♪ You have my heart ♪
♪ And we'll never be worlds apart ♪
♪ May be in magazines ♪
♪ But you'll still be my star ♪
♪ Baby 'cause in the dark.. ♪
Stole the woman of my dreams, Dave.
I ever tell you that, Brenda?
What? What's it matter now? I said it.
Anyway, Brenda and Dave giving the rest of us idiots hope.
♪ When the sun shines we'll shine together ♪
♪ Told you I'll be here forever ♪
♪ Said I'll always be a friend ♪
Say something nice?
David turned me down
even after I took my clothes off.
But we've all grown up, right?
[male #1] 'Bren, your turn.'
'Say something to you and Dave 30 years from now'
'when you're old and shriveled'
'and watching this on your craftmatic adjustable bed.'
[laughs]
♪ Ella eh eh eh ♪
Hey, you and me, um, 30 years from now.
I guess..
...maybe I'll think I'm crazy for saying this
but I can't wait until we're old...and happy
and grandchildren piled around us
on our craftmatic adjustable bed.
[man #2] 'Listen up!'
Who's the Einstein that left their lights on?
"Volvo, G-3-D-7-L-3-B."
Oh, that's me. Uh, babe.
Give me your keys. I'll go.
I forgot something in the car anyway.
A surprise.
Ugh, no more surprises, please.
No, this is a good one
so you don't have to tell the proposal story all night.
As long as you're not running out on me.
Prevailing wisdom is that I don't deserve you.
You don't.
♪ Took an oath I'ma stick it out to the end ♪
♪ Now that it's raining more than ever ♪
♪ Know that we'll still have each other ♪
♪ You can stand under my umbrella ♪
Brenda! Brenda!
There's no way she'd just disappear.
She probably went to get something.
If she went somewhere, she would have taken her car.
Brenda!
[breathing heavily]
What is that?
No.
[instrumental music]
I really don't remember
but if you say I was there, I guess I was.
'Her fiance must be real broken up.'
Bet he misses her.
Ted Huffard, deputy sheriff
'in Ripley, West Virginia, sent it.'
Pulled him over for an illegal turn
finds the plates in the trunk.
Car is not only stolen.
- It's in felony vehicle status. - What for?
Seen leaving a restaurant parking lot in Chestnut Hill
the night Brenda MacDowell was abducted.
'August 12, '07.'
Car's a late-model gold Honda Accord.
Driver's side dent.
Reported stolen in Grays Ferry
two days before Brenda disappears.
[Rush] 'Hmm, the night of her engagement party'
'a guy lures her out of the restaurant'
by turning on her Volvo's headlights
then calls the plates into the restaurant.
Smart trick.
[Stillman] 'Presumed homicide.'
'Investigation never turned up the body.'
Looks like a happy girl.
There's a ribbon bouquet found at the scene, lots of blood.
No matches, not even hers.
- Till now. - DNA matched this guy's?
Huffard offered him a cigarette
got a match off his saliva.
[Rush] 'His blood.'
So she fought back.
Lot of good it did her.
This nutjob got a name?
[Stillman] 'He calls himself John Smith'
'but the number on the Florida license'
he was carrying doesn't exist.
No match on the prints and DNA's not in CODIS.
More like a John Doe.
We need a body and a confession
before he gets to Philly and lawyers up.
Tonight.
Who's gonna take the ride?
Toni's making casserole.
You gonna play the casserole card again?
I'll go.
I'm gonna need you on call, Nick, in case we get anything.
Chasing a bag of bones, boss.
Tell that to her fiance.
[instrumental music]
You found Brenda?
[Stillman] 'You know him?'
No, if I did, I'd kill him myself.
Could be the guy who reads your meter
or the grocery store clerk.
I've never seen him before in my life.
Well, thanks for taking a look, David.
We'll keep you posted.
You know, everyone keeps telling me I need to, uh, move on.
But how am I supposed to do that?
I need you to find her this time.
I need to bury her.
See what we can do.
[Stillman] 'I'll walk you out.'
Take a ride?
West Virginia is more than a ride.
You're talking all night here.
You got something else going on?
Was planning on washing my hair, actually.
[chuckles]
Still having trouble sleeping, huh?
Look, you coming or not?
- Yeah. But I'm driving. - Then let's go.
John Smith's waiting.
[instrumental music]
[theme music]
Folks drive all night, did you?
It was about four hours.
From Philly, that's flying.
Well, my partner's got a lead foot.
Judge took care of the extradition papers.
Hope y'all have better luck getting a body out of him.
Plan on taking our time getting back.
Give us a chance to talk.
He's polite, good manners.
Wouldn't have picked him out of a crowd.
He was going nuts in his cell, so I put him over here instead.
'Get up now, John.'
'Detectives Rush and Valens taking you back to Philly.'
- Man said get up. - 'Sorry.'
Alright. Things make it hard to stand.
Not meant to be comfortable.
I never met a female detective.
Certainly hope they appreciate everything you've given up
to do what you do.
[instrumental music]
You got a real name or we part of this John Smith charade?
You want to talk to me.
Blood, DNA. Already got enough to put you away.
Don't need you saying jack.
Then why are we taking the scenic route
unless you want to find her body?
Need to give you a chance to help yourself, cooperate.
We'll talk to the DA, see what we can do.
You a Kenso? You sound like you're from Kensington.
Port Richmond maybe.
I'll ask the questions.
Kensington.
There's no place to stop for food this way, bathroom.
Guess you'll have to hold it.
Your perfume.
It's flowery.
Not what I'd expect from someone in your position.
Don't wear it.
Cologne then.
It's aftershave.
There's nothing flowery about it.
So how'd you do it, John?
Taking a child's one thing.
Woman like Brenda would have screamed.
You see the world in a certain way
the way you want it to work. You don't know that.
Are you saying you two had some kind of relationship?
I'm saying sometimes the pieces of the puzzle don't fit.
'Cause she fought back.
'Your blood at the scene.'
You get your ass handed to you by a woman, Johnny boy?
I'm not the guy you look at and think rapist.
'I'm more like the guy you see at the dentist's office.'
No reason to fight me.
So you wanted to be important, stand out.
'Cause women like Brenda don't notice losers like you.
A well-mannered woman like that?
She notices. All you got to do is ask.
♪ I remember when I remember I remember when I lost my mind ♪
♪ There was something so pleasant about that place ♪
♪ Even your emotions had an echo in so much space ♪
Excuse me. Sorry, over here.
I pick up take-out for my wife.
She's six months along, craving chili fries
and my car won't start.
Murphy's Law, right?
Uh, do you mind if I use your cell phone to call AAA?
Mine just died.
You can use the phone inside.
Hey, Brenda MacDowell, right? I'm John Smith.
We ran the marathon for Hart-Fitzgerald together.
You're at the firm?
A paralegal, getting my degree at night.
Right. John Smith.
Hey, don't worry about it. I work in the basement.
You're in litigation, right?
Didn't think that WestTech case was winnable.
Thanks.
♪ But think twice ♪
If you could, um, you know, hurry.
That party in there is for me.
- I'm getting married. - Oh, congratulations.
Best decision I ever made.
Hi, John Smith again. We got cut off.
Right, '96 Accord.
Do you mind giving it a try?
I might have done the trick there.
♪ ...you're in control ♪
♪ Well I think you're crazy ♪
♪ I think you're crazy ♪
[engine starts]
Hey.
Hey, it worked.
Real stunt you pulled there at the end of the marathon.
Never seen a girl so pleased with her damn self.
[muffled groaning]
[intense music]
Just gave us abduction, brain trust.
Well, don't say I never gave you anything.
[Rush] 'Oh, impressive, John.'
'Any ape can hold a gun.'
You talked to her, roped her in.
You got her when she least expected it
in some parking lot going to turn off her lights.
[Rush] 'She saw the world a certain way.'
The way she wanted it to work.
Makes a person weak, vulnerable.
And that's how you work. Finding their soft spot.
Kind of like you, detective.
Well, read me well. Just like you read her.
- You a runner, John? - No.
What were you doing at the marathon?
Not a paralegal, are you, John?
[crowd cheering]
[Jefferies] 'No John Smith at your fiance's law firm'
nobody who matches his description.
We think he was stalking her.
Following her routine, knew where she worked.
We ran the marathon together last year.
You see anyone suspicious?
Showing a real interest in Brenda there?
No.
I just had eyes for her.
[Brenda] 'Oh! We did it!'
[David] 'We...did it.'
[panting] What's our time?
[David] 'Four hours, 23 minutes, and 13 seconds.'
[Brenda] 'So, if I ever had any doubts'
about what we're capable of doing...together..
[Brenda panting]
...I mean, everything in front of us.
[David] 'Are you.. Bren!'
Will you..
'...marry me?'
[David] 'I-I'm supposed to ask! I was gonna ask you!'
- So, is that-- - 'Yes! Yes! Let's get married!'
[both laughing]
We'll have to check that footage, David.
Give you a few minutes.
You meet a lot of people like me, don't you?
Does it ever get any easier?
I'll be outside when you're finished.
[instrumental music]
[female #1] 'You can do it, Brenda. That's it!'
[male #2] 'You okay, honey? You alright?'
I'm okay.
'You scraped your knee.'
[Brenda] 'I can do it, daddy.'
I wanna try again.
♪ Ooo oo-oo ooo oo-oo ♪
♪ Ooo.. ♪
'Go, sweetie! Go, Brenda!'
Never let go, do they? Ones that don't get the bodies.
♪ Oo oo-oo.. ♪
Vera found the owner of that gold Honda.
Okay.
Draggin' my ass out of bed in middle of the night
and for what?
I reported that car stolen eight months ago.
We need your help finding the man who took it.
Have you seen this guy?
He the SOB who got me my parking tickets?
- Parking tickets? - Four of 'em since it's stolen.
Newark, all of 'em.
Parking guy got the VIN number through the windshield.
Same cross streets on all four.
He's going back to the same place
staying long enough to get ticketed.
- His neighborhood? - Or where he dumped the body.
Thank you, Mrs. Phillips.
What about my damn car?
[knock on door]
Don't know him.
[Vera sighs]
[Vera] 'Great idea, Miller, knocking on doors'
'in the middle of the night.'
None of these mopes has seen the guy.
Memory serves, it was your great idea, Mr. Casserole.
Philly PD. You seen this guy?
Live over there, the brown door, about a year back.
- Only cracker on the block. - This cracker got a name?
Keep to himself. Drove an old gold thing.
- A Honda? - Sound about right.
[pounding on door]
PPD! Open up!
Do you hear something inside?
I don't hear nothin'.
Neither do I.
[fan whirring]
What the hell?
[Miller groans]
I think we found her.
The smell's coming from down here.
[intense music]
[Vera] 'What the hell?'
[jackhammer whirring]
The place belongs to a John Smith.
Bought it with $6,000 cash.
John Smith? He buys a house with an alias?
I find a buyer in this neighborhood
I ain't asking questions either.
Yeah, he's ready for us.
Couldn't hide her forever.
Toilet, sink.
You could keep someone alive for however long you wanted.
[Miller] 'How long?'
Long enough to do this.
Place is like a POW camp.
'Your mind on the wall, all you got.'
Must have taken her weeks. Months.
She didn't just die in this dungeon.
She lived here, too.
[instrumental music]
We found her, John.
- Game over. - You found Brenda?
You kept her in that Newark dungeon for months
before you killed her.
What the hell were you doing with her all that time?
Newark? You mind opening a window?
- Yeah, I do mind. - I can't breathe.
You didn't like your cell back in West Virginia.
Don't like to feel crowded.
You spend time in lockup, John?
'You showing her what it feels like?'
No.
'Cause that's where you're headed.
'Rest of your days in a cage.'
Yeah, pretty girl, Brenda.
Yes, she was.
Oh, so what?
You can't pitch a tent, Johnny? That your problem?
- You think it was about sex? - Power.
You can't imagine a man wants to keep a woman around
without hurting her, can you?
Not locked in his basement homes.
If I wanted to have sex, I could pay for women
off the streets, in bars.
Common as road kill, filth like that.
Nice tail on this one.
Sure you didn't get a piece of that?
You get a piece of that?
Bet you think about it, time to time?
Oh, if you weren't having your way with her
why did you keep her for so long?
Tell me something first.
What gets you out of bed in the morning?
Everyone's got something they hold onto.
Keeps them tethered to this world.
'No wedding ring.'
A boyfriend, perhaps?
So what was Brenda holding on to?
Love.
[instrumental music]
What are you doing?
Where am I?
You were sleeping. You woke up.
You stay away from me!
David!
David's not here.
[sobbing]
Help! Someone help me!
'Help!'
No one can hear you.
Who are you?
What do you want?
Nothing.
They will find me.
They won't stop until they find me.
They might be looking for you
but no one's looking for me.
How long do you think it'll be
till there's a red Mustang in his driveway?
Everyone's gonna tell him to move on.
That's a guarantee.
How do you know about David's ex-girlfriend?
- 'Who are you?' - That look on your face.
It's just like little Brenda on her bike.
Red lips. Red knee.
Any other kid would've run to mommy.
Not you.
Determined.
'Always.'
- You don't know me. - I know you.
I'm just waiting for you to catch up.
♪ She said playing in bands won't make you well ♪
[door slams]
That get you off, huh? The mind games?
[John] 'I told you once, it wasn't about sex.'
You wanted something. Drive her nuts?
The chicken scrawl on the walls.
She tried to keep her sanity for a while
by marking off the days..
'...but there was no point to that.'
Little Brenda.
You knew her when she was a kid?
You're the detective. Figure it out.
[intense music]
He said she was marking off the days.
No windows, no lights coming into that room.
So how did she know what day it was?
Will, it's Rush.
Brenda on her bike.
A fall, um, skinned knee maybe?
That mean something to you?
[Jefferies] 'The part of the movie where Brenda learned'
'to ride her bike, skinned her knee.'
'He must have seen it.'
Did you show it to anyone else?
No.
Brenda was gonna show it at the engagement party.
Uh, it was still in her car when she disappeared.
She make it herself or give it to one of those places
that edits your home video for you?
She gave it to, uh, some company.
She got the movies from our families
and gave them to some place.
She mention the name?
Your Best Angle.
Something like that? It was, uh..
It was near her office.
John, just talked to the owner of Best Angle.
Place Brenda brought her home videos?
[Vera] 'Turns out John Smith worked there.'
Owner says he was their best editor.
Worked there for a year, paid in cash
before quitting four days ago.
Owner says he's on his way to Marion, Illinois
for his next gig.
Till his bad turn in Ripley.
Four previous employers since '02.
Life Videos in Newark, Edit Right in Detroit.
Two more in Atlanta and Queens.
- All editing houses. - So?
One client from each of his jobs matches a missing woman
from the same city, same year.
Boss, ME's preliminary report is back.
Dental records on the Newark body
didn't match Brenda MacDowell's.
It wasn't Brenda in that basement.
Newark?
'Colleen Legarth.'
Missing since November '06.
They find a cause of death?
No strangulation, no ligatures, no broken bones.
'Tox report's clean.'
How's he killing them?
- Five women. - Five cities.
Five basements.
Let Lil and Scotty know. This guy is not just a serial killer.
He's a collector.
[instrumental music]
Notice you never use your signal.
Cops drive however they want.
Gotta have some perks with the job.
Now, body in Newark wasn't Brenda.
You lied.
I never lied. You made an assumption.
[John] 'The way you wanted to see it.'
Four other women locked up out there somewhere.
You wanted us to know about 'em. Why?
How did you kill them?
Your fancy labs can't tell you?
You watched their tapes, picked them for a reason.
- Somethin' you liked about 'em. - Or hated.
You still haven't told me what gets you out of bed, detective.
Tell me where Brenda is
and I'll make sure you don't get the needle.
'Is it the rush you get from seeing dead people?'
Has to be a reason you became a homicide cop.
What happens to you? When you kill 'em?
Death's the only thing that's real.
It's the purest thing you'll ever see.
Oh, you God now?
Question is, what's that rush covering for you?
You seem to know a lot about it.
Why don't you tell us?
When there's one thing you hold onto
it takes on a special significance.
'And when that's taken away'
you're left with nothing.
[John] Like that woman from Newark. Colleen.
[door opens]
[Lisa Germano singing "Red Thread"]
♪ So many movies ♪
[baby cooing]
♪ Touching the memories ♪
[Colleen on TV] 'What did you say?'
'What'd you say?'
'That's right.'
'I'm right here.'
[baby cooing]
'Ah, look at that smile.'
'Honey! She just smiled at me!'
'She smiled!'
'Look at you.'
'Beautiful as the sun.'
♪ No one to run to ♪
Please.
Pretty little girl.
Maybe she'd like it here too, someday.
[intense music]
[chuckles]
Such fragile things they hold onto.
And when they're gone, they just..
...float away.
- That's how you kill them? - 'Kill them.'
That's a funny way to put it, really.
Talk about Brenda.
You got nothin' to lose, right? Where'd you put her body?
We've been talking about that one all night.
'It's boring.'
But not the end.
Not how you crush her.
[Rush] 'Now, you don't talk about that.'
Why not?
[Valens] 'It takes a lot of discipline'
keeping a woman locked up for months.
No one hearing her screams.
[Rush] 'Must be a reason you got caught now.'
And made that bad turn. Meticulous guy like you.
[Valens] 'Something rattled you.'
- No. You're wrong. - Got under your skin.
For you to make a mistake like that.
I don't make mistakes!
Brenda's still alive, isn't she?
You know, I think I'm done talking.
He left Phillyfour days ago.
If she's still alive, we don't have much time.
Mapped out all the victims.
Newark's the only city where you have
both the abduction site and the dump site.
[Jefferies] 'The abduction took place here.'
- Here's the basement. - Less than a 20 minute drive.
[Stillman] 'He gets them inside before the chloroform wears off.'
He's finding basements in poor neighborhoods
where no one sees anything, says anything.
Here's the restaurant where Brenda was abducted.
Searching a 20 minute radius
three low income neighborhoods fall inside.
Our contact at the recorder's office
is looking for properties bought in cash
for less than ten grand by John Smith.
I'll see how Miller is doing on the videos.
♪ Ave Maria ♪
Got tech support out of the bed
downloaded the movies John Smith made of his victims.
What's the common thread?
We know that, we find Brenda.
We dreamed about this day for so long.
And here you are.
[laughs]
Different classes, different ages.
'Some had families, some didn't.'
Only thing in common is..
...they all had something to live for.
Fiance, kid, God.
A wide net there.
Maybe not so wide.
Uh, Monica had God.
Colleen had her baby. And Brenda had David.
Chose women with something to live for.
[Rush] 'Someone they loved.'
Not something you'd know about.
Must have driven you crazy. All the things they had.
Not you, though.
I edited their sloppy lives into something beautiful.
I gave them a way to believe the delusions
they were hanging onto.
Delusions? Look who's talking.
What's on those videos isn't who they are.
It's a charade.
To give their lives meaning.
Like the job gives your life meaning.
I've had it with your BS. Where's Brenda?
Don't pretend you don't know what I mean, detective.
Now, where'd you put her body, you freak?
No, I-I-I do.
I know what you mean.
Who are you when it's taken away?
The job.
'No one.'
Like them.
- Even the one who had God. - 'Monica.'
- The singer. - She gave up the easiest.
She couldn't understand how God could leave her
in that room so alone.
[John] I saw it in her eyes.
The moment she realized there was no God.
That if God was anything
he was the greatest con man of all.
[instrumental music]
Once hope is gone, dying is just a formality.
You sealed her in there alive?
First, I took the door off its hinges.
She was free to go, run.
I wouldn't have stopped her.
But she wasn't looking for a way out anymore.
Sounds like you're...familiar, detective.
Son of a..
[tires screeching]
Where's Brenda? Hmm?
- Where is she? - 'Scotty.'
Son of a bitch.
- Scotty! - Hmm?
Hey! Stop!
[laughing]
She's here.
In these woods.
A mile further, there's a blinking yellow light.
'Path to the right, heads into the woods.'
A quarter mile in, there's a clearing.
Put him in the car.
[laughs]
I'll drive.
[instrumental music]
[music continues]
[instrumental music]
[crickets chirping]
I'm going in.
The guy's got an endgame, Lil.
Who knows what he's got waiting in those woods?
- We're running out of time. - But we know his pattern.
Houses, basements. Not woods.
What if we're wrong and she's in there right now?
No service.
Well, we don't have time to wait for backup.
We're armed. He's not.
You ready to pull the trigger?
Let's go.
Try anything, I'll blow your head off.
[music continues]
You get Lil or Scotty on the line yet?
Cell phone keeps dumping to voice mail.
Last time they called was Waynesburg.
Nothing between here and there but lumber.
- What the hell are they doing? - Going renegade.
With a sociopath in custody.
[dramatic music]
Almost there.
[Valens] 'Keep moving.'
[Rush] 'You know these woods pretty good.'
This where you're from, you sick bastard?
[Rush] 'What's that?'
[metal sheet flapping]
[intense music]
Got somethin'.
If only you had videos of your own.
Of course, there'd be no one in them.
- No one to show them to. - Shut up.
I'm taking a look.
- Scotty? - I got it.
[metal sheet clanking]
[music continues]
- What do you got? - Nothing.
It's a dried up well.
You said you wanted to know what happened to Brenda.
Well, Brenda's not in there.
No, but someone else is.
[water splashing]
[woman gasping]
[indistinct mumbling]
[birds chirping]
[woman gasping]
[water splashing]
[female #2] 'So cold.'
So cold.
[water splashing]
So cold. So cold.
[gasping]
Please help me!
[instrumental music]
It was the most beautiful thing I ever saw.
Watching a woman die?
Watching her give up.
The rest is just a formality.
We understand each other finally.
Dungeons like this well.
You were trying to recreate this, hmm?
- Who was she? - Nobody.
I came here. I listened to your story.
- Now tell me where Brenda is. - You're just like them!
Tryin' to hold on to something make-believe.
'Because there will always be another'
Brenda out there, another me.
Maybe it's time you see, detective
how false your God is.
Tell me where she is.
Looks like we've run out of time.
Where is she?
- She's dead. - No.
- Pull the trigger! - You son of a bitch.
[Valens] 'Lil, it's what he wants.'
Can't spend his life in a cell like his victims did.
That's why he brought us out here.
She was weak. Like you.
Brenda's alive. I know she is.
She wasn't like that woman in the well, she was strong.
You need to believe that, but you're wrong.
No.
She broke in that dark, lonely, little room.
Just like one day you will, too.
[instrumental music]
[grunting]
[Brenda humming]
[humming]
You can't tread water forever.
Eventually, you'll get tired just like Brenda.
No, that song.
She was humming that song.
"Chasing far all gloom and terror
brightening all the path we tread."
The bells at Ascension Church in Kensington
have been playing that song every morning since I was a kid.
That's how Brenda knew what day it was.
That's how she held on.
I told you, she's dead.
Even in the ugliness of Kensington
she found something to cling to, something beautiful.
She didn't break, did she, John?
'She never gave up.'
Because when it was all taken away in the end
she still had herself.
I know where that church is.
I know that neighborhood.
Find her, Lil.
Don't you walk away from me!
[sirens blaring]
Don't you leave!
[One Republic singing "Come Home"]
♪ Hello world hope you're listening ♪
♪ Forgive me if I'm young ♪
♪ Or speaking out of turn ♪
♪ There's someone I've been missing ♪
♪ And I think that they could be ♪
♪ The better half of me ♪
♪ They're in the wrong place trying to make it right ♪
♪ But I'm tired of justifying ♪
♪ So I'll say to you ♪
♪ Come home come home ♪
♪ 'Cause I've been waiting for you for so long ♪
♪ For so long ♪
♪ And right now there's a war between the vanities ♪
♪ But all I see is you and me ♪
♪ The fight for you is all I've ever known ♪
♪ Ever known ♪
♪ So come home ♪
♪ O-o-o o-o-o ♪
♪ Everything I can't be is everything you should be ♪
♪ And that's why I need you here ♪
♪ Everything I can't be is everything you should be ♪
♪ And that's why I need you here ♪
♪ So hear this now ♪
♪ Come home come home ♪
♪ 'Cause I've been waiting for you for so long ♪
♪ For so long ♪
♪ Right now there's a war between the vanities ♪
♪ But all I see is you and me ♪
♪ The fight for you is all I've ever known ♪
♪ Ever known ♪
♪ So come home ♪
♪ Come home ♪
[Rush] Stay tuned for scenes from our next episode.
[theme music]