Criminal Minds s12e20 Episode Script

1 Rossi: Previously on “Criminal Minds” Nadie: Aah! What is it? It was me.
I was stabbing her.
I killed her.
His brain is constructing a false narrative.
Sometimes a manufactured memory is better than no memory at all.
If Reid can swear under oath that he saw Scratch in that motel room, then we're a go putting him on the terror watch list.
I hear a noise, like a spraying sound and I feel a mist, so I turn.
Do you recognize who it is? It wasn't Scratch who framed me.
It was a woman.
A woman? Yeah.
He was very clear about it.
He remembered her hair, her painted fingernails.
So she killed Nadie Ramos.
Yes.
He says he saw her do it.
Ok, but what about Scratch? He says he remembers her spraying some kind of fine mist in his face.
Which is consistent with Scratch's M.
O.
Right.
Be he does not recall seeing Scratch at all.
You're sure this memory is accurate? You said he manufactured a false memory earlier in the cognitive.
And he is sleep-deprived, which can interfere with memory.
Right, that's true, but that false memory was directly related to the stress he's currently experiencing.
This was different.
He was not projecting.
Look, in my opinion, this is a credible recollection.
Ok, so that could mean that Scratch is manipulating another victim suffering from dissociative identity disorder.
Or he's working with a full-fledged accomplice for the first time.
What woman would willingly associate herself with Scratch? And why would Scratch risk taking on a partner? That's what we need to find out.
We'll start by checking all of the women in the database we compiled of D.
I.
D.
patients.
Garcia: Wait, how was he? He's, um, he's having a hard time.
We gotta get him out of there, you guys.
We will, but right now it's late, and we're no good to him running on fumes.
Clear your heads, get some rest if you can, we'll start fresh in the morning.
Thought you said we should start fresh in the morning.
So what are you still doing here? Same as you.
[Soft music playing.]
[Sighs.]
Sorry I'm late.
Mm-hmm-hmm.
Is it a new case? Nope.
It's Reid's.
Scratch is playing games.
Well, that's what he does.
You know that.
Yeah, but they brought me in to catch him.
I'm further away from it now than when I started.
I work with Scratch's victims every day.
They're my colleagues, my friends.
It makes working at the BAU more, uh, I don't know More raw than what I'm used to.
Is this your way of saying you want to leave the BAU and go back to the BAP? No, it's my way of saying I want to catch this son of a bitch.
Good.
'Cause late or not, I am getting used to having you home at night, instead of skyping you in Moscow, Berlin, Ankara.
Mmm.
You know what I think? What do you think? I think you need to figure out a way to cope with all this stress [Chuckling.]
You're putting on these broad shoulders.
All right, you got any ideas? Yeah.
You do? Uh-huh.
[Laughing.]
Mmm.
Where are the kids? Well, Maya's spending the night at Olivia's, and Eli's asleep.
Mmm.
Mm.
- [Cell phone ringing.]
- Mmm.
Mm-mmm.
Uh! Honey, don't move.
Walker.
I'll be right there.
That was National Memorial Hospital.
Sam's been admitted through the E.
R.
Well, is is he ok? I don't know.
They just told me to come on down there.
Ever since the divorce, I'm his emergency contact.
Just go.
Yeah.
Call you when I know something.
Ok, ok.
Quick toast to mark this momentous occasion.
To Stephen and Sam being on U.
S.
soil at the same time.
- Cheers.
- Hear, hear.
All right! We got 'em.
Awesome.
And, uh, here's to no cloak and dagger talk.
No mention of cultivating human assets or counter-intelligence.
Or who's in and who's out at the FSB.
All right, hey, we're not that bad.
Which reminds me, Petrov got promoted.
Lisa: Stop, you guys, incorrigible, both of you.
[Chatter in Russian, band playing jazz.]
[Applause.]
[Applause.]
[Speaking Russian.]
[Speaking Russian.]
[Bartender speaking Russian.]
Nahzdarovhya.
Nahzdarovhya.
[Beep.]
Hey.
Hello.
Sorry to drag you out here.
It's no trouble, man.
What happened? Went for a walk during lunch.
On the way back to the office, I felt sick, collapsed.
Someone called 911 saying I had a heart attack.
You? You ran a marathon in October.
I know.
They sure about that? Seems like it.
They called it a cardiac incident.
Ok.
You feel any pain in your left arm? No.
Any shortness of breath? No, man, nothing like that.
It doesn't make sense.
You think any of this might have to do with your work with the BAP? What, the Russian stuff? Yes.
I'm working a desk in D.
C.
for the BAP now.
I haven't been in Moscow in over a year.
It's not that long ago.
I had a heart attack, Steve.
You just collapsed.
No warning, no symptoms.
Yeah.
Well, no.
I There was something.
I felt something.
A pinch in my lower back.
In your back? Let me see.
Seriously? Roll over, man.
See anything you like? Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
Don't come any closer.
You get a Hazmat team down here right now.
I think he's been dosed with something toxic.
What? [Beeping.]
Is it radiation? [Beeping.]
Walker: “The past is never where you think you left it.
” Katherine Anne Porter.
This one hits close to home.
Stephen's friend from the BAP, Sam Bower, was hospitalized yesterday after being poisoned.
What kind of poison? That's still unknown, but there's a whole team of doctors trying to figure it out.
Stephen was with him at the hospital.
Initial symptoms mimicked a heart attack.
But whatever it is, it was irradiated.
Wait, an irradiated poison? What's the prognosis? Right now it's wait, see, and hope for the best.
He's already showing signs of radiation sickness, which is all kinds of terrible.
Was Stephen contaminated? His exposure was minimal.
They put him through decontamination protocol and he's about to be cleared.
What do we know about Sam Bower? Uh, 54 years old.
Recently went through an acrimonious divorce about a year ago.
He has one adult son who's a sophomore at Emory university in Atlanta.
Our biggest suspect pool comes from his work at the BAP.
In the field, he was primarily stationed in Russia and he worked in counter-intelligence.
He could make a lot of enemies in that line of work.
I hate to raise the possibility, but because of the victim's connection to Stephen, should we consider Scratch? Scratch always attacks through family.
If he'd wanted to get to Walker, he would have gone right for Monica and the kids.
The KGB and the FSB are both notorious for poisoning enemies of the state.
Absolutely correct.
And that goes all the way back to the original Vladimir Lenin.
In 1918, he survived an assassination attempt.
When he found out that the bullets used to shoot him were dipped in poison, he became obsessed.
He started a secret lab called the “special room.
” its sole purpose was to weaponize poisonous substances to assassinate people anonymously, and that lab still exists to this day.
Putin uses it.
Yes.
Litvinenko's 2006 poisoning from polonium-210 is the most famous in recent history, but cyanide, dioxin, thallium, sodium fluoride, those have all been used as murder weapons by Russian operatives.
Quite a repertoire.
Those are just the ones that have been identified.
Poison breaks down very quickly, so it's incredibly hard to trace, especially when it's masked by other symptoms.
Bower was primarily involved in cultivating human assets, with an emphasis on the intersection of Russian business graft and political corruption.
What was his cover? He was working as an American entrepreneur trying to garner Russian capital.
His cover might have been blown.
Or maybe he was onto something bigger than he realized.
Did anybody talk to him about it? Walker's on it.
Let's see what else we can find.
I swear to you, I'm fine.
But are you sure? One thousand percent.
You are not getting rid of me that easy.
Don't even joke.
Should I call Lisa and tell her what's going on with Sam? Well, I'm not so sure he's ready for Lisa.
What about Zach? He sided with his mom after the divorce.
Let me talk to Sam and get back to you.
And don't worry about me.
I'll be home soon.
[Sam muttering indistinctly.]
No, I'm Why? On Thursday? No, no, no.
Meeting in St.
Petersburg.
Sochi.
[Groans.]
[Jazz playing.]
[Applause.]
[Chatter.]
Pardon me.
Didn't we meet in St.
Petersburg last year? [Russian accent.]
I believe it was Sochi.
Right.
Sochi.
- [Text message.]
- Any word from Mark? Not yet, but this might be him now.
No, it's Fiona, Spencer's lawyer.
His trial's been pushed back.
That's not gonna sit well with him.
I know.
She's going up to tell him in person.
Walker's calling in right now.
Prentiss and Rossi are here.
You are on speaker.
Talk to me, smooth operator.
Do you practice those or do they just come to you? You inspire me.
Listen, I need you to track down a Russian national named Dmitri Sobchek.
He was an asset in Moscow.
He was a quiet but persistent opponent of corruption in the Russian government.
Garcia: Well, he's not in Russia anymore.
He's in our own backyard.
He's working as a lobbyist on Capitol Hill for Russian oil interests.
Sobchek's name came up in one of Bower's current files as the subject of investigation into the bribery of certain members of Congress.
We should talk to him.
You don't seem surprised to hear that Bower was poisoned.
That's because it is not surprising.
These kinds of poisonings are common.
But you had nothing to do with it.
Correct.
You bribing congressmen? If I am, I do that with the blessing of my government.
And they will protect me.
It is the American politicians that have to worry about that.
But you used to be one of the biggest critics of the corruption in Putin's government.
Times change.
Integrity is no longer a luxury I can afford.
Why is that? Corruption in Russia sanctioned from the top down.
People who make waves tend to disappear, one way or another.
I have a wife and two kids out in Arlington.
It's a good life.
If you can't beat 'em, join 'em? Call it what you want.
I wouldn't risk all I have to poison an FBI agent.
And if I did, I'd already be back in Russia.
I wouldn't be sitting around here waiting to be arrested.
Thanks.
[Speaking Russian.]
[Buzzer.]
A continuance? How long? - 6 weeks.
- I don't understand.
The Alexandria district court is the rocket docket.
I know.
But there are delays because of the arresting officers' limited availability.
Because they have to travel from Mexico to Virginia? And because they have domestic testimony obligations.
This this is the price we're paying for getting the case moved back to the States.
I'm working directly with the warden on getting extra visiting privileges.
I don't know if I can Spencer, listen to me.
There is a strategic silver lining here.
These extra 6 weeks give the BAU time to track down the woman that you remembered.
Have they made any progress? They're pouring everything they have into locating her.
And now that you remember that big detail that the other person in the room was a woman I might remember more.
I know how hard this is, but our best hope is exonerating you before a verdict.
And these 6 weeks could be a blessing in disguise.
Dmitri Sobchek isn't looking good for this.
He doesn't have a motive and his alibi seems to check out.
Ok, well, unfortunately there's nobody else that crossed paths with Bower that could be a fit for this.
It seems like we're right back where we started.
Well, if Sam Bower wasn't targeted specifically, we might be off on our victimology.
I mean, this could be broader than just him.
Stephen said Sam's condition is worsening.
His pancreas is compromised and his kidneys are failing.
Garcia, check hospitals in the Beltway area and see if anyone else has been admitted with heart attack symptoms followed by multiple organ failure.
I got two names right off the bat.
Both were admitted the week before Sam Bower, and both of them are right here in D.
C.
JJ: Well, that means Sam is the third victim, and we're dealing with a serial killer.
Are you ok? Somebody call 911.
Like Sam Bower, our previous two victims were also federal employees.
Aidan O'Hara was an attorney, civil rights division of the department of justice.
Sharlene Jorif worked as an area manager, Bureau of reclamation in the department of the interior.
And both died of multiple organ failure after initially presenting with symptoms consistent with a heart attack.
And it looks like all of them had the poison injected into the lower back.
All 3 of our victims worked in federal buildings within a 5-block radius.
Unsub doesn't appear to have a gender preference.
And no specific preference for workplace other than the federal government.
Different federal agencies, but each victim held a position of significant authority and prestige.
Looks like our unsub has a beef with the federal government.
Garcia: Oh, and speaking of our unsub, looks like we got another victim, Benjamin Vargas.
Federal employee? Yeah, he works at the IRS as a janitor.
I think it's time we deliver the profile.
We're dealing with an unsub who's inducing symptoms consistent with a heart attack as a smokescreen for murder by poisoning.
The initial symptoms soon give way to the true cause of death, which is an irradiated poison.
Poisoning like this is an M.
O.
consistent with the Russian government.
Except 3 out of the 4 victims aren't typical Russian targets.
This leads us to believe that this unsub is mimicking a Russian espionage M.
O.
in order to obscure their true motive.
And this unsub falls into one of 3 categories.
First, an embittered federal employee, someone who was fired or forcibly retired or otherwise rendered obsolete.
Second, someone who intends to profit off of marketing an antidote to the poison once positively identified.
This would be an unsub similar to the perpetrator of the anthrax poisonings immediately following 9-11.
And that individual hoped to benefit from selling an anthrax antidote to vulnerable businesses and the federal government.
Or this could be an unsub with a personal grudge, which makes it totally unrelated to the federal government.
Someone who's using a politically charged M.
O.
in order to mask a very personal motivation for killing.
This unsub shares characteristics with known product tamperers in that he's unconcerned with collateral victims as long as they help to obscure his target.
Metro police will beef up security in a 5-block radius encompassing all the federal buildings that are in question.
They will also be advising federal employees to be on the lookout and report any suspicious activities.
At this point, the unsub has no reason to believe that law enforcement is onto him.
And we've decided not to publicize the attacks.
As we all know, publicity surrounding these types of poisoning cases can inspire copycats.
Thank you all.
[Trombone playing.]
Damn, man, why are you even here? You could be playing Carnegie Hall.
Monica would be all for it.
And I gotta get back stateside for a time.
How do you and Lisa make it work? I'm not sure we do.
When's the last time you talked to her? It's been a while.
She's got her hands full with Zach and I'm not there.
Well, I keep thinking if I stay here much longer, I won't have a family to go home to.
Put in for a transfer.
I thought you were going to.
They won't approve both.
Not at the same time.
You put in first.
I'm not gonna leave you hangin', man.
Don't worry about me.
You sure? Yeah.
Well [Trombone playing.]
I'm not the boy in the bubble anymore.
Is that good news? It means the half-life of the radiation used to poison you is very short.
It was only 24 hours.
You no longer present a risk of contamination to others.
Ooh-hoo.
Go me.
You can fight this.
You're strong.
Who you trying to fool Me or you? I gotta face facts.
Blood transfusions aren't working.
My liver's failing now.
I know.
Who did this to me? We don't know yet.
But you're not the only person who's been poisoned.
Other BAP agents? No.
It looks like this doesn't have anything to do with Russia.
What, the poisoning was Fooled us, too, at first.
Looks like that was just a smokescreen.
So, what are you saying, I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time? Something like that, yeah.
Promise me you'll get the son of a bitch who did this.
I will.
I promise.
Wrong place, wrong time.
Even Lisa will get a kick out of that.
She always said I had rotten timing.
I can call her, or Monica can.
Don't.
Why not? It wouldn't be fair.
None of this is fair, man.
She would want to know.
And she'd come back from California.
I know she would.
But we ran out of things to say to each other a long time ago, and I don't want her to see me like this.
What about Zach? He's angry.
He'll get over it.
He shouldn't have to, not because of this.
Hey, come on, man.
You gotta let me do something.
I don't want you to be here alone.
I'm not alone.
You're here.
[Man groans.]
[Indistinct chatter.]
What happened? [Indistinct.]
[Buzzer.]
Writing materials are contraband.
The counselor wants me to keep a journal.
Contraband is contraband.
Doesn't matter what your touchy-feely counselor has to say about it.
Get on your feet.
You got a visitor.
You know that lady lawyer you got? She's the one that set this up with the warden.
Fiona? Yeah.
She's got 'em all worried about some civil suit over that beatdown you got.
You should thank her for this.
I don't want to see any visitors right now.
Spencer.
Mom.
What is this place? It's ok, Mom.
You're just here to visit me.
Cassie told you.
Cassie? I sent that girl packing.
Rotten little thief.
She was stealing from me.
Mom, Cassie's not a thief.
She takes really good care of you.
She stole my underwear.
And the good china.
And I will not tolerate that behavior.
Well, then, Mom, how did you get here? The new girl.
What's her name? She's a real sweetheart.
[Sighs.]
Oh, we gotta get out of here.
I saw a back staircase down the hall.
Mom, Mom.
Let me out.
[Gasping.]
The door's locked! I can't be locked in! You're not locked in.
You're not locked in.
I am.
You? No.
No, not you.
It's a misunderstanding and it's going to be ok.
What is this place? We're in the Milburn Federal Correctional Facility.
A prison? Yeah.
It's where I'm incarcerated pending my murder trial.
Because of Mexico? Yeah.
Because of Mexico.
This is all my fault.
Thanks for coming down here.
Looks like we've got our fifth victim.
Sorry about your friend.
Thanks, man.
How you holding up? Like a shark, man, I just keep swimming forward.
Of course.
We're so glad you're ok.
That makes two of us.
Alex McLean was admitted through the E.
R.
Same presenting symptoms as the other victims? Yeah.
Initially it appeared he'd had a heart attack, but blood tests confirmed the presence of an irradiated toxin in his system.
So it's our unsub.
Only thing different here, he doesn't have a puncture site on his back.
So how was he poisoned and why the change in M.
O.
? Exactly.
Were his clothes contaminated? No.
How's he doing? We're doing our best to keep him comfortable, but he's starting to show signs of radiation sickness just like the others.
We're still trying to figure out how he was contaminated.
It is possible there's an injection site somewhere other than his back? It's possible.
I mean, a puncture site could be tiny.
But so far we haven't found one.
The other victims remembered feeling the injection.
This one didn't.
I mean, he was just heading back to his desk when he felt ill.
What about his stomach contents? Is there a test or some way to tell if they contain irradiated material? As you can see, both the radiograph and pet scan show radioactive material in his stomach lining.
As for the pet scan, we didn't even need to use the radio tracer.
Because the radiation already in the system functioned as the contrast dye.
That's right.
It's in his mouth, his esophagus, stomach, and the entire length of his gastrointestinal tract.
So he ate it.
Yeah.
We started a gastric emptying study, but that'll take a few days.
He knows the person who poisoned him.
That's why he wasn't injected.
If every other victim was injected in the back, that makes sense.
They were strangers to the unsub, and if they were to turn around, they wouldn't have known the assailant.
But if Alex had turned around, he'd have known the unsub.
We gotta find out who he ate lunch with.
Nobody.
I ate alone.
Where? In the courtyard, outside my office.
It was a beautiful day.
And where did you buy lunch? I brown-bagged it, like always.
Are you married? Yeah.
I haven't called her yet.
I don't know what I'm gonna say.
Did your wife pack your lunch today? Every day for the last 12 years.
Clear! Clear.
Clear! Clear! Lead-lined boxes.
It's what hospitals use to store high-contrast dyes for testing.
Irradiated materials with an extremely short half-life.
Hey, we need Hazmat in here now.
All right! Set up a perimeter, front and rear.
[Beeping.]
There's no sign of Sara McLean.
She's definitely our unsub.
There's radiation in the refrigerator, on the counters, and in the sink.
All right, well, if it's in the sink, then it went down the drain.
We need to evacuate this area immediately.
Our unsub is Sara McLean, a 47-year-old registered nurse married to victim number 5.
Alvez: Looks like she gained access to the irradiated materials through her work in the nuclear medical departments of 15 different hospitals within the Beltway over the last 9 years.
She's been stockpiling stolen irradiated material for nearly a decade and nobody noticed? No, she changed jobs frequently, and she didn't steal from every hospital she worked at.
All the hospitals she worked at have been notified.
Any of these places have her flagged as a problem? No.
She was never even fired.
She just quit.
So far, 4 of the facilities blamed the missing materials on other employees, who were terminated.
And 5 of the hospitals, their inventory logs were hacked and altered to disguise the missing irradiated stuff.
This was a long, thought-out intricate plan.
Why murder 5 people just to kill one husband? Why not get a divorce? Well, $5 million.
She took out a life insurance policy on her husband 6 years ago.
So it's all about the money.
That, and the fact that she was willing to murder several innocent people in order to kill one.
Lack of empathy, guilt, and remorse indicates anti-social personality disorder.
So where is she? If she wants to collect on his life insurance policy, she can't be in the wind.
Yeah, pretty soon she's gonna have to play the role of shell-shocked grieving wife.
But she doesn't know we're onto to her.
Yeah, and when we spoke to McLean, he hadn't called her yet.
And he's been in a medically induced coma since then, which would give her time to hit another victim.
That makes sense.
Yeah, and I mean she's not gonna want her husband as her last victim.
That would bring too much scrutiny to her.
She's gonna hit again.
Ok, we'll get her photo out to Metro P.
D.
and get out there.
Ok, Metro's got eyes on our unsub.
She's wearing a dark-blue hoodie.
I do not have eyes on her.
Lewis? Neither do I.
Prentiss: JJ? I don't see her either.
Rossi.
Negative.
I've got her.
Blue hoodie.
I've got her.
Yeah, so do I.
Sara McLean, FBI.
Show me your hands.
Aah! Aah! Sara, let her go.
She's got a syringe.
Aah! I don't have a clean shot.
JJ? Neither do I.
Lewis? Negative.
Rossi.
Rossi.
[Gunshot.]
Here's some water.
Thank you.
You don't have to thank me, man.
I'm happy to be here.
Not much longer, tough guy.
Are you in pain? I'm ok.
You need anything I want What? What do you want, man? It's too late.
No, no.
It's not too late.
What do you want? Zach.
I want to see my son.
Ok.
I'll make it happen.
But he's in Atlanta.
He won't make it back.
He'll make it.
How? I got a jet.
All right.
I'll see you guys later.
Yeah, see you later.
Zach Bower? Yeah.
We're with the FBI.
It's about your dad.
Look, whatever it is, I'm not interested.
I'm late for class.
Stephen Walker sent us to come get you.
You were down there because of me.
Because I threw away that medicine you were trying to get me to take.
Mom, I did what I did because I wanted to.
You would have run out of medicine eventually, and Scratch would have been waiting.
The same thing would have happened, it just would have taken longer.
I'm so sorry.
Mom, it's not your fault.
I can't believe I'm losing you to this.
Not like this.
The Alzheimer's I was starting to make peace with that, but this, ohh, how can I leave you here? You are not losing me, and you are not leaving me here, because I'm gonna get out.
The BAU will clear my name.
There isn't time.
Pretty soon I won't even remember you're my son anymore.
I won't remember loving you.
Love isn't a memory.
It's so much more than that.
Remember when I was little and you first started having schizophrenic episodes? Oh, I used to scare you.
And you used to tell me that sometimes you got confused, but you never You never stopped loving me.
Because that type of love is bigger than a disease of the brain.
You used to say, love is a Love is a world of its own that lives in the heart, not in the head.
I remember.
You were so little, I didn't think you would.
Even if you forget, I never will.
I'm so sorry.
For everything.
Time's up.
No physical contact.
I just want to hug my son.
I said step back, ma'am.
Nurse is on her way down.
[No dialogue audio.]
Reid: “Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards.
” Soren Kierkegaard.
[Buzzer.]
JJ's gonna keep coming to visit you, ok? I know.
And I will write to you.
Ready, Diana? It's time.
Don't rush me.
It's time to go.
Have we met? No.
I'm sorry, I should have introduced myself.
Carol Atkinson.
Guard: No physical contact.
I know you.
What you do to me will be nothing compared to what my dad will do to you.
[Weapon cocks.]
Uhh! Go on, kill him, Daddy! Put the gun down and freeze! Please help me! Listen to what she wants.
She's begging you to kill somebody right in front of her.
Your life has been about violence, and if you do this, Lindsey's will be, too.
Do you want that? Kill him.
[Shotgun blast.]
You're Lindsey Vaughn.
Um, no.
Carol.
Carol Atkinson.
It's nice to meet you.
Your mother's an angel.
So glad you had this time together.
Let's go, Diana.
Time to go.
Lewis: Your brain is playing tricks on you.
You keep saying “her.
” Reid: Because it wasn't Scratch who framed me.
It was a woman.
Time to go.
Time time to [Door squeaking.]
[Door closes.]
Guard! Guard! Mom! Mom!