1x01 Look Again
1x01 Look Again
1x01 Look Again
Legend:
Philadelphia, 1976. They stop and Jill moves her hair behind her ear and shows her face to
Melanie.
More Than a Feeling by Boston plays over the scene.
They laugh.
Melanie: Look.
Jill: Let’s go back to Tim’s room. He’s cooler than any of them.
Jill laughs.
Melanie laughs at her. They carry on walking and cross the road to a big house on the other
side.
Cut to the back of the house. Todd Whitley watches people at his party. His brother, Eric
walks up to him. The maid, Bonita Rafaela walks up behind them.
Bonita walks off. Jill and Melanie walk out of the house behind the two boys. Eric turns and
sees them.
Todd: Hi gorgeous.
They kiss. Melanie looks at them. They pull apart and look out over the back garden.
Cut to later. The party’s over. The camera pans over the swimming pool and back garden and
over to the tennis court. The camera closes in on Jill at the bottom of the court. She is dead,
with blood around her mouth.
Cut to present day Philadelphia. Legend: Philadelphia 2003. Soul Searching by Soul Hooligan
plays over the scene. The camera pans over various neighbourhoods, mainly rough areas,
with houses boarded up. ‘Cold Case’ appears over the scene.
Cut to a certain area of the bad lands, outside a small restaurant. The area is a crime scene.
There is yellow tape around the restaurant and police cars all around. Detective Lilly Rush
walks under the tape and stands outside. An unmarked car shows up with its sirens wailing.
Detective Chris Lassing exits the car and looks around. He walks over to Lilly. The music
fades.
Chris: What’d we get?
Lilly: A triple.
Chris: Yeah.
Lilly comments on what she sees as they slowly make their way to the back of the place.
Chris writes what she comments on.
Lilly: Trash still here. Chairs on the floor, they hadn’t closed yet.
The camera pans over the bar area, which hasn’t been cleared.
The camera turns and we see a woman, a man and a young man all dead in a bathroom stall.
The man and woman are lay on the floor; the young man is slumped against the wall. There
are blood streaks all over the white walls.
Lilly: Doers got a g*n, why’s he gotta slit her throat too?
Nick: That’s why we keep our hands full. Alright I’m knocking on some doors.
Nick laughs.
Nick: Stillman called, uh, there’s a civilian down at Central wants to talk to you.
Lilly: Me?
Nick shrugs.
Chris smiles a little at Lilly. She looks at them then looks down.
Cut to inside. Lilly holds her badge up to the security guard as she walks past. As she walks in
Lieutenant John Stillman joins her.
Lilly: Della’s Chicken and Ribs. What’s the deal with this civilian?
John: Civilian?
Lilly takes the cup of coffee that John’s holding.
Lilly: Probably some nut job. Vera said that she uh…
Lilly: I’ve been on since midnight, I’ve got three m*rder to solve and he’s pawning his dog
calls off on me?
John: Yeah, look she’s right outside. Just chase her demons away, you’re triple’s not gonna
go anywhere alright?
Lilly: Sorry.
She hears a boy shouting outside and then a girl screaming. She walks to the window and
sees a boy hitting something on the ground. She puts her hand over her mouth in shock.
Bonita: (Voiceover) He h*t her over and over and over and over.
Bonita: In 1976.
Bonita nods.
Lilly: Twenty seven years ago and you’re just telling this now?
Bonita: I had a son. I needed to work. But now I have this cancer.
Cut to the storage room. The camera pans along all the old box files of previous cases until it
rests on Lilly looking at the box of the case. John walks in. He rubs his hand over the top of
an old box and looks at the dust that comes off.
Lilly: These cases. The timing adds up. Jill Shelby beaten at a neighbour’s house, found the
next morning, case was never solved.
Lilly sighs.
John: Are you saying we should open a twenty seven year old case, Lil?
John: Witnesses from that long ago are gonna be pretty shaky.
Lilly: Maybe. But then again time could be on our side. People who wouldn’t talk then might
be willing too now. Look at this maid.
John: Mm-hmm.
The camera moves up so that we’re looking down on Lilly and John from an upper level,
through the floor. John puts his glasses on and looks at the file.
John: Britt.
We see the front of the file with H 76 – 391 Shelby, J. written on the front.
Cut to Lilly looking at a picture of Jill Shelby at her desk. Detective Will Jeffries is stood over
her.
Will: Britt was top shelf. Got k*lled in Camden trying to pick up a fugitive.
Will: Uh-uh.
He is looking at a picture of her alive and a crime scene photo of her dead.
Will: I remember this one. Made him crazy. The girl’s mother would come in year after year.
Britt never had anything for her.
Lilly nods.
Will: The two brothers. One being her boyfriend. Uh, live in cook made the list.
Will: And of course some folks thought a g*ng of black kids must of come up to Chestnut Hill
that night.
Will: No-one would talk about those boys. No man is too powerful. Put up walls a brick
couldn’t even get past.
Lilly: Someone should read the job again. Maybe those walls are shakier now.
John nods and looks at Lilly.
Lilly: I got a job. But Vera might get a sense of achievement out of it.
John: This job deserves another look. Now Vera doesn’t have the type of personality to get
anywhere with society people.
Lilly sighs and looks again at the picture of the dead girl.
Lilly: You give Vera my triple, you’re gonna find him in Della’s freezer.
Cut to Lilly walking into a house. We get glimpses of different children doing different
activities. A woman walks past Lilly.
The woman shrugs and walks off. An older woman walks out of a room.
Lilly: Hi.
Lilly: A witness has come forward in her case, someone who worked in the neighbourhood.
Evelyn nods.
Evelyn: Look, I came into homicide every August for over twenty years. Eventually I figured
out that Detective Britt was too much of a gentleman to tell me to stop coming. That her
case would never be solved. You can only hope so long.
Lilly starts walking towards the door. She turns back to Evelyn.
Evelyn: I still see Todd Whitley. And Melanie. They’re married now.
Lilly: Melanie?
She opens her folder.
Evelyn: They became close after she d*ed. And I’m not interested in stirring up more
accusations against him.
Lilly smiles.
Evelyn: I’m not saying don’t do your job. It’s just that no-one's been able to solve it after all
these years. And, and, and I just can’t get pulled in again.
Cut to Homicide.
Lilly: What kind of person doesn’t want to solve her daughter’s m*rder?
Lilly: Well she won’t help me with Todd, she thinks he’s a golden boy and the best friend’s
married to him.
John holds up the picture of Jill. Chris steps into frame putting his coat on.
Chris: (To Lilly) You working a dead case instead of our triple?
John: Unsolved isn’t dead, Lass. And she’s got direction, don’t you?
John: Right.
Lilly: Let me just work with this one for one more interview, then I’m back.
She smiles.
Chris: Great.
He leaves.
Lilly: Well Todd’s a superstar lawyer now. Eric is more of a fringe case. Divorced, drinking
problem, doesn’t exactly work.
He gets up and walks away. The camera pans over Lilly’s shoulder and we see a picture of a
young Eric.
Cut to outside Eric’s house, day. There is a black Mercedes parked outside. Lilly walks up and
looks inside the car. Eric walks out of the house with a briefcase and sees Lilly. Lilly looks at
him. When we go back to Eric, younger Eric is stood there. There’s a small flash and older
Eric’s back.
Lilly: Eric?
Eric: Yeah.
He stops.
Lilly: Oh.
Lilly: Um, uh, it’ll just take a few minutes. It’s about Jill Shelby.
He stops again.
Lilly sighs.
Lilly: Maybe you could just tell me what she was like.
Eric looks at her.
Eric: She was nice. When you were alone with her at least.
Eric shrugs.
Flashback to the party. A group of people are playing spin the bottle including Jill, Melanie
and Eric. Melanie spins the bottle and it lands on a boy named Charlie. You Sexy Thing by
Hot Chocolate plays over the scene.
They kiss. Eric watches Jill watching Melanie and Charlie. Melanie pulls away.
She laughs.
He shrugs.
Lilly nods.
Lilly: Oh.
Lilly: Did you letter in high school? You look kind of athletic.
Cut to Todd’s office inside the building. Lilly meets with Todd Whitley.
She looks at some medals on the wall and some pictures of people rowing.
Lilly: Impressive.
Todd: Look that was painful for a lot of people. I suggest you leave it alone.
Lilly sighs.
He smiles widely.
Lilly laughs.
Todd: Well as I told the cops at the time I was with my brother all night.
Lilly: Actually a lawyer told them that in a statement three weeks later.
Todd: People liked to see families like ours in trouble. We hired a lawyer. Maybe your kind of
people don’t do that. Mine do.
Lilly blinks, smiles a little and looks down before looking back at Todd.
Lilly: I know you once h*t Jill hard enough to give her, uh, three stitches in all.
Todd: Everyone knew the cops had it in for me over Jill. They were wrong then, you are
wrong now.
Lilly stares at him. After a b*at he walks back to his desk as he walks away Lilly looks him up
and down.
Lilly smiles.
Evelyn: And?
Lilly: I just don’t understand these injuries Jill had before she d*ed.
Evelyn: Injuries?
Lilly: Broken rib when she was twelve, uh, a concussion, a jaw fracture at nine years old?
What’s the deal?
Evelyn smiles.
Lilly: Uh-huh.
Lilly: Evelyn my ex-husband was a mean drunk. I know the difference between a soccer
injury and a trip down the stairs. Did your husband b*at your daughter?
Lilly: And now you work at a shelter for battered women and children.
Lilly: I don’t see how you can just forget her Evelyn.
Lilly: So, so you sell your Chestnut Hill house, pack up your old life and-and think you can just
walk away? You can’t walk away from her Evelyn. She’s a part of you. There’s new hope now.
Evelyn: And what if you don’t solve it? Where does that leave me?
Cut to Todd and Melanie’s house. Evelyn and Lilly walk up to the front door. Evelyn opens the
outer gate and knocks. We see Melanie arranging flowers. She turns to open the door. When
the door opens, it is younger Melanie at the door. There is a flash and older Melanie is back.
Melanie: My husband doesn’t want me talking to you.
Lilly: Todd doesn’t want you helping with your best friend’s m*rder investigation?
Short time cut to inside Todd’s house. Lilly interviews Evelyn and Melanie.
Lilly: So you came to the party with Jill but left alone?
Melanie: I drank too much. I had to go home and I couldn’t find her.
Lilly: You made a big point in your interview that you were sure it wasn’t Todd.
Evelyn: He was fixated on the Whitley’s but barely looked at Tim Dorn.
Evelyn: He lived in our guest house and he was with the girls that night.
Melanie: When we left for the party he told Jill she should come by later if she wanted.
When I heard she was missing the next day Tim was the first person I thought of.
Cut to homicide.
Lilly: All this information and I got one page on the guy the mother and best friend think did
it.
Chris: You gotta listen to the best friend. Teenage girls tell each other everything.
Lilly: Well Britt wrote two sentences on him then blew him off.
Chris looks up at her. She shows him the pad she’s reading.
She shrugs.
Lilly: You don’t have to come. You think it’s a dead case.
Tim: Like the v*olence done to Jill Shelby? No ma’am. I’m strictly a cerebral criminal.
Tim: She came over a lot. To get high. She and her little vixen friend, that Melanie.
Tim: Well if you marry the prime suspect I guess you better point to someone else.
Tim: A woman lives in a certain world, if the shining neighbour boy k*lled her daughter, that
world’s a lie.
Lilly: Britt has your alibi down here as going to bed at ten o’clock.
He laughs a little.
Tim: Bobby Jordan. This big luscious college boy down the street.
Tim: Neither of us was exactly out and proud at the time so we asked Britt not to document
the sleepover.
Tim: Teenage drama. They even told me things they didn’t tell each other. Like all the while
Jill was fretting that Todd doesn’t treat her right, Melanie was doing him on the side.
Fade Out.
Fade in on a statue in Todd Whitley’s front garden. Lilly and Chris walk in through the gate.
Melanie is sat on the grass playing with two children, when she sees Chris and Lilly walking
towards her she stands up.
Melanie: You can’t be here.
Lilly: Uh-oh.
Melanie: Thanks to you his brother came here last night. Drunk. After six years being sober.
Melanie: Look I’ve told you about Tim Dorn, why do you have to keep bothering us?
Chris: Dorn’s alibi checked out. We know about you and Todd stepping out on Jill back then.
Melanie stops.
Chris: You don’t want that lady. You should see our holding cell; your headband’ll get all
dirty.
Lilly: ‘Cause when you tell us one lie Melanie, even if it’s small, that makes us think you’re
hiding other things.
Melanie: It wasn’t Todd, okay? I know because I was with him that night.
Flashback to Melanie, Todd, Eric and Jill sat round the Whitley’s pool. I’m Not in Love by
10CC plays over the scene.
Todd: (To Jill) That is some top.
Jill smiles.
Jill: What?
Todd laughs.
She scoffs, looks away, then gets up and walks away. Eric gets up off his chair to watch her
go. He looks down at Todd.
Eric walks off the way Jill went, leaving Melanie and Todd alone.
Melanie: You know you could use some time in charm school.
Todd: Could I?
Melanie: Upstairs.
Melanie: So?
Chris: So why’d he fall off the wagon just cause Jill’s name came up?
Cut to Lilly hiding behind a tree. She peeps out looking for somebody. She sees Todd Whitley
leaving the rowing club. Lilly has a drink of her water and starts breathing really fast. She
dabs some water on her chest and face. She starts running and throws the water away as
she passes a bin. She runs over to Todd. He stops walking when he sees her.
Lilly: Two million people in this city, I gotta run into you.
Lilly: Alright look I’m sorry if I was obnoxious at all in your office.
Lilly: It’s just the way that you were looking out for Eric it was…
She keeps breathing like she’s out of breath and makes it look like she’s trying to catch her
breath.
Lilly: Todd I know that you were with Melanie that night.
Lilly: Which doesn’t add up with you saying you were with Eric so I figure that you just said
that to protect him.
Todd: Okay let’s say that I was with Melanie that night; you can understand why I wouldn’t
want the entire world knowing that, right?
Lilly: Right.
She nods.
Lilly: So why not just say that you were sleeping? Why give Eric an alibi?
Lilly: Eric did it. That’s why you can sleep at night and have a normal life and he’s a mess.
Lilly: When did the hard drinking start? After he k*lled her?
Lilly: Eric kills Jill, you clean up after him, brother’s keeper ever since. Am I close?
Todd: Tell me something Lilly. What is the point of all of this? After so many years?
Lilly: People shouldn’t be forgotten. Even if they are my kind of people. Maybe they don’t
have a lotta money, they don’t have lawyers but they matter. They should get justice too.
Todd nods.
Todd laughs.
John nods.
John: And now Bradley’s wondering when you’re going back on the line.
Lilly: He couldn’t pick me out of a line-up suddenly he’s tracking my career? Screw him.
Lilly looks from Nick to John. She gets up and walks out.
Cut to another part of the building. Lilly meets with Eric who is starting to leave.
Lilly scoffs.
Lilly: I had something to do with it? All I did was bring up Jill, why’s that send you on a
bender?
Eric: Then why don’t you take a hint and back off?
Lilly: ‘Cause something tells me you and I are one scotch away from a good conversation.
Cut to a police car pulling up outside the building the next day.
Cut to Lilly walking into homicide. Will is stood near the door looking through a filing
cabinet.
Lilly: Hey.
Lilly: Huh.
She walks further into homicide towards the interview room, putting her bag on a chair as
she walks past.
Cut to the interview room. Lilly and Chris are sat with Evelyn. Evelyn is opening a box.
Evelyn: I kept my own box on Jill. It’s been packed away for years. I thought maybe it could
help.
Lilly: Good.
Evelyn: Melanie told me about her and Todd in high school, behind Jill’s back.
Lilly pulls some pictures out of the box of Melanie and Jill.
Chris: Yeah. Well he doesn’t have an alibi for that night and, uh, he was pretty sick in love
with your daughter.
She opens the yearbook to a certain page with a picture of a boy on.
Evelyn: Ann Winters' son. A few years after Jill d*ed; he said something to Ann about the
Whitley’s getting away with m*rder.
Lilly: If Britt talked to him I’d have a record of it. He was meticulous.
Evelyn: Well I don’t know I mean I hounded him about it. He said it came to nothing, that I
should stop bringing it up, stop pointing fingers at the Whitley’s.
Evelyn: I guess we both know what it’s like to have a husband fail you.
Chris looks at Lilly, surprised. Lilly smiles and looks at Chris out of the corner of her eye. Lilly
leans forward and grasps Evelyn’s hand.
Lilly: We’ll find Charlie Winters, Evelyn. We’ll talk to him and we’ll let you know what he
says.
Evelyn nods. Chris looks at Lilly and Lilly leans back in her chair.
Fade Out.
Clear Vista
Meditation Retreat
Quiet Please.
Cut to a clearing in the woods. People are doing meditation exercises. Lilly and Chris walk
into the clearing and up to the group. Charlie Winters is stood observing the group. He turns,
sees Lilly and Chris and walks over to them. The camera shows Lilly and Chris walking to
meet him. The camera goes back and a younger Charlie is walking to them. There is a flash
and present day Charlie is back.
Charlie: Uh, thanks for coming out. I can’t really leave the retreat.
Lilly nods.
Lilly: Yeah. You told the cops you didn’t see anything.
Charlie: And then I came to the Shelby’s with some good information. And I got the brush
off.
Charlie: So?
Lilly: Charlie, Evelyn Shelby’s the one who told us about you.
Charlie: Screw Evelyn Shelby okay? I tried to help her years ago. She wouldn’t hear it.
Lilly: Your right Charlie but she’s not afraid now and we wanna hear.
Charlie: Okay.
Todd: What?
We see Charlie watching them from under his hat. The brothers are arguing about a jacket
that they’re both holding.
Todd: That’s what you were thinking about, that stupid jacket? Just leave things to me.
Todd walks off and we see a tennis racket in his hand. Eric is holding the jacket to his face, it
has blood on it.
Charlie: There was this, uh, one year that Eric did wrestling and Todd couldn’t wrestle to
save his life.
He laughs a little.
Charlie: I think it was the only thing that he could do better than Todd.
Lilly nods.
Cut to Lilly walking up to a school, where parents are picking their children up. She walks up
to Melanie putting her children in her car.
Lilly: I need a couple of minutes. I, I have to tell you something that is gonna be hard to here.
Todd was seen with the m*rder w*apon that night.
Lilly: You were asleep after drinking all night. He could of got out of bed later.
Lilly: He was involved with the m*rder Melanie. That’s someone that you don’t know very
well.
Melanie thinks about it. She looks away for a minute and then looks back.
Lilly nods.
Melanie: They’re talking every night. They’re arguing. Todd keeps telling Eric to stay away
from Tabby’s.
Melanie: They have an aunt, Tabitha. She has a house in Chestnut Hill. It was-it was close to
where we all used to live.
Lilly: Pack a bag for you and the kids. You’re coming with me.
Cut to Lilly walking through the police car park later that night. She gets her car keys out of
her pocket. Todd steps out in front of her.
Todd: Hey.
Lilly is startled.
Lilly: Safe.
She starts to walk past him but he grabs her arm. She jumps away from him.
Lilly laughs.
Lilly: Is this how you handle women you can’t control? Is this supposed to scare me?
Lilly: I’m not like the girls you’re used to, Todd. You can’t try to charm me, then when that
doesn’t work talk down to me. Then when that doesn’t work get aggressive. I’m not Jill or
Melanie. I’m the police and we’re at the police headquarters you moron.
Lilly: What’re you gonna do? k*ll me in the parking lot of Central? You think you’ll get away
with it again? (Whispers) I know about Tabby’s. (Normal) I’ll have a warrant tomorrow and
guys are sitting on it right now. Whatever you hid there, we’re about to find it. (Whispers) So
it’s over.
Todd: Okay.
Todd: Okay.
Cut to Todd sat in an interview room. Lilly and John watch him in the observation room. Lilly
sighs.
She sighs.
Cut to a bar. Eric is sat there having a drink. Lilly walks up next to him and sits down. Eric
looks at her and then does a double take as he realises who it is.
Eric: Look I can’t talk to you. My brother chewed me out the day you came by.
Lilly: Oh, he told me about you and Jill. How you were in love with her.
Lilly: …no-one was around but drop you at the second Todd showed up.
Eric: Look I already told you that she was like that.
He has a drink.
Lilly: I don’t think there’s time for another. I have to arrest you.
Lilly: He told me you did it and that you came to him for help afterwards and you two buried
the jacket at your aunt’s house.
Lilly: Because she humiliated you. She accused you of watching them.
Lilly: It’s his story against yours. And you’re the problem drunk who never got his life
together so if you have anything to give me, you should do it now.
Eric: Look he ruined my jacket. He got his blood all over it. Hers too.
Todd: Hi gorgeous.
He stands up.
Todd: So you finally got a taste of her, huh? Now you have something real to jack off to.
Jill: Todd!
Todd: Have you seen him in the window watching us have sex?
Todd and Eric both walk towards Jill and she backs away.
Jill: assh*le.
Todd: b*tch.
Eric: Don’t.
Todd: (To Eric) Shut up! You’re so pathetic.
She gives him the finger. He backhands her across the face; she gasps and falls to the
ground. She gets up and pushes her into the chain link fence. She falls over and curls up in a
ball. He picks the tennis racket up at his feet and hits her repeatedly. Eric stands there
watching him, shocked. End of flashback. Resume to present.
Cut to Eric in an interview room giving Lilly his statement. Have You Ever Seen the Rain? by
Creedence Clearwater Revival plays over the following scenes.
Cut to the back garden of Tabitha’s house. Lilly, John and a photographer stand over a man
kneeling over a hole in the ground. He pulls out the tennis racket.
Lyrics: It’s been coming for some time / when it’s over so they say / it’ll rain a sunny day I
know
Cut to outside police headquarters. There are lots of people outside. It’s pouring rain. The
car pulls up with Todd in the back. This scene is all in slow motion.
The camera cuts a little and present day Todd is back. He looks over and sees young Eric
being helped out of another car by Chris.
They walk up to Lilly and Todd and present day Eric is back.
Lilly looks up at people stood on a little ledge watching the scene holding umbrellas. We see
Bonita.
Lilly continues to lead Todd inside. We see young Melanie watching him.
Someone walks in front of her. When they move, older Melanie is back.
Eric looks through the crowd and sees Evelyn watching him.
Lyrics: Have you ever seen the rain? / Coming down a sunny day
Lilly hands Todd to a police officer who takes him inside. Lilly looks at the crowd and sees
Melanie and Evelyn stood together.
Lyrics: I wanna know / Have you ever seen the rain? / I wanna know / Have you ever seen
the rain?
Lilly looks at another part of the crowd and sees Jill Shelby in the middle of some police
officers.
Fade to Blac
End Credits.