Cold Case s01e18 Episode Script

We shouldn't even be out.
She's convinced planes are gonna fall out of the sky at midnight.
I read the paper.
Come on, we've got 15 minutes left.
I don't have a resolution.
I'm very happy with my life.
Guys, we'll have exactly one millennium new years in our lives, a clean slate.
Okay.
To stop talking about my catering business and actually start it.
Excellent.
Jill? - Get Mel to stop gambling.
- Good luck with that.
Mel? Start a family.
Kids and all.
That leaves you, baby.
To make Gary the starting goalie at Whitman next year.
Your resolution is supposed to be about you.
Forget me.
This is the century my boy becomes a man.
To the new century.
And a brand new start.
Here here.
Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three Happy new year! Hi, Gil.
This is Lilly rush.
The lady I was telling you about.
Hi, Tami.
How are you doing? Great.
Good.
Terrible, actually.
Tami's four years sober.
She got her chip tonight.
That doesn't sound terrible to me.
It doesn't change what I did.
Which was what? Four years ago I had hit rock bottom.
It was new year's eve, the millennium.
You know, party like it's 1999.
So you did? And then that night I hit someone with my car.
She can't tell you more than that.
Tami's what they call a blackout drunk.
But I saw on the news the next day, a man named Greg cardiff was killed that night.
A hit and run.
I never came forward until now.
What makes you think you did it if you can't remember? It happened in Bella vista.
Where I was bar hopping that night.
After about 10:30, I'm blank until the next day.
Find any damage to your car? A dent on the hood.
A broken headlight and blood.
I think I mowed that poor man down that night and then just drove away.
Cold Case ORIGINAL AIR DATE ON CBS: 2004/03/28 Greg cardiff, 39, first murder of the millennium.
Tami's right.
This was the only unsolved auto-ped the first half of 2000.
Hit at the corner of 5th and Christian in Bella vista.
Pronounced at midnight.
Happy, frigging new year.
Had a wife and a 14 year old son.
Any witnesses? Nobody saw or heard nothing.
Probably all hung over.
Be worth going back, re-interviewing.
Looks like they only talked to 29 of the 30 neighbors.
This last one, Russell brinkley didn't respond to phone calls or cards left at the door.
Maybe out of town? Holiday travel.
- Not a holiday now.
- Your friend still got her car? Maybe we can match the damage to these crime scene photos.
Nah, she hid it in a garage for a year, then junked it in Wilmington.
But she gave us a picture.
Let's take it around.
Maybe somebody will recognize her or the car.
Bella vista is a tight neighborhood.
Before we start knocking on doors, we better tell the widow we're looking back.
- Anything I can do? - You did a lot.
Bringing us Tami.
Some AA buddy I am, huh? Convincing her to come forward, could land her in prison.
Mom.
It's the cops.
Detectives Rush and Valens.
What's wrong? What happened? Nothing is wrong.
We're here about Greg.
What about him? / We may have a new direction on the hit and run.
Gary, maybe you should I'm okay.
Can we show you a picture? I'm sorry.
I The last four years have been she cried for the first three.
Still wear your wedding band, huh? No, actually, I just got remarried a few months ago.
Congratulations.
But I'll do whatever I can to help.
Do you recognize her? Maybe from the bar that night? No, she doesn't look familiar, but the jeep does.
Greg wasn't feeling well that night so I walked him out.
Let me go back and get Mel and Jill.
We'll drive you.
/ I've got to play hockey with Gary tomorrow.
Not feeling like this.
I think I feel better.
I just got to walk.
Get some air.
I'll go with you.
No, I want you to go back in and celebrate the millennium with Jill and Mel.
I'll meet you at home.
I'll be there by 12:30.
Hey See you next century.
If only I had gone with him.
Mom, how could you know? So the jeep was outside the bar just before midnight? If not that one, one just like it.
What position do you play? Goalie.
He made varsity in ninth grade.
What, is this guy deaf? Same guy who avoided talking to the cops first time around.
Come on, Brinkley, Open up! - He's in there.
- Philadelphia PD! We just saw you get the mail! Answer this door! I'll check around back.
I'm not leaving until you open this door! - Hi, there.
- Oh, crap.
Pretty much.
I didn't see anything.
This guy saw something, boss.
Something like Tami running over Greg cardiff? Whatever it was, he don't want to tell.
Unresponsive four years back.
Tried to ditch Vera and Jeffries today.
Homebody like him, probably wasn't out new year's eve.
Let me guess where you were.
Here.
How'd it go with Greg's widow? She saw a red jeep outside the bar that night.
Red jeep, like Tami drove.
I was hoping things wouldn't point to her.
She's a nice lady.
Nice or not, no one gets a free murder.
Vera says this guy Russell's got demophobia.
Fear of? / Crowds.
So crowd him.
I told you I mind my own business.
Mind if we join? More the merrier.
Russell here, he's got a big picture window overlooking the street where Greg got hit.
That doesn't mean I saw anything.
Detective Valens.
How are you doing? Is there a bigger room? This is the only one open.
Open is not what I'd call it.
It is kind of small, isn't it? Cozy.
Even if I saw something - I wouldn't want to get involved.
- Why not? It was four years ago.
You wouldn't be able to make charges stick.
Actually our batting average is pretty good, Russell.
And I got to live in my neighborhood.
So it was a neighbor? A neighbor you're afraid of? I didn't say that.
Russell, I'm appealing to your decency here.
I think you're a decent person.
What did you see that night? Something I wish I hadn't.
You're sure it was a brown continental? Positive.
Everyone in Bella vista knew that car.
You saw it coming, you went the other way.
You know the owner? This jerk named John butler.
- You scared of Butler? - That make me less of a man? Tell us about him.
He's a rotten guy, mean.
Makes life hell for everyone who lives there.
He killed Harriet.
Who's Harriet? My poodle.
Butler sicced his pitbull on her because she chewed up his newspaper.
She was a puppy.
Are you sure he hit Greg? Probably on purpose, too.
Oh, this guy's gonna kill me.
We'll protect you, Russell.
I read crime novels.
You can't do nothing.
I'm getting out of town.
You guys need me, I'll be at my mom's in Pittsburgh.
So where were you January 1, 2000? Uh, at Elisa's grandma's, scarfing the brunch of the ages.
What do you mean? She was one of them kooks thought the world was gonna stop spinning.
Stockpiled hams, potatoes, eggs, enough to last 40 days and nights.
You been with her a while, then, huh? Elisa? Kids when we met.
You don't believe in making it official? It's complicated.
Like you and Kite, right? I guess.
She do something you can't forgive? Nah.
She, uh She got sick.
She She went to the puzzle house for a while.
That bad, huh? Remember that kid, uh, Barry, on the Richardson job, heard the voices in the closet? Yeah.
Like him.
I hear the meds really help with that.
Yeah.
She's having a good run now.
Thanks for telling me, Scotty.
This is it.
Should've brought your coat.
Yeah.
/ Want mine? Wouldn't make you less of a man.
I'd rather freeze now.
We're looking for John butler.
Thanks.
Are you Butler? Depends who's asking.
- I am.
- I didn't do nothing to no one.
Now, why is that so hard to believe? You a cop, too? Got to admire a piece with a piece.
Maybe when we're done here, I could buy you a steak.
Vegetarian.
John, you remember a guy from the neighborhood named Greg cardiff? Knew him, till someone turned him into roadkill.
You have a personal relationship with Greg? We didn't travel in the same circles.
Because we have a witness who saw you run him down.
Me? We're just trying to figure if this was an accident or murder.
Hey, ho.
Whoever said that is full of it.
I didn't hit no one.
Well, you were arrested for drunk driving in '86.
Then again in '91.
So? Not a big stretch you'd be out drunk driving new year's eve.
Three counts of assault and battery, public nuisance complaints.
We even heard you turned your pit bull loose on a poor little dog.
That mutt was a yappy little bitch.
I did the neighborhood a favor.
Yeah, well, we're gonna do the neighborhood a favor now.
Bring you in, impound your car.
I don't even have that car no more.
Matter of fact, I didn't have it that new year's, neither.
- Convenient.
- Happens to be true.
Got stolen that night.
Hey, you got to pay first.
Three bucks a gallon? / Look, there might not be any gas tomorrow.
I was here last week.
It was a buck and a quarter.
It, it's the owner, okay? He says this Y2K thing's got people willing to pay big.
- That's price gouging.
- Look, you got to talk to the owner.
Hey, I been filling up here since before you could get a woody, kid.
Look, I'm sorry, okay? It's not up to me.
- I'm sorry.
- Turn the pump on.
Turn that pump on! Turn your pump on! You report your car stolen? That night.
They found it stripped in Jersey two days later.
Check for yourself.
Will do.
Call me about that steak.
John butler? Everyone knows him and hates him.
Did Greg know him, too? Unfortunately.
In fact, he saw him that afternoon.
Butler confronted us at the market.
- I was with Greg.
- This is my husband, Mel.
Mel davis.
/ Hey.
Good friend of Greg's at college.
We were all together that new year's eve.
The three of you? Jill, Mel's ex-wife, was also there.
And you two are married now.
We know.
It's weird.
Gary tells us all the time.
Mel was really good to Gary and me after we lost Greg.
And, uh, Jill left me that year for greener pastures.
NaMely, a cardiologist.
Four years later, here we are.
Nice for both of you.
I told Mel you were asking about a red jeep.
We got new information now.
Points to Butler.
Butler drove a continental.
Tell us about seeing him that day.
Well, Greg and I went on a beer run, and, uh, Butler was waiting for us in the parking lot.
So who do you like, Minnesota or Oregon? Oregon's not even ranked.
Gophers are gonna destroy them.
Hey, Cardiff! You scratched my car.
What? / Door of your fag-mobile nicked my door.
Are you kidding? Was I talking to you? I don't think I even touched it, John.
Saw it with my own eyes.
I'm real sorry if I did.
- That don't cut it.
- Hey, idiot, look at your car, look at Greg's.
Now, you tell me, who should be worried about scratches? Mel, it's not worth it.
Do you want to talk to me like that? I'll drop both of you right here! Whoa.
Whoa.
John I apologize, John.
Won't happen again.
Happy new year, okay? Moron.
So Butler was looking for a fight.
Well, I got to admit, I egged him on.
You think he hit Greg that night on purpose to get back at him? If he did, we'll find out.
Thought you didn't have a beef with Greg cardiff, John.
I didn't.
/ You had a run-in with him the day he died, bitched him out for dinging your car.
That was nothing.
/ Greg and his pal called you an idiot a moron, and you don't seem like the type just looks away.
I told you, my car was stolen before Cardiff got slammed.
You made that report at 1:00 A.
M.
, An hour after Greg was killed.
Plenty of time to ditch the car, report it missing.
Kid at the station wouldn't let me use the phone to call the cops.
I had to walk there.
- Yeah, we talked to that kid.
- So he'll tell you it was stolen.
He don't want to tell nothing to help you, John, no one does.
But a lot of people are willing to testify against you.
talk about your poor character.
We have a 80-year-old oak tree in our front yard.
While we were at church, Butler took a chainsaw to it.
That, that thing shed its leaves onto my lawn.
Butler ran into my 12 year old daughter on her way to school.
- Called her a whore.
- I said they dress her that way.
Got to remember how young boys think.
John asked me out three or four times.
I politely declined.
He spray-painted 'whore' on my front door.
What's your point? What goes around comes around.
All these neighbors are gonna be more than happy to help put you away.
You had a beef with Greg.
We got an eyewitness puts your car at the crime scene.
And 40 plus character witnesses to say this guy's got to be guilty.
Look I'm not the guy you really want, but I can help you.
We're listening.
My car was stolen.
But I had a guy do it for me.
Hired him, you know for the insurance money.
Keep talking.
He must've hit Cardiff when he was going to ditch the car in Jersey.
Name? Trevor mckai.
Lives over in Bridesburg.
You Trevor? Yeah.
Homicide.
Want to talk to you about a hit-and-run a while back.
Over in Bella vista.
Happened new year's eve at the millennium.
Were you over that way? Hmm.
Bella vista? Nah, I was out with friends here in Bridesburg.
We need the names of those friends.
I don't really know their names.
So not good friends, then.
You know, I was just hanging out with people.
Partying and whatnot.
Somebody's house? At a bar? This bar, maybe? Yeah.
/ Yeah? Forget it, man.
I've been waiting four years for you guys to show up.
Got something you want to get off your chest? I could tell you your rights.
Nah.
I don't need them.
It was me that hit that guy.
Driving John butler's stolen car? No kidding.
I had no choice.
What the hell? Oh, god.
I hit him.
I'm not denying it.
but the man was already down.
That doesn't make sense, Trevor.
I'm telling you that Greg cardiff wasn't crossing that street.
He was lying in it.
Guy says Greg was face down in the street before he ran him over? - That's his story.
- Do we believe it? Well, Trevor's got reason to lie, but the first report did say Greg wasn't feeling good.
That's why he went home early.
Heart attack? Aneurysm? How about sloppy drunk? It was new year's eve.
Let's ask the wife.
We didn't have this new direction, I'd take a hard look at Susan and Mel.
I was thinking the same thing.
Anyone got a favor coming from the coroner's office? I ain't going to the morgue.
The sMell of that place kills me.
Listen to the kitchen bitch.
Being an auto-ped, probably didn't do a full tox screen at autopsy, but maybe they saved some tissue samples.
Well, I'll give them a call.
Right after you disinfect the phone.
Greg wasn't drunk that night.
He was sick.
Sick? How? Well, we didn't know.
It was off and on for about a month.
But he felt good that day until we got to the bar.
What kind of symptoms he have? Headache.
Nausea.
Why? It's possible Greg collapsed on the street before he got hit by the car.
From what? / Did he have any kind of chronic condition? No.
He was a health nut.
He jogged every day.
He played hockey with Gary.
you know, Gary was sick that day, too.
Same symptoms? I think so.
Where's Gary now? Yeah, I was sick, too.
Headache, nausea, same as your dad? What's that have to do with him getting hit? His health that night might have been a factor.
Anything else you remember about your symptoms? I think I was seeing things kind of yellow.
What do you mean? Like like there was a yellow filter over everything I saw.
So you and your dad share any of the same foods that day? Dad ate something that mom cooked.
And, uh, I had fast food.
How about chips or pretzels watching the game? No.
But there was something else we shared.
Hey, there he is.
Good scrimmage? Yeah.
Sorry about this morning, Gare.
That's all right.
I'm better today.
How about tomorrow we set up the net in the driveway? Yeah, cool.
Because your mom loves when we slam pucks against the garage.
I do love it very much.
Anyone need anything? - No thanks, honey.
- No thanks.
- Hey, hey, hey.
- Gary, what are doing? - You know better.
- Sorry.
You got a few years to go there, kid.
Maybe I got sick from drinking from the same glass.
Maybe.
So Mel and your mom were both mad that you touched that margarita? I didn't see what the big deal was.
It was only a sip.
Father and son drink the same margarita, both fall sick.
Susan and Mel are both there, both could have slipped something into the drink.
And they take big pains to stop the kid from drinking.
Because dad is the target.
Fast forward four years and the widow and best friend are married.
Maybe they were seeing each other, decided to get rid of Greg.
I want find Mel's ex.
See if she suspected an affair.
Visitor.
At least there's good news for someone.
Why don't you go talk to Mel, Scotty, man to man.
Hi, Tami.
Thanks for coming in.
You have news? It wasn't you.
Oh, that's great.
You're sure? Someone confessed to hitting Greg cardiff that night.
And there's an eyewitness to back the story.
I confessed.
To what you thought you did.
What about the blood, the damage to my car? Maybe an animal.
Maybe you did hit someone, injured them.
But we only have homicide records here.
Point is, you didn't kill anyone.
Did you want it to be you, Tami? I quit drinking because I thought I hit this guy.
That was keeping me in check.
Now I Now what? I really want a gin and tonic.
We're thinking food poisoning.
And that he just fell in front of this car? I've seen stranger things.
Oh, crap.
You okay there, Mel? Knocks the wind out of your sails when you hear something like that.
He was my best friend.
Yeah.
How'd he get the food poisoning? Maybe the margarita he was drinking.
Really.
Gary says he took a sip of his dad's drink that day, and you kind of swatted it out of his hand.
I might have.
How come? He was only 14.
I mean, he's still not old enough to drink.
Can I ask you an aside here? Sure.
I ain't judging, believe me.
You and Susan you really take up after Greg's death? Yeah.
/ Because I know if I'm you and I'm looking at her and she's interested back I mean, married or not, the flesh is weak.
Maybe it makes me a real geek, but no.
I was faithful.
Well, better man than me.
So, uh, the margaritas you remember who made them? Rolling rock, huh? - You guys are really living it up.
- Or it reminds us of our college days.
Wouldn't you rather have a margarita? Mel? / Oh, no.
I don't drink tequila.
Ever since hell night freshman year.
Mel did 15 shots in 15 minutes.
I still get sick thinking about it.
You ended up in student health for three days.
My parents almost sued the fraternity.
I'm, uh, good with this.
So Susan made the margaritas, and the margaritas made Greg sick.
I don't like what you're suggesting.
Just adding up the facts.
Look, I'll say it again.
There was no love triangle before Greg died.
Would your ex-wife back that up? / Sure.
Jill's the one who left me for another man.
Know where we can find Jill? / No.
We're out of touch.
Who was the doctor she ended up with? Michael something.
Jill left you for this guy, and you never got his name? Look, if your wife tells you that she's screwing another guy, that's really all you need to know.
Anything else is just salt in the wound.
Found Jill davis or at least her answering machine.
Good.
because Mel's either a great liar or didn't have nothing to do with this.
Well, someone definitely wanted Greg cardiff dead.
Get something from the coroners? No tissue samples, but Greg was an organ donor.
Transplant unit at Pennsylvania hospital had some blood samples stored.
- Lethal levels of digoxin.
- What's that? Medication used to stabilize an irregular heart beat.
And it can be deadly if you want it to be.
Overdose symptoms are nausea, headache, - yellow-tinted vision - Gary's symptoms.
And fainting.
/ Maybe why Greg dropped in the street.
Guess who's in the emergency room.
Who? Mel davis.
Exact same symptoms as Greg.
We found digoxin in his system.
I don't know what digoxin is.
Prescription drug.
But you use it wrong, it's just poison.
Well, I've never heard of it.
All that cooking and catering you do, Susie, be pretty easy to slip a few lethal drops into dinner every night.
- I have to get to the hospital.
- Are you tired of Mel, is that it? What? He was good to you and all, just like Greg.
Maybe you just had your fill of him.
- I love Mel.
- You know about black widows? They're beautiful, but deadly.
Destroy their mates when their usefulness is over.
I didn't hurt my husband.
You got to be more specific, Susie.
Which husband do you mean? The one already dead, or the one in the hospital? If I was unhappy with Mel, why wouldn't I just get a divorce? I don't know.
Maybe you just don't like confrontation.
Yellow-tinted vision? It's weird, huh? They're running a million tests.
Where'd you have your last meal? Home.
Something Susan made? So? Mel, there was a drug called digoxin in Greg's system.
A lethal amount.
What is that? A heart medication.
I think they're gonna find that in your system, too.
Your partner's already been down this road with me.
Susan wouldn't harm me.
And she never would have hurt Greg.
She adored him.
Maybe she adored you more.
- At least for a while.
- It was always him.
Greg was plan A.
- I'm just the one she settled for.
- But the fact remains, Mel, you have the same symptoms as Greg.
You know the name of her business? Cardiff catering.
She still uses his name.
That's how loyal she is to him.
Hi, boss.
Jill's there? Go ahead.
I'll be there in ten.
You talking about my Jill? Yeah.
We tracked her down.
Want me to give her a message? No.
No message.
Mel always had it bad for Susan.
Even when you were married to him? I didn't like to think so, but you know in your gut.
It's the reason why we broke up.
I thought you left him for a cardiologist.
Only because I didn't feel like waiting around for the affair.
Was there an affair? / No.
Susan would never leave Greg.
Wasn't until after he died that Mel saw his opening.
Oh, yeah.
Two days after the funeral, he wanted me to draw up papers.
Not too subtle.
/ No.
So, Jill, you being married to a heart doctor, you probably know what digoxin is.
Yeah.
I take it.
I met my husband because of my heart condition.
Hospital confirmed Mel was poisoned with digoxin.
Just like Greg.
Probably no surprise to Susie here.
And turns out Mel's ex-wife has been taking that drug her whole life.
- You think Jill did something? - Jill's over Mel.
She has a new husband.
And she never had anything against Greg.
But Mel, on the other hand Mel had real good access to digoxin over the years.
Did Mel and Greg eat a lot of meals together? Go out drinking? They were best friends.
According to Jill, Mel had big plans for you soon as Greg got out of the picture.
Who else could it have been, Susie? Oh, no.
You remember something? I thought he was just being a friend.
But even on the day of the funeral Mel was moving in? I saw a guy get a ticket on my way to the cemetery and I just didn't understand.
Understand what? How the world keeps going.
I mean, how do people do mundane things, like write up a ticket, when everything is over? Hey.
Baby, I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
It's not over.
You're gonna be happy again.
The three of us are all going to stick together.
We're all gonna be happy.
The three of us? When he was still married to Jill.
But why would Mel make himself sick? He never thought Greg's poisoning would come out.
Knowing it would, - he got desperate.
- Tried to set you up, Susie.
Hospital just called.
Mel davis skipped out.
Driver, remove the keys from the ignition.
Throw the keys out of the window.
Now! Tracked him through his cell phone.
He's not responding to orders.
So what's he doing? / Fugitives don't usually think before they run.
My guess is, he's thinking now.
Can I try? Mel, this is detective Rush.
Show us your hands.
Please put your hands outside the window.
- He got a gun? - I don't know.
We give him much more time, maybe we'll find out.
Careful.
I got the driver's side.
He's gone.
I'll call the coroner.
Mel wasn't thinking.
He was writing.
What's it say? My millennium resolution was to have a family, kids and all.
Susan and Gary were that family.
But even after Greg was gone, even though she married me, I was never more than plan B.
Let's have our own toast, just the guys.
To 2000.
The year 2000.
What? What is it? I don't think Jill and I are gonna make it.
You serious? I couldn't say it in front of her, but I'm gonna make some changes in 2000.
That's my real resolution.
Marriage is hard work, Mel.
Problem is, I got the wrong marriage.
Well, I'm sorry.
Me, too.
Bottom's up.
~~ Jewel "Hands" ~~ ~~ If I could tell the world just one thing it would be ~~ ~~ that we're all okay ~~ ~~ And not to worry 'cause worry is wasteful ~~ ~~ And unless in times like these ~~ ~~ I won't be made useless ~~ ~~ I won't be idled with dispair ~~ ~~ I will gather myself around my faith ~~ ~~ for light does the darkness most fear ~~ ~~ My hands are small, I know, ~~ ~~ but they're not yours they are my own ~~ ~~ but they're not yours they are my own ~~ ~~ and I am never broken ~~ ~~ Poverty stole your golden shoes ~~ ~~ but it didn't steel your laughter ~~ ~~ And heartache came to visit me ~~ ~~ but I knew it wasnt ever after ~~ ~~ We'll fight, not out of spite ~~ ~~ for someone must stand up for what's right ~~ ~~ cause where there's a man who has no voice ~~ ~~ there our's shall go singing ~~ ~~ My hands are small, I know, ~~ ~~ but they're not yours they are my own ~~ ~~ but they're not yours they are my own ~~ ~~ and I am never broken ~~ ~~ In the end ~~ only kindness matters ~~ ~~ In the end ~~ only kindness matters ~~ ~~ I will get down on my knees and I will pray ~~