08x03 - Identity Crisis

Episode transcripts for the TV show, "Law & Order: Criminal Intent". Aired: September 30, 2001 – June 26, 2011.*
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NYPD detectives of the Major Case Squad use unconventional methods to solve crimes.
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08x03 - Identity Crisis

Post by bunniefuu »

Male announcer:
In New York City's w*r on crime,

the worst criminal offenders
are pursued

by the detectives
of the major case squad.

These are their stories.

Ow! Let's run away.

They'll bring us back.

My boys.

Wo sind meine adlige knaben?

Stay here.

My boys!

[Woman humming]

We're meeting royals.

[Water swishing onto floor]

You're not clean!

Ihr werdet...

Verstrafft!

Try to calm down, mama.

[Water splashing]

[Muttering in German]

Aah!

[Electric humming]

Mama!

I sent regrets
to the Huntingtons.

Their dinner conflicts
with your reunion next month.

My reunion?

I called the alumni committee
and raised hell.

Believe me,
now they know how to reach you.

Lukie, I'm really
not up for it.

You only skip a reunion
if you're fat, single,

or unemployed.

There's only one decent
hotel in Princeton.

We'll never get a room.

I booked a suite.

[Telephone rings]

Hello?

Yes.

Yes, this is Gray Vanderhoven.

When you called before,
I told you not to...

- Who is it, Gray?
- I got it!

Please. It means
everything to me right now.

I'll come to your place.

No, it's simply not possible.

My...

I... it doesn...

all right, I'll meet you.

What?

The...

Alarm company in Montauk.

Probably another raccoon.
They'll check and call back.

I'm not missing the reception
for a raccoon.

Well, honey... I know.
But you go ahead.

I'll handle this.

So my most important
social event,

and I have to go
without my husband?

Lukie, it could be a break-in.

Fine.

Oh!
[Giggling]

Wallace, you remember
Lukie Putnum?

Oh, please. Vanderhoven.

Oh, sorry. I keep forgetting.

Lukie's a newlywed.

Not newly. Almost two years.

Your husband's a Vanderhoven.

- From Rheinbeck.
- New Pfalz.

- Congratulations.
- Thank you.

I was worried
you wouldn't come.

[Exhales] 19 years.

Try 20.

Let's go grab a train.

I'll take you to a great
place for dinner.

Lukie Vanderhoven
has outdone herself once again

by single-handedly raising
over $7 million.

[Oohing, light applause]

Thank you, Roland.

So when do I meet your wife?

[Chuckles] That's, uh...
That's problematic.

But... Strangers no more,
right?

What do you want, Anthony?

Well, life's treated you good.

I'm... I'm happy for you.

Well... It's taken effort.

What I need to say
takes effort too.

- Do you need money?
- No, not money.

No, not money.
Anthony...

I'm saying it badly.

But we were once so close.

Remember...
She called us...

Her adlige knaben?

I still remember some German.

Do you?

Listen, we'll cut through here.

It's shorter.

I'm sorry, Anthony.
I'm never going back.

Single sh*t fired face on

from a small-caliber w*apon.

- Robbery?
- Possibly... no watch.

Wallet was found on the body.
No money or credit cards.

Cardboard was placed
over his face.

That's a odd gesture
for a street crime.

Detectives.
He has no visible exit wound.

I guess the single sh*t
took out his pump.

Small-caliber entry.
Could be a .22.

Hit man's favorite.

Kmart suit. White cotton socks.

Work shoes.

Dirt or grease under his nails.

Something in his sock.

Penn station locker key.

Have your people
collect what's in it.

We got Victor Lustig.
No photo I.D.

Just a social security note.
Business cards?

Thief would have taken
the photo I.D.

To use the credit cards.

So we got a Brooks brothers
wallet... about $300...

in a Kmart suit?

You're not buying the
social security card as valid?

The only identification
on that victim is that card

and the name Victor Lustig.

It happens to also be the name
of a 19th century con man

who once sold the Eiffel tower.

Victor Lustig could also
be a mechanic from Bayonne

who got sh*t
on the lower east side.

Name's not that unusual.

Well, my guess is
that the k*ller

planted this wallet and card

to hide the victim's identity
'cause it connects them.

And here's a name...

A prescription for Compazine
made out to Anthony Burris

by a Dr. Desouza
from Philadelphia.

Compazine...
that's an anti-nausea drug.

I had to take it last summer
after a PBA clam bake.

- Let's see.
- Oh, Halloween?

I'd say the kids
weren't having much fun.

Yeah, I don't think
it's Halloween.

Let's see...

So if Victor Lustig
is now Anthony Burris,

who's Anthony Burris?

Well, Anthony Burris's mail

goes to 2112 Parsifal street,
Philadelphia.

This is his phone bill.

You can eat lunch on the Acela.

I rent by the week
or by the month

mostly to single guys
who work nearby.

How long did Mr. Burris
live here?

Mm, about six months.

He was working part-time
as a mechanic.

Do you know where?
I only know he took the bus.

He owes a balance.
Cops gonna be payin' me?

Uh, we'll talk
after we look around.

Well, he knew how to live
on minimum wage.

Guess he wore his
Sunday best when he got sh*t.

Well, that goes along with

meeting someone
he was trying to impress.

Here's something that's dated
a little over a year ago.

"Dear Mr. Burris,
I have no information

"on the person
of whom you've inquired.

"Do not contact me again.

Signed Mavis Rightmire."

Return address
is new Canaan, Connecticut.

Three years ago,

I was engaged to a man
named Richard Phelps.

This... Anthony Burris person

saw a photo of us
taken at a charity event.

He wrote me...
Wanting to know about Richard.

He thought he knew him

and wanted to reestablish
contact.

And... Did Mr. Phelps
know Anthony Burris?

He denied it.

At first, I believed him.

Richard was Princeton, '95.
I was also Princeton.

But when I showed him
the letter,

his behavior changed.

What, he... he thought
that you mistrusted him or...

[Laughs]
He made irate accusations

that I was checking his past.

And that actually
made me suspicious,

so I hired
a former police officer

who found things on
Richard's computer... Research.

- Research.
- On others.

Divorced or widowed...
Well-off.

When I confronted Richard,
he wanted to explain everything.

We had a nice dinner, and...

We were very close that night.

And in the morning,
he was gone.

Did he have access
to your accounts?

I-I don't think
he was after money.

His own money was tied up,

so I just lent him
a little pocket money,

and I bought him
a few nice gifts.

A Brooks brothers wallet?

The cop she hired
was very thorough,

and so was Richard Phelps.

His research on these women
starts at kindergarten.

Lonely women...
common mark for con men.

With a twist.

He didn't grab her money
before he left.

I'm thinking if Burris's letter

ruined his plan
with Mavis Rightmire,

it's possible Burris somehow
ruined a more recent plan.

I live there.

You're not lonely?

Uh... My husband and I
lived in town,

but when it ended, I...

you wanted your own life back.

I know the feeling.

That's it. Spy hop house.

Spy hop. It's a whaling term.

- Very good.
- Well...[Chuckles]

This is, after all, Nantucket,

but I have no idea
what it means.

When a whale puts his head
out of the water to look around,

that's called spy hop.

See how it sort of
juts up out of the marsh?

- Yeah... Like a whale.
- Yeah.

So where are you from,
Mr. Chisholm?

Ah, old family.

We're spread around, uh,
new Mexico and Arizona.

And not Mr. Chisholm.
Tyler.

[Giggles] Julianna.

There's a hint of the west
in your speech,

but you seem very east coast.

Guess Princeton
must have rubbed off.

Princeton.
Me too.

Ah!

You do know what you're
in for on Nantucket in January.

Perfect writing environment.

Mind me asking what you write?

I've had a few books published

under different names,
but, uh...

The novel I'm working on now
will be in my own.

I think it's very exciting

that you'll
create something here.

So for a winter rental,

I could let you have this
for 2,000 a month.

Done.
Great. I'll have it cleaned.

The .22-caliber b*llet
tumbled after entry,

causing severe cardiac
and arterial damage.

Death occurred within seconds.

And this is a burn.

It's old. Early childhood.

The pattern looks like
a steam iron.

There's a similar burn
on the other forearm.

So as a child, he might have
been an abuse victim.

And what about
the stomach contents?

Anything tell us
where he had his last meal?

Probably a vending machine.

Bologna, white bread,
processed cheese.

No wonder he needed
anti-nausea medication.

Well, that was probably
to deal with chemotherapy.

Lab tests indicate
a blood malignancy.

I'm not offering a medical
expert opinion, but...

What I saw didn't look good.

There you go.

- Cash.
- Yeah. A problem?

No. [Laughs]
Makes you a bit mysterious.

[Laughing]

No, I'm... I'm not, uh,
I'm not mysterious at all.

That's what I told my father.
He insisted on googling you.

He find anything?

Tyler Chisholm...
Distinguished himself

with a lifelong study
of wood warblers.

He also taught ornithology
at Cornell.

The problem is... and this is
where you're caught in a lie...

you do not look 84 years old.

[Laughing]

I tell you,
finding this place, it...

It almost seems like
it was meant to be.

I called the doctor who wrote
the Compazine prescription.

He was treating Burris
for lymphoma.

Had he given a prognosis?
Six months, tops.

I doubt the k*ller was aware
that Burris was sick.

Because he wouldn't bother
to k*ll a man he knew was dying.

I mean, why...
Would a dying man extort money?

Maybe he had a greedy family.

What do we know about
his family?

Uh, his medical records
had only one person listed

as next of kin.

Patricia Lumet, his ex-wife.

She works at a supermarket
in Metro park.

Poor Anthony.

I mean, nothin'
ever went right for him.

Nothin'.

You were married three years.
Was any of it good?

Yeah, at first, kinda, but...

You know, Anthony
was damaged goods.

What do you mean?

Well, I mean,
he wasn't a bad guy.

He just couldn't
hold nothin' together...

jobs, night school.

He just couldn't cut it.

You weren't aware
of his illness?

You were listed as next of kin.

I guess he never had
no one else.

He never really had a home,

and... His mother was,
you know, a schitzo.

And he was removed
from her care.

No, she d*ed.

Yeah, I don't know
if she k*lled herself or what,

but there was something weird,
and he wouldn't talk about it,

so... Well, he and his
brother went into foster care.

His brother?

Yeah. Thomas.

Anthony used to talk about
findin' him,

but it never happened.

I gotta go.

Can't be late on break.

[Cell phone rings]

Eames.

Okay, thanks.

Burris's last call

was to an Upper East Side
residential phone.

The name's Vanderhoven.

Is he dead?
Is that why you're here?

Why would you assume that?
I don't assume anything.

Then what has he done?
Are there others?

Is he one of those, you know...

He signed an armored pre-nup
with no objections.

When did he leave?
Thursday night.

Why don't you tell us
about that evening?

I was to be honored
at a major charity event.

We had a little Mr. and Mrs.

About a stupid phone call
from the alarm company.

Nothing.

It's so tawdry.
I came home.

The place was torn up,
and he was gone.

How did you meet him?
I have a house in Montauk.

He called about renting it.
Did he?

He didn't need to.

We met. He was charming.

We're both Princeton,
had things in common.

Princeton.

The night he left,
he was annoyed at me

for signing him up
for a reunion.

Maybe he didn't really
go to Princeton.

Oh, he must have.
He knew all the right names.

Even knew the occidental
club's secret recipe

for boneless shad.

You say he tore the place up.

Did he take anything of value?

No. He didn't find
what he was looking for.

This.

I was having it framed
as a surprise present for him.

It seemed to be the only thing
he really valued.

Ex nobilis barusia.

Do you know what it says?

I don't know Latin.

But Gray said it was
a family crest.

He didn't wanna brag about it.

I-it documents descent
from east Prussian royalty.

I wouldn't know.

I don't even know
who I married.

[Splash]

Lukie Vanderhoven
married a phony pedigree.

He failed to get at her money.
They both came up empty-handed.

I don't think it was
the money that Gray was after.

Lukie bragged he signed
an iron-clad pre-nup.

Call me a skeptic.
No way he married for love.

5th Avenue apartment,
full social calendar.

That's money.

Yeah, but it's also a lifestyle

that matches a vision
that he has of himself.

He left jewelry, expensive art.

But he tore Lukie's place apart

looking for the certification
of his family crest.

So this guy's what... some kind
of penniless aristocrat?

Well, this title
that he's claiming, uh,

the Count of Haugwitz?

It existed in east Prussia,
but his mother's Amish.

So this noble heritage,
it's delusional.

And then there's Princeton.

He claims he went there,
and as far as we know,

he only targets Princeton grads.

Lukie swears he went there.

He even knew a secret recipe
from the occidental club.

Occidental club
is very prestigious,

limited to select membership.

It's always been rowdy,
but, uh... Ha.

I thought when the courts
forced the club to let women in,

it would calm things down,
but just the opposite.

We're wondering
if you remember this man.

Uh... Oh!

Is that Burris?

Ha.

Yeah, Tommy Burris.
Sure.

He was real sharp.
Always wore a tie.

Even when he was
washin' dishes. Ha.

Uh... The students pay,
what, ten grand to eat here,

and they still have to wash
their own plates?

Oh, Tommy wasn't a member.
He... he worked here.

But he was a scholarship
student, right?

He wanted people to think that.

And he was smart.
[Chuckles]

He would bide his time

while some smartass bragged

how he had just aced
a philosophy exam...

Then Tommy would quote that guy
Nietzsche in German.

But he was lying.
Well, hey, sounded good.

Called himself
an auto... Tridact.

Autodidact. Self-educated.

Yeah, that was him.

Yeah, he... he sat in
on some classes,

but he never registered.

How long was he here?
Couple years.

Then... One day
he just stopped showin' up.

- Thanks for your help.
- Sure.

There's a plaque here
for five students

that d*ed
in a climbing accident.

"Jeff Walters, George Gifford,
Tyler Chisholm,

Richard Phelps,
Gray Vanderhoven."

Yes, Gray Vanderhoven
was a student here

until his death in 1983.

And Tommy Burris, anything?

Princeton hires at-risk teens

as part of
our community outreach.

He was an employee here.

Referred by children's
protective services.

According to this,
he showed real promise

and was encouraged
to get a GED.

But... There were problems.

Behavioral problems?

He threatened
a Russian history Professor

who questioned some claim
of his royal lineage.

Yeah... I remember.

The Burris boys.

That's a long time ago.
You got a good memory.

It's one of my first cases.
Those you never forget.

Yeah, Tommy's the older one.

And Anthony...[Chuckles]

So sweet.
So sad.

He bounced from one
foster home to another.

What they put him through
was the real crime.

- The foster families?
- The cops.

Making him testify
against his brother.

Testify?

Apparently, Anthony
saw Tommy k*ll their mom.

Daddy, he went to Princeton.

But he told you he was born
in Arizona, right?

Our credit check
gave his birthplace as Wyoming.

Why would he lie about
something so insignificant?

I was... Born in Arizona.

Sorry, I couldn't help
overhearing...

the door was open.

Mr. Morgan, Tyler Chisholm.

I worked, uh, summers on
my Uncle's ranch in Wyoming.

It was my first job.

Needed a social security card,
so I gave the Wyoming address.

You signed for that card
under oath.

Yeah. I was, uh, 17.

You want coffee, Tyler?

Yeah.

We run credit checks
on people who rent from us.

Right, and I... I came up
with no rating

'cause I've never
borrowed money.

In today's world,
that's quite a trick.

Yeah, it's more a combination
of family tradition

and, uh, personal choice.

I think it's unfortunate
that being debt-free

raises questions
about someone's character.

Have some.

Great.

Have some pie with that coffee?

Mm. Mm-hmm.

We can waste
a whole lotta time here,

but it won't do any good.

We know your brother
k*lled your mother.

No. I don't think so.

Can you believe this?

You know what's gonna happen?

Your brother's
gonna admit what he did,

then you're gonna be
in a whole lotta trouble.

Why will I be in trouble?

You lied.
You wanna go to jail?

No. It's what you say.

Your brother.
He k*lled her.

Yeah.

So you know, they keep them
in separate rooms.

They play one against
the other.

With the kids
trying to figure out

what the guards wanna hear
so they can tell it to them.

It would never
have made it through court.

It didn't have to.
They were children.

Now here's the other brother.

Hey, we're all tired,

but we can't leave here
until this is settled.

You gotta be a man.

We know it was
to protect your brother.

[Thud]

Didn't you protect him
when your mother got mean?

- Yeah.
- Well, I respect that.

He respects that.

He cried when he told us
he saw you

throw the heater in the tub.

He knew it was to protect him.

- He saw me?
- He saw you.

That's what he says.

So you might as well
give it up!

[Sobbing]

What's that in Tommy's hand?

It's his mother's tiara.

- Detective.
- Thank you.

I checked out the names

of those students
who d*ed on the Mountain.

Someone just ran
a general credit inquiry

on the name Tyler Chisholm.

Looks like he's leasing
a house in Nantucket.

I'm so curious
about your novel.

It's, uh, still sort
of unformed.

[Chuckling] Okay.

Two children, a brother
and his younger sister.

The mother...

You sure you wanna hear this?

Very much.

Okay.

The mother is, uh,
she's a remarkable woman.

She knows the classics,
music, art.

And she uses fantasies to...

To help these children
escape the poverty

and dire circumstances
of their lives.

[Laughs]

They dine as nobles
on spaghetti

while she tells how
Catherine the great

made love to her horse.

Mm.

So...

They grow up shielded
by fantasy

from the cruelty of the world?

Yes.

I would imagine
it makes them very close.

How does it end?

You like a happy ending?

I can't disappoint you.

Mr. Morgan?

That's right.

Hello. I'm detective Goren.
This is detective Eames.

We're from
the major case squad, NYPD.

You ran a credit check
on a man named Tyler Chisholm?

He rented a house from us.
What's the problem?

Is this the man?
What is it, dad?

Who is he... Really?

We can't discuss that.

We need directions
to that house.

What's going on?
What's Tyler done?

- Stay out of this, honey.
- Dad.

Julie, I'll deal with this.

You obviously know him.

Calling to warn him
would be a felony.

Let's go, bud.
On your feet.

Oh... okay, okay!

- All right.
- Come on, let's go.

Thomas Burris.

You've got the wrong guy.
That's not my name.

Your fingerprints
will prove you wrong.

That's all you'll prove.

Yes, that's my husband.

Well, his real name
is Thomas Burris.

Who is he?
Where's he from?

Well, he was born
in Hershey, Pennsylvania.

It's so humiliating.

I know he's a novelist.

I knew creative people
at Princeton.

They aren't like other people.

He understood finance.

At our annual dinner, I heard
him talk about market trends

with Brad Burnap
of crown funds.

Brad thought he was a genius.

I majored in English.
I know that he's gifted.

He get any money
from any of these people?

Half a million from Brad.
For my pet project.

Restoring the fountains
of Versailles.

He talked about his novel.
It was real.

And... It all went
to your charity?

Every penny.

[Laughing] An indictment?

That would happen
in your dreams, counselor.

We have evidence... a lease
signed in another man's name.

Driver's license.

Yeah? So?

Look hard.
You might find a misdemeanor.

There's something
much bigger than that.

Oh, the... the tragedy
of my brother's death.

The only thing that connects me
to that is my grief.

Take credit for the wallet
and phony I.D.

You planted on his body.

Come on, the wallet
was a Christmas present.

So, Mr. D.A.,
the crime of re-gifting...

What kinda time are they
giving for that these days?

Witness testimony
will establish

you had motive, means,

and opportunity.

Oh, right. Okay.

The wonderful Lukie.

Yeah, I-I'd be careful
putting her on the stand.

She might work better for me
than for you.

He's right.

She'd make him sound wholesome
to avoid appearing like a fool.

And Julianna's still smitten.

You don't want a grand jury
hearing anything she might say.

What's the deal, Whitney?

How hard can we come down
on the identity charges?

He's been very smart.

Don't tell me that son
of a bitch is gonna walk.

If we release him,

he's gonna change his identity
and vanish.

Go back to the women.

Push them on anything he's done,
anything he's said,

anything
potentially incriminating.

He never told me anything
remotely incriminating.

I believe that. He's clever.

He's had practice.

But when you first
are with a guy...

There's usually
something he says

or something he does that...

Raises a flag.

I-I'm just asking if...

There was anything
that made you ask... Yourself,

"is he okay?"

Maybe something... Little

that didn't seem to matter.

The day after
he took the place,

I saw him in the skiff.

He wasn't rowing, just sitting.

He, um...

Dropped something in the water

and sat just watching
where he dropped it.

I don't know what it was.

Do you know where this was?

[Chuckling] Hey...

You're it, huh?

Rolled out the big g*n.

- Yeah.
- Yeah. What is all this?

Well, uh, this is your life.

This was a present?

Christmas.
You didn't find the card?

But you didn't wanna
know the guy,

so why give him a present?

Listen, I had it good.
He didn't.

Was that because
he punished himself

for what he did to you, or...

listen, he was six, okay?

I blame people like you,
not him.

Says here, "I couldn't
see it happening again,

see her burning him"...
that's you, right?

I paid that debt.

You were like around
ten, right?

Oh, I've...
What does it matter, huh?

Well, then it was
reform schools, foster families

rejecting you.

Who wants a matricidal
delinquent, right?

Yeah, you hear me complaining?

No.

But you found a solution
in your mother's illness.

My mother was, uh,
she was schizophrenic.

There's no solutions in that.

Oh, well,
the delusions of grandeur,

a florid state
in which you were...

A noble... Count Haugwitz.

Das warst du... Nicht w*r?

Das w*r ich, genau.

Ah. What, now you're...
you're my shrink?

[Laughing]
You know what I'm gonna do?

I'm gonna use this session.

I'll credit you...

When I b*at my rap on an
insanity plea.

I'll just show you.

I couldn't see it
happening again,

see her burning him.

I have these pictures
of you here

as a young noble
with your mother.

And that's your brother there.

I guess he wasn't part of it.
Part of what?

The delusion that you
and your mother shared.

Which was more painful...

Her death or his betrayal?

Uh, I don't, uh...
I don't distinguish between...

Between them.

You remember k*lling her,
right?

Water was spilling
over the sides of the tub.

The hot water had run out.

It was cold,
so she had the heater on.

Excellent attention to detail.

Now... You were barefoot?

Uh... Don't remember.

No, it's just that you
said that your feet were cold,

so you must have been barefoot.
It's history.

I mean, who cares?

You should care.
It's made you who you are.

There's a picture here
of the heater.

Now, it's plugged in above her.

So... You would have had
to walk through the water

to reach the heater.

What... what's this about?

What... I don't... I admitted
to k*lling her, right?

I did it.

If you walked across the
water and touched the heater,

you... Would be dead

or gotten severely shocked.

I don't think
that you touched the heater.

I think that
that's your brother's lie.

I think that you
thought about it....

Watching your mother
in the bath for hours every day.

Just... Throw the heater
in the tub.

But you didn't do it.

Yeah.

She flew into a rage

because she wanted to put
Anthony in the shower

to wipe away the places
that she b*rned him, all right?

Her arm hit the cord, and...

And then you paid for it.

And when he came back,
you were gonna pay for it again.

No. No...

Anthony was...
was a part of someone

that I no longer
wanted to be, okay?

That's why I avoided him.

So you don't think he got
back into your life

to destroy what you'd become?

Listen, your little psycho
chatter babble isn't working.

Anthony was a failure.

He was tyranny of the weak,
but I didn't k*ll him!

Well... So that's what
he's become,

tyranny of the weak.

Isn't he all you had...

In the world?

When the two of you
were little boys,

comforting each other
from that nightmare...

Of a mother?

These photos of...

I think you're
teaching him how to swim.

I can see he trusts you.

Did he still trust you
like that?

You know, it wouldn't be fair
if I...

if I didn't show you this.

Oh, his...
His autopsy report.

You should read it.

[Paper rustling]

He only had a...

Few months at the most.

I don't think
that Anthony came back

to destroy your life.

I think he came back
for atonement...

For forgiveness...

For what he'd done to you.

If you look at the photos,
here, he's...

Reaching out for you.

He trusted you.
He loved you.

I-I think that's why
he came back...

To ask for that forgiveness.

Oh...

He loved me.

And did you feel that

before you...

Yes.
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