FBI: International (2021) s01e12 Episode Script

Feels weird not reaching
out for your hand.
I know.
- That's you?
- Yeah.
I got an email from an address
I didn't recognize.
Can you see who sent it?
Whoever sent the email will
be able to track your location.
Hello, Scott.
Hey, Mom.
You think I want to talk to you?
- That was my hope.
- After 15 years?
Yes.
I need your help.
Unbelievable.
I'm not asking you to understand.
- I don't.
- I know.
You're a traitor.
You sold secrets to the Russians,
and then you just
disappeared.
You know what? It doesn't even matter.
Just walk away.
I am not who you think I am.
If I have ten seconds, fine.
I will use them to tell you this.
I never betrayed this country.
I have been
I did what I did
My country asked me to sacrifice you,
sacrifice my marriage,
my life, everything,
and it was the hardest thing.
It was the hardest thing
that I have ever done.
And if I had to do it again,
I would tell them no.
I would tell them that it is too much.
They asked too much.
But, Scott
You have to believe me when I tell you
that I am working for the CIA.
I never stopped.
I was 16.
I know.
I watched you grow up.
You're a good man,
and you've made me so proud.
What do you want?
And don't try to sell me some garbage
that you care about me
About Dad.
Just get on with it. What is this about?
My car will be here in one minute.
Yeah, perfect.
I told you I need your help.
There's a file at the bureau's
Washington office.
- It's labelled "Hutchinson".
- What?
I need it.
Are you insane?
The Hutchinson file will
make everything clear.
I know that you owe me nothing,
but this is what I owe you.
If the last 15 years have kept you up
searching for answers,
I'm trying to give them to you.
No.
You don't get to do this.
No.
Get me the file. I'll be in touch.
I can't let you leave here.
I love you.
I never stopped.
I promise you.
I know what you are up to.
- What'd you say to me?
- You are fooling no one.
Maybe you should mind your own business.
And maybe you should be more careful.
Forrester seems a little
bent out of shape this morning.
Who's he talking to?
Headquarters, I think.
We decided to tap the brakes.
We're not seeing each other anymore.
- Really?
- Mutual.
Even Tank is worried about him.
Well, hey, if you need
somebody to talk to
or just, you know, drink
till we're the last ones
left in the pub, I'm your girl.
Thanks, Vo.
Hey, we caught a case.
Michael Vestal, an American
who started a tech company
sharing the same last name.
Sure, Vestal, pretty much the dominant
antivirus software company
on the planet.
Well, three years ago,
Vestal's business partner,
Dominic Spilatro, died
in a boating accident,
though the homicide
detectives in the area
weren't sure about
that word, "accident".
They charged Vestal?
Spilatro was attempting to force him
out of the company at the time.
The city of San Jose indicted him.
He posted a $2-million bail and fled
before the case ever went to trial.
His whereabouts are unknown.
However, none of this has stopped him
from maintaining an online presence
where he cries innocence while
attacking U.S. law enforcement,
- politicians, and judges.
- Yeah, I read about this.
Apparently, thumbing your nose
at Uncle Sam
is a good way to go viral.
He's got 1.1 million followers
on social media.
Yeah, he masks his IP when posting,
so we haven't had any leads
on his location
until earlier today.
Frankfurt, Germany, a 60-year-old man,
Frederick Schmidt, was
murdered in his front yard
after having an argument
with his neighbor.
Two taps to the back of the head.
Security cam across the street got this.
Our fugitive.
- Frankfurt police have him?
- No, not yet.
Then let's get going.
Hey, everything all right?
You seemed kind of agitated
on the phone.
Yeah.
Just figuring some things out,
but yeah, I'm all right.
Ah, somebody looks happy
to be working a case in her homeland.
Best beer, best football,
best bread in the world.
What's not to love?
How are the police?
Professional, precise
like most things German-built.
Is there gonna be a lot
of this while we're here?
I'm just getting started.
Kripo Adler, city police,
this is Agents Forrester,
Kellett, Raines with the FBI.
Willkommen.
I apologize that we do not
already have your fugitive in custody.
No need for that.
He eluded the U.S. government
for three years.
Ah, well, he's here in Germany
using the alias Thomas Smith
and, with his money,
has secured false passports,
false visas, false residence permit.
I should also disclose
He also gave charitably
to our police benevolence fund,
but I assure you,
there's no corruption in Frankfurt.
And I assure you that was not a concern.
- Okay.
- Kripo Adler takes great pride
- in speaking bluntly.
- I find it more efficient.
Would you like to see the crime scene?
- Yes, we would.
- Yeah.
Thought Michael Vestal was rich.
Well, Whitey Bulger was
in a rent-controlled apartment
in Santa Monica when the bureau
kicked his door in.
People who run aren't who they were
before the law started hunting them.
I did a dive on Vestal's finances.
The DOJ froze his personal
accounts when he ran.
Been living for two years
on whatever he squirreled away offshore.
My guess is, he's running low
at this point.
Yeah.
Hey.
What do we got?
So
The camera across the street
only caught the aftermath,
but best we can tell, Frederick Schmidt,
who lives here, confronted Vestal,
who lives here.
What they discussed, we do not know.
Vestal then follows him
back to his doorstep,
and pop, pop,
shoots him twice in the head
at close range,
then turns, marches back to his house,
- and disappears.
- Witnesses?
Nein, niemand.
But the victim's wife is here
if you'd like to talk to her.
- We would.
- Okay.
Bitte.
I came home and found my husband dead
on the doorstep.
He he was
his head was covered in blood.
Did your husband know that your neighbor
was an American fugitive?
Fugitive?
He was indicted for murder in the U.S.
He fled the country unlawfully
before his trial.
We we didn't
he wasn't
I ask because I wonder if your husband
possibly discovered his identity
and attempted to confront him.
Why would he do that?
- Good citizenship.
- Or blackmail.
I don't think he would do this.
My husband was not confrontational.
We barely knew our neighbor.
Hello.
That was a funeral home.
They want to know if I will
cremate or bury Frederick.
What should I do?
I
I think that's your decision, ma'am.
I was going to ask Frederick
what he wanted from the market.
Now I'm talking about his remains.
I don't understand.
Forrester, Kellett
Vestal's apartment
you should come look at this.
Looks like he got out in a hurry.
Well, he's got at least $100,000 worth
of tech equipment in his living room.
Switches, routers, masking software.
- I'm sure he's using a VPN
- Raines.
Everything you need
to camouflage your location.
Guns and ammo too.
Like he's prepared for a siege.
Then where is he?
Looks like a house key.
The wrong size for his door lock.
- Safety deposit box?
- Too big.
It's apartment. Love nest?
I mean, was he seeing somebody?
Because he does not seem like the type
to read classic French romance novels.
- Maybe it's hers.
- Maybe.
I'll run down a mistress-lover angle
with the local police as we canvass.
Hey, he's got mail with
Schlag Security subheaded.
- Where is this address?
- Downtown.
Did he hire a security company?
Maybe they're protecting him now.
Here, check it out.
Hello, miss. I'm with the American FBI.
I was hoping to talk to someone
about a client of yours.
I'm Harold Pesch,
cofounder at Schlag Security.
- Can I help you?
- Yeah.
What can you tell me
about a client of yours,
- Thomas Smith?
- Thomas Smith?
Well, he's not a client.
He's one of our owners.
We're a data security firm.
Our clients are corporations
concerned with digital privacy.
Well, did you know
his real name is Michael Vestal
and he's a fugitive working
illegally in Germany?
As of an hour ago, yes.
I opened this firm two years ago.
Thomas Smith approached to invest.
He knew everything about the industry:
ransomware, AI-powered security,
digital transformations,
cyber kill chains.
- He was smart, up to date
- And well-funded.
Yes, he had 2 million euros to invest,
and, quite frankly,
I needed the capital.
Then today I saw his photo on TV
with the name Michael Vestal.
He was a fugitive, a murderer.
"Oh, my goodness", I said,
"this cannot be".
- Does he have an office here?
- Yeah.
- Can I take a look at it?
- You may.
Schlag Security
is a data security company,
and Vestal was a partner, not a client.
They gave me his corporate laptop,
- but it's protected.
- Can you crack it?
It was owned by an expert
in data security,
so it may be beyond my skill level.
I doubt that.
I do too, but my gramps
told me always act humble.
- Mm-hmm.
- Scott, we have a problem.
Michael Vestal just posted a video
to all of his followers.
The U.S. government is working
with the German government to frame me.
I didn't kill anyone,
and yet here are two
United States FBI agents in Germany
trying to silence me
and take away my truth.
Now, the U.S. has no jurisdiction here.
These two agents
are illegally stalking me.
Well, two can play at that game, right?
My followers, I want you to dig deep
on these government agents,
find out who they are,
dox 'em, drag 'em,
make life hell for them
like they're doing to me!
I agree with you.
I don't like our images
all over the Internet,
especially as it affects UC work.
Between this and the OPR hounding me,
how long until Washington decides
all we're doing in Europe
is attracting eyeballs?
- Remember Chicago?
- Mm.
The director came down on the SAC,
and they split up
the entire field office.
Yes.
I just don't want
everything that you've built
in Budapest to crumble.
- You've worked too hard for it.
- Okay.
We just keep our heads down,
follow the facts,
make the case, make an arrest.
Anything beyond that,
it's out of our control.
Hey.
You seem heavy, like you're carrying
100-pound weights on your shoulders.
I chalk it up to our
relationship going sideways,
but seems like there's
more going on than that.
You can always talk to me.
It's nothing.
Hey, I talked with the
cybercrime division
at 26 Fed.
They've created dummy profiles
for agents Andy Jones
and Diane Williams
on the FBI's main page.
Hid them behind a hackable firewall
so they'll be discovered by any
of Vestal's Internet sleuths
playing Sherlock Holmes
in their mom's basement.
Guess we're Andy and Diane.
It might fool the doxers long enough
till they get bored and
move on to something else.
Where are we with Vestal's laptop?
It has hydra safeguards.
I get past one firewall,
four more pop up,
but I'm like a dog with a bone now.
Okay, stay on it.
Police did a rundown on all
the associates at Schlag.
If Vestal had a lover there,
no one's admitting it,
and the canvass of the neighborhood
was a bust too.
So we still don't know
where that key fits.
- Mm-mm.
- City police are monitoring
all motorways, train stations,
airfields, and bus stations
- out of Frankfurt.
- We have posted
Michael Vestal's photo everywhere.
If he is in Frankfurt, we will find him.
He is.
In Frankfurt, I mean.
So if we look at the video
that he posted
The U.S. government
is working with the German government
to frame me.
I didn't kill anyone,
and yet here are two
United States FBI agents in
If we pause the video here,
we can make out a reverse image
of a street sign behind him.
- Ah, this is good.
- You know the shop?
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
that's Tattoo Strase.
- Yeah, we know it.
- Yeah?
- Yeah.
- Let's go.
Okay, I'll get my men.
We'll meet you there.
Vo.
Yeah.
I am Katrin Jaeger with Europol.
This is Agent Forrester with the FBI.
You know why we're here?
A man told me they would be coming.
I thought he was paranoid,
but here you are,
American cops in Germany.
Maybe he was not so paranoid.
Is this him?
He said to tell you something.
- What's that?
- If he dies in police custody,
the world will know he was murdered,
not suicide.
Did he have a weapon with him?
When did he leave?
What did you say?
I'd be grateful if she'd
answer the question.
He left ten minutes ago.
On foot?
Direction?
Hey, we're up on the phone
Vestal used to make the video.
He just powered it on.
He's on the same street
as the tattoo parlor.
The address is
Friedberger Landstrasse 1022.
Thanks.
His phone is active at the nightclub.
I'll let Adler know.
Hey, can you cut the music,
turn on the lights?
What?
- The music, can you cut it?
- What?
Cut the music and turn on the lights.
- Now?
- Turn it off?
Now, now.
- You must leave.
- Hey, I'm with the
Everybody freeze!
He was here.
He was handing out 100-euro notes.
Pointed you out, said
you were stalking him.
You didn't maybe want to,
I don't know, ask me about it
before the gentle giant over there
threw me on the ground?
We get a lot of trouble here,
and you look like trouble.
You haven't seen trouble.
You know, Vestal knows
there's a manhunt for him,
and he hasn't left Frankfurt.
Instead, he's playing games,
leading us around by the nose.
I mean, why? What? To what end?
Maybe he knows he's gonna get caught
but decided to make things
as difficult for us as he can.
- That means he's an imbecile.
- Mm.
Some criminals get off
on the high of being hunted.
Zodiac, BTK.
They feed off contact with the police.
When it's too quiet,
they force the contact.
Getting close.
Doesn't look like it.
Looks can be deceiving.
Vestal just posted a new video.
Play it.
The U.S. government
is trying to silence me.
These are the kind
of harassments I face.
He was right there.
Everybody freeze!
These are the same two
U.S. agents in Germany
who are pulling guns on innocent people.
They have to be stopped.
He is now up to 1.8 million followers.
- People love a good freak show.
- He's getting off on it.
There has to be something
more going on here.
Well, he masked his IP address,
so we can't bounce the location.
Analyze that video like you did before.
- That background is different.
- On it.
I gotta take this.
Scott?
Scott, if you can't talk,
don't say anything.
Just bring me the Hutchinson file
by Thursday.
Text me a time and place
when you have it.
I love you, Scott.
- I'll be damned.
- Hey, Gary.
Thought I recognized the number.
- How you doing, my friend?
- Yeah.
You still working
international operations?
Still am.
Well, anytime you guys need an analyst,
I'll stamp my passport for you.
I'll keep that in mind.
Hey, Gary, can you do me a favor?
Anything.
Look, I've been working
an angle over here.
It's a bit sensitive.
An old assignment came up,
something with the case name Hutchinson.
Preceded us both.
It would've been
at the Washington branch
circa 2005.
Okay.
Is there any way that
you can pull that file
and send it to me when you
get back to the office?
Look, I can't have
my fingerprints on this.
This is sensitive.
Okay, give me a couple days.
Lord knows you bailed me out
of a mess or two at Quantico.
All right, man, well,
I'll let you get back to it.
- Talk to you soon, Scott.
- Yeah, thanks, Gary.
What?
What's going on?
What do you mean? I had to take a call.
Your mother?
How did you know?
Because I know you better than anyone.
And it's written all over your face.
She
she made contact in Transnistria.
Why?
I asked her that same question.
And?
She wants a classified file.
That's a big ask.
Yeah.
So what'd you tell her?
Scott, you're not actually
thinking about doing it.
Raines cracked the laptop.
Nothing.
Nothing useful?
No, there's nothing here.
It's a brand-new laptop,
except it's running
multiple layers of encryption software.
When you get through it,
the entire hard drive is blank.
So why would Schlag Security
give us a clean laptop
- but make it impossible to open?
- To waste our time?
Pesch offered up his laptop
with no warrant or anything.
Then the question is, why was he
intentionally stalling us?
It's them! It's them!
It's them, the American fascists!
It's them! It's them! It's them!
Free Vestal! Free Vestal!
- Free Vestal!
- The American fascists!
Free Vestal! Free Vestal!
Why'd you want to stall us,
give us a dummy laptop?
I think my rib is cracked.
Sounds painful.
I need medical attention.
You know, I bought
some of these this morning
at the pharmacy for a headache.
I'm told it's
an excellent pain reliever.
Yeah.
Tell us why you've been
jerking us around
And I think there's a few
in there I can part with.
We're selling the company.
Everything I worked for
in the last five years
- bears fruit today.
- Explain.
We negotiated the sale
of Schlag Security
for 50 million euros,
which was set to close
at 3:00 p.m. today.
I didn't read anything about it.
Yeah, it's a private company
selling to a private company.
A deal that size,
especially a private deal,
notoriously fragile.
Any undisclosed information
Such as one of the partners
being a murdering fugitive.
- Could sink the whole thing.
- Mm-hmm.
And then, instead of 50 million,
Schlag Security is worth
pennies on the dollar.
That about right?
And tell me, Raines,
how long does it take
to put a deal like that together?
- Six months to a year.
- Wow.
And how long did you know Thomas Smith
was Michael Vestal?
I only just discovered it yesterday.
Mm.
A year ago.
And you didn't think it wise
to alert someone?
My money is wrapped up in this company.
I'll lose everything.
Vestal was dishonest with me.
Why am I to pay the price
for the transgressions of my partner?
And did you know
he murdered his last partner?
You're gonna need them.
So now we know
why Vestal stayed in town.
He wants to collect
his share of the company.
But isn't everything
electronic these days?
Not everything.
I mentioned how fragile these deals are.
Surely there's a rider in the contract
that the buyer can terminate with cause
- if the seller has a criminal record.
- Mm-hmm.
Plus, the buyer could
sue for the full cost
of the purchase or sink the seller
with a higher arbitrage
on the valuation.
I understood none of that.
Accountants live for this.
There's no way Pesch disclosed
who his partner was
- on paper to the buyer.
- Mm.
That'd be deal-killing suicide,
which means if Vestal's
still in Frankfurt,
it's because he worked out
a side play with Pesch,
most likely cash
at the close of the sale.
Mm-hmm.
How were you gonna pay Vestal?
I don't know what you're talking about.
We have an encrypted messaging service.
I'm to fill a briefcase with cash
after the sale and
tell him where to meet.
What were you thinking?
I mean, I understand trying
to keep the balls in play
until the sale goes down,
but after you got your money,
why worry about paying off Vestal?
To answer your previous question,
I didn't know that he
murdered his last partner.
All right, we have you covered
from multiple vantage points.
We won't let Vestal near you.
As soon as we get a visual,
we'll move in and make the arrest.
I don't know if this is a good
We do this all the time in America.
Trust me.
Hey, Vo, what is it?
Vestal just made a new post
to his now 2.2 million followers.
Says he's being set up
at Hessen-Brandt Plaza.
- When did this go out?
- 15 minutes ago.
Ah, son of a
Did you alert him?
- Don't move.
- What's wrong?
- They didn't take his watch?
- He wasn't arrested.
He's still stalling,
hoping this damn deal will go through.
And now you will be arrested
for obstruction.
Free Vestal! Free Vestal!
- Free Vestal!
- Back up!
Free Vestal! Free Vestal!
Free Vestal! Free Vestal!
Back up!
Free Vestal! Free Vestal!
Free Vestal! Free Vestal! Free Vestal!
Free Vestal! Free Vestal! Free Vestal!
Free Vestal! Free Vestal!
Free Vestal! Free Vestal!
Free Vestal! Free Vestal!
- Free Vestal! Free Vestal!
- Fascists!
Free Vestal!
Free Vestal! Free Vestal!
Free Vestal! Free Vestal!
It's past noon.
If he was sticking around
for a cash payment,
he's definitely running now.
The flash mob was just
to buy him more time.
I keep going back to one thing.
He killed his partner back in California
because his partner was trying
to force him out.
- It was personal.
- Right.
And here, he's getting a payday
on a big deal that's gonna
make him flush again,
and he jeopardizes all of that
by killing his neighbor.
The neighbor discovered who he was
and was gonna expose him.
Could be, or it was more
to use Vo's word personal.
The Frankfurt police
are totally corrupt.
He's not holding the camera.
Look, a human arm cannot bend
that far around to the side.
See, his shoulder is facing forward,
so that's not a selfie.
Someone else is holding the camera.
"Madame Bovary".
A key under "Madame Bovary",
a book about an older guy who
seduces his neighbor's wife.
We need to border check
whatever car the wife drives.
Yeah.
Let's go.
Okay.
Lena, remember us?
I didn't mean for this to happen.
My husband, Frederick,
he was no good to me.
You must believe me.
He was
he was boring.
In Germany, we say
Love is a sickness one wants to have.
That's what happened to me.
I was sick in love.
May I have a tissue, please?
No.
What?
I did not appreciate the lies you said
about corruption within
the Frankfurt Police Department.
We may not have
as many followers as you,
but it prides me to say
we will be posting
a new video to our social media account.
I would like to thank you
for your assistance with this matter,
and we will work with your government
to assure that Michael Vestal
answers for his crimes,
both in Germany and in America.
- We appreciate that.
- Yeah.
This was fun. Yeah.
- Good to go?
- Mm-hmm.
Hey, before we
Look, we've been friends
for a long time,
long enough for me to know
when you're standing at a crossroads.
All I can say is, be careful.
Did the right thing,
bringing counterintelligence in early.
Of course.
When your mother shows,
just hand her the envelope.
We'll immediately move in.
You don't have to do anything else.
We have a van waiting.
We'll bring you up to speed
once we have a chance to debrief her.
Most people never
have to face the choice
of country over family.
It's a patriotic thing you're doing.
She asked for the Hutchinson file.
I'm assuming this isn't it.
So what's in the real file?
No idea.
It's time.
Just act normal. Let her come to you.
All right, that's good.
Just wait there and look casual.
Okay, be patient.