Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent (2024) s03e02 Episode Script
WAGMI
1
[NARRATOR]: In Toronto's war on crime,
the worst offenders are
pursued by the detectives
of the Specialized Criminal
Investigations Unit.
These are their stories.
[ECHOING GAVEL]
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]
Hey, got a package here
for a Patrice Beauchamp?
Yeah, let me see if he's in.
[DISTORTED VOICE]: We're
getting closer and closer
to finding this Satan.
Takashi stole from us.
100,000 of us.
And now, he's gonna pay!
But Takashi is smart,
but the Hivemind is smarter.
We're gonna tear him
apart, limb by limb.
[KNOCKING AT DOOR]
This came for you.
Thanks.
[KNOCKING AT DOOR]
[DOOR UNLOCKING]
- Hi, Mr. Song.
- You're early.
I'm a good student.
What's on the agenda today?
Hash functions.
I already how hash functions.
You smoke it and then you get high.
Hash functions are
the corner stone of cryptography.
They're why your online passwords
have never been hacked,
despite the groundbreaking
use of your dog's name.
Wait, how do you know my password?
Hash functions.
Which I will teach you as soon as you
close those curtains.
You should learn to trust people.
I can't. I'm too smart.
Most of these kids are way
too smart for public school.
Kids on the spectrum
obviously have special needs
and we know how to meet them.
The right education could
completely change Max's life.
It's incredible. I didn't know
places like this existed.
We're the top-ranked school
for autism in the province.
We only have one spot available,
but Max seems like a terrific fit.
You said it's $52,000 a year?
I promise you, Mr. Bell,
it's worth every penny.
[WOMAN CHUCKLING]
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
Hey, Stuart,
who was that hollering the other day?
- With the camera?
- No one, Joel.
They got the wrong guy.
I'm still waiting on rent.
The new rate, the one we discussed?
Oh, the one that goes against
the residential tenancies act?
You'll have it first
thing in the morning.
[INTRIGUING MUSIC]
[CITY DIN]
Beautiful.
[DISTANT POLICE SIRENS WAILING]
How much? For your piece?
How much?
Think on it.
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]
[TIRES SCREECHING]
Hey! Let go of me!
Somebody help!
- [TRAIN RATTLING]
- Come on, Baxter.
Two more throws and we get to go home.
Go get it. Go get it!
Baxter! [DOG BARKING]
Here, buddy. [DOG BARKING REPEATEDLY]
[GROWLING]
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
[THEME MUSIC]
Victim is male. Presumed late-20s.
John Doe, no identification.
Dog walker spotted the body
hanging from that tree
at 6:03 this morning.
Took us a minute to get him down.
- Quite the ornament.
- Killer threw the body
off the bridge, didn't
quite hit the ground.
I have officers up on
the bridge canvassing,
but so far no luck.
- All yours, detectives.
- Thanks.
Well, no cameras, not much foot traffic.
Not a bad place to dump a body.
Yeah, not a great place either,
this body was always gonna be found.
I think our killer was in a hurry.
Okay.
[GROANING]
Tree didn't do him any favours.
At least he was dead on arrival,
no frostbite.
Petechial hemorrhaging in the eyes
consistent with asphyxia, but
But no bruising on the
neck. Just residue.
And judging by the
linear pattern, duct tape.
Victim might have been
suffocated with a plastic bag.
- [SIGHING]
- That's a hell of a way to go.
Well, maybe the killer
wanted our victim to suffer,
or maybe he couldn't look at his face
as he died.
What's this?
Extreme colds
keep cellular structure in place,
stopping decomposition.
Apart from the damage
done in the disposal,
we can imagine that our John Doe's body
is almost exactly as it
was the moment he died.
You've been hanging
around corpses too long.
And you with violent criminals.
Which is probably why you were right
about the cause of death.
Suffocation.
Residue around his neck
is consistent with duct tape
and traces of a
high-density polyethylene
often found in plastic bags.
- [SIGHING]
- But without decomposition,
we can't determine the time of death.
No. Unless you're really good.
Our victim was killed
approximately 24 hours ago.
Our John Doe also recently
had his appendix removed
surgically.
Not laparoscopically.
A surgical appendectomy,
his blood type, and some leg work
led me to a name.
Uh, you could have led with that.
And deprive myself of
this beautiful moment?
You're welcome.
Stuart Song, 28.
No credit cards, lease,
license, or vehicle to his name.
Only child, both parents have died.
No next of kin, no address on file,
no record of employment and get this,
no trace of online activity.
What 28-year-old doesn't go online?
Maybe he's analog.
Likes his own company,
values his privacy,
doesn't trust the government.
The only thing we do know
is his digital footprint
was wiped clean two years ago.
Uh, there was one thing
he forgot to delete.
His Yelp account.
[DISTANT DOOR BUZZES]
All these restaurants
are in the west end.
- Picky eater.
- Hmm.
Mm. A ghost that likes
to eat on his own stoop.
If he didn't have a car,
then these restaurants
are probably close to where he lives.
How many Edwardian
duplexes with the number 150
can there be? [SIGHING]
47. I looked.
Then I'd say these
two better get moving.
[ECHOING GAVEL]
Stu was a weird guy.
Always insisted on
paying cash for his rent,
wouldn't sign a lease,
didn't want a record of anything.
You have any idea why?
Huh, like I said, weird dude.
[SIGHING]
Hmm, never seen a key like that before.
Well, that's 'cause he invented it.
First one I dropped into a sewer grate.
Took him three weeks
to make me a new one.
[DOOR OPENING]
If you find my overdue rent in there,
let me know.
[DOOR SHUTTING]
[INTRIGUING MUSIC]
It's a hell of a vinyl collection.
It's a cute library too.
First letter of every title.
Quit looking
at my ookshelf?
Ookshelf. Where's the B?
Exactly.
Hard to believe that
someone so meticulous
would leave their apartment like this.
Well, look at the drawers.
Books everywhere.
Someone's been here.
[KNOCKING AT DOOR]
[SHAKILY]: Stuart's my tutor.
He taught me math and
that I wasn't stupid.
Did he ever mention anything to you,
anyone or anything
that he was afraid of?
No. I mean, he hated technology, but
I just can't imagine he had any enemies.
When was the last time you saw him?
Um, four days ago.
I was here for a lesson.
- Hash functions?
- Yeah.
But Stuart was always
writing on that board.
It would never still
have that stuff on it.
Unless he hasn't been here since.
[CRYING]
If Stuart left here four days ago
and was only killed yesterday,
where was he in between?
Emily, when you last saw Stuart,
did he happen to mention where
he was going after your lesson?
Um, same place he goes every Thursday.
Four days ago, Stuart
left his house around 7 PM,
headed for the Momo House on Queen West.
He entered this underpass at 7:13 PM.
Fast forward 60 seconds
and he never came out.
Oh, not on foot anyway,
he left in the back
of that van.
Not just any van. Quickshift.
You rent them from an app,
pick them up on a street,
drop them off when you're done.
All you need is a
licence and credit card.
- Let me guess.
- We assume the kidnapper
stole them from a man with an alibi.
Still waiting on a
statement. As for the van
The company retrieved
it and wiped it clean
- of any usable prints?
- Right again,
but here's something you may not know.
Before it was dumped,
the van had only made one trip
to this address here.
A house owned by a man named
Tony Lewis in North York.
- [ECHOING GAVEL]
-
I've owned this lot
for almost two years,
but I couldn't get approval from
the neighbour for a new build.
I guess they, uh, change their minds?
With some help from my lawyer.
Started prepping the place
for tear down this week,
but I haven't been inside for months.
That's absurd and it's not true!
Stuart, you can't hide this any longer.
You have no idea what
you're talking about.
Ryotcoin was garbage tech.
Trivial code wrapped in shiny
influencer wrapping paper.
- It was a meme coin.
- Yeah, right.
[TENSE MUSIC]
The city's in a housing crisis and yet,
our killer managed to
find a nice empty place
to bring Stuart.
Yeah.
'Til Tony up there starts
knocking things down,
explains why the body
was moved in a hurry.
Graff.
This is where he was murdered.
And held against his will
for three days before.
There was no evidence of
torture on Stuart's body,
no, uh, signs of malnutrition.
Whoever kidnapped him was humane.
But why kidnap him after tutoring?
Guy didn't have any
family to pay ransom.
I mean, he didn't even
have a bank account.
Somebody went to Stuart's
apartment after he left.
Maybe they just wanted
him out of the way.
- [INHALING SHARPLY]
- If so
[METALLIC CLINKING]
they already had a key.
Told you last time,
I barely knew the guy.
Right, just, uh, some
weirdo who owed you rent.
- Still does.
- Do you ever
go into his place unannounced?
It's not his place. It's my place.
But no, of course not. I'm not a creep.
You sure?
[SCOFFING]
It's a nice bookshelf.
- Thanks?
- "But all be that,
uh, he was a philosopher,
yet had he but little
gold in coffer."
Bartlett's Familiar Quotations,
it's one of my favourites.
I read it when I can't get to sleep.
I just wanted my rent.
Stuart's always trying to pay less.
I let it slide until
some guy comes to our door
with a video camera. [CHUCKLING]
Says Stuart's a
billionaire. Yeah, with a B.
- He sounded crazy.
- But you, uh,
you chose to believe him.
The guy had conviction.
So when Stuart left four days ago,
I went into the apartment
and I grabbed the stupid book.
I saw him take money out of it once.
Do you wanna know what was inside?
- Fabergé egg.
- 800 bucks.
This guy with a camera,
did he say anything else?
Uh, Stuart's real name was
Atashi? Patashi?
- Something stupid like that.
- Not, uh, not Takashi?
Yeah!
So you never heard of Takashi,
I guess you're not interested in crypto?
Oh, Bigaplex scared me off that.
Yeah, probably for the best.
So, two years ago, an
anonymous online figure
who goes by the name
Takashi mints Ryotcoin.
A new crypto coin, best
investment since sliced bread,
otherwise known as a rug pull.
Coin gets hyped, everyone buys
in expecting to own a yacht
within the year, then Takashi
disappears with all the money,
coin's sudden worthless,
everyone goes broke.
Well, the timeline would sync up.
Stuart went off the grid two years ago.
Right when, uh, Ryotcoin crashed,
leaving 100,000 duped
investors begging for blood.
Well, that explains why
Stuart liked his privacy.
Yeah, that he did, look at that.
Is that reflective film?
Yeah, celebrities use it
on their windows to, uh,
- disrupt cameras.
- Hmm.
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]
You ever seen a, uh, bird's
nest this symmetrical?
Graff, leave the birds alone.
Ah, they're made of
mud, sticks, and garbage.
Oh. And usually don't
come with a price tag.
Or a camera.
Oh, come on. Takashi's a myth!
He's an urban legend, and anyway,
he's not some 28-year-old
math tutor in Parkdale? Nah.
Takashi vanished two years ago.
The same week that
Stuart went off the grid.
All the money that Takashi stole
was converted into Bitcoin.
Now it's been sitting in
a public wallet ever since.
All Bitcoin transactions are
recorded on a public ledger
That can be viewed by
anyone, yeah, I know.
My brother won't shut up about it.
Right, so, for two years,
he left the money untouched,
until two days ago.
The entire balance got sent
to an untraceable account
at the same exact time that
Stuart was being held hostage?
You think he was paying a ransom?
No, if it was, it didn't work.
They still killed him,
but whoever kidnapped him
used this.
A tracking device?
Yeah, we found that in Stuart's jacket.
The lab processed it, but,
um, there's no way of seeing
who received the signal.
There are thousands of people online
who were hunting for Takashi.
I mean, entire forums dedicated to it,
and these people, they
wanted to annihilate him.
And then there were those
who just want to find the guy
who stole two billion dollars.
- [PHONE BUZZING AND DINGING]
- Okay, so who found him?
Well, Mark just tracked down
the owner of the hidden camera
we found inside Stuart's apartment,
so maybe someone at, uh,
Skyline Post has some answers.
[ECHOING GAVEL]
Is this about that body in that tree?
I'll tell you, the city's gone insane.
This is exactly the
reason why my wife said
we had to move to Port Credit.
Malcom, we, uh,
found a camera that
belongs to your facility,
illegally recording the victim.
Not my facility, I'm just the manager.
So you're not aware of what
your clients are making here?
We got dozens of
directors and producers.
They rent equipment, edit suites,
we're not monitoring
what they're making.
You would have a record, though,
of who rented that particular camera?
- Here we go.
- Hmm.
This guy.
Mr. Top Secret,
Patrice Beauchamp.
He was nominated for
an Emmy six years ago.
So, Malcom,
what is he making here?
Did you take a peek?
No idea, you're gonna
have to ask him yourself.
He won't tell me.
Uh, but doesn't your
company offer, uh
servers to filmmakers
so they can back up
their footage for free?
Normally yes, but
he didn't want that.
[LOCK BEEPS]
His editing suite is usually locked.
He insists on having the only key.
Hmm.
[SIGHING]
Wow. Looks like Mr. Top
Secret has left the building.
[INTRIGUING MUSIC]
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
[PHONE DINGING]
Yo, River, your shot.
- [ECHOING GAVEL]
-
Before we get started,
would you mind turning the camera off?
- What camera?
- The one on your bookshelf.
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]
Look, in my business,
everything is material.
You don't know the story
'til the story appears.
Sounds a lot like our business and, uh,
our story so far as
it appears is that, uh,
you were stalking and surveilling a man
that we just found dead in a tree.
Thursday night, 7 PM.
Where were you, Patrice?
Wait, wait, wait, wait. Hang on.
- [SCOFFING] You're not suggesting
- Suggesting? [CHUCKLING]
No. I'm just asking.
I was here.
I came in around 3 PM
and didn't leave 'til the next morning.
You can confirm it with
my neighbour if you want.
- We shared a pizza together.
- We'll be sure to do that.
Seriously. I was right
here, in my office,
transcribing interviews
on this computer.
Well, that's interesting as
your office used to be at, uh,
Skyline Post.
Until you abruptly left yesterday
with four months left on your contract.
Look, I wasn't stalking Stuart Song.
I just wanted the guy
on camera. That's it.
Why? A solitary math tutor,
the man barely leaves a footprint?
Exactly. I'm making a film
about people who've
dropped off the grid.
Dropped off the grid?
Because thousands of
people wanted him dead?
You think Stuart Song
is a crypto billionaire.
- Who told you?
- You just did.
Seeing that you're the only
person that thinks that,
I guess that makes
you our prime suspect.
Okay, listen, I can
prove Stuart was Takashi
and
that I am not the only one who knows.
How?
[SIGHING]
Last week,
this was delivered to my office.
No return address,
just undeniable proof that
Stuart Song is Takashi.
Mark and I went through
Patrice's folder.
Tons of proof that
Stuart was Takashi in it.
Show him what we found in
the Ryotcoin source code.
Quit looking at my code.
It's the first letter,
just like the bookshelf.
Cute. Not as cute as
the bookshelf, but, um,
what about our tipster?
We're thinking under
30 based on the, uh,
notes on the margin, TBH, IMHO, WAGMI.
We're All Gonna Make It.
Battle cry of the crypto republic.
Keeps people going when
they're losing their shirts.
Play this again.
- [KEYBOARD TAPPING]
- Okay, so,
under 30,
lurking on the forums,
brilliant,
if they've been able
to put this together.
Raised By Wolves.
- Excuse me?
- The hat.
It's from Raised By Wolves.
They're a streetwear brand
and their store is in
Ottawa, wouldn't be too hard
to track them down. They
do a lot of capsules,
small batch stuff.
- [ECHOING GAVEL]
-
River Smith.
Can I help you, Officer?
It's Detective.
We were hoping you might, uh,
have a conversation with us.
About Takashi.
How did you find me?
Apparently, you were Raised By Wolves.
[CHUCKLING]
[LOUDLY]: Okay, uh, everybody out.
- Yeah, you gotta go.
- Dude.
Hey, Pete. Could you just
throw up a "closed" sign for me?
- Oh, really?
- Seriously?
So, River, we went through your files.
They're very thorough.
Why didn't you bring them to the police?
- So you could arrest him?
- Well, he ripped off
- 100,000 people.
- Look, no offence,
but I don't exactly have
much trust in the police.
- Hmm, none taken.
- Besides, this isn't
cops and robbers. This
is a treasure hunt.
I mean, this is the Copper Scroll.
This is the Beale Ciphers.
Beale Ciphers, they're a myth.
Well, yeah, but imagine
if you were two steps away
- from solving them.
- What-what do you mean,
- uh, two steps?
- Okay. Okay, uh,
so this is a treasure hunt.
You find the gold.
Why give it away to a
documentary filmmaker?
Was I supposed to just release him
to those numbnuts online?
I mean, have you heard those freaks?
They want to cut the man to pieces
and string him up by the toenails.
Patrice Beauchamp's the
real deal, I mean, I
I think it was a great way to
expose Takashi to the masses.
Yet here we are,
investigating his murder.
You paint a target on a man's back,
it's no surprise he gets shot.
Yeah, I know, I, um
I'm sorry. I didn't
Thursday, 7 PM, where were you?
Swan Dive on Dundas?
- Was a first date.
- Question.
You're a puzzler.
This one's been bugging me.
I went through forums
from two years ago,
it seems Stuart was
arguing with Takashi,
not as himself, obviously,
his username was LifeOfPi97.
Yeah, no, I-I, uh,
that's how I pulled his age.
- Sloppy.
- Okay, well,
Stuart would point out issues,
bugs, problems, and
Takashi fired right back.
Called Stuart a fool,
a basic smooth brain.
[CHUCKLING] Non-player character, NPC.
Yeah, um,
I think that Stuart was
Ryotcoin's biggest fan.
And its biggest critic.
I-I always figured that he
was fighting with himself.
What do you mean?
Haven't you ever heard
that thing people say?
Uh, "The greatest trick
the Devil ever pulled
was convincing the
world he didn't exist?"
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]
Mark's reviewing the
documentary footage now.
- How did he take it?
- Patrice?
Tore up the warrant into tiny shreds.
I thought he was gonna eat them.
Well, the man has teeth.
- You get everything?
- Took everything with a plug.
Thanks.
[DISTANT DOOR BUZZING]
[DISTORTED VOICE]: Takashi is smart,
but the Hivemind is smarter.
We're gonna tear him
apart, limb by limb.
Alright, stop it there, Mark.
That clip there, can you highlight that
and find the original sourcing again?
[KEYBOARD TAPPING]
[DISTORTED VOICE]: Ryotcoin was hope.
And now, I feel like I'm
at the bottom of a hole.
And I look up at the sky, but
it's so far away.
I don't know how I'll ever get out.
[SHAKILY]: And cut.
[SHAKY BREATHING]
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]
You know, there comes a
a point in every investigation
that things start to pile up
at the feet of one person. And I'd say,
we've reached that point.
See, not only were you
one of two people who knew
that Stuart Song was Takashi.
Not only did you shut
down your work at Skyline
and not only did you
threaten Stuart's life,
but sin of all sins for a filmmaker,
you faked the source in your interviews.
Couldn't get anyone to come on camera.
They're all privacy freaks.
You said you would tear that man
limb from limb.
I have an alibi.
Well, I imagine two
billion dollars is enough
to, uh, pay off a neighbour,
but what do I know?
At any rate, what we have
is far more important.
- What's that?
- Motive.
You hated the man.
You said so on camera.
So you stalked him, you
brought him to a basement,
you put a plastic bag over his head,
and secured it with tape
until he suffocated to death.
You were nominated for
an Emmy, weren't you?
- Mm-hmm.
- How was that?
You fly down there? To LA?
You meet any famous people?
[SCOFFING]
No, because they don't talk to losers.
But you did manage to get,
uh, funding for your next film.
But the money never ended
up on the screen, did it?
You put it all into Ryotcoin.
So not only did you lose your money,
you lost people's trust.
You lost your reputation
and then your career.
Yeah.
And I wanted to find
the man responsible.
- And do that to him?
- No.
Expose him and make him rot in jail.
But I didn't want to kill him.
I just wanted my life back.
And the only way I could claw
back some semblance of a career
would be to tell it as a story.
Let the audience be
the judge and the jury.
So I posted on many
forums looking for help
and then, poof.
Would you look at that,
someone drops Stuart's name
- right into your lap.
- I confronted Stuart,
he denied it, of course.
But then I got a bunch
of texts on my phone,
accusing me of killing the guy.
The texts? From who?
I have no idea.
So I started to panic,
shut things down at Skyline.
Removed all my footage off their servers
and finished the project
from home, period!
No, no, you're Mr. Top Secret.
They said you didn't want
their storage service.
[CHUCKLING] What?
I always backed up my
projects. Who told you that?
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
[DOOR SHUTTING]
Okay, so why would Malcom lie
about not having access to footage?
Well, maybe he was curious
about what Patrice was making,
held a, uh, private screening.
Yea, maybe he, uh, found
Stuart's real identity
and he lied to us to distance
himself from our victim?
I mean, do you think Malcom
could have kidnapped Stuart?
Well, it's a theory. Only way to test it
is to, uh, revisit the clues.
- Yeah.
- See if anything's connected
to Malcom. Okay.
Now, Stuart Song
leaves his home at 7 PM,
he walks south on Gladstone to Queen,
enters the underpass at
7:13, van picks him up.
Takes him up to Tony Lewis'
abandoned house in North York
where he's held. What are we missing?
The van.
The van
was rented using one
John Oswald's ID and credit card.
Oswald was bar-hopping the
night that his wallet was stolen.
He didn't even notice it
was gone until the morning.
How did he get home?
It says here he took a rideshare.
From where?
The Porthouse Social.
Never heard of it.
That's 'cause it's not in Toronto.
It's in Port Credit.
Oh, Malcom.
- [ECHOING GAVEL]
-
God. [SIGHING]
Yeah, um [CLEARING THROAT]
Sorry, it's been
a long day. [SIGHING]
Hi, sweetie, do you wanna go play?
- [GIGGLING]
- Watch your iPad.
Watch the iPad, okay, go ahead, sweetie.
Love you.
Yes, go play! Great. [CHUCKLING]
Sorry.
I am trying to run
my graphic design business from home,
but Max isn't in school right now.
- How old is he?
- Six.
But it's a long story.
This is, uh, this is beautiful.
Yeah, Max is an artist.
That's for sure.
I-I'm sorry. You said he was only six?
Uh, that seems impossible.
Well, not if he's on the spectrum.
I used to draw when I was a
kid, but nothing so intricate.
This is remarkable.
Sorry to intrude,
we, uh, we were hoping to
speak with your husband.
- Is he home?
- Malcom?
Uh, no, he's at work. Like always.
I mean, God bless him.
He has been working so much overtime.
Max has got a shot of
getting into Beacon Heights.
It's a private school
in the city, it's
Expensive. Yeah, I get it.
Anyway, um,
I'm assuming this is about
that body that was in the tree?
Did Malcom tell you about that?
Uh, no. My uncle.
Apparently, the killer
used Tony's house.
All Tony talks about is tearing it down
and the moment he finally gets close,
it turns into a crime scene.
Please, Ms. Davis, there
must be something I can do.
[STAMMERING]: Some savings,
RRSPs, life insurance?
- I could liquidate?
- Mr. Bell,
you haven't contributed
to your RRSP in four years,
your life insurance payments
stopped last January.
You're not currently insured.
You make
$87,000 a year.
And frankly, I don't know
where that money's going.
I told you. My son.
His name is Max, he's six, he has ASD,
Autism Spectrum Disorder.
Mr. Bell, I'm sorry,
there's nothing I can do.
No! I'm not leaving until
you tell me what to do.
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]
Detectives Bateman and Graff,
we'll take this one, alright?
You can let him go.
Malcom, your boss said
you were taking lunch
to talk with your banker. I'm
guessing it didn't go well?
Malcom, we'd like to talk to you
about the kidnapping and
murder of Stuart Song.
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]
[DOOR SHUTTING]
The hunt for Takashi.
Yesterday, someone compared
it to a treasure hunt.
Hadn't thought about it
that way before, but, uh,
it stuck.
Wasn't hunting for anyone.
No, I believe you. I mean, you're just
a middle manager, you
wouldn't look at the footage
that comes across your
desk. Why would you?
But it's, uh, it's human nature
when somebody hides something from you,
to want to take a peek.
[EXHALING DEEPLY]
Mr. Top Secret, you called him.
Malcom, you took that peek, didn't you?
Fortune fell right into your lap.
It was like somebody was handing
you a winning lottery ticket
and all you had to do was cash it in
and pop the champagne.
We spoke with your wife, Malcom.
We looked into your finances.
You're broke. It's tough.
And there's nothing you
wouldn't do for your boy,
Max.
Yeah, you'd go so far as
to, uh, steal a wallet?
Rent a van?
Plant a GPS tracker in a man's jacket,
so you could hunt him down?
GPS tracker?
No, I don't know what
you're talking about.
But you abducted your target,
brought him to Hannah's
uncle's empty house,
you demanded a ransom which he paid,
- and then you killed him anyway.
- I didn't kill him!
No, I didn't, I
I found his address on Patrice's footage
and then I followed him
through the underpass.
[STAMMERING]
- I took him.
- Okay, why?
Because I needed the money.
I asked him for $300,000.
Life changing for me.
For him, it's 0.015%
of his net worth.
But he said he wasn't Takashi.
Chained to a chair, I
might say the same thing.
Sure, but then he started making sense.
He started saying things,
like he was a-an early adopter
of Ryotcoin, and how
he met Takashi online,
and how he helped him write better code,
improve his specs.
He swore on his own life
that he wasn't Takashi.
So if Stuart Song wasn't Takashi,
then why did he go off the grid?
He claimed he was scared.
That people would find
out he was involved.
He said that after Takashi disappeared,
he felt sick, like
he was responsible for
ruining thousands of lives.
No! Everything that I had brought up,
Stuart had an answer for!
But eventually, you were
gonna have to get rid of him.
I mean, make it make sense, Malcom.
My face was covered, so
Stuart had promised me
he wouldn't tell a soul
if I had let him go.
So I went home.
I thought about it for
a couple hours and then
When I came back,
Stuart was right where I left him.
But with a plastic bag over his head.
And two billion dollars
transferred out of his account.
Yes, so I guess he was Takashi
and I'm an idiot for believing
when he said he wasn't.
Obviously, I couldn't go to the police.
And there was workers
starting at the house,
I didn't know what to do!
Are you saying you moved a body
for someone else's murder?
Look,
I don't know who killed Stuart Song.
But I know it wasn't me.
Looks like we have our man.
Ah, for the kidnapping, sure.
You believe that? Come on.
If it wasn't Malcom,
how would the killer know
- where Stuart was?
- Because of the GPS tracker
in, uh, Stuart's jacket.
Malcom didn't even know it was there.
- Obviously, he was lying.
- Why would you confess
to a kidnapping, which is five to life,
and then lie about how he did it?
So you think the
kidnapper and the killer
are different people? Okay, so how would
this imaginary second
person get the money
out of Stuart when Malcom couldn't?
There was no sign of torture.
Well, there are ways to convince people
that don't include torture.
But apart from Malcom,
the only other two people
who knew about Stuart
were the documentary filmmaker, Patrice,
- and an anonymous source
- River.
Both of whom have alibis.
Well, for the kidnapping,
but not for the time
of the murder. Look,
if we believe Malcom,
we're looking at a whole
different chessboard.
River Smith has no motive.
If he was after Stuart's money,
he never would have leaked
the information to Patrice.
He would have just killed
him and taken the money,
and no one would have
known who Stuart was.
Which leaves Patrice.
And the guy we have in custody.
With motive. Who just
admitted to kidnapping.
Okay, yeah. Theo, we're not
asking you to believe us.
We're asking for more time.
Hey.
I can't confirm Malcom's alibi
for the time of the murder.
Forester will be thrilled.
- What did you get?
- We combed through
all of Patrice's footage,
then realized we didn't check the, uh,
camera we found in the nest.
You mean the one that
just shows the curtains?
Yeah, so, here's the
exact moment that, uh,
Patrice confronted Stuart
on his, uh, doorstep.
Now listen, I've enhanced the audio.
[INDISCERNIBLE STATICKY VOICES]
[OMINOUS MUSIC]
Oh, my God, Henry.
You didn't want to lead with that?
What, and deprive myself
of this beautiful moment?
[SIGHING INCREDULOUSLY]
[DOORBELL CHIMING]
- [DOOR SHUTTING]
- Detectives.
- Espresso?
- Oh, it's, uh, little late
- for caffeine, thanks.
- Not if you got 200 pages
left of the Voynich Manuscript.
[DOORBELL CHIMING] Hey,
but now I got a new puzzle.
Why are you here?
Well, we, uh, we need your help.
See, uh, we found this
in Stuart's jacket.
You know, it turns out
to be a GPS tracker.
Cool. Can I see it?
It's not much to look at, but, uh,
I think you've seen it already.
Actually, I think you were the one
who put it in Stuart's jacket.
Maybe even the night
he disappeared, huh?
You were at the Swan
Dive, just two blocks away
from his house, and maybe you passed him
in the street and
bumped into him.
A-Are you ?
Wow, that's
I'll have what you're having, man.
River, why don't you, uh,
come take a look at this?
Come.
It's video from the hidden nest camera
in Stuart Song's front yard.
That's that's gripping.
Yeah, I'll just turn up the volume.
[PATRICE]: Stuart! You
can't hide this any longer.
That's Patrice Beauchamp.
And Stuart Song.
[STUART]: It's trivial code wrapped in
shiny influencer wrapping paper!
- It was a meme coin.
- Yeah, right!
You're still just a
basic smooth-brained NPC.
And that, uh, guy
lurking around the house,
listening, that's uh,
that's you.
No. It's not.
Doesn't sound like me.
Are you sure?
Ah, reflective gel.
Bad for paparazzi.
Good for us.
So what?
I mean, the guy ripped
off thousands of people
and I'm the one who caught him.
I wanted to watch him squirm.
Sounds to me like you're
the one squirming, River.
By using the exact same expressions
Takashi used to insult
Stuart on the forums?
You know what we could not figure out,
is how the killer got the money
from Stuart when Malcom couldn't.
But the killer didn't get the
money from Stuart, did they?
Because Stuart wasn't Takashi.
You are.
You killed Stuart
and you sent the money to yourself.
You see?
The greatest trick the Devil ever played
was convincing us he was Stuart Song.
Right, um.
Okay. I'm closing up, so
Got a second date.
Unless you clowns scared her off.
The Hivemind.
It's real.
It's scary.
And crypto millionaires being
kidnapped all over the world,
being tortured, killed.
I mean, you heard about the
guy in France recently, right?
Got his hands severed, sent
to his family for ransom?
Alright, these are the
same desperate people
who were getting closer to finding you.
So, how do you stop an angry mob
from asking questions?
You give them an answer.
And Stuart was the perfect patsy.
An early adopter,
fingerprints all over the code,
active on the forums and, uh,
went dark the same week
that, uh, you robbed Ryotcoin.
And then you saw Patrice on the forums,
asking for help with his documentary.
He'd publish Stuart's, uh,
fake identity to the masses,
to those fools.
To those basic smooth brains.
Okay. If I am Takashi,
then why do I work
at a coffee shop, huh?
Where's my two billion?
Yeah, you couldn't access
it, could you, Takashi?
Not when everyone was looking for you.
So you needed a distraction.
And even if you could get
the billions of dollars you stole,
do you really think it
would buy you freedom
from those freaks who wanted
to tear you limb from limb?
Tell me, River,
when was the last time you
had a good night's sleep?
You needed it to stop.
So you, you laid a trap,
you put a GPS tracker in Stuart's jacket
in case he ran away.
Everything was going hunky-dory
until Malcom showed up.
Malcom, ah, but then the
tracker led you to an empty house
where Stuart was tied up.
Crisis equals danger
plus opportunity, so
you decided on a dark pivot.
So you tapped a plastic bag
over an innocent man's head
and then sent yourself
two billion dollars
as he suffocated!
River, you can come with us right now.
We'll take you to holding.
And from this moment
until your trial, you'll have our word,
you'll be fully protected.
Yeah, or you can choose
to walk out this door
right now and lawyer up,
and we'll have no
choice but to start a
very public investigation into you.
Now when that gets out,
the media, they'll
descend like vultures.
In very little time, we'll have enough
to charge you with murder,
but by then, it'll be too late.
Because everyone will
know your true identity.
And all that anonymity
that you've worked for,
that you've killed for will vanish.
And of all the Ryotcoin
buyers that you duped,
I promise you, one of
them is gonna do a lot more
than just break down your door.
[STAMMERING]: You
- You can't do that.
- We can and we will.
You don't know what it's like, okay?
I haven't slept in two years.
I feel like I'm going insane!
My head is-is pounding!
I feel like I'm just, my
brain is just going and going
- like I'm spinning around.
- River, River, I get it.
You are looking for a way
out, so let us give you one.
You're a genius and I
don't use that word lightly,
but if you're as smart
as I think you are,
you won't turn this down.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
[BREATHING HEAVILY]
It's your life, kid.
Around-the-clock protection.
Private room.
As many books as I request.
It's not a room, it's a cell.
[HANDCUFFS CLINKING]
You know, you did a great
job in burying your treasure,
but you overlooked one thing.
You buried yourself along with it.
Let's go.
[MELANCHOLIC MUSIC]
[THEME SONG]
[NARRATOR]: In Toronto's war on crime,
the worst offenders are
pursued by the detectives
of the Specialized Criminal
Investigations Unit.
These are their stories.
[ECHOING GAVEL]
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]
Hey, got a package here
for a Patrice Beauchamp?
Yeah, let me see if he's in.
[DISTORTED VOICE]: We're
getting closer and closer
to finding this Satan.
Takashi stole from us.
100,000 of us.
And now, he's gonna pay!
But Takashi is smart,
but the Hivemind is smarter.
We're gonna tear him
apart, limb by limb.
[KNOCKING AT DOOR]
This came for you.
Thanks.
[KNOCKING AT DOOR]
[DOOR UNLOCKING]
- Hi, Mr. Song.
- You're early.
I'm a good student.
What's on the agenda today?
Hash functions.
I already how hash functions.
You smoke it and then you get high.
Hash functions are
the corner stone of cryptography.
They're why your online passwords
have never been hacked,
despite the groundbreaking
use of your dog's name.
Wait, how do you know my password?
Hash functions.
Which I will teach you as soon as you
close those curtains.
You should learn to trust people.
I can't. I'm too smart.
Most of these kids are way
too smart for public school.
Kids on the spectrum
obviously have special needs
and we know how to meet them.
The right education could
completely change Max's life.
It's incredible. I didn't know
places like this existed.
We're the top-ranked school
for autism in the province.
We only have one spot available,
but Max seems like a terrific fit.
You said it's $52,000 a year?
I promise you, Mr. Bell,
it's worth every penny.
[WOMAN CHUCKLING]
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
Hey, Stuart,
who was that hollering the other day?
- With the camera?
- No one, Joel.
They got the wrong guy.
I'm still waiting on rent.
The new rate, the one we discussed?
Oh, the one that goes against
the residential tenancies act?
You'll have it first
thing in the morning.
[INTRIGUING MUSIC]
[CITY DIN]
Beautiful.
[DISTANT POLICE SIRENS WAILING]
How much? For your piece?
How much?
Think on it.
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]
[TIRES SCREECHING]
Hey! Let go of me!
Somebody help!
- [TRAIN RATTLING]
- Come on, Baxter.
Two more throws and we get to go home.
Go get it. Go get it!
Baxter! [DOG BARKING]
Here, buddy. [DOG BARKING REPEATEDLY]
[GROWLING]
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
[THEME MUSIC]
Victim is male. Presumed late-20s.
John Doe, no identification.
Dog walker spotted the body
hanging from that tree
at 6:03 this morning.
Took us a minute to get him down.
- Quite the ornament.
- Killer threw the body
off the bridge, didn't
quite hit the ground.
I have officers up on
the bridge canvassing,
but so far no luck.
- All yours, detectives.
- Thanks.
Well, no cameras, not much foot traffic.
Not a bad place to dump a body.
Yeah, not a great place either,
this body was always gonna be found.
I think our killer was in a hurry.
Okay.
[GROANING]
Tree didn't do him any favours.
At least he was dead on arrival,
no frostbite.
Petechial hemorrhaging in the eyes
consistent with asphyxia, but
But no bruising on the
neck. Just residue.
And judging by the
linear pattern, duct tape.
Victim might have been
suffocated with a plastic bag.
- [SIGHING]
- That's a hell of a way to go.
Well, maybe the killer
wanted our victim to suffer,
or maybe he couldn't look at his face
as he died.
What's this?
Extreme colds
keep cellular structure in place,
stopping decomposition.
Apart from the damage
done in the disposal,
we can imagine that our John Doe's body
is almost exactly as it
was the moment he died.
You've been hanging
around corpses too long.
And you with violent criminals.
Which is probably why you were right
about the cause of death.
Suffocation.
Residue around his neck
is consistent with duct tape
and traces of a
high-density polyethylene
often found in plastic bags.
- [SIGHING]
- But without decomposition,
we can't determine the time of death.
No. Unless you're really good.
Our victim was killed
approximately 24 hours ago.
Our John Doe also recently
had his appendix removed
surgically.
Not laparoscopically.
A surgical appendectomy,
his blood type, and some leg work
led me to a name.
Uh, you could have led with that.
And deprive myself of
this beautiful moment?
You're welcome.
Stuart Song, 28.
No credit cards, lease,
license, or vehicle to his name.
Only child, both parents have died.
No next of kin, no address on file,
no record of employment and get this,
no trace of online activity.
What 28-year-old doesn't go online?
Maybe he's analog.
Likes his own company,
values his privacy,
doesn't trust the government.
The only thing we do know
is his digital footprint
was wiped clean two years ago.
Uh, there was one thing
he forgot to delete.
His Yelp account.
[DISTANT DOOR BUZZES]
All these restaurants
are in the west end.
- Picky eater.
- Hmm.
Mm. A ghost that likes
to eat on his own stoop.
If he didn't have a car,
then these restaurants
are probably close to where he lives.
How many Edwardian
duplexes with the number 150
can there be? [SIGHING]
47. I looked.
Then I'd say these
two better get moving.
[ECHOING GAVEL]
Stu was a weird guy.
Always insisted on
paying cash for his rent,
wouldn't sign a lease,
didn't want a record of anything.
You have any idea why?
Huh, like I said, weird dude.
[SIGHING]
Hmm, never seen a key like that before.
Well, that's 'cause he invented it.
First one I dropped into a sewer grate.
Took him three weeks
to make me a new one.
[DOOR OPENING]
If you find my overdue rent in there,
let me know.
[DOOR SHUTTING]
[INTRIGUING MUSIC]
It's a hell of a vinyl collection.
It's a cute library too.
First letter of every title.
Quit looking
at my ookshelf?
Ookshelf. Where's the B?
Exactly.
Hard to believe that
someone so meticulous
would leave their apartment like this.
Well, look at the drawers.
Books everywhere.
Someone's been here.
[KNOCKING AT DOOR]
[SHAKILY]: Stuart's my tutor.
He taught me math and
that I wasn't stupid.
Did he ever mention anything to you,
anyone or anything
that he was afraid of?
No. I mean, he hated technology, but
I just can't imagine he had any enemies.
When was the last time you saw him?
Um, four days ago.
I was here for a lesson.
- Hash functions?
- Yeah.
But Stuart was always
writing on that board.
It would never still
have that stuff on it.
Unless he hasn't been here since.
[CRYING]
If Stuart left here four days ago
and was only killed yesterday,
where was he in between?
Emily, when you last saw Stuart,
did he happen to mention where
he was going after your lesson?
Um, same place he goes every Thursday.
Four days ago, Stuart
left his house around 7 PM,
headed for the Momo House on Queen West.
He entered this underpass at 7:13 PM.
Fast forward 60 seconds
and he never came out.
Oh, not on foot anyway,
he left in the back
of that van.
Not just any van. Quickshift.
You rent them from an app,
pick them up on a street,
drop them off when you're done.
All you need is a
licence and credit card.
- Let me guess.
- We assume the kidnapper
stole them from a man with an alibi.
Still waiting on a
statement. As for the van
The company retrieved
it and wiped it clean
- of any usable prints?
- Right again,
but here's something you may not know.
Before it was dumped,
the van had only made one trip
to this address here.
A house owned by a man named
Tony Lewis in North York.
- [ECHOING GAVEL]
-
I've owned this lot
for almost two years,
but I couldn't get approval from
the neighbour for a new build.
I guess they, uh, change their minds?
With some help from my lawyer.
Started prepping the place
for tear down this week,
but I haven't been inside for months.
That's absurd and it's not true!
Stuart, you can't hide this any longer.
You have no idea what
you're talking about.
Ryotcoin was garbage tech.
Trivial code wrapped in shiny
influencer wrapping paper.
- It was a meme coin.
- Yeah, right.
[TENSE MUSIC]
The city's in a housing crisis and yet,
our killer managed to
find a nice empty place
to bring Stuart.
Yeah.
'Til Tony up there starts
knocking things down,
explains why the body
was moved in a hurry.
Graff.
This is where he was murdered.
And held against his will
for three days before.
There was no evidence of
torture on Stuart's body,
no, uh, signs of malnutrition.
Whoever kidnapped him was humane.
But why kidnap him after tutoring?
Guy didn't have any
family to pay ransom.
I mean, he didn't even
have a bank account.
Somebody went to Stuart's
apartment after he left.
Maybe they just wanted
him out of the way.
- [INHALING SHARPLY]
- If so
[METALLIC CLINKING]
they already had a key.
Told you last time,
I barely knew the guy.
Right, just, uh, some
weirdo who owed you rent.
- Still does.
- Do you ever
go into his place unannounced?
It's not his place. It's my place.
But no, of course not. I'm not a creep.
You sure?
[SCOFFING]
It's a nice bookshelf.
- Thanks?
- "But all be that,
uh, he was a philosopher,
yet had he but little
gold in coffer."
Bartlett's Familiar Quotations,
it's one of my favourites.
I read it when I can't get to sleep.
I just wanted my rent.
Stuart's always trying to pay less.
I let it slide until
some guy comes to our door
with a video camera. [CHUCKLING]
Says Stuart's a
billionaire. Yeah, with a B.
- He sounded crazy.
- But you, uh,
you chose to believe him.
The guy had conviction.
So when Stuart left four days ago,
I went into the apartment
and I grabbed the stupid book.
I saw him take money out of it once.
Do you wanna know what was inside?
- Fabergé egg.
- 800 bucks.
This guy with a camera,
did he say anything else?
Uh, Stuart's real name was
Atashi? Patashi?
- Something stupid like that.
- Not, uh, not Takashi?
Yeah!
So you never heard of Takashi,
I guess you're not interested in crypto?
Oh, Bigaplex scared me off that.
Yeah, probably for the best.
So, two years ago, an
anonymous online figure
who goes by the name
Takashi mints Ryotcoin.
A new crypto coin, best
investment since sliced bread,
otherwise known as a rug pull.
Coin gets hyped, everyone buys
in expecting to own a yacht
within the year, then Takashi
disappears with all the money,
coin's sudden worthless,
everyone goes broke.
Well, the timeline would sync up.
Stuart went off the grid two years ago.
Right when, uh, Ryotcoin crashed,
leaving 100,000 duped
investors begging for blood.
Well, that explains why
Stuart liked his privacy.
Yeah, that he did, look at that.
Is that reflective film?
Yeah, celebrities use it
on their windows to, uh,
- disrupt cameras.
- Hmm.
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]
You ever seen a, uh, bird's
nest this symmetrical?
Graff, leave the birds alone.
Ah, they're made of
mud, sticks, and garbage.
Oh. And usually don't
come with a price tag.
Or a camera.
Oh, come on. Takashi's a myth!
He's an urban legend, and anyway,
he's not some 28-year-old
math tutor in Parkdale? Nah.
Takashi vanished two years ago.
The same week that
Stuart went off the grid.
All the money that Takashi stole
was converted into Bitcoin.
Now it's been sitting in
a public wallet ever since.
All Bitcoin transactions are
recorded on a public ledger
That can be viewed by
anyone, yeah, I know.
My brother won't shut up about it.
Right, so, for two years,
he left the money untouched,
until two days ago.
The entire balance got sent
to an untraceable account
at the same exact time that
Stuart was being held hostage?
You think he was paying a ransom?
No, if it was, it didn't work.
They still killed him,
but whoever kidnapped him
used this.
A tracking device?
Yeah, we found that in Stuart's jacket.
The lab processed it, but,
um, there's no way of seeing
who received the signal.
There are thousands of people online
who were hunting for Takashi.
I mean, entire forums dedicated to it,
and these people, they
wanted to annihilate him.
And then there were those
who just want to find the guy
who stole two billion dollars.
- [PHONE BUZZING AND DINGING]
- Okay, so who found him?
Well, Mark just tracked down
the owner of the hidden camera
we found inside Stuart's apartment,
so maybe someone at, uh,
Skyline Post has some answers.
[ECHOING GAVEL]
Is this about that body in that tree?
I'll tell you, the city's gone insane.
This is exactly the
reason why my wife said
we had to move to Port Credit.
Malcom, we, uh,
found a camera that
belongs to your facility,
illegally recording the victim.
Not my facility, I'm just the manager.
So you're not aware of what
your clients are making here?
We got dozens of
directors and producers.
They rent equipment, edit suites,
we're not monitoring
what they're making.
You would have a record, though,
of who rented that particular camera?
- Here we go.
- Hmm.
This guy.
Mr. Top Secret,
Patrice Beauchamp.
He was nominated for
an Emmy six years ago.
So, Malcom,
what is he making here?
Did you take a peek?
No idea, you're gonna
have to ask him yourself.
He won't tell me.
Uh, but doesn't your
company offer, uh
servers to filmmakers
so they can back up
their footage for free?
Normally yes, but
he didn't want that.
[LOCK BEEPS]
His editing suite is usually locked.
He insists on having the only key.
Hmm.
[SIGHING]
Wow. Looks like Mr. Top
Secret has left the building.
[INTRIGUING MUSIC]
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
[PHONE DINGING]
Yo, River, your shot.
- [ECHOING GAVEL]
-
Before we get started,
would you mind turning the camera off?
- What camera?
- The one on your bookshelf.
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]
Look, in my business,
everything is material.
You don't know the story
'til the story appears.
Sounds a lot like our business and, uh,
our story so far as
it appears is that, uh,
you were stalking and surveilling a man
that we just found dead in a tree.
Thursday night, 7 PM.
Where were you, Patrice?
Wait, wait, wait, wait. Hang on.
- [SCOFFING] You're not suggesting
- Suggesting? [CHUCKLING]
No. I'm just asking.
I was here.
I came in around 3 PM
and didn't leave 'til the next morning.
You can confirm it with
my neighbour if you want.
- We shared a pizza together.
- We'll be sure to do that.
Seriously. I was right
here, in my office,
transcribing interviews
on this computer.
Well, that's interesting as
your office used to be at, uh,
Skyline Post.
Until you abruptly left yesterday
with four months left on your contract.
Look, I wasn't stalking Stuart Song.
I just wanted the guy
on camera. That's it.
Why? A solitary math tutor,
the man barely leaves a footprint?
Exactly. I'm making a film
about people who've
dropped off the grid.
Dropped off the grid?
Because thousands of
people wanted him dead?
You think Stuart Song
is a crypto billionaire.
- Who told you?
- You just did.
Seeing that you're the only
person that thinks that,
I guess that makes
you our prime suspect.
Okay, listen, I can
prove Stuart was Takashi
and
that I am not the only one who knows.
How?
[SIGHING]
Last week,
this was delivered to my office.
No return address,
just undeniable proof that
Stuart Song is Takashi.
Mark and I went through
Patrice's folder.
Tons of proof that
Stuart was Takashi in it.
Show him what we found in
the Ryotcoin source code.
Quit looking at my code.
It's the first letter,
just like the bookshelf.
Cute. Not as cute as
the bookshelf, but, um,
what about our tipster?
We're thinking under
30 based on the, uh,
notes on the margin, TBH, IMHO, WAGMI.
We're All Gonna Make It.
Battle cry of the crypto republic.
Keeps people going when
they're losing their shirts.
Play this again.
- [KEYBOARD TAPPING]
- Okay, so,
under 30,
lurking on the forums,
brilliant,
if they've been able
to put this together.
Raised By Wolves.
- Excuse me?
- The hat.
It's from Raised By Wolves.
They're a streetwear brand
and their store is in
Ottawa, wouldn't be too hard
to track them down. They
do a lot of capsules,
small batch stuff.
- [ECHOING GAVEL]
-
River Smith.
Can I help you, Officer?
It's Detective.
We were hoping you might, uh,
have a conversation with us.
About Takashi.
How did you find me?
Apparently, you were Raised By Wolves.
[CHUCKLING]
[LOUDLY]: Okay, uh, everybody out.
- Yeah, you gotta go.
- Dude.
Hey, Pete. Could you just
throw up a "closed" sign for me?
- Oh, really?
- Seriously?
So, River, we went through your files.
They're very thorough.
Why didn't you bring them to the police?
- So you could arrest him?
- Well, he ripped off
- 100,000 people.
- Look, no offence,
but I don't exactly have
much trust in the police.
- Hmm, none taken.
- Besides, this isn't
cops and robbers. This
is a treasure hunt.
I mean, this is the Copper Scroll.
This is the Beale Ciphers.
Beale Ciphers, they're a myth.
Well, yeah, but imagine
if you were two steps away
- from solving them.
- What-what do you mean,
- uh, two steps?
- Okay. Okay, uh,
so this is a treasure hunt.
You find the gold.
Why give it away to a
documentary filmmaker?
Was I supposed to just release him
to those numbnuts online?
I mean, have you heard those freaks?
They want to cut the man to pieces
and string him up by the toenails.
Patrice Beauchamp's the
real deal, I mean, I
I think it was a great way to
expose Takashi to the masses.
Yet here we are,
investigating his murder.
You paint a target on a man's back,
it's no surprise he gets shot.
Yeah, I know, I, um
I'm sorry. I didn't
Thursday, 7 PM, where were you?
Swan Dive on Dundas?
- Was a first date.
- Question.
You're a puzzler.
This one's been bugging me.
I went through forums
from two years ago,
it seems Stuart was
arguing with Takashi,
not as himself, obviously,
his username was LifeOfPi97.
Yeah, no, I-I, uh,
that's how I pulled his age.
- Sloppy.
- Okay, well,
Stuart would point out issues,
bugs, problems, and
Takashi fired right back.
Called Stuart a fool,
a basic smooth brain.
[CHUCKLING] Non-player character, NPC.
Yeah, um,
I think that Stuart was
Ryotcoin's biggest fan.
And its biggest critic.
I-I always figured that he
was fighting with himself.
What do you mean?
Haven't you ever heard
that thing people say?
Uh, "The greatest trick
the Devil ever pulled
was convincing the
world he didn't exist?"
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]
Mark's reviewing the
documentary footage now.
- How did he take it?
- Patrice?
Tore up the warrant into tiny shreds.
I thought he was gonna eat them.
Well, the man has teeth.
- You get everything?
- Took everything with a plug.
Thanks.
[DISTANT DOOR BUZZING]
[DISTORTED VOICE]: Takashi is smart,
but the Hivemind is smarter.
We're gonna tear him
apart, limb by limb.
Alright, stop it there, Mark.
That clip there, can you highlight that
and find the original sourcing again?
[KEYBOARD TAPPING]
[DISTORTED VOICE]: Ryotcoin was hope.
And now, I feel like I'm
at the bottom of a hole.
And I look up at the sky, but
it's so far away.
I don't know how I'll ever get out.
[SHAKILY]: And cut.
[SHAKY BREATHING]
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]
You know, there comes a
a point in every investigation
that things start to pile up
at the feet of one person. And I'd say,
we've reached that point.
See, not only were you
one of two people who knew
that Stuart Song was Takashi.
Not only did you shut
down your work at Skyline
and not only did you
threaten Stuart's life,
but sin of all sins for a filmmaker,
you faked the source in your interviews.
Couldn't get anyone to come on camera.
They're all privacy freaks.
You said you would tear that man
limb from limb.
I have an alibi.
Well, I imagine two
billion dollars is enough
to, uh, pay off a neighbour,
but what do I know?
At any rate, what we have
is far more important.
- What's that?
- Motive.
You hated the man.
You said so on camera.
So you stalked him, you
brought him to a basement,
you put a plastic bag over his head,
and secured it with tape
until he suffocated to death.
You were nominated for
an Emmy, weren't you?
- Mm-hmm.
- How was that?
You fly down there? To LA?
You meet any famous people?
[SCOFFING]
No, because they don't talk to losers.
But you did manage to get,
uh, funding for your next film.
But the money never ended
up on the screen, did it?
You put it all into Ryotcoin.
So not only did you lose your money,
you lost people's trust.
You lost your reputation
and then your career.
Yeah.
And I wanted to find
the man responsible.
- And do that to him?
- No.
Expose him and make him rot in jail.
But I didn't want to kill him.
I just wanted my life back.
And the only way I could claw
back some semblance of a career
would be to tell it as a story.
Let the audience be
the judge and the jury.
So I posted on many
forums looking for help
and then, poof.
Would you look at that,
someone drops Stuart's name
- right into your lap.
- I confronted Stuart,
he denied it, of course.
But then I got a bunch
of texts on my phone,
accusing me of killing the guy.
The texts? From who?
I have no idea.
So I started to panic,
shut things down at Skyline.
Removed all my footage off their servers
and finished the project
from home, period!
No, no, you're Mr. Top Secret.
They said you didn't want
their storage service.
[CHUCKLING] What?
I always backed up my
projects. Who told you that?
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
[DOOR SHUTTING]
Okay, so why would Malcom lie
about not having access to footage?
Well, maybe he was curious
about what Patrice was making,
held a, uh, private screening.
Yea, maybe he, uh, found
Stuart's real identity
and he lied to us to distance
himself from our victim?
I mean, do you think Malcom
could have kidnapped Stuart?
Well, it's a theory. Only way to test it
is to, uh, revisit the clues.
- Yeah.
- See if anything's connected
to Malcom. Okay.
Now, Stuart Song
leaves his home at 7 PM,
he walks south on Gladstone to Queen,
enters the underpass at
7:13, van picks him up.
Takes him up to Tony Lewis'
abandoned house in North York
where he's held. What are we missing?
The van.
The van
was rented using one
John Oswald's ID and credit card.
Oswald was bar-hopping the
night that his wallet was stolen.
He didn't even notice it
was gone until the morning.
How did he get home?
It says here he took a rideshare.
From where?
The Porthouse Social.
Never heard of it.
That's 'cause it's not in Toronto.
It's in Port Credit.
Oh, Malcom.
- [ECHOING GAVEL]
-
God. [SIGHING]
Yeah, um [CLEARING THROAT]
Sorry, it's been
a long day. [SIGHING]
Hi, sweetie, do you wanna go play?
- [GIGGLING]
- Watch your iPad.
Watch the iPad, okay, go ahead, sweetie.
Love you.
Yes, go play! Great. [CHUCKLING]
Sorry.
I am trying to run
my graphic design business from home,
but Max isn't in school right now.
- How old is he?
- Six.
But it's a long story.
This is, uh, this is beautiful.
Yeah, Max is an artist.
That's for sure.
I-I'm sorry. You said he was only six?
Uh, that seems impossible.
Well, not if he's on the spectrum.
I used to draw when I was a
kid, but nothing so intricate.
This is remarkable.
Sorry to intrude,
we, uh, we were hoping to
speak with your husband.
- Is he home?
- Malcom?
Uh, no, he's at work. Like always.
I mean, God bless him.
He has been working so much overtime.
Max has got a shot of
getting into Beacon Heights.
It's a private school
in the city, it's
Expensive. Yeah, I get it.
Anyway, um,
I'm assuming this is about
that body that was in the tree?
Did Malcom tell you about that?
Uh, no. My uncle.
Apparently, the killer
used Tony's house.
All Tony talks about is tearing it down
and the moment he finally gets close,
it turns into a crime scene.
Please, Ms. Davis, there
must be something I can do.
[STAMMERING]: Some savings,
RRSPs, life insurance?
- I could liquidate?
- Mr. Bell,
you haven't contributed
to your RRSP in four years,
your life insurance payments
stopped last January.
You're not currently insured.
You make
$87,000 a year.
And frankly, I don't know
where that money's going.
I told you. My son.
His name is Max, he's six, he has ASD,
Autism Spectrum Disorder.
Mr. Bell, I'm sorry,
there's nothing I can do.
No! I'm not leaving until
you tell me what to do.
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]
Detectives Bateman and Graff,
we'll take this one, alright?
You can let him go.
Malcom, your boss said
you were taking lunch
to talk with your banker. I'm
guessing it didn't go well?
Malcom, we'd like to talk to you
about the kidnapping and
murder of Stuart Song.
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]
[DOOR SHUTTING]
The hunt for Takashi.
Yesterday, someone compared
it to a treasure hunt.
Hadn't thought about it
that way before, but, uh,
it stuck.
Wasn't hunting for anyone.
No, I believe you. I mean, you're just
a middle manager, you
wouldn't look at the footage
that comes across your
desk. Why would you?
But it's, uh, it's human nature
when somebody hides something from you,
to want to take a peek.
[EXHALING DEEPLY]
Mr. Top Secret, you called him.
Malcom, you took that peek, didn't you?
Fortune fell right into your lap.
It was like somebody was handing
you a winning lottery ticket
and all you had to do was cash it in
and pop the champagne.
We spoke with your wife, Malcom.
We looked into your finances.
You're broke. It's tough.
And there's nothing you
wouldn't do for your boy,
Max.
Yeah, you'd go so far as
to, uh, steal a wallet?
Rent a van?
Plant a GPS tracker in a man's jacket,
so you could hunt him down?
GPS tracker?
No, I don't know what
you're talking about.
But you abducted your target,
brought him to Hannah's
uncle's empty house,
you demanded a ransom which he paid,
- and then you killed him anyway.
- I didn't kill him!
No, I didn't, I
I found his address on Patrice's footage
and then I followed him
through the underpass.
[STAMMERING]
- I took him.
- Okay, why?
Because I needed the money.
I asked him for $300,000.
Life changing for me.
For him, it's 0.015%
of his net worth.
But he said he wasn't Takashi.
Chained to a chair, I
might say the same thing.
Sure, but then he started making sense.
He started saying things,
like he was a-an early adopter
of Ryotcoin, and how
he met Takashi online,
and how he helped him write better code,
improve his specs.
He swore on his own life
that he wasn't Takashi.
So if Stuart Song wasn't Takashi,
then why did he go off the grid?
He claimed he was scared.
That people would find
out he was involved.
He said that after Takashi disappeared,
he felt sick, like
he was responsible for
ruining thousands of lives.
No! Everything that I had brought up,
Stuart had an answer for!
But eventually, you were
gonna have to get rid of him.
I mean, make it make sense, Malcom.
My face was covered, so
Stuart had promised me
he wouldn't tell a soul
if I had let him go.
So I went home.
I thought about it for
a couple hours and then
When I came back,
Stuart was right where I left him.
But with a plastic bag over his head.
And two billion dollars
transferred out of his account.
Yes, so I guess he was Takashi
and I'm an idiot for believing
when he said he wasn't.
Obviously, I couldn't go to the police.
And there was workers
starting at the house,
I didn't know what to do!
Are you saying you moved a body
for someone else's murder?
Look,
I don't know who killed Stuart Song.
But I know it wasn't me.
Looks like we have our man.
Ah, for the kidnapping, sure.
You believe that? Come on.
If it wasn't Malcom,
how would the killer know
- where Stuart was?
- Because of the GPS tracker
in, uh, Stuart's jacket.
Malcom didn't even know it was there.
- Obviously, he was lying.
- Why would you confess
to a kidnapping, which is five to life,
and then lie about how he did it?
So you think the
kidnapper and the killer
are different people? Okay, so how would
this imaginary second
person get the money
out of Stuart when Malcom couldn't?
There was no sign of torture.
Well, there are ways to convince people
that don't include torture.
But apart from Malcom,
the only other two people
who knew about Stuart
were the documentary filmmaker, Patrice,
- and an anonymous source
- River.
Both of whom have alibis.
Well, for the kidnapping,
but not for the time
of the murder. Look,
if we believe Malcom,
we're looking at a whole
different chessboard.
River Smith has no motive.
If he was after Stuart's money,
he never would have leaked
the information to Patrice.
He would have just killed
him and taken the money,
and no one would have
known who Stuart was.
Which leaves Patrice.
And the guy we have in custody.
With motive. Who just
admitted to kidnapping.
Okay, yeah. Theo, we're not
asking you to believe us.
We're asking for more time.
Hey.
I can't confirm Malcom's alibi
for the time of the murder.
Forester will be thrilled.
- What did you get?
- We combed through
all of Patrice's footage,
then realized we didn't check the, uh,
camera we found in the nest.
You mean the one that
just shows the curtains?
Yeah, so, here's the
exact moment that, uh,
Patrice confronted Stuart
on his, uh, doorstep.
Now listen, I've enhanced the audio.
[INDISCERNIBLE STATICKY VOICES]
[OMINOUS MUSIC]
Oh, my God, Henry.
You didn't want to lead with that?
What, and deprive myself
of this beautiful moment?
[SIGHING INCREDULOUSLY]
[DOORBELL CHIMING]
- [DOOR SHUTTING]
- Detectives.
- Espresso?
- Oh, it's, uh, little late
- for caffeine, thanks.
- Not if you got 200 pages
left of the Voynich Manuscript.
[DOORBELL CHIMING] Hey,
but now I got a new puzzle.
Why are you here?
Well, we, uh, we need your help.
See, uh, we found this
in Stuart's jacket.
You know, it turns out
to be a GPS tracker.
Cool. Can I see it?
It's not much to look at, but, uh,
I think you've seen it already.
Actually, I think you were the one
who put it in Stuart's jacket.
Maybe even the night
he disappeared, huh?
You were at the Swan
Dive, just two blocks away
from his house, and maybe you passed him
in the street and
bumped into him.
A-Are you ?
Wow, that's
I'll have what you're having, man.
River, why don't you, uh,
come take a look at this?
Come.
It's video from the hidden nest camera
in Stuart Song's front yard.
That's that's gripping.
Yeah, I'll just turn up the volume.
[PATRICE]: Stuart! You
can't hide this any longer.
That's Patrice Beauchamp.
And Stuart Song.
[STUART]: It's trivial code wrapped in
shiny influencer wrapping paper!
- It was a meme coin.
- Yeah, right!
You're still just a
basic smooth-brained NPC.
And that, uh, guy
lurking around the house,
listening, that's uh,
that's you.
No. It's not.
Doesn't sound like me.
Are you sure?
Ah, reflective gel.
Bad for paparazzi.
Good for us.
So what?
I mean, the guy ripped
off thousands of people
and I'm the one who caught him.
I wanted to watch him squirm.
Sounds to me like you're
the one squirming, River.
By using the exact same expressions
Takashi used to insult
Stuart on the forums?
You know what we could not figure out,
is how the killer got the money
from Stuart when Malcom couldn't.
But the killer didn't get the
money from Stuart, did they?
Because Stuart wasn't Takashi.
You are.
You killed Stuart
and you sent the money to yourself.
You see?
The greatest trick the Devil ever played
was convincing us he was Stuart Song.
Right, um.
Okay. I'm closing up, so
Got a second date.
Unless you clowns scared her off.
The Hivemind.
It's real.
It's scary.
And crypto millionaires being
kidnapped all over the world,
being tortured, killed.
I mean, you heard about the
guy in France recently, right?
Got his hands severed, sent
to his family for ransom?
Alright, these are the
same desperate people
who were getting closer to finding you.
So, how do you stop an angry mob
from asking questions?
You give them an answer.
And Stuart was the perfect patsy.
An early adopter,
fingerprints all over the code,
active on the forums and, uh,
went dark the same week
that, uh, you robbed Ryotcoin.
And then you saw Patrice on the forums,
asking for help with his documentary.
He'd publish Stuart's, uh,
fake identity to the masses,
to those fools.
To those basic smooth brains.
Okay. If I am Takashi,
then why do I work
at a coffee shop, huh?
Where's my two billion?
Yeah, you couldn't access
it, could you, Takashi?
Not when everyone was looking for you.
So you needed a distraction.
And even if you could get
the billions of dollars you stole,
do you really think it
would buy you freedom
from those freaks who wanted
to tear you limb from limb?
Tell me, River,
when was the last time you
had a good night's sleep?
You needed it to stop.
So you, you laid a trap,
you put a GPS tracker in Stuart's jacket
in case he ran away.
Everything was going hunky-dory
until Malcom showed up.
Malcom, ah, but then the
tracker led you to an empty house
where Stuart was tied up.
Crisis equals danger
plus opportunity, so
you decided on a dark pivot.
So you tapped a plastic bag
over an innocent man's head
and then sent yourself
two billion dollars
as he suffocated!
River, you can come with us right now.
We'll take you to holding.
And from this moment
until your trial, you'll have our word,
you'll be fully protected.
Yeah, or you can choose
to walk out this door
right now and lawyer up,
and we'll have no
choice but to start a
very public investigation into you.
Now when that gets out,
the media, they'll
descend like vultures.
In very little time, we'll have enough
to charge you with murder,
but by then, it'll be too late.
Because everyone will
know your true identity.
And all that anonymity
that you've worked for,
that you've killed for will vanish.
And of all the Ryotcoin
buyers that you duped,
I promise you, one of
them is gonna do a lot more
than just break down your door.
[STAMMERING]: You
- You can't do that.
- We can and we will.
You don't know what it's like, okay?
I haven't slept in two years.
I feel like I'm going insane!
My head is-is pounding!
I feel like I'm just, my
brain is just going and going
- like I'm spinning around.
- River, River, I get it.
You are looking for a way
out, so let us give you one.
You're a genius and I
don't use that word lightly,
but if you're as smart
as I think you are,
you won't turn this down.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
[BREATHING HEAVILY]
It's your life, kid.
Around-the-clock protection.
Private room.
As many books as I request.
It's not a room, it's a cell.
[HANDCUFFS CLINKING]
You know, you did a great
job in burying your treasure,
but you overlooked one thing.
You buried yourself along with it.
Let's go.
[MELANCHOLIC MUSIC]
[THEME SONG]