Gone Baby Gone

I always believed it was the things you don't choose

that makes you who you are.

Your city.

Your neighborhood.

Your family.

People here take pride in these things.

Like it was something they'd accomplished.

The bodies around their souls.

The cities wrapped around those.

I lived on this block my whole life.

Most of these people have.

When your job is to find people who are missing,

it helps to know where they started.

I find the people who started in the cracks,

and then fell through.

This city can be hard.

When I was young, I asked my priest how you could get to heaven

and still protect yourself from all the evil in the world.

He told me what God said to his children.

"You are sheep among wolves,

"be wise as serpents,

"yet innocent as doves."

You live just across the street. Is that right, ma'am?

That one on the corner, that's our house.

You know, to get Annette in high school, you have...

- I heard they had an opening. - Yeah, me, too.

The thing is, she always had a smile on her face.

That was her. She was always smiling.

I mean, who would take my little girl?

She never hurt anybody, never caused...

Whoever you are, if you have her,

you just let her go.

Now, we won't charge you,

but if you're out there, just let her come home.

All right? Let her come home.

I mean, who would take my little girl?

- You fucking cops. - She never caused no trouble,

she never got in any fights, she's a sweetheart.

- This is just unbelievable. - She was a good kid.

The whole force standing outside the house,

guarding the sidewalk with their arms crossed.

I mean, are the kidnappers coming back?

Amanda McCready was taken from her home

between 8: 00 and 8: 30 Wednesday night.

She's four years old, has blond hair and green eyes...

- Hey. - Hey.

...weighs 35 pounds and is 40 inches tall.

- You know I love you, right? - Yeah. I know.

A beleaguered police force and a weary citizenry

have been left with so little to cling to.

A blanket, a back door, and a doll named Mirabelle.

The neighborhood's really coming together.

We're gonna have a rally.

Everyone's gonna have a vigil. We're gonna have a vigil tonight.

You know, the neighborhood's all alert,

everybody's alert of what's going on and everything that...

The surroundings. We got flyers up, posters up, we have all that stuff up.

So everybody's well aware and everybody's looking for Amanda.

In related news, the Boston police captain

responsible for preventing crimes against children

spoke a few words a moment ago,

words of comfort.

I know the pain of losing a daughter. We will not fail.

We will pursue every avenue.

Do you know the mother?

Captain Jack Doyle on details of the missing Dorchester girl...

Little bit. I was a freshman, she was a senior.

She was blowing Mike Gulley down the post

when he was still 14 and innocent and milking cows up Vermont.

I don't know about innocent.

Her mother says Amanda may be carrying a little girl of her own.

Mirabelle was last seen with Amanda. It's her favorite doll.

This is horrible.

- Not if you're Channel 9. - Turn it off.

Good night.

- Hey, Angie. Get the door? I'm in the bathroom.

It's 7:00! Seven in the fucking morning!

What?

Are you Patrick Kenzie?

- Yeah. - Bea and Lionel McCready.

Our niece was kidnapped three days ago.

Please, come on in. Come on in. I have to apologize.

You know, there's been some problems with kids in the neighborhood,

kind of ding-dong ditch, ringing the buzzer and running away.

So that's the reason for the language.

- Oh. - Well, we can come back later.

No. Please, please. Make yourself comfortable.

Here, we're just... I'm sorry about the mess.

We've been... I had a late case, and a lot of cases.

We've just been... We've just been working a lot,

we worked on a case last night, you know, so we just...

Please sit down, though.

Or...

My associate'll be in in just a minute. She's in the other room.

How can we help you?

Do you know people in the neighborhood

who don't talk to the police?

Yeah, one or two.

We wanna hire you to augment the investigation of Amanda.

Is that right?

You know how in JonBenet Ramsey the family hired investigators?

So... Are the police all right with yo use hiring outside help?

The police need to worry about finding my niece.

Hi. I'm Angie Gennaro. I work with Patrick.

Hello. I'm Bea McCready. This is my husband, Lionel.

- How do you do? - They wanna hire us

to augment the investigation.

You should talk to Precision Investigators.

- Who? I... - I don't know, I meant...

Well, let's hear them out, Ange.

Well, aren't you missing persons detectives?

Yeah, that's what your ad says in the paper.

Yeah, we are. We are missing persons detectives.

I'm sorry, she... I think that what Angie means to say is,

just for the sake of disclosure, up to this point,

our experience has been primarily, you know, finding missing persons

who've gone missing that they...

You know, they just stop payments on their Jet Ski

and they went to New Hampshire...

Every police officer in this state is looking for your niece right now.

And I'm not sure how much more help we could be.

Well, you're not gonna do any harm, are you?

All right, look. I got a pension coming up with Edison.

- So, that's collateral, if... - No. It's not that.

Why is this so hard? The cops don't want me coming here.

- Lionel don't want me coming here. - Don't worry.

- Now you don't want the job? - No, it's not that we don't want the job...

We consult privately before we make decisions like these.

- We do. - Helene puts her to bed.

She goes across to Dottie's. Maybe gone a half hour, watches TV.

Then she comes home and Amanda is gone.

She was watching Wife Swap.

She remembers, 'cause that's her favorite show.

And do yo use two live upstairs?

Yeah, when our folks died they left us a unit and my sister a unit,

so, you know, basically we got no choice.

And with the acoustics in the apartment,

you can't get away from it.

Why don't you just come over the house, all right?

- Just talk to Helene, you know. Lionel, talk to Helene?

Look, she don't show it, but she's hurting right now.

- Please. Please! - All right. Lookit, all right?

I was no saint. All right? I had my own problems.

I took a hard bust at 22. Bea straightened me out.

My sister Helene has not had that.

Talking to the mother's the least we could do.

- We'll come right over. - Thanks a lot.

Yeah. Pleasure, Lionel.

Oh, you'll find us in that brown three-decker by the park.

- You know where it is. - Be hard to miss today.

Look at this. Jesus.

Fucking block party here.

Four Cape Verdeans got killed here last year.

No one gave a shit.

We have a good life, right?

Is that a trick question?

I don't wanna find their little kid in a dumpster.

Maybe she's not in a dumpster, babe.

I don't wanna find a little kid after they've been abused for three days.

Hon, nobody does.

All right.

Listen, we'll just go up and we'll talk to them,

and you don't wanna do it after that, I won't argue with you.

Okay.

Hi. Please, come on in.

Helene.

This is Patrick Kenzie, Angela Gennaro.

- Hi. - I remember you from high school.

I see you're still a little conceited, huh?

Would you excuse us, Dottie?

Dottie's my best friend, Lionel. She could be in my house if she wants.

Helene, we don't wanna get in your hair.

We're just gonna ask you a couple questions

about your daughter, then we'll be out of here.

- Everyone wants their part now. - I know.

I already talked to the cops forty times.

- We're sorry to take up your time. - Listen, we're not the cops.

Beatrice asked us to come over here

and see if we could help out finding your daughter.

Why don't Bea mind her business? It's my kid.

'Cause everyone gotta have their moment, now.

- Right? - Right.

Beatrice hired these people to help find Amanda with her own money,

so you had better show them the goddamn courtesy

- and respect they deserve! - She's in grieving, prick.

She could grieve how she wants, Dottie.

- You don't live here! - Asshole.

Don't you fucking yell at her, Lionel. You ain't her father!

Fuck you, Lionel.

Go fuck yourself. Cocksucker. Fuck you.

Get the fuck outta here.

I'm sorry.

- I'm sorry. - Maybe we should go.

- I understand. I'm sorry. - It's all right.

Maybe we should go?

Look. Can we all just have a few words in the hallway, please?

Excuse us, Helene.

- Helene's got emotional problems. - It's not that, Lionel.

- What is it, then? - She's a cunt!

- Beatrice, don't use that word. - God help me, it's true.