Chicago Fire s15e04 Episode Script
A Perfect Arson
1
I went through the ATF's arson program,
did a bunch of federal cases.
It's just the kind of leadership
that OFI needs right now.
I really hope you'll consider it.
This is really about you
and what you want.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
I left you in
a leadership position at 51.
You know my history with arson,
and you know my father's.
I do.
And it doesn't change my opinion.
You got a lot more weight
to carry now.
But we got this.
♪
All right, let's talk
apparatus inspection.
Fleet's asking they all go
through the online portal now.
What's wrong with the paper logs?
HQ's trying to move everything online.
Takes 15 minutes to open a browser.
Moving on.
Captain Severide?
Captain?
Page 13.
A lot of changes this quarter
with the SOPs, folks,
so gonna need you all to read and sign
the acknowledgment form.
[BLUES MUSIC PLAYING]
Screams and whispers ♪
Chill my bones ♪
- Buffalo, right?
- No.
From the lady at the end of the bar.
♪
Chill my bones ♪
She said don't take no for an answer.
♪
Do me a solid, huh?
I don't want to get stiffed on the tip.
Laugh as they
tear up my bones ♪
♪
Change the cages ♪
Wrap around my soul ♪
Can't take this.
Don't think my wife would like it.
Who says she has to know?
♪
I didn't even see you come in.
Not sure how that's possible
with you wearing that.
Mm.
Well, whatever's in there
must be riveting.
Believe me, it's not.
Kind of nice seeing you
out in the world like this.
I forgot what it looked like.
Yeah. Me too.
Yeah, I know it's not easy,
sitting in the big chair.
It's a lot to take on.
It helps that
I don't have to do it alone.
Mm.
Well, bad news is,
I don't think that the workload
is getting any lighter for us.
The good news?
The good news
is that we have the next 48 hours off
with no plans.
♪
So
I think we should make the most of it.
[DISTANT TRAIN HORN BLARING]
[BANGING ON DOOR]
[BANGING CONTINUES]
- Captain Severide?
- Yeah.
I'm Agent Evans. This is Agent Warren.
Sorry to drop in. We tried your phone.
Come on in.
What the hell's going on?
There's been a fire at the
home of a Cook County judge.
We have reason to believe it was arson.
We need you to come take a look.
All due respect,
I'm not the one
you should be talking to.
This is really a job for OFI.
ATF's taking jurisdiction here,
and the special agent in charge
specifically asked for you.
I believe you worked
with him in Alabama.
Special Agent Calloway?
Yeah, I know I know him.
Calloway's flying in, so we were hoping
you could get a head start on the scene,
since we're already losing time.
Losing time?
What does that mean?
The judge and his wife weren't at home
at the time of the fire,
but their five-year-old daughter was,
and now she's missing.
As in kidnapped?
A manhunt is already underway,
but right now, every second counts.
So if you don't mind, we'd prefer
to finish briefing you on the way.
Give me three minutes.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
♪
Judge Scanlon and his wife
were at the opera
when it happened.
They'd hired a sitter to stay
with their daughter Kaley.
We believe Kaley was already
upstairs when the fire started.
And you're sure she was taken?
K-9 was able to track her scent
from the back door to the curb.
Then it just stops.
And the sitter? Where is she?
She didn't make it.
♪
It's to your left here.
♪
It's not just a kidnapping.
It's a
♪
It's a murder too.
Forensics is on their way
to process the scene.
We're hoping, between you and them,
we'll get some kind of direction.
I thought you said
a manhunt was underway.
We've got patrols canvassing the area,
but so far, pod cameras and
witnesses have all come up empty.
The truth is,
the only real clue we have is this fire.
So I hope you're as good
as Calloway says.
♪
[GRUNTS]
I have spent all night
at the station
answering these questions.
- I understand.
- Then why aren't you
out there trying to find our daughter?
Trying to get justice for that
poor little girl in our living room?
Judge Scanlon, I assure you, we are.
I told the sergeant,
if I had any clue who would do
something this heinous,
I would tell you.
Why don't we do
a walk-through of the house,
see if there's anything
out of place or missing?
Could be very helpful.
OK.
[TENSE MUSIC]
[PHONE BUZZING]
- Hey.
- Hey.
I'm watching the report on the news.
They're saying that at least
one person might have died?
Yeah, the babysitter.
Oh, God. That's awful.
- Yeah.
- Well, I'm glad you're there.
I mean, it sounds like they
can use all the help they can get.
Yeah, I don't know how much
help I'm gonna be.
This fire, it's not telling me
much so far.
Hey, it looks like
third shift responded.
So maybe they saw something
while they were putting it out.
Good idea.
I'm pinned down till Calloway gets here,
but maybe I could send a patrol unit.
You don't need to. I can talk to 'em.
- Are you sure?
- Yeah.
I mean, I'll know better
what to ask them anyway.
Plus, I just
I want to help if I can.
OK. Let me know what you find out.
Uh, I got to jump.
Yeah, you got it.
Agent Calloway, welcome to Chicago.
Captain.
It's gonna take me a minute
to get used to saying that.
Don't worry.
I'm still not used to hearing it.
Aren't you the one
about to get some fancy award?
- Yeah. You heard about that?
- Yeah.
Most convictions
out of any arson investigator?
Is that right?
No comment.
Now, what do we got here?
[TENSE MUSIC]
♪
Checked the room floor to ceiling.
Char's uniform everywhere.
No V pattern?
Not that I saw.
Gas key valve looks warped.
Had to be 1,300 degrees,
3 feet off the floor,
but it looks locked to me.
So we got no point of origin
and no clear ignition source.
Whoever did this knew
what they were doing.
Which means they're smart.
Smart enough not to leave a trail.
They can't all be easy.
There is one thing.
Look at the position of the body.
She's sitting like nothing happened.
Exactly.
Door's 5 feet away.
Room goes up in flames,
she doesn't try to get out?
How the hell does that make sense?
It doesn't.
♪
Are you sure this thing's arson?
What makes you ask that?
Well, it didn't really burn like one.
I mean, it was a son of a bitch
to knock down,
don't get me wrong,
but it wasn't like
those accelerant fires.
- But it was hard to put out.
- Yeah.
That's just because the room was already
in full flashover when we got there.
Once we got a second line in,
we got it under control.
OK. What about outside?
Did anybody see anything weird?
Bystanders acting off?
Anything like that?
Just the regular looky-loos.
What about the car?
You know what I'm talking
about, Lieutenant?
When we were rolling up?
When we were coming up on the fire,
there was a car
tearing down the other way.
Guerrero had to swerve
just not to hit him.
I assumed they were just hauling ass
to get away from the fire.
Maybe they were.
It's just not for the reasons
that you thought.
Anybody get a make and model?
OK. Great, we'll meet you there.
What's the update?
PD just put a BOLO out
on all late-model white Honda Civics.
Decent odds that's our
that's our kidnapper's getaway car.
Wow, your wife's got good instincts.
Yeah, she does.
In the meantime, ME's on the way
to pick up the babysitter's body.
What do you think they're gonna find?
My guess, something that says she was
incapacitated or killed
even before the fire started.
That would explain
the positioning of the body.
I told him we'd meet him at his office.
Come on. I'll drive.
Gotta imagine you
ruffled some feathers at OFI
for bringing me in on this.
That's their problem.
If they knew what was good for them,
you'd be running the place.
Actually, they asked me to.
But you'd rather be
pulling cats out of trees?
[CHUCKLES]
I'd like to see you do
some of the stuff I've done.
Fair enough. But I saw you in Alabama.
I know a kindred spirit when I see one.
Sounds like your old boss saw it too.
What was his name again?
Van Meter.
I don't think he was too happy
with my decision.
No, he was grooming you
for the chair, right?
If I was him, I wouldn't be
too happy either.
You got something?
Maybe.
What's going on?
We got a hit on the Civic!
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
[SIRENS WAILING]
♪
Shut down 37th and Loomis on both ends.
Nobody in, nobody out.
Pair off and work the block.
That Civic blew through
this intersection
and disappeared,
so it's got to be close.
Copy.
♪
Hey, over here!
♪
Car's empty.
Captain Severide to Main.
I have an auto fire off 37th and Loomis.
We're gonna need an engine
out here, quick.
Scanlon said Kaley's favorite blanket
was missing from her room!
Got something else.
♪
What is it?
♪
It's a message.
We all agree that's supposed
to be scales of justice, right?
Looks like it to me.
It's a little on the nose
for a judge, don't you think?
If someone feels they've been wronged,
wants to balance the scales,
taking Scanlon's daughter
is how they do it.
So the suspect is
someone Scanlon presided over.
Yeah, but he's been on
the bench for, what, 15 years?
That's a lot of cases,
a lot of suspects.
Except this one has a fire.
So we start with any of Scanlon's
arson cases, go from there.
I'll have the guys start
combing through those now.
You two find what you can here.
I'll get OFI to flatbed the car.
Given how hot that fire was,
I'm guessing our guy used some
kind of chemical accelerant.
I got a hunch I want to run down too.
Something I should know?
See if anything pops up first.
Hey, I got something
I might need your help with.
You can't have a fire
without an ignition source.
And in arson, there's two kinds
simple and sophisticated.
Now, the sophisticated ones
often make use of
what we call an incendiary device.
Now, these devices can
give arsonists an advantage
because it puts distance
between them and the fire.
But it also leaves a clue.
Look who's commanding the classroom.
Should I call you Professor Van Meter?
Oh, well, you caught a good lesson.
Let's see if they stay awake
for hazmat regulations.
Your name comes up around here a lot.
Really?
Good things, I hope.
Oh, "one hell of a training
officer" is the general tenor.
I don't know about that.
I just had to cut a probie loose.
Well, that's part of the job too, right?
Knowing who's got it and who doesn't.
But I assume you're not here
to talk about that.
Severide asked me to come by.
He's working an arson.
With OFI?
ATF, actually.
I see.
He remembers you telling him
about an arson that you worked,
but he couldn't remember the details.
It was something about
a victim whose body was
posed or immobilized somehow.
I know the case he's talking about.
Anton Liddell.
He set three house fires
with the tenants still inside.
But before he did,
he dosed them with a paralytic
so they couldn't get away.
When was this?
2008, I think it was. I'd have to check.
Tell me Severide is not dealing
with something like that.
He's not sure yet.
The only other thing he's got is this.
Does this mean anything to you?
Maybe in connection with Liddell?
I don't recognize it,
but I was pulled off
the initial investigation
when the Feds took over.
If you want, I could ask him.
Who? Liddell?
He's at Pontiac Correctional.
It's not that far away.
And honestly, I've been meaning
to make the trip anyway.
I'm building a motive typology
of serial arsonists
for the NFPA.
I can call now and get a visitor's pass.
Could you get two?
[KNOCKING]
Agent Calloway. Nate Gleeson.
One of the new evidence techs
here at OFI.
Appreciate the assist on this.
- This is, uh
- Captain Severide. I know.
I've been catching up on all your cases.
I guess I'm not the only one
with a reputation.
[CHUCKLES]
What do we got on that Civic?
Right.
Fire started here
passenger side footwell.
Most likely chlorine powder
mixed with diethyl ether.
That would get the fire hot enough
to warp the floor pan like it did.
Lab's running a sample now.
Diethyl ether remind me again,
what is that used for?
Lot of things.
Pharmaceuticals, plastics,
starter fluid.
What is it?
Uh, nothing.
Rush the analysis on that, will you?
- The clock is running on this.
- Will do.
Come on. Let's go pull that list.
Chemical like diethyl's
gonna be regulated,
which means we can pull from
a list of businesses that have it.
Maybe our arsonist
picked it up from work.
See, this is why
I liked having you in Alabama.
It's a shame you had to leave.
I had priorities I had to get back to.
Like what?
Saving my marriage.
Ah, good on you,
'cause I sure as hell didn't save mine.
Nice to have company.
I don't get a lot of visitors.
We're hoping you can shed
some light on your history.
I know people think I'm a monster.
I understand that.
But I was sick.
I'm better now.
Your arsons, you referred
to them as art projects.
Is that right?
I thought I was making art.
"Still life" is what I called it.
And, um
is this part of your art?
No, but
But what?
Well, I just feel,
if I have something to offer,
I I should be
compensated in some way.
There's a little girl missing.
You say that you're better?
Prove it. Talk.
It's a signature.
All artists have one. I did.
Why do you think this is a signature?
You have a talent,
you want people to know, right?
Nobody sees what you did as talent.
The investigators did.
One in particular.
He was the only one
who really got it, you know?
How hard I worked.
Yeah, well, I doubt he was a fan.
[TENSE MUSIC]
More like a worthy adversary,
which, in a way, I think is better.
You know, always thinking of you,
trying to get in your head,
understand you.
And in the end,
isn't that what we all really want?
So who understood you?
Calloway.
I got that list of businesses.
Your idea about the babysitter
being drugged, that wasn't a hunch.
You've seen this MO before.
With Anton Liddell.
You you put him behind bars.
You hid that from me,
from this investigation.
Why?
I'm not convinced they're connected.
Maybe you don't want them to be.
Yeah, maybe I don't.
What do you know that we don't?
Look, if these cases are connected,
all of this
it's on me.
♪
18 years ago, I ran point
on the Liddell arsons.
I cuffed him myself.
And Judge Scanlon?
He was involved too.
We pulled every arson
Scanlon presided over,
and Liddell's not one of them.
Scanlon didn't try the case.
He prosecuted it.
We've been looking in the wrong place.
You said this all could fall on you.
What did you mean by that?
In the original investigation,
there was some circumstantial evidence
that Liddell may have had an accomplice.
But you didn't pursue it?
[TENSE MUSIC]
Liddell denied it, even though
it would have given him
reasonable doubt.
So you let him walk.
♪
An accomplice out for revenge,
using his mentor's MO it tracks.
How many hours have we lost
because you kept this from us?
For the record, I never
bought the accomplice angle.
That's why I hesitated to bring it up.
You didn't. We found out.
And right now, it's looking
pretty damn compelling.
Liddell has always said he worked alone.
I doubt he'll change his story.
Maybe not, but we're
12 hours into this manhunt
and no closer to finding
that little girl,
so I'm willing to try
just about anything.
Liddell's not the only one
who can give us a name.
That list of suspected accomplices
you still have it?
I don't know who you are,
and I don't know what you want.
But whatever it is,
it has nothing to do
with our daughter.
Kaley is an amazing,
kind, sweet little girl
with a loving heart.
And I know she just wants
to be back with her friends,
her cats,
and a family who loves her.
Please bring Kaley home.
Stella.
Interrogator just finished with Liddell.
Did he give up a name?
Well, he said he's willing to in
exchange for better accommodations.
So he is admitting that
he had an accomplice.
That's what he's saying.
Now it's up to the state's attorney
to decide if they want to make a deal.
In the meantime
What is this?
Liddell's case file.
They asked us to look through it.
Liddell likes to be clever.
They're thinking maybe he hid
something about his accomplice
in our conversation.
All right.
There's no accomplice here.
In all of these
interrogations, the interviews,
Liddell doesn't even hint at it.
Mm-hmm.
It doesn't mean he didn't have one.
Calloway knows that.
It's certainly not a reason to hide
the connection between these cases.
Did you ever work with him?
- Calloway?
- No.
As soon as the ATF took over,
I was done.
But I know guys like him,
what the job means to 'em.
If he really let someone walk
and they're behind this,
that's sometimes when
cops stop being helpful,
start becoming a liability.
OK.
This ATF work is this ongoing, or
No.
No, this came out of the blue.
'Cause I was about to ask
what they did to convince him.
Obviously, what I did didn't work.
You know Kelly loved OFI,
and it wasn't easy for him to walk away.
But he did.
[SOLEMN MUSIC]
And I'd be lying if I said
I wasn't disappointed.
After all we've been through
♪
Listen, Tom.
Nobody knows this.
I am not sure Kelly would
even want me telling you.
But when he had the choice
between 51 and OFI,
he was gonna choose OFI.
He had the paperwork ready.
He just had to tell Pascal.
But then Cruz got hurt,
and Kelly felt like
he didn't have a choice.
Somebody had to lead 51.
- That's very Kelly, isn't it?
- Yeah.
Give up the thing he wants to
help the people who need him.
It is.
♪
You know though, it occurs to me
if 51 needed a leader,
he's not the only one at that firehouse.
Tell Kelly I said hi.
♪
Back in '08, we had three guys
connected to the Liddell arsons.
Flash forward to now,
one guy is deceased.
Another guy is out of state.
But David Palmer, he's still kicking.
What was Palmer's connection to Liddell?
We traced a solvent blend
used in two of Liddell's fires
back to Palmer's body shop.
Now, Palmer copped
to selling the chemicals
off books for extra cash,
but swore he didn't know
who was buying or why.
Palmer's shop is on the list
here for diethyl ether.
Guess you already knew that.
I did.
Let's get everything we can on Palmer.
Sorry to interrupt.
This just came from the ME's office.
Is that the autopsy on the babysitter?
It is.
Her preliminary tox screen
came back clean.
There was no paralytic
found in her system.
Well, that can't be right.
She had to be immobilized somehow.
Well, what about injuries?
No wounds, no blunt force trauma.
No ligature marks were found.
The official cause of death
is smoke inhalation.
No, that can't be right.
I mean, if she wasn't hurt
and she wasn't drugged,
she would have been fighting
for her life in that fire.
I'm just telling you what it says.
No paralytic?
That breaks Liddell's MO.
Maybe our accomplice theory is wrong.
The paralytic's how you were
able to trace the murders
back to Liddell, right?
Maybe Palmer learned from his mistake.
Agent Evans,
Palmer's body shop closed last week.
Could be where he's keeping the girl.
FBI!
Move! Move!
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]
FBI!
[FAINT MUSIC PLAYING]
Who turned that on?
Door sensor must have triggered it.
It's an alarm.
♪
[SINGING INDISTINCTLY]
♪
[MUSIC VOLUME INCREASES]
Over here!
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
He's heading out the back!
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
♪
I lost him.
He's wearing a spray suit
and respirator.
Get local PD and set up
a 10-block perimeter.
Canvass the whole area.
If we're lucky, we'll box Palmer in.
- Copy.
- Any sign of the girl?
None.
So what the hell was Palmer doing here?
It's court transcripts and police files
from Liddell's case.
Palmer was studying up.
The laptop's full
of surveillance photos.
The Scanlons. Their house.
Kaley.
He was destroying evidence.
I let him walk, Kelly.
[SOLEMN MUSIC]
If I hadn't, none of this
would be happening.
Doesn't matter now.
I didn't want to believe it.
I should have.
♪
It's on me to finish this.
No.
It's on us.
♪
Yeah, it's gonna take a minute
for forensics to log all this stuff.
Go home. Get cleaned up.
We'll meet at the field office
and work through it,
see if anything points to where
Palmer's hiding the girl.
♪
- Hi.
- Hey.
I didn't expect to see you here.
Should I take that as a good sign?
Well well, we
We got the suspect,
but we still don't know
where he's hiding the girl.
I was about to head right back out.
OK. How can I help?
You've already done more than enough.
It wasn't just me.
You owe Van Meter a call,
not just to say thank you.
I know.
[PHONE BUZZING]
Hey, what's up?
No, he's not with me.
He said he was heading
back to the field office.
All right, uh,
let me see if I can get him.
- I'll call you back.
- Hmm?
Calloway's MIA nobody's seen him,
and he's not answering his phone.
What?
Why would he do that?
Go dark like that?
♪
He knows where Palmer is.
But then why wouldn't he tell you that?
Because he thinks
this is on him to finish.
Van Meter said something
like this could happen,
where Calloway's guilt
starts becoming a liability.
Damn it, I should have realized
he was sending me away.
Something must have
tipped him off at the shop.
Well, you've seen what he's seen, right?
So you must know what he knows.
Before we left, he was
staring at this picture.
Black Elk
it was an ad for an expedition.
Uh, mountain biking,
something like that.
It felt out of place.
I don't know. There was a
bunch of other stuff on the board.
Calloway found Liddell
hiding out at The Elk Motel.
That's where he got arrested.
Look at the sign.
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]
♪
Calloway's here.
So is Palmer.
Calloway's gotta know
what this is, right?
I mean, that ad was left
for him to find.
I'm not sure he cares.
♪
Maybe we should wait for the FBI.
We have no idea what we're walking into.
Calloway is already in there.
I don't think we can.
♪
[MUFFLED SPEECH IN DISTANCE]
Kelly.
[MUFFLED CRYING CONTINUES]
♪
[WHIMPERING]
Hi, Kaley, Kaley. Hi.
My name is Stella. This is Kelly.
We're firefighters,
and we're gonna take you home.
Do you want to take my hand?
Oh, honey. It's OK.
I got you, OK?
I'm gonna get her out of here.
I'm gonna keep looking.
OK, be careful.
♪
Calloway!
Palmer's here, Kelly!
♪
Calloway, no!
[EXPLOSION BOOMING]
♪
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
Kelly!
Kelly!
Kelly. Baby.
Kelly.
Come on. Get up.
I got you. Get up.
[FLAMES WHOOSHING]
Come on. Come on.
Here we go. I got you.
Come on.
[SIREN WAILING]
[TIRES SCREECHING]
♪
The girl.
She's safe.
See?
♪
Hey.
Are you OK?
Yeah, I'm all I'm all right.
I'm OK.
OK, I'm gonna go check on Kaley.
Yeah.
First off,
I want to say I'm sorry.
I know you and Calloway had history.
I just wish I could have stopped him.
He wanted to fix his mistake.
Clearly, that clouded his judgment.
But he did find Palmer in the end.
We were able to recover
his body from the motel room.
So Palmer was Liddell's accomplice?
It all fits.
And Liddell?
Did he corroborate it?
We don't know.
When the state's attorney
declined to make a deal,
Liddell went back to saying
he always worked alone.
He's not exactly
a reliable source, Captain.
No, it's not that. It's
Why now?
Why come after these guys
after all this time?
We found this in the auto shop.
It's about Calloway's commendation.
I think that's the reason
behind all this.
Palmer wanted the last word
on Calloway's storied career.
- So what happens now?
- That's it.
Just got witness statements
for you to sign,
and you're free to go.
Be right back.
[SIGHS]
Well
this wasn't the 48 hours
we had planned to have.
No. No.
[SOMBER MUSIC]
But
I did see something in you
that I haven't seen in a while.
A spark.
♪
I can't do this and run 51.
I know.
But you also can't ignore
what calls to you.
[PHONE BUZZING]
[ELEVATOR BELL DINGS]
Captain Severide.
- It's Gleeson, right?
- Yeah.
Captain Hinshaw asked me to find you.
OFI team is still stuck at the motel,
so you may have to wait
a couple of minutes.
Any idea what Hinshaw wants
to talk to me about?
I'm assuming it's just
to get your statement
on the motel fire.
OFI's processing the scene.
You all probably know more
about it at this point than I do.
So you haven't heard about
Palmer, how they found him.
What do you mean?
He was sitting upright in a chair
in the motel room, burned to a crisp.
No sign of struggle.
What did the ME say?
Tox screen was clean.
Palmer died of smoke inhalation.
Just like your sitter.
- Does the FBI know?
- They do.
But with everything
they've got on Palmer,
they're just considering it
an immaterial anomaly.
♪
- They shouldn't.
- Yeah, I
Wait, what about
your meeting with Hinshaw?
♪
[KNOCKING]
This a bad time?
Not at all. Come in.
It's good to see you, Kelly.
Good to see you too.
Listen, uh, before anything else, I
I want to say I should have
read you in on the decision
not to take OFI.
I owed you that.
Stella told me why you did what you did.
I don't blame you.
But you could have said something.
I would have understood.
I guess I was afraid that you
might try and talk me out of it.
I probably would have.
[CHUCKLES]
But only because I believe in you.
I'm not the only one.
Calloway called you in because he knew
you could solve this case.
That's the thing, Tom.
I'm not sure I did.
There are definitely
unanswered questions here,
but you know no case is perfect.
I just can't shake the feeling
that Palmer is not he's not our guy.
- Then who is?
- I don't know.
But I don't understand how the same guy
who pulled off this arson
at the judge's home
that I can't figure out
could also fall victim to his own trap.
People make mistakes.
Fine, but why does the body
show no signs of a struggle?
What do you think?
To me, it suggests that
Palmer was incapacitated
even before the motel fire ever started.
By the real arsonist?
One problem with that theory
you saw Palmer at the auto shop.
All I saw was a guy in a mask.
Same with the girl. Never saw his face.
OK.
But still, you'd have to have someone
with a grudge against
Scanlon and Calloway.
Or maybe Scanlon was
just a means to an end.
I mean, think about it.
High-stakes arson
against a big-time judge
brings the Feds in, and an arson also
all but guarantees Calloway runs point.
You think Calloway was the real target.
[TENSE MUSIC]
We all thought this message
was for Scanlon.
I mean, after all, he's a judge, right?
Right.
I did some digging on the symbols,
other places it shows up.
Look at the name.
"Nemesis."
As in "adversary."
♪
What did Liddell say?
All arsonists need a worthy adversary.
♪
What if that's the real motive?
Yeah, but you can't ignore
the evidence against Palmer
his connection to Liddell,
the chemical used
in the car fire.
Don't have to.
That's what makes Palmer
the perfect fall guy.
Liddell's case is public record.
Anyone who studies it
could do this.
You pull in Calloway, frame Palmer.
Walk away clean.
Have you taken this to the FBI?
I did, but I can't
prove anything.
Just have a feeling that
maybe we got the wrong guy.
If this is true,
then someone out there
just committed a perfect arson.
♪
And they got what they wanted.
A worthy adversary.
[THE FLAMINGOS' "I ONLY HAVE
EYES FOR YOU" PLAYING]
Calloway fell for the trap.
How does that make him worthy?
He did. But you didn't.
If this arsonist is really out there,
now he knows you.
♪
I only have eyes ♪
♪
For you ♪
♪
Sha-bop, sha-bop ♪
[WOLF HOWLS]
I went through the ATF's arson program,
did a bunch of federal cases.
It's just the kind of leadership
that OFI needs right now.
I really hope you'll consider it.
This is really about you
and what you want.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
I left you in
a leadership position at 51.
You know my history with arson,
and you know my father's.
I do.
And it doesn't change my opinion.
You got a lot more weight
to carry now.
But we got this.
♪
All right, let's talk
apparatus inspection.
Fleet's asking they all go
through the online portal now.
What's wrong with the paper logs?
HQ's trying to move everything online.
Takes 15 minutes to open a browser.
Moving on.
Captain Severide?
Captain?
Page 13.
A lot of changes this quarter
with the SOPs, folks,
so gonna need you all to read and sign
the acknowledgment form.
[BLUES MUSIC PLAYING]
Screams and whispers ♪
Chill my bones ♪
- Buffalo, right?
- No.
From the lady at the end of the bar.
♪
Chill my bones ♪
She said don't take no for an answer.
♪
Do me a solid, huh?
I don't want to get stiffed on the tip.
Laugh as they
tear up my bones ♪
♪
Change the cages ♪
Wrap around my soul ♪
Can't take this.
Don't think my wife would like it.
Who says she has to know?
♪
I didn't even see you come in.
Not sure how that's possible
with you wearing that.
Mm.
Well, whatever's in there
must be riveting.
Believe me, it's not.
Kind of nice seeing you
out in the world like this.
I forgot what it looked like.
Yeah. Me too.
Yeah, I know it's not easy,
sitting in the big chair.
It's a lot to take on.
It helps that
I don't have to do it alone.
Mm.
Well, bad news is,
I don't think that the workload
is getting any lighter for us.
The good news?
The good news
is that we have the next 48 hours off
with no plans.
♪
So
I think we should make the most of it.
[DISTANT TRAIN HORN BLARING]
[BANGING ON DOOR]
[BANGING CONTINUES]
- Captain Severide?
- Yeah.
I'm Agent Evans. This is Agent Warren.
Sorry to drop in. We tried your phone.
Come on in.
What the hell's going on?
There's been a fire at the
home of a Cook County judge.
We have reason to believe it was arson.
We need you to come take a look.
All due respect,
I'm not the one
you should be talking to.
This is really a job for OFI.
ATF's taking jurisdiction here,
and the special agent in charge
specifically asked for you.
I believe you worked
with him in Alabama.
Special Agent Calloway?
Yeah, I know I know him.
Calloway's flying in, so we were hoping
you could get a head start on the scene,
since we're already losing time.
Losing time?
What does that mean?
The judge and his wife weren't at home
at the time of the fire,
but their five-year-old daughter was,
and now she's missing.
As in kidnapped?
A manhunt is already underway,
but right now, every second counts.
So if you don't mind, we'd prefer
to finish briefing you on the way.
Give me three minutes.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
♪
Judge Scanlon and his wife
were at the opera
when it happened.
They'd hired a sitter to stay
with their daughter Kaley.
We believe Kaley was already
upstairs when the fire started.
And you're sure she was taken?
K-9 was able to track her scent
from the back door to the curb.
Then it just stops.
And the sitter? Where is she?
She didn't make it.
♪
It's to your left here.
♪
It's not just a kidnapping.
It's a
♪
It's a murder too.
Forensics is on their way
to process the scene.
We're hoping, between you and them,
we'll get some kind of direction.
I thought you said
a manhunt was underway.
We've got patrols canvassing the area,
but so far, pod cameras and
witnesses have all come up empty.
The truth is,
the only real clue we have is this fire.
So I hope you're as good
as Calloway says.
♪
[GRUNTS]
I have spent all night
at the station
answering these questions.
- I understand.
- Then why aren't you
out there trying to find our daughter?
Trying to get justice for that
poor little girl in our living room?
Judge Scanlon, I assure you, we are.
I told the sergeant,
if I had any clue who would do
something this heinous,
I would tell you.
Why don't we do
a walk-through of the house,
see if there's anything
out of place or missing?
Could be very helpful.
OK.
[TENSE MUSIC]
[PHONE BUZZING]
- Hey.
- Hey.
I'm watching the report on the news.
They're saying that at least
one person might have died?
Yeah, the babysitter.
Oh, God. That's awful.
- Yeah.
- Well, I'm glad you're there.
I mean, it sounds like they
can use all the help they can get.
Yeah, I don't know how much
help I'm gonna be.
This fire, it's not telling me
much so far.
Hey, it looks like
third shift responded.
So maybe they saw something
while they were putting it out.
Good idea.
I'm pinned down till Calloway gets here,
but maybe I could send a patrol unit.
You don't need to. I can talk to 'em.
- Are you sure?
- Yeah.
I mean, I'll know better
what to ask them anyway.
Plus, I just
I want to help if I can.
OK. Let me know what you find out.
Uh, I got to jump.
Yeah, you got it.
Agent Calloway, welcome to Chicago.
Captain.
It's gonna take me a minute
to get used to saying that.
Don't worry.
I'm still not used to hearing it.
Aren't you the one
about to get some fancy award?
- Yeah. You heard about that?
- Yeah.
Most convictions
out of any arson investigator?
Is that right?
No comment.
Now, what do we got here?
[TENSE MUSIC]
♪
Checked the room floor to ceiling.
Char's uniform everywhere.
No V pattern?
Not that I saw.
Gas key valve looks warped.
Had to be 1,300 degrees,
3 feet off the floor,
but it looks locked to me.
So we got no point of origin
and no clear ignition source.
Whoever did this knew
what they were doing.
Which means they're smart.
Smart enough not to leave a trail.
They can't all be easy.
There is one thing.
Look at the position of the body.
She's sitting like nothing happened.
Exactly.
Door's 5 feet away.
Room goes up in flames,
she doesn't try to get out?
How the hell does that make sense?
It doesn't.
♪
Are you sure this thing's arson?
What makes you ask that?
Well, it didn't really burn like one.
I mean, it was a son of a bitch
to knock down,
don't get me wrong,
but it wasn't like
those accelerant fires.
- But it was hard to put out.
- Yeah.
That's just because the room was already
in full flashover when we got there.
Once we got a second line in,
we got it under control.
OK. What about outside?
Did anybody see anything weird?
Bystanders acting off?
Anything like that?
Just the regular looky-loos.
What about the car?
You know what I'm talking
about, Lieutenant?
When we were rolling up?
When we were coming up on the fire,
there was a car
tearing down the other way.
Guerrero had to swerve
just not to hit him.
I assumed they were just hauling ass
to get away from the fire.
Maybe they were.
It's just not for the reasons
that you thought.
Anybody get a make and model?
OK. Great, we'll meet you there.
What's the update?
PD just put a BOLO out
on all late-model white Honda Civics.
Decent odds that's our
that's our kidnapper's getaway car.
Wow, your wife's got good instincts.
Yeah, she does.
In the meantime, ME's on the way
to pick up the babysitter's body.
What do you think they're gonna find?
My guess, something that says she was
incapacitated or killed
even before the fire started.
That would explain
the positioning of the body.
I told him we'd meet him at his office.
Come on. I'll drive.
Gotta imagine you
ruffled some feathers at OFI
for bringing me in on this.
That's their problem.
If they knew what was good for them,
you'd be running the place.
Actually, they asked me to.
But you'd rather be
pulling cats out of trees?
[CHUCKLES]
I'd like to see you do
some of the stuff I've done.
Fair enough. But I saw you in Alabama.
I know a kindred spirit when I see one.
Sounds like your old boss saw it too.
What was his name again?
Van Meter.
I don't think he was too happy
with my decision.
No, he was grooming you
for the chair, right?
If I was him, I wouldn't be
too happy either.
You got something?
Maybe.
What's going on?
We got a hit on the Civic!
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
[SIRENS WAILING]
♪
Shut down 37th and Loomis on both ends.
Nobody in, nobody out.
Pair off and work the block.
That Civic blew through
this intersection
and disappeared,
so it's got to be close.
Copy.
♪
Hey, over here!
♪
Car's empty.
Captain Severide to Main.
I have an auto fire off 37th and Loomis.
We're gonna need an engine
out here, quick.
Scanlon said Kaley's favorite blanket
was missing from her room!
Got something else.
♪
What is it?
♪
It's a message.
We all agree that's supposed
to be scales of justice, right?
Looks like it to me.
It's a little on the nose
for a judge, don't you think?
If someone feels they've been wronged,
wants to balance the scales,
taking Scanlon's daughter
is how they do it.
So the suspect is
someone Scanlon presided over.
Yeah, but he's been on
the bench for, what, 15 years?
That's a lot of cases,
a lot of suspects.
Except this one has a fire.
So we start with any of Scanlon's
arson cases, go from there.
I'll have the guys start
combing through those now.
You two find what you can here.
I'll get OFI to flatbed the car.
Given how hot that fire was,
I'm guessing our guy used some
kind of chemical accelerant.
I got a hunch I want to run down too.
Something I should know?
See if anything pops up first.
Hey, I got something
I might need your help with.
You can't have a fire
without an ignition source.
And in arson, there's two kinds
simple and sophisticated.
Now, the sophisticated ones
often make use of
what we call an incendiary device.
Now, these devices can
give arsonists an advantage
because it puts distance
between them and the fire.
But it also leaves a clue.
Look who's commanding the classroom.
Should I call you Professor Van Meter?
Oh, well, you caught a good lesson.
Let's see if they stay awake
for hazmat regulations.
Your name comes up around here a lot.
Really?
Good things, I hope.
Oh, "one hell of a training
officer" is the general tenor.
I don't know about that.
I just had to cut a probie loose.
Well, that's part of the job too, right?
Knowing who's got it and who doesn't.
But I assume you're not here
to talk about that.
Severide asked me to come by.
He's working an arson.
With OFI?
ATF, actually.
I see.
He remembers you telling him
about an arson that you worked,
but he couldn't remember the details.
It was something about
a victim whose body was
posed or immobilized somehow.
I know the case he's talking about.
Anton Liddell.
He set three house fires
with the tenants still inside.
But before he did,
he dosed them with a paralytic
so they couldn't get away.
When was this?
2008, I think it was. I'd have to check.
Tell me Severide is not dealing
with something like that.
He's not sure yet.
The only other thing he's got is this.
Does this mean anything to you?
Maybe in connection with Liddell?
I don't recognize it,
but I was pulled off
the initial investigation
when the Feds took over.
If you want, I could ask him.
Who? Liddell?
He's at Pontiac Correctional.
It's not that far away.
And honestly, I've been meaning
to make the trip anyway.
I'm building a motive typology
of serial arsonists
for the NFPA.
I can call now and get a visitor's pass.
Could you get two?
[KNOCKING]
Agent Calloway. Nate Gleeson.
One of the new evidence techs
here at OFI.
Appreciate the assist on this.
- This is, uh
- Captain Severide. I know.
I've been catching up on all your cases.
I guess I'm not the only one
with a reputation.
[CHUCKLES]
What do we got on that Civic?
Right.
Fire started here
passenger side footwell.
Most likely chlorine powder
mixed with diethyl ether.
That would get the fire hot enough
to warp the floor pan like it did.
Lab's running a sample now.
Diethyl ether remind me again,
what is that used for?
Lot of things.
Pharmaceuticals, plastics,
starter fluid.
What is it?
Uh, nothing.
Rush the analysis on that, will you?
- The clock is running on this.
- Will do.
Come on. Let's go pull that list.
Chemical like diethyl's
gonna be regulated,
which means we can pull from
a list of businesses that have it.
Maybe our arsonist
picked it up from work.
See, this is why
I liked having you in Alabama.
It's a shame you had to leave.
I had priorities I had to get back to.
Like what?
Saving my marriage.
Ah, good on you,
'cause I sure as hell didn't save mine.
Nice to have company.
I don't get a lot of visitors.
We're hoping you can shed
some light on your history.
I know people think I'm a monster.
I understand that.
But I was sick.
I'm better now.
Your arsons, you referred
to them as art projects.
Is that right?
I thought I was making art.
"Still life" is what I called it.
And, um
is this part of your art?
No, but
But what?
Well, I just feel,
if I have something to offer,
I I should be
compensated in some way.
There's a little girl missing.
You say that you're better?
Prove it. Talk.
It's a signature.
All artists have one. I did.
Why do you think this is a signature?
You have a talent,
you want people to know, right?
Nobody sees what you did as talent.
The investigators did.
One in particular.
He was the only one
who really got it, you know?
How hard I worked.
Yeah, well, I doubt he was a fan.
[TENSE MUSIC]
More like a worthy adversary,
which, in a way, I think is better.
You know, always thinking of you,
trying to get in your head,
understand you.
And in the end,
isn't that what we all really want?
So who understood you?
Calloway.
I got that list of businesses.
Your idea about the babysitter
being drugged, that wasn't a hunch.
You've seen this MO before.
With Anton Liddell.
You you put him behind bars.
You hid that from me,
from this investigation.
Why?
I'm not convinced they're connected.
Maybe you don't want them to be.
Yeah, maybe I don't.
What do you know that we don't?
Look, if these cases are connected,
all of this
it's on me.
♪
18 years ago, I ran point
on the Liddell arsons.
I cuffed him myself.
And Judge Scanlon?
He was involved too.
We pulled every arson
Scanlon presided over,
and Liddell's not one of them.
Scanlon didn't try the case.
He prosecuted it.
We've been looking in the wrong place.
You said this all could fall on you.
What did you mean by that?
In the original investigation,
there was some circumstantial evidence
that Liddell may have had an accomplice.
But you didn't pursue it?
[TENSE MUSIC]
Liddell denied it, even though
it would have given him
reasonable doubt.
So you let him walk.
♪
An accomplice out for revenge,
using his mentor's MO it tracks.
How many hours have we lost
because you kept this from us?
For the record, I never
bought the accomplice angle.
That's why I hesitated to bring it up.
You didn't. We found out.
And right now, it's looking
pretty damn compelling.
Liddell has always said he worked alone.
I doubt he'll change his story.
Maybe not, but we're
12 hours into this manhunt
and no closer to finding
that little girl,
so I'm willing to try
just about anything.
Liddell's not the only one
who can give us a name.
That list of suspected accomplices
you still have it?
I don't know who you are,
and I don't know what you want.
But whatever it is,
it has nothing to do
with our daughter.
Kaley is an amazing,
kind, sweet little girl
with a loving heart.
And I know she just wants
to be back with her friends,
her cats,
and a family who loves her.
Please bring Kaley home.
Stella.
Interrogator just finished with Liddell.
Did he give up a name?
Well, he said he's willing to in
exchange for better accommodations.
So he is admitting that
he had an accomplice.
That's what he's saying.
Now it's up to the state's attorney
to decide if they want to make a deal.
In the meantime
What is this?
Liddell's case file.
They asked us to look through it.
Liddell likes to be clever.
They're thinking maybe he hid
something about his accomplice
in our conversation.
All right.
There's no accomplice here.
In all of these
interrogations, the interviews,
Liddell doesn't even hint at it.
Mm-hmm.
It doesn't mean he didn't have one.
Calloway knows that.
It's certainly not a reason to hide
the connection between these cases.
Did you ever work with him?
- Calloway?
- No.
As soon as the ATF took over,
I was done.
But I know guys like him,
what the job means to 'em.
If he really let someone walk
and they're behind this,
that's sometimes when
cops stop being helpful,
start becoming a liability.
OK.
This ATF work is this ongoing, or
No.
No, this came out of the blue.
'Cause I was about to ask
what they did to convince him.
Obviously, what I did didn't work.
You know Kelly loved OFI,
and it wasn't easy for him to walk away.
But he did.
[SOLEMN MUSIC]
And I'd be lying if I said
I wasn't disappointed.
After all we've been through
♪
Listen, Tom.
Nobody knows this.
I am not sure Kelly would
even want me telling you.
But when he had the choice
between 51 and OFI,
he was gonna choose OFI.
He had the paperwork ready.
He just had to tell Pascal.
But then Cruz got hurt,
and Kelly felt like
he didn't have a choice.
Somebody had to lead 51.
- That's very Kelly, isn't it?
- Yeah.
Give up the thing he wants to
help the people who need him.
It is.
♪
You know though, it occurs to me
if 51 needed a leader,
he's not the only one at that firehouse.
Tell Kelly I said hi.
♪
Back in '08, we had three guys
connected to the Liddell arsons.
Flash forward to now,
one guy is deceased.
Another guy is out of state.
But David Palmer, he's still kicking.
What was Palmer's connection to Liddell?
We traced a solvent blend
used in two of Liddell's fires
back to Palmer's body shop.
Now, Palmer copped
to selling the chemicals
off books for extra cash,
but swore he didn't know
who was buying or why.
Palmer's shop is on the list
here for diethyl ether.
Guess you already knew that.
I did.
Let's get everything we can on Palmer.
Sorry to interrupt.
This just came from the ME's office.
Is that the autopsy on the babysitter?
It is.
Her preliminary tox screen
came back clean.
There was no paralytic
found in her system.
Well, that can't be right.
She had to be immobilized somehow.
Well, what about injuries?
No wounds, no blunt force trauma.
No ligature marks were found.
The official cause of death
is smoke inhalation.
No, that can't be right.
I mean, if she wasn't hurt
and she wasn't drugged,
she would have been fighting
for her life in that fire.
I'm just telling you what it says.
No paralytic?
That breaks Liddell's MO.
Maybe our accomplice theory is wrong.
The paralytic's how you were
able to trace the murders
back to Liddell, right?
Maybe Palmer learned from his mistake.
Agent Evans,
Palmer's body shop closed last week.
Could be where he's keeping the girl.
FBI!
Move! Move!
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]
FBI!
[FAINT MUSIC PLAYING]
Who turned that on?
Door sensor must have triggered it.
It's an alarm.
♪
[SINGING INDISTINCTLY]
♪
[MUSIC VOLUME INCREASES]
Over here!
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
He's heading out the back!
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
♪
I lost him.
He's wearing a spray suit
and respirator.
Get local PD and set up
a 10-block perimeter.
Canvass the whole area.
If we're lucky, we'll box Palmer in.
- Copy.
- Any sign of the girl?
None.
So what the hell was Palmer doing here?
It's court transcripts and police files
from Liddell's case.
Palmer was studying up.
The laptop's full
of surveillance photos.
The Scanlons. Their house.
Kaley.
He was destroying evidence.
I let him walk, Kelly.
[SOLEMN MUSIC]
If I hadn't, none of this
would be happening.
Doesn't matter now.
I didn't want to believe it.
I should have.
♪
It's on me to finish this.
No.
It's on us.
♪
Yeah, it's gonna take a minute
for forensics to log all this stuff.
Go home. Get cleaned up.
We'll meet at the field office
and work through it,
see if anything points to where
Palmer's hiding the girl.
♪
- Hi.
- Hey.
I didn't expect to see you here.
Should I take that as a good sign?
Well well, we
We got the suspect,
but we still don't know
where he's hiding the girl.
I was about to head right back out.
OK. How can I help?
You've already done more than enough.
It wasn't just me.
You owe Van Meter a call,
not just to say thank you.
I know.
[PHONE BUZZING]
Hey, what's up?
No, he's not with me.
He said he was heading
back to the field office.
All right, uh,
let me see if I can get him.
- I'll call you back.
- Hmm?
Calloway's MIA nobody's seen him,
and he's not answering his phone.
What?
Why would he do that?
Go dark like that?
♪
He knows where Palmer is.
But then why wouldn't he tell you that?
Because he thinks
this is on him to finish.
Van Meter said something
like this could happen,
where Calloway's guilt
starts becoming a liability.
Damn it, I should have realized
he was sending me away.
Something must have
tipped him off at the shop.
Well, you've seen what he's seen, right?
So you must know what he knows.
Before we left, he was
staring at this picture.
Black Elk
it was an ad for an expedition.
Uh, mountain biking,
something like that.
It felt out of place.
I don't know. There was a
bunch of other stuff on the board.
Calloway found Liddell
hiding out at The Elk Motel.
That's where he got arrested.
Look at the sign.
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]
♪
Calloway's here.
So is Palmer.
Calloway's gotta know
what this is, right?
I mean, that ad was left
for him to find.
I'm not sure he cares.
♪
Maybe we should wait for the FBI.
We have no idea what we're walking into.
Calloway is already in there.
I don't think we can.
♪
[MUFFLED SPEECH IN DISTANCE]
Kelly.
[MUFFLED CRYING CONTINUES]
♪
[WHIMPERING]
Hi, Kaley, Kaley. Hi.
My name is Stella. This is Kelly.
We're firefighters,
and we're gonna take you home.
Do you want to take my hand?
Oh, honey. It's OK.
I got you, OK?
I'm gonna get her out of here.
I'm gonna keep looking.
OK, be careful.
♪
Calloway!
Palmer's here, Kelly!
♪
Calloway, no!
[EXPLOSION BOOMING]
♪
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
Kelly!
Kelly!
Kelly. Baby.
Kelly.
Come on. Get up.
I got you. Get up.
[FLAMES WHOOSHING]
Come on. Come on.
Here we go. I got you.
Come on.
[SIREN WAILING]
[TIRES SCREECHING]
♪
The girl.
She's safe.
See?
♪
Hey.
Are you OK?
Yeah, I'm all I'm all right.
I'm OK.
OK, I'm gonna go check on Kaley.
Yeah.
First off,
I want to say I'm sorry.
I know you and Calloway had history.
I just wish I could have stopped him.
He wanted to fix his mistake.
Clearly, that clouded his judgment.
But he did find Palmer in the end.
We were able to recover
his body from the motel room.
So Palmer was Liddell's accomplice?
It all fits.
And Liddell?
Did he corroborate it?
We don't know.
When the state's attorney
declined to make a deal,
Liddell went back to saying
he always worked alone.
He's not exactly
a reliable source, Captain.
No, it's not that. It's
Why now?
Why come after these guys
after all this time?
We found this in the auto shop.
It's about Calloway's commendation.
I think that's the reason
behind all this.
Palmer wanted the last word
on Calloway's storied career.
- So what happens now?
- That's it.
Just got witness statements
for you to sign,
and you're free to go.
Be right back.
[SIGHS]
Well
this wasn't the 48 hours
we had planned to have.
No. No.
[SOMBER MUSIC]
But
I did see something in you
that I haven't seen in a while.
A spark.
♪
I can't do this and run 51.
I know.
But you also can't ignore
what calls to you.
[PHONE BUZZING]
[ELEVATOR BELL DINGS]
Captain Severide.
- It's Gleeson, right?
- Yeah.
Captain Hinshaw asked me to find you.
OFI team is still stuck at the motel,
so you may have to wait
a couple of minutes.
Any idea what Hinshaw wants
to talk to me about?
I'm assuming it's just
to get your statement
on the motel fire.
OFI's processing the scene.
You all probably know more
about it at this point than I do.
So you haven't heard about
Palmer, how they found him.
What do you mean?
He was sitting upright in a chair
in the motel room, burned to a crisp.
No sign of struggle.
What did the ME say?
Tox screen was clean.
Palmer died of smoke inhalation.
Just like your sitter.
- Does the FBI know?
- They do.
But with everything
they've got on Palmer,
they're just considering it
an immaterial anomaly.
♪
- They shouldn't.
- Yeah, I
Wait, what about
your meeting with Hinshaw?
♪
[KNOCKING]
This a bad time?
Not at all. Come in.
It's good to see you, Kelly.
Good to see you too.
Listen, uh, before anything else, I
I want to say I should have
read you in on the decision
not to take OFI.
I owed you that.
Stella told me why you did what you did.
I don't blame you.
But you could have said something.
I would have understood.
I guess I was afraid that you
might try and talk me out of it.
I probably would have.
[CHUCKLES]
But only because I believe in you.
I'm not the only one.
Calloway called you in because he knew
you could solve this case.
That's the thing, Tom.
I'm not sure I did.
There are definitely
unanswered questions here,
but you know no case is perfect.
I just can't shake the feeling
that Palmer is not he's not our guy.
- Then who is?
- I don't know.
But I don't understand how the same guy
who pulled off this arson
at the judge's home
that I can't figure out
could also fall victim to his own trap.
People make mistakes.
Fine, but why does the body
show no signs of a struggle?
What do you think?
To me, it suggests that
Palmer was incapacitated
even before the motel fire ever started.
By the real arsonist?
One problem with that theory
you saw Palmer at the auto shop.
All I saw was a guy in a mask.
Same with the girl. Never saw his face.
OK.
But still, you'd have to have someone
with a grudge against
Scanlon and Calloway.
Or maybe Scanlon was
just a means to an end.
I mean, think about it.
High-stakes arson
against a big-time judge
brings the Feds in, and an arson also
all but guarantees Calloway runs point.
You think Calloway was the real target.
[TENSE MUSIC]
We all thought this message
was for Scanlon.
I mean, after all, he's a judge, right?
Right.
I did some digging on the symbols,
other places it shows up.
Look at the name.
"Nemesis."
As in "adversary."
♪
What did Liddell say?
All arsonists need a worthy adversary.
♪
What if that's the real motive?
Yeah, but you can't ignore
the evidence against Palmer
his connection to Liddell,
the chemical used
in the car fire.
Don't have to.
That's what makes Palmer
the perfect fall guy.
Liddell's case is public record.
Anyone who studies it
could do this.
You pull in Calloway, frame Palmer.
Walk away clean.
Have you taken this to the FBI?
I did, but I can't
prove anything.
Just have a feeling that
maybe we got the wrong guy.
If this is true,
then someone out there
just committed a perfect arson.
♪
And they got what they wanted.
A worthy adversary.
[THE FLAMINGOS' "I ONLY HAVE
EYES FOR YOU" PLAYING]
Calloway fell for the trap.
How does that make him worthy?
He did. But you didn't.
If this arsonist is really out there,
now he knows you.
♪
I only have eyes ♪
♪
For you ♪
♪
Sha-bop, sha-bop ♪
[WOLF HOWLS]