Previously on Medium...
Joe can't know what I'm about to tell you.
I'm pretty sick, Allison.
My odds are 60%.
I was having a dream about you.
We were,
we were in your living room in Grosse Pointe.
It was, uh, it was Ariel, Bridgette, Marie.
And-And Bridgette had just
graduated from college.
You did a good thing.
Even though I lied.
Ah, don't worry about it.
Morning, Bob.
Morning, Tom.
Ready to get to work?
You betcha.
Let's go for day number 24,838.
MAN: Cool offices!
What are you guys working on in here?
Look, I don't know who let you in,
but it's not cool for you to be here.
Now, I'm gonna let you off with a warning,
but the next time I look up, you best be gone.
Nice light.
How often you guys have to change the bulbs in here?
What is the matter with you two?
Did you not hear my friend?
Hit the road.
So what are you guys getting all upset about?
We're just new to the neighborhood,
wanted to say "hey."
New to the neighborhood?
This isn't your neighborhood.
You're not even supposed to be here.
Why not?
This is bad.
We should call Central.
On it.
You're calling Central?
Awesome!
Hey, you think they'd call out and get us some pizzas?
Oh, my God.
They're multiplying really fast.
Pizza?
Anybody interested in some pineapple on top?
It's just ringing and ringing.
Nobody's picking up.
Can I see a show of hands?
How many for pineapple?
Get out.
Get out!
You're not supposed to be here!
None of you are supposed to be here!
Get out!
None of you are supposed to be here!
Leave us alone, all of you!
Get out!
MAN: I'm truly sorry, Marjorie.
We had no idea things had gotten this bad this quickly.
I know this isn't the diagnosis you were hoping for,
the diagnosis you expected.
If you have any questions or if you just need time
to think about everything you've been told...
No.
I'm fine.
Really.
Are you sure?
Absolutely.
Mom?
It's not even 7:00 here.
You all right?
Hold on, hold on.
Captioning sponsored by CBS
You know what she's telling him, don't you?
She's telling him not to worry.
She's saying it's no big deal, just a few tests.
"Don't be concerned if you call the house and you can't get me."
But you and I know the truth, don't we?
So when Joe gets off the phone,
you tell him that he needs to get out there.
Today.
Why?
What do you know?
I know what you know.
I know that she's sick, I know it's not good.
But beyond that, I... I can't see too much.
I'm too close to her.
You know how that stuff works.
Today... Ally.
Tell him.
My mom's in the hospital.
It's no big deal.
It's just some tests.
She was afraid I might call the house and not get her
and didn't want me to be alarmed, so...
I want you to pack a bag.
I want you to go out there.
What are you talking about?
Do you know something?
I don't know anything.
I just know you need to pack a bag.
You need to get on a plane.
BRIDGETTE: I don't get it.
If Grandma's not really sick, then why is Daddy going there?
Well, Daddy's just worried about her.
And sometimes when people are in the hospital,
it's good to have somebody around.
Okay, I'm on a flight in two and a half hours.
Don't even ask what the ticket cost.
When will you be back?
I don't know, honey.
Maybe tomorrow.
Maybe the next day; I can't be sure.
That's what I'm hoping, anyway.
Will you give Grandma a kiss for me?
Yes.
Oh.
Me, too.
Mm.
Me, too. Mm.
Hey.
Call me when you land.
Okay.
Thanks for coming.
We got ourselves a head-scratcher here.
How you doing? You okay?
Yeah. No.
Joe's mom is not well.
He's taking off for Michigan probably right about now.
Anything I can do?
No, no, thanks.
So what do we have here?
Fell on the tracks just as the train
was pulling into the station.
May have jumped, may have been pushed.
We just don't know.
Pushed?
Apparently, some homeless guy was, uh, begging for change
on the platform this morning.
Couple people reported that he was standing near this fellow.
For the moment, he seems to have disappeared.
Security cameras didn't catch much of him either.
Of course, everyone's all over the place on, uh,
how tall the guy is, color of his hair, stocky, slight.
The only thing everyone can agree on
is that apparently the guy stunk to holy hell.
Body odor, urine.
Guess he had it all going on.
But since we can't
put an APB out on a stench
and since we don't even know who the guy is...
What do you mean? We know where he works
and we know that his name's Adam.
What do you mean? H-How do we know
where he works and that his name's Adam?
Well, he's wearing...
It was just there.
When I was looking a second ago, it said, "Burger Palace.
Hello, my name is Adam."
Okay.
But, uh, he's wearing a nice suit.
Doesn't look like the kind of thing a guy who works, uh,
Burger Palace flipping burgers would wear.
I don't know what to tell you, I just know what I saw.
Maybe he's a district manager, or maybe he owns the franchise.
Okay, I'll, uh, I'll check it out.
MAN: Michael Crawford, 340. Michael Crawford...
Mom?
Hello?
WOMAN: Paging Dr. Stateman. Dr. Stateman, please.
I told you not to come.
MAN: Michael Crawford, please call 340.
Well, what are you looking at me like that for?
Is it the IV?
'Cause I'll tell you, it's all the rage around here.
I just took a lap to show mine off.
Mom.
It's not that serious, sweetheart.
Come give your mother a hug.
You said you were here for headaches.
And I am.
I get headaches, I-I'm feeling a bit weak...
and my appetite seems to be gone.
Although I'm sure that's all about the headaches.
What do the doctors say?
Oh, the doctors say they're going to run tests.
And they have, and they are.
I like your haircut.
It's very smart.
Oh, now, while...
while I'm thinking about it, um... um...
The keys to my house.
Hmm?
You're gonna have to take a taxi there,
but then you can use my car.
What?
Why are you looking at me like that?
Sorry, I'm worried about you.
You don't look well.
Well, don't be.
I'm sure this is nothing.
I'm sure it'll pass.
Now, you go back to the house,
get settled, call your wife
and tell her you arrived safe and sound.
Mom, I came here to be with you.
Well, that's very nice, sweetheart.
I appreciate that, I do.
But... right now, I could really use a little nap.
So go to the house, unpack.
Come back for dinner.
I'll share my Jell-O with you.
It's okay, Joe.
Listen to your mother.
Uh, excuse me.
Are you Dr. Chapman?
My name is Joe Dubois.
You're treating my mother, Marjorie.
Nice to meet you.
Lovely woman, your mother.
Uh, so-so she said that you were running some tests.
I was wondering when we might actually see the results.
Tests?
For her headaches.
She said that you were trying to determine the cause.
Is there something wrong?
I'm sorry, it's just...
I'm afraid your mother is not
being entirely forthcoming with you.
The truth is, we ran tests on her
the day she checked herself in here.
We diagnosed her condition within a matter of hours.
She has an astrocytoma in her frontal lobe.
Brain cancer.
As I'm sure you've noticed,
your mother's attitude is quite remarkable.
She doesn't want anybody to worry about her.
Not even her doctor.
Okay.
So... what's the treatment?
Are we looking at surgery?
I'm afraid we're past that, Mr. DuBois.
The cancer's too far along.
It's well beyond the point where a craniotomy would help.
I'm sorry, I don't understand.
Are-are you saying it's incurable?
Is my mom gonna die?
There's really no such thing as an incurable cancer.
People do recover from stage four illnesses.
It's just... statistically?
Those kinds of recoveries, in a patient your mother's age,
they're... well, we call them outliers. That means...
It means it hardly ever happens, yeah.
I know what an outlier is.
I'm sorry, Mr. DuBois.
I didn't realize nobody'd explained the situation to you.
There's some literature you should read. Studies.
I'll make sure our staff gets them to you.
You can have a look at the statistics for yourself.
SCANLON: The guy's name's Adam. You were right about that.
Adam Tallmadge.
Doesn't work at the Burger Palace, though;
he's a CPA with Denison Consulting,
or he was, until his unfortunate run-in
with the 7:20 express train this morning.
Apparently, he just got passed over
for a big promotion at work.
His boss said he didn't take it too well.
You don't think he jumped in front of that train, do you?
Well, I think it's a possibility.
He'd been sending all kinds of strange emails to his colleagues
in the middle of the night.
But I also think, unless this homeless guy turns up,
and starts to explain things,
we may never know what really happened.
Oh, Lee, I gotta take this. It's Joe.
Yeah, no problem. I just thought you'd want to know.
Uh, listen, I hope everything's okay with your mother-in-law.
Hey, Joe. Is everything all right?
Uh, I don't know, it's...
It's bad, I guess, it's really bad.
Sweetie, hold on a second.
I'm going to try to find someplace private.
Hey, what's going on?
She has brain cancer.
My mom has brain cancer.
Oh, Joe. I'm so sorry.
It's not even operable.
Oh, my God.
They're giving her radiation.
They're trying to get her strong enough so she can... have chemo.
And then if she survives the chemo, then...
according to the literature they gave me, she's got maybe...
a year, 18 months, tops.
How is she handling it? How's her state of mind?
She's in total denial. She's telling me not to worry,
that everything's going to be okay.
Maybe that's good. Maybe that's not a bad thing.
Maybe-maybe she knows something about herself,
maybe she can sense that she's going to pull through this.
Honey, it's inoperable.
Honey, is there anything that you need us to do?
I mean, maybe I should just...
pack the girls up, we should fly out there tomorrow.
I don't know.
No, I mean...
Maybe next week, when... they start the chemo.
I'm going to go back in the room now, okay?
Okay.
Hey, I love you.
I love you, too.
Excuse me, sir.
WOMAN: Yeah, Marcie, it's me.
Tell Trevor I'm going to be late
for the 9:00 staff meeting, okay?
I don't know how late.
It depends on when the train gets here.
God bless your heart, ma'am.
WOMAN: Yeah, Marcie, it's me. Tell Trevor I'm going to be late
for the 9:00 staff meeting, okay?
I don't know how late. Depends on when the train gets here.
Hey. Remember, don't be overanxious.
If you see our friend, tell me where he is.
We don't want to pick him up unless and until
he makes a move on that woman, so we can arrest him.
OFFICER: Everybody copies that.
We're just waiting on your signal.
Hey. Sorry I'm late.
It's all right, you haven't missed anything.
What's with the entourage?
Joe's out of town.
I couldn't find anyone to take them to school.
Okay, remember what I told you:
Bridgette, when you hear the train come into the station,
you're going to hold Marie's hand.
You guys'll just turn around and...
stare at that poster, and...
until I tell you to turn back around, okay?
Why? What is it you think we'll see
that we haven't seen already?
Mom. We have cable.
Yeah.
Girls, please just do what I ask.
Hey, hey. That's our lady.
ALLISON: Have you seen the man yet?
Ain't seen him, ain't smelled him.
Okay, girls. Hold hands, turn around.
Can somebody get me an update, please?
We're on the woman. No sign of our guy.
Hey, I can't see anything, guys. What's going on?
OFFICER: Nobody made a move on her. She, uh...
she just got on the train.
Looks like she got a pretty good seat, too.
Still no homeless guy, either.
Can we turn around now?
Yeah. Yeah, you can turn around.
I don't understand.
It was supposed to be today, I'm sure of it.
WOMAN: Paging Dr. Bender.
Yep.
You must be Joe.
I'm an attorney, Joe.
Mostly corporate work,
but I did handle your parents' affairs for them.
Anyway, I need you to help me with something.
What's that?
Your mother's will.
Or, more accurately, the lack of one.
You're saying she has no will? Oh, no, no, no.
She has a will. It's something I drew up for her
right after your parents divorced,
but it hasn't been amended in years.
Because of that, if something were to happen,
there'd be a substantial portion of her estate unaccounted for.
And those assets could stay locked up
in estate court for years.
Okay. So she'll amend her will.
Well, that's the thing. She won't.
She won't even entertain it as a topic of discussion.
She just keeps insisting that she's gonna be fine,
she'll take care of it when she's feeling better.
My mother seems to be having trouble absorbing her diagnosis.
Uh, okay, no, it's fine.
I-I-I'll talk to her.
I'll get her to attend to this.
Hey, Mom.
How are you feeling?
I'm a little bit tired, mm-hmm.
Will you drink something for me?
Hmm. For you?
Mm-hmm.
There you go.
How beautiful.
You didn't have to do that.
Oh, they're not from me. Sam Diller
came by while you were asleep.
Oh.
Hey, Mom? He says he's been trying
to talk to you about your will.
He certainly has.
It seems to be all that he wants to talk about.
Well, it's important.
I know you think you're going to get better,
and I do, too.
Nevertheless, the prudent thing to do...
Don't lecture me about prudence.
I've read the same studies that you have,
and I know all the statistics.
Well, then? Well, then, it might be the prudent thing to do,
but I don't think it's necessary.
Mom, you can't be sure.
Of course I can. How?
Because I have been given assurance by a higher authority.
You remember three years ago, when I had my first scare?
I came to see you while I was waiting for the test results,
and I talked to your wife.
I asked her if she could tell me anything about my future.
And she had a dream, Joe.
She dreamt that I was at Bridgette's graduation,
and that I was celebrating with all of you, the whole family.
And that's years from now.
Mom...
So, I don't really need to worry
about a new will right now, do I?
Hello?
Joe: hi.
Joe, hey. I-I just tried to call you.
It went right to voicemail. Is everything okay?
I don't know. My head is spinning.
Plus, I'm staring at a sign that's telling me
I'm compromising people's health
by talking on a cell phone in a hospital,
but I don't care.
Joe?
My mother said that you told her that she was going to live,
at least long enough to see
Bridgette graduate from high school.
Well, she was sick.
You remember.
She was having tests done, and she was worried and...
She kept begging me to dream about her.
And I just couldn't get her to understand
that it doesn't work that way.
So you lied?
I was trying to give her hope.
Joe...?
She thinks she's going to beat this.
You get that, right?
She thinks she's gonna come back from stage four brain cancer
because of what you said.
I mean, she doesn't even have a proper will.
Okay, I will talk to her.
I will make her understand.
No, I'll make her understand.
I'm sorry. I love you.
Honey, I love you.
How are the girls?
The girls are fine.
Okay. I should go.
Joe, I'm so sorry.
I know.
Everybody copies that.
We're just waiting on your signal.
DEVALOS: I'm sorry, Allison,
you say that this man disguises himself as a vagrant?
Look, I'm saying he spotted the stakeout we set up for him.
He went back to the parking lot.
He took off his, what, costume?
He had on nice clothes.
He had a nice haircut.
His car is cleaner than mine.
But Allison, everybody who has had any kind of contact with this fella
says not only does he look the way he does,
but he also reeks of urine.
Okay, what better way to make sure
no one remembers what you look like
than to disguise yourself as one of the kinds of people
that people don't notice?
The kind of person that people just turn away from.
The kind of person that no one can bear being around.
I know it sounds crazy, but this is our suspect.
This is our man.
Allison, we don't even know if there is a suspect.
For all we know, this guy Adam Tallmadge
jumped in front of the train on purpose.
I'm telling you he was murdered.
He was killed by the same man
who planned on murdering that woman
at the train station the same way.
You know what, let's distribute this sketch.
Say this man is wanted for questioning
in relation to Adam Tallmadge's death.
If he does exist, maybe someone will turn him in.
It's the best I can do, Allison.
Good.
Good morning.
Good afternoon.
Wow. That's some serious sleeping.
Hmm...
I had no idea.
The nurses said you had a rough night,
so they gave you a little something to help you rest.
Can I order you some food?
No, no.
Just-- let's sit for awhile.
Listen, Mom, I called Sam Diller.
He's coming by in a little while
to talk to you about your will.
Why? I told you I'd take care of that when I got home.
Mom, I'm just worried that you're never going to get home.
Why would you say something like that to me?
I told you...
I know what you told me.
Listen, the things that Allison said--
the dreams that she said that she had--
she made them all up.
She knew you were scared,
so she told you these things to make you feel better.
Go get me my makeup bag.
Your makeup?
If Sam's coming over, I want to put on some makeup.
Go and get my makeup bag.
Allison, it seems I may owe you an apology.
It appears likely that the death of Adam Tallmadge
was a murder, after all.
And we think we've located a suspect.
You're kidding.
I'm about to go down and take a look at him now.
Would you care to join me?
He died of congestive heart failure sometime last night.
A beat cop found his body in the Eighth Street alley.
I know you said he was only pretending to be homeless,
but if he was, he was doing a hell of a job.
Cop found his body beside a shopping cart
full of the guy's stuff.
It sure as hell looked like he was living out of there.
We don't have an I.D. yet,
but hopefully it's only a matter of time.
That's not him.
That's not the man who killed Adam Tallmadge.
I beg to differ.
He was wearing the exact same coat you described.
The same one three other witnesses saw
the morning Tallmadge died.
And we found Tallmadge's watch inside his shopping cart.
What else do you need, Allison?
This man obviously wasn't wearing
any kind of disguise.
But the evidence does indicate
that he was involved in Adam Tallmadge's death.
Is it possible that you somehow misinterpreted what you saw?
I don't know, maybe.
I think his name was Jerry.
Excuse me?
Jerry. Why do you say that?
Well, he's got a name tag.
Name tag?
It was just right here.
It said "Burger Palace."
It was the same kind of name tag that Adam Tallmadge had.
It said his name was Jerry.
Jerry, huh, from the Burger Palace?
All right, I'll check it out.
Although it doesn't look like Jerry here's
held down a job for quite some time.
Hello.
JOE: Hey, it's me.
Oh, hey, Joe.
I saw your mom's name come up on the caller I.D., and...
and I panicked.
Yeah, I'm calling you from her house.
It's so weird being here by myself,
with everything that's going on.
How is she doing?
She's the same.
Did you guys get a chance to talk?
We sure did.
So how did it go?
Well, she's a rock.
She absorbed it, and then she put on makeup
so she could meet her lawyer and revise her will.
I'm so sorry.
I-I still feel terrible about this.
She really wants to see the girls, Al.
She wants to see all of you.
I think it's time.
Okay.
I'm going to get off the phone, get on the computer
and I'll book us a flight for first thing in the morning.
I think that would make her happy.
Please tell her again how sorry I am.
And I really look forward to seeing her.
Of course I will.
I really miss you.
I miss you.
Hopefully I'll see you tomorrow.
Yeah. Honey, of course you're going to see us tomorrow.
I love you.
I'm sorry, Jerry. I didn't mean to scare you.
Oh, this damn cough.
It's me, it's David Ostrowski.
We worked together years ago-- Burger Palace.
The Burger Palace-- I remember.
That's right, summer of '88.
You worked the fry-o-later,
Adam Tallmadge worked the grill.
I handled the register.
You came to see me a couple weeks ago.
You... bought my jacket from me.
That's good, Jerry. Yes, I did buy your jacket.
And now I'm here to give it back.
No.
Uh-uh. No!
A deal's a deal.
Plus, I already spent the money you gave me.
I don't want the money back, Jerry.
I just want to give the jacket back.
I can't use it anymore.
Use it?
Yeah.
I had some stuff to take care of,
and I'm finished now, and so I'm giving it back.
Here.
Let me help you put it on.
It's okay.
Okay, it's okay. It's okay.
: David...
MARJORIE: Allison?
Marjorie.
Hello?
JOE: Hey.
I'm sorry to call so late,
but I just heard from the hospital.
Mom's gone.
DEVALOS: Mr. Ostrowski, good morning.
Manuel Devalos. Thank you for coming on such short notice.
That's a nasty cough, sir. You feeling all right?
It's always like that.
It's a chronic thing.
I'm a little confused.
Are you sure you have the right Ostrowski?
I can't imagine what you folks could want with me.
We just have a few questions.
Shouldn't take long. Please.
OSTROWSKI: No. I'm sorry.
He doesn't look familiar to me.
His name is Adam Tallmadge.
The two of you worked together years ago
at a branch of the Burger Palace in Chandler.
I believe our research indicated
it was the summer of 1988?
Wow. Okay.
That was a long time ago.
DEVALOS: Mr. Tallmadge was killed recently.
Someone pushed him in front of a commuter train a few days ago.
Seriously?
I heard about that,
but I had no idea that I knew the person.
Look, I don't know how I can help you guys.
I honestly don't remember him.
There were a lot of us who worked
at the Burger Palace that summer.
There were 14, actually. We checked.
That's Jerry Thornton.
He's another coworker.
Ostrowski: okay.
If you say so.
But he obviously didn't look like that 20 years ago.
Mr. Thornton's been homeless
for the better part of a decade.
We found him dead the other night.
Initially, it looked like a simple case of heart failure.
We did a routine tox screen, and nothing unusual came up.
Okay.
DEVALOS: Then I received a tip
suggesting we look a little closer.
We ran some additional tests.
Turns out your old friend died from an insulin overdose.
If you give someone too much of the stuff,
it causes a hypoglycemic reaction.
Cause of death appears to be heart failure...
unless you know what to look for.
Okay.
Uh, I... I'll take your word for it.
But why are you telling me this?
Indulge us for another moment.
SCANLON: That's Ingrid Martinez.
She worked with you, too.
We think that someone was planning to push her
in front of a train earlier this week.
It didn't happen because we placed
extra law enforcement at the station.
Okay.
We believe all three of these events
are connected, Mr. Ostrowski.
I'm sorry. Connected how?
Because they all had the same summer job back in '88?
I know-- sounds crazy.
But did you know that during the summer of 1988,
the insulation in the Burger Palace kitchen
where you worked contained asbestos?
I think you must.
After all, you filed a suit against Burger Palace
alleging that the asbestos in the piping
caused that cough of yours.
Yes, that's true. I did file a suit.
Is something wrong with that?
No, not at all.
And from what I understand, it's quite a compelling case.
So compelling, as a matter of fact,
that the Burger Palace didn't want to take it to court.
Which is why they offered to settle.
They realized that if they did settle with you,
they would face lawsuits from everybody
who worked at that franchise in 1988.
DEVALOS: Which is why they offered you a group settlement.
One lump sum, to be divided among all the workers
who were exposed to that asbestos.
Now, to hear their lawyers tell it,
they gave you a choice.
Accept the group route or...
they would use their considerable resources
to tie your suit up in court for years.
Well, they're a big company.
And yes, they're playing hardball. So?
So, you knew that the fewer people around
to claim their piece of the settlement,
the larger your share would be.
DEVALOS: Our guess is that
every member of the group that was eliminated
is worth about an extra million to you.
You can't prove any of that.
DEVALOS: I urge you to take a look at the stain
on the right elbow of that jacket.
We believe it's mucus.
The right elbow-- that's where you tend
to cover your mouth when you're hacking up phlegm
from your asbestosis, isn't it?
If we were to test your DNA against the DNA
on that portion of the jacket,
we'd find a match, wouldn't we?
Hey. ALLISON: Hey.
Oh. Oh, honey.
I'm sorry I couldn't pick you up.
Honey, how can I help you?
Did you get any
sleep last night?
You mean, like, in a bed, where you close your eyes?
Sweetie, you need to get some rest.
I would that I could, but I got a eulogy to write.
You know what I regret?
I regret that I didn't let you make that call.
I regret that the two of you didn't get to talk.
She loved you, Allison.
She loved that I was married to you.
And I think she understood about the lie.
I do.
I even kind of think she was grateful for it.
Come on.
You get some rest.
It was such a long trip.
Okay.
I'm going to be in the living room for a little bit,
trying to sum up a life.
Oh. Did you just get back?
Who are you talking to?
MARJORIE: He's writing a beautiful eulogy.
He's really a pretty terrific son.
He's a pretty terrific husband, too.
God, I was worried about you.
Last night, when you came to see me,
you came and went so quickly.
I was worried that you were angry.
No. Just confused.
I didn't really understand what had just happened to me.
I felt wonderful and wonderfully sad
all at the same time.
It's funny-- nothing in life prepares you for death.
I feel terrible about what I did--
deceiving you like that, giving you false hope.
It's okay. I understood.
But how could you?
I just did.
I knew from the first day you told me.
Deep down, I thought... this is a lie.
This is a beautiful, generous lie.
But I liked it, so I lived it.
As long as I could, anyway.
It seemed so much nicer than the truth.
Take care of my boy and my granddaughters.
I've peeked, and there's some darkness ahead.
What do you mean?
What kind of darkness?
I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that.
It's going to be a wonderful life.
Well, wait.
Tell me about the darkness. JOE: Allison.
Who you talking to?
Nothing. No one.
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