City of Shadows (2025) s01e01 Episode Script

1
Water…
Water…
Water…
Water…
BARCELONA, GET PRETTY
BASED ON THE NOVEL
"EL VERDUGO DE GAUDÍ"
CITY OF SHADOWS
CHAPTER 1
CASA MILÀ - LA PEDRERA
PORT DE LA SELVA
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 24TH, 2010
Your Honor, what a surprise.
Milo, how are you?
I've been better.
I can imagine.
Oh, Milo…
Do you think being alone right now
is what's best for you?
Why can't you
let someone help you for once?
Did you hear what happened
last night at La Pedrera?
No, I didn't.
Eduard Pintó, CEO of what is considered
one of the most important
construction companies in Catalonia,
disappeared a few days ago.
He was found this morning
on a balcony, hanging off of La Casa Milà.
He was burned alive last night.
I need you to come back.
Your Honor, you're forgetting
that I'm suspended without pay right now.
There's a video of him burning.
It's… truly horrific.
Please come see me tomorrow morning.
Of course.
Thank you, Milo.
No, Susana, thank you.
Five days after
his family reported him missing,
businessman Eduard Pintó
was found dead earlier this morning.
The Criminal Investigation Division
of Catalonia
is carrying out the investigation.
The event has shocked the nation,
especially due to the horrific images
of the execution
that were uploaded to the Internet.
This gruesome killing
has left people speechless.
The images
you are about to see were recorded
by Eduard Pintó's killer.
Please be advised,
they can be difficult to watch.
UNRELEASED FOOTAGE
CATALAN BUSINESSMAN BURNED ALIVE
THE DEATH OF EDUARD PINTÓ:
WATCH THIS BEFORE IT'S TAKEN DOWN
-Marc.
-Uncle, I need you to help me, please.
CITY OF JUSTICE
-She's been waiting for 40 minutes.
-Guess I'm off to a bad start.
As always.
Susana? I've got Sergeant Malart.
Great. Let him in.
Thanks, Alba.
Milo.
Mmm.
How are you?
Well… that video didn't
help me sleep much.
Just the video?
-How are you?
-Worried about this case.
-Can I see?
-This is the report Goyo just handed in.
Apparently, they didn't give him
any food or water during the abduction.
He was extremely weak
by the time they burned him.
He wasn't able to fight back.
Even in the video,
you can see how badly he was suffering.
-Cruelty at its finest.
-Mm-hmm.
Worthy of a psychopath.
I need you.
I need you to be
part of this investigation.
You need one psychopath to catch another.
I did have to insist,
but Bastos said he was willing
to have you back on board.
This is all very recent.
Nothing has been forgiven,
or even less, forgotten.
Honestly, Susana,
I would've preferred to say no.
Hmm.
But I won't be able to pay rent
on my apartment much longer.
I already told you to stay at my house.
-Do we have any leads?
-For now, no.
The whole thing seems like it could be…
some sort of payback.
But Pintó had a pretty good reputation.
-Mind if I keep this?
-Go ahead.
Thank you, I guess.
At La Pedrera, on Passeig de Gràcia,
business is back to normal.
Casa Milà reopened its doors,
one day after
the horrific murder of Eduard Pintó,
CEO of the construction company, Adcoensa.
Yesterday, throughout the day,
the iconic building,
which is one of Barcelona's
most famous attractions,
remained closed
while Catalonia's police force
searched for clues
that could clarify the events
that led to the killing.
No details have yet been released,
as it is a classified investigation.
FORENSIC INSTITUTE OF CATALONIA
It was… far from easy.
There were remains still hanging
from the balcony,
a leg that was laying on the sidewalk…
It was a real mess.
He lasted about five days
without any food or water.
Could he have held on any longer?
Well, he was… a big guy.
But without any food or water,
three to five days, that's about it.
How long for a body to burn like this?
Well, it really depends on a few things.
But I'd say about 15 minutes.
Although in this case,
I think it was faster.
He was completely covered,
from head to toe,
his clothes, his whole body,
with a sort of motor oil
mixed with gasoline.
Forensics found some traces of it
on the balcony too.
A real firebomb.
Right.
-So you're back on the team?
-Seems like it.
Hopefully they'll
welcome you back with open arms.
As long as it's not with closed fists.
MOSSOS D'ESQUADRA POLICE STATION
LES CORTS, BARCELONA
MONDAY, OCTOBER 25TH, 2010
As you know, having you
back on the team was not my idea.
Your disciplinary report
is still under review.
We haven't made a final decision yet.
Assaulting a colleague is something
that we take very seriously.
We value your work and your instincts,
but your return comes
with a series of… requirements.
Sergeant Singla
is leading the investigation.
You'll follow his orders,
you'll report to him,
and you'll have to prove to him
that your, uh…
issues with him are no longer a problem.
Understood?
Yes.
Also, twice a week, you'll attend
mandatory psychological evaluations
with Dr. Judit Gaig.
You start this afternoon.
You no longer work with Bruno Bachs.
Starting today, you have a new partner,
Rebeca Garrido.
She's with the National Police.
She was assigned from Madrid
to our headquarters to assist us.
She's a certified
criminal behavior analyst,
trained in the United States.
I thought that she could be a great asset.
Well, if it isn't
the middleweight champion himself,
Milo Malart, who just
stepped back into the ring!
He's making his way
straight to his opponent's corner!
Milo.
We've been holding the meeting for you.
Let's go.
-Jordi, I didn't ask for this.
-I didn't either, trust me.
I don't know what Internal Affairs
is waiting for to fire you,
but I don't want you here.
If you give me any trouble at all,
you're off the investigation.
Bastos made that very clear.
Great. Come on, let's go.
Eduard Pintó left his office,
located in Pasaje de Méndez Vigo,
right here in Paseo de Gracia,
past 10 o'clock at night.
But he never made it home.
His wife reported him missing
the next day.
She called him several times
and sent him messages the night before,
but he never received them.
We found his phone shut off in his car,
which was parked
in a quiet street in Pedralbes.
In Pedralbes, you can get abducted,
but at least they won't steal
your phone if it's in the car.
We didn't find any CCTV cameras
that covered that part of the street,
so now we're searching for footage
of them heading to the destination.
So far, we've got nothing.
Perfect place to do it.
Planned it like professionals.
Which could fit the idea of a payback.
Who's working on Pintó's file?
-Crespo, anything?
-Nothing fitting for the moment.
Okay, keep looking.
We found footage
from the surveillance cameras
of La Pedrera and its surroundings.
We can see our suspect
at work before and after.
-Can we see his face?
-No. He has a motorcycle helmet on.
You'll take a look at the footage
later on… with Garrido.
Rebeca Garrido, your new partner.
That video the killer recorded,
any trace of how
he uploaded it to the Internet?
The IP points to
a Pakistani cybercafé in Raval.
Many people go there every day.
No one recalls seeing anything.
No leads, nothing.
Okay, does anyone have anything
to say about the report from Forensics?
They were killing him slowly.
They tortured him in a way that was…
sadistic, I'd say.
Five days without food or water,
which completely weakened him,
before burning him alive
on the facade of an iconic building.
No assassin would go through
all that trouble just for payback.
That theory doesn't fit.
All the planning, the staging…
even choosing a symbolic location.
We can't rule out
that the victim was chosen at random.
But… I doubt it.
We're talking about
a very important person here.
Maybe revenge?
Or a statement of intent.
We're under a lot of pressure right now.
There's only a month left
before Catalonia's elections.
The mayor's already been
calling Bastos several times a day,
so if we take too long in solving this,
government officials
will start calling too.
The balcony at the Pedrera leads to what?
An apartment, an office?
It's a museum.
It's the replica of an early 20th-century
bourgeois apartment.
-How'd they get in? There's no security?
-Yeah, there is.
The security contractor
in charge that night was fired.
There was no report of a break-in.
Our suspect had a duplicate of the keys
that gave access to the main entrance
and to the museum.
It's unclear how they got them.
None were reported stolen or missing.
They got access to a set of keys
and copied them without anyone noticing.
One heck of a puzzle.
And we haven't found a single piece yet.
Hey! Wait up.
-You're off to a bad start.
-Really?
How should we start?
Hello, Rebeca Garrido. And you?
Look. You're going to babysit me, hm?
But I already have a headache
and a bunch of problems,
so don't ask me to be nice.
I won't.
That's not really a problem…
I'm not here to make friends.
I hadn't seen this part.
He zooms in and does a close-up
on his face to show the fear.
In this next part,
he cuts off the sound. Don't know why.
Probably saying
something they don't want us to hear.
Yeah, seems like they're talking.
And Pintó reacts to it.
And yells.
The sound is back, right about…
Now.
Hm.
And the next cut is when he's lit on fire.
We don't know with what,
we didn't find a lighter.
It lasts over a minute.
Should we fast-forward?
Sure.
The next cut is from below.
They zoom in on the victim
from Paseo de Gracia and Provenza Street,
where the view is better.
Although it's not that easy to tell
what's happening from down there.
Who reported it?
A taxi driver.
He was driving by and thought someone
was burning something on a balcony.
Something's on fire
on one of the balconies of Casa Milà.
Well, I don't know. Some bad prank
or some kind of protest or whatever.
-No one else saw anything?
-Not that we know of.
There's a homeless man
who sleeps right across the street.
-The one with the dog.
-Mm.
He didn't sleep there that night.
We also have CCTV footage.
Our suspect arrived at 5:22 a.m.
in a cleaning services van
that came from the city impound
without raising any flags.
The van blends in perfectly.
"Barcelona, come on, get pretty."
They take the body out of the van
wrapped in some sort of cover or bag,
carry the victim,
open the building using the keys,
and they walk in casually.
A strong man.
He managed to carry Pintó up
all on his own.
It isn't necessarily a man.
We can't be sure of the gender.
The footage isn't enough
to determine that.
The elevator doesn't have cameras.
It's like a modern relic.
And you can't see the balcony
from the street cameras.
They probably left Pintó upstairs
while they went back to the van
to get the fuel, and went back up.
Eight minutes later,
they leave, while Eduard Pintó is burning.
They risked letting someone
see them walk out.
The time of day is ideal.
They leave the premises at 5:41 a.m.
and park the van
two blocks away on Rosselló Street,
between Roger de Llúria and Bruc.
No evidence, no prints…
They walk back to the scene
at 5:47 to film it from the street.
That isn't a six-minute walk.
They probably hurried back running,
or it was a different person.
Now what are they doing? Squatting?
Yeah, looks like they dropped something
and they're picking it up off the ground.
No, it's taking too long.
They're tired or…
Or they're watching the fire from below.
-What problems do you have?
-Sorry?
Earlier, you said you had
a bunch of problems.
The session with
the psychologist is later.
It's my other punishment,
no need to do that job too.
I suppose it's because you punched Singla.
Well done, you did your homework.
Using criminal behavior analysis
to study me, huh?
Should I know anything about you?
Hm.
All right, then.
-They've reopened.
-Business is business.
The facade is like a cliff.
Like rock carved by the crashing waves.
Prometheus and the fire?
"The result of a tortured
Catalan soul," or so Dalí said.
It's strange…
The design features natural elements,
especially marine life,
but at the same time, it's a very
religious structure in terms of symbolism.
It marks the transition towards
the mysticism of Gaudí's last act.
It makes me think that…
our suspect might have gone
through a similar type of… transition.
Or is chasing a mystical transcendence.
You can tell by the creative
and artistic decisions they took
while staging the whole scene.
Also, this was the last
civil building Gaudí built,
during a very turbulent time.
Lots of terrorist attacks and…
lots of anarchist riots too.
"Barcelona, the Rose of Fire."
They chose the most spectacular spot.
It's a ritual sacrifice.
You mentioned a staging,
as if they wanted… a dramatic effect.
"Prometheus, the thief of fire," you said?
Prometheus was punished by the gods
for stealing the sacred fire
and giving it to mankind.
He was chained to a rock,
where an eagle would devour
his liver for eternity.
A punishment.
And a lesson for those who see it.
They chose the most
emblematic tourist attraction
on the most prestigious avenue.
Trying to make as much
of an impact as possible.
On the whole city.
"Barcelona, come on, get pretty."
The chimneys represent warriors,
whose faces are hidden under helmets,
just like our suspect.
Those are said to be the champagne bottles
from the inauguration.
But Lady Milà didn't like
Gaudí's crazy ideas,
so she asked him not to do that
with the other chimneys.
You knew all this,
or you've been studying?
Over here, this caught my attention.
These two points of views,
like a pair of eyes,
through which we are able to see
the two expiatory temples of the city.
Tibidabo…
And… the Sagrada Familia.
The wealthy buy redemption
through donations.
They must be big sinners
to build such ugly things.
They squatted to sign their work.
"G" for Gaudí?
The letter G is linked
to many connotations.
It's the most significant
Freemason symbol.
Gaudí flirted with Freemasonry
in his youth.
They're trying to tell us,
"Look, I did this."
They'll probably do it again too.
Go see Toni Crespo.
Get a list of all
the Masonic societies in Barcelona.
Or any other lead we could follow.
Mm-hmm.
-Milo?
-Yes.
Come in.
Hi, I'm Judit Gaig.
-Nice to meet you.
-Likewise. Please come in.
Hm.
Have a seat.
-Right there.
-Okay.
How's being back at the office?
It's amazing.
Good. And re-engaging
with Sergeant Singla?
Tell me what happened there.
Nothing worth mentioning.
Mm… Well, you did punch him.
We were arguing.
Which is something that happens
during an investigation.
Only that this time around…
I lost my temper.
Do you have anything
against Sergeant Singla?
Probably that he isn't
the most intelligent.
But other than that,
no, I don't have a problem with him.
Garrido.
Come see me in my office, if you would.
Your temper, do you often lose it?
No. No, no, no.
It can happen when you're confronted
with emotional stress.
Would you say you suffer
from that kind of stress?
Hmm… I don't know, Doctor.
Judit. Call me Judit.
Judit.
The suicide of a nephew
would most certainly qualify
as a possible cause of emotional stress.
It also says
in your internal suspension report
that you're recently separated.
You've moved out and now live on your own?
-Hm.
-Are you in the middle of a divorce?
No… no. Uh, well, not yet.
We are… separated.
And this separation,
does it date back to before
or after your nephew's suicide?
-After.
-Were you very close?
Sorry, sorry, this must sound like,
uh… an interrogation.
Uh… I've gone through
your file pretty thoroughly.
I can tell that you're
a very talented investigator.
I've read some of your reports,
and I think that you're a…
…perfectionist who keeps
pushing for answers
and gives more than what's expected. No?
Even once the investigation is closed.
Mm. Closed cases
without viable conclusions.
My job is to find… answers.
Or so that's what I like to think.
There aren't answers for everything.
It's only natural
to experience a profound crisis
after losing someone we love to suicide.
It's normal.
It's because we want to understand why.
But… most of the time,
we just don't, and it's…
almost better not to understand.
Your father suffered
from schizophrenia, correct?
In your file, it says
that he died after staying many years
in a mental institution.
Do you sometimes think about that?
Milo.
Could you please explain to me
how the fuck an abduction
and the murder of a CEO
of a construction company
turned into a ritual sacrifice?
Just a simple observation
we made during our investigation.
"Potential serial killer"?
"Possibly more than one individual."
"Aims for touristy areas."
"Search for Masonic societies"?
No use in writing a report.
You already know everything.
You've gone completely crazy, Milo.
I want you out of here, now!
Very well. Between this
and the report from the shrink,
Bastos won't be having
any doubts about you.
I warned you, Malart. Now, get out.
What the hell did you tell him?
He wanted to know how our visit went.
Did you have to tell him
everything we talked about?
You have no fucking clue
how things work around here!
Come with me.
Milo…
First of all, please don't do
that again. Never yell at me.
Second of all, nothing I told him
seemed far-fetched or ridiculous to me.
-Hm?
-Hmm.
Oh, and before I forget,
I also told him
it wasn't right to discredit the intuition
of a good investigator.
-Right. You told him that?
-Yes.
You're not just a sitter.
You're also a fucking spy.
-You're getting it all wrong, Milo.
-Sure!
TORRENS FOUNDATION
CATALAN ARTS AND CULTURE
-Good evening, Mr. Torrens.
-Good evening, Gemma.
The board meeting lasted
longer than expected.
I won't be coming in tomorrow,
so take the day off.
Thanks, Mr. Torrens. Have a nice night.
Oh, w--wait a minute!
Oh, thank you so much.
-Andreu, what do you say?
-Thank you very much.
-Thank you.
-I'm glad the man found my dragon.
Yes, Your Honor?
Milo, do you know who the CEO
of the Torrens Foundation is?
There's been another abduction.
Another prominent figure.
TO VERÓNICA ECHEGUI
WITH ALL OUR LOVE AND ADMIRATION.