Dead Silence

-ReSync - By- -QwipZ-

You fixed it yet?

Just a couple more minutes.

You said that an hour ago.

I promised to make you dinner, right?

Yeah.

Well, I'm making you a gourmet dinner.

Trust me. It'll be worth the wait.

Surrender.

Hmm?

Surrender to the wonders of takeout.

Oh.

I knew this was coming.

'Cause when your fingers dial those seven little numbers,

it really turns me on.

Is that the best you can come up with?

Yeah.

Wow. You are fast.

Who was it?

I don't know.

It doesn't even say where it's from.

Well, there's one way to find out.

Oh, Jamie, you adopted us a baby.

A baby? Have you seen this thing?

Well, who would send you a doll?

I have no idea.

There's no card, no note.

His eyes look so real.

"I don't know about you, but Lisa's hungry for Chinese."

I think my wife's gone crazy.

Oh, my God! This reminds me of that poem from when we were kids.

What poem?

You remember. Come on.

That old ghost story about the woman who had all those dolls.

"Beware the stare of Mary Shaw

"She had no children, only dolls..."

And something, something scary.

Something, something... Boo!

I think you're having just a little too much fun there, Lise.

Oh, baby, I won't let the scary dummy hurt you.

Thank you. Thank you.

If you get Jamie to scream,

I'll make sure you get seven minutes in heaven with my old Barbie. Deal?

"Yes, Lisa."

God, I'm such a loser.

Good boy.

Jamie?

Jamie?

Baby, I'm back.

Lisa! What are you trying to do? Burn the place down?

Lise?

Oh, Lisa.

I'm in here.

Dinner in bed again.

Lisa!

Yes, Jamie?

What's going on?

- I have a surprise for you, Jamie. - ...for you, Jamie.

Lisa, this is not funny!

The strange is that she's got no defensive wounds.

Now, if somebody was trying to turn my face into a jack-o'-lantern,

I'd be fighting back a little.

Yeah, but then you always have been a little feisty, my girl.

Ligature marks?

Not a one.

- What about... - Drugs?

That's a gift. I think the words here, and they come out there.

Preliminary results say no.

But the final tox results won't be in for 48 hours.

Personally, I think only someone high as a kite would kill his wife

and then pose her as a mannequin.

But the weirdest thing is her face.

I've never seen anything like it.

You know what it was? Your mistake?

It was the rose.

Yep. Boy, I'll tell you,

if I had a dollar for every time some guy gave his wife a rose

on the day that he, you know...

Like that's an alibi.

Alibi?

I didn't hear you. Did you say something?

Why would I need an alibi?

I'm sure your lawyer would want you to have one.

My lawyer?

Yeah.

I mean, the prosecution, they're going to have your fingerprints,

no signs of forced entry on your apartment,

and you as the last person to see your wife alive.

I mean, that's a lot to go up against.

You think I killed my wife?

Excuse me?

Do you think I killed my wife?

No. No, I don't think you did.

I'm just trying to help your lawyer out.

I mean, he's going to need something more concrete.

I mean, at least to shift the suspicion away from you.

Suspicion? I mean, if you want to talk suspicion,

why don't you start by looking at the package that turned up on my doorstep?

Oh, yeah. That package, right.

Let's see. You received an unmarked package

just moments before Lisa was killed.

Yeah. A package containing a ventriloquist dummy.

Ventriloquist dummy. Yeah.

Well, the mystery toy department is down the hall.

This is the homicide department.

So unless you can tell me how some puppet

ties into your wife's murder, I don't see the relevance.

In the town where I'm from,

a ventriloquist dummy is a bad omen.

It's kind of a local legend,

and some people believe that the dummy brings death to those around them.

Okay.

Well, Jamie,

I've never arrested a dummy for murder before.

But I have arrested quite a few husbands.

You don't think it's weird that this package arrives

right before Lisa is killed?

No, I'll tell you what I think is weird.

You said that your wife spoke to you just moments before you found her, right?

- Yeah. - Yeah. But she didn't have a tongue.

In fact, according to you, she was already dead.

Now, see, to me, that's weird.

So, what're you going to do? Arrest me?

Not yet.

Look, you can go, Ashen.

You're a free man for now.

Good.

It'll give me more time to do your job for you.

Jamie!

I'm so sorry for your loss.

But I'm so glad to have you home.

Oh!

My Lord, you must think I'm so rude.

We haven't even been introduced.

I'm Ella.

I'm...

Well, I guess I'm your stepmother.

Is he in?

Yes, he is.

Please come in.

Thanks.

There are some things that you need to know about your father.

I know everything I need to.

Ella! Who's down there with you?

Your father won't fight you, Jamie.

He doesn't fight anyone, not anymore.

Well, then you're not married to my father.

Ella!

I can hear you.

Goddamn chair is stuck.

Here, Edward, let me help you.

My son. What a pleasant surprise.

What happened to you?

Your father had a stroke two months ago.

Why didn't anybody tell me?

You never return my calls.

It's because I never know what to say to you.

I take it I wasn't the easiest person to get along with in the past,

- but I've changed. - Really?

Yes. A stroke can do that to a man.

Listen, I'm sorry about your wife.

I hear you've brought her home.

- Yeah. - Don't worry.

I'll call Henry Walker, make the arrangements.

No, that's okay, I can take care of it.

Jamie, please. As your father, it's the least I can do.

You've done the least you can do my whole life.

It's too late for charity now.

Is that why you've come here,

to remind me what a bad father I've been to you?

In light of what has happened, I was hoping we could put that in the past.

I didn't come to talk about that, I...

I came to ask you something.

Do you remember when I was a kid, Mom used to read me a poem?

Do you remember what it was?

What poem?

"Beware the stare of Mary Shaw

"She had no children, only dolls

"And if you see her in your dreams..."

"Be sure you never, ever scream"

You know it?

It's just a scary poem parents would tell their kids to keep them in line.

No. It's more than just a ghost story. And the adults believed in it, as well.

We live in a small town, Jamie.

Small minds breed small-minded superstitions.

That's all. There's nothing else to tell.

Nothing?

Edward,

your son has been through a lot.

Why don't we make up a room for him?

No, that's okay. I'm not staying long.

I got a funeral to prepare.

Jamie, Jamie!

Jamie! Please wait.

Won't you stay the night here?

It was nice meeting you, Ella.

Your father's changed. He's not the same man that you remember.

Really?

You see that?

Mom used to be in that picture with us, until he drove her to kill herself.