Just Cause Page #3

at 3:
00 to make sure...

... the boys don't get into horseplay

or the girls while away the afternoon...

...gossiping and giggling on the corner.

Horseplay. Gossip.

Sweet.

That day it was about 3:10.

Most everyone was gone.

I saw her by the banyan tree.

She walked past the car, then turned...

...like someone in the car called her.

She walked back...

...and before she got in...

God.

I go to bed with this every night.

Her waving.

The car was parked under that tree?

Right like that there.

That far away?

When did the police show you the car

for identification?

The police? They didn't.

They just showed me a photo.

A photo?

Really?

- From what angle?

- Angle?

Front, rear, side?

Side.

But you couldn't see the side from here.

Not if it was in that position.

It seemed like the car to me.

I was solid to myself when I said it.

I understand.

No, you don't!

You're tearing open a wound, coming here.

I'm only trying to get at what happened.

I am sorry for your grief.

Thanks for your time.

Miss Conklin...

...may I ask you one last question?

What color is that car?

Midnight blue.

Midnight blue.

Not dark blue? Black?

Midnight blue.

How can you be so sure?

Because that's Tanny Brown's car.

Everyone knows that.

Thank you.

Come on in.

Tanny Brown.

Paul Armstrong.

You're trying to get Robert Earl

off the Row?

No.

I'm just trying to get some information.

Information?

Well, fair enough.

Let's get you some information.

- The girl got into the car right here.

- I know.

All right, fasten your seat belt.

Watch carefully.

Robert Earl made this right...

...still headed towards the girl's house.

See that house with the blue trim?

That's hers.

She'd wanted to go that way,

but he took her this way.

That's where he popped her.

He's a pretty son of a b*tch, but he's mean.

He's real mean.

Scream!

Scream!

I can't breathe.

Come on, big man like you.

You can scream louder than that.

Stop!

What the f*** was that nonsense about?

Trying to get you some information.

That is why you're here, right?

You be careful.

You're way beyond your perimeters.

Look around you, Mr. Armstrong.

Look where you are.

You smack dab in the middle of hell.

Took only five minutes to get here,

and nobody can hear you scream for help...

...let alone an 11-year-old girl.

Getting the picture?

See it with Joanie Shriver's eyes?

I get the point.

You get the point?

They come through here.

He was probably carrying her.

No defensive wounds on her hands.

We figure he knocked her out cold

in the car...

...at the intersection near her house.

Killed her while she was unconscious.

Otherwise, we'd have...

...seen stab wounds on her hands or...

...some of his skin underneath her nails.

This is it.

This is the kill spot.

The coroner said that the rape

was premortem, some of the cuts too.

But he did a lot of damage to her

after she was dead.

It's like he just went stone crazy.

He pushed her body in the water...

...and covered her up with some brush.

Want you to meet Joanie Shriver.

Take a look.

Daddy!

I'll get Mommy.

No, don't get Mommy just yet.

I've been thinking about you

all day, sweetheart.

I love you very much.

I love you too.

Can you come back tonight?

No.

I can't come back tonight.

So I want you to sleep with Mommy.

Daddy, I'm too old for that.

It's not for you, it's for her.

Do it for me.

I'll do it for you.

Good girl.

I love you.

I love you too.

Damn!

They hate long stories

about how you messed up their vehicles.

I hope you took that insurance option.

I like them lightning bolts, though.

Hell...

...you might not want to paint this over.

I know I wouldn't.

What do we got to do

to get rid of you, Mr. Armstrong?

Convince me that Bobby Earl

deserves to die.

Under the circumstances,

that's not possible.

So I'm not going to waste time trying.

I do have a question for you.

Are you aware that he was picked up

on kidnap charges in Dade County...

...a year prior to his arrest

for Joanie Shriver's murder?

Case went all the way to trial.

Yeah, I bet "Mr. Victim" forgot

to tell you about that.

And what was the result?

Prosecution's case collapsed

on a technicality, I believe.

Acquitted or thrown out of court?

Look, Armstrong...

...I knew Robert Earl was bad news

when I first saw him.

See him hanging around the school

when I'd pick up my girls.

Hanging around with his pretty-boy looks

and college-boy words.

He just felt wrong.

Wasn't just me who felt that way.

Every man in this department.

- Everybody in town.

- I still don't hear any evidence.

We didn't need any.

We had a confession.

If that's a confession...

...my ass is a banjo.

Damn arrogant Yankee son of a b*tch!

He did it, goddamn it!

That man is an a**hole!

Just calm the hell down.

You tell me that man never laid a hand

on Bobby Earl in 22 hours?

He slapped him once or twice.

Which was it?

You and I both know

it wasn't a textbook confession.

But it was enough to convict him!

This case hangs together by a thin thread.

You come down here, you start picking

at them threads, it'll fall apart.

I don't want that.

I tell you something else.

I want to see Robert Earl go to the chair

for what he did.

Tell me, what is your policy on taking guns

into the interrogation room?

Very simple:
We don't.

May I see your left ankle?

Please?

Looking for this?

I checked it with the duty sergeant.

You didn't take it out?

Point it at Bobby Earl?

No, sir.

You didn't stick it in his mouth

and play Russian roulette?

No, sir.

Then how did I know where to look for it?

You're back.

Let's get started.

Why didn't you tell me about your run-ins?

What run-ins?

Those times when Tanny tried to bust me?

Come on.

Tanny Brown had nothing to do

with your arrest in Dade County.

Dade County?

The charge was kidnapping.

That was bullshit.

Bullshit. I took some white girl

for a ride in my car.

It was just a ride.

In fact, she asked me for that ride.

The arresting cracker happened

to be a boyfriend of hers.

It should've been thrown out of court.

My life was different after that.

How?

How was your life different after that,

if the case was thrown out?

They took away my scholarship.

A scholarship, for someone like me...

...is a trade-off, pure and simple.

I get a free ride, they get a better image.

As soon as I walked into court,

I couldn't live up to my end of the bargain.

They felt justified.

The same way Tanny felt justified

looking for me...

Wait.

I don't follow you.

Imagine a man, a very bad man...

...driving a car south,

driving off the turnpike into Ochopee.

He stops...

...takes a siesta under a banyan tree

just outside a schoolyard.

Then he spots a little girl.

Pretty little girl.

He talks her into his car.

He's friendly when he needs to be.

Then he does it.

Right there in the Glades.

He drives on and never gives it

another thought.

Go on.

That very bad man moves on

down the line.

A waitress in the Keys...

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