Hey, Jonah.
My goodness, you've chopped enough for two winters.
I like chopping wood, Mrs. Casey. For you, anyways, I do.
I know you do, Jonah, but it's gonna be dark soon.
Yeah, but it's still nice.
Clouds going by, the way the trees look.
- Real nice. - Yeah, George loved this time of day.
He used to sit out here and sip a little wine, talk.
Well, no use dwelling on that kind of memory. Too darn nice.
I liked Mr. Casey, I did.
He liked you too, Jonah.
Good. That's good.
Well, I'd better quit now.
Good night.
Miss Casey? Ma'am?
Miss Casey, you all right? Ma'am?
Miss Casey? Ma'am?
Hello?
Miss Ca... Mrs. Casey?
I'm gonna have to arrest you, son.
Walker.
Ranger Walker, I've got a Sheriff Dekker
who I'm patching through to you.
Ranger Walker, this is Nathan Dekker, sheriff of Bramer, Texas.
- We got a hell of a situation here. - What is it?
I got a mob outside with a rope wanting to lynch my prisoner.
We need some help here, pronto.
We're about 40 miles from Bramer. We'll be there in less than an hour.
What's going on?
If we don't hurry, a lynching.
Ranger, they got my prisoner around back.
All right, gentlemen, move away from the sheriff. Move.
I didn't do anything, Mr. Hewitt.
- I never killed Mrs. Casey, I promise. - Gonna pay this time, boy.
For Wilma Casey and my Billy.
Now, listen, I been waiting a long time for you to mess up, dummy.
Let's go, Jackson.
Do it now.
Okay, easy. Easy. I got it.
I got you.
- Get him inside. - Take it easy, son.
All right, that's far enough.
Give us Jonah Nelson.
What you're gonna get is jail time if you don't disperse.
I'll stomp you good, Ranger.
Then start stomping.
Now, back off, all of you.
All right, that's it. Listen to the ranger.
- What? - Now, go on home now.
- Do what the man says. - What?
Howard Markham, gentlemen. At your service.
Mayor of Bramer, attorney at law.
You'd better keep these people in line, mayor.
Now, Wilma Casey was very well-liked in Bramer
and a close personal friend, but since her murderer
is a mentally challenged individual who probably didn't realize
- what the hell he was doing... - He hasn't been convicted yet.
Of course.
It's a terrible thing here, sir. Very tragic.
I tried to move him out of town.
That was a mistake. They just swarmed us.
What's this all about, sheriff?
Well, he killed a very respected and loved local woman.
Ain't the first time something like this has happened.
What do you mean, not the first time?
About four years back, a bunch of young bucks
got all liquored up and started teasing Jonah.
Roughed him up some.
Jonah tried to get away and pushed one of them.
Kid fell down and broke his neck.
Billy Hewitt.
That's Billy's old man outside, the fellow who tried to string Jonah up.
Judge ruled it accidental.
Jonah's uncle kept him out of the asylum
and right here in Bramer.
Been nothing but trouble ever since.
Hell, people like that should be put away,
for their own damn sake. And ours too.
The court of law didn't see it that way, sheriff.
Well, they don't live in Bramer.
I'm gonna go talk to Jonah.
Sheriff, may I use your phone?
Jonah, I'm Ranger Walker.
Could you tell me what happened?
I said it all to Sheriff Dekker.
I know. He told me.
- He didn't believe it. - Could you tell me what happened?
And I could see he was holding something
but I couldn't see what it was.
And he ran around the house.
And then I go inside,
and I see Mrs. Casey laying there on the floor.
- I ran home as fast as I could. - Why did you run, Jonah?
Because I was scared.
And I wanted to go to Jonah's Island.
What's Jonah's Island?
It's a place where everyone is happy.
Where the sea is full of fish,
and the sky is full of birds,
and the lions and bears can talk,
and everyone is friendly on Jonah's Island.
Don't you worry now. I'll be back soon.
Okay.
Okay, the victim was last seen the afternoon of the murder.
Evidently, she went shopping.
Wilma Casey was her name, not "victim."
And she didn't deserve to die that way.
Take it easy, Banks.
So he still sticking to that same fairy tale
about the dark stranger carrying a mystery something?
Pretty detailed for a fairy tale, sheriff.
The crime scene. When are we gonna take a look at it?
Now, but not you. Me and the sheriff.
- I want you to keep an eye on Jonah. - I told you what happened today.
Sure, we made a mistake...
Yeah, you did make a mistake.
Because you think he's guilty.
And that influences your judgment, sheriff.
Fine.
Fine, then you take the responsibility.
Standing up for a killer of my own kind
ain't my idea of law enforcement anyhow.
- You boys have a good time. - Yeah, right.
What's Markham doing here?
Let's go find out.
- What you looking for, Mr. Markham? - Yes.
Well, you see, I was Wilma's attorney, and since there was never a will,
I thought perhaps she might have left something
in her personal papers here.
- Sorry. - This is a crime scene, Howard.
Now, I realize that, Nathan.
But since I am an officer of the court and I was Wilma's attorney, I feel like...
Mr. Markham, I strongly suggest you leave.
Officer of the court or not.
Just what the hell are you insinuating here?
Nothing yet, but when I do, I'll let you know.
Looks like Mrs. Casey put up quite a fight.
Oh, yeah. Wilma was a feisty little gal.
Bound to have been a hell of a struggle.
Well, if Jonah killed Mrs. Casey,
there wouldn't have been much of a struggle.
How do you figure that?
Jonah's big and strong enough to do whatever he wanted,
whether Mrs. Casey was feisty or not.
I guess you got a point there.
Sheriff, have you been out here before?
- Oh, yeah. - What was on the wall there?
Well, George was always collecting anything of value.
Seems to me there was...
...a fancy gold coin collection up there.
Where you going?
Western boot. Pressure on the toe.
Whoever it was must've been in a big hurry.
How'd you know where to look?
Jonah told me the man he saw ran in this direction.
Yeah, he told me that same crap.
Yeah, but I believed him.
So, Walker, what do you think?
I think you'd better remember about this being a crime scene.
Look here, Ranger, I'm not used to being treated like this.
Have a nice day, mayor.
Jonah lived right over here.
He wasn't looking for any will.
I know. Whatever it was he was looking for, it must've been importnt.
A thing like Wilma getting killed happens,
and lo and behold, I get a suspect in custody
and all the questions start getting answered.
Then you show up and complicate the situation,
and I can't say that I appreciate it very much.
You'll get used to it, sheriff.
Deputy Banks told me you guys were out here.
- Who are you? - This is Earl Nelson.
He's Jonah's uncle.
Heard what you did for my nephew this morning.
I'm grateful.
- I'm gonna take a look inside. - I'll check around out here.
Jonah really liked it out here.
He really did. This was like his home.
Jonah's 20th birthday.
Mrs. Casey was a kind woman. She really cared.
She gave him a job. She let him stay here for free.
That sort of gave him some independence.
And that's why I know he did not do what everybody says.
Jonah doesn't seem to be retarded to me.
That's what the doctors call his condition. "Borderline."
Yeah, he's not normal but he's not quite abnormal either.
But the thing is, he is retarded and he knows it.
Now, can you imagine that? What that feels like?
- Does he get angry about it? - Well, not angry.
Just sort of frustrated and scared is more like it.
But I know Jonah and he didn't kill Wilma.
But he's caught in the middle of it.
Everybody just going along with their hate,
turning their back on him.
Maybe everyone except you.
What happened to his parents?
Killed in an automobile accident five years ago.
Wilma kind of adopted him. That's the kind of person she was.
Hey, look what I found out back by the trash can. You recognize this?
Oh, God, I wish I didn't.
It's Jonah's.
Come on, go, go.
Ready?
Hi, Banks.
Banks? Hey, Walker.
This is Trivette. I need some help at the jail...
Let's go.
- Where's Jonah? - They took him out back.
- What the hell? - Back off.
You wouldn't shoot an unarmed man, would you?
No, I wouldn't.
But I'd sure beat the hell out of you.
Who's next?
Let's get out of here. Come on, let's go.
Come on, Jonah. Come on.
All right. Come on.
Does it hurt, Jonah?
No.
Inside, in me is where it hurts.
Because I don't know why
and I don't understand why
those men wanna hurt me.
- Kill me. - I'll tell you why.
It's because some people just to make themselves feel big and importnt
like to look down their noses at other people that ain't got no money or...
Or like me because I'm slow in the head?
There's nothing wrong with being a little slow, Jonah.
People get into trouble when they don't slow down.
I never thought about that before.
Thank you, Ranger Walker.
I feel better now. Not so scared.
- Try to get some sleep. - Okay.
- Take care, Jonah. - Bye, Uncle Earl.
How you feeling?
Fine.
Wanna tell us why you let those men in, Banks?
Couldn't help it.
They were waiting when I opened the door
and they got in before I knew it.
- What the hell could I do? - Your job, damn it. What do you think?
Look, if you need some help, I'd sure volunteer.
Couldn't be any worse than what we got already.
- We'll manage, thanks though. - Don't forget I'm available.
You know, I suggest that we transport Jonah back to Dallas
where the only vigilantes are in the history books.
Well, I want you to go back to Dallas,
and I want you to look for a gold coin collection
that was on this wall here.
There's a picture of it out at Jonah's house. Go pick it up
- and see what you can find out. - You got it.
What if he didn't sell it?
If he was desperate enough to kill, he sold it.
All right, antique stores...
...coin merchants, pawn shops.
- I'll get Alex to help me. - This might help you.
Taken at our lodge picnic last summer. Most every man in town is in there.
All right, thanks, sheriff.
Oh, here's the keys to our squad car. I'll show you where it's parked.
Tell me why you became a law enforcement officer, Banks.
I don't know. I guess ever since I was a kid,
I wanted to be in law enforcement.
Do you remember the oath you took?
- What oath you talking about? - To uphold the law, no matter what?
Yeah. Yeah, I remember.
And I'll never forget it again.
I'm gonna take your word for that.
- Come on. - Let's go, come on.
Ranger!
You come on out of there. Now.
Come on out, Dekker.
This is our town, Ranger,
and I ain't gonna take much more of this.
Where were you when Wilma Casey was killed, Hewitt?
What's that mean?
I sure as hell didn't kill her.
You had motive.
It's a good way to get back at Jonah for what happened to your son.
I don't have to listen to this.
You go to hell, Ranger.
Oh, boy.
You come back again, you're gonna get more of the same.
Deputy, cuff that man.
Assault on an officer.
By darn, I still got some fight left in me.
Gee, look at my hat.
It's me, part er. I got Alex with me.
Walker, your instincts were right on the money and we've got a hot lead.
What kind of a lead?
All right, I ran a check on the pawn shops
and coin merchants. I came up with nothing.
Meanwhile, Metro put together a list of the shady dealers and fences.
We connected with the man at the top and we got lucky.
He tells us about this guy he's been doing business with for the past year.
Just so happens the other day,
he came in trying to sell a coin collection of double eagles.
He figured it was extremely hot so he sent it
to a fence named J.J. Carney.
Metro's running an address on him.
- Did you get a description? - Average Caucasian male,
yadda yadda, you know.
But the loot that he's selling has the initials stamped G and WC.
George and Wilma Casey.
- Walker? - Hello?
Trivette?
Phone's dead.
You have a cell phone?
No, we're out of range. They don't reach here.
Oh, man, they really did a number on this.
It's gonna be a week before this is up and running again.
Let's get back to the jail.
I'll tell you what.
Any town worth its salt
ain't gonna let a mad-dog killer like Jonah Nelson go to trial.
And he can get himself set free.
Or even get put on some funny farm
just because some bleeding-heart lawyer
proves that he's mentally incompetent.
Wilma was a good woman.
She didn't deserve to die that way.
Soon as it's good and dark, we're going in.
I'm good at checkers since I was a baby.
Can't tell time but I play good checkers.
Banks, you in there?
Whoever's out there, just move along.
You know damn well who it is, Banks.
It's Jackson and Webb.
I don't wanna know your names, so just get out of here.
Banks, we want in there and we want that dummy.
You're gonna give him to us or you're gonna be damn sorry.
You hear me, Tory?
- Yeah, I hear you. - Open this door.
Hold on.
Banks?
Are you okay?
Yeah, I'm all right.
Walker, I wanna tell you.
Earlier when those neighbors and friends of mine
got in and grabbed Jonah?
I just let them come on in this afternoon.
I didn't wanna lose my buddies.
Or, hell, I must've been crazy.
You gonna take my badge, Walker?
You earned it back.
Thanks.
I sure hope Jonah's okay.
Me too.
You just be sure they made it all right, huh?
How about that phone call, sheriff?
I want Hewitt, Jackson, and Webb out of lockup before I catch my breath.
Bail, approved by the circuit court.
And what is this I hear about Nelson being missing from his cell?
It's that damn Ranger, Walker.
Officially, he's got authority over the local lawmen.
- My hands are tied. - So then, it's true?
Well, sometime last night, while I was getting Banks' jaw x-rayed,
he stashed Jonah for his own protection,
and I do not have a clue where.
All right, I'll call his superiors.
I'll lodge a formal complaint. But I want you to find out
where Jonah Nelson is being kept, Nathan.
- Immediately. - He could be in a Dallas.
He is not in Dallas. That's impossible. L...
Got the roads covered, do you, Howard?
I took precautions, yes.
I didn't want outsiders coming in here,
maybe making trouble, maybe Jonah escaping...
He is somewhere in this town.
You find him and you get these people out of jail, now.
Jonah, if there's any trouble,
I want you to do exactly what Deputy Banks says, okay?
I do whatever Banks tells me.
Right.
Okay, I'm gonna go check things out. Bolt the door.
Where the hell is he, Walker?
As sheriff of Bramer,
I got a right to know where my prisoner is being incarcerated.
He's right.
Hewitt, Webb, and Jackson all made bail.
Yeah, thanks to Howard Markham.
Yeah, he just pushed the papers through the circuit court.
Nothing I could do. But why bail those three out?
To keep folks stirred up around here.
- Did you check the crime scene? - Yes, early this a.m.
Just like you thought. Back door glass is busted out.
Entry made. Some blood.
Got me a sample.
And Mr. Markham's sporting a bandage on his right hand.
- I think I'll go talk to Mr. Markham. - Want me to come along?
No, you stay here and keep your ears open.
And keep pretending you hate me.
Who's to say I'm pretending?
And I'm gonna see to it, Walker, that you lose your badge over this.
You tell him, sheriff.
I figured as much.
But I didn't think you'd break into a crime scene just for love letters.
Look, Wilma and I, we...
I had to find them before somebody else did.
I mean, this could've ruined everything that I've worked so hard for all my life.
My wife, my family, my job here.
Strong motive for murder.
I did not kill her. I swear it.
Why did you want Jonah dead?
That's... I didn't...
You've tried everything you know to get him hanged. Now, why?
Look, Jonah, he caught me and Wilma together.
I was afraid he'd tell somebody else, that's all.
You mean you'd let a young man die just to save your reputation?
What's the difference? He's guilty.
You believe him?
For now.
- And Jack Hewitt? - For now.
Damn it, Walker, come on over here and eat something
before you wear a hole in my floor, huh?
And who cared about Wilma Casey, huh?
- Nobody. - Yeah.
Who cared about my boy, Billy, huh?
What are we gonna do?
Are we gonna stand around here and just take this?
No!
- Let the boy kill more of our citizens? - No!
- Let escape poor boy Jonah? - No.
And you all saw the treatment I got from the law
while they've taken good care of Jonah.
We're gonna have to take the law in our own hands.
- Gonna have to deal with that killer. - Yeah.
- Are you with me? - Yeah!
Good evening, Mr. Carney.
- Do I know you? - You're going to, Mr. Carney.
We need to have a little talk.
Do you know anybody in that photograph?
Yeah.
I should have listened to my horoscope.
Yeah.
Banks, it's Walker. Let me in.
Did you find out anything?
Yeah, I checked with the local coroner.
He found dried blood and skin under Wilma Casey's fingernails.
Yeah? Well, Jonah don't have a scratch on him.
- So that proves he didn't do it, right? - Well, it proves it to us.
Right. Now, all we gotta do is prove it to them.
Will people believe me now, that I never hurt Mrs. Casey?
It's Dekker. Let me in.
Jackson and Webb are outside forming a mob.
More joining every minute.
They're getting liquored up and looking for trouble.
- They know we're here? - I don't think so yet.
Who do we want?
Jonah.
- Who do we want? - Jonah.
- What are we gonna to him? - Hang him.
- What are we gonna do to him? - Hang him.
- We want justice. - Yeah.
We want Jonah.
Hey, you boys. Hey, you boys.
Hey, hey. I know where he is.
- Where? - Follow me.
I don't like this.
Go to Mineral Wells. Get the DPS back here, pronto.
- Got you. - Oh, I'll get behind him.
Jonah, Jonah, Jonah.
I'm going outside, to talk to them.
Jonah, Jonah, Jonah.
- All right. - Jonah, Jonah, Jonah.
- Stop. - Let the law handle this.
Law? The law let that killer loose in the first place.
Yeah.
We're here for the victims.
We're here for their rights.
Wilma Casey, Billy Hewitt.
Maybe you don't know them. They were our friends.
Yeah.
He killed my little boy!
And he killed that good woman you all loved.
- Yeah. - Jonah didn't kill Wilma Casey.
Bull.
Ranger, you can't take all of us.
Anyone comes through this door will be shot.
You circle around the building and you do what I told you.
You can't do that. You cannot do it.
All of you, you'd better stop this.
Get out of here, mayor.
If we can't have a hanging,
we're damn well gonna have a barbeque.
Come on, baby, let's do it.
We're gonna have a Texas barbeque.
Bring him out now.
Here's how you do it, boys.
Yeah.
Burn, burn, burn.
What we gonna do, Mr. Walker?
Burn, burn, burn.
Out the back.
Burn, boy.
Come on, Elroy.
What's that?
Somebody's in there.
- What is that? - Is it the Ranger?
It is.
They made it.
Who told you we were here, Hewitt?
Why?
Because whoever told you wanted Jonah dead
and you blamed for it.
Now, think about it.
It was him.
That's a lie.
I love my nephew.
I didn't think it would go this far.
You said you couldn't protect a killer.
Nephew or not, you said you knew he'd done it.
Did you say that, Uncle Earl?
- So, what happened to you? - It's a long story.
- Did you get it? - Yeah.
That's the guy.
That's the guy who sold me the coins.
Yeah, see? I got one too.
First thing I did with the money.
And it'll blow a hole right through big Jonah, so you lay yours down.
Now.
You did it.
You killed the only person who was ever kind to you.
Why, Uncle Earl?
Mrs. Casey treated you real well.
She treated me like a hired hand.
I didn't wanna work for her and I didn't want her lousy handouts.
I wanted her money. All of it.
You're a bad guy.
- Officers, arrest these men. - Yes, sir.
Hewitt, Jackson, Webb.
- Come on, come with us. - You're coming with us.
Let's go.
Come on, son.
Come on, step to it.
Listen up. Everyone.
That's why we have laws.
You almost killed an innocent man.
Now, go home.
- There you go. - Sorry, Jonah.
- We owe you one, Jonah. - Sorry about that, sheriff.
Sherriff.
You did good, Jonah.
You did good.
Hey, I hear you get to prosecute
Hewitt, Jackson, and Webb there, counselor.
That's right.
Right, they deserve everything they get.
Yeah, without those kind of laws, we got anarchy.
- How's Jonah doing? - He's doing really good.
The town's trying to make up for the wrong they did to him.
And guess what?
Wilma Casey left everything she had to him.
No kidding.
- You think the poor boy can handle it? - I don't think he's poor anymore, C.D.
Well, it just goes to show you there's still justice in the world.
- Let's drink to justice. - I'll second to that.
- Wait. Wait for me. - Come on, you're always a cow's tail.