Homicide: Life on the Street s05e22 Episode Script

'Back along the Beltway it's clearing nicely.
'WKLN Drivetime at 9:06.
'Forecast for intermittent showers and chance of thunder.
'Lf you don't like the weather, wait 10 minutes.
'On our request line, here's one going out to Kayley in Columbia ' - Hey.
- Hey.
Drink this.
We're dehydrated.
- So, how was it for you? - How was what? The night.
Last night.
- Last night.
It was fine.
- It was fine? Yeah.
You? It was good.
It was great! Of course it was.
I don't remember last night But I was good, right? Oh.
Actually, I don't remember much of last night, either.
Maybe we should try it sober.
The sex.
You need a little change there? - Oh, God! - I gotta get to work.
I'm gonna take a shower.
- You've got a job, too, right? - Yes, I do.
- He died a cop.
- Felton quit.
Beau Felton died a cop.
He was working, he was on shift.
He took one in the head doing company business.
He was undercover for six months.
I sent him into Frank Cantwell's re-plating operation.
- Stuart Gharty? - You remember.
Yeah.
So you decided not to take that pension after all, huh? - No.
I'm with llD now.
- Gharty? You're the one that Yeah, I'm the one that Detective Russert had brought up on charges.
Wanna stick your fork in me or get back to the business at hand? Last year, you won't get out of a radio car and go into a city high-rise during a shoot out, but now you're willing to send another cop undercover into a major crime ring? - Megan! - She's entitled.
I deserve that one.
But I'm here today about Felton.
Why would llD send a disgraced homicide detective into an auto ring? US Customs and the City Auto Squad were jointly looking at Cantwell.
Every time they hit one of Cantwell's auto shops with a warrant, they'd come up empty, no stolen cars, no Cantwell.
Customs figured someone from the Auto Squad was leaking.
- Which is pure bull! - So you think Cantwell just got lucky? - Maybe he did.
- Maybe he was tipped! - Not by me or my squad! - Customs thought otherwise! When Customs complained to Barnfather, I got put on the case.
But why Felton? What better undercover to use than a recently disgraced cop? Yeah.
And I can tell you, he was a fine undercover.
Felton was deep into Cantwell's world when he got killed.
- When you got him killed.
- He knew the risks.
- Yeah? Did he? - It's done, Kay! What's left for us is to work the murder.
Simple.
Start with Cantwell.
He made Felton for an undercover, had him aced.
We don't know Felton was made.
He could've have been killed for many reasons.
- True.
- Gimme a break! This bastard from Internal sent Felton into Cantwell and lost him! - Go to hell, Falsone! - Back off! Back off! - You wanna get into it? - Break it up! That's enough! I want my detectives on the same page, working in the same direction.
I want my detective avenged! Pembleton's the primary, Bayliss as the secondary.
Gharty and Falsone, you're both assigned to Homicide.
- I am not teaming up with llD! - Me, neither.
Just one word: Felton.
- I got Falsone.
- Hey, wait a second! Wait a second! Yeah, Russert, City Homicide.
I need to talk to the agents involved in the Cantwell probe.
- What are you doing? - I'm on the phone with Customs.
Yeah, Frank Cantwell.
Get in touch with Beau's relatives, friends.
We gotta rule out any suspect beyond Cantwell.
- Where are you two going? - Customs.
To find out if they had a phone tap on Beau's.
I'll get the records.
- Hang on, I'm the primary, right? - And I'm the sergeant.
Come on.
I said hang on! Megan, put the phone down! Please put it down.
I'll call you back.
If you want this case, fine, get Gee to write the name Felton under your column on the Board, and I'll sit and wait for the next call.
Otherwise, I don't want anyone to do anything without clearing it with me.
- Frank, Beau Felton was my partner.
- Right.
He was Gee's detective.
Megan here, she flew from Paris because she has some personal stake.
And you couldn't care less.
The bottom line is, I can't have half the ship flying in different directions.
- I'm primary, I need control.
- Fine.
Problem solved.
Megan, you're secondary.
Howard, Russert, in my office! I've carried your water in that squad room, in every argument.
- I have backed you.
Back me now.
- I can't.
Look at the Board under my name.
What do you see? Black.
I'm as good an investigator as Pembleton.
I know.
I also know what Beau Felton meant to you and to you.
And I know one of my best detectives, Pembleton, didn't think much of him.
- All the more reason - To do nothing.
If I do nothing, I have a cold, precise death investigation.
If I take Pembleton off and hand it to you, then I have sparks and heat and worry.
- You owe me this.
- I owe you, Kay, but not this.
You're telling me I flew across an ocean to be shoved aside? - I didn't ask you to come.
- Wonderful! We'll go to the coffee room, make a fresh pot for the boys, huh? You see it, don't you? As someone who cared for Beau, as someone who is trying to make this right, no, I don't see it.
- As a shift lieutenant - You'd have done the same thing.
Yes, but I wasn't a shift commander very long, was I? - You're an idiot to lean on my judgment.
- Talk to her.
Calm her down.
- I need you both.
- What for? Beth Felton doesn't want a damn thing to do with Beau Felton any more.
I need you to make a funeral.
Why don't we jack up Cantwell's crew, toss them in the Box, see what gives? Do that, and Cantwell will shut it all down.
You may get a murder case, but we'll never know the source of the leak.
- If there was a leak! - You believe he wasn't tipped, fine! - Girls, girls, you're both pretty! - What the hell are you looking at? There's never been an unsolved shooting of a Baltimore cop.
This case can't be allowed to change that.
Munch, go to the morgue.
Check toxicology.
I wanna know if Beau picked up a drug habit.
Bayliss, get what Customs has on Cantwell.
See if there's a trap on Felton's phone.
If so, pull in the logs.
I wanna see my informant, see if he learned anything new.
- What are you gonna do? - Re-canvas the scene.
What about me? Want me to take the neighbours on the other side of the street? Cos we split it up, we'll get it done faster.
You wanna say something? Anything.
I'm doing police work with a man who can't manage to speak a word to me.
Cos I'm llD, right? Stu Gharty of the Rat Squad.
- I don't have a problem with llD.
- Oh, come on.
Guys I worked with for 10 years won't talk to me since I went to Internal.
I know the freeze-out.
I don't bleed blue for anybody doing dirt, so take the bad cops out.
- That's no skin off my nose.
- What's this about, then? I'm on the street, I'm working.
I need to know if push comes to shove my partner will fight, not leave me alone.
I don't wanna go in and find nobody's got my back.
So that's it.
How did you find Eddie Dugan? How do you find any informant? Lift up a rock, see what slithers.
- Where to now? - Back to wade through these logs.
We find out who called Felton, who Felton called.
- You always wear a suit? - What? A suit, it's mandatory on the Homicide Unit, huh? No.
Auto Theft, the hell difference does it make wearing a suit? I go talk to grease monkeys and bust gear heads, who got a jones for a Harley manifold.
I'm a man on a mission.
I don't need to wear a suit.
You? You're Homicide.
That's a calling.
A lot of people care more about their cars than about dead relatives.
How do I work with a cop who won't go through the same door as I do? Howard, Lewis, Bayliss, every cop on this shift will fight! Every cop will fight! I know that.
I depend upon it.
I had this case four months ago, brutality complaint against a patrolman that didn't look right.
The cop gave me the names of half a dozen street people who he says saw the incident and would confirm it was self defence.
I had to hunt the witnesses up on street corners, shooting galleries all over West Baltimore, scared, just as scared as I was when I got that shooting call in Highland Terrace.
I spotted one witness.
He ran into this hell hole of a crack house and I ran after him.
Inside there must have been 20 guys, a dope-fiend convention.
So what did you do? I got hit.
I got beat down so bad, I spent the next eight hours getting stitched up.
Cracked a rib, too.
The beating was rough, but not half so bad as the fear itself.
This is what I had to find out.
Ten lovely ladies! It's showtime! Here we go! Here we go! Ten lovely ladies! All pretty girls! Inside! All right.
I believe you this time.
- Who's that? - My informant's sister.
She says he ain't around.
Says he went to New York this week.
- Nice kimono.
- Yeah! Hey! You're late! You're one to talk.
- I'm kidding.
- I'm laughing.
Do yourself a favour.
Come here.
Do yourself a favour.
Stop wearing last night's whisky as your morning cologne.
Look at you! The last ten days you've come in stinking.
- Yeah, right.
- Yeah, right! - I gotta explain myself to you? - I didn't say that.
I'm carrying some of the weight of this thing, too.
- For what? - For what? Yeah, for what? For that? The way I see it, we're even.
OK? You were there for me on the boat and I saved your ass from Mahoney.
- That's it? Case closed? - Don't walk away! If you got something to say, say it! Don't be a skirt walking away.
Lewis! We've got a victim at Alexander and Dallas.
I got a call.
You working today or what? He was stabbed three times, twice in the abdomen, once in the shoulder.
His name's George Safeham, DOB May 6th '42.
- Found the wallet where? - Down about 30 feet.
No greenbacks, no credit cards.
Smells like a straight-up robbery.
We have what appear to be markings of a wedding band and a watch.
Both gone.
A lot of hesitation marks.
It looks like he was cut with a serrated blade.
I'll know more after the autopsy.
What did the wit have to say, Mike? - You seen her? - See who? - The witness! - What? You lost the witness? - She was just here.
- Just where? I was just talking to her.
Says he was arguing with two white guys, like 20, 21.
You lost a witness.
I didn't lose her.
She must have just walked off.
She says both these guys were Got a name? Address? Phone number? Yeah.
Someplace.
You ain't got a name You ain't got a name or her address! Look I was just talking to her.
Two average white guys and a witness with no name or address.
- How tall are you, Mike? - What? - About 6'1 ", 6'2"? - 6'1 ".
- Huh - Why do you wanna know how tall I am? I didn't know they piled crap that high.
Could I get a witness here? Oh, my God! Oh, my Agh! It's horrible! Oh, God! Oh! Oh, oh, oh! Come on! - Oh, shoot! - Let me try.
Oh, man, that'd be just like me to bring the wrong key.
It's the right key.
Oh! Hey, he could live on pizza, huh? - Morning, noon and night.
- Yeah.
- This is where, huh? - Yeah.
Hey, Megan, you wanna give me a hand here? You know, we're picking out a suit.
We should be laying out his uniform.
He'd probably prefer the suit.
Yeah, he could be a pain in the ass, but he sure knew clothes, huh? He sure was a piss pot about his clothes.
Top of the line or nothing.
You know, one time his wife cut up his favourite sport coat.
You'd think he'd lost a family member.
Oh, yeah, he had to look better than the bad guys.
He was a good cop.
When there was trouble, he was the first there backing you up.
That's because he knew trouble, understood every angle.
He wasn't happy unless he was in it.
But in his heart he was a gentle man.
He was a gentleman.
But even for a gentleman, this is way too lvy League for him.
I don't know how he thinks he could get away with that one.
- The pin dot? - Mmm-hmm.
- With the dark suit? - Yeah.
I always liked him in that.
Yeah, when he wore this, he had a certain pizzazz, you know? Of course, I don't know who's going to see it.
- Going to be a closed casket.
- We'll know, Megan.
- Let's get out of here.
- Mmm.
- Hey, hey.
So, what do we know? - Not enough.
The re-canvas of Felton's neighbourhood got us nowhere.
Ditto, friends and family.
Everyone I spoke to thought Beau had quit.
- No one knew much more than that.
- Was he seeing anyone? The occasional waitress, but he did nothing kinky enough to get killed.
I spoke to the morgue about toxicology and, believe it or not, Beau Felton departed clean and sober, no drugs, no booze.
- So what's with the phone log? - We might have something.
Beau's house was used as a front.
Customs was using a dialled number recorder and trapped all incoming and outgoing calls.
Calls to and from Cantwell's business, calls from payphones.
- Nothing from Cantwell.
- The day he was shot? Beau received a call a half hour before he was killed from a payphone two blocks from Cantwell's scrapyard.
Immediately after, Felton rings a number with 14 digits.
Or a pager.
You dial a pager and punch in a call-back number.
Exactly, and the last seven digits, that's Beau's home phone.
So we're looking for a mystery man with a pager that set Felton up.
I have the money question.
Whose name is the pager rented under? We checked, and this metro pager belongs to one Joseph Jones of 3800 Ashland Avenue, paid for with cash, two years in advance.
- Did you go to Ashland? - No need.
There is no 3800 block.
Joe Jones of Nowheresville, USA.
- Where are you guys on this? - No breaks yet.
A little something from the phone log but nothing we can run with.
- Five detectives, no leads? - We're on it, Kay.
We're covering the ground.
I am saying you made a mistake not including me in the investigation! - I made a mistake? - Crosetti dies, Lewis was included.
- He made his own time to work it.
- I made his time! Me and Felton! We cleared a murder Lewis should've been closing! - You did.
- Yes, I did, out of loyalty.
And I expect the same loyalty.
I demand the same respect! You demand? Oh, man! There is a double standard going on here! Yes, because you're a supervising officer! - This is different! - Why? How can you not understand? You barge into my office, telling me there's a double standard, how I don't understand! Walk out that door before you find yourself going through it! I should be on this case! You've given me every reason to know I did right by not putting you on it! - And that's fair? - Stick a sock in it, Sergeant! I miss some of this stuff.
I feel like I never really finished when I left and, er now I may never have the chance.
- Right.
Kay told me about your wife.
- I coulda counted on her! - Well Well, at least it's not Paris.
If I wanna see my daughter, I need only negotiate 30 miles of l-95.
Trust in time, Frank.
My wife is six months pregnant.
- Double or nothing.
- However you like it.
I like it that you are down to me four drinks.
Thank you very much.
- Where've you been? - Hey! I've been here.
Where else? - Friend of yours? - Yeah, sure.
Bruce.
I phoned your office.
They said you left an hour and a half ago.
- Yeah, I finished early.
- I told you I'd call and meet up.
- You did? - This morning.
Do we have a game here or what? It's your shot.
Get yourself a drink on me cos I am beating the hell out of him.
Take a hike.
Did I say take a hike? - Come on! We're just shooting pool.
- I've had a bit of a day.
- I don't need my night lousing up.
- Want me to leave? Do you know who I am, huh? Want me to make your life garbage? - How drunk are you? - What? No, no! Not fair.
I'm on my third drink.
Go and get yourself a drink and relax a little bit.
- We gotta stop drinking.
- Excuse me? - You and me, we should quit.
- What is your problem? - It's the booze.
- It wasn't until you walked in.
Think you're gonna get lucky? Get all liquored up and then what? Then nothing.
- We have not finished our game yet.
- It's finished! This is my game.
You do not tell me when I'm finished! I'll see you.
Hello, Mr Whelan.
This is Frank.
Your son-in-law Frank.
Yes, it's me.
I'm fine.
You? I just need to talk to Mary.
Excuse me! Excuse me, excuse me! Who do you think you're talking to? I said I needed to talk to Mary! Because I'm her damn husband! I'd like to leave her a message.
The message is that I want to talk to her.
Yes, today.
Today! To-day! You, too.
- So, what's the verdict? - We've got no choice.
We pick up Cantwell and his people.
Then we'll never find the leak, what Felton was working for.
We tried to work this case along the edges and we got nothing.
- Now we jump in with both feet.
- Yeah, all right.
If we're hauling Cantwell's people into the Box, let me have a chat with my informant first.
- Your informant? - Customs turned me onto the guy.
We used him to introduce Felton to Cantwell.
- What's his name? - Dugan, Eddie Dugan.
- What? You know the guy? - Yeah, I know him.
He's my informant, too.
- Why'd you bring me back downtown? - Shut up, Eddie.
What are you doing here? Who are you, talking to my father like that? I'll catch up.
Whoa! Who the hell does he think he is, huh, and who are you to ask? You drove in this condition? I just needed to talk to you - To me? - With you, talk with you.
- You're squeezing me! - OK, OK.
Sorry.
Did I hurt you? I just have these moments where - I feel kind of queasy.
- Want to go to a doctor? No, I'm not in any pain, I just My belly's all stretched out and the baby's kicking.
- The baby's kicking right now? - Mmm.
- How you been, Eddie? - I'm making it, Paulie.
Yeah? That's good.
You just got back from New York? - Yeah, man, the Apple! - How was New York? - A few cars light.
- Yeah? I tell you, I could spot any of the '97s from two blocks off.
- It's like a gift.
- I believe you, man.
It's really terrific of your parents to be helping out.
They're helping me to death! They're driving me nuts.
- Really? - I'm in the one bedroom.
They're in the living room on the couch and they're always cleaning up! Cooking and washing the dishes and taking Livvy for walks.
I feel like a refugee in my own house, you know.
Your house is here.
Your home is in Baltimore with me, not in DC.
- So, who are you spotting for? - A few guys, you know.
- Cantwell and who else? - Mostly Cantwell.
He does right by you, huh? Pays you good.
- Hey, man, 500 a car.
- Cool! More than I can pay you! It's a big day when I can get Well, I ain't working with you for the shemolies, you understand? - With me it's outta love and respect! - Yeah, man.
That and the fact you're working off two counts of grand theft auto.
Yeah, man.
That, too, man.
So why did you bring me back down? I told you everything I knew.
You know this guy, Eddie? - I've seen him around.
- Yeah? - Seen him around? - Hey! You've seen him around? Son of a bitch! You two-timed me.
You shut me down and went to work for Customs and Stu Gharty here.
- Hey, I did what I was told.
- Did you? Customs told me not to speak to Paulie.
You told me to get Felton with Cantwell.
I did all that.
You moron! You sat here and told me you knew nothing about Felton! You lied to me, so why should I believe you now? OK, OK! Hey! Hey! Mary, I don't have a I don't have a single good thing in my life without you without you and Livvy and this, this baby.
I'm willing to give it all up, the job, the city, who I am, what I do, where I've been, I'm willing to give all that up start over.
Mary, please come home.
Why do you think I drove up here? If I'd wanted to yell at you about my dad, I could have called you.
- That's right.
- I needed to see you, too.
- I missed you.
- I know.
Let me ask you something, Eddie.
When was the last time you spoke to Felton? I don't know, like a week before he got capped, man.
A week? You didn't talk to him that day? No, Paulie, man.
You played me.
You played all of us.
You told Cantwell that Felton was undercover, right? You gave Felton up.
That's silly.
I didn't tell nobody about nothing! Course you did! The guy gives you $500 a car.
Why wouldn't you? You got a cop killed.
You know how much time you're gonna eat? You gots it wrong, man.
Let me ask you something, Eddie Out of all the time I've known you, how come you never gave me your pager number? - My pager number? - Out of trust, you know? What? The number for the beeper on your damn belt, you stupid son of a bitch.
Oh! This pager ain't mine.
- It ain't his! - So whose is it? I don't know, man.
I found it.
You found it? So you're telling me you found a pager, you're hanging on to it, taking some other mope's calls, that's what you're telling me? You gots it wrong, Paulie, man.
I got hung up.
What's the story? It's going down.
- Oh! No, no.
- Hey, man Oh, my.
You're going to prison, Eddie, not a two-year bit, either.
Not a car charge.
For having anything to do with killing a cop, you're gonna do 30! Paulie, I been straight up with you, man.
You gotta know that.
- You're done.
- What are you talking about? We dialled the number Felton called before he got aced and guess what? You started beeping our number.
You guys gotta believe me I had to give Felton up.
They were figuring out that I was the snitch.
Cantwell was gonna throw a bullet in my head.
Oh, you did yourself right, Eddie.
Who shot Felton? Cantwell did it himself.
- What's the matter, Frank? - This is your collar.
- No, it's your case.
- You two should arrest him.
Felton would want it like that.
OK.
Move up aside And let the man go through Let the man go through Move up aside And let the man go through Let the man go through - Move up aside - Police! Police! Let the man go through Move up aside And let the man go through Let the man go through - Damn it! - Cantwell's gone, huh? I'll get a teletype out.
Well, with Beau nothing was ever easy.
And I'm grieved but proud for the opportunity to be here today to show Maryland's gratitude to Officer Felton, his family and his friends, for the ultimate sacrifice made on behalf of our citizens.
Regretfully, Detective Felton's family could not be here today.
Instead, the City of Baltimore would like to present this acknowledgement of gratitude and service to his shift commander.
The bodies still fall.
The fall still rings.
We still fill out our daily run sheets and argue over overtime.
The Board still collects names in red and black.
But long after the cases blur and our Long after the cases blur and fade entirely from our memory we still remember our own.
I'm not gonna stand here and say that Beau Felton was perfect.
He had problems.
But we grant him special standing.
For a time, he stood with us.
He worked Homicide.
Thank you all for coming.
- Thank you! - Can you believe it? The Deputy Commissioner didn't show up.
It's worse.
Harris wants to see you in his office.
- Alone.
Now.
- For what? - So Cantwell has evaporated.
- Yeah.
We'll find him.
Some day.
At least Dugan'll do time.
Megan, what are you gonna do with yourself? I don't know.
Half my life is in Paris, half of it is here.
Hey, Gee, what does Happy Harris have to say? Can I have everyone's attention, please? As of today, the department's establishing a new policy rotation.
Every three months, some detectives will be rotated from one unit to the next.
What does that mean? That means that three months from now none of us may be here.