Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent (2024) s03e03 Episode Script

[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]
- [TENSE MUSIC]
- Cara.
Cara?
Sometimes we have to
admit what we've done
in order to move on.
Guess I won't be moving on then.
Because I didn't do anything.
[LAUGHING]
I believe you.
Watch your back, girl.
Baby killing bitch!
Come on, Melville, we'll
take the tunnel back.
Okay, let's settle down ladies.
- Let's go!
- I got eyes on you.
[DOOR SQUEAKING OPENS]
[DOOR SHUTTING]
Guard? What
[TENSE MUSIC]
[LIGHTS CLICK ON]
[GASPING]
[SHOUTING]
[GRUNTING]
So you think broken ribs
contributed to the baby's death?
Injuries an adult could survive
might be fatal for a child.
So while rib fractures in general
aren't considered life threatening,
as the defence expert suggested,
in the case of an infant
they may be deadly.
Thank you, Doctor Plath.
Look what just came in
from Innocence Canada.
I can't take on any
more cases right now.
It's about Cara Melville.
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]
What do you mean, Cara's
getting a new hearing?
What, like parole?
It's more than just
parole, Mr. Melville.
What's going on, dad?
Uh, it's nothing, Audrey. It's nothing.
Detective Dreyfus,
my ex-wife has only served a year
for killing our six-month-old child.
How is that possible?
They're saying we missed evidence.
Due to the potentially
exculpatory evidence
that was not disclosed at
Cara Melville's original trial,
a blonde hair found on the victim,
six-month-old, Izzy Melville,
this court has decided
to release Cara Melville
on bail, pending appeal.
[DISAPPROVING GRUNTS]
I am satisfied that there is merit
and she is not a flight risk.
We won the battle
today, but not the war.
So you sit tight at the motel
and let me focus on
winning your appeal
- Cara. Cara!
- Dad, please.
Mr. Melville, give her some space.
Stay out of this!
You will not get away with this.
You think one hair is gonna free you?
I have way more than one hair, Tate.
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]
I went through a lot
of red tape to get this.
I hope you know what you're doing.
Thank you, Ms. Shuter.
[PENSIVE MUSIC]
[TAPPING ON KEYBOARD]
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]
[SOFT GASPING]
What do you want?
We need to talk.
[DOOR OPENING] [GASPING]
[TENSE MUSIC]
[KNOCKING AT DOOR]
Ms. Melville?
Ms. Melville?
Hey, it's Management.
I just need to check your breaker.
I'm coming in.
[TENSE MUSIC CONTINUES]
[MUTTERING]: What the hell?
[SLOW, CONTINUOUS DRIPPING]
Jesus Christ.
[THEME SONG]
Sorry to get you guys out here
in the middle of the night,
but we've got a weird one on our hands.
You know what they say
No rest for the wicked?
Excuse me, sir. Are you the manager?
Yeah. Hi, I'm Jonas.
Detective Bateman.
This is Detective Graff.
Yeah, look, I didn't do anything. Okay?
The power went out around eight,
so I went in to flip the breaker
and she was already dead, man.
It's like the freaking shining in there.
Alright, thanks, Jonas.
You can give your statement
to the officer over there.
You might wanna, uh,
check his phone for photos.
Yeah.
- Got a name on the victim?
- Cara Melville.
As in the, uh, just got bail after
being imprisoned for killing her kid,
- Cara Melville?
- Yup.
Told you it was weird.
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]
Jonas found Cara in the tub.
Her head was there, her feet were there.
EMT tried to save her, but
But a hairdryer in the
bath is instant death?
Yeah.
Blew the motel's power too,
which tells us two things.
This place isn't up to code
and the time of death was 8
PM when the lights went out.
And she's been living here
ever since she left prison, yeah?
Broke, divorced, no family.
She had nowhere else to go.
And something tells me she
was safer on the inside.
Any, uh, forced entry?
Jonas said the door was locked,
but it's one of those
cheap push buttons,
so anyone could have popped
it in on their way out.
There's still cash in her purse,
so it doesn't seem
like a botched robbery.
What about CCTV?
- Security cameras are broken.
- Hmm.
That's why I called you. I can't tell if
this is an accident, foul
play, or self-inflicted.
Well, if Cara was so
close to real freedom,
why would she end it
all with a hairdryer?
Well, this doesn't seem
like surrender to me.
Looks like a fight.
That cut on her head wasn't caused by
flailing or falling in the tub.
And the tile's too smooth.
Her skin's split. It's
a vertical laceration,
so she must've hit her
head on a sharp edge.
Okay.
Well, for her sake, let's make
the, uh, invisible visible.
- Play this out with me.
- Okay, let's give it a whirl.
I'm Cara. Cara's in the bathroom.
Okay. Killer enters.
Makes a sound.
Cara hears the noise, opens the door.
Killer pounces. Fast.
Right. There's no signs of a
struggle, so killer grabs her,
knocks her head into this doorframe.
Now, she's about my
height, so that would be
there?
I mean, there's no blood.
Yeah, looks like it's been wiped by, uh,
something that's messed
with the paint there.
We're gonna need, uh, a
photo and swab of this mark.
Copy.
- [SIGHING]
- Okay, so Cara's knocked out.
Killer throws her into the tub and then
chucks the hairdryer in after her.
He then leaves under
the cover of darkness.
Okay. So. Who?
Who had it out for Cara?
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]
Is this her ex-husband?
Yeah, that's Tate Melville.
- [ECHOING GAVEL]
-
My dad's in Kingston for a job.
Early morning hot tub install.
He drove out there last night.
Why?
Audrey, are you aware of what
happened to your former stepmom?
I never wanna hear anything
about Cara ever again.
She's the worst thing that
ever happened to my dad.
Unfortunately, we have to inform you
that, uh, Cara was murdered last night.
At the motel where she was living.
What?
Wait, you guys don't think
my dad had something
to do with this, do you?
We just need to speak with him.
He didn't do anything.
A lot of people were
upset that Cara got bail.
Me, my dad, Detective Dreyfus.
Oh, and in case you were wondering,
I was at school last
night, George Brown.
We're not accusing you, Audrey.
Good. I don't wanna talk anymore.
[TENSE MUSIC]
It's alright.
If you, uh, just ask
your dad to give us a call
when he gets in.
Tate was angry Cara got out.
But he wouldn't do this.
He's a good, hardworking man.
But Tate's in the wind.
And his ex-wife allegedly
killed their kid,
I mean, it looks like motive
to me, Detective Dreyfus.
Allegedly?
And what's up with
this, uh, missing hair?
How'd it get her an appeal?
The hair wasn't entered into evidence
because I didn't see it.
Neither did Doctor Plath.
- [PAPERS RUSTLING]
- Here are my autopsy photos
from when I examined the victim.
[SIGHING] As you can see,
there are no blonde
hairs on Izzy's hand.
And this is the police
photo taken in the ER
after resuscitation efforts ceased.
Do you see any hairs around the hand?
[GRUNTING]: Well, maybe see something
near the middle finger?
But I can't be sure.
Imagine you're in the ER
a few feet from the body,
you can understand why I
didn't see it back then.
- Yeah.
- Neither did the coroner.
Yes, the body and bedding
were bagged and brought to me directly.
We're checking through that old
evidence to see if it was missed.
We know who didn't miss it,
was Innocence Canada.
Cara contacted them
after she went to prison.
They went through her
file, looking for a way
to get her out.
Now, at 300 times magnification,
guess the blonde hair's pretty clear.
[BATES]: Yeah. [SIGHING]
Okay, so this picture
proved that some evidence
went undisclosed and that was
enough to get Cara her appeal?
Hmm. That and the testimony
of the ER doctor, Garvey.
Supposedly, he remembered seeing it,
but he didn't mention
that to me at the time.
Honestly, I think the
hair is a contaminant.
Wasn't Audrey's or Cara's
'cause both are brunette.
And-and Tate was out
of town on business.
Yes.
Cara was an alcoholic.
She fell off the wagon.
Guess Izzy wasn't easy to be alone with.
Medical report indicate
she suffered from colic.
Cara needed a break.
She contacted Audrey to
watch Izzy, went drinking.
She got back by 10 PM,
sent Audrey home to her mom's house.
She woke up at five in the morning
to find Izzy convulsing.
Subdural hematoma.
Shaken baby syndrome.
With trauma like that,
the timeline between injury and death
is four to six hours.
Cara was alone with Izzy for seven.
So you do the math.
Okay. So you think Cara
got out on a technicality.
Did you happen to tell her ex that?
[SIGHING]
Dad, I've been calling and texting!
I know, I know, I'm sorry.
Come here, come here.
Feels like it's
happening all over again.
Hey, hey. It's not.
I promise it's over.
It's all over now, okay?
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]
What do you mean, it's over now?
[GRUNTING]
Means I'll take care of the cops,
you don't have to deal with any of that.
Did you go see Cara last night?
Why would I do that?
To see if she was telling the truth?
No, listen, the truth
is that Cara killed Izzy.
And nothing's gonna change that.
- Okay?
- Okay.
[KISSING]
It'll be okay, Audrey.
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]
A grief-stricken father riled
up by an irate detective
Goes to Cara's hotel to exact revenge.
Pretty good place to kill
somebody and get away with it.
Yeah, the room is basically
a dirty bomb with DNA,
it'll be hard to find a real suspect.
Ordinarily, I'd agree with you.
Everyone and their mother
has been in that room.
But I found something
under Cara's nails.
Foreign DNA.
She might have scratched her attacker.
[PAPERS RUSTLING]
- [ECHOING GAVEL]
-
Look, I don't know
what happened to Cara,
I was in Kingston.
Can we do this later? I
have a job this afternoon.
No, I'd prefer to talk
now because that, uh,
that bandage? On your neck there?
That might tell a different story.
Oh, yeah? What's it gonna say?
That you were maybe
with Cara last night?
[SCOFFING]
Cara scratched someone
before she was killed.
Skin cells under the
fingernails and if those cells
happened to belong to you
and you're not cooperating,
you know, it just doesn't look good.
Fine.
Fine. I was with Cara last night.
We argued and she scratched
me, but I didn't kill her.
- You sure?
- Yes. I swear.
I was on the road. You can check my GPS.
Look, I know it sounds
bad, but I just
needed to know the truth.
The truth about what, Tate?
[TATE SIGHING]
After the hearing, Cara
said something weird.
She said that she had more than
one hair to exonerate herself.
Well, if she had new evidence,
new information wh-why didn't
she bring it up at the hearing?
Well, that's what Plath
and Dreyfus said, but
I couldn't get it out of my
head, so I went to the motel,
she wouldn't tell me, said she couldn't
because she hadn't collected
enough evidence yet.
Tate, did Cara think
that someone else killed your daughter?
Apparently. She was collecting
proof on some hard drive.
But it was stolen.
How convenient, right?
Where was this drive stolen from?
Uh, a public library
the day before she died.
Which library?
I don't know, I
[PHONE RINGING]
This is Audrey. Do you mind?
- Of course.
- Hey.
Yeah. Yeah, okay.
What if, uh, Cara did have new evidence?
I mean, she'd only just
found out about the hair.
Maybe she had a hunch as to
who it belonged to.
Hmm, someone she knew.
And if that someone knew
that Cara was on to them,
that is a reason to steal a drive.
We're gonna have to check
out every library in the city
to find a thief, aren't we?
You make that sound like a bad thing.
[SIGHING]
Tate's alibi is solid.
We caught him on camera
at a gas station near Oshawa at 8 PM.
You found Cara?
Security footage came in
from the library she went to.
Yeah, confirms Cara was at
this branch every day for a week
before she died, researching
on their computers.
We know what she was looking at?
No idea.
The history auto clears
on these terminals,
but this was the day
before she was killed.
And lookie-loo.
Our blonde drive thief approaches.
If the hair that was found
on Izzy came from this guy,
we could be looking at a real killer.
Yeah and if, uh, Cara had
something on that drive
that further proved
he was responsible
we may be looking at Cara's killer, too.
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]
So, you think Cara suspected
someone else of killing her kid
and that person murdered Cara.
Anyone from the family
recognize this guy?
No. We showed this to Tate,
Audrey, Dreyfus, no one knows who he is.
Maybe there's a reason
that no one knows who he is.
I mean, this may sound indelicate,
but Tate was out of town
the night that Izzy died.
And Cara was alone.
You think Cara had a secret boyfriend?
Maybe invited him over
the night Izzy died,
she didn't think he could've hurt Izzy
until she found out about
the undisclosed hair.
So Cara gets out of prison,
starts looking into him
He finds out she's suspicious of him,
he follows her
And steals the drive and then kills her
before she can expose
him as a child murderer.
If Cara's dead then the appeal is abated
and she dies, guilty
of second-degree murder.
The whole case disappears.
No one's looking for the real killer.
- [ECHOING GAVEL]
-
I've never seen this guy before.
Cara didn't mention the
evidence she was collecting
to try to find Izzy's real killer?
Finding real killers
is your job, detectives.
I was very clear with
Cara about what my job was.
Show the council did not get
all the evidence they needed
to adequately defend her.
Then exonerate her and call it a day.
- Even without the hair?
- I didn't need it.
I have the photo and
Doctor Garvey's testimony.
Are they still looking for it?
Why?
You wanna compare it to this guy?
Well, if he's a match, it could well be
that he's Izzy's killer
and Cara's killer.
True, but I don't think
that hair will help you
prosecute Cara's killer.
There's zero connection
between her crime scene and a hair
found in a kid's hand three years ago.
Wait. Did you say in the hand?
The photo that we saw,
it looked like the hair
was on Izzy's hand, not in it.
Not according to Doctor Garvey.
- [ECHOING GAVEL]
-
Yes, that is what I told Ms. Cross.
In the ER, I saw a hair in Izzy's hand.
It got dislodged in our
efforts to save her life.
You didn't tell the police?
I thought the message had been relayed.
It wasn't. So when Edith contacted me,
I told her it had been
entwined in Izzy's fingers
like she had, um,
grasped hair and pulled.
So the hair wasn't a contaminant.
If she'd pulled Cara's
hair, it would've been dark.
No, that means it must've been
someone else inside that house
between 10 PM and 5
AM when Izzy was hurt.
Maybe or maybe it happened earlier.
What do you mean?
[LOWLY]: I think the
timeline stated was, um,
too conservative.
Doctor Plath is the preeminent expert,
but I've seen shaken baby deaths
occur 10, 12 hours after injury.
Hold on. You're saying that
Izzy could have been hurt
much earlier that evening?
Like when she being minded
by, uh, her half-sister Audrey.
Thank you, Doctor Garvey.
Yeah.
Well, if he's right, Audrey
wasn't alone that night.
Yeah, and she lied about not
knowing who our blonde is.
I think you're on to something
with this secret boyfriend theory.
Right idea, wrong woman.
Okay, I lied.
But I barely know Christian.
He was two grades older
and we hooked up once.
Was it that night?
I was there.
But I didn't hurt that baby.
I wasn't allowed to have guys over.
I didn't want my dad to know.
Besides, Christian didn't do anything.
Well, if you didn't do anything,
why did you steal Cara's drive?
Can you tell me about when he
reached out to you recently?
He heard that Cara got released.
Read about the hair in
the news and texted me.
I hadn't heard from
him since that night.
He was freaking out that
Cara was gonna blame us.
Did you tell him what
Cara said to your dad?
Yeah, but she was lying
about having more evidence.
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC] My dad told me.
I know Christian didn't hurt Izzy.
Cara did it way after we left.
Audrey, that's not necessarily true.
All it takes is five
seconds of forceful shaking.
The only person I touched was Audrey.
Sure. [SIGHING]
You know, I heard that
poor little Izzy was
was quite the crier.
Did Audrey have to keep getting
up to, uh, go take care of her?
My client has already said
he doesn't recall specific events.
I don't think Goldilocks
here even understood
the specific events that
he might have done something
that hurt Izzy.
I need you to think back, okay?
Try as hard as you can to remember.
Was there any time when
Christian was alone with her?
I, I mean, I went to the bathroom once.
Izzy started crying, but then
she stopped.
When I came out, Christian,
he was in the hall.
He wasn't in her room.
Then, how did a blonde hair
get entwined in Izzy's fingers?
[SHAKY BREATHING]
Are you trying to implicate my client
in a crime that Cara Melville
was already imprisoned for?
- [DOOR OPENING]
- Oh, we'll leave that to, uh,
Detective Dreyfus to
further investigate.
Our little chat here is
to establish your motive
in the murder of Cara Melville.
Audrey told you about Cara's evidence.
That she had more than a hair
regarding the real killer.
So you stole the drive, uh,
discovered that Cara had dirt on you,
and you went to the
motel and you killed her.
No! No.
Look, I may have been at
Cara's the night Izzy died
- Christian.
- But I didn't touch that baby.
And I was nowhere near that
motel when Cara was killed.
Well, where were you, Prince Charming?
Tell 'em.
Christian was doing community
service for vandalism.
He was at a food bank until 9 PM.
Oh, so being a delinquent, uh,
finally worked in your favour.
What's on the drive?
I don't even know.
The files were password protected.
[DOOR OPENING]
I cracked the drive. [SIGHING]
Christian may look
good for Izzy's murder,
but Cara was not
collecting evidence on him.
These are just articles
about other parents who went to
prison for killing their kids.
Then there's nothing
on the drive about, uh,
a new suspect in Izzy's murder?
Not as far as I can tell.
Okay, so why would Cara think
this would exonerate her?
I mean, none of it even
has to do with her daughter.
Hmm. Open the directory for me.
Who's this Nina Shuter and
why's she got her own folder?
Yeah, hold on.
Okay, uh
Nina was an infant. Her mother, Maxine,
was convicted of her
second-degree murder.
And she was incarcerated
at the same prison as Cara.
And lived on the same PC Ward.
Okay, so they were neighbours. [SIGHING]
But Maxine couldn't have given
Cara any of this, I mean,
she didn't have access.
And Cara couldn't have gotten
any of this on her own either.
I mean, here's Nina's autopsy report,
a second opinion from a pathologist,
I mean, these are documents
that only the Shuter
family could acquire.
Hang on.
It says here the original autopsy
failed to take into account
a hereditary disease.
"Which may invalidate the
assumption of child abuse
having caused asphyxia as
determined by Doctor Victor Plath."
Maybe when Cara said
she had more than a hair, she meant
More than a missing hair.
And what do you get when you combine
lost exculpatory evidence with, uh,
proof of a genetic oversight?
A pathologist who may be responsible
for the wrongful convictions
of both Cara and Maxine.
What if Cara was planning
to expose Plath's misconduct?
And he killed her to keep her quiet.
[PHONE]: Doctor Plath,
as Christian's lawyer,
I'm concerned. The police may
charge him with Izzy's murder.
I'll testify in his
defence if you need me to.
Like I said, my timeline is correct.
Cara killed Izzy.
You haven't found that hair yet?
No, but, uh, even if I did,
it doesn't trump my expertise.
- We're looking, but
-
I don't know if I'll ever find it.
Okay. Keep me posted.
[TENSE MUSIC CONTINUES]
[INDISCERNIBLE CHATTER]
There you are. I've been
looking for you guys.
And were coming to find you.
Major break in the Cara Melville case.
Yeah, turns out she was collecting intel
that could ruin Doctor Plath's career.
[STAMMERING]: Botched
autopsies, missing evidence
We think he put two and two together,
suspected Cara was looking into him.
Whoa, whoa, whoa. You're
not suggesting that Plath
The Doctor Victor Plath killed someone.
To cover up malfeasance, yes.
Okay!
Okay, you have to stick a pin in this.
- Come with me.
- No, Inspector
Plath was there when Cara told Tate
that she had more than just
a hair to exonerate herself.
We think, uh, Plath was
in Cara's motel room.
The smudge on the bathroom
doorframe was caused
by sodium hypochlorite.
Yeah. AKA DNA clean wipes.
No, doesn't that sound
like something a
careful pathologist might
take with him to a crime scene?
Why don't you ask him yourself?
Doctor Plath is in my office right now.
[CLEARING THROAT]
Detectives.
I hear you have a new suspect
in the Izzy Melville case.
I just wanted to let you know
I'm happy to provide my
reports, uh, brainstorm?
We appreciate that, Doctor Plath.
Oh, you should speak
with Detective Dreyfus.
She's handling Izzy's case.
We're still busy with Cara's murder.
I thought we were looking
at the ex-husband for that.
Oh, we are looking into a lot of people.
Alright then.
I'll go speak to Dreyfus.
I'm sure you've got Cara's
investigation well in hand.
Uh, you know, we could
always use a second opinion.
I mean, do you have any
instincts, Doctor Plath,
uh, to be honest, it kind of
feels like we may be missing
something that's right in front of us.
Hmm. That's funny, I heard a great quote
the other night at this reading,
"When you hear hoof beats,
think horses, not zebras."
Sometimes the correct answer
is the most obvious one.
Oh, what event was that?
Uh, the Brighton Reading Series.
I take my mother every month.
- Right.
- [GRAFF]: Your mother, huh?
You must be close.
Well, it was just the
two of us growing up.
Least I can do.
Anyway, please, let
me know if I can help.
Thank you.
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]
Well. Guess who just
casually dropped his alibi.
[SIGHING]: The Brighton
Reading Series took place
the night of Cara's
murder from six to nine PM.
How convenient. Look.
I'm not saying that you guys are right,
because if you are, this is gonna be
one hell of a miss.
So you had better make absolutely sure
that he was actually
doing something wrong
before you go near him for murder.
- [ECHOING GAVEL]
-
Wrong doesn't even begin to
express what he did to me.
And how did you figure this out, Maxine?
Cara and I met in therapy.
We had to talk a lot about
admitting to what we did.
But we both knew we were innocent.
We didn't do what Plath said.
We think my daughter died
of a genetic disorder.
[INTRIGUING MUSIC] My
mom's cousin had it.
We told the police it ran in our family.
But Plath didn't test Nina.
He was too busy telling
everyone I killed her.
Because I was single.
And had post-partum.
He said similar things about Cara.
That she was an alcoholic,
who was driven to drink by a colic baby.
He didn't know anything about us.
What kind of parents we were.
Cara loved Izzy.
I loved Nina.
Can you imagine losing the person
you love most in this world
and having everyone
think you killed them?
[INHALING DEEPLY]
We hoped that if Cara got free,
she would use her exoneration as a way
to start a real
conversation about Plath.
Be a voice for all of us.
I know you're doing your best,
but I am still getting calls
about this Izzy Melville case.
- From who?
- Detective Dreyfus.
She wants us to look
for that hair evidence.
Again.
[SIGHING]: I checked
that box. I'm telling you,
- it is not there.
- Victor, as the Chief Coroner,
it is my job to make sure
that the autopsies we perform
and the reports we issue
are timely and accurate.
You know me.
I dot my I's, I cross my t's,
I care more than anything about accuracy
and getting justice for these victims.
I know.
And I think you're
exceptional at it, Victor.
But if you made a mistake,
you need to tell me.
I can't help you if I'm in the dark.
Francine.
I don't make mistakes.
- [SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]
- I am shocked at what I found.
I looked at 20 of Plath's
most recent autopsies.
They are full of
mistakes and inaccuracies,
just like Nina and Izzy's.
They led to 12 parents being convicted
in their own child's deaths?
All of them mothers.
Single mothers.
Or mothers with addiction
and mental health issues.
But they were not killers.
Look, um. The McMahon's case.
Plath said the mom stabbed
her child with a meat skewer,
but these look like animal bites to me.
And the Bailer case,
Plath thought that normal,
post-mortem lividity
was actually evidence
of strangulation, sorry,
I-I-I just, I can't
believe what I'm seeing.
How did no one notice this?
He is the expert in pediatric forensics.
Which allows him to what?
Just make up his own
mind about cause of death?
It's an inexact science!
[SIGHING]
Something that an adult could
survive might kill a child.
Plath purports to know the difference,
but he's supposed to
look at the whole picture,
use background in tandem with forensics,
not in lieu of it.
These mistakes are egregious.
I don't think these are mistakes.
It seems Plath saw
certain type of women,
made an assumption of abuse.
And spread misinformation
to lead to her convictions.
[SIGHING] Jesus.
Okay, but how do we
connect this to Cara?
It still doesn't prove
that Plath killed Cara.
Actually, it might.
You know, if he's okay with
spreading misinformation,
maybe he's okay with
withholding evidence.
Like the hair that could
have exonerated Cara?
We don't get to pick
and choose what evidence
we share with the police.
We disclose everything,
we save everything.
It is drilled into us.
The chain of custody is king.
Then maybe Plath still has the hair.
And if he does,
that in and of itself is a crime.
Now we're one step closer
to a murder confession.
Hey, good job.
[SIGHING]
[DRAWER RASPING]
- Vicky?
- Mother!
Sorry, uh, I didn't mean to wake you.
That's fine. My show's about to start.
What were you doing over there?
Oh, nothing.
I-I came by to drop
off your prescription.
- Oh.
- [PLASTIC THUDDING SOFTLY]
Is that all?
Well, is there
anything else you need?
No?
Alright.
- Hmm.
- I need to go to work.
A cup of tea would be nice.
Sure.
I got the one you like.
Oh, it's okay. I, uh, I don't want any.
Oh, come on. Have a cup
of tea with your mom.
Alright.
And you're coming over Saturday, right?
I told you, I'm away this weekend.
I've been, uh, asked
to go to a conference.
I've actually been invited
to be the keynote speaker
Not that one. The blue one.
[TENSE MUSIC]
- [DISHES CLINKING]
- Sorry.
You always were a clumsy boy.
Plath thinks that he's
saving the world from abusers,
locking them up one at the time.
But he's a pathologist,
it is not his job
to be judge, jury, or executioner.
Theo, we gotta do something.
Oh, we will.
But considering how entangled
Plath is with the Crown,
the Defence
[FILE RUSTLING] We
can't just confront him.
What about his alibi?
Oh, the organizer of
the Brighton Reading
says that he was there,
but she can't confirm that
he was there for the whole time.
How many times has Plath
testified for you, Theo?
I don't know. Like, 20, 30?
40 times?
And how often does he wax
on about his expertise?
That's literally why he's there.
There he has status, he was power.
So, what happens if we
take that away from him,
strip him from his medals in public?
He'd be vulnerable.
He might crack.
You can't just pop up at any old trial
that he's at and start questioning him.
Oh, I'm not talking about
us. I'm talking about you.
Come on, Theo, you can
exonerate Cara for Izzy's murder
and prosecute someone new, yeah?
- Like Christian?
- Like Christian.
- You wanna charge him?
- Well, we all believe
that Christian killed that little girl.
The only one who does
not and cannot is Plath.
He'll have to get up
on that stand and say,
"That hair is irrelevant."
Yeah, it's true. If he doesn't,
he'll basically be admitting
that he was wrong about Cara.
Except I don't think I
could even try Christian
without that hair evidence.
Oh, come on, Theo.
There has to be a way.
Wait.
If your objective is to discredit Plath,
we could use Christian's
preliminary inquiry
to our advantage.
I mean, the entire purpose
of the proceedings is to test
the evidence and
challenge the witnesses.
It's the perfect form to
undermine Plath's expertise.
And if I call him
he has to come.
Doctor Plath, with regard
to chain of custody,
did your duties include
collecting evidence
in the Izzy Melville case?
Uh, it's a bit more
than that, but yes.
And did you collect the
hair that was visible
in the police photo taken in the ER
shortly after Izzy died?
I didn't see it on her.
It did not arrive with
the body for the autopsy.
As a continuity witness,
I-I need you to be specific.
You didn't see it, or it wasn't there?
I did not see it.
No further questions.
Hello, Doctor Plath.
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]
In your opinion,
what was Izzy Melville's
cause of death
Objection.
Doctor Plath cannot give
his professional opinion.
He has not been qualified
as an expert in this trial.
Just a continuity witness.
Wha of course, I'm an expert.
Okay. I'll qualify him right now.
Doctor Plath, state your credentials.
I am a published forensic pathologist.
I performed over 800 autopsies,
testified in 100 trials,
many of them for the Crown.
Doctor Plath is now
qualified as an expert.
Doctor Plath, in your opinion,
what was Izzy Melville's cause of death?
Subdural hematoma.
Occurred between the
hours of 10 PM and 5 AM.
And in your opinion,
what is the relevance
of the hair evidence
that was found in
relation to cause of death?
I don't think it has any relevance.
I believe it was a contaminant.
No further questions.
[JUDGE]: You may step down.
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]
What are you doing here?
Oh, I invited her.
Shh, court's in session.
The Crown calls previously
qualified, expert witness,
Doctor Lucy Da Silva.
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC CONTINUES]
Doctor Da Silva, you
reviewed the evidence.
In your expert opinion,
how long was the timeline
between Izzy Melville's injury
and her death?
It may have been longer
than four to six hours.
She may have been injured before 10 PM.
And in your expert opinion,
what created this discrepancy
between your findings
and Doctor Plath's?
I believed that Doctor Plath was biased.
[CROWD MUTTERINGS]
Thank you, Doctor Da Silva.
Oh. Actually, one more question.
Have you had the opportunity to review
any of Doctor Plath's other case files?
Objection, Your Honour. Relevance?
It's a preliminary inquiry, counsel.
I'll allow it. [SIGHING]
Continue, Doctor Da Silva.
[TENSE MUSIC]
I have reviewed other autopsies
that he was responsible for.
And I found them to be lacking.
[CROWD GRUNTING] Doctor
Plath failed to preserve
pathology material, he misinterpreted
- autopsy findings
- Objection.
And he referenced
parental history irrelevant
- to pathology
- Objection!
Which, in my opinion,
compromised the
administration of justice!
Objection, Your Honour!
Overruled.
[CROWD MUTTERING]
[TENSE MUSIC CONTINUES]
Vicky, what's going on?
You need to call me again.
I need to respond to what
she said, as an expert.
I think we've established,
you are far from being an expert.
[SCOFFING]
Theo.
We're on the same side.
We've worked together countless times.
And if I knew then what I know now?
I never would have used you.
And frankly, this conversation's
becoming a conflict of interest.
What is that supposed to mean?
That means he can't be
your ally and prosecute you.
Prosecute me? For what?
For the murder of Cara Melville.
Murder? Vicky, what's happening?
Nothing, mother. These people are trying
to destroy my career with
outlandish accusations.
They set up my
subordinate to slander me
I called the Chief Coroner.
She's starting an
inquiry into your cases.
You pull that thread,
you'll flood the city with killers.
No, Victor, you already did that.
I wasn't wrong about those women.
They-they did terrible
things to their children!
All children of bad mothers, right?
I don't have a bias, Graff.
No, you don't have a bias.
You've something deeper.
You have personal experience.
You saw yourself in
those kids, didn't you?
Six trips to the hospital
before you were 14 years old?
Uh, broken bones, concussion? Burns?
Those were accidents.
He was a clumsy boy.
Oh, was he?
Or is that just a lie you told yourself
so you could sleep at night?
The lie that he was too small to fight?
Do you remember that hospital room?
Yeah, your mother on the
other side of the curtain,
weaving her stories about
how you fell, how you
how you wrenched your
arm on the monkey bars?
Feeling sick to your stomach
about what would happen
if you were to tell your truth.
She's your mother.
Victor, she's supposed to protect you.
And she didn't.
And every single time,
they would send you
right back home to her.
You don't know anything about Victor.
He had a wonderful home.
No, a wonderful home is a safe home
and yours wasn't, was it?
So what'd you do?
You tiptoe around her moods
as if they were landmines?
Why do you care what
happened to me as a child?
Because it happened to me as a child.
And I care.
See, I wanted to find your hiding place.
Mine was under the stairs,
but I wasn't sure about you, so
I went to your mother's house.
And we had a cup of tea, we talked.
I looked around because you
have something that we need.
And I was sure I'd find
it in your hiding spot.
Where was it?
Was it in the little nook
behind the front door,
was it in the crawlspace?
No.
See, the sad thing is,
is that there was
nowhere for you to hide.
But I did find this
all the same.
You, uh
gave it to him?
You said I would be
helping Victor if I
if I showed you where his things were.
That is not his. That is evidence.
I can't believe you
took it off Izzy's body
and kept it all these years.
You swore an oath to do no harm.
I put a criminal behind bars!
Yeah. The wrong one.
I have spent my entire life in service
of justice for the defenceless.
You were not protecting those kids.
You were trying to
protect that little boy.
Because having the power
to decide who gets punished
means no one is punishing you anymore.
You are not gonna blame me for this.
I was a good mother!
I raised him right. [SIGHING]
I mean, look at him, he's successful,
- and wealthy, and good manners
- Mother.
And loyal! He was-he was a good boy!
- Mother!
- I mean, sure,
sometimes I had to use a firm hand,
- it's what he needed!
- What I needed
was for you to stop
hurting me.
[SOMBER MUSIC]
You were terrifying.
I was just a boy.
[VICTOR SOBBING]
You were just a boy.
No one should have ever
laid a hand on you, Victor.
You deserved safety.
And you were just
trying to make it right
for those kids, weren't you?
When you went to see Cara?
I had to stop her.
- From what?
- Talking.
Yeah.
Tell me what happened?
I got into her motel room.
[HEAVY BREATHING]
I had to find her evidence.
- Mm-hmm.
- But
I made a noise!
[GROANING]
She came out of the bathroom
I hit her. [SNIFFLING]
And then?
I pushed her into the tub.
And then?
[SOMBER MUSIC CONTINUES]
I threw the hairdryer in.
[SOBBING]
[SOMBER MUSIC CONTINUES]
[SOBBING]
[SOBBING]
- [BELL TOLLING]
- The Judge agreed.
We'll declare a mistrial, start over.
Try Christian with the hair
and evidence once it's tested.
Get justice for Izzy.
And with this whole
Plath thing cracked open,
maybe for Maxine and Cara too.
Hmm.
Well, it's good to be
reminded from time to time
that our system of law is human,
and therefore fallible.
"And that the most
we can hope to achieve
is a certain justice?"
P.D. James.
It's a little popular for your taste.
Well, I'm not above
a beach read, Bateman.
Not after this. Well,
I think I'm overdue.
[THEME SONG]