Law & Order: Criminal Intent (2001) s06e10 Episode Script

The following story is fictional and does not depict any actual person or event.
In New York City's war on crime, the worst criminal offenders are pursued by the detectives of the Major Case Squad.
These are their stories.
Hi.
So it's me, Willow.
Again.
A lot of you commented on a fight that Holden and I had in yesterday's video.
It wasn't really a fight.
Granted, a few of the things he said did hurt me, like when he said just once he wished I'd read something other than catalogues.
Like that's not reading.
It's not.
Okay.
So Holden is still reading his way through that box of hard-boiled detective novels he got on Canal street.
Lurid covers and insect stains.
I think he needs to be distracted.
Ready? Is it working? You ready? You ready? Here we go, here we go.
So, here's what I want to know.
Why don't we go anywhere anymore? He's so lame.
I don't care.
I mean Cut! Cut! What the hell was that? We may have just witnessed the first cyber-kidnapping.
Law & Order CI "Weeping Willow 17"? Never heard of her.
She's been posting her vlog on youlenz for months.
My nephew's crazy about her.
Her vlog? Like blog with a V.
It's a video diary.
She's getting up to half a million hits a day.
I mean, is this just some huge marketing ploy, or is she a runaway with a webcam? My vote, web hoax.
We all heard her yell "cut.
" Yeah, so did the guys with hoods, but they didn't stop.
Since this vlog posted 2 hours ago, over 3,000 calls are coming to NYPD.
From as far away as Perth.
In cyberspace, everyone hears you scream.
These callers think they witnessed a brutal crime.
If they're right, we need to find the victims.
And if it is a hoax? We need to expose it.
Well, cyber or not, if this kidnapping is real, their next step would be a ransom note.
Let's start by tracing the server they used to upload the video.
I tried that, but it was routed through special proxies, a tor server.
In English, Ira.
It's a way of posting anonymously online.
Why would a teenage vlogger hide her server? Exactly.
When you look at her sophisticated editing, her high-end webcam, she isn't who she said she is.
Excuse me, can you just blow up this view out the window here? Sure.
There you go, those buildings in the background.
One has red brick.
The other has yellow brick.
That's gotta be Clinton village on 1st avenue.
Go.
If this is real, the first If this is real.
Sorry.
Thanks for your time.
Okay, man, I appreciate that.
That's the third guard who recognized her photo, but from the web, not from here.
Well, property management said all tenants have been issued photo ID cards.
The only problem is there could be a thousand illegal roommates and sublets in here.
Yeah.
And they don't sign leases.
There are 7,000 units.
No way we go door-to-door here.
How about store-to-store? You say high speed.
Well, how high is high? 5,200? No, bigger.
Faster.
- And the webcam? - Integrated.
- 1.
3 megapixel? - Wow.
Yeah, we just got those in September.
You remember selling one to her? Willow! That kidnapping was staged, right? You could hear her say "cut" at the end.
We don't know.
Was she in the store? I wish.
How about him? Holden.
Uh, yeah.
Early Fall.
I never really pay attention to him in her videos.
Did he maybe pay by credit card or check? Cash.
Small bills.
Uh, I remember we got into a fight.
He wanted a student discount, but his school ID was expired.
What school, Bob? Uh, New York film academy.
Thank you, Bob.
Bye.
But that's not editing, Miles.
That's just death by a thousand cuts.
That's just visual masturbation.
Thank you.
You'll get it.
This generation, it's all width, no depth, no theme, no narrative.
It's like your weeping Willow videos.
Amateur hour.
The lighting, the editing, and don't even get me started on the so-called "story arc.
" Look, we're really only interested in whether or not you recognize this kid who calls himself Holden.
I can assure you, no student of mine is involved in weeping Willow 17.
Even the title is derivative.
Do you recognize this young man? Well, he's certainly not a current student.
Well does that mean he's a former student? Just for a semester, you know.
He dropped out a year and a half ago.
James Cameron wannabe.
You know, sliver of raw talent.
But, of course, he was too arrogant to think he needed to learn anything.
Does he have a name? Foster.
D.
H.
Foster.
How about a current address? Look, I'm not just a teacher.
I'm a filmmaker.
I don't have time to look up where everybody lives.
I don't know! Then I guess you wouldn't know where he was from.
He was from someplace way out in the boondocks.
I don't know, Elmira, New York or something like that.
Elmira? Yeah.
Elmira.
Do me a favor, professor.
Don't tell anyone about this for now, okay? Don't worry.
All this publicity, the guy doesn't deserve it.
We have to go.
Hey! Was I right? Ransom note? Yes and no.
Read.
Loud.
Okay.
"Listen up, people.
" "I'm Willow and I'm here with Holden.
" "We've not been harmed but please, please," "all of our fans go to the freewillow17.
com website now.
" "Download some of our archive videos.
" "They're available for $1.
99.
" If they're gonna be able to get outta here and make more videos, we will need 100,000 downloads within the next 48 hours.
Otherwise they're gonna be logged off for good! Bang! Kidnap the victims, wait a few hours, then demand a ransom.
Same game, different playing field.
Yeah.
Except this time they're asking strangers for the ransom money.
They didn't call it ransom.
They called it download fees.
A buck 99 from 100,000 different people.
Those little jerks just might get it.
She did look terrified.
Yeah, and in earlier videos, she would flirt and be petulant.
I mean, she's acting.
You think it's real? I don't know.
Give me a body with some blood on it at a crime scene, I'm a happy camper.
A cyber crime scene, I don't know what to make of this.
Check the digipay website.
Someone must have registered something with them.
The digipay people are taking the position that this is a right to privacy issue and a First amendment issue.
- Oh, please, what a bunch of jerks.
- Listen, the DA's office won't go to bat until we can establish proof that real people are missing or that a crime has been committed.
Any leads on this D.
H.
Foster kid? He dropped out of film school a year and a half ago.
No emergency contact numbers, but the film school said that they have an Elmira high school transcript from 2004.
Find out if anyone up there remembers him or her.
In the meantime, I'll meet the press.
They have not been positively identified.
We are asking the public for assistance.
We have a tip line set up for anyone who can identify these two young people.
What about shutting down the digipay account? We are in discussions with them.
Is this all just an elaborate hoax? We can't be certain.
Our priority is to make sure no innocent lives are harmed and that the public is not duped.
Please do not allow these cyberthugs to hold you hostage by sending them your hard-earned money.
If it's not a hoax, then you've just encouraged the public to ignore the ransom demand.
Willow and Holden could be killed.
Look, we're committed to a peaceful end to the situation where nobody gets hurt, including the public.
Thank you very much for coming out.
D.
H.
Foster.
Oh, now I remember him.
He transferred in his senior year.
I think his family was military.
He became that "mysterious boy from far away.
" The one all the girls had a crush on? And the one the boys hated.
What about Willow? I checked with admissions, and we don't have a match for her name.
But the face there was a girl who registered in 2004, very shy.
She didn't last two weeks.
Different hair and thick glasses but could be her.
She dropped out? She'd been home-schooled all her life.
I think she was a little overwhelmed.
Well, we'd love to get in touch with her.
Any ideas? I bet she went back to the family farm and never set foot outside it again.
Please, somebody help us.
Listen.
Holden He tried to escape and they caught him.
Please, just do what they want.
They're they're beating him.
Please just go to the site and download those videos.
I know some of you think I'm a fake, but I'm a real person.
Please.
Please listen to me.
My name is Lisa Willow Tyler.
I'm from Elmira, New York.
If someone if someone could tell my mom, please.
We're live from the Tyler farm in Elmira, New York, asking the question everyone wants answered.
Is it real or is it fake? It's been 24 hours since tape of her supposed kidnap hit the web, and since then, thousands of her internet fans have responded to her alleged kidnappers' ransom demands.
Please, just do what they want.
They're they're beating him.
Our Lisa in a movie? It, it looks like her, but it can't be.
You don't think anything's happened to her, do you? We don't know.
When was the last time you spoke to her? Oh, she called about a month ago.
Forgive me for asking this.
Um, is Lisa your daughter or your granddaughter? No, she's ours.
We called her our miracle baby.
So I guess she doesn't check in too often? Well, she's in Africa.
She doesn't have regular access to a phone.
In Africa? She's spending a year in Cameroon through the world healths care foundation helping to build schools.
You get many postcards from Africa? No.
But she did send this.
It's a traditional Cameroon musical instrument.
I'm sorry, but this is an Australian instrument.
There's a kangaroo design burnt right into it.
I don't understand.
Mr.
And Mrs.
Tyler, your daughter has been lying to you.
Excuse me.
Do you remember how she sent you this instrument? A childhood friend of hers brought it to us, Suzie Waller.
Of course Lisa made up that story about Africa.
If her parents knew she was in New York with Holden, they'd freak.
They didn't even let her listen to rock music, no cable TV.
Her mom sewed her dresses.
No boyfriends.
A lonely life.
She used to meet Holden at my house.
She do that a lot? Sneak around, make up stories? Just white lies.
She's a good girl.
And Holden, kind of a bad boy? He could talk.
I'll give him that.
Uh, could you just for a sec? Thanks.
You've seen her video logs? I have a full-time job, a part-time job, and an 8-month-old son.
I don't really have a lot of time for surfing the net.
She made up a trip to Africa.
You don't think she could have made up this kidnapping? Lisa and I used to daydream about becoming famous, getting out of here, you know? Well, I guess she is famous now, kind of.
We've only spoken once since she's been to the city.
We're both so busy.
Thank you.
Do you know where she's living now? Only that she found the place on craigslist, "a furnished sublet, perfect love nest for young couple.
" "Perfect love nest for young couple"? Those were the exact words? Yeah.
She liked thinking of her and Holden as a young couple.
I gotta get him to my mom's.
I'm gonna be late for my shift at the diner.
- Can you let yourselves out? - Sure, sure.
If I was Lisa, I'd run away too.
This girl grew up in the middle of nowhere with two people old enough to be her grandparents.
She was sheltered to the point of being smothered.
Weeping Willow was her way of busting out of that world.
She can't find a better way to make a splash than to stage a kidnapping? Hey, a witness just came forward.
Do not sent your money to weeping Willow 17.
She's a scam artist, a faker.
Willow and Holden are thieves.
I scripted a cyber-kidnapping video drama right here, two years ago at the New York film academy.
Holden was a classmate of mine! He blatantly ripped me off.
I want the whole world to know the truth.
This guy's foaming at the mouth.
Ira, track this guy down.
We need to see what he can tell us about Holden's whereabouts.
This will help.
I've got a hit on the craigslist ad.
For the love nest? I dipped into a cache of old postings from last spring, and then here it is.
"Furnished sublet, perfect love nest for young couple" Detective Logan was right on, it's in Clinton village.
You should be happy.
You may finally have a crime scene.
- Can't wait.
- I bet when we get there, they'll be watching TV and laughing at us.
Doesn't look like they expected to be gone for very long.
So Willow filmed the videos here.
The laptop must have been there.
These glasses.
Holden wore them in the video logs.
Let's get back to this blood, huh? There's a lot of it, and they got footprints going right out into the hallway.
These guys must watch a lot of forensic TV.
Very elaborate staging.
Is it? Wheeler, you've been skeptical from the get.
Now you think this is real? This was Willow's love nest.
I don't think she'd want it trashed that way.
There were security cameras in the elevator.
Okay, out of context, this looks real.
In context, they knew they were being videotaped, so they stay in character till they get out the door.
Wheeler said the door looked like it had been knocked in.
In that building, all the doors looked like they've been knocked in.
The blood at the scene was human, type O.
And CSU found broken fingernails and what looks like Willow's hair torn from the root.
No contact from the kidnappers since yesterday.
If this is real, that's not a good sign.
Well, if it is real, shouldn't our next move be to contact them? We gave a press conference.
No response.
Maybe that was the wrong medium.
They might wanna negotiate on their own turf.
Right.
So which one of you two wants to go on camera? - Wheeler.
- Not me.
No! Wheeler, your face now represents the entire NYPD.
Do what you can.
Okay, Wheeler, uh, action.
This is detective Megan Wheeler of the NYPD.
I am posting a message to the individuals responsible for the Willow/Holden kidnapping videos here on youlenz.
The Major case squad has devoted valuable resources to this case in the belief that it may be an actual hostage situation.
If this is the case, I appeal to the kidnappers to contact us so that we can negotiate a peaceful end to the situation.
Nobody needs to get hurt.
If this is an elaborate hoax, it's gone too far.
Bob, this is detective Megan Wheeler returning your call.
Please call me back when you get the message.
Thank you.
Welcome to your 15 minutes.
- 5,000 hits on your vlog already.
- Terrific.
Hey! The kidnappers just posted their response.
I appeal, I appeal, I appeal I appeal, I appeal to the kidnappers.
I appeal to the kidnappers to contact, I appeal to the kidnappers to contact us.
contact us.
Nobody needs to get hurt.
Get hurt.
Get hurt.
Get, get, get hurt.
I know some of you online are still saying this is a fake, but it's real.
I'm telling you this is actually happening to us.
You're not showing us respect.
to keep Willow and Holden alive.
After that, bang, bang.
Weep for Willow.
And detective Megan Wheeler? If you still don't believe us Oh, my god.
Believe them.
Please, believe them.
Oh, my god.
Oh, my god.
I'm telling you, the whole story is staged.
He stole the whole damn thing from me.
It's all in my script.
You always carry this thing around with you? Just read it.
The two kidnappers, the boyfriend, the girlfriend, the internet ransom.
Every good kidnapping story has a ransom and a romantic couple.
There's nothing original about that.
Okay, more proof it's a scam? The title.
Weeping Willow.
I liked it.
He stole that too.
Mine was "rescuing Rita.
" Same thing.
His is "weeping Willow 17.
" He registered that name three months ago.
What more proof do you need? So you were in film school with Holden.
Were you two friends? Friends? He worked for me.
He was a gaffer on my film.
Freshman year.
You have the thing about the severed ear in here? No.
So he did have some ideas of his own.
More like he ripped off Tarantino.
That was before her time.
You know what? That ear thing, totally bogus.
It seemed very convincing to me.
Do you know how easy that is to fake? We're about to find out.
We received an ear in the morning mail.
With a note for you, Wheeler.
That makes me feel great.
You were expecting flowers? Can you tell if it comes from someone who's alive? It's not from a cadaver, yet.
It's a healthy male ear, maybe someone in their 20s.
What else can you tell us? Same blood as the blood you found at their apartment.
Blood loss? It would be significant.
Enough to kill him? Not if pressure was applied.
Logan.
Huh? All right, the ear is real.
Doesn't mean the kidnapping is.
That's a desperate move for a hoax.
These days, that's the way it is.
People do anything to be famous.
Or rich.
Almost half a million dollars in four days.
Detectives, good news.
Holden tried to cover it up, but I think I picked up his cyber trail.
Lead the way.
It turns out Holden secretly registered weeping Willow 17 as a domain name months ago.
Same account, he also opened a virtual production office online for scripts, casting.
for "thuggy kidnappers.
" I printed out the head shots.
All right, so let's watch the video, see if we recognize anyone, maybe from their build.
All right, freeze that.
That guy's arm, some kind of a tattoo.
Looks like a snake.
This looks like the same tat.
"Reggie Luckman.
" - But it's not a snake.
- What is it? It's a ribbon of film.
Gotcha.
He used to live here.
No more.
That's not what Reggie's parole officer told us.
Yeah, well, you know parole.
They like to have an address that shows stability.
Oh, they sure do.
Well, this is definitely a man's shirt.
When's the last time you saw him? I don't know.
Do we really have to go through this drill? The one where I search this place and find some drugs or I plant them, and either way, you come downtown, you get back in the system, and that's all for a schmuck who left you? Did you have a fight? No! Did Reggie do something wrong? We just want to talk to him.
He's not hurt, is he? You guys broke up, but you still wanna protect him? I didn't say we broke up.
He left.
He said he had a job.
Did he mention where? He's an actor, you know? He said he had an acting gig.
That was four days ago.
He hasn't been home since.
You don't think he's on a film shoot? I'm not stupid.
The gun I wasn't supposed to know about? He took that with him.
Well, looks like Reggie's a small time felon who brought his own gun to the set and hacked off Holden's ear.
New theory, hoax gone bad.
This kid Holden's lost control of the set.
Okay.
Okay.
Things have gotten out of hand.
It's like so out of control.
This isn't my story anymore.
I'm afraid these guys really want to kill us.
Willow and I, we need help.
We're in the basement of 735 West 130th street.
- What the hell are you doing? - We need the police to come get us! Come quick before someone gets hurt! Come on, man.
We can work this out.
Will Holden? Willow? Holden? And, uh, that's real.
Why don't you tell us what's not? I told you everything else.
Willow and I were filming a vlog when these two psychos burst into our apartment.
Is this the other guy? Yeah, that's him.
Nice work.
Awkward, though, 'cause we found Reggie's head shot on your VPO.
Okay, I left that out.
I thought it would confuse your understanding of the storyline.
Yeah, anyway, none of that matters.
You wanna tell that to the guy you shot dead? I didn't shoot him.
We saw the video.
Oh, I mean I shot him, but that was fake.
I had a prop gun.
He was wearing a squib.
It's like a fake blood bag.
Reggie shot Todd afterwards for real when the webcam was off.
They got in a fight about the money.
Okay.
Start from the top.
Okay, I hired Reggie.
We were making a serialized vlog about a kidnapping, but the guy turned out to be a real psycho! I mean, when he cut my ear off, afterwards he was just smiling like he had done a really good take.
Why didn't you end the shoot? I tried.
He was obsessed.
When the camera shut off, he pulls his own gun out and says, "nobody leaves!" Okay.
So now you're saying that he held you hostage.
Did he make any demands? Pages.
More lines, more action.
It was supposed to end with me tricking the bad guys, overpowering them, and rescuing Willow.
He wanted a different ending.
Something more believable? Whatever.
That is when I wrote this last scene where I've broken free and I'm asking the viewers to call the cops.
You know, Todd bursts in, we struggle, gun goes off, Reggie comes in, shoots me, takes Willow.
Yeah, we saw all that.
It, it came out okay? We finished the take.
Reggie realized I gave the actual address of where we're being held.
He goes ballistic, 'cause now he's not only obsessed with the part, now he wants all the money.
Todd and he go at it, he shoots him.
Point blank in the gut.
He grabs Willow and bolts.
Why didn't he shoot you? I don't know.
Oh, my god.
Willow! Oh, you've gotta find them.
Reggie's obsessed with her.
We're having a hard time judging what's real here.
Okay, here's what's real.
This guy is insane.
He's insane.
He's insane.
Please.
Please, he's gonna shoot me.
He shot everybody else.
Please help me.
It's streaming, live.
- Where are they now? - We don't know.
What is that wall behind her? White, looks metallic.
Could be the inside of a van.
It may be Reggie doesn't know how to encrypt.
He's uploading by Wi-Fi.
Inside the van? When you drive around New York, you can cadge a signal.
Uh, got it.
Union square, public server.
They're still logged in.
Go.
Union square! Let's go! Move it! Does that guy look right to you? Sir, stop right there.
I'm gonna ask you to take that hat off.
Take off your hat! Show's over, Reggie.
All right, now kiss that van! Go on, get over there.
Oh, thank god! It's the police! Give me that camera.
Hey, man, I'm just an actor.
With a real gun and a kidnapped girl in the back of your van.
Did Willow say I kidnapped her? We have you on tape, James Dean, with a gun to her head.
I have it in my script.
Here.
Here's my sides.
We shot the double murder scene.
I grab Willow, get in the van.
It's all there.
Holden told us you forced him to write this.
Well, yeah, in a way.
He was kind of afraid of me.
Of you? Really.
How about Willow? Was Willow afraid of you? Me? No.
Willow just wanted a bigger part.
She said if she asked, Holden would blow her off.
The entire shoot, she had good ideas.
Really good at improvs.
Holden never listened to her.
This whole van scene, runway thing, that was hers.
She wanted an emotional scene, just her in the van.
I, um talked Holden into it.
You talked him into it? Let's go back to your gun.
Get me a lawyer.
I was blindfolded when they did the shootout.
Reggie said the shootout was your idea.
Well, I mean, that's sweet, but it was a collaboration.
Sweet? Didn't he chop off Holden's ear? God, that was scary.
Reggie just completely went insane.
And Holden at first was ready to end it, but then he was like, "no, you know, we really have something here.
Let's keep going.
" Okay, we need to know what happened after the shootout.
Reggie and I left to do the van scene.
And everyone was okay? I was blindfolded when they took me out.
And then I went into the van and touched up my makeup, and then Reggie came out and we drove off.
I'm, I'm really sorry you guys were dragged into this.
None of us had any idea it would ever catch on the way it did.
I just I can't wait for Holden to finish it, you know? I think he's gonna deliver something amazing.
Willow, this isn't community theater.
You're involved in a crime.
It was, it was a performance.
It's not like anybody got hurt.
Yeah, who cares about the character actor, right? Todd? What? Why, what happened? I mean, did he get a stomachache from the squib? It's cyber-Rashomon.
Reggie says Holden shot Todd, Holden says Reggie did it, and Willow doesn't even believe anyone's dead.
Or she's pretending not to.
I think the guy with the gun became sexier than the guy getting beat up.
They partnered up to get the money.
Ballistics, the gun we saw Holden shoot Todd with is a prop gun with blanks.
They're checking Reggie's gun now.
That means Todd was killed when the camera was off.
She's protecting someone.
She wants us to believe she only knows what's in the script.
I'd like to see just how good an actress she really is.
Is, is he really dead? You wanna be sure? No, no, no, no, I I don't understand.
It was staged, just like everything else.
Did you see Reggie shoot Todd? No.
I was in the van putting on my makeup.
Maybe Reggie told you that he shot Todd.
I All I know is that we weren't getting paid much, and, um, the guys decided to ask Holden for a share of the profits, and Holden said no.
And then Reggie came up with some sort of scheme to freak him out into giving up the account numbers.
I guess something went wrong.
But Reggie left out part of the story.
What? No! No! That, that's impossible! How? After he got the account numbers, Reggie shot Holden.
No.
/ He didn't tell you 'cause he knew you wouldn't leave with him.
No one was supposed to die.
I just, this was, this was my big thing.
I was supposed to be a star, just for people to know my name.
He can't die, he's not dead! It's not true! Baby! Baby! Oh, please, you don't understand! Baby, please wake up! No! Oh, my god! She still loves me.
Logan.
Stay here.
Rodgers? Todd's death may not be what it seemed to be.
He's dead, right? Yeah, he is.
But this is what killed him.
That's not a slug.
It's just the wadding.
There was no bullet.
He was killed by a blank.
Look, I only pretended to shoot Todd.
He was in on it.
I squibbed him.
We planned the whole thing out together.
And Willow, was she in on it? No.
No.
Who loaded the blanks? I did.
Holden was too cheap to hire a real prop guy.
And why did you do this? To scare Holden into giving up his account numbers? He was stiffing me and Todd.
The guy was getting like half a million, and we had no cut? Try a million.
And he gets the last laugh.
He's cooperating with the DA.
He's never made any threats.
They don't even have an extortion case.
This whole thing, it wasn't even my idea! It was Holden's! Oh, but I'm the ex-con.
The DA figures let me take the fall.
That seem fair to you? Well, actually, I'd say Todd's the one who has the bad deal here.
The wadding from the blank hit an artery.
He bled out.
What do you mean? What? I actually killed somebody? Yeah.
You actually did.
And you're looking at a manslaughter charge.
Oh, my god.
Does Willow know? Willow, you're not gonna believe this, okay? Our lawyers lied.
The police must have seized the account.
What are you talking about? The digipay account, Willow.
It's empty.
It, it's a million dollars, gone.
It was never about the money, Holden.
Yes, it was.
Where are you, where are you going? I have somewhere I need to be.
No, but but I heard you crying.
Will, you love me.
I do.
And I always will.
We're back live with the internet phenomenon known as weeping Willow 17, Lisa Willow Tyler.
Lisa, are you over the trauma of the death of your fellow cast member? Well, you know, Larry, I actually didn't get to know Todd that well, but he was a really, really sweet guy, and it's just tragic, 'cause he had such a great career ahead of him.
But right now I'm just trying to move on.
What's next for you? Well, I can't even tell you how excited I am to say that I finally secured financing for a full-length weeping Willow feature and that we are going to being production at the end of the summer in Toronto.
Tell me about it.
Well, I basically play a girl from a small town who is kidnapped and she has to do whatever it takes in order to escape.
Boy, she had me fooled.
She had us all fooled.
Don't worry about it.
Let's get something to eat.
I'm buying.