Frank travels to Weber County, Utah, where he meets with Prosecutor Calvin Smith, Assistant County Prosecutor, Charles Horvath, and Didi Higgens, Assistant Pathologist to the County Medical Examiner. The District Attorney's office convicted Sheriff William Garry of murdering his wife and three children. Garry had confessed to the crime, and his fingerprints were found on the murder weapon, a tool used for carving wood. Now all that remains is for the jury to decide if Garry should receive the death penalty. Smith hopes Frank can develop a psychological profile that will leave no doubt in the jury's mind that Garry is a cold, calculating murderer.
Assisted by William Garry's close friend, Deputy Kevin Reilly, Frank inspects the conservative, middle-American home where the killings took place. He notices a series of numbers, "12815," written in blood on a kitchen window. Reilly explains that those involved in the investigation were never able to decipher their meaning, and Garry claimed he could not remember why he wrote them. As Frank continues his tour of the Garry home, he listens to a tape recording of William's confession, in which he describes the details of how he murdered his family, one by one.
The next morning, Frank meets with Michael Slattery, William Garry's attorney. Slattery freely admits he has no intention of letting Frank interview his client. But Frank insists his recommendation to the jury will be non-biased -- he is there to discover the truth, not to condemn Garry. Slattery changes his mind and allows Frank to conduct the interview. Garry claims to have fantasized about committing the murders for some time, driven by money problems and hatred of his wife. Frank finds it difficult to believe that Garry carved a wooden cherub as a birthday present for his wife with "Love, Bill" carved in it, then proceeded to murder his entire family using the same carving tool.
Frank discovers flaws in the conclusions drawn by investigators. He tells Didi that someone other than Garry committed the killings. Garry agrees to take a lie detector test. Based on the results, the polygraph technician concludes that Garry did, in fact, murder his family. But Frank believes Garry feels so guilty (about something not yet known) that he has convinced himself he is responsible for the killings. Dismayed by Frank's conclusions, Smith decides his services are no longer necessary.
A psychiatrist tells Frank that Mrs. Garry was faithful to her husband and was not having an affair with Deputy Reilly. But she states that the same thing could not be said of William Reilly. Frank is taken aback by this revelation.
Didi has the Garry's bodies exhumed for re-examination. After inspecting cuts on Mrs. Garry's hands, Didi concludes the wounds were not defensive, as the Medical Examiner previously thought. The numbers written on the kitchen window, Frank realizes, corresponds to a biblical passage, Isaiah 28:15. He also realizes that William Garry didn't know that his wife was pregnant.
Frank, Didi and Calvin Smith appear before Judge Maher. Frank tells the court that Mrs. Garry did not die in the basement, as previously believed. Mrs. Garry, Frank reveals, murdered her children because she saw them as angels, and wanted them to stay that way: She believed that they would be corrupted by living in this world of sins, namely, those of her husband. She then walked to the kitchen and stabbed herself in the heart. Before she died, Mrs. Garry told William that he made her murder the children; that she couldn't bear the thought of bringing another child into a world of adulterers. When Reilly arrived at the scene, he helped William move the bodies into the basement, throwing investigators off the trail. Frank urges him to come forward with the truth.
Credits
Title meaning: Refers to Isaiah 28:15, the bible verse that William Garry writes on the window:
"Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves." (from the King James version)
Original airdate: 03/21/97
Cast:
Megan Gallagher as Catherine Black
Bill Smitrovich as Lt. Bob Bletcher
Brittany Tiplady as Jordan Black
Guest Cast:
Sarah Koskoff as Didi Higgins
Don MacKay as Jack Meredith
John Finn as William Garry
Steve Bacic as Deputy Kevin Reilly
Michael O'Neill as Calvin Smith
Jay Underwood as Slattery
Colleen Winton as Mrs. Garry
David Abbott as Mr. Anderson
Karen Elizabeth Austin as Mrs. Anderson
Nicole Oliver as Dr. Alice Steele
Tyler Thompson as William Garry Jr.
Nikol Tschenscher as Mary Garry
Noah Heney as Charles Horvath
Cody Shaer as Gabriel Garry
George Gordon as Judge Francis Maher
Norman Armour as the Medical Examiner
Music By Mark Snow
Written By Robert Moresco
Directed By Rod Pridy
