that.

Okay, so this girl just decides she
has to write a convict, and picks you.

Lots of girls do it.

Lots of girls do it?

Lots of girls do it.

Can we talk outside
for a minute?

Mmm-hmm.

What?
You're one of them, huh?

Come on, John.

Those girls on the outside
send those letters.

You're that guy.
The one who writes back.

I posted my name.
She wrote me.

Looking for what, John?
Looking to save someone.

Looking to find the sensitive
soul inside the convict.

She liked you
on the page, John.

How'd she like you
in the bedroom?

I didn't kill her.

You write her every day?

Like she was
the one you needed?

Yeah.
The only one you needed?

But she wasrt,
was she?

How many others
were there?

One.

I only wrote
one other woman.

Every day?

Like she was the one
you needed?

Like she was the only one
you needed, huh?

You stop writing her
after you got out?

You ever go see her
after you got out?

No.

How'd she take that?

How the... do you think
she took it?

How do you know me? Hmm?

Because you're that guy.

Yeah.

Hey, John,
what's your handicap?

What?
Golf.

What's your handicap?

Three.

This guy?
Sally never mentioned this guy.

He said
they were together.

Well, if they were,
she never told anyone in the office.

Well, he said she wrote him
every day he was in prison.

And he killed her?

How long
did Sally work here, Sam?

Three years, now.

And what did she do?

Closed captioning
for the deaf.

You know, for when
you hit the mute button.

She's the one
that typed it in.

She was real good
at it, too.

And how well
did you know her?

I was her boss.

We'd have lunch.

Sally wasrt the kind of person
to get involved with a convict.

What kind of person
was she?

A nice person.

But now she's dead.

So, what's she like?

She's just
a regular detective.

Regular? How regular?

Regular.
Regular, regular.

Yes.
That's exactly what I mean.

Did they give
you a partner?

No. I'm working
on my own.

All right, great.

Well, anything
interesting?

Not really.

You know the Feds.
It's just a bunch of paperwork.

Paperwork?

Yeah.

Yeah, lots of it.

I should go.

Settling in?

Yeah, I checked out the movie
Flowers said he was at last night.

It played
when he said it did.

No staff remembers seeing him, so that
doesn't prove anything either way.

A search of Sally Murdoch and John Flowers'
place hasn't turned up any letters.

He still swears
they wrote each other.

Prisons keep track
of that?

Prisons barely keep track
of their prisoners.

We should...
Already done.

I located the other woman that
Flowers said he corresponded with.

Oh, and I got you this.

I think
that's how you like it.

It is. Five sugars.
How'd you know?

She likes to
be prepared.

I asked around and no one knew
what you liked. I guessed tea.

We should go.

Traffic's going to be
getting bad soon, so...

Not Reese.

Definitely not Reese.

Okay, at the crime scene,
you said that they were his screams.

You wrote down
what I said?

I write down
a lot of things.

Part of your plan?
Yes.

Why ask his handicap?

You write that down, too?

But you werert
even in the room.

I was watching
from the monitor.

And about you walking me
out of the room like that...

A very effective
technique.

I mean, do you
use that a lot or...

Okay, the screams
being his.

Maybe he came in after,
maybe they were just grief.

But why ask his handicap?

The jewelry store heist that
Flowers went away for... Mmm-hmm.

What job did he do
on that crew?

He broke open the safe.

Safecrackers typically have a
healthy respect for their tools.

A golfer, as good as he is,
does not...

Take a 3 iron
to someone's head.

And don't write down
what I say.

Do not write that down.

Look, I know
I'm not your partner.

Okay?

There's no organized
crime task force.

You brought me here
for this.

No, there is an organized
crime task force.

And this is part of it.

Okay. Where's your
father, Detective?

He left your mother,
took off.

That's what
the note said, yes?

We're not asking you
to be a rat, Detective.

Just a cop.

I know this is hard.

But there are some things
you need to believe.

Every day.
Five pages, ten pages.

For five years.

Thousands of pages.

Millions of his words
he poured up into me.

They went
right up into me.

I've never been filled
like that before.

What was it about him?

His need.

He was raw and hot.

His need for what?

To connect?

It filled me
all the way up.

It was like a wire
humming up inside of me.

And after he got out?

I assumed
he was strong.

He stopped writing.

He could
stand on his own.

But he wasrt
standing on his own.

He was standing
with her, Amy.

He wrote her, too.

Poured his words up into her.
Filled her up.

I knew he was with her.

You wanted him, too.

I wanted him
to be happy.

Is that
how you felt then?

A man does that to me,
I kneecap him or her.

I was angry.

But it was selfish.

It was just about me.

And I'm not angry now.

Amy? Is that
John up there?

Yes. It is.

You've made him
into a saint.

The lowest of us are.

Where were you
last night, Amy?

Here. With my Lord.

John didn't write or call
you after he was released.

How about after we arrested him?
He call you then?

No.

I guess
he didn't need me.

Thanks.

She'd do anything
for Flowers.

If Flowers didn't call her after
we arrested him, who did he call?

Okay, got it.

After we arrested Flowers, he made
a phone call, lasted six seconds.

Number belongs
to a Nina Fiske.

Did you get
Nina's address?

Yeah. This you
can write down.

I don't wanna die!

I'm not ready to die!

I don't want to die!

I'm not ready.
I'm not ready to die.

I don't wanna die!

I don't want to die!

We're taking a break.
And I'm having a piss.

This is a play
you've written?

Yes.

About prison?

It's about redemption.
It just takes place in prison.

Are there any jokes in it?
You should put some jokes in it.

You write
anything else, Nina?

Like what?

Like, letters
to John Flowers.

When he was in prison.

We know John called you, Nina,
after he got busted.

The call lasted
six seconds.

Someone hang up on somebody?
You hang up on him?

John and I wrote to each
other every day for years.

He gets out,
I never hear from him again.

Until he gets arrested.

He called me, he asked for my help,
and I hung up on him.

What about redemption?

This play's
not about John.

Where were you
last night?

I was here.
At rehearsal.

Which I need
to get back to.

I'll think about what you said.
About those jokes.

3 Women.
That's the name of your play?

Yes.

I know this story,
don't I?

Well, it's a true story.

Yeah.

Len Lyle Hix goes to prison for
20 years for killing three women.

Beats them to death
with a bat.

Those are the facts,
not the story.

The story's
about redemption?

Yeah, that's right.
Redemption.

Well, let's put John
back in the box,

find out why he never
mentioned Nina.

You get Flowers
back from county?

Little hitch with that.

When he got to county, our friend,
Flowers, asked for another phone call.

He called in his own transfer to
minimum security, hospital wing.

And then
he just walked away.

Escaped?

Nina,
Johrs gonna need support.

He reached out for you before,
and he's gonna do it again.

When John calls you,

that call's gotta last more than
six seconds, you understand me?

Yeah, I understand,
Detective.

Flowers wrote
all three women?

Yep.

Promised them
all the world?

Yep.

Women write you?

Yep.

You write them back?
No.

What's she doing?

Speed-reading.

Twelve pages a minute.
I counted.

Maybe she's a robot.

Have you seen her blink?
Robots don't blink.

Blinked.
Saw that.

Transcripts from
Flowers' trial.

I'll do a summary,
but I think you should see this.

Page 73,
paragraph four.

"Flowers' partner
pulled the heist.

"They get caught
10 hours later,

"but the diamonds
are never found."

And the dead girl's
apartment was torn up

like someone was looking
for something.

Where's Flowers'
partner now?

What's that smell?

Disinfectant.

Underneath it.

Need.

Never been in
one of these before.

Neither have I.

Need? I didn't think
need had a smell.

Honey Pot,
you ready for Papa Bear?

Cops.
I don't want cops.

Where's my Honey Pot?

This is my court-ordered conjugal
rights hour. Where's my Honey Pot?

Well, your hour's now
59 minutes long.

The faster you talk,
the faster we leave.

Or we can take it outside where
everybody'd see you talking to cops.

You know what?
Let's do that anyway.

I don't like
the smell in here.

Look, I just want
my Honey Pot.

John Flowers.

You pulled that
jewelry heist together.

He got out.
You're still in here.

I had a longer sentence.

Well, you shouldn't have broken that
cop's arm when they arrested you.

Yeah, I know that now.

You should have
gone easy like John.

I hear Johrs not so easy anymore,
is he?

Heard he killed a woman.

You hear where
he might happen to be?

No.

Those diamonds you stole,
any idea where they are?

You know,
a funny thing about those diamonds,

you see, I thought John had them,
he thought I had them.

That is funny.

This, though,
not so funny.

Flowers whack her?

Damn.

You know her.
How do you know her?

She wrote to me.
Like a lot of them other girls do.

You write back?

Just once
and that was it.

Not your type?
For two reasons.

One, she asked me
the wrong question.

Really?
And what would that be?

What was I thinking?

And number two,
she was too old.

Girl's gotta be half my age,
minus three years, tops.

Now I'm 40,
and I want my Honey Pot.

Honey Pot! Honey Pot!

Papa Bear.

Oh, ooh, pudding.

Well, I don't think Honey
Pot has a 15-year plan.

These girls
just write anybody?

No, they won't. But...

Sally Murdoch wrote
to the two men

that were involved
in that jewelry heist,

and now Sally Murdoch
is dead.

What's he doing?

Reading.

Slowly.

Very, very slowly.

Just so you know,

I'm not a robot.

Anything interesting
in there?

Our dead girl
is in here.

Well, that's impossible.
I read that transcript.

There's no mention of
Sally Murdoch in there.

Read the whole thing?

Read the last page?

Well, that's not
part of the trial.

It's just the signature page.
It's the judge, bailiff...

Court reporter.

Sally Murdoch,
court reporter.

She worked closed captioning at
that TV station for three years,

but before that...

Our victim was
the court reporter.

Our victim was
the court reporter.

John Flowers goes to trial
for a jewelry store heist

from which the diamonds
are never found.

Sally Murdoch,
the court reporter from that trial,

starts writing Flowers, and then he moves
in with her when he gets out of prison.

And then she gets
beaten to death.

Flowers beat her to death.

His blood, his prints,
his diamonds.

Well, I'll be damned.
She brought him in.

Didrt mention who Sally was last
time we were in this room, John.

No, I didn't.
Can you guess why?

It would look like she was
working you for the diamonds,

you found out about it,
and you killed her.

But I didn't.

When did you figure out Sally was
the court reporter at your trial?

We swapped a few letters.
She came to visit.

And I remembered her face.

From the trial.

Yeah, I looked at her.
A lot.

I...
Didrt want to be there?

Don't let this go
to trial, John.

Don't fight us.
Work with us.

Let's work together
on this, okay?

Work together?

You mean you want me to
say that I killed her?

Then we can help you.

Look, you did the right thing
letting Nina bring you in here.

Don't stop now.

Look, I knew Sally
was working me, okay?

I didn't care.

I don't know
where those diamonds are.

You
tell Sally that?

No, I didn't.

You don't have
the diamonds.

You don't tell Sally you
don't have the diamonds.

Why exactly is that?

Because...

I'm that guy.

Which guy is that, John?

The guy who does anything
to get by.

Who promised everything
to everybody.

Promised three women
the world.

And what about Sally?

I don't know where
those diamonds are.

But I did know
she'd keep looking.

So you knew
she'd never leave.

I loved her.

She was the face I looked
at when I was on trial.

So what's gonna
happen now?

They're gonna charge you with murder,
and they will find you guilty.

Evidence, motive,
your record.

You will be
found guilty, John,

and you will spend the rest
of your life in prison.

Is that true?

So she's working out?

Yeah, she's doing okay.

Well, don't forget
about me.

I won't.

So he killed her because she was
working him for the diamonds?

Yeah, looks like it.

You don't think so?

Crews?

Sometimes things are just
what they look like.

Right?

Yeah, Reese, sometimes things
are just what they look like.

I should
get back to work.

See you, Reese.

Yeah. See you, Crews.

What was Reese doing on that
boat with Rayborn, Charlie?

That's not the question.

What is
the question then?

What's she doing
at the FBI?

We're just asking
you to be a cop.

Amy from the church
wants to save his soul.

Sally, the court reporter,
wants his diamonds.

What does Nina want
from John Flowers?

You know, I don't think
I really understand this.

The three women that Len Lyle
Hix killed are all one woman.

Sometimes they're the guard,
sometimes they're his cellmate,

and sometimes...
Sometimes I think they're even Len Lyle.

But I'm not so sure about that
last part. It's confusing.

Take a look at this.
Come here.

So in the play,
your character's in the electric chair?

That's right.
Old sparky.

But of course, you yourself were
never in the electric chair.

Not my body.

My soul, man.

In that chair.
Every day. Ready to die.

Now watch this.
Here's my favorite part.

How did you two meet?

I wrote to Len Lyle.

And I wrote back.

And she wrote
to the parole board.

Yes, I did.

It had become clear

that Len Lyle was not the man
that went to prison 20 years ago.

She's a

real good writer, man.

How come he's not
saying anything?

He's communing.

Commuting?

Communing.
With death.

Oh.

Okay. Thanks.

Who is he now?

The three dead girls
or the killer?

He's all four
of them.

And the guard, too?

Yes. And the guard, too.

So hard to understand.

You gotta watch it
more than once.

What kind of bat did you use
when you did those three girls?

It doesn't say
in the program.

Oh.

You're that cop.

I have a question.

Now, if you don't have a bat,
can you use a 3 iron?

Let's take it outside.

What would be
the fun in that?

Excuse me.

Excuse me. I'm sorry to
interrupt the program, everyone.

Although, I think
we know how it ends.

But we have a very special
guest with us tonight.

Another sweet product
of a sour system.

Ladies and gentlemen,
Charlie Crews.

Looks like
your work, Len Lyle.

Imitation. Flattery.
You know.

Poor girl. You say
a 3 iron did that?

Where were you
last night?

Publicity tour. Oakland.

You having a good time?

I'm having a great time.

How about you?

So what do you think?

I think Len Lyle Hix does not have
a healthy respect for his tools.

You think Len Lyle
was after the diamonds?

You think, he finds out
about it from Nina

and then
goes after Sally?

'Cause those three girls that
Len Lyle killed with that bat,

he stole a total,
of like, $43 off them.

Those diamonds were
probably really tempting.

What do you think?

I think we should think about
what Len Lyle was thinking about.

Mmm-hmm.

He's thinking, "Did Sally work alone?
Or did she have a partner?

"Now, if she had a partner, maybe
I want to talk to that person too."

A partner.

Okay. Okay.

Sally was writing John Flowers
letters for just about three years.

Sally also worked at that news
station for just about three years.

Mmm-hmm.

I can drive if you want.

No, it's okay.

I'm a good driver.

I'm sure you are.

Okay. How good are you?

Stock car open wheel.

A guy I used to date
kind of won the Indy 500.

Taught me a few things.
Yeah.

15-year plan
to be mayor?

I have your vote?

I'll think about it.

You drive.

You know, we can talk here or
back down at the police station.

But I told you
everything I know.

If it's the station,
just so you know,

we put you in the car,
we turn the light on,

people see, your boss finds out,
it goes in your file.

Maybe I should
talk to a lawyer.

I'm a lawyer.
So you're talking to one right now.

Let's get in the car.

Okay. Okay.

Sally told me about the trial
and about the diamonds.

We had done a story about
women who write men in prison.

I told her to write the guy and see if
she could find out where the diamonds are.

I told her that she should turn them in,
if she found them,

for the reward.

The reward.
Well, good for you, Sam.

You know what's a better
reward than money?

Doing good.
You know why?

Because when you do good,
you feel good.

When you do bad,
you feel bad.

This guy right here,
he feels bad a lot.

I don't know him.

He didn't come around
asking about the diamonds?

He's a pretty
scary-Iooking guy.

Maybe he sent someone else
to ask his questions.

You ever see her?

Her, I know.
She's that writer.

Which writer is that?

She was writing a play
about the news.

She wanted to do
some research.

Did she talk to you?

A little bit.
She talk to Sally?

Sally tell you
what they talked about?

No, she didn't.
Can I go?

They did it together.

Len Lyle kills Sally...

And Nina gets John Flowers
to turn himself in.

Why'd she turn him in?

John Flowers.

Why did Nina
turn him in?

Because you asked her to.

Come on, Len.
Why'd she turn him in?

It was the right thing
to do.

You want me to sign one
of these plays for you?

Some girls love it.

We got surveillance cameras by
the elevators back at the station.

We got tape of Nina,
in the lobby,

leaving after
she turned him in.

She looked happy.
Big smile.

Like I said,
she did the right thing.

Send him back
where he belongs.

Well, you can't have killers
roaming the streets

all willy-nilly like,
can you?

Or Nina turned him in,
and he goes down for a killing you did.

Any who.

That picture
you showed me,

the dead girl.

If I do it again,

there won't be enough left
for a photo like that.

You having a good time?

Sure am. Arert you?

Well, Len Lyle's
alibi checks out.

He was in Oakland during
the time of the killing.

You think Nina could
have done that killing?

Nina seem like the kind of woman
who'd kill to get those diamonds?

No, not the diamonds.

These surveillance photos we have
of her leaving the station...

Why was she smiling?

Because she got what she wanted.
Except for the diamonds.

Nina wasrt looking for diamonds.
She was looking for Sally.

Looking for the letters
that Flowers sent Sally.

See what
he promised her.

So Nina comes in here.
She's looking for the letters.

Sally catches her,
gets out of hand.

Nina wants
John Flowers back.

Only one way to make that happen.
She kills Sally.

And Flowers
calls her for help.

He calls her again
when he escapes.

And she brings him
right to us.

Her rehearsal alibi's soft.

Theater's dark. She could come and go,
and no one would ever see her.

What did she do
after that?

After Nina kills Sally?

She sneaks back
to rehearsal.

No. What does she do
after that?

Why'd you turn John in?

'Cause it was
the right thing to do?

Put him back
where he belongs?

Yes.

On the other end
of those letters?

Where he needs you?

Len Lyle Hix doesn't need you,
does he?

'Cause Len Lyle Hix
is a star.

And, Flowers,
he was with another woman.

The woman dies,
and John goes back to prison.

Then he needs you.

John killed that woman.

No, you did.

And what did you do after?

How'd you deal with it?
Taking a life?

All your life,
writing to criminals,

writing about criminals,

just writing.

You killed that woman...
I did not.

She's there,
and then she's not there.

Her blood, it should be in her body,
but it's not.

It's on you.

Was not.

It's still on you,
what happened, what you did.

Always on you.

You can feel it.

But how do you
deal with it?

You write it down,
don't you?

You have to write it down.

Best thing
you ever wrote?

Let me read it now, Nina.

So where are
the diamonds?

Honey Pot?

Oh, yeah.

Whoa!

Nice belly ring.

Can I ask
where you got that?

Didrt I tell you never to wear
them out in public? Didrt I?

Well, what's the point of having
them if I can't wear them?

Right?

Right.

Right.

Our recent guest, Len Lyle Hix,
finds himself back in prison

for an apparently
unprovoked attack

on a Los Angeles
police detective.

Los Angeles
police detective?

The altercation occurred at a
performance of the play, 3 Women,

which is based on Len Lyle's crimes,
time in prison,

and until now,
apparent rehabilitation.

Here to talk about
repeat offenders...

Agent Bodner?

This is Charlie Crews.

You still have
that bullet I gave you?