Life s02e11 Episode Script

That's about it.
Wait here.
Yeah, sure.
Exterminator found him.
Setting traps at the neighbor's house.
That's when he saw it.
"It"? Is it an "it" or a "him"? (SIGHING) Kind of both.
Rat guy said he thought it was a soccer ball or a pumpkin.
That's not a soccer ball.
Or a pumpkin.
REESE: You canvass the neighborhood? BOBBY: Knocked on doors, but guess what? No one saw anything.
Oh, it's not just the head.
He's still in one piece.
Body's buried underneath him.
Looks like he's been dead about a day.
Flower petals.
Dianthus.
I happen to know flowers.
You ever see one like this before? You mean, made out of a man? Someone made him into a flower.
And left him here on this lawn.
You send flowers, it usually means one of two things.
You're really in love or you're really sorry.
Which one is it? (CHATTERING ON POLICE RADIO) Diabetic.
Frank Dunlop.
Frank took a bullet to his chest at close range before he was buried.
You get some real perspective when your head is down here.
Is that Is that Frank's dinner? Label has yesterday's date.
"Salisbury steak, peas, and apple brown betty.
" Oh, a diabetic shouldn't eat apple brown betty.
"Beverly Hills Cares.
" Let's see if it's true.
Frank was our best driver.
Totally committed to others.
Never missed a day of work.
He was a saint.
Can we get a list of his deliveries? Sure.
Frank lived for this place.
Always looking to make it better.
Last week he found a way to raise a ton of money for it.
He say how? No, but he wasrt just a talker.
If he said that he had a way, he had a way.
He ever mention any problems with his deliveries? He never complained.
And he was the one who ran food to all the crazies.
The crazies? Like sketchy people, troublemakers.
Frank actually seemed to like them.
Any who live near North Valley Circle? Um I got two on Vista Vierra.
That's near Valley Circle, right? I got a Flint Garber on 1818 Vista Vierra and a Maude Paxton on 1818 Vista Vierra.
(KNOCK ON DOOR) Yes? Are you Maude Paxton? I am.
Have you brought the food? No, we haven't.
Actually, we're here about the person who brings the food.
May we come in? Of course.
Has something happened to Frank? Hey, where the hell's my food? Flint Garber.
Who are you? How do you know my name? Did you bring my food? They know your name? Flint, they're here about Frank.
I'm Detective Reese and this is Detective Crews.
You just let anybody in the house.
CREWS: We'd like to ask you some We'd like to talk to you about Frank Dunlop.
Well, Frank didn't show up today.
Does that mean I don't get my food? When was the last time you saw Frank? The day before yesterday.
He comes every day.
You never met a sweeter soul than Frank.
Can we ask where you were last night? You can ask.
Free country.
He was here.
He's always here.
Always? You never leave? Can't.
Nobody steal my stuff.
It's valuable stuff.
And, Maude, where were you last night? Here, too.
We were watching the TV.
It was my turn with the remote.
Oh, we're roommates.
Yeah, just roommates.
Now look, if you don't have any food for me, you just get the hell off my property.
The two roommates, Flint Garber and Maude Paxton, are both clean slates.
No rap sheets on either.
Frank Dunlop's clean, too.
Not even a parking ticket.
Maybe this guy really was a saint.
Only one saint walked this Earth.
Who's that? My mother.
His mother.
REESE: I searched the ViCAP database.
The last murder listed with dianthus on the victim was in The '70s.
Johnny Hazlit.
Weird cult, the Hazlits.
Killed 10 people, never got convicted.
Hazlit overdosed on drugs in 1972.
What about the rest of the Hazlits? The ones we can trace are either in prison or dead.
But a lot of them just went underground and disappeared.
Okay.
No leaks, no press.
If the press hears that the Hazlits are still out there, or there's a copycat, all hell breaks loose and we'll never solve this.
Get online and get me everything you can about Hazlit.
There won't be a lot in the database from back then.
It's ancient history.
Well, okay, you two are off to LAPD dead record storage.
Why go there when we can go somewhere where history comes alive? Los Angeles Museum of Murder and Mayhem.
LAMOMAM.
People actually pay to see this? Maybe we don't see the value because we get it for free.
And you knew about this place because Came here on a date, once.
It was her idea.
"Guitar said to have been given to Johnny Hazlit by Donovan in 1968.
" They called him Mellow Yellow.
Oh.
Johnny Hazlit's personal teddy bear.
I'm the one who acquired that piece from a collector in Japan.
Can we help you with something? Are you the owners? Yes, I'm Squeaky.
This is Tex.
We met at a Ted Bundy auction.
He outbid me.
But she seduced me.
I paid for the guitar.
How much of this stuff is real? We're very precise about the provenance of everything here.
Provenance? Yes.
An object's place of origin.
Proof that it is what it is.
Any of the "its" here a.
45 caliber handgun? No.
Famous murder guns are too expensive for us.
They start around $10,000 and go up from there.
$10,000 for a gun? Well, a gun that killed somebody.
Provenance.
Mass murder memorabilia is a huge and growing market.
Sadly, very little comes on the market.
Most collectors are private.
Japanese eat it up.
SQUEAKY: But they keep their collections to themselves.
We'd like to look at your archives.
Because you're homicide detectives? He's Charlie Crews.
Two murders short of making the mass murder room.
We have a minimum of five.
Actually, I was five murders short.
She means before you were innocent.
Or before we knew you were innocent.
Of course, there's talk of what you did in prison.
There's talk about a lot of things.
Ever see this guy before? Uh No.
Is he a murder victim? Well, you're homicide detectives and asked about the gun.
SQUEAKY: Feel free to look around for a while.
We are a museum.
We want you to look.
Hazlit used dianthus to decorate his kills, but he never buried any of them.
All his victims were shot with a.
45 like Frank Dunlop.
Hazlit's.
45 was never found.
And Hazlit is dead, so copycat.
You ever hear of a copycat killing 30 years after the original? People are still pretty into this.
Some more than others.
All right, let's get alibis on Tex and Squeaky.
They did ask us to look.
Oh, look at this.
Looks like Hazlit had a bunch of kids with different women.
They would have ended up in social services after the arrests.
Some of them may still be around.
Wanna see if any of them went into the family business? Eight wives, 43 children.
Eight wives, all at the same time? That's like wife in the house.
No wonder Hazlit was crazy.
I always thought I'd have a lot of kids.
House full of noise.
Chaos.
What about you, Detective Reese? I don't think it's a good idea for me to have children.
(CHUCKLES) Why is that? Because it wouldn't be.
Me? I'd like two kids.
Well, good luck with that.
According to these files we got from social services, the kids that were taken from Hazlit in 1972 were given their mother's last name.
Makes sense.
You wouldn't want Hazlit on the back of your hockey jersey.
One of those mothers' names was Garber.
Her son is Flint Garber Hazlit.
Let me guess.
Another mother's last name was Paxton? Her daughter's name is Maude Paxton Hazlit.
Johnny Hazlit had two kids living a chip shot from the murder? I guess you figured out who our pappy was.
Maude, where's Flint? He's inside.
He's got a gun but it isn't loaded, so don't shoot him.
Don't you steal my stuff.
We're not here for your stuff, Flint.
We're here for you.
The last time we were here, you didn't say you were Hazlits.
You didn't ask if we were Hazlits, last time you were here.
It's not the kind of thing we advertise.
Word gets out, townsfolk start lighting the torches.
Frank Dunlop know who you were? Does Frank know we grew up surrounded by death and covered in blood? No, we don't speak about it.
(SIGHS) Flint? Frank was the kind of guy you could talk to.
He was He was a real good listener.
Flint! Frank is the only one I ever talked to about us being Us.
(WHISPERING) Third bedroom's been slept in.
Oh.
There are three bedrooms being used in this house.
If one of them is yours, Maude, and the other one is Flint's, then who sleeps in the other bedroom? Clifton.
My son.
Not my son.
Clifton is my nephew.
Where's Clifton today? He hasn't been around since Monday.
You know where we can find him? If Frank is the only person you ever talked to about it, Flint, does your son know he's a Hazlit? He'd have used it against me.
The way I grew up.
You're not gonna tell Clifton about this, are you? Well, now we have three Hazlits living just a chip shot away from Frank's murder.
Detectives.
Got a gun here.
Got another one over here and a knife.
Dried blood on it.
FLINT: That's just junk I collected over the years.
I mean, I couldn't have killed Frank.
I never leave this house.
We were watching TV that night.
Okay.
Well, we're just gonna ask you to come along with us.
Run some tests on those weapons and that blood.
If you'd like to just stand up for us, please, and put your hands behind your backs.
Is that really necessary? Oh, all righty.
Once, I saw pappy kill a man while he was handcuffed.
Strangled him with the chain.
Said it was proof of the master-slave relationship.
A victim was found shot at a foreclosed house.
That's all I can tell you.
Johnny Hazlit? Didrt he play for the Dodgers? Oh, must be a different one.
Never heard of him.
The press are all over us.
They know about the victim being buried up to his neck? Only us and the killer have that detail.
You giving interviews? No, but But what, my good detectives? LAMOMAM.
LAMOMAM.
LAMOMAM? LAMOMAM.
You drive.
REESE: Clifton Garber? You wanna step away from the car? It's my car.
Why would I wanna step away from it? 'Cause she asked you to.
You know Frank Dunlop? Frankie Meals on Wheels? Why? Because your father and aunt have just been arrested in connection with his murder.
My father never leaves the house.
And my aunt, she's practically Mrs.
Butterwon'th.
Wait, someone Someone killed Frankie Dunlop? You always keep your car so clean, Clifton? Shampooing the trunk? Yeah, it took every penny that I have, so I like to take care of it.
Took every penny you have? Is that why you're living at home? No, it's how every How come you think that my dad and aunt are involved? We found guns at the house.
Yeah.
My dad's got a lot of junk.
But like I said, he doesn't go out.
You mind if we take a sample from this carpet back there? Yeah, I do.
A lot.
Might depreciate the value.
Your dad seemed to like Frank.
Guess so.
The way he talked about him, guess he thought of Frank kind of as a son.
But you're his son, so Where have you been these last few days? With my girlfriend.
You wanna give us her name? Not really.
Reese, you wanna tell Clifton about the family plan we have at lockup? You're dating Clifton Garber? For about a year.
Why didn't you tell us the last time we were here? Something you're protecting Clifton from? He and Frank didn't get along.
Frank was very sweet.
Clifton didn't believe anybody could be that sweet.
It made Clifton so mad.
Mindy, did Clifton ever mention his father or his aunt? Where's your partner Squeaky, Tex? At an auction.
Did you talk to the press? The press? About the Hazlit killing? No.
No, sir.
If you did, you'd be getting in the way of my investigation.
You know, not everyone thinks he's innocent.
Excuse me? Your old partner.
Check the websites.
A lot of people out there still think he killed that family.
About a year ago, Clifton came in to sign his dad and aunt up for the program.
His dad's some kind of a shut-in and his aunt forgets things.
Like, to shop and stuff.
So Clifton arranged for meals to be delivered to the house.
To make sure that they had food, in case he was working and didn't get home to feed them.
I think that Clifton hated Frank because Cliftors afraid of his own sweetness.
And Clifton was with you? And you're not afraid of his sweetness? No, not at all.
Why should I be? We have a few empty display cases in there for your old partner if it turns out, you know, he did do that family.
We're gonna go now, Tex.
You remember what I said.
Is there anything of Crews' you'd be willing to sell me? Some shoes or a used coffee cup, just in case? Pineapple? Dried pineapple? Are you gonna talk to Rayborn? He said he's got something to tell me.
That FBI agent said you go after Rayborn, you go back to jail.
Well, that's just the way they talk.
Oh.
I couldn't go back to jail.
No one is going back to jail, Ted.
(SIGHS) It's a wedding invitation to your father's wedding.
Ted, putting aside the fact that you say you're in love with the woman who is going to marry my father, I have not said a word to my dad in 12 years.
I'm not going to his wedding.
Why would you wanna go? I do love her, Charlie.
Ted, she is marrying my father.
You know? It might be easier to think of who set me up for those murders than you and You know how small a cancer cell is? Very small? Think about all the ass you've kicked in your life, and in the end, I'm gonna get cored out like an apple by something I can't even take a swing at.
You know, I think you're the reason I went to jail.
Because you saw a photo.
You know, I think you're the reason my friends were murdered.
So I guess I'm not exactly sure why you think I care you're dying.
Well, for one thing, you might save yourself a bullet, and for another, when I'm dead, I'm dead.
I know your secret, Detective.
Well, that's good to hear.
'Cause as it turns out, I don't know my secret.
All those words help keep the dark thoughts away? Your secret is, you wanna come out of the dark, but you can't.
You want to leave behind the blood, but you can't.
You want to let go of revenge, but you can't.
How do you know that? I know that, because I know that.
See? I also have words, Detective.
And I also have photos.
You know this guy? Can't place him.
Yeah, okay.
You see that look on his face, that smug Fed smile? He works for the FBI.
Maybe you knew that.
I thought you said you had photos.
Well, Special Agent Bodner, here, works for the FBI.
He does a little moonlighting, though.
He works for someone else, too.
Yeah? Who's that? Roman Nevikov.
I know you know him.
I know you wanted him.
And I know that Bodner took him away.
Bodner works for Roman.
(REPORTERS CLAMORING) Was the Dunlop killing a Hazlit copycat? We're pursuing all leads.
Wow, it looks like the leak got bigger.
Bet their business is booming.
any one theory.
At this point in time, I would ask for your patience and allow us to do our job.
Thank you.
You failed to mention the victim was found buried up to his neck, or that there were flowers found scattered around the body, just like Johnny Hazlit used to do it.
Yes, I failed to mention that.
You failed to mention that the victim was found near the home of Flint Garber at 1818 Vista Vierra.
Yeah, failed to mention that.
Also failed to mention something else.
What's that? You're under arrest.
Yeah, okay.
One more thing, Flint Garber and Maude Paxton were the children of Johnny Hazlit.
There's a grandson, too, Clifton.
A house full of Hazlits around the block from the murder.
Okay.
Okay.
Here we go.
That Frank Dunlop's body was buried up to the neck is a detail that didn't go to the press.
We keep certain facts to ourselves.
Then the only people who know those facts are us cops or the killer.
(CHUCKLES) Come on, LAPD leaks like a sieve.
Where do you think we get most of our information from? Maybe it was a tribute murder.
Or a copycat.
There's a difference.
It's subtle, but it's there.
Oh.
You should teach a class.
Hey, maybe we could get your partner to give a guest lecture.
What do you think, Squeaky? Should we do it? Actually, I do know the difference between copycat and tribute.
Detail I picked up at LAMOMAM.
Let me see if I get this right.
Hazlit left flowers by his kills.
Now, if Frank Dunlop's body had had flowers surrounding it, that would have been a copycat, yes? Yes.
But Frank Dunlop's body, the way it was found, it was a flower that someone left for Hazlit, and that's a tribute.
Yes, Detective.
That's a tribute.
Okay, Hazlit didn't like people who lied or broke promises to him.
Frank Dunlop ever break any promises to you? We didn't know Frank Dunlop.
We just find Hazlit fascinating.
Like the rest of the world.
Like you two.
Well, we'll be less fascinated once we find Frank Dunlop's killer.
Maybe you won't be able to.
Maybe you'll always find him fascinating.
Oh, like a song you can't get out of your head? Yeah, man.
Like that.
Do you have alibis for the night Frank Dunlop was killed? At an auction for Hillside Strangler items.
We were both there.
Are we suspects now? Do you wanna be? That'll be good for ticket sales.
We'll check out your alibi.
If it all pans out, you get to go home.
Take your time.
(REPORTERS CHATTERING) Auction house employees saw Squeaky and Tex that night.
But it was, in their words, "a mob scene for all that Hillside Strangler swag.
" I'm not sure I understand a world where that stuff sells at auctions.
Well, they got what they wanted.
Publicity.
Bobby! I'm on it! Coming through! Move it! Move! I always wanted to know what a Hazlit tasted like.
Meet Clifton Hazlit, Johnny Hazlit's grandson.
Come on.
Make a lane! Make a lane! Make a lane! I look just like Hazlit, don't I? All my life, I thought there was something wrong with me.
Turns out there is.
The man you hit isn't gonna press charges.
They exposed me.
What happens to them? I should have done what my grandfather would've.
What's that? Made them pay in blood.
Clifton? You're no different than you were before you found out.
Oh, I'm different.
You heard her.
(SIGHS) Now I'm Johnny Hazlit's grandson.
All right, well, you know, we can let you out the back.
Why the back? Because those photographers, they're waiting for you out front.
(DIALING) MAN: Hello? Who is this? This is Charles Crews.
Who is this? I was looking for Olivia.
I thought I dialed her cell phone.
You dialed the house.
She's out, trying on her wedding dress for the ten thousandth time.
You want me to leave a message for you? Uh, tell her somebody called.
Somebody? What the Somebody? Somebody called? (POLICE SIREN WAILING) Oh, great.
Red light? Did I run it? OFFICER: License and registration.
Do you know why we pulled you over, Mr.
Earley? I blew through that light.
I'm gonna run these.
Gun! Show me your hands! Out of the car.
OFFICER: On your knees.
Guys, I have a friend on the Force.
On your knees.
Found this next to the gun.
That is not mine.
Not the gun, not whatever's in that baggie.
(GRUNTS) Guys.
Okay.
Guys, please.
I'm on parole.
Maude Paxton Hazlit and Flint Garber Hazlit alibi each other.
So they both did it or they both didn't do it.
What about the guns found out at the house? None of them match the bullets found in Frank Dunlop.
We're running them down to see if they match up to any other crimes.
Squeaky and Tex? They alibi each other, too.
So they both did it or they both didn't do it.
What about the grandson, young Clifton? He was with his girlfriend.
Or maybe not.
Mindy! Is it true you're in a relationship with Clifton Garber? That is not true.
Didrt you tell the police you were in a relationship with Johnny Hazlit's grandson? No.
(REPORTERS CLAMORING) ANNOUNCER: And that is the latest development in the bizarre murder case of Frank Dunlop, found (TV CLICKS OFF) Your father? He get you to say what you did to those reporters? I'm sorry if I wasted your time.
You're withdrawing your statement? A man was killed, Mindy.
A man you knew.
What did you call him? A saint? Clifton asked me to cover for him and I did.
We werert having a relationship.
I only knew him from the food bank.
I wasrt having a relationship with Clifton Garber.
It was a mistake and I'm sorry.
Wow, what do you think, Detective Crews? I think that's a nice speech.
Did you write it or did your dad? I have to go now.
You like Clifton? 'Cause he's not from your world.
He's not your dad over there.
He drives for people like your dad.
Mindy, are you recanting because you really werert with Clifton? Or is it because it turns out the man you were with is a Hazlit? I wasrt with Clifton.
You're looking at obstruction of justice.
Do you understand that? My father said his lawyers will call you about that.
I have to go.
Do you believe her? Nope.
Her dad finds out his daughter is linked to a Hazlit, and Clifton Garber loses his alibi.
Yeah.
It's a weird thing to hold against somebody.
What? Their blood.
(CELL PHONE RINGING) Yep.
We'll be right there.
LAMOMAM.
Shots fired.
(ROCK MUSIC PLAYING) SQUEAKY: I'm here.
Squeaky? Is he dead? Is Tex dead? Did you see who it was? Yeah.
I did.
He was here.
Who was here? Hazlit.
It was Johnny Hazlit.
I heard the gun and I turned.
Tex was on the ground.
And then I saw him.
You saw Johnny Hazlit with the gun? I saw the gun.
It looked bigger in his hands, but it was his hand.
It was Johnny Hazlit.
He shot Tex and then he shot me and then he dropped the gun and ran.
Squeaky, sometimes when you see a gun like that, that's all you see.
It confuses everything else.
I wasrt confused.
It was Johnny.
He was here.
I saw him.
But he ran.
Well, we know Johnny Hazlit didn't do it.
'Cause he's dead? Let's get some gunshot residue tests done on Squeaky and Tex Uhry.
Yeah.
Only one of them is dead, but both of them are crazy.
Maybe she did see Johnny Hazlit.
That would be the crazy part.
What if you found out there was something in your blood that you didn't know was there? The guy I hit? That museum freak.
That's right.
The museum that exposed you as a Hazlit.
You think I killed that greeb.
Like you said, it's what your grandfather would've done.
You have good reason.
Yeah? I also have an alibi.
(WINDOW SLIDES OPEN) I've been here all night.
And so have they.
And they're not gonna recant like Mindy.
(ALL SHOUTING) (WHOOPING) Yeah! All right.
Nope, they like me for who I am.
Yeah.
Everywhere I go, they go.
Wanna take a picture with me? Hmm? No? Okay.
You live in this limo 'cause you don't wanna go home.
I'd rather never step foot back in that house again.
But you can't afford anywhere else.
(SIGHS) That's right.
Because this limo took all your cash.
Which is why you moved home in the first place.
Yeah.
Limo took all my cash.
So if you don't have any money, who pays the mortgage on that house? Dad, I guess.
With what? Did Flint ever have a job? Dad never worked a day in his life.
Gunshot residue test on Squeaky and Tex came back negative.
Thanks, Bobby.
You don't work.
We checked.
You don't collect social security.
You would've had to use your real name for that.
So how do you pay the mortgage, Flint? And the utilities? Do you sell some of your stuff? It's valuable stuff.
It's my legacy.
It all belonged to Johnny Hazlit.
That's right.
Who bought it? Collectors overseas.
Do you know Squeaky and Tex Uhry? They made me a couple of lowball offers.
They didn't have any cash.
They couldn't match those foreign offers.
Did Frank know the Uhrys? I told him not to sell to them.
Go for that foreign money.
Why would Frank sell anything? It's all your stuff.
Mindy said Frank told her he'd found a way to raise a lot of money.
Flint, did you give anything to Frank? All of it.
So he could sell it? Frank would have just used it for charity.
Frank listened to me.
And he said that he could do good things with that money.
And that And that would make you good.
But I told him to stick with the foreign buyers.
(KNOCK ON DOOR) Detectives.
That's the gun found at the museum.
Yeah, the one that shot Squeaky and Tex.
Ballistics confirmed that.
And that gun there matches the slugs pulled from Frank Dunlop.
What? We pulled some prints off the grip.
We got a match.
Guess who.
Johnny Hazlit? But he's been dead for over 30 years.
Provenance.
Thank you.
We're sorry for your loss.
Tex would've wanted this.
Why'd you kill Frank Dunlop? I didn't kill Frank Dunlop.
Frank was told not to sell to you.
All that sweet Hazlit swag going overseas, where they get a better price.
Is that why you killed him? Then making him look like this? That's just good for business.
And it really paid off.
Tex and I were at that auction.
You know, that auction was so crowded, you and Tex could've left, and no one would've even noticed.
That's what we call a soft alibi.
Why'd you kill Tex, Squeaky? I didn't kill Tex.
He get nervous about that soft alibi? I don't know who killed Frank Dunlop.
But Johnny Hazlit killed Tex.
He was here.
I saw him.
Johnny Hazlit is dead.
It says so right on that exhibit.
The person who owned Hazlit's gun, that's who killed Tex.
REESE: Tracked a money order of yours, Squeaky.
$15,000 last month, to Japan.
You know, that's a lot of money to spend on a gun.
But I guess you have to spend money to make money.
Checked your bank.
That was every last penny you had.
You owned that gun.
Why didn't you exhibit it? 'Cause you were using it.
What's that word, Crews? Provenance.
That was Hazlit.
He was here.
I saw him! That gun has his prints! Guess she's working on her insanity defense.
Maybe it was Hazlit back from the dead.
Or maybe Squeaky and Tex were wearing gloves.
If those gloves were part of the murder, you'd have to put them on display.
Because she knew they were real.
Crews? BOBBY: Charlie! Let's get out of here.
Yeah.
Let's get out of here.
(SIGHS) You run a lean operation here.
Plenty of fresh produce, though.
Foundation of any good meal.
Where's Rachel? Your niece? She's not my niece.
I know who that girl is, Detective.
She went out.
Some musician type called on her.
Not my type.
I wouldn't let him near my daughters.
Where's Ted? Ted.
We'll get to that in a moment.
What did Mickey Rayborn say to you? That's between me and him.
I thought that'd be your answer.
Detective, what did I tell you would happen if you went after Rayborn? I told you you'd go back to jail.
But I'm not in jail.
You'll get to Ted in a moment? I'd like that moment to be now.
We did some thinking, back at our thinking room, and on reflection, threatening you with jail might not be that much of a threat.
(EXCLAIMS) You wanna try this? I'm good.
You sure? I got it right where I want it.
Where's Ted? Probably still out at county.
But I'd say he'll be at supermax by noon tomorrow.
You can't drive around with a gun and coke.
You know Ted can't hack another stretch.
You went after Rayborn, and you got in.
Now you gonna stay in and do what we tell you.
You make sure that stay at a simmer and run a spoon through it every once in a while.