01x10 - Blunt the Edge

[bunniefuu]

[Horns honking, indistinct conversations]

Mrs. Harbach.

Hi. I'm Jacqui. I'm Mr. Hertzberg's assistant.

Oh, thank you for meeting me.

Of course. If you'll just follow me this way.

I-I was so sorry to hear about grandpa's death.

I-I'm still in shock.

James had cancer, Erich. He was dying.

I'm sure he was just sick and tired of being sick and tired.

Yeah.

Still, it must have been quite the ordeal.

My goodness, it was nothing compared to what you've been through.

After we first met, grandpa reached out to me.

Were you aware?

No.

I think he wanted it to be a surprise.

He was waiting for your birthday.

W-what is this?

It's a bank account made in your name, established by your husband.

David helped grandpa set it up.

He wanted to make sure that you were properly taken care of after his death.

But we don't have any money.

You do now. Take a look.

Half a million dollars?

Thank you.

[g*nsh*t]

Sammy's using the water tub.

[g*nsh*t]

So, this is our test b*llet from the g*n you found on James Harbach.

This is the b*llet that was embedded in Kevin Neyers' parietal bone.

Same caliber, same lands, same grooves, same g*n.

So you ran it through clets?

Twice. The g*n is clean.

There's no record of its sale, no listing in the database.

It's ice-cold.

As far as the federal government is concerned, it doesn't exist.

Hmm.

It's the grips that caught my eye.

See that number in the corner there? 1970?

Let me see.

Yeah.

1970. Four-inch .357.

Now, is this the year it was manufactured?

That was my first instinct, as well, but I ran the g*n and the grips against factory logs.

They weren't manufactured till '75.

Yeah, my dad had one of these.

He used to scratch his star number into the grip just like that.

Oh, so that's not a year. That's... that's a star number?

Yeah. But you said this g*n's cold, right?

So, how would you get an S.F.P.D. w*apon out of the federal database?

You wouldn't have to if it was never in there.

You see, when this g*n was issued, the S.F.P.D. only registered weapons internally.

We didn't register with the feds until the early '80s.

[Telephone ringing]

Excuse me.

Yeah.

So it's got to be Salter, right?

No, 1970... that's not Salter.

His number is 1900.

How do you know that?

He was my first sergeant coming out of the academy.

I had to write his damn number down every time I filled out a report for like three years, so, unh-unh, I would know.

1900... Salter. 1970... that's Navarro.

Navarro: I got a Beretta as a rookie in '95, but after the recall was issued a sig, just like you.

Two g*ns. Both automatics. That's it.

Do you remember the last guy who had your star?

Howard... something.

Uh... I think he got fired.

Howard Toomey.

Okay, yeah, he had it from '76 to '96.

Looks like he got it from his dad.

Steven Toomey had star 1970 dating back to 1942.

He made it to Deputy Chief, ran the Metro Division. Deceased.

His son Howard ran the Alcohol Licensing Unit, and you're right...

Howard Toomey was fired in 1996 at age 49.

Okay, so if he was 49 in '96, then...

That means he's 67 now.

67.

Didn't D-Hop say that the guy that k*lled Kevin Neyers was kind of old?

Yeah, but, look, h-here's the problem... according to the lab, Harbach definitely wrote the note.

I mean, it's his handwriting, it's his pen, and James Harbach's su1c1de note says that he k*lled Kevin Neyers.

Did the lab find any indents?

Mm. Not that I'm aware of.

All right, maybe the note wasn't the last thing that Harbach wrote.

Hildy: Well, isn't analyzing for indents kind of standard procedure?

[Laughter]

There's nothing really, uh, standard procedure about our handwriting expert.

Here we go.

Navarro: Little Miss Molly.

[Siren wails]

[Indistinct shouting]

Well, this is the address. Looks like a halfway house.

Sober living.

Not every cop lives happily ever after.

Let's just hope the guy's not drunk.

Howard Toomey?

Depends.

May I help you?

Yeah, uh, we just need to speak with Mr. Toomey for a couple minutes.

Absolutely.

Gopher, why don't you go help Marcie in the kitchen?

Yeah, I drank like a fish when I was a cop.

My assignment didn't help.

I ended up drinking myself off the force.

Back then, that was no small feat.

Everyone drank all the time.

And how long have you, uh, worked here?

As a counselor?

Yeah.

Eight years.

And you live here?

Five nights a week.

I don't mind it, though.

It's nice seeing guys turn their life around.

So, show me this g*n.

Okay, as you can see there, the number's been scratched on the inside handle.

That's my number, but that's not my g*n.

I was issued a six-inch as a rookie, not a four-inch.

Don't all rookies get a four-inch?

My dad was Deputy Chief.

He pulled strings to make sure I got the big g*n.

That six-inch .357 was the only firearm I carried until we switched to automatics.

So you don't think there's any way that that could be your dad's g*n?

Oh, no way. He carried a Colt .45.

Any chance someone else could have had the star number in between you and your father?

Come to think of it, there was another guy.

When dad retired, I had to horse-trade him for the number, and he only had it a couple of weeks.

Please tell me you remember his name.

No.

But I remember that he was a real hotshot, and I remember that I had to give up this great number for it.

What was it?

Uh... Oh! Turn of the century... 1900.

That's Salter.

Jimmy Salter. That's the guy.

So you stole the g*n from the department?

How many g*ns do you have, Terry? Give me a break.

Things were different back then.

The Rangemaster was a friend of mine.

Everybody tried to keep their g*ns.

And you were successful, right?

So this is your .357? Yes?

It used to be. It's my rookie p*stol.

And now it turns up as a m*rder w*apon used to k*ll your boss' father.

That's a hell of a coincidence.

I didn't say it was a coincidence.

I have no idea how it ended up in James Harbach's hands.

I had nothing to do with that.

I got an idea who did.

You're quitting? What the hell? Why?

Whatever happened to that g*n I gave you, Erich?

What g*n?

Come on. That little four-inch .357.

The g*n that was used to k*ll Kevin Neyers.

You never gave me any g*n.

You're kidding, right?

Jimmy, are you wearing a wire?

Would you do that to me? Turn on me like that?

I've been nothing but good to you.

It's been an adventure, Erich. That's for sure.

Good luck, kid. You're gonna need it.

[Sighs]

[Horns honking]

[Bell dings]

All right, so Salter got the g*n to Blunt.

Harbach used the g*n to k*ll Neyers.

So, at a minimum, Blunt is an accessory.

Well, now when you've got a four-year gap between when Salter gave him the g*n and when we found it on Harbach...

I mean, even if Blunt admits he gave the g*n to Harbach, he could still claim it was for home protection and that he knew nothing of the old man's plans to k*ll Neyers.

I mean, individually, every piece of evidence could be explained away by Blunt.

Well, everything except the timing.

I mean, let's think about this.

So, within a two-month span, Harbach meets Blunt for the first time, ends up with Blunt's g*n, kills Blunt's biological father within a week of Applsn's I.P.O.

Yeah, we just need more evidence connecting those dots.

Well, speak of the devil. Here it comes.

Hey, Molly. Huh. What do you got for us?

He used a fountain pen, so the imprints were settled.

T-t-this one was clearest, which means it was probably written on the previous sheet of paper.

Señor.

Excuse me. Thanks, Mol.

Ah, "Dear Betty, "when you find this note, call David Hertzberg.

"You can trust him. He'll take care of you.

I love you. James."

The saga continues.

Right?

Okay. Let's start with Mrs. Harbach.

The moment we go to Hertzberg, we're going to Blunt.

All right, well, if Betty Harbach's speaking to Hertzberg, anything we tell her is gonna get back to him.

Are we running this by Perez?

We don't work for Perez. This is my call.

Hey, Mol. Ah.

Uh, thank you, Miss Molly.

Betty: Oh, it's just a security system.

Terry: Well, I mean, you got cameras, sensors, infrared.

That's a pretty sophisticated security system.

I-I got the five-star electronic home-bunker system.

Top of the line.

Looks expensive.

Oh, they gave me a good deal.

I think they felt sorry for me.

I haven't lived alone in 50 years.

Can we come in? We just have a couple questions for you.

I-I-I-I'm sorry.

I wish I could help you, but... my lawyer advised me not to speak to the police.

We know about the note, Mrs. Harbach... the one your husband left instructing you to speak with David Hertzberg.

Is he your lawyer?

I-I-I'm sorry. I-I have to close the door now.

Okay. If you close the door, we'll return with a search warrant.

[Sighs]

You can search high and low.

You won't find anything in here concerning any kind of criminal activity.

My husband would never put me through that.

Did you figure out where he kept his revolver?

No, I haven't.

Like I said before, I don't know where he got it, and I don't know where he kept it.

Well, he got it from Erich Blunt.

They warned me you might try to do something like this, get me to turn on my grandson.

Well, we're not trying to do anything.

We're just telling you the facts.

The g*n they found on your husband... the g*n that k*lled Kevin Neyers... belonged to Erich Blunt.

M-Mr. Hertzberg told me to call him in a situation like this.

Of course he did.

His client gave your husband a m*rder w*apon.

Why did your husband want you to see Mr. Hertzberg after he d*ed?

[Sighs]

Because James left me some money.

Erich gave it to him to take care of me after his death.

Mr. Hertzberg set it up.

When did they tell you?

Day before yesterday.

Did they tell you how much money?

Half a million dollars.

They gave me this portfolio with all the information.

Thank you.

[Clears throat]

Looks like this account was set up back in May.

Why would they have waited so long to tell you about it?

James wanted to surprise me. That's what Erich said.

Did you spend any of it?

Uh, $10,000 for the security system.

I put it on the debit card.

Well, there's another withdrawal listed right here.

Oh, the $1,300?

I noticed that. I don't know what that was for.

The withdrawal was made two days after the account was first opened.

That's a week before Neyers was k*lled.

I'm not following.

Do you know what, um, fentanyl is?

The pain medication? Sure.

It's the only thing that gave James any relief toward the end.

Terry!

Hey, man.

Thought you were trying to break in to my pad for a second.

Why? 'Cause, uh... 'cause I'm black?

No, 'cause you were rattling on my window.

[Chuckling] Just playing with you, man.

I'm just playing.

That's a nice bike.

Wait until I get the engine fixed.

It's a beast.

Just hope it doesn't fall apart on the highway.

Where you off to?

Sacramento.

Cool, cool.

Gonna go visit your girl or something?

No, no, just family.

I'm thinking of moving up there, you know, starting over.

My Uncle's a foreman at a battery factory.

He got me a job interview.

Look at you. Citizen Walton. All right.

Yeah, thanks to you, I got a second chance, you know.

Doesn't happen every day.

I ain't planning on wasting it, you know?

That's good.

I got a favor to ask of you.

We're getting pretty close on this Neyers case.

Wanted to ask you... how much did Neyers give you for that bag of fentanyl that you delivered the day he was k*lled?

20 pops at 50, plus a couple of transdermal patches...

$1,300.

No sh*t.

Cash up front.

All right.

My man.

Anytime.

Chris.

Take care of yourself.

You, too, Inspector.

[Engine turns over]

[Bell dinging]

Koto: We need to update you on the Kevin Neyers investigation.

We're closing in on an arrest.

Well, unless you have proof, you're wasting my time.

We have Blunt paying off Harbach and providing the g*n.

For what?

For k*lling Neyers.

Can Blunt explain it differently?

Sure, but...

See, stop right there.

When the answer to that question is "No," come back to me.

None of us wants to get b*rned twice.

But we have twice as much on him here than we did in the Cindy Strauss case.

And now we have something even more important... a pattern.

Yes, we have... a pattern of arresting Erich Blunt.

A pattern for m*rder.

Perez: Not in the eyes of the court.

We lost that case. Remember?

Look, we were right then, and we're right now.

Erich Blunt k*lled Kevin Neyers.

Siletti: Why does he want this guy dead anyway?

Who gives a sh*t?

He does. He hates him.

He was blackmailing him days before his I.P.O.

Okay, so let's say you're right, huh?

He has motive, and then he realizes, "Why do it yourself when you can pay another guy to do it for you?"

But then you're saying he opts against hiring a professional, deciding instead to roll the dice with a 72-year-old lung-cancer patient from Oakland who he just met a few weeks ago... a guy with no criminal record, no experience, no g*n.

[Chuckles] That's Erich Blunt's foolproof master plan?

As opposed to your master plan of being an assh*le?

[Laughs] I'm a lawyer, sweetheart.

I get paid to be an assh*le.

Great.

Jackie, come on.

We've got more than enough evidence to arrest this guy.

I'm not interested in evidence. I need proof.

No alternate theories, no other suspects, no slippery timelines, no room for interpretation.

I need 12 cameras from 12 different angles... undeniable, unassailable, incontrovertible proof.

The only way I am taking Erich Blunt to trial again is if we've already won.

Thank you.

Betty: Here. March 5th. Erich Blunt.

That's the day we first met.

Okay. And you haven't seen him since then?

No, not till two days ago.

Right, and your husband opened up the account on May 23rd.

Oh, see, there's dollar signs.

Oh, look at that.

I thought those dollar signs meant we owed the hospital money.

But I didn't ask. James kept our books.

Now, would your husband go to chemo by himself?

Uh, yes, sometimes.

I'm sure that's when he met with Erich.

Okay, well, Neyers was k*lled around 2:00 A.M., so don't you think you would have heard your husband get up and get out of bed, leave the house?

I take Ambien to sleep.

James could have led a marching band through our bedroom.

I wouldn't have noticed.

Okay.

Uh, I wanted to just ask you about one other thing... this right here on Memorial Day.

What is that?

Oh.

A man came to the door selling life insurance.

Uh... James was out of the house... M.I.A.

Okay, that's a week before Neyers' death.

Right.

You know where your husband went at that time?

No, I don't.

Seems like you were concerned 'cause you underlined it twice here.

Well, y-you're right, but I wasn't concerned about my husband's whereabouts.

I was concerned about the man on my porch.

Who sells insurance door-to-door on Memorial Day?

Well, it's a good day to find people at home.

He said he'd researched my husband's records and that he qualified for a new gold-plated policy.

James had already been diagnosed with lung cancer.

Did this insurance salesman leave a card or a number or anything like that?

No.

Soon as he heard James wasn't home, he got in his shiny red sports car and sped off.

Yes.

[Both panting]

[Computer beeps]

I'm gonna k*ll whoever this is.

Wilky. What the hell?

I'm not done with you. Wait upstairs.

[Door closes]

Wilky, slow down. You're spinning.

Oh, you know, I'm about to be charged as an accessory to m*rder.

So I'm a little stressed, yeah.

What m*rder?

Kevin Neyers.

The cops know about the half-million dollars you gave to James Harbach.

So what?

Well, they also know that you gave me Salter's old g*n to give to Harbach two days before he k*lled Neyers.

Jesus, man.

And they're saying that you paid your grandfather to k*ll him, and so now because I delivered the g*n to him, I'm an accomplice in this m*rder.

They're... they're... they're coming after us!

First of all, they don't know anything.

They're just trying to scare you into implicating me, which you can't do because I never gave you Salter's g*n.

What? Of course you did.

How the hell would I even have it if y-you hadn't given it to me?

You got it from Jimmy Salter.

No, no, no, no, no.

Don't... don't you do this.

You told me that you wanted that g*n for your grandfather for home protection.

You didn't tell me he was gonna use it to k*ll a guy.

[Sighs]

Take your clothes off.

W-what? Why?

Because you're wearing a wire.

Oh, come on.

Wilky, take off your clothes.

Do it.

[Sighs]

assh*le.

Those, too.

You satisfied?

I can't believe you don't trust me after everything we've been through together.

You forgot to take off your watch, Wilky.

You gave me this watch.

I know, and now I want it back.

[Sighs] Come on. This is nuts.

Give me the watch, Wilky.

Oh, Wilky.

It's not what you think.

Sure, it is. Look.

It's a bug.

[Grunts]

[Sighs]

You're pathetic.

[Voice breaking] I had no choice!

Wrong again, Wilky!

You chose to s*ab me in the back, and after all I've done for you.

What exactly have you done for me, Erich?

What?!

Let's see. You stole Cindy from me.

You sent my wife that video! You destroyed my marriage!

You've made me an accomplice in a m*rder that you bought and paid for.

That's what you've done for me!

[Sighs]

Bill.

Hey, Bill.

You're delusional. You are.

No, no, no, no. [Sniffles]

We were ready to get the hell out of here.

We were gonna start a new life together.

[Sighs]

We were.

Well, then, it's a good thing that I k*lled her 'cause that would have been a huge mistake.

Cindy was carrying your child.

She was carrying a fetus.

I told her to get rid of it, but she refused.

[Scoffs]

Come on, I wasn't gonna have a kid with Cindy.

That was never part of the plan.

So...

I mean, so, what, you just k*lled her?

Look at it like this, Bill...

2/3 of all human conceptions are spontaneously aborted by nature.

10 million women die every year in childbirth.

I just nudged Cindy towards those probable outcomes.

Right?

[Chuckles]

It was sloppy, but effective.

Now, the way that I k*lled my father... that was a work of art.

You know?

I made sure all the evidence was double-sided, circumstantial.

Salter gave me that g*n years ago for protection, and I gave it to you to give to my grandfather because, well, he lived in a sh*t house in a sh*t neighborhood, and he... he couldn't even afford a lousy security system.

And as for the money... his medical bills, they just wiped him out.

He was broke.

I gave him the money so my grandmother wasn't thrown out on the streets, penniless.

Kevin Neyers was a worm, a virus, a glitch in the system.

He had to be k*lled.

So...

You k*lled your lover, you k*lled your own child, paid your grandfather to k*ll your father, and then he took the g*n you gave him and turned it on himself.

So... you k*lled them all.

I didn't k*ll my grandfather.

That's not on me. That was his choice.

He was dying of cancer, Bill.

He wanted to go out on his own terms... one more final act of defiance.

[Scoffs]

If I was in his position, doomed to a slow and meaningless death, I'd do the same thing.

[Chuckles]

Boy, you are... insane.

No. I'm just evolved.

Human life isn't as valuable as you think it is, Wilky.

You know there are seven billion people walking around this planet?

And we're growing exponentially year by year.

Humanity is on the vertical part of the "S" curve.

It's completely unsustainable.

We're gonna have to cull the herd, pick the winners.

People are gonna have to die for the rest of us to survive.

I'm just getting a head start.

Man: I'll give him a call, thanks.

[Indistinct shouting]

[Sighs]

Molk: Mr. Blunt.

Hey, how you doing?

Says he needs to talk to Hildy and Terry.

Yeah.

Hildy, someone here to see you.

Found him in the lobby.

You're up early.

Yeah, I, uh... I learned some information late last night about the death of my father.

I felt I should come in first thing.

Terry: Mm. You b*at us to it.

We were, uh, just gonna come see you.

Would you mind following us?

Sure.

All right.

Yeah, well, why would Salter and Wilkerson want to k*ll Kevin Neyers?

Yeah.

Well, their entire net worth was in Applsn stock options I'd given them.

And according to Bill, when they learned that Neyers was blackmailing me and threatening to derail the I.P.O., they took matters into their own hands.

Why would Wilkerson confess all this to you?

He was desperate.

I mean, he's lost his marriage. He's broke.

I mean, come on, he was willing to wear a bug because he's so terrified of going to prison.

So, I told him that he could keep his job, and I'd look after all of his money and legal bills, but only if he told me the truth.

Are you done?

I'm sorry.

I'm just wondering how you expect us to believe anything you say anymore.

I'll take a lie-detector test.

Do you think you could get him to confess again?

You mean wear a wire?

Yeah.

No. After last night, I doubt that would work.

Do you think Wilkerson and Salter talk?

Sure. Wouldn't surprise me.

Hildy: Hey, what do you think?

You think we could get a bug on Salter?

Salter?

Blunt: I mean, he's one of you.

Wouldn't he, you know, smell that coming a mile away?

All right, but what if it wasn't a bug?

What if... Check this out. I forget what page it is.

There's an article in there, uh, that talks about the N.S.A. taking a regular smartphone and turning it into a recording device, uh, that you can use, uh, by remote.

Uh-huh.

Now, I'm not a techie or a... but do you think that that would be possible?

Could we do that?

Sure.

Really?

Yeah. Why not?

I mean, a phone is just a computer, right?

Right.

It can penetrated just like any laptop.

I mean, all you'd need to do is hack through the login into the O.S. and drop a piece of N.S.A. malware into the system update.

It's pretty simple.

But wouldn't you need a federal warrant?

Oh, you mean... something like this?

[Clears throat]

[Sighs]

[Recorder beeps]

Blunt: I just nudged Cindy towards those probable outcomes.

[Chuckles]

It was sloppy, but effective.

Now, the way that I k*lled my father... that was a work of art.

[Recorder beeps]

Erich Maxwell Blunt, you're under arrest for the m*rder of Kevin Neyers.

Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.

Get Warren Daniels on the phone, now!

You do have the right to an attorney.

If you can't afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you.

Afford one?!

I'm a billionaire.

This is my house. This is my game!

[Grunts]

Game over.

Woman: The San Francisco Homicide Unit, led by Lieutenant Jim Koto and Inspectors English and Mulligan, worked closely with the medical examiner,

C.S.I., and our crime lab...

Man: Applsn stock is in free fall since Blunt's stunning arrest this morning.

Thank you, Maggie.

Shares currently trading for less than a dollar as news of his taped confession to two murders puts the future of A...

[Remote clicks]

He wants to hire you.

And I want to go on a date with Beyoncé.

Some things in life, David, just aren't in the cards.

The question is, why are you still working for this sociopath?

Every man deserves a lawyer.

No lawyer deserves him.

Look, if it's about money...

What money?

He has no money.

By the end of the day, the only thing he'll be C.E.O. of is his jail cell.

You know the difference between a C.E.O. and a criminal?

Venture capital.

[Chuckles]

You, my friend, are living proof that inside of every cynic is a disillusioned idealist.

When we first met in Washington, did you ever think we'd end up here?

Me, yes. You, no.

You were Chief Counsel for the Senate Judiciary Committee at, what, 34?

Mm.

I thought you'd end up on the supreme court.

[Chuckles] So did my mother.

Justice Daniels, what happened?

I discovered I like money.

[Chuckles]

You don't fly planes, drive fancy cars, take expensive vacations.

What did you do with it all?

My money? Oh, I keep it.

Why?

So I have it.

So I can afford to say no to men like Erich Blunt.

I thought he was innocent. I really did.

I didn't, not for a minute.

He passed a lie-detector test.

He didn't pass the lie-detector test.

I just made that up.

[Buzzer]

Is it true... what you said to Bill, what they claim they have you saying on tape?

Of course not, David.

First thing we should do is file a motion to throw this tape out.

On what grounds?

[Scoffs]

Illegal wiretap. Whatever.

Daniels will figure it out.

Daniels is not taking the case.

[Scoffs]

Wait, what? Why?

Why? Because you're broke, Erich.

Your company is gone.

Salter is gone. Ivana is gone.

Wilkerson is gone. Daniels is gone.

[Sighs]

Well, at least I've still got you.

No, you don't.

I'm resigning... as of right now.

What?

Just came in to say goodbye.

[Breathing heavily]

Why? Tell me why.

I believed in you, Erich.

I believed in you.

I don't anymore.

[Buzzer]

We did good.

Yeah. I guess.

Uh, it feels weird to be celebrating, though.

[Sighs] Why? We did our job.

We were right.

I know. Just... that guy.

I feel like... he's the closest thing I've ever seen to pure evil.

What he did is just not... not human.

[Sighs]

That's probably what makes him human.

What do you mean?

[Sighs]

People like Blunt... evil... it's like a hunger, you know, a hole that they need to fill.

I think it's their nature.

They need it, kind of like you and I... like you and I need love.

[Cellphone rings]

[Cellphone beeps]

Yeah?

Oh, no.

Blunt: [Echoing] He wanted to go out on his own terms... one more final act of defiance.

If I was in his position, doomed to a slow and meaningless death, I'd do the same thing.

[Camera shutter clicks]