Cold Case 8-8: Pieces of Mind

[valrush]

4

The apartment door opened to Nick Vera on the other side. “Vera, what are you doing here?” asked Will Jeffries.

Vera entered the apartment and was somewhat stunned by the jazz music he heard playing on an old record player. “That music doesn’t exactly scream you. I thought you liked country of all things.”

“Miles Davis was my wife’s personal favorite. I’ve been listening to it a lot more lately,” Will explained.

“I’m afraid to ask, but do they know anything yet?”

“I got x-rayed again; the spot on my lung is still there. It doesn’t look like it grew, but now they want to biopsy me in a week,” Will informed.

“Will, they’re asking about you at work. I don’t know how much longer I can keep covering for you; especially if you don’t show up,” Vera added.

“I’ll be in tomorrow, but Nick, I need you to keep silent about this for now. As far as I’m concerned I’m still strong enough to work, but if John finds out he’ll force me to retire and I can’t yet. I still have loose ends to tie up,” Will insisted.

Vera could only shake his head and sighed. “I always said they would have to bury you under your desk.”

“I appreciate what you’re doing for me, Vera. You’re a good friend,” said Will.

“Then as your friend I’m telling you to retire. There’s enough ways for a cop to get killed without him doing it to himself,” insisted Vera.

“I’ll be fine. You don’t have to worry about me,” Will replied. Nick, realizing there was nothing he could do, turned and left Will to his jazz record.

[valrush]

Across town, John Stillman met Carla at her hotel room. “This is all very surprising. I should look at my brother’s journal when you’re through. I had no idea he had a girlfriend,” insisted Carla.

“That’s why I came here. We’ve hit a snag in the case and I was wondering if you knew anything else that might help us,” said John.

“Like I said, I didn’t even know about his girlfriend. He never seemed interested. In fact, when my family picked him up for Easter break that semester our mother noticed some girls walking about wearing the campus uniform. She asked about them and he just said ‘Yes, they let girls in now.’ He didn’t sound excited or annoyed or anything; he just said it like it was a fact in one of his math problems. He always liked holidays and especially Easter ham, but he just seemed so distant the whole time he was home,” Carla explained.

John stood up from the black sofa where he was seated. “Carla, we think your brother was involved in some underground political activity on campus. He was part of a group that was helping the girls get sex education and contraceptives. He was probably trying to keep their secret.”

Carla touched a hand to her chin. “I always wondered if that was him.”

“What?”

“There’s one other thing I found in my brother’s old things. Clover Hills would send newsletters home to families every couple of months,” Carla informed. She pulled a long, folded bundle of papers out of one of her suitcases. “This was the last one my family received shortly after Brandon was killed.”

John unfolded the paper and examined the front page; the Clover Hills logo took up the top two inches, followed by a headline, and a massive photograph that took up the rest of the page. “’Unrest In Front Of Girls’ Dorm’.”

“I didn’t think it would be relevant, but now with you telling me this… I remember I was the one to get the mail that day. I saw that photograph, and… there’s a face near the left side that’s partially obstructed by another face and a protest sign. But still, I always thought it looked a little like Brandon,” Carla explained. She took a seat on the bed. “My brother was a revolutionary; I guess that’s something I can brag about.”

“This article says it’s dated May 29, 1966. That’s a day before the bodies were found. Why didn’t you show us this right away?” asked John.

“Can you even do anything with it? The print is rather faded now. I thought that might even be a sign that it might be too late to get justice for my brother,” insisted Carla.

John walked toward the door and started out. “Mrs. Guest, it’s like I tell my people; with the right technology and the right questions it’s never too late.”

[valrush]

Paul Cooper met Lilly and Scotty outside of a hospital room. Lilly sat staring at the copy of the Clover Hills yearbook in her lap. “It’s my fault; I pushed him too hard.”

“I’ve been seeing that man in the park a long time, Lilly. I never saw him get violent,” insisted Paul.

A doctor in green scrubs walked out to them. “He’s made it. We’ve managed to stabilize him and he is lucid. But we will be keeping him overnight for observation; it’s standard procedure with a suicide attempt.”

“Is he up for visitors?” asked Valens.

“Go easy on him detectives. He’s already in a fragile state,” the doctor insisted as he took them to the white room where Alex was being kept.

“Alex, it’s Rush and Valens. Do you remember us?” asked Lilly.

Alex’s lips parted and he let out a whisper. “C-cops.”

“Yes, we’re the ones who have been asking you questions, and you’ve been helping us. You’ve been talking to us; that couldn’t be easy for you,” insisted Lilly. “We know about your history with psych wards, Alex. We know why you haven’t spoken in over forty years; it’s because you feel guilty about watching your friends die and not being able to stop it.”

Alex froze. “But you have been talking to us a little. You seemed to trust us and I think I know why,” Scotty informed. He flipped through the yearbook until he came to a series of freshman class pictures. “I do kind of look like Brandon, and I suppose with her hair down Rush does look a little like Shawna. It’s like watching your friends come back to life, isn’t it?”

Alex took the yearbook and started to speak slowly. “But they’re dead… be-cause of mmme.”

Scotty’s head turned and he took two steps closer to Alex. “Alex, you were just a scared kid that night. It’s not your fault if you couldn’t stop what happened.”

“It… is. I b-broke… the… glass,” Alex stuttered.

Scotty did not want to ask but he had to, “The glass from the trophy case?”

“No, the… ssssscience lab. That was… where weee... made our last ex-change…”

[valrush]

Johnny Rivers: “Secret Agent Man”

 
“I ran… in-to the… school. I had… a deeeelivvvvvvvv-ery for… Shawna. I knew they… were in… the lab… worrrking… on a… sssscience project. I… t-tapped the… outside… sssaying, ‘The queen’s… b-bishop sends a… pawn.’

“’Where have… you… b-been? Ly-d-dia… is… ,’ asked B-Brandon.

“I saw… Shaw-na… standing… b-by the… . I gave… her two… bot-t-tles of… the pills. ‘These are… yours, and these… go to… the… g-girl in… 3-12,’ I said.

“Shawna… sssat a… bottle… on the… ledge… and said,… ‘Queen’s white knight.’

“I saw… L-Lydia… outside. She took… the pills… from… the ledge. Then… I ssstarted… to walk… a-wwway, but… my foot… kicked… a t-table… and an… empty g-glass… b-broke on… the fffloor.

“A… man… sssshouted, ‘What… the… hell!’ FFFootsteps… c-came… c-closer, and… I saw… it D-Dansworth. I hid… in… the c-closet as… he… came in. ‘Is Evvvveryone… alright?’ he asked. Then… he saw… the p-pills. ‘Young llllady, where… d-did you… g-get these? These… are… il-legal.’

“Shaw-na… threw the… other… bottle down… t-to Lydia. Dansworth… rrrrran to… the… and ssssaw her. Then he… t-turned and… said, ‘I think… it’s t-time… to c-call… MMMMMiss Gayle!’.”

[valrush]

“They d-died… t-two days… later,” Alex added. “MMMMiss Gayle… Miss G-Gayle.”

“What, Alex? Miss Gayle killed them?” asked Scotty.

“Miss G-Gayle… Miss G-Gayle…”

“Scotty, maybe we should just let him rest. I don’t think we’re getting any more from him tonight,” insisted Lilly.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” said Scotty. “Let’s go bring in Cynthia Gayle. She didn’t tell us this part of the story.”

[valrush]

Back at the station John met Nick and Kat at their desks. “Rush and Valens are bringing in Cynthia Gayle now. I ran that photograph through facial recognition software. It’s confirmed, the boy at the far left of this picture is Brandon Lake,” John explained.

“So the sister was right,” said Miller.

“Yeah, but there’s still something off about this scene. I can’t find Shawna. I can see Lydia in the front, that’s Daniel, and that’s Alex in the last row, but no Shawna. That seems odd considering she was the one who really got behind this cause,” insisted John pointing at the various faces.

“Something still doesn’t add up here. Assuming this is all about the pills; if a student breaks the rules, you kick them out of school. You don’t kill them,” Miller explained.

“It’s not just about the pills,” said Vera as he flipped through the pages of Brandon’s journal. “I’ve been taking another look at that kid’s journal to see if it mentioned the Enovid conspiracy again. The page I found was dated a while before Brandon was killed, but—yeah, this is it—it looks like Brandon had some serious dirt on the school…”

[valrush]

Lesley Gore: “You Don’t Own Me”

 
April 6, 1966
 
“I haven’t been able to speak for most of the day, but If I don’t get out what I saw I’ll explode.

“I went to Mr. Dansworth’s class room before quiz team practice today to ask about Shawna; she wasn’t in class again today. But when I got to his room I saw he was already leaned up against his desk talking with Lydia. ‘So Lydia, how are you liking Clover Hills so far?’

“’It’s a new experience. It’s certainly different from my old school; here I can actually discuss Chaucer or Whitman or Socrates with people who actually have a clue,’ she replied.

“’That’s certainly true, but even so it can’t be easy being a new student. Especially here, in a school that was never really intended for young girls,’ insisted Mr. Dansworth.

“’I have run into a few jerks while I’ve been here, but mostly I like it,’ said Lydia.

“’But being a girl also comes with some advantages; like with the quiz team for example,’ he insisted.

“’Really, I don’t see how,’ Lydia asked.

“ ‘Well, with Shawna off the team we have a space open for one of the starters. I can make it happen if you do something for me,’ he said as he walked a little closer to her.

“’What do you need me to do?’ she asked.

“’I think you know,’ said Dansworth.

“’No, I really don’t,’ Lydia said nervously. Dansworth took a long breath as he started stroking Lydia’s hair. ‘What are you doing?’

“’Oh come on, you’re a smart and beautiful young lady. You know how to get that spot on the team if you want it. The question is how badly do you want it?’ he whispered in her ear. Dansworth ran his hands up and down Lydia’s body until they were both firmly cupping her breasts. He tried to hold her tighter, but she broke free and ran for the door. It almost took my head as she ran past me.

“’Lydia? Lydia!?’ I kept shouting as I chased after her, but I don’t think she heard me. I chased her out of the building and that is when I lost her.

“It suddenly occurred to me at that point that he must have done this to Shawna too. That settles it; I’m done being on the fence. Tonight I am telling Shawna that I am ready to be the white king.”

[valrush]

“Whoa,” said Miller. “I’d say there’s your destroyer.”

“There’s your motive; Brandon witnessed a sexual assault. Shawna was probably one of this guy’s victims,” added Vera.

“And Clover Hills covered it up,” said John.

[valrush]

5

Scotty and Lilly sat across from Cynthia Gayle in the gray interview room. “You lied to us, Cynthia,” said Scotty. “You really did have an issue with Shawna Miles: Brandon Lake and Lydia James too for that matter.”

“But what we don’t get is why not kill Lydia too? She could have exposed your secrets too. Is the leap from two murders to three really that much?” asked Lilly.

“This is madness! What secrets?” asked Cynthia.

“Does the name Elvin Dansworth ring any bells?” asked Scotty.

“The History teacher?” asked Cynthia.

“Believe me lady; I’d rather have him in here. That bastard is lucky he’s dead,” insisted Scotty.

“But you aren’t much better covering up what he did,” insisted Lilly.

“Covering what up?” demanded Cynthia.

“Come off it! It’s not that much of a leap! You threatened to kick them out of school when they were busted with contraceptives—“

Cynthia sighed. “So you know about the Chess Club.”

“Yes, we do. Did one of those kids give you that name?” asked Lilly.

“They didn’t have to; I already knew about them,” insisted Cynthia.

“What do you mean you already knew?” asked Lilly.

“Those kids thought they were so smart with their code names and secret messages. If they were so smart they wouldn’t have held their meetings next door to the girls’ dormitory where my office was,” informed Cynthia.

“But it was illegal for them to have those pills. Why not bust them sooner?” asked Lilly.

“Detective, I had no problem with the pill; I was on the pill when I was younger and married of course. I figured if they were going to do things, then let them use the pill and at least be safe about it,” Cynthia explained. “At least, that’s what I used to think. Now all you seem to hear about birth control is how it kills people. But anyway, when Dansworth busted those three and threatened to go to the headmaster if I didn’t handle it; my hands were tied. I had to protect the other girls.”

“That’s bull! You protected Clover Hills!” yelled Scotty.

“Which included the futures of my girls. Coeducation was new. If the headmaster had found out about girls smuggling illegal contraceptives on to the grounds, he would have called it a failed experiment and disbanded the program,” Cynthia explained.

“So that’s it; you saw no way out. Either the headmaster found out about the pills and shut down the program, or Brandon and Shawna threatened to tell their families about what that scumbag Dansworth was doing to the girls,” added Lilly.

“You keep talking like that but I swear I don’t know what you mean. There was no blackmail threat,” insisted Cynthia.

“Come on! With what they knew they had to threaten you with it! You had to kill Brandon and Shawna at that point, and then I guess Lydia got the message: keep your mouth shut!”

“I didn’t kill them.”

“Here’s the thing; that secret still could have gotten out!” yelled Scotty. He opened his briefcase and threw down a brown, leather book. “Brandon Lake kept a diary, genius! His sister brought it in! I bookmarked a page you might want to look at!”

Cynthia opened the journal to the page marked with a red tab. As she skimmed over Brandon’s words the color started to leave her face. She could only let out a deep sigh. “You’ll either think me a liar or a fool, but I’m afraid I have to plead ignorance. I didn’t know about any of this.”

“You really expect us to believe that you didn’t know what this guy was! Why would Brandon lie in a diary?” asked Scotty.

“It was 1966; nobody talked about sexual assault back them. They didn’t do background checks on everyone like they do today. But if what this journal says is true, it certainly does explain a lot,” Cynthia informed.

“Like what?” asked Lilly.

“Namely, why Lydia decided to round up a posse that day…”

[valrush]

Janis Joplin: “Me and Bobby McGee”

 
“Shawna, Brandon, and Lydia sat across from my oak desk. ‘You should know that we have searched the girls’ dorm and found 25 girls in possession of Enovid. A number of them have mentioned having contact with at least one of you. The question is who is supplying you with the pills?’

“’I’m not giving you anything,’ insisted Lydia.

“’Miss James, you are throwing away your future. We can’t allow those pills on campus; they’re illegal,’ I replied.

“’And do you know what? That’s the real crime,’ Lydia responded.

“’Miss James…’

“’No! Laws are supposed to protect us! Well, these pills protect us! Why is it illegal for a girl to keep herself safe?’ Lydia asked.

“To think I was actually dumb enough to believe what I said next. ‘That’s what the staff at this school is for.’ If I only knew.

“Lydia jumped up and rushed for the door. ‘Where do you think you’re going?’ I shouted.

“’To find friends. Like you said: 25 girls!’ Lydia replied.

“A few minutes later I was greeted to a mass of voices outside my window. I looked out to find Lydia leading a mass of students camped out in the courtyard by my office. They were holding makeshift protest signs—a few had actual poster board but most were just loose leaf paper taped to pens—and they were all changing, ‘YOU DON’T PROTECT US! YOU DON’T PROTECT US! YOU DON’T PROTECT US!’

“’Well, obviously I can’t do anything for her anymore. But if you two just give me a name you might still have a future here,’ I insisted.

“’You’re throwing her out for speaking up!’ Brandon replied.

“’YOU DON’T PROTECT US! YOU DON’T PROTECT US!...’

“’For your information, Mr. Lake, your friend was already on thin ice! I already had to discipline her once when Mr. Dansworth brought it to my attention that she got into a shoving match with him!’ I informed.

“And that’s when Brandon jumped up. ‘She didn’t… He said… Do you know what? Doc my GPA, expel me, do whatever you want! But you will never get that name from me!’

“’YOU DON’T PROTECT US! YOU DON’T PROTECT US!...’

“Brandon took a pen and a piece of paper from my desk. ’You’re making a mistake, Mr. Lake!’ I yelled as he went for the door.

“’I don’t think so! I don’t want a future that has this pit of lies in it!’ he said before leaving my office and joining the mob in the courtyard.”

[valrush]

“I still remember what he wrote: ‘Enovid protects them; you don’t!’I didn’t know what that meant until now; I suppose I should really call them heroes. 25 girls, I wonder how many of them were victims too. I protected nothing,” said a visibly shaken up Cynthia.

“So Brandon joined the protest, but Shawna stayed with you?” asked Lilly.

“I think she figured she was defeated. She broke and gave up the supplier. That’s why I thought Lydia did what she did; I figured she was just trying to protect her mother,” Cynthia explained.

“Emily James,” added Scotty.

“That was the name. We had to let her go that very day; the pill was still illegal after all,” explained Cynthia.

Scotty’s head turned. “You let her go that day?”

“Yes, not that it mattered once the bodies were found. After that we gave the students a two week mourning period, then final exams, and then the term ended and everyone was let go including myself,” Cynthia explained.

There was a knock outside the door. “Detectives!” called Stillman. Lilly and Scotty walked out into the hall. “I just thought you should know that Alex Bell is back in the conference room; the hospital released him into temporary police custody this morning.”

“Well, we just got a new motive. Shawna turned on the group and gave Emily up to the school,” said Scotty.

“The question is motive for whom? If Shawna gave up Lydia’s mother, then they both had a reason to kill her. Fifty-fifty is reasonable doubt for any jury,” insisted John.

“That means we need Alex to tell us who he saw,” insisted Lilly. The pair walked into the conference room to find Alex seated at the chessboard. “Alex, it’s Lilly and Scotty; I’m glad to see you up and moving again.”

Alex said nothing.

“Alex, we think we know who killed your friends, but with the little evidence we have we still need your help. We have it narrowed down to two,” Scotty explained. He took a white knight and a white bishop and placed them in the center of the board.

“She… used my…t-trophy. I thought… she sssssaw me. I thought… that meant… I… would b-be… nnnnext,” said Alex. “I got… ssscared. I was… sssuch a… c-coward.”

“You had a right to be scared that night. Anyone who wouldn’t be scared in that situation is an idiot,” insisted Lilly.

“Besides, you weren’t always scared. I saw that article in the newsletter that was written on the day of the protest. I saw the picture; you were in it. You fought to try and keep your friends in that school and to make contraceptives legal. You took a stand that day; I don’t think that’s what cowards do,” insisted Scotty. Alex froze.

“You started this, Alex, and now we need you to finish it. Who did you see that night?” asked Lilly. Alex’s hand shook as he pointed.

[valrush]

Rush and Stillman stood over Lydia and Emily in the interview room. “Did you know that I have a minor civil rights achievement to my credit? I am a first; there was never a female detective in Philadelphia homicide before me,” said Lilly.

“I don’t understand; you brought us in here to tell us that?” asked Emily.

“Well, it seems like I owe you a debt of gratitude,” insisted Lilly.

“We did some homework on you; it seems you had a career change after you left Clover Hills and went into politics,” said Stillman. He pulled a folder out of the leather briefcase he was caring and began flipping through it. “In 1967 you joined the National Organization for Women and really threw yourself into the cause. It says you planned protests in support of workplace equality, sexual harassment legislation, domestic violence shelters, and even worked on the failed campaign to pass the Equal Rights Amendment.”

“That depends on your definition of failure; the ERA passed in Pennsylvania,” Emily informed.

“I’m confused. I thought we were here to discuss some new lead you had,” insisted Lydia.

“We will, but I have one question. When exactly did that semester end?” asked Lilly.

“Somewhere around mid June I believe,” said Emily.

“We talked to Cynthia Gayle. She said it ended after the last final exam was given on Friday June 17, 1966,” added Lilly.

“That sounds about right. Why?” asked Emily.

“Because in our research we also found this,” said John as he turned a page in the file. “This is a government form indicating that you applied for unemployment benefits. It’s dated June 2, 1966. Now why would you apply for unemployment if you still had a job?”

“Mom, I don’t know what they think they’re doing, but don’t say anymore,” insisted Lydia.

“She doesn’t have to; Cynthia Gayle already gave us a statement. She told us about how Elvin Dansworth broke up the Chess Club. You were let go before everyone else, weren’t you?” asked John. “We know those kids gave you up.”

“If you insist on treating my mother as a suspect, then this interview is over,” insisted Lydia as she stood up and began to escort Emily from the room.

“This is anything but over. We have a witness!” explained John.

“A witness from 1966?” asked Lydia.

“He’s just come forward. He’s been a little hard to talk to, but he is cooperating with us! At the end of the day he put you at that crime scene, and we just caught you lying to us!” insisted John. Lydia pulled on her mother’s hand, but she refused to move.

“That had to be the most frustrating part; of all the people to break up your group it had to be him,” said Lily. John took Brandon’s journal out of the briefcase. “We found Brandon’s journal; we know what happened to you, Lydia. First he assaults you, and then he turns around and denies you the one thing that promised you just a little security. Did you know, Emily, what Dansworth did to your daughter?”

“They betrayed us; they had to pay!” insisted Emily.

“Mom, what are you doing?” asked a visibly shaken Lydia.

“That depends on your definition of betrayal! No one knew about this journal in 1966; he obviously kept your daughter’s secret until now! Plus he fought for you!” insisted John. He went back to the briefcase and pulled out the newsletter picture.

“Do you recognize this?”

Emily took the picture in her hands. “That’s from the day of the protest.”

“And this is Brandon on the front left; we matched this picture with the one we have in our records!” insisted John.

“He was ready to pack his bags for your cause; he wanted nothing more to do with that school,” added Lilly.

Emily went back to her seat. “I never knew he was there. He was against joining us at first. I just assumed—“

“Mom, I am no longer your daughter; I am your lawyer! Shut up and leave!” yelled Lydia.

“No Lydia, it was one thing when I thought they were both traitors, but this changes everything,” explained Emily.

“Tell us what happened, Emily; you at least owe Brandon that much!” replied John.

Emily sighed. “They were above average children at that school, but they were still children. They weren’t all as brave as Lydia…”

[valrush]

Cold Case Soundtrack: “The Badlands”

“The school handed down its decision after the mob disbanded; Lydia was expelled and I was terminated immediately. But when I couldn’t find Lydia in the dorm I assumed she was cleaning out her locker in the school building. I didn’t see Lydia on the first floor, but I did see Brandon and Shawna. I just saw red. I walked in with my packed suitcase and just started yelling, ‘I guess you two a pretty happy with yourselves aren’t you!’

“’Are you nuts, Miss James? After all that’s happened; what do we have to be happy about?’ asked Brandon.

“Lydia got expelled, I lost my job, but you to gave us up so you can stay!’ I yelled back.

“’What are you talking about? I don’t want to stay here!’ Brandon replied.

“’Don’t lie to me! Lydia told me everything! She said how you all got called into Gayle’s office and how she fought back and you two stayed behind! That means you gave me up!’ I screamed as I hurled my suitcase at the wall. It struck the trophy case shattering the glass.

“’Didn’t you see us on the courtyard today? I fought for you today!” Brandon kept insisting.

“But I of course didn’t believe that until now. I just kept yelling as I went to retrieve my suitcase, ‘Liar!’

“’It’s true! Don’t be angry with Brandon; it was all me!’ Shawna suddenly spoke up.

“’So you defend a fellow traitor! Well, at least I know you can be loyal to somebody!’ I yelled.

“’You think I’m happy about what I did! We’re just kids; I knew the school wasn’t going to listen to us! Look at that protest today; everyone involved is in danger of being expelled! I believe in you, Miss James, but I need to get to college before someone will listen to me and I need this school to get me there!’

“She was right about one thing; she was just a kid, but there was no reasoning with me. I just kept yelling, ‘You know Shawna, I didn’t force those pills down your throat! You came to me!’

“’I know, Miss James, but—‘

“I wasn’t about to listen to anymore justifications from a traitor. I grabbed the first blunt object I could feel, and I charged at them swinging and shouting, ‘YOU CAME TO ME! YOU CAME TO ME!’ I struck Shawna first. She went down slamming her head against the floor. Then I turned on Brandon with one final swing. ‘YOU CAME TO ME!’ Brandon’s body fell across Shawna’s; their heads were almost touching. Then when I saw they weren’t moving anymore I dropped the trophy, retrieved my suitcase, and bolted from the building.”

[valrush]

Simon and Garfunkel: “The Sound of Silence”

 
They charged Emily James with second degree murder. John and Lilly walked Emily past the conference room in handcuffs. She turned and saw the time-worn face of Alex Bell and knew instantly that this must be the witness they were talking about. Lydia called home to inform Daniel of what had transpired.

In the archive room Vera and Miller were walking with white file boxes. Vera stacked Brandon’s box on top of Shawna’s and marked them both CLOSED.

Later that night John met Carla at her hotel room. He explained that they confirmed that it was Brandon in the picture, and they drank a toast when he told her that they had someone in custody for the murders.

The following day Lilly and Scotty took Alex back to the park where they met Lilly’s father and explained the situation to him. Lilly challenged Scotty to one more game of chess. Alex watched as they played. Then he looked past them to an open board where he saw the ghosts of Brandon and Shawna playing against each other until they faded from view.

[valrush]

Audio PowerPoint slides also available.

[valrush]

AFTER THE SHOW

There was an inside joke between me and some of my friends who I shared these episodes with originally: "How's your chess game?".  It was an idea I had been toying around with since Season 2 Episode 19: "Strange Fruit" when we learned that Lily had experience as a chess player; could someone for whatever reason lose the ability to speak, but somehow use chess pieces to communicate? Thus was born the character of Alex Bell.  The name was a bit of a happy accident; I don't really know how I landed on it, but I kept it because there seemed a true irony about someone named Alex Bell, as in the inventor of the telephone, losing the ability to speak.  I also used to play chess; the opening scene between Brandon and Shawna was based on the last few moves of a chess game that I played against myself.

As for the inside joke, you have probably figured out by now that this episode had little to do with actual chess.  This was my first attempt and an older case, and I needed to come up with some type of major secret for these kids.  Nothing said secretive in the mid 1960s like sexual education, contraceptives, and ultimately sexual assault.  Thus came the idea for the Chess Club; perhaps this was ironic too as in my day being in chess club was your contraceptive.

I am fairly proud of this episode, but if I had it to do over again, there are some things I would do differently.  My first note is on the music.  I try to keep a 2-year range when choosing songs for an episode; two years before the date of the episode and two years after the date of an episode.  I have occasionally cheated this range, but I usually try to cheat it earlier rather than later.  I found out all too late that Janis Joplin's "Me and Bobby McGee" did not come out until 1971, well out of the range for this episode.  If I could do this over again, I would try to find a song that was more current for that time.

The second note was Brandon's journal.  It's a classic case of if I knew then what I know now.  I recently finished a class in Cryptology which is all about the mathematics of secret codes.  I devised an alpha-numeric code in that class that I think would have worked for Brandon's journal.  If he truly wanted to keep those secrets, he probably would have encrypted the information somehow.  If I had that to do over again, I would implement that code in his journal.

Regarding my book-end songs, I went with Aretha Franklin's "Think" because the episode featured a prodigy school and a big part of the back story was that most of these kids played chess.  I went with Simon and Garfunkel's "The Sound of Silence" at the end for two reasons.  Obviously there was Alex Bell's inability to speak for 40+ years, but there is also the silence maintained by the victims of Dansworth's abuse.  Sexual abuse was not discussed openly back then and was not often taken seriously either and so it often went unchecked.  Just think about how much better off we would be if they had taken these issues more seriously sooner.  Perhaps if they had been dealt with more seriously in the so-called "good old days", we would not have every politician digging up the ghosts of their opponent's old one night stands to sling mud at them 40, 50, 60+ years after the fact.