Criminal Minds s09e04 Episode Script

To Bear Witness

[Grunting.]
Wait! Come back! [Grunting.]
Wait Stop! [Grunting.]
[Groaning.]
[Vehicle door closes.]
Stop! [Engine starts.]
Wait! [Horn honking, brakes squealing.]
Stop! You gotta help! What are you doing? Did you see that van? We gotta stop him.
We can still catch him.
Come on, let's go.
Crackhead.
Please don't go.
You don't understand.
He's getting away.
You get off me.
Or I'll beat the crap out of you! You understand me? [Indistinct chatter.]
A minute 32.
Faster than last time.
It helps when someone's chasing me.
It's more about your competitive nature if you ask me.
Well, I didn't.
We should do this every morning.
Come on, Matt, I can't make plans that far in the future.
If I didn't know better, I'd say you have commitment issues.
Well, good thing you know better.
Look, we really, uh, we really shouldn't meet like this.
I know.
But, uh, we gotta talk about some things.
Want to grab breakfast? Yeah.
Ok.
We gotta carbo load after that run.
Doughnuts? Of course.
"between the waves.
" Slatch.
Yes.
10 letters, "wandering alone.
" UhLatin in origin, alone is "solus," vagare is "wandering," s-o-l-I-v-a-g-a-n-t.
Congratulations, Blake, you just finished that crossword puzzle in 7 minutes.
I mean, you could do it, too.
I've done it in 5 1/2, actually.
There's a theory about pattern recognition where you don't even have to look at the clues anymore, but I found that going across instead of down helps because the sequence of saccades and fixations in traditional reading assist with other oculomotor tasks such as solving crossword puzzles.
Happy Wednesday, my nerds.
Blake: Hey, you're here early.
Well, apparently not early enough.
I missed all the excitement.
You do that in pen? Is there any other way? Where's Hotch? In there with Garcia.
Everything ok? We'll see.
Cabalistic? Indeed.
Oi! Let's do this.
Garcia: Hi.
Good morning.
No real time to get comfortable.
Hotch: An hour ago, the man on your tablets was found wandering the streets of Baltimore before he collapsed.
He is unconscious, he has no I.
D.
on him, so we don't know his name.
He's got ligature marks on his wrists, and it's impossible to tell how long he's been missing.
Are those puncture wounds in the corner of his eyes? Yes, and an MRI confirmed that fibers in his brain had been severed.
He had a lobotomy? There was hemorrhaging and foreign object splinters imbedded behind his right eye.
Most likely from whatever tool the unsub used.
My guess would be an icepick.
The guy's still alive.
Can we talk to him? You should try.
Someone with such a specific M.
O.
has probably done this before.
We just don't know about it yet.
It's all being run through ViCAP.
Yes, it is.
The entry points in his eyes are from an outpatient-style traditional lobotomy.
Less mess than drilling holes like Dahmer did.
And Dahmer's method killed.
This didn't.
So either the unsub is lucky or he has medical training.
He wanted his victim to survive.
We need to canvass the area where he was found.
He wouldn't have walked very far in this condition.
Well, lobotomies are considered to be the surgery of the soul.
Doctors like Walter Freeman claimed they could cure a number of mental illnesses.
He believed the procedure could relieve suffering.
Excuse me, Agent Hotchner.
Agent Cruz is here.
Oh.
Everyone, this is our new section chief.
This is Agent Mateo Cruz.
These are agents Blake-- Blake, Dr.
Reid, Morgan, Jareau, and Rossi.
Good to officially meet you.
Oh, and Penelope Garcia.
Erin Strauss always spoke very highly of you.
Oh.
Thank you.
I spoke to the Baltimore office.
Seems like like they're at a loss.
When the identity of the victim is unknown, it makes everything that much harder.
I'd like to join you.
It's not every day that these cases take you an hour away from home, so Hotch: We leave in 20 minutes.
You could have mentioned this.
I thought you liked surprises.
Seriously, I got word minutes after we had breakfast.
wait, that's not right.
Great, you're awake.
I'm Dr.
Hoshino.
You're at Chesapeake General.
I need to talk to the police.
I just heard the FBI is coming.
Good.
When will they get here? Can you turn those down? It's hot.
How are you doing? My head hurts worse than it was.
Can you just Thanks, that's better.
You have an I.
V.
to keep you hydrated.
And I've prescribed propofol to help with any discomfort.
Good, 'cause my head's gonna explode.
Can you take this thing off? Get that started.
Yes, doctor.
Please, turn those down.
It's too bright.
Wait, what's going on? Can you hear me? Wh-where are you going? Can you hear me?! Morgan: "Someone I loved once gave me a box full of darkness.
It took me years to understand that this, too, was a gift.
" Mary Oliver.
A lobotomy is supposed to alter a patient's personality.
But it's hard to know if that's what he was trying to do since the victim's a John Doe.
When it's used for torture, it's about complete power and control over the victim.
Jeffrey Dahmer fantasized about men and he put battery acid in their brains so they couldn't escape.
All because he was lonely, right? Yeah, extremely deranged sexual urges, irrational fantasies, and psychopathic tendencies.
Looks like the victim is in his mid-20s, but no one matching his description has been reported missing in the tri-state area.
Well, it he's been arrested before, his prints will be in the database.
The locals are running them now.
Well, it's no accident the unsub chose a victim who won't be missed.
But if he's so meticulous in his hunting, how did he let his victim escape? Hmm.
Interesting.
What's it say? Cruz has risen through the ranks.
It looks like he spent most of his time at headquarters.
Blue-flamer.
Being our section chief could be a two-year steppingstone for him.
So he hasn't been in the field, but he wants to now? What's wrong with that? Come on, it was the same thing with Strauss.
We don't need a babysitter out here.
Well, that's not how she saw it.
She just wanted to see the team in action.
Look, all due respect to Strauss, and you know that, Rossi, I just don't like it.
If you want a desk job, then sit at your desk.
Jeez, tell us what you really think.
You ever heard of this Cruz guy? Yeah, but we never crossed paths.
You? Nope.
JJ? Uh, yeah, I've heard his name.
He's been in and out of consciousness.
I've had to stabilize his head, given the extent of the injuries.
He's sedated to help with the pain.
But don't those meds cause amnesia? Sometimes.
But I don't have a choice.
Without the pain medicine, he'll be miserable.
It sure wear off in the next few hours.
Do you think he understands what's happening? Part of me hopes he doesn't, but, yeah, I think so.
Thanks, Doctor.
My name is Derek Morgan.
I'm with the FBI.
Can you tell me your name? Sam Carter.
Look, you gotta help me.
I'm probably not the first person to ask you that, am I? More like the tenth.
There are ways to figure things out without words.
I'd like to try that with you, ok? Ok.
For example, can you blink if you understand? Would that work for you? Blink once if it does.
Ok.
Perfect.
Do you know who did this? No.
Was it a man? Yes.
Ok.
Was he working alone? Yes.
Do you know where he kept you? Some dump near Harford Road.
Right.
I'm sorry.
Just give me a piece of paper.
I'll write it down.
What are you trying to say? Do you want to write? Do you want to write something? It's gotta be faster than this.
Here.
Harford Road.
There were a bunch of warehouses.
I'm sorry, man.
That's not what I wrote.
Look, the person who did is to you messed up your ability to talk, but we're gonna get through it, all right? What happened to me? What's happening? Ok, here.
I need you to try and stay calm, but I can show you what you look like if you want.
You sure you want to see? Yeah.
Show me.
Oh Oh, my God.
The victim was found just after dawn.
It could mean the unsub has a job that requires him to leave early.
My guess is his social skills are lacking, and that'll be reflected in his type of work.
S.
A.
C.
is in the field but called to say whatever you need, you got it.
The recovery site's surrounded by abandoned warehouses.
He needs the desolation to enforce his power and control.
There's a team looking through the building now.
This unsub doesn't leave anything to luck.
There was a garbage truck that sticks to a schedule.
Hey, Hotch.
Did you talk to the driver? Yeah, according to him, the victim looked and sounded like a zombie.
There's no way he made it far.
Most of the buildings down here are boarded up.
We're starting with the closest one.
The victim was in such bad shape, he probably didn't walk the stairs by himself.
He was either held on the first floor and luckily made it out Or he didn't escape at all.
The unsub let him go.
[Train whistle blowing.]
[Indistinct chatter.]
[Gasping.]
[Moans.]
Come on, stay with me.
I'm just so tired.
Let me get this right.
He's working alone? Yes.
But what? Was it more than one of you there? That's what I've been trying to tell you.
We gotta figure out another way to do this.
My eyes are killing me.
Was it another guy? No.
Was it a girl? Yes.
Do you know her? Yes, I know her.
Dana? Dana! Dana Here's where he held him.
Why would he let this guy go? He wants him to suffer.
Whoa! Ooh.
Oh What the hell is that? Adult diapers.
Medical soap.
Toothbrushes.
He took care of this victim.
Only to ensure he'd stay alive.
This looks small.
Why would he leave these behind? 'Cause he wants us to know something.
Hotch, the unsub also had a female victim.
They ran the victim's prints, but he wasn't in any database.
He doesn't have any track marks, and the tox screen is clean.
This isn't the kind of guy who would hang out in that neighborhood.
It rules out the high-risk behavior theory, but it doesn't answer why he wouldn't be missed.
That's what we're working on right now.
What 20-something nowadays wouldn't be missed? I mean, with social media alone, there's constant contact.
What's this? Over 50 universities in the state, D.
C.
and Virginia.
The students are the most socially active of all.
Why aren't we looking into someone with a more isolated existence? The low-risk behavior of the victim tells us a lot about his lifestyle.
He might stalk the most isolated victims knowing that they won't be missed.
That's smart.
Campuses are a great place to blend in, and all of those schools look within a two-hour drive.
[Ring.]
Go ahead, Garcia.
There are over 100,000 kids enrolled in Maryland colleges alone, another hundred in Northern Virginia and the district.
All right, send out a photo of the victim to all the campuses.
Somebody's going to recognize him.
And, sir, I did that search through ViCAP.
Nothing in the states.
So I figured it'd be ok to cast a wider net, and I asked a brilliant ex-coworker of ours, and guess what--Emily found a single incident on Interpol.
It looked like a one-hit wonder until now.
Where? Berlin.
Germany? Germany? What about Germany? A male victim.
Come here.
Come here.
Come here.
Hotch, I gotta go.
Does Germany mean something to you? Dana lived there.
Yes.
Yes, it means something.
Ok, this is good.
We're getting somewhere.
Doc, when he's awake, he definitely knows what's going on.
I'd like you to get me a communication board.
I want to get him to spell some things out.
That's great.
I'll get one in here.
I'm just checking your eyes again.
The swelling's gone down.
Cranial nerves and pupil reflex looks normal, considering the trauma.
This isn't right.
What is it? What's wrong? What do you see? Open your eyes wide as you can.
Hello.
The doctor's gonna see if he can remove the camera.
He was blinking the whole time.
It's how he communicated, but I don't know how I didn't see this sooner.
The eye is the most confined space in the body, which means the camera's probably 3 to 4 millimeters long and difficult to see without a microscopic lens.
Is it a prosthetic eye? No.
It's right next to the pupil.
That must be the unidentified splinter the MRI showed.
It's an ocular nano-implant.
All right, thanks.
Garcia's searching for the transmission but it's bouncing all over the city.
They're usually controlled by cell phone, which needs to be within a specific distance, so he's close.
I know they've developed the technology, but it isn't widely known.
Actually it is, if you know who to call.
Everything's on the black market.
It's expensive but not high-tech.
Should we be looking at micro surgeons? There's no need.
The camera itself is smaller than the point of a needle.
That's usually how they inject it.
That's weird.
He fancied an old-fashioned technique for the lobotomy, but the camera tells us that he's technically inclined.
What about this German victim? How does he tie in? The M.
E.
report says that he survived the lobotomy but was later shot in the head.
Why? He was a test run for the current victim.
Once the theory was proved he was no longer needed.
Cruz: Did he install a camera in that victim's eye, too? Hotch: No.
There's something special about this guy.
Where did their paths cross? Garcia's compiling a list of foreign exchange students.
That should be a more manageable number.
You would think so, but D.
C.
has the highest concentration of exchange students in the nation, which means we're still looking at tens of thousands.
And we're also running facial recognition on student visas.
That's all good, but now what? We figure out why he's doing it.
[Whimpering, moaning.]
This escalation could be the unsub's message about the eyes being windows to the soul.
There's something to that.
The same genes that develop the iris also shape the frontal lobe, which influences personality.
Why is this part of his ritual now but it wasn't in Berlin? Well, that's unclear, but his first kill in Berlin means he has a significant connection there.
He's likely visiting the U.
S.
and he feels out of place.
And that may be how he connected with his victims.
He's definitely had medical training.
His German victim was a student, and the unsub may also be in those circles.
We need to check currently enrolled medical students as well as recent dropouts, both here and abroad.
Blake: He's clearly bright and capable.
His torture suggests he's experimenting, which could mean he's bored.
But with his intelligence comes a dark side.
And that's where his psychology and genetics come into play.
[Screaming.]
How do you know those characteristics? We can only speculate, but if his victims do represent him, then he's telling us that he feels lobotomized and powerless.
This could mean he was raised in a strict home or one where he didn't have a voice.
[Gasps.]
Aah! Aah! Aah Do you think he was heavily medicated or institutionalized? Maybe.
A majority of the lobotomy patients in the 1940s were mentally ill and resided in state-run institutions.
The doctors there felt they were providing mercy to the patients, but the use of the camera tells us that this unsub wants his victims to suffer.
And the emotional torture of being left paralyzed is a kind of overkill, and that occurs when there's a personal connection between the offender and the victims.
Reid: He wants them to suffer, but he also wants to witness what it's like to be them.
Blake: He's given himself a front-row seat.
And now that he knows we're on the case, that kind of attention could cause him to escalate.
How so? He may want us to see what he sees.
So what did he say when you asked if there was a woman held with him? He didn't say a word.
The guy's brain got scrambled.
I can't imagine knowing what's going on but not being able to say anything.
I know he's only got minimal gestures, but did he give you any indication he knew her? Just shut his eyes, the same way he did when he realized he was paralyzed.
Well, that's definitely a sign.
An emotional one.
Well, if we say we have a missing couple and we put his photo around campuses, we might be able to figure out who she is, too.
Any word on the camera? Doctor's checking the x-rays now to see if he can get it out.
If it's the nano-tech I think it is, removing the piece could be dangerous for the victim.
At the very least he could lose his eye.
You've seen this stuff before.
Not quite like this, but it's used for foreign counterintelligence.
So then where did he get it? It's like back-alley lasik.
You're kidding me.
We should just shut his eyes.
Show's over.
Or we could play his game.
They can't take it out.
Not yet.
Or I'll die, right? So why don't we try to focus on something that we can control, all right? I'm going to point to some rows, and I want you to tell me if the letter that you need is in it.
What's your name? Sam.
First row.
Second row.
Third.
Yes.
Ok.
Ok, that's good.
That's good.
Yes.
Yes.
"S"? Ok.
What's the second letter? "A".
"A".
Ok.
S-a Sam.
Sam C.
I know he hasn't spelled his whole name yet, but here he is.
[Ring.]
What have you got, Garcia? Victim's name is Sam Carter, and he's a grad student at Morgan: Johns Hopkins.
This is great, Sam.
You're doing really great.
Who is the woman that was with you? Dana.
Ok.
No, "D".
No.
"D".
Ok.
Yes.
"D".
What's the second letter? Yes.
"A".
"A".
Ok.
D-a Now the third letter.
No, second row.
Yes.
Ok.
It's "N", come on.
"N", yes.
"N".
Ok.
D-a-n Keep going, Sam.
First row.
"A".
Sam.
The medicine's making me so drowsy.
No-- "I"? Dani? Is it Danielle? I meant "A", not "I".
It's D-A-N-A.
Go up a row.
We're gonna look for all the Danis that we can.
But I need you to save your strength for this next part.
What next part? What now? We're gonna try to talk to him through you.
Just get Dana.
Don't let this happen to Dana.
Yes, yes, talk to him.
Now, are you sure that you don't know him? I don't know him.
I'm sure.
Ok.
Just bear with me.
Sam, the person who did this to you is challenging us, so sometimes we have to bluff.
I don't think he can hear us, but he's definitely watching.
Come on-- No, no, Sam, Sam.
Sam! I know you're tired.
But I need you to try and keep your eyes open.
[Screaming.]
[Crying.]
Cheese.
[Sobbing.]
Kevin, I cannot talk right now.
I'm swamped.
Do you see it? Yes, I saw that you sent me and email, Morgan's everywhere.
But I can't read it right-- you gotta look.
Wait, what? What do you an, Morgan? I gotta go.
The unsub is posting us on the web.
Yeah, we're seeing it, too.
I can't shut it down.
It's going viral.
It's streaming all over the globe.
Hey, Rossi.
Ok, we got it.
Sam, close your eyes.
What? Why? What's going on? The unsub's posting this.
Where? All over the world--live.
Sam, close your eyes.
Oh, God.
[Gasping, crying out.]
You said he wanted us to see.
So why not go to the media? Why the Internet? The media edits the message.
The Internet doesn't.
He's calling our bluff.
If we know who he is, we should come and get him.
[Whimpering.]
Use that board again.
It's D-A-N-A.
Please, pick it up.
Sam, I know it's hard, but you gotta keep your eyes closed.
Just find her.
Don't let them do this to Dana.
[Dana screaming.]
[Sobbing.]
[Screaming.]
[Continues screaming and sobbing.]
Please, save me.
[Whimpers.]
Oh, God, oh, God, oh, God.
Oh, God.
Hotch: There's light coming from above.
Reid: The ceiling's low.
It could be a basement.
What's he doing? Taunting us.
He's barricading them in.
We know what he looks like.
We have not found him in any database yet.
I want all of your agents to spread out and comb a 5-mile radius from the hospital where Sam Carter was found.
All right.
Yes, sir.
I told the Director you're doing everything you can.
Do you want me to get a joint taskforce started? If Garcia can't shut the site down, I don't think anybody can.
If this woman dies on the Internet and we didn't do everything in our power to save her-- We've got agents who know this city best in the field.
My team is doing everything we can.
You do what you have to do.
[Sighs.]
This guy doesn't seem to care that we know what he looks like.
It's like he wants to get caught.
He does.
He waited till we were all watching to lobotomize this girl.
Why? Because he's punishing her, and he wants everyone to see it.
Morgan: Garcia, you can't block it? He's got multiple-core servers.
Come on, baby girl.
I know you can shut this thing down.
I am trying my hardest.
It is no joke.
It's a premium network bounced between Germany, Denmark, Indonesia, Panama, and the U.
S.
, and his firewall is hard-core.
Well, can you at least figure out the U.
S.
angle? I am trying as hard as I can.
Nothing he's doing has a sexual component, that we know of, anyway.
If he wanted to kill Sam, he had every chance to do it, but instead he let Sam go.
Both of these victims are significant to him.
It looks like he's playing a game, not just with us, but with all of them.
If it isn't sexual but still has incredible stakes to him, maybe it's familial.
I mean, he could be related to one of them.
He's not just punishing her, he's torturing her family.
He has her in a straitjacket.
What's that about? This message is personally specific.
She restrained and emotionally paralyzed.
She's in no condition to run away.
So those locks are to keep others out.
Because he's in another bad area.
Probably close to where he kept them before.
Garcia, we need the location of every cell tower where the signal's bouncing.
That's a lot, sir, but I'm sending them now.
What about the name Dani? Does it cross with Sam in any way? There's a Dana Harris.
It's not Dani, but he's called Dana Harris a dozen times, and she is on a student visa at Johns Hopkins, and, oh, my God, she's from Berlin.
Does she have a connection to Baltimore other than school? DiggingYes, yes.
Her father is a partner at Strauss and Harris commercial real estate.
They specialize in converting warehouses in port cities all over they world.
They own one in Northern Baltimore.
And wouldn't you know it? There's a cell phone tower right by there that that signal is bouncing from.
What's the address? Sending it to your phones now.
[Speaking German.]
There she is.
That's definitely Dana.
I've got eyes on her.
She's getting into a white van.
Do we have cross streets? Not yet.
But it looks like she's in an alley.
Why would he want us to see where they're going? Because he's arrogant.
This is the end of his plan and we're a part of it.
Garcia, we think the unsub could be related to Sam or Dana.
The Harris family has a son, Anton, 29.
History of violent outbursts had him bouncing between boarding schools all over Europe.
While Dana stayed close to home.
How'd you know? He blames Dana for his rejection and abandonment issues.
It's a classic universal wound.
Left untreated and combined with the psychopathic urges, that trauma led to extreme aggression.
And a desperate need for attention.
Let me guess, Garcia-- one of the parents is a medical doctor.
Mom was before she died.
It looks like young Anton was studying to be a veterinarian.
Little sister trumped him by attending medical school at Hopkins.
He did all this to get on his parents' radar.
How long has Anton been in the states? A month into his 3-month visa.
He waited until Dana was away from the family before he attacked.
JJ: All right, we got the van.
It's parked in the alley behind Greenmount at 25th.
He's gone.
This isn't good.
All right.
Let's split up and search the building.
Cruz, come with me.
Hands where I can see them.
I will if you answer something.
It doesn't work like that.
Show me your hands.
Hands! Aren't you the one who's supposed to ask me why I do what I do? I would if I didn't already know.
You're patient, but you also take risks.
It's why you leave nothing to chance.
I wondered why you hadn't practiced on the eyes of the man you killed in Berlin.
It's because you'd already tried it on yourself.
You're recording all of this right now, because you want everyone out there to know what it's like to be you.
Maybe they'll understand.
Maybe they'll even feel sorry for you.
But they won't.
Because we've intercepted your transmission and shut it down.
Go ahead, see for yourself.
So they aren't watching me anymore.
What else is new? My father sent me away because I humiliated him.
He said I brought shame to our family.
Your father sent you away because you're sick and he wanted to protect Dana.
He was right.
But he couldn't stop me.
Your father's on his way.
But of course you knew that.
That's why you showed everyone your face.
You wanted him to know that you'd won.
And it worked.
But you have to admit, what I've done is extraordinary.
My father will never forget it.
Certainly Dana won't.
Or maybe she will.
Will you? I already have.
Cuff him.
Garcia didn't shut down his signal, did she? Well, he didn't know that.
I can see why they didn't want you out of the field.
Yes, sir, right away.
Get her on now! [Cell phone rings.]
Cruz.
Copy that.
He's driving back with us.
You're getting stronger.
I knew you would.
Can you guys hold up for a second? Yes, sir.
Hey, Dana.
I'm Derek.
Sam here is very happy to see you.
D-Dana.
Dr.
Hoshino: Her vitals are strong.
I should have her back in an hour.
You want to go with her, don't you, Sam? Yes.
You got it.
They gonna be ok? Maybe.
Eventually.
Worst case of sibling rivalry I've ever seen.
Yeah.
Do you have kids? No.
Do you? Yes.
My father named me Anton because it means "invaluable.
" Do you think he ever believed that? Why don't you ask him? I will.
You sure about that? Absolutely.
Come on, it's not a problem.
Hotch: "Death is not the greatest loss in life.
The greatest loss is what dies inside of us while we live.
" Norman Cousins.
[Knock on door.]
Mr.
Harris has diplomatic connections and wanted to have Anton extradited.
After all that he's still trying to protect him.
Tell me you didn't let that happen.
I called in a favor from the State Department.
He's being charged and tried right here.
Good.
You got a good team.
We do.
Welcome.
Thanks.
You always here this late? Pretty much, yeah.
Every time your name was mentioned today and every time I didn't say, hey, yeah, I know him, I'm lying.
I know it's not easy.
I don't like it either.
We're surrounded by profilers, Matt.
One side glance and they're gonna figure it all out.
Well, separating us in the field was smart.
It was the only way.
Look, I--I know why we can't tell them.
I get that, but We can't have too many of these conversations either.
That case could stay open for a couple years.
It's already been almost 3.
Did you take this position because of me? No.
Trust me, I walked into the Hoover building this morning and was told to drive out to Quantico immediately.
So someone put this transfer on the fast track.
State? They wouldn't admit it if they did.
True.
This, umus We're good, right? Yeah.
Ok.
You want to meet at the Air and Space in the morning, run some sprints? I'm going to make breakfast for my boys.
Great plan.
Going home? Yeah.
Cruz? I've got some work to do.
Good night.
JJ: Good night.
Good night.
Cruz: Good night.
You good? Yeah.
All good.

Previous EpisodeNext Episode