Cold Case s02e09 Episode Script

Mom, there's nothing to do here.
Well, you can help me take out this trash.
That's not fun.
Well, then play with hammy for god's sakes.
Why do you keep looking out the window? Daddy isn't coming.
If he does, you remember what I told you? You hide behind the counter.
You hear me, Susan? I want to go home.
Well, we're not going home.
Where are we gonna sleep? What about my clothes and my bookbag? My stuff? We'll buy new things.
You can't barely buy anything.
We're gonna be okay.
You might not believe it right now, but it's true.
Hey.
I love you, little girl.
No, please, don't.
Please, please Missing Persons Lambert, Janet.
Nov.
1985 Her body was found by hikers.
A dog dug it up.
Good place to dump a body, this preserve.
Yeah, nothing but woods for miles.
Only witnesses are the birds and the bees.
We get an I.
D.
yet, boss? From a medic alert bracelet.
Janet Lambert.
White female, 31 years of age.
Reported missing in '85.
Disappeared from her place of work.
Last to see was her Mom goes out with the trash.
Never comes back.
Poor kid.
From her chest cavity.
Shattered the ribcage.
Hell of a slug.
There's no bullet hole in the clothes.
So the doer stripped her before shooting her.
- Makes sense.
- Now that we know her name.
Next question Where's her head? Cold Case ORIGINAL AIR DATE ON CBS: 2004/11/28 Janet Lambert.
Worked the night shift at a 24-hour convenience store off the boulevard.
Where she disappeared from night of November 2, 1985.
Prime suspect at the time was her husband, Leroy Lambert.
Says here, same day Janet goes missing, she filed domestic abuse charges against hubby.
Walked out for beating her up in front of their 11-year-old daughter.
Leaving cost Janet her life.
And her head.
Takes a lot of hate, doing something like that.
The kid, Susan, says dad came to the store right before mom disappeared.
Not much of an I.
D.
All she saw were a pair of men's boots.
How'd that go down? Mom told her to hide behind the counter if someone came in, afraid it might be dad.
Loving patriarch, this Leroy.
Missing Persons couldn't pin him to it in '85.
Guy's alibi was solid.
Well, maybe it's crumbled some.
I was at the bowling alley when Janet gone missing.
Whole place saw me sitting up there at the bar.
Bunch of drunks passed out in their beers.
Real reliable.
Bartender, too.
He didn't touch a drop.
Nice.
Helps me think straight.
Think about this.
Your wife's head was cut off.
Sicko who did that had a personal score to settle.
The way we hear it, you've got a mighty long score, Leroy.
That bitch had it coming for what she did to me.
Susan! Time to eat! I want my breakfast.
I promised Susan I'd take her to the mall.
I can cook you up something hot when I get home.
I don't eat breakfast out of no box! Susan's in the next room, Leroy.
Please don't start or she'll see I ain't eating out of no box! Sweetheart, come on, time for breakfast.
Here you go, sweetie.
I'm sorry, honey, I won't be able to take you to the mall today.
Next time, I promise.
You always break your promises.
Don't sass your mother! Mom Don't you touch her! Or me! Never again! That bitch walked out on me then and there.
I never saw her again.
Your daughter says different.
Yeah, well, maybe what happened up in them woods to Janet should have happened to Susan, too.
You're a real door prize, Leroy.
Man-hating bitch, just like her mother.
I didn't kill Janet.
But I sure wish I did.
I always hoped my mother was out there somewhere alive.
That day, she filed domestic abuse charges against your father.
Yes.
Could I see that? At the store, right before your mom disappeared, you said you saw someone? I know.
It could have been anyone's boots.
I was just a kid.
Scared.
Thought your dad was coming for you.
Your mom.
Walking on sunshine? - What? - It says it right here.
That song was playing on the radio when my father was beating up my mom.
Well, what does that have to do with her disappearance? He was singing it.
Who? The man who came into the store that night.
Hey.
I love you, little girl.
I'm walking on sunshine Oh, yeah I'm walking on sunshine Oh, yeah I waited and waited, but he never came back.
Neither did my mother.
You're positive you heard that song? I've never forgotten that day.
Thanks for your time, Susan.
The court sent me back to him after my mother disappeared.
What my father couldn't do to her anymore, he took out on me.
I'm sorry.
Yeah, me, too.
Lil, Stillman called.
Needs us at the woods.
Guy in the store could be Leroy.
Gotta be Leroy.
Who else would know about that song? What it meant to Janet? Hey, boss.
What's the rush? Canine unit uncovered this.
Routine sweep of the crime scene.
Single shot to the chest.
Large caliber weapon.
No holes in her clothes.
- How many? - Eight.
All headless? Yes, sir.
Three of the nine bodies found at the wildlife preserve have been identified.
Body number one, Janet Lambert.
Now, we know she went missing in November of '85.
Body number two, Tina James.
White female, 14 years old, reported missing in November '99.
Number three, Latrice Hicks.
Black female, 50 years old, disappeared in 2001, November.
Coroner's working on identifying the others.
No way Leroy's responsible.
Spent 1988 to 2001 in and out of lockup.
Same dates our victims went missing.
All in November.
So, if it wasn't Leroy, how did he know about the song? What we do know is, he strips them, probably rapes them, shoots them.
It doesn't explain how he picks them.
They've got nothing in common.
Different races, ages, professions.
Most serial killers have a type.
Uniforms I.
D'd a possible witness in the wildlife preserve.
- Let's talk to him ASAP.
- Families are coming in? Yeah.
I keep logs of illegal hunting here on the wilderness preserve.
Poachers, hunters, they come by at night, trying to pinch some deer meat.
You heard gunshots early morning, November 3, 1985? Yeah, I was working.
Logged them.
/ Same night Janet Lambert went missing.
Yeah, I went out and told that guy there ain't no hunting here.
Not on my watch.
Hey! Hey! I'm talking to you! There's no hunting on this preserve.
What's in the bag? There's no hunting here.
You've been warned.
Real freak show, that guy.
And you never reported this? No, I thought he was a poacher.
Who cares about that but us? You recorded shots at 5:00 A.
M.
? Yeah, that's right.
But Janet went missing from the convenience store at around 9:00 P.
M.
So what was he doing with her all night? It was the last time I saw my sister.
Latrice walked you to the bus stop.
And that was around 4:00 P.
M.
? Yes.
You notice anyone suspicious on the street, Thea? She was always worried, since the mugging.
What mugging? A few months before she disappeared, my sister was mugged.
This happened in 2001? We went to the police.
She identified him in a lineup.
Still in prison.
You last saw your daughter, Tina, at around 4:00 P.
M.
? She was training.
Headed out for an afternoon cross-country run.
She never came back.
Was there a shortcut she'd take? Not after that pervert jumped her.
Tina was raped? Attempted.
Two years before she disappeared.
I always taught her to stand up for herself.
She sprayed that rapist in the face.
Pepper spray? Riot-control tear gas.
Knocks an elephant down in two seconds flat.
Used it in the marines.
What happened to the guy who tried to rape her? Tear gas blinded him for life.
Was Tina in pain when she Did my girl call out for me? Janet, Tina, Latrice all victims of a violent crime before they go missing.
Domestic assault, robbery, attempted rape.
Thing is, these doers ain't our doer.
They were either in lock up or out of commission at the time their victims went missing.
Could be how our guy's picking them.
Reads about the crimes in the paper and hears about them on the radio.
Picks the survivors.
The coroners I.
D.
'd the other bodies.
Check their histories for prior crimes.
Report control unit will be open in the morning.
Thought we'd check tonight.
- Report still open? - Yeah.
All nine of your girls got 49s.
All victims of prior crimes.
Carjacking, rape, assault with a deadly weapon.
Runs the gamut.
Lucky they all survived.
Not so lucky if you think about it.
After Leroy gets through with Janet, he starts in on the kid, and Janet clocks him in the face.
Right.
And Latrice Hicks, who got mugged broke the guy's nose when he went for her handbag.
Like Tina James with the tear gas.
Yeah.
They weren't just victims of a crime.
They all fought back.
We'll need any records on victims who did the same.
Uh, might take a few hours.
We're not computerized.
Well, we'll pick them up in the morning.
You taking the train? I'll walk you.
I gotta go somewhere first.
Be careful.
Classy joint.
Classy girl.
You here to drink? Or bitch? Gimme a vodka orange.
Hold the vodka.
Never did take after mom.
Where you staying these days? The Y.
There's a daybed downstairs.
Cats might fight you for it, but What changed your mind? You can't be wandering around like some kinda - Some kinda what? - You don't know what's out there.
And you do? Wish I didn't.
Sometimes.
Just till I get something permanent.
Autopsies showed no evidence of rape or sexual trauma in even the most recent bodies.
Then what's he doing with them all night? Well, breaks and fractures were apparent in most of the victims' feet.
Multiple lacerations on their soles, and on the fresher bodies, torn ligaments.
Meaning? Types of injuries you get running barefoot over rough terrain for several hours.
He's chasing them through the woods? Looks like it, yeah.
Ballistics in on the bullet yet? Arisaka model 38.
Japanese.
Bolt-action rifle.
Imported after world war II.
Can't be many places that sell that ammo.
Only one in the city is an army surplus store on the boulevard.
Let's go.
Guy orders the same kinda ammo every year.
We got a name, Will.
Peter Brodsky.
Check his I.
D.
? Hell, yeah.
Last thing I need is to lose my license.
Ordered the same thing.
Year after year, except in 1999.
Same year Tina James goes missing.
In 1999 he also ordered a military M-95 with CP filter? - What's that? - Gas mask.
- What? - Special issue.
Used for riot control.
Filters out tear gas.
How'd he know Tina carried tear gas? You ever see this guy, Peter Brodsky? Couldn't tell you what he looked like if you had ATF breaking down the door.
What do youa mean? The guy was like not there.
You know what I mean? Got your ammo and the gas mask.
Y2K, huh? Receipt's in there, too.
Damn government taxes.
How much? Take all you want, buddy.
On me.
Like I said not there.
And you couldn't I.
D.
him? Sorry.
He stopped to look at something.
That it? Yeah, that's been up there since I opened the store.
What is it? Orion.
The constellation.
Clears the horizon for the first time ever year in November.
Same month he killed.
Orion comes from the greek myth.
Means "Great hunter.
" That's why he makes them run.
He's hunting them.
He hunts them for hours in the woods, shoots them before dawn, - takes their heads.
- He's a hunter.
Targeting human prey.
And now we got a name.
Peter Brodsky.
What I don't get is how he picks them up.
Broad daylight, public places.
We know all these women are fighters.
But no one ever sees or hears a thing.
So maybe they go with him willingly.
Because they know him.
Trust him.
You trust family, friends.
A cop.
Peter Brodsky.
Worked northeast division.
A uniform.
Left the job in '84, drops off the face of the earth.
Guy's nowhere in the system now.
All right, let's check for reports of suspicious police behavior '84-2002 and Brodsky's IAB file.
Our victims were abducted during the day, before sunset, right? All but Janet Lambert.
- She was picked up at night.
- Well, maybe he tried getting her earlier.
Janet had her kid with her all day.
So maybe Susan saw something at sunset.
We were in the car.
Driving.
Well, you remember seeing a cop? Yes, I do.
We had left the police station a few hours earlier, after my mom filed the report.
She was late for work.
Then what happened? We weren't even speeding, but then this cop pulls us over.
What'd I do? I know why you're mad at me.
I'm not mad.
Because of what your daddy did today.
He does that every day, mommy.
He won't.
Not no more.
I promise.
I'm not breaking any more promises, not to you, Susan.
Officer? I don't think I was speeding.
What's she doing here? Excuse me? No speeding.
You got your warning.
You think a cop had something to do with my mother's murder? We don't know yet.
You think you could I.
D.
him, Susan? I barely saw him.
I'm sorry.
It wasn't your fault, what happened to your mom.
If I could have that moment back? I would have told her.
What? That I loved her, too.
Lil Got something.
I'm sorry.
Boys found a live one.
Woman who reported a cop abduction in '97.
A survivor? He brought me here.
Yeah.
Help me! I was working at the bar that night, you know, doing a little in the parking lot When this cop rolled up, said he was bringing me in for disorderly conduct.
Did you get a look at him? I was wasted.
Could've been mickey mouse and I wouldn't have known.
Got his name, though.
Brodsky something.
Lot of good it did.
Cops looked at me like I was making it up.
They filed a report.
They didn't do nothing with it, did they? This cop, Brodsky, gets you in the car.
Then what? He starts driving and driving then he stops.
Get out.
I didn't see your face, officer.
I can't I.
D you.
We can do it in the back seat.
Any way you want.
I'm real good, I'll be real good.
Just don't hurt me, please.
Don't act dumb like an animal.
Don't.
Please.
Don't and please.
They always say those words.
Ready to run, Atalanta? What did you call me? Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! What's Atalanta? Princess Atalanta.
A story I heard as a kid.
See, a few years ago when I almost got raped, I couldn't do nothing.
I just lay there waiting to die.
Then I remembered Atalanta, the princess who was the fastest in the land.
Gave me the strength to run away, remembering that.
Did you tell anybody else about that? No one.
Just me and god.
How could he know? Found Peter Brodsky in Butte, Montana.
Hasn't been in Philly for 20 years.
We sure? Him and his wife left town for good in '84.
He was shot on the job.
Been in a wheelchair since.
So someone knew Brodsky was out of commission.
And stole his identity.
Well, he knew these women were victimized before, that they all fought back.
And how they defended themselves.
Tina James with tear gas.
Other people could've known.
Her old man knew.
But he knew the song, Scotty, and what it meant to Janet.
She told the cops about the song.
But Atalanta? How'd he know about that? Well, he knows about the song and the tear gas and the childhood story because it's in the report.
He's reading these reports.
Well, let's say he ain't a cop, but he's got access.
Well, who else would have access to the reports, to a cop's identity? I appreciate you coming up here, George.
We're hoping you can help us.
See, we're looking for fresh eyes on this thing.
Sure.
Fire away.
Who could've read all these reports? I mean, you see the back and forth.
Who has access to all that? Well, uh, I'm the gatekeeper, everyone goes through me.
So you're the only one who has access to the 49s? And I run a tight ship.
What stumps me is the women he picks.
Fighters.
Most of us, we already got the ball and chain.
Well, might be different if you were looking to kill her.
That so? He hates women.
Because of his mother who was domineering, controlling.
Serial killer 101.
You read a lot, huh, George? It's what I do.
Spend a lot of time with those records, reading about our dead women.
Yeah, it's better than fiction, right? How so? No one reads them, no one cares about them.
But me.
Oh, by the way? You're not gonna find anything in my house.
Not a hair out of place.
No dirty dishes, no stained laundry, nothing.
He had to wash the blood off somewhere.
CSU's pulling the drains now.
They're dusting his clothes for prints.
If our victims fought back, maybe we get lucky.
I'm not even getting dust here.
You hunt, Nick? Yeah, Course.
Look at this.
Found your boots, George.
Lot of blood, taking off a head.
Tough to wash out.
But not impossible.
We're just talking here, right? Right.
Just talking.
And I'm free to walk out anytime I want.
Most people think they have to stay, talk.
Dumb civilians.
Not you, though.
What are your thoughts on this guy, George? Why did he take their clothes off? He's not raping them.
What's the point? Good question.
Uh Control? Humiliation? The way their tits pucker in the cold? It's tough, getting a woman's clothes off when she's not willing.
Must've been scratching, kicking, fighting.
They fight you a lot, George? Statistically speaking, victims rarely fight back when a firearm is used in the commission of a crime.
And you mean "him.
" Well, like we said, just theorizing.
Hypothesizing.
We appreciate your insight, George.
Any time.
So, why do you think he picks survivors? Wants a challenge.
That's obvious.
Once he finally tracks them down, I bet they're not so uppity anymore, huh? And then he teaches them a lesson.
Oh, I imagine there are many lessons taught in the woods.
Know what I think? This guy? Never got laid once in his life.
Because, you know, it sounds to me like he's got a real problem with the ladies.
You know? You're the one with the lady problem from what I hear.
Nothing that a little thorazine can't fix.
- Don't you talk about her.
- Scotty You know what I mean, lieutenant.
Got a few lady problems of your own.
Is that right? Ex-wife who hasn't spoken to you in ten years, daughter who only pretends to love her daddy.
Those second-rate medals hanging in your second-rate office.
Were they really worth it? Like I said, I can stop talking.
And I'm done talking to you.
Saw your place, George.
You're a hell of a neat freak.
How's such a tidy guy do the messy business of taking off heads there? I didn't take off anyone's head.
I meant animal heads, George.
You hunt, don't you? Chasing dumb animals in the woods no challenge.
You like a challenge, George? I bore easily.
So if our killer wants a challenge, why hunt women, why not men? An NBA player, olympic athlete, guy at the gym.
Why does he always go for the doe, the weaker sex? Why is that? Maybe those females had more to live for.
Like the ones with children put up a real squall, I bet, if he promised to bring their little ones into the woods, too.
Some hunter.
Taking down children, women.
Plus he let one get away.
What, you mean the drunk? Or is she a full-blown addict by now? How'd you know who we're talking about? I read her report.
No D.
A.
would ever put her on the stand.
Sloppy police work.
Kite'll be disappointed again.
Another bungled lead.
Kind of like the chimayo case.
What's that? Oh, I read those files, too, Nick.
You screwed the pooch big time.
Or rather, someone screwed a lot of juicy pooches because of you.
That's it.
Come on, get up.
- Hey, hey, Nick, Nick! - Get up! Come on! - Get him up! - Come on, come on.
Fine line between being human and an animal.
Look at you.
So, tell me about those dumb animals, George.
I once read a pursued animal will run on broken toes, fractured shins, bloody stumps of feet.
There are worse things than rape, Nick.
Things that go on for hours.
I want my daddy.
Daddy Hypothetically speaking, of course.
She was just a little girl.
Oh, I imagine at the end she wasn't.
The things a female will beg to do, if only you'll let her live.
Ever wonder what Mrs.
Jeffries begged for on that lonely highway before she died? Not gonna work, George.
Sorry.
Because I know.
Don't forget your deer eye.
Deer eye, George? You, uh, a taxidermist? Done talking to you.
Because if you never hunted, why you have these at your place? Done talking.
I want the blonde.
All we need is one admission, just one slip-up.
Get him to say he was there.
Results are back from the lab.
On his boots no blood residue.
Nothing.
Ditto on the house.
Drains are clean.
No hair, no trace evidence.
Couldn't even lift George's prints.
This guy wipes down his own house? I'm going out for coffee.
You okay? Put him in those woods, Lil.
Like being in this room, George? Playing games excite you? I've watched you here.
Upon occasion.
Really? Really.
So, you snuck into observation? Groped your ding-a-ling in the dark? I wouldn't flatter myself if I were you.
That thing only work in the woods? Or maybe not even there? Yet another tired-assed Lilly trick.
Seen it before Seen it before.
Yawn.
We're just warming up.
Show and tell.
That's right.
Then let me tell you something about Lilly Rush.
Why you really became a cop.
What you've never told a soul.
The bad thing that happened to little Lilly long, long ago.
I read your 49.
Did you? You ever dream about it, Lilly? No.
No, I don't.
Keep telling yourself that.
Know your enemy.
You've done your homework.
So have I.
Age 18 failed the police academy entry exam.
Age 20, you fail the physical for a, uh Shopping mall security guard? Couldn't even make it as a rentacop.
So, here you are, 45 filing away pieces of paper.
No wonder you like to play dress up.
You know, you wanna walk, be my guest.
I'm done with you.
Oh, uh, one more thing.
Age 12 your mother is murdered.
What could she have done to you? Ever dream about it, George? No wonder you're such a small, little man.
Don't you walk away from me! Don't you walk away from me! Not there he's not.
Where? In the woods? Tell me who you are in the woods.
He's You.
Who you are.
Tell me.
God.
No.
No.
Please, don't, please! I have a daughter, and I can't break any more promises to her, because she doesn't have nobody.
Nobody in this world but me I love you, little girl.
I'm done with you.
Tell me how you killed her.
I gave you my thoughts.
My conjecture.
We were just talking, right? What did you do with her head? You mean, what did he do? Where did you put them, George? Ask him.
I have no idea.
- It's over.
- No, it's not over, so sit down! Oh, no.
It is over.
He's just gonna walk? No confession.
She was close.
I'll be watching you.
Think I might leave town.
Do some traveling.
Beautiful country we live in, lots of empty woods You ever hunt? No.
We should do it sometime.
Together.
Maybe we will.
'Long Long Way To Go' By Phil Collins #While I sit here trying to # #think of things to say # #Someone lies bleeding in a field somewhere # #So it would seem we've still got a long long way to go # #I've seen all I wanna see today # #While I sit here trying to move you anyway I can # #Someone's son lies dead in a gutter somewhere # #And it would seem that we've got a long long way to go # #But I can't take it anymore # #Turn it off if you want to # #Switch it off it will go away # #Turn it off if you want to # #Switch it off or look away # #While I sit and we talk and talk # #and we talk some more # #Someone's loved one's heart # #stops beating in a street somewhere # #So it would seem we've still got a long long way to go, I know # #I've heard all I wanna hear today #