01x04 - Long-Haul Predators

[bunniefuu]

What is the point of this thing without a GPS signal?

Lara, there's a map next to you, darling.

I need to wee.

A map? Really?

I know, a bit medieval, huh?

But it doesn't require a signal or a 70-page instruction manual.

[He sighs]

I need to wee.

Lara, please.

There's a map...

Look at this truck.

He will go around.

He's not slowing!

Hey, go around!

You think he can hear you?

I need to wee!

Hey! Go around!

What is he doing?

[Horn blaring]

Honey! Honey, get off!

Get off! Get out of his way! Move over!

[Truck horn blaring]

[Breathing hard]

I really need to wee.

Look.

There's a rest stop.

Guten morgen, Kommissar Berger.

Good morning, sir.

There are parks in The Hague, you know.

I can recommend Clingendael.

I often get lost in the Japanese garden.

This is the Parc de Saint-Cloud in Paris?

Where the diplomat's last victim was found.

The k*ller is standing somewhere out here, only...

I didn't get him.

My scangen fell short.

If I could only find a way to extend the borders of the scan to not require as precise a sensor.

Well, I'll leave you to your work.

I can still see her smiling...

I beg your pardon?

Sienna, she... her eyes smiled, you know?

[Sighs sadly]

I can still see them.

I can erase these files, but not the memory.

Well, the inability to erase a memory, to simply hit "delete," is what makes us human.

You don't want to lose that, Sebastian.

Mommy! Mommy!

I want these candies!

Okay.

Family... most important thing in life.

[Chuckles]

Sure, next to football, beer, and an occasional nap...

Let's keep that between us.

Good to go.

Great. Thanks.

No, thank you.

Grateful for the business.

Hey! I'm Ivonne.

Going over to Poland?

Yeah. Skiing, why?

Do you need a ride?

Excuse me?

Honey. It's cold.

We don't have room, sorry.

Of course we do.

We can squeeze.

We don't have room.

Sorry.

No problem.

Bitch.

[Knocks gently]

Hickman.

Hey, kid.

How you feeling?

Like I want to jump out of my skin.

[Chuckles]

How is it you Americans say it?

Bugsy? Or...

Antsy.

I'm feeling antsy.

Wow, you got...

A lot of stuff.

Yeah, the whole team was here last night.

Eva, Tommy, Sebastian, and even Major Daniel sent me flowers.

I brought you some, um...

I don't know what you'd call these.

Logic puzzles? I...

Logic puzzles.

Yeah, they're like, you know, a workout for the brain.

Pass the time.

That's very nice of you.

Hmm...

Anyway, um...

I gotta go.

I'll check in on you later.

Oh, it's okay, you don't... you don't have to, it's...

Actually, that would be really nice.

See ya.

I'm going away on a trip.

I don't know how long I'll be gone, but if something comes up for your team, I might not be available.

Well, it seems quiet now.

Yeah, but you're always looking.

I've instructed my office to find me if you call.

It might take some time, but I'll get the message.

Thank you very much, Dorn, for all your help.

You weren't surprised, were you?

Surprised?

When I gave you the file and told you that the man responsible for the b*mb was named Dimitrov, you weren't surprised.

I asked you if you were sure.

Yeah, but you weren't surprised.

Because I knew his name.

In what context?

He may be involved in the drug ring I was investigating.

I was tracking a street crew, but Dimitrov was never my direct target.

Is there anything else you haven't told me?

I never kept information from you, Dorn.

I asked you if you were sure because I was not.

You are most welcome, Louis.

For all my help.

[Sighs happily]

[Car lurching, alert sounds]

Whoa. What the...?

Come on.

What is it?

I don't believe this.

[Car creaks and rattles]

[Engine dies]

[Beeping cell phone]

Huh. Perfect. No signal.

[Beeping cell phone]

[Beeping]

[Sighs]

And...?

And I'm an attorney.

What do I know about engines?

[Exhales, shivering]

Oh.

There's somebody coming.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, slow.

Slow!

Oh!

Hey, hey, hey!

Oh, great.

Hi.

Uh, we broke down.

We don't have room.

Are you sure, Ivonne?

Oh, I'm sure.

You heard the lady.

[Exhales in annoyance]

This is my fault for not letting that slut in our car?

Why do you have to call her that?

[Sighs]

There.

Somebody else is coming.

[Engine growls]

[Gasping in fear]

[Horrified screams echo]

[Screams loudly]

[g*nsh*t]

[♪]

Crossing Lines 01x04
Long-Haul Predators
Original Air Date July 7, 2013

She was found near a highway this morning just outside Berlin.

How is this a case for us?

I've been implementing a pattern recognition program I designed...

What?

It scans and correlates anomalies within a specific time frame and regional links which otherwise might go unnoticed.

All right, simple, then, yeah.

It detected this abandoned sports car near a Polish highway just across the border from Germany.

Hang on.

An abandoned car in Poland?

I'll gear up.

I mean, what's next, speeding on the autobahn?

Or double-parking in London, maybe?

I asked Polish Highway Police to take pictures of the car interior...

Et voila.

Eva: That is a very red hair.

According to Polish forensics, the hair is a match. The dead Berlin girl was sitting in that black Polish sports car.

Are there plates on it?

Nope. But the controls are all in German.

I'd say that crosses borders.

Yeah, but not ongoing.

Okay?

I spoke to my former Berlin unit.

I can scan the area where the corpse was found.

Unofficially.

Fine. Carl, I need you to go with him.

What could be better than Germany in the wintertime?

You do not travel light, Sebastian.

Sebastian!

Kathrin.

Hey.

How are you?

Good. How are you?

Good.

Kriminalhauptkommissarin Eichholz, Polizei Berlin, Detective Hickman, former NYPD, currently with the ICC.

Good to meet you.

How did you make it here so fast?

We actually have our own chopper.

You've moved up in the world.

Well, it doesn't belong to me. Yet.

Still, you know what kind of resources we have around here.

The, uh, crime scene?

Of course. Follow me.

Victim is about 20 years of age.

A man's dog dug up the body. No identification.

Some s*ab wounds and multiple blunt trauma.

Pathologist estimates death within the last 48 hours.

There is a connection across the border to Poland.

Your victim's hair was found in a car abandoned there.

Why don't I know about that?

When was the last time you shared anything with Warsaw?

Ugh, well...

That's why we're here.

Oh, one more thing.

There's DNA on her body that appears to be from another source.

Preliminary testing shows another blood type on her, so I can text you the results.

I just need your numbers.

I haven't seen these in a while.

So you and your girlfriend seem to be having a nice little reunion.

Negative.

Come on, she slipped you her cell number by texting you blood results.

She sent it to you, too.

She had to cover.

I haven't seen her in more than six years.

So you guys never really had anything?

I didn't say that.

Ready!

Scanning.

[Console beeping]

Look at that.

I've added some capabilities to the scangen, sort of ground penetrating option.

What does that look like to you?

No...

We're here, Sebastian.

Forensics and pathology still have their hands full, but, so far, at least seven corpses in various stages of decomposition.

[Hickman]: We've got a dumping ground.

Might be a serial k*ller, might be organized crime.

Both are territorial.

I don't know, the last victim didn't look like the type or motive for a hit.

No, she looks like a punker who got hit with a hot bag of doorknobs.

That's one way to put it.

It's apt. Blunt force everywhere.

And the skeletal remains of the other ones look like they show signs of fractures as well.

[Sebastian]: I correlated my own database with pan-European missing people reports and bodies found along the route of the discovery site.

So far, at least 29 cases in the last decade bear similarities.

29?

Eva: So, they...

Pick up someone in the Czech Republic, k*ll them in Poland, and dump the body in Germany?

That's pretty wicked, huh?

[Louis]: Cross-border, and ongoing.

Sebastian, tell the local police to send DNA samples to the major European authorities.

If we're lucky, we will be able to start victim identification.

On it.

Tommy and Eva, let me know when you've seen the car in Poland.

Yes, sir. Okay.

You're already looking for me?

What is that?

A dumping ground... outside Berlin.

My God...

That image...

The victims appear to be from Germany, the Czech Republic and Poland.

Do you have the time to go before the court?

For that?

Yes.

Sebastian...

What's that?

Right there.

Yeah.

Looks like there is something under where the first body was.

Kathrin?

Yeah?

Right down there.

Yeah.

See it?

Yeah.

Couldn't have been there long.

It would have decomposed fast.

It's from a road-side diner.

That's just 20 kilometers from here.

Kind of odd, isn't it?

DNA on the body, matchbooks in the grave.

Outside of burying her, whoever dumped her didn't much care about evidence.

No.

Waitress barely remembers her.

Apparently, they get a lot of young girls with clown hair.

I forgot about your jokes.

Sebastian, surveillance camera.

Can you access that?

What's the interest of the ICC in an abandoned vehicle in Poland?

Coolant.

Excuse me?

What is he...

Hang on, just...

There's a puncture in the radiator hose.

Too big, too clean to be natural.

That's man-made.

You drive a while, the engine overheats, and...

Kaputt, as our German would say.

These V6 TDIs would probably make...

40 kilometers, max.

Yeah.

Let's see.

40 kilometers radius...

Nothing...

Here.

Yeah, looks like a rest stop.

Waitress says the girl was inside around sunset.

So what, around 5:00 P.M.?

Hello, Red.

He seems interested.

Uh-oh, wifey ain't having that.

Good for her.

Look.

It's the abandoned car they found in Poland.

Looks familiar.

That is a very distinctive-looking tattoo on his right arm.

I'll get a picture of it out on the wire.

I can't read the sports car plate.

Here we go.

All right, Sven and Sandra Liebig.

We can ask if they saw anything.

Berlin.

Home.

Let's hope they're home.

Looked like they were going on vacation.

If they're here, it'd be a good idea to separate them.

No sense having them influence each other's memory.

You're going to handle this, right?

No.

They're just witnesses.

They'll feel far more comfortable talking to German officers.

He's right.

I'll take the wife.

You refused this girl a ride.

Refused?

What do you mean by that?

Well, you didn't give her a ride.

Are you saying it is my fault?

No, I was just...

I saw it on the security camera.

You told her no.

Her name was Ivonne.

And I wanted to, but my wife...

I said she couldn't ride with us.

I mean, we're going to pick up a stranger in the middle of nowhere?

I wouldn't think so.

Not only was this a stranger, we had Lara with us.

Our baby.

Of course. That's smart.

Well, Sven seemed to have a problem with my saying no.

We had a fight.

Who?

You and the girl?

Why would I fight with the girl?

I just wanted to know what you meant.

My wife and I...

We had a fight.

Was it physical?

Oh.

Oh, of course not. No, no.

This was from...

I fell. Skiing.

I fell, skiing.

We were on a skiing holiday, and that's the only reason we were out there.

Okay, okay.

Let's just get back to the fight.

What was it about?

What married couples fight about.

I'm single. Enlighten me.

It was about...

The girl, Ivonne.

What about her?

My wife, she got jealous.

Because you flirted with her?

He definitely flirted with her.

So that's why you refused her a ride?

We were crammed as it was.

There was plenty of room.

But your wife got jealous.

It wouldn't have mattered anyway.

What do you mean?

We broke down ourselves.

You broke down?

We were dead on the road.

Your car broke down?

And she was picked up by this guy in a black audi.

They passed us just, you know, broken down there.

She wouldn't even offer to call us a breakdown service.

You sound angry.

Well, damn right, I was angry.

I mean, how can you leave people stranded like this?

And now you show up here, and you start accusing...

I haven't accused you of anything.

Well, then you sound accusatory.

I didn't mean to.

Well, even if I did do something to her, it would be within my rights.

Sir, is there something you're not telling me?

[Text message chimes]

[Text message chimes]

Do you have any idea how your... DNA got on her body?

I...

Both: I k*lled her.

Make sure he doesn't see that we took the wife in first.

I told transport.

They've been advised of their rights, and no one is to question them until we get back to the barracks.

I still can't believe this.

I don't believe this.

Well, you're the one who sent the text message about the DNA.

Well, clearly, they were hiding something.

Well, it worked, they confessed.

I know. I know.

What, are you saying they're not the type?

The type?

Fred and Rosemary West in the U.K.?

The Gallegos in California? The Copelands?

h*m* and Bernardo?

There are plenty of examples of couples committing serial crimes.

They could definitely be the type.

Yeah... then what doesn't make sense?

The other couples didn't take a five-year-old with them.

They confessed.

They break down.

The wife, already pissed at the hot hitchhiker, sees her again, and they b*at her to death and conveniently dump her where there are six other bodies laying in the ground?

What happened to our sports car guy?

Where the hell did he go?

Huh, Mr. Tattoo? He's not with the car.

But they said, "We did it."

Actually, that's not what my guy said.

He said, "I k*lled her."

She said "I" as well.

See? It's like they're protecting someone.

Here comes child services.

Because of the daughter.

Hello?

Is anybody here?

Hi there.

What can I do for you?

Hi. We are from the ICC.

I'm Sergeant Vittoria. He is Tommy McConnel.

We are investigating this vehicle.

This car stopped here a few days ago.

Maybe you noticed it?

Sorry.

Well, the driver had a tattoo on his arm?

I don't think so.

Show him the other one.

The estate car.

What about this one?

Yeah, that one I remember.

Do you?

I serviced it. They filled up.

You must check a lot of cars.

Why do you remember that one?

The police called me out to the highway the next morning because they broke down.

Their radiator line was punctured.

Yeah? You didn't notice that on your check-up?

It wasn't that way then.

You sure?

I checked. I would have seen it.

It was all a-okay.

They did stop at the restaurant after, though.

Maybe someone did it while they were inside.

Well, thank you, then.

You're welcome.

Bye-bye.

[Hickman]: Where did child services take the girl?

I believe they are in her bedroom, sir.

Yeah, I'll get back to you.

Tommy just called from the same rest stop where we were.

Says the sports car's radiator hose was sabotaged.

The estate car apparently had the same problem, but the garage fixed it the next day.

Two cars, two punctured radiator hoses.

Do we think the Liebigs did that, too?

[Cell phone rings]

Yeah, Major Daniel.

Yes, uh, my name is Detective Vomacka of the Czech Police.

Yes, sir?

Your agency put out a bulletin on a man with a distinctive tattoo on his right arm?

Oh, yeah.

Did you find him?

Mm.

Sort of.

[Dog barks]

Lara?

My name is Kathrin.

You must be very scared right now, hmm?

No?

Well, that's good.

Very good.

You went on holiday with mama and papa a few days ago, right?

Did you go skiing in the mountains?

Did you come home before you got to go skiing?

Oh...

Did something happen?

What happened?

You don't know?

Do you know what happened, Lara?

Did mama and papa hurt someone?

I think that will be all.

But I'm only...

I'm sorry.

The child has been through enough trauma.

Excuse me, may I ask one question, not related to the parents?

Just one. Please?

Okay. One.

Thank you.

Look at this!

Did you draw that?

What is that?

Monsters.

Monsters.

What is it?

It's a truck.

[Knocking, door opens]

Sandra?

Why is she here?

And why is she handcuffed?

Where's Lara?

You see, normally, I'd want you both as far apart as possible.

Let you both sweat what the other is telling me.

But this...

This feels like the opposite, like if you know that you both confessed, then there's nobody left to take care of your daughter.

That's what this feels like.

You confessed?

I had to.

They told me my DNA was on the girl.

They told me the same thing.

Which may even turn out to be true.

They haven't tested the fluids on her body yet.

[Gasps]

It was a lie?

No more than your confessions.

The fact that you both believed it tells me that you think it's a possibility.

I don't care what she said.

I k*lled that girl.

You should let her go so she can take care of our Lara...

That's what I'm talking about.

This is all about Lara.

It's about your daughter, isn't it?

Lara is being well taken care of by a very professional child services worker.

She's having a much better time than any of us are.

Why...

Does she see trucks as monsters?

We... we didn't have any choice.

[Screaming]

They said if we didn't fight them, they'd k*ll us.

[Screaming]

And then if we told, they would k*ll her.

They'd k*ll our baby.

[Screaming]

[Crying out in pain]

Have you ever stopped to notice to see how many of them there are?

They're everywhere.

You brought us in.

I'm sure they saw. You have to protect her.

You have to protect my daughter from them.

Them?

[Hickman]: Truckers.

They took them to an abandoned tarmac somewhere, and they made the two couples fight.

Fight?

To the death.

Did we miss anything?

Louis: Long-haul truck drivers, hunting people like a game.

That's what we're dealing with.

Sebastian: Predators.

The FBI established a highway serial k*ller database in the U.S.

Over 500 suspected serial slayings.

All by truck drivers?

European open borders.

Long-haulers moving from country to country in a matter of hours. Why not?

Using the flow of the highway as a smoke screen, dumping the bodies hundreds of miles apart.

The couple we brought in said they were threatened, said that their daughter would be found and k*lled if they contacted the authorities.

Both cars were sabotaged?

Radiator hoses punctured.

Tractor-trailers come to the rescue, offer them a ride, then they find themselves in some kind of a holding cell in the trailer, taken to an empty area, where they have to fight for their lives...

Against another couple.

A fight club, where someone else takes all the punishment.

Probably had a betting line, too.

They let the winners go.

Yeah, to remember the rest of their lives that they m*rder*d someone.

Why were they allowed to survive?

Winner takes all?

They proved worthy?

They leave witnesses every time?

Risky.

But how risky is it, really?

They've participated in k*lling someone.

The truckers probably kept evidence, photos, videos, even.

And they threatened the life of a child.

Maybe that's what they're looking for.

Huh? People with kids?

Dorn: Louis, I'm leaving!

Louis?

Hickman: Right there, enhance that car.

He had a kid with him, too.

A little boy.

Where is he now?

Tommy: Sebastian?

How much of that footage do you have archived?

A lot. Why?

Because this family went missing yesterday in their VW.

Don't move.

Where are they?

How would I know?

Three cars, three missing families.

They all have one thing in common!

You.

I found this hidden in the office.

Sebastian: So you sabotage the engine.

Then what?

I give them a call on the C.B.

You know what they're doing with the people?

Don't wanna know.

Yeah, as long as you're getting paid, right?

You wouldn't understand.

Where are they?

No idea.

Anything happens to them, it's going to be laid right at your feet.

All I did was call it in.

You tell that to a judge.

They just drive them around until...

Until they get a match.

Someone for them to fight.

Yeah, another couple.

They get a match, right?

Undercover decoy.

I'm in.

Aye. No worries.

Okay.

We do have a problem, don't we?

We need a kid.

Yeah.

That's the beauty of your scam, huh?

They wouldn't pick up anyone without kids, and cops would not be undercover with one.

I have a son.

You do?

He's five.

We're not going to risk an actual child.

No, wait, hear me out.

They only need to see him, right?

Radio check, one, two. One, two.

Affirmative, Tommy.

We read you.

Hi.

Eva: Hi.

Erik, these are the two police friends I told you about.

Hi.

Hi. Nice to meet you. I'm eva.

I'm Erik.

Eva: He's Tommy.

Hi.

Hi.

Remember, just do what the officers tell you, yeah?

Mommy will be watching.

Okay.

Okay.

He'll be okay.

Okay, we're going to stay here.

All right, we're good to go.

Go ahead and make the broadcast.

Black mamba for great white.

Great white. Go ahead.

Got a hunting report.

It's on.

Okay.

You okay? Yes?

Yes.

I think we got something.

All right, heads up, it's a truck.

Two of them.

Correction, two trucks.

Two trucks. We're on.

Are you going to be a police officer like your mom when you grow up?

Yes.

Yes? Good boy.

Hey. We've got engine trouble, mate.

Can you give us a hand?

Okay, now we go in the car.

We warm up in the car.

There we go.

Whispering: He's here.

Whispering: Erik. Erik, come here.

[Tommy]: It can't be fixed?

You okay?

All right, then, yeah, we'd love a lift.

Thank you.

Are you sure?

It's either that or stand out in the freezing cold all night.

Okay. I'll get Erik.

Okay.

She's just going to get the boy.

Is he all right?

Yeah.

Hi.

Give it to me.

Be careful.

Yeah, if I was careful, I would have just lived off my father's money.

Looks like they took the bait.

All right, here we go. Soft tail.

Remember, leap frog as much as possible.

No one moves until you get our call.

We wait until we get visual of the other missing family.

Let's go.

Where is the boy?

With a uniform.

He's handsome.

I guess so.

You want to talk about it?

No.

I think if we were an average couple, we would know by now we were in trouble?

If we were an average couple, we would have been in trouble a long time ago.

Off the highway. They've stopped.

[Tail gate opens]

Let's go!

Go?

Get down.

Our son is asleep.

Leave him.

[Shouting]

Shouting voices: Come on! Get off!

Come on! Come on!

Come on, get down from there!

[Yelling and jeering]

Come on!

[Truckers chanting] Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!

Fight! Fight! Fight!

[Truckers chanting] - Fight! Fight!

Fight who?!

There's no one else here!

No one move in yet.

He doesn't see the other family.

All units, hold.

[Truckers chanting] Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!

Back to back, Tommy.

How many are there?

Too many.

[Chanting] Fight! Fight!

There's at least a dozen trucks, but still no family.

[Tommy]: I'm guessing there's about 20 fellows here.

[Truckers chanting] Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!

They're there.

Move in. Move in.

[Truckers chanting] Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!

[g*nsh*t ricochets]

[g*nsh*t cracks]

One long r*fle, high, South-southeast.

All right, you follow me. You do what I do.

Okay.

[Truckers chanting] Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!

[sh*t ricochets]

Come on, att*ck!

That's your plan?

All right, come on, or they'll k*ll us!

All right, come on!

Come over here!

Come on!

Sebastian?

Sir?

Are you wearing your seat belt?

Excuse me?

I won't hurt you.

I'm a cop.

Just follow what I say, okay?

[Metal clanging]

[Grunts in pain]

Hit me!

Just put me on the floor.

On the floor.

[Metal clanging, grunting]

[Coughing]

[Screaming]

[Wailing sirens approach]

Freeze! Police!

[Sirens wail]

[People yelling]

[g*nsh*t]

[Coughing and spluttering]

You okay?

[Groaning]

We're fine.

[Hickman, remembering]: Three cars, three missing families.

They all have one thing in common.

Hickman: We brought your wife in for questioning.

She never did anything but raise those children.

She didn't ask where they were coming from?

If the parents weren't able to fight for them, they didn't deserve their kids.

Who did you have to fight?

I told you.

You wouldn't understand.

Yeah, a dozen truckers make people fight to the death for their amusement, and you steal the losers' kids.

You're right, I don't understand.

[Sebastian]: He's fine. He did real good.

He's a good boy.

It was... good seeing you again.

Yeah. Very good.

Come on.

So, this all started because you put an abandoned car in Poland together with a body in Germany.

Well, anyone would have done it if they had my equipment.

No.

Nobody saw it, even with your equipment.

I just... wanted to tell you that.

Said you haven't seen her in six years?

Yeah, that's right.

Good-looking boy.

How old do you think he is? About five?

If you're suggesting what I think you're suggesting...

She would have told me.

Maybe this was her way of trying.

Eva: Let's go, Sebastian!

The major's buying.