Original subtitles

Stearns, Minnesota?

Stearns, Minnesota.

Longest lifespan in the US.

Ten to twelve years above the national average.

- Why? - Well, they're in the middle of farm country.

They get up at the crack of dawn, they pick the corn, they plow the fields.

You wanna know who has the shortest lifespan in the United States?

- I couldn't tell you. - Bennett County, South Dakota.

Washington DC,

and a close third, Baltimore, Maryland.

I read this, I figure, I'm definitely moving to Minnesota.

Yeah, well, people out there are living longer 'cause they're not killing each other.

I mean, this place Stearns probably has one homicide cop to the whole town.

Do you think that they need another one?

So I'll become a farmer. A couple acres, a new pair of overalls.

I buy myself a decade at least.

[Ballard] Sergeant Rogers, enlighten us.

[Rogers] Body's inside the Mercedes.

Josephine Dalton, 46-year-old white female.

Seems like suicide.

Well, I don't think she was vacuuming.

[Lausanne] Looks like carbon monoxide.

- I'll have to check her lungs to know for sure. - Okay, Doc.

Nice car. At least if you're gonna go, she goes in style, huh?

- Was there a note? - No note.

Her two kids are inside the house.

The son's name is Alex. The daughter's Samantha.

- Where's Mr. Dalton? - Out of town on business.

[Ballard] And the children found the body?

The car was here when they came from school.

People in Minnesota don't commit suicide.

You still here? Geez, I thought you'd be off milking a cow by now.

[camera shutter clicking]

[theme music playing]

[*]

[*]

- [phone ringing] - [Giardello] Homicide.

[Munch] Your dad's in Richmond?

I left a message.

You're the one that found your mom?

Well, we both did.

I saw her car in the driveway, and...

I knew something was wrong.

She's never here when we get home.

- She's always at work. - Which is where?

[Alex] Fayette Securities. She's vice president of investments.

Was your mom stressed out about anything? Was she depressed?

She was fine until-- until last night.

I heard her crying in her room.

Any idea why she was upset?

No.

What about you, Samantha?

Do you know what your mom might have been sad about? Hmm?

Hey, sweetie.

[whispering] I'll get a medic.

Just because Josephine Dalton owned a Mercedes,

does that mean she has to be happy?

Well, there has to be something that drove her to kill herself.

Like, she went to the doctor and found out she was terminal,

or she caught her husband cheating.

Are we sure this is a suicide?

Lausanne is doing an autopsy now.

He's checking to see if there's any carbon monoxide in her lungs and blood.

And the lab's processing the car for prints.

Someone could've killed her and then stuffed her into the driver's seat.

Talk to the ME. If he rules it a homicide, get it up on the Board, work on it.

If it's a suicide, move on.

Well, even if it was a suicide, I'd still wanna know why.

Do yourself a favor, Ballard.

It's hard enough understanding why people kill each other.

Why they kill themselves? [scoffs]

That's not ours to answer, is it?

Exactly.

Hey, Lieutenant, you got a minute?

For you, 30 seconds.

How's it gonna go for Meldrick today, his trial board?

Well, there are no guarantees.

No guarantees? Can't you do something?

I mean, grease it for him somehow?

Grease it? Are you suggesting that a Departmental trial board can be manipulated,

that there's no integrity in the process?

- Pretty much. - I'm shocked.

I am shocked by the very notion of such a thing.

The case against Detective Meldrick Lewis will be decided upon on its merits.

Now there's nothing else I can do.

Understood?

- Understood. - Good.

[sighs] So what's it say?

"I'm sorry."

- Anything else? - Yeah. "Love, Ken."

No broken heart. No thwarted ambitions.

No explanation at all.

No, I guess our Ken wasn't much of a wordsmith.

The deceased's name is Kenneth Alden. He's 54 years old.

President and CEO of this whole operation.

His secretary, Vera Sloane, is waiting out in the hallway.

- Okay. - Thanks.

[camera shutter clicking]

Uh, Miss Sloane. You find the body?

I was bringing him his coffee.

Mr. Alden had family?

A wife, Eleanor. And a son.

I haven't called them. Please, don't make me call.

No, no, no. We'll handle it.

[Scheiner] Okay, gentlemen, show me the body.

Middle-aged white male of the corporate variety,

dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.

- Must be contagious. - What?

[Scheiner] Second suicide of the day.

Ballard and Munch handled the first one.

- Can I have him? - Yeah, yeah, yeah. He's all yours.

- [Scheiner] Thank you. - Let me see that note.

[Jasper] A violation of Departmental rules and regulations, to wit,

use of excessive force on the 16th of January

involving Detective Meldrick Lewis, sequence number C106,

and a citizen, one Georgia Rae Mahoney.

- Detective Lewis? - Sir.

It's my understanding that you have elected

not to contest the substance of the complaint.

- [Lewis] Yes, sir. - You are willing to waive your right to a trial board

and have this panel recommend disciplinary action at this time?

- I am. - Our recommendation is for Detective Lewis

to lose five vacation days, receive a letter of reprimand,

and receive counseling on community relations and the appropriate use of force.

This hearing is concluded.

Whew. Whoa. It all unfolded just like you said it was gonna do, Gee.

Well, my word's my bond.

Exactly how many favors you have to call in on this one?

- More than you ever wanna to know. - [chuckling]

- Detective Lewis. - Captain.

- [Gaffney] You look good in uniform, Lewis. - Why, thank you, sir.

If it was up to me, you'd be back in a radio car for that stunt you pulled.

- Yes, sir. - Of course, your lieutenant here, he thinks otherwise.

But I've always said, Al's problem is a lack of discipline.

If I was runnin' his shift,

I'd be offering you a transfer out.

Respectfully speaking, sir,

if you were runnin' his shift, I'd be takin' it.

Hey. I thought you were sick.

Got a half hour of Regis and Kathie Lee.

Had to get out of the house. Did I miss anything?

Munch and I are working a possible suicide.

It was a suicide. That was Lausanne.

Mmm. Okay, so now we know how she died. We still don't know why.

I don't care and neither should you.

Oh, my God. Are you always such a curmudgeon?

The ME says it's not a murder, it's not a murder.

Gee says move on, I'm moving on.

You missed me, didn't you?

Hey, Ballard. How'd your guy kill himself?

Uh, it was a her, and it was carbon monoxide poisoning. Why?

Really? 'Cause our dead guy in Gilford,

Kenneth Alden, he killed himself also.

- You think there's a connection? - Well, not unless yours was

a middle-aged corner-office executive who blew his brains out.

Josephine Dalton was 46 years old,

vice president of Fayette Securities.

She pumped exhaust into her brand-new Mercedes.

[Ballard] We're a long way from Wall Street.

The financial community in Baltimore can't be that big.

Maybe they knew each other. Maybe they did business together.

Yeah, maybe Alden and Dalton brokered a deal,

deal goes south, both lose big bucks, both call it a day.

[phone ringing]

- [Pembleton] Homicide, Pembleton. - You know something?

Coincidence or no, two suicides in one day is plenty.

Well, they say bad things happen in threes.

We'll be right down.

- What's up? - That was the widow Alden.

She wants to have a word with us.

So much for working murders.

Hey, if this keeps up, we're gonna call Homicide "Suicide."

Twenty-one years and four words is all he has to say.

First I thought he was sorry for shooting himself.

Then this came in the mail today.

What is it?

I know what's inside this envelope is connected to Kenneth's death.

If I show you detectives, I hope that this will stay between us.

We'll try our best.

I take it this isn't you?

Of course not.

Kenneth was having an affair.

Yeah, which someone else caught on film.

Looks like a telephoto lens.

Whoever took those pictures must have shown them to Kenneth.

I believe he killed himself out of fear of exposure.

That's a little extreme, Mr. Alden.

Please forgive me.

Plenty of men are unfaithful, plenty of men are found out.

They don't end their lives over it.

If you consider who he was sleeping with,

suicide makes more sense.

Do you know this woman?

Her name is Jessie Metzger.

She's Kenneth's half-sister.

[tense instrumental playing]

[camera shutter clicking]

- Incest? - Jessie Metzger and Kenneth Alden

had the same mother, and that makes this kind of carnal activity strictly taboo.

- Dalton killed himself out of guilt? - [Bayliss] Mmm.

I don't know, Gee. He doesn't look guilt-ridden to me.

Our guess is that Alden was okay by this as long as nobody found out.

So someone was taking pictures of Alden and his half-sister without him knowing,

and now they're holding it over him like some kind of a threat?

Well, he was a successful businessman.

Maybe somebody did it for the cash.

- That's blackmail. - Otherwise known as extortion.

Extortion which may have led to the death of another human being.

Track down this half-sister, Jessie Metzger.

Talk to Alden's friends, co-workers, other relatives.

Find out who took those photographs.

What about Josephine Dalton?

- Who's Dalton? - Our second suicide.

Same profile as Alden. Successful executive, mother of two.

She might have her own secrets, her own set of photographs.

All right, talk to Dalton's husband.

Find out if he knows anything. But please, be discreet.

What about Josephine Dalton? What do you think she's hiding?

Well, maybe she had some deep, dark secret.

Or maybe she just ran out of St John's wort and couldn't cope.

Do you think it's incest, like with Alden?

Oh, I don't know. What would be the odds of that?

Yeah, even if it was, what would that explain?

Getting caught wouldn't mean she had to commit suicide.

Kenneth Alden didn't have to, either.

If someone found out that you were

sleeping with your own brother,

would you kill yourself over it?

I don't even have a brother.

Yeah, but you know what I mean.

Time passes on, people forgive anything.

They go on to the next, and they go on to the next scandal.

What would it take for you to end your own life?

And what could be so bad?

A date with John Munch.

- Ready to roll, partner? - Yes.

I don't know. That's a tough one.

When I get an answer, I'll come back to you.

Kenneth first kissed me when I was 16.

We were together 25 years. That's longer than his marriage.

Did you see Kenneth at all yesterday?

We usually met at lunchtime.

I went to the apartment, but he called to say he couldn't make it.

Which apartment is this?

Ken rented a place at the Ambassador.

After so many years, we wanted a place of our own.

Did anyone else know about your relationship,

anyone who may have wanted to blackmail Kenneth?

Not that I know of.

What about these photos?

Who might have taken them?

I have no idea.

All right, then.

Thank you very much for your help, Miss Metzger.

And we are sorry about your loss.

[Jessie] Kenneth and I were in love.

I was never ashamed of our relationship.

Had he felt the same way, he'd still be alive.

Hey, the football's back.

Hey! I was wondering where it went.

- Hey, Meldrick. - Nice to see you mooks too.

I can move my stuff.

No, that's-- that's all right.

I can, uh--

I can slide right over here by Mac.

Huh, Mac? Just, uh--

Meldrick, I-- I can move my stuff.

I said this is fine.

New desk, new vibe.

I'm all about change right now.

[Kellerman] Hey, ball up.

Come on!

You wanna look through my wife's things?

We're especially interested in any recent mail.

Packages, envelopes, anything she might've received in the past couple days.

Would you mind telling me why?

Josephine was unhappy. She took her own life.

- What is there to investigate? - We had a second suicide today, Mr. Dalton.

We just wanna rule out any connection between your wife and this other person.

- Kenneth Alden. - Yes.

Yeah, I heard about his suicide from Fairglen.

- What's Fairglen? - It's our country club.

I just saw him there last Sunday brunch.

How well did you know him?

We'd see him at meals.

I played doubles against him in a tennis tournament.

What about your wife? They were both in finance.

- You ever see them talking business? - No, never.

We have evidence relating to Alden's death,

so it could be more complicated than just a simple suicide.

What kind of evidence? What does it have to do with Josephine?

Maybe nothing, but that's why we wanna search your wife's things.

There's no need, Detectives.

I won't make you waste your time.

- Excuse me? - I know why my wife killed herself.

It had nothing to do with Kenneth Alden.

Who's the kid?

Joshua Dillinger. He babysits for Samantha.

They were having an affair.

How long did you know about it?

The pictures came in the mail today.

But you didn't tell us?

If that was your wife, would you be passing them around?

This is obviously something that Josephine didn't want people to know about.

It's clearly the reason she was so distraught.

I was planning on burning 'em as soon as I got a chance, and--

Trust me, Mr. Dalton, it's a good thing you didn't.

[camera shutter clicking]

- Hey. - Hey, Mikey.

What's up?

I just wanted to tell you that I'm glad you made it back to the Unit.

- Yeah, thanks, man. - You know, if, uh-- if you felt like it,

maybe we could work a call or two together like the old days.

Sounds good. Maybe.

And, uh, thanks for that tip on Calvin Barnes.

Who?

Dead dope dealer in the project courtyard?

Inside that plain white envelope

was everything I needed to put the case down.

You think I had something to do with that?

Yeah, I know you had something to do with it.

We all know it was you who gave us those envelopes.

Get out of here, Meldrick. If there are informants

out there giving up that much evidentiary detail on murders,

you think the city would need trained detectives?

Whatever. Why don't you grab that 25 plate for me?

- Tell me something. - What?

How'd you get the Mahoney crew to turn on itself like that? What'd you do?

Nothin'. I was under suspension. You're forgettin' that.

Whatever. Well, it's gonna get a lot worse.

I took that tape I made, the one with the judge?

- I took it over to the FBI. - Yeah?

And you were right. They weren't very much interested in it,

but that's because they already got a case up and running on Gibbons.

He's gonna roll over. He's gonna give 'em Georgia Rae.

- They told you this? - Yeah.

And I'm tellin' you this because whatever you were doing

to screw up Georgia Rae, or not doing,

I figure you ought to ease up.

You know, with the Feds on her now, she's done.

Hey, I'm going down to the Courthouse tomorrow.

Jury selection on the Mahoney civil suit.

I figure I'll go watch Gibbons sweat. You wanna come?

That sounds like a blast, but, uh, I got laundry to do.

[officer] Got the owner of the restaurant. At least one shot to the head through and through.

The body was discovered by the manager. He's sitting over here in the booth.

- Where's the ME? - Hey, busy day.

- Robbery? - The register's full.

Still has his wallet and all his jewelry.

- You got a name? - Tonio Cornell.

Let me guess. The Mahoney organization.

Last few years, he's worked his way up the ladder.

Rumor had it that he was in line to replace Luther

if Georgia Rae hadn't stepped in.

Another soldier down.

More like a general.

You know, if guys like Tonio are getting killed,

there can't be much left of the Mahoney crew.

So, think we're gonna get a little white envelope for Tonio here?

I figure we might as well talk to Meldrick directly.

- What are you saying? - I'm saying what you're thinking.

That Meldrick mailed those envelopes? You don't know that.

[sighing]

What I'm gonna tell you, you don't repeat.

All that time that Lewis was on suspension,

I was feeding him info on Mahoney's people.

And guess what? Most of those names landed on the Board.

Now, what Meldrick was up to, I don't even wanna know.

I figured he used what he knew

to turn Mahoney's crew on itself.

I figure he made it happen.

Well, why'd you help him?

He's my partner. He asked.

You know, when you came on to Homicide,

you started asking all those questions about Luther's shooting.

I thought you were on a mission.

I thought you were IID or something.

IID? Now that's funny.

Then why were you asking?

When it came up, I couldn't get any straight answers.

Here I walk on to Homicide, and half my shift is carrying around some kind of big secret.

I got worried. Like, what did I just step into?

If I knew what the dirt was, I can decide.

Maybe I stay in the unit,

or maybe I sidestep and transfer out.

But if I don't know what it is, I can't protect myself, can I?

- And that's all it was? - That's all it was.

I took a careful look, came to the conclusion

that the Mahoney shooting wasn't quite right,

and I figured I was not gonna be working with Kellerman.

Are you asking me about that shooting?

There's no need. I know enough.

Was Tonio Cornell one of the names you gave to Meldrick?

Nope. This one ain't on him.

Well, then this situation is officially out of control.

Meldrick might be good at starting a war,

but I got a feeling he's nowhere at stopping one.

[*]

I'm very sorry, Detectives.

The Ambassador does not give out information about our residents.

- Okay. - The occupants have the right to their privacy.

What goes on inside of their homes is their business.

Well, did Mr. Alden own his apartment?

No, I believe Mr. Alden signed a two-year lease.

Of course, I'm really not allowed to say.

Do you recognize this woman, Miss Gurman?

Mr. Alden would bring her here.

Mr. Alden's relationship with Miss Metzger is between the two of them.

Even if they met here several times a week,

which they often did, I wouldn't be permitted to tell you.

Well, we understand that, Miss Gurman.

Uh, but besides Jessie Metzger, was there anyone else whoever visited Mr. Alden?

As I said, The Ambassador does not give out information about our residents.

What about in the last day or two?

All visitors are required to sign this book, you see?

They have to put down their names, the apartment they're visiting,

and the time they arrived and departed.

So we have a Brenner Jones who signed in at 8:40 pm

and left at 8:52.

He must have been the photographer who got into the argument with Mr. Alden.

- The photographer? - He had a fancy camera with him, one of those long lenses.

After he went upstairs, several of the neighbors called down to the desk.

They could hear the yelling.

Did they know what they were fighting about?

I don't know, Detective.

But even if I did, I'd have to keep it to myself.

- Our building policy says-- - Yes, that The Ambassador

cannot give out information about its residents.

- Exactly. - [Pembleton] Okay.

Well, if you ever decide to change that policy, Miss Gurman,

please... give me a call.

[*]

[Brenner] I didn't think you guys were coming back.

Well, we are sorry about the delay, Mr. Jones.

[chuckles] Yeah, don't get me wrong, I wanna be the good guy here.

It's just I got a life I gotta get back to.

[Bayliss] Right, right. And you know something?

We wanna be very clear about what we're about to do here.

It's just gonna breeze by.

Mr. Jones, you're a photographer, correct?

- [Brenner] Yes. - What kind of work is it you do?

Uh, I'm a freelancer, so that means I pretty much shoot anything.

[Pembleton] Okay. You shoot these?

[chuckling] No.

[Pembleton] No?

Why you smiling?

Uh, 'cause when I said I'd shoot anything,

I didn't really mean anything.

Do you know the man and the woman in these photos here?

- [Brenner] Uh, no. - [Bayliss] No?

I thought that you said that you wanted to help us out,

you wanted to be a good guy.

- Yeah, I do. - Then why you lyin'?

I'm not.

Oh, you see, now, someone said that they saw you

at this man's apartment around nine o'clock the night before last.

They even heard you fighting with him, even had your name signed to the log book.

What, you got nothing to say about that?

Guys, you told me that you were gonna be clear on what this was about, but you haven't been.

Okay, so you won't say anything about Alden. Uh...

What about, um--

What was that woman's name in the Ballard and Munch case?

- Mmm, Dalton. - [Bayliss] Right, right. Dalton. Josephine Dalton.

- What about her? - Look, guys, if I need to get a lawyer, I will.

- I don't wanna have to-- - Yeah, Mr. Jones, getting a lawyer might be very wise.

[Brenner] Why?

Kenneth Alden committed suicide yesterday.

I have a feeling he didn't know about that.

No, I have a feeling he didn't know that Josephine Dalton killed herself, either.

Mr. Jones, when you blackmail somebody and you get caught,

you might be in a little bit of trouble.

But if you blackmail somebody

and they just happen to blow off the back of their head...

[whistles]

...and you get caught, well, that's it.

You're screwed.

- All right, I took the pictures. - [exaggerated exhale]

And occasionally I would make deliveries, guys. That's-- that's all I did.

You gotta believe that. I didn't-- I didn't blackmail anybody.

Who blackmailed somebody?

'Cause unless you're willing to give up a name

or something we can go on,

there's no need to go further in this investigation.

- You look guilty as hell to me. - [Bayliss] Mm-hmm.

Remington Hill.

[both] Remington Hill?

- Remington Hill. - Remington Hill.

Well, well, well. Remington Hill. Who's he?

He's just this rich guy who's, uh, old money, old society.

- [Pembleton] Some old, rich guy? - So how do you know him?

I've done a lot of publicity for the country club he's a member of.

And which country club is this?

Uh, Fairglen?

Mm-hmm. Mmm. Kenneth Alden and Josephine Dalton

happen to be members of this very same--

That's the connection, and that's how--

And this Remington Hill chooses to blackmail

two members of his own club? Is that it?

That's what you're trying to tell us?

- Did he give you a reason why? - No, he just told me

where I would catch the people and what they'd be doing.

He happened to be right both times.

And where could we find this Mr. Hill?

I-- I don't know where he lives.

He always had me meet him at the club.

Detectives.

Look, I know you think I'm scum, but you have to believe me,

I did not wanna be a part of this.

Why'd you get involved?

I needed the money.

[tense instrumental playing]

Come to see the show, Detective?

Why not? I'm easily entertained.

We'll be picking a jury all afternoon.

My guess is we won't get to opening arguments before tomorrow.

It's no problem. I'll stick around long enough to give Judge Gibbons a friendly wave.

[bailiff] All rise.

Division 14 of the Circuit Court for Baltimore City is now in session.

The Honorable Judge Gerald Gibbons presiding.

Miss Weaver, Mr. Robbins.

I've reviewed the pre-trial motions

in the case of the Mahoney estate versus the City of Baltimore et al,

and I've come to the conclusion that my initial ruling

on the defendant's motion to dismiss was incorrect.

After a more careful consideration of the facts,

I find that the allegations of excessive force in the death of Luther Mahoney

to be largely unsubstantiated.

Therefore, I am dismissing the suit.

[gavel banging]

[bailiff] All rise.

Gee whiz. Does this mean we don't get to pick a jury?

[*]

- [Pembleton] Mr. Hill? Remington Hill? - [Remington] Yes.

Detective Frank Pembleton. This is Detective Bayliss.

- From the Baltimore Police Department. - How you doin'?

Oh, yes. Please, have a seat.

I was told you had questions

concerning Kenneth and Josephine.

Sir, how well did you know them?

Well, not as well as I thought.

Their deaths have come as quite a shock around here.

Do you know of a photographer by the name of Brenner Jones?

Brenner Jones?

[Bayliss] Are you not familiar with that name?

Mr. Jones has been hired by Fairglen at various times. Why do you ask?

He claims he's been hired by you, Mr. Hill.

- By me? - To take pictures.

- Oh? - Yeah, sexual pictures.

Of Josephine Dalton and Kenneth Alden,

caught in compromising situations.

I see.

Now, we interviewed him about an hour ago,

and he answered everything that we asked.

He's a weak man, don't you think, Detective?

He spoke the truth, didn't he?

I hired Mr. Jones to do some research for me, yes.

Ah. Research.

Well, I like that. That's, uh-- that's polite.

Maybe not so much polite as proper.

And that's very important to you, being proper?

It should be important to you as well, Detective.

Forget about me.

But it should've been more important to them, am I right?

Sexual relations with your own flesh and blood?

Molestation of a child?

I should say so.

Yeah, but it wasn't,

and that's when you made them pay.

People who can't afford a scandal,

but can afford a cover-up.

You can't find two better candidates for blackmail.

I'll admit I approached Kenneth and Josephine

about the photos that Brenner Jones took,

- but I never asked for money. - If it wasn't about money, what was it about?

It's simple. The two of them were behaving like animals.

They were a disgrace. It had to stop.

What right do you have to dictate another human being's morality?

Kenneth carried ugliness. Josephine was filth.

I demanded that they change.

By threatening to expose them?

I never threatened anyone.

There's been nothing conditional about anything I've done.

I went straight to these people,

I told them they would be exposed.

I mean, are you saying that you didn't even give them a chance to keep it quiet?

When a man is stripped bare, reduced to his basest form,

shamed,

well, then and only then is there a chance for renewal.

We have got, uh, more pictures here of Dalton and Alden.

Now, these aren't the kind of pictures that you had taken,

but these pictures exist because of the ones you had taken.

[camera shutter clicking[

What was that you said about a new life?

I'm not responsible for the weakness of others.

If this is all there was inside, then they're both better off.

- Are their families better off? - How's that?

Now we have two teenagers without a mother,

and we have a little boy with no father.

Humor me for a minute here, Mr. Hill.

Let's assume that they are not better off without parents, even flawed parents. What then?

Then they were sacrificed for the greater good.

The decay in this club doesn't stop with Dalton and Alden.

There are others you've done this to?

If you listen carefully, Detectives,

a whisper at the bar will reveal who is weak.

The punchline of a joke will tell you

who cheats, lies, steals.

For over a year now, I've compiled information,

targeting those who needed intervention.

This week, eight other men and women in this club,

men and women with families, were confronted.

I'm happy to say their children now have better lives.

Eight of the ten faced up to their transgressions.

If two others took the coward's way out?

Well, doesn't our moral balance sheet still show a net gain?

[tense instrumental playing]

Hey, Your Honor. How's it swingin'?

You better hope to hell you never bring another case into my court ever again, Detective.

Yeah, I'm not much worried about that. I got a feeling your time on the bench is winding down.

- Oh? - Yeah, I just wanted you to know

I'm not dealing in the same kind of dirt as you.

You didn't have to fix Georgia Rae's civil suit on my account.

- That's what you asked for. - Only to get you on tape. A tape that I gave to the FBI.

The Feds have got you dead to rights on half a dozen things.

You wanna stay out of jail? You better give up Georgia Rae Mahoney!

- [Pembleton] I'm going back. - You're what?

I'm not finished with Remington Hill.

You gotta be finished, Frank, at least for now.

Hill knows we got nothin' on him.

- He knows? - Yeah.

What does he know? Why does a man like that

get to decide between right and wrong?

Dalton and Alden, they killed themselves.

Hill didn't turn on the ignition,

- he didn't pull the trigger. - He might as well have.

Remington Hill was working towards a greater good.

He was trying to hold people up to a higher standard.

And who can say about these things?

I mean, if someone had taken pictures of me and my uncle,

if someone, you know, anyone had tried to help,

I might have been better off.

[scoffs] I mean, I would've been better off.

You comin', Frank?

The question is of what?

Well, if he asked for money, then it's extortion.

Since he didn't, I don't think there's anything we can charge him with.

Kenneth Alden and Josephine Dalton killed themselves because of Hill.

- He must somehow be responsible. - All he really did was say he'd tattle.

As far as I know, tattling's not a crime.

Well, maybe it should be.

What about the photographer, Brenner Jones?

He took still pictures only, no video?

Not that we know of.

Well, you're not allowed to tape someone without consent.

Still photos are okay. Of course, depending where he took the pictures from,

we might be able to charge Jones with breaking and entering.

Oh, now you're talkin'.

[knocking at door]

- Pembleton, Bayliss. - Come in.

[Gharty] Gotta head back to the country club.

- Why, what's going on? - I just took the call.

It looks like Fairglen has one less member.

- Victim's a white male. - [Pembleton] Mmm.

- Gunshot to the head. - We found a wallet in his sport coat,

- and the driver's license says-- - Remington Hill.

How'd you know?

I recognize his tie.

- So who found him? - The club's membership director, Jason Cahill.

- Well, I guess guilt got to him. - What guilt?

Last time we spoke to Hill, he didn't have any.

Well, maybe he found some. Two suicides on his conscience,

it's bound to make a man follow suit.

You'd think. Except this isn't a suicide.

It isn't?

His trigger finger? It's clean.

The hell? A .44-caliber Smith & Wesson ought to have left an impression.

So he didn't shoot the gun. Then we're looking at a murder.

[man] Why is this happening?

- Why is this happening? - [Pembleton] Mr. Cahill?

It's okay, let him go.

That's three losses in two days.

Look, there's gotta be some explanation.

I need to know what I'm gonna tell these people.

Well, the best thing is to not tell them anything for right now.

Mr. Hill's death may not have been self-inflicted.

- You mean somebody killed him? - Um, sir, we're gonna need

a list of everyone who was at Fairglen today.

Please, step this way.

[camera shutter clicking]

So he was murdered.

By who? Someone he was going to expose?

Okay, there were eight other Fairglen Country Club members who received photographs.

According to the records, three of them were at the club today, but they had alibis.

Two were playing golf all afternoon.

The third was having lunch with a party of ten.

Yeah, the only other guy who was at the club this afternoon

who had any connection at all with Remington Hill

was, uh, Brenner Jones.

- The photographer? - Yeah, but he was getting paid by Hill.

- I don't know why he'd kill him. - I suggest you get him in the Box and ask him yourself.

I went to speak to Remington Hill.

- What about? - There were more people he wanted dirt on.

Oh, so you're back on the job, huh, Mr. Jones?

- No. - No?

No. I told him I didn't wanna do that anymore.

Oh. Why was that?

I don't know. I guess I got tired of feeling like a terrible person.

Well, that sounds like a good enough reason.

And what about Mr. Hill? How did he respond?

Not too well. He got pretty upset.

So what did you do?

I just told him I didn't care and I got out of there.

That's it?

You haven't seen him since?

No.

All right. Well, at this point, Mr. Jones, we need to inform you

that Remington Hill was found dead today at the Fairglen Country Club.

Looks like suicide.

Then I guess that's some poetic justice, huh, Detectives?

You said that Mr. Hill was angry earlier, is that right?

- Yeah. - Based upon your observation,

of what you saw of Mr. Hill's state,

would you have guessed that he would kill himself?

[sighs] I just wanted to get away from him.

I was fixed on how I was feeling.

I don't know. I wouldn't be able to say anything about that.

It's a little oddball, because Hill didn't seem the type.

Well, it's suicide.

I mean, you'll never know. It'll always remain a mystery.

Oh, yeah, yeah. If it was a suicide, right, you know, forget about it.

- It's mystery theater. - I thought you said it was suicide.

No, no, no. I said that we thought it looked like a suicide,

but we don't think that it was.

- No? - [Pembleton] No, we don't think so.

The weapon used was very powerful, a .44 caliber.

The trigger pull pressure is extremely high.

If someone shoots a shot from a weapon like that,

more than likely there's gonna be an imprint.

- [Brenner] And there wasn't one? - No.

So that makes you sure that it wasn't a suicide?

- No, no. What makes us sure is the gunshot residue test. - What's that?

Well, that's the test used to determine if any powder residue

from the gunshot was left on Mr. Hill's hand.

Yeah, but there wasn't any powder, so this guy,

he shot him point-blank and then he put the gun in Hill's hand, staged the suicide.

All right, so maybe it was murder.

But even if you know how it was done, you'll never know who.

No, how leads to who.

Because this fellow that we're after,

he tried very hard, but he wasn't very good.

Undoubtedly he'll have left behind some hair,

fiber, fingerprints.

Might take a couple of weeks, but we gonna catch up to him.

[breathing shakily]

I shot him.

And you put the gun in his hand.

Why?

Well, you two sure as hell didn't do anything to stop Hill

after the big deal you made about bringing me in here before.

- Someone had to do something. - Hey, you didn't have to kill him.

You could've just walked away.

He wouldn't let me do that.

Well, why wouldn't he?

I was like everybody else at that club, all right?

I had a secret.

And Hill told me that he was gonna expose that to my family

unless I did everything that he asked me to do.

I know better than anybody when it comes to something like that,

and, I mean, he is a man of his word.

[Bayliss] We all have secrets.

Why was yours so bad that you felt that you had to kill?

I'll never tell you. I'll never tell you. I'll never tell you.

[*]

[Munch] Nathan Bihari.

Passport says DOB is 8/10/63.

Yeah, AKA Nathan the Nigerian.

Mm-mm-mm, how the mighty have fallen.

- This guy's big-time? - Yeah, he's a D importer for Luther Mahoney,

not to mention five or six other East Coast organizations.

So another one of Mahoney's crew rolls a seven, huh?

Yeah, but this one here, Munchkin?

This one here, I don't get at all.

- And why is that? - Well, this guy's a supplier.

He's not on the inside, he's not involved.

It's like he's neutral, like Switzerland or some place.

Hey, hey, don't go trusting the Swiss.

It turns out they spent World War II

skimming money from my dead relatives.

- Say what? - I don't like their chocolate, I don't like their cheese,

I don't like that little knife that folds out into cutlery.

Don't go talkin' up the Swiss to me.

Yeah, whatever. I mean, why would they whack a guy

who ain't playin' for either team?

I mean, especially when they gonna need him

- after this whole war's over? - Murder for murder's sake.

No, this one here, this one's way beyond making sense.

You want sense? Violence is a contagion that sets in and feeds on itself.

Trying to make sense of an east Baltimore drug war

is like trying to make sense of cancer!

[*]

- [Bayliss] Here you go. - Hey.

So, Brenner Jones confessed to killing Remington Hill?

Yeah.

Hill got what was coming to him.

What's that, some kind of strange justice, huh?

Very strange.

[Ballard] Well, I'll drink to that.

Can I get you something to eat?

We got very nice specials this evening.

We have a pasta, and it's got chicken, sun-dried tomatoes, and pesto.

No. I hate to eat alone, so.

- [Bayliss] Well, how about if I join you? - Yeah?

Yeah, it's not very busy here tonight.

I mean, if that's all right with you.

- Yes, that would be very nice. - Okay, I'll order us the food.

John, let me get two of the pasta specials.

- Cheers again. - Cheers.

So, we haven't had dinner together since--

Since our disaster of a date?

- [Ballard giggles] Yeah. - Yeah.

We never really talked about that.

No, we didn't.

Is there anything to talk about?

Um... you know, it wasn't you, it was me.

How many times have I heard that one?

- No, really. - Mm-hmm.

I never really talk to a lot of people about my personal life.

- You talk to Pembleton. - Not about everything.

You ever thought about, uh...

having a relationship with another woman?

Am I gonna have to come over there and kick you upside your head?

- No, I didn't mean it like that. - Yes, you did!

- No, I didn't. - Oh, come on.

You and every other man on the planet means it just like that.

It's like it's the ultimate sexual thrill to see two women in bed together.

I gotta tell you something:

not a lot of women imagine two men in bed together.

So that disturbs you?

No, it doesn't disturb me at all.

But it doesn't excite me.

I didn't mean it like that either.

Are you saying that--

- I'm not gay. - What are you saying?

I'm not, um...

strictly heterosexual, either, it seems.

What does that mean, "strictly"?

Well, you see, I've had a lot of relationships with women,

and when they fell apart,

I always blamed the women.

All the time. Never me.

And then I met this man, and I thought that--

Are you involved with a man?

Well, I'm not in love with the guy. But I don't know.

I guess the thing is that I'm never satisfied, see?

When I've been involved with women, I've thought about men,

and when I've been involved with men,

I've also thought about women.

You know, you really didn't have to tell me all this.

I did have to tell you this.

Keeping things secret is no good.

Doesn't help anybody, really.

See, the problem is that...

I always thought that if I told anybody who I really was,

they'd run away.

Well...

I'm not running.

- You're not? - No.

- Good. - [laughing]

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