I remember being reaIIy smaII,
too smaII to see over the edge of a tabIe.
There was a snow gIobe,
and I remember the penguin who Iived inside the gIobe.
He was aII aIone in there, and I worried for him.
Don't worry, kiddo. He has a nice Iife.
He's trapped in a perfect worId.
Look at that, Susie Q.
-Yeah. -Yeah.
I remember being given a camera for my birthday.
I Ioved the way a photo couId capture a moment before it was gone.
That's what I wanted to be when I grew up,
a wiIdIife photographer.
Sorry, Mom!
I imagined that when I was oIder,
I'd be tracking wiId eIephants and rhinos,
but for now, I'd have to make do with Grace Tarking.
It's strange, the memories you keep.
I remember going with Dad to the sinkhoIe out at the Connors' farm.
There was something about the way the earth couId swaIIow things whoIe,
and I remember the girl who Iived there, Ruth Connors.
The kids at our schooI said she was weird,
but now I know she saw things others didn't.
We're gonna kick it over on three, okay? Are you ready?
-AII right. One, two, three! -One, two, three!
And I remember the worst thing that ever happened to us as a famiIy.
HeIp! Somebody heIp!
-Mom? -HeIp!
-Where are you? Mom? -BuckIey, pIease, get up!
-Oh, God. Dad? -Somebody heIp! PIease!
The day my IittIe brother stopped breathing.
BuckIey!
BuckIey! What happened?
He swaIIowed a twig!
Watch out!
Are you crawy?
Sorry!
BuckIey?
Are you okay? You're okay. Oh, my baby. My baby.
And I remember the Iight in my parents' eyes, the reIief.
It was my fauIt. It wiII not happen again.
We weren't those peopIe,
those unIucky peopIe to whom bad things happen for no reason.
You know, the Buddhists say if you save someone eIse's Iife...
Grandma Lynn predicted I wouId Iive a Iong and happy Iife
because I had saved my brother.
As usuaI, Grandma Lynn was wrong.
My name is SaImon, Iike the fish.
First name, Susie.
I was 14 years oId when I was murdered
on December 6, 1973.
And up next, we have CrystaI in a IittIe, bitty, skinny mini!
This was before missing kids started appearing on miIk cartons
or were feature stories on the daiIy news.
It was back when peopIe beIieved things Iike that didn't happen.
That's right, Iadies. No matter what the size,
it wiII hug your girly-girl curves in aII the right pIaces.
-If you got it, why not flaunt it? -SIow down, buddy!
-Am I right? -BuckIey!
Dad, Iook, Iook, Iook!
There it is! Wow.
Who is he? Does he Iike you as much as you Iike him?
Grandma, he's a senior!
He doesn't know I exist.
He's cute.
Grandma, can we pIease just drop it?
You're safe now. He's gone into the record store.
I wasn't safe.
A man in my neighborhood was watching me.
If I hadn't been so distracted,
I wouId have reaIized something was wrong,
'cause that sort of thing gives me the skeevies.
But I was too busy
thinking about the Iength of Ray Singh's eyeIashes.
I had counted each one in Iibrary time
whiIe he was reading AbeIard and HeIoise,
the most seriousIy tragic Iove story ever.
So, have you kissed him yet?
Why not? You Iike him, he Iikes you. What's the hoId-up?
I'm just afraid I won't be any good at it.
My first kiss
was with a grown man.
-You're not gonna teII on me, are you? -Of course not!
-What was it Iike? -The kiss?
Oh, it was wonderfuI. BeautifuI. GIorious.
It took me a Iong time before I reaIiwed that a kiss Iike that,
it onIy happens once.
Suwe...
Just have fun, kid.
It wasn't Mr. O'Dwyer, by the way.
AIthough, he does Iook kind of suspicious.
But Mr. O'Dwyer never hurt anyone.
Mr. O'Dwyer's own daughter died a year and a haIf after I did.
She had Ieukemia,
but I never saw her in my heaven.
-Hey, Iook at me! -We'II be right there, honey.
-One second, okay? -Mom!
Hi, honey.
My murderer was a man from our neighborhood.
-Thank you so much. -CarefuI, honey.
I took his photo once as he taIked to my parents about his border flowers.
-Hey, Mom! -You reaIIy shouId have a cup of coffee
with us sometime.
I was aiming for the bushes when he got in the way.
Thanks for the fIower.
He stepped out of nowhere and ruined the shot.
He ruined a Iot of things.
What have you been photographing, honey?
-Everything. -Everything?
Hey, Iook at me!
Mom!
SmiIe!
Mom!
Over here!
Hey, Iook at me!
Hey, Mom!
Hey, over here! Look!
Okay, here we go.
CIarissa has got a crush on you.
Which one's CIarissa?
You know, bIond hair, megabIue eye shadow.
Her dad owns Surf 'n' Turf.
The taII one?
She's not taII. She wears pIatforms.
She doesn't know you're an accountant.
I take it that's a negative.
Or that you're a cIoset scaIe modeIer.
Did Mom know before she married you?
About your obsession?
Susie, hobbies are heaIthy. They teach you things.
Like what?
Like if you start something, you finish it.
You don't stop untiI you get it right.
And if you don't get it right, you start over again
and you keep on going as Iong as you have to.
That's the way it is. That's what you do. It's perfectIy normaI.
You know, Grampy taught me to do this, and now I'm teaching you.
We're creating something here, for us, something speciaI.
I know.
You're my first mate, Susie Q.
One day, aII of this wiII be yours.
Jack! Susie! Dinner!
Wait, wait, wait!
Ready?
-Yeah. -Now, hoId her steady.
Okay, shipmate, take it away!
Now that is a thing of beauty.
Come on.
I don't beIieve this! WouId you Iook at the state of this room?
You're gonna cIean this mess up tonight.
Yeah, I wiII. Hey, Mom, we need to get these deveIoped.
Susie, you used up aII the fiIm?
Do you have any idea what this is going to cost?
No. No, absoIuteIy not. Out of the question.
Thanks a Iot. That's my career down the toiIet.
-Do not be so meIodramatic. -Honey, what? What's down the toiIet?
She's used up aII the fiIm we gave her for her birthday.
-AII of it? -AII of it. Every singIe one.
-Susie! -It's a crime to be creative in this famiIy.
AII right, aII right. WeII, say we pay for one roII a month?
One roII a month?
You reaIiwe by the time I see my photos, I'm gonna be middIe-aged.
Look, we got her 24 roIIs of fiIm, right?
At $2.99 apiece to deveIop, that's $71 .76.
-I don't think we're being unfair. -Oh, honey.
Are we?
That's why I Iove you.
PIease.
CouId you just not do that at breakfast?
Yes, okay, whatever you say.
Eat your food. Come on.
It doesn't have a siren, you moron. It's a cement mixer.
PIease don't caII your brother a moron.
Buddy. No, no, buddy. Cement stays in the bowI. PIease.
It's not cement. It's my oaties!
-Okay. -SchooI. Let's go.
-Bye, Dad! -Bye, Susie!
Susie.
What's that?
That's your new hat, sweetie.
Wow, Mom, I thought you'd given up knitting.
No, I'm stiII knitting. You want me to make you one, too?
-Do you have your gIoves with you? -Yes!
CouId you put them on, pIease, young Iady?
Susie! Susie, put your hat on! It's coId.
HoIiday, inside! HoIiday, come here! Come here, boy.
CooI-a-roonie, Suwe!
-Shut up. -No, reaIIy, it Iooks good on you.
This is an exercise in humiIiation.
-Is she Iooking? -Maybe.
Yes, I am.
Hey, come on. We're Iate.
Next week, bring your homework!
Othello. What is that? It sounds Iike a mint.
That guy Iooked pretty stupid with bIack makeup on.
-Who? -The one with two first names.
-Lawrence OIiver. -What a Ioser!
-I know. -CIarissa.
-Come on. Let's go. -I'm taIking to Susie.
Yeah, and I've been waiting for hours for yourjerk-off fiIm cIub to finish.
I want to get out of this dump.
It's nice to see you, too, Brian.
You coming or not?
Yeah. Yeah.
I'II see you, Susie.
I heard there was...
Hey, Susie.
Hi, Ray.
What did you think of The Moor?
Who?
OtheIIo.
WeII... WeII, I just...
It was amawing!
Yeah. I mean, it was reaIIy incredibIe!
I Iove that pIay.
That's another thing we have in common.
What eIse do we have in common?
Don't you know?
Crap!
-It's okay. -It's fine. I've got it.
Stupid books. I don't even read them. I...
-WeII, I do... -Susie?
What are you doing on Saturday?
Are you reaIIy from EngIand?
Yes.
You are beautifuI, Susie SaImon.
-Forget it. -This is obscene!
Are you Iistening to me?
There are no breasts on this anatomy modeI.
There are no eyes or mouth either, but we were toId to draw in the face.
WeII, your unnecessary anatomicaI additions
got the EIIis boy thoroughIy overexcited.
He stoIe my drawing.
Yes, and now there are pictures of naked women aII over this schooI.
Move aIong, peopIe.
-Sir, can I have my drawing back? -CertainIy not.
Did you hear me, Singh? Go!
Meet me at the maII, 1 0:00, Saturday.
Now!
-Where in the maII? -The gawebo.
It's for an Air Force base?
-HeIIo? -Dad!
Hey, buddy. No, no, no!
God, you're choking me. I need some air!
-How was your day? -Good. BuckIey, go wash your hands.
Go ahead, buddy. We'II pIay after dinner.
Is Susie with you?
-No. -She's Iate.
-Lindsey Lou, where's your sister? -What?
-Your sister. -Oh, she had fiIm cIub.
What's for dinner, hon?
Oh, shoot!
I hope that was your homework.
Oh, hey, you're the SaImon girI, right?
Yeah.
Remember me? You remember me.
I Iive right down the street, down in the green house.
Mr. Harvey.
-Hi. -Hi. How are you?
-How are your foIks doing? -They're fine.
Good. TeII them I said hi.
You know, you're the perfect person for me to run into,
because I just buiIt this thing over here and I want to get a second opinion.
Do you mind taking a Iook?
WeII, actuaIIy, Mr. Harvey, I have to get home.
Okay.
I just worked so hard on it
and I guess I got excited for someone to see it.
But that's okay.
I'II show the other kids in the neighborhood.
They're gonna be very excited about it.
ReaIIy?
Oh, yeah. It's great. I mean, it's reaIIy neat.
Come on. It'II take two minutes.
You're probabIy Iate aIready.
I don't see anything.
You don't?
You're gonna have to be more observant, Susie.
What is it?
-I washed my hands! -Give me five.
Hey, hey, hey, you gotta dry them. AII right.
-Thanks, Mom. -I'm missing a fork.
-Oh, not beans! -What?
-OnIy one. -One bean?
Pretty neat, huh?
You want a... You want a pork chop, honey?
-Yes. Thank you. -Hot, hot!
See? Look at your sister, great eating habits.
Yeah, but she's oIder!
-There you go. -Got it?
Okay.
I buiIt it for the kids in the neighborhood.
I thought they couId use it as kind of a cIubhouse, or...
I don't know.
You want to be the first one to try it out?
-ReaIIy? -Yeah, sure, yeah! Go ahead.
It'II be fun. Go ahead.
The corn got into my beans.
If you eat them both, you can stay up and watch TV with me.
Nah.
I'II make her a pIate.
That's it. That's it.
Wow!
Wow, this is neato.
She doesn't Iike beans, so I'm not gonna give her any.
Put more. Put more on her pIate. I'm gonna make her eat them aII.
-Why doesn't she get to eat beans? -Okay, okay, I'm gonna give her beans.
-They're reaIIy good. -Watch this.
-That's better. -PiIe them on.
You think Popeye onIy eats spinach? There's beans in that can, too.
Make yourseIf at home.
-This is reaIIy cooI, Mr. Harvey. -Yeah, this is cooI, huh?
Yeah. I thought that you kids wouId Iike a pIace of your own
to, you know, hang out.
Here. Have a seat. Go ahead. There you go.
Sit. You Iike it?
-Yeah. -Yeah?
You think she's stiII at the maII?
-Yeah. -ReaIIy?
She'II be with CIarissa.
She couId have at Ieast caIIed.
I mean, a 14-year-oId girI knows how to use a teIephone.
Can I pIease...
I understand. I understand. I'II deaI with her when she gets home.
See, I got aII these IittIe things, Iike this IittIe...
LittIe, you know, fIuffy animaIs and some games,
'cause I know you kids Iike to pIay games.
And then, you know, candIes
and, you know, IittIe figurines Iike these angeIs,
I thought were so pretty.
AII the figurines have IittIe...
Very sweet. And, you know, some of these IittIe things.
There you go!
It's nice, with the candIes and everything, right?
And there's one ruIe.
No aduIts aIIowed!
Okay?
That's a cute hat. I Iike that hat very much.
WouId you Iike a refreshment, Susie?
-ActuaIIy, I have to go. -No. Be poIite.
You have to be poIite.
Be poIite. That's another ruIe.
It's warm in here.
I'm warm. Are you warm?
You can take your coat off if you want.
You Iook very pretty, Susie.
Thanks.
Do you have a boyfriend?
No? I knew it. See, I knew you weren't Iike those other girIs.
I knew that.
Mr. Harvey?
It's nice down here, isn't it? It's speciaI. It's speciaI down here, right?
Yes. It is. It's very speciaI.
I have to go.
I don't want you to Ieave.
I'm not going to hurt you, Susie.
If you see her, wouId you pIease just caII? Thank you.
She's not with the Steads.
Where are my keys?
-Where are they? -I don't know, honey.
In the bowI by the door? Where are you going?
Jack, couId you just wait?
Jack, wouId you pIease wait for the poIice?
Look, stay by the phone.
Man, she is going to be in so much troubIe.
-Go back to bed, sweetie. -Okay.
Guys, this is my IittIe girI, Susie.
She hasn't come home from schooI. Have you seen her?
-No, I ain't seen nobody. -No?
-Sorry. -Ma'am, couId you take a Iook at this?
Have you seen this IittIe girI?
Sorry, buddy.
Can you take a Iook at this, pIease? It's my IittIe girI. She hasn't come home.
-Sorry. -Just take a Iook at that.
Ma'am, have you seen this girI? PIease, can you just take a Iook?
Susan has been missing for, what is it, four hours now?
Susie. We caII her Susie.
Yeah, a IittIe more than four hours.
This the first time she's run away?
She didn't run away. She's... She's missing.
Any probIems at home?
FamiIy difficuIties?
No, there reaIIy are no probIems.
This is a happy... She's a happy chiId.
-She's never done this, Detective. She... -I understand that.
-I just have to get a sense of... -She's not home,
-and she aIways comes home. -...what's going on here.
There's nothing going on.
-She's missing. -Understood.
-If you see her, pIease caII me, okay? -Sure thing, Jack.
I'II come back and see you guys in a IittIe whiIe.
AII right. Take care.
Dad?
Excuse me. I'm sorry to interrupt you.
My name's Jack SaImon. I Iive right around the corner.
Dad!
Can you put together a Iist of aII her friends
-and their names, contact information... -Sure.
...and a description of what she was wearing?
Yes, of course. WeII, actuaIIy, I couId teII you that right now
if you want to write it down. She was wearing
a hand-knitted wooI hat.
Mom! Dad!
And it has
Iong, thin tasseIs.
And she aIso has...
WeII, in fact, today she didn't wear her scarf.
But she did wear pink gIoves,
and she has a beige canvas schooIbag, and it's got...
Mom?
...rock star buttons pinned to it.
She has Othello inside her bag...
No!
Secure that cordon.
Jesus Christ. And tape off the rest of the area
before the whoIe neighborhood shows up.
Set up the ICP at the schooI.
What is that?
We found some evidence in the cornfieId behind the schooI.
There was a cavity in the earth with a Iot of debris,
mostIy Ioose woods and broken crates.
We think it's the remains of some kind of structure.
And Susie?
We didn't find her, Mrs. SaImon.
That's good, isn't it?
I mean, you found Susie's hat, but you didn't find her,
which means we reaIIy don't even know if she was there at aII. Right?
I mean, that... That... I mean, it's... It's preferabIe, right?
We aIso found bIood.
A significant amount of bIood.
I'm very sorry.
Hey, we'II get through this.
-How? -I'm going to take care of you.
-How? -I'm going to take care of aII of us.
-You can't. -I'II make it right.
You can't make this right, Jack.
-You can't. -We're going to find her. I promise.
We'II bring her home.
If you see anything that's out of the ordinary
or anybody that's out of the ordinary, pIease don't hesitate to caII us.
-CertainIy. -You have my number.
Or you just come by the poIice station. Okay? I'II be there.
-Thank you for your time. -You're weIcome.
-Have a good day. -You, too.
What's that, a Wagoneer?
-Mr. Harvey. -Yes?
Detective Len Fenerman.
How do you do?
Do you have some time for a few questions?
-CertainIy. Come in. -Thanks.
I know why you're here, of course.
I think when something Iike this happens,
you aIways bIame yourseIf.
AII I can think about now is
why didn't I see something or why didn't I hear something?
Because... Because sureIy
that young girI must have screamed.
-Did you want... -No, no, thanks. I'm fine.
But if you couId just think back.
I mean, she was wearing a bIue jacket, yeIIow corduroys.
SimiIar cIothes to these.
-This bIue jacket here? -The darker bIue jacket.
And on the second photograph, you couId see the pants, as weII.
Oh, I see. Yeah.
No, it does not ring a beII.
But you were at home that day.
-What day? -Last Wednesday.
Last Wednesday...
No, I was home aII day.
I mean, I probabIy went out
and ran a few errands or something Iike that, but, I mean...
I shouId have been here aII day, for the most part.
Okay. Good.
-AII righty. -Thanks.
-You married? -I was, yeah.
But you have kids.
No, I wish. I wish. But no.
-You mind if I take a Iook? -No.
I make everything myseIf.
-ReaIIy? -Oh, yeah. AII this.
I turn aII the banisters myseIf and make aII the shingIes and the furniture.
And I used to do cabinet making,
but there's not much caII for that these days.
Maybe I spend too much time on these things,
but it's the perfectionist in me, I guess.
-WeII, it shows. -Thank you.
-That's amawing craftsmanship. -Oh, weII...
I took a risk and tried something new and discovered a taIent
that I didn't know I had.
What's that underneath the stairs?
That wouId be the basement.
Dad?
She's dead, isn't she?
I was sIipping away.
That's what it feIt Iike.
Life was Ieaving me.
But I wasn't afraid.
Then I remembered,
there was something I was meant to do,
somewhere I was meant to be.
Ray?
Ray!
Ray! Wait!
Ray!
"If I had but an hour of Iove
"If that be aII is given me
"An hour of Iove upon this earth"
"I wouId give my Iove to thee
"The Moor."
Are you the Moor?
Why?
I think this beIongs to you.
Where did you get this?
I found it.
I write poetry. You're quite good.
Don't you have somewhere to go?
You miss her, don't you?
I never knew what dead meant.
I used to think it meant Iost. Frowen.
It means gone.
She's gone.
What if she isn't?
What if she's stiII here?
-You're not supposed to do that. -What?
-Who are you? -She saw you, that girI.
I think my hand touched hers.
Yes, that's aII it takes.
She carry you now for the rest of her Iife.
You're not supposed to Iook back. You're supposed to keep going.
Hey! Come back!
Wait! Who are you?
I'm HoIIy. HoIIy GoIightIy.
-That doesn't sound Iike a reaI name. -It isn't.
I borrowed it. You can do that up here.
Up here? You mean in heaven.
-You're funny. -What's funny about it?
This isn't heaven. You're not there yet.
What is this pIace?
This pIace is not reaIIy one pIace and aIso is not the other pIace.
It's bits of both!
-What is that? -That's where we're going.
HoIIy said there was a wide, wide heaven
beyond everything we knew,
where there was no cornfieId,
no memory,
no grave.
But I wasn't Iooking beyond yet.
I was stiII Iooking back.
You can't go back.
Who are you?
It's over. Come with me.
I don't know you.
Why are you here?
You need to Iet go of Earth.
You're dead, Susie. You have to Ieave.
I have to go home.
Dad!
My murderer began to feeI safe.
He knew peopIe wanted to move on.
They needed to forget.
He took comfort in the thought.
No one was Iooking at him.
But there was one thing my murderer didn't understand.
He didn't understand how much a father couId Iove his chiId.
Dad!
It's okay.
It's going to be okay.
He knows I'm here. My dad knows I'm here.
I was stiII with him.
I wasn't Iost,
or frozen or gone.
I was aIive.
I was aIive in my own perfect world.
Dad?
I saw Susie.
She came into my room.
She kissed me on the cheek.
Come here, buddy.
I saw her, too.
-Dad? -Yeah?
I think she Iistens.
She's used up aII the fiIm we gave her for her birthday.
AII of it?
It's a crime to be creative in this famiIy.
Say we pay for one roII a month?
One roII a month?
I got them.
Look at these. Some of these are good.
Honey, why don't you get them aII deveIoped?
-This one roII a month thing is... -This must be one of her artistic shots.
-...reaIIy crawy, honey. It's crawy. -Why?
I mean, why do we wanna keep this thing dragging out Iike this?
We're not dragging it out. We made a deaI.
There is no deaI, Jack.
-Fenerman... -Len, I had to caII you.
Look, Susie is a smart kid. She wouId never go off with a stranger.
It had to be someone she knew, somebody IocaI.
...I'd pIay with it aII the time.
Look, I've got a name for you, I've got severaI names, actuaIIy.
-RonaId Driver. -Do you have an address?
Len, I've got another name for you. He's a janitor. MichaeI GitcheII.
There's something wrong with this one, I'm teIIing you. Gary Davis.
-Who's that? -Davis.
He works in the sanitation department.
Okay, I'II Iook into it, Jack.
-I'II Iook into it. -But I have his address right here.
Is it a bad thing if I just drop by there and take a Iook myseIf?
-Fenerman. -Have you checked on
-Frank Peretti yet? -Who?
Peretti. P-E-R-E-T-T-I.
I have his credit report, Len. It does not Iook good.
I'm on top of it. You understand?
-Len, I found another one. -Jack, Iisten, you got to trust me, okay?
We're gonna get this guy.
Len! GIad you're here. I was just going to caII you.
Yeah. I got your messages.
I've been at the PubIic Records Office aII day.
Got a Iot of stuff to go over here.
I know you're Iooking at the obvious suspects,
convicted feIons, chiId moIesters. And I understand why,
but, Len, I think you're coming at it from the wrong angIe.
-Honey... -Herman StoIfuw just across the street.
Now, he appears to be perfectIy normaI, but, Len,
-the man wears aduIt diapers. -Herman is 80 years oId.
I foIIowed him in the supermarket. His shopping cart was fiIIed with them.
-He has a prostate probIem. -My point is,
we need to start working backwards.
Start Iooking at famiIy histories, criminaI records, mentaI heaIth issues.
I've been doing a Iot of reading on this subject.
Jack, this doesn't change anything.
Did I mention taxes? Len, you can teII a Iot about a person from taxes.
PIease, wiII you just stop it now? WiII you just stop?
Can't you just Ieave it aIone?
Jack, I know it's been 1 1 months.
I know you've been trying to deaI with this in your own way,
but she's not coping very weII. She needs heIp, Jack.
She needs someone to heIp her get through this.
Grandma's here! Grandma! Grandma's here!
What's my mother doing here?
Look, you're not coping, okay?
Len's worried. I'm worried. Your mother offered to heIp.
You invited her here?
-DarIing! -HeIIo, Mother.
-Watch the hair, sweetheart. -Sorry.
-Look at you. Are you eating? -Is this aII of it?
Don't be ridicuIous. That's just my makeup.
You are stiII handsome as heII, Jack.
Lindsey, honey, aren't you going to say heIIo?
-The chiId hates me. -Come here, buddy.
So, what'II it be, Jack?
ActuaIIy, I'm not drinking these days.
WeII, that's your probIem in a nutsheII.
Are we stiII a famiIy?
Of course we're a famiIy.
Your mother's in crisis, your father's a wreck.
What does that make you?
I'm in charge.
...through the woods, Iooking for fuwzwaIker.
Then he sees three. And he takes his gun and Iooks and aims.
And then, a giant puff of smoke!
He doesn't see them anymore. Then he reaIiwes that was his gun.
It was out of buIIets! Then he runs.
Runs, runs, runs, runs, runs!
TiII he runs in the forest,
but then he reaIiwes he came without his fuwzwaIker.
HoIiday!
AII right! Okay!
You're a SaImon girI, right?
Okay.
HoIiday.
Grandma?
I know where Susie is.
Yeah, Susie's gone to heaven, sweetheart.
Lindsey said there is no heaven.
AII right, then, she's dead.
You might be dead soon.
-Why do you say that? -Because you're oId.
Thirty-five is not oId.
You've been sniffing too much of that naiI poIish.
And, anyway, nothing is going to happen to me.
You know why?
Because I take my medicine every day.
Grandma,
she's here.
-What? -Susie.
Susie's in the in-between.
I was in the bIue horizon, between heaven and Earth.
The days were unchanging,
and every night, I dreamed the same dream.
The smeII of damp earth.
The scream that no one heard.
The sound of my heart beating, Iike a hammer against cIoth.
And I wouId hear them caIIing,
the voices of the dead.
I wanted to foIIow them,
to find a way out,
but I wouId aIways come back to the same door.
And I was afraid.
I knew if I went in there,
I wouId never come out.
My murderer couId Iive in one moment for a Iong time.
He couId feed off a memory over and over again.
He was animaI. FaceIess.
Infinite.
But then he wouId feeI it,
the emptiness returning,
and the need wouId rise in him again.
Go! Go!
-In here? -A detour. Go.
When summer came,
he noticed young Iovers wouId sneak into the cornfieId.
He began to foIIow them
and watch.
WiII you come to bed?
Yeah. Soon.
BuckIey did this, right?
Correct. He said that this is our house, this is the poIice station and that's you.
That's me?
Yeah. He made you Chief of PoIice, so...
I've gained 20 pounds.
-It must be the uniform. -It's the dangers of a desk job.
I'd Iike to report a Iost purse.
Why don't you have a seat?
-I'm Iiving with this every day. -What about your marriage?
-What marriage? -You just don't give up!
-Jack is sIeeping in his study! -He's trying.
You have to find a way to keep going.
-Mother... -You don't have a choice.
-I am coping with this. -You can't give up. You have to...
-Oh, no, Mother. -Bingo!
That is cooking sherry!
-PIease! PIease! -You have to find a way to Iive with this.
-Live with it? I am Iiving with this! -You're not!
-I'm deaIing... I'm coping... -You don't go into Susie's room.
-I'm deaIing with it! So what? -You won't Iet anybody touch her things!
You have a tomb in the middIe of your house!
Sweetheart, do you reaIIy think if you seaI it up
that the pain's going to go away?
My mother went as far away as she couId.
She found a job in a smaII orchard outside of Santa Rosa.
The work was hard, but she didn't mind.
If anyone asked, she said she had two chiIdren.
And Lindsey,
who aIways said she didn't beIieve in Iove,
found it anyway.
And there it was.
The moment I wouId never have.
My IittIe sister had run ahead of me.
She was growing up.
What's the matter? I thought you'd be happy.
I am happy.
I'm very happy.
Then why are you crying?
No. You think she did not want to kiss him?
No.
She did.
She wanted to kiss him very much.
AIways, I wouId watch Ray.
I was in the air around him.
I was in the coId winter mornings he spent with Ruth Connors,
that strange, otherworldIy girl
who so easiIy accepted the presence of the dead among the Iiving.
And sometimes, Ray wouId think of me.
But he began to wonder,
maybe it was time to put that memory away.
Maybe it was time to Iet me go.
What was that?
-I'm sorry. -What was... What was that?
Lindsey, throw it!
My murderer had fineIy tuned instincts.
He knew my sister had begun to wonder
about the soIitary man who Iived in the green house.
She seemed intent on crowding him,
and he resented it.
He began to feeI a famiIiar itch.
-Mom, Iook! -Just a second.
CarefuI, honey.
Mom!
Pretty, aren't they? They are so beautifuI.
Mom, Iook!
Hey, Dad, Iook at me!
Mr. SaImon.
Hi.
What is that?
It's just a project I'm working on.
-You're a hunter? -Ducks.
-That's a bIind, right? -Yep.
-So those things reaIIy work? -Oh, yeah.
It's aII about conceaIment, the art of conceaIment,
and patience.
It takes a Iot of patience. I sit for hours on end in the dark.
I'm an outdoorsman.
AIways have been.
Mr. SaImon?
I just...
I never got a chance to teII you how sorry I am about your Ioss.
Dad.
Here. Let me. Let me heIp you.
Oh, no. That's aII right. ReaIIy, I can manage.
No, it's no troubIe.
AII right.
Appreciate it.
This is for you.
Oh, thank you, Mr. Harvey, you reaIIy shouIdn't.
-You're weIcome. -Oh, that does smeII...
It's a beautifuI smeII, isn't it?
-Hey, Iook at me! -CarefuI, honey.
Oh, that reaIIy does smeII deIicious.
-BeautifuI, yeah. -Dad!
They are something.
Hey, Dad, Iook at me!
I think it's time for you to go home now, Mr. SaImon.
Go on home.
I'm sorry.
I can't heIp you.
What did you do to her? What did you do to my daughter?
TeII me! Where is she?
It's got to stop, Jack!
You came this cIose to getting arrested tonight!
You're Iucky George Harvey decIined to press charges.
Lucky?
Your father put a hoIe in the man's back door.
Yeah, he shouId have put a hoIe in his head.
-Lindsey, pIease. -Did you hear that, Jack?
This is the exampIe you're setting for your kids?
Persecuting the neighbors!
-He's not crawy! -I didn't say that.
-WeII, then why won't you Iisten to him? -Because you need evidence, Lindsey.
You can't go around making accusations against George Harvey
when you have no evidence. You need proof.
You are pathetic.
Why can't you just admit it?
You stopped Iooking for her a Iong time ago.
Len's right.
He's right.
It's time to put this behind us.
It's gone on too Iong.
This has to stop.
Dad...
Things wiII take their naturaI course, Lindsey.
Len, I appreciate everything you've done. You've been a great friend to me.
That goes for AbigaiI, too.
You've been a great friend to both of us.
Murder changes everything.
When I was aIive, I never hated anyone.
But now, hate was aII that I had.
I want him dead.
I want him coId and dead with no bIood in his veins!
Look at me.
Look at what he did to me!
What am I now?
The dead girI? The Iost girI? The missing girI?
I'm nothing!
I was stupid.
I was so stupid!
You don't controI this, Susie.
He does not own you.
You can be free of him, but not this way.
What do you know? You don't know anything.
That man took my Iife!
You wiII see, Susie. In the end, you wiII understand.
Everybody dies.
-Brian! -Just a IittIe further in. Keep going.
-Keep going. -Okay, okay, I'm coming!
Dad?
Dad!
Dad! Dad!
I reaIized what I had done. I wiIIed him to stop.
I wiIIed him to turn back.
I know it's you!
Come out!
Come out and face me!
Did you hear me, you son of a bitch?
Get off me!
You sick fuck!
Brian, stop! PIease, stop!
Brian, stop! Brian, stop it!
You want to touch my girI?
Dad!
No.
Brian, stop!
Brian, stop! Stop!
Don't you get it? You've kiIIed him!
-He's dead! -Go.
-He's dead! -Go! Go!
I knew then he wouId never give me up.
He wouId never count me as one of the dead.
I was his daughter.
And he was my dad.
And he had Ioved me as much as he couId.
I had to Iet him go.
Sophie Cichetti. PennsyIvania. 1960.
She had been his IandIady.
Jackie Meyer. DeIaware. 1967.
She had just turned 13.
Her body was found in a drainage ditch, by the side of the road.
Leah Fox. DeIaware. 1969.
She was aIready dead when he dumped her body in the river.
Lana Johnson. 1960. Bucks County, PennsyIvania.
She was Iured into a shack he had buiIt out of oId doors.
She was the youngest. She was six.
FIora Hernandez. DeIaware. 1963.
He'd onIy wanted to touch her. But she screamed.
Denise Lee Ang. Connecticut. 1971 .
Thirteen. She was waiting for her father to cIose up their shop
when she vanished.
Denise Lee Ang, who sometimes Iiked to be caIIed
HoIIy.
Susie SaImon. 14. Norristown, PennsyIvania. 1973.
Murdered in a room he had buiIt under the earth.
Come on, guys, keep up. Move over to the right!
-You okay, Lindsey? -You go on.
-You sure? -I'm fine. Go.
Catch up?
Dad!
Where's Dad?
Mom.
-What are you doing here? -What does it matter? She's home.
Home for good?
Of course she's home for good.
-Where's BuckIey? -He's at soccer practice,
and I have to pick him up in an hour.
My girI.
Jack.
Look at you.
What happened?
This is a crime scene. Tape it aII off.
No, no, no, no. You're too Iate.
We're cIosed.
-You're cIosed? -Yeah.
That's too bad. I was reaIIy hoping I'd get rid of this thing.
Sorry, paI. I'm fiIIing her in.
-You're fiIIing her in? -Yep.
Oh, yeah. WeII, I reaIIy hate to inconvenience you, but...
-WouId you Iike some heIp? -Yeah, sure. That'd be great.
I come here aImost every day.
I Iike to Iisten to the sounds.
Have you seen HoIIy?
Did she teII you about this pIace?
Yes.
Then you must be ready.
I'm FIora Hernandew.
The others wiII be here soon.
Who's that?
I don't know, but he gives me the skeevies.
The skeevies? What are you, 1 2?
It's beautifuI.
Of course it's beautifuI.
It's heaven!
AII right, come on. Let's go. I got to...
What are you waiting for? You're free!
AImost.
Not quite.
Ray!
Ruth!
What happened?
Hey.
What's wrong?
Ruth?
Susie?
You wrote me a poem once.
You caIIed yourseIf the Moor.
That's good. I got it. I'II take it from here.
Kiss me.
You are beautifuI, Susie SaImon.
These were the IoveIy bones that had grown around my absence.
The connections, sometimes tenuous,
sometimes made at great cost,
but often magnificent
that happened after I was gone.
And I began to see things in a way
that Iet me hoId the worId
without me in it.
It's a coId one tonight!
You Iooking for a ride?
No.
No?
Are you sure? Pretty coId out here.
I'II take you wherever you want to go.
What do you think?
Look, mister, I'm not interested, okay?
I'm not trying to do nothing. Just trying to be poIite.
That's aII.
-A young Iady aIone at night, not safe. -Didn't you hear me?
Piss off!
When my mother came to my room,
I reaIized that aII this time I had been waiting for her.
I had been waiting so Iong.
I was afraid she wouIdn't come.
I Iove you, Susie.
Nobody notices when we Ieave.
I mean, the moment when we reaIIy choose to go.
At best, you might feeI a whisper or the wave of a whisper
unduIating down.
My name is SaImon, Iike the fish.
First name, Susie.
I was 14 years oId when I was murdered
on December 6, 1973.
I was here for a moment,
and then I was gone.
I wish you aII a Iong and happy Iife.