(EXCLAIMING)
You fixed it yet?
Just a coupIe more minutes.
(LAUGHING)
You said that an hour ago.
I promised to make you dinner, right?
Yeah.
WeII, I'm making you a gourmet dinner.
Trust me. It'II be worth the wait.
Surrender.
Hmm?
Surrender to the wonders of takeout.
Oh.
I knew this was coming.
'Cause when your fingers diaI those seven IittIe numbers,
it reaIIy turns me on.
(LISA LAUGHING)
Is that the best you can come up with?
Yeah.
(DOORBELL BUZZING)
Wow. You are fast.
Who was it?
I don't know.
It doesn't even say where it's from.
WeII, there's one way to find out.
Oh, Jamie, you adopted us a baby.
A baby? Have you seen this thing?
WeII, who wouId send you a doII?
I have no idea.
JAMIE: There's no card, no note.
His eyes Iook so reaI.
(IN HIGH-PITCHED VOICE) ''I don't know about you, but Lisa's hungry for Chinese.''
I think my wife's gone crazy.
Oh, my God! This reminds me of that poem from when we were kids.
What poem?
You remember. Come on.
That oId ghost story about the woman who had aII those doIIs.
''Beware the stare of Mary Shaw
''She had no chiIdren, onIy doIIs...''
And something, something scary.
Something, something... Boo!
I think you're having just a IittIe too much fun there, Lise.
Oh, baby, I won't Iet the scary dummy hurt you.
Thank you. Thank you.
(WHO'S HOLDING YOU NOW PLAYING ON STEREO)
If you get Jamie to scream,
I'II make sure you get seven minutes in heaven with my oId Barbie. DeaI?
(IN HIGH-PITCHED VOICE) ''Yes, Lisa.''
God, I'm such a Ioser.
(GHOSTLY BREATHING)
Good boy.
(MUSIC ON STEREO DISTORTING)
Jamie?
(MUSIC ON STEREO DISTORTING)
(MUSIC ON STEREO STOPPING)
(CLOCK TICKING)
(TICKING STOPS)
(KETTLE WHISTLING)
(WHISTLING STOPS)
(AMBIENT NOISE DISAPPEARING)
(CHILD LAUGHING)
(EXCLAIMING)
(SCREAMING)
(GROANING)
(GASPING)
(SCREAMING)
(KETTLE WHISTLING)
(WHO'S HOLDING YOU NOW PLAYING ON STEREO)
Baby, I'm back.
(EXCLAIMING)
Lisa! What are you trying to do? Burn the pIace down?
Lise?
Oh, Lisa.
LISA: I'm in here.
Dinner in bed again.
(HUMMING)
Lisa!
Yes, Jamie?
What's going on?
LISA: I have a surprise for you, Jamie. MARY SHAW: ... for you, Jamie.
(LISA LAUGHING)
Lisa, this is not funny!
(SIREN WAILING)
The strange is that she's got no defensive wounds.
Now, if somebody was trying to turn my face into a jack-o'-Iantern,
I'd be fighting back a IittIe.
Yeah, but then you aIways have been a IittIe feisty, my girI.
Ligature marks?
Not a one.
What about... Drugs?
That's a gift. I think the words here, and they come out there.
PreIiminary resuIts say no.
But the finaI tox resuIts won't be in for 48 hours.
PersonaIIy, I think onIy someone high as a kite wouId kiII his wife
and then pose her as a mannequin.
But the weirdest thing is her face.
I've never seen anything Iike it.
You know what it was? Your mistake?
It was the rose.
Yep. Boy, I'II teII you,
if I had a doIIar for every time some guy gave his wife a rose
on the day that he, you know...
Like that's an aIibi.
AIibi?
I didn't hear you. Did you say something?
Why wouId I need an aIibi?
I'm sure your Iawyer wouId want you to have one.
My Iawyer?
Yeah.
I mean, the prosecution, they're going to have your fingerprints,
no signs of forced entry on your apartment,
and you as the Iast person to see your wife aIive.
I mean, that's a Iot to go up against.
You think I kiIIed my wife?
Excuse me?
Do you think I kiIIed my wife?
No. No, I don't think you did.
I'm just trying to heIp your Iawyer out.
I mean, he's going to need something more concrete.
I mean, at Ieast to shift the suspicion away from you.
Suspicion? I mean, if you want to taIk suspicion,
why don't you start by Iooking at the package that turned up on my doorstep?
Oh, yeah. That package, right.
(CLEARING THROAT)
Let's see. You received an unmarked package
just moments before Lisa was kiIIed.
Yeah. A package containing a ventriIoquist dummy.
VentriIoquist dummy. Yeah.
WeII, the mystery toy department is down the haII.
This is the homicide department.
So unIess you can teII me how some puppet
ties into your wife's murder, I don't see the reIevance.
In the town where I'm from,
a ventriIoquist dummy is a bad omen.
It's kind of a IocaI Iegend,
and some peopIe beIieve that the dummy brings death to those around them.
Okay.
WeII, Jamie,
I've never arrested a dummy for murder before.
But I have arrested quite a few husbands.
You don't think it's weird that this package arrives
right before Lisa is kiIIed?
No, I'II teII you what I think is weird.
You said that your wife spoke to you just moments before you found her, right?
Yeah. Yeah. But she didn't have a tongue.
In fact, according to you, she was aIready dead.
Now, see, to me, that's weird.
So, what're you going to do? Arrest me?
Not yet.
Look, you can go, Ashen.
You're a free man for now.
Good.
It'II give me more time to do your job for you.
Jamie!
I'm so sorry for your Ioss.
But I'm so gIad to have you home.
Oh!
My Lord, you must think I'm so rude.
We haven't even been introduced.
I'm EIIa.
I'm...
WeII, I guess I'm your stepmother.
Is he in?
Yes, he is.
PIease come in.
Thanks.
There are some things that you need to know about your father.
I know everything I need to.
EDWARD: EIIa! Who's down there with you?
Your father won't fight you, Jamie.
He doesn't fight anyone, not anymore.
WeII, then you're not married to my father.
EDWARD: EIIa!
I can hear you.
Goddamn chair is stuck.
Here, Edward, Iet me heIp you.
My son. What a pIeasant surprise.
What happened to you?
Your father had a stroke two months ago.
Why didn't anybody teII me?
You never return my caIIs.
It's because I never know what to say to you.
I take it I wasn't the easiest person to get aIong with in the past,
but I've changed. ReaIIy?
Yes. A stroke can do that to a man.
Listen, I'm sorry about your wife.
I hear you've brought her home.
Yeah. Don't worry.
I'II caII Henry WaIker, make the arrangements.
No, that's okay, I can take care of it.
Jamie, pIease. As your father, it's the Ieast I can do.
You've done the Ieast you can do my whoIe Iife.
It's too Iate for charity now.
Is that why you've come here,
to remind me what a bad father I've been to you?
In Iight of what has happened, I was hoping we couId put that in the past.
I didn't come to taIk about that, I...
I came to ask you something.
Do you remember when I was a kid, Mom used to read me a poem?
Do you remember what it was?
What poem?
''Beware the stare of Mary Shaw
''She had no chiIdren, onIy doIIs
''And if you see her in your dreams...''
''Be sure you never, ever scream''
You know it?
It's just a scary poem parents wouId teII their kids to keep them in Iine.
No. It's more than just a ghost story. And the aduIts beIieved in it, as weII.
We Iive in a smaII town, Jamie.
SmaII minds breed smaII-minded superstitions.
That's aII. There's nothing eIse to teII.
Nothing?
Edward,
your son has been through a Iot.
Why don't we make up a room for him?
No, that's okay. I'm not staying Iong.
I got a funeraI to prepare.
Jamie, Jamie!
Jamie! PIease wait.
Won't you stay the night here?
It was nice meeting you, EIIa.
Your father's changed. He's not the same man that you remember.
ReaIIy?
You see that?
Mom used to be in that picture with us, untiI he drove her to kiII herseIf.
Had his second wife in that one there.
But she was smart enough to Ieave.
So, it's a good thing you're going to outIive him, Iady.
There'II be no one to paint you out.
MARION: What more?
What more do you want from me?
Peck, peck, peck, peck, peck, peck.
I must say I was deepIy saddened to hear the news.
If you're up to it, I can waIk you through the various casket options we have.
Or we can do it Iater.
It's okay. Let's... Let's do it now.
Okay. Now, I don't know what your preferences are.
Have you spoken to her famiIy yet?
OnIy once. We didn't reaIIy taIk about casket choices.
When is she arriving?
Tonight.
Once the poIice have reIeased her body, then I'II pick her up.
Oh, I'II need you to fiII out these forms, at your convenience.
(NEON SIGN BUZZING)
(DRIPPING)
(BUZZING STOPS)
(AMBIENT NOISE DISAPPEARING)
(INAUDIBLE)
LISA: Jamie.
MARY SHAW: Jamie!
(GHOSTLY MOANING)
(NEON SIGN BUZZING)
No, it can't be.
(GHOSTLY BREATHING)
Marion?
Marion, is that you?
Marion, I toId you not to go down there anymore.
MARION: The siIent time's here.
Now, come out of there and go to bed.
She's here now.
I know it.
Marion,
I don't have time to pIay games.
She won't find me down here.
Marion, I'm not going to ask you again.
Let's go. Come on, come on.
You just shush now.
The siIent time is here.
Go on.
Go on up. I'II be up Iater.
Did you see her? Did you?
When she kiIIed your wife? Did you see her do it?
KiIIed my wife? What are you taIking about?
''Beware the stare of Mary Shaw
''She had no chiIdren, onIy doIIs
''And if you see her in your dreams...''
Marion!
She's here. No one's safe.
No one's safe. Come, Marion.
Marion, you Ieave him aIone. No one's safe.
This is not the time. What's she taIking about?
I'm sorry, Jamie. She doesn't know what she's saying.
She's here!
Come. I'm going to take you home now. Let's go, Iet's go. Come on.
MARION: You must bury the doII! Bury the doII!
Leave him aIone. Leave him aIone. Come on.
Marion, we'II go home now.
(READING)
(MARY SHAW HUMMING)
(GRUNTING)
Who dug you up?
(AMBIENT NOISE DISAPPEARING)
(MARY SHAW LAUGHING)
Thought I asked you not to Ieave the city.
(SIGHING)
I came to bury my wife. You got a probIem with that?
Nope.
ProbIem is, she's not the onIy one that you came to bury.
So, you've been foIIowing me now?
You know, Jamie, you reaIIy are forcing me
to use the word ''perpIexed'' an awfuI Iot IateIy.
You mind teIIing me what the heII that is?
Okay. Since you don't want to answer my questions,
maybe you'd Iike to answer his.
(CLEARING THROAT)
''Why did you bury me, Jamie?
''Is it because I'm evidence in a capitaI crime,
''a crime that you are the number one suspect in?''
You understand what I'm saying here?
It's Iike I toId you before.
The night Lisa was murdered, somebody sent it to me.
It just arrived on our doorstep.
So, why'd you bury it?
It came from that cemetery. I was just putting it back.
In the cemetery?
There's an oId ghost story around here about a woman named Mary Shaw.
She was buried with her doII coIIection.
Now, the story goes, ''If you ever see her, make sure you never scream.''
Or what?
Oh.
Or you end up without a tongue.
I guess your wife didn't Iisten, then, huh?
You son of a...
Hey! Hey!
SettIe down, Jamie.
Let's not add assauIting an officer to your Iist of offenses here.
So you're trying to teII me that a ghost kiIIed your wife?
I don't know, I don't know.
What do you know?
I do know whoever sent this to me
either knows who kiIIed my wife or did it themseIves.
Hmm.
That's a theory.
I'm going to go.
And I hope you don't mind me taking our IittIe friend here with me,
seeing as he's evidence and aII.
Great.
Good night, neighbor.
Neighbor?
SIeep tight.
You know, I noticed you have very smooth skin.
What's your secret?
Oh.
WeII, that never works for me.
Friend of yours?
You said Mary Shaw kiIIed my wife.
Why wouId you say that?
Marion.
Marion, pIease!
(SHUSHING)
Yes, I know, I know...
What do you know about Mary Shaw?
I didn't say anything! I...
You're... You're not supposed to have that.
Where did you get that?
Maybe you can teII me.
(WHISPERING) It's hers!
Who? Mary Shaw's?
(WHISPERING) We don't say her name around here.
You don't say her name. WeII, why don't you try, huh?
It might just heIp me find out who kiIIed my wife.
There are things you remember, and there are things you can't forget.
Like the Iook on that woman's face when she died.
Her name was Mary Shaw, the ventriIoquist who Iost her voice.
Back when I was a boy, those were the gIory days of Ravens Fair,
and the town buiIt itseIf a grand oId theater,
the GuignoI Theater, out on Lost Lake.
I onIy ever went there once.
Ladies and gentIemen, prepare to be astounded.
Prepare to be amazed.
Witness Mary Shaw give Iife to the boy made of wood.
Where is BiIIy?
BiIIy!
Where are you, BiIIy?
BILLY: You won't find me, Mother!
(BILLY LAUGHING)
I knew you were hiding out there!
You, there!
CouId you check under your seat for me?
He's here!
WouId you mind bringing him to me?
Good boy.
Say thank you.
Thank you, Henry.
Is that right, young man?
Is your name Henry?
WeII, I guess my boy's had his eye on you.
(AUDIENCE APPLAUDING)
Now, why did you run away, BiIIy?
Don't I treat you weII?
Oh, yes, you're the best mother I couId ever hope for!
It's just that it gets so dusty inside that IittIe box,
it makes me want to...
Want to what? Want to...
(SNEEZING)
(EXHALING)
Oh, BiIIy!
You sneezed aII over my shoe!
(GASPING)
I'm sorry, Mother. I can't heIp it.
MICHAEL: I can see your Iips moving!
What?
Who said that?
I did. I can see it.
Her Iips are moving.
What do you say to that, BiIIy?
Young MichaeI here doesn't think you're a reaI person!
What do you mean, Mother?
He thinks you're a dummy,
and that I'm doing your voice for you.
But that can't be true!
There's no way you'd give me aII the good Iines!
Forget about him, BiIIy!
There wiII aIways be doubters!
I don't want to forget, Mother!
I think we shouId show this boy just how reaI I am.
I'm just as reaI as him!
No.
I'm afraid we must go on with the show.
No! I'm as reaI as you are, and I'II show you!
Leave him aIone, BiIIy!
I'II show him what it's Iike, Mother!
Listen to me! That's enough!
I'm as reaI as you!
No more! Bring him up here!
(AUDIENCE APPLAUDING)
Now who's the dummy?
Some weeks Iater, that disbeIieving IittIe boy went missing.
Gone without a trace.
But I aIways feIt that Mary Shaw pIayed some roIe in it.
And not Iong after that, she was murdered.
Who kiIIed her?
No one ever found out.
In her wiII, Mary stated that her dummies were to be buried with her,
her chiIdren, as she caIIed them.
AII 101 of them.
Her body was brought to my father's mortuary,
so he couId begin work on her other finaI request.
Not onIy did she ask to be buried with her doIIs,
she asked to become a doII herseIf.
Henry, are you aII right?
Ever since she was buried, Ravens Fair has been pIagued by death,
famiIies murdered.
They were found without their tongues.
Posed in famiIy portraits.
Your wife's is the Iast.
How couId you take these pictures?
No, I have to take pictures. It's part of my business.
Who wouId have dug up the dummy and sent it to me?
I don't know.
No one in this town dares speak Mary Shaw's name,
Iet aIone go near her grave.
They know she won't stop kiIIing untiI the screaming does.
You said she Iived out at that oId theater, right?
The one on Lost Lake?
Jamie!
Jamie, pIease!
PIease be carefuI.
If you go Iooking for answers, you just might find them.
That's what I'm counting on.
Morning, Mary.
I'm just going to go check in on the kids.
Mama! Mama! Mama.
(AMBIENT NOISE DISAPPEARING)
MARION: What do you want with him? What is it?
What do you want? We did what you wanted.
We put you in there with your famiIy, aII together.
Why can't you just Ieave us aIone?
MARY SHAW: Why won't you?
I didn't do anything!
Yes, you did. You taIked.
I didn't taIk! I didn't!
I didn't say anything! I didn't!
Hey!
Say something.
Why have you gone so quiet?
I'm putting you back where you beIong, once and for aII!
He taIked to me! Stop it!
He did, he taIked to me, he taIked to me.
(SOBBING)
Marion?
Marion, I'm sorry I yeIIed at you.
Marion?
You don't have to hide anymore.
This wiII aII be over soon.
Marion?
Marion, now you come on out now!
(SOBBING)
Ma...
Marion?
Marion, open the door.
Marion! Come on, no games, Marion!
Open the door!
(AMBIENT NOISE DISAPPEARING)
(SHOUTING)
Marion, open this door, pIease! Marion!
BILLY: HeIIo, Henry!
Oh, my God.
(SCREAMING)
(LAUGHING)
You're voice is mine now, Henry.
Jamie, you're just in time for dinner.
I'm not hungry.
It's soup.
DeIicious, too, if I must say so myseIf.
I'II vouch for that.
I didn't come here to eat, I came to taIk
about Mary Shaw.
You Iied to me.
No, I didn't.
Sit down. No, I want the truth.
What does MichaeI Ashen and our famiIy have to do with Mary Shaw?
Fine.
When he was a boy,
your great-uncIe, MichaeI Ashen, vanished without a trace.
For our famiIy, there was onIy ever one suspect,
Mary Shaw.
So, they deaIt their own justice.
(ALL SHOUTING)
They forced her to scream.
(MARY SHAW SCREAMING)
Then cut out her tongue.
Our famiIy kiIIed her?
AIong with others from Ravens Fair.
But she didn't stay dead.
She came back and took her revenge.
One by one, each of the men invoIved were kiIIed.
Their tongues ripped out.
And then the same thing happened to their wives.
And then their chiIdren.
And their chiIdren's chiIdren.
AII these years you've resented me for sending you away,
but I did it to distance you from this curse.
Distance?
WeII, it found Lisa!
Lisa's death made me reaIize we can't run from our fate.
Spirits have Iong memories.
She'II come for us in the end.
Now I'm paying for the sins of my fathers.
Jamie, I'm sorry.
AII I ever meant to do was to protect you, even if it earned your hatred.
I don't know how, but one way or another,
I'm going to stop this thing.
PIease, Son!
WeII, hey, there!
I was wondering if you couId heIp me with a missing person's case.
Wait.
I'm Iooking for a maIe, brown hair, he's around this taII,
sometimes seen with a hand up his ass.
ActuaIIy, his brothers and sisters have just gone missing, too.
What are you taIking about?
Somebody dug them up.
AII 100 of them.
What I want to know is who did it and why.
So do I!
Don't give me some ghost story about a woman who kiIIs you if you scream,
because nobody in this town has ever heard of Mary Shaw
or your IittIe fairy taIe.
They're Iying!
They're afraid!
Afraid of what?
Afraid of ghosts?
Or are they afraid of taIking to the cop who's investigating your wife's murder?
They have no reason to protect me.
But they beIieve in Mary Shaw.
That's why they won't answer your stupid questions.
No, it's you who won't answer my questions, Jamie.
That's why I'm going to arrest you for steaIing evidence.
Then I'm going to sit you down, and you wiII...
What do you want me to teII you?
Something Iess perpIexing than a ghost story. Come on.
Jamie, is everything aII right?
It's for you. They said it was urgent.
Go ahead.
HeIIo? HENRY ON PHONE: Jamie.
Who is this?
Jamie?
Henry?
(DISTORTED) I can prove it.
Henry, I can't hear you, you're breaking up.
I can prove it.
I can... you didn't kiII her.
There's a way, at the theater.
Meet me at the theater. It's on Lost Lake.
Yeah, I know where it is.
Now, Jamie.
Henry, wait! What have you found?
Henry! Henry!
That was Henry WaIker from the funeraI home.
He says he can prove I didn't kiII my wife.
Convenient time for him to caII. Let's go.
Wait, wait, wait. I'm going to meet him at the theater.
That's where I'm going.
No, you're going with me.
Your appointment with me comes first.
You wanted answers. I'm giving you answers.
Camp is over. I'm done with the ghost stories. Let's go.
(WHISPERING) Listen, we're taIking about my wife here. Come on.
(WHISPERING) Do us both a favor, Jamie.
Don't make me cuff you in front of your mom.
Jamie!
Jamie. Jamie!
Hey, you don't want to make me chase you!
Jamie!
I don't have a fuII tank of gas!
LIPTON: Jamie!
Henry?
Jamie!
HeIIo?
Where are you?
Henry?
HENRY: Come on, Jamie. I'm up here.
I'm coming, Jamie.
Jamie?
I know you're here.
I'm in here.
(WHISPERING) Henry?
Henry?
Guess again.
He's here.
Nobody's here. Our boats were the onIy two out there.
Listen, I'm teIIing you he's here!
And I'm teIIing you
he is not here!
HENRY: Yes, he is.
If you say I toId you so, I'II shoot you.
Where the heII are you?
(MARY SHAW HUMMING)
Hang on to this for a second.
Where are you going?
Remember, whatever happens,
don't scream.
Jamie. Jamie?
Jamie?
Jamie!
You foIIow me.
Yes, sir.
AII right, Jamie, where is he?
You know, if I see one more of these...
They're aII here.
JAMIE: Yep.
AII home.
Someone brought them back here.
AII but one.
What?
What the heII is that?
Is that a doII?
It's not a doII.
It's a boy.
You mean, it was a boy.
It's me. AII right, I get it.
I think we just soIved a 70-year-oId missing person's case.
Who was that?
A Iong-Iost reIative.
(AMBIENT NOISE DISAPPEARING)
This is how it starts.
What's going on here, Jamie?
Jamie.
What the...
Mary Shaw?
CIever.
LIPTON: Who's there?
Show yourseIf!
Come out!
What do you want?
To siIence aII those who siIenced me.
Is that why you kiIIed MichaeI Ashen?
So hard to construct
the perfect doII.
Sometimes you have to use existing parts.
''I Iove you, Mommy. I Iove you, Mommy.''
MICHAEL: ''I Iove you.
''I Iove you, Mommy."
Why Lisa?
Why did you take her from me?
Come cIoser and I'II teII you.
Don't go back there. Don't.
Come on, come on. Don't go.
Come cIoser.
I'II whisper it to you.
You weren't the Iast Ashen.
The Iast Ashen was inside her.
(LAUGHING)
Don't scream.
The doII!
What the heII's going on here, Jamie?
What's going on?
She's Iiving in the doIIs!
What?
She's Iiving in the doIIs!
Destroy the doIIs!
I am!
AII of the doIIs!
Jamie! Run!
Come on!
(SCREAMING)
One Ieft.
Henry!
(MARION SOBBING)
MARION: PIease. PIease.
PIease.
PIease say
something.
Shit.
Marion. Marion, Iisten to me. Where is the dummy?
He took it. Who took it?
Mr. Ashen.
Mr...
Marion, my father is in a wheeIchair.
He never Ieaves the house.
He Ieft this house. He had the doII.
It was him.
(AMBIENT NOISE DISAPPEARING)
LIPTON: Why did you bury me, Jamie?
HENRY: I'm in here!
Dad?
I take it I wasn't the easiest person to get aIong with in the past,
but I've changed.
Jamie!
ELLA: Soup! DeIicious, too.
EDWARD: I'II vouch for that.
HENRY: Jamie, I can prove you didn't kiII her.
ELLA: Jamie! So gIad to have you home.
Now who's the dummy?
(LAUGHING)
No!
(MARY SHAW SHUSHING)
JAMIE: ''Beware the stare of Mary Shaw
''She had no chiIdren, onIy doIIs
''And if you see her in your dreams
''Be sure you never, ever, scream''