Cold Case s04e04 Episode Script

the dynamic woman has it all.
She's a career woman, a with-it mom February 16,1982 a vital partner for her husband.
If you want to bring your brand into the future,you want to be worn by today's woman.
today's woman,the dynamic woman, needs a perfume that goes from morning to night and doesn't quit.
Today's woman please excuse me one second.
S tella? sitter's sick again.
I've got to be in court.
Should be right back.
roger,you can't be serious.
Think your secretary can keep an eye on 'em for a minute or two? You know how fussy the baby gets with other people.
I'm in the middle of a presentation here.
And my clients gets 20 years to life if I don't show up.
Okay.
Who can be quiet the longest? Not her.
That's for sure.
Maybe you can help out your little sister.
-What do you say,buddy? -Okay.
Okay,okay,get out of here before I change my mind.
-Okay.
-Hi.
What would we do without you? Fall utterly to pieces?Knock 'em dead.
-You,too.
-Okay.
Piece of cake.
Excuse me.
what are you doing? What does it look like,einstein? Sit right there,devon.
This is my son.
Say hi,devon.
-Hi.
-Hi,devon.
I didn't know what else to do.
make roger screw up his career, not yours? -working mother -But always a dedicated professional.
like the dynamic woman.
-I am -she is the dynamic woman.
Which is why our company is so suited to create your ad campaign.
We know her hopes and dreams, her fears and purchasing patterns.
Today's woman wants it all, and she'll get it.
let's show you the numbers we worked up.
hey,mom,can I color this? yes.
lil,frannie.
-frannie's got something for us,boss.
-Yeah?What's that? Infant death.
'82.
Iris felice.
She was six months old.
Sudden infant death syndrome.
You got thoughts otherwise? Well,some of the old-time coroners-- they used outdated information to determine sids.
Which is why the me has frannie and the other assistants reviewing all the sids cases.
From 1980 to '85.
And with iris,I found something.
These photos are from the scene before they moved the body.
Tricky thing about sids is it forensically looks like other causes of death.
Heart stops.
Fluid in the lungs.
But that doesn't explain this.
The baby's hair--it's wet.
Fluid in the lungs,plus wet hair? Could have been a drowning? Hair could've dried by the time it got to the coroner'S.
-He wouldn't have seen it.
-Yeah,in '82 especially.
They weren't as suspicious of infant death as we are now.
You work a few of these baby jobs, you get suspicious.
What looks like sids could be anything but.
You certain about that? Well,some people say sids doesn't really exist.
Babies don't die for no reason.
-But -but you can't say for sure.
Med school taught me we know less about life and death than we think.
We're gonna turn these parents' lives upside down again,we got to have a good reason.
Well,if there's a chance a kid's murder slipped through the cracks, maybe that's reason enough.
Iris felice.
Found dead in her crib at Mother called 911.
-Well,the cops at the scene thought sids.
-Coroner backed it up.
There was no reason to suspect foul play, no signs of prior abuse.
Baby was premature,but had a clean bill of health,otherwise.
We sure the hair wasn't wet from sweat? Maybe the weather.
Nah,looked it up.
-A freak snowstorm that night.
-Spring in philly.
Another reason we're america's vacation destination.
there was a baby-sitter with iris and her brother until 8:00 P.
M.
That night.
The parents checked on the baby when they got home.
Said she was fine.
Well,it leaves whoever's in the house after that.
-Mom,dad.
Always comes back to them.
-Oldest story in the book.
Well,they split up in '83, few months after iris died.
Let's have a talk.
Close this job pronto.
Please have a seat.
We're reinvestigating your daughter's death.
I don't understand.
Well,certain forensics don't add up.
We think iris was drowned.
my god.
-Did anyone have access to your daughter? -Just her father and me.
-Anybody have keys to the house? -No.
I mean,the nanny and the housekeeper,but I always dead-bolted the doors at night.
Why do that? Iris was premature.
We thought we'd lose her from the get-go.
She pulled through,tough little cookie.
-Anyway,I was very protective of her.
-Must have been rough.
no one tells you how hard it is with kids,do they? How'd your ex-husband handle the stress? Iris was fragile.
We had to be so careful all the time.
His patience ran out pretty quickly.
-you look beautiful.
-I look 80.
It's a hot 80.
I'm beat,babe.
I'm bone-tired.
then stop talking.
baby did you hear about that rapist guy in mount airy? yeah,babe,let's talk about that.
I'm sorry.
My timing.
You locked the garage,right? -Let's go upstairs.
-Okay.
-but did you? -It's locked.
You're beautiful.
Come on.
Let's go upstairs.
where are you going? Locking these,and then I just want to check on the baby.
No,no,no.
No checking.
She's fine.
-I'm just gonna peek.
-but you're not gonna peek.
You're gonna nudge her,you're gonna wake her, and it's 40 minutes to get her back to bed.
The hospital said we should check on her but that was months ago.
She's fine now.
-What if they're wrong? -Honey,please.
we haven't been together since I don't know when.
So let's be together.
great.
mommy!Mommy!Iris is crying! -Devon,go back to sleep! -You don't have to yell at him.
Well,this is what I told you I didn't want.
What,another kid? I just wish we could go back to the way things were.
We can'T.
We have iris now.
they said we could have it all: Family,husband,career.
They just didn't say how.
-When did this incident happen? -A few months before iris passed.
Things get any better? A baby's always a challenge, even to the happiest marriages.
I kept hoping they would,but then iris died,andwhat we had kind of died with her.
You cut ties with your family pretty fast after your daughter died.
Every time I looked at my wife, I saw iris.
-Sure it wasn't guilt you were seein'? -Guilt for what? It seems like you got over the whole thing pretty fast is all we're sayin'.
You didn't want a second child,roger.
Molly was busy with her company,so I was the first one hke most nights.
I fed the kids,I bathed them.
Must have been hard on you.
It was.
Iris wasn't an easy baby.
She'd wake up seven,eight, nine times a night.
Co all I wanted was sleep.
maybe you were tired one night, accidentally drop her in the tub.
Never ends?The looks,questions.
There's no statute of limitations on murder,roger.
Believe me,when your child stops breathing, here's no one you blame more than yourself.
wherewhere are you taking her? She needs her mobile.
Don't forget to pack her mobile for the hospital.
hey,buddy,why don't you go to bed? You close the door to your room.
I have to get her things packed.
-she's not going to the hospital.
-She's not? -We didn't check on her enough,roger.
-Molly,please.
I told you we should have checked on her more.
I remember how cold it was in her room that night.
Because of the snowstorm.
No.
Her window was open.
A window was open in the nursery? Molly was a fanatic about locking them because iris slept on the ground floor.
Did you tell the cops about this? Thought it wouldn't help any.
Window doesn't explain sids.
We'll look into it.
T hanks for your time,mr.
Felice.
Iris'd be 24 now.
She had molly's eyes.
I bet she'd be as beautiful as her mother.
-Here you go.
-Thanks.
Sowhen my sister died,my parents put all her things into storage, stopped talking about her.
Like she never even existed.
So I stole that.
Iris is my daughter's middle name.
That's nice.
Your bedroom was right above the nursery,wasn't it? yeah.
Why? Did you hear anything that night? I don't remember.
That was a long time ago.
Your parents have any trouble with the baby? After iris died,my mother couldn't get out of bed.
My father wouldn't eat.
They wouldn't have brought this upon themselves if that's what you're thinking.
Dad took off pretty fast after.
Being a father myself,if I couldn't protect my little girl,I'd run,too.
-Except he still had you.
-Guess he forgot.
Anyone else in the house at this time? My parents worked a lot,so there was a lot of hired help.
-At least one of them was -homicidal? The nanny marta.
Didn't take her long to traumatize us.
Marta!I can't reach the mobile! Marta?! I want to play with the music mobile.
Are you pretending like you're in church? Close the door,devon.
Come here.
On your knees.
-We're not allowed to -like this.
We're not allowed to put the baby in the bathtub.
Only daddy can.
We're going to make baptism.
You want one? But if you die with no baptism, you go to hell.
-You do? -mmm.
We have to save your little sister.
We have to save all the little babies.
-let's make her an angel,yes? -Daddy says that's too much water.
it's time to pray.
That gave me nightmares for a while.
-You tell your parents? -No.
I was scared of marta,but I guess I didn't want to lose her.
She was pretty intent on that baptism.
It seemed like it.
Why? We think your sister may have been drowned.
I don't know if I could do it.
Get myself together again if I lost veronica.
I don't know if I'd call the felice family together.
They seemed pretty normal till their kid died.
Well,you say potato,I say po-tah-to.
Hey,ozzie and harriet, you done with your squabble? -I found something here.
-What? -Well,I googled.
-the future is now.
Found marta chavez,the felices' housekeeper,on a webbete here.
Cb sids support group.
-She lost somody to sids -Her sonin 1981.
One baby,maybe, but two dying mysteriously? Disturbing coincidence,at best.
At worst,we got our murderer.
every year on her birthday, I think about iris.
How old she would be.
What kind of things she would like.
The felice family know you lost a kid of your own? No.
You didn't feel like you should tell 'em, since you'd be around their baby? My son died of sids.
It was not my fault.
That's what they said about iris.
My son died in his sleep and I don't know why,and I have to live with that.
I know that being nice is not a big part of your job but you could at least have the facts: Sids is real.
You were trying to baptize iris in the bathtub.
I was crazy with grief for my son.
I wanted to keep her safe.
We think she was drowned.
Maybe you gave the baptism another shot.
Held her down too long.
I love children.
I don't hurt them.
And I was in el salvador the week she died.
-We'll check on that.
-Go ahead.
And while you're at it, look up this girl:Brie romeo.
-Who's that? -She was the nighttime babysitter.
Someone to watch the kids so they could go out.
And? Well,first it seemed like a good idea, but one night i stopped by the house.
Saw with my own eyes that girl was not a good idea.
brie,it's me!I forgot my purse.
brie,get up.
Marta.
I fell.
What are you doing? nothing.
these are supposed to stay locked like molly says.
Well,molly wants it like a frickin' crypt in here.
You can't have your boyfriend here.
take a chill pill.
He's not my boyfriend.
Yet.
my water tastes funny.
what is this green stuff? Iris's bottle is green,too.
Okay,back to bed.
Now.
I gave him some cough syrup,spaz.
It helps the babies sleep better so we can have adult time.
I am calling mrs.
Felice.
You breathe a word of this, I'll have my father, who is a super-lawyer, call immigration faster than you can say "daddy's girl.
Got it,bible-thumper?Now get.
and you never told the felices about this? I wanted to.
I thought it'd be worse for the kids if brie had my ass kicked out of the country,far from them.
But now,I'm a citizen so she can kiss it.
-Thanks,marta.
-Yeah,sure.
So this babysitter's drugging the kids.
Could have done it again the night the baby died.
Only she gave iris too much.
If the baby od'Dshe would sweat.
My mom used to give me whiskey to make me sleep.
I give it to my kids.
What's the big deal? Bet it didn't hurt you at all.
I didn't even give her cough syrup that night.
And why should we believe you,brie? Because,'cause tad broke up with me,okay? He wasn't even coming over.
I had no reason to do it.
You know how we can get in touch with tad? You guys are,like,out there.
Do you even know what was going on a t the felice house back then? How about you fill us in? Molly may have been beautiful and smart whatever,but she was not there for her man.
That your professional opinion? Believe me.
The babysitter knows all your dirty secrets.
The felices had some big ones.
********************8 ****************************8 It was a mistake.
I was lonely.
You're a liar.
You still want it.
-you should go.
-I can't accept that.
I have a family,stella.
Molly's changed.
You know it and I know it.
She's been having a hard time the last few months.
We both have.
All she talks about,all she cares about are the kids.
Iris was premature.
It scared her to death.
She won't even sleep with you anymore and you're defending her? She's my wife.
And I'm not.
That's the point.
This is over.
you have to go.
You don't throw me away like a used tissue.
No one does that to me.
hey,stella.
I just Got here.
Gorgeous wife.
Two kids.
But roger was banging the best friend.
Told you the family wasn't super-perfect.
-When did you see this? -A few nights before the baby died.
yeah.
That's right.
Ray is calling.
-thanks,brie.
-Yep.
Stella sounds like the kind of woman that wouldn't take no for an answer.
Yeah,made roger pay for kicking her to the curb.
what,your boyfriend can't leave a message? It's not joseph.
ray,I told you not to call lot of trouble to get me to see you.
-Hi.
-Hi.
I called you.
A lot of times.
I know.
I'm sorry.
-I should've picked up.
I should've -I know.
-Believed you.
-It's all right,lil How did it happen? Just came at me from behind.
Never saw 'em till the last minute.
Well,give me their names.
I'll bring them in.
-No -No,seriously,I mean it.
-That's not why I called you.
-Okay.
Not a lot of people nobody really,I'd want seeing me like this.
You've seen me like this.
remember when you made me a milkshake? That was all you could eat.
It was a busted jaw.
You made a mess of my mom's kitchen.
-It was a mess already.
-Yeah.
-Couple of kids? -Yeah.
Well,I owe you,ray.
I'm gonna make this right,ray.
I don't want that.
I just want you here.
I'm here.
Bunch of bull,roger,first time around.
You pretend to be all broken up about iris.
Your marriage.
-I don't know what you're talking about.
-We're talking about stella.
About you banging your wife's business partner.
And best friend.
Class act there.
-It was a mistake.
-That cost your daughter her life.
We were so in love.
Molly and I.
With each other and with devon.
-And then everything changed.
-When iris was born.
Molly became so distant.
It was like I lost her.
I-I just wanted what we had.
Tell yourself whatever you want.
Your daughter's dead 'cause of you.
You ever lose a child? What? There is nothing you can do to me at I haven't already done to myself.
We heard a dirty thing about you,stella.
You wouldn't be the first.
Something about you knocking heels with your best friend's husband? Don't mince words,do you? Pretty pissed off when roger broke it off.
Chose his family over you.
Yeah,woman scorned.
But I got over it.
It was wrong to begin with.
Thing that's eang us is a few days later,the baby's dead.
Felice family falls apart.
I was devastated,too.
Roger and molly were my best friends.
I know how that sounds.
I was mad at her,okay? She bailed out on me.
She was never around.
The company we dreamed having was dying.
So you slept with her husband? And that wasn't the only mistake I made.
-What do you mean? -I had a chance to stop it.
Stop what? Molly tried to tell me about iris.
And I was so caught up in that stupid dance with roger,I couldn't even see it.
go.
The tv spot.
The dynamic woman steps out of a taxicab.
She's wearing a suit.
she's jogging.
She's wearing heels and?Come on,molly.
You're the genius.
I'm the looks.
Do we have to go over this every time? -molly,what's wrong? -it's nothing.
I meanI think roger's hiding something from me.
-He's just busy with work.
-I'm never there for him.
You know,maybe i pushed him away.
I'm just--I'm just so tired all the time.
And the kids always need me.
Don't make a mountain out of a molehill,molly.
He loves you.
-Hey,stel,can I tell you something? -Sure.
I'Mso alone.
you're not alone,mol.
I'm here.
Something's wrong with roger.
At night,he's in the baby's room.
I hear him through the monitor talking to himself.
What do you mean "talking to himself"? Stop that.
Don't hurt her.
Don't hurt the baby.
What I gonna do,stel? Roger loves iris.
You know that.
He'd never lay a hand on her.
-Yeah,I-I know.
-You must be imagining things.
You're right.
I haven't had much sleep.
I must have just made it all up.
stop that.
You'll hurt her"? Sounds like roger was losing it.
I should've believed her,but I was so into roger I didn't want to.
Molly didn't mention this to us.
She never wanted to see ugliness in other people, least of all the father of her children.
-When did this incident happen? -The day before.
The day before iris died? I know you were having problems.
I don't know what you're talking about wandering around the nursery in the middle of the night,talking to yourself.
Don't hurt her.
How could you know that? Your ex-wife heard you on the baby monitor.
-Why can't you let this rest? -'Cause a little kid died.
And that was bad enough.
Let us be.
Please.
I can'T.
It was an accident.
Go on.
If I'd been around more, spent time with my kids,maybe none of this would've happened.
What do you mean if you'd have spent more time with your kids? He was just a little boy.
He didn't know what he was doing.
Don't put him in jail,please.
Devon?What did he do? He went to the nursery at night.
He was just worrd about her.
Hly what happened the night she died? hey,dev.
What did I tell you? To leave the baby alone at night.
that's right,pal.
'Cause when you come in here and poke her,it hurts her.
what if she needs baptism? she's okay,buddy.
butdaddyshe's not breathing.
iris?sweetie? devon,why is she wet? Iris?Iris,wake up.
Iris?iris,wake up.
Wake up.
come on.
Wake up.
Wake up.
Iris.
come on,baby.
Come on.
Wake up.
Wake up,baby.
Daddy,did I hurt the baby? No,no,no.
No,she'S she's fine.
She's gonna be just fine.
devon was a high-strung kid.
I should've gotten him help.
He was scared because of what marta said.
-What're you going to do to him? -I don't know.
Arrest me.
He's got a life.
You can't take that away from him.
I can't do that,mr.
Felice.
You know that.
He didn't mean it.
Did you tell molly what happened that night? I lied.
And I had devon lie.
I thought it would save us.
But it destroyed us.
Go ahead.
I'll be up in a minute.
-We need you to come in with us.
-Why? We talked to your father,devon.
What did he tell you? Why don't you come with us? He told you about me.
That's okay.
It's okay.
It's good.
'Cause it's out.
'Cause I can't live like this anymore.
I can't hold my baby.
I've never picked her up,not once.
My hands I'm responsible for what happened to iris.
Tell us what happened that night.
I wanted to baptize her,but I I must have let her drown.
You don't remember? Not really.
But I must have,right? What do you remember? Being in the nursery.
The mobile's playing.
It's cold.
But you couldn't reach the mobile.
So who turned it on? Someone was in the room before you.
No,I don't remember that.
Some memories are too painful to remember.
Especially for children.
But I remember putting her in the bath.
You just said you didn'T.
-What do you want from me? -The truth.
I'm telling you the truth.
Maybe what you think is the truth is less painful than what really happened.
I didn'TI didn't give her the bath.
Why not? Because my mom was there.
I'm so sorry,baby.
I'm so sorry I can't protect you.
Mommy? The world's such a dangerous place for a baby.
And I'm not a good mother.
It's me.
I'm what's wrong.
Mommy? Give us a kiss good-bye,dev.
Where are you going,mommy? Don't cry,okay,sweetheart? Be mommy' strong little man.
Okay.
-I love you so much,dev.
-Me,too,mommy.
Good-bye.
I thought I was never gonna see her again.
Because she wanted to die,too.
Thank you,devon.
This is crazy,but the worst part is that she didn't want me with her.
She wanted to leave me behind.
She was in pain,devon.
She wanted better for you.
I come in here sometimes.
To think about iris,time to time? More like every moment of every day.
Do you really?Think about it,I mean? When my mom was 25, she already had two kids.
No money,tiny,dirty place we called home.
She was on her own? You know,one time,i remember she brought out all this food from the cabinets, put it out like we were having a party, then she left us, locked the doors fortwo days.
that's Athat's a terrible thing to do to a child.
Well,it was better than the alternative.
What she mightave done, if she hadn't left.
It's hard having kids, and nobody tells you that.
No,they don'T.
Or all the terrible things that can happen to a baby.
-You know,as a cop,I've seen things -please,stop.
you saw them,too,didn't you? Those terrible things.
I don't know what you mean.
Locking the windows,the doors.
You tried to shut out the danger.
I was prective because iris was premature.
You imagined all the things that could happen to iris so often, you started to believe you wanted them to happen.
-That's the sickness.
-No! That's the sickness.
It's postpartum psychosis.
No.
It must be unbearable, he fear of yourself,especially.
I don't know what happened to iris.
You have spent the last 24 years trying to forget,but you know.
The snow.
It snowed that night, remember? I thought it was a sign.
The snow.
A sign of what? It snowed the night that she was born.
And I thought she'd go back to where she came from.
A better place than with me.
mommy's right here,baby.
Right here with you.
Go to sleep now.
Mommy!Mommy! Iris?Iris? My little girl.
Iris? baby.
Iris? Baby,come on.
I'm sorry.
Iris?my baby! Iris?