("PROUD TO BE LOUD" BY DEAD GREEN MUMMIES PLAYING)
- ♪ Proud to be loud ♪
- (WRENCH CRANKING)
♪ Proud to be loud ♪
♪ Proud to be loud ♪
♪ Oh...! ♪
(ELECTRIC GUITAR SOLO)
- (CLATTERING)
- (GRUNTING)
(WHEELS ROLLING)
(MACHINERY WHIRRING, HISSING)
♪ Oh...! ♪
♪ Proud to be loud ♪
♪ Proud to be loud ♪
♪ I'm proud ♪
♪ Turn it up! ♪
♪ Boom, boom, boom, boom ♪
♪ Bang, bang, bang, bang ♪
♪ Boom, boom, boom, boom ♪
♪ How, how, how, how ♪
♪ Hey, hey ♪
♪ You gotta come on. ♪
- (OVERLAPPING ARGUING)
- BROGAN: So what should we do?
- HOLLAND: There is no way...
- LANDERS: Look, a few businesses
- is nothing compared to...
- Okay, all right.
Let's take it down a notch, everybody.
You're making an assumption.
The mayor thinks that she's...
A-All right, that-that's enough.
(CHATTER QUIETS)
I didn't seek to be the foreman of this commission.
You all voted me in.
Please let me do my job.
Deputy Mayor Reyes is here to represent the mayor's office.
Mayor Taylor extends her appreciation to each of you for joining this team, especially those of you who were tested and able to be here in person.
The mayor has full confidence in you.
We're expecting great results here.
LANDERS: But what do those results look like?
Action plans to put in front of the city council.
Mayor wants you to tackle the issues that have been plaguing this town for decades.
Systemic inequality.
We all sadly know that this town was born of it.
Educational racism.
Rental and mortgage bias.
Racial and gender wage gap.
Homelessness...
The list goes on and on.
That's why you're all here.
Leaders across a variety of city sectors.
Mayor's calling you the Crescent City .
Commission.
BOYNTON: I'm all for a better future, as long as we don't vilify everything that's brought us this far.
BRIGGS: The best thing to change this town quick is to focus on the biggest problem in the room: the New Orleans Police Department.
And how is the department a problem, Ms.
Briggs?
Let me count the ways.
Discrimination, corruption, brutality...
HOLLAND: You're talking about the old police department.
When I was superintendent, I changed all that.
You put a Band-Aid on a gaping chest wound.
Retired with honors.
But your cops think they run this city.
They forget they're supposed to work for the people.
PRIDE: Allie.
Michael, we're all on the same side here.
Are we, Dwayne?
Really?
You hear how this radical is talking to me?
If this is gonna work, we need brutal honesty.
Tactful honesty would suffice.
I call out fascism when I see fascism.
You let the barbarians through the gate here.
What did you call me?
Enough with the name-calling.
All right?
You see problems?
This is where we find solutions.
But...
we got to work within the system.
I'm not here to work with the same old failed solutions from a broken system.
I'm here to change the game.
HOLLAND: Grievances are easy.
Actions take resolve.
Compromise.
People are dying in the streets and you expect them to compromise?
BROGAN: So what should we do?
Burn the city to the ground and start fresh?
We don't have to burn down the city.
Just the establishment.
- Now, listen here...
- (OVERLAPPING ARGUING)
I think we need to be careful with the words that we use here.
We don't need to break down...
If you think you're gonna defund the police...
If we can't be civil together, then we cannot work together.
That girl is dangerous.
And this meeting is a waste of time.
Michael.
Come on back and sit...
- Michael!
- LANDERS: Look, the mayor chose us to work together for a reason.
We must be civil.
Good.
Now we can all get to work.
I think that's enough for today.
Well...
I'll say that went better than expected.
GREGORIO: I'm just saying it'll feel weird not to see you tonight.
And tomorrow night.
That freak you out?
Come on.
(LAUGHS)
All right.
I can't wait to see you, too.
Bye.
What?
Don't "what" me.
Give me the deets.
- What's up with Kara?
- (LAUGHS)
- She's doing well, thanks.
- Oh?
How well?
- Quite well, Hannah.
- Come on.
CARTER: Welcome to a curiously enigmatic crime scene, ladies.
Enigmatic?
That's a -cent word.
Thank you.
Our victim is Todd VonRoenn, janitor at Stennis Space Center.
Oh?
When does NCIS get called on an accidental death of a civilian support staff?
Since NOPD found this stashed in the victim's house.
What's this card gain access to?
Restricted labs at Stennis.
And our victim had no security clearance.
- Okay, well, that is an enigma.
- Yeah.
Now you're feeling my synonym-of-the-day vibe.
You think he was m*rder*d?
Sebastian sure does.
Found some questionable marks on the victim's head.
Got the body loaded up now to take back to Dr. Wade.
This all has the whiff of espionage.
Whatever VonRoenn was doing with this key card could be what got him k*lled.
There's a few bags of size diapers in here, Audra.
Baby Jack is sh**ting up like a weed.
He'll need 'em before I see you again.
Can't thank you enough, Ms. Devereaux.
And Mr. Dwayne.
Well, you just keep that baby fat and happy.
That's all the thanks we need.
(JACK COOS)
Hey, Ms. D.
- Hey.
- Man, you got this food pantry running like a well-oiled machine thanks to you and Jimmy.
Well, just trying to do my part in these strange times.
Yeah, well, I'm sure folks appreciate it more than you know.
I appreciate feeling like I'm a real part - of a neighborhood again.
- Glad you're fighting the good fight.
It's why I came to see you.
Oh, what-what's up?
My friend Diana, her son Erik was arrested last night...
- Robbing a couple at knifepoint.
- Oh, yikes.
That's a ten-year minimum.
Except Erik didn't do it.
He's a good kid.
Plus, he was blocks away from the robbery.
But he fits the victims' vague description, so he was arrested on the spot.
I take it there was no other witnesses?
Their word against his.
Listen, Diana works three jobs just to make ends meet.
She's strapped for cash; she came to me for the bail money.
So I gave it to her, but she got to the jail, - they wouldn't release Erik.
- Why?
Something about he had a fight in the holding cell.
Diana needs an attorney's help.
Your state license?
It still valid?
Good day, Loretta.
Not for this poor soul.
Nor the poor soul standing in front of me.
Zahra reached out.
Said you were a lamb led to the slaughter.
Well, I will admit that the first meeting of the mayor's commission was less than ideal.
I was told you had a mutiny.
(CHUCKLES)
Well, I wasn't thrown overboard yet.
Who was leading the mutineers?
Michael Holland.
Former police superintendent.
He isn't exactly interested in working with tomorrow's leaders.
It seems to me someone should show them that they share a common goal.
If only there was someone on the commission who knew better than anyone about how to put the city first.
This meant to be a pep talk?
That's your challenge, Dwayne.
Be the bridge.
We'll see if I'm up to the task.
Meantime, Carter and Sebastian right to think our janitor was m*rder*d?
The weight of the car did crush his body, but that's not what k*lled him.
He bled out first from this cranial fracture.
The depth of the wound had to be created by an external force.
Like someone slammed his head into something?
And then shoved him underneath the car to make it look like an accident.
If VonRoenn was stealing secrets from Stennis, that someone may have decided he was a loose end.
(DOOR OPENS)
Well, allow me to confirm that our janitor here was VonRunnin' away with pilfered secrets.
Thought that one was pretty good, actually.
Feel like...
Agree to disagree.
PRIDE: O-Okay.
What'd you find, Sebastian?
Well, this was hidden in the door lining of VonRoenn's car.
It's an LLZO ceramic membrane.
Li La Zr O ceramics...
It's future tech.
Specifically, it's future battery tech.
I bet you that the scientists at Stennis are working on that.
Yeah, well, if they are, I'm guessing VonRoenn used the key card that NOPD found at his house to steal this.
But why are batteries worth k*lling for?
That was Stennis.
Sebastian was right.
VonRoenn cloned a key card belonging to an engineer working on next-gen lithium-ion batteries for the Navy.
How long did VonRoenn have the card?
CARTER: Engineer said he misplaced the card about a year ago.
Found it a few hours later, so he didn't report it.
Was anything missing from the labs?
Not on the initial sweep, but a closer inspection revealed several battery models had been tampered with.
It was happening for months.
- So he was stealing tech.
- GREGORIO: But for who?
VonRoenn's file doesn't suggest any connection to a foreign agency or government.
Yeah, otherwise he wouldn't have passed the background check - to get the job.
- So he was approached after he was employed at Stennis.
That means a partner.
GREGORIO: A partner who could've k*lled him.
What exactly are these fancy-schmancy batteries for?
Navy's push for greener technologies.
Stennis is designing these to power transport vehicles and trucks.
Yeah, but it's more than that.
It's the future of energy.
Lithium-ion batteries are a $ billion industry, keeps growing every year.
If VonRoenn was m*rder*d to cover up who he was working with...
Then does it stop with him?
Or are more bodies gonna pile up to protect this investment?
Gregorio and Sebastian find anything at the janitor's house that connects him to a partner?
Yeah, they're tearing it apart now.
Aside from the ceramic film found in VonRoenn's car, there's no trace of those batteries.
- What about the k*ller?
- Suspect knew what he was doing.
Left no physical evidence at the crime scene.
Slipped in and out almost without a trace.
Almost?
Next-door neighbor came across an unknown man in the alley outside VonRoenn's house.
- Yeah, about an hour before TOD.
- Description?
It was dark.
She said he had a thick beard and sinewy frame.
"Sinewy"?
That's Carter's words, not the neighbor's.
She said he was lean and muscular.
Why use two words when you can use a single, stronger one?
Sinewy.
The neighbor's sitting down with the sketch artist now.
PRIDE: Okay, VonRoenn had no clear ties to a foreign government, no obvious ideology.
And that leaves only one very powerful motive.
(SCOFFS)
Profit.
CARTER: Explains him purchasing a classic car on a janitor's salary.
Got to be a money trail.
And you know Triple-P gonna bring you the goods.
- What you got, P?
- I got you a receipt to a safety-deposit box our janitor opened months ago.
HANNAH: That lines up with when VonRoenn cloned those key cards to access those labs.
We get access to the box?
U.S. Attorney got a warrant.
The box was stuffed with cash.
K and change.
Bank records show that VonRoenn was accessing the box about every other month.
Yeah, he was getting paid in installments.
We can find that trail.
Track his movements to locate who was paying him.
That could be our partner.
And maybe our k*ller.
Yeah.
Are you, uh, comfortable calling in a favor from your friends at DIA?
Yeah, I can get them scanning for chatter about battery tech.
Yeah, I'll check back in soon.
Right now I've got to go meet with a stubborn old mule.
(SHIP HORN BLOWS)
If this is a "play nice" meeting, you're wasting your breath.
Oh, this is a "you're being an ass" meeting, Michael.
Nothing my wife doesn't tell me every morning.
Doesn't change things.
Can't work with Allie Briggs.
Well, this isn't about you.
It's about the future.
And it's a bleak one for these kids who are ready to inherit it.
It's time for a change.
There you go, drinking the Kool-Aid.
Look at everything that we've experienced this past year.
The protests, the marches...
Chaos, looting.
Oh, you're smarter than that.
There's always gonna be opportunists, bad actors.
But the vast majority of these folks are peaceful.
I put my career on the line helping change the department, and all that girl sees is what's still wrong.
Because there's a lot that's still wrong.
You wouldn't be on this commission if you didn't see its value.
- That girl, Dwayne...
- She's opinionated.
But only because she's passionate, and she's young.
Don't you remember what that felt like?
Vaguely.
(CHUCKLES)
We've had our time.
It's her time now.
Let's help her shepherd this city that we both love into a new future.
The girl's got no respect.
To get respect, you've got to give respect.
And that young woman registered more first-time voters in this city, in this last election, than in the previous five combined.
Mayor Taylor handpicked Allie for this commission because she gets results.
You got to give her a chance.
I just can't thank you enough for meeting with me so quickly, Ms. Devereaux.
Well, Patton says you're good people.
I always have time for good people.
Lay out what happened to Erik.
Well, the first thing you need to know: my boy walks the straight and narrow.
He's got a job, attends community college, even sings in the church choir.
He's got no reason to rob anyone.
So Erik was mistaken for the suspect?
He said the police rolled up on him near St. Claude and Louisa.
He'd just got off shift at the drug store.
Well, why him?
PATTON: His jacket.
The suspect was wearing a denim jacket; Erik was, too.
Couple who was robbed was shown his picture.
Said he done it.
You know they say all young Black men look alike.
Why was the bail money refused?
There was a fight in the jail last night.
The judge pulled bail at the arraignment this morning.
- So Erik was involved in a fight?
- No.
He got jumped.
Tried to defend himself.
Guard came in to break it up and caught an elbow.
And no one's backing his story?
In the bullpen, you see nothing if you want to see the next day.
My boy was charged for a crime he didn't commit.
The court date isn't for weeks.
He's gonna lose everything if he has to rot in jail that long.
Was Erik assigned a public defender?
Legal aid handled the arraignment.
But Erik doesn't quality for a PD because he's got a job.
Yeah.
- Look, we're not indigent, but we get by paycheck to paycheck.
A broken system only hurts the broke.
Let's see if we can do something about that.
Any luck tracing VonRoenn's movements on the days he went to the bank?
Every trip VonRoenn made to his safety-deposit box came after a visit to Yachtvana.
CARTER: A private marina out near Diamond Head owned by Jorge Pérez.
HANNAH: It appears Pérez was the American dream fulfilled.
His family found refuge here during the Mariel boatlift.
Turned his passion for water into multiple businesses...
Boat charters, seaplanes.
CARTER: Legit on the surface, sure, but underneath, the dude is shades of shady.
He's into import/export.
What kind of import/export?
You name it.
Fast boats, exotic cars, exotic animals.
- Any contraband?
- Nothing proven.
But FBI and Customs have been watching him for years.
Suspect he might be connected to any number of criminal syndicates.
So he's a smuggler.
Why would he pay VonRoenn to steal battery tech?
Pérez is a middleman.
We figure he's stepping in for someone else.
Can you connect Pérez to our mysterious bearded man?
Not yet.
So either Pérez closed the loop by k*lling VonRoenn, or the someone he's working with did.
You want to bring him in?
Can't go at him straight.
You got another angle?
CARTER: Yeah.
We do.
HANNAH (OVER COMM): Hey, Carter, don't have too much fun out there, okay?
- This is work.
- Khoury, please.
I've been undercover dozens of times, all right?
I know what I'm doing.
Uh-huh.
Just remember, you break it, you buy it.
(LAUGHS)
You think of a name yet?
I've got Cristal waiting in the office, if you're ready to christen her.
Hey, I never thought I'd meet a woman too powerful for me, but she might be.
(PÉREZ LAUGHS OVER COMM)
Just like any woman, you just need to listen to her.
Mm.
What do you say?
If it was me, I'd say yes.
But the people I represent are looking for something more than, uh, good looks, huh?
They got practical needs.
I can tell you're working hard to lose the accent.
(CHUCKLES)
Yeah.
My employer demands I, uh, assimilate.
- Port-au-Prince.
- Born there, but raised in Aux Cayes.
(LAUGHS)
Gelée Beach, it's very beautiful!
CARTER: Très Jolie. Hey, you know, I've yet to find a restaurant here
- that serves up tonmtonm the right way.
- (LAUGHS) Oh, I know.
What are the practical needs?
Enough cargo space for, say, , kilos, and still remain fast.
How fast?
Fast enough to outrun Coast Guard cutters.
PEREZ: Okay, that kind of fast.
I think I know what you mean.
And you can provide it?
'Cause my boss is looking for six of them, maybe more.
You know, the "losing the accent" angle, nice touch.
You almost had me there.
They teach that at Quantico these days?
- CARTER: I don't understand.
- PEREZ: Or is it Glynco?
- I-I told you, man, I'm from Haiti.
- Sure, sure.
By way of the FBI.
Or Customs, or maybe DEA.
- Hey, are you suggesting I'm a Fed?
- No, no.
I'm announcing it.
And to whoever else is listening, I'm not in the market to play games.
Now, if you're still interested in my boat, maybe you and your partners can pool your resources.
- Otherwise...
- (LAUGHS): Well...
I mean, you can't blame us for trying, right?
I can.
But no one would care.
Catch you next time, huh?
All evidence to the contrary.
But, hey, "A" for effort.
- Pérez see you make your way over here?
- No.
Khoury, I know how to double back.
Okay?
Go ahead, let it out.
That was a master class in undercover work.
You should be teaching at Quantico.
I almost had him.
Oh, sure, slugger.
- Accomplished one thing, though.
- Hmm?
The tracker I slipped in his jacket is giving off a strong signal.
He's on the move.
He may not tell us who he's working with, but he'll show us.
Okay.
Jorge Pérez just left the marina.
- Carter and Hannah are tailing him.
- All right.
Hope he leads us to whoever else is behind our janitor's m*rder and the stolen battery tech.
You really think a guy who's selling fast boats and exotic cars would be involved in espionage?
If there's money to be made in it.
What if he's not selling the battery tech?
I dug deeper into Pérez's financials.
This is a guy that primarily deals in bro toys, right?
So why is he suddenly importing high-strength alloyed steel, silicon semiconductors, miles of copper wiring?
Let's assume he's not renovating his boathouse.
All these purchases are legit.
But he set up a shell company to make them.
SEBASTIAN: Yeah, he's building something.
And maybe the batteries are gonna power whatever it is.
Whoever Pérez makes contact with could be a buyer, a partner.
It could be our bearded suspect, which would be great, because the BOLO
- we put out has come back with nothing.
- PRIDE: So right now, our best lead is Pérez.
We follow him long enough, we'll start getting answers.
CARTER: This is the most tedious stakeout I have ever been on.
HANNAH: Oh, yeah?
Is our suspect boring you?
CARTER: Costco, Target.
Ricky's Discount Liquor?
I mean, he's more suburban dad than smuggler.
Ugh, this is nothing.
I once sat hours on a blackmail suspect who hit every HomeGoods in the D.C. area for throw pillows.
(LAUGHS SOFTLY)
(SIGHS)
I'm starving.
Well, if you'd have gotten Pérez to incriminate himself, we could be at Pêche right now eating spicy ground shrimp noodles.
- And oysters.
- Oh, no, no, no.
Now you're just being cruel.
I think I have some of these granola bars from, uh, Naomi's soccer snack.
You want one?
When was the last time she played soccer?
Eight months ago.
I'm good.
Suit yourself.
I imagine there's no immediate plans to play soccer in the near future.
How's Naomi handling it all?
Oh, is Mr.
Don't Ask Me Any Personal Questions asking me a personal question?
I asked about your daughter.
That is personal-adjacent.
And now I regret it.
Naomi's doing okay.
Making due.
Just like the rest of us.
You know, it's not easy being a tween through all this.
Yeah, sure, yeah.
Her friends are her lifeline.
Yeah.
"Socially-distanced" is a dirty word in our family.
But she knows it'll end someday, right?
I mean, she knows what we tell her, but...
(CHUCKLES): here it is, not really ending.
Yeah, I know, all these months in, I-I don't know what to do or not to do.
Wipe down the groceries or not?
Mask off outside, okay, but mask off inside?
How many feet apart's safe?
And for how long?
It's confusing.
And even if you do everything right...
There's no guarantee that it won't come around.
I mean, it's got be even scarier for a kid.
Well, I mean, it's scary for all of us.
Yeah, but Naomi's losing a chunk of her childhood.
That's not fair.
I feel bad for her.
But selfishly, I am kind of enjoying all the extra time
- with her, you know, all those extra hugs?
- Oh, yeah.
Human contact.
Ah, that's something I miss.
You know, be selfish all you want.
(DOOR BELLS JINGLE)
What?
HANNAH: "Moskovskaya Udacha." Is that some sort of pricey vodka?
HANNAH: Mm-mm, not pricey.
Authentic.
It's what the natives drink.
CARTER: Okay, so why does Pérez need three cases of it?
Hopefully he's not drinking alone.
Let's go.
(SOFT MUSIC PLAYING)
Those salad plates do something to offend you?
It's not right, Dwayne.
A lot of things aren't these days.
The file on Erik's arraignment hearing was threadbare.
Rubber-stamped just to push him through the system.
The good news is he's got the best lawyer in town.
Well, at least he didn't cave to taking a plea deal, but the denial of bail could ruin his life if he has to sit in holding much longer.
- You talk to the judge?
- Yeah.
She's taking the guard's word about the fight.
- Ugh.
- Deemed Erik a high-risk offender.
Cash bail system's nothing but a scam.
City's been debating it for the last few years.
But yeah, it's problematic.
'Cause it's a poverty tax.
I mean, cash bail's been perverted into a revenue-raising scheme.
Cities earn money by keeping penniless folks behind bars when they can't afford the bondsman's nonrefundable fee.
Yeah, and if they plead not guilty, they can wait months, sometimes years before their case moves through the system.
While their lives fall apart on the outside, just like Erik's.
Well, the Rita I know has never been one to back down from a fight.
And neither will Counselor Devereaux.
If Erik is innocent, there's got to be proof.
The D.A. and the judge expect us to prove Erik innocent, but that's not how the system's supposed to work.
Y-You got to find a way to get those charges dropped.
Oh, yeah.
I'm gonna pull their case apart piece by piece until it's dust.
(CHUCKLES)
Okay, then.
I'll tell ya, I'd hate to be the prosecutor assigned to this case.
(LAUGHS SOFTLY)
I'm gonna fix this for Erik.
Make sure he gets his life back.
Good morning, everyone.
Our last meeting didn't go quite as I was hoping.
Maybe because there's a certain lack of respect in this room.
I'm talking about myself.
This group was created to reflect the diversity of voices in our great city.
And even if we disagree, we...
Or should I say I...
Got to learn to listen.
Thank you, Michael.
And in the spirit of respect for our citizens of New Orleans, I'd like to propose an initial idea for this commission to tackle: the cash bail system.
Uh, Ms. Briggs?
I'm sure that you have a few thoughts on this.
Remedial steps have been taken, but that's not enough.
Too many people still suffer.
Cash bail's a complicated system, sure, but it still serves a purpose.
PRIDE: I'm not looking to tear it down.
But there's got to be a middle ground to protect those at risk.
Is this something you think the mayor would get behind?
If we do the work and present a reasonable plan, then yes.
I'll make sure she does.
Allie?
I'm sorry, Pride, I can't do this.
I quit.
Great.
I practically chased Allie out the building.
She didn't give any reason for storming out?
None.
Doesn't make sense.
You got Holland to back down, you brought up one of her passion projects...
Cash bail...
You'd think she'd want a part of that.
And yet...
I don't have to tell you that having Allie Briggs quit the commission on day two
- is a bad look.
- And yet you are.
% of New Orleans is under the age of .
Allie represents that %.
They love her.
They listen to her.
We need her to buy in on this.
It's a lot of pressure to put on a young person.
She signed up for it.
Well, then, why would she step away just when she was handed the microphone?
Find out, Dwayne.
Fix it.
You think we should tag out with Hannah and Carter?
They've been watching Pérez all night.
Or you know what?
We could Postmates them some coffee and doughnuts.
I think that'd be sweet.
You know?
Maybe some scones?
No?
You think that's a bad idea?
The scones thing?
I just feel like Carter's a scones guy.
You can't really deny that, you know?
Hello?
Yoo-hoo.
- Are you ignoring me?
- (SHOUTS)
- Geez, what's wrong with you?
- What?
Earbuds.
Okay.
- Your hair is voluminous.
I didn't know.
- Okay, well, the next time I want to get your attention, I'm gonna put my foot
- in your bony ass.
- Please don't.
I'm sorry, okay?
What are you listening to?
Let's talk about something else.
It's a phone call Pérez took this morning.
Hannah and Carter caught his side.
PEREZ (OVER RECORDING): Hola, Nico.
Sí, sí. She's ready to go.
You gonna join us for the gran celebración?
(LAUGHS)
First of many.
Adiós, amigo.
- Who's Nico?
- No idea.
Patton tried to trace the signal, but Pérez's sat phone routed the call through a dozen systems across the globe.
Hung up before Patton could get a lock.
Well, it definitely sounds like he's getting ready to party down.
I mean, maybe toasting the completion of whatever "she" is.
So you think "she" is powered by these fancy batteries?
When you say it like that, I picture, like, this time-traveling Terminatrix, you know, who's in, like,
- an all red...
- Can you just dial the nerd down by ten?
It's a boat, okay?
Boats are referred to in the feminine.
Yeah, so are cars and water spouts.
Yeah, but what car requires metric tons of steel alloy?
Fair enough.
So he's building a boat.
Built.
Past tense.
Sounds like it's already ready for delivery.
Yeah.
Unless we figure out who Nico is, we're gonna lose her.
(SIGHS)
Rita, I done been through this footage four times already now.
I got Erik leaving work, but there's no camera in the area where the couple got robbed.
Uh, maybe because we've been looking in the wrong place.
The witness statements are conflicting.
Mugger took the couple's cash and phones so the husband ran a few blocks and flagged down a cyclist who called the cops.
NOPD met them at St. Claude and St. Ferdinand.
Exactly.
Which is where they made the call from, but not where the crime happened.
No, the husband said the mugging happened around the corner, on Burgundy.
And the suspect ran east.
Except a detective followed up later with the couple at their hotel.
And in her report, the wife said it was St. Roch and Burgundy.
That's three blocks in the opposite direction.
Okay, so which street corner did the crime occur?
The victims were out-of-towners.
And every other street in this city is named after some saint.
It's an easy mistake.
I'm-a pull up every camera on the other corner.
We just need the right angle, and we should be able to clear Erik.
Damn!
Oh, Dwayne tells me usually it's a "Bam!" Yeah, I wish.
There is no camera on the other corner either.
Who in the hell knows where this robbery actually happened?
Not throwing the towel in yet, P.
Yeah, it's just it's their word against Erik's.
That's never good for a Black man.
We don't need to prove where it happened.
We just need to provide doubt.
(CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKING)
You sure about this, Sebastian?
SEBASTIAN: I'm looking at the receipts right now.
Pérez started renting a property up there through one of his shell companies right before he got into business with the janitor.
Dude lives in a condo in the French Quarter.
I mean, what's he need with this dump?
Probably connects to our case.
PEREZ: ¡Hola!
(ALL LAUGHING AND CLAMORING)
CARTER: Russians.
Hey, Sebastian, I'm gonna send you some images, okay?
See if you can get I.D.s.
Let Pride and Tammy know.
Get 'em down here.
It's time to wrap this party up.
SEBASTIAN: On it.
What, no more wait and watch?
No.
We take them all down.
One of them is bound to talk.
- (DOOR CREAKS)
- Hey, maybe you're right.
Look who else is at the party.
Thick beard, sinewy frame.
Oh, that is our m*rder suspect.
CARTER: And he's leaving early.
- All right, what do we do?
- He's the only one we can connect to VonRoenn's m*rder.
We follow him.
Let Pride and the others sweep this up.
(ENGINE STARTS)
GREGORIO: Any reason to knock this door down?
Or we comin' in polite, Pride?
PRIDE: Sebastian?
I ran facial recognition on the Russians.
Came back with a bunch of visas that expired months ago.
Polite but firm, New York.
Good enough for government work.
Federal agents!
Open up!
- (CLATTERING INSIDE)
- That sounds suspicious to me.
(SNORING)
(SNORING)
SEBASTIAN: We got our six Russians, no Pérez.
Hello, sir.
Where did Pérez go?
(MOANS)
Don't light a match.
(EXHALES): Ah.
Anybody know where Pérez is?
MEN: Nostrovia!
(SINGING IN RUSSIAN)
(OTHERS JOINING IN)
(SINGING CONTINUES)
Well, according to their passports, these guys came from all over Russia.
They entered the country through Atlanta and then they disappeared over the last months.
But they all procured their visas from the same guy.
PRIDE: Nicholas Antonich.
So that's our mysterious "Nico." SEBASTIAN: Yeah, Ukrainian national, but an international fugitive.
He's wanted in a dozen countries for smuggling, bribery, grand theft.
So he's not the k*ller that Hannah and Carter are following.
No, but we know that he spoke to Pérez this morning.
So that means he's gotta be the brains behind whatever this is.
So what exactly is Nico into?
He sells big-ticket items all across the world.
We're talking armored trucks, Cold w*r helos, a decommissioned destroyer.
Well, we know Pérez was building something large.
Probably a boat.
Figure that Nico was his partner, but how do the Russians play in?
Well, I ran a background check.
They were all in the Soviet Navy.
Engineers, they specialized in submersibles.
All that steel?
Industrial-grade electronics?
We think that Nico got his hands on a submarine?
Yeah, and get this: those batteries that Pérez stole from Stennis?
They carry a much longer charge, so they don't need a diesel engine to recharge.
No engine, no need to surface to release the built-up carbon monoxide.
Yeah, I mean, that sub could run silent underwater for God knows how long.
Practically undetectable.
Well, who'd want a submarine?
Cartels have been using them for years to run dr*gs.
SEBASTIAN: Yeah, and one that sophisticated, I mean, that'd go for a pretty penny.
We need to find it before it hits open waters.
Pérez is in the wind, Hannah and Carter are still on our m*rder suspect.
Tell them to bring him in.
RITA: Thanks for meeting us, Ms. Wong.
Just know I'll be paying for my own drink.
To avoid a conflict of interest.
Ooh, wait.
We're not trying to buy off the prosecution.
Then you're looking for a plea.
I'm prepared to offer Mr. Jackson five years.
That's three with good behavior.
No.
We're looking to clear up a mistake that was made.
You got the wrong guy.
And... we're done.
Hold on, no one is trying to point any fingers here.
The witnesses in Erik's case gave conflicting statements.
And you can fix this before it goes any further.
(SCOFFS)
So they got some street names confused.
Doesn't mean the victims are wrong about identifying Mr. Jackson.
They can share their story, yes, but I'm confident that a jury will find plausible doubt.
(SCOFFS)
Take your sh*t.
See how it plays out in open court.
Really?
That's eight weeks from now.
Erik will lose his job, get kicked out of school and end up with nothing.
Because of you.
I've got eyeball witnesses identifying your friend here.
Nice folks from Ohio.
Honest people.
RITA: Salt of the earth, I'm sure.
But not when I'm done with them.
I'll note how drunk they were, how confused they were in an unfamiliar city.
They got lost, they got scared.
They got robbed by knifepoint.
They both wear glasses; trouble seeing at night.
And they're not used to being in such a...
diverse environment.
You're gonna accuse them of racism?
I'm gonna do whatever I have to.
I have everything I need to shred your case.
And all you have is a denim jacket.
And a Black man.
You're over your head, Ms. Devereaux.
(CHUCKLES)
I had your job, Ms. Wong.
Then traded up as a Navy JAG.
After that?
Federal prosecutor, DOJ, Civil Rights Division.
I've worked and won every kind of high-profile case you can think of and some you can't.
So, to be clear, I'm gonna wipe the floor up with you and your entire office.
Erik Jackson will be free.
Then we'll file a civil suit against you, the police and the city of New Orleans.
And we'll win that, too.
Or...
you let him go.
'Cause you got the wrong guy.
Plain and simple.
(OPENS FOLDER)
Let me talk to my boss.
What just happened?
Did we win?
I think we won.
We won, Patton.
My guess is Erik will be free by morning.
Rita, that was amazing.
Yeah.
Felt good.
(CHUCKLES)
I'm gonna go call Diana and give her the good news.
(LAUGHS SOFTLY)
Shame though.
Erik was lucky to have you in his corner.
I just wish every kid did.
You're a boss.
(LAUGHS)
- (PHONE DIALS, LINE RINGS)
- PRIDE: Talk to me.
HANNAH: Suspect's finally out of his car, Pride.
He's outside some kind of boathouse.
PRIDE: I've got your GPS location.
You're right beside some deep bayou waters.
Yeah, out in the middle of nowhere.
Good site to hide a submarine from prying eyes.
Yeah, except this ain't no Tom Clancy novel.
There is no submarine.
Then what is he doing out there?
He brought gasoline, Pride.
He's gonna torch the place.
Can't let him do that.
Get him into custody.
(CLANG NEARBY)
NCIS!
Show me your hands!
(YELLS)
No pulse.
Well, if he came out here to burn this down, there must be evidence here.
Yeah, but for what?
- Khoury...
- Huh?
No dust.
These were a new addition.
Some kind of storage racks?
I've seen similar ones touring submarines.
They're for torpedoes.
Three by four, that makes .
So, what, Nico got himself a sub, traveled it to U.S. waters and retrofitted it with stolen battery tech, and then armed it with a dozen torpedoes?
He's not building a narco-sub.
He's building a w*apon.
(ALARM SOUNDING)