Bill sits at his desk and looks at his closed laptop. He takes a drink and stares at the laptop.
Brady sits in his basement workshop and waits for Bill to log on to Blue Umbrella.
Deb watches a newscast about the car bombing. She calls to Brady to watch the news, and he says that he’s busy.
Bill finally logs on and begins a video chat with Mr. Mercedes. Brady says that he doesn’t look so good, and Bill tells him that he survived. His tormentor says that he got a sudden urge and asks if Bill loved Janey. Bill doesn’t say anything, and Brady takes that as a yes.
Deb makes supper and looks in the freezer. She finds Brady’s poisoned hamburger and, unaware of what it is, takes it out.
Brady figures that Bill is drinking again and warns him that it will feel worse in the morning. He says that the tragedies come down to cars in the end, and points out that Bill had Janey drive his car. Brady tells Bill that he can make the noise in his head by shooting himself. Ida comes in and Bill hastily closes his laptop. He yells at her to get out, and Ida tells him that he shouldn’t be alone. Bill asks if she wants to die next for being too close to him, and says that he needs her car. Ida gives him the keys and he leaves.
Deb tries some of the hamburger that she’s cooking. She pours in some sherry and takes another bite. Deb then goes to the basement door and knocks, calling that supper is ready. Brady says that he’s busy, and Deb feels ill. She starts vomiting.
Brady waits for Bill to log back on.
Deb starts coughing up blood and moans in pain. Brady finally comes upstairs and finds Deb on the kitchen floor, covered in blood from biting through her lower lip. He realizes that she ate the poisoned hamburger and she yells at him to call 911. Brady starts to call but realizes that it would reveal what he had planned. He tries to get her to drink some saltwater to vomit out the poison, but it’s too late. She spits up the saltwater and Brady administers the Heimlich. Despite his efforts, Deb dies.
Bill drives down the highway.
The next morning, Brady cleans up the kitchen and then drags Deb’s corpse it up the stairs to her bedroom. He puts it in the bed and then washes off the blood as best he can. Brady tries to close her eyelids but they won’t stay shut. Finally he covers her over with a bed sheet.
Holly goes into the bathroom and puts each of her toiletries into a separate bag. When she comes out, Charlotte tells her that they’re going home. Art notes that they won’t release Janey’s remains for at least a week, and he’ll come back alone when they’re done with the autopsy. Holly refuses to leave the body and says that they have to make sure Bill is okay. Charlotte tells her that she doesn’t give a damn about Bill and insists that they’re going. Holly says that she’s 31 and can make her own decisions, and goes into the bathroom and locks the door. She texts Bill, asking where he is.
Bill drives to the rehab house and asks to see his daughter Allie. When the receptionist tells him that it’s not visiting hours, Bill says that it’s an emergency. An orderly comes over, and Bill tells him to fuck off.
Pete and Izzy discover that Bill isn’t home, and talk to Ida. When Pete says that Bill won’t pick up for him, Ida calls him but it goes direct to voice mail. Pete gives Ida his personal number and asks her to call him if she hears from Bill.
Bill meets with Allie and tells her that she might be in danger, and he likely is. She tells him that he looks like shit, and says that she gets out of rehab in a month if she’s ready. Bill asks her to tell him if it changes, and in the meantime he’ll try and add security there. Allie asks if he’s spoken to her mother, and Bill says that he isn’t in danger. After a moment, Allie complains that she hasn’t seen Bill in years and now he’s dumping it on her. Bill says that she’ll be okay there but can’t leave without his say-so, and tells her that he calls but she doesn’t pick up. He wonders if they give her his messages, and Allie tells him that she needs to go back to her room.
At the store, Brady watches another newscast on the car bombing. Robi and Josh come over and turn off the TVs, and Josh complains that Brady is scaring off the customers. Josh tells him that they’re selling escape and the future, and Josh has Brady tell him that Corporate wants to make the store a superstore to bring in customers. Lou comes in and she jokingly says that she’ll turn straight if it gets her job back. Robi points out that she sued him, and Lou says that she’s just there to see Brady.
Lou and Brady go outside, and she asks if he’s all right. She points out that he left her a hysterical voice mail and didn’t return her calls, and Brady claims that Deb had angina and he panicked. He says that he didn’t sleep much, and is impressed that Lou is selling Robi. Lou asks again if he’s all right, and Brady claims that he is and leaves.
Bill goes to the police station, and Pete asks where he was. His ex-partner says that he made sure Allie was safe, and asks Pete to post someone at the rehab. Bill figures that the killer will stay clear of his house so there’s no point posting anyone there. Pete advises him to check out a doctor about his mental condition, and Bill tells him that it’s none of his concern. After Pete apologizes for not listening to him before, he tells Bill to tell him everything again starting with Janey.
Brady drives home and finds Xxx at the door. Xxx says that FedEx delivered a package for Brady and he signed for it. He tells Brady that he was supposed to have lunch with Deb but she never showed, and asks if everything is okay. Brady says that he didn’t know they were dating, and that Deb went to Indiana because her best friend in high school opened a hair salon and wanted Deb to help her run it.
That night, Bill drives home and sees a strange car parked out front. When the driver turns on the headlights, Bill draws his gun and gets out. Holly gets out and says that she drove Olivia’s car and wanted to see how Bill was doing. Ida comes over and they go inside as Bill’s phone rings. He ignores it and pours himself a drink, and answers the phone when it rings again. It’s Charlotte, who asks him if he’s seen Holly. Bill tells her that she’s there, and Charlotte says that Bill killed Janey and now Holly is under his care. Holly takes the phone and goes into the next room to talk to Charlotte. Charlotte tells her to get back there in a half hour, and Holly says that she’s going to stay with Bill.
As Holly and Charlotte argue, Ida asks Bill how he’s doing. She figures that he’s going to drink himself to death, and Bill says that maybe he’ll do it after he kills Mr. Mercedes. Ida leaves and Holly hangs up and then takes some pills. Bill calls her over and gently points out that she’s taking a lot of them. Holly sits down and asks Bill if he has a plan to find Mr. Mercedes. He says that he’s going to call her a cab, and Holly tells him that she’s not going home to Charlotte. When Bill says that he’s going to call Charlotte, Holly warns that she won’t take kindly to it and Bill reconsiders.
Brady sits at home watching reality TV and hallucinates Deb watching TV with a young Brady and Graeme.
Bill takes Holly to Allie’s old room and Holly looks nervously around. She finally collapses on the bed and looks at the clouds painted on the ceiling. Bill turns off the lights, revealing the sticks of stars that he put up. Holly asks him about the Heaven that Janey talked about at the funeral, and if they’re all at Willow Lake. Bill hopes that it’s true and goes out, and then breaks into tears. Inside, Holly looks at the stars and then tries to sleep. She finally takes out Olivia’s laptop and manages to hack the password.
The next morning, Bill wakes up and hears Jerome and Holly talking. He goes to the dining room and finds them working on Olivia’s laptop together. Holly says that she cracked the password, and Jerome is helping her with something. Bill tells Jerome that he shouldn’t be there, and Jerome agrees before bringing up files on the laptop. They find an audio file of a woman screaming and a baby crying in the background. Holly figures that Olivia was telling the truth about hearing voices accusing her, and discovers the file was installed a year ago. The file was programmed to play three times and then shut down, and someone had to manually load it the first time before controlling it by remote. Bill tells them to pack it up and send it to the police.
Robi goes to Brady’s house and rings the bell. Brady finally opens the door and says that he’s sick. Robi complains that he needs him to help prepare for the upcoming gala, and a leader has to play through the pain. When Brady tells him that he should have thought about it before he started firing people, Robi wonders what is wrong with him. Brady says that he’s under the weather and needs his rest, and Robi tells him that he’s not working out and leaves.
At the station, Holly plays the file for Pete and Izzy while Bill looks on. Bill says that Mr. Mercedes came at him through his computer and TV, and they figure Mr. Mercedes is tech-savvy and had access to both houses. He suggests that it might be tied to the people they bought their computers from, and Izzy says that they’ll take it from there. Holly looks at Bill, who nods in agreement.
As they drive home, Bill tells Holly that it’s not safe to stay with him. Charlotte and Art are waiting at Bill’s house, and Holly accuses Bill of betraying her. Bill tells her that he can’t lose her as well, and Holly says that she will never be anything if she goes home with Charlotte. Holly gets out and gets into Charlotte’s car, slamming the door shut. Bill gets Holly’s things, and offers his condolences to Charlotte. She stares at him for a moment and then gets into the car, and they drive off.
Brady is cutting up apple slices and listening to a newscast about the opening of the Art Center. He turns up the volume and listens as they talk about the thousands of visitors. Satisfied, Brady says that there will be a celebration.
That night, Ida visits Bill and asks if he loved Janey. He says that he barely knew her, and that maybe he just loved the idea of loving someone. Ida says that there’s hope for him, and Bill tells her that he’s dead and now Mr. Mercedes needs to be.
Brady lies in bed next to his mother’s corpse, strokes her hair, puts his head on its shoulder, and gently sings. He then says that he had a girl once and never told Deb, and brushes the flies away from her corpse. Brady describes the girl, who was in science club with him, and how he wanted another life away from Deb. However, he doesn’t want that now and just wants the life he has for a tiny bit longer. Brady promises to make Deb proud with his masterpiece for all the ages, and then they’ll see each other again.
Written by Gadfly on Sep 28, 2017