[Matt] I can't believe it's really you.
Tommy, why don't you show her your room?
[whispers] It's okay.
How long have you been living here? Has it just been you and your dad?
My mom died when I was little.
Oh. Um...
I'm sorry.
Hey. Don't worry, our dads are just old friends.
You wanna show me some of your toys?
These were my grandpa's.
[Matt and Richie speaking, muffled]
[muffled speech continues]
Do you wanna show me how they fly?
[Matt, muffled] I just don't really know what to say.
I can't believe it's really you.
[Richie, muffled] Why'd you come looking for me?
[Matt] We had no idea you were here.
How could we?
I'm sorry. [stammers] I'm just--
I'm... [sighs, chuckles] ...I'm a little stunned. I mean...
w-we're looking for Arthur Conway.
Yeah, my daughter, she's a reporter like me.
And we just wanna ask him some questions.
About what?
Well, about his time at, uh, at-- at Strata.
Yeah, we, uh, we-- we know he's a-- we know he's a whistleblower.
[quietly] Where have you been?
And what are you doing here?
[sighs]
I'm sorry. It's just too-- How-- How do you know Arthur Conway?
How do you know him?
He was the one who brought me here.
Wait-- Wait, he kidnapped you?
I don't understand. [stammers] Why would he kidnap you?
He didn't kidnap me, Matt. He rescued me.
Well, Arthur rescued you? Well-- Well, from what?
I'm the reason he had to blow the whistle.
[imitates airplane]
[Richie] When my mom got sick,
she started taking me down to the airfield to watch the planes take off.
That's where I met Arthur.
I didn't know it then, but Arthur was my biological father.
Did-- Did anyone else know?
I don't think so.
My mom, she warned me not to tell anyone about going to the airfield.
I think she didn't want anyone to find out.
Things were hard enough at home.
I have an idea.
How about no present? What do you think about that?
Yeah. Well, I, uh...
I-- I get that.
My mom knew she wasn't gonna be around forever to take care of me, and...
[inhales]
...hanging out at Strata, that's where I was happy.
One day, I overheard something I wasn't supposed to hear.
Arthur let me check out a new plane as it was being built.
These executives were talking about a chemical called cadmium,
about how toxic it was.
They didn't want anyone to know that the company had been using it.
They were planning to dump it outside of town somewhere.
I warned Hank and Arthur,
and they thought by coming forward, they could force Strata to tell the truth.
[airplane motor]
[Richie] But instead...
[explosion]
...they came after us.
He had to figure out how to get me out of there
so that Strata would never find me,
but he put his trust in the wrong guy.
It wasn't his fault that it all went wrong.
[young Matt] Richie!
When we didn't show up at the meeting point,
Dad came looking for me, and we've been in Canada ever since.
[Hilde] I knew it. Strata was the reason you had to leave.
You knew they were using that chemical that was making people sick.
Please. Come back.
You're the eyewitness we need. Dad, we can finally take them down.
Take down who? What is she talking about?
Strata. They're denying everything, and they're the reason my Pop-Pop died.
Your dad?
What happened to him?
Oh, it was, uh, it was cadmium.
Yeah, they're saying they didn't know it was dangerous back then, but...
They're lying. They knew.
And Arthur had proof, a smoking gun.
He caught one of the executives on tape admitting it.
He was gonna bring the tape to the police once he had Strata's dump site.
But then, uh...
Ah, they sabotaged Hank's plane.
They killed him.
Yeah. Arthur left town that night and made a plan to get me out of there.
[sighs] Where's the tape now?
[stammers] I don't know.
Dad would never tell me where it was. He...
He didn't want me going into town looking for it. It was... [sighs]
...too dangerous for me in Erie Harbor.
[young Richie screams] Let me go!
[man] Don't worry. We're taking you someplace safe!
I killed a man, Matt.
I-- I can never go back.
Wait, Richie, I--
Okay, don't-- don't call me that. That's not who I am anymore.
My... [breathes heavily] My son, he doesn't even know who that person is.
I'm not gonna lose him over this.
I'm sorry. You-- You have to go. I-- I can't help you. I--
You gotta go.
But we can fight this.
Together.
Right, Dad?
[breathes shakily] No. We-- We should go.
Yeah. [stammers] We gotta leave. We-- We should go. Come on, sweetie.
There were always people who cared about you in Erie Harbor.
We never gave up on you.
Yeah, a few people have come forward.
Uh, what years did you say that your father worked at Strata?
Small-cell carcinoma, plant four.
[Bridget] Okay. Yeah. Thank you. I will be in touch.
[sighs] So many people in this town have family members with symptoms.
Lung and kidney problems, memory loss.
That means we have a case though, right? Shared symptoms means there's a link.
Yeah, well, not if people are too scared to come forward.
Look, what we need more than anything is plaintiffs, a lot more.
Class actions only work when hundreds of people accuse a company of wrongdoing.
What, so hundreds of people have to get hurt before anyone believes them?
That's so messed up.
I know. [sighs]
What if we could, like, show people that they're not alone?
I don't know. Bring them together and, like, have a meeting. Like in person.
Town hall. That's a great idea.
I mean, I barely spoke to anyone at my school,
but, you know, at the walkout, suddenly everyone was listening.
Hey. How'd it go?
What's going on?
We found him.
Arthur was there?
-What did he say? -Uh, no, Bridge.
We found Richie.
What?
He's alive.
Wait, so, Richie knew the entire time that Sam was in prison,
and didn't tell anyone they had the wrong guy?
Oh, look, you don't know that.
You know, he was in a different country, and it was a local story.
[Bridget sighs] Yeah.
Things were different before the Internet. News was harder to spread.
Yeah, he probably didn't even wanna know.
But he could be here now, helping all these people.
And he won't do it?
You know, it's-- it's complicated, Hilde.
He was scared for his life, right? He accidentally killed a man. Right?
When he was not much older than you. Like, imagine that.
Mom, what does all this mean legally?
Legally, coming back could mean risking jail time.
-But he was defending himself. -I know, honey.
And he probably-- He won't go to jail for it.
But honestly, now that we know that he's alive,
I think we're obligated to tell the police.
Otherwise, we're covering it up.
But Sam deserves to know the truth, and Richie should be the one to tell him.
All right, look. I-- I gotta go handle this.
[Trip] Okay. You did the right thing.
And obviously there are extenuating circumstances,
but the state needs to know that Richie is alive.
What'll happen to him?
Well, he'll be extradited back to Erie Harbor.
-Probably have to face his day in court. -Oh, Jesus.
Given the facts, the DA might not prosecute.
Look, guys, there is a protocol that I have to follow.
[Matt sighs] Right.
You-- You really saw him yourself? It was really him?
Yeah. Yeah, I-- I saw him.
He, uh, he-- he seems-- He seems scared, Frank.
-He had a son? -Yeah.
-[chuckles] -[Matt chuckles]
Yeah. He did, yeah. A little boy, Tommy.
That's, uh, that's where our Richie was, man.
It was right in his boy's face.
[chuckles]
Really. It was good to see. It was good to see it for a moment.
Let me go.
And I can talk Richie down, I can...
explain everything beforehand. I-- I can protect him.
Can you wait to call it in until tomorrow?
I can't if you ask me to.
Then I'm not asking.
[crickets chirping]
I overheard some company executives say that it was the cadmium.
-That they tested it, and it was toxic. -[Matt] Hey. What's going on?
Richie said there's a smoking gun.
Arthur had a confession tape that could take Strata down,
but he left it behind in Erie Harbor.
I was showing my friend's kid the new planes.
That kid was Richie. Richie's the one who overheard the executives.
That must have been when he became Strata's target.
But the confession tape could be anywhere. How are you gonna track it down?
Well, let's-- let's think. Yeah, what do we know?
We know Arthur was holding on to the tape until the day Hank's plane crashed
'cause he was planning on taking that to the police.
And Richie said that Arthur left town that night because he was so scared.
Dad, look. Hank Gillis crashed the afternoon of October 24th, 1987.
We just have to find out what Arthur did that day.
Oh, yeah, sure. Just that.
Dad, is there anything you can remember about the day Hank Gillis crashed?
Guys, guys, hold up. Hold up. I wanna take a picture.
All right.
Get together. [chuckles] You guys.
Yeah, that's right.
We were supposed to go on a fishing trip that day. Yeah.
Yeah, let's see.
Yeah, look. There it is. Look. Look at that date.
And you know what? I-- I remember Arthur being there.
He was the one who told us about Hank Gillis's plane crash.
It-- It-- It was him.
Do you think the tape could be on Pop-Pop's boat?
[sighs] I mean, it's-- it's not a bad lead.
Get as many people as you can to come to the town hall.
We can convince them.
All hands on deck, right?
All right, let's-- let's do this. Come on.
-[Donny] Ladies first. -[Spoon] Thanks.
[Bridget] We're hosting a town hall for anyone who may have been hurt by Strata.
Feel free to give the other one to anybody that you think may wanna show up, okay?
Thank you guys so much. Have a good night, okay?
Um, yeah. And I mean, it's all pro bono.
We wanna help people get their medical bills paid.
Just come hear what they have to say.
Your brother, Jimmy, you tell him he ought to come out too.
And if they've done anything to your family, you or your family,
you know anybody, please.
I'll give you another flyer. Feel free to spread the word. Hi.
[Hilde sighs]
Is there any place we haven't checked?
I don't know. I feel like-- I feel like we've turned over this whole boat.
[phone alert chimes]
Oh, no.
What?
Don't just say, "Oh, no," then go all quiet.
[sighs] Strata knows about your mom's lawsuit.
My dad said they sent this to the entire company.
Wait, what? Here, let me see that.
[sniffles, sighs] Wait.
"Such false and defamatory claims threaten our ongoing operations in Erie Harbor."
So they're saying we're lying.
No, they're threatening people's jobs. That's what they're saying.
I should go check on my dad.
He forgets to eat when he's worried, and he's hypoglycemic.
I should go too. I wanna hang these up at school.
Fight fire with fire.
-Well, thanks for helping out, guys. -[Spoon] Of course.
Try not to get arrested.
-[Bridget] Add that one to the list. -[Mackenzie] This checked out.
-We're running out of flyers. -Great. I mean, we'll get you more.
[Mackenzie] Here you go. I think we are gonna have a packed house.
People are finally listening.
Maybe not everybody.
-I'll take these. -Of course.
Great.
Um, here.
-I'll go make some more copies. -Thanks, sweetie.
[Matt sighs]
Hey, you know, it was 30 years ago, honey.
[grunts] You know, I doubt the tape even survived half that time.
You know, honestly, I, uh, don't think we should've even gotten our hopes up.
[sighs]
[Matt exhales]
[Hilde sighs]
Arthur hid that tape knowing it was the one thing that could protect Richie.
Wherever he hid it, it must've been somewhere safe.
Yeah, that's true. But I mean, I-- I got no idea where.
You know, apart from these old coins that Pop-Pop hid in his tackle box...
[coins rattle]
...I mean... [chuckles] ...well, there's just nothing else here.
Dad, what if the tape was on the boat, but he hid it somewhere else?
Somewhere safer.
Remember when Pop-Pop started hiding things around the house?
Yeah, like the safe in the attic.
Right. Those were all things he wanted to protect.
[Sylvester] That can't be there.
-Dad, what are you doing? -[grunts]
Let me do it. Stop. [stammers] Come on. Stop it.
Hello.
Can't sleep?
I think I might know where the tape is.
Just this notebook.
Wait, what is this?
[sighs]
Tape's not here. I was wrong. Again.
Wait, I-- I don't believe it. Look.
Hey, look at this. He... He knew something was wrong.
Yeah. [stammers] He knew the whole time something was wrong.
Look. He-- He was onto 'em.
Yeah, he must've seen all of his--
all of his old friends from work passing away,
and he's trying to piece it all together, look.
[chuckles]
He must've ran out of time before he solved it.
He got too sick.
You know, I, uh... [stammers] ...I could've helped him with this.
Yeah, I could. I could. You know, if I'd have been here, I would--
I could've totally helped him with all of this stuff.
[panting] I just never knew.
He didn't have the tape.
Yeah.
[scoffs] Yeah.
[sighs]
[door creaks]
Richie?
[footsteps on stairs]
[pants]
[groans, sighs]
-[police sirens wailing] -[sighs]
Well, did Izzy say who vandalized it?
[sighs] No.
[Matt] I can't believe some townsperson would spray-paint our car.
Or maybe it's Strata.
Matt, it's a small town. Everyone knows who we are, where we live.
Yeah, well, I-- I think we should report it. We should.
Maybe the town hall isn't-- isn't such a good idea.
Mom, no. There's time to fix this. We can still find the tape.
[knocks]
All right. It-- It's okay. I'll-- I'll go check it out.
All right, it's good. We're-- We're good.
Hey, guys. What's, uh, what's going on?
What is it?
[sighs] Richie's gone.
I held off calling it in for as long as I could, but it didn't matter.
It looks like he left right after you guys were there.
Wha-- What?
[sighs]
[car door closes]
[grunts, sighs] All right, kiddo. It's just a couple more hours.
Dad, why do they think that your name is Richie Fife?
-And who's Sam Gillis? -What?
Oh, my God.
[Bridget] Hilde, let's go. The town hall starts in 20 minutes.
-Here, take this. -[Matt] All right, we all good?
Dad. Dad, I can't find my notebook,
and I was gonna hold it during my speech or else my hands are gonna shake.
Okay. All right. Now don't worry. Uh, we'll-- All right, let's see.
Hey, you know what? Why don't you take this?
Yeah, you can finish what he started.
Hey, come on.
All right, here we go.
[Izzy] There's no one here.
What's he doing here?
Look.
If, uh, if you don't wanna do this, you don't have to.
No, I want him to hear this. Even if it doesn't make a difference.
The truth matters because it matters to me.
All right. You go get 'em.
[Matt inhales deeply] All right, come on. You got this.
Whenever the community has concerns, we're always happy to listen.
It doesn't seem like you have much support,
so why don't you just go ahead and say your piece, and we can all go home.
[Grant sniffs]
[sighs]
[breathes shakily]
[inhales]
Um...
Hi.
I'm Hilde Lisko.
And, um...
as some of you may know...
we lost my Pop-Pop right before his 70th birthday.
It was too fast.
[inhales] And, um...
[inhales]
...before he bought the bike shop,
he worked at Strata Tech Industries, spraying planes.
[Hilde breathes shakily]
How many of you worked there or know someone who did?
[sighs]
There are so many stories...
like Pop-Pop's in this town.
These are all photos of former Strata employees
who got sick and died too young. [sniffles]
They're not just names or numbers, they were people,
people who were loved.
She was somebody's mother.
And he was somebody's son.
Everybody wishes they had more time,
but these people should've had it.
We're all aware your mother's leading a baseless lawsuit against our company,
trying to benefit off the misfortune of others.
-Yeah? She's doing it for free. -[Kim] Yeah, you know, this family,
they care about the truth and helping people.
I think we've heard enough.
Your dad poisoned this town.
Be careful, young lady. My lawyer's with me.
Hey, you know what? D-Don't talk to her like that.
Whatever you're accusing my father of, I had nothing to do with it.
While this is very sweet, it's proof of nothing.
You have no support. You have no case.
[footsteps approaching]
I think you've got a case.
Because now you have an eyewitness.
[door opens, closes]
[footsteps approaching]
Who are you?
I'm Richie Fife.
[chuckles]
-[Matt] Hey, man. -Hey.
Hi.
When I read your articles, I knew I had to come back.
I feel like I've been running my whole life...
even when I was standing still.
I didn't want my son to see me like that,
running away.
Your company needs to pay for what it did...
to my dad, to Richie, to me.
And to the town.
[phone alert chimes]
[phone alerts continue]
[whispers] We couldn't find the tape.
[whispers] That's because I had it.
I panicked. I was trying to get rid of you, and... I'm sorry.
I'm ashamed of that. [sighs]
Well, you're here now.
[chuckles]
[man] Mr. Williams did not appreciate you harassing him with these accusations.
He needs to tell his workers,
or we'll be forced to take public action.
Um... [inhales] ...that was the deposition.
We already have this.
Sorry, but...
it didn't change anything.
Just wait.
-[clicks] -[tape winding forward]
-[clicks] -[tape stops]
-[knocks] -[man] Arthur.
[Arthur] Mr. Williams, sir.
That's Grant's dad.
[Mr. Williams] So there's some health and safety concerns.
These people should be grateful they've got a job at all.
That Fife kid doesn't deserve to get caught up in all this.
Which executive did he overhear?
I want a name.
[Arthur] It wasn't an executive.
It was Grant, your son.
You knew.
[Mr. Williams] That kid never thinks before he opens his mouth. Damn it.
[Arthur] This is Arthur Conway. It's September 20th, 1987.
-[clicks] -[tape stops]
[phone alert chimes]
That doesn't change anything.
I'll bury you in paperwork for the next 20 years.
That tape will never see the light of day.
Too late.
Grant Williams, you are under arrest.
You have the right to remain silent.
-Anything you say... -[crowd cheering]
Hey, Hilde, Hilde. What did I tell you?
Huh? You did it. You did it. Come here. [Matt breathes deeply]
I can't possibly make up for all the time that you lost.
That's on Sheriff Briggs, not you.
You gotta believe me, Sam. If I had ever known...
You were just a kid, Richie.
So were you.
[seagulls calling]
[Hilde] To all our loyal Magic Hour Chronicle subscribers...
[candy wrapper crinkles]
...we're back.
[man] We got a code 245.
"Assault by deadly weapon."
[Hilde] And for once we have some good news.
In light of Grant Williams's criminal behavior,
Junior was able to void the contract they signed.
Trip and her dad got their farm back, fully cleaned and restored.
Izzy and my mom got enough people to join their lawsuit,
and she thinks Strata will have to settle by the end of the year.
Millions of dollars will go to every family that they hurt.
There are a lot of people to thank for this,
including, of course, Richie Fife, where this story first began.
[children chattering]
You're really here.
We thought about you so much. [chuckles]
Yeah, no, I can see that.
And you're okay?
Yeah. I'm, uh, actually really good.
I've had a good life.
I always knew you were out there.
Want a cookie?
Oh, yeah.
-[seagulls calling] -[Bridget] Perfect.
I won't be publishing any more stories about Richie.
But I want to say for the record,
I wouldn't be the reporter I am today without him.
And I know my dad feels the same way.
[sighs]
[indistinct chatter]
[Frank] What have you got there, apples?
-That's it? -[Trip] I got some apples over here.
-That's all you brought was apples? -Yeah, something healthy. Hey.
[Frank] Hey, now we're talking.
We're pretty unstoppable.
[laughing]
Hey. My name's Kim.
Nice to meet you.
You know, your dad, he used to be my best friend when I was your age.
It's true.
-Hey, you. -[Bridget chuckles]
[speaks indistinctly]
-Hey, man. -[Richie] What's up?
-How's it going? You okay? -Oh, yeah.
-Race you there. -[children laughing]
[Frank] You know what I can't get over... [sighs]
-...is how old we all are. -[Matt chuckles] Oh, God.
I just can't believe we're all here.
[Frank] All because of a girl who never gave up...
on a kid she never knew.
[kids giggle]
[Hilde] So thank you to all of you.
My friends and I will grow up in a safer, cleaner world
all because you were brave enough to fight back.
And I hope you have some really good scoops for me.
Because I am never ever going to stop searching for the truth.
["I Won't Back Down" playing]
You guys! [pants]
[man] Calling all units. 187. Possible homicide.
[radio static]
[song continues]
[siren wailing in distance]
[siren continues wailing]
[song continues]
Hey, you kids can't be here.
[Trip] This is a crime scene.
Come on. Let's go. Donny, Spoon, on your bikes.
-Hilde, let's go. Everybody out. -[Spoon] Hey.
-[Spoon] Come on, Frank. -You can't be here, guys.
Is that my notebook?
[song continues]