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Cold Moon (2016)
Lunch is ready!
- Grandma. - Hmm? Can I go up to school after lunch to help Mr. Perry? That's fine. Just be home before supper. Yield's gonna be lower this year. It's too early to tell. It's getting lower every year. - Hey, Mr. gieger. - Hi, sweetheart. Margaret left on her wheel right after lunch. Wish you wouldn't call it a wheel, grandma. Bicycle's got two wheels. You make it sound like it's just got one. I just thought she'd be back by now. Margaret couldn't have made it all the way over to Babylon if she just had one wheel to do it with. Belinda hale. Hey, Ms. Larkin. Hey, Jerry. Hey, belinda. How are you? Guess what? I just got elected co-captain of the cheerleaders. Congratulations! That's real fine! - That's good, belinda. - Thanks, Jerry. Oh, hey, how are the berries gonna be this year? Just fine. We'll send you and your daddy over a few pints just as soon as boy scouts and girl scouts start picking. Oh, you have no idea how much I'd be looking forward to that. - Ms. Nina! - Hey, Margaret. You should come by the house some time. Pick all the blueberries you like before all the boy scouts come and take them all. Well, thank you, I will. Ooh, you better go on now before it gets bad. - I will. - Tell your grandma i said hi, now. - All right, see ya! - Hurry up, Margaret, hurry! I brought you some things to do up for me. I probably found them in the back of my closet, lying there since like two years and 15 pounds ago. - So what do you think? - Short. - But they're so cute, though. - You got a mark where you want them? - No, ma'am. - Hold that. You didn't happen to see her when you passed, did you? Oh, no, I didn't see anybody on my way over. Well, expect Mr. geiger fishing, but he was already packing up. Thank you, Ms. Larkin. Well, I best get back to Babylon so I can fix Mr. red his dinner. Oh, how is his neck anyway? Oh, well, let's just say if you was to stick a loaded shotgun at the back of his neck, he wouldn't even be able to turn around enough to know it was you who was doing it. Jerry! Be good to your grandma, now, Jerry! And when I see Margaret, I'll give her a ride! Please do! You're late, miss pie. How many times have I told you? Please do not call me that. I'm fat and I know it, but I would appreciate you not drawing attention to it. What in the world are you doing out here? Nina brought me out here before she left. I was sure you'd show up before the rain. Oh! Don't do that! I want to hear the rain! I would appreciate some thanks. I just saved you from your watery grave. - Hey, daddy. - What do you want?! Nathan wanted to know if belinda was here, - and I see she is. - What does Nathan want with belinda? I don't know, something to do with supper, I guess. Well, that Nathan can take care of himself. Oh, why don't I just go see what Nathan wants? - Now come take care of your daddy until I get back. - Take him with you. I don't have anything to say to him. And he don't have nothing to say to me! Daddy! Jerr... Help! Grandma, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. I just went out to check the berries, - had a look at the bridge. - What about it? Well, there's... There's five planks gone. - But I'll fix it in the morning. - What about Margaret? How's she gonna get home tonight? Margaret?! I already made the call. Well... w-where is she? Is she coming back? I talked to Mr. Perry over at the high school. He said she left at 5:00. I guess it makes sense to talk to the sheriff now. Where... is Margaret? Oh, hey, hey, hey! Down, maisy. I'm sorry, Ted. She just gets so excited. You know you got to have her on a leash, right? - It's a new rule. - Oh, I know, yeah. Morning, sheriff. Sheriff. Sheriff? Evelyn and Jerry Larkin are here to see you. If there had been some kind of an accident, it would've been reported. She can't have gotten very far on a bike. Well, then where is she? Jerry, I want you to take Ms. Larkin home. Ms. Larkin, i want you to stay there. No, I'm not gonna do that. I'm gonna go find Margaret. - Guess wha... - Not now, honey. Okay. We will find her. Hey, we need to go the bank while we're here. How can you think like this when Margaret's still missing? I'm thinking about things like this because I know Margaret will be back. I want to do this now while we're together. I don't want you home alone. How are you, Ms. Larkin? How are you? Fine. Well, I was hoping that you would come in today 'cause I've been meaning to talk to you about your loan. Today's not a real good day to talk about that. I'm sorry, Ms. Larkin, I hate to be the one to bring it up. Now, you know that you've been behind on your payments - for eight months, right? - Is there something wrong here, grandma? Jerry, I take it you were making a payment on your overdue loan there. We gotta wait until the first berries sell. I've been making little installments on it, though, so. Well, um... Your little installments haven't been amounting to much, see, that's the problem. Your daddy never used to talk to us like this. Your daddy never used to talk to any of your customers like this. - Ms. Larkin, my daddy's laid up... - grandma, let's go, come on. She was here yesterday with Warren Perry. She was helping him record supplies. My goodness, Evelyn must just be going out of her mind. Oh, she is, she is. Well, I will check on her. You know, Warren's not here today. - Hey, sheriff. - Hey, Warren. You found Margaret yet? No, I haven't. I want to speak to you about her. I can't imagine what happened. She was, um... She worked with me until about 5:00. And then it looked like rain and, uh... And then I offered her a ride home, but she said she had enough time to make it. Hmm. What was she doing helping you? Helping me check in text books. No, i-i mean, uh... Why was she helping you? She liked to help, i suppose. Does she help other teachers? No. Just me. Look, sheriff, i hate to run, but I've gotta visit my mom up north. Okay, Warren. Grandma! Come see. Jerry! Come here! Now! Come over here right now! Is that... - Don't come, grandma! - What is it? Go on back to your house, now! Oh, god. Oh, Margaret! - Grandma! - I'll get help! Margaret! I don't imagine ed gieger's gonna be fishing that spot any longer. Those are rope burns on her wrists. Let's get her out of here. Ms. Larkin don't need to see us stand around staring at her like she's some kind of dead rattler. - Is she dead? - Ms. Larkin... Is Margaret dead?! No, don't you put her in that truck! My Margaret! I want Margaret! Let me up! Let me up!! Now, don't you get up till I tell you to, all right, Ms. Larkin? You get some rest. I love my little girl. We can't find Margaret. Margaret?! Margaret's dead! I know I'm dead. You've been behind on your payments. Nathan redfield killed my little girl. I never seen nothing like this, little girl tied to her bike and dumped in the river? You have any idea who did it? No, I don't. We had a Saturday night poker murder north side of town about a year ago. But everybody knew who did it and nobody tried to keep it a secret. But I never seen nothing like this. 16-year-old girl. Well, you might want to have a little chat with the father. He's dead. In fact, he died in the sticks, too, about 13 years ago. No, I mean the father of the baby she's carrying. This girl's about four months pregnant. Behold, i show you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall be changed in a moment. For the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptibly. And we shall all be changed. Jerry, can I talk to you for a moment? Sure. I'll be right there. You tell him, Jerry! You tell him! Tell me what? She thinks you're going back into Babylon to arrest a man that killed Margaret. Jury's gonna declare him guilty in two days and she's gonna pull the switch on the chair. Well, who's she expect me to arrest? She got anyone particular in mind? Nathan redfield. You try to talk her out of that? 'Cause you know that's just crazy. I know it. That's what she believes. - You want me to talk to her? - Ain't no point in it. So what'd you need to talk to me about? Did you know Margaret was pregnant? Why would you say that? Coroner in pensacola found out when he examined her Saturday night. She was in her fourth month. Just don't tell grandma, okay? I got to or else you got to. It's gonna come out. Does it have to? What does that have to do with Margaret getting killed? Whoever got a 16-year-old girl pregnant is gonna be in a lot of trouble. And since Margaret didn't have any enemies anybody knew about, might've been the father who killed her. I was hoping you knew about it. Maybe your grandma knows about it. Maybe Margaret confided in her. I doubt it. I just really doubt it. You bit me all over. Now I'm gonna go and have to tell daddy I got trapped under a ten-girl pyramid. Your daddy's never gonna see all them bruises. Well... Somebody else might. You better be making a joke. If I find out that it's true, headlines are gonna read "cheerleader smothered to death with her own pom-poms." I was only kidding. But now I won't be able to wear a bathing suit for the next five days and four nights. What time you suppose it's getting to be? I don't know. I suppose... hey! What is it? Something dripped on me. It's just water, I guess. But... Damn it, belinda! There is something up in that tree. There's no one in that tree. There was someone up there. Wait, what did he look like then? It looked like a woman. There's nothing in that tree. It's so dim in here, that moss could look like anything you want it to. I don't care if you believe me or not. But I would appreciate it to no end if you'd put down that bottle of bourbon and get me out of here. Just listen. There's nothing there. You just got scared. Damn it, Nathan, you were just as scared as I was! No, I wasn't. Now go on. Go on, I'll be right behind you. But don't start off until i get in the scout and get it started, do you hear me? - Okay. - Yeah? Okay! - What is it? - God. Nathan, that seat is soaking wet! Damn it, belinda. What is it? I don't know what it is. Just put a blanket down on it. Go on, get out of here! Nobody is forgetting about Margaret, Ms. Larkin. Just right now, we have no idea who could've killed her. Nathan redfield killed her! God! I know Jerry told you Margaret was gonna have a baby. Now, do you think it could've been Warren Perry? If you'd just sit still for five minutes, you would know that it was Nathan redfield that did this. It's because Nathan is your friend and because he has all the money in the world that you don't want to do anything about it. Go! Go!! If you could've brought me some proof, little piece of something i can tag in a courtroom, I might consider it, but if I took this on now, I'd be making a fool of you and myself to boot. He got to you first. Ms. Larkin, I handle cp&m. But Nathan, he don't even speak to me on the street. And how would he know you were coming over here anyway? - 'Cause Ted hale told you. - Grandma. Mr. darrish was real nice in listening to us, but he can't help. And we are not to take up any more of his time. Thank you, Mr. darrish. I really appreciate you listening to us. Anytime. I suspected you wouldn't help us, so I called a lawyer in pensacola. - Grandma! - Really, who? Warren Perry's cousin, Henry harp. He's taking us to supper this evening. Nathan. You all right? Yeah, let's go to my office. Have a seat there. I'm more than a little surprised you asked me here. We're family. Joe, listen... I've been having dealings with some oil people for the past year. They've been after daddy to drill on some land that we own, but daddy's been putting them off. And it's starting to look like that we're about to be passed by. Now, I was down there in mobile having dinner with a couple of these men, and I had saw where they had marked the land of the most likely places. Now, we own gosh knows how many thousands of acres, but the land that they most interested in was right along the sticks. Have they gone to the Larkins yet? No. No. I put them off that. Evelyn Larkin is gonna lose the farm right soon. If not this summer, the next. And I want to make sure that that land comes to the bank. Evelyn Larkin came to me this afternoon. She wants me to prosecute you for that murder. Yeah, I know, hale told me. But I don't take it personal. I mean, god bless her, she's under a lot of strain. Which is all the more reason that we gotta get her out. We got to be double careful here. She's... she's off to see a lawyer this evening in pensacola, some relative of Warren Perry's. Warren Perry? Of course. He more likely killed that girl. He's just trying to put the attention off himself. You know and I know there's no lawyer gonna find something to put this on you. But if this guy in pensacola, he smells green blood in you, he can make you some trouble. When we get back... We're gonna have the man arrested that did this to you. We're gonna lift you up out of this grave... And we're gonna stick Nathan redfield in your place. You're still afraid. Stop it now! I mean it! They're coming to get you, Barbara. Stop it. You're ignorant... The store's closing soon. You want me to go? 'Cause you just finished off the scotch and there's no more bourbon. No, I'll go. Here he comes now. I'm getting out of here... I have to get out anyways. Johnny! Help me! Help! Ms. Larkin? Welcome to pensacola. It's not much to go on. But I'll take you on. Thank you. I'll request the police and coroner's reports, depose the redfields and anyone else I deem necessary. Thank you, Mr. harp. I can't tell you how much that we really appreciate this. But... we're gonna have to talk about - how much it's gonna cost us. - This here's pro bono. Thank you. Ben? I left the lights on the scout. Go turn them off. Shut the door and lock it. Now. Go now. You see anything out there? Looks like you ran through every mud puddle in town. What happened? Oh, there was this young girl on the street throwing things. Nathan, why don't... Listen, I need you to help me do something. What is it? Stay here. Last time we ate out was when Margaret graduated eighth grade and that waiter spilled that red wine... All over my white shirt, yeah. Oh, Margaret laughed and laughed. She got a kick out of that for weeks. Yeah. It's okay, grandma. I miss her, too. Help! Help! Please, help me! I don't like this. Who's out there? Hey! Are you okay? What are you doing out here? Jerry! Oh! Oh! Oh! Nathan, what are you doing?! Nathan. Christ, Nathan, I thought we were just gonna scare 'em. They was scared, all right. Don't you think? Get her in the car before somebody comes. Up-si-Daisy. Nathan, why you want to make me do this? You're gonna help me get her in the car or I'm gonna get rid of three bodies tonight all by myself. Come on, darlin', get in there. Oh, please, just don't make me touch the head. Watch out, boy, it might bite ya! Little help, boy. One, two... I don't like any of this. You didn't tell me... You can either stay in this car or get out, but I don't care, 'cause in ten seconds, this car is going off this bluff into the river. Release the brake and get out of the car. And you come around back and help me push this thing over the bluff. - It's stuck. - You gotta push. - All right, ready? - Go. - Hold up. - What? I forgot the saber. Oh... - What now? - Nothin'. Nobody's ever gonna find that car. You hear that? Nobody knows. They can't even figure out who killed Margaret, and that was just a week ago. You did kill her. Didn't you? Yeah, I did. But nobody knows it. And no one's ever gonna know it unless you tell someone. Why did you kill her? How are we gonna get home? I want to go home now. Come on, boy. - That's yours? - Mm-hmm. Where'd you get it? The bank repossessed it. Get in over there. Ms. Larkin? Jerry? Sheriff. What are you doing here, Warren? I just came to see how things went with the Larkins and my cousin. He's a lawyer from pensacola i set them up with. I went to check out in the field and was on my way back to knock on the door when I saw... You see something? I should really get going. Wait till I get out, too. If you see something, just... Just honk twice, okay? Well, well. - Hey, Ted. - Red. Hope you're not coming over here to take miss pie away. I just come out to make sure you're taking good care of her. She doesn't get in trouble when I keep her around me. More than I can say for other people in this town. I hope you're not letting miss pie ride her wheel out toward the styx river bridge. Belinda don't ride a bicycle, but if she did, I wouldn't be letting her be riding out that way. - Hey, daddy. - Hey, honey. You couldn't do without me for five minutes? I just come out to see Nathan for a minute. Oh, what about? I don't know. He asked me to come by. Hey, there you are. Hey, come on in. How are you? Nathan. What'd you want to talk to me about? Just wanted to talk to you about belinda. What about belinda? Oh... Well... It's not anything directly about her. It's just something you may have not have known, something i just learned myself. Uh-huh, what's that? It's about Warren Perry. Perry's been hanging around the house. He drives by. I don't know if he thinks we can't recognize a blue rambler when we seen one. It's always when belinda's here. He's keeping an eye on her. Oh, that don't sound like much. Yeah, you're right, it doesn't sound like much. But it's... Yt's not all either. You know, sometimes in the evening, we see him down here walking along the little stream. I'm not gonna prosecute someone for trespassing. I don't want to worry you, but I just wanted you to know so you can keep an eye on him. You know how much belinda means to all of us, and especially daddy. Lord knows we couldn't go on if anything ever happened to her like what happened to that little miss Margaret Larkin. Anything else? You know, there was, uh... One other little thing. - Someone broke into our house. - What? They stole the sword that hangs right there underneath our great-great- granddaddy's picture. Somebody broke in, when? Why didn't you tell me before? We don't know when it happened. It was last night Ben saw that the sword was gone. I mean, it couldn't have been too long ago. B- but we can't say for sure because truth be told, - we just don't go looking at it that often. - What else is gone? There's nothing else gone that we can think of. That's the funny thing about it. I didn't report because i didn't want to upset daddy, telling him that there was a robber in the house. And truth be told, Ted, i just... I just don't care if I ever see that sword again. Let's not say anything to anybody about this. There's probably nothing to it. You don't think so, huh? Don't think there's much to it? There's no need to go starting no trouble for Warren. Now, tell you what. You got my word I'll keep an eye on him. Thanks for the drink. Keep an eye on your little girl for you. She's here, i take care of her for you, Ted. Hey, want to go see where she died? - Where are we going, guys? - To the bridge. - To the bridge! - Shh! - I don't want to get my shoes wet. - Then don't. Gross! All I know is what you just told me, sheriff. I thought Jerry and Ms. Larkin were in pensacola. They were in the back of their station wagon under 12 feet of water. Sheriff. Looks like that what took that boy's head off, don't it? I think you got a case. Yes, I do. It is sown in weakness. It raised in power. It is sown a natural body. It raised a spiritual body. Sunday drama is on the outside grabs the early lead. Hey, little miss blueberry heiress, you want a ride home? Will you drop me off at the bend before the river so my grandma won't see? Of course I will. You mind if we make a little detour first? - I'm pregnant. - It's not mine. There's no one else. If you can get me pregnant, you can provide for it. Okay, just give a few days to break the news to daddy. I will do the right thing. But do not tell a soul until we make a plan, you hear me? I won't. There you are. Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. What are you looking at? Nothing. Well, I've been keeping daddy company all evening. We've been watching television and talking. He kept asking me what I wanted. I just didn't feel like being alone. Why don't you come up and sleep in my room again tonight? The rollaway bed's still up there. Well, all day I've been half expecting Ted hale to drive up with a pair of handcuffs in the rearview mirror. Nobody came. Nobody called. Everything's gonna be all right. Warren Perry's in jail. All the attention focused on him. They got no reason to come look at us. In another week, you're gonna forget what really happened. You'll be like everybody else in this town, think it was Warren Perry that murdered that old woman and Jerry Larkin. - You think so? - Yeah, boy. Morning. Morning. Picked these up from your apartment. Breakfast from the diner. Thanks, sheriff. You okay? Yeah. You? Sheriff. You're not gonna believe this. I imagine it'd go easier, quieter now that they're not here anymore. I just want to get another step between you and me and the dummy corporation in mobile. I also revised the loan paperwork, made sure that they missed their payments for the last year. You know, Ginny and I are gonna be having dinner tonight at the white horse. Why don't you and Ben come, make it the four of us? We're partners now in this, and, I don't know, maybe other things. Feel like you and Ginny ought to make it up between you. You're right, Ginny and i ought to make it up. Though I can't think of anything that much that's been keeping us apart. Nobody's gonna get hurt with the deal you and i put together. Ginny's gonna benefit from it, too. If their objective were to steal corpses, well, they got that. So why take the time to destroy the coffins and spread them halfway around the cemetery? Grave robbers? Vandals? And what do they want with the corpses? Well, I just don't know what we're gonna do with you, Ben. You're a grown man and you just don't do a thing in the world. Nathan, you and I are gonna have to put our heads together and come up with something that he's good at. Well, what we need to do is find someone to pay him for lying in the sun 'cause he's awfully good at that. You're gonna take that from him? He's kinda right. Strawberry shortcake and supreme apple pie la mode. Thank you, darlin'. Well, it's only a matter of time before you have to go to work. Well, I guess so. Nathan? You okay? Nathan! Is there anything i can get you, sir? Everything all right... I'm sorry, i think it's his medication. We got to get out of here. Why did you throttle that girl? Ben, sit here. Think you really ought have it that hot? Can't be good for you. I gotta get rid of the tenseness in my joints. - What's wrong? - What? What's wrong? - What are you talking about? - What are you looking at? Nothing, I'm not looking at a blessed thing. How you feel about going to duval for the rest of the summer? Just you and me. It's time to rest, everything that's happened and all. Think I'd like that. What's daddy gonna say? Belinda? I've been calling. Honey? Belinda? Sheriff hale? Yes. This is Derek from mobile energy. I know it's kinda of late, but, uh, we've been offshore. I received your message and felt it was kinda of an emergency, so I figured I'd try you. Yes, um... I'm investing a murder and, uh... Was wondering when's the last time you might've spoken to Evelyn Larkin? Oh, it's been some time now. We've been dealing with her representative. And, uh, who might that be? A gentleman named Nathan redfield. I'm worried about Mr. red. You got every right in the world to be worried. Why? Wait, do you think he... Yeah. You are just telling me this now? I didn't have enough to go on, Ginny. Nathan just about ripped that girl's shoulders off her back in front of 40 paying customers. Looked like he was ready to do worse. So, yeah. Now. He's splashing me with water. Daddy, we gotta talk for a minute. Y'all just get back? Yeah, we gotta talk to daddy for a bit. But you can't stay 'cause we gotta talk private. What are you trying to say to me that miss pie can't hear? Daddy, we gotta talk family stuff. Don't really interest belinda that much. I never heard of such secret goings-on. But I'm gonna try my new bathing suit. Daddy, Ben and I are gonna go to duval for the rest of the summer. You can't do it. You're president of the bank. You begged me to make you president, and now you're coming in here telling me you're gonna take off?! In the middle of the yearly audit? And the leave the place to rack and ruin?! The bank is not gonna go to rack and ruin. - Just so tired, daddy. - You don't look tired. You know what kind of tired I'm talking about. You mean you're about to have a nervous breakdown, and that's why you're going to duval? We just gotta get out of here for a bit. You up to something? What's he up to, Ben? Ben, why don't you go check on belinda? You go away to duval or wherever it is you're really going. But I'm gonna appoint a new president. You won't ever set foot in cpm again. Now, you go off. You will never see me again. You will never see a penny... Of my money. You understand? I don't want you to catch a chill, daddy. "I have been sick for the past two years", and there's no hope of me ever getting any better, constantly tortured with pain in my spine, and it has become unbearable. I want to thank Nina and belinda hale for nursing me. If it hadn't been for them, I would've killed myself a long time ago. Nathan, when you read this, I want you to make provisions for both of them out of the money i have left you. Fix it so that Nina doesn't ever have to work again, and see to it that miss pie "can go to any nursing school that she wants." Ginny's on the way over right now with Nina to get Mr. red out of the house. Nathan's got something pressing on his brain. So we just thought it best to get Mr. red out of there. If belinda's there, does Ginny know enough - to get her out, too? - She'll get her out. Oh, I don't like this. Who's there? Miss pie? Shh! Mr. red, I got to get you out of here. - What are you... - you think I ask you to come away with me in the dark if I just didn't have to? - You need to hurry! - What? Ginny? - Shh! - Don't you worry about a thing. We're gonna get you right back here just as soon as we can. Miss pie. Well, well. Miss pie. Nathan, what the hell do you think you're doing?! Damn it. Ow. Damn it, Nathan. You hurt me. You st... Y thought you were... You thought what? What, that I was a burglar? How many burglars do you see wearing a two-piece bathing suit? I'm sorry. Come on, let's go back out by the pool. We've been in for a while. You can see why I need a little vacation, huh? Right here, that's them. Where's belinda? - You know what Nathan did? - Did you bring belinda out with you? She's over there in the pool. I couldn't get to her without them seeing. But I know that she's okay, i know that she is. You think I should go check on Mr. red, you know, make sure he's doing all right? Oh, he's probably asleep. Besides he'd talk you into sitting up there with him, I want you all to myself, darlin'. Ben, why don't you go get me and belinda a drink? Get one for yourself, too, bud. - Want to see my new dive? - What? I'm sorry, but I just couldn't live with myself if I didn't do that. I just had to get you back. But I promise I'll be good to you for the rest of the evening. What's the matter, you can't hold your breath? Nathan! Nathan! I want you to go up to the front door, but I want you to go real slow. I'm gonna run around back. Let's go. Are you... okay, honey. It's okay, honey. You're gonna be okay. You're gonna be okay. You're gonna be okay. No! How's belinda? Well, she's gonna need some reconstructive surgery, but she's gonna be all right. You discharge Warren? Yes, sir. First thing this morning. How in the hell did he get in that position? He's missing an ear. Uh, sheriff? Sheriff, you might wanna look at this. |
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