Previously on Medium:
I'm just a girl who wants to be a lawyer.
Wants to do her job, be a good wife, a good mother.
Be like everybody else.
But you're not like everybody else and you know that.
Even among the special, you're special.
Who might this be? Looks familiar.
He and his friend raped a young girl.
Sliced her open. Took her apart.
Doctor Charles "The Butcher" Walker of Wichita.
Wanted dead or alive
for the maniacal evisceration
of three unmarried daughters from the Great Plains.
Seems like every 15 years or so, someone
hears a voice and a young girl dies.
Ladies.
If you'd kindly take a seat in the waiting room,
the doctor and I will finish up and be with you shortly.
I know it hurts, Maura but we're almost there.
I'm sure of it.
Our baby's a stubborn one. Isn't he, Charles?
Takes after his blessed Mother, I suppose.
A word, Mr. Walker.
She's been in labor for over 30 hours now.
Something clearly is not right.
Just how old is your wife, Mr. Walker?
I think it's time we considered an alternate method of delivery.
You intend to cut her?
Mr. Walker, I'm seeing an unusual amount of blood.
I fear it may already be too late for Mrs. Walker,
but there's still a chance I can save the baby. Doctor,
I don't care about the baby.
Honestly, all I care about is Maura.
It's all right, Charles.
The only thing that matters is our child.
I don't agree. I don't agree with any of this.
You're going to be fine.
We just need a little more time.
With all due respect, sir, you're not a doctor.
You don't know the first thing about medicine.
There... There is no time.
Maura!
It's all right, Charles.
Let him do what he has to do.
Maura!
Doctor, open the door!
Maura, I'm here.
Maura?
No!
It's a boy.
Sir, your child needs you.
Sir? Have you gone mad?
Your place is out here with this child, not...
not in there with a dead woman!
Sir, what are you doing in there?
I'm going to the police, Mr. Walker.
If you do not unlock this door
and come out here and be with this baby,
I'll be forced to go to the police!
Mommy? You okay?
Oh. Hi, Sugarbear.
Yeah, I'm okay.
Just had a nightmare.
Just a... a silly little nightmare.
Was it scary?
It was scary. And sad.
Don't worry, Mommy. It was just a dream.
You probably won't even remember it by morning.
Thanks, Bridge.
Think about ice cream. Or cake. That's what I do.
Chocolate works really good.
Got it. Candy, too.
Or cereal if it's close to morning.
Mm-hmm.
Cookies are really good, too.
Shh.
Mommy?
I'm hungry.
Never mind.
Captioning sponsored by CBS PARAMOUNT NETWORK TELEVISION
Hi. I don't know if you remember me.
Allison Dubois. Of course I remember you.
So you still dream, huh?
That's a good thing, I suppose.
Better than being like me.
I just don't sleep.
Afraid to, I guess.
Afraid of what I'll see.
There must be a reason I had a dream
about Walker and his wife, right?
I just don't know how to make sense of what I saw.
In that case, what do you feel?
Feel?
What you see can sometimes fool you,
but what you feel rarely lets you down.
Well, I felt the same way I always feel
when I see him in my dreams--
that some girl is poised to die soon.
That he's up to his old tricks.
That he's found someone in the here and now
to do his bidding, and it's just a matter of time.
See that? You don't even need me.
Then why did I see a moment from Walker's past,
and not his present?
Why didn't I see the face of the man he's whispering to?
Or a clue as to who his next victim's going to be?
Maybe you don't need to see those things to stop him.
God doesn't play dice with the universe,
and people like us don't see the things we do without a reason.
I know it's not easy,
but you have to have faith
that the reason will make itself known to you,
either in your dreams or your waking life.
Oh, my poor kids.
I'm a terrible cook.
It smells delicious.
It takes a full day to cook it right,
but I couldn't resist.
Grocery store up the street
was having a sale.
I've got some extra coupons if you're interested.
WALKER: Nothing like slicing a ripe one right down the middle.
I'm sorry. Did you say something?
I said the ripe ones are usually in the middle.
GIRL: Move your ass, Amanda.
Stacey's got a table for us out front, and I've got
a quiz fifth period.
SCANLON: I damn near got a speeding ticket,
but I made it. Now I don't see you.
Thanks for hurrying over-- five cars
ahead on your left.
I'm in the Volvo.
So where's the girl? She's over there.
She's got the green school jacket on.
Thought you said this girl was in danger.
She is. She just doesn't know it yet.
Do you remember that doctor?
The one who has a thing for teenage girls?
The one from the 1800s?
Your friend the "ghost guy"?
Don't do that. You were there.
I was there, Allison, and I remember
a butcher, and I remember the girl
he was determined to cut up.
But do I remember Walker?
I can't say I ever really laid eyes on the guy,
but I'll take your word for it.
So point him out to me.
Or point out the person you think he's working through.
I can't. I haven't gotten a good look at him yet.
I had a dream.
And I heard Walker's voice when I was in the store.
He was talking about her.
SCANLON: So we don't even really know who we're looking for here?
We don't even know what sack of skin
this ghost might have crawled into.
Assuming he's the one who's really behind this.
Assuming there's a "this" he's really behind.
Forget about that.
Forget about who he might be working through.
It doesn't matter.
As long as we don't let this girl out of our sight,
nothing can happen, right?
Allison, you're talking about round-the-clock surveillance--
multiple guys working multiple shifts--
and all for a girl who, by the way, may not even
be in any real danger.
All right.
I know a couple of guys who owe me a few favors.
I'll see what I can cobble together.
ARIEL: I know you guys said
we could only watch ten hours
of television a week, but Mr. Gressler
said that part of studying current events
is keeping up with the news every night.
JOE: You could always try reading the paper.
But the paper's, like, 60 pages long.
And the good thing about TV news
is that it's only a half hour.
Well, I suppose, if it's for school.
So I can watch 12 1/2 hours a week?
Suddenly she's good at math.
No. You can watch ten hours of television,
and two and a half hours
of news a week.
That was a scrumptious dinner, darling.
You really should've tried some.
I just keep waiting for the phone to ring.
I just keep wishing I'd seen something useful
like the face of the man he's gonna use to get to her.
A doctor in Bisbee.
Will wonders never cease?
Dr. Charles Walker.
Pleased to make your acquaintance, ma'am.
Oh, my!
Listen to that accent.
You sound fancy.
Surprised you'd settle in a place like this.
Bisbee's kind of out
of the way to have a doctor.
Well, I rather like "out of the way."
And "out of the way" is where people tend
to need a doctor most. Don't you think?
You know, my daughter
had some pain of late.
Your daughter?
She's at that age.
Everything's changing, everything's... hurting.
We got some pills through the mail, but...
Would you like me to have a look?
Your mother says that you experience
pain from time to time.
Yes, sir.
You ever heard of the expression,
"growing pains"?
Yes, sir.
Hmm.
Would you like me to make them go away?
Go away forever?
Y-yes, sir.
I think I can make that happen.
I think I can do that right now
with one very simple procedure.
Would you like that?
Yes, sir.
Will it hurt, doctor?
Only at first.
But then you'll feel nothing.
For the rest of your life,
you'll feel nothing.
ALLISON: Amanda?
Are you talking to me?
My name's Allison Dubois, I'm with the city of Phoenix.
I work for the District Attorney's Office.
Am I in some kind of trouble?
Is this about the car accident?
I don't know anything about an accident.
But there is a man. MAN: Amanda!
Hey!
Can you hear him?
You can see him!
People actually eat
at this hour in the sun?
Stay where you are!
Who's this? A friend of your mom's?
I don't know, she just showed up.
Don't you come near her.
And stop talking. We can see you.
Police! I need your help.
He's gonna hurt this girl!
Miss, I think you have me confused with someone else.
Put her in protective custody!
I know you can't see the man who's threatening her, but...
Hands in the air!
Body on the ground now!
He's my friend.
What the hell is going on?
What's wrong with you people?
You okay, ma'am?
DEVALOS: Actually...
I can't help but kind of wish
he was a ghost. Excuse me?
Ghosts for the most part have very limited legal rights.
Extremely rare that you hear
about one suing a city or county government for false arrest.
You were half right. The guy's name is Walker.
Only it's Jack, not Charles.
Who knows, maybe he's the son of the son of the son.
I dreamt... about the birth
of his great grandfather the other night.
This Walker's 36, unmarried,
owns some kind of computer repair store on the west side.
A DUI 18 months ago, other than that, he's clean.
Maybe it's my imagination,
but I do sense our boy jonesing for a drink.
Not that that's against the law.
And how do these two know each other?
She t-boned him
at an intersection a couple months ago.
Whole left side of his car got crushed.
Any record of this?
Well, Walker wanted to call an ambulance, but she didn't
want her parents finding out she'd been in an accident.
He agreed not to call the cops or the insurance company
if she let him take her to a doctor he knew.
SCANLON: She's been paying for the car repairs
and the doctor visit ever since.
In fact, according to him, that's what he was doing
at the grocery store today.
Picking up the latest installment.
Everything I saw when I looked at her.
It wasn't a premonition, it already happened.
I thought I saw Charles Walker trying to hurt her.
It was really that man trying to help her.
Hello.
In here.
Okay, what have you done with my children?
Take a look at the clock, honey.
Marie's already asleep
and Ariel's helping Bridgette with her homework.
I left some dinner for you in the fridge.
Oh, good. I was afraid
I was going to have to keep after you
to eat something from the alcohol food group.
Back off.
I had an innocent man arrested today
because I thought he was a ghost.
Hmm.
Maybe you should grab me one of those, too.
You know what the weirdest part was?
How nice he was.
How reasonable he was about the whole thing.
He kept reassuring Devalos,
said he wasn't going to sue the city.
Kept telling me to keep my chin up,
that everybody makes mistakes.
He even told Scanlon he hoped there were
no hard feelings.
Okay. That's nice.
But if this Amanda girl was never in any real danger,
why do you keep having dreams
about his great-great uncle
or his not so great-great grandfather?
Or whoever this guy Charles
is to him?
Don't know.
And...
I don't care.
The girl's safe.
Nobody's suing the city.
Mama's finally home.
Mmm.
I say all's right with the world.
Mmm. All's right with the world.
WOMAN: Beloved Maura...
we bring you gifts from life into death.
We ask that you commune with us
and move among us.
Join us, Maura,
so that your husband may know your presence once more.
What?
She's been watching you.
She's seen it all.
Seen the terrible things you've done.
She wants to know why.
Why would you hurt those girls?
She doesn't understand.
It still hurts to be without her.
It's the only thing that makes the pain go away.
Tell her.
She's gone.
Get her back.
I can't.
Get her back!
Now!
Charles, Charles, Charles.
You're hurting me.
I'm sorry, Mother.
So his mother has the gift.
Probably watched her talk to ghosts his whole life.
I wonder if that's when he first figured out
that the dead can communicate with the living.
So let me ask you a question.
Charles's mother had a gift.
She was sensitive.
What are the chances another relative could be?
You know better than I do that it runs in families.
Can span generations.
So if Jack were sensitive, Charles could, theoretically,
be whispering in his ear,
pointing him in the direction of his next victim.
So how do I find out
if the young Walker has the old Walker in his head?
Why don't you ask him?
I'm not about to get tackled, am I?
I wanted to apologize again.
I couldn't sleep last night, I felt so...
Unnecessary yesterday, unnecessary today.
And also...
since I was in the area,
I was wondering if I could talk to you about something.
Um, I-I'm on a little bit of a schedule, actually. Uh...
Well... the main thing...
is...
Are we alone?
Yeah.
No, I mean...
am I the only person you are listening to right now?
Um, sorry.
I'm... taking medication.
On a schedule.
I'll be right back.
No problem. Go right ahead.
She's a bit...
...obsessed with me, actually.
Honestly, I-I-I'm not at all interested.
Uh... Just want the money she owes me for the car
and the doctor.
I believe you.
I know you're not interested.
Which is why I was asking-- are we alone?
I'm sorry, I'm...
You hear him,
don't you?
In your head.
Telling you to hurt her.
I have no idea what you're talking about.
Sure you do!
You know exactly what I'm talking about.
You are fighting it with every inch of your being.
You are fighting it with the alcohol
you just drank in the bathroom.
What do you do?
Do you time each dose?
Just enough to keep
the voice of the devil away,
but not enough to make it impossible to live, to work?
Okay.
This is for you, not him.
He already knows me.
You would not believe the size of the crowd
we got outside tonight.
They're all here for you.
I don't think I've ever felt so loved.
Well, I'm glad to see you still got your sense of humor, Doc.
I was afraid we'd beaten it out of you when we tracked you down the other night.
It's a show these simpletons are waiting for.
You can remind them, I don't hang for another three days.
: I don't think they intend to wait that long.
Truth be told, when I think about what you did
to all those girls, I'm tempted
to let 'em in here.
Save us the cost
of building a gallows.
That you, Deputy? Yes, sir.
Prisoner's got a visitor.
Says she's his mother.
Oh, my poor boy.
What have they done to you?
Probably no more than I deserve, Mother.
Oh...
Sorry, Sheriff.
They come up behind me.
It's all right, Mother. I'm not afraid.
I'm finally going to be with Maura.
No, you're not.
You don't understand, do you?
You're never going to be with her, not after
the things you've done. You're wrong-- she'll forgive me.
Oh, it doesn't matter, Charles.
You're not going to where she is.
Then I'm not going.
Come on! Do you hear me, Mother? Do you understand?
: I will not die!
DEVALOS: Allison, we've already
mistakenly arrested this man once.
I don't think you understand how determined the forces
that are driving him are. These forces you keep talking about
are not something I control-- frankly, they're not even
something I necessarily believe in.
I know you think I have a very powerful job,
but influencing the behavior of the dead falls decidedly outside my purview.
The first time I heard the voice, I was 15.
I was at the movies with Torie Keeler.
It started rhapsodizing
about the shape and the size of her bosom.
I wasn't terribly concerned at first, because...
frankly, I'd given a fair amount of thought
to the shape and size of her bosom myself.
A week later...
it started whispering to me about how divine it would be
to see a drop of her menstrual blood
work its way down her pale, white thigh.
Since I'd never seen menstrual blood
and only had the vaguest understanding
of what it was or when it might appear,
I came to the rapid conclusion that I was mentally ill.
The second I was alone, I smoked
a copious amount of marijuana
and discovered the damndest thing.
I got very hungry, and I couldn't hear the voice anymore.
With age comes wisdom.
And I soon discovered that alcohol worked better than grass.
And by medicating myself with tiny amounts throughout the day,
I could pretty much eliminate the dissertations in my head
about... nipple transplants
and... how beautifully the skin of a woman in her mid-teens
cuts with a surgical-grade scalpel.
I've never told any of this to anyone.
It must be horrible.
It is what it is.
I'm not sure that I believe that I have some...
distant relative residing in my cerebellum.
I am inclined to think that...
whatever mental demons tormented my famous ancestor...
perhaps a minute amount of that affliction
may have been passed on to me.
I'm just trying to reassure you in my own crazy way that...
I think I got this problem under control.
ALLISON: There's something so sad
about it.
He's absolutely convinced he has to spend
his entire life slightly inebriated just to function.
I actually knew any number of friends in high school
who felt the exact same way. Not funny.
And they were really into high school girls, too.
Undressing them, not killing them. Ha, ha, ha.
Anything I can do to put a smile on your face?
Hmm, hmm...
Shh!
That smile didn't last long.
Shh. Do you hear that?
MAN: ...the body of an 18-year-old woman.
The gruesome discovery was made
early this morning around 4:00 a.m.
Police say the woman was stabbed repeatedly
in the chest and the abdomen.
Authorities are still withholding
the name of the teenaged victim. Ariel.
I know, I know I'm supposed to be in bed-- I'm sorry.
It's just...
I missed the 7:00 news 'cause I was on the phone,
and I remembered about the late one.
Honey, why are you upset? Why are you crying?
It's awful.
Some poor girl got killed in the park tonight.
She was just four years older than me.
Okay.
: ...just moments ago,
and our Action News cameras were there.
A man identified as Jack Walker
was found wandering not far from...
WALKER: I left my meeting with Ms. Dubois,
headed back to the store.
Cell phone started ringing-- it was Amanda.
She was distraught.
Her parents had found out about the car accident,
taken her keys...
forbidden her from driving.
She asked me to pick her up; I did.
We drove around forever.
Time was
going by.
I didn't realize I'd be out for so long.
I needed a drink.
She was too young
to take to a bar, so...
I stopped at a liquor store.
Got a bottle of whiskey.
Amanda got... all excited.
"Let's play a drinking game, let's play a drinking game."
I didn't want to play a drinking game.
I just wanted a drink.
We ended up parking... at the high school.
Pathetic, yeah.
She insisted we play this game,
uh, "I never."
She'd announce something, something she...
she'd never done, something she'd never tried.
Something sh-she'd never experienced.
And if I hadn't experienced it either,
then I wouldn't have to take a drink.
I mean...
walked this earth twice as long as her.
There's not a lot I haven't experienced.
Suffice to say...
I drank a prodigious amount of alcohol
in a fairly short space of time.
Next thing I can remember is
waking up in the car alone.
Uh...
I didn't see the blood...
at first, uh, in the car, on me.
I didn't see the knife.
Are you suggesting that you had a blackout?
I'm just telling you everything I remember.
My client has
a history of blackouts.
He's made no secret of that.
For the record, are you stating
that you had a blackout earlier this evening?
It's certainly happened in the past, but...
honestly, I never hurt anyone before.
Mr. Walker, on the off chance
that you remember a little bit more than you're letting on,
I'd like you to know that this office is inclined to believe
that you suffer from an acute psychological condition,
and one that perhaps
compelled you to do harm to Amanda Peyer.
If you were to make a full confession,
we would take that into full consideration.
You're quite sure I did this, aren't you?
Is there proof?
Jack, if they did, you'd be in a cell by now.
The crime scene is still fresh,
as are the warrants to search your home,
your business and your car.
The truth is,
we're still gathering enough physical evidence
to formally charge you, but I'm confident
we can do that in the 72 hours we have.
72 hours?
That's the amount of time they can hold you in a cell
without charging you.
I can't go without a drink for three days.
Sure you can.
An officer will be in shortly
to process you.
What are you doing up?
Watching you work, on the news.
He had me completely fooled.
That's okay.
It's not your fault.
You had two days with the guy.
And Walker had a lifetime.
JACK: I'm afraid I have, yeah.
I have gone into a lover's medicine cabinet
while she lay sleeping
in the other room, yes.
Yes.
It's uncanny.
It's uncanny how you know.
Now ask him the other one.
Ask him.
Come on!
You won again.
Come on.
Okay.
I never...
wondered what it would be like to slice a girl open.
Touch her blood with my fingertips.
Taste it...
with my tongue.
I do believe you're the winner again.
Well done.
And now the moment has come for me to thank you for everything.
You've really been sensational.
Colliding with the car of a perfect stranger.
Pretending to fall in love with him.
Calling him incessantly.
You're easily the most suggestible person
that I've ever encountered.
If only you had the intelligence
necessary to become a physician,
I would happily spend the next ten or 15 years
living inside your brain,
telling you what to do.
But alas...
you have no interest in the medical arts,
and I have no interest in influencing the thinking
of a walking Kewpie doll.
So I'm afraid this is... good-bye.
Did you bring the knife?
All right, then.
Why don't we begin by you
stabbing yourself in the stomach?
You don't mind if I watch, do you?
I really quite enjoy this kind of thing.
He didn't do it-- she did.
Mr. Walker, I apologize you've been detained
the past three days, but I do have some good news.
Our crime scene unit,
at the insistence of Mrs. Dubois here,
has re-examined all the evidence in this case
and is saying unequivocally,
that Amanda's wounds were self-inflicted.
Again... I apologize.
My God. Uh...
No apology is necessary.
Under the circumstances, I just...
Go home.
Get some rest.
My office will be speaking with your attorney.
There may still be some civil issues
that Amanda's parents want to litigate.
having to do with offering alcohol to a minor,
but I do believe for the most part,
you're out of the woods.
I have no idea
what you did, but thank you.
How are you feeling?
Other than being in shock, uh...
good.
First two days without alcohol were difficult.
Today...
Who knows?
I might actually make a habit of this...
not-drinking thing.
Can I talk to you?
What is it? I'm busy.
What are you doing?
I'm reading the news.
But I don't understand.
Why would you read the news while you could watch it on TV?
Got it! Hello?
Mrs. Dubois?
Jack, is that you?
Are you drinking?
No. God knows I want to.
Where are you?
I'm at the shop.
I keep thinking I should go out.
I kinda want to be around some young people. Girls.
Okay. Listen to me.
Stay right where you are.
Don't go anywhere.
I'll be there as quick as I can.
Jack!
Jack, are you here?
Jack! Are you here?
Lovely to see you.
I do so appreciate the way
you ran right over here when I called.
The good doctor, I presume.
Well, maybe not so good.
Maybe not really a doctor either.
So how long has it been you and not him?
In the jail?
In the interrogation room with the lawyer?
What about the night Amanda died?
Oh, please. I'm good, but not that good.
I've really only just begun my residency
inside young Jack's skin.
What a superb fit.
Like a suit that's been custom-made for me by God.
I'll always be grateful for your help.
My help?
Oh, my, yes.
I couldn't have done it without you.
I've been whispering in that boy's ear for 20 years,
trying to pierce that self-imposed haze of alcohol.
I tried tempting him with that girl,
but apparently he's managed to rot his libido
as well as his liver.
And then, suddenly,
there you were...
screaming
for the police in that supermarket parking lot,
and I thought, "Wait a second.
"Your good friend Allison-- she's just presented you
with a much better idea."
Me?
Well, thanks
to that scene you made my drunken, impotent relative
now had the attention of the local authorities.
If something unfortunate were to happen to young Amanda,
well, he'd be the first person they'd lock up.
And a man can get awfully thirsty
in a jail cell, awfully thirsty.
And awfully clear-headed.
I knew for the first time in nearly 20 years,
he'd finally hear me.
And here we are.
You did all of that so you could finally be in the skin
of someone who looked exactly like you did?
when you ravaged teenage girls?
Allison.
I did all that so I could be inside the skin
of someone who looked like me...
when I ravaged you.
I know what you're thinking.
Where's the scalpel?
Where's the surgical saw?
Help!
One of my great disappointments as I spend time
with my progeny
is their compete and utter
lack of interest
in the medical arts.
Oh, well!
What's a great-great grandfather
to do?
Adapt, I say.
And so, in a one-time-only performance,
tonight's slaying will be performed bare-handed.
I know you're flattered, Allison.
Try not to get too choked up.
If all you wanted to do was kill me,
why did you send me all of those dreams?
You didn't.
Did you?
She did.
To stop you.
You know nothing of Maura.
I do!
She's here!
She never stopped watching you.
She sees you even now.
What you're doing to me.
What you're doing to her great-great grandson.
If you kill me, Jack is going to spend
the rest of his life in prison.
and do you honestly think she loves him any less
than the child she died for?
JACK: Oh, my God.
What am I doing here?
CATHERINE: What are ghosts really?
They're energy, the energy we leave behind.
And energy is power.
Who knows what might happen when a spirit as powerful
as Charles Walker's finally decides to cross over?
Or what would happen if the other side
just decided to take him?
Oh, I'd like to believe that's what I saw.
That he's finally gone for good.
I guess we're just gonna have to wait and see.
I guess we'll just have to wait and see.
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