Major Crimes s01e10 Episode Script
Long Shot
Congratulations.
How is 63rd street school doing? Great to see you.
Good to see you.
Keep up the good work.
Thanks so much.
Oh, oh, Mr.
Mayor.
Um We know that the job of superintendent of our schools, to which Dr.
Massoud is about to dedicate himself, is not an easy one.
As mayor, I thank him for putting his inspirational leadership at the disposal of our city's youth.
Dr.
Massoud, we are here not only to wish you luck, but to offer you our support.
Hear, hear! Thank you, Mr.
Mayor.
Now, Judge Cully, let's get this thing over with before the good doctor changes his mind.
Raise your right hand and repeat after me.
I, Dr.
Aamil Massoud I, Dr.
Aamil Massoud having been appointed to the office of school superintendent having been appointed to the office of school Judge? Judge, you all right? Judge oh, my God! Can I have some help here?! Someone call 911! Lay him down.
Lay him down.
Easy, easy.
Judge Cully! Judge Cully! Look at me a-are you in pain? Please te what the hell? Oh, my God.
Help me! Help me! He's been shot! Sir, you need to leave now.
Somebody help me! Get them out of here now! Come on! Out, out, out! Out! Throw up a six-block perimeter.
Get airships checking rooftops right now.
And get me an ETA on paramedics, damn it! Chief Taylor! match-grade round.
This comes from a precision rifle.
We're talking professional hit here.
Did you hear a gunshot? There was a little snap.
IDidn't think much of it at the time.
I thought the judge was having a heart attack.
Does threat management have any background on our victim? No, but Dr.
Massoud received five death threats in the last two weeks, mostly from parents worried about a Muslim being in charge of their children that sort of thing.
Look, Massoud's on his way to Major Crimes, waiting to talk to you.
Thank you, chief.
Do you have any idea of the sniper's location yet? Just a second.
Flynn! Flynn, give me a hand up here.
All right, Buzz, show Flynn where the victim was standing.
Here like this.
Height of the entry wound just above the heart, right there.
And the exit wound? Exit of the spine.
That's about the angle.
Excuse me.
Which puts the killer Somewhere up There.
Yeah? I'm 10 minutes out.
Were you followed? Negative.
My position has not been compromised.
Requesting release authority at this time.
Yes.
As always, however, you must guarantee no witnesses.
Roger that.
I expect payment on confirmation.
You got it.
Out.
This won't be the proper angle, because I think the killer stood back from the window to avoid being seen before pulling the trigger.
Take a look for yourself.
Wait a second.
Target was about 500 yards away.
Usually you need a spotter for a shot like this.
Not always.
A pro might have special equipment.
Looks like a screen was across this entry to the balcony.
And he left the tape, Captain.
A screen wouldn't interfere with his optics, and it would make him invisible from the street.
But he didn't just stand right here.
He had to be higher somehow.
Ooh.
Let's get SID to go through this place inch by inch.
Get Buzz to check security cameras surrounding the building.
See if any of them caught our shooter coming or going.
Mr.
Reyes, you said this apartment's on the market? Yes, ma'am.
Who has keys to it? Um Everyone at the sales desk, me, and, um, I have a spare set at home.
Hey, Captain.
Look at this.
I think someone was standing right here.
Who are you? Oh, hey.
I, uh, was just visiting a friend in the building, and thought I'd check the place out that's for sale.
It was unlocked Looks like we had a witness.
I don't see any blood.
Maybe this supposed witness got away.
Two sets of footprints coming out of the stairwell, Captain.
So, no blood anywhere No more gunshots Sykes, check if there's a body down here.
Skid marks.
And they're fresh.
Looks like there's another set down there.
Hey, Buzz.
Is it time-stamped? How clear is the video? The parking garage exits onto a one-way street, and there's an atm on the first corner.
Now Here we are six minutes after the shooting, and watch this car running the red light.
My guess that's our witness trying to get the hell out of there.
Get a better look at the license plate.
Maybe I can work some pixel magic on it.
May take a while.
A Phoenix.
There's not many of them around.
I'll look up late-'70s Pontiacs and see what we find, Captain.
Thank you, Detective.
Let it play, Buzz.
Freeze it there.
And enlarge it.
No side-view mirror.
And we just happened to find one in the parking garage.
That's not a coincidence.
Looks like the shooter was still chasing our witness.
Captain Raydor, this is Dr.
Aamil Massoud.
Agent Howard and I have been arranging protection for he and his family until we can sort this whole thing out.
We'll also monitor the hate-group websites, see if we get any chatter.
Thank you, special agent Howard.
Dr.
Massoud.
Assassinations are usually about something bigger than the target.
Were you proposing any educational policy changes if you're asking if I suggested imposing sharia law on the student body, my answer is an emphatic "no.
" My most controversial suggestion so far seems to have been updating the sex-education courses.
Hey.
Got a seating chart of the doctor's swearing-in.
Shows where everyone is supposed to be on the platform.
Even has Judge Cully and Dr.
Massoud at the microphone.
All right, if this is north, then 500 yards to the southeast over here is what the sniper would call his "hide.
" Dr.
Massoud, uh, is this where you were positioned on the platform this morning? It is, yes.
And the way we rehearsed it yesterday, too.
You rehearsed it? Yes.
So everyone was where they were supposed to be.
Strange.
Uh Captain? Hmm? Were you expecting Rusty's father? I left several messages apologizing to you and Rusty about what happened.
And maybe you're not calling me back because you're mad, but you don't have all the facts.
And you need to hear them.
I look forward to that, Daniel.
Take a seat in my office.
I'll be with you shortly.
I think I know how the killer managed without a spotter, Captain.
It's the right shot target system.
It's a top-of-the-line sight attachment that projects the precise point of impact into the rifle scope, taking into account all the factors that interfere with a long-distance shot weather, wind velocity, barometric pressure.
Makes it nearly impossible to miss.
Then why didn't he hit his target? Maybe he did.
Our shooter wasn't aiming at Dr.
Massoud.
He was aiming at Judge Cully.
I made a mistake.
I'm not denying it.
I feel terrible about how I lost my temper, but You only have one side of this story.
Okay.
But before you fill in the blanks, I want to establish some facts.
You came here today on your own, not at my request, to make a spontaneous statement.
Is that correct? Yeah.
Yeah, that's right.
All right.
Go ahead.
My fiancée, Annie, is very protective of her little girls, and Rusty just drops this bombshell on us.
Look, I get that he was in a tough situation.
But what he did the way that he sold himself on the street it shows such terrible judgment.
The idea of taking a kid that has done that kind of stuff and putting him into a normal family, it freaked Annie out.
Oh, I can't imagine.
I had to take Rusty outside just so she had a chance to calm down.
And Explain to him why he should apologize.
The words that he used I could tell you what he said.
No, it's not necessary.
Okay.
Anyway, he ends up calling me an asshole, and I hit him.
It was much harder than I intended.
And I had no idea that he would run off.
And I ju I wanted I wanted to discipline the kid.
He needs discipline.
Is that what you told your fiancée that Rusty disappeared because you disciplined him? Uh Wh n-no.
No, I-I-I-I said that he ran off and that I-I couldn't catch him, which is true that happened.
But I Look, I-I need to talk to to Rusty.
Annie wants I need to talk to Rusty.
All right.
Why don't we make a tentative appointment for you and Rusty to talk tomorrow at 4:00 P.
M.
in the conference room here? Thank you.
I appreciate that.
Because we can fix this.
We can.
Fixing this is a Very big priority here, as you can see.
See you tomorrow, Daniel.
You sure you don't want us to just arrest the bastard? That's a bell that can't be unrung.
Let's keep our options open.
What did we find out about Judge Cully? Long list of commendations.
Been on the state's appellate bench for 18 years, ma'am.
And, according to his active calendar, he's got another 23 decisions pending in the next few months.
Any of those drug cases? Mm, doesn't say.
Why do you ask, Special Agent Fritz Howard? Curiosity.
Um, I just googled Judge Cully's name, Captain.
First thing that comes up is an article about a pot case People vs.
William.
Says here, "from the nature of Judge Cully's questions", "the decision is expected "to open the door for the legalization "of marijuana cultivation in California in defiance of federal law.
" What a coincidence you should ask about drugs.
Call it a hunch.
Listen, if you let me take a closer look at that bullet you recovered from the crime scene, I could probably tell you something More definitive.
Oh, and hold off on calling for a DA right now.
U.
S.
attorney might want this one.
Excuse me, officers.
I was wondering if you could help me out with something real quick.
Sorry to bug you.
Some kid just hit my car took the mirror right off.
I got his license plate before he left.
I was hoping I could just talk to him, maybe get him to do the right thing.
I can't afford another insurance hike.
I mean, unless you guys want me to fill out a report I can do it.
No, no, no.
It's fine.
Let me, uh See what I come up with.
I really appreciate it, guys.
I literally just got this car.
It's warm, huh? Okay.
Got a phone number.
Is that good enough? Absolutely.
I think I can handle it from here.
You guys have a good one, all right? Thank you.
No.
No, no.
I'm fine.
You watching the news? I know.
Pretty crazy, right? I'm just glad I caught you before you went all the way downtown.
I know.
Listen, that place is gonna have to be off-limits for now 'cause of the shooting.
Hey, babe, believe me, okay? I can't get into everything right now, but you're so lucky you weren't with me today.
No.
No, I mean it.
Yeah.
So, I don't know.
I guess we're just gonna have to find some other place Wait, wait, wait.
I'll call you back.
Angel? Dad.
You scared the crap out of me.
What are you I thought you were on till 6:00.
There was a guy with a gun in one of the buildings.
He shot someone.
Detectives started questioning me, shut down the building.
Loco.
I came home to make sure my keys were here.
Hopefully, the police don't check up on us.
They're not gonna be looking for undocumented workers.
They're gonna be looking for a killer.
If we were back in Juárez and I was still police, I would be looking at us.
You got a shift? Yeah till midnight.
Don't worry, pop.
We're okay.
How we doing on those plates? We're getting close.
About an hour? We've been combing the books for unsolved sniper homicides, trying to figure out what our good friend Special Agent Fritz Howard was being so tight-lipped about.
Yeah, and get this of the five unsolved assassination-style murders we found, two were prominent figures in the movement to legalize pot.
Yeah, one was a city council member from Phoenix, the other was a DEA Agent killed four months ago outside his house in Santa Fe.
Both guys hit with body shots from a 556 match-grade precision rifle, ma'am.
And that rifle officially makes this an FBI investigation.
You're kidding me.
Turns out the bullet from our shooting came from the same weapon used in those two other murders you were talking about.
So this assassination is related to legalizing marijuana? Which is the last thing the cartels want us to do.
So they've hired a pro this, uh, ghost.
Don't know his name, what he looks like.
He never leaves a trace of himself behind or a witness, for that matter.
In other words, you're no further along than we are.
Doesn't matter the murder of a DEA Agent means the FBI has jurisdiction.
We need to wish Special Agent Howard good luck.
Thank you, chief.
Sorry, guys.
I appreciate all your help.
I'll be back in touch.
The FBI has the mandate and the resources for this.
It's better on their dime than ours.
Understood.
Thank you, chief.
Of course, we still have a legal obligation to search for and determine the identity of our possible witness.
And our assassin Is probably looking for that witness, too.
Good assumption.
But before we pass that suggestion on to the FBI, I'd like to be certain of all our facts.
We wouldn't want to send the federal government on a wild-goose chase, now, would we, Lieutenant? Oh, I should hope not, Captain.
I should certainly hope not.
So, Daniel came today, like you said he would, huh? Yes.
He wants to apologize.
Sure he does.
So, not returning his calls was the right thing to do? Oh, yeah.
I wouldn't have been able to record him in a phone conversation without a warrant.
But his apology could work perfectly as a spontaneous confession.
So, I don't have to see him again, right? Because I really don't want to.
It'll be uncomfortable for a few minutes, but then you have a chance to solve this problem forever.
Are you sure about all this? Honey, I do this for a living.
Right.
Rusty, if you change your mind, we can still arrest him.
Otherwise, two minutes you're done.
Captain, I'm sorry to interrupt, but we just got enough of the plate on the Phoenix to run it, and we have a problem.
We pulled the registration on the Pontiac and sent a patrol car to pick up our witness.
Thing is, he doesn't live at that address.
Exactly.
The officer just called, said the woman who does live there sold the Pontiac a couple of weeks ago, and she gave him an address for the buyer, ma'am.
On which I ran a utility check, and the guy paying the water bill where the car went is one Gustavo Reyes.
Why do I know that name? Mr.
Reyes is the handyman at the apartment building this morning.
What else? The woman at that first address the one who sold the car she told the officers that someone else had just called about the Pontiac.
That could be our shooter.
And he's ahead of us.
Just a second.
Can I help you? Uh, I'm sorry to bother you at home.
My name's Dave.
My daughter, she's friends with with your son.
Angel? Angel.
He sounds like a great kid.
Is he around? Angel just left for work a little while ago.
Is there a problem? No, there's no problem.
Actually, uh, this is a little weird, but She wrote a note for him, and she asked me to deliver it.
Okay.
Leave it with me.
He'll see it when he gets home.
Look I-I'll level with you.
My daughter's only 17.
I-I would really just like to meet him.
Could you tell me where he works? Where did she meet angel, again? Oh, I think it was at a party.
Huh.
'Cause angel already has a girlfriend.
Maybe it's better you leave this note with me and I'll hey, what are you doing?! What the hell?! Are you crazy or something?! What's wrong with you?! Shh, shh, shh, shh.
We got a body! Oh, damn it.
Smell the smoke? We didn't miss our killer by much.
All clear! Back here, captain.
Back here.
Must have been Gustavo's son in the apartment this morning.
His name is Angel.
Why didn't he call us? Maybe the boy wasn't supposed to be the building.
Maybe he's not supposed to be in the United States.
The Pontiac sale wasn't transferred properly.
There's no insurance on it.
Gustavo and his son are probably both undocumented.
So the killer shows up looking for Angel.
Angel isn't here.
Dad won't help.
Bang.
He searched the room, but he didn't toss it all.
Maybe he found what he was looking for, Captain.
Then maybe he already knows where the kid is.
Apron.
He works in a restaurant.
If we're going to save this boy's life, we need to find him, and now.
The kid is safe and working his shift, Captain.
The staff doesn't know we're here, but we've managed to replace all the customers with our people, and we have more coming in, as you requested.
Has the FBI arrived yet? Yes, and they're a little anxious.
We're next in the valet line, Lieutenant.
Roger that, Chief.
See you inside.
We didn't need the feds.
I told you once we confirmed we had a witness, we'd share it with the FBI.
I thought you were just covering your ass so we could keep our case.
I was precisely following the law.
God.
It's like working for a hall monitor every single day.
Detective, anyone, uh, ask you to keep their car idling while they went in? Uh, no, ma'am.
Our killer won't want more witnesses.
But he's probably nesting somewhere, waiting to take the boy outside.
I forgot your ticket.
Mm-hmm.
From anywhere above 20 feet, facing South, the sniper has a great line of sight on the Phoenix.
The driver's seat is the one place he knows Angel is going to be.
Stay safe.
Yes, ma'am.
The things I do for this job.
Gentlemen, what's the latest? Had a helicopter fly over about 10 minutes ago.
Pilot didn't see anything.
Thought a second pass would be too risky.
Okay, here we are, and if Sanchez is right, this whole area is the kill zone.
It's pretty huge.
Captain Raydor, Lieutenant, this is Agent Goodwin.
Thanks for bringing us in on this.
Oh, this is your case.
Always nice when the LAPD recognizes our jurisdiction.
As far as the kill zone Lieutenant Flynn was mentioning, we got two teams slow-walking the area, agents in a van out back monitoring the rooftops.
The problem is, there is a limit to how late we can keep this place open without him catching on.
If we start actively searching for him Then he'll try and get away.
Thank you.
Let me be clear about this.
The FBI needs this guy alive.
He's a transnational threat operating under the direction of the Maldova Cartel.
If we can get him to name his paymaster, maybe turn him against his employers That would be huge, Captain.
Huge.
Where's our runaway witness? He's right over there.
Hello, Angel.
We need to talk.
You saw something this morning at the apartment in the building where your father works.
You talked to my dad? You told him I was in that apartment that's how you knew I was here? Dad must be freaking out.
Look, you can't just send him back to Mexico.
You can't.
Angel, you your father isn't going to be mad at you at all.
And he isn't going to be deported.
In fact, if we could have brought your dad with us, I know that he would want you to tell us what happened today.
We don't have much time, angel.
If we don't catch this guy tonight, you could be at risk for a very long time.
Why don't you start by telling us why you were at the apartment building to begin with? Uh The salespeople don't show it on mondays.
I was planning on meeting my girlfriend there.
I went there early to get the place ready.
There was this guy there this weird guy.
I've never seen him before.
So I said, "who are you?" And while he was answering, he took this gun out and he shot at me, so I just started running as fast as I could.
Why didn't you come to the police? I didn't want my dad to know what I was doing.
Plus, I call you guys, tell you what I saw, you start looking into us We can't go back to Mexico.
My dad was a police officer in Juárez.
They, um They murdered my mom and my brothers.
My dad he gave up everything to bring me here and keep me safe.
Everything.
Angel, nobody's going back to Mexico.
What we need you to do now as best you can is tell us what the guy who shot at you looked like.
Um Dark hair Brown eyes About 6 feet Maybe 190 pounds Gray t-shirt Dark jeans.
What else? He sounded American.
Oh.
He had this this big black bag over his shoulder.
Looked heavy.
Very impressive description, kid.
Yes.
The killer has good reason to be here.
How much personnel do you want in the restaurant, Captain? Parking lot's almost full.
We're running out of time.
And the search isn't getting very far.
Lieutenant Flynn, are you absolutely sure there's no more room in the parking lot? Yeah, and we still have cars lined up at the valet.
Since our search for the killer seems to be failing, it's time to implement plan "B.
" There's a plan "B"? We're gonna start collecting car keys from all the restaurant staff.
Detectives Sykes and Sanchez are gonna start moving their vehicles out of the lot to make room for new arrivals.
Lieutenant, may I see the map? Since we are all agreed that the killer's best shot is at angel's car, let's move it somewhere harder for him to see.
I'm gonna take a break.
Bye, angel.
Have a good night.
See you tomorrow.
Freeze! Drop your weapon! Drop it! Put the gun down! Put it down! Get on the ground now! Drop it.
Now.
Put your gun down! Listen to me! Put your gun down! Put it down, or we will kill you! Put it down! You all right? That was a close one.
Good job, Agent Goodwin.
Call this in! Roll the paramedics now! Sir, I'm afraid medical attention will not be reaching you in time.
Could I have a name to put on your death certificate? Who the hell is this guy? So, where are we on our mystery shooter.
Today? That's the FBI's problem now.
I'm taking personal charge of this case, along with your witness, angel, who's going under federal protection.
The truth is, we may never ID this guy.
I have confidence we'll eventually figure this one out.
I certainly hope so, because whoever this man was, there are more like him out there.
This way, please, Daniel.
You know, it's a shame we're not sitting down making a deal today.
Oh, looks like there's still a little Negotiating to do.
Hmm.
Daniel, if, uh, you'd join us right here.
Thank you.
Oh, well, uh I was hoping that, uh I'd like to talk to Rusty by myself.
The people here want to be sure of my safety, Daniel.
Okay.
I get it.
And I'm sorry.
I am so very sorry.
And I want to promise you, Rusty, and everyone else here, I will never hit you like that again.
Like this, you mean? This first set of pictures is what Rusty looked like when he came home the night you beat him.
And the second set is what he looked like the day after.
I had no idea that this was Rusty, I don't know what I need to do to try and make this okay, but I want to try.
Annie wants to try.
I apologized.
Tell me what else I can do.
Well, if you want to prove that you're sorry, then you can sign this paper surrendering your parental rights and allow me to become a ward of the state.
Wait a se hold on, Rusty.
Wait.
W-w-w-wait.
Annie wants to add you to our family.
I don't think you understand, Daniel.
We're trying very hard to avoid arresting you.
Arresting me? For what? For child abuse.
To which you confessed yesterday in my office.
And that you should have to ask why we would arrest you after seeing those pictures It's just a very bad sign, Danny boy.
Look, we put you in front of a judge That's assault and battery of a minor.
That will trigger investigations with any other children who might be under your supervision.
Like your fiancée's daughters.
On the other hand, your booking photo might make a nice addition to your wedding album.
Hold on! Hold on! Y I admit that I made a mistake.
But I did my best.
Unfortunately, Daniel, your very best turns out to be a crime.
You You don't understand.
If I tell Annie that I signed away my responsibility for my own son There are two choices in front of you.
They are both very clear and easy to understand.
Sign this document, surrender your parental rights over Rusty, or prepare to be arrested and arraigned for trial.
If it's any comfort to you, Daniel, yesterday, I was reminded just how much good fathers are willing to sacrifice for their children.
You're not cut out for the job.
You may just have ruined my life.
Good.
Congratulations, kid.
We should all sign on as witnesses.
Now, this is the best deal we've done so far.
Guys, Sharon, thank you so much.
Thank you.
How weird is it that I'm happy to be an orphan? You're not an orphan, Rusty.
You may not have a mom and dad, but you are family.
You are.
How is 63rd street school doing? Great to see you.
Good to see you.
Keep up the good work.
Thanks so much.
Oh, oh, Mr.
Mayor.
Um We know that the job of superintendent of our schools, to which Dr.
Massoud is about to dedicate himself, is not an easy one.
As mayor, I thank him for putting his inspirational leadership at the disposal of our city's youth.
Dr.
Massoud, we are here not only to wish you luck, but to offer you our support.
Hear, hear! Thank you, Mr.
Mayor.
Now, Judge Cully, let's get this thing over with before the good doctor changes his mind.
Raise your right hand and repeat after me.
I, Dr.
Aamil Massoud I, Dr.
Aamil Massoud having been appointed to the office of school superintendent having been appointed to the office of school Judge? Judge, you all right? Judge oh, my God! Can I have some help here?! Someone call 911! Lay him down.
Lay him down.
Easy, easy.
Judge Cully! Judge Cully! Look at me a-are you in pain? Please te what the hell? Oh, my God.
Help me! Help me! He's been shot! Sir, you need to leave now.
Somebody help me! Get them out of here now! Come on! Out, out, out! Out! Throw up a six-block perimeter.
Get airships checking rooftops right now.
And get me an ETA on paramedics, damn it! Chief Taylor! match-grade round.
This comes from a precision rifle.
We're talking professional hit here.
Did you hear a gunshot? There was a little snap.
IDidn't think much of it at the time.
I thought the judge was having a heart attack.
Does threat management have any background on our victim? No, but Dr.
Massoud received five death threats in the last two weeks, mostly from parents worried about a Muslim being in charge of their children that sort of thing.
Look, Massoud's on his way to Major Crimes, waiting to talk to you.
Thank you, chief.
Do you have any idea of the sniper's location yet? Just a second.
Flynn! Flynn, give me a hand up here.
All right, Buzz, show Flynn where the victim was standing.
Here like this.
Height of the entry wound just above the heart, right there.
And the exit wound? Exit of the spine.
That's about the angle.
Excuse me.
Which puts the killer Somewhere up There.
Yeah? I'm 10 minutes out.
Were you followed? Negative.
My position has not been compromised.
Requesting release authority at this time.
Yes.
As always, however, you must guarantee no witnesses.
Roger that.
I expect payment on confirmation.
You got it.
Out.
This won't be the proper angle, because I think the killer stood back from the window to avoid being seen before pulling the trigger.
Take a look for yourself.
Wait a second.
Target was about 500 yards away.
Usually you need a spotter for a shot like this.
Not always.
A pro might have special equipment.
Looks like a screen was across this entry to the balcony.
And he left the tape, Captain.
A screen wouldn't interfere with his optics, and it would make him invisible from the street.
But he didn't just stand right here.
He had to be higher somehow.
Ooh.
Let's get SID to go through this place inch by inch.
Get Buzz to check security cameras surrounding the building.
See if any of them caught our shooter coming or going.
Mr.
Reyes, you said this apartment's on the market? Yes, ma'am.
Who has keys to it? Um Everyone at the sales desk, me, and, um, I have a spare set at home.
Hey, Captain.
Look at this.
I think someone was standing right here.
Who are you? Oh, hey.
I, uh, was just visiting a friend in the building, and thought I'd check the place out that's for sale.
It was unlocked Looks like we had a witness.
I don't see any blood.
Maybe this supposed witness got away.
Two sets of footprints coming out of the stairwell, Captain.
So, no blood anywhere No more gunshots Sykes, check if there's a body down here.
Skid marks.
And they're fresh.
Looks like there's another set down there.
Hey, Buzz.
Is it time-stamped? How clear is the video? The parking garage exits onto a one-way street, and there's an atm on the first corner.
Now Here we are six minutes after the shooting, and watch this car running the red light.
My guess that's our witness trying to get the hell out of there.
Get a better look at the license plate.
Maybe I can work some pixel magic on it.
May take a while.
A Phoenix.
There's not many of them around.
I'll look up late-'70s Pontiacs and see what we find, Captain.
Thank you, Detective.
Let it play, Buzz.
Freeze it there.
And enlarge it.
No side-view mirror.
And we just happened to find one in the parking garage.
That's not a coincidence.
Looks like the shooter was still chasing our witness.
Captain Raydor, this is Dr.
Aamil Massoud.
Agent Howard and I have been arranging protection for he and his family until we can sort this whole thing out.
We'll also monitor the hate-group websites, see if we get any chatter.
Thank you, special agent Howard.
Dr.
Massoud.
Assassinations are usually about something bigger than the target.
Were you proposing any educational policy changes if you're asking if I suggested imposing sharia law on the student body, my answer is an emphatic "no.
" My most controversial suggestion so far seems to have been updating the sex-education courses.
Hey.
Got a seating chart of the doctor's swearing-in.
Shows where everyone is supposed to be on the platform.
Even has Judge Cully and Dr.
Massoud at the microphone.
All right, if this is north, then 500 yards to the southeast over here is what the sniper would call his "hide.
" Dr.
Massoud, uh, is this where you were positioned on the platform this morning? It is, yes.
And the way we rehearsed it yesterday, too.
You rehearsed it? Yes.
So everyone was where they were supposed to be.
Strange.
Uh Captain? Hmm? Were you expecting Rusty's father? I left several messages apologizing to you and Rusty about what happened.
And maybe you're not calling me back because you're mad, but you don't have all the facts.
And you need to hear them.
I look forward to that, Daniel.
Take a seat in my office.
I'll be with you shortly.
I think I know how the killer managed without a spotter, Captain.
It's the right shot target system.
It's a top-of-the-line sight attachment that projects the precise point of impact into the rifle scope, taking into account all the factors that interfere with a long-distance shot weather, wind velocity, barometric pressure.
Makes it nearly impossible to miss.
Then why didn't he hit his target? Maybe he did.
Our shooter wasn't aiming at Dr.
Massoud.
He was aiming at Judge Cully.
I made a mistake.
I'm not denying it.
I feel terrible about how I lost my temper, but You only have one side of this story.
Okay.
But before you fill in the blanks, I want to establish some facts.
You came here today on your own, not at my request, to make a spontaneous statement.
Is that correct? Yeah.
Yeah, that's right.
All right.
Go ahead.
My fiancée, Annie, is very protective of her little girls, and Rusty just drops this bombshell on us.
Look, I get that he was in a tough situation.
But what he did the way that he sold himself on the street it shows such terrible judgment.
The idea of taking a kid that has done that kind of stuff and putting him into a normal family, it freaked Annie out.
Oh, I can't imagine.
I had to take Rusty outside just so she had a chance to calm down.
And Explain to him why he should apologize.
The words that he used I could tell you what he said.
No, it's not necessary.
Okay.
Anyway, he ends up calling me an asshole, and I hit him.
It was much harder than I intended.
And I had no idea that he would run off.
And I ju I wanted I wanted to discipline the kid.
He needs discipline.
Is that what you told your fiancée that Rusty disappeared because you disciplined him? Uh Wh n-no.
No, I-I-I-I said that he ran off and that I-I couldn't catch him, which is true that happened.
But I Look, I-I need to talk to to Rusty.
Annie wants I need to talk to Rusty.
All right.
Why don't we make a tentative appointment for you and Rusty to talk tomorrow at 4:00 P.
M.
in the conference room here? Thank you.
I appreciate that.
Because we can fix this.
We can.
Fixing this is a Very big priority here, as you can see.
See you tomorrow, Daniel.
You sure you don't want us to just arrest the bastard? That's a bell that can't be unrung.
Let's keep our options open.
What did we find out about Judge Cully? Long list of commendations.
Been on the state's appellate bench for 18 years, ma'am.
And, according to his active calendar, he's got another 23 decisions pending in the next few months.
Any of those drug cases? Mm, doesn't say.
Why do you ask, Special Agent Fritz Howard? Curiosity.
Um, I just googled Judge Cully's name, Captain.
First thing that comes up is an article about a pot case People vs.
William.
Says here, "from the nature of Judge Cully's questions", "the decision is expected "to open the door for the legalization "of marijuana cultivation in California in defiance of federal law.
" What a coincidence you should ask about drugs.
Call it a hunch.
Listen, if you let me take a closer look at that bullet you recovered from the crime scene, I could probably tell you something More definitive.
Oh, and hold off on calling for a DA right now.
U.
S.
attorney might want this one.
Excuse me, officers.
I was wondering if you could help me out with something real quick.
Sorry to bug you.
Some kid just hit my car took the mirror right off.
I got his license plate before he left.
I was hoping I could just talk to him, maybe get him to do the right thing.
I can't afford another insurance hike.
I mean, unless you guys want me to fill out a report I can do it.
No, no, no.
It's fine.
Let me, uh See what I come up with.
I really appreciate it, guys.
I literally just got this car.
It's warm, huh? Okay.
Got a phone number.
Is that good enough? Absolutely.
I think I can handle it from here.
You guys have a good one, all right? Thank you.
No.
No, no.
I'm fine.
You watching the news? I know.
Pretty crazy, right? I'm just glad I caught you before you went all the way downtown.
I know.
Listen, that place is gonna have to be off-limits for now 'cause of the shooting.
Hey, babe, believe me, okay? I can't get into everything right now, but you're so lucky you weren't with me today.
No.
No, I mean it.
Yeah.
So, I don't know.
I guess we're just gonna have to find some other place Wait, wait, wait.
I'll call you back.
Angel? Dad.
You scared the crap out of me.
What are you I thought you were on till 6:00.
There was a guy with a gun in one of the buildings.
He shot someone.
Detectives started questioning me, shut down the building.
Loco.
I came home to make sure my keys were here.
Hopefully, the police don't check up on us.
They're not gonna be looking for undocumented workers.
They're gonna be looking for a killer.
If we were back in Juárez and I was still police, I would be looking at us.
You got a shift? Yeah till midnight.
Don't worry, pop.
We're okay.
How we doing on those plates? We're getting close.
About an hour? We've been combing the books for unsolved sniper homicides, trying to figure out what our good friend Special Agent Fritz Howard was being so tight-lipped about.
Yeah, and get this of the five unsolved assassination-style murders we found, two were prominent figures in the movement to legalize pot.
Yeah, one was a city council member from Phoenix, the other was a DEA Agent killed four months ago outside his house in Santa Fe.
Both guys hit with body shots from a 556 match-grade precision rifle, ma'am.
And that rifle officially makes this an FBI investigation.
You're kidding me.
Turns out the bullet from our shooting came from the same weapon used in those two other murders you were talking about.
So this assassination is related to legalizing marijuana? Which is the last thing the cartels want us to do.
So they've hired a pro this, uh, ghost.
Don't know his name, what he looks like.
He never leaves a trace of himself behind or a witness, for that matter.
In other words, you're no further along than we are.
Doesn't matter the murder of a DEA Agent means the FBI has jurisdiction.
We need to wish Special Agent Howard good luck.
Thank you, chief.
Sorry, guys.
I appreciate all your help.
I'll be back in touch.
The FBI has the mandate and the resources for this.
It's better on their dime than ours.
Understood.
Thank you, chief.
Of course, we still have a legal obligation to search for and determine the identity of our possible witness.
And our assassin Is probably looking for that witness, too.
Good assumption.
But before we pass that suggestion on to the FBI, I'd like to be certain of all our facts.
We wouldn't want to send the federal government on a wild-goose chase, now, would we, Lieutenant? Oh, I should hope not, Captain.
I should certainly hope not.
So, Daniel came today, like you said he would, huh? Yes.
He wants to apologize.
Sure he does.
So, not returning his calls was the right thing to do? Oh, yeah.
I wouldn't have been able to record him in a phone conversation without a warrant.
But his apology could work perfectly as a spontaneous confession.
So, I don't have to see him again, right? Because I really don't want to.
It'll be uncomfortable for a few minutes, but then you have a chance to solve this problem forever.
Are you sure about all this? Honey, I do this for a living.
Right.
Rusty, if you change your mind, we can still arrest him.
Otherwise, two minutes you're done.
Captain, I'm sorry to interrupt, but we just got enough of the plate on the Phoenix to run it, and we have a problem.
We pulled the registration on the Pontiac and sent a patrol car to pick up our witness.
Thing is, he doesn't live at that address.
Exactly.
The officer just called, said the woman who does live there sold the Pontiac a couple of weeks ago, and she gave him an address for the buyer, ma'am.
On which I ran a utility check, and the guy paying the water bill where the car went is one Gustavo Reyes.
Why do I know that name? Mr.
Reyes is the handyman at the apartment building this morning.
What else? The woman at that first address the one who sold the car she told the officers that someone else had just called about the Pontiac.
That could be our shooter.
And he's ahead of us.
Just a second.
Can I help you? Uh, I'm sorry to bother you at home.
My name's Dave.
My daughter, she's friends with with your son.
Angel? Angel.
He sounds like a great kid.
Is he around? Angel just left for work a little while ago.
Is there a problem? No, there's no problem.
Actually, uh, this is a little weird, but She wrote a note for him, and she asked me to deliver it.
Okay.
Leave it with me.
He'll see it when he gets home.
Look I-I'll level with you.
My daughter's only 17.
I-I would really just like to meet him.
Could you tell me where he works? Where did she meet angel, again? Oh, I think it was at a party.
Huh.
'Cause angel already has a girlfriend.
Maybe it's better you leave this note with me and I'll hey, what are you doing?! What the hell?! Are you crazy or something?! What's wrong with you?! Shh, shh, shh, shh.
We got a body! Oh, damn it.
Smell the smoke? We didn't miss our killer by much.
All clear! Back here, captain.
Back here.
Must have been Gustavo's son in the apartment this morning.
His name is Angel.
Why didn't he call us? Maybe the boy wasn't supposed to be the building.
Maybe he's not supposed to be in the United States.
The Pontiac sale wasn't transferred properly.
There's no insurance on it.
Gustavo and his son are probably both undocumented.
So the killer shows up looking for Angel.
Angel isn't here.
Dad won't help.
Bang.
He searched the room, but he didn't toss it all.
Maybe he found what he was looking for, Captain.
Then maybe he already knows where the kid is.
Apron.
He works in a restaurant.
If we're going to save this boy's life, we need to find him, and now.
The kid is safe and working his shift, Captain.
The staff doesn't know we're here, but we've managed to replace all the customers with our people, and we have more coming in, as you requested.
Has the FBI arrived yet? Yes, and they're a little anxious.
We're next in the valet line, Lieutenant.
Roger that, Chief.
See you inside.
We didn't need the feds.
I told you once we confirmed we had a witness, we'd share it with the FBI.
I thought you were just covering your ass so we could keep our case.
I was precisely following the law.
God.
It's like working for a hall monitor every single day.
Detective, anyone, uh, ask you to keep their car idling while they went in? Uh, no, ma'am.
Our killer won't want more witnesses.
But he's probably nesting somewhere, waiting to take the boy outside.
I forgot your ticket.
Mm-hmm.
From anywhere above 20 feet, facing South, the sniper has a great line of sight on the Phoenix.
The driver's seat is the one place he knows Angel is going to be.
Stay safe.
Yes, ma'am.
The things I do for this job.
Gentlemen, what's the latest? Had a helicopter fly over about 10 minutes ago.
Pilot didn't see anything.
Thought a second pass would be too risky.
Okay, here we are, and if Sanchez is right, this whole area is the kill zone.
It's pretty huge.
Captain Raydor, Lieutenant, this is Agent Goodwin.
Thanks for bringing us in on this.
Oh, this is your case.
Always nice when the LAPD recognizes our jurisdiction.
As far as the kill zone Lieutenant Flynn was mentioning, we got two teams slow-walking the area, agents in a van out back monitoring the rooftops.
The problem is, there is a limit to how late we can keep this place open without him catching on.
If we start actively searching for him Then he'll try and get away.
Thank you.
Let me be clear about this.
The FBI needs this guy alive.
He's a transnational threat operating under the direction of the Maldova Cartel.
If we can get him to name his paymaster, maybe turn him against his employers That would be huge, Captain.
Huge.
Where's our runaway witness? He's right over there.
Hello, Angel.
We need to talk.
You saw something this morning at the apartment in the building where your father works.
You talked to my dad? You told him I was in that apartment that's how you knew I was here? Dad must be freaking out.
Look, you can't just send him back to Mexico.
You can't.
Angel, you your father isn't going to be mad at you at all.
And he isn't going to be deported.
In fact, if we could have brought your dad with us, I know that he would want you to tell us what happened today.
We don't have much time, angel.
If we don't catch this guy tonight, you could be at risk for a very long time.
Why don't you start by telling us why you were at the apartment building to begin with? Uh The salespeople don't show it on mondays.
I was planning on meeting my girlfriend there.
I went there early to get the place ready.
There was this guy there this weird guy.
I've never seen him before.
So I said, "who are you?" And while he was answering, he took this gun out and he shot at me, so I just started running as fast as I could.
Why didn't you come to the police? I didn't want my dad to know what I was doing.
Plus, I call you guys, tell you what I saw, you start looking into us We can't go back to Mexico.
My dad was a police officer in Juárez.
They, um They murdered my mom and my brothers.
My dad he gave up everything to bring me here and keep me safe.
Everything.
Angel, nobody's going back to Mexico.
What we need you to do now as best you can is tell us what the guy who shot at you looked like.
Um Dark hair Brown eyes About 6 feet Maybe 190 pounds Gray t-shirt Dark jeans.
What else? He sounded American.
Oh.
He had this this big black bag over his shoulder.
Looked heavy.
Very impressive description, kid.
Yes.
The killer has good reason to be here.
How much personnel do you want in the restaurant, Captain? Parking lot's almost full.
We're running out of time.
And the search isn't getting very far.
Lieutenant Flynn, are you absolutely sure there's no more room in the parking lot? Yeah, and we still have cars lined up at the valet.
Since our search for the killer seems to be failing, it's time to implement plan "B.
" There's a plan "B"? We're gonna start collecting car keys from all the restaurant staff.
Detectives Sykes and Sanchez are gonna start moving their vehicles out of the lot to make room for new arrivals.
Lieutenant, may I see the map? Since we are all agreed that the killer's best shot is at angel's car, let's move it somewhere harder for him to see.
I'm gonna take a break.
Bye, angel.
Have a good night.
See you tomorrow.
Freeze! Drop your weapon! Drop it! Put the gun down! Put it down! Get on the ground now! Drop it.
Now.
Put your gun down! Listen to me! Put your gun down! Put it down, or we will kill you! Put it down! You all right? That was a close one.
Good job, Agent Goodwin.
Call this in! Roll the paramedics now! Sir, I'm afraid medical attention will not be reaching you in time.
Could I have a name to put on your death certificate? Who the hell is this guy? So, where are we on our mystery shooter.
Today? That's the FBI's problem now.
I'm taking personal charge of this case, along with your witness, angel, who's going under federal protection.
The truth is, we may never ID this guy.
I have confidence we'll eventually figure this one out.
I certainly hope so, because whoever this man was, there are more like him out there.
This way, please, Daniel.
You know, it's a shame we're not sitting down making a deal today.
Oh, looks like there's still a little Negotiating to do.
Hmm.
Daniel, if, uh, you'd join us right here.
Thank you.
Oh, well, uh I was hoping that, uh I'd like to talk to Rusty by myself.
The people here want to be sure of my safety, Daniel.
Okay.
I get it.
And I'm sorry.
I am so very sorry.
And I want to promise you, Rusty, and everyone else here, I will never hit you like that again.
Like this, you mean? This first set of pictures is what Rusty looked like when he came home the night you beat him.
And the second set is what he looked like the day after.
I had no idea that this was Rusty, I don't know what I need to do to try and make this okay, but I want to try.
Annie wants to try.
I apologized.
Tell me what else I can do.
Well, if you want to prove that you're sorry, then you can sign this paper surrendering your parental rights and allow me to become a ward of the state.
Wait a se hold on, Rusty.
Wait.
W-w-w-wait.
Annie wants to add you to our family.
I don't think you understand, Daniel.
We're trying very hard to avoid arresting you.
Arresting me? For what? For child abuse.
To which you confessed yesterday in my office.
And that you should have to ask why we would arrest you after seeing those pictures It's just a very bad sign, Danny boy.
Look, we put you in front of a judge That's assault and battery of a minor.
That will trigger investigations with any other children who might be under your supervision.
Like your fiancée's daughters.
On the other hand, your booking photo might make a nice addition to your wedding album.
Hold on! Hold on! Y I admit that I made a mistake.
But I did my best.
Unfortunately, Daniel, your very best turns out to be a crime.
You You don't understand.
If I tell Annie that I signed away my responsibility for my own son There are two choices in front of you.
They are both very clear and easy to understand.
Sign this document, surrender your parental rights over Rusty, or prepare to be arrested and arraigned for trial.
If it's any comfort to you, Daniel, yesterday, I was reminded just how much good fathers are willing to sacrifice for their children.
You're not cut out for the job.
You may just have ruined my life.
Good.
Congratulations, kid.
We should all sign on as witnesses.
Now, this is the best deal we've done so far.
Guys, Sharon, thank you so much.
Thank you.
How weird is it that I'm happy to be an orphan? You're not an orphan, Rusty.
You may not have a mom and dad, but you are family.
You are.