Mary Brown wouldn't take no for an answer.
Nor would she accept advice that, once someone had been convicted of murdering her son, she forget the unanswered questions and simply try to heal herself.Instead, she fought an unceasing battle to gain custody of her young granddaughter and bring her daughter-in-law to justice for her role in the murder.
Brown's determined struggle is recreated in the excellent NBC miniseries "A Matter of Justice," which airs Sunday and Monday at 8 p.m. on Ch. 2.
Brown's son, Chris (Jeremy London), left home at age 17 to join the Marine Corps. He quickly fell for an older woman he met in a bar, Dusty (Alexandra Powers of "L.A. Law"), and - to his mother's horror - married her.
Shortly thereafter, the couple had a baby girl - and Dusty began cheating on her husband. While in the midst of a divorce, Dusty convinced a boyfriend to murder her husband so she could claim his benefits.
"After the initial shock, I started remembering some things my son had said about his estranged wife," Brown said. "I had many doubts and during the divorce process my son told me things that made me very suspicious of her."
But when the murderer was arrested, tried and convicted, the Marine and civilian authorities called an end to the investigation. But the grieving mother was determined to see Dusty brought to justice.
"They had never dealt with the tenacity of (me) before," she said. "And they tried to just put me off. And you've heard that you never oil anything unless it squeaks. And I kept squeaking and squeaking, so they finally oiled me."
"Mary and Jack Brown beat the system, literally, on a daily basis for years and made it work for them," said Patty Duke, who turns in a powerful performance as Mary Brown. "They resolved to keep their granddaughter and their point of view of justice in terms of Dusty.
"Since I was a child, I really got to know the importance of, as Annie Sullivan put it, `not giving up.' So any time I meet anyone who shows a particular ability to stick to what is right and true and fight for it, it engenders in me great admiration."
Complicating the situation was the matter of the custody of young Christine Brown, Chris' daughter. Mary and her husband, Jack (Martin Sheen), were granted custody by the Alabama courts. But Dusty and her latest boyfriend kidnapped the child and took her to Oklahoma, where the courts refused to honor the Alabama rulings.
"I fought every authority legally to get custody of this child - Alabama, Oklahoma's laws," Brown said. "I could not sleep at night thinking that a woman that I felt very strongly had been involved in the death of my son would have custody of his only child. So I went to every congressman that I knew. I went to every authority, every district attorney and private investigators.
"I did whatever was necessary and I would do it again."
Her efforts included mailing more than 1,300 fliers concerning Dusty and Christine to homeless and battered-women shelters around the country - an effort that, surprisingly, eventually paid off.
"A Matter of Justice" is one of those rare true-life crime dramas that transcends the genre. And that's largely because it's about more than just crime.
It's about struggling for what's best for a child. It's about struggling for justice.
It's a strong drama about a marriage that has gone sour over the years, and how the partners overcome tragedy to rebuild their relationship.
And the fact that this is a true story adds to its impact.
(Viewers should note, however, that there is one violent scene and several very strong sexual scenes in Part 1 of the miniseries.)
As for Mary Brown, she's still not thrilled with the results of the legal process. She's a member of a victims' rights group.
"I have much respect for the legal system and the authorities," she said. "But now, I do not feel intimidated by them. I respect them.
"But I am a taxpayer. And any public servant, whether it be the FBI or the Marine Corps, (must recognize that) I have rights as an individual and a private system. And I think all people should remember that."
And Brown is glad she cooperated with the TV movie producers.
"I was writing a book and I did not finish it," she said. "And I thought, `Well, this'll be faster and quicker and then I can continue being a grandmother and an ordinary person and work in my flower garden and let the movie do it for me. That's why I did it."