Recap / Cold Case S 2 E 21 Creatures Of The Night

Directed by Alex Zakrzewski

Written by Tyler Bensinger

The Rocky Horror episode, featuring Barry Bostwick as a guest star, and all the flashback music comes from the soundtrack to the movie, plus key scenes in the story take place at a Rocky Horror shadowcast performance in 1977.

August 2, 1977 - The shot opens on a pair of lips - on a poster for The Rocky Horror Picture Show, displayed in front of a movie theater. A man in a doorman's uniform walks past and into the theater, tapping the shoulder of a blonde girl, done up as Janet Weiss. She turns, and gives a big grin. She asks if his presence means what they talked about is going to happen: moving to New York, and he says yes. Kelly Witkowski has dreams of being on Broadway, but Mike Cahill has dreams of selling gourmet coffee to the masses. He asks if he's crazy thinking someone would pay a dollar for an espresso or cappuchino, but Kelly's a true believer, telling him to cast his doubts aside. With that, they go into the darkened room where the movie is playing and people are doing the Time Warp. Kelly asks him to dance along, but Mike says he can't dance. "You can do anything!" Kelly responds, and pulls him deeper into the dancing crowd. But one cross-wipe later, the music fades out, and Mike Cahill is lying dead on a subway platform, still dressed in his doorman's uniform. Soon after, a box labeled "M. Cahill, Aug. 77" is brought into the Cold Case Vault and left on a shelf.

Cold Case HQ - Vera has come back from a coffee run, handing out orders. Carmel Macchiato for Jeffries, Triple Americano ("Rocket fuel!") for Rush, and Latte with Nutmeg for Valens. Stillman walks in, fresh off the phone from the DA in Trenton, New Jersey, who's got a problem: a serial killer in Jersey named Roy Brigham Anthony is about to get paroled. Rush asks the obvious question about how a serial killer could qualify for parole. The answer: Anthony pled out to homicides that he was suspected of, but the DA's office didn't have enough evidence to get a conviction on. Anthony got 25 to life, with time off for good behavior. Valens asks why they were called, and Stillman says that before Anthony came to the Garden State, he spent a few months in Philly. The hope is that Anthony was reponsible for a killing in town, before he ran off to Jersey. If they can find a killing and connect Anthony to it, Philadelphia's DA will file for extradition, and then Anthony will stay locked up in a Pennsylvania prison rather then getting released. Stillman dispatches Rush and Valens off to Rossum State Prison to interview Anthony, while Vera and Jeffries start inspecting cold cases from the summer of 1977. He leaves one last thing to think on before the titles:

Stillman: Listen, if this guy walks, he's going to kill more people.

Rush: Jersey DA say that?

Stillman: No. Roy Brigham Anthony did.

Cold Case Vault - Jeffries asks about Anthony's MO. Anthony killed both men and women, but only at night, only with bare-hand strangulation, and no sex assault. No robbery either, but he was known to take trophies - a trinket from each victim. New Jersey cops found his trinket stash, and was able to match up all the trinkets to victims there, save one: a gold charm of a goat. Finally, all his victims were killed while wearing a uniform of some kind. That eliminates all of Jeffries' possibles, and all but one from Vera: Mike Cahill - found dead on a subway platform in a rough part of town, wearing his doorman's uniform. They agree that Cahill is probably the best shot - the only shot - they have to pinning something local on Anthony. Speaking of which...

Rossum State Prison, NJ - Roy Brigham Anthony is led into an interview cell where Rush and Valens are waiting for him. Now in his 60's, Anthony smiles politely and introduces himself with a friendly, "Hi, I'm Roy." After the detectives identify themselves, he asks if they're from Trenton or Atlantic City. When they respond they're from Philly, Anthony says he spent a few months there. Rush pulls up a photo of a smiling Mike Cahill and asks if Anthony recognizes the man, which gets a "No, sorry, ma'am, I've never seen him before." Valens responds that he might recognize him better from another photo, this one a crime scene photo of Cahill lying strangled. He then pulls out other photos: other victims of Roy, all strangled, and Valens asks if Anthony sees a pattern linking them. Again, Roy claims no knowledge of Cahill. Next up, Rush pulls up a photo of the goat charm, and asks if he recognizes it. Answer: nope, not even after they mention it was found in the box with the other trophies. Roy refuses to admit any knowledge of Cahill.

Rush decides on a different line of questioning: How did Anthony come to Philly in the first place? Anthony starts by saying his father brought him there after he turned 21, from his childhood home in Provo, Utah. Rush comments that going to a big city after life in Provo must have been a shock, to which Anthony agrees. As the first lines of "Eddie's Teddy" start to play - From the day he was born/he was trouble... - Anthony mentions that he went to stay with his Aunt Louise, and we circle-out into a flashback.

1977 - Residence of Louise Anthony - The circle reveals a needlepoint sign - "God is Love" - before pulling out and down onto a 21 year old Roy Brigham Anthony, standing at attention, hands in front holding his bag. The first voice we hear is a man in Navy dress uniform, stating that he doesn't want to hear back from Aunt Louise about any misbehavior, before snapping a quick turn to come next to Roy's right side, drill-instructor style. Roy gives a quick, "No, sir!" in response, before Louise, standing just a few feet in front of the two of them, says things will be fine to Edward, Roy's dad. Edward mentions that Louise has found a job for Roy, and that he is to turn over his wages to her. And always wear the temple garments... "or what?" he asks Roy, raising his hand as if to slap. "Hellfire and brimstone sir, gnashing of teeth!" Clearly he's had to answer this question before. This mollifies the elder Anthony for the moment.

Louise tries to defuse the situation by saying Roy's a good boy, that she can tell, but clearly Edward's not ready to believe that: "You hear about the girl, in Provo?" Louise says she has. "That's why he's here - for a clean slate. To reform!" Roy pipes up: "I'll wear my garments, father! Only clean thoughts!" "And?" Edward asks, but this time Roy's drawing a blank. Edward wags a finger: "Never, EVER, disrespect the Lord!" Roy looks like he's off someplace in his head, and doesn't respond. Edward snaps his fingers in front of Roy and demands to know if he's listening. Thankfully, Roy comes back with "Yes, sir! Never disrespect the Lord! I won't, sir!" Edward says nothing, but doesn't look terribly impressed. He snaps another turn and makes to leave, when Roy calls out asking when he'll be back. Edward responds that it depends on how well Roy obeys the rules. Roy restates that he will, he promises. Edward doesn't seem terribly convinced of this, and says nothing as he once more turns and walks out the door.

Rossum State Prison - The interview continues as Valens asks after the girl in Provo, what had happened. Anthony only commits to saying that he "lusted after her." Valens is skeptical, but Anthony said it's against "our beliefs" - and that was enough to get him relocated. Rush decides to pursue another angle, and asks Anthony if he was scared of his dad. Anthony admits he was a powerful man, to which Valens notes he was in the military, and Rush asks if that was the source of his predilection for killing people in uniform - that they reminded him of his dad. Anthony proclaims he loved his dad, but Rush counters that Anthony couldn't obey his rules, and it made Anthony lash out. Anthony claims that he followed the rules. Valens asks if he still gets orders from God. "And the light still shines," agrees Anthony. That's why he's glad to be getting out - he's got a lot of work to do outside the prison walls.

Philadelphia, Present: The voice of an older man, late 60s or 70s, calls out that, sure, he remembers Mike Cahill. Reveal that the man is taking a window screen down a ladder, as Jeffries and Vera look on. At the bottom of the ladder, Vera shows him a picture of young Roy Anthony, asking if he'd ever seen him, which gets him a No. Ladder Man goes on to mention that Mike was a model employee, best employee he ever had. Apparently Mike was a charming fellow who went the extra mile for the tenants in the building he was doorman at. Asked if there was anything unusual about the day he died, Ladder Man says that was the day Mike was leaving for New York, to pursue his dream about selling gourmet coffee to the masses, and would have had Starbucks beat by nearly a decade if it worked out. Asked if anyone was particularly upset he was leaving, Ladder Man responds that pretty much all the tenants were, as he was well-loved, but in particular one woman was upset: Helen Hargrove, whose husband owned the building. They were very close indeed, as they talked every day, all the time. Ladder Man mentions that she was a big fan of Mike, as "Superheroes" starts to play:

1977 - Younger Ladder Man is working on a staircase railing near the second floor, as the elevator carrying Helen and her husband reaches the first floor. Mike is standing at his normal post near the front door. As the door opens, Helen is apologizing to her husband that she just doesn't feel well enough to make it out tonight. Hubby protests that she's missing Beverly Sills' last tour, but she just can't tonight. "Don't you mean every night?" he asks pointedly, before going through the now open front door. Mike perfunctorily wishes Mr. Hargrove a good night as he storms through the doors. Now seemingly alone with Mike, Helen approaches him, asking if he'll see her tonight, to which Mike says no. Helen protests, but only gets "We need to stop," from Mike. "You need help, which I can't give you." Helen comes back that he helps her every night, but Mike is adamant, that if she doesn't tell her husband, then he'll have no choice but to do it. She protests that he wouldn't, but he insists he will. Nothing left to say, she heads back to the elevator up, leaving Mike to see Ladder Man on the staircase, who has heard every word.

Present - Jeffries asks Ladder Man if he suspected hanky-panky. Ladder Man doesn't out and out say it, but he does say that Mike was often in her apartment, late at night, and that he remembered Mr. Hargrove did have quite the temper back in those days. Jefferies responds that his wife entertaining the doorman might have set off that temper, and Ladder Man agrees: "No 'might' about it."

Cold Case HQ - Vera reports into Stillman about the new theory on Cahill's death - murder at the hands of a jealous husband, and naturally it might mean Jersey's out of luck. When Stillman asks how a doorman from one part of town and a Mormon kid from another could find each other in the city, Valens, back from Jersey, offers that perhaps Aunt Louise could shed some light on the subject. For Valens, it will have to wait, however - a New York cop named Phillips comes into the squad room looking for him. It looks like Christina Rush, Valen's girlfriend and Lily Rush's sister, has gotten into some trouble in the Big Apple, and there's a warrant out for her arrest. Valens firmly believes whatever it is, it's bogus, but Phillips has an offer for Valens: either he can walk away, and let Christina be picked up and hauled back to New York like a common criminal, or Valens can arrange for a meeting. Philips gives the old "we can do this the easy way or the hard way," before Valens shuts down his 'cop talk.' Valens says he can arrange a meeting, but he'll need time to talk to Christina. Philips is fine with it, and asks if 48 hours is enough time. Valens says OK, but Philips reiterates that one way or another, she's going to go back to New York.

The next morning, Stillman comes out to Valens on an outside balcony of Cold Case HQ to tell him Louise Anthony is here to be interviewed, but Valens says he'll come back in after a few minutes. Stillman takes the initiative to come out and ask what the New York cop wanted. Valens says that 'his girlfriend' has a warrant out for credit card fraud, which is crazy. Stillman's not fooled, though, and asks if Lily knows that her sister is being looked for, to which Valens replies she does, but Lily's washed her hands about it. Valens says all that needs to happen is Christina needs to talk to him to get it sorted out, but Stillman's not following it - he points out Philips came a long way for him to be wrong about it.

In the interview room, an old woman stands nervously until Rush comes in and a swoop reveals this to be the older Louise Anthony, aunt to Roy Brigham Anthony. Rush starts by establishing that Roy stayed with her for a few months over the summer of 1977, before he went to New Jersey. Rush tells her that they're looking into a Philadelphia murder that Roy might be involved in, before Louise protests that he never did anything like that here. Rush asks how she knows this, but the old woman demurs and supposes that she doesn't really know that he didn't. Rush shows Louise the ID photo of Mike Cahill and asks if she remembers seeing him, which gets a No. "Roy never really mixed with people, apart from his coworkers," she explains. Roy was a busboy at the Franklin Grill, but he never really made friends while he was there. Valens brings up "God's Light," to her, asking if that made any sense, but Louise is looking at the photo intently, and expresses wonder if Mike was the one who hurt him. Apparently Roy came home a lot with injuries, but he would never say who or what caused them...

1977 - Residence of Louise Anthony - As "Don't Dream It, Be It" starts to play, the screen 4-way splits to a green door, Louise urgently knocking on it. "Roy, are you hurt again?" she asks through the door. "Where do you go? Who does this to you?" She once again extorts him to open the door, and he does, revealing a fresh welling blister on the palm of his hand. "It hurts," he says, a bit quietly. Louise moves into the bathroom, taking some ointment. She's curiously overjoyed - she asks if he remembers the story of Mary Magdalene cleaning Jesus's blistered feet. (He does, naturally.) She says she's going to do that for him now with his hands. Roy mutters that it feels good. As she rubs ointment onto his hands, she wonders aloud that perhaps someday soon Roy will find a woman, a good pure decent woman, who will touch Roy not just on his hands, but in his heart. "And, it'll be alright because she'll be good and pure?" Roy asks. "Oh, yes Roy, only good and pure thoughts come from a good and pure girl." Roy decides now's the time to confess to Aunt Louise that he thinks he's going crazy. When she asks why, he says he hears voices.

Back at the Interview Room, old Louise says that was the moment when she knew Roy was "lost." Rush asks if she ever found out who had hurt him, but she did not. Louise reflects that she might have been able to do more for him, but when he ran away that summer, she considered it more of a relief than anything else. The detectives seem sympathetic - Rush reflects that it's lucky he didn't hurt Louise, but Louise says Roy broke her heart, and that hurt in it's own way.

In another part of Philly, Jeffries and Vera are in the apartment of an woman, and a retro-flash reveals that this is the older Helen Hargrove. She thanks the detectives for coming to her, as she doesn't leave her apartment. Jeffries comments that a posh place like this, he wouldn't want to leave either, but the truth is that Helen Hargrove is agoraphobic, and can't go outside. Jeffries mentions they're looking into the death of Mike Cahill, and ask her what she knows about it. She replies only what she read about it in the papers. Jeffries finds that hard to believe, given what they'd been told about her relationship with Mike. The detectives ask if Mike was in a romantic relationship with Helen, but she flat out denies it. She admits she might have been open to it, despite the age difference - Mike was a full 15 years her junior - but that their relationship was only platonic. He was around a lot of the time because it was back then when her agoraphobia started to make itself known, and Mike would help do the errands that she couldn't do inside her apartment. Pharmacy runs, cheesecake to go, stuff like that. Mike also kept her company when her husband was out. Jeffries asks if she kept it from her late husband, and Helen affirms that she did, hoping that the condition was only temporary. Jeffries asks if she saw Mike the day she died, and she confirms that she did, to say goodbye...

1977 - Helen Hargrove's Apartment - "Science Fiction Double Feature (Reprise)" starts to play as Mike tells Helen not to cry. Helen confesses she never thought she's see him leave until today, but Mike's ready to take the leap into business. Helen asks why he has to start in New York and not here, but Mike tells her she already knows the answer. She nods, merely saying, "Kelly." Mike says she belongs on Broadway, and Helen nods. "Lucky girl," she says quietly. Mike gets a bit more serious, and asks Helen to see a doctor and get some help for her agoraphobia. Helen asks if there's any way she can change his mind, but of course it's too late for that. Helen says then that she has something for him, and takes out a small jewelry box, giving it to him. He opens it, and inside is a gold charm in the shape of a goat. He looks up confused, until she tells the story of a goat farmer who came across a goat eating red berries and dancing. He tried one of the berries and realized why the goat was dancing. Mike has heard this story before - it's how coffee was discovered. Helen tells him to take it, for his coffee bar, and that she's rooting for him.

Present - Jeffries states the obvious - Helen gave the goat charm to Mike, the same token found in Roy Anthony's trophy chest. Vera asks who Kelly is, and Helen responded she was a waitress at the diner where Mike would get her late night cheesecake from: The Franklin Grill. That makes a second connection to Roy Anthony.

Christina Rush's Apartment - Valens is having a confrontation with Christina, who says all she did was call in some credit card numbers. Valens asks if that means she used them, and she says no - the numbers went to her boss, also her boyfriend at the time. Valens asked if she didn't pick up the fact that her boss was ripping them off, and she denies it. She was following orders the entire time and didn't realize it was fraud, Christina claims. Valens, skepticism showing, comes back that if that's true, then there's no harm in meeting this guy at the station and straightening it out. Christina is defensive, not convinced Scotty believes her, and even less convinced a New York cop will. She protests her innocence again before asking if he'll be there, and Valens says he certainly will. Valens turns to leave and get things rolling, but he stops, and comes back to Christina, telling her he's sorry, and that he does believe her.

Cold Case Interview Room - Rush walks in and Stillman introduces her to Larry Pappas, the manager of the Franklin Grill in 1977. Pappas laments that he'll always be 'that guy who hired a serial killer,' but on a more interesting note, he also knew Mike Cahill, who was in all the time getting cheesecake and complaining about Pappas' bad coffee. Rush asks Pappas if he ever saw Anthony and Cahill together, but Pappas responds with a No: If they met, it would be because of Kelly introducing them. He reveals however that it wasn't just Mike who had a thing for Kelly - Roy was mooning over her as well, "like a Madonna." Rush asks if he thought Roy was jealous of Mike, but Pappas says he couldn't tell you what was going on in his head. "He was off - distracted, uptight, he had rules, real rigid." Stillman asks what kinds of rules, and Pappas says mostly religious stuff. "Don't disrespect the Lord, that kind of thing, he was big on that." Rush observed that was something his father was pushing on him, and Pappas said that even if others broke the rule, he'd have a problem with it.

The Franklin Grill, 1977 - As Meatloaf starts to sing "Whatever happened to Saturday night?" a younger Pappas is cooking over a hot grill, and he observes out loud to Kelly that it's going to be busy tomorrow, what with the Sunday school crowd. He lifts a meat patty onto a waiting bun on a plate Kelly is holding, as Roy is bussing dishes nearby. Roy asks if they come there after church, and Pappas says it would be more correct to say they come there instead of church. Roy is in disbelief, but Pappas explains that their parents give them money for the collection plate, and instead they come to the Grill and use it to buy breakfast. Roy is not pleased to hear this. "It's disrespectful!" he spits out. Kelly passes by, adding in, "What, to their parents?" Roy clarifies he's talking about being disrespectful to the Lord. With a mischievous smile, Pappas observes it's good for the Grill's bottom line, but this is only causing Roy to get more angry. When Pappas really crosses a line, calling God "a rube," Roy looks fit to pop, but unable to slug his boss one, he turns to the nearby grill and presses his fists into it, and we hear an angry hiss confirming that the grill is at full heat.

He holds his fists there for a good five-count before Kelly comes up and pulls his fists off of it, asking him what he's doing. "He shouldn't disrespect the Lord," is Roy's only answer, to which Kelly goes, "OK, but you don't have to hurt yourself." Pappas tells him to take it easy. Kelly asks him why he did that, and Roy, in something actually approaching sense, goes, "It was either hurt him or hurt me." We see angry red patches on his knuckles as Kelly ices down his hands. "You're so sensitive," Kelly tells Roy, and Roy responds that he can't help it, seeing as how he has these 'feelings.' Kelly asks, "Pent up?" and Roy confirms this. Kelly suggests that he needs an outlet, and Roy gives her a creepy smile when he calls her "pure and good." Kelly just blushes, though, demurring that she's an ordinary girl, but Roy observes she's the only girl that seems to understand him. Kelly then proceeds to demonstrate that perhaps she doesn't know him quite so well when what she suggests is a trip to the "late night, double feature picture show." Roy doesn't get the reference, naturally, but he does agree to go with her next Saturday night. The scene ends with Pappas just looking on with a certain bout of confusion.

Interview Room - Rush observes that the injuries that Louise Anthony reported were self-inflicted, not caused by attacks. Stillman observes that perhaps he graduated from hurting himself to hurting others to quell his taken offense, but the older Pappas chimes in to ask that he did that just because they "cursed the Big Man?" Rush offers that perhaps it's a combination of factors, then asks Pappas if he was wearing some kind of uniform, to which Pappas says he was wearing the usual chef's whites of an short-order cook. Stillman offers a combination of the presence of a uniform, plus the irreligiousness. Rush says that just resulted in burnt hands. So what's the missing factor?

On a Philly street, Valens and Vera are talking to a middle-aged woman with blonde hair - Kelly, who confesses that after her beau wound up dead, she never did make it to New York. Valens asks her if she remembers "a busboy named Roy." She affirms that she does, describing him as a kid from Utah, kind of an oddball. Vera gives her the memo she apparently didn't get - Roy moved on to kill a whole bunch of people in Jersey. Kelly is shocked... but then something clicks in her head - the night that Mike was discovered dead, she had introduced him to Roy - at a Rocky Horror showing. Vera is dumbfounded at the thought of young Roy Brigham Anthony experiencing Rocky Horror. Kelly says she was trying to broaden Roy's horizons. Valens expresses doubt that a movie could do that much for Anthony, but Vera, who clearly has been to a showing, tells him it's not so much a movie as an experience. Kelly has a bit of a trip reliving old memories of Rocky, when she dressed up as Janet, until Valens gets us back on track, asking if Mike was there, and Kelly confirms this. Mike liked to come and watch her perform - except that particular night, things went wrong...

The Avenue Theater, 1977 - We split screen just as Tim Curry starts into the introduction for "Sweet Transvestite," to the stage of the Avenue where a Rocky showing is in progress. "Roy, meet Mike," Kelly says as Mike and Kelly turn into a row near the front. Roy is sitting on the end, watching them squeeze by and take seats, Kelly between the two men. Mike utters a Hi, but Roy is downright staggered by the vision of Tim Curry posing in front of the throne on screen. "Why is he wearing those clothes?" Roy finally manages, and Kelly responds with "He's a transvestite. From Transsexual, Transylvania." And an alien, Mike offers. We see shots of people cavorting around in typical Rocky Horror wear. Roy, trying to keep up conversation, tells Mike God is an alien, specifically from a planet near the star Kolob. Mike looks a bit nonplussed as Kelly explains Roy is a Mormon. Roy, however, is more concerned about if they should be there at all. Kelly says she comes there every week. Roy turns back to the screen, as Brad Majors is asking in-song if they can use the castle's phone.

Mike is not taking Roy's presence there well either, and asks Kelly if she's gotten another admirer. Kelly responds that he's just a lonely guy from work. Mike, starting to fold into a spiral of self-doubt, tells her to wait until Roy sees her in "her big number." Mike, despite Kelly's protests - it's clear he's done this before - starts going on about how talented and beautiful she is, and how he's just a doorman with a high school diploma. Kelly protests that he's going to become a tycoon, but Mike voices fears about losing her to fortune and fame on the New York stage. Kelly doesn't answer this - possibly because she hasn't yet figured out a way to answer when Mike gets this way. After a while, Kelly gets up, saying she needs to go do her number. Mike, deep in self-doubt, tells Kelly he can't go to New York, to which Kelly responds she's going to New York, with or without her.

She gets up from her seat - and asks Roy to follow her, explaining he's going to be her Rocky - as we jump a bit in the movie to "Touch-a, Touch-a, Touch Me." Naturally, Roy is a deer in the headlights, wondering what's next in this crazy movie, and Kelly pulls him over to a side-stage. As Susan Sarandon starts to sing "No use getting/into heavy petting..." Kelly starts to act along with the movie, much to Mike's chagrin and Roy's continued befuddlement. Then off comes Kelly's purple Janet top, revealing her bra-clad breasts. Roy is wide-eyed and dumbstruck as Kelly's costume skirt quickly follows, and she is clad now only in bra, slip and panties. As she continues to sing, Roy stares at her while she starts unbuttoning the white-collar shirt he's wearing. Soon the shirt is off, revealing Roy's white undershirt. Kelly gets to work on his belt and pants, pulling them down, exposing, naturally, the temple garments his father commanded him to wear without fail. Roy looks like he's fit to swoon as Kelly stands back up, her hands on Roy's shoulders.

Then, an ominous tone starts to come in as a silhouette of a woman appears in a spotlight against the screen. Roy sees the silhouette and is filled with dread, turning to see his fears are confirmed - Aunt Louise is in the theater! Louise calls out to him using his full name and this stops Kelly cold as she turns to the voice's source. Louise doesn't say another word as she physically pulls Roy from Kelly and down the aisle. Kelly can only look on and wonder what horrible fate awaits Roy...

Back on the street in the present day, Vera's eyes are wide when he expresses shock that Aunt Louise made an appearance at Rocky Horror. Kelly meekly offers that she "ruined the whole number." Valens asked what she did when her co-star got the Vaudeville Hook courtesy of his aunt: "I left the stage, left the theater, and took the train home." Vera asked if Mike came along, which gets a No - she left him there in his seat, still spiraling in self-doubt. Valens asks which train she took: it was the 14, from the Tasker-Moore station - Vera observes that was the same station Mike was found dead later. Kelly confirms this - saying she always wondered if he had followed her there, to tell her he was coming after all - but never getting the chance. Valens offers that it's a possiblity, which Kelly says she likes to believe is so.

Cold Case HQ, Night - The crew are pedeconferencing and playing What Do We Know: We know now why Mike Cahill was at the Tasker-Moore station where he was found - he was trying to get Kelly back after losing himself in self-doubt at the theater, but now there's a problem: Roy Brigham Anthony is now, to their knowledge, in the custody of his Aunt Louise and probably getting read the Riot Act - which leaves open the question of how he got to the train station to kill Mike, as well as the missing piece of his motive - what's the factor that causes him to kill for the first time?

Rush turns and sees Valens and Phillips waiting in an interview room - knowing they're there waiting for her sister. "How late is she?" Rush asks, and Stillman provides that it's been over an hour. Lily makes eye contact with Phillips, the New York cop through the glass... then she turns and walks on. Philips, in need of someone to grill, starts in on Valens, going on that it's 8:30... for a 7:00 meeting. Valens rationalizes that something must have happened, and Phillips offers something did happen: she made a runner. Valens protests that she said she'd be here, but Phillips is getting other ideas: "Did you clown me? Help her out?" Valens is not having it, but Phillips won't stop - going on about how Valens is off his game, how come he can't see the con his girlfriend is pulling on him when he's supposed to be a cop. Valens, about an inch away from decking Phillips, decides it would be better to put some space between them - he picks up his coat and tells Phillips he's going to go out and bring Christina in himself. Phillips warns him that he's got until 9 - then she officially becomes a fugitive.

Christina Rush's apartment is dark when Valens opens the door. He gives the place a once-over, but everything is in place, bed made... and a note for him on the coffee table. Inside it reads, "Sorry. C." Valens shakes his head and sits back in a chair as he contemplates his situation.

Cold Case Interview Room, The Next Day - Valens opens the door and asks, "Ever see the Rocky Horror Picture Show, Louise?" Naturally, older Louise is sitting at the table. Jeffries is standing by the one-way mirror as Louise denies having seen it. Jeffries expresses doubt, but Louise responds, "That's for heathens," in a manner that makes one think she needs to have a pearl necklace to clutch. Valens points out that the night Mike Cahill died, "one of those heathens saw you at the theater, spitting fire and brimstone." Louise asks if that is true, to which Jeffries leans in and asks why she didn't bother to tell them that. "I made a mistake that night - that I'll never forgive myself for." Valens asks what mistake that would be, but Louise is silent. When Valens accuses her of protecting a serial killer, Louise spits back she knows full well that she is, and that she made him that way. When Valens asks how, Louise responds that Roy asked her if he could go to "that so-called entertainment," but Louise told him no, and to come home. Jeffries observes Roy clearly didn't listen to her, and Louise confirms, "He disobeyed. Because of that girl." Valens clarifies she's speaking of Kelly Witkowski, and Louise agrees. "He went astray, lusting for her." Jeffries offers that she then went to go and get him, and Louise continues. "I entered that.. den of sin and... all these people, dancing in their underwear..." Jeffries points out that Roy was doing just that as well, and she agrees...

The Avenue Theater, 1977 - Louise continues pulling a semi-dressed Roy up the aisle and into the theater's lobby. Louise accuses Roy of committing the ultimate sin - turning away from God. Roy, kneeling before Louise, his pants back up again, but his white collar shirt still held in his hand, protests that he hasn't, but Louise calls him out for dancing up there in his garments, and cavorting with a harlot. "She's not a harlot! She's my Mary Magdalene!" Roy responds from the lobby floor. This only makes Louise madder: "Roy Brigham Anthony, do not compare that low woman to God's disciple!" Roy protests that she's good and nice, but Louise insists that a nice girl would not be doing what she was doing outside of marriage. Roy then intuits that this means he has to marry Kelly, then. "That's the sinner talking," Louise responds. "That's what got you in trouble in Provo." Roy protests that he feels alone, and he needs someone. "You have to listen to God, Roy, or you'll be lost." Roy asks if God is the voice talking to him in his head. "Who else?" confirms Louise. Roy confesses that he thought the voice's presence made him think he was crazy. Louise invokes both Joseph Smith and Brigham Young as men who heard avenging voices, and of course they couldn't be crazy. Roy stands up now, his shirt messy, but now once again around this chest and shoulders, buttoned up. "Then I'll listen to the voice." "It would be a sin not to," Louise agrees. Roy decides he needs to find Kelly, and runs back into the theater, leaving Louise behind as "Touch-a" finishes up, repeating the words: "Creature of the Night."

Interview Room - Louise asks the detectives if they see now how she was responsible, and Valens responds that it was because she told Roy to listen to the voice in his head. "I thought it was God talking to him..." and for a moment she retro-flashes back to her younger self, who finishes:"...but it was Satan."

Rossum State Prison - Once more, Rush and Valens are in an interview room with the older Roy Brigham Anthony. Valens repeats something Anthony said earlier: "God shines a light...speaks to you." "That's right," Anthony agrees, a look of pride on his face. Valens says this sounds nice and all, but the smile vanishes from Anthony's face when Valens displays skepticism - he's not buying the God talking bit. Rush faux-chides Valens that Anthony doesn't like people "disrespecting the Lord." Valens keeps pressing - Anthony's no prophet, he's just some frustrated guy who wanted a girl, but Anthony says Valens clearly just doesn't understand. Together Valens and Rush give the story we know: Anthony chased Kelly to the subway, but found Mike instead, and opportunity came to pass. Anthony responds he has no idea what they're on about, but they keep pushing: Maybe Mike, there in his uniform, broke one of Anthony's rules about disrespecting God, and they know it makes Anthony mad, mad enough to harm himself at least. Then there's the little voice in Roy Brigham Anthony's head that Aunt Louise had just told him to listen to. Anthony retro-flashes back to his younger self just long enough to say, "God's voice isn't little..." Rush keeps pushing: "And now things are ruined..." Older Anthony protests that he does God's work. Valens says younger Roy just needed one more thing to push him over the edge into murder, and Rush wants to know what that is. Anthony stutters to answer, then Rush asks again, "What turned you into a killer?" and Anthony barks back at her, "I've already told you that!"

Valens is putting it together: "What, that God's light crap?" Anthony is getting more and more mad -

Anthony: What did you say?

Valens: You heard me!

Anthony: God's light is NOT-

[Anthony stops and takes a breath.]

Anthony: God's light is real. (yelling) It's REAL!

The two men stare at each other for a long moment - then Anthony sits down. The first piano notes of "I'm Going Home" start to play as we square out to a flashback:

Tasker-Moore Station, 1977: As a re-dressed Roy Brigham Anthony races down an escalator to the train platform, we see Mike Cahill in his uniform running after a train leaving the station. "Kelly!" Mike calls out, but of course the train is already departing and stops for nothing. As Mike turns around, defeated, he meets Roy just after Roy walks onto the platform. Mike asks what he's doing here, and Roy only wants to know where Kelly is. "Gone" is all Mike offers. Roy says he needs urgently to speak to her, and Mike says that makes two of them, then asks what his big emergency is, and Roy states that he needs to marry her. Mike is all "I was here first, pal..." but Roy is convinced she's his Mary Magdalene. "She's going to New York, Roy, and I'm going with her," Mike retorts, and then makes to leave, but Roy stops him. "She's my Mary Magdalene," Roy repeats, but Mike, clearly not as well schooled in Biblical references, flippantly asks who that is. Roy's expression betrays his personal offense at this answer. "Don't you go to church? Read the Bible?" Mike tells him that he knows Roy is a "Jesus Freak" but he personally doesn't care about God or such matters - as the light from the next train coming into the station starts to make Mike flash and then glow. This is the trigger that pushes Roy over the edge, and soon his hands are around Mike's neck. Tim Curry sings about seeing blue skies through the tears in his eyes as Roy wrestles Mike to the floor of the platform while the train rockets by, darkened and empty. Mike keeps struggling, but to no avail. Soon he is still, and Roy is looking over him, into his dead eyes as he finally releases his grip on his neck and stands. Looking on his handiwork, he sees the goat charm in Mike's shirt pocket, taking it and walking away as Tim Curry sings his last "I'm Going Home..."

The screen fades to white, and the song crossfades into "There's A Light (Over At The Frankenstein Place)" as we see the older Roy Brigham Anthony being marched away - flashing for a moment into his younger self - as he's marched back to the prison block, as Rush and Valens walk away, triumphant. We wipe over to Stillman marching the box labeled "M. Cahill" and a folder with Roy Brigham Anthony's name and photo to an unseen clerk, whose computer display reads with a fill-in "Request for Extradition" letter. We see the cloistered Helen Hargrove reading a book, with a cappachino machine nearby. As she reaches for a cup, the machine blocks her from view and she changes into her younger self, taking a sip. A vase blocks the view again and she changes back, a wan smile on her face as she drinks. We cut back to another showing of Rocky Horror - with two shadowcasters on stage as Brad and Janet, walking in their rainstorm. The shot cuts to the audience and we see older Kelly, watching the show and reminiscing - then a flash changes her back into the young Kelly, complete with Janet costume, then she changes back as an audience member cuts between her and the camera, smiling as she watches. Three rows back, Vera and Jeffries are watching the show - Vera is completely into it, grinning like a fiend, but Jeffries is not having a great time. He gives Vera a look as if to say, "What have you gotten me into?" as Vera watches, engrossed.

As Riff sings "Flow, Morphia, slow..." we cut to another part of Philly at night, and to Valens, watching the street from his window, dressed in a white undershirt and pants as he contemplates Christina's betrayal. Meanwhile, as Brad and Janet's part comes back, Lily walks down a Philly street - in front of a doorman, obscured. She stops and turns - the focus changes to reveal Mike Cahill, dressed in his uniform, tipping his cap to her silently. She walks away, and as we look away for a moment, Mike Cahill too is gone.

Tropes for the episode:

• Alliterative Name: Helen Hargrove.
• Celebrity Paradox: Naturally, Rocky Horror is featured prominently in the plot, in which Barry Bostwick stars as Brad Majors. Yet, nobody seems to pick up on Old!Anthony's resemblance to that guy in the film, albeit much older.
  • Interestingly, the Rocky Horror-style credits after the episode prominently show both older Barry Bostwick as Roy Brigham Anthony - and then inserts a freeze-frame of a younger Bostwick as Brad from the film.
• Holier Than Thou: Aunt Louise was like that, looking down at fans and actors of Rocky Horror for their cross-dressing and displays of lust and sexual behaviors. Instead of taking concern for her nephew’s “voices”, she told him they were the voices of God, egging him on. To this day, she lives with the guilt that she encouraged his behavior.
• Insanity Defense: Averted, notably - Roy Brigham Anthony (as an adult) does not believe he is crazy, and did not pursue an insanity-based defense. Because he pled out, and served his time, New Jersey has no choice but to release him, even though he's making vague threats about having 'work to do' outside (i.e. there's people that need killing) - if he had pled insanity, this could be used as evidence that he's still a danger to society. Trenton contacts the Cold Case Squad hoping there's a case that he can be convicted of in Philly with a life sentence that will keep Anthony safely locked away.
• Noodle Incident: Several times there's a reference to "what happened in Provo" that got Roy Brigham Anthony shipped out to Philly. We never really find out what happened, only that it involved a girl that Anthony was attracted to.
• Ripped from the Headlines: Based on the case of Carl Eugene Watts, The Sunday Morning Slasher. Watts suffered from paranoid delusions and was suspected of murdering anywhere from 14 to 100+ women. In 2004 Watts faced an early release from his 60 year sentence in Texas due to improper police procedure, but before he could be released, he was charged in Michigan for a different murder following a public appeal. He was eventually found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment, where he died in 2007.
• Unwitting Instigator of Doom: When Roy confessed that he heard voices that weren't his own, instead of recognizing them as schizophrenia and getting her nephew professional help, Aunt Louise told him that they were the voices of God, and he should listen to them. Of course, she had no idea those "voices" she told him to listen to were telling him to go after someone else's girlfriend and kill the guy she was already with.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: After the first flashback, Roy's father isn't mentioned again.
• Writers Cannot Do Math: August 2, 1977 was a Tuesday, not a Saturday night (or Sunday morning, considering Rocky Horror showings of the era usually started at midnight.)