Blue Bloods s05e14 Episode Script
The Poor Door
This is the Conway Residences.
Where's the crime scene? Central said to use the auxiliary entrance.
- You want the door next door.
- What's wrong with this door? This must be an 80-20.
We're going to the poor door.
The what? Real-estate developer wants to grease the wheels to get a luxury high-rise built, he's gotta make 20 percent of the units affordable housing.
Oh, so this is the door the affordable people use.
- Yep.
The poor door.
- Got it.
After you.
- You the first on the scene? - Yeah.
Speak to the neighbors? Hear anything? Not that they're saying.
The victim didn't show up to work, wasn't answering his phone, so his mom came by and found him.
She had a key.
That's her down there.
Thank you.
You better talk to her.
Ma'am, I'm Detective Baez.
I'm very sorry for your loss.
Deputy Commissioner Moore is on his way up, sir.
- Did he say what he wanted? - Does he ever? I had a heads-up from Teddy Nelson at the Daily News.
They're gonna run this tomorrow on the cover.
Thank you, Baker.
- Nice car.
- And that nice car is a Ferrari with a Fraternal Order of Detectives plate and an N.
Y.
P.
D.
Placard on the dash.
Whose car is it? It's registered to a veteran narcotics detective, Louis Weems.
This thing's gotta be three years of a detective's salary before taxes.
Almost to the dollar.
And the press is gonna do the same math.
A narcotics cop who routinely, in the course of his duties, seizes piles of drugs and cash.
- Is he known to IA? - No.
- Record's spotless.
- Does his family have money? Single.
Parents own a dry cleaners in St.
Albans.
Okay.
But we are going to assume there is a legitimate explanation we haven't thought of right off the bat.
Okay, but there's another thing.
He's a former partner and drinking buddy of Lieutenant Gormley's, who wants to quarterback whatever digging we do from here.
- Because? - Because he says Weems is one of the good guys who's gonna get burned at the stake just for being savvy.
Savvy, huh? All right, what would you rather do: Lick the tiles on the Lincoln Tunnel heh, or go skinny-dipping in the Gowanus Canal? You're sick, you know that? - You have to answer the question.
- I don't have to answer the question.
We have a confirmed 10-13 from the officer, front of 3491 Lexington.
Units responding? Central, 12 David.
Show us responding.
Here, take this.
Get down.
Get down.
- Let's go.
Let's go.
- Okay.
Let's go.
Let's go.
- Sproles, you hit? - I'm fine.
Go get them.
Hey, stay down.
Stay down.
Keep your hands where I can see them.
- Where's the gun? - I don't got one.
Central, be advised, perp fled in a late model - Where's the gun? - I don't got one.
- What? - I took a bullet.
I need some help.
You need help? Thirty seconds ago, you were trying to kill us.
- And now you need help? - I didn't shoot.
- I don't have a gun.
- Hey, shut up.
You cover him, I'll cuff him.
Roll over.
- Shooter got away.
- Yeah? We got the booby prize.
I knew him to say hello to.
He came and introduced himself after he won the lottery.
- What do you mean, won the lottery? - Not like you're thinking.
To get in this side, they have a lottery.
Like 9,000 applications for 58 spots.
He's paying like 600 for this apartment and market value's 2, 3 grand.
I think you mean he paid 600 for it.
Yeah, paid.
Paid, yeah.
Come on.
We're gonna need security surveillance video, all right? - Can you help us? - Yeah, management company.
I'll give you the guy.
Ever see any suspicious-looking types coming in and out of that apartment? - Any criminal activity? - No.
I mean, not him.
He's a school teacher.
He taught up in the Bronx, fourth grade or something.
Super healthy guy too.
He'd go for a run in the morning, drink green juice, like that.
In fact, he got caught using the gym here.
What do you mean, he got caught? Well, the gym is off-limits to the poor-door side, and he got into it with a guy a couple of weeks ago.
For using the gym? Yeah.
The roof deck, pool, gym, they are all for the retail side only.
The guy got all up in Diego's face.
- This guy, he have a name? - Yeah.
Mr.
Carstairs, 22B.
- Got a minute? - Of course, boss.
I just got a call from the mayor about Detective Weems.
About the car thing? He feels that when this hits the paper, he will be vulnerable on his Tale of Two Cities reelection platform.
This isn't A Tale of Two Cities, boss.
This is more like one of those Horatio Alger stories.
How's that? Louis Weems is one of those guys who would've succeeded no matter what field he went into.
I mean, he sees value where other people miss it.
Guy could be an entrepreneur.
Guy drives a Ferrari on a detective's salary.
He must be an entrepreneur in some sense.
Boss, I've known Louis Weems since I came on the job.
We were partners together when I worked Narcotics.
He's the godfather to my son Brendan.
So your vision could be cloudy where Louis Weems is concerned? - No, I looked under all the rocks.
- The ones he showed you? Even his personnel file, including everything IA poked around in.
I put it all in a 49 for you.
Uh Last few years, he made 3-, 400K.
The extra income coming from real-estate transactions in Brooklyn North.
It's on the up-and-up.
I swear, boss.
They call him Lightning Louie because he's a real savvy kind of guy, that's all.
When this hits the papers tomorrow, Sid, we're going to be the punch line of the day.
All due respect, sir, that's not his fault.
But I hope you're clear on what your job is in this.
Sir? You're part of my command staff now.
There's no room for looking out for your buddy.
Your job is to look out for me.
Yeah, I know that, sir.
You still want to quarterback this? Yeah.
Yeah.
Yes, sir.
- I don't gotta tell you nothing.
- Listen, calm down.
Why don't you make yourself useful, pour me a glass of water? Come on.
Hey.
Useless.
- Any leads on the shooter? - Car got ditched by Chelsea Piers.
CSU is going over it right now as we speak, but five will get you ten, it was reported stolen.
- He's giving up nothing? - A lot of attitude, that's it.
Keep your ears open.
He lets anything slip, let me know.
Could I get a little help in here, please? I can't reach my water.
Let's get this guy to give us the shooter.
Easier said than done.
Good cop, bad cop? How about bad cop, worse cop? - What's the problem? - That other cop moved my table.
I can't reach my water.
Please.
Can you reach it now? - Come on.
Just - What about? - Can you? - Oh, can you reach it now? Oh, come on.
Again with the games? Please.
Ugh.
You know what? I'll just call the nurse.
- With this? - Yeah What, seriously? Go be worse cop.
You know how we feel about you? Yeah.
Let me guess, not real hot.
- You shoot a cop, you shoot a brother.
- I didn't shoot that cop.
Somebody else did.
But I'm sorry, all right? Please, come on, I got cotton mouth.
Thank you.
Is that the new issue? Can I see it when you're done? I think that's the guy.
- Martin Carstairs? - Yes? Detective Reagan, this is Detective Baez.
- We need to ask you a few questions.
- Sure.
Saw this coming.
Here's my card.
You're a lawyer, Mr.
Carstairs? This is about the little shoving match with the dead Puerto Rican kid? Why don't you tell us about your little shoving match with the dead Puerto Rican kid? What am I supposed to say? - Puerto Rican American? - It's a tone thing.
Okay, look, just tell us what happened, all right? I'm in the fitness center and this Puerto This gentleman, he's in there, like, every day.
I know he lives behind the poor door, so I call him on it, says he's a guest.
- A guest? - His girlfriend gave him a swipe card.
- White girl from the penthouse.
- A white girl? - Yeah, so? - You wouldn't have said: "White girl" if it was a white guy.
- What? - Hey.
Just keep going.
What happened next? Nothing.
A couple of shoves, I called the management company, he never showed up again.
Where were you the night before last? Seriously? - I was out with a white girl.
All night.
- All right.
Great, we're gonna need to speak to this white girl.
You know, talking wasn't her strong suit.
- We'll be in touch.
- Adios.
Yeah, adios yourself.
Ow! - What the hell? - You asked for it.
What a jerk.
- All right, then just give it back.
- No, come on, come on.
- What have you got? - A bullet in the gut.
You know that.
No, I mean, car.
- Jeez.
- Why do you think I got a car? Anybody over 16 who reads that has either got one or is buying or selling.
- Even in Mineola.
- I'm from Uniondale.
Even worse.
I had a '65 Goat.
What have you got? Had a '71 Chevelle SS.
- Three ninety-six? - Four fifty-four.
Tremec transmission, Hooker Headers, roller cam.
- Nice.
- Yeah.
- So why did you sell the Goat? - I didn't.
Idiot friend of mine wrapped it around a pole on the Southern State doing 110.
- Did he die? - Broke an arm.
Guy gets away with everything.
Same guy who left you high and dry? Some friend.
Yeah.
Like I said, he's an idiot.
That GTO had original drum brakes on it, huh? Yeah, that was the thing.
That beast could move, but it took forever to stop.
Well, those brakes suck.
Cantwell had a '65 GTO that got into a big wreck on the Southern State Parkway about a year ago April.
Driver in that accident report is likely our shooter.
Yeah.
Okay, will do.
Thank you.
I can't believe he gave you the shooter.
Yeah, not on purpose.
Guy's a real box of rocks.
You don't got to pass a test to become a criminal.
- The girl from the penthouse? - Yeah, Rada Radchenko.
Oh, she's a real looker.
This is her father.
He owns the penthouse.
Ivan Radchenko.
What do we know about him? Money comes from Russian oil and gas.
He's former KGB.
Those KGB guys made off with big money, throwing elbows all the way.
Well, he's certainly trying to make a legit life here.
On the board of the ballet, honoree at bigtime charity benefits.
High society stuff.
Yeah, a real fancy-pants.
And there's the happy couple.
So Diego and Rada start dating, KGB dad doesn't like it.
You know, kind of like Romeo and Juliet.
As I remember from high school English, that didn't work out too well for them.
Is that Radchenko with the mother? Yep.
They sure don't seem like the Capulets and Montagues.
The who? The two families from Romeo and Juliet that hated each other.
Yeah, this ain't that story.
Reagan.
You're kidding me.
How much? Unbelievable.
Yeah, thanks.
CSU found a half a key of coke in Diego's closet.
Well, that definitely didn't happen in Romeo and Juliet.
Well, like I said, this is a different story.
- Hey, Reagan.
- Detective.
Nassau County P.
D.
Came up with a name on the possible shooter.
Theo Salzer.
- Good work.
- They gonna talk to him? Yeah, we're sitting on his apartment but I don't think he's coming home any time soon.
He's got two other warrants out on him.
Both for armed robbery.
They gonna offer Cantwell a deal to cooperate? No.
Cop got shot.
No discounts for nobody.
See if you can squeeze another nugget out of your boy.
He's not my boy.
- Ten-hut.
- As you were.
Boss, this is Detective Weems.
Commissioner, this is my privilege.
This is my union delegate, Detective Tim Cafferty.
I assure you, this is meant to be an informal discussion.
- Please.
- Understood.
I wanted to come stag, but, you know, the union insisted, so - Anyway, here we are.
- And here this is.
Yeah, I saw that.
And it makes you feel? Like it must be a slow news day.
There's no infraction here, legal or departmental.
I understand you've been speculating in real estate.
Yeah, well, I've been working Brooklyn North Narcotics now for, like, 12 years.
And thanks to a lot of hard work from all our guys, you know, we're bringing back a hellhole.
Block by block.
So, yeah, you know, I bought a house, I made some money.
After I flipped it, I bought another house, kind of like that.
And as a narcotics detective, you're in a unique position to see a change in the neighborhood.
Yeah, well, I mean, you clean out a crack house, that block just got better.
You can see the value.
You ever buy a crack house, then clean it out? No, no, that would be against the law.
You clean it out, then buy it, that's legal.
What's the timing on that? For instance, raid a building on Tuesday, put in an offer on Wednesday? Well, all business is timing.
So is all insider trading.
Internal Affairs already looked into this, it's all legit.
I know, I know, and I understand.
Louis, say you're a rookie, and you find out that a detective in your precinct is driving around in an expensive car and buying up real estate.
What would you think? And he's legit? Not really my point.
I'd make it my business to buy that detective a drink and get to know everything about him.
Thanks for coming up.
Get in touch with Carla Brooks at the Department of Buildings, use my name, and get me everything they have on the detective's activities, then send it over to ADA Reagan.
- May I ask why? - Do you need to ask why? Sir, it's been gone over.
I mean, why are you going after a guy for being savvy? There's that word again.
Why are you pushing back, lieutenant? - I'm not.
I'm just - Standing up for a stand-up guy.
- You put it that way, well, yeah.
- Then don't.
That is not your job in this.
And if you can't do your job in this because of your friendship with Weems, say so right now.
Well, what is my job in this? Something is not proper simply because it is permissible, nor is it ethical because it is legal.
Cops have to be held to a higher standard.
And if there's a way to stop this, to thwart him, I wanna know about it.
Any more questions? - No, sir.
- Carla Brooks, use my name.
Loop in ADA Reagan.
- Yes, sir.
- That's all.
They'll be right with you.
Wow, fancy.
Yeah.
M-O-N-E-Y fancy.
Uh - Ivan Radchenko.
- Detective Reagan.
- Detective Baez.
- Welcome.
She's very fragile right now.
We understand.
You were in law enforcement yourself, is that right, Mr.
Radchenko? Yes, I was.
Now you'll ask me if I have any theory about who did this terrible thing? Do you? Look, as a father to a beautiful young woman, I was skeptical about this man.
Yes, naturally.
Over the time I came to know him, he was a good man.
He was He was a striver.
He was a hard worker.
I don't know why anyone would do this.
Rada? Detective Reagan.
I apologize.
- Baez.
- Right.
- Hello.
- Hi, Rada.
You've had a couple of days to think about what you knew of Diego.
Did you? Yes, of course.
Anything you can point us towards, someone he might have had a conflict with? Even the smallest thing could be helpful.
No.
He just wanted to bring light to the world, to the kids he taught, to everything.
And how about the drugs? Cocaine.
Was that how he wanted to bring light to the world? What are you talking about? Cocaine that we found in his closet.
- Cocaine? - Oh, yeah.
A whole lot of it.
That's not true.
We have no reason to lie to you.
Rada, is there something you're hiding from me? No, I know him No.
I know everything about him.
Was Diego having any trouble with money, student loans? - Did he talk about anything like that? - No.
He would never go near drugs.
He He was a schoolteacher.
Right.
So maybe you just went down to his apartment and did some cocaine with your drug-dealing boyfriend? Please.
- I can't listen to this.
- Rada.
Rada.
Rada.
Rada.
Hey, can you do me a solid and take these cuffs off so I can cut this meat here? Please? Where's Theo Salzer? More like, who's Theo Salzer? The guy who wrecked your GTO with a 1.
2 blood-alcohol level and 40 pounds of stolen shell steaks in the trunk.
That Theo Salzer.
Yeah.
I get it.
- Where is he? - I don't know.
- Where is he? - Don't wanna talk about that.
You don't wanna talk about it? What do you wanna talk about? You wanna talk about how the cop downstairs took a bullet from him? - I wanna eat.
- You wanna talk about how it shattered his elbow? So he'll never regain full use of his arm? - He can never come back on the job.
- Not my problem, bro.
- I'm not your bro.
- Yeah, whatever, man.
"Whatever, man.
" Yeah, you just wanna eat, right? Now you're catching on.
Yeah.
I'll help you eat.
I help you eat! - Help! - Want me to help you eat? - Reagan! - Where's Theo Salzer? - Help! - Where's Salzer? - Reagan! - Police brutality! - Where's Salzer? - Reagan.
Reagan, enough.
Enough.
Get out.
Miss Parsons? Yes? Lieutenant Gormley, N.
Y.
P.
D.
Look, I told y'all everything I know.
It was my cousin's boyfriend.
He was not supposed to be in there.
I did not give him a key and I didn't have anything to do with drugs.
Miss Parsons, I'm not here to investigate the drugs.
I'm here to find out if you were wrongly evicted from your home.
Hell, yes, I was.
Can you tell me what happened? I had to go to North Carolina for a funeral.
My cousin Shania came to stay with the girls.
Shania, she hooked up with this guy, Roscoe, from downstairs.
And she's always ge Anyway, the police raid Roscoe's apartment.
He takes the fire escape up to my place with a bag full of drugs.
Police come up, arrest Shania and Roscoe and put my kids in Child Services.
And you came back Somebody changed the locks and me and the girls wind up in this shelter.
And now they tell me the building got sold.
Look, Miss Parsons, I'm sorry about all this.
I have a lawyer who can help you.
Assistant District Attorney Erin Reagan.
Here's her card.
All right? She's expecting a call from you, okay? Okay.
Thank you.
You're welcome.
We can speak English, detective.
Okay, Miss Torres.
Listen, I know you don't believe Diego had anything to do with drugs, but the fact remains we did find drugs in the apartment.
I'm gonna have to question you about that, okay? I understand.
Was Diego in any kind of money trouble that you knew about? No.
And he would have told me if he was.
Do you think he felt inadequate dating such a rich girl? Like maybe he needed to prove himself by making big money? I don't think so.
Do you have any idea why there would be cocaine in the apartment? I don't.
- But I know he wasn't selling drugs.
- How? What do drug dealers want? They want money, right? Yeah.
Ivan offered my son $200,000 to go away, to leave his daughter alone.
He did? Diego told you that? Yes.
You think Ivan wanted Diego out of the way? Yes.
They say money changes everything.
But it couldn't change my son.
He was a good man.
Can I offer you anything? Yeah, how about Diego's killer? That I don't have, as you know.
Manuela said you offered Diego money to stay away from Rada, is that right? Absolutely true.
You must have really wanted him out of the picture.
If he'd taken the money, I would have.
Okay, tell us what you mean.
Of course, I tested Diego.
Of course.
For a schoolteacher, this is a lot of money, for me, it's an efficient way to protect my daughter from the dogs.
That's all.
We have to ask, Mr.
Radchenko, where were you Wednesday night? I was in Brooklyn to see the Nets play.
If you need the proof, I was with Steve Warren, Brooklyn borough president.
You can call him.
You can look at the television coverage.
We were right behind the visitor bench.
Here's Radchenko leaving the lobby at 6:05.
Go back over that.
Okay.
Did you see that? He nodded at the other guy.
Let me find a better angle on him.
Let's try that one.
Was that a nod? That was definitely a nod.
What are you thinking? You want some? Hm-mm.
It's really refreshing.
It's got, like, negative calories.
Great mouth feel.
Mouth feel? It's a real thing.
They talk about it on cooking shows.
Hey, what's going on? The wound's infected.
He's developed sepsis.
- What does that mean? - Means we hope the antibiotics work.
But if I were him, I wouldn't be taking out any magazine subscriptions.
The DA's office determined Miss Parsons has rights to tenancy.
And where's that leave Weems? Well, he can't flip it with her still in residence, so he's settling.
- Happily? - I wouldn't characterize it as that.
- Begrudgingly, then? - Three hundred grand, so, yeah.
And what are you gonna do to him next? - To who? - Weems.
I wasn't gonna do anything.
You're not getting this, are you? Boss? This kind of thing, you see it through, they talk about it.
How Sid Gormley got wind that an old pal was using his shield to game the system.
And how Sid Gormley made an example out of him.
I don't wanna do this.
He's a friend.
- Yeah, you wanna do this.
- Why? It's how you make your bones in this building.
You set standards.
And not just for your ride-along or your rookie tail.
You set standards for all 35,000 of them.
Any suggestions? If I were you, and right now, I am, I'd figure I could come up with something on my own.
All right, here we go.
Oleg Kaus.
Known ties to the Russian mob, criminal possession of a weapon, assault, assault with a deadly weapon.
This guy runs his daughter's life like it's a KGB operation.
She falls in love with a kid from the wrong side of the building, he tries to buy him off, it doesn't work, so he makes like it was just a test The actions of a concerned parent.
Thank you.
But now he really has to do something.
So he hires an assassin, creates an alibi Right.
Plants the drugs in Diego's closet, throwing off the investigation and discrediting Diego at the same time.
Too sad to be true? A human tragedy.
- Hey.
- My blood pressure's in the toilet.
They said I could die here.
- We all gotta die somewhere.
- Thanks.
What do you expect from me, a get-well card? Let me make a phone call.
No, you had your call.
Oh, come on, I gotta call my mother.
All right, tell you what I'm not gonna give you Salzer.
Just let me call my mother.
You dial, but I talk first, all right? Verify that it's her.
Says it's out of service.
You sure the number's right? Yeah.
I don't know.
I haven't talked to her in years.
Maybe she moved again.
Got other family, anybody else that might know where she is? Nope.
Nobody.
You know, just in case, could you write something down for me, please? To my mom? In case she comes for the remains.
Okay, shoot.
No, I'm not saying that I feel sorry for him.
He's got a record, goes back to his teens.
- His partner shot a cop.
- I know that So end of story.
Is this going somewhere? - Let me finish.
- Come on, guys.
- Okay, so you don't feel bad, but - Mom.
Haven't you prosecuted someone you thought to yourself: "How much more punishment can one person take?" - What do you mean? - Everyone has a choice.
Free will.
Yeah, but some people, you look at them, you think, there but for the grace of God go I.
But this guy, it's like God's got it out for him and everyone else should just stay back 500 feet.
- Well, is there anything you can do? - I don't know.
I was the arresting officer in an incident where a cop got wounded.
I don't think it's my job to make his life easier.
Well, if you could, say, show some act of kindness, God would follow it up by dropping a piano on his head anyway, - like that? - Exactly.
- Yes.
- We've all had those.
When I was working patrol, we had a B and E out in Rego Park.
Homeowner hears a noise downstairs, calls it in.
I come in through the kitchen and I find the guy in the living room unhooking the TV.
But he is blind drunk and he can barely stand up.
- So? - So the 911 call came in from the mom.
He'd broken into his own parents' house.
- Seriously? - Yeah.
What an idiot.
So, what happened to him? Mom and Dad pressed charges.
I think he did 18 months for it.
Pass the potatoes, please.
- Got a minute? - Shoot.
Sergeant Gormley.
- You mean Lieutenant Gormley? - Yes.
- You are the one who promoted him.
- I know that.
It's kind of my question.
Do you think he has what this takes? - In terms of? - Can he leave the need to be liked down in the lobby when he comes to work up here? - I think so.
- You do? Half his "just one of the guys" act is an act.
He's smart.
And more ambitious for himself than he wants to let on.
I could be wrong.
Have you ever said that and actually meant it? No.
Hey.
It's over.
Is that what they said? Pretty much.
You wanna talk to anyone? You wanna see anyone? - I'll break a rule.
I'll get them up here.
- I got no one.
- A priest or a reverend? - No.
They never did nothing for me.
Okay.
If there's a hell, I bet I go.
You can still ask for forgiveness.
No, I think it's a little late for that.
But I can do this.
Salzer's at his cousin Tommy He's at his cousin Tommy's place.
New Hyde Park.
Swear on my own grave.
He's the one that shot the cop.
Wanna write that down for me? Sign it? Yeah.
You're doing good, Wally.
Yeah.
Says you.
Diego invited me to his class one time.
He taught the fourth grade in the Bronx, poor school.
Very chaotic in the hallways.
But these children, they listened to him.
He was tough and gentle.
And funny.
- Everybody loved him.
- Including you.
Especially me.
But not your father.
Not at first.
He's protective.
But he grew to like Diego.
He offered Diego money to stay away from you.
A lot of money.
Did you know about that? He did that with other boyfriends too.
- He did? - I told you.
He's very protective.
Rada, honey, I'm really trying to understand what happened here.
And I agree with you.
I don't believe Diego was mixed up with drugs.
I think they were planted.
But who would do that? I don't know.
Do you recognize this man? Oleg Kaus.
He worked for my father back in Moscow.
Why are you showing me this? This was taken in the lobby of your building the day Diego was murdered.
No.
My father? We can't prove it.
But you can believe it.
Rada, I'm so sorry.
I have to leave now.
No, please stay.
No.
Eddie.
Wally, there's someone here to see you.
Mom? Hello, Wallace.
Mom.
How'd she get into Diego's apartment? - He gave her a key.
- Of course he did.
Live with yourself.
I asked the building inspector to look for violations in all of Weems' buildings.
- Major? - Major enough to kill the deals.
You think he's underwater? Back of the napkin figures, drowning.
Just don't ask me to do anything else to the guy.
You think it's overkill? I don't question your command.
- I didn't ask that.
- Lou.
Sit down.
- What are you doing up here? - Sid, I thought everything was on the up-and-up.
No, you didn't, Louis.
Don't insult us.
Sid tells me you're a savvy guy.
Don't make a liar out of him.
Okay.
All right, I cut some corners.
You're getting warmer.
I just thought that I'd ask an old friend to save my job.
Every time I turn the corner, I'm putting out another fire.
It was all on the up-and-up, Louis.
I can't lose my job.
Louis, that's not up to me.
Actually, it is.
It is? In this instant.
Louis, you can keep your job.
But one misstep, one cut corner, and you're gonna be in the trial room fighting for that job! Thank you.
Don't thank me.
Thank him.
Where's the crime scene? Central said to use the auxiliary entrance.
- You want the door next door.
- What's wrong with this door? This must be an 80-20.
We're going to the poor door.
The what? Real-estate developer wants to grease the wheels to get a luxury high-rise built, he's gotta make 20 percent of the units affordable housing.
Oh, so this is the door the affordable people use.
- Yep.
The poor door.
- Got it.
After you.
- You the first on the scene? - Yeah.
Speak to the neighbors? Hear anything? Not that they're saying.
The victim didn't show up to work, wasn't answering his phone, so his mom came by and found him.
She had a key.
That's her down there.
Thank you.
You better talk to her.
Ma'am, I'm Detective Baez.
I'm very sorry for your loss.
Deputy Commissioner Moore is on his way up, sir.
- Did he say what he wanted? - Does he ever? I had a heads-up from Teddy Nelson at the Daily News.
They're gonna run this tomorrow on the cover.
Thank you, Baker.
- Nice car.
- And that nice car is a Ferrari with a Fraternal Order of Detectives plate and an N.
Y.
P.
D.
Placard on the dash.
Whose car is it? It's registered to a veteran narcotics detective, Louis Weems.
This thing's gotta be three years of a detective's salary before taxes.
Almost to the dollar.
And the press is gonna do the same math.
A narcotics cop who routinely, in the course of his duties, seizes piles of drugs and cash.
- Is he known to IA? - No.
- Record's spotless.
- Does his family have money? Single.
Parents own a dry cleaners in St.
Albans.
Okay.
But we are going to assume there is a legitimate explanation we haven't thought of right off the bat.
Okay, but there's another thing.
He's a former partner and drinking buddy of Lieutenant Gormley's, who wants to quarterback whatever digging we do from here.
- Because? - Because he says Weems is one of the good guys who's gonna get burned at the stake just for being savvy.
Savvy, huh? All right, what would you rather do: Lick the tiles on the Lincoln Tunnel heh, or go skinny-dipping in the Gowanus Canal? You're sick, you know that? - You have to answer the question.
- I don't have to answer the question.
We have a confirmed 10-13 from the officer, front of 3491 Lexington.
Units responding? Central, 12 David.
Show us responding.
Here, take this.
Get down.
Get down.
- Let's go.
Let's go.
- Okay.
Let's go.
Let's go.
- Sproles, you hit? - I'm fine.
Go get them.
Hey, stay down.
Stay down.
Keep your hands where I can see them.
- Where's the gun? - I don't got one.
Central, be advised, perp fled in a late model - Where's the gun? - I don't got one.
- What? - I took a bullet.
I need some help.
You need help? Thirty seconds ago, you were trying to kill us.
- And now you need help? - I didn't shoot.
- I don't have a gun.
- Hey, shut up.
You cover him, I'll cuff him.
Roll over.
- Shooter got away.
- Yeah? We got the booby prize.
I knew him to say hello to.
He came and introduced himself after he won the lottery.
- What do you mean, won the lottery? - Not like you're thinking.
To get in this side, they have a lottery.
Like 9,000 applications for 58 spots.
He's paying like 600 for this apartment and market value's 2, 3 grand.
I think you mean he paid 600 for it.
Yeah, paid.
Paid, yeah.
Come on.
We're gonna need security surveillance video, all right? - Can you help us? - Yeah, management company.
I'll give you the guy.
Ever see any suspicious-looking types coming in and out of that apartment? - Any criminal activity? - No.
I mean, not him.
He's a school teacher.
He taught up in the Bronx, fourth grade or something.
Super healthy guy too.
He'd go for a run in the morning, drink green juice, like that.
In fact, he got caught using the gym here.
What do you mean, he got caught? Well, the gym is off-limits to the poor-door side, and he got into it with a guy a couple of weeks ago.
For using the gym? Yeah.
The roof deck, pool, gym, they are all for the retail side only.
The guy got all up in Diego's face.
- This guy, he have a name? - Yeah.
Mr.
Carstairs, 22B.
- Got a minute? - Of course, boss.
I just got a call from the mayor about Detective Weems.
About the car thing? He feels that when this hits the paper, he will be vulnerable on his Tale of Two Cities reelection platform.
This isn't A Tale of Two Cities, boss.
This is more like one of those Horatio Alger stories.
How's that? Louis Weems is one of those guys who would've succeeded no matter what field he went into.
I mean, he sees value where other people miss it.
Guy could be an entrepreneur.
Guy drives a Ferrari on a detective's salary.
He must be an entrepreneur in some sense.
Boss, I've known Louis Weems since I came on the job.
We were partners together when I worked Narcotics.
He's the godfather to my son Brendan.
So your vision could be cloudy where Louis Weems is concerned? - No, I looked under all the rocks.
- The ones he showed you? Even his personnel file, including everything IA poked around in.
I put it all in a 49 for you.
Uh Last few years, he made 3-, 400K.
The extra income coming from real-estate transactions in Brooklyn North.
It's on the up-and-up.
I swear, boss.
They call him Lightning Louie because he's a real savvy kind of guy, that's all.
When this hits the papers tomorrow, Sid, we're going to be the punch line of the day.
All due respect, sir, that's not his fault.
But I hope you're clear on what your job is in this.
Sir? You're part of my command staff now.
There's no room for looking out for your buddy.
Your job is to look out for me.
Yeah, I know that, sir.
You still want to quarterback this? Yeah.
Yeah.
Yes, sir.
- I don't gotta tell you nothing.
- Listen, calm down.
Why don't you make yourself useful, pour me a glass of water? Come on.
Hey.
Useless.
- Any leads on the shooter? - Car got ditched by Chelsea Piers.
CSU is going over it right now as we speak, but five will get you ten, it was reported stolen.
- He's giving up nothing? - A lot of attitude, that's it.
Keep your ears open.
He lets anything slip, let me know.
Could I get a little help in here, please? I can't reach my water.
Let's get this guy to give us the shooter.
Easier said than done.
Good cop, bad cop? How about bad cop, worse cop? - What's the problem? - That other cop moved my table.
I can't reach my water.
Please.
Can you reach it now? - Come on.
Just - What about? - Can you? - Oh, can you reach it now? Oh, come on.
Again with the games? Please.
Ugh.
You know what? I'll just call the nurse.
- With this? - Yeah What, seriously? Go be worse cop.
You know how we feel about you? Yeah.
Let me guess, not real hot.
- You shoot a cop, you shoot a brother.
- I didn't shoot that cop.
Somebody else did.
But I'm sorry, all right? Please, come on, I got cotton mouth.
Thank you.
Is that the new issue? Can I see it when you're done? I think that's the guy.
- Martin Carstairs? - Yes? Detective Reagan, this is Detective Baez.
- We need to ask you a few questions.
- Sure.
Saw this coming.
Here's my card.
You're a lawyer, Mr.
Carstairs? This is about the little shoving match with the dead Puerto Rican kid? Why don't you tell us about your little shoving match with the dead Puerto Rican kid? What am I supposed to say? - Puerto Rican American? - It's a tone thing.
Okay, look, just tell us what happened, all right? I'm in the fitness center and this Puerto This gentleman, he's in there, like, every day.
I know he lives behind the poor door, so I call him on it, says he's a guest.
- A guest? - His girlfriend gave him a swipe card.
- White girl from the penthouse.
- A white girl? - Yeah, so? - You wouldn't have said: "White girl" if it was a white guy.
- What? - Hey.
Just keep going.
What happened next? Nothing.
A couple of shoves, I called the management company, he never showed up again.
Where were you the night before last? Seriously? - I was out with a white girl.
All night.
- All right.
Great, we're gonna need to speak to this white girl.
You know, talking wasn't her strong suit.
- We'll be in touch.
- Adios.
Yeah, adios yourself.
Ow! - What the hell? - You asked for it.
What a jerk.
- All right, then just give it back.
- No, come on, come on.
- What have you got? - A bullet in the gut.
You know that.
No, I mean, car.
- Jeez.
- Why do you think I got a car? Anybody over 16 who reads that has either got one or is buying or selling.
- Even in Mineola.
- I'm from Uniondale.
Even worse.
I had a '65 Goat.
What have you got? Had a '71 Chevelle SS.
- Three ninety-six? - Four fifty-four.
Tremec transmission, Hooker Headers, roller cam.
- Nice.
- Yeah.
- So why did you sell the Goat? - I didn't.
Idiot friend of mine wrapped it around a pole on the Southern State doing 110.
- Did he die? - Broke an arm.
Guy gets away with everything.
Same guy who left you high and dry? Some friend.
Yeah.
Like I said, he's an idiot.
That GTO had original drum brakes on it, huh? Yeah, that was the thing.
That beast could move, but it took forever to stop.
Well, those brakes suck.
Cantwell had a '65 GTO that got into a big wreck on the Southern State Parkway about a year ago April.
Driver in that accident report is likely our shooter.
Yeah.
Okay, will do.
Thank you.
I can't believe he gave you the shooter.
Yeah, not on purpose.
Guy's a real box of rocks.
You don't got to pass a test to become a criminal.
- The girl from the penthouse? - Yeah, Rada Radchenko.
Oh, she's a real looker.
This is her father.
He owns the penthouse.
Ivan Radchenko.
What do we know about him? Money comes from Russian oil and gas.
He's former KGB.
Those KGB guys made off with big money, throwing elbows all the way.
Well, he's certainly trying to make a legit life here.
On the board of the ballet, honoree at bigtime charity benefits.
High society stuff.
Yeah, a real fancy-pants.
And there's the happy couple.
So Diego and Rada start dating, KGB dad doesn't like it.
You know, kind of like Romeo and Juliet.
As I remember from high school English, that didn't work out too well for them.
Is that Radchenko with the mother? Yep.
They sure don't seem like the Capulets and Montagues.
The who? The two families from Romeo and Juliet that hated each other.
Yeah, this ain't that story.
Reagan.
You're kidding me.
How much? Unbelievable.
Yeah, thanks.
CSU found a half a key of coke in Diego's closet.
Well, that definitely didn't happen in Romeo and Juliet.
Well, like I said, this is a different story.
- Hey, Reagan.
- Detective.
Nassau County P.
D.
Came up with a name on the possible shooter.
Theo Salzer.
- Good work.
- They gonna talk to him? Yeah, we're sitting on his apartment but I don't think he's coming home any time soon.
He's got two other warrants out on him.
Both for armed robbery.
They gonna offer Cantwell a deal to cooperate? No.
Cop got shot.
No discounts for nobody.
See if you can squeeze another nugget out of your boy.
He's not my boy.
- Ten-hut.
- As you were.
Boss, this is Detective Weems.
Commissioner, this is my privilege.
This is my union delegate, Detective Tim Cafferty.
I assure you, this is meant to be an informal discussion.
- Please.
- Understood.
I wanted to come stag, but, you know, the union insisted, so - Anyway, here we are.
- And here this is.
Yeah, I saw that.
And it makes you feel? Like it must be a slow news day.
There's no infraction here, legal or departmental.
I understand you've been speculating in real estate.
Yeah, well, I've been working Brooklyn North Narcotics now for, like, 12 years.
And thanks to a lot of hard work from all our guys, you know, we're bringing back a hellhole.
Block by block.
So, yeah, you know, I bought a house, I made some money.
After I flipped it, I bought another house, kind of like that.
And as a narcotics detective, you're in a unique position to see a change in the neighborhood.
Yeah, well, I mean, you clean out a crack house, that block just got better.
You can see the value.
You ever buy a crack house, then clean it out? No, no, that would be against the law.
You clean it out, then buy it, that's legal.
What's the timing on that? For instance, raid a building on Tuesday, put in an offer on Wednesday? Well, all business is timing.
So is all insider trading.
Internal Affairs already looked into this, it's all legit.
I know, I know, and I understand.
Louis, say you're a rookie, and you find out that a detective in your precinct is driving around in an expensive car and buying up real estate.
What would you think? And he's legit? Not really my point.
I'd make it my business to buy that detective a drink and get to know everything about him.
Thanks for coming up.
Get in touch with Carla Brooks at the Department of Buildings, use my name, and get me everything they have on the detective's activities, then send it over to ADA Reagan.
- May I ask why? - Do you need to ask why? Sir, it's been gone over.
I mean, why are you going after a guy for being savvy? There's that word again.
Why are you pushing back, lieutenant? - I'm not.
I'm just - Standing up for a stand-up guy.
- You put it that way, well, yeah.
- Then don't.
That is not your job in this.
And if you can't do your job in this because of your friendship with Weems, say so right now.
Well, what is my job in this? Something is not proper simply because it is permissible, nor is it ethical because it is legal.
Cops have to be held to a higher standard.
And if there's a way to stop this, to thwart him, I wanna know about it.
Any more questions? - No, sir.
- Carla Brooks, use my name.
Loop in ADA Reagan.
- Yes, sir.
- That's all.
They'll be right with you.
Wow, fancy.
Yeah.
M-O-N-E-Y fancy.
Uh - Ivan Radchenko.
- Detective Reagan.
- Detective Baez.
- Welcome.
She's very fragile right now.
We understand.
You were in law enforcement yourself, is that right, Mr.
Radchenko? Yes, I was.
Now you'll ask me if I have any theory about who did this terrible thing? Do you? Look, as a father to a beautiful young woman, I was skeptical about this man.
Yes, naturally.
Over the time I came to know him, he was a good man.
He was He was a striver.
He was a hard worker.
I don't know why anyone would do this.
Rada? Detective Reagan.
I apologize.
- Baez.
- Right.
- Hello.
- Hi, Rada.
You've had a couple of days to think about what you knew of Diego.
Did you? Yes, of course.
Anything you can point us towards, someone he might have had a conflict with? Even the smallest thing could be helpful.
No.
He just wanted to bring light to the world, to the kids he taught, to everything.
And how about the drugs? Cocaine.
Was that how he wanted to bring light to the world? What are you talking about? Cocaine that we found in his closet.
- Cocaine? - Oh, yeah.
A whole lot of it.
That's not true.
We have no reason to lie to you.
Rada, is there something you're hiding from me? No, I know him No.
I know everything about him.
Was Diego having any trouble with money, student loans? - Did he talk about anything like that? - No.
He would never go near drugs.
He He was a schoolteacher.
Right.
So maybe you just went down to his apartment and did some cocaine with your drug-dealing boyfriend? Please.
- I can't listen to this.
- Rada.
Rada.
Rada.
Rada.
Hey, can you do me a solid and take these cuffs off so I can cut this meat here? Please? Where's Theo Salzer? More like, who's Theo Salzer? The guy who wrecked your GTO with a 1.
2 blood-alcohol level and 40 pounds of stolen shell steaks in the trunk.
That Theo Salzer.
Yeah.
I get it.
- Where is he? - I don't know.
- Where is he? - Don't wanna talk about that.
You don't wanna talk about it? What do you wanna talk about? You wanna talk about how the cop downstairs took a bullet from him? - I wanna eat.
- You wanna talk about how it shattered his elbow? So he'll never regain full use of his arm? - He can never come back on the job.
- Not my problem, bro.
- I'm not your bro.
- Yeah, whatever, man.
"Whatever, man.
" Yeah, you just wanna eat, right? Now you're catching on.
Yeah.
I'll help you eat.
I help you eat! - Help! - Want me to help you eat? - Reagan! - Where's Theo Salzer? - Help! - Where's Salzer? - Reagan! - Police brutality! - Where's Salzer? - Reagan.
Reagan, enough.
Enough.
Get out.
Miss Parsons? Yes? Lieutenant Gormley, N.
Y.
P.
D.
Look, I told y'all everything I know.
It was my cousin's boyfriend.
He was not supposed to be in there.
I did not give him a key and I didn't have anything to do with drugs.
Miss Parsons, I'm not here to investigate the drugs.
I'm here to find out if you were wrongly evicted from your home.
Hell, yes, I was.
Can you tell me what happened? I had to go to North Carolina for a funeral.
My cousin Shania came to stay with the girls.
Shania, she hooked up with this guy, Roscoe, from downstairs.
And she's always ge Anyway, the police raid Roscoe's apartment.
He takes the fire escape up to my place with a bag full of drugs.
Police come up, arrest Shania and Roscoe and put my kids in Child Services.
And you came back Somebody changed the locks and me and the girls wind up in this shelter.
And now they tell me the building got sold.
Look, Miss Parsons, I'm sorry about all this.
I have a lawyer who can help you.
Assistant District Attorney Erin Reagan.
Here's her card.
All right? She's expecting a call from you, okay? Okay.
Thank you.
You're welcome.
We can speak English, detective.
Okay, Miss Torres.
Listen, I know you don't believe Diego had anything to do with drugs, but the fact remains we did find drugs in the apartment.
I'm gonna have to question you about that, okay? I understand.
Was Diego in any kind of money trouble that you knew about? No.
And he would have told me if he was.
Do you think he felt inadequate dating such a rich girl? Like maybe he needed to prove himself by making big money? I don't think so.
Do you have any idea why there would be cocaine in the apartment? I don't.
- But I know he wasn't selling drugs.
- How? What do drug dealers want? They want money, right? Yeah.
Ivan offered my son $200,000 to go away, to leave his daughter alone.
He did? Diego told you that? Yes.
You think Ivan wanted Diego out of the way? Yes.
They say money changes everything.
But it couldn't change my son.
He was a good man.
Can I offer you anything? Yeah, how about Diego's killer? That I don't have, as you know.
Manuela said you offered Diego money to stay away from Rada, is that right? Absolutely true.
You must have really wanted him out of the picture.
If he'd taken the money, I would have.
Okay, tell us what you mean.
Of course, I tested Diego.
Of course.
For a schoolteacher, this is a lot of money, for me, it's an efficient way to protect my daughter from the dogs.
That's all.
We have to ask, Mr.
Radchenko, where were you Wednesday night? I was in Brooklyn to see the Nets play.
If you need the proof, I was with Steve Warren, Brooklyn borough president.
You can call him.
You can look at the television coverage.
We were right behind the visitor bench.
Here's Radchenko leaving the lobby at 6:05.
Go back over that.
Okay.
Did you see that? He nodded at the other guy.
Let me find a better angle on him.
Let's try that one.
Was that a nod? That was definitely a nod.
What are you thinking? You want some? Hm-mm.
It's really refreshing.
It's got, like, negative calories.
Great mouth feel.
Mouth feel? It's a real thing.
They talk about it on cooking shows.
Hey, what's going on? The wound's infected.
He's developed sepsis.
- What does that mean? - Means we hope the antibiotics work.
But if I were him, I wouldn't be taking out any magazine subscriptions.
The DA's office determined Miss Parsons has rights to tenancy.
And where's that leave Weems? Well, he can't flip it with her still in residence, so he's settling.
- Happily? - I wouldn't characterize it as that.
- Begrudgingly, then? - Three hundred grand, so, yeah.
And what are you gonna do to him next? - To who? - Weems.
I wasn't gonna do anything.
You're not getting this, are you? Boss? This kind of thing, you see it through, they talk about it.
How Sid Gormley got wind that an old pal was using his shield to game the system.
And how Sid Gormley made an example out of him.
I don't wanna do this.
He's a friend.
- Yeah, you wanna do this.
- Why? It's how you make your bones in this building.
You set standards.
And not just for your ride-along or your rookie tail.
You set standards for all 35,000 of them.
Any suggestions? If I were you, and right now, I am, I'd figure I could come up with something on my own.
All right, here we go.
Oleg Kaus.
Known ties to the Russian mob, criminal possession of a weapon, assault, assault with a deadly weapon.
This guy runs his daughter's life like it's a KGB operation.
She falls in love with a kid from the wrong side of the building, he tries to buy him off, it doesn't work, so he makes like it was just a test The actions of a concerned parent.
Thank you.
But now he really has to do something.
So he hires an assassin, creates an alibi Right.
Plants the drugs in Diego's closet, throwing off the investigation and discrediting Diego at the same time.
Too sad to be true? A human tragedy.
- Hey.
- My blood pressure's in the toilet.
They said I could die here.
- We all gotta die somewhere.
- Thanks.
What do you expect from me, a get-well card? Let me make a phone call.
No, you had your call.
Oh, come on, I gotta call my mother.
All right, tell you what I'm not gonna give you Salzer.
Just let me call my mother.
You dial, but I talk first, all right? Verify that it's her.
Says it's out of service.
You sure the number's right? Yeah.
I don't know.
I haven't talked to her in years.
Maybe she moved again.
Got other family, anybody else that might know where she is? Nope.
Nobody.
You know, just in case, could you write something down for me, please? To my mom? In case she comes for the remains.
Okay, shoot.
No, I'm not saying that I feel sorry for him.
He's got a record, goes back to his teens.
- His partner shot a cop.
- I know that So end of story.
Is this going somewhere? - Let me finish.
- Come on, guys.
- Okay, so you don't feel bad, but - Mom.
Haven't you prosecuted someone you thought to yourself: "How much more punishment can one person take?" - What do you mean? - Everyone has a choice.
Free will.
Yeah, but some people, you look at them, you think, there but for the grace of God go I.
But this guy, it's like God's got it out for him and everyone else should just stay back 500 feet.
- Well, is there anything you can do? - I don't know.
I was the arresting officer in an incident where a cop got wounded.
I don't think it's my job to make his life easier.
Well, if you could, say, show some act of kindness, God would follow it up by dropping a piano on his head anyway, - like that? - Exactly.
- Yes.
- We've all had those.
When I was working patrol, we had a B and E out in Rego Park.
Homeowner hears a noise downstairs, calls it in.
I come in through the kitchen and I find the guy in the living room unhooking the TV.
But he is blind drunk and he can barely stand up.
- So? - So the 911 call came in from the mom.
He'd broken into his own parents' house.
- Seriously? - Yeah.
What an idiot.
So, what happened to him? Mom and Dad pressed charges.
I think he did 18 months for it.
Pass the potatoes, please.
- Got a minute? - Shoot.
Sergeant Gormley.
- You mean Lieutenant Gormley? - Yes.
- You are the one who promoted him.
- I know that.
It's kind of my question.
Do you think he has what this takes? - In terms of? - Can he leave the need to be liked down in the lobby when he comes to work up here? - I think so.
- You do? Half his "just one of the guys" act is an act.
He's smart.
And more ambitious for himself than he wants to let on.
I could be wrong.
Have you ever said that and actually meant it? No.
Hey.
It's over.
Is that what they said? Pretty much.
You wanna talk to anyone? You wanna see anyone? - I'll break a rule.
I'll get them up here.
- I got no one.
- A priest or a reverend? - No.
They never did nothing for me.
Okay.
If there's a hell, I bet I go.
You can still ask for forgiveness.
No, I think it's a little late for that.
But I can do this.
Salzer's at his cousin Tommy He's at his cousin Tommy's place.
New Hyde Park.
Swear on my own grave.
He's the one that shot the cop.
Wanna write that down for me? Sign it? Yeah.
You're doing good, Wally.
Yeah.
Says you.
Diego invited me to his class one time.
He taught the fourth grade in the Bronx, poor school.
Very chaotic in the hallways.
But these children, they listened to him.
He was tough and gentle.
And funny.
- Everybody loved him.
- Including you.
Especially me.
But not your father.
Not at first.
He's protective.
But he grew to like Diego.
He offered Diego money to stay away from you.
A lot of money.
Did you know about that? He did that with other boyfriends too.
- He did? - I told you.
He's very protective.
Rada, honey, I'm really trying to understand what happened here.
And I agree with you.
I don't believe Diego was mixed up with drugs.
I think they were planted.
But who would do that? I don't know.
Do you recognize this man? Oleg Kaus.
He worked for my father back in Moscow.
Why are you showing me this? This was taken in the lobby of your building the day Diego was murdered.
No.
My father? We can't prove it.
But you can believe it.
Rada, I'm so sorry.
I have to leave now.
No, please stay.
No.
Eddie.
Wally, there's someone here to see you.
Mom? Hello, Wallace.
Mom.
How'd she get into Diego's apartment? - He gave her a key.
- Of course he did.
Live with yourself.
I asked the building inspector to look for violations in all of Weems' buildings.
- Major? - Major enough to kill the deals.
You think he's underwater? Back of the napkin figures, drowning.
Just don't ask me to do anything else to the guy.
You think it's overkill? I don't question your command.
- I didn't ask that.
- Lou.
Sit down.
- What are you doing up here? - Sid, I thought everything was on the up-and-up.
No, you didn't, Louis.
Don't insult us.
Sid tells me you're a savvy guy.
Don't make a liar out of him.
Okay.
All right, I cut some corners.
You're getting warmer.
I just thought that I'd ask an old friend to save my job.
Every time I turn the corner, I'm putting out another fire.
It was all on the up-and-up, Louis.
I can't lose my job.
Louis, that's not up to me.
Actually, it is.
It is? In this instant.
Louis, you can keep your job.
But one misstep, one cut corner, and you're gonna be in the trial room fighting for that job! Thank you.
Don't thank me.
Thank him.