Major Crimes s03e13 Episode Script

After three days of shooting up, Little Maria won't turn any more tricks.
So we decide to roll the next guy we see and the guy fights back so I shoot him in the head take the ivory crucifix off his neck.
Me and Little Maria carry his body to the waterfront.
And I just I go back to the Jensen, just thinking about what I've done.
And there's a Bible open on the night stand.
And I see Acts 3:19.
The verse is the same number as the room.
It says repent then, and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out.
So I decide to ask for forgiveness.
But first I stick the gun and the ivory crucifix in the vent above my head.
What the hell are you doing? Not one word of that is in the script! Damn it! You can't make up dialogue.
Why are you telling that story, J-ME? God, I'm gonna kill you.
- You talking to me? My name is Miguel.
- Who am I looking at? And I only tell the truth, and you know it.
- Cut! Cut! - No, you don't yell cut.
Because you're not the director.
I'm the director.
- Pete, let's go.
- Danny, follow him.
Follow him! And somebody get me his useless manager on phone now! Uh, I'm really sorry, J-ME I mean, uh, Miguel.
Uh, but before you go, Ana needs her sample.
Oh, I'm giving it to her.
Right here.
No, no.
No, lis lan.
Lan! Your client is in breach of contract.
This is the last time I'm gonna have this conversation with you.
Sorry, babe.
I'm the center of your little film.
You can never get rid of me.
Sykes, who called this in? Store owner.
First officer on the scene recognized our victim, but kept his ID confidential.
- We'll see how long that lasts.
- Why? Who is he? Are you kidding? It's J-ME.
James Martin Elliott.
Better known to a whole generation of teenage girls as J-ME.
- This bum was a child star? - Before he got mixed up in drugs J-ME had his own television series, records, concerts.
He was incredibly hot.
Yeah, well, now he's barely room temperature.
No one else recognized this guy before we got here? - I don't know.
I find that hard to believe.
- Mm.
Track marks.
I bet he came downtown for a fix and got rolled.
One dirtbag kills another dirtbag at Christmas.
A timeless holiday story.
Flynn, what are you doing? My daughter wants to meet me at work.
I'm trying to head her off.
Sir, no one admits to seeing anything last night but several people say that the victim had become a regular.
Oh, no.
Is that? Ugh.
Oh, my God.
Are you kidding me? It's J-ME.
- Whoa, this guy's a lawsuit waiting to happen.
- Incoming.
That's not one of our airships, sir.
Well, so much for keeping this under wraps.
Kendall, get back over there and lose that coroner's van.
- Then load this kid in the ambulance.
- You want to put a dead guy in an ambulance? Unless he's badly decomposed or you see brain matter he's not dead until I say he's dead.
- I want a second opinion.
Get him to the ER.
- All right, now let's go.
Sanchez, accompany our patient in the ambulance.
And if his condition doesn't improve, I'll meet you at the morgue.
How could you have sent this guy to the hospital and pretended he was being treated? I'm not a doctor.
Kendall refused to sign off.
And you ordered 20 uniformed officers to protect the floor your patient is no longer on? That was my idea, chief.
I want the reporters waiting at the hospital, not searching for evidence.
Look, we have a limited amount of time to control this story before it takes off without us.
Even my wife is calling.
To ask what it is we're hiding.
Hold on, hon.
Hurry this up, captain.
Doctor.
The cause of death seems fairly straightforward.
A subdural hematoma resulting from repetitive blunt force trauma to the head.
- Not drugs? - Surprisingly, no.
And look at this.
These injection sites? Created with makeup.
- Like this tattoo.
- "Acts 3:19.
" Repent then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out.
Times of refreshing may come from the Lord.
Well, somebody went to Sunday school.
But why try so hard to appear like a drug user if you're not one? For the past month, J-ME was acting in a movie about a homeless addict.
It was a small independent film designed to be his comeback.
This entertainment news site, Inside POV, has dozens of stories on him.
J-ME was in rehab three times in the past five years.
Reporters think this movie was an opportunity to prove that he was living his life in recovery.
So James Elliott wasn't on skid row obtaining drugs.
He was downtown at 2 in the morning doing research for a role Hey.
Uh, so I spoke with the film's, uh, UPM, whatever that is and, uh, with J-ME in the hospital, they stopped filming.
So he put me in touch with one of their gofers, who just told me Hey, we're not gofers, lieutenant.
We're PAs.
As in production assistants.
Okay, the PA, a.
k.
a.
Gofer, said that J-ME blew up on the set stormed off with one of his drivers in a black SUV after taking um, a whiz on the director's car.
Captain Raydor, this is lan Sherman.
Mr.
Elliott's talent manager.
I thought you might wanna update him on his client's condition since he has been overwhelmed by interview requests.
I've been at the hospital.
It's a zoo.
I can't get anywhere near J-ME, and there's all kinds of speculation going on.
Uh, let me bring you up to speed.
Lieutenant Tao.
Could you please bring Mr.
Sherman into my office - and I'll join you in a moment? - Follow me.
Keep me posted, captain.
Wouldn't want the news getting out in the wrong way.
Yes, sir.
- You all right? - Yeah, I was supposed to ask Lieutenant Tao to pick through these extras for SIS officers, then head back to work.
- This gonna take long? - No, just wait here.
- Okay.
- Uh, Lieutenant Provenza would you please join us in my office? Thank you.
- Hey, Nicole.
- Hey, Sharon.
I guess I chose a busy day to stop by.
- Not at all.
We'll have a minute to talk.
- Okay.
Talk? Talk about what? What do you need to talk to Sharon about? Something personal, Dad.
- Okay? - Okay.
Okay.
Uh, Mr.
Sherman, this Mr.
Sher Mr.
Sherman, this is Lieutenant Provenza who had your client brought to the hospital.
And this is Lieutenant Tao who understands your business a little bit better than I do.
I consult on a TV show starring Jon Worth.
Badge of Justice.
I've never seen it.
Uh, but I hear it's wonderful.
Ugh! What's going on with J-ME? He's not answering his cell.
- When was the last time you spoke with him? - Yesterday.
Uh, I got a phone call from the director he's working with.
She had another fight with J-ME which forced him to walk off the set.
Anyway, I need to speak to him right away.
Pressing business matters? Oh-ho, and then some.
I couldn't buy this kind of media attention.
If it turns out J-ME was sober during the attack we can ride this momentum to a complete career reboot.
What? - What? - You also manage J-ME's publicity? Oh, like Like I might have staged an attack as a PR stunt? That's ridiculous.
What if J-ME hurt his face? Something the matter, Dad? Looks like Central sent us all the same video link.
- What is this supposed to be? - I'll pull it up on my monitor.
Oh, this does not look good.
This caption here.
Very, very bad.
A video just released by Inside POV shows former child star James Martin Elliott better known to his legion of fans as J-ME being violently assaulted in downtown Los Angeles.
Either late last night or early this morning.
Now take a look at this video provided by Inside POV.
Get out of here! We will of course have more details as they become available.
Uh, did we find a crutch at the scene? No, ma'am.
The street where that video was shot is not where J-ME ended up.
Captain, I just got a text from Central saying they recognize the assailant.
Let's see.
A vagrant named Diego Mora, a.
k.
a.
Crazy Diego.
Okay, let's put out a citywide watch on Crazy Diego.
I'd like to find him before CNN.
Uh, who do you think shot that video? Probably some paparazzo, stalking the poor kid.
Lieutenant Tao, please, call Inside POV and see if we can get the raw footage.
Hey, did everyone look at the video Central sent? Has to be the guy who killed J-ME.
J-ME is dead? - Is that true? - Mr.
Sherman, I'm I'm very sorry but, um, I'm afraid that your Well, your client, uh - Is a little bit dead, yeah.
- Oh, my God.
I gotta call my realtor.
Uh, yeah.
Look, congratulations.
You just won a free day with the L.
A.
P.
D.
- I'm in the way.
- Oh, you know what? I'm so sorry, honey.
We're in the middle of a time-sensitive investigation.
- Maybe if you just - No.
We're sending patrol out to pick up our killer and we're tracking down some video footage.
That's just legwork.
Come in my office, Nicole.
Okay.
So In some ways, I feel awkward asking your advice but you deal with this issue on a daily basis too.
Oh, what issue is that? My husband's a great guy and a wonderful father.
We used to work together, no problem.
But ever since I became the accounts manager, which made me his boss we've been having problems.
- How do you handle that? - Well, I never worked with my husband.
- I can't imagine - No, but you do work with my dad.
Just tell me, like, is there some trick to? To balancing your romance with your responsibilities? I mean, how do you go out with my father at night and boss him around during the day? Oh, I don't know if I've ever really, um, thought about it quite like that.
I mean - Yes.
- Sorry to interrupt, captain.
- Not at all.
- Buzz downloaded that video you requested.
Oh.
Thank you.
Uh, I am so sorry, but I'm afraid that your father was right.
I mean, we are completely, completely running out of time.
Sorry.
Sorry.
No, I'm sorry.
Let's go.
So we'll talk sometime later.
Oh, uh, speaking of which, my stepsons are doing The Nutcracker again.
We'd love to all go as a family.
I thought how nice it would be if you and Rusty could join us tomorrow night.
Oh.
Well, we would just love to go as a group to The Nutcracker.
Wouldn't we, Rusty? Sure, yeah.
Uh, thank you for asking.
The Nutcracker is, um - What is it? - Heh.
A ballet.
I would invite everyone, but we only have so many tickets.
Oh, no problem.
After five marriages, I know The Nutcracker by heart.
Captain.
We've got Sherman incommunicado in our visitors' conference center.
- The video's up.
- Okay.
I'll let you guys get back to work.
- Thanks again for listening, Sharon.
- Background SIS guys.
If you have anything that could help, I'd really appreciate it.
- Oh, we will talk soon.
- Okay.
- Bye, Dad.
- Bye-bye, sweetheart.
Thank you so much.
- I'll call you later.
- Okay.
The first part is just watching the guy wandering around aimlessly before the attack.
So whoever took this video was no passerby who stumbled onto a fight.
Definitely not.
And you can tell from the high resolution this was shot with a quality camera.
- Could you fast-forward to the confrontation? - Hey.
- Hey.
What are you doing? Diego starts the fight, J-ME's defensive throughout.
Get out of here! What are you doing? Here's where the video Inside POV aired ended with Diego Mora discovering he was being filmed.
Ow! My arm! My Arm! - Look what you did to my arm.
- That's it.
Julio and Amy, talk with the driver who dropped our victim off on skid row.
Mike, see if you can check with the emergency rooms in the area.
See if anyone came in early morning with a broken arm or a sprained wrist.
Flynn and I will get a warrant, go to the studio where J-ME was filming check out his dressing room.
- Trailer.
Trailer.
Heh.
Oh, my God, Mr.
Show Business speaks.
- Um, anything else? - No, that'll be it.
Thank you.
Okay.
Um - Okay.
- Okay, bye.
Yeah, bye.
Buzz, um let's look at this footage again and see if we missed anything.
Okay.
Look, I never actually said to Nicole that Sharon and I were dating.
If you would call her captain instead of Sharon maybe your problems would go away.
Some of my aggravation too.
Ah.
Look, the glamour of Hollywood.
One big RV park.
Well, this has gotta be it.
- Lookie here.
- Oh, yeah.
Ow! L.
A.
P.
D! - Open up! - Crap, crap, crap.
What now? - God.
Don't shoot.
- Get back.
Get back.
Who are you and why are you in J-ME's trailer? Look, I'm Danny Riggs.
I work here, and J-ME called this morning and asked me to secure his valuables while he's in the hospital.
I seriously doubt that.
Wait a second, Danny Riggs.
- You're the gofer that I spoke to this morning.
- Actually we're called production assistants.
- Where did you get that shiner? - How did you break your arm? Were you following J-ME around last night with a camera on skid row, huh? Sit down.
All right, the video.
The video.
Okay, fine.
That was me downtown filming J-ME.
- You knew this guy was gonna be attacked? - What? No.
How could I know that? Ana, the director, asked me to keep an eye on him.
- With a video camera.
- Why would she want that? J-ME was required to turn over a urine sample every day to prove he was clean and sober.
Last night he refused, so Ana thought a video of him buying drugs off the street would serve the same purpose.
You can't touch that stuff.
It's personal.
Okay, how did that video end up at Inside POV? I sold it to them to make a few extra bucks.
Is that a crime? Hopefully.
We're still looking around.
No, seriously.
Is that a crime? Yeah, just hold on.
All this rewriting, is that typical? How should I know? Okay, Danny boy, $5 Friday.
What's that all about? Like a lottery.
On Friday, everybody on the set writes their name on a $5 bill, puts it in the can.
We draw a winner at lunch.
Yesterday J-ME won.
Of all people.
A thousand bucks.
Man, was the crew pissed.
I bet he still had that cash on him when he drove downtown.
- He didn't drive himself.
- Pete took him.
Pete? Pete who? Could you tell us how you came to be Mr.
Elliott's driver? Sure, uh The director, Ana, introduced us.
J-ME kind of took to me, I guess, because he was just out of rehab again and, um, I've been clean for years.
Also he was researching this movie about life on the streets.
So J-ME was doing research with his director and she introduced him to his driver.
That's interesting.
Maybe Ana and J-ME's relationship started out in a more personal fashion.
Didn't seem like a big deal to either one of us.
Mike, would you ask J-ME's manager how his client got the lead role in that film to begin with? So, what happened last night? Well, nothing unusual, really.
Uh He and Ana had another one of their typical blowout fights.
J-ME stormed off set, asked me to drive him downtown.
- That's where he goes to become Miguel.
- Why was he fighting with the director, Ana? I guess she wanted to hear the lines as written.
You know, J-ME is not a big believer in that.
Last night, Ana really went off on him about it.
Buzz Watson.
Have you ever seen this man before? Oh, God.
Diego Mora.
- Great.
They found Crazy Diego.
- Well, that's a relief.
Where is he? The bruising and contusions are consistent with someone living Mr.
Mora's lifestyle.
But the cause of death appears to be acute opiate intoxication.
But there were no syringes or dope anywhere near his body.
Thoughtful guy.
Kills himself and straightens up afterwards.
- A little too thoughtful.
- Yes, maybe Diego had a visitor last night.
After he beat an actor to death for no apparent reason.
An actor who gets the part of Miguel by sleeping with the director or so his manager indicates.
J-ME's relationship with Ana could have been something more than it seems.
- Or something less.
- Yes, doctor.
- Mr.
Mora had a pouch sewn into his beltline and this key was inside it.
Any idea what it's for? I've recovered ones like it from other indigent victims.
That should unlock a bin at a downtown community center where the homeless keep their belongings.
- Lf Diego's death isn't just a wild coincidence Then he killed J-ME for someone else.
And now we start over.
It's with profound sadness that I inform you James Martin Elliott succumbed earlier today to injuries related to an assault that occurred approximately 3 a.
m.
This morning.
Central Division identified Mr.
Elliott's attacker as one Diego Mora, aged 43 I mean, it's not like I was a big fan of J-ME but there were plenty of times where I was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Well, it may not have been a random act of violence.
It could be that someone wanted J-ME dead.
Or they got mad he was, like, some rich boy pretending to be homeless.
- Street wouldn't put up with that kind of thing.
- That's true.
But also J-ME may or may not have been involved with someone at work.
Trying to date someone at work.
Tricky.
So I hear.
Uh, do I really have to go to that Nutcracker thing? Come on, Rusty.
Don't you wanna see a classic ballet? - The music is iconic.
- Uh-huh.
Like how? Do they play it like that? - No.
It's an orchestra.
- Ah.
Okay, look.
I am afraid that Nicole has made some wrong assumptions about my relationship with her dad and I would feel better if you came along with me as a - Oh.
Like a buffer? - What? No, no, no.
I don't need a bu No.
I just don't wanna get into a Any personal conversation about Sharon, that is exactly what a buffer does.
Look, I'm - I'm glad to go.
- Okay.
But what do you think put this idea in Nicole's head to begin with? The key Dr.
Morales found on Diego's body fits this lock.
There's no contraband or perishables allowed.
The community center provides bins for the homeless.
They're allowed access to their belongings from sunrise to sunset.
I checked the sign-in sheet, and Diego Mora was there once yesterday just before 7 a.
m.
Now, what would that derelict be doing with a mirror? Well, people attach them inside the lid, sir to see who's behind them when they're looking through their things.
Ah.
The murder weapon.
Holy Toledo.
- There must be at least a hundred $5 bills here.
- And look, each bill has a person's name written on it in magic marker.
- Just like the PA with the broken arm told us.
- Yeah, $5 Friday.
- Now, here's a name that interests me.
Ana is the director of the movie J-ME was working on.
Yeah, and she also ordered that same PA to follow J-ME downtown.
And she may or may not - have been dating the victim.
- Yes.
A little relationship clarity could do us all some good here.
Yeah, I put that in the coffee can like everyone else and lost it to J-ME.
Do I get it back now? Why don't you explain how you came to direct a project starring James Martin Elliott? Short story is I spent most of my teens on drugs, in and out ofjuvie and L.
A.
County Jail.
When I finally was paroled, I wrote this script as a form of therapy.
Then J-ME came along, and he's a name.
So that's why you cast a former child star from Idaho as a Latino from South Central? J-ME had an international following from his childhood.
His name and his manager helped me get the financing.
- I did what I had to do make the movie.
- Did that include dating J-ME? It's not that simple.
How it started, how it developed.
We spent a lot of time together, yes.
But we were also making a film.
Sometimes when you work closely with someone people can misunderstand the relationship.
Again, my relationship with J-ME was multifaceted.
And I don't really know how to feel right now.
I'm sorry for him, I'm sorry for me.
Now I have to start all over.
I've insured myself for that, but still.
Insured yourself? So you thought there was a chance J-ME might not finish the film? Why? He could have relapsed.
He didn't get clean for himself.
He did it for his comeback.
My movie, his sobriety.
Just doorways he had to pass through on the way back to all his screaming fans.
Sad, but it's true.
Uh, this is a picture of the man that we think may have beat J-ME to death.
Have you seen him before? I don't know.
I've met a lot of people.
He doesn't look familiar.
- I think we can take that as a yes.
- Okay.
Ana sends our PA with the broken arm downtown with a camera.
The PA tells her where J-ME's headed and she sends Crazy Diego to beat him to death.
But if Ana was planning on killing J-ME, why would she send someone to film it? I don't know, but she gets to make her movie all over again.
We needed documentation to fire him for cause and recast.
If we couldn't get a urine sample, video of a drug deal does the same thing.
First you said you needed him.
Now it sounds like you were ready to toss J-ME off your project.
When J-ME was working with me, he was fantastic.
But I got to the point where he couldn't be trusted.
If I could've switched him out for someone reliable, yes, I was ready to do that.
We've been told that the two of you fought over the last scene that J-ME shot.
That he went I think you call it "off-script.
" - What does that have to do with anything? - We'd like to see the footage.
No.
No, I'm not giving you that take.
J-ME went downtown, got his ass kicked for pretending to be broke.
End of the story.
I'm not gonna say anything else without a lawyer.
Mike, all that footage, the dailies, it's digital these days.
- Right? - Mm.
Right.
So people on the production can look at it on their computers, devices.
- But it's password-protected.
- Yeah, but we know someone who we could charge with breaking and entering if he doesn't help us with this.
And this last one is the wide shot you're looking for.
Thanks.
Now get out.
- Wow, you guys are rude.
- We're what? I'll put it on the big screen.
Mark.
And action.
After three days of shooting up, Little Maria won't turn any more tricks.
So we decide to roll the next guy we see.
The guy fights back, so I shoot him in the head take the ivory crucifix off his neck.
Me and Little Maria carry his body to the waterfront and Nothing he's saying is in his dialogue.
Yeah, it's all just what he wrote in the margins of his script.
I go back to the Jensen just thinking about what I've done.
And there's a Bible open on the night stand.
And I see Acts 3:19.
The verse is the same number as the room.
It says repent then, and to God so that your sins may be wiped out.
So I decide to ask for forgiveness.
But first I stick the gun and the ivory crucifix in the vent above my head.
What the hell are you doing? Not one word of that is in the script.
Damn it.
You cannot make up dialogue.
Why are you telling that story, J-ME? - Why? I'm gonna kill you.
- Are you talking to me? Buzz, roll it back to where, uh, he's talking about the murder.
The guy fights back, so I shoot him in the head take the ivory crucifix off his neck.
Me and Little Maria carry his body to the waterfront, and I Hey, hey, that's just like the murder of Mateo Perez back in '98, '99.
Who is Mateo Perez? About a 25-year-old party boy whose father was a big boss in the Sinaloa Cartel.
Perez disappeared one Saturday night.
His body washed up three weeks later in the L.
A.
River with a.
380 slug in his head.
Yeah, without the ivory crucifix that his family said he never took off.
But that would mean Perez was shot when J-ME was 9 and living in Boise.
Were the details of the, uh, crucifix ever made public? - No.
So either J-Me was psychic or Or someone told him that story and he didn't know what it meant.
Here's a picture of Mateo provided by the Perez family when he went missing.
Well, I'm telling you, whoever killed Mateo could not be happy at J-ME's little monologue that will be forever committed to film.
And Ana really didn't want us to have it.
She didn't want it to be publicized either.
That would alert the cartel.
Captain, I think I found the hotel referred to in the monologue.
- It's now a halfway house for street kids.
- He said the Bible verse was the same as the number of the room.
- 319.
Look, wait.
You don't think that that crucifix and that gun could still be in that vent in 319 15 years later? We have to look.
We have to have another conversation.
- With whom? - With whomever saw this and realized it wasn't just another improvisation.
J-ME wasn't killed because he argued with the director or had artistic differences.
- He was killed because he knew too much.
- Hey.
- Hmm.
Andy.
Um, Sykes is bringing J-ME's driver into the electronics room and, uh, the prints are ready, and the video's up in Interview 2 so we can show it to that director lady.
- Great.
Thank you.
Yeah.
Um, look, I, uh I spoke to Nicole when I got home last night.
And I think Well, somehow or other she's got the wrong idea about us.
So, what did you? What did you tell her? Uh, well Uh, I guess Well, you know, in these situations where children are concerned I think that we should have dinner at my place before we go to The Nutcracker tonight and explain our friendship in a way that will make it easy for Nicole to understand.
Right.
You're right.
- That's the right thing to do, but - But what? - I don't wanna do it.
- Don't worry, I'll help you.
So you found a gun and a necklace in a vent.
Congrats.
Now, what does this have to do with my client? So, Ms.
Ruiz, you've never seen any of those items? No, I've never seen them.
I was never in that room.
- What room? - Ana, let me handle this.
So did you find my client's fingerprints on either the, uh, gun or the necklace? Not yet, but the gun is being disassembled - and checked as we speak.
- Mr.
Sims.
Thank you for coming.
Have a seat.
Happy to help if I can.
We've outfitted Lieutenant Provenza with an earpiece.
If you think of anything that can help, we'll pass it on to him.
Okay.
We have a recording of your client threatening James Elliott hours before he was murdered.
By a derelict who has absolutely no connection whatsoever to Ana Ruiz or to the gun - or to the ivory crucifix.
- All right.
Then let's talk about Mateo Perez.
You remember Mateo, Ms.
Ruiz? Because night before last, James Elliott all but directly identified you on film as Mateo Perez's killer.
J-ME didn't get that story from me.
And I had nothing to do with the Perez killing.
Then where did he get that story? You spent hours with J-ME telling him stories - about life on the street.
- That is true, isn't it? Absolutely.
That's how they hooked up.
Yeah.
Yeah, we talked about my past.
But I think he was more interested in Pete's story than mine.
See, now she's lying.
She slept with J-ME at least four or five times.
Once we release that video, everyone including the Sinaloa Cartel will know that the story came from you.
Aren't you Little Maria? Didn't you drag Mateo Perez's body down to the waterfront? Take a breath and relax.
Don't you see, this is exactly how they want you to react? Lieutenant, we found a thumb print on the slide in that.
380 Colt.
We should have a match within half an hour, sir.
You have minutes to make a deal your client can live with.
Once we confirm that she handled that gun we don't need anything else.
Mr.
Sims, I think we're getting close to tying things up with Ms.
Ruiz.
So thank you for your help.
If you'd like to go home Detective Sykes will escort you to our garage.
Okay, thank you.
Oh, I need $5 to validate your parking so they won't charge you 15 at the exit.
Great, no problem.
Have any more $5 bills with names on them in your pocket? You have the right to remain silent.
Anything you say can be used against you.
You have the right to an attorney.
If you can't afford one, one will be appointed.
Tell me, Mr.
Sims, did you take these bills off of J-ME's body? No.
J-ME gave me that money as a tip.
A thousand bucks meant nothing to him.
Well, you should know that we found the other 500 in marked bills in Diego's storage bin.
- So? You don't wanna talk about J-ME and Diego? We could go back to Mateo.
One phone call from us and J-ME's last words on film will play on every news broadcast in the country.
Then all that footage will go viral.
They have the Internet in Mexico too.
The Sinoloa Cartel will be overjoyed to hear we have a suspect - in the murder of Mateo Perez.
- But for today and only today we are really interested in what happened to J-ME and to Diego.
J-ME's murder? Crazy Diego killed him on camera.
For someone else.
Look, this whole thing has gotten way out of control.
Okay, driving to and from set every day J-ME talked about how he used to get high and I would tell him stories of being strung out back in the day.
He seemed genuinely interested in my life.
- But he wasn't.
- No.
No, he just wanted my stories.
Then he kept pushing Ana with this whole authenticity routine, you know? "Your story is real.
Keep it real.
I wanna keep it real.
" That kid had no idea what reality was! - So you had to kill him? - No.
No, you got it all wrong.
You were very, very angry when you drove him downtown, Mr.
Sims.
Yeah, I was.
I tried to explain that using Mateo's death as a story could get me and Ana killed.
The cartel would come back for us.
All he did was give me that $5 Friday money like, "Here, get lost.
" Like I was some bum.
And you took some of that money and you paid Diego to shut J-ME up.
See, that's the out-of-control part.
No, I gave the money to Diego just to beat him up a bit.
Then you had to shut Diego up.
So you bought some pure heroin made sure he shot up.
What he did with the money I gave He's got no self-control.
How's it my fault that he OD'd himself? He didn't OD himself.
We found no tourniquet, no needles no cooking supplies anywhere near his body.
You gave him a dose, he shot it up.
When he nodded off, you shot him up again.
Since when do you people care about homeless drug addicts, huh? Oh, we even care about cold-blooded killers.
Tell us.
How did J-ME know that evidence in the murder of Mateo Perez was at the Jensen in Room 319? Julio, his collar, please.
When we release J-ME's video do you really wanna take your chances in lockup with that tattoo? Let me get in close.
If you want to release this to the press Wait, wait! Look, I'm not gonna say anything else until you people tell me that you understand I never wanted to kill J-ME in the first place.
Okay, understood.
I was just trying to hold my life together the best way I knew how.
I think J-ME may have told you the same thing.
You are directly connected to three different murders.
We could arrest you for all three.
Or you could have some say in the matter.
It's entirely up to you.
So his driver takes the fall, his director goes into witness protection and I'm completely off the hook? - With our apologies, Mr.
Sherman.
- No, no, no.
I owe you guys.
Big time.
- How so? Before you took my phone, I was backing out of buying a beach house.
- Because J-ME's comeback was over? - Boy, was I wrong about that.
- But your client's dead.
- Sales of his recordings are going through the roof.
Every song, every episode of his TV series even his concert film It's unwatchable, by the way.
- All flying off the shelves.
J-ME is hotter than ever.
So his murder was actually A spectacular career move.
Yeah.
I can't take direct credit for it, but as a profit participant I am incredibly grateful.
Just in time for the holidays too.
You said it.
Cheers to that.
Cheers.
Happy holidays.
J-ME wanted a comeback.
Well, he moves in strange and mysterious ways.
His wonders to perform.
Are you sure I can't help any? No, no, no.
We're almost done.
We'll finish when we get back.
Dean will regret missing a meal like this.
Someone had to take the boys to get ready.
I'm surprised my dad volunteered to bring them.
That is what I call the Sharon effect.
Ha, ha.
I'll go get our coats.
Um, listen, Nicole, uh, before we leave I think I need to clear something up, because you've Well, you got the wrong idea about what's going on between Sharon and me.
What do you mean, "the wrong idea"? Uh, well, we're not really - Okay, the truth is that we're - Andy and I are friends.
We're very good friends, but that That's all.
Really? No.
Oh, come on.
- Dad, is that true? - Yeah, kind of.
Oh, my God.
How could? How could you completely mislead me like that? Occupational hazard? All right, look.
It's simple.
You like Sharon so much that you seemed to respect me a little bit more but, like, back when you were a kid.
You know? So All right.
Did I act like mine and Sharon's relationship was a little bit more serious than it is? Possibly.
Did I exaggerate the dating part? A bit.
When I said that Sharon and I were a couple was that a distortion of the facts? Andy, excuse me.
Nicole, the bottom line is your father is just trying to be the dad you can truly be proud of.
That's all.
By pretending to be something that he's not? - Can I interrupt? - Please.
Do you mind? I live in the middle of this and May I just ask a few questions so that Nicole understands? - Of course.
- Why not? Okay, so the two of you, you go out to dinner a lot.
- Sometimes.
- Yeah, we - We go to dinner.
- Dinner sometimes.
And Lieutenant Flynn, you take Sharon to the movies? - Occasionally.
- Yeah.
- Well - Occasionally.
- We go to the movies.
- There was that Dodger game in September and the charity banquet at the Japanese American Museum.
Oh, and we're all going to the ballet with each other's families as a part of Christmas.
I see.
But they're definitely not dating.
As far as you know.
Or as far as they know.
After you.
Well, thank you for clearing all that up for me, guys.
Now, we better hurry.
I do not wanna be fighting traffic.
Uh, Nicole? Nicole.
So, uh, you're not mad about this? About what? We're not dating.
Several times a month.