03x01 - People With Money

[bunniefuu]

♪ People ♪ ♪ Keep on learnin' ♪ ♪ Soldiers ♪ ♪ Keep on warrin' ♪ ♪ World ♪ ♪ Keep on turnin' ♪ Are we going to do it right here?

- Yeah, right here.

♪ Powers ♪ ♪ Keep on lyin' ♪ ♪ While your people ♪ ♪ Keep on dyin' ♪ ♪ World ♪ ♪ Keep on turnin' ♪ ♪ 'Cause it won't be too long ♪ ♪ I'm so darn glad he let me try it again ♪ ♪ 'Cause my last time on earth, I lived a whole world of ♪ Before we do this, promise me something, Trey.

That you won't have bungee sex with anyone but me.

Promise.

One.

Two three.

Help me! Help me! uh, we're against, not only public displays of affection, we're against private displays.

You have to go?

I have to go.

Well, thank you for dinner.

You're an exceptional cook, Detective.

I told you I make a mean cheeseburger.

Looks like it's going to be a busy night for both of us.

I'll start the coffee.

Flack.

Hey.

Excuse me.

Impressing your fans with your battle wounds?

They were concerned about my recovery.

I was just putting them at ease.

I got it.

Well, welcome back, we missed you.

Thanks.

How are you feeling?

Not bad for my first day back.

I'm mostly running on adrenaline.

Still have a couple hours of rehab to clock, but the doctor says I'm gonna be all right.

Good, good.

So Flack, how many phone numbers did you get?

I don't think I like where you're going with this, Monroe.

Really?

How many?

Three.

Everybody loves a hero.

Our vic's name is Sam McFarland.

He works in finance.

He's 25 years old.

Wasn't robbed.

I found several credit cards and $300 in his wallet.

Who found him?

Anonymous call.

It's a s*ab wound.

The w*apon is still inside.

A little Statue of Liberty and the light is its torch.

That's one k*ller souvenir.

It's connected to this key chain.

He's got several abrasions on his face.

Ligature marks on his neck.

And a perfect red lipstick mark on his cheek.

Probably has something to do with this.

It looks like he had plans for a proposal.

Well, he picked a pretty romantic spot.

Especially when you do it like that.

Third building from the left.

See it?

Wow.

That's impressive.

Yeah, he's definitely raised the bar for the rest of us.

Marry me.

I get the feeling she said no.

Our vic worked in the building with the lights on the 12th floor at Lancaster and James Financial.

He lived on the Upper East Side with his girlfriend, Erica Lancaster.

Still no sign of her yet.

If the keys dangling from the vic's chest are hers, you might want to expand your search.

We're on it.

Here's our M.

E.

Where you been, Peyton?

So it's you two that I get to blame for interrupting my evening.

No, it's that guy over there.

Hey, Peyton.

Don't tell me you left the prestigious Columbia University to come back to this?

Stella, teaching was getting a little routine.

Well, you're in the right place 'cause this isn't routine.

m*rder w*apon is still in the chest.

We thought you might want to take a look before we transport the body.

We found this piece of porcelain.

It seems to be consistent with our Statue of Liberty.

Well, that's fragile material.

It could break if we move him and possibly alter the wound tract.

So, what are our options?

Well, there's only one I can think of Blood spatter.

we found the body.

Most likely the initial point of attack.

And there's a void right here.

Some of these blood stains are smeared.

Whatever was here someone took it with them.

Detective Angell.

Messer.

Doc.

Hey.

What happened?

I don't see Benton breathing down your neck.

He take the training wheels off?

You come all the way up here to bust my balls or to work, Messer?

Oh, Angell got her wings, huh?

Gimme a break.

Anybody notice that she's got a pair of pillows on her hands?

Don't look at me.

I'm always a couple years behind on fashion trends.

What do we know?

Vic's name is Vanessa May.

All this glass and marble belongs to her.

She lives alone.

Between fianc\s.

No signs of forced entry or burglary.

Hmm Contusions.

Possible fractures.

Significant amount of secondary trauma consistent with a beating.

nny, give me a hand.

Let's get these pillows off her.

Nothing on her hands.

Thought if we had something, it might explain her interesting taste in gloves.

Rigor's barely set in.

T.

O.

D.

is less than four hours.

Lividity is consistent with body position.

She died right here.

Who found her?

Margo Demme.

Claims the title of best friend.

These girls are major players on the party circuit.

Regulars in the Post.

All for being born rich.

Margo came over to take Vanessa for a spa day.

Found her like this.

Hi, Ms.

Demme.

I'm Dr.

Sheldon Hawkes from the New York Crime Lab.

She was already dead.

I tried to revive her, but she wasn't breathing.

I took a class once, I know what to do.

All right, I'm sure you did all you could.

Now my job is to collect evidence from the crime scene.

Since you touched the body, I'm going to need some reference samples from you.

All right?

When you're ready.

Found ten grand in her pocket.

And we got blood.

And the jacket's folded neatly.

There's no blood trail from it to the body.

So these stains are not associated with the attack.

Now, if that blood is from our vic, then that means she came home already in trouble.

So where'd the trouble begin?

Ms.

Lancaster, when did you last see your boyfriend?

I was with Sam in my apartment early yesterday morning.

Before I left trip.

And that was the last time you saw him?

Officer, you've asked the same question, eight different ways.

My daughter has told you she was not on the Brooklyn Bridge last night.

Why don't you tell us what happened to Sam?

Do you guys even have a suspect, yet?

Let me make something very clear to you Mr.

Lancaster, would you just give us a minute.

I think it's best we talk to your daughter alone.

I'm sorry, it's just that Sam was I'll be inside.

Ms.

Lancaster, let's continue.

Last night I was at the airport waiting for Sam to pick me up.

I finally took a cab.

How long did you wait?

An hour and a half, maybe more.

Yellow cab or livery?

Livery.

Did you get a receipt?

You said it was a business trip.

Oh, no, I just I wanted to get home, I was worried.

I tried Sam's cell and he didn't answer.

Sam mention plans after the airport?

A late dinner, drinks?

A walk on the bridge?

Uh, no, my flight was scheduled to arrive after 11:00.

That's late for Sam.

I did find it strange that he volunteered to pick me up though.

I usually just arrange for a car.

But he said he wanted to talk.

Um "catch up on things" were words he used.

You travel a lot?

I work for the American History Museum collecting and documenting Civil w*r artifacts.

Lately, we just hadn't seen each other much.

Trying to kick the habit.

It's a spider bite.

One last question, Ms.

Lancaster.

What size ring do you wear?

Seven.

Six.

He got the size wrong.

Or maybe Sam bought the ring for someone else.

The prints I lifted off the band are the thumb and index finger of our vic.

As if he slid it onto someone's hand.

Prints weren't smeared.

So he didn't struggle doing it; it was an easy fit.

So Sam's plan was to propose to someone else on the bridge.

And then pick up Erica Lancaster to "talk.

" Translation- end their relationship.

If Erica Lancaster found out about the affair certainly is motive.

From the time her plane landed until she caught her cab, Erica had plenty of time to get to the bridge, k*ll Sam and get back.

Or is the other woman our k*ller, and how do we find her?

Well, I did took a look at the keys.

There were no usable prints, and nothing matched the partial on our m*rder w*apon, however, I do believe they belong to a woman.

This key could be to a gym locker or a bike lock.

This could be an office key, or a home key, but this little guy here is to a diary.

I don't know many men who keep them.

There was also a key to a P.

O.

box.

Flack is chasing that down right now.

You're not going to believe what I found.

Dynamite.

The trace I found on the shirt and tie of the vic came back as nitroglycerin.

Dynamite?

This whole thing could be about the bridge, not Sam McFarland.

b*mb squad was on the scene last night responding to calls of suspicious activity, but they didn't find a thing.

Sam McFarland's marriage proposal plans may have stopped more than traffic.

Did you know that when Egyptian princesses died, they weren't embalmed for several days to prevent necrophilia.

The natural degradation of the human body made it unappealing, even to the most deviant of men.

Why someone would want to have sex with a lifeless body in the first place, I mean, it's counterintuitive.

Sid.

Sid.

What?

You're going to that creepy place again.

Okay.

All right.

Fine.

Internal and external examination indicated no sexual as*ault.

C.

O.

D.

?

Blunt force trauma.

Damage to the brain stem caused immediate death These facial and torso bruises were caused mostly by a closed fist.

Small hands.

Yeah.

Report said there was no forced entry, suggesting that the victim knew her k*ller, so I checked her brain chemistry, and detected significantly elevated glutamate levels.

Which means our victim was in a heightened emotional state just prior to the attack.

A crime of passion?

It certainly looks like one.

Yeah.

Were you able to lift any fingerprints?

No.

Most were smudges, some partials, but I did hit the jackpot with this.

Oh.

That's a tongue print.

Found it just above the navel.

Still sticky.

The sticky is mucous mixed with alcohol and sugars.

I found Cactus Gold at the scene.

Tequila body shot.

And there's a void here.

Looks like scarring.

Maybe we can match the tongue with a suspect based on the unique void and spatial arrangements of the papillae.

Yeah.

I mean, taste bud comparison.

They're just as distinctive as a fingerprint.

That's right.

Good.

Are we done here?

No.

Not exactly.

Take a look at this.

I found something on the roof of her mouth.

A winged unicorn.

Yeah.

Designer LSD on a blotter.

Tequila and acid.

Your vic had quite the evening.

Yeah There's our drugstore.

Specializes in unicorn blotters.

Street name is Picasso.

He's tied into the high society club scene.

By the looks of those bruises, maybe m*rder.

Store's closing early today, Picasso.

Easy.

Take it easy.

We're just gonna ask you some questions, all right?

Here you go.

Come on.

Oh, man, look at that.

You're going out of business, kid.

Where'd you get those bruises, Picasso?

Some dude beat me up.

You sure it was a dude?

So?

Yeah, I seen her around.

You won't anymore.

What?

She's dead?

Yeah.

What do you know about that?

Nothing, man.

Uh, nothing.

I swear.

Got small hands, my man.

About the same size as the bruises we found on her body.

Along with your trademark.

Yeah.

All right.

I seen her last night.

Okay?

She, she was at Prowl, the dance club on 13th.

She came in with some caveman that didn't seem into her, so I made my move.

You know chicks with money, they like bad boys.

She was feeling good, I was feeling good, and Then?

And then the dude put the brakes on- the hard way, if you know what I mean.

You know this dude?

No idea.

What?

Check the club.

They'll tell you guys I left solo.

I had nothing to do with your girl's m*rder, man.

That's God's honest.

Picasso, I don't really peg you as the religious type.

So I'm gonna need something else, all right?

Stick out your tongue and say, "Ah.

" Tell me you have a match.

Picasso sold her the blotter, but he did not hit her, nor was his tongue anywhere near her stomach.

I got some good news from the DNA we pulled off the salt rimmer.

Came back to four people- our vic unknown male, unknown female, and an ex-con named Clarence Rome.

Did you say Clarence Rome?

Yeah, why?

Well, the blood found on the vic's jacket, and the blood you found on the tooth in the alley outside Prowl, are a match.

Also Clarence Rome.

All right, so he was at the vic's apartment and he was at the club- looks like we got a blood trail.

And all roads lead to Rome.

You get the license plate of the car that hit you, Clarence?

Oh, that's funny, man.

Why don't you try throwing this underneath your pillow?

The Tooth Fairy might leave you a little somethin' somethin'.

I'm bustin' a gut here.

You should take this show on the road, you know?

Yeah, I might, but, for now, why don't you tell me your relationship with Vanessa May?

More specifically, actually, tell me what happened last night.

Tough guy like you- what happened, she didn't give you what you wanted?

Is that when she fought back?

Perhaps giving you those bruises?

She's dead, Clarence, and your DNA is all over the crime scene.

We have you.

I didn't touch her.

The pain on my face is a gift from her bodyguard.

Bodyguard.

Yeah.

Private chaperon, same business that I'm in.

These ladies hire us to keep the losers away when they go out clubbing.

Last night, my client made a bet with another bodyguard's client whose man was more of a badass.

Winner pockets ten grand.

You were cock fighting?

These ladies are rich and bored.

And very competitive- always looking for the next high.

These days, it's sweat and blood.

You still didn't explain to me how your blood ended up on Vanessa May's jacket.

She had ringside seats, so maybe she took home a souvenir.

I don't know.

Who'd you fight?

- A big dude.

Black.

He didn't stop the beating long enough to give me his name, all right?

Tell me about your client then.

She paid cash.

That's all I remember.

Do you remember how you ended up in Vanessa's apartment last night?

I believe I just said I don't know anything else.

All right, so I guess it's true what they say- you get hit in the head one too many times, and you start forgetting things.

But lucky for us, we got a way to make you remember what happened.

This is the owner of our Statue of Liberty key chain.

Danica Wade.

The P.

O.

box key was issued to the same name.

And she was reported missing this morning.

Came to me as a floater, recovered about five hours ago.

Trauma distribution indicates a horizontal impact with the water.

She was found on the west side of Manhattan.

If you consider the movement of currents, tide levels, body weight, I arrive at one conclusion.

She jumped off the Brooklyn Bridge.

Looks like it.

So, what?

She stabbed Sam McFarland with her keys and then k*lled herself?

No.

I'd estimate she that jumped two to three hours before Sam McFarland was k*lled.

So Sam and Danica's deaths are completely unrelated.

All we know is that they both lost their lives on the Brooklyn Bridge yesterday.

su1c1de victims usually leave evidence of their existence at the site of the jump.

So who came by and grabbed those keys?

I'd look for someone who's pregnant.

The trace on your lipstick print came back as prenatal vitamins.

I think she means "vitamins.

" No way this blood was transferred during the fight.

Every spot on here is a contact stain, which means our vic got up close and personal with Clarence.

So he's lying.

Which is no surprise.

But his fists are way too big to have made these bruises.

What do you got, Adam?

Confirmatory tox results on your tongue print.

We found traces of trimethoprim sulfamethoxazole.

It's a drug used to treat Donovanosis.

It's an STD.

It's very rare.

But because trimethoprim is not commonly prescribed, you know, I could, you know, get a subpoena, make some calls, find out who prescribed it.

There's at least 500 pharmacies in the city, Adam.

It's cool.

All right, knock yourself out.

Oh, hey, guys, here it is.

Not only do I have an answer to the dynamite mystery, but I think I can put Erica Lancaster on the bridge.

Well, let's hear it.

Okay, Mac, you said that Erica had a patch on her arm.

Yes.

You also said that she worked for the museum in civil w*r artifacts.

He did.

Right.

So it would make sense in that line of work that she would travel to the southern United States, which is the regional habitat for the brown recluse spider, which explains the traces of dynamite.

Wait a minute, you lost me at "regional habitat.

" All right, let me start in the middle.

Erica said the patch was for a spider bite.

She was telling the truth.

Patches laced with dynamite are used to treat the bite of the brown recluse spider.

And because of her job at the museum, she was traveling through the southern United States, and that's where she was bitten.

Exactly.

Now, the trace I found on Sam McFarland's shirt and tie was dynamite.

And according to Dr.

Driscoll's autopsy report, in the ligature marks of Sam's neck were consistent with the tie.

The tie was used to strangle Sam McFarland.

Lindsay, Erica lived with the vic.

She could have transferred the dynamite to the tie any number of ways before he was strangled with it.

And even if she did strangle him, it doesn't prove she k*lled him because we can't put the m*rder w*apon in her hands.

Right, and we still haven't put her on the bridge.

Come on, you guys.

She was angry with him.

She found out he was having an affair.

He was about to marry somebody else.

She was mad.

Find the evidence that proves that, Lindsay.

Hey.

DNA from the earring we found at the scene got a hit in CODIS.

Erica Lancaster?

No.

Cassidy Daniels.

I love New York! Promise me something, Angelo.

You won't have bungee sex with anyone but me.

I promise, Cassidy.

Whoa! Get dressed.

Plunge is over.

You the private muscle working for Vanessa May?

Maybe.

Maybe?

We found trimethoprim on the glass found at the scene of her m*rder.

Comes back to you.

Vanessa's dead?

How?

Why don't you tell us?

She's got the same type of closed fist bruises you have.

This was a money fight.

Vanessa's idea.

She told you to fight, so you did?

Whatever the client wants the client gets.

That include sex?

'Cause we also found your tongue prints all over her stomach.

That was a body shot, nothing more.

I told Vanessa I couldn't have sex with her.

Personal reasons.

So tell us how the rest of the night went, player.

I picked Vanessa up at 9:00.

I took her here.

She wanted a little bit more excitement, so she went looking for it.

In the form of an LSD blotter?

Whatever the client decides to do, it's their business.

I just make sure they're not hassled by the lowlifes.

That include using her stomach as a margarita glass?

If that's her wish.

Was that here or in her apartment?

That was here.

What happened next?

After the fight my client wanted to thank me for a job well done.

But it was more like window shopping.

You destroyed him.

Now be a good prizefighter and take your prize.

I didn't get the goods.

Why don't you tell us how this romantic evening ended.

My client was wasted.

She pulled the plug on the night, so I dropped her off, then went to Florent to get some eggs.

Now if there's anything else, I'd like to get back to my job.

You know, the blood on Vanessa's jacket was a secondary transfer.

Asad had it on his hands when he was messing around with his client.

You see the size of the mitts on that guy?

There's no way he beat our vic to death.

But he was in her penthouse.

We have nothing to confirm that.

No, I think we do.

This place only serves martinis, no tequila.

Asad said that he did the body shot here.

Asad lied.

It was just bungee sex.

It was also indecent exposure and criminal trespassing, Cassidy.

Okay, so arrest me and I'll get a lawyer.

You were convicted of burglary five years ago.

I was 16 years old.

And I did my time.

Is that why you were on the bridge last night, Cassidy?

You were thinking of robbing Sam McFarland?

Maybe the robbery didn't go your way, so you grabbed the first thing you could find and stabbed him.

You're crazy.

That's yours.

We found it on the Brooklyn Bridge.

It must have fallen off when I was taking off my shirt.

We were there for bungee sex, nothing else.

Help me! We didn't stick around.

We gathered everything up off the ground, we stuck it in a backpack, and we got out of there.

Are we going to do it right here?

Yeah, right here.

That's one hot mama.

Hey, I don't get it, but some guys get turned on by it.

Maybe they imagine they're the father of the baby, I don't know.

Tips have been good.

You know a Sam McFarland?

Sure.

When's the last time you saw him?

Last night.

He asked me to marry him.

Is he in some kind of trouble?

We found his body on the Brooklyn Bridge.

Were you there, Dori?

Yeah, I was.

Just say yes.

Are you kidding me?

No.

You can't treat me the way you did and act like I'm just supposed to forget.

I love you, Dori.

I know you do.

Three months ago, he offered me $40,000 to stay out of his life.

And last night, he asked me to marry him.

He said he loves me.

People with money think they can buy anything.

You took the money.

What else was I gonna do?

Well, you must have been really angry.

He was willing to pay to get rid of you one day and marry you the next.

You know what?

Despite everything, I loved him.

I didn't k*ll him.

Why would I k*ll the father of my baby?

Okay you can eliminate Sam's girlfriend Erica Lancaster from the suspect list.

She's innocent.

Change of heart?

No, just followed the evidence.

Here.

A little demonstration.

I love it when she does this.

Okay.

The heaviest concentrations of dynamite were here and here.

So, if you tie a conventional knot then tighten the knot, that's where the transfer happened.

So Erica Lancaster applied the patch and then tugged on Sam McFarland's tie that morning.

So it was an act of affection and not v*olence that led to the transfer of the dynamite onto the shirt and the tie.

Okay, so Erica didn't strangle him, and we can't connect her to the crime scene.

That leaves us with Dori Richards the pregnant stripper.

or anyone else who might have been on the bridge that night.

Let's see what or who we can find.

I pulled prints off the money we found on our vic.

They belong to Margo Demme, our vic's best friend.

It matched the elimination sample she gave us.

Her prints are all over these bills.

She was the client that Clarence was bodyguarding.

And if she was in the apartment, I'm thinking Clarence was there, too.

And Mr.

Body Shot.

Right.

Andthat would account for the unknown male and female DNA samples we pulled off the salt rimmer.

That means they were all there when Vanessa died.

Three against one.

It wasn't a fair fight.

It is now.

Okay, these are the last of the crime scene photos from the Brooklyn Bridge.

Nothing here out of the ordinary.

Let's check the overall photos.

There's an extra light on in this photo here.

Right.

Twelfth floor, corner office.

And according to the case file, that's Sam McFarland's office.

He was dead at the time these photos were taken, so who was in his office?

Cleaning crew?

Building security said the crew finished just after 10:00.

These photos were taken much later than that.

They're in consecutive order.

That light is off here, on here, off again here.

Right.

And 40 seconds passed between the time that the light went on and off again.

Whoever entered that office was there for a reason.

What's that?

The only thing left in the shredder.

Definitely after the cleaning crew left.

What?

I'm going to marry Dori.

What is this?

It's the $40,000 you gave me to pay Dori to forget me.

You are making such a mistake, Sam.

You date my daughter while you're having an affair with a stripper?

You get her pregnant?

I give you a way out, and you go running back to her?

Do you think I am going to tolerate that?

This isn't about you.

Tonight I'm going to be right down there doing what I should have months ago.

You paid her more money, didn't you?

No, I didn't pay her more money.

Maybe she just realizes what you can't seem to.

That you two don't belong together.

Marry Erica.

Start a real family.

Nobody embarrasses me, my daughter, my family.

I'm sure this is a very proud moment for all of them.

You didn't just show up and discover the body in the morning, you were there all night.

After Prowl, Vanessa took the party back to her place.

You Clarence Rome and Margo Demme.

There the four of you started making margaritas, Mexican body sh*ts, then it went south for real.

That's your DNA at the crime scene.

Margo wanted a chance to win her money back.

It started off as a joke.

We didn't think they'd really go at it.

But they did.

It just got out of hand.

She hit you pretty good.

That's when the gloves came off?

That when you hit her back?

Harder and harder.

We can match your fists to the bruises all over Vanessa's face.

Vanessa never liked me.

Deep down inside, she hated my guts.

I was never rich enough.

Beautiful enough.

When we hung out, she acted like she was slumming.

So you took this opportunity to let her know how you felt?

If it was an accident, why didn't you report it?

I have a record.

I'm a bodyguard.

My job was to protect her.

Who'd hire me knowing I failed?

Vanessa and I competed over everything boys toys celebrity status.

No one would have believed it was an accident.

I do.

Only it doesn't matter now.

Get up.

I just finished my last autopsy, and I was thinking maybe I could buy you dinner.

Um, dinner.

Yeah.

Uh-oh.

What?

You've got that look.

It's the same look you had the other night on the Brooklyn Bridge surprise.

Wasn't surprise, it was I knew, uh, we'd eventually work the same crime scene together.

It's just having a relationship with someone I work with is not something I'm used to and the moment on the bridge was a little surprising.

Mac, I know that you are a very private man.

But we're both professional people who can do our jobs unaffected by what happens after hours.

Don't you think so?

Yeah I think so.