In New York City's war on crime
the worst criminal offenders are pursued
by the detectives of the Major Case Squad.
These are their stories.
WOMAN: Make a left up here at this light.
MAN: We're driving in circles.
You think that's going to fool me?
You know how Erica feels about her privacy.
Why? You ever ask yourself that?
I don't need to.
Now, pull up to this driveway on the left.
Erica is just real upset
about this, Doug.
I mean, think about it.
It's as big an insult as you can give another person.
If that's the way she feels, she can tell me to my face.
I deserve at least that much.
It's making her sick
on top of everything she has to deal with.
I just want to talk to her.
She agreed.
MAN: You're going to talk to her.
She said she'd talk to you, didn't she?
Then what's the problem?
She wants you to sign something.
What kind of a game is this?
You come here, you make all your demands.
You want to talk to her, you just sign that.
This is ridiculous.
I'm out of here.
Are you threatening me?
Please, we're only making things worse for Erica.
He's the one making the problems.
I came all the way out here to see her
and now you're laying this... crap on me?!
You bet I'm going to make problems.
I'll talk to her.
Toby, you, too.
Why are you being so difficult?
Don't be a fool, Christine.
This whole house of cards is coming down.
I gave all of you your opportunity.
Douglas...
Get yourself a lawyer.
Erica is extremely disappointed in you, Doug.
Do I get to talk to her or not?
Go home.
She just wants you to go home.
Maybe if I talk to her.
Erica says we have to let him dowhatever he needs to do.
You can't stop someone
from walking into their own hell.
Hey. It's five-something.
Let's go.
This guy, you should have heard him.
More rules than the NFL playbook.
I'm, like, "Why do you have to make it so complicated
"you fat moron?
"Last time I checked, all the parts fit together.
It don't have to be so damn complicated."
[gasping]
Oh, my God!
Fire! Help!
Help, there's somebody on fire here!
Call 911!
The fire set off this can of butane
in Mr. Lafferty's coat pocket.
That accounted for the fireball.
Fire died down pretty quickly.
Lucy Hotpants there
thinks the guy died of spontaneous combustion.
Right after he was spontaneouslyhit in the head.
I count three impact woundsin the right side of his skull.
What started the fire?
They put a match to his coat.
Fire marshal said it smelled
like it was soaked in acetone.
Nail polish remover.
His wallet's missing.
We I.D.'d him off his press badge in the glove box.
There's blood and scalp tissue on the tip.
The perp was... seated here.
Rammed it into his head.
He wasn't murdered
in this location.
This bloodstain
didn't spatter here when he was killed.
It most likely came...
when his head was resting against the door.
His body was moved into the passenger seat
after he was killed.
The killer then drove him here
and put him back behind the wheel...
and set him on fire
to destroy evidence he was killed elsewhere.
But "elsewhere" where?
Well, we start where he started.
There's a garage door opener on the end of his key chain.
Looks like part of the umbrella.
Probably fell out of the car when the killer got out.
Make-up products.
I need a bag.
Nail polish, emery boards, manicure clippers.
Everything but nail polish remover.
Looks like he was killed in the garage.
Somebody de-fragged his computer to wipe out files.
The family silver's all accounted for
including Mr. Lafferty's gold watches
and diamond cuff links.
And Pulitzer Prize...
for his coverage of the Tet Offensive in 1968.
This guy was a war correspondentbefore he owned a magazine.
Tough old bird.
Newsmagazines.
Newsmagazines...
but no hobbies, no special interests.
I spoke too soon.
It's a catalog for medical equipment.
Probably for his late wife.
She died last year.
And he still keeps her things
in the garage.
Tough, sentimental old bird.
Maybe not that sentimental.
His bank statements for the last three months.
He was withdrawing cash on a regular basis.
Big chunks-- seven grand, ten grand.
He found himself a high-maintenance hobby.
116 grand in the last six months to who--
a bookie, a girlfriend?
The guy was a lonely widower.
If he had a girlfriend
we couldn't find any trace of her.
His address book and appointment book are missing.
His computer disk was wiped clean.
We're still waiting on his phone records.
DEAKINS: You don't like the girlfriend angle?
I'm open to anything.
Let's say the... perpetrator was a woman.
She had excellent improvisational skills.
She created an incendiary device.
She relocated the body to a high-crime area.
For all the good it did her.
She might as well have left him
in the garage.
Uh, that's the point.
She over-thought the event.
She was careful, but almost... neurotically anxious
about hiding her tracks.
Lafferty might have been the target of her anger
but he wasn't the object of her passion.
She wasn't emotionally involved...
with him.
DEAKINS: She was emotionally involved
with his bank account.
Lafferty had two kids, right?
A son and daughter.
They're coming in for the I.D.
I invited him to join my wife
and some friends for dinner
but he wanted to stay in.
Did you suspect he had other plans?
Since Mom died, Dad's been a little difficult.
He's been grieving.
Ms. Lafferty, any time you want to jump in...
It's obvious, isn't it?
Look at where you found my father-- on 11th Avenue.
He turned into
a sex addict.
She's right.
A couple of weeks ago
I was in Bulgari's with my kids
shopping for Mother's Day.
Dad was at the jewelry counter.
Did you talk to him?
Yes. He wasn't too happy to see me.
As soon as the salesperson came back with his receipt, he left.
I... thought he was buying jewelry for some girlfriend.
Did you see what he bought?
No.
The salesperson told him to come back
and pick it up in a week.
He was having it inscribed.
Mr. Laffertybought a ladies' watch in gold.
Lucky lady.
He had some engraving done?
It's on the next page.
"To Erica, for giving me a reason to go on. Douglas."
So romantic, don't you think?
You don't want to know what I think.
Which model is it?
This one.
Oh, uh... this watch has a clasp on the band.
It says on the receipt that Mr. Lafferty
switched it with an expansion band.
It's easier to take on and off.
He said that the lady might finda band with a clasp
too difficult to use.
I think she had a little handicap with her right hand.
Thank you very much.
We're going to Queens.
The medical equipment catalog in Lafferty's den--
that's where they have their store.
Erica needs more.
We have to move.
Re-think this, Barb-- please-- for Erica's sake.
We know what's best.
I don't know how we're going to make due with this.
Tell me where you're going.
I'll see what I can do.
I'll tell Erica.
I know you're trying to help.
She'll call you, okay?
MAN: We supplied Mr. Lafferty with a wheelchair
when his wife was sick.
Then, three months ago, he ordered another one.
It had to be motorized with a joystick control.
A left-handed joystick?
Yes. The young lady
had lost the use of her right hand.
He said she might eventually need a mouth control stick.
Where were you supposed to deliver the wheelchair?
To an Erica Windemere.
I don't have the address.
Mr. Lafferty was going to tell me
when he came in to make the last payment.
It's been ready now for three weeks.
This chair's for a child.
Mr. Lafferty said
she is 14, and weighs only 90 pounds.
The new love of his life--
a little girl in a wheelchair.
Wheelchair, respirator, heart monitor...
Over $30,000 total, just in medical supplies.
Who is this girl, a relative?
His kids have never heard of her.
She's somebody he met in the last six months.
Maybe he's involved with her mother.
It's about what's inscribed on the watch.
His wife is dead, his kids don't like him.
Helping this girl filled a void in his life.
His phone records came in this morning.
No calls to anyone named Windemere
but a lot of calls
to numbers that never showed up
before six months ago.
Check them out.
I was blown away when I heard what happened to Doug.
He was just such a decent guy.
Where did you know him from?
We had, you know, common interests.
You mean Erica?
You know Erica?
We're trying to get in touch with her.
Just leave a message for her on the Web Site.
Erica W.
There's a chat room and everything.
That's how I met Doug.
We need to actually talk to her.
I can't help you with that.
You're worried about, Erica? So are we.
She's already been through a lot.
I mean, you read the book.
Yeah, sure, the book.
My partner hasn't.
You should. It's so right on.
He's been after me to get into it.
What's it called again?
Through the Darkness.
What did you like most about her?
She never gives up.
My sister died of breast cancer three years ago.
She left behind two kids.
Erica's book helps me to talk to them.
You've got to read it, okay?
MAN: Since it came out last fall
it's been one of our biggest sellers
which surprised me.
It was pretty raw when we got it.
Thank God for editors.
Christine?
These detectives need some information
about Erica Windemere.
Oh, one of my favorite authors.
How can I help you?
We're investigating the murder of Douglas Lafferty.
CHRISTINE: Oh, yes.
In fact, I got an e-mail from Erica yesterday
telling me how upset she was about his death.
EAMES: They were good friends?
Yeah, she was very fond of him.
I just got the book.
Oh, so she has ALS?
Yes.
Lou Gherig's Disease. That's degenerative.
"Your body's destroyed while...
BOTH: ...your soul stays intact."
That's what it says here on the cover.
That's the least
of what she's had to face in her short life.
She could teach us a lot.
And we have a lot to learn.
We need her address and phone number.
You know she's just a bedridden little girl?
Well, she might know something
she doesn't even know she knows.
She sounds like the kind of person who'd want to help.
Yeah.
I don't have a phone number for her
but I can give you her e-mail.
Uh...
is that how you worked on the book with her
through her e-mails?
Yes, and she calls me.
She can't give out her address or her phone.
The book explains why.
How about her book royalties?
How do you get the checks to her?
Her foster mother
Barb, comes to the office.
She doesn't live with her parents?
No, child welfare took her from them.
Is there a foster father?
There's Toby.
He's the physical therapist.
And she has you.
I'm sorry for all the secrecy.
It's just that it's the only wayto protect Erica's safety.
You really do need to read the book.
EAMES: Okay, thanks.
Two days for the subpoena
couple more days for the e-mail account information.
GOREN: Probably another dead end.
This kid doesn't want to be found.
She writes she's been dodging death threats.
Her parents were members of a violent drug gang
that sexually abused her.
Sexually abusing a kid with ALS.
Lovely.
That was before the ALS
kicked in at age 11.
Her father is serving ten years for the sex abuse.
Her mother vowed to kill her if she ever finds her.
What are you writing?
I'm sending her an e-mail.
That's how everybody else gets her attention.
"Dear Erica, I just finished reading your book.
"I've met a lot of people in my line of work, but I've never
met anyone with your courage and power to forgive."
You get the idea?
And then I tell her
I want to talk to her about Lafferty
and I include my phone number.
Well, while you're waiting for an answer
let's see if child welfare knows where she is.
Child welfare has no record of a girl with ALS
going through their system in the last five years.
No record of a girl being used as a sex toy by a dope gang.
No record of foster parents named Barb and Toby.
But people have talked to this girl, right?
The editor of the book?
We found a few people
through her Web Site who said they got calls from her.
They all described the same thing:
A sweet girl with a bad disease and a positive attitude.
[phone rings]
Captain Deakins.
Erica Windemere.
For you. You want to take it here?
Hello, Erica?
This is Detective Alexandra Eames.
Hello, Detective.
Call me Alex.
Am I on a speakerphone, Alex?
Yes, I'm here with my boss
Captain Deakins, and my partner, Detective Goren.
We're all anxious to speak with you.
Okay.
I was so glad you wrote me.
If there's any way I can help, of course I want to do that.
When's the last time you spoke with Mr. Lafferty?
We spoke all the time, about his children.
He wanted to have
a better relationship with them
and he was such a big support to me.
Erica, is there any way that we could meet
and talk to you in person?
It depends on my health.
I've had so many bad days lately.
Alex, do you have any kids?
No.
Your voice reminds me of my kindergarten teacher.
It's a very warm voice
like you spend a lot of time talking to kids.
I hope you have some someday.
Erica
your book says you contracted ALS
when you were just 11.
That's pretty rare, isn't it?
Yes.
You still have the use of your right hand?
No, I don't.
But you have the use of your left hand.
Yes.
Well, that kind of asymmetric disability
is unusual for ALS sufferers, isn't it?
I don't know what usual is.
What's happening to me is what's usual for me.
One more thing.
How has ALS affected your menstruation?
I...
you mean...
I don't want to embarrass you.
In your book, you're very frank about your development
as a young woman.
If it makes you uncomfortable, I...
It's not that.
How has your condition affected you?
I...
Is this something that you have to think about?
I-I can't believe I'm being attacked like this.
Alex, people can't destroy you unless you let them.
[phone jostling]
WOMAN: What did you people say to Erica?!
Uh, who's this?
This is her foster mother.
Erica's crying right now.
How could you people
take five minutes of whatever precious time
she has left on this planet
to do this to her?
Shame on you.
[phone disconnects]
If I hadn't heard it with my own ears...
Well, it was a legitimate question.
She was just trying to come up with the right answer.
The right answer is whatever's happening to her body.
She shouldn't have to think about it.
That's why Doug Lafferty nevertook delivery of the wheelchair.
She's a fake.
And he found out.
I remember my wife telling me about this book.
It made some talk show book club selection.
They called her the next Anne Frank.
Except Anne Frank actually existed.
No one's ever met this girl?
Maybe someone has.
This is from the introduction by Professor David Cantler--
"Erica's easy smile hides a will of iron
which refuses to succumb to the ravages of life."
Her easy smile wouldn't be easy to see over the telephone.
Cantler-- the geneticist with the best-seller?
Two best-sellers and four wives.
Apparently, the professor likes the ladies
and vice-versa.
You know us-- we like men
who play with the building blocks of life.
EAMES: Professor Cantler...
Hello.
I'm a graduate...
Sorry, Alex Eames, in Social Work.
I'm a graduate student.
What can I do for you, Alex Eames?
My thesis is on survivors of child sex abuse
and I know you wrote the introduction to...
Through the Darkness, yes.
You see, I want
to interview Erica for my thesisand if you could help me...
Yes, well, I have a confession to make.
Um, it wasn't possible to actually meet with her.
But your introduction...
Yes, I know-- a little poetic license.
I went to meet her, but her health was so fragile
she just wasn't strong enough...
But you got to see where she lived.
Yes, I did that, but, uh...
My thesis partner.
Hi. I'm Detective Robert Goren.
How you doing?
Did Alex mention she's a detective, too?
And her thesis?
That's actually a subpoena that we need to serve
on Erica and her... foster parents.
Uh, look, I actually don't know where she lives.
Uh, they had me drive out to a gas station on Long Island
and this man Toby picked me up
and drove me around in his van for about a half an hour.
You know what the house looks like, right?
We'll just drive around until we find it.
There's still food in the fridge.
Whoever lived here must've just moved out.
Gravel from the driveway.
I waited to meet with Erica right here in this living room.
She was in the bedroom.
She was too sick to come out.
Hook, line and sinker, Professor.
I can't believe you fell for this.
Erica exists.
She's a gentle, loving soul
who's been through great trials in her very fragile life.
I've spoken to her many times.
On the phone.
You're a scientist.
I don't have to stick my fingers in the wounds
to believe, Detective.
There's a theorem-- Godel's Great Incompleteness Theorem:
"Every axiomatic system will contain truths...
...that cannot be proven."
But the absence of proof can be proof.
This was Erica's bedroom?
Uh... the bed was in here?
I don't see any marks
or indentations on the carpet or the wall.
That's not conclusive.
I don't see a 220-volt hookup for the respirator
Doug Lafferty bought for Erica.
Doug Lafferty bought her a respirator?
You bought her one, too, didn't you?
I'm sure they made a nice profitselling the equipment.
I've been a fool.
It's... Wanting to help someone is not foolish.
But now you have to help us find these people.
There's a pharmacy.
Sometimes they ask me to pay for her prescriptions.
GOREN: I'm a friend of David Cantler's.
He was supposed to drop off some money
for a kid's prescription-- Erica Windemere?
He asked me to take care of it.
Uh, is that okay?
Sure, I guess so.
How much is it?
Well, let's see...
She's on the Rilutek
in addition to the Zanaflex and the Roxanol.
That's, uh, $800 for all three.
Eight hundred dollars?
This girl never heard of medical insurance?
She doesn't have any; that's all I know.
Uh, I don't mean to be rude, but how do I know
you're going to actually... send her the drugs?
Uh, we do this all the time.
Somebody pays for the drugs
and I call Erica's foster motherto come get them.
Can you show me Erica's prescriptions for the drugs?
Why would I want to do that?
Well, because I'm a cop.
And you're five seconds away from being arrested
for selling prescription drugs without a prescription.
I-I just pass it on to Bob for Erica.
It's a donation.
After you take a handling fee?
Okay, Murray, this is what you're going to do.
You're going to call Barb
and tell her a big donation just came in
and that you need her to come bybefore you close.
Have you ever seen her?
Have you, Christine?
I've never seen J.D. Salinger either
but that doesn't make me doubt his existence.
Go ahead and be flip. I'm just telling you--
if you publish any further editions of the book
I want my introduction excised.
This is just happening because of Barb.
She's too overprotective.
Erica would be happy to meet with people
if Barb would let her.
Christine, you got taken and I got taken.
Let's just hope that when this hits the papers
we don't look like total idiots.
I'll tell you what I hope.
I hope that I never lose faith in one of the kindest
most spiritual human beings I have ever met.
I feel sorry for you.
Well, feel sorry for yourself.
You're not just
betraying Erica, you're betraying all children.
Erica is safe where we left her-- with friends.
We found your motel room.
There were none of Erica's personal belongings there
not even a picture of her.
We know what she looks like.
We don't need a picture of her.
And all of her things are with her.
Uh, Toby's in the next room.
You sure he's telling the same story?
Yes, I'm sure, because it's the truth.
What's wrong with you that makes you want
to destroy someone good like Erica?
Um... I'm-I'm just a natural-born skeptic.
Maybe I haven't had enough tragedy
in my life... like Doug.
His wife is gone.
His kids hate him.
Death staring him in the face.
Doug was full of love.
Erica opened his heart.
EAMES: Not to mention his wallet.
I'm not even going to speak to that.
Doug had doubts.
Huh?
Isn't what why...
he was at the house...
[clattering]
[bag rustling]
the night that he died?
He wasn't there.
GOREN: This is gravel.
From your driveway.
Gravel... it gets around all the way to Manhattan.
This is the same kind of gravel.
We found it in the tires of Doug's car.
He did come out that night.
He and Erica needed to talk, and they did.
Well, now we know one thing-- you're not above lying to us.
I'll do whatever I need to protect Erica.
Including killing an old man
who threatens to destroy you?
People can't destroy you unless you let them.
I've heard that before...
from Erica.
Did she teach you that?
Yes, she did.
Strength of character, strength of will--
these are the tools you've been given
to make yourself what you would be.
And you made Erica into what you'd like yourself to be.
Erica made herself.
I was just lucky enoughto meet her in her time of need.
[laughing]
Ah, you're quick.
Just like Erica.
Do you ever get jealous
about all the attention that she gets?
No.
Because some of it falls on you, right?
I'm just there to help Erica.
You take care of Erica.
You control access to Erica.
That makes you a very important person.
Isn't that what this is really about?
[door opens]
Mr. Jacobs here has been hired to represent the Windemeres.
[ door closes]
GOREN: Now, some people pretend to be sick
for the attention and the love.
Some women, they make their children sick
for the same reason.
Some women kill their babies.
But this woman... she invented a sick child
for the attention, for the love.
But if somebody like Doug Lafferty gets in the way...?
She's not violent.
She believes that she can talk her way out of anything.
These people are con artists...
but I don't think they killed Lafferty.
GOREN: Someone showed Doug Lafferty
the way to the house and then drove back
to the city with him.
Someone Barb and Toby trusted.
We got thousands of e-mails to Erica cataloged here
from every state and all of the replies.
This was a full-time job.
Full-time salary, too.
These are drafts of the book
with handwritten revisions.
Looks like most of the book was rewritten.
Not just rewritten, transformed.
This paragraph here
about Erica being told she had ALS...
The original's, uh...
I think the word you're looking for is "awful."
But the new material, it breaks your heart.
Whoever made these changes
it was a labor of love.
What you've done is cruel and heartless.
Arresting Barb and Toby?
That puts Erica in terrible danger.
Have you talked to her since their arrest?
No. She's probably too afraid to call me.
Well, maybe you're hoping she doesn't.
After all, she might ask you to take care of her.
I would do that without a moment's hesitation.
It doesn't intimidate me.
It should: You're single, no one to help you
you have a full-time job.
Erica would be my full-time job.
GOREN: You have no doubt
that she's a flesh-and-blood little girl?
No, I don't.
You had a scare
last summer.
One of your coworkers told us you had a bad Pap smear.
I had a precancerous cervical condition
which I was treated for
not that it's any of your business.
GOREN: But did it raise
the question of whether you'd ever have your own children?
Is that the void that Erica filled?
Erica restored your faith in the human spirit.
She gave you courage in the face of evil.
No one was going to tell you she doesn't exist.
To deny her was to deny you.
Okay, this is ridiculous.
Is it?
I don't know where Erica ends and you begin.
You are insane!
This is all her!
This is her!
This is her life!
These are her thoughts!
Douglas Lafferty's faith wasn't as strong as yours.
He wanted proof...
didn't he?
Is that why you took him to the house?
Maybe Doug Lafferty's suspicionsweren't appeased
and he was going to make trouble.
No.
Maybe driving back to the city
you tried to reason with him.
You told him how much Erica meant to you.
The closer you got to his home
the more frantic that you became...?
I stayed home all night.
I never left the house.
We checked the logs
of the messenger service your company uses.
That night, they tried
to make deliveries to you at 9:00 and midnight.
There was no answer either time.
CARVER: We don't doubt
the sincerity of your beliefs, Ms. Wilkes.
You were taken advantage of.
And I'm willing to take that into consideration
if you will tell us the truth.
I stayed home all night.
I went to bed early
and that is why I didn't hear the buzzing.
Now, if you'll excuse me
I would like to leave.
The power of faith.
GOREN: No, she really believes Erica is real.
You know, maybe a little faith in Erica
isn't such a bad thing.
JACOBS: Look, they freely admit
that Douglas Lafferty was at their house that night.
They wouldn't admit that unless they had nothing to hide.
Or they wanted to create
an impression they had nothing to hide.
I might have been more pliable a few days ago
but now that the insurance policy has come to light...
JACOBS: What insurance policy?
Ask your clients.
Um, four months ago, Douglas Lafferty changed
the beneficiary on his insurance policy
naming Erica Windemere
to receive a payout
of $2 million.
We didn't know anything about that.
Oh, really?
The money was to be held in trust
with your client as trustee.
EAMES: $2 million
to spend any way she wanted.
GOREN: The best part of it is
you would have been able to keep all of it
without ever having to prove that Erica exists.
CARVER: A murder conviction
will, of course, void the policy.
Crime isn't supposed to pay.
We didn't kill Doug.
We swear.
Well, if not you, then who?
WILKES: I just found out
that the District Attorney is seizing
Erica's book royalties.
That is inhumane.
What is she supposed to live on?
What's the D.A. supposed to do?
We did find new evidence
implicating Barb in Doug Lafferty's murder.
Okay, I am not defending what Barb did.
I am just here to protect Erica's interests.
She sent you here to talk to us?
No, no, I e-mailed her.
I told her it was urgent I speak with her.
I don't even know if she has a computer anymore.
You see, this is
the precarious situation she's in.
Without those book royalties, she has nothing.
I thought that she has hundreds of people sending her money.
She's in hiding.
How do you expect them to get the money to her?
Well, Barb said she was safe.
Barb is a liar.
Barb needs to be kept away from Erica.
Oh.
Oh, you know what's best for her?
Yes, I do.
There's a call for Ms. Wilkes. It's her office.
Oh, my God.
Tell them she's busy.
They said it was important.
They're holding a call from an Erica Windemere.
[sighs]
Uh, put it through in here.
[phone rings]
WOMAN: Christine?
Erica!
Yes, it's me. I'm here.
Hi.
I'm so happy to hear your voice.
I am too, Erica.
I'm here with the police right now.
So, tell me how you're doing.
All right, but I'm very scared.
I am taking care of everything.
You don't have to worry about anything.
I'm not going to let...
Did they tell you about Doug?
Barb told me on the phone that he had insurance.
I don't understand these things.
[quietly]: He had a life policy
that left Erica $2 million.
Oh, that's incredible.
That's a miracle.
Only now, I won't get it
[voice breaking]: because of Barb
[sobbing]: and what she did to Doug.
Since Erica's the trustee and she killed Doug
the policy's void, and Erica gets nothing.
What's going to happen to me, Christine?
"The people I'm with can't afford to take care of me.
"We don't have any money.
Barb had it all."
Erica?
Listen to me, sweetheart.
Nothing bad is going to happen to you.
[quietly]: She has no health insurance.
I'm going to end up in a home.
No, no, you're not.
I'm going to make sure of that.
[quietly]: How? With what money?
I mean...
[aloud]: Erica's at the end of her rope.
Isn't that right, Erica?
I'm sorry, Christine.
I try to be brave...
[sobbing]: but... but losing Barb and Tony...
Erica...
It's just too much.
You taught me so much about accepting loss
and uncertainty and hardship
and appreciating
what is beautiful and hopeful in life.
Beauty won't help.
Her disease is going to get worse.
That's what she has to look forward to.
More hardship, loss and uncertainty.
Erica, you know
that I would sacrifice everything for you.
You better mean it
because she's got no one else.
You're the only person I have left, Christine.
I know.
[phone disconnects]
What? Erica?
Erica?
Erica!
What are you going to do, Christine?
That money could change everything for her.
It could save her life.
Whatever you did, you...
you did to... defend your faith in her.
Your heart was pure.
Now it's time to take the final step
to give Erica the greatest gift.
You need to do this...
or your faith in Erica will have been...
a lie.
I did it.
Not Barb.
I killed Doug.
Tell me what you did.
I killed him in his garage.
I used nail polish remover, and I set him on fire.
He was going to hurt Erica.
He kept saying she wasn't real
and I couldn't let him say that.
You know, I just couldn't let him say that.
[sniffling]
So now I get the insurance money, right?
When do I get it?
I'm sorry.
What?!
Erica isn't the only thing that doesn't exist.
You lied?
You lied to me?
I helped you, and...
You ruined everything.
Erica will be so disappointed in them.