Medium

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The day his parents brought Frisky home, Jeff couldn't conceal his joy.

Jeff never lost his love for animals.

It's hard to know exactly when his toothy grin gave way to darker thoughts,

but in 1991, the police were responding to a complaint at Jeff's apartment

when one of them noticed an unusual smell.

They found a severed head in his refrigerator.

There was another one in the freezer, as well as three more skulls in a filing cabinet,

and four others spread throughout the Milwaukee apartment.

For most of us, that was the first time we ever heard about Jeffrey Dahmer.

He was 31 years old.

He'd been killing people since he was 18.

He was somebody's son, somebody's brother.

Leslie was the prettiest girl in Altadena,California.

In fact,she was elected homecoming princess twice.

After she graduated from high school, she met her first serious boyfriend.

His name was Charlie.

Leslie Van Houten joined the Manson family

and was later charged with the murder of Rosemary and Leno LaBianca.

After stabbing Rosemary 16 times,

Leslie changed into clothes from the LaBiancas' closet and raided their refrigerator.

And when Leslie walked into court every morning with a smile on her face,

the whole world wondered: how could someone who looked so sweet,

who looked like she could be any one of our daughters, go so wrong?

We want to believe that every child is born into this world a blank vessel...

'BTK***'******

waiting to be filled with only the best parts of us.

Aileen******

And yet,no matter how hard we try,

invariably the day comes when our child does something that surprises us...

Ted******

becomes someone we don't quite recognize.

- I'm home. - I'm in the kitchen,Dad.

And we find ourselves thinking, who is that person?

Okay. Where's your mom and your sisters?

Medium Season06 Episode02 Who's That Girl?

Thanks.

Okay.

Thank you,Mommy.

Someone looks tired.

- I didn't sleep good. - Well,why is that?

- Why you looking at me? - You snore.

That's a lie! I've never once heard me snoring!

You know you snore. We all know that you snore.

Yeah,well, fine,kick me out of the house.

Kick me out of the family.

Nobody's kicking you out of anywhere.

I think I need my own room.

Well,I'm sorry,honey. I don't have another room to give you.

But Ariel has her own room.

Everybody has their own room.

I don't have my own room.

Hey,here's an idea.

Since Ariel doesn't snore and Marie doesn't snore,

how about they share the bunk bed and I'll get Ariel's room?

Hey,here's an idea.

How about we go back to that part where you were talking about leaving the family?

Okay,enough! Everybody,calm down. Be patient.

Your sister here is gonna go to college soon and everyone will have their own room.

- Me too? - Don't push your luck.

Hey,guys,we're leaving in ten minutes. Did you hear me?

Mm-hmm,yep.

Hey,so,can I,uh,talk to you guys about something?

All depends. What's the something?

Well,there's this,uh, thing tomorrow night.

And I know that it's a school night, but I would,uh, really like to go.

Well,can we know what this thing is?

It's a scavenger hunt. A really cool scavenger hunt. They do it every year.

It's,uh,for the seniors and the boy who's putting it together asked Ashley and I if,uh,

we wanted to come, even though we're not seniors.

Honey,uh,when you find these things, how does it work? Do you go in cars? Do you drive?

Well,yeah,of course. I mean,they're all seniors.

Well,um,I think Daddy and I have to think about this.

And now's not really a good time.

You have to get everybody to school and Detective Scanlon's coming to get me in 20 minutes.

Can we get back to you on this later after we think about it?

Yeah,okay. I mean,I just I don't get what there is to think about.

It's just a scavenger hunt.

I know,we heard you,sweetie. We just... We just want to think.

Uh,okay,well,you know, I better get the girls to school.

- Thank you,honey. - Thank you,sweetie.

So?

So,I think that,uh,we're the luckiest parents on earth.

- I mean,from the moment you got sick,she's just been... - I know.

I just think it's going to be really hard to say no.

Well,we haven't said anything yet.

Allison? Can I steal you for a moment?

Her name's Elena Agronov.

She's my housekeeper's daughter.

She borrowed her mother's car to run an errand a couple of nights ago

and hasn't been seen since.

Are the police looking for her?

No,not yet. You know how it works.

You can't file a missing persons report until she's been gone at least 48 hours.

That's why I thought I'd print up these flyers.

Get a jump on things.

You know her.

You think she's the kind of girl who might be in some kind of trouble?

No. No,no,no,not this girl. She's,uh... she's pretty special.

She practically grew up in my house. Terrific student.

Putting herself through college. Accounting major.

No,that,uh, that's what has us all so concerned.

This is very out of character for her.

Hey,open up!

Ariel,wake up! Wake up. Come on!

What are you looking at? Open the door!

You're dead. I'm telling Mom.

And when she hears that you left your little sisters out on the street...

You're gonna be quiet and tell me where to go.

What are you talking about?

We're not going anywhere, not until Marie gets in the car.

And then we're going home.

And you'll tell me where that is.

I said home. You know where home is.

Anybody home?

In here!

- Only one. - That's all I ever take.

What are you doing? Looks like homework.

Well,it kind of is. I'm practicing writing my name.

What a family.

You don't know how to write your name and Ariel doesn't know where she lives.

- Hello? - Can I come in?

Honey,are you tired?

She told you about me falling asleep while I was waiting for her?

She also said that you drove past the house.

It was stupid. I was just playing with her.

Okay,if you say so.

Um,about tomorrow night, it just... it makes me uneasy.

Older boys,cars.

I feel like you need some rest.

Are you trying to tell me something?

I just don't think it's smart.

Particularly on a school night.

Okay.

- Okay? - Yeah,sure,okay.

I'm talking about the scavenger hunt.

Yes,I heard you. You don't think it's smart.

Mom?

Can I borrow some money?

Well,maybe I can give you a little advance on your allowance.

How much are you thinking?

Um,maybe about 200.

Dollars? Are you serious?

Honey,we don't have that kind of money. You know that.

Daddy doesn't even have a regular job.

No,of course,you're right.

I was getting nervous.

I thought maybe you weren't coming. I thought maybe I came to the wrong place.

- What's this? - You know what it is.

What's this for?

This is a lot more than you usually give me.

Is this for going away?

Elena,we need to have a conversation.

Is this why you wanted to meet here?

I can't do this anymore.

I don't want to do this anymore.

But that's not right. You made me promises.

Yeah,I know, but now I've realized this just doesn't work for me anymore.

But you said you'd pay my rent.

- I know I did. - You said you'd pay my tuition.

I know I did,Elena, and I thought I could do it, but I can't.

I'm not a rich man. I can't keep going to the bank,the ATM, pulling out money for you.

My wife's starting to notice. The kids need things.

There's somebody else?

No,there's nobody else.

I just... I need it to end.

What about me? What about what I need?

What about you?

Well,I mean, you go home to your wife, your kids,your nice house.

Nothing changes for you. But me...

You'll go back to dancing.

Maybe you'll meet some other guy. Maybe he'll pay your tuition.

Or maybe he won't. You can't honestly think that that's my problem?

That's right. You have no problems.

None of this is your doing.

You bought something, you paid for something, but now...

you want out. Fine.

We'll see. Maybe it'll interest your wife.

Elena,don't you even kid about that.

Look at that.

He's got an Achilles' heel, and I found it.

You haven't found a thing.

And if you're smart,you'll take that money I just gave you, you'll invest it wisely,

and you will forget all about me, all about us.

And what if I'm stupid?

What if I take all the money, invest it wisely,

and still call your wife?

Oh,my God, I was kidding.

- Now we've got a problem now. - No,there's no problem.

- How can I ever trust you? - You can.

But you can. You can trust...

Found her right where you said she'd be-- the Encanto Park overlook.

Somebody shot her twice, then left her there for the coyotes.

Her mother's car was parked maybe 20 yards away.

So if I put you in front of some mug books, do you think you'd recognize the man who did this?

I can try.

I kind of doubt he's gonna be in there.

He didn't really strike me as a career criminal.

More like a guy who's having a midlife crisis who'd gotten in too deep.