Law & Order: Criminal Intent (2001) s02e05 Episode Script

In New York City's war on crime, the worst criminal offenders are pursued by the detectives of the Major Case Squad.
These are their stories.
The paper isn't dark enough.
It looks too new.
What? What is it? It's not good enough.
It has to be good enough.
It is good! It is exactly the same! Don't argue with me.
Didn't you listen? It has to be darker.
- I like the red one.
- That one? The pink one, the pink one! All right, the pink one.
Listen, listen! Look, I'm the expert, and I say the work is good.
Go get the car.
Thank you.
Come on, little one.
Somebody stop him, please! Tiananmen! Tiananmen! Tiananmen! So, who is she? It doesn't matter.
She recognized you.
We have to do something.
No one will listen to her.
Just go! Thank you for watching them.
- You all right? - Yes, thank you.
It was someone I thought I knew.
It's me.
I need to talk to you, okay? We're all fine, John.
Just call me as soon as you hear this.
Come on, little ones.
Everything's fine.
We're going home now.
Come.
We'll go see Daddy.
He'll make everything fine.
Mommy.
Mommy.
Mommy.
Mommy.
Mommy.
Law & Order CI Her name's Annie Ming Littleton.
Two in the back, right in front of her kids.
The GSR pattern's tight.
The shooter couldn't have been more than two feet away.
One of the witnesses clocked the shots at 3:06.
She made a call at 2:56 to a number programmed in her phone.
Someone named John.
Could be her husband, John Littleton.
He's over there with the kids.
He's hooked up with the Feds.
Yeah, his father is with the Treasury Department.
That's why we got called in.
She'd been shopping.
I was in a meeting.
Annie wanted me to call her back right away.
She sounded upset, but she said that she and the kids were fine.
Was she downtown for any special reason? Just to shop.
Annie liked the energy in Chinatown.
It reminded her of home.
Beijing.
Pink's my favorite color.
Did Mommy buy this for you? Before she called Daddy? Where did she buy it? At the store.
Then Mommy ran away.
Do you know why she ran away? No.
She ran down the street.
She was shouting.
And then she came back.
Mommy is sleeping now.
She say, "Fa pi chi saran.
" Something like that.
And then she run.
"Fa pi chi saran"? What does that mean? I don't know.
You know why? She yelled in Mandarin.
- And you speak Cantonese.
- Yes.
Thanks.
That's her.
I told the officer that this lady almost knocked me down.
She was shouting and chasing somebody.
Did you get a look at who it was? No.
What was she shouting? I didn't understand.
Nobody understood.
And then she yelled in English, "Stop him.
" And then she said, "Tiananmen.
" "Tiananmen?" Yeah, Tiananmen.
Over and over.
"Tiananmen, Tiananmen.
" And then people understood.
I'll bet they did.
I met Annie in Beijing in the spring of '92.
I had an internship with the State Department.
How did you meet? She was She was a student.
How often do you go back to China? Annie's parents still live in Beijing.
We try to go at least once a year.
How's your Mandarin? Must be pretty good.
It's all right.
What does "Fa pi chi saran" mean to you? I don't know.
"Fa pi chi saran.
" Your wife was yelling it at the person she was chasing.
I don't know.
Mr.
Littleton, we think you do know.
"Fa pi chi saran," it means "screaming killer.
" Doesn't it? She was in Tiananmen.
Wasn't she? She saw what happened there in '89 to the students? We're not allowed to talk about it.
Is that some kind of condition how she was allowed to leave China? I'll never be able to take my children back if they know I talked.
It stays in this room, Mr.
Littleton.
Annie told me that the PLA, the People's Army, just fired into crowds of unarmed students.
The ones they didn't kill right away, they crushed under their tanks.
"Fa pi chi saran.
" That's what the students called one of the officers because he was a screamer.
Screaming, "Shoot, shoot, shoot!" A butcher.
Half the Chinese immigrants in New York City served in the People's Liberation Army.
It's the Chinese army.
It's compulsory military service.
It's not exactly illegal.
This character was an officer during the massacre of students, the State Department doesn't keep records of folks like that? Neither we nor the Chinese government consider what the PLA did to be illegal.
I deplore Ms.
Littleton's death, I hope you find her killer, but I'm sorry, I can't help you.
You already have.
He was helpful to you? Yes.
If it's not illegal to be a screaming butcher in Tiananmen Square, then why did our guy run? It's just a few more days, Lucille.
They've cleared the border.
I mean, isn't that right, Pang? It's just that it's never been like this before, Stuart.
You know it hasn't.
Liam, tell him.
It's the papers we're concerned about.
The papers are fine.
It's just that it's so much money.
And then there's all this mystery.
What are you saying, Lucille? I'm saying I'm uncomfortable.
The price stands.
Would you excuse us for just a minute? I can't If we just offer her a slight discount.
I see how you handle things.
Every unhappy woman terrifies you.
The price stands.
She stand right there, looking at the vests.
What was she doing when she saw him? She pay for the vest.
She put change in her purse.
Was she holding her purse? Did she have it on her shoulder? On her shoulder.
Here.
So she would have turned this way to put her change away.
So right here she said, "Fa pi chi saran"? Yes.
That's when she saw him.
Across the street.
Yes.
She run across the street.
She was sure it was the right guy? She got a good look at him? Full face, not in profile? He wasn't just walking by.
No, he came out of the doorway.
The windows, the second floor.
The old man move in three weeks ago.
Looks like this old man already moved out.
He sign a lease? No, no lease.
He paid cash.
Two months in advance.
He ever have visitors? Good-looking young guy.
Chinese.
Sometimes he's with a white guy, not so good-looking.
That's all I know.
How about yesterday afternoon, 3:00? Yeah, they both here.
Eames.
Aha.
Illegal baking.
Baking documents.
The old man's a forger.
Forging what? Passports? Something worth more than passports.
Something worth a life.
This good-looking guy killed Ms.
Littleton because he was worried about getting hooked up to fake ID's? He was probably worried about another kind of document.
Now, what am I looking at? A Chinese jigsaw puzzle? The lab says it's standard 30 weight, good quality rag paper.
But it's been aged.
Soaked in tea and mineral oil and then baked.
This bit of red is wax.
Probably to imitate an official seal or stamp.
But that's not the most interesting part.
This type of calligraphy, the elongated character, the sharp brush strokes, is in the lmperial style of early Qing Dynasty, 18th century.
It evolved from the "thin gold" calligraphy developed by the Emperor Huizong.
He got that off his box of Wheaties this morning.
Actually, the curator of the Chinese galleries at the Met.
I faxed him a copy of it.
This curator have an idea who might've written this? Hsu Calligraphy Studio Brooklyn, New York Wednesday, June 6 Calligraphy is one of the great achievement of the Chinese people.
But our children do not study it.
They told us at the Met you were the best practitioner of it on the East Coast.
Thank you.
Is this really that hard to do? Because it doesn't look that hard.
Do you think that I could Pick it up? If you study hard, sure.
Which is the easiest style? Is it this one? That's Han Confucian form of style.
Very old.
Not so easy.
I like this.
Do a lot of people write in this style? Yeah, the Flowing Grass style.
I know maybe 10 people who are very good.
And this one? How many people here have mastered this one? Not many.
The lmperial Classic style.
The most difficult.
But you've mastered it? Yes.
And you know everyone that has.
For example, do you know what person did this? I don't know who did it.
Maybe it's the same person who did this scroll.
No.
I did this.
Every stroke has the personality of the writer.
His energy and vitality.
An expert could compare the two and find that they were done by the same person.
And that expert could trace the writing to the brush that you used.
We need to know who hired you to do this, Mr.
Hsu.
I don't know his name.
But he know my nephew's name in Ningpo.
I can't say no.
This man is PLA.
What did he have you write? "The Court of Emperor Qianlong "welcomes esteemed guest Lord Pembridge "and request that he accept this gift "from the lmperial Bronze Collection.
" Did he say what it was for? No explanation.
Just write and take it to the Hotel St.
Francis and leave it at the desk for room 516.
Room 516? That would be Mr.
Pembridge's room.
Mr.
Pembridge? Actually, he calls himself the Fifth Lord Pembridge.
Would he be in his room? I just saw him a couple of minutes ago heading for the sundry store.
He has an ascot.
You can't miss him.
Lord Pembridge? Could we speak to you for a minute? Well Dear, I don't know what for.
It's about some packages that were delivered to you.
Packages? I wouldn't know anything about packages.
Where are you from, Lord Pembridge? From? Ah, my family's estate is just outside a little town called Leeds.
A little town called Leeds? And what's the purpose of your visit here? - Pleasure.
And friends.
- What friends? Oh, well, I just had a dinner from Mick and the boys.
Sent them off on their world tour.
And then I saw Gwynnie and Hugh.
Lovely people, just lovely.
Cut it out.
Isn't that the worst English accent you've ever heard? Next to the Irish Spring guy, it's the worst accent, period.
I beg your pardon.
The mishmash of Cockney, Welsh.
But miraculously, I think I heard a shred of the north of England in one of your "R's.
" There are so many sounds in there, how can you tell? Really, you are absurd.
I don't think he's trained.
Well, of course I'm trained.
With Strasberg himself.
I suppose you went to Yale.
Now, are we gonna play this or what? No, we're gonna play this.
Is that a real gun? Oh, my God, you're really cops, aren't you? "George Weems.
" What it says here on your SAG card.
- You look familiar.
- My last gig.
I was the plump and happy raisin in a snack food commercial.
- Am I in trouble? - You tell us.
You checked into a hotel under an assumed name.
Forged papers were delivered to your room.
An associate of yours is suspected of murdering a woman.
You don't look so plump and happy now, George.
No, I didn't know anything about a murder.
I I was just hired to play a part, that's all.
Hired by whom? I don't know.
I never met the guy.
He called me.
He said his name was Jean.
That he saw me in this Gilbert and Sullivan thing, and that he wanted me to play some Brit Eurotrash, Lord Pembridge.
For what? A movie? Performance art.
Improvisational.
Who were the other actors? I don't know.
I was meeting them today.
Where was this performance to take place? In real settings.
They were picking me up and driving out to JFK, and it was gonna go from there.
Jean said they had a room for me at the St.
Francis.
That if anybody asked, I was Lord Pembridge.
And you thought that we were part of the performance.
Yes.
It never occurred to you that something illegal was afoot? I'm an actor.
I'm constantly broke.
It was a couple of nights at the St.
Francis.
It sounded like fun.
Fantastic.
What was the scene at JFK? Lord Pembridge picks up a piece of art from the cargo department.
A family heirloom.
That's it? One scene? No, no, there were two scenes.
Lord Pembridge delivers the heirloom to some posh apartment on Fifth Avenue.
Department of U.
S Customs JFK International Airport Thursday, June 7 Here it is.
One crate, household items.
Consignee, Lord Robert Pembridge.
He picked it up this morning.
This morning? Yeah, this morning.
- Did he show ID? - Yes.
And he had the waybill.
It was all in order.
I don't need any more grief about this.
What other grief did you get? Two guys came in a couple of hours ago.
I told them Pembridge already picked it up, and I thought they were gonna have a heart attack.
Especially that white guy.
- And the other guy? - Chinese.
But then they said they must've gotten their signals crossed with Lord Pembridge, and they left.
This extra charge, what's that? A re-crating charge slapped on by the freight forwarder.
It says the amount was charged to an existing account.
The freight forwarder can tell you whose account that is.
I'm deadly serious.
I need an answer right away.
Someone's here.
Let me get rid of them.
Are you Stuart Gaston? Yes.
I'm sorry, I'm very busy right now.
- Too busy for us? - I have a kind of a situation.
How can I help you? Your account number turned up on the waybill for a shipment from Hong Kong addressed to a Lord Pembridge.
Oh.
I don't see how that's possible.
I don't know any Lord Pembridge.
Do you have a copy of the waybill? Thanks.
Yeah, I do have an account with this company, but I certainly didn't ship any household items.
They must've jumbled the numbers.
This must be some kind of situation you got on your hands.
Why do you say that? Well, you've loosened your tie, you got a drink on your desk, you got three phone lines blinking, and you're chewing the inside of your cheeks like some kind of frantic chipmunk.
Are you under a lot of stress? You lost something.
No.
I don't know No, I think you lost something in transit, didn't you? I'm sorry, you're wrong.
It's late and I need to close up.
Thank you for bringing that billing mistake to my attention.
He smuggled that piece into the country, and someone stole it right out from under his nose.
Don't look so happy.
The obvious move is that Stuart Gaston's Chinese partner had an accomplice pick up the package on the sly.
Well, that's all fine and good, but we have no leverage against Gaston to make him give up his Chinese partner.
No evidence he's involved in smuggling, no idea even what it is he's smuggling.
It's a Chinese antique.
A bronze.
- A fake? - No.
If it were, they wouldn't go through all this trouble to smuggle it into the country.
What's being faked is the documentation, the provenance.
Because it's probably stolen.
Have you checked with Interpol? They have no record of any theft of major Chinese art.
That leaves one possibility.
That it was stolen from an archeological dig in China.
A Chinese national treasure, and Gaston found a buyer for it.
We find that buyer, maybe we find evidence against Mr.
Gaston.
Banfield Auction House Monday, June 11 Well, I'd guess that the piece in question dates from the Han Dynasty, First century AD.
It's most likely a funereal piece.
Why would you think that? Well, of all the bronzes, it would be the most valuable.
Otherwise, why go to all the trouble? No, a rare and important and legal piece can fetch easily 1.
5 million.
Three million, if it's a smuggled piece.
But that's a risky business.
You know all the collectors that Stuart Gaston usually deals with.
Which one would risk it? For a special piece? Most of them would take the risk, otherwise they wouldn't be collectors.
How about just the ones who can afford to lay out three million in cash? I'd be hard pressed to say.
Are any of the collectors holding off? - Careful.
- Oh, sorry.
You know, holding off making acquisitions? Building up a cash reserve? Well, I can't speak for every auction house.
Come on.
We know you compare notes.
Why don't we take this outside? I'd be happy to get you both a cup of coffee.
There's a cafe.
We could talk about it I'll bet you this camel that you all know who's buying and who's not.
You think about that.
I'm gonna have a look at the other, you know, lovely stuff that you have No, wait.
You know, there is Lucille Mobray.
She's one of Gaston's regulars.
I haven't purchased anything recently because I haven't seen anything worth buying.
This moon vase is stunning.
I've read about the lmperial ceramic factory in Jingdezhen.
Was it made there? Yes.
It's from the collection of Pere D'Entrecolles himself.
I love this teapot.
Is it old? Three thousand years old.
How'd you get interested in Chinese art? I lived in Shanghai when I was a girl.
My father worked for the National City Bank.
He gave me my first piece, a terracotta doll.
It was a magical time.
This collection, it's your legacy.
Stuart Gaston help you put it together? Yes.
I've always relied on Stuart.
He made sure that each piece had the proper provenance, to show that it wasn't, you know, smuggled out of China yesterday.
Of course.
Because owning smuggled art is a violation of the National Stolen Property Act.
The Chinese could go to court and have it seized.
That's perfectly true.
But what does that have to do with me? It has to do with Mr.
Gaston.
We suspect he smuggled something into the country a couple of days ago.
Stuart? No, I don't think he's capable of anything like that.
No, see, he's capable of it, and a lot more.
And once we arrest him, he's liable to make all kinds of accusations, just to save his skin.
Someone's entire collection could come under suspicion.
A whole legacy tainted.
I mean, no reputable dealer or auction house is gonna do business with a person like that.
No more acquisitions.
Of course, it's possible such a person was being duped by Mr.
Gaston.
We are discreet with innocent victims.
If they behave like innocent victims.
Stuart told me he had an exceptional piece from the Lord Pembridge estate.
He assured me the provenance was well documented.
What's the piece? All he told me was that it was a bronze from an Eastern Han tomb.
He said that the Fifth Lord Pembridge was bringing it himself from Hong Kong.
Gaston has a Chinese associate? You must mean Pang.
A very crude individual.
You know where we can find him? Yes.
Stuart told me where he works.
You'll never guess.
Yes, yes, I'll take care of it.
I promise.
I'll call back again tomorrow.
Eight o'clock your time.
Hey! They're gonna charge you for that.
Bad day, Mr.
Pang? What a good soldier.
He knows when to surrender.
One down, one to go.
Where's this contraband my client's accused of smuggling? Is there even a photograph? What we have is what we found in his gallery.
Forged documents attesting to the object's phony provenance.
It's just paper and ink.
Novelties.
Yeah, well, these "novelties" match materials we found in an apartment across the street from where this woman was killed.
Killed because she recognized your partner, Mr.
Pang.
Also known to his admirers as the Screaming Butcher of Tiananmen Square.
Oh, you didn't know that? Oh, sorry.
I didn't know you were in here.
Mr.
Houghton, say hello to your client's business partner, Pang Chiangji.
We'll be next door.
My client might have a statement to make.
He shot that woman.
She recognized him.
He went back and killed her.
I didn't even know that he did it until it was in the newspaper the next day.
He killed her.
He double-crossed me.
I should never have trusted him.
So ends another beautiful friendship.
This being the land of second chances, Mr.
Pang, you do get to tell your side of the story.
My friend, an officer in the PLA, he wrote to me.
He works on an excavation in the Gobi Desert.
He said if we can get a piece out, people pay millions for it here.
Two years it took us to get it out.
I'm dishwasher here.
Gaston the pig takes my future, and now I have nothing.
I go back to China, they kill me.
What do I have here? I did not shoot this woman.
She recognized me.
So, so what? I told him nobody cares, but he wanted me to do something.
So I left.
I went home.
But I didn't He's like a crocodile, lying in the water pretending he's a big lump of nothing.
But then he shoots this woman in the back.
- He steals from me.
- It's all lies.
I didn't shoot that woman.
I don't even own a gun.
There's no evidence Mr.
Pang does either.
Nor is there any evidence he stole the object.
Why would I steal it from him, a killer? What do you think, I'm crazy? Maybe you thought you could pull a fast one on some poor dishwasher.
Poor dishwasher? What, Pang? No, he owns a factory in Hong Kong.
You know this for a fact? No.
But why would I ever get into business with a dishwasher? We searched the dump he lives in.
He owns two suits, two pairs of shoes, and a clock radio.
No factory.
Evidently Mr.
Gaston never checked his client's employment record.
But someone else did.
Now, tell me where you're going, Liam, in case I need to find you.
I'm not terribly interested in being found right now, Lucille.
I'm not liking what I'm hearing about these police.
No, no, no.
They think poor Stuart and that Mr.
Pang did everything.
It's perfectly safe.
I'll make my own decisions on that, if you don't mind.
You went above and beyond this time, Liam.
I do appreciate that.
I might try to get up into Bhutan.
See what I might catch coming out of Tibet.
Oh, that sounds so exciting.
I'll keep you in mind.
Goodbye, Liam.
And thank you.
Lucille Mobray a murderer? My God, Carver, this is a 73-year-old woman we're talking about.
A very rich 73-year-old woman who can get anything she wants done for a price.
And that's your probable cause? She's rich? She knew where Mr.
Pang worked.
The only way she could have known was by having him followed.
Look, this search warrant application can't even describe this, this, this What is this, a rice steamer? You want me to sign this, you put some meat on the plate.
Can we give the man what he wants? Maybe Lucille Mobray can.
Given the right performance, by the right performer.
For heaven's sake, sit down.
I was just being polite.
You make some vague threat on the phone, and now you're being polite? Please.
You said you had something to show me.
Let's get on with it.
This is the documentation for the I know what it is.
What are you doing with it? It was delivered to my room at the St.
Francis.
I'm the person who was supposed to deliver the object to you.
You? The Fifth Lord of Pembridge.
This magnificent object has been in my family for 300 years.
I see.
Stuart thought that accent would fool me? It's a perfectly acceptable English music hall accent.
What makes you think I'd want this? I did some research.
The Chinese are very paranoid about people stealing national treasures.
They're very litigious.
So I thought this might come in useful.
You expect me to pay for this? Did you know that the Chinese consulate's not very far from here, on 42nd Street? I just learned that in my research.
Did you bring your checkbook? Write a check out to cash.
What amount? $10,000.
My grandchildren are waiting for me.
Have a nice existence.
Frankie, be careful.
You don't wanna spill it.
I want to play with my fire truck.
That's fine, sweetheart, but you've just got to be careful.
Hello, Ms.
Mobray.
That's a cool fire truck.
My grandma bought it for me.
Grandma got me a carriage with two horses, but I had to leave it at home.
The privileges of being a grandmother.
You're allowed to spoil them a little bit.
Excuse me.
I see that you've spread your generosity around a lot lately.
Look what we have here.
Forged documents.
Why in the world would you spend so much money for forged documents? I thought it would be fun to have them.
We think it would be fun if you accompanied these gentlemen down to our offices.
Everything here is listed on her insurance declaration.
Same story with the items at her storage vault.
Piece isn't here.
The doorman says a Liam Montgomery visited Ms.
Mobray a number of times in the last few weeks.
It so happens there was a Liam Montgomery registered at the St.
Francis around the same time as Lord Pembridge.
Probably the guy she had keeping tabs on all the players.
In other news, the Captain wants to know what we've turned up here.
Squat, that's what we turned up.
These books and catalogues of Chinese bronzes, I want Latent to go through them, page by page.
Latent Lab One Police Plaza Thursday, June 14 On these pages we have a partial thumb, index, partial palm, here, here and here.
She spent a lot of time looking at these.
How fresh are these prints? Well, the oils are still viscous.
A couple, three days.
And that one.
It's beautiful.
"A heavenly horse with a flame-shaped forelock.
"Bronze horses are extremely rare.
" We need another search warrant.
Wonderful.
Another gray room.
Please have a seat.
Liam Montgomery.
Do you know him? He runs an art consulting business out of London.
Your doorman said he's made periodic visits over the last seven years.
Yes, he's helped me.
I'm an old woman.
I'm easy pickings for the like of Gaston and Pang.
I need to protect myself.
And your acquisitions.
Which he seems uniquely qualified to do.
He has some kind of police record in Britain.
If you have questions about Mr.
Montgomery, ask Mr.
Montgomery.
He's left the country.
He got the job done.
But he made your dream come true.
What is this, a toy? Not a toy.
Your granddaughter was sorry to see it go.
Detective, please, please.
This is irreplaceable.
Lucille.
Have you ever seen anything so exquisite? To think it was made during the time of Christ.
I'm prepared to be conciliatory in view of your client's age.
You knew what it was before you actually saw it? Yes.
Liam bribed someone in Hong Kong and snuck a peek.
- He sent me a photograph.
- Lucille, please.
Oh, enough of the charade, Harry.
They're making us an offer.
Six months in a minimum security prison.
A fine.
A substantial fine.
We'll take it, Harry.
It's just to have owned it even for such a short time.
Even just to look at it.
The contours, the workmanship.
It's so precious.
There were There were two little men in the carriage? Yes, there were.
Where's the other one? Well, maybe they're in here.
Oh, look at this.
It's Gaston and Pang.
They were in Chinatown.
Gaston.
You know, Pang.
Someone else I forgot.
Oh, let's see.
Annie Littleton.
She was in Chinatown, too.
And she saw Pang, and she screamed, "Tiananmen, Tiananmen!" Detective, please, please.
Then it looked like trouble.
Oh, yes.
Oh! There looked like there was gonna be trouble.
But don't you worry.
Don't you worry.
Liam Montgomery.
'Cause he has his eye on things.
He told you there was trouble, and he called you.
"There's trouble, Mrs.
Mobray.
" And you said, "Take care of it," and he did.
And bang, bang, Annie Littleton.
No, I did no such thing.
But But then, all hell broke loose, and Gaston and Pang, they were fighting.
Pang wanted it, Gaston wanted it, Pang wanted it Stop it! This is not a joke.
These are precious, precious artifacts.
They're priceless, in fact.
Priceless? And that's why you had him kill Annie Littleton.
No.
Never mind that she had two kids.
Oh, they can get along fine without their mother.
Why not? You did.
After your parents were killed.
After the Japanese bombed Shanghai.
There you are.
Little Lucy and her loving parents.
Living an enchanted life.
And there's your handsome father, who, every day, brought you a new treasure.
"Here, Lucy.
"Here's a beautiful terracotta doll for my most special girl.
" Those were the happiest days of your life.
Then they were finished by a bomb burst.
But this toy, it takes you back.
And that's what makes it priceless.
'Cause you would do anything to get back to that magical time.
And, well, Annie Littleton just got in your way? She She was going to ruin everything.
I just had to have it! Chinese should be happy to get that back.
It's the only one of its kind.
Annie Ming Littleton was one of a kind.