The Mentalist s01e03 Episode Script

Victim is Christine Tanner, 15.
Drowned.
Washed up on the beach in Santa Marta.
- Who's got the ultraviolet? - Yup.
- She drowned.
Why us? - Coroner found a wound consistent with getting hit in the head with a surfboard and water in her lungs, only it was ditch water.
- No salt, lot of bugs.
- So the killer is clever but not as clever as he thinks he is.
Santa Marta sheriff's not taking this? State beach, state case.
All right, what are you doing? Grace is mentally telling me where she hid the van keys.
If I find them, I get to drive.
So now you're psychic.
Oh, no, no, no.
This is all science.
Concentrate, Grace.
Tell me with your mind only.
Forward, backward, left, right.
- How is that science? - Shh! He watched you hide the keys.
From the men's room? That would be a trick.
Hmm.
Who's got shotgun? Can we go now? Leah.
Go ahead.
- You had the keys the whole time.
- Let it go, man.
- Did you have the keys? - Lf I tell you how it's done The Magic Circle will send a team of assassins to kill us all.
It's the law.
Her body was discovered on this beach.
That means she was put in the water anywhere within a mile north of here.
Any further, current would have taken her out to Mexico.
- How long was she in the water? - Still waiting on the coroner's report.
Hey.
Excuse me.
- Are you guys cops? - CBI.
- What's CBI? - California Bureau of Investigation.
Cops.
Cops.
So is it true what they're saying? - Somebody killed Chris? - Yes, it is true.
You were Christine's friend? Yeah.
We hang at the same breaks.
I love Chris.
- What happened? - We don't know yet.
- What's your name? - Uh, Hope.
That's Win.
- Hi.
- Hey.
When was the last time you saw Christine? Uh, three days ago.
Sunset patrol.
Epic north-east swell.
Chris loved to go out at sunset.
She would stay out till it was dark as dark.
How did she seem lately? Just, you know, any enemies or stuff like that? Uh, not around here.
Everybody loved Chris.
- Was she dating anybody? - Dating? Okay, was she hooking up with anybody? Danny Kurtik, mostly.
Jeez, Hope.
What? They were hooking up.
Danny would never hurt Chris.
Duh.
Of course not.
That's not what they were asking.
They were asking who she was hooking up with.
Which would be Danny.
It wasn't a big dark secret.
I need you to write down your names and numbers we can reach you at.
- Win? - Yeah.
If Chris was a color, what color would she be? Uh, orange or pink.
No, orange is right.
If she were an animal, what kind of animal would she be? Uh, I don't know.
A rabbit? How's this relevant? Everything's relevant.
Chris was good people.
I hope you find who did this.
We'll do our best.
- How is that relevant? - We're looking for someone who doesn't like orange rabbits.
- Exactly.
You know what, boys? I like it here.
Yeah.
- I think I'll stay for a while.
- What? Okay.
Let's just leave him here.
Excuse the mess.
Chrissy was the house-proud one around here.
We understand.
- Mr.
Tanner? - Huh? We may have to ask you some tough questions, so That's okay.
Can't tell Lisa nothing she hasn't heard before, and Micah don't He don't give a damn.
He's slow.
He's just sad because he sees Lisa is.
All the same.
- Come on, kids.
- Come on, Micah.
Let's go.
- Can you take him outside? - You got it, Dad.
Come on, let's go outside.
So when did you notice Christine was missing? Yesterday morning.
She hadn't made nothing for the kids.
I realized I hadn't seen her in a while.
I mean, she may be away one night and I wouldn't know, but When was the last time you saw her? Monday morning.
Any idea where she was during that time? No.
No, Chrissy's real independent.
You never Never had to worry about Chrissy.
Two days to notice your daughter's gone and another to report it.
I work.
I mean, I work construction.
I never miss a day.
I can't watch her all the time.
Her mother's not around? She died.
She was killed.
- In a car wreck.
- I'm sorry.
Almost five years ago now.
Drunk driver T-boned her.
College kid.
Walked away laughing.
Not a scratch.
You know? Not a scratch.
So Christine kind of took over for her mom, huh? Cooked, cleaned.
- Looked after the little ones.
- Yeah.
Don't know what we're gonna do now.
Christine was arrested last year.
No, it was stupid.
It was a couple of joints.
No big deal.
Well, how is it she got into drugs? She wasn't into drugs.
She was straight-edge.
- It's her dumbass friend, Darlene.
- Darlene.
- Last name? - Pappas.
But Chrissy wasn't hanging out much with Darlene anymore.
Not since she got into surfing and started hanging with a different crowd.
- Who were they? - Surfers, you know.
Not like bum surfers.
They just seem like good kids, you know.
They were upscale.
They'd pick her up in their Audis and whatnot.
A good influence on Christine.
They helped her with her schoolwork and she was thinking about college.
Anybody in particular she was close to? I didn't really know them.
There's names I'd hear all the time.
There was, like, Andy and Danny and Hope.
And then here was this new guy, Flipper, she'd talk about lately.
Talked about how? Just that she was You know, they were hanging together.
You know, like, "I'll see you at Flipper's.
" Hey, Lisa? - Honey? - Yeah, Dad? Hey, honey, could you, uh, fix some lunch for your brother please? Yeah.
Got it.
Thanks.
What, you didn't bring a bucket? - Are you okay? - Damn it.
- It's gotta be tough.
- What? I mean, a drunk driver.
Isn't that what happened to your mother? Sorry.
It's not my business.
We don't discuss our personal lives in this unit.
It's not useful and it's not professional.
Cho.
Names to check.
Darlene Pappas Andy, Danny Hope and Flipper.
Flipper? Okay.
Uh-huh.
Got it.
Hold on.
There's a Darlene Pappas in lock-up.
Possession, resisting arrest.
- I'll get her in here.
- Great.
Where's Jane? Jane? He's still pursuing inquiries at the beach.
Good job.
Darlene, you're a friend of Christine Tanner? What do you want? Christine's dead.
What do you want? I want you to help us find out who killed her.
Killed? How? - Drowned.
- Drowned.
Damn.
Who does she know that might have reason to do this? Well, now that you mention it there was a guy.
What was his name? Yes, Darlene.
If you help us, I'll talk to the prosecutor.
See if we can help you with these charges you've got pending.
Okay.
Well, last year, she was banging an older guy.
Like old.
- She called him Pops.
- No name? Just Pops? Pops.
That's it.
One time, uh, she said he was getting weird.
She was talking about dumping him, but I don't know if she ever did.
Like I say, we haven't been tight for a while.
That's interesting, but it's not enough for a call to the DA.
Did she say anything else about him? Anything at all? Uh He was good in bed.
And he liked '50s music, like Elvis and stuff.
I mean, that's it.
That's enough, right? Well, call the DA.
Got a hit with those deputy interviews.
Philip Handler, goes by Flipper.
Badass surfer.
Long sheet including assault on a woman a few years back.
- How bad? - Hundred-stitches bad.
- Got an address.
- Let's go.
Phillip Handler? Police.
May we speak with you, please? Mr.
Handler? Clear.
Mr.
Handler? Hey, these friends of yours? Oh, hey, guys.
Come in.
Come in.
I'm just about to discredit Nimzowitsch's theory on the French advance once and for all.
- Dream on, trick.
- Hmm.
Huh? Ha-ha-ha.
What led you to Flipper, anyway? His hair.
It's braided the exact same way as the victim.
She did his 'do.
I guess, uh, you must be bad cop.
I try.
Tough.
Go to it, sister.
You can be pretty tough yourself.
Roberta Varnushi.
- You did quite a number on her.
- Uh We had different expectations that led to friction.
But, um, what can you do? Friction.
She nearly died.
Do you know what she was doing that started the argument when I hit her? She was pouring the sump oil from her car right into the storm drain.
Okay? You might as well take an ax and go chop up a family of dolphins.
Was Christine Tanner damaging marine life somehow? What? No.
Chris understood.
Chris was a child of the ocean.
You like hanging out with children, don't you? I do.
They're pure in flesh and spirit.
What's not to like? Christine was a beautiful girl.
Yes, she was.
So why'd you kill her? I didn't kill her.
Why would I kill her? Did you have sex with her? Oh, I thought about it.
I thought about it a lot.
But no, I didn't.
- You know why? - Why? Because it would be wrong.
And I'm all about doing what's right.
I wait until they hit legal age.
Then, bam.
Happy birthday, baby.
When was the last time you saw her? Oh, so you can try and pin this on me? No, thanks.
The thing is, Flip, Lisbon is looking at you like you're a pork chop because you fit the profile.
Your life is in chaos.
You're Ionely, you're depressed you're addicted to drugs and pornography and a little nuts, to be honest.
You're exactly the kind of man that does terrible things to women.
Uh, but I don't think you did this.
Because I think, deep down, you're a good man.
You should learn to use your bishops a little more efficiently but otherwise, a good man.
I saw Chris three days ago.
Sunset patrol at Devon Point break.
Was that Monday? With Hope and Win and those guys? Right.
We rode until dark and then we partied a while on the beach.
And then I went home.
On my mother's life.
What do you mean, "person of interest"? - This guy kill my Chrissy? - Mr.
Tanner, if we make an arrest you'll be the first person I call, I promise.
I'm gonna have somebody take you home.
This him? Is this him? Calm down.
You need to go home, take care of your children.
You're dead, bastard! You're dead! You're dead, you bastard! Go home, now! Look at me.
Look at me.
Look at me.
You need to go home.
Let's go home, Daddy.
Come on.
Lisbon.
Yeah.
Coroner told me Christine's body was put in the water sometime early Tuesday morning.
So that Monday-night party is critical.
Somebody there had to have known what happened.
Okay, boss, we're on it.
Hi, people.
Thank you very much, ma'am, but, uh, we don't need a grief councilor.
We know how to grieve.
Good, because I'm not a grief councilor.
Principal didn't want to say "homicide detective" in front of the students.
- Agent Lisbon, CBI.
- Hey, guys.
Hope and Win, I know.
You must be Danny and Andy.
Quick test: If you could be any animal you want, what would you be? - Dolphin.
- You? Uh, same.
Or a killer whale.
A gull.
No, a hawk.
Uh, uh, a tiger.
Interesting.
Why? When we spoke about Monday night at Devon Point you didn't mention you had a party after surfing.
A party? No, it wasn't a party.
Not what Flipper says.
Flipper told? Dude.
Come on, guys.
I mean, we partied.
Threw a little Frisbee.
What's the big deal? No big deal.
You were the last people aside from her killer to see Christine alive.
She was drowned later that night.
- That night? - Are you serious? Oh, my God.
Um, sorry, we have to go.
We have AP English.
We'll walk you.
Tell us about this party Monday night.
You didn't say anything about it before.
Why? And don't lie or I'll know.
We were drinking beer, ma'am.
- Shut up.
- What.
We're all gonna be applying for college soon.
- We can't get caught for drinking.
- My mom would exterminate me.
Plus we were trespassing.
The, uh, beach at Devon Point is totally a private property.
Danny, what does Devon Point mean to you? Uh, it's my Dad's land.
And, uh, he's building these heinous condos.
We go there to spite him, I guess.
- Who else was there that night? - Us and Flipper.
It wasn't exactly raging.
We all cut out about 10, 10:30 maybe.
Chris stayed to clean up.
She's all, uh, "save our oceans," you know? - Did Flipper leave then too? - He cut out early.
After we ran out of brews.
Do you think he came back maybe? Like Flipper did it? No.
- We shouldn't have left her there, guys.
- She wanted to stay.
- Ask me, she was meeting someone.
- Shut up.
- You don't know that.
- No, but I think it and so do you.
Danny asked her to go home with him.
She said no.
You and Chris were lovers? Lovers? Uh, no.
We hooked up on occasion.
You made love.
You were lovers.
No.
Uh, I mean, Andy was totally there too.
- Right, Andy? - Yeah.
It wasn't a big deal.
We're all just friends.
Andy and I hook up with Hope sometimes.
Doesn't mean we're lovers.
Yeah.
That would be weird.
Yeah, I guess.
You ever hear of anyone named Pops? - Pops? - Yeah.
Uh, no.
Okay.
Well, that's all we need for now.
Thank you.
- Thank you.
- Thanks, bye.
Don't leave town.
Now, that's a cop joke.
How long you gonna be, you think? Mr.
Rayburn, Christine Tanner's murder may have occurred here.
It takes as long as it takes.
I got the developer way up my tailpipe.
Three weeks behind, thanks to the crappy labor pool here.
Economy like this and people don't show up for work? - Boggles my mind.
- Anybody not show up lately? Night guard, just this week.
Walked off the job.
Cement truck shows up in the morning, can't get on the freaking site.
That alone put me back six hours.
- When'd he quit? - Monday.
- What section you working then? - Southeast quad.
What's his name, the night guard? Eddie Garcia.
I got his paperwork in the site office, if you want it.
Jorge, what, are you nuts? That load goes over here.
The paperwork? Right.
What, you think he might have, uh, done this murder? Lisbon! Come take a look at this.
What? Oh, yeah.
Mr.
Rayburn! See that? - What is it? - Tip of Eddie Garcia's nose.
Get out of here.
Oh! How is it you don't even notice a nose in your floor? It's what I'm telling you.
We're trying to finish this thing too fast.
What the hell's going on? Oh, for heaven's sakes.
Is that a person? Someone I employ? We think so.
God, help me.
If it's not one thing, it's Mr.
Kurtik? Dane Kurtik? OSHA, right? Just talk to my lawyers.
As you saw, I have no knowledge of this regrettable incident.
CBI.
Serious Crimes Unit.
Serious Crimes? The man fell into wet cement.
Someone had been here with a camera, he'd be on America's Funniest Videos.
Serious Crimes.
Come on.
I'm sorry, sir.
This is now a crime scene.
You have to suspend work until we're done investigating.
Suspend work? Hell.
I'm calling Tommy Alvarez, the sheriff.
We believe this situation is related to the death of Christine Tanner.
- You know her? - I've heard the name, obviously.
It's been on the news.
Your son Danny and Christine were close.
You never met her? Maybe I have.
My son has a lot of friends.
- Is this an interrogation? Is it? - No, sir, it isn't.
We appreciate your cooperation.
We'll be in touch, maybe.
Thank you.
Hey, Pops.
Hear you're good in bed.
What's the secret? I don't know what you're talking about.
But you mean to be offensive, I guess, and you've succeeded very well.
I'll be taking this up with your superiors.
- What is your name? - My name is Patrick Jane.
- Jane, stop.
- And I have no superiors.
I'll tell you what I'm talking about, you sweaty pervert.
- Jane.
- You were having sex with a 15-year-old.
Jane, stop.
- I never touched Christine.
- Liar.
And believe me when I tell you that you just now made the worst mistake of your miserable little life.
Believe me, no matter how this turns out I've made worse mistakes.
You're lying about Christine.
You were laying her like carpet.
Arrest him, Lisbon.
Statutory rape.
With what evidence? He's playing rockabilly.
Fifties music.
What more do you want? I can only apologize for my colleague's bizarre behavior.
- I'm sorry.
- Lisbon, hush.
Don't be so damn blinkered.
Look at him.
He was raping her.
I don't know yet whether he killed her as well.
Did you kill her? Look me in the eye and tell me the truth filthy old goat.
- You don't talk! - Oh, aw.
How dare you?! Oh, oh.
You brought him all the way back here, why? The local sheriff begged me not to put him in his jail.
- Kurtik's a big cheese down there.
- That is a signal.
Is that not a signal that we should cut this man loose? He hit Jane pretty good.
People were watching.
I had to arrest him.
This guy is connected.
This guy is He has the governor's home number.
And we both know that Jane was asking for it.
You couldn't just give Kurtik a stern talking-to instead? What about Christine Tanner, sir? If Kurtik was having sex with her, that gives him motive to kill.
Lf.
And that's a hunch.
Based on rockabilly.
It's a Jane hunch.
You keep him around for a reason.
Look, just let us work Kurtik until his lawyer gets here.
- Maybe we can get something more.
- All right.
Work him gently.
Have a thing for youngsters in general, Dane? Or was it Christine in particular that appealed to you? That I can understand, because, you know, you meet some 15-year-olds they're just as smart and mature and articulate as any adult.
Right? They are adults, basically.
Maybe Christine was one of them.
Are you serious? Do you actually obtain confessions with that gambit? - All the time.
- Amazing.
People are stupid.
Listen, I admire cops.
I think you do a great job.
I'm happy to sit here and chat with you until my lawyer gets here.
But I'm not gonna say anything you want to hear.
- So relax, huh? - He's not.
Is he? He's not gonna confess.
What'd you think, he'd break under the bad lighting conditions? - Let's go back to Devon Point.
- What for? So I can put the second half of my cunning plan into effect.
Jane, wait.
What cunning plan? Danny, hi.
Patrick Jane.
Listen, we need your help.
Do you want to help us catch Christine's killer? Okay, then.
Good.
Meet me at Devon Point with your friends in, uh two hours.
Great.
What cunning plan? Just so you know, I'm suing the CBI and the Attorney General's Office for wrongful arrest and unlawful imprisonment.
And I will drop the suit when they fire you and Agent Lisbon.
Best of luck.
You're not scared of me, huh? It's a mistake.
Heh.
Keep walking, Mr.
Kurtik, or I'm gonna have to arrest you again.
If you were 15 years younger I might give you a shot.
- You guys see him? - Mr.
Jane? I don't see him.
Mr.
Jane? Thanks for coming.
The police need your help.
First Christine.
Then the security guard.
They're at a loss.
Did the guard stumble across Chris being killed? Maybe it was some kind of love triangle.
Tell me, do you sincerely wanna help catch Christine's murderer? Even if the killer is someone close to you? - Yes, of course.
- Of course, we would.
Flipper served time for assaulting a woman.
- Did you know that? - It was Flipper? - He did it? - Could be.
Then again, Danny Christine and your father had an affair.
- Wait.
What? - Yeah.
- No way.
No, no, that's ridiculous.
- No.
- Danny, get real.
We knew.
We all knew.
Well, what'd you expect me to do, turn in my own dad? I mean, it's not like he forced Chris to do it, you know.
She was into it.
Was it your father she was going to meet with that night? - Yes.
- No.
Well, I don't know.
Just because they're having an affair doesn't mean your father killed Christine.
- It could have been Flipper.
- Right.
Or someone else.
Didn't you say you had a way of finding out? Actually, a way you can find out.
I want to hypnotize you all so that you can remember details of that night.
It's safe.
I'm fully trained.
- I used to hypnotize people for a living.
- Uh, no, no, thanks.
Your subconscious minds may recall things that could help us find the killer.
Hypnosis will let you come up with those things.
- Well, what kind of things? - Who knows? Maybe something Chris said.
Maybe a glimpse of someone on the bluff there.
The smallest detail that you can recall could be a vital clue.
I don't want you messing around in my head, man.
No offense.
Ah, but that's the thing with hypnosis.
I can't mesmerize you against your will.
It's not possible.
You are in control the whole time.
What do you say? Good.
I want you to close your eyes and listen.
Listen only to my voice.
Think.
Think back to that night.
The bonfire.
The sound of the ocean.
The sound of the ocean.
I don't know what you will recall of that night but I know that you will recall something because it's all there in your memory.
All you have to do is go back back to that night and be there.
And there you are.
What is it, Hope? What do you see? I see Danny's father.
There, above the rocks.
- No, you don't.
- Shh.
What is he doing? Staring at us.
At Chris.
That's it.
Staring.
What's wrong with him? Come back, Hope.
- What happened? - You're okay.
You did very well, thank you.
You really saw Mr.
Kurtik? No, you didn't.
- You didn't.
- Danny, I'm sorry.
I can't help what I saw.
My dad didn't kill Christine.
How do you know he didn't? Yeah, how do you know? You know what, screw all of you guys, okay? You guys suck.
Danny, wait.
Don't be mad.
Danny, wait.
Danny.
Come on, stop.
Danny's mad.
We should go.
Screw Danny.
His dad killed Christine.
Yeah.
It's late anyway.
- Thanks for your help, guys.
- No problemo.
So, what do you think? Did it work? I think.
Three, two, one, now.
How cool would it have been if one had walked in then? Hi.
Did you arrest him? Did he confess? Mr.
Kurtik? No.
Thing is, Hope, Mr.
Kurtik has a cast-iron alibi for that evening.
So you couldn't have seen him standing there on that bluff.
But that's so weird.
In my trance, I saw him clear as day.
- Maybe it's symbolic.
- You want symbolic? You're a hawk and Christine was a rabbit.
What does that even mean? Bird of prey, rabbit.
You tell me.
What it means is you never liked Christine Tanner.
Not true.
What it means is I never really hypnotized you.
You pretended to be in a trance to give us a fake story and incriminate an innocent man.
No.
No.
Just tell us what happened that night.
From the beginning.
Flipper already left wasted as usual.
The guard told us to get out or he'd call the cops.
Danny told him to step off, his dad owns the place.
Hey! Oh, my God.
He's dead.
He didn't mean to.
It was an accident.
We couldn't help the guard, see? But Danny, we could.
So we all promised not to tell.
All of us.
Except Chris.
Not Chris.
You gotta understand.
Everything Danny had worked for his whole life was just washing away, because Chris has to do the right thing.
He just hit her on the head.
And then she was still moving so he dragged her to the trough there and drowned her in it.
Held her under until she stopped moving.
And you, Win, and Andy didn't say a word.
Two people, murdered.
What if I was next? I've never seen Danny like that.
He was like a different person or something.
Okay, you're safe now.
Excuse us.
Hey.
I can't let my dad be punished for something he didn't do no matter what a tool he is.
- So you're confessing.
- Huh? Hmm? We know it was you that killed Christine and the guard.
What? No, no, no, that's not right.
Who told you that? It's so completely not true that it's insane.
How can you do this? I knew you had a cold streak, but this? Danny, I'm sorry.
I had to tell the truth.
You're only making it worse by lying.
You're only deceiving yourself.
It was her, okay? It was her who killed Chris.
Hope was jealous of her ever since she started hanging out with us.
Used to be Hope who was all that.
Then Chris came along and we only hooked up with Hope when Chris wasn't around.
- That's so distorted and not true.
- No.
I am telling the truth now.
The security guard it was an accident.
Then Chris said she was gonna call the police.
She said we couldn't cover it up, because it would be wrong.
Then Hope I don't even know.
Hope just went crazy.
Hit her.
- She hit her! - I did it for you, jerk! I did it for you.
She was doing his dad.
She's acting as a judge over his life telling him his life is over that he's going to jail because she's gotta show integrity and morals? She was a prissy, hypocritical bitch.
And she was gonna ruin his life.
Hmm.
It was Flipper.
- Really? - Yeah, it was Flipper.
What if I said it was you, Andy? You killed Christine.
What? That's bull.
That's ridiculous.
Have a seat.
Don't be shy.
I didn't kill her, man.
Sure, you did.
And so did you.
And you.
And you.
All four of you killed her.
Hope was always smarter than any of you.
You never appreciated that.
She made all of you take part to make all of you equally guilty so that no one would tell on the others.
And now you're all equally under arrest.
You have the right to remain silent.
Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.
You have the right to an attorney.
If you cannot Statutory rape, huh? - What'll he get? - He probably won't serve time.
Not without Christine's testimony.
But we'll have fun trying.
You have good kids.
Yeah, I do.
You're all they have.
Yeah, I know.
Be good to them.
I am good to them.
My father was a good man, just like you are.
And after my mother died he was a self-pitying drunk, just like you are.
He killed himself.
Damn near killed me and my brothers too.
Get some help.
Your kids deserve it.
So do you.