Elementary s05e02 Episode Script
Worth Several Cities
1 (light switch clicking on and off) (train passing) I know it's not much, but the price is right.
You just have to agree (opens fridge) to keep the common areas clean, and do some small repairs (closes fridge) for the residents.
So, um, the landlord know about my record, right? That I'm on parole? Yeah.
He does.
He and my sister are friends, and she vouched for you.
She don't even know me.
I know you.
Simple as that? Sometimes.
So, what do you think? Mm.
Wondering if I should hold out for a view.
(chuckles softly) Maybe a pool? I mean, it isn't a halfway house, and (sighs), that's all that matters.
You have to be patient.
It's like recovering from multiple gunshot wounds.
You don't just go from rebuilding your organs to running a marathon overnight.
It's a process.
Takes time.
It's slow and painful, but you'll get there.
If you say it, Doc, I believe it.
We got the Chele you wanted.
(light rustling in trunk) (sighs) (panting) You're not gonna kill me.
(sighs) What makes you think that, Holmes? Are you calling me by my name, or is that short for? After my abduction, I tracked the movements of this, uh, appalling conveyance.
We passed at least three much more suitable sites for an execution, and one of them is favored by your gang, Mara Tres.
You are Halcon Zelaya.
You are the leader of the Mara Tres New York branch, and you are a man who does not mess around, so if I'm standing here face-to-face with you, and I'm alive, then you have something in mind for me other than a shallow grave.
Bring him.
Move, Chele.
Friends of yours? These three are mine.
He is Reymundo Torres.
Goes by "Rey.
" This was his place of business.
Smuggler? He brought things into this country for me.
Things that I need for my business.
Now my business will hurt.
Someone is gonna die for this.
They're gonna die ugly and slow, and you are gonna find them for us.
We don't want to kill you, Holmes.
We want to hire you.
Elementary 5x02 Worth Several Cities @elderman (Holmes bangs on metal unit) Your men were incidental victims.
The primary target was Rey Torres.
Before he was shot, he was pistol-whipped repeatedly.
All so he would divulge the location of this.
(unit rumbling) (sighs) Smuggler's cache.
It looks empty.
Ah.
But at some point, it contained amongst other things probably, a quantity of crystal methamphetamine.
So who did it? There were five or more assailants.
Probable military background.
Given the fact that they raided his cache, I would say might have been sent by a rival smuggler.
So how long till you can give me a name? I don't know, but more importantly, not yet inclined to do so.
Thought you were smart, Holmes.
This isn't a job you get to say "no" to.
Do it, or you and that chinita you work with are dead.
You know, I understand the "stick" part of the carrot-stick equation, but if I'm gonna conduct an investigation, you're gonna have to let me go, and my partner and I will be able to escape your grasp, so, your stick is insufficient.
You have to provide a carrot, as well.
Grand a day? I don't want your money.
I suggest a quid pro quo.
What do you want? Same as you.
A name.
Someone's been selling heroin laced with fentanyl.
Very potent, very deadly.
12 people have died so far, including a woman I knew.
So you want to know who is selling it? You struck me as a man who keeps an eye on his competition.
You help me find who killed my friend, I'll help you find who killed yours.
WATSON: You agreed to work for a drug dealer? In exchange for the name of another drug dealer, yes.
They kidnapped you.
We should bring in Major Crimes, tell them about the warehouse.
It's in Newark.
It's out of their jurisdiction.
Additionally, according to the news, a warehouse fire broke out near the Oak Island Rail Yard shortly after my departure from the scene.
The good news is, solving these murders may help unravel several other criminal enterprises.
In addition to yielding a source of poisoned heroin, it would expose what is left of Rey Torres' smuggling network and reveal his killers, who I'm sure are quite heinous in their own right.
So heinous that you would have this Halcon guy kill them? Yeah.
Well, we'll blow up that bridge when we come to it.
Is that live footage? Yeah.
I'm owed a favor by the owner of a local helicopter service.
He's deployed several of his helicopters to scan the waterfront for us.
Are you gonna tell me why? How was your meeting with Shinwell last night? Good, basically.
He's gonna take the apartment.
He's meeting me here at noon to sign some papers that Lin sent over.
But? Well, he's still having a tough time adjusting.
Well, in his former life, he was a lieutenant in a drug gang, a position which afforded him ample money and prestige.
Now he has neither, so he's craving what he lost.
You want to tell me why we're looking at a bunch of boats? Last night, I saw a shoeprint in some dust.
Perhaps you recognize it from my monograph of shoe treads of the world.
It was, uh, required reading during your apprenticeship.
That was over four years ago.
Korean? North Korean, and that's important.
In order to evade his national sanctions, the North Koreans have become excellent smugglers.
Just the kind of people that would come into conflict with Rey Torres.
Mm.
I also found traces of crystal meth in Torres' smuggling cache.
The shade in color match crystal meth manufactured in North Korea.
So we're looking for a smuggling ship.
Mm.
Most smugglers register their ships in countries of origin other than their own to avoid scrutiny.
Obviously, the North Koreans favor the flag of the tiny Polynesian nation of Tuvalu, which features a Union Jack.
It's a light blue field and a spray of stars.
Okay.
So now what? I confess everything.
All crimes involving my ship, but I did it on my own.
No one else was involved.
What about the murder of Rey Torres? Do that on your own, too? Yes, just me.
I shot him.
GREGSON: Our consultant here tells me there were at least five attackers.
So, who helped you? What kind of gun did you use? A type 70 pistol.
I throw it in the bay.
Wrong caliber.
Additionally, Mr.
Torres was pistol-whipped.
The blows indicate that the assailant was much taller than you, and left-handed, and you're right-handed.
Please.
I'll confess everything you want.
I cannot implicate my employers.
They'll hurt my family.
HOLMES: We want the truth, Captain.
You appear to be innocent of Rey Torres' murder, but you or one of your crew members left a shoeprint at his warehouse.
So, why were you there, and what happened? Rey did not like competition.
So this was about the meth.
Last time I came to New York, he told me not to come back.
But my employers don't care.
I made port last week.
The next night, Torres and his men raided my ship, took my meth.
And that was not all.
They broke into my safe and took what was inside.
Which was? A box, a locked metal box given to me by a very important person at home.
Party official? He wouldn't tell me the contents of the box.
He ordered me to wait for the delivery instructions.
I had to get it back.
Torres had many warehouses, many offices.
It took a week to find out where he kept it.
But he was dead when we got there.
Whoever killed him left our meth, so we took that back.
But the box was gone.
They only wanted the box.
Are we buying all this? The captain is a smuggler, not a murderer? We are.
So Rey Torres and those three gang members were killed over some metal box? HOLMES: Over the contents of the box.
Unfortunately, we've got no indication of what they might be.
GREGSON: Too bad you couldn't convince your client to not burn down the crime scene.
That's a problem with private clients.
They frequently have their own agendas, which is why I prefer working with the police.
Ah.
What? This is Captain Pack's phone, so he had his men follow Rey Torres for almost a week.
They sent photographs of the various buildings that he uses a variety of offices, warehouses and this.
A house.
According to their texts it's in Woodbury, Long Island.
He visited on three separate occasions, stayed only a few hours each time.
That makes me think it's a casa chica, a home for his mistress.
Torres wasn't married, so why all the secrecy? For you, the answer will have to wait, 'cause you have an appointment to keep.
For you and I Woodbury, here we come.
That's that.
You got your own place.
You do this sort of thing for all your old patients? Depends on how seriously they're taking their parole.
Mm-hmm.
You know a lot of ex-cons? You'd be surprised.
Can I ask you for one more favor? I have a daughter.
Chivonne.
She was five when I got put away.
Her mother, Ceecee, didn't put me on the birth certificate, but she mine.
When I was in Great Meadow, I wrote letters, birthday cards, that sort of thing.
And then, about four years ago, Ceecee died.
Overdose.
I didn't even know she was using.
And then my letters to Chivonne started coming back unopened.
So, when I got out, I tried to track her down.
Now, word is she went to go live with relatives.
But her people are out of Trinidad by way of Florida, so she could be anywhere.
You want my help finding her.
You're a detective.
I thought, maybe maybe you could think of something that I didn't.
(doorbell rings) Can I help you? It depends.
Are you Yun Jingyi? No one calls me by my Chinese name.
Not even my mother.
Dr.
Joan Watson, then.
Might we have a word? In private.
Is this a problem? Uh, just give me a few minutes, okay? I'll be back there.
(door closes) What can I do for you? My associates and I would like to make you an offer.
It's come to our attention that your associate, Mr.
Holmes, is looking for a certain object.
An object which may be at the center of some sordid gangland killings.
Was this object in a metal box? If you could for arrange for it to fall into our hands, we would happily pay you a finder's fee.
Great.
But maybe first you could tell me what this object is and why you want it.
No.
No? No.
But here is a number where we can be reached.
As well as the fee we intend to pay once the object has been recovered.
We look forward to hearing from you.
$50 million.
(doorbell rings) Let me do the talking, okay? Why? If you're right about this place, we're about to tell Rey Torres chica he's dead.
Can I help you? This wasn't supposed to happen.
You being lovers-- do you think that's why he was so secretive about this place? Did he not want his associates at Mara Tres to know his sexual orientation? Did they find out? Is that why he's dead? Did those homophobic psychos kill Rey? We don't think that's what this is about.
Do you know anything about a metal box? Something Rey might have gotten his hands on in the past week or so? He said the thing inside was worth a fortune.
He was gonna auction it off, make enough money to move away from New York and Mara Tres forever.
You know what was inside? He used to put it on his desk over there.
He'd take pictures of it for his bidders.
It was, like, this green rock.
It was carved, and with snakes on top.
It was heavy.
This green rock-- was it, um Did it have a square base, about four or five inches, each side? Sounds about right, yeah.
How do you know? What are you doing? I'm, uh, I'm just I'm-I'm dusting for prints, after a fashion.
What are those? Uh, Chinese characters.
They say, "Receive the Mandate of Heaven, and with it longevity and prosperity.
" So, assuming he had his hands on the genuine article, Rey was right: the green rock was worth a fortune.
In fact, the Chinese emperor once traded it for 15 cities.
Hence the Chinese idiom for priceless, "worth several cities.
" It's possible that Rey stole the single most valuable missing object in human history, the Imperial Jade Seal of China.
HOLMES: All things considered, $50 million for the Imperial Jade Seal seems a bit low.
Assuming it's the real Jade Seal that was in Torres' box, I agree.
But no one's even seen the thing in over 1,000 years.
Someone thinks it's real or they wouldn't have offered you an eight-figure sum for it today.
Didn't identify themselves? No, but judging by their accents, they were from Taiwan.
Mm.
A nation which still calls itself the Republic of China, still claims to be the legitimate government of China.
According to legend, the Jade Seal grants whoever owns it the "Mandate of Heaven"-- divine right to rule China.
So, if Taiwan gets the Seal it could mean a major propaganda coup.
Should we take them up on their offer? Mara Tres obviously doesn't know the Seal was taken from Rey's warehouse or they would have hired us to return it, not identify his killer.
So, finders, keepers? We can give the money to charity if you like.
That would be great, but by giving Taiwan the Seal it could increase tensions between them and mainland China.
I would rather not start a second Chinese civil war.
How did the Taiwanese even know about the Seal? You hadn't even told me about it yet.
I'd surmise they were amongst Rey's potential buyers and kept track of the investigation into his death.
Trying to bribe you likely clears them of that, since whoever killed him already has the Seal.
Probably one of the other bidders, right? I mean, they're the only ones that knew that Torres had it.
According to his lover, he met with potential bidders face-to-face at one of the many properties that he leases.
If we can find out which one we might be able to find witnesses to the meeting.
Hello, yes, I'd like to make a very, very large catering order, so can I speak to the owner, please? Yes, yes, of course I'll hold.
Catering order? Rey's recent credit card transactions.
BVP Catering.
There's five orders here in the last week.
I think those were fancy snacks for his bidders.
Gonna try and persuade the owner to give me the delivery address.
Persuade, how? Well, everyone has a price.
We've just established that yours is north of $50 million.
Hopefully, BVP Catering will be less.
Rey knew what he was doing.
Vacant building in an industrial neighborhood-- no neighbors, no tenants.
And a private garage entrance on a side street where no one could see his bidders coming or going.
Let's check out the sight lines from over there.
(phone ringing) It's Halcon from Mara Tres.
Looking for an update, probably.
Shouldn't you get that? And tell him what? That he inadvertently put us on the trail of an item that is literally priceless? (ringing stops) That won't complicate things for us, will it? See something? This metal rail's been bent in two places, here, 64 inches apart.
As if someone recently drove over it with a very heavy vehicle.
Even if the metal isn't up to standard, wouldn't that take a tank? Yeah, it would.
Clearance is under seven feet-- there's no way you could get something that big down here.
No.
But not all tanks look like tanks.
HOLMES: It's a custom-built armored car.
13,000 pounds, total weight.
Solid run-flat tires, ballistic glass windows, A10 rated armor.
Total cost: $1.
4 million.
In other words, the finest armored personnel carrier money can buy.
And the preferred conveyance of Wayne Vachs, CEO of Vachs Geological.
Right-wing politics, coal mines, fracking, that Wayne Vachs? I looked into him a couple of years ago when our friends at Everyone were on the brink of civil war.
Amongst the details I uncovered were this car and a lifelong passion for Asian art.
Seems like someone who would bid on the Seal.
So are we going in? I e-mailed his secretary and I asked for an appointment.
She said he was out of the country.
Obviously that's not true, so we ambush him.
Yeah, we ambush him.
So, who's uh, L'nelle Bickerstaff? I saw you typing that name into your phone in the car.
Yesterday Shinwell told me he has a daughter, Chivonne.
They lost touch when he was in prison.
He wants help finding her.
I'm pretty sure she's staying with her aunt, L'nelle Bickerstaff, but I have not been able to locate anyone by that name in the U.
S.
Think that's a wise thing to do? Efforts to help him reenter society are, you know, admirable, but you're just getting to know him.
And all the sentiment aside, you might be a happier, healthier person because you didn't interact with your biological father when you were a child.
The same might be true for Chivonne and her father.
Ambush time.
Mr.
Vachs, we're, uh, consultants with the NYPD.
Like to ask you a few questions.
Mr.
Vachs knows who you are and who you work for.
He's not interested in speaking with you.
Maybe he'd like us to come back with our colleagues from Major Crimes.
If you approach Mr.
Vachs again, he'll have you arrested.
Is that clear? That would be a neat trick, having us arrested.
Actually, it wouldn't be difficult at all.
This is a restraining order.
You're not to come within 50 yards of Mr.
Vachs or any of his properties, effective immediately.
Consider yourselves served.
(engines start) Did you notice that these things were applied for almost two years ago? About the same time we were looking into Vachs' so-called think tank, the Atherton Foundation.
So, what, he had these drawn up and then when he didn't need them, he saved them, just in case? Have to admire the foresight.
Must have had them dug up when I contacted his office this morning.
Suggests we're on the right track, no? Have you found anything? Mostly, I just reconfirmed my previous research.
Still, he's a man with a long history of questionable business deals.
I'm certain we can find something to leverage a meeting.
We should get Everyone to help.
They hate Vachs.
They'd probably dig into him for free.
That would be a good change of pace.
And I think I know which rock they should look under first.
(doorbell rings) Hi.
I'm Kuo Wenling.
But you can call me Wendy.
I have a message from my father.
And your father is? Kuo Lanqing.
He's Minister of Commerce for the People's Republic of China.
You're a long way from home.
I took the subway.
I'm a grad student at Columbia.
Dad says to tell you that the gross domestic product of Taiwan is 530 billion USD.
But the GDP of the People's Republic of China is over $10 trillion.
20 times as big.
So we have more money.
In other words, China's aware of the overtures we received from Taiwan yesterday and whatever they're offering, the People's Republic can beat it.
I don't know.
I guess? I have to go now.
I have papers to grade.
Bye-bye.
Another country heard from.
On the bright side, China is probably the rightful owner of the Seal and 20 times $50 million is $1 billion.
So we've established your price.
(phone ringing) Halcon again.
You know what you should do? Keep screening the scary drug lord, because there's no chance that he's gonna show up on our doorstep next.
Hello? Now, that's a good spot for an execution.
But you came anyway.
I'm making too much progress for you to kill me.
I've identified a likely motive for Rey's murder, and I might even have a suspect.
Who? Not yet.
Given the stakes, I-I need to be certain that I'm right.
I'm sure you understand.
So, if that'll suffice for an update I didn't call you out here to get an update.
I called you out here to give you an update.
Come on.
Who's that? Chele named Jimmy Koslow.
He's the one who's been slinging your bad heroin.
I asked you to identify him, not murder him.
You know how we do.
I held up my end of the bargain.
You hold up yours.
Or risk dismemberment? Him I didn't care about.
He didn't disrespect me.
He wasn't personal.
Don't find out what happens when it's personal.
You got two days.
According to Marcus' search of the late Mr.
Koslow's home, it yielded fentanyl-cut heroin identical to the batch that killed the woman from my meeting.
So, at least there shouldn't be any more deaths.
Attributable to the heroin? That's very hard to say.
Attributable to Mara Tres? Also hard to say.
As is their custom, they made no attempt to obfuscate their involvement in Koslow's death.
The gang member responsible left behind a murder weapon with ample fingerprints on it, so he's, no doubt, already been sent back to Central America, where he's out of our reach.
Well, we can still connect the murder to Halcon.
We could do, if the crime hadn't already been claimed by the Department's Organized Crime Task Force.
They've been, uh, building a case against him for years.
Any chance they'll arrest him before you end up in a Dumpster? Now is probably a good time to mention that you were also included in his original threats.
What? We are, as always, a package deal.
But never fear.
Our heads and limbs shall remain attached to our respective torsos.
Unless, of course, you ignored my instruction to contact Everyone and ask them to look under a certain rock.
They e-mailed a little while ago.
Everything you asked for is right there.
Oh, yeah, this'll do nicely.
(over bullhorn): Matt Driscoll, murdered by Wayne Vachs.
Jason Green, murdered by Wayne Vachs.
Trevor Harris, murdered by Wayne Vachs.
John Killan Jr.
, murdered by Wayne Vachs.
Craig Hawthorne, murdered by Wayne Stop it or I'm calling the police.
You'll note the chalk line on the sidewalk.
It's exactly 50 yards from Vachs Geological.
So unless I cross it, I'm not in violation of your restraining order.
Edward Nance, murdered It doesn't matter where you stand.
You can't slander Mr.
Vachs with false accusations.
Oh, but they're not false.
These are men that your employer admits to killing, 22 miners who died in a mine collapse in Kentucky in 2009.
- That case was settled.
- Yes.
Mr.
Vachs pled guilty to misdemeanor safety violations and he got probation.
But the deaths are still legally his fault.
The deaths are old news.
Tragic but old news.
I'm about to name his co-conspirators, his unindicted co-conspirators, people who turned a blind eye to the safety violations and who helped him get away with a slap on the wrist.
Including several prominent politicians.
I got their names from a hacker collective called Everyone.
Perhaps you've heard of them.
You're bluffing.
I could be persuaded to hold my tongue if Mr.
Vachs agrees to a meeting.
Mr.
Holmes.
Please come in.
Welcome.
Make yourself at home.
So, where's the tall one who accosted me yesterday? I wanted another word with him.
No, we don't need him.
Unless you're planning to kill me.
No, not at the moment.
That was some ultimatum you gave Ms.
Lawler out there.
That's not why I agreed to see you.
This list of yours that you're releasing, it could damage the careers of some very fine public servants, but it won't hurt me one iota.
Well, I find that very hard to believe.
You've spent a lot of time and money cultivating your political pets.
I haven't funded my PACs in a year.
I got tired of politics.
Well, if you no longer have political interests, why did you agree to an audience? I know what you're working on, and I want to help you.
You want to help me find the murderer of a Salvadorian smuggler? Rey Torres? No, I don't care about him.
I want to help you find the Imperial Jade Seal.
I am the legal owner, after all.
How can you be the legal owner of a stolen, smuggled antiquity? Because I won Rey's auction.
Papers show the verified bid.
Letters of provenance.
They show that the Seal has been in the U.
S.
for over a century.
Well before the 2009 Chinese Antiquities Act.
(sniffs) The Seal was smuggled into the country just last week.
Isn't that for the courts to decide? You're certain this is the real Seal.
Well, I wouldn't have paid that much if I wasn't.
But the point is, Rey accepted my bid.
We were about to make the final exchange and he was murdered.
So if you want to find out who killed him and who stole my property, I suggest you start by trying to identify the losing bidders.
How'd you find me? I haven't been L'nelle Bickerstaff in years.
Your name change to Laila Kalifa is public record, and you did not change Chivonne's first name.
I didn't want to put that on her.
She'd been through enough changes.
How much is he paying you? Nothing, actually.
Shinwell's a friend.
I'm doing him a favor.
Funny, you don't look like his kind of friend.
How well do you know him? How well do you know him? I know he's a criminal.
He was a criminal.
And now he's just, what, cured? He's ready to be a father to Chivonne? He lost touch with her.
He wants to know she's okay.
She's better than okay.
She's amazing.
When I think of everything that that girl has managed to overcome, everything she has in front of her, changing my name, that wasn't just religion.
I knew that this day would come.
And I knew that if I ever let Shinwell back into Chivonne's life, I'd be letting in the drugs and the guns and the gangs right along with him.
He's working on himself now.
You sure about that? You said you wanted my permission to let Shinwell know where Chivonne is.
You can't have it.
I understand why you would be reluctant to Look, I'm not reluctant.
I'm afraid.
Men like Shinwell only care about one thing-- themselves.
That's why they steal, that's why they deal drugs, that's why they kill.
Look, Shinwell only thinks he's changed.
I know better, and you should, too.
Chivonne's not the only one he could end up hurting.
C, right? We never actually met.
I'm Joan.
Oh, please don't tell me.
The less I know about S, the better.
"S"? HOLMES: It's my nom de plume when corresponding with C.
We put a premium on our anonymity.
Call me "J.
" C is an appraiser for a major auction house.
I asked her to review the, uh, letters of provenance I received from Wayne Vachs.
They are forgeries, as you suspected.
Likely created by whoever got the Seal smuggled into the country.
As far as I can tell, Mr.
Vachs did win the auction.
So odds are he didn't kill Torres to take the Seal.
What do you make of the opposition research regarding the other potential buyers? You say that you've already ruled out China and Taiwan? Some of the parties on this list certainly would buy an artifact of dubious provenance, but I I have a hard time imagining any of them commissioning assassins.
That being said, there is a significant gap here on this.
This notation: Museums.
Question mark.
No detail.
The Seal would be a big draw for the right museum.
I was thinking of the Densham Institute.
Do you know it? The Densham Institute was founded a hundred years ago by the Densham brothers.
They made their fortune in textiles.
Last year, one of the heirs, David Densham, was appointed curator in chief.
He wants to make the museum a more fitting monument to his family name.
He is looking for signature works to enhance the collection.
And you think that might include the Jade Seal? Two months ago, I tried to contact David about a Tang landscape painting.
His assistant told me he was in Asia with no access to the Internet or phone service.
When he returned a few weeks later, he told me that he had been on an acquisition trip, but he wouldn't tell me where.
So, not many places in Asia where you can be cut off completely from the outside world and still go shopping for museum-worthy art.
C: I can only think of one.
North Korea.
Well, the North Koreans smuggled the Seal into the United States.
If they were delivering it to Densham, and it got stolen by Rey Torres Torres may have invited Densham to bid on the Seal without realizing that Densham was the one he took it from in the first place.
David perhaps did not want to bid on a priceless artifact twice.
So according to Marcus, David Densham has a checkered past.
Domestic violence, drunken brawls.
So he doesn't just have the resources to be our killer.
He has the temperament.
(garbled radio transmission) WATSON: Did you call Marcus to join us? I did not.
Housekeeper found him a couple hours ago.
Blow to the head.
We're looking into his ex.
Well, unless she's over six foot tall and incredibly strong, I wouldn't bother.
That being said, I think I can identify the murder weapon.
DETECTIVE: So can I.
CSU bagged it 20 minutes ago.
The killer left it? This is what was used to cave David Densham's skull in? WATSON: The evidence receipt says it's a "jade block, four inches square, topped by intertwined dragons.
" HOLMES: But it is not, as stated, a paperweight.
It is, in all likelihood, the one, the only, the original Imperial Jade Seal of China.
Tell me you got permission to get ink on that thing.
We're sending the prints to experts to compare against historical documents stamped by the real Seal.
They'll try to confirm that this is the original, and not a forgery.
Well, I thought you should know I talked to the detectives working the Densham case.
They're moving off of his ex.
Now they figure Densham had Rey Torres killed to get that thing back, then Mara Tres killed Densham out of revenge.
All very neat and tidy, and all completely wrong.
Yeah, I don't buy it, either.
For one thing, Densham died fast.
Mara Tres would have made him suffer.
Plus, the Seal was wiped clean.
Mara Tres hit men leave their prints.
Also, the angle of the killing blow suggests that Densham was killed by a tall, left-handed person, at least six foot, two.
You said that whoever killed Rey Torres was tall and left-handed, as well.
Same guy? Stands to reason.
But why would anyone kill Rey to get the Seal and then leave it at the scene of Densham's murder? What do you think will happen to the Seal when the NYPD no longer has it in evidence? Turn it over to the Feds, I guess.
And then where would it go? China, right? That's the law.
Any Chinese artifact brought into the U.
S.
after 2009 gets returned to China.
We can safely assume the Chinese didn't kill Densham.
If they had, they would not have left the Seal behind.
They would have put it in a diplomatic pouch, sent it home.
So someone else wanted the Chinese to get it, but not in a way that could be traced back.
Why? There's a saying in Chinese, "Wanbi guizhao.
" "Return the jade intact to Zhao.
" It means to give something back to its rightful owner.
It's based on a story where the Seal was stolen, and a hero brings it home unharmed.
As a reward, he's made prime minister.
HOLMES: So who might expect a reward for returning the Jade Seal to China? GREGSON: Hey.
There's someone here to see you.
WATSON: Tell me you don't think she's the one behind all this.
To the best of my knowledge, she doesn't have a tall, left-handed killer in her employ, but I know someone who does.
I think if I threaten to delay the Seal's return to China, her father will confirm my suspicions.
Wendy! Need you to send a message for me.
(door opens) Mr.
Holmes, nobody told me you were here.
Yeah, probably because no one saw me enter the premises.
That new security team you've got-- not as sharp as their predecessors.
Why are you showing me pictures of body parts? All in good time.
First, I want you to know that I know you're nearly bankrupt.
It's the real reason you stopped paying your political cronies.
You can't afford them anymore.
Why? Because in addition to killing 22 men, your mine collapse triggered a landslide, which polluted a large swath of Kentucky watershed.
And you're legally responsible for the clean-up.
The EPA's about to bill you for hundreds of millions of dollars.
A vast deposit of rare earth minerals was recently discovered in Western China.
Whoever secures that development contract is gonna make billions.
I have it on very good authority that thanks to your help with the recent unspecified issue, the Chinese are gonna award that contract to you.
Well, that's a legitimate business deal.
The other day I asked you about your head of security.
Tall fellow.
Left-handed.
I could tell by the placement of his holster.
Led a team of six.
Flight records indicate that your private jet left for Morocco with six passengers on board just hours after David Densham's bludgeoning.
Nice place, Morocco.
Low cost of living, no U.
S.
extradition treaty.
So what are you suggesting-- that I had Rey Torres killed so I could get the Seal and trade it with the Chinese for the mineral deal? I already told you that I won the auction.
Ah.
Except you couldn't pay for your winning bid, could you? So instead, you had your men kill Rey Torres and take it.
Say you're right.
Why didn't I get the Seal and just give it to the Chinese and be done with it? Because before you could agree terms with them, I began to suspect you.
If the police found the Seal in your possession, all would be lost, so you had your men kill David Densham and leave it with him.
The physical return of the Seal is no longer your problem, 'cause the U.
S.
government is going to do it for you.
But the Chinese-- they'll still know who to thank.
I suppose you can prove all of this? I can prove none of it.
Those limbs once added up to a man named Jimmy Koslow.
He ran afoul of a street gang-- Mara Tres.
They're clients of mine.
They're not concerned with courts of law.
They much prefer revenge.
Brutal revenge.
Rey Torres was their favorite smuggler, and now he's dead, thanks to you.
All I need to do is share my suspicions with my clients, and you're going to be the next one going to pieces.
You wouldn't.
Confess.
If you're arrested, tried and convicted, I might be able to persuade them that justice has been done.
If Jimmy Koslow was offered the same opportunity, I think he'd have taken it.
Don't you? MAN: It's good, though.
That's it.
Quick feet.
Quick feet.
WATSON: Hey.
I got your text.
Thanks for coming.
Look, if you're hoping for an update on Chivonne I don't need an update.
Found her on my own.
She's a goalie.
(indistinct shouting) MAN: Yeah.
Yeah, right there.
She's good.
From what I hear, she good at a lot of things.
Sports, school.
How'd you find her? You wasn't the first person I asked for help.
As soon as I got out of Great Meadow, I put out feelers, and one finally panned out.
MAN: Okay, you're up.
MAN: There you go.
Look, before you talk to her, I think I'm not going to talk to her.
I want to.
I want to like you wouldn't believe.
It's not the time.
I want her in my life, I have to earn it.
I'm dark inside (door closes, device beeping) WATSON: Looking for bugs? Stud, actually.
You'll be happy to hear that Vachs confessed to ordering the murders of David Densham, Rey Torres and the three Mara Tres pistoleros.
I am happy.
(drill whirring) Was Halcon happy? Not at first, but eventually he agreed to keep his distance from us.
So our lives can return to normal.
Wanbi guizhao, as they say.
Everything back in its rightful place, all in one piece.
I'm floating again Weightless Beneath your paper moon @elderman
You just have to agree (opens fridge) to keep the common areas clean, and do some small repairs (closes fridge) for the residents.
So, um, the landlord know about my record, right? That I'm on parole? Yeah.
He does.
He and my sister are friends, and she vouched for you.
She don't even know me.
I know you.
Simple as that? Sometimes.
So, what do you think? Mm.
Wondering if I should hold out for a view.
(chuckles softly) Maybe a pool? I mean, it isn't a halfway house, and (sighs), that's all that matters.
You have to be patient.
It's like recovering from multiple gunshot wounds.
You don't just go from rebuilding your organs to running a marathon overnight.
It's a process.
Takes time.
It's slow and painful, but you'll get there.
If you say it, Doc, I believe it.
We got the Chele you wanted.
(light rustling in trunk) (sighs) (panting) You're not gonna kill me.
(sighs) What makes you think that, Holmes? Are you calling me by my name, or is that short for? After my abduction, I tracked the movements of this, uh, appalling conveyance.
We passed at least three much more suitable sites for an execution, and one of them is favored by your gang, Mara Tres.
You are Halcon Zelaya.
You are the leader of the Mara Tres New York branch, and you are a man who does not mess around, so if I'm standing here face-to-face with you, and I'm alive, then you have something in mind for me other than a shallow grave.
Bring him.
Move, Chele.
Friends of yours? These three are mine.
He is Reymundo Torres.
Goes by "Rey.
" This was his place of business.
Smuggler? He brought things into this country for me.
Things that I need for my business.
Now my business will hurt.
Someone is gonna die for this.
They're gonna die ugly and slow, and you are gonna find them for us.
We don't want to kill you, Holmes.
We want to hire you.
Elementary 5x02 Worth Several Cities @elderman (Holmes bangs on metal unit) Your men were incidental victims.
The primary target was Rey Torres.
Before he was shot, he was pistol-whipped repeatedly.
All so he would divulge the location of this.
(unit rumbling) (sighs) Smuggler's cache.
It looks empty.
Ah.
But at some point, it contained amongst other things probably, a quantity of crystal methamphetamine.
So who did it? There were five or more assailants.
Probable military background.
Given the fact that they raided his cache, I would say might have been sent by a rival smuggler.
So how long till you can give me a name? I don't know, but more importantly, not yet inclined to do so.
Thought you were smart, Holmes.
This isn't a job you get to say "no" to.
Do it, or you and that chinita you work with are dead.
You know, I understand the "stick" part of the carrot-stick equation, but if I'm gonna conduct an investigation, you're gonna have to let me go, and my partner and I will be able to escape your grasp, so, your stick is insufficient.
You have to provide a carrot, as well.
Grand a day? I don't want your money.
I suggest a quid pro quo.
What do you want? Same as you.
A name.
Someone's been selling heroin laced with fentanyl.
Very potent, very deadly.
12 people have died so far, including a woman I knew.
So you want to know who is selling it? You struck me as a man who keeps an eye on his competition.
You help me find who killed my friend, I'll help you find who killed yours.
WATSON: You agreed to work for a drug dealer? In exchange for the name of another drug dealer, yes.
They kidnapped you.
We should bring in Major Crimes, tell them about the warehouse.
It's in Newark.
It's out of their jurisdiction.
Additionally, according to the news, a warehouse fire broke out near the Oak Island Rail Yard shortly after my departure from the scene.
The good news is, solving these murders may help unravel several other criminal enterprises.
In addition to yielding a source of poisoned heroin, it would expose what is left of Rey Torres' smuggling network and reveal his killers, who I'm sure are quite heinous in their own right.
So heinous that you would have this Halcon guy kill them? Yeah.
Well, we'll blow up that bridge when we come to it.
Is that live footage? Yeah.
I'm owed a favor by the owner of a local helicopter service.
He's deployed several of his helicopters to scan the waterfront for us.
Are you gonna tell me why? How was your meeting with Shinwell last night? Good, basically.
He's gonna take the apartment.
He's meeting me here at noon to sign some papers that Lin sent over.
But? Well, he's still having a tough time adjusting.
Well, in his former life, he was a lieutenant in a drug gang, a position which afforded him ample money and prestige.
Now he has neither, so he's craving what he lost.
You want to tell me why we're looking at a bunch of boats? Last night, I saw a shoeprint in some dust.
Perhaps you recognize it from my monograph of shoe treads of the world.
It was, uh, required reading during your apprenticeship.
That was over four years ago.
Korean? North Korean, and that's important.
In order to evade his national sanctions, the North Koreans have become excellent smugglers.
Just the kind of people that would come into conflict with Rey Torres.
Mm.
I also found traces of crystal meth in Torres' smuggling cache.
The shade in color match crystal meth manufactured in North Korea.
So we're looking for a smuggling ship.
Mm.
Most smugglers register their ships in countries of origin other than their own to avoid scrutiny.
Obviously, the North Koreans favor the flag of the tiny Polynesian nation of Tuvalu, which features a Union Jack.
It's a light blue field and a spray of stars.
Okay.
So now what? I confess everything.
All crimes involving my ship, but I did it on my own.
No one else was involved.
What about the murder of Rey Torres? Do that on your own, too? Yes, just me.
I shot him.
GREGSON: Our consultant here tells me there were at least five attackers.
So, who helped you? What kind of gun did you use? A type 70 pistol.
I throw it in the bay.
Wrong caliber.
Additionally, Mr.
Torres was pistol-whipped.
The blows indicate that the assailant was much taller than you, and left-handed, and you're right-handed.
Please.
I'll confess everything you want.
I cannot implicate my employers.
They'll hurt my family.
HOLMES: We want the truth, Captain.
You appear to be innocent of Rey Torres' murder, but you or one of your crew members left a shoeprint at his warehouse.
So, why were you there, and what happened? Rey did not like competition.
So this was about the meth.
Last time I came to New York, he told me not to come back.
But my employers don't care.
I made port last week.
The next night, Torres and his men raided my ship, took my meth.
And that was not all.
They broke into my safe and took what was inside.
Which was? A box, a locked metal box given to me by a very important person at home.
Party official? He wouldn't tell me the contents of the box.
He ordered me to wait for the delivery instructions.
I had to get it back.
Torres had many warehouses, many offices.
It took a week to find out where he kept it.
But he was dead when we got there.
Whoever killed him left our meth, so we took that back.
But the box was gone.
They only wanted the box.
Are we buying all this? The captain is a smuggler, not a murderer? We are.
So Rey Torres and those three gang members were killed over some metal box? HOLMES: Over the contents of the box.
Unfortunately, we've got no indication of what they might be.
GREGSON: Too bad you couldn't convince your client to not burn down the crime scene.
That's a problem with private clients.
They frequently have their own agendas, which is why I prefer working with the police.
Ah.
What? This is Captain Pack's phone, so he had his men follow Rey Torres for almost a week.
They sent photographs of the various buildings that he uses a variety of offices, warehouses and this.
A house.
According to their texts it's in Woodbury, Long Island.
He visited on three separate occasions, stayed only a few hours each time.
That makes me think it's a casa chica, a home for his mistress.
Torres wasn't married, so why all the secrecy? For you, the answer will have to wait, 'cause you have an appointment to keep.
For you and I Woodbury, here we come.
That's that.
You got your own place.
You do this sort of thing for all your old patients? Depends on how seriously they're taking their parole.
Mm-hmm.
You know a lot of ex-cons? You'd be surprised.
Can I ask you for one more favor? I have a daughter.
Chivonne.
She was five when I got put away.
Her mother, Ceecee, didn't put me on the birth certificate, but she mine.
When I was in Great Meadow, I wrote letters, birthday cards, that sort of thing.
And then, about four years ago, Ceecee died.
Overdose.
I didn't even know she was using.
And then my letters to Chivonne started coming back unopened.
So, when I got out, I tried to track her down.
Now, word is she went to go live with relatives.
But her people are out of Trinidad by way of Florida, so she could be anywhere.
You want my help finding her.
You're a detective.
I thought, maybe maybe you could think of something that I didn't.
(doorbell rings) Can I help you? It depends.
Are you Yun Jingyi? No one calls me by my Chinese name.
Not even my mother.
Dr.
Joan Watson, then.
Might we have a word? In private.
Is this a problem? Uh, just give me a few minutes, okay? I'll be back there.
(door closes) What can I do for you? My associates and I would like to make you an offer.
It's come to our attention that your associate, Mr.
Holmes, is looking for a certain object.
An object which may be at the center of some sordid gangland killings.
Was this object in a metal box? If you could for arrange for it to fall into our hands, we would happily pay you a finder's fee.
Great.
But maybe first you could tell me what this object is and why you want it.
No.
No? No.
But here is a number where we can be reached.
As well as the fee we intend to pay once the object has been recovered.
We look forward to hearing from you.
$50 million.
(doorbell rings) Let me do the talking, okay? Why? If you're right about this place, we're about to tell Rey Torres chica he's dead.
Can I help you? This wasn't supposed to happen.
You being lovers-- do you think that's why he was so secretive about this place? Did he not want his associates at Mara Tres to know his sexual orientation? Did they find out? Is that why he's dead? Did those homophobic psychos kill Rey? We don't think that's what this is about.
Do you know anything about a metal box? Something Rey might have gotten his hands on in the past week or so? He said the thing inside was worth a fortune.
He was gonna auction it off, make enough money to move away from New York and Mara Tres forever.
You know what was inside? He used to put it on his desk over there.
He'd take pictures of it for his bidders.
It was, like, this green rock.
It was carved, and with snakes on top.
It was heavy.
This green rock-- was it, um Did it have a square base, about four or five inches, each side? Sounds about right, yeah.
How do you know? What are you doing? I'm, uh, I'm just I'm-I'm dusting for prints, after a fashion.
What are those? Uh, Chinese characters.
They say, "Receive the Mandate of Heaven, and with it longevity and prosperity.
" So, assuming he had his hands on the genuine article, Rey was right: the green rock was worth a fortune.
In fact, the Chinese emperor once traded it for 15 cities.
Hence the Chinese idiom for priceless, "worth several cities.
" It's possible that Rey stole the single most valuable missing object in human history, the Imperial Jade Seal of China.
HOLMES: All things considered, $50 million for the Imperial Jade Seal seems a bit low.
Assuming it's the real Jade Seal that was in Torres' box, I agree.
But no one's even seen the thing in over 1,000 years.
Someone thinks it's real or they wouldn't have offered you an eight-figure sum for it today.
Didn't identify themselves? No, but judging by their accents, they were from Taiwan.
Mm.
A nation which still calls itself the Republic of China, still claims to be the legitimate government of China.
According to legend, the Jade Seal grants whoever owns it the "Mandate of Heaven"-- divine right to rule China.
So, if Taiwan gets the Seal it could mean a major propaganda coup.
Should we take them up on their offer? Mara Tres obviously doesn't know the Seal was taken from Rey's warehouse or they would have hired us to return it, not identify his killer.
So, finders, keepers? We can give the money to charity if you like.
That would be great, but by giving Taiwan the Seal it could increase tensions between them and mainland China.
I would rather not start a second Chinese civil war.
How did the Taiwanese even know about the Seal? You hadn't even told me about it yet.
I'd surmise they were amongst Rey's potential buyers and kept track of the investigation into his death.
Trying to bribe you likely clears them of that, since whoever killed him already has the Seal.
Probably one of the other bidders, right? I mean, they're the only ones that knew that Torres had it.
According to his lover, he met with potential bidders face-to-face at one of the many properties that he leases.
If we can find out which one we might be able to find witnesses to the meeting.
Hello, yes, I'd like to make a very, very large catering order, so can I speak to the owner, please? Yes, yes, of course I'll hold.
Catering order? Rey's recent credit card transactions.
BVP Catering.
There's five orders here in the last week.
I think those were fancy snacks for his bidders.
Gonna try and persuade the owner to give me the delivery address.
Persuade, how? Well, everyone has a price.
We've just established that yours is north of $50 million.
Hopefully, BVP Catering will be less.
Rey knew what he was doing.
Vacant building in an industrial neighborhood-- no neighbors, no tenants.
And a private garage entrance on a side street where no one could see his bidders coming or going.
Let's check out the sight lines from over there.
(phone ringing) It's Halcon from Mara Tres.
Looking for an update, probably.
Shouldn't you get that? And tell him what? That he inadvertently put us on the trail of an item that is literally priceless? (ringing stops) That won't complicate things for us, will it? See something? This metal rail's been bent in two places, here, 64 inches apart.
As if someone recently drove over it with a very heavy vehicle.
Even if the metal isn't up to standard, wouldn't that take a tank? Yeah, it would.
Clearance is under seven feet-- there's no way you could get something that big down here.
No.
But not all tanks look like tanks.
HOLMES: It's a custom-built armored car.
13,000 pounds, total weight.
Solid run-flat tires, ballistic glass windows, A10 rated armor.
Total cost: $1.
4 million.
In other words, the finest armored personnel carrier money can buy.
And the preferred conveyance of Wayne Vachs, CEO of Vachs Geological.
Right-wing politics, coal mines, fracking, that Wayne Vachs? I looked into him a couple of years ago when our friends at Everyone were on the brink of civil war.
Amongst the details I uncovered were this car and a lifelong passion for Asian art.
Seems like someone who would bid on the Seal.
So are we going in? I e-mailed his secretary and I asked for an appointment.
She said he was out of the country.
Obviously that's not true, so we ambush him.
Yeah, we ambush him.
So, who's uh, L'nelle Bickerstaff? I saw you typing that name into your phone in the car.
Yesterday Shinwell told me he has a daughter, Chivonne.
They lost touch when he was in prison.
He wants help finding her.
I'm pretty sure she's staying with her aunt, L'nelle Bickerstaff, but I have not been able to locate anyone by that name in the U.
S.
Think that's a wise thing to do? Efforts to help him reenter society are, you know, admirable, but you're just getting to know him.
And all the sentiment aside, you might be a happier, healthier person because you didn't interact with your biological father when you were a child.
The same might be true for Chivonne and her father.
Ambush time.
Mr.
Vachs, we're, uh, consultants with the NYPD.
Like to ask you a few questions.
Mr.
Vachs knows who you are and who you work for.
He's not interested in speaking with you.
Maybe he'd like us to come back with our colleagues from Major Crimes.
If you approach Mr.
Vachs again, he'll have you arrested.
Is that clear? That would be a neat trick, having us arrested.
Actually, it wouldn't be difficult at all.
This is a restraining order.
You're not to come within 50 yards of Mr.
Vachs or any of his properties, effective immediately.
Consider yourselves served.
(engines start) Did you notice that these things were applied for almost two years ago? About the same time we were looking into Vachs' so-called think tank, the Atherton Foundation.
So, what, he had these drawn up and then when he didn't need them, he saved them, just in case? Have to admire the foresight.
Must have had them dug up when I contacted his office this morning.
Suggests we're on the right track, no? Have you found anything? Mostly, I just reconfirmed my previous research.
Still, he's a man with a long history of questionable business deals.
I'm certain we can find something to leverage a meeting.
We should get Everyone to help.
They hate Vachs.
They'd probably dig into him for free.
That would be a good change of pace.
And I think I know which rock they should look under first.
(doorbell rings) Hi.
I'm Kuo Wenling.
But you can call me Wendy.
I have a message from my father.
And your father is? Kuo Lanqing.
He's Minister of Commerce for the People's Republic of China.
You're a long way from home.
I took the subway.
I'm a grad student at Columbia.
Dad says to tell you that the gross domestic product of Taiwan is 530 billion USD.
But the GDP of the People's Republic of China is over $10 trillion.
20 times as big.
So we have more money.
In other words, China's aware of the overtures we received from Taiwan yesterday and whatever they're offering, the People's Republic can beat it.
I don't know.
I guess? I have to go now.
I have papers to grade.
Bye-bye.
Another country heard from.
On the bright side, China is probably the rightful owner of the Seal and 20 times $50 million is $1 billion.
So we've established your price.
(phone ringing) Halcon again.
You know what you should do? Keep screening the scary drug lord, because there's no chance that he's gonna show up on our doorstep next.
Hello? Now, that's a good spot for an execution.
But you came anyway.
I'm making too much progress for you to kill me.
I've identified a likely motive for Rey's murder, and I might even have a suspect.
Who? Not yet.
Given the stakes, I-I need to be certain that I'm right.
I'm sure you understand.
So, if that'll suffice for an update I didn't call you out here to get an update.
I called you out here to give you an update.
Come on.
Who's that? Chele named Jimmy Koslow.
He's the one who's been slinging your bad heroin.
I asked you to identify him, not murder him.
You know how we do.
I held up my end of the bargain.
You hold up yours.
Or risk dismemberment? Him I didn't care about.
He didn't disrespect me.
He wasn't personal.
Don't find out what happens when it's personal.
You got two days.
According to Marcus' search of the late Mr.
Koslow's home, it yielded fentanyl-cut heroin identical to the batch that killed the woman from my meeting.
So, at least there shouldn't be any more deaths.
Attributable to the heroin? That's very hard to say.
Attributable to Mara Tres? Also hard to say.
As is their custom, they made no attempt to obfuscate their involvement in Koslow's death.
The gang member responsible left behind a murder weapon with ample fingerprints on it, so he's, no doubt, already been sent back to Central America, where he's out of our reach.
Well, we can still connect the murder to Halcon.
We could do, if the crime hadn't already been claimed by the Department's Organized Crime Task Force.
They've been, uh, building a case against him for years.
Any chance they'll arrest him before you end up in a Dumpster? Now is probably a good time to mention that you were also included in his original threats.
What? We are, as always, a package deal.
But never fear.
Our heads and limbs shall remain attached to our respective torsos.
Unless, of course, you ignored my instruction to contact Everyone and ask them to look under a certain rock.
They e-mailed a little while ago.
Everything you asked for is right there.
Oh, yeah, this'll do nicely.
(over bullhorn): Matt Driscoll, murdered by Wayne Vachs.
Jason Green, murdered by Wayne Vachs.
Trevor Harris, murdered by Wayne Vachs.
John Killan Jr.
, murdered by Wayne Vachs.
Craig Hawthorne, murdered by Wayne Stop it or I'm calling the police.
You'll note the chalk line on the sidewalk.
It's exactly 50 yards from Vachs Geological.
So unless I cross it, I'm not in violation of your restraining order.
Edward Nance, murdered It doesn't matter where you stand.
You can't slander Mr.
Vachs with false accusations.
Oh, but they're not false.
These are men that your employer admits to killing, 22 miners who died in a mine collapse in Kentucky in 2009.
- That case was settled.
- Yes.
Mr.
Vachs pled guilty to misdemeanor safety violations and he got probation.
But the deaths are still legally his fault.
The deaths are old news.
Tragic but old news.
I'm about to name his co-conspirators, his unindicted co-conspirators, people who turned a blind eye to the safety violations and who helped him get away with a slap on the wrist.
Including several prominent politicians.
I got their names from a hacker collective called Everyone.
Perhaps you've heard of them.
You're bluffing.
I could be persuaded to hold my tongue if Mr.
Vachs agrees to a meeting.
Mr.
Holmes.
Please come in.
Welcome.
Make yourself at home.
So, where's the tall one who accosted me yesterday? I wanted another word with him.
No, we don't need him.
Unless you're planning to kill me.
No, not at the moment.
That was some ultimatum you gave Ms.
Lawler out there.
That's not why I agreed to see you.
This list of yours that you're releasing, it could damage the careers of some very fine public servants, but it won't hurt me one iota.
Well, I find that very hard to believe.
You've spent a lot of time and money cultivating your political pets.
I haven't funded my PACs in a year.
I got tired of politics.
Well, if you no longer have political interests, why did you agree to an audience? I know what you're working on, and I want to help you.
You want to help me find the murderer of a Salvadorian smuggler? Rey Torres? No, I don't care about him.
I want to help you find the Imperial Jade Seal.
I am the legal owner, after all.
How can you be the legal owner of a stolen, smuggled antiquity? Because I won Rey's auction.
Papers show the verified bid.
Letters of provenance.
They show that the Seal has been in the U.
S.
for over a century.
Well before the 2009 Chinese Antiquities Act.
(sniffs) The Seal was smuggled into the country just last week.
Isn't that for the courts to decide? You're certain this is the real Seal.
Well, I wouldn't have paid that much if I wasn't.
But the point is, Rey accepted my bid.
We were about to make the final exchange and he was murdered.
So if you want to find out who killed him and who stole my property, I suggest you start by trying to identify the losing bidders.
How'd you find me? I haven't been L'nelle Bickerstaff in years.
Your name change to Laila Kalifa is public record, and you did not change Chivonne's first name.
I didn't want to put that on her.
She'd been through enough changes.
How much is he paying you? Nothing, actually.
Shinwell's a friend.
I'm doing him a favor.
Funny, you don't look like his kind of friend.
How well do you know him? How well do you know him? I know he's a criminal.
He was a criminal.
And now he's just, what, cured? He's ready to be a father to Chivonne? He lost touch with her.
He wants to know she's okay.
She's better than okay.
She's amazing.
When I think of everything that that girl has managed to overcome, everything she has in front of her, changing my name, that wasn't just religion.
I knew that this day would come.
And I knew that if I ever let Shinwell back into Chivonne's life, I'd be letting in the drugs and the guns and the gangs right along with him.
He's working on himself now.
You sure about that? You said you wanted my permission to let Shinwell know where Chivonne is.
You can't have it.
I understand why you would be reluctant to Look, I'm not reluctant.
I'm afraid.
Men like Shinwell only care about one thing-- themselves.
That's why they steal, that's why they deal drugs, that's why they kill.
Look, Shinwell only thinks he's changed.
I know better, and you should, too.
Chivonne's not the only one he could end up hurting.
C, right? We never actually met.
I'm Joan.
Oh, please don't tell me.
The less I know about S, the better.
"S"? HOLMES: It's my nom de plume when corresponding with C.
We put a premium on our anonymity.
Call me "J.
" C is an appraiser for a major auction house.
I asked her to review the, uh, letters of provenance I received from Wayne Vachs.
They are forgeries, as you suspected.
Likely created by whoever got the Seal smuggled into the country.
As far as I can tell, Mr.
Vachs did win the auction.
So odds are he didn't kill Torres to take the Seal.
What do you make of the opposition research regarding the other potential buyers? You say that you've already ruled out China and Taiwan? Some of the parties on this list certainly would buy an artifact of dubious provenance, but I I have a hard time imagining any of them commissioning assassins.
That being said, there is a significant gap here on this.
This notation: Museums.
Question mark.
No detail.
The Seal would be a big draw for the right museum.
I was thinking of the Densham Institute.
Do you know it? The Densham Institute was founded a hundred years ago by the Densham brothers.
They made their fortune in textiles.
Last year, one of the heirs, David Densham, was appointed curator in chief.
He wants to make the museum a more fitting monument to his family name.
He is looking for signature works to enhance the collection.
And you think that might include the Jade Seal? Two months ago, I tried to contact David about a Tang landscape painting.
His assistant told me he was in Asia with no access to the Internet or phone service.
When he returned a few weeks later, he told me that he had been on an acquisition trip, but he wouldn't tell me where.
So, not many places in Asia where you can be cut off completely from the outside world and still go shopping for museum-worthy art.
C: I can only think of one.
North Korea.
Well, the North Koreans smuggled the Seal into the United States.
If they were delivering it to Densham, and it got stolen by Rey Torres Torres may have invited Densham to bid on the Seal without realizing that Densham was the one he took it from in the first place.
David perhaps did not want to bid on a priceless artifact twice.
So according to Marcus, David Densham has a checkered past.
Domestic violence, drunken brawls.
So he doesn't just have the resources to be our killer.
He has the temperament.
(garbled radio transmission) WATSON: Did you call Marcus to join us? I did not.
Housekeeper found him a couple hours ago.
Blow to the head.
We're looking into his ex.
Well, unless she's over six foot tall and incredibly strong, I wouldn't bother.
That being said, I think I can identify the murder weapon.
DETECTIVE: So can I.
CSU bagged it 20 minutes ago.
The killer left it? This is what was used to cave David Densham's skull in? WATSON: The evidence receipt says it's a "jade block, four inches square, topped by intertwined dragons.
" HOLMES: But it is not, as stated, a paperweight.
It is, in all likelihood, the one, the only, the original Imperial Jade Seal of China.
Tell me you got permission to get ink on that thing.
We're sending the prints to experts to compare against historical documents stamped by the real Seal.
They'll try to confirm that this is the original, and not a forgery.
Well, I thought you should know I talked to the detectives working the Densham case.
They're moving off of his ex.
Now they figure Densham had Rey Torres killed to get that thing back, then Mara Tres killed Densham out of revenge.
All very neat and tidy, and all completely wrong.
Yeah, I don't buy it, either.
For one thing, Densham died fast.
Mara Tres would have made him suffer.
Plus, the Seal was wiped clean.
Mara Tres hit men leave their prints.
Also, the angle of the killing blow suggests that Densham was killed by a tall, left-handed person, at least six foot, two.
You said that whoever killed Rey Torres was tall and left-handed, as well.
Same guy? Stands to reason.
But why would anyone kill Rey to get the Seal and then leave it at the scene of Densham's murder? What do you think will happen to the Seal when the NYPD no longer has it in evidence? Turn it over to the Feds, I guess.
And then where would it go? China, right? That's the law.
Any Chinese artifact brought into the U.
S.
after 2009 gets returned to China.
We can safely assume the Chinese didn't kill Densham.
If they had, they would not have left the Seal behind.
They would have put it in a diplomatic pouch, sent it home.
So someone else wanted the Chinese to get it, but not in a way that could be traced back.
Why? There's a saying in Chinese, "Wanbi guizhao.
" "Return the jade intact to Zhao.
" It means to give something back to its rightful owner.
It's based on a story where the Seal was stolen, and a hero brings it home unharmed.
As a reward, he's made prime minister.
HOLMES: So who might expect a reward for returning the Jade Seal to China? GREGSON: Hey.
There's someone here to see you.
WATSON: Tell me you don't think she's the one behind all this.
To the best of my knowledge, she doesn't have a tall, left-handed killer in her employ, but I know someone who does.
I think if I threaten to delay the Seal's return to China, her father will confirm my suspicions.
Wendy! Need you to send a message for me.
(door opens) Mr.
Holmes, nobody told me you were here.
Yeah, probably because no one saw me enter the premises.
That new security team you've got-- not as sharp as their predecessors.
Why are you showing me pictures of body parts? All in good time.
First, I want you to know that I know you're nearly bankrupt.
It's the real reason you stopped paying your political cronies.
You can't afford them anymore.
Why? Because in addition to killing 22 men, your mine collapse triggered a landslide, which polluted a large swath of Kentucky watershed.
And you're legally responsible for the clean-up.
The EPA's about to bill you for hundreds of millions of dollars.
A vast deposit of rare earth minerals was recently discovered in Western China.
Whoever secures that development contract is gonna make billions.
I have it on very good authority that thanks to your help with the recent unspecified issue, the Chinese are gonna award that contract to you.
Well, that's a legitimate business deal.
The other day I asked you about your head of security.
Tall fellow.
Left-handed.
I could tell by the placement of his holster.
Led a team of six.
Flight records indicate that your private jet left for Morocco with six passengers on board just hours after David Densham's bludgeoning.
Nice place, Morocco.
Low cost of living, no U.
S.
extradition treaty.
So what are you suggesting-- that I had Rey Torres killed so I could get the Seal and trade it with the Chinese for the mineral deal? I already told you that I won the auction.
Ah.
Except you couldn't pay for your winning bid, could you? So instead, you had your men kill Rey Torres and take it.
Say you're right.
Why didn't I get the Seal and just give it to the Chinese and be done with it? Because before you could agree terms with them, I began to suspect you.
If the police found the Seal in your possession, all would be lost, so you had your men kill David Densham and leave it with him.
The physical return of the Seal is no longer your problem, 'cause the U.
S.
government is going to do it for you.
But the Chinese-- they'll still know who to thank.
I suppose you can prove all of this? I can prove none of it.
Those limbs once added up to a man named Jimmy Koslow.
He ran afoul of a street gang-- Mara Tres.
They're clients of mine.
They're not concerned with courts of law.
They much prefer revenge.
Brutal revenge.
Rey Torres was their favorite smuggler, and now he's dead, thanks to you.
All I need to do is share my suspicions with my clients, and you're going to be the next one going to pieces.
You wouldn't.
Confess.
If you're arrested, tried and convicted, I might be able to persuade them that justice has been done.
If Jimmy Koslow was offered the same opportunity, I think he'd have taken it.
Don't you? MAN: It's good, though.
That's it.
Quick feet.
Quick feet.
WATSON: Hey.
I got your text.
Thanks for coming.
Look, if you're hoping for an update on Chivonne I don't need an update.
Found her on my own.
She's a goalie.
(indistinct shouting) MAN: Yeah.
Yeah, right there.
She's good.
From what I hear, she good at a lot of things.
Sports, school.
How'd you find her? You wasn't the first person I asked for help.
As soon as I got out of Great Meadow, I put out feelers, and one finally panned out.
MAN: Okay, you're up.
MAN: There you go.
Look, before you talk to her, I think I'm not going to talk to her.
I want to.
I want to like you wouldn't believe.
It's not the time.
I want her in my life, I have to earn it.
I'm dark inside (door closes, device beeping) WATSON: Looking for bugs? Stud, actually.
You'll be happy to hear that Vachs confessed to ordering the murders of David Densham, Rey Torres and the three Mara Tres pistoleros.
I am happy.
(drill whirring) Was Halcon happy? Not at first, but eventually he agreed to keep his distance from us.
So our lives can return to normal.
Wanbi guizhao, as they say.
Everything back in its rightful place, all in one piece.
I'm floating again Weightless Beneath your paper moon @elderman