Previously on the dresden files:
No!
Who the hell are you?
I got a dead billionaire, I got a possessed cop,
I got a psychotic killer on the loose and in 4 hours
he's going to meet up with a Vegas tycoon
and he's going to jump into him.
And in the process he's going to blow Murphy's brains out!
Come on out Boone! Someone wants to say bye to you!
What happened to me Harry?
That was quite a hit to head you took from Miller.
I keep dreaming about you.
Good dreams, bad dreams, what you got?
Sometimes you're pretty scary in them,
and I see something else.
Yeah, what's that?
Miller killing himself.
I feel like I was there.
Ah, you weren't there.
Miller clocked you one.
He took me out, he ran off and he blew his brains
in private and I brought you back here and you know,
you were completely out of it Murphy.
Could you make me a promise?
Yeah.
Promise you will never lie to me about anything ever again.
For the working magician the best tool in his tool box
is a little thing we like to call, the false expectation.
If played right it could stun an audience
into total submission.
Dad, mail came.
Harry, you see my ring,
the one with the blue gem, the one your mother gave me?
It's missing.
No.
You got a letter, from the cruise ship line.
Good luck.
Thanks Harry.
Did we get the job?
Sorry Harry,
but you're going to be spending the next three months
cruising the Caribbean in Central America
with your old man.
All right!
Two shows nightly,
three on the weekends and sunny days - it never ends.
Dad?
The false expectation is also known
by more aggressive illusionists
as the dashed hope.
Timed just right it can be a real killer.
Dad!
Here's the thing about the dashed hope;
You hit someone hard enough with it at an early age
and it can make a blind spot in one's habitual search
for closeness and affection.
Okay, my habitual search.
The current blind spot's name was Tara,
sweet and funny and willing to destroy my life
for a fist full of cash.
Of course the hunger for money can create
its own blind spot,
and what you can't see coming can kill you.
This is so weird.
Esplanadum, coricsabeous, plesentatous, sesame.
Tara?
Bob, Bob, Bob, Bob.
No, no, no, no, oh god.
Capture: Frm@çòçò re-sync for DVD: Kitn.
Coricsabeous!
She stole Bob.
She stole Bob!
Oh shut up.
Shut up!
You okay?
I'm fine.
Do you need something?
I want to let you know about a closed case,
initially written off as a heart attack
by our former alcoholic me.
Okay, and you want to reopen it?
Why?
They didn't identify themselves
but what they said and who it's about I thought it was worth a second look.
Looks like murder.
Who is this guy?
Justin morningway, Harry dresden's uncle.
The caller said dresden murdered his uncle
5 years ago and got away with it.
You look at the autopsy report,
and knowing what you know about dresden,
I say the caller is onto something.
My father's funeral wasn't a big affair;
Just me, my uncle and a few devoted fans - very few.
The road is a lonely place but he was off it now
and I was on my own road, more alone than ever.
So this is my home now?
Harry, this can be your home forever.
It's been in our family for a long time.
Your mother and I played together in that garden
over many summers.
Uncle Justin, is that real?
That Harry, is your new teacher
and his name is rothbert of bainbridge.
Show yourself!
Is he a genie?
I'm not a genie, I'm a sorcerer.
Former sorcerer.
His soul was damned for eternity,
trapped inside his own skull.
What did he do?
I can hear you.
He's cranky.
Yes he is, and very smart; You'll learn a lot from him.
Hello?
Are you there?
Tara.
How did it go?
Fine.
Give me my money, I've got a plane to catch.
Good work.
Harry didn't give you any problems did he.
He was asleep when I left.
What's with that door,
some kind of voice activation thing?
Something like that.
And you left nothing behind?
Only a sweet memory and a pair of handcuffs.
Handcuffs.
My instruction was very clear.
You were to leave nothing.
I didn't want him chasing me out the door, did I?
Well, you left a possession,
he can chase you around the world with that.
What does that mean?
I'm sorry Tara, I must alter the agreement.
Give me my money!
What's your problem?
There is no problem, not anymore.
Oh, that's not good.
Oh come on.
That's really not good.
Wow.
Okay Tara, well I guess you're dead.
Nice to meet you.
Harry, it's Murphy!
Good morning.
Morning.
Not answering your phone anymore?
You know, I'm actually busy...
I just got a few questions, it will only take a minute.
Yeah, sure, come.
You okay?
Harry, what happened to your uncle?
What do you mean?
I mean, in your opinion, how did he die?
He had a heart attack.
Why, what's going on?
Well, his autopsy suggests...
Did you see the autopsy?
We got an anonymous tip.
Saying what?
That your uncle was murdered and you did it.
Crazy huh?
That is a little crazy.
Let me get this straight.
Five years after my uncle drops dad of a heart attack,
you're investigating me for murder
because of some crank caller.
I'm not investigating you for murder Harry.
According to the file you were hiking in Peru.
Yeah, I didn't hear about it for about three weeks.
I missed the funeral and everything.
I know.
But I'm still going to take a second look
at that autopsy report.
It looks like your uncle's chest was crushed.
It wasn't crushed.
His bones weren't brok, but his heart was damaged.
Look, if it was so damaged why do you think it didn't
come up in the investigation 5 years ago?
Well maybe the me at the time didn't know
what he was looking at...
And I didn't know you then.
What does that mean?
It means since I've met you I've been seeing things a bit differently.
Yeah, but whatever you're seeing here doesn't exist.
You might be right.
Yeah, yeah, I am right.
You recognize this?
Yeah, I do.
I haven't seen that in a long, long time.
Where'd you find it?
Evidence lock up downtown.
It was in your uncle's hands when he died.
Now, just so we're clear,
your father also died of a heart attack?
Okay, okay, just so we can both get something clear here,
if I'm going to discuss my family's tragedies,
I want to do it with a really, really close friend,
okay, not with a cop who seems to be measuring me up
for shackles right now.
Not if you were in Peru.
Murphy, this is me.
Yeah, and this is me...
Seeing something that doesn't look right.
Tell me about it.
No, you tell me about it.
You inherit a fortune from your uncle
and you're still living here
practically begging strangers for lunch money.
I gave the money to charity;
You want to see the tax returns?
Your uncle left you this big house,
why aren't you living in it?
Because it isn't my home.
Then sell it.
It's safer if I don't.
Safer for who?
You know what, this conversation, it's over.
The conversation's over.
My uncle is dead.
His heart stopped, now have a nice day.
Kirmani, send the paperwork; We're exhuming the body.
And tell butters I need a full workup.
Come out ghost.
I would say this is a totally
unexpected turn of events but
then again we are talking about you aren't we?
I need you to perform a little black magic.
Oh, I think you've cornered the market on that,
after all I saw you die, yet here you are.
That was the original; I'm just a copy.
A failsafe in case tragedy struck.
It did, and you're going to help me strike back.
So you're the morningway lite.
Lite-ish.
But with you helping me...
Obviously you've got the wrong dead
and damned sorcerer.
I serve Harry now.
Serve yourself.
You're trapped in your skull, inside a hovel,
alongside a man who spends his life scrounging
for money, preying on unfortunate weaklings,
cut from the herd and better left to die.
Why do that when you can be free from this prison?
Free to affect the world, to touch it.
Only the original morningway has the secret
to making me mortal.
So do I.
You lie just like him.
Like I said, I'm the failsafe,
but you have a talent for cheating death
and you can't do that unless you're mortal,
which is where I come in.
Really?
So what is the secret?
Lost love.
Winifred?
Is she...?
No, the love I'm talking about Bob
is the love of life,
your life to feel, to taste, to touch, to be mortal.
You can end a never-ending torment if you agree to use
your forbidden talents and bring morningway
back from the dead.
The skull is a time bomb.
You never should have been entrusted with it.
If it gets into the wrong hands...
Bob is in the wrong hands.
The point is, how are we going to find him?
Well?
The skull is being shielded by something;
By what I don't know.
What about Murphy, why is she suddenly investigating
the death of my uncle?
Someone's hobbling you with Murphy to keep you
too preoccupied from going after Bob.
I already figured that out Morgan.
What are you doing about all this?
What is that?
If the skull is ever unshielded,
this will tell you where to find it.
It talks?
It will glow; When you touch you'll know where to go.
Do you have something a little more proactive?
I just got to sit around waiting for this...
I really hate that.
Here's the important thing to remember
about our last lesson.
The dashed hope;
It it's successful
and you've shattered your subject's illusions of normalcy
then the most unbelievable and bizarre situations
will be accepted without question.
With a gentle nudge you can send your subject
into a world of wonder or straight off a cliff.
Your choice.
Was that it?
Well that depends, are you trying to affect
the human being or turn a walnut inside out?
This is thaumatugy, right? This is black magic.
No, no, this defense against black magic.
There are no dolls, no chance of anyone being hurt,
however you must familiarize yourself with the darker
aspects of the world that awaits you.
Now note the resolve at the end of the first asset.
Yeah.
What's wrong with it?
You tell me.
Yes, you've just vanquished your first foe!
Why do I have to learn any of this,
it's not like I'm going to be using it in daily life?
Oh, you'd be surprised.
Does uncle Justin?
Use black magic?
No, that would not be tolerated.
What does he do,
besides have lunch with the governor,
or be a director on some board?
It's not a board.
It's called the high council
and not everyone is invited to join.
Will I be invited?
Oh, I think you have an excellence chance
based on your talents
and?
And your bloodline, where you came from,
more specifically your mother.
Did you know her?
Yes.
Not well,
but enough to know that she was a force
to be reckoned with.
She was... Killed?
Yes she was.
By who?
No one knows Harry.
But, your bloodline
is very important and very powerful.
You and your uncle will provide a much needed
stabilizing force,
if you keep up on your lessons.
Is that who you were expecting?
Yeah. How long will it take?
Maybe two hours.
You know what you're looking for, right?
Yeah, evidence of cardio vascular compression.
What do I do if I...
Back up.
What are you doing?
You can't just dig up my family!
With a court order, I can.
What are you talking about?
We talked about all this.
I'm doing my job.
No, no, you just got to let my family rest in peace.
Just let them rest in peace.
- Hey, hey... - Please, please.
Listen to me.
If you're uncle's death was a homicide
wouldn't you want to know?
Bob... Have you decided?
If I bring morningway back, what then?
You get on with your life and so does he.
And what about you?
Someone has to fill his coffin.
You'd sacrifice yourself?
That's what I was made for.
What about Harry?
Don't be dense.
I won't have him killed!
You'll need a power source.
Not him.
There's no choice.
Harry must be the battery.
Who's digging up morningway?
It's been done.
Now it's time to make you mortal.
What is...
The arrow that pierced your lover's heart.
Poor dead winifred, a powerful sorceress.
In life she kept you close,
in death only she can set you free.
Where did you find that?
Do you know that in some far away places,
your love for winifred is a mythic tale
of desire and power.
This relic was not an easy acquisition.
There's power here.
Her life and death, her magic mixture with yours...
Your soul.
Now all we need...
Is to add Bob.
Let's try not to make this personal.
Well I'm sorry Murphy, but you're the one that dragged
my uncle up out of his grave, so...
The evidence strongly
suggests that the arteries leading into and out
of your uncle's heart were compressed;
Like they were stamped by some sore of circular
metal object.
Wow, okay.
So what is this, a murder, what do you think?
Those injuries aren't the result of a cardiac arrest.
Well what are they the result of?
The death of your uncle made you a very rich man.
Wow.
We just really aren't friends anymore, are we?
Is this for me?
My new best friends.
They help me sleep, they keep me calm,
but they don't stop me from having nightmares.
What did you do?
Something happened to me, I can still feel it.
You had a close call.
I helped you out.
You'll get better, it's just going to take time.
Please, if you get anymore information
on my uncle's death, let me know.
Please.
Get anything?
Yeah, finger prints.
Get that bottle dusted.
Morgan was right.
Bob's skull was a bomb,
and I had to figure out a way
to keep it from exploding.
I needed to cut a red or a blue wire somewhere,
but there weren't any wires, just strings
and they were all attached to me.
My first renoir.
Your uncle had a copy of it.
I believed you burned it.
Pretty nasty stuff in there Bob.
Yes, well it served him well.
As did I,
right up until you self-defensed him to death.
You gonna fill me in on this thing, or what?
Winifred.
She was a sorceress.
She's the one who turned you into a ghost?
She's the one I lost my heart to all those centuries ago.
She died, and I brought her back.
I wanted her back so badly I destroyed us both.
Bob.
Life goes on.
Now it's time for you to keep your part of the bargain.
Ah!
No, no, no, no.
What are you doing there Bob?
What are you doing there?
You'll either like this or you won't.
Just say it.
The dead uncle, he was all dressed up when he died,
going to some party.
That night they pulled the print off his cuff link,
it matches that print off your pill bottle.
Dresden?
Yeah, thumb print.
That puts him at the scene.
My uncle's house.
I hadn't been back for 5 years,
but it looked like whoever had stolen Bob
had brought him there,
to the place that had been his home,
and my home too,
until my uncle and I had our little 'falling out'.
Harry!
Uncle Justin.
You look wonderful.
Come in, come in.
Wow.
So, how was Europe?
Asia, China, South America.
Are you ready to meet the high council?
Well yeah, if I have to.
What is this thing anyway?
It's just a formality.
Yeah, I feel like a mobster about to be a made man.
Well, anyone of influence and power
is going to be there tonight.
Is there going to be any bombs under the punch bowls?
Just kidding.
Yeah, well it is actually a concern but we don't have
to worry about it tonight.
Why don't you go to the kitchen, get a sandwich,
and I'll be back in a few minutes.
Yeah, yeah, sure.
Hey, how's Bob?
As you know, cranky.
Still?
Eternally.
Harry?
Harry, can you help me with this?
Yeah, sure.
Can't quite get the angle.
Hey, this,
is ancient mai going to be there?
Oh yeah, so just keep your head down
and keep the wise cracks to a minimum.
I think I can manage that.
In fact, why don't we just dispense with the wise cracks
all together.
She's a stickler for protocol.
This is basically her show,
so why don't we let her run it the way that she wants.
Harry, you seen my ring?
The blue gem, the one your mother game me, it's missing?
Uncle Justin, I want to thank you for everything.
Dad!
Taking me in after my father died.
Thank you.
I am everything I have to be because of you.
I appreciate that.
We'll do great things together.
I can't wait.
I just have to get my jacket.
I'll be right back.
Why do I have to learn any of this,
it's not like I'm going to be using it daily life.
Oh, you'd be surprised.
Does uncle Justin?
Use black magic?
No.
That would not be tolerated.
Harry, leave it be.
How did he get this?
Don't do this.
Please don't do this!
There are no dolls, no chance of anyone being hurt.
However, you must familiarize yourself the darker aspects
of the world that awaits.
He killed my father.
Why Bob? Why?
To save you from obscurity.
Now I want you to listen to me okay?
What you can do, what you have,
that is a loaded gun and there are people who are
going to want that gun and they are going to want
to use you to do things that you're not going to want to do.
Why? Why? Why did you kill him?
For the special gift.
You're a strong soul.
You carry the morningway bloodline.
My name is dresden!
My father's name is dresden!
He served a purpose!
He anchored your power with a solid link
to the mortal realm.
Your mother's weakness for your father resulted
in a positive contribution to our plans.
Plans?
Come to the meeting Harry.
You'll see how these plans...
What are you going to do,
you going to wipe out the high council,
you gonna kill ancient mai?
I'm just clearing weeds Harry.
It's time for us to offer up new ideas.
What happened to my mother?
Whatever I've done, I've done for love.
Love?
You don't know what love is.
Harry!
- Don't hurt him anymore. - Get out of here.
- No, don't hurt him. - It is not my intention.
Harry I need you to listen to me very carefully.
I need you to hear this.
I tried to keep you safe, to keep you in the dark,
but there are plans and machinations all around us
all the time; Moves and counter moves.
You think you know what I did, but you have no idea.
Now is the time to bring you into the light
and once you see the full picture you'll understand why.
- Shut up! - Harry!
I think you've had my father's ring
in your possession long enough, for this work, huh?
- Harry, that's black magic! - Shut up Bob!
Did you kill my mother?
Your mother, my sister, was filled with dangerous ideas.
I don't want to know about her ideas.
Yes or no, did you kill her?
No I did not.
Is he telling the truth?
I...
Harry!
You've taken a life with black magic.
They will be looking for you, haunting you,
and they will find you.
Harry?
Bob!
Okay, come on, get your skull and get out of here.
I can't do that.
What are you talking about?
We'll talk about it later.
Let's get out of here.
Come on, let's go.
This is going to hurt.
Sorry.
It'll all be over soon. Go to sleep.
Harry?
Harry.
Bob.
Welcome back.
Ah, ah...
Things need to done,
and I'm the only who can do them.
I want you to know how hard I tried to avoid this situation.
Oh, that's not Justin.
It's a copy.
A powerless doppleganger, charged with one task -
bringing back your uncle.
And to do that...
I need Bob's talent for raising the dead.
And your power.
It's time to turn off your lights.
And it's time for me to move on.
I'd like to say it's been fun,
but honestly it's been hell.
Draw his power, let's get this done.
I'm sorry it took this turn.
How long have I been gone?
Five years.
Welcome back.
There was no other way?
No, he killed you once, he would do it again.
Harry is not going to last much longer.
It was his life force that brought you back.
You brought me back old friend.
Well, you can pick up right where you left off.
With you to help me.
How has he been?
Tortured.
Your murder weighs heavily on him.
Yes, well his death will be a burden that I'll have to bear.
There are things that must be done.
He will never join me in that.
It is a new day.
I always considered you to be more than just my nephew,
but in the end, and this is the end,
you are a disgrace to your bloodline.
Your mother, impetuous, starry-eyed,
married beneath her...
And your father, well,
he was never one to see the bigger picture.
My only mistake is that I didn't kill him sooner
and take you in while you were still young enough
to be... Salvaged.
I failed you, and for that I am truly sorry.
Our world Harry, it needs to change; It needs to grow.
I wish you could see what it was going to become,
what I'm going to make of it.
Change of plans!
Bob! Let go!
Bob, let go!
Bob! Bob!
Bob.
Is the bastard gone?
Yeah, he's gone.
I thought you'd just...
I would never betray you Harry.
I had to come this far in order to keep him dead;
Him and his double,
they'd just keep coming back.
It's okay Bob, it's okay.
It'll be okay.
If by okay, you mean dead, then yes, yes, yes.
Please don't die on me Bob.
That is really touching.
Bob, that's not fair.
You...
Once cursed, always cursed.
My soul forever ensnared, forbidden to move on.
I guess I can live with that.
Yes, I thought you might.
Harry, open the door.
Hold on Murphy, hold on, hold on.
Murphy.
- Guess what? - What?
Yeah, my uncle's body no longer shows bizarre signs
of a crushed heart, right?
What did you do?
Well, I dragged you into a dangerous world
and I'm really sorry about that.
No, this isn't about me.
It's about us.
Come in.
Murphy,
now listen, we've done a lot of really
good things together.
We don't always agree, no, but we help people,
and I need to keep doing that - with you.
You killed him.
With black magic.
Oh god, Harry!
Murphy,
you have nightmares okay;
It's like something happened to you?
It did.
I saved you Murphy.
I saved you with black magic.
I can't believe that.
Your world cannot exist because this world,
the world that I live in is scary enough.
I know.
No, try raising a kid in it.
Yeah, my father tried raising a kid in it.
Me.
He tried.
My uncle murdered him.
Your father died of a heart attack.
Black magic.
That's my world.
I can't join you there Harry,
because my rules don't apply there and I need my rules.
I need them.
I need you Murphy.
I need you to help me be a better person,
to do something half decent in this world, okay.
You've gotta help me do that for as long as I can, please?
Okay.
For as long as I can.
Take this.