Changeling Page #3

What worries me is that you

have stopped looking for my son!

Why should we be looking for

someone we've already found?

Because you have

not found him.

His identity

has been confirmed

by the best minds in the

field of child identification,

people who know

what they're doing.

And I don't?

I'm sorry.

I appreciate everything that

this department has done

and I know

how hard you're working.

I really do, and I don't

want to cause any trouble.

I just...

There has been a terrible mistake,

and I need you to

help me correct it,

so I can find my son

before it's too late.

Please.

I won't take up any more of your time.

I'm sorry I got upset.

I'm sorry, very sorry.

Yes, Captain?

Sara, get Dr. Tarr

on the phone.

Yes, sir.

Mrs. Collins?

- Yes?

Dr. Earl W. Tarr.

Captain Jones sent me.

I consult with him from time

to time on juvenile cases.

May I come in?

Yes, thank you for coming.

I was beginning to think

he didn't believe me.

Well, I'm here now,

and we'll put all that to rights.

Where's the boy?

Ah! There he is.

A handsome young man.

He has your eyes,

doesn't he?

And a little bit

of the nose.

Very fit, in spite

of all his travails.

A very resilient boy you've

got here, Mrs. Collins.

I thought you were

here to help me.

Well, I am.

Captain Jones said that the boy had

been through some severe physical changes

and asked me

to drop in on him

to reassure you in your

time of motherly concern.

My motherly concern is not for

him because he's not my son.

Now, statements like that will

hardly help the boy's self-esteem,

now will they?

Captain Jones said something

about a change in height?

Yes.

Come.

Against the wall.

He's three inches shorter.

Ah, well...

Hardly a mystery, Mrs. Collins.

We've known for some time that trauma

can affect the growth of children.

Given the stress

of the past five months,

his spine may have

actually shrunk.

It's uncommon, but it's within

the realm of possibility.

And circumcision?

Very likely his abductor

thought it appropriate.

After all, circumcision

is hygienically sound.

Must have been quite

traumatic at the time.

No wonder

he's submerged the memory.

I...

You see, there's a perfectly sound

medical explanation for all of this.

But it's right for you

to raise the questions.

You need to be apprised of all

changes the lad went through

during his absence.

Wouldn't I know whether

or not he's my son?

I'm the mother.

Which means you're in no

position to be objective.

You are looking through the

prism of extreme emotion at a boy

who has changed

from what you remember.

He isn't the same boy

that left here.

Just as a boy that goes

off to war and then returns

is not the same anymore.

And a mother's heart, driven

by intuition and emotion,

sees these changes

and rebels,

insists that

this isn't your son.

Doesn't change the facts.

I'm willing to put my theory to the

test of objectivity, Mrs. Collins.

Are you?

It is absolutely outrageous!

Calm yourself, calm yourself

and just listen to me.

No, no, no.

No, you listen to me, please.

This so called doctor paraded

me around my own neighborhood,

like some kind of a derelict mother

who didn't even know her own son.

And what was his findings?

He found what he

expected to find,

what you obviously

told him he would find.

Mrs. Collins.

- But that's not...

That's nothing

to be embarrassed about.

That I was embarrassed

is not the issue.

The point is that

you are wasting time

when you should be

looking for my son.

But the report is final,

Mrs. Collins.

Well, then I want to receive

the report, so I can refute it,

before it goes

to anyone else.

Fine.

Yes. Good day.

I'm finished. Could I

go to my room now?

Yes.

Good night, Mommy.

Stop saying that!

Stop saying that!

I'm not your mother!

I want my son back.

You're not him.

You're not my son!

I want my son back.

I want my son back!

Damn you!

I want my son back!

I was wrong

to yell at you.

You're just a child

and I don't think you know

what you're doing,

and the hurt

you're causing.

But I need you to understand

that my son is my life.

He's all I have.

And no matter what the police think,

and no matter what the world thinks,

you and I,

we both know the truth,

don't we?

We both know that

you're not Walter.

You just have to tell them

that you're not my son,

so they can find my son.

Please.

We can talk tomorrow.

Hello?

Is this Mrs. Christine Collins?

Yes.

My name is Gustav Briegleb.

I'm the pastor over at

St. Paul's Presbyterian.

Oh, yes, I've heard

your broadcasts.

I'm...

Thank you.

Have you read

the Times this morning?

No.

Well, maybe you should give it a gander

and then come over here to the parish

for breakfast, in, say, an hour.

I think we should meet.

Hello?

"Mysterious case of...

"Acting on the request of the

Los Angeles Police Department,

"Dr. Earl W. Tarr, child

specialist, examined Walter Collins

"to determine the cause

of his loss of weight,

"paleness, confusion,

and rundown condition

"noticed since the

return of the boy

"to his mother last Monday."

Lovely bit of phrasing,

isn't it?

Noticed since the return

of the boy to his mother.

Now, not only does that clearly

state you're the boy's mother,

but one could infer from it that you're

somehow responsible for these changes.

And that the police

department is concerned

for the boy's welfare

while he's in your charge.

You should try the eggs.

They're very nice.

"'I examined the boy quite

thoroughly,' Dr. Tarr said,

"'And it's clear that

he has something to tell.

"'I'm sure that in time..."'

...time he will give his boyish

story of the entire affair,

but not until he has

faith in his listener.

And that is what is lacking here,

faith in the poor lad's story.

Course of my examination, I found

nothing to dispute the findings

of the LAPD.

Why would they do this?

To avoid admitting

they made a mistake

when they brought

back the wrong boy.

Of course, anyone reading the

newspaper with half a brain

would see

through it instantly.

Sadly, that would exclude about half

the readership of the Times.

Mrs. Collins, I have made it my mission

in life to bring to light all the things

the LAPD wish none

of us ever knew about.

A department ruled by violence, abuse,

murder, corruption and intimidation.

When Chief Davis took over the

force two years ago, he said...

We will hold court against gunmen

in the streets of Los Angeles.

I want them brought

in dead, not alive,

and I will reprimand any officer who

shows the least mercy to a criminal.

He picked 50 of the most

violent cops on the force,

gave them machine guns and permission

to shoot anyone who got in their way.

He called them

the Gun Squad.

No lawyers, no trials, no questions,

no suspensions, no investigations.

Just piles of bodies.

Bodies in the morgues, bodies in the

hospitals, bodies by the side of the road.

And not because the LAPD

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