Without a Trace s04e16 Episode Script

Why can't Mommy take me to school? Mommy had to leave for work early, Ethan.
She had a meeting.
She always has meetings.
That's not true.
I miss Mommy.
I know, sweetie, but you'll see her later.
Is she gonna be home to read me a story? She's going to do her best.
I am not happy.
Just think of all the fun you'll have with your friends at school.
- Get anything out of the nanny? - The guy's tall, 6'2".
- What happened? - The guy popped up out of nowhere slammed the nanny's head and took off with the kid.
- A carjacking gone wrong? - No, he knew that kid was in the car.
Rover's worth close to a hundred grand.
These people have some cash.
- Looks like it.
- Yeah.
Dad's an R & D guy at Genacore Pharmaceuticals.
Mom's a lobbyist.
Taylor.
All right.
So much for the carjacking.
All right, thanks.
- Find the Rover? - Yeah, but the kid's not in it.
Okay, keep me posted.
ERT says that the Rover's clean.
No blood, no prints.
He must have transferred the kid.
- Any witnesses? - Not yet.
We've set up checkpoints.
- We went wide with the boy's picture.
- What's the ETA on the parents? I think the mom just got here.
Oh, Mrs.
Heller.
- Are you okay? - They took Ethan.
I'm so sorry.
Mrs.
Heller? Special Agent Jack Malone from the FBI.
- Where's my husband? - We've contacted him, he's on his way.
Is there somewhere private we could speak? Yeah.
Who'd do this? Who'd take Ethan? Someone who knew your son's routine what time he went to school, came home.
God.
Have you noticed anyone watching the house? - No.
- You notice any unusual cars parked outside? - Not that I remember.
Why would they do this? For money? It's possible.
If it is a ransom, we're ready.
Mrs.
Heller, I need to ask you what kind of funds do you have available? - Maybe 500,000? - Okay.
Who else would know about this? I'm not sure.
Well, I need you to think about it carefully because it could be relevant.
Do you or your husband have any enemies? Jim doesn't.
I'm a lobbyist for the oil industry, so you can imagine.
Okay, so have you received any threats lately? I get hate mail every day.
- Mostly from Eco-Brigade.
- And they are an environmental group.
A pretty radical one.
Anything beyond the letters? They picket the office.
Two weeks ago, they got past security and spray-painted my car.
So they know what you drive.
They could have gotten your address from the license plate.
Do you know the names of any of these people? I know the one who harasses me the most.
Neil Brown.
What are you doing? These suction-cup mikes? They fall off all the time.
Get this thing hardwired.
- Agent Taylor? - Yeah.
Okay, well, you got my number.
If you hear from him, please have him call me.
It's urgent.
What if it's my fault they took Ethan? What if it's all because of my job? Excuse me, Jack.
I can't seem to get Mr.
Heller on the phone.
- He should've been here by now.
- You try his office? Yeah, they said he left over an hour ago.
- Okay, keep trying.
- Okay.
What? Was that about Ethan? We're just trying to figure out where your husband is.
- Have you talked to him? - I couldn't get through.
- He didn't call when he heard the news? - I'm sure he tried.
My cell phone died on the way here.
Are the two of you having any problems? - What does that matter? - Everything matters.
Things have been difficult.
He's been staying at a hotel.
- Since when? - Last week.
We've been fighting a lot lately.
It just got to be too much.
- What is this? - Hey.
It's the playset we ordered.
That's not what I thought it would be, it's too big.
Come on down right now.
But Mommy said I could play.
I'm saying you can't.
Get down before you break your neck.
- I told him it was okay.
- It's not okay.
Why don't you just let him run into traffic? Jim! Thank you.
Ethan, go inside for a minute, okay? Thank you.
What is wrong with you? - It's nothing.
- That's not good enough.
You've been like this for weeks.
You're uptight all the time.
You blow up over nothing.
Ethan is a nervous wreck around you.
Did you know he started wetting his bed again? No.
- Stephanie, I'm sorry.
- I'm sick of the apologies.
What I want is an explanation.
- I don't wanna talk about it.
- Then you can't be here, Jim.
Not until you figure this out.
I will not put Ethan through it anymore.
I really just wanted to shake him up.
Get through to him.
He packed a bag and went to the Carson Hotel.
- You have no idea why he's been behaving this way? - I wish I knew.
- He's a wonderful man.
- Did you two talk about custody? We're having problems, we're not getting divorced.
You wouldn't allow him to be around your son.
- Yes, but - Has he seen him since? - No.
- What, because you wouldn't allow it? Jim had absolutely nothing to do with this.
So you're sure Mr.
Heller told you he was heading home? Of course.
I mean, his kid just got grabbed.
- Do you think something's happened? - We don't know.
Do you remember what time he left? Ten minutes to 10.
Okay, so we called him at 9:30, he left at 9:50.
Where was he for 20 minutes? He was in here with the door closed.
When he didn't come out, I started to get worried.
Mr.
Heller? What are you still doing here? I'm just Just finishing up a few things.
Can it wait? You're right.
- I don't know what I'm thinking.
- Need help? - Is there something I can do? - No.
I need to go home.
If anyone calls, tell them I'm on my way.
We're all thinking of you.
We'll be praying for Ethan.
Yeah.
Thanks.
I just figured he froze.
He got overwhelmed.
Did Jim have any friends around here? You know, someone he can confide in? He's pretty tight with Al Carter.
He's a research analyst.
Viv, check this out.
He got an e-mail at 8:46 this morning titled "Your Son.
" That's what, 15 minutes after the kid was grabbed? Now, there's no message, but he did download an attachment.
Please, Daddy.
Do what he says.
- Please, Daddy.
Do what he says.
- So the video's only 11 seconds long.
It was uploaded onto a wireless hub at a coffee shop in Queens.
Looks like he's in the back seat of a car.
Can't ID the user? No.
No, but I was able to dig out a voice.
Here, listen.
- Tell him what I told you.
- Please, Daddy.
Do what he says.
It's a Midwest accent.
Maybe 30, 40 years old.
What's it picking up here? Most likely vibrations from his hand shooting the video.
You see the second vibration source? The most likely match on that is an engine.
- The car's moving.
- Yeah.
I'm thinking this was shot minutes after the abduction.
Can't be the driver who's shooting it.
We have more than one kidnapper.
Right.
Any chance of ID'ing the car from the upholstery? There's not a lot of detail there.
You know, the right answer is "yes, sir.
" - Yes, sir.
- Right.
- Tell him what I told you.
- Please, Daddy.
Do what he says.
You recognize the voice? I need to hear it again.
- Tell him what I told you.
- Please, Daddy.
Do what he says.
I don't think so.
I can't tell.
That's okay.
We really appreciate you trying.
What does this mean? What are they gonna do? Mrs.
Heller, we're doing everything we can to get your son back.
- What about Jim? - We're trying to find him too.
Jack, we tracked down Neil Brown, the angry environmentalist.
No violent priors, plus he has an alibi.
- How solid? - Well, he's been in Oregon for the past three days living on top of a giant redwood.
That's pretty solid.
How we doing on tracking Heller's phone records? He got a call from a prepaid cell, just before he opened the proof-of-life video.
Gotta be the kidnappers.
That's why Ethan told his dad to do what he says.
- He was referring to the call.
- That schmuck's trying to handle this.
We looked into accounts, he's not trying to take money out.
They kidnapped his son, so they want something.
Keep digging into Heller's past, let's find out what it is.
No problem.
Thank you for sitting down with us, Mr.
Carter.
I just hope I can help.
Now, was Mr.
Heller having any problems here at work? No, not that I'm aware of.
He heads up the Research Division.
That's It's certainly not an easy job.
You two were pretty good friends, right? Well, I'd say we're more colleagues these days.
Why is that? The truth is, Jim's been acting a little odd the past month.
Withdrawn.
- Did he ever say why? - No.
Then four days ago, something really strange happened.
Jim! Hey! Hey! - Holy crap.
Are you all right? - Yeah, yeah.
I'm fine.
- You sure? - I'm fine.
I'm fine.
- Who the hell was that? - No one.
- What did he want? - My wallet.
- I don't have it with me.
- Hold on, I'm gonna call the police.
No.
What are they gonna do? Jim, you should at least report this.
I appreciate your concern, but I'm fine, really.
- Just forget it.
- All right.
He came to work the next day as if nothing even happened.
Did you get a good look at this guy? Not really, the hood he was wearing blocked his face.
I don't know why I listened to Jim.
I mean, I should've reported it.
- Jim was attacked? - Unfortunately, yeah.
- He never told you about it? - No.
Well, we think it could be connected to the kidnapping.
- How? - That's what we need you to tell us.
Look, did Jim have any financial problems? - No.
- Shaky investments, lawsuits? - Does Jim have a gambling problem? - Absolutely not.
Look at everything.
He's into something.
Not that I know about.
- You are married to him, right? - Yes, but I can't imagine what it is.
Well, then try imagining a little harder.
Excuse me for a second.
What the hell was that? I feel like crap.
I don't know if it's the flu or something I ate.
- Maybe you should take a sick day.
- I'm not taking a sick day.
We're right in the middle of a case.
I'll be fine.
- How we doing on Heller? - In the last two months he used his credit cards at gas stations and restaurants all over.
- Connecticut, Jersey, you see? - Hotels? A few times.
Listen, the wife doesn't know anything about the trips.
So, what else is new? You see any patterns? All within a few hours' drive.
It's little towns, big towns.
- He doesn't go to the same place twice.
- Romantic getaways? It could be the guy that knocked him around was a jealous husband.
There's Albany, New Paltz.
It seems he's driving a lot of miles to get laid.
Malone.
Okay, great.
We'll be right there.
N.
Y.
P.
D.
Just found Heller's car, with him in it.
FBI.
- Where is he? - In the Beemer.
- He said not to approach him.
- What's he been doing? Just sitting there.
I'll go talk to him.
- You wanna stay here? - Sure.
Mr.
Heller? It's the FBI.
Open up, I wanna talk to you.
Mr.
Heller.
I'm Jack Malone from the FBI.
I'm here to get your son back.
Look, I know that they called you.
I know that you saw the video with Ethan.
I understand that you are scared to death.
- You don't understand anything.
- I know what they told you.
"Don't call the cops and we won't hurt him.
" You wanna believe that if you do just as they say, this will just all go away.
It'll disappear, like it never happened.
But let me tell you something, Mr.
Heller that's wishful thinking.
- I don't have a choice.
- Yes, you do.
You have a choice, you're just refusing to take it.
Now, they called you.
So, what do they want? It's not the ransom, because you haven't even tried to pay it.
So, what do they want you to do? I have nothing else to say.
I want you to listen to me very carefully.
Because what I'm about to tell you is what's gonna happen next.
I am gonna walk out of this car because you refuse to cooperate.
The next time we meet will be in a morgue to identify the body of your dead 5-year-old son.
You get the hell out.
Okay.
Fine.
What are you doing? You can't arrest me.
No, but I can detain you.
I'm not gonna let your son die because you're an idiot.
Hey, Viv, check this out.
Three weeks back, Heller pulled $50,000 out of his brokerage account.
- Any idea where it went? He transferred it to a dummy account, then wired it to an M.
Villante.
Okay, so maybe this M.
Villante didn't think it was enough.
So, what, he takes the kid to get more? Have we got an address? Leave me alone! No! I said no! FBI.
We're looking for M.
Villante.
That's me.
Maria Villante.
I was about to sell the house, pay for my son's medical bills.
It was a miracle when that money showed up.
You have no idea who gave you the 50,000? The bank manager said the account had been closed.
I just figured it was sent to me by mistake.
I keep expecting someone to ask for it back.
Well, this is the man that gave it to you.
Do you know who he is? Yeah.
Yeah, he's from Genacore.
- It's Mr.
Heller.
- You work for Genacore? No.
No, my son, Tommy.
He was in a clinical trial for Exolair.
It's their new asthma drug.
Right, you have any idea why Mr.
Heller would be sending you money? No.
It doesn't make any sense at all.
Is your son still involved in the trials? Tommy passed away in January.
I'm sorry.
It's hard for me to say it out loud.
Just so we're clear here you never met Mr.
Heller before bringing your son in to Genacore.
- Is that right? - Tommy was in the trial for three years.
But I didn't meet Mr.
Heller then.
It wasn't till a few weeks after Tommy died.
He came to the house one night.
He was tired a lot of the time.
You know, lethargic.
So is this normal, this kind of follow-up? We're just collecting information that might be useful one day, for other kids.
That's good.
That's important.
I think so.
Okay.
Before the pneumocystis was diagnosed what exactly were Tommy's symptoms? Well, he had these sores in his mouth.
- Oral ulcers? - Yeah, that's right.
I'm sorry, I just I can't think of anything else.
You know, ever since he died, my memory's not so great.
Well, you've been extremely helpful.
I can hardly remember his voice anymore.
How can that be? I really should leave you to get back to your children.
That's okay.
You don't have to rush off.
It's okay.
I have a long drive.
Thank you so much for your time.
Him coming by meant a lot.
It showed me that someone cared.
Have you heard from him since? But you're saying that he's the one who gave me the money.
So why would he do that? Heller's afraid that Exolair was what killed that boy.
I bet she's not the only one he spoke to.
Maybe one of the other parents wanted payback.
Do you know who did this, Jim? Do you know who took Ethan? - No.
- But you know what they want.
Why are you protecting them? Just talk to me.
Talk to the agents.
We need to get him back.
That's what I'm trying to do.
- Still not talking? - Not even to his wife.
Something's got him really scared.
Maybe it's Genacore.
The place where we picked him up? It's two blocks from the corporate offices.
He was there this morning.
Have a seat.
We're in shock over Jim's son being abducted.
If there's anything at all we can do You could start by telling me how much of the company's revenue is generated by the sales of Exolair.
I can't believe that you need a lawyer to help you answer that question.
I was told we were to discuss Heller's situation.
What is that, 85 percent, is that about right? The first product out of our pipeline to win FDA approval.
We've been very fortunate.
I would say so.
You now have five pharmaceutical companies courting you.
Genacore is the hot new girl that everybody's chasing.
But without Exolair, she can't give it away.
Very colorful.
What's your point, Agent Malone? If there were something wrong with the drug it would derail a lot of plans.
There's no problem.
It's been on the market for almost a year.
We've helped thousands of patients.
Is that something you discussed with Heller? You don't have to respond, Michael.
You had security remove him after an argument.
What was the argument? - You don't have to answer.
- Don't you find it interesting after his son's kidnapped, the first person that Heller speaks to is you? - Why is that? - It's okay.
I've got nothing to hide.
I saw Jim.
He just showed up at headquarters.
He was acting totally irrational.
Mike? Mike, wait.
Jim? What are you doing here? I know I shouldn't have gone behind your back with the investigation.
- What are you talking about? - It'll never happen again.
I just want my son back, please.
Your son? You're not making any sense.
Why would I have your son? No, no, Jim, Jim, you need to pull yourself together.
- Look, I know.
- Just pull yourself together.
I know that you know where Ethan is! Hey! Don't.
Don't! Get him off of me.
Don't let them! Don't Get off.
My boy! - Easy.
- Why are you doing this? - Let's go.
- He's my little boy.
- Come on.
- Get off! Mike! I didn't hear the news about Jim's son till later on in the morning.
Obviously, I feel terrible about it.
Heller thought that Exolair was the reason his son was abducted.
That's absolutely absurd.
Is it? You're sitting here with your lawyer.
Obviously, you knew he had concerns about the drug.
I knew nothing about the investigation.
Yes, he showed me some raw data.
About what? Lung infections? Pneumocystis, yes.
- Did you report it to the FDA? - Of course.
And they agreed with a dozen Genacore researchers who reviewed the data.
It was inconclusive.
We followed regulations to the letter.
Tell that to the kids who died, Mr.
Fletcher.
- Look - Who stands to lose the most if something bad comes out about Exolair? The children benefiting from it.
Do you have stock? We all do.
Everyone who started with us received a generous equity package.
Share prices go down, people lose a lot of money.
Nobody's made a dime from the sale of that stock yet.
It hasn't vested.
When does it come due? When does it vest, Mr.
Fletcher? Answer the question.
In two days.
So Mac enhanced the video.
The back seat Ethan was in is from six possible cars.
What are those? Our agents found medical files stashed all over Jim's hotel room.
More kids who died from Exolair.
Yep, I've been talking to the families.
- Did Jim visit them? - Yeah.
After he left, another man showed up and asked one of the families a ton of questions.
- I don't suppose they got a name.
- No, they're giving us a sketch.
- Anybody see the car he was driving? - Yeah, hang on.
Okay, blue Oldsmobile, late '80s.
Okay, 1987 Oldsmobile Cutlass, it's on Mac's list.
Let's put out an alert.
- Do you know who this is? - I don't know.
But you've seen him before? And he saw you interviewing those families.
We also think he's the guy who roughed you up.
I don't know what you're talking about.
You had problems with Exolair.
Somebody in the company thought you were gonna go public.
They didn't want you trashing the stock before it had time to vest.
They grabbed your kid and told you to sit tight and shut up for 48 hours.
Look, we know everything.
So whatever deal you made with them means absolutely nothing.
Where does that leave my son? In a much better place, now that we're in the loop.
How the hell do you know? Look at this man.
He is a hired gun.
Make no mistake, he will fulfill his contract kill your son and collect the money.
So why don't you tell us what the kidnappers told you.
It's just like you said.
I was supposed to keep quiet and they'd let Ethan go.
When did you first realize this drug wasn't safe? About a year before the approval.
But the trials said that 99 percent of the kids on Exolair were helped by it.
So I convinced myself the risks were worth it.
Well, what changed your mind? Couple of months back, Stephanie and I took Ethan to the doctor.
He's had the fever and swelling how long? Five, maybe six days.
My hands are itchy.
Then we'll just have to un-itch them.
Kristin, can you take Ethan to the playroom? What's wrong with him? He's going to be fine.
The textbook name for his condition is mucocutaneous lymph node syndrome.
Also know as Kawasaki's disease.
What is that? Is it serious? I won't lie to you, it certainly can be.
Oh, my God.
But with a course of intravenous gamma globulin within a few weeks, he'll be good as new.
You're lucky.
Before gamma globulin, there wasn't a lot we could do.
I lost a little girl to it not long after I started practicing.
How safe is the treatment? Oh, it's been around for 20 years.
You have nothing to worry about.
Twenty years.
I knew Exolair didn't have that track record and it never would.
Yet people were depending on it.
They're trusting us with the lives of their children.
I couldn't look away anymore.
- Why didn't you tell your wife? - What was I gonna say? That the drug I'd spent years working on was actually secretly killing kids? I know what happens to whistle blowers.
I wanted to protect my family.
Do it confidentially.
I was gathering information to send to The New York Times when they took Ethan.
Did you talk to anyone other than Michael Fletcher about your concerns? Nope.
That's why I became convinced that he had to be involved.
But now I don't know.
What am I supposed to do now? Talk to your wife.
Okay.
Jack.
Officer spotted a blue Cutlass at a deli in the Bronx with a kid in the back and shots were fired.
- This our guy? - Yeah, looks that way.
I'm gonna have to agree with you.
Excuse me.
All right, let's clear out.
Thank you.
Thank you.
- Yo.
- How you doing, man? - You okay to talk? - Yeah.
Well, do you wanna tell us what happened? I spotted the Cutlass, I went to check it out.
- That's when I saw the kid.
- The kid okay? Far as I could tell.
Right after, that's when it hit the fan.
Sir? Reach out with your right hand, lift the door handle and slowly step out of the vehicle.
All I could do was lie on my ass and get the plate.
Okay now, there was only one other guy in the car? You're absolutely sure? - Yeah.
- Can you describe him? Reddish hair average-looking.
Average-looking.
I'm sorry.
- It just happened so fast.
- It's all right.
Take care, okay? Thanks.
Taylor.
You got something? All right, thanks.
All right, so the Cutlass is registered to a Scott Matthews.
You're looking at him.
Scott Matthews.
No, I'm not looking for him.
I'm looking for information on him.
Do you know who his friends are? Maybe he hung around with other people.
Was that his first job after he left the Marines? - I'm gonna need a list of employees.
- No, not tomorrow.
Right now.
Listen, lady, I could be doing other things too.
- I need it now.
- What part of "now" do you not understand? - He was a security guard? And the company he worked for was WiemerTech.
Can you tell me what year that was? Got it, thanks.
I just found out who Scott Matthews used to work with at WiemerTech.
Yeah, I worked there.
What happened to that company, Mr.
Carter? What happened to a lot of start-ups.
Didn't work out.
Is that where you met Scott Matthews? I don't think I remember anyone named, what, Scott Matthews? You're gonna spill your guts in here, one way or the other.
Now, do you wanna cooperate with me or not? No? Okay.
Fine.
- Yeah.
- Clear the floor.
What? You don't know because you can't see through that window but every single agent out there is clearing the floor.
They can't see what's about to happen in here.
It's like if a tree falls in the forest kind of thing.
I should get a lawyer.
Go ahead.
Let's see if you can make it to the door.
Now, where's the boy? I don't know.
You had him kidnapped.
You own 80,000 shares of Genacore.
And Jim Heller was about to flush it down the toilet.
Am I correct? He was gonna ruin everything.
Look.
Exolair, it is a good drug.
It's just that some anomalies showed up in the data.
That your way of saying kids were dying? Very few compared to how many were being helped.
So I I reclassified them in the analysis for the FDA.
Look, dozens of people reviewed those numbers and no one noticed a problem.
Jim Heller did.
He was rechecking the data.
- He have any idea what you were up to? - No one did.
No one wants to know.
So you think that makes it okay.
- That's not what I'm saying.
- It is.
A hundred people turn their heads the other way and no one is to blame.
Now, who is Scott Matthews' partner? - I honestly don't know.
- They were in the Bronx heading south.
Where are they going? I was supposed to meet them at the West Side docks at 50th Street at 8:30.
With the boy.
I was gonna let him go, I swear.
I didn't want anybody to get hurt.
It's a little late for that, Mr.
Carter.
I got Ethan.
I don't see the perp.
Oh, he's still here.
There's no way he left that kid without the cash.
I don't care, we can't just leave him standing there.
Martin, listen to me.
We're gonna stick to the book.
Backup's on its way, it'll be safer for the kid.
We don't have time to wait for backup.
What if he shoots him while he's standing there? Martin, we're waiting for backup, all right? No, we're not gonna wait.
You just cover me.
Hey, Ethan.
- It's okay.
- Hey! Hey! Martin, get the kid.
Martin, get the kid! Yeah, okay.
Come here.
It's okay.
It's okay.
It's okay.
My name's Martin.
I'm a policeman.
You're safe now.
Ethan! I'm so sorry.
Thank God you're safe.
I'm gonna go home now.
- Good night.
- Night.
- Oh, hey, Jack.
- Hey, how you doing? Yeah.
I heard that things went to crap pretty fast out there.
- Yeah.
Yeah, they did.
- Listen.
Don't worry about the paperwork.
Do it in the morning.
Okay, cool.
All right, good night.
Good night.
Hey, I need to talk to you for a sec.
Yeah, well, I need to talk to you too.
All right.
- You almost got that kid killed today.
- I know.
I'm sorry, I made a bad call.
What is it? - What's what? - What is it? Is it painkillers? What are you talking about? - I wasn't feeling well.
- I know what an addict looks like.
- Yeah, but you've got it all wrong.
- Yeah, I must have it all wrong.
Martin, look at me.
You have a problem, all right? You have to get yourself straight.
And you have to do it before you put any of them in danger.
- You know I would never do that.
- You're already doing it.
Excuse me.
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