Major Crimes s02e11 Episode Script

Poster Boy

Originally Aired August 19, 2013 _ _ _ Joe, I'm calling your landline, so you know I'm worried.
Come on, Joe.
Pick up.
When the victim, Joe Fox, missed a Skype conference with the east coast this morning, his business partner came over and found the body tortured with bleach, mutilated, and shut up in the bathroom down the hall.
Really? 'Cause it smells like it's here in the room.
Air-conditioning was left on.
It circulates the odor.
Is that gonna be a problem for you? No.
I'm just observing how horrible it smells in here.
That's all.
Rios, just sit here on the couch.
Buzz, let me film the body.
It's my job.
Trust me it's nothing you need to see.
Grab your extra camera and meet me in the garage.
Good Lord.
What the hell is that? Could be the Bible, sir.
Psalms 46:10 "Be still and know that I am God.
" Yeah, well Message received.
Body's out of rigor with skin blisters barely forming.
Today's Monday.
Dead since Friday, maybe.
Three days? Smells like at least a week.
Sykes said something about torture with bleach.
Mm-hmm.
Right eyelid is completely eaten away.
Victim runs to the shower to try to rinse the bleach off, gets hit from behind, winds up in the tub.
Look at this.
He tried to cut the guy's head off? He gets halfway through, drops the knife in the tub, and walks away, like he gave up.
Yeah, or something interrupted him.
Oh, hey, grandma.
Yeah.
Yeah, I just got back from a run.
Got to stay fit.
Hey, I was, uh I was going to call you and tell you about my, uh My potential new roommate.
You'd like him.
Uh, Caitlin? No, no, her place was so small, grandma.
Exactly.
Yeah, I didn't want to be in her way.
But packing up and moving stuff is a drag.
Yeah.
Joe's place is bigger.
Uh, he likes video games, so that's good.
Well, I need to go grocery shopping, because Joe doesn't eat anything that hasn't been frozen first.
Oh, no, don't send me any money, grandma.
Grandma, you already gave me a car and a cellphone.
No, I'm doing great.
Either this guy knows we can't I.
D.
him or he wants to get caught.
I've counted at least six good prints between here and the bathroom.
Make that seven.
Pizza? Killer made a snack after the murder? Yeah, but this box was in the bottom of the pile.
All this other stuff was on top.
So he hangs out here all weekend with a dead body in the tub, eating? I'm telling you, this guy is a total - Nut job? - Uh-huh.
Lieutenant.
There's a second bathroom.
Victim have a roommate? Not according to the business partner.
Smell that? Yeah.
Yeah, more bleach.
Now, why would he have? Wait a minute.
Wait a minute.
I can't believe I have to try to look like you when I'm twice as hot.
But Nobody said life was fair.
Right, Joe? Thank God you have nice clothes.
Our killer changed his appearance.
He leaves his fingerprints everywhere but still needs a disguise? You want to hear something weird? At this point, no.
The car in the garage is not registered to the victim.
Joe Fox drives an Audi S.
U.
V.
, but it's not here.
This car belongs to a guy in Ohio, so I have calls in to Akron P.
D.
Hmm.
Buzz.
Oh! That smells way too familiar.
Dried blood on the inside of the trunk, lieutenant.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Caitlin.
Good news.
Talked to Joe.
He said it was cool for you to stay.
Hey.
Have you lost weight? Come on.
Hope you don't mind the couch Even though you kicked me off yours.
Sorry.
Attagirl.
Sleep tight, princess.
Sykes.
Tao, Sanchez.
What? What happened? Better stand up.
Why? Ah, sofa folds out.
Oh! Explains the smell.
Do not scream.
Okay, let's have a look.
She died at least a week ago.
Mr.
Fox here probably passed away only last Friday.
We need to I.
D.
the woman, doctor.
Uh-huh, well, her skin looks like a waffle from the mattress Springs, and it's adhering to the fabric, so I don't know about prints yet.
Hey, captain.
I have Akron P.
D.
on the line.
They're at the house of the Ohio guy who owns the vehicle that we found at the crime scene.
What do you want them to do? Let's keep it all about the car for the moment.
Don't mention the murders.
This body is old.
This "Ohio guy" could be who we're looking for.
Captain, our Jane Doe's quite bloated.
I can't match her up on Joe Fox's Facebook page, but he's got over 500 friends, lots of pretty women, and quite a few men.
Relationship status Single.
I guess it's gonna stay that way.
I can say three things for sure She's dead, she's in her 20s, and she was stabbed multiple times.
Plus, I think I could get her prints.
How soon? Well, after I remove her hands and I soak them in a salt solution, it'll take a little while Two, three days, maybe.
Hold on.
Hold on.
Lieutenant? Okay, captain, I may have an I.
D.
on our female victim.
The guy in Ohio says that he and his wife gave the car to their daughter, Caitlin Harvey, to move out to L.
A.
last year.
Oh! Oh! Ask them for dental records.
Wait.
No.
Don't alarm them.
We need to get Caitlin Harvey's L.
A.
address first.
Yeah, one last thing Her parents say that they've been texting with Caitlin all week.
Today, even.
The killer has her cellphone.
Let's see if we can get a warrant for that number and have S.
I.
D.
meet you at Caitlin Harvey's apartment.
L.
A.
P.
D.
! We got a search warrant! Apartment's clear, lieutenant.
Buzz, why don't you start in the kitchen? I'll check out the bathroom.
Smells like he killed her back there anyway.
Nut job likes pizza.
So now we have two lived-in crime scenes.
And this one's older than the last one.
Nut job has got us going backwards! I live right down the hall.
I told Bobby, the guy who was staying with Caitlin, that the smell was so bad we should call the landlord.
Had to be some animal dead in the wall.
Ma'am, did this Bobby have a last name? I don't know.
I met him the first time a week ago in the laundry room.
Said he was a friend of Caitlin's.
Mm-hmm.
Can you describe Bobby for us? Early 20s, very good-looking, brown hair, and his body was I don't know Perfect.
Ma'am, we need you to describe him to a sketch artist, please.
Sure.
But I have a hard time believing he did anything horrible.
Captain, I'm calling Caitlin's parents to see if she had any friends visiting her here in L.
A.
Good just make sure they still understand she's missing, not dead.
I do not want this killer to know we've found the bodies.
Okay.
I'm not getting any reception in here.
Let's go outside.
Any sign of a connection between Joe and Caitlin? Eh, they were both killed in their bathroom.
Both of their cellphones are missing.
Well, maybe Caitlin had a boyfriend who found out she was cheating with Joe and went nuts.
Captain, found this jammed into a crawl space.
Stabs one, clubs the other.
What's next on the hit parade? Let's hope it's not a shooting.
This gun case we found underneath Caitlin's bed Empty.
No, no, Joe didn't work out the way I hoped, grandma.
He partied too much, and he liked me A little more than I did him.
Yeah, that's no good.
But don't worry.
Don't worry, though.
I'll find a new roommate.
In fact, I have five very good leads.
Ladies' night, bro.
Back of the line.
Hey, big Mike.
He's with us.
The killer's prints don't appear in any criminal database, but Tao's phone tree has borne fruit.
There are zero numbers in common between the two victims' cells, but when I checked Caitlin's landline, I found a match.
Who belongs to that number? High Crest Productions They do reality TV.
I'm on hold.
They're checking for the victims' names, ma'am.
This one's incoming.
This one's outgoing.
Right, High Crest called Joe Fox's cellphone Friday afternoon, and then, an hour later, someone called in to High Crest using Caitlin's landline.
But it couldn't have been Caitlin because she was already dead.
Thanks.
Uh, hang Hang on, hang on.
The the people at High Crest never heard of Caitlin, but Joe Fox was a finalist on one of their reality shows "Poster Boy.
" Our victim, Joe Fox, was gonna be on television? Hey, captain hold on.
Okay, Joe Fox's bank reports a $400 withdrawal by his ATM card Friday at 10:18 P.
M.
, which is around the approximate time of his death.
I've got security video on its way.
Detective Sanchez, get somebody from "Poster Boy" down here.
If anyone other than Joe Fox was making that withdrawal, maybe they can tell us who it was.
Uh, uh, uh, what the hell is "Poster Boy"? - They make you do all these interviews - Yeah.
But they only pick like 20 guys.
So do they make you take your shirt off? Mm? Because that's your secret weapon.
You don't think I'm too short? Too short?! Are you crazy? You're perfect.
So, are you gonna be on the show or not? They called me Friday.
I knew it! Oh, can I can I take a picture of you? What? So that I can at least say I knew you when? You mean right here in bed? Trust me.
It's a good look for you.
What are you doing? Sending it to my friend A little photo brag.
Let me see it.
Are you mad? Just protecting my image, that's all.
I gave up so much to get here my job, my apartment, my savings.
Just don't want to blow it now.
What the hell? Here.
Send it.
Who cares anymore? Send it.
Do you recognize this man as someone who may have been involved in "Poster Boy"? I mean, other than Joe Fox, I can't be sure.
Well, we think that he may have changed the color of his hair to resemble Joe.
You know what? There's something about the way he's dressed.
Hold on.
I need to check my casting website.
May I use your computer, please? Uh, sure.
Sit here.
Thank you.
Captain, how can you be certain this isn't just Joe Fox getting money from his own account? The bloody numbers on Joe's bathroom door turned out to be his PIN code.
And we believe he was tortured to give it up.
Ah! Okay, look! This is a digital still from Joe's audition.
I thought I'd seen that shirt before.
We know our suspect stole some of Joe's clothes.
Now, I'm not exactly an expert in men's wear, but isn't that shirt a little too big for him? Definitely I'm gonna look up the rejects under 5'11".
You people have a height requirement? Well, modeling is pretty superficial, you know what I mean? Oh, Claire, what about that one weirdo from Florida? No, no, no.
That guy was already blond.
The one they want wasn't blond when we saw him.
No, I'm telling you, it's the nutter from Florida The one who did the karate routine.
No, Bruce! It's this guy.
Oh, yeah.
I remember him.
Cocky.
Boring.
His name is Brandon North.
Okay, I think he was from the midwest Maybe Pennsylvania.
No, Akron, Ohio, and that's the contact number he gave us.
That's Caitlin's landline.
Why would he leave Caitlin's landline as a contact? Oh, cell reception's lousy at her place.
We need to release his photo to the media.
He's out there.
He's possibly armed.
If we withhold this information and he murders again Yeah, but these are functional homicides.
He kills for food, money, and shelter.
If someone can I.
D.
him, he could start offing people just to stay free.
You're forgetting the torture and the mutilation.
What's functional about that? No, he's a public-safety issue.
But now that we know who he is, we have a chance to locate him and get ahead of him.
Best way to do that is to put every citizen - in L.
A.
on the lookout.
- Uh mm There's more than one right answer here, captain.
_ This quick in and out to meet with his former Chief of Staff marks the President's - Rusty.
- Hey.
What are you doing up so early? I-I couldn't sleep.
I-I thought you were in your room this whole time.
Oh, no, I came back for a change of clothes.
You gonna do anything special on your second-to-last day of freedom? Um I figured I'd just stay home, actually.
Hey, is this your case? Yes, it is.
We're gonna roll his audition tape now so the public can get a sense of his voice and mannerisms.
I've met every goal I've ever set for myself.
Well, sure, but there are some things that none of us can change.
Mm.
Sure, yeah.
Like, you say you're 5'11"? Yeah, but because of my long neck and torso, i look taller, so Well, Brandon, uh, those marks behind you are measurements, and you're barely 5'10".
And just so you know, the "Poster Boy" brand is pretty athletic, so Oh, I uh, I played football all through high school, and I-I can easily put on muscle, if that's what you need.
Oh, well, what Bruce is trying to say, Brandon, is that you're just too short, and you're not quite buff enough for our show.
I'm not buff? Really? I mean I mean, really? Have you people looked at yourselves? Wow.
This guy's scary.
We have forensic psychologist Dr.
Kris Mohandie here to talk with us about what might drive someone like Brandon North to allegedly commit these murders.
Dr.
Mohandie, what what is this? This feels like a deliberate act of humiliation.
Exactly.
Good.
If we could speak to Brandon, he'd give us another perspective good? This guy Brandon is a psycho.
Shh.
Shh.
Shh.
The law-enforcement community would love to hear.
Because right now, all we know for sure is that this young man was treated unfairly by the series producers It's not the show's fault that he can't handle rejection.
Actually, Rusty, Dr.
Mohandie is helping us try and talk to Brandon.
You can do that? Yes, we can.
We need to try and reach Brandon by every means possible, although I hate that he gets to see himself on TV.
Why? Because if he's interested in being famous, and that is all that he is interested in, then he has accomplished his goal by killing people, and, so, he may continue to do that.
Thank you very much.
And CNN will get the names of the victims to you as soon as authorities make them available.
So you're trying to find a new roommate online? Yeah Yeah, so hard to know if people are telling you the truth, though.
Hmm.
You should just stay here until you find something.
Thanks, Raquel.
That's nice of you.
Hey, we should go out for some breakfast.
Okay.
Where do you like to go? There's this place on Fairfax, and they have the most amazing buckwheat pancakes.
Okay, but I'm, like, only eating protein right now.
Right.
Mr.
"Poster Boy.
" We'll split one.
How's that? I'll be like your food coach.
Thanks for believing in me Raquel.
It means a lot.
That's my instant messaging.
I thought I turned it off last night.
Oh, wait I only turned it off on my iPad, duh.
It's probably Sandy.
Turn it off if she's bothering you.
She's fine.
What's she saying? Oh, she, uh She just wants to meet me.
I knew she'd go nuts when she saw that picture of you I sent.
You're so hot, she probably exploded.
God, girl, get a grip.
I'm almost done in here.
Brandon? What are you? Brandon please! Ahh! First he searched for his victim's names, then he searched for himself.
That was two hours ago.
Two hours behind is better than two days.
We're catching up.
Raquel's friend, who called our tip line, sent her this message just before he looked up his name.
Oh, my God.
We caused this murder.
That maniac caused this murder, not us.
Kendall says she was suffocated.
So he hasn't used his gun yet.
Probably too noisy.
She's got everything in her purse I.
D.
, credit cards, phone, but no cash.
Maybe he's running low on funds.
Hey, captain, victim's parking spot was empty.
Her keys are gone.
I put an alert out on her vehicle.
He's looking for another place to stay, which means another victim.
But his face is everywhere now.
No one's gonna take him in.
We need to find this boy right now.
The only other person, besides the L.
A.
P.
D.
, who knows the names of all three victims is Brandon North.
He's already searched for the first two online.
If he searches for the third one, probably using one of their stolen devices That's how we can catch him because he's hunting all over the Internet to see if we found his victims.
Let's serve warrants for every search engine on the web.
I want I.
P.
addresses and live access to anyone looking for the names Joe Fox, Caitlin Harvey, and Raquel Newman, especially especially together.
What about the victims' families? We can't leave them in the dark.
Captain, those three names are going to get out to the public sooner or later.
The ethical thing would be The ethical thing would be to make sure no one else dies.
We hold on to these names as long as possible because the only person who can link them together besides us is our murderer, and this is the best way to find him before he kills again.
No searches for Joe or Raquel yet, but last week in a public library in Glendale, someone did a search on Caitlin Harvey's name, and then he searched for What is that? It's an annual fashion show for charity.
Top designers and models from all over the world donate their time happening tomorrow afternoon.
This is what he's saving his gun for.
Hey, h-hey, hey! We've just been forwarded a live search for "Joe Fox + Caitlin Harvey + Raquel Newman.
" It's got to be him.
Lieutenant, do you have a location? He's somewhere in The Netherlands He's routing his device through an offshore server.
Is that hard to do? Not at all.
However, it does indicate that He knows he's being watched.
But it's still him, look He's going back to the fashion gala website.
Lieutenant Tao, how long will it take to work your way back through the Netherlands' proxy server? If he stays online for another five minutes He just turned off his wi-fi.
Oh, uh, excuse me.
D.
D.
A.
Rios? Emma? Hi.
Kris Slater.
I'm friends with Rusty Beck.
Oh, right.
Kris.
Hi.
What can I do for you? There's something that you need to know, and Oh, my God.
Are you all right? No no, I'm not all right, because, see, I swore that I wouldn't tell anyone, but if something happened to him If something happened to who? To Rusty.
In the past two months, he's been getting all these threatening letters from some crazy person who wants to kill him and everybody he loves because of the trial, - and I just - Oh, no.
Look.
I don't know what Rusty's told you, but he's only received one letter, and that was a while back, actually.
No no, no, no.
I saw them.
He showed them to me, and there's like over 10 of them, and he doesn't want to tell you because Look, if you put him in the witness-protection program, he'll never see his mother again, and he will lose everything that he has, so please don't do that, but you have to save him.
Please.
Okay.
And could you tell me where those letters are? He can't know that I told you.
He will never hear it from me.
We found a search by someone using the same Netherlands I.
P.
address looking for last year's "Poster Boy" winner Carlo de Luca.
Do you think this de Luca might be the target? He is the only one on the fashion event list who embodies everything that our suspect wants to be.
The least we can do is to pull Carlo out of the event and try and keep him safe.
But discreetly.
Brandon North's grandmother is being interviewed on the national news.
Sykes, go ahead.
Get down to that fashion show and find this Carlo.
- Captain.
- Yes? There's something important we need to discuss.
Unless you can find me Brandon North right now, it'll have to wait.
Brandon never hides anything from me.
I gave him a phone, and he calls me every single day from California.
So he does have a phone.
Get Lorraine North's number in Ohio and all her call records immediately.
There's been a terrible mix-up here.
Brandon's out there in Hollywood following his big dream.
But the truth is, in his heart, he's really just a homebody.
Mrs.
North, can you tell us where Brandon's been living in Los Angeles? Does he have friends? Is he staying with family? Captain, I have grandma's number, and I should have the number Brandon's been using very soon.
Once we have that, we can locate him? If it's a cellphone and it's turned on, hopefully by tonight.
"Homebody.
" This is complete bullshit, Carlo! You win "Poster Boy," you travel all over the world, you get an Abercrombie deal, even.
And this is what you do with it?! Where's the pool, Carlo?! You're my last roommate, and you don't even have a freaking pool! Hey, grandma.
Wow, when did you learn to use facetime? Hi, Brandon, I'm Sharon Raydor of the Los Angeles Police Department.
W-what are you doing with my grandma's phone? Where is she? Is she all right? It's okay Your grandmother let us place a call through her number.
We have some important information for you.
No, you're just trying to keep me on the phone so you can find me I'm hanging up.
Brandon, we are outside Carlo's apartment right now, so hanging up won't do you any good.
We've already found you.
Here.
Look.
Brandon? Are you still there? Still there, Brandon? Hello? Yeah, I'm here.
Where else would I be? First, I want you to know that we found Caitlin, Joe, and Raquel.
Yeah, that was, uh Raquel was a really nice girl.
That was a bad situation, and I, uh I apo I-I'm sorry about that.
Can can you tell her parents I, um I apologized? Well, they'd rather hear it from you.
I doubt it.
I know you're upset.
A lot of people mistreated you, Brandon.
Yeah, Joe Joe was at the interview for "Poster Boy.
" And he pretended to be all nice to me.
He texts me when he gets on the show to rub it in, "let's go out and celebrate," like he didn't know I hadn't made the cut.
What about Caitlin? Caitlin.
We went to high school together.
She said I could stay with her.
But then the minute she hears that I'm not on the show, she's like, "Okay, Brandon, you have to leave now.
" And, man, I Brandon? Can you hear me? Can you hear me? Brandon? Brandon? - Yeah, I'm here.
- Okay.
It sounds like a lot of people have let you down.
But I can help you.
I don't see how.
I'll tell you how.
You are famous now.
And, you know, the world works a little bit differently for famous people.
You can't turn on the news without seeing your face.
And people want to know everything everything about you.
Hey, do you have any news cameras out there with you right now? T-the news cameras? Yeah, out there.
Just a second, okay? Don't go away.
Hold on.
You still there? Okay, hold on a second, Brandon.
Hold on.
Okay.
Now And you are live, Brandon.
Go ahead.
Okay.
First, grandma, if you're watching, um, I appreciate all the help you gave me to come out here.
Mom and dad treated me like I was invisible, but you always believed in me, even when other people thought I was crazy.
Brandon? Hey, Brandon.
Brandon? Hey.
Brandon? You there? Hello? I am really sorry, but the network You there? Hello? Brandon? There you are.
Mm-hmm.
Okay, listen, I'm so sorry, but the network says that this interview would be so much more powerful if you would just come outside and you would finish it in person.
Just you.
Could you do that? No, that's okay.
I'm pretty much done.
Well, Brandon, hold on.
Can I just sleep here for one night? Why do you want to do that, Brandon? - I'm so tired.
- Why? I'm I'm ti You know, Carlo and me were gonna be friends.
That was a big goal of mine, especially after I got cut from the show.
Brandon, Carlo is right here and he would really love to meet you and he is standing by look.
Hi, Carlo.
Do you want to come out and meet him in person? All you have to do, Brandon all you have to do is put your gun down and come slowly out onto the porch with your arms raised.
Oh, I don't have a gun.
I don't even like guns.
Oh, well, that's that's good.
Brandon, what's going on? Hello? Brandon? Tell Carlo I'm sorry I broke his chair, okay? I have a funny temper sometimes.
I'm just passionate about what I want, I guess.
Yes.
But you know what? You have to be passionate to be famous in Hollywood, right? Yes.
That is right.
And if you really want to meet Carlo, Brandon, all you got to do is come on out.
Tell Carlo I expect we'll end up in the same place.
Goodbye.
No, Brandon.
Don't hang up.
No! Brandon! Go! Go! L.
A.
P.
D.
! L.
A.
P.
D.
! Brandon, can you hear me?! Can you hear me? It's all over, guys.
You can stand down.
Flynn, we're coming in.
Copy that.
Lieutenants, this is Carlo.
Hello, Carlo.
Hey.
What's going on? Getting rid of the worst house guest ever.
Mom and dad treated me like I was invisible, but you always believed in me even when other people thought I was crazy.
I made him think he was on television.
I gave him something he wanted without getting something in return.
But on the plus side, none of us got hurt, and you spared the victims' families from a long and nasty trial.
Listen, Sharon For whatever it's worth You did great.
Yes.
Come in.
I, uh, think it might be better if you came to my office.
What a great first day of my senior year getting yanked out of class by patrol.
Hey! These guys say they don't know what's going on, so what's going on?! The captain and D.
D.
A.
Rios are waiting for you in Chief Taylor's office.
What for? You know what for.
Whatever happens next Know I love you.
_
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