Chicago Fire s07e21 Episode Script

- How you been? - Good.
I haven't seen you around the firehouse lately.
I haven't been checking in on the folks at 51 very much, have I? It'd be good for us.
The gang at 51 needs you.
Oh, oh, oh, oh! - Uh, uh, emergency! - Yes! I sat next to the two of you the whole night.
You're the one who should be with Matt Casey.
What? Oh, no.
My whole life is in that salon! We found plenty of indication to call this one an arson.
Hey, you can't be in here.
This is an active investigation.
We've seen this before, right? Feels familiar somehow.
I know who torched the hair salon.
Someone my dad was hunting for 15 years.
Benny was obsessed with this one arsonist from back in the day.
He called him his white whale.
The guy was responsible for at least eight fires between 2002 and 2004.
Killed two people, injured another six.
They never got an ID on the suspect.
The only description came from one of the burn victims, who got a passing look at a 30-ish male, about six feet, two bills.
Then all of a sudden, the fires stopped, trail went cold, until now.
What makes you think he's responsible for the salon fire? Identical timing device, same kind of kitchen timer jury-rigged in the exact same way.
And he always disables the electric meter during a break in.
How do you explain the 15-year gap? I can't, but the notes in Benny's book tell me that this is the same guy.
Could be a copycat.
Except that a lot of the details weren't publicized.
Why didn't you give OFI the notebook along with the case file? I wanted to make a copy of it first, thumb through it, see if I can figure this guy out.
I'll take a copy to Hubble today.
Messenger it and stay out of Hubble's hair.
It's about time OFI handled this.
You got a job here to do.
Come on.
What do you think? I'll be curious to hear what Hubble makes of it all.
I was handed this and told to put it up, but I do so under protest.
It's a retirement party announcement.
What are you protesting? This guy, Russ LaPointe.
I love LaPointe.
Everybody loves LaPointe.
He is a leather-lunged firefighter, does the CFD proud, and he's a great family man.
So what's your beef with him? Well, uh, let me start by saying I have no problem with the fact that he won every muster event we were ever in together.
But when I was first dating Trudy, she came to watch the hose roll competition shut up so I said to LaPointe, "How 'bout you let me at least, you know, come close this time? My girl is here.
" No go! LaPointe dusts me.
Couldn't risk losing his beloved Best Individual Firefighter medal, so Trudy had to watch me go down in agonizing defeat.
Yet she married you anyway.
Hey, we'll swing by 77 later on and you can meet him - and I can bust his balls.
- Yeah.
Oh, hey, uh, tell him good riddance for me.
- Wow, no.
- Is he serious? Wow.
How are you already this tired? Guys, I had a late night.
Just wanna get a few quick Zs before the first bells.
Don't be boring.
Come have doughnuts with us! Okay.
Morning.
Hi.
Good morning.
You okay? We'll get her some water.
She's she's fine.
Yeah.
What was that? I I don't know.
I started to say hi, and I swallowed my spit weird or something.
Getting a little stressed out when I see Casey.
Olivia said Casey and I were meant for each other.
That is ridiculous.
Right? No, not really.
Okay, well, I'm sure Casey doesn't feel that way.
He was married to my best friend.
I dated her brother.
So? That's ancient history.
Forget the Dawson stuff for a minute.
How do you feel about Casey? Well, that's the thing.
I don't I don't know.
Coughing fit says ya do.
Good night.
Truck 81, Ambulance 61, injured person at Polk Street and Aberdeen.
And there go the Zs.
Come on.
Okay, stay right here.
- Hey, over here! - Wait up a sec.
Hurry up! He needs help! What happened? We were having a Roman candle war, and Aaron tried to shoot, like, five tubes at once, but they all blew up in his hand.
- Roman candle war? - Yeah.
Hey, hon, let me see.
What are we dealing with? I can't find my fingers.
Uh, Casey? We're missing two digits.
Copy that.
I need everyone over here! Kidd, bring the TIC.
We got two missing digits.
- Happened right around here? - Yeah.
I've been looking all over, but I can't seem to find them anywhere.
Just breathe for me, okay? Draw up 5 milligrams of morphine.
Comin' right up.
Guys, watch your step.
Oh, yeah.
- Oh, oh, yeah! - Yeah, come on! You gotta be kidding me.
This stupidity is still going on? Let's go, okay? Why don't you go tell them to stop before they get hurt too? Hey, guys! You gotta stop! I got 'em! Oh! Hey, watch it! Knock it off.
Oh! - Damn it.
- You got him! Let's go.
Let's go.
Go, go, go, go! Let me see that neck.
- Ah, it's nothing.
- It's not nothing.
There's a little carbon debris in there.
Let's irrigate that so it doesn't get infected.
I'll wash it out when I get back.
Oh, yep, okay.
Okay.
Promise you'll keep this dry and clean and change the bandage.
Sure.
Promise? Go.
Oh, excuse me, yeah.
Hey, Chaplain.
Hey, guys.
- Hey, pal.
- How are you, man? - Good.
- Good.
Good to see you, Chaplain.
Yeah, it's been a while.
Too long, for sure.
My apologies.
- Hey.
- Hey.
Thank you for setting me straight.
It's been nice checking in on everybody.
No need to thank me, Chaplain.
Only folks I haven't seen are, uh, Foster and Sylvie.
They're dropping a victim at Med.
- Ah.
- Could be a while.
Okay, well, I'll, uh, catch 'em another time.
- Sure.
- Excuse me.
What? Nothing.
Just that arson at the hair salon.
Do you think Severide's right, that it's connected to the old Benny case? I'm not sure.
Okay.
I'm looking for the old guy, the one throwin' in the towel.
Hey, someone wake up Gramps over there.
He's got a visitor.
Oh, I'm not too old to kick your asses.
- Hey.
- Herrmann.
- How's your family? - Oh, loud and annoying.
What about yours? Hey, Jodi, is she ready for you to be taking up space in her house all day long? So she says.
We'll see.
Ah, hey, the gang over at 51, they send their best, except for Mouch.
He's still holding a grudge.
Over the muster thing? - Ah.
- Yep.
Now, that's a shame.
Anyway, uh, hey, this is my candidate on engine, Darren Ritter.
Hey.
He's one of the good guys.
It's nice to meet you, sir.
Kid like you, future of the CFD right there.
It gives me a boost, really does.
It's a hell of a party that you guys got in the works.
Oh, no.
No, no, no.
I'm not doing that.
They put all that together without asking me.
Come on, I'm I'm no party animal.
Ignore the flyer.
Look, I'll have everybody over this summer for a barbecue, okay? I don't I don't need some big event where somebody's gotta write a check.
Engine 77, ambulance assist.
All right, fine, but guess what? I'm gonna hold you to that barbecue.
- You got it.
- All right.
Thanks for dragging ass over here, pal.
Really means a lot.
LaPointe.
If Herrmann says you're one of the good ones, I know it's true.
It's the good ones who get hit the hardest on this job, kid.
You take care of yourself, okay? Yeah.
- Captain Hubble.
- Severide.
Here's that copy of my father's notebook.
Oh, you could have just sent it over.
I tabbed a few pages, stuff you should take a look at.
Benny had an interesting theory about the arsonist's motives.
Great, I'll check it out.
He thought the guy was targeting centers of the community, neighborhood gathering places.
There's a coffee shop, rec center, a couple lunch counters.
Yeah, I have the case files.
He thought the arsonist's motivation was strong antisocial tendencies.
Severide, I said I'd have a look.
Right now, though, I have to get to the forensics lab.
Thank you for this.
You think I'm wrong? I didn't say that, but there's still a lot to figure out, and I'm not betting all my chips on Benny's theory until I determine that these cases are connected.
Hubble, this guy strikes in waves.
There'll be two or three more fires in rapid succession.
If you don't get in front of this, someone's gonna get killed.
Lieutenant, I don't need a lecture.
- Hey, buddy.
- Hey.
Hey, Chief.
Cruz.
Quick word.
We seem to have a miscommunication.
When I told you to leave Hubble alone, that wasn't a suggestion.
That was an order.
I understood that.
And you went over there anyway? It was important.
Gentlemen, can we have a moment? Yeah, yeah, sure thing, Chief.
Chief, there's a deadly arsonist out there, and we have a body of evidence that could help us track him down.
- "Us"? - Yeah.
I'm supposed to sit on my hands when I have knowledge that could help? Severide, I know you have a lot to contribute to this case.
I also know your judgement gets clouded in situations involving your father.
So I couldn't possibly remain objective? Remember who you're talking to.
I thought I was talking to a friend who had my back, not a battalion chief that's gonna ignore facts and choose sides based on rank.
- Go home.
- Chief.
I'm putting you on medical until you clear your head.
You come back when you're ready to do your job.
If it wasn't for me, Hubble would still be investigating this as insurance fraud.
But because it ties back to a job Benny worked, everyone thinks I've lost all perspective.
Not everyone.
I'll back you up on this.
And I'm not the only one.
Thanks.
What now? Cruz is acting squad lieutenant.
No, I mean with you.
What are you gonna do? I don't know, but I'm sure as hell not going home to stare at the walls.
I'll keep you updated.
- What are you doing? - Eh, party's canceled.
Why? Eh, he didn't want a big shebang.
He's a humble guy, that LaPointe.
Beg to differ.
Did he seem a little down to you? Nah, retirement's just getting him nostalgic.
Trust me, he's where we all wanna be someday: going out able-bodied with a full pension.
Let's get him to Molly's tomorrow night, raise a glass, huh? Not as a big party, just as a gesture of appreciation, huh? You know what? That is a great idea.
And I will cut the tap beer prices in half for the night too.
Nah, for real, come on.
- Well, at least for LaPointe.
- Yeah.
Niya.
Hey, here, can I help? Lieutenant, hi.
Call me Kelly.
Got a little, uh, volunteer army around here, huh? Yeah, some folks from the neighborhood insisted on helping.
I about cried.
That's nice.
You gonna be able to rebuild? I gotta try.
Has your investigator friend learned anything about who did this? She's working some leads.
I just came by to see if you could remember any more details that could help, like was there any suspicious activity around here prior to the fire? Nothing I can think of.
How come your neighbor over here isn't pitching in? Gavin Harkey? He's not really the charitable type.
Yeah, he barged into our arson investigation all excited to sue somebody over damage to his apartment.
What damage? He's in the backside of the building.
His place wasn't touched.
What do you know about him? Not a lot.
New to the building.
Just got out of prison.
Really, for what? Vehicular manslaughter, I heard.
Drunk driving.
Served a pretty long stretch.
15 years? You'd have to ask him.
- Be right back.
- Yeah.
Hey, buddy.
Mind if I ask you a few questions? Why? See if you know anything about this fire? Nope.
This a big joke to you? Someone's livelihood is in ruins.
Another's in a wheelchair.
Yeah, well, uh, life's a real kick in the nuts, isn't it? - Hey.
- Huh? - Hey, hey.
- Come here.
You're gonna answer some questions, all right? You ain't a cop.
Get off me! Hey, what's the problem here? Kelly, what's going on? - Hi.
- Hey.
How's the cough? Oh, uh, no, that was just my spit going down the wrong tube, you know.
Huh.
Matt Casey.
What? That is the same bandage I put on your neck yesterday.
Oh, yeah, I was gonna change it, but things got busy.
Unacceptable.
This has to be washed out and the bandage changed.
- I told you that.
- You did, yes, and I'm sorry.
If there's not a new dressing on there by the time I see you at Molly's tonight, you're in big trouble.
I'll take care of it.
Just one quick thing to do first, and then right home to handle it.
You better.
I'm serious.
I know.
And I appreciate it.
Captain Hubble.
Can I bother you for a moment? Oh, come on in, Casey.
What's this, the salon fire? I've got my entire staff working on this case, all hands on deck.
What can I do for you? There's a guy who lives above the salon, Gavin Harkey.
OFI ought to consider him a person of interest.
How long have you been running errands for Severide? He'd have come by himself but, uh, he thought you might take out a restraining order.
Well, we interviewed all the neighbors in the building, and not one of them raised a red flag.
Harkey matches the physical description given by one of the victims of Benny's white whale.
So do half the men in Chicago.
It's a pretty vague description.
But Harkey also served a prison sentence that nearly accounts for the whole time the arsonist was dormant.
Ah, here it is, Gavin Harkey.
Oh, this is the guy that barged in on us while we were combing the fireground.
He's the first one that alerted us to the power outage.
If he's the arsonist, why is he aiding in our investigation? I don't know.
I wasn't there.
Severide was.
Well, then maybe he's seeing something you aren't.
Are you telling me you don't think there's a chance he's right? So we come up on this accident scene, right? Car hit a tree dead on, split perfectly in two.
So I run up.
There's this pimply faced teenager sitting in the driver's seat, barely a scratch.
The entire half of the car is gone.
Nothin' next to him but cold air.
I say, "Hey, buddy, you okay?" He looks up at me and he says, "Do you think my dad's gonna notice the scratch on his Camaro?" How did you spend 35 years in public service and still retire with a full head of hair? That's what I wanna know.
Ah, well, God gave me many gifts.
What can I say? All right, I'm gonna go see a man about a horse.
Mouch.
I got something for you.
Take it.
Look, Randy, I should have helped you out in front of your lady.
- Ah.
- Take it, please.
No, Russ, come on.
That's that's all water under the bridge, man.
I know how much that medal means to you.
Don't don't give it away.
Ah, I don't I don't need it anymore.
It's yours.
Okay? She assured me someone from OFI would follow up with Harkey.
Someone, but not her.
She should drop everything and drag the guy in for questioning right now.
Agreed, but it's an interesting detail she brought up, Harkey tipping you guys off about the power outage.
She's missing the whole po Here: "This arsonist is playing cat and mouse with us.
"He wants us to figure out how he gets inside these buildings.
The closer he is to getting caught, the bigger the thrill.
" Hubble would know that if she bothered to read Benny's notes.
Well, let's just see what happens.
Maybe I got through to her.
What? Nothing, it's just the ink.
Flair felt tip pen.
My dad always used one.
Used to always keep one in his breast pocket or tucked behind his ear.
You know, my whole life, I've been trying to prove that I'm better than Benny, and with this stuff, I can't hold a candle to him.
Are you sure? And that was just the first call.
So this mechanic working on the runway, right, a lady mechanic you remember that, Dobbs? Sure do.
So she's down there working on the landing gear of this airliner, right.
Plane starts rolling.
This poor woman gets sucked in, and the skin, damn if the skin isn't peeled off her toe to chest.
So that's what I come up on, this lady hanging there skinned like a cat, still conscious, staring right at me.
That must have been rough.
I'm on empty here, boss.
Refill.
I hear ya, but, you know, it's late.
Yeah, it's time to get everybody in a cab.
Gonna take you home.
No, no, we're fine.
- I know.
Come on.
- Right, guys? Come on, we're gonna be fi We're fine.
We're fine.
We're gonna be fine! A lady dies in your arms at Midway, no big deal.
Pretend it didn't happen.
Firefighters, we're tough! Come on, my friend.
Okay.
We're gonna be fine.
I know.
I got you.
I got you.
I got you.
Come on.
Come on.
Guess they don't really prepare you for that at the academy You know, the way the job just gets inside your head.
No.
I guess not.
What the hell? Smile.
Is he coming back to work? He's trying to track down a victim from one of the original fires, the only person who ever got a look at the arsonist.
He's not letting this thing go, is he? Benny interviewed this woman half a dozen times, so he obviously thought she was important to the case.
Mm.
Maybe you should reach out to him.
I already tried that.
Try again.
I have a feeling you're the one he needs right now.
Mm.
What's that? Oh, LaPointe gave me his medal.
I was there when he got it.
This thing meant the world to him.
I could tell.
Lieutenant, someone needs to check on LaPointe and make sure he's okay.
Please? Trust me on this.
Christopher, what are you doing here? Hey, Jodi, uh, we kept Russ out kinda late, and we figured we'd swing by, you know, see how he's doing.
Uh, he's actually on shift today, so When's he due back? We can stop by again later.
This is my sidekick, Ritter.
He's the Robin to my Batman.
Thing is, Russ doesn't live here anymore.
We separated a few months ago.
He got a place over at the Walton Apartments in Ukrainian Village.
He didn't want anyone on the job to know.
He just he wanted to keep it private.
Ah, hell.
Well, I'm I'm sorry about that, Jodi.
Me too.
All right.
Man.
Russ is in a bad way.
You know my uncle Anthony, the New York firefighter I always talk about? Yeah, sure, we all heard the Uncle Anthony stories.
You came on the job because of him.
- Yeah.
- Yeah? Yeah, but the, uh the thing that I don't talk about He took his own life, uh, two years ago.
I think I took this job to make things right for him somehow.
But I'd always wished I'd seen the signs.
Yeah.
You're seeing them here.
It's not too late for LaPointe.
Excuse me, Ms.
Spears? I'm sorry.
Um, I'm looking for Carol Spears.
I'm Lieutenant Kelly Severide with the CFD.
Are you related to Benny Severide? This is awfully sweet of you.
Benny brought you up right.
Ah, I'm not sure about that.
Where do you want it? On the table is fine.
- Thank you so much.
- Sure.
The reason I'm here: I'm looking into a case that my father was working on when he was with the Office of Fire Investigation, your case.
The guy who torched that coffee shop, I think he's still active.
I think he's setting more fires.
Oh.
Look, I know this isn't easy for you and I know that my father grilled you over and over but can you just walk me through what you saw that day, the man you saw? Um It was the Donut Heaven on California I had to wash my hands, and when I went down the little hallway to the bathroom, there was this man doing something.
He didn't seem to work there, but I didn't think anything of it.
Then I was in the bathroom for a minute, and there was this this popping sound.
I come out, and the whole place was on fire.
That man, do you remember what he looks like? I'll never forget him.
Add 15 years to your memory of him.
Are we in the ballpark? I think so.
Yeah.
That's him.
Okay.
Excuse me one moment.
Hi, this is Lieutenant Severide.
I need to speak with Captain Hubble.
It's urgent.
No, I don't need you to take a message.
I need to talk to her right now.
Like I said, it's extremely urgent.
That's privileged information.
Oh, my apologies.
Would you like a cup of coffee, Lieutenant? Sure.
I'll put a pot on.
Yeah, she can call me back.
What's wrong? Hang on, I'm with Boden now.
Say that again.
Carol Spears isn't a victim.
She's the arsonist.
I thought Benny believed her story, but I was wrong.
The reason why he kept coming back to her is because something wasn't adding up.
Severide, where is she now? Well, she took off, but the real problem is, I think she planted a device to start her next fire.
She's gonna burn down a church.
Looks like we're not too late.
Assuming we're in the right place.
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
May God, the Almighty Father, who fills the world with joy, who gave you this, His only Son, bless this newly baptized child.
Fire department.
Can I have your attention, please? We need to evacuate this building.
Please stay calm and make your way to the nearest exit.
What's happening? We're in the middle of a ceremony here.
Please, Father, quickly.
I'll explain outside.
Everyone, please do as they ask.
Nice and slow, folks.
Here we go.
Towards the exits, please.
Severide, where do we start looking? She likes to hide her device in a back room.
Or is there a basement? Hold on.
Father, how do we get into the basement? The door on the left.
Hey, any idea what she might have planted? Her signature timer with gas cans.
It's a low-tech, high-yield incendiary device.
I don't see anything.
Keep looking.
Try the northeast corner.
Hang on.
I smell gasoline.
Got it.
Chief, is everyone out? Almost, why? You find something? Yeah, it's about to blow.
I need a hose line to the basement and an extinguisher right now.
51 is on the way! Come on! Clear the building! Clear the building! Casey? Herrmann! Down here! Hang on, Casey, I'm right here! Come on.
Hit it! Look at you, putting out fires over the phone.
Benny put us on the 1-yard line.
I'm the one who let her go.
Well, before you go off chasing her down, - a couple things - Severide.
Now she wants to talk to me.
Go.
Foster said I'd find you in here.
What's up? My bandage came loose on that call, and I don't want you to yell at me again, so Let's see.
Hmm.
But you definitely need a new bandage on there.
Okay.
I'm gonna do it this time so it doesn't just fall right off.
It didn't fall right off.
Mm-hmm.
You're pretty good at this stuff.
You should maybe consider a career in EMS.
Sounds exciting.
It is.
You're all set.
Yeah.
Herrmann.
Hey, LaPointe.
Jeez, what is this? Just hear them out, Russ.
Hey, we're here out of love for you, buddy.
Ah, I don't I don't Hey, wait.
Hang on.
Hang on.
Listen to me, all right? Right now, you're in crisis.
No, man, no.
Hey, and we are not gonna leave you behind, no matter what.
You know we do peer support in the CFD, right? Well, we've set up a trauma retreat, a place for first responders to get the help they need from people who understand the pressures they faced.
What do you say, Russ? Can we take you there? I'll go.
Oh! Hey, it's gonna be okay.
But more likely to suffer from personality disorders, and they're almost always single.
When Carol Spears got married, that relationship provided enough emotional stability to pacify her fire-starting compulsion for 15 years.
Three months ago, that marriage collapsed, and now there's nothing holding her back.
And she's in the wind.
So what's our play? Lieutenant Severide, you want to tell us what we're up against? Carol Spears isn't driven by revenge or greed.
She's in it for the chaos, so the fact that we're onto her won't slow her down one bit.
It'll probably make things worse.
So whatever we do, we better move fast.