Without a Trace s01e13 Episode Script

Previously on Without a Trace: - Jack, I hate to ask this, but I need a favor.
- Sure.
I'll make some calls.
Chet Collins is a contractor from Rockaway who liked nothing more than to take his kids camping.
On one of those trips, his son Sean disappeared in the middle of the night from his tent, five years ago.
You told me you would never give up till we found him.
I don't want you to go through it again.
I don't think you should give up.
Sometimes I wish I could.
I'm scared that I might not be able to hang on.
You can hang on to me.
Here we go, Sean.
Right next to Daddy.
A July weekend in the Catskills.
Sean was only two, but Chet wanted to start him early.
He loved the mountains.
Stay put, mister.
I'm gonna go and see what Mom and Kelly are doing, okay? And then I'm gonna get.
I'll be right back, okay? His wife, Helen, was in another tent, with their daughter, Kelly.
I'm coming back.
Don't you go anywhere.
Just after 9:00, Chet walked over to see them, just to say good night.
When he got back to the tent, the boy was gone.
Vanished.
- Six years, and you never caught a break.
- Not even close.
When was the last time you talked to Chet? Couple of months ago.
The super hasn't seen Chet in a week and apparently he missed a visitation with his daughter.
His wife couldn't reach him, she got nervous, and so she called it in.
Chet told me he had moved to a smaller place, but.
There's no sign of forced entry.
Nothing obvious missing, other than his car.
You check his work? Yeah.
He was subcontracting with a builder out in Huntington.
They say he was getting behind, missing appointments.
- They laid him off.
That was last week.
- Right.
Jack, I think you should come take a look at this.
This was the photo he always carried with him.
You were pretty close to this guy? What? Nothing.
Mr.
Collins has got financial troubles.
Big ones.
He's about $25,000 in the hole.
In the last few months, they canceled his credit cards, cable and cell phone.
We also found pawnshop receipts in his apartment.
Television, stereo.
He was dumping for cash.
Three months ago, he deposited $15,000 in checking but didn't try to pay down any of his debt.
- He blew right through it.
- On what? Checking activity doesn't account for the spending.
There's a lot of ATM withdrawals.
Look at that.
- Yeah.
It could be drugs.
- It's not drugs.
It's happened to better men than Chet.
Men who've had it a lot easier.
Not this man.
Move on.
Jack, I just spoke to ATF.
Chet Collins bought a gun.
A nine-millimeter at a sporting goods store in Hackensack eight days ago.
Jack, listen to me.
He's lost his job, he's deep in debt he left his wedding ring and the picture.
He didn't kill himself.
If nothing else, he's a fighter.
Maybe he thinks he found something out about Sean and he's gonna take a crack at it, vigilante-style.
Not likely.
Every time he gets a lead, he brings it to us, we run it down.
Danny, I want you to follow the money.
Samantha and Martin, go check out his work.
Vivian, you and I will talk to his wife.
- How'd it go down? - It's been building for weeks.
We got a kitchen remodel out in Water Mill.
Simple.
My guy's telling me that Chet's screwing up.
Not just minor code stuff.
Ungrounded electrical next to gas connections.
It's a very serious fire hazard.
So I tell him to get on it.
Chet says, "Fine.
" A week later, we're ready to call for inspection close the wall up, nothing has been changed.
I can't have that.
- Chet, I've made my decision.
- No, man, don't.
Sorry.
You know I wanted this to work out.
Fred, don't do this to me.
Chet, please.
We go back 10 years.
I know it's hard for you, but this isn't working out.
You don't understand, man.
I gotta keep working.
I need the money.
I'm sorry.
I'll give you a week.
It'll give you some time.
You can look around.
Okay? Look, Chet-- Dislocated it pretty good.
Anybody but Chet, I'm suing.
Had you known him to be violent in the past? No, not at all.
Which is why it's so weird the way he's been acting.
- How's that? - On edge.
Popping off without much provocation, a few run-ins with the other guys.
Could drugs or alcohol have anything to do with it? Not that I've seen.
- Do you know why he needed the money? - No.
But he sounded pretty desperate.
I just hope he didn't go and do something stupid.
It feels so odd having you back here.
I wish it was under better circumstances.
I'm so worried about Chet.
Mrs.
Collins, it would help if you could tell us about the last time you saw him.
It was last weekend.
Chet had taken Kelly to a dance concert in the city.
They got back early and.
Thanks, Dad.
That was nice.
I mean it.
I had a good time, too.
- Excuse me.
- Can I help you? No.
I mean.
This is Alex Sanborn.
- Chet Collins.
- Nice to meet you.
Good night, Helen.
Why don't you go on inside? I'll see you in a second.
- I was going to tell you.
- You were going to tell me but I brought Kelly home early and you didn't have to.
- I was trying to find a good time.
- Don't patronize me, Helen.
Is it serious? Is it serious? As a matter of fact, it is.
Okay, you're moving on.
I'm happy for you.
But just because I'm not willing to give up on our son How dare you say that! doesn't mean I can expect the same from you! He's my son, too! You can't be bothered about it anymore! Just shut up! I can't take this anymore.
I'm sorry you had to find out this way but I can't go on like this, and neither can Kelly.
And if you're not ready, that's okay.
I understand.
It doesn't mean that I don't love Sean.
I think of him every single day.
Because I do.
And I always will.
Can you understand that? You go to hell.
With all we'd been through he'd never spoken to me that way before.
Do you think your husband would do anything to harm himself? That night there was a look in his eyes - that I hadn't seen before.
- What kind of a look? It was complete emptiness.
- Malone.
- Hey, it's Martin.
We found out where Chet's money has been going.
According to his phone records he's been contacting a private investigator for over two months.
- Who is it? - Guy's name is Gary Fisk.
Checked out his background.
He sounds a bit shady.
Sam and I are gonna run out there now.
No, I'll go.
What's the address? It's 4804 Harrison Boulevard in Queens.
-Okay, thanks.
- All right, good luck.
I felt for the guy at first.
I mean, who wouldn't? - So when did Mr.
Collins hire you? - About two months ago.
He had a few tips to check out.
Mostly it was general stuff.
- Police reports, newspapers.
- What do you charge? My normal rate, $300 a day.
That's for my services.
Lower for my associate.
- How did Mr.
Collins pay you? - I only take cash.
And things were okay for a month or so.
He kept up pretty good.
But then the money started coming in later and later.
So I extended myself at first.
Like I said, I felt for him.
But after a while, he put me in a hole.
So then you started withholding information.
That usually works.
You tell them you got something, then they come up with the dough.
But Collins just kept hassling me.
I told him, "This ain't a charity.
" And then three days ago, the guy goes Tarantino on me.
Give it all to me.
All of it.
- I'm telling you, it's nothing.
- You said you had stuff.
Where is it? Look for yourself.
It's all there.
- So did you call the police? - No, I got confidential files and stuff.
I'll bet.
Was there anything that you gave Chet that could lead him to believe that he'd be able to locate his son? Look, the truth is, I don't really know what was in there.
Just some clippings the kid found.
I was just trying to get paid.
If you've been leading him on, you'll be sorry you ever saw me.
What you talking about, leading him on? It's a six-year-old case.
No leads.
You even talk to a guy like that, you're leading him on.
Here we go.
Sean Collins.
Six and a half years' worth of dead ends.
This is only half of it.
- And we're looking for what? - That's the fun part.
We don't know.
Here's a theory.
We reopen Sean's original case, try to find out where Chet was focusing.
Then if we find out what the Pl gave him we can get a sense of where he might be headed.
- So we follow Chet right into the abyss? - We abandon all other theories? We know he was depressed and acting erratic.
- He's got a gun.
- Jack doesn't think it was suicide.
Come on.
Even his wife said he seemed hopeless.
Jack doesn't think it's suicide.
Okay.
But if we know that Chet chose to chase down this lead-- - Martin, don't even go there.
- But we have to raise the question, Vivian.
If you guys don't want to work on the case - I think you need to take it up with Jack.
- We'd love to.
It just seems like somebody doesn't want to leave his office today.
- We're ready to get going in there.
- Just give me a second.
- You want to talk about it? - Nope.
What happened the last time Chet came in here? I told you, nothing.
- Okay.
Now tell me the truth.
- Vivian, back off.
- Did you just tell me to back off? - Yeah, back off.
This is not your personal crusade.
I've spent just as much time on this case as you have.
And whatever happened between you and Chet is relevant to this investigation.
It is not a private moment.
You need to share it with the rest of the team, which includes me.
Chet found a picture in an Oklahoma newspaper.
It was a homeless kid.
He became convinced that it was Sean.
He wanted me to check it out.
So I ran it by the locals in Tulsa, but it turned out to be a dead end.
But Chet wouldn't have any of it.
He wanted me to send a team from here.
I just can't do it.
A couple of days, man.
You guys know this case.
I've had the locals ID the boy.
It's not Sean.
I'm talking about making sure, that's all.
- I can't justify sending a team down.
- What the hell is that? I have priorities.
I can't send agents running after every lead even if I think they're reasonable.
- Which you don't.
- No, I do not! - You gave me your word! - That's enough.
I'm sorry, but Sean's gone.
He's just gone.
Bye, Jack.
That was the last time I saw him.
It was two months ago.
I think you did the right thing.
He needed to hear that.
Not from me, he didn't.
- You don't owe him anything.
- I think I do.
Chet is out there with a gun and he could hurt himself or someone else.
Jack, you are not responsible for everything and everybody.
Are you done? Here's what I can piece together.
There was one entrance to the campground, a ranger station here.
But it was unmanned after 8:00 p.
m.
The boy vanished just after 9:00 p.
m.
- Did the cars in the campsite check out? - Over and over.
We're just spinning our wheels here without Jack.
Okay, guys, here we go.
Fisk, the Pl, gave us a list of all the newspaper citations he got online.
All of the articles were found at Chet's apartment, except one.
This is a listing from the crime page of a weekly paper in Trenton.
An unidentified man was detained for trying to kidnap a 2-year-old girl.
He tried to lure her from her yard using his dogs.
The cops didn't have enough to charge him, so he was released.
There was a witness in Sean's case who thought he saw a guy with a small dog in the campground.
There was this theory that he used the dog to lure Sean.
Nobody else saw him.
They never found him, they let it go.
Maybe Chet didn't.
Maybe he thinks he's found his guy.
What was the witness's name? Here we go.
Trey Cavanaugh.
Park ranger.
I'd only started in the park three months before it happened.
This was my dream job, being up here in the mountains.
That sure changed.
You're a supervisor now? Yeah.
They got me behind a desk in Liberty.
The place is pretty much the same.
How often did you talk to Mr.
Collins? About once a year.
He'd go on and ask if I remembered anything else about the dog guy.
- If I had, I'd have called you people.
- Did he seem satisfied with that? Yeah.
I always felt he was just sort of going down the list.
- Until a couple days ago.
- What happened? He called up and said he wanted to meet me here.
And that he had a picture of the guy.
His name's Tyson Dibbs.
He tried to grab a kid in Jersey using a dog.
- I don't know, it was six years ago.
- Really look, and try to remember.
- It's hard.
It was dark.
- This could be the man who took my son! I know that, Mr.
Collins, and I want to help you.
Think.
You were here that night.
I can't be sure.
Just look at the picture.
Try to remember.
His name's Tyson Dibbs.
Could this be the man you saw? Sure.
Yeah.
It could be.
It was like that's all he wanted to hear.
But you weren't sure? I got to be honest with you.
When you people couldn't find any trace of this guy I pretty much figured, you know, maybe I never saw him.
- You never told that to Mr.
Collins? - No way.
I couldn't.
Mr.
Dibbs, FBI.
Open it up.
Vivian, here's what we found on Tyson Dibbs.
You are not gonna believe it.
Check that room.
You better call the coroner's office.
Martin ran Tyson Dibbs' name through all the indexes.
No record.
But he does show up as a witness in an FBI investigation six years ago.
The Collins case.
I think Chet found something.
As far as we know, Dibbs is clean.
Divorced 11 years ago, no kids.
No police record.
Okay.
Chet goes to see Dibbs.
They fight, right? Dibbs confesses to taking his son.
Chet loses it, and he shoots him.
Or Dibbs doesn't confess.
Chet doesn't believe him and shoots him.
Chet would want to find out about Sean first.
So he wouldn't do anything to anybody until he had that information.
If I'm Dibbs and I think I'm gonna die I'm gonna tell Chet whatever he wants to hear.
And whatever that is, Chet's gonna run it down, right? I just talked to Helen Collins.
Chet called there last night.
If he's calling home, why isn't he calling us? Obviously, he's furious-- Chet is not calling us, because he doesn't think we'll help.
And that is my mistake.
As you may have noticed, I've been a little preoccupied with it lately.
But I feel what I feel.
And if my attitude has caused anyone any problems I apologize, but I think we should move on.
I think Danny is right.
We should focus on Tyson Dibbs.
Chet probably is running something down he found out from him.
Vivian, we need to see Helen again.
- You happy? - Yeah.
He called Kelly, which, of course, is understandable.
But it just would've been nice if my daughter had informed me.
Dad told me not to say anything.
It's okay, Kelly.
Your father needs our help.
He called last night.
-lt's me, honey.
- Daddy? Where are you? The police were here.
Don't worry.
Everything's fine.
I've got some great news about Sean.
- Let me get Mom.
- No.
You can't tell anyone we talked.
Not until I bring your brother home.
- Dad-- -l am so close, honey.
Okay, Dad.
Kelly, listen I know how hard it's been but we'll be a family again.
And I'll try so hard to make it up to you.
I love you, Kelly.
Whatever happens, I love you.
I love you, too, Daddy.
That's all.
Agent Malone I know my Dad's done this before.
Not run away, I mean but convince himself of stuff that wasn't true.
It's just he's never sounded so sure before.
So the plot thickens.
I got Dibbs' old phone records.
The day after Sean was taken Dibbs made a dozen calls to a motel outside of Hartford.
The next day, 10 more.
Maybe Dibbs wasn't acting alone.
Maybe he had a partner he was supposed to meet at the motel.
But the thing is, not one of these calls lasted more than a minute.
Short calls.
Messages? Maybe he never reached the guy.
The hotel manager checked out his old registries.
There was one no-show on a reservation at that time.
Here's the interesting part: There was a request for a crib.
So Dibbs takes Sean.
He's gonna meet his partner in Hartford, but the guy never showed.
- Who made the reservation? - A guy named Bo Williams.
The credit card he used has been cancelled.
And there's no hits on NCIC, so we're still looking.
- Verizon.
- Thanks.
Chet's call to his daughter came from a payphone at a truck stop on l-95 just south of New Haven.
Our man's on his way to Hartford.
Mr.
Jensen, we believe the man that tried to abduct your daughter six weeks ago may be involved in several kidnappings in the last couple of years.
I don't know how I can help.
Whatever you can tell us about that day may give us some insight into his activity.
There's a lake at O'Connor Park.
And my daughter, Alya, she went off chasing this big mallard.
She was, like, 50 feet away from me, and she just darted into the woods.
I ran over there.
I couldn't find her.
I'm calling her name.
That's when I saw her.
She was crouched over this little dog on a leash.
And there's no sign of Mr.
Dibbs? No.
One of the other fathers grabbed him while he was trying to get into his Bronco on the service road behind the lake.
- Did you see any sign of a partner? - No, I didn't see one.
- Chris? - That's my wife.
Yes? - Is everything okay? - Yeah.
Mixed-race adoptions.
Here's how it works.
You're a mixed-race couple wanting child that looks like you.
- Say African-American-Asian, like Sean.
- Right.
You go to an adoption agency, make the request.
The more exotic, the more difficult to find.
If the child can't be found in the general adoption pool the request is farmed out to private brokers.
The families arrange to kidnap the children? The families have no idea.
It's all run through legit agencies.
The broker supplies the child, some shady lawyer draws up the papers - and it all looks above-board.
- That's why Chet was going to Hartford.
Dibbs must've told him that Sean was adopted by a family there.
But we know that something went wrong with the adoption because Dibbs' partner never showed up at the motel.
Doesn't mean the adoption didn't go through.
So let's find that lawyer.
Here we are.
The Carters.
Thank you.
He was a sweet little boy.
They named him Austin.
February'97.
Seven months after Sean went missing.
Maybe they held onto him until things were cooled down.
Unless they took a little side trip to Vietnam.
Yes.
This one came from a service in Vietnam that finds Amerasian children needing homes.
And you've used this service before? I personally went over there and picked up the boy.
Believe me, it's a reputable operation.
You said that the couple had been trying for a long time.
Yes.
In fact, I remember they almost had an adoption come through with another agency earlier that year.
How much earlier? I don't remember exactly.
Maybe six to eight months.
They were a day away.
They made plans to receive the child.
- The whole thing fell apart.
- Do you know where this family is now? The Carters live in Trumbull.
They saw someone matching Chet's description parked outside their house this morning.
- Chet must think Austin's his son.
- He's not.
- Where's the kid now? - He's on a school field trip.
Chet, stop.
It's not Sean.
It's not your son.
Jack, what are you doing here? It's not Sean.
We checked into it.
It's not your child.
- Why should I listen to you? - Because I'm your friend.
You get out of my way.
I found him without you.
Cuff him.
Chet Collins, you're under arrest for the murder of Tyson Dibbs.
I'm sorry.
Let's go.
I told you, I didn't kill him! Now, you got to let me go.
Do you understand? I found my son.
No, you did not.
You hoped that you found your son.
Now I want you to tell me what happened with Dibbs.
When I saw the article about the Trenton abduction I remembered what that guy in the park had said.
I knew Dibbs was it.
I went out there.
I found a cop who was willing to talk and I went to his house.
- Tell me! - I didn't hurt him.
God, please.
I just took him from the campsite.
What did you do with him? There was supposed to be an adoption, but I don't know what happened.
I swear to God! I was just supposed to grab him and hand him off.
The other guy was gonna take him back to a motel, set it up with a lawyer.
- What other guy? - His name's Bo Williams.
- How do I find him? - I don't know.
I will kill you.
I got nothing to lose.
Look, after I gave him the boy, I never saw him again.
I never got paid.
I got nothing.
- Do not lie to me! - I swear to God, I'm not.
I tried to reach him for weeks.
The guy vanished.
Where was he supposed to take Sean? To some family in Trumbull, I think.
Connecticut.
I don't know anything else.
I swear to God, I would tell you if I did.
If I don't find my son I'm coming back.
And I'm going to kill you.
He was alive when I left.
If I killed him, I'd tell you.
- If you didn't kill him, then who did? - I don't know.
Maybe it was this Williams fellow covering his tracks.
It sounds like there was other people involved.
- Where did you go? - I headed right to Trumbull.
I knew the adoption agency wouldn't tell me anything.
So I started going to elementary schools.
Said I was moving to town, had a second-grader wondered if they'd give me a tour.
Look at me, Jack.
You're sure that boy's not Sean? Yes, I'm sure.
His name is Austin Devon Jones.
He was born in Vietnam.
He was adopted six months after Sean disappeared.
I am really sorry.
Yeah, yeah.
We're not gonna give up.
Neither am I.
Just give me a second.
Just got the ballistics report on Chet's gun.
It's not the weapon that killed Tyson Dibbs.
We get that to the police, they'll have to let him go.
In which case-- Just take your time, okay? I think I found Bo Williams.
This guy was a small-time crook.
Couple of outstanding warrants from the'90s.
Nothing on his record involving children, but get this.
The day after Sean disappeared, Williams was killed in a car accident.
- In Connecticut? - No.
Route 80, just outside of Detroit.
Wait.
I don't understand.
What if Williams was double-crossing everyone and going freelance with Sean? He takes the boy from Dibbs in Connecticut but instead of meeting the lawyer, he drives all night to Detroit.
Falls asleep at the wheel, and that's it.
- Was there a child in the car? - I'm still waiting for the accident report.
It was a head-on collision.
And if he's right, if Sean was in that car-- We just don't know.
But then if he survived, where is he? Certainly Dibbs and Williams can't tell us.
What about the lawyer who tried to set Sean up with the Carters? - Gene Clarkson? - Yeah.
He's into everything, not just adoption.
Drugs, prostitution.
But no one has ever been able to make anything stick.
Let's say that Sean has survived the accident.
Clarkson doesn't want to let go of his investment so easily.
Maybe he goes after him.
- Do you think he killed Tyson Dibbs? - Probably.
My guess is that Dibbs called Clarkson as soon as Chet left not realizing he signed his own death warrant.
We got to bust this guy.
- What are you thinking? - Clarkson knows that Chet's on his tail.
Maybe we can get Chet to make a phone call offering him $20,000 for some information on Sean.
- Maybe he meets him in a crowded area.
- Maybe he wears a wire.
And maybe we get some information on Dibbs or Sean.
Martin's waiting for the accident report.
I've got to get a court order on the wire.
Why don't you go get some sleep? - Long day.
- Yep.
And it goes on.
Remember, no heroics, okay? And when we give you the signal, get out of there.
- I mean, walk away.
- I got it.
No problem.
Sean was in the car.
He survived the accident.
He was taken to a city hospital in Detroit.
- But then we lose track of him.
- I don't understand.
- Is he alive? - We're not really sure.
How could this not get reported? Williams was traveling with Sean with false adoption papers.
We're checking all the medical records of the period, but they're a mess.
Listen to me.
We're gonna find Sean.
All right, let's do this.
Mr.
Collins? Mr.
Clarkson, I'd like you to keep your hands out of your pockets if you don't mind.
I know you killed Tyson Dibbs.
- I don't know what you're talking about.
- I don't care.
I just want my son back.
And you think I can help? I'm gonna reach into my pocket for an envelope, okay? $21,700.
Everything I've got in the world.
Just tell me where Sean is.
As I said to you on the phone, I'll look into it for you.
That's not good enough.
You want my money, you tell me where my son is right now.
Everybody, hold.
I know you hired Tyson Dibbs and Bo Williams.
I know Williams took Sean to Detroit.
Where is he? I'm afraid we won't be doing business, Mr.
Collins.
It's blown, Danny.
Wave him off.
Have a nice day.
- Just tell me.
Why Sean? - I wouldn't know.
Tell me, you son of a bitch! Okay, let's get in there.
Where's my boy? Where is he? Go, go! I'll kill you! Where's Sean? - Where's Sean? Where is he? - Back off! FBI! What did you do with him? Where is he? Where's my boy? Come on! What've we got here? That's perfect.
I'll tell you what I'm gonna do, I'm gonna run a test on that gun.
My guess is it's a forensics match to the gun that killed Tyson Dibbs.
And even if it's not, those hands that were just around your neck they're gonna be there again.
I promise you.
And next time, we're not gonna be here to stop him.
Where's the boy? Children's Services in Detroit.
Foster care, I think.
Get him out of here.
It's all right, Chet.
It's okay, come on.
I'm your.
I'm Chet.
What's your name? Garrett.
It's nice to meet you, Garrett.
You are beautiful.
Do you mind if I give you a little hug? I'm so happy for you, Mr.
Collins.
Thank you, Agent Johnson.
I wanted to give you this.
It's a St.
Jude.
Yeah.
I got it from a priest about a year ago.
I don't know if the man gave it to me because he thought I was lost or because Sean was lost.
Either way I don't need it anymore.
But I thought maybe you could use it.
Thanks.
- You take care, my friend.
- You, too.