Memphis Beat

I think I just saw Dolly Parton in the foyer.

I'm serious, Dwight.

Yeah, mama. It's a sad day for music.

Ladies and gentlemen,

To open our tribute to Darlene Boswell,

Please welcome her daughters and husband...

Sadie, Delilah, and "doc" Boswell.

♪ when the road is rocky and you're carrying a load ♪

♪ wait for the light to shine ♪

♪ if you find you're friendless on that weary, lonesome road ♪

♪ wait for the light to shine ♪

Remember when your daddy used to put this song on,

And you'd make him turn it up as loud as it would go?

Just dancing all over the living room.

♪ wait for the light to shine ♪

Wasn't that wonderful, Dwight?

We just can't thank y'all enough for coming out today.

I know ma is up there right now, just smiling down on us,

So happy y'all are enjoying yourselves.

But before we get these other bands out here to play,

Our longtime manager and dear friend Frank Dixon

Would like to say a few words.

Frank?

What I'll miss the most

Is the way she made me feel when she sang.

I mean, that voice of hers...

Anything she was feeling, you were feeling it, too.

And after all the years

Of watching her raise these two beautiful, beautiful girls,

With gifts of their own to give...

I'll always be her biggest fan.

It was nice, huh, mama?

Oh, it was beautiful, Dwight.

Excuse me. Hi. Melinda Connor.

I'm, um, interviewing fans of the Boswells for a documentary.

I was wondering, maybe you had a few minutes to give me.

No, I'm sorry, ma'am. I'm not so great on camera.

Hi, I'm Dwight Hendricks,

Detective with the Memphis police department

And a lifelong Boswell fan.

And an excellent musician in your own right.

I've seen you play.

That right? Yeah.

Yeah, well, I guess I do a little bit of that, too.

I don't know how you can't be a fan of the Boswells,

Being from Memphis.

Oh, we're just like any other family,

Except we work together, you know?

That's a true story.

Water broke right in the middle

Of mama and daddy onstage at the opry.

In front of thousands of people, singing.

And mama... she kept singing, by the way.

She finished that song.

I'm proud to be a Boswell.

Well, my mother, Darlene... she likes to say,

"someone somewhere might hear one of our songs and smile.

You live longer when you're smiling."

Uh, she used to say that.

And Darlene, you know,

We, uh, we... we call her "ma" for a reason.

You ever listen to music and you just feel like...

You just feel like you're being hugged, you know?

God rest her soul.

Hell, I had a crush on every one of them girls, including ma.

What was it about them? I don't know.

Just... just the beauty of somebody singing to the rafters,

Channeling something, you know?

Patrol is here.

Excuse me a sec. Hendricks.

It's whitehead, I need you down at the palace theater.

Yeah, I'm already here. Why? What's going on?

Frank Dixson is dead, Dwight.

Fell from the roof out back the theater.

All right.

Sorry. Got to get going.

The job never stops, you know?

♪ I'm goin' to Memphis ♪

♪ where the beat is tough ♪

♪ Memphis ♪

♪ I can't get enough ♪

♪ oh, well, it makes you tremble ♪

♪ and it makes you weak ♪

♪ gets in your blood, that Memphis beat ♪

♪ oh, yeah ♪

Found him about five minutes ago.

He must have jumped from that highest balcony,

Judging by the position of the body.

Poor bastard.

From what I understand,

Mr. Dixon was pretty broken up during his eulogy.

Grief plus alcohol.

No. Frank didn't drink.

Appears to me he had a beer bottle in his hand when he fell.

It shattered on impact. That's all embedded in his skin.

Thought he was off the booze.

What are those?

Looks like he bounced on impact, Dwight.

Dragged his face across the glass.

God rest.

Let's get a witness who saw him jump,

Wrap this up quick.

Oh, these poor people.

I told you, the only way to that balcony

Is through this room, okay?

The only people allowed up here are v.I.P.S on the list.

I made sure of that myself, like I always do.

And I told you I need names and numbers

Of everybody that came and went.

And I told you these are v.I.P.S.

I can't hand out phone numbers.

Let me make this real clear to you, flat-top.

This is a suicide investigation.

Got it, Benny?

This ain't Hollywood, and it sure as hell ain't Miami.

There's no celebrity treatment here.

You got me? Now, I want the list...Pronto.

We're gonna do our best to wrap this up quick.

Of course. Thank you. Anything we can do.

So, when was the last time y'all saw Frank?

In the wings, right after the performance was over.

Doc, you see him anytime after the show?

Yep, in here, when I snuck out.

Where'd you "snuck out" to, doc?

I snuck out to Willis, my bass player's, dressing room.

Yes, we were. We were working on our post-gig ritual.

You notice Frank drinking again, Sadie?

Uh, acting strange, depressed about ma?

No, all Frank could talk about the last few days

Was how ma would want us to carry on.

It... it... he was even planning a new tour.

I mean, he was everything, and I just don't...

Shh. Don't worry, baby.

I'm gonna take care of all of us, okay?

Where the hell have you been?!

Oh, walking.

Who are they? What's go... what's going on?

Are you drunk?

Frank's dead.

What?

what are you talking about?

What happened?

He fell off the balcony, Delilah...

Or jumped.

Gonna need to ask you a few questions, sweetheart.

You know, I have to go.

Right, walk away. That's all you know how to do, anyhow.

Why do you have to keep pushing me? Can't you leave me alone?

Listen, girls, I don't need this right now. Come on, ladies.

Well, thank you, Leonard. We don't need to hear from you.

You're nothing but a parasite.

Marrying my sister don't make you a Boswell.

Oh, you are just selfish... spoiled and selfish!

Yeah, and you're nothing but a boring little bitch.

Sounds a little different on the other side of the curtain,

Doesn't it, detectives?

Sorry you had to see all that.

That your '37 f-5 mandolin case, doc?

Yes, it is, I am sorry to say.

Baby took a walk after the show.

Ain't showed up yet.

I'm gonna have the head of every roadie from here to Nashville

If she doesn't walk back home soon.

I'll tell you that right now.

excuse me.

Them scratches ain't from glass.

That beer bottle could have been on the ground before he fell.

You two mind telling me what you're talking about?

Ma Boswell wrote the tune "spiced cider"

As an ode to Frank's sobriety.

Man hadn't touched a drop in 30 years.

Family confirmed it. And doc's mandolin's missing.

Mm-hmm. A mandolin's real heavy.

Got enough weight to knock a man backwards,

Someone gets a good swing going.

And it's got thick metal strings.

Anybody knows anything about Frank Dixon

Will tell you the man don't drink,

And he didn't kill himself, damn it.

The man was murdered.

Pushing a guy off a balcony

With hundreds of folks in the building

Ain't premeditated.

That's passion and opportunity.

There was plenty of passion at that memorial service.

Now, who had the opportunity?

Got a list of folks who were in v.I.P.

That's the only way to access that balcony Frank fell from.

Alibied almost all of them already.

What about the Boswells?

Family's all alibied except for Delilah.

I was there when she got the news.

Hit her real hard.

You're... you're a fan of these people, right?

I feel like I need to remind you

That, although they are famous, they are also human, Dwight.

Don't need reminding.

What about the gatecrashers?

Don't need my next step.

Got this filmmaker, did hours of footage in v.I.P.