The Dresden Files s01e08 Episode Script

Jennifer, you're shivering.
Tommy, that thing we saw outside the club That was just a trick of the light.
I'm here.
Nothing is gonna happen to you.
- Tommy? - Oh my God.
Baby? Jennifer! When I hung up my shingle I thought all my cases would start with a sultry femme fatale begging for help and oozing sex and danger.
I live in hope.
Detective Kirmani, to what do I owe the pleasure? Headed to the rink? Damn, overcharged it again.
Nice trick.
You got batteries in that thing? Everyone's a skeptic.
I've been meaning to ask you, Harry Dresden, "wizard"? Let me guess.
A couple of summers ago you were a Jedi knight and now you're a wizard named Harry? It's good marketing I guess, but couldn't you come with something a little more original? My father named me after Harry Houdini.
You heard of him? He was a circus freak, right, like Bozo the Clown? Do you have a license for this thing? Look, if this is a personal visit, I don't do parties and I don't do love potions, so unless you got a serious job, the way in is also the way out.
Lieutenant Murphy wants to see you.
You know the drill.
Hey Murphy, so did you have this guy pick me up to give him grief or me? I sent him because I have a case.
Interested? I'm guessing you got weirdness? What I've got is two dead bodies.
Wow.
Champagne, candlelight, room with a view they had quite a night planned.
Yeah, until someone ripped their hearts out of their chests.
Coroner estimates the time of death was about 12 hours ago.
Victims were Jennifer Randall and Thomas Edward Thompson.
Tommy Tom, the mobster.
Wizard and organized crime connoisseur! Quite a nice resume you got there Gandalf.
So you're thinking a hit, right? Jennifer was just a college student.
No arrest record, not even a parking ticket.
B average in sociology at Northwestern.
Tommy Tom, on the other hand Did not major in sociology.
Our working theory is that someone broke in, subdued them, cut their chests open with a knife, stuffed fire crackers into their hearts and set them off.
Then they left.
Yeah, except there were no signs of forced entry.
There's no drag marks, there's no footprints, there's no powder burns.
There's no knife marks on the victims' skin or ribs.
Which means our working theory sucks.
That's why you're here.
These people weren't stabbed Murphy.
Nothing touched them.
Their hearts exploded out of their chests.
There's only one thing that can do that.
A microwave? Black Magic.
It's as black as it gets.
Hey, the murder weapon was Black Magic? Yeah, look Murphy, we both know there's no such thing as magic.
I appreciate your offer, I really do, but I can't help you on this one.
To solve this case I'd have to recreate the way the murders were done and if I do that there are people that will be unhappy with me; seriously unhappy.
Your bosses? The society? Association? High Council.
Do yourself a favor, forget I ever told you about them.
I gotta go.
The High Council.
Capital H, capital C.
Cue ominous music.
It's kind of like the bar association for wizards.
They provide oversight; they administer the entrance exams and try to basically keep all this magic stuff out of sight and under control.
The good guys, theoretically.
But cross them and you'll wish you'd never slung a spell.
Morgan.
Nice to see you, buy you a beer? The stick, drop it! Two people are dead Dresden, killed by the Black.
There's only one operator in this city who can work that kind of spell.
It wasn't me.
I had nothing Dresden, if you want mercy you're going to have to talk to Ancient Mai.
Really? Mai, you're looking young today.
You know, someone your age really shouldn't be eating that stuff.
Now tell me something I care about.
Well how about I didn't kill those two people.
I didn't do it and Morgan didn't do it, so that leaves you.
What ever happened to the benefit of the doubt? You lost that right when you killed your uncle Justin Morningway with Black magic.
That was self defense.
Your face is slipping.
Look, I'm not the only answer here.
We could be looking at an out-of-town or something out of the never-never, or even a free agent/sorcerer.
Which is the only reason you're still breathing.
I'm going to make this very simple Dresden, if someone else did this, prove it.
Find him and bring me his head on a platter.
Because if I don't get his head, I'm taking yours.
High Council justice isn't like the regular legal system.
It's more old school with blunt implements and sharp edges.
So when Mai tells me to do something I can't exactly appeal to a higher court.
Prove it And if I screw up I'm not likely to get a stay of execution either.
Science says any piece of person contains a blueprint of the whole; DNA, all that stuff.
But people like me, we've always known that.
We get a part of someone, blood, hair, whatever, and you got a hook into the whole burrito, a window into the soul.
Where you gonna take me? What changed you mind? Does it matter? How did you find this place? Pretty lux for a student.
The lease was in Tommy Tom's name.
If he put her up in such a nice place, what were they doing at the hotel? Maybe he wanted to treat her to a night out, a change of scenery.
Maybe.
- This our victim? - Yeah.
Jennifer Randall with her parents and her two best friends.
Old portrait, who's she? Grace Cutler, a friend.
You're wasting your time Dres, Jennifer Randall is a side show.
We're here because of Tommy Tom.
Assuming Tommy Tom is the principal target.
Let's go sit down for a second.
After you.
Okay, technically I'm not supposed to talk about this stuff to civilians so you'll have to pretend like you don't believe a word I'm saying.
I think I can manage that.
The first thing to know is there's lots of different kinds of spells.
You've got summoning, divination, enchantment.
The point is, our killer wasn't in the hotel room; no line of sight.
And that leaves only one possibility, Thaumaturgy.
Thaumaturgy works by remote.
Think voodoo doll.
You get someone's hair or blood, you put it into a representation of them and then whatever happens to the representation happens to the original.
The thing is, to fuel Thaumaturgy you have to use a strong emotion, and love is good.
Anger is better and hate is best of all, serious hate.
Killing Tommy and Jennifer like that, ripping their hearts out, that takes serious hate; the kind of hate that most people don't experience in their entire lives.
Tommy Tom was a bad man who caused a lot of pain.
Yeah, but the question we should be focusing on is who hated poor little innocent Jennifer Randall? Jennifer Randall died because someone hated her.
But to hate someone you have to really know them.
So when I'm looking for someone's enemies the first people I check into are their friends; the closer the better.
Yes? Mrs.
Cutler? Harry Dresden, I'm a consultant with the Chicago police.
I have some questions about your daughter Grace.
Do you have a moment please? I don't understand, Grace died of an overdose almost a year ago.
Why are you here? An overdose? I thought you said you were with the police? Oh, I am, I am.
I'm just looking into the death of Jennifer Randall.
Jenny's dead? Yeah.
Grace she and Jennifer were close, right? I don't think I want to talk about this.
No, I just want to know about their relationship.
Were they good friends? Friends! If it weren't for Jennifer and Linda my daughter would be alive today.
Grace didn't do drugs, not until she met those girls.
I lost everything because of them; my daughter and my husband.
Your husband? You lost your husband too? Victor After Grace he lost interest in everything, his practice, me, his entire life.
His practice? What was he, a doctor? He's a dentist, but he gave it up.
Instead of going to work he just spent all his time in Grace's room going through her things over and over and and one day I found him lying in his office.
I didn't even know he owned gun.
Yes.
Just go.
Grief is a powerful emotion.
It can be healing or it can be twisted into a dark and destructive anger.
Monica Cutler had lost her daughter and her husband, but did that make her a mourner or a murderer.
Who's there? This will be a lot easier if you'd just get an email address.
What can I say? Technology doesn't like me.
Grace Cutler's Coroner report, like you asked.
It's all there.
They found her body in a seedy hotel room, evidence of a heart attack, probably a speed ball.
Well I don't see a toxicology report.
Dresden, this Grace Cutler stuff is a wild goose chase.
Just because she was a friend of Jennifer Randall doesn't mean their deaths are related.
Two girls, friends, both dead before their 21st birthdays and you're saying that's a coincidence.
It happens.
Oh please! You do this stuff to make me crazy, don't you? I ask you to investigate Tommy Tom, you go after Jennifer Randall.
I finally start getting on board with that and now it's Grace Cutler? When I was investigating Jennifer Randall no one bothered me.
I started looking into Grace Cutler and bang, someone comes after me.
And that's usually a sign I'm on the right track.
Grace Cutler is the way in.
Being a wizard doesn't mean I can snap my fingers and know everything.
There you go.
Sometimes when I don't know what to do next it's important to take a step back and, you know, maybe call a friend.
And if that friend happens to be an investigative reporter who knows something about looking into suspicious overdoses Susan? well, there's nothing like a friend with benefits.
You're early, as usual.
Harry, you can do better than that.
"Susan, what a pleasant surprise!" "Come in, let me take your coat.
" Of course.
And that.
Nice towels.
Uh huh.
Susan, Susan, Susan, it's not a date if we never leave the apartment.
Now we're going for dinner and the movie and you're going to wait there while I get dressed, okay? Your loss.
The astounding Dresden.
My dad.
He once opened for Sinatra.
So what happened to you, stage fright? Very funny.
Oh I got it.
Susan, no, no! Where's Dresden? Susan get away from the door! Okay, get down, just get down.
Oh god, it's a spike demon.
Demon!? Yeah, it's okay, just stay down.
It can't cross the threshold.
Unless it's really strong.
Who summoned you and why are you here? Want answers, force them out of me.
Okay, I got to get you out of here.
Okay, down in the basement there's a potion under the benches.
Drink it and it will help you escape.
Go.
Come on.
- Oh my coat! - What are you doing? I'm getting my coat Harry! Demon! Get down there! Yeah, now what is the problem here? How disappointing.
I thought you'd be stronger.
Drink this now.
Okay.
Quick as you can, save some for me.
Too much cheetah hair.
"Cheetah hair?" We gotta go.
He's probably right behind us.
Oh man.
Okay, you wait here.
I'll make sure the coast is clear.
I have an idea.
You play the helpless damsel and I'll go check things out.
Nnnno, Susan, I'm serious.
I gotta deal with this.
Susan Ahh! - Are you okay? - Define okay.
That thing, is it? Dead? No.
I wish.
You can't kill something like that.
It's banished for awhile anyway.
Compelling a demon, ordering it to attack someone is like hiring a hit man.
It usually works but there's a price.
It means you're desperate, and desperate people make mistakes, mistakes I could use against them.
What about werewolves? Can't talk about it.
Goblins, witches, trolls, vampires? Still can't talk about it.
So that was an actual demon.
Magic is real.
Summoning a demon.
Did you really think Ancient Mai would let that slide? Harry, how did he where did he come from? It's a good question.
You want to answer the nice lady; tell a civilian here how you can just show up? Spare the lecture.
I should end you now.
Hey, leave him alone.
Susan, don't do that.
Stay out of this.
You can't tell me what to do.
I'm a reporter.
Oh, good for you.
Son of a Attacking a warden of the High Council; imprisoning me.
You just signed your own death warrant.
Like you weren't already going to execute me.
You can't keep me in here forever.
My head.
A perfectly good head.
Two eyes, nose, little mouth, all in the right place.
I have to go out, but you just try to rest, okay.
No way! I'm coming with you.
No Susan, Susan.
Ah, on second thought Take it easy.
Basement is off limit.
There's leftovers in the fridge.
Help yourself.
And if a big furry monster comes in and sits on your chest, well, that's my cat.
Personalized plate Registered to Harrington Place.
Got it.
Thanks Murphy, I'll talk to you soon.
Wait! Dresden What? I pay your bills, remember? Sorry.
If you have a lead you're supposed to It's a bad connection.
I've got to go.
Don't you dare hang up on me! Dresden! Linda? Bianca.
Why did it have to be Bianca? Back away from the car! I don't have time for this crap.
The magical world isn't so different from the normal one.
It's full of predators and prey and in Chicago one of the biggest predators of them all is Bianca.
Harry, what a pleasant surprise.
I didn't think I'd see you again so soon.
Well if it were up to me I wouldn't be here at all.
You know Harry, it's the little lies that we tell ourselves that make life so amusing.
"I won't cheat on my wife; I'm a good person.
" Oh we all say the right words Harry, but when temptation comes along, well, here you are.
I didn't come here to be turned into one of your zombies.
No.
No, your addictions run much darker, don't they? Why are you here Harry? I thought we had an understanding.
And I thought you agreed to behave yourself.
Oh Harry, have I been naughty? Jennifer Randall, Grace Cutler, Linda Atwater.
You recognize these girls? Pretty.
What about them? Dead, dead and dead.
All three of them.
Linda? Linda is dead? No, that's impossible, I just t Talked to her, I know.
I found your number on her auto dial.
Bianca, I got 4 dead bodies, three of them innocent girls, and you're connected to all of it.
Now what do you know and what did you do to them? You mean, hurt Linda? Get out! I want answers Bianca.
- Good night Dresden! - What did you do to them? Okay, okay, okay.
Bianca, no more games.
Three girls: Grace, Jennifer, Linda.
What do you know about them? Why are you bothering me? I thought we were done.
Mrs.
Cutler, your daughter didn't die from an overdose.
Now don't you want to know the truth, because I know I would.
You've got ten minutes.
Thank you.
It all started when your daughter and her friends went to a party hosted by a woman named Bianca.
Bianca's isn't the kind of place where 3 wide-eyed college girls belong, but they went anyway.
The thing about Bianca's is whatever you're looking for, you can find it there.
Jennifer Randall met a man, a mobster named Tommy Tom.
He showed her passion, power and corruption.
Linda Atwater had her eyes opened to a world of wealth and sensuality.
But your daughter Grace, what she was looking for wasn't so simple, so she had to search a little deeper.
Your daughter was smart; she was talented, focused, but she was unsure of herself.
She never felt like she was in control and at Bianca's Grace found something that gave her that control - an ancient skill - the craft of magic.
Call it what you want, but there's a right way and a wrong way to use magic.
There's a path of light and a path of darkness and Grace chose the Black.
When you use the Black it eats at you, makes you dependant so you want to use it more and more.
Sooner or later it starts using you.
Eventually your daughter got in too deep.
Acario shekarek I summon thee.
Acario shekarek, I summon thee.
She slipped up.
It cost her her life.
This is crazy.
You're crazy.
Get out! Get out of my house.
Making me leave isn't gonna change the truth.
It was heroin.
The police told us so.
Linda had been busted for possession.
Jennifer was sleeping with a dealer.
It was her friend's fault! You're angry, huh? You want to lash out.
Grace's friends me Why are you doing this? When I found my husband his head was in so many pieces the only way they could identify him was by checking his teeth.
Sorry I upset you.
Please leave.
I'm so sorry.
The talent for magic runs in families.
I get it from my mother, but if Monica Cutler knew magic she would have used it to lash out at me when I pushed her buttons.
So Grace Cutler didn't inherit her talent from her mother.
What are you doing? Which left only 1 possibility.
This belong to Victor? It's his old textbooks.
Do you have the key? I wouldn't know where to find it.
Never mind, it wasn't locked.
What is all that? They ID'd your husband by his dental records, right? Where'd they get his records? From his personal files.
Let me guess, no autopsy because it was suicide; the body was cremated as per your husband's wishes, right? You What are you saying? What I think is your husband is still alive.
So this Cutler guy faked his own death and he's been out there on the run ever since? Well, not on the run.
This guys no pro, he's just a talented amateur.
Even with all the anger he's feeling though, he'd still need a ton of extra juice to fuel his spells.
That means a permanent ritual area, home base.
I'll find him.
Okay, but just promise you'll be careful.
Don't try to talk to him or confront him, just Bye, bye.
Okay.
That's for hanging up on me, stealing evidence from a crime scene and assaulting an officer! You mean Kirmani? He counts? And these are for being spotted in the car with the dead body of Linda Atwater.
I didn't kill that girl.
Best I could tell she saw Kirmani drag me to the crime scene She thought I killed Jennifer, she started following me and then the real murderer caught up to her.
The only person that caught up to her was you! I gave you her address.
My license plate search is on record in the Department computer system.
The only thing I hate more than being played and lied to is being made to look like an accessory to a murder.
I know who did it Murphy.
Karmani saw you.
He's already put out an APB.
You just made yourself the prime suspect for three murders.
If you really like me for this you'd be reading me my rights.
All I care about are answers and I'm not hearing them.
You want answers? They're inside.
There you go.
Does the stuff belong to Victor Cutler? Yeah, and his daughter Grace before him.
Okay, let's recap.
Grace died of Black magic.
Her father thought it was an o.
d.
, blamed her friends, faked his own death then took up Black Magic himself to get revenge.
Yup.
Except it's all garbage.
Your suspect is dead; your murder weapon is hocus pocus.
You can't walk into a court with any of it.
Twenty-four hours.
That's all I need.
Come on Susan, pick up.
Come on.
Thanks technology, I hate you too.
Oh no.
The storms.
He's getting extra power from the storms.
Come on Murphy.
Dresden? Victor Cutler, where is he? What is wrong with you? Are you hurt? Victor I'm his next target.
I've got to find him before it's too late.
Tell me you found him.
I ran his old addresses all the way back to the town where he was born, Oakview, Michigan.
I got nothing.
Home towns, places of birth, they have strength, energy could use.
I have to get there.
Oakview, Michigan looks like a pretty good place to hide.
It's out of the way, it's quiet and isolated, and doesn't stand out - at least not to most people.
Of course as you work in Thaumaturgy, trafficking with the dark powers, making blood sacrifices, that kind of stuff, you don't know how to hide it.
It's the magical equivalent of lighting a bonfire, for someone like me.
If I get close enough, I can feel the heat.
Grace Cutler.
Victor.
Susan! The heart is such a fragile thing, easy to break, impossible to repair.
You let her go.
She has nothing to do with this! She does, because you care for her.
The way I treasured my Grace.
So this is all about revenge against Jennifer and Tommy and Linda.
They're criminals and nothing is going to keep me from punishing them, especially not you.
I'll take that.
You okay? What happened to not confronting him without calling me? Don't come near.
You should have left me alone.
Didn't leave me much choice Victor.
You murdered innocent people.
It wasn't drugs that killed your daughter; it was magic - Black Magic.
You're just trying to confuse me, make me lose my focus.
I've been where you are Victor.
I've used magic to kill.
I know how good it feels, how much I want to do it again.
This isn't about revenge anymore; this is about power - an addiction.
I don't have to listen to this.
Acario shekarek, I summon thee, Acario shekarek, I summon thee.
I summon thee.
Now what? You want your daughter's murderer, he's right there.
You got that thing's name from your daughter's books right? You summoned him, he had him teach you the spell you used to kill Jennifer and the others and you sent it after me.
Don't you get it? Grace summoned it before you did and it killed her and now it's convincing you to kill innocent people in her name.
I know what I'm doing.
Kill him! Kill the wizard! You don't get it; just because that thing does what you say doesn't mean it can't manipulate you.
You're an even bigger fool than your daughter.
No, back! Amateurs.
Now you.
Okay buddy.
Susan, no! Put her down, put her down! Want to save the girl? Force me.
Use the black, seal my fate? That, or the girl dies.
Dres! Don't! How very brave.
Use the Black Dresden, you know you want to.
You dream about it, it's inside you.
Whisper it.
All you got to do is let it out.
You go to hell! Holy water! One last chance - compel me! I don't think so.
Say it or you die! You're not going to kill me.
You need a wizard to keep you here, to summon and compel you! And with Victor and Grace dead I'm your only hope.
If I die they'll be no more fun and games for you.
You forget, I'm immortal, I've got all eternity to wait for another sucker, but you Morgan.
Dresden.
Hold that thought.
Susan, are you all right? She's a lot tougher than she looks.
How long were you standing out there? Long enough.
So you let me twist in the wind just to see me suffer? Wanted to hear what you had to say.
Another test.
Did I pass professor? Class dismissed.
- I'm alive.
- For now.
Don't look so disappointed.
A demon was summoned; people are dead.
If I could prove that you were responsible for any of that we wouldn't be having this conversation, but I've been told otherwise.
So you went to bat for me.
I'm speechless.
Works for me.
So, you're off the hook - for now, but I know you, you'll screw up again and I'll be there when you do.
It's not fair, you know.
Murder/sorcer, a demon, an heroic wizard; got the story of a lifetime and no one wants to print it.
Skeptics, you'll get used to them.
And on the bright side, I stopped the bad guy and I got the girl.
How did that happen? Magic? Magic.
Magic, it can be dark, dangerous, deadly, but if you walk the straight and narrow, stay pure of heart, all that stuff, you can also use magic to make the world a little brighter.
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