Elementary s06e08 Episode Script
Sand Trap
1 WATSON: Previously on Elementary Have you heard anything about my friend? There have been no new leads in the disappearance of Polly Kenner.
There is nothing I can do to get his attention.
If I need to get louder, I'll get louder.
HOLMES: A woman was murdered two nights ago in Brooklyn.
The earrings that she was wearing were Polly's.
Do you have any idea who did it? Yeah, he did it.
Not a doubt in my mind.
WATSON: Your blood pressure and heart rate are way up.
You're not just suffering from PCS.
This is clinical fatigue now.
So, I'm going to go away for a while, but I'll be back.
While I'm away, you have my word, I won't hurt anyone.
My car's here.
Taking a break from everything is smart.
It's what your doctor wanted.
You'll be back soon enough.
You'll be better.
Watson! (footsteps approaching) I have returned.
Am I crazy, or did you say you were gonna come back on Friday? I did but some sore feelings developed between me and the local constabulary.
- Why would? You got involved in a case, didn't you? As you know, I spent the bulk of the last three months in my cabin, cut off from the outside world.
So, when word reached me that renowned trapper Ragnar Hagerstrom had been killed by a pack of black bears just miles from my mountainside retreat You weren't supposed to do any work.
I realize that, but No work.
That was the deal.
As I told you when we last corresponded, I haven't experienced a headache in over a month.
My sleep patterns have returned to normal.
Well, my normal.
I still have to follow up with Dr.
Hanson, but all indications are that my post-concussion syndrome is in abatement.
Now, would you like to hear about one scorned woman's attempt to frame an innocent black bear or not? And why do you keep looking over there? I have a houseguest.
You've taken a lover in my absence.
That's excellent.
I can't wait to meet him.
Or her.
Or is it them? No, I have not taken a lover.
So, why are you so determined to stop me from going downstairs? WOMAN: Hey, Joan, I hope you don't mind, but I'm starving, so I dug through your fridge.
Hi.
I'm Kelsey.
Kelsey, this is Sherlock, my partner.
Oh.
I don't recall seeing his name in the paperwork.
- What paperwork? He is not my partner partner.
He is my business partner.
What paperwork? The application she filled out to adopt my baby.
No Kelsey just got in about 20 minutes before you did, so why don't I take you upstairs, and then you can get settled.
We'll talk.
How's it going, Professor? How long are you gonna keep calling me that? Haven't decided yet Professor.
Can I at least take off the dunce cap? Hey, who signed off on this concrete being poured the other night? I did.
And who forgot to ask me if we'd finished putting in all the piping? Me.
Then no, you can't take off the cap.
Are you gonna watch me pull up every slab? Just the first.
Making sure you still know how to operate a chain hoist.
Happy? What did I do now? What is that? That's a person, Fred.
Two arms with guts in the middle.
And those are the legs.
Somebody got buried here.
And you just cut 'em into pieces.
Elementary 6x08 Sand Trap HOLMES: I'd ask for an update on the search for Michael Rowan, but your data speaks for itself.
No activity on his credit cards or cell phone.
Since we spoke last weekend, his e-mail account remains a ghost town.
I take it our friends at the Bureau are still sending you missing persons alerts.
Yeah, every day someone goes missing, I get a notice on my phone.
I thought we were onto something when a woman who looked a little like Maddie Williams disappeared in Fresno the other day.
I almost called you, but then she turned up safe and sound a couple hours later.
Would appear that Michael has gone dormant.
That's one possibility.
Another is that he's gotten so good at killing that no one in law enforcement even notices anymore.
As we discussed before I took my leave of absence, he seemed to mean it when he said he would restrain himself.
He also said he'd be back, so we have to believe he meant that, too.
Thank you.
For tending to this while I was gone.
Couldn't have taken the time I needed without knowing that you were still at the helm.
I wasn't the only one looking for Michael.
You're the only one who mattered.
Is there a corresponding wall of evidence which traces your search for a baby? (sighs) I'm sorry about that.
I did not mean to spring Kelsey on you.
My attorney didn't even tell me about it till yesterday.
Your attorney? Yeah, I hired him a few weeks before you left.
Listen, I was gonna talk to you about it, but you were going through so much with your PCS, and I Watson, you don't owe me an explanation.
She's going to be here for a few more days only, okay? Then she goes back to school in Philadelphia.
She's here to meet with me and a couple of other prospective parents (cell phone chiming) before she goes back.
It's Marcus.
I know you just got back, but how do you feel about a trip to the morgue? Mmm.
HAWES: Meet Jane Doe.
Construction crew found her in a concrete floor they were cutting into pieces this morning.
As I noted, the saw they were using cut her just below the shoulders and right above the knees.
No concrete in her throat or lungs, so she was dead before she went into the cement.
These ligature marks-- cause of death strangulation? Yeah.
As confirmed by a fractured larynx.
Time of death's between 6:00 p.
m.
and midnight two nights ago.
Makes sense.
The floor she was in was poured two nights ago.
Any security cameras at the work site? BELL: No.
And it's a small crew-- eight guys total.
Alibis for the first six have already checked out, and I'm expecting the remaining two to go the same way.
Says here that you found a nylon fiber in her teeth.
God bless man-made fibers and the manufacturers who register them.
The lab says that the fiber came from the seat belt of a late-model Japanese sedan.
Unfortunately, the seat belt is used in cars made by multiple companies.
Stands to reason it was the murder weapon.
These ligature marks are approximately 48 millimeters across.
That is standard width for a seat belt.
Personal effects? Help yourself.
I checked with Missing Persons.
She doesn't match any reports.
No hits on her fingerprints, either.
Who needs fingerprints when you got one of these? What, a rubber bracelet? It's a smart rubber bracelet.
Do you have a scalpel? Oh.
Thank you.
Companies with restricted areas sometimes use RF chips embedded in bracelets instead of the traditional plastic access cards.
So This should help us identify her employers, and that, in turn, should help us identify her.
MAN: Oh, my God.
Poor Lauren.
You said somebody killed her? Strangled her.
She didn't have any I.
D.
on her, but the RF chip in her bracelet told us she worked here at Pathas Global.
Or at least she did until you suspended her without pay last week.
She was very talented, but she and Pathas were proving not to be a good fit.
That said, I'm sure HR still has all her information.
I'll ask somebody to bring it up.
Actually, we've already been to HR.
Got everything we need.
Well, I'm confused.
Why did you need to speak with me? You said Lauren Wexler and Pathas weren't a good fit.
But you are Pathas, Mr.
Salinger.
It says so right there.
Oh, you think I had something to do with this? Listen, I suspended Lauren.
Why would I also kill her? Why would you call her an âincompetent bitchâ on a convention floor last month? Oh I wouldn't have taken you for a fan of tech industry gossip sites.
You were overheard saying that you would end her.
Now she's dead.
If you thought the gossip sites were hard on you before I wasn't talking about ending her.
Okay, I was talking about ending her work on MERMA.
What's MERMA? SALINGER: MERMA is an acronym.
Marine Ecosystem Renewal and Maintenance Apparatus.
This thing glides across the surface of a body of water, neutralizing pollutants and removing toxins.
It's like a Roomba the size of a Fiat, only instead of cleaning floors, this thing cleans oceans.
Now, Lauren, was supposed to be one of the finest clean-tech engineers in the country.
I brought her here to spearhead that project.
That was two years ago, and you want to know how many MERMAs we've built since then? Zero.
Hence your frustration with Ms.
Wexler.
At the start, she was relentless.
She did over a year of field research.
She traveled all around the globe commissioning prototypes.
But then, about six months ago, she comes in here, tells me the thing won't work.
Project's a loser.
(chuckling): And I told her that was unacceptable, and I sent her back to the drawing board.
And when her attitude didn't improve, I benched her, but that is all I did.
Can you account for your whereabouts between 6:00 p.
m.
and 12:00 midnight two nights ago? Is that when Lauren was killed? Just answer the question, Mr.
Salinger.
Two nights ago, I was at a yoga retreat in San Francisco.
A bunch of us were.
We just flew back on the corporate jet this morning.
In fact, I will get you my pilot's information.
(chuckling): Hell, I will get you my yogi's information.
Hey, just out of curiosity, has your investigation brought you into contact with a man named Troy? No.
Why? - Well few weeks ago, on a day when Lauren actually bothered to show up for a meeting, she stepped outside to take a call from someone by that name.
I couldn't make out exactly what she was saying, but it was obviously an argument.
Did your eavesdropping happen to register Troy's last name? Sorry.
Troy-- all I got.
(door opens) BELL: Hey.
I, uh, just got off the phone with Mr.
Salinger's pilot.
His alibi checks out.
Where's Joan? She had to go home to check on a houseguest.
You guys have someone staying with you at your place? Like, on purpose? Did Lauren Wexler's cell phone company divulge her records? No.
Shouldn't be long.
Unless Troy was using a burner when he called her, should be able to work backwards to his subscriber information.
Hmm.
You look good, man.
I mean, you know, compared to the last time I saw you.
It was difficult being away.
But I hear the department has done adequate work in my absence.
(laughing): Yeah, well, we are the police.
They don't call us âNew York's most adequateâ for nothing.
What is all this stuff anyway? It's the contents of Lauren Wexler's work space at Pathas.
I had Mr.
Salinger send it over.
Did her drinking bird tell you much about who killed her? No.
But this leaflet did.
âHome care instructions for sutures, stitches and staples.
â According to the receipt on the back, she received stitches at an urgent care facility last month in Fishkill.
That's nowhere near her residence.
Or the Pathas offices.
So, what was she doing there? What, she was buying a hoodie? No.
Have a look at the left sleeve.
You know this isn't blood, right? It's red paint.
It's not red.
It's Farmhouse Wagon Sienna.
Now, there are only three homes in the area surrounding the urgent care clinic which have elements painted that precise color.
And out of those three, only this one is owned by Troy Roselli.
You can tell Ms.
Wexler's cell phone company they can keep her records.
I'm going to tell Watson to meet us in Fishkill.
Can I help you? Troy Roselli? Detective Marcus Bell.
My colleagues and I want to talk to you about Lauren Wexler.
- Who? - HOLMES: We believe she paid a visit here last month.
Soon followed by a trip to the emergency care clinic.
Uh, I'm sorry.
Never heard of her.
See you had your garage door painted recently.
It's nice.
I like it.
Thanks.
You wouldn't happen to have a late-model Japanese sedan in there, would you? No, I, uh I don't own a car.
You mind showing us? No.
Let me, uh, just throw on some clothes.
Well, he's obviously lying about not knowing Lauren Wexler.
And about not having anything in his garage.
(distant door opening) Back door just opened.
He's running.
And there goes the towel.
Stop right there! I'll call local PD for backup.
You two wait here.
Well, should we help him or? Well, normally I would, but you saw the towel drop.
Mr.
Roselli couldn't be more unarmed.
Unless you think he's got a weapon up his Let's just go look at the garage.
I wanted you to know that I am happy for you.
Your decision to become a parent-- I support it.
You do? Why wouldn't I? Are you forgetting I was in the room with you when you told a pregnant woman that procreation was the only act more masturbatory than masturbation? She was a murder suspect, and besides, you're adopting.
You started looking for somewhere to live? What? No.
Why? - Well, there's not an adoption agency on the planet that would hand an infant to a woman who lives with a heroin addict.
You are in recovery.
- Watson.
- You know what? Look, I already spoke to my attorney, and he knows that if my lifestyle is a deal breaker, then I'm not going to adopt.
Anyway, I think the bigger question is-- how are you going to feel about having a kid around? I mean, I would not expect you to co-parent or anything.
The baby would be my responsibility.
You said that about Clyde.
I am not talking about a tortoise here.
For you, Watson I'd make adjustments.
Always.
Am I crazy, or is that a MERMA? The supposedly impossible-to-build ocean cleaner? Without question.
I'm beginning to think that Lauren Wexler wasn't so incompetent after all.
No, she wasn't incompetent.
She was a thief.
Look, when you guys came into my door, I swear to God, I had no idea Lauren was dead.
Well, someone at her office overheard you two arguing over the phone a few weeks ago.
Look, I'm not saying I liked Lauren.
I'm just saying I wouldn't have hurt her.
You already lied to us once today, Mr.
Roselli.
You told us there was nothing in your garage.
So, why should we believe you now? I lied for the same reason I ran away.
Okay? That.
The MERMA.
(Troy sighs) Wish I'd never even heard of the stupid thing.
You're an engineer.
You were helping Lauren build it, right? Yes.
I was out of work when she reached out to me.
I needed the money.
That trip to the emergency care clinic-- she cut her hand when we were replacing a propeller blade.
You were aware the plans she gave you were stolen? Yeah.
Lauren told me she took a job at Pathas because she believed in the MERMA.
She knew oil companies would pay through the nose to clean up spills.
But then, about a year into the project, the guy who owns the company, Salinger, he decides to open-source all the tech.
HOLMES: So the companies you're referring to would be able to build their own MERMA vehicles.
Companies, governments.
Anyone who wanted to help clean up the ocean.
Pathas wouldn't make a dime.
Lauren freaked.
She had points in the project.
So she stole all the plans, started working with you.
She was gonna beat Pathas to the market.
What about the lawsuits that would follow? She thought we could change the tech just enough to make it hard for Pathas to build a case.
Maybe Salinger found out about what we were doing, killed her 'cause he was so ticked.
Actually, Mr.
Salinger has an alibi for the time of the murder.
He didn't do it.
Well, then maybe it was one of the other people Lauren stole from.
What other people? The idea of the MERMA came from Pathas, but the tech came from inventors from all over the world.
BELL: Mr.
Salinger said something about Lauren traveling a lot, commissioning pitches from people.
Yeah, different engineers were supposed to work on different components.
In the end, she poached the best ideas she heard.
How would those people have found out you guys built your own MERMA? I guess it could've been during a test drive.
That prototype you saw, it's fully functional.
Lauren took it out on the Hudson a few times to put it through the paces.
Maybe the wrong person saw her do it.
Confusion, days of delusion Take me through I'm sorry about that.
(chuckles) Feels like I spend half my life in the bathroom these days.
Well, you're pregnant, so it sort of comes with the territory.
I was telling you about Brody, right? Yeah.
The father.
- Yes.
He's a very sweet guy.
Very cute.
No interest in being a dad, but Hey, just so you know, um, what happened it's not like me at all.
I don't sleep around.
Honestly, it's really none of my business.
I know, but it's important to me.
Because I was raised a certain way, and I didn't even date until I got to college, so if things work out between you and me, I just want you to be able to tell people that the biological mom wasn't a slut.
You have my word.
So, your parents sound pretty conservative.
How did they take it when you told them that you were gonna give the baby up for adoption? They practically threw a party.
Ladies, here you go.
Thank you.
You're welcome.
Thanks.
So, you swear you and your partner never slept together? No.
Never.
And you're not a lesbian? No.
- Sorry, it's just-- he's hot, you're hot.
You'd make a great couple.
You would be surprised how often we don't hear that.
In the form you filled out for your attorney, it said that you used to be a doctor.
Mm-hmm.
Well, technically, um, I still am a doctor.
Well how did your parents take it when you told them you were giving that up to be a detective? Um, you know, it took them some time to adjust.
I'll bet it did.
All the time you put in, all the money they put in, God I couldn't do that.
Not ever.
I'm sorry if that sounds judgmental, but judging you is kind of the whole point of this trip.
It's okay.
I mean, you have to go through your process, right? Am I crazy, or did I see a bunch of beehives on your roof? (footsteps approaching) How was your breakfast? I cannot remember the last time I was so intimidated by a 20-year-old.
She kept calling my situation unconventional.
I've had more than one career.
I live with my business partner.
Conventional is the enemy of interesting.
I don't think she sees it that way.
Were you jogging? My PCS may be in remission, but I have no intention of ditching the regimen I adopted to treat it.
Speaking of which, would it have killed you to change the water in my sensory deprivation tank while I was away? Oh, how'd it go with Troy Roselli last night? Did he confess? Only to being an accessory to intellectual theft.
He has an alibi for the night Lauren Wexler was murdered.
(sighs) So we're back to square one.
Hardly.
He thought that in her fervor to build MERMA, she stole not only from Pathas but also from inventors all across the globe.
He thought perhaps one of them discovered her betrayal when she began testing her prototype in the Hudson River.
WATSON: She kept a video log.
HOLMES: Quite extensive ones.
And do they show anyone spying on her? As it turns out, someone thought she was the one doing the spying.
MAN: How many times I gotta tell you, you can't be here.
How far am I from your construction site? A thousand feet? I'm not bothering anyone, and the last time I checked, the Hudson River was public property.
Then do us both a favor and jump in.
'Cause the land you're standing on is private property.
Look, every time you come out here, my bosses are gonna make me chase you away.
I'm not going anywhere.
(scoffs) Lady these guys, they don't mess around.
Okay, next time, they won't send a guard.
They'll send one of their people, and it won't turn out well for you-- trust me.
Now, when she continues to ignore him, he goes away.
But I have a theory as to why his employers were so troubled.
These are the results of Ms.
Wexler's tests.
Levels of heavy metals-- lead, arsenic, cadmium, copper-- well above EPA levels.
So, you think the people behind the construction site were dumping waste into the river.
Are you sure these results are accurate? I'm not, so I'm about to bring them to my Irregular Gay.
That didn't sound right.
She's not my irregular gay.
Her name is Gay, and she is an Irregular.
I know.
I introduced her to you.
But this is about water pollution.
She's a geologist.
But her subspeciality is hydrogeology.
Now, unfortunately, these videos never captured the site in question or any of its signage, so I thought, while I'm with Gay, you could visit the Dutchess County Department of Buildings and Safety, because the site in question would've had to log paperwork with them.
Let's see.
Parcel FN10970-1B, lot 993482, east bank of the river.
Says here that permit was issued to Topaz Valley Industries.
Any chance I could get a copy? Sure.
- Thanks.
Did you know that you're the second person to ask about that parcel recently? Am I? Another woman came in last week.
Her name wasn't Lauren Wexler, by any chance, was it? Sounds right.
But my boss is the one who ended up helping her.
Mr.
Pickering? Do you remember the woman that came in to ask about the construction going on by the river? Her name was Lauren, right? That's right.
Something I can help you with? I work with the police.
Ms.
Wexler was murdered a few days ago.
- Oh, my.
- We think it might have something to do with the company that you issued this permit to.
Did she say why she was looking into them? Marjorie, would you mind helping this gentleman over here, please? Thank you.
Look, I'll tell you everything I know, but please, you just gotta keep my name out of it.
Why is that? When Ms.
Wexler came in, I told her she has to be careful.
Topaz Valley Industries is dangerous.
What do you mean? Approving construction permits takes time.
We were only a few months into our process.
I was leaving the office one night, and a man in a ski mask put a gun to the back of my head.
He told me the permit for Topaz Valley had to be issued by the end of the week, or he'd be back.
I came in the next morning, and I forced the permit through.
Look, you work with the police, so I probably don't have to tell you this.
Organized crime and the construction business, they got a funny way of going together sometimes.
WATSON: Hey, are you still at Gay's office? No, I'm at the site where Lauren Wexler was testing her MERMA.
Why? Gay took one look at the data and said she needed to do some on-site testing.
Once we're done, we have to go directly to the precinct.
Even if there are heavy metals in the water, we can't prove they came from the construction site.
Funny thing about that construction site.
It's abandoned.
The work has moved on without building a thing.
That doesn't make any sense.
I just spoke to someone who said the people who own the land threatened to kill him unless he issued a construction permit.
Yeah, it was a cover.
It was a reason for their trucks to be there.
They never did any construction.
Nor did they dump anything in the river.
In fact, quite the opposite.
They took something out.
They were siphoning sand.
What are you talking about? I'm talking about one of the most in-demand natural resources on the planet.
Sand is an essential ingredient in concrete, detergent, silicon chips, but its supply is finite.
So those in the business of sand are always looking for new ways and new places to extract it.
You think that's why Lauren Wexler was killed? She figured out what Topaz Valley was doing? I do.
I also think it's the reason that hundreds more might die if we don't act quickly.
What do you mean? I mean the men who were working here siphoned enough sand from the riverbed to destabilize the support piers on the bridge that I'm looking at.
Gay thinks it's on the verge of collapse.
I sure as hell wouldn't want to drink it, but how does this prove that Maracott Bridge is about to collapse? That sample, taken today from the water beneath the bridge, shows, amongst other things, an excess of limestone.
Why is that important? Because limestone is the material which the bridge support pylons are made of.
High concentrations of it indicates that the support pylons are eroding.
BELL: Hold up.
I thought we were talking about sand, not limestone.
WATSON: We are.
The extraction of the sand is what caused the erosion.
Here.
I made a model on my computer.
I think this will help.
(sighs) Tons of sand got siphoned off the east bank here, reducing its size.
Now, that, in turn, made the river wider, which means more and more water is flowing through this part of it at faster speeds.
Now, if the guys doing the siphoning had just stopped there, maybe we're not having this conversation, but if I'm right, they got greedy.
They started using hoses to extract sand from the bottom of the river, too.
That's why the woman who was murdered found such high concentrations of heavy metals.
Sand acts as a natural barrier against heavy metals in the earth's crust.
You remove the sand, and You get more of them seeping into the water.
Meanwhile, the sand protecting this limestone pylon is gone, and the water moving past it is going faster and faster.
Eventually, gravity takes over, and then Hmm.
I'll call the state police and the Department of Transportation and get them on this right away.
In the meantime, I'd like to get someone from Topaz Valley Industries in here.
HOLMES: That's easier said than done.
It's a shell corporation.
WATSON: The man I spoke to at the Department of Building and Safety in Dutchess County thought it was a front for organized crime.
HOLMES: I suspected as much.
More specifically, I suspected an Indian group-- recently expanded their operations stateside.
The Sand Mafia.
BELL: The Sand Mafia? That's seriously what they call themselves? It's a name they were given in India, where their activities have resulted in hundreds of murders in recent years.
Now, they're made up of many different factions, not unlike the American Mob, but only one of those factions has a representative here in New York.
You think this is the guy who killed Lauren Wexler? His name is Vikrant Jindal.
Now, I doubt that he did the deed himself.
In India, he was notorious for a very particular method of murder.
Are those drill holes? - Yeah.
From his signature tool, a power drill.
Now, lucky for us, Mr.
Jindal is also particular about his eating habits.
I have it on good authority that he eats lunch every single day at his brother's restaurant.
So you fancy a curry? (Indian music playing) Mr.
Jindal, enjoying your aloo matar, I hope, lest the chef's skull soon resemble a colander.
Before you sic your henchmen on us, let me introduce my colleagues.
This is Detective Bell.
This is Joan Watson.
My name's Sherlock Holmes.
We were hoping that you might discuss the murder of Lauren Wexler with us.
Am I supposed to know that name? BELL: She spent a lot of time around your construction site near the Maracott Bridge.
We think she realized that all the sand removal you were doing was gonna bring the bridge down, so you had her killed.
Sorry, I don't know this woman.
And none of the work we did would have affected that bridge.
HOLMES: Just like the work your organization did in New Delhi last year didn't affect this bridge.
(Jindal chuckles) This is New York, not New Delhi.
We would never allow something like that to happen here.
Is that supposed to mean that you value American lives more than you value Indian ones? What I value is the American dollar.
There are more regulations here and more risk of lawsuits.
We tread more carefully in this country.
Now, before we bought the land that you're referring to, we agreed to pay for impact testing, performed by the Department of Building and Safety in Dutchess County.
We told them we were going to extract the sand, and we were given a report that guaranteed us there wasn't going to be any danger to the bridge.
I was at that department this morning.
There were no such reports issued.
Then you didn't look hard enough.
Give my men your e-mail addresses.
You'll have copies from my attorney within the hour.
(door opens and closes) How'd it go with Dr.
Hanson? He agrees I'm much improved after taking the last few months off, although he insists I remain vigilant.
Most of my hobbies remain off the menu, including some sex acts.
Is that the paperwork from Vikrant Jindal's attorney? Yeah, he e-mailed a zip file right after you left for your appointment.
And? - It's like he said.
He told Dutchess County they were going to extract the sand.
Could be a forgery.
I don't know.
Looks legit.
But I am going to go to the Building and Safety Department tomorrow to make sure.
In the meantime, I sent a copy to Gay.
She took one look, and she said the inspector who allegedly signed off on all this work, a Romeo Garza, was either terminally stupid or he wanted that bridge to come down.
And why would he want that? I don't know.
Maybe he's a very patient terrorist.
Until we can get in a room with him, I'm gonna assume that Jindal's men forced him to write that report just like they forced his boss to approve that permit.
Marcus went to pick him up a little while ago.
He's gonna call us when they're both at the precinct.
Is that Kelsey downstairs, is it? Yeah, she said she had midterms.
She wanted a quiet place to study.
Either that, or she's already decided I would make a terrible mother and she does not want to look me in the eye again before she leaves tomorrow.
I'll try not to disturb her when I make my supper.
Evening.
Hi.
Do you need me to study someplace else or? No.
I was, uh, hoping we might talk.
Sure.
Watson was saying that you might have some concerns about our living arrangement, so, uh, I was thinking perhaps I could allay them.
(chuckles) I wouldn't say I have concerns.
It's just a lot to think about.
So that's what I'm doing-- I'm thinking about it.
She told me that you were aware of my-my personal history.
You know I'm a recovering addict.
Mm-hmm.
Doesn't concern you? Should it? I want you to know that if you deem Watson the best candidate to raise your child, and if you decide to give her that gift, I could leave.
Wait, what do you mean, you could leave? I mean I could go away.
We wouldn't have to share a home.
I know for a fact that's not what she wants.
You know, what we want and what we need are very often mutually exclusive.
You think Joan needs to be a mom? I think that when she told me of her plan the other day, I was very surprised.
But when you know her as well as I do, it makes sense her being a parent.
The child that she raises will be very, very lucky.
So, you think she could do it? Be a mom? I think she could do anything.
(cell phone buzzes) Hmm.
Something wrong? No, um, just a a colleague of ours was supposed to find a suspect.
And he couldn't find him? He could.
Just not in the, uh, condition that we anticipated.
BELL: I count at least five drill holes, just like that picture you showed us at the precinct.
Vikrant Jindal might as well have signed his name.
- Hmm - Romeo Garza had to have been in cahoots with the Sand Mafia, right? Jindal killed him 'cause he was a loose end.
HOLMES: Yeah, that's precisely what we're meant to believe.
âMeant toâ? Vikrant Jindal may be as large an odorous piece of human excrement as I've ever encountered, but I can tell you with virtual certainty he didn't kill this man.
He's being framed.
GREGSON: This fits Vikrant Jindal's M.
O.
to a T.
What makes you think he didn't do it? His love of cows.
When I visited Jindal at his brother's restaurant, there was a Vaishnava puja shrine.
Vaishnava is a particularly devout Hindu sect that hold cows to be sacred.
Also of note, neither Jindal nor any of his associates wore leather shoes or belts.
And beef was conspicuously absent from the menu.
Okay, but the killer didn't drill holes in a Guernsey.
He did it to a person.
A person whose wrists were first bound with a leather belt.
A devout Vaishnava would never even touch such an item.
BELL: Back in India, Jindal always used rope or fabric to tie his victim's wrists.
All right, maybe he went with something that was on hand.
Maybe one of the victim's belts.
A possibility I considered until I looked at the size.
It's too large to have belonged to Mr.
Garza.
I think the killer brought it with him as he did the drill for his skull.
Okay, say you're right.
Where does this leave us? BELL: Jindal's attorney sent us paperwork that seems to support his story.
Topaz Valley Industries asked for and received a permit to extract the sand in the vicinity of the Maracott Bridge.
HOLMES: However, when I compared them to samples of handwriting found at Mr.
Garza's home, it was obvious they were not a match for the signatures that we received on the paper.
Okay.
So the Sand Mafia forged the paperwork.
Well, that's another possibility, but why would they kill someone so brazenly? Why not just dispose of the body where we would never find it? Okay, say you're right.
The Sand Mafia didn't forge the paperwork, and they didn't kill Romeo Garza.
Who did? - And why did they want Topaz Valley to think their sand mining wouldn't affect the Maracott Bridge? What? If the Sand Mafia didn't kill this man and they didn't forge the signatures, what else didn't they do? PICKERING: This is horrible.
Romeo was a wonderful man.
You say this is connected to the work done by Topaz Valley Industries.
You think it might be the same man that threatened to kill me if I didn't approve their permit? We would have thought it was the same man if that man actually existed.
What? HOLMES: Last night, after Mr.
Garza was killed, it seemed easier to come up with reasons that the people behind Topaz Valley Industries wouldn't have done it than reasons that they would.
I wondered, if they didn't forge his signature on the report that we received and they didn't murder him, perhaps, despite the story that you told my partner, they didn't put a gun to your head, either.
Why would I make up something like that? BELL: Probably because you didn't want us to realize how many different crimes you had committed.
GREGSON: Let's start with the first.
We talked to some of your colleagues at, uh, your company this morning, and they shared with us a rumor that you get kickbacks from a company called Siwanoy Concrete.
- What? - I thought it was strange how often you accepted Siwanoy's bids for construction jobs around the county, especially when there were competing bids that were lower.
HOLMES: One wonders how much of a windfall you would receive for the reconstruction of a collapsed bridge.
Now, hold on just a second here.
We think that when you received the permit request from Topaz Valley to siphon sand near the Maracott Bridge, you looked into them.
Eventually, you realized that it was a front for Vikrant Jindal and his men.
HOLMES: More importantly, you realized that if they actually carried out the work they were proposing, there was an excellent chance that over time that bridge would collapse.
So you forged a report saying the exact opposite, and then you signed Romeo's name to it.
BELL: Lauren Wexler realized the bridge was in danger, right? That day she came to your offices, she tried to warn you, so you killed her.
You knew that if we talked to Vikrant Jindal, he would give us the report that had Romeo's name on it.
Then Romeo would tell us that he didn't write a word of it.
GREGSON: So you killed him, too.
Made it look like it was Jindal's people so we would go after them and not you.
I think I'd like to talk to my lawyer now.
Sure.
No problem.
When he gets here, we can show him this.
A warrant to search your car.
We're especially interested in your seat belts.
We know that Lauren Wexler was strangled with one from a late-model Japanese sedan.
You drive a 2014 Nissan Altima, don't you? GREGSON: We appreciate you driving it here, by the way.
Saved CSU a lot of time.
By now, they've probably finished taking swabs for Ms.
Wexler's skin cells and saliva.
Detective Bell is going to read you your rights now.
Kelsey, your rideshare is here.
KELSEY: Be right down.
You okay? Yeah, it's just hormones.
Here you go.
Thank you.
I'm sorry.
Uh, that was a lie.
I can't give you my baby.
Okay.
I mean, I knew there were no guarantees.
You're meeting with other parents.
Maybe you'll find the right match.
No, no.
I-I'm sorry.
It's just I should have been more clear.
I can't give you my baby, because I'm keeping it.
I'm not visiting with any other parents.
I'm going back to Philadelphia.
It's okay.
Come here.
Sit down.
I-I'll cancel your ride.
I'm sorry.
I know this is crazy.
No, it is not crazy.
It's your baby.
You know this is all your fault, right? I've never met anyone like you.
Like, it's inspiring.
Until I got pregnant, I could have told you exactly what the next 20 years of my life looked like.
You know, like, I was on a track.
Then I peed on a stick one morning, and all of a sudden, I wasn't just off the track.
I mean, the track was gone.
And giving up the baby was supposed to fix all of that.
Then I spent a couple of days here with you, and I don't know, it got me thinking, âWhy can't I do everything I ever wanted and be a mom?â It-it sounds so lame when I say it.
But then Sherlock came to talk to me last night, and he told me that you can do anything.
And I believe him.
I don't know, I guess I just want people to say the same thing about me.
I want my son to be able to say it.
He's kicking.
(chuckles) He's probably saying, âYou're crazy.
Let me stay here with Joanâ.
No.
He's probably just really happy.
You should be, too.
Do you want to feel it? (both chuckle quietly) (chuckles) MAN (over TV): How long have you known? WOMAN (over TV): Since that day at the gala.
I've never understood the idea that a sad motion picture could be helpful to a sad person.
You don't have to understand it.
You just have to watch it.
She isn't wrong, you know.
Kelsey.
You are inspiring.
To the right person.
I guess I'll have to work on that.
(conversation on TV continues indistinctly)
There is nothing I can do to get his attention.
If I need to get louder, I'll get louder.
HOLMES: A woman was murdered two nights ago in Brooklyn.
The earrings that she was wearing were Polly's.
Do you have any idea who did it? Yeah, he did it.
Not a doubt in my mind.
WATSON: Your blood pressure and heart rate are way up.
You're not just suffering from PCS.
This is clinical fatigue now.
So, I'm going to go away for a while, but I'll be back.
While I'm away, you have my word, I won't hurt anyone.
My car's here.
Taking a break from everything is smart.
It's what your doctor wanted.
You'll be back soon enough.
You'll be better.
Watson! (footsteps approaching) I have returned.
Am I crazy, or did you say you were gonna come back on Friday? I did but some sore feelings developed between me and the local constabulary.
- Why would? You got involved in a case, didn't you? As you know, I spent the bulk of the last three months in my cabin, cut off from the outside world.
So, when word reached me that renowned trapper Ragnar Hagerstrom had been killed by a pack of black bears just miles from my mountainside retreat You weren't supposed to do any work.
I realize that, but No work.
That was the deal.
As I told you when we last corresponded, I haven't experienced a headache in over a month.
My sleep patterns have returned to normal.
Well, my normal.
I still have to follow up with Dr.
Hanson, but all indications are that my post-concussion syndrome is in abatement.
Now, would you like to hear about one scorned woman's attempt to frame an innocent black bear or not? And why do you keep looking over there? I have a houseguest.
You've taken a lover in my absence.
That's excellent.
I can't wait to meet him.
Or her.
Or is it them? No, I have not taken a lover.
So, why are you so determined to stop me from going downstairs? WOMAN: Hey, Joan, I hope you don't mind, but I'm starving, so I dug through your fridge.
Hi.
I'm Kelsey.
Kelsey, this is Sherlock, my partner.
Oh.
I don't recall seeing his name in the paperwork.
- What paperwork? He is not my partner partner.
He is my business partner.
What paperwork? The application she filled out to adopt my baby.
No Kelsey just got in about 20 minutes before you did, so why don't I take you upstairs, and then you can get settled.
We'll talk.
How's it going, Professor? How long are you gonna keep calling me that? Haven't decided yet Professor.
Can I at least take off the dunce cap? Hey, who signed off on this concrete being poured the other night? I did.
And who forgot to ask me if we'd finished putting in all the piping? Me.
Then no, you can't take off the cap.
Are you gonna watch me pull up every slab? Just the first.
Making sure you still know how to operate a chain hoist.
Happy? What did I do now? What is that? That's a person, Fred.
Two arms with guts in the middle.
And those are the legs.
Somebody got buried here.
And you just cut 'em into pieces.
Elementary 6x08 Sand Trap HOLMES: I'd ask for an update on the search for Michael Rowan, but your data speaks for itself.
No activity on his credit cards or cell phone.
Since we spoke last weekend, his e-mail account remains a ghost town.
I take it our friends at the Bureau are still sending you missing persons alerts.
Yeah, every day someone goes missing, I get a notice on my phone.
I thought we were onto something when a woman who looked a little like Maddie Williams disappeared in Fresno the other day.
I almost called you, but then she turned up safe and sound a couple hours later.
Would appear that Michael has gone dormant.
That's one possibility.
Another is that he's gotten so good at killing that no one in law enforcement even notices anymore.
As we discussed before I took my leave of absence, he seemed to mean it when he said he would restrain himself.
He also said he'd be back, so we have to believe he meant that, too.
Thank you.
For tending to this while I was gone.
Couldn't have taken the time I needed without knowing that you were still at the helm.
I wasn't the only one looking for Michael.
You're the only one who mattered.
Is there a corresponding wall of evidence which traces your search for a baby? (sighs) I'm sorry about that.
I did not mean to spring Kelsey on you.
My attorney didn't even tell me about it till yesterday.
Your attorney? Yeah, I hired him a few weeks before you left.
Listen, I was gonna talk to you about it, but you were going through so much with your PCS, and I Watson, you don't owe me an explanation.
She's going to be here for a few more days only, okay? Then she goes back to school in Philadelphia.
She's here to meet with me and a couple of other prospective parents (cell phone chiming) before she goes back.
It's Marcus.
I know you just got back, but how do you feel about a trip to the morgue? Mmm.
HAWES: Meet Jane Doe.
Construction crew found her in a concrete floor they were cutting into pieces this morning.
As I noted, the saw they were using cut her just below the shoulders and right above the knees.
No concrete in her throat or lungs, so she was dead before she went into the cement.
These ligature marks-- cause of death strangulation? Yeah.
As confirmed by a fractured larynx.
Time of death's between 6:00 p.
m.
and midnight two nights ago.
Makes sense.
The floor she was in was poured two nights ago.
Any security cameras at the work site? BELL: No.
And it's a small crew-- eight guys total.
Alibis for the first six have already checked out, and I'm expecting the remaining two to go the same way.
Says here that you found a nylon fiber in her teeth.
God bless man-made fibers and the manufacturers who register them.
The lab says that the fiber came from the seat belt of a late-model Japanese sedan.
Unfortunately, the seat belt is used in cars made by multiple companies.
Stands to reason it was the murder weapon.
These ligature marks are approximately 48 millimeters across.
That is standard width for a seat belt.
Personal effects? Help yourself.
I checked with Missing Persons.
She doesn't match any reports.
No hits on her fingerprints, either.
Who needs fingerprints when you got one of these? What, a rubber bracelet? It's a smart rubber bracelet.
Do you have a scalpel? Oh.
Thank you.
Companies with restricted areas sometimes use RF chips embedded in bracelets instead of the traditional plastic access cards.
So This should help us identify her employers, and that, in turn, should help us identify her.
MAN: Oh, my God.
Poor Lauren.
You said somebody killed her? Strangled her.
She didn't have any I.
D.
on her, but the RF chip in her bracelet told us she worked here at Pathas Global.
Or at least she did until you suspended her without pay last week.
She was very talented, but she and Pathas were proving not to be a good fit.
That said, I'm sure HR still has all her information.
I'll ask somebody to bring it up.
Actually, we've already been to HR.
Got everything we need.
Well, I'm confused.
Why did you need to speak with me? You said Lauren Wexler and Pathas weren't a good fit.
But you are Pathas, Mr.
Salinger.
It says so right there.
Oh, you think I had something to do with this? Listen, I suspended Lauren.
Why would I also kill her? Why would you call her an âincompetent bitchâ on a convention floor last month? Oh I wouldn't have taken you for a fan of tech industry gossip sites.
You were overheard saying that you would end her.
Now she's dead.
If you thought the gossip sites were hard on you before I wasn't talking about ending her.
Okay, I was talking about ending her work on MERMA.
What's MERMA? SALINGER: MERMA is an acronym.
Marine Ecosystem Renewal and Maintenance Apparatus.
This thing glides across the surface of a body of water, neutralizing pollutants and removing toxins.
It's like a Roomba the size of a Fiat, only instead of cleaning floors, this thing cleans oceans.
Now, Lauren, was supposed to be one of the finest clean-tech engineers in the country.
I brought her here to spearhead that project.
That was two years ago, and you want to know how many MERMAs we've built since then? Zero.
Hence your frustration with Ms.
Wexler.
At the start, she was relentless.
She did over a year of field research.
She traveled all around the globe commissioning prototypes.
But then, about six months ago, she comes in here, tells me the thing won't work.
Project's a loser.
(chuckling): And I told her that was unacceptable, and I sent her back to the drawing board.
And when her attitude didn't improve, I benched her, but that is all I did.
Can you account for your whereabouts between 6:00 p.
m.
and 12:00 midnight two nights ago? Is that when Lauren was killed? Just answer the question, Mr.
Salinger.
Two nights ago, I was at a yoga retreat in San Francisco.
A bunch of us were.
We just flew back on the corporate jet this morning.
In fact, I will get you my pilot's information.
(chuckling): Hell, I will get you my yogi's information.
Hey, just out of curiosity, has your investigation brought you into contact with a man named Troy? No.
Why? - Well few weeks ago, on a day when Lauren actually bothered to show up for a meeting, she stepped outside to take a call from someone by that name.
I couldn't make out exactly what she was saying, but it was obviously an argument.
Did your eavesdropping happen to register Troy's last name? Sorry.
Troy-- all I got.
(door opens) BELL: Hey.
I, uh, just got off the phone with Mr.
Salinger's pilot.
His alibi checks out.
Where's Joan? She had to go home to check on a houseguest.
You guys have someone staying with you at your place? Like, on purpose? Did Lauren Wexler's cell phone company divulge her records? No.
Shouldn't be long.
Unless Troy was using a burner when he called her, should be able to work backwards to his subscriber information.
Hmm.
You look good, man.
I mean, you know, compared to the last time I saw you.
It was difficult being away.
But I hear the department has done adequate work in my absence.
(laughing): Yeah, well, we are the police.
They don't call us âNew York's most adequateâ for nothing.
What is all this stuff anyway? It's the contents of Lauren Wexler's work space at Pathas.
I had Mr.
Salinger send it over.
Did her drinking bird tell you much about who killed her? No.
But this leaflet did.
âHome care instructions for sutures, stitches and staples.
â According to the receipt on the back, she received stitches at an urgent care facility last month in Fishkill.
That's nowhere near her residence.
Or the Pathas offices.
So, what was she doing there? What, she was buying a hoodie? No.
Have a look at the left sleeve.
You know this isn't blood, right? It's red paint.
It's not red.
It's Farmhouse Wagon Sienna.
Now, there are only three homes in the area surrounding the urgent care clinic which have elements painted that precise color.
And out of those three, only this one is owned by Troy Roselli.
You can tell Ms.
Wexler's cell phone company they can keep her records.
I'm going to tell Watson to meet us in Fishkill.
Can I help you? Troy Roselli? Detective Marcus Bell.
My colleagues and I want to talk to you about Lauren Wexler.
- Who? - HOLMES: We believe she paid a visit here last month.
Soon followed by a trip to the emergency care clinic.
Uh, I'm sorry.
Never heard of her.
See you had your garage door painted recently.
It's nice.
I like it.
Thanks.
You wouldn't happen to have a late-model Japanese sedan in there, would you? No, I, uh I don't own a car.
You mind showing us? No.
Let me, uh, just throw on some clothes.
Well, he's obviously lying about not knowing Lauren Wexler.
And about not having anything in his garage.
(distant door opening) Back door just opened.
He's running.
And there goes the towel.
Stop right there! I'll call local PD for backup.
You two wait here.
Well, should we help him or? Well, normally I would, but you saw the towel drop.
Mr.
Roselli couldn't be more unarmed.
Unless you think he's got a weapon up his Let's just go look at the garage.
I wanted you to know that I am happy for you.
Your decision to become a parent-- I support it.
You do? Why wouldn't I? Are you forgetting I was in the room with you when you told a pregnant woman that procreation was the only act more masturbatory than masturbation? She was a murder suspect, and besides, you're adopting.
You started looking for somewhere to live? What? No.
Why? - Well, there's not an adoption agency on the planet that would hand an infant to a woman who lives with a heroin addict.
You are in recovery.
- Watson.
- You know what? Look, I already spoke to my attorney, and he knows that if my lifestyle is a deal breaker, then I'm not going to adopt.
Anyway, I think the bigger question is-- how are you going to feel about having a kid around? I mean, I would not expect you to co-parent or anything.
The baby would be my responsibility.
You said that about Clyde.
I am not talking about a tortoise here.
For you, Watson I'd make adjustments.
Always.
Am I crazy, or is that a MERMA? The supposedly impossible-to-build ocean cleaner? Without question.
I'm beginning to think that Lauren Wexler wasn't so incompetent after all.
No, she wasn't incompetent.
She was a thief.
Look, when you guys came into my door, I swear to God, I had no idea Lauren was dead.
Well, someone at her office overheard you two arguing over the phone a few weeks ago.
Look, I'm not saying I liked Lauren.
I'm just saying I wouldn't have hurt her.
You already lied to us once today, Mr.
Roselli.
You told us there was nothing in your garage.
So, why should we believe you now? I lied for the same reason I ran away.
Okay? That.
The MERMA.
(Troy sighs) Wish I'd never even heard of the stupid thing.
You're an engineer.
You were helping Lauren build it, right? Yes.
I was out of work when she reached out to me.
I needed the money.
That trip to the emergency care clinic-- she cut her hand when we were replacing a propeller blade.
You were aware the plans she gave you were stolen? Yeah.
Lauren told me she took a job at Pathas because she believed in the MERMA.
She knew oil companies would pay through the nose to clean up spills.
But then, about a year into the project, the guy who owns the company, Salinger, he decides to open-source all the tech.
HOLMES: So the companies you're referring to would be able to build their own MERMA vehicles.
Companies, governments.
Anyone who wanted to help clean up the ocean.
Pathas wouldn't make a dime.
Lauren freaked.
She had points in the project.
So she stole all the plans, started working with you.
She was gonna beat Pathas to the market.
What about the lawsuits that would follow? She thought we could change the tech just enough to make it hard for Pathas to build a case.
Maybe Salinger found out about what we were doing, killed her 'cause he was so ticked.
Actually, Mr.
Salinger has an alibi for the time of the murder.
He didn't do it.
Well, then maybe it was one of the other people Lauren stole from.
What other people? The idea of the MERMA came from Pathas, but the tech came from inventors from all over the world.
BELL: Mr.
Salinger said something about Lauren traveling a lot, commissioning pitches from people.
Yeah, different engineers were supposed to work on different components.
In the end, she poached the best ideas she heard.
How would those people have found out you guys built your own MERMA? I guess it could've been during a test drive.
That prototype you saw, it's fully functional.
Lauren took it out on the Hudson a few times to put it through the paces.
Maybe the wrong person saw her do it.
Confusion, days of delusion Take me through I'm sorry about that.
(chuckles) Feels like I spend half my life in the bathroom these days.
Well, you're pregnant, so it sort of comes with the territory.
I was telling you about Brody, right? Yeah.
The father.
- Yes.
He's a very sweet guy.
Very cute.
No interest in being a dad, but Hey, just so you know, um, what happened it's not like me at all.
I don't sleep around.
Honestly, it's really none of my business.
I know, but it's important to me.
Because I was raised a certain way, and I didn't even date until I got to college, so if things work out between you and me, I just want you to be able to tell people that the biological mom wasn't a slut.
You have my word.
So, your parents sound pretty conservative.
How did they take it when you told them that you were gonna give the baby up for adoption? They practically threw a party.
Ladies, here you go.
Thank you.
You're welcome.
Thanks.
So, you swear you and your partner never slept together? No.
Never.
And you're not a lesbian? No.
- Sorry, it's just-- he's hot, you're hot.
You'd make a great couple.
You would be surprised how often we don't hear that.
In the form you filled out for your attorney, it said that you used to be a doctor.
Mm-hmm.
Well, technically, um, I still am a doctor.
Well how did your parents take it when you told them you were giving that up to be a detective? Um, you know, it took them some time to adjust.
I'll bet it did.
All the time you put in, all the money they put in, God I couldn't do that.
Not ever.
I'm sorry if that sounds judgmental, but judging you is kind of the whole point of this trip.
It's okay.
I mean, you have to go through your process, right? Am I crazy, or did I see a bunch of beehives on your roof? (footsteps approaching) How was your breakfast? I cannot remember the last time I was so intimidated by a 20-year-old.
She kept calling my situation unconventional.
I've had more than one career.
I live with my business partner.
Conventional is the enemy of interesting.
I don't think she sees it that way.
Were you jogging? My PCS may be in remission, but I have no intention of ditching the regimen I adopted to treat it.
Speaking of which, would it have killed you to change the water in my sensory deprivation tank while I was away? Oh, how'd it go with Troy Roselli last night? Did he confess? Only to being an accessory to intellectual theft.
He has an alibi for the night Lauren Wexler was murdered.
(sighs) So we're back to square one.
Hardly.
He thought that in her fervor to build MERMA, she stole not only from Pathas but also from inventors all across the globe.
He thought perhaps one of them discovered her betrayal when she began testing her prototype in the Hudson River.
WATSON: She kept a video log.
HOLMES: Quite extensive ones.
And do they show anyone spying on her? As it turns out, someone thought she was the one doing the spying.
MAN: How many times I gotta tell you, you can't be here.
How far am I from your construction site? A thousand feet? I'm not bothering anyone, and the last time I checked, the Hudson River was public property.
Then do us both a favor and jump in.
'Cause the land you're standing on is private property.
Look, every time you come out here, my bosses are gonna make me chase you away.
I'm not going anywhere.
(scoffs) Lady these guys, they don't mess around.
Okay, next time, they won't send a guard.
They'll send one of their people, and it won't turn out well for you-- trust me.
Now, when she continues to ignore him, he goes away.
But I have a theory as to why his employers were so troubled.
These are the results of Ms.
Wexler's tests.
Levels of heavy metals-- lead, arsenic, cadmium, copper-- well above EPA levels.
So, you think the people behind the construction site were dumping waste into the river.
Are you sure these results are accurate? I'm not, so I'm about to bring them to my Irregular Gay.
That didn't sound right.
She's not my irregular gay.
Her name is Gay, and she is an Irregular.
I know.
I introduced her to you.
But this is about water pollution.
She's a geologist.
But her subspeciality is hydrogeology.
Now, unfortunately, these videos never captured the site in question or any of its signage, so I thought, while I'm with Gay, you could visit the Dutchess County Department of Buildings and Safety, because the site in question would've had to log paperwork with them.
Let's see.
Parcel FN10970-1B, lot 993482, east bank of the river.
Says here that permit was issued to Topaz Valley Industries.
Any chance I could get a copy? Sure.
- Thanks.
Did you know that you're the second person to ask about that parcel recently? Am I? Another woman came in last week.
Her name wasn't Lauren Wexler, by any chance, was it? Sounds right.
But my boss is the one who ended up helping her.
Mr.
Pickering? Do you remember the woman that came in to ask about the construction going on by the river? Her name was Lauren, right? That's right.
Something I can help you with? I work with the police.
Ms.
Wexler was murdered a few days ago.
- Oh, my.
- We think it might have something to do with the company that you issued this permit to.
Did she say why she was looking into them? Marjorie, would you mind helping this gentleman over here, please? Thank you.
Look, I'll tell you everything I know, but please, you just gotta keep my name out of it.
Why is that? When Ms.
Wexler came in, I told her she has to be careful.
Topaz Valley Industries is dangerous.
What do you mean? Approving construction permits takes time.
We were only a few months into our process.
I was leaving the office one night, and a man in a ski mask put a gun to the back of my head.
He told me the permit for Topaz Valley had to be issued by the end of the week, or he'd be back.
I came in the next morning, and I forced the permit through.
Look, you work with the police, so I probably don't have to tell you this.
Organized crime and the construction business, they got a funny way of going together sometimes.
WATSON: Hey, are you still at Gay's office? No, I'm at the site where Lauren Wexler was testing her MERMA.
Why? Gay took one look at the data and said she needed to do some on-site testing.
Once we're done, we have to go directly to the precinct.
Even if there are heavy metals in the water, we can't prove they came from the construction site.
Funny thing about that construction site.
It's abandoned.
The work has moved on without building a thing.
That doesn't make any sense.
I just spoke to someone who said the people who own the land threatened to kill him unless he issued a construction permit.
Yeah, it was a cover.
It was a reason for their trucks to be there.
They never did any construction.
Nor did they dump anything in the river.
In fact, quite the opposite.
They took something out.
They were siphoning sand.
What are you talking about? I'm talking about one of the most in-demand natural resources on the planet.
Sand is an essential ingredient in concrete, detergent, silicon chips, but its supply is finite.
So those in the business of sand are always looking for new ways and new places to extract it.
You think that's why Lauren Wexler was killed? She figured out what Topaz Valley was doing? I do.
I also think it's the reason that hundreds more might die if we don't act quickly.
What do you mean? I mean the men who were working here siphoned enough sand from the riverbed to destabilize the support piers on the bridge that I'm looking at.
Gay thinks it's on the verge of collapse.
I sure as hell wouldn't want to drink it, but how does this prove that Maracott Bridge is about to collapse? That sample, taken today from the water beneath the bridge, shows, amongst other things, an excess of limestone.
Why is that important? Because limestone is the material which the bridge support pylons are made of.
High concentrations of it indicates that the support pylons are eroding.
BELL: Hold up.
I thought we were talking about sand, not limestone.
WATSON: We are.
The extraction of the sand is what caused the erosion.
Here.
I made a model on my computer.
I think this will help.
(sighs) Tons of sand got siphoned off the east bank here, reducing its size.
Now, that, in turn, made the river wider, which means more and more water is flowing through this part of it at faster speeds.
Now, if the guys doing the siphoning had just stopped there, maybe we're not having this conversation, but if I'm right, they got greedy.
They started using hoses to extract sand from the bottom of the river, too.
That's why the woman who was murdered found such high concentrations of heavy metals.
Sand acts as a natural barrier against heavy metals in the earth's crust.
You remove the sand, and You get more of them seeping into the water.
Meanwhile, the sand protecting this limestone pylon is gone, and the water moving past it is going faster and faster.
Eventually, gravity takes over, and then Hmm.
I'll call the state police and the Department of Transportation and get them on this right away.
In the meantime, I'd like to get someone from Topaz Valley Industries in here.
HOLMES: That's easier said than done.
It's a shell corporation.
WATSON: The man I spoke to at the Department of Building and Safety in Dutchess County thought it was a front for organized crime.
HOLMES: I suspected as much.
More specifically, I suspected an Indian group-- recently expanded their operations stateside.
The Sand Mafia.
BELL: The Sand Mafia? That's seriously what they call themselves? It's a name they were given in India, where their activities have resulted in hundreds of murders in recent years.
Now, they're made up of many different factions, not unlike the American Mob, but only one of those factions has a representative here in New York.
You think this is the guy who killed Lauren Wexler? His name is Vikrant Jindal.
Now, I doubt that he did the deed himself.
In India, he was notorious for a very particular method of murder.
Are those drill holes? - Yeah.
From his signature tool, a power drill.
Now, lucky for us, Mr.
Jindal is also particular about his eating habits.
I have it on good authority that he eats lunch every single day at his brother's restaurant.
So you fancy a curry? (Indian music playing) Mr.
Jindal, enjoying your aloo matar, I hope, lest the chef's skull soon resemble a colander.
Before you sic your henchmen on us, let me introduce my colleagues.
This is Detective Bell.
This is Joan Watson.
My name's Sherlock Holmes.
We were hoping that you might discuss the murder of Lauren Wexler with us.
Am I supposed to know that name? BELL: She spent a lot of time around your construction site near the Maracott Bridge.
We think she realized that all the sand removal you were doing was gonna bring the bridge down, so you had her killed.
Sorry, I don't know this woman.
And none of the work we did would have affected that bridge.
HOLMES: Just like the work your organization did in New Delhi last year didn't affect this bridge.
(Jindal chuckles) This is New York, not New Delhi.
We would never allow something like that to happen here.
Is that supposed to mean that you value American lives more than you value Indian ones? What I value is the American dollar.
There are more regulations here and more risk of lawsuits.
We tread more carefully in this country.
Now, before we bought the land that you're referring to, we agreed to pay for impact testing, performed by the Department of Building and Safety in Dutchess County.
We told them we were going to extract the sand, and we were given a report that guaranteed us there wasn't going to be any danger to the bridge.
I was at that department this morning.
There were no such reports issued.
Then you didn't look hard enough.
Give my men your e-mail addresses.
You'll have copies from my attorney within the hour.
(door opens and closes) How'd it go with Dr.
Hanson? He agrees I'm much improved after taking the last few months off, although he insists I remain vigilant.
Most of my hobbies remain off the menu, including some sex acts.
Is that the paperwork from Vikrant Jindal's attorney? Yeah, he e-mailed a zip file right after you left for your appointment.
And? - It's like he said.
He told Dutchess County they were going to extract the sand.
Could be a forgery.
I don't know.
Looks legit.
But I am going to go to the Building and Safety Department tomorrow to make sure.
In the meantime, I sent a copy to Gay.
She took one look, and she said the inspector who allegedly signed off on all this work, a Romeo Garza, was either terminally stupid or he wanted that bridge to come down.
And why would he want that? I don't know.
Maybe he's a very patient terrorist.
Until we can get in a room with him, I'm gonna assume that Jindal's men forced him to write that report just like they forced his boss to approve that permit.
Marcus went to pick him up a little while ago.
He's gonna call us when they're both at the precinct.
Is that Kelsey downstairs, is it? Yeah, she said she had midterms.
She wanted a quiet place to study.
Either that, or she's already decided I would make a terrible mother and she does not want to look me in the eye again before she leaves tomorrow.
I'll try not to disturb her when I make my supper.
Evening.
Hi.
Do you need me to study someplace else or? No.
I was, uh, hoping we might talk.
Sure.
Watson was saying that you might have some concerns about our living arrangement, so, uh, I was thinking perhaps I could allay them.
(chuckles) I wouldn't say I have concerns.
It's just a lot to think about.
So that's what I'm doing-- I'm thinking about it.
She told me that you were aware of my-my personal history.
You know I'm a recovering addict.
Mm-hmm.
Doesn't concern you? Should it? I want you to know that if you deem Watson the best candidate to raise your child, and if you decide to give her that gift, I could leave.
Wait, what do you mean, you could leave? I mean I could go away.
We wouldn't have to share a home.
I know for a fact that's not what she wants.
You know, what we want and what we need are very often mutually exclusive.
You think Joan needs to be a mom? I think that when she told me of her plan the other day, I was very surprised.
But when you know her as well as I do, it makes sense her being a parent.
The child that she raises will be very, very lucky.
So, you think she could do it? Be a mom? I think she could do anything.
(cell phone buzzes) Hmm.
Something wrong? No, um, just a a colleague of ours was supposed to find a suspect.
And he couldn't find him? He could.
Just not in the, uh, condition that we anticipated.
BELL: I count at least five drill holes, just like that picture you showed us at the precinct.
Vikrant Jindal might as well have signed his name.
- Hmm - Romeo Garza had to have been in cahoots with the Sand Mafia, right? Jindal killed him 'cause he was a loose end.
HOLMES: Yeah, that's precisely what we're meant to believe.
âMeant toâ? Vikrant Jindal may be as large an odorous piece of human excrement as I've ever encountered, but I can tell you with virtual certainty he didn't kill this man.
He's being framed.
GREGSON: This fits Vikrant Jindal's M.
O.
to a T.
What makes you think he didn't do it? His love of cows.
When I visited Jindal at his brother's restaurant, there was a Vaishnava puja shrine.
Vaishnava is a particularly devout Hindu sect that hold cows to be sacred.
Also of note, neither Jindal nor any of his associates wore leather shoes or belts.
And beef was conspicuously absent from the menu.
Okay, but the killer didn't drill holes in a Guernsey.
He did it to a person.
A person whose wrists were first bound with a leather belt.
A devout Vaishnava would never even touch such an item.
BELL: Back in India, Jindal always used rope or fabric to tie his victim's wrists.
All right, maybe he went with something that was on hand.
Maybe one of the victim's belts.
A possibility I considered until I looked at the size.
It's too large to have belonged to Mr.
Garza.
I think the killer brought it with him as he did the drill for his skull.
Okay, say you're right.
Where does this leave us? BELL: Jindal's attorney sent us paperwork that seems to support his story.
Topaz Valley Industries asked for and received a permit to extract the sand in the vicinity of the Maracott Bridge.
HOLMES: However, when I compared them to samples of handwriting found at Mr.
Garza's home, it was obvious they were not a match for the signatures that we received on the paper.
Okay.
So the Sand Mafia forged the paperwork.
Well, that's another possibility, but why would they kill someone so brazenly? Why not just dispose of the body where we would never find it? Okay, say you're right.
The Sand Mafia didn't forge the paperwork, and they didn't kill Romeo Garza.
Who did? - And why did they want Topaz Valley to think their sand mining wouldn't affect the Maracott Bridge? What? If the Sand Mafia didn't kill this man and they didn't forge the signatures, what else didn't they do? PICKERING: This is horrible.
Romeo was a wonderful man.
You say this is connected to the work done by Topaz Valley Industries.
You think it might be the same man that threatened to kill me if I didn't approve their permit? We would have thought it was the same man if that man actually existed.
What? HOLMES: Last night, after Mr.
Garza was killed, it seemed easier to come up with reasons that the people behind Topaz Valley Industries wouldn't have done it than reasons that they would.
I wondered, if they didn't forge his signature on the report that we received and they didn't murder him, perhaps, despite the story that you told my partner, they didn't put a gun to your head, either.
Why would I make up something like that? BELL: Probably because you didn't want us to realize how many different crimes you had committed.
GREGSON: Let's start with the first.
We talked to some of your colleagues at, uh, your company this morning, and they shared with us a rumor that you get kickbacks from a company called Siwanoy Concrete.
- What? - I thought it was strange how often you accepted Siwanoy's bids for construction jobs around the county, especially when there were competing bids that were lower.
HOLMES: One wonders how much of a windfall you would receive for the reconstruction of a collapsed bridge.
Now, hold on just a second here.
We think that when you received the permit request from Topaz Valley to siphon sand near the Maracott Bridge, you looked into them.
Eventually, you realized that it was a front for Vikrant Jindal and his men.
HOLMES: More importantly, you realized that if they actually carried out the work they were proposing, there was an excellent chance that over time that bridge would collapse.
So you forged a report saying the exact opposite, and then you signed Romeo's name to it.
BELL: Lauren Wexler realized the bridge was in danger, right? That day she came to your offices, she tried to warn you, so you killed her.
You knew that if we talked to Vikrant Jindal, he would give us the report that had Romeo's name on it.
Then Romeo would tell us that he didn't write a word of it.
GREGSON: So you killed him, too.
Made it look like it was Jindal's people so we would go after them and not you.
I think I'd like to talk to my lawyer now.
Sure.
No problem.
When he gets here, we can show him this.
A warrant to search your car.
We're especially interested in your seat belts.
We know that Lauren Wexler was strangled with one from a late-model Japanese sedan.
You drive a 2014 Nissan Altima, don't you? GREGSON: We appreciate you driving it here, by the way.
Saved CSU a lot of time.
By now, they've probably finished taking swabs for Ms.
Wexler's skin cells and saliva.
Detective Bell is going to read you your rights now.
Kelsey, your rideshare is here.
KELSEY: Be right down.
You okay? Yeah, it's just hormones.
Here you go.
Thank you.
I'm sorry.
Uh, that was a lie.
I can't give you my baby.
Okay.
I mean, I knew there were no guarantees.
You're meeting with other parents.
Maybe you'll find the right match.
No, no.
I-I'm sorry.
It's just I should have been more clear.
I can't give you my baby, because I'm keeping it.
I'm not visiting with any other parents.
I'm going back to Philadelphia.
It's okay.
Come here.
Sit down.
I-I'll cancel your ride.
I'm sorry.
I know this is crazy.
No, it is not crazy.
It's your baby.
You know this is all your fault, right? I've never met anyone like you.
Like, it's inspiring.
Until I got pregnant, I could have told you exactly what the next 20 years of my life looked like.
You know, like, I was on a track.
Then I peed on a stick one morning, and all of a sudden, I wasn't just off the track.
I mean, the track was gone.
And giving up the baby was supposed to fix all of that.
Then I spent a couple of days here with you, and I don't know, it got me thinking, âWhy can't I do everything I ever wanted and be a mom?â It-it sounds so lame when I say it.
But then Sherlock came to talk to me last night, and he told me that you can do anything.
And I believe him.
I don't know, I guess I just want people to say the same thing about me.
I want my son to be able to say it.
He's kicking.
(chuckles) He's probably saying, âYou're crazy.
Let me stay here with Joanâ.
No.
He's probably just really happy.
You should be, too.
Do you want to feel it? (both chuckle quietly) (chuckles) MAN (over TV): How long have you known? WOMAN (over TV): Since that day at the gala.
I've never understood the idea that a sad motion picture could be helpful to a sad person.
You don't have to understand it.
You just have to watch it.
She isn't wrong, you know.
Kelsey.
You are inspiring.
To the right person.
I guess I'll have to work on that.
(conversation on TV continues indistinctly)