03x02 - Personal Day

[bunniefuu]

Francisco: It was Ana's 15th birthday party, and she sang like an angel.

She told her mother and me that it was the happiest night of her life.

After her party, Dante Gomez, this man who grew up across the street from my family and knew Ana her whole life, said he loved her.

Dante Gomez sh*t my little girl, and he ran away.

He left my daughter lying on the ground dead.

Ana's been gone 17 years.

And I see this monster here today asking for his freedom.

Feels like it was only yesterday.

Do not forget the victim when you hear this man.

Because we do not forget her.

We do not forget her.

Thank you, Mr. Escobedo.

Know that the state is not indifferent to your family's suffering.

All right, Mr. Dante sosa Gomez, you are 17 years into a 20-year sentence for the second-degree m*rder of Ana Escobedo, correct?

[Feedback] Yes, ma'am.

And you are seeking early release for this heinous crime based on good behavior.

Is that it?

No amount of good behavior can justify my release.

Cox: Mr. Gomez, at the time of your conviction, you were a 16-year-old g*ng member and a high-school dropout. Is that correct?

Yes, sir.

We've read your prepared statement, and we're impressed with the writing.

Could you read it aloud for us?

I am responsible for taking the life of Ana Escobedo.

I apologize to her family and everyone who loved her with no expectation of forgiveness.

Though, by legal standards, I am qualified to petition you for early release, my conduct in prison should not lessen my punishment for the violent behavior...

That has led to so much tragedy.

I thankfully accept whatever decision you make in my regard as an expression of the will of God.

Sincerely, Dante Gomez.

Given your clean record of prison behavior, majority of time served, and your status as a juvenile at the time of your conviction, the board is inclined to grant your application of parole for two years.

Don't blow it, Mr. Gomez.

You have three minutes. What do you want?

First, Julio, I want to thank you.

My arrest was the best thing that ever happened to me.

All but one of my friends from before are dead.

I'm still here.

I even got a chance at a college education.

You're welcome.

I'll mention all that stuff to Ana Escobedo the next time I see her.

I did not k*ll Ana.

Oh, geez. Here we go.

That's not what you said in court when you were being sentenced.

That's not what you said just last week to the parole board.

You told the commissioners...

I said what was necessary to get out of prison for a crime I didn't commit, and now I'd like your help so that the truth can be told.

Oh, okay. I'll help you.

You sh*t Ana Escobedo twice in the chest.

An eyewitness saw it go down.

You confessed.

You ever need reminding...

You call me.

Who was the witness against me?

[Scoffs] Name's confidential, part of the deal you agreed to in exchange for second-degree m*rder.

What's this about, Dante?

You're free. Why drag it all out again?

Because I didn't k*ll Ana. I loved her.

When she d*ed, I wasn't thinking straight.

It didn't occur to me till later that the person responsible for her death is still out there.

And... my grandmother is old and sick.

I don't want her to die thinking I'm a m*rder*r because I'm not.

Hey. Keep your hands above the table.

"1709 East Carson Street."

That's where I was the night Ana was m*rder*d.

Look it up for yourselves.

That's where I was.

Tao: 1709 East Carson Street is a liquor store in Northridge, held up 17 years ago the night Dante Gomez m*rder*d Ana Escobedo.

Robbery was never solved.

How far away is this liquor store from where Ana Escobedo was m*rder*d?

27 miles. But it doesn't matter, man.

We can't ID Dante from this footage anyway.

And you can tell that the guy taking the cash isn't Dante.

I mean, even with this crappy video.

Buzz: Hey, it's from an old VHS shut up in the case box for almost two decades.

I had to splice it almost 100 times just to get it to play.

Why are we even pursuing this?

The justice system has spoken loud and clear, and I'm leaving soon.

Detective Sanchez is required to inform his commanding officer of any and all reported murders.

Oh, God, the rules. Why did I ask?

Sykes: Here's the evidence from the Ana Escobedo m*rder.

Great. One second, detective.

What are our chances of ID'ing anyone off of this old tape?

You know, I can get some more face on the tall guy here.

You know, do a high-res video transfer, then auto-pixel each individual frame that he appears in, then saturate with primary...

Tao, can you ID the guy or not?

I thought you were taking a personal day.

Fine, fine.

Just go on like I'm not here. See if I care.

Okay, if we could solve this old robbery and then locate the other suspect...

Yes, if he's still alive.

17 years... That's a century in gangland.

Maybe he could tell us that Dante wasn't with him, and we will have done our due diligence.

Or we could just review the evidence.

Okay, here is the m*rder w*apon that I found in Dante's car the night Ana was sh*t.

And we had an eyewitness who saw the m*rder happen.

And here's Dante's statement of facts where he confessed to the m*rder in open court.

You called the D.A. over this?

No, Dante came to our office after talking to you guys.

I said I would review the evidence with you.

Are we done?

Whoa, whoa, wait. Buzz, be kind, rewind.

Just before the two bad guys exit the liquor store.

Ah! Right there. Can we blow that up?

This is VHS. Oh, right.

It could explode, but it won't blow up anything.

Okay, according to the height marker on the door, the guy in the hood is 5'10".

How tall is Dante Gomez?

5'10".

That doesn't prove anything.

A-a shadowy figure that's 5'10"? Could be me.

If you were 5'10".

Is there any other reason that Dante is claiming his innocence?

Yeah, when Sanchez sat down with him last night, he took a straightforward run at trying to find out the name of our protected witness.

[Chuckles] Mystery solved.

Dante wants revenge on the guy that put him away.

Hobbs: It could be worse than that.

If Dante locates and hurts the protected witness, our prior knowledge makes us liable.

Provenza: Hmm. Not me. I'm off today.

Bye-bye.

I suggest you contact the witness immediately and offer security.

Also, put together a list of Dante's fellow g*ng members who were active during both the robbery and Ana's m*rder.

Okay, why?

To see if any of their physical descriptions match up with the tall guy in this video.

Ma'am, why don't we just ask Dante who the tall guy is?

First we need to be absolutely sure that our confidential witness is in no danger.

Excuse me.

Keep protecting the witness, fine.

But jumping through hoops for Dante, no way.

He can't sue us.

How come?

We had a deal, and the terms of that deal were that I would give you money for an electric toothbrush, and you would tell the captain that your mother had contacted you.

I know. I know, which is why we need to reschedule this visit.

Look, lieutenant, I tried to find the right time to bring it up, but it... It didn't come along.

And I don't want Sharon to get the wrong idea about...

Wrong idea? About what?

Um, well, uh, captain...

[Clears throat]

For what you are about to hear, I apologize.

Um...

My mom is here.

Well, at a rehab in Long Beach, and I didn't tell you about it, and I should have, and I am sorry, but, Sharon...

Your mother is in rehab?

And you have gone to see her there?

Yeah, a couple of times.

But... but... but listen.

Listen, she... she wants...

She wants to make amends, uh, to people...

Uh, me, uh, you, everyone, really, as a... as a part of her recovery, and i-if you don't mind, uh, Lieutenant Provenza and I, we can... we can go and we can pick her up right now and we could bring her here and she could apologize just to get that over and out of the way.

It would only take a few minutes, but, um...

But I completely understand if you don't want to.

It's not a problem at all.

I'm, uh... I am very surprised, of course, but I am looking forward to meeting the other Sharon in your life, and I'm glad that she's in rehab, Rusty.

So... so, bring her?

Now?

If you can, that would be good.

[Chuckling] Okay, then.

Uh, we better hurry. Uh...

She just has a brief window to be out.

I-I'll be back with her as soon as we can manage.

Good. And thank you, lieutenant, for all of your help with this.

[Sighs] Well, that was the worst part.

Now it's over.

Oh, no.

Around here, nothing's ever over.

[Elevator bell dings]

Cesar: I thought nobody was ever supposed to find out I spoke out about Dante or even know my name, and now you're introducing me to all these new people?

Sharon: Cesar, we need to be sur that you haven't told anyone about your role as a witness against Dante.

You think I'm crazy?

If those guys from his g*ng knew it was me...

What's going on here?

Flynn: Okay, look, Dante Gomez was granted parole, and he claims he didn't k*ll Ana Escobedo.

That's crazy.

Wait. Are you saying that Dante knows I turned him in?

There's no reason for you to freak out.

You're with us. Nothing can happen to you here.

Cesar, let me ask you this.

Are you still 100% certain about what happened the night that Ana Escobedo was m*rder*d?

Yeah.

I mean, it was a long time ago, but...

Dante and Ana were in the park, and they were arguing.

And I walked by them.

I was about 40 feet on.

I heard two sh*ts, I turn around, and she...

It still shakes me up.

Dante had sh*t Ana twice.

She was lying on the ground, and he was running away with a g*n in his hand.

And you're absolutely sure that it was Dante?

Am I sure?

It happened fast, but yeah. It was him.

We'll keep our people in the background, but you are gonna need protection. Trust me. ma'am, why did you ask if he was sure he saw Dante?

To see if there was any wiggle room in his story, and there is.

About 40 feet.

When Ana was actually sh*t, detective, Cesar's back was turned.

But Dante was the sh**t. It was his g*n.

Which is an excellent reason to have S.I.S. follow him, as well.

No need. Hollywood division called.

Dante Gomez was just found m*rder*d.

[Police radio chatter]

Gomez's grandmother's the person reporting.

Regina Gomez. Poor thing.

She's been standing on her back porch since she called 911 an hour ago.

[Dog barks] When patrol searched the garage, they found this in the bookshelf.

You got a time, Kendall?

Hmm, I'm thinking somewhere between 10:00 last night and 3:00 this morning, unless Dr. Morales says otherwise.

What about cause of death?

Ugh. Blunt-force trauma to just about everything.

This guy was b*at up.

No sign of forced entry... Not surprising, considering the position of the body when we arrived.

Feet there, head there, facedown.

Flynn: It's like he answered the door, knew who it was.

He turned around, and then got the crap b*at out of him.

Sykes: Not sure about that, lieutenant.

Buzz, there's blood over here on his blanket and pillow.

Looks like he may have been injured before he answered the door.

So, the death blow came later. That's strange.

Flynn: I guess the k*ller tore this place apart.

Looking for what?

Well, here's a scale and baggies, so maybe coke or heroin.

The officers who cleared this place found this stuff under his bed, but no dr*gs.

Julio?

This wasn't your fault.

Whose was it, then?

I'm gonna talk to his grandmother.

I'll go with him.

Regina: Every morning since he got back, Dante came in and made breakfast.

I told him to spend the night out there, but we eat as a family.

You kept your grandson in the garage?

I thought he should earn the right to live under my roof again.

You know how hard it was for me to stay here after he k*lled that girl across the street?

But he paid for that. We all paid.

And what do you care?

I remember you. You hated Dante.

Ms. Gomez, what time this morning did you begin to wonder how your grandson was doing?

Around 11:00.

Dante was waking me up days.

So when I got out of bed and I didn't see him around, I went out to the garage.

And then I... I called 911.

And you heard nothing during the night?

I sleep well.

That's about all I can still do.

But I sleep.

Did Dante mention any new friends, or was he acting out of the ordinary at all?

Yes.

He took care of me, and then went out to look for a job.

That was not ordinary.

He read books. That was not ordinary.

I told him, "you did your time.

Don't make trouble."

But he went around telling everyone that he was innocent.

That was not ordinary.

Ma'am, I assure you that we will do everything we can to find the people...

No, you won't. You won't do anything.

My son, Dante's father, was sh*t to death 22 years ago, and you people never found his k*ller, and my other son was m*rder*d 7 years later, and nothing happened.

And now Dante.

The police come by once, and I never see you again.

What do people like us mean to you?

Ms. Gomez, we're very sorry for your loss and we will do our best to figure out what happened here.

Sure you will.

[Police radio chatter]

Who's that?

Sanchez: It's the family of the girl that Dante m*rder*d.

They weren't happy about his release, ma'am.

The older man doesn't look strong enough to b*at anyone to death.

What about the sons?

Manuel and Carlos?

That's a good place to start.

I'll go to the morgue with Dante.

Why don't you and detective Sykes ask Manuel and Carlos downtown for a conversation?

[Police radio chatter]

Manuel: I mean, what you want me to say?

"I'm sorry the guy's dead"? I'm not.

That's why I have to ask you these questions.

Hey, you didn't like Dante, either.

Yeah. m*rder is m*rder, Manny.

It doesn't matter how I feel about the victim.

Let's start when Dante came over to your house yesterday.

Who told you about that?

You just did.

[Chuckles]

Yeah. Okay.

Let's do this for real.

Dante came over about 8:00, maybe.

What did he want? Just to say, "hi, I'm back in the hood.

Let's all be friends." That kind of thing?

Yeah. You believe that?

assh*le went right up to my father and said all churchy altar boy...

He said, "I'm not the one who k*lled Ana."

But you didn't do anything to him, did you, Carlos? because he's not looking too good right now.

Well, he didn't look so good last night, neither.

Listen, what's he expect?

He gets out of prison for murdering my sister.

And suddenly, we're supposed to be friends again? No way.

Hey.

Oh, what's going on? Where's the captain?

Morgue. Someone k*lled Dante Gomez.

How's your personal day going?

Didn't the captain tell you?

Tell us what?

You'll hear about it soon enough.

He came out of prison, and we left him alone.

I didn't go to his house.

I didn't trust myself go to his house.

Dude comes over, gets in our face, saying how he loved Ana.

But we all know he k*lled her.

So, how did you help him understand?

We... physically explained how we felt about his new story.

That's how.

Dr. Morales: Along with a multitude of contusions pretty much everywhere, Mr. Gomez has a broken arm and collarbone.

I'm guessing when he was att*cked, he raised his left arm, but his arm was insufficient.

We found this in the bushes next to your front porch.

Did you use this to b*at Dante?

There's blood on it.

Look, okay?

We had to show Dante and the whole neighborhood how we felt about him running around saying he was innocent, and we did it real public-like with a real bat.

I have wood fibers in the laceration on the shoulder.

And in addition to being ugly, the hematoma at the base of his skull shattered his C1 cervical vertebra.

After that, Dante ran back across the street to his granny.

That would have ended all movement from the neck down.

Huh.

So, the att*ck came after he got up from his bed and opened his door.

That was the death blow, yes.

Hey, we didn't k*ll Dante.

Well, at least not on purpose.

Why pull your punches then if you were in the right?

Because Dante was protected.

If me and Manny had finished him off...

[Chuckles]

You'd be putting me on ice, too.

Dante was protected?

Who protected him?

Hey, listen to this.

Sanchez: Hey, Manny, we've been through a lot together.

Don't make me arrest you to get his name.

You ain't gonna do that.

Why do you think we read you your rights before we brought you in here?

Tell me who was protecting Dante, or I will book you for as*ault with a deadly w*apon!

Hector Zamora.

Dante was protected by Hector Zamora.

You better not be lying.

Hector Zamora. Can't wait to meet him.

Okay, let me get this personal-day crap out of the way now that we have a real m*rder.

[Sighs] Come on. Come on. Pick up. Pick up.

[Cellphone vibrates]

Yes, lieutenant. What's going on?

Provenza: Uh, Rusty and his mother are waiting for you in the super cubicle.

What reason did you give the rehab for removing Sharon Beck into your custody?

Rusty's mother?

Well, I told Mrs. Beck's minders that L.A.P.D. had an open case file on her for child abandonment and that we wanted to question her.

Look, i-if it's a bad day for this, um, I can send her back to rehab with patrol, and I'll punch in.

Hold on.

Let me see.

Uh, Dr. Morales, is there anything else?

I believe the victim was att*cked twice.

The beatings came a few hours apart, but I could change my mind once I cut open the body.

Want to wait and see?

I told her that you don't have much time because you're solving a m*rder, and she can't stay for long, either, because Lieutenant Provenza promised to have her back by 4:00.

Okay, well, we'll say a quick hello. We all apologize for...

No, no, no, no, no. She wants to apologize to you.

And... and she has to do that.

Okay, we will get that out of the way.

Lieutenant, how are we doing on the video from the liquor-store robbery?

I've got it to where Buzz can finish it.

Five minutes, maybe?

Okay.

Sharon Raydor, uh, this is my mom, Sharon Beck.

Before I say anything else, captain, I just...

Want to say how grateful I am to you for taking my son into your home and caring for him and... p-putting him through school.

It's really... it's a miracle to find him like this.

You don't need to thank me.

Rusty's worked so hard, and, uh, helping him reach his potential's been a great joy.

Okay, okay, that's enough about me.

Mom.

Sharon doesn't have much time.

Right. I know, and I'm, uh, not really allowed to be out of my treatment program for more than a few hours.

What facility are you staying at?

Um, Signal Hill Recovery. In Long Beach.

Ah.

"Ah"?

Why... why do you say it like that?

Uh, well, Signal Hill is one of the rehab centers that L.A. County uses for, um, uh, drug sentencing.

So, what does that mean?

H-honey, I told you, when we were picked up by the police, Gary was sent to jail, but I wasn't.

What I didn't tell you is, uh, that I was given a choice between going to trial or checking in to Signal Hill.

Oh.

So, uh... so you didn't go into rehab on your own?

Rusty, your mom had a choice, and she chose Signal Hill.

How long do you have left on your program?

I'm 45 days sober.

At 60, it, uh, becomes voluntary, but I intend to stay if they will let me.

Well, it's not voluntary yet, and I hate to be the one to bring this up, but we got squeezed on our schedule today, so, uh, if we're gonna get you back on time...

Of course. Of course. You're busy.

Um, let me just say as I've said to Rusty how...

[Sighs] Sorry I am to have, uh, left my little boy on his own and, uh, for you all to take care of.

And I wish I had behaved better, and I hope that I...

I hope that you all will let me prove that to you.

Of course. Of course we will.

Come here.

[Both chuckle]

Oh.

You made a very big step forward today, Sharon.

And know, too, that we understand how hard addiction is and what a positive decision it is to quit.

Thank you.

Thank you. [Chuckles]

Well, I wish I had a camera, but we'll just have to remember this as our first big goodbye, and the car is parked three blocks away.

Okay. Thank you again.

It was so nice to meet you, captain.

Wind it up.

Yeah, I'll be right there.

It's bad, isn't it?

That she, uh... she didn't check into rehab on her own?

Rusty, how she got there is not as important as what she does with it.

[Sighs]

Okay.

These are screen grabs of the high-res version of the robbery.

Now, we've been able to pull together a much clearer image of the guy Dante said he was with.

We ran what we could of his facial features through recog, and we got a good partial hit.

Not admissible, but if you put the two photos side by side...

Flynn: It's Hector Zamora.

Hector Zamora robbed the store with Dante, protected him in prison and after he got out.

But why?

Hector: Like I'm gonna say that's me so you can put me on trial again?

Statute of limitations ran out on this years ago, and you're already doing life.

Nothing we can do about this now.

So why talk about it, then?

Better cell, better visitation, better recreation schedule, more care packages from home.

It's up to you.

[Sighs]

All right. That's me.

We know that.

We want to know who this other guy is.

I'm not telling you that.

Sykes: Hector, you can't protect him anymore.

When did this happen?

Sometime late last night.

Who?

That's for us to find out, and you can help by telling us if this was Dante Gomez in the liquor store with you the night you robbed it.

[Sighs] Man, what a wasted life.

[Sighs] All right.

Those guys in your video... Yeah, that's me.

And the only real friend I ever had... Dante Gomez.

Hector, you know that Dante went to prison for k*lling a girl that same night.

If he was with you, why did he confess?

Armed robbery is a lot less time than m*rder.

I had two strikes, man.

If Dante had copped to this robbery, everyone would have known I was the other guy.

Dante confessed to m*rder to keep you out of a life term?

Yeah.

And that lasted for a whole seven months.

[Sighs]

But when I got to prison, I took care of him.

Yeah, lifetime protection.

[Sighs]

All these deals we make.

You see, Dante took one and the justice system didn't work for him.

Dante didn't let the justice system work for him.

He refused justice. He lied.

Yeah.

Well, he's not the only liar that we've spent time with lately.

Okay, Cesar, we need you to look at this picture.

That's Hector Zamora.

And here he is again with Dante Gomez.

Dante Gomez was robbing a liquor store at the very same time you said that he m*rder*d Ana.

That's not Dante. You can't even recognize him.

You're lying.

Hobbs: Cesar, if we prove you're not telling us the truth, I will end your status as a confidential witness, and Hector Zamora will find out.

Or you can tell us the truth and we'll go on protecting you.

A-are you sure you can even tell that's him?

Did you see Dante k*ll Ana Escobedo or not?!

Answer me!

No!

Okay? I didn't!

I didn't see anything.

I wasn't even around the park that night.

I was on the other side of town with a few friends getting drunk.

But you gave a sworn statement against Dante. Why?

Listen, I'm sorry I lied, okay?

You're sorry? That's it?

If you think Dante wasn't gonna end up in prison anyway, then you're just as stupid as he was.

If it hadn't have been Ana, it would have been somebody else.

He's dead! Do you get it?!

The guy is dead!

Julio! Julio, that's enough!

That is enough!

I want you to control your temper right now.

Cesar, have a seat.

Cesar, maybe you could tell us why you lied about Dante.

They said if I didn't tell the police Dante did it, they'd k*ll me, too.

Okay, who's "they"? Who was gonna k*ll you?

I can't.

Look.

Tell us who k*lled Ana, and we'll...

Protect me? Like you did Dante?

I may be dead already. Don't you realize?

Those people that k*lled him, they've been threatening me for years, and they'll follow through.

They will! They'll follow through.

Sharon: How was the ride home yesterday with your mother?

It was fine, I guess.

I don't know. I mean, I-I was upset, but I didn't tell her.

Why not?

And just so you know, I definitely want to be there for her if she's going to stop using dr*gs, but... but I don't want to be, um, Dr. Joe would say...

Do you know what enabling means?

Oh, yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah, and she... she never would have told me that she was sentenced to rehab if you didn't ask.

And I'm... I'm definitely never living with her again or being her, like, babysitter, if that's what she's planning.

And she asked me if I wanted to go and visit her again this weekend.

And you don't want to go?

I mean, I do.

But how do I have a relationship with her where she can't make her using or not using about me in any way?

Hmm. Well... I could go with you.

No. No, you don't want to do that.

I think I do.

Really?

Really.

I would like to make my own evaluation, and... maybe I can help steer the conversation in the right direction.

Sharon, that... that would be great, but I don't want to put you out.

I mean, any more than I have over the last two years.

I already don't know how I'm gonna pay you back for everything.

Rusty, I told you a hundred times...

I know. I know.

Graduate and go to college, but Sharon, there's got to be something in all this for you, too.

There is.

Why wouldn't she tell me everything?

How did she think that I wouldn't find out?

Maybe she's still trying to find the right words.

Flynn: The witness recanted.

It means that he took back what he said.

Yeah, I know what it means.

Why did he recant?

You know who this is?

Hector Zamora.

You see when this was?

The night Ana was k*lled.

The other guy with Hector... That's Dante.

The robbery that Hector and Dante pulled off happened at the exact same time that your sister was m*rder*d...

26 miles away.

Looks like you two k*lled the wrong guy.

We didn't k*ll anybody.

Wait, wait, hold on.

You... you put Dante in prison for k*lling Ana.

You told us someone saw him sh**t her.

Turns out Cesar didn't actually see anything that night.

Cesar?

Flynn: Cesar Padilla.

You remember him.

You've been intimidating him ever since the night your sister was k*lled.

Cesar?

They mean shrimpy. [Chuckles]

That's what we call him.

Why would we intimidate shrimpy?

That's what we want to know.

No, man. Shrimpy was harmless.

Except he had a thing for Ana.

Always hanging around, giving her flowers, candy, little notes.

We used to laugh at him because he never had a chance with Ana.

She was all about Dante.

When we got the call about Ana that night, he came over to the house all crying and everything.

Why would he lie about Dante and then take it all back?

Oops. Looks like I'm taking you the wrong way.

I'm gonna have to take you to our visitors center.

My apologies.

Mr. Padilla, thank you for coming.

Oh, my God, what did you just do?

What do you mean? Have a seat.

You let Hector Zamora see me.

Sit down!

Before we get into that, do you remember all your constitutional rights?

Sanchez: You don't have to talk to us or answer questions if you don't want.

You have the right to an attorney if you do want.

I don't need an attorney.

I need a new identity.

You people have to put me into the Witness Protection program or something right now.

Sharon: You already admitted to lying to Detective Sanchez about what you saw the night that Ana was m*rder*d.

Now you have to tell us why, or we will charge you with covering up a m*rder.

What?

He never testified under oath, so he can't be held liable for making a false statement.

Don't fixate on the details, Hobbs.

Okay.

It was Manuel and Carlos.

They're the ones who made me say Dante k*lled Ana.

You were nowhere in the vicinity the night that Ana Escobedo was k*lled?

No. Well, now you're lying again.

We have a lot of witnesses who say you were over at Ana's house after she was m*rder*d, crying because you were in love with her, shrimpy.

No. No, she was Dante's girl.

Not after she was dead and Dante was in prison.

They didn't date anymore after that, did they?

That's my cue. If you'll excuse me.

But you didn't expect Dante to get out of prison and reopen Ana's m*rder.

You heard about that.

You were afraid that it would lead back to you.

And guess what.

It has! [Knock on door]

[Door opens]

Tao: Mr. Padilla.

These items were taken from Dante Gomez's garage.

Scale. Baggies.

Sanchez: Which you planted to make it look like Dante was k*lled for dr*gs, just like you planted the p*stol that you sh*t Ana with in his car 17 years ago.

I didn't do that!

And then there's this bat.

Word all over the neighborhood was that the Escobedos b*at up Dante Gomez on their front lawn with a baseball bat.

They did it in public to let everyone know how they felt.

Later that night, you went out to the garage, where he was staying, with this bat.

Wait. That's not my bat.

He's not too bright, is he?

Thank God.

Wait, are you... you saying that you...

You don't have a bat?

Careful.

You've already lied too much.

No, I have a bat, but it's not made of wood.

It's metal, and it's got a grip on the handle.

A blue grip.

Tao: Actually, I'd say the grip on that handle is more than just blue.

It has spots of red on it...

Dante's blood, I think.

I'm assuming we had a warrant to search Cesar's house?

And car.

We were thorough.

Tao: ...Is that the bat you described so well is yours, and it has your fingerprints all over it.

No.

Sharon: Mr. Padilla, we already have two witnesses...

Manuel and Carlos Escobedo.

They saw you go into Dante's garage.

They know that you k*lled him, and they were fine with that until they found out that you were the one who k*lled their sister.

[Voice breaking] No.

Come on.

Hey, this dirtbag lied to us about being a witness for 17 years.

We can lie to him about witnesses for a few minutes.

Oh, my God.

There are two ways that this can go.

First, we get you a lawyer, you sign a confession to both murders, and we start the deal-making process, which ends with you in prison far, far away under a different name.

Or we just arrest you for the m*rder of Dante and you can take your chances with Hector Zamora.

But... you'd protect me again... i-if I do what's right?

I'm not the same person, you know.

I've changed over the years.

Oh, write that down, too.

Write down how you've changed.

I'm sure it'll make a big difference when we start the deal-making process.

You think so?

A big difference.

Yeah.

Sharon: What's the matter?

[Sighs] I-I liked seeing her, and I definitely want to see her again, but maybe today I should just call and say, you know, "I'm... I'm glad you're doing better, uh, but get back in touch when you're a little further along."

And if you never hear from her again, is that gonna be okay with you?

No.

No, I'm just talking about how I'm feeling, maybe.

You know what? We're... we're both ready.

Let's just go.

I think you'll be glad you did.

Do you know what I'm saying, though?

I know it's the right thing to do. I get that.

I-I just wish that... that doing the right thing felt better.

Well, it'll feel better than doing the wrong thing.

I promise you that.

Okay.

Regina: Dante was innocent?

Yes, ma'am.

He was a rotten kid.

He never listened.

He did a lot of bad things.

You sure about this?

Yes, ma'am.

But that's not the only reason I came by.

I reopened the investigations into the murders of your two sons, and I need to ask you some questions.

Really?

Yes, ma'am.

Where are all the other police?

This is something that I'm doing on my own time.

Let's start with your oldest son, Marco.

He was Dante's dad, wasn't he?

Yes, and the worst father in the world, and a terrible son.

But I loved him all the same.

How do you explain this to people?

No one understands.

I don't need to understand, Ms. Gomez.

I just need to arrest the person who k*lled him.

Can you fill out a little paperwork for me?

Okay.

Sure.

You know... you remind me of Marco a little.

I'll bet you're stubborn, aren't you?