The Calling

Hey, Dale. Good morning, Hazel.

How we doing? I'm great. There you go, extra bacon today, okay?

Great. Here you go.

Thanks so much. Hey, you know, I hate to bother you with this,

but there's more of those cross-country ski tracks.

They go right through my property. Well, winter's almost over.

I know that, but can you stop... Yeah, yeah, I will. Okay.

Thank you.

Mmm.

What? I need to talk to you.

Can't you see I'm eating?

Hang on. Okay, I'll wait for you inside.

Okay.

Ah.

Here. So what's up? Could you take that, please?

Bob Chandler has been trying to reach his mother all morning.

She's not answering.

And? Well, he's getting back this afternoon.

Jolene stopped by and knocked on the door, no answer.

So, he's hoping that you'll pass by,

make sure that Delia's okay.

And why can't you do it?

Because my shift ended while you were eating your breakfast.

Oh, right.

Let me take care of that for you.

Oh, thanks. Yeah, just top it up?

The cell phone. Oh.

No, it's fine.

It's been sitting in that box for three months.

It's comfortable there. Uh-huh.

Get some sleep. Oh, will you stop by Ernie's on the way?

There was a call about some sort of fracas over there.

A "frah-cas"? That's what I said, "fray-cas."

"Frah-cas." I think it's...

Try Delia again. Okay.

Delia, it's Hazel. I'm letting myself in.

Delia?

Yeah, I'm at Delia's. Get over here as fast as you can,

and call Spere. Yeah.

You got here fast.

This is wild.

Yeah.

You knew her?

Yeah. All my life.

She went to my mom's church.

I've never seen anything like this.

What can you tell?

Well, it looks like a knife to the neck.

Yeah.

But I'll have to bring her to the city

and get a full report from the coroner.

It could take a couple of weeks.

I can't wait two weeks.

Do me a favor, take her to the church first.

I'll meet you there and you can see what you figure out

and then take her to Mayfair Grace for the autopsy.

I can't do that. Protocol.

I know what the protocols are.

I guess so. Sure. She's your friend.

Thanks. I appreciate it.

Tommy, if you're gonna puke, don't do it here.

No, I'm okay. You sure?

Maybe I better go outside and wait for Bob to get here.

Yeah, I think that's a good idea. Yeah.

You okay?

Yeah, I'm okay. You okay?

Yeah.

Uh, what about cars?

Were there any cars around that you didn't recognize?

Oh, yeah, there were cars.

I mean, that you didn't know, that you hadn't seen before?

Yesterday, parked over there, there was one.

A dark one.

Black?

Like, dark gray.

Gray. Okay. And did you see the driver?

No.

How about the make?

Maybe Ronny will remember. He knows cars.

If Ronny does figure out anything would you have him call me?

Yeah.

She's getting big.

Oh, God.

I'll... I'll get this. I'll take him in the back.

Oh, thanks.

I've been trying for months to get her into hospice care.

I knew this day was coming

and I just never figured it was going to be like this.

So, did she have any family heirlooms

or expensive jewelry or anything in the house?

You think someone was trying to rob her?

I don't know.

Was she expecting anyone, I mean, besides you?

No.

Can I see her?

Not... Not yet. Let's...

In a bit.

So, as you can see, this cut is surgical.

Through the windpipe and esophagus on the first cut.

And the second deepens all the way down to the spinal cord.

Was he trying to get a trophy?

Well, another cut and it was his, so, I'd say no.

What happened to the finger?

He broke it before she died.

You can see the swelling. That's definitely before.

So she did fight back.

It would be the only sign. Didn't see anything else.

Her face looked like she was screaming when she died.

That's a horror movie myth, faces frozen in terror.

Mostly the dead look drunk.

This was clearly manipulated.

You have to wait until rigor mortis sets in, about three hours.

And then, you have to hold the mouth and tongue

in that position until the muscle sets.

For how long?

I'd say another hour.

He was standing over her with his fingers in her mouth.

When I was a taxidermist I actually tried it on this tabby cat, and I...

We're not equipped for this,

and you are in no shape to be chasing anyone.

That leaves me. This is something I can't handle on my own.

What, are you complaining about this before we even give it a try?

We need to get Mason to assign a homicide detective.

We are detectives. This is our town.

Don't let your personal shit cloud your judgment. We can do this.

What are you talking about? Your words.

I don't understand what you're talking about. Your words.

I don't understand. All I have to say is

I'm gonna do this with or without you.

So if I have to, I'll do it alone.

Fuck you, Hazel.

Thanks. I knew you'd get onboard.

What?

I don't think you get this good on the first try.

Over here.

Move back. Give her some space.

I heard about Delia.

Oh, that was fast. Who told you?

Trudy Davis.

Everybody's over at the church.

Why aren't you there?

'Cause I wanted to be here when you got home.

Well, I'm home, so you can go.

You know, it would mean a lot to everybody if...

Oh, please, do not start with your Sundays of sunshine shit.

You can knock it all you want,

but when you were in the hospital they were there for you.

I didn't ask them to be there for me. It was my back,

and they made it into some kind of community tragedy.

It wasn't just your back.

You were about to have a baby.

Well, that was a long time ago.

And I can count on one hand

the number of times you've talked about it.

All right, look, I will go to the funeral. Okay?

What do you want to eat?

Nothing. I'm going out.

With who? With Andy.

Will his wife be there?

Oh, I hope so.

Hey. Sorry I'm late.

I was starving. I went ahead.

I got you a drink.

Thanks.

What's going on? You okay?

It's this back.

I gotta have an operation for the, you know, disk thing.

Again? What about the shots?

They're not working.

One doctor says it's autoimmune.

The other one says it was the original operation.

I don't know.

When do they want you to have it?

Six months ago.

Oh, Hazel.

I mean, your stubbornness is gonna kill you.

There's worse ways to go.

Listen, there's a great rehabilitation facility. It's in North Bay.

Are you crazy? I'm not leaving my house.

Your mom can't carry you.

I'd like to see her try.

Maybe I can help some. I could come over maybe once or twice a day.

What would your wife say?

My wife?

My wife would say that you're having surgery

to get me under your roof again.

She's a riot.

Here you go, Hazel.

You two seem to be in sync.

You jealous?

You gotta go.

No, I should go.

I should go, Hazel.

I'll... I'll get you next time.

Wait. I mean, while I have you here,

I just thought maybe you could help me with this.

This asshole cop got me on the way back from hockey.

Sure.