Beware of June and Jonah's.
I got a contact high just walking by the door.
Skye, what's going on?
( tearfully ): I'm going home for the weekend.
I'll see you Monday.
Hi, Skye.
Hey, Viv.
Hey, hey, hey.
What's all this?
A case Jack and I worked back in '98.
Skye Peterson...
car found abandoned
at a highway rest stop in Woodridge.
The backpack she had with her the day she disappeared
got dropped off in a thrift store bin two days ago.
When they found the I.D. inside, they passed it on to us.
Now I'm hoping
that if we I.D. the person that gave it away,
they'll tell us where they found it,
and maybe we can find Skye's body.
Never found the body?
No.
Well, it says here,
case closed.
Well, the guy she was
having an affair with confessed.
He recanted later, but we got a conviction anyway.
He's serving 25 years.
A conviction without a body, that's no easy task.
This him?
Yeah, Thomas Beal, her English professor.
So she was sleeping with a teacher
and disappeared on her way home from college.
MARTIN: Hey, Viv.
You're gonna want to see this.
From the thrift store?
Mm-hmm.
That girl looks exactly like Skye Peterson.
Mm-hmm. She sure does.
Maybe that's why you never found a body.
All right, so, I stabilized the image
and then used a frame average
to boost detail.
( computer beeping )
I still can't tell.
How about you, Viv? No.
This the best you can do?
With this footage, yeah.
What about facial recognition software?
Okay, I tried that.
Um... but here's the thing.
I need six points of reference minimum,
and with the way she's positioned, I'm getting two.
Thanks. Yeah, you got it.
Forensics is printing the backpack.
Should tell us if the woman in the video is Skye.
I don't buy it.
Where's she been for seven years?
She could have orchestrated her own disappearance.
So she framed Beal for murder.
I mean he's been sitting in prison
for a long time.
Her case proceeded at a pretty fast clip.
Maybe there was something we missed.
If she's hiding, why did she
ditch a backpack with her I.D. in it?
After seven years, maybe there's
a part of her that wants to be found.
Right.
( doorbell ringing )
Hello?
I don't know if you remember...
I remember.
This is, um... Agent Spade.
Hi.
Why are you here?
JACK: Is that Skye's backpack?
Yes, this is hers.
Mrs. Peterson, have you
had any contact with your daughter
in the last seven years?
Why would you even ask me that?
We, uh...
we think there's a possibility that your daughter
dropped the backpack off herself.
Oh, my God.
You think she's alive?
We don't know.
( phone ringing )
Excuse me.
Malone.
Jack. Yeah, I'm in the thrift shop.
The guy that works here says he remembers
a woman who comes in pretty often.
I'm praying it's our girl from the video.
Any possibility that it's Skye?
He's not sure.
I'm gonna leave him Skye's picture
and the video still and see what happens.
All right, I'll see you back at the office.
Okay, bye.
MAN: Skye, pick up, I'm serious.
Pick up the phone, damn it!
I need to talk you.
You can't just end things like that.
I don't know who the hell you think you are,
but I won't let you, Skye.
Am I understood?
How many times you gonna play that?
Until you tell me what you did to her
after you made that threat.
It wasn't a threat.
I just...
( sighs )
I went to the bar and I got drunk.
And I called her, you know?
I just... It was stupid.
All right, so you left the bar
at 6:00 p.m.-- then where'd you go?
We've been over all of this!
So go over it again.
I didn't want to drive home like that, and so I took a walk.
We canvassed the entire area.
Shopkeepers, the police, nobody saw you. How come?
I don't know.
Maybe I should have worn a sign on my head,
with "Remember me" on it.
Nobody saw you, smart ass,
because you went straight to Skye's dorm.
When you saw her leave, you followed her to the rest stop.
That's ridiculous.
Look, I was upset. Then how did her blood
end up in your car?
We had sex in it.
She didn't... I...
I didn't know she was a virgin.
Oh, so you don't make it a regular practice
to deflower one of your students in the family car?
No.
I never had a relationship with a student before.
That's good, you know, because people send their kids
to college to get an education, not to get raped
by their professors. I didn't rape Skye!
I have a little girl.
If I was Skye's father
and I found out you were tapping my daughter...
I'd kill you.
Jack.
You're just lucky that her father's dead.
We've been pounding him for two hours.
I don't know that this is working.
We need more information on this guy.
I want you to put every available resource on it.
I'd have to take the manpower from the university.
Okay, so do it.
Jack, why do you think he hasn't asked for a lawyer?
You don't seriously believe this story he's selling, do you?
I think that he can be a world-class scumbag,
without having killed Skye.
Please, just do it for me.
MRS. PETERSON: That man is in prison for murdering her.
If she's still alive,
why would he say he did such a terrible thing?
I'm sorry, we just don't know yet.
Do you really think this could be her?
Oh, my God.
( sobbing )
A blast from the past, huh?
Any luck I.D.ing the thrift store lady?
No, none of the other businesses had video surveillance.
As for it being Skye, I faxed her picture
to the police departments around the thrift store.
You really think it could be her?
If it is, an innocent man
has spent the last seven years in prison.
You and Jack don't shoulder the responsibility for that.
You have to remember, a jury still convicted him.
Beal's entire life was ruined.
His wife was six weeks pregnant when he was arrested.
She didn't even know he was having an affair
until we told her.
Vivian. Yeah.
Can you come here, please?
Listen, I think I have a problem.
Yeah.
I was going through the old investigation
and found some references to the Middlesex County Police file.
And?
Well, the tip that came in after Beal's confession
never made it over here.
What?
And it puts Skye at a bar near the rest stop
where her car was found
at 10:30 p.m.
Were the Middlesex police able to verify this tip? No, because
they thought you guys had the guy.
The DA passed the information on to Beal's lawyer,
but he didn't follow it up either.
Well, if the tip is legit, part of Skye's timeline
was never investigated.
Have we talked to this witness yet?
I can go and talk to him right now.
Okay.
Take Danny with you.
Freddie Stone?
Yo.
Special Agent Taylor.
This is Special Agent Delgado.
We're with the FBI.
Oh. My boss said you called.
What's this all about?
Skye Peterson's disappearance.
Well, you sure took your time.
The turnpike was jammed.
The reports say that you spoke
to someone who saw Skye Peterson the day she went missing.
That's all they wrote down?
And there's more?
Wayne did a lot more than just see her.
Beal was transferred today to County Jail
after confessing to the murder
of New Jersey native Skye Peterson.
Beal, an associate professor of English literature...
Well, I guess that gets me off the hook.
Off the hook for what? I was one of the last
people to see that girl alive.
No, you weren't.
Sure was, right here.
Least I, uh, sent her off with a smile.
What's that supposed to mean?
Well, she came in looking to make friends...
...and got to talking.
Let's just say we, uh...
hit it off.
What happened next?
Like I said, I'm glad I'm off the hook.
What was Wayne's last name?
Gorn.
Listen,
did you believe this story?
Well, he'd been in prison for raping a girl.
That's why I called the police.
You told a friend of yours that you were
one of the last people to see her alive.
You also boasted that you had sex with her.
That a crime?
Rape is a crime.
One that I believe you're very familiar with.
I didn't rape that girl.
I don't know the mind of the typical college coed, Mr. Gorn,
so I'm going to consult with my colleague.
Agent Spade,
if you were Miss Peterson,
in college with 10,000 young men at their sexual peak,
would you choose to sleep with that?
There wasn't any sex.
That part of the story
was, uh,
what do you call it? Creative license.
Why don't you tell us
what really happened?
She had a flat tire, something.
She came in the bar looking for help.
You have a phone?
My friend's got a flat down the road, doesn't have a spare.
WAYNE: I'd be happy
to give you a ride, sugar.
Where you want to go?
In back, phone book's got the tow company number
written on the cover.
Thanks.
Come on, now. How about a little fun?
Just you and me?
Son of a bitch.
Sorry about that, Wayne.
I guess she called for a tow and took off.
What time was it?
10:30.
You have a pretty good memory
for something that happened seven years ago.
Bar's down the road from the warehouse where I was working.
I was on third shift.
I had to clock in at 11:00.
Your place of employment will verify that?
Hey, what are you giving me the third degree for?
You already got the guy.
Right?
Find the woman that was working at the bar that night.
All right, I'm also going to pull their pay phone records.
Beal's time is accounted for after 9:30 p.m.
If Gorn's telling the truth...
Listen, Jack.
He's a convicted felon, okay?
He could have made the whole thing up.
There's a real possibility that I screwed up.
DANNY: Jack, I just got off
the phone with the thrift shop.
The lady that dropped off Skye's backpack is there right now.
Great, get on it.
All right.
I tried to keep her here,
but as soon as I got off the phone with you,
she took off.
You're letting me down, Shawn.
She was fast.
And besides, she had a head start.
But I got
a good look at her.
She's definitely not the girl you're looking for.
Do me a favor.
Can we back it up to the moment when she walked in here?
She said the backpack was her husband's.
She needed to get it back for him.
I'm happy to pay for it.
You know, I think I know the bag you're talking about.
Let me just check in the back and see if I can find it.
You're saving my life.
No, wait!
Hold on! Hold on! I think I found it!
She drove off in a blue Prias, but I couldn't get the license.
Shawn, I know that she touched this.
Do you remember if she touched anything else?
I think she put her hands on the counter.
Okay, so why don't you
take your hands off the counter. Thanks.
Hey, it's Taylor. Yeah, I'm at the thrift shop.
I need somebody to come here and lift some prints.
It had to be somebody. There's no other explanation.
JACK: Except the obvious explanation.
How many times do I got to tell you I did not do anything?
Let's go back to the start, okay?
Tell me what happened after she broke it off with you.
( tape rewinding )
Agent Johnson just had a conversation
with Professor Melinas.
He says that he saw you leave the office at 9:30.
Is that correct?
Yeah, that's right.
I stopped by
at the end of my walk before I went home.
We've been talking for the last two and a half hours
and you never mentioned it. Why is that?
I just forgot.
How long were you at the office?
I don't know.
You don't know?
No, I must have blacked out.
I just woke up there.
What's the last thing you remember before you blacked out?
Leaving the bar.
And that was at about 6:00, correct?
So that's three and a half hours.
Now a lot of things can happen in three and a half hours.
( rewinding )
You teach English literature, right?
What's that got to do with anything?
I'm trying to remember this term.
It's when you're reading a story and you're not sure
if the person who's telling you the story
is telling you the truth.
It's called the unreliable narrator.
Sometimes the narrator is even fooling himself, right?
I don't see what you're getting at.
Thomas, see, I don't think that you're lying to me
about what you did to Skye.
I think you're lying to yourself.
Did you hurt her? Did you kill her, Thomas?
Maybe.
Well, she never made it home,
so what other possible explanation could there be?
I don't know.
Oh, my God. Mm-hmm.
Yeah, I must have killed her.
I just want you to write down everything you told me
in your own words.
Where do I start?
When Skye ended the relationship.
You went to a bar.
You got drunk.
You decided that you needed to convince her.
You followed her to the rest stop.
You got angry.
You didn't know what else to do.
And that's when, uh, and that's when I killed her.
All right.
( tape rewinding )
The cocktail waitress verifies Gorn's story
and we found the tow company that Skye called.
So hopefully they'll have records
and we'll be able to find out who she was with that night.
He kept trying to tell me there was someone else.
What do you mean?
Maybe she was seeing somebody else.
Another secret boyfriend
that nobody knows anything about?
It had to be somebody.
There's no other explanation for what's happened to her.
I thought he was just throwing stuff in my path
to get me off the track.
Did he tell you who it could have been?
I never gave him the chance.
( door buzzing )
Agent Malone.
I appreciate you talking to me.
Your request came as quite a surprise.
So why are we here?
Some new evidence has come to light
that would suggest that Mr. Beal
had nothing to do with Miss Peterson's murder.
And what's this new evidence?
An eyewitness places her at a bar at 10:30
the night she disappeared.
You son of a bitch.
I've been rotting for seven years in here because of you.
I've lost everything.
I've lost my entire life.
I understand. I'm trying to help.
You're trying to help?
Is that like you helped me confess to a crime
that I didn't commit?
Mr. Beal, in our original interview, you had said that
Skye had been acting strangely when she ended the relationship.
You said that you thought there might be someone else.
Like I haven't spent the past seven years
trying to figure out who that might be?
I know we've been through this before.
But I need you to tell me exactly what happened
the night she ended the relationship.
That didn't work out so well for me last time.
I know.
This time I'm listening.
Everything seemed fine.
And then suddenly she wanted to end it.
It's just the right thing to do.
Well, I don't agree.
What about your wife?
Skye.
I'm in love with you.
Don't say that.
No, I am.
There's something you're not telling me.
I just think that I should start seeing people my own age.
Now that's the reason?
You trying to tell me there's somebody else?
No. Skye.
There isn't anyone. But you need to go.
I am not going,
until you tell me what is going on.
Dorie is gonna be back from class any second.
No, no.
We need to talk about this some more.
I'm going home.
Besides, I made up my mind. It's over.
I actually thought that going home would be good for her.
Straighten out whatever's on her mind,
and then maybe when she got back,
you know, anyway...
Did she ever talk about any crushes she had?
Any flirtations?
We led completely separate lives.
Okay.
Mr. Beal, I'm going to do everything I can
to get you out of here.
DANNY: What are you guys doing?
Interview transcripts.
Trying to figure out
who the other man in Skye's life was.
This, this feels like a waste of time.
I mean, the old investigation went over everyone she knew.
What if we're going about this completely the wrong way, hmm?
What if the person that got Skye
to break off the affair wasn't connected to Skye?
What if that person was connected to Thomas?
You know, that's, that's a good point.
In Skye's old phone records, there was a call
from the Beal's house the morning she went missing.
That's the first thing that tipped
Jack and Viv off to the affair.
Hold on. Let me see if I can find it.
Yeah, right here.
You know, Thomas did deny making that call.
Jack and Viv just figured he was lying.
What if he wasn't lying?
His wife.
She had an airtight alibi, so she was never a suspect.
She could definitely have made that call.
So this has something to do with my ex-husband's case?
We'd just like to go over a few details.
Mind if I ask what for?
We think he may be innocent.
What?
He confessed to killing her.
Well, we've had some new evidence.
Someone made a phone call from your house
to Miss Peterson's dorm the morning she disappeared.
All right.
I think it was you.
I don't see how any of this could possibly be relevant.
During the investigation, you said that
you had no idea that your husband was having an affair.
But you found out about it, didn't you?
That's why you made the call.
What did Skye say to you?
I didn't want to talk about it over the phone,
so I asked her to meet me.
Hi.
You need to stop seeing my husband.
Mrs. Beal, I...
Don't try to deny it.
At least give me the respect.
Where did you get these?
How long has it been going on?
How long have the two of you been...
Four months.
Well, you need to end it.
If you want it to end so bad, tell Thomas.
I don't want him to know I ever found out.
I just want it
to end.
I'm pregnant.
Oh, my God.
Thomas doesn't know yet.
I want our baby to have a father.
Do you understand?
Yeah, I do.
Why didn't you tell us this before?
I knew it made Thomas look guilty.
I didn't think he did it.
I was trying to protect him.
But then he confessed.
And then I thought if he couldn't live without...
without that girl...
then let him burn.
The photos that you confronted Miss Peterson with,
where'd you get them?
Uh, someone sent them to me the day before, to my office.
Who?
They were in a blank envelope.
There wasn't any name.
Did it ever occur to you
that whoever sent those photos to you could be responsible
for Miss Peterson's disappearance?
You're the ones who got Thomas to confess.
Do you remember them?
Yeah.
Of course.
Would anybody else have known about them?
Skye was super careful about stuff like that.
Mr. Beal, whoever sent those photos to your wife
could be responsible for Skye's disappearance.
I need you to take your time
and really think.
Oh!
Oh, the light's blinking.
( beeping )
Wait. Wait, wait, wait.
Oh, my God.
Hey, Skye.
Paul, what's up?
I was just checking out a chop-socky festival
at Theater 80.
Oh, um, this is Professor Beal.
We just ran into each other a couple seconds ago.
Wow. Weird.
Are you headed back to school?
Yeah.
Well, I'll come with you.
It was nice bumping into you.
I'll see you in class.
Yep. Nice to meet you, Paul.
Likewise.
This Paul guy, remember his last name?
No, not really.
But I'm pretty sure
that they lived in the same dorm.
Thanks, Mr. Beal. You've been a great help.
Skye's residence hall had 600 students.
So far I've got seven Pauls.
So give me the ones you got.
I'll start running them down.
You might not have to.
That was the tow company.
I got the make and model of the car she was in;
a red Honda CRX.
MARTIN: The only Paul in Basinger Hall with a red Honda CRX,
Paul Cartwright.
His current address is in Milburn.
That's the same town as the thrift store.
Okay.
Mr. Cartwright.
I'm Agent Malone. This is Agent Johnson.
This is about Skye Peterson?
Yes.
We're reinvestigating her disappearance.
Oh, wow.
You went to school with her, right?
We were friends.
There's a guy in prison for killing her, right?
There is.
Where were you the night she disappeared?
That was seven years ago.
I don't remember.
But if you were with her, you'd remember.
Yes.
So were you with her?
No. Why would you think that?
Your car.
It broke down off Route 531.
Skye called
for a tow truck, someone was with her.
You know dorm life.
I left my keys out all the time.
Whoever was with Skye must have taken them.
Well, if it wasn't you, how'd you get hold
of Skye's backpack?
Your wife dropped it off
at a thrift store three days ago.
I was, uh, pretty messed up with what happened to her.
( sighs )
I went into her room and I took it
to have something to remember her by.
Paul,
it wasn't in her room.
It was with her when she disappeared.
No, it wasn't.
Why'd you marry somebody that looks just like her?
Leave my wife out of it.
My hair was short when Paul and I met.
It was his idea to let it grow.
Listen, we know this is hard.
So then the backpack was hers?
She had it
the night she disappeared.
Why would he keep something like that?
We're not sure.
He was furious when I gave it away.
Ever since, he's been moody
and upset.
It's like he's a whole other person.
You must have been pretty mad
when you found out that Skye had been dating her professor.
That was a secret.
I didn't know about that until I heard it on the news.
You didn't know when you saw them
coming out of the subway together?
I don't know what you're talking about.
You sent those photos to Mrs. Beal to break up the affair.
We talked to her, Paul, she told us.
He was using her.
She was just going to get her heart broken.
That's why I sent them.
What did you think?
If Mr. Beal was out of the way,
that you would stand a chance with her?
It wasn't about that.
Because as far as I can tell,
she wasn't even remotely interested in you.
You weren't even a blip on the radar.
What would make you say that?
37 interviews done with people that loved and cared about Skye.
We asked them about every person in her life.
And you know how many times your name came up?
Zero.
What did you do to her, Paul?
Let Skye's mother put her daughter
to rest.
I'm sorry, but I can't help her.
Your wife...
is watching this entire interview.
We told her what you did to Skye.
I didn't do anything.
You still can't admit it, can you?
You ran like a coward,
and you let this guy rot in jail
for seven years for something you did.
Why don't you look at him?
Go on, look at him.
You flushed this guy's life down the toilet, and what do you do?
You marry the first Xerox copy
of Skye that you meet.
Stop it.
Beal wasn't the reason
that Skye wasn't in love with you.
I know that.
Then why don't you do the right thing
and admit that you did it?
Just tell us what happened, Paul.
( sighs )
I saw how upset she was when she left the dorm.
Hi, Skye.
So I followed her.
When she pulled over at the rest stop,
I decided I would try and talk to her.
Skye!
Hey.
Where you headed?
Home.
How about you?
Aunt's house.
She's got some old furniture I'm picking up.
Hey, are you all right?
Yeah.
I just kind of broke up with my boyfriend.
Oh, wow.
I didn't even know you had one.
( sobs )
He was sort of my professor.
It was this big secret.
That guy who you were with
that day I ran into you by the subway.
Yeah, right.
You're the first person at school I've told.
It feels pretty good.
Anyway, God, you're practically a stranger,
and here I am unloading my entire life.
It's cool.
Unless you have to go.
Going home may be the worst idea I've ever had.
So don't go.
We could hang out,
talk.
I know a place nearby that's pretty cool.
Sure.
That sounds great.
I drove.
We thought about turning around
when we got the flat, but by then,
we were practically there.
Everything was going great.
It's beautiful.
I'm glad we came.
Are you feeling a little better?
Yeah, thanks.
Wait.
I thought...
( sighs )
You said you were glad to be here with me.
That doesn't mean that I want to make out with you.
Right.
Maybe you should take me back to my car.
Are you still in love with him?
What?
No.
It's none of your business.
Because even if he had chosen you
over his wife, five years from now
you'd be just like her--
finding out that your husband is a liar and a cheat.
How did you know she found out?
You're the one that sent her those pictures.
I had to make sure that it ended.
I didn't want you to get hurt.
They were in my room!
You followed me tonight.
I knew you were upset.
I-I got to go.
Skye, please. Leave me alone.
I can explain.
Let me help you.
Don't touch me.
Skye. Let go!
Don't touch me!
( gasps )
Help me, please!
Help me!
Please.
( shrieks )
Skye?
Skye!
I tried climbing down the hill, but it was too steep.
Why'd you bother?
You let her go.
No.
My hand slipped.
You're still lying to yourself.
Write it down.
Write down what happened.
( helicopter whirring )
( indistinct radio transmission )
I'm so sorry.
( sobbing )
Paul Cartwright confessed to the murder.
They recovered Skye's remains about an hour ago.
So what's that mean for me?
I'm having a meeting with the District Attorney
to get your conviction overturned.
And how long is that going to take?
Hopefully, a couple weeks.
In the meantime, I'm going to get you moved.
Um, my son...
his birthday's in nine days.
Okay.
I'll see what I can do.
You know, I had a lot of time
to think about why this happened to me.
For a long time, I hated you.
Sometimes, I thought I brought it on myself.
For what I did to my wife and my family,
and, uh...
what happened to Skye.
But I didn't deserve this.
No, you didn't.
( knocking )
( door buzzes )
Talk to Beal?
Yeah.
Think he'll sue?
Probably.
The government will settle.
At least he'll get something.
If we had kept agents doing interviews
when you wanted to back then...
none of this would have happened.
But we didn't.
I did what I thought was best.
Under the circumstances, if I had to do it again...
I'd do the same thing.
And most of the time, you'd be right.