Major Crimes s03e01 Episode Script

The screen of the father's cell phone shows several messages from a Cee-Cee, Cynthia Logan also a couple of calls from Gran, Cee-Cee's mom, I guess she came over here and informed Missing Persons.
So why did Missing Persons call us? A father leaves his house in a hurry with his own kids.
- That's a major crime? - The father's car is still in the garage.
What did he do, abduct his son and daughter in a taxi, sir? Couldn't it be a Critical Missing? How can we be certain the father is with the kids? Buzz, you shoot the video, I'll ask the questions.
How about that? Oh, Sykes did we pull you away from something special? - Is the lucky guy waiting for you outside? - No way.
So, what's up? - Dad runs with his children and goes poof? - Buzz let's check out the bedrooms.
- Where was mom? Santa Barbara, making a speech at a financial seminar.
What a coincidence.
The wife just happened to be out of town when her whole family vanished.
Where is she now, the mom? Oh, I sent her downtown with Flynn the second she got back.
Then I had patrol round up her relatives who were playing search through the neighborhood.
But this could be Critical Missing.
Maybe the three of them went to Disneyland.
Minus a balanced breakfast, are we looking for anything specific? Evidence of a crime, Sykes.
Evidence of a crime.
Don't come all the way in.
What's going on in here, Tao? Every once in a while, when I'm working at night, I like to stop and smell the chlorine especially when there's no sign of an indoor pool.
Someone has cleaned this room with a lot of bleach.
Recently.
Sir, besides the family, there is something else definitely missing here.
- What? - Little polka-dot robe that goes with this belt it's not here.
It's not in laundry, not in the kitchen, not in the bathroom.
Also, there is no luggage anywhere in the house.
Not a single suitcase.
Can we get the lights and doors, please? See those swirls that look like clouds? That is all blood.
That someone tried to wipe off the wall.
Julio, put a want out on the father.
We can't treat this like a Critical Missing but I need you to head up a serious search for those kids.
Sykes.
Inform the captain that we're looking at things in a completely different light.
Mike what the hell is going on here? It must be a kidnapping.
That's the only thing that could explain it.
I know the circumstances look upsetting, Mrs.
Logan but at this point, we have no reason to believe this is anything but a Missing Persons case right, lieutenant? - That's right.
Most Missing Persons show up before we finish looking for them.
Has your husband ever gone off with your children before and not told you? No, that's not what's happened.
Ben's nervous to have the kids on his own.
Ellie can't see anything without her glasses, and Owen is only 6.
So Ben planned on taking them to this day camp we found, but I called and Owen and Ellie never showed up today.
- Is that your only suitcase? No it's part of a set of three.
Why? You don't seem to have packed much for Santa Barbara.
How long were you there? Since yesterday afternoon.
The seminar started at 8 this morning and I had to do a short talk for retirees around 10 I was always coming home tonight.
How does knowing where I was help you find my family? Well, we're just trying to determine when they may have gone missing.
My mother said that when she walked into our kitchen, breakfast was still on the table and the kettle was burned to the stove.
Does that help? And they were gone when I started calling at 7 a.
m.
If you could let me back into my house for a moment I'm sorry, we can't do that just yet.
How's your husband's health? Excuse me? Is he on any kind of medication.
- Heart disease, depression or - No, Ben's He's very healthy.
He has to be to fly.
He's a pilot for a private charter company out of Burbank, Preferred Skies Airlines.
- Has he ever gone before with the kids without - No, listen please.
My husband did not fly off with our kids, okay? He loves me, I love him.
We have a great marriage.
You're asking all the wrong questions.
Mrs.
Logan, we're trying to concentrate our search.
Knowing where your children aren't will help us figure out where they are and the more you cooperate with us, the faster we'll go.
Mom.
Mom.
Anything? Did you go by the park? We did, and the mall.
We didn't see them.
We drove by their camp just to make sure that they didn't drop in.
Hi, I'm Tim, Cee-Cee's cousin.
I'm her sister, Vanessa, and this is our mother, Doris.
Is there any news? Uh, no, but it's still early.
Normally, police don't begin a missing person's investigation for 72 hours.
How long would your children need to be missing before looking for them? Or would you just answer questions about your husband? Mrs.
Logan, we're only asking about your Because you won't listen.
I've been telling you my husband loves me.
He would never leave me.
Never.
Okay, why don't you and your family go into the conference room, and we'll keep you posted as we go along.
We'll send in some dinner, okay? Follow me.
Cee-Cee, the police are just trying to do their jobs, all right? Let's go.
This way.
Thank you.
Now the blood was in the little girl's room.
No telling who it belongs to.
The SID collected lots of DNA samples, but they'll take time to run.
Is our mom a solid citizen? Mothers always feel guilty when something goes wrong with their kids.
Is that her husband's cell phone? Yes.
And I just got a warrant to go through it and our happy couple's finances.
Getting ready to drag credit and debit cards.
Okay, but first we need to move that murder board somewhere where this family can't see it.
Hey, hon, where are you and why aren't I hearing from you? Call me, Ben, or text me so I know everything's okay.
The whole family is I'm freaking out.
That's Mrs.
Logan's last call, made at 5:52 p.
M while driving home from Santa Barbara and before she knew her mom called the L.
A.
P.
D.
I'm going to listen to Mr.
Logan's other messages, see what's going on.
Buzz, let's have Santa Barbara P.
D.
Send over her hotel surveillance video see if we can place Mrs.
Logan.
Oh, I'm sure they'll find a beautiful, time-stamped shot of our mother roaming the lobby.
- Mom was in Santa Barbara creating an alibi? And how often have we run into that before? Not as often as we run into fathers abducting their own kids.
Still, all this blood.
Well, Mrs.
Logan's story is already starting to fall apart a little.
- What do you mean? - At 11:06 this morning Mr.
Logan got a call to confirm an appointment with a lawyer named Arie Grossman.
Now, looking up Mr.
Grossman online, turns out, he's a divorce attorney.
- She's lying about how solid Hm.
Yeah, and how often have we run into that before? You have Sanchez out with 15 patrol cars, two crime suppression units from SOB and a command center.
Sykes searching a private airline with another five officers and we don't know if a crime has been committed yet.
We've found a lot of blood.
Cleaning up blood from your own house, not a crime.
Well, we should all be out in the field right now, looking for those two kids.
They're probably with their father.
Yeah, who didn't show up at work today, where he flies chartered planes.
Are we arresting people for skipping work? Because when spending this kind of money we know for sure a law has been broken.
Excuse me.
Oh, Mr.
Beck, you shouldn't have.
I didn't.
They're for Detective Sykes.
I was riding the elevator with the delivery guy, and I offered to take them the rest of the way.
Well, what brings you here on a Saturday morning - after so many weeks away? - I'm sorry.
I just I have all these classes to make up before I can get my diploma and I'm retaking the SATs now that I'm seriously thinking about going to college.
But I was hoping that maybe I could talk to you um, about an important event that's going on in my personal life.
Personal life? Oh, well, personal Hold on, just hold on.
Major Crimes, how may I help you? Oh, yes.
You're right.
Yes, uh-huh, that's the number.
Yes, hold on.
I'm sorry, real busy around here today.
We're trying to put a family back together.
Um Flynn.
Flynn! TransUnion is faxing over the Logans' credit reports right now.
Hold on.
Ahem.
We'll catch up real soon.
- Yeah.
- I found her.
Mrs.
Logan, at her hotel in Santa Barbara.
As you can see, captain Cynthia Logan checks into her hotel at 6:17 p.
m.
And then here she enters her second floor hotel room at 6:41 p.
m.
The next morning at 7:56 a.
m.
, she leaves her hotel room goes down the elevator to the lobby and enters the conference room where she stays until 4:25 p.
m.
Then leaves with the green suitcase.
This vanishing act at the Logan house doesn't make sense.
No one had time to turn off the shower or even the stove but they packed before they left.
- Could be they staged their disappearance? Right.
But why? Well, maybe it's connected to the apartment Ben Logan was renting in San Diego until last week.
Pretty weird considering he and his wife bought their home in L.
A five months ago.
- They just moved into this house? - For which they paid $793,000, half in cash.
- Cash? - Yeah, my reaction exactly.
Especially considering, together they pull down around 100K a year.
And maybe more than that.
No one at Preferred Skies Airlines admits to seeing Ben Logan or his children today.
But in the last two years, he's been fined three times for failing to submit a flight plan.
"Not filing a flight plan," that's a very serious infraction.
Preferred Skies didn't think so though, they paid his fines themselves.
Now, just for fun, guess some of Preferred Skies' most common destinations.
- Are we talking South of the Border? - Exactly.
Mexico, Bolivia plus the occasional side trip to the Cayman Islands.
Ben Logan was involved in drug running? And if the FAA caught him without a flight plan three times - He was failing to file a lot more than that.
- Probably pocketing lots of cash for each trip.
But don't forget, his wife lied to us about their marriage.
Her husband was consulting a divorce lawyer.
And, and he was paying for an apartment in San Diego while they were living in L.
A.
- And there was blood in her daughter's room.
- A lot of blood.
- But if I question Cynthia Logan before we properly connect her to the evidence, she could lawyer up and I don't even know what crime we're investigating yet, and that is the problem.
Is it a kidnapping? Is it a homicide? Is it a Critical Missing? Why don't we try a little process of elimination.
Let's focus our entire investigation on Ben Logan.
We've already searched his neighborhood.
Let's move our base of operations to Burbank Airport near Preferred Skies let's alert our friends in the media.
Let's question Cynthia Logan and her relatives about the state of her marriage.
And carefully, carefully Mirandize her without alarming her too much.
A father and his two children have been missing since yesterday morning.
The L.
A.
P.
D.
Has not commented on the situation as of yet.
Why are you searching Burbank Airport? You're determined to make this about my husband, aren't you? Can we put your family someplace else a moment, while we brief you on that? Of course.
We can go anywhere you want us.
Vanessa, Tim.
Mrs.
Logan, we would like to play some messages for you of your husband's cell phone, which he left behind at your house.
But first, we need you to initial and sign these agreements saying that you won't sue if you hear something that upsets you.
That you know you have the constitutional right to not talk to us about your kids and, if you want, you can consult with an attorney.
It's not that we want to think that Ben ran away with your grandchildren.
It's just that we, uh - We really need to rule it out.
- I don't understand why it's an issue.
Cee-Cee and Ben haven't had any trouble in over a year.
What kind of trouble? The usual stuff, who's going to work more, who's going to take care of the house? I don't know any more than that.
Cee-Cee isn't one of those people who opens up about her private life, you know? Yeah, I know the type.
Maybe there were issues after they moved to San Diego.
I didn't talk to her every day.
They lived in San Diego? But Cee-Cee was glad to move back to L.
A.
So overall, you'd say they were happily married? Well, I've never been married, so I can't judge it.
I mean who's to say what happiness looks like to other people.
Lots of couples argue.
Hi, Mr.
Logan, this is Lisa in Arie Grossman's office.
I'm just calling to confirm your appointment with us at 1 p.
m.
This Monday.
If you change your mind, just call us and let us know, it happens all the time.
So who is Arie Grossman? I'm afraid he's a divorce lawyer.
Your husband had an appointment with him.
No, I don't believe it.
We spoke to Mr.
Grossman.
He said that he talked to Ben over the phone and that he was coming in to discuss filing for a divorce.
But we have not had a serious problem in so long.
Mrs.
Logan, you have some serious problems right now.
Look, your husband is nowhere to be found.
Your children have disappeared.
Can you think of a reason that might have happened? Is there anything at all that you haven't told us? I have explained everything.
And this filing for divorce is not true.
It can't be true.
Oh, my God.
This is a nightmare.
How much worse is this gonna get? L-10, advise bomb tech, two additional major crimes personnel are entering the blast zone.
Logans are still missing but we did find their bags.
We were so close to the runway, the TSA wanted the bomb squad to go over luggage first, sir.
I don't get it.
If Ben Logan went through the trouble of packing, why'd he dump their stuff? Yeah, as soon as we get the all clear, we're gonna find out.
Maybe I should start collecting surveillance footage of this area.
Hold on.
Hold on.
We need to finish here first.
And keep filming.
I want the jury to see this exactly the same way we did.
Okay, Tao, open the other suitcase.
- Hey.
- Hey.
You had to run out? I did.
Um I'm sorry, I hope that's not why you had to come home.
Oh, no, we had a break in our case, a sad break and it requires work at the morgue so, in a minute, I thought I would shower and change.
A sad break? Two little children found dead in their family's suitcases.
Oh, my God how did that happen? - I'm not sure.
Drug running can often end badly, marriages too.
Love is tricky.
You think you know someone, and then, very suddenly, you don't.
Love can go back and forth, right and, from what I've seen, being a mom can be pretty tricky too.
It has its challenges, yes.
You'll probably be on your own for dinner.
It's okay.
Is there anything else, uh, I should know? Um, I wanted to I wanted to talk to Lieutenant Provenza about something, but he was pretty busy so if you ever finish tonight.
- I'll call you.
No matter how many ways you look at it some things just never make sense.
All I could tell you is they didn't suffer.
- How do you know that? - Carbon monoxide poisoning.
They were asphyxiated.
Probably went to sleep inside a running car in a closed garage.
Sounds like whoever did this couldn't face it, like they knew the kids if you could wrap your head around that.
What about the blood we found at their house? It doesn't look like they have fresh wounds, but I'll type the kids just in case.
Time of death? I'd say yesterday morning, 6:10 a.
m.
The decomp was Just say 6 to 10 and maybe a prayer that you catch the monster who did this.
Two dead kids, stuffed into suitcases.
Sound bad enough to justify some overtime? And how do you intend for us to break this news to the mother? I don't.
Wait a minute.
Just wait we can't just walk around here with can-do expressions on our faces when we know - What if I need her help? - I agree with the captain.
- What a shock.
No seriously.
If the mother's responsible somehow, and we start laying out evidence she's going to lawyer up.
You suspected the mother too.
Well, the children were just missing, but now that they're dead She held back crucial information.
I don't trust her and, for that, she has no one to blame but herself.
Captain, I found something on the surveillance video from the airport.
Watch the traffic here, you'll see it in a second.
There, that red car.
It goes underneath the overpass, but then look.
Now it stays there for 47 seconds before it comes out the other side.
- Can you zoom in to see the plates? - Not much.
Here's a little more.
The image is good enough to see the car.
That's a red Chevy Malibu.
Hm.
Paper plates.
Maybe the colors will tell us which dealership it's from.
- But the Logans bought the car with cash - Let me look through records and see if the Malibu comes back to them, if you can get a dealer.
So you're thinking the car that dumped the suitcases with our bodies belong to the Logans? I'm afraid so, yes.
Evening, I was on my way home when the lab called with results you need to see.
- What results? - SID brought a disposable razor from the trash in Ben Logan's bathroom.
I did a blood type on it and I got AB.
- AB, that's very rare.
- It is and it matched to the blood found on the wall in his house which means there is an insanely high probability Ben Logan is your bleeder.
That doesn't mean the mother has anything to do with this.
It could still be one of those drug lords that Logan's been flying around.
Who just coincidentally struck at Logan, while his wife was away? No.
This happened while she was gone for a reason.
- Something more, doctor? - The kids' blood types.
The son came back B, as you'd expect but the daughter came back O.
- Hm.
- What's that mean? It's impossible for the child of an AB parent to have an O blood type.
So the boy was Ben Logan's son but the girl wasn't his daughter.
- It's a physical impossibility.
What do you know? Mama had an affair.
Yet, her marriage is perfect.
She sees no reason why her husband would want a divorce.
Now I have a conversation-starter with Cynthia Logan.
And the DA too.
Excuse me.
- Hobbs.
- Lieutenant.
Nice flowers, Amy.
- A little light on a dark day.
- Very dark, yeah.
I mean, what kind of person do you think I am? I love my husband and my children and I certainly don't deserve to have, what is it, the Miranda warning? or whatever thrust at me twice in the same day with my whole family missing.
It's outrageous.
I'm sorry if we've offended you.
We had to remind you of your rights before we asked you about the affair.
The affair? What affair? The affair that resulted in the birth of your daughter, Ellie.
The affair that you had with the man who is the father of your second child.
That ringing any bells, lady? - Mrs.
Logan - Do we have any idea who her mystery date might be? - No, but she's about to tell us.
- Are you involved with another man? - Or can't you narrow it down to one man? Please, stop.
I did not tell you It was not an affair.
I am not having an affair.
It was a mistake that I made in my personal life years ago.
It has nothing to do with what's going on here.
Nothing.
- So your husband is not aware that he's raising another man's child? Yeah, I mean what if your old boyfriend dropped by your house and tried to take his daughter? The man you're talking about, he was never my boyfriend, and he's not involved.
I just confirmed.
Mrs.
Logan paid all cash for the Malibu five weeks ago - and gave it to a guy not her husband.
- Other man we haven't been intimate in years.
Detective Sanchez says she paid cash for the Malibu and handed it off to an unidentified male.
So the wife must have something to do with all this.
This other man, who you refuse to name if he's out with your kids right now and something - He can't be out there, it's impossible.
- Why is it impossible? Is he out spending the money your husband made flying drug lords around, off the record? That's something else you neglected to mention, all that extra cash that you and your husband had lying around enough to buy a new house with.
- And a car.
If you can't give us a name, perhaps you can tell us where we can find the new red Malibu you bought five weeks ago.
- The Malibu? What does that have to do with anything? Tell me who's driving it, and I'll tell you why it's important.
Is it the father of your little girl? The man you're talking about, he doesn't He doesn't know that Ellie's his daughter, and he wouldn't do anything to my kids he wouldn't - Who wouldn't?! Mrs.
Logan, I have tried to give you the benefit of the doubt but your family has been missing for too long while you sit here and you continue to withhold critical facts from the police.
I am beginning to feel that I have no other choice but to arrest you Wait, wait, wait.
The car is here in your garage, in the visitor's section.
And he's here too, okay? He's not off with my children.
He's here.
Ellie's father is here.
You were sleeping with Tim your cousin, who is the father of your daughter.
Yes.
Yes, now do you understand? It was something that we fell into when we were 16.
And, oh, my God, I stopped it years ago.
Didn't see that coming.
And I don't know anything about drug money.
Ben said that he got tips in San Diego from some wheeler dealers that he flew from Las Vegas.
I mean, I have told you everything now there is to say and I need you to tell me that my children are all right.
Please, just tell me that they're okay, and I'll do whatever you want please.
Wow, I'm really surprised Cee-Cee told you about us, she made me swear never to say a word about it to anyone.
That's not why you read me my rights, is it? Sleeping with your cousin isn't against the law, not in California.
- Her husband might not care how legal it was.
- Well, yeah.
Ben has a temper, obviously.
Mrs.
Logan told us that she stopped sleeping with you four years ago.
Is there any reason her husband just found out yesterday? Yeah, because I finally did the right thing and I told him what was going on between Cee-Cee and me.
- When was this? - The night she drove to Santa Barbara.
So you told her husband that you were sleeping with his wife? We've been looking for Mr.
Logan and his children for the last 24 hours.
- Why didn't you share this information? - I didn't believe Ben would react like this.
He loses his temper but running off with his kids, that's extreme even for him.
Did Cynthia know you were telling her husband? No, but that's what she wanted.
Why do you think she moved back to L.
A? Why do you think she bought me a car? Well, she told us that she loaned you the money for the car.
No, she just said that for Ben's sake.
But when she gave me that car, I could tell from the way she looked at me Here's what you need to know.
Cee-Cee and I will always only be in love with each other and she was ready to throw all of our potential happiness away all to avoid hurting Ben.
And the shame of admitting she was in love with her cousin.
You see, she needed me to speak up for her for us, and I did that.
There it is.
Only one reason someone drills a hole into an exhaust pipe and runs a hose into a trunk.
I thought Ben would just ask Cee-Cee for a divorce.
I didn't realize he'd pack up and vanish.
This isn't going anywhere.
Let me get a picture of this, send it back Julio, could you hold both lights on this.
She stopped sleeping with you four years ago.
Here's where and how he killed the kids.
God, what on earth could this guy do to get out of the death penalty? She needed me to speak up for her.
- She had wasted enough energy.
- Excuse me.
I'm sure he had a girlfriend wherever he flew.
Check on him, you'll see.
Go look in Ben's safe deposit box.
There's probably 100,000 in cash there ask him where that came from.
Hello, Tim.
I'd like to show you a picture we just took of the trunk of your new car.
You son of a bitch! You cut the cable release, and you drilled a hole in the bottom of your trunk so it would fill up with exhaust after you shut those two kids up in it.
Hold on a second, okay? Ben must have stolen my car And brought it back before you went off looking for him.
How did you get your car back? - After Ben stole it.
Answer that! - That's enough, Julio.
- No, it's not.
What about those kids? - Get him out, now.
Go.
- Julio, come on.
- You know what you should've done, asshole? - You should've run! - Out.
Go.
- Come on.
Let's go.
- You should have run! Come on.
What are you doing? Come on, let's go.
Come on.
Sorry, but, uh But that reaction is probably very similar to the one the jury will have when we put you on trial for the murders of Owen and Ellie Logan.
We found their bodies near the airport stuffed into the suitcases that you took from Cynthia's house.
You know, the house that you staged that whole scene in? Now it's not gonna work anymore.
- What are you talking about? Tim, I'm Andrea Hobbs, the deputy district attorney for the County of Los Angeles and if you tell us where Ben Logan's body is immediately I promise to write a note asking that instead of putting you on trial for murder in the first degree with special circumstances That means the death penalty.
- The prosecution would consider consecutive life terms.
But for me to help you with a note like that your cooperation would need to begin right now.
Tim, I'd like you to think about how much we've learned in just one day, and then consider how long do you think it's going to take us to find Ben's body? I just I just want to explain one thing.
Please do.
I never meant to kill those kids.
They were supposed to be at camp.
So, what happened? I must have arrived at the house too early.
Because the kids were still there, and it was just It was not a good situation.
- I'd already set everything up.
- By calling the divorce attorney and making the appointment in Ben's name? - Yeah.
And look, I fixed up my trunk to put Ben in it, not Ellie and not Owen.
I thought I would knock Ben out, and I would let the exhaust take care of the rest.
I don't even remember picking up a knife.
I mean, if he had only stayed out of Ellie's room Where is Ben now? Buried in Vanessa's backyard.
Okay.
So, ahem, you take a seat right here.
Sit and write it all down.
And I'll see what I can do.
Oh, and one last thing, because I'm not sure you're aware but that beautiful little girl you asphyxiated in the trunk of your car yesterday Ellie? That was your daughter.
Excuse me.
Um Look, you have been there for me a lot lately with my family and my daughter in particular.
So why don't I do this notification? She deserves to hear about what happened, mother-to-mother and I was the one who insisted we hold back the information.
That was the right thing to do.
Then why do I feel so terrible about it? I'll wait in case you need me.
Look, I know what you're going through but we are professionals and must always maintain Listen, the captain's in her office so you better rush in because she's - No, no, no.
She just called me and said that she's getting off in a bit so I might have a moment with you.
- But, well - If it's convenient.
Okay, yeah.
Let's get it over with.
All right, I have no idea how you are going to take this but I need you to keep an open mind.
When have I ever not been open-minded? - And you cannot tell Sharon either.
- I won't, okay? Look I'm a homicide detective.
You think I don't already know what this is about? Ye gods, Rusty.
Look, just just say it.
Okay, fine.
Um My mom showed back up.
- But? - She's in a rehab in Long Beach, and she tracked me down through DCFS and I went to see her this afternoon for the second time.
I see.
And she had major work done to her mouth and gums.
She's supposed to use an electric toothbrush.
I can't give her mine and I can't drive it over every single day and I don't want to tell Sharon about all of this because if my mom blows it again - Right.
Right.
So if I could borrow money to buy her her own electric toothbrush it's $60 Without bugging Sharon about it.
- $60? A toothbrush? Oh, well.
Fine.
We'll keep this just between us for a bit, but No, no, no.
No "buts," you promised, and you cannot tell Sharon, the end.
I won't because you're going to tell her yourself.
Not today maybe but soon.
Deal? Everything around here is a deal.
Um All right, yes.
Yes, I will tell her.
- What's the matter? - Well, heh, heh.
I've just spent a day and a half trying to put a family back together so you would think that I would feel good about you and your mother.
I don't.
Now listen, don't you let me down here.
If Sharon finds out that I withheld this information Okay, lieutenant.
I will tell her, I promise.
Good.
And, um, that other thing that you think you know I am not ready to talk about that at all.
Thank God.