The Closer s07e06 Episode Script

Previously on The Closer You say that your responsibility ended The moment Turell left your custody, but in a civil trial, the jury may very well decide that you behaved with a callous disregard to the suspect's life.
And if the city attorney starts to think that he is losing this case -- He could settle.
And you will be entirely on your own.
So what should I do? For your own sake, get your own attorney! Andtwo waters coming up.
Thank you, Mr.
Baker.
Oh, call me Gavin, please.
Oh, I'm sorry about those labels.
I tell our managing partner it's vulgar, but all the other big law firms are doing it, and apparently we're all lemmings.
So, let's review this civil suit, okay? - Okay.
- Okay.
Plaintiff's attorney, Mr.
Goldman, states that while you had a black gang member, Turell Baylor, in police custody, he was granted immunity in exchange for his testimony about a double homicide.
The D.
A.
made that grant of immunity, not me.
I understand.
Someone else creates the problem, police get sued -- it's why I'm here.
Uh, Goldman goes on to suggest that, "Finding you could neither arrest nor detain Turell Baylor," you dropped him off at his own residence -- in front of several young men from his gang, knowing they intended to kill him.
Hmm.
Mr.
Baylor was later found beaten to death by a person or persons unknown.
Hmm.
Sounds exciting.
It's not, really.
Hmm.
Mr.
Goldman finishes with, "Chief Johnson knowingly circumvented the criminal justice system by appointing herself judge, jury, and executioner.
" AndThoughts? Do you think the Baylor family could actually win this case? It depends.
As a former city attorney, I can tell you that L.
A.
will often avoid court costs by settling cases more ridiculous than this one.
Let's not get ahead of ourselves.
Tell me something, Chief Johnson -- what do you think happened to Mr.
Baylor? I have no idea.
I didn't kill him.
You ever heard of murder by proxy? Gavin, I had nothing to do with Turell Baylor's death.
Well, that's good news, isn't it? Okay.
So, why don't you just give me your 45-second version of events? UmIt's all in here.
I'm sorry.
I must have been vague.
Allow me to rephrase.
Tell me, from your point of view, what happened to Mr.
Baylor.
Sorry.
Um May I get this? No, go right ahead.
It's your money.
What? M-money.
My money? What do you mean? Sitting on that sofa costs you $10 a minute.
Be my guest -- I'll make myself an espresso.
When Sharon Raydor -- when she recommended you, she said you weren't gonna charge us for the first hour.
Which I spent studying the Baylor family filings and all the associated motions.
You're on the clock now.
But if you don't want to cooperate with me, I suggest you stick with your city attorney and save yourself my $25,000 retainer.
$25,000?! Gavin Q.
Baker.
The "Q" stands for "quick.
" I should have known that Captain Raydor was gonna send me to the most expensive lawyer on Earth! Hey, litigation costs money.
We can't afford to pay it.
We can't afford not to.
Well, what about a house and our retirement? We're not even looking for a house.
Come back.
Look, I have a murder -- oh, my God -- I have a murder.
We'll just sit down with the guy and just talk to him.
Look, you talk to him.
Look, I have to go.
- Well, listen.
Just calm down.
- I can't -- I can't -- Look, I'll take the bottle from you -- No.
No.
For $10 a minute, I'm keeping the water.
Hold it! Somebody must have locked the gate or I can't find my tennis shoes.
Are they in your car? UhI don't think so.
You want me to go look? No.
No.
I wasn't planning on anyone dying in the Himalayas today, but let's just get to it.
Okay.
Uh, the owners of this house, Ron and Debbie King, they're putting in a new retaining wall.
About two hours ago, from a city building inspector who had come to check it out.
That's him over there in the orange vest.
- Nice dress, by the way.
- Really? Does it make me look like the Queen of England? 'Cause that's how much money you need to be a police officer these days.
So, what? The contractor dug up a body? Is that it? Uh, well, it's more like he re-dug up a body.
Let's just keep moving around the side here.
Honestly, these stairs.
When I find out who took my tennis shoes Perhaps you misplaced them.
No.
Somebody took them.
Okay.
Somebody took them.
So, this was the new wall here.
Why'd they tear it down? You okay, Chief? - Oh, I'm fine! - Be careful.
Watch your step.
Okay.
Tell her, Mike.
The contractor never pulled a permit in the first place.
So, when the city inspector came to check out the footings, it had to be torn down.
Found something not up to code, Chief.
Two trash bags slapped together with duct tape.
Yeah, duct tape.
That's just never a good sign.
Okay.
It's a guy.
Pretty good shape, except his head's beaten in.
Not finding a wallet or an I.
D.
Name's probably Doug Underhill.
Or Phil Upland.
Okay.
Turning off the camera.
Are you sure, Buzz? You don't want to miss all that great victim humor.
Families of the deceased just love victim humor.
Juries, too.
Maybe we could get another lawsuit going.
Or maybe we could just do our jobs! Okay.
Well In order to dump a body here last week, you would need to know that the contractor was digging a hole in the backyard, which would mean our primary suspects would probably be the owners of the house, Mr.
and Mrs.
King.
Then you have the contractor, his crew, and a couple of the neighbors, I guess.
Maybe they have a connection to the victim.
Let's roll his prints, find out who he was.
Fingerprints? Ah What makes you think he has a record, Chief? Well, someone bashed his head in and buried him underneath a retaining wall.
I'm guessing he wasn't the most popular person on Earth.
Or maybe he was a lawyer.
Detective Sanchez, let's find that contractor, please.
Chief Johnson, meet the incredibly uncooperative Mr.
David Romano.
I can still get my wall inspected if you move those bags out of the way.
What's taking so long? Dead bodies buried in your little home-improvement project.
Tell me, Mr.
Romano, did you skip the permit process on that retaining wall because you had someone in mind you wanted to bury? Look, honey, I haven't been waiting here for hours to answer stupid questions like that.
Now, I'm behind schedule, and if you're not gonna help me, I'm leaving! Mr.
Romano, I need to talk to you.
Mr.
Romano! You cannot just walk away from me! Well, I never! Sir! I said I want to talk to you! Oh -- Mr.
Ro-- Mr.
Romano, drop those keys, or I'm going to arrest you! Arrest me for what? Well We'll start with Felony rudeness and work our way out from there! Maybe add illegal burial and interfering with a police officer.
Hey, hey, hey, don't you need a warrant to search there? Not for what's in plain sight.
Plus your truck is illegally parked, sir.
And this -- this is enough to hold you for the next 48 hours.
What would that do to your schedule, huh? How is business, by the way? Any clients gone missing? Maybe I should dig up some more of your stuff, see what else I can find.
Here's my work folder.
Call everyone.
I got nothing to hide.
And all contractors carry duct tape.
- So big deal.
- Yeah, what about your workers? You hired anybody new lately? You obviously don't know what's going on in the building trade right now.
I don't have enough jobs for my regular crew, much less strangers.
Well, if things are so slow, why didn't you bother to get a permit? Listen, sweetie.
The city has laid off so many inspectors, it takes a month to get one out here.
Unless there's a complaint.
I'm citing you for violation 106 of the L.
A.
city building code.
Your job here is red-tagged until you file a permit.
Oh! Don't let him go anywhere.
AFIS identified our victim as a Mr.
John David Dale, and I think we're going to have a lot more suspects.
More?! We already have too many suspects as it is.
Why more? Well, Mr.
Dale was a registered sex offender.
Lived in that house right up there with the red awning.
- A sex offender? - Mm.
Sure you don't want to just cover him up and call it a day? What was he registered for? Rape of a minor.
All right, Lieutenants Flynn and Provenza, would you please escort our victim to the morgue? Detective Gabriel, please ask Hollywood Division to help round up some of Mr.
Dale's neighbors.
Find out just how popular he was.
Detective Sanchez, please invite the King family downtown for a visit.
And make sure that they bring their little girl.
Lieutenant Tao, let's get search warrants, go over every square inch of this property and the victim's house, too.
What should I say we're looking for? Well, the victim was bashed in the head, so I'd say blood -- and plenty of it.
Thank you.
It had to be murder.
Because you can't inflict this kind of damage on the back of your own head.
Even harder to tape yourself in a trash bag after you're dead.
How long since he shuffled off to Buffalo? I'm not sure.
He's remarkably well preserved.
Where did you find him? Under a retaining wall.
And when was the wall put up? A week ago last Tuesday.
So today's a Friday, which means Mr.
Dale has been dead for I'd say, 12 days.
Very scientific.
Like I said, unlike the two of you, he's well-preserved.
And a good thing, too, because his body provides a pretty clear map of the attack.
These three circular wounds -- is that a hammer blow of some kind? A ball peen hammer -- yes.
This one up top -- pretty light, didn't hurt him too badly.
This one -- a little heavier blow.
Still no fracture.
And the last one knocked him down.
But these wounds are fairly superficial.
The hammer didn't kill him.
Then what did? Sharp force trauma at the base of the skull.
I never saw a wound like that before.
Lots of weight behind it.
I-I should do a cast of it for you.
Now, all I can tell you about the murder weapon is that it's conical in shape.
Pointy at the top and widening out toward the base.
Sounds exactly like my second wife.
Uh, all right, let's review.
The guy's hit three times with a ball peen hammer.
Then falls flat on his face.
And there are abrasions on his palms and knees.
And then he tries to crawl away, over a rough surface.
And then Someone shoved a cone in his head? What kind of cone? Don't know, Chief.
Provenza's waiting for the cast of the wound to be finished.
But the doctor said that Mr.
Dale bled out, so you're right -- somewhere there's a big mess.
But we didn't find any blood in the hole, the yard, the patio, or in either the Kings' house or the victim's.
And whoever bagged Mr.
Dale used gloves, so there's no prints on the duct tape.
- Well, I checked with the victim -- - Sorry.
I checked with the victim of Mr.
Dale's sexual assault.
It turns out she was his cousin.
And as far as the sexual assault goes, she said their family just stopped talking to him and let it go.
Well, that explains why he was dead for 12 days and no one reported him missing.
A conical weapon.
Maybe it's a tool from the construction site? Lieutenant Tao, did you find a funnel or anything like it? No.
Well I did see some party hats.
You know, and if you turned them upside down, they would have the proper shape.
But, of course, they were made out of cardboard Uh, Chief? I'm not sure you have enough suspects on your board.
Not only was Mr.
Dale a registered sex offender, Hollywood Division says the local schools put his picture up on their public notice boards.
Plus The house next door to where you found him has an excellent view of the Kings' backyard.
And it's for sale.
Meet the owners.
Chief Johnson, Greg and Malin Turner.
Greg, Malin, thank you so much for helping us out today.
Commander Taylor tells me y'all are moving away.
When we can sell our house.
It's been on the market for over six months.
I have a sweet job offer in Chicago.
Advertising company.
But we're not moving to Chicago if we can't sell our home.
And, Chief, that's the real story.
You see, Greg and Malin have been having open houses.
Open houses? You mean, where potential buyers walk through your house and your backyard? Our realtor suggested them.
And, like, not counting neighbors, we've had maybe 200 potential customers stop by.
"Buyers," Greg.
Buyers.
We're looking for buyers, not customers.
Only need one.
Not counting neighbors, all of whom could have seen the construction.
And the hole being dug for the retaining wall, so we can now expand our list of suspects to include Google Earth.
Um, sorry.
We're -- we're just riffing.
I don't suppose either one of you noticed anything unusual going on in the Kings' backyard recently? No.
Not really.
Well, but their contractor pulled out all the wiring, so you can't see over there at night anymore.
It's, like, dark.
And were you familiar at all with the victim? - You mean Joe Blow? - Greg.
Oh.
Sorry.
That's just what everyone called him.
Could be we weren't, you know, as nervous about the guy 'causewe don't have kids.
And also what we heard about John was, like, gossip.
We don't even know what he was supposed to have done.
when he was 19, Mr.
Dale raped a 14-year-old girl.
Oh.
Not good.
Maybe that's why the Kings never let their daughter play outside by herself.
You know, Debbie had to run to the airport a couple of times, and she asked me to watch Kayla for her.
And she was really, really paranoid about not letting Kayla go in their backyard without an adult.
Paranoid in what way? How would you like your kids playing in front of a child rapist? That monster should have never been allowed in our neighborhood.
How are you so well-acquainted with Mr.
Dale's criminal record? The Megan's law website.
You type in your address, and a big blue dot shows up where sex offenders live.
I shouldn't have to explain how that works to the police.
And you found out Mr.
Dale was living behind you when? About a year-and-a-half ago.
He moved in after his mother died.
I don't know what she was thinking, leaving him that house.
Did you ever confront Mr.
Dale or argue with him about your -- This is enough! We get read our rights and then hauled down to the police station like criminals.
With our child! Kayla shouldn't even be here.
This is ridiculous! Your daughter is being supervised by specialists in our child-care center.
So don't worry about her.
Did Mr.
Dale ever approach Kayla or try to talk to her? No.
And as much as I hate the idea that completely innocent people like my wife and I might need a lawyer, I'm close to calling one.
Well, get your wallet out, sir, because that's a really expensive alternative to just cooperating with us.
Mr.
Dale was the criminal.
Not us! And if you'd been found buried in his backyard, I'd already have him under arrest.
But that's not what happened.
Let me make this clear to you.
We never spoke to the guy.
Our daughter never spoke to the guy.
We never set foot on his property.
And he sure as hell never came on ours.
And he never, ever touched Kayla, because if he had -- if he had even laid one finger on my little girl -- - Ron -- that's enough! - No.
- No, no.
- That's enough! You wouldn't have to dig him up, because I would have beat him to death myself and dropped him off in front of the police station for you! Sit down, Mr.
King.
Now I'm invoking my right to counsel.
Well, better make yourselves comfortable.
Because if you even try to leave, I will be arresting you for the illegal disposal of human remains.
Wait! What about Kayla?! We don't leave children alone with suspected felons, Mrs.
King.
- Ron! - I demand to see Kayla.
We can't let her do that! I demand to see our daughter! Please, where is Kayla? She won't know what's going on! That's what I'm supposed to do if he ever comes into our backyard.
But If he stops to talk to me in his blue car, I have this.
And then I'm supposed to run.
Did you take Mr.
Dale away? Or is he gonna stay under the wall? What would you like us to do? Um Can I think about it? Sure.
Look -- my office is really not a good place to bring children while you're interviewing their parents.
What are you doing right now that's so important anyway? Well, believe it or not, losing weight is not just about eating boring, terrible food.
It's also about exercise.
This is the time that I try to set aside to ride my bike.
I mostly exercise at home.
Can you just hurry, please? I can't ever have anyone over to the house 'cause all my friends know about him.
So I guess you should take Mr.
Dale away.
Does not having your friends over bother you? No.
I get bothered 'cause my mom gets so upset.
She told Mr.
Dale she'd kill him if he ever came back to our house.
Mr.
Dale came over to your house? When? You can trust her.
She's police, like me.
I saw him in our backyard.
Daddy fought with him.
Fought with him how? Well, Mr.
Dale was shouting at Mr.
Romano for being so loud, and that's when mom and dad ran out and told Mr.
Dale if he ever came back, they would kill him.
And did you ever see him again after that? No.
Not until Mr.
Romano dug him up.
How did you even know he was there? That, Kayla, is an excellent question.
Huh.
Hey, Fritzi! Hey.
- Hi.
- Hi.
So, you're -- you're making dinner, huh? - I am.
- Huh.
Friday night.
Just thought maybe we'd go out No, no, no, no.
We need to save money to pay for this attorney.
So no more restaurants, no more take-out, either.
Oh, well, that's a great idea.
Six years after the trial's over, you'll finally have enough money to hire your lawyer.
Sooner than that.
I made some other changes today.
Just so you know, there's a limit to how many nights a week I can eat clam linguini.
Wait.
What other changes? I stopped the newspaper.
You stopped the newspaper? It's just that much more to clean up.
- And you never read it.
- Like you ever clean it up.
I read the paper! I also use it to keep track of all the baseball scores across the entire country.
You can't just To activate telephone service at this location You know what's wrong with the phone? Oh, I canceled the landline.
You what?! Look, Fritzi, you need to be more reasonable about this.
We both have cellphones.
It's crazy, all this money we're spending on luxury items when we haven't even bought a house.
Luxury items? You haven't wanted to look at a house in three years.
All our credit cards are attached to this number.
What about my sponsor? What about my friends from A.
A.
? Oh, I got an idea, honey.
They can all call me on my confidential FBI cellphone.
You know, you make all these changes, you don't tell me about it.
Not only is it disrespectful, but you're not gonna Oh, honey, what channel are you looking for? You turned off the cable.
No! I didn't turn off the cable.
I just canceled all those extra channels we never watch.
That you don't watch! You don't watch them! You don't read the paper.
You never answer the landline.
I'm sorry.
Hold on for just one second.
I'm on the phone with work.
You don't care what we eat as long as you have a chocolate bar at the bottom of your plate.
That is a terrible thing to say! Terrible! And this phone call is about a sex offender who was murdered, bagged, and buried in the Hollywood Hills -- a little more important than what's on TV.
Yes, Detective Sanchez.
I'm sorry.
Um, what did you find out about the contractor? He was telling the truth, Chief.
He never applied for a permit to build anything at the King place.
This is ridiculous.
Hang on.
What? What is ridiculous? We can hire the attorney without starving ourselves, isolated from the modern world.
I am not spending the money.
Well, then you'd better get it from the city, because I am not living like this.
You know, as a matter of fact, why don't you go talk to your buddy Pope about it? Uh, Chief? Yes, I'm sorry.
I'm -- I'm here.
Look, if the contractor never pulled a permit for the retaining wall, then how did the inspector know to come by and have it dug up? Mr.
Romano said something about a complaint, didn't he? Oh! Oh, no No, no! Chief? A-are you okay? Ohh, I'm fine.
You want us to find the city inspector for you? Oh, yes, please.
What's his name again? Chief Johnson, meet our hero from yesterday.
Mr.
Raymond Aguirre, city building inspector.
Mr.
Aguirre, thank you so much for taking time to see us today.
Well, I'm glad to help the police.
Though I have to wonder why I was given my rights in the elevator.
Oh.
That's just a new city policy.
Yeah, we have to Mirandize everyone who comes in the building nowadays.
Don't let it make you feel too special.
Just want to let you know I've never taken a bribe, ever.
Oh.
That'sGood.
Uh, Detective Gabriel, would you please escort Mr.
Aguirre to our Visitor's Conference Center? I'll be with y'all in just one moment.
Thank you so much.
So, after the Kings made bail last night, why did you order surveillance on their house? They're suspects in a murder, Will, and they invoked their right to counsel.
Not everybody who asks for an attorney is guilty.
Yeah, tell me about it.
You and Captain Raydor keep saying I need to get my own lawyer, but no one's offered to help me pay for it.
Look, Will can't you talk to the union and see if they -- No, you're management.
The union can't help you.
Well, what about the city? Can't they do something? Yeah.
Like that'll happen.
I shouldn't have to surrender my life's savings to defend myself when I am completely, 100% innocent.
All right.
I'll ask the mayor if he can find the money to help you out.
And in the meantime, if I'm gonna be paying S.
I.
S.
overtime to sit on the Kings' house all weekend, I'd like to see some kind of compelling evidence that connects them to this case.
Besides lying about the fight that they had with Mr.
Dale and finding him buried in their backyard? Yes.
Besides that.
Well, how about this, then? The victim was 6 feet tall, over 200 pounds.
How do you think his body made it up those stairs in the middle of the night? That's not evidence.
That's logistics.
Look, I will ask the mayor to help you, and in exchange for that, you will either re-arrest the Kings by 6:00 p.
m.
or end the surveillance.
I don't have enough time to do my job properly anymore.
The city cut back on the department.
And we lost some of our people when they were arrested for taking bribes, which I have never done in my life -- ever! Anyway, there aren't enough inspectors left to issue approvals, let alone go hunting for some illegal building.
So, Mr.
Romano, the Kings' contractor, took advantage of that to start the work without your knowledge.
Yes.
Absolutely.
Completely without my knowledge.
Wait a minute.
Mr.
Romano never even applied for a permit? No.
And it's very short-sighted for the owner to let a contractor start building that way.
And now if the Kings ever want to sell their home, the disclosure laws in California will require them to tell potential buyers that they built without permits.
Disclosure laws.
Okay, so, just so I understand, you're saying that no one in your office ever knew that Mr.
Romano built the wall in the Kings' backyard.
Look, can you cut me a break? We don't have the means to check up on building like this.
Then how did you know to inspect it? Excuse me? You had no paperwork on this site.
You never visited it.
Yet a few days after a man was buried there, you just happen to turn up at the Kings' house and demand that the wall covering up his body be torn down? I didn't just happen to show up.
And I wasn't bribed, either.
I was responding to a complaint.
From whom? I'm -- I'm not supposed to give that information out to anyone at any time for any reason.
I'll never tell.
Okay.
Um, there are two ways you can contact us.
One is with the tip line, and the other is by sending an e-mail, like this one.
"To whom it may concern, "my neighbors are building a retaining wall, and not only does their contractor start work too early" -- which is a very common complaint -- we get it all the time -- "He doesn't have a permit posted in the front yard.
" I don't know why people even care about that -- I wouldn't.
"Could you check on this for me? Sincerely, John David Dale.
" And that was dated four days ago.
Well, that is extremely unusual.
Why is that? Because when he wrote this, Mr.
Dale was buried beneath the retaining wall he was complaining about.
Thanks for seeing me on such short notice.
Not a problem.
Not a problem.
I have a closing statement to write for this week, and I work most Saturdays anyway.
- Water? - No.
Thanks.
Still have a bottle from yesterday.
Oh, good.
Good, good, good.
What's up? "What's up?" Well Justdive right in.
Okay.
I need a huge favor.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Look -- I want to pay your retainer, from money I inherited from my parents, but I want my wife To think it came from the city.
I see.
Well I sympathize with you.
I do.
But I like to be completely honest with my clients.
Well, she's never gonna be completely honest with you.
Yes, but there's a difference between my lying to her and her lying to me.
Hold on.
Hold on.
Look, nobody's asking you to lie.
Oh, well, then, maybe I'm confused.
What exactly is it you want me to do? You're supposed to be a very good lawyer, which means you should be able to clearly and simply explain things to my wife in a way she completely misunderstands.
That's her.
Look If you do decide to take Brenda's case, it'd be great if you swung by her office and talked to her about it in person.
Preferably tonight, because I would like to watch some television when I get home.
Hey, honey.
What is it? UmThe parking lot at the grocery store.
Where are you? An open house? Where? You're, uh, not at work today? Pope gave most of my division the rest of the day off.
Overtime issues.
So I thought we'd look at houses.
Really? Buying a house -- that will help us cut back enough to hire the attorney? Oh, well, I spoke to Pope about that, like you suggested, and he said he's going to look into it.
But still, honey, this looks like a little more house than we can afford.
Oh, I don't know about that.
It's a buyer's market.
It's only $2.
5 million.
Oh.
Only $2.
5 million.
I met the owners today, and they're desperate to sell.
Hi, there.
Hi.
Conner Ellis.
I'll be showing the house today.
You guys looking for a new place to live? We are.
I'm Brenda, and this is Fritz.
We're both doctors, so we're pre-approved for loans.
Do you mind if we start in the backyard? In my free time, I just live to be outside.
And Fritzi here is a griller.
A griller? I'mI'm a griller From way back.
So if the backyard isn't right, then we might as well not even look at the rest of the house.
May we? Oh, sure.
Come this way Doctor.
It's a -- it's a beautiful day to look at some of the outdoor features.
And the owners keep everything super nice.
Gardeners come twice a week.
Pool is perfectly maintained.
Mm.
Do you mind if we head out on our own, just to get the feel of the place? Sure.
Oh, my goodness.
It is so romantic! If you think so, darling.
Excuse us, Conner.
Certainly.
Take your time.
So tell me, Doctor, what are we looking for out here? Uh, drag marks or wheelbarrow tracks.
Huh.
Hey, hon? Look what I see.
Right next door.
The ruins of a retaining wall under which someone like a murder victim could be buried.
Don't you need a warrant to go poking around like this? It says "Open house.
" Open.
Oh, look.
Oh, isn't it beautiful, honey? Let's take some pictures! Oh, my.
Don't hurt yourself.
I got it.
I got it.
You're not gonna tell me you're into garden gnomes, are you? No, but I would like to meet the little fella who used to live here.
Why are you interested in a missing gnome? Because he saw the murder, up close and personal.
What are you looking at? Oh, the grout between the tiles.
- What about it? - Oh Her father told her that if there are cracks in the grout, the house could be moving, you know, earthquakes.
Oh, no, no.
We'd have to disclose that.
He's right, honey.
California Civil Code requires property owners to fully and completely disclose any known problems with the house before selling them.
A building inspector talked to me about it today for about an hour.
Everything all right with the tile, thenDoctor? Oh, it looks like this side's recently been cleaned with bleach, but I'm sure I can get what I need with the proper lighting.
Anything else you'd like to disclose? D-don't you want to see the rest of the house? Let's get the bad news over with first.
There was rain damage last year.
It is all fixed.
And The owners had termites four years ago, but they tented.
A Megan's law registrant lived behind us here -- died recently -- oh, uh, parking across the street -- Megan's law? A sex offender lives close by? Lived.
Lived.
Past tense.
He died.
Last week.
Thank God.
That guy single-handedly kept me from selling this house for months.
Anyway, uh, street parking is -- Thank you, Conner.
Which way is the master bedroom, please? It's one of my wife's little quirks.
First thing she needs to know is if there's enough room for her shoes.
Shoes, uh, they're very important.
Yeah.
Yep.
Yep.
Uh Y-you finding everything you want in there? Oh, I am.
In fact I think I'm ready to make the owners an offer right now.
You have the right to remain silent.
Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.
You have the right to an attorney.
If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you by the state.
We can afford an attorney.
We just don't need one.
Look -- before y'all start interrupting me and saying things you're going to regret, I wanted to show you, Malin, all these spots here on your jeans and your sneakers -- they're from the bleach that splashed up on your clothes while you were cleaning blood off your patio.
And Our lab sprayed the grout between the tiles on your terrace.
And it tested positive for blood residue.
In a few days, we'll have a DNA match of our victim.
And that is enough to arrest you both for murder.
- Wait a minute.
Wait a minute.
- No.
- No, Greg.
- Wait a minute.
Wait.
Wait.
Don't try to protect me anymore.
- We have -- - I did it.
H-honey! Like -- no! - Greg -- - No! I have to tell her.
Malin's right, Greg.
If you don't explain exactly what happened, we cannot help you.
I-I told Greg when he came home.
We should have called the police.
You were only defending yourself.
She has nothing to explain.
Let's put it behind us, honey.
They already know most of the story anyway.
Look -- John Dale -- he must have been watching us, waiting for times when I would be alone.
If only we had known he was, like, you know, a rapist! Greg, be quiet.
I mean - Let me tell her what happened, please.
- Okay.
Anyway, about two weeks ago, I went into our backyard And there he was -- John David Dale Waiting for me.
And he -- he tried He tri-- he tried He tried to rape her.
And all Malin did was, you know, try to stop him.
She didn't mean to kill him.
When I got home, Malin was still really upset.
And I just wanted the dude off our property, so, you know, sorry about the illegal burial, but it was, like, very spur-of-the-moment.
Really? Because it seems a bit better organized than that.
We found this stuff at your house.
According to Greg's credit card, he bought the wheelbarrow and everything in it the day before you claim Mr.
Dale tried to rape you.
The outdoor bleach - And, uh, the trash bags - Box of 50, 2 missing.
Are the same ones that Mr.
Dale was stuffed in.
And the duct tape matches what was used to close the bags up.
And the ball peen hammer Which exactly fits several wounds on the victim's skull.
I don't know, y'all.
Doesn't it seem a little coincidental that all of this should be happening right when your neighbor's yard was being dug up, giving you the perfect place to bury Mr.
Dale? You're, like, suggesting that we, like, murdered the guy.
Why would -- why would we do that? Maybe because living so close to a registered sex offender made your home impossible to sell.
Except for Mr.
Dale's name couldn't be removed from the Megan's law website until he was declared dead.
And for that, you needed the body.
And you didn't have it.
So you sent a letter of complaint to the city building inspector in regards to the illegal retaining wall where you buried him.
And then -- poof -- they dug him up.
And that is our version of how Mr.
Dale died.
So what do you think, Greg? Are we on the right track? - No.
- Well - No, no, no.
- Well He tried to rape me, I was alone, and I defended myself.
Okay.
Let's see if that's possible.
Last week, you asked your gardeners, who come twice a week, to take away this perfectly good lawn ornament.
They were surprised, your gardeners, because you cleaned him up before throwing him out.
Turns out, the wound in the base of our victim's skull goes exactly with the tippy-top of this little gnome's hat.
You know what it looks like, Malin? Honestly, it looks like you struck Mr.
Dale several times with that hammer, not realizing how heavy it was to swing.
Especially for a little slip of a girl like you.
And when you realized that Mr.
Dale fell down and only broke his nose, you grabbed the nearest object you could find, and shoved it into his head.
I was panicked and defenseless and alone.
Okay.
If you could show me how you picked up that little garden gnome all by yourself, then I'll take your word for it.
Lift with your legs.
Lift with your legs, babe.
If it makes you feel any better, I had to have my husband help me with it, too.
I can get it.
Oh! What I don't understand is why you went back into Mr.
Dale's house and wrote that e-mail when you could have just called and lodged a complaint.
We thought you might, like, recognize our voices.
I'll take that as your confession.
Greg, you idiot! Oh! Hold on.
Wait.
I just figured out what we should have said.
Is there any way we could, you know, like, start our story over? No Because, like, you know, you're under arrest for murder in the first degree.
Chief Johnson.
The lawyer is here.
They -- they called a lawyer? No, no.
Your attorney is here.
Oh.
Oh? Okay.
Um Well, we need to take care of our guests here first, but, uh, Buzz, would you mind removing our little friend here? - Sure thing, Chief.
- Thank you.
Gives me the creeps.
Gavin.
- Hello.
- Hello.
To what do we owe the honor? Oh, well, I just wanted to drop by and tell you how good it was to meet you yesterday, and how honored I am to be representing you in this Turell Baylor business.
Oh, no, no.
No, not yet.
Look, you're a great attorney and all that, but we still haven't figured out how we're gonna pay your fee.
That's been taken care of.
Huh? The retainer.
And you, Chief Johnson, you, personally, will not be paying me a dime.
I won't? As long as we don't go to trial.
But, as we say in my profession, "We'll double-cross that bridge when we come to it.
" Ah.
Oh.
I'm sorry.
Excuse me one little second.
Sure.
I thought I said no more overtime.
Oh, Will, thank you so much for getting the city to pay for my attorney.
You have no idea how much this means to me.
You really don't.
Well, uh Well, you're welcome.
Thank you so much, Will.
Really.
Thank you with all my heart.
I'm just I'm glad it got managed.
So Good work.
Good work.
Flight risk.
All right, then.
Thanks to Chief Pope, we are in business.
Yeah.
All thanks to Pope.
Um Since I'm here, why don't we just, very quickly, establish some ground rules, okay? - Okay.
- Okay.
I think, as a general policy, fewer things will go wrong if we all agree, from this moment on, to be completely honest with each other.
How about this? I swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help me God.
So -- so help me God.