Elementary s03e12 Episode Script

How much heroin is that? Oh, that's enough.
Wow.
Heh.
Make yourself at home.
We want you to be as comfortable here at Leda as you were at your old job.
- Found your nutmeg concoction.
- What are you talking about? You dissolve corpses for money.
Her name is Melanie Vilkas, She went missing a few days ago.
- Any reason I couldn't bring Kitty? - Take a look at her back.
They're the same markings that are on Kitty's back.
It's why I became a detective, to hunt this man.
I'm ready.
Simon de Merville.
Lengthy record.
- He's not the man who raped me.
- What? I'm watching the news.
The man you were looking for was killed.
- Yeah, at least it's over.
- Who was that? My boss at Leda, Del Gruner.
Why? Insurance is a $4 trillion industry.
I was wrong, Watson, de Merville didn't hurt me.
He did.
Ms.
Winter, to what do I owe the pleasure? Uh, it's been almost a week since I sent you my report.
I just I wanted to know your thoughts.
Not much we don't already know, hm? Latif Malak was taken on his way home from school six months ago.
His parents received a ransom note.
We left it where the kidnappers asked, only they never collected it, and Latif was never returned.
What did you think of the bit about the backpack? This is Latif's backpack, the one you found in the alleyway he'd cut through on his way home from school.
- Where did you get that? - Only look at this.
The clasp is closed.
You thought the bag came loose during a struggle, but I defy you to shake it off anyone when that clasp is locked.
Someone took Latif and his backpack.
Once he was stashed, they came back and planted the bag in the alleyway.
Which means the abduction happened somewhere else.
Which means you haven't examined the real crime scene.
Let's just cut to the chase, shall we? You want me to talk to John Hodge again.
He is a registered sex offender whose flat Latif would walk by every single day.
You think the kidnapper killed Latif by accident, that's why he never retrieved his ransom, but I think it's because Latif.
You're a very pretty girl, Ms.
Winter.
But you're not police.
You mind your business, and we'll mind ours, all right? - Problem? - You're just in my way.
Thank you.
She's asleep finally.
I'm worried.
These last few days were a lot.
She needs more help than we can give her.
You think she's wrong about your employer, Gruner.
Of course she's wrong.
I reached out to the Osweiler family shortly after you arrived.
Turns out they did change their insurance company last year.
They should've been on the list he gave you.
- Wait, are you? - Knowing their address would've allowed us to find Simon de Merville much sooner.
Perhaps even before he was killed.
You're upset, so is Kitty, but if you think my new boss happens to be the same guy who took her in London I am simply raising the possibility that nothing about your relationship with Gruner just happened.
That you were targeted.
During your courtship with Leda, there were multiple interviews, multiple background checks, were there not? Would've been a useful way to gather intelligence.
- On what? - Kitty.
Me.
You.
Imagine you're him.
Five years ago, you took and tortured an innocent girl.
She escaped.
You don't know how much she knows or what she was able to tell the police.
The only thing that you know is that you were never caught.
Now, lucky for you, you're very wealthy.
You can look for her.
You can keep tabs.
What might you think when you realize she has taken up with a renowned detective? - Oh, so this is all about you.
- Us.
He realized we were educating her, shaping her.
How long might it be before we turned our collective attention to him? Now, there's strength in numbers.
Killing one of us might incite the other two.
But giving us an answer he believed that we sought, - giving us a culprit - Del framed de Merville? We don't know why de Merville's partner attacked him.
Perhaps he was paid to do it.
What if he left the phone at the bar that Melanie Vilkas disappeared from? She was killed to make it look like Kitty's attacker was in New York.
De Merville would've been killed to put the matter to bed.
So how, in this scenario, does Del know the partner? In this scenario, he's a man of means and a pervert of the highest order.
Is it so hard to imagine he made friends with a sex trafficker? Say you're right.
Say the Osweilers' names did pop up on the list that he got from the IRB.
He would've only taken them off if he knew the police were looking for de Merville in Gerritsen Beach.
He needed time to get to the Osweiler residence to murder the man.
We knew Gerritsen Beach was significant because we traced the call de Merville made to his sister.
I never told Del about that.
You ever let anyone at Leda - handle your phone? - No.
They gave me a company phone, though.
- Hello.
- Joan, it's Del.
I'm gonna have to let you go.
Too much has gone on this week.
It's too bad, really.
For a while there, you were a great help.
Del Gruner? Captain Gregson.
We'd like to ask you some questions.
No, I'm sorry.
I've never seen this man before.
His name was Ervin Bogdani.
He was a sex trafficker for the Albanian mafia.
He made an attempt on the life of this man a few days ago.
Recognize him? I think I do.
He was in the news this week, right? He, um He killed a girl, left her on a pier.
Are you approaching anything resembling a point? Your client is a person of interest in the murder of the person he mentioned, Melanie Vilkas.
I watch the news too.
This is the man who killed her.
Actually, we're not so sure about that.
Can we cut to the chase? The two of you are close with Joan Watson.
Mr.
Gruner fired her last night.
Now he's a suspect in a murder case that's already been solved.
It's okay, Jim.
I don't mind answering a few questions.
We understand you spent some time in London five years ago.
We'd acquired a British company.
I was there for about six months.
During those six months, another girl was taken.
She was raped, beaten, branded, just like Melanie.
Only this girl escaped.
She broke some of her attacker's fingers before she got away.
You broke your right ring and middle fingers.
I can tell.
They didn't heal right.
Yeah, remember when boxing was the new jogging? Well, I, uh I took on a heavy bag and lost.
I'm sorry, but I have to ask.
Is this other girl named Kitty? Joan mentioned her a few times.
She survived an attack similar to the one you're describing.
We're not at liberty to discuss that.
- We're done here.
- Jim I'm sorry if your consultant had her feelings hurt, but Mr.
Gruner is the face of Leda Insurance.
He works with several prominent charities.
He's given millions of dollars and hours of his time.
He was also a major contributor to the mayor's last campaign.
So unless you want to explain to hizzoner why Del Gruner is suing the N.
Y.
P.
D.
, I suggest you let this matter drop.
Gentlemen.
He did it.
It was all over his face.
I know.
Guy's got us right where he wants us.
Firing you makes this all look retaliatory.
Kitty never saw his face, and her rape kit in London didn't turn up any viable DNA.
And all the evidence here in New York points to Simon de Merville.
I'm not gonna make it easy for him to sue the department.
- I'll take a leave of absence.
- Screw that.
We do this, we do it together.
A 55-year-old male with weight gain and edema as well as a history of hypothyroidism Kitty Winter? My name's Sherlock Holmes.
We met yesterday after a fashion.
You were blocking my way at Scotland Yard.
I've brought your tablet back.
- How did you get this address? - DCI Hopkins.
He oversees the inspector you've been harassing, Davies.
- I haven't been harassing anyone.
- Yes, you have.
But with good reason.
Davies is a good man, but he's a limited thinker and he requires harassment.
- Are you a policeman? - No, certainly not.
I'm a consultant.
I'm in the employ of another department, but I make myself available to the police when needed.
You make your wage as a transcriptionist, do you not? Sounds like lonely work.
Anyway, I read your report, and I think you're right.
Latif Malak was not taken from that alleyway.
He was taken from somewhere else.
I'd very much like to discuss the subject with you further, preferably not through a door.
- Keep your knife pointed at me.
- How did you? My sense from inquiring about you is that I'm your last and best hope of finding Latif and bringing his abductor to justice.
Do you wish my help or not? - How are you feeling? - Better, thank you.
- I've eaten.
These are for you.
- I'm not really hungry.
These are for you.
Where's Watson? She's assisting Captain Gregson and Detective Bell with a more thorough investigation of Del Gruner.
Did you know that "Del" is short for "Adelbert"? Small wonder the man is a sadist.
- Shouldn't you be with her? - My place is here with you.
- Sherlock - I'm ashamed of myself.
I allowed you to leave the morgue unaccompanied yesterday.
You thought the man who hurt you was still at large.
I thought I should've been there when you realized who he was.
I'm leaving.
A few days ago, you recommended that I go back to London, and I should've listened to you.
I wasn't ready for this, Sherlock.
It's all been worked out with my mom.
There's a ticket for me at JFK.
I leave at noon.
I just wanted you to know that I'm sorry.
For going after de Merville's sister.
The captain was right to sack me.
You've been suspended.
There is a difference.
I know now that I can't help you.
I'll just distract.
I'll arrange for the police to take you to the airport.
Hello? So it took a lot of visits to a lot of unsavoury places, but Marcus and I confirmed that no one from the Albanian mob - ordered a hit on Simon de Merville.
- Lends credence to the idea that Bogdani was taking orders from someone else when he came at de Merville with a knife the other day.
Only there's no proof to connect Bogdani to Del.
- Stop calling him that, please.
- Del? Del.
Del is the man who hired you.
A friendly face, a facade.
- We seek Gruner.
- So, what's all this? Patrons from the bar Melanie Vilkas disappeared from recalled seeing Ervin Bogdani the night of the crime.
He is in all likelihood the man who took her.
Her murder, on the other hand, was the work of the same man who took Kitty, Gruner.
Take a look at the autopsy report.
He revels in his work and who he is.
I think it's highly unlikely that he limited himself to just Kitty and Melanie Vilkas over the last five years.
But you and Kitty were never able to identify other victims.
Women with brands on their backs.
If Gruner is a habitual murderer, it stands to reason he is also practiced in the art of disposing of bodies.
He may be so practiced that no other victims have ever turned up.
Or they have, but his signatures were deliberately destroyed.
- Melanie Vilkas' body turned up.
- He wanted us to find her.
We must identify the victims he did not wish us to find.
Within these boxes lie open cases.
Women who were taken and/or murdered in the New York area over the last 10 years.
Their abductors and killers were never identified.
I'll wager at least some of them fell victim to Gruner.
If we can cobble together even a theoretical victim pool, we may find evidence which will undo him.
In other words, we're looking for a needle in a haystack.
Needles.
But, yes, our night will be long.
Did Kitty get to the airport all right? She should be arriving in London shortly.
I wanted to apologize.
You were right about everything.
He lied to me.
It's my fault that Kitty had to leave.
You were manipulated by a brilliant psychopath for whom lying is as autonomic a process as breathing.
Join the club.
It's Kitty.
She just landed.
Oh.
Well, looks like you made some progress.
After you fell asleep, I continued going through the files.
These are the women who fell into the widest net.
Women who match Kitty and Melanie's general appearance and age, but whose remains were either never found or found in such condition as to potentially obscure the scarring from Gruner's brand.
From there, I looked at the details of each case.
In some, the abductions did not match what we believe to be Gruner's M.
O: The drugging and stealing away of women.
Others occurred at times that we can confirm he was out of the country.
In this way, I've managed to narrow our search down to three potential candidates.
But like you said last night, this is all theoretical.
You're basing this all on Kitty and Melanie.
And considering Gruner left Melanie's body for us to find, I mean, she could be as false a lead as Simon de Merville.
It's unlikely the rest of what Gruner did to Melanie Vilkas was faked.
A deranged person can no more choose their sexual proclivities than a healthy one.
I'm hoping he made some strategic error giving away more information than he intended.
Hm.
What about Francine Bianco? Looks like his type.
Whoever killed her burned her body.
Could've been Gruner trying to hide the brand marks.
Why didn't she make the list? Ms.
Bianco was held by her captor for almost one year.
Neither Melanie Vilkas nor any of our three suspected matches - were held for more than a month.
- That's enough to discount her? Did you come up with a better process of elimination in your sleep? - You told me to take a break.
- These are our strongest leads.
Might Francine Bianco join their number? Of course.
Gruner might've killed all of these women, or he might've killed none of them.
I have to start somewhere.
Detective, you have myself and Watson.
Hey, I've been turning over rocks in Gruner's life Tabitha Laird.
- Someone you think he killed? - I think it's someone he may have wanted to kill.
Tabitha Laird is alive.
I'm on my way to talk to her right now.
I'm sorry.
Just give me a second, okay? Hey, hon? You color Mommy something nice, okay? I think there must be some confusion.
I never filed a police complaint against Del.
Ms.
Laird, we know that.
But you work for a charity for foster kids.
Hearth and Home Foundation? - Right.
Del is on the board.
- Couple years ago, you had a conversation about him with another board member.
- We wanted to ask you about it.
- You talked to Bonnie Kemp.
That was all a mistake.
Del and I are friends now.
She gave the impression that, at the time, you thought it was harassment.
Del had just joined the foundation.
Part of my job was to get him situated.
There were a couple of - incidents.
- Incidents? He invited me to his beach house.
He said I could bring Jesse and we should bring bathing suits.
A few weeks later, he asked again.
I mentioned it to Bonnie.
He apologized and backed off the next day.
Nothing against him.
- He just wasn't my type.
- Type is important, especially to a man like Gruner.
Whatever it is that you think Del did, you're wrong.
He's a sweet guy.
He's been very good to me.
- Good? How? - In addition to his work with the Hearth and Home Foundation, he funds a scholarship at a private school in the city.
Jesse was the recipient two years ago.
Without Del, I don't know where I'd be today.
Well, what do you think? I think she doesn't fit our victim profile.
She's older than the others.
Taller, fair-haired.
The most striking difference is that she's still alive.
If Gruner wasn't stalking her, what was he doing? Like many serial killers, Gruner's a narcissist.
He saw Tabitha Laird and her son and he saw an opportunity to bask in the glory of his own good deeds.
He doesn't contribute to charities or fund scholarships because he's a good person.
He likes the attention he gets.
You looked into other areas of his life.
I say we cut our losses.
Compare what you've learned with our list of potential victims and then see if we can find a connection.
You gonna tell me why you asked me here, or do I have to guess? - Latif.
- He came here from the hospital.
You were wrong about the pederast Hodge.
The boy's true abductor was a woman named Baraa Nezain.
Until a few hours ago, she resided in the same building as the Malak family.
She lost her own son to leukemia in 2012.
Latif was to be the replacement.
She lured him to her flat, she drugged him, and she hid him there.
Then she put his backpack in that alleyway to mislead the police as to when and where he was taken, just as you predicted.
He's going home tonight because of you.
No, I thought it was Hodge.
I was positive.
You wished it to be Hodge.
That's understandable.
You were drawn to this case because you also fell victim to a sexual predator.
I'm sorry.
I've known since our second meeting.
If you are to hone your skills as an investigator, you really must know your blind spots.
How did you take everything that I told you and come up with this? All in good time, Ms.
Winter.
Firstly, I've got an offer I'd like you to consider.
Thanks to all of you, we were able to find good homes for more kids in 2014 than in any prior year of our history.
To talk about what lies ahead, here is a man whose generosity with his money and his time truly embodies the spirit of Hearth and Home.
Del Gruner.
So this rich guy dies, and he finds himself in front of St.
Peter at the Pearly Gates I had no idea you were involved with the foundation.
I wasn't.
But then I saw you'd be here tonight, and all of a sudden, I knew how I wanted to spend - my severance check from Leda.
- Hm.
Well, if you're planning on making a scene, be my guest.
Just don't expect it to do any good.
These people are my friends.
It'll only take a few seconds - for you to be removed.
- I'm not here to make a scene.
I just wanted to tell you to enjoy it all while it lasts.
Heh.
And what makes you think it's not gonna last? Carrie Morse, Stacey Goff, Vivian Russell.
We know about them.
It's a matter of time before we connect you to one of their murders.
None of those names ring a bell.
Should they? Miss Watson.
What are you doing here? Ms.
Laird.
Del and I used to work together.
I saw the foundation was hosting an event tonight.
- Thought I'd come say hello.
- How do you know Joan? My colleagues and I paid her a visit today.
- We had an interesting conversation.
- Actually, we didn't.
Um, they thought you and I had a problem.
I told them they couldn't be more wrong.
I was coming to let you know the silent auction is wrapping up.
Oh, I was just leaving.
I wouldn't bid on any vacations if I were you.
Let's say I'm anything like you think I am.
How smart would that make you, testing me like this? You should be careful, Del.
We're not in some basement.
I don't have duct tape around my eyes and wrists.
Let go.
Or we'll find out how you do against a woman who can actually fight back.
I did a 12-week psych rotation, and I couldn't tell you how someone could stand in the middle of a benefit, be accused of a string of murders and tell jokes.
I'm just as baffled by you.
You just gave our adversary the names we were able to divine.
If those women were his victims, now he knows our plan.
- He can interfere.
- We're playing a guessing game.
- You know that as well as I do.
- I do not guess! You know what I mean.
Having these women's pictures, the dates they disappeared, it's not the same as evidence.
We don't have bodies to autopsy, - crime scenes to visit.
- It is a poor detective - who blames her evidence.
- I wanted to see his face.
I wanted to say those names and see what he did.
And? Nothing.
- Doesn't mean we're not right.
- I didn't come here to scrap the list.
I came here because I think it is incomplete.
There was one name that did get a rise out of Gruner.
Tabitha Laird.
She was there tonight.
When he realized we'd been to see her, he lost it.
Define "lost it.
" I saw him tonight.
The real him.
Tabitha Laird may not fall into the victim profile, but I am telling you he's got plans for her.
Tabitha Laird could not be more dissimilar to the three women we were able to isolate.
Perhaps his interest in her is genuinely romantic.
There have been serial killers with wives, girlfriends.
- They're outliers, but they do exist.
- We know what he does to women, we know what he sees when he looks at them.
This thing with Tabitha I can't explain it, but there was something there.
Then the only thing we know for certain is that I've wasted a great deal of time on victimology.
We're gonna get Kitty back.
We're gonna take care of this.
She'll come back, and you'll get to finish what you started.
Call the captain, arrange for protective detail for Tabitha Laird and her son.
I will revisit every file in every box.
If she is in play, we need to broaden our parameters.
We will need women in their 40s, taller women, women with What is it? You said the director of the foundation thanked Del Gruner for his six years of service, did you not? - Yes.
- Francine Bianco.
She was taken in April 2008.
Her charred remains were not found in a shallow grave until March 2009.
I thought that was the problem.
She was kept for almost a year, the other women kept only a few weeks.
What if he intended to only keep her for a few weeks, - but circumstances changed? - What kind of circumstances? I don't think Gruner is interested in Tabitha Laird.
I think he's interested in her son.
- I can't do it.
- Oh, then you can't come in.
This method is the only way to bypass the chain on a door such as this one.
It is important that you master it.
Like it's important that I study tobacco ash and can distinguish one form of mold from another.
- Know why most investigators fail? - Lack of elastics? They refuse to extend their base of knowledge beyond the bounds of basic investigative procedure.
We've been doing this for weeks.
When do we take on a case? When I decide that you're ready.
Do it again.
You don't look well, you know.
What's my appearance got to do with anything? You've been mopey ever since Ml6 fired you.
I think you're taking your frustrations out on me.
I am gifting you with an education.
Well, maybe you were just wrong about me.
Only that can't be it because you're never wrong.
Watson was much further along at this point.
Perhaps you're right about me being wrong.
I was trying to fix you, but you seem to enjoy being broken.
Don't call me again.
Ever.
Yes, Jesse is adopted.
What does that have to do with anything? Did you ever come in contact with the biological parents? No, he was a safe-haven baby.
Someone left him at a firehouse.
- Why? - We believe that Jesse's father - might be Del Gruner.
- What? We think he abducted this woman, Francine Bianco, in 2008.
We think she's Jesse's biological mother.
- This is insane.
- Insane would be a fair assessment.
Mr.
Gruner suffers from what must surely be clinical narcissism.
That is why, when he realized he'd impregnated his captive, he veered from his pattern.
He'd created something, a life, and it was his, which means it meant something to him.
So he spared Ms.
Bianco.
At least until she came to term.
That doesn't even make sense.
Why would somebody do all that just to give him up? Odds are he didn't know how to explain suddenly having a child.
His appointment at the Hearth and Home Foundation allowed him access and a means to, uh, influence Jesse's life.
He later funded a scholarship for the same reason.
I would like you to leave.
We know how difficult this is.
We don't expect you to take it on faith.
We just wanna swab the inside of Jesse's cheek.
If we're wrong and his DNA does not match Francine's, - we'll know in a few hours.
- If we're right, believe us, you don't want Jesse's father walking free.
There's no luggage in the house.
Half his clothes are missing.
Del Gruner is not out buying cigarettes.
Well, you think he knew we were coming? Maybe Tabitha Laird tipped him off.
He vacated abruptly a couple of hours ago.
Well, we got a BOLO out.
Would be nice to monitor his credit card activity, but the judge who gave us the warrant - was being generous as it is.
- Generous? We got the DNA test that shows that Jesse Laird is Francine Bianco's son.
We got Kitty's statements.
Both raise questions.
But if we wanna go hard after this guy, we need to pull a solid answer out of this place.
There has to be a usable DNA sample in here somewhere.
I've already sent a hairbrush to the M.
E.
's lab for testing.
If Gruner's the father, he's cooked.
- Assuming we find him.
- There must be a clue here which will help in that regard.
I'll take this floor.
Watson, you take upstairs.
How do you know when it's ready, Del? Del? Talk to me, Del.
You must not like hearing your name in the mouth of the person who's gonna kill you.
I know I didn't.
That's one reason I changed it.
Wasn't just so you wouldn't find me.
It was the way that you kept using it.
You're going to die tonight, quite horribly.
- Then I'm gonna dissolve you.
- Wait.
I just want you to know that I never stopped seeing your face.
Not after that night.
The other girls, the ones who didn't escape, well, I saw you.
The bitch who broke my hand.
You think you went through hell.
But they suffered more because of you! Help! In here! Help! Unh! It's me.
And it's only me.
Open the door.
I was here once, you know.
Not literally here, but where you are with him.
- The man you thought killed Irene.
- I couldn't go through with it.
You had the wrong man, I have the right one.
Does my nose deceive me, or have you laid hands on some nutmeg concoction? - How did you find me? - Your phone.
There's an application on it which allows me to track you.
So you saw that I hadn't gone back to London.
I knew you weren't going the second you told me.
- If you knew that I was lying - You were right the other day at the morgue.
When you said I couldn't possibly know what you're feeling.
I thought, perhaps, this was what you needed.
- It is.
- I was less certain.
So I returned to the business at hand.
I thought if Watson and I could bring Gruner to justice before you acted, you'd be spared the decision you have to make regarding his life.
Lf, on the other hand, we could not undo Gruner So why are you here now? When I returned to London last year, I had certain expectations.
Exactly none of them were met.
Our crossing paths changed things for me.
You, uh saved me.
I'd like to return the favor.
This is a favor.
Interfering.
If you decide that killing Gruner is going to make you feel whole again, I won't stop you.
But I'd be remiss if I didn't tell you that we had found a way to expose him.
What does that have to do with me? - With what he did to me? - Nothing.
Everything.
Wish I could tell you.
Whatever you decide, you must understand that you will always be special to me.
You will always be my friend.
Tonight's your lucky night, Del.
I'm not gonna kill you after all.
Everything I've shown you tonight was just a mask.
It isn't really me.
You'd know all about masks, wouldn't you? You've worn one your entire life.
I've taken mine off.
Now it's your turn.
You wanna tell me where you've been the last few hours? No.
Tell me she's okay.
- Captain.
- We got him.
Gruner.
We've been trying to ping his cell phone for hours, but suddenly it came back on.
Found him in a warehouse on Staten Island tied to a chair.
At first, we thought someone had lit his head on fire, but the doctor said it was some kind of corrosive.
Preliminary lab work says he is Jesse Laird's biological father, and Joan found a book stashed at his place.
There are pictures in there that he's not gonna be able to explain.
He's gonna wake up after a few hours, and right after I tell him he's under arrest, I'm gonna ask him who did this to him.
Maybe it's a name I know.
Maybe it isn't.
Either way, I'm gonna have to go after them.
Understood.
There's some things I need to wrap up with the captain.
I wanted you to know this is the last time I'll use this phone.
Thought you'd wanna verify that I really have gone to the airport this time.
So you have.
Do you think I did the right thing? I think you do not have the stain of a murder upon you.
You say that I saved you, but the way that I see it, you gave me everything.
Have you decided where you're going to go? Somewhere I can use what you taught me.
Somewhere I can help people.
I might reach out to you with a question every now and again.
I hope that's okay.
I am at your disposal.
Do you know what I haven't said to anyone in a really long time? I love you.
Isn't that the saddest thing? Did you, uh? You forget something? I'm sorry for leaving last week.
It was a mistake.
You started something with me, and I'd like you to finish it.
Come back tomorrow at midday and bring some goggles.
And a ladder.