CSI: NY s09e05 Episode Script

So you were in the case back then? Yeah, the chief of detectives put together a task force.
There were over a dozen detectives temporarily assigned.
I was one of them.
Tommy was eight years old when he disappeared.
Been begging his parents for a long time to let him walk the dog by himself.
They finally gave in.
That was his house.
Okay, don't talk to anyone you don't know.
Straight to the park and straight back, and as soon as Leo is done doing his business, you come right home, you understand? Tommy, are you listening? Yes, Mom.
I won't talk to strangers and I'll come right back when Leo's done.
I promise.
Love you.
Tommy, make sure you use the crosswalks.
Love you.
That was the last time they saw him.
They promised each other they'd never move.
They believe his soul is still with them in the house.
The owner of this store saw Tommy right after he left the house.
He gave him a quarter to buy a lollipop in that candy store down the street.
Thanks.
The clerk in the candy store remembered Tommy coming in to buy the lollipop.
So an eight-year-old boy goes missing in a tight-knit neighborhood like this.
There had to have been dozens of tips.
Hundreds.
Did any of them pan out? It always came back to Keith Milner.
He lived up there.
He was 17 at the time, real bad seed.
Whenever he wasn't terrorizing the neighborhood, he sat on that fire escape smoking dope.
See that guy right there? He's the last person to see Tommy alive.
The whole precinct was out looking for Tommy.
Four hours later unis found Milner in the park, high on angel dust, holding Tommy's puppy, and he had Tommy's blood on his jacket.
So, did Milner ever make a statement? By the time the angel dust wore off and he was coherent enough to talk, his parents were at the precinct with a lawyer.
Without a statement, a body, or a witness, we never had enough to charge him.
Thank you.
So, where'd Milner go after that? There were a lot of angry people around here.
Death threats against Keith and his family.
They were eventually forced to move away.
Looks like someone welcomed him back to the neighborhood.
Out here in the fields I fight for my meals I get my back into my living Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Somebody threw him a beating before cutting his throat.
Still has his wallet and jewelry.
Keith Milner, the only suspect in the disappearance of Tommy Lewis, is found dead in the park a block away from where the kid vanished exactly 20 years ago today.
My guess is, this about payback, not a payday.
I'm sure there's still a lot of people in this neighborhood who'd love to see him dead.
Probably most of all Tommy's parents.
I'm curious to hear how they'd take the news of his murder.
That's if it's news to them at all.
Well, I ain't got no money No fancy car Ain't got no excuses, baby Hangin' at the bar I don't owe you a thang, baby, I don't owe you a thang I don't owe you a thang, baby I don't owe you a thang Well, we ain't getting married I ain't buying you no diamond ring That's all right.
Come and get it, sweetie.
There you are, sleepyhead.
Grace.
I traveled through the night, hopin' to find my peace You see these words collide, waitin' for someone like me I know you're waitin' now, I know you're waitin' now I know you're waitin' now, it's time to believe Yeah, I'm fallin' Wait for the moment Said what you wanted To me While you stole the world from me I know you're waitin' now, it's time to believe Come on, come on! Don't let that chump off easy, man! Oh, yeah, work it! Whew! That-a-boy, Flack.
All right good work.
Whoo.
You hit me so hard with that right hand, I was gonna call your parole officer and have you violated.
- That's why I let up at the end.
- Come on.
You beat me up the whole fight, but I got you fair and square right there.
Seriously, man, you've come a long way.
Three months ago, that punch would've put you on your ass.
You're learning to relax in the ring, keep your composure.
You're just saying nice things to keep me coming back, because you like getting paid to hit a cop.
Hey, you know I love you, Flack.
I know you love hitting me.
- See you next week same time? - Yes, sir.
All right.
Hey, baby.
Last night was amazing I can't stop thinking about you.
You were incredible.
Grandma? Oh, sorry.
Yes, I knew it was you.
I'm sorry.
What? Yeah, today's my day off.
Anything for you.
What do you need? Hey, Sid.
Hey, Jo.
You know, there have been a number of times over the years when unidentified remains of a male child about Tommy Lewis' age have come through this morgue, and each time, we did the DNA comparison to a sample provided by Tommy's parents, hoping we'd be able to give them some closure.
And now, lying dead on this table is possibly the one man who knew the fate of that child.
What can you tell me about Keith Milner's murder? He was very healthy and well nourished.
No signs of recent or chronic drug abuse or disease.
That's surprising.
From all the reports I read, Milner had quite the drug problem back when Tommy went missing.
He appears to have kicked the habit.
The mortal wound to the neck is a shallow laceration that completely dissected the jugular vein.
The blade was short, sharp and narrow.
Sounds like a straight razor, some kind of box cutter? Whatever the instrument, it looks like this substance was transferred from the blade into the wound tract.
Single slash wound.
Whoever did this went right for the kill.
And it wasn't the first time Mr.
Milner was attacked last night.
The discoloration under the epidermis around the orbital bones and clotting around the wound above the eye tell me he suffered these injuries at least a couple of hours before he was murdered.
Take a look here.
I was surprised at the absence of typical defensive wounds on the arms and hands.
He didn't put up much of a fight.
So the question is: Did the person that attacked Milner earlier go back and finish the job, or did he run into someone else? Hmm.
Milner hasn't had so much as a parking ticket in the last 20 years.
How is it possible that a guy who murdered an eight-year-old boy - turns into this model citizen? - All right.
Maybe Milner wasn't the guy that everyone thought he was.
What do you mean? There were a lot of bosses and experienced detectives calling the shots on that case.
No one was very interested in the opinion of a young detective.
It always bothered me that he was the only suspect from day one.
He was the perfect guy for them.
- Everything fit.
- It did, though, right? I mean, I looked over the reports of the original missing persons case.
I mean, Milner was no angel assault, burglary.
He had over a dozen arrests before Tommy disappeared.
And not for nothing, Mac.
Milner had Tommy's blood on his jacket when the cops found him.
Yeah, but Tommy's blood was also on the puppy, and it was never determined whether the blood was transferred from the jacket to the dog or the dog to the jacket.
All right, well, if he didn't kill Tommy, who did? Lewises are in the wind.
Neighbors say their car has been gone since early this morning.
Mr.
Lewis works at a print shop overnight in the neighborhood.
Took his lunch break at 2:00 a.
m.
and never came back.
Lovato's out looking for him.
I mean, you think Tommy's father might have actually killed Milner himself? Milner shows up in the neighborhood at the 20th anniversary of his kid's death.
Certainly has motive.
Well, motive is fine, but, until we're done analyzing the evidence, we've got nothing to go at them with.
Danny, do you mind giving us a minute? No, sure.
What's on your mind? I'm not quite sure how to say this, and I might be overstepping my bounds.
But you're gonna say it anyway.
I am.
You've been back to work for over a month.
And I've been going through Leonard Brooks' arson case, prepping for court.
There were 200 reports in that folder, and not one of 'em has been written by you.
And every court date you've had, you've had someone else take your notes and testify.
That's just not like you, Mac.
What's going on? You're right.
You're overstepping your bounds.
Mac, if something's wrong Nothing's wrong.
Just doing what I should have been doing all along.
I'm delegating.
That's what bosses do.
I'm just used to you leading from the front.
I'm wondering if Stop wondering.
I'm fine.
Anything else? No.
Nothing.
Okay.
You know I might be a bit quirky, I may not be as organized as I would like, but don't let that fool you.
I'm incredibly perceptive.
Turn the water on.
Well this is a mystery.
All your connections are tight, nothing's leaking.
So how do you think this water got in the bucket that you put under the sink because you supposedly had a leak? You're the detective.
You figure it out.
Doesn't take Sherlock Holmes to figure this one out.
Uh-huh.
I need you to open the pickles.
- What? - The pickles.
I can't open 'em.
I need you to loosen the top.
You're the only one who lives here, right? You opened the jar.
How is it you can't close it are you stronger than yourself? Sometimes.
I love you, Gram.
- Hey.
- Yo.
- You here for the mystery leak? - Yeah, and to open some jars.
- I got you.
- What are you doing here? Don't you play senile with me.
You called me.
And you set the table for three.
Hmm.
Hey! Don't do that.
Ooh! - See, they're hot.
See? - Ah! Ooh.
Oh! - The two of you are so bad.
- Mmm.
Mmm.
Are you gonna eat now when we sit down to the table? I'll eat your meatballs four times over.
Mmm.
Mmm.
Mmm.
Grandma makes the best meatballs.
- Get away from me.
Get away from me.
- Grandma.
- Can I have another one? - You smart aleck.
- No! We got an alarm on Lewis' cars.
Uniforms posted outside the house and both their jobs, teams canvassing the hood.
Tell the boss we got everything covered.
Mrs.
Lewis.
Are-are you the one who's looking for me? Yes.
- Um - Hey, hey.
Relax.
Tell me what's wrong.
I I think that my husband has done something terrible.
I think that he killed Keith Milner.
Baby.
Are you there? Baby? I saw Milner.
I saw that son of a bitch at the tavern.
Why? Why? Why? He just walked in and he sat down.
Like it was nothing.
And then it cut off.
I kept trying to call him back, but, uh, his phone just kept going to voice mail.
I've been driving around for hours looking for him.
Last night, he was drinking before he went to work.
He was really upset.
I'm afraid do you think that he might have Mrs.
Lewis, don't do this to yourself.
Just, just relax right now.
There's a lot of people that are trying to find out what happened.
- Okay? - Yeah.
You know, every year, um this day is tough.
- Love you.
- Love you.
All I remember is watching Tommy disappear down the street.
But this year it was really bad.
Has your husband been in contact with Mr.
Milner? No, of course not.
Did he ever talk about trying to - hurt Milner himself? - No.
Nathan never talked about trying to hurt anyone.
I just I want him to come home.
Trace Sid pulled from the slice wound on Milner's neck.
Penicillium? Yes, green mold.
I also found plant matter called Urtica dioica, or green nettle, as well as traces of paraffin and microcrystalline wax.
Obviously whoever sliced Milner's throat used that knife for something else.
What about the stain on his jacket? Ink, the kind used in industrial printing presses.
Mr.
Lewis is a lithographer.
He works on the press.
And he was at the shop last night.
Were you able to get a usable print? Not yet.
Adam's working on pulling something together.
Lewis was fingerprinted for DWI in '98, so he'll have something to compare it to.
I got a signal on Nathan Lewis' cell.
It's not moved since I picked it up.
Mac, it's Mr.
Lewis.
Is he dead? Did I kill the son of a bitch? Oh, no, Gram, come on.
I'm stuffed.
You look like one of those POWs.
It's called being in shape.
Skinny is not a shape.
You still going with that boy? No, we broke up.
He was too clingy.
I wanted to see other people.
He's not a boy.
He's a man.
His name is Jimmy, and, uh, yeah, we're still going out.
All right.
Hate to do it.
I got to eat and run.
It's my day off.
I got a few errands to take care of.
I'll help you clean up.
Don, before you go, I got something I got to give you and Sam.
Okay.
This is stuff that was left in the house when your father passed.
I thought we got everything.
Well, the man who came to do the inspection for the closing, he found it in the corner of the attic.
Oh, no way.
This is great.
Are you sure you don't want this? I don't need any of it.
You can take that damn ugly urn, too.
I thought we agreed that Dad would want to be here with you.
Dad is here with me, right here.
That's all I need.
I got nowhere to put that thing.
Don't look at me.
I don't want it.
Wow.
Sam, come over here and check this out.
This is amazing.
There's a picture of us with Dad from that time he got us down on the field to run around after the game.
No thanks.
Whatever it is, if it belonged to Dad, it's all you.
You gonna pull that "he loved you more than me" crap again? I'm sorry I can't pretend he was this wonderful guy.
I'm not asking you to pretend anything.
You know what, I can't do this again.
You take the stuff.
I'm good.
I will see you at the next leak under the sink.
Let her be.
She'll learn how to forgive him someday.
Thank God for you, Gram.
- I love you.
- You love my meatballs.
Dad, can I see your policeman's badge? Be careful.
It's not a toy.
When I'm a policeman, I'm gonna arrest all the bad guys.
Easy there, officer.
Let's not shoot up the place.
Can I see it? Doctors don't have badges, sweetheart.
I already told you, Daddy, I don't want to be a doctor.
Please can I see it? Maybe later.
Here, eat your hot dog.
Welcome, baseball fans to your New York Yankees Get your scorecards out, guys.
The game's about to start.
Hey, Sam, it's me.
I need you to come over.
There's something really important that I have to show you.
Seven years after Tommy disappeared, the state declared him legally dead.
Do you know what it's like to bury an empty coffin? I'm sorry for your loss, Mr.
Lewis, but Keith Milner is dead.
"I don't remember, I blacked out" that's not gonna cut it.
Your fingerprints are all over his jacket.
Not to mention his blood all over your shirt.
We get it.
You wanted to avenge the murder of your son.
But if you were man enough to kill him, be man enough to take responsibility for it.
I swear to you, I don't know if I killed him.
Look, I was so tired of thinking about Tommy, I justwanted to be numb.
Bourbon, neat.
NATHAN:I thought my mind was playing tricks on me.
Took him a second to recognize me.
Please, Mr.
Lewis.
How dare you show your face around here on this day? You son of a bitch! Please.
I didn't kill Tommy.
Shut up! Shut your mouth! I didn't I didn't.
Why? Why would you hurt that perfect little boy? Why? I didn't kill your little boy.
Please.
Please.
I didn't hurt him.
I didn't.
I didn't hurt him.
I don't know if he was alive but I left him in that alley.
Where did you go after that? The next thing that I remember is waking up in the cemetery on top of Tommy's grave.
It just wouldn't go away.
Okay, Brian.
I'm sorry you had to come all the way down here under these circumstances.
He wasn't the horrible man people said he was.
He didn't kill that boy.
When did you find out about the accusations against your husband? After we'd been dating for a few months.
Keith wouldn't talk about it with me.
He just wanted to put the whole thing behind him.
And he said that if I thought for a second he was capable of such a thing, I should break it off right there.
I didn't.
We were married three years ago last week.
And he's been nothing but kind, decent and honest.
Something brought your husband to the neighborhood last night.
Do you have any idea what that was? I think this is the answer you're looking for.
"As the child we're about to bring into this world grows "inside the belly of my beautiful wife, "anxiety over secrets of my past grow on my conscience.
"It tears at my heart to know "my parents went to their graves "believing I took the life of that boy.
"The lies and the manipulation, the stealing and the drugs.
Maybe I didn't deserve their trust.
" I'm afraid that when I look into the eyes of my son for the very first time, the joy of that moment will be stolen from me by thoughts of Tommy Lewis and his mom and dad wondering where their own son has gone.
If I'm going to raise my boy with integrity, if he can ever look up to me, he has to know the truth.
I have to clear my conscience and my name.
The world has already made up its mind about me.
"I have no choice but to face the wolf in sheep's clothing, "compel him to step forward and confess to the crimes for which I was so wrongly accused.
" That's his last entry.
If what he wrote is true, Keith Milner didn't kill Tommy Lewis, and he knew who did.
If Milner went back to the neighborhood to confront Tommy's killer, then the killer must still live there.
- Hey.
- Hi.
- Thanks for coming.
- Of course.
What's up? You were so cryptic on the phone.
A million things were going through my mind on the way over here.
I'm sorry about that.
I'm just a little concerned about Mac.
What do you mean? I think he's struggling with some stuff.
What makes you say that? Well, he's been avoiding certain situations at work, particularly things where he has to provide specific details.
Like what? I've watched him a bunch of times struggle to name or identify an object, and he covers pretty well, but Lord, I feel like I'm telling on him.
I'm just worried about him.
Have you noticed anything like that? No.
Not really.
I mean, he doesn't know where he left his keys half the time, but that's just a man thing, you know.
They're a forgetful bunch.
Because I think if you had noticed, then maybe we could No.
I'm sorry.
I mean, I'll keep an eye out.
You know, Mac's been through a lot, and I'm sure it's just him settling back in.
Probably just me worrying when I shouldn't.
You're not seriously thinking of doing this? I am.
But I need your help.
That kid Zane that you used to make out with he works there doing security.
He can get us in.
I did not used to make out with him.
Oh, sorry.
He used to make out with you.
You're such an ass.
I haven't seen that kid in, like, ten years.
Well, I bumped into him two weeks ago on the subway.
Talk to him.
This guy would murder puppies if you asked him to.
Yeah, well, I'm not asking him to.
You know, to be honest, it kind of pisses me off, Dad's still trying to tell me what to do from an urn on a shelf at Gram's place.
Come on! Would you ease up on him already? So maybe he was a little bit tougher on you.
It's only because he knew you were twice as smart as I am.
- That is not true.
- It is true.
I'm okay with that.
Would you just stop trying to make excuses for him? Yeah, I came to terms with this a long time ago.
Maybe I was just hard to love.
Maybe he had trouble relating to me.
Whatever it is, I'm over it.
I saw that guy cry once in my whole life.
The night of your senior prom.
You said you were sleeping at Heather's house.
He checked up on you.
You weren't there.
So he and I drove around all night looking for you.
He was a wreck.
Thinking the worst, as only a New York City detective can.
And when we didn't find you, he bawled like a baby.
He never said anything about that to me.
Maybe he was just trying to keep the peace.
When you came home the next morning, he was just thankful you were safe.
Sam he loved you.
I got to get back to work.
My car's at a meter.
Hey, come on.
Talk to Zane.
I don't have a plan "B.
" Um I love you.
- Hey.
- Hey.
This is a surprise.
Sorry to barge in on you like this.
I-I brought you something from Piccolo.
- Oh.
- Hope you're hungry.
Oh, thank you.
Do you trust me, Mac? You even have to ask me that? I think I do.
Um, I had coffee with Jo earlier.
She's worried about you, and I am, too.
Well, I'll tell you what I told her I'm fine.
That's what I said, 'cause our relationship is based on trust, and if you had a problem, you would have come to me and we would have worked it out together, right? That's right.
Except she's with you a lot more than I am, and, um, she's very smart, and for her to approach me was hard.
She took a chance, so I'm thinking there must be something there.
I just want you to look me in the eye and tell me nothing's wrong.
What the hell is this, Christine? It's really simple.
Just look me in the eye and tell me.
I don't appreciate my integrity being called into question.
I didn't come here to question your integrity.
I came here because I care about you.
All right, let's try this another way.
Tell me what this is called.
Tell me what this is called.
Hey, Mac, I'm sorry to interrupt, but you're gonna want to hear this.
I apologize.
Should I? No, no.
Christine was on her way out.
Come on.
Microcrystalline wax, paraffin, green nettle plant, and green mold have one thing in common a very rare, expensive cheese called Flaming Nettle Gouda.
It's imported from Italy and sold in a few cheese shops and delis around the city.
One of them is Ventri's in the East Village.
Ventri was the last person to see Tommy alive.
Hey, what can I get you? Mitch Ventri? Yeah.
I'd like to talk to you about the murder of Keith Milner.
Put down the knife and come out from behind the counter.
It's over.
I'm sorry.
I've done some very terrible things.
Tommy knew me.
I'd seen him in the store a bunch of times with his folks.
That day was the first time I ever saw him alone.
Come here, Foo-Foo, come here.
Hi.
Hey, Tommy, how you doing, bud? Good.
You out walking the dog all by yourself? - Yeah.
- Wow.
What do you got on your lip there, buddy? You got a little something what is that? I told him I had a big box of lollipops down in the basement, and he could pick one if he wanted.
He asked me how much it was gonna cost.
Okay, yeah, let's go down in the basement, come on.
I didn't plan on hurting him.
I really didn't.
He started to call out to help, and I panicked.
I hit him.
And he wouldn't stop yelling, he just And I hit him again.
Then, I just kept hitting him.
How many are there? How many other kids are there, Mitch? There's none.
No, no, I I swear to you, there's none.
I, I thought about it, but I never touched a kid before that and I never touched one after.
So where is he? Where's Tommy? He's still there.
He's still in the basement.
So, Keith told his parents that he saw you take Tommy into the basement.
Why didn't they call the police? 'Cause they didn't believe him.
They took your word over the word of their own son? I wish I could tell you I had to convince them, but I didn't.
They were at the end of their rope with Keith.
I mean, he was using drugs, he was stealing from half the neighborhood, including the Milners.
So they'd been lied to and manipulated so many times that they didn't believe a word he said.
Look, I know you think I'm a monster, but I was good to a lot of people in that neighborhood, especially the Milners.
I gave 'em credit in my store, I lent them money to pay rent sometimes when things were tight, and they were my friends.
They trusted me.
I've been coming through that park every morning at 4:00 a.
m.
for the last 27 years.
I wake up early, I go into the deli, I open it up, I get it all set up for the day.
Milner knew that.
The whole neighborhood did.
He was waiting for me.
But he didn't want to hurt you.
He just wanted to confront you, give you a chance to come clean on your own.
He should have just left it alone.
I have to talk to you, Mr.
Ventri.
What do you want? You have to tell what happened to Tommy.
The Lewises deserve to know what happened to their son.
Get away from me.
I don't know what you're talking about.
If you don't tell, I will.
I will tell everyone I can until someone finally listens.
I didn't know what to do.
I mean, I didn't want any of this to happen.
I'm not a bad person.
No, you're the worst kind of person.
You look like us, you walk and talk like us.
But you know what, Mitch Ventri? You're nothing like us.
You sure you don't want me to come with you to the Lewises' to make notification? You stay here and help Danny and Sheldon finish up downstairs.
I'm so glad you're finally able to bring this family closure after all these years.
See you back at the office.
- Jo.
- Yeah.
I'm only gonna tell you this once.
Be careful where you stick your nose.
Stay out of my personal business.
Detective.
I wanted to, uh, let you know that we found your son.
Thank you.
Hey.
Oh.
- Scared you, didn't I? - Yeah, you did.
- Yeah.
- Not funny.
You know you owe me big-time.
Zane? Beyond creepy.
Do you remember what switch he said it was? I don't know.
Uh I'm glad I came.
I'm glad you came, too.
This time I don't know where to begin This is the moment I was looking for This is for you, Pop.
Our words are bouncing off the floor I hear them carry in the distance Oh You can find me Just the way You did When this began