Law & Order: Organized Crime (2021) s03e20 Episode Script

In the nation's largest city,
the vicious and violent members
of the underworld are
hunted by the detectives
of the Organized Crime Control Bureau.
These are their stories.
Patrick, Katie, let's go.
We're going to be late.
Hon, what are you doing?
Can I take the car today?
- What happened to yours?
- I told you.
It's in the shop.
It's the twins' book fair today.
We're already running late.
How am I supposed to get to work?
Take an Uber.
An Uber?
You're the one that wanted to move
to Staten Island in the first place.
That was a decision we
made together for the kids.
Whose IVF I'm still paying off.
Hey, you two. Here you go.
Come on. I'll drive you.
What time you coming home?
I'm going to go out
for a drink with a few
of the other analysts tonight.
I could pick you up.
I'll call you.
Hey, Frank.
You are a no-show for
the second time this week.
If I didn't know any better, I would
think you were trying to screw me
since I can't get into our
storage locker without you.
- Jesus!
- What?
You scared me.
I told you 10 o'clock.
Union coffee break.
Oh, come on. Hey.
It was hard enough for
me to get over here.
You heard from Frank?
He don't have my number.
Won't give me his.
Prick stopped returning my calls.
Frank's your best friend.
Maybe he just forgot.
Are you stupid, Lloyd?
Putting up with the way you treat me,
yeah, maybe, I guess.
Oh, is that one of those questions where
silence is the best answer?
I think Frank got arrested.
You're crazy.
I think I'm being followed.
- By who?
- Feds.
Don't look at him, idiot.
You're paranoid, Phil.
I can't stay here all day, all right?
I might not be a stockbroker
like you and Frank.
If I don't go to work, the lights
of the city don't get turned on.
You want a ride?
My truck's outside.
No.
I'll get Emily to pick me
up at The Train At 7:00.
That's not till the nighttime.
Well, it'll give me plenty of time
to think about our next move.
Phil?
You know what this is, don't you?
Yeah.
Staten Island, the Florida of New York.
No. It's a waste of time.
Why are the feds are even calling us?
Probably need help with
the hairspray mafia.
At least they don't need to
worry about gentrification.
I'm Sergeant Bell.
This is Detective Stabler.
Curtis McCrary, FBI.
Hope this isn't beneath you guys.
My field supervisor's idea.
There are no small cases,
only feckless bureaucracies.
So what have we got?
Vic's name is Phil McBride.
Wife found his head in
the dryer this morning.
Clothes dryer?
She called local PD.
They called us.
She thinks she's been
going to work like normal.
He was fired five months ago.
Okay. So the guy's a liar.
What's that have to do with OC?
He's also part of a bank robbery crew.
Beheaded.
Wife says they'd been having problems.
Vic's been sleeping on the couch.
Claims she didn't hear
a struggle last night.
Could have been groggy.
Took two Ambien before bed.
Problems sleeping.
I get it.
We suspect McBride hit a few
banks over the past couple
of months up in Harlem.
Union Square?
- Union Square uptown?
- Yeah.
- You heard?
- Yeah.
Two guys with masks and dad bods.
- Mm-hmm.
- Manhattan Mutual?
Yeah. Been waiting on
them to pull another job.
Will lead us to the
2 million they stole.
The head was found in the middle
of a cycle with the
kids' school uniforms.
Huh.
Somebody was definitely
trying to send a message.
Yeah. More than one.
McBride's partner, Frank Little,
was found shot execution-style
just yesterday morning
in a Walgreens parking lot.
So you got dramatic and
dangerous and cold and efficient.
Two different MOs.
My guess is it's two different killers.
What's the connection between McBride
and the dead guy at Walgreens?
Before they became bank robbers,
they both worked at a
now-defunct crypto exchange.
That was five months ago.
Either one of them have
connections to syndicates?
As far as we can tell,
they were freelancers.
Did all the heavy work.
Could never figure out
how they were getting away.
Somebody was helping them.
Yeah. We were hoping you
could figure that out.
Hold on a sec.
You might want this.
Weapon used was a jab saw.
A jab saw?
Readily available at any Home Depot.
I try to avoid that place.
Hacksaw blade in an aluminum handle.
Pretty quiet cutting through flesh.
Any defensive wounds?
Strangulation is the most likely
cause of death with the head removed
on the couch post-mortem.
It's not the work of an amateur.
Anything else you can tell us?
Lab's still processing the
blood and other materials
collected at the scene.
We'll know more soon.
Mm. You have that look on your face.
We got Phil and Frank.
They work together.
They're dads.
They're not criminal masterminds.
So you think they didn't know the game,
ran their mouths to
someone about the 2 million?
Well, he obviously was in over his head.
Loop in Jet.
Check phone records.
Go down the list of
people they may have told.
Yeah. We'll start with his wife.
Phil was a good man, kind.
He loved his kids.
He loved everybody.
You told the Agent McCrary
that he'd spent a lot of time
at the office recently.
10, 12-hour days.
Did he talk to you about
what was going on day to day,
mention any big changes?
Market's been volatile.
Mrs. McBride, Phil was laid off,
let go about five months ago.
Not possible.
He commutes into the
office every morning.
Well, I wish that were
true, but it's not.
In fact, he'd been involved
in a number of bank robberies.
Feds have been tracking him for a while.
- Is that Frank?
- It is.
Well, maybe he did this.
Except he was murdered as well.
There haven't been any deposits in
your account in a very long time.
Phil was paying for your kids'
private school with stolen money.
What did your husband like
to do when he wasn't at work?
Well, he was with us, soccer
practice, dance recitals.
He's a normal dad.
And friends? Who did he
like to spend time with?
Frank, the other analysts,
guys from his floor.
Other than that, Lloyd.
Lloyd?
They grew up together.
Phil's sister just started dating him.
They'd just become close again.
According to the vic's wife, Lloyd Bloom
lives with Phil's sister,
Renee McBride, in Rosebank.
He works in crypto too?
No. He's a lineman for Con-Electric.
Any records?
County bid for an open bench warrant.
DUI or two.
You ever heard of this guy?
Name wasn't on our radar.
Well, three guys do a bank job.
Two wind up dead.
Maybe he knew you were on to him,
wanted to tie up loose ends.
It's a good way to guarantee
no one fights over the money.
- Yeah.
- Lloyd's racked up some
medical debt, some workman's
comp claim, which has run out.
There's your motive.
- He got greedy.
- So let's put a tail on him.
Maybe he'll lead us to the
money, 2 million in cash.
I mean, that's all you feds
care about anyway, right?
Your squad's got a purview.
Mine's got one too.
All banks are federally insured.
Uncle Sam doesn't like
having his pockets picked.
Unless the CEO makes a little oopsie
with the stroke of his
pen, and then Uncle Sam
loves a cash giveaway.
We'll put a team together.
See where Lloyd Bloom leads us.
Lloyd Bloom.
NYPD.
Trust me, you won't do that.
Turn off the truck.
Turn it off.
Hey, Lloyd. Have a seat.
Can I do this standing?
No.
My back hurts.
I have bad disks.
I fell off a pole at work last year.
Can I get a cushion?
I'll go look.
While you're at it, get me a latte.
So let's talk about duffel bags.
I don't know.
Duffels?
How did you know it was in there?
I found it last week
while I was at work.
You just stumbled upon a
big bag filled with money?
There was money in there?
1 million in cash.
No.
A million?
Truck Nuts might not
be as dumb as he looks.
We got the money.
All we need is a confession
to the robbery and murders.
If he's good for it.
Let's talk about Phil.
Where's your friend with that cushion?
He's probably making my latte.
- Sit.
- I can't. I told you. It hurts.
Seemed to be doing OK
when you were driving.
Tell me about your friend, Phil.
Phil? I don't know.
Did you know he was dead?
Yeah.
Emily called Renee. She was crying.
She wasn't making a whole lot of sense.
Like, hysterical?
Yeah.
That makes sense.
Did she tell you that Phil
had robbed a few banks?
- No.
- Yeah.
The feds think that he and his partner
were killed by their own getaway driver.
All right, look, I'm going
to tell you the truth.
Oh, Okay.
- He gave me the bag.
- He gave you the bag?
- Phil, he came to me.
He was afraid of someone.
He told me to hide it,
to keep it safe, so I did.
He must have trusted you an awful lot.
I mean, that's a lot of money.
- Am I under arrest?
- Should you be?
- No.
- You and Phil get along?
Yeah. I mean, we have our issues, but
yeah, I think Phil
really liked me deep down.
I ask because you don't seem
too broken up about his death.
You haven't asked me
how he and Frank died.
Who's Frank?
His partner.
In the bank thing?
- Yeah.
- Huh. I don't
Well, how'd they die?
Well, Frank got shot with
an S&W .357, execution-style.
And Phil well, his
wife found his head
bouncing around inside the clothes dryer
like a pair of wet Nikes.
Oh.
You clock that?
Classic somatic reaction.
Which he covered.
Isolation of affect.
Hmm?
It's a defense mechanism, a way
to block out painful feelings
by recalling a traumatic event
without feeling any of the
actual emotion associated with it.
I can go back in with the cushion,
- help Stabler redirect.
- No.
No. Give him this.
They found the murder weapon.
Emily told us that you and he were
only close recently, after
you started dating his sister.
Yeah.
Was there bad blood before that?
No.
No?
No.
I mean, you know, he
bullied me in high school,
but he did that to a lot of guys.
Okay.
Oh, hey, do you have that cushion?
I'll bring it with his latte.
Um, let's talk about your girlfriend.
- Phil sister?
- Yeah.
- What's her name?
- Renee.
Renee. Yeah.
Renee McBride.
Mm-hmm.
So I got a lot of things running
through my head right now.
And I got to go.
Oh, are we done?
Well, Renee is speaking to the Feds.
She's down at the New York
field office right now.
Why?
The Feds, they're looking
for the gun that killed Frank,
and I think that they think
Renee is somehow behind it.
Renee?
She wouldn't lay a hand on anyone.
She works with kids.
So did John Wayne Gacy.
Who?
How did you and Renee meet?
I don't know. We grew
up in the same block.
And we ran into each other
at the Great Kills Tavern.
It's a bar.
She's pretty.
Nice picture.
Yeah.
She's out of my league.
I hit the lotto.
Well, you two look really happy there.
Are you are you married?
You single? What?
That's not how this works.
I ask the questions.
No ring. I don't know.
My wife passed.
Regret and guilt are like slow poisons.
Speaking from experience?
So Phil, your former
bully, how does he react
when Renee brings you home?
How do you think?
I got a couple of DUIs.
You got some bench warrants.
And Phil worked in the city, you know.
Me, I'm just a guy who
never made it off the island.
We got some texts off Phil's phone
over the past couple of months.
What kind of texts?
To his sister.
Saying what?
Well, kind of driving
a wedge between you two.
Why would he do that?
Maybe to make it easier
when you were gone.
Because there were also
texts between him and Frank.
Did you know they wanted to kill you?
Yeah.
You do a favor for a guy like that,
and that's how he repays you?
That sounds like Phil?
Ask McCrary to check his
stash of surveillance photos
from outside of each bank job.
For what?
A Con-Electric truck
parked anywhere nearby.
My back hurts.
Where were you the night that Phil
Me and Renee were visiting
my mom at the Jersey Shore.
You know, you should have
mentioned that to start with.
You'd get the Feds off my back.
- Was this a planned trip?
- No.
No, no, no.
It was like a last-minute
Let me write that down.
Yeah.
God, the Feds just
will not leave me alone.
Here, hold on a sec.
What is that?
Right there.
I don't know.
A truck.
Con-Electric truck
parked next to a bank,
a bank that Phil and Frank were robbing
at that very time, that very day.
Feds also found an S&W .357 in
the trunk of your girlfriend's car.
So
you killed Frank.
And you had someone whack Phil.
Yeah?
Just one thing.
What was with the head in the dryer?
When we were young, he stuffed me in one
and turned it on.
I thought I was going
to be burned alive.
Detective.
Lab processed the DNA from
the dryer lint you pulled.
- And?
- They got a match.
They guy Lloyd hired to
behead Phil is in the system.
The only problem is he's
got a rock-solid alibi.
He was in prison the night of the hit.
Junior Suarez, ex-enforcer with BX9.
Lost a kidney in a stabbing.
Clipped on a murder charge.
Guy's in for life.
No way he's your guy.
Like I said, rock-solid alibi.
Junior?
Hey. Junior Suarez.
Detective Stabler.
This is Sergeant Bell.
You been working nights?
It's prison.
And it's loud as hell in those tiers.
I look forward to dialysis.
It's the only quiet I get.
How long you've been locked up?
Five years, but I love it.
- You love it?
- Mm-hmm.
If I got out, I'd have to pay
for these treatments out of pocket.
Co-pays, those are the real crimes.
How do you know Phil McBride?
- Who?
- Guy who lost his head.
- Decapitated.
- Hmm?
Your DNA was at the crime scene.
It must be some mistake at the lab
because I've been right here.
And these walls, they move for no man.
Like I said, not your guy.
- How is that possible?
- It's not.
- DNA points to the guy.
- I don't disagree.
Now, do you agree?
Well, yeah, kind of.
Why don't you just say that?
Because the issue isn't
convincing each other of anything.
It's helping McCrary convince a jury.
If this goes to court, we're going
to have to stand up and
testify that a guy that's
been in prison for five
years magically gets
a night off to commit a hit.
I can't do that.
Neither can you.
I couldn't agree more.
Hey, how you doing?
I'd like to look at the visitors' log.
Ever hear of a FOIA request?
Come on, man.
We don't got time for that.
FOIA this.
Who are you looking for?
The X9 guy, Junior Suarez.
Old lady visits regularly.
Ain't his wife.
His twin sister.
Your teeth are white,
but you got to floss more.
Yo. How some stupid dance from 2016
going to shake my tartar lose?
You with BX?
Yeah. I used to run with them, but
I got a gig at Caesar's
Bay working the food court,
so I'm trying to get it removed.
Yo, you're that little jeva that
used to run with Junior, right?
I ain't no jeva.
I'm his sister.
My bad.
Don't go telling Junior.
That man is a soldier. I
remember when he was putting
in work on that little
bicha on 19th Street.
Yo, what happened?
I thought he was doing a bid for that?
He is.
But I seen him in front of Berto's
on Bath Ave the other night.
Well, he gets furloughs sometimes.
Furloughs.
See, that's that's funny.
Because I happen to know lifers don't
do furloughs in Green Haven.
Are you some kind of cop?
Are you even Salvadoran?
To be honest with you, I have
no idea what the hell I am.
I grew up in foster care.
But it doesn't matter.
You know why?
Because your brother cut some
dude's head off with a jab saw.
What's that got to do with me?
Tiffany, if you lie to me, I
will arrest you for obstruction.
You want to go home?
Tell me when you last saw him.
The other night, he came to
my house, gave me some money.
I'm the only family he's got.
I get it.
He's looking out for you.
He's trying to give me
a better life, for me,
- for my daughter.
- He brought you cash?
- Yeah.
- How much?
25k.
So is there a connection
between Lloyd and Junior Suarez?
Junior's the BX9 cousin
of a lineman who works
with Lloyd at Con-Electric.
So where are we with the bogus furloughs
coming out of Green Haven?
Only a couple of senior corrections guys
handle the furlough system.
Stop.
Look familiar?
Cowboy boots.
- You recognize this guy?
- Yeah.
He brought us down to see Suarez.
His name is Mike Pendergast.
Did you dig into his financials?
Yeah. You want to know what I found?
COs make 75k a year.
This guy owns four cars, a boat,
and a house in the Hamptons
under his wife's name.
Can we set up a sting?
You probably need to know a con.
Police. Don't move.
Drop your knife.
Drop the knife. That's my last warning.
Drop the knife.
Get on the floor now. Get on the floor.
Put your hands behind your back.
Hands behind your back.
Yeah?
Officer Pendergast, you remember us?
Yeah. You're the two cops asking about
- Junior Suarez the other day.
- Mm-hmm.
- Mike, who is it?
- No one.
Don't worry.
I'll be right there.
It's late.
What are you doing here?
Mr. Pendergast, you're under arrest.
That supposed to be some kind of a joke?
No. Step outside.
I can't believe this.
Mike, Mike, what's
happening? What's going on?
Hi, Mr. Pendergast.
You two know each other?
No.
I didn't finish my job.
Don't talk to me.
Does this mean I don't
get the cigarettes?
Shut up.
You have the right to remain silent too.
I want my union rep and a lawyer.
They're on their way.
I'm not going to say a damn
thing until they both get here.
We got everything we need.
Cars, a boat.
Trip to the Galapagos.
Oh, and this
your boy, Mancuso, forgot to flush.
Okay, so let me get this straight.
Every time you get one of
these unofficial furloughs,
you do a hit.
Pretty much.
But only lifers.
Got to be chosen by Mr. Pendergast,
and he knows how to pick them.
Likes the guys that
like being in prison.
He gets us out.
We do a hit.
What do you get in return?
Sun on my skin.
I go to the park, take off my
shirt, eat some White Castle.
But on the inside, when
you get back to Green Haven?
I'm the king all month.
So clout, respect.
What about money?
We got no use for that.
You do a hit, you get all the cigarettes
you want till the next time.
So smokes?
That's our currency.
I tossed them around
like I'm making it rain.
Yeah.
Yeah, but your boy
Junior Suarez got paid.
Why?
What?
No, no, no, no, no.
Nobody gets paid.
Never.
Pendergast, he may act like Machiavelli
up on them tiers, but he cheap as hell.
Junior Suarez's twin sister
has 25k dropped in her lap.
Where'd Junior get that money?
Maybe he stashed it somewhere.
But a criminal's stash,
if they even have one,
I mean, it disappears
faster than their shoelaces
when they go inside.
What the lawyers don't get goes
to wives, girlfriends, kids.
Maybe he emptied Phil McBride's
wallet after he chopped his head
off and threw it in the dryer.
Or hear me out on this one
he did another job that night.
Pendergast's cigarettes are
only going to get him so far.
He's got his sister and
her kid to take care of.
He needs a side gig that's
going to pay him money.
Yeah, but who's paying
him 25k and for what?
Who, I don't know. But for what?
He's a career hitman.
Easy enough to check on his DNA.
All right.
Call Major Crimes.
See if they have any
open homicides that fit.
- Sorry I'm late. How is she?
- Good.
- Cooking up a storm.
- Yeah.
So I heard.
She wanted to make you dinner.
Yeah. I told her not to, though.
Normal life.
Appreciate it while you got it.
Okay. Thanks for the advice.
Mama?
- Wow.
- Hi, honey.
This is too much.
Oh, I just felt like doing
something nice for my boy.
Well, it is nice.
- Thank you.
- You're welcome.
What's with the third plate?
Antonia just left.
Why three plates?
It's not for her.
It's for Kathy.
Oh, my God.
It's Okay.
Oh, my God.
Oh, it's all right.
I just can't believe that I
I could forget about Kathy.
Mama, Mama, you didn't
look, you didn't forget.
Hey, the way I look at it,
she's already here with us.
So whether you put out
an extra plate or not,
it doesn't matter.
So beautiful.
Yeah, Bill.
We can place Suarez at the
scene of another homicide.
You're sure?
DNA match just came back from forensics.
How far away from the McBride residence?
Can't be more than a couple of miles.
Okay. Great. Thanks.
- Bye.
- Yeah, bye.
What was that?
That's an open homicide.
But it's a little late.
I don't want to have
Antonia come back here.
I can stay here alone.
I'll go tomorrow.
You sure?
Tomorrow's Saturday.
- So what?
- It's Antonia's day off.
Or did you forget?
Okay, Mama, I'm going
to recanvass the area
while I wait for the uni.
Yeah.
Good idea.
Boy, I'll tell you, these
young detectives these days,
I don't know if they're lazy or what.
But if it's not on a
computer, they don't
want to know about it, right?
I love you, Mama.
Stay in the car.
Don't leave.
All right.
Okay.
I'll be back in a bit, Okay?
Okay.
I'll tell you something, I'm
glad that bitch got killed.
Oh, yeah? How come?
I don't usually speak ill of the dead,
but Rachel doesn't deserve
that kind of reverence.
What she do that was so bad?
She's head of the HOA.
She fined me for my
grass being too long,
fined me for my Hanukkah lights,
having my son's RV in the driveway.
Basically pissed you off.
The only good thing I
can say about her is she
had the common decency to get murdered
so I could get a new neighbor.
Detective Stabler?
She says she's with you.
Found her across the street.
Yeah.
Mama, what are you doing?
I told you not to leave.
But I didn't go anywhere.
I was just watching.
I'm here to let you
into the vic's house.
Okay. It's not still an
active crime scene, right?
Would you mind waiting
with my mother inside
while I take a look around?
No problem.
So what part of stay
in the car did we miss?
But I couldn't see anything
if I stayed in the car.
Rachel Lee-Sprague, 65, found dead
three days ago with a knife
wound to the carotid artery.
"Rachel, you are a
disgusting human being.
How dare you call animal
control on our new puppy?"
Ma'am, don't touch that.
Oh, sorry.
I won't touch.
I'm just wondering why she kept
it's weird.
Oh.
I see.
That's why she's so
angry, if that's her.
Look.
Because she lost her
husband, and so young.
She remarry?
No.
- Stand over there, Mama.
- Am I going?
No, no, no.
Just stand next to the officer.
Here?
Yep.
You're here early and on your day off.
Mm.
You made your mom's caregiver come
in early on her second
day working for you?
Sure did.
For what?
The murder of a HOA president?
I thought maybe I'd try solving it.
What are you talking about?
The Feds got their money.
We got the robbers, not to mention
a murder-for-hire ring.
This is a Major Crimes case now.
Still doesn't mean it makes sense.
Junior Suarez's DNA
was found at the scene.
He killed her.
Why?
I mean, she wasn't well-liked.
That's neighborhood drama stuff.
Rachel Lee-Sprague
didn't know any bad guys.
Neither did any of her neighbors.
So the question is, who paid
Junior to kill her and why?
Okay.
What are you thinking?
You ever hear the Pareto Principle?
It is too early in the morning,
and I have not had my coffee.
That's fair enough.
80% of the crimes are
committed by 20% of the perps.
Okay. The math is mathing.
So this Junior Suarez
thing he gets paid
for one hit when none of the other
convicts get paid for theirs.
So the money that he sent to his sister
had to have been earned
from somewhere else.
Where?
There's something bigger going on here
than that murder-for-hire
ring out of Green Haven.
- Stabler, I'm with you.
- Good.
We can delve into this together.
But right now, you need to go home.
No.
Hey, you know, last time I was there,
my mom cooked dinner
for me, her, and Kathy.
Elliot, home.
Now.
That's a direct order.
Jet?
Hello?