Body of Proof s01e07 Episode Script

I grew up not far from here.
Really? I took you for more of an Upper Darby kind of guy.
The whole neighborhood backs up to the Wissahickon.
That park was my refuge.
From what? Oh, ballet, pajama parties, Scott Baio.
Three sisters.
- You had it rough.
- I survived.
I didn't even know what time it was.
You were on your lunch break.
What time did you get back to the house? He's in here.
- Yeah.
- No, not yet.
What do we know, detective? Well, no sign of forced entry.
He let the killer in.
My guess is this was personal.
I meant about him.
Ed Russell.
His wife, Jen, found the body, called 911.
They were both home in the middle of the day? He's a stay-at-home dad.
Makes custom furniture.
She works as an accountant.
Says she came home at lunch to feed the baby.
Did you find the weapon yet? Not yet.
He's got defensive wounds on both of his hands.
Tan line on his wrist.
Probably from a watch.
A beat up Timex.
Stainless steel, according to his wife.
Oh, maybe our killer took a souvenir.
She touch anything besides the body? Just the phone.
And the baby.
- Why? - Did she tell you anything else? Yeah.
Son, Michael, age 15.
He's at football practice.
Doesn't know anything yet.
- I'll go tell him.
- Please don't do that.
Why not? His father's dead.
He should hear it from his mother, not a cop.
All right.
I'll leave that part out.
Megan, we don't know where your mother is, so I'm just going to tell you.
Your father's dead.
Can I help you? Yeah, I'm looking for Dr.
Hunt.
- You have an appointment? - You her secretary? No.
I'm her boss.
Sorry.
Todd Fleming.
I'm her ex-husband.
- Good luck with that.
- With what? No one's Megan's boss.
Todd? What's wrong? - Is Lacey okay? - Oh, hey.
Yeah, no, Lacey's fine.
- What are you doing here? - Always nice to see you too, Megs.
She's all yours.
I'm here because I have a case going to trial on Monday and I need a forensic anthropologist.
I'm not a forensic anthropologist.
I'm aware of that.
That's why I'm here to see Dr.
Murphey and not you.
Fine.
But I do need a favor from you.
I have a I've got this huge mountain of prep work to do and I was wondering if you could take Lacey on until tomorrow.
Yeah, sure.
- Yeah? - Yeah.
She's at a slumber party tonight.
You can pick her up at 11:00 tomorrow morning.
Here's the address.
Got it.
No problem.
- Yeah? You sure? - Todd.
I'm just saying.
Eleven o'clock, okay? Thank you.
Four stab wounds to the chest, one to the stomach.
Contusions on the chest and the arm.
Both look recent.
And there's something in the stomach wound.
Looks like coffee grounds.
It's from an ulcer.
The brown color is caused by the blood mixing with the stomach's acid.
The motion of the murder weapon brought it to the surface.
He's got ulcers from biting the inside of his cheeks and he's been bruxing too.
This guy was stressed about something.
Ethan, hand me the manganese solution, will you? What are you doing? Using manganese sulfate to test for hydrogen peroxide.
Hydrogen peroxide interacts with the blood's catalase enzyme.
I saw that same reaction on the floor of the crime scene.
- Hydrogen peroxide as in, like - Household cleaners.
- Wait, you're leaving? - Don't do anything more till I get back.
Did your husband have any enemies? Not that I know of.
Everybody loved Ed.
We were doing so good.
And then this.
Where's my son? Why isn't he here yet? My partner went to pick him up.
They'll be here shortly.
Excuse me.
Dr.
Hunt, hi.
She told you that she didn't touch anything but Ed's body, the baby and the phone, right? Right.
She's lying.
You told the police that you checked to see whether your husband was dead and then called 911.
Yes.
We found traces of hydrogen peroxide on your husband's face and also in the blood on the kitchen floor.
Dr.
Hunt thinks whoever killed your husband cleaned up after he was dead.
And you think I did it? I don't understand what I'm doing here.
If someone broke in, where is my dad? Your mom will fill you in.
I'm just here to give you a ride.
What position do you play? Bench warmer.
Asthma.
Hardly ever acts up, but they still sit me most of the time.
Never made it off the practice squad myself.
It sucks.
I love to play, though.
I'm in a touch league on weekends.
We got a game tomorrow.
- Parents ever come to see you play? - Yeah, right.
Dad's too busy with the baby and Mom never leaves the office.
But your mom comes home every day to feed the baby, right? News to me.
But whatever.
The whole world revolves around Sophie now.
Why would I hurt him? Everything was great.
Well, I can pretty much guarantee all was not well with your husband.
Your husband had a bleeding ulcer and ulcerated gums.
What was he so stressed about? Money.
A new baby.
Do you have any idea how difficult it is to work and raise a family at the same time? But we were making it work, together.
- Mike.
- What's going on, Mom? - Where's Dad? - Oh, Mike.
Your father's dead.
I am so sorry to keep you waiting this long.
- Kate Murphey.
- Todd Fleming.
Not a problem at all.
The office is never far away.
So Megan's ex-husband, huh? Yeah.
Yeah, I know.
I'm quite the curiosity, aren't I? I looked at the file you sent over.
- Manny Santos.
- Yeah.
Not your typical McKinney and White client.
Yeah, I'm taking the case pro bono.
- It's good for the soul.
- Really? I thought pro bono work was a bar association requirement.
Kind of like your consulting fee.
I'm not sure how I feel about vouching for somebody accused of felony carjacking.
No, no.
It was a joyride gone bad.
Look, Manny is a good kid.
He just messed up.
The problem is the prosecution wants to try him as an adult which could mean serious jail time.
- He doesn't have a birth certificate? - No, he's illegal.
His mom died two years ago, so he's been living with his uncle Also illegal, got it.
So you need me to verify Manny's age.
All right, why don't you bring him in on Monday.
Actually, the trial's at 9 that morning.
How's tomorrow? Lacey, hi.
It's me.
- Hi.
- I saw your father today.
Yeah.
He told me you're picking me up tomorrow.
- You are, right? - Yeah.
- Are you okay with that? - Yeah, sure.
Because, you know, the last time we saw each other, you said I was pushing too hard.
You're just taking us to our riding lesson.
- I'm what? - Yeah, me, Betsy and Sarah.
Before Yearbook Club.
Dad didn't tell you? No, but that's okay.
- I'll see you tomorrow.
- Bye.
- I know that look.
- Actually, so do I.
I just got off the phone with Lacey.
I thought I was spending the whole day with her.
Alone.
No.
You're providing transportation for your child and her friends.
It's called parenthood.
And if that's too much to ask No, no, no.
I look forward to meeting her friends.
Okay, good.
- Goodbye, Dr.
Murphey.
- Goodbye.
So correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't you working tomorrow? Got it covered.
It appears Ed was an excellent father.
Yet you still think his wife could have done this? The stabs to the left ventricle is what killed him.
The rest were postmortem.
So Bud's right.
This was personal.
The wounds are 6 and a half inches deep, cut by a unique blade.
The surfaces were punctured at entry, not cut.
Both sides were serrated.
What kind of knife is completely serrated? Ed made furniture, didn't he? I walked in, and it was quiet.
And I went to go check on Sophie.
And that's when And what did you do next? I knelt down next to him.
And he wasn't breathing.
And then I called 911, but I knew Your son seemed a little surprised that you'd come home for lunch.
It's just that Ed said that he was having problems with the baby.
So he called and I came.
So you come home for lunch often? As often as I can.
It hasn't exactly been easy with the baby.
And Mike? How's he been? You know boys.
They're not exactly baby crazy.
But he's a great kid.
And he's really gonna have to step up now.
All right, Jen.
Thanks.
Mrs.
Russell.
So she stabs him, he goes down.
And then she stabs him a few more times for good measure.
Okay.
So now it's a mess.
And She grabs one of these to clean up.
And calls 911 before she's finished? Why clean up if you're gonna leave the body? Murder's not a clearheaded act.
No.
She knew exactly what she was doing.
Maybe she was covering for someone.
- What do you got? - This can't be Jen's print.
No, but it could be her son's.
Mrs.
Russell, answer our questions.
We know you cleaned up your son's footprints.
Why did you think he killed his father? Ed had contusions from a recent fight.
Was that with your son? We confirmed that he skipped school yesterday.
Mrs.
Russell, please, just tell us where Mike is.
I don't know.
Am I under arrest? Sit on her till you hear from me.
- She could be wrong, you know.
- How's that? Yeah, she cleaned up footprints she thought were her son's.
- What if she was wrong? - But what if she wasn't? We gotta talk to Mike.
Good luck finding him.
This is some way to grieve.
What do you expect me to do? Sit at home with my mom? Yeah, as a matter of fact.
Unless you got something to feel guilty about.
Anything you want to tell me? I checked with your principal.
You neglected to mention you cut school yesterday.
I went to meet someone.
- Who? - A girl.
- She have a name? - Carla.
Carla.
That's it? Carla? Look, I don't know her last name.
We met online.
I was going to meet her for real yesterday.
- Where'd you go? - I didn't.
Chickened out.
I went to an arcade instead.
Look.
Don't lie to me, kid.
Your father and you had a fight the day before he died.
What'd he do? Ground you? - Yeah.
So? - Maybe you snapped, went into the garage, grabbed one of his tools, stabbed him.
I didn't kill my dad.
Well, who did? Carla? No.
I don't know.
L Wait, there's this guy.
Jake.
Sometimes he gets My dad hires him to help him with his furniture stuff.
- He might have done it.
- And let me guess.
This Jake, you don't know his last name either, do you? Hey, any word from Bud on the son? The kid gave him a tip.
He and Sam are on their way to Bargain Outlet, looking for a day laborer who worked with Ed.
Good.
- Good? - I'm just I'm having a hard time trying to imagine what would drive him to kill his father.
- Neglect? - He was a stay-at-home dad.
And from what I can tell, a good one.
To his baby girl, but maybe not so much to Mike.
I mean, sometimes kids get lost in the shuffle, you know? I know we're missing something.
What is that? My mom taught me that the key to carpool is snacks.
Pretzels, chocolate, gum.
I want Lacey to like me, not have her teeth fall out.
You'll thank me later on.
Shouldn't you be going soon? Oh, damn it.
What? - How many sisters? - Three.
Bring the bag.
So we're just supposed to believe this kid? Mike's mom's clammed up.
We have no physical evidence saying it's him.
Okay, so now what? - You hate your kitchen.
- What? Look, you can hate your kitchen, or I can hate my kitchen.
Like that's gonna work.
We work together all the time, man.
It's no big deal.
Me and my brother, we can do that.
Hey, fellas.
I hate my kitchen.
Who's gonna help me fall in love again? Hey! Come on.
God damn.
Nice watch.
It was a gift.
- Worth killing for? - Come on, come on.
I don't believe it.
Hi.
Hello, I'm Lacey's mom.
Nice to meet you.
- Hello.
- Hi.
- Hi.
- You're late.
And working.
I'm sorry.
- Okay.
- Who are you? - I'm Peter.
I work with your mom.
- On dead people? Well, that's right.
As a matter of fact, there was a guy killed yesterday named Ed Russell, and we're trying to find out who did it.
And you could give your mom a break.
Okay.
So who wants a Tastykake? Ed gave me the watch as payment.
He was short on cash.
So why'd you run away? Who knows what you're trying to put on me.
You mean like burglary? Theft? Trafficking in stolen property? I read your rap sheet.
Things have a way of going missing when you're around.
- I didn't take anything from Ed.
- Really? Because we found his rasp in your tool chest.
It's the same length as the one Ed was murdered with.
Now, we're about to send this to the lab to test for his blood.
Unless you wanna save us some time.
Ed was my friend.
He knew I had some trouble in the past.
He cut me a break.
I swear to you, I didn't kill him.
Hi.
Todd Fleming.
- I'm here to see - Morning.
Dr.
Murphey.
Hi.
- Howdy.
- This is my client, Manny Santos.
- Hello, Manny.
- Hello.
Well, establishing an exact age scientifically is problematic.
I mean nutrition, genetics, childhood trauma can all influence growth.
We can run an epiphyseal plate evaluation, but just by eye, I can tell you his subcutaneous adipose tissue appears pre-pubescent, as does his lack of facial hair and muscle definition.
Of course there is an easy way to determine puberty.
You want me to do what? Check the stage of development on his you-know-whats.
This is way beyond my job description.
I need this determination as soon as possible.
- Then you check his you-know-whats.
- You're a doctor.
I don't see him letting me do it.
Are you sure you don't want one? The girls loved them.
Yeah.
They loved you.
I thought you were with your daughter today.
So did I.
We heard that you might have the murder weapon.
- Looks like a fit.
- Yeah.
Except Forensics didn't find any blood.
Hold on.
There's something in the subcutaneous tissue.
- Ethan? - Yeah? They look like Fish scales.
They didn't come from Ed, so they must be transfer from the killer, right? Well, I've heard of guys using a rasp to take off fish scales.
Maybe he works in a supermarket, a restaurant Pet store.
Okay, maybe not a pet store.
Guys, they're not fish scales.
They're flakes of human skin.
Skin.
Lacey.
I think you'll be fine on your own.
Get me an H and E stain and call me with the results.
So how was riding class? Okay.
- How's your case going? - My what? Ed Russell.
Peter told us.
The police think it was the teenage son.
What do you think? I hate to think that any child could hate their parent that much.
- Go ahead, Ethan.
- Okay.
I've got the stain.
What am I looking for? Mild regular epidermal acanthosis with overlying hypogranulosis.
Okay, check.
And check.
And check.
Do you see any plugging of the follicular orifices? Hold on.
Just Yes.
Yes, I do.
But it's not eczema.
There's no inflammation.
It's ichthyosis.
It's a hereditary disease.
You're gonna have to run the DNA to confirm it, but tell Bud whoever killed Ed Russell has peeling skin.
Like the aftermath of a sunburn.
Okay, I'll let him know right now.
Okay, I just gotta tell you.
That was awesome.
Oh, my gosh.
Okay, drop them.
Guess who diagnosed some ichthyosis.
- I don't want to know.
- Ethan.
Seriously.
Don't tell me.
Shut up and get over here.
Hi.
What do you make of this? You're gonna need a full body x-ray.
You can put it down.
Roll up your sleeves.
- Don't you need a warrant? - No.
We caught you with the guy's watch.
You're worried about a warrant? Ed's killer had a skin condition called ichthyosis.
Now, roll up your sleeves or the warrant I get will be for a cavity search.
Have a nice day.
- That's it? - Yep.
Get him out of here.
Let's go.
To your right, down the hall.
Any other symptoms come with this condition? Sweating, the only way the body releases heat.
Some breathing problems, congestion, asthma.
Asthma? Yeah, why? I don't know where Mike is.
He didn't come home after his football game? I'm starting to worry.
That's why we got this warrant to search Mike's room.
Mike has ichthyosis, doesn't he? What does that have to do with anything? Yesterday, at the police station, you couldn't look him in the eye.
Because you were looking at his feet to see if he had blood on them.
Sam.
Please.
Just stop.
I know this must be impossible for you.
Mrs.
Russell, what happened? Why were they fighting? Ed wanted to take Mike's computer and Mike was so angry.
I just can't believe that he would do something so horrible.
Okay.
Here are all the posts between Mike and Carla.
Looks like they met on this site.
Just a lot of getting-to-know-you stuff at first, but then Carla wants specifics.
School, grade, hair color, birthday.
Pretty soon Mike's just pouring out his heart.
"He's on my ass all the time.
Can't do anything right.
Wants to take my computer away.
" - Which would mean goodbye, Carla.
- Hello, motive.
They've been talking about getting together and running away.
So Ed finds out, tries to stop him, and that's the final straw.
Mike kills him.
And winds up missing his rendezvous with Carla.
Look.
Sent today.
"Hey, sorry I missed you yesterday.
Are you still here? I'm ready to run.
" They're meeting at 3 p.
m.
Today at Felicia's Coffee.
Way to go, Neal.
I ask you for a epiphyseal plate evaluation and you do a full set of body x-rays? Take a guess why.
- Dr.
Hunt starting to rub off on you? - No.
Well, yes, actually.
Take a look.
Todd, what happens if Manny is ruled a minor? Typically, six months in juvie.
But I'll be pushing for his immediate release on probation.
- And then back home.
- Yeah, that's the idea.
Why? You can see from these growth plates, his leg bones haven't even begun to fuse like an adult's.
He's definitely a minor.
But he can't go back home.
I saw cigarette burns on his abdomen and upper legs.
The x-rays show recently-healed broken ribs and a fractured humerus.
It's all happened within the two years since he's been living with his uncle.
It's consistent with physical abuse.
We're not sending a kid back to his abuser.
Wait.
Hold on a second.
Are you saying you won't testify? - You want him to go to jail? - Of course not.
What we're saying is figure something out.
- Any sign of Carla? - Put that away.
You can never trust a woman's online profile.
Really? How would you know? - Is there sugar in here? - No.
- I asked for sugar.
- You're lucky you got a coffee.
You mind? May I help you? Can I just get a coffee? I'd like it sweet.
Yeah, sure.
Yeah.
- What are you guys doing here? - I think you know, Mike.
So you got in a fight with your father the night before he died.
He wanted to take your computer away.
Doesn't mean I killed him.
This will, Mike.
Plus, we knew you were planning to run away with Carla.
And how do you explain this? What am I sticking around for? My mom's got a new baby.
My dad's dead.
Nobody cares about me.
It's a shame.
Ed Russell works his whole life to provide for his family.
This is his reward? I'll never have kids.
I'll let you know when I confirm the DNA.
Heard you caught the killer.
A 15 year old stabs his father to death because he threatens to take away his computer? And it eludes you, doesn't it? - Yeah.
- Then figure out why.
I thought we didn't care about the why.
Dr.
Hunt, Ethan is calling for you in the lab.
Well, that was quite something you did today.
Full body x-rays and an independent radiology report? That's at least a thousand dollars off the books.
He's a lawyer.
I figured we'd stick him for it.
- What's this? - Don't tell anybody I gave it to you.
You'll ruin my rep.
- You wanted to see me? - Yeah.
So I ran Mike's DNA against the flakes we found on Ed.
It's a match, but it's only a partial one.
So either the test failed, or the flakes are from Ed somehow.
Except Ed didn't have ichthyosis.
So how did his son get it if it's hereditary? - Find Peter, tell him what you told me.
- What did I tell you? That Ed wasn't Mike's father.
Of course.
- What did you dig up on Jen Russell? - Her real name is Jennifer Burke.
We ran her name wide and tracked her back to Arizona, where, 15 years ago, she filed domestic abuse charges against one Tim Scanlan.
Looks like she took off with baby Mike and changed her name when she married Ed.
Detectives.
We've got Scanlan.
Son of a He was in the coffee shop.
Sitting right behind you.
Which makes him Carla.
I tracked back the IP address of their first communication about a year ago.
Goes to this halfway house in Flagstaff.
That's where Scanlan had just gotten out of prison on an attempted murder charge.
He's been on every networking site ever since, posing as Carla, looking for a 15-year-old boy, same description as Mike.
- Where's Mike now? - He's still in custody.
What about Jen? Jen? Go away.
I tried calling.
I need to talk to you.
Ed wasn't Mike's biological father, was he? Please leave me alone.
I think that his real father killed your husband.
Look, wait.
Do you hear what I'm saying? Mike's innocent.
Just tell me that I'm right and the police will release him.
You're wrong.
And I have nothing else to say to you.
Jen.
Jen? Jen? Are you okay? Mrs.
Russell? Philadelphia P.
D.
They're out back.
Go, go.
- No.
- Scanlon.
He's over here.
- Let's go.
- Scanlan.
Philly P.
D.
, Scanlan.
Show me your hands.
- Scanlan, let her go.
- Get up, get up.
Scanlan, show me your hands.
Let her go.
- It's over, Scanlan.
- This bitch took my son away from me.
- He'll never be your son again.
- I'm gonna break your neck.
Come on, show me your hands.
Show me your hands.
Show me your hands.
- Cover me, Sam.
- I got you.
You're under arrest for the murder of Ed Russell.
Call an ambulance.
What happened with Tim was a lifetime ago.
It never occurred to me that he'd found us.
- And why target Ed? - He didn't.
He wanted Mike.
His plan was to lure Mike away from the house, and then tell him he was his real father.
But Mike was a no-show.
So Tim came here to the house.
Ed was working when he arrived.
Tim probably knew enough about your family to talk his way in.
Good-looking kid.
I'm guessing that it was the photos that made him snap.
You came home, saw the footprints and assumed they were Mike's.
How could you have ever known that they were his father's? Hang in there, kid.
Your mom will be here soon.
- What's this? - It's a children's home.
One of my colleagues is on the board.
Manny will need a sponsor.
A business professional who will give him a part-time job.
You want me to hire him? Just put him to work a couple of hours a week.
- I don't know if my firm will go for this.
- Come on, it's great PR.
And it's not too bad for the soul, either.
Yeah.
See you in court, Dr.
Murphey.
Been awfully quiet today.
I was mad at you for all those times before when you didn't show up because of work.
But today you did.
So was it the son who did it? No.
It was somebody else.
- Did you catch him? - With a lot of help.
My friends think you're cool, you know.
They do? Really? - It's kind of weird.
- Yeah.
I know what it feels like to be forgotten.
And I'm sorry that I made you feel that way again.
You have every reason in the world to doubt me.
I just hope that you never doubt that I love you.
Maybe you can do carpool again next Saturday? I'd like that.
But no snacks.