Truth Be Told (2019–…): Season 1, Episode 3 - Even Salt Looks Like Sugar - full transcript

In the Old Testament,
it's called the "Akedah."

God asks Abraham to sacrifice his
son, Isaac, to prove his faith.

And Abraham does it without a peep.

That is, until an angel of
the Lord stays his hand.

Abraham has passed his
test, and he is rewarded,

becoming the father of a nation.

Owen Cave faced his own Akedah,

proving his faith in the
lawby sacrificing his son.

Which memberof the Menlo
Park Police Department

first identified your
sonas the main suspect?

I did.



And, like Abraham,
Owen passed his test and was rewarded.

In his case, rising to the highest
officeto lead his department.

Eighteen years, ten months, 24 days.

That's how long Warren Cave has satin
prison for the murder of Chuck Buhrman.

But has the right Cavebeen
serving that time?

Did Warren Cave come to believe

that maybe his father's
Akedahwasn't just a test?

Was he a sacrificefor
the sins of his father?

That's not Niecey, is it? Your grandbaby?

You've seen her more than her father.
Ain't that a bitch?

You listen to your grandmother, okay?

Don't wanna end up in herelike your daddy.

All right now.

Next.



Poppy Parnell. To see Warren Cave.

You don't have clearance.

- Check again, please.
P-A-R-N... It's plain as day, ma'am.

You no longer have
authorizationto visit this inmate

or any other inmate in this facility.

What?

- On whose authority?-Not my department.

- Next.-Can I leave a message?

No.

Look, I'm just trying to...

I know what you're trying to do.
I don't give a shit.

And your white boy got shanked.

Step aside, please. Next.

Where's Officer Hill?

Somewhere else.

The warden doesn't want you tryingto
stay here longer than you have to.

You're out on Saturday.

I'm obligated to tell you we can releaseyou
into protective custody or gen pop.

- Gen pop.-

You wouldn't last a day.

That podcastmade you the homecoming queen.

Gen pop.

Sooner the better.

Got it. It's your death warrant.

Heard some reporter's
crusading for you.

Do you really thinkyou getting out of here?

I used to think that.

Pine box, my next home.

I'm getting out,
but I'm never leaving these grounds.

You ain't either.

- Hey, Ingram,
I need your help.-What do you need?

- Thank you.-Mm-hmm.

Hmm.

- Good afternoon.-Coffee?

I was denied access to Warren
Caveat Quentin this morning.

I need adviceon how to
get back in to see him.

Did they give you a reason why?

- No. He was in the infirmary, but... Why?

He was shanked by another prisoner.

- "Shanked"?-Stabbed.

But that wasn't the reason for
the denialas far as I can tell.

Do I have any legal recourse?

No.

Does the inmate's defense
attorneyhave any objection

to you continuing to see the defendant?

He doesn't have one.

Well, his attorney could designate youas
an investigator for the defense team,

therefore allowing youcontinued
access to the client.

Would that work?

We can look into it.

It's not like Ingramto
stonewall me like that.

At least that pretty young
thing of hishad some good ideas.

Her little slipup is useless though.

It would take days to get to Warren likethat,
and he's already been attacked once.

Is there anyone you can check withto
at least find out if he's safe?

Not at Quentin.

I'm pretty sure Owen
Cavetook away my clearance.

What are you gonna do?

There are zero degrees of
separationbetween the streets and prison.

Drugs, phones, information.

Penitentiary walls stop nothing.

What?

I always forget this side of you.

It's always there just below the surface.

Would your father help you with this?

Oh. Not in a million and one years.

There's a guy he used to tradefavors with.
A biker named Jerbic.

Daddy did a ton of business
with himback in the day.

Hey.

-Let me ask you something.-Mm-hmm.

What the hell are you doing?

Is that how you start conversations?

Where you at, Pop?

Heading over the bridgeto
handle some business.

Yeah. On Foothill Boulevard.
And don't lie. 'Cause Noa called me.

I've been in worse places before.

I'll be fine, Markus.

Why are you playing death wish
oversomething you don't even know is true?

I know.

Only two people know,
and one of them is dead.

- Listen.-No, you listen.

All this you're doingtells me
you ain't telling me the truth

about a whole lot of shit.

You know how I know?

Because I used to be a cop,
and I used to be your man.

What the...

I need to see Jerbic.

I'm Shreve's daughter.

Desiree?

Poppy. His oldest.

Let her in.

Thank you.

So you came in here
aloneto parley on a hunch?

I gambled that the history betweenyou
and my father would mean something.

Oh, based on what?

Well, you're one and the same. Outlaws.

Different color though.

Hmm.

Remember when yougot out of Quentin in '84?

My father rode by your
sidewith all of the Capstones.

Oakland remembers that shit.
The world remembers that shit.

Mm-hmm.

Two hundred motorcyclesclogging
the highway.

Black motorcycle captain riding with you.

Remember you waved to meat
the back of that Monte Carlo

when you gunned itto the front of the line.

Oh, shit.

Why didn't Shreve hook this up?

Because the man I'm trying
to helpis Brotherhood.

Journalism makes strange bedfellows.

I'm trying to help someone whose
lifemay be in danger because of me.

I need to get a message to him...
with your help.

- Hey, Herbie.-Hey, Poppy. You drinking?

Mm-hmm.

We keep this bottle hereespecially for you.

- I don't remember
that kid.- God.

You remember.
The boy was slim as a whisper.

Anyway, he's up on the roof whenhe
hears the gunshots, pow, pow, pow.

So he starts shimmying
upto the drainpipe, right?

By the time the shit had stopped,

he had wedged himself so far upunder
the thing he couldn't get out.

We could not find his ass.
He was afraid to holler.

His old lady was the one who found him.

Then waltzed him in here talkin' about

we need to break him offa
little more of the take.

- Shh.-You know what? We did too.

--Keep her ass quiet.

Hey, Daddy.

Hey, sweetheart.
Did you come to see your sisters?

Nope, I thought I'd come to see you.

Coming to mass this Sunday?

- Yup.-Ingram?

- Hey,
Daddy.- Oh, look at you.

Hey! Lookit here. I don't drop
nothingbut pretty babies.

- What y'all talking about?-Mmm.
Glory days.

Oh, "Story of a Rebel" number 596?

You don't believe people used
to quakewhen they heard my name?

- Oh, they still do.-There.

See? That's what's up.

So what happened to the fool on the roof?

He got killed in a shoot-outwith
the police about a year later.

Whole club drove out to the funeral.

Had East 14th shut down for ten miles.

--Who's that?

Here we go.

- Hello?- Jerbic
told me to call you.

Excuse me, Daddy.

I tried to visit you today,
and they told me you were attacked.

Look, I don't have much time.

I only have one question.

Did you know about your mother's
affairwith Chuck Buhrman?

That's enough.

Yes.

How?

I saw them together.

I love you.

Melanie.

Did anyone else know about it?

My father.

Owen knew? Are you sure?

He knew for months.

Before the murder?

Yeah.

How do you know?

I told him.

What are you doing here?

Why did you lie?

- What are you talking about?-Your
affair with Chuck Buhrman.

Did Owen know about the affair?

Of course not.

Isn't that the whole point,
keeping it from your spouses?

Owen had a rock-solid alibi,
if that's where you're headed.

Did anyone else know?

Erin suspected, but she suspectedany
woman that came into Chuck's orbit.

You believed Erin's alibi?

Anyone who knew Erinbelieved Erin's alibi.

What would have been more unbelievable

would be if she hadn't
passed out drunkfor a night.

Mom?

Oh.

What?

Hey, you got a minute?

Hell no.

- What if I apologize?-That's
not good enough.

- That was some foul
shit you pulled.-Markus.

No. Going to that club,
hanging up on me like that.

You think you got the right to
actany old kind of way with me?

- Look, Owen knew about the
affair.-Hey, I don't give a shit.

- Keep the change.-Thank you, sir.

Well, that's motive.
No matter what you think.

Apologize.

-Bye, Poppy.-I'm sorry.

Oh, yeah? What for?

For hanging upwhen you were
just trying to help out.

And?

Well, I'm not gonna
apologizefor pursuing a lead,

so you can just let that go.

I've been doing this for 20 yearsand
in worse places than I was last night.

Warren confirmed that
Owen knewabout the affair.

Yeah, but you're still ignoring the
factthat he has an alibi, a rock-solid one.

He was on duty that night.
He couldn't have done it.

- Could someone have covered
for him?-Listen to me.

First rule of investigation is you do
notget emotionally attached to the outcome.

That's what turns cops into sloppy cops.

Well, just because he was on dutydoesn't
mean he couldn't have done it.

Let me tell you something.

You cannot will him to be a suspect, Poppy.

You understand that?

This is your golden opportunity to
say, "I told you so."

How many of those do you thinkyou're
gonna get in this lifetime?

All right. All right, I'm on it.

But the next time you hang up on
me, we're gonna have...

--Hello?

So who told you?

All that matters is it wasn't you.

Why would I call you?

Because my sister died.

Because you were in the car, apparently.

Because of that bullshit podcast about us.

So you know about that.

About the podcast about my dead husband?
Yeah, someone thought to mention it to me.

So is that why you're here?

Because I haven't seen you

since you showed up shit-facedat the
hospital when my daughter was born,

so I know you're not here to pay respects.

All right, you got me, baby.

I'm not here for the podcast,
I'm not here for the funeral,

I'm here for what's mine.

Susan took the house we grew up in.

She took my daughter, she took my
life, and I want it all back.

Yeah, you want me back?

Let's just start with the house.

You're such a bitch.

Yeah, well,
where do you think you got it from?

Oh, believe me,
I know exactly where I got it from.

Yup, that's why your sister left you.

Just took off.
Couldn't stand one more day of you.

Hey, Armand.

What's up, man?

Hey. Hey, hey, hey! Hold on, man.

I see you're still
hitting upthe two for two.

Guess we're all creatures of habit, right?

It was one drink.

You know it's a slippery slope, man.

What do you need, Markus?

Look, I'm still trying to get
my handson those call logs.

I can't help you.

Cave is the chief of police.

- All I need you to do... You're
not a cop anymore, remember?

Stop trying to trade off it.

You were asleepwhen I got home last night.

And gone before you woke up this morning.

- You wanna do this now or
later?-Why did you lie yesterday?

I was managing your expectations.
All I could do... Where are you going?

You were trying to cut me off.

- Step carefully.-Oh. "Step..."

Daddy, Lil, is everything okay?

What'd you need the Red Saints for?

For a story I'm doing.

For that silly-ass radio show?

What story?

I needed to get to someone on the inside.

So you traded on my name?

There's no hiding from me.

- I wasn't trying to
hide... Jerbic is a piece of shit.

I haven't dealt with him in over a decade.

- I didn't know that.-Of course you didn't.

'Cause this ain't your world anymore.

- What's going on?-You
know what Jerbic did?

He called me, happy as shit.
You know what he said?

"Your daughter cashed inone of your chips."

I don't like owing motherfuckers. Hear me?

What you do out here costs me.

Whatever your last name is now,
when you in the Bay, you a Scoville.

You need to act like you know that.

- That's enough. She hears you.-Oh,
now it's enough. Where you been?

Letting your wife run aroundlike
she ain't got no sense.

Old man, this is my house.

I didn't realizethat I
overstepped my bounds.

Why didn't you ask me?

White boy then?

AB.

You are stepping in some shityou
got no business being around.

And I never heard, "I'm sorry."

I made an appointmentwith
a Realtor for tomorrow.

But realistically,
when can we sell this place?

We just have to clean it out.

That's not possible.

What do you mean?

Have either of you spoken to Josie?

No.

Josie's the executor.

The title can only be transferred to her.

What if she's dead?

Then there are steps we
would takewith the state.

But that would obviously require proof.

Have you spoken to her?

- Excuse me?-Have you talked to Josie?

I represent Susan Carver's estate.

That's all I'm at libertyto
disclose to you at this time.

I couldn't get a single thing done today.

All I could think about was Shreve and Lil

rolling into my houselike Bonnie and Clyde.

I'm praying.

I'm sorry about Daddy and Lil,
but this is not the place.

Why are you sorry? Tell me.

Hmm? Are you sorrybecause you were caught?

Are you sorry because you're tryingto
free a man who is Aryan Brotherhood?

Are you sorrybecause you're
just telling me about it?

Do you wanna listen or do you wanna fight?

Fight! I wanna fight!

From what I've seen, fighting is
the thingthat works in your family!

Okay, we should talkwhen
we both have calmed down.

- Whoa, whoa. Both?
Are you serious?-Yes, dead serious.

Did you lie to mein
front of your colleagues?

You know what? Yes. I did.
The man was shanked.

So sue me for trying to
protectmy wife from a situation...

I wasn't in danger.
I grew up in and out of places like that.

This fancy shit's what's new to me.

Oh, okay. Okay.

Even your father told you to stop.

Suddenly you and Daddyare on the same page?

- I understand where he's coming
from.-Where exactly is that?

Because this is what I've always done!
This is who I have always been!

This is my job!

And nobody understands that more than me!

Look.

There is out there and there is in here.

They need to be worlds apart.

You're right.

I hear what you're saying, okay? I'm sorry.

I'm sorry.

But that is my "in here."

And we can fight anywhere
elsein this house but there.

If we can agree on that, then cool.

Cool.

Come on, pass the rock.
Come on, what you doing?

All right, J. We got a mouse in the
house, J. Mouse in the house.

That's what I'm talking about.
Been waiting for him to do that all day.

Let's go.

- Creatures of habit.-Mm-hmm.

I listened to that podcast.

I don't wanna be on the wrong sideof
history when all this shakes down.

- And what I said before
about... Hey, hey, hey.

Forget about that. All right?

We good.

My man.

--Hey.

You good?

Yeah, fine.

Hmm. Question for you.

Should I ask for an
advanceon the book deal now

or lobby for points on the back end?

What did you find?

'Cause, you know, the job is all
right, but it's not that all right.

- Stop. What did you find?-

All right, all right.
Owen's alibi is fishy.

He wasn't on duty.

Oh, no, no, no. He was. All night.

-But...-You motherfucker.

One of his callswas a
disturbing the peace call.

And?

Look, he took the call at 3:30 a.m.

And he didn't show upto
his next call until 4:44.

That was in the windowof
when Chuck was murdered.

If you were to ask a humble man,
such as myself, he would tell you

there's no way in hell a disturbingthe
peace call should take 74 minutes.

Something's off.

I knew it. I knew it. Thank you.

You're welcome, Poppy.

I knew it.

Hi.

I know that you are in contact with Josie,

and I was just wonderingif
you would give this to her.

Please.

I'm not asking youto betray
attorney-client privilege.

Please.

Thank you.

This is me leaving.
Not asking for anything else.

Boundaries.

Oh, my God.

How did you find me?

Uh, Josie.

Josie, Josie.

Josie.

Basketball fantasy camp?

Missing two daysat a
Palo Alto private school

is like missing a month anywhere else.

I promise I won't fall behind.

Come on, Alana.

Give the kid a special
memorywith his old man. Hmm?

Hey, you speak to your teachers.

And you get every assignmentahead of time.

- Yes.-I can't believe this.

Come on, baby. Yeah!

- Chief Cave.-What the
hell are you doing here?

You came to my house,
so I thought I'd pay you a visit.

Dad, breakfast.

I'll be right there, son.

Son? A spare. Hmm.

What are you doing here?

- -
I saw them together.

Did anyone
else know about it?

My father.

Owen knew? Are you sure?

He knew for months.

Before the murder?

Yeah.

How do you know?

I told him.

- What do you want?-You on my podcast.

- You don't need me.-Oh, but I want you.

You have the trial transcripts,
you have the police record...

You had motive, you had opportunity.

Now I'm giving you the
opportunityto explain yourself...

You cannot play that,
and you cannot use my name.

Oh, you watch.

- You're on a very hazardous road.-For who?

You. And let's be clear about that.

- This is dangerous for
you.-Are you threatening me?

No. I'm telling you.
You've crossed a line, and you'll pay.

That's a promise.

- Don't start no shit, won't be
no shit.-I'll take another fugazi.

Come on, that's what I'm saying.
It was the same Blue

that came up from LAbefore he went to 'Nam.

No, that's a different Blue.

I'm talking about the Bluefrom
Arkansas who had that Lincoln.

Lincoln? It was a Coupe de Ville.
Come on, brother.

Oh, hell no.

Hey, what-what is going on?

This is a summons for Shreve
Scovilleto appear in 30 days.

We've included a list of violations.

Hey, whoa, whoa. I'm taking care of this.

Didn't you talk to
Lancebefore you came in here?

This isn't Lance's jurisdiction.

Complaints were made. We pulled paperwork.

You got a litany of violations fromfaulty
wiring to derelict liquor license.

- You know you didn't have to run
in here.-Don't step toward him.

- Hey. Hey! That's my wife.-What the fuck?

The Whisper Lounge and that kale
factorydown the street never comply with...

Ma'am, if you continueto be
aggressive, I will cite you...

"Aggressive" is you coming in
hereacting like it's a raid

when you need to hand over some paperwork.

Cydie Scoville?

Yeah?

Cydie Scoville, you're under arrest.

What? For what?

What are you talking about?
What are you doing?

- Take it easy.-Daddy.

- Let's go.-Cydie,
we'll fix this. Just stay calm.

- Can we know what's going on?-She
has an outstanding warrant.

For traffic tickets. OPD don't
evenrespond to grand theft auto anymore.

Since when are you
enforcingmisdemeanor warrants?

Where's your other daughter, the reporter?

'Cause we were hoping she would be here.

Tell her Owen Cave sends his best.

- Let's go.-

Put your feet on the red line.
I'm gonna pat you down.

Spread your legs.

And stick your left handon the wall for me.

Put your right hand on the wall.

Take a seat on the bench, please.

Six rings?

Please remove your lashes.

And your makeup.

We need another bag for the wig.

I'm gonna have youwipe
your hands together for me.

Go ahead and take a step up.
Let me see your right thumb.

Do me a favor. Take a step to the left.

And fingers together just like this.

Yo,
Officer, it's a bail hearing.

Yeah. Don't cry, muffin!

Take this form.
Have a seat and we'll process her out.

Did you pay?

We did.

She should be out in a minute.

Mm-hmm.

- You should've called me.-Why?
Ingram's the lawyer.

And we called who we meant to call.

Oh, my God.

Cydie.

Daddy, my hair.

Come here, baby.

What the fuck did you do?

Nothing, Daddy.

You ain't been back but a
minuteand already going to Jerbic.

They raided my bar.

And your sister...

Come here.

- That cop did this.-What?

That cop, Cave. He did this because of you.

- You don't know that, Daddy.-The
one who arrested Cydie told me so.

- I don't know why he would...

- What are you doing?-Everything
you leave out is a lie.

- Get your goddamn hands off my wife.-
Hey, don't talk to him like that.

- Babe.-What is wrong with you?

- Come on, babe.-What is wrong with you?

- Come on, babe. Come on, baby.-All of you!

In the time since I initially
recordedthe opening of this episode,

things have changed.

If I'm honest...

the pursuit of this
podcastis not fueled solely

by the guilt that I may have helpedput
Warren Cave in prison unjustly.

It ain't nothing, baby. She'll be...

I realize now that I identify with Warren.

Yo, Shreve!

Because I've been sacrificed myself.

Don't cry. You hear me?

Nobody cares abouta
little black girl's tears.

I know what it feels
liketo lie on that altar

and see that knife raised up

and wonder if you're being
sacrificedfor some higher good

or if you're just a casualtyof
someone else's ambition.

I survived.

Warren survived.

But even if you survive,

even if you get downoff that altar alive...

you are never the same again.

Hey, buddy.

Wondered if you'd be
backnow that you're famous.

I thought they'd
have your ass protected.

I ain't a pussy.

Man, you should see this shit.

You're gonna give that shit back, right?

People need to see you step up.

The people will get their show.