Medium

Previously on Medium:

He's dying.

The mayor, the governor, they...

all want me to step in.

They gave him his job back.

: That's amazing.

Does that mean that you get your job back?

: As soon as I want.

Who's that?

Terry Cavanaugh,

the John Rockefeller of solar energy.

You know, I bought your company.

Bought your invention.

How'd you like to finish what you started?

He said do it in Phoenix.

Find some space, hire some people...

make me some money.

Whoo!

Tonight, on Ripley's Believe It Or Not

you'll meet a hungry, young woman

with an appetite for cold steel,

a music lover who has turned his very extremities

into a sonorous instrument.

A contortionist who's perfected a method

for examining his own spine.

But first, in 1848,

Phineas Gage was part of a work gang

blasting rock while clearing the roadbed

for a new railroad line.

On September 13th of that year,

Phineas's life would be changed forever

by one simple spark.

He was tamping down an explosive charge

with an iron rod

when the gunpowder ignited early

and a three-foot iron rod

was blown clear through Phineas's skull.

Miraculously, Phineas survived.

His body, it seemed, had made a complete recovery.

His spirit, on the other hand...

Those who knew Phineas best

said he was a changed man after his accident.

Once even-keeled and hardworking,

he was now fitful, irreverent and grossly profane.

But would it surprise you to learn

that Phineas, after a long night of drinking,

once identified himself to a fellow inebriate

as "Cyrus Ames"?

Who, you ask, was Cyrus Ames?

Cyrus Ames was a notorious gunfighter and card cheat.

For a time, he was employed by the railroads

to shoot any Indians who attempted to interfere

with the construction.

On the day of Phineas's accident,

Cyrus Ames lay dying of syphilis in the very same

doctor's office where Phineas was treated.

There are some who believe

that an exchange of sorts took place that day.

That the soul of a dying gunfighter

somehow slipped into the body of an injured railroad worker.

Coincidence? We may never know.

Unlikely? Yes.

Impossible? You be the judge.

A man by the name of Robert L. Ripley, after all,

would challenge you to Believe it or Not!

Bad dream?

Bad rerun.

It was weird; I dreamt about an old TV show.

Hmm? You mean no one's in danger?

You don't have to call anyone?

We can just go back to sleep?

Oh, I don't believe it.

Captioning sponsored by CBS PARAMOUNT NETWORK TELEVISION

and TOYOTA. Moving Forward.

Allison, you're here. Good.

Once you're settled, would you join me and Lee

for a meeting in the conference room, please?

With him?

With them.

Lee, Allison, this is Joel Tiernan.

And sitting beside him is my old friend, his wife, Gabrielle.

Six months ago,

Gabrielle's sister, Robin, was found murdered

in a cottage she'd rented on Saguaro Lake.

There were no witnesses

and as of now,

no suspects.

This all took place during the time

when District Attorney Van Dyke was running this office.

His people worked the case but, uh, but never solved it.

I believe it was, um, August 16th

when I first realized that

the Phoenix Police Department had given up

on trying to find my sister's killer.

I had called District Attorney Van Dyke for an update,

and, um, he told me there were no new developments in the case.

When I asked him when I might expect any new developments,

he was kind enough to explain to me

that good police work depends on good leads

and since there were no new leads in the case...

Six months ago,

there was nothing I could do about that.

Now I can.

That's why I'm putting my two best people on it.

I'm going to tell her everything.

What did you just say?

You heard me.

I'm going to tell her everything.

I think I saw his face.

What are you talking about?

The killer, I think I saw his face.

Maybe if you put me together with a sketch artist,

we might have something for you to work with this afternoon.

Hey, kiddo. How was school?

Hmm, why the long face?

I sort of got in trouble in art class.

Oh, yeah? What happened?

I kind of drew a funny picture of my teacher, Mr. Enright.

Uh-oh. Did you apologize?

Well, yeah but he wants you and Mom

to look at the picture anyways and sign it

so he knows you saw it. Okay.

Bridgette, you drew this?

That man is naked.

He sure is.

This is the man you believe murdered Robin Aaronson?

I think it's a pretty good likeness.

Tell me, is this the man you saw?

Yes. Absolutely.

You know this man?

I knew him.

He was Gabrielle's first husband, Nathan.

He was a very successful novelist,

and when he died, he left Gabrielle a very wealthy woman.

He's dead?

He was killed in a car crash two years ago,

driving home from a writers' retreat.

Struck head-on by another vehicle, a stolen vehicle.

By the time the accident site was discovered,

the other driver, the car thief, had disappeared.

Skulked off into the night.

We never managed to identify him.

I'm sorry, Allison. I don't know what you think you saw,

but Nathan's been dead for two years now.

It seems unlikely that he killed Gabrielle's sister 6 months ago.

Hey, look on the bright side.

At least this woman wasn't in the room

when you accused her dead husband of murdering her sister.

Would you put that thing away already?

I'm sorry. It's just so...

: Accurate?

Yeah, I mean I know we've had the talk with Bridgette,

and I know she's seen all this stuff in science class,

but I mean, it's just...

But what?

You're acting like you never

drew a picture of a naked person before.

Yeah, I'm sure that I scribbled

the occasional "bazoom" in my notebook,

but I mean, nothing like this.

What? A young boy's fascination with "bazooms" is okay?

But a young girl's curiosity about that, isn't?

I'm just going to turn off the light now.

Yeah, you do that.

* *

So, you're telling me Joel Tiernan did this?

Joel Tiernan, Gabrielle Tiernan's current husband,

is, in fact, the hit-and-run driver

who killed her first husband, Nathan Cafferty?

That is one very forgiving lady.

Well, obviously, I don't think she knows.

Obviously.

Look, I know how this sounds, Lee,

but I dreamt about it last night.

Joel Tiernan was the other driver in that accident.

I think that's how he got that big scar on his forehead.

What?!

I'm sorry, it's just Manny puts us on one cold case,

and you start dreaming about another that's even colder.

Maybe tonight you'll see who took the Lindbergh baby.

What if I'm right?

What if Joel Tiernan is responsible for this?

If you're sure about what you saw,

and when I say "sure," I'm talking

in the neighborhood of 100 percent...

then I'll bring the guy in for questioning.

Ask him to account for his whereabouts

at the time of the wreck. But if you're not...

Remember, these are Manny's friends.

At least the wife is.

I got to tell you, if you're right about this Tiernan guy,

Gabrielle sure can pick them.

What is that supposed to mean?

I interviewed a few of the

dead sister's friends yesterday.

One of them told me about a little accident

Robin had in '06.

She claimed she'd fallen,

but the friend spotted some bruising around her neck.

Got the feeling she may have been covering for someone.