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who threw the firebomb

And now he's coming back

for another try.

Or maybe he's just

a school kid on the way home.

Watson decides to shoot first,

ask questions later.

- Only one problem.

- What?

It's all circumstantial.

No witnesses.

Watson's dead. No one ever

interviewed him.

Well, that's our story.

Authorities ignored an obvious

suspect in the killing.

Police investigating the

killing of a black teenager

Never questioned

a potential suspect.

Okay, make it "failed to

question. " It's stronger.

Okay, "failed to question

a potential suspect",

"A Klan member who operated

a store near the shooting

And who had previously been

convicted of racial violence. "

Not "near the shooting. "

Make it "near the scene

of the murder. "

What are you doing here?

You should be with your daddy.

In a minute. Hang on.

Just hang on a second.

Let's see how you cowboys

Have been spending

the stockholders' money.

Well, I'm not bookin' my ticket

To the Pulitzer prize

ceremony yet,

But it's a start.

Fix the lead. Make it, "never

bothered to investigate. "

And the

fourth paragraph's weak.

You've got all the facts,

but there's no outrage.

A 15-Year-Old is dead.

The cops don't care.

"Almost 20 years later,

The crime remains

uninvestigated,

Unsolved, and unpunished. "

Are you gonna pitch it

for the front page?

Already did.

Amos, ala-Frickin'- Bama?

The name of the paper

is The Nashville Times,

And our competition's

craigslist,

Not The Washington Post.

How long did we spend on this?

A couple days.

A couple of days?

Two reporters?

Wake up, people!

We are losing

advertisers every day!

We need to write about stuff

that matters to Nashvillians.

This is a heck of a story,

all right?

It'll matter to our readers.

Well, you'd better be right.

Hey, Trey.

Let me put you on speaker.

I just found another

police report.

Right after the firebomb,

Braeford Watson

suffered a heart attack.

He was in the hospital

when Wallace was shot.

Perfect alibi.

Story's dead.

Deader than an armadillo

on a truck stop exit ramp.

Trey, hold on. Let me

call you right back.

Hey.

Are you sitting down?

Uh, yeah.

Matt, I'm sorry, it is cancer.

Multiple myeloma.

Will you go with me?

Of course.

You didn't tell me

Trey Hall was a woman.

Does it matter?

I don't know, does it?

What are you saying?

Would you be chasing

this story all over Alabama

If Trey Hall was a guy?

Thanks a lot.

Well, Matt, what else

haven't you told me?

I haven't told my dad

we're not getting married.

What?

I should have.

Matt, how does this

not come up?

I haven't spoken to him.

You would have

if it was important.

Well, are we gonna eat out

here or are you two coming in?

How are you doing?

Fine, thanks.

Transfusion helped.

I start chemo tomorrow.

You look beautiful.

How long do you have

to do chemo for?

You mean, "for how long

do I have to do chemo?"

To paraphrase

Winston Churchill,

"Ending a sentence

with a preposition

Is a practice up

with which I will not put. "

Come on in, Matty.

So without this Braeford Watson

in the picture,

You're no closer to

getting your story

Than you were

when you started out.

Yeah.

Hmm.

Tell us about your treatment.

Okay.

Uh, there's these tubes here.

They go right into

my circulatory system.

Uh, chemo goes in.

No needles. Pretty neat.

I'll have it done on Fridays,

And then I should be ready to

work on my column by Mondays.

You scheduled so you can

be sick at home

But be well to work?

Home life's overrated.

It always was.

The world's more important.

I just, uh, don't see how you

can be so philosophical.

Here's what I think about...

if I died today,

how would my obit read?

Long or short?

Front page or buried inside?

Above the fold? Below the fold?

Would they remember

my preferred epitaph?

You were a fool for the truth?

Yeah, exactly.

I think if I died right now,

it'd make a pretty good story.

Fine for you. What about me?

I hate that you're sick.

Son, I happen to have

A particularly aggressive form

of cancer,

But we're all dying

of something.

They push the death rate down

for this, it goes up for that.

It's a zero sum game.

No one gets out alive.

I can't believe you talked

that way to your father.

You're more worried about

your feelings than his.

At least I have feelings.

He's a wonderful man.

A wonderful, very sick man.

Let me tell you something

about my father.

If he's ever said "I love you,"

I don't remember it.

I don't believe that.

I'm not kidding.

I've played this game

Where I try to see

if I can make him say it.

I've never won.

We've got to get

back down there.

All we need

is a couple more days.

We've got to find out

who owns the store,

And we haven't even talked to

Wallace's girlfriend

Vanessa Brown yet.

I don't think Walker

will buy it,

And our credibility isn't

exactly at a high point.

Well, who says we need to ask

Walker's permission?

We could do it

in a series of trips.

If we get the story, nobody's

gonna care how we did it.

I'll pick you up at 6:00.

Sorry to bother you,

But we need to ask you

some more questions.

I told you about

the night it happened.

Yeah, but we need to

make sure we know everything.

That's even things that you

might not think are important.

I have to live here.

You two get to leave.

You can trust me.

Ask anyone who knows me.

I don't know

anyone who knows you.

Your timing sucks.

My porcelain cracked.

I got a horrible review.

Oh, yeah, I almost forgot.

You got cold feet three months

before our wedding.

Now you want me to drop

everything

And help you

with a reluctant source?

You're trained to get people

to open up to you.

You're good at it.

That was my old life.

Now I sling mud.

It doesn't talk back.

No codependency issues,

no enabling issues, nothing.

Please, Delana?

Why doesn't Trey talk to her?

Trey tried. I just... I think

there are some things

Mary Pell is not comfortable

talking to her about.

Trey's like her child.

At least convince Mary Pell

that she can trust me.

Delana, my job's on the line.

Which matters to me

exactly why?

I'll help,

but not because of you.

I'll do it for Mary Pell.

My sanctuary.

That's how I feel

about my studio.

No one bothers me here.

Mary Pell, I know

it must be hard for you,

But may I ask you

some questions?

You can ask.

I understand Braeford Watson

was in the Klan.

Is that why someone threw

a firebomb at his store?

Everyone knew Braeford Watson

was a Kluxer,

Plus he charged twice what he

should have for everything.

But that's not

why the store was firebombed.

- Hey, guys.

- How are you doing?

I forgot patty has Fridays

off, but the door was open.

What is this?

I've been collecting

plant specimens.

That one's called

cnidoscolus stimulosus.

Cnidoscolus stimulosus.

A natural aphrodisiac.

Country people call it

"the courage plant. "

Freeze. Y'all keep your hands

up where I can see 'em.

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