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Post by topbilled on Feb 11, 2023 15:46:39 GMT
060 Prescription for a Dead Doctor
Outline written by Jarrod McDonald, c) 2023
A 40-year old man named Gunther Ebrecht comes to a rundown apartment building to visit a woman in pain. The neighbors have seen him visit her several times before, and after each of his visits, she feels better. The medicine Daphne Gray receives is much needed morphine.
When Gunther leaves Daphne’s place, he finds people milling around the homeless mission. Some of the men outside the mission are alcoholics and drug addicts. One guy named Hugh Munson knows Gunther has something powerful in his bag that he gives to Daphne. Hugh gives Gunther some money he stole, then Gunther follows him back to the rat infested shelter he uses.
Hugh is in desperate need for Gunther to administer morphine from his bag. Gunther pulls out a syringe and waits till he’s sure that nobody is passing by. Then he shoots Hugh up with some of the juice he has. Hugh is most grateful.
Back at Daphne’s place, a teenager comes in to check on her. It’s her grandson Barnaby. He realizes she’s asleep. A short time later, Daphne is awake and she asks her grandson if he’s seen Hugh in the neighborhood. Hugh hasn’t been by lately. Barnaby will ask some folks tomorrow.
We cut to the sun rising. It’s the next day and Barnaby’s gone out to get something from Mr. Harper’s market for his grandmother. While he’s there he asks Mr. Harper if anyone’s seen Hugh recently. Mr. Harper says Hugh Munson was found dead this morning, from an overdose.
As Barnaby heads back to his grandmother’s place, he takes a detour past the shelter where Hugh usually slept. He sees the area cordoned off. Jude and Ryan are there, asking questions.
Birdie has just pushed her cart up this way from the mission. She tells Jude and Ryan that she knew Hugh. She insists Hugh had found god again and kicked the drug habit. So to her it don’t make no sense him having a relapse and dying this way. Barnaby overhears this. He gets a text from Daphne wondering where he is.
Barnaby soon returns to his grandmother’s apartment with the stuff he got from Mr. Harper. She can see by his expression that something is wrong. He says Hugh was found dead. Daphne can’t believe it.
We then cut to Gunther on a shift at his job. We reveal he’s not actually a doctor. He’s a pharmacy employee. At this place of employment, he has access to a wide array of drugs, including morphine, which we see him take and put into his bag when his boss isn’t looking.
That afternoon, after his shift is over, Gunther returns to see Daphne. He learns she is depressed. Barnaby explains that his grandmother’s friend died. Gunther doesn’t let on that he knew Hugh and aided in his death.
Barnaby goes out to meet a pal of his named Theo. Theo is a user who is in need of a fix. Barnaby says he doesn’t touch any of that stuff anymore. Theo thinks “Doctor” Ebrecht must have something in the bag he carries. Barnaby admits Gunther usually does, but it’s stuff to ease the pain his grandmother experiences since she was in an accident.
Theo offers to forgive Barnaby a previous loan of $1000 if Barnaby gets whatever is in Gunther’s bag for him. The camera pulls back and we show that Gunther just exited the apartment building and has come upon these two discussing what’s in his bag. Gunther sizes Barnaby’s friend up and says he’ll help him, claiming that junkies can’t quit cold turkey and need to be weaned off.
Barnaby watches Gunther give Theo an injection of morphine after they walk to a secluded place in a nearby park. Barnaby thinks Gunther is administering too much to Theo, but Theo needs it.
In the next scene Gunther has driven off. Barnaby returns to his grandmother’s apartment. Theo comes by and looks very sick. Barnaby hurries Theo into the bathroom. Theo says that “doctor” gave him bad stuff. He then convulses and collapses on the floor. Daphne hears a noise and comes down the hall. She sees Barnaby cry over his now dead pal.
Daphne doesn’t want a dead body inside her place. She orders Barnaby to get rid of Theo. He waits till the coast is clear and takes Theo over to the park, using a shopping cart Birdie left behind. Barnaby makes it look like Theo overdosed alone on a bench.
After Barnaby leaves, Birdie comes up. She’s glad to find her cart, but doesn’t remember leaving it here. She then notices Theo’s dead body.
A short time later Jude is there, with Ryan, doing another investigation. Jude thinks this death is a lot like the way Hugh Munson died. Birdie is frightened that a serial killer is on the loose in the area.
After paramedics take Theo away, Jude finishes asking Birdie more questions. As he and Ryan leave, they offer her a ride, but she’s on her way with her cart to go get some old canned goods that Mr. Harper throws away.
Jude and Ryan drive off in the squad car and Birdie goes off in the other direction. We pan over to where Barnaby is watching from the window of his grandmother’s apartment. He tells her that “Doctor” Ebrecht killed Theo with bad stuff. He suspects the same thing happened to Hugh.
In a quick flashback Daphne recalls the day she met Gunther shortly after her accident. She was in a lot of pain and he offered to help her. They struck up a quick friendship. Out of the flashback, Daphne tells Barnaby she just can’t believe that good kind man would deliberately kill people. Barnaby reacts.
We cut to Gunther at his place. We reveal that he has a makeshift shrine, which he kneels before. He writes Theo’s name in a journal he keeps. Then he prays, telling God he has sent another junkie to him. Gunther feels it is his solemn duty to clean up the trash that Jude and his men are not taking care of. He doesn’t feel any remorse about what he is doing.
The next day Gunther is back at work at the pharmacy. During an argument with his boss, we learn that he is someone who didn’t have what it took to be a real doctor, so he wound up becoming a pharmacy technician. But he plans to go back to med school and finish his studies.
The stress from arguing with his boss triggers an attack of some kind. Gunther finds his bag and takes out an inhaler. We reveal he’s asthmatic. Later his boss has left for the day. We see Gunther take more of the morphine he uses to kill the junkies. We then follow him out on to the streets to kill another one of society’s drug addicted undesirables.
This time the victim will be Daphne. Gunther has decided that because Daphne won’t even try to wean herself off the morphine, it’s time to give her a fatal dose. Barnaby is not there, because he’s gone to see a girl he likes. Daphne welcomes Gunther in and says she is glad to see him. She mentions Barnaby’s suspicions but says she knows Gunther would never hurt anybody. She is grateful for his ongoing friendship and “help.”
Gunther says he is going to help her tonight by sending her to see the lord. At first Daphne doesn’t know what he means, then she realizes that he’s going to shoot her up with more than usual and kill her. She doesn’t want him to do that. He pulls out the syringe and knows how much she needs the juice. She wishes she didn’t need it.
Just then Barnaby comes in with Penny, the girl he went to see. He plans to introduce her to his grandmother. Barnaby and Penny realize that something has just happened to Daphne. Her eyes are dilated and she’s going in and out of consciousness. Barnaby looks around and sees Gunther’s bag. He steps into the other room and finds Gunther praying.
Penny screams in the other room, as Daphne is now going into cardiac arrest. Barnaby tells Gunther he has to save his grandmother. Gunther says he can’t resuscitate Daphne, because it is the Lord’s wish. ‘But you’re a doctor!’ Barnaby yells at Gunther. Gunther says no, he’s not a doctor. He’s just doing God’s work.
Barnaby goes into the living room and pushes hysterical Penny aside. He then begins to administer CPR on his grandmother while Penny calls 911. In the background Gunther leaves with his bag.
We cut to a news report the next day in which Barnaby is interviewed on camera by Ashley Clark while Jude and Ryan look on with the captain. This is a press conference that’s occurring at the precinct, Barnaby talks about how his grandmother had trusted “Doctor” Gunther Ebrecht.
The pharmacy boss is interviewed next and says Gunther messed with many prescribed medications that were dispensed to patients at the pharmacy, because of a God complex. The captain then speaks and says Jude, Ryan and his men will find the phony doctor who went into hiding.
In the next scene, Gunther is shown to be hiding in the shelter where Hugh used to sleep. Birdie comes up with her shopping cart, and she recognizes Gunther from the news. She steps off to call Jude, while Gunther figures out he’s about to turned in. He decides to flee and ends up running into the night.
A short time later Gunther has reached the park. He experiences stress-related anxiety when he sees some gang kids with knives and is chased by them. He needs his inhaler and tries to reach into his bag to get it. But one of the gang kids grabs the bag from him and pulls the inhaler out, taunting him with it. Gunther cannot breathe and collapses.
The kids scatter in different directions as Jude pulls up in the squad car. Jude rushes over and discovers Gunther. In the next shot Birdie hurries up, out of breath. She asks about Gunther, and realizes from Jude’s expression that the good old ‘doctor’ is dead.
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Post by topbilled on Feb 13, 2023 16:19:06 GMT
061 Adrian's Mother
Outline written by Jarrod McDonald, c) 2023
We start with Birdie loitering around downtown at Christmastime. She has just found out that her latest lotto ticket didn’t even come close to winning the jackpot. What’s worse, it’s the holidays and she can’t afford to buy the gifts people buy in all those fancy department stores. She’s just gone into a dental office to look at magazines since she can’t even afford those. The receptionist asks if she has an appointment. ‘Don’t need one,’ she says flashing a wide smile. ‘Ain’t got no teeth left!’
On her way out of the dentist’s, Birdie spots a woman getting out of a cab and going into a nearby hotel. She recognizes the woman, whose name is Cordelia, from years ago. Birdie quickly leaves her shopping cart and heads into the hotel after the woman. Hotel management see Birdie coming in, and a concierge named Fronklin immediately rings security.
However, Birdie has made it as far as the front counter and approaches Cordelia. At first Cordelia is startled when this dirty creature comes up and taps her on the shoulder. But the voice sounds familiar. She finally recognizes Birdie, though she’s shocked to realize Birdie has such a dreadful appearance. Birdie admits it’s been years. She figures Cordelia and Eddie are back to see Adrian.
We cut to the office of Father Adrian Delacruz at Holy Name Cathedral. Cordelia’s husband Eduardo Delacruz is there having a reunion with his son Adrian. We learn they haven’t seen each other in quite awhile. Eddie and Cordelia live in Texas. Agnes steps into the office on church business and she is introduced to Adrian’s father whom she’s heard a lot about. She recalls Adrian saying his father is a retired oil baron. Eddie shrugs that off and insists he is just plain ordinary folk.
Agnes leaves to return to the school, and Adrian asks about his mother. We learn that although Eddie’s wife Cordelia is in reality Adrian’s stepmother, Adrian believes she’s his real mother. Eddie says Cordelia went to check in at the hotel.
We cut back to the hotel lobby. Cordelia says she and Eddie did not know Birdie lived in Chicago. Birdie starts to explain how she came to Chicago, but they’re interrupted because at this point, Birdie is being escorted out by security.
Cordelia insists that Fronklin call off security. She explains Birdie is a friend of hers, a singer-actress who is obviously dressed this way for a part. Though Fronklin has seen Birdie before and knows this is no act, he lets it slide to prevent a scene with a good paying customer.
In the next scene Birdie has gone up to Cordelia’s suite with her. Cordelia has run a bath for her and tells her to get into the tub and scrub up. It’s been so long since Birdie’s been clean she doesn’t know where to begin!
A short while later, Birdie is out of the tub and using a robe that belongs to Cordelia. They sit for tea and discuss Adrian. Birdie says she was on tour about ten years ago, still getting occasional nightclub gigs. But she headed to Chicago once she learned where Adrian was. Cordelia reacts.
In a series of flashbacks we learn more about the background of Birdie. Her real name is Meadowlark Conwell. She is originally from New Orleans, and that is where she met Eduardo Delacruz years ago when he was in town to close an oil deal. They met at a club where Birdie was performing. They had a whirlwind romance and married, but the marriage quickly turned sour.
A short time later she found out she was pregnant and went to Houston to tell him. It did not prevent their divorce. Eddie married Cordelia, and Birdie gave them the baby, a boy, to raise. The boy of course was Adrian.
A few more quick flashback scenes follow. We learn Birdie left New Orleans and went to New York to make it on Broadway. She didn’t quite succeed but found work in cabarets. She then performed at clubs across the country.
At one point she headlined in Atlantic City, but that was years ago. By the time she reached Chicago, where she learned her son was living, she was playing cheap nightclubs. But she was no longer as glamorous as she once was, and her drinking made it hard for her to keep a job. That’s how she eventually wound up on the streets.
Out of these flashbacks, Birdie sips more tea and tells Cordelia she ran out of funds, wound up on the streets and the rest is history. Cordelia figures Birdie has had interactions with Adrian, and asks what Adrian knows about her. Birdie says she told Adrian that she was once married to his father, but not that she’s his birth mother. Cordelia is grateful.
Cordelia sees a missed call from Eddie who is finishing up lunch with Adrian at the church rectory. She isn’t sure if Birdie should be here when Eddie gets back. Birdie asks how the old guy is doing. Cordelia says Eddie has a bad heart condition and probably won’t live long. That’s why they came to Chicago to see Adrian, but Eddie doesn’t want Adrian to know how sick he really is. Birdie reacts.
Birdie has mixed feelings about Eddie but given the circumstances, she doesn’t like the idea of him suffering. Cordelia wants to arrange for Birdie to join them for dinner. But first she needs to speak to Eddie alone, to soften him up about Birdie. Birdie understands. She gets out of the robe and puts her old dirty clothes back on. Before Birdie leaves, she gets $1000 from Cordelia to buy some new clothes. Birdie will be back later for dinner.
We cut to a series of short scenes with Birdie going into Lord & Taylor’s across the street, to buy clothes. At first the clerks want to kick her out because she’s a bag lady but then they realize she has money. Birdie says she needs to get all spiffed up for a special date tonight. After picking out an outfit, she buys a bottle of perfume, a fancy brand she used to wear when she had money.
At the same time we see Eddie arriving at the hotel room, learning from Cordelia about her earlier reunion with Birdie. Eddie is shocked Birdie is around and says Adrian didn’t mention her. Cordelia doesn’t tell him how Birdie’s fallen into poverty, just that she’s older like they both are, and that she’s still in fine voice. Eddie looks forward to seeing her later. He goes off to rest, and Cordelia gets a call from Birdie who’s just finished her purchases. They discuss which restaurant to meet at later.
In the meantime, Adrian is telling Agnes how nice it has been to see his father again. Jude stops by to visit Agnes, since he hasn’t been around in a while. He asks about Danny. Agnes is planning to visit Danny again. She says Danny will be up for parole at some point in the coming year. Jude is glad to hear it. Jude then learns Adrian’s folks are in town. Adrian gets a text from Cordelia they’re meeting at Lowry’s steakhouse for dinner.
We cut to the dinner. Adrian has shown up to meet Eddie and Cordelia. Birdie is late. When she comes in, Adrian doesn’t recognize her at first, since she’s dressed to the nines. He’s surprised to see her and learns how she bumped into Cordelia hours earlier. Eddie is unaware of Birdie’s life as a bag lady, and he thinks she has retired with a lot of money after a successful cabaret career. They all sit down for dinner.
After the meal, Eddie has gone out for some air with Birdie. They discuss the old days and the end of their marriage. Eddie has a slight chest pain and takes a pill. Inside Cordelia tells Adrian she gave Birdie the money for the clothes and how she wants everyone to get along. She admits that his dad is dying. Adrian reacts.
Outside Birdie thinks Eddie isn’t well, but he insists he is fine. He asks what kind of relationship she has with their son. She says Adrian knows they were married, but still thinks Cordelia is his mother. Eddie figures that’s best. Eddie asks if Birdie would ever want Adrian to know the truth. She says she used to, but now it doesn’t matter so much.
In the next shot Adrian and Cordelia are exiting the restaurant after settling the bill. A limo Eddie rented pulls up to take them back to the hotel. They offer to drop Birdie off at her place, but she declines. Adrian knows it’s because she doesn’t want them to see her section eight housing. The car drives off, and Birdie is grateful she had this lovely night. She starts to walk to her place. She sees a homeless woman who thinks she is rich the way she’s dressed. Birdie gives the woman money.
The woman, named Gertrude, notices the gaudy earrings that Birdie wears and likes them. Birdie catches a reflection of herself in a window and realizes the earrings clash with her new outfit. She takes them off and gives them to Gertrude.
We go with Gertrude who walks off to a warehouse where she usually finds bins to rummage through, and a place to sleep. She has put the earrings on. As she rummages through a bin, she is interrupted by a thug who says he saw the rich woman hand her money. He wants it, now. But Gertrude says it’s her money and she’s not giving it up.
They engage in a struggle. During the fight, the thug grabs a bottle of acid that’s on a shelf nearby and he splashes it in Gertrude’s face. A few seconds later, she is on the ground motionless and the thug has taken the money and run off.
We dissolve to the precinct the next morning. Amanda is just about to finish her graveyard shift. Glynda the dispatcher tells her that a woman with a certain description was found dead in a warehouse. Amanda and Glynda fear the description matches Birdie’s. Jude is just coming in, and Amanda tells him about the call that Glynda took. Jude clocks in and goes with Amanda to the warehouse.
At the warehouse Jude and Amanda are met by the owner who came by and discovered one of the doors was open and that a woman had been killed. As Jude and Amanda look at the body, which has had its face eaten away by the corrosive chemicals splashed on it, they see the earrings that Birdie always wears. Amanda is saddened by this, since she often relied on Birdie for information and they formed a strong bond.
We cut to the hotel suite where Cordelia and Eddie are staying. He is in the tub taking a bath. Cordelia talks to him through the door, since he values his privacy. He mentions how nice it was seeing Birdie again. He always worried that Birdie would end up in a bad place, but he’s happy things turned out great for her. Cordelia is about to tell him about Birdie’s true situation, but decides against it.
We cut to a suite down the hall. Birdie is staying there. We learn she did not feel like going to her place last night and came back here using the rest of the money from Cordelia to enjoy one night of luxury. There’s a knock at the door. It’s Fronklin the concierge with a guy bringing room service. Birdie tells the guy with the food to set the waffles down in front of her.
The room service guy exits and Fronklin takes a moment to tell Birdie he may not know what she has over that good woman in 717, but he is counting down to checkout time. It will be his pleasure to kick her to the curb. Birdie tells him to shut up and eats her waffles.
We go to Cordelia. She has just opened the door of her suite, and she sees the room service guy going by. She asks if there is someone who can help her. At the same time Fronklin is just leaving Birdie’s suite. They both hear Cordelia and the room service guy and step into the hall to learn what is going on.
In the next scene they are all inside Cordelia and Eddie’s suite. Cordelia’s surprised to find out that Birdie spent the night. The room service guy is telling Fronklin that Cordelia needs help. Cordelia explains she heard a loud thud and is worried about her husband. Eddie locked the bathroom door when he was bathing, and she can’t get inside.
Fronklin has a master key and uses it to open the door to the bathroom. It is discovered Eddie must have been trying to get out of the tub when he was stricken with a massive heart attack. He fell, hit his head and is face down in the tub. Cordelia is visibly distraught, and so is Birdie. As they comfort each other, Fronklin tells the room service guy to call 911.
We cut to the sitting room awhile later. Jude has shown up after the police were notified. Jude is glad to learn that Birdie is not dead after all. Birdie explains she gave her old earrings to Gertrude a bag lady, who was the victim of the acid attack in the warehouse. She says she spent the night at the hotel.
Paramedics are in the bathroom, and they are not able to save Eddie, who’s drowned. Jude tells Fronklin is doesn’t seem to be foul play. Eddie’s body is about to be wheeled out. Adrian shows up and sees his mother with Birdie. He is told by Jude that his father had a heart attack.
Birdie looks at her watch. It is checkout time. She needs to collect the nice things she bought with the money from Cordelia. Cordelia insists she not leave the hotel and move her stuff in to this suite with her. If you say so, Birdie replies. Fronklin reacts, and so do Adrian and Jude.
Dissolve to a few days later. Eddie’s funeral occurs at the church. Jude and Amanda are in attendance. Amanda is sitting next to Birdie and says she is glad Birdie didn’t die. Birdie squeezes Amanda’s hand in gratitude that someone cares. She looks over at Cordelia who is watching Adrian conduct the funeral with help from Sister Agnes. Agnes notices Birdie is dressed to the nines and thinks she looks like a new person.
After the funeral, Adrian has taken Cordelia and Birdie back to the hotel. Cordelia is heading to the airport to return to Houston. She will be in touch. She tells Birdie that she paid Fronklin for the suite for the next year and Birdie is to stay here. This is her way of thanking Birdie for not telling Adrian the truth, because she couldn’t bare to lose her son.
In the last scene Birdie has gone back to the dentist, because before Cordelia left town, she gave Birdie some extra money for a set of false teeth. The receptionist from the beginning of the episode recalls seeing Birdie before, but this time Birdie says she’s a paying customer. She is ushered inside to meet the dentist.
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Post by topbilled on Feb 15, 2023 14:31:00 GMT
062 The New Year's Eve Killer
Outline written by Jarrod McDonald, c) 2023
Every year for the past 12 years, a killer has murdered a beautiful woman in Chicago at the stroke of midnight. This year, Ashley Clark and other reporters are warning people to be careful, since history has shown that December 31st is not a safe night in the city. The captain is miffed that Ashley is making law enforcement seem inept, and it’s not the first time she’s done this, referencing her previous criticisms of the department. Jude thinks he can talk with Ashley and get her to help.
While Jude goes to meet with Ashley, the captain gets a visit from the mayor. They discuss the news coverage and the captain insists they have it under control. This year they will stop the killer.
Meanwhile Jude has arrived at the TV studio where Ashley works. He tells her that she and the other reporters have a duty to help, otherwise they are just instilling hysteria and adding to the problems. If she really wants to make the city safer this New Year’s Eve, then she will work with the department to nab the killer. She reacts.
Ashley realizes Jude is right, and she decides that she can create a piece that will challenge the killer. To possibly get the killer to become a bit off balance, so a mistake will be made and the police can close in. Jude is grateful that Ashley is finally seeing sense.
We go back to the precinct where the mayor is now leaving. The captain walks him out and Amanda hands him a message that a secretary took. It’s from Kokoy. Something about Nenita. The captain calls Kokoy and learns Kokoy is with Nenita at the hospital. There’s a complication with her pregnancy. The captain is heading over there right now.
At the same time Jude has stopped off at the coffee shop. He talks to Sonja and Dewey, who ask about the New Year’s Eve Killer. They’ve seen the reports by Ashley and other media, and it’s something everyone is talking about. Jude says he is determined to catch the guy. Dewey thinks it’s interesting the killer’s style is not repeated at any other time of the year. Jude agrees. Something about the holiday must have meaning for the guy. But what it is, nobody knows. At least not yet.
We then cut to a 20 year old woman named Crystal Brooks at St. Joseph’s hospital. She has just been told by the attending physician that her father Chip has died. He had been in ill health for awhile. They did all they could. She steps into the room to see her pop one last time. This was an important time of the year for her old man. She kisses his cheek and says she will make sure she observes the importance of the days ahead, to honor his memory. She then leaves.
We go with Crystal walking down the hallway. She passes by a room where the captain has just joined Kokoy and Nenita. It is said Nenita had been cramping and bleeding. Fearing she was losing the baby, she had Kokoy bring her here where she was admitted for observation. A nurse comes in and during a brief conversation, the captain learns the doctor said Nenita did not miscarry and will be fine. He and Nenita are relieved.
We cut to the precinct. Jude is there with Ryan and Amanda. They discuss the fact the captain is with Nenita. They are working together, going over case histories of the past New Year’s Eve victims. All of the deceased women were killed by a right-handed person.
We then go to Crystal Brooks who has arrived home. The house feels empty without her father. A neighbor lady comes by with a casserole and is sorry Chip Brooks is gone. The neighbor knows Crystal lost her mother twelve years ago at this time. She comforts Crystal.
After the neighbor leaves, Crystal tries to eat but isn’t hungry. She looks through some old photo albums. Pictures from when she was eight years old grab her attention. It was the last time she was happy with both her parents still in a loving marriage.
A brief flashback from twelve years earlier shows the mother admitting she had a lover and that she was leaving. She was planning to come back for Crystal, but ultimately that never happened. Out of the flashback, Crystal looks at the photo of her mother as a tear rolls down her cheek.
Back at the precinct, Amanda realizes there is a pattern concerning the victims. Their initials have continued through the alphabet. The first woman a dozen years ago was Alison Brooks, whose initials were A.B. and the next year it was Courtney Dolan, or C.D. So this year the victim would need to have the initials Y.Z. and would presumably be the last one. Jude and Ryan both realize Amanda is right.
In the next shot, the captain is returning from the hospital. He says Nenita didn’t lose the baby and will be okay. Kokoy’s staying with her. He wants to know what’s happening with the investigation. Amanda tells him about the pattern involving the victims.
Ryan says a friend of his is a model with the initials Y.Z. Her name is Yvette Zacarro. She might be willing to help. Jude thinks it is too risky to use an innocent woman as bait, but the captain thinks it could work and they will provide adequate protection for her. Ryan dials his friend.
In the next scene Yvette has turned up. It is revealed that she’s also a friend of Ashley, who has come along. Ashley tells Yvette how dangerous the idea is of luring a successful killer out into the open. But Yvette wants to help, so the women of Chicago can feel safe again, so everyone can enjoy the New Year. It’s settled. They will go ahead with the plan.
We cut to New Year’s Eve around 11:57 p.m. Jude is driving in the squad car. He arrives at Grant Park and turns off the motor. Before he gets out, he decides to call Sonja and make sure she’s safe at home in Hegewisch. She assures him that she is. She appreciates his concern. He probably won’t talk to her until sometime tomorrow, and he wishes her a Happy New Year. She wishes him the same. It is now 11:59 p.m.
As the call ends, Jude thinks he sees a shadowy figure near a platform in the park where some entertainers are performing. Yvette, as the bait, is the emcee of the event along with Ashley. Jude sees Ryan at a distance and signals him about the shadowy figure.
In the next part Yvette is stepping off stage with Ashley as the next act begins. Someone reaches out and shoves Ashley to the ground. Then they pull Yvette into a darkened area. Yvette has been attacked quickly, with the noise of her and Ashley’s screams drowned out by the loud rock band on stage.
After the commercial break, we are at the hospital where Yvette is being treated for superficial stab wounds awhile later. Fortunately the killer missed and only sliced her upper shoulder. The doctor explains to Jude, Ryan and Ashley that Yvette was attacked by a left-handed assailant. Ashley doesn’t understand why this is significant. Ryan explains that the killer has gone from being right-handed to left-handed.
Ashley asks what this means. Jude theorizes that the original killer has stopped claiming lives and a copycat killer took over. But why? He does not know the answer to that just yet. But they will find out, and in the meantime, they need to continue guarding Yvette.
We then cut to the Brooks home. Crystal has returned and takes off a mask she was wearing. She looks at a photo of her father and says “I am sorry daddy, I didn’t succeed. I’m not as good at is you were. But I will try again.”
Meanwhile Amanda has gone to visit the neighbor lady. Looking through the old case files again, she found a statement by the neighbor. Mrs. Prindle doesn’t like being awakened at 1 a.m.. Amanda flashes her badge and says she needs to come inside.
In the next shot Amanda has entered Mrs. Prindle’s place. She says she found the woman’s statement from twelve years ago when the first New Year’s Eve victim, Alison Brooks, was killed. Why did Mrs. Prindle think she knew who the killer might be, then recant her statement?
As they sit down, Mrs. Prindle mentions how her neighbor Chip Brooks lost his wife Alison to an affair, and how he wasn’t taking it well. She feared for Crystal’s sake that Chip did the deed, but when DNA testing cleared him she realized she must have been mistaken. But Amanda doesn’t think she was mistaken.
Mrs. Prindle then says Chip Brooks died recently and his daughter Crystal was very attached to him. Amanda plans to go next door to talk to Crystal.
We cut to Crystal who has just a received her own visitor. It’s a man she hasn’t seen in twelve years…her uncle Eugene. His looks are identical to Chip’s, since they’re twin brothers. Eugene says he learned Chip died. He doesn’t like how he was forced to provide an alibi for Chip in the death of Crystal’s mother, by pretending to be Chip when a DNA test was required by police.
Crystal says her mother was a tramp and deserved to die. But Eugene says Alison was no tramp, she was a lovely woman. We reveal that the man Alison left Chip for was actually Eugene. This conversation is interrupted when there’s a knock on the door. It’s Amanda. Jude has just pulled up after getting a call from Amanda, and he is with her.
Crystal doesn’t want to open up to the police, but Eugene says they have no choice. He opens the door. Jude and Amanda come inside. Eugene officially introduces himself to them and says his late brother Chip was the New Year’s Eve killer, and that Crystal feels compelled to bring Chp’s legacy full circle.
Amanda moves in to arrest Crystal, but Crystal whips out the knife she used to attack Yvette. She is going to use it on herself. Her father was never apprehended, and she won’t let the police get her either. Eugene tries to appeal to her sense of reason. He takes the blame for all of what happened, saying he never should have helped Chip get away with killing Alison. And he shouldn’t have remained quiet during the time the subsequent twelve other victims were targeted.
Jude considers Eugene's confession one of being an accomplice and perverting the course of justice. He starts to arrest Eugene, while Amanda is able to get the knife away from Crystal and subdue her.
In the next part, Jude is leading Eugene out while Amanda leads Crystal out to the squad car. Both are in handcuffs. Mrs. Prindle the neighbor is watching this from her window.
We then go to Yvette’s hospital room. She has just received a call that the killing spree is now over. She feels well enough to have a celebratory glass of champagne with Ashley and with Ryan who is now off duty.
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Post by topbilled on Feb 17, 2023 14:50:59 GMT
063 Everything's Fine in Dream Land Until It Isn't
Outline written by Jarrod McDonald, c) 2023
A fugitive from justice is hiding out in Chicago at Sugar’s motel. We learn that since we last saw her, Sugar has made substantial improvements to the place. The business continues to be a front for prostitution, but now Sugar is calling the shots, and there are half dozen girls under her.
The wanted man, a repulsive type who goes by the name El Gordo, is using all Sugar’s girls. But he kills one of them, because he says she’s not pretty enough.
Sugar is fiercely protective of her girls, and she’s furious that the fat slob has viciously murdered Bonnie. She has the other girls create a diversion (by offering El Gordo a free orgy) and she goes through his things in the next room. She discovers his real identity and that he’s a very dangerous man wanted in Los Angeles for the murder of a foreign diplomat. She hires a street kid to take a message to Jude, and then goes to meet Jude at Grant Park.
When Sugar meets up with Jude at the park, she tells him that she’s got a dead body on her hands thanks to El Gordo. She’s afraid of what he might do to her other girls. Jude arranges for Bonnie’s body to be picked up discretely, and he strategizes with the captain and Amanda to come up with the best way to lure El Gordo out into the open.
When Sugar gets back to the motel, she learns that El Gordo just killed another girl, one named Cindy. Cindy had refused to obey some of El Gordo’s specific commands and she talked back to him. Meanwhile, Jude and his men have surrounded the motel and Jude instructs El Gordo to come out with his hands up. But El Gordo refuses to surrender, and he threatens to kill the other four girls if he doesn’t get a plane to Panama.
At one point, Jude goes inside to talk to him, and he convinces El Gordo to release the four girls, but El Gordo is still holding on to Sugar, at gunpoint. Jude’s quick thinking ultimately saves Sugar’s life, and El Gordo is captured.
In the second half of the story Jude accompanies El Gordo on a plane to California, since the guy is being extradited to Los Angeles to stand trial for the murder of the diplomat he killed.
After turning El Gordo over to the authorities in L.A., Jude has a free evening since his flight back to Chicago isn’t till the next morning. He goes to a posh club where he runs into Guy Trudeau, the actor that was involved with Jude’s ex-girlfriend Gloria Dawson (previously seen in ‘One Way Ticket to Freedom’ and ‘The Reality of Murder’).
Jude and Guy get caught up. Guy says things did not work out for him and Gloria but they are still close and he sees her at least once a week. Jude asks what Gloria is up to these days, if she’s planning another comeback in the movies. Guy says she is unable to work, since she is battling cancer. This is news to Jude.
Later that evening Jude takes a ride share to a house in the Hollywood Hills where Gloria lives. He’s impressed with how well she did for herself, remembering when she was poor but had a lot of ambition back in the old days in Chicago. Gloria is happy that Jude’s come to see her.
It’s clear that Gloria is quite weak from chemo. She confides in Jude that cancer is beating her and she doesn’t think she will live much longer. She passes the time by watching her old movies. Jude watches one with her, a cheesy romcom that was her biggest hit, to humor her. They have a few good laughs. And she is grateful that he’s helped take her mind off her worries, at least for a little while.
After the movie ends, Jude asks Gloria if she’s afraid of dying. She says she is not. But she is afraid of dying before she tells him something. She says the rumors that her daughter Becky, who is still serving time at an institution in Chicago, is his daughter are true.
Jude returns to his hotel and tries to get his head around what Gloria’s just told him.
The next morning, on his way to the airport, Jude gets a call from Guy who had stopped by Gloria’s home early this morning. Guy tells Jude that Gloria died peacefully in her sleep last night after Jude left.
As the plane takes off and Jude looks down at the Hollywood sign, he has tears in his eyes.
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Post by topbilled on Feb 18, 2023 12:44:50 GMT
064 Becky
Outline written by Jarrod McDonald, c) 2023
Jude is back in Chicago after his recent trip to California. The captain and Ryan sense that something has changed with him, but Jude isn’t opening up. He is still dealing with Gloria Dawson’s recent death.
When Amanda sees pictures of Gloria’s death on the news, she recalls the earlier interactions she had with Gloria and how much a part of Jude’s life Gloria was. She tells Jude she knows what’s bothering him. But he still doesn’t want to talk about it.
He heads out of the precinct, on his way over to see Sister Agnes, when he is stopped on the sidewalk by Ashley Clark. He is asked for a comment by Ashley about Gloria’s death. At first Jude ignores Ashley and her cameraman, brushing past them, but when Ashley mentions what will happen to Gloria’s daughter Becky who is still at a facility for juvenile offenders, Jude pivots and tells Ashley she has no shame.
What would Ashley expect him to think about Becky. Certainly it’s going to be tough for the girl. And that’s all Jude has to say. They’ve reached the church office, and Jude ducks inside. He tells the secretary that he’s looking for Agnes. But Agnes is teaching a religious class at the school. It is revealed the secretary is eight months pregnant and this is her last week for awhile. She’s going off on maternity leave.
As Jude waits for Agnes, he overhears a comical interview between the secretary and a possible temporary replacement. This person won’t do at all. Agnes then comes in and she realizes by the secretary’s expression as the applicant leaves, they still haven’t found anyone suitable. Agnes notices Jude and motions to him to step into her office with her.
In Agnes’ office, Jude makes small talk about Danny. But Agnes knows Danny isn’t the reason Jude is here. Jude reveals what happened in L.A. with Gloria and how Becky is apparently his daughter. Agnes asks what he is going to do about it. He figures he will have to go visit Becky. Agnes thinks that’s a good idea, since Becky is probably hurting and needs a parent. Jude reacts.
As Jude exits the church school office and gets into his squad car, we see another car heading past him. We stay with the other car. Inside the vehicle is a man named Chet Garner. Chet is a hitman who just upped his prices. He is on his cell phone as he drives. He refuses to offer a potential client named Neal Dixon a reduced rate. Dixon needs a job done fast and Chet comes highly recommended.
Neal doesn’t want to haggle on a price, and pretends to go along with Chet. Chet will meet him at such and such location in half an hour.
We cut to the location, which is a condemned apartment building. They seem to have a deal, with Neal handing over an envelope of dough. But when Chet opens it up and starts counting, he realizes it is less than what Chet said his price is. Neal says he ain’t got no more. Chet says he better find it, cuz they have no deal until he does. Neal becomes so enraged he kills Chet on the spot.
We then cut to Jude arriving at the office of the facility where Becky is staying. It is said that she will be out soon. Jude asks Mrs. Powell, the director of the facility, about Becky’s state of mind. He is told that Becky no longer exhibits any trauma surrounding the homicide several years ago involving her mother’s producer. But Becky hasn’t been told yet about Gloria’s death. She’s been shielded from the media.
Jude says he has reason to believe Becky’s his daughter. He’d like to see her and tell the girl about her mother. Mrs. Powell allows this.
In the next scene Jude is visiting with Becky who is now 19 years old. It’s a bit awkward for them both, as they haven’t seen each other in over two years since her arrest. Jude beats around the bush, trying to tell her what he has to tell her. But she is perceptive and interrupts him.
‘You’re my father, aren’t you?’ She asks. To which Jude says yes, he thinks he is. They can have a DNA test done to confirm it. But Becky seems to believe Jude is her father and doesn’t need a test. Jude then says he is here to tell her something else. He mentions Gloria’s death. Becky breaks down in tears, crying on his shoulder.
We dissolve to a few days later. Jude is on his way to work in the morning and stops by the coffee shop. He learns from Dewey that Sonja is meeting with an accountant. She is having to refinance the shop, because Marek is trying to drag out their divorce, and her attorney does not come cheap. Sonja finishes her chat with the accountant at a nearby table. The accountant leaves and Sonja sees Jude and steps over.
She heard about Becky and Gloria. Jude is uncomfortable getting into all that. He asks if it’s true that she’s going to refinance the place. She has no choice. Dewey is finishing with a customer and says he has a smart cousin who just passed the bar exam. He is sure his cousin will help Sonja finalize the divorce for half what the other lawyer is charging.
Sonja tells Dewey to call his cousin. Jude has to get to the precinct and hopes things take a better turn for Sonja.
Meanwhile we see that Neal Dixon, who had killed hitman Chet Garner in anger, has managed to make a new reputation for himself. The word has gotten out that he is the fiercest guy around. He’s now become a hitman himself and has started taking customers away from other killers, offering discount rates and even a few freebies.
Jude has arrived at the precinct. He joins a conversation the captain is having with Amanda and Ryan about the death of Chet Garner, which is still not solved. Amanda talked to Birdie who knew Chet, and that Birdie mentioned hearing something about Neal Dixon who has taken Chet’s old clients and is said to be siphoning clients off other hitmen. The captain wants Jude and Ryan to track down Dixon and talk with him.
We cut back to Neal Dixon. He is exiting his hotel room, when he is abducted by a huge goon. The goon takes him to some empty warehouse by the river. A group of other hitmen are there waiting for him.
The other men want to protect their businesses, and have formed an alliance . They are going to put Dixon the interloper out of commission. The goon has brought Neal Dixon in, put him on a chair and tied him up. The other men then come up and take turns hitting him with a sledge hammer. First they bust his kneecaps, then they break his nose and teeth. Neal refuses to see sense and give up his new business.
The other men decide Neal has to die. But they have trouble agreeing on who will administer the final blow to Neal’s head and how much they will chip in to pay the one who does it.
As this is going on, a close pal of Dixon’s has shown up to rescue him. He has a can of kerosene and matches. He starts to set fire to the warehouse to create a diversion that will prevent Neal from being killed.
At the same time we see Jude and Ryan talking to Birdie and to some other informants, which leads them to the warehouse as it is engulfed in flames.
All of the killers are trying to escape the burning building. Inside, Neal Dixon’s pal unties him and they hurry out a side door right into Ryan who is aiming a gun and tells them to freeze.
Meanwhile Jude is arresting the other men with help from officers who have arrived on the scene to provide backup and assistance. As Neal is cuffed and gets into the squad car, he looks at the burning building which is now being attended to by the fire department. He turns to his pal, also cuffed and being put into the car. ‘Why didn’t you just come in with a machine gun? It would’ve been easier.’
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Post by topbilled on Feb 20, 2023 15:27:58 GMT
065 Heroes and Halos
Outline written by Jarrod McDonald, c) 2023
Billy Rosemont is an ex-Army soldier, and he is suffering post-traumatic stress disorder. He is having flashes of his time in the service. Everything is noisy, and he hears shots being fired and sees the many men he killed overseas in a war zone. Then he snaps, and everything is silent again.
He speaks to Sister Agnes at St. Joseph’s Hospital, and she refers him to Father Delacruz for spiritual counseling, hoping that might help him. Billy tells the priest that sometimes he feels like he needs to kill again to be a man. He is a paraplegic and unable to walk, and his fiancée who was unable to cope, ditched him for another guy. Billy wants to kill that other guy, and his thoughts are consumed by it.
We learn that the other guy who is engaged to Billy’s ex-girlfriend Eileen is Biggie’s younger cousin, Aaron Bigelow.
Meanwhile, Jude has gone back to see Becky again. They talk more about his being her father. Neither one knows what to do about their new relationship. Becky is being released on parole. Jude arranges for Becky to get a job at the church assisting Sister Agnes, since Agnes never did find a good replacement while her secretary is on maternity leave.
The next scenes show Becky now on the outside, working at the church and school alongside Agnes. She feels awkward and is told it will take time to readjust. Jude comes by one day and realizes his presence isn’t helping. He promises to stay away but will still call to check up on Becky.
Agnes walks Jude out. As he drives off, Agnes turns to go back into her office and slips on a patch of ice. She takes a nasty tumble and injures herself badly. Becky rushes to her aid.
In the next part a visit to the urgent care has resulted in Agnes being X-rayed and put on crutches. Her ankle has a hairline fracture, and she will be off her feet for awhile.
The following morning Father Delacruz is leaving to go to a retreat. He will be away for two days. Agnes is thinking about BIlly, and she asks a parishioner who sometimes volunteers at the hospital to go and check in on Billy. But the parishioner just got a new job and is busy. Becky volunteers to go.
Becky is pretty but painfully shy and ashamed of her past. However, Agnes thinks visiting Billy can help Becky regain a sense of purpose. When Becky shows up at the hospital later, she and Billy hit it off. Their talk gets Billy’s mind of wanting to kill Aaron. He asks Becky to come back the next day.
There is a montage of scenes with Becky visiting Billy the following day and the day after that. They really enjoy each other’s company. Billy is making progress at the hospital because of her. And very quickly without their realizing it, he and Becky have fallen in love.
During a talk with Agnes, Becky admits her feelings for Billy. She thinks Billy feels the same way about her but knows it won’t be easy for them since they are both still healing.
Later Agnes bumps into Jude and she tells him about Becky’s new relationship with Billy. Jude isn’t sure that’s a good thing but Agnes insists it is. Jude will have to take her word for it.
In the next part Becky has reached out to Jude to tell him about her job and about Billy. He pretends as though he hasn’t spoken recently with Agnes and doesn’t know about Billy. He’s happy for her.
However, there’s a setback when Billy learns that Eileen married Aaron. He is once again feeling sorry for himself and angry. Billy checks himself out of the hospital and goes to the hotel where Eileen and Aaron are honeymooning.
Becky and Agnes have learned what is going on. They go to the hotel to stop Billy from making a mistake. But Billy won’t listen to Agnes and what he considers her meaningless Christian advice. Only Becky is able to get through to Billy and talk him into giving up the gun and making a life with her.
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Post by topbilled on Feb 22, 2023 7:06:33 GMT
066 The Time Alonso San Cristobal Visited Chicago
Outline written by Jarrod McDonald, c) 2023
We start with the captain in his office at the precinct. He is on the phone with Nenita, and he can’t get her off the line to get back to work. Jude pokes his head in the door and chuckles at this. Finally the captain hangs up and tells Jude that Nenita is driving him nuts with her constant worries about her current pregnancy. Nenita is still afraid something bad will happen again.
Jude asks if Nenita’s been consulting with a doctor. Yes, the captain says. Her doctor, their neighbors, even random people at the supermarket. He will be glad when Nenita finally gives birth, even though that’s not for a few more months yet.
We then cut to Nenita who has just finished talking with the captain and put her cell phone away. She is getting out of a ride share, arriving at Bloomingdales to get some things for the baby. She is buying gender neutral stuff, because she and the captain are waiting till the actual birth to learn whether it’s a boy or a girl.
Inside Bloomingdales Nenita bumps into a well-dressed woman, who happens to be Birdie Conwell. Nenita thought Birdie was a bag lady. Birdie admits she was, until she took up residence at the hotel across the street. She is here to buy more clothes, on Cordelia Delacruz’s charge account. Birdie can sense Nenita is anxious about something.
We go back to the captain’s office at the precinct. Ryan has joined him and Jude. The captain mentions how in between calls from Nenita, he got a call from the mayor. Apparently the mayor’s wife was swindled by a girl she took under her wing. The girl uses aliases but under her real name, she has a rap sheet a mile long. Normally they’d let bunco squad handle this but the mayor asked for quick justice. The captain said he’d put Jude and Ryan on it. He hands them the file and tells them to get started pronto. They react.
We cut back to Nenita and Birdie with their packages leaving Bloomies. Birdie thinks Nenita needs to talk about what’s bothering her and invites Nenita to her place for tea. Nenita agrees. It’s snowing lightly as they make their way across the street and into the hotel lobby. There is a meek looking man named Alonso San Cristobal who is checking in at the front desk with Fronklin.
Birdie and Nenita go up to Birdie’s suite in the elevator. We stay with Alonso. Fronklin has just finished registering him and hands him the key. Fronklin summons a bell boy, named Jarrett, who helps accompany Alonso and his luggage up to his suite. The suite is not far from Birdie’s.
Jarrett Garrett helps Alonso into his room and learns about Alonso who talks a lot about himself. Alonso is in his mid-50s. He’s a salesman who sells knives. This is his first time in Chicago, his first time in any big city. He’s from a small town in Ohio. He’s here for a convention.
Alonso tells Jarrett he has a wife of 30 years. She’s the love of his life. They have three kids and their first grandchild is on the way. Alonso’s wife would have come with him, but the grand baby is due anyday and Alonso’s wife stayed in Ohio with their pregnant daughter. Jarrett is making mental note of all this.
We cut to Birdie and Nenita who are in Birdie’s suite. Birdie has just made some tea and pours it. Nenita talks about her first pregnancy, having a stillborn son. Birdie vaguely recalls hearing something about all that from Amanda. Nenita has been having premonitions that something will go wrong with this pregnancy. Not even her husband’s reassurances can help calm her.
Birdie says she reads tarot cards. Maybe if she looks at Nenita’s cards and they see what a good future is head for her, she’ll stop fretting.
We go back to Jarrett who has left Alonso’s suite. He is on his cellphone with a girl he knows. It’s the same person the captain had told Jude and Ryan to nab for bilking the mayor’s wife. Her name is Polly Carruthers.
In the next scene Polly shows up with room service for Alonso. He says he didn’t order any. She pretends it was a mix-up. Then she starts crying. He asks what is wrong. She plays on his sympathies and says a man that her brother owes money to has been beating her and will really hurt her bad next time if she doesn’t get money to pay him off. She pulls her blouse up a bit to show Alonso some fake bruises.
Alonso would like to help Polly but isn’t sure he should. Polly says she just needs two thousand. She is getting money sent to her from a relative tomorrow and will pay him back. If he could just loan her the cash now, she’ll pay him back in the morning. In the meantime she can get that horrible abusive man out of her brother’s life and out of her life.
While Alonso thinks about this, we go to Birdie reading Nenita’s cards. The cards seem to suggest everything will be okay. This puts Nenita’s mind at ease. She thanks Birdie for the tea and leaves. But we reveal Birdie lied to her and something tragic will happen again after the birth.
Meanwhile, Alonso has gone to an ATM down in the lobby. He withdraws money for Polly, and she leaves the building happy as a lark with the dough, promising to be in touch tomorrow. Of course she has no plans to ever see this loser again. Alonso feels happy he has helped solved this woman’s problems and goes off to a convention.
Out on the street Jude and Ryan are tailing Polly. They see her take the money she got from Alonso and meet up with Jarrett in the park. She gives him half the money and they laugh what an easy mark Alonso was. Jarrett has to get back to the hotel when Fronklin texts him his break is over. As Jarrett takes off quickly on a skateboard he uses, Jude and Ryan come up and tell Polly she’s under arrest.
At the precinct Polly is booked. She refuses to incriminate Jarrett, who helped her when she wound up alone on the streets. Amanda puts Polly in holding for awhile, but she isn’t there long, because Sugar sends a lawyer over to bail Polly out. Polly originally had a job with Sugar when she first arrived in the city, but she wasn’t cut out for that type of work. Sugar felt sorry for her and they’ve maintained a friendship.
We cut to the hotel. Alonso is back from his convention. He is still thinking about Polly and asks Fronklin if he can see the girl who brought up his room service earlier. The description he gives does not match any of their employees. Alonso scratches his head and goes up to his room.
As he gets off the elevator, he sees Jarrett in the hallway. He asks Jarrett about Polly. Certainly he did not imagine her. But Jarrett says he must have. Alonso realizes that he was conned by someone that is not on staff at the hotel. How will he explain “losing” two grand to his wife?
Just then Alonso gets a call as he steps into his room. It’s his wife who says their grandchild was just born. It’s a boy. She can’t wait for Alonso to come home tomorrow.
A short time later that evening, Alonso walks down the street to Biggie’s bar to have a drink to celebrate the birth of his first grandchild, who is being named after him. He sees Polly there trying to fleece some other out-of-towner. He warns the man to stay away from her. Polly says she never met Alonso before in her life, and that he’s a crazy drunk.
Biggie has Shorty toss Alonso out for getting rowdy. Alonso is angry about what’s happened. Instead of going back to the hotel, he waits an hour for Polly to come out. She’s just gotten money from the other guy and is on her way to the park to meet Jarrett again to split the haul with him. Before she gets to the park, she sees a shadowy figure follow her.
In the next shot, she picks up the pace and starts to run but Alonso chases her down an alley and up against the wall of a vacant building. He starts shouting he wants his money back. All she has is the five hundred she got from the guy at the bar. He says she still owes him another $1500. She says he should be grateful he got this much back, since none of the guys she robs ever recoup their losses.
Alonso loses his temper and calls her a cheating bitch. She spits at him and he snaps, pulling out one of the knives he sells. He plunges the shiny object into her abdomen, and she doubles over in pain. He realizes he’s killed her and puts the knife away. Then he runs off.
We reveal that this darkened alley is near the motel. Sugar had just looked out her window and saw all this happen. She dials the precinct.
Soon Jude shows up and meets Sugar. She leads him to where Polly’s dead body is in the alley. Alonso is long gone, but Sugar provides an adequate description of him. On the ground, Jude finds a hotel room key that must’ve fallen out of Alonso’s pocket when he pulled out the knife.
We then cut to the hotel a short time later. Jude arrives and speaks to Fronklin. He wants the name of the person staying in the room with this card key. Fronklin had just issued a replacement key to Alonso who recently returned to the hotel and realized he lost his key.
Upstairs Birdie is chatting with Alonso in the hallway. They are making smalltalk. He is mentioning his time in the city and the fact he just became a grandfather. It’s as if he’s blocked out everything that took place with Polly Carruthers.
Jude gets off the elevator with Fronklin. Alonso sees them coming towards him. He grabs hold of Birdie and uses her as a shield, stepping behind her and putting a knife to her throat. He tells Jude and Fronklin not to take another step. But Jude won’t be deterred.
Jude has pulled out his gun and tells Alonso to let Birdie go. Fronklin covers his eyes in horror. Birdie takes advantage of the temporary standoff and uses some fancy footwork to trip Alonso. Alonso has lost his grip on the knife and falls.
Jude rushes up, grabs the knife and arrests Alonso. Fronklin hurries over to Birdie and asks if she’s okay. She didn’t realize Fronklin cared about her. He says he doesn’t. He just abhors violence in HIS hotel.
Jude knows that Birdie developed some strong survival skills from her years on the streets and they should have known she was in no real danger. Birdie winks.
Alonso is led off, and Birdie tells Fronklin to send up some room service, those finger sandwiches she likes so much. And if he’d kindly not charge her, she won’t tell the other guests how dangerous this place can be.
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Post by topbilled on Feb 25, 2023 13:51:11 GMT
067 Starting Over
Outline written by Jarrod McDonald, c) 2023
We start at Jude’s apartment. He is coming in after a long shift, and Mrs. Lee the landlady is in the hallway. She asks about his uncle Jim, whom neither of them have heard from in a while. After the obligatory chat, which includes mention of a leaky faucet, Mrs. Lee says some sort of process server had come by earlier looking for Jude. She doesn’t know what it was about though.
We follow Jude into his place. He grabs a beer from the fridge and turns the TV on. He debates texting someone, presumably Sonja, but decides against it. There’s a knock at the door. It’s the process server who’s come back. Jude opens the door. He finds out he is being served papers in Sonja’s divorce from Marek. Jude signs something, and the server leaves.
As Jude returns to the sofa, he takes the papers out of the envelope and reads of them. Marek is naming Jude as a correspondent in the break-up of his marriage. He says Jude has been sleeping with Sonja, which Sonja hasn’t denied. Jude picks up his phone and dials Sonja directly. She admits she was aware that Marek may try to say this, and she meant to warn him about it but she had a hectic day. She will deny everything Marek is alleging, when she gets her day in court. Jude reacts.
Meanwhile, Mrs. Lee is back out in the hallway again. She is showing some new tenants to their place. They move in on the second floor. The family includes a reverend who also is known as a public speaker. His name is Jedidiah Lang. He and his wife Mayra, and their son Rafe, just came to Chicago from Alabama.
After Mrs. Lee shows the Langs around their apartment and sets the keys down, she leaves. The wife mentions that Mrs. Lee seems nice. Rafe asks if Mrs. Lee knows about dad’s previous legal troubles. Mayra says no and they want to keep it that way. Jed says they shouldn’t conceal anything, since he was exonerated by a jury of his peers. But Mayra and Rafe know it was more complicated than that.
In a series of flashbacks we learn that Jed Lang, a black man, had killed a white man who tried to harm his wife. Jed was convicted but then freed due to a technicality. In prison, he renewed his devotion to his religion, having been brought up by an old preacher who is now deceased. Jed is using his father’s old bible, and he’s been gaining a following. People flock to his sermons in the park.
The next day we see Jed deliver a powerful sermon in the park. A producer, who is in charge of the TV talk show hosted by Ashley Clark, happens to be in the park eating lunch. Her name is Millicent Fleck, and she is also from Alabama. Jed looks familiar to her, and she recalls his notoriety in Birmingham five years ago.
Millicent returns to the TV studio and has an assistant research everything they can find on Jed Lang. At the same time, she tells Ashley about Jed’s background and that he’s now in Chicago. She thinks putting him on Ashley’s show could translate into ratings.
We then cut to a few weeks later. With Millicent’s prodding, we learn Ashley had reached out to Jed, who agreed to go on her show. Mayra and Rafe were against this, but Jed thinks he can use TV to bring the Lord’s message of forgiveness to a wider audience.
The first part of the interview goes okay. But after a commercial break, Ashley brings out a guy named Bobby Porter. He is the son of the man that Jed killed in Birmingham. He’s never forgiven Jed for murdering his dad, and he’s still upset that Jed is out of prison. Jed was not expecting to be confronted by Bobby, and he does his best to have a heartfelt chat with Bobby. Bobby is outraged and keeps calling Jed a killer.
We cut to shots of Mrs. Lee watching this show live on the TV in Jude’s apartment, since she is in there with a plumber fixing the leaky faucet. We also cut to a TV at the precinct where Amanda and Ryan are watching. The captain walks by and tells them to turn that garbage off. Jude says wait, because he recently met the Langs, and he knows Jed.
Back to the show…Bobby tells Jed that once a killer, always a killer. Some of the audience cheers him on. Jed is flustered and tries to regain his composure. They are out of time, Ashley says, but she hopes both guests will agree to do a follow-up episode in the near future. The broadcast is now over. Mayra comes up to Ashley and says she deliberately tried to make her husband look bad. Bobby lashes out at Mayra and says it’s because her husband is bad. Mayra says Bobby’s dad tried to rape her and Jed was just defending her. Bobby says murder is no defense.
Security is called when it looks like Bobby is going to attack Jed, and he is led out. Ashley apologizes and says she was put up to this by her producer. If Jed was not a religious man, he’d say how he really feels to Miss Fleck. But instead, he and Mayra leave quietly.
In the next part, the Langs return home. Mrs. Lee comes by and says she did not know the rev was a killer. She will give them till the end of the month to find another place. Rafe comes home from school and asks how the show went, but he can tell it didn’t go well.
A while later, Mayra returns something her husband borrowed from Jude. He admits he saw part of the show. She says her husband is no criminal, there were extenuating circumstances that happened years ago in Birmingham. Jude says that he looked up the court case info, and he knows Jed is legally a free man. But he also says that Mayra and Jed cannot expect it will ever be easy for them.
We go with Mayra upstairs to the Langs’ place. She learns from Rafe that Jed went out for a walk. We dissolve to two hours later and Jed still isn’t back. He finally comes home a little while later. He doesn’t say where he was, just that he kept walking to clear his head.
We cut to the next morning. We show that Bobby Porter was shot to death last night at Sugar’s motel, where he’d been staying. Jude and Ryan are there to investigate. Apparently Sugar’s security camera was not working properly, so they have no idea who came and went from Bobby’s room. One of the girls who was supposed to keep him company got sick on something she ate, and she never spent the night with him. It wasn’t till she went to see him this morning that his body was found.
We cut to Millicent Fleck sending Ashley and her cameraman to the motel after Ashley has learned about the killing. Millicent is eager to point the finger to Reverend Jedidiah Lang, and she instructs Ashley and the cameraman to visit the Langs after talking to Sugar and Sugar’s girl.
Meanwhile Jude and Ryan continue investigating. Something left behind in Bobby’s motel room seems to have belonged to a member of the media, since it’s a press card of some sort. Jude goes to find Ashley who’s been trying to get another interview with the Langs, but has had the door shut in her face by Mayra.
At the same time Jed arrives at the park to preach, since it brings him peace. More people than usual turn up, because of the reports about Bobby’s death after the broadcast the day before. Jed’s sermon is interrupted by hecklers and he has no choice but to defend himself.
The crowd gets out of hand, and we see Captain O’Reilly and Amanda arrive to break up the hecklers and send them on their way. If they don’t disperse, the captain tells them on a megaphone that he will bring more officers over and they will be forced to use tear gas. People start to leave. Amanda can see Jed is shaken. Rafe rides up on a bike. He doesn’t want to go back to school but Jed wants things to go back to normal.
We cut to Jude speaking to Ashley and the cameraman about the press card that was discovered in Bobby’s room. Ashley says that is the kind a producer has, meaning it must belong to Millicent Fleck. Jude and Ryan then go to Millicent’s office at the TV station to speak to her.
Millicent admits that as executive producer of Chat with Ashley she has a responsibility to boost ratings for Ashley and their program. She implies she killed Bobby to increase interest in the Langs and give exposure to Ashley, though she doesn’t come right out and admit to murder. Jude has Ryan arrest her anyway, on suspicion. Millicent says she’s not worried. If Jed got off on a technicality, then shouldn’t she be able to do the same?
We then cut to the next morning. Millicent is going before a judge, and various reporters are covering her hearing, including Ashley. Down the hall, in another courtroom, Sonja has her divorce hearing against Marek. Marek is appearing live by video link from the facility in Joliet where he’s serving time. Marek’s lawyer cannot prove Sonja slept with Jude.
Under oath, both Sonja and Jude state they have not had a sexual relationship. Though it’s clear they both want one. At the end, Sonja is granted her divorce. Outside the courthouse, Sonja’s car won’t start. Jude gives her lift. Instead of going directly to the coffee shop, she asks to be taken to the church where she wants to see if Father Delacruz can help her obtain an annulment from the Catholic Church, now she’s divorced.
Jude goes into the church office with Sonja. Becky is working. She ushers Sonja in to speak with Adrian. Jude asks Becky how she likes working here and she says she likes it very much, though the woman she’s filling in for, will be returning from maternity leave next month. Sister Agnes then comes in and is happy to see Jude and Becky talking.
Jude learns that Danny is being released on parole tomorrow. Agnes has learned Danny was recently married to a girl visiting him while he’s been behind bars in Joliet. It’s the first Jude’s heard of it. Apparently the marriage took place only a short while ago.
Inside Adrian’s office, Sonja learns how she can get the church to grant her an annulment, so she will be free to marry again if she chooses. She and Adrian hear Jude’s voice coming from the other room. Adrian knows that Sonja may want to marry Jude someday.
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Post by topbilled on Feb 26, 2023 14:56:37 GMT
068 Thicker Than Water
Outline written by Jarrod McDonald, c) 2023
We start at Holy Name Cathedral. Sister Agnes is inside the church lighting candles. Father Adrian Delacruz comes in and asks her to sit with him a moment. He knows that her son Danny has just been released from prison, and he’s on his way here to meet her. It cannot be easy for Agnes who is trying to act like everything is fine and normal. He tells the nun it’s okay for her to be nervous.
Agnes admits she is still trying to adjust to news that Danny is not only coming back a free man, but a man who has recently been married. From what she’s heard, she doesn’t think Liz Blankenship is the sort of person that Danny should spend the rest of his life with. Adrian tells her not to judge, lest she herself be judged. They pray together.
A few minutes later Danny comes in with Liz. Adrian steps off to give them all time alone together. Agnes says they can’t really talk inside the church, and she will take them back to her office. Liz kneels down to pray first. She wants to thank the Lord that Danny’s out.
In the next scene they are having tea inside Agnes’ office. Becky checks to see if they need anything else, then exits, closing the door behind her. In the main office, Becky is surprised to see her boyfriend Billy. He tells her that he’s been offered a good job in Nebraska running a farm, and he wants to know if he should take it. Becky’s happy for him but sad this means he’ll be moving away. He wants Becky to go with him, as his wife.
Inside Agnes’ office, Danny feels like he and Liz are getting the third degree about their sudden marriage. Agnes apologizes for offending them, and says she is just worried about their future. Danny says Liz’s father has offered him a job, which is part of the conditions of his parole. He intends to have a good life with Liz. They have to leave to meet Liz’s father. As they go, Agnes wishes them both well.
Later Jude stops by to see how Agnes’ visit with Danny went. She admits it did not go so well. At the same time, Jude learns that Billy asked Becky to marry her and move to Nebraska. He realizes it’s a chance for Becky to have a good life, even though they haven’t gotten to know each other very well since her mother’s death. He won’t be selfish like Agnes, and he gives Becky his blessing. This makes her happy.
Jude has to go when he gets call about a robbery at a department store. We see him drive over to Bloomingdale’s and meet up with Ryan who’s already there. The man who was trying to “rob” the women’s lingerie department is mentally handicapped and he was using a toy gun to get something, since he has no money. His mother, an embarrassed elderly woman, says her boy Stacy has become erratic lately.
Jude has Ryan arrest Stacy anyway but they do it discretely. After Ryan takes Stacy to the precinct, Jude tries to appeal to the floor manager’s sense of decency, to drop the charges if the mother agrees never to bring her son into the store again. The floor manager will look the other way, especially when she finds out Stacy wanted to “buy” the lingerie and give it to her, whom he’s been sweet on. It’s all rather “innocent.”
As Jude is leaving, he bumps into Sonja who’s been shopping in this department but hoping he wouldn’t see her. She drops her bag and a few unmentionables fall out. Jude gets a look at the black lace panties she just purchased. Sonja blushes and rushes out, but Jude goes after her.
Outside Jude tells Sonja he’d like to see her later. She guesses that would be okay. He gets a message from someone he never thought he’d hear from again. She sees the expression on his face and asks what it’s about. He says the text indicates it’s about Becky. She asks how things have been with Becky. He says Becky’s getting married and moving away.
In the next shot, Sonja walks back to the coffee shop while Jude drives to the precinct. Inside the precinct, Amanda is waiting to see if Stacy should be booked. Stacy is telling Ryan that he has a hard life, not because of his handicap, but because his mother gave him a girl’s name.
Jude enters and says the floor manager is going to look the other way, provided Stacy never go inside the store again. Stacy’s crushed to hear this, but his mother is grateful he won’t be formally charged. Ryan lets him off with a “warning” and the mother is free to take Stacy home.
Amanda can see that Jude has something on his mind and follows him into his office. It is said the captain took time off to drive Nenita to a prenatal appointment. Jude says he got a message from Judge Harry Greenwood who’s incarcerated in Joliet. Amanda doesn’t think it sounds good. Jude will go visit Greenwood, to see what his message is about.
Jude signs out. Amanda asks what she should tell the captain if he calls. Jude says she’ll think of something. He takes off.
We cut to Jude arriving at the prison in Joliet. He’s been led into a visiting area to see the old judge. Jude asks Judge Greenwood what he wants to tell him. The judge is being cagey but finally cuts to the chase. He says he heard Becky Dawson is out, has fallen in love and is leaving Chicago. Jude is unnerved at how the judge has so much information but doesn’t deny any of this.
The judge reveals he is invested in what happens to Becky, since Becky is his daughter. Jude recalls a scene with Gloria telling him that Becky was his (Jude’s) daughter. Out of the flashback, the judge says a DNA test will prove who really is the father.
The judge says that every time Gloria’s career was in a slump, she’d come to him for a handout, and they’d resume an affair they carried on for years. Part of the money was “child support” on the down-low for Becky. The judge admits he never had a DNA test done, but Becky’s eyes resemble his late mother’s and he knows that Becky is his daughter.
The judge would always cave into Gloria’s demands since he didn’t want his career to be rocked by scandal. Not to mention what it would do to his marriage and the relationship he has with his son and grandson. It was for this reason the judge inexplicably recused himself from the case where Gloria was charged with the death of her producer boyfriend, for which Becky was actually responsible.
In the next part Jude has left Joliet and is back in Chicago. He can’t stop thinking about what the judge told him. He’s at the precinct now, and he has another private discussion behind a closed door with Amanda. She asks what he’ll do, will he do a DNA test? Jude is unsure. Just then, Becky shows up to see him.
Becky is wearing a wedding ring. She and Billy eloped. She is sorry they did not include him, but it was so spur of the moment. They are leaving for Nebraska tomorrow, but want to have dinner with Jude tonight.
During this scene Amanda has brought a glass of water in for Becky. After Becky leaves, Amanda tells Jude to use the DNA from Becky’s fingerprints on the glass to find out if she’s really his daughter. They can rush it through he lab. Jude reacts.
A short time later the results on the analysis have come back. Jude is apprehensive about reading the results, and at first decides against it. But Amanda opens the results anyway and tells him. He and Becky are not a DNA match. The judge was right. Jude doesn’t know how to feel, since he had gotten used to the idea that Becky was his daughter.
An hour later he is heading to Biggie’s to have dinner with Becky and Billy. He has decided on his way over there that Gloria lied to him for a reason, because she knew what type of man Judge Harry Greenwood is that it’s not a good idea for Becky to ever view him as her real father.
While eating dinner, Becky promises to be in touch with Jude. Billy and Biggie can see what a good father-daughter bond Jude has with Becky. At a nearby table, Danny and Liz have just come in. Biggie recalls Danny once worked for him and tried to steal. Since Danny is now rehabilitated, Biggie will overlook all that. Shorty thinks that is big of Biggie.
After dinner, Jude walks Becky and Billy out to their car. They will be spending their first night together as husband and wife then have an early flight in the morning. Jude won’t be able to see them off, due to work he needs to finish at the precinct. But he wishes them well and agrees they’ll be in touch.
After Becky and Billy drive off, Jude gets into his truck. He sees a text from the judge, which he ignores. He deletes the judge as a contact.
In the next scene, Jude has driven out to Sonja’s home in Hegewisch. She is surprised to see him. He says he’d like to spend the night with her. He hopes she didn’t return that stuff she bought at Bloomingdale’s. She blushes and leads him inside.
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Post by topbilled on Feb 28, 2023 15:37:40 GMT
069 Man without a Family, Part 1
Outline written by Jarrod McDonald, c) 2023
We start at the precinct. Amanda and Ryan both notice Jude has a new bounce in his step, but Jude isn’t the type who kisses and tells. He texts Sonja that he enjoyed last night. She replies with a heart emoji.
The captain is in his office and wants to speak to everyone. They ask how Nenita’s prenatal appointment went. He says Nenita hauled him to four doctors yesterday, because she kept needing other opinions that the baby is alright. Everyone tries not to laugh. But the captain didn’t call them in to discuss that. He wants to talk about an unsolved case.
He mentions a woman named Bridget Gates. Bridget is in her late 20s and got away with a killing a year earlier. Everyone knows she killed Clay Huntley, a playboy she met on a blind date and accidentally killed in a kinky sex game that got out of hand. But the evidence disappeared from the precinct, and the captain suspects the mayor had someone on the inside help get rid of the evidence. This is because the mayor is friends with the Huntleys. So is the captain’s ex-wife Bernice.
The captain wants Ryan and Amanda to go undercover and get close to Bridget. He thinks they can bring her down, and at the same time, hopefully ferret out the mole in the department. As everyone disperses to get on with their day, we see Birdie has come in. She’s chatting with Glynda one of the dispatchers who is well-liked. Glynda and Birdie have gotten chummy since Birdie often calls in with tips for the police.
The captain is walking by and Birdie has a flashback of the time she read Nenita’s tarot cards. She asks how his wife is doing, out of concern. The captain who looks down on Birdie gruffly replies his wife is fine and moves off. Birdie finishes chatting with Glynda, and they make plans to see a movie together later. Glynda is still impressed with how ritzy Birdie now looks, with her new makeover courtesy of Cordelia Delacruz.
We cut to Ryan and Amanda who have now gone undercover. They walk into a sex shop posing as a kinky couple from Georgia. Amanda gets the sense that Ryan either doesn’t know much about women, or is a private person. She whispers to him that he needs to get into this, or they won’t convince the store manager.
In the next part, the assistant has gone to get the manager who comes out to talk to them. This is Bridget Gates, the person they have been assigned to nab. Bridget seems to buy their act and invites them to a sex party after hours. Amanda and Ryan act as if they’re looking forward to it and will be back. They leave, and when they reach their unmarked car, they call the captain to say Bridget took the bait. He’s glad.
Inside the store, Bridget is in her office. She looks at a photo of Clay Huntley and debates speaking to his parents to ask their forgiveness, but she realizes they will never forgive her. She cannot admit to being Clay’s killer, and certainly will never tell anyone what she’s done with the body.
We cut to the Huntleys. They are a high society couple living on the gold coast of Chicago and they have a lot of influence in the city. Mrs. Marilyn Huntley is a first cousin of the mayor. She and her husband are having lunch with Bernice and the captain, who has joined them thanks to Bernice. The Huntleys are still not interested in the police finding any evidence against Bridget and are trying to move on, despite the fact that their son’s body has never been found.
We cut back to Bridget, who has stepped out the back of her store to use a vape. She spots a lookalike of her victim, and she is bowled over by the staggering resemblance. The man is a homeless bum without any family. Bridget brings Dusty Jessop in out of the chilly air and treats him to some coffee. She wants to get him cleaned up and have him pose as Clay Huntley and take over his life. This could get her off the hook for killing Clay and what she has since done to him.
The homeless man realizes there might be a lot of money in this, since the Huntleys are fabulously rich. He agrees to go along with the idea, and we have scenes where Bridget gives the guy a makeover with help from her assistant. They dress him in the finest clothing.
Meanwhile, we see Birdie at the cinema with Glynda the dispatcher. Birdie has brought Glynda a gold bracelet with a peace symbol that Birdie charged to Cordelia but doesn’t want. It looks better on Glynda. Birdie says Glynda needs to upgrade her wardrobe and treat herself better. Glynda admits she is about to come into money and may just start living like Birdie. They go in to watch the movie.
After the movie, Birdie is heading back to her hotel suite while Glynda waits for a bus to her place in the suburbs. A fancy limo pulls up and she gets in. It’s the mayor. We reveal that Glynda is the mole at the precinct and she gives info to the mayor. He’s not happy to learn the captain has reopened the case against Bridget Gates. He gives Glynda some money.
The limo has driven around the block, and it drops Glynda back off at the bus stop. Birdie has returned for a scarf that blew away in the wind. As a nice stranger helps her retrieve the scarf, Birdie eyes Glynda hopping out of the mayor’s car. Glynda doesn’t notice Birdie is watching.
Meanwhile Jude is visiting the Huntley home. He is there at the captain’s request to tell them that the police closed the case on their missing son, presumed to be dead, but is interested in reopening it. The Huntleys show Jude a recent letter sent to them from Asia, purporting to be written by their absent son, which would indicate he went off to live his own life and does not want to be found. Jude looks it over and reacts.
The Huntleys know it’s not their son’s handwriting, but they are going along with this ruse, because they want the case to stay closed, to prevent any negative publicity. Mr. Huntley is now showing Jude to the door. We see Mrs. Huntley pop some pills to relax.
As Mr. Huntley comes back inside after Jude leaves, he gets a call from the mayor who says that the captain reopened the case. Chase Huntley tells the mayor that Jude just came by and said as much. The mayor offers to intervene and shutdown any new investigation.
We cut to the precinct. Nenita is there telling the captain she came by at lunch but he wasn’t there. He says he was with Bernice. Nenita reacts, a bit jealous maybe, but the captain says it was police business. In the background Birdie has come in and is talking to Amanda.
Amanda then steps into the captain’s office. She apologizes for interrupting, but says Birdie has something important to tell them. Jude is now just returning from his visit to the Huntleys. They all come into the captain’s office, along with Ryan. Birdie explains how she saw Glynda with the mayor. Now they know who the mole is.
The captain does not want anyone to let Glynda know they are on to her, since they can keep tabs on the mayor through Glynda. Before Birdie leaves, she asks Nenita how she’s doing. Nenita says she couldn’t be better. The baby is due in May, and she can’t wait. Birdie’s glad.
In the next scene Nenita and Birdie are gone. Glynda returns to work, because she’s picking up an overtime shift. As she dispatches, Jude and Amanda come over to ask her a question. They notice she is fidgeting with a bracelet. Amanda asks if it’s new. Glynda says yeah, she got it from Birdie who didn’t want it. Amanda realizes the time and is leaving to get some dinner, before meeting Ryan back at the sex shop later.
We then dissolve to Amanda and Ryan a few hours later. They are once again in the undercover mode. They arrive at the sex shop after it’s closed and are led in through a side door by Bridget’s assistant. Bridget introduces them to some other participants during an informal meet-and-greet involving cocktails. Amanda and Ryan are still posing as a rich billionaire couple from Atlanta, complete with phony southern accents, who just can’t get enough wild and kinky sex parties.
During this party, we cut to the Huntley home. The bum that Bridget gave a makeover has just turned up as their long-lost son, pretending to be home from Asia. They don’t know what to believe.
Meanwhile at the sex party, Ryan and Amanda are taken to a loft upstairs where they are supposed to have a three-way with a hunky college dude who does this for extra pay on the side. The guy is familiar to Ryan, as they previously met in ‘Fun and Games.’ It’s Schuyler Bogart.
Amanda feigns being sick from having eaten a bad cocktail weenie. She steps out, leaving Ryan to talk with Schuyler. We follow Amanda on to the landing. She comes down a few steps from the loft and overhears Bridget talk to the assistant. The assistant says Amanda inadvertently dropped her phony accent earlier and suspects Amanda and Ryan are cops. Bridget thinks that may be so, and she has a plan to test them and find out.
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Post by topbilled on Mar 1, 2023 15:48:37 GMT
070 Man without a Family, Part 2
Outline written by Jarrod McDonald, c) 2023
We pick up where we left off in the previous episode. Bridget’s assistant Tosha thinks Amanda and Ryan are cops. Bridget is going to test this theory. She sees Amanda up on the stairs. Amanda says she is just getting some fresh air. Bridget has Tosha help Amanda back up to the loft, where Ryan and Schuyler are supposed to be eager to get it on with her. Tosha stays to help them get started and is going to take some pics.
Amanda and Ryan didn’t agree to this, but Tosha says surely they want to be able to savor the experience later by looking at the photos. Ryan is now shirtless and so is Schulyer. Tosha has them kiss and takes a pic. Amanda is grateful that Ryan seems to be going along with this, and she is supposed to join in. But she can’t.
Tosha asks what’s wrong. Amanda says she is still feeling woozy but Tosha doesn’t believe her. Tosha feels her up and finds a gun, which she grabs. She knew Amanda and Ryan were cops. She fixes the gun on them and opens the door, to alert Bridget. Bridget comes in and takes the gun. She has Tosha tie up Amanda.
Schuyler didn’t realize their sex party play was going to involve a gun. Bridget is aiming the gun at the men and tells them to start having sex, while Tosha, who has subdued Amanda, takes more pics.
We cut back to the Huntley home. The Huntleys are overwhelmed at being reunited with their long-absent “son.” They think they were wrong to have assumed Clay died. As the imposter goes up to “his” room, they admit that what has happened is a “miracle.”
Back at the sex shop loft, the door opens. Another guest and his lover had come up hoping to use the loft. This throws Bridget off balance. Ryan lunges at her and struggles with her for the gun. He manages to grab the weapon, and as she tries to flee, he shoots her and she falls to her death down the steps.
Ryan then turns the gun on Tosha and tells her to untie Amanda. Schuyler realizes this was not part of the role play and this really is a bust. Amanda gets her gun back and arrests Tosha.
The next day, the mayor has come by the precinct to talk to the captain about the return of Clay Huntley. The captain says Glynda didn’t make it into work and is nowhere to be found, because she must have realized they were on to her. The mayor claims he doesn’t know the missing dispatcher. The captain tells him that someone saw the woman recently get a ride from the mayor.
The mayor claims that isn’t true and if it was, giving a stranger a ride is not a crime. The captain tells the mayor to get out of his office but he’d better watch his step since his house of cards may come tumbling down.
In a nearby room, Amanda and Ryan go over each other’s statements re: how they nabbed Bridget and arrested Tosha. Jude doesn’t believe the Huntleys’ son came back from India. Jude thinks it’s an impostor and they’ll find the dead body of the real Clay Huntley in the sex shop.
A short time later, Amanda and Ryan return to the sex shop with a warrant. They have Tosha with them. To get a lighter sentence, she is cooperating. She leads them to a secret room where Bridget kept the dead body of the real Clay Huntley. She’d had a taxidermist preserve him. Bridget was into necrophilia and had sex with the corpse.
In the next scene, Amanda and Ryan send pics to Jude of what they found with Tosha’s help. Jude is at the Huntleys’ home. He is ushered inside and wants to know where their “son” is. Marilyn and Chase Huntley say “Clay” went for a walk. Jude tells them the man they think is their son is really a fake who was in cahoots with Bridget Gates.
Marilyn Huntley refuses to believe it. But when Jude shows her and Chase the photos Amanda sent of what really happened to their son, they are mortified. Just then Dusty Jessop returns from his walk as “Clay.” He notices Jude and tries to leave but Jude says he’s under arrest.
At the precinct, Dusty admits he was working for Bridget and didn’t know she died. He admits he felt spiritually dead since his family was killed in a fire a few years ago. He became homeless and would walk around the city, stopping at places he would visit with his wife, son and daughter when they were still alive.
When Bridget brought him out of the cold, she gave him a “reason” to live again. She gave him some newfound purpose, though it was wrong. Jude has Amanda book Dusty. But the Huntleys have sent a high-priced lawyer over to bail him out. They feel sorry for him and want to help.
In the next part Dusty goes before a judge. He tells the judge his story. We see flashbacks of his failing business. There are scenes where he got an idea to torch his warehouse for insurance. He hired an arsonist to do it so well that nobody would know it was an intentional fire.
We then see how it happened and how his wife stopped there with the kids unexpectedly after Dusty had left. Mrs. Jessop and the children inadvertently interrupted a robbery. The robber, a man named Tate, held them at gunpoint and forced Dorothy Jessop to call Dusty on the phone.
At first Dusty didn’t realize the call came from the warehouse, and when he did, it was too late. He heard his wife and kids getting caught in the fire. Tate tried to run but rafters fell on him and he was instantly killed.
In the next part of the extended flashback, Dusty tried to tell his wife how to get herself and the kids out safely, while he frantically drove to the warehouse. But of course, he didn’t get there in time. And they did not get out, perishing in the inferno he caused.
Back in the present, Dusty has finished telling the judge his story. We see Marilyn and Chase Huntley are also there, looking on. Dusty turns to them and says that he would never be good enough to be their son, and he’s sorry at having deceived them.
The judge takes a short recess and returns. She goes lenient on Dusty and gives him a short sentence. Dusty can be out in six months with good behavior. The Huntleys want Dusty to visit them after he’s out.
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Post by topbilled on Mar 2, 2023 17:02:44 GMT
071 Steve Cade Is on the Case
Outline written by Jarrod McDonald, c) 2023
Robert Arden is a semi-retired TV star that played a detective on a long-running crime drama when he was younger. The show is still in reruns and he retains a cult following. His trademark is eating CrackerStax, a snack food that sponsored his show the whole time it was on the air. He gets his best inspiration eating CrackerStax.
Robert is so identified with the product, he still appears in commercials eating CrackerStax. And wherever he goes, people mention CrackerStax to him.
Despite his still youthful good looks, thanks to plastic surgery, the 80 year old actor has become a bit forgetful at times. However, Robert’s agent Titus McAndrews insists Robert is not senile or in the early stages of Alzheimer’s despite what Robert’s ex-wife Klarissa and the tabloids claim.
This of course, is a lie, since they recently did have a doctor confirm that Robert’s begun to experience mild dementia. And sometimes Robert gets confused and thinks he is actually Steve Cade, the detective he played on The Cade Files.
Today Robert is flying to Chicago to promote a new book he’s written about his career in movies and his successful run on The Cade Files which is the defining aspect of his career. At the same that Robert is on his way to Chicago, Jude’s uncle Jim is also returning to the Windy City. Jim and Robert are on the same flight, since Robert has a home in San Diego where Jim now resides.
During their talk on the flight, Robert realizes that his old show’s creator and headwriter, who is now deceased, had briefly worked on the force in Chicago, and knew Jim. The writer used Jim as a model for the Steve Cade character. This is something that Jim likes to brag about to Jude and to his old partner, Colm O’Reilly. Robert and Jim have hit it off on the flight, and after they land at O’Hare, Robert offers to give Jim a ride in his limo to the precinct where Jim will have a reunion with Jude.
In the next scene the limo arrives outside the precinct. We follow Jim inside while Robert is taken to a nearby hotel to check in and meet up with his agent who flew in a day earlier from Los Angeles. In the precinct, Jude is surprised to see Jim who always has a habit of showing up without telling Jude he’s coming. Jim sees the captain and mentions bumping into Robert Arden a.k.a. Steve Cade.
As they go into Jude’s office, Jim is still talking about Robert. He tells Jude that Robert and Steve seem to have blended into one distinct personality and the two are inseparable now in the eyes of an adoring public. Robert is hoping to do a reboot of The Cade Files. Jude reacts.
We cut to Robert at a nearby hotel, the same hotel where Birdie stays. Fronklin Pangborne has his bellboy, Jarrett Garrett, take Robert up a private elevator to the suite he’ll be using, since Robert doesn’t want to be hounded by fans seeking free autographs. Robert likes to make sure his fans pay for autographs at conventions and book signings.
In the next part Jarrett brings Robert into a fancy suite. The agent, Titus, is there already having a drink. Jarrett tells Robert he’s a fan and is also an actor, doing roles as part of a local theater group. Titus says if they get the reboot off the ground, maybe they’ll consider him for a small role.
Room service brings some food Titus ordered. Titus conveniently doesn’t have cash, so Robert signs for it, and tells room service to charge it to him. Jarrett looks on as Robert signs, and he notes Robert signed the receipt as Steve Cade.
Back at the precinct, Jim’s luggage is getting in the way of Jude doing some work in his office. He gives Jim money to call a ride share and take the stuff to Jude’s place. Jim asks about that nice landlady Mrs. Lee. Jude says Mrs. Lee is the same as always and had been asking about Jim. But Jude tells Jim that if he fools around with Mrs. Lee again, to do it in Mrs. Lee’s place. ‘Aye, aye,’ Jim says.
Ryan has just clocked in and he meets Jim. Jude asks Ryan to help take Jim’s luggage outside where the ride share will arrive soon.
We cut back to Jarrett at the hotel. He’s returned to the front desk downstairs and is telling Fronklin that Robert seems to believe he’s really Steve Cade. Fronklin laughs and says that is part of the appeal of old stars like Robert Arden. They become who they play on screen, and the public seems to want that. This chat is interrupted when Birdie comes up to complain about the hot water not working in her room.
Fronklin is tired of hearing Birdie’s incessant complaints. He tells Jarrett to go find a repairman and get the problem solved.
In the next part, Birdie and Jarrett have gone to her suite where the repairman will meet them. As they step into Birdie’s suite, they see that a chambermaid who was in there tidying up, is lying on the floor. She is lifeless and had apparently been strangled. A window’s open.
A short time later Jude and Ryan show up to investigate. Fronklin thinks Birdie must have killed the maid, since in his opinion, Birdie is not a normal person. But Jude and Ryan know Birdie is a good woman and would never harm anyone. Birdie just met the maid earlier on the same day, and Fronklin admits the maid had only started working at the hotel a few days ago. Melba Cullen came with good references.
While Jude and Ryan finish going over Birdie’s room, Birdie realizes that an heirloom brooch she had in a jewelry box is gone. It was a very pricy object. Jude and Ryan believe a burglar came in through the window to get the brooch.
This conversation is interrupted when a man named Davis Maugham comes in. He is another long-time resident at the hotel, who has gotten quite chummy with Birdie recently. He has come by to take Birdie to the movies. He seems surprised Birdie was robbed and a maid was killed. He comforts Birdie.
We cut to the next morning at Jude’s place. He and Jim are having breakfast. Jim is asking about the burglary and murder in Birdie’s suite. Much of the details have been kept out of the news, thanks to Fronklin pulling strings with Ashley Clark. But the public is still aware of what happened, and Jim is giving Jude unwanted advice on how to nab the culprit.
Jude is grateful when Mrs. Lee comes by to see Jim, since it helps him avoid talking to Jim anymore about the maid’s murder. Jude sneaks out to meet Ryan at the coffee shop. In the next scene, we have Jude and Ryan discussing Birdie’s boyfriend Davis Maugham, who they did a check on but not much could be found out about the guy.
At the same time we see Robert arrive at a book store with his agent Titus to meet fans and do the book signing. Ashley is there covering it with her cameraman. A fan asks Robert about the killing and robbery at the hotel where he’s staying. He goes into Steve Cade mode and tells everyone that he is on the case, which Ashley’s cameraman gets on film.
Clips of Robert as Steve, saying he will solve the crime are played on TV later. The captain watches this with Jude and Ryan at the precinct. Jude is dismayed. As if he didn’t have Jim’s input to deal with, they now have some silly has-been actor to worry about also!
In the next part Jude and Ryan are back at the hotel doing more follow-up work. They talk to Birdie again, and they ask her what she really knows about Davis Maugham. She tells them that she has also begun to suspect Davis, especially when Davis ditched her for dinner last night and she hasn’t been able to reach him this morning.
Soon Jude and Ryan are entering Davis’ suite with help from Jarrett, at Fronklin’s request. It seems like Davis cleared out in a hurry. He has left a note behind with Birdie’s brooch, which he apologizes for taking. He also admits he killed the maid when she caught him stealing.
We cut to Robert in Steve mode at the airport. He has been eating some CrackerStax. His deductive skills as Steve have led him to O’Hare where he’s found Davis trying to leave the country. Ashley and her cameraman have been following, with Titus close behind. Robert closes in on Davis and foils his attempts to run past security on to a plane about to takeoff. Robert, as Steve, then makes a citizen’s arrest as airport security run up.
At the same time Jude and the others are watching this take place live on the TV in Birdie’s room. Birdie is sad Davis turned out to be a scoundrel but she’s glad to have her brooch back, which she got from Adrian’s dad.
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Post by topbilled on Mar 5, 2023 15:07:07 GMT
072 Blood Money from God
Outline written by Jarrod McDonald, c) 2023
After mass on Sunday, Sister Agnes introduces Jude to a young new priest named Father Arnold. He has only been with the parish for a few weeks but he has a lot of great ideas about fundraising.
Primarily, he has been put in charge by Monsignor Duval of a committee to raise funds for the building of a new church hall. Normally these duties would be done by Father Adrian, but Adrian is away on a retreat.
A week later, Father Arnold informs the committee that an anonymous donor has just given him $10,000 and there is to be more where that came from. Everyone is impressed with the young clergyman’s charisma and results.
Meanwhile, Jude and his men are stumped by the death of a pimp that was trying to take over Sugar’s business. Sugar and her girls have alibis. But then an informant tells Jude that a rival pimp interested in Sugar’s racket hired a killer to eliminate the first pimp. The killer was some new guy nobody had ever heard of or seen before, and he goes by the name Benedict.
Next, we see Father Arnold meeting with a construction outfit owner on the west side. The construction guy has an envelope with cash for the priest. On the surface this looks like he’s donating money to the church committee, and the priest just came by to pick it up.
But in the very next scene, we have Father Arnold killing the construction owner’s silent partner, who wasn’t so silent and had to be eliminated.
This is all very thought out by Father Arnold. He has devised a way to kill his victims but not immediately, so that while they are suffering in their last moments he can give them last rites.
In the next scene, while Jude and Ryan are called to the scene of the latest murder, the priest is meeting with Sister Agnes and the church committee again. He hands them another $10,000 that was just “donated” to him. Agnes thinks God is certainly good, bringing all this money to them. The committee members agree.
Meanwhile, the informant meets with Jude again, this time on a boat on Lake Michigan. The informant says he just found out Benedict is a priest. Jude and Ryan need details, but the informant only knows that this guy Benedict has one of his fingers missing.
We cut to Father Arnold talking with Sister Agnes inside the church office after the committee members have left. She says she realized during the meeting that one of his fingers is missing. He usually keeps that hand tucked in one of his pockets. He says he lost the finger in an accident years ago, and it embarrasses him. She feels compassion about this, and he appreciates her kindness.
We then go to Jude and Ryan who have gone back to the precinct to tell the captain about what they’ve learned. The captain is being visited by Bernice, who says she just had lunch with her nephew Schuyler. Ryan hears this and has a brief flashback of kissing Schuyler in ‘Man without a Family, Part 2.’ Out of the flashback, Bernice must get going. She reminds the captain to treat Nenita well in the last weeks of pregnancy. Bernice remembers her pregnancies (with Heidi and Lance).
As Bernice exits, the captain tells the guys to knock off for the night. They can continue their investigation on Benedict tomorrow. The captain asks if Jim is still around. Jude says Jim’s flying back to San Diego in the morning, and he’s making dinner tonight.
The captain clocks out and leaves, and so does Ryan who gets a call from someone at the long-term care facility in Schaumburg that his father has come out of his coma. However, Tony Salerno is not exactly talking, he’s supposedly catatonic.
Meanwhile Jude is tidying up some stuff in his office, when Sonja comes in. We learn she is going with him to his place for the meal Jim’s making. Sonja’s never met Jim before, and Jude warns her that people either love Jim or hate him. There’s no middle ground. Sonja reacts.
In the next scene we see Jude and Sonja at his place, having dinner with Jim and Mrs. Lee. It’s an odd foursome, but Sonja and Mrs. Lee are able to get Jude and Jim to have a warm conversation. And it turns out to be a nice evening.
After Sonja and Mrs. Lee both leave, Jim tells Jude he likes Sonja and is proud of Jude for how his life is turning out. Jude reacts.
The next morning Jim’s left to catch an early flight to San Diego. Jude hears from Sister Agnes, who’d like him to stop by the church office.
When Jude arrives to see the nun, she tells him about all the money Father Arnold has from donations. Something about it just doesn’t feel right to her. She mentions that Father Arnold hides a hand with four fingers, which causes Jude to suspect Arnold must be Benedict the killer.
Jude doesn’t tell Agnes what he knows about the killer. But after she goes to the subway station to pick up Father Adrian who is returning from his retreat, Jude follows Arnold around the church and school.
Soon Arnold has left to meet another “donor.” This time it’s a rich society woman named Prunella Hamilton who wants to get rid of the daughter-in-law she never approved her son marrying.
Prunella gives Father Arnold ten grand, and Arnold goes off to kill Monica Hamilton. But this time, Jude intervenes. The priest has a gun and shoots, but he is shot by Jude before he gets away. In the last scene, we are at the hospital. The monsignor comes in to administer last rites for Father Arnold as Jude looks on.
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Post by topbilled on Mar 7, 2023 15:23:36 GMT
073 End of One Life and Beginning of Another
Outline written by Jarrod McDonald, c) 2023
As the episode starts, two railroad workers are cleaning an area beside the tracks near Union Station. They come upon a sheet of crumbled tarpaper. When they lift it to place it inside a rolling dumpster, a body falls out. It has been maimed severely, with the face gouged so that it cannot be identified.
In the next scene, Jude is on the scene investigating with Amanda. It is said that Ryan took the day off to go visit his father.
Jude and Amanda slowly gather evidence to try to make some sort of identification of the victim. Ashley Clark shows up with her cameraman. They were driving by in a news van when they noticed what was going on. Jude says it’s too early to elaborate. But when they have all the facts, Ashley will be the first to know.
Ashley doesn’t like getting the brush off from Jude. She tries to get information out of Amanda that Jude won’t divulge. All Amanda says is the face was gouged, before Jude redirects Amanda’s attention to their ongoing investigation.
Dissolve to the precinct awhile later. The captain learns what Jude and Amanda turned up. They found a purse without any ID in it and pieces of the victim’s bloodied dress. Jude digs into his pocket and says he also found something else. He produces a gold bracelet with a peace symbol on it. He thought maybe that could have been dropped by someone else, but it was near where the body was discovered.
As Amanda examines the bracelet, a memory occurs. We see a quick scene from season 3’s ‘Man without a Family, Part 1’ where Glynda the dispatcher was wearing a similar bracelet that Birdie gave her. Amanda had seen Glynda fidgeting with the bracelet and had asked her about it.
Out of the flashback, Amanda says Glynda wore a bracelet just like this one, which she received from Birdie. The captain wants them to bring Birdie in to verify this. Amanda dials Birdie’s number.
In the next part Birdie has turned up. She is shown the bracelet and says it looks like the one she gave Glynda. She is sad to realize Glynda may be dead. She had been hoping to hear from Glynda. They were friends.
Meanwhile Ryan has gone to the long-term care facility in Schaumburg where his father Tony Salerno is staying. He again sees Wendy Plout, the nurse who has really taken a shine to Tony and spends a lot of time with Tony ‘checking on’ him. Ryan doesn’t catch on that Tony, whose eyes are now open, is not really in a vegetative state.
During this visit, Ryan asks Tony about his mother Nola. But Tony’s still pretending to be catatonic and does not provide answers. Wendy says she’s heard from Tony’s brother Berto in Vegas. Berto told her that his stepson will be coming by to see Tony.
We go back to the precinct in Chicago. We learn the captain requested that the autopsy on Glynda be finished as soon as possible. The medical examiner calls and says the results are being sent to him. The captain logs on to this computer and reads the results. Blood was found from a male whose blood type matches the mayor’s.
In the next scene Jude and Amanda have gone to the mayor’s office. He is surprised to see them, until he realizes why they’ve come. They arrest him for the murder of Glynda Fenwick.
At the precinct, Bernice has come by to the tell the captain that she’s flying to Boston to spend time with their daughter Heidi who now has a serious boyfriend. Bernice won’t be gone too long. As she’s leaving, she sees Jude and Amanda bring the mayor in, handcuffed. She’s sorry to see this, but the captain seems to delight in it.
We go back to the facility in Schaumburg. Wendy’s stepped off to check on other patients. Ryan is still staring at his father who only stares back at him. He’s frustrated and about to leave, when his uncle’s stepson finally arrives. Ryan is surprised to see that it’s Schuyler Bogart.
In the next part Ryan and Schuyler have gone out on to a patio. Tony is watching them through his window but can’t make out what is said. On scene, Ryan learns that Schuyler regularly visits Tony to give ‘progress reports’ to his stepfather Berto.
Schuyler says that before Tosha Dane went off to serve her sentence, she texted some of the pics of them from the ‘sex party.’ Ryan says he should get rid of those photos. But Schuyler says he enjoys looking at them, because he gets off on them. He and Ryan were hot together. Ryan reacts.
We cut back to Chicago. Amanda and the captain are with Birdie at Biggie’s. They are having a drink in memory of Glynda, who made bad choices, but was still everyone’s friend. She didn’t deserve to be maimed by the mayor. Jude comes in with Sonja and joins them. Jude and Sonja are now going public with their relationship. Biggie flirts with Amanda, despite Shorty telling him to lay off and treat Amanda with respect.
Birdie makes a toast, and they all drink to Glynda. The captain has to leave when he gets a call from Kokoy that Nenita’s water broke and they are headed to the hospital to have the baby.
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Post by topbilled on Mar 10, 2023 15:37:33 GMT
074 Mother's Day Part 1
Outline written by Jarrod McDonald, c) 2023
This episode begins with the captain arriving at the hospital. He meets Kokoy and learns that Kokoy was with Nenita when she went into labor. A nurse comes up and the captain says he promised his wife he’d be with her when their child was born. The nurse takes him to get scrubbed. As they go, Kokoy turns and sees someone getting off the elevator. It’s Shiro.
Kokoy and Shiro walk to a solarium to have a private discussion. Shiro learns Nenita is having the baby, and nothing should go wrong this time. Shiro is glad this is coming to pass, as it means he will have considerably more leverage over Colm O’Reilly, who has no idea that Nenita is in over her head with Shiro and the others.
We cut back to the captain who is now in the delivery room with the nurse and Nenita. A doctor joins them and tells Nenita to push.
We then cut to Jude arriving at his place with Sonja after leaving Biggie’s. Sonja hangs up their jackets in the hall closet. She bumps a shoebox that is on a shelf. It falls and some letters fall out. She starts to look at one of them but Jude tells her to just put them back in the box. He admits they were letters that his mother would send when she was in Oak Haven.
Sonja can see that sometimes he still misses his mother. Jude doesn’t deny this. Seeing Jim recently reminded him of what he’s lost. Sonja sits with Jude on the sofa and holds him.
We cut back to the hospital where the baby has just been born. The captain is holding it. It’s a boy, whom they name Shannon. This is one of the happiest moments of the captain’s life. Nenita is also quite happy, till she sees Shiro’s shadow on the other side of the door.
The next morning, Jude is arriving at the precinct. Ryan is back and is chatting with Amanda about the news that the captain had a son. Some of the secretaries and cleaning staff had a pool, to see who would make the most correct guess on the day and time the baby was born. It is said the captain is taking the day off. Jude texts him ‘congratulations.’
A woman comes up and needs to speak to an officer. The look on her face is quite serious. Amanda takes her into a conference room. The woman’s name is Peggy, and she is visiting Chicago from St. Louis. She says her baby was stolen and she needs help getting him back.
We cut to Jude’s office, where Ryan is bringing Jude up to speed on his father Tony’s catatonic state. Jude thinks it is convenient that Tony was in a coma all those months and now that he’s awake, he is still not coherent. He wants Ryan to go and talk with Naldo and Sandra.
As Ryan leaves, Jude is motioned into the conference room by Amanda. Jude steps in and learns what Peggy is alleging. She says she arrived in town last night and while she was walking out of a restaurant, she had seen a glimpse of her young son in a crowd. She reveals that her son Benjamin was stolen from her a year ago.
Peggy takes Amanda to the site where she claims she saw her child last night, while Jude mans the precinct with the captain away.
We cut to the coffee shop. Sonja is restocking pastries when Birdie comes in. There isn’t much business today so Sonja sits with Birdie. She tells Birdie that Jude’s been thinking of his mother. Birdie wonders how much her son (Adrian) thinks of her.
We cut to Amanda and Peggy on a sidewalk near the restaurant where Peggy ate last night. Peggy’s memories are vivid. She knows it had to be Benjamin that she saw. At the same time Jude gets a visit at the precinct from a man named Brett Reed. He is looking for his wife, Peggy.
Brett tells Jude that Peggy had a mental breakdown a year ago after their two year old son Benjamin disappeared and was killed. Jude reacts, then texts Amanda to bring Peggy back.
We cut to the Salerno mansion. Ryan is visiting with Naldo and Sandra. Sandra had her baby awhile ago, and the child is now home after a long hospital stay that resulted from complications at birth. They ask Ryan to be the child’s godfather, and he agrees.
Ryan says he is also here on official business. He wants to know if they’ve received any forms of communication from Tony. They haven’t. They only heard from Berto’s stepson Schuyler that Tony had come out of the coma. Ryan admits he recently visited Tony, who seems to be in a total vegetative state. Naldo and Sandra hope he stays that way.
Meanwhile Amanda has brought Peggy back to the precinct. Peggy is upset to learn that Brett told Jude she’s still suffering after effects of losing their son a year ago. Brett is revealed to be a psychiatrist. He convinces Peggy to take some meds she’s been refusing to take since they left St. Louis. Then he apologizes for his wife’s behavior and takes her to their hotel.
After Peggy and Brett leave, Amanda feels something isn’t quite right. But Jude is now busy on a call with the captain, who needs help setting up a crib which he promised Nenita he’d assemble. Jude offers to swing by, but the captain tells him that Kokoy has just arrived to help him.
We then go to the Reeds arriving at the hotel where Birdie stays. Brett needs to leave to meet a contact of his. He wants Peggy to go up and lie down. But Peggy remains in the lobby where she ends up chatting with Birdie who’s just come in from shopping.
Birdie invites Peggy up to her room for tea, but Peggy thinks Brett will be back soon. When Peggy receives a text Brett will be gone for a while, she changes her mind and goes up the elevator with Birdie.
We cut to Brett. The contact he is meeting is a woman named Claudia. They are lovers. After they finish having sex, Brett walks down the hall of her apartment and peers into another room, where a little boy is sleeping. He then goes back to rejoin Claudia in bed. He tells Claudia that he wants her to keep Benjamin inside tomorrow. He doesn’t want to risk the boy being seen by Peggy again.
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