* So take these words *
* And sing out loud *
* 'Cause everyone *
Max! Max!
* Is forgiven now *
Ma'am, ma'am, stay back.
Go on the other side
of the street.
My baby's in there! My son!
Where is he?
Oh, my God!
He's just a little baby!
What floor?
Hey, we got a kid in there!
Radio Mcllroy.
Ma'am, what floor?
The fourth floor!
F! Fourth!
F! F!
Mcllroy!
Mcllroy, fourth floor...
* And it's someplace simple
where we could live *
* Something only you can give *
* And that's faith and trust *
* And peace while we're alive *
No, no...
* Andhe one poor child
who saved this world... *
My baby!
No!
* If we all just stopped *
* And said a prayer for them. *
Oh, my God,
my baby!
My baby Max!
Central Detectives picked this
lady up a few hours ago.
Said she went nuts
in Rittenhouse Square.
Scared the pants off
some dudes feeding the birds.
Ex-junkie.
She still using?
Don't know.
Sure acting that way.
Screaming she knows something
about a job from ' . Oh, boy.
This should be a waste of time.
Lot of people you give
the benefit of the doubt,
but not addicts, huh?
I was raised by one.
Got no illusions left.
Heads up.
Trouble's coming.
Hey, ladies.
Tombs are the place
to be today, huh?
I got a stimulating
conversation to look
forward to, few cells down.
Priscilla Chapin.
Oh, smackhead zombie.
I know her.
You know all the screw-ups,
Saccardo.
Hey, they make me feel
good about myself.
Got hauled in for disorderly
conduct this morning.
Says she's got a tip.
Yeah, waste of your time.
That's what I said.
You're making a mistake!
I need to get out of here!
This is...
Morning, Priscilla.
Detectives Miller and Rush.
I got to get out of here.
You've got to help me.
You've got to get me out
of here. Yeah? 'Cause, uh,
we heard you had
information on a homicide,
but if you got
an appointment...
It's about my son.
Says here that
the apartment you were living in
in b*rned to the ground
with your eight-month-old
son in it.
Ruled accidental death.
Not a m*rder.
I saw him this morning
in the park.
You saw your son?
Yeah. Max was on the playground.
I know it was him.
I- I ran over to him,
but th he was
gone in the crowd.
You using again,
Priscilla?
No.
No. I...
I'm clean.
When I got pregnant,
I did meetings in days.
I haven't used since.
So how's it make sense,
your son being
in the park today?
It's not what
they thought it was.
That fire...
Well, they blamed it on you.
Left the gas stove
on in your apartment.
It was cold.
The heat didn't work.
Sometimes
I put the stove on.
You left your baby alone
that night to...
"grab some cigarettes
at the bodega. "
Came back,
fire had taken everything.
Just some cigarettes, huh?
Should've prosecuted you
for negligent
homicide, Priscilla.
I didn't turn the gas on.
Not that night.
So who did?
I don't know.
Somebody else.
When you
figure it out,
holler at us.
I'm out.
Please, you got
to believe me.
I saw my son.
His name is Max.
He has sandy hair
and he has
a birthmark
on his right arm!
It was him in the park!
We'll take a look.
Any truth to what you're saying,
we'll find it.
What do you got
from Rittenhouse Square
that points to
Priscilla Chapin's son?
I tracked down only two kids
there this morning,
eight and ten.
Too old.
Coroner's report
tells it all, though.
"Blast threw Max Chapin
out of his crib,
"fractured his bones.
Blaze got everything
but the skeleton. "
Gas fire?
February , .
Time PFD got it under control,
Baker Street
b*rned to the ground.
All the tenants
got out except the baby.
Mom told the police
she left him alone
for ten minutes.
A neighbor had the baby monitor.
That's her
babysitting solution?
This Priscilla
has possession charges.
' , ' and ' .
A teenage runaway.
Avoided juvie by doing rehab.
Baby's father in the picture?
Mom said he was AWOL,
never even met the kid.
No one listed on the
birth certificate.
Louie!
Didn't have to dress up for us.
If not for you,
then who, Rush?
Me, clearly.
What's your take
on the Baker Street
fire, Louie?
Well, right here's
the source
of the gas leak.
The kitchen.
Neighbors said Priscilla Chapin
had a habit of leaving
the gas stove on.
Hinky thing?
I'm seeing alligator patterns
in that room
right over here.
The baby's room.
Yup.
What do you mean "alligator"?
On the walls,
if fire burns really hot
or burns it for a long
time, it does it, but...
But if the fire started
in the kitchen,
that's where you should see them. Right.
So the fire marshal had it
wrong in ' .
sn't an accident?
Look, the gas came
from the stove.
It caused
the blast, you know?
But there was a fire
burning in that kid's
room before the expl*si*n.
So how's that happen?
An eight-month-old doesn't
play with matches.
Have a talk with the firefighter
who found the baby; see what
he remembers from that bedroom.
McILROY: You're saying the
fire started in the baby's room?
That's one theory.
Depends on what you saw.
You remember
a candle, incense?
Anything might've sparked
a fire in that room?
Anything incendiary
wasn't eaten up by then,
I- I wod've reported it,
but, uh...
Right.
I'm sorry, guys.
It's a tough
memory to shake,
seeing a kid die like that.
Yeah, my daughter
had just been born,
so, uh...
Know you did the best you could.
Heading in there, I, I...
I didn't know what I'd find.
I've seen places...
junkies let their kids
sleep on the floor.
There's trash everywhere.
Not this kid.
This one was loved.
There was glass
on the floor?
From the window.
It was broken.
If it got broke
the blast,
it should've blown out...
onto the fire escape.
Well, it was inside
the apartment, for sure.
I almost cut myself
getting that kid out.
The window wasn't
broken in the blast.
Someone busted into that room,
started that fire.
And this just became a homicide.
Owner of Baker
got $ ,
in insurance money
when the place b*rned down.
That neighborhood?
Couldn't have gotten
that on the market
if he wallpapered in gold.
Victor Martinez.
He's got two condos
in Mt. Airy,
and a high-rise downtown.
So Baker's the eyesore.
Makes motive.
Licenses and Inspections
sent these over
a couple minutes ago.
Code violations filed
against the landlord
by the tenant in F.
That Priscilla?
Yep.
Said the heat wasn't working
in the dead of winter.
"Unsanitary conditions. "
That can bring a hefty fine.
Or worse,
guy gets sued by the city.
Loses those condos.
That fire could've
k*lled two birds
with one stone for you, Victor.
Get some cash
from that rat trap.
Finished off your pain
in the ass tenant,
Priscilla Chapin.
Excuse me?
What about me being a member
of the Chamber of Commerce,
and a Catholic,
makes you think
that I would take the life
of a child?
That part was, uh...
unfortunate.
But you're a
businessman, Victor.
And that neighborhood,
wasn't getting
any better.
For your information,
I had an interested buyer,
and I would've made
more than the insurance.
That's real concrete.
You want the truth?
Yeah, Priscilla Chapin's
the reason
my property
got burnt to a crisp.
By leaving the stove on? I'm
talking about her lifestyle, man.
Tried to go clean for the baby.
Once that bed is
made... you know.
Tough to leave
the addict life behind.
So she start using again?
She was white-knuckling it.
Trying to turn her life around.
Some people didn't
want to get left behind.
Please stop crying.
It's time to go
to sleep now, baby.
There, that's better?
You love the dryer,
don't you?
Please, please,
please, I'm so tired.
Honey, shh...
People said
you were dead.
Priscilla...
But I knew you was laying low.
Look, man...
I, uh, I had a baby,
Franklin.
So?
I'm going to get a job.
A part-time job,
and I will pay you back.
Don't got to pay me back
like that, girl.
I'm, I'm clean.
I'm a mom now.
Then I need cash.
Three days.
And if you fail to uphold
our business agreement,
then I might have
to get creative.
He's cute.
It's okay, Max.
We're going to be okay.
It's nice of you
to intervene there, Vic.
Are you nuts?
You know who
that guy is?
Franklin Palmer.
Big-time cr*ck and
heroin dealer.
He's a real humanitarian.
You didn't hear this all
from me, all right?
Oh, relax.
He's in prison now.
Yeah, for torching the house
of one of his enemies.
You threatened
Priscilla Chapin
to give you your money
back or else.
Week later,
her apartment
building goes up
in flames.
You realize her kid d*ed
in that fire?
I do.
Sometimes God plucks the most
beautiful flowers.
You wouldn't
be gettin' sarcastic
about a kid dyin', would ya? No, man.
Look,
I don't take severe measures
with that kinda
repeat customer.
Priscilla was clean.
She wasn't coming
back to you.
So maybe you
took away
the thing she loved.
Smack is what she loved, dawg.
H is a pleasure
like you c't f fd
in this world.
Give that up for
a crying baby
and a fast
food job?
No contest.
Saying Priscilla fell
off the wagon?
Sayin' whole point
of usin'
is to escape reality.
And that girl's
reality was bleak.
* I'm not in love
with the modern world *
* I was a torch driving
the savages back to the trees *
* Modern world has
more ways... *
Have you seen Ellis?
What're you doing here,
Chantelle? I'm working.
He ain't been around.
I don't know, I think
maybe he left me.
He's no good, Chantelle.
He can't stay with anyone
longer than two weeks anyway.
Look, I gotta get back
to work...
I'm thinkin' maybe
it's 'cause of you.
'Cause I know you been
calling about that baby.
You better stay
away from him!
He needs to own up
to his responsibilities...
He don't want you
or your kid.
He probably ain't
even the father,
he don't owe you squat!
He is the father
and he will help us.
You know what?
You see him around?
You tell him I'm going to
the cops if he doesn't own up.
Stay away from him!
I'll k*ll you, bitch! Hey!
Get out! Get out!
I'll break...
Out of this store!
Priscilla, that's it.
No.
You, too.
ease. Please.
Matt, I...
I need this job!
It was only a matter of time
before she came callin',
except I got locked up
a few days later.
Who was the crackhead?
Man, I don't know, man.
You know, all them fiends
be the same.
Got me.
And the baby's daddy?
Ellis?
Do I look like , dawg?
I don't know,
skinny white boy.
Be surprised
if he's still kickin' it.
Short shelf life,
these types.
Especially
with Franklin here
pushing 'em off.
Why haven't you found Max?
I don't understand.
We need to talk
about Max's father.
Ellis.
Ellis? Why?
'Cause back
in the day
you told his girl
you were gonna
rat him out,
get his ass
tossed in jail
if he didn't
pay up.
Ellis was broke, okay?
We were in love with
dope, not each other.
He never even
met Max.
You need to find
my son.
He's out there.
There was no four-year-old boy
at that park.
Yes, there was.
Is there a reason
you're protecting Ellis?
Maybe he came back,
hurt your kid?
That first night
in the hospital,
when Max was born,
they, uh, they put him in this
little plastic thing next to me.
And he started to cry
in the middle of the night.
He was all
swaddled up.
And I took it all off of him,
all those layers
and I put him right here
on my heart,
skin to skin.
And I felt him
start to breathe
like me.
It's the first time I ever felt
like I had something to give.
I would never allow anyone
to hurt him.
You called?
Uh, Ellis Smith.
Know him?
Of him, yeah.
Guy'd sell his mama
for a fix.
Oh, where can I find him?
He's a user nomad.
I hear his sister pays for him
to go into the Maloney-Smith
Center every once in a while,
make a half-assed attempt
to get clean.
Real winners you hang with,
Saccardo.
Hey, you know, you find Ellis,
keep him for me.
I got a Mexican
trafficking thing
I want to conversate with him
about, a'ight?
A'ight.
What? Why're you workin' this job?
How make the big bucks.
You got a thing
for kid jobs?
Or addicts?
Or is it the combo
platter-
kids with addict moms?
Just doing my job, Saccardo.
That's it.
I saw Ellis here
at the clinic around
Thanksgiving maybe?
Not since then, no.
Well, he ever mention anything
about his son?
The one who d*ed.
Ellis is an addict.
He doesn't have a lot
of lucid moments,
especially of, I's say,
accountability.
What about the baby's mother?
Oh, she came by here once,
to visit him with the
baby. Priscilla was here?
Mmm. On hands and knees.
Like Ellis was any kind of help.
She make any threats
about going to the cops?
Not that I know of.
You know Ellis
pretty well.
I mean, rehab gets intimate.
Well, yes, it can.
When they're honest.
He seem like the type
who'd hurt his kid?
Hurt him?
You mean set that fire?
I know that for addicts,
serving their addiction
is more important than anything.
More than their own life.
Or the life of their child.
Max is really sick,
Ellis.
I swiped baby
aspirin,
'cause I lost my job.
But it's not working.
I need to take him to a doctor.
Why do you want to lay it
all on me, Priscilla?
Look at where
I'm at.
You think this is easy for me?
I'm trying everything I can
to stay clean.
Everything.
You're the only one
I can ask for help.
I never said I
wanted a kid.
Well, here he is.
Look at him.
He's the most amazing thing
in the whole world.
* You'll knock on my door
and up we'll go *
He's got snot all over his face.
Ellis.
Visiting hour's over,
okay?
Call you.
I can't-
It's stuck.
It's a cute onesie.
Made it yourself?
Yeah.
Keeps me busy
at night.
Making stuff for him.
He likes flowers.
Tough times.
The nights.
They don't tell you
how hard it's going to be.
You know?
I just...
I just wish
someone had told me.
She was in a bad way,
poor girl.
Not a lot
of resources
for someone trying to stay sober
while raising an infant.
No money, no babysitter,
nothin'.
I've got a four-year-old.
And the limits of your sanity
are pushed.
But I've got
a great husband,
and a job.
Priscilla was all alone.
Single mother
at the end of her rope,
no one left to turn to.
So why'd she lie about
going to Ellis
if she wasn't
protecting him?
'Cause maybe it wasn't him
she was protecting.
Had the coroner
take a second look
at the autopsy photos
of Max.
Anything new?
Bone fractures
from the blast,
baby got tossed
around.
But some of 'em are showing
calcification.
Healing.
Meaning those
fractures are old.
We'd know more
if we had a body, but...
looks like Max was being abused.
Seems like Priscilla
couldn't make a go of it.
Abusing the kid,
goes too far one night.
Sets the fire to
cover it up.
Should've held her
from day one.
Now Priscilla's in the wind.
Work says it's been two days.
She's probably under a bridge
somewhere.
Back with Ellis?
More like guilt creeping up.
Hmm.
She just bought this.
Doesn't add up.
All this.
The abuse.
Seems like
- she loved that kid.
- Loves her dr*gs
more.
Kids always lose out.
But we know Priscilla
wasn't using anymore.
Not back then,
at least.
She left him that night, though.
All alone.
They think you're too young
to notice,
to care.
You won't remember.
You do.
The postmark's from last week.
Who's Priscilla know
on the Main Line?
Hmm.
Look at that.
That's the same
address.
Whoever that is,
they've been sendin' her checks
she don't cash.
I wish we could tell you
where our daughter is,
but we've been
out of contact with her
for almost four years.
Because of her
drug problem?
We sent her to an
excellent detox program
when she was a senior
in high school.
She relapsed, we tried again.
She ran away.
I have to ask you
a delicate question,
Mr. and Mrs. Chapin.
Do you think Priscilla was
capable of hurting her child?
Max?
- You want to say no, but...
- No!
I'm sorry we
couldn't
be more helpful.
I can show you out.
Thanks for your time.
You send her money, Julie.
I know.
No way any mom can shut out
her child completely.
We need to find Priscilla.
She never cashes those checks.
Sometimes she takes
my calls.
Sometimes.
Do you know where she is?
I wouldn't know.
She doesn't trust me.
And I don't blame her.
We turned her away, you see.
Right before the fire.
I'd... like to borrow some money
to, uh, take him
to a good doctor,
to help us move
into a clean, safe apartment,
and, uh, I understand you
probably feel weird about that.
And I... I wouldn't ask
if it was just for me.
There is no realistic long-term
plan for you and this child.
But Max is the only reason
why I'm not using.
He saved my life.
There are people who can give
this child what he needs.
We can help you find them.
What?
No.
I love him.
He... he loves me, you know.
Maybe that's
not good enough.
His parents are
drug addicts.
He may not be...
what you want in a son.
Have you ever
thought of that?
But Max is perfect.
He is gonna be better
than all of us.
I'm not giving up my son.
- What about the money?
- You can keep it.
She protected her child,
like I never did mine.
What do you know
about the baby's father?
Could she be
with him now?
When she was a teenager,
I used to see him with her,
those times I'd drive around
all the places
where she used dr*gs.
If you could tell us
where those places were...
The th Street underpass
was the main one.
If you find Priscilla,
please tell her
she can come home.
No strings attached this time.
Happy hunting.
Home, sweet home.
- Hey, how you doing,
buddy? Seen this guy?
- Elvis ???
No?
- You seen this dude?
- no?
You seen this guy?
He's over there?
Thanks, man.
Rush.
All you gotta do is
answer my question.
And quit
denting my car.
- Ellis!
- Hey, Saccardo.
- I don't know where she is!
- We need him conscious.
Hey, you missed a spot.
Talk about Priscilla.
I told him!
I don't know where she is.
I haven't seen
her in years.
She was gonna rat
you out, Ellis.
So you torched her
place, to shut her up.
- That's crazy.
- Where were you,
night of the fire?
I was with Priscilla.
The night
your kid b*rned up,
you two were hanging out
together?
I didn't know she left
the kid by itself.
Would you have really cared?
That what
you two lovebirds
were doing that
night, getting high?
I found her.
She was in a bad way,
you know, jonesin' hard.
I'm not the guy that's gonna
help you make the right choice.
Hey.
Hi.
Now, why
you wanna walk
when you can jump
into a warm car?
Come on, Pris,
it's freezing out there.
Are you high?
I love
this stuff.
The moment I tried it,
I knew nothing else
could compete.
Maybe my parents are right.
Maybe Max would be better off
with somebody else.
Somebody better than me.
It's just so hard to hold on.
Then let go.
HeHe
I can fix you up.
Right now.
Just like
old times.
Priscilla?
Priscilla was strong, you know?
She just walked away.
So... that's five minutes
you're alibied.
My sister had
me picked up
for jacking
her ride.
- Spent a night in jail.
- Yeah, we'll check that.
Any idea where Priscilla
might be hiding out?
The flower mart, maybe.
Near the port.
Hey, she didn't hurt him.
She loved that kid.
Left it all behind for him.
Tough choice.
Toughest there is-
you just wouldn't know.
Done with this piece of crap?
Let's go.
That was Nick.
Coroner took a look
at the exhumed body.
Yeah?
Says something
ain't right.
Max Chapin was
eight months old.
He would've had teeth.
Teeth survive fire same as bone.
But there are none
on the jawbone.
Some kids get theirs late.
Yeah, but there's this...
The anterior fontanel.
Okay?
Soft spot, top of the head.
Closes up from the time
they're born till they're two.
This skull here,
the fontanel's by
centimeters.
That's too big for an
eight-month-old like Max.
Well, what's it
normal-sized for?
A four-month-old.
So this is not Max Chapin.
It was another kid
who d*ed in that fire.
Well, if this kid ain't Max,
who is he?
And where's Priscilla's son?
You're not getting Ellis Smith.
We're not done with him.
Did I say anything?
The fire was just a diversion.
Whoever set it wanted Max.
And had access to an infant.
One who wouldn't be missed.
So who knew Priscilla would be
out of the apartment that night?
The ex, Ellis.
But he was in lockup, right?
Pretty elaborate plan,
kidnapping a baby.
Had to know Mom would be gone.
Think I might have
our Baby John Doe.
Dropped off at St. Paul's ER
February , ' .
Severe contusions
and internal bleeding.
There's your abuse.
d*ed the next day.
And this baby went missing
from the hospital?
Brought down to the morgue,
then vanished, day of
Priscilla's fire.
Who had access
to the morgue?
About people.
All the employees.
County hospital, crap security.
Will, you and Kat
go to St. Paul's.
Find out who admitted Baby
John Doe, who was on shift
in NICU,
and the morgue.
Lil, track down Priscilla,
try the flower mart.
There's a cr*ck den few doors
down from Baker.
Desperate souls
if you're lookin'
at who might've taken a kid.
You two talk to
Priscilla together.
I thought about not
leaving him that night.
It was so cold.
I closed the
window really tight,
and I said, "I'll
be right back. "
I should have gone home.
He probably cried for me.
Why didn't I hear him?
Because you left.
Why?
You were right.
They shoulda put me away.
Why'd you leave him?
What does it matter?
Oh, it matters.
'Cause I gotta know...
why a mother would leave a child
all alone like that.
You wouldn't understand.
It's like when
you're a kid, right?
And you run out in front of
your parents into the street.
That's what it's like when
you first start using.
Free.
You're flying, man. You...
And you hear him
calling out for you,
but you don't care, do you?
No.
Next thing you know, you...
you don't know
how to get home no more.
You were finding your way home.
All by yourself.
'Cause you stayed
clean that night,
didn't you?
Yes.
I did.
For your son.
I know.
It's terrible.
I left him.
But I just thought...
if I could make it
through the night,
then Max and I would have
another day together.
Why here, Priscilla?
It was right after he was born,
when the heat first went out.
This was the first place
I felt hope.
It's okay, Max.
It's okay.
Hi.
Please.
* The itsy bitsy spider ran up
the water spout *
* Down came the rain... *
I can't do this.
*... life I've been waiting *
* Hot heels anticipating *
* Another love I found *
* Not to let it down *
* Ah... *
Here we are.
We're okay. Okay?
* Ah... *
I promise.
I'll always keep you warm, Max.
And happy and loved.
I promise I'll never
leave you, baby.
* Ah... *
I promise.
I promised him.
Why did I break
so many promises?
Priscilla?
we think your son might be alive.
Who knew that you came here
to the mart at night?
Ellis. Ellis knew.
- Who else?
- I don't know, I...
I told that rehab counselor.
The one at Maloney-Smith Center?
Lois Rabinski?
I told her it was the only way
I stayed clean.
She seemed like
she understood.
What about my son?
What about my baby?
We'll find him.
Where is he, Lois?
Where's Max?
Who's Max?
You can't just
come in here.
Max Chapin is the child
you two kidnapped
in .
I'm calling our lawyer.
You took that little baby's body
from St. Paul's Hospital
where you work, Doc.
Set that fire
to cover your tracks.
This is crazy.
Those are outrageous lies.
This is our son.
Our son. His name is Isaac.
His mother named him Max.
And she wants him back.
Oh, yeah
Priscilla's alive.
You thought she O.D.'d.
She went so deep down
the rabbit hole
that she wouldn't care
about Max.
- But she does.
- She's clean.
Been clean
four and a half years.
She misses him so much.
Her little boy.
Who are you talking about?
My wife is Isaac's mother.
- Tom...
- Please, Lois.
We can do this here,
or we can let the DNA test
do the talking.
She was just like
so many others
I'd seen.
Who don't care.
Who can't do it.
Sweetheart,
why are you doing this?
The day I met that woman...
Priscilla.
I had just found out I had
to have another D & C.
Another miscarriage.
I wanted a baby so badly.
It wasn't fair.
We had so much to give.
So much love.
That woman couldn't
take care of him.
Just like that other one
abandoned at the hospital,
beaten to death, probably
by crackhead parents.
That would've been Max.
We were saving his life.
That's what you
tell yourself, huh?
But you knew the truth.
You saw his room.
It was like walking into a room
filled with a rainbow,
wasn't it?
No. That room was tiny.
It was dirty.
And then he came
home to us.
Our baby.
Let's see
what we have here.
He wasn't yours.
He never was.
You must've known that.
How did you live
with yourself?
I told myself to forget.
I had to.
Small, so prec...
* This time, this place *
* Misused mistakes *
* Too long, too late *
* Who was I to make you wait? *
* Just one chance,
just one breath *
* Just in case
there's just one left *
* 'Cause you know, you know *
* You know... *
* I love you *
* I loved you all along *
* And I miss you *
* Been far away
for far too long *
* I keep dreaming *
* You'll be with me
and you'll never go *
* Stop breathing *
* If I don't see you anymore *
* I love you *
* I loved you all along *
* And I miss you *
* Been far away
for far too long *
* I keep dreaming *
* You'll be with me
and you'll never go *
* Stop breathing *
* If I don't see you anymore *
* So far away *
* Far away for far too long *
* So far away *
* Far away for far too long *
* But you know, you know *
* You know... *
* I wanted *
* I wanted you to stay *
* 'Cause I needed *
* I need to hear you say *
* That I love you *
* I love you *
* I've loved you all along *
* I forgive you *
* For being away
for far too long *
* So keep breathing *
* 'Cause I'm not
leaving you anymore *
* Believe it *
* Hold on to me
and never let me go *
* Keep breathing *
* 'Cause I'm not
leaving you anymore *
* Keep breathing *
* Hold on to me
and never let me go *
* Keep breathing *
* Hold on to me
and never let me go. *