An Amish Murder

Mona, I'm on upper county.

Stutz's cows are in the road again.

Again?

Yeah, I'm gonna set flares.

...and go get 'em.

Should I log that?

No, I'll log it.

Stutz house...

Road.

It's logged.

Come on now, cow, get out of the road.

Hey, Mona.

Uh, Mona, I got a shoe here.

A shoe?

Yeah, like, a girl's shoe.

Oh.

Should I bring it in?

A shoe?

Hang on a second.

Hello?

Is someone there?

Oh.

Mona.

Uh, Mona? Mona.

Mona!

I can hear you.

Uh...

I got a...

I got a... I got a

woman on the ground here.

Has there been a wreck?

No, no, no, she's, uh...

Oh... Ugh.

What?

Uh, she's, uh...

She's dead.

Uh...

Hey, Mona.

What?

Are you sure?

Who's at the scene?

T.J.

Oh, no. Is he alone?

Is he all right?

No, no. I'll be right there.

Okay.

I got to say...

...didn't expect to be

dealing with a homicide.

...my first week here.

This happen often? No.

First homicide here

since I was a teenager.

Thought you were from Cleveland.

Cleveland pd. I grew up here.

Is your family still here?

Yeah, they're around.

You see them?

Oh, I see them all the time.

They don't see me much.

You all right, T.J...?

Thanks, chief.

Where's skid?

Uh, went to get the

owner there, Mr. Stutz.

All right, let's set some perimeters.

And anything within 100

yards that didn't grow here...

I want it marked and bagged.

- You mean by me?

- Yeah, T.J...

I'll help you in a minute.

Doc?

- Oh, hey, chief.

I think it's safe to say

we have a homicide here.

She's amish.

Are you sure about that?

Well...

No nail Polish, visible piercings...

...no makeup, no hair dye...

...and that dress is amish.

Hey, chief!

Where is she? Is she English?

We don't know yet.

Did you see or hear anything

out of the ordinary last night?

Uh, it would be better.

...if you could ask me the questions.

Please, I cannot speak to her.

Mr. Stutz, you don't have

to speak to Kate burkholder...

...but you do have to speak

to the chief of police...

...and that happens to be me.

You can do that here...

...or you can do it at the station.

It's your choice.

I did not see anything.

Any strange vehicles on the road?

Did you hear anything?

I was asleep. I go to bed at 9:00.

May I go?

- Yes.

But we may need to speak to you again.

If you leave town...

...tell bishop troyers how to reach you.

I'm not going anywhere.

Please, take her off my land. Chief.

We're gonna have a problem

plastering for marks.

...until this snow melts.

Hey! Chief!

Yeah?

I think you ought to see this.

There it is.

It's him.

That's impossible.

I don't know about impossible...

...but it's so damned unlikely.

You okay?

Yeah, fine.

What is that?

- We had a serial killer

around here years ago.

He killed five young

women back in the '90s.

And then he just stopped.

- We thought maybe he

died or just left or...

We called him slaughterhouse.

And that was his signature:

Roman numerals, just like that.

All of them amish?

This would be the first.

- If it was him, there would be a...

Was that... Postmortem?

No.

- So see, she was hung upside down...

...then bled to death.

And see that?

That's the blood track

residue right there.

Skid, go to bishop troyers.

...and ask him if he knows

of an amish girl 18 to 21

who's gone missing.

You got it, chief.

- Chief burkholder, is it

true they found a body...

...not now, I'm afraid.

Hey, who called?

Everybody.

The paper's called 11 times.

Uh, channel 8 news...

- Already?

- Well, they monitor

the police radio, right?

So T.J... Mentions the

word "slaughterhouse"

...on the air when calling in the apb.

I know!

That got some attention.

Uh, the mayor called.

- Wonderful.

- Yeah, it gets better.

He's on his way over.

- Right.

- Well, you know how it is.

Half the town's heard already.

Other half will know by noon.

Thank you.

- That farmer, chief, why

didn't he speak to you?

I'm under the ban.

In English?

- I left the amish

community when I was 18.

You were amish?

I was.

For real?

For real.

Huh.

Thought that was sort

of a lifetime deal.

Well, usually it is.

Ah.

They don't talk to you?

- Well, they try not

to be rude about it...

...but those are the rules.

When I'm working...

...eventually they'll answer a question.

Mayor alert.

Your, um, family too?

What about them?

They don't speak to you?

- Nichols, I need you to focus.

...on what we're dealing with here.

Auggie.

Hey, uh, you got a minute?

Yeah, come in.

Mr. Mayor.

Sure I can't make you.

...a nice herbal tea, Mr. Mayor?

Oh, I'll call you if

we need anything, Mona.

- Hi. I won't keep you.

- Okay.

Um...

I just... what's your read on this?

Do we need to bring in the state bureau?

Bci?

- Mm.

Not at this point.

Why? What's your concern?

- Just concerned this is

going to be very demanding.

...on a small department with

a brand-new chief of police.

I've been here six months.

- Kate, if this is the

slaughterhouse killer again...

...they'll send us a profiler.

- I don't think that we can

assume it's slaughterhouse.

I mean, this is an amish

girl. The other girls were...

...yeah, Kate...

Kate, it's my call.

And, actually, her being amish.

...makes this particularly sensitive.

I think we could benefit from...

...auggie, I have led seven

homicide investigations.

And you know what?

All seven guys are now

sitting in youngstown.

Do you not want a profiler?

It won't come out of your budget.

You already called bci.

Yeah, yeah...

- Yeah.

And they're sending over a profiler.

It's still your case.

Oh, come on, don't look

at me like that, Kate.

He's supposed to be very good.

Course he is.

Jay...

Jay, you haven't answered the question.

What's your point?

- Why me, and why now?

- Why'd I give you an assignment?

You're still on active duty.

That four-month bender you've been on.

...doesn't entitle you...

- whoa, whoa, now. Hold on, now.

I think a four-month

bender entitles me to, uh...

- John, work the case,

or I'm suspending you.

It's up to you.

Any questions?

Eh, just one.

Why are you always such a jerk?

Nichols?

Right here, chief.

Do a nationwide check:

All deaths by exsanguination.

- Plus anything with Roman numerals.

I figure we're looking for

murders six through ten.

- Exactly. And, Mona?

That's me.

- Send T.J... Down to the

county clerk's office.

- Sure. What do you need?

I want a list.

...of all abandoned

properties in the county.

Because?

- Well, that girl wasn't

killed in the field.

It had to be somewhere remote.

And we'll search them

all as crime scenes.

Okay, boss.

Oh, do you want your messages?

Anything important?

Mayor wants a progress report.

Course he does.

- Hey, you know a storm's coming in.

Hi, Sarah.

I need to see Jacob.

Jacob?

Your sister is here.

That cabinet, did you make it?

It's beautiful.

Why you've come here?

There's been a murder.

You're here as a policeman?

Yes.

All right, then.

An amish girl.

You know this for sure?

We'll know soon enough...

...but, um...

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes