Original subtitles

No.

Tides Motor Inn. This is Tammy.

Hello? Anyone there?

Hello.

Uh, yeah, this is Nora Brannock

and, um... I need to see you right away.

Nora, how are you?

Not great.

I suppose Dean's told you that he's not staying at the house right now.

Yeah. The girl in the video... in the bedroom.

He told me that he doesn't know who she is.

Says he didn't sleep with her.

Hmm. That's what he told me, too.

And do you believe him?

I mean, I did.

Just doesn't seem like him.

I have to say, I like Dean a great deal.

But that video...

Your bedroom, a 17-year-old girl in pigtails...

It kind of speaks for itself.

What?

That word, "pigtails."

What about it?

It's just so specific,

and I just heard my friend Karen say it at the club a few weeks ago

and now you too.

Before that I don't think I heard it for 20 years.

But that's not what you called me about, is it?

No.

So, I wanted to look at his phone records,

so I could see if maybe there was a number I didn't recognize.

Hers. The girl.

There wasn't anything on his cell phone,

so I thought, "Shit, maybe he called her from the house."

"From the landline."

But that's not what I found.

Do you remember when we told you that I got a call at the motel

when I was there by myself with the kids?

Hello?

It was about 1:00 a.m...

Hello?

I remember.

So I checked the phone log, and there it is.

Right there.

1:04 a.m. to the motel from our landline.

Holy shit.

Miss Birch, I think my husband's the one writing those letters.

I think he freaked out.

We couldn't afford the house,

so he wanted out, but he couldn't tell me.

So he thinks, "If I can just scare her,

just enough, she'll want to sell the house."

I think it's Dean. He's The Watcher.

Hi! I'm Karen.

Karen Calhoun from Darren Dunn Realty.

Can we have a little chat?

I mean, the rumors are swirling

and, uh, I just want you to know that

I'm not going to ask for any of the details, okay?

My husband and I aren't ready to talk about it.

Do you understand?

Mm-hmm. Which is why I said that I'm not going to ask for any of the details.

Yeah.

I mean, even if you wanted me to know what actually did happen,

like, who were the bodies...

You know, I would just say,

"Uh-uh. Please, I don't want to hear it." You know?

We don't want to talk about it.

Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Yeah.

Yeah, well, look here, uh...

You know, I'm in real estate, right?

And I just want to say your house... your house is an absolute stunner

and you're directly across the street from the real prize.

Nora and Dean's house is just spectacular,

and everybody wants that house.

Anyway, can I just take a little moment here

and just say congratulations

for taking such good care of this amazing little nest egg,

because I know that you both are...

of a certain age and, you know...

I know you have that condo down in Florida.

How do you know that?

You're probably mulling over in your head,

like, "When are we going to flap our little snowbird wings

and move down there for good?"

You don't know that.

Well, what I do know is

that your house is now what we call a stigmatized property.

It's because of the murders.

It's just your house is probably going to go for way less than asking.

As much as 50%.

So, what do you want?

I would like to sell your house for you.

We're not listing it.

Well, you don't have to. Just... You just sell it to me.

Do you know Darren Dunn of Darren Dunn Realty?

That's my boss.

And, well, what we do is we work together,

we set up an LLC and then we buy houses,

and then we flip them.

And people are always really happy.

My family is going through a very difficult time. You can see that.

Have you no empathy, no dignity?

I get what I want, you know?

You were smart to come to me, Nora.

I spoke to my contact at the bureau.

He knows a handwriting analyst.

A guy he trusts.

I showed this guy the third envelope,

and the photos of the first two, and the samples you gave me,

of Dean's handwriting, birthday cards, valentines.

Now, he warned me that it's not the best sample.

We've got 30 letters, eight numbers, a slash and a comma.

Not a lot to work with, right?

Now, he couldn't say whether all of these letters were written by one person.

They're obviously similar,

but there's enough variance in a couple of the pen strokes between envelopes.

See, these two lines here, for instance.

One is an up stroke and the other is a downstroke,

so he can't tell whether it's one person who has two ways of writing a slash

or whether there's a second person copying the first.

But here's something that he did notice.

Third envelope.

See the K in "Brannock"?

See that loop?

He said, in his experience...

...only about one in ten people do that.

Look here.

Your husband usually doesn't write in all caps,

but he did write in all caps on Valentine's Day five years ago.

The last line reads,

"I love you, Mrs. Brannock."

Look at that last K.

Now, I couldn't pin this guy down.

He kept going on about how this wasn't a good sample.

But I asked him, just his opinion,

what the likelihood was that the person who wrote that valentine

also wrote the words on that envelope.

What did he say?

He said he was 70% to 80% certain it was.

Why would he do this to his own family?

If this was his dream home.

He was excited about the kitchen, the town... It's not like I forced him.

He was just as enthusiastic as I was.

He may have wanted to please you, Nora.

I think he still does and that's why he can't come out and admit it.

I think he got in too deep.

He thought he could afford something, then realized that he couldn't.

In fact, I know that's what happened.

What?

I went to the bank where you got your loan.

I talked to the guy, off the record.

His friend, Steve,

he told me about the hoops he had to jump through with his boss

to get you that house.

Dean cashed out just about every investment to secure that loan.

Stocks, bonds, your IRA.

But you had to have known that, right?

Because you had to have signed off on it.

Well, I... I guess I...

There were a lot of things to sign...

Okay. That's all... Yeah, one more.

...and I guess I didn't read the fine print...

What are these?

Uh, this is just some IRA stuff.

The Roth. Just sign there, initial there.

...and let him take charge.

Yeah.

And...

And I knew... I knew all of our money was going into the house. I...

Literally all of your money, Nora.

Except your AMEX card

and a checking account with about ten grand in it.

So, when you decided to renovate the kitchen and the basement

on top of the mortgage,

the money really wasn't there. So he goes back to his friend Steve.

But, Steve, he said, "There is no way I can approve a second loan."

"But, you know, there are some folks

who could lend you some money,

as long as you pay them back."

That wasn't a refi, Nora.

That was a high-interest loan on $150,000.

What the fuck.

I know. It is a lot.

Okay, hold on.

This is only a problem until he makes partner, right?

Sweetie...

Dean got passed over for partner.

- When? - I don't know.

He told Steve a few weeks ago,

but Steve isn't exactly sure when it happened.

So, suddenly, not only does Dean realize he's bought a house that he can't afford,

he now has a high-interest loan from some shady people

and there is no way he's going to be able to pay them

anytime soon.

He needed a way out.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Nora, I am so sorry that we had to find out this way.

But I have to tell you something, sweetheart.

We now know who The Watcher is.

Hey, Andrew.

What's... Where are you going?

Where the fuck are you going?

Hey! Hey, motherfucker!

- The fuck. Let me go! - It's fine!

Everything's fine! Why are you running away from me, bro?

Why are you chasing me?

- Because you lied to me. - No, I didn't!

You lied to me. You're an actor.

- You didn't tell me you were an actor. - You didn't ask!

Are you lying to me? Did you live in my house?

- Yes, asshole! - Okay.

What about Mitch and Mo?

Still think they're members of some blood cult?

That shit about your kid?

Oh, fuck you! Everything I told you is true.

If you don't want to believe it, that's on you.

But you stay the fuck away from me, you fucking psychopath.

Fuck.

Nora?

I didn't know you were coming. You should've let me know.

Hi.

What's wrong?

Oh, nothing. I... I was just...

Well, it looks like almost every piece is sold.

- Please sit. - I can't believe it.

Let me get you some water.

Thank you.

I probably shouldn't know this,

but, you know, people have nothing better to do these days than to gossip,

and I heard what's going on with you and Dean.

Yeah. Well, every marriage hits a rough patch, right?

I thought we had ours, but it's nothing like this one.

Well, can I just say then, this show...

It's a real eye-opener because it's telling me,

"Hey, if you and Dean can't work it out, you can support your family."

How many artists can say that these days?

Seriously.

I want you back here with another show next month.

How does that sound?

Well...

I mean, yeah, of course.

Good. Good.

Hello?

I saw you!

Dean! Is that you?

- Oh, God. - Oh.

Someone's a little jumpy.

What is that saying? Um...

"A mistress who is strung too tight

has secrets that she keeps at night."

I'm sorry. You just scared me.

I didn't know if you'd heard,

but Mitch and Mo, your neighbors across the street...

Turns out they weren't murdered in the face with a shotgun.

I don't know whose funeral I went to.

Wait, but someone was shot, though.

I mean, we saw bodies being wheeled out, and my husband heard gunshots, so...

I don't know that we can necessarily trust your husband at this point.

- I mean... - Okay.

What is it you need from me exactly?

I'm going to host a luncheon tomorrow for Mo,

you know, just to be a good neighbor and all.

A good old-fashioned Yankee potluck.

- Hmm. - I really think you should be there.

Twelve o'clock. I won't take no for an answer.

- Okay. - Okay.

You wouldn't mind bringing a casserole? Do you have a recipe?

Not off the top of my head, but...

Nixon chicken, then.

Preheat the oven to 425,

brown some boneless chicken,

put it in a 8/12 casserole dish.

Add broccoli, a can of cream of mushroom soup,

sprinkle cheese over the top, cheese of your choice...

Myself, I prefer a nice sharp cheddar.

And then bake for 35 minutes.

- Okay. - Right?

Nixon chicken.

I'll see you tomorrow.

Pearl, it's funny. I don't think I've been...

inside your house in, what, 20 years? But it's...

It's exactly as I remember it.

Mmm. My parents bought this house right after they were married in the 1940s

and they never redecorated.

So, you know, I didn't either.

I just wanted to preserve it just as it is.

I know what this luncheon is really about.

When my son was in high school, he got into the drugs

and, it can do this, it triggered some mental illness.

The paranoia... He hears voices.

We hadn't seen him in a while

and the last time we spoke was to tell him about my cancer,

that it was treatable,

but who knows how long I've got.

And that Mitch and I were going to Florida.

But while we were on vacation,

he went to a homeless shelter in New Haven and he found two elderly people...

with the same body types as his father and me.

And he brought them back to our house.

And he shot and he killed them.

My God.

To collect the insurance money.

And then... Well, I might as well say this.

There's a rumor you've been getting some nasty letters, Nora.

And as soon as I heard, I immediately thought,

"Oh, no, it's Christopher."

Mo, it's so funny that you would say this because all this time,

I've been thinking it was Jasper that wrote those letters.

- You're kidding me. - No. I don't have any proof.

It's just a feeling that I have.

He has such an attachment to that house of yours,

and a few weeks ago,

I remembered something that happened, like, five years ago.

I got a letter in the mail.

It wasn't long.

Um...

"An ode to a house," it said.

And then it was something like,

"Dear Miss Winslow, I love your house."

"I love looking at it. I love how different it is."

"Your house is so special."

"I'm so glad you haven't changed it."

Do you still have it? Could I see it?

No, I threw it away.

But, I...

For some reason, I always thought it was Jasper who wrote it.

I mean, at the time we had been talking about repainting the house,

and I thought maybe it was his way of saying he didn't want that.

And the handwriting? Does it look like his?

- It was typewritten. - Oh.

But he loves going to the library and they have typewriters there.

He says he didn't do it.

But it's stuck with me.

Oh...

Is... Is Jasper here?

No. No, he's at his craft class at the community center.

Oh.

Is someone else here?

Oh, I hope it's a gentleman caller.

Just because a woman's over 50 doesn't mean she doesn't have needs.

Isn't that right, Pearly?

Yes, Mo, that's right.

Mom?

- Sorry, you... - Can I talk to you?

Yeah, of course.

What is it, sweetie?

I know I screwed up with Dad.

I...

I realize that, like,

whenever somebody makes me mad,

there's just nothing I won't say to hurt them.

Nothing I won't do.

Even if I know I'll regret it later.

It's okay, sweetie.

We'll get through this.

Ode to a house.

Our neighbor, Pearl, she got a letter years ago

and that was the title, "Ode to a House."

It was a love letter, really, but to their house.

And she thought her brother wrote it.

And Maureen,

she thinks her son's writing the letters to us.

But you think it's Dad.

No, I...

I don't believe it's him.

Just hear me out.

Okay, you said you didn't sleep with that girl in your bedroom

- and I didn't believe you, right? - Right.

Well, I was curious as to see who she was.

So I went through the footage

to find out if I can find the license plate on her car,

because what you said didn't make sense.

But get this.

Not only does she not show up to your house in a car,

she didn't show up at all.

I mean, I've gone through...

...every second of footage from every angle,

all the way back to the day I put those cameras in, okay?

And she didn't show up in any of the footage.

Only place she shows up is your bedroom.

Wait. What do you mean?

Dude, I don't know how she got inside your house.

What's going on?

Hey, Dad.

Can we talk?

Hey.

So, what are we saying?

The girl in the cherry dress is a ghost?

No. I mean, you know, that's a little far out,

but there's cameras covering the entire exterior of your house, right?

And in our bedroom.

I took that one out.

- She watched me do it. - He did.

Ellie. Homework.

Point is, there's no footage of this girl ever going into your house.

None. I mean, she does not show up.

And you double-checked?

Mrs. Brannock, I've gone through it over and over...

because it's weird. Right?

Either this girl, like, parachuted onto the roof

and came down the chimney or she's just, like, always inside here.

Hiding.

Or there's some other way in we don't know about.

This is just so creepy.

Look, when your husband first told me

that he didn't know who that girl was and that it was a setup,

I didn't believe him.

Now I do.

For what it's worth.

Can you give us a minute?

Yeah, of course.

I'm going to ask you some questions

and if you lie to me, I swear to God, it's over between us.

You understand me? It's over.

I'm not gonna lie to you.

Ask me anything you want.

Did you fuck that girl?

No.

I never saw that girl in my life.

I don't know how she got in the room. I never woke up.

I don't know how, but I swear to God I'm telling the truth.

Okay.

Are you writing those letters?

Answer me.

Just the last one. I'm sorry.

- I'm sorry, I panicked. - Oh, God. Jesus.

I panicked. I regret it so much now, but I didn't know what to do.

Was it 'cause of the loan?

Why in God's name couldn't you tell me that you didn't make partner?

I didn't know how.

I didn't know how. I was in shock.

And you tricked me into signing away our entire savings,

our fucking retirement!

I know. I'm sorry.

- I know it looks bad. - Don't.

I'm sorry. I didn't know what to do. I...

Babe, you gotta believe me.

I...

I did not write those first two letters.

Okay.

Oh, God.

Nora.

Please don't divorce me over this.

Please.

I'm not saying I'll divorce you.

I'm not saying I won't.

Get your coat.

- Where are we going? - To see Detective Chamberland.

The DNA results from the first two letters should be in by now.

I think he's sitting on them.

So I called him and said if they're not in,

I will file a lawsuit against the police department.

Whoa.

You know what, funny story...

It turns out the results had come in a few days ago, a week tops,

and, my apologies, but some numbskull put it in my inbox

underneath a couple of stupid catalogs I was never going to look at,

so I didn't see it.

Look, Restoration Hardware, pinball company, vintage arcade.

It was right under here.

So, again, my apologies.

And you haven't opened that yet?

Nope. I was waiting for you good people to arrive.

Here we go.

All right.

These are for you to keep.

And...

Here we go.

Ah.

It's not a match with anybody in our database, unfortunately.

Huh. What the DNA sample did not contain was a Y chromosome,

so that means your Watcher is a woman.

So, you're back for good?

Like, you're not going to leave again?

For now.

It's not that easy being married to your Dad, you know.

I'm glad you're back, Dad.

So, where's that leave us? Who are our female suspects?

Uh... Well, Pearl, Mo, Big Mo, and Pigtails.

But I'll say it again, Andrew thought it was Mitch and Mo.

And now with the whole son murders thing, it just got weirder, right?

Mo thinks it's her son writing the letters.

- But that doesn't jive with the DNA. - No.

And then Pearl thinks it's Jasper writing the letters,

but then the DNA thing again.

Yeah, the DNA thing.

I think we should take a pause on this whole DNA thing. I...

I'm not sure that the DNA on the envelope

is the same as whoever wrote the letters.

- Why not? - I don't know. I just...

Whoever's writing these letters...

The lengths that they're going to to fuck with us...

Why wouldn't they take the extra little step of,

I don't know, putting gloves on to write the letter, right?

Letting somebody else lick the envelopes. Their mother, sister, girlfriend, whoever.

Boom. Female DNA, right?

And now we're chasing our tail again.

- That's what I would do. - Well, you'd know, wouldn't you?

Okay. Good, I deserved that.

Okay, so what's that mean?

Are you saying

the whole female DNA thing is not going to help us?

I don't think it does.

All that tells me is that whoever is writing the letters

is either female or knows a female,

which narrows it down to like the entire population of planet Earth.

What the...

- We're back to square one. - Hmm.

Hmm.

It's John Graff. I saw him. I talked to him.

No, you talked to someone you think was him.

Yeah, in this house.

The house that...

The house he lived in, and murdered his entire family in.

Then this girl just shows up in the house,

on video, wearing the same dress

that Graff's daughter was murdered in? Wearing pigtails?

You think that's a coincidence?

No. I don't, but I don't think that actually means it's John Graff.

They never caught him.

Cut his face out of every photo of him because he didn't want to be recognized.

So, why would he turn up at the one place

where everyone does know what he looks like?

It just seems stupid, right?

I mean, why would he do that? Just to... Just to harass us?

That doesn't make any sense.

And I'm sorry, but I just don't believe

that a 17-year-old girl is the mastermind behind all this.

Call me crazy, call me sexist, but she's not The Watcher.

Somebody hired her.

Occam's razor.

What's the simplest solution?

What's motivating someone to write those letters?

I don't know.

You wrote one. What were you trying to do?

- Make you give up the house? - Exactly.

And whoever's doing this really wants the house.

They've wanted it for a while and they want it for themselves.

Hey, sexy. I just want to confirm lunch.

I have one business thing left to do for the day

and then, uh, I'll see you there.

Hello?

- Hey, honey. - Hey.

I have big news.

You got an offer!

Oh, really? Good.

You're not going to...

Well, first of all, um, do we know who it is?

No, no, no. It's an LLC.

But it doesn't matter because it's an all-cash offer.

Okay, what's the offer?

You ready?

$1.9 million, cash.

I think you should take it!

What? No! We paid 3.3 million.

We're not selling it for 1.9, Karen.

Oh, come on. What are you talking about?

You know, it's probably because of the letters.

Some people think it's haunted...

Whatever, but my theory is I think it's probably a developer

that really likes the land.

He's going to tear down the house and salt the Earth and then rebuild.

Karen, no one's buying this house just to tear it down.

Nora, I seriously think you should consider it.

You need to talk to Dean and...

You know what? Maybe we can counter at like two even?

But look, I think you should factor in your emotional well-being.

I really do.

We won't do better than this.

Okay, uh, I'll think about it.

Okay. Call me back.

- Hi. - Hey.

Who was that?

It's nothing. Hey.

Hi. I was thinking I might cook dinner tonight.

'Cause I'm really, really good at it.

- Yeah. Sure. - Yeah?

Can I have the keys? I have to stop by the Country Club.

Yeah.

Hi. I'd like to speak to Kathy in membership.

I want to ask her why our membership was revoked?

- Sure. Let me see if I can get her. - Great. Thanks.

I need you to get down here right now.

I don't know. Take an Uber.

Hey, buddy. Make a right up here, please. Sorry.

Wait, so, he's the guy she's been fucking this whole time?

Yeah. It has to be.

It makes that John Graff shit make sense.

She had access to all that information the police were trying to cover up.

Unbelievable.

And remember how he was like,

"We know you had to dig deep to afford that house."

Yeah, that's how he knew.

Okay, I'm flying in.

Can we get a second car, by the way?

And I said, "Okay, thanks."

Hi. What the heck are you guys doing here?

I had no idea you two were an item.

Hi. We're not.

No, we're just, uh... We're just having a little late lunch.

- Oh. - Huh...

We didn't even know that you two knew each other.

Because you never mentioned it, which is weird.

What the hell is going on? You come in here, interrupting us.

It's you. You're The Watcher.

Or maybe it's both of you. One of you.

Nora, you can't make a statement like that.

Whoever The Watcher is wants us out of that house, right?

Who's been telling me to sell that house since the day we moved in? You.

Because you said you were having money problems.

Which is how he knew that, right?

That bullshit about, "you gotta dig deep"?

It's a safe assumption. It's a $3 million house.

And she tried to convince me that you were having an affair.

- Right there at that table. - What?

Yeah. "A girl in pigtails."

Weird phrase to use just a few weeks before

a girl in pigtails shows up at our house in our bedroom,

dressed like the girl who got murdered.

Her name was Pat Graff.

- That name ring a bell to you, Detective? - No.

No, really?

This is fucking insane.

Security!

This is outrageous. No, this is slander.

It is. And you know what? I thought we were friends.

I could lose my license over this.

You wanted the house but couldn't afford it,

so he helps you by harassing us, so we'll be willing to sell it cheap.

And it almost worked.

You could afford it at $1.9, right?

You even got us to do some nice little renovations so you could flip it.

Now, tell me Karen. Who's behind that LLC? Is it you?

Or him? Or both of you?

And those weird catalogs.

What are you doing with a pinball catalog sitting on your desk?

I know, because a pinball machine would look banging in a man cave.

Okay. This is just...

This is Detective Chamberland.

I request a squad car at the Westfield Country Club.

You fucked up and you know you fucked up, okay?

Hiring some guy to pretend he's a building inspector

to pretend he murdered his entire family?

And you recommended Theodora Birch. Is she in on it, too?

I'm sorry, are they joining you?

You know what?

This is all coming crashing down on you. Okay? All of it, bro.

Expect a lawsuit because you're done.

- You're done. - Yeah.

I might just call my friend over at Page Six

because I think it's high time that the whole world knows

what's going on at your house!

We can't live like this. It's driving us crazy.

I know, but, look, it all lines up, right?

It's not like we said anything that wasn't true.

They're trying to gaslight us and make us seem crazy,

but it's 'cause we're onto something.

Yeah, but what? What can we do? We can't prove any of it.

Well, not yet, but once we talk to Theodora?

If Chamberland's in on it, she is too.

Right?

This just isn't healthy.

I don't even recognize us anymore.

Okay, first we need to pay off that loan you got us into,

and then I say we sell the house.

We take the best offer that comes in and we just get our lives back.

My show sold out.

We'll be okay.

Wait, what... Your show sold out?

Yeah. It did.

So I think I just found something.

Remember how you told me about "Ode to a House"?

- That letter our neighbors got? - Yeah.

I looked it up on social media. Look at the first thing that popped up.

- You've gotta be kidding me. - It's a whole group.

They all went to Westfield High School.

They all had the same English teacher,

who, I guess, made them do this assignment they all loved.

What was the assignment?

Well, they were supposed to find a house that they all loved

and, I guess, spend time studying it or something.

Then they write a letter to it. A love letter.

Holy shit, Ellie.

Look, somebody posted theirs.

"Dear 89 Hollyhock Ridge. You're an exquisite house."

"Weathered and strong, you've stood where you are for 99 years."

"Do you think you'll still be standing 99 years from now?"

So, wait, who's the teacher, and when did they die?

Who said he's dead? He's in the group.

His name is Roger Kaplan. I just looked him up.

He lives in Westfield, 71 Oak Street.

Yeah, I've seen that face.

What do you mean?

Right here at the open house.

Sorry to interrupt.

There's something downstairs you guys are going to want to see.

Cold air.

That's coming from in here, which didn't make any sense.

- And when we took down the drywall... - Yeah?

...I couldn't quite figure out where it was coming from.

Solid brick, no leaks.

But then one of my guys found the problem.

Check it out.

Oh, my God.

- It's a tunnel. - Right.

Is that to another part of the property?

- No idea. We just found it. - No.

These are actually pretty common in the Northeast, with houses this old.

They used them to run booze during prohibition.

Andrew said there were tunnels.

Fuck it. I'm going in.

- Uh... - Hold on. I'm coming with you.

You're gonna want a hard hat.

Holy shit.

Holy shit.

Honey, let's just go back.

I cannot believe this.

You all right? Watch it.

It smells down here.

Wait. Oh, God.

- Please let's get outta here. - You're fine!

Oh, my God.

What is this place?

Hold on.

Shit. Hello?

Who are you?

Oh, shit.

Who are you?