Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent (2024) s04e07 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]
On behalf of the crew at 104,
I just wanna say how honoured we are
to be here with you today.
When I ran into this building a year
When I ran into this school? No.
We When we ran into
this school a year ago.
When we ran into this school a year ago,
we weren't thinking about
appreciation or thanks.
We were thinking about your safety.
Pinewood Elementary and
the family of Penny Campbell
would like to formally thank
the firefighters of station 104.
And who better to do that
than one of our students.
- Ben?
- [CHEERING]
When our school was on fire
last year, you came to help us.
We remember all the
smoke and being so scared.
How you came and got us out safely.
You will always be heroes to us.
Lieutenant Rhys Manning,
would you please come up
and accept this
painting and this plaque.
[CHEERING]
[RHYS]: Thank you to
everyone for coming out today.
On behalf of the rest
of the crew at 104,
I just want to say how
incredibly honoured we are
to be here with you.
When we ran into this
school a year ago
[BLAIR]: This one
five bedrooms, four bathrooms.
Media room, gym in the basement.
You're going to love it.
Rear windows face west, so
the light hits perfectly.
- Right at cocktail hour.
- Hmm.
More like bedtime.
Three kids under ten, I'm
not making a lot of cocktails.
Your wife could make them.
Yeah, she could. At her house.
Holy God.
I've been in the Annex for too long.
I wouldn't even know what
to do with a yard this big.
Pool. Patio. Potato patch.
Everyone figures it out
once they have the space.
And I was gonna say putting green,
but potato patch, there's an idea.
So, Blair.
Tell me, what are the
schools like around here?
- Hey, Simms!
- Yo.
That saw caught on
the garage door latch.
- Check the blade for me?
- Aye-aye, captain.
Acting captain. I'm not dead yet.
Detached garage fire.
We knocked it down before
it made an extension
- to the main house. No injuries.
- That's what I like to hear.
Hey, listen. Those conference
people called again.
- Cap, you know I don't want to do that.
- I don't want to hear it, Hollywood.
You're the one who sent your five-point
rescue leadership strategy up the chain.
They want you to go to Vegas this time.
One hour, talking to a
bunch of keeners. The rest?
- You are carousing in Sin City.
- Cap, you know me, though.
I'm just gonna spend the
whole time talking shop
- with these guys.
- No one's choice but your own.
You're allowed to have a
little fun once in a while.
Okay, Smokey. You get your fix.
[CAT PURRING]
And I get mine.
[FOOTSTEPS]
[SHARP INHALE]
[TENSE MUSIC]
You're jittery. Second cup?
I thought you were off work today.
Yeah, well, my coverage
booked off sick last minute.
So Working today. I'm fine, though.
Still got enough time to prepare.
Vegas isn't until the weekend.
Right. Vegas.
Come on, don't look at me like that.
You know I don't want to go, right?
Yeah.
[KISSES]
- Whoa.
- What?
It's your first grey.
Pretty soon you're gonna
be all salt and pepper
like old Smokey there.
[CHUCKLES]
Hey, I'm trying to reach Rhys,
but he's not picking up,
would you grab him for me?
He's not in today.
Oh, he said he was working today.
Well, he's not on the schedule.
- Where is he?
- Blair, I have no idea.
I know he's seeing someone, Easton.
I just want to know who
it is, what's her name?
- What are you talking about?
- Forget it.
[CAR STARTS]
[TENSE MUSIC]
What brings you to town, Chief?
Uh, speaking at a
conference. Fire safety.
Seen plenty of guys
start the day at a seminar
and end it in a chapel.
- [PHONE DINGS]
- I'm already married.
- [TRAFFIC PASSING]
-
[TYPING]
[MEOWS]
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
[PHONE BUZZES]
[CRACKLING]
[THEME MUSIC]
[SIMMS]: Well, we got the
call at 8:08 last night.
Soon as we heard the address,
we moved double time, but, uh
it was too late by the
time we got in here.
What is it about the address?
[SIGH]
House belonged to one
of our senior crew.
He's at a firefighter
conference in Vegas.
Left the night before last.
- Thanks.
- Yeah.
[INDISTINCT RADIO CHATTER]
We believe the victim
is, uh, Blair Manning.
34-years-old, real estate agent,
wife of Lieutenant Reese Manning.
He's a firefighter at station 104.
Firefighter's wife
dying in a house fire.
That's a little strange, isn't it?
Must've heard all the horror
stories from her husband.
It's not like she was racing
down the stairs in a panic.
Exactly. One of two reasons
why I called Viv Holness,
- requested her best.
- What's the other reason?
Well, the burner was still
on when our fire crew arrived.
Cooking is the leading
cause of residential fires.
But as you say, she's
a firefighter's wife.
It'd be highly unusual
if she'd leave food on
the stove unattended.
- Where's the cat?
- Well, we didn't find a carcass
- if that's what you're asking.
- So, if it wasn't the food,
what do you think it was?
Well, when you've been on
the job as long as I have,
you develop a pretty
good nose. You smell it?
[INHALES]
- Is that gasoline?
- Yeah.
I'm gonna take some samples.
The countertops, the floors.
Test for residue.
DNA tests confirm the victim's ID.
This is Blair Manning.
- Any soot in her airways?
- Good question. And no.
She didn't die in the fire.
She was dead before it started.
What's her actual cause of death?
All of her injuries are consistent
with a fall down the stairs.
Except for one.
Hyoid bone.
It was compressed inward.
Blair Manning died by strangulation.
- Any idea when?
- No.
Too much thermal damage
to narrow it down.
Okay, so, strangle Blair,
throw her down the stairs
to mask any injuries,
then set a massive fire.
It's a distraction, sleight of hand.
- A real magician's trick.
- So who's our magician?
Dead wife, I'm looking at the husband.
- Hmm.
- If we're talking fire,
I'd be looking for a fireman.
Hi, I'm Detective John Darcy.
- And I'm Detective Bateman.
- Thank you.
- [LIGHT OFFICE HUBBUB]
- Um.
I hopped on the first
flight after I got the call,
and the next thing I know, I'm
being escorted here by cops.
- So
- Mr. Manning,
I'm so sorry to have to tell you,
your wife was murdered.
[SHAKY BREATH]
Uh I thought Blair died in a fire?
It was an accident.
It sure looked that way.
So what makes you think
it was a murder?
We're still gathering the facts.
Maybe you could help us out?
Okay, um yeah. I
wanna help any way I can.
- Great.
- Yeah.
Blair was my best
friend. [CLEARS THROAT]
My biggest cheerleader.
Why don't you start by
telling us how your wife was
before you left. Was
she happy? Was she upset?
Was she alive?
Excuse me?
What, are you asking if I
had something to do with this?
Given the fact that she
was dead before the fire,
it's a possibility.
[SIGHS]
Oh, my God.
We were texting
all day that day.
Right up until I spoke
at the conference.
A conference in Vegas. 2,000 miles away.
[TENSE MUSIC]
[BATEMAN]: Mr. Manning, did
your wife have any enemies?
Anyone who might want to hurt her.
Uh, no. No.
Everyone loved Blair.
I don't believe him.
I hear you, but for now,
let's go with the evidence.
Husband's alibi checks out.
Rhys Manning was leading a
seminar on rescue leadership
in Vegas the same time
his house was burning down.
And he was texting with
Blair right up to the fire.
Have you spoken to her friends? Family?
Did she have any enemies?
Rhys said she didn't.
[DARCY SIGHS]
And her friends and family all agree.
No one saw her or spoke to
her in the last 48 hours,
but everyone said the same thing.
Rhys and Blair had the perfect marriage.
[SCOFFS] If I had a nickel.
[SIGHS]
What's your problem?
"Blair was my biggest cheerleader."
Is that the first thing
you say when you find out
your spouse has been killed?
It's a statement about him,
it's not about his dead wife.
- Do we have motive.
- Not yet.
And I'm sorry, but how would he kill her
all the way from Vegas?
We don't have time of death.
Rhys could've strangled
her before he left,
walked out, got on a
plane to Alabi-ville USA.
He could've paid
someone to set the blaze.
The guy's a firefighter,
it can't be that hard
to track down an
arsonist for hire, right?
What about all the texting?
Blair's phone was a melted brick.
But we did get her
tablet from her office.
It's mostly work stuff,
but like most people,
she got her messages on here as well.
Day of the fire, Blair didn't text
anyone besides Rhys.
But a guy named Hendrix
Lane texted her a lot.
Blair sold him a house three months ago.
Blair seems like the type of
woman who went above and beyond.
Yeah, she was great.
She helped me find my house.
Sent flowers the day we closed.
- Set me up with a decorator.
- Wow.
- Would you call her a friend?
- Yep.
That's interesting,
because your text messages
suggest you were something more.
Care to read those out for us, Hendrix?
[SCOFFS]
No?
All right.
"Blair, what the hell
was that. Answer my call."
"Blair, call me back. We need
to talk this out in person."
"Hey, call me please or
else I'm coming over there."
Oh, Hendrix, I'm not gonna lie to you,
this does not look good. In fact,
it looks like Blair
ended your friendship
the day before the fire and
you weren't taking it well.
So what happened?
You've seen the texts.
Okay, well, Blair won't write you back,
so maybe you follow
up. You go over there.
You try to make her talk to
you in person, she says no.
- You get angry
- No.
You probably didn't mean to do it,
but once you did, you
decided to cover it up
with a fire as some messed-up nod
to the hero husband she dumped you for.
He's not a hero, he's a fraud.
And you know what, I wish
I had gone to her house,
because maybe then she
would still be here.
But it was my weekend with my kids.
After Blair broke it
off on Friday afternoon,
I picked them up from my ex
and I drove straight to
my cottage in Haliburton.
I've got a doorbell camera and
three kids who will tell you
that I didn't leave the
dock until this morning.
What did you mean, "He's a fraud?"
[SCOFFS]
[PHONE BEEPS]
[HENDRIX]: Blair sent me this message
- the day before she died.
- [BEEP]
[BLAIR]: We can't do this anymore.
Rhys is freaking me out.
I'm just I'm actually very scared.
I I don't want to
drag you into it. At all.
I'm just, I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
Does that sound like a good guy to you?
Someone she was terrified of?
He was completely self-absorbed.
Super controlling, the
way that she looked,
what she ate, what she wore.
I'm sure he promised
that he would change
after he found out.
Wait, he knew about the affair?
Yeah, Blair said he found out last week.
I I told her that she could leave him
and come and live with
me, but she couldn't.
She was afraid that
he was gonna kill her.
I I just thought that
she was being hyperbolic.
Hmm
If there's anyone that
you should be investigating
for Blair's murder, it's her husband.
[BATEMAN]: So much for
the perfect marriage.
Controlling husband who thinks
he's God's gift to public safety.
Imagine what that affair did to his ego.
Tell me that guy strangled
his wife in a jealous rage.
- That's something I'll believe.
- [NOTIFICATION ALERT]
I just got a message from Adams.
They want to meet us
back at the crime scene.
[DOOR OPENS]
[SIMMS]: Rhys, you'll never guess what.
Six years on the job,
first goddamn time
saving a cat from a tree.
[MEOWS]
Smokey! Hey.
[SIGHS]
Hey, uh, you should
take my room tonight.
You need some sleep, all right?
I can take the couch.
I can't close my eyes
without picturing what happened to her.
[TENSE MUSIC]
Just tell me what it was like.
In the house.
With Blair.
[SIGHS]
If the cops think someone
hurt her, I need to know why.
And what happened exactly.
And what I could've done.
You sure you want to know?
Yeah.
I want to know everything.
[ADAMS]: Our tests confirmed it.
There were traces of gasoline
on the countertop and the floors.
[BATEMAN SIGHS]
See this clean spot here?
It's what we call a protected pattern.
That's what happens in a
fire when a heavy object
blocks the airflow
and it protects the surface underneath.
This is our true point of origin.
- May I?
- Yeah.
Huh, very good.
Could someone put gasoline
in this coffee maker
and then use it as an ignition device?
Well, if they filled the
reservoir with gasoline,
it would drip onto the
heating element and vaporize.
The vapor would hit the
open flame on the stove
Flash fire.
We'll have to test the
coffee maker to be sure.
BRA. It's Brava Brew, it's
a high-end coffee machine.
And the timer to turn it on
can be delayed up to 24 hours.
That's the exact amount of time
between when Rhys left for the airport
and when the fire started.
- It was the husband.
- Guys.
We're talking about a
decorated firefighter.
Exactly. His house
burning down in an arson
isn't tragic irony,
it's a cover-up by a
man who murdered his wife
after finding out about her affair.
An affair he didn't tell us about.
This is a man who stands to
collect three million dollars
in insurance if this was an accident.
- There's motive times two.
- [NOTIFICATION ALERT]
What about the timeline?
According to your case notes,
Rhys was in Vegas the day of the fire.
The fire marshal confirmed
they found traces of gas
in the reservoir of the coffee maker.
- Rhys killed her,
- [NOTIFICATION ALERT]
set the 24-hour timer
on the coffee maker,
then walked out the door.
But he was texting with his
wife the day of the fire.
[NOTIFICATION ALERT]
You gonna get that?
[SIGHS]
- What is this?
- I scheduled those texts
to go out to you ten minutes ago.
Rhys could've easily
scheduled those texts
from Blair's phone to
himself to make it look like
she was still alive when he left.
That's clever.
But it's not a confession.
We're not getting a confession.
We've already questioned
the guy three times.
He's exercising his
right to remain silent.
He's already got Lee Hynes on retainer.
He's circling the wagons.
Which is why we need
you to get him in court.
Let the evidence do the talking.
Come on, Theo, we're telling you,
Rhys Manning murdered his wife.
He had the means, he had the motive,
he had the opportunity.
[KNOCKING ON DOOR]
[TENSE MUSIC]
Rhys Manning, you're under arrest
for arson and for the
murder of Blair Manning.
[HANDCUFFS CLINKING]
What do you think you're doing?
- This man just lost everything.
- Not everything.
He still has his right to due process.
[THEO]: You performed the
autopsy on Blair Manning.
So which came first,
the fire, the fall,
or the strangulation?
There was no soot in
Mrs. Manning's airways,
and there was no bleeding associated
with any of her fractures from the fall.
The only injury with any
localized hemorrhaging
was the hyoid bone in her neck.
It's a small, U-shaped bone right here.
The fracture pattern
indicates strangulation,
and the blood around it proves
that she was alive when it happened.
Mrs. Manning was dead
before she hit the stairs
and before the fire
started. This was a homicide.
So, it is possible that Mrs. Manning
could've been killed before
her husband Rhys left for Vegas.
Yes, it's absolutely possible.
Thank you, Doctor.
No more questions.
[INDISTINCT WHISPERING]
Doctor, a charred body presents
one of the most challenging scenarios
in forensic pathology, does it not?
It complicates the examination, yes.
Because intense heat can
cause all kinds of damage,
like contractions so
intense they can snap
the fragile hyoid bone.
Yes, but in this particular case
Yes, let's get specific.
In this particular case,
were you able to determine
the exact time of death?
No. The heat damage was too severe.
So you can't say for certain
that Blair Manning was
dead before her husband
left for his work trip?
No. I cannot.
You cannot.
No further questions.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
[THEO]: Investigator Adams.
Your report states that
you found gasoline residue
in this coffee maker's
reservoir. Is that true?
Uh, yes, as well as the
countertop around it.
The fire was called in exactly
24 hours and eight minutes
after the defendant
left for the airport.
So in your professional
opinion, is it possible
that an experienced
firefighter like Mr. Manning
could set this incineration
device to burn down his house
while sitting in a casino in Vegas?
Calls to speculation
and leading the witness.
I don't require an answer, Your Honour.
No further questions.
That is a remarkably complex
hypothesis, Investigator.
A Rube Goldberg machine
made of coffee timers and gasoline.
But let's look at what else
you found in that kitchen.
On page three of your
investigation report,
you noticed severe heat damage
on and around the stove, correct?
- Yes.
- And you found a skillet
with charred food in it on
the active burner, did you not?
- Yes, but it was the gasoline that
- According to Statistics Canada,
32 % of all residential fires,
nearly one third, are
caused by cooking accidents.
Does that sound accurate?
- Statistically, yes, but that doesn't
- Right. Simple, tragic accidents.
You yourself never left a pan
on a burner a minute too long?
I certainly know I have.
Objection. Irrelevant.
Withdrawn.
Blair said her husband
was very controlling.
Withholding.
Said that he only cared about his job,
said that she felt like a prop.
She wanted out.
[THEO]: And yet she
ended things with you.
Did she give you a reason?
She said she wanted to end things
because she was afraid of her husband.
I asked her for an explanation.
The day before the fire,
she said that Rhys
had found out about us,
and that she was scared
that he would kill her
if she tried to leave.
[MURMURING]
No further questions.
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]
Your Honour
defence has no interest in dignifying
the fan fiction of a jilted lover.
No questions.
Hynes is a bulldog.
Hendrix just laid her
client's motive bare
for the entire courtroom to see
and she passes up his
throat? Doesn't make sense.
Well, she didn't want
to dignify the affair
- in front of the jury.
- Or she wants them
to hear about it from someone else.
I think she's gonna
put Rhys on the stand.
Well, that's defence suicide.
So I certainly hope she does.
[HYNES]: First of all, Mr. Manning,
I want to offer you my condolences
on the loss of your wife.
Sir, I only have a few questions.
The Crown alleges you
discovered your wife's affair
three days before you
left for Las Vegas.
Is that true?
No, uh, it's not.
The truth is I learned of Blair's affair
a month before she died.
Objection, self-serving narrative.
Mr. Forrester does not
a monopoly on the
narrative of this tragedy.
My client's state of mind's
the very definition of
relevant, Your Honour.
I'll allow it. Proceed, Mr. Manning.
About a month before she died,
I asked Blair what was going on with her
and that's when she told me everything.
And your reaction?
I was devastated.
I wanted to be the man
Blair married, you know?
But this job, it
it can be tough sometimes,
as you can imagine.
What my wife saw as me being withholding
was actually me trying to
leave the job at the fire hall.
Misguided as it was.
So when she told me about
the affair, I wasn't angry.
I sort of understood.
But Blair and I, we were
trying to save our marriage.
And that's why she called
it off with Mr. Lane.
Thank you.
No further questions, Your Honour.
Mr. Manning.
When was the last time
you spoke with your wife?
Uh, we texted back and
forth while I was in Vegas,
the day of the fire.
Your honour, I would like to
show the witness exhibit 44.
- Mrs. Manning's text messages.
- Go ahead.
[INTRIGUING MUSIC]
Please read the last two messages
you received from your wife.
"You're gonna smash
it, babe. Sending love."
And, "Just cooking dinner. Night, love."
Blair wrote "love" twice.
Spell it for the jury.
L-O-V-E.
Now, flip back three weeks.
Tell us how she spelled it then.
She spelled it L U V.
[THEO]: L U V.
Every single time.
Right up until the moment
you left for the airport.
Then suddenly, your wife
discovers the correct spelling?
No.
Because I suggest you wrote those texts
after you strangled her.
You scheduled the texts to
send while you were in Vegas
to give yourself a thousand-mile alibi.
- True or false?
- False.
Okay, fine.
Let's go back to the day in question.
There's a text message from
your wife's cousin, Susan.
What does it say?
Uh, it says, "It's a boy."
"It's a boy." Susan had a baby.
Yet your wife didn't answer, did she?
No congratulations, no nothing.
Your wife didn't answer
her mother, her cousin, her work.
She didn't go anywhere.
Send an email, she
didn't use a bank machine.
For the last 24 hours
of Blair Manning's life,
the only thing she did was
text her ever-loving husband?
Okay, can you explain that?
'Cause to me it sounds
like you sent those texts.
Objection, Your Honour!
Council is testifying.
I'm putting the Crown's
theory to the accused.
- He can answer it.
- [JUDGE]: Answer the question, Mr. Manning.
I can't answer it! I can't answer it!
Because I didn't send
those text messages.
And I sure as hell didn't kill my wife.
I didn't do it, okay?
[MURMURING]
[DOOR CLOSES]
- Thanks, man.
- Yeah.
I was just thinking
about that five-alarm
on Royal York three years ago.
Yeah, floor gave up right under me.
Still got the scar on my knee.
Smoke so thick I couldn't
even see my own boots.
Didn't even know it was
you when I grabbed you.
I almost pulled you
down with me. But, um.
I knew you'd get us out.
I'm gonna miss it.
- What're you talking about.
- The job.
The guys.
Standing on the front line with you.
Rhys come on.
You were there in the
court today, Simms.
You saw me.
I lost it on the stand.
That's all the jury's
gonna be thinking about
when they're deliberating.
[SNIFFLES]
I loved her so much.
[TENSE MUSIC]
The defence calls Easton Simms.
What do you think the play is?
Character witness?
Get Rhys's crew to talk about
- his heroism in the field?
- Maybe.
[CLERK]: that the evidence
being given by you to the court
shall be the truth, the whole truth,
- and nothing but the truth?
- I do.
Mr. Simms, how do you
know the defendant?
We're both on A-Platoon at Station 104.
Station 104 responded to the fire
at the Manning residence, correct?
- Yes, that's correct.
- And you were a first responder on that call.
Define your role to the jury.
I was part of the
fire crew that attacked
and suppressed the fire.
Later, under Investigator
Adams' direction,
I assisted in evidence recovery.
I removed sections of
the kitchen countertop
and flooring at the
fire's point of origin.
And what was the inspector looking for?
Evidence of an ignitable liquid.
Like gasoline, for example?
- Yes.
- And what equipment did you
use to pull the samples?
A gasoline-powered saw.
[THEO]: Objection, the
defence gave no notice
they would present such evidence.
And if that's where we're going,
- I request an adjournment to review
- [HYNES]: If Mr. Forrester looks at the fire marshal
investigation report,
which the Crown itself
disclosed months ago, it notes,
"a firefighter removed those samples."
That firefighter is my witness.
[JUDGE]: Request denied.
Defence may proceed.
[HYNES]: So, Mr. Simms,
are you saying that the gas
the fire marshal found, the
same gas the Crown claims
Mr. Manning used to
burn down his own home
might have leaked from your power tool?
- Yes.
- And where was the coffee maker
when you were pulling those samples?
- On the floor.
- On the floor near the gas-powered saw
you were using to take the samples?
Yes.
I'm sorry, I should
have spoken up earlier,
I was embarrassed by my mistake.
Yes, the truth is, I may
have contaminated the scene.
[MURMURING]
[JUDGE]: Quiet, please.
[HYNES]: Thank you, Your Honour.
So, to be clear, Mr. Simms,
based on your first-hand actions,
this jury is looking at
a compromised crime scene.
A fire of uncertain origins
and an inconclusive timeline,
- all of which points to reasonable doubt.
- Objection.
Council is presenting
closing arguments mid-trial.
Withdrawn, Your Honour.
No more questions.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
Be seated.
[CLERK]: Will the defendant please rise?
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]
Ladies and gentlemen,
do you have a verdict?
Yes, Your Honour.
On the counts of arson and murder,
how do you find the accused?
We the jury find the
defendant Rhys Manning
not guilty.
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
[SCATTERED CHEERS]
- Hey!
- [CHUCKLES]
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
[JUDGE]: Quiet, please.
Ugh.
Adams said they stepped
away from the crime scene
to grab their field kit while
Simms was pulling the samples.
But Simms was using a
manual chisel at the time.
Adams never heard or
saw a gas-powered tool.
So Simms perjured himself.
- Yeah.
- 'Cause Rhys convinced him to.
We can't just let this guy go.
Then what do you suggest we do?
The Crown can't appeal
based on fresh evidence,
even if it shows there was perjury.
Double jeopardy kicked
in the second that jury
- gave their verdict.
- The guy's guilty.
Oh, very helpful. And no, he's not.
You know why? Because the jury said so.
Rhys Manning is a free man.
Theo, if you had just
caught Simms in disclosure
It was your crime scene.
This is over, Detectives.
Theo, wait, I'm sorry.
We all got played.
Rhys obstructed justice
in his own trial.
It's not murder, but it
puts him in a jail cell.
Mm, no, no, no. This
department just suffered
a very public loss.
You're not going near him.
Wait, what if we don't have to?
Rhys wasn't the only one
who lied on the stand.
If Simms talks, we can make sure
the next front page
has Rhys in a jump suit.
Okay. Talk to the friend.
But if he doesn't give
you anything to move on
in the next 24 hours,
I'm with Forrester,
and this is over.
Go ahead, ask any one
of my guys on the crew.
- They'll tell you I had the saw.
- Oh, right, the sacred brotherhood.
You guys always have each other's backs.
On the job. On the witness stand.
Aren't you one to
generalize. Look at you guys.
Dead wife, so it has to be the husband.
It's a little lazy.
The man's job is saving lives.
Doesn't mean he's
incapable of taking them.
- Rhys didn't kill Blair.
- Oh, right.
And you didn't perjure
yourself under oath.
Come on.
Give me a name.
- Who killed her?
- You want suspects?
- Have a closer look at Blair.
- Why?
She was the one with the secret life.
Cheating, sneaking around,
being a complete hypocrite.
Hang on, what do you mean, "hypocrite?"
She called me a few
days before the fire,
said she was looking
for Rhys at the station.
And when I told her
that he wasn't there,
she asked me who he was seeing.
And what did you tell her?
I said I didn't know what
she was talking about.
Rhys just wants to
put this all behind him
and get back to work. I mean, we all do.
So can I please go now?
[INHALES]
Sit tight.
Okay, if Blair was worried
about Rhys seeing someone else,
then maybe she wasn't the only one
who wanted out of the marriage.
Divorce costs money, a dead
wife pays three million.
What we know for sure is that
Blair was looking for answers.
Let's find out if she got them.
[GAVEL ECHOING]
You sure this is it?
Yeah, this is the address
Blair put into her GPS
the day she talked to Simms.
Mark said that she
checked Rhys's location
before she got here.
Owner died two years ago. No family.
Property's in limbo
with the trustee office.
[KNOCKING ON DOOR]
Police?
Anyone there?
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]
[MAIL BOX CREAKS]
[DOG BARKING IN THE DISTANCE]
Pull it up.
[INTRIGUING MUSIC]
Well, whatever Rhys was doing in here,
it was not getting lucky.
Hey, there's something under here.
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC CONTINUES]
These look like burn marks.
These circles are protected patterns.
The numbers must be variables.
I'm starting to think Rhys's house
isn't the first fire he's set.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
[ECHOING GAVEL]
I have seen these grids
before at training seminars.
Rhys was experimenting
with spontaneous chemical combustion.
Delayed arson, like his house fire.
Yeah, except this is a
totally different method.
The circular protected
patterns, they all represent
different sized metal
containers like cans.
You add a drying oil
like teak or linseed,
and then you pack it really tightly
with a cotton rag.
The oil oxidizes until
the cotton rag heats up
until the point of ignition.
What about the numbers on the grid?
It looks like Rhys was calculating
the math of the countdown.
Small versus large, uh,
100 millilitres versus two.
Have you ever seen
anything like this before?
Is there any record of
any arsonist in the city
ever using this method?
No, I mean, that's the
clever thing about it.
The evidence incinerates itself.
All you're left with is a container.
And if the can is small
enough, it'll be displaced
by the high pressure of a fire hose.
Especially if the arsonist
is the one holding it.
What if the reason Rhys
was trying to get the delay
down to a science was
so that he could plant
the ignition device and
make sure he was on duty
when the call came in?
We should start with his schedule.
Jodie, do you have the forensic files
for the fires that Rhys responded to?
Yeah.
Guys.
[TOOLS CLANKING]
Hey
- [PRITCHARD]: I got it. All right, cap?
- Yeah.
Welcome back, brother!
- [LAUGHING AND CHEERING]
- Wait, are you serious, man?
Come on! You're gonna squish the donuts!
- Oh, are these for us? Aw!
- Yeah!
[ADAMS]: Now, looking
at the area of origin
in all four of these fires,
they all have the same small
circular protected pattern.
The same as the last
row on Rhys's test grid.
Looks like that's the size of
the container he settled on.
Now, all of these fires
started in storage rooms.
They would've been
packed with combustibles,
they would've accelerated the flame
and hid the ignition source.
And Rhys was the lead on all four?
Ah, make that five.
A restaurant on Kipling.
[ADAMS]: Wow, these go back two years.
- Any casualties?
- No.
- We've only just scratched the surface.
- I'm gonna text Mark.
Get him to dig into every
fire that Rhys was ever at.
I've seen this before.
Can you pull this restaurant
fire up on your monitor?
Uh, bottom left corner. Can you zoom in?
[DIGITAL HUMMING]
"The Cutest Carnivore?"
That's the same brand of
cat food at Rhys's house.
That's what caused all
those protected patterns.
This guy lights fires so he can
be the hero and put them out.
And maybe Blair knew it.
That's why he killed her.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
I give you guys 24 hours
to prove that Rhys Manning
tampered with a witness,
and you come back claiming
that he started several
unrelated fires instead?
Respectfully, they're not unrelated.
We lost that trial because
the jury didn't believe
that Rhys started a delayed
fire at his own home.
But we had the wrong motive.
Say more.
His wife found out he was an arsonist.
After we realized what Rhys was doing,
we found a folder for a fake
property listing on Blair's tablet.
She created it the day after
she tracked Rhys's location.
It had photos of his garage
lab, hardware store receipts
for rags, teak oil,
- all kinds of
- Whoa, wait.
If Rhys was a teak oil rags guy,
why didn't he use that
method in his own house?
Because it would take
too long to ignite.
Rhys's experiments gave
him a 36 to 48 hour window.
If he used his usual method,
he would risk arriving
home from Vegas before
his house burned down.
He needed to pivot to something faster.
That's where the coffee maker came in.
This changes nothing
about his acquittal.
Can't try the guy a second
time for the same murder.
No, I know.
But we can get him on arson.
So, what? Put him away for a few years,
hope he comes out a changed man?
Theo, it's not just one
fire, he's he's escalating.
He's doing this for the
praise, for the attention.
He's sociopathic.
Fire after fire, after fire, after fire.
He murdered his own wife just
to protect his own mythology.
Pinewood Elementary
Last June.
We covered that with Adams.
Rhys wasn't working that day,
he wasn't working that
fire, so why was he there?
Rhys was originally scheduled to work
the day of the Pinewood
fire but he rolled his ankle
the day before so I sent
him home for the week.
- But he came back?
- Crew told me showed up the next day
with a box of donuts.
I ended up sticking around, which
was a good thing, too.
That school fire got
out of control real fast.
Yeah, so we heard. It
took out a few classrooms.
Yeah, well, it could've been worse.
We only lost one.
What do you mean, "you only lost one?"
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
[DARCY]: Mr. Manning!
A few words?
It's fine.
Depends on the words.
How about "We're sorry?"
Look, Rhys
Cops and firefighters,
We're not that different.
We're all here to save lives, right?
Yeah.
Appreciate the apology.
But, if that's all, I got work to do.
Hey, Toronto Fire passed
you over for lieutenant
three times before you
finally made the cut, right?
Apparently, there was a
issue with your leadership abilities,
you were more of a crew guy.
But you didn't like that,
so you found a shortcut.
You started setting fires yourself
so you could be the
hero who put them out.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
And it worked.
You got promoted.
Conferences started calling.
- What are you talking about?
- Oh, he knows.
No idea what these
guys are talking about.
Is that what you told Blair?
When she figured it out,
after she called Simms here,
followed you back to
your little fire lab?
Your wife finally saw you
for what you really are.
A sociopath and an arsonist.
[SCOFFS]
And so you killed her.
I was acquitted of my wife's death.
You're right. Legally.
You can't be tried for it again.
But the Crown hasn't tried you
for the death of Penny Campbell.
Remember Pinewood Elementary?
Everyone made it out safely.
Except Penny.
Eight years old, she snuck
off to the supply room
off the library to read over lunch.
She ended up with third-degree
burns all over her body.
There were cover stories.
With your face on it.
But none about that little
girl who died three months later
when she got sepsis from
the injuries that you caused.
She got two paragraphs in a local paper.
I saved 12 kids that day.
I was the first one in the
door, and I didn't stop.
- You were a hero.
- Yeah, actually. I was.
I am. We are.
Yeah.
You couldn't do what we
do. Neither could you.
Takes a certain type of person
to run into a burning building.
You know why?
Because it's counterintuitive.
The body just doesn't want to do it.
So you have to override that instinct,
and you have to run into
that fire to save lives.
And then you know what?
The little kids thank you for it.
- [CHUCKLES]
- Yeah, they do.
Everyone thanks you for it.
Everyone except you two.
- You have no idea who I am.
- Oh, we do, actually.
As a matter of fact, catch.
You were so busy pulling kids out
for your photo op that
you forgot to retrieve
the ignition device you left behind.
That's the stuff you feed your cat.
Imported from California.
It's actually quite hard to find.
This is ridiculous.
You realize that, right?
- Because I have no idea what he's talking about
- I've got five more photos just like that.
Your lieutenant here has
been setting the fires
you're risking your lives to put out.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
Rhys.
Look at me.
You really think your brotherhood's
gonna protect you this time?
[DRAMATIC MUSIC CONTINUES]
Cap, come on.
[CHATTERING]
Come on, you can't believe this, right?
Come on hey, gets your hands off me!
Simms!
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
Today marks the beginning
of the Crown's prosecution
of Rhys Manning for the
arson at Pinewood Elementary
and for the resulting death
of eight-year-old Penny Campbell.
We also hope that these proceedings
will bring a measure of justice
to Blair Manning's family.
You think this gets us
back in Theo's good books?
I don't know.
Let's wait for the smoke to clear.
[THEME MUSIC]