Fargo

We're here about hess.

Oh, yeah, you want gold-- max gold.

He's on his way.

You gold?

Yeah. And you're...

We're from fargo.

Good. They said they were sending someone.

They were right.

There's no library in this town.

Why is there no library in this town?

Uh...Cutbacks.

He thinks every town should have a library.

I agree. Tell him I agree.

Fargo sent us to find out what happened to hess.

He got stabbed in the back of the head

At a strip club, is what happened to him.

Okay.

Okay. Okay, all right.

Do you believe this was connected to the business?

I-- things have been quiet.

No labor b.S.,

No skirmishes with other trucking concerns.

So?

There was a guy-- I told this to fargo--

Came by the garage the day it happened.

Brown hair, just under 6 feet, not young, not old.

Had a cut on his forehead, here.

Said he just wanted to take a look at sam,

Which he did, then he left.

Look--

Hold on a second.

He was my friend, okay?

Sam.

Sure, he was a jerk, but deep down--

All I'm saying is, you're gonna find him, right?

The--the guy who did it.

We'll find him.

How's your head, then?

Oh, yeah, it's okay. Aches still, but--

You try that hot dish?

Oh, yeah. Real good.

Yeah.

So, you know, kitty and I were talking,

And we think you should move in here for a while.

Just stay with us, you know,

Until you get the house cleaned up or sold.

Why the heck would I sell the house?

Oh.

I'm not saying you have to go that way.

Just, you know, stay a few days until we get it cleaned up.

Cops left a real mess.

Oh, yeah? Mm-hmm.

Yeah, the crime scene and all,

Really turned the place upside down.

Looking for clues, I suppose.

[indistinct sports announcer talking]

How are you doing? All right?

Thank you. Okay.

[sports announcer, chatter in background]

You don't have to do that.

They're piling up.

Vern told me this story once.

When he was a rookie, had a boss

Couldn't tell his shoe from his foot.

Got killed by a hail stone.

Just standing in the parking lot of the dairy queen,

Having a milkshake,

Hail stone comes down, size of a softball,

Crushes his skull.

What flavor?

Strawberry, I think.

I was thinking about when my dad got shot.

Traffic stop, yeah?

Yeah. Hmm.

He pulled over the fellas that robbed callihans

And stole the snow plow.

They came to tell me at school. I was in algebra.

And he's okay, you know?

Got the limp, of course, but they caught the guys, so...

The little one, he even got probation.

Convinced the jury it was a stockholm syndrome deal,

You know.

Okay, we got now a list of who'll come by when and do what.

This is on the due date, you know.

Get you to the hospital, bring you home,

So you're covered.

Say, bill, I was thinking,

We should talk to lester nygaard first thing.

Lester? Well, he already made a statement

Back at the hospital.

Yeah, I know, I read it, but see, thing is,

Vern was on his way to lester's house

To talk to him about hess' murder,

You know, how possibly lester was involved.

Lester?

Uh...

Went to high school with lester.

Had to dissect a mouse in mrs. Knutson's class,

And poor lester fainted.

Oh. Yeah, okay, but--

Girl had her monthly once in gym class,

There goes lester, fainting again.

Right, so he doesn't like blood, but still--

Plus, this hess murder, got to believe

That's about the cutthroat world of regional trucking.

Yeah.

So it's just coincidence, you're saying?

Hess gets killed, and then the massacre at lester's house

The next day? Exactly.

See, I'm thinking this is home invasion.

You know, it's a drifter or some such.

Drug related maybe, but not, you know, lester nygaard.

Am I right, ida?

You're not not right.

But on these high-profile deals, bill,

It never hurts to talk to the eyewitnesses yourself.

"take control of the facts."

That's what vern always used to say.

Okay. Okay, good.

We go see lester, but I do the talking.

Heya, lester.

Bill.

Mr. Nygaard, we got some questions we'd like--

This is molly. Deputy solverson.

Sure, nice to meet ya.

Like I was saying, we got some questions, so...

How you holding up, lester? How's the head?

Oh, yeah. Yeah, it hurts.

I got a little... Double vision still.

Jeez, well, you know, if now's not a good time--

No, no, I was just about to-- I want to help, you know,

It's just, there's so much work to do.

Yeah, sure, it'll only take a second.

Oh.

All I got's grape juice. Hope that's okay.

pearl says it reminds her

Of being a kid.

Said.

Remember that gum?

That grape gum

That they had when we were kids?

Heck...

What was that called?

Uh, so we got your statement from the hospital.

Oh, yeah.

Yeah, I-I was real thorough with those fellas.

I mean, what I could remember. Doctor says I got a concussion.

Says if I was hit any harder, my brain could've swole up

And leaked right out my ears.

Thank gosh that didn't happen.

In your statement, you said that you came home

And found your wife, that-- that she was already dead.

Uh-huh, downstairs, yeah. I heard the washer going--

Spin cycle, and I--

Well, you know, she was on the floor,

You know, and there was a lot of--

I never even heard the guy. Uh, just one minute, I'm...

Uh, looking at her, and the next...

So, uh, you don't remember

Chief thurman coming to the house, then?

Oh, no. No, I feel sick about that, really.

I guess he saw the guy breaking in.

Uh, no, mr. Nygaard.

Chief thurman came to talk to you

About a man you may have met in the emergency room

The day previous.

Hmm, you don't say?

Look, lester...

If this is too hard for you,

You can just give us the bare bones--

We got a witness says that, uh, she saw you

And this other fella arguing about sam hess.

Who?

Sam hess.

You remember sam--he used to beat you up in high school.

What?

Oh, yeah, sam had a thing for ol' lester here.

Used to chase him around the schoolyard

Till one or the other ran out of gas.

You remember--

Big kid.

What was that name he called you?

Uh, lester nig--

Oh, yeah. Yeah, sam.

Yeah.

That was a long time ago.

But you were talking about him in the emergency room,

So what's the story there?

Well, I, uh...

Hmm, it's real fuzzy, but I might have said,