Detroit 1-8-7 s01e13 Episode Script

Road To Nowhere

Many in the city are still coming to grips with the tragic news that respected philanthropist and humanitarian Henry Malloy is dead.
A main force behind what many called the "Detroit bounceback," Malloy was found shot in his car two nights ago, just three blocks from the downtown hotel where earlier in the evening, he'd received a key to the city.
You think Fitch could've done it? Picks a fight with him in front of a crowd - three hours later, the guy ends up dead.
- Malloy was a fox in a henhouse.
- Somebody needed to put him down.
- Not with a bullet.
Well, the murder weapon was a .
38, right? Isn't that Fitch's backup? - The one he wears on his ankle, right? - Yep.
So you think he killed Malloy? I have no idea what Fitch is capable of.
The sad thing is, I probably know him as well as anyone.
Looks like Mason's trying to find out.
I was walking, thinking.
I got home around midnight.
Sounds like a rock solid alibi.
- Are you suspending me? - I'm not who you have to worry about.
The Feds are coming in.
The Feds? Why? Malloy was one of the targets of a joint task force out of Chicago.
Now that he's been taken out of commission, the FBI is sending an agent to get to the bottom of this.
That's great.
I love Feds.
Damn it.
Cheap slingbacks.
Excuse me.
Lieutenant Mason's office? Right there.
Who is that? Fitch's replacement, I hope.
Lieutenant Mason? Uh, special agent Jess Harkins, FBI.
O-oh.
Hi.
Uh, this is, uh, detective Fitch.
The one and only.
We're gonna be loggin' some quality time together, I believe.
Feels like we already started.
Right.
Uh, can you give us a moment, the lieutenant and me? Just go and have a seat in an interrogation room, and I'll be right with ya.
Should I cuff myself to the table? Oh, that's not necessary yet.
I was disappointed to hear the Feds were taking over our investigation.
Malloy was an important figure, not your typical murder victim you guys get here.
We just wanted to make sure the case was handled as professionally as possible.
Oh, no offense.
Why would I be offended? That you just said dead people in Detroit don't usually matter, or that we don't know how to conduct a thorough murder investigation? Wow.
It--it does sound bad when you put it that way.
I didn't put it any way.
Anyhow, uh, we have field agents hitting the streets.
Um, but I've been dispatched to gather any information that might be relevant to our J.
T.
F.
, as well as looking into allegations That one of your detectives, uh, Mr.
Charming, may be involved in Malloy's murder.
How did yourJ.
T.
F.
get onto Malloy in the first place? Well, we've been backtracking a trail of criminal activity-- smuggling, human trafficking, murder-- from Chicago through Detroit all the way into Canada.
A few months ago, Malloy enterprises came onto our radar.
We were hoping to nail him in the next six months or so, but I guess your guy killed him first.
Allegedly.
Allegedly, yes.
So you have evidence? I'm not authorized to share that information with local.
I'm only saying, if you tell me what you have on Malloy-- You know, Maureen, I-I could do that but then I'd have to kill ya.
I just quit smoking.
What a bitch.
Ahem.
You don't mind, do you? You know, I've heard and read so much about you in the last 24 hours.
Is that so? Some men stalk models, actresses, ex-girlfriends.
You stalk millionaire philanthropists.
I didn't stalk anybody.
Forgive me.
Perhaps, uh, "stalk" is too strong a word.
What I meant to say was, "followed and harassed repeatedly - in an intimidating and hostile manner.
" - Thank you for the distinction.
And after months of this, frustrated with your inability to apprehend him, it seems you took it upon yourself to eliminate him.
- Is that what I did? - What you didn't anticipate was that Malloy was already the target of a federal probe, which is gonna make the old "D-town cover-up" a little tougher to pull off this time.
Uh, first of all, locals don't really call it "D-town.
" Secondly, I might have liked to kill Malloy, even hoped someone would, but I didn't do it.
Do you swear? I swear.
Okay, then.
You can go.
- Really? - No, not really.
Get comfortable, cowboy.
The coffee's brewin'.
Yeah, he just got out here.
knock on the door, the door knocks back the joke never go no further than that Where'd they say the bodies where? On the bus.
back down the stack, and we hustle and cuss lick on the dust Looks like you're buying lunch.
I figured this for a straight-up mugging gone wrong.
Money changes everything.
muscle and fuss, lick on the dust Anger, rage, impotence.
So many motives, so little time, detective.
Is this how they teach you to interrogate at Quantico? They also teach us waterboarding, but I didn't want to jump the gun.
You've done at six things wrong since you walked in here.
- Have I now? - Seven.
- Illuminate me.
- You're talking when you should be listening.
You're telling me things when you should be asking questions.
What do you know about me that you didn't when you came in here? Nothing.
Here's what I know about you.
You haven't worked in anti-crime very long.
Otherwise, you'd have learned by now heels like that don't make sense out in the field, especially not in a Midwest winter, which leads me to believe you haven't been in Chicago long.
New division, new part of the country.
Special agent Harkins moves around.
No wedding ring.
Divorced? Nah.
I'm thinking never married, but lots of boyfriends, often the wrong kind in the wrong place at the wrong time, and sometimes married, of course.
The way you've worn down those cuticles and keep popping lozenges like valium, you were smoking pack and a half, maybe two packs a day, until very recently.
Which worries me.
Overworked, lonely, single girl who smokes too much, can't stick around anywhere for long, an addictive personality like that opens you up to all kinds of trouble.
How am I doing? Now unless you tell me that I'm suspended, I've got a job to do, so I'm gonna do that.
And with that, I will leave you with two things-- I didn't kill Henry Malloy.
What was the other thing? Welcome to the "D.
" Male hispanic suspect.
Hey, what'd the Fed lady ask you? Normal stuff.
She wants to interview the whole unit, you know.
I'm gonna have to talk to her at some point.
- You'll be fine.
Don't worry.
- What's she like anyway? Ex-smoker.
It's a filthy habit.
Three dead.
And thousands of dollars in large bills floating around out there.
Bullet casings on the floor.
And no bus driver.
Yeah.
Public transportation ain't what it used to be.
Melinda Cortez.
Age 72.
Wrong bus, wrong time.
Michael Chivers, 28.
Check it out.
Got the old man's wallet in his coat pocket.
"Charles Murray Boyer.
Grosse Pointe.
" Robbery gone bad? Yeah, for all concerned.
Well, there's a 9-mil casing here.
Looks like Chivers got off one round before he got hit.
One round and three dead bodies.
Unless that's the magic bullet, our second shooter did most of the killing.
First one was ejected here.
So Chivers holds up Mr.
Boyer, takes his wallet.
Then our other guy stands up with his .
45.
Two gunmen start shooting it out.
Chivers goes down, two victims go down, and Mr.
.
45 caliber exits the bus.
We found a bunch more of these with holes in 'em.
Denominations are all $50 and $100.
I'm thinking drug money, but we'll run the serials in case we're dealing with a bank robbery or something.
We got a blood trail that leads all the way back into that field over there.
Bullet holes in a briefcase.
I mean, talk about an exit wound.
Boom.
Totally blew out the latch.
Couple hundies still inside.
That explains the hole in the bills.
Look at this.
Could be initials--C.
M.
B.
Charles Murray Boyer.
I think it's safe to assume Mr.
Boyer got on the bus with the briefcase.
So our second shooter must've got hit on the bus, grabs a briefcase, probably didn't know it was damaged Takes off into the field, briefcase falls open, - dumping money into the wind.
- Bus driver could be second shooter.
Either that or he saw what happened and jetted.
Charles Boyer had a Caddy key on his chain.
Onstar located his vehicle Well, what is he doing on that bus with a briefcase full of cash? How would you characterize detective Fitch? Warm, fuzzy, always there with a smile and a "how do you do?" I detect sarcasm.
Wow.
You FBI guys are good.
You worked for narcotics before you came to homicide.
Is that right? So? One of your old sources, a drug dealer named Kilo, called you to say that Fitch's car was parked a block away from where Malloy was killed that night.
Are you tapping my phone? No, but the DEA's tapping Kilo's.
We share.
It's a Fed thing.
Wow.
You FBI guys actually are good.
You failed to report this.
Look, the guy's an ass.
- Kilo? - No.
Fitch.
I don't know if he killed Malloy.
Frankly, I don't care.
But I do know one thing.
There's two types of cops in this world.
There's Fitch and there's the rest of us.
You take him off the street, you just make my job a whole lot harder.
Ma'am, sir, Detroit P.
D.
We're here about Charles Boyer.
I'm--I'm his daughter.
We found your father's vehicle a few miles away from where he was killed.
Do you know why he was on that bus? Can you tell us what he was doing in the city this morning? Sometimes he goes to see old friends.
Does he usually bring a briefcase full of cash? And you live here with your father? Since mom died.
So it's just the three of you and your daughter.
Lily's Shayna's daughter.
Her dad's not in the picture.
Clark's the only father she's known.
And where is Lily now? Something you wanna tell us? Honey Mnh-mnh.
Clark, please.
Please.
Lily was kidnapped.
Yesterday.
She was a little late walking home from school.
It--it's only three blocks from here.
Then the phone rang.
I answered it, and I heard her voice.
She just said, "mommy," and then a man came on.
He said that he had Lily and he wanted half a million dollars.
- He said that if we went to the police-- - We wanted to call you guys.
- But dad wouldn't hear of it-- - Charlie is so stubborn.
- He's-- - An ex-marine.
He said he-- he wanted to handle it himself.
He withdrew the money.
I begged him to let me deliver it, but if you knew him He was supposed to drive his car to the East Side - and wait for their call.
- They must've told him - to get on the bus with the money - To make sure he wasn't being followed.
- Have you heard from the kidnappers? - Not since yesterday.
Oh, my God.
They didn't get the money.
We have people who know how to deal with this.
Please, my little girl! We will do everything we can to get your daughter back safe.
It's gonna be okay.
It's gonna be okay.
It's gonna be okay.
I understand Malloy was threatening to publish dirt on Fitch in his paper.
That story never came out.
Malloy's murder might have something to do with that.
He's not gonna shoot an unarmed man in cold blood.
- People reach a breaking point.
- Not him.
He's not like other people.
Detective Sanchez, is there something between you and Fitch? When you talk about him, your body language is evasive in a particular way I recognize.
So you wanna know if we're sleeping together? - I wanna know if he confides in you.
- You wanna know if I'm lying to protect him, as if I can't separate my sex life from my obligation to the badge.
Are we being defensive? I get you.
You like to imply stuff and then act like it's not what you meant.
Well, I'm sorry, agent Betty.
Fitch and I do not have a thing.
And this interview is finished.
We're wired.
If they call again, we'll be ready for a trace.
Sir, there was an A.
T.
M.
across the street from where the girl was abducted.
- We pulled footage.
- Great.
Do you know him? No.
No.
No.
How could she just walk off with that man? She knows better! Honey, she'll be okay.
I So you and your partner had a conversation with Fitch.
What conversation? Last week, over lunch.
- Oh, you mean that private conversation? - It was overheard.
Fitch suggested that someone should put a bullet in Malloy.
Look, people say all kinds of things.
So you're confirming what he said.
Is that right? Detective Mahajan? I'm sorry, it's just, every time you turn your head with that thing in your mouth your shadow looks like F.
D.
R.
Look, you come in here and talk to our co-workers and try to get us to turn against each other.
This how a witch hunt works on the federal level? It goes to motive.
Add the fact that Fitch's whereabouts the night of Malloy's murder - are still unaccounted for - Look, Fitch did not kill Malloy, okay? - You're positive? - 100%.
to testify under oath? Yes, under oath, I would testify that I am pretty damn close to sure that Fitch did not kill Malloy.
It's been almost 24 hours since she was taken.
- It doesn't look good.
- They didn't get their money.
As sick as it sounds, this is a business for them.
We'll be ready when they call looking for it.
Just talked to the M.
E.
All three victims on that bus - were shot with a .
45.
- The guy didn't want any witnesses.
You're thinking he may have been involved in the kidnapping.
I'm thinking he's our best chance at finding that little girl.
Yeah, where do we start? - Cliff Robbins.
- Bus driver? - Maybe he can lead us to the shooter.
- Cops are out looking for him.
Stone and Sanchez already talked to his girlfriend, she's not helping any.
All right, have them meet us at her place.
I got an idea.
Police already searched my house.
I told them I haven't talked to Cliff since he left for work this morning.
Ms.
Stilton, we're not here about Cliff.
We're here for you.
Me? Ma'am, your boyfriend witnessed a triple homicide this morning.
We have reason to believe the killers may use you to keep Cliff from identifying them.
We'd like to put you in protective custody.
For how long? - Days, weeks.
.
- A month.
Until the killers are found.
Important thing is you'll be safe.
Now take your time, pack a suitcase.
We'll be in the car out front when you're ready.
Well, I give her two minutes.
So how'd it go in there with agent bitchy? Chick talk, mostly.
You? Told her what I think about Fitch.
Yeah.
Me, too.
I'm scared that he might be in real trouble.
Maybe he did do something stupid.
Look Fitch can take care of himself.
Fitch, she's on the move.
There she is.
Pull over.
Look at that.
Dealer plates.
That's right off the lot.
That's gotta be him.
Let me see your hands! Get 'em up! Detroit police.
Step out of the car.
Out of the car.
Put your hands behind your head.
Get on your knees.
Nice ride, Mr.
Robbins.
New, pre-owned charger on a bus driver's salary, huh? I'm guessing he paid cash.
- Hey! I didn't kill these people! - You're in a lot of trouble, Mr.
Robbins.
I think it's time to get on the proverbial bus.
Tell us what happened.
I was on my route.
This old white dude gets on my bus.
A few minutes later, I hear shouting.
Some punk pulls out a gun, trying to rob the old dude.
- Is that the robber? - That's the guy.
- Michael Chivers.
- The old man gives him his wallet, but this punk wants the briefcase.
The old man won't give it up.
They start tussling, and then this other dude stands up at the front of the bus with a gun.
That's the dude! That's the guy! He started shooting everybody.
Then he got hit and took off, bleeding pretty bad.
The man who shot these people-- you know him? Well, he been riding the bus all week.
- He always get off at the same stop.
- He's casing the route.
- Where'd you drop him off? - All right.
Thanks.
Patrol units are out around the bus stop, running plates on parked vehicles.
They found one registered to a Leonard Jaspers.
He's got a record.
That's our kidnapper.
- Got an address.
- Let's go get the girl.
Clear! Clear! Clear! They must be keeping her someplace else.
Cell phone.
Maybe we can get somethin' off it.
Looks like he was counting his money.
Too bad you can't take it with you.
I don't need the Feds turning my command upside down.
We do more murders in a week than a federal agent handles in a year.
And the last time I read the paper, the Department of Justice had bigger problems - than a dead, dirty millionaire in Detroit.
- ta-da I've made my point.
Please extend my concerns to the chief.
Thank you.
Sorry if I'm cramping your style.
What gave you that idea? So your agents out in the field, they find anything on Malloy? - Oh, they're pursuing a few leads.
- Suspects? I'm not at liberty to discuss.
Ohh, or you'd have to kill me, right? Sorry.
Fitch didn't do it.
- But what if he did? - He didn't.
Not my question.
If he did, then he's on his own, and he'll get what he deserves.
Let me ask you this.
Would you call it a justifiable homicide? Malloy was involved in all sorts of corruption and crime at the highest and lowest levels.
He was having people summarily executed.
I don't know how to define "justifiable.
" But I can assure you this, the world's a damn better place for his being out of it.
I've gotta run a case review.
I'm getting heat from the press and the mayor's office on this bus triple.
Download me.
We're running our dead perp, Leonard Jaspers, to see who he might have been working with.
Sorry.
Can I borrow detective Washington? Now? Looks like you got things pretty well under control here, right, lieutenant? Ten minutes.
Come on.
I'll buy you a coffee.
The, uh, cell phone we found with Jaspers' body was a burner, prepaid account.
V.
C.
U.
Broke it down.
We had it deciphered for all incoming and outgoing communications.
The messages themselves were auto-deleted.
This 7-1-6 number's pretty popular.
An hour or so prior to the bus murders, Jasper started texting someone at that number.
Another prepaid phone? Yeah, the texts continue regularly for the next four hours, getting closer together after noon.
All of which leads us to believe he may have been in contact with partners.
So once the situation goes sideways on the bus, - he and his cohorts are trying to regroup.
- But meanwhile, Jaspers secretly hightails it back to his apartment with his little chunk of change, thinking he'd get away with it.
Not knowing that he's gonna die like that.
It's a theory.
So? We use this number to resume the texting that stopped when our perp died.
We pretend we're him, say we have the money, - and we're ready to split it up.
- Lure out any other kidnappers.
I think it's our best shot.
Well, let's get to it then.
A little girl's life hangs in the balance.
Text the kidnappers.
Set up a meeting.
So you worked with him for what, six months? Since right after my transfer to homicide.
How's that goin'? Fitch is a great partner and an excellent mentor.
It takes about two minutes with detective Fitch to see he's not exactly mentor material.
You'd be surprised.
I would.
You got shot your first day.
Was he mentoring you then? - Fitch became fixated on Malloy, didn't he? - I don't know if I'd say "fixated.
" He started hounding the man, hunting him down, looking for reasons to go after him.
Reasons weren't hard to find.
The night Malloy was killed, you and Fitch - had been in conflict, hadn't you? - That's not such an unusual thing for us.
But this was about Malloy, about how out of control Fitch was getting.
Did he say anything that might lead you to believe he could take things into his own hands? I'm a federal investigator.
Lying to me or withholding comes with serious ramifications.
- He said Malloy was never gonna stop.
- Unless what? He didn't say.
He just left.
The weapon used to murder Malloy was a .
38.
Does that mean anything to you? No.
Fitch carries a .
38 backup piece? - Why are you holding out on me, detective? - It doesn't mean anything.
A .
357 can also fire a .
38 bullet.
That's your best defense? "Ballistics is in the eye of the beholder"? We, uh, need him back, agent Harkins.
Oh, we're done for now.
Fitch is a messed-up dude, and he pisses me off a lot of the time.
He doesn't trust people, which makes it hard to trust him, but I don't think he'd kill Malloy.
I don't think he'd do it, and if he did, even against my own instincts, I'd write it off As something that had to be done.
Well, then you'd be in grave trouble as well, detective.
I'm not talking about legality.
I'm talking about necessity.
We're out here trying to save a city! There's no written code for that.
They're late.
Their text said they'd be here by 3:00.
I talked to her, you know.
Told her you were innocent.
Do you think I am? I'm not so sure.
All the more reason for me to be appreciative.
And tell me the truth.
You think that little girl's still alive? Yeah.
I do.
You're an optimist.
I like that.
Did I kill Malloy? Doesn't part of you hope I did? And won't you be a little let down either way? Incoming, gents.
Here we go.
Detroit P.
D.
! Hands on the vehicle! Clark Wilkins, you're under arrest.
he doesn't know where they've taken the girl.
He won't eat, won't speak.
Tried to hang himself in lockup.
Can you blame him? Clark? If you don't talk to us, we can't help Lily.
People make mistakes.
Good people.
They get pushed into the center of the storm.
They can't see a way out, so they do things.
Things they never dreamed they would ever do.
And I know all about that, believe me.
She called me "daddy.
" You're like her father.
A father wouldn't do this.
Clark, I know how much you love Lily.
I know you would never intentionally hurt her.
And right now you can help save her.
Okay? Take me through it.
My business was hurting.
I needed $250,000, or I was gonna lose everything.
Times are tough.
I couldn't get a loan, and I couldn't go to Shayna's father because he would see me as a failure.
And there was a guy that I worked with.
The man in the video.
Leonard Jaspers.
He said that he could help me do this.
He said he would - bring some people in.
- Any idea who they were? No, that was part of the deal.
I-I was--I was-- I-I was supposed to get the money from Charlie and hand it over, and then--then--they were-- they were gonna give me half and return Lily.
But Charlie insisted on doing the trade, and it all went to hell.
I told him what to say to her so that Lily would walk away with him.
The kidnappers just texted Clark's phone.
They want $1 million, or they're gonna kill Lily.
- They're waiting for him to reach out.
- So what do we do? Set up a delivery.
They don't know what Clark looks like.
One of our people stands in for him.
We move when the money's traded.
They're gonna be looking out for us.
We get spotted, what happens to the little girl then? We have surveillance options.
Best thing about being a Fed is all the toys.
We could track you, have our people in proximity.
They'd never know.
Send the text.
Let 'em think Clark has the money.
That doesn't sound like a text.
It's not, but that's the kidnapper's number.
Wait, wait, wait.
What are you doing? The only one of them Clark talked to is dead.
These guys don't know his voice.
Should I let it go to message? I need quiet! Quiet! Kill the phones! Hello? Clark Wilkins? Yes.
Th-this is Clark Wilkins.
You got the money? Yes, I have the money.
But please I wanna hear her voice.
Hold on.
It's your daddy.
Daddy? Daddy? You good? Thank you.
Yes.
You got the whole million? Yes.
$1 million.
And where do I bring it? Do me a favor.
Name it.
- Something happens out there-- - Nothing's gonna happen.
- Can I finish, please? - Well sorry.
Thank you.
I would be very appreciative if you would tell my kid that I wanted to fix it--us.
You know, that I was trying.
Yeah, I'll tell him.
I made a huge mistake.
I was going after this mobster, Albert Stram.
Albert Stram? You went after "Big Al" Stram? I was getting close.
One night, he calls me out of the blue, offers me a deal.
Leave New York, or he'd kill my kid.
Linda and I were separated, so they don't know anything about this, so I thought I made the right choice.
S-so, um maybe you could tell him.
Hey, nothing's gonna happen out there.
Something's gonna happen.
I'm gonna save that little girl.
Hello? Yes.
I understand.
Yeah.
Stop and leave the case, Mr.
Wilkins.
Where's Lily? Just leave it there.
I'm not going anywhere without my child.
When you go outside, you'll get a call, telling you where to find her.
No.
No more phone calls.
I could kill you, and nobody would know.
I brought the money.
All I want is my kid.
You're stupid, you know that? This whole thing was your idea.
Sorry.
Freeze! I got it! I got it! Come on! We got it, we got it! Don't move.
Told you I wouldn't lose you.
My name is detective Louis Fitch.
Where's Lily?! Freeze! Uhh! father I wish I had understanding never known more never been so well informed, we know the score heard it all before never felt more powerless so much blood on the streets so much hope refused so much grainy teenage photographs on the evening news ooh, ooh when everywhere's violence silently I go love's Mommy! on Oh, Lily! its way ooh hope it won't be too late Wonder what they're doing in there.
Verdict's coming down.
It's gonna be fine.
You ever think about what you would do if you weren't a cop? Yeah, I think about it sometimes.
Fitch.
As I've already said to lieutenant Mason, I wanna thank you for surrendering your backup piece for a ballistics check.
What'd you find? I was with Oswald on the Grassy Knoll? Your weapon's been cleared.
It doesn't match the gun used to kill Malloy.
Lucky for me.
That's his way of saying "thank you.
" So where's your investigation at? Agents picked up a suspect at the border.
He's a known contract killer with a decades-long record of violent felonies believed to have been working for a crime boss in New York, who's on the radar of federal authorities in the southern district.
- What crime boss is that? - Albert "Big Al" Stram.
Huh.
So you're heading back to Chicago? No further need to disrupt things.
Hey, for a, uh for a grand inquisitor, you're not so bad.
It was a pleasure working with Detroit homicide.
Let's do it again sometime.
If I ever get out to Chi-town-- They hate that, you know, Chi-town.
Nobody calls it that.
Congratulations.
It's a bitter pill.
I kinda found myself wishing I was guilty.
Hey, you got a dollar? Get in out of the cold, okay? Always count on you, Fitch.
Take care of yourself.
Thanks, man.
You, too.
All right.
Fitch here.
Lou.
Been a while.
Big Al.
Looks like I helped you make the streets of Detroit a little safer.
Is that what you did? Funny how a guy like Malloy can put you and me on the same side.
I don't think we'll ever be on the same side.
We'll see about that.
I hear Detroit is the land of opportunity.
I could use a friend there.
You can always buy one.
You're good at that.
I'll be seeing you, Lou.

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