- [FEMALE SOPRANOS SINGING] - [ORCHESTRA MUSIC PLAYING]
- [SONG CONTINUES ON HEADPHONES] - LIBRARIAN: The library's closing.
[SOFTLY] Oh.
Thank you.
[THEME MUSIC PLAYING]
[BIRDS CHIRPING]
- TENCH: Nance? - [GASPS]
TENCH: It's so early.
- What are you doing up? - Making coffee.
You been up long?
[SIGHS] I just can't get it out of my head.
A dead body in my first listing.
- Are you okay? - I don't wanna go back to that house.
[CLICKS TONGUE] Give it time. We'll get the details.
NANCY: Bill, why do the police want my shoes?
Am I a suspect?
It's standard elimination procedure.
There's nothing to worry about.
[YAWNS]
Our phone number's on that "For Sale" sign.
We have to take it down.
Nancy, that sign is evidence now.
We can't touch it.
Could you at least take my name and number off?
Please?
I'll make a phone call.
[QUIETLY] Thank you.
[CHUCKLES SOFTLY]
[LINE RINGING]
- [LINE CONNECTS] - HOLDEN: Hello?
TENCH: Hey, Holden, it's Bill. Sorry to call so early.
HOLDEN: Hey, Bill. What's up?
Can't go to Atlanta today.
Can we postpone?
Why?
I don't know if I caught something from the kid or food poisoning.
- Yeesh. - I was up all night.
- Yeah, I'll be back on my feet tomorrow. - Don't worry about it, I'll go.
- Alone? - Yeah.
- I don't know, Holden. - I'm fine. I know what I'm doing.
I'll interview Pierce. You come down tomorrow.
All right. I'll see you tomorrow morning.
I'll call you tonight to let you know how it went.
Oh, hey, I almost forgot.
Jim Barney will be at the airport.
He's still really interested in what we're doing here,
so I said we could grab a cup of coffee.
Jim Barney. Why does that name sound familiar?
You met him at the office. He interviewed for Gregg's position.
Oh, yeah, the black guy you like.
I'll call him, tell him you're solo today.
- Okay, thanks. - See ya.
[RECEIVER CLATTERS]
TENCH: I postponed.
You did?
I'll take your shoes, swing by the house,
see what I can do about the "For Sale" sign.
- Holden can handle today. - [SIGHS]
- I'll join him tomorrow. - Honey, thank you.
- BRIAN: Mom? - Hmm?
- Hey, bud. - BRIAN: I'm sorry.
NANCY: Brian!
What happened?
[SIGHS, CLICKS TONGUE]
Why don't you wait for me in the bathroom, and we'll get you all cleaned up?
- I'm sorry. - NANCY: It's all right, honey. Go ahead.
[SIGHS]
I'll have to strip the bed.
- [PLANE ENGINE ROARS] - [PA SYSTEM CHIMES]
[ON PA] Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking.
We're expecting a bit of turbulence. Uh, we ask that you remain seated
and keep your seat belts fastened for the duration of the flight.
As a result of ongoing construction in Atlanta,
we have yet to be assigned a gate for our arrival,
but as soon as we have more information, we'll be sure to let you know.
[PLANE RATTLING]
- [PLANE ENGINE CONTINUES ROARING] - [INDISTINCT CHATTER]
[WOMAN SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY OVER PA]
Agent Ford, Jim Barney. Good to see you.
- Need help with that? - I got it, thanks.
Nothing checked?
Big changes around here. We taxied for 20 minutes.
It'll be the world's largest airport when it's finished.
Bigger means better, right?
BARNEY: So how's the new guy working out?
Gunn?
No, the other fellow. Smith.
Gregg.
Mixed bag.
Not all bad.
About as well as nepotism ever does.
That's too bad.
Bill was in your corner, you know.
Bill and I were due to grab breakfast.
He was gonna give me an update on the BSU caseload.
If you want to get a coffee, maybe you could instead.
[HOLDEN SIGHS SOFTLY]
How quickly can you ingest this file on William Pierce?
I already did that.
And Hance.
Excuse me, sir. It's a crime scene.
Special Agent Tench. FBI.
- Detective Spencer around? - Let me get him for you, sir.
- [SIGHS] - [DOOR OPENS]
Agent Tench. Uh, Bill.
I brought you some shoes.
Thank you.
Hey, do you mind if I take my wife's name and phone number off this sign?
She's a little squeamish.
I don't see why not. I'll have it pulled and brought inside.
Got it.
You've been here all night.
Yeah. [SIGHS]
Do you have a second?
Sure.
[DOOR CREAKS, CLOSES]
We used the code your wife gave us to open the lockbox,
but there were no keys in it.
The front door was locked from the inside and all the windows secure.
That key only worked on the front door, as I recall.
Back door was open when we got here.
Some mud had been tracked through the family room.
I've never s...
[TAKES A DEEP BREATH] I'm sorry.
Would you mind?
Not at all.
Family reported the victim missing.
One of our officers, out in the woods, noticed the back door wide open.
That's how we discovered the body.
Watch your clothes, there's lightening dust everywhere.
There were no signs of trauma to the hands or feet.
There were bruises on the neck and back of his head.
He may have been dragged down the stairs.
A lot of footprints.
Adults and kids.
This is where we found the victim.
Down here.
A baby?
SPENCER: Toddler.
Twenty-two months.
Fuck.
Did he go missing from his home?
From the park.
Fifty yards through the woods there.
He was tied to two pieces of old flooring.
Very carefully placed.
TENCH: On a cross.
Crucified.
Any adornments? Candles?
Flowers?
None.
The face was covered with a rag.
We found a pile of them in a cupboard.
You think it might be a cult?
Wouldn't be my first impression. They tend to be more elaborate.
The Dickinsons are just destroyed.
TENCH: I'll bet.
- Oh, no, that can't be. - [WATER RUNNING]
[SOBBING] Oh, Bill, no!
- I know them! - You do?
Yes! From church. You do too.
And their baby boy is just a... He's an angel.
- How did he die? - I don't know.
[BREATH HITCHES]
Was he inside the house?
Oh, God!
[GASPS] On the new carpet? No, no! Don't, don't, don't!
Did they have to break a window to get in?
No, the key was missing from the lockbox.
No, no, no, don't tell me anything!
[SIGHS]
[BREATHING SHAKILY] We should go by.
Offer our condolences.
Make them... Bring them something.
Not today, Nance. They need a day or two just to...
[GASPS] I have to call the owner of the house.
Yeah, I think you do.
NANCY: What am I gonna say?
- Tell them the truth. - [NANCY GASPS]
Was there blood?
- No. - NANCY: How do you know?
You know more than you're saying.
[CRYING] Those poor parents!
[FAUCET SQUEAKS OFF]
[SOBBING]
[NANCY SNIFFS]
I need a glass of wine...
before I make the call.
[TENCH SIGHS]
- [BELL RINGING] - HOLDEN: We're conducting interviews
with people who have been convicted of violent crimes.
Anything we discuss cannot be used against you in your appeals
or applications for parole.
We'll be asking you about your family history,
antecedent behavior, and thought patterns surrounding the crimes.
Our goal is to publish a statistical analysis
which will not include your name. Does that sound all right?
- [INMATES CLAMORING] - [INDISTINCT CHATTER OVER PA]
[SPITS] I ain't sure.
- What is it you aren't sure about? - What you just said.
You got to slow way the fuck down.
Sorry.
[CHEWING LOUDLY] No bother. No bother at all.
I ain't got nothin' but time.
- As I said, Mr. Pierce... - Call me Junior.
All right, Junior.
We are talking to people, such as yourself.
Such as myself?
You find a lot of people such as myself?
I meant, people who have been convicted of particularly violent crimes.
Multiple murderers to be precise.
Whatever we talk about, anything you say in here won't...
Can't be used against you in your appeals or applications for parole.
PIERCE: Hilarious.
Got me an 880-year sentence.
I ain't applying for no parole.
I never gettin' outta here.
Probably right. [TAKES A DEEP BREATH]
I'd like to start by asking about your family history.
PIERCE: Fine.
- Antecedent behavior. - Okay.
- That means what you... - I know what that means.
I ain't half, I'm whole-witted.
I speak seven languages, you know.
No, I didn't know that. Impressive.
As I was saying, what you were thinking and doing...
Spanish,
German,
French, Russian,
Libyan,
- and Apache. - That's six.
Well, I speak seven.
Spanish,
German,
French,
Russian,
Libyan,
Apache...
English?
Bingo!
HOLDEN: Also, what you thought and did after you committed the murders.
Let's start with your childhood. How would you describe it?
What's he gonna do while you and me doing all this askin' and answerin'?
He don't look like any FBI agent.
- You know what I mean. - HOLDEN: No, I don't. What do you mean?
Didn't think the FBI had coloreds.
Learn something new every day. Your childhood.
How would you describe it?
Poor.
Could you give us just a little bit more?
[SPITS]
Real poor.
All right.
It was Depression times.
Everyone was poor.
Most kids were just skin and bones.
No food on the table unless you want to pick berries,
or shoot yourself a squirrel.
I ain't feeling self-commiseration now.
- Everyone had it the same. - Self... Never mind.
How about your family?
Only Momma.
Shit-for-brains, barely convert in English.
But she loved me.
Daddy?
He weren't stupid.
Got my intellick from his side.
Run his mouth like no one's.
One day he ran.
He up and dissipated.
- I'm sorry. Dissipated? - PIERCE: Vamoosed.
Spanish for run away.
Did you like your father?
No, sir.
He bugged the p-i-s-s outta me.
Well, that pretty much covers family.
Do you mind if we...
[TAKES A DEEP BREATH]
I'd like to ask questions specifically about the crimes themselves.
The eight murders.
I'd like to answer them questions specificus, that's Latin,
but I can't. Because I ain't done eight murders.
- No? - No what?
It says right here, December 1970, you raped...
That confession was co-hearsed.
The sheriff, he put a cigarette out on my privates.
Okay then, seven murders.
No.
- No? - Can't talk about seven murders
because I ain't done seven murders neither.
I see.
The waitress, Kathy.
I ain't murdered any waitress.
The housekeeper.
I ain't murdered Virginia neither.
Hazel.
I ain't murdered Hazel.
Junior, you confessed to all three of those.
Erogenously.
- HOLDEN: Erogenously? - Wrongly.
- It's right here in your confession. - PIERCE: I can't help that.
I did not murder them women.
Then why confess?
You can't confess to crimes and then turn around and say
- you didn't commit them. - Yes, I can.
No, you can't.
Yes, I can.
No, you can't.
Yes, I can.
- Not in the eyes of the law. - Yes, I can.
- Once you confess... - You ever looked in the eyes of the law?
- HOLDEN: It's just a figure of speech. - Have you?
No, Junior, I have not.
Don't go using some speech figure, trying to get me say something
- I ain't never gonna say. - I apologize.
I ain't gonna stand for any of that co-hearsion ever again.
- Ever! - HOLDEN: I understand.
PIERCE: Oh.
I see what you're getting at.
What am I getting at, Junior?
You think I'm simple.
Let me tell you somethin'.
That judge on them cases?
He said I was continent to stand trial.
So that there proves it.
Junior, I just wanted some clarity about you changing your mind.
Oh.
You can't figure that out?
Think about it.
- I was intimated. - Intimated?
Why you always repeating my words?
You have a very impressive vocabulary,
and I don't always understand your colloquialisms.
Yeah.
I got all the good words.
You certainly do.
Thank you, Junior.
You want one?
[SPITS] Love one.
Unless you're offering two.
Hmm.
[WRAPPER RUSTLING]
The chocolate and the smooth...
all in one treat.
[CHEWING LOUDLY] You don't ever get these in here.
- Mm! - You drove a truck, right?
Yes, sir.
[SWALLOWS] I drove for... the Georgia Highway Department.
You enjoy that?
PIERCE: I liked being on the road.
Met all kinds of people.
All kinds of treats.
One day I had an accident on the job site.
A steel girdle fell on my head.
And doctor said my ence...
My encephalic vitality cells were damaged.
My brain is stimulated by...
I can't pronounce it,
but I can spell it.
H, Y...
P...
O...
T...
H...
Y...
O...
I...
D...
I, S...
M.
I understand.
I imagine not everybody you meet on the road is polite.
Am I right?
Amen, brother.
Momma taught me.
She used to say,
[IMITATING MOTHER] "Junior, stick up for yourself."
- [IN NORMAL VOICE] I always did. - Like how?
Well, this one time...
some shop-bitch,
she called me moron.
Moron?
Once.
BARNEY: I see.
[WRAPPER CRINKLES]
Junior, you mind if we go back to those murders?
The ones you didn't commit?
We go back to whatever you want... as long as you got more of these.
You told the police where to find the bodies.
- Yes, sir. - How'd you know where to go?
I'm clearvoyant.
Use my psychic magnet,
[SWALLOWS] telepathy.
Everybody started asking me about them murders.
I turned up my sixth sense.
Told them exactly how each one happened, where the bodies was at.
Weren't no confession.
- I was helpin'. - Of course you were.
PIERCE: They never were gonna find them bodies. Never have any peace.
I helped them families.
I alloyed their distressment.
BARNEY: Can I ask about the other murders?
Gas station attendants, the store owner, and the clerk?
Oh. Yeah.
I did those.
[IMITATING PIERCE] "She called me a moron."
- [IN NORMAL VOICE] Wow. - She wasn't far off.
I've never seen Mallomars used for interrogation purposes.
I read your Kemper and Brudos transcripts.
Cigarettes and shoes.
And there's that photo of Pierce in his cell.
Which?
BARNEY: He's surrounded by junk food: chocolate bars, mini-doughnuts.
His cell's practically a 7-Eleven.
- He tipped his hand, he's got a sweet... - [BRAKES SCREECH]
MAN: Watch it, man! There's children out here!
- WOMAN: All right, you all hold hands. - CHILD: Slow down!
WOMAN: Hold your hand. Hold your brother's hand, baby.
HOLDEN: Is this an Atlanta thing?
The city doesn't provide the same level of services to all neighborhoods.
The next great metropolis has got some issues.
- What time tomorrow? - BARNEY: We should leave by 9:30.
If you want breakfast before we go, I'll be in the restaurant.
- Put it on Quantico. - Thanks, I can't.
The wife insists on feeding me mornings.
See you at 9:30.
BARNEY: All right.
[PIANO MUSIC PLAYING OVER LOBBY SPEAKERS]
Welcome to the Omni. I'll have someone come right out to help you.
- Thank you. - Tanya?
- Can you assist this gentleman, please? - Yes.
Welcome to the Omni, sir. You're checking in?
Yes, please. Ford...
Holden.
All right. Ford, Holden.
Oh, sorry, Ford is my last name.
It's a bad joke in Australia. Like here.
There it is. It's a queen bed for one night?
Yes.
Oh, may I check your ID first?
Not that I don't believe you're not...
Of course.
Special Agent Ford. FBI?
- May I? - TANYA: Oh, yes.
Credit card.
Right.
Sorry.
And the, uh, key card. You know, we should, um...
We've been having some troubles with these machines.
It's been up and down all day.
Everything's broken before it's fixed, right?
- Always. - I should probably go up with you.
Just to check. This way, you don't have to come all the way back.
That's okay. I don't...
Oh this way, Agent Ford.
[ELEVATOR MUSIC PLAYING ON SPEAKERS]
Long day?
Very.
You in town for a conference?
- On a case actually. Two. - Hmm. For one night?
It's... pretty basic.
Is it, like, some secret government thing? Like, if you tell me, you gotta kill me?
No, I'm not CIA.
I'm an investigator. I study multiple murderers.
- [ELEVATOR BELL DINGS] - [GASPS]
[LOCK BEEPS]
Here we are.
You want to take a look around?
See if it's what you...
Because we have other rooms.
Junior or executive suites.
This seems fine.
There are towels in the bathroom. And there's an iron in the closet.
- Can I get you some ice? - I'm ordering room service.
I'll just ask them to bring some.
Well, I probably shouldn't say so, but the room service here is...
- It's, uh... - Hit-or-miss?
- Mostly miss. - [HOLDEN CHUCKLES] Thank you.
I'll figure it out.
Are you sure?
Let us know if you need anything. There's a direct line to the front desk.
It's the little button on the...
Got it.
Well, you have a good night, Agent Ford.
HOLDEN: Good night.
Thank you.
[DOOR CLOSES]
[KNOCKING ON DOOR]
I get off in about an hour.
If you can wait to eat, I'll show you the best meal in Atlanta.
Okay.
[ELEVATOR BELL DINGS]
TANYA: Agent Ford.
Hey!
FORD: You look great.
Sorry, I'm in a bit of a hurry.
We aren't supposed to fraternize with guests.
It's fine. Can I catch us a cab?
Oh, no. Just a little further.
Here we are.
[SIGHS]
It's a mess in here. I'm not usually like this.
Don't worry.
With all my running around, I can't seem to find the time.
Well, you know.
My partner and I used to be on the road. We basically lived out of our car.
I've seen much worse.
[SEAT BELT RATTLES]
Oh, that doesn't... You just have to hold it or...
- It's fine. We aren't going very far. - Okay.
The AC doesn't work. You wanna let the window down?
Sure.
["WARM LEATHERETTE" PLAYING ON STEREO]
- TANYA: You a music fan? - I am.
Mostly, uh, new wave stuff. Recently.
Other things too.
- I like movies. I like to read. - Mm-hmm.
I wish I had time to read more.
Seems like every day I go from work, to home, and back to work again.
You don't go out ever?
I... don't believe you don't go out.
Some.
Rarely. Mostly, I work.
I can relate to that.
I used to go to church a lot.
Not so much anymore.
- You give up on God? - [CHUCKLES]
Not yet.
I help out sometimes.
Organizing community events,
scholarship fundraisers for high schoolers.
Little stuff.
So you do get out.
If that's what you call getting out.
I take classes.
Well, took classes at the community college,
Atlanta Tech.
Ten credits away from my Associate's. Hospitality Management.
Congrats.
Almost. I'm saving up before I go back and finish.
Don't wanna take out loans, be in a whole lot of debt, you know.
It's why I drive this old thing. It's cost effective.
Sounds smart.
How long have you been studying multiple murderers?
Only recently.
It's a brand-new unit at Quantico.
Well, it sounds important, what you're doing.
Thank you.
[BRAKES SCREECH]
- TANYA: Here we are. - Oh. Looks closed.
TANYA: Let's go.
HOLDEN: Um...
- [UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING ON SPEAKERS] - Ernie.
This is Agent Ford.
- Holden. - This is my cousin.
- You look kind of young for FBI. - TANYA: Ernie.
- Stop it. Don't listen to him. - It happens.
ERNIE: They're sitting in the back there.
Go on ahead. I'll make you a plate and bring it over to you.
[POLICE SIRENS WAILING IN DISTANCE]
"They"?
[KITCHEN STAFF SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY]
Thank you all so much for waiting.
Sorry we're late.
Is that the FBI we've been waiting to meet?
Yes, ma'am. This is Special Agent Holden Ford.
- Special Agent Ford... - Holden, please.
TANYA: This is Mrs. Willie Mae Mathis,
Miss Venus Taylor, and Mrs. Camille Bell.
Agent Ford...
Holden.
He'll only be in town for one night,
so I'm sure you all would like to talk to him.
Why don't you sit down and enjoy the plate Cousin Ernest set,
before it get cold?
Thank you. This looks delicious.
VENUS: So you heard...
what's been happening here in Atlanta?
No.
Not for lack of trying.
Our calls aren't answered, our questions ignored.
- HOLDEN: Well, please tell me. - What is it you do, Special Agent Ford
of the FBI?
Well, Holden's with a very important office,
and he handles cases just like y'all's.
Tell 'em what you told me.
I'm with the Behavioral Science Unit,
a select division of the bureau.
I study serial killers.
That is, killers who murder multiple victims.
For instance, people like Son of Sam.
You caught Son of Sam?
- HOLDEN: No. - But someone in your unit did?
No, ma'am. I said we study Son of Sam to catch others like him.
- You've heard of Gene Devier? - CAMILLE: I have.
Well, Holden caught him.
How old are you, Agent Ford?
I'm almost 30.
He won't do us any good.
No one will listen to him. Thank you for coming here, Agent Ford.
- No one will listen to me? - Please? Mrs. Bell...
This is my daughter.
Angel.
She slept over at a friend's house.
They were gonna watch TV.
She loves The Jeffersons.
Loved.
Angel didn't come home.
I called the police. They said give it a couple days.
Give it a couple of days?
Near the woods over on Campbellton Road.
That's where they found the body.
I'm so sorry for your loss, Miss Taylor.
My son...
My Jeffrey is 11.
[CRYING] Jeffrey...
I'm sorry.
[SOBBING]
CAMILLE: That woman...
is a warrior.
[DOOR CLOSES]
Works three jobs,
takes care of six kids.
She has seen too much pain.
Her husband was a watchman. Shot dead during a robbery while on duty.
What can I do, Mrs. Bell?
My son Yusuf was at Dunbar Elementary.
He was one of 20 students enrolled in gifted classes there.
He was a good boy.
At age four, Yusuf could quote you
Dr. King's "I Have A Dream" speech from memory.
Very clever, that child.
Miss Eula, our neighbor, she asked if he'd run down to Reese's Grocery
to pick her up some snuff.
Yusuf, like Angel, never came back.
At the funeral, a whole lot of people showed up.
Even the mayor.
But nobody asked how the body of a nine-year-old boy
gets stuffed in a maintenance trap,
a hole in the concrete of an abandoned school,
the way Yusuf's had.
There are no answers to questions you can't even conceive.
We don't come here on Wednesdays for the food, Agent Ford.
We waited, we prayed, but we are done.
Our children are dying.
And someone must do something about it.
I'd like to help.
Here's everything we've collected so far.
Newspaper clippings, photos where the bodies were found,
eyewitness reports from neighbors
the authorities didn't even bother to interview.
Do the police have these?
CAMILLE: Not everything in there has been dittoed.
- Be precious with it. - HOLDEN: I promise.
And don't make promises.
We parents teach our kids ways to go about in this world.
How to take care of yourself, take care of each other.
[DRAWS BREATH] Our promise is to do our best to help keep them alive.
When they found Angel, she had someone else's underwear
stuffed down her throat.
My son Yusuf, his feet had been carefully washed
by whoever strangled him.
Willie Mae's child is still missing.
Who knows where he is or what's been done to him.
Save your promises, Agent Ford.
Thank you.
HOLDEN: Hmm?
For listening. Those women needed somebody to hear them out.
It's the very least I could do.
No one's taken them seriously until now.
I should've told you where we were going.
I... thought maybe you wouldn't want to come with me.
No. No, nothing to be sorry about.
I hear it's the best meal in Atlanta.
[FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING]
- TENCH: Hey. - I thought you guys were in Atlanta.
TENCH: Holden's there.
I was going, but, um... got a bug. He said he could handle it.
Do you think he should be in the field alone?
TENCH: I do. This'll be good.
Rip off the Band-Aid.
Well, Bill, you of all people know that these interviews can be unpredictable.
You really think testing Holden's emotional equilibrium
- right now is necessary? - I spoke to him last night.
He seemed fine.
He completed yesterday's interview without incident.
He and Jim.
Barney.
And today's guy shouldn't be a challenge.
Okay.
[SIGHS]
- Hi. I'm just picking him up. - Of course.
- BARNEY: Not hungry? - Morning.
I thought spending that many hours
with a violent degenerate might keep me awake.
- I slept like... - Have you heard of Camille Bell?
Terrible.
You know the case?
Everybody does.
Her story's been in the paper and on TV. The mayor attended her son's funeral.
- I had dinner with her last night. - You did what?
With her, and Venus Taylor, and Willie Mae Mathis.
You're in town overnight, and they manage to find you.
Every time the phone rings, Atlanta PD is afraid to pick up.
Those women want answers, and no one has any.
[SIGHS]
They asked me to review these files on their individual cases.
- You agreed? - Well, of course.
There's a lot here to look into.
Slow down a minute before you step in anything
and make the front page of the Journal-Constitution.
- Again. - Fair enough.
I'll set up a meeting, get us a broader perspective.
Things operate differently down here than they do up in Virginia.
- I'm beginning to see that. - BARNEY: We should jet.
HOLDEN: Mr. Hance, we'd like to discuss your mental state
during and after the crimes.
Let's start with the letters you sent to the Columbus Police Chief.
After you killed Gail Jackson, in fact, five weeks after,
you began writing letters claiming to be a vigilante group
called the "Forces of Evil."
Why would you contact the police?
'Cause they were white.
HOLDEN: The police?
The Forces of Evil.
But you made them up.
I made 'em up to be white.
In this first letter, you said the abduction of Gail Jackson
was revenge for the deaths of seven elderly white women in Columbus
at the hands of the Stocking Strangler.
And that you would kill Gail if the Strangler wasn't caught.
That is a very... complicated story.
Thank you.
How did you think it would help you, contacting the police?
Because everybody was scared of the Stocking Strangler.
And they was looking for a black man for that.
But... you didn't have anything to do with those murders.
HANCE: No, sir.
So now they be looking for those white men.
The Forces of Evil.
For kidnapping Gail Jackson.
HOLDEN: I see.
But when you first sent this letter,
the police didn't know Gail Jackson was missing.
In fact, they didn't even know Gail Jackson existed.
That's why I had to tell them.
You also told them where to find the body once she was killed.
They can't be after those white men if they don't have no body for no killing.
So, I told them where to find her.
But initially, you were pretending she was just kidnapped,
not dead.
'Cause that's how I was gonna get the ransom.
HOLDEN: All right.
The second letter.
So even though you know Gail Jackson's dead,
a woman the police aren't looking for,
you demand $10,000 for her return.
Because they still think she kidnapped. So they gotta give me the money.
You'd already told them where to find the body.
They didn't think there was a body yet.
They think she still alive.
And what prompted you, several days after the letters,
to make a phone call to the police
telling them exactly where to find her remains?
'Cause they weren't finding her.
How am I gonna throw 'em off my trail
if they ain't goin' after those white men for her murder?
The Forces of Evil.
I see.
It all comes back around.
Like a doughnut.
HOLDEN: Just like a doughnut.
And then when you killed Irene Thirkield?
Had to write another letter.
Now, these letters are all written on Army stationery from your base.
Did you do that deliberately?
Yes... uh, because it was the easiest thing I could find.
Were you at all worried the police might trace this stationery
back to you?
No, because I told them not to worry about it.
Throw 'em off my trail.
I see that. At the bottom.
"Don't put any stock in this stationery from the base.
Anybody could get their hands on it."
Thank you, Mr. Hance.
You certainly helped me clarify.
I wrote two more letters. And I made another phone call.
You certainly did.
Wanna talk about them letters?
HOLDEN: Well, I think we've got what we need.
Mr. Hance, you met Karen Hickman, Gail Jackson,
and Irene Thirkield at local bars?
HANCE: Yes, sir.
They always at the bars.
BARNEY: So you'd seen these women before.
We all going to the same bars. Can't help but see the same folks.
When you went to the bars, were you looking for female companionship?
No, sir.
I wasn't looking for nothin'.
Except have a drink's all.
Did you approach or talk to any of these women?
They come over to me.
A woman comes over to you, she starts talking.
Maybe Gail.
HANCE: Yes, sir.
She all friendly.
Says we should go somewhere.
And did I have $20.
- And what'd you say? - HANCE: I looked into my wallet.
Then I said I did have $20.
What were you thinking about when you left the bar?
Anything in particular?
I didn't never think about nothing.
Once you had her in your car, what'd you do?
HANCE: Drove.
Just drove?
Then I stop.
- And pull her out of the car. - BARNEY: And...
was she awake at this point?
Sometimes they making a lot of noise.
So I hit 'em.
Make 'em stop.
But you didn't just hit her.
You sure can't nobody use this?
BARNEY: Absolutely.
After she stopped making noise...
I get me the tire iron... from back of the car.
I beat her...
so's you can't recognize her.
And you did the same to Irene?
HANCE: Beat her too. Her head come off.
So's you can't tell who it is.
Were you aware both Gail and Irene were prostitutes?
I don't know. They just always around.
Talkin' to us.
The first woman, Karen Hickman,
she was different from them, right?
She was a soldier, a private.
She just around.
Around? Like she "got around"?
No, just... local.
BARNEY: You chose not to use a tire iron with her.
You used your car.
- How many times did you run her over? - HANCE: Don't know.
Lost count.
BARNEY: Was she different from Gail and Irene in any other way?
Karen was white. The other women were black.
HANCE: Suppose so.
Didn't ever notice.
BARNEY: Is it possible that the fact that she was white
was... a reason you picked her?
Never seen her as that.
She just a grunt like the rest of us.
[THUNDER RUMBLES IN DISTANCE]
He's retired?
Semi.
GBI brings him back when they want to keep something out the mainstream.
And Garland hears everything, but it's best to catch him before sundown.
I didn't know the FBI was interested in all this.
- We're not, officially. - [INDISTINCT RADIO CHATTER]
[SIGHS, CHUCKLES]
Like I'm not here watching a redneck bar, officially.
Agent Ford met last night with Camille Bell.
And Venus Taylor and Willie Mae Mathis.
It's where I got this.
[GRUNTS SOFTLY]
That Camille Bell is formidable.
She... They've asked me to review their cases.
Is anyone examining the obvious similarities here?
Six children of the same socioeconomic background,
abducted in broad daylight.
It's clearly a homogenous victim pool.
That's how the mothers are hoping you'll look at it.
You know, by linking these, uh, together, they've managed, to their credit,
to keep them from becoming cold cases.
But, I mean, it's a stretch to connect these through evidence.
You don't think it's unusual to have this many juvenile murders
so close together?
[GARLAND SIGHS] We average eight to ten child murders every year.
Atlanta has the fourth highest murder rate in this country,
so these kids, sadly... [SIGHS]
they don't represent a blip.
Even if the numbers aren't out of the norm,
the fact that most are male, of slight build...
You might have a predator here.
Look, you got a shooting and a strangulation at one location.
On good authority, this one's drug-related.
Angel Lenair: the only sexual assault.
Melton Harvey:
we couldn't even determine cause of death from his remains.
And Yusef Bell...
[SIGHS]...strangulation. Uh...
Sweet kid too. I mean, it just... it breaks your heart, but...
To be honest, I don't see a link in these cases.
We're finding MO isn't always consistent with serial killers,
and we have to look at victim type as a marker.
[CHUCKLES] This city is full of potential victims
that fit your pool.
I mean, easy pickings.
Look, if you're lookin' for a monster, it's poverty.
These kids are growing up vulnerable,
scrounging for pennies in high-risk situations,
surrounded by violence, sometimes in their own homes.
Family Services already had files on some of these.
And they reopened every single one of them to investigate.
Maybe the mothers just want to know their children aren't being ignored.
[SLURPS LOUDLY]
They've had almost no communication from police.
Every single one of those cases is still active.
And there's a historic distrust between the black community
and the police,
and rightly so.
The politics are complicated.
Barn, um...
Some people are feeling left behind in the "New South."
We're the first large Southern city to elect a black mayor.
That's progress.
And he's trying to build the world's largest airport
to attract business dollars,
but white flight's taking the tax base he needs to do it to the suburbs.
How does that translate to neglecting children's homicides?
[SIGHS]
They're trying to keep the noise down.
High murder rate, even the whisper of a predator:
that shit scares dollars away.
[MAN 1 ON RADIO] Uh, we've got movement, gentlemen.
A male, about six feet, black baseball cap.
MAN 2: Copy that.
- He's walking into the bar. - GARLAND: Well, best get back at it.
These yahoos tend to get a little active around sundown.
You still watching them?
I'm always watching them.
Mob?
GARLAND: Buncha good ole boys come in, pay their dues,
darn their sheets.
Thank you, Garland. Appreciate it.
Agent Ford, you might have something here.
I... I can't tell at this stage.
But... the truth is,
and we all hate to admit this,
but to find connections,
unfortunately...
[SIGHS] ...we have to wait for more bodies.
- [KEYBOARD CLACKING] - [GENTLE PIANO MUSIC PLAYING]
Hey.
Agent Ford.
I got your message. You had a meeting this afternoon?
- Yes. - Well, I waived the late checkout fee.
- [QUIETLY] How'd it go? - It went well.
I met with the senior GBI agent.
He's spoken with the lead investigators on the Bell and Lenear cases.
Lenair.
We've agreed to stay in touch.
And he's assured me that they're already following up
with Child and Family Services.
Give me that.
Tanya, I'm not saying that I agree 100 percent with how APD is handling this.
Though, from what I can see,
- they are working diligently to solve... - Following up with DCFS?
It's always the same. Neglect, abuse.
The family's to blame.
Look, on average, there are ten child murders
in Atlanta per year.
Now, that's awful. But from where it stands,
these numbers alone don't represent a statistical anomaly.
Those numbers have names, Agent Ford.
[KEYBOARD CLACKING]
You're all checked out. If there's nothing else.
[SIGHS]
[BARNEY ON RECORDING] Karen was white. The other women were black.
HANCE: Suppose so.
Didn't ever notice.
BARNEY: Is it possible that the fact that she was white
was a reason you picked her?
HANCE: Never seen her as that.
- She just a grunt like the rest... - [RECORDING STOPS]
Waste of time.
Well, it's fairly obvious that you lost interest during both interviews.
If Jim Barney wasn't there, it would've been a complete waste of time.
From now on, we have to interview subjects
who can, at the very least, tie their own footwear.
There's no point in preparing questions if you don't bother to ask them.
Pierce might speak seven languages, but English was barely one of them.
What did we learn?
If either of them had one thought about what they were doing,
before or during the murders,
they didn't have the wherewithal to articulate it.
I agree they hardly planned ahead.
But Pierce and Hance both exhibit elements of self-aware behavior
- following the murders. - TENCH: How does that help us?
We want to categorize their behavior before or during.
CARR: We also need to look at post-crime behaviors.
You know, elaborate, albeit unsuccessful, cover-ups.
Diversion of law enforcement with absurdly complex stories.
Grandiose self-characterizations of intelligence.
You're saying we've been too rigid in our thinking?
- Maybe. - TENCH: Change the classifications,
or do we need new ones?
Post-crime? Organized/disorganized?
Can't we just find more articulate subjects?
Pierce, he's interesting.
You were not there. And you are far too kind.
He killed impulsively: the shopkeeper, gas station attendant.
He killed compulsively too.
Three of his victims tied up and raped, murdered. BTK-like.
And Hance, he's interesting.
Though he claims he didn't notice, he killed outside his race,
which we know is highly unusual.
We should spend more time on that.
We may have been too certain of our thinking about racial grouping.
I'm not sure about the racial component.
TENCH: Really, Gregg?
What part of Karen Hickman being white
and William Henry Hance being black are you unsure of?
Obviously, I agree with you there.
I was looking at it from the essentialist perspective.
From the "essentialist perspective."
HOLDEN: What's that?
Aristotle proposed that all things have a substance or essence
that makes them what they are.
Similarly, Plato argued that groups are bound
by an essential characteristic.
TENCH: And what are the essential characteristics
that place Hance and Hickman in the same group?
Their uniform.
They're both soldiers.
Just a thought.
I have to meet up with Nancy.
- Date night? - TENCH: Somethin' like that.
That's interesting, Gregg.
Racial grouping may not always be the dominant factor.
We should look into that.
Kemper.
His victims were all white, except for one,
but the dominant factor was they were all coeds.
Well, thank goodness Jim Barney stuck with the instrument.
[DOOR CLOSES]
PRIEST: Detective Spencer, I want to thank you
for agreeing to come to tell us what you can about this terrible tragedy.
Please.
Thank you, Father Monaghan. [CLEARS THROAT]
Good evening, I'm Art Spencer, Fredericksburg PD.
As you know, three days ago, we received a call.
A young child was reported missing.
Less than 24 hours later,
one of our officers found him in an empty house.
There were no signs of forced entry.
No one saw or heard a thing.
The child was deceased.
We canvassed the neighborhood and will continue to do so.
Our lab technicians completed their sweep of the scene.
As of this moment, we have no suspects.
DALE: Excuse me, Detective. Sorry to interrupt, but,
well, we'd like to know...
how did Daniel die?
- Sir? - Dale. Dale Harmon.
Mr. Harmon, I'm sure you can appreciate the medical examiner
has not delivered his findings.
I can't give any details while we're still investigating.
DALE: Was Daniel murdered?
It's too early to answer that question.
There are unsettling rumors that this was some kind of cult sacrifice or something.
We have no reason to believe that... at this moment.
What does "at this moment" mean? That's not particularly calming
to any of us in this room.
Let's not traffic in gossip and speculation.
Father, I... We... We understand.
And I wanna be sensitive to the grieving family.
But hearing anything like cults or ritual sacrifice is...
is very upsetting.
Most of us here tonight have young children. And they're scared.
So we're asking you to share with us some answers.
HARRIET: Our ten-year-old daughter doesn't want to go to school.
She's afraid to even play in our backyard.
I can assure you, as soon as we are certain of the answers,
we will provide them.
DALE: My son told me the other night he's scared to fall asleep because...
"I don't know if I won't wake up like Daniel."
TENCH: Excuse me.
Art, may I?
I'm Bill Tench.
I work at the FBI.
Some of you may not know me.
I don't come to Sunday service as often as my wife Nancy.
Two days ago, I visited the crime scene.
I respect everyone's frustrations,
but let me reassure you this has nothing to do with a cult or anything like that.
Rod, everyone,
Detective Spencer's doing everything he can.
He has my full confidence.
Please... a little patience.
But Bill, you have experience with...
[SIGHS] Thank you for speaking up.
MONAGHAN: Yes, thank you for that, Agent Tench.
I'd like us all to take a moment and pray.
For our congregants the Dickinsons...
and for the detectives working on this case.
- ["BRASS IN POCKET" PLAYING ON RADIO] - ♪ Gonna make you ♪
♪ Make you, make you notice ♪
- [SONG CONTINUES ON JUKEBOX] - ♪ Gonna use my arms ♪
♪ Gonna use my legs ♪
♪ Gonna use my style ♪
♪ Gonna use my sidestep ♪
- [KAY SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY] - ♪ Gonna use my fingers ♪
♪ Gonna use my, my, my imagination... ♪
KAY: Give me a second.
♪ 'Cause I gonna make you see ♪
♪ There's nobody else here... ♪
- The usual? - CARR: Please.
- ♪ I'm special ♪ - ♪ Special... ♪
Pretty soon, I'm gonna have to start calling you a regular.
Last time, I promise.
People will talk.
In my job, I can't have people talking.
I was kidding.
So what does one do for fun around here?
You have a lot of free time at Quantico?
Not really, no.
But if I did, if I did have a night off, is there a place?
For us?
Are you looking for a tour guide...
or a date?
A date.
[CHUCKLES SOFTLY]
♪ 'Cause I gonna make you see ♪
♪ There's nobody else here ♪
♪ No one like me ♪
- ♪ I'm special ♪ - ♪ Special ♪
- ♪ So special ♪ - ♪ Special ♪
♪ I gotta have some of your attention ♪
♪ Give it to me ♪
- ♪ 'Cause I gonna make you see ♪ - [SHOT GLASSES CLINK]
♪ There's nobody else here ♪
♪ No one like me ♪
- ♪ I'm special ♪ - ♪ Special ♪
- ♪ So special ♪ - ♪ Special ♪
♪ I gotta have some of your attention ♪
♪ Give it to me ♪
[VOCALIZING]
[SUSPENSEFUL INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC PLAYING]