Without a Trace

Alex.

Alex.

Come on, honey, wake up. I wanna ask you something.

Why is there a dog on your bed?

He thinks he's my brother.

Come on, Bucket. Off the bed. Come on.

Honey, come on.

Mom?

Mom.

Mom, remember, we have to get a present for Allison today.

- Tomorrow's her birthday. - Honey, I can't hear you!

We have to get a present for Allison today.

Tomorrow's her birthday. Do you think we could get her Merlin?

Oh, it's too expensive.

Sam has one, and he says it's almost as good as Merlin.

Honey, can we talk about this later? I'm in the shower.

Oh.

Almost.

- Good morning, Bucket. - Hi, Lucy.

Bucket, come.

Come on.

Do I have to have an egg?

- Yup. - Justine never has to.

Nice try.

Come on.

Can I have cheerios tomorrow?

If I remember to buy them, you can have cheerios.

Come on, eat.

So what do you think Allison would like for her birthday?

What do you think? A book?

How about Simon?

I said no.

You said no Merlin.

No, I said no any of them.

Come on, what would she like?

I think she'd like a machine gun.

I think so.

Can invite my whole class to my birthday picnic?

You've got two whole months to decide.

I don't see why not, though.

Can Bucket come?

If we keep him on a leash, yeah, he can come.

Can daddy come?

Of course he can come.

Might have to put him on a leash too, knowing your father, but...

We wouldn't have a birthday picnic without daddy, would we?

No. May I be excused?

When you finish your breakfast.

Damn it, Alex!

"Eat your breakfast" means you eat your breakfast.

You don't feed the dog at the table. It teaches him to beg.

Sometimes I could just bop you.

Come on, let's go. Time to go.

Sorry.

You're such a good boy.

Give me a kiss.

Yeah.

Bye-bye, Bucket.

So how come I don't see Brian anymore?

He's the one who's always getting into fights and things,

and I'm getting blamed for it.

I didn't know that.

Are you still friends with John?

- Yeah. He just loves girls. - Here, let me have a look at this.

Yeah.

Strawberry ox.

Okay, honey. Bye-bye.

Bye-bye.

Hey, mom.

I really like it a lot when the firemen see you

- and they wave back at you. - Yeah, so do I. It's neat.

- Bye, honey. - Bye.

Robert frost has said that writing poetry

without rhyme or scan was like playing tennis without a net.

Now none of his narrative poems either rhyme or scan,

but "consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds."

That's pope, I think.

I wish you could've heard frost.

He was a showman. I remember the first time I saw him.

He came out in front of a lecture hall not unlike this one.

He was a very neat little figure

with a great deal of sort of fresh white linen,

a shock of white hair, very new england,

little bow tie.

And he came up to the lectern, and he said...

very solemnly he said,

"I would like to begin with an invocation."

So we all lowered our heads,

and he said,

"forgive, o lord,

our little jokes on thee,

and I will forgive your great big one on me."

That's what we did. We laughed.

And do you know what he did?

He looked back at us, and he said,

"why are you laughing?"

You're 20 years old.

You can't possibly know what that means.

All right, for Monday please,

"the witch of coos," "death of the hired man."

Term papers are due march 26th, which is next Friday.

Thank you, and have a good weekend.

Hello. Hello.

Hello. Did you think I was Alex

hello. You're a nice dog.

No, no, get down. Get down. Go on.

- Hello. - Hello, Jocelyn. It's Susan.

Oh, hi, honey. God, I'm glad you called.

I have had...

oh, she's home, all right,

at least until I can find her a good military school.

I tell you, this is one of those days

I wish George would fight me for custody.

- Would you ask her did Alex say anything to her

about staying after school or going home with somebody?

You mean Alex isn't home yet?

Oh, okay. Hold on a second. I'll ask her.

Justine says Alex wasn't in school at all today.

Susan?

Susan, hang up the phone and call the police.

I'll be right over.

- He was absent. I waited and waited for him.

- No, I can't find him. - He has my red pencil.

Honey, why don't you take Bucket and go upstairs and play, okay?

- No, I'm Mrs. Selky. Please come in.

- I'm officer baker. This is officer ward. - Hello. Hello.

Thank you for coming. This is my neighbor, Mrs. Norris.

- Hi. - Ma'am.

Duty officer is on his way.

I just want to make sure I have his description right

before we send it out on the radio.

Caucasian, male, six years old,

- he's seven. He'll be seven in two months.

Height, about three

- I don't really know. - He's about justine's height.

Yes, I suppose so.

I have a little boy at home just about your age.

I bet you weigh... what, 55 lbs?

- Yes. - Alex is a little heavier.

- Mrs. Selky, this is detective menetti... - Hello.

- ...and detective sachs. - Boy's been missing about eight hours?

- Do you remember what he had on?

He had brown corduroys. He had on a dark blue jacket,

pale blue scarf and blue running shoes.

Mrs. Selky, has there been anything bothering Alex lately?

Any quarrels or spankings or anything like that?

- No, nothing. - Has he ever threatened to run away before?

No.

You know, sometimes a little slap can upset a child.

Oh, no, we don't hit him.

His father doesn't live here. We're separated.

Mrs. Selky, do you mind if we take a look around the apartment?

- No, please go ahead. - Why don't you take a look upstairs

in the boy's room, okay?

How long have you been separated, Mrs. Selky?

Mrs. Selky?

Three months.

And where is Mr. Selky living now?

In the village.

- I guess this is the kid's room. - Look in the closet.

He lives with a woman who teaches in his department at n.Y.U.

- Can you tell us her name, please?

Blum. Naomi blum.

- With a u. - B-l-u-m.

And what is the address, please?

355 grove street.

Somebody must've seen him.

He was only a block from school.

I'm gonna call Betty Berlin.-...

Anybody live in the building besides you and the boy?

Do you normally meet the boy on the way to school?

Yes, we have a tenant on the ground floor.

We usually wait for him at the corner.

Do most of the children in the class

some. Not all, but some.

Do you think you can give me a list of all the parents who usually see the kid?

Yes, but why don't you let me call them on the phone first?

Yeah, okay.

In fact, do you live nearby?

- Yes. - Could you make those phone calls

from your own phone? We'd like to keep this line free.

Oh, of course. I see. Excuse me.

Honey, I'm gonna take justine home,

call everybody in the class, and then I'll talk to you later.

- Okay. - Okay.

- Come on. - Mrs. Selky, is this a good picture of Alex?

Is this a recent picture?

Christmas.

Oh, he's changed.

Could we see your tenant's apartment now, Mrs. Selky?

Do you think that's necessary?

Yes, I... I do.

I'll get the key.

Good-looking boy.

Yes, I understand. It's just that the people

in the newspaper store know Alex. They see him every day.

The people in the pizza store know him.

We're taking his picture into all the stores, Mrs. Selky.

Wouldn't it help if I talked to them myself?

No, we need you near the phone.